Sermon: John 8:1-11

Joseph Matthews, a seminarian at General Theological Seminary, and a congregant at St. Lydia’s, preached on Sunday, January 29.  You can read his sermon here!

Illusion in Blue

by Lenore Hildebrandt

Lately, our tenses are neither
present nor past, but impossibly
absent as we try to take hold.

Contrary to what is written, you say,
the birds in the sky always
hustle for sustenance.
The fish in the sea
worry themselves dull
over tomorrow’s catch.

The rush is contagious—
I had to omit the pauses between
breathing in and breathing out.
It is winter—we don’t sleep—
we roam about the dark
in search of kernels.

Today as the snow is receding
brown grasses are laid out
to dry in the sun:
the thin carpet of life
a single line. I close my eyes
—blue water, blue sky—

and launch myself deep
in the light-world.
You come too.

–Read at St. Lydia’s on January 29

Lentil Soup with Apricots

Imprint of the Stereoscopic Cards

If  you make the connection between this table and that table,
then you will remember your grandmother’s loaves of bread
and from there you arrive outside the gates of Jerusalem.
Your jealous and unkind aunt Virginia, who is six years older
than you , has made it a rule that you must look at each card,
even that one of the lepers.  Your grandmother knows nothing of this.
Rotting in rags, their voices crying, “Unclean, unclean.”
The lepers’ lips are eaten away.  They hold out their stumps.
Bones come through their soiled wrappings.
And yet they are odorless on the stereoscopic cards.

Bread is made twice a week on the scrubbed kitchen table.
You are seven, waiting for the boxed tour of Jerusalem.
The trick of two eyes and two photographs.
Then your whole body enters into that place.
You take in your mouth the warm buttered bread
from your grandmother’s white flowered hands.
You sit with the viewer; waiting to slide into focus
the lettered and numbered cards and to hold
for the rest of your life these cast-out bodies of lepers.

–Read at St. Lydia’s on January 22

Sermon: John 6:22-56

Read Emily’s latest sermon, “Devouring Death,” on her blog, Sit and Eat.

Maple Roasted Butternut Squash Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1.5 cups Israeli (pearl) couscous
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded & diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
coarse salt & ground pepper
3 cups spinach, roughly chopped
1/3 cup minced red onion (from about 1/2 an onion)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1/3 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 435 degrees. In a pan, heat butter over medium
until foaming. Watch closely and when it begins to turn brown and
smell caramelized, add the dry couscous. Stir to coat and then stir
occasionally for a few minutes, to toast the grains. Add broth and
bring to a boil; cook until couscous is done, about 7 to 10 minutes,
testing regularly (add additional water if necessary). Drain and rinse
with cool water; set aside.

2. On a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet, toss squash with 2 teaspoons
each oil and syrup, and 1 teaspoon vinegar. Sprinkle with salt and
pepper, spread on sheet, and roast 30 minutes, tossing once.

3. Meanwhile, in a jar, combine 1 tablespoon oil, 1 teaspoon syrup,
and 2 tablespoons vinegar, shaking to combine. In a large bowl, toss
spinach, onion, feta, walnuts, and cranberries with dressing. Add
couscous and the hot roasted squash; season with salt and pepper and
serve.

–Adapted from Iowa Girl Eats by Heather and prepared with our help at St. Lydia’s on January 22

To Try Again

by Ruth Stone

“Tremble,” says the sword-grass, leaning over the water.
“Oh yes,” the water-fractals sing, writhing in temporal ecstasy,
“Toward is inevitable.  Fall to the center.”
“Rushing, always rushing,” sighs the larch, brushing the sky.
“Your roots are not deep enough.  Try harder.
Apply yourself.”  On the milkweed, the larvae of the monarchs
grow agains the pulsing heliosphere. “We must die
and be born again. The clouds of our endless selves
image the chrysalis. Yes, to become is the meaning.”
“Look,” says the void.  “What meaning? Be thou me.”

–Read at St. Lydia’s on January 15, 2012

Bulgarian Feta and Pepper Casserole (Surprise 2012)

(Serves approx. 5)

1 1/2 cups bulgur
1 1/2 cups boiling water
2 cups green bell peppers (red bell peppers diced)
3/4 cup mushroom (sliced)
3/4 cup onion (chopped)
2 tbsps butter
2 tsps soy sauce (tamari)
2 tsps sherry vinegar and smidge of sugar and lemon juice (to make it taste like sherry) OR grape juice and splash of vinegar
1/2 tsp marjoram
salt
pepper
3/4 cup cottage cheese (ricotta)
1/2 cup feta cheese (crumbled)
2 eggs (beaten)
paprika

Preparation:
1) Soak bulgur in boiling water during prep time (for at least 15 minutes).
2) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3) Grease small casserole dish with 1/2 tablespoons of butter.
4) Chop onions, peppers, and mushrooms (or Cuisinart).
5) On medium heat, saute remaining butter and chopped onions until soft. Stir in mushrooms and peppers, and heat through (3-6 minutes).
6) Add tamari, “sherry” (vinegar or juice option), marjoram and salt and pepper (to taste), then remove from heat (try to allow some of the water to cook down).
7) In a small bowl, mix cheeses and beaten egg together.
8) Spread bulgur evenly in pan. Cover with pepper mixture, then cheese mixture and dust with paprika.
9) Bake 35 minutes at 350, uncovered. Then put broil on and leave uncovered for 5-10 minutes, until cheese browns.

From (though adapted); Moosewood Cookbook (old school version).

–Prepared with our help by Charlotte on January 15

Sermon: John 3:1-21

Read Emily’s latest sermon, “Forcing the Question,” on her blog, Sit and Eat.  The sermon is on the story of Nicodemus, and is a part of our ongoing exploration of the Gospel of John.

Put a nametag on it!