Rev. Brent L. White

Despite the ecumenical progress that Christian churches, communions, and denominations have made over the past 75 years or so to become more unified, our understanding of Holy Communion—including what to call it (Mass, Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper, Eucharist, Divine Liturgy)—and who may participate in it remains a large and heartbreaking obstacle to greater Christian unity.

This shouldn’t surprise us: at the very least, we are talking about powerful symbols—the most powerful symbols I know of. I’m often surprised when someone trivializes a controversial subject by saying something like, “It’s only a symbol,” or, “It’s only a symbolic gesture.” In other words, “Why get bent out of shape? A symbol isn’t a real thing.” Read the rest of this entry »

My normal blogging (and life) activities were rudely interrupted by a brief and violent illness over the weekend from which I’m only now emerging intact. Larisa graciously pinch-hit for me last Sunday, and knocked it out of the park, of course. (Thank you!) All is well now. Carry on.

Last Sunday’s sermon on fasting was informed in part by Richard Foster’s contemporary classic on spiritual formation, Celebration of Discipline. I read it while I was still an impressionable Baptist in college 20 years ago, years before joining the Methodist church, going to seminary, and starting ministry. I revisited the book last week and was amazed at how much I still liked it—how rich, challenging, and relevant it remains.

Foster is aware he’s writing to an audience that doesn’t have much experience fasting, and he gives some practical insights on how to do it. He recommends starting with a partial fast of 24 hours, abstaining from all food and drinking fresh fruit juice. He writes that many people find a lunch-to-lunch fast the easiest—eating lunch, abstaining from dinner and breakfast and then breaking the fast at lunch the next day. In other words, you skip two meals (not to mention all snacking in between!) and drink juice. A “complete” fast means abstaining from food and drinking only water. (And always drink plenty of water while fasting!) Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not wearing green today—I wore the only green shirt in my closet yesterday—but I’m not unappreciative of St. Patrick’s example and legacy. We can use this prayer in our prayers this evening.^†

(O.K., I’m sure Patrick didn’t make this rhyme neatly in modern English, but it surely reflects his prayer and thought. On that note, I’ve also always wondered how Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” rhymes in English.)

“May your angels, holy Son,

Guard our homes when the day is done,

When at peace, our sleep is best:

Bid them watch us while we rest.

Prince of everything that is,

High Priest of the mysteries,

Let your angels, God supreme,

Tell us truth dressed as a dream.

May no terror and no fright

Spoil our slumber in the night;

Free from are our eyelids close;

Spirit, give us prompt repose.

We have laboured through the day:

Lift our burdens when we pray,

Then our souls in safety keep,

That our sleep be soft and deep.”

† Michael Counsell, comp., 2000 Years of Prayer (Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing, 1999), 76.

Here’s a cover of a great Dylan song by the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, a popular Irish folk group of the ’50s and ’60s who helped to popularize Irish and Celtic music in America. Sadly, the last surviving Clancy brother, Liam, died in December 2009. Here is one of their last performances as a group, from 1993.

This is a very happy apocalyptic song (if you can imagine such a thing), which celebrates, in my view, the coming of God’s kingdom. Enjoy!