Sunday Worship Services:
Services will be live streamed on Sundays 9:00 a.m.
Services will be live streamed on Sundays 9:00 a.m.
In-person worship in the church is currently limited to 12 people,
overflow seating is available in Walker Hall.
Face masks and safe distancing are required.
overflow seating is available in Walker Hall.
Face masks and safe distancing are required.
COMMUNITY MEAL at St. Augustine's will be served using a drive-through format to ensure the safety of our guests and servers.
Watch this site for updates on our next meal date and time.
Watch this site for updates on our next meal date and time.
For further information, contact:
vicardiana@staugustineskohala.com
vicardiana@staugustineskohala.com
A message from Vicar Diana
July 2, 2020
July 2, 2020
July 2, 2020
Dear St. Augustine’s Ohana,
Every Tuesday afternoon our “Affirming Our Faith” discussion group meets over Zoom. We’ve been meeting for over a month now and our conversations have been wonderfully deep, searching, and spirit-filled. If I once doubted the ways in which virtual meetings could be effective this weekly group has convinced me otherwise. In fact, I am now speculating that it may be the way that we meet — each in our own personal space — that inspires us to be just a little more open … to share just a bit more than we might otherwise. When we feel relatively safe we are more willing to take risks and to be vulnerable. Sometimes this safety is physical; we need to feel that we are someplace where we will not be harmed or in danger. Sometimes this safety is spiritual; we need to feel that the spiritual presence in which we reside is one in which our souls are at rest. This is a place of deep peace … where we feel our brokenness is safe in God’s embrace allowing us to let go of pretense and posturing. Ultimately, it is a place of surrender.
"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” I have heard these verses from Matthew since I was a young girl. They were the opening lines read at the Morning Prayer liturgy for Sunday services in my home parish. I can still hear the Rector’s intonation as he said these words. His voice resonated with reassurance; he conveyed confidence and humbleness. And I remember thinking about the tension in the image of a yoke being “easy” and a burden being “light.”
If you look up images on the internet for this passage you will find hundreds of pictures of oxen yoked, side by side, pulling a farmer through a field. There are also many images of a yoke itself. What becomes very clear is the unyielding design of a yoke. The cross piece is rigid — either wood or metal—and the pieces that fit around the necks of the oxen are also rigid. Once the animals are yoked they are no longer independent in their movements. The two move together or not at all. How, I used to wonder, is this an easy yoke? Or more precisely, how is being thus yoked to Jesus easy? As I matured in my Christian journey I came to understand that this tension in being yoked is exactly the point Jesus was intending to emphasize. Unlike the oxen, he invites us to choose being yoked to him. But similar to the oxen, surrender is involved. Jesus tells us in an oblique way that one does not simply become one of his followers by signing up. In fact, following Jesus requires that we are able to recognize him through the lens of spiritual wisdom rather than the lens of worldly measures of power and success.
What would it take to yoke ourselves to he who hung out with tax collectors, the poor, the lame? What would it take to yoke ourselves to he who was accused of being a drunkard … of hanging out with the Riffraff?
Yoking, in the way that Jesus used the term, does not mean surrendering one’s unique humanity. To be yoked, as it was used in rabbinic literature, meant to give oneself over in obedience to the sacred teachings of scripture. Being yoked in this way is to become a student. It is as if Jesus and you were walking together and you asked him to teach you how to follow him in the Way of Love. At which point Jesus put his arm around your shoulder as you both kept walking together and talking. Although you could easily pull away and go a different direction, the feeling of love, healing and peace that you feel in his embrace keeps you yoked to him. You want to learn from him because his teaching is opening up a way of being that makes everything you knew pale by comparison. His yoke is easy because it is one of love, healing, and peace.
When we are yoked to Jesus we discover the reversal of so many things we thought were unchangeable. Surrender is not losing; it is letting ourselves be vulnerable in love. Learning is not reserved for the young; it is life-long. Obedience is not giving up control or power; it is listening to wisdom and following. Love is not a mushy passive feeling; it is the activity of God’s embrace in our relationships.
We close each “Affirming Our Faith” discussions with a prayer and then we wave as we sign-off. At the close of our discussions, I feel renewed and deeply grateful for this opportunity to learn, explore and share together in an unexpected virtual way each from our personal spaces. I also feel a strong sense of my soul being at rest. This is, I believe, the power of being yoked to Jesus. Together we are obedient as we listen for wisdom in order to deepen our journey in Christ. And, together, we surrender to the presence of Christ in our midst — even over Zoom — and relax into the easiness of this yoke.
“… for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Blessings and peace,
Vicar Diana
Dear St. Augustine’s Ohana,
Every Tuesday afternoon our “Affirming Our Faith” discussion group meets over Zoom. We’ve been meeting for over a month now and our conversations have been wonderfully deep, searching, and spirit-filled. If I once doubted the ways in which virtual meetings could be effective this weekly group has convinced me otherwise. In fact, I am now speculating that it may be the way that we meet — each in our own personal space — that inspires us to be just a little more open … to share just a bit more than we might otherwise. When we feel relatively safe we are more willing to take risks and to be vulnerable. Sometimes this safety is physical; we need to feel that we are someplace where we will not be harmed or in danger. Sometimes this safety is spiritual; we need to feel that the spiritual presence in which we reside is one in which our souls are at rest. This is a place of deep peace … where we feel our brokenness is safe in God’s embrace allowing us to let go of pretense and posturing. Ultimately, it is a place of surrender.
"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” I have heard these verses from Matthew since I was a young girl. They were the opening lines read at the Morning Prayer liturgy for Sunday services in my home parish. I can still hear the Rector’s intonation as he said these words. His voice resonated with reassurance; he conveyed confidence and humbleness. And I remember thinking about the tension in the image of a yoke being “easy” and a burden being “light.”
If you look up images on the internet for this passage you will find hundreds of pictures of oxen yoked, side by side, pulling a farmer through a field. There are also many images of a yoke itself. What becomes very clear is the unyielding design of a yoke. The cross piece is rigid — either wood or metal—and the pieces that fit around the necks of the oxen are also rigid. Once the animals are yoked they are no longer independent in their movements. The two move together or not at all. How, I used to wonder, is this an easy yoke? Or more precisely, how is being thus yoked to Jesus easy? As I matured in my Christian journey I came to understand that this tension in being yoked is exactly the point Jesus was intending to emphasize. Unlike the oxen, he invites us to choose being yoked to him. But similar to the oxen, surrender is involved. Jesus tells us in an oblique way that one does not simply become one of his followers by signing up. In fact, following Jesus requires that we are able to recognize him through the lens of spiritual wisdom rather than the lens of worldly measures of power and success.
What would it take to yoke ourselves to he who hung out with tax collectors, the poor, the lame? What would it take to yoke ourselves to he who was accused of being a drunkard … of hanging out with the Riffraff?
Yoking, in the way that Jesus used the term, does not mean surrendering one’s unique humanity. To be yoked, as it was used in rabbinic literature, meant to give oneself over in obedience to the sacred teachings of scripture. Being yoked in this way is to become a student. It is as if Jesus and you were walking together and you asked him to teach you how to follow him in the Way of Love. At which point Jesus put his arm around your shoulder as you both kept walking together and talking. Although you could easily pull away and go a different direction, the feeling of love, healing and peace that you feel in his embrace keeps you yoked to him. You want to learn from him because his teaching is opening up a way of being that makes everything you knew pale by comparison. His yoke is easy because it is one of love, healing, and peace.
When we are yoked to Jesus we discover the reversal of so many things we thought were unchangeable. Surrender is not losing; it is letting ourselves be vulnerable in love. Learning is not reserved for the young; it is life-long. Obedience is not giving up control or power; it is listening to wisdom and following. Love is not a mushy passive feeling; it is the activity of God’s embrace in our relationships.
We close each “Affirming Our Faith” discussions with a prayer and then we wave as we sign-off. At the close of our discussions, I feel renewed and deeply grateful for this opportunity to learn, explore and share together in an unexpected virtual way each from our personal spaces. I also feel a strong sense of my soul being at rest. This is, I believe, the power of being yoked to Jesus. Together we are obedient as we listen for wisdom in order to deepen our journey in Christ. And, together, we surrender to the presence of Christ in our midst — even over Zoom — and relax into the easiness of this yoke.
“… for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Blessings and peace,
Vicar Diana
"...some musings... " is an occasional reflection by Vicar Diana.
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