Monthly Archives: March 2015

Watch the women!

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Palm Sunday, B; March 29, 2015; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 50:4-9a I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.
Philippians 2:5-11 He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death.
Mark 14:3-15:47

The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark §1

3While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. 4But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? 5For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. 7For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. 8She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial.9Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”
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Trauma Healing

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It was not that long ago that I was writing here about the treacherous ice on the road near my house that caused my only bike wreck of the winter. I referred to the ice in that blog post as a metaphor for various elements in my life that had been unseen by me and thus caused some recklessness or even damage to others due to my blind sightedness. Well, it’s been a couple months since I let my painful and inflamed wrist go untreated for that time. On Monday I went for an x-ray (finally!) and got the good news that there were no breaks although there was plenty of swelling clearly illuminated. I’ll go back to the hospital in a week to see a hand specialist to see if some of the pain and swelling can be alleviated. So, here’s to not knowing. Continue reading →

American Caste System

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I have been thinking a lot about vulnerability and how it shows up. I have been thinking about how I can allow my own vulnerability to be a guide into deeper connection with others. I am also curious about the ways in which vulnerability can reveal the nuances of power, privilege, and oppression within interpersonal dynamics. There was a specific conversation that occurred a few weeks ago that had me feeling particularly vulnerable and has given me great pause to reflect on the intersection of vulnerability and systemic racism. Continue reading →

Soul Medicine

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While interning with Art and Spirituality, Common Art, and Café Emmanuel I frequently find myself explaining who I am and that I am studying to become an art therapist and mental-health counselor. Recently while at prison, one of the women asked me if I could prescribe her pain medication. I said that while I could not prescribe her any medication, I could prescribe her some meditation. This received a round of laughs from the table and others who had heard the exchange. We live in a fast-paced world where I, for one, can say choosing the option that takes the least amount of work to fix a problem seems extremely appealing. Have a headache? Take a pill with a large glass of water and presto, headache no more. In addition, I can take a moment to think about the cause of the headache in the first place, most likely for me being dehydrated, to avoid it in the future. Continue reading →

Real Life

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Fourth Sunday in Lent, B; March 15, 2015; The Rev Pamela L. Werntz

Numbers 21:4-9 But the people became impatient on the way.
Ephesians 2:1-10 This is not your own doing; it is the gift of God
John 3:14-21 Those who do what is true come to the light.

O God of grace, may we have the wisdom, the strength, and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth – come when it may and cost what it will.

I’ve spent most of this last week without a voice – a terrible malady for a singer or a preacher! Imagining that I would need to be prudent with my speaking today, last week I asked Clark if he would preside. He offered to preach as well, which was generous and great, but I already had a head of steam building about the readings, about some of the translations, and about punctuation and so I was too greedy to talk, to explore these heavily freighted scripture passages that some Christians cling to and some want to get as far from as possible. Emmanuelites are often in that latter group of saints! To many here, the passage from John seems like one more description of a divine sorting mechanism to decide who is in and who is out of God’s realm. One esteemed member of our community has called our Gospel reading a shakedown. Continue reading →

Live long and prosper!

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Second Sunday in Lent, B; March 1, 2015; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 I am God Almighty.
Romans 4:13-25 Hoping against hope.
Mark 8:31-38 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?

O God of the Word, grant us the wisdom, the strength and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

A few weeks ago at our Annual meeting, we engaged in an exercise of writing words that we relate to prayers for Emmanuel for help, of thanksgiving, and of awe. We saw a graphic representation of the words in our Annual Report document, a picture called a word cloud, which shows the words in font sizes that increase the more times a word appears in a document. Joy Howard took the words of our prayers and made word clouds at the meeting. The word clouds are now on Emmanuel’s web page in the section about the Annual Meeting. Mike Scanlon is in the process of transferring the images onto a banner for the lobby – so look for that in the next few weeks. Continue reading →