Rev. Zach

Joan Grey , present Moderator of the General Assembly of the PC(USA) is winding down her term and fulfilling her role as Ambassador to the church. She spoke at a recent meeting of the Cherokee Presbytery and opened the floor to questions. My notes are incomplete and may not be direct quotes, but I tried to record the sense of things as I understood it. What is "Missional", and how is it happening in the PC(USA)? I'll give you an example. My husband and I showed up at 4th Presbyterian in Boston . It's located in the kind of place that you aren't sure if you want your car parked on the street or not, really a bad part of town. We walked into a Bible study and found a man who looked homeless, very grungy and unkempt. Next to him sat a man in a business suit, and next to him a woman in batik. When we went to worship we saw that this was what the whole congregation was like. They were a true mix of the social strata, and everyone was accepted. I think that...

Joan Grey , present Moderator of the General Assembly of the PC(USA) is winding down her term and fulfilling her role as Ambassador to the church. She spoke at a recent meeting of the Cherokee Presbytery and opened the floor to questions. My notes are incomplete and may not be direct quotes, but I tried to record the sense of things as I understood it. What surprisingly positive experiences have you had while visiting congregations in the last two years? The most surprising thing to me was to experience the vitality of some of our smaller congregations. These are congregations in communities where the population has shifted, and there is no hope of being the larger congregations they once were. What I found is a real honest attitude that said, "We know we can not be what we used to be. God, what can we do now?" I think these congregations are taking a very faithful approach to living and being the church. Another gratifying experience was the chance to meet and talk to...

Her face held the burden of knowing, Knowing her faults and fears. Yet in her eyes was a fire, A sense that in spite of these things she survived. A sense that because of these things she had survived. Still there was a sadness over the cracks in her vessel. I smiled, seeing that we shared this knowledge of self. Though hers was deeper, from many more years. All I could say is that our cracks... If we really believe in God's grace, If we really believe our cup runs over, Then our cracks are simply the means for grace, To spill on and fill up others. She laughed and said, "I sure am spilling a lot!"

OK, I'll admit it. I'm a big Dr. Who fan. In the last episode he goes to a planet of the slave race known as the Ood. When his human counterpart, Donna, asks if there was ever a time they were free or what are they like when they are born, the Dr. says he's never thought of it. When she remarks that a future human empire has been built on slavery, he says, "Where do you think your clothes come from?" I hate to admit, but I was stunned. I'm still wrestling with that. Really I have been for a while. The reality of the matter is that our lives as US citizens are so intertwined with forced labor that we have no practical way of freeing ourselves. Most of us don't know because we don't think to ask. From clothes to car and computer parts we are consumers of slave labor. What to do...what to do? Part of me wants to start a mass movement rejecting forced labor products. Maybe just start with clothing alone and start a movement of wearing forced la...

I saw this on a card at the beach while on a clergy retreat. This and Matthew 7:7-8 are the inspiration for the title of this blog. Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day. - Rainer Maria Rilke Letters to a Young Poet

I've been at my family's cabin in NC this weekend doing some maintenance. My main job was to strip the deck for refinishing. In so doing we found layers of paint that brought out layers of life spent there. We decided not to sand all the paint away, but to leave a distressed look. The following will be posted in a frame on the porch. Incidentally, if anyone wants to rent the place you can find it here . It's a quaint, affordable getaway in Western NC with a creek in the back and Pisgah National Forrest land behind that. It's a little bit of heaven on earth. Anyway, here's the story... Well, actually it’s my second life. In my first life I was flooring in a hundred year old pool cabana in Columbus, Georgia. After a time the pool was gone, and it seemed I was destined for dilapidation and disrepair. But a man named Bill changed all that. He tenderly dismantled me and brought me here, Stoney fork Cabin in North Carolina. During some recent maintenance my ...