Advent Hope

The 10:45 worship service at City Church in San Francisco yesterday had both Greg and I teared up at different points. It was about Advent longing and about how the fulfillment of that longing can never come from what we posses. We have done such harm to others and ourselves believing that. Our fulfillment comes from a person, Immanuel, God with us. My heart resonated with these two verses from the song, Savior of The Nations,Come.

Savior of the nations, come,
Show yourself, the virgin's son.
Marvel heaven, wonder earth,
That our God chose such a birth.

Christ in glory intercede
For your creatures' suffering need.
Let your resurrection power
Soon complete the victory hour.

The first Advent candle was lit, reminding us that it is Jesus who comes into the darkness of our world to bring renewal, life, and hope.

After the service I thought a lot about God wearing our flesh. He was vulnerable, touchable, even huggable. I thought about this because not a single person greeted us after the worship service. Not a hello, a handshake, or even a nod. After a while I decided to approach someone. Turned out to be a great decision. His name was Max, which could only help endear him to us. Greg and I had a long, relaxed, wonderfully edifying conversation with Max. To us, it moved what we had just experienced in worship, into a deeper place in our hearts. In other words, our spirits were nourished and became more hopeful as we experienced the presence of God in this human encounter. We parted ways after we all hugged, feeling like we were leaving a long-time friendship.
A taste of advent hope.
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Max.

San Anselmo

San Anselmo is the actual location of San Francisco Theological Seminary, our current "home." Here's a little history on Saint Anselm (not from memory).
Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) was an outstanding Christian philosopher and theologian of the eleventh century. He is best known for the celebrated “ontological argument” for the existence of God....but his contributions to philosophical theology (and indeed to philosophy more generally) go well beyond the ontological argument. Anselm's motto is “faith seeking understanding” (fides quaerens intellectum) which means something like “an active love of God seeking a deeper knowledge of God."
Just down the street from us is St. Anselm Catholic Church. The pictures show the church and courtyard.
While the town is quaint and lovely it's also very affluent and expensive. Biking is HUGE here. We're talking completely decked out bikers with bikes that cost hundreds,even thousands of dollars. Because we wanted to get a better taste of the culture and had some "ground transportation" funds available, and because it would cost $60/day for Greg and I to rent bikes, we went to Walmart and purchased two cheap bikes and the needed safety equipment. In short, it's been great to have them. We even purchased a bike rack "on the cheap" through Craig's list from Adrian, a friendly recluse who happened to live not far from the Sanoma Valley, where we stopped for some olive oil and wine tasting.
Tomorrow we plan to visit City Church, an RCA church in the heart of SF. It's been recommended to us as a church committed to building community and demonstrating the love of Christ to people who find themselves lost and lonely in one of the most densely populated cities in the US.

Gratitude and few more pictures

Dear Friends and Family, on this very different Thanksgiving eve I'm posting a few pictures and naming just a few things for which I am thankful.
First, that God is good and graciously extends his love to all. One final quote from the book, Friendship on The Margins. "The idea of being a friend of God should strike us as pretty outrageous. That members of God’s obstinate, broken creation could be drawn into friendship with the Creator and Redeemer of the universe is extraordinary. And yet this is what God offers us. We are welcomed into the deepest fellowship and friendship of the Trinity. Jesus invites us in and wants to live in us. If this notion weren’t so familiar to Christians, we might respond more often with grateful astonishment."
Secondly, I am so glad to have Greg here with me. Leona Kloster was right, sabbatical is a time for holding hands.
Thirdly, I am deeply grateful for the love and support of our great kids, our families, our friends, and our faith family at Neland.
Finally, I'm thankful for the opportunities I've had in the last two weeks to meet new people and see new places. I failed to mention that I had dinner with Eliot Vander Lugt at a wonderful Thai place in SF and also had my friend Karen Norris come visit for a few days. My cup of gratitude overflows.
I've also been praying for those I love and care about for whom these days of family gatherings mingle joy with pain due to the absence of dear loved ones. May the warmth of God's embrace be a balm to their grief. And may all your Thanksgiving gatherings be a taste of God's abundant and hospitable love.
With love and gratitude.
Ruth and Greg

PS. Oh yeah, and I'm thankful for the beauty all around us.

Take This Bread

Greg and I worshipped this morning at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church. It was a unique blessing. The service began standing around the Lord's Table with singing. The strong vocal leadership of the choir helped those of us less familiar with the liturgy and songs to join in. We then moved to a part of the sanctuary where we were seated in rows of chairs facing one another to hear God's Word read and proclaimed. It took some getting used to following along with what is often more chanting that singing, but it was beautiful nonetheless. After the service, there was tasty food to be enjoyed as worshippers mingled and quietly and warmly delighted in the unique worship space. Greg and I had the privilege of meeting Sarah Miles, author of the book, Take This Bread, and more recently, Jesus Freak. We also met Juan Alejo, a seminary student who is one year from becoming a Catholic priest. He is from Mexico and has hopes of serving a bilingual church in San Francisco. Meredith Holladay is a young women we met from Waco Texas. She is a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, just finished a PhD, and is doing some teaching at Baylor University. She is hoping to serve a church in her denomination which is, interestingly, baptist and in an alliance with other baptist churches that formed in separation from the Southern Baptists.
We felt very welcomed this morning and thankful for the people God placed in our path. Both Greg and I are full of gratitude today for the gift of sabbatical.

Friendship, mission, and hope

Friendship At The Margins, a book I've found to be good sabbatical reading, brings both scholarly/biblical theory and practical/on the ground experience together under the conviction that at the heart of the church's mission is friendship. Jesus called his disciples friends. This reflects a relationship built on love and respect. It honors the image of God in the other. Hueutz and Pohl believe this idea is central to the missional work of the church.

Here's another good quote, "Locating friendship at the heart of mission involves certain assumptions—that reconciliation with God is something for which every human being is made and that relationships are reciprocal. Mission, then, is less about our efforts to help or evangelize “them,” and more about how we can live into the kingdom together. Friendship puts the focus on relationships and offers an alternative to models of mission that are more formal, professional or bureaucratic."

It seems to me friendship is fertile soil for growing hope. It is in the hard work of opening our lives to others, with the expectation that we ourselves will grow and learn from them, that Kingdom friendships are born and hope has a place to spring up.

I'm again attaching a few pictures because you may find them more interesting than my musings. One was taken of me by Mary, a new friend in the library here. The others were taken on the seminary grounds.

Getting My Sabbatical Bearings

Sabbatical is a strange and wonderful thing. Time is slowing down a bit. I've been able to do a fair amount of reading and even journaling, which is something I rarely take time to do. On the other hand I miss my family and a sense of community. Greg will meet me here in San Francisco on Friday. I've been doing some exploring so I'll be a knowledgable tour-guide. You can see Alcatraz in the first of these pictures, not exactly a hot-spot for hospitality or much hope in its day. We may do a tour so I'll fill you in on what we learn. I'm exceedingly grateful for the quiet, peace, and hospitality of this seminary. What a good place to learn and be renewed.

Quote for the day

Discovered the book Friendship At The Margins, by Christopher Heuertz and Christine Pohl. "Even when we choose to minister among the most vulnerable communities, we never give up all of our resources. We do not experience poverty in the same way as our friends who are socio-economically poor, and our friendships are made more complex by some of the differences. But that is only part of the story, because the ways God works in and through us are much more connected to tender hearts and open hands than to personal assets and skills."

Gonna like it here.

Shots of San Francisco Theological Seminary this morning.

Many Peoples

On Sunday we worshiped at Many Peoples Church in Chicago where my brother John is a pastor. Over the years we've come to cherish our time there and the people of Many Peoples Church. In the second picture below are just a few of us who gathered for worship; Greg, Max, Ruthie Hoekwater, Dawn Marie, JB, and Greg. We ate at the Lord's Table together, passing the bread and cup to one another while reminding each other that the body and blood of Jesus was given for "you."
We have been blessed by this community and so it seemed fitting to spend our first Sunday of sabbatical with them. It was also fitting to share some food after the service.
I'm including a picture of me, Max, my brother John, Ruthie, their daughter Sarah, her husband Rehman, and their precious son Élan.

Eating Together

I'm convinced that eating together is a sign, a living picture, of God's kingdom that is already here among us but not yet fully. This is (part of) the Neland faith family eating together Sunday evening.

Neland's Sending

On Sunday evening at Neland, around warmly decorated tables, we worshiped together, prayed together, and ate delicious food together. It was a picture of hopeful hospitality. Thanks to all who worked hard on making this a memorable evening. Lauri Hanenburg did a tremendous amount of work on food and decorating. Dawn Hendriksen did extra work on planning and preparation. The children's song of blessing at the end was tender and touching. Thanks for the special send-off, Neland. God be with you.