New possibilities...

Last night our band, "Between the Banks," practiced for a local TV shoot. A colleague minister from another town wanted to join us - she's always wanted to sing in a rock band and heard us at a recent gig - and asked if there was room for another female vocalist... so I invited her to stop by and she did. Lots of fun and she fit in with our odd little group pretty well so I think she'll be joining us from time to time when her schedule allows.

We'll be doing a set of mostly songs we've worked on before - Cat Power, Joan Osborne, U2, Over the Rhine, Josh Ritter, Paul Simon and the Eels plus a few country gospel tunes and Rumi poems - so maybe I'll finally have a cut or two to finally post here. Great fun. Even one of my own tunes, too!

One of the blessings that came about, however, had to do with the insights and songs a new person can bring into the mix. Our new mate asked about Belle and Sebastian, Peter Gabriel and others... taking me back into new songs and out of my comfort zone. Thanks be to God!

This song by Belle and Sebastian, for example, is a very interesting take on how most young, hip, educated folk find most of what happens in the church. It's called "If You're Feeling Sinister" and includes the line: But if you are feeling sinister go off and see a minister he'll try in vain to take away the pain of being a hopeless unbeliever.

THIS is part of what the still speaking God is saying to the church if we had ears to hear! I hope to be including songs like this on a new local TV show I'll be starting soon about music and spirituality. More as it unfolds at the start of Advent.

After we got home - and I reviewed and revised our set list - it hit me that we had to include this poem followed by Josh Ritter's incredible, "Girl in the War." Di and I will do it as a duet. It has to be one of the best ever written.

I AM NOT – Anja Sladek

I am not a pessimist
But this work is dark
And I do not see the dawn.

I am not a traitor
But I cannot love my country
Whilst friends are being killed.

I am not optimistic
But I cannot help but feel
That there must be something better.

I am not a believer
But I find myself praying
For God in the evening.

I am not a poet
But I must write this down
And make somebody read.

I am not a coward
But I am very afraid
Of what will happen next.

Rest in peace moma afrika...

The great Miriam Makeba went home on Sunday after singing a concert in Italy. She was 76 - and what a legacy she has shared with the world! A South African vocalist who was as comfortable in English or her native Xhosa as well as "Portuguese and Yiddish" (Jon Pareles, NY Times) she sang of love rather than protest but the lament and anguish in her voice spoke volumes about what it means to suffer.

I remember loving her international hit, "Pata, Pata (the Click Song)" in 1967. She had already had her passport revoked by the apartheid government of South Africa and performed with Dr. King in the USA as part of the freedom movement. She married Stokley Carmichael - who became the inspiration for the Black Panthers while coordinating Mississippi summer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1964 - and came to embody what it mean to be "black and proud." "Prohibited from returning to South Africa, she settled instead in Guinea, in West Africa, where she participated in that country's government-assisted movement toward musical 'authenticite' - merging traditional styles with new instruments - and let her already vast repertory stretch further."

My reconnection with her music came through brother Paul Simon who enlisted her help during his 1987 "Graceland" tour which brought the music of South Africa - and their struggle - to new heights. Her reworking of Linda Ronstadt's part on "Under African Skies" is so moving I recently used it on this blog as a model of what might be should the US finally bring the Civil War to a close (which we did on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008!)

Nelson Mandela said, "she was the mother of our struggle and truly the first lady of South African song." Take a listen to Simon's introduction and then give thanks to "Moma Afrika" as she sings her heart out (Hugh Masekela, too!) May she rest in peace...

For my veteran friends...

Tomorrow is Veteran's Day in the US and while I give thanks that the youngest vet in my church is now at home and safely out of harm's way for the holidays, I love a bunch of other women and men in uniform who are not at home - and a few who never made it home. I want to remember them all - the living and the dead - and hold them close in my prayers. Daniel Hope's arrangement of Ravel's "Kaddish" does this for me...

Because the night...

This may be one of the most sensual laments I have ever heard. I know some folks think Bruce is waaay over rated but man can this guy cook when he's in a groove! When I was in the midst of a totally broken relationship - and everything felt like it was turning to shit all around me - I stole away to Detroit one night and heard the Boss and his band play this song back in the 1980s and it saved my soul. Sure, there were lots of other ass-kicking songs, too like "Because the Night" and "Darkness at the Edge of Town" but his cover of "Trapped" changed everything for me.
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They say in AA that religion is for people who believe in hell, but spirituality is for those who have been there - and this song gets it right. It shares what hell feels like and helped me name it, too. Some of my old addict friends in Cleveland - guys from Vietnam who are still fighting their inner terrors - tell me that this song gets it right and they wouldn't bullshit you if their lives depended on it.

So I simply share it with you tonight knowing that somebody out there is feeling trapped -maybe you are thinking there is nobody out there who feels what you do - and that everything is turning to shit. Sometimes music can can help us name what's going on inside - in that way it is like a prayer - and when that happens - be it joy or sorrow - it reminds us that we're not in this all by ourselves... and that is part of the way into hope and healing. So, listen to this and let me know what you think, ok?

We stand in solidarity...

After the recent news of the defeat of equal protection in marriage - Proposition 8 - in California, my friends in the United Church of Christ shared this full page ad in a number of LGBT publications in California as a sign of solidarity. Thanks be to God... oh deep in my heart, I do believe that we shall overcome someday.

"We stood with you in saying no to Proposition 8 and we will continue to stand with you, both in disappoint and resolve, until marriage equality is realized."
John Thomas, General Minister and President, United Church of Christ

WE UNITE IN SOLIDARITY

Once again, through California's Proposition 8, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community has endured an onslaught of lies and deceipt. This hurtful ballot initiative has demeaned the lives, relationships and families of our LGBT sisters and brothers.

Many members, clergy and congregations in the 1.2 million-member United Church of Christ - in California and across the United States - participated in the unprecedented effort to affirm marriage equality for all. People of faith, including many in the UCC, offered significant leadership, time and dollars.

Now is the time to attend to each other with love and compassion, and may the solidarity we share strengthen us for the challenging journey that lies ahead.

Providence

Sometimes a "wee" vacation is just what the doctor ordered - and while I am not aware of any immediate need of a doctor, we were both in need of some rest and away time from church - and Providence, RI was a delightful retreat. We wandered through the streets of the old city - Benevolent and Benificent Streets - marvelling at the restored Federalist homes. We found GREAT cheap Middle Eastern food - I ate goat for the first time - explored the classical and contemporary art at the Rhode Island School of Design art museum and visited old book shops, too. In a word, it was the perfect time away: quiet, surrounded by the arts and lots of interesting people (when we wanted to visit) as well as lots of sleep and conversation.

We've been friends and lovers for 15 years so this was an anniversary of sorts - a blessed way to mark our ups and downs - and return thanks while renewing our connection. And is the fresh seafood in Providence a treat!!!!!! OMG!

After marking our together-time, we thought we might find a place to go dancing. We've been in the beautiful Berkshires for 14 months and STILL have not found a place to go dancing. (NOTE: in Tucson we went out at least once a week to a beloved little dive known as the Chicago Bar but apparently New Englanders are more inhibited than their friends in the desert Southwest because we have yet to find a place to really rock out!)

Our first venue in Providence turned out to be an upscale dump for the VERY young Goth crowd - not my scene although I appreciate the kids verve - so we wandered into a very funny and rude novelty shop before getting up our courage to try a place call "Silvio's." I had visions of Tony Soprano dancing in my head... and when we finally made our way into the club... it was too funny. Lots and lots of folks dressed like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever aching to get laid. They were having fun and dancing pretty well but... there was this ancient "radio personality" who was so far over the hill - and without a funny bone in his body - that it became painful. We got to dance one shake your booty number -"Some Kind of Wonderful" - and cheered for the local women in a twist contest before deciding that maybe the Lord doesn't want us to dance anymore! Or else start something locally because it was just too weird.

Today we wound our way home through Eastern Massachusetts with craft fairs and little country church bazaars and shared lots of conversation and pretty autumn leaves. As I was getting ready for sleep last night, I came across these words by Frederick Buechner that touched me last year but then were completely forgotten. They are still good today especially in light of our away time:

Grace is something you can never get but only be given. There's no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth. A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. Loving somebody is grace. Have you ever tried to love somebody...

The grace of God means something like: here is your life - you might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you. I created the universe. I love you. There's only one catch: like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift, too.

I am grateful for the grace in my life that Dianne has shared with me - and give thanks to God.

Awakenings...

NOTE: Here are this week's sermon notes written in the awe of yesterday's historic election in the United States. I hope if you are in town and would like to stop by, you will join us at 10:30 am on Sunday, November 9th 2008.

It regularly astounds me how the words of our scripture so often relate to the reality of our lives. It almost doesn’t matter whether it is something public or private, political or personal because, once you start listening for the word of the Lord in your life, when the Spirit says “jump,” you do it! Once you have eyes to see or ears to hear, you are awakened and no longer confuse the darkness for the light.

+ And that’s what struck me watching the Presidential election returns on Tuesday with those incredibly long lines and the almost sacramental sense that people brought to the marking of their ballots: there was an awakening.

+ Not the bestowal of God’s favor upon one political party or another – such crude and even blasphemous mumbo jumbo about this or that Moral Majority is always dangerous – just an awakening.

For you see, it was just 40 years ago that the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reclaimed the words of the prophet Amos for America: I hate and despise your festivals and solemn assemblies… take away from me the noise of your celebrations… and let justice roll down among you like waters and compassion like an ever-flowing stream. Forty years ago – a biblical number, yes – suggesting something about wandering in the wilderness and fasting, floating on the flood and temptations in the desert.

Forty years of watching, waiting and wondering… and then an awakening – an awakening the Jewish prophet to our generation, Thomas Friedman, put like this: And so it came to pass that on November 4th 2008, shortly after 10 pm Eastern Standard Time, the American Civil War ended as a black man… won enough electoral votes to become president of the United States.

I must tell you that I never thought I would live to see this day – and I am not talking about whether your political party won or lost. It really does not matter to me whether you are a Republican or a Democrat – a socialist or a capitalist – a liberal, a conservative, a neo-con or a technocrat. People will always have differences and disagreements which is why Jesus was explicit in training his disciples:

You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy?' I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does, gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that. "In a word, what I'm saying is, grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.

And that is what Friedman noted in The New York Times – growing up – what I call an awakening. It’s what brought tears to the eyes of Jesse and Oprah in Chicago’s Grant Park, it’s what empowered Senator McCain to be so gracious and hopeful in his concession speech and it’s what inspired even the pundits on both Fox News and MSNBC (and I watched them both) to sit in quiet and reverent awe as America was awakened. Friedman wrote:

Our Civil War may have been decided by the battle of Gettysburg, PA in 1863… but it was concluded 145 years later via the ballot box in that same state… In his famous Gettysburg Address, President Lincoln urged every American to take on “the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far nobly advanced.” That work remained unfinished… for a century and a half: for despite decades of civil rights legislation, judicial interventions and social activism – despite Brown v. Board of Education, Martin Luther King’s crusade and the 1964 Civil Rights Act – the Civil War could never truly be said to be over until America’s white majority actually elected an African- American as president. And this is what happened and that is why we wake up to a different country.

Like I said: there has been an awakening – not perfect, not complete – but clearly connected to justice rolling down like waters and compassion bubbling over like an ever-flowing stream in the desert.

Now, by invoking the words of the prophet Amos, let’s be clear what is at stake. In his day, 750 years before the birth of Jesus, Amos was a simple shepherd who became enraged over the disparity of wealth in ancient Israel. The rich were getting richer, they were literally selling their poor relatives into slavery and they were flirting with serving other gods: greed, sensuality and moral decadence. What’s more, they publically dressed up their selfishness in the words of the Bible, claiming they were honoring God while hating and wounding their own citizens in vicious and mean-spirited acts of gluttony, dissipation and excess. So, this simple farmer and goat herder experienced an awakening in the midst of the injustice and violence and went to the source of the trouble saying:
I can't stand your religious meetings. I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions and I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals. I'm sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making and I've had all I can take of your noisy ego-music. When was the last time you sang to me, the Lord, your God? Do you know what I want? I want justice—oceans of it. I want fairness—rivers of it. That's what I want – and that’s all I want!

I think that is what Jesus wanted, too. If you look carefully at today’s odd little parable about the 10 bridesmaids with oil lamps, there are two symbols that cry out for interpretation: the bridesmaids and the oil.

+ Scholars suggest that a bridesmaid – literally parthenoi – means a young, pure woman awaiting her wedding – a virgin – one who is chaste and clean and ready to be faithful.

+ In his correspondence with the church in Corinth, St. Paul speaks of those who are faithful disciples of Jesus as chaste virgins – women and men dedicated to one lover – in this case God.

+ Contrast this with how the prophet Hosea speaks of those who sell themselves to the highest bidder, ransom off their deepest commitments to convenience and trade their first love for spiritual compromise: do you remember what word he used? Harlots – whores – those who are wounded and defiled rather than spiritually faithful.

Now let me offer a quick aside here: I’m not very comfortable calling people spiritual virgins or whores. I don’t think such words help any of us advance the cause of getting closer to God but these are the symbols our ancestors used so we have to at least understand them and grasp the truth they point us towards, yes? Ok, so much for bridesmaids – now what about that oil?

There has been real division and confusion throughout the centuries about what the oil in the lanterns represent: some have said faith, some have suggested good works and others think that the oil has something to do with spiritual inspiration. And I am of a mind to side with the latter group and say that the oil in this parable has something to do with spiritual power or even intimacy with God. Think about it:

+ Some of the bridesmaids in this story are foolish and they don’t take time to fill their lamps, right? They don’t nourish their inner lives – they choose not to see the suffering all around them – so they wind up in the dark.

+ And what does darkness often symbolize in the gospels? Ignorance, right? Moral confusion. Spiritual emptiness.

+ The others, however, were wise –prepared – they took their oil with them so that at midnight they were able to make sense out of the darkness and respond. And when the cry, “Here comes the bridegroom” was proclaimed, they were ready, willing and able to do what? Go to the wedding banquet… that other great symbol of blessing and grace and justice and compassion.

America was awakened last week – inspired to grow up – to move beyond our fears and differences toward the light of the wedding banquet. Not the final banquet – and not the only banquet – but a banquet nourished by equality, hope and love. Forty years ago, Dr. King said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” He continued:

Today our scientific power has outrun our moral power and we have become a nation of guided missiles and misguided men… Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true…. But because we are caught in the inescapable web of mutuality… I choose to live a life of love (understanding) that hatred paralyzes life, while love releases it. Hatred confuses life, while love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life but love illuminates it.

This is the challenge of our awakening: what God has inspired, we must nurture. What God has illuminated, we must cultivate beginning with justice, to be sure, but including naming cruelty when we see it, confronting greed and avarice and nourishing real intimacy with the Lord. For in this we will learn to see the face of Jesus in our neighbors as well in those strangers who do not yet look or act or even speak like we do, but whom God has already sent into our lives for the sake of embodied hospitality.

There is an old story told by the ancient Rabbi about how his students once asked how they could tell when the night had ended and the day had begun. “Could it be,” asked one, “when you can see an animal in the distance and tell whether it’s a sheep or a dog?” No said the wise one. Another asked, “Is it when you can look at a tree in the distance and tell whether it’s a fig or peach tree?” And again the Rabbi answered no.

“Well, then,” they all demanded, “when can you tell that the night has ended and the day begun?” And the Rabbi said, “It is when you can look into the face of any man or woman and see that it is your sister or brother. Because until you can see this, it is still night.” And that is the good news for today.

(NOTE: Does this every say it ALL! Me, too, Jesse, me too!)

It was a beautiful day...

As I watched the multi-ethnic, multi-racial and multi-class celebration in Grant Park tonight I had two thoughts: One, every now and again, we step up to the challenge and embrace God's vision for us that overcomes division and fear and hatred as the Apocalypse of John reminds us.

And two, it is time to say good-bye to the old America and embrace the new - it will be more challenging and even more work - but it will also be blessed. It was a beautiful day.. hard and not without its confusion... but still beautiful.

This is how it could be...

I am moved by God's gracious presence every time I hear this song - especially this version with Miriam Makeba from South Africa. It speaks to me of how we could be together - it takes work and practice, learning and listening, taking risks and making mistakes - and trusting in a vision greater than ourselves and our little minds and hearts. But that greater vision resonates in us all no matter how old or wounded or afraid...

So I hope and pray - sing and trust - and remember how it could be and ask God's blessing on us all tomorrow as we in the USA go to the polls. We have some wicked challenges at home and abroad... I pray that we might all remember the cost of freedom.

Closing thoughts as the race comes to a close...

I have deep convictions about what is right in the up-coming US Presidential race. And while I am studiously non-partisan in my role as church pastor, privately I am vigorously pro-Obama and have no difficulty sharing the many reasons why I hold this conviction with those who ask (but you have to ask because most of the time I'm either prayerful about the whole thing or... laughing like this Jib Jab.)

That said, I often lament the ways campaigns fuel the culture wars and seek to polarize rather than unite. I know, I know... that is part of the nature of partisan politics and I confess I appreciate our politics for what they offer. Still, they are incomplete - often mean-spirited - and not where I choose to spend most of my time or creativity. One of my new artist friends in the Berkshires, a talented pianist and writer, Jessica Roemischer, who has played some gigs with us at church recently sent me the following note with a link to an interview she recently conducted with Don Beck which starts out:

As I’ve watched the presidential campaign unfold in my living room, I’ve become increasingly unsettled by the cultural schism it’s revealing. Robo-calls from John McCain, caustic opinion pieces on Sarah Palin (often by women), FOX news, MSNBC, negative campaigning—Left and Right. In this highly charged atmosphere, it’s been difficult to make sense of things. I’ve even questioned my longstanding allegiance to the Democratic Party, which has made it challenging to find common ground with friends I’ve known for years. In search of a different perspective on the election, I was compelled to seek out global activist, Dr. Don E. Beck, whom I interviewed in 2002 for What is Enlightenment? Magazine.

For over forty years, Don Beck has worked to facilitate social change in some of the world’s most polarized environments—notably apartheid South Africa during the 1980’s and ‘90’s, and currently in Israel/Palestine. Don Beck really gets human beings and our widely varying habitats and worldviews. With striking clarity and a disarming optimism, he illuminates the rich and complex mosaic of cultures, as he presents practical solutions to seemingly intractable problems—terrorism, the Iraq War, the AIDS epidemic. Beck’s unique perspective—the basis of the evolutionary theory called Spiral Dynamics—allows him to craft effective protocols where others fail.

Don Beck is a social scientist of a different order. For that reason he has advised world leaders such as Nelson Mandela and F.W. deKlerk; he has met with Tony Blair’s cabinet and with the Mexican government, among many others. I knew we needed his view in America at this critical juncture. In response to my request, Don graciously granted the following interview. True to form, he goes to the heart of the matter—and our divided nation—as he reveals how our next president can emerge as the truly new kind of leader we so urgently need.

I don't affirm everything Don says but appreciate his perspective and insight... and in the closing days of this race thought you might, too. If you would like to read more, please go to: http://jessicaroemischer.blogspot.com/

And who can forget THESE great guys who made the most out of the Florida debacle in 2000?

A chance for music, reflections and art...

I received a fascinating offer earlier this week: the production director of our local public access television station stopped by to ask if I would be interested in doing a weekly show - and they would show our Sunday worship, too. Now there are two things that really intrigue me about this. First, people in the Berkshires REALLY watch public access TV - I can't tell you how many times conversations have grown out of things people have seen on our three public access channels - so this would be a great way to connect with the wider community.

And second, it would be an opportunity to explore what IMAGE editor, Gregory Wolfe, and writer, Annie Dillard, call the "pile-up" - that place where art/beauty/religion meet and sometimes collide. He writes: The more I have worked in the realm where faith and culture meet, the more I have become aware of the tradition of Christian Humanism. I am well aware that the word humanism strikes many people as inherently anti-religious—we’ve all heard the word modified by “secular” for so long.

But this is one of history’s little—or perhaps big—ironies. Because the truth is that the Judeo-Christian tradition in the West gave birth to humanism: to the sense that every individual life in infinitely important, that our humanity is in fact an image of divinity, and that the culture-making capacity of humankind is the key way in which we both understand and express our sense of transcendent mystery... (I really mean "Religious Humanism" because my quest...) really refers to Jewish Humanism, Christian Humanism and Islamic Humanism. However one might want to argue the truth claims of these faiths, the strands of humanism that run through each of them have much to say to one another. And perhaps never more urgently than in our own time.

So wouldn't it be a challenge - an honor and sacred privilege (and a whole lotta fun, too) - to do a weekly show that explores how the phony sacred/secular divide needs to be buried once and for all while inviting local artists and people of faith to share their wisdom, questions, creations and insights? I think it would be a total gas!

Take, for example, this creation by artist, Laura Fisher Smith, who has given birth to icons of the homeless (which appears on the Episcopal Cafe's "Art Blog" - http://www.episcopalcafe.com/art/art/) If art reflects the people who lived during the time of its creation, then Laura Fisher Smith's icons should give each of us cause to stop and re-evaluate our priorities. Art records the evidence of a society's existence. Smith's icons of the homeless, such as the one seen above, proclaim what she values most, and bluntly reveal her concern for the marginalized, the sick and the needy. With a creative vision filled with both mercy and advocacy, she paints individual persons who are homeless with a dignity and grace once reserved for saints.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg as I think of the artists in the area - the poets and painter, musicians of every variety as well as sculptors, dancers and writers - who would be great to meet in a way that helped us all go deeper. Classical violinist, Daniel Hope, recently put it like this about the insights he has gained after working with world musicians of different nations and genres: "There are so many wonderful, wonderful musicians in the world, I cannot possibly make a distinction between the fact that they might play classical music, or bluegrass, or Irish traditional, or Indian music... and if one is open enough to meet them halfway, that's when it gets really interesting." (http://api.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96046890)

Let's see what happens as we keep our eyes open for another way for the word to become flesh and dwell among full of truth and grace.