Faith in Progress

June 30, 2013 6 Pentecost, Proper 8 (Year C) Luke 9:51- 62   On the last day of school, my daughter’s elementary school had a talent show.   About a week before, a notice came home announcing it, and inviting any student that was interested to sign up by giving a brief statement of their talent.   Sophie wanted to be in the talent show.    I couldn’t believe it.   I never in a thousand years would have signed up for a talent show when I was a kid.   First, I was too insecure to feel like I had any talents when I was her age.   Second, I couldn’t have imagined being up there – totally vulnerable – in front of all those people – my peers.   What if I was no good?   What if I got nervous and forgot what I was doing?   What if they didn’t clap for me, or worse yet, made fun of me?   And so I immediately projected all my childhood fears and angst onto my daughter.             Exactly the same thing happens when I read this morning’s Gospel reading.   I project myself on to this

June 2, 2013 2 Pentecost, Year C 1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43             We’re coming to the tail end of the construction that has been part of this place for so long.   The end is almost in sight.   In recent weeks especially, it has been great fun to peek into the construction site and watch it transform.   We are so close to walking through our bright new entryway, flushing the toilets in our big new bathrooms, and growing in faith in our beautiful new education room.   If you haven’t been here long, it might seem like it’s been an effortless process.   But for the multiple vestries that have been overseeing the discerning and the compromise and the planning, for the leaders involved in the capital campaigns, for John working with the architects and builders to ensure the details are in place, this has been a long, long journey.               With that as our own background, we get this morning’s reading from 1 Kings, which is part of the dedication ceremony for the Temple in