Rev. Mindy’s Meanderings

I wanted to take this opportunity to wish you Happy Easter one last time this year. This week churches celebrate the last Sunday of the Easter Season. Let this picture of the Easter Garden at St. James Church, New Bradwell remind you of the mystery and love of the Easter season. Happy Easter!

As Easter season ends, churches prepare for Pentecost on the 11th of May. At Pentecost we celebrate the birthday of the church in the gift of the Holy Spirit. Despite the Easter season ending this Sunday, every Sunday we gather together as Christians to praise and worship God we always remember the joy and promise of Easter. For one last time this year, Happy Easter!

St. George, Patron Saint of England, was a soldier in the Roman Army and is best known for the legends regarding his slaying of a dragon. For most of the world April 23rd is the day he is remembered, because it is the traditionally accepted date of his death in 303 AD. In response to these commemorations, Google.co.uk ran this as their picture today and I thought it was so cute I had to share it.

Happy St. George’s Day!

I feel like this picture presents a teaching moment, something about words going up in smoke, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. So I will go with the obvious and say we should learn from the dragon to not play with fire, because you can attract the wrong kind of attention! I am sure there are more pithy lessons to be had, but they escape me now. Any suggestions?

Tesco is the Britain’s largest retailer and mostly known in the UK for it’s supermarkets. It is a huge corporation and I have heard it stated numerous times that over £1 in every £7 spent at retailers in the UK is spent at Tesco. The scale of that is hard for me to comprehend! They have an international presence but haven’t tried to break into the US market till this past autumn when Tesco opened a small number of Fresh & Easy stores in California and the Southwest United States. ( I haven’t heard any recent reports about how these stores are doing, though I do know that their refrigerated pizza dough is a big hit with my sister-in-love.)

At the time of their US launch I listened with interest to several news stories. One interview on Radio 4 (for you Americans, this is BBC talk radio similar to NPR) was with an American business expert who lives in London working as a consultant for businesses trying to bridge the cultural divide between the UK and the US. Apparently, the business practices between the two countries are not as similar as one might assume. One thing this expert said was that Tesco, and any other business trying to make that leap, would have to work hard to meet Americans much higher customer service expectations. For example, in the US in the grocery sector the expectation would generally be that someone else bags your groceries for you, and that would be an exceptional occurrence here in the UK.

Hearing this analysis of customer service from an “expert” gave legitimacy to my vague and unformed impressions that customer service here wasn’t what I was used to. I had been here over 2 years by that point so it obviously wasn’t something I gave much thought, or was terribly bothered by. However with the confirmation of an expert, I now knew my generally poor impression of customer service in the UK wasn’t just me or random chance. Up until that point I was willing to generously give the benefit of doubt to most situations. After all, being flexible is a requirement for those living abroad. Instead of getting bent out of shape by different expectations, it is something I choose to live with and try to learn a few skills along the way. I am trying to learn patience from my interactions, but have been more successful in perfecting my grocery bag packing skills.

I adjusted my expectations and thought this was just one fact of life I would just live with while being outside the US. Really, I was OK with it (it is a rather small thing, in the giant scheme of things) until today when the humorous potential reached ridiculous proportions at Ikea.

I stopped by Ikea today for a meal and on my way out of the store decided to stop by the dented, damaged and dinged corner. I am a fan of Ikea’s dented, damaged and dinged corner, or whatever they really call it. I like a bargain and sometimes you find really interesting stuff there. Today I found a bag there which I liked but had no price on it. I (patiently?!?) waited for an employee to appear so I could ask about a price.

When an employee appeared, he told me that they were out of price tags and thus I couldn’t buy the item. WHAT!!!! I inquired how such a large enterprise could be out of price tags. He explained that they were out of the little yellow sticky price tags that fit their pricing gun. When I asked about the computer printed price tags and he explained if he printed a price tag out on the computer he could only mark this bag down a limited amount from its original price and since this bag was missing all it’s innards (which I didn’t want anyways) it should be sold for less that the lowest price he could print on the computer. He stuck with his original claim that I couldn’t buy the item and seriously advised me to come back and purchase the item on the weekend after they had gotten price tags back in. This was ridiculous advice as someone else would buy the bag first, Ikea is a madhouse I try to avoid on the weekends, and it is environmentally unfriendly make an extra and unnecessary car trip to the other side of the city.

At this point all I could hear was the voice of business consultant interviewed on Radio 4 repeating through my head, “American customer service expectations are higher.” I was stumped because I was there, happy to pay for an item and leave the store, but they didn’t seem willing to make any effort or expend any creative thought in order to make that happen. At that point I probably became a pushy American (remember I am still learning patience) when I insisted that I was sure there was something, anything, they could do to figure out this impasse.

In the end the employee did take my advice of cannibalizing a tag from another already marked item so that I could pay for the item I had selected. With this much sought after tag now attached I then walked to the checkout. On this short journey I had the curious experience of attending to the price tags, rather than the items themselves. Several of the items had bumpy surfaces which did not allow the sticky tags to adhere well and I was determined not to loose these precious price tags when victory seemed so close at hand.

I did manage to buy the items in the end, but I am still a bit surprised by my success in the face of such inflexible customer no-service. It is so ridiculous as to be funny that I almost couldn’t buy an item because they ran out of price tags. That they couldn’t come up with a solution to the problem mystifies me, after all it is in their self-interest to sell things. Needless to say, I was surprised to find out that the most precious thing they had in the dented, damaged and dinged corner today was the yellow sticky price tags. So in the above picture the most valuable things are not the items or the £.50 pence the store will collect from the buyer, but the tags themselves. This makes me reevaluate my fortunes for having managed to make it out of the store with 6 of these little yellow sticky tags. I am a rich woman, indeed.

One can only laugh! Hope you too enjoyed the humor of this.

PS I am not sure how Ikea being a Swedish company nuances this cross-cultural encounter.

The church is still celebrating Easter… are you? The idea of new life emerging from what was thought to be dead is so amazing that it takes us all a while to wrap our heads around it. For that reason this upcoming Sunday (April 27th) is the 6th of 7 weeks the church sets aside to celebrate Easter. I encourage you to take a moment and ponder the precious wonder of new life, in any of its myriad of forms, as part of your celebrations this Easter season.

I took the above photo at the garden tomb in Jerusalem, one of the reputed burial sites of Jesus. The photo is a bit dark, making the sign it difficult to read, but the sign on the door says, “He is not here - for he has risen” I wouldn’t have noticed the sign on the door, but we were there at closing time and they were locking up. I was immensely touched by this sign because the group I was with had just been hearing about the disputes over where the actual tomb of Jesus was. Hearing about the disputes brought me no clarity as to what the actual spot was and for that reason I appreciated the sign. It reminded me that the most important thing was not the burial but the risen life which followed. Happy Easter!

Zimbabweans are going to the polls today. Let those of us who live so far away join our prayers with those in the country who are voting. My prayer for the troubled country of Zimbabwe is for peace, justice, and a stable economy.

I hope a free and fair election happens, but I have serious doubts. Last week when talking about the elections to a Zimbabwean, his reply was we already know what the result of the election will be. The exclusion of the media and international election observers, along with irregularities in the 2002 and 2005 elections, does nothing to foster confidence in the process.

And now, how to NOT do Biblical interpretation, brought to you by the Zimbabwean ambassador to South Africa. As the ambassador was briefing members of South African Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs on the 2008 elections in Zimbabwe, he indicated that there were many requests for accreditation to cover the elections. He then went on to say that many are called, but few are chosen. He was using this Bible reference to suggest that limited numbers would be granted permission to cover the country’s election.

I am for unfettered access by election observers. However, if the Zimbabwean government isn’t going to allow this, please don’t hide behind misquoted Biblical references in a lame attempt to lend your side credibility. In the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 22, Verse 14, Jesus does say, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Jesus said this in response to a story about a wedding banquet to which the invited guests didn’t turn up. This passage is not a justification to exclude, rather it reminds us that God’s judgment comes upon all. Jesus keeps us from sitting around self-satisfied because he invites us to reflect upon how our lives will be judged. To me the signs don’t look good, but it is God who judges and when God judges those involved in the Zimbabwean elections I pray that all may be found righteous.

Happy Easter! Easter is too big a celebration to be contained to one day, so the church year gives it an entire season lasting seven weeks. I find this extended Easter season helpful because sometimes it takes quite a while for the miracle of new life and abundant joy to sink deeply into our heads and hearts. So please don’t think Easter is finished as you put your Easter dress back in the closet, pack up your Easter bonnet, or finish the last of the chocolate eggs. You can go to church in the coming weeks and still appropriately greet people with a cheery “Happy Easter!”

This photo of a first century Jewish tomb in Israel was taken in the summer of 2004. The tomb is now just by the side of the road. I took the picture while traveling in the Middle East with a group of seminary students on the Middle East Travel Seminar.

It did snow on Easter!

I left the house at 5:45 am for a sunrise service and there were just a few snowflakes casually drifting down. Thus I then concluded that the forecasters were wrong and the snow had missed us. Needless to say, I was very surprised when I emerged from church following the service and a lovely breakfast.

Perhaps the outdoor part of the service, where the congregation gathered around a small fire, should have alerted me to how cold it was (not mentioning the thermometer on my car said it was -1 C on the way to church). This outdoor bit of the service included putting the wounds (gold-colored, nail-like things) into the Christ candle. This was attempted, but it was cold enough that the wax was brittle and after the service the candle had to be mended with tape!

This was the scene that greeted me upon leaving the church. In the parking lot my car was covered (similar to these) despite having been clear of snow upon being parked less than two hours before.

I drove to the village of Hanslope so intent on driving safely I was unable to appreciate the beautiful countryside shrouded in white. Upon entering the village I was able to relax a bit and appreciate the picturesque scenes which greeted me. I thought this thatched roof cottage looked magical under its dusting of snow.

As you can see, the weather didn’t prevent people from coming to church to celebrate Easter!

The above is the front entrance to Hanslope Methodist Church at the 9am Easter service. By the time I left Stony Stratford Methodist Church after the 10:30am service most traces of snow were gone.

Now, you may be calling me a “weather wimp” but please be kind in your judgment. After all, for a woman who grew up in warmer climes, snow at Easter is unheard of and very memorable. I am glad to say that the snowflakes didn’t dampen spirits and the congregations were still able to gather and celebrate together saying, “He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!”

On a Friday in March, youth from the north side of the Methodist Circuit gathered for a deviation from our regular Youth “Movie” Night. We didn’t watch a movie; instead, after gathering around a bring and share meal, we used symbols to tell the story of the journey to Easter and then finished with a craft project.

I was impressed by the serious though and contemplation that was given by the youth to the events leading to Easter and Easter itself. We laid out the symbols to tell the story in chronological order (as documented in the picture) then read the story from the Bible to make sure we had told it correctly. We had! Then we discussed which part of the story spoke to us in a special way. Then we closed in prayer before adjourning to the table to make Easter bonnet refrigerator magnets. A good time was had by youth and adults alike.

I hope you too were able to take some time to prepare for Easter. Our patterns of life allow us to easily jump from the celebration of Palm Sunday to the celebration of Easter, bypassing the difficult days in between. I find it important to live through these intervening days of Holy Week in order to more fully understand Christian hope and the promise of new life. When we don’t live through Good Friday it is easy to forget that the new life of the resurrection follows death, it doesn’t bypass death.

In the midst of the sorrow of Holy Week we can also find comfort that the muck of life (pain, violence, betrayal, greed, etc.) is also known by God. Jesus the Christ experienced the fullness of life, the muck and the celebrations, just like we do. Jesus’ intimately knows the worst life can hold and can related to our own very human difficulties following his command to love God and neighbour.

At the end of the two Good Friday services I led, I closed with this poem written by Gregory of Nazianzus in 381 AD.

Who was Jesus?

He began His ministry by being hungry, yet He is the Bread of Life.

Jesus ended His earthly ministry by being thirsty, yet He is the Living Water.

Jesus was weary, yet He is our rest.

Jesus paid tribute, yet He is the King.

Jesus was accused of having a demon, yet He cast out demons.

Jesus wept, yet He wipes away our tears.

Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet He redeemed the world.

Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, yet He is the Good Shepherd.

Jesus died, yet by His death He destroyed the power of death.

It doesn’t quite have the same catchy ring to it as the Christmas song of the same name, does it? (In case you are curious, the above picture was taken in 2005, just after Christmas, at a church in the ecumenical parish where I ministered.)

I have been hoping it would change as the actual day approached, but throughout the week the weather report for Easter Sunday has consistently forecast snow on Easter Day. Snow on Easter just seems wrong to me because I grew up in warmer climes. After all, for me I some of the cultural celebrations of Easter include not only eggs but also frilly spring dresses… dresses of the kind one couldn’t wear in snow and cold blowing wind. Well, I will guess I will find out if the forecasts are right when I wake up tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I will give some though to putting together an outfit that will provide warmth, go with non-slip shoes, and still look Easter-y.

While I am sharing my weather-related musings, I want to take the opportunity to share one more of my climate and church related adjustments to life in England. I now live in a place where palms don’t abundantly grow. As I always have been able to before, I now can’t pop into my (or a neighbor’s) garden to gather a few palm fronds. I find this slightly distressing becasue I have creative ideas about how to decorate the sanctuary for worship on Palm Sunday, only to be stymied by the lack of plam fronds. The churches I have pastoral care of have a tradition of distributing palm crosses. It is a nice tradition, with good symbolism which continues beyond Palm Sunday to take us through Holy Week, but when palms are folded into crosses they don’t much resemble a palm one might wave at a celebration. (deep breath) Well, in the bigger scheme of things it is just one small adjustment that reminds me that I now live in England.

To impress upon you my sincerity about the weather I must share that it just started hailing… uggg! (I have now taken long enough to edit this post that the skylight in my office now only provides a dim light because snow has followed the hail and the window is veiled.)

My latest Charity Shop find! Ted thinks it is awful and not even worth the £1 I spent on it. However, I can’t imagine a better St. Patty’s Day vase than an overgrown leprechaun’s slipper. It makes me smile when I walk past and besides I have envisioned a whole scenario for it… I can image the kid who found while walking in a field near her home calling out toward the cottage, “Ma, who knew they grew so big ’round here?”

Happy St. Paddy’s Day however you celebrate and whenever you celebrate Patrick’s missionary activities! (For Catholics in the Republic of Ireland, the celebrations were moved to Saturday the 15th so as to not be in Holy Week this year. In the Catholic Church in England and Wales the day is simply not on the calendar of feast days this year.)