Folks,
The lessons set out for this Sunday include from the gospel of Mark some of the suffering that has led to the great drama that the church has used to depict the ministry of Jesus as the focal point of organising people into church (the supportive community that Paul depicts so well). The other two lessons are more about God's blessing of a people by growth of community more generally. In Genesis Abram becomes Abraham because as God tells him, he will be the father of many nations, all via the one child that Sarai, who becomes Sarah shall bear - together their offspring will include many kings. The lesson from Paul's epistle to the Romans is a follow-up of course. But there is real genius in Paul's deeply thoughtful depiction of the Genesis story, beyond even the notion I have mentioned before that Abraham was NOT just the progenitor of the Jewish tribe but "the father of us all" (most of you will know by now that I am sort of an "internationalist", recognising people are indeed the same everywhere, all part of the same tribe finally.) The extra genius that Paul offers is that the uniting of the many tribes and divisions among humankind can only be accomplished by human faith and the "means of grace" (as is written in our prayerbook). For the big idea here I believe is this uniting of all into a loving community that can grow in power, finally not by human rulers (kings, - or even princesses! - "princess" being the meaning of Sarah's new name) and wars, etc. (Note that most of history sees the uniting of tribelets into nations by the means of a new rulers.) And so this most worthy effort by the church thru the ages, using the historic model of a king, but a spiritual "King of kings" rather than any earthly monarch, to unite all humanity. I guess I can forgive a little tear-jerking story of Jesus suffering and death precisely because He, despised and lowly, rises again to be the King of heaven, offering that heavenly outcome (in whatever form I know not) after death to all so that we might all work towards that heaven on earth. Our love to all - may we all join in building towards that heavenly outcome! Bart (and Tony!) and for all of us at St Matts! Events St Matthew Church in San Ardo will have Morning Prayer at 10am, and our fellow mission St Luke Church in Jolon as well. The services will be led by Tony Saponate (my spouse!) and Rachel Denny respectively. (Note that Rachel, who also lives way out in a great natural setting signed the email "love in the Season of the Frog," and we know what she means since despite the relatively dry climate of Southern Monterey County we have had abundant rains and been joined by a family of frogs in our courtyard, and it seems more than most springs we can recall.) Other Events As we have mentioned, our mention of events around the Deanery, the Diocese and the broader Church is not meant to be exhaustive - please go to your local parish, deanery and diocesan websites for full lists of events locally, and complete details. For the news we are trying to "keep it shorter(er)" and so focusing on one or two events of special interest. Today, via St Luke Church, Atascadero and St James Church, Paso Robles, newsletters we are glad to hear of an event at St Stephen Church in San Luis Obispo at which our friend Liz will present "Travel with Liz Frost" where she will share on the topic "What os on your UNESCO Heritage Site Bucket List". Given the thesis we presented in the meditation, the international approach of this discussion sounds just right. And another event they mention is the Eclectia Discussibles series being presented at St Peter Church in Morro Bay, the current series beginning on Wed Feb 28 and continuing thru Mar 27, at 1:30-3:30pm. The current discussion will revolve around situations poseds to "The Ethicist" in the New York Times Magazine. As mentioned previously the following two events: The first SLO Deanery Meeting for 2024 will be in person at St. Benedict's, Los Osos, on Sunday, March 3, at 2 pm. Contact David Ottesen for the Zoom link at <ottesen1@charter.net>. Our invited speaker for that meeting will be Molly Kern, the CEO for the SLO Food Bank. *** And the second in the series with Luke Grote presenting from Sargent / Mission House, in Salinas, this time on theologian Karl Rahner, et al. The event is in person or via Zoom - contact Luke by email at <wlgrote@gmail.com> for full details and link. *** We also note that following Sunday services (and coffee of course) at St Luke Church in Atascadero visiting clergy will lead "Lenten Study" events.
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