Stories from Jen

  Heaviness Some background : In our recent nondenominational worship service on board our cruise ship, we heard Luke’s Gospel story of the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness.   I had the privilege of leading prayers, the Lord’s Prayer, and then the benediction.   Always wanting to be contextual, I included Ukraine and the past months of trudging much of the journey of the slave trade in the SE USA, Polynesia, and now the West Indies.   I’m sharing our heaviness with you, trusting that God is always listening.   Lead-in for praying in our worship service : In prayer, we look deeply at our lives, we examine the world we inhabit, we admit our failures, we seek forgiveness, and we rejoice in the unending grace of God who gives us hope for another day.   Today, each Lenten prayer petition will end with “Lord, please listen.”   Then you will join me in singing our prayer response each time. (teach “Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying”) Let us ...

  Introductions “Hello, my name is Jennifer and…” is the practice for beginning a confession/admission at an AA meeting. “Our guest for today is Pastor Jennifer Henry.   She has served…”is the polite introduction heard at past area or church events. “This is my sister/friend/colleague, Jen” is the casual acknowledgement that puts a name to the face. But let me ask you:   how do you engage in a conversation with someone who may not actually care who you are because your paths are more parallel than intersecting?   Thirty years ago, when Jerry and I were teaching in China, one of our units was self-introductions with people in the Western culture (from our perspective), especially in an airplane seat or at an international business conference (all our students were majoring in Foreign Trade).   As Jerry and I walked the talk in lesson prep, we discovered that introductions are more complex than straightforward, more protective than revealing, and oftentime...

 I’m Not into Religion… Self-made men and women.   Successful.   Intellectual. Ahead of the curve in their occupation.   Thinkers.     Problem solvers.   Confident and self-confident. Competent in their field.   Passionate.   Market and current events savvy.   Open to meeting new people.   Surface communicators, adept at elevator talks over dinner.   Bored.   Seeking a (like-minded?) community. Enjoy talking. Listen in order to speak.   Either conservative or liberal but there are no inbetweens.   These are some of the adjectives I’d assign to the many people we’ve met 1/3 or the way into our cruise.   Casual acquaintance happens at meal tables--unless we choose a table only for two, at intentional events on board that invite small gatherings in larger spaces, or on land excursions.   A typical first time meet begins with either one’s first name or “Where are you from?”   then usually slides in...

  Ash Wednesday Like most of my pastor colleagues, we began planning the Ash Wednesday service months in advance.   Rather than having snow and ice as a potential obstacle, our timeline must align with a sea day rather than a port day.   If we’re in a port, then guests are off the ship involved in an activity; whereas, a sea day means we are traveling between ports and all on-board activities are a go.   Given the uncertainties of sea conditions as well as world news, we are never sure about schedule changes. Gratefully, Ash Wednesday fell on the only sea day before 10 port days in a row.   Helen A. Worley**, the retired Anglican priest and I met with the British couple who act as hospitality liaison with the ship’s leadership.   We started these planning sessions in late January, resisting the impulse to look ahead to Holy Week and Easter, because we have absolutely no idea where the ship will be by then, let alone whether it will be a sea or port day. ...