Mindful Eating

As you may have heard, the Abbey has been asked to lead the Adult Forum sessions during Lent this year. Since the parish theme for 2009 is "Feeding the Hungry," we will use this series to explore hunger in all its manifestations--physical and spiritual.

Kathie Panfil has graciously agreed to organize these sessions for the Abbey and has already started to invite other St. George's groups to participate. The dates involved are the Sundays in March (3/1, 3/8, 3/15, 3/22 and 3/29). I will be kicking off the series with an overview modeled on the first session of a curriculum entitled "Just Eating" published jointly by Church World Service and the Presbyterian Hunger Program. As the authors of this curriculum write: "Eating can be a mundane activity done with little thought or reflection; or it can be an opportunity to thoughtfully live out our faith and practice justice."

In other words, we will use this series to explore "Mindful Eating" in all its varied aspects. The Abbey will be working with other groups from the parish. I hope Abbey members will enthusiastically participate in the series. We can use this opportunity to help our fellow St. Georgian's understand how powerful mindful living can be and how the simple act of paying attention can feed us.

If you would like to help with this series, please contact either Kathie Panfil, myself or any member of the leadership team (which also includes Missie Burman and Ron Crocker).

Raima

Thought

Dear Abbey Members and Friends:

Below is today's meditation from Fr. Don Talafous, St. John's Abbey. I like the reaffirmation that God wants good things for us in this life, but we are creatures of this earth and subject to he 'laws of nature'. For me today the message reminds me of the 4th tenet of our RoL: "Show fellowship with a welcoming heart seeking Christ in everyone I meet, offering comfort and celebration." Fellowship--being present for another --is one of the greatest gifts we can give.

Shalom and blessings, George

Protestant preacher William Sloane Coffin just after the death of his college-age son in an accident confesses to blowing up at a neighbor. This well-intentioned person had brought in a dinner for Coffin and his family and said, "I just don't understand the will of God." He said: "I'll say you don't, friend. Do you think it was God's will that Alex never fixed that lousy windshield wiper, that he was driving too fast in a storm, that he probably had a couple too many drinks? That there are no lights or guardrail on that road?" Coffin says that nothing sets him off so easily as "intelligent people who seem to think that God goes around the world with a finger on the trigger, a fist around the knife, hands on the steering wheel." His point, of course, is that bad things happen because of human or natural causes. An arsonist or a faultily installed piece of equipment starts a fire; the friction in the earth's crust causes a 6.6 quake; a person possessed by hate fires the gun; a careless driver hits the child. On the positive side, we should be reminded that grain gets to starving people because of human ingenuity and generosity; that a limb nearly ripped off in a farm accident is saved by skilled doctors; bad governments are ousted by committed and responsible citizens. The frustrated woman takes it out on God in prayer: "All we have on this earth are problems and a bunch of dummies who will never figure out how to solve them. Even I could make a better world than this one." From deep within she heard: "That's what you're supposed to do." God needs us to act in this world; we need God's strength to bring about changes for the better.

Bishop Gene Robinson's Inaugural Prayer

Dear Urban Abbey members and Friends:

I was sent Bishop Gene Robinson's prayer for the opening event of the inaugural at the Lincoln Memorial. Following is a brief commentary and the prayer. I find it truly an amazing and wonderful prayer. I wanted to share it with you.

Shalom and blessings, George

As you may know, the Right Rev. Gene Robinson, the openly Gay Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, gave the opening prayer at yesterday's Lincoln Memorial event. It was the first event in the inaugural festivities this year. HBO, which had paid for exclusive rights to the event, chose not to broadcast Bishop Robinson's prayer. So if you watched there you wouldn't have caught it or even known that it occurred. NPR didn't air it either. There's no record of it in images placed on the sites of Getty Images, New York Times and the Washington Post. It's a complete erasure of his ever having delivered the prayer. So we're going to celebrate it by providing here the full text of Bishop Robinson's prayer. I suggest you forward this around so that everyone has a chance to enjoy it.

Opening Inaugural Event, Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC, January 18, 2009
Delivered by the Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson:

Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God's blessing upon our nation and our next president.

O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will:

Bless us with tears - for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Bless us with anger - at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort - at the easy, simplistic "answers" we've preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience - and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be "fixed" anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.

Bless us with humility - open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance - replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.

Bless us with compassion and generosity - remembering that every religion's God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.

And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.

Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln's reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy's ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King's dream of a nation for ALL the people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.

Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.

Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.

Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters' childhoods.

And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we're asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand - that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.
Amen.

Save the dates: Feb 22 and March 28

Two exciting Abbey events are coming up this spring, so mark your calendars now. On the afternoon of Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009 Esther de Waal will meet with the Urban Abbey at the National Cathedral from approximately 2pm to 6pm for a special retreat focused on discernment. Part of this event will include Choral Evensong, regularly scheduled at the Cathedral from 4-5 pm on Sundays. More details will be forthcoming soon. Big thanks to Abbey member and former Abbott Wayne Lewis for arranging this exciting event with a leading Benedictine thinker.

Also mark your calendars for Saturday, March 28, 2009 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm for the Urban Abbey's spring community meeting. So far, nothing but the date and the location - St. George's parish hall - has been decided, so if you would like to be involved in planning this community meeting, please contact either me or any member of the Abbey leadership team (Missie Burman, Ron Crocker and Kathie Panfil).

More details soon, so stay tuned!

Another Thought from Father Don

Dear Urban Abbey Members and Friends:

Below is today's reflection by Fr. Don Talafous, St. John's Abbey, shown at left. I was really struck by his holding up before us how much of an impact we, as individuals, can have on the lives of those around us --family, friends, people we meet in living our life. We can truly be a gift or help in another person's life--we to a certain extent can control that.

He shows us how to live out the 4th tenet of our Rule of life: "...and Show Fellowship with a welcoming heart, seeking Christ in everyone I meet, offering comfort and celebration. "

Shalom and many blessings, George DeFilippi

Father Don says, "After years of looking for someone else to blame for all our deficiencies there seems to be more appreciation today of accountability and responsibility. In fact the former word may be in danger of taking its place with other overexposed words like diversity and codependency. This new trend could encourage us to see the value of our life, our words, our example for our family, our friends, our neighborhood, our world. What we do or do not voluntarily do in the way of worship, love, honesty does strengthen or weaken the character, the tone, the texture of the community of which we are part. For our little part of the world and for many people around us we are irreplaceable; without the things we do or say they are diminished. Our lives, words and actions can build up or tear down. Our encouraging words or gestures help someone else through the day -- or the night. Our sympathy and listening tell others they are not alone, have worth. The respectfulness or dignity we bring to what we do helps others believe in the worth of living. What we do in response to our conscience is vital to the world around us and is our way of responding to the call of the Lord in the here and now."

Read more here: http://www.saintjohnsabbey.org/

The Lightness of Being

Check out the EpiscopalCafe...today's post is about the "Lightness of Being":

http://www.episcopalcafe.com/thesoul/daily_reading/lightness_of_being.html

Advent Quiet Night Dec 2

Last week a small band of Abbey members gathered in the Rhodes Room at St. George's for our annual Advent Quiet Night. The event was preceded by a simple soup and salad supper, topped off with some fabulous desserts, all contributed by members of the Abbey.

Missie Burman and Marlee Norton presented a thoughtful program focused on what it feels like when your life suddenly veers off in a new direction, as it did for Mary and her relative Elizabeth. We enjoyed long moments of silent contemplation on this theme and a shared reading of a simple Scottish story about three little trees whose lives also turned out differently than they'd expected.

Many thanks to all who attended, contributed food, helped out in many ways, but especially to Missie and Marlee for designing a wonderful program.

May your Advent experience this year be a peaceful one.

Raima