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January 2010
Dear Friends in Christ
We’re at that time of year again. School is out. Plans for summer vacations are rolling. The short-sleeved shirts come to the front of the closet and the sweaters go to the back. Days grow longer and warmer and the smell of new mown grass stays nearby most of the time.
Summer seems to be an energizing time for so many people. We catch up on chores around the house. We spend more time with immediate and extended family (reunions anyone?), and generally get more sunshine and fresh air. Thank God for summer. No, truly, thank God for summer.
If there is a time of year that fully demonstrates the renewing, abundant love of the Creator, it’s summer. There are all the obvious things that demonstrate this to us. Crops are growing in the fields. The fruit we eat is at its very best. The trees whisper to us in their lush green movements. The streams, no longer frozen, flow past, tempting us to stick in a toe, or a foot, or jump in. Children seem to laugh more and run more. More living seems to be packed into every day. Summer, more than the other seasons, seems to be easier on most people.
In many ways, the season of summer touches the same part of my heart as the Eucharist. In both cases, I get to immerse myself in the plenty of God and give thanks for all the wonderful gifts God gives. After all, the word Eucharist means “The Great Thanksgiving.” One of the wonderful characteristics about the Eucharist is the way it helps bind us together in community. All of us are welcome at the Eucharistic table. All of us are invited to lay aside the worries and struggles, the hurts and pains that may take so much of our energy in other moments of our lives. The Eucharist gives us time to allow the prayers, the blessings, the sanctified Bread and Wine to renew us, strengthen us, and to give us the wisdom to know that the love we feel in our lives and show to others is God working in the world. It is like jumping into the summer stream – refreshing and invigorating.
As you head out on your summer adventures, don’t forget the One who is the founder of your summer feast. Take time in your summer pursuits to thank God for God’s continual love and goodness. Remember too, that Eucharist is celebrated in community. Be present. Be renewed.
Blessings
Claudia+
Dear Friends -
I have been attending a book study group every other Wednesday for the last several months. The group decided when it was formed, that it didn't want to take on the usual fare of romance or dramatic stories that often become the center of such group discussions. Instead, everyone determined to mentally stretch themselves. After some discussion, the group decided to read Dietrich Bonheoffer's, Ethics. I admitted to the group that I had already read the book a number of years ago, but I'm glad to be reading it again. It is writing definitely worth revisiting.
Bonheoffer was facing a terrifying existence while writing this book. He had opposed the Nazi regime in previous articles, sermons and actions. The cost of his outspoken resistance was his freedom. Placed in a concentration camp from which he would never be released, he began to write on every little scrap of paper he could find. Several of the chapters in his work are incomplete or in need of some editing, but they at least survived whereas the writer did not.
One of Bonheoffer's main arguments in his book is that our ethics cannot be things of convenience – turned off and on as opportunity and situation arise. Bonheoffer reminds us that God is everywhere, in everything, and with everyone. Consider that for a moment. God is not only in the Church but on the freeway; not only in our living room but also in the bathroom; not only in the park on a beautiful sunlit day but also in the bar in the middle of the night. Like it or not – accept it or not – God is everywhere and with everyone. God only creates good, therefore all that is created is good. It’s just that sometimes it gets covered in crap.
Our task as Christians is to wipe off that crap and see the good that God has surrounded us with. We are not to fall victim to the delusion that most things, events and people are evil, or at the very least, not worth our attention. How is our view of the world reformed when we remember that the whole world belongs to God? The biggest lie that evil ever tells us is the lie that we are fighting to make the world a good place. The reality of God is that we are fighting to help everyone come into the truth that God’s world and all that is in it is good.
The Easter season reminds us of the creative and redeeming force of God and the creative and renewing power of God’s love and goodness. Christ’s atonement empowers us to rejoice in the power of that creation and to celebrate the fact that we are a part of it. Bonheoffer knew this. In the midst of darkness, pain and suffering, he turned his heart’s eye toward the love and creative force of God, inspiring generations to view the world again with new eyes. Wouldn't’t it be wonderful for us to inspire others in the same way?
Blessings
Claudia+
Dear Parish Family
Here we sit in Eastertide. So, what is this Jesus thing all about? Just what are we talking about, singing hymns about, getting dressed up about? Is Easter season really anything more than just the adaptation of an ancient pagan ritual celebrating the rite of spring? Of course, you know, that in my line of work – I have to say yes. But let me assure you, that as a rational, well-read, thinking individual – with or without the collar wrapped around my neck – the answer would still be yes. Easter is more than just a time to shed the chill of winter, and Jesus is more than just a word heard in church or with an exclamation point after it.
It’s easy to understand why we might ask whether Easter or Jesus have any consequential meaning for us. It often seems as if the majority of people in our world have either shrugged off their religious attire, or wear it so tightly wound around them that it has cut off their spiritual circulation, leaving them cold hearted and lacking the necessary oxygen for spiritual thought. L. William Countryman, in his book Living in the Border of the Holy, writes that the world is characterized by “hostility along the dividing lines of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion and class: by complex economic and political justifications for arrogance, selfishness, and greed . . . by new forms of homicidal absolutism in the world religions; by an intense desire to prove ourselves always in the right and our enemies always in the wrong . . . “ If this is so, (and I think it is) then it’s not difficult to understand how easily the message of Easter – that Jesus has cut our bonds of slavery to sin and shown us a living Christ who offers us eternal life – might be a message that doesn't’t get through.
Perhaps it is just too easy not to recognize that Jesus continues to cut these bonds of slavery and offers eternal life every second of every day. Our lives can be full of worries and mishaps – a thousand voices urging us to be angry and defensive – encouraging us to see others as objects to be avoided or exploited rather than as Christ’s people in community with us. It is too easy to find ourselves feeling powerless and alone. But each time we make a decision, determine whether to help or hinder someone else’s progress, speak truth to power, or consent in silence, we determine whether we are seeing Jesus as the risen Christ or not. Faith is a two way street. The love of Christ is offered – but we have to decide to accept it. That means allowing the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and the love that Christ gives, to count enough in our own personal court that we permit ourselves to be made new. Our choice determines whether or not we understand how enslaved we are to a thousand things and actions that keep us from the constant companionship of an ever faithful Lord. Christ’s offer of redemption is ongoing. Jesus’ loyalty to us is unfailing – even when we forget to return the favor. Christ says to us, over and over and over again. I am with you always. I forgive you. I love you. Powerful messages intended to empower us every day.
We look out the window and see the rite of spring happening all around us. New growth, new life. God’s creation. Is it really so hard to imagine, that like the earth after a long winter, Christ provides us a way to begin new too. Over and over and over again.
May the Blessings of the Risen Christ Be Yours
Claudia+
Dear Friends
My grandmother was a quilter. No matter the time of year, as long as her hands were able and her eyes could see fairly well, she would make quilts. She and her friends would gather in my grandmother's big living room in the winter months, and on the large front porch in the summer. There they would set up their frame, exchange family stories, drink plenty of iced tea, and fawn over the latest pieces of bright materials they had found for their project.
By the time she died, my grandmother had made at least one large quilt for each of her ten children and her more than forty grandchildren. Even quite a few of the great grandchildren had received such a gift. I still have the one she made for me. It's a series of pinwheels. Each stitch placed carefully by hand. Each piece of material comes from a dress or a shirt – or even a pair of shorts I wore at one time or another. That quilt represents my childhood. That quilt represents my grandmother's patience and careful planning. That quilt represents our love for each other, bonded into the stitches of its creation.
This month marks the completion of the beautiful mosaic that has been lovingly created at St. Peter's. Each piece of the mosaic has been carefully placed, embedded in the grout, cleaned and polished. Each stone, bead, marble – each little piece of jewelry or pottery or plate – shows care and patience taken by members of this parish in order to create something beautiful. It is an act of love – evidence of the hearts that dwell here. It will be beautiful hanging in the Narthex.
Like the pieces of that wonderful mosaic, the people of St. Peter's create, together, their own beautiful picture. Each member shines with particular talents, skills, and interests. Some of those abilities have already been demonstrated to me. I can hardly wait to see what shines through from you next. It is a blessing getting to know you.
Claudia+
Dear People of St. Peter's
This new year brings a new priest to St. Peter's. I know that it was a surprise to many of you to learn of Susan's leaving. Her gentleness and humor are to be treasured. She loves the people of St. Peter's and will miss you. Susan's spiritual journey has brought her to a new calling. She will be a wonderful Hospice Chaplain.
It is often difficult having to accept change. We just get comfortable – get into a routine - and then, we have to start all over again. Usually, when a new Rector comes into a parish, there has been an Interim time before. That's a time when the congregation has a priest who temporarily maintains the functions of the parish while a Search Committee puts together a Parish profile and conducts a search for the right person to fit the need.
Because the Diocese pays for a priest to be at St. Peter's, this parish skips the whole Interim and Search process and simply has a new priest delivered to their door. This can be both convenient and worrisome. Convenient because it saves time and money. Worrisome because the parish more or less has to take who is sent. I suppose it's like buying a car without a test drive. You don't even get to kick the tires. (PLEASE don't kick the tires!)
Over the next few months we will get to know each other. But to do that, someone has to make the first introduction. So, let me say just a few things about myself so I won't be a complete stranger to you.
My name is Claudia Seiter. I am currently the Vicar of St. Michael's in Brigham City. This is now your sister parish. St. Mike's and St. Pete's will share priests and some ministries. Over the next few months together, we'll figure out how to do that. I have been the Vicar of St. Michael's for 2 years. Before that, I was the Associate Rector of Good Shepherd in Ogden for 6 years. I currently serve on the Commission on Ministry and have served in a variety of diocesan positions in the past. My husband's name is David. We have 4 grown children and 9 grandchildren with another on the way. I taught high school for 30 years and loved it. So, nothing scares me!
More importantly, I want to fall in love with you. I know, that sounds really corny and insincere. But, I firmly believe that the only way a community of faith can function effectively is if every member tries to fall in love with everyone else who comes through the door. The only way I know to teach that lesson is to do it.
The next few months will be challenging for us. Trying to figure out schedules; helping me and my Assisting Priest, The Rev. Canon Ivan Cendese, PhD., and my deacon, The Rev Deanna Sue Adams, get to know you; learning to trust and rely on each other. All those things take time.
I hope that you will step with me into this next part of the St. Peter's journey. I look forward to meeting you, getting to know you, and learning to love you.
Blessings
Claudia +
P.S. To help get this going, please circle Sunday, January 31, on your calendar. Following our Annual Meeting, I'm hosting a special brunch for the parish, in the parish hall. It's my way of letting you know how happy I am to be with you.