I have some memories of my life at eleven years old. They aren’t any significant events worth reporting, but they were fond memories of life lived under the shadow of two parents who didn’t live together. I don’t remember being engaged in any life-transforming activity, but there’s one story that I remember very well. I must have been about eleven or twelve years old. I was walking on my way to church to serve as an acolyte on a Sunday morning. As I walked, I overheard rumors of a coup d’état in Ghana. I remember becoming so distressed about it that I inquired from a gentleman that I saw walking on the same road, but going in the opposite direction. I asked from him if he’s heard about the coup d’état, and if it was true. He asked if I had any issue with it. I responded that I thought it was becoming a little too much. The man simply looked at me, shook his head, and walked off. I wonder what he thought about an eleven or twelve-year-old boy becoming distressed over a coup d’état. This past week, we lost Representative Elijah Cummings - an icon of Maryland and of national politics. He served diligently in the United States House of Representatives. There are many in our community of faith who agreed with his politics and many who did not agree, but that is beside the point. We celebrate him for offering his life in service to all, and for the transformative change that was made possible because of it. I am particularly enamored by a story I read in the Washington Post about an eleven-year-old Elijah Cummings. There are two events in that story I’d like to invite us to ponder over. The first, according to the story, is that Elijah and his friends had grown a little too big for a small, shallow swimming pool in which they regularly swam. He recalls that the pool was so small that they had to wait turns to get in. One woman, Mrs. Mitchell, suggested to Elijah and his friends that there was a better, Olympic-size swimming pool in which they could swim. The only problem with her suggestion about this Olympic-size swimming pool - which was a public swimming pool - was that it was public in name only. In August of 1962, Elijah and his friends would walk to the swimming pool and jump in. You can only imagine the response of people who thought that Elijah and his friends were undeserving to be swimming in a public swimming pool. According to the Post, “Crowds of angry white residents, sometimes numbering one thousand, according to newspaper coverage at the time, surrounded them. They held signs saying “Keep Our Pool Germ Free” and “White People Have Rights Too.” Elijah remembers that these people were adults who called these boys “…every name you can imagine, everything but a child of God.” Representative Cummings remembers a mob surrounding the pool one day. They were only held back by a line of police with K-9 dogs, while he and his friends enjoyed the water. Some of these people were so angry that they threw all kinds of objects over the police officers’ heads, one of which hit the eleven-year-old in the face, cutting his eyebrow and leaving an indelible scar. This marked for him the struggle he had to contend with in his effort to change public attitude. In my sermon last Sunday, I made the point that there’s an indomitable spirit which sits in each of us, and that this spirit doesn’t quit in its pursuit of justice. As an eleven-year-old boy, Elijah knew that something was wrong with the picture, and that not even an angry mob would deter him from his pursuit of justice - of swimming in the bigger pool like everyone else. I have no idea what each of us was doing at 11 years old, but it is likely that we were more concerned about thriving than simply living. The second part of the story happened about thirty years after eleven-year-old Elijah and his friends integrated a public pool. Elijah recalls a man who approached him after a campaign event and apologized to him. With surprise, Elijah asked, "What are you apologizing for?" The man responded, “I was one of them people back then in 1962 who was throwing the bottles and the rocks and the stones. And I’m sorry.” To this, Elijah responded, "Apology accepted." It is telling that this man, after so many years, remembered the eleven-year-old Elijah, but not only that, he remembered his own actions and felt the need to apologize. Remember, there’s an indomitable spirit which not only fights for justice, but also pursues what is right. The courage it took for the gentleman to apologize, and Elijah's courage to accept the apology, remind me of Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun. A young man comes home to see his family after he has lost all the money that would have given them a future, destroying their hopes. His sister calls him every despicable name imaginable. After she curses out her brother, the mother speaks and says, "I thought I told you to forgive him." "Forgive him? There's nothing left to forgive," she responded. "There is always something left to love," says the mother, "and if you haven't learned that, you haven't learned anything. When do you think it's time to love and forgive somebody? When they've done good? When they've made you proud? The time to love somebody is when they are at their lowest because the world done whipped them so." A smaller world says that we have to sort out who we should love and who is not worthy of our love, let alone God's love. But there is always something left to love - always, always. Do not live in a smaller world than God has given to you! At eleven years old, Elijah refused to swim in a smaller pool, and so can you. ~Manny. The above photo and a retrospective of Rep. Elijah Cummings can be found here.

This is the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Readings for today: Jeremiah 31:27-34 Psalm 119:97-104 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 Luke 18:1-8 The Collect of the Day: Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Father Manny's Sermon for today can be read here.

Both Adam - our Director of Music - and I love coffee. I do not know how much coffee Adam drinks in a day, but I generally drink between two or three cups daily. The best day for my coffee binging is Sundays, where I drink close to five cups by the time the two services are over. I am usually not as much bothered about the cup as I am about the coffee - Is it strong or mild? Is it regular or decaf? Is it good, or not so good? In one of his eloquent writings, Dr. Martin Luther King admonishes us to focus on the content of a character and not the color of one’s skin, because it really doesn’t matter what the color of a person is if the content of the character is awful. You may have heard it said that "appearances can be deceptive" and "all that glitters isn't gold." For this reason, then, the invitation is not to be drawn into an appearance-driven hypothesis, but rather to honor oneself with the real gift which lies in the cup - the life, which is coffee. There’s a story of a group of university alumni who, all highly established in their respective careers, got together for a visit with their former professor. The conversation soon turned to complaints about the endless stress of work, and of life in general. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went into the kitchen and soon returned with a large pot of coffee and an eclectic assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain, some expensive, some quite exquisite. Quietly, he told them to help themselves to some fresh coffee. When each of his former students had a cup of coffee in hand, the old professor quietly cleared his throat and began to patiently address the small gathering. He said, ''You may have noticed that all of the nicer looking cups were taken up first, leaving behind the plainer and cheaper ones. While it is only natural for you to want only the best for yourselves, this is actually the source of many of your stress-related problems!" He continued: ''Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In fact, the cup merely disguises or dresses up what we drink. What each of you really wanted was the coffee, not a cup, and yet you instinctively went for the best cups... Then you began eyeing each other's cups....'' ''Now consider this: Life is the coffee. Jobs, money, and position in society are merely the cups. They are just tools to shape and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not truly define nor change the quality of the life we live. Often, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee that God has provided us. God brews the coffee, but he does not supply the cups. Enjoy your coffee!'' I am sure most of you have by now received your Stewardship Letters and Pledge Cards for the year 2020. Over the past two Sundays, I have shared at worship that Stewardship season is the most exciting time of the year. And it is so because that's the period when we are invited to make some of the difficult and yet grateful decisions regarding our commitment to God. Stewardship season is the time of evaluation, when we are invited to be clear in our minds about the "life within the cup", and whether it is transforming and life-giving. Stewardship season offers us the opportunity to reflect on our own sense of gratitude, to hold up the mirror to our face, and to motivate ourselves with these words: ‘Whatever I keep is all that I have, and whatever I give, God is able to multiply.’ In other words, no gift is ever too large or too small; God is able to make more of whatever I do give. During Bible Study yesterday, we reflected on Hosea 2:14 “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.” In this text, we read of God’s intention to reconstitute the broken relationship with Israel. More importantly, God seeks to do this by speaking tenderly to Israel in no other place than the wilderness. We then invited ourselves to substitute the pronouns in the text with our individual names, and ask ourselves the following: Yes, God is wooing you, and he’s taking you to a place of solitude and naturalness - the place where you are alone with Him - so which of God's tender words do YOU want to hear? I may not be entirely certain about what I, myself, would want to hear, but these are some of the words that I would love to have God speak to me: "The happiest people don't have the best of everything - they just make the best of everything they have...So please remember: Live simply. Love unconditionally. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Give generously. Leave the rest to God. And remember - the richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least." My appeal to you during this most exciting time of the year is to consider the gracious ministry that is made possible here at Christ Church, not because of how rich you are, but because you are full of that very coffee, which is life itself. ~Manny.

This is the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Readings for today: 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c Psalm 111 2 Timothy 2:8-15 Luke 17:11-19 The Collect of the Day: Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Father Manny's Sermon for today can be read here.

This is the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost. Readings for today: Lamentations 1:1-6 Psalm 137 2 Timothy 1:1-14 Luke 17:5-10 The Collect of the Day: Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. .

For whatever reason, I never could draw or paint anything beautiful. I had thought that I loved to, and when I was in middle and high school I would work hard on my drawing and painting during art classes, but they never seemed to be good enough - I barely passed my art classes. I am sure many of you have also tried to draw or paint and subsequently decided to give up on it because you didn’t feel that you have the ability. Alternatively, some of you may have picked it up as a hobby later on in your life, as something to do to pass the time, or express yourself in a new way. Former U.S. President George W. Bush wondered about his own life after public office in this way. Towards the end of his term, he found one activity that intrigued him, which was to take some painting lessons. Those lessons grew into a passion, his painting skills improved quite a bit, and soon he was pleasurably painting for countless hours and days. His paintings usually capture the lives of wounded soldiers, and the proceeds for his work goes to help out veterans. There’s presently an exhibition of his paintings at the Kennedy Center. There’s an incredible freedom that comes with the ability to fashion a thought on a canvas or on a piece of paper. In fact, painting can give life to that thought that sits within you, a thought which has been shaped by an experience. I visited The Louvre in Paris many years ago, and had the unique opportunity of seeing the Mona Lisa. I thought to myself, "How beautiful!" I have since wondered about what an exceptional artist Leonardo Da Vinci was, and I am certain that, of the millions of people who have seen this painting, they are as enchanted by their own beauty as they are about the Mona Lisa. Quite recently, there was a story about Banksy, an anonymous artist whose painting of Chimps in Parliament sold at auction for $12 million. "What is so special about this painting that it would cost that much?" I wondered. There are other paintings that cost significantly more than that. The human expression underlying any form of art can be so powerful and, in fact, any art can fully express all of life’s ambiguities and contradictions. Two other people also come to mind: Vincent Van Gogh, and Emily Zamourka. Vincent Van Gogh, one of the significant people whose work went on to influence Western art, lived a life of poverty and debilitating mental illness. In spite of these, however, he was able to transmute his various hardships into some of the most visionary art humanity has ever produced. One story has been told of Van Gogh setting out on a walk in order to clear his head and his heart after finally splitting up with Sien — the alcoholic prostitute with whom he had fallen in love a year and a half earlier. It was a deeply ambivalent breakup — and Vincent recognized that they couldn’t make each other happy in the long run, although he was deeply attached to Sien and to her children, as was she to him. Seeking to quiet his mind, Van Gogh headed out “to talk to nature for a while.” From this turbulent inner state, he witnessed a violent storm which, paradoxically, reconciled him to his sorrow and helped him rediscover in it the elemental beauty of life. His work, Pine Trees Against An Evening Sky, is a powerful representation of that moment in his life. And perhaps you have heard of Emily Zamourk, an opera sensation who serenaded a subway station in Los Angeles with her impeccable voice. The video, which has since gone viral, catapulted this homeless woman into stardom. Her story provides an insight into a life of a person who is only a paycheck or so away from ending up on the streets - or, in her case, already there. Lots of people are trying to help her in any way possible because they genuinely want to give life to her talent. I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets herself a record deal. I am so happy for her. Emily’s life is on a different kind of canvas, the sort which radiates with life beyond its four corners. Perhaps she'd imagine herself on a canvas, but with a different storyline, one far removed from being on the streets. I have no idea how Van Gogh would paint such a story on a canvas, but we can all imagine ourselves in such a painting. It is quite impressive how we can articulate human beauty, life's ambiguities and contradictions, and life's possibilities on a canvas, or a piece of paper, or a stage. The reality is that people write, paint, compose, and choreograph in attempts at understanding their private motivations and passions. Real life can be inconsistent and unsatisfying — but in art, there’s control. The mess can be made beautiful. You can finish it as you want - perhaps you'll step away to reassess, or maybe tear the whole thing down to start fresh. But the mess can always - always - be made beautiful because it is within our control. ~Manny. image: Pine Trees Against An Evening Sky (detail), by V. Van Gogh

I am sure many of you have heard about Greta Thunberg, the sixteen-year-old environmental activist. She has been very vociferous in her desire to call the attention of world leaders to do something about climate change. She sailed in a yacht across the Atlantic Ocean, and actually spoke to world leaders about the effects of climate change. Her many supporters believe in her vision of a world where efforts are being made by our leaders to respond to what many believe to be the impending crisis of climate change. Of all the seasons of the year, my favorite is fall. I love to see the leaves change color. I do not particularly like the leaves falling and making a lot of mess, but I love to see the color change. My first experience with the real beauty of fall was in Western Massachusetts. I couldn’t believe the breathtaking beauty. Sometimes I wish I could simply drive up to New England and soak it all in - God's footprints. It is amazing. If you haven’t as yet experienced it, I suggest you do. I talk about the beauty because we can all attest to nature’s beauty. The awareness that Greta raises is this: that which is beautiful can also be destroyed. Secondly, it is our responsibility to be better stewards of all that with which we have been blessed. Stewardship is about taking care of that which isn’t ours, but has been entrusted to our care. As many of you know, I grew up by the Atlantic Ocean. I could see the ocean right in front of my house. When I was growing up, I got to know about a cultural norm that the fishermen observed, and I then later learned that farmers observed a similar practice. This cultural norm prohibited fishermen to go out to the sea on Tuesdays, and farmers to go out to farm on Thursdays, because those were the days when the gods also came out to fish and farm. In addition to this, farmers were not supposed to cut down certain parts of the forest because that was where the gods inhabit. As spurious and superstitious as these may sound, the real reason was to honor both the sea and the earth as life-giving and, more importantly, to provide a day of rest for both farmers and fishermen. It was a different kind of stewardship - one of taking care of the earth and the sea - and those humans who ploughed the fields and fished the sea knew they had to protect the ecosystem. Stewardship is about leaving footprints - those that last more than a lifetime. That is where I agree with Greta- that in so far as the earth is the one home we know, we owe it to ourselves, our children, and their children to be good stewards of it. Indeed, Genesis admonishes us with these words “And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over all the livestock, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over all the creeping things that creep on the earth.” For many, the issue isn’t the power God gave humans to fill, subdue, and have dominion over creation, but that this power encompasses stewardship of all that over which we have dominion. If we are absent of any restraint and accountability, our dominion then proves counterproductive. And so the question is, can we subdue and have dominion, and yet still be good stewards? I believe that we can and we should, because stewardship is about footprints. Someone once said, "When I was growing up, we were told when visiting the country that we should ‘Leave nothing but footprints and take nothing but photographs.’" There are many similar versions of this saying, but the original quote was from a Native American, Chief Seattle who, in a famous speech around 1854, said ‘Take only memories, leave nothing but footprints’ - those that last a life time. That injunction to leave nothing but footprints seems even more relevant given the climate crisis that the world is facing and the appalling pollution that we witness. Twice each week, when we put out our green bins and blue recycle bins, we are painfully reminded of our own impact on this fragile globe. It’s clear that we each have more that we can do - and not only that, we each believe that a little step goes a long way. It is in that spirit of a "little step going a long way" that we reach out to you. Last Sunday, I shared with you that you will be receiving Stewardship letters and Pledge Cards. We mailed them out, and I hope that you have received yours. If not, please let me know and I would be very happy to mail one to you. Beginning this Sunday, we will hear testimonies of God’s marvelous work in our lives, the footprints that God leaves in our lives, and the extent to which our stewardship of all that we have been blessed with can make a difference in our lives, and in others' lives. As I reflected on this piece, I was reminded of the words to the hymn Almighty Father, Lord Most High. The last stanza of this hymn, which was influenced by Psalm 84:9, reads thus: For all Thy gifts of life and grace, Here we Thy servants humbly pray That Thou wouldst look upon the face Of Thine anointed Son today. God’s gift of grace and life is about the footprints in our lives that tell the larger story of our value for all that we love and cherish, and all that God has blessed us with. This stewardship season is about celebrating those footprints. In the words of Chief Seattle... if we can only leave footprints, then, may those footprints tell of God's love for us and of our love for God, our love for God’s creation, and our love of God's church - Christ Church - in this part of God’s kingdom. ~Manny

This is the Sixeenth Sunday after Pentecost. Readings for today: Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 1 Timothy 6:6-19 Luke 16:19-31 The Collect of the Day: O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. You can read Father Manny's Sermon for today here.

When it comes to social media, we aren't called to make a name for ourselves. We're called to make God's name great. Let's all do it tomorrow, on Social Media Sunday. Bring your phone to Christ Church tomorrow... whether it's by post, or tweet, or 'gram pic, share your worship and faith with others. And bring your tablet! You can follow along digitally by downloading our Sunday services bulletin here. Social Media Sunday was born in the Episcopal Church in 2013, but it has grown into an ecumenical event for all who use social media platforms to share their faith and the Good News. A growing number of congregations have been participating since 2014. Social Media Sunday is the day set aside for Christians everywhere to use digital devices intentionally to share their life of faith with the world. This annual event gives faith communities an opportunity to consider how to reach out online, digitally welcome people, and share their stories. @ChristEpChurch @EpiscopalMaryland If you would like more information on how to positively incorporate social media into your life, email us at info@christchurchcolumbia.org, sign up for our newsletters and correspondence here, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

⛪️Christ Church is pleased to announce our Fall 2019 Food Drive. Our Food Drives have always been a successful opportunity for all of our members, both young and old, to come together and collect food and support for the Howard County Food Bank.🛒 All are invited to join or visit us on Saturday, September 28th from 2:00 – 6:00 p.m. at the Giant Food Store located at 8805 Centre Park Drive, Columbia. Stop by to help out for a while, or to drop off food and donations. Every bit - a little or a lot - genuinely helps!🙏

I remember stories about McDonalds when I was in high school. Some of our school mates whose parents had significant means would travel to London for the summer break and return to tell stories about McDonalds. Those stories were so tantalizingly inviting that you could feel that sizzling burger or fries melting on your tongue. Oh how I yearned for a bite of that burger from McDonalds! Mind you, I didn’t even know what a burger was, nor had I ever seen one. This past week I read a story about Cristiano Ronaldo. He is an exceptional football (soccer) star who plays for Juventus in Italy. He’s played for Manchester United in England, and Real Madrid in Spain. He’s won several trophies and awards, including the best footballer in the world. His talents are incredible. And he’s made lots and lots of money playing soccer. But you wouldn’t believe his story till he shared it with the world. In fact, not many people knew about this part of his story. He was interviewed by Piers Morgan, and in that interview he talked about his mission to find a woman, Edna, and two other women who were employees at a McDonalds which used to sit next to a stadium in Lisbon, Portugal. These ladies used to give burgers to him and other boys when they were younger. He explained it like this: “We were a little hungry. We had a McDonalds next to the stadium. We knocked on the door and asked, ‘Have you got any burgers?’” Edna and the two ladies would then give Cristiano and the other boys some burgers. As successful as he now is, you would never ever think he came from poverty. This story is rich, and there are multiple layers which invite our reflection. I find it fulfilling and life-giving. And what actually fills me with great pride was his mission to find the women, invite them to his home for dinner, and then give back for what they gave to him. Wow!! I have since been wondering to myself why would he, a successful football player, even think about the three women who gifted him free hamburgers? Why would someone who has achieved so much even ponder on that part of his life, a time which may have been insignificant for some? There are many who would have closed that chapter of their lives, or become blinded with their new sense of self that they wouldn’t even associate themselves with that part of their history. What I find to be most gracious and comforting is that our lives are such that we can never tell who it is that would be transformed by our act of kindness - big or small. And we should never forget who it is that touched or transformed our lives with their kindness - however big or small. There’s a gospel story where ten lepers called out to Jesus from a distance and requested healing. He simply asked them to go and show themselves to the priest. On their way, all ten realized that they had been cleansed of their leprosy. Of the ten, only one, a Samaritan, returned to give thanks for the healing. Jesus asked him, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” Of the ten people, only one had the presence of mind to return and give thanks for the gift of healing he received. Gratitude has a powerful way of stirring the human conscience. Wherever we are in life, and whichever station in which we find ourselves, gratitude creates that presence of mind which never grows tired of alerting you to the reality that, like Cristiano, you may also have gotten some help from someone. Other people, in fact - strangers they may be - gave you a metaphorical burger from McDonalds. Strangely enough, one of the ladies, Edna, shared the story with her husband and children long before Ronaldo said a word about it. She never sought fame for it, nor did she reach out to Ronaldo to remind him about gifting him with burgers from McDonalds. She probably thought Ronaldo had forgotten about it; after all, the human disposition is prone to forget the kindness of others - especially when it is convenient. But here he was, after so many years, and hidden within the heart of this man was a desire to give back - to give back for what he was blessed with, and to express, in the most profound and personal way, his gratitude to the women for the burger they gave him when he was poor and hungry. I have a book on my shelf in the office which expresses the idea that ‘gratitude is not a passive response to something we have been given, gratitude arises from paying attention, from being awake in the presence of everything that lives within and without us.’ Paying attention, being awake. Ronaldo eventually awoke to the giftedness of Edna and her friends and desired to pay back. Maybe, if we begin to pay attention, we will note the many ways in which we have been blessed with a metaphorical burger by Edna from McDonalds. More to the point, if we were to take stock of our lives - if we should stay awake to the gift of our lives - we can, with absolute confidence, proclaim with gratitude, ‘Ebenezer, this is how far you’ve brought me.’ And for that, my heart isn’t only full of extraordinary gratitude, but it also desires to give back. Look for your Edna, invite her or him into your home for dinner, and give back in gratitude for that burger from McDonalds. ~Manny