Lingering Joy

Posted on May 26, 2013 | Leave a comment

I’m posting this sermon (see below)  that I preached at the May 21, 2013 Hudson River Presbytery meeting.  Almost  a week has passed since I preached the sermon and at least 4 days have passed since I promised a few people I would post it here.  I was reminded of my promise this morning after worship at White Plains Presbyterian Church by the words of a member of the church who is a faithful volunteer in our new English as a Second Language classes, a joint ministry with Hitchcock Presbyterian on Thursday nights that includes a shared meal, childcare, language instruction, and a brief bilingual worship service.  The White Plains member said that the Thursday night classes are the highlight of her week, that she can’t stop talking about them to friends and family, and that she leaves class glowing.  The majority of the students who come to class are members of a Spanish-language congregation that meets at White Plains Presbyterian Church on Friday nights and Sunday evenings.  The classes are a meeting place for members of the two churches to make connections and grow in relationship.  I, too, leave class on Thursday nights feeling full of deep joy. I had that joy in mind when I wrote this sermon…

A sermon preached at Hudson River Presbytery on May 21, 2013

Acts 1:12-2:21

“The disciples are told by the risen Lord to go to their room and wait for the Spirit.  But they are anxious and leaderless after the trauma of losing Jesus and Judas.   So they don’t wait.  They turn to choosing Judas’ replacement, hoping to make some order out of chaos.  They come up with two candidates, they cast lots (not the most Spirit-filled discernment process), one, Matthias, is chosen, the other, Justus, is excluded.

AND THEN the Spirit shows up.  No sooner had the disciples re-formed their comfortable tight-knit group of twelve, than the Spirit blows through the room, tongues of flame rest upon their heads, and they begin to speak in languages they did not know they could speak, to people they never thought would understand them or the message that Jesus gave to them to share.

A small act of human exclusion in the power structures of Jesus’ followers, is followed up by an epic act of divine inclusion for all God’s people.  It’s like the Spirit was waiting for them to get antsy, for them to stop waiting as they were instructed, to start going down the narrow route, so that the Spirit could show up and in stark contrast blow the doors wide open.

We are in a time of waiting in the Presbyterian Church. We’re waiting to see where the Spirit leads next..and, like the disciples we can busy ourselves in our anxiety with trying to recreate  what always has been or we can we can commit to some creative, ear to the door, waiting. Recently, at a gathering to discuss new visions for the Synod of the Northeast, a woman named Terri, urged, even begged, those of us gathered to take time to sit in the “waiting” room and listen to where the winds of the Spirit are blowing.

In these past months, as we compiled the list of churches in our Presbytery who share their space with other communities of faith (a list we will pray for and lift up during the business meeting), it was impossible not to think of Pentecost in the sheer number of languages represented in the faith communities who share space in the churches of this Presbytery – Tagalog, Hebrew, Japanese, Spanish, Arabic, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Hindi, Korean – and that’s not even taking into account the diversity of languages present within our Presbyterian congregations.  As we gathered together resources to support churches who share space with other faith communities, stories emerged.  Yes, stories of the challenges of sharing space but even more prevalent were stories of deepening relationship between Presbyterian congregations and “that church who rents our space”.  Stories in which worship was shared, names were learned, and “that church” became our brothers and sisters.  These are stories from the waiting room: who is to say where exactly they will lead, but are we willing to wait and see? Are we willing to linger with each other across denominational, language, and cultural differences, to listen for and learn to speak the common message the Spirit may have for us?  If the Spirit grants us the fruit of kindness to extend to one another, perhaps the greatest kindness we can return to the Spirit is to pay attention to who the Spirit has placed in our midst.”

Rev. Betty Griffin of First Presbyterian Church in Mt. Vernon, NY and Pastor Marcio of New Life Brazilian Church continued the sermon by sharing about their experience sharing space and sharing mission.  They concluded their remarks with an embrace.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Community, Cross-Cultural Network, Hudson River Presbytery Events, Immigration

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Cascarones. Confetti. Cross-Cultural.

Posted on April 2, 2013 | 2 Comments

Cascarones5At Easter dinner with my parents in New Jersey, my partner, Will shared about one of his favorite Easter traditions: cascarones!  For months before Easter, his family would gently crack the eggs they used for cooking, just cracking off the tip of the egg-shell.  These shells were later dyed, filled with confetti, capped off with a thin piece of tissue paper and brought out on Easter day to be smashed on each other’s heads.  The result: a raucous, confetti-filled, kids-running-everywhere Easter joy celebration.

Will grew up in El Paso, TX right on the border with Mexico.  So close, in fact, that a glance to one side of the highway displayed the crowed hills of Ciudad Juárez and a glance to the other side the buildings of El Paso.  In his youth, the border was quite fluid; people traveled back and forth for lunch, shopping, and visiting family and friends. Mexican traditions were commonplace in almost every household on the U.S. side of the border whether you were Irish-American, African-American, Italian-American or Mexican-American.  While the shared traditions remain, the story of the border is now very different. The violence in Ciudad Juárez has drawn national attention (thought not enough to stop it or create a serious dialogue in our government regarding the U.S.’s involvement in the ongoing violence) and increased border security has limited the flow back and forth between the sister cities.

I believe there is hope for Ciudad Juarez, hope for the U.S./Mexico border, hope for the borders in our own cities up north to shake and crumble….and that hope begins with our sharing of traditions and cultures and stories.  Today we focus on the shared love of Easter confetti.  Rev. Debra Bronkema of Pleasantville Presbyterian Church, forwarded me an article this morning of their confetti filled Easter celebrations.  Read that article here and check out these awesome pictures:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The cascarones fun began last year at Pleasantville Presbyterian church as a reflection of the Mexican tradition that shapes the Easter experience of some of their members with family roots in Mexico.  This shared cascarones tradition is now like a big welcome sign, not just to families with ties to Mexico, but to people of other cultures who are seeking a community where their traditions and stories can become part of a diverse Christian narrative.

There is no normative Christianity, no one way to celebrate Easter, no tradition that cannot be expanded to include the beauty and colors of another.  ”The way it has always been done” can always be broken open to weave together the way someone else “has always done it”.  At the April 9th meeting of the Hudson River Presbytery, we will have a community conversation titled, “Praying Peace for all People: Tools and Techniques for Culturally-Conscious Worship.”  Join us to dream up ways to create traditions that join us together, that create gaping holes in the walls between us, and that nurture new joy and growing commitment to justice in the meeting of our differences.

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Community, Inspiration

Tagged , , , , ,

The fast we choose: Clergy, Faith Leaders, Activists Gathering on Ash Wednesday to Repent the Sin of Imprisoning Immigrants for Profit

Posted on February 13, 2013 | Leave a comment
Art by Ernesto Yerena via MigrationNow.com

Art by Ernesto Yerena via MigrationNow.com

I had the honor of leading our 12 noon Ash Wednesday service today at White Plains Presbyterian Church.  The first scripture reading was Isaiah 58:1-12, a reading pointing us to the type of fasting that God asks of us:

“Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly…”

I invite you to read a story of light breaking forth in NJ, of clergy, faith leaders and activists marking the beginning of Lent with an action to loose the bonds of injustice:

2/13 in #NJ: Clergy, Faith Leaders & Activists Gathering on Ash Wednesday to Repent the Sin of Imprisoning Immigrants for Profit.

Lent is an invitation not only to examine our individual sins, but to look long and hard at our corporate sins, the systems of oppression that create inequity and alienation.  It is a season of confession, forgiveness, and renewal. Blessings and Courage on your Lenten journey!

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Community, Cross-Cultural Network, Immigration, Inspiration

Tagged , , , , , ,

AHORA is the time for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Posted on January 31, 2013 | 1 Comment

If you didn’t hear it already, here is President Obama’s speech on a plan for Comprehensive Immigration reform delivered on 1/29/13 in Las Vegas:

The past few days my inbox has been flooded with responses to the plan laid out by the President.  Many are hopeful.  Many are skeptical.  Most are some mix of the two.  It is a beginning and by no means a perfect solution. But praise God for beginnings!  So now is the time to do your own research, add your voice to the call for just immigration reform, and invite your friends and congregation to join in.  Some suggestions on how to get your mind, body, and soul involved:

Get into the complexity.  The current immigration system is broken.  That’s a fact accepted by everyone across political lines.  It’s a mess but it’s one that we, as Christians and as members of the human family, need to dive into.  The Office of Immigration Issues of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. has some great resources to introduce you and your faith community to immigration facts, the PC(USA) stance on reform, and how to make your voice heard.  Also, take some time doing some myth-busting: 10 Myths about Immigration.  Much of what is heard in mainstream media about undocumented immigrants is simply not true.  Be informed!

Send a postcard to your Senators. Here is a sample postcard, which can still be printed out and used to send to your Senators: postcard here.  It says “Happy New Year!” but I’d say that in February it’s not too late to wish Senators a good start to their year….they have many months ahead of them!  Put these postcards (or ones of your own design) in the pews, invite church members to put them in the offering plate as their offering to the the movement toward justice for all people in this country!

Pray. Lift up comprehensive immigration reform in your personal and corporate prayers.  Our friends at Interfaith Worker Justice have an on-line prayer petition you can sign to let our President and members of congress know that people of faith are praying for their courage to act with wisdom and grace: prayer petition here.

Dance. There is so much joy in the movement for justice for immigrants.  That is one of the reason why the movement has journeyed this far.  Take a moment to listen to this updated version of La Bamba called La Bamba Rebelde, move your body in sync with the millions of young and old who have been working toward this moment in history, and sing with the God of All People who brought down the dividing walls between us,  ”Yo no creo en fronteras. Las cruzaré, las cruzaré. I don’t believe in borders. I will cross them. I will cross them.”

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Community, Immigration, Inspiration, Resources

Tagged , , , ,

Let America Be America Again

Posted on January 21, 2013 | 1 Comment

On Inauguration Day, thinking of the words of President Obama in his inaugural address, “Our journey is not yet complete.”  On Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Day, thinking of his vision and all we have to do to live into it.  Some words from Langston Hughes to call us to remake America, to rebuild it on the foundations of justice.

Let America Be America Again 

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There’s never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one’s own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That’s made America the land it has become.
O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,
And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came
To build a “homeland of the free.”

The free?

Who said the free?  Not me?
Surely not me?  The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we’ve dreamed
And all the songs we’ve sung
And all the hopes we’ve held
And all the flags we’ve hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that’s almost dead today.

O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!

Langston Hughes

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Community, Cross-Cultural Network Coordinator, Inspiration

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Losing our religion: an invitation to conversation.

Posted on January 18, 2013 | 3 Comments

Participants in NPR’s “Losing our religion” conversations

All this week NPR did a series called “Losing our religion“.  The series primarily focused on the voices of young adults, the “nones” as they are being referred to, who do not participate in organized religion.

The topic of young adults and our (lack of) participation in organized religion seems to be everywhere I turn lately.  I’ve read many, many blog posts on the topic ranging from criticisms of the younger generations’ lack of a sense of commitment to thoughtful critiques of organized religion and why it might not hold meaning for the youth of this day.  Some blogs have placed blame on one or the other – the young adults or organized religion – but the best writing has rested on questions, curiosity, and hopefulness that this change is a beginning to conversation and not an ending.

In the Cross-Cultural Network gatherings, we’ve noted the general lack of young adults.  I can’t say they are absent because I am one still (at least according to some demographers!).  I definitely notice that at church gatherings I am often one of only a few people under 40 in the room and I recognize that I’m in the uncommon position in my age group of being ordained into a mainline denomination.  I’m seemingly the opposite of a “none”….but only seemingly.

What I appreciated about the “Losing your religion” series on NPR was that it was an opportunity to just listen to the voices of young people who, while labeled as “nones”, are still quite engaged in thinking about and wrestling with faith, involvement in community, and how they relate to organized religion.  I could relate to much of what they said, especially one young woman who simply wished her denomination would move from a place of exclusion to inclusion and that it would be associated with justice issues that make the world a more loving place.

The focus of the Cross-Cultural Network of Hudson River Presbytery on nurturing and recognizing our differences is part of a movement, a necessary step in making the world a more loving place.  I hope that in this year, we will find more opportunities to welcome young adults into our gatherings and to listen to their voices.

In my role as Parish Associate at White Plains Presbyterian Church, I’ve been so inspired by the steps that the church has taken to address issues of domestic violence and gun violence in our community and nation.  When I hear people in our congregation talking about these issues because they were preached from the pulpit, lifted up in prayers, and studied in Christian education, I think: I would confidently invite a young adult friend to this church.  And I would pray that they would find the strength of community and call to justice as meaningful as I do or, at least, that we could begin a conversation.

→ 3 Comments

Posted in Community, Cross-Cultural Network

Tagged , , , ,

Turning a new page

Posted on December 31, 2012 | Leave a comment
"The blank page" - Rene Magritte, 1967

“The blank page” – Rene Magritte, 1967

It is the last day of 2012.  I’ve been away from this blog for a spell on a healing journey that will continue in 2013.  I’m thankful for so much in 2012 and hopeful for what is to come in this next year.  In my quieter return to work as Cross-Cultural Network Coordinator, I’ve been immersing myself in books and new materials to give life to the work of the Cross-Cultural Network this year.  I’ll be posting brief descriptions of those texts/documentaries/articles in the coming weeks so that you can share in the conversation but for now….it is New Year’s Eve!!!!!!!!!!!

You may be gearing up for festivities or preparing for a night of reflection  or some combination of both.  This year, like all years, has been marked by pain, grief, joy, and exuberance. The New York Times Magazine always dedicates the last issue of the year to “The Lives They Lived”, brief bios of some of the people who passed on into life eternal this year.  The bios are celebratory and amazing in their diversity.  One of the people whose passing they recognized this year is the poet Adrienne Rich.  The issues opens with a quote from the closing section of her poem “Dreams Before Waking”.  I leave you with her words as a prayer and invitation for 2013:

What would it mean to live
in a city whose people were changing
each other’s despair into hope? –
You yourself must change it. –
what would it feel like to know
your country was changing? –
You yourself must change it. –
Though your life felt arduous
new and unmapped and strange
what would it mean to stand on the first
page of the end of despair?

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Inspiration

Tagged , ,