Today is Pentecost in the Western Christian tradition - and we went to worship on-line. It wasn't very satisfying. Partially that is because I believe worship is an experiential cruciform: true "church" honors both the horizontal beam of God in community alongside the vertical beam connecting individuals with the sacred in intimate and personal ways. Worship is to be an embodied encounter with the holy and the human, one that touches all of our senses and feeds our intellect, too. It is the symbolic marriage of heaven and earth, the embracing of head and heart, a time of celebration, lament, introspection and empowerment. That we have not been able to find an in-person community of faith since retirement was part of today's disappointment. To say that I was missing my sisters and brothers at L'Arche Ottawa big time would be an understatement.But that was not all that fueled our frustration: today's live-cast was sadly another contemporary example of church-lite; confusing, sloppy liturgy passing for spontaneity, and clergy trying too hard to be hip. That it came to light in the shadow of yesterday's royal wedding only exaggerated its deficits. The event at Windsor Cathedral was an authentic Pentecostal event. In that great hall, upon the marriage of Harry and Meghan, worship gave the world a sensual ceremony mixing ethical and intellectual depth with humor, pathos, tenderness and pageantry. From the a Capella boys' choir singing Thomas Tallis, to the Black gospel choir rocking out on "Stand By Me" and the organ/choral setting of Rutter's "Set Me as A Seal Upon Your Heart," the music evoked the ecstasy of love. The visuals of the ritual were stunning, the aesthetics powerful, and the liturgy simplified but elegant. And what about Bishop Curry's homily?
In an era saturated with the truly stupid, ugly and dumbed-down speeches of bullies and demagogues, Brother Curry gave us the Gospel in all its splendid glory. This was the feast of Pentecost: intentional, carefully considered, poignant and powerful at the same time that it was grounded in the presence of Jesus. Bishop Curry took-on the legacy of white supremacy, slavery and colonialism by his very essence. And he did so with grace and gravitas. He invited us all, to paraphrase the Rev. Jesse Jackson, to remember that no matter what ship we left on, we're all in the same boat now. He empowered me to open my heart to the Lord again - on TV from across the Atlantic, no less - and my soul rejoiced in God my Savior.
We live in the midst of chaotic times. As crises continue to build, we may find ourselves confused or fearful. We may want to gather in the upper room of our lives with our closest friends and close the door on a troubled world just like the disciples. Yet chaos always calls for creative response, it always beckons us to open to holy surprise. Today is the feast of Pentecost, that glorious final day of the season of resurrection. The Apostles were together experiencing bewilderment over how to move forward when the Holy Spirit flows among them and breathes courage into their hearts...
(The story) says that those who witnessed this event were "amazed and perplexed." Some were confused, others cynical. Peter reminds the crowds of the words the prophet Joel declared, that all will be called to dreams and visions, all will need to be attentive to signs and wonders. The story of Pentecost asks us a question: How do I let my expectations and cynicism close my heart to the new voice rising like a fierce wind?
In Benedictine tradition, conversion is a central spiritual practice. Conversion for me essentially means making a commitment to always be surprised by God. Conversion is the recognition that we are all on a journey and always changing. God is always offering us something new within us. Conversion is a commitment to total inner transformation and a free response to the ways God is calling us and to new images of God. Eugene Peterson describes it this way: "What we must never be encouraged to do, although all of us are guilty of it over and over, is to force Scripture to fit our experience. Our experience is too small; it's like trying to put the ocean into a thimble. What we want is to fit into the world revealed by Scripture, to swim in its vast ocean." (Christine Valters Painters @ Abbey of the Arts)
Reading Dr. Painters' words brought back the beauty of the Royal Wedding and power of Bishop Curry's homily. They also recalled for me the challenge of Childish Gambino's video, "This Is America." I can't get this masterpiece out of my head. If you haven't seen it, stop - do not pass go - and take five minutes to do so right now. It is searing. It is beautiful. It is tragic and oh so true. I am genuinely speechless about everything this evokes for me...
After Friday's most recent massacre at an American high school, this work of art is all the more important to us all. Jim McDermott, writing in the Jesuit on-line resource, America, offers this clue about why "This Is America" is crucial:
How to talk about this extraordinary piece of work? In just four minutes “This is America” shuttles through an astonishing number of referents to both current affairs and black culture, including gun violence, police shootings, school shootings, OK Go’s Rube Goldberg-style music videos, rap video thug and bling posing, urban riots, the 2015 Charleston, S.C., church shooting, gospel choirs, the gospel of prosperity, Jim Crow imagery, “Get Out,” lynchings, memes, Michael Jackson, viral dance videos and Glover’s former role as nerdy community college kid Troy Barnes on the TV show “Community.” All the while Glover mostly dances his way through an abandoned warehouse with happy school children as chaos ensues in the background, his eyes rarely leaving us.
Read his whole essay, please? And know in advance that McDermott links the
paradox of the artist's critique of our nation with the same biting sting that Flannery O'Connor used in her day. I suspect he is right. (https://www.americamagazine. org/arts-culture/ 2018/05/16/what-childish-gambino-and-flannery-oconnor-have commonutmmedium=email& amp;utm_source=newsletters&utm_content=3++What+Childish+Gambino+and+Flannery+OConn&utm_campaign=Newsletter&source=Newsletter Pentecost, for those who choose to trust God and live by faith, is a way of being, not a doctrinal fact. It is a willingness to let our hearts be changed by reality as we embody and wait for the promise of God. Painters is helpful again:
All of which took me back to Leonard Cohen. For me, it almost always gets back to Leonard Cohen. Singing in harmony with Jesus, to be sure, ok? LC reminded me that there "is a crack, a crack, in everything: that's how the light gets in." After watching and listening to Childish Gambino a few more times, I found I needed to hear Cohen again. As Leonard sang, he gave shape and voice to Jesus saying: those who seek to save their lives shall lose them. There is a crack in everything. Trust those cracks. Trust those wounds to become the way into healing and holiness. For your personally. And for your broken, hurting world. Trust God's to break into the chaos through the cracks. For if you trust the Spirit of God to lure you beyond what is comfortable and clear, you will leave the wilderness and wander into what is holy and transformative. "Ring the bells, the bells that still can ring. Forget you perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything: that's how the light gets in." Blessed Pentecost.
credits:
+ http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/ideas-for-celebrating-pentecost-at-home
+ http://www.thinksoup.org/224/
+ http://travellingboomer.com/homage-leonard-cohen/
credits:
+ http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/ideas-for-celebrating-pentecost-at-home
+ http://www.thinksoup.org/224/
+ http://travellingboomer.com/homage-leonard-cohen/
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