Living in coronavirusworld 154: Wherever two or three...

8/31

What the world needs now is love

Appolo marquee

ATLAH speaks

Weighing in on gentrification

Walking along 125th, I look at the marquee of the famed Apollo Theatre. Like every other entertainment venue, looks like they’re just trying to figure out how to survive. And that they’ve got a virtual fall season lined up. Walking south on Malcolm X, I stop to see the latest comments from the infamous ATLAH  (All the Land Anointed Holy) church. I share them without comment. 

Tonight in Bible study we are looking at Matthew 18: 15-20. In this section, Jesus addresses the issue of how to deal with conflict within the church. The whole process of going one to one, and if that doesn’t work, 2 to 3 witnesses, and if that doesn’t work, the whole church. And then if the person does not respond, that them as a “gentile or tax collector.” Then it talks about “binding” and “ loosing” on earth and heaven and wherever  “2 or 3” are gathered together, Jesus is there in the midst. 

On first reflection, Marsha says “what you say has staying power. Jesus is saying, don’t forget, I am there too.”  Later Leila will say “ a grudge gives you purpose, people want to hold on.”

It’s easy to miss that Jesus is about more than conflict resolution here. As much as those processes can help one resolve a hurt or complaint, the real focus here is what it takes to build community. Russ points out that the “you” to whom the instructions are directed is plural. Enabling  people to have “hard conversations” with each other strengthens a community. Enables a community to hang tough when tough things happen.  ( I remember my friend Kristen Leigh saying that there are all kinds of communities, but a church needs to be the place you can go to when “the shit hits the fan.” We are reminded how rare that is. 

Russ reminds us that when we talk about treating that person as a tax collector or gentile we have to rememeber that Jesus ate and drank with them.  What he appears to be saying is that hen a person has essentially removed themselves from community, you have  to start all over agin from the beginning. 

We talked about whiter it might actually be possible. In my experience as a pastor, when 2 people came into conflict both expected me to set the other person straight and ultimately both would get  angry and leave. I never figured out how to deal with  triangulation.  If I could make one requirement for joining a church it would be a commitment to resolving any conflict as community. To not break community solidarity . When Jesus is saying wherever 2 or 3 are gathered together, there he is, I believe this is  what he is talking about. That oft quoted verse is really in  the context of a dispute resolution community building process.  In the end, even 2 to 3 people committed to resolving differences in community are a beginning. 6 to 8 can be a true and strong cell.  And a dozen, well , can change the world. 

Living in conavirusworld 51: Where there is no vision

5/12

Harlem Shake does its part

The sun is out and it's a good time for a  walk. Walking up Lennox, there’s a  pop up needle exchange and a steady line of customers.  

Further up the street, I notice for sth first time since I’ve been living in Harlem, there are no letters on the ATLAH (All the Land Anointed Holy) signboard. This signboard is famous for its almost always controversial proclamations. Among Pastor James David Manning’s favorite targets have been the LGBTQ community, President Obama (" a Taliban Muslim",)Ben Carson (" a pathetic nigga") and gentrifiers. My favorite was “white homos are going to take the black woman's man” He elaborated  on this claim by saying “ Well they’ll take you to Broadway shows and fine  dining at fancy restaurants, who can resist that?” To which I can only respond, “uh….uh…” and wonder exactly who was being tempted. Rev.Manning has quoted Proverbs 29:18”Where there is no vision, the people perish." 

The ATLAH Church

 

The Vision

He has define his vision as 

“50000 righteous men Living for the lord in the community formerly knew as Harlem.

All ATLAH men are homeowners, business owners, leaders in their homes, leaders in the church and leaders in the community” 14 September 1991. He’d also like to build an arch across 125th street to honor the Middle Passage, those who died  being transported across the Atlantic Ocean as slaves. I mean, most of that I can get behind. But the rest of it, no… (Some of it is truly off the wall, like Starbucks putting semen in lattes.) He seems  to have a redemptive vision for the Black man ala  Garvey or Elijah Muhammad. Does the blank  board mean Pastor Manning has lost his vision? Could this be a Covid 19 related issue? It is a mystery.

The Harlem Shake is doing a hot business.

The Shake is on the case

With typically funky signs in the windows and free toilet paper as a bonus. 

free tolet paper

Walking home, a man has fallen out on Adam Clayton Powell and 116, near the bus stop. A woman tries to raise him up, but he doesn't move. She kneels to help him. He starts get up, loses his mask as it blows away. He sinks back to the street . The woman gets another mask and puts it  on him as he lies back down. Though I’ve seen this before, the brokenness around me still gets to me sometimes. Especially as I pass through the gauntlet that’s always planted in front of  the liquor store. 

Every warm night the 115th street crapshooters are out.

I finish the night watching the last game of the 1979 World Series. Completing my run of championships  won by my hometown Pirates in my lifetime.(1960, 71 and 97) This broadcast is filled with PSA’s  on the inning breaks about social distancing and staying home, praises fo our medical workers and other essential workers and  poignant ad in which a Pirate hat is passed on from generation to generation.

genration to generation

It is so strange seeing this video from over 30 years ago when I was a young man in Tulsa interwoven with the realties of coronavirusworld today.