Visiting my sister in the hospital

I'm writing this from my sister's hospital room at the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver. My younger sister, Betty, has had liver disease for over twenty years and it has finally come to the point where she is at the top of the list for a liver transplant. Now we're waiting for a donor liver that's a good match for Betty. Betty is jaundiced and weak but she's pretty cheerful, considering everything she's gone through. The doctor said that the waiting is the hardest part, but she assured us that a donor liver will be found, even if it takes a week. As a parish priest, I've made countless visits to hospital rooms and prayed with countless people and their families. Now I find myself as part of the family in a hospital room, and it feels very different. My heart is so close to Betty, and I'm waiting and praying, trying to be fully present to her and my family. It's emotionally taxing. So this is what it's like to be the family member. As I wait with Betty, I'm especially aware of the mystery of life, the wonder of medical science, and the knowledge that the end of one life will be the means of saving another. I'm impressed by the warm and caring support Betty's getting from the staff at the hospital, from the doctors to the housekeepers. I'll be here for some days yet, but I'm happy to say that Fr. Craig is covering for me for Sunday and also for any pastoral care needs. I'm thankful for his willingness to step up while I'm away. Please don't hesitate to call him with any questions. And you can reach me anytime by cell phone (360-620-8086) or by email (billfulton2001@yahoo.com). Thanks for your support and encouragement. Please keep Betty in your prayers, asking God for strength, patience, and healing. Thank you. Bill

Not officiating at a wedding

This week I attended the wedding of Chad Reeder and Mary Kate Repetski, at St. John's Episcopal Cathedral in Spokane, WA. Because I was a guest and not the officiant of the wedding, I was able to simply enjoy the wedding ceremony and the festivities.

Although it doesn't seem like it to the casual observer, weddings are a lot of work for the clergy. From the paperwork involved to the pre-marital counseling to the stress of the wedding ceremony itself, it wears a person out. Don't get me wrong -- I love doing weddings -- it's just that they're a lot of work.

So this wedding was a pleasure for me because all I had to do was sit in the pew and enjoy the reception!

The groom looked dashing in his new dress uniform (he was just commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army), and the bride was gorgeous in her wedding dress. The soaring stone arches of the cathedral made an elegant setting, and the ceremony used the classic language of the Prayer Book: "For better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, until we are parted by death." May God bless their marriage and enrich their life together.

Here are a sketch and a few photos from the wedding. Click on the photos to enlarge them.

 I made this sketch of the cathedral before the wedding started.

 The bride and groom at the altar at St. John's Cathedral.

 The newly married couple leaving the cathedral under an honor guard.

The bride and groom and the reception listening to the toasts.

 Myself, the Rev. Dick Scott, the groom, Spencer Reeder (brother of the groom), and Bill Reeder.

High holy days

Some days are ordinary. We get up at the usual time, have breakfast as always, go about our daily routines. These days are familiar, comfortable. Thank God for ordinary days.

But some days are holy days. Days when the architecture of time is slightly jarred and the ground shifts beneath our feet. When we pay attention to God in a sustained and purposeful way, we enter holy time.

That's what we're doing this week. We're in the high holy days of the Christian faith, and we're entering the mystery of the last days of Jesus' life. Here are the times we've set aside for contemplating the mystery:

7:00 pm, Thursday, March 28 - Maundy Thursday
Washing someone's feet is a profound act of humble service. We'll follow the example of Jesus as we remember his last supper with the disciples. Then we'll share bread and wine with each other and strip the altar and remove the decorations of the church.

12:00 pm and 7:00 pm, Friday, March 29 - Good Friday
We'll walk the Stations of the Cross as we recall the last hours of Jesus' life, and we'll pray for the Church and the world with the Solemn Collects. This is the deep time of the Christian faith, the time we connect with the suffering of Christ and the world.

6:00 am, Sunday, March 31 - Easter Vigil
We start in darkness and end in light. We start in a bare, empty room that is transformed into a place of splendor with beautiful linens, flowers, and gleaming silver. This is our experience of the resurrection of Christ.

10:00 am, Sunday, March 31 - Easter Day
With joyful music and uplifted hearts we celebrate the resurrection of Christ with a festive Holy Eucharist, followed by the frolic of an Easter Egg hunt for the children.

I hope you'll enter the deep time, the holy time, of this week with us.

In peace,
Bill

My sister's holy week

Holy Week is not easy. As we walk with Jesus in the last hours of his life, we encounter darkness and light in strange guises. Jesus takes us where we'd rather not go.

My little sister, Betty, has been in the hospital the last couple of weeks for an infection. It's made worse by the hepatitis she's been living with for twenty years and damaged her liver. She was transported by ambulance to the University Hospital in Denver on Sunday, and our whole family is holding our breath, praying.

Betty told me that she's had some dark moments. "I'm scared," she said. "I'm in a dark hole and I can't find a ladder. I laid here all day and just prayed."

I wish I had magic words to tell her that would make the darkness go away. But I don't. I listen to her as gently as I can and offer my prayers. And I think of Jesus in his last hours. His suffering gives him solidarity with all human suffering, and every person has access to his compassion and love.

Betty is slowly recovering, and I'm hopeful she'll be able to go home in a few days. In the meantime, I take comfort in the knowledge that she's not alone, that Jesus is with her in this holy week.

In peace,
Bill

Lent Day 4 - Finding and being found

In today's scripture reading, there's a lot of finding going on. When Andrew meets Jesus, he goes to find his brother Simon. Then Jesus finds Philip, and Philip goes to find Nathanael. And Nathanael finds Jesus.

What's with all this finding? Part of it is just the disciples getting acquainted with Jesus. Through their relationships and networks, a community of disciples begins to form around Jesus. And of course we know that there are women disciples joining this group, too, only they aren't mentioned here.

But part of this is about "finding" on a deeper level. When we become acquainted with Jesus, we find that we are found by him. At a deep level of our soul, we found that we are already known and loved by God for who we are. I think this is what Nathanael is expressing when he asks Jesus, "When did you come to know me?" He discovered that he was already known and loved, even before he met Jesus.

As we pray in the Prayers of the People, Form II,
   I ask your prayers for all who seek God, or a deeper knowledge of him. 
   Pray that they may find and be found by him.

Who have you found? And how have you been found?


Peace,
Bill

Behold the Lamb of God - Lent Day 3

Hi, all!

Today is the third day of Lent. Two days ago we received ashes on our foreheads and heard the words, "Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return," a reminder of our mortality. This afternoon we will gather for the memorial service for Adrienne Daugherty who died last Sunday.

Adrienne was an artist and a person of prayer, and I'm sure she was familiar with today's scripture passage from the Gospel of John, "Behold the Lamb of God." These are the words of John the Baptist as he sees Jesus approaching. 

I like the old-fashioned word, "Behold." It says much more than the weaker, "Look."

Behold is what we do when we pay deep attention. John tells us to behold Jesus, the Lamb of God, in a deeply attentive way.

Today we commend Adrienne into the nearer presence of God, and we think of her at last truly beholding Christ and being in his presence. 

Peace,

Bill

P.S. Today's scripture passage in John 1:29-34. Tomorrow's passage is John 1:35-42

What are you doing for Lent?

Hi, all!

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. At noon and at 7 pm, we'll gather to hear the invitation to "the observance of a holy Lent," and we'll receive the mark of ashes on our foreheads as a mark of our mortality and penitence.

Ash Wednesday is a powerful call to repentance. Whenever I make the sign of the cross with the ashes, and say, "Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return," I feel the seriousness of those words.

Being reminded that we won't live forever makes us freshly aware that our relationship with God is important, and now is the time to renew that relationship. "Create in us clean hearts, O God," Psalm 51 reminds us.

Today, the day before Ash Wednesday, is a good time for us to think about what spiritual discipline we might take up for Lent. Some people give up something for Lent, others take something on. What are you doing for Lent?

If you're looking for ideas, I might suggest you join us in reading the Gospel of John during the weekdays of Lent. We'll provide the verses to be read from the Daily Lectionary in the Prayer Book, and you can look them up in your Bible. If you have the Forward Day by Day booklet, you'll find the readings in there.

Tomorrow's reading is John 1:1-28, the beginning of the Gospel of John. You might want to find a time each day when you can open your Bible and meditate briefly on the passage from John. Each day is only a short reading, less than a chapter. The Gospel of John is written to inspire belief in Jesus as the Christ, and each day our faith will grow. From time to time I'll send an email reflecting on what we've been reading.

Whatever your spiritual practice during Lent, I hope it will build you up and increase your faith in God.

Peace,
Bill