Fully Alive in God

M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Jer. 2:4-13; Ps. 81:1, 10-16; Heb. 13:1-8, 15-16; Luke 14:1, 7-14) “I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.  Open your mouth wide and I will fill it (Psalm 81:10).” Last year, I was hearing a local priest talk about bringing a bunch of youth to work on a collaborative service project each year in a town called Red Shirt, on a Lakota Sioux Native American Reservation in South Dakota, a town and people I have also gotten to know.  The priest mentioned how they always have a big meal to which everyone in the community is invited.  A big cookout.  And the priest made sure that the elderly and the children went first, leaving the adults and then the young adults, particularly the young men who traveled with him for last.  He said that this made the young guys a bit nervous, that they wouldn’t be able to pile up their plates as they were accustomed to, but he pointed out, they need to b...

M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Jer. 2:4-13; S. 81:1, 10-16; Heb. 13:1-8, 15-16; Lucas 14:1, 7-14) “Yo soy el Señor tu Dios, que te saqu é del país de Egipto; y dije, “Abre tu boca, y yo la llenar é ” (Salmo 81:10). El año pasado , yo estaba escuchando una charla de un sacerdote local de un proyecto que el tenia traer un grupo de jóvenes a trabajar en servicio en conjunto con la gente de una ciudad llamada Red Shirt (o “Camisa Roja”) , en una reservación de la gente indígena Lakota Sioux en Dakota del Sur.  Es un pueblo que yo también  conozco. El sacerdote mencion ó que siempre tienen una gran comida a la que todos los miembros de la comunidad están invitados. This Episcopal group that ministers with the local Episcopal Church always puts on a good meal.   El sacerdote se aseguró de que los ancianos y los niños comieron primero, dejando a los adultos y los adultos jóvenes, sobre todo los hombres jóvenes del grupo de servicio, para el último. Dijo qu...

Melissa Campbell-Langdell+ All Santos, Oxnard (Jeremiah 1:4–10; Psalm 71:1–6; Hebrews 12:18–29; Luke 13:10–17) In the antebellum South, African-American slaves were encouraged to spend the Sabbath in violent athletic pursuits, such as boxing, rather than prayer.  Now, not all pursuits of boxing and wrestling are degrading, but when a people are constrained to only live out violent bodily activities as opposed to worship of God on the Sabbath day, it is a problem.  Frederick Douglass, a famous freed-slave who became a leader of the abolitionist movement, said: “It was necessary to keep our religious masters at St. Michael’s unacquainted with the fact that, instead of spending the Sabbath in wrestling, boxing, or drinking whiskey, we were trying to learn how to read the will of God; for they had much rather see us engaged in those degrading sports, than to see us behaving like intellectual, moral and accountable beings.” [1] And in this gospel, too, we have a relig...

Melissa Campbell-Langdell+ All Santos, Oxnard (Jeremías 1:4–10; Salmo 71:1–6; Hebreos 12:18–29; San Lucas 13:10–17) En el Sur de los Estados Unidos antes de la guerra civil, los amos de los esclavos quisieron que los esclavos afroamericanos pasaran el domingo, el día de descanso en las actividades atléticas y violentas, como el boxeo, en lugar de la oración. In the antebellum, or pre Civil War South, African American slaves were encouraged not to pray on Sunday, their Sabbath day, but to fight.  Ahora bien, no todas las actividades de boxeo y la lucha libre degradan, pero cuando un pueblo esta obligado a participar sólo en actividades corporales y violentas en vez de la adoración de Dios en el día de reposo, es un problema. Frederick Douglass, un famoso esclavo que se liber ó   y se hizo en un líder del movimiento ante la esclavitud durante esa época, dijo: "Era necesario para mantener a nuestros maestros religiosos de San Miguel en ignorancia del hecho de que, en...

M. Campbell-Langdell All Saints, Oxnard (Isaiah 1:1, 10-20; Ps. 50:1-8, 23-24 LOC; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40) Hello dear ones!  Some of you know I was there with Jesus those thirty-some years ago and spent some time with him.  Let me tell you a small portion of my story. Well, many of you know that about thirty years back I was in Judea minding my own business when I heard about this Rabbi, Jesus.  I went to hear him speak, walked a day in the heat from my home and found some other of his disciples just spending time at his feet. I must tell you that at that moment, my life was changed. You might think that I went to him, but really it felt like he came into my life and suddenly everything was different.  He shared so many stories with us, so much hope for a new way of living, freedom from the cares of this world.  I will never forget the day he sat us down--the core group of disciples and those of us who had begun to hang around because w...

M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Isaías 1:1, 10-20; S. 50:1-8, 23-24 LOC; Hebreos 11:1-3, 8-16; Lucas 12:32-40) ¡Hola queridos míos! Algunos de ustedes saben que yo estaba allí con Jesús hace los treinta y tantos años y pasaba algún tiempo con él. Déjenme contarles una pequeña parte de mi historia. So many years ago—about thirty, give or take, I was there with Jesus and the disciples and I have come to share good news to you, the Hebrews in Rome. Bueno, muchos de ustedes saben que unos treinta años atrás yo estaba en Judea pensando solamente en mis cosas cuando me enteré de este rabino, Jesús. Fui a escucharlo hablar, caminaba un día en el calor de mi casa y lo encontré con otros de sus discípulos simplemente pasando el tiempo junto. Debo decir que en ese momento, mi vida cambió. In this moment, meeting Jesus, my life was changed.  Se podría decir que me fui con él, pero en realidad se sentía como él era el quien entró en mi vida y de repente todo era diferente...

M. Campbell-Langdell All Saints, Oxnard Proper 13, Year C (8.4.13) “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God." (Luke 12:21). “Whoever is wise will ponder these things, * and consider well the mercies of the LORD.” (Ps. 107:43). Security. Being physically safe and being financially secure are important in our society. And with recent thoughts about race or rather different ethnic groups and how they get along in our society, fear abounds. Young men of color are afraid that other people will fear them and react accordingly. White people fear that people of color are going to think that we are all prejudiced. How do we interact in today's increasingly multicultural society?  And we, at All Saints, Oxnard, how do we find ways to create a community that is led with cords of love, with cords of human kindness? I think it saddens the heart of God when we are afraid of each other, because God created us to be in relationship...