yearns&groans

New Priorities

2011-11-14T10:58:00.000-08:00

This morning I spent some time at City Hall talking with a number of people connected with the New Priorities Network, and the Bay Area New Priorities Campaign. The hope is to encourage local communities across the country to collectively speak up for a shift of resources away from war-making towards jobs, healthcare, and education. As one person said of this effort, “This is an opportunity to bring a policy issue that represents the 99% before an elected body."

Poster from http://www.afsc.org/resource/occupy-signs

Below, is what I plan to say to our Board of Supervisors in the coming weeks. Wherever you are, consider connecting with this effort. Join folks all over the country asking our elected officials, at every level, to speak up for funding the priorities we share.

Members of the Board of Supervisors,

My name is Will Scott, I am the Vicar of St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church in the Western Addition of San Francisco and live in Bernal Heights. Faith communities in the city of San Francisco as in every part of this country share the challenge of caring for those Jesus called “the least of these” --- we are one of the places people go to seek support in times of economic stress. A few examples:

In my faith community, congregation members are struggling to keep their homes. Young families are leaving because they can’t afford to stay.
In our neighborhoods the lines at food pantries are getting longer and longer.
The already far too lean budgets of non-profits serving the vulnerable, youth, elders, veterans, the working poor, those who are homeless, mentally ill, and addicted are being cut --- in a time when there are more and more people who rely on these services.
Many people with valuable skills are unemployed or underemployed and have been for years now --- isolation, depression and hopelessness have become daily struggles.

Sometimes our church is able to provide some alleviation, counsel, comfort and advice to those who are feeling the deep pain of this economic crisis, the most severe since the Great Depression, and we aspire to do more --- but the reality is that the struggles so many are facing demand more than charity, or attentive pastoral care. Communities of all shapes and sizes are crying out for justice.

Holy Scripture from the Book of Isaiah paints a hopeful picture of the future when there will be judgment between the nations,

the nations, shall beat their swords into ploughshares,

and their spears into pruning-hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war any more.

The resolution before you calling for cuts in war spending & redirection of those funds to domestic needs is an important step toward that hopeful vision of the future expressed by the Prophet Isaiah.

On Sunday mornings at St. Cyprian’s new and longtime members are speaking up and out clearly and passionately about the need for a reevaluation of our national priorities. There’s a shared recognition that we need our government to invest in the fabric of this country, we need a new New Deal. I believe strongly that we must stop spending trillions of tax dollars a year on the instruments of war and redirect those funds towards “the things that make for peace. “ I say all this as the grandson of a WW2 veteran, and my maternal grandfather spent his entire career at the Pentagon serving there through three wars--- but his heart broke during the Vietnam War, and he suffered a nervous breakdown. During his long retirement his children and grandchildren witnessed not a defeated old military man but one passionate about education, the arts, empathy for the suffering and the beauty of nature. I believe our country is going through its own nervous breakdown --- we need to regain our passion, as my grandfather did, for education, the arts, care for the vulnerable and creation.

Thank you.

yearning & groaning continues...

2011-08-08T16:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Yearning & Groaning Readers,

You may have noticed for some time now that I'm just not posting much here anymore. That's not because I've stopped yearning and groaning. In fact, I'm yearning and groaning more than ever, focusing my energies at St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church in San Francisco. I'm not planning on closing this blog down, but do want to encourage you out there in cyber space to stay connected through the weekly e-news I put together for St. Cyp's and our related websites. Light a candle, say a prayer for us every once in a while, and if you are in the Bay Area stop by Turk & Lyon.

Peace,
Will

on being in the paper

2011-06-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

A little over a week or so ago I got a phone call from a lovely person, Reyhan Harmanci, at The Bay Citizen (a great local non-profit news site that partners with the New York Times). I later learned she grew up in the same area as my Mennonite grandmother in Mifflin County, PA. I think Nana from her hammock in heaven sent her my way, she always loved surprises.

Reyhan said she was working on a story collecting quotes from different parts of the gay community, on the gay community for Pride. My first reaction was, how come there aren't ever any articles on the "straight" community --- is there such a thing? Then I went on and on talking to her like the opinionated blabber mouth I am (don't worry, I'm getting myself signed up for some real media training some time soon). After that the friendly reporter said she'd be in touch next week, "we'd like you to come downtown to our offices so we can take your picture." Let me tell you that was fun, it is not often that a poor urban priest gets treated like a celebrity. The gifted photographer Annie Tritt was so sweet, hilarious and taught me that my left side is my best side (according to her some really famous people actually never let the other sides of their faces get taken pictures of).

You can check out the article here & here. Just for the record, Matt and I got married in October 2008 at City Hall & had a wedding/blessing of the marriage at Grace Cathedral (my former employer) in October 2009. Thank you to everyone at the Bay Citizen for including me in your story, along with such interesting and inspiring other queer people I'd really like to get to know some day. Hopefully, a little attention like this will inspire a few more folks to peek in the door of St. Cyprian's, God knows we've got lots of good reasons for one to do so. Reyhan, coincidentally did a fabulous story on St. Cyprian's friend Damon Styer owner of New Bohemia Signs, who made our hot new sign.

Letter to SFMTA about Masonic & Turk Streets

2011-05-10T13:06:00.000-07:00

Below is a letter I sent to the SFMTA recently about changes to Masonic & Turk Streets. You can read all about the plans to make this street safer for everyone over at Bike NOPA. This is not an official church endorsement of the plan, but written as an active member of the neighborhood. This was written before the most current collisions and fatality. If you are inclined to write a letter/email as well send them to : sustainable.streets@sfmta.com, with "PUBLIC HEARING" in the subject line.

Jesus walked. That's not just a song by Kanye West, it's true.

As a priest at St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church on the corner of Turk & Lyon Streets, my congregation and I are particularly sensitive to those who walk, bike, run, drive and park on the roads, sidewalks and bike paths near our church building. Their safety is often compromised because of speeding motorists on streets that look and function like freeways.

I choose not to drive regularly but walk, bus, and occasionally bike to get around the city. I am keenly aware of just how vulnerable pedestrians and cyclists can be on Masonic and Turk Streets. Both are excessively wide and cars, trucks, and buses often move far too fast through our residential neighborhood. My congregants feel they often risk their lives getting to the church. I regularly witness elderly members dodge speeding vehicles on Turk Street, and I see the same on Masonic. Not long ago one of our members was hit by a vehicle outside our doors following Sunday service.

Last fall my congregation and I joined community members in a vigil to mourn the loss of a 22-year-old man, a visitor to the city, who was struck and killed by a motorist on Masonic at Turk, just two blocks from our church. In our grief for this terrible loss, we also resolved to work harder for safer streets, especially Masonic and Turk streets.

This tragecy on Masonic brought back the difficult memories of my mother being hit just three years ago at a dangerous intersection in downtown Washington, DC, My family’s lives have not been the same since. Though we are lucky she is alive, my mother's life as an avid dancer, cyclist and hiker is dramatically different since her accident.

I have reviewed the city’s plan for a safer, more livable Masonic as outlined in the Boulevard design. I support, along with many members of my congregation, this bold reworking of a dangerous street. We understand that parking will be removed to make these changes possible. For some this will be an inconvenience, but we believe the city has a responsibility to design streets that are safe for all users.

The Boulevard plan also proposes to add parking along Turk street between Central and Baker streets, and we very much support this action as a traffic calming measure badly needed on Turk Street.

Remembering that Jesus, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. walked --- as do City College and USF students, children and parents on their way to the SF Day School or to Pacific Primary School, donors to the Blood Centers of the Pacific, and church goers -- I encourage you to make everyone safer, by implementing the proposed improvements to Turk & Masonic Streets.

Faithfully,

The Reverend Will Scott
Pastor
St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church

2097 Turk Street

San Francisco, CA 94115

Easter 2011 St. Cyprian's

2011-04-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

John 20:1-18

Mary’s persistence and insistence on finding Jesus throughout today’s gospel, her emotional vulnerability, and rawness of presence leads her to be the first one to experience the resurrected Christ, in the face of a stranger. Resurrection is a strange thing, yet faith in this unexplainable mystery is at the heart of Christianity. The testimonies of wise ancestors and elders of the faith all teach us that when we persist and insist on finding Jesus we will be surprised and delighted to discover the resurrected one in the face of strangers. If we like Mary Magdalene, are present to our pain and suffering, our hearts deepest yearning, if we are vulnerable we shall discover that new life is possible, is right there beside us opening us up for a new adventure.

Resurrection is the opposite of preservation. When Mary arrives at the tomb early in the morning, while it is still dark, does she come as the other gospels suggest to anoint the body of Jesus with oil? That admirable gesture of affection and care is about preserving a dead body, not about discovering a living one. Preservation is not resurrection. To preserve is to protect and defend, resurrection is about letting go and opening up --- preservation is about what was, resurrection is about what is and is to come. Mary Magdalene through her persistence and insistence after being shocked by an empty tomb and then interrogated by angels shifts her focus --- she changes how she sees things. We too if we are to really experience the transformative power of the resurrection in our lives --- we must change how we look at things, people and circumstances. We must let go of one way of operating and embrace the wild, uncontainable, liberating Spirit of the resurrection. Like Mary we have to move from preservation to resurrection. Preservation and resurrection are very different --- preservation is about living anxiously in ways that keeps the story of our lives, circumstances and communities closed and predictable, the best days are behind us, resurrection is about constant change (the gardener Jesus tells Mary don’t hold on to me) resurrection is about an open, ongoing, story one that invites participation, interaction and new adventures. Resurrection reminds us that we don’t and can’t know everything, and that what might appear to be a lost cause may really be the starting place of major revolution --- a baby is being born in a morgue.

As Wendell Berry’s poem, which we heard read at the beginning of today’s service, illustrates resurrection takes practice. We humans would rather have something “ready made” safe, secure and easy than wild, uncontainable, challenging and free. But resurrection is all about asking questions that have no answers, loving someone who does not deserve it, being joyful though you have considered all the facts. When my mother was hit by a car a few years ago, the only thing I could read in the ICU was poetry, and a wise old mentor of mine, said that’s because poetry is the language of the heart. We contemporary Christians might want to read more poetry, we may need to appreciate what one expert on joy describes as “the poetic principle.” Jacqueline Kelm writes that the poetic principle suggests “we can find whatever we want in every situation and whatever we choose to notice is fateful. All is present in every moment, from love to fear, good to bad, beautiful to ugly, joy to sorrow. Whatever we focus on from unbound possibilities defines experience. In this sense reality is like poetry, it can be written in any manner conceivable and is open to infinite possibilities.”

The early followers of Jesus could have chosen a different end to their story, they didn’t have to choose resurrection, the didn’t have to believe Mary Magdalene, they didn’t have to trust the strange visions and happenings around them. They could have believed that death, cruelty, injustice, violence, wealth and power were the definers of reality. That actually would have been easier, safer, and more comforting. But they practiced, whether conscious or unconscious, the poetic principle, they practiced resurrection. They told stories that shifted the focus from a dead guy on a cross to a living one, present everywhere including the face of strangers and supposed enemies. St. Cyprian’s has to me been practicing the poetic principle for a long time. There have been artists and poets in this community’s story since the beginning. Today we are continuing to practice resurrection, we are like Mary insistent and persistent in seeking Jesus and we are being surprised again and again how our resurrected teacher comes dressed as a gardener, stranger, cyclist, mother, activist, neighbor, supposed enemy ------

Yesterday I visited Ruth Maloof briefly at a hospital she has been in for a long time. Mrs. Maloof is one of our community’s many elders who was a very active leader not just at St. Cyprian’s but throughout San Francisco. Her husband who is daily by her side, shared with me notes and photographs, booklets and programs that she had saved from her years of service at this church. I was moved by the handwritten notes, and newsletter announcements that she had penned many about a tutoring program she helped start downstairs for youth from Wallenburg High School in the early 90’s. Familiar names were among her notes, Dr. Matthews, Mrs. Jones, and Dr. Daniels. But these materials were not stale artifacts of old, they bore witness to an active, engaged, connected faith --- and inspired within me an appreciation for the spirit of resurrection among us in this place today --- when any one of us is nearing the end of our life someone I bet will pull out a folder giving testimony to our, your active, engaged, and connected faith.

Before I close I want to share a few more words about Mary Magdalene, there are many stories about her --- some call her the Apostle to the Apostles because she was the first to proclaim she had seen the risen Christ, some incorrectly claimed she was a repentant prostitute --- but one thing is clear her life was made completely different when she decided to follow Jesus. At the foot of the altar is an icon of Mary Magdalene, she’s holding an egg, the story goes that ...

following the death and resurrection of Jesus, Mary used her position to gain an invitation to a banquet given by Emperor Tiberius. When she met him, she held a plain egg in her hand and exclaimed "Christ is risen!" Caesar laughed, and said that Christ rising from the dead was as likely as the egg in her hand turning red while she held it. Before he finished speaking, the egg in her hand turned a bright red, and she continued proclaiming the Gospel to the entire imperial house. May we each one day be as bold, confident, provocative, creative, and poetic as Mary Magdalene.

Let us ask unanswerable questions --- what will St. Cyprian’s be like in 50 years from now, in 2061? Let us every day do something that won’t compute, let us Love the Lord, love the world, love someone who does not deserve it --- Let us practice the poetic principle, let us practice Resurrection.

image by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM
Wendell Berry's poem can be found here.
story of Mary Magdalene & the egg is from here.

click here for hope

2011-01-23T06:58:00.000-08:00

Here's a few links that caught my attention this morning and made me smile.

What's the Least You Can Believe and Still Be a Christian?

Diocese of Virginia and same-sex blessings

Cornel West on Colbert

Notes from Sunday's Homily

2011-01-03T20:58:00.000-08:00

This morning I took a look at the CNN news ticker, noticing that all the stories were discouraging, here’s just a sampling...

Latest news

200,000 affected by Australia floods
Birds fall dead from Ark. sky
Foot-and-mouth spreads in S. Korea
Deputy killed in shootout in Ohio
Raunchy videos shown to Navy crew
Fire shuts ride at Florida theme park
3,605 Iraqis killed in 2010
4 dead after fire on Russian plane
Death toll from storms rises

Closer to home...

Man fatally shot in Tenderloin on New Year's Day 9:05 PM
Homicide up in S.F.
North Beach fire leaves 48 homeless in S.F.
7-member family, 2-bedroom apt.

The stories of our faith stand out, give meaning and hope not because they avoid real world challenges like these, all the stories of Christ nativity are told in the midst of difficult, and discouraging political, economic and social realities --- the stories of our faith nurture and stimulate within us, as for generations of believers new possibilities. If we read the stories of our faith closely, not with a fundamentalist, literalist approach (things had to happen this way) but with open, generous, and inquiring eyes we can discover safety, peace and comfort in surprising places, wise strangers are bringing us important gifts, and within us there is an eager, rebellious, creative character full of questions for history and the status quo.

Perhaps with a bit more awareness, attentiveness to the bad news around us, and an equal focus on the stories of our faith we may discover what good news might be taking shape within us, and around our little faith community. Too often people of faith look like those funny images of ostriches with their heads in the sand, or the fundamentalist, reactionary religionists are putting on a history play in costumes of scared villagers with pitch forks and torches ready to burn the unbeliever or supposed sinner. In this new year of 2011 we don’t know what the story of St. Cyprian’s will be, but my hunch is, if we strive together to be present to our local context, to the people and circumstances around us, doing our best to listen closely not just to familiar voices but those of strangers as well, if we are equally attentive to the stories of our faith from scripture and history we will find that in midst of all kinds of calamities and challenges new hope, new possibilities, good news will take shape in us and around us.

Last week, I went to visit one of our long time members at Laguna Honda hospital --- now I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Laguna Honda, but when I first visited there a few years ago within a few months of first moving to San Francisco I was very discouraged and depressed by the dilapidated building, you could tell by looking around that at one point it was probably state of the art, but that would have been in the 1930s at the latest. When I went back last month, I didn’t notice the building so much, because I could see signs that the new building was on the horizon at near completion, I did notice the people more, and the care that seemed to be going on all over the place. My mind and heart shifted a bit from being appalled by the conditions, to being moved by the compassion --- and then this last week entering that new hospital, something shifted again --- the place is amazingly beautiful, state of the art, clean --- the people seemed as though they were still getting used to the place, figuring out how to use the new equipment, how to get around. But I was encouraged also to recognize that even in the finest of facilities, people can feel lost, ignored, unloved and uncared for ---

The good news must be grounded in reality, in order for us to really know hope, joy, and the blessings of Christ’s presence we need to be present to the conditions of our own lives, we don’t want to be like ostriches with our heads in the sand, or lost in some reactionary historic drama. We can be a community who bring light, life and hope to others by taking time to notice what’s happening around us, listening to the stories of our faith, and imagining new possibilities for ourselves and others.

So what will 2011 bring for St. Cyprian’s? Let’s strive to be a people who are honest with one another about the conditions of our lives both personally and together, lets notice and pay attention to the circumstances, challenges, hopes and dreams of ourselves and others beyond our walls and let’s spend time being nurtured by the stories of our faith.

As the great theologian Howard Thurman proclaimed,

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.

Christmas Day @ Grace Cathedral

2010-12-25T14:29:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, about ten years ago, a group of eager American college students visiting rural Tibet set out to visit an elderly monk who had been meditating in a cave for over 15 years. The students had been told that the monk would introduce them to a guide who could lead them to somewhere truly special. The guide, they were told, would lead them to another cave, but this other cave was not found on many map. In this secret cave, the students were told that the famous Milarepa, the first Tibetan to reach enlightenment, had meditated.

The students could hardly contain their excitement as they approached the monk's cave. One student suggested they could all end up on the cover of a Buddhist journal. Another student speculates that all of them could easily be accepted into graduate school with a story like this under their belts. At the entrance to the elderly monk's cave, the eager students were welcomed inside to sit by the holy man's fire, and to share a cup of tea and some potatoes he had cooked for breakfast. Time passed, and the impatient students ate potatoes and sipped tea. Eventually, through their translator, the students learned from the old monk that the guide was not able to join them that morning. The students were disappointed, but they thanked the elderly monk for his hospitality and left. Only years later did it occur to one of the students that the other cave really wasn't that important after all, and that the breakfast with the elderly monk was infinitely important on its own.

Today with people all around the world we come together in this sacred cave of sorts to celebrate Jesus of Nazareth’s birthday. Many scholars believe that the holy family if the birth stories are to be taken as fact likely found shelter in a cave in Bethlehem since caves were the customary place where animals would have been kept and if the new born baby was really placed in a manger, an animal feeding trough, then a cave makes sense.

We could go on at length about the significance of caves and our human ancestors emerging out of them, we could talk about cave paintings, and sacred rituals that take place in caves even to this day in some cultures. As interesting as that exploration and investigation might be --- what does Jesus’ birth, the son of Man, Jesus the savior, liberator, prophet, teacher, and king --- the eternal word/logos/reason of God, the second person of the Trinity made flesh --- what real difference does this make beyond a festive fun filled family holiday full of carols, good food and good cheer? What’s the big idea?

Well, theologians would call it the incarnation --- the divine taking on flesh. The incarnation though is not just about a single event long ago, but is about the elevation of human life for all time. As St. Athanasius of Alexandria wrote in the 300s, "God became man so that humanity (man) might become god."

So we need not head to Palestine to find a particular cave where X marks the spot: here is the "sacred cave" where you can experience the fruits of the incarnation. No, the truth of the incarnation is that there are many caves to be explored, an infinite number of places where we humans may discover the divine presence ---- the invitation is to seek the nativity, new life, everywhere among everyone most especially in the context of our actual daily lives.

As Dean Shaw quoted Meister Eckhart in her introduction to the cathedral Christmas concerts “What good is it that Christ was born 2,000 years ago if he is not born now in your heart?

St. Francis of Assisi who invented Christmas pageants by dressing up his hometown like the holy family --- seemed to understand that in order for us human beings to get the significance of the incarnation we long to somehow see, touch, and feel the divine presence --- we can’t just be told God abides with us --- we have to be shown. St. Francis told his followers --- preach the gospel, the good news at all times if you have to use words. Francis, our city’s patron, privileged the embodied word over the spoken --- whether it was his rebuilding of an abandoned church, standing naked before the questioning crowds, wandering through a battlefield to meet face to face with the supposed enemy of his people. The nativity --- the cave where Christ is born is not somewhere else, far away but within you, within us in the very fabric and context of our lives.

We often seem to refuse this gift --- the gift of the incarnation --- we would rather believe that God is somehow very far away --- difficult to reach, some place other than where we are. The ancients believed that if a person beheld God they would die. There is a privileging of the transcendent within the tradition, perhaps because to really appreciate the incarnation we have to let go of a certain kind of ambition, we have to accept life on life’s terms, we must deal with that difficult neighbor, we must deal with ourselves.

This Advent I’ve been reading and re-reading a poem by E.A. McLaughlin a poet, artist, and African American Episcopal priest who built the current church building of St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church at the intersection of Lyon and Turk Streets in San Francisco and later served as a canon at Grace Cathedral but I’ve been told he never preached from this pulpit ---- here’s a portion of McLaughlin’s poem,

“Love” cries out for a human self, and waits for a response;
It remains but a theory, until given human expression.
A word is only an idea unless it’s acted out.
“Love” is a passive symbol, without embodiment.

So as we approach the cave, to discover the light of the world, may we be truly present and not anxious about getting some place else, or making some significant gain ---- let us simply appreciate the gift of love embodied in the eyes and actions of a newborn stranger.

What might life be like if we were always seeking Christ in one another, including our enemies, what might life be like if we lived fully with the conviction that Christ is within us? What fears would we let go of? What hopes would arise? What new possibilities could emerge? How might we welcome and care for the immigrants among us, how might we provide healthcare, shelter, education and food to those in the greatest need.

May we like Francis discover ways to act out the nativity --- not just in pageants but also by walking across the battlefields of our daily lives, finding ways large and small to embody love.

Christmas is about love being given a human self, not just in a baby born in a manger but also in our own dark and damp caves. In time we may discover there a fire has been lit, and that tea and potatoes are waiting for us.

_____________________________________
A personal note:

At the end of December, I will leave the staff at Grace Cathedral to focus my work at St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church in San Francisco whose congregation leadership have called me to serve as Priest-in-Charge and in time as Vicar. I will be part-time there, and seeking employment in the surrounding neighborhoods. I am very grateful for the four years I have been at Grace Cathedral, and am excited about the adventure ahead. One of the sadness about leaving Grace for me is not having the opportunity to work closely with the new Dean, Dr. Jane Shaw whom I appreciate and admire very much. However, the histories of the cathedral and St. Cyprian's are intertwined and my hope is in the years ahead these links will continue to be sources of mutual joy, growth and inspiration. Please keep us all in your prayers. Merry Christmas!

Christ the King/Reign of Christ

2010-11-21T07:46:00.000-08:00

Today in churches all over the world folk will be celebrating Christ the King, some places will have long processions, triumphant hymns, and lots of hoopla. At St. Cyprian's we'll be sharing a Litany of Resistance as published in "Jesus for President" by Shane Claiborne & Chris Haw which was created with the help of their friends Jim Loney (CPT Reservist) and Brian Walsh (activist theologian). When I look at the litany I am reminded of the pledge of nonviolence written by MLK and signed by those who marched with him in 1963.

As you prepare to march meditate on the life and teachings of Jesus
Remember the nonviolent movement seeks justice and reconciliation - not victory.
Walk and talk in the manner of love; for God is love.
Pray daily to be used by God that all men and women might be free.
Sacrifice personal wishes that all might be free.
Observe with friend and foes the ordinary rules of courtesy.
Perform regular service for others and the world.
Refrain from violence of fist, tongue and heart.
Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.
Follow the directions of the movement leaders and of the captains on demonstrations.

Print Name ______________________________
Signature _______________________________

There's some interesting discussion of Christ the King/Reign of Christ
over at Episcopal Cafe as well. What does this day mean to you?

As I was getting ready to head out the door this morning, Pandora Radio played a
Dar Williams song that somehow fit this day, "The Great Unknown."
Here are the lyrics,

Once upon a time there was a nuclear family,
And we lived in a family time, we'd unite in a family way.
And off the ancient mountain, they were splitting every nucleus. They said "don't be alarmed, just don't try this at home." And they were the mystery that made the world run
And we had the power, 'cause they were the sun
And we called them our heroes, and the future had come.
They said,"look at the light we're giving you,
And the darkness we're saving you from."
Soon they were bringing it into our showroom,
And they'd unveil it with it's title,
Bring your family, bring your family,
It's the Great Unknown.
You can look, but you can't fathom,
It's the Great Unknown.

I'm no ordinary princess, I was born in the cold war,
And my team is the Rockets. Go team, it's a dangerous time.
And I dream of the moon and building lunar clone colonies.
And I build my peace with strength, that's the best weapon you've got.
Oh, I am the brainchild, I am the mortar,
With a plastic trophy and an eating disorder,
And vision as big as a great big wall,
And they tell me that I'll move forward for the good of us all,
And the good of nuclear families all.
And they think I think I am important.
I know I never was, I wasn't.
No I never, and how could I be?
It's the Great Unknown.
Now we've built it, now it's ticking,
It's the Great Unknown.

And I am your children, I am millions.
And I wanted to sell out, I wanted to try,
But you know the sky got too low, and the ocean got too high, and, I had to take God into my own hands.
Am I too late? Is it over?
Have I sacrificed my family to the Great Unknown?
There's a war between my conscience and
The Great Unknown.

So I walked out into the Gamma fields
Out in Mercury, Nevada.
Where I stood in circle and that circle started to pray.
And the wind at the nuclear test sights floats the data at the radiation, from the underground testing,
Cross the line, you'll get arrested.
And we came from all over in a silent appeal
As the drill comes down like a presidential seal.
And we stand for the living, and we stand for the dead,
And we looked out to see your enemies,
And we see that you're looking all at us instead.
You think I am being disruptive?
But no I'm running home, I'm running,
'Cause I'm trying to put the atom back together.
It's the Great Unknown.
I'm just trying to put the atom back together.
It's the Great Unknown.

getting out of the tree

2010-11-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

Notes from yesterday's (October 31, 2010) sermon

Luke 19:1-10
He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him.All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”

Love changes things, relationships change things, paying attention, doing uncomfortable things like making friends with supposed enemies, and inviting yourself over to strangers houses changes things, showing hospitality, opening ourselves up to other people’s perspectives changes things.

Now we may not be particularly interested in being changed, we may not really be into the idea of being transformed by the Spirit, or climbing out of our trees, or making surprising friendships --- that’s okay but we’re not going to be saved by fear, we’re not going to be saved by our self protective illusions of security, we are not going to be saved by minding our own business and ignoring what’s going on around us.

In today’s gospel we meet Zacchaeus a short guy with deep pockets, who was rich and may have gotten that way by collecting taxes for the enemy, the Roman occupiers. I say may have, cause who knows he may have inherited that money or got it some other way. The gospel just says --- this little guy was a tax collector, and was rich. So Zacchaeus saw a crowd gathering around Jesus and something must have made him want to find out who that person was, and what they were saying. So Zacchaeus climbs up in a sycamore tree to get a better look. Now Sycamore trees are not just any old tree, they can grow quite large having a dense round crown of spreading branches and they were cultivated almost exclusively by ancient Egyptians. The Egyptians of course once enslaved the Jewish people, these are the same Egyptians that Moses, Miriam and their people escaped from --- I don’t think the author of this gospel accidentally tells us that the tree was a Sycamore, that was intentional. The author perhaps wanted those reading this gospel to notice, wants us to draw a connection between this rich, tax collector in the tree, and those old, distant oppressors of the people. But there’s also another interesting thing about the sycamore --- the leaves are heart shaped.

Perhaps this tree climbing was 1st century surveillance, but instead of remaining inconspicuous Jesus notices Zaccheus and seems to know him, calling him down and inviting himself over to his house. Maybe Jesus likes a little luxury every once in a while, I mean as scripture says, “foxes have holes, and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” --- or perhaps Jesus knows just how significant, how transformative being in relationship with this wealthy guy might be. The grumbling, anxiety and fear begins immediately though --- the crowd doesn’t like what they see, Jesus the revolutionary teacher, the rumored savior and redeemer of the people becoming pals with that rich traitor. Jesus doesn’t seem to be bothered by the whispering, they’ve barely spent much time together, haven’t even made it to Zaccheaus’ pad, but Zaccheaus hears the crowds horror at the sight of Jesus hanging out with him that he is moved to give away half of his possessions, to the poor; and pay back four times as much to those he may have defrauded.

This is one amazing story. But what does this story mean to us here at St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church on the corner of Turk & Lyon Street as we approach our 50th anniversary in this spot? How are we to respond to this story of strange friendship? Who are the Zaccheaus’ we as the body of Christ may be called upon to befriend? Or are we up in the tree just checking things out, minding our own business ---- how do we respond to Jesus taking an interest in us, are we prepared to be transformed, to give away stuff so that salvation may be experienced in our house? Or are we like that poor crowd anxious, offended, and scared by the very thought of a relationship between that rich traitor and Jesus? What transformative things might happen in our lives, homes and communities if we open ourselves to unexpected blessings. What might happen if St. Cyprian’s more and more became a community who befriended tax collectors, traitors and sinners, what might happen if we instead of watching Jesus from the sidelines, accepted his intrusion into our homes, what shift would happen in us, could we be in for a similar redistribution of our resources ? What if instead of being hostile to the surprising friendship between that rich guy and Jesus, we too sought out our opposites --- if we’re doing okay financially, what would it be like for us to individually become friends with someone who is struggling? Or if we’re having a tough time, what if we made a point of really trying to become part of the life of a rich person? In a city like this one, there’s plenty of wealthy and plenty of poor to befriend --- perhaps those of us in the middle need to make some introductions?

From where I stand, up here in this pulpit --- I see a lot of befriending going on, a lot of new relationships emerging, I’ve actually been quite surprised by who has taken a look at our little community, sometimes checking us out from above, sometimes from below, and on the side --- my prayer is that we together can become more and more comfortable being joyfully surprised by these new friendships, open to whatever might happen in our hearts and in the hearts of others --- ready to experience salvation in our lives and community.

Sunday Sermon @ Grace - Whole Self In

2010-09-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

Jesus the home wrecker, anti-consumerist, varsity coach invites us to jump into the deep end of the pool.

You can listen to Sunday's sermon here.

Peace!

getting real with Jesus & each other

2010-07-29T15:07:00.000-07:00

I preached today at Grace Cathedral's 12:10 Eucharist, I don't always type out my homilies but did today. So here it is.

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus of Bethany
John 11:1-7, 17-44

Today, the church honors a peculiar family of two sisters and brother. The strangeness doesn’t just lie in this arrangement, of two unmarried women needing the protection of a male relative in a patriarchal society. But strangely Jesus their rabbi, guru, healer and teacher with a revolutionaries following doesn’t race back to heal his friend. But instead delays his journey almost as though he’s wanting the situation to get worse for these vulnerable siblings. Talk about nonanxious pastoral presence, Jesus is nonanxiously absent from the scene.

With the typically confused disciples Jesus finally arrives at Mary and Martha’s. Lazarus has been dead 4 days and the whole community is gathered around in mourning. Martha and Mary both in their grief express frustration and disappointment with Jesus “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” You can feel the pain, the anger. As the story unfolds we see Jesus himself grieving the loss of his friend, and finally Jesus puts flesh on the words he said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live.” Jesus asks that the stone of the tomb be rolled away and he cries out to the dead man “Lazarus, come out”, wrapped in strips of cloth, like someone in mummy costume Lazarus walks out.

This is one of the famous stories of our faith, prefiguring Jesus own resurrection from the dead. But what does this story, of confused, anxious disciples, disappointed, grieving sisters, curious, pesky neighbors, a dead man and Jesus have to say to us today?

I think this story reminds us that our journey of faith if we are really attentive to it, does not deny the reality of death, loss, confusion, disappointment or pain but helps give meaning and purpose to our lives and our deaths. This perplexing story tells us that those who were the closest to Jesus, his disciples and friends were often afraid, anxious, and disappointed -- and Jesus responds to their honest, blunt, and angry words with solidarity, compassion and care. Being close to Jesus means we can be real with him. This story can help us discover the presence of Jesus who raises the dead in the context of our actual daily lives --- not as an abstract, distant, far off, fancy concept but as a living reality rooted in the here and now, as part of a tangible community that breathes, weeps, cries, flexes its muscles, and rolls away stones together.

Jesus’ raising Lazarus is a provocative sign that God’s concern is real life, life with all its joys and sorrows, struggles and confusion. Jesus, the incarnate word made flesh --- that presence at that tomb, those tears, transforms the boundaries between life and death. Christ’s presence in our lives, at our tombs, in our tears, transforms the world not just in abstract and philosophical ways but in concrete, tangible actions of compassion and solidarity.

Being a follower of Jesus, means eventually showing up to the pain, oppression, sadness, disappointment, grief, complexity and confusion of our real lives wherever those dark places may be. As the saying goes there can be no Easter with out Good Friday, there can be no transformation with out pain, no true reconciliation with out truth telling, no hope with out grief.

Being close to Jesus means we can be real with Jesus. Being a faithful community means we can be real with each other. Martha and Mary, Lazarus too this families honesty, their raw vulnerability creates space for Christ to enter the picture and do holy transforming work in words, tears, and sweat. May we find the same courage to be ourselves, to be real with Jesus and with each other.

The queer Episcopal lay theologian celebrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury on his visit to our last General Convention said

"Being holy, becoming and being a saint, does not mean being perfect but being whole; it does not mean being exceptionally religious, or being religious at all. It means being liberated from religiosity and religious pietism of any sort. It does not mean being godly, but rather being truly human."

-William Stringfellow, A Keeper of the Word

Thank you Mary, Martha and Lazarus for showing us yourselves, for inviting us to be ourselves in our tears, at our tombs in all our confusions, longings, disappointments, sorrows and helping us discover Christ right there, right here with us.

Gathered Lambs

2010-04-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

You can listen to last Sunday's sermon here.

This little guy joined me in the pulpit.

I also mention, this event/book Jesus for President, you can see a video about the San Francisco part of the tour and a blog posting about what happened at Grace Cathedral on a Friday a few years back.

I am still here.

2010-04-18T16:22:00.000-07:00

It has been a long Sunday, and it is only 4:15 p.m. Today, Saint Cyprian's welcomed a new member into the household of God and celebrated the 95th birthday of one our community's oldest members. Below is the sermon I prepared to preach, but today with so much going on (more on that some other time) I didn't stick to it word for word.

Blessed Easter Three.

A few months short of a year ago, I called one of the oldest members of this congregation, Ruby McDowell to set up a visit with her, and one of the first things she said to me, very clearly and deliberately was “I’m still here.” Each time since that first phone call I have walked into her lovely home carrying communion from St. Cyprian’s, Ruby has said these words again and again “I am still here.” with clarity and commitment. There is a connection between the words of this amazing typical Jamaican as Ruby calls herself --- “I am still here” and the powerful proclamation that Christians throughout the world make again and again about Jesus’ resurrection, “Alleluia, Christ is Risen.” Just as her beloved St. Cyprian’s Church says again and again to everyone who passes her by, or walks into her doors, or hears about something new going on within, we say clearly and deliberately “we are still here.” “Alleluia, Christ is Risen” Resurrection is about the persistent and insistent Spirit of God made known to us in Jesus, it’s a belief that despite all evidence to the contrary there is a powerful life force lifting us and all creation up, giving us hope, giving us peace and helping us embrace change. Jesus says to us in the resurrection, just as Ruby does, just as this little church does “I am still here.” Despite all the challenges, pain, sadness, betrayal and disappointment of life, the Risen Christ persistently and insistently clearly and deliberately says again and again “I am still here.”

Today in addition to celebrating the inspiring and long life of Ruby McDowell, this little church --- aka the little church that could --- from that famous old children’s book called “the little engine that could,” welcomes into the household of God Lukas, baptizing him in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Lukas and his family are communicating something profound to us and to God --- they are saying with clarity and commitment ---- we love, we trust, we believe in that persistent and insistent life force --- we love, we trust, we believe that sharing our lives with the wider community and wisdom of the church is a gift worth giving --- this family is saying something profound to us St. Cyprian’s, their saying we’re drawn to you, we feel a connection with your story and we see not only that you are still here, but that the Spirit of resurrection is overflowing, is spilling out of our doors and down the street. Lukas will one day hear the story of his baptism, he may even remember it, wherever he may be and he will learn about Ruby McDowell about the warmth and love of this little church that could, and this community will be part of his story and part of his own Easter proclamation “Alleluia Christ is Risen.”

The gospel this morning is one of my favorite stories in the entire New Testament, I love the image of Jesus making his disciples breakfast on the seashore. Now, the gospel tells us this is the third time Jesus has appeared to the disciples --- there’s a lot we could explore in this story , lots of questions we could ask like “why do the disciples go back to their fishing boats in Galilee?” and “what about that miraculous catch of fish?” but for today lets just appreciate how this story insists that we be prepared to run into Jesus anywhere and everywhere --- in the familiar and in the extraordinary. The disciples returned to Galilee a place they knew well, where they began there journey with Jesus and there he said to them “ I am still here.” but even in that well known place, the extraordinary happens in the catch of that giant net of fish so in the surprises, in unpredictable Jesus also says to us “I am still here.” At the end of the gospel, we here again that insistent and persistent Spirit of the Resurrection communicating to us, as Jesus speaks with Peter about his own death --- that even in the pain, struggle, confusion and terrifying perhaps most of all --- Jesus is still here.

Baptism is a powerful rite of initiation into the community of faith --- it’s a sacrament an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. Like all sacraments, its polyvalent --- has many meanings and values. On this day though, this Earth Sunday as we pour this water, say these prayers, and make these commitments let us keep in mind all the ways that water serves us --- all the ways that water communicates to us the power, love, and the enlivening Spirit of God. Listen closely to the prayer over the baptismal waters --- and consider water in your own life --- the water of showers, and baths, of pools and oceans, the water of rain and leaks, and garden hoses. Think of all the rain we have been having this spring, think of all the places that water goes, all the ways it gets in and under and around. The resurrection spirit of God --- is like that water --- it goes all over the place --- and affects everything. May the water we pour on this day, and all the water of our lives communicate to us as Ruby and this church do regularly and persistently that we are still here, that Christ is still here --- may the whole world see and know “Alleluia, Christ is risen.”

living spaces - Easter Sermon at St. Cyprian's

2010-04-04T17:16:00.000-07:00

why do you look for the living among the dead?”

Resurrection is about changing our perspective --- recognizing that what once divided us ---- what once brought us so much fear is turned into an opportunity for rejoicing, new life, new hope, new possibility.

The gospel, the good news of the resurrection, the good news that we celebrate on this day --- is that there’s a different way to live, beyond the dictates of conventional society, that transcends the oppression of unjust systems that can overcome the greatest evil and wrong. The resurrection pushes us to look at things differently, regardless of what we believe --- the very idea of the resurrection compels us to ask questions --- might another way be possible, may there be more going on then I previously thought?

The women who went to that tomb in the early morning, with spices thought they were going to find the dead body of the mystical revolutionary rabbi they had followed. What they found perplexed them, an empty tomb --- and in their confusion they meet two angels who ask them a rather odd question “why do you look for the living among the dead.”

I imagine they asked that question in a kind of cocky way, like come on folks you ought to know that Jesus is alive.

But what about you and me, “why do we look for the living among the dead?”

In what ways, do we carry spices into the caves of our lives hoping just to find a corpse not a living, fleshy, wild, animated human being? Easter asks us to change our perspective, to put our trust in something more real than death, the surprising and liberating love of God.

That surprising and liberating love God makes known most fully in the resurrection --- and the story we heard read this morning from the Acts of the Apostles comes about by that same Spirit of resurrection. Peter’s speech is part of one of the most important stories in the entire New Testament, it’s about how the early church began the move from being just a peculiar and small sect of Judaism to being a global community made up of people from various cultures and races. Peter and the other apostles like Jesus were devout Jews who practiced dietary laws from the Hebrew Bible banning foods like pork and shellfish. Also, they were wary of contact and relationship with Gentiles --- anyone who was not circumcised and did not subscribe to their religious practices. The speech that Peter gives is during a visit with an Italian named Cornelius and his household. Cornelius and Peter have through dreams and visions, felt compelled by the Spirit to meet and Peter’s words, “God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” marks an expansion of the Christian movement to encompass the reconciliation of all people with God and with one another.

What Peter said and did was controversial; he crossed a strict religious and cultural norm and later had to justify what happened before a group of confused and perplexed disciples back in Jerusalem.

I like to think of the Bible sometimes as a family photo album, a record of humanities long term relationship with God --- this chapter in Acts is about new family and different members appearing in the album, people who don’t share the same story, culture, or language as previous generations. As one reads the Bible from Genesis to Revelation one gets the constant sense that God cares for all people, yet decides to work with a particular few --- yet as one reads on --- we find that God’s concern for all translates into more and more inclusion of others. The Bible often reminds us that God’s household, God’s family is much more diverse, and expansive ---- than any specific, narrow arrangement of people. No matter how much we human beings might want to limit the number of people we are to care about, or the type of people we are to look after --- God is always doing something to open us up, to expand our notion of family --- calling us to pay attention and to look out for others particularly the most vulnerable among us. Biblical values are concerned not just with your family or my family but with the whole human family.

Today’s readings remind us that God’s presence is not locked up in some tomb some place but is every place including in the house of those strange and different neighbors.

The purpose of Christian living, of being people who practice resurrection is to seek to love and forgive all members of the human family as limitlessly as Jesus loves and forgives us. We are to seek and serve Jesus, not by hiding ourselves away from engagement with others who are different from us, but by being called out (the Greek word for church is ecclesia which literally means to be called out) into relationships with new and different members of God‘s family. Through the Holy Spirit --- human beings are sent out into the world to discover that our family is much larger than we realized. That our true family is not limited to the few people we happened to be born to, or married to but is among everyone.

So if the true meaning of the resurrection --- is that we can encounter Christ and the Holy Spirit everywhere and among everyone --- if the meaning of church, ecclesia is “called out” what are we supposed to do with our buildings?

Christ couldn’t sit still in the tomb on Holy Saturday legend has it that he cleansed hell, and on Sunday dashed off to Galilee --- how are we to keep up with this restless, living one? Jesus didn’t have a home of his own, let alone a synagogue, what is the church supposed to do with all her buildings?

Perhaps the invitation is for us to imagine what it would mean to make our spaces, all our spaces, our homes, our neighbors homes, our schools, our places of work, our churches ---- places where the Spirit compels us to transcend old patterns of division and embrace one another as sisters and brothers in Christ. Perhaps our spaces, all our spaces need to become intentional places of intersection, of healthy, life giving, holy boundary crossing --- where strangers become friends, and life in all its fullness is celebrated and honored.

This little church has been many things to many people through the years, listening to Ruby who turns 95 later this month, or Cathryn another long time member of our congregation --- this community in the 40s, 50s, and 60s was a bustling hub of activity where new urbanites from far away found community, comfort and inspiration. At times St. Cyprian’s was a center for music, poetry, art and activism reflecting the pressing concerns of the day. A place where the young discovered the wisdom of elders, and the dreams of youth were nurtured for a better tomorrow.

Last week St. Cyprian’s welcomed nearly 50 diverse young people from across the west coast and Hawaii --- they slept on our basement floor, hiked to Grace Cathedral to honor Archbishop Oscar Romero, showered at the University of San Francisco, prayed, sang and even preached in this sanctuary. The hospitality that St. Cyprian’s offered last weekend I believe is deeply rooted in this congregations DNA, but even more it is part of the long history of Christian hospitality and pilgrimage going back before the time of Peter in the home of that odd Italian, Cornelius.

A couple of months ago, I met a professor from the University of San Francisco --- I don’t know really much about her religious commitments, but after spending a little over an hour with her, I sensed in her a deep interest in the history and future of St. Cyprian’s. Within a few days my husband Matt and I were invited to her home in San Mateo for a crowded New Year’s party where there was a ton of delicious food and dancing. The next month she came to a Common Era meeting a gathering of neighbors and congregation members who want to help share in our dreaming about the future.

Yesterday, I entered St. Cyprian’s to let our guest organist in to practice thinking that I was going to find an empty church building --- but instead we discovered the place was full of life --- Lee, Jim, and Robyn were cleaning and decorating getting things in order for today’s worship.

Like those women long ago walking into that tomb, like Peter entering the house of a stranger --- God will show us surprising, liberating, death defying love. May we this Easter catch up with the Spirit of the living Jesus that is everywhere and among everyone --- may all our spaces become intentional places of intersection, of healthy, life giving, holy boundary crossing --- where strangers become friends, where we find ourselves part of God’s ever expanding family album and life in all its fullness is celebrated and honored.

Jesus Freak: Feeding, Healing, Raising the Dead

2010-02-03T07:37:00.000-08:00

My friend Sara Miles' new book has just been published and I'm loving it. Her honest, humorous, and sensitive writing is such a gift and inspiration. There's a great review of Jesus Freak on the Beatitudes Society blog, and you can watch a video of Sara talking about her book below.

Grace Cathedral has made Jesus Freak one of our Lenten reads, and we're using it to invite laity and clergy to talk about their own love affair with Jesus, the Boyfriend.

RIP Howard Zinn

2010-01-28T12:11:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week I had lunch with Alan Jones, Dean Emeritus of Grace Cathedral; as he shared some of his adventures since retiring, he expressed great excitement about an upcoming interview of the influential historian Howard Zinn he was preparing for at City Arts and Lectures. As I left Grace Cathedral that same evening, I walked past a movie set where Zinn's friend and former Cambridge neighbor Matt Damon was filming. Sadly, in the midst of last night's State of the Union Address I learned along with many others that Howard Zinn had passed away.

I first learned of Howard Zinn's work in college, but didn't really read A People's History of the United States until seminary, when I was taking a class at the Church of the Savior's Servant Leadership School in Washington, DC. A few years later Matt and I attended a reading at Busboys and Poets, where we heard Marian Wright Edelman, Julian Bond, and Howard Zinn movingly read the words of some of the voices chronicled in A People's History. In so many ways that gathering was like attending a revival --- it was packed with one of the most diverse crowds I've ever been part of, black, white, hispanic, young, old, gay, and straight and there wasn't a dry eye in the place.

Commondreams.org has a moving tribute to the tremendous life and work of Howard Zinn. May our lives take inspiration from his commitment to sharing the stories of the people. RIP Howard Zinn.

techno-transcendentalism?

2010-01-27T09:43:00.000-08:00

In college as part of my Introduction to Environmental Studies class we were given the opportunity to participate in a program teaching environmental literacy organized by the Orion Society. As one does, I learned a lot by attempting to teach something. Now, every time I walk into a bookstore I try and find a copy of the latest issue of the beautiful and provocative Orion Magazine. I don't always buy a copy but yesterday I did. While the interview with Kevin Kelly, founder of Wired magazine called Tending the Garden of Technology was what initially caught my attention, there's a ton of other stimulating material within those 80 pages. Check it out.

What is the answer? What is the question?

2010-01-04T10:21:00.000-08:00

You can listen to yesterday's sermon at Grace Cathedral, here. Happy New Year!

Many thanks to these two...

Christmas Eve at St. Cyprian's

2009-12-25T12:36:00.000-08:00

Below is the text of my sermon from last night's St. Cyprian's Christmas Eve candlelight service. The St. Cyprian's community welcomed our neighbors from the First AME Zion Church of San Francisco and their pastor, the Reverend Malcolm Byrd, offered inspiring original prayers. The Reverend Dr. Sue Singer of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific shared a Godly Play children's homily and presided. My husband Matt (not much of a church goer) sat near the front, along with some distant cousins of mine from Santa Rosa. Then a number of us headed over to Grace Cathedral for a packed late night service.

Merry Christmas!

What are we doing here? What is going on? What compelled you to walk through that door with the hole in it? What led you to say, I am going to that little church on the corner of Turk and Lyon on Christmas Eve? I’m going to step into that church and sing some songs, say some prayers and light some candles and focus my attention on a baby being born in a barn, in a cave in 1st century Palestine?

What’s going on?

Might it be that we crave the message of the incarnation ---- the big, fancy word theologians use to describe the eternal word or logos of God becoming flesh in Jesus---- we long to know that we are entirely and utterly loved --- that there is something in us and outside us, rooting for us like a good coach, breathing with us like a Doula --- one who says I am with you, closer than your breath --- ready to open us up more and more fully to what is true, real and whole. We long to know that our lives even the very ugly, painful, and difficult parts may be uncovered, lifted up and made sacred. We long to know that despite all that might tell us otherwise, there’s reason to hope, trust, share, and love.

The reading that Pastor Malcolm shared at the beginning of the service, is all about the deep theological stuff of this Christmas event, the incarnation. There is great beauty, grace and poetry in that opening chapter of John’s Gospel, there’s also much there for theologians to discuss, debate and write about. The author of John’s gospel must have wanted his hearers to be lifted up, inspired, intrigued --- to have their curiosity piqued. The story that Sue read from Luke‘s gospel, of an unmarried pregnant girl and an old carpenter heading to Bethlehem to be counted as part of Roman imperial occupation making a bed for their baby out of a trough , and stargazing shepherds following extraterrestrial instructions --- is, well, not quite so high brow. Luke’s story of Jesus’s birth is downright strange and complicated --- like an episode of the X-Files or a country love song.

These two very different ancient texts together seem to say that there’s deep stuff going on just under the surface of our strange and complicated lives, these texts want us to know that someone is trying to help, someone is trying to send us a love letter, someone is paying attention and working day and night to get us to notice that there’s really, really helpful information right there in front of us. Someone is eager to see humanity not just surviving but thriving, and the baby born this night is that love letter, is that invitation to notice the light increasing in us and all around us. This night is not just about strange stories from long ago but about the here and now, the common era about you and me becoming an integral part of the messy, complicated unfolding drama of hope, joy, and love --- about each of us becoming good news of great joy for our time and for our neighborhood.

How do we do that? How do we help this birthing of love? These ancient texts seem to offer two things John seems to be saying, look up --- reach for the heavens, use your mind, talents, questions to discern the profound meaning of the incarnation --- the word made flesh --- let your mind wander, explore, and aze off into the horizon. The Gospel of Luke seems to say, also look at the cracks, the tough places, the forgotten, the challenging --- notice the strange and the quirky --- and be open to surprises. There’s angels in the sky, there’s a baby in a trough. Luke’s gospel says, there’s a cave, there’s a messy barn, a place off the beaten path that has a message for you --- that message says the political, economic, social complexity of our time like that of Jesus’ cannot keep hope from being born, cannot shut out the dawning of a new day for us and for the whole human race.

Tonight we gather together in a sacred space, that as someone said the other day could use more than a little loving attention, in a city named for Saint Francis who brought living nativities into being. In the Middle Ages St. Francis had villagers of Assisi perform the roles of Mary, Joseph, the Baby Jesus and the shepherds to help poor, young, and illiterate people understand the meaning of the incarnation. Francis, our city’s patron Saint has much to teach us about Christmas --- about seeking tangible ways of manifesting the meaning of this day to all people. Francis walked away from a comfortable life of wealth and status, to renew an old church, walked across battlefields to meet with an enemy of his people --- Francis, must have sensed that the incarnation, Jesus’ birth, was reason to give birth to hope and new possibilities for himself and those around him.

A few years ago, a friend of mine who works among the urban poor of Washington DC came to visit the parish where I worked in the suburbs. She came to teach a class --- and in the class she helped us imagine the incredible gift of the incarnation. She did this using markers and a dry erase board. On the board she drew a line. On one side of the line she wrote "The nightmare" and on the other side "God's dream.” On the nightmare side she had the group describe the nightmares of human life ---- war, violence, poverty, injustice, disease, bigotry, racism, sexism ---- on the other side of the board under God's dream ---- we listed those longings that we all have, that we believe God intends for all life ---- peace, harmony, justice, compassion, love, health, and enough for everyone. Looking at these two lists, the nightmare and the dream, was nothing new. But what my friend began to share was how God had for centuries spoken to God's people about this yearning this longing for justice, peace --- the dream ---- through prophets and sages but people did not seem to get it --- to recognize or realize what God was trying to say. So my friend took a marker and drew on top of the dream --- a body, the shape of a human body. And this body encompassed the dream. This body was God's dream made flesh --- God's eternal word. The story we celebrate today is the story of God's longing for all coming to earth. God's dream, God's hope and yearning is given flesh in the baby born in Bethlehem. No longer was God's dream, God's longing just an abstract thing, in Jesus the dream was made real, tangible. Christmas --- this special night--- full of all kinds of symbols is about that dream, God's yearning for justice, mercy, compassion and peace being born in us.

Our challenge--any community of faith's challenge really--is to invite people to look up, to notice the lights in the darkness and to look at their own lives to see even in the strangest of places there’s reason to hope, and reason to become part of making the dream of God realized. In singing, and praying, lighting candles and sharing a bit of bread and wine in reading again and again the sacred story --- we become midwives for each other and we help one another breathe. We are invited to step out of life as usual and discover good news of great joy and peace in the trough, in the baby, the body. May this service warm our hearts and strengthen us for becoming as St. Francis was in his era, the dream and hope of God born for our time.

So look up to the heavens, and look down at the cracks, into the caves and the dark, damp places ---- breathe, know that you are surrounded by all you need to give birth. We may need to improvise a bit but in the messy, smelly and complicated reason to hope is born this night.

speaking up for human rights

2009-12-16T08:12:00.000-08:00

Just listened to this story on NPR about a bill being considered in Uganda that is a violation of the human rights of gay people. The Reverend Susan Russell and many others are working hard to encourage religious leaders to speak up against the bill. The Reverend Canon Mary Haddad took the occasion of her last sermon at Grace Cathedral (she'll be missed much as she heads south to Beverly Hills) to point out how slow Anglican Communion leadership has been to speak up.

The following words inspired by Martin Niemöller, seem hauntingly appropriate,

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

You can follow this story in more detail over at the Episcopal Cafe. Pray for Uganda, pray for human rights and dignity for all.

seasonal sounds

2009-12-09T14:22:00.000-08:00

So I've been cheating on Advent, I've been sneaking into Christmas music and I'm going to boast about it. So if you are one of those few who successfully waits to put up the tree until Dec. 24th, you might want to save this post for later. This year, in addition to my favorite Sufjan Stevens Christmas albums and The McGarrigle Christmas Hour, I now get to be filled with cheer by Tori Amos and Sting as well. I am especially fond of Tori's "Star of Wonder." Why she couldn't have launched that album at Grace Cathedral I don't know, the Men & Boy's Choir would have provided amazing backup vocals.

This early step into Christmas is partly due to planning Incarnate, an adventure of sorts for St. Cyprian's where we've invited a few rockabilly musicians to play some seasonal tunes and other folks to share poetry. You can join us on the next two Thursday nights at 8 p.m. The poem that gets me most serious about the meaning of Christmas, isn't a carol or a hymn but a poem by San Francisco Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Christ Climbed Down.

Christ climbed down 
from His bare Tree
this year
and ran away to where
there were no rootless Christmas trees
hung with candycanes and breakable stars

Christ climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and ran away to where
there were no gilded Christmas trees
and no tinsel Christmas trees
and no tinfoil Christmas trees
and no pink plastic Christmas trees
and no gold Christmas trees
and no black Christmas trees
and no powderblue Christmas trees
hung with electric candles
and encircled by tin electric trains
and clever cornball relatives

Christ climbed down 
from His bare Tree
this year 
and ran away to where 
no intrepid Bible salesmen
covered the territory 
in two-tone cadillacs
and where no Sears Roebuck creches
complete with plastic babe in manger
arrived by parcel post 
the babe by special delivery
and where no televised Wise Men
praised the Lord Calvert Whiskey

Christ climbed down 
from His bare Tree
this year
and ran away to where 
no fat handshaking stranger
in a red flannel suit
and a fake white beard
went around passing himself off
as some sort of North Pole saint
crossing the desert to Bethlehem
Pennsylvania
in a Volkswagen sled
drawn by rollicking Adirondack reindeer
and German names
and bearing sacks of Humble Gifts
from Saks Fifth Avenue
for everybody's imagined Christ child

Christ climbed down 
from His bare Tree
this year
and ran away to where 
no Bing Crosby carollers
groaned of a tight Christmas
and where no Radio City angels
iceskated wingless
thru a winter wonderland
into a jinglebell heaven
daily at 8:30
with Midnight Mass matinees

Christ climbed down 
from His bare Tree
this year
and softly stole away into
some anonymous Mary's womb again
where in the darkest night
of everybody's anonymous soul
He awaits again
an unimaginable
and impossibly
Immaculate Reconception
the very craziest of 
Second Comings

yearning for justice & equal rights

2009-12-06T09:18:00.000-08:00

Gratitude and hope are the feelings that come to mind for me this morning as news of the election of the Reverend Mary Glasspool, as bishop spreads around the world. The Episcopal Diocese of LA, meeting this weekend elected two qualified and gifted women to serve as bishops. You can read all about this news, here and here.

I am especially grateful for the words of Bishop Gene Robinson,

The people of the Diocese of Los Angeles have elected two extraordinarily gifted priests to serve them as Suffragan Bishops. They have chosen the two people who, in their minds, and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, are best suited for this ministry, and one of them happens to be a lesbian.

But let us be clear: it is Mary Glasspool's experience, skills and faith which will make her a good bishop, and are the reason for her election. Rightly so, the people of Los Angeles have not let current arguments over homosexuality or threats to “unity” impair their choosing the best persons for these ministries.
.
This is the Church we declared at this summer’s General Convention we would be, following God’s call to us as best we can discern it, and we are now living into that calling. I am delighted over the elections of Diane Bruce and Mary Glasspool and, upon consent by the wider church, look forward to welcoming them both into the House of Bishops.

The Reverend Mary Glasspool is quoted in the Washington Post saying the following,

"Any group of people who have been oppressed because of any one, isolated aspect of their persons yearns for justice and equal rights,"

I'm looking forward to hearing lots more from the Reverend Mary Glasspool as her new ministry in L.A. unfolds.

Mary Oliver, Anne Lamott & Evensong

2009-11-21T23:04:00.000-08:00

Last week after three years of working at Grace Cathedral for the first time with much anxiety I officiated at Evensong. Those men and boys are very intimidating. Having grown up in a household that didn't sing much and a church that didn't chant ever - I don't think I was so horrible. I should have practiced more, I hope I'll get other opportunities because with Matt's help I actually began to see the joy in doing it.

For the said prayers at Evensong a book literally fell off my office shelf an hour or so before the service. I flipped through "Thirst" a book of poems by Mary Oliver and the two below felt just right for the week before Thanksgiving, and the approaching season of Advent. Here they are, feel free to "read, mark, and inwardly digest them." Anne Lamott tonight in her reading at a Welcome event I attended called Mary Oliver divine, I agree with her.

Making the House Ready for the Lord

Dear Lord, I have swept and I have washed but

Still nothing is as shining as it should be
for you. Under the sink, for example, is an

uproar of mice—it is the season of their
many children. What shall I do? And under the eaves

and through the walls the squirrels
have gnawed their ragged entrances—but it is the season

when they need shelter, so what shall I do? And
the raccoon limps into the kitchen and opens the cupboard

while the dog snores, the cat hugs the pillow;
what shall I do? Beautiful is the new snow falling

in the yard and the fox who is staring boldly
up the path, to the door. And still I believe you will

come, Lord: you will, when I speak to the fox
the sparrow, the lost dog, the shivering sea-goose, know

that really I am speaking to you whenever I say,
as I do all morning and afternoon: Come in, Come in.

Praying

It doesn't have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don't try
to make them elaborate, this isn't
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.

~ Mary Oliver ~

waiting pains

2009-11-03T16:31:00.001-08:00

Transitions are painful, complicated and confusing. These words of Kahil Gibran the famous poet and artist came to my mind as I considered some of the current struggles going on in the church and other institutions dealing with change. The last part about the value of stability is so helpful to me when so much lacks clarity, and seems up in the air.

Once as a teenager when arguing with my mother I remember picking up "The Prophet" and reading these words to her triumphantly. Now 30 years old I have greater appreciation for their painfulness as well as their blessing. I don't know where you are (whoever you are reading this) but while there is much to be grateful for (it is one of my frequent Facebook status updates after all) I'm also feeling a lot of stress, pain and impatience while waiting for the "new" to emerge.

On Children by Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

flesh & blood

2009-08-18T15:46:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday, I preached at the 11 o'clock service at Grace Cathedral. A special word of thanks to my Uncle Kent back home in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia who first introduced our family many years ago to the "Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet" composition by Gavin Bryars. You can check that sermon out here. Click here for the gospel text. Peace!

What's going on...

2009-08-01T14:26:00.001-07:00

This summer is turning out to be one of exciting change and growth. A few weeks ago, Bishop Marc Andrus announced as Acting Dean a transition in my role at Grace Cathedral:

The Reverend Will Scott, Associate Pastor at Grace Cathedral since October 2006 has recently been named Cathedral Missioner at St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church and will be part of the emerging North of Market Area Ministry Team. In this role, he will strive to connect all the Episcopal congregations and institutions in the region with one another and help them discern new ways of serving their neighborhoods. Now a small but vital multicultural community, St. Cyprian’s is a historic African-American and Caribbean congregation whose members were active in the Civil Rights Movement and hosted the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he preached at Grace Cathedral in 1965. Will will remain Associate Pastor at Grace Cathedral while embarking on this new mission continuing in his leadership role in the Sunday at Six worshiping community, Dinner with Grace, and Youth Confirmation Program.

You can learn more about St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church here. Tomorrow and for the next few Sundays, Church Divinity School of the Pacific professor the Reverend Sue Singer will be part of our worship life. A few weeks ago, the Reverend Megan Rohrer of Welcome joined us. This new adventure is all about collaboration, relationship building, sharing, listening and learning. Please keep everyone involved in your prayers as we together experience change and growth.

Yesterday, I was interviewed by Liz St. John about Dinner with Grace and had an opportunity to talk more broadly about ministry in San Francisco, including my role at St. Cyprian's. The interview will air August 16th on KLLC’s Sunday Magazine; you can listen to the podcast here. Many thanks to Heidi Zuhl, who coordinates communications at Grace Cathedral, for all she is doing to help support our work.

General Convention - staying connected

2009-07-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

Thousands of Episcopalians are gathering in Anaheim, California for General Convention, the triennial meeting in which bishops, clergy and laity make important decisions about our life together. For those of us not attending there's a ton of ways to stay connected to the action. Here's a few of the places I'm trying to visit regularly.

General Convention HUB

Episcopal Cafe

Diocese of California General Convention Updates

Walking with Integrity

An Inch at a Time

Center Aisle

My friend and colleague Rosa Lee Harden even created a Facebook group for all of us not there.
If you are at GC2009, please help keep the rest of us in the loop (thanks to everybody who is blogging & twittering) If you are not there and have sites you recommend for staying up-to-date, please post away.

Big Table

2009-07-07T16:39:00.000-07:00

I just received a phone call from Michael Tedrick, the Episcopal Diocese of California's & Grace Cathedral's Mission Partner in the Diocese of Curitiba, Brazil. Michael expressed great joy about his new work and appreciation for the ways his involvement with Dinner with Grace in San Francisco is helping him share in community there. Here's a bit from Michael's blog:

Yesterday, sixty people crowded the small hall to share a meal at Sao Tiago Catedral. The unspoken language of sharing. We meet in the midst of our mutual hunger. Some with hungry bodies and others with hungry souls. Together, we are fed in body, mind, and spirit. Warm, simple greetings and a smile was the language spoken and understood. I used the skills I honed with Grace Cathedral's Dinner With Grace, hand mashing 50 lbs. of potatos, chopping onions, (Will+ & Alex would be glad to know that I didn't cut myself), serving meals, peeling and seeding papayas, washing lettuce and arranging tables and chairs. It is welcoming, reassuring, and comforting for the stranger. I continue to be amazed by the breadth and length of The Table.

Please keep Michael and those he is working with in Brazil in your prayers and visit his blog regularly for updates on his journey.
Also, Dinner with Grace was recently in the news, check out this story here. Many thanks to Carolyn Tyler and her crew, who communicate well what Dinner with Grace is all about.

Now let us praise an inspiring Episcopalian...

2009-06-07T15:15:00.001-07:00

My colleague at Grace Cathedral Elaine Belz recently shared this great article from Sojourners, on the influential 20th century Episcopalian Frances Perkins. I've often thought a cool advertising campaign for the Episcopal Church would involve photos of some of the inspiring characters who have hung around with us through the years like Frances Perkins, Margaret Mead, Edward Albee, Bette Davis, Judy Garland, Norman Rockwell, John Steinbeck and Georgia O'Keeffe.

Here's a bit from Rose Marie Berger's article:

THOUGH PERKINS GREW up in Boston as a Congregationalist, she was confirmed at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit near Chicago, where she was teaching and volunteering at Jane Addams’ Hull House. With her Book of Common Prayer in one hand and Jacob Riis’ How the Other Half Lives in the other, Perkins waded into the tenement houses and sweatshops to interview immigrant women about their lives. For the rest of her life, she used this triad—liturgy, analysis, and the voices of those at the bottom—as a tool for shaping public policy.

Donn Mitchell, editor of The Anglican Examiner, told me that Perkins had a deeply sacramental spirituality, which helped shape a “politics of generosity”—in which the state was the instrument through which the national community expressed its compassion. This was no small shift, said Mitchell, who published an article about Perkins in May. Her vision of the New Deal was a radical theological shift away from the judging and punitive God of Puritan and Calvinist theologies and toward the community-based solidarity of the immigrant Catholics and Jews.

“Frances Perkins was a social scientist and an artist,” Mitchell said. “She had a strong aesthetic orientation and the sacramental language spoke to her. Beauty was a manifestation of God’s graciousness. She saw that many people were cut off from this beauty by industrial problems and poverty. It became an incarnational act for her to bring provisions to the people who needed it. Since she couldn’t do that for everyone, she developed legal structures through which she could deliver the necessary things of life to those in need.”

Dinner with Grace in today's SF Chronicle

2009-05-30T10:28:00.000-07:00

Dinner with Grace, a collaborative program of Grace Cathedral and Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco is featured in today's San Francisco Chronicle check the article out here. Last month, Episcopal Life also covered this growing program. As I type this posting a large crew of Dinner with Grace volunteers are organizing the cathedral kitchen to improve our work together. We're blessed by a dedicated team of lay volunteers, and according to Alex Senchak, our Core Team coordinator this month we have 100 regular volunteers involved in serving and sharing meals in the Tenderloin.

The most important thing Dinner with Grace seeks to do is build relationships. I recently discovered an inspiring quote of Gustavo Gutierrez in Anne Sutherland Howard's book, "Claiming the Beatitudes" which speaks to the significance of friendship and the preferential option for the poor:

The preferential option for the poor is ultimately a question of friendship. Without friendship, an option for the poor can easily become commitment to an abstraction (to a social class, a race, a culture, an idea). Aristotle emphasized the important place of friendship for the moral life, but we also find this clearly stated in John's Gospel. Christ says, "I do not call you servants, but friends." As Christians, we are called to reproduce this quality of friendship in our relationships with others. When we become friends with the poor, their presence leaves an indelible imprint on our lives, and we are much more likely to remain committed.

Many thanks to Meredith May and Brant Ward at the San Francisco Chronicle for their helpful coverage and attention.

Liturgies for San Fran? Bicycle Blessings & Bjorcharist

2009-05-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

So they say imitation is one of the highest forms of flattery...here are two stories about creative liturgies I hope some of us in the Bay Area will soon replicate.

Bicycle Blessings

Bjorcharist

What do you think?

Testifying to Love - Why I was arrested

2009-05-27T15:11:00.000-07:00

Ann Fontaine of the Episcopal Cafe, encouraged me to share my reflections on what happened yesterday. Thank you for all the prayers and support. I am so grateful for the congregants and staff of Grace Cathedral many who stood alongside those of us being arrested and who have offered their support in numerous other ways as well. At the service prior to yesterdays march we sang a beautiful song with the refrain, "we are all in this together." The struggle continues...

Testifying to Love - Why I was arrested

I grew up in a small Episcopal Church in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley where that tiny mid-century A-frame building on a hill and its odd mixture of congregants became for me as a gay person an oasis of encouragement, love, and support. When most other churches were campaigning for prayer in schools, we were learning about what we could do to end apartheid in South Africa, other churches encouraged their flock to listen to James Dobson while we were invited to listen to the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. There at St. Paul's on-the-Hill, as a young acolyte I first heard about how faith compels us to stand with those pushed to the margins, and to work for justice. Yesterday was not the first time I’ve been arrested seeking to bear witness to a faith that calls us to honor the dignity of every person --- it is not likely to be my last.

How did I end up in the street? I prayed and felt inspired. On Monday night, I was part of a group led by the Reverend Roland Stringfellow, coordinator of the Bay Area Coalition of Welcoming Congregations that organized an interfaith prayer vigil at Grace Cathedral on the eve of the Supreme Court's decision. The first part of the event was filled with beautiful and moving
words and music from various people of faith, towards the end things got more explicitly personal and political. A gay couple stood up and spoke nervously for the first time of how inequality and homophobia were affecting them in the workplace, in how they accessed health care (one of them is disabled) and paid their taxes (they would save over $4,000 a year if they were counted the same as a straight married couple). The couple shared that they rarely came anywhere near places of worship, but this event encouraged them to speak up even in a church. As they spoke I thought of how my beloved Matt and I had moved from Virginia to California three years ago to be in a more supportive context for our relationship. Next Kip Williams a passionate young organizer with the group One Struggle, One Fight spoke about their plans for the next day if the Supreme Court upheld Prop 8 and then invited those in the faith community who were willing to risk arrest to stand. There was an uncomfortable pause, and a few people stood up, and I found myself standing up to join them. In some ways it was like an altar call, we were being invited to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. At the close of the service I was asked to invite the gathered congregation to spend time praying and lighting candles throughout the cathedral. Here’s what I said,

On behalf of the Bishop, clergy, and staff of Grace Cathedral I want to thank you all for coming tonight. As we move out from this sacred circle, I invite you to wander amidst the many chapels, windows, murals and icons of this holy space --- a place where so many individuals, couples, and families have found solace, inspiration and strength for their journey, struggle, and work for justice. Light a candle; say a prayer for all who will be affected by tomorrow¹s decision. Remember that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, generations of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons who like us struggled to find hope, as you walk past the UN mural pray for our LGBT brothers and sisters throughout the world who share our yearning for liberation, as you walk past the icon of Mary Magdalene of the 1st century and Martin Luther King of the 20th remember our solidarity with women, people of color and the poor, as you look up to the windows containing the images of scientists like Einstein and theologians like Martin Buber remember all those who were persecuted for seeking and speaking the truth as they experienced it, this Memorial Day let us also remember the many glbt persons who have served this country --- may we discover in the courage and perseverance of all these persons reason to continue our work for justice and equality.

And now a final blessing,

The blessing of the One who liberates the oppressed, who blesses all the families of the earth and whose name is love be upon you and remain with you always. AMEN

The saints who dance with us around the altar at communion, in the icons, murals and windows of our churches to me are not static but are moving. I experience their presence as continually inviting us to make the gospel real now in our time, in our lives. We are forever invited to join them in movements for justice and equality --- movements that testify to love. While the Supreme Court’s decision yesterday was bad news for so many, the willingness of people to stand up for the faith and hope that is within them, to testify to the love they know is real and true is a proclamation of the good news.

Yesterday, on the march from the Castro neighborhood to Civic Center I was joined by an Iraq war veteran, a young Latino man named Joseph carrying an American flag and wearing his badges of honor. He was arrested yesterday as well. When I took my spot in the large circle of a 150 or more in the street outside City Hall I found myself sitting next to David a 19-year-old transgender man who works at the grocery store in my neighborhood. When I stood up to stretch my legs I saw Brendan, a 20 something lay person from St. Gregory’s of Nyssa dancing in the circle to music provided by a visiting folk band on the sidelines. Across the circle was Rabbi Sydney Mintz from Congregation Emanu-el, a synagogue with strong ties with Grace Cathedral and Buddhist Nun Jana Drakka sitting near Episcopal Deacons Anthony Turney and Nancy Pennecamp. Down the way from me was Reverend Dawn Roginski from St. Francis Lutheran Church where the Morning Prayer service prepared us for the day’s work. In the paddy wagon on our way to the county jail, I learned more about Kip Williams, who said when the day started they were praying they would have at least 30 people willing to risk arrest, now there were so many more. We learned how Kip’s first act of civil disobedience was at a nuclear weapons manufacturing facility in his home state of Tennessee and how his diverse community of faith helped him in coming out. Others in the wagon talked about Paul Farmer and his work in Haiti. Each of us in some way seemed to get that what we were doing was linked, inspired, and related with the wider movements for human rights and justice. As we were led out of the wagon and into our designated holding areas I caught glimpse of a young tall African American man, whose hair standing straight up reminded me of photos I'd seen of Bayard Rustin. Rustin is someone far to easily forgotten, a gay, African American, man of faith who helped organize the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and advised the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. on the nonviolence of Gandhi.

LGBT people of faith in San Francisco and throughout the world would do well to remember our connections to other movements --- and gain inspiration, courage and strength for our contemporary struggles. There are many causes, and concerns worth our time and energy --- may we each discern with God's help our place in the dance and testify to love.

appreciating William Stringfellow

2009-05-14T14:00:00.001-07:00

Last week, as I was preparing to teach an introductory class on Anglicanism at Grace Cathedral I googled one of my favorite Episcopal/Anglican 20th century saints, William Stringfellow. Stringfellow was a passionate lawyer, lay theologian and advocate for justice. Gratefully, among the list of articles about Stringfellow, I found this beautiful reflection on Stringfellow's life by Nathan Schneider, a New York writer whom I discovered is also originally from Virginia. Check out Nathan's great blog The Row Boat as well.

Here's a bit from Nathan's reflection:

Consequently Stringfellow’s God is not just a character to whom we must defer to for the sake of some future salvation, nor some almighty therapist. God is the means for inhabiting a world filled with mighty principalities and powers. Stringfellow clings to the promise that “Jesus is Lord” because if that is so, there is a reason to love our neighbor no matter what the principalities and powers—from the Pentagon, to “family values,” to the Ford Motor Company—may say. These things are all doomed to death anyway. “Resurrection,” he explains, “refers to the transcendence of the power of death, and of the fear or thrall of the power of death, here and now, in this life, in this world.”
His own answer to the powers came in simple acts. Defending poor black and Latino people in court even though they were not of his clan. And offering hospitality to his friend Daniel Berrigan even when it meant breaking the law. And being with the person he loved, despite the disapproval of society and the churches.
The icon above is by Fr. William McNichols

Spring Reading

2009-05-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

I find myself carrying around a heavier backpack these days as three books are adding fuel to my journey. They're all non-fiction and all have something to do with religion. Surprised? I'm taking suggestions for a good summer novel so please suggest away. Here they are in no particular order. I'm appreciating the dialogue amongst these different voices, themes, and styles. What are you reading this spring? What's on your summer reading list?

Claiming the Beatitudes: Nine Stories from a New Generation
by Anne Sutherland Howard

Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate
by Terry Eagleton

The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church's Conservative Icon
by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan

baaa

2009-05-03T20:46:00.000-07:00

I preached this morning at the 8:30 service at Grace Cathedral. Here's my sermon notes.

John 10:11-18
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 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. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

It is comforting to recognize that we are sheep, not shepherds.

The famous scholar and author Peter Gomes, shares this interesting history about churches in New England, he writes,

In New England, the ancient parishes of the seventeenth century in the Congregational order are not described as "founded"--if you ever look at an old seventeenth-century New England church, the sign will not say, "Founded in 1620," "Founded in 1636," "Founded in 1690"--but use a very strange nomenclature used nowhere else in the church, either in Europe or in this country: it says "Gathered in 1620," "Gathered in 1640," "Gathered in 1690," and there is something very different between being founded and being gathered. The notion is that of sheep being gathered into the sheepfold.

The Congregations of 17th century New England recognized they were sheep, not shepherds.

The other night I attended a friend’s birthday party --- she invited a diverse group of 5 people to celebrate with her, all of whom she knew but who did not know one another there was a fire and good food --- and over the course of the evening strangers did become friends. We were each quite different from one another. As we sat around the fire ---we told stories about our lives, loves and challenges as we did this I thought about today’s gospel and the image of being gathered into a sheepfold, being cared for, held together by one shepherd.

I don’t usually like to think of Jesus as a shepherd, I find the image somehow too cute, or too distant, the metaphor doesn‘t feel particularly relevant to our contemporary cosmopolitan lives--- but as I thought more about this passage and listened to a simple but beautiful gospel hymn sung by Ralph Stanley the famous bluegrass singer --- the more the image spoke to me, the more I was able to trust it --- Stanley’s piece goes like this,

“listen to the shepherd, listen to the shepherd calling calling us over, we are all his children, we are all his children calling, calling us over, he will guide us safely, he will guide us safely calling, calling us over.

There’s very little in our 21st century lives that helps us recognize ourselves as part of a flock, part of a community being gathered, there’s little that inspires us to let go of our individual wandering and find our lives and meaning as part of a community. Fragmentation, being scattered seems to be the only reality we know, or find comfort within, despite numerous forms of technology that tell us we are being connected --- many of these tools seem to actually pull us further a part. Everyone’s plugged in, looking at different screens, listening to different music, chatting with someone else. Fragmentation, being scattered, separated out --- pulled a part, today’s gospel and the lessons as well point us to a different way of being ---- that frees us from the powerful urge to think that we are in charge --- that we need to be in control, on top of it all. John tells us there is one flock, one shepherd. We’re being gathered. I’m not the shepherd, you are not the shepherd, Jesus is the good shepherd and we are all sheep --- we are all his children. We are being gathered.

One gift of bluegrass music, of sitting around a camp fire telling stories with strangers and friends--- of worshiping like this, singing hymns together, is that we are somehow more free to embrace the idea of being part of a flock. Acknowledging, noticing that none of us are the shepherd, but that we are all in need of the one who lays down his life for us is liberating --- is in a strange way comforting. We don’t need to fix one another --- as John’s letter tells us --- we are to love one another. Even Peter after the healing in the temple in our reading from Acts, --- rather than claiming his own role and power points the gathered community to the one shepherd, Jesus who heals and whose spirit inspires his strong words. He could have very well drawn attention to himself but instead pointed to the one who called him into the sheepfold.

Perhaps what links all of our sacred stories today --- the amazing miracle in Acts and Peter’s powerful speech, the poetry of John’s letter on loving others, and today’s gospel --- is this sense of being held --- being cared for ---being led out of lives of fragmentation, separation, isolation, to being part of a story greater than ourselves as individuals, being attended to in such a way that our actions, stories, struggles and hopes speak to a deeper identity --- as a people being gathered seen and recognized as part of the shepherds flock.

This recognition of being part of one flock, and Jesus as our shepherd need not be exclusive or triumphalistic --- for as Jesus says in today’s gospel “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.” Many people committed to the way of Jesus, understand this passage as an invitation to live a distinct and unique faith while wholeheartedly engaging in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue for peace and justice. This text also frees us from the arrogance of thinking that only our tribe, or our particular part of the flock, or our specific narrow religion listens to God’s voice. Again we are the sheep, Jesus is the shepherd.

May we in the days to come find ways to get over ourselves and our need for control, may we discover practices that help us appreciate being part of a gathered community in which Jesus is our shepherd --- perhaps its making a meal for someone, or visiting a sick person, or noticing and appreciating the ways others reach out to us in love and care ---- perhaps its praying or studying in a group ---- but what ever we do may we be invited to embrace this strange, foreign and ancient concept --- we are part of a flock --- we are not the shepherds of our own destiny --- we are part of one flock, we belong to one shepherd.

As we contemplate our belonging to a flock --- as we open ourselves to the deep and beautiful ecology of God I invite you to listen to this poem by Mary Oliver --- who as a fellow sheep reflects on our work of loving and place in nature.

Messenger
By Mary Oliver
My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird—
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.
Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,
which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here,
which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.

In Memory of Papa

2009-04-18T18:58:00.000-07:00

Below are reflections on the life of my grandfather, Roy Charles Roberts who died last month. For a variety of reasons, I did not fly home for the Memorial Service. The picture above was taken this past January and you can read his obituary below. Papa was an amazing man, who had a tremendous influence on me and many others in his long and beautiful life.

Roy C. Roberts

Roy Charles Roberts, 95, of Harrisonburg, passed away on Friday, March 27, 2009, at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community (VMRC).
Mr. Roberts was born on Oct. 2, 1913, in Locust Grove, Okla., and was a son of the late Charles and Ella Moore Roberts. He was also predeceased by his son, Benjamin Roberts, two brothers and one sister.
Roy was a member of Harrisonburg Mennonite Church and was a well-known Shenandoah Valley artist. His artwork depicted scenes of the coastal region, Northern Virginia, Washington D.C. and various courtroom sketches. In addition to his prolific artwork, he enjoyed music, travel, reading, and stimulating conversation. He was an Army veteran and was employed as an analyst with the Department of the Army at the Pentagon.
In 1950, he was united in marriage to Naomi J. Yoder, who survives. Also surviving are two daughters, Rebecca Scott-Mitchell and husband, Mark, of Martinsburg, W.Va., and Sarah Holmes and husband, Don, of Winston-Salem, N.C.; four grandchildren; and a very special sister-in-law, Nancy Y. Smith, and brother-in-law, Kent Smith, both of Harrisonburg.
A graveside service for family and friends will be held on Saturday, April 18, 2009, at 2 p.m. at Cedar Grove United Methodist Church Cemetery officiated by Pastor Mark Keller.
Memorial contributions may be made to the VMRC Compassion Fund (In his memory), 1491 Virginia Ave., Harrisonburg, VA 22802.
Arrangements are being handled by Kyger Funeral Home in Harrisonburg.

In Memory of Papa

Today though I am not physically with you, I am connected with you through the Spirit of our creative, liberating God who inspires us to live as Papa did, with integrity, gratitude, courage and love. I am writing to you from San Francisco, a city where a young Roy Roberts spent time long before any of us knew him selling ice cream to the people who built the Golden Gate Bridge. Every time I look at the Bridge I think of Papa --- I try to imagine what this city must have been like when he was here and how much fun it would have been to walk up one of our large hills with him. My earliest memories of Papa involve walking, walking on walls, visiting Jesse’s Hot Dogs and the Library around Harrisonburg. Early on Papa taught me to appreciate the unique qualities of neighborhoods, parks, trees, sculpture, and architecture --- I often remember him pausing and pointing at things, small and large that were beautiful unique and wondrous. When we would walk into the old library --- I was set free in the children’s section up stairs where I would often watch a film strip of the Wizard of Oz and Papa would put on his reading glasses and sit in the periodicals section downstairs. When I was 5 years old Papa and Nana were my best friends. Spending time with them at their house was heaven to me. There seemed to be infinite freedom and love --- always something yummy to eat, something beautiful to look at or listen to, and always a comforting lap to sit in and hand to hold.

The last time I saw Papa, a few months ago, I remember taking some time to have a conversation one I now believe we both knew would be our last on this side of the grave. Looking into one another’s eyes, I was able to tell him just how much he and Nana meant to me, how so much of what I have been able to do in life --- study, travel, and discovering a vocation caring for others --- I know was due in large part to their steadfast love, their commitment to my education and nurture. Papa gave us all an appreciation for nature, beauty, art, learning (he was always reading something --- philosophy, history) and music (who can forget him learning to play the piano when he was well into his 70s?). I think of him every time I hear “what a friend we have in Jesus” or “Tennessee Waltz” I imagine he must have learned to play “Over the Rainbow” for me.

Papa’s life was full of pain as well as joy. Though there’s the story involving a pet duck, which is humorous but also quite sad too especially if that was his most memorable childhood friend. Perhaps Papa was a bit like St. Francis -- connecting with nature in a unique and deep way. We all know stories about how his father abandoned his family early in life, how he had to go to work quite young before finishing high school. As my mother told me when I was little, Papa was a kind of hobo before he found a stable job in Washington. Hitch hiking across the United States, riding the rails, and working in CCC camps --- young Roy Roberts must have been wise, strong, and courageous. On my last visit to Virginia, Papa shared with me how he learned to dance in San Francisco --- watching a dance class through a window on Market Street. I love to dance, and love imagining Papa practicing his dance moves on a side walk in San Francisco. When I look into the eyes of the homeless and poor people I meet in the Tenderloin, a rough neighborhood in San Francisco near the cathedral where I work I think of Papa and I think of his son Ben too. I remember their challenging relationship and the struggles of people with mental illness. I also remember their difficult but I believe real reconciliation --- and the ways in which especially toward the end of Ben’s life there was a kind of peace in what I can only imagine was a very painful and complicated relationship.

Papa was a man of adventure --- I don’t know how he could have spent so many years working at the Pentagon. When I lived near it in Arlington and passed by it everyday on my way to work in McLean I loved imagining Papa dashing out of that cold, dark place, and finding his easel hidden under a highway bridge and painting the beautiful skyline of Washington, the Potomac River, and the monuments in the distance.

Though Papa was not a religious man, I know he was a man of faith. In the Hebrew Bible, the word faith is best translated as trust. Papa trusted that with God’s help people could overcome any obstacle, that even in the midst of great pain --- there was the possibility of beauty, hope and love. Had Papa been introduced to meditation or contemplative prayer earlier in life I think he would have found a religious practice nurturing of his deep, wise, and thoughtful personality. A few years ago Papa shared with me that he heard the famous Amy Semple McPherson founder of the Four Square Gospel Church preach once when he was in California over loudspeakers in a crowded street and that he had found nourishment at one of the soup kitchens her ministry inspired. Religious or not, I will always cherish memories of our family gathered together around Thanksgiving or Christmas Dinner lovingly and creatively prepared by Nana and Papa leading us in a gentle prayer beginning with the words, “dear heavenly father.”

Papa taught me how to ride a bike. Of all the things that I can say about Papa this is to me the most significant, more because of its symbolism than its actuality. Learning to ride a bike is challenging and painful, one falls down a lot. He insisted that I not use training wheels but instead he would hold up the seat running along behind me --- there’s a kind of gift in that --- a bond established….I remember often looking behind me to see if he was still holding on to me…and discovering gratefully him waving and smiling at me as I rode away and then of course quickly falling down and skinning my knee. Papa was always quick to comfort though, he’d blow on the scrape and if duct tape were present I’m sure he’d have covered it with that too.

I always felt free to be myself with Papa, he never questioned my love for and commitment to Matt and always asked how he was doing. We all have profound stories about Papa --- about how his amazing life and personality touched us, inspired and nurtured us. I know my Dad has one involving homemade diapers made out of paint rags, a plastic bread bag and held together with duct tape but I’ll let him tell you that story.

Papa -- Roy Charles Roberts --- was an ingenious artist --- who created amazing works of art --- and most of all he created an incredibly inspiring life --- may our lives be filled with adventures, beautiful vistas, stunning artwork, unique people, trust that with God’s help any obstacle can be overcome, reconciliation with those we love, and the courage to be ourselves wherever we may be.

With love for all of you, and anticipation of seeing you in San Francisco in October --- may we remember Papa as we together gaze upon the Golden Gate Bridge and eat ice cream.

wow...it's about time

2009-04-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

My friend and neighbor Kevin Jones, shared this piece by Brian McLaren on twitter today, wow! Thanks Kevin. Read it, here.

Here's a chunk,

In the Bible, we find a variety of understandings of God’s agency in history. Some, like Job’s friends and the writer of Proverbs, think God controls everything according to simple, karma-like moral rules, so God makes bad things happen to bad people and good things to good people. Others, like Job and the writer of Ecclesiastes, find that view ridiculous, and they see chaos, accident, and injustice as part of the cosmic equation. Those who read the Bible with Greco-Roman assumptions must homogenize these voices and eliminate all tension between them, so generally they subordinate the latter to the former, and then fit the former into their six-state timeline.

But when we read the Bible as a conversation, less constrained by Greco-Roman assumptions, we look for revelation precisely at the point of tension between the two views. And in that tension, we see that God is not in control in the sense of being a chess-master moving pieces or a machine operator pulling levers, but God is in relationship, like a rider guiding a horse with a will of its own or a parent guiding a child with a will of its own. The universe, in this view, isn’t just an object upon which God acts by dominating fiat; it is a subject endowed by its Creator with millions of minds and wills, a community with which God relates inter-subjectively. Simultaneously, we see that the universe is not out of control in the sense of being chaotic, random, and purposeless, but it is out of relationship, like a child pouting in the corner at times, or like a teenager sneaking out the window at others.

Put more positively, we see that whatever happens in history, God is with us. God is present in all life’s joys and sorrows, successes and failures. God is present, gently guiding those who seek for God’s good dreams to come true, and gently warning and inviting those who are still pursuing their own selfish agendas to change their way. More striking still: God is even present in our misery and shame, suffering with those who suffer life’s injustices, grieving with those who have ruined their lives, and groaning in and through creation as a mother in childbirth, laboring for a better future to be born.

celebrating easter on the labyrinth

2009-04-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

Throughout the season of Easter, the Sunday six o'clock Contemplative Eucharist at Grace Cathedral will be held on the labyrinth. Here's my sermon notes from last night's service.

Happy Easter!

Contemplative Eucharist at Grace Cathedral Sermon Notes
Easter 2009
on Luke 24:13-49

The child of a secular Jewish family, a 20th century leftist French intellectual Simone Weil, was a person on a journey toward truth, she was drawn to Christian theology and most of all to the enigmatic character of Jesus. In her short life, she had deep conversations with mystery. As I was considering tonight’s gospel text I ran across this quote from Weil,

"Christ likes us to prefer truth to himself, because before being Christ, he is truth. If one turns aside from him to go towards the truth, one will not go far before falling into his arms."

Tonight, as we celebrate Easter together, as we engage in our own deep conversation with mystery, whether we’re ardent believers, or passionate doubters, people who have heard this story many times, or for the first time may we discover ourselves headed towards truth and falling into Christ’s arms.

This week tells us that we can not get to Easter, with out going through Good Friday, without confronting the painful, confusing, disturbing, haunting image of Jesus’ execution by imperial power and religious oppression. The disciples who met this stranger on the road in tonight’s reading were fleeing Jerusalem perhaps afraid that they too would be arrested and killed if they stayed in the city, that they too would be executed for their subversive activity, for following this one who had confronted the powers, whom they thought would liberate their people. Who can blame them for hitting the road, for getting out of there?

What happened on that road though --- who it was that Cleopas and his nameless companion ran into walked and talked with, offered hospitality to ---- is a mystery to them until that stranger picked up bread, blessed and broke it. When they realized these familiar gestures --- as those of their teacher who had been executed --- he disappeared.

There are many things to say about this story, it is one of my favorite stories concerning Jesus’ resurrection because it is so different from the many other stories of his appearing. What makes it so different and perhaps so comforting to me is because the risen Christ appears to those who fled, who walked or ran away --- I often feel like one who has left... who has walked or run away and still wanders away. This story is for all of us who doubt, who are so often at a loss for what to do, who like Cleopas know sadness and confusion ---

Tonight the Risen Christ appears to all of us as a stranger, a mystery...a fellow traveler...who engages us where we are and fills in the gaps, and opens up our stories and our lives to greater meaning and adventure.

The Christian tradition holds that the Risen Christ is someone we may encounter, lives now and gives us that same strange joy that Cleopas and his companion experience--- The Risen Christ of Easter keeps us going on the path toward wholeness and reconciliation. Who in words, actions, and presence like this labyrinth --- keeps us journeying back toward the center --- toward the heavenly Jerusalem, the realm of God. If one studies labyrinths, you know that those built in the Middle Ages were intended to aid those pilgrims who could not make the difficult and expensive journey it to the holy sites of Jerusalem --- instead they could make the sacred pilgrimage where they were. The center there where the altar stands is sometimes called, Jerusalem, the Semitic root word for Jerusalem means peace, harmony and completeness.

So the Risen Christ is our labyrinth --- the risen Christ is our path and the strangers we meet along the way --- the risen Christ points us toward peace, harmony and reconciliation --- completeness --- the risen Christ arms outstretched brings us full circle.

The disciples who met Jesus on the road turned around, returned ... rejoined the confused and curious community of disciples in Jerusalem and gave something to them, gave them reason for hope, and to keep going...Cleopas and his companion gave those back in the city as they shared their story reason to keep sharing and living the teachings of Jesus.

As we gather in this night to celebrate Christ’s resurrection we gather on the labyrinth opening ourselves up to engage this ancient story, opening ourselves up to the strangers on our path, opening ourselves up to make space for the unexpected. We discover right here, right now reason for hope and joy --- we come finding ourselves moving closer to what we know to be true and real.

Where ever we are on the journey of faith --- may this Easter celebration inspire us to slow down, talk to strangers, share stories and food --- discovering that the Risen Christ is with us.

A few nights ago, as we do each month a group from Grace and other volunteers shared a meal with former homeless persons in the Tenderloin --- during the meal one of the women we ate with began sharing how she was about to celebrate 8 months of being clean --- being sober. By the look on her face and those around her who were familiar with addiction --- you could immediately sense just how challenging and how significant that anniversary really was. That night that meal shared amongst strangers opened up the story of liberation --- of freedom --- for us. We encountered the Risen Jesus in our midst, as we engaged in conversation with mystery and shared our yearnings for liberation.

When do we find ourselves vulnerable, and willing to take in strangers? When in our lives do we risk hospitality, welcoming another into our journey, into our stories, into our struggles and confusion?

Our tradition boldly proclaims that Jesus' violent death was and is not the end of the story --- death, injustice, cruelty, despair, disease, addiction, poverty... all that seeks to bind, trap and kill us is not the end of the story--- the resurrection, the opening up of ourselves to one another, opening our selves to new understandings, new possibilities, to new companions... finding our hearts strangely warmed…this is truth…this is faith... the resurrection tells us we are free to begin the journey again. The story continues ….the story continues to unfold, the journey is forever leading us toward hope --- and new life ---the path leads to harmony, peace and wholeness --- into the arms of Christ.

There are many places we could be on this night in San Francisco --- but for whatever reason we find ourselves together in this cathedral --- where strange stories are shared, and bread is broken.

In the midst of this supposedly hyper secular city Christian theology and tradition tells us that we’re bound to discover the presence of a living Jesus.Tonight’s gospel tells us that no matter how far we run, no matter how confused or sad ---- Christ rises, comes to us as a mysterious stranger, warms our hearts, questions our understanding and reveals truth in broken bread.

Alleluia Christ is Risen!

Passion Sunday - becoming "little Christs"

2009-04-05T21:01:00.000-07:00

Below you'll find my homily notes from today's 8:30 a.m. service at Grace Cathedral.

Liturgy of the Passion

This is our story, this is our song…disturbing, confusing, challenging, moving, troubling, inspiring, complicated….

A lot of words, texts, stories have been read today, have been in a way performed --- it has been the church’s tradition for some time now to read on Palm Sunday the passion narrative and not simply the passages of scripture relaying the story of Jesus’ entrance to Jerusalem on a donkey and being greeted by people with palm branches.

We’re invited to read along and we --- the masses gathered here--- were given the part of the crowd, we got to say , repeatedly, “crucify him, crucify him”

Looking back at Christian history, the church has again and again betrayed the teachings of Jesus ---- humanity has again and again turned our backs on Jesus’ vision of the realm of God and those who sought to live a life in the way of Jesus. Humanity says these words “crucify him, crucify him” every time we choose violence rather than peace, whenever we are unable to tolerate the voices and perspectives of those who challenge us, when we fail to honor the dignity of others or the image of God within ourselves.

Yet reading these parts, “crucify him, crucify him” I wonder if these recitations --- don’t take our eyes off the one we’re to be following --- rather than identifying with the one who is inviting us to come and follow, to love as he loves, to live as he lives --- we on this day in the dramatic reading spoke the language of the oppressor, took the role of the betrayers. This performance, this text pushes us to ask whom do we really identify with? Whom do we really seek to follow in our day to day lives?

These two questions are central to all of the readings we heard today, all the passages of scripture we’ll engage in this week--- these questions are central to our lives --- to our moment in time --- whom do we identity with? Whom do we seek to follow?

John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg --- in their important book “The Last Week” remind us that two processions came into Jerusalem in the year 30 -- one was a peasant procession waving palm branches, the other an imperial procession with soldiers and weapons. Which procession do we find ourselves in? Whom do we seek to follow? Jesus, the nonviolent revolutionary teacher or the power and wealth of empires, corporations, the stock market?

Perhaps the church in its wisdom in having us read these words, “crucify him, crucify him” is giving us an opportunity to purge ourselves of our inclination to do that in our lives, to acknowledge the ways we betray and deny Jesus --- and even taunt the one who seeks to give us life and make us whole. This collective performance then is a confession and an opportunity for reorientation. May we see other options, may we find a different part --- may we come to more deeply identify with Jesus, and those whom he identified with ---with the nameless woman who anointed his head, Mary Magdalene and the other women who stayed with him to the very end. Let us open ourselves to the possibility of becoming “little Christs.”

Author Diana Butler Bass writes, “Early on, Romans scornfully tagged the Jesus followers with the name “Christian,” meaning “little Christ.” Being a Christian meant being like Jesus; following his way meant imitating the life of its guide and founder, even to the cross.”

As we enter Holy Week --- let’s keep our eyes on Jesus --- and invite the Spirit to help us make his script a central part of our lives, praying that our identity and our path be focused on Jesus and what Jesus was passionate about, the reign of God as Crossan and Borg write “the first passion of Jesus was the kingdom of God, namely, to incarnate the justice of God’s distributive justice that led inevitably to the second passion by Pilate’s punitive justice. Before Jesus, after Jesus, and for Christians, achetypically in Jesus, those who live for nonviolent justice die all too often from violent injustice.”

May we follow Jesus into the broken relationships, systems and institutions of our contemporary world, follow Jesus into the homes of the sick and marginalized, into the midst of demonstrations and protests, the cold complicity of churches, the inhumanity of the judicial structures, may we follow Jesus into the cruel torture chambers, the lonely jails and prisons, the bloody golgathas and calvarys, the abandoned tombs --- let us follow Jesus --- may this be our story, may this be our song. May we be known as “little Christs.” Blessed be the King who comes in the Name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and Hosanna in the Highest”

The image above is by South Asian artist, Solomon RAJ

Scripts

2009-04-02T10:28:00.001-07:00

I noticed this morning that Walter Brueggemann's presentation to the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops last month is now available online, check that out here.

Here's a bit from the end of the document:

It is my judgment that the church, in all quarters, must repent of its lust for the absolute. But surely the Rabbis, and the Church Fathers after them, understood that there are no final interpretations. And surely we have learned in the twentieth century that final interpretations are a dangerous step along the way to the Final Solution. In my Church, the United Church of Christ, we have now adopted the slogan, “God is still speaking,” which means in that liberal context, God has something new to say about sexuality. The logo for that slogan is a comma, suggesting that after the received truth of scripture there is not a period, but a comma.

But my church is tempted to disregard everything in front of the comma. The task for Red and Blue in the church, conservatives and liberals, is to recognize that because the spirit is on the move, we must pay attention to both sides of the comma, not just what is old and not just what is new.

For those who appreciate Brueggemann, check out his 19 theses, which he presented to the Emergent Theological Conversation in September of 2004. Our friend Paul Soupiset transcribed and posted the audio here.

Faith & Fools on April 1st

2009-04-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

A number of faith blogs have special April Fool's Day postings, here's a few to enjoy:

Rush Limbaugh to Speak at Sojourners’ Mobilization to End Poverty

From the posting:

Limbaugh, longtime champion of conservative media, announced his acceptance of the invitation on his daily radio show. Interrupted occasionally by call-ins of incredulous listeners, Limbaugh detailed months of off-the-record conversations with Wallis during which the two forged a deep friendship despite political, theological, philosophical, ideological, ecological, anthropological, eschatological, and soteriological differences. That dialogue came to a head one night when an anguished and sleepless Limbaugh called Wallis after 3:00 a.m., seeking spiritual solace.

“I responded like any good evangelical would,” said Wallis. “I told him he should read his Bible. And then I hung up and went back to sleep.”

Vexed but desperate, Limbaugh grabbed his trusty KJV, fanned it open at random, closed his eyes, and thrust his index finger upon whatever page it might find, landing upon this passage from James 5:

Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

“I admit, of all the verses for him to read, this passage sounds a bit harsh—especially in the King James,” said Wallis. “But with 2,000 verses on poverty in the Bible, Rush was bound to hit one of them.”

Trinity Expanded to Include Oprah

From the posting:
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 1 -- Oprah Winfrey has been declared the fourth person of the Trinity, according to an astonishing new theological agreement hammered out by the world's major Christian denominations. Along with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the popular talk show host will be recognized as one person in the sacred and indivisible unity of the Godhead--or Quadhead, as the updated Trinity will now be called.

New green initiative for General Convention

From the posting:

Youth from the Diocese of Los Angeles will roam the floors of both the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies carrying aspersories and aspergillia to keep members hydrated during sessions. “We plan to use a form of blessed Gatorade,” Straub noted, “which when placed against the skin will absorb instantly without the use of paper or plastic cups.”

The Most Rev. Rowan Williams will also reduce his carbon footprint when he visits General Convention by sailing from England to Los Angeles on board the restored 18th century frigate, HMS Compass Rose. Rumors that Williams plans to walk the entire distance from Canterbury to Anaheim were dismissed by the Anglican Communion Office as “exaggerated” because the Archbishop only walks a mile or two a day.

Four Voices of hope & change

2009-03-31T15:20:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday evening at the Contemplative Eucharist at Grace Cathedral I spoke about three voices that have been influencing my thoughts, dreams and work over the past few weeks. I'm adding a fourth to this blog post. Here we go.

The work and life of Elizabeth O'Connor

Phyllis Tickle's new book The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing & Why

Elizabeth Lesser's Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow in particular what she calls the Phoenix Process

Diana Butler Bass' latest A People's History of Christianity

Each of these voices speak to the challenges and opportunities of changing times. Please check them out and pass them on.

homelessness & community in SF

2009-03-18T09:29:00.000-07:00

Last week, I visited the San Francisco GLBT Historical Society's Polk Street: Lives in Transition exhibit, which chronicles the complex lives and circumstances of those who seek and have sought comfort, acceptance, hope and a home in the Polk Street & Tenderloin neighborhoods through the years. You can learn more about the exhibit here, and in this week's Guardian read a story about a few of the people whose stories are shared in the exhibit. One of those people is my friend and San Francisco clergy colleague, the Reverend Megan Rohrer. Megan is an important part of today's Polk Street area and through the Welcome Ministry is seeking to respond to poverty in San Francisco one person, one sidewalk at a time. The Human Rights Campaign shares some of Megan's inspiring story here.

Welcome to Lent

2009-02-26T12:12:00.000-08:00

I was invited to preach yesterday at the evening Ash Wednesday service at Grace Cathedral. You'll find the text below. Blessings on your Lenten pilgrimage.

Human beings like to get baked, broiled, toasted, steamed and dried. Even in chilly San Francisco, we crave warmth when the sun comes out and the temperature reaches just a bit above 50 degrees I start getting text messages from friends telling me they are heading to the beach, to Baker or Dolores Park.

How many saunas, steam rooms, bikram yoga studios, and health clubs are there in this city anyway? How many places are there for us to sit in a room with others and sweat? Who among us on a cold, foggy, rainy day doesn¹t yearn for time in a hot spring Esalen or Calistoga or the dry heat of Palm Springs? I¹ve not been to any of those places yet but just their names make me want to hit the road.

While we Californians appreciate heat, I’m learning we¹re not alone. I was talking recently with a female pastor from DC, who shared with me her love for a place called Spa World in the Virginia suburbs --- she’s considers it a place to find Sabbath rest and one of the few places to communally do nothing. All over the world human beings flock to hot spots and have for centuries. The Greeks and the Romans, in Japan and India, Native peoples, in the Middle East and of course the Finns all love their heat --- Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Pagans you name the religion some where, some how you’ll find a ritual involving fire, water, and cleansing.

Ash Wednesday wouldn't be Ash Wednesday with out heat. The ashes soon to be rubbed on our foreheads come from the burning of last year’s Palm Sunday palm fronds.

Perhaps this human compulsion towards heat, to places where we are exposed, naked, vulnerable, hot and sweaty --- is similar to what brings so many of us to this church in the middle of the week in the winter, a yearning to connect with the ground of our being --- with the truth, the earthy, the rawness of the human condition.

Ash Wednesday --- the entire season of Lent really is an invitation to connect with our humanity and surrender to God’s warm embracing love. Welcome to God’s spa, God’s sauna --- God’s health club. Welcome to Lent.

Sure --- Ash Wednesday is about serious stuff, confessing our sins, and facing our mortality. Lots of people of course give up something during this season chocolate or meat, or start something new meditation or a new exercise program --- to deepen their connection with God and to mark this season as something set a part.

Yet as we enter Lent, God’s spa, God’s health club before we hit start on the religious stair master-- in this evening’s gospel Jesus, has some warnings for us.

While we can take all kinds of classes, we can learn how to stand on our head, and lift a ton of weight and can compete with others. Jesus says all this fasting, repentance, and giving alms...all the religious rituals we engage in are not about keeping up with someone else, or being more holier than another, becoming more religiously fit but about surrendering to the warmth of God's love.

Jesus, as personal trainer and community compassion aerobics instructor might even suggest that the really hard work in God’s gym goes on in the sauna ---- where we’re challenged to sit next to another sweaty smelly person or quietly alone with the beads of sweat dripping down us, where we are compelled to really take time to reflect on our lives, pains, hopes, dreams and prayers.

Learning to do nothing --- nothing at all but surrender to the one who loves us --- to the one who invites us to let go of comparing ourselves to others (beware of practicing your piety). In the same chapter of Matthew we just heard, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray and invites us out of the limitations of class, race, and religion to be part of one human family (our father, who art in heaven) who invites us to enter God’s realm (thy kingdom come, thy will be done) where only love matters, where nothing more is taken than what is needed (give us this day our daily bread), who asks us to let go of our grudges, and resentments (forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others) who asks us to face the cruelty and injustice within ourselves and the systems we live in (deliver us from evil).

In thinking about this day, this season I ran across a piece by Anne Howard, Executive Director of a wonderful organization called the Beatitudes Society she reflects on the words of Urban T. Holmes,

Lent is not 40 days and 40 ways to self-improvement. No, No, No. Lent is the invitation to settle deeply into our humanity, bruised knees, bruised egos and all. This kind of settling in is different from coming up with disciplines that might make us better. Anglican theologian Terry Holmes once said that Lent is “an opportunity to lay aside our need for control and to enter into the chaos of our inner selves, our society and the world. It¹s not the time, he said, “to tighten up the screws on our spiritual lives,” to gain mastery over our bad habits.

Ash Wednesday, this Lent then is not about self-improvement, it is about surrender. Ash Wednesday, Lent are about turning up the gospel heat on our lives, letting the distractions be burned away by grace and getting down to basics.

When I think about this surrendering--- I’m taken back to the first cathedral I ever knew --- a place in the mountains of Virginia that is also the camp and conference center of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. At the end of each week of camp in the heat and humidity after days of playing capture the flag, hiking, and singing songs until our throats hurt regardless of ones age or what the theme of the camp, a dance happened. Beginning at twilight and ending under a majestic starlit sky. In the midst of these dances everyone seemed some how to find freedom, to let go, to surrender to something far greater than them selves, there it seemed God’s encompassing love was given free expression. Remember that you are dust --- if you’ve ever shaken out an old rug --- you know that dust flies --- camp dances were much like that --- and the surrendering was our offering to the God who loves us.

I used to think that these nostalgic memories of church camp were irrelevant --- were naïve --- until a few years ago as part of a group from the Diocese of California I visited a community of youth in South Africa who in the face of overwhelming hardships, AIDS and economic desperation --- have been able to stare death and greed in the face and dance and sing with an intensity of warmth as hot as any sauna. Who knew profoundly that all of us are dust and to dust we shall return. The South African youth we met at the Bokamoso Youth Center knew something profound about surrendering to God, befriending death--- giving up control, shaking out the dirty rug, dancing, and singing.

Lent begins for each of us right now, in a few minutes we’ll be smeared with ashes and these words will be said to each of us who wants it, remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. Holy, sacred, raw, earthy, dirty, and strange.

Paradoxically, it seems we’ve got to get dirty to get clean ---

Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent is an invitation to release the inner poet and mystic in all of us --- to strip down and enter the sweat lodge. Get dirty to get clean.

The great 20th century monk and interfaith pioneer Thomas Merton wrote about Ash Wednesday in this way,

In some monastic communities, monks go up to receive the ashes barefoot. Going barefoot is a joyous thing. It is good to feel the floor or the earth under your feet. It is good when the whole church is silent, filled with the hush of people walking without shoes. One wonders why we wear such things as shoes anyway. Prayer is so much more meaningful without them. It would be good to take them off in church all the time.

I think Merton and his barefoot sisters and brothers would be at home in God’s sauna, God’s spa, God’s sweat lodge.

Yes, Ash Wednesday and Lent are about acknowledging our sins and the reality of death --- discovering the truth that in order to really live we need to become friends with death. We need to connect with our humanity --- to our fragility --- we need to strip down, buck-naked and surrender to the God who loves us.

As we take our membership card in God’s Gym and are smeared with ashes in the shape of a cross, may we know we’re heading toward a mystery and the strangest most sublime gift. The one we follow, the one who instructs us, who helps us find our way bares all for us, was humiliated, beaten, and tortured --- stretched out arms wide, the ultimate surrender, and died. Despite all our failures, shortcomings, and wrongs in Christ’s resurrection all are given reason to dance and sing whatever shape we’re in, whatever we’ve been through --- whether we’ve followed the workout plan closely or lost our way long ago.

So go sit in a sauna, go lie on a beach, walk in the park, take off your shoes, shake out the rug, dance in the moon light under a sky full of dust, sit and pray awhile in this cavernous oasis in the city called Grace Cathedral--- and know that you are dust.

May we walk out at the end of our Lenten pilgrimage, these 40 days more mature, wise and joy filled than when we started.

May Lent be a time for us to surrender, to let go of control, and to open up.

May this Ash Wednesday help us connect with our bodies with our fragility, pain, grief and longing.

There is no doubt that this nation, this world, our selves, need intense body work, therapy and time in God’s spa. We need to let it all hang out. To reveal the truth --- to uncover the pain, grief, suffering, the deceit, to take off the mask and everything else that attempts to hide us from God and one another.

We need to let God’s hands into the mess of our lives, to touch us deeply too massage us, to let out the stress and strain, to warm us, delight us, and heal us.

There is such pain, grief and longing stored deep in each of us --- in this city, in the world, in this cathedral. Surrender.

Whatever our class, race, religion, gender or sexual orientation --- we’ve got an opportunity in Lent to make some choices that help us live more authentic lives, to strip down and be the human beings we’ve been created to be. “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Welcome to God’s 24-hour free health club, its warm in here.

Anna & Simeon - this baby is going to stir things up

2009-01-01T23:03:00.000-08:00

This Christmas has been filled with the unexpected and lots of loved ones in the hospital. My Nana (Naomi), Matt's Mom (DJ), and our 79 year old housemate (Bernard). All are doing well, please keep them in your prayers. We've been blessed by friends, neighbors and family stretched across the continent yet committed to being present, helpful, tender and supportive.

I preached at the 11 o'clock service last Sunday, and was surprised to notice as the gospel procession headed out of the choir and down to the nave, that the reading was not the one I had based my sermon on, YIKES! Apparently, the Episcopal Church chooses different lessons than lots of other churches that use the Revised Common Lectionary for the 1st Sunday after Christmas. I didn't get the memo. It is not the worst thing that could happen, but it sure was embarrassing. Anyway, you can check the sermon out here. I mention Peter Gabriel's great song, More Than This, below are the lyrics.

woke up and the world outside was dark
All so quiet before the dawn
Opened up the door and walked outside
The ground was cold

I walked until I couldnt walk anymore
To a place Id never been
There was something stirring in the air
In front of me, I could see

More than this
More than this
So much more than this
There is something else there
When all that you had has all gone
And more than this
I stand
Feeling so connected
And Im all there
Right next to you

It started when I saw the ship go down
I saw them struggle in the sea
And suddenly the picture disappears
In front of me

Now were busy making all our busy plans
On foundations built to last
But nothing fades as fast as the future
And nothing clings like the past, until we can see

More than this
More than this
So much more than this
There is something out there
More than this
Its coming through
And more than this
I stand alone and so connected
And Im all there
Right next to you

Oh then its alright
When with every day another bit falls away
Oh but its still alright, alright, alright
And like words together we can make some sense

Much more than this
Way beyond imagination
Much more than this
Beyond the stars
With my head so full
So full of fractured pictures
And Im all there
Right next to you
So much more than this
There is something else there
When all that you had has all gone
And more than this
Im alone
Feeling so connected
And Im all there right next to you

advent - awake & praying

2008-12-04T10:40:00.000-08:00

Advent is a gift that keeps on giving. The other day, I was walking down California Street and ran into a huge tacky "Holiday" display that was more advertisement than celebration, more noise than music. This "bright lights, big city" spectacle reiterated for me the great wisdom and nurturing spaciousness that the quiet season of Advent offers those who ache for something different.

A friend, church colleague and neighbor and I are planning a simple outdoor prayer gathering Friday nights in Advent at a park near our homes on Bernal Heights. A different kind of event we hope, flash lights, stars, prayers, friends, strangers, neighbors and a great view of the city. Check out Diobytes for more info. Join us.

By the way, check out Trinity Wall Street's and the Episcopal Diocese of Washington's interactive Advent calendars. My former Virginia Seminary professor Diana Butler Bass is also posting reflections on her Advent calendar over at Sojourners God's Politics blog.

the struggle continues, love endures

2008-11-10T07:53:00.001-08:00

The passage of Prop 8 in California has felt deeply painful, we were inspired Friday evening along with thousands of others to join in protests and leaders from our faith community the Episcopal Diocese of California and Grace Cathedral have recently made strong, supportive statements. I am particularly grateful for these two paragraphs, from Alan Jones, dean of Grace Cathedral in his open letter to the community distributed to the congregation yesterday,

"Many years ago, at the height of the AIDS epidemic, I was asked by a reporter from the BBC whether we tolerated Gay people at Grace Cathedral. I answered with an emphatic “No!” I said, “We don’t tolerate gay people. Gay people are us! We are all together here, friends and colleagues – straight and gay.” So, we will continue to strive for justice and inclusion. The journey continues, and the progressive faith community has a profound responsibility to reach out to our brothers and sisters on the other side.
The Grace Cathedral community has benefited mightily from the steadfast love, commitment, service, and compassion of our LGBT members. It is fair to say that we would not be as prominent, dynamic, creative, or faithful a community without you/them. We stand in solidarity with you and your families, and look forward to running with perseverance the race that has been set before us."

Susan Russell beautifully chronicles much that is happening in California in response to the passage of Prop 8, read all about it here.

We have a long way to go for equal rights, the struggle continues and love endures.

There's also enormous gratitude in our hearts for the movement of change, hope and progress that continues to grow.

VOTE NO on PROP 8

2008-10-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

Last night, a large group of Grace Cathedral folks and friends gathered to watch the powerful documentary For the Bible Tells Me So. We also talked a bit about the important role people of faith have to play in the movement for equality. On election day Californians have an opportunity to stand up for the equal rights of all by defeating Prop 8 which if passed would deny gay and lesbian couples the right to marry. Conservative religious groups, many from outside the state, are pouring money into advertising in support of the proposition but other people of faith are working hard to defeat it. All the Episcopal Bishops of California are encouraging people to vote no, you can read more about their efforts here.

I was moved to learn of a Roman Catholic priest in Fresno, California who recently preached a sermon calling his congregation to vote no on Prop 8. Read more about Father Geoff Farrow over on Susan's blog, An Inch at a Time. Thank you Fr. Geoff for your courage and compassion.

There are many ways to get involved in the movement, volunteering, phone banking, and donating money. Visit No On Prop 8 to learn more.

Community Organizing

2008-09-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

There are many things for young people to be involved in between college and graduate school. There are many ways to learn about the pressing issues of our time and make a difference. My brother, Christopher, spent last year working with young kids in a Washington, DC affordable housing community connected with the ecumenical Church of the Savior. He's now working with another church affiliated non-profit that helps tenants understand their rights in an urban area in the mid-west. My brother's doing this hard work, like the many community organizers I have met, because he cares about people and yearns to express his faith in all that he does.

Community Organizing is a process that helps churches, civic groups, organizations and others work together for the common good. Organizing is not isolated to urban or poor communities. One thing is clear, that community organizing has everything to do with responsibility. Helping people become part of the political process, take responsibility for themselves and their neighborhoods and bring accountability into civic life.

Check out the following links to read more about organizing and the most recent belittling of Barack Obama's experiences as an organizer before going on to law school and becoming a State Senator in the mid-west.

There are two great pieces on organizing posted up at:
Sojourner's God's Politics

If you saw the Democratic Convention you may have heard this great prayer by evangelical Don Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz. I think it expresses well the type of commitments that people involved in community organizing regardless of their faith are all about.

"Great faith" on the edge of life

2008-08-21T08:46:00.001-07:00

Listen to my most recent sermon here.

engaged

2008-06-12T15:05:00.000-07:00

Matt and I rather innocently changed our Facebook profiles this week to say what we've known to be true about us for quite awhile --- we're engaged. Landmark California Supreme Court decision or no Supreme Court decision, we've sung to one another as Joni Mitchell sings "We don't need no piece of paper from the city hall, keeping us tied and true" but that piece of paper helps and matters a lot, as will a gathering in the future (time, location, details yet to be determined) in which we will make promises before God, one another, our friends, family and faith community.

We were not prepared for the amazing show of support and encouragement from across the planet that filled the "walls" of our profiles in just a few hours. Simple gestures of support and encouragement online and off moved us both and reaffirmed just what an important step marriage is in the life of any couple. Marriage is indeed about the couple "tying the knot" but it is also about community. Below is the text of the last sermon I preached in Virginia, which I posted on this blog over a year ago when I arrived in San Francisco . The sermon wrestles with the meaning of Christian marriage, divorce, and commitment. I've pasted it again below, you can see the original post here.

Sermon on Mark 10:2-16

Sunday, October 8, 2006

"What God has joined together let no one separate."

Whatever relationships we are part of --- whether are we are married, divorced, widowed, partnered or single Christians are called to be a people joined together, forgivers of one another --- people who know that our true identity is in God. We Christians are called to recognize that nothing separates us from the love of God. We may be parted from one another by continents and oceans, we may be parted by political differences, we may be kept apart by different emphasis, beliefs and practices, we may be parted by death, or we may even be divorced --- however ultimately nothing can separate us because we are all drawn, knitted, woven together by the same God. Last week’s moving forgiving witness of the Amish families whose daughters were horrifically slaughtered --- remind us all that our Christian call is one of radical forgiveness. The Amish embrace and forgiveness of the killers family --- remind us of the radical forgiveness we have received through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. God joins us together --- sometimes most often in suffering and pain --- and we must not allow our selves to be separated --- we are all being drawn, knit, woven together.

Before I begin to focus on today’s Gospel lesson --- it is important I think for you to know that I am a child of divorced parents and I believe and have believed since that time that somehow God’s hand was in this. When my parents were going through their separation and divorce --- I remember people at our church coming up to me and expressing well-meaning sympathy but at times it felt rather condescending “you poor thing” because for me the divorce offered us all an invitation to something new and hopeful provided room perhaps someday for forgiveness and healing. Even though the marriage was formally over --- ultimately God was still knitting, weaving us all together despite and perhaps as part of the divorce. Each member of our family through the divorce was not just being tied, reconciled to each other but we were being drawn, woven together into God’s wider family.

A gay couple for a number of reasons are leaving the state of Virginia, one of the factors in their decision to leave is that their commitment to one another is given little or no protection or recognition by Virginia law or by their faith community. One of the reasons they have chosen to move is so that they may live in a state and a community where they will be able to find recognition, support, and affirmation for their commitment to one another. I heard recently how difficult this move is for their parents --- especially their mothers, yet despite her own pain and sorrow over her sons move, without the prompting of her son, one of the mothers recently sent an email to the other --- expressing her support for the couple’s commitment --- saying to the other mother “please consider yourself part of our family now.” God is still weaving.

I’m not certain that God’s good news for us today is really about divorce or marriage --- I think that this passage of scripture is about God. About God as knitter, and weaver --- God who draws, ties, knits people together in relationships of trust, fidelity, wholeness and integrity.

If we consider the context of what Jesus is saying – and look closely at what Jesus says and does not say --- we may find that we are all drawn more deeply into the holiness of God and together in reconciliation with each other.

Now, this section of Mark's gospel is part of a longer section --- where Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. Along the way Jesus is being asked a lot of questions --- he is being tested --- particularly by the Pharisees --- who seem to always be in search of a way to trap Jesus --- to control Jesus and are bound and determined to use lines from the Bible to divide and conquer. Yet as seems to be typical of Jesus --- Jesus says a strong NO when the Bible is used by people to divide or separate. Note that when the Pharisees ask Jesus about divorce they do not ask if it is lawful for a woman to divorce her husband--- because according to the law it is not lawful. According to the Hebrew Bible all a husband has to do to divorce his wife is hand her a note, a slip of paper --- a receipt of sorts. Unfortunately, a woman was not given an equal escape route from an unhappy marriage. Some Biblical scholars suggest that Jesus knew this was the case --- and is one of the reasons he does not seem to support the Pharisees defense of divorce -- it is an unfair, imbalanced, unjust system. Since Jesus had women disciples and seems to have broken a number of gender taboos --- Jesus may have been attempting to protect women from exploitation and abandonment. In fact, Jesus says in our passage today that rather than men being above and superior to women --- Jesus says in this passage men and women leave their families to become one flesh. Some Christian Biblical scholars suggest that Jesus is making an argument for gender equality in a time when this was very difficult to imagine or hear. God is still weaving.

So Jesus ignores the specific question about the lawfulness of divorce --- Jesus instead pushes the Pharisees and us back further into the history of God's actions. Jesus pushes us back to the beginning --- he reminds us that God is the creator of all --- and that God is the one who joins people together. Jesus clearly does not favor divorce that leaves women vulnerable to exploitation. In today’s gospel Jesus seems to be frustrated by the desire of the Pharisees to get into a technical argument using the Bible to divide people rather Jesus instead wants to lift up the value of God’s actions in human relationships – so Jesus says strongly therefore what God has joined together let no one separate.

Now --- how were God's actions experienced in Biblical times --- well it would be very different than what we experience. In Jesus' time it was common for families to choose a persons spouse --- individuals had little say on who they married and who they would not marry. Marriage was a significant event in which not just two people are joined together but two families are joined together. As I was preparing for this sermon I was encouraged to pick up a book at the library --- it is called "marriage, a history" in this book you learn of the long history --- really the evolution of marriage throughout human history --- and Christian marriage is certainly not immune from change --- one only needs to look at the political marriages of Europe or the polygamous marriages of some Mormon sects and even Anglicans in parts of Africa today to know that what Christians claim to be true marriage has changed over time. The author of “Marriage, a history” reveals just how little over the years romantic love has had to do with marriage until our contemporary context. Yet God was still weaving.

In Jesus’ day God acted through family members to join people together -- at least that is how it was experienced. Here’s what theologian William Countryman says about marriage in Jesus’ time --- “In the ancient Mediterranean world, women were the property of their fathers. The father was the embodiment of the family; he was not functioning like a modern individual in this role. And his daughters belonged to him, as head of the family. He could given them away in marriage in exchange for desirable family connections, specific commitments, or other goods. At that point, the woman became the property of her husband as a sort of quasi-member of his family. She didn’t truly become a part of that family until her husband died and her son succeeded as head of the household. She was then part of her son’s family. But if she were divorced before that, she was sent back to her family of origin, while her children stayed with their father. They were his offspring, who existed for the benefit of his family.”

So a wedding, a marriage in Jesus’ time was not just for the couple but really more for everyone else --- the family members of the couple and perhaps in many ways today this is still the case. With the gay couple I mentioned earlier --- God is active --- drawing the two together --- and the mother’s support for their commitment and the extension of family ties “please consider yourself part of our family now” reminds us that despite our living thousands of years later, and continents apart in very different contexts--- God continues to draw people together.

In many ways --- as the statement goes God is still speaking --- I’d say that today we are reminded that God is still weaving, God is still knitting people together.

Interestingly the root of the word religion --- is related to the latin word for tie or fasten together. In our prayer book we read that the mission of the church is to reconcile, to draw people together with God and each other. So the words of Jesus “therefore what God has joined together let know one separate” focuses us on God and God’s involvement, God’s drawing together, weaving, fastening human relationships.

Which is one reason why the agony and pain that our culture is going through over gay marriage is so difficult because it is about something very deep and real --- who God joins together. Yet perhaps our focus on the individuals is misplaced --- perhaps our focus when it comes to marriage for anyone should really be on community and extended family -- on mothers who send emails, on fathers who embrace and forgive strangers. Perhaps our culture has become far too obsessed with couples and not concerned enough with community --- with life beyond the marriage of two individuals. There have been times in Christian history when theologians and ministers have warned couples not to love one another too much --- out of fear that they might make an idol out of one another. The poet Rainer Rilke says that lovers must be guardians of the solitude of their partner --- somehow there must be space between them --- space for God, space for growth --- space for change. Perhaps --- our culture may at times love marriage too much --- and in so doing --- make marriage an idol rather than a source of life, hope and community. So God knits us together --- God joins people to one another -- but leaves space --- space for our growth, space for change.

If this were any other sermon --- I might stop right there but God is still knitting and weaving. As many of you know today is my last Sunday at St. John’s Church --- I have been called to serve as Associate Pastor for Outreach, Youth and Young Adults at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. While I am sad that I will be leaving you --- leaving a profound community that knows that God is still weaving and is part of that experience --- a community that is welcoming, connecting, offering hope, community, and healing --- I know that we are drawn together, woven together and that God has joined us together tightly for these two years and is now connecting us with the wider body of Christ through this call to the other side of the continent. I carry with me joy, excitement, and inspiration from my time in this dynamic, creative and gifted sanctuary. I will never forget you --- and the lessons you have taught me. Nor is our journey together over. I know we still have much we can learn from each other, and I hope many of you will visit me in San Francisco. The doors of Grace Cathedral will always be open to you.

My prayer for you is that you will continue to be who you are --- an embassy of God’s Kingdom -- where the abundant gifts God has given you are freely and generously shared for the manifesting of true hope, community, love and peace--- the Good News that God is still weaving us all together in one great tapestry of love.

Spreading the Word on the Street

2008-05-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

My colleague Vanessa Glass shared this profound story with me today. Also, read about San Francisco Night Ministry's new Open Cathedral, here.

Pentecost in San Francisco

2008-05-12T18:08:00.000-07:00

The Episcopal Diocese of California has been busy this weekend celebrating new life in the Spirit with a special convention where we affirmed a communal vision for "beloved community" and the calling of a new Assistant Bishop to aid us in expanding multi-cultural ministry.

You can read more about our vision and Bishop Steven Charleston here. From an article on the Diocese of California website:

At the end of the meeting, Andrus took a moment to introduce the new ethnic and multicultural missioner called to the diocese in fulfillment of a resolution passed by Diocesan Convention in 2007. The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston was selected to fill this position after a nationwide search during which the interview committee considered a number of highly qualified women and men from a wide variety of backgrounds. Charleston will also serve the diocese as assistant bishop.

Charleston is the president and dean of Episcopal Divinity School, a post he will be leaving this summer before joining the Diocese of California. A citizen of the Choctaw Nation in his home state of Oklahoma, Charleston has been national staff officer for Native American ministries in The Episcopal Church, director of the Dakota Leadership Program, diocesan bishop of Alaska, and assistant bishop of Connecticut. He is widely recognized as a leading advocate for justice issues and spiritual renewal in the church.

In what he called “a refreshing spirit-filled moment,” Charleston spoke briefly to the special convention, saying “I’m coming here full of enthusiasm and with an open heart to work with all of you because I believe this is a great diocese and you’re on the verge of doing some really exciting things that will be excellent for the whole church.” Charleston will begin his work with the Diocese of California this summer.

My colleague the Reverend Vanessa Glass and I have been teaching a class together this month exploring Acts of the Apostles called, "Strange Fire." While preparing for the class, I found the icon above after reading an essay by my former professor at Virginia Theological Seminary, the Reverend Dr. Katherine Grieb. Read the essay here. The icon, I think is a wonderful illustration for Bishop Marc Andrus' provocative Pentecost sermon, listen here. Below are the words of the hymn he refers to in his message:

Bring many names, beautiful and good,
celebrate, in parable and story,
holiness in glory, living, loving God.
Hail and hosanna! Bring many names!

Strong mother God, working night and day,
planning all the wonders of creation,
setting each equation, genius at play:
Hail and hosanna, strong mother God!

Warm father God, hugging every child,
feeling all the strains of human living,
caring and forgiving till we're reconciled:
Hail and hosanna, warm father God!

Old, aching God, grey with endless care,
calmly piercing evil's new disguises,
glad of good surprises, wiser than despair:
Hail and hosanna, old aching God!

Young, growing God, eager, on the move,
saying no to falsehood and unkindness,
crying out for justice, giving all you have:
Hail and hosanna, young, growing God!

Great, living God, never fully known,
joyful darkness far beyond our seeing,
closer yet than breathing, everlasting home:
Hail and hosanna, great, living God!

faith happenings in the Bay Area

2008-05-09T10:09:00.000-07:00

The past few days have been filled with good conversations about faith and the pursuit of a more just and compassionate society. Pray that all this talk leads to action. On Wednesday at Grace Cathedral there was an ecumenical gathering of leaders seeking to "provoke the Christian political imagination" by supporting the Jesus for President tour.

Last night, I had the opportunity to represent the Bay Area Organizing Committee at the largest non-partisan political event in Marin County's history. Check out this story about last night's Marin Organizing Committee gathering, here's a quote from one of the inspiring voices that spoke,

The beauty of (Marin) may obscure it, but there are real issues we have to face," said Rabbi Stacy Friedman of Congregation Rodef Sholom. "Those issues come to us as gaps - gaps in our economic classes, gaps in our youth services, gaps in health services.

We are here tonight to say we are going to take on the biggest gap of all, the gap in civic duty.

To cap it all off, this morning online I discovered the voice of my friend and fellow San Francisco Episcopalian, Sara Miles. Check out her "This I believe" essay here. While you are at NPR you might want to listen to this story on Saul Alinsky, the father of community organizing. For some theology, see New Testament theologian Walter Wink's essay on Jesus & Alinsky.

UPDATE:

Click here and here for further coverage of the inspiring Marin Organizing Committee Action Assembly

Standing for Human Rights in Tibet, Darfur and around the world

2008-04-08T05:36:00.000-07:00

This week many in San Francisco are coming together to stand in solidarity with those who have suffered due to the policies of the Chinese government. As the Olympic Torch passes through the area, Bay Area residents are seeking to shine a light on human rights abuses in Tibet and China's support for the Sudanese government. Please read Episcopal Bishop of California, Marc Andrus' profound message about these and other demonstrations. This evening, Matt and I will be attending a peaceful candlelight vigil for Tibet with Desmond Tutu and Richard Gere at the United Nations Plaza at Civic Center, and tomorrow Darfur activists including a number of us from Grace Cathedral will be along the torch relay route.

As an undergraduate I had the opportunity to live and study among the Tibetan people both in exile and in Tibet itself. I met numerous people whose stories of struggle, pain, and hope still haunt and inspire me. Their collective struggle for freedom deserves our support. Activists and people of faith have been coming together for years seeking to draw attention to the genocide in Darfur. This week, we'll tell China to stop selling weapons to the Sudanese government.

This evening, Archbishop Desmond Tutu will receive an award from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission at Grace Cathedral for his support of human rights for gay and lesbian persons. This week's numerous activities are a reminder to us all that as Martin Luther King Jr. taught, a threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, that the struggle for a better world involves standing together in solidarity with all who suffer, and that we must confront abuse, violence, and injustice with nonviolent love.

an idea that lives

2008-03-25T14:25:00.000-07:00

Like many clergy these few days after Easter have been about sabbath - finding rest and refreshment after weeks of intense church work. Yesterday morning, I had the opportunity to sleep in a bit, enjoy breakfast with an old college friend and go for a long walk around our neighborhood surrounding Bernal Heights. All over this hill are little gardens and staircases, each one encouraging the climber to slow down, take a deep breath and look around. As we walked, we talked about contemporary politics both local and global, how challenging raising children must be in our time (we both are childless so far though Renee teaches kid's piano) and about the past. When I returned home I received an email from a really old friend from my childhood in Winchester, who had come to mind during the Easter Vigil on Saturday night. As I watched the torches being lit I recalled how Philip was a far better acolyte than I ever was. Philip went onto military service and I into the church -- perhaps there's some sense in that.

Last night, Matt and I attended a vigil organized by Veterans for Peace in front of City Hall where 4000 candles were lit for the men and women who have died in Iraq. Philip's message yesterday, and the photos of his children, nieces and nephews on his myspace page gave the names read during the vigil weight. Each person no matter how young, had a life, family, faith and story. I'm grateful that Philip is alive and continue to mourn those whose lives were cut short and pray for peace.

Last week, a colleague asked me what I preached last year at the Sunday evening Easter service, the gospel lesson was Jesus' appearance to two disciples as a stranger on the road to Emmaus. Below you'll find what I preached, pardon the poor grammar and spelling mistakes. Much of this message was inspired by the work of Ched Myers, check out his take on the Road to Emmaus here. Also, reading this sermon reminded me of a favorite new book, Jesus for President. The author Shane Claiborne and friends will be coming to the Bay Area in July, look for more on that soon.

Happy Easter!

Where are we going? What are we going to do? He's dead --- those women in our group gossiping about seeing some angel --- we are in deep --- we've got to get out of Jerusalem --- they could come after us next. How could we be so ridiculous --- how could we think that he was the one?

In a world like our own --- amidst imperial occupation, oppression, injustice and violence. In a world like our own --- where movements of change and hope are ignored, dismissed, ridiculed, and put down

Jesus comes back --- Jesus comes back --- Jesus is resurrected --- we'll find him on the road --- we'll find him at table --- we'll find him ----

We'll find Jesus and we'll be opened up so that we might move beyond the site of defeat and despair to new life, hope and courage.

As we gather on this night --- we do so --- on the brink of if not in the midst of apocalyptic ecological catastrophe--- occupants of a world misshapen by human greed and carelessness, we gather as troops head into war, children lay dying of curable disease and hunger --- we gather together for what on this night?

We gather in this sacred space to be energized by the resurrection power of God --- that is manifest in an odd way, in the presence of a stranger on the side of a road --- who talks and walks with two disappointed revolutionaries about the rejection and execution of their movement's leader. Who joins these two fearful people for a meal --- and in the midst of sharing bread and wine with them reveals that he is their executed teacher --- alive and with them in a new way.

If we are paying attention we like those disciples on the road desperately need a savior --- one to save us from ourselves and the brokenness of our world --- we need a liberator from the reign of death that covers us. We need to know that despite and in spite of evidence to the contrary --- this is God's world and we are God's people --- our lives have meaning, purpose, direction. Death, violence, destruction, greed, inhumanity, injustice, imperialist wars are not the future -- are not the ultimate victors --- God is about a movement of love and transformation. God is about drawing people into a way of life that brings health, wholeness, healing, reconciliation, peace, justice and comfort.

Easter is about Good News --- about new possibility about a transcendent God who gives and gives and gives again. Leading us to do the same for each other. All who are suffering today can turn to this generous God and to God's people who are called to follow God's example by reaching out to strangers with a hand, with a meal, with our lives.

Easter is not about the denial of how bad things are, Easter is about the continual challenge, the ongoing movement of God against the powers of death. This resurrection power of God if it gets into our bodies --- activates us for prophetic witness in the face of our contemporary reign of death. For the disciples the resurrection was terrifying for lots of reasons --- perhaps primarily because to follow an executed prophet, raised from the dead would mean that the teachings of Jesus are the way to find liberation. Dying not killing is the way to a future of hope, justice and peace.

The night Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed --- Bobby Kennedy gathered before a crowd of African Americans and informed them of the death of this nonviolent leader --- and called upon them and all people in this nation to pray that compassion, justice, and gentleness might be the future. A stranger --- a white, wealthy, Irish Catholic politician speaking before a large crowd of African Americans --- invited remembrance of the words, teachings and life of their hero --- soon RFK would lay dead as well, dying for a future of hope, justice and peace.

Dorothy Stang, a nun and community organizer in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil was killed as she sought to defend the rights of the poor and the earth in the face of lumber companies and wealthy ranchers. Her fellow sisters write,

In the days preceding her murder on February 12, 2005, Sr. Dorothy was attempting to halt illegal logging where land sharks had interests but no legal rights. Authorities believe the murder was arranged by a local rancher for $19,300 ( U.S.). Many believe that a consortium of loggers and ranchers had contributed to the bounty in an effort to silence Sr. Dorothy. Ironically, their attempt at silence resulted in the opposite effect: an outraged world, well informed about the murder through persistent global media reports, sent Sr. Dorothy's voice soaring to new heights. And a proclamation came quickly from Brazil's president, Luis Inacio "Lula" da Silva, that the land in question, over 22,000 acres, would be reserved for sustainable development by the poor farmers whose cause Sr. Dorothy had championed.

Sister Dorothy Stang following the way of Jesus - died for a future of hope, justice and peace.

Steve Biko, years before was killed in prison for the sake of the nonviolent movement he helped organize to oppose Apartheid in South Africa --- according to our own Bishop one of the few icons hanging in the Archbishop of Canterbury's office is one of Steve Biko. Archbishop Nungane spoke of him as his hero when our group heard from him at the TEAM Conference in Boksburg, Biko is remembered to have said,

"It is better to die for an idea that will live, than to live for an idea that will die."

The Resurrection of Jesus is an idea that lives --- and Jesus' life, death and resurrection continues to inspire and empower movements of liberation, justice and peace in our own time. May we be willing to give our all for the sake of God's truth, God's nonviolent victory of life over death --- peace over war --- mercy and forgiveness over vengeance, solidarity over oppression.

We are at the cusp of some major changes, changes that we either make for ourselves simply to survive or changes that we make together --- to make peaceful and just the future of this planet.

We desperately need salvation --- and a savior --- this Savior comes to us in the form of strangers on the side of the road, on the margins --- strangers who speak to us of the reality of God's challenging call for change --- for repentance --- for new life.

Resurrection is about transformation --- and we human beings would rather pretend that change is impossible --- than to own up to our responsibility for being an alternative.

We have work to do --- each of us --- to make ready the world for God's full reign.

The resurrection -- is not comforting to those who would like things to stay the way they are --- the resurrection is for those who cry out for change --- who believe that another world is possible --- who are willing to be opened up --- to being connected to the movement of Jesus.

called to another way

2008-03-18T20:43:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing that has been consistent in my life since starting seminary, being ordained and serving as a priest, it has been standing in opposition to the Iraq war. While a seminarian at Virginia Theological Seminary, I was part of organizing the local chapter of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship. I attended many and helped organize a few vigils and marches on campus and off, in front of the White House and the Capitol. Between classes on systematic theology and pastoral care I could be found in the seminary computer lab sending out email newsletters entitled “Called to Another Way” with articles by Stephen Zunes, Howard Zinn, Alice Walker, Molly Ivins, Ray McGovern and many other people of faith and no faith all who voiced articulate, informed opposition to this unjust war. I was nearly arrested before the war with Medea Benjamin and a huge group of women from Code Pink before the war started. I actually feel guilty about not doing more before the war to try and keep it from happening. I have tremendous respect for all those who have risked much to try and save this planet from war. I’m really grateful that Medea will be a guest at the cathedral where I serve next month.

After seminary, I worked as a priest in a suburban Washington, DC, parish where I taught and preached regularly. I struggled with being part of a faith community whose members both stood in opposition to and in alignment with this Administration’s imperial ambitions. I met fascinating personalities who, despite appearing to be part of the war machine, held profound personal commitments to peace and the upholding of the dignity of every human being. I wrestled each day with how to serve in this place, often driving to work listening to Amy Goodman of Democracy Now on the radio and later finding myself sharing communion with people who would seem to have enormous power and wealth to really change things.

Over a year ago, I was arrested with the Episcopal Bishop of California and other clergy from the Episcopal Diocese of California in front of the Federal Building, we were participants in a “die-in” seeking to draw attention to the numerous casualties of the Iraq War. This arrest didn’t cost any of us very much and it didn’t end the war. But there was something holy going on as we lay there on the cold concrete waiting for the police officers with the plastic handcuffs, surrounded and held up by the chants of our faith community.

This week the interfaith community of the Bay Area will acknowledge the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War on the steps of Grace Cathedral surrounded by numerous shoes and boots, symbolizing the tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians and U.S. military soldiers who have died in this war. At the center of Holy Week, as our attention is on the nonviolent teacher named Jesus who was executed by a religious establishment and an empire unable to comprehend the things that make for peace, we will read names, sing songs, mourn the dead and pray for peace. Join us.

If you are planning to come to the vigil, I encourage you to bring a pair of shoes, or two or three. For the past few weeks one of my responsibilities in helping organize the event has been collecting shoes. We have collected a lot from churches as far away as Santa Cruz. But to be honest, we are far from having enough to truly do justice to the tens of thousands of Iraqi causalities. As I prepared the names for tomorrow’s event I was struck by how few names we actually have --- for example a 10 year old girl shot by U.S. forces last week --- nameless. Yet each one of these people we Christians believe are made in God’s image. As we lay these shoes at the feet of this mighty concrete cathedral, may God forgive us for the atrocity of this war.

Sojourners has put together a profound call for repentance and peace, signed by numerous faith leaders including Tony Campolo, Richard Rohr, and Brian McLaren please sign and share widely. For the past month the God's Politics blog has had moving commentary on the 5th anniversary of the Iraq War, you can check those posts out here.

UPDATE:

Jan in San Francisco attended this evening's vigil and took some moving photographs, check them out here. Also, of the news coverage so far KTVU Channel 2 News at 10 p.m. gave our vigil strong coverage, watch the video here. More coverage can be found here and here.

Thank you to all who came, who read names, chanted and prayed. May we continue to pray and work together for peace.

notes on becoming

2008-02-28T12:59:00.000-08:00

Please read Jim Wallis' excellent post over at God's Politics on Barack Obama's faith and share it widely.

You can view Barack's speech on faith at the Call to Renewal/Sojourners here.

Last night at the gym I was watching some of the cable news shows (we don't have cable at home) and I became deeply troubled by the political coverage. Rather than talking about moral issues of real concern like how to: end the war, become better stewards of the earth, and make this country more just (healthcare, living wage, affordable housing) there seemed to be nothing but fear-mongering and the raising of silly questions about a candidate's patriotism based on their wardrobe. Is this really who we are America? I don't think so.

As I peddled away at the gym, I turned off the TV and looked out the window, at the Bay Bridge lit up against the night sky and recalled "the bridge to the 21st century" that President Clinton kept talking about in his last years in office. What progress and hope and possibility one could feel about our country's future then. The reality is that like San Francisco, this country's future is a "work in progress" not a done deal and we all need to become part of the building of that future rather than passive receivers of someone else's dream or nightmare. So far my little exposure to the good work of community organizers has taught me that awesome things can happen when people and organizations come together across race, economic, and political divides.

Speaking of San Francisco - the more I get to know this city the more I realize just how much we need to do to help this city live into the values and vision of its patron saint, Francis of Assisi. While we are green, we aren't anywhere near green enough to reverse the effects of global warming or to ensure that children are not being contaminated by toxic waste. While we are inclusive and welcoming, we are not to everyone especially the poor (take a look at the proposed city budget cuts that effect services to the most down and out). While the vast majority of this city's residents are against the war, we have not done enough collectively to end it. Francis of Assisi viewed all the earth as his brothers and sisters and lived an extraordinarily simple life. Francis more than just tolerating the poor made his home among them. Francis not only stood against the violent crusades, he met with an enemy leader the Sultan Melek-el-Kamel, the leading Muslim of the time according to John Dear.

So I've begun thinking a lot lately about the word "becoming" --- I'm not San Franciscan, I'm "becoming" San Franciscan and the city where I dwell is "becoming San Francisco" we are way far from being worthy of the name. This country too is way far from being all that we might be, perhaps this election we might discover an invitation to get a little closer to becoming a people, a nation resembling the United States of America.

Finding Faith with Ecclesia Ministries

2007-12-23T09:28:00.000-08:00

The Washington Post has posted two important videos about Ecclesia Ministries, a ministry of presence to and prayer with the homeless founded in 1993 by the Reverend Debbie W. Little. Check these poignant videos out.

Exciting! A People's History on TV

2007-12-11T09:34:00.000-08:00

A People's History of the United States is a very important book and one that I was encouraged to read when taking classes at the Servant Leadership School in Washington, DC.

I later heard the author Howard Zinn, Marian Wright Edelman, and Julian Bond read "Voices of A People's History" at my favorite D.C. restaurant/bar/coffeeshop/performance space Busboys and Poets. A television series based on "A People's History" is an excellent idea.

Published on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 by Variety
Howard Zinn’s ‘History’ Comes to TV
Documentary Miniseries to feature Damon, Vedder
by Michael Schneider
from CommonDreams

Production is finally set to begin on a long-delayed TV version of Howard Zinn’s landmark 1980 tome “A People’s History of the United States.”1211 05The four-hour documentary miniseries — titled “The People Speak” — will include performances by Matt Damon, Marisa Tomei, Viggo Mortensen, Danny Glover, Josh Brolin, David Strathairn, Kerry Washington, Eddie Vedder and John Legend.

Zinn will host the longform project, which begins shooting next month in Boston. Project, to be exec produced by Zinn, Anthony Arnove and First Tuesday Media’s Chris Moore, has not yet been sold to a network.

Damon and Moore have been looking to adapt “A People’s History of the United States” on television for nearly a decade.

Damon, who lived next door to Zinn as a child, and Ben Affleck included a reference to Zinn and “A People’s History” in their Academy Award-winning “Good Will Hunting.” Soon thereafter, the scribes and Moore (also a “Good Will Hunting” producer) sold a 10- to 12-hour miniseries to Fox based on the book.

“A People’s History” was slated to run on Fox in 1999, but that didn’t happen; later, HBO developed a three-part version but eventually passed as well.

The new adaptation will draw from both “A People’s History,” and sequel tome “Voices of A People’s History of the United States,” which Zinn wrote with Arnove. Miniseries will center on the actors and musicians as they read from the books or perform music related to their themes: the struggles of women, war, class and race.

The longform will mix the performances with photos, interviews and archival footage.

“This project is about Howard Zinn, his books and using that body of work to remind and inspire us all that this is a country built on dissidence,” Moore said. “Howard’s work deserves to be on film, and it is time that we paid tribute and captured the struggles of the people.”

Zinn, whose books chronicle the struggles of Native Americans, women, workers and other Americans, said he’d like to continue to inspire activists.

“Our hope is that these words from the past will speak passionately and clearly to the needs of the present,” he said.

Cinetic Media is handling domestic sales for “The People Speak,” which is also being readied for a DVD release after its initial TV run. Artfire Films’ Art Spigel, Ara Katz and Dan Fireman are on board as producers; David Baerwald will provide the music score.

© 2007 Variety.com

Sorrow & Hope

2007-11-11T08:52:00.000-08:00

This weekend has been a blend of hope and sorrow. First, the sad part. Last week there was a major oil spill in the San Francisco Bay when a container ship crashed into the Bay Bridge causing enormous damage to our ecosystem. Click here to donate funds or to volunteer to help in the clean-up. Volunteers have experienced some frustration but more opportunities are emerging for people to get involved.

On Friday, a friend and I visited the San Francisco Green Festival where we met up with Ben Corey-Moran from Thanksgiving Coffee Company. The event gave us hope that creativity and commitment can help move us toward a better future. The work that Ben and Thanksgiving Coffee are doing to promote fair-trade and interfaith partnership was one of many inspiring examples on display. The weekend event was organized by Global Exchange and Co-Op America.

Yesterday evening we went to see Man From Plains an inspiring documentary about Jimmy Carter and his work striving to help foster peace in the Middle East. Go see this film if you can.

Marching for Peace

2007-10-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

Members of the Episcopal Diocese of California are gathering this morning at Grace Cathedral with Bishop Marc Andrus to process down to Civic Center where we will join hundreds of thousands in calling for an end to the war in Iraq. Thursday night Grace hosted 300 people of faith for an Inter-Religious Prayer Service for Peace in Iraq, organized by the Inter-Religious Working Group of the October 27 Coalition. Displayed on the labyrinth of Grace Cathedral were boots representing the thousands of U.S. troops killed in Iraq, the names and faces of Iraqis killed were also part of the exhibit. Let's bring an end to this war and work hard for nonviolent solutions to global challenges. Frankly, I'm tired of attending marches against this war. Before the invasion began, I attended huge marches in Washington, DC, and New York as a seminarian with numerous classmates and professors. I'm frustrated that the media and government for the most part ignore us and the growing majority of Americans who want this war brought to an end. But it is my community of faith that inspires me to be persistent.

Over at God's Politics, influential evangelical pastor Brian McLaren has written a strong piece encouraging Christians to challenge those who are beating the drums of war against Iran. Check it out and share widely.

preserving the sanctity of what???

2007-10-22T12:57:00.000-07:00

Turns out that one of the bank rollers of an ultra-right-wing group seeking to break-up mainline Christian denominations (because of our progressive stances on same-sex unions and the ordination of women) is having some problems preserving the sanctity of his own marriage. This is sad, very sad.

Various Scaife affiliated foundations have given hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to schismatic groups like the Institute for Religion and Democracy. Perhaps the money could have been better spent on say health care for the poor or HIV/AIDS drugs and education?

Good Lord deliver us!

Good News

2007-10-19T11:32:00.000-07:00

There are two great news videos on the broadening of the evangelical agenda in the United States over on God's Politics. Another interesting online resource is Speaking of Faith, their program on the fascinating 20th century Pentecostal evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, is worth checking out. My grandfather was fed by her ministry both physically and spiritually as a young man in Los Angeles during the Depression.

Last week, author Garry Wills visited Grace Cathedral for a special forum on American Christianities, you can read more about that here.

inspiring guest

2007-10-18T13:31:00.000-07:00

This morning the clergy of Grace Cathedral were joined at our regular weekly meeting by Archbishop of Cape town The Most Rev. Njongonkulu Ndungane. The Archbishop is visiting the Diocese of California this week and will be present for our annual convention. Archbishop Ndungane is a passionate leader for global justice and reconciliation, learn more about his inspiring biography and work here.

Here's a recent news story about the Archbishop of Cape town's visit.

Episcopal bishops who have sidestepped a divisive debate over women and gays should now focus on the developing world's needs, says a South African archbishop who is visiting the Bay Area.

"For most of Africa what matters is whether there is a plate of food in front of them," said Njongkonkulu Ndugane, archbishop of Cape Town and Primate of Southern Africa.

"There is abuse of children, abuse of women. They don't even know where New Hampshire is, let alone America," he said as he relaxed Tuesday in a wood-paneled chamber at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.

Ndugane, 66, challenged the Episcopal Church in 2003 to accept the consecration of openly gay New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, and has been a champion of the rights of gays and women within the faith.

Check out the full story here.

Click here for more on the Episcopal Diocese of California's convention.

In Desperate Times, a concert for Peace

2007-10-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

Great story on yesterday's concert for peace at the National Cathedral.

At Washington Cathedral, Pop Music, Politics And Prayers for Peace

By Linton Weeks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 17, 2007; C01

"Thanks for coming to give peace a chance," David Crosby told the crowd of more than 2,500 at Washington National Cathedral, before he and Graham Nash launched into "Lay Me Down."

To kick off last night's Pray for Peace concert, John Bryson Chane, Episcopal bishop of Washington and the evening's emcee, quoted Nash: "No person has the right to take another person's life in the name of God." Churches and religions should be instruments of peace, not war, he said.

When people gather to pray for peace, "what you are praying for is an end to war," Chane said. He said it was not an antiwar event, but a moment to call on nations to lay down all arms. "War," he said, "is the ultimate declaration of human failure. What we are saying is: Enough is enough."

With white hair and dark clothes, and flanked by pulpits, Nash looked a little like a singing televangelist. "I would like to congratulate Bishop John Chane for being brave enough to do this," he told the gathering.

It was a little weird, seeing rock musicians stand under the crucifix in a cathedral where magnificent sermons have been delivered and where dead heads of state have been mourned.

"This house wasn't built for the blues," Kevin Moore, known as Keb' Mo', said during a sound check.

But the church folks did the best they could. The sound was top-notch and the walls behind the musicians were splashed with lava-lamplike lights. The atmosphere was enhanced by red- and yellow-robed Buddhist monks moving about the cathedral.

Jackson Browne and Emily Saliers of Indigo Girls also performed on the raised platform in the sanctuary. Tibetan monks chanted, leaders of various faith communities spoke of peace and others prayed publicly and privately.

Before the service, Browne said he was singing in opposition to the war in Iraq and the proposed war in Iran. Many people feel the Iraq war "has been a huge mistake," he said.

"These are desperate times, calling for desperate answers," Nash said. The first step to peace, he added, is dialogue. "I'm 65 years old. . . . My time is passing." He said his activism now is on behalf of his three children.

Music can be a form of prayer and both transcend regions and religions, the performers pointed out. Keb' Mo' exhorted the crowd, in song, to "hand it over" and "get on your knees and pray."

There was a guitarist and a hand drummer. Crosby's son, James Raymond, played keyboards. Crosby and Nash sang "Jesus of Rio" and a new Nash song, a musical prayer titled "In Your Name." Then Crosby picked up a guitar and they sang the heavenly "Guinnevere."

Rep. John Hall (D-N.Y.), who once belonged to the Top 40 band Orleans, appeared in a dark suit and tie and fit right into the strange melange of politics, pop music and prayer. He led the congregation, with inspired guitar work and vocal help from Nash, in a song: "We are all one tribe."

Browne and Nash performed a haunting version of "Crow on the Cradle" and were joined by Crosby for "Lives in the Balance." And many of the night's entertainers gathered for the finale, "Teach Your Children."

The story behind the music: The Dalai Lama was speaking at Washington National Cathedral in 2003, when Chane looked down from the dais and recognized Nash and Crosby in the congregation. He invited them to his office after the event. A former professional musician himself, the bishop plays drums in a midlife-crisis band, the Chane Gang. Nash saw Chane's drum set in the office and the two began talking about the power of music.

As part of the celebration of the Dalai Lama receiving the Congressional Gold Medal from President Bush today in recognition of his resistance to Chinese rule, Crosby, Chane, Nash and Browne planned the concert for peace. Proceeds will benefit the Cathedral Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation and the International Campaign for Tibet.

Before the concert, Crosby was asked why they had chosen to perform in the cathedral instead of a larger venue. "This isn't about being big," he said. "This is about something very unusual -- energizing the churches to stand up for their flocks. We need churches to stand up for us, and say stop the killing."

In the grand sanctuary, Crosby appeared small. "I have a lot of trouble with organized religions," he said, but his faith has been renewed by Chane. "He's got real courage, to say war is not the answer. I feel comfortable here," Crosby said.

Singing for peace, Moore said, "is what we are supposed to do."

Music has power, like religion or speech, he said. "And with that power comes responsibility."

Local

2007-10-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

Blogging has taken a back burner recently as I have been learning more about the Bay Area. Thanks to my new friend Griff, a seminarian and organizer for the Episcopal Diocese of California's Commission for the Environment I have been nudged to attend a number of gatherings focused on the environmental situation in San Fransisco's Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. There are serious concerns being raised by local residents, faith leaders and environmentalists about asbestos dust in the air due to construction at a nearby shipyard. The dust is causing many health problems especially for children and the elderly. The entire San Francisco School Board recently passed a resolution calling for a temporary halt of the construction until testing of the community takes place. To read the School Board's resolution, click here. You can read more about yesterday's press conference here.

Please pray for all those in Bayview-Hunter's Point community and learn more about what many view as a serious issue of environmental racism.

Global

2007-10-10T14:24:00.001-07:00

There are always great posts on faith and politics at the God's Politics blog. Two particularly resonated with me having recently met Stephen Zunes, an amazing professor of politics and chair of Peace & Justice Studies Program at the University of San Francisco. Please check out Jim Wallis' piece sharing the Archbishop of Canterbury's remarks about Iraq and Iran and Brian McLaren's post on Torture. If we are going to have real change in the United States it will be because we really listened to voices urging us to pursue the way of peace.

On October 27 across the country there will be massive demonstrations for Peace. Many from the Episcopal Diocese of California will be marching alongside our bishop. On Thursday night, October 25 there will be an inter-religious prayer service for peace at Grace Cathedral. Also this month, the Washington National Cathedral on the other side of the country is hosting an exciting concert for peace which you can check out here.

Below are the details about the October 25th prayer service in San Francisco.

Salaam, Shalom, Solh, Paz, Peace
Inter-Religious Prayer Service for Peace in Iraq

Thursday, October 25, 7:00 p.m.
Grace Cathedral 1100 California St. (at Taylor)
San Francisco

Join people from all colors of the religious spectrum as we pray together for peace in Iraq. Since polls show that more than 70% of Americans want an end to this conflict, it is vitally important that this sentiment be visibly expressed. As people of faith, we will pray and we will act.

Brought to you by the Inter-Religious Working Group of the October 27 Coalition.
Co-sponsors include the Episcopal Diocese of California, American Friends Service Committee, Kehilla Community Synagogue, United Muslims of America Interfaith Alliance, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Inter-Religious Witness for Peace in the Middle East, Network of Spiritual Progressives, Ecumenical Peace Institute/Clergy and Laity Concerned, Tikkun Community, Jewish Voice for Peace, American Muslim Voice and Global Peace Partners. Other endorsements are pending and welcome.

For more information about (or to volunteer with) the END THE WAR NOW Mobilizations in SF and 11 regional centers across the country taking place on Saturday, October 27, visit oct27.org or oct27sf.org or call Jim Haber at the number below.

and march with us...
There will be an inter-religious contingent for the march gathering at the Friends Meeting House just 2 blocks from the start of the march and even less from Civic Center BART/Muni. 65 Ninth St. between Market and Mission. Gather at 11:00 am. We'll leave for Civic Center at about 11:45. Clergy are encouraged to wear your stolls, collars, or robes. Wear comfortable shoes.

For more information about or to or to endorse the Inter-Religious Prayer Service for Peace in Iraq, contact Jim Haber at ufpj-bayarea@riseup.net, 415-828-2506 or Allan Solomonow at asolomonow@afsc.org, 415-565-0201x26.

Free Burma!

2007-10-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

Today is International Bloggers' Day for Burma (thanks Peter)

Learn from the Elders

2007-10-03T11:16:00.000-07:00

From "The Elders" website:

Despite all the ghastliness that is around, human beings are made for goodness. The ones who ought to be held in high regard are not the ones who are militarily powerful, nor even economically prosperous. They are the ones who have a commitment to try and make the world a better place. We – The Elders – will endeavour to support those people and do our best for humanity. - Desmond Tutu

Out of deep concern for the challenges currently facing all of the people of our world, Nelson Mandela, Graça Machel and Desmond Tutu have convened a group of leaders to contribute their wisdom, independent leadership and integrity to tackling some of the world's toughest problems.

Please check out the Associated Press story about "The Elders" visit to the Sudan. Click here to read "The Elders" arrival statement.

KABKABIYA, Sudan — Former President Carter got in a shouting match Wednesday with Sudanese security services who blocked him from a town in Darfur where he was trying to meet with refugees from the ongoing conflict.

The 83-year-old Carter walked into this highly volatile pro-Sudanese government town to meet refugees too frightened to attend a scheduled meeting at a nearby compound. He was able to make it to a school where he met with one tribal representative and was preparing to go further into the town when Sudanese security officers stopped him.

"You can't go. It's not on the program!" the local security chief, who only gave his first name as Omar, yelled at Carter, who is in Darfur as part of a delegation of respected international figures known as "The Elders."

"We're going to anyway!" an angry Carter retorted as a crowd began to gather. "You don't have the power to stop me."

U.N. officials told Carter's entourage the Sudanese state police could bar his way. Carter's traveling companions, billionaire businessman Richard Branson and Graca Machel, the wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela, tried to ease his frustration and his Secret Service detail urged him to get into a car and leave.

"I'll tell President Bashir about this," Carter said, referring to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Carter later agreed to a compromise by which tribal representatives would be brought to him at another location later Wednesday. But the refugee delegates never showed up.

The Darfur conflict began when ethnic African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government, accusing it of decades of neglect. Sudan's government is accused of retaliating by unleashing a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed _ a charge it denies. More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in four years of violence.

The conflict has also affected Darfur's neighbors, Chad and Central African Republic. On Wednesday, French officials said a force of 3,000 European troops could begin deploying to those countries next month to protect refugees and other civilians caught up in the spillover violence.

One official said the operation would coincide with the start of the long-awaited deployment, expected this month, of a 26,000-member joint African Union-UN force in Darfur itself.

Tensions are running high after rebels overran an AU peacekeeping base in northern Darfur over the weekend, killing 10 in the deadliest attack on the beleaguered force since it arrived in the region three years ago.

Most of the Darfur refugees appeared too frightened to speak to Carter's team in Kabkabiya, a North Darfur town that has long been a stronghold of the pro-government janjaweed militia.

Branson said some refugees had slipped notes in his pockets. "We (are) still suffering from the war as our girls are being raped on a daily basis," read one of the notes, translated from Arabic, that Branson handed to The Associated Press.

The note said that on Sept. 26, a group of girls had been raped, and a refugee had also been shot two days ago. Branson said it had been handed over by an ethnic African man.

The visit by "The Elders," which is headed by Nobel Peace laureates Carter and Desmond Tutu, is largely a symbolic move by a host of respected figures to push all sides to make peace.

Tutu led a separate group to a refugee camp in South Darfur, where he told British Broadcasting Corp. radio that the joint AU-U.N. force was needed immediately to bolster the overwhelmed African force on the ground and help restore stability to the area.

"It's awful that AMIS (African Mission in Sudan) should be allowed to be here when it is so inadequately equipped _ I mean they couldn't evacuate their injured from the camp after the attack because they don't have military helicopters," he said, referring to the rebel attack on the AU base in northern Darfur.

The U.N. mission in Sudan deemed it too dangerous for Carter to visit the refugee camp. Instead, he flew to the World Food Program compound in Kabkabiya, where he was supposed to meet with refugees, many of whom were chased from their homes by militias and government forces.

But as the meeting was set to get under way, none of the nongovernment refugee representatives arrived, and Carter decided to walk out into the town to try to talk with them.

"We are in the security field. We're not that flexible," said the security chief, Omar, after the confrontation ended. He said Carter already breached security once by walking to the school and would not be allowed to breach security again.

"This illustrates the challenges that communities and humanitarian workers face in Darfur," said Orla Clinton, spokeswoman for the U.N. Mission in Sudan who witnessed the incident.

Carter later returned to the North Darfur capital of El Fasher and where he was planning to meet with community representatives later Wednesday.

"The Elders" delegation is trying to use their influence at a crucial time _ with peace talks in Libya and the deployment of the AU-U.N. peacekeeping force to begin later this month.

Carter said he felt the trip was proving effective. He said al-Bashir told him this week that Sudan has committed $100 million to a fund for Darfur's reconstruction and another $200 million has been pledged by Chinese diplomatic allies.

Carter said the main goal of the three-day visit to Sudan was to seek guarantees for free and fair elections throughout the country in 2009. Observes fear the elections could be postponed and warn this would imperil the fragile peace in southern Sudan and worsen the conflict in Darfur.

The 2009 vote would be the first democratic election in Sudan since al-Bashir came to power in a military and Islamist coup in 1989. Carter said al-Bashir vowed to allow the election to take place during a private meeting between the two in Khartoum.

"If the CPA fails to fulfill its commitment to free and fair elections and democracy in this country, all other efforts will be futile," Carter said, referring to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended 21 years of civil war between the government and Christian and animist rebels in the south.

___

Associated Press Writer John Leicester contributed to this report in Paris.

2007-10-01T21:44:00.001-07:00

Today, Matt and I welcomed our friend Bernard back to San Francisco. He's found an apartment for a few months across the street from the library, as a retired professor he seems thrilled to have easy access to lots of books, old newspapers and such. After walking around the city of Francis today, I was glad to discover Steve Earle's new song "City of Immigrants." Below are the lyrics, check his new album out.

City Of Immigrants

Livin’ in a city of immigrants
I don’t need to go travelin’
Open my door and the world walks in
Livin’ in a city of immigrants
Livin’ in a city that never sleeps
My heart keepin’ time to a thousand beats
Singin’ in languages I don’t speak
Livin’ in a city of immigrants

City of black
City of white
City of light
City of innocents
City of sweat
City of tears
City of prayers
City of immigrants

Livin’ in a city where the dreams of men
Reach up to touch the sky and then
Tumble back down to earth again
Livin’ in a city that never quits
Livin’ in a city where the streets are paved
With good intentions and a people’s faith
In the sacred promise a statue made
Livin’ in a city of immigrants

City of stone
City of steel
City of wheels
Constantly spinnin’
City of bone
City of skin
City of pain
City of immigrants

All of us are immigrants
Every daughter, every son
Everyone is everyone
All of us are immigrants - everyone
Livin’ in a city of immigrants
River flows out and the sea rolls in
Washin’ away nearly all of my sins
Livin’ in a city of immigrants

City of black
City of white
City of light
Livin’ in a city of immigrants
City of sweat
City of tears
City of prayers
Livin’ in a city of immigrants

City of stone
City of steel
City of wheels
Livin’ in a city of immigrants

City of bone
City of skin
City of pain
City of immigrants
All of us are immigrants

Happy Birthday St. Paul's on-the-Hill!

2007-10-01T08:21:00.000-07:00

The church where my family attended in Virginia celebrated 40 years yesterday. From Sunday School to youth group, serving as an acolyte and participating in neighborhood service projects --- St. Paul's on-the-Hill was where my family found spiritual nourishment, inspiration and support through good times and bad. Though I am now on the other side of the country, I am very grateful for having been formed in the faith by this thriving church in the Shenandoah Valley.

Small church reaps big gains

By Jessica J. Burchard
The Winchester Star

Winchester — Every seat was filled during Sunday morning’s service at St. Paul’s on-the-Hill Episcopal Church.

An estimated 120 new and old parishioners filed into the basement of the church at 1527 Senseny Road to celebrate 40 years with a festive service at the site.

Joan Inger, a member of the church’s 40th anniversary committee, said the size of the congregation gives the church an advantage.

"From the beginning, including today, we’ve always been a small church," she said during the service. "But God does good things here."

Inger added the church has raised up five priests and two nuns since it was established in 1967.

The celebratory service was led by the Rev. Hilary B. Smith, who came to the church four years ago.

At the start of the service, Smith said St. Paul’s has thrived because of its commitment to its cause.

"This church is the body of Christ, visible to the world," she said. "Churches do well when we focus on the bigger picture and the mission God has set before us."

The mission of St. Paul’s is to help people nurture their relationship with God.

Prior to coming to St. Paul’s in 2002, Smith had worked in larger churches. She attributes the intimate and accepting atmosphere of the church for its continued success.

"This is a church where people can come and be who they are," she said. "We bring out the best in one another."

Smith’s philosophy has attracted many new parishioner’s to the church.

Joan Blair, of Stephens City, has been attending St. Paul’s on and off for three years. She and her family moved to Virginia 31/2years ago from West Virginia.

"We considered a few different churches and we just felt the warmth from Hilary," she said. "My husband is actually the one who found it and he was very impressed with it."

Blair observed the service and took communion while her two children were in the Sunday school program.

"There’s usually a mix of people here," she said. "They’re very welcoming to people with children."

St. Paul’s has undergone several changes in the past few years. In 1995, it became independent from its sponsor, Christ Church.

Recently, Smith has added several more convenient service times to the church’s calendar. The weekly service schedule is 7 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 p.m. on Saturday, and 8 and 10 a.m. on Sunday.

Having more opportunities to attend church fits into modern life, Smith said.

"People are so busy. A lot of them cannot make it to Sunday services because their children have soccer practice or something," she said. "We try to give them chances to come that work with their schedules."

St. Paul’s is at 1527 Senseny Road. For more information about the church, call the church office at 540-667-8110 or visit www.spoth.org

Presiding Bishop at Grace Cathedral

2007-09-30T21:47:00.001-07:00

Today was another rich and full day at Grace Cathedral, with the Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Bishop of California Marc Andrus at the Forum and the 11 a.m. service. You can hear both the Forum and the service online at www.gracecathedral.org

The Presiding Bishop's homily was provocative and gave me a renewed appreciation for angels. You can read the text of the homily here.

Below is a story from the San Francisco Chronicle:

In S.F., presiding U.S. Episcopal bishop affirms same-sex unions

Matthai Chakko Kuruvila, Chronicle Religion Writer

Sunday, September 30, 2007

On Sunday - the deadline set by church leaders for the Episcopal Church to roll back support for same-sex unions - the U.S. church's presiding bishop spoke unequivocally at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral that there would be no retreat.

"All people - including gay and lesbian Christians and non-Christians - are deserving of the fullest regard of the church," the Most Rev. Katherine Jefferts Schori declared during an hourlong discussion before services. "We're not going backward."

Jefferts Schori said these are the views of the church's bishops as well as of its lay members - who have increasingly affirmed rights for same-sex couples. As such, Jefferts Schori's comments served as the punctuation to a historic day.

What will happen next is unknown. But a number of U.S. bishops on Friday declared that they are unifying the scores of breakaway churches that view homosexuality as sinful. They are seeking alternative oversight from conservative leaders based abroad.

"A schism of sorts seems inevitable," said the Very Rev. Alan Jones, dean of Grace Cathedral, who moderated the Sunday discussion with Jefferts Schori.

Anglican Communion leaders issued a communique in February for the U.S. Episcopal Church's bishops to state by Sept. 30 that the church would not authorize rites for same-sex unions or approve gay clergy as bishops. Conservatives viewed it as an ultimatum. Some have suggested that the Episcopal Church's price for noncompliance might be lesser status within the 77 million-member Anglican Communion, the body of churches whose roots are in the Church of England.

The issue of whether gays and lesbians in committed relationships can have their unions blessed by their churches may be the single most divisive issue in U.S. Christianity today. Presbyterian, Methodist and Lutheran denominations all are torn over the issue. But it plays out dramatically on a global scale among Anglicans, who are the largest, most unified Protestant body in the world.

Jefferts Schori and other Episcopal bishops believe the Anglican Communion is defined by a tolerance for a wide set of beliefs. They believe the communion should continue to minister to a variety of views.

"The pastor's job as shepherd is to mind the whole flock," Jefferts Schori said, referring to a biblical parable of a shepherd who goes searching for one lost sheep. "I am continually, prayerfully reminded of those who are wandering off. The job of the church is to reach ever wider to include the whole."

That Jefferts Schori would be in San Francisco on the deadline day was a coincidence: She had accepted the invitation to come over a year ago, long before the Anglican Communion's leaders issued the communique on same-sex issues in February. But her views, the Episcopal Church's direction and the setting all affirmed each other.

"It's an accident in some sense, but it's a blessed accident," Jefferts Schori said in an interview about the significance of her speaking Sunday in San Francisco.

The 27,000-member Diocese of California, based in San Francisco, has ordained more gay and lesbian clergy than any other. Priests in the diocese - which includes San Francisco, Marin, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa counties and part of Santa Clara County - have blessed same-sex unions for more than three decades.

Those practices, once on the margins of the Episcopal Church, have become the mainstream.

The church's House of Bishops gathered in New Orleans last week to discuss how to respond to the communique. They chose to maintain the status quo: They would "exercise restraint" by not consecrating any gay, partnered candidates for bishop, and they would not authorize "any public rites of blessing of same-sex unions."

For conservatives, the statements were hollow because it allows priests to privately bless same-sex unions.

"This is neither prohibition nor restraint," said a statement issued Wednesday by the Right Rev. John-David Schofield, bishop for the Fresno-based Diocese of San Joaquin. "It is simply turning a blind eye."

Conservative bishops and priests in the United States believe Anglican leaders in Africa hold a truer understanding of Christ's teachings.

"The church in the West has lost its way," the Right Rev. Robert Duncan, the bishop of Pittsburgh, said on Friday, in announcing the new coalition. "The church in the 'Global South' is utterly clear about what it is to follow Jesus Christ."

Jefferts Schori said on Sunday that she sees the path of Christ in a different manner.

"Jesus hung out with people on the margins," she said. "He hung out with people who were unacceptable to the Judaism of his time.

"He didn't spend a great deal of his time seeking to throw people out. My sense of what it means to follow Jesus is to love the image of God in our neighbors and respond to the needs of the image of God in our neighbors."

Jefferts Schori is skeptical of the fate of any breakaway churches or diocese, saying Duncan's efforts would be the latest in a line of splinter groups that failed.

"There's such a long history of splitting that it would be a sign of the Spirit's movement if he were able to gather them into a coherent whole," she said.

"American Protestantism is characterized, unfortunately, by the desire to fracture," she said. "There's a piece to American character that we have to have fully defined, black and white, precise understanding. And that's not a terribly Anglican characteristic."

Many of those gathered Sunday applauded Jefferts Schori, saying they support her views and believe that the direction of the church will ultimately lead to full equality - having formal, authorized rites for same-sex unions.

But some view the current treatment of gays and lesbians as tantamount to second-class status.

Christopher Hayes, 40, of San Francisco said he and his partner of 13 years are in the planning stages of their same-sex union, a ceremony that will take place in Grace Cathedral. But he feels frustrated by the state of events.

"I want to hear that we're not satisfied with where we are right now," he said.

Jefferts Schori said the time is not right - yet - for such a moment.

While some conservatives may leave because of the church's views, she said others may be drawn to the fold.

"Decisions the church as a whole makes can open the door wider for people who have not been part of a faith tradition or this part of Christianity. ... The church always is changing."

E-mail Matthai Chakko Kuruvila at mkuruvila@sfchronicle.com.

Camino

2007-09-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

The past week has been incredibly busy in preparation for Camino, a national Episcopal young adult gathering being held at Grace Cathedral. Today, lots of really wonderful people from across the country showed up, danced, sang, prayed, and learned about ways we can together work for a more just and peaceful planet. There's lots more going on tomorrow and Sunday as well.

Tonight, during a delicious meal, an entertainer/activist on a bicycle rode into the Cathedral Plaza played some sweet tunes, rapped, and got many of us up and out of our seats. Learn about this fascinating guy and his creative work here and here. My friend Jo introduced Lyra (another member of Camino's Design Team) and me to Paul at the Revolution Cafe a few weeks ago in the Mission.

Also, check out the Episcopal Life story about Camino here for more on what is to come. I'm especially excited and grateful that there's a significant group of people from Virginia in San Francisco for Camino including my good friend Paris.

Bishop Marc Andrus (who has made an important statement on the current Bishop's Meeting going on in New Orleans) will join the Camino gathering on Sunday as well.

Doctor Who as a parable of Christ

2007-09-12T09:39:00.001-07:00

This morning Matt was thrilled to share this story with me. I think he's likely the greatest fan of Doctor Who in North America. If you don't know the program it is well worth checking out, longest running science fiction television series ever.

Church hosts Doctor Who service
A church is to host a Doctor Who-themed communion service aimed at young people.

St Paul's Church in Grangetown, Cardiff, was once used as a filming location for the BBC Wales-produced series.

The "cafe-style" service for people in their teens and early 20s, will feature music and clips from the hit show.

One of the organisers Fr Dean Atkins, said as a saver of the world, Doctor Who was "almost a Messiah figure".

Two years ago, the Anglican church was used as a location for the Father's Day episode of the first series, in which a giant reaper creature attacked wedding guests at the church.

I love the series and it has such a great following that we couldn't resist doing something for young people on a Doctor Who theme
Parish priest Fr Ben Andrews

Fr Atkins, youth officer with the Diocese of Llandaff, said: "In the series there are lots of references to salvation and the doctor being almost immortal.

"We are using the figure of Doctor Who as a parable of Christ."

The language used in the series also lends itself to exploring the Christian faith, he said.

He added: "Christ is a kind of cosmic figure as well if you like, somebody who does not travel through time but all eternity is found in him.

"He is a kind of encapsulation of the beginning and the end, in fact he existed before time began and he will exist when time ends."

Parish priest Fr Ben Andrews said: "I love the series and it has such a great following that we couldn't resist doing something for young people on a Doctor Who theme.

"Lots of people think that young people are the future of the church.

"This kind of event will show they are part of the church of the present and have an important part to play in its future.

"We are building on the past but always looking forward."

The service takes place on 23 September at 1830 BST.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/wales/6991351.stm

Published: 2007/09/12 15:07:33 GMT

along the way

2007-08-26T15:17:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to spend time with colleagues from Grace Cathedral at the Friends of Sabeel Regional Conference in Berkeley. What an amazing gathering of articulate voices for justice and peace in Palestine/Israel. The conference's theme "Breaking Down the Wall of Silence: Voices We Need to Hear" describes well what took place at St. John's Presbyterian Church. I was most grateful to hear Mubarak Awad, Palestinian founder of Nonviolence International, Cindy and Craig Corrie (parents of martyred peace activist Rachel Corrie, Huwaida Arraf, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, and Anna Baltzer, a Jewish American scholar and peace activist. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that someone I had been introduced to earlier this week at Martin de Porres House of Hospitality, Chris Brown, was among the panelists connecting the nonviolent movement for Palestine with the African American experience and the movement to end Apartheid in South Africa. This was a very moving and hopeful gathering that reminded us all how very important a just and peaceful resolution to Palestinian/Israeli situation is to the future of this planet. An author and scholar that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in learning more about what is happening and what can be done both locally and internationally is Stephen Zunes. I have been reading the excellent work of Professor Zunes since I was a student at Virginia Theological Seminary (on CommonDreams.org)--particularly regarding the build up to the war in Iraq. Zunes responded almost immediately and regularly to the numerous false and twisted assertions made by the Bush Administration regarding weapons of mass destruction. I was delighted to meet him at the conference yesterday, purchase his book "Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism" and learn that he is the son of an Episcopal priest.

Serendipitously, I have begun communicating via social networking sites and web chat with Palestinian friends made many years ago while attending a youth course at St. George's College in Jerusalem. My prayer is that these newly developing and rekindled connections will help stimulate action both personal and collective for peace. Recalling the words of Nelson Mandela, "education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world," may we each seek to educate ourselves and our communities about what is happening around the world and consider how we might help bring real progressive change for all.

To learn more about Sabeel, an ecumenical liberation theology center in Jerusalem please click here. Sabeel is an Arabic word for way, spring, or channel.

The photos and the graphic below are from Jewish American scholar and activist Anna Baltzer's website.

Faith & Nonviolence

2007-08-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

We don't get cable so I did not get to tune into the CNN miniseries called "God's Warriors" although I did get to view a few web videos. As one who believes (along with many New Testament scholars and Christian theologians) that Jesus taught and practiced nonviolence I am always troubled when the violent among us are given more space to express their views than those who choose the narrow path of peace. This public discussion is so important and we need more interfaith engagement not less. There are three excellent posts over at God's Politics that engage the intersection of faith and violence, please check them out here, here and here. One is about the latest Bourne film, which Matt and I both thought raised valuable questions. As Gareth Higgins author of the Bourne piece writes,

The Bourne Ultimatum provocatively reminds us that an uncritical approach to, for instance, defense, or economics, or prison, or immigration policy involves ceding ownership of one's life to "the authorities"; doing it "just because they say so." All too often, refusing to ask questions about the status quo only serves to keep injustice in its perfect equilibirum. Unthinking patriotism or ideology of the kind that allows secret sins – whether of deceit, or conspiracy, or killing - to be carried out in our name because "the country" depends on it meets its match in Jason Bourne.

On a related matter I am very grateful that Virginia Senator John Warner, a fellow Episcopalian has stood up and called for troop withdrawals from Iraq. This is significant in large part because Warner is a Republican. May more people of both parties learn from his example.

Power to the Peaceful

2007-08-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

For Bay Area people, here's something to look forward to...

I've been a fan of the Indigo Girls for a long time and am excited about hearing more from Michael Franti, who is organizing this amazing event in Golden Gate Park. A few years ago, one of the Indigo Girls, Emily Saliers spoke (and sang) with her Dad at Washington National Cathedral. You can check that out here.

latest sermon

2007-08-20T17:49:00.000-07:00

Click here to listen to my most recent sermon.

Click here for this past Sunday's Gospel text.

blowing in the wind

2007-08-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

It has taken me a little while to get back to the blog after the week away. Beginning with the sounds of a "Jesus Boot Camp" outside our tent (we were literally surrounded by screaming kids in camouflage our first morning at the campground), somewhere in the middle we visited my brother in L.A. and it all ended with Matt on stage with Rufus Wainwright!

Our brief visit to the L.A. Catholic Worker was wonderful, we want to return there for a longer visit sometime. Everyone was very welcoming to us and we had the chance to view Father John Dear's documentary "The Narrow Path" with the summer interns. The film is definitely worth watching if you have the opportunity. Jeff, a long time member of the LA Catholic Worker whom we met briefly is in jail right now for participating in an all night sit-in encouraging a House member to stop funding the war. Please join us in praying with him as he "is dedicating his jail time to the memory of the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki." After the film Matt and I linked up with my seminary friend Rachel and then Christopher led us to Venice Beach for dinner. (The photo below is of Christopher, me, and Matt left to right)

There's been a lot to blog about this week, but the story below was particularly frustrating to me revealing the ongoing tension between certain forms of Christianity and the struggle to treat all people with dignity, respect and love.

Church Cancels Memorial for Gay Navy Vet

ARLINGTON, Texas — A megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay.

Officials at the nondenominational High Point Church knew that Cecil Howard Sinclair was gay when they offered to host his service, said his sister, Kathleen Wright. But after his obituary listed his life partner as one of his survivors, she said, it was called off.

"It's a slap in the face. It's like, 'Oh, we're sorry he died, but he's gay so we can't help you,'" she said Friday.

Wright said High Point offered to hold the service for Sinclair because their brother is a janitor there. Sinclair, who served in the first Gulf War, died Monday at age 46 from an infection after surgery to prepare him for a heart transplant.

Here's the full story.

If this mega church's actions make you "mega" frustrated too I encourage you to join me in 1) praying for everyone involved, especially those who are grieving 2) sending an email to the pastor encouraging him to publicly apologize and 3) sharing this story with others.

The recent LGBT Presidential Forum hosted by the Human Rights Campaign and attended by most of the Democratic candidates was a sign of hope this week that things are going to change for the better in this country for all, including megachurches. If God can change Paul from being the chief persecutor of Christians to the church's leading evangelist, God can change even the most anti-gay churches and pastors into places and people of blessing, acceptance, and love.

THIS JUST IN: I just received an email from Susan Russell saying, "Lutherans to allow pastors in gay relationships". AWESOME! Here's the story.

time away

2007-07-30T12:22:00.001-07:00

Matt and I are heading south for a short camping trip and then to visit my brother Christopher in L.A. who is wrapping up his summer of work with the Catholic Worker House near Skid Row (yes, that's my bro up a tree).

Matt's not as fond of camping as I am, so keep us both in your prayers. On the way back up to SF next weekend we're going to a Rufus Wainwright concert.

In addition to soaking up the beauty of the California Coast, I hope to finish reading Mark Scandrette's Soul Graffiti and the last two Harry Potter books. Matt's re-reading A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn and a Doctor Who comic book. What are you reading this summer?

colorful day

2007-07-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

The morning started with helping (along with a few others from Grace Cathedral) Precita Eyes set-up for their Urban Youth Arts Festival. Fortunately, this all happened in Precita Park which is close to our apartment so Matt walked me there after a latte from Nervous Dog.

I've been so inspired by Precita Eyes' incredible work since moving to SF. In the midst of all the people setting up and the youth gathering around eager to spray paint, I met Susan Cervantes. Susan founded Precita Eyes over 30 years ago. What a tremendous witness for care, creativity, community, and collaboration. I'm looking forward to learning more from Precita Eyes and from Susan.

Afterward, I had a great conversation over a tasty enchilada with Niall, a fellow pilgrim from the South Africa Pilgrimage for Peace. Then I quickly headed to Leslie's in Oakland for a conversation about the emergent church movement with a group of Bay Area Episcopalians. On the way home I got to hear Tom's story of how he was led to the Christian faith, his experience of the emerging church at a place called Home in Oxford and his planetary move to work here in SF on video games.

Angelic Troublemakers on Episcopal Cafe

2007-07-20T08:28:00.000-07:00

My most recent post is up at Episcopal Cafe. Please check it out, leave a comment and tell us about the Angelic Troublemakers you are inspired by.

“We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers.”
Bayard Rustin

every day do something that won't compute

2007-07-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

This afternoon after a walk and two really good conversations about urban life and ecology --- I started thinking about planting an urban garden and lines from Wendell Berry's "The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" started popping into my head. Here's the poem/manifesto in full.

Manifesto:
The Mad Farmer Liberation Front
by Wendell Berry

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.

So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion - put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" from The Country of Marriage, copyright © 1973 by Wendell Berry, reprinted by permission of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.

wood-headness kills

2007-07-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

Below is an important piece by retired CIA analyst Ray McGovern. During seminary I was fortunate to take classes led by Ray at the Servant Leadership School in Washington, DC an organization rooted in the ecumenical Church of the Savior.

Published on Thursday, July 19, 2007 by CommonDreams.org
Bush’s Wooden-Headedness Kills
by Ray McGovern

President George W. Bush is convinced, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, that he is on the right course in the war in Iraq and the struggle against terrorism. He says he will not change his mind. Thus, we are at an historic moment; and we would be well advised to see what light historians might shed on our current predicament in Iraq and the basic (but unanswered) question as to why so many people resort to terrorism against us.

Historian Barbara Tuchman addressed the kind of situation we face at this juncture in our country’s history in her best-selling book, “The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam.” (Had she lived, she surely would have updated the book to take Iraq into account).

Tuchman wrote:

“Wooden-headedness…plays a remarkably large role in government. It consists in assessing a situation in terms of preconceived fixed notions while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting according to wish while not allowing oneself to be deflected by the facts.”

Tuchman referred in this context to 16th century Philip II of Spain as the Nobel-laureate (so to speak) woodenhead of all time: “No experience of the failure of his policy could shake his belief in its essential excellence.” Comparisons, I know, can be invidious, but Philip amassed too much power and drained state revenues by failed adventures overseas, leading to Spain’s decline. Sadly, Tuchman, who died in 1989, cannot opine as to whether history will see George W. Bush as having displaced Philip as supreme woodenhead. Bush would have a good shot at it, it seems to me.

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

In her book, Tuchman emphasized that courtiers can reinforce the ruler’s certitude, as was the case with Philip, and is the now the case with George. And if the courtiers are really good at it, they are awarded the Medal of Freedom-as was the case with former CIA director George Tenet, former Army General Tommy Franks, and former U.S. proconsul in Baghdad Paul Bremer-each of whom richly deserved a Heck of a job, Brownie-type salute. As Tuchman pointed out:

“Once a policy has been adopted and implemented, all subsequent activity becomes an effort to justify it…Adjustment is painful. For the ruler it is easier, once he has entered the policy box, to stay inside. For the lesser official it is better…not to make waves, not to press evidence that the chief will find painful to accept. Psychologists call the process of screening out discordant information “cognitive dissonance,” an academic disguise for “Don’t confuse me with the facts.”

Bush’s genius is that he knows this instinctively-without having to take Tuchman’s book to read in Crawford. And, by all signs, he likes it that way. That is why he has assembled a truly amazing array of sycophants around him, whose only pedigree is loyalty to George W. Bush.

And that is precisely why we Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), in our first Memorandum for the President (Feb. 5, 2003), closed with this admonition:

“After watching Secretary Powell today [giving his speech at the U.N.], we are convinced that you would be better served if you widened the discussion beyond violations of Resolution 1441, and beyond the circle of those advisers clearly bent on a war for which we see no compelling reason and from which we believe the unintended consequences are likely to be catastrophic.”

Our views, and those of others-like Scott Ritter, who knew more about what had happened to Iraqi “weapons of mass destruction” than virtually anyone-made no dent in the wooden head. Not that the president really believed there were such weapons there. If he did, he was badly misled by Vice President Dick Cheney, who was well aware that the “evidence,” such as it was, was bogus. Senior White House officials told my former colleagues at CIA eight months before the war that they needed to focus on “regime change,” not WMD. And the White House did not wish to hear any more about WMD from CIA’s super-source-the Iraqi foreign minister, whom CIA operations officers had “turned” to work in place for the U.S. rather than Saddam.

The Attack on Iraq and Terrorism

In the same 5 Feb. 03 Memorandum, we strongly warned the president (as did many others) of the consequences, should he order our troops to invade Iraq:

“It is our view that an invasion of Iraq would ensure overflowing recruitment centers for terrorists into the indefinite future. Far from eliminating the threat it would enhance it exponentially.”

We cited a CIA study done the previous fall that pointed out:

“The forces fueling hatred of the U.S. and fueling al-Qa’ida recruiting are not being addressed…the underlying causes that drive terrorists will persist.”

And we noted that that CIA report cited a 2002 Gallup poll of almost 10,000 Muslims in nine countries in which respondents described the United States as “ruthless, aggressive, conceited, arrogant, easily provoked and biased.” We hoped against hope that someone could break through the coterie around President George W. Bush and give him a chance to hear why “they hate us.” Someone, for example, from the U.S. Defense Science Board, a panel established to provide independent advice to the secretary of defense, which on Sept. 23, 2004 completed on an unclassified study on “Strategic Communication.” With little risk to their day-jobs, that distinguished board directly contradicted the line taken by the president:

“Muslims do not ‘hate our freedom,’ but rather, they hate our policies. The overwhelming majority voice their objections to what they see as one-sided support in favor of Israel and against Palestinian rights, and the longstanding, even increasing support for what Muslims collectively see as tyrannies, most notably Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan, and the Gulf States. Thus, when American public diplomacy talks about bringing democracy to Islamic societies, this is seen as no more than self-serving hypocrisy…”

It is hard to guess whether such straight talk might make a dent in presidential wood. The pity is that the palace guard around him headed by centurion-in-chief Cheney can, and does, keep such information from getting through. Even if the president were to read the New York Times, as many of us still do, he would have had to wait two months for the “paper of record” to put this story on the record and, even then, he would have been shortchanged.

Times writer Thom Shanker, to his credit, wrote a story on the findings of the Defense Science Board panel on Nov. 24, 2004 (better two months late than never). Shanker, too, cited the paragraph immediately above, but only the first and last sentences survived. To someone’s discredit, the offending middle sentence was surgically removed before the paper went to press.

NIE Ducks Key Issues

The latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) titled “The Terrorist Threat to the US Homeland,” is a disappointment, at least judging from its declassified Key Judgments that were made public on July 17. The judgments caused a stir by describing a “persistent and evolving terrorist threat” and pointing out that al-Qa’ida has secured safe haven in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

And then came the “mushroom-cloud” warning:

“al-Qa’ida will continue to try to acquire and employ chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear material in attacks and would not hesitate to use them if it develops what it deems is sufficient capability.”

Now that I’ve got your attention, I must tell you there is in the Key Judgments absolutely no hint as to how likely it might be that al-Qa’ida will be able to acquire such material. The message seems to be simply: Be afraid. Let us “assess” and “judge,” but don’t ask us about sources or provenance.

The Unaddressed Why of It All

Worse still, the Key Judgments throw no light at all on why al-Qa’ida or other terrorist groups would want to use such weapons against the U.S. With this key element missing, the paper reads like a long police bulletin: Be alert; heightened threat; terrorists want to do bad things to us. We don’t know if they can; but “we assess” they will try to do very bad things…and don’t ask us why. They’re evildoers; is that not enough for you?

The estimate bears the earmarks of having been drafted originally by law enforcement agencies like the Department of Homeland Security, whose portfolio include terrorist threats to the U.S., and the FBI. There are pitfalls here. There is a tendency to inflate the threat, when one has a parochial interest in building up one’s capacity to deal with it

In the past, the Pentagon would routinely magnify external threats by writing what we disdainfully called “budgetary intelligence” to justify burgeoning budgets. There is more than a whiff of that in the Key Judgments. The National Intelligence Council, which has purview over NIEs, is supposed to monitor this. But there is no sign in the Key Judgments that judicious restraint has been applied.

So, even if the president and Cheney wished to know what actually fuels all this terrorism, they would receive little if any help from this estimate.

Help Needed

And since 9/11, the Michael (Heck-of-a-Job-Brownie) Browns have proliferated in the national security apparatus almost as quickly as lapel flag-pins.

Ms. Fran Townsend, the young woman with the portfolio for terrorism at the National Security Council seems ill suited to the job. She confessed to being frustrated at al-Qa’ida’s success in rebuilding its infrastructure and links to affiliates and the fact that Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants have found safe haven, as the estimate makes clear.

And she was far from comfortable responding to journalists’ questions, as can be seen from her answer to this one:

Q. The president was warned before the war that this was actually going to help al-Qa’ida gain influence…Isn’t that something the president ignored?

A. But you’re assuming this is a zero-sum game, which is what I don’t understand. The fact is, we are harassing them in Afghanistan. We’re harassing them in Iraq. We’re harassing them in other ways non-militarily around the world. And the answer is, every time you poke the hornet’s nest, they are bound to come back and push back on you. That doesn’t suggest to me that we shouldn’t be doing it.

Is this what passes for a strategic plan to counter terrorists? If so, it certainly highlights the need for adult supervision in the White House….and for creating the capability to prepare honest, sophisticated estimates, which in turn can enable policies of some vision and imagination.

But all this matters little, if wooden-headedness continues to prevail with the president and Cheney. As long as they are permitted to preside over keystone-cops law enforcement operations, with an occasional military surge here and there, the men and women in our armed forces, and the rest of us, will be in greater danger.

In the end, though, wood is not difficult to drill through with the proper tools.

Thanks to the prescience and courage of those who crafted our Constitution, a wood-tool is available. It is a precision tool that, with some courage, can be employed almost immediately. It is called impeachment, the orderly political process the Founders left to us for use when the president and/or vice president or other high official needs to be removed to save the Republic.

Let the members of Congress, who enjoy calling one another “distinguished,” distinguish themselves by rising to the occasion. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us at another such juncture, that there is such a thing as too late. Too-late has already come to more than 3,600 young men and women in our armed forces, as well as thousands now missing limbs and other once functional parts of their bodies and minds. Not to mention the carnage visited on hundreds of thousands more whose only sin is that they are Iraqis.

Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. During his 27-year career as a CIA analyst, he chaired National Intelligence Estimates and prepared/briefed the President’s Daily Brief. He is on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).

This article appeared originally on Consortiumnews.com .

END THIS WAR

2007-07-17T17:14:00.000-07:00

Please pray for our elected leaders tonight as they seek an end to the war in Iraq.

Below is a message from the Episcopal Peace Fellowship.

SENATE TO STAY ALL NIGHT TO VOTE ON IRAQ AMENDMENTS

PLEASE Take the time to call your Senator AND an Episcopal Senator

Earlier today (July 17), the Senate began debate on an amendment to the 2008 Defense Authorization Bill which would begin troop redeployment from Iraq within 120 days. The Republicans plan to filibuster the amendment to prevent a vote, so Majority Leader Harry Reid has vowed to keep the Senate in session all day and night Tuesday (July 17). He hopes to force an up or down vote on the Levin-Reed amendment to redeploy most troops out of Iraq by April 30, 2008.

The pressure of the anti-war movement has brought us this far, we must make sure our demands are not lost in the 'drama' of the Senate all-nighter on Iraq. While we think that we'll be in a better position politically if the Levin-Reed amendment passes, the more important part of our message is our demand for an immediate and complete withdrawal of all troops and contractors, and the closing of all U.S. bases.
We hope you can take action today to help keep the pressure in the Senate. Please forward this message widely and activate phone tress or other mechanisms to get people in motion today and tonight. It is important that every member of the Senate hear from us!

Call your Senators with this message:For Episcopal Senators click here
* Bring all U.S. troops and military contractors home from Iraq on a firm, immediate timeline!
* Tell Republicans to allow the Levin-Reed amendment to come to a vote.
* Tell Democrats and Republicans to support the Levin-Reed amendment as a step in the right direction. Emphasize that their work is NOT done. The Levin-Reed Amendment does Not end the occupation and it leaves too many troops and all military contractors behind in Iraq.
Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 - Thank you so much, these calls are important!

hiking, swimming, eating and singing

2007-07-16T22:08:00.001-07:00

This afternoon Matt and I went for a hike near Mount Tamalpias in Marin. Afterwards, we went for a quick dip in the Pacific and then had dinner at a little restaurant/pub. The coolest thing about the pub in addition to great food and beer was that they kept playing our favorite music, starting with Gillian Welch, followed by Nick Drake, and then to our complete surprise the Magnetic Fields.

affordable housing in the Mission

2007-07-13T18:08:00.000-07:00

Today as I walked home from the BART Station along Mission Street I saw a large gathering at the intersection of Mission and Cesar Chavez. Standing with colorful signs this enthusiastic, diverse crowd of immigrants, senior citizens, youth and young people sought to highlight the need for real affordable housing in SF. The demonstration was organized by the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center and a variety of other groups including Queers for Peace and Justice.

For more information about these efforts to encourage affordable housing and locally owned businesses on the corner of Cesar Chavez and Mission Street click here.

Here's a recent opinion piece in the Guardian by the Executive Director of the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center.

In a few weeks the faith communities of San Francisco will be standing together with the Bay Area Organizing Committee to stand up in support of affordable housing, health care and fair paying jobs for working people and families in SF.