At Worcester Fellowship's leadership meeting last month our congregation discussed what it means to worship during Lent and named hymns and readings and other changes in our Sunday Liturgy. Then Terence asked "What about Ash Wednesday?"
Mary turned toward him. "I don't know! What do you think about Ash Wednesday?"
"We should have a service. We should have ashes. Churches have ashes on ash Wednesday." Many from the meeting chimed in. 
"What would that look like?"
People shared stories of services they'd been to and reported what they already knew other churches were doing. Mary managed to lead the group to Wednesday morning at 10am, since that is our standard time for "non-sunday" events. She could hear Liz's anxiety in her head "we always get kicked out if we are on the common on any day other than Sunday", and she knew that SHE was busy, so she was promising Liz's time, not her own.

Despite her anxiety, Liz thought it was a good idea. The area is saturated in Catholicism, even for people who were not raised in the tradition, so it is likely that some people would respond to the idea. And if no one came to worship, she could walk up the street offering ashes. "Yup," she said, perhaps a little too strongly, as if convincing herself. "Yes, we'll have a 10 minute service at the common at 10am, and then I'll walk up the street to hand out ashes."

Liz announced this for two Sundays, but did little else to prep for the service. Which is why Tuesday afternoon she was in her back yard standing in a foot of snow, with the grill open and a pan of palms, and a box of matches. 

If you are ever in the Holy Lands, threatened by forest fire, be assured, you can use Palms to protect you from the oncoming heat. They do not burn. Obviously that is not completely true, you've seen the burnt palms at Ash Wednesday services for years. But it is true that a lit Palm will not stay lit. The ashes only burn if there is a heat source aimed directly at them. After an hour of frustration and very wet shoes she brought in the scrapings of ashes and a lot of chunks of partially burnt leaves. "I wonder what paper looks like when it is burned" she asked her partner, Ken.

Luckily, Ken does not sleep much, and finds such challenges interesting. So at 6am the next morning he turned the sad bunch of scraps into half a teaspoon of ashes, using some combination of the oven, the grill, and the stove top. Liz didn't ask for details. He ground the final bit in the spice mortar, and left for work. 

For some reason Liz was concerned that this was sufficient quantity and decided to burn a page of the newspaper. Since her shoes were now dry, she opted for the stove, and lined a frying pan with aluminum foil, dropped in a crumbled piece of newspaper, and a lit match. 

For those of you who don't already know this, newspaper DOES burn easily. With huge flames. Up into the microwave above. Up into the vent, which she had (wisely?) turned on first. Moving quickly, Liz found a lid, plopped it onto the pan, and went to take the battery out of the now blaring smoke detector. She wondered how long she had before the sprinkler system went off.

The paper had burned nicely however, so those ashes where mixed with the palms, and ground with the pestle, re-burned to get rid of still readable news items, and then transferred to two tiny tupperware containers. There were now two teaspoons of ashes!

So prepared, Liz printed off bulletins and readings, and found a stole and raced out to Worcester. She had printed 10 bulletins but promised herself not to be disappointed in the attendance. She found parking at the Library lot and was pleased with herself for being on time. Then she saw Terence across the park, heading up to the plaza where Worcester Fellowship worships and she smiled to herself. This was going to be great!

When she got to the plaza Terence was gone, but Rose assured her he'd be back. The wind made the wait cold, and there was still 10 minutes to start. But Rose and Liz shared stories and then Brian came by and showed off the pictures of his sister's wedding and rambled on and on about how beautiful it had been. At 10:05, Rose tapped Liz on the shoulder and said she was leaving.

"Wait, you have to get ashes." She reached into her plastic bag, past the bulletins, and readings, and the stole, and grabbed the tupperware and opened it. Ashes immediately flew into the wind, into their eyes, into the sky, onto the ground. Finally, holding the lid at an angle over the container, Liz got some on her finger and onto Rose's head and then Brian's.

"Thanks!" They offered and were gone. 

"Ok," liz reassured herself. It's ok. We didn't need a service. "I wonder where Terence is?" Putting on the stole, and her gloves, tying her hat under her chin, and holding the tupperware with the lid firmly on, she headed over toward the bus stop. She asked if anyone wanted ashes? No one replied, and several people moved away from her. Moving on to another stop the bus arrived just as she did. At the street corner she got pulled herself together and asked again "Anyone want ashes for ash wednesday?" Sideways glances and people moving away. 

Walking the next block the voices in her head were louder than before. "Really, why did we think that *I* was the person to do this work?" and "I've never really been good at this part of the ministry" and "I can't keep walking down the street with this stole on" and "why didn't I ask Ellie or Georgeanne or SOMEONE to come do this with me?" and " We know this isn't what I do best!"

She turned toward the library, but then realized that if she took this shortcut she wouldn't even run into any people she KNEW. So she put away the stole and ashes and headed back to the main road, still headed home. "At least I'll get some work done when I get home" she consoled herself.

But there, on the main street was Juan-Louis. "Juan, hi!" Liz walked over quickly. "Do you want ashes?"
"No, but I'm hungry. And I've got an apartment. Look, here is my key."
"That's wonderful!" Liz exclaimed, inwardly feeling huge relief. THIS is her strength, creating deeper connections to people she already knows. Listening to people's lives, helping them make their own next steps.

"I'm hungry, too. Why don't you tell me all about it at Dunkin Donuts?"

(From Mar. 11th, 2011. See more about Worcester Fellowship at www.worcesterfellowship.org)

First Reading is from Sing Out: page 47, 5th song, First Stanza, First word: Open… Open my eyes.
Second Reading is page 62, 3rd song, First Stanza, First word: Micheal, row the boat.
Open my eyes, Micheal, row the boat.
The word of Sing Out Publications. Let it be so.
 
Now Sing Out can be a bit dated in language, SO lets look at the word in more contemporary language: Open my eyes, MIKE, row the boat.
Or perhaps more simply: Open Mike.
The scripture today tells us about Open Mike.
Let it be so!
 
Now some of you might have expected a third reading… Many of you I think that the scripture tells us to Open Mike Delaney. But I can assure, that is not in the text. We are NOT to open mike Delaney. We’ll leave that to the doctors!
 
No, all of you here who think that Open Mike is about Mike Delaney have been lead astray by bad preaching.
Open mike is actually about MICROPHONES. Did you know that? A big part of understanding scripture requires that you understand the context. Open Mike is really Open Microphone.
 
Microphone: Phallic object that makes you louder.
 
And that is what Open Mike is about, being louder, getting your voice heard. The scripture today is reminding us that humming in the bedroom is fine, strumming in the kitchen is fine, drumming in the bathroom is fine, singing is the car is fine, as long as your windows are shut. You can sing in the shower, or play your music while you knit or mow the lawn, or pee, or eat (although please not with food in your mouth). But in the end the good book tells us OPEN MIKE. You’ve got to amplify that music and get out in PUBLIC.
 
And because it the good book DOESN’T say OPEN MIKE DELANEY—that means of course that you can be in public in other places than Java Joes in Jamaica Plain. Not that this Open Mike isn’t the best one, of course, but the scripture is telling you to get out in Public, any public and stand up next to a microphone and LET THE MUSIC be heard.
 
Can I hear: “let it be so”
 
Some of you have heard the word and are living the word. Thank you for signing up.
 
But some of you are sitting out there murmuring that your music is ready not ready to be heard—some of you are thinking you don’t have the right gift to share next to a microphone. OF COURSE YOU AREN’T GOOD ENOUGH.
 
Does the scripture saying anything about GOOD open Mike??? NO. These words are calling you to share what you’ve got. Surely you all have heard some less than stellar music at an open mike?
 
As bad as you are, you’ve got to join in. We have heard the words of the good book and they are telling you, begging you, asking you, downright demanding that you get yourself to an Open Mike.
 
So what is a poor musician to do if you are afraid to stand next to a Microphone, afraid to obey the good book and offer your music out loud? Let me tell you a story.
I knew a musician once that was afraid. He died and went to music hell for failing to follow the words of scripture.
 
Hmm. OK, here’s a more encouraging story.
Another group of musicians decided that it would be easier to make music in public if they did it TOGETHER. The good book likes TOGETHER. Why on page 59, song two, first stanza together is the ninth word. On page 238 it’s in the refrain 3 times. On page 261 its in the first song. Together is a good word from the good book.
 
So this nervous group gathered together and called themselves “Safety in Numbers”. They got together, practiced twice, and next thing you know there they were, following the words of scripture by playing at an OPEN MIKE.
This is what the good book is calling you to do.
 
Now I’ll tell you a secret that the members of “Safety in Numbers” may not know. There were a few people who talked a bit behind their back. One or two people called them “two big for the stage” (I think that once there were 28 on the stage) and I’ve heard rumor that they were called “a lot of basses and drum”.  But they followed the word. And that is good.
 
In fact they got good! They got so good they changed their name to “New England Weather”. Now you may be thinking that a name like New England Weather implies something dreary, rainy, grey, drippy, stormy, and wet as New England Weather. It makes you think they’d have songs all about rain and snow and hurricanes. You’d expect a group named New England weather to have songs about the silence of the sea, holes in rivers, flooding of towns, wading in the water. You think: It’s gonna rain today, and immediately it pops into your mind—New England Weather.
 
But it’s not true. In fact there music is so varied that if you wait a few minutes the music will change! New England Weather, this group that finally got together and sang out in public, their music is varied, and bright, just like the weather today. You might wonder how they got so good?
 
Because they followed the word of Sing Out Publications. They listened to the word OPEN MIKE. They came out into public, shared their music. Oh, and because they practiced!
 
All of you here today, listen to the word of scripture: Open Mike. Often!
 
And you too shall be ready to release a CD.

Let it be so.
 

So work weekends remind us that cohousing isn't just about living with people you know or getting to know people better, or building community, or getting someone to deliver applesauce and bannanas when you literally can't leave one room of your house. 
 
No, cohousing isn't really about fun, cohousing is about work! Work to make decisions, work to eat, work to get the toilets cleaned and the kids room picked up, and work to get the garden planted and weeded and tilled, probably not in that order. And work to get the food turned into dinner and work to get the environmentally friendly hand rags into the environmentally friendly washer, and then, if we really wanted to be environmentally friendly, we'd get them hung up on the line and then down and folded and back in the rest room. Which is, as I mentioned earlier.
 
So I'd like to tell you a story about getting work done in here at Mosaic Commons. I’m a minister and the stories I hear are of course confidential, so I'll tell you this completely true story by changing some of the details, and by adjusting parts of it to be more fantastic, and of course by changing the names of those people involved. In fact, I can tell you that you won't have any idea who I am talking about...
 
So, in my religious tradition, the whole world was created in six days. We don't know how long those days were, maybe they were a billion years, maybe 1,575,652 years, maybe each year took a different amount of time, but there were six of them, count'm one two three four five six. And then some time to rest.
 
In cohousing, where there is such an emphasis on work, you might guess that we'd get things done faster. But you would be wrong.
 
So let me tell you the story about changing a light bulb at Mosaic Commons. So a certain person who shall not be named, but who looks exactly like Judy, noticed once, here at Mosaic that there was a light bulb out in the common house. So she asked one of those people who seem to act like they know everything, and who make up answers if they don't know everything, and still act like they are in charge what to do. We'll call that person, um, say. Liz.
 
And Liz said, look there is a tall man over there, sitting with his son and his cell phone doing, well, lets call it "research". Let's call him, a completely made up name, say, um. Dave. 
 
So Judy asked Dave about the light bulb, and he said "oh yeah, it is dark in here" and he picked up his phone and wrote some things down and headed out of the room, we imagined to fix the light bulb.
And it was morning, and it was light, the first day
But two days later Judy noticed the light was still out and made a comment to, lets call him, um, Ken. And this person we are calling Ken explained in great detail that we have ballasts and the one the builder put in is not right, and the bulbs are burning out early and the problem is not the light it is the ballast. And half an hour later you have to go and you go away relieved that Ken knows what to do.
And it was evening, and it was night, the third day.
 
And three days later this person who likes the common house to be neat and organized and spends much of her time emptying out the lost and found, and returning glassware and flatware to there homes, this woman, I'll call her, say, Mary, Mary noticed that the light was out.
This was the sixth day. 
 
She also asked someone who claims to know everything, and makes up the answer if she does not, we'll call this person, um, Liz. And Liz suggested she email bng and so she did. So Mary sends an email and it bounces, because she is not on the bng list. So she sends a note to geekery to say that the BNG list didn't accept her note.
And two days later she's sees a computer professional and asks for advice, and this person, shall we call this person Dwight? or Tim? or Cat? or Ellen? Any way some person who knows all about computers and the ways they go wrong, this person says "we didn't get your email, but we'll check on it".
And it was evening, and it was night, the eighth day.
 
So Ellen sees your email and reminds you that is not the usual email address you use for mosaic stuff, and that is why it didn't go to bng.
So the note is rewritten, and resent from the correct email and reached bng. And they order new light bulbs, and new ballasts, and they realize they need a taller ladder to get to the light.
And it was evening and it was morning, 12 days and the light bulb is now here, and that is good.
 
So Perley sends a note to common resources (whose email address is furnishings); common resources says yes, we'd love to buy a ladder, but they need to know what kind bng would like. So they wait for three days and Perley doesn't respond and someone notices that they forgot to include Perley in the reply, since he is not on that list he didn't get the message. So it gets sent again.
Evening, night, you got it.15 days.
 
Perley looks up ladders, and sends a proposal, but they seem crazy expensive so Sarah starts looking on craig's list for used ladders, but after a week she hasn't found one so now she thinks it's ok to buy a new one.
22 days.
 
So we order it online and it is cheaper if it is delivered to Lowes, so we have it delivered. Three days later we hear that it is in,
24 days.
 
Sandy says she can pick it up, but we figure out that her car is not long enough to hold the ladder. So a few days later Steph borrows the truck and goes to pick up the ladder, but she is told that only the person who paid for the ladder can pick it up. Diana is in Cambridge and can't get it until tomorrow.
27 days.
 
So the ladder, the light bulb, and the ballast are here and it is good.
 
And Ross, who I will not name, but who is very tall,  walks into the common house, and says wow, it's dark. And he walks over to cabinets around the fire place, pulls out a light bulb, and reaches into the hanging lamp and replaces the bulb.

​So actually it just takes one person about five minutes to replace a light bulb.

Good evening!

If you can turn in your pew bibles--
You brought your bible with you, right?

 Please turn now to today’s reading: (found on page 38 of the 1996 translation). Let us hear the word of Christ Scott Hanson: A reading from the 2nd chapter, the 22nd page, the 4th sentence:

Conflict is a call for creativity; it is something to resolve rather than avoid.”

 The word on Cohousing, according to Chris Scott Hanson.
The people respond: Let it be so.

Listen closely to the word: “Conflict is a call for creativity”. Creativity brothers and sisters!  Do you hear the hope of creativity? Can you see the vision of change? Can you taste the potential for new life? Do you feel the budding possibility?
Brothers and sister, do you smell?

 Conflict, our brother Chris shares with us, conflict is to be resolved rather than avoided. Conflict is what creates change, conflict is what clarifies our values, conflict is what happens when YOU disagree with me, because, as we know, I am right.
Let the people respond: Let it be so!

 We are inclined to avoid conflict, to suppress it and to steer clear of topics that might create conflict. But the word today is calling us to remember that conflict is something to resolve rather than avoid. Conflict in fact makes Creativity, and creativity is a word of hope, a word of joy, a word of energy, a beautiful word. Creativity!

Can you say it? Creativity?
Can you proclaim it? Creativity
Make it known: Creativity!
Let the people respond: Let it be so!

Creativity. Do you hear this word, brothers and sisters? Do you hear the word in your heart and in your soul, in your head and in your hands, do you hear the word in shoulders and in your hips? Listen closely for the word in your knees and in your elbows in your chest and in your butt, in your belly button and in your ….

Umm. Yes. Do you hear the word?
The people respond: “Let it be so”

So how, then, you might ask, can we develop enough conflict to be creative? What can we do, when we each are so similar, so straightforward, so clear, so honest, so easy-going, so loyal, so trustworthy, so kind and loving, what can we do to develop the conflict we need to be creative?

Think for a moment of all the things we have in common. We all have some children, or none.  We all are extroverts or introverts or somewhere in-between. We all communicate best by email or telephone, or in person. The list goes on and on.

We all love the country or the city, or suburbia. We all grew up in the east, or the west, or the middle. Or Europe. We all can sing, or dance, or play an instrument, or watch and listen. Every single one of us either plays a sport, or watches a sport, or ignores a sport.

It is hard to imagine a group with more similar interests. Why look at our dinner menu! We all eat meat or are vegetarian. We like soda, or juice, or coffee, or tea, or water. Why every single one of us loves tomatoes or hates them, or simply prefers less of them.

What shall we do when we are Oh, so similar, what shall we do to create the conflict we need, to avoid avoiding conflict, to develop the creativity that comes from resolving conflict??? What shall we do?

(silence)

Luckily, we have the word of Chris Scott Hanson to guide us. Chris shares with us that cohousing groups are full of controllers. Turn to page 21 in your pew bible we find the word once again. 2nd chapter, 2nd paragraph, 3rd sentence, second half. “Controllers are used to getting their own way”.
Can I hear Let it be so?

And continuing down the page, to the 3rd paragraph, 2nd sentence, first half: “When controllers butt heads” and continuing with the end of the sentence, they create drama, conflict, and discord. Do you hear the word? Drama, conflict, and discord.

We too, with all our similarities, we too can have the drama, the conflict, the discord of other co-housing communities. All that is required is that we butt heads. Such a simple act, such a simple call, such a simple way to create the conflict we need. We can butt heads!

Butt heads you ask? But wait! But stop! But no. Butt, butt, butt!
I hear you now with all of your questions, your misgivings and doubts, I hear your fear. Butting heads can hurt.

First, I remind you that this text, while sacred, was written in the twentieth century, a time quite unlike the time we live in now. It is important to remember that the words of Chris Scott Hanson, while profound and useful, are not literal commands on our life. This text in particular, must be interpreted metaphorically.

Butting heads is not meant to be a physical act, but rather a style of communication. It is about sharing what we think, disagreeing out loud, naming our differences, it is about being proud of those few ways that we are not the same as each other.

In fact, I am sure, if the prophet Chris Scott Hanson were here among us today, he would argue that resorting to a literal butting of heads would be a distraction from the creativity we are striving to find.

 What then, are we called to do? What is our task for the next year of creating community? Last year we struggled with the word “flexibility” and indeed, as a result of that struggle, as a result of staying in the hope of the word, we found LAND.

This year, I believe, our task is in this text: “Conflict is a call for creativity; it is something to resolve rather than avoid.”

And the people say Let it be so!
Do not avoid conflict, Let it be so!
Do not dwell on the ways we are the same. Let it be so!
Name your way! Let it be so!
Speak your disagreements Let it be so!
Do it my way! Let it be so!

Be confident my friends that we have the creativity to resolve all that must be resolved,
The creativity to disagree and then find agreement
The creativity to be angry and then to be peaceful
The creativity to be sad and then to be joyful
The creativity to be scared and then to be safe.
We have the creativity to face drama, discord and conflict and to remain in community with each other
Let it be so!

 

(This is a cohousing sermon I preached in 2003.)

A reading of the word.

Chapter five, the sixth page, the third paragraph, the eighth word.

“The”

Here ends the reading of the word of Chris Scott Hanson.

The people will respond with “Let it be so”.

Hmm. “the”. Not much of a word.

Perhaps we should consider a sentence. Yes, lets consider a sentence.
A reading of the sentence.

Chapter five, the sixth page, the third paragraph, the first sentence.

“The more flexible your group can be, the more opportunities there are when identifying potential sites”

The people respond with “Let it be so”.

Now there is a sentence, brothers and sisters, there is a sentence from the handbook. “The more flexible your group can be, the more opportunities there are when identifying potential sites.”

Listen closely now brothers and sisters, can you hear what our brother Chris is sharing with us in this text? “flexibility” brothers, can I hear “Let it be?”

“Opportunities” sisters! Can I hear “let it be?”

“Potential sites”. Can you hear the word, can you live the word. We are talking about LAND here. Potential land. Our brother Chris is offering us community with this very powerful words brothers and sisters. This is an offer of community, of housing, this is the promise of HOPE.

Do you feel the hope in the air? Can I hear “let it be so!”

You don’t sound hopeful. The word is offering us the promise of hope.

Let me share with you another text from the word of Chris.

Yes indeed, if you will turn in your pew Handbooks to the fifth chapter, the first page and the very first sentence. “Land is always available.”

Listen to the consistency of the word, listen to the beauty of the message. “Land is always available.”

This is the opening of the chapter. And then, just a bit further in we hear today’s word: “The more flexible your group can be, the more opportunities there are when identifying potential sites.”

Do you see how these are related?

Remember that word flexibility. For indeed as our brother tells us, we have control of our own destiny. It is in flexibility that land is found. It is in flexibility that opportunities are found. Do you feel the significance of this text my brothers and sisters? Listen closely now:

“potential sites”

Do you hear the sense of the future? Do you hear the sense of land? Do you hear the way word builds hope just in the reading???

The gift of hope is freely offered to all who are in our presence. Is it not so? Let me hear it! Let it be so.

And yet we do not always feel a sense of hope. Sometimes we are worn down by the struggle. Some days we feel we cannot do enough. Turn to your hand books and you will find the word there in the fifteenth chapter, the seventh page and the first word. The word is there again in the second chapter, the twentieth page, the fifth paragraph and the fifth word.

You know the word. Burnout. Everyone say it: burnout. Now say it louder: burnout.

The gift of hope is freely given, but we are faced instead with burnout. With dissatisfaction. With frustration. We start to nit pick. We start to dim wit. We start to hissy fit. Before long we are likely to nose pick. All from the pain of burnout.

And yet we need only to turn to the word. Our brother Chris Scott Hansen has given us the word and we need only to turn to that word. “Land is always available.”

Indeed it is true. And yet what should we do when we are overwhelmed and cannot feel the truth of these words. We should then, we must then, we need in our very hearths then, to turn then to today’s word:
“The more flexible your group can be, the more opportunities there are when identifying potential sites.”
Flexibility produces opportunity. Flexibility produces land. If we want land we must be flexible.

Can you say it? Flexible
Say it again: Flexible
Say it louder: Flexible.

Let it be so.