United or Divided?

I just watched the movie "The Help."
It's about a time, just a few decades ago; when a group with one skin color was elevated above another. This treatment was accepted and legal, and in the movie, was portrayed as something that was expected. Putting another person in situations that degraded and even threatened them and their families, as if they were "less than" human was the societal norm.Those that didn't "tow" the line would be threatened on both sides of the color divide. I think we (we being whoever holds the "power" to treat another this way) act as if that was a long time ago and something we have moved on from, but I don't think even the issue of the black/white divide has resolved itself and in some ways.

Beyond the black and white divide, there are so many other ways that the one who holds the power over the circumstances of another person or group of people continues to look at another and treat them as "less than," putting them in situations that are degrading and even life threatening. Oftentimes, it is within the law to do such things. I just read another article about the immigration "debate:" The article is laced with areas of divide that reveal the fuzzy line of prejudice and hatred of the "other," much of which I believe is because the one who holds the power doesn't understand or want to understand the circumstances of the other whom they are putting down.

The article takes in so many levels of this power divide that could be discussed from the elevation of Sheriff Joe Arpaio to a hero status in the eyes of his supporters who chant "Go Joe, Go Joe" as they parade in in support of his power. 

In the article we see areas where his ability to look upon another as less than has, from my opinion, clouded his ability to reason, but he continues to have support and encouragement. We read about his treatment of prisoners in the article. Requiring prisoners to wear pink underwear as a deterrant from returning to prison reveals his lack of compassion and understanding for those he has control over. Reducing dignity as a way to prevent one from certain behaviors, rather than going deeper to the root of the problem in itself touches me deeply.

Perhaps I am deeply touched because I am confounded that I myself need to confess the times when I myself have acted and reacted in pretty much the same way when I held the hand of power.
Perhaps I am personally touched when I speak of condemning Joe for his actions because I am embarassed to admit that I don't have to look very far to see the depths of my own sinful past.
Perhaps what touches me the deepest is my own fear that I may slip into a behavior that may not mimick Joe exactly, but could use the same argument to justify my choice of actions with explanations of working "towards the better good," or doing "the best we can do." 

Even if we are inactive observers, we are still partipating through our silence, sharing an equal part of the blame for overlooking the struggles of another.

I wonder why it is so easy to justify overlooking another with words such as this?
I wonder what our God cries out from heaven whenever we sit in our positions of untouchable power silently overlooking those around us who cannot share the same human rights as we do?
I wonder whether our souls cry out whenever we choose to remain where we are, knowing that there are others who can't join us?
Maybe we justify our inaction because there are simply too many who need our compassion, our understanding, our voice.
Beyond the lines of division based on the skin color, immigration, or inmate status of another, there are lines most of us either actively ignore or actively participate in.

How many times do we overlook those around us who deal with disabilities where we allow physical barriers to encroach on their rights to enjoy the same things that we do? 

How many times do we avoid those who deal with mental illnesses for fear of getting too involved, or even condemning them for the "choices" they make? 
How many times do we look upon the poor, homeless, under educated and assume that they have had the same opportunities that we have, looking down on them for not "pulling themselves up by their bootstraps," as some would say?
How many times have those around us who have been born with sexual and gender identities that don't fit the "norm" in our understanding, those who so desperately want and need warmth and compassion, yet we turn the other way?
Even our silence often becomes a part of the obstacles others face.

Maybe we justify our thoughts and behaviors because we think we can't possibly fix it all, but does that make it alright?

I belong to and am a pastor in the United Church of Christ denomination; a church that believes that God is still speaking. Many in recent years have seen the use of a comma in explaining who we are. It's a comma that represents a belief that we should "never place a period where God has placed a comma" (Gracie Allen).

Yet, if we as a church believes that God is still Speaking, then where do we think God's voice is in the divisions of this world?

Are we waiting for some deep and booming voice to thunder down from the heavens in order to straighten out the sins of the world?
Didn't God do something better than that in Jesus?
It was God who came to earth and lived among us, experiencing the ways of humanity in the fullness of life.

It was God in Jesus, who humbly lived among us in order to
- show the ways of peace,

- call for unity,
 - and teach truth over the ways of the world;
and yet the world killed Him.

We live in a world that silences the voice of God.
We participate in that silencing whenever we remain silent or inactive or ignorant to the ways in which God's voice continues to cry out, even in the depths of our living..

That's why I think it's important for we who believe that God is still speaking to come together as one to tune in our hearing for what it is God is saying to us today.
That's why I think it's important for us to gather as a church to worship and recharge our spirits in order to live in a world that will seek to silence the ways of God and work against anybody who doesn't "tow the line" that strengthens the divide.
That's why I believe that God's voice needs to be heard in church so that the community can take that voice into the world to work against the lines of division.

God's acts don't have an ending.
Christ's Life didn't end with the cross.
The Spirit continues to flow in and among the world through the we who choose to allow It.

Hundreds rally to back hard-line Arizona sheriff
God is Still Speaking

Struggling with Good Friday

There was a time in my life when I struggled with understanding Holy Week, especially the services that seemed to value what I understood as the unjustifiable punishment and death of One who was innocent. In avoiding the services that moved through Holy Week, I believed that they were nothing more than depression sessions, used to manipulate the guilty into feeling more guilt. For me, Jesus was found in Easter, the resurrection and New Life that is birthed through His living.

In recent years, though, having to lead worship and bring the story to life to my church, I have had to struggle with how to honestly portray something that I truly resist. There are so many more questions that have been born within me because I have allowed myself to face my resistance and wrestle with it. As time has gone on, I have allowed myself to appreciate those for whom these services really mean a lot. At first, I found value in the services only out of my love of those in my congregation who seem to have their faith rekindled through them.Although my faith is rekindled with more of a resurrection focus, I feel that in order to honestly pastor a congregation, I need to allow myself to explore the entire realm of which faith is born within all of my parishioners. As I have struggled with texts that I resist, I am beginning to discover something. It is out of struggling with things that do not make sense to us that our faith is strengthened. Through what I saw as depressing and death focused, I now am able to more fully value as a way to allow New Life to be born within me.

Perhaps out of the struggle, I found myself trying to put to words how I now value these moments in life. In a way I want to convey that it is in these moments when we allow ourselves to dive into what we normally would avoid only to discover how much we were missing.

Here is how I am opening the services this Thursday. Please let me know what your thoughts are (the copy and paste reformatted the line, hope you can follow along anyway).

I'd like your feedback...no matter whether you are a Good Friday person, an Easter person or somewhere in between.

Having this time invites all of us to sit with whatever comes to us.

Here, we may discover questions that surrounded the disciples when all this took place.

There may be questions that come that we haven't considered before.

We go to this place so that we can take heart

         in discovering that it is okay not to have all the answers.

There are some things that only one's faith can move us forward.

 Many times in life we find ourselves right where the disciples and Jesus were this night;

         between light and darkness, on the edge of the unknown,

                     unsure and afraid; because living in God's reality,

                                 we find that there are no easy answers, but only mystery.

Yet, we live in a world where absolute verifiable proof is required for truth to be understood.

Like reading the black and white pages of a book,

         fact and fiction are separated on our library shelves.

However, for those who yearn to live in the Truth that is God's,

         discover that the world's truth is subject to one's individual reality;

         where my black may your white and God's truth rests somewhere in between.

Tonight we will sit in the shadows,

         among the mixed hues of black and white;

                     and discover that somewhere within the gray shades of the unknown

                                 we can take comfort in knowing that we are not alone.

Tonight, we join those who have struggled before us;

         those who also encountered the unanswerable questions, the pain and the fear;

         those who felt the isolation and loneliness in the black and white world;

         those whose faith helped them sit in the gray shades that didn't make sense;

                     and become one with them.

Tonight, we discover that all of this which is too difficult to get through alone,

         offers healing and wholeness when we share this Holy meal together as one.

 Following our Holy meal, our service turns towards journeying the shadows of darkness,

         into more questions that cannot be answered,

                     and into a death that makes no sense from the world's viewpoint.

Together we will remember the biggest of our world's absurdities;

         while holding onto the hope that in allowing faith to enter into the shadows;

         we will be able to discover New Life that brings unimaginable beauty

                     and find a way to believe within the simplicity of a gray uncertainty.

Low IQ and Conservative beliefs?

http://news.yahoo.com/low-iq-conservative-beliefs-linked-prejudice-180403506.html

I'm wondering what others think about this article?

I do think it takes a higher level of thinking to be able to consider multiple layers to a situation, but does the article assume that just because somebody is conservative, it means that they can't do this?

Can somebody consider multiple layers to a situation or thought and remain conservative?

Scary Situation

I can't imagine how scary this was for the mother and her two girls.
I am sorry for the trucker who lost his life and for his family, who may never know what caused him to veer off that bridge.

Praise God for all the emergency workers who came to the rescue and for the Navy Seebees who (get this) happened to be at the right place at the right time with the right equipment...(simply amazing)! Plus the fact that they were willing to head there and offer their assistance reveals much about the moral fiber of our troops and that there are genuinely good people in the world still!

Thanks to the heros; something that could have been a worse tragedy was avoided!
Praise God for your willingness to serve; both the emergency crews and the military crew!

Read and see video here:
http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/27895211

“DIVINE INSPIRATION FROM A CHILD’S WOODEN BENCH”

“A New Years 2012 Inspiration and Challenge” article for our church newsletter

There is a new hand crafted wooden bench in our sanctuary. It is a bench that won’t fit everyone, but it will fit those who may feel they don’t “fit” in our sanctuary. You see, this bench is child sized.  The children of our church were immediately drawn to it. There was no need on their part to be invited to sit on it, for they knew instinctively that they were welcome there!

Before placing the bench in the sanctuary, I pondered where it could be used in Salem. Some recommended placing it in the sanctuary and I have to admit that I was hesitant at first. My hesitation was more about how members would feel about the aesthetics and balance of the sanctuary’s décor than about the bench. Although the piece is lovely, I know how important our sanctuary is to our members. I wasn’t sure that the unpainted, perhaps informal piece would “fit” with the traditional formal churches white painted pews. I wondered if the nursery would be a better home for it. I quickly handed the decision to God’s care so that I could turn my attention towards other needs at Salem.

And as the day marched on my mind was turning to our next conversation about congregational vitality (during service on January 29). I prayed about where God was calling Salem in 2012, and for guidance about how I am to be a part of the plan. I believe that Salem’s members have a strong commitment and dedication to God, as well as a desire and willingness to do what it takes to not only continue here, but also to make room for New Life to enter in and make its home here. While I prayed, my mind was taken to that bench along with the words from Mark 1:3: “Make Way for the Lord;” spoken by John so long ago, but still calling out to all of us today.

In that moment, the little bench transformed for me into a symbol for making the way for the Lord; a Lord who can become very real to us in all times and places and situations, even in something as unexpected and as simple as a child sized bench. For many reasons, there are many in our community who feel they don’t “fit” into a church or sanctuary anymore and sadly there are churches and church members who reinforce this message with negativity, inflexibility and judgment. In God’s marvelous way of working among us and in us, the gift of this bench can serve to remind us that God’s house is open for everyone; no matter one’s age, size, occupation, skin color, ability level, sexuality, cultural background, financial status, etc. etc…  Not only does God welcome with open arms, but calls us to do the same because we need one another to carry out the work Jesus began!

What John was proclaiming in the River Jordan wasn’t only about clearing the way for Jesus to come through; after all, I am sure Jesus can do that for Himself. What this incident in scripture seems to be saying to us here in Salem Church and also in every time and place is that the time John speaks about is now. It is a time to clear things away, make way for and draw closer to the Lord. It is time to clear away the clutter, to allow our ever present loving God to seek us out, to bring us to unexpected and unimaginable places, and to make space in our lives and in our church for new understandings in how God is seeking to guide us as we move toward the calling and the mission that God has before us.

Far more important than filling pews, offering plates and volunteer rosters; making way for the Lord is the invitational call for us to continually work to clear the path as we travel along in life, inviting others to join us along the way in journeying closer to Jesus together. Opening ourselves up to whatever it takes to make way for the Lord will require a positive outlook, flexibility and compassionate understanding of those who don’t feel they “fit” in church so that they can not only have their path cleared, but also so that our paths become clearer. Let’s take on a New Years Challenge for Salem. Let’s make 2012 be the year to search out creative ways to be more invitational to all God’s children inside and outside of our sanctuary. Together, let’s make way for the Lord!

Have a blessed 2012!

Pastor Elizabeth