The 3rd Sunday of Lent
The Blessing of Community
Happy Birthday Trina Glusenkamp Gould
“We hunt for miles and all the while it paints the scenery
Scatters and whirls an arabesque
Chorus
Hey ey Hey ey this mercy moves
God is loose hey ey
God is loose in the world
Hey ey hey ey the universe is singing
Loose hey hey God is loose in the world”
www.petermayer.com/songs/loose-in-the-world
“Inspiration” hovers over my desk in my office at home. Sue Ann collaborated with Delia to make sure that this lovely angel would “inspire” me on a daily basis. Several weeks before Christmas 2010 I found a busted tire gauge. So, I gave it to Delia one day as we were talking about angels and Lent 2011. . Lo and behold on Christmas morning, “Inspiration” was right beneath our Christmas tree.
St. Paul wrote to the folks living I Galatia. They were having all sorts of problems, issues and church fights. Some folks were still living by the flesh. Paul texted them with a series of “tweets” about what the flesh does to a person and also to folks in community. After he shared with them that he “didn’t like” the way they were living he provided a great post about the fruit of the Spirit:
22By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.
The line, “there is no law against such things” was St. Paul’s way of saying, “go for it!”
As we begin our third week of Lent our congregation is focus on The Blessing of Community. Check out these words about “social capital.”
“Social capital refers to social networks, norms of reciprocity, mutual assistance, and trustworthiness. The central insight of this approach is that social networks have real value both for the people in those networks-hence networking as a career strategy, for example, as well as for bystanders... “both bonding and bridging social networks have their uses. Bonding social capital is a kind of sociological Super Glue, whereas Bridging social capital provides a sociological WD-40. (page 2)
Robert Putnam and Lewis M. Feldstein in
Better Together: Restoring the American Communing
I grew up in a home where we gathered around the table each and every day at 5:30pm. I didn’t realize it at the time, but there were some very important community lessons being modeled and taught by Frank and Levera Glusenkamp and Grandma Vogel (my mom’s mom).
Miriam Weinstein in her book, The Surprising Power of Family Meals- How Eating Together Makes Us Smarter, Stronger, Healthier, and Happier writes: “families who eat supper together”
Discourage smoking, drug use, and teen pregnancy
Position their kids to do better in school
Pass on their ethnic, familial, and religious heritage
Help prevent eating disorders and obesity
Build their kid’s literacy, vocabulary, and conversational skills
Teach their kids manners
Promote a sense of resilience that will last a lifetime
Enjoy each other more as a family
I hope you experience the angel of “Inspiration” today and decide to celebrate the blessing of community. You can gather together, eat together, pray together, walk together and be “super glue and/or wd 40” for one another and your communities.
And hey, if you want me to come over for dinner, just give me a shout!
Peace,
rtg
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