{"id":4524,"date":"2022-05-01T13:05:22","date_gmt":"2022-05-01T13:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2022\/05\/01\/the-other-side-of-the-boat-based-on-psalm-30-and\/"},"modified":"2022-05-01T13:05:22","modified_gmt":"2022-05-01T13:05:22","slug":"the-other-side-of-the-boat-based-on-psalm-30-and","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2022\/05\/01\/the-other-side-of-the-boat-based-on-psalm-30-and\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Other Side of the Boat\u201d based on Psalm 30 and John 21:1-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

A colleague recently shared that
\nthe brokenness of the world had overwhelmed him, and he’d spent a
\nmorning just crying about all of it. \u00a0Rather to my shock, I found I
\nwas \u2026 jealous.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nBut earlier this week I sat down
\nto just be, which means to be with God and be aware of being with
\nGod, and I found that tears slowly and consistently flowed down my
\ncheeks.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nIt wasn’t just one thing. \u00a0It
\nwas the cumulative weight of all the things. \u00a0Those in our community
\nwho have died in recent years, those who are struggling and\/or dying,
\nthose who are grieving their loved ones, the ways the kids have grown
\nup without being around us all, the war in Ukraine, the deadly
\nimpacts of poverty in the US and around the world, the trauma people
\nexperience on a day to day basis, the dehumanization of refugees- and
\npeople who are homeless, and people with special needs, and climate
\nchange, and… well, the pandemic too.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n(That wasn’t an exhaustive list,
\nbut it is already an exhausting list, so I’ll stop there.)<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThe tears just flowed. \u00a0At how
\ndisheartened I am at injustice, and how small I feel in the face of
\ntragedy, and how afraid I am that I’m not making a difference on any
\nof it. \u00a0As the tears flowed, I found more and more under them,
\npersonal grief I hadn’t given myself time to notice and fears I
\nusually don’t allow near enough to the light to be named. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd then, after a while, the
\ntears slowed. \u00a0Nothing had changed, but I wasn’t holding it all so
\ntightly anymore, and I’d felt the feelings that had been contained,
\nand they weren’t so overwhelming anymore.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nSometimes I’m concerned that
\nwhen I talk about prayer and spiritual practice, people hear
\nsomething very different from what I do. \u00a0What I’ve just described is
\nwithin the normal realm of what happens when I slow down to listen \u2013
\nto myself and to God and to God in me and to silence itself. \u00a0There
\nis a pretty significant connection for me between bodily sensations,
\nemotions, human needs, and God’s wisdom. \u00a0My prayer life seems to me
\nto be a lot less pious than the religious greats of history, mine is
\nmore \u201capophatic\u201d than wordy. \u00a0It is more listening than speaking.
\n It is more chaotic and irregular than most prayer forms I read
\nabout.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThis seems important to share,
\nbecause I fear that: a lot of faithful people haven’t found prayer
\npractice that work for them, that people are afraid their prayer
\npractices \u201cdon’t count or aren’t good enough,\u201d and that people
\nstill think emotions are BAD things that keep us from God instead of
\nbeing access points to the Holy itself.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nQuite often, when I am busy
\nbeating myself up for not being \u201cmore,\u201d for not being infinitely
\nkind or patient or activist or world-changing, I get stopped in my
\ntracks by something I associate with the Divine. \u00a0It is a reminder
\nthat it isn’t all on my shoulders, and God is able to make a lot out
\nof a little, and I’m only asked to do my part and not everything. \u00a0I
\nstill worry, if I’m honest, but it helps a lot.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nIn the end of our Gospel reading
\ntoday, Peter receives absolution. \u00a0The Gospels make quite a point of
\nPeter denying Jesus 3 times, and John makes space for Peter to affirm
\nhis love for Jesus three times as well. \u00a0Each of the affirmations
\ncomes with a command: feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nBefore meeting Jesus, Peter was
\na fisherman. \u00a0After Jesus died, Peter decided to go fishing, right?
\nExcept it didn’t WORK. \u00a0They fished all night and caught nothing
\nuntil Jesus showed up (more on that later) and then Jesus reminded
\nhim he wasn’t a fisherman anymore, he’d been changed by the time with
\nJesus. \u00a0Now he was to care for the people of God.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd as we understand it, those
\ncommandments are passed down to us, we are all to care for the people
\nof God \u2013 and we all ARE a part of the people of God, and compassion
\nand care and mutuality are the work we are called to. \u00a0Which can
\nsound easy until you actually try it, and it turns out to be plenty
\nto challenge us for our lifetimes, especially when we live in a
\nsociety that isn’t built on compassion or care for all.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nMaybe, at the core, that was
\nwhat I was crying about. \u00a0I am sad about my personal losses and
\ngriefs, and the ones I know you all are holding, but I’m deeply sad
\nthat so much of the suffering in the world is UNNECESSARY and yet
\ncollectively we keep deciding to allow people to suffer and struggle
\nrather than just reallocate resources justly.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd, boy oh boy, the work of
\ntrying to move toward justice and compassion feels like being up
\nagainst Goliath, right?<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThis year, the core of this
\nGospel passage for me is the ridiculous suggestion by Jesus to cast
\nthe nets on the other side of the boat. \u00a0Because, really, they fished
\nALL NIGHT and caught NOTHING, what is going to happen when they move
\ntheir nets a few feet and throw them on the other side? \u00a0Based on
\nlogic it will be more nothing.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nJohn presents it as a miracle.
\nWhen you listen to Jesus, where there was nothing there is now
\nabundance. \u00a0Which is a wonderful take. \u00a0But this feels like a bigger
\ntruth than a one time miracle for me. \u00a0Quite often tiny little
\nchanges can make all the difference, and we can’t always anticipate
\nwhich ones will do it.\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThrow the nets on the other side
\nof the boat can be, \u201cread a physical book instead of your kindle
\nbefore bed,\u201d or \u201cre-write an agenda with more quiet time,\u201d or
\n\u201cstretch before meals,\u201d or \u201ctake that stroll, but take it
\nduring sunset,\u201d or a lot of other tiny little sources of life.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThrow the nets on the other side
\nof the boat seems to me about being open to the \u201cthird ways\u201d of
\nlife, the answers that are not choosing between two opposing options
\nbut rather finding a way to get the best parts of two answers in a
\nthird. \u00a0Instead of doing the same thing over and over OR quitting, it
\nis a little change that makes it possible to keep going.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThrow the nets on the other side
\nof the boat seems like a reminder to take advice when you are
\nstruggling, even if the advice doesn’t make sense.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd, most of all, \u201cthrow the
\nnet on the other side of the boat\u201d seems like a reminder to listen
\nto God. \u00a0I’ve been reading Susan Beaumot’s book \u201cHow to Lead When
\nYou Don’t Know Where You are Going.\u201d \u00a0It is an outstanding book,
\nwritten before the pandemic that doesn’t have any trouble speaking
\nright now. \u00a0She talks a lot about discernment, particularly group
\ndiscernment, and how it differs from just making decisions. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThe book has reminded me of how
\noften we as a church just make the best decisions we can -and often
\nwe are completely stymied by decisions \u2013 because we aren’t actually
\ndoing discernment. \u00a0We are listening to our own hopes, and fears, and
\npreferences, but we aren’t often listening for God’s dreams in us.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nOr, maybe some of us are, but we
\naren’t overt about doing it together. \u00a0Likely, around here, that has
\nsomething to do with humility and not wanting to claim the authority
\nof speaking definitively about God’s will, right? \u00a0But Rev.
\nBeaumont’s writing about discernment reminded me that there are
\nconcrete processes for discernment that really do make it possible to
\n\u201cdiscern\u201d and not just \u201cdecide\u201d even when we’re being humble.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nShe breaks it into 8 parts,
\nwhich I’m sharing just so you can see the difference. \u00a0She says
\ndiscernment includes: intentionally framing the question being asked,
\nnaming guiding principals that are relevant to the issue at hand and
\ncreate the boundaries for the possible answers, shedding biases and
\nego investments, listening to those impacted by the decision ( and
\nsummarizing and interpreting what is said), exploring a wide variety
\nof answers and evaluating which ones meet the guiding principals
\nuntil only 2-3 remain, weighing the value of the final options and
\nwhere energy draws people, choosing, and testing the answer with
\nstillness and prayer before sharing it broadly.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nSo, that’s a lot of work, right?
\n But some decisions are worth doing things with great intentionality,
\nso you can figure out which side of the boat to casts the nets on \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nOne of the great questions of
\nlife is: What is mine to do? \u00a0It applies personally and collectively:
\n what is MINE (Sara’s) to do and what is OURS (this church’s) to do?
\nPrayer, and group discernment, quietness, openness to advice, and a
\nwillingness to sit with emotions help us find the answers. \u00a0May God
\nhelp us have the patience with ourselves and each other to hear
\nanswers. \u00a0Amen<\/p>\n

\nRev. Sara E. Baron <\/p>\n

First United Methodist Church of Schenectady <\/p>\n

603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305 <\/p>\n

Pronouns: she\/her\/hers <\/p>\n

http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a>
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

May 1, 2022 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A colleague recently shared that the brokenness of the world had overwhelmed him, and he’d spent a morning just crying … Continue reading \u201cThe Other Side of the Boat\u201d based on Psalm 30 and John 21:1-19<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[34,38,28,39,33,1265,1646,1484,56,1648,57,1647,1649],"class_list":["post-4524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-fumc-schenectady","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-rev-sara-e-baron","tag-thinking-church","tag-umc","tag-first-umc-schenectady","tag-group-discernment","tag-pandemic-preaching","tag-schenectady","tag-seasons-of-easter","tag-sorry-about-the-umc","tag-susan-beaumont","tag-what-is-mine-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4524\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}