When someone comes to you and tells you your own story…

[I don't remember where I found this story, decades ago, It's a bit longer than many stories, but I think you won't regret reading it to the end and considering it in an open-ended way. For example, a good friend once gave me a custom-made T-shirt with these words on the front: "My life is based on a true story." Since then, I have been aware that God comes to me occasionally to tell me my own story, Thanks. Bil]

Just before the Baal Shem Tov died, he gave his disciples various tasks to carry on his mission. To the last disciple he gave the work of going all over Europe to retell the stories he remembered from the Master. Because this seemed hardly a prestigious job, the disciple was disappointed. But the Baal Shem Tov told him he would not have to do it forever; he would receive a sign when he should stop and then he could live out the rest of his life in ease.

After many years of telling the stories, he heard of a nobleman in Italy who would pay a gold ducat for each new story told of the Baal Shem Tov. But upon arriving at the nobleman's castle, the disciple couldn't remember a single story. He was mortified.

The nobleman urged him to stay a few days, hoping he would eventually remember something. On the third day the disciple protested, out of sheer embarrassment, that he must go. As he was about to leave, he remembered this one story.

Once the disciple went with the Baal Shem Tov to Turkey where the streets were decorated for the Christian's Easter festival. The disciple was upset, for Jews were not safe during the Christian Holy Week and Easter. They were fair game for the Christians shouting God-Killer! In fact, it was the custom during the Easter festival to kill one Jew in reparation.

Still, they went. They went into the Jewish quarter of the city where the Jews were huddled behind their shutters out of fear. Imagine how startled and surprised they were when the Baal Shem Tov stood up and opened all the windows and stood there in full view!

Seeing the bishop leading the procession, the Baal Shem Tov told his disciple, “Go tell the bishop I want to see him.” Was he out of his mind? Did he want to die?

When given the message, the bishop seemed frightened and agitated. But he went. He went and was secluded for three hours with the Baal Shem Tov. Then the Master came out and without saying anything else, told his disciples that they were ready to go back home.

As the disciple was about to apologize to the nobleman for the insignificance of the story, he noticed the enormous impact it had on the man. The nobleman said through his tears, “Your story has saved my soul. You see, I was there that day. I was that bishop. I had descended from a long line of distinguished rabbis, but one day during great persecution I had abandoned the faith and converted to Christianity. In time, the Christians made me a bishop. I had accepted everything, and even went along with the killing of the Jews each year until that one year.

“The night before the festival I had a terrible dream of the Day of Judgment. So when you came the very next day with a message from the Baal Shem Tov, I knew I had to go with you.. For three hours he and I talked. He told me there still might be hope for my soul. He told me to sell my good and retire on what was left and live a life of good deeds and holiness. There might still be hope. And his last words to me were these: ‘When a man comes to you and tells you your own story, you will know that your sins are forgiven.’

“So I have been asking everyone I knew for stories from the Baal Shem Tov. And I recognized you immediately when you came and I was happy. But when I saw that all the stories had been taken from you, I recognized God's judgment. Yet now you have remembered one story, my story, and I know now that the Baal Shem Tov has interceded on my behalf and that God has forgiven me.”

Learning about Islam

[From Canon Maria Tjeltveit]

Since we passed a resolution at Convention about connecting with people who are Muslim, I wanted to let people know about a couple of upcoming things in the Lehigh Valley.
 
The Institute for Jewish Christian-Understanding at Muhlenberg College has a yearly Dialogue Day for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. This year’s theme is Being in Prayer; Prayer in our Being. It is this coming Sunday afternoon, Oct. 23. I am attaching a brochure about it. The deadline to sign up was supposed to be last week but I checked and they welcome registrations even on that day.  I’ve been in the past and it is usually very good. Here's the file for that:
Download 2011_Day_of_Dialogue final
 
The Lehigh Dialogue Center is a Turkish Muslim group in the Bethlehem area. They regularly have activities to which they invite the public. The one coming up this week is a cooking class for women, this Saturday and the following two Saturdays. It sounds yummy. See the attachment for this brochure here:
Download Cookingclasshandouttoemail
 
I will gather more resources as we go along, but wanted to pass these along right now.
 
Maria Tjeltveit
Canon for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations

Diocesan Life for October 2011

Open publication - Free publishing - More 9-11

You can download the 2.4 MB .pdf here: Download October2011_DiocesanLife_SMALL

September 11 Services of Remembrance in the diocese

September 11 Services of Remembrance from around the diocese in chronological order

St. Anne's, Trexlertown:  8:00 and 10:15 A.M. During both services on September 11 we will have special prayers and remembrances to commemorate the lives that were lost on this dreadful day and to seek God’s guidance and wisdom as we live with the ramifications and impact of this national tragedy on our country and on the world. Please come to church prepared to stop whatever you are doing when you hear the sound of the drum and the cymbal. It will be a sacred moment of silent prayer. When you arrive at church on September 11, the greeters will remind you about keeping silence at these significant moments of September 11.

Christ Church, Forest City: 9:00 A.M. service with special hymns, prayers, and will host "first responders" from the surrounding communities.

Church of the Good Shepherd and St. John, Milford: 10:00 A.M. "Eucharist in Remembrance of 9/11" Church bells will be rung 10 times each on the times of the four plane crashes - 8:46am, 9:03am, 9:38am, and 10:03am. After a silent processional the service with continue with special prayers, hymns, and anthem. The church will remain open from 12:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. as a sanctuary for those who wish to observe a reverent silence, hosted by the Daughters of the King.

Trinity Church, Carbondale: 11:00 A.M. service with special hymns, prayers of the people and remembrances for the victims and their families.

Providence Place Retirement Home, Drums: 1:00 P.M. Members of a Gospel Quartet will lead the hymns, members of the staff and resident will assist with the readings. Lead by Deacon Marion Meiss of St. Peter's, Hazleton

Trinity Church, Easton: 1:30 P.M. organ voluntary followed by the service at 2:00 P.M. An Interfaith Service of Remembrance and Hope  to be webcast live on Sunday, September 11. The service will be streamed live at live.trinityeaston.org. A Service of Remembrance and Hope will include interfaith prayers and hymns. In addition, music will be provided by: a double quartet of members of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus of New York City, a local Chamber Orchestra and the Easton Area High School Choir. Scheduled selections will include: Faure's "Requiem in d minor, Op 48" (Intoit and Kyrie; Sanctus; Pie Iesu; Agnus Dei and Lux Aeterna; In Paradisum.), Bach's "Cantata 106: Gottes Zeit ist dis Allerbeste Zeit" movement III a & b. Participating congregations include: B'nai Abraham Synagogue, Easton; College Hill Presbyterian Church; 1st Presbyterian Church of Easton; 1st United Church of Christ of Easton; St. John's Lutheran Church of Easton; Temple Covenant of Peace, in Easton; The Muslim Community of Easton/Phillpsburg and Trinity Episcopal Church.  Go to www.trinityeaston.org and click on the link to the webcast.. Read more about it, including compatibilities with your computer, smartphone or tablet here. You may also go to Trinity's UShare page, live.trinityeaston.org. For information, call Trinity Church at 610-253-0792

Grace Church, Honesdale: 2:00 P.M. Service of Remembrance for 9/11 Meditation, inter-faith prayers, music and sharing will all be a part of the service as we remember all who were affected by the tragedies, especially within our community.  A time to remember those who were killed in New York City, southwestern Pennsylvania and Washington DC will be an important part of the service.  Grief counselors will be on hand should anyone need to talk privately.  “It is our hope to move forward bringing God’s peace into our community,” commented Ms. Frances Hlavacek of Grace Church who has been a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem’s Peace Commission. The service will be held in the handicap-accessible Parish Hall of Grace Church, located on the corner of Church and Ninth Streets in downtown Honesdale.  For more information, you may call the parish office at (570) 253-2760.  All are welcome to attend.

Trinity, Mt. Pocono: 2:00 P.M. Interfaith Service of Remembrance and Prayer. Representatives and members of our global community, Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh, will gather together to speak about our lives as one in community and to pray together as one for a world of peace and community which can only be gained through the gift of open dialogue as sisters and brothers who seek to move forward beyond the smoke and ashes and offer healing in order to embrace a renewed life together. Please contact the Parish Office at 570 839 9376 for information or go to www.tinitymtpocono.org for directions.

Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem: 5:00 P.M.  9/11 Interfaith Service of Remembrance and Reconciliation, Nativity, Bethlehem 5:00 P.M. Clergy participating are: The Rt. Rev. Paul V. Marshall, Bishop of The Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem; The Very Rev. Anthony R. Pompa, Cathedral Dean & Rector; Rabbi Allen Juda,  Congregation Brith Sholom; Metin Bor, Muezzin, Lehigh Dialogue Center; Mohamed Rajmohamed, Al-Ahad Islamic Center; The Rt. Rev. Hopeton Clennon, Bishop of the Moravian Church, Northern Province and Chaplain, Moravian College; The Rev. Canon Mariclair Partee, Cathedral Canon, Ministry of the Baptized; Cantor Ellen Sussman, Temple Shirat Shalom; and The Rev. Canon George Loeffler, Deacon and Bishop's Chaplain. Music provided by the Cathedral Choir under the direction of Canon Russell Jackson will present selections from Faure’s Requiem, with Naoko Cauller as soloist. A reception will follow in Sayre Hall, and all are welcome.

St. Paul's, Montrose: 5:00 P.M. Vesper Service to Remember 9/11will be held at the Second Sunday Vesper Service on Sunday, September 11, 2011 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Church Street Montrose, PA  The solemn service will provide a time of deep spiritual reflection and include scripture readings, prayers, and music prepared especially for the anniversary.  The Rev. Canon Charles Cesaretti will welcome the congregation; the greeters are Linda and George Gardner.  The Lector will be Amy Johnson.  Sarah S. Bertsch will be the organist.  MaryAnn DeWitt will be at the piano.  A buffet supper will be served immediately following the service in the Parish House.  The cooks are Ed and Barbara Schmidt and John and Sharon Siedlecki.  Gail and Doug Overfield will be the servers. All are welcome on this special day to remember the victims and those who miss them, as well as the rescue workers and all responders.

Church of the Epiphany, Clarks Summit: 7:00 P.M. Service of Remembrance with two church joint choir, psalms and prayers

Milford Jewish-Christian Community to share Passover Seder

[Received from Good Shepherd/St. John's Milford]

April 20^th, 2011 is going to be a very special night, at the Church of the Good Shepherd and St John the Evangelist in the middle of Milford. For on that night, the three thousand year old Hebrew question will ring out: “What is it that makes this night different from all others?”

Wednesday, April 20th, a traditional Passover supper will be shared by members of the Jewish and Christian communities in the parish hall of the Good Shepherd Church at Fifth and West  Catherine Streets in Milford, at 7:00 p.m.

The idea was first conceived by Chefs Peter and Sharon Daniels of the Fork Restaurant in Shohola, and the Rev. Canon Elizabeth R. Geitz of the Good Shepherd Church, following a joint Healing Service in the fall. As hosts, Peter, Sharon and Elizabeth are sponsoring the event and refer to it as the ‘First Annual Interfaith Passover Seder’, in Milford. 

The goal of the evening is to bring local people of different faiths together to share a real Seder meal, which will comprise several courses of traditional Passover foods prepared by Chefs Peter and Sharon Daniels and wine. Participants from both communities will gather for what will be both a social and deeply religious event.

The Passover Seder is a ritual held at the beginning of Passover, the Jewish holiday which marks the Exodus of the Jewish people from slavery in ancient Egypt. Passover begins this year at sundown on Monday, April 18, and continues through April 21. 

The word “seder” is Hebrew for “order.” It relates to the order of events during the evening. The story of the Jews’ Exodus from Egypt is told with foods and stories. The Seder celebrates the triumph of freedom over bondage. Through ritual, readings, song, and a shared meal, the Seder offers a message of hope, justice, transformation, and light.  

“It’s beautiful to see members of both Jewish and Christian communities come together to share a Passover Seder, a ritual which seems to stand at the very intersection of the two great religions.  God calls all people out of darkness into light.” 

While Jews will be affirming their beginnings as a Chosen People, Christians  will recognize the oneness of God’s salvific plan for all people, culminating with their own story.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Ecumenical Food Pantry, a local cause supported by all sections and denominations in the community.