queering the rosary for the month of mary

Growing up, my family would gather almost weekly to pray the rosary.  It was a time to prayer as a family, lift up personal intentions, and see who could kneel the longest (my mom and I usually were the last ones kneeling…knees of steel)!  Praying the rosary has been a tradition that I have neglected over the years not wanting prayer to become routinized, monotonous, and lack any oomph, while also wrestling with the meaning behind the words of the Our Father / Lord’s Prayer, Hail Mary, and Glory.  To be honest, part of me likes the meditative space created by repetition but part of me wants to tweak, rewrite, or create my own prayers to lift up.  I had an epiphany as I write this…though there are the “standard” prayers for the rosary, the rosary as an instrument of prayer and connection to the sacred does not have to be limited to the terrific trio of Our Father / Hail Mary / Glory Be (and if you want to be fancy, add the Fatima prayer at the end of each decade).  The rosary, likes its sibling the mala, is a form of tactile prayer in which prayers, mantras, affirmations, and devotions are repeated…each repetition is an opportunity to truly engage each word, savorear (savor) the meaning, and have the spirit at the core of the prayer truly sink into one’s soul and being.   There is a part of me that likes praying the rosary traditionally as a way of being connected to the wider church, however I also realize that going outside the box to use alternative prayers that connect to and reflect my soul is okay…it is very much in the spirit of the tradition of using the rosary as a way of connecting with G-d.   I don’t know if my family would ever be open to praying a tweaked version but who knows, their journey of coming out and transitioning with me has been incredible…perhaps its time we have a “knee off” while embracing tradition in a new queertastic way.

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Below is a rosary meditation created by Dignity San Francisco, combining the traditional mysteries with new mysteries reflecting the lives of LGBTQ people.  I share it as one way that people have tapped into the spirit of a tradition while finding ways for the tradition to speak to us today.

From Dignity San Francisco:  http://www.dignitysanfrancisco.org/Rosary.htm

If you are using a five-decade rosary, when you have finished the fifth decade, move to the center and announce the sixth mystery, then pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be. Announce the seventh mystery (Love Reigns), then proceed directly to the Salve Regina, et al.

SUNDAY: The Glorious Mysteries (1-5 traditional)

1. The Resurrection

2. The Ascension

3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit

4. The Assumption

5. The Coronation of Mary

6. The Wolf Lies Down with the Lamb (Isaiah 11:6)

7. Love Reigns

MONDAY: The Relational Mysteries

1. Ruth’s Pledge to Naomi (Ruth 1:16-18) (fidelity)

2. The Parting of David and Jonathan (I Samuel 20:35-42) (grief)

3. Esther Intercedes for Her People (Esther 4:9-5:2) (intercession)

4. The Raising of Lazarus (John 11:38-44) (restoration)

5. The Two Encounter Christ on the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) (discipleship) 

6. The Beloved Community Shares All Things in Common (Acts 2:44-45)

7. Love Reigns

TUESDAY: The Prophetic Mysteries

1. The Spirit Moves on the Face of the Deep (Genesis 1:2)

2. The Angel Appears to Hagar (Genesis 16:7-12)

3. The Parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-22)

4. Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55)

5. Jesus’ Action in the Temple (Mark 11:15-17)

6. A New Heaven and a New Earth (Revelation 21:1)

7. Love Reigns

WEDNESDAY: The Joyful Mysteries (1-5 traditional)

1. The Annunciation

2. The Visitation

3. The Nativity

4. The Presentation

5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple

6. Jesus Becomes a Man (Luke 2:52)

7. Love Reigns

THURSDAY: The Luminous Mysteries (1-5 traditional)

1. The Baptism of Christ in the Jordan

2. The Wedding Feast at Cana

3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom

4. The Transfiguration

5. The Institution of the Eucharist

6. The Conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:26-40)

7. Love Reigns

FRIDAY: The Sorrowful Mysteries (1-5 traditional)

1. The Agony in the Garden

2. Jesus Is Scourged

3. Jesus Is Crowned with Thorns

4. Jesus Carries His Cross

5. Jesus Is Crucified

6. Mary Magdalene Weeps in the Garden (John 20:11-18)

7. Love Reigns

SATURDAY: The Incarnation Mysteries

1. God Breathes Life into Adam (Genesis 2:7)

2. Moses’ Mother Gives Nurse (Exodus 2:7-9)

3. The Bride Opens to Her Beloved (Song of Songs 5:6)

4. The Word Becomes Flesh (John 1:14)

5. Jesus Feeds the Multitude (Mark 6:30-44)

6. Thomas Touches Jesus’ Side (John 20:24-29)

7. Love Reigns

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feature image from:  http://rainbowrosary.faithweb.com

en conjunto presente…a service to take back our life

Below is a prayer service for Take Back the Night.   It is a bilingual liturgy and incorporates elements from different sources.   It seems that the last few weeks we have become more aware of the ongoing violence in our country and in our world, from Boston to car bombings in the Middle East to youth committing suicide.  Though Take Back the Night is often connected to domestic and relational violence, I believe that together we need to Take Back the Night, take back the day, and take back our lives from all the violent isms that fracture and break individuals and communities.  My prayer and hope for sharing for the service is to create spaces and plant seeds that help bring healing, offer hope, and transform our brokenness into resilient wholeness. 

En conjunto presente … En conjunto sobreviviendo

(Together we are present…Together we surivie) 

 

Welcome

Today, we gather for a service of naming. We will name the dimensions and dynamics of the serious problem of violence in intimate relationships. Violence is all around us. It is the root of many problems in our society, yet many times the church remains silent. Tonight, the silence will be broken…unid@s levantamos nuestr@s voces y nuestr@s historias.    We will name the victims of abuse and mourn the lives lost to relational violence…our remembering them will make them presente in this space and en la lucha…nuestr@ familia is always presente.  We will share their stories of loss, pain and alienation through poems, prayers, reflections, and silence. We will share words of hope and resiliency and survival from our community, from our historias, from our vidas en la lucha, from nuestr@s seres querid@s who are presente. We will name the God who is present in and through all our efforts in conjunto heal the past, survive the present, and create a future where all relationships are free from violence.

 

Opening Prayer

One:   Now, let us bow our heads in a moment of prayer … you are welcome to join us or take a moment of silence during this time of prayer:

ALL:   We offer ourselves to you, O God que nos acompana.   We offer nuestras manos … use our healing touch to comfort nuestr@s hermanas y hermanos, who are afraid.  We offer our eyes and ears … may we see and hear the signs and stories of violence, may we see and hear into hope-filled action in the face pain, confusion, and soledad sufocante.  We offer nuestr@s historias of violence and sobreviviencia … we offer the historias of nuestr@ familia … stories that echo within and arround us.  May we be healed as we presente with each other.  En conjunto, we offer our anger. Make it a passion for justice.  En conjunto, we offer all our skills. Use our gifts to end violence.  En conjunto, we offer our faith, our espenranza, our love.   All this we ask through the Holy One who knows the pain of violence and stands with us in conjunto en nuestr@ lucha.  AMEN.

 

Hymn – One Voice

Invitation to Reflect

Standing en conjunto y solidaridad to break our silence and the silences in our hogares, comunidad, y iglesia … we now move into a time of reflection and open sharing.  All who are comfortable are welcome to share their testimonios or stories of loved ones in this space.

 

Remembering those Affected … haciendo presencia

Left Side: Nuestr@s madres y padres, who had few choices; who did what they had to; who resisted sometimes quietly, sometimes loudly; who carried the secrets of their abuse silently in their hearts.  PRESENTE

Right Side: Nuestr@s hermanas y hermanos, who were made the scapegoat; who said, “No!” but to no avail; who thought they were protecting us; who were given tranquilizers to quiet their rage; who carried the secrets of their abuse silently in their hearts. PRESENTE

Left Side: Nuestr@s vecin@s, whose cries we heard in the night, whose bruises we saw in the day, who fought back and paid the price, who carried the secret of their abuse silently in their hearts. PRESENTE

Right Side: Nuestr@s companer@s y amig@s en la lucha, who spent so much time at our house, not wanting to go home; whom everyone thought were just shy and quiet; who carried the secrets of their abuse silently in their hearts.  PRESENTE

Left Side: Nuestr@ seres y nuestr@s vidas, who may have tried to tell but were ignored; who were not protected by anyone; who were not believed; who carry the secrets of our abuse silently in our hearts.  PRESENTE

All: We remember y hacemos presente the loss of ninez; the loss of creativity; the loss of vocation; the loss of relaciones; the loss of time; the cost of resources required for healing; the enormous waste of humanity caused by relational violence in all its forms. We remember y hacemos presente those who have not survived; whose lives were taken by a partner’s violence; who died in despair never knowing justice.  Su presencia nos acompana en la lucha, su presecia nos acompana en esperanza y sobreviviencia, su presencia nos acompana.

CREANDO LUZ Y PRESENCIA EN CONJUNTO

“We have to promote human solidarity, avoid indifference, and play a part with society in the solution of the problem of violence…” 
–Shakira

“Años de un caminar que se hace historia, de mujeres valiente que han tomado con decision, Firmeza, fe, y anhelo…las riendas de la vida junto al pueblo. Anos de lucha, huellas que no se borran, paginas de una historia que libera.  Anos de lucha mujeres que se entregan a planterar en la tierra justicia.” –Sister Rosa Martha Zarate

I invite you to come forward and light a candle out of love for someone you would remember and make present.  Call out their name as you light their candle. Let us hold those named silently in our hearts and honor their presence within and among us.   We will take our lights and our stories into the chapel representing our covenant promises to become hearers, receivers, and comforters of those who have survived relational violence. We also carry in this light and in our promise the realities of those whose lives have been taken by relational violence.   As soon as everyone has taken back their light, we will process into the chapel. In the chapel, you will have the opportunity to see, read, and hear words of hope. When you enter, all are invited to take a card from the center table.

 

Hymn: One Voice

 

Words of Hope 

The first step towards creating the future we want is to imagine it and make it presente in words, images, thoughts shared. What will a future without violence look like? What will you do when all relationships are safe? We invite you to read aloud the words of hope you received when you entered the chapel and to add your own words of esperanza en la lucha.

 

Closing Prayer

One:   God of power, steady each of us as we strive to make sense of a fragmented world.  We have lived in terror, when we needed to have safety.  We have lived with betrayal and duplicity, when we needed loyalty and truthfulness.  We have been isolated, when we needed community and sharing.  We have hidden, and longed to be seen; imprisoned and longed to be free.  Help us to bear these losses,  help us to bear the time spent in anguish, help us to bear the reality of the past.  Bring us into that safe place where we may be open to receive the everyday comforts of this life, to love and to be loved, and to experience your grace.

ALL:   Loving and Compassionate God, tonight we have named the violence! En conjunto, we have broken the silence! We have felt your presencia in our midst! We have lit candles in the oscuridad! We have named, remembered, honored, made presente, celebrated many people that you love. Bless our time together, our knowing and that which we will do in the future. Give us persistent hearts and strong bodies for la lucha that will end violence in our midst. Send your Spirit especially to our churches and church leaders. Open their eyes, their mouths, their minds and their hearts to do justice for those we have remembered and made present tonight.  In the name and the spirit of the God of holiness, justicia, esperanza, y la lucha, we pray. Amen.

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feature image from:  http://clog.dailycal.org/2008/04/16/take-back-the-night-queer-awareness-take-over-sproul/

mi lucha of embracing both/and…my trans testament

Below is a re-writeup of an earlier post on “my ongoing lucha with faith”; I have been reflecting on my journey and wanted to share my lucha of embracing my identity as a trans person.

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I defied the gender binary.  I challenged the first pronouncement ever made about me… I confounded my society and my culture, and I ignored what I was told was the norm.  I lived on the edges and I defied definitions.  I am far more than the names I have been called…In ancient times I was celebrated as one who walked in many worlds.  I was revered as the one who embodied transformation and who showed the world we can change.  But ancient wisdom has long been forgotten and now I pay the price for our forgetfulness.   We tend to behave badly toward that which we do not understand, and therein lies the pain. Like all of creation, I am a mystery.  I don’t seek to be understood. I just seek to be accepted.                                                      (I AM by Emma Lee Chattin)

Mi lucha, my struggle, has been a journey of going from a black and white world to a world that thrives and abounds with color—a journey of living into both/andedness. 

I was raised in a Conservative, Cuban, Catholic home in Miami, Florida where “different” was not accepted and where being outside the box was not an option, period. My family was very involved in church justice work, especially missionary work, advocating for the marginalized was a lifestyle that was a part of me and would evolve over the years. I didn’t realize initially that my desire for solidarity with outcast people would ultimately propel me into queer advocacy.

Growing up, I knew gays and lesbians were out there (other identities like bi or trans were not even on the radar and completely unknown), but I was taught that being gay or lesbian was sinful and immoral. I was taught that it went against my culture as a Hispanic and that it went against the teachings of the church. I adopted these attitudes. However, the universe has an interesting, snarky, and loving sense of humor. Little did I know that the community I spoke out against would later be the community I advocated for and would come to identify with.

The first time I came out, I was 21. I had just returned to the US from studying at a seminary in the Dominican Republic.  My church and my family disowned me—their journey of coming out and of celebrating me is a telenovela in the making, but one that reflects hope and that transformations are possible.  When I was 25/26, I had another coming out experience. I realized that I had haphazardly labeled myself as gay because it was the only way I knew to explain who I was. I realized that this label didn’t truly reflect who I was.  I had a second coming out and epiphany about my personhood when I discovered my transgender identity, “coming out” by understanding that transgender represented a family of identities. These identities resonated with me and reflected who I was as a person, made my youth make better sense, and a first step in the dance of embracing my sexuality, spirituality, and gender as a two-spirited or both/and person. 

After going through everything other people wanted me to do such as prayer, confession, reparative therapy, and self-bashing, I realized that there had to be another way. The vindictive and judgmental God that was being used to control me and fracture my personhood was not the God of love, solidarity, and compassion that I was raised with. This was the beginning of an arduous and enriching journey of wrestling with God and trying to live into a radical understanding of beingness in the world.

My trans* identity has been both liberating and frightening. Because church and society generally do not understand what it means to be trans* and protections for trans* people are scarce, transitioning will have an unknown impact on my family and friends.  I wrestle with the affects on my relationship with my beloved, potential ramifications for me professionally, what it means for my relationship with my culture as I belong to a comunidad that upholds hyper masculinity.  It will also present financial challenges and require me to adopt a clinical diagnosis in order to be who I am.   However, despite my confusion, I still fight for safer spaces where people can be exactly who they are, whole and complex.

Though I have many questions about what transitioning means in my life, I have also found wholeness in realizing that there is no one way to transition—we each, both trans* and cisgender folk, transition in our own unique way; we each have a journey of living into wholeness and of finding home in our bodies and selves.   My transition simply may be my coming out as trans* and nothing more or it may involve hormones or surgery or changing the way I dress—the details will reveal themselves as I strive to be authentic to who I am, with no right or wrong way of being trans* for it is about being true to me.   I have found hope, resilience, and sacred chutzpah in seeing transition not as a surgical or medical procedure, but as an act of being in solidarity with creation.  To live into wholeness is to see creation as something that is, it is ongoing, it is dynamic—my transition is an invitation to co-create with God, for the divine and me to be in solidarity with each other as we create and recreate wholeness in myself, in others, and in the wider world.  

In my lucha to claim and rant my isnesses as a queer trans* Christian, I am faced with a society and church that categorizes people into suffocating neat little boxes; limitations that are also placed on the awesomeness of God.  By deconstructing gender to reconstruct wholeness, I have come to understand and believe that we are a borderland people created in the amazingness of GOD.   For a long time I struggled with “God created male and female in God’s image” wondering that this meant for me as a trans* person who embodied both male and female.   But as I was being interviewed for a friend’s article on transgender spirituality, I was graced with a new understanding of what it means to be created in the image of God—a God who is complex, multifaceted, multivocalic and who like dwells in the borderland of male and female.  It has been very exciting and liberating and healing for me and for many others who transgress la frontera of gender to come to know God as transgender and as queer.   It is this God who lovingly created us, graced us, blessed us as good; not just select pieces of us, but the whole person with all our quirks, contradictions, bloopers, passions, and gifts.

I am and we are created in the image of a GOD who like us is an embodied mosaic of interlocking, interacting, interfering identities of gender and sexuality.

The bold and prophetic witnesses of Gloria Anzaldua, Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, and Marcella Althaus Reid have inspired me to challenge others to embrace the borderlands and to inhabit the in-between.  By sharing my experience of living the both/and of gender I hope to share helpful insights for others who are struggling to reconcile different identities within their personhood.  For me being equally blessed is not about working to create spaces that only tolerate me; the goal is to create spaces that actively, boldly, and wholeheartedly celebrate all of who we are with our goods, our quirks, and our whole complex, rich, contradictory, sacred humanity.   By embracing my trans* identity, I have learned to embrace fronteras not with fear and dominance, but with humility and gusto.   It is an ongoing lesson of creating spaces where others are able to savorear the diverse ingredients that make us us.  As we journey as a borderland and both/and people, we are all called to live out the prophetic life of the frontera…to give birth to the Divine in our words, deeds, hearts, thoughts, and lives; to no longer feel ashamed for existing; and to rant our voices, dance our dances, pray our prayers as we proclaim the messy wonder and dynamism of God, of all of creation, and ultimately of our own wholly unique personhood.

a mosaic that is still speaking

The United Church of Christ’s slogan is that G-d is still speaking; G0d’s word is not finite but is something that continues to evolve.  Every time we reread a particular passage from the Bible, we are able to gain new meaning and insight.   I believe that this concept also applies to Mary; with each study of her apparitions, scripture passages that mention her, and of church teachings, one is able to gain a new perspective on the Jewish handmaiden whose yes led to a spiritual revolution.  Mary, like all people, is a mosaic made of many pieces; a single piece does not embody her completely but is only a fragment of a much larger picture.

Over the last few months of reflecting on “there’s something about Mary,” I have been able to ponder new pieces of the Marian mosaic that I had not considered before that stemmed from re-readinging scriptures and sacred stories, personal reflections, and conversations with friends.  These insights are reminders that G-d is still speaking—there is always something new to learn about God’s divine mystery whether it is about Mary or ourselves.

Some new pieces of the mosaic for me are:

• In the Bible we see a reversal of Luis de Monfort’s motto of “to Jesus through Mary” that becomes “to Mary through Jesus.”  By looking at Jesus we see glimpses of Mary.
• Rereading the Gospel accounts, I realize that Jesus’ humanity came entirely from her; his eyes, color of hair, skin complexion, height, allergies—it all came from her genetic material.  The stories he shared are reflections of the home-life she taught him.
• Mary’s relationship with G-d is a reflection of the Star of David.  Mary lowers herself (point downward) so that God is exulted (point upward).
• She was a woman of firsts – she was the first to say making her the first  Apostle, the first to see him walk, who motherly nudged his first miracle, she was the first charismatic encounter by visiting Elizabeth, and as Ignatius of Loyola teaches the first to know about the Resurrection.

Mary is a mother, wife, daughter, party planner, widow, cook, worker, teacher; she is a mosaic of images and meaning. With each new reading of a text we learn something about this feisty woman who lived a life of faithful and loving service to God.  With each new visit in my personal devotion and academic study I discover a new piece of the mosaic that makes up the image of Mary.   She is a reminder that we too are mosaics and that G-d continues to work through and in us!

mary’s radically just hospitality

I recently shared reflections on the apparition accounts of our Lady of Guadalupe and of our Lady of Charity, through which we see Mary as a person who embodies radical hospitality.  She reaches out to the outcasts in society to be the hero just as she herself was an underdog turned heroine.  Not only in these two apparitions but in all her apparitions, she uses those who are cast out or who are marginalized to be the messengers of God’s word and truth.  Her apparitions remind us that as God’s creations we are inherently good.   By speaking with Juan Diego and appearing to Los Tres Juanes she returns the dignity that was taken away from their communities by imposing groups who treated them harshly and whose doctrines promulgated that they were less than and un-human.  Cachita and la Morenita do not see class or skin color or height or language—Mary sees the divine spark within each person knowing that there is more to them than the characteristics used to separate and marginalize.

Her hospitality can serve as an example for our churches today.  We should not be bickering over who is in and who is out, who is holy and who is sinful, who holds truth and who does not—like Mary we should follow the example of Christ who widened the circle of acceptance and embraced all without reservation or condition.   In a country that prides itself for equality but that is rampant with inequality, Mary’s example of reaching out to the oppressed is a reminder that church should be a place where all people have a space at the table.  Church is where LGBT individuals, Hispanics, the differently abled, individuals with HIV/AIDS, all people are not tolerated but celebrated for being made in the image of God.

mary, radical disciple and discipling radically

Many of my reflections and sermonettes have focused around Mary as an example of faithful discipleship.  She was the first to stay yes to Christ and remained by his side from womb to tomb.  Throughout her life Mary is an example of radical discipleship.  She said yes to GOD without considering risk and not knowing what would come.  Cuban Mariology describes Mary as la Virgen Mambisa, for she is la Virgen que lucha.   She is a mujerista who does not wait for a man to tell her what to do.   Hers is an active discipleship; she is not one to be sitting around doing nothing.

As a practicing Jew, she knew of the promise of the Messiah.  During the annunciation the coming of the Messiah is revealed and her yes reflects that she knew what she had to do regardless of the unknown hardships that were to come.  In the Gospel of Luke, we see how she sets out to help Elizabeth despite the scandal that could place not only her life but also the life of her child in danger.  Perhaps a bit reckless on her part, she wants to share Christ with others not for her own personal glorification, rather it is to bring GOD glory through selfless and loving service.   Her yes was lived out “on the go”.

While pregnant she rides a donkey and after giving birth she goes into exile with her husband and newborn child.  In Matthew’s Gospel we see how it is her example of entrega that influences Joseph to accept GOD’s invitation.  In John’s account of the Wedding of Cana, she is aware of a need and turns to her ”baby boy” to help remedy the situation.  We discussed in class how perhaps she felt it was time for Jesus to begin his ministry; however, on a basic level she knew that in the moment something had to be done not knowing that it would lead to a slew of miracles simply for changing water into wine.  In the few glimpses of Mary in the New Testament, we encounter a woman who takes charge of her life and whose chutzpah will impact how her husband, Son, and the Apostles live out GOD’s will in their daily lives.

As Latin@s we are familiar with la lucha cotidiana.  Like Mary, GOD calls us all to enfrentar la lucha and to keep going pa’lante; knowing, as she did, that God will take care of the details and will see us through (even if GOD has to drag us by the veil, guayabera, or sombrero).  Mary’s yes reminds us to think outside the box of what is possible.  A young poor Jewish girl from a forgotten town was asked to do the incredible; we who are from the barrios are also called to do the incredible, to be GOD-bearers to the world.  Often we talk about Mary as being better because she was the mother of Jesus.  On the holy path of locos y apasionados who love beyond the norm there is no better and there is no worse.  Like la Mambisa, we are all called to be faithful to God’s evolving plan and to live out the change that God wants for the world.  We need to remind those we minister to that nothing is impossible for God.  If Mary could do it, we can do it too!  Despite our marginalization in this country and the barriers we face, we must move pa’lante as she did not letting society and its imposed limitations stop us.

We are to bare the sacred in our every day life as she did.  On the journey we will make mistakes and take chances but we are always moving pa’lante reveling and revealing GOD in our day-to-day lucha of radical discipleship and discpling radically.   ¡Que asi sea!

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feature image is by artist Yolanda Lopez

ready or not, welcoming everyone to the feast

This homily was written and shared by myself and my friend Kate Ward.  We were invited to co-preach at the closing mass/liturgy for Call To Action’s Conference in November 2011.  The homily is based on following readings:
Wisdom 6:12-­‐16
Psalm 63:2-­‐8
1 Thessalonians 4:13-­‐18
Matthew 25:1-­‐13

May we strive to welcome all to the feast!!!

from rev. david anderson … love wins, every time

This post is by Rev. David Anderson from his blog “Finding Your Soul, Real Life Real Faith.”    At a time where many of us are asking why and trying to make sense during tragic confusion, Rev. Anderson’s simple message is a reminder to embrace the psalmist’s message of “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil.”  Though there are many cliches, platitudes, and scripted warm fuzzies that I can share, I know they sound nice but can often feel empty.  All I can share is “I am sorry” for whatever hardship we each are facing and find healing chutzpah knowing that GOD is with us,  or as Rev. Anderson writes “Fear is no match for love. Alleluia.”

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Love Wins–Every Time (from http://findingyoursoul.com/2013/04/love-wins-every-time/)

This week was a rattler.

The bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon sent a ripple through our nerves, through our families and communities.

I heard from people whose children were there, a block or two from the finish line, heard the explosions, ran for dear life. Walked miles and miles to get home.

One parishioner wrote that her sister-in-law took a huge hunk of shrapnel to her leg and is already on surgery number two.  Another wrote that her niece, a ballerina in college, had her legs cut out from under her at the finish line. Four surgeries and the doctors are worried about amputation.

Everyone’s asking Why?  We’re all back to that same place, wondering how humans are capable of such barbarity, wondering what kind of world we live in, what kind of God we’ve got.

I wonder all those same things. I have no answer. Here is all I know:

Hatred never wins. Alleluia.

Violence never triumphs at the last. Alleluia.

Forgiveness always, always dissolves bitterness. Alleluia.

Mercy trumps revenge every single time. Alleluia.

The weakest blessing overturns the strongest, loudest curse. Alleluia.

And here is the last, best thing I know:

Fear is no match for love. Alleluia.

Don’t live one moment outside the kingdom of love. Life, as we know by now, is way too short for anything less.

preaching on the side of love

I am trying something new in the spirit of having a diversity of content…this is a speech / sermon I gave at a UU fellowship in Northfield, Minnesota.  I hope you all enjoy my effort to queer up both the pulpit and its content.

prayers for life’s twists and turns

Amidst all of the known and unknown acts of violence and tragedy, these prayers and words have provided refreshing and comforting reminders that through it all we are not alone.  Whether one believes in God or in many gods or in human goodness or in mixes of all of this or in something else, we must remember that we journey with others and that we will get through life’s confusing hardships together, even if others have to carry us for a bit.  Even when we don’t understand and we are hurt, we are called to continue to seek justice and live peace…its okay to have a moment to rant and rave and let out what we are feeling, but we must not and cannot get stuck there.  We must remain committed to finding ways to transform the world, even when there is a possibility that we will not be around to see the full effects of what we have struggledfor…we must continue la lucha of planting seeds and trusting in those who journey with us and who will come after us (much like those who entrusted la lucha to us who journeyed before us).

Mr. Rogers offer a simple yet revolutionary thought, ”When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping’…To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world.”   Despite news and internet stories and twitter posts and facebook feeds, our world is filled with helping people who help us survive and thrive through life’s hurts, uncertainties, pain, and confusion–helpers that come in the form a family, friends, co-workers, classmates, members of our faith communities, images on TV, music on the radio…even in the form of strangers and posts on social media.   We are never alone, we are in this together…together we will not only survive, we will wholeheartedly and soulfully thrive.

May these prayers and words provide you with refreshment and hope and a spark of feeling “journeyed with”…

—

From the NorthEast Two-Spirit Society 

In Native American society, the only way to resolve a conflict is to have the whole group win, or it’s not considered a solution.  Everyone must perceive him or herself to be a winner.  –Michelle Mitton (a member of the Dehesa Teachers Association. She teaches third grade at an elementary school that serves students from the Kumeyaay Reservation east of San Diego).

All too often, we are asked to place a priority on an outcome or an intended goal and not asked to check our process to ensure that everyone in the community is valued and is participating. For many Native people, the goal or outcome is that we are all going together as a community. As long as we are going as one – then it is the right path!

Great Spirit, let me work along with my community for a better community today.

—

Prayer for Peace by Dr. Maya Angelou

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence
during the hard and mean days.
For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence
during the bright and sunny days,
for then we can share that which we have
with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence
during the Holy Days, for then we are able
to celebrate you and our families
and our friends.

For those who have no voice,
we ask you to speak.
For those who feel unworthy,
we ask you to pour your love out
in waterfalls of tenderness.
For those who live in pain,
we ask you to bathe them
in the river of your healing.
For those who are lonely, we ask
you to keep them company.
For those who are depressed,
we ask you to shower upon them
the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless
sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the
world that which we need most—Peace.

—

A prayer inspired by Archbishop Oscar Romero

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The [kindom] is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the [Kindom] always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.