Hello, Friends!
     On Sunday we heard from Paul's letter to Timothy, and from Luke's Gospel, some wise and challenging words about "walking the walk"--about how we're supposed to preach, and pray, and live out our engagement of the Good News of God's great love.   In case you haven't heard already, I've been reminding folks that we're all priests, pastors, prophets, ambassadors of Christ's life-giving way.  
     One way or another, we're saying something about who God is, by how we live.  The question is, how do our thoughts, words, and actions measure up to what we believe to be true about God, about people, and about how God calls us into covenant relationship as a human family? My answer today is "imperfectly," at best, and one area in particular is nagging me, as a result of my prayer and preparation time spent with the Scriptures before worship on Sunday.
      Paul's instructions were that our communication of the Good News should "convict, rebuke, and encourage" those who encounter us.   And Luke's Gospel parable of the bothersome widow who gets justice as a result of her persistence is a reminder, according to Jesus, that we should "pray, and not lose hope."
       Many of you know our son Adam has been dealing with a debilitating illness for some years now.   Many of you also know how  lamentably inadequate are our state's resources for treating persons with mental illness, the tendency being to incarcerate and otherwise isolate, rather than provide the long-term therapeutic care that might make a life-saving difference.   Some of you have heard me complain about this sad state of affairs.  I've even had the occasional ad hoc conversation with government officials on different levels, all of whom have agreed that "the system is broken," and a disgrace.   Where I'm convicted, and rebuked, is in the fact that this is about all I have done, on the issue.   I haven't been nearly persistent enough on behalf of Adam and all the other mentally ill persons of our community.  I haven't written representatives.  I haven't made any appearances at health board meetings, or legislative sessions.   I haven't participated in a family members' support group that's available through the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, or volunteered any of my time with NAMI.
        Sadly, I haven't even spent enough time with my own son, whose condition I continue to find so baffling and ill-suited to Adam's essential nature as I wish it to be that I am prone to avoidance, rather than non-anxious, compassionate engagement.  Some of you have remarked that sometimes God's Word as we reflect on it in worship can have a discomfiting, unsetting effect.   The wisdom of Jesus, the urgent energy of the love of Christ, does that to us.   As I've often said (and will say again, because I need  to remember it, too), we are loved with a love that will not let us go--and will not let us be.
         So it is for me this week.   What will I do about it? Here's the encouraging word from God for me this week.  The Holy has  whispered to me, ever so gently, that I cannot do anything about the  past, and that repentance isn't so much about regretting, or being  sorry, as it is about turning around, and doing things differently, or, as we say in twelve-step recovery programs, "making living amends." There are things I'm being nudged to do.  
      For starters, I will visit my son in jail, and do my best to be present with him, as he is.  And I'll contact NAMI, to see if that support group still exists, and if they can use my help every so often.  I also know a young woman who is an attorney with Texas Appleseed Foundation, a group that provides advocacy and assistance to persons with disabilities, including mental illness.  I can call her, and see what resources are available.   And I'm sure there's more--but those things I can easily do, while still engaging work and life in a regular rhythm.
       I'm writing this to you, so you can hold me accountable, and ask me how I’m doing on the journey, another health-full meaning of "rebuking" in the Spirit of Christ's love.   I'm also hopeful that you'll find this snippet of my spirit's journey helpful in some way, as you spend your own time in reflection on the Scriptures, in prayer, in devotion.
        So how is it with your soul this week?  Whether you regularly worship with us or not, I'd love to hear from you.     I look forward to learning with you this Sunday, and all our days to come.

Shalom,