https://www.stmarthasbethanybeach.org/

Saint Martha’s Episcopal Church Bethany Beach Delaware, 117 Maplewood Street, Bethany Beach, DE (2026)

08/15/2024

Ria’s Reflection, Saturday August 17, 2024.
“Christ is all and is in all.” Colossians 3:11
My understanding of God/Christ has shifted dramatically throughout my life. And I believe that this is exactly as it should be. As we grown, and deepen, and mature, life has beautiful … and sometimes not-so-beautiful … ways of teaching us what we need to know about who and what God is, who and what we are, who and what everyone and everything is, and what all those have to do with each other.

And, turns out, it’s all One. We’re all One. As the great saints, sages and mystics of every religious and spiritual tradition tell us, there’s nothing but God. This is the way of non-duality. It's not-so-hidden in the depths of every spiritual and religious tradition in the world. Including ours. And it’s all quite baffling. For now, at least. Because we live in a dualistic world where everything appears to be separate. Not “One” at all. Not even close.

But there’s another reality. Another way. Another dimension of truth and wisdom. Jesus called it the “Kingdom of Heaven” or the “Kingdom of God.” And he gave his life to it. And he gave his life for it.

The big picture take on reality says that we live in a sacramental universe, where Christ is already “All-in-All,” as St. Paul says. And it’s up to the rest of us to live that reality into existence, right here and right now. Celebrating sacrament is one of the primary ways we do that as the People of God. It’s one of the most beautiful gifts we have to share with the rest of the world.

Until they know. Until we all know.

“Christ is all and Christ is in all.” (Colossians 3:11)
Let it be!

Peace, love & prayers,
Ria+

08/02/2024

Ria’s Reflection, August 3, 2024.
This Sunday, we’ll hear about Jesus feeding people and helping them to understand what they’re really hungry for.

Chapter 6 of John’s gospel is all about bread … the kind we eat and the kind that “came down from Heaven.” That means the miraculous manna that God provided for the ancient Israelites as they wandered in the desert. And that means Jesus himself, who says: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

That’s quite a thing to say. And we’ll wonder a bit about what it means in these next upcoming Sundays, because John chapter 6 goes on. And so does Jesus.

But there’s another interesting little exchange between Jesus and the people, which is embedded right in the middle of this Sunday’s gospel. The people ask Jesus, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” What a fascinating question! Ok Jesus, so what should we DO about all this hunger/bread/heaven/God/Jesus stuff? What should we DO?

And Jesus tells them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one whom he has sent.”

Kind of weird, right? The people ask what they should DO and Jesus basically tells them to BELIEVE. But it’s bigger than it seems. It always is with God, right? It’s always bigger than it seems.

The word “believe” is the same as the word in the opening line of the creed that we say together every Sunday. “Credo” in Latin. Credo in unum Deum. We believe in one God. Fine. But the word means so much more than just giving intellectual assent to something. It actually and literally means to GIVE YOUR HEART to something!

What should we DO, Jesus?
Give me your heart says Jesus. Give your heart to God.

AND it’s the “work of God” because God has already and always given us God’s heart!

Beautiful, right? See you in church.

Peace, love & prayers,
Ria+

06/06/2024

Ria’s Reflection, Week of June 8, 2024

There’s just no accounting for relatives sometimes.

Last Sunday, Jesus was going head-to-head with the Scribes and Pharisees over observance of religious rules and regulations regarding the Sabbath. This Sunday, we’re told that Jesus’ own relatives thought that he was “out of his mind.” They thought he was crazy. Nuts. Off the hook. Flipped his cookies.

Well now.

None of this seems to be painting what could be considered a respectable portrait of a person whose stated mission was to change the world. It would appear that Jesus had many more detractors than supporters. And, even more painful for him perhaps, some of those detractors were among his own kin.

Do these two groups of people have anything to do with one another, members of the religious establishment and members of Jesus’ family? Well, yes.

Could you imagine how you might feel if one of your own family members put you in the same position? That’s right. The actions of Jesus, though they might be seen as laudable or at least necessary to those of us who would tend to cheer on an impassioned religious reformer, were a big problem for those closest to him.

A BIG problem!

Because Jesus was stirring up trouble. Kicking the hornets’ nest. Poking the bear. And it was entirely possible that he wouldn’t be the only one to get bit. You know, guilt by association and all. So, really, Jesus’ relatives were probably quite afraid of the religious authorities.

Which made it all the more important that someone stir up trouble. Kick the hornets’ nest. Poke the bear. Change the world.

Religion had become corrupted by the political influence of Rome, by money and by power. And someone had to try to set things right. Jesus’ “you have heard it said, but I say to you” words and actions really did come to “set the world on fire,” as he would say elsewhere.

And anyone who stands too close to the fire might also get burned.

Still.

06/01/2024

Happy Pride! ❤️

05/03/2024

Ria’s Reflection May 4, 2024.

The Sunday gospels continue through these post-Easter and pre-Pentecost weeks with Jesus’ final teaching to his disciples at the Last Supper in John chapters 14 through 17. And the main theme, as I understand this most important final teaching of Jesus, is Mutual Indwelling. God in us and we in God. Mutual Indwelling.

Jesus’ words “abide in me as I abide in you” mean “live within me as I live within you.” And Jesus states this reality over and over and over again, pointing to the ultimate truth, the ultimate reality, that we live within God and God lives within us.

Other religions will sometimes pose the same question: are we in Soul or is Soul in us?
And the answer is yes.
Are we in God or is God in us?
Yes!

This is one of those amazing spiritual realities that is difficult to explain or understand with words and concepts but not-so-difficult to grasp with the intuition, with the heart, with the soul … the same Soul that we are within and that is within us.

The only concrete, creation-based example that I can come up with is also a beautiful feminine image. Pregnancy! Pregnancy is the only time that I can think of when one being actually lives within another being in a mutually-sustaining, mutually-enriching and mutually-life giving way.

Consequently, we’ve all been there … some of us on both sides of the experience, but all of us on at least one side of it! So, in order to touch this deep spiritual reality of Mutual Indwelling, we need look no further than deep within ourselves.

Of course! Where else would we look?

Peace, love & prayers,
Ria+

04/26/2024

Ria’s Reflection, April 27, 2024

In the Gospel according to John, chapters 14 through 17 are usually referred to as the “High Priestly Prayer” of Jesus. These chapters contain some of the deepest, most significant
teachings of Jesus. And this makes perfect sense, considering that it would be his last chance to impart wisdom to his friends and disciples prior to his arrest, suffering and death on the cross.

And Jesus uses this opportunity, not to discuss religious rules and regulations, not to establish institutional norms or moral codes, not to put in place a hierarchy of authority to take his place after he’s gone, but to impart deep spiritual wisdom and insight. Really deep. The deepest.

Jesus uses this opportunity to teach them … and us … about Mutual Indwelling. God in us and we in God. “Christ in us, our hope of glory,” as St. Paul would later say.

In chapter 15, which we'll hear this Sunday, Jesus said: “I am the vine and you are the branches. Abide in me as I abide in you.” And in chapter 17 Jesus said: “I pray that they may all be one, just as you and I are one … as you are in me, Father, and I am in you.”

These two sets of verses comprise and bookend some of the most amazing spiritual wisdom and teaching of Jesus. In fact, they comprise and bookend some of the most amazing spiritual wisdom and teaching of all time.

God is in us and we are in God. If that weren’t the case, we simply would not exist. But because it IS the case, we're all “God-Carriers” as Archbishop Desmond Tutu called us. The lives we're so blessed and privileged to live belong to God. God is living and moving and breathing and loving and experiencing all creation with us, and in us, and through us, and as us.

There’s nothing deeper than that.
It’s the meaning of life, for goodness sake.

Mutual Indwelling.

Peace, love & prayers,
Ria+

04/19/2024

Ria’s Reflection, April 20, 2024

This Sunday is “Good Shepherd Sunday,” an annual reminder that God and Jesus used the image of a good shepherd to convey the idea that they’re both gentle, loving, protective and nurturing of all in their care.

This image was used of God throughout the Old Testament and Jesus took it and applied it to himself in the New Testament. It was an image that was deeply ingrained upon the religious imagination of that time and place. Today? Maybe not so much. But the sentiment lingers on, still lovely in its gentling and humbling of ultimate power and reality.

The part that always grabs my attention in the Gospel of John’s rendering of this image, can be found in these words, spoken by Jesus as the Good Shepherd:

“I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” John 10:16

As a deeply-convinced Christian Universalist, I believe that this is one of many, many, MANY verses in the Bible that point explicitly to the fact that the love, mercy and grace of God knows no boundaries. NO boundaries. Not tribe, religion, nationality, ethnicity, race, gender, socio-economics, or anything else.

Jesus saying “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold” is the same as him saying, “In my Father’s house there are many rooms.” These kinds of statements indicate the expansiveness and absolute inclusivity of what Jesus calls the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven, ie. God or Heaven. Eternity.

Everyone is in. Everyone. Regardless of our human-made-up boundaries and exclusions. Eternity will be filled with people who are very different than us. So, we’d best start practicing loving one another right now. I think Jesus had a lot to say about that as well, did he not?

Peace, love & prayers,
Ria+

04/12/2024

Ria’s Reflection, April 13, 2024

During the week before Easter, as I was leaving a clergy gathering, I hugged one of my colleagues and mistakenly said, “Blessed Christmas to you!” We laughed. And then I said, “Oh well, it IS all about the Incarnation, is it not?” He looked a bit perplexed, and then replied, “Well, that’s where it all began!” We laughed, and went our separate ways to dive into the busiest week of the year for both (and all) of us.

That little snippet of conversation kept coming back around to me in the days that followed. The Incarnation. Was it just the beginning? Or is it the whole deal, the whole nine yards, the entire story of what God was and is up to in Jesus the Christ?

I’ll go with answer “B.” Every time.

When it came time to graduate with my Master of Divinity degree, that was one of the questions that a panel of Jesuit scholars and professors posed to each of us as part of our final exam process. What is primary: the Incarnation or the resurrection, and why?

Well now. I was certainly far from being the most brilliant theology student around, but I thought, “What a silly question. That’s so easy. Because it’s so obvious!”

Without taking even a split second to ponder my response, I nearly blurted out, “The Incarnation, of course! Because everything else that God has done, is doing, and will do, is included in the Incarnation … including the resurrection.”

Most of them smiled and nodded. A couple of them looked surprised. At any rate, I passed!

Truth is, I believe that even more today than I did 25 years ago when I studied theology. The Incarnation IS everything. EVERYTHING! It expresses everything that God has done, is doing, and will do with, and in, and through, and as Christ. And I understand Christ as God’s infinite, eternal, sustaining Presence in everyone and everything in creation. Humanity and Divinity, Heaven and earth, creation and Creator. The whole deal, the whole nine yards, the entire story of what God was and is up to in Jesus the Christ. And in everything.

Everything in creation. And probably beyond, for all I know. But I don’t know so much about the “beyond” part, because they didn’t teach me everything in theology school.

Peace, love & prayers,
Ria+

03/30/2024

Ria’s Reflection March 30, 2024.
Holy Saturday. The day between Good Friday, when Jesus suffered and died, and Easter Sunday, when Jesus rose from the dead. Holy Saturday. A day of quiet, and a day of waiting.

To many Christians, Holy Saturday is a day that can teach us to wait. It’s kind of like a mini season of Advent, which also teaches us to wait. To wait for God. With God. In God. To wait.

And, as human beings, we probably can’t get too many good lessons on waiting, especially on waiting for God’s time and timing in our lives. But, according to our Christian tradition, Holy Saturday is about a whole lot more than simply waiting, as beautiful and meaningful and instructive as that may be.

What was actually going on during the original time of Holy Saturday, the original time between Jesus’ death and resurrection? Well, apparently, plenty!

On this side of the time/eternity line, those who were family, friends and followers of Jesus were probably deeply traumatized. Some of them were afraid and hiding. Some of them were making preparations to more properly care for his dead and battered and hastily entombed physical body. All of them must surely have been grieving. Deeply.

And, on the other side of the time/eternity line, what exactly was Jesus doing? What was he up to … or down to, as the case may be?

Well, our tradition, creeds and scriptures say that Jesus was busy “harrowing hell.” It is said that: “He descended to the dead” and/or “He descended into hell.”

And what do you suppose he was doing THERE?!

Again, according to our tradition, creeds and scriptures, Jesus was breaking everyone out. Everyone. Out. Of hell.
How’s about that for a way to spend your “down time?”

If God was willing to suffer and die with us, and in us, and for us, and as us, then THAT kind of love … God’s kind of love, as revealed to us in Christ Jesus … has surely emptied death and emptied hell.

Thomas Merton wrote that, “Death owns a wasted kingdom.” And so does hell. We are free. Free from sin. Free from shame. Free from guilt. Free from death.
Free from hell.

And we should live into the reality of what the love of God has done for us. Jesus was right. In his words uttered just before dying he said, “It is finished.”

And so it is.

Happy Easter!

Peace, love & prayers,
Ria+

(Empty Tomb by Lalo Garcia)

03/22/2024

Join us this Holy Week at St. Martha’s in Bethany Beach.

03/01/2024

Ria’s Reflection, March 2, 2024

Was Jesus a deconstructionist? It’s a really interesting question. And one that could easily be prompted by this Sunday’s gospel reading, the wonderful story of the “cleansing of the temple.”

You know the story. Jesus and his little crew come into Jerusalem and go right to the heart of the matter, right to the heart of institutional Judaism at the time, right to the temple. That’s THE temple. The throne of Heaven on Earth, AND the throne of those who believed that they were in charge of all the institutional wealth and power. THE. TEMPLE.

And Jesus … our usually sweet, mind-mannered, serene, non-violent and gentle Jesus … proceeds to become quite enraged and decides to throw the furniture around, driving out the “money changers” and those who were conducting the commerce of religion.

In the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), this incident is what leads directly to Jesus’ arrest, torture and death. Interestingly, in John’s gospel, this story is found very near the beginning of the story, rather than at the end of it. In John’s gospel, the final straw leading to the arrest and death of Jesus became the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

Hmmm.

So in John’s gospel, this incident occurred at the outset of Jesus’ mission and ministry. Talk about getting off on the wrong foot! Or did he?

Well. Not if he was a deconstructionist!

When institutional religion gets in the way of relationship with God, rather than facilitating and nurturing it, it no longer serves its intended purpose. It no longer serves GOD'S intended purpose. And it needs to go.

Just sayin’.

Go Jesus!

Peace, love & prayers,
Ria+

02/23/2024

Ria’s Reflection, February 24, 2024

Back about six weeks ago, I fell down my back steps. HARD! I mean, REALLY hard! So hard, in fact, that it still hurts a little bit, though it’s getting much better with time. Initially I thought that I probably hadn’t broken anything. I don’t think that anymore. But whatever I broke or didn’t break seems to be healing up just fine. Thanks be to God.

Right after that happened, I can remember thinking, “What the heck?! Only really drunk or really old people fall down steps!” And I certainly wasn’t drinking, sooooooo … OLD it is! Ugh.

I’ve already come to the conclusion that this is a very, ummm, how you say, CHALLENGING time of life. It’s also the price we pay for the privilege of being biologically alive. And older age is an honor that not everyone, everywhere, gets to enjoy. And so I remain grateful. But the challenges are many. And I know that many of you are facing much, much more challenging challenges for yourselves and for those you love.

I don’t know about you, but I find myself needing more and more faith. That is to say, I find myself needing more and more, every day, to learn to TRUST God. And that’s the scriptural definition of faith. Faith is trust. And all our readings this second Sunday in Lent point us to this more real and genuine way of thinking about faith: for Abraham, and Sarah, and Jesus, faith is trust.

Faith is trust. It’s not a set of beliefs. It’s not a bunch of doctrine or dogma. It’s not a religion, or a denomination, or a parish, or a ministry.

Faith is trust. And I need that trust now more than ever.
I need to trust that God’s got this.
Got me. Got you.
Got everyone we love.
Trust that God’s “got the whole world in ‘his’ hands” … and those hands are trustworthy hands. Hands that will have us and hold us forever. No matter what.

In God we trust.
Let it be.

Peace, love & prayers,
Ria+

Saint Martha’s Episcopal Church Bethany Beach Delaware

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