Tag Archives: Rev. Jeanne Tyler

Called by Name

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For Easter Sunday, the final day that we’ll be posting the 2016 UCCDM Lenten Devotional series, our devotional reflection was written by Rev. Jeanne Tyler who is a former UCCDM Board Member.  Her bio can be found on the former Board of Directors webpage.

“Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.  So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple; the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them.  ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’  Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb.  They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.  Then Simon Peter came, following him, and he went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself.  Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.  Then the disciples went back to their homes.”

“But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.  They said to her, ‘woman, why are you weeping?’  She said to them, ‘Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’  Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus.  Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?  Whom do you seek?’  Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’  Jesus said to her, ‘Mary’.  She turned  and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabboni!’  Jesus said to her , “do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’  Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord.'”  (John 20:1-18)

In the early, early morning even before dawn, we discover Mary Magdalene up and walking toward the tomb.  We suspect a new reality is gaining favor, is emerging, is coming to light.  So, it begins in the desolation of death.  Death is the reality we expect.  And so it was with Mary Magdalene. She came alone in the dark barely able to see.  She expected to find the tomb with the stone firmly in place.  I mean that is what dead is.  She came to the tomb in the dark and discovered the stone had been removed from the tomb.  The stone was not where it was supposed to be.  She cannot imagine an open tomb.  She worried that someone had taken the dead body of Jesus and disposed of it; making even more of a mockery of Jesus.  This would end even more the promises of Jesus.  There would be no comfort and life would continue in its dreary dark never changing way.  The present dead would remain as the past.  And, the future was unchangeable.

Someone calls her name.  Someone she does not recognize.  “Mary” is spoken and heard and recognized.  As a person with a hearing loss even with two hearing aids I can hear a sound and not recognize the word spoken.  Someone knows her.  I do not think Mary was hearing impaired but I do believe she was in shock or amazement that anyone in that tomb knew her name.  Someone calls her name, “Mary”, and at this moment she recognizes by the voice, her friend Jesus, the Crucified and Risen Lord!

The past becomes sweet, the present secure and the future hopeful.  It is Easter Sunday.  Hallelujah!!!   Christ is Risen!  He is risen indeed!  The horrific experiences and fears of death are vanquished by the voice of the one who calls Mary from fear to joy, from resignation to recognition, from silence to courage, from alone in the tomb to community with brothers and sisters in Jerusalem.  She went and told the others “I have seen the Lord”

This Easter story gives me courage.  It begins with Mary stumbling in the dark toward death not her own death but toward the dead body of Jesus who gave her and the others hope and meaning and fulfillment.  It includes tears and bewilderment and helplessness.  In the midst of this is a voice that calls her name and she recognizes his voice.  It gives her all the courage she needs,  all the hope she needs, all the love she needs, all the authorization she needs to proclaim, “I have seen the Lord”.  May it also be so with you!

Prayer:  Though we stumble and don’t always hear your first call to us yet you call us again and we recognize the voice of one who loves us.  Filled with gratitude we respond with courage and hope and perseverance for a church that is inclusive.  Amen.

Human Difference, Redemption, and Grace

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This is the seventh entry in the UCCDM Lenten Devotional 2016 series. This devotional reflection comes from Rev. Jeanne Tyler. Her bio can be found on the Board of Directors page.  This devotional reflects the views of the author and not the views of UCCDM.

“Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters,  who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.” (Isaiah 43: 16 – 23)

The fifth Sunday of Lent is known as Little Resurrection Sunday. It is a Sunday of Biblical texts that point toward hope of redemption already rather than emphasize judgment and repentance.  The Older Testament text from Isaiah begins at verse 16 of Chapter 43 and concludes with verse 21.  It begins with the crossing of the Red Sea by the chariots and their drivers who get stuck in the mud and cannot rise.  It is the slaves who make it across the Red Sea. “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old, Behold I am doing a new thing.”  Slaves made it to freedom.  It was a new day for a people who thought God had forgotten them.

In our world today, we too experience wilderness in our lives.  God is also there making rivers flow and waters bubble in the desert.  Is this just poetry or visions or dreams or deep yearnings among people who live in the wilderness or close enough to deserts to lack easy access to water?  To give people water is to give people life. Already we are redeemed.

Vulnerability is at the heart of the human wilderness experience.  Sometimes I feel invisible, forgotten, and forsaken.  I read theology.  I hardly ever find reference to persons with disability unless it is to speak of vulnerability.  Yes, I am vulnerable but I also have agency and that agency is as significant to my identity as vulnerability.  Why does this not point to God?  Why does this not reveal God in the fullness of God as being vulnerable as well as having agency?

I am embodied.  I see other bodies.  I see racial differences, gender differences, and gender identity differences.  I also see physical differences and some cognitive differences.  It is hard to perceive brain disorders.  It is hard to see hearing loss and diabetes.  I see all the ways we are different.  And, I believe all the ways we are alike. Created in the Image of God for the sake of one another our common humanity is at the core of wholeness and holiness.  Each of us is vulnerable and each of us exercises agency.  Already we are redeemed.

The wilderness is a place where humans feel threatened by lack of safety and scarcity of water.  And yet the wilderness is also the place of God’s presence and activity.  The wilderness becomes a place already redeemed.  With God’s presence in the wilderness we will experience water for survival and roads for direction.  This is God’s grace.  And for this we give praise to God.  The response to grace is gratitude.  I am grateful for both the vulnerabilities I face on a daily basis but also the acts of agency I exercise.  I am grateful to God for being present in the wilderness I experience.  Someone wise once said, “Prayer begins with ‘Help me, help me, Help me!’ and concludes with Thank you, thank you, Thank You!!!’”.

Prayer: O God of the Universe, you know I hate the times I spend in the wilderness.  They can be awful.  And yet, surprisingly I experience water and directions.  I sing.  Amen!

A Devotion For Holy Saturday

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This is the sixth entry in the UCCDM Lenten Devotional 2015. This reflection for the Holy Saturday comes to us from Rev.Jeanne Tyler who is  the current Vice Chair of UCCDM. Her bio can be found on the Board of Directors page. 

I grew up in the Episcopal Church in which most every Sunday we said the Apostle’s Creed together. On rare occasions we said the Nicene Creed. I remember saying the words, “crucified and died, descended into hell and rose on the third day. Now, The New Century Hymnal says, “…was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On third third day he rose again;…”.

The Saturday of Holy Week is called Holy Saturday. Like the day of crucifixion is called Good Friday the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is named Holy Saturday. I have come to ponder that the naming reflects the reality of reconciliation and redemption. I have come to treasure Holy Saturday. In our daily lives we experience times of defeat and times of victory; times of death and times of life; times of despair and times of joy. We struggle mightily.

For persons with disability, the struggle is complicated by the devil named normalcy. The devil is in the details of living. The grace with which you walk, the ease with which you talk and are understood, your high or low intellect, wheelchair bound, sight impaired, sugar high or way too low, too depressed to get up, too angry to talk, too manic to sit down, talk to people who are not in the room and perhaps have never been in the room. The devil of normalcy is in our minds; it is in our bodies and there is hell to pay.

Holy Saturday is the time of dead. Jesus arrived in the dead as you and I will bearing the scars of life. It is where our deadness meets the deadness of Jesus and where Jesus experienced the devil of normalcy. Yet this deadness is also the darkness which is also fertile and where all growth begins. I call Holy Saturday a day of fertile darkness.

Holy Saturday is the day we tell our stories of pain and anger and cry and experience the reconciliation and redemption of community that turns our cries of pain and anger to tears of joy. It is because Jesus has been here and is still here in the time of the dead that we are able to face ourselves and one another. Within Holy Saturday there is fertile darkness where the seeds of flowers make their beginning or the community makes the mystery of resurrection known as an act of God’s love for all humanity.

Holy Saturday is the day the devil is paid. We are one another’s friends and the reality of reconciliation and redemption is at hand. We are free to love one another, free to forgive ourselves and one another. We are free to proclaim in the growing dawn that which was beginning in the nighttime, Alleluia Christ is Risen!

Ash Wednesday Devotion

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This is the first entry in the UCCDM Lenten Devotional 2015 series. This reflection for Ash Wednesday comes to us from Rev. Jeanne Tyler, Co-Chair of UCCDM Board of Directors. Her bio can be found on the Board of Directors page. 

2 ¹ Blow the trumpet in Zion;
    sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
    for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near—
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
    a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread upon the mountains
    a great and powerful army comes;
their like has never been from of old,
    nor will be again after them
    in ages to come.

¹²Yet even now, says the Lord,
    return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13     rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
    for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
    and relents from punishing.
14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
    and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
    for the Lord, your God?

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion;
    sanctify a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
16     gather the people.
Sanctify the congregation;
    assemble the aged;
gather the children,
    even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
    and the bride her canopy.

17 Between the vestibule and the altar
    let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep.
Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
    and do not make your heritage a mockery,
    a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’”

~Joel 22:1-2 12-17 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

I like Ash Wednesday. I like being marked with the sign of a cross in ashes on my forehead. I feel placed in community as an equal to all those alongside me. We hear ancient words like “Blow the Trumpet”, “gather the people”, “listen”, and “rend your hearts and not your garments”. It seems strange to write about hearing the words when I struggle to hear.

I like being in line with others in front and in back of me waiting to be marked with the sign of the cross. I feel placed in community as an equal to those in front and those in back. We wait patiently expectantly for the time will come. It seems strange to write about walking as though it is a given when I experience trouble with balance.

I like hearing the word “repent”. It means to change. I discover in the Book of Joel, God is repenting along with humanity. For the prophet Joel it is the people that are called to repent. It is the community that is called to repent. And it is also God who repents of the anger that if activated could destroy creation. Joel’s take is why would God place the divine reputation to the test?

When I read the Prophet Joel, I am reminded of the community to which I belong is the source of my being. The community is powerful enough to place me as an equal among others. This is truly a blessing for I experience alienation from myself and from others.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent which is a journey that the community takes together. The journey changes us. Repentance for persons with disability may mean giving up passivity in light of the disability and taking on activism on behalf of the self and others. It may mean claiming gifts that come alongside the disability. It may mean an acknowledgement that the community needs the wholeness and holiness we include to be whole and holy in and of herself as church. Repentance may mean for persons who are temporarily able bodied and able mindful to be attentive to and committed to the inclusion of all gifts of all people. This makes the church whole and holy. The journey means all these things and more but surely these are essential to the journey that is Lent.