Crucibles

When heated directly by fire, the fire of trial, the heat of disease,

Infernos of grief and purity...

Can we hold under the terror, the torment of transforming, under forging,

Until we are bearers of light, torches, for sufferance, for illumining oblivion.

Susan Deborah King, "Crucible" in One-Breasted Woman

Crucible: a place or occasion of severe test or trial. Try though we might, not one of us can avoid the fire. Each one of us must pass through our own crucible. Each one of us will be changed because of it. For some, it will be a journey born out of illness. For others, our crucible will be shaped by life circumstances. For still others, a poor decision that has far greater impact that could be imagined at the time. Whatever the source, the fire of trial will forever change us. The question is "can we hold under the terror, the torment of transforming, under forging, until we are bearers of light"?

I believe that many of us resist the wilderness because we know that in it we will encounter our crucible; that place or set of circumstances that leave us changed, unable to return to the comfort of what we once knew. Crucibles test us to the core of our being. They force us to examine ourselves-our characters and values-and come to grips with who we really are. They are defining moments as we confront the painful tensions within us that a new synthesis of being might take place.

Have you ever wondered about Jesus' petition to God in the Lord's Prayer: "Lead us not into temptation"? I have. I have always wondered if the source of that petition was Jesus' own experience of being led-driven-into the wilderness by the Spirit. He knew the wilderness first-hand. He also knew the frailty of his disciples in the face of temptation. So when asked to teach them to pray, he prays that God would lead them (and us) not into temptation. At the same time, he called them (and us) to take up our cross and follow him (Matthew 16:24).

Knowing our reluctance to experience pain, I sense that the Spirit continues to drive us into the wilderness providing crucibles by which to stretch and grow us.   If we're honest, we know that far too often it takes a crisis before we're willing to deal with our need to change. Those who seek to follow in the Way of Jesus should not be surprised to find that trial and temptation are part of the spiritual journey.  All growth entails a certain amount of suffering, pain, and even struggle; all the more so with spiritual growth.

Just as God created us to live in relationship, so God uses trials and temptations to tear down barriers to his love and invitation to life; the gift and the burden of freewill means that we must choose between good and evil. Will our actions testify to our core identity in Christ? Will our crucibles become the forge in which our characters are transformed? Can we hold under the terror, the torment of transformation, until we are bearers of light? Or will we choose "safety" over God?

In the end, whom will we serve?

Food for the Journey

Journey Questions

1. Why do you think Jesus includes "lead us not into temptation" as a petition in the Lord's Prayer? Of what are you tempted?
2. What has been your experience of the Refiner's fire?
3. How have your crucible(s) forged your character in Christ?

Journey Practice: Write a Letter

Poet May Sarton writes of her journey:

Now I become myself. Its taken time,  

many years and places,

I have been been dissolved and shaken.  

Worn other people's faces...

The wilderness is often the means by which we become ourselves; the means by which we come home to our true selves. It is the place where we are laid bare, where our crucibles allow us to look realistically and honestly at ourselves without denial, indulgence or embellishment. Though painful, our crucibles afford us the opportunity to come to terms with unresolved anger, disappointments, losses, and fears. As we do so, the fire burns away all that is not true, while also nurturing compassion and hope. Some aspects of the journey must be lived before they can be fully understood. Even so, we can share from those defining moments the ways in which we have been changed and blessed.  

This next week, write a letter to God, or yourself, or your child(ren), or someone you are mentoring. Describe your journey through the wilderness.  Tell of how ways that it has refined you, made you who you are today. How did your crucible help you discover your essential self, your core identity in Christ? What did you need to release in order to become who you are? In what ways was your character refined?

Prayer for the Journey

Purify my heart. Let me be as gold and precious silver.

Purify my heart. Let me be as gold, pure gold.

Refiner's fire, My heart's one desire is to be holy.

Set apart for You, Lord. I choose to be holy.

Set apart for You, my Master, Ready to do Your will.

Purify my heart, Cleanse me from within, And make me holy.

Purify my heart. Cleanse me from my sin, Deep within.

Brian Doerksen

February 5, 2013

Dear MVP Session Clerks:

You will recall that I advised you a couple of months ago to hold off from submitting your 2012 statistical reports until I could share more with you about the Mission Council's review of alternate ways to report the missional activities and witness of our congregations. That work has not yet been completed so I am writing now to encourage you to complete and submit the existing 2012 statistical report for your congregation.  

Some of our clerks have already called Shauna at the MVP Mission Center and provided her with the 2012 figures and other required information so she can complete their report on line to ensure the report goes to our denominational office. She welcomes additional calls from those of our session clerks who would like her help in that manner. Others of you may decide to submit your completed reports on your own to Louisville directly by mail or email. If you do so, please let Shauna know that you have done so in order that she can track which session clerks have not yet been filed.

Before moving to Minerva ten years ago, I served as clerk of session at my Presbyterian church near Buffalo, New York, long enough to understand the many responsibilities that this position carries. Please don't see this 2012 statistical report as an optional or meaningless exercise in communicating with the PCUSA national staff. The information collected from our denomination's presbyteries provides national and local staff with valuable data. Our Presbytery's Mission Council and staff sincerely appreciate all that you do throughout the year as you serve God, your congregation and your presbytery. Please don't hesitate to contact Shauna by phone, 330-339-5515 or by email, Shauna@MVPJourney.org, if you need help.

In Christ's service,

Elder Paula G. Lane

MVP Transitional Stated Clerk

PRESBYTERIAN YOUTH TRIENNIUM 2013 

• Preliminary Triennium Information for MVP Youth Leaders and Volunteers

• 2013 Youth Triennium Information

• PYT Participant Information Form - please print and return completed form to Presbytery office

• Participant Medical and Event Release Form - please print and return completed form to Presbytery office

• PYT Participant Packing List

NEED MORE INFORMATION?

Small Employer Healthcare Tax Credit   

Employing organizations can use IRS Form 8941** and the Tax Credit Worksheet,** available from the Board, to assist with determining if they qualify for the tax credit and, if so, the maximum amount of that credit. Eligible employers should claim the credit on Form 990-T.

A more in-depth explanation can be found on this page of pensions.org 

http://www.pensions.org/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=84204&mode=2 

Reference Materials:

• Tax Credit Information & Resources page **(the Board of Pensions)

• Affordable Care Act Tax Provisions (IRS)

Value of healthcare coverage on W-2s: Employers are required to provide information on the value of healthcare coverage on an employee's W-2 beginning with the 2012 tax year. However, coverage provided through the Medical Plan of the PC(USA) is exempt from this reporting requirement because it is a church plan.

Note: Churches and employing organizations that provide healthcare coverage to employees through another entity and issue 250 or more W-2s should contact their insurance provider or broker, as they may be required to provide covered employees with the value of that coverage beginning with their 2012 W-2s (i.e., on W-2s issued in January 2013).  

Help with Hurricane Sandy Recovery

First Presbyterian Church in Wooster Ohio is sending a group to New York City to help with Hurricane Sandy recovery.  We will leave on April 28th and return on May 4th.  Individuals are responsible for their own travel.  The cost is $40 per person per night.  Please contact Bruce Ballantine by email (bballantine@fpc-wooster.org) or phone (330-264-9420) for more information or to join the group.  You must be over 18 years old to join us on this trip.   

Dear Debbie and friends at Muskingum Valley Presbytery,  

I enjoy getting the updates on what's happening in MVP. Often wish I could be there to join in a workshop or two. May God continue to bless you as you seek to be faithful disciples. I'm hoping to be in Ohio for a couple months (March and April), and perhaps I'll be able to visit some churches in the presbytery.

I'm writing to say thank you for the support that you have given toward my work at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I'm grateful for the gifts of all who have supported me in prayer and with finances over the past thirty plus years. 

I'm also writing to share a challenge: I first came to Thailand as a volunteer 33 years ago.  Christ Church in Canton made a commitment to help find a volunteer to teach English in a school connected with the partner church of the PC(USA) here in Thailand. I'm hoping that some of the churches and people who support me will strengthen our connection by making a commitment to help us find young volunteers to serve at Payap University (13 month commitment to live in a dorm and teach English) or in the Christian Volunteers in Thailand program that started last year (2 year commitments to serve in one of the Church of Christ in Thailand schools that are all over the country). The volunteers would not necessarily come from the church, but the church would help us recruit good folks. Let me know if you would consider making a commitment to this way of connecting, and I can send more information. Or let me know of any leads on volunteers for the coming year (term starts in August--applications being received now).

Some people appreciate clear information about financial support needs, so I'll include the following financial information. The average cost to send and support a mission co-worker is $83,000 per year. My goal is to find supporters who will contribute at least 85% of that amount or $70,550. So far this year the total support I have received is $25,820 or about 31% of the total and almost 37% of my goal. I often receive year-end gifts in December, and I hope that will be the case this year, too. I appreciate every gift, and share this with you in case it is helpful. You can donate on-line at the following site: http://www.presbyterianmission.org/give/E200327/

Thanks again for all your love and care.

Esther

--
Rev. Esther Wakeman, Ph.D.
Assistant to the President, Spiritual & Community Life
Director, Mae Khao Dormitories
Payap University
Chiang Mai 50000 Thailand
office 665-385-1475
home 665-324-3645
cell 6689-835-0786