Day 7

I never actually finished the AIDS Ride story that I started this blog to document. Day 6 was kind of a low day, with everyone a little quieter and grumpier.

That night, on the beach in Ventura, 2200 people gathered in a circle, each with a candle. It was entry into liturgy. I was tired, I was ready, I so wanted a good cry, and we gathered in a circle with lit candles--and stood. And we simply stood there. There wasn't conversation of prayer, or even simply what the candles might represent. There is an incredible power in seeing that many people in a gathering, especially in a circle. Many people around us were in tears. They held one another. After a little while slowly folks made there way to the water and doused their candles as the waves washed in. As someone who is spiritual, who does liturgy for a living, it was a deeply unsatisfying experience. It was just so close to being a very meaningful, powerful experience for all, as I'm sure it was for some.

Day 7 we woke before light at 5:00 a.m. or so and stumbled to breakfast, me making sure to get my mate in after packing up the tents and duffel bags-everything a bit wet and dewy. We ate our food quietly, took our bags to the big trucks one last time and got on the road. It was a slightly shorter day, but by about mid-day I experienced the first of feeling all those days on the bike. Generally, throughout the week, my body hurt from saddle-sore, sitting in the same position, but Day 7 my muscles were tired.

Ventura to L.A. on the Pacific Coast Highway may be beautiful, but trying it on a Saturday in June was possibly insane. There were cars everywhere. It was a very dangerous ride. There were plenty of near-misses and a couple accidents coming down some serious hills. We had a blast though, and were singing our songs and gaining energy from seeing how far we'd come and the end in sight.

We got into L.A. and made it to the closing ceremonies. Where we waited. We got our t-shirts, looked at AIDS quilts--tears, took pics, and hung out en masse under the Southern CA sunshine, waiting. We "rode" into the final ceremony, with plenty of talks and pump you up energy. It was alright. Maybe I didn't need it. Maybe I was tired. And then that was it! 500-something miles, 7 days, some good laughs and the satisfaction of riding every mile after wanting to do this ride for so long.

Mark had driven down and we dropped Kelly and Shayne at their hotel--I was a little bummed to be missing that night out, but we had to be back for church. We talked and caught up on the ride home--it was great! I got home and slept hard.

That evening at Unplugged, I was so incredibly happy to be there. All week people had spoken about this amazing community, how you'll be depressed to leave it, and here I was in the truly amazing, Spirit-filled community that knew it was about so much more than us, that God is present and alive and there is hope. One of the sweetest toddlers, with a smile that can kill, Isabelle was there that evening, with new baby brother in tow. She was a bit wiggly and at the peace I picked her up-we were both beaming! The little comedian made pirate faces back and forth with me! She stayed happily in my arms as I celebrated communion. This is the blessing of community, of a regular worshipping community in the presence of God and my vocation is truly my blessing! After the service, we got on the bus the Steyer's rented to head down to Wendy's music competition in the Mission, danced and had a blast! Oh, satisfied!

Order for living

At the stewardship conference, I went to a workshop put on by Karen Ward on the new monasticism movement. It's a fairly simple concept of a rule of life and an order for living, but requires community and commitment. There's a local order here in the Mission district. They have a monthly Thursday gathering that seems to have gone dormant. They also have a core group that follows an order for rhythm of prayer and vows.

They're rhythm looks like:
Morning and Evening Prayer
Daily Scripture Reading
Communal Prayer every other Friday morning
Weekly communal gathering
Monthly Tithe
Monthly Sharing of created artifacts
Yearly Silent Retreat
Yearly deinvestment of possessions
Hospitality
Caring for the stranger, orphan, elderly, poor and unaffliated


and they're order:
Service

We account for and leverage our time to serve others through evaluating our commitments and developing a written schedule we share with one another that reflects our most important priorities.
We give priority in our schedules to seeking the presence of God with orphans and widows and people who are hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, lonely or in prison.
We seek to do work that provides income and fulfills our true vocation with dignity and in ways that promote equality, sustainability and justice.

Simplicity

We keep careful account of our personal finances and live a budget that reflects sustainability and intentional conscientious priorities, and we share our income and expense budgets with one another in a yearly members meeting..
We give away 10% of our income; (5% to the common work of Seven and 5% to the charities of our choice).
We seek to live lives that are focused, content, sustainable, and generous. As a general principle we are mindful not accumulate possessions and, once a year, (on the day after thanksgiving) we collectively take an inventory of our belongings and evaluate what to keep, share, sell or give away.
Creativity

We cultivate divine imagination by reading the scriptures daily with our family or household.
We seek to find God in all of creation and our humanity through intentional and reflective interactions with nature and cultural artifacts.
We create cultural artifacts (recipes, poems, paintings, songs, stories, etc) and share them with each other once a month leaving a trail for others to discover and learn from.
Prayer

We begin and end the day with 15 minutes of prayer.
We take an annual three-day silent retreat.
We participate in cooperative morning-prayer the second and fourth Fridays of every month.

Community

We are active in a Jesus dojo cohort.
We participate regularly in Sunday night SEVEN gatherings.
We practice hospitality on a weekly basis (Thursdays suggested) with neighbors, coworkers, travelers and strangers on a weekly basis.
Obedience

We keep our vows.
We meet with a trusted mentor at least once a month to talk about personal growth. (either someone within SEVEN or another local person.)
We seek community discernment on major life decisions (change of vocation, marriage, relocation, personal crisis, etc) through a listening meeting
Love

We seek to meet one another’s needs.
We seek to be reconciled one with another and with all people.
We seek unity, cooperation and goodwill with all groups and people locally and globally seeking God in the way of Jesus.



What would it look like? A monthly gathering? A group to develop a rule? A group to be responsible to? Tell me what you think? Are there people that come to mind?

Re-membering

When I got to Transfiguration in 2001, the parish welcomed me with open arms, parties, and so many new people. I met and quickly connected with Kathy, a former Roman Catholic nun, who left the order to pursue relationship and was now married to Bob and taught at Notre Dame University in Belmont. She was smart and insightful and incredibly spiritual. She was also sick when I got there--the doctor's weren't sure, maybe mono? maybe a virus? She had a low-grade fever for a few months. Finally, she was referred to her oncologist, who had treated her in her previous two bouts with ovarian cancer, which, incidentally, Bob's first wife had died of. Do you see where this was going?

It turns out that fever can be an indicator of cancer. Kathy's doctor knew this, her brother, a physician, knew this, and both were in denial. No one wanted to admit the possibility of cancer again and a cancer that came with fever. She was diagnosed and decided to fight. As she became weaker, I drove her down to her chemo treatment in Campbell and recall addressing my ordination invitations sitting across from her as the drugs made their way into her body. After a couple months of decline, Kathy, who was incredibly verbal about this process acknowledged she was dying, called her circle of family, friends, sisters around her. She was so very present through the process. And Bob allowed me to care for him in his grief, as their house was constantly inundated and he finally had to demand private time with his dying wife.

Kathy asked that I celebrate at her burial office. It was an incredible honor and blessing and it was so very healing. At the reception, nun after nun came up and spoke to me about the joy of seeing a woman at the altar. Kathy was very much present there. A few months later, Bob brought me some of Kathy's old books, including some inclusive scriptures. I have rarely used them, but opened one today and found a prayer Kathy wrote to God. It quickly brought tears to my eyes. These ghosts are gifts. These spirits are alive. There is true joy in this communion of saints!

I haven't missed that end of life "midwifery" in this new job and still feel so honored by the opportunity to be welcomed into people's journeys in profound ways.