20th Sunday after Pentecost-Proper 24A

20th Sunday after Pentecost-Proper 24A October 18, 2020 This past week, as Fran and I sat outside in the mild temperatures giving out communion, I remarked about all the butterflies I had seen around on the church campus lately—all different colors and sizes. She said, “Did you know the yellow ones only live 24 hours?” I expressed my surprise, and she said, “Yes, just think about it. They live their whole lives in just one day: they are born they mate and have children; they fly around; they eat; and then they die. All in a single day. It’s kind of sad if you think about it.” And she was right, but I also realized that their impermanence made them that much more beautiful. As I was giving out communion this week, I asked many of you how you were doing, if you were ready to come back to church. Of course, there were as many different answers as there are different people in this church, but I was struck by a theme that I heard from some of our older members. They talked about the impermanence of the current situation, about their faith that it wouldn’t go on forever. They said they’d been so careful for so many months, and they didn’t want to do anything to compromise that carefulness at this present moment. I was also grateful to see some Facebook memories this past week. Kelly Bianco shared pictures from 4 years ago when the church fed the neighborhood after Hurricane Matthew, and I also got to see beautiful pictures capturing all the energy and fun of our fist CAST event this time last year. It was helpful for me to see those joyful memories alongside the reminders from some of our more seasoned parishioners about the impermanence of this present season coupled with those yellow butterflies who seem to be everywhere, now that I have eyes to look for them. I have been deeply grateful for those gifts in my life this week. Also, this past week, I listened to a podcast while walking. It’s called 10 Percent Happier with journalist Dan Harris. Harris, an anchor for a major network, had a panic attack while on live tv, and so he started a meditation practice and now uses the podcast platform to interview people who talk about how we can be happier. The episode I listened to is titled What’s the point of joy right now? and the guest Harris interviewed is James Baraz, who is the author of the book Awakening Joy and is a practicing Buddhist. In the podcast, Baraz spends a lot of time talking about mindfulness and how we can have “an equipment of mind to disarm all hostility.” This means paying attention to how things feel. For example, if you’re in the middle of a generous act, think to yourself, “I’m being generous now.” And it’s not to try to get attention for being generous from other people but rather it is to notice how good it feels for generosity to move through this being. Because whatever one ponders upon, that will become the frequency of the mind. Baraz quotes a friend of his who likes to say, “The brain is like Teflon for positive experiences and Velcro for negative ones.” And then he goes on to elaborate: “It takes some training to be on the look out for the good and not only notice it but to be present for it mindfully not just as a thought ‘Oh, this is a good moment. I’m happy now.’ But actually to be mindful in your body. So instead of knowing ‘Oh, I’m feeling good right now,’ to notice ‘Oh, this is what it feels like to feel good.’ And just with a few moments of turning your attention to that, so that there is a visceral experience, is tremendously powerful. And that’s what we [need to] do over a course of time.” We have the power to cultivate an “equipment of mind” to overcome negativity and hostility by focusing on positive experiences, even cultivating them, and paying attention to how our bodies and souls feel when we have them. And the more we do it, the easier it gets. So, what does all this have to do with any of the readings today? In the letter of Paul to the Thessalonians, we see Paul using the standard opening of this time. This is the oldest of Paul’s letter’s, probably the oldest book of the New Testament. And what does it start with? What does Paul start with? “We always give thanks to God for all of you…” Paul starts with gratitude. Paul, who is away from these people he loves, is writing to them to encourage them; he has caused great suffering upon others in his life, and he will know great suffering. And yet he starts with gratitude. Today, we are kicking off the 2021 Annual Giving Campaign. It is titled Sheltering St. Thomas: Giving in Gratitude, and it is our hope that this campaign will be a love-letter to you, this church, about all the ways we are grateful for each other. We want to focus on gratitude as a spiritual practice and to invite everyone to tap into your own gratitude for the mission and ministry of St. Thomas—whether that is gratitude for the past, the present, or the good things that we know are to come in the future. Beginning today and continuing through November 22nd, you will hear reflections from different parishioners on social media and our website right after this service. (We’ll also send out the links in our weekly emails.) Today, you will hear from our Senior Warden and his wife about the gratitude for St. Thomas in this present impermanent moment and in the past. After you listen to them, I invite you to begin reflecting on your own gratitude for the mission and ministry of this church. This past week, I discovered a prayer written by Ted Loder in his book Guerrillas of Grace. I’ll read the whole prayer through and then share with you the line that especially struck me. I Need to Breathe Deeply – Oct. 14, 2020 Eternal Friend, grant me an ease to breathe deeply of this moment, this light, this miracle of now. Beneath the din and fury of great movements and harsh news and urgent crises, make me attentive still to good news, to small occasions, and the grace of what is possible for me to be, to do, to give, to receive, that I may miss neither my neighbor’s gift nor my enemy’s need. Precious Lord, grant me a sense of humor that adds perspective to compassion, gratitude that adds persistence to courage, quietness of spirit that adds irrepressibility to hope, openness of mind that adds surprise to joy; that with gladness of heart I may link arm and aim with the One who saw signs of your kingdom in salt and yeast, pearls and seeds, travelers and tax collectors, sowers and harlots, foreigners and fishermen, and open my eyes with these signs and my ears with the summons to follow to something more of justice and joy.i. This week, I invite you to join me in looking out for your “gratitude that adds persistence to courage” and to pay attention to the good in your life and in the world around you. i. https://inwardoutward.org/i-need-to-breathe-deeply-oct-14-2020/—Ted Loder, Guerrillas of Grace