EcclesiaGram

On the Agenda

Every Day

2:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Our House is open

85 Grand Street

Mon., Wed. & Fri.

Noon

Thursdays at 7:00 p.m.

Meditation

85 Grand Street

Sundays

1:30 p.m.

Weekly worship

77 Grand Street

Song of

the Week

Robert Hunter wrote this piece in 1970. It became one of the Grateful Dead's signature songs. Maybe it's a song about life but it could also be about the spiritual journey. Listen to Ripple carefully and you'll hear allusions to Psalm 23.

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Thanks to so many of you for helping us to match a $3,000 challenge grant. Together, we've raised enough money to keep Our House running through the end of May. Click on the photo to learn more.

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St. George's Church

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Soul Food

North Congregational United Church of Christ

It's good to see you. We hope you're appreciating the change in weather, getting a chance to relax, and taking every opportunity to smile!
This week, we invite you to step into the song of the week from the Grateful Dead and see how it connects you with scripture and the journey, read about a generous Sister Act, and muse about greed and certitude in a quick look at next week's gospel lesson. As always, we ask that you help spread the word about what we're up to by forwarding this epistle to a friend and "liking" us on Facebook (The links are over there to your left).

The Sisters' Gifts

   It was a small wish list - some wooden chairs, a table large enough to seat 12, a couple of chairs for the parlors, a couple of cabinets for the respite care room . . . folding chairs. We didn't know where they'd come from; we just knew they would.
    Then came the email from Sr. Mary Byrnes saying that the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary were putting a building on the market and needed to part with some furniture. She sent photos - chairs, a piano, organ, couches, tables . . . all sorts of stuff, enough to replace or add to the drop-in center's furnishings, and fill the Hope Center to overflowing . . . "Well, we could use some of it," we said. "Come on over," said Mary, "We'd love for you to take whatever you need."
   And, so, we did. The next time you stop by, you'll see the sisters' kind gifts being put to good use here at Hope.
   We're big fans of the sisters. Their commitment to serving women and children in poverty is unsurpassed. So too is their commitment to social justice and care for all of God's Creation. They let their light shine through their deeds.

We look forward to continuing the journey with them.

Greed and Other Fun Things

Speaking of Sisters of the Presentation, one of the sisters - Sr. Virginia - stopped by to chat the other day. As we talked about what we'd all been up to the past several months since we had our last opportunity to connect, Sr. Virginia told of a workshop she'd facilitated called "How Much Is Enough"?
Good question - How much is enough? There's a part of us (or, at least, our culture) that says we can never have enough. Indeed, survey after survey of folks in America tell us that no matter what your economi greedy

c status, we could all use about 20 percent more income than we currently have. If we just made 20 percent more, we'd have enough. They didn't survey me but if they did, I think I would have agreed . . . Just a little more and we'll be set . . . We could go to Assisi every year, maybe somewhere else too and we could have someone else paint the boat and sock some dough away for the grandkids, and replace the hubcap that fell off the Corolla a year ago . . .
   Where does that come from? Here in America, we can blame others for "making" us want more. There's plenty of evidence too. Just turn on commercial radio or TV or pick up a newspaper or magazine or listen to a conversation at a party and it's all the same - need more, get more, buy more of the newest, greatest, best. You can even watch real solid documentaries about how "they" scheme to get us to spend more and more by wanting more and more. (You might want to check out this Front Line piece from 2004 called The Persuaders.)
   But, if we read next week's gospel lesson - Luke 12:13-21 - we begin to unmask the real culprits - us. I mean, there wasn't any TV or Radio or Jerusalem Post running ads enticing folks with the biggest and best. There were only people being people afflicted with their own humanity.
   And, so Jesus told a parable about a man who had so much that he had to build new barns to hold it all and make ready for the day when he could kick back and party. "I" and "my" domina greed

te the monologue by this guy who thought he was the source of his success, that he owed no one anything, that easy street was just around the corner. The problem was that what was right around the corner was death and all that the man had worked for was left behind.
   The story is not about having money or being rich. On one level, the story is about greed, a part of the human condition that we're not too eager to talk about unless it's in the context of someone else's life (Sweet Honey in the Rock sings in Greed, "we can see it so clearly in everybody else").
   What's wrong with a little greed?
   What's "wrong" is that it gets in the way with our relationship with God and with others, the ones whom we have been called to love, the ones with whom we have been called into relationship. When desire leads to craving and craving leads to a clinging attachment, life gets out of balance. It works that way with money and things of this world. It also works that way with our relationship with God. We can project so much onto God that we can't see God at work in our lives. We can also want a relationship with God so badly that we don't see that we already have a relationship with God, that it is God-driven, and that we need to get out of the way.
   On another level, the story is about how we lull ourselves into believing that we are in control, that we can amass holdings and all sorts of other things so that we're safely protected from the vagaries of an economy or life in general. The need to control situations, to insulate ourselves from the challenges of live, the need for certitude in all things can make for an unlived life in which we are unable or unwilling to live our lives with the purpose and passion God intends for us.
   Just a couple of thoughts . . ..

Many blessings.

The Rev. Steve Ruelke

Ecclesia Ministries of Newburgh

P: 845-527-0405

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