Living in coronavirusworld 244: Of inaugurations, occupied territory and exorcism

 

1/25

Together

Tonight in this season of “inaugurations,’ we study Mark’s account of the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry. (Mark 1: 21-28) Each gospel has its own version of how Jesus initiates his ministry. In Matthew, it’s the sermon on the mount. In Luke, it’s a programmatic statement of mission rooted in Isaiah with release to the captives, sight to the blind, etc. John starts with changing water to wine at a wedding at Cana of Galilee. Here in Mark, it’s the story of “the man with the unclean spirit.” The first of four exorcisms in Mark. 

In response, the people are astounded, a word used 10 times in Mark. 

The confrontation with the demon is interesting. First, in our contemporary understanding, demonic possession may be a way of describing what we understand to be mental illness. On the other hand, we understand  that substance addiction, and Alzheimers and bipolar can all possess someone and result in them  behaving other than themselves. In this story, the demon speaks in the collective (“what do you have to do with us?”) as if all that is demonic is somehow involved. All the force that oppress human beings. And the demon knows Jesus by name, both human “ Jesus of Nazareth” and divine, Holy One of God.” From Genesis 1 foreword, to know someone’s name (or to name them) is to have power over them. Jesus too is possessed, of the Holy Spirit, and the demon is trying to exorcise Jesus. So we have what is undoubtedly a loud contest with raised voices and shouting. A great movie scene. 

Note that this is happening in a synagogue, A holy place. I have actually  had this experience. Both alone at West Park where a man asked for an exorcism. After I “removed the demon” he turned and told  told me “and now he’s in  you.”(https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/335914640400880074/8707032854797775964) And once on a Sunday morning where Rafael, my Occupy Wall Street security guard literally wrapped the young man in a hug and walked him out of the sanctuary and stayed with him until the ambulance arrived. (https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/335914640400880074/5130785507670366507) 

What we’ve got here is a struggle over occupied territory. Just like the Romans are unjustly occupying the territory, the demons are occupying the man. Just as the demon has to be exorcised from the man, the people  need to be freed from occupation.  Just as our lives right now are occupied by a triple threat, the pandemic, race and political division.  Even with the promise of a new President, these forces remain. And as Eddie Glaude has said in Begin Again, a refection on the works of James Baldwin, the trauma of racism endures in our very  bodies to this day. We need exorcism. 

The control of occupied space extends to the synagogue. Who will control the holy space? Jesus walks in and  teaches with authority. The people see it immediately. The institutional leaders want to know where was he educated? Where did he get his seminary education and degree? Is he ordained? What denomination? Amber Leigh describes this as an issue of emotional (or intrinsic) authority over against positional authority. In community organizing one-on-ones, we all want to find out who ha authority in peoples lives? In any congregation, there are the “official” leaders and the “cultural” leaders, whose  support is needed for something to happen. Jesus’ authority came from the  center of his  being. 

To confront the demon that confronts us, it will take granting Jesus the authority over our lives, our beings. It will take the sustaining support of the Holy  Spirit. And the solidarity of the community of faith. Th inauguration os over. It’s time get to work. 

The Man with an Unclean Spirit

21 They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He[a] commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

Living in coronavirusworld 243: Vaccinated

 

1/21

The Armory staging area

at the armory

vaccinated

I won’t believe I am actually getting my vaccination until I  get there and it happens. It seemed so random when the appointment opened up. I get up very early to get to the site by 7:45 AM. I arrive at the 168th Street Armory, one of the premier indoor track and field facilities in the country, to find it has been converted into a massive vaccination operation. A team of volunteers makes every step easy. They’ve all been clearly trained to be warm, friendly and welcoming to relieve any anxieties there may be about the vaccine. I look at the banners of various schools  compete here, the banked track, remember seeing my son compete here years ago.  And just like that, after three stations, I get my shot and then sit to wait for my next appointment that you use have before leaving. As other friends my age have not been able to get in and an older couple has had  their appointment canceled because they have “run out,” I feel lucky.  The lack of coordinated comprehensive planning continues to make gaining control over this virus an uphill struggle even as more virulent strains are emerging.

By midday, my arm is stiff and sore. And by nightfall, I am shivering with chills and a sick headache that hurts when I cough, Nothing to do but go to bed….

1/22

….where I stay until after noon the next day. By late afternoon, I feel tired and weak but still meet a friend for an outdoor dinner at the Gate. And even though I called hours in advance, we still can’t  get a heated table. I order chicken pot pie as comfort food and in an hour, we’re gone. Back home, bed still looks like  where I want to be , but there’s open mic hosting in between . 

1/23

whose was this?

blue jay

It’s cold farmer’s market today. ….a stranded child's play castle....and later a walk with family through Harlem…in Morningside Park, I see a blue jay....

1/24

Ozone Park Churc

Up early to travel to Ozone Park where the congregation wants to thank me for my service with them. Somehow, they are managing to worship live and in person. It’s a long ride to Ozone Park and then a long cold walk from the subway to the church. When I arrive, it’s so hard to see with my glasses steamed over. But what I do see is moving. Somehow, well with the assistance of a skilled administrative commission, the church has moved forward during the pandemic. A new renter had brought in enough income (and volunteer work) to have the place shining clean. The basement has been thoroughly emptied of old stored items and feels open and clean. Most importantly, the cage that had bene installed around the organ, something I’d never seen before, has bene removed. It was to me clearly a symbol of anxiety, for and mistrust of others, a closed in protective spirit. The cage is gone. And I can feel a renewed spirit of openness in the congregation. The division I felt before is not visible.  There are even  a few children in Sunday school.  And a feeling of hope. They have worked hard for this. Of course, the two old stalwarts of the congregation died of covid. But others have stepped up and taken on tasks they would not have before. It’s a unique congregation with many of its members from the South Asian Indian community of the West Indies. They give me a stole as a gift, of Guatemalan cloth. Fitting because of my work there. It has warmed my heart on a cold day to see that a congregation has actually moved forward during the pandemic. 

Metropolis: A History of the City, Humankind's Greatest Invention by Ben Wilson. A review.

1/25

 

Metropolis: A History of the City, Humankind’s Greatest Invention, by Ben Wilson (Doubleday2020)

A review 

For those of us who love cities, and have devoted our lives and ministries to living and working in them, Ben Wilson has made an invaluable contribution to our urban library and understanding of the city.  . His Metropolis: A History of the City, Humankind’s Greatest Invention, Wilson tells the story of the city from the very first  in Mesopotamia, Uruk, to the paradigmatic global megacity of the moment, Lagos, Nigeria. And in the process makes the case that it is the unique nature of the city that has produced most of what we call civilization. Wilson chooses some twenty cities whose dynamics defined the city of their time and through them explores the significance of those dynamics. Of course there’s Babylon and Baghdad, Athens and Alexandria, the expected Rome, Paris, London, New York and Chicago. But also Tenochtitlan and Malacca. And the story of Warsaw, its destruction and rise from literal ashes. 

There are cities that have their day and then vanish only to be unearthed  centuries later. And cities that have passed through several recreations.  In addition to the specific character of theses cities, Wilson also explores the significance to the city of :

*Sex

* Baths 

*Street food 

*Tourism

*Walking

…..and how the experience of many of these has been radically different for men and women.  And how animals have become urbanized, distinct from their relative in the wild. 

We also see the historic importance of city states over against nation states, a historic reality that seems to be once again a significant factor in how the world runs. 

(It’s interesting to  note that Wilson reports that according to scientific research, the closer to the  city center you are, the less obese and more happy you are.)

Historically, there is much here to wrestle with. Even as we critique our past of settler colonialism and empire, westerners have tried to hold on to the fantasy that cruel as that history is, at least somehow we had brought civilization to undeveloped peoples. Wilson reminds us that while Europe was in the  dark ages, it was Islam and cities  like Alexandria that protected and preserved the shared collective wisdom and knowledge of humanity. Asia too had centers of culture.  Africa and Asia could be said to be actually ahead of Europe in terms of civilization when the age of discovery began. Intercontinental and cross civilization trade was well established long before our day. It was, for example, Asia’s tradition of open trade and cities that lay it vulnerable to the controlled and militarized monopoly practice of Europe. The globalization we speak of as if it were new is the historic reality of cities.

As Christians, we have to wrestle with the fact that Christendom’s intolerance of other faiths was a driving factor in terns of how western colonial imperialism encountered the world. Judaism and islam, for example, both have their histories of chauvinism, but of these three, only Christianity has a core theology of an exclusive truth claim, or only route to “salvation,” itself an essentially Christian concern. 

Another insight comes  from the fact that the Judeo-Christian tradition is at heart anti-urban. Sodom and Gomorrah, Babylon become  the very essence of depravity, sinfulness and exploitation. Cultures of Asia, Africa, Meso America do not have an equivalent anti-urban mythology, In fact, cities are often seen as the abode of the gods. These traditional biases survive into our own day and are seen even in the most recent US election where coastal ‘“urban elites” serve as Babylon for the MAGA Americans. 

Wilson explores a trend many of us in urban ministry have long noticed, that is the urbanization of the suburbs and the ever growing impact of low density urban sprawl as developed in greater Los Angeles and can be seen in  places like the southern Long Island Coast and the NJT corridor. The boundaries between city and suburb have long been disappearing. 

Globally, the tension between “planned”development, like China’s new cities and “informal” development, like post war Tokyo continue to play out in the global south. (Parenthetically, Wilson points  out that China has replaced the US as the major influence and development  partner throughout South American and Africa.) What’s important to note is that  always where there appears to be chaos, a deeper level of order and organization has creatively  been  worked out by the people who live there. In some respects, the old Jane Jacobs - Robert Moses struggle continues in places like Rio, Lagos and Mumbai. Especially significant is the reality that 61% of the world’s population works off the books in the informal economy accounts for 23% of the world’s economy.  And so it has been for over 5000 years. 

The fact is The world’s urban population grows by 200,000 every day and by 2050, two thirds of the world’s population will live in cities.  Wilson states that our survival as a species depends on the “next chapter of our urban odyssey.”  The future won’t be determined by “technocrats” or “master planners.” It will  made by “…billions…living in megacities”…”the majority of humans will live in informal settlements and work in the DIY economy as has been the case  …over the last 5000 years. They are the people who build cities and keep them going, surviving on their ingenuity and resourcefulness and responding to  changes in the wider environment. When the energy runs low, and cities become hotter and harsher, they will be the ones who improvise solutions if they are allowed, if history  is any guide, they will succeed,”

Wlson’s book is informative but even more, inspiring. Our urban future is one of challenge. But also hope. 

Living in coronaviriuswolrd 242: Inauguration Day

 

1/20

Bernie

The day begins with our Underground conversation. Early on, there is the sound of cheering from one of our rooms as word begins to spread that Trump has left the White House for the last time. We have been waiting for this day for four years. We talk of Brian McClaren’s call for a new movement of Christians to reclaim the integrity of our tradition by focusing on the following of Jesus as a way of life and not giving assent and demanding allegiance to a set fo theological propositions and social mandates. (https://wildgoosefestival.org/christianity-after-trump/?blm_aid=52107) We spend a lot of time talking about the difference between biases and values and the need of a community to help us check our biases and the need for a diversity of biases within a community to keep us honest. 

Steve P, in reflecting on the refusal of Republicans to wear masks, uses the analogy of “peeing in the pool.” Why is the concept so hard to get? 

I share my thoughts on the new movie “One Night in Miami” (https://www.amazon.com/Night-Miami-Leslie-Kingsley-Ben-Adir/dp/B08NLFDCXZ) about the meeting in Miami after Cassius Clay wins the title for the first time. Clay, football player Jim Brown, singer Sam Cooke and Malcom X gather to discuss Clay’s immanent conversion to Islam and the direction of the struggle for Black liberation in the US. The dynamics of that conversation are still very much with us today. I was moved by Malcolm’s playing Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” and challenging Sam Cooke to use his talent for the struggle. Cooke’s “A Change is gonna come.” would later help to define the era.

                                                       " A change is gonna come"

I turn on the ceremony. Jennifer Lopez sings “This Land is Your Land”, of course leaving out the radical verses, and my brother texts me that Woody must be spinning in his grave. After a shout out to unity in Spanish…and an odd reference to her own song, “Let’s get loud,” she segued into ‘America the Beautiful,” a performance which set the tone for many other performances over the course of the day. Lady Gaga pretty much killed it with her take on the National Anthem. (When I see her, I see not only the star but the young woman who attends mass with her mom in one of our local neighborhood churches where a friend of mine served as priest.) Andrea Gorman’s poem restated passionately much of what new President Biden had said in his quiet, dignified, and sincere way in his acceptance speech. And then there was Garth Brooks in his cowboy hat singing the first ‘Amazing Grace” of the day.  Thankfully, the day went off without incident. Although having to surround the capitol with armed troops is still a strange and disturbing site, a legacy of the deputing president.  But my favoirte image of course, is Berne Sanders in his parka and mittens becoming a meme.

Somehow, in another inauguration day miracle, I manage to get an appointment for a Covid vaccination tomorrow at 7:45 AM. 

Later I would watch the Salute to America Inauguration special produced in lieu of the Covid cancelled balls. Tom Hanks hosted. Every musical genre was checked and most ethnicities.  Heroic workers from around th country were introduced and  told their stories. There would be yet another Amazing Grace and a Hallelujah at the memorial for the Covid victims. (Question: has anyone ever actually listened to the words of that song?) The President and Vice President spoke, as did three former Presidents, Bush, Clinton and Obama. Reminding me again how once  upon time, dignity  and decency were expected. It all ended with the first couples  holding hands as we watched a gigantic fireworks display.

Okay. Here’s the thing. Sure, some of this felt over the top, cheesy, schmaltzy, middle brow? I'm looking for the right word. But in all that, I felt strangely comforted. It's as if the normal, annoying America was back, and it was wonderful. On at least three occasions I found myself tearing up with this sense of gratitude…and relief.

I took the time to watch the former President’s farewell. This great bete noire (bete orange?) of American politics seemed so small, even pathetic. Not to discount the wreck and ruin of these last four years, or the recent still shocking siege of the capitol, but the lingering image is one of smallness.

The incoming administration did it all right. Did all they could to reassure us that we were back in familiar territory again. A country we could recognize. For this I give thanks.

 

Living in Coronavirusworld 241: One day closer

 

1/17

What we need

Our ZOOM meeting with my mother in her assisted care facility is filled with tech issues. My mom's been left with only "speaker view" so she can't understand why people keep disappearing. Explaining is not easy. The transcript would be an entertaining slice of Coronavirusworld life one act.  My niece, a middle school principle in Ohio, says "So now you know what it's like trying. to teach these days."

The Gate has added outdoor heaters, like more and more restaurants every day. But heated tables are in high demand so my friend and I are luck to get an unheated table at the corner. Where the wind whips around. I stick with Jameson's but she goes with a hot toddy. And a shepherd's pie for me  to keep warm. We can make it just about an hour in this weather.  When I go in to pay the bill, owner Paul is happy for our loyalty. Shots are shared.

1/18

Coffee, pastry and Sunday Times at my favorite Venezuelan cafe. But the wind keeps rustling my paper and cooling my coffee so its a short visit. 

As our family gathers for its weekly international ZOOM meeting, we all struggle to come to terms with our current covid reality. Two of us here in New York, teachers, are scheduled for vaccines. My son in Berlin is especially confounded as the country that seemed to have it all under control and was seemingly a model response now seems to be completely at a loss as to what to do as numbers pass New York City and percentages near American levels and a new lockdown in effect.  Teachers have all but given up.

waiting for the vaccine

First day of vaccinations at Wadleigh High School across the street from me. People lined up around the block. Like the voting lines. 

Late afternoon, as the sun goes down, we walk to the Israeli cafe for coffee. There is some anxiety around the lack of ventilation in the outdoor seating area. So we don't stay long. We walk in the dark to Central Park to see if the floating tree in the Harlem Meer is still lighted. The tree is still there. But now dark.

1/19

Martin Luther King, Jr. day

Martin Luther King, Jr. day. Tonight we cancel our Bible Study because the New York City Presbytery is holding a (virtual) Rosa Parks/Martin Luther King, Jr. commemoration service. Music from a Black church in Harlem and a Korean church on Queens, A preacher from Detroit. The sharing of communion, each in our own place.  On this King day, in this year, on the cusp of the exit of a disgraced President and the inauguration of a new one, there is a special resonance to the vision of a Beloved Community. Dr.King's radical vision needs to be reclaimed from the effort to take the hard economic analysis out of his witness. He was ready to take on, to name, the predatory consuming nature of capitalism. Beyond identity politics, the progressive political constituency needs to bring the class issue back into focus in the years ahead.

1/20

Donald Trump's last day in office. We are on the verge of the change. My friend Steve comes up for coffee. We sit in the cafe's patio and review these last 4 years. Wondering how we can begin to overcome the gaps between two countries. There is a growing awareness that significant portions of our religious communities sold their souls in support of a nativist authoritarian politics. Both orthodox Judaism and evangelical Christianity have much to answer for. 

I spend three hours trying to find an appointment for a vaccination, all to no avail.

The President elect hosts a ceremony with 400 lights to commemorate the now more than 400,000 deaths from Covid. Repeat that number...400,000 fellow citizens, fellow Americans. Dead. More than World War II. The lights glow next to the reflecting pool. On into the darkness. 

Living in coronavirusworld 240: Shabbat and Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr.

1/15

My friend Rabbi Steve asked me to preach his shabbat service the Friday night before the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Here's what I had to say:

So this is the shabbat before our annual commemoration of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And this year, this shabbat finds us midway between impeachment and inauguration. The start of 2021 has not been, well, exactly smooth. (The other day I was walking in Central Park beside the Harlem Meer. I saw a goose land on the wet ice and its webbed feet immediately started scrambling and he was flapping his wings, trying to find balance and I thought, dude, I feel you…)

It’s interesting that tonight’s Torah portion is Va-ay-rah…"God appeared"…Exodus 6:2-9: 35.  It’s your basic passover story. With Moses singing that spiritual ‘Let my people go” and all these plagues coming. Believe me….we know from plagues. And like the Israelites were in oppressive exile in Egypt, we have been in “internal” exile oppressed by a virus that has walled in our life, taken loved ones from us and separated us one from another. If anyone thinks this is a hoax, I lost three close friends in three weeks last year.  Thing is, in the Bible God sent those plagues. And in no way do I believe God sends this plague. But I will say this, I believe that if we work in partnership with God, good can come out of even the worst of times. Which is where we come back to Dr. King.

What made up Dr. King’s witness?

* First, his witness was faith rooted. His faith inspired him, sustained him and gave him a language. His was the voice of “Let my people go.” And his Black church tradition had a long time connection to the Jewish tradition because his faith community saw in the origin story of the Jewish people, their “passover” from slavery to freedom, a story that could inspire  their own journey to freedom. In his “I have a dream" speech,  he quoted the prophet Amos’ stirring words, “let justice flow down like water and righteousness like an overflowing stream.” 

* That connection meant Dr.King’s movement was inclusive, interracial and interfaith because that was his vision of a beloved community. One of his closest supporters was Abraham Joshua Heschel who said of marching with Dr.King, “I felt like my feet were praying.”

* Third, and this is very important, Dr. King’s witness was an American witness. It is so ironic. We all know how J.Edgar Hoover used the FBI resources against Dr.King because he believed he was a dangerous subversive. The fact is, no one believed in America more than Dr.King. Dr.King took America at its word, that it truly wanted to be what it said in its founding documents and sacred songs. Of course, the events of last summer and the attention brought by Black Lives Matter has reminded us that much was wrong from the very start. But the thing is, ideas, ideals have more power, more truth than the flawed human beings who create them.  Dr. King created that cognitive dissonance between what we said and what was and asked us, which is it? And the arc of history bent just a little more towards justice, 

One more thing…Dr.King had come to realize that it’s more than prejudice, that the economic situation needs to change as well.  And that is equally true for Americans of all colors.

SO what does this say to us on this shabbat, January 15, 2021?

* We need to reclaim the tradition of the prophets as an important part of our heritage…understanding as Heschel said that a prophet comes from a people and speaks to a people and the primary motive of a prophet must always be love..too many people who criticize think  that somehow  they are separate from what they criticize…we are in this together…the US is us...

* We need to renew our belief in America. In  what is best about who we have been, who we are and who we can yet be, ever striving to bring our reality closer to our ideals.

And finally this…this has been the most divisive time in our country’s life that I have lived through. We have to find our way past the division. I think of these words of Dr.King as my closing:

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”

Shabbat shalom. 

Living in coronavirusworld: Holding on

 1/14

Harlem Meer

Tulsa Ice Oilers

This morning I’m wearing a hat and sweater form the 1933 Tulsa Ice Oilers hockey team. Mainly in recognition of Tulsa as a treasure house of Art Deco. Because the oil barons who built the city wanted the best and most up to  to date. Including the Boston Avenue Church, the Radio City Music Hall of churches. (For real.)

It’s hard to realize that only one week ago was the siege of the capitol. One of the collateral damage stories is of the sequestered congress people stuck together in a small room with Republicans refusing to wear masks. And now several colleagues have tested positive for Covid. It’s criminal. Like unprotected sex with undisclosed AIDS. These people should be removed from office. We are now in the 10th month of coronavirusworld. 

We speak of many things:

*the “zero vs, the infinite” as in rioters transferring “power” to Trump…they think they are superior than they know that the are not..

* Watching the siege on the capitol, we’re all called to self-examination, asking when we may have felt  the same, even acted the same. Discernment is truly important. When I say it seems to me that many there who "truly believe…,”  Steve P stops me because “true belief” is not a valid category in the conversation. “Blind faith..”is not a valid reason for action. Are there no villains, but a lot of victims? 

* Symbolic vs. instrumental values. 

* Is it about me forever, or loving your neighbors, even enemies?

Steve P thinks we need to remind those Christians who so passionately follow Trump that they have forgotten their religion, That they have entered into a space where disagreement is self-excommunication.  We debate to what extent Christian language and imagery still shapes the American narrative. Dre maintains that for many millennials, that’s over. I noted that in my experience with Occupy, even though they were militantly anti-religious, Christian imagery still filled their poetry and songs. And I also argue that there is something archetypal about the Jesus story that transcends culture. 

We all are filled with uncertainty as to what happens next.

                                                                                         ****

In reflecting on the year ahead, the leadership of New York City Presbytery must deal with the loss of over 600 members last year, including over 500 from just two “tall steeple” Manhattan churches. And currently with 87 sanctuaries, some 30 churches have no pastoral leadership. On the other hand, attendance for many of the virtual services outnumbers previous live ones.

1/15

Our Sabeel conversation focuses on Baptism. Our vows to participate in fellowship, communion and breaking bread. And to resist evil and proclaim the good news, loving neighbor and pursuing justice, and peace. Which we commit to “with God’s help.” Omar want to know if it’s more than “signs in a restaurant,” do we really take it seriously, is there Christian accountability?

I speak of the need to beyond the traditional idea of baptism as a kind of “spiritual inoculation” to keep babies out of limbo and more of a community commitment. We cannot live the Christian life without community. 

It is pointed out that in our tradition, new members are baptized as part of the Easter vigil, symbolizing that as Christians we share in Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.

                                                                                 ****

on Harlem Meer

Walking through Central Park, I see a goose land on the wet ice of the Harlem Meer, his webbed feet skittering and wings flappier as he tries to find equilibrium. I look t tom and say, “Yeah, that’s what stating this year feels like…”

In Morningside Park, I see no life. No ducks,. No geese. No turtles. Like Holden Caulfield (in Catcher in the Rye) I wonder where they go. 

Along 118th street, anti-trump signs remain.

anti-Trumo signs

no Black vax

The ATLAH church encouraging Black people NOT to take the vaccine .”Remember Tuskegee” The evil use of black prisoners for medical research haunts us still…

a tree remains

Christmas trees remain in the parks.                                In normal years I find lingering Christmas decorations annoying, at least. Not this year. I never really felt fully embraced by Christmas this year. Just like everything seems to exist in a hazy place somewhere between virtual and real.I still feel comforted by those lights. I can hold on a little longer. 

Living in coronavirusworld 238: Come and see

 

Hatlem Meer

1/11

Our Bible Study group tonight is looking at the Gospel text for next Sunday, January 17, the second Sunday in  Epiphany. John 1: 41-53 is John’s telling of the calling of Jesus’ first disciples.  It immediately follows Jesus’ baptism story, though this telling does not specifically have John baptize Jesus. Only in this telling are these first called disciples of John. (Russ of course is sure Jesus was a disciple of John.) Jesus has travelled from Bethany outside Jerusalem to Bethsaida on the northern end of  the Sea of Galilee. The main character here is Nathanael, who only appears in John.  And note that Jesus is identified as “son of Joseph,”  suggesting that there was a belief that Joseph was Jesus’ father. Nathanael jokes”what good can come out of Nazareth?” As it was a small, secluded, backwater kind of town. Jesus responds calling Nathanael an “Israelite without deceit”…which Marsha sees as a reference to Nathanel being guileless. 

Jesus is also setting up a kind of pun. As the first to be named Israel was Jacob, the classic deceitful trickster. Jesus moves form there to an image of himself as Jacob’s ladder (51) with angels going back and forth to heaven.  As Stephen Mitchell saw Jacob himself as the ladder, Jesus there becomes the ladder connecting heaven and earth, and thus the son of man, the human one. (The Jacob’s ladder story, Genesis 28:12, was my text when I peached the sermon for Congregational Sim Shalom at Thanksgiving shabbat. (http://west-parkpress.blogspot.com/2020/11/living-in-coronavirusworld-217.html )

A phrase that appears several times in this passage is “come and see.”  Jesus invitation is if you want to know what he is about, you have  to come and see, and then it will be clear. Show, not tell as they say. 

We note that:

*John points out Jesus to his disciples as the “lamb of God” or Passover lamb, not clear whether Jesus was ready for that or not.

* John says that he did not know Jesus before but when he saw the dove, he knew. While some of us see this as though this story did not have the two as cousins, as in Mathew, Amber Lee points out that this could simply be a new insight into Jesus reality, as in, he didn’t know that.  As Epiphany is about revelation or getting it, this is a perfect Epiphany story because it reveals Jesus. He accepts Nathanel’s skepticism and responds, in essence, you ain’t seen nothin yet.

That seeing is very important to Marsha. She points out that Nathanael follows because Jesus seems him. Maybe because he’s the kind of guy no one sees. We wonder about how many of those who stormed the capitol did so because they do not feel seen. In my work with homeless people, it’s  clear that the worst part of being homeless is that you become invisible, no longer seen. And as their invisibility continues, their connection to  reality slips further and further away. My friend Marc Greenberg of the Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing always said that more important than giving money is seeing people, affirming their humanity. 

This passage comes up on the weekend before Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday. It’s a story of calling.  Fredrick Buechner suggest we should sing “Adeste Fidelis” again this weekend, “O Come All Ye Faithful…”

As I ponder the events of last week, I think of Gandolf’s words to Frodo in Lord of the Rings…”We cannot choose the time we live in. We can only choose what we do with the time we are given.” 

Cone and see. Come and see,

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the last Santa...

On a tech trip to Chelsea I see one last Santa Claus…has he been stranded? Stayed too long at a Russian Christmas celebration?…at a Mexican food truck….

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the trees come down..

The Christmas display across from Morningside Park is coming down…

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“Drinking Religiously” out of 4 Saints Brewery in Asheboro, North Carolina begins with our convener sharing the logo of the Poor Peoples’ Campaign, and asks what it brings to mind. Sadly, it immediately conjures up images of the siege of the Capitol last week. We reflect on the meaning of poor.  We recognize that all of us in the conversation, compared to people the world around, are privileged. Even as I contemplate the thin line between making it and not and how vulnerable, I, most of us are. How do we identify? How do we understand abundance?

How do the people who invaded the Capitol understand themselves? I am aware and puzzled by the fact that friends of mine from the Occupy movement have been involved. They see the response to Covid as tyranny, staking away freedom. They have. Somehow fallen sway to Qanon fantasies. And see this invasion as somehow a continuation of Occupy Wall Street. I struggle with this. I guess once you mistrust authority, it can just keep going.Once you believe on conspiracies, it’s open game. And in this motley crew are people who legitimately been left behind and been manipulated like street gangs of late Weimar Germany. I am still not sure where we go with all this…