I Am Listening

The most important mentors in my life have been extraordinary listeners. These were people who often said very little, however, they gave me the space to share stories of struggle or blessing without commentary or advice, unless of course I asked their opinion. 

The past couple of months my church has challenged all parishioners with a ministry opportunity called the Kingdom Project. Everyone is given seed money to begin a project, with the goal of reaping more than what we were given. The scriptural connection is the Parable of the Talents, Matt 25.14-30.

My project was inspired by the Compassionate Listening Project, which you can look up. The idea is to offer a listening ear to total strangers on a street corner. The obvious goal is to practice listening to others, and making space in our lives to do this with folks who we don’t know. This will take a courageous bunch of folks, but I believe this is going to be a gift to all those involved. The above shirts I purchased with my own resources, Are You Listening? If you want a t-shirt, I will send you one if the shipping isn't more than a couple bucks. All I ask is that you share your experience with me in writing.

Summer Reading: Pastrix

Meeting weekly on Monday nights at Pastor Rachel’s, a small group of folks are gathering to read Pastrix by Nadia Boltz-Weber. Nadia’s take on ministry will have you laughing and crying. So far we have been moved by the way that Nadia encourages fellow Christians to make space for folks who are addicts, or recovering, or who find themselves on the belief continuum, and need a place of safety to explore without being judged. She shares her stories of failure and yet the ways God breaks into her life and cuts through her doubt, and disbelief. One particular claim that resonated with the group is “something has to die for something to live.” This is a provocative claim to make especially as we contextualize this within the framework of church life. Our churches fear change, including our own, and yet we are resurrection people. God will not betray us. I wonder who might be missing in the seats of our church if we really begin to look and ask.

The Seven Last Words: A Good Friday Meditation

Experiencing my local clergy group's Ecumenical Good Friday Service was such a meaningful worship experience. We shared the seven last words of Christ, utilizing a resource brought to our attention by a friend and colleague in the group, Sudie Blanchard, edited by her husband Peter Blanchard from the sermons written by his father the Bishop Roger Blanchard.  

I've seen the story of Jesus' last days enacted by actors, very dramatically portraying these final moments of Jesus' human life. Some that were staged as memorial services for Jesus. Sometimes Mary would drop a rose at the front of the Sanctuary, pause and return to her seat in tears. I've been to many good Good Friday Services in my last seven years in ministry, and yet this experience was unique from all the rest.

Rt. Rev. Roger Blanchard was beautifully poetic in retelling the story of our faith once again, and humanity's failure to love God as we have been loved. Each of Jesus' last words were spoken readers theatre style by the voices of clergy from different Christian traditions.

What I was struck about in this telling of the story was the return to the beginning of it all, the Creation narrative moving forward. Telling of God's action over and over again to remind humankind that we are beloved. And humanity's ignorance of God's love, and so Jesus, God incarnate, was birthed into the world, not turning away from the daunting task of living and dying, but reminding us again of God's unending LOVE.

As Maundy Thursday is a reminder of the mandate for us to LOVE, as we have been loved, for me Good Friday was filled to the brim with God's love for us creatures, us imperfect, broken people. The me that struggles to LOVE, especially those I dislike, the me that doesn't want to forgive the judgmental, the me that betrays Christ, scared for my own neck, not living authentically, and turning my back to violence when I know I should speak-up and speak truth to power. Yep. I stand convicted. This is what Good Friday is about.

Overwhelmed with my powerlessness, I give thanks for LOVE.

Preacher's Pastor

The voice on the other end was very matter-a-fact. “My wife just died, and I am wondering if we can have the service on Saturday? “ I can feel his grief. He’s not saying the words, his voice is cool and crisp, and everything in me tells me he is trying to keep himself together. I agree to meet with the family the following day, and offer something pastoral to comfort. Click. I prepare my office as I typically do, clear of my table, place my book of worship, a hymnal, a sample bulletin, and tissues. They come in handy. In walks the family-husband, daughter, son, son’s wife, and friend of the family who is also a pastor. I welcome them all, and suggest we pray, to calm folk’s anxiety. As we talk, I get a couple of stories, although I realize nobody is interested in talking directly about the deceased. That’s when they tell me they have just spent the last 24 hours recounting stories, and laughing and crying together, they are exhausted. We discuss the service, their hopes and dreams. I want folks to feel cared for. They tell me they want their pastor friend to give the homily. I can tell how much it will mean to them, so of course. I will sing the hymns, offer the prayers, read scripture, and guide the speakers. We close with prayer, and the pastor friend says, “You did well.” I think he is referencing that I didn’t insist on preaching the homily. I look at him, he was clearly their safety net, and they brought him to the meeting for a reason. He says to me, “you know they didn’t leave the church on good terms, thanks for easing their transition back.”

The next day I meet the family in the church parlor, I begin introducing myself to the family, I hear from at least six more grandchildren that they want to share, and I begin organizing the speakers. That’s when I noticed their pastor friend, standing in the corner, completely bereft. I wondered how he was standing-up. He was giving the homily about his beloved friend he had known for 50 years, that I never knew, and I, well right then and there I realized what my job was. I was the preacher’s pastor that day. I became the pastor to the preacher and to the family, a service that only I could offer at this time. I called everyone together, we prayed, and what emerged in the service was an honoring of their beloved, and wow, what a beautiful and meaningful display of love. Being a pastor sometimes means knowing when we are called to swallow our ego, and listening where we are being called, sometimes leading from behind, sometimes leading on the side, and sometimes within.

Corporate Sin, Confession, & the Cross

Today I visited the English Department of George Washington University, invited by M.W. Bychowski, who teaches Introduction to English Literature I. In preparation for Medieval Confessional Literature, texts such as John Gower's Confessio Amantis, Book One and Chapter One of Ovid's Metamorpheses, and The Confessions of Augustine of Hippo, I was welcomed to speak about Corporate Sin and Confession from the perspective of a Christian pastor. I happen to not shy away from conversations about sin; in fact, I believe that we talk far too little about sin as Mainline Christians.

Bychowski began the class with the song the "Hanging Tree" from the movie Mockingjay: Part I. The hanging tree symbolizes the imagery of oppressed peoples being lynched for unfounded crimes, and the song ultimately calls for a revolution. Bychowski translated confession as "speaking together" challenging notion of sin as personal, but always inherently corporate, because a society shapes the people, plays a role and responsibility for one another.

When invited, I offered perspective about Ancient Judaism. Following the Law, or Torah, brought the People of God back into right relationship. Our scripture is full of examples of the ways that our faith ancestors turned away form God, and God called prophets to go to the people calling them to repent, to turn back to God. The prophets called for the repentance of the collective, the entire nation, this understanding of corporate sin, the sin of the collective was, unlike our modern understanding of personal sin. Following the Law, people/tribes/families would offer their sacrifice, atoning for their sins. This was a public confession, and was offered on the Sabbath, the first day of the month, festival days, and holy days. We discussed the year of Jubilee, where every 7 years debts were wiped away, symbolizing a confession of love of God and neighbor.

Fast forward to Medieval Europe. Though confession was practiced throughout the early Christian church, penance didn't become a formal practice until the 11th Century, when becoming a sacrament of the Catholic Church. Penance was the act of confession by individuals to the priest for the absolution of sin, which then required an offering of prayers. The move to the confession booth in many ways shifted the understanding of corporate sin to personal. Also the practice of selling of indulgences to the families of the unconfessed deceased became a controversial issue in Medieval Europe, this among other grievances led to a young Catholic bishop to begin questioning the actions of the Catholic Church.

The role of the priest in Confession on top of the selling of indulgences led to the perception of the corruption of the Catholic Church, and so the model of confession among other things became challenged in the Reformation. Catholic bishop Martin Luther called for reform, claiming "the priesthood of all believers," everyone has equal access to God, and therefore individuals can give confession directly to God, both individually and corporately in worship. Liturgically, the Lutheran and Reformed Church integrated the Confession into a corporate style prayer.

As we look to our present world we can can contextualize our understanding of Corporate Sin and Confession, and look to present movements that influence our current understandings of these terms.

In seminary I studied the scholarship of Dr. James Cone. In reading God of the Oppressed, I first discovered Dr. Cone's argument for the ontological blackness of Christ, Jesus' being was bound in solidarity with the oppressed, and he ultimately was strung up on a cross. Dr. Cone also argued that slavery was the U.S. original sin, with over 400 years of Black people being oppressed and lynched, and segregated. In 2012 Dr. James Cone preaching at the General Conference of the United Methodist Church in his sermon entitled "The Cross & The Lynching Tree" argues "Despite the obvious similarity between Jesus' death on the cross and the Black people who have been strung up by their necks, relatively few people have looked at the deep similarities between the cross and the lynching tree."

We turned next to the song "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday, and talked about the context in which this song was written. The students pointed out the obvious connection between the opening song and this song. Strange Fruit reminds us of the strange imagery of the lynched bodies of Black folks. This song, however, was tied to a specific hate crime when Black men in Indiana during the time of Jim Crow were suspected of a crime they didn't commit, were jailed and then released to an angry mob of over four thousand white folks, many of whom were Christians.

Next, we talked about the #BlackLivesMatter Movement being one of the largest young adult lead movements in the U.S. in the last century, they are the Prophets in our own time. And ended asking them, what would any meaningful act of Confession to the Corporate and Systemic Sin of racism be in our time?

Fat Tuesday Pancakes

I had no idea what Fat Tuesday was until I was a young adult. In fact, the season of Lent was something that I had not heard about prior to college. Dr. Clapp, the chaplain of my small liberal arts UCC college offered an Ash Wednesday Service, and I, of course, wouldn't have missed. I was hungry for God back then in a different way than I've ever been since (new Christian), ready to soak up every bit of spiritual formation or teaching- similar to my appetite for pancakes this morning:) 

Fat Tuesday is in many ways the preparation for the preparation. We prepare our bodies symbolically and materially by eating rich and nourishing foods, for a time of intentional spiritual preparation during Lent. Lenten preparation is important for Christian Formation. An intentional posture of holding open our Heart to the Spirit's conditioning- making us hungrier and hungrier for PRESENCE, LOVE, and ultimately the coming of EASTER- for a power beyond our own might and thinking and discipline, that performs the thing that we are utterly incapable of on our own- love conquering death in the RESURRECTION. 

I don't know about you, but I know that there are areas in my life that I need to work on. I tend to hide my more tender places, the areas in need of disciplined focused attention. So go out and get some yummy pancakes, fortify your body and mind, preparing for God's good work.

Unafraid

Most parents and guardians experience some anxiety when it comes to raising children. My mother subjected my siblings and I to some rather illogical fears. Fear of bike riding, fear of toilet seats, fear of all germs. A friend of mine recently shared that she has a family member who can't have people over to their home anymore because they fear they may be carrying some creature on their being that will infest her home- deeply fearful of bed bugs, she once made her mother-in-law keep her luggage in the tub, and required her to have multiple showers daily to remove all pestilence. I may as well confirm that there was no cause for this behavior, all was motivated from unfounded fears that captivated most of her waking attention.

Recently a close friend of mine skipped out on a college roommate reunion with kids because her anxiety flared as she imagined the mountainous journey she would have to take to get to her final destination. She couldn't shake the image of losing control of the car and flying over the mountainside road barriers.

We all experience fear, we aren't all able to keep our cool when walking through life's unforseen mountains and valleys. There are some of us when facing dire circumstances will run in the opposite direction or just put our heads under the dirt. But as people of faith we are often faced with situations that require us to act, to stand with others, and this at times requires us to move past our fear.

In Matthew's gospel the angel appears to Joseph in a dream warning him of Herod's ill intentions and commanding him to take the family to Egypt out of harms way. Herod afraid of losing his power to this little child, attempts to manipulate the wise men into giving the whereabouts of the child they have told him about and there are prophesies about, but when Herod realizes they didn't take the bait, he decides he will massacre the entire population of infants in Jerusalem. People will do any number of things to ensure their safety if they feel threatened or afraid.

This past summer I had the privilege of planning a week-long mission camp devoted to education around immigration and undocumented laborers in the US.

We learned about the history of unjust immigration laws, and how our country time and time again made immigration possible for some folks and not others. I don't need to tell you, you already know who it privileged- folks with lighter skin have been able to legally make the US their home, whereas darker skinned folks have faced many more roadblocks.

Thus the problem unfolds, folks denied legal entrance who are seeking economic security for their families, begin risky and often unsafe journeys, many times breaking families apart.

My favorite part of the entire mission camp week was forging new relationships with people who lived and worshipped in the same community that I lived in that were themselves “undocumented” the preferred language of most folks.

We heard testimonies from mothers and fathers who struggled with troubling roadblocks to success in the United States. For instance, how does one get from place to place without a drivers license? Not to mention that plane travel is completely off limits. For undocumented teens who are approaching college-ages, filling the FAFSA does you no good without a valid social security # and other paperwork. Undocumented laborers pay taxes but do not reap the benefits of their hard work.

One of the young women who came to speak, shared her personal journey and struggles with being undocumented. Her family was living in Kuwait, prior to Iraq's invasion in 1990, her father sold everything that the family owned and booked a flight to Israel. Once in Israel the family was considered refugees, and her father applied for a visa to the United States. Not too long after her mother and father, her baby sister and herself, boarded a plane to Chicago, IL. Her parents knew that they would stay beyond the visa, going back to Kuwait was an impossibility. Living as a refugee in Israel wouldn't allow the family to thrive. And so they rented a small apartment, and her father who was a doctor in Kuwait began working an entry-level factory job. Daily life in America when you are not in the system presents some challenges, but her parents sheilded her from most of this. She explained that it wasn't until she was old enough to take the test for a driver's license that her parents even told her that she was undocumented. Her father had became a business owner of a freight company, and they were living reasonably well, there was no reason to alarm her and her younger sister. But when she found out, she became conscious in a new way to injustice in the world. Her eyes were opened in a new way. Being Muslim she had experienced discrimination, but this seemed something entirely new. Discovering that she was undocumented made her afraid.

Afraid of what? Imagine with me what it might be like to discover that you have one hour to pack your family's belongings and leave your home because your neighbor has reported you to the INS. Often it is not whole families deported, but single members, fathers who have a wife and three children to raise. Suddenly on the run, packing their families up and moving on to a new home. Thanks to the Secure Communities Bill that was passed by Congress in 2011, any undocumented laborer who has a minor record can be deported. Something as little as a traffic violation can set this in to motion. Daily life leaves many undocumented families afraid and vulnerable.

We've heard about this, most of us who pay attention to the news discover stories of people being deported, often undocumented parents being legally deported, considered immigration fugitives, while their children are natural citizens of the US. The story of Elvira Arellano and her son Saul who took Sanctuary in Adalberto United Methodist Church in Humbolt Park in Chicago is one story of tremendous hope and sadness for many undocumented people. Elvira came to the US in 1997 to work to support her family in Mexico, including her ill parents, and in 2002 during a post- 911 security sweep at her job at O-Hare Airport, she was convicted of Social Security Fraud. She subsequently became a target by immigration officials, and was summoned to court in 2006 facing deportation. She and her son took refuge within the walls of the church from this point on, forced to stay within the walls of the church for fear deportation. In 2007 Elvira was deported, now her son a citizen of the US lives with her in Mexico. Elvira continues to speak-out as an organizer and activist for immigration.

Joseph, Mary and Jesus were themselves refugees immigrating to an unknown land. The Holy Family was forced to leave Bethlehem to ensure the safety of their sweet little Jesus boy. Leaving with haste in the middle of the night, Joseph chose to heed the angels advice and take action, avoiding the deadly massacre of children in Bethlehem.

“A voice was heard in Ramah,
    wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
    she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

Fear motivates us, fear is linked to our most primal state, our instincts to stay alive and keep our loved ones alive. This is what my mother was trying to teach me when she taught me my fear of germs and bikes. She wanted me to prosper, she wanted to keep me and my siblings alive.

But being constantly afraid is exhausting.

In 2010, four Miami-Dade County college students — Felipe Matos, Gaby Pacheco, Carlos Roa and Juan Rodriguez — embarked on a 1,500 mile journey from Miami, Fla., to Washington, D.C. to raise awareness about immigration reform and advocate a halt on the deportation of undocumented students. The walkers called their project the Trail of Dreams. Along the path, they were joined by a range of immigration reform groups and allies. Since then undocumented students around the US have been “Coming Out” as UnDocumented and UnAfraid, rallies where students share testimonies about the struggles of undocumented. Strength in numbers is why so many of these events have been possible and successful. When you are surrounded by friends and allies who stand in solidarity with you fear begins to subside.

In 2012, the Obama Administration came out with a memorandum entitled Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which provided temporary relief to 16-30 year old undocumented students, enabling them to not worry about deportation and ability to work. Some states have made provisions for undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates. Undocumented youth and young adults celebrated this tremendous step forward, and yet are still waiting on Congress to pass the DREAM act. With an estimated 65,000 undocumented students graduating annually, and only 7% are entering into colleges, the DREAM Act has the potential to enable populations of undocumented immigrants to move outside of low-paid, minimum wage jobs, breaking the the new model of economic slavery.

One of the ways we worked with the students the week of our Mission Camp was reconstructing their own emigration stories. Students were asked to speak with different members of their family to determine when their families had emigrated to the United States, how, and why. Some students came with pictures and tokens of great significance symbolizing their familial heritage, while the great majority of students had very little to share. The farther away from their families emigration the less they knew about the details. It appeared that stories of emigration had very little significance still for their identity today, while at the same time their family's success continues to be impacted from their move to the United States.

I wonder what significance Jesus' own story of emigration had on his development as he grew-up. Was there significant changes to his development? Living his infancy as a refugee in the land of Egypt, only to find out that they needed to forge a new place called home in Nazareth.

Having journeyed with my family quite recently, I can tell you that it isn't easy to pack up and move your family overnight. Living in transition, and waiting can be tortuous.

The good news is that God is still at work in our world today, speaking to us through faithful messengers. In the same way that Joseph heeded the message of the angel in the dream, we too are called to recognize and notice God's messengers to us today. The messengers may surprise us however, and the messages may even cause us to be afraid. This past summer God spoke through mothers of undocumented students, moving my heart in profound ways.

As each of us consider these issues which plague our world, ones that don't come with easy answers, may we take a hint from Joseph, trusting in God's provision, being in solidarity with the oppressed, and taking action to live our lives unafraid. How will we choose to respond today?