Calista music blog

This past week has been kind of rough. Within three days of returning from my retreat at St Gregory’s Abbey, I got sick, and was not all that functional for the next three days. In the illness and as I tried to make some sense of the Lectionary texts for the Fifth Sunday in Lent I found myself in a deep longing for things saturated with beauty and feeling that so little even that which purports to be beautiful is truly saturated in it. Mary’s extravagant action of anointing Jesus’ feet with very expensive perfume had me transfixed and the result of her action as described by John The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” (John 12:3) In all my preparation for this sermon I tried to focus on Isaiah 43, or the Philippians passage, or both Isaiah and Philippians, but to no avail. [...]

Original post by priestlygoth@gmail.com (Larry Kamphausen)

This morning met with someone Kate has been saying he and I should meet. We hit it off quite well. Spent much more time over coffee than either of us expected. It was one of those mostly effortless conversations in which telling ones story lead also to mutual reflections on life God and self. This sort of immediate and deep connection with someone happens rarely for me, perhaps for most people I don’t know. I am usually more cautious in getting to know people. Then at times I meet someone and for reasons that are not entirely clear to me, I feel free and the other person feels free to say those things we don’t always feel free to say to most people, or to express doubts, or questions that we don’t generally get to express. In our midst there is an opening and a connection [...]

Original post by priestlygoth@gmail.com (Larry Kamphausen)

My retreat at St Gregory’s Abbey I think yielded what I had hoped but not what I expected. I went with the intention to being open to God’s leading in my role of pastor of Reconciler and prior of Holy Trinity. And I had a very gentle lesson in being open to what God might being doing in the moment when things did not go as I planned or necessarily wanted for my time at the Abbey.
Things did not go as I would have had them on my way and first couple of hours at the monastery. First I left about 15 minutes later than I intended, but I had planned to leave so as to arrive at Union station early. I did not leave early but with still ten minutes to spare, so more or less just on time since I needed to collect my [...]

Original post by priestlygoth@gmail.com (Larry Kamphausen)

This latest Emergent Church Tour is interesting but I am skeptical. No I am hesitant and a bit puzzled by what exactly this all needs to be said. not sure who is being addressed by such a tour. Certainly not me, though I am probably going to the Chicago stop, because I just need to see one of these Emergent events up close and personal.
The tour website says this about itself: “The task today does not lie in some naive attempt to return to the early church.
The church before Constantine.The church before Platonic philosophy.The church before Paul.The church before…
For these moves fail to bring us back far enough.
Rather we must call a new army of agitators into being. Dissidents courageous enough to return to the event that gave birth to the early church. A new breed of individuals brave enough to turn back so as to advance.”
A part of [...]

Original post by priestlygoth@gmail.com (Larry Kamphausen)

The Organization of the North East (ONE) and The Edgewater Community Religious Association (ECRA) held a 30 minute prayer vigil Monday March 8th, outside the Somerset in response to the 30 day notice given to residents as it is being closed down. The Somerset is a home that has been the residence for nearly 300 people living with mental illness. Here is a Chicago Tribune Article on the closing On March 9th we met with Alderman Smith and were able to get a greater sense of what was going on and assured that the needs and desires of the residents where being addressed and that mental health workers were involved in the transition. While the moving of the residents was happening rapidly it was not indiscriminately and without regard to the needs and desires of the residents.
Though my thoughts are more on the prayer vigil itself, and the [...]

Original post by priestlygoth@gmail.com (Larry Kamphausen)

Since I have been a pastor Lent has always felt to me like a time to take a personal spiritual retreat. Yet, Lent always seemed ill suited as well, as one is also preparing for Holy Week and Easter services and as a pastor I wanted to also provide places for Lenten reflection and studies. It was difficult to let myself get away. Last year I finally simply went ahead and did it. And I discovered that Lent was a very good time for me to go on retreat. It got a little hectic after I got back because I took it the week before Palm Sunday. So I have scheduled the retreat earlier in Lent and this is feeling good.
This will be the longest retreat I have taken, 4 days. There are many things I feel I need to wrestle [...]

Original post by priestlygoth@gmail.com (Larry Kamphausen)

Sunday I preached on Repentance. Unfortunately it was not a very good sermon. Not my worst, I hope, but it was a bit disjointed and I did not communicate what I had hoped, actually dropped a whole portion of the sermon on Jesus parable of the fig tree and the gardener. If I am honest, it wasn’t a good sermon because I was on the edge of my own understanding. I was preaching to myself as much to the congregation. There’s something about repentance and the scriptures appointed for Sunday take me to the edge of my own understanding.
This reminded me that in may or June of 2008 I wrote about being on the edge of my understanding theologically. I think I am still there. Repentance challenges me, because I do not know how to turn wholly towards God. The longer I [...]

Original post by priestlygoth@gmail.com (Larry Kamphausen)

Well a sermon is rattling around and will eventually come out. Its on repentance. Leonard Cohen’s song The Future has been playing in my head largely because of the part of the refrain “…When they said Repent, Repent, I wonder what they meant…” For a time I thought of using the song in my sermon but most of the lyrics would simply distract from the point I feel lead to make and that is that repentance is something other than avoiding the wrath of an angry god- something quite other.
Also, I can’t get Jodorowsky’s film the Holy Mount out of my head. I will need to see it again soon. The ending of the film and my sense that there isn’t a take on enlightenment given in that film has me a bit distracted. I want to probe the film more. So, [...]

Original post by priestlygoth@gmail.com (Larry Kamphausen)

As I mentioned last night a group of us got together to view Jodorowsky’s film The Holy Mountain, along with some excellent soup made by Benjamin, and Liz’s bread was delectable.
One of the original trailers of the film says that nothing in your experience can prepare you for this film. But apparently a decent course of Study in Religious studies and mythology is pretty good preparation. Admittedly it is a fairly textured film and I don’t think I got all the nuances and various symbolism.
The film begins showing a man (who we soon realize is the protagonist of the film) lying spread eagle on the ground in a desolate landscape empty bottles of liquor strewn about him, his face covered with flies. a man most of whose limbs have been amputated but who also has a certain shamanistic air to him chases away the flies from the protagonists [...]

Original post by priestlygoth@gmail.com (Larry Kamphausen)

I have been posting more but not quite every day. Weekends seem to go by without my being able to bring my self to write a blog post. Last weekend that in part was due to helping some friends of ours in their move. The weekend before 4 of the seven members were changing rooms so that was a big move although all within the parsonage that we inhabit.
So there have been mitigating circumstances. but simply blogging more has surprised me a few people I see on a regular basis have said they appreciate my more consistent posting. I hadn’t really expected that, in part because I don’t feel I have said anything particularly profound or even revealing. Also, I am not all that satisfied with my style when I am simply shooting off a post.
Also, surprising is the response to the brief comment I [...]

Original post by priestlygoth@gmail.com (Larry Kamphausen)