Peter Hawkinson

Then David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly; David said, “Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of our ancestor Israel, for ever and ever. Yours, O LORD, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all. And now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious name.” (1 Chronicles 29)

Name that tune…”So thank the Lord, thank the Lord for all his love.” The song is “All Good Gifts”, popularized in the broadway musical Godspell (1973), but the lyrics were first penned in 1782 by German poet Matthias Claudias. In 2007, when our kids were 12, 10, and 8, the Godspell soundtrack made it into our car cd player, and so all year long Bonnie, the kids and I rode around town and went on vacation singing along with all the wonderful songs: “Day by Day”, “O Bless the Lord my Soul”, “Prepare the Way of the Lord” and the most beautiful “All Good Gifts.”

Along the way, through all the songs, the voice of an over-eager operatic tenor name Lamar Alford. We’d take turns mimicking him, a little bit to pope fun, but really to join along with his unbridled joy and unfiltered praise. I have this most beautiful memory of Stina one day belting it out in her room, like Lamar, thinking no one could hear: “All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above, so thank the LORD, thank the LORD for all his love.”

This is what is at the heart of our stewardship — our gratitude, the personal kind that flows from the joy of being all caught up in the mercy and love of God, which comes to life in Jesus. Our gifts, and all our giving flows like a song of thanksgiving.

This is a seminal week to find your soul singing like Lamar a song of thanks in an unfiltered way, in a way that seems to say, “I just can’t help myself!” and to come to worship on Stewardship Commitment Sunday with that gratitude moving from head and heart to your hands and feet. LIKE LAMAR!

We plow the field and scatter the good seed on the land
But it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand
He sends the snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain
The breezes and the sunshine and soft refreshing rain

All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above
So thank the Lord, oh thank the Lord
For all His love

We thank Thee then, oh Father, for all things bright and good
The seed-time and the harvest, our life, our health, our food
No gifts have we to offer for all Thy love imparts
But that which Thou desirest, our humble thankful hearts

All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above
So thank the Lord, oh thank the Lord
For all His love
I really wanna thank You, Lord
(All good gifts around us)
I wanna thank You, Lord
(Are sent from heaven above)
For Your love
I wanna thank You, Lord
(All good gifts around us)

Dear Church Family,

As we await the counting of ballots and the results of tomorrow’s election, here are some prayer resources to navigate this weighty time. I’d ask you to commit to praying with me through three days — Monday, November 2 – Wednesday, November 4 — these same prayers each day at their assigned times, or as you adapt them to your schedule. As we do so, let’s be praying for one another too.

Please vote. And God bless us, one and all!

For Guidance — to pray at waking.

Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: we humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p.100)

For an Election — to pray at 8 a.m.

Almighty God, to whom we must account for all our powers and privileges; Guide the people of the United States in the election of officials and representatives; that, by faithful administration and wise laws, the rights of all May be protected and our nation be enabled to fulfill your purposes; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p. 822)

A Prayer of Saint Cyprian of Carthage (200-258, Bishop and Martyr) — to pray at 10 a.m.

Lord, we pray for the unity of your Church. Help us to see ourselves as rays from the one sun, branches of a single tree, and streams flowing from one river. May we remain united to you and to each other, because you are our common source of life; and may we send out your light and pour forth your flowing streams over all the earth, drawing our inspiration and joy from you. Amen.

For Social Justice – to pray at noon

Grant, O God, that your Holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, and especially the hearts of people in this land, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our long divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p. 823)

For Persistence — to pray at 3 p.m.

Loving God, give us the grace to remember that You are always with us. Help us to remain committed to our values no matter what may happen in our life. Bless our country and help us to live in such a way that we bring glory to your name. May we never lose sight of the hope and the good news you have promised us in Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rev. Dr. Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones)

For Those Who Influence Public Opinion — to pray at 6 p.m.

Almighty God, you proclaim your truth in every age by many voices: direct, in our time, we pray, those who speak where many listen and write what many read; that they may do their part in making the heart of this people wise, its mind sound, and its will righteous; to the honor of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p. 827)

For Vision — to pray at 9 p.m.

Almighty and Everlasting God, you are the Shepherd of shepherds. You always guide us to choose our leaders according to heart, but our sins and fears and human limitations may decide differently. Come in, Lord, with your changing and perfecting Spirit, to transform and accord the hearts of the ones we elect; and grant wisdom and discernment to the ones we do not. Work closely with the leaders and people of our nation in bringing justice for all; cultivate our unity so we can live in peace. May the Spirit of love, cooperation, and mutual understanding which reigns in your divine community govern our hearts. We pray to you who are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. (Rev. Alfred Loua)

For Peaceful Rest — to pray before sleeping

Be present, O merciful God, and protect us through the hours of this night, so that we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this life may rest in your eternal changelessness. Then guide us waking, O Lord, that we may watch with Christ for your Spirit at work in this new day. Amen.

“For we are God’s servants, working together.” (1 Cor 3:9)

You may not know that there is an active Mutual Ministry Committee that exists in our community to help foster healthy dialogue between pastors and congregation. It used to be called the “Pastoral Relations Committee” emphasizing a way to help us as pastors hear what the congregation is thinking, feeling, and saying. Mutual Ministry takes this emphasis but also provides a conduit for us as pastors to share our thoughts and feelings with the congregation also.

Central and crucial to our work is healthy and ongoing conversation between pastors and the congregation. Our behavior covenant aspires to this as a goal of ours: “We practice honest, open, direct communication. We speak the truth in love and listen in love.”

As pastors, our first hope is that at any point you might feel concerned about something, or have an idea, or want to offer feedback, you would feel a level of comfort in coming and talking with us directly. In my ministry life, I have thought about this as “the open door.” My goal (and our goal as your pastors) is always that you feel our door is open, and that the space is safe to come and talk about what’s on your heart.

That being said, the Mutual Ministry Committee exists to provide another constructive and healthy way to have dialogue together on our ministry road. The charge of the committee is to strengthen healthy communication, to open a space for addressing and discussing concerns, and support both the pastors and the congregation as we work together for God’s glory and neighbor’s good. You may communicate with the committee who will hold confidentiality with you and bring your communication to the pastors.

There are two ways to do this. You may send an email to mutualministry@winnetkacovenant.org. You may also contact any of the committee members for conversation. Current members are: Richard McClellan, Betsy Pearson, Inger Eiesland-Schultz, and Mollie Sudhoff.

An active Mutual Ministry Committee is crucial to the ongoing health and strength of our Church. Here’s an example from my past ministry life in a former congregation. The Mutual Ministry Committee made me aware of some congregational concern around a theological issue I often spoke of, that “God has a preferential love for the poor.” This is a central emphasis of Liberation Theology, which has deeply influenced my own thinking. I was unaware of the concern for more clarity, but because it was shared I was able to plan for a month of Sunday school classes and worship/preaching around formational Gospel texts. This resulted (at least for most) in a lessening of anxiety through more reflection. The fruit was that two of those who were previously most concerned ended up leading an outreach ministry to those struggling with poverty and homelessness in our own community. God be praised!

As pastors, we invite you into dialogue and conversation about anything and at anytime. Please remember the resource of the Mutual Ministry Committee, and keep praying for our wonderful Church!

Love from here,

Pastor Peter (on behalf of Lynnea and Kristie too!)

Guest blogger this week is Tom Tropp.

This summer, I had the honor of joining a group from the Lutheran Church of Honolulu on a Lutheran history tour of eastern Germany, following in the footsteps of Martin Luther. The trip began in Berlin, and for a lifelong fanatic of twentieth-century history, this visit allowed me to cross several items off my bucket list. The remnants of the wall, the replica Checkpoint Charlie, and the remaining battle scars from the 1940s are every bit as jarring as I had expected. But—as is so often the case—the most moving moment experienced there came as a surprise.

Across the street from the Tiergarten and immediately south of the American embassy, in a space that was formerly part of the Berlin Wall’s “death strip,” and before that the location of the Reich Chancellery and the Führerbunker, is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

This memorial was commissioned by the German government in 1999 and opened in 2005. This photo is taken from street level, looking north, where the concrete slabs are about thigh-high. Looking from here, the impression is that these slabs follow a gentle rise and fall as one walks through from south to north (or the opposite; you can enter the memorial from any direction). 

Once inside, however, those expectations are immediately shattered. The center of the memorial is not on high ground, but in a pit. As you proceed toward the center, the slabs grow higher and heavier, quickly towering over you. The sounds of the city and traffic disappear, and the ground underneath your feet is constantly and randomly rising and falling. 

With each step, your feet can no longer anticipate whether the next will be a step up or down, and so you stumble; as the concrete slabs tower above you, you can no longer see around the next corner, and so you collide; as you wander, you can no longer remember which direction you are headed, and so you emerge somewhere you never anticipated. The experience is extremely disorienting. This is at once a place of peaceful reflection and one of frustrating wandering. This was the artist’s intention, of course, as this is exactly how our Jewish brothers and sisters in Europe spent the middle part of the 20^th century. 

But it wasn’t only then, was it?

Fear of the outsider, rejection of other-ness, the rise of closed communities: these were not novel in 1930s Germany. And while we all know that these attitudes are not Biblical and certainly not Christian, we must also recognize that they very much arose from within the church. The earliest anti-Jewish interpretations of the Gospels, especially in the Passion stories, evolved early in Christianity’s history, and the translations of these texts made during the Reformation clearly leaned in to these interpretations. 

The City Church in Wittenberg—the birthplace of the Reformation, where Martin Luther preached over 2,000 sermons—was built starting around 1280. Its “Judensau” was added around 1290. 

This relief, on the southeast corner of the church, was something that couldn’t possibly be missed by Wittenberg’s Jewish population, as they walked the narrow pathway that they were required to traverse between their storefronts on the market square and their homes in Jewish quarter—required, so as not to be seen coming or going. It was designed to humiliate and to threaten. And it is on the wall of the church. There were hundreds of these “Judensaus” (a word that literally means “Jewish pig”) added to German churches in the 13^th through 15^th centuries, and this is one of 47 still surviving today. The text etched in this one was added later and was taken from Luther’s highly antisemitic treatise “Vom Schem Hamphoras.” 

One cannot read Luther’s history or visit the sites of his life without finding some pretty dark blemishes. We can cover these up if we want to. Look only at the door of the College Church, at Wartburg Castle, at the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt. That’s easier, isn’t it? But it denies us the full picture and the ability to learn from it. Does learning these things change our image of Martin Luther? Sure it does. Does learning these things negate the good that Martin Luther did? Does it mean that we are against Martin Luther? Of course it does not. Whitewashing the history of our Christian ancestors—or for that matter, our church, our nation, or our family—never serves in our church’s—or nation’s, or family’s—best interests. It only denies us the ability to learn. The façade of perfection is not history. God is perfect; God’s Word is perfect. Those of us who try to interpret God’s Word are not.

When preparations were being made to restore Wittenberg’s City Church for the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation, heated debates took place regarding its “Judensau” and whether it should be removed. Those debates continue today, but ultimately, the decision was made to leave it in place, so that the city and the nation might own its history, to encourage discussion of it, and to learn from it. So the “Judensau” is still there, but on the ground below it have been added both a cedar of Lebanon (donated by Israel) and a memorial plaque.

This piece of art tells an important story. We can choose to forget our history, to stuff it into a box and cover it up. It sure is easier that way. But it will always work its way to the surface, always ooze through the seams—and in a far worse way than it went into the box in the first place. 

“Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did…. These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.” 1 Cor. 10:6, 11

Tom Tropp

I’ve been having a lot of conversations lately with so many of you about the radical nature of Jesus, His gospel, and the Kingdom of God. Radical is defined different ways… “of, relating to, or proceeding from the root of a plant” ….Jesus said, “I am the vine, and you are the branches.” Another definition is “very different from the usual or traditional”… Jesus says, “My Kingdom is not of this world.”

At some level, at every level really, the gospel, the good news of the Kingdom of God that comes to life in Jesus, and flows from his love, doesn’t just tweak a bit the ways our world is and works. No, It’s a whole new way of thinking, feeling, and being human when the grace of God has its way, when the mercy of God becomes our story, when the love of Jesus transforms our very lives. We become salt and light, ministers of reconciliation. We see in every creature and all creation the image of God. We seek to do justice and to love mercy for the sake of our neighbors near and far. And, oh, we need the help, the constant help of God’s Spirit!

This is because while it is as St. Paul says, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me”, the old self still likes to make appearances….he also says “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate…so I find it a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand.” We remain fully human, and this means though we are created according to the old story “very good” and “in the image of God”, we constantly and consistently struggle with our self-centered preoccupation, and all the brokenness this brings into human life. Our shadow companions….greed, lust, deceit, and the list goes on. Power, wealth, and relationships around them become destructive. OY!

Soon Reformation Sunday will be here, on October 25, and as we remember that we are always in need of reforming our ministry and amending our lives, it seems to me that our central prayer as the Church ought to be for God’s help…HELP US!

This afternoon a new hymn came across my eyesight that leads me to pray in this way. It is called We Pray for Those with Empty Hands and the text and tune come from Barbara Hamm:

We pray for those with empty hands, whose hopes have all but died, who search for work in troubled lands, where walls and wars divide. We pray for refugees whose bread is earned at such great cost, whose work to keep their families fed means cruel borders crossed.

God, help us see our sister’s need and feel our brother’s pain; help us to reach beyond our greed and what we stand to gain. God, help us change systemic wrongs that make the world unjust. Your kingdom to the meek belongs — one built on love and trust.

God, help us do your work on earth as agents of your grace, till peace and plenty come to birth and bless the human race. Then hungry children shall be fed, the poor be lifted up; and all shall feast on living bread and drink the blessing cup.

God, HELP us see! HELP us do! Praying with you.

Peter Hawkinson

Here’s the story of my first memory as I remember it. I was chasing another kid (can’t remember who) during quiet time in my Kindergarten class at Peterson School. I tripped over one of the kids laying down and had a head first meeting with a radiator, which got the best of my forehead and left me with a sizable and bloody gash. My mom arrived before I knew it and off we went to Swedish Covenant Hospital and my first of many emergency room visits in my life.

I remember our olive green station wagon with panels on the side and a seat facing out the back. I’ll never forget my mom’s repeated and heavy hugs, and the love I felt in that scary moment. And ever-fresh is the fear I had when I found out I needed a bunch of stitches and the nerve blocking needle came out. I think they did a good job. I can’t find a scar for the life of me.

After we were done at the hospital, mom surprised me when she turned off of Foster avenue and into “The Hot Dog Pit” — these days called Charcoal Delights. Ours was a family budget that found us rarely, if ever, eating out. Mom made me feel so special there, hugging me again and again and telling me to get whatever I wanted. It was a hot dog with ketchup only (sorry!), a big basket of fries and a chocolate shake. I felt like I was king for a day enough to forget about the growing baseball like wound on my forehead for awhile. I also even can remember my mom’s outfit on that 1969 fall day — a kind of flowery polyester precursor of a dress that pointed us ahead into the seventies, looming ahead.

All in all, the day remains a good memory for me. Interesting how the trauma is there but more in the background.

What scientists call ‘Childhood Amnesia” accounts for our lack of early childhood memories. Our memories, which are vivid in our early years, fade as we grow older and farther from them. According to Patricia Bauer, psychology professor at Emory University, extensive research has shown that “traumatic events that children turn into a good story because of present parental affection” become our most deeply formed and remembered childhood experiences. Well, fist bump for that! This speaks right into my experience of remembering.

I wonder what your first childhood memory is. Spend some time reflecting about that.

For my mother’s crucial loving presence with me that day, I’m forever grateful. Alyce Mae Larson Hawkinson died now eleven years ago. She must be counted among the saints.

Peter Hawkinson

Judi Geake

It may come as no surprise that one of my favorite songs to sing in church is “I Love to Tell the Story”.  The Geake Family Story is found in the 313 writings in 8 sections in my book of memories, just like the Biblical family story is found in the 1,189 chapters in 66 books of the Bible.  If you’ve never thought of the Bible as a collection of stories before, think of what narratives in the Bible stand out for you. Adam & Eve, Moses parting the Red Sea, Noah & the Ark, David & Goliath, the birth of Jesus, the prodigal son, the good Samaritan.  I suspect you first heard these stories in Sunday School and then have heard them again in sermons throughout the years. Just as I’m certain that some of your family stories are ones you have heard more than once, perhaps around the holiday table, or maybe in conversations with your grandparents, children or grandchildren. We are fortunate, indeed, that the writers of the Bible told their stories repeatedly until someone wrote them down so they could be shared with future generations. I like to help people tell their stories with the goal of getting those stories in writing so they, too, can be shared with future generations. 

Beginning Wednesday night October 7th, come join me once a month at 6:30 in the library as we tell some of our stories to each other and I’ll show you how to get them ready to pass on. The first Wednesday of the Month is Family Game Night, but perhaps games are “not your thing”. Maybe your spouse and/or children love game night, but you just like to come for the meal.  Maybe you’ve never come to dinner on Wednesday nights and would like to try it out but would rather not play games. Whatever your reason, storytelling will offer an alternative. Maybe you’d just like to join me once at 6:30 to see what we’ll be doing, and that’s OK, too. 

Like the stories in the Bible, our stories aren’t just a recitation of facts. They are our thoughts about what we encounter, they are our recollections from the past and our hopes for the future. They are stories of our jobs, our vacations, our family history. They are our memories of events, both good and bad. Many of us have stories of where we were during 9/11. Some of us have memories of the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. There are stories of family celebrations, of where you went to school, of all the places you have lived, of relatives who have passed on. Our stories enrich and personalize our families’ understanding of history in the same way that Bible stories enrich and personalize our understanding of God, Jesus, and the many writers of the Bible.  Come share one of your stories.  I’m betting you’ll love it once you try it! No homework required! 

So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a wise heart (Psalm 90:12)

Soon our one hundredth year of ministry will be here! On December 14, 1927 Rev. Algoth Olson, President of North Park College spoke at the organizational meeting where thirty persons signed a church charter. Oscar and Hilda Anderson were the first to sign. Services began in evening hours to fit the schedules of these immigrant servants, who were the maids, cooks, gardeners and chauffeurs of the wealthy who lived on Sheridan road, and whose responsibilities carried through until late afternoon on Sunday. On the fiftieth anniversary, remembering this time, Frances Mason writes: “So beginning at 5:00 p.m. with a singing, lay led service in English, the evening proceeded with supper at 6:00 followed by a Swedish preaching service. From the start, the congregation adapted to the lives and needs of the people they served.” And the rest is history, much of which we will remember and celebrate in the year ahead. Some of us have been a part of this community for decades, and some of us are just beginning this journey. Here we are, together!

We will celebrate, remember, and give thanks for what has been and dream new dreams for years and decades to come as we stand on the shoulders of the saints who have come before us. Special events, gatherings, and reunions will happen throughout the year. Soon, very soon!

But now it’s an important moment to plan and prepare for these moments. So This coming Sunday, September 27, following worship and our celebration of pastor Lynnea Miller, we will gather for a time of planning together. The centennial planning committee has some exciting thoughts to share, but now its time for you to help push the plans forward. Here’s the invitation from the committee:

“We’re kicking off the Centennial celebration planning with a high-energy brainstorming session. Join us from noon until 2 as we collaborate, review logo concepts, sharpen our tagline, break out into sub-committees, and map out an exciting year-long celebration of WCC’s 100th anniversary. Bring a bag lunch and your best ideas — we’ll have snacks and beverages ready to keep the creativity flowing. If you’re currently involved or hoping to get involved in centennial planning, this is the perfect moment to jump in.”

The bears don’t play until Monday night! No RSVP is needed. Please join in this important time.

You can reach out to Kim Steiner with questions or concerns at krsteiner1@gmail.com

Looking forward to this time together!

Pastor Hawkinson

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings.” (Isaiah 52:7)

My feet grow anything but more beautiful as the years mount up. A good part of it is genetics, especially the bunions that make my feet almost identical twins of my father’s that I looked at years ago. I’ll spare you more details, sufficing it to say that my feet show the wear and tear of a busy life.

On my annual trip to the dermatologist this morning, I sit looking at them, waiting for Dr. K to arrive with her liquid nitrogen. These faithful companions have gotten me around the world and more importantly up and out of bed faithfully everyday. They have kept me balanced and directed. They used to run wild on the court when I was a boy. Nowadays they’re content to help my heart get my steps in, especially since my lisfranc injury two years ago when I tumbled down the stairs with a suitcase. One thing at a time now. One thing at a time!

In the ancient times and for most of history our feet have been our shoes. To be a foot washer back in biblical times was the mother lode of entry level work, imagining the grit and grime, dust and blisters and sores of travelers who never had to be sure about getting in enough steps — that’s for sure! Little beauty in old feet or the job of claiming them up.

Yet the prophet’s feet are called beautiful. Not the herald’s lips which tell the good tidings, or the eyes seeing the world, but its the feet — the feet that get the prophet up the mountain and keeping them standing up to say something in the first place.

I’m reminded too that when the disciples first found their risen Christ on Easter morning and their confusion and terror turned to joy, it was the feet of Jesus they found. “They took hold of his feet and worshiped him.” (Mt 28:9). Frederick Buechner reflects that “these were the same ruined, tired dogs that had carried him to them three days earlier when they were at their accounts and their nets, and that dragged them all the way from Galilee to Jerusalem, that stumbled up the hill where what was to happen happened.” (Wishful Thinking). And now those feet were fresh with nail scars. How beautiful, indeed, in their mangled and scarred up way, those feet. Buechner concludes: “Generally speaking, if you want to know who you really are as distinct from who you like to think you are, keep an eye on where your feet take you.”

Where have your feet taken you? And when you look at them now and for awhile, even though they might very likely not render to you the word “beautiful” as one that comes to mind, is not the story they tell a beautiful one after all?

Love From Here

Peter Hawkinson

“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper the work of our hands –O prosper the work of our hands!” (Psalm 90)

“Therefore, My beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15)

Labor Day comes. Labor Day, an annual celebration of workers and their achievements, originated during one of American labor history’s most dismal chapters. In the late 1800s, at the height of the industrial revolution in the United States, the average American laborer worked 12-hour days, seven days a week, in order to eke out a basic living. Despite restrictions in some states, children as young as five toiled in mills, factories and mines across the country, earning a fraction of their adult counterparts’ wages. So i,as labor unions developed it became a federal “workingman’s holiday” in 1894.

For those of us in our working years, when we’re asked the question, what do you do vocationally, we most often respond with an explanation of our job, our labor, to which we offer a third or more of our life’s time and energy.

Considering the word “vocation” which comes from the Latin “vocatio”, meaning a call or a summons. Originally, vocation was a spiritual word that emerged in early Christian history. The word was used to designate clergy, hermits, monks and nuns who gave their life to the pursuit of God. It would be said back then when asked the question that “my primary vocation is to be a Christian”.

With the coming of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther and John Calvin began to emphasize vocations as divine callings that included secular occupations. The sense was that individual Christians fulfill God’s call in the midst of everyday life. The sacred comes to life in the secular. Luther says, “The call of God comes to each at the common tasks.”

These days it seems that sense of the word vocation has lost most of its spiritual meaning. My vocation is what work I do. My vocation is an occupation to which I am drawn and for which I am suited, trained, and qualified. It’s the job a person does to earn a living.

I am enthused about this idea of connecting a sense of vocation spiritually to the labor of our lives. To be intentional about saying first that “My primary vocation is to be a Christian.” To live, and move, and have our being from this center. My first life’s work is to love God and love my neighbor as myself. But, to also connect this to our life’s labor as the primary place — community, environment — where we live out our Christian vocation. Our life’s workplace and labor then becomes a kind of laboratory for the working out of our faith “with fear and trembling” as St. Paul puts it.

In bringing together the spiritual and the secular understandings of vocation and labor, it might be as Thomas Merton says: “All vocations are intended by God to manifest His love in the world.” And it might help us remember that our spiritual life is not compartmentalized away from the rest of life, but that all of life is spiritual, not one part separated from Christ our Lord. Our work in the world is sacred, because God’s Spirit is at work in and through us day by day.

Love From Here!

Peter Hawkinson