February 22nd marks the beginning of the season of Lent
If you’re reading this, you’re likely not a stranger to the season of Lent. And yet, if you’re a human with life demands and commitments, Lent seems to sneak up every year, surprising us with how far into the calendar year we are. Perhaps even tempting us to double down on not-yet-enacted-upon New Year’s resolutions.
“I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.” –The Book of Common Prayer, 265, Liturgy of Ash Wednesday
These words from the Ash Wednesday liturgy give us some anchors: anchors that provide more than just a chance to double down on resolutions, anchors that give us insight into how Lent might be less a season “to do” (or, “to don’t”); and more a season “to be” with God in a potentially deeper and intentional way.
What might the invitation for “self-examination and repentance” look like?
Our siblings in 12 step recovery programs are some of the experts, here: the fourth step in recovery calls for making a “searching and fearless inventory of ourselves”. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions offers this caution: “Without a searching and fearless moral inventory, most of us have found that the faith which really works in daily living is still out of reach.” For those of us feeling stuck in our faith journey, this is a space for curiosity, giving us the chance to sit with our deep selves and with God. This is an invitation to ask about where our resistance and “stuckness” sit, preventing us from moving closer to God and our siblings in Christ.
What does the invitation to prayer, fasting and self-denial look like for you this Lent? How and where are you making space for the Holy?
In Pursuing God’s Will Together, Ruth Haley Barton gives us this helpful description of discernment: “Discernment, in a most general sense, is the capacity to recognize and respond to the presence and activity of God – both in the ordinary moments and in the larger decisions of our lives.” Maybe the invitation to prayer, fasting and self-denial looks like giving up chocolate. Yet, Barton’s description, and the invitation of Lent bids us look past chocolate or wine or too many visits to Starbucks, to see how God is active in the mundane and ordinary slivers of our lives.
Finally, what does the invitation to God’s holy Word look like for you this Lenten season?
What a gift we have in Scripture and in our liturgical life that steeps us in Holy Scripture week after week! Yet how invested are we in the capacity for Scripture to be the lens through which we see the world?
At the end of it all, the invitation to a holy Lent is a gift the church extends to each of us, inviting us to seek and see the spaces where we might move ever-so-closer to God and one another. If you’re overwhelmed by all that this invitation might mean for you, take a deep breath, light a candle and make space for the Holy. Start there.
On Monday, January 30th The Rt. Rev. Jeffrey W. Mello. received a gift, an exterior portrait of Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford, from Cathedral artist, Deborah Simmons which led to us learning more about her story as an artist. Nothing prepared us for the eclectic interwoven aspects of visual arts, music education, and mathematics that cohesively danced to the heartbeat of a rich lineage. Nothing prepared us for the spiritual intergenerational journey that laid down the literal and metaphorical foundation for boatbuilding.
Deborah Simmons, originally from Greensboro, North Carolina is a current Christ Church Cathedral attendee and a Music Professor & Program Coordinator of the Music Studies Associated Degree program at Manchester Community College, soon to be CT State Community College-Manchester. Her notabilia does not end there, she’s also a digital artist that created works coined as “enhanced photographs,” a process in which she draws directly onto photographed images, similarly to the art piece gifted to our Bishop Diocesan, and you probably guessed it, she is also a boat builder!
What’s fascinating about Deborah Simmons is her deep intergenerational connection that spiritually led her to the craft of boat building:
“I have a genetic connection to boat builders and shantymen* (African sailors who sung using songs of hymnal & gospel descent to synchronize the pulling of their nets). My father, William Otto Simmons, Jr., was an electronic technician for the post office in Greensboro. Using the G.I. Bill from his time in the final years of WWII, he enrolled at North Carolina A & T University. His degree in commercial engineering gave him the skills in carpentry, plumbing and electrical. When I was little, he would teach me how to use tools to build things.”
How Simons arts discipline served as a basis for her boat building:
“My father was my first music teacher. By 4th grade he purchased a plastic guitar that could be tuned and a guitar method book. He had taken a semester of music theory in college. I flipped a coin to determine if my major would be visual art or music so I attended Winston-Salem State University and majored in music-bass clarinet with a minor in piano. In 1979, I received scholarships to attend Teachers College Columbia University. Completed degrees in Music Therapy Special Ed, Masters of Ed in Music Education, and a Doctorate in Music Education.”
Deborah Simmons first Episcopal experiencevia her Music Theory Special Ed Degree:
“I did an internship in Southbury, CT. My roommate, Patty Visk, was from Fishkill, NY. Visiting her folks on the weekends, we attended church. Her family were members of the Episcopal Church. I was raised United Church of Christ. Learning about her church was an eye opener.”
How her Doctorate in Music Education led to Visual Arts:
“To achieve the doctorate in music education, I had to leave the music therapy field and return to traditional teaching. It took my mother, grandmother and godmother passing in 1985-1986 to arrive at the conclusion that I had to leave NY. Meeting an administrator from the Hartford School system on one of the flights home led to my being employed at Fox Middle School. I work there for 7.5 years before taking the position at Manchester Community College. In 2016 we became an accredited institution by the National Association for Schools of Music. A benefit of working at the college is being able to take courses for free. Since my employ in 1995, I have taken numerous visual art courses. The courses included ceramics, 2/3D design and two studio drawing courses.”
Simmons calling to water:
“For many years I lived in the West End of Hartford. Teaching in Hartford and working in Manchester I had to cross the river every day. I began to see the river. Living so near the CT river, I begun to doing map art. I would take nautical charts of the river and coastline and enhanced them using inks and gold leaf. Around 2010, I was invited to exhibit in a group show with the theme about water. I had a crazy idea to build a boat and incorporate the river map design down the center console. The exhibition was cancelled due to a curatorial change with the gallery, but I learned how to build a boat.”
With no formal boat building knowledge, Deborah managed to pull from her childhood upbringing around music, art, and math that aided her in constructing her very first live boat, The Mende Libertè which translates to “Mende Free.” That same boat she crafted with her own hands won 1st place in 2015 for both ‘small craft dingy,’ which is maritime lingo for “small boat,” and judge’s choice award at the Mystic Seaport Exhibit.
“One thing lead to another and I decided to exhibit the boat at the 2015 Wooden Boat Show at Mystic Seaport. I won 1st place judge’s choice and 1st place small craft dinghy. At the end of the weekend I was given a piece of Iroko wood used for the decking of the Amistad replica. I was told by Quentin Snediker, at the time Director of the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard.”
What’s interesting is that she was able to infuse actual wood from The Amistad, an infamous 1839 sailing vessel which illegally captured enslaved people who managed to regain control of the ship. A case well-known to the New Haven, CT community that shook the legal & diplomatic foundations of the nation’s government and brought the issue of enslavement to the forefront of American politics. Resulting in the Africans winning their freedom before the US Supreme court in 1841 and returned to their homeland.
MATTHEW 13:55
54 He came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?” 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.” 58 And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.
Deborah Simmons’ story is a powerful one within our Episcopal community and is a beautiful tale that exhibits the power of our intergenerational roots. We highlight her as Black History month comes to a close. She is a great addition to #EpiscopalBlackHistory and jumpstart to Women’s History Month. There are not many POC or women within the current maritime industry and Deborah’s story reminded us of the above bible verse: Although many were astounded by her wisdom & craftsmanship as a newcomer to boat building she leaned into her lineage and gained the nautical knowledge from her ancestors and carpentry skillset from her father. In response to those who may have questioned her belonging, Is she not a carpenter’s daughter?
Parishioner from Christ Church, Guilford has been selected to write the February entries for Forward Movement
Page Pelphrey, originally from Greensboro, North Carolina, now a parishioner from Christ Church, Guilford, has been selected to write the February entries for Forward Movement, a devotional booklet they publish called Forward Day by Day. Page has a beautiful backstory that led her to take the leap and submit her writings to Forward Movement.
Page is a self-proclaimed Pre-cradle Episcopalian, “All 4 of my grandparents were Episcopalian…they went to the same church. My parents met at church.” She can remember the Forward Day by Day publication as long as she can remember. Her maternal grandmother, also named Page, was an avid reader of the Forward Movement; so much so that it was part of her morning routine, paired with coffee of course!
“My grandfather would bring her coffee… She started her morning with the Forward Day by Day and her Bible.”
Page began reading the publication herself six years before submitting her writing samples. What’s powerful about Page’s story is that her submission was a leap of faith.
“What if they don’t like it?”she thought.
With witting as a hobby and not being formally trained as a writer, the teacher of 25 years, drummed up the courage to submit her devotional writings that she wrote 2-3 years ago. So what gave her that push you’re probably thinking?
“Timing, and you hear that still small voice, that nudge, I think when things don’t go away, when that small voice, when you listen, and it doesn’t go away, and it doesn’t change, it’s time to act on it.”
The inspiration we’d like you to gain from this story is to trust in yourself. God gifted all of us with intuition and speaks to us through our thoughts. You may be feeling hesitant to make a change or embark on a new direction. The path less traveled is a bumpy one but it is so full of promise once you decide to forge it. An unknown path means endless opportunity. If Page decided to leave her devotional writings in her drafts folder, we would never have the opportunity to gain insight from her talent as a now published writer.So Take the Leap, you never know where God is trying to lead you.
“Pray, pray, pray. Follow and listen for that voice. The voice isn’t going to tell you to do anything illegal. Follow your intuition. For me, for me, it’s that still small voice of God. Just let your heart and your gut lead you. You have to get over the fear of rejection, that’s the one thing that stopped me a lot of times. If they say no thankyou, know that something else is coming along.” -Page Pelphrey
February 2nd is the Feast of The Presentation of Our Lord
Previously, we discussed the conversion of St. Paul, the Apostle who was blind, not just of sight, but blind of heart. After regaining his sight, he was able to look at people he held bias against differently than before. From this story we learned what it means when our faith lacks love. When we hold space for love within our faith, we can see God in others.
This week as we venture into February we reflect on the presentation of baby Jesus, when Mary and Joseph took him to the temple. Luke 2:22 narrates the purification ceremony, required by the law of Moses, that takes place 40 days after a 1st born son is brought into the world.
During this ceremony a burnt offering occurs: a symbolic representation of commitment & surrender to God. A burnt offering, which translates to “ascent” or “stairway” in Hebrew (olah), is a way to atone for sin and show appreciation for the Lord.
Much like the burnt offerings given during the purification ceremony at the temple, this is a time when we offer ourselves to the Lord and surrender to His refining fire; creating in us a pure and clean heart, removing any impurities that blind us, similarly to Saul. There may be periods of discomfort as God purifies us from within to gain clearer sight but let this process encourage us, as it is his overriding commitment to grow us closer to Him.
The Presentation of Our Lord poses a larger theme about ascending to love through God’s light of revelation, Jesus Christ. As our hearts and minds become illuminated by the purifying light of Christ on this day, let it further reveal the significance of acting in harmony as God’s creation, not only within ourselves, but also with others around us. When we activate the spirit of unified love, we enter an expansion that reflects spiritual growth.
When we give unconditional love to our siblings in Christ and compassion to ourselves, it creates a cycle of love that flows back to us, allowing us to truly see the light, God’s grace, and the love of Christ, in everyone. The only way we can truly be siblings in Christ is to love like Christ which will bring about a new way of belonging.
The Season of Refinement is about showing up and making a conscious effort to grow our hearts in the light of Christ and expand our experiences to a boundless loving mindset so we may present ourselves to God in a way that Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the temple. Consider your community and what needs to be tested by refiners’ fire to look more like God’s Kingdom.
You have a deep knowing that when you pray, meditate, or simply sit in stillness that you open a channel of connection to God, where loving energy and information flows to you and through you.
January 25th is The Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul.
Before Saint Paul was the Apostle, he was Saul of Tarsus, a persecutor of those who followed and believed in Jesus Christ.
When he set out to find and persecute Christians in Damascus, a bright light blinded him, which was the risen Jesus himself. After that moment his heart was forever changed and he became Paul the Apostle.
Similar to Saint Paul the Apostle, we’ve all experienced having a change of heart, which is part of God’s refining process. For gold to become pure, it must be tested in fire. Much like the bright light of Jesus that blinded Saul, there will be fires sent to test the genuineness of our faith.
This encounter is significant because it reveals to us how Jesus has the power to create in us a sincere change of heart.
We Encourage you to explore The Conversion of Saint Paul and discover ways in which your heart has changed and can still be changed in a season of refinement.
Meditate on these Affirmations for a Renewed Heart and Spirit: “Burn me Beautiful.” “Burn me Lovely.” “Burn me Righteous.” “Burn me Holy.”
