Fully Alive in God

(The Odyssey Online) M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Genesis 28:10-19a; Psalm 139: 1-11, 22-23; Romans 8:12-25; Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 ) I have a confession. Sometimes, when I'm traveling, I don't want to be very obvious as a priest. It is not that I don't love being a pastor, but sometimes I'd rather be reading my book on a train or on a plane. But over time I've noticed that people often think interesting thoughts about God in travel, in those in-between times. And this often opens up space to speak of God and how God acts our lives, and I need to be open to that. When I returned from England via Iceland on Tuesday, I was next to a slightly younger woman who lives in England but is from California. She is from a Greek family and she worships in the Greek Orthodox Church. But she was very quick to say that her church was not very "religious", but rather more "spiritual." And this got me thinking. Because if you have atte...

(The Odyssey Online) M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Genesis 28:10-19a; Psalm 139: 1-11, 22-23; Romans 8:12-25; Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 ) Yo tengo una confesión. A veces, cuando estoy viajando, no quiero ser muy obvia como una sacerdote. No es que no me encanta ser pastora, pero a veces prefiero estar leyendo mi libro en un tren o en un avión. Pero tras el tiempo me he dado cuenta de que la gente muchas veces piensa muy interesante sobre Dios en los viajes, en los tiempos entre-tiempos. Y esto muchas veces abre un espacio muy grande para hablar de Dios y como actúe en nuestras vidas. Cuando yo regresaba de Inglaterra por medio de Islandia el martes, me sentí al lado de una mujer un poco más joven que mí que vive en Inglaterra pero es de California. Y ella es de una familia griega y ella alaba en la iglesia griega ortodoxa. Pero ella fue muy rápida en decir que su iglesia no fue muy “religiosa”, pues era más “espiritual.” Y esto me hizo pensar. Porque si Ustedes ha...

(http://howard-carter.blogspot.com/2015/02/ for-those-of-you-in-cheap-seats-id-like.html) M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Genesis 21:8–21; Ps. 86:1–10, 16–17; Romans 6:1b–11; Matthew 10:24–39) “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows (Matthew 10:29-31).” Preparing around this passage this week, I learned about Kenneth Feinberg, a lawyer who was chair of the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund, which distributed funds to the family of each of those killed in the 2001 attacks on that day. He began with a formula typically used to calculate the value of peoples’ lifetime income, he then used his discretion to distribute as little as $250,000 dollars for lower level workers and as much as $7.1 million for CEOs and other executives. [1] What is not mentioned in this story is how this play...

(http://howard-carter.blogspot.com/2015/02/ for-those-of-you-in-cheap-seats-id-like.html) M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Génesis 21:8–21; Salmo 86:1–10, 16–17; Romanos 6:1b–11; San Mateo 10:24–39) “En cuanto a ustedes mismos, hasta los cabellos de la cabeza él los tiene contados uno por uno. Así que no tengan miedo: ustedes valen más que muchos pajarillos (Mateo 10:29-31).” Cuando estaba preparando con estas lecturas esta semana, aprendí de Kenneth Feinberg, un abogado quien fue encargado de distribuir fondos a los familiares de la gente matado en el 11 de Septiembre de 2001. El empez ó con una formula y luego ocupaba su discernimiento para distribuir el dinero. Dio entre $250,000 a los familiares de la gente con trabajos de baja categoría y más que 7 millones de dólares para los familiares de unos ejecutivos. Lo que no se menciona aquí es como esto fue en términos demográficos pero es casi seguro que la gente blanca mayormente recibió más dinero que la gen...

M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Genesis 18:1–15, (21:1–7); Ps. 116:1–2, 12–19; Romans 5:1–8; Matthew 9:35–10:8, (9–23)) The other day Adriana shared a joke with some of us at coffee hour. It went like this: a man heard a prediction that he would die in an airplane accident. He decided that was not going to happen. So he went through his whole life riding the bus, taking the train, driving in cars, but avoiding airplanes at all costs. Then, one night, as he lay sleeping in his house, an airplane passing overhead had a malfunction. It crashed into his house and he died. The moral being that we cannot live our lives in fear of what might happen, because often what we think may occur may not occur the way we expect. We just have to live. And, I would say, trust God. And know that at some moment we will have our last breath, but at least we will have lived fully. The scripture today features Jesus telling the disciples this advice: “When they hand you over, do not wor...

M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Génesis 18:1–15, (21:1–7); S. 116:1–2, 12–19; Romanos 5:1–8; Mateo 9:35–10:8, (9–23)) El otro día Adriana comparti ó un chiste con algunos de nosotros en el convivio. Fue así: un hombre escuch ó una predicción de que él iba a morir en accidente de avión. Entonces pas ó su vida entera evitando el viaje en avión. Viajaba en el tren, en el bus, y en el auto. Aun en la bicicleta. Pero nunca entr ó en un avión, para evitar su muerte. Entonces una noche el señor estaba durmiendo en su cama. Y un avión pasaba arriba de su casa y empezaba a tener problemas mecánicas. Cay ó encima de la casa y el murió. Lo que quiere decir este cuento es que no podemos vivir en miedo de lo que pudiera pasar. We cannot live in fear of what might be. We just have to live. Tenemos que vivir sin miedo, y tener confianza en Dios. Y en algún momento respiramos nuestra última respiración, pero a lo menos hubiéramos vivido plenamente. En la escritura que escuch...

Rublev's "Trinity" M. Campbell-Langdell All Saints, Oxnard (Genesis 1:1–2:4ª; Ps. 8; 2 Cor. 13:11–13; Matthew 28:16–20) On Tuesday Alene and I saw Genesis act in a play called “Matter and its Properties: The Science of Stuff,” and one of the songs mentioned that “matter was everywhere, even in your uncle’s beard, but try not to stare.” Matter in this context is of course the stuff that makes up the universe as we know it. No matter what object you look at in the world, it is made of matter, in one of its three states, solid, liquid or gas. Just as with matter, on Trinity Sunday we talk about how God, just like matter, is everywhere, working through God’s three persons in our midst. Just as Jesus said, “I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20), God is always with us. And it is for this reason that we baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. God is diverse in God’s own self to show us that creation itself is...