The Ache for Home by The Reverend Barkley Thompson

The Ache for Home by The Reverend Barkley Thompson

The baby who almost lost his hands, Christmas at grandparents, beach vacations with grandparents, fish for people as a noun, not a verb, unused switches, grandfather teaching you to swim, widows, a mother transfigured when harm might come to her firstborn, a small town lawyer’s waiting room, chased by death in a graveyard, a child’s first encounter with death, tuna fish and Alzheimer’s Disease, a lost eyeball, chocolates from Iceland, Vienna sausages, the greatest gift, paper grocery sacks nativity pageants.

Do any of these stories of childhood memories resonate with you? They and more are in the Reverend Barkley Thompson’s newest book, The Ache for Home. The stories are parts of sermons that, in the end, called Barkley back to his home state of Arkansas after he had served churches in Memphis and Roanoke and as the dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Houston, Texas.

Of course, the great preachers bring you to see God in your own experience as they tell their story, and Barkley is the master of this. I have been reminded of the unconditional love that flowed from grandparents who taught me about love. I remember the nativity pageants we had in my childhood playhouse for our neighborhood, the nativity pageants at all the churches I have served, and especially the pageants written, costumed, and performed by our grandchildren.

Barkley is an outstanding preacher, and all of Barkley’s sermons connect us to the scripture he brings to life with his stories—so many excellent sermons. My favorite is his preaching on the Transfiguration from Mark’s gospel. Get his book just for that one.

 Barkley’s stories and sermons also take us home, as he experiences what home is—not a place in time, but a place that first called us to a relationship with God. We give thanks to those who were there to mentor us, be our advocates, love us, and connect us to the love so great that only comes from the God of love. This is home.

Joanna Seibert

 

Our Neighbors

Our Neighbors

“The hardest spiritual work in the world is to love the neighbor as the self—to encounter another human being, not as someone you can use, change, fix, help, save, enroll, convince, or control, but simply as someone who can spring you from the prison of yourself, if you will allow it.”—Barbara Brown Taylor in An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith (HarperOne. 2010).

Our older son once took his daughter to high school each day on his way to work, before she started driving. If they had extra time, they would stop at their favorite coffee or smoothie haunt and have a cup of coffee, hot chocolate, or smoothie together. What a treasure it can be to have a few minutes a day with one of your parents, and maybe even share a cup of your favorite comfort drink. They are both introverts, so they may not say much, but each offers the other a presence in this one-on-one experience and a chance to get to know each other better.

I grew up in a small town with fantastic neighbors. Mrs. Rick, a widow with pearl-white hair, lived across the street in a house that seemed huge at the time. One of our neighbors on Second Street had to move away due to health reasons. Mrs. Rick then started walking at 9:00 every morning for seven blocks from Second Street to Ninth Street, up to Riddle’s Drug Store, to meet her neighbor for coffee. Our next-door neighbor, Paul, cut Mrs. Rick’s grass every week.

I have a friend who calls me every morning. Unfortunately, most people are too busy working to contact or talk to one person a day regularly and realize it is a pure gift.

These are the kinds of relationships that work best to “spring” us from ourselves. We don’t have to pretend anymore. Other people can learn who we indeed are if we allow such intimacy. When we are with them, we begin to let down our masks and become the person God created us to be.

I share more pictures of our neighbors across the street.

Sacred Grounds

Sacred Grounds

Guest Writer: Kimberly Applegate

sacred ground. Murfee Labyrinth

Understand that this is sacred ground, and it hurts to walk here.  But at the same time, I "need" to walk here. I need the strength, the sense of purpose, and the knowledge of self that walking here imparts.  …  What do I want from you?  I want you to be my sister and to walk here with me.  I know it's a challenging walk.  I know it causes you pain.  But this much I also know: If ever we learn to tread this ground together, there's no place we can't go.—Leonard Pitts, Jr.
Especially this weekend, I am reflecting on the painful and tragic events that occurred on January 6, 2021, at our nation's Capitol. But, of course, we cannot do it without understanding our 400-year history of race and faith in America. But how many of us genuinely know these histories?

The COVID pandemic provided me with this opportunity through an amazing program called Sacred Ground, curated by the Black Episcopal Church: https://episcopalchurch.org/sacred-ground

"Sacred Ground" is a film- and readings-based dialogue series on race grounded in faith.  It invites small groups to walk through chapters of America's history of race and racism, while weaving in threads of family story, economic class, and political and regional identity.

The 10-part series is built around a powerful online curriculum of documentary films and readings focusing on Indigenous, Black, Latino, and Asian/Pacific American histories as they intersect with European American histories.

"Sacred Ground is part of Becoming Beloved Community, The Episcopal Church's long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in our personal lives, ministries, and society. This series is open to all and specially designed to help white people talk with other white people. It invites participants to peel away the layers that have contributed to the challenges and divides of the present day–all while grounded in our call to faith, hope, and love."
 It cannot be more timely.

Kimberly Applegate, MD

Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/