Fully Alive in God

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Isaiah 62:6-12 ; Psalm 97 ; Titus 3:4-7 ; Luke 2:(1-7)8-20 )   Joy. Alegría. Mi pensamiento este Navidad es en el gozo. My thoughts this Christmas are of Joy. Unexpected, unwarranted joy. No quiero decir que no hay cosas terribles en el mundo. I don’t mean to imply there isn’t an awful lot of sadness in the world. But joy, joy joy is what I have in my heart. Tengo un gozo que no se puede entender en mi corazón. Because, in the midst of a dark time in history, God came. Dios vino y vivió entre nosotros, mor ó entre nosotros, en la forma de un bebe. God came and dwelt among us, as a baby! And God showed up –where- in the midst of the humble outskirts of an oppressive empire – to whom – to a humble family with little means, including a pregnant teenager. Su madre fue una adolescente y su padre no tenía muchos recursos, pero Dios vino a ellos. God came to them and the announcement was made, as one poem said “to the kind of pe...

 M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard Happy Advent Four and Christmas Eve! Welcome. Let us hear a few words from Jan Richardson, from her poem “Gabriel’s Annunciation”: “The artists would later depict the scene: Mary dazzled by the archangel, her head bowed in humble assent, awed by the messenger who condescended to leave paradise to bestow such an honor upon a woman, and mortal. Yet I tell you it was I who was dazzled, I who found myself agape when I came upon her— reading, at the loom, in the kitchen, I cannot now recall; only that the woman before me— blessed and full of grace long before I called her so— shimmered with how completely she inhabited herself, inhabited the space around her, inhabited the moment that hung between us.” Mary said YES! During my Advent retreat this year, I had a discussion about how hard that must have been. As one of our parishioners recently posted, this was not a submissive act, but an immensely powerful one. For a y...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard Adviento 4/ Nochebuena 2023   ¡Feliz Adviento Cuatro y Dia de Nochebuena! Que escuchemos un poco del poema de Jan Richardson, “Gabriel’s Annunciation” o “La Anunciación de Gabriel”: “Mas tarde, Los artistas representarían Al escenario: María deslumbrada por el arcángel, su cabeza inclinada en humilde asentimiento, asombrado por el mensajero quien condescendió dejar el paraíso para otorgar tal honor sobre una mujer y mortal.   Sin embargo, te digo Fui yo quien quedó deslumbrado, Yo que me encontré boquiabierto cuando me encontré con ella— leyendo, en el telar, en la cocina, Ahora no puedo recordarlo; sólo que la mujer delante de mí— bendita y llena de gracia mucho antes de que la llamara así— brillaba con lo completamente ella misma se habitó, habitaba el espacio a su alrededor, habitado el momento que colgaba entre nosotros.” ¡María dijo que Sí! Durante mi retiro de A...

  A Glimmer of Light Isaiah 61, John 1, Psalm 126 St Paul’s Emmanuel, Santa Paula and All Santos, Oxnard (12/17/23) The Rev. Alene Campbell-Langdell (preached by MCL in Oxnard) In his book, It’s Not You, It’s Everything, Baptist pastor turned psychotherapist, Eric Minton, tells the story of an interaction with his young son.   As Eric read the story of Jesus’ walking on water to his 4-year-old, his son stopped him to ask, “Dad, is this story true?”   Eric describes his internal anxiety as his mind rushes through the possible answers informed by years of seminary studies.   He writes, “I started to sweat and began stammering some sort of answer involving the ways that ancient Near Eastern hagiography would sometimes embellish parts of an important person’s life story to make them more memorable for later listeners.”   As you can imagine, this did not satisfy the 4 year old’s question!   Then Eric says, “I stopped talking and asked my son, ‘I don’t know...

Una luz tenue Isaías 61, Juan 1, Salmo 126 All Santos, Oxnard Revda. Alene Campbell-Langdell (predicado por MCL+) En su libro, It’s Not You, It’s Everything o “No es tú, es todo” el pastor bautista convertido en psicoterapeuta, Eric Minton, cuenta la historia de una interacción con su hijo pequeño. Mientras Eric le leía la historia de Jesús caminando sobre el agua a su hijo de 4 años, su hijo lo detuvo para preguntarle: “Papá, ¿es cierta esta historia?” Eric describe su ansiedad interna mientras su mente recorre las posibles respuestas informadas por años de estudios en el seminario. Escribe: “Comencé a sudar y comencé a tartamudear algún tipo de respuesta sobre las formas en que la hagiografía del antiguo Cercano Oriente a veces embellecía partes de la historia de la vida de una persona importante para hacerlas más memorables para los oyentes posteriores”. Como puedes imaginar, ¡esto no satisfizo la pregunta del niño de 4 años! Luego Eric dice: "Dejé de hablar y le pregunté a m...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Isaiah 40:1-11 ; Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 ; 2 Peter 3:8-15a ; Mark 1:1-8 ) Prepare ye the way of the Lord; Prepare ye the way of the Lord! (a la Godspell) The Gospel of Mark is a drama! And it begins with John the Baptist here on the scene, clearing the way, preparing the way for our main act, Jesus. He is quoting Isaiah- saying a path must be prepared- we all need to get ready for Jesus. And we all need to repent- to turn back to God! Jesus enters this drama and it is interesting because he, who has no sin, still gets baptized. Perhaps he does this because he is modeling for us. How to live. How to serve in the beginning of his ministry just as he will at the end, first submerged in water and then with a towel around his waist, cleansing disciples’ feet. Jesus is the beginning. And in the beginning of Jesus’ story, John has the first word (in Mark) but Jesus is actually the beginning and the end of all of it, the alpha and the omega....