The Last Word + Thank You

Rainbow Bridge, Navajo National Monument + Photograph by Jeffrey Louden

This blog has been an experiment, a bridge if you will, to engage the people of the Rocky Mountain Synod in preparation for the assembly by looking at the theme, "Landscapes of Faith." 


We have heard from people from every corner of the Synod - Wyoming to El Paso, Utah to Colorado and from the Land of Enchantment too. We have heard from laity, clergy, synod staff and rostered leaders. We have heard from people within the church and from those without.  


Always we have heard that people engage their landscapes: internal, external, spiritual, mundane. We have heard that they care for them and are willing to work for them. 


To the extent that we have helped the conversation, we have succeeded. Thank you for taking the time to read the posts and to prepare for the assembly.


Warmly,


Kent Mueller, Kari Reiquam and Jeffrey Louden


Oh, and one last word. The authors and photographers would appreciate if you asked for permission before using text or photographs and then after use, if you would forward a copy of where and how you used the material. There may be a fee for the photography.  Thank you.

Earth Day + Third Sunday of Easter 2012

The Earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof. 


Psalm 24


There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone circling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved.


Charles Darwin
The Origin of the Species, 1859




The essence of spirituality is connection.


Pastor Carl Walker


Our goal is not just an environment of clean air and water and scenic beauty. The objective is an environment of decency, quality and mutual respect for all other human beings and all other living creatures.

Senator Gaylord Nelson, 1970 on the first Earth Day

The Journey

The Wind River Range, WY, looking south, on an course with the National Outdoor Leadership School in August 2006.

Photography by Jeffrey Louden

"I only went out for a walk and finally decided to stay out till sundown. For going out, I found, was really going in."

       John Muir

John Muir was born on this day in 1838. He grew up in Wisconsin in a strict Presbyterian home. He was instrumental in giving voice and power to the conservation movement at the end of the 19th century. In addition to the founding of the Sierra Club, he advocated for the establishment of Yosemite National Park. With President Theodore Roosevelt and the first director of the Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot, he shaped the conservation of public lands, especially in the West. He considered his greatest failure the damming of the Hetchy Hetchy Valley.  

Muir said, "One day's exposure to mountains is better than cartloads of books."

As we consider the landscapes of faith (plural on purpose!) perhaps we can hope for a faith that is as expansive and broad and generous and beautiful (and if we are lucky as wild) as the landscapes of the Rocky Mountain Synod. 

       Jeffrey Louden
          Pastor and NOLS Instructor

350.org + Bearing Witness

Photography by Jeffrey Louden on 4/2/12

(the "graffiti" was painted over with black the week after the shot was taken.)

Across a world divided in so many ways, one of the things that—sadly—unites us is the increasing damage from increasing temperatures. So far science has been in the lead in sounding the alarm, and the insurance industry (the part of our economy we ask to analyze risk) has not been far behind. Now we need faith communities the world over to step up and do their part in reading, like Daniel, “the writing on the wall.”

On the weekend of May 4 - 6 (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, depending on when your faith community gathers), we’ll help organize a huge global day of witness. In communities around the planet that have felt the sting of climate change, people will gather to mark the spot where wildfires consumed houses, where floods took down bridges, where acidifying water bleached coral, where drought killed forests. As part of those rallies they’ll form a “dot”—a dot we can connect with other dots across the planet to remind people that climate change is not a future threat but a current crisis.

In other places, people will form “dots of hope” around solar panels and wind turbines; they’ll help dig community gardens and weatherize homes, they’ll bike en masse or paddle to the middle of some lovely lake they’d like to see persist.

We’re so hopeful that religious communities of every major religious tradition will be involved in this work. Both the Hebrew Bible and Gospel contain injunctions to love one's neighbor and to be good stewards of the Earth. One of the things that faith communities do best is bear witness, on our own behalf and on behalf of those whose voices are not heard in our societies.

This day will not solve the problem of climate change—that will be a long path. But it won’t begin in earnest until we acknowledge as a civilization both that we’re in trouble and that we have ways out. Please join us on the weekend of May 4 - 6, and keep us in your prayers.

Sincerely, 

Bill McKibben

350.org

On behalf of Interfaith Power & Light

Water in the Wilderness, Rivers in the Desert

Peace Lutheran Church sits on a very unique landscape.  From my office in El Paso, TX, I can see the mesas of New Mexico and the mountains of Mexico.  The “border” is close enough (8 miles) and the “fence” is tall enough that I can see that fence climbing the mesas and dividing me from those mountains and from my neighbors in Juarez.  The border is a landscape all unto itself.

The beauty of this landscape is marred not just by the fence, but also by poverty.  Imagine a person walking into my office and asking for drinking water.  I could respond, as would be normal in most places, by offering a bottle of water, ala Matthew 10:42.  But here, such a request is just as likely to be a request for potable water, something taken for granted in most places.  More troubling, such a request comes not from the landscape across the border, but from the landscape of the United States; in fact, just 5 or 6 miles as the crow flies from my office.  Even more troubling, that request has gone unanswered and ignored by the very governmental jurisdictions established to provide so basic a service.  This landscape can be very hard and harsh at times.

Such a landscape challenges the Church to discover different ways of doing ministry.  Here, charity is not enough, if it is sufficient in any place.  Here the struggle for justice cannot be ignored.  Here the poor cry out for good news.

One church cannot change such a landscape.  But a coalition of churches and other institutions can and are.  Through one, Border Interfaith, water and justice are given, to give drink to all without exception; so that God’s praise is declared.

For I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people.

                           Isaiah 43:20b-c

Pastor Wayne Kendrick

Peace Lutheran, El Paso, TX

What if?

St. Matthew's/Ascension + Price, Utah

Photograph by Jeffrey Louden

What if… 

… we rethought the entire notion of synod, bishop, geography? 

… we were willing to take enormous risks in this process? 

… we formed four or five synods out of the Rocky Mountain Synod, each served by a worker-bishop/overseer, clergy also connected to a congregational ministry? Or, failing that, what if assistants to the bishop, by intention and design, lived in different sections of the synod as truly deployed staff? 

… we took Called to Common Mission and other ecumenical agreements even more seriously than we do now?

… that led us to new creative mission work possible with our Episcopal, United Methodist, Presbyterian and other brothers and sisters with whom we are in full communion, with whom we live and work in this vast territory? 

… our new bishop made new proposals to his or her counterparts in those other traditions about creating new mission dialogues, investigating cooperative ministry sites, shared staffing, shared facilities (fill in the blanks because I know there are more ideas). 

… we took a much more serious look at how to better use technology for all our missions and ministries?

… we discovered we could save dollars, become better stewards, and create and maintain closer ties to one another? [In this age of technological innovation, distance need no longer be a prohibitive or limiting factor for many of the kind of meetings we will need to hold.]

What if…?

Pastor Jim Drury

Ascension St. Matthew Church, Price, UT

a congregation with Episcopal and Lutheran roots

Bricks and Beauty

Good Shepherd Lutheran is connected by a brick breezeway to Shepherd of the Valley Healthcare Center. That connecting wall is even more beautiful than the majestic snow-capped Casper Mountain to the south.

Good Shepherd is the smallest of four ELCA churches in Casper, a city of 53,000 along the Laramie chain of the magnificent Rocky Mountains. Shepherd of the Valley Healthcare Center is the largest long-term skilled nursing facility in the state of Wyoming. When linked together by bricks, the beauty of the two outshines the mountains.

Some may scratch their heads, wondering how a church can perceive an exquisite scene in a pile of bricks. But it is not the wall the people admire, but what the wall represents - the possibility for people to come together in a divine encounter in a Sunday morning family gathering. Without that long stretch of red bricks, many of those in wheelchairs or with walkers would find it treacherous to navigate through snow-covered property in the depths of winter, or endure blazing heat at the height of summer.

At the assembly we are being challenged to perceive (not just see) beauty in our landscapes. Beauty is often elusive. Can we perceive the beauty of our collective family as we sing of our Lord? Can we perceive courage as we wrestle with social issues that cry out for justice? Can we perceive the changes that must come to our beloved synod to ensure a vital future? Can we perceive the great strength that we already possess, thanks to the tenure of our Bishop, Allan Bjornberg?

Can we behold the beauty of our landscapes, while seeing beyond the bricks?

          Pastor Jack Damien

          Good Shepherd Lutheran

          Casper, WY

The Mental Health Landscape

 Brice at his baptism/imago dei  

Photography by Jeffrey Louden

Last week I drove from Denver to Durango. I crossed the expansive San Luis Valley (where I lived for ten years). And from Durango I could almost see into northwest New Mexico where I lived and worked on the Navajo reservation a long time ago. There’s no doubt about it, we are surrounded by a magnificent natural landscape in the Rocky Mountain Synod. One might guess that we live in a constant state of wonder and amazement. However, when it comes to our mental health, there are some troubling patterns. In a 2007 report, Mental Health America compared depression levels and suicide rates in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report, "Ranking the States: An Analysis of Depression Across the States" assessed the following measures:  (1) the percentage adults who experienced a major depressive episode in the past year, (2) the percentage of adolescents who experienced a major depressive episode in the past year, (3) the percentage of adults who experienced serious psychological distress, and (4) the average number of days in the past 30 days in which the population reported that their mental health was not good. The report also looked at suicide rates. Of the states in the Rocky Mountain Synod region, Texas was the 10^th healthiest state with respect to depression, Colorado ranked 34^th, New Mexico ranked 36^th, Wyoming ranked 42^nd, and Utah ranked last at 51^st. The following factors were significantly associated with better depression status and lower suicide rates: 

     Mental health resources – The more mental health professionals per capita, the lower the suicide rate.

     Barriers to treatment - The lower the percentage of the population reporting that they could not obtain healthcare because of costs, the lower the suicide rate and the better the state's depression status. The lower the percentage of the population that reported unmet mental healthcare needs, the better the state's depression status.

     Mental health treatment utilization - The higher the number of antidepressant prescriptions per capita in the state, the lower the suicide rate.

     Socioeconomic characteristics - The more educated the population and the greater the percentage with health insurance, the better the state's depression status and the lower the suicide rate.

So, what does this have to do with faith? Well, it has a lot to do with caring for the neighbor!

First of all, we can advocate for better and more mental health care. In rural Colorado, for example, some families must drive more than 100 miles to see a mental health professional. And throughout Colorado, if they receive mental health or substance use services, youth and adults of color are disproportionately served in public human services settings, including child welfare, juvenile justice, and corrections.

Second, we can challenge the traditions (myths?) of independence and self-sufficiency that are so highly valued in our western states but also contribute to isolation, stigma around mental health, and a reluctance to seek help. A person experiencing depression may feel utterly lost and alone. In our churches and communities we can help to create safe places where we talk about mental health and encourage people to seek help. We are not meant to be alone; we need each other in order to be healthy.

Aging white men have the highest rate of suicide and guns are often the means used. We must have a national conversation about guns as a public health issue. There are sensible methods to both restrict access to guns for depressed and suicidal individuals and still protect ownership rights. Could we help start these conversations in our communities?  We can also start conversations and participate in efforts to address important risk factors for depression (and other mental health problems) such as bullying, discrimination, trauma, and poverty.

Of course these issues not unique to our time and place. Just listen: 

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also. For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away.  

Psalm 31: 9-10

                               

            Carolyn Swenson

            Healthcare and public health professional

            Denver (Member of St. Paul Lutheran) 

Hail thee, festival day!

Hail thee, festival day! 

Blest day to be hallowed forever;

Day when our Lord was raised,

Breaking the kingdom of death.

                                 ELW 394

When we were baptized in Christ Jesus,

we were baptized into his death.

We were buried therefore with him by

baptism into death, so that as Christ was

raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,

we too might live a new life.  For if we have been

united with him in a death like his,

we shall certainly be united with him in a

resurrection like his.

                                                      Romans 6

Thine the glory in the night,

No more dying only light;

Thine the river, thine the tree,

Then the Lamb eternally.

Then the holy, holy, holy, celebration jubilee,

Thine the splendor, thine the brightness, only thee only thee.

                                                                        ELW 826

And you shall know that I am the Lord,

When I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people.

I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live...

                                                                        Ezekiel 37:13-14

A billion voices in one great song,

Now soft and gentle, now deep and strong,

in every culture and style and key,

from hill and valley, with sky and sea,

with Christ we praise you eternally:

Soli Deo Gloria!  Soli Deo Gloria!

                                                      ELW 878

This day I have begotten you.

                                   Psalm 2

 --Bishop Allan Bjornberg

Dispel the darkness

There are scars on our own hearts from
relationships tragically torn apart

This day, too, is an incarnation. It is the stark embodiment of those horrible places we have been in recent years. The soul-emptying images of 9/11; the persistent death and dying in the war-torn Middle East, a cataclysmic tsunami in Japan.

And there are scars on our own hearts from relationships tragically torn apart, from too many premature deaths, from too many unanswered questions hurled into the face of God.

Today is the embodiment of all the, "WHY?" questions and epithets. Tody is the incarnation of our, "Where were you!!" incriminations.

Christ entombed and absent is the horror we imagine and the accusation we hurl at God.

Because, left to ourselves, we know no other possibility. 

May the light of Christ, rising in glory,

Dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.

                        Lighting of the candle. The Easter Vigil

Rise, let us leave this place.  The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven.  I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you.  The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.

                          Ancient Liturgy

That he who by a tree once overcame, might by a tree be overcome.

 

--Bishop Allan Bjornberg

Listen for the hope

Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified.

John 19:41

Vedran Smailovic, the principal cellist of the Sarajevo Opera, was heartbroken at the massacre that occurred in his city in 1992, when a breadline of citizens waited in front of a bakery and a mortar landed, killing 22 people.

Twenty four hours after the massacre, he did the only thing he knew. He settled his stool beside the smoking crater. And he began to play Albinoni's stirring piece, Adagio. In the midst of the suffering, he played every day for 22 days, while the war surrounded him. One author said, "He dispensed hope in his music, he became hope to his people."

Boston Cello Quartet plays Albinoni's Adagio

The gift he gave to his fellow citizens was hope that the good and beautiful and peaceful things in life would return. 

At the center of our Three Days are our own longings for hope. 

As a cellist myself, I invite you to pause this Good Friday for six minutes, and listen to an arrangement of the piece played by the Cellist of Sarajevo. 

Listen for the hope.

--Pastor Kent Mueller

Director for Administration and Communication 

So we wait in silence

The landscape of our worship space is left bare

Save me, Lord my God!

By day, by night, I cry out.

Let my prayer reach you;

turn, listen to me.

Lord, I cry out to you all day,

my hands keep reaching out.

Excerpt from Psalm 88 -  The Psalter: A faithful and Inclusive Rendering of the Psalter

Feet have been washed, the sacramental supper received. The liturgy on Maundy Thursday is filled with signs and symbols and we filled with humble blessing.  But there is a shift from full to empty, as the darkest despair of the psalter, Psalm 88, is read or chanted while we watch the books, candles, communion vessels, linens, paraments, and yes, even the cross, lovingly stripped away as the landscape of our worship space is left bare and we prepare for the reality of death and burial. 

The party's over. We are left feeling naked and vulnerable. We are left in deep lament. To deny or avoid such loss and grief is to deny a profound opportunity to turn empty to God. So we wait in silence for that which is yet to come with outreaching hands. Our prayer is devoid of words. We simply embrace the divine mystery of the Passion.   

 

--Madelyn Herman Busse, diaconal minister
Assistant to the Bishop

About the photo:  When Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Denver closed last year, the building was sold. When the cross was removed from the wall, its radiance remained on the brick wall. The cross now hangs at Rejoice Lutheran Church, Erie, Colorado. (Photo by Dena Williams)

The light shines, and the darkness shall not overcome it

In the Reign of God, even mild violence won't do.

...so while reclining next to Jesus, Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, who is it?"  Jesus answered," It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish."  So, when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.  After he received the bread, Satan entered into him.  Jesus said to him, "Do quickly what you are going to do."..."  

John 13:25-27

Lordship looks very different where the reign of God is present. This brief encounter at the Last Supper follows immediately after Jesus has washed the feet of his disciples, including the feet of Judas, son of Iscariot! Though not specifically stated in the text, Jesus surely knew Judas' intent, even as the Lord undid his robe and tied the towel around himself. Before sending Judas away, Jesus is Judas' foot-washing servant!

     

Knowing Judas' intent, a more sane action by Jesus would have been to inform the disciples, surround the scoundrel, and have Judas bound and gagged, if not something even tougher! This would certainly delay-maybe even stop outright--the evil that will befall Jesus in the hours and days ahead.

     

But in the Reign of God, even mild violence won't do. We can't read Jesus' mind, but later actions would suggest he was thinking, "Do what you must, Judas, and I shall meet evil head-on in another way."

     

Thus, the prophecy of Isaiah that the Messiah shall be a suffering servant will be fulfilled. Evil intent and betrayal is countered with servanthood-humble servanthood--and faithful obedience, even obedience that leads to a cross. Not only does Jesus not enlist his disciples in some preventative action on the betrayer in their midst, he will not even call upon the Legions of Angels as he is arrested, brutalized and finally killed.

     

Dare we say that Jesus' way of dealing with evil and betrayal has been vindicated, in that over 2,000 years later, the church of Christ again prepares to wash feet, share a meal, walk to the cross, and celebrate an empty tomb?

     

Indeed, Lordship looks very different where the Reign of God holds sway! Love conquers hate. Good shall overcome evil.  The light shines, and the darkness shall not overcome it.  Thanks be to God!

            O Christ, what can it mean for us to claim you as our king?

            What royal face have you revealed whose praise the church would sing?

            Aspiring not to glory's height, to power, wealth or fame,

            you walked a diff'rent, lowly way, another's will your aim.

            Though some would make their greatness felt and lord it over all,

            you said the first must be the last and service be our call.

            O Christ, in workplace, church, and home, let none to power cling;

            for still, through us, you come to serve, a diff'rent kind of king.

            O Christ, What Can It Mean for Us

            ELW #431

            Dufner, OSB, b.1939

 

Pastor Dan Bollman

--Assistant to the Bishop