Holding on to What Holds Us
July 11, 2010
Rev. Susan E. Gilbert Zencka
Frame Memorial Presbyterian Church
Texts: Luke 10:25-37; Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Often during the summer, people gather in family reunions. When I lived in and around Chicago, you could often on the weekends see signs at parks anywhere in the area: Hamilton family reunion, Kitowski reunion, Cummings family picnic. I’ve only been to one family reunion – 24 years ago Carl, Jason, and I went to the Schendorf family reunion – the gathering of my mother’s father’s family. My mother’s father, Winfield Schendorf, was the firstborn of eight, and so this was a large family. The thing that made the reunion a little odd for me was that I had only met one person there (other than Carl and Jason). For a few reasons, the kinds of reasons that sometimes develop in families, we didn’t have much of a relationship with my grandfather’s family, and yet, we were invited to the reunion, and so I went. It was a wonderful, and interesting experience. Although I didn’t know them, many of the people there were my mother’s cousins, and we heard time and time again of how much they loved her. I kept looking around, trying to see if I looked like any of these people. Continue...
Frame Memorial Presbyterian Church
Texts: Luke 10:25-37; Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Often during the summer, people gather in family reunions. When I lived in and around Chicago, you could often on the weekends see signs at parks anywhere in the area: Hamilton family reunion, Kitowski reunion, Cummings family picnic. I’ve only been to one family reunion – 24 years ago Carl, Jason, and I went to the Schendorf family reunion – the gathering of my mother’s father’s family. My mother’s father, Winfield Schendorf, was the firstborn of eight, and so this was a large family. The thing that made the reunion a little odd for me was that I had only met one person there (other than Carl and Jason). For a few reasons, the kinds of reasons that sometimes develop in families, we didn’t have much of a relationship with my grandfather’s family, and yet, we were invited to the reunion, and so I went. It was a wonderful, and interesting experience. Although I didn’t know them, many of the people there were my mother’s cousins, and we heard time and time again of how much they loved her. I kept looking around, trying to see if I looked like any of these people. Continue...
Seeking as a Way of Life
June 20, 2010
Texts: Psalms 42 &43; 1 Kings 19:1-15a
Today’s readings are some of my very favorites – I love Psalm 42, some of its verses touch me so deeply, and I love the story about Elijah – it was also the passage that I had to take one of my ordination exams on. And it is a story that really needs to be set in its context, so let me tell the back story. Continue...
Today’s readings are some of my very favorites – I love Psalm 42, some of its verses touch me so deeply, and I love the story about Elijah – it was also the passage that I had to take one of my ordination exams on. And it is a story that really needs to be set in its context, so let me tell the back story. Continue...
Gratitude as a Way of Life
June 13, 2010
Texts: 1 Kings 21:1-21a; Luke 7:36-8:3
These stories are so different, and in this case, the differences between the stories tell us more than either story on its own. Continue...
These stories are so different, and in this case, the differences between the stories tell us more than either story on its own. Continue...
New Life as a Way of Life
June 06, 2010
Texts: 1 Kings 17:8-24; Luke 7:11-17
I have a definite appreciation for the fact that in a week when I was sicker than I have been in almost 20 years, both scripture readings are about healing. To add to this theme, last night, the AMC channel showed two movies: Virus and Outbreak. Really. I skipped TV. Continue...
I have a definite appreciation for the fact that in a week when I was sicker than I have been in almost 20 years, both scripture readings are about healing. To add to this theme, last night, the AMC channel showed two movies: Virus and Outbreak. Really. I skipped TV. Continue...
A New Kind of Comm-Unity
May 16, 2010
Text: Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21; John17:20-26
I was in our nation’s capital two weeks ago for a conference – I was one of 70 religious leaders from a variety of denominations: there were clergy who were Presbyterian, American Baptist, Cooperative Baptist, Episcopalian, Unitarian Universalist, Orthodox Jewish, Jewish Renewal, United Church of Christ, Lutheran, Methodist; there were Catholic nuns, and laypeople from most of the above plus Zen Buddhists and Baha’i. All these different traditions, coming together for the national Interfaith Power and Light conference – Interfaith Power and Light is a religious response to global warming, it is an organization which now has chapters in 38 states, including Wisconsin. This is exciting to me – different faith traditions are not known for getting along, yet all over the country, there are interfaith groups uniting around climate change – much as they have around other moral issues, such as the civil rights movement fifty years ago, or child labor 100 years ago. As I said, it is exciting to me to see people of many faiths working together on issues, impelled by their faith to set aside differences and work together. Because usually the world of the church/synagogue/mosque and meeting for worship is a world where our differences often seem more to carry more weight than what we have in common. Continue...
I was in our nation’s capital two weeks ago for a conference – I was one of 70 religious leaders from a variety of denominations: there were clergy who were Presbyterian, American Baptist, Cooperative Baptist, Episcopalian, Unitarian Universalist, Orthodox Jewish, Jewish Renewal, United Church of Christ, Lutheran, Methodist; there were Catholic nuns, and laypeople from most of the above plus Zen Buddhists and Baha’i. All these different traditions, coming together for the national Interfaith Power and Light conference – Interfaith Power and Light is a religious response to global warming, it is an organization which now has chapters in 38 states, including Wisconsin. This is exciting to me – different faith traditions are not known for getting along, yet all over the country, there are interfaith groups uniting around climate change – much as they have around other moral issues, such as the civil rights movement fifty years ago, or child labor 100 years ago. As I said, it is exciting to me to see people of many faiths working together on issues, impelled by their faith to set aside differences and work together. Because usually the world of the church/synagogue/mosque and meeting for worship is a world where our differences often seem more to carry more weight than what we have in common. Continue...
Beginning the Growing Season
May 09, 2010
Texts: Ephesians 3:14-21; John 15:1-11
One thing about the long, lovely Wisconsin winter is that spring is really welcome. Although winter can always make a surprise return, as yesterday’s snowfall makes clear. Nonetheless, in our front yard, our garden beds have been full of blooming daffodils and grape hyacinths, and now the other perennials are emerging. Continue...
One thing about the long, lovely Wisconsin winter is that spring is really welcome. Although winter can always make a surprise return, as yesterday’s snowfall makes clear. Nonetheless, in our front yard, our garden beds have been full of blooming daffodils and grape hyacinths, and now the other perennials are emerging. Continue...
We Are the Ones Creation is Waiting For
April 25, 2010
Texts: Isaiah 65:17-25, Romans 8:19-23a, John 14:15-21
A great deal of the Bible shows that God intended humans and animals to live in harmony: from the creation stories to the many psalms that describe animals, to the Exodus stories where firstborn animals were killed or spared in the original Passover alongside the humans who lived or perished. Our lot, in the Bible, is cast with the fate of animals around us. Continue...
A great deal of the Bible shows that God intended humans and animals to live in harmony: from the creation stories to the many psalms that describe animals, to the Exodus stories where firstborn animals were killed or spared in the original Passover alongside the humans who lived or perished. Our lot, in the Bible, is cast with the fate of animals around us. Continue...
New Beginnings
April 18, 2010
The place I first saw the Sea of Galilee close up last summer was the place that is the traditional site for this story of Peter and Jesus. We don’t know for sure that it was the place, but it easily could have been. It was not too far from Capernaum, where Peter’s home was, and it was a gentle shoreline, easily accessible from the water. It would be a lovely place for a beach breakfast. Continue...