Song: Mercy Now | Poem: Looking Walking Being |

Friends,

Episcopal Divinity School celebrated Ruby Sales and the classes of 1965, 66, and 67 passing the torch of their ministries to the next generation. We heard Miguel de la Torre explore his theology of hopelessness. We visited with people we haven't seen in years. We ate good food, and saw the glorious renovations of the our old chapel.

It was delightful and I'm exhausted!

Liz

Introduction to Act! Be Church Now

Sometimes I think that life is not the plan, it's the interruptions. The thing that knocks you off your game, and the effort you put into getting back to it. Or more often, getting back to something that is slightly different, or is completely different from where you were headed.

In Matthew's story for Sunday's lectionary (Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26) the main theme seems to be interruptions. Jesus interrupted iwth a complaint about his dinner companions. While he's commenting on that interruption, he is interrupted by a man in need of help. He gets up to head out to help, and is interrupted by another person in need. Perhaps the most relevant line in the text is Matthew 9:18 While he was saying these things .... Everything in this reading happens in the midst of something else. Convenient to my point, the lectionary writers interrupt our reading by removing 5 lines of text.

What do you do when you are interrupted? What helps you get back to what you were doing? Do you let interruptions affect your mood? One the most amazing things to me in this story is that Jesus seems unperturbed. He just moves to the next thing. He doesn't worry about time; I worry about time. Goals. The agenda. Jesus is simply present to each new thing.

I've been writing recently about the Episcopal Theological School students who went to Montgomery in 1965 in response to Dr. King's plea. Judith Upham writes that her reaction to the request was to find a way to set it aside. To write a check so she could return to her studies.

But Jonathan Daniels, a fellow student, interrupted her thoughts, asking if she wanted to come with. Writing after he was killed Upham notes that you can know something might happen, and still not be ready when it does. It interrupted her education, and that of the other students.

Every week I have on my calendar the times of the protests at the immigrant detention center near me. But attending would interrupt my schedule. Churches have calendars and plans; protests are interruptions. We attend if we have time. Can we ask first if we can adjust our schedules.

And yet interruptions like funerals and emergency room visits are things churches and pastors handle well. We just adapt. How is it that it is so hard to see the need to protest as the same thing?

Pay attention this week to the things that are trying to interrupt you. Wonder for each thing if it is the spirit calling you in. Wonder if you can be present to each interruption as it happens. (Perhaps write what you were doing on a sticky note so you can come back to it if needed.) Wonder what is important about this thing that seems to be getting in your way of getting anything done.

What are your most annoying interruptions? What are your favorite interruptions? Reply to this email to let me know what's happening. ​
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Looking Walking Being is a (very short) poem by Denise Levertov.

Mary Gauthier's song Mercy Now (5:52).

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