Fully Alive in God

  M. and A. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard/ St. Paul’s-Emmanuel, Santa Paula (Acts 9:46-43, Ps. 23, Rev. 7:9-17, Jn. 10:22-30) Musician Bobby McFerrin’s version (1990) of “the 23 rd Psalm” images God as a woman: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I have all I need, She makes me lie down in green meadows, Beside the still waters, She will lead.” And perhaps connecting with God as Mother is nowhere more fitting or more problematic than when we celebrate Mother’s Day. Often our mothers share love with us that transcends barriers. Many times, they are our original sense of safety. But many times, our mothers pass on complicated tapes about living in the world. After all, those of us who are parents know that we are just broken humans trying to help other humans survive in this world even as we long for a better one. It is therefore not without irony on Mother’s Day to think of God making us to lie down in green meadows. Our experience of our human mothers may be accompanied...

M. and A. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard/ St. Paul’s-Emmanuel, Santa Paula (Hechos 9:46-43, S. 23, Rev. 7:9-17, Jn. 10:22-30) El m ú sico Bobby McFerrin interpret ó el Salmo 23 en inglés (1990), con una imagen de la Madre Dios: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I have all I need, She makes me lie down in green meadows, Beside the still waters, She will lead.” En español El Señor es mi pastor; * nada me faltará. En verdes pastos Ella me hace yacer; Ella me conduce hacia aguas tranquilas. Feliz día de la madre en los EEUU y feliz día un poco tarde para las madres de México otras partes. Hoy en día es natural que pensamos en la Virgen o hasta en el aspecto femenino de Dios. Pero también nosotras que somos madres – biológicas, adoptivas, madrinas, tías o de otra forma, sabemos que ninguna madre es perfecta como Dios. Tratamos que mostrar el amor expansivo de Dios con nuestros hijos e hijas, pero somos personas limitadas y a veces fallamos. Solo esperemos que nuestros hij...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Acts 9:1-6, (7-20) ; Psalm 30 ; Revelation 5:11-14 ; John 21:1-19 )   When I was nine years old, my family moved from London in the United Kingdom to the Pasadena area here in California, USA.   My life changed drastically. Everything was different. Monthly Sunday dinners with grandma and grandpa in Oxfordshire were replaced by monthly visits to grandma overlooking the beach in San Clemente, spending hours in the car but always worth it for that sea air and family time. From learning French in school, I went to Spanish and that began a life-long love affair with the Spanish language and with various Latin-American cultures. You might say it was a life-quake, a moment wherein my life changed drastically. The path in front of me changed and I was forever put in a new direction. Cuando tenía nueve años, mi familia mud ó de Londres, Inglaterra al área de Pasadena aquí en California. Mi vida cambi ó por completo. Todo fue...