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Dr. Velda R. Love May 14, 2020My present reality is Week Eight of shelter-in-place mandates due to the national and global pandemic, Coronavirus 19. In mid -March, senior leadership of the national office of the United Church of Christ in Cleveland OH, where I serve as Minister for Racial Justice, instructed us to begin transition to our places of residence and to cease from work-related travel. A real fear set in when told that if symptoms were present, we were to quarantine in our homes for up to 14-days or longer and seek medical assistance. I can honestly say that for the first three to four weeks I was anxious and extremely apprehensive about leaving the house for anything, including the mail. I took sheltering in place seriously. Being aware of my health conditions and frequently seeking my doctor’s advice assisted me in making wise decisions. I developed a monthly productivity schedule, unpacked files and tons of books, purchased a printer, bought groceries, and prayed for peace of mind to wait for the all clear to be given. Now, I’m grateful to be able to work from home. I acknowledge it’s a blessing, and I don’t take blessings for granted. At first there was speculation and doubt about what the country was actually dealing with. The mishandling and pervasive misinformation being shared by the White House led the general public to believe the symptoms were flu-like and nothing more. As people began to exhibit symptoms unfamiliar and unresponsive to flu remedies, the reality became clear, this virus was deadly, highly contagious, and spreading rapidly. The general public seemed to feel overwhelmed and uncertain as to what to do. There just wasn’t enough information or adequate protections in place. As evidence from China, Italy, Spain and the UK kept being reported, it was clear experts were not dealing with a known pathogen and there was no cure in the immediate future. New York and Washington were hardest hit in early March. Another reality began to take shape, the virus was being spread by close social contact—in people’s homes, places of employment, grocery stores, public transportation, and air travels. Untreated and undetected stages of the virus often caused immediate deaths leaving families with deep grief and unanswered questions. Then, there was a new reality that would alter life well beyond the dates initially set to return and resume life as we once knew it. An announcement that perhaps June would be the earliest return to a new normal. Social distancing would still be mandatory, face coverings, hand washing, hand wipes, office cleaning supplies, and no large gatherings in public spaces, restaurants, sporting events, concerts, plays, and movie theaters. One message, however, was becoming increasing clear:“We have to join together to fight this virus effectively. Now is not the time to be torn apart by hatred” In my work, I’m an educator, Womanist and Black Liberation strategist, and clergyperson with radical beliefs in liberation, equity, and justice for all. This leads to creating opportunities for clergy across denominations and laypersons to sign up for a year-long training (Sacred Conversations to End Racism), and life-long journey towards acknowledging we live in a historically racist society. I work alongside equally radical, courageous and outspoken advocates for social and racial justice at the UCC, such as the Rev. Traci Blackmon, Associate General Minister over Justice and Local Church Ministries. We work towards dismantling racism within the Christian Church, being part of a learning community committed to relearning history, correcting false narratives, and working towards radical shifts in policies and structures that harm communities of color. Ironically, COVID-19 has ushered in opportunities to develop long-term and sustainable ways for people of faith to see how the perpetuation of systemic and institutional genocide is eliminating vulnerable, impoverished communities of color, nationally and globally. African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans, according to a recent article published in USA Today, are communities experiencing higher rates of illness and death. “The virus is an equal-opportunity crisis … but the impact and the burden of it is not going to be shared equally,” says Dr. Ashwin Vasan, a public health expert and assistant professor at Columbia University in New York City. She went on to say that. “Like most things in society, it's going to be regressive. It's going to be felt disproportionately by the poor, the vulnerable, the marginalized, and obviously that falls down in this country on communities of color.’’ Businesses have been putting their workers in harm’s way. Most recently, Amazon, Smithfield, and Tyson were cited as ignoring worker’s rights to wear protective face coverings, increasing work hours, demanding higher product output, and not allowing workers sick time and days off. The majority of workers are women, immigrants, and people of color. Again, the work scenarios are not new. They are simply exposed by COVID-19. The demand on workers, especially essential workers has always been stressful and oftentimes undervalued. However, with the increased need for production and caregiving in already stressed systems, we’re witnessing an increase in physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual distress. The demand to show up and put oneself in harms-way increases the likelihood of exacerbating preexisting health conditions, which threatens the economic well-being of families, especially children. How will people of faith show up? Will the knee jerk reactions of shock and awe at the news that African Americans are dying at alarming rates elicit advocacy and activism for long-term strategies to correct structural and systemic injustices? Will people who claim to be Christians consider themselves “woke” because they write a check in support of a food pantry? Will Christians look internally at the role white skin supremacy still has in denying equitable access to healthcare, clean water, and environmentally safe communities? When will people of European and Anglo descent see the magnificent beauty of all people and sacred bodies and identities as valuable? As the Minister for Racial Justice, I will continue to create opportunities of mutual learning communities with the purpose of awakening people’s consciousness through reeducation. Racism must never be taught as a Biblical principle because God did not create superior people groups and cultures. Racism should never be tolerated in worship spaces, preached from pulpits, allowed in communities, or supported by local, state, and national government leaders. God didn’t create “minorities.” God created humankind, equal and very good. Racism has no place. Equal Justice Initiative founder and Executive Director, Bryan Stevenson tells audiences that American will never be free until it acknowledges the sin of racism. He insists that we can change the narrative, but in order to do that we have to talk about the horrors of genocide and slavery. He urges listeners not just to take up the cross of justice, but to stand up to power structures whose destructive policies disenfranchise black and brown communities. Truth telling is a powerful tool when confronting the traumas of Jim Crow, including lynching, mass incarceration, and unjust legal decisions that send more women and men to prison. I further encourage people of faith to take a closer look at their denominational affiliations to the wealth many accumulated during slavery. This examination exposes the complicity of the Christian Church’s role in supporting and profiting from the genocide of Native Americans and the enslavement of Africans. Some claim the superiority of men over women by declaring God in masculine language. God is Spirit and we worship God in spirit and in truth. Leaning towards patriarchal supremacy is an affront to God and creation. Liberation strategists, Womanist and many Feminists scholars and clergy support the work of decentering whiteness by advocating with communities of color. They see the value of creating a just world for all by creating strategies with timelines and sustainable solutions. We are learning from COVID-19 about how church folk gather, worship, and create space for the Spirit to enliven the community. The way forward requires using new methods to include and embrace technology as a way to bring people together. People of faith must leave the traditional Church buildings and go where Jesus gathers—in alleys, prisons, homeless shelters—talking with people, sharing words of inspiration and hope. COVID-19 is requiring people of faith to embrace a gospel that sets aside judgment and hate speech against all our sibling. We are learning from COVID-19 that enacting trauma on our neighbors has a social and moral cost. Violating our neighbors with hate messages, racism, and white supremacy, sexual assault and violence, and domestic terrorism are violations against God. Individuals who believe in and support anti-black, Latinx, Native American, and LGBTQ agendas cannot claim Christianity as their faith or Jesus Christ as their Savior. As people of faith, we are called to stand together to protect ourselves, and our sisters and brothers experiencing verbal and physical threats, and violence due to acts of racism and xenophobia. The global impact of Covid 19 should encourage all faith communities to affirm God’s very good creation. All people bear God’s image and likeness with equal status. God desires all people be treated with dignity and respect, to live free, and move about the earth without borders, walls, and threats of separation and annihilation. Perhaps God has given us this moment to pause and reset. ~ Rev. Dr. Velda R. Love Read online here About the Author Rev. Dr. Velda R. Love currently serves as Minister for Racial Justice in The Justice and Witness Ministries of The United Church of Christ. Velda has a working knowledge of critical race theory and creates comprehensive and strategic approaches for UCC national conferences, congregations, and staff colleagues to explore and understand the intersection of racial justice with other justice issues. Velda brings an African-centered approach inclusive of biblical and theological knowledge in liberation and womanist perspectives. | | | | | | | | Question & Answer Q: By Beth What does Bishop John Shelby Spong mean by "love wastefully"? A: By Rev. Deshna Shine Dear Beth,This is one of my favorite teachings by Bishop Spong. And here is a link to a great book of his where you can read more: Jesus for the Non-Religious. I attempt to interpret Spong‘s writings with a bit of caution, as he is a highly intelligent, deeply well-read, scholar, New York Times bestseller, author of over 20 books and has years of experience as a faith leader in the Episcopal Church. Bishop Spong is a hero to me. He is one of the first religious faith leaders to come out in support of gay marriage. He spoke on the national news channels and programs about Hell not being real and against the idea of Original Sin and the need for Atonement - the theology that we are born in sin and destined to sin and must atone for our sins. He is an extremely brave revolutionary, a social justice warrior, and a deeply faithful and spiritual human. I can share my interpretation of that idea, however, and my personal perspective. I believe what Spong was referring to was the idea that the most profound way we can be in relationship with God (the Divine, Great Mystery, Nameless One) is to love one another and to love deeply. To love without barter, to love without expectation, to love without the need of receiving anything back. Even, perhaps, to love recklessly and shamelessly with all of one’s heart. Spong believes that God is the source of all life, the Source of Love, the Ground of Being, and is present in every person and in all of Creation. Therefore, to Spong, the only true way to worship God is by living fully, loving wastefully, and having the courage to BE all that we can be in full authenticity. By loving wastefully, which he likens to plugging the old sink in the basement, turning on the tap full force and allowing the water to overflow into every crack and cranny, never stopping to ask does that crack deserve this living water, we can be overflowing with love. Loving wastefully means you love … and then you love some more. We have an infinite well of love within that we can always fill ourselves up with. To love is to feel love and to love wastefully is to love without fear or expectation or need. When we are tapped in to the Divine within us and to the Divine’s way of loving wastefully, endlessly and infinitely, we are not losing anything, in fact we feel more full. Dr. Vivek Murphy, in his book, Together, shares that the vast majority of us feel lonely. Often, we feel lonely even if we are around people we love because we are not having deep connections at all of these three vital levels: with the self, in relationships, and in community. We all seek deeper connections and we desire to receive more love. But we are afraid to give it. We are afraid of getting hurt. We are afraid of being empty, of losing love, we are afraid that in the act of giving love we are actually losing love. When in fact, when we take time to look within, we find that there is this deep well of love bubbling up within us, an eternal spring of Living Waters. We can discover that the experience of loving fills us up with love just as much, if not more, as the experience of receiving love. To worship God is to be love in this world and when you are overflowing with it, you are able to love wastefully. ~ Rev. Deshna Shine Read and share online here About the Author Rev. Deshna Shine is Executive Director of ProgressiveChristianity.org and Progressing Spirit and is an ordained Interfaith Minister. She is an author, international speaker, and a visionary. She grew up in a thriving progressive Christian church and has worked in the field for over 13 years. She graduated from UCSB with a major in Religious Studies and a minor in Global Peace and Security. She is a lead author and editor on the children’s curriculum: A Joyful Path, Spiritual Curriculum. She co-authored the novel, Missing Mothers. She is the Executive Producer of Embrace Festival. She is passionate about sacred community, nourishing children spiritually, and transforming Christianity through a radically inclusive lens. | | | | | | | | Please continue to send us your feedback… we are listening. We aim to give voice to many different perspectives that are relevant and inspiring along this spiritually progressing path. We are not here to tell you what to believe or how to act. We are here to support your journey, to share and learn together.Thank you for being a part of this community! | | | | | | Join our FB community today! Spread the word, share with friends. Thanks! | | | | | | | | Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited The Origins of the Bible, Part XXVII: The Liturgical Books of Lamentations and Esther Essay by Bishop John Shelby Spong July 16, 2009One of the things that seems to escape the notice of those who believe that the Bible was somehow dictated by God is that the Bible is first and foremost a liturgical book. That is, the Bible was written to be used on occasions of public worship. It was never intended to be read as history or biography. We have seen this principle many times on this journey through the scriptures in this column. We noted that the original story of Jesus’ passion and death on the cross, as it was composed by Mark (14:17-15:49), was not a description of how Jesus died; it was rather a liturgical reliving of the meaning of his crucifixion. It was originally written to be used by the Christian community while they were still part of the synagogue and thus still observing the Passover. In that early Christian adaptation of Jewish worship Jesus was likened to the Paschal lamb of Passover who broke the power of death. That is why Mark’s Passion narrative was written in eight three-hour segments. It was a liturgical piece designed to satisfy the demands of a twenty-four-hour vigil service. We also noted that Mark’s gospel itself was originally written to be read on the Sabbaths of the liturgical year between Rosh Hashanah and Passover. That is why it suggests that Jesus’ public ministry was one year in duration. That was the time span in which his life was liturgically remembered while the followers of Jesus were still involved in the life of the synagogue. The Christian church did not separate itself from the synagogue until at least 58 years after the crucifixion, by which time Mark’s Gospel had been around for at least 17 years. In other illustrations of the influence of liturgy on scripture we need to note that Psalm 119, the longest psalm in the Psalter, was a hymn to the glory and wonder of the Torah. It was composed to be read at the Jewish festival of Shavuot, or Pentecost, when the giving of the law to Moses on Mt. Sinai was celebrated. In a similar fashion Zechariah 9-14 has a particular connection to the eight-day fall harvest festival of Sukkoth, or Booths. Perhaps that is why this part of Zechariah occupied so favored a position among the early Christians, who quote from this source constantly, building the Palm Sunday story on Zechariah 9:9-11. Once this pattern is discerned, two other little-known books of the Bible begin to make sense. I refer to the book of Lamentations, found immediately after the book of Jeremiah; and the book of Esther, found after the book of Nehemiah closes the “history” section of the Old Testament and before the book of Job opens the Wisdom section. I focus today on these two books as we near our completion in this “Origins” series of the Old Testament part of our study. Lamentations was a book written to be read on the Jewish observance of a holy day known as the 9th of Ab, which would come generally in our month of August. It is a series of laments over Jerusalem, designed both to recall and to bewail the fall of that city to the Babylonians in the early years of the 6th century BCE. The 9th of Ab was the day chosen to mark in every generation their ultimate national tragedy. People once attributed this book to Jeremiah, and that probably accounts for its placement in the Bible immediately following Jeremiah, but Jeremiah had been dead for hundreds of years before Lamentations was written. It is a book written for liturgical recital on this day of public fasting and mourning. Four of its chapters follow a form we know as alphabetical acrostics, that is, they each have 22 verses, one for each of the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. The book was designed to be a series of dirges to allow the defeats of history to be recalled on a day that was set aside for national mourning. Most Christians are familiar with this book only because it has been adapted for Christian use on Good Friday. Often Good Friday liturgies begin with these words from Lamentations: “Is it nothing to you all ye who pass by? Behold and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow with which the Lord has afflicted me.” By using these words from Lamentations on Good Friday, Christians were likening the death of Jesus liturgically to the death of the Jewish nation. Other words from Lamentations that have found their way into Christian worship include the 1822 hymn by John Keble, “New Every Morning is the Love,” based on Lamentations 3:22; the phrase used in Christian prayers to a God who has “taught us in thy holy word that thou dost not willingly grieve or afflict the sons of man,” from Lamentations 3:32; and the secular phrase that something is “worth its weight in gold,” which comes from Lamentations 4:2. This little book can be read in five minutes and it constantly surprises the reader with its message. A second little-known biblical liturgical work is the book of Esther. Like Lamentations this book was also written to be read in synagogue worship on a Jewish holiday. Esther is attached to the Jewish Festival of Purim, which normally comes in February or March in our calendar. It is a charming and purely secular story in which no Jewish religious practice is mentioned and the name of God is never used. I recall meeting a musician from New York, while we were both walking the Milford Track on the beautiful South Island of New Zealand, whose ambition it was to turn the story of Esther into a modern opera. I hope he does so, for it lends itself to that medium with great power. The story line of the book of Esther is fascinating. A Persian king named Ahasuerus, who ruled a kingdom that stretched from Ethiopia to India, was drinking with some royal guests and some of the leading citizens in the city of Susa. He decided to invite his queen Vashti into the feast so that these guests could stare with envy at her beauty. Vashti, however, refused to come, which created an embarrassing moment. If the king’s wife could defy her husband, then any wife could defy any husband and the power of patriarchy would be over. All women must give honor to their husbands, the text said, for this is “the law of the Medes and the Persians.” So in response to the Queen’s disobedience, the order was sent across the land that “every man shall be king of his home.” Queen Vashti was banished and a contest set up to pick the most beautiful virgin in the land to be the new queen. The choice fell on Esther, the niece of a Jewish man named Mordecai. It appears that her Jewish identity was unknown to the king. Later two of the king’s eunuchs conspired to remove the king from the throne, but their scheme was discovered by Mordecai and reported to the king, who had the eunuchs hanged and who then placed the good deed done by Mordecai in informing the king of this danger in the “Book of Memorable Deeds.” Meanwhile, the king reorganized his administration and appointed a man named Haman to be over all his affairs. Haman, drunk with his new authority, required the populace to bow down before him. They all did so except for one man, Mordecai the Jew, who bowed his head to no human being. This infuriated Haman and he initiated a plan to hang Mordecai and to destroy all the Jews in the realm. When notice of this intention became public, Mordecai asked his daughter Esther to intercede with the king on behalf of her people. She did so even though it identified her as a Jew and placed her in mortal danger by demanding the king’s attention. Still smitten by her charms, the king allowed this intrusion on his royal dignity and asked to hear her request. She invited him to come with Haman alone to a dinner she would prepare and at which she would make her petition known. They came, but she now said she would not make her request known until a second dinner that again only Haman and the king would attend. Haman was quite pleased to be included in these dinners along with the king and the queen and he began to fantasize about his increasing power. He built a gallows on which to hang Mordecai, his major nemesis. Before they attended the second dinner, the king has a restless night and in his sleeplessness read from the “Book of Memorable Deeds” where Mordecai’s act in saving the king was recorded. The next day he inquired of Haman what should be done for a man the king wanted to honor. Haman, assuming that he was to be the honoree, spelled out a list of public acts to be bestowed upon this fortunate man. The king agreed and directed Haman to do all of the things he had outlined to Mordecai the Jew. To his chagrin, Haman had to carry out this order on the one he considered his bitterest enemy. Things get even worse for Haman when he accompanied the king to the second dinner with Queen Esther to hear her petition. She asked that the law designed to annihilate the Jews be rescinded and that Haman, the author of this law, be executed. The king did as Esther had requested. The Jewish people were saved and Haman was hanged on the same gallows that he had erected for Mordecai. This escape from peril was then ordered to be celebrated annually on the Feast of Purim so that the Jews could recall the time when Queen Esther saved them from annihilation. It is an exciting story, but it hardly qualifies as the “Word of God,” especially when the Jews, now freed from annihilation, responded by slaying five hundred of their tormentors, including the ten sons of Haman. There is so much in the Bible that is lively and insightful to read, once we crack the pious framework and remove the outrageous claims to authority that have been placed into and around these ancient words. Human beings almost inevitably and intuitively seek the truth of God and it comes through many sources of which the Bible is one. The truth of God, however, cannot be captured in propositional form, for it is always bigger than the human mind can embrace. Our perception of truth evolves as human consciousness expands. We claim no finite book as the literal source of truth without becoming idolaters. The Christians of the world need to face the fact that the biblical books of Lamentations and Esther make that point in a very obvious way. Next week we will conclude our study of the Old Testament with a look at the work of the Chronicler, which includes Ezra and Nehemiah.~ John Shelby Spong | | | | | | | | Announcements Saturday Morning Services, rB-style. Online 8am PST. JOIN RABBI BRIAN’S INCLUSIVE & FUN WEEKLY SERVICE. ALTHOUGH THE WORD “SERVICE” MAKES IT SEEM A LITTLE STIFF. I’D THINK ABOUT IT MORE LIKE SOME OF RABBI BRIAN’S FRIENDS ARE HANGING OUT AND TALKING ABOUT SPIRITUAL ISSUES. BUT, NOT ANYTHING WOO-WOO. OR OVERLY JEWISH. (NO HEBREW REQUIRED.) READ ON ... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |