Stewards of Eden


God is nature, nature is God.
Patrick Kato


Trees are the earth’s endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.
Rabindranath Tagore


Art is man’s nature; nature is God’s art.
Phillip James Bailey


I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.
George Washington Carver


Man is the most insane species.  He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature unaware that this Nature he’s destroying is this God he’s worshiping. 
Hubert Reeves


God is like a beautiful flower blooming in nature.  He is easy to wait by and not notice but those who stop to enjoy His elegance and grace, their day becomes brighter. 
Tom Krause


To pay homage to beauty is to admire Nature; to admire Nature is to worship God.
Epictertus
 
 
My profession is to always find God in nature.
Henry David Thoreau


In keeping with St. Augustine’s commitment this year to be consciously aware of and contribute to a theology and ministry of creation care, articles derived from past Stewards of Eden will be quoted in this space in parallel with our six week class at 9:30 AM of the same name.

~ Compiled by Dr. Gil Haas, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 

John Muir
A “Steward of Eden”

A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling,
tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear
these trees are now silent, their songs never cease. Every hidden cell is throbbing with
music and life, every fibre thrilling like harp strings, while incense is ever flowing from
the balsam bells and leaves. No wonder the hills and groves were God’s first temples,
and the more they are cut down and hewn into cathedrals and churches, the father off
and dimmer seems the Lord. The same may be said of stone temples. Yonder, to the
eastward of our camp grove, stands one of Nature’s cathedrals, hewn from the living
rock, almost conventional in form, about two thousand feet high, nobly adorned with
spires and pinnacles, thrilling under floods of sunshine as if alive like a grove-temple,
and well named “Cathedral Peak.”
Written from Alaska in 1915.
In keeping with St. Augustine’s commitment this year to be consciously aware of and
contribute to a theology and ministry of creation care, articles derived from past
Stewards of Eden will be quoted in this space in parallel with our six week class at 9:30
AM of the same name.

~Dr. Gil Haas, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

​(Mark 12: 1-11) Scripture:
The Parable of the Tenants - 12Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.6 “He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’    7 “But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 “What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture:
“‘The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
11 the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’[a]?”
Meditation:

Jesus was rejected and overlooked. Take a moment to have a conversation with someone who is often overlooked — perhaps an acquaintance you know is lonely, perhaps someone living on the street. After your conversation, spend some time praying for that person.

Prayer:
 
Dear Lord, watch over us as we follow in your footsteps.  Keep us safe from the internal and external storms of our lives. Help us to recognize and give aid when others need help through their times of trouble and darkness. Let us ever be more like Christ, in your holy son’s name… Jesus Christ - Amen.


Rick Inselman – born in OKC and raised in Noble County (Lucien, OK) he has been a member of St. Augustine of Canterbury  Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, since 2001.  He and his wife Barbara have been married for a little over 28 years. They have two wonderful children, Karen and Parker.   Rick has spent the majority of his occupational career, helping people in the Agriculture & the Manufacturing fields.   On the Fun side of the life: Rick has been involved in the Boy Scouts of America community, for almost a dozen years.  Besides Scouting, Rick also enjoys, being a member of the Brotherhood of St. Lawrence and helping the St. Auggie’s Ushering Team.

This is Our Story


Our three-year Lectionary rotates the accounts of Jesus’ resurrection in the gospel lessons assigned to Easter/Easter Week.  In Matthew, “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary” entered the tomb because an angel employed an earthquake to roll away the stone.  The angel petrified the guards and spoke with the women.  Jesus later hailed and encouraged them to inform His disciples.  In Mark’s simpler narrative, Jesus “appeared first” to Mary Magdalene who told his unbelieving disciples.  In Luke, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, and “other” women found an empty tomb and two angels who reminded them of Jesus’ foretelling his death and resurrection.  The women informed the unbelieving apostles.  In John, Mary Magdalene described to Peter and John the empty tomb.  After running there, John and Peter entered the tomb discovering the collapsed burial cloths and the napkin formerly on Jesus’ head rolled up in a place by itself.  A weeping Mary peered into the tomb and saw two angels who inquired of her sorrow.  After explaining, she turned around to confront Jesus whom she thought was a gardener.  She implored the “gardener” to tell her the location of Jesus‘ body.  When Jesus said, “Mary”, she recognized Him.
~Dr. Gil Haas, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 
If you have a liturgical question or an inquiry about anything that transpires during or around our worship service, please forward the question you would like researched to: gghaas@aol.com. Please note whether we can credit you as the source of the question.

John 17:20-26
John 17:23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
 
The Drum Corps International is like the playoffs of elite marching bands. Each of the corps has a unique style, and if you are a follower, you can often identify a specific corps just by watching a small portion of their show.
Each member of the corps plays a set of notes and moves with a set of steps that can take months to perfect. One can’t deviate and play what she thinks sounds better.  Another can’t move differently so that he stands out as unique. It takes all playing the assigned notes perfectly in unison, and moving as one. Unity is everything. Each member comes together as a whole, and the result is breathtaking.
 
In today’s scripture reading the church is called to unity. Jesus prays for all of the future believers to be so unified that the world would recognize that God had sent him out of love. Jesus came from a world of perfection into a world of discord. When we as believers unify in faith and love, it gives the world a glimpse of that world of perfection. Just like a member of a marching band, we must put aside our selfish desires to stand out and instead focus on the whole mission. That mission is to let the world know the depth of God’s love. 
 
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for loving us, just as you loved your son. Help us as believers to be unified in sharing that love with others, so that your perfect love is glorified. Amen
 
 
John Fink -  John is a lifelong Episcopalian. He attended St. Mary’s for more than 40 years. He’s more recently been a member of All Souls’ and now St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  He recently retired from Oklahoma City Schools after 41 years in various administrative capacities.  He has also authored/co-authored several education publications. John enjoys being with family and friends, music, sports, and reading.

This is Our Story


Monastics in the Middle Ages celebrated Tenebrae at 2 AM (a combination of matins said at night and lauds said just before dawn) on each of the final three days of Holy Week.  In 1955 to facilitate the participation of laypersons, each night’s Tenebrae in the Roman Catholic church was moved to the previous evening.  Thus, Maundy Thursday’s Tenebrae was moved to the evening of Holy Wednesday.  Betrayal was the former theme of Wednesday evening’s readings, although the assignment of specific readings, lamentations, and hymns to each Tenebrae is no longer practiced.  Tenebrae begins with fifteen lit candles set on a triangular stand, or hearse.  One candle is extinguished after each reading (nine during matins and five during lauds) until only one lit candle remains.  Tenebrae’s name (literally, darkness) stems from the darkness at the service’s conclusion.  The lit candle, symbolic of Christ, is hidden behind the altar to signify evil’s victory.  A loud noise is made to symbolize the earthquake at Christ’s death.  Before the congregation departs, the lit candle is replaced on the triangle’s top.  This currently is associated with Christ’s resurrection, but it may have originally merely been a light for the departing congregation. 
​
~Dr. Gil Haas, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

If you have a liturgical question or an inquiry about anything that transpires during or around our worship service, please forward the question you would like researched to: gghaas@aol.com. Please note whether we can credit you as the source of the question.

SCRIPTURE:
Mark 8:27-9:1Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” 28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” 30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.Jesus Predicts His Death31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”The Way of the Cross34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life[b] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
9 And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.

Meditation:
Jesus asks His disciples who they say He is, and Peter correctly responds that Jesus is the Messiah. However, this moment of triumph is short-lived. When Jesus tells Peter that He will suffer, be killed, and rise on the third day, Peter rebukes Jesus. When Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ, Peter had images of victory in his mind and Jesus’ description of His impending death sounded like certain defeat. Peter would not allow Jesus to ruin his expectations of Jesus’ coming triumph with prophecies of His impending death. Jesus’ response seems unnecessarily harsh to most modern ears. Why didn’t Jesus simply take Peter aside and explain that he was mistaken? Why call him Satan?
Jesus knew the seriousness of Peter’s misunderstanding. If Jesus did not submit to the Father’s plan by willingly laying down His life, He would not be able to accomplish the purpose for which He was sent. Jesus’ death and resurrection were not incidental parts of His ministry. They were the aspects of His ministry through which God accomplished our salvation. They are the parts of Jesus’ life on earth that give all other aspects of His life meaning and eternal significance.

Prayer:
Lord, you make it clear that self- denial an taking up a cross are necessary acts for us to follow after you. We know that to gain our lives, we must lose them. This is the only path to follow so that we might experience that which is truly life. Amen.

 
 
 
 
 
Renee Bauer, along with her husband Steve, has been a member of St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City for about 9 years. She is a Senior Vice President and Actuary for American Fidelity where she has worked for 31 years. She and Steve have a daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter, Angela, Tyler and Sutton Davis, who also attend St. Augustine's, and a son, Bryan, who lives in New York.  Renee enjoys cooking, reading, knitting, spending time with Steve and playing with their dog, Stella.