Yes, church really is what I do with my free time.

Have I mentioned that I was maybe not going to overcommit myself? Probably not explicitly, though I think it was implied when I said I was considering not picking up a new Sunday morning church -- taking sabbath time instead. My idea was that there are things I really care about, and I should devote my time and energy there, growing myself and others, rather than taking on everything that comes in front of me just because I "can."

Well, at CWM last night we didn't have the Scripture printed in the bulletin, and Kim volunteered to read but we couldn't find any inclusive language Bibles in the office (likely they all belonged to Tiffany) so Marla handwrote out John 20:19-31, except she was still in the office, so I took it upon myself to just grab the Bible that happened to be in the room (which was not the NRSV) and inclusified on the fly. Marla came in just after I'd started, so I felt bad, but when I apologized to her later she assured me it was fine. So later I asked her if CWM wanted an inclusive language Bible to live in the office. She griped about the one we used to use and I remembered oh yeah, while the one I have is supoptimal, it's better than the one Tiffany had. She said she'd been so dissatisfied with the one Tiffany had that she had never thought to research further, so could I? Yeah, yeah I think I can :)

We had an impromptu Church Council meeting, and one of the items was a committee for the new-location-for-CWM search. Sean asked people to get in touch with him by Wednesday if they wanted to be on the committee (said he would be sending an email out -- since obv. not everyone was at Council that night). I was totally gonna email him saying, "I'm tentatively interested in being on the committee, because I'm trying to not overcommit myself but I already know that I have strong feelings/opinions on what I understand to be our two primary choices here in Davis Square." Later in the meeting, Nizzi asked for a show of hands of people who are interested in being on the committee, and so of course I raised my hand.

Nizzi wants me to preach before she leaves. The first Sunday she proposed was May 16 -- when I'll be coming back from Smith Reunion/Commencement. So last night she proposed April 25. re/New (topic: Change and Transition) is that night, and I'd like to be as not-late as possible to that one (it starts at 7pm, at which time we're having dinner), but I think it'll be okay. (When Science Meets Religion "Eggheads" group is also that afternoon.)

Looking at the lectionary, Easter 4C is Christ as Shepherd/Lamb/Shepherd (Psalm 23, Revelation 7:9-17, John 10:22-30) and one of the apostles raising a woman from the dead (Acts 9:36-43). I am not sure I have anything to say on that. But I would write the sermon eventually, because I'm committed to getting through an entire 3-year lectionary cycle, and I'm trying to get back in the habit of writing the week's sermon by the actual Sunday (I finished an approximation of a draft for Easter 2C yesterday, and would like to finish it today).

This morning, cadenzamuse asked how I was, and I filled her in on all of the above, and said, "... Well, try not to commit to any more church stuff TODAY."

Oh, and I'd like to actually put together an Esther and Acts lectionary for FCS morning prayer (since doing it each week the night before is suboptimal).

***

~Relatedly, everyone should read "Jesus is my Girlfriend" (my best friend on why she uses female pronouns for Jesus).

[sermon 19] Easter 2C - Wounded Healer

[written as if preached on the actual date]

Easter 2C - April 11, 2010

Acts 5:12-16
Psalm 118
Revelation 1:9-19
John 20:19-31

Wounded Healer

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other people think I have a Call

Over lunch today, I got to catch up with Nicole a bit, which was unexpected and lovely.  I said I've been busy with church stuff (she was kinda like, "duh") and I started to tell the story of preaching last Wednesday, and I started it with relevant background info of Outreach Minister, two-year term ending, and Nicole jumped ahead to, "So are you applying for the position?"
me: "No-- I-- No-- They're not even sure they're going to be renewing the position, and-- no-- I-- no--."

At the end of the day, I had a Scott.  I told him that I'm gonna be preaching in two weeks.  (Yeah, I was gonna facebook event/evite tonight, but I think that's gonna be deferred until tomorrow so I can get to bed.)  And I told him about preaching last Wednesday -- 'cause I didn't get to when we hung out on Friday.  Somewhere in the conversation, Scott said something like, "When you decide to do this for real, it's gonna be awesome."  I double flipped him off -- and then told him about my conversation with Nicole.  He told me about the reference letter he's going to write for me when I apply to seminary -- and I told him that if I'm ever having a really miserable low self-esteem period I'm going to call him up and demand that he write me that letter ... 'cause yeah, boy thinks I am brilliant.

I am dissatisfied with my Easter 2C sermon, but I feel okay enough about it to post it and move on.  (And as I was writing this post, Ava left a nice comment on the facebook post of it, so that's nice.  And I do think there's good stuff in the sermon, I just think it needs more work.)  And I'm excited about putting together an Easter 4C sermon thanks to a wealth of ideas from cadenzamuse :)  Laura Ruth told me that she drew on my last Wednesday's Reflection for her Easter 2C sermon -- "And Still I Rise: A Question of Resurrection" -- and isn't community grand, and I thought of that when I was thanking Denzi for all of her ideas.