Bishop Elaine JW Stanovsky shares a personal memory as she considers our need to discern what is enduring, and what is in need of adaptation. "Love is constant, like a mountain", she writes. "Our neighbors change from time to time, necessitating that we keep fluid, like a river."
This post brings us to the precipice of our year-long Greater Northwest Area exploration of the bible and faith as we work our way together through Brian McLaren's book, "We Make the Road by Walking."
"Shift happens," writes Rev. Dr. William D. Gibson in this preview post for the CrossOver Year blog. How we respond to these shifts in an ever emerging culture, and whether we embrace the sometimes painful "unlearning and relearning process" that accompanies them, can make all the difference as we look to embody Christ for the neighborhoods we live in, and the world we share.
The Rapanut grandkids having a light moment together before we drove to the airport.
My mother passed away earlier this month. And while she had not fully recovered from the stroke she suffered almost two years ago, her death was sudden and completely unexpected. The last time I talked to her, she was full of life and happy to report that she was making good progress in learning to walk again. That was three weeks before she died. Phone and internet lines had gone down after the devastation of Typhoon Mangkhut, preventing us from making wi-fi calls. Perhaps I should have tried harder to find other means to connect. It’s too late now.
No matter how hard we prepare ourselves and our loved ones for it, death still comes with an impact that shakes us to the very core. We who are left behind are left to pick up the pieces from the life that has ended while dealing with the void created in our own lives and the deep sense of loss.
So many details. So many matters to think of: planning of the wake, the funeral; what to write in the obituary; what to write on the epitaph for the tombstone; volumes of paperwork that goes with reporting the death so that pension benefits may transfer to the surviving spouse; more paperwork for bank accounts to be transferred; the care of my aunt, Mama’s younger sister, who is mentally handicapped and has been under Mama’s care since our grandmother passed away. I could go on with this list…
And then there’s the grief. The deep sense of loss. Even if the aforementioned logistical details were all taken care of, the painful fact still remains – our Mama is dead. And she has left a gaping hole in our hearts. She will no longer be there to answer when I make a video call. She will no longer call me with a joyful report about how many more steps she has taken today. She will no longer be there to watch with pride and joy as her grandchildren play the saxophone, piano and guitar or cheer for them as they run, swim, play volleyball or taekwondo. She will no longer be there to give encouraging words for my ministry…
I have been on the phone with my Papa Joe more frequently these past few weeks after Mama’s passing. I’ve been on the phone with my brother Noel almost everyday since we got back from the Philippines for Mama’s funeral. This is something we’ve not done as much as we would like to since my family and I moved to Alaska almost 10 years ago. Even in death, Mama has her way of keeping her family close and connected as she did when she was alive. We are supporting each other in our grief. We are crying together, and laughing together as we remember our beloved Mama Rhona. We are journeying together and figuring things and details out as we go. We are “making the road by walking” and we are trusting that God is walking with us.
To honor the mathematician that Mama was, we came up with an epitaph that describes her life in mathematical terms: “a finite life lived in infinite grace.” As we make the road by walking, we pray that this road be one that would honor her memory, keep alive her legacy and ultimately glorify God.
What about you, dear friend? What shifts or changes, great or small, are you, your family, your group or your community going through right now, throwing your life into a complete tailspin and causing you to lose hope and sense of grounding? Is a way forward yet unknown? Is the road ahead yet unseen? How can I journey with you so that together, we might make the road by walking? And more importantly, how can we together trust that God is journeying with us, even as we walk through the valley of life’s deep and dark shadows?
Let’s talk. Let’s journey with God. And together, let’s make the road by walking.
Your fellow disciple,
Carlo
+++
In Memory
To the one who first taught me how to walk, physically and spiritually, and I know walks with me still.
Teofina “Rhona” Axibal Rapanut
August 8, 1947 – October 4, 2018 A finite life lived in infinite grace
Rev. Carlo Rapanut serves as Conference Superintendent for the Alaska Conference of The United Methodist Church.
Across the northwest, rooms filled with ordinary people are putting their trust again in an extraordinary God!
This video provides a snapshot of the ‘Love Thy Neighbor’ Ordinary Revivals as they crossed the Greater Northwest last summer, seeking to inspire new connections between faithful people and the communities they live in. These revivals remind us that God is indeed at work outside the church and that there is strength in diverse communities that keep their hearts open to cries for justice.
Keep your eyes open for information on revivals coming to Boise (ID), Anchorage (AK) and Tri-Cities (WA) in the spring of 2019.
Riffing off of the late Phyllis Tickle's theory that the Church undergoes "an epoch-changing transformation" every 500 years or so, SeaTac Missional District Superintendent Rev. Rich Lang considers the complexity of the crossing over we are undergoing today. Raising big questions, Lang writes, "We are always crossing over from what is to what is coming."
"I have yet to hear any mention of “crossover” that does not immediately cause me to think of immigrants," writes the Rev. Karen Hernandez in this preview post for the Greater Northwest Area's CrossOver study. Hernandez shares a story she encountered in which Jesus is understood as El Buen Coyote, "the one who breaks some laws in order to fulfill the Gospel."
Starting this Advent, the Greater Northwest Area will begin a CrossOver year study together. Groups and individuals will work their way through short readings of Brian McLaren’s book We Make the Road by Walking over the 12 months that follow. This study will be complemented by short reflections and creative pieces offered regularly throughout the year, like this one republished with permission from Steve Garnass-Holmes.
As we consider the journey ahead in this CrossOver year, how will we bring Jesus with us? That is a question Garnass-Holmes’ piece begs of us. What else does it evoke in you?
When we watch the news coverage of Hurricane Florence on the Atlantic coast of the United States and Typhoon Mangkhut ravaging the Philippines and Northern Mariana Islands, we feel the hurt, and we see what it takes for healing to begin. In every natural disaster lives unravel in ways that take months or years to put back together.
We have neighbors in North Carolina and in the Philippines, who need our love to put their lives back together. And we have United Methodist partners who can carry our love to heal what was broken in these storms.
On Sunday, September 23 or 30, please give what you can to put your love to work by giving to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). You can give through your local church by marking a donation to the U.S. Disaster Response fund (#901670) or the International Disaster Response Fund (#982450). 100% of your gift will be used for response work relief with no administrative overhead.
Or you can give online at www.umcor.org/donate. You can include your church name when you give so it will be recognized.
And as you give, pray for the people whose lives are disrupted and for those who are responding. Also say thanks for the United Methodist connections that give us confidence that our gifts are used wisely, for the purpose given, to benefit all God’s people.
In a couple of weeks I’ll invite United Methodists and friends in the Greater Northwest Area to join a year-long devotional study beginning with Advent 2018. I hope many of you will form small groups to engage in this study together, but individuals can do it on their own. I hope that together we can renew our faith for the challenges we face in our lives, the Church, the nation and the world.
In We Make the Road by Walking, Brian McLaren introduces us afresh to the principles of Christian faith and bible teachings. Each week, in 3-4 pages, he invites us to revisit biblical principles and our lives of faith. We’ll create a blog to go alongside the study, with reflections and prayers by leaders of our Conferences, and a place for comments and conversation.
Some of you may already have your plans for Advent and beyond. If you can, I hope this Christian practice will fit into your other plans — especially since it will carry through this entire CrossOver Year. The CrossOver Year begins December 2, 2018 and ends November 24, 2019, with the special General Conference in February. I hope this notice is coming early enough that you can start encouraging participation now.
Watch for more information in the roll-out of the CrossOver Year — coming soon!
In a time of increased polarization, Rev. Dr. William D. Gibson calls into question the practice of building faith communities around affinity. While the strategy has a long history of what some would call success, the theological compromises it requires, when used as a primary tool for development, leave us with segregated faith communities which reinforce difference and protect privilege.
