Transcript of Abbot Clement’s talk on Monday, July 8, 2002

        I want you to reflect on "Who is God for you?" This nurse was always desiring to take a cruise ship so she scrimped and she saved and finally got enough money and bought the ticket. She didn’t have too much extra money so she figured that will be O.K. I’ll buy a lot of crackers and cheese and I can eat in my cabin. So she got the ticket and took the trip and everything is going marvelous. It’s well and when the rest of the people on the ship go to the dining room she went to her cabin and ate her crackers and cheese. So finally she had enough money for one big meal so on the last day she dressed up and came to the dining room with the rest of the people and took the best possible meal then when she was finished she asked for the check and the waiter said, "Don’t you know all the meals are free on this trip, it’s with the ticket." So how old are you? You’ve been on this space ship earth for so long and God who loves you, loves you unconditionally. It’s been part of the ticket.

        Now if we read scripture it says some pretty powerful things. Zachariah says, "The Lord rejoices in us as a festival." So God dances and sings about us. Let’s take Hagar. Hagar is the maid servant of Sara. She is now pregnant and therefore she acting haughty towards Sara and Sara of course responds by being harsh on her, so harsh that she leaves and goes into the desert. Well she’s just about ready to be in total dispair. Of course the Lord is present. The imagery is that an angel is sent but it’s really the Lord. And the Lord tells her to go back and suffer these days because He has plans for her. The child in her will be Edom, etc., etc. And then she says, "God is the God who sees me." That doesn’t mean, you know, he’s watching. It means He sees her plight and comes and does something specifically for her. So she’s rejoicing in the presence of God in her life as having a concern and a positive attitude toward her in action, actual fact.

        And then, of course, if you remember David when David is told that his kingship will last forever, that the progeny will be given to him in the prophecy, what does he do? He goes immediately to the temple and sits there and begins to thank the Lord for everything God has done to him, brought him up to this point and then he just stands in awe that God should do this extra thing for him forever and ever. So he’s aware of the sheer goodness of God toward him. So what scripture shows us is that God cannot love abstraction. He loves you. He loves Victor, He loves Patrick and He loves Gary and loves even me. He can’t love an abstract. It’s personal. It’s personal and direct and real. So the question is, "Do you really want to know this God?" What do you do with it? Does it embarrass you? "Oh, it’s a nice talk, Fr. Abbot. I got a lot out of it." But then it goes somewhere in the walls and I’ll never talk about it again. Are you embarrassed that God should love you unconditionally? Do you even bother to think about it? Do you even let it in? Do you let it touch you? Are you afraid of it? Of course, if you really let this in you’re going to be different. There will be a connection between the God you believe in and the behavior, at least I hope so.

        So here’s Johnny. Johnny’s roughly ten years old and he’s in an orphanage. And you know the orphanage is pretty strict but now it’s summertime and the schedule is a little changed and on this orphanage property they have a beautiful lake. Man, he had the greatest urge to get up and go and see the sun come up over the lake. So he said, "the heck with it I’m going to go. I don’t care what happens." So he dresses up quickly, doesn’t put his shoes on, tiptoes out of the door. Has his shoes in his hand and looks at the long corridor, "My God, I don’t know if I can make it." But he tiptoes out, gets out to the lake, puts his shoes on. He watches the sun come up over the lake and a nice cool breeze that’s so fresh he’s just enjoying it all, having a great time, looks at his watch "Oh my, It’s that late already. They’ll be up, they’ll be missing me. I’m going to get it!" So he goes back and on the way back he says to himself, "I don’t care if they punish me because I know that the God of the lake is a lot better then the God of the orphanage." That’s our problem. We carry around us a God of our daily lives and our duties and so on that doesn’t match the God of the gospels, of scripture. And yet, it’s part of the ticket, God is here! He is this unconditional, loving presence that is direct, real and personal toward each of us. And what did we hear Sunday? "Come to me all you who labor and are heavily burdened, I will refresh you." There is nothing more refreshing than to be hugged by somebody who loves you. When Abbot Roger was Abbot I made him an icon. It’s St. Saba who’s the Abbot and next to him is Jesus and Jesus has his arm around him. Well, he left it for me so I put it on my shelf. So every time anything happens I just look at it. So you have to ask yourself, "who is the God you really believe in?" Is he the God that is revealed in scripture? In the church? And really in our lives?