To your stations

My faith journey picked up during my adolescence.....go figure. As a youth, Good Friday was a time to be somber and reflective, don the black clothes and attend a service of worship.  Normally, it was a Tenebrae service in the evening.....which made sense as the name itself suggests darkness. 

Being protestant we didn't do the Stations of the Cross.  When I lived and worked in Erie, I involved myself with the Benedictine Community.  The times spent with those Sisters, the Bennies, was a spiritual spark and strengthening that serves me still and onward.  During one Lenten Season, I was invited to participate as a reader in the community's annual Good Friday Peace Pilgrimage through the streets of Erie.  

The set-up was a modern day Stations of the Cross with stops planned to raise awareness to the suffering of God's children in these days. As we walked the seven mile pilgrimage (cars were also provided to make certain all who wanted could participate). The stops of reading and reflection, prayer and stirs to act with love and justice were:

• the armory to lament the blood and treasury continued to be afforded to support the USA's military-industrial complex; 
• a "girlie bar" known around the city as a place that objectified women; 
• the space at a location where a person was murdered for his sexual orientation; 
• a kids park whose swings and slides were adorned with graffiti and messages not fit for the eyes of children nor for that matter anyone. 
• a food pantry to reflect on the many weighed down by poverty;
• there was the reading and reflection at the understood-by-all line that lead into what locals still called the "colored part" of the city; 
• an overlook of Lake Erie where the shoreline was littered with trash.

Where we to participate in a Stations of the Cross pilgrimage for these days and times in which we live where would you have us stop and pray, lament, and repent for a life change to be more just?

                                

Ready for.a revolution?

Most revolutions start around a table.   

The revolution is non-violent.

Foundational to the revolution is love and service....taking the back seat, washing another's feet kind of stuff.....all kinds of people's feet.....

Our statement of purpose is grace.

This table always has room for one more.....all are welcome....we could care less about your bank balance, your wins, your losses, in whose eyes you see yourself in, your moments when you were bathed in glory and the times when you were muddied and sullied....just come to the table and sit next to me;

We listen before we label.

We include all...no one, not one is left out or left behind.....

We believe love and inclusion heal the wounds we carry and keep hidden, afraid of anyone knowing.

We believe in sharing so all have enough.  

We believe in miracles that happen when someone puts another first.

We believe in the power of story.

We believe in kindness to all persons, in all times, in all places.

This is the start of who we are and what we do....

You in??????

HAPPY START OF HOLY WEEK

 

It's been awhile......no better time than now to begin and work to have some semblance of discipline (....I'll pause while you chuckle.....) to post with some regularity.

For this Holy Week, my plan is to use the Gospel of Mark as my companion.  Scholars date the writing of Mark's Gospel between 65-68 CE; it is the earliest of the four gospels.  Mark writes short, quick sentences and the writer doesn't have time for any fluff or extemporaneous reflection.  Basically, here's what happened, what you need to know.

When reading the Gospel of Mark pay attention to what is known as a "Markan Sandwich" where a story starts, for example, Jesus is on his way to see Jairius whose daughter is near death (Mark 5.21-43) and on the way there he encounters a woman with a flow of blood. The journey and the story continues and one is to determine how the insertion of the other tale adds to the meaning if the overall narrative.  Who ever said Bible study can't be fun! I invite you this Holy Week to join me in using Mark's Gospel, namely Chapters 10 - 16, to provide insight and guidance through this trek from Palm Sunday to Easter.  

In Mark's Gospel, Palm Sunday is the first time Jesus goes to Jerusalem. This would suggest something of major importance and danger is ahead. Get ready. 

As Jesus and his followers are on the Mount of Olives preparing to enter Jerusalem, Jesus sends two of his disciples (gotta' love that Biblical example of pairing off and doing the work together) to go ahead of the group and there they will find a donkey, that has never been ridden, tied to a door. They are to untie the donkey and bring it to Jesus.  If anyone asks them what they are doing, they are to reply that Jesus needs it and they will return the donkey right away.  If I had the courage, I always thought a great sermon title based on this text would be "Jesus Needs Your Ass."   Tell me if that title posted on the church's outside sign board wouldn't capture folks' attention!

As the followers then, as we 21st Century disciples, we know this week is major and important events are going to happen and need to be re-read and reflected upon.  Make the effort to take your time and ponder the passages as if you are hearing them for the first time and don't know the end of the story.  What are you learning?  What are you living?  Does it make a difference?