<html><body>I'll try sending this in two bits. I haven't had much luck posting lately.<div><br></div><div>Happy preaching and presiding!</div><div><br><div><br></div><div>Bob</div></div><div><br></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF
ST. ALBAN, ALBANY </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> THE TWENTIETH
SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">JOB 23:1-9,
16-17 </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
PROPER 23 b</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">HEBREWS
4:12-16 </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
11<sup>th</sup></span><sup><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></sup><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">OCTOBER, 2015</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#333333">MARK
10:17-31 </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#333333"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#333333"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#333333"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#333333">
</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">PSALM 22:1-15</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Here we go again!</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">That can work different ways. We can be excited
about something enjoyable happening. Like October being National Apple Pie
Month. Did you know that? Do you care? Maybe there’s something else which would
make you really happy. Each of us, I’m sure, has her or his own favourite
activities, rituals in which we engage and remind us of good times, good
company, good outcomes, the memories of which make us relax and breathe easily,
knowing that all is pretty well with the world, especially our own little
corner of it. Emotionally, physically and, yes, spiritually, we all need these
moments and memories. They’re what enable us to keep going on, to be engaged
with ourselves and with one another, to be reminded of our worth. This is
especially true when we hear, once again, that God loves each one of us, no
matter what, and when we get some little goose-bump inducing feeling, some
thought, some sensation, that actually allows us to</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><b><u><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">FEEL</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">God’s loving Presence, then we nay sigh with relief and joy.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Such is often the case for me at the actual
moment that I take the Body of Jesus into my mouth, when I lift the cup of
Jesus’ Blood, when, in some unintelligible way, the Bread and the Wine become
Jesus in me; what that happens, there’s an enormous feeling of gratitude, of
comfort, of peace that Jesus becomes joined with me and accepts me, despite my
shortcomings.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The late Henri Nouwen wrote, “</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#141823">The Eucharist is the sacrament of unity. It
makes us into one body. The apostle Paul writes: ‘As there is one loaf, so we,
although there are many of us, are one single body, for we all share in the one
loaf.’ (1 Corinthians 10:17).”</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:#141823"> </span><sup><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#141823">1</span></sup><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#141823"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#141823"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#141823">It’s not something I do, and yet, in a way, it
is. I have to say, “Yes.” I have to stretch out my hands, to wait, to allow
myself to be touched. I have to empty myself in confidence that I shall be
filled, not pushing myself forward in any way – simply waiting. And Jesus
comes.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:#141823">Henru Nouwen went on, “The Eucharist is much more than a place
where we celebrate our unity in Christ. The Eucharist creates this unity. By
eating from the same bread and drinking from the same cup, we become the body
of Christ present in the world. Just as Christ becomes really present to us in
the breaking of the bread, we become really present to one another as brothers
and sisters of Christ, members of the same body. Thus the Eucharist not only
signifies unity but also creates it.”</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">THIS</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">is what makes life for
me, and I can and long to experience this again, not merely for the joy it
brings, but for the other side of “Here we go again”.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Here we go again – because we’re let by the compilers of the
lectionary to spend more time wrestling with the story of Job. The struggle
never really leaves us.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> I’ve heard people say, If only I had a million dollars. Or
was guaranteed good health. Or was promised safety and even moderate comfort
for the rest of my life.”</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I’ve heard people say that, but even those who</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><b><u><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">DO</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">have these things have worries. I’ve read of those whose lives
were close to that until the mess created by the economic immorality and
corruption of eight or so years ago obliterated their safety nets. A healthy
bank account, a fine home, a family with stable relationships do not give
guarantees against strain, and tension, or catastrophe.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In fact, “Here we go again” played out not a
weekend after the tragedy of</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Roseburg, when schools
and colleges were evacuated and closed on the receipt of threatening notes and
phone calls around southern Oregon, less than a hundred miles from Roseburg.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Will we have to live with this for the rest of
our lives? What of our children, and our children’s children?</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">What did Job have to say about this? He looked
all round. He kept turning, listening, hoping for something – a sound, a
vision, anything – to bring him into touch with God. But Job discovered, as
painfully as the psalmist, as painfully as Jesus who quoted that psalm-writer
as He hung on the cross – Job discovered the difficulty of living which never
fully disappears. Job wanted to be swallowed up. At least in nothingness there
would be no pain, no fear. But, at the back of his mind, he knew also that
there would be no joy, no light, no ecstasy from being taken into God’s
Presence. Something like our taking Bread into our hands, drinking that Wine,
something like that enabled Job to go on seeking, to keep turning, to keep
walking, no matter how discouraged, how tired, how unsettled he felt. Something
about the Presence of God lived deep within him and enabled him look even for
the Almighty whose brilliance and purity terrified him.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><b><u><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">THIS</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">is what enables us to go
on. Do we</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><b><u><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">WANT</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">to see or read about another Umpqua Community
College, no matter where it occurs? Do we want to deal with</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><b><u><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">ANY</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">thing that troubles and discomfits us? Of course not! No one does.
Even if we have limited goals and aspirations, no human wants to live with the
sort of emotions and physical situations that keep us so on edge that we lose
the desire to do anything, to go anywhere, to meet with others. So what are we
to do? How are we supposed to get along when the newspapers, the radio, the TV,
the social media – maybe we should start to call them the</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><b><u><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">ANTI</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">social media, at least part of the time! – how are we supposed to
get along when we’re constantly bombarded with threats, and innuendos and
thinly veiled lies? To whom may we turn? In whom may we trust?</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><br></div></body></html>