Sam and Ryan wrestled. And won. (Cymbeline....)

8/30

Back to the church in time for the second night of Ryan and Sam’s Cymbeline. As their show opens in the chapel, I can see what they’ve learned from Dzieci. There’s bottles of wine, cold cuts, cheese and fruit. A banjo and a mandolin playing Appalachian music. Sam telling everyone this is a story about his family. And soon enough, the stage set, the play begins.

This is one of Shakespeare’s stranger plays. And that strangeness increases as they lead us from the chapel up to Mc Alpin and ultimately to the 3^rd floor gym.

There’s a place in this play where Shakespeare’s text completely jumps the rails and I didn’t realize it until I got home, but what they did completely got that. When all of a sudden Jupiter appears with lightning bolts and a seriously wtf moment, they launch into a vaudeville song and dance. Which turns out to be exactly right.

I leave thinking about all who have performed in these spaces. The Woodshed summer and fall with the Tenant. John Hudson and the Dark Lady Player’s museum theatre. The amazing show that had a cast of 30 and audience of 1 (at a time.) Jeremy M’s de/reconstruction  with Alivewire of the Crucible over 3 floors. Dzieci. And ReGroup’s Trilogy. And now Ryan and Sam’s Free Theatre. All those spirits remain.

And gentle spirits they were. Respectful. Appreciative. Enjoying RL’s attention and parental concern. And, seriously, no attitude. That says a  lot.

Sam and Ryan have much to feel good about. They tackled a tough play and at least wrestled it to a draw. They treated Shakespeare with the same respect they treated us. They drew full (and overflow) houses. And put on a damn fine show.

They made my day.

What we don't do here (among other things)

7/10

Two women in to explore the possibility of producing two plays in the fall. One a reimagining of Othello. I ask her if she’s familiar with John Hudson and his theory that Amelia Bassano, the dark lady if Shakespeare’s sonnets, was in fact the author of Shakespeare’s plays. (http://www.amazon.com/The-Dark-Lady-Woman-Shakespeares/dp/1445621606) She looks dumbfounded. Then says, To think that one of the greatest writers in history, who expanded our sense of what it means to be human, was a woman, that’s….that’s …wonderful. I talk about Othello and the other plays and how John has unearthed literally thousands of Biblical references in Shakespeare from 15 translations of the Bible. (For a review of John Hudson’s The Dark Lady: The Woman Who Wrote Shakespeare's Plays see https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/john-hudson/shakespeares-dark-lady-amelia-bassano-lanier/) Through hard work, serious scholarship and persistence, John has done the heavy lifting to move his theory from the netherworld of academic literary  conspiracy theorists into the realm of (highly)plausible authorship candidates worthy of serious debate and study. . No mean feat.

To Advent to meet with our Palestine work group. To figure out what’s next. We’ll do a fall session on Kairos Palestine (http://www.kairospalestine.ps/) and then another film series. Consider a closer relationship with Sabeel, the center for development  of Palestinian Liberation Theology. (http://www.sabeel.org/) And then we’ll see.

7/11

Pat O for our weekly session to keep things moving forward on our to-do list. And more importantly this week to review my draft on mission and revitalization of the congregation. It’s rough, but the time is now to move the discussion forward. 

Then my friend from the Palestine group, Russ, comes and we go to discuss what it would mean to create a congregation around radical discipleship where everything gives the same message and makes clear why mind of community this is. What shared values, commitments are needed? How do you get the word of invitation out?

On the steps, Thomas from Texas has a large sandwich board with brightly colored words. Like hypnosis, and paralleling…This looks ominous. Says he’s spent the day at Times Square in the midst of Naked Cowboys and aggressive Elmos and panhandling Spidermen. Claims to haves  been interviewed by CNN and New York 1. He asks RL about Open Mic. Details given. Then RL says, I’m leaving the sandwich board to you. I don’t feel good about this.

I hear my voice called. It's my friend Elise. She's just been with her congregation to hear our friends ETHEL at the Met. Spoke to our friend Ralph. Told him kf it wasn't for Open Mic, I would have been there. 

Finally time for Open Mic. John H,

John Holland

a decent singer-songwriter, opens. Kieran follows with his own idiosyncratic takes on Dylan and the Band. Then it happens.

Thomas from Texas and sandwich board

Thomas from Texas

takes the stage with his sandwich boards. Bright letters an all. Tries to explain himself as a  logical Christian in the line of John Locke and enlightenment philosophy. But soon we’re off into a strange world and he’s taking off on Jews and Muslims as followers of false gods….Judaizers, drink this blood, Mohammedans, eat this body…I’m getting increasingly uncomfortable but he’s finally gone too far so I say firmly and loudly, We don't do that here…we don’t put down people’s religions…He looks at me. Is that the kind of place this is?
Yes it is. All right  then. 
Tie goes to the winners…he says and finishes up and leaves the stage. Upset. Dragging his sandwich board behind him. Sometimes RL’s bottom line, parameters, everything you do as long as you don’t tale your clothes off is ok…is not quite enough. Everyone else is moving on. I’m still stuck. Religion is my job, for one thing. Being clear about what this place is another. But what I'm really struggling with is mental illness. The words have the sound and cadence and rhythm of normal speech. He talks in diagrammatical sentences.But no two sentences  in sequence have rational meaning. And underneath a veneer of philosophical logic is a paranoid intuition of plots and plans and ancient global conspiracies. It never fails to shake me up. Leave my own grip on reality uneasy. Easily half or more of the homeless persons we deal with are seriously mentally ill. And society really does nothing. 

Nick takes us on another banjo adventure. Erik, who met RL at the Gate, makes a good first impression with his quirky, personal songs.

Erick

Joel brings his usual spoken word exploration and Tom from England brings us competent and intelligent personal songs. 

Tom from England

I switch with Pat so  that he can play while his daughter Brianna is still here. It’s good to meet one of his children. He’s working on a new song about old soldiers who gave their life for a dream of freedom. And not sure how that worked out.

Pat and Brianna

Use my set to work thorough some thins. A new song. Sample verse:

Who gives and who takes

What’s right and what’s fair

What bends and what breaks 

And how much do you care.

What is forgotten

And what is still known.

Love always is shared

It can never be owned.

And I finish with Donovan’s Try and catch the wind…

Joe waited until Manahttanhenge was over before coming tonight, looking down 79th where the sun sets perfectly between Trump’s buildings  like an overtime winning penalty shot straight into the goal  in the World Cup. He’s convinced that the full moon and Manhattanhenge convergence sent people like Thomas from Texas over the edge. He brightens the mood and gets us going again.

Alex wins us again

Then sweet Alex, young singer-songwriter on out honky tonk piano, wrings out our hearts like a dishrag and then its time for RL to bring us home.

(To hear Alex's music, go to soundcloud: alxnicole or alexnicolefry.com)

Another good night. The Gate awaits. 

Fifth Sunday in Lent: Written on the heart

3/25

Wesley and Antonia are slow moving out this morning. I need to remember to talk to Project Reachout aboiut them.  Rafael is encouraging them to move along. A young former occupier with an aggression problem and a broken hand was also found on the steps this morning but is up and gone. 

Steve is helping to get the place ready. Candles placed and lit. I’m off to pick up the bulletins.

At least three visitors this morning. A mother and her boy. A young  African-American woman. A young woman who Andre guesses is an actress.

Amy can’t come today. Andre not here yet , so I start the service alone.  John reads the passage from Jeremiah 31 about the new covenant. Andre has arrived. We do Psalm 51 together. Andre leads us in O for a closer walk with God. Marsha reads our epistle from Hebrews. Our Gospel this morning is John 12: 20-33. 

I ask if anyone knows about the vilage of Le Chambon sur lignon.  During the time of the Nazi occupation, (back when that was only a negative word), beginning in 1942, this town, of  maybe 2600 people , under the leadership of pastors Andre Trocme and Edouard Theis,  saved between 3000 and 5000 Jews  That means every person saved at least one or two people, hiding threm in  in their  homes, their barns. When the Nazis were nearby, their gusests would hide in the forest. And when the Nazis left, they would walk into the forest singing a hymn to let them know it was safe to return. 

The pastor’s cousin,  Daniel Trocme, was sent to the Maidenank Concentration Camp where he was executd. Otherwise, the people evaded the Nazis. How did this happen? Why did they react this way? For one thing, they were Huguenots, Protestants. They were  different.Used to ostracism, prejudice, themselves. Outsiders. The French filmmaker Pierre Sauvage, was one who had been saved as a child in this village. His film, Weapons of the Spirit, was created to find that answer. The people of the village wanted no credit for simply doing what was right.  Finally one pointed to the words above the door of church:   Little children, love one another...He asked, How could we see this every week and  do other?

We are talking about a New covenant.  One that is written not on stone, not in a book but written on the heart, this time...they shall all know me....There is no precondition, no obedience required..It’s not a new Torah,  but one put in a different place...In those days the heart was the home of will and intelligence. Feelings came from  the guts...

And it was to be inclusive, from youngest to oldest, and ALL classes....So what does it mean to be written on the heart? 

I recalled my conversation with Eugenia. Her lifetime of commitments, involvements. What she learned from being raised in this church...The VALUES that were communcated. Like with the people of Le Chambon. It’s the same thing week after week until it becomes a  part of you. 

The Gospel seems to be about preparing for something coming. And seeds. I recall our potatoes from a week ago. Wonder where we might plant them. Planting seeds..there is this idea that something must die first...

Some Greeks have come to see Jesus. (Most likely this is to show us that he was to be here for Gentiles as well) Strange, they seem disappear from the story. Still waiting at the door as the others go on with their discussion. 

There are these troublesome words in 12:25   Those who love life,will  lose it, who  hate life, keep it...I want to say no, that’s wrong...I don’t want you going around feeling my life sucks...Andre says, that’s not what it’s about...

Look, even Jesus would just as soon avoid what’s coming if he could. But he knows that facing that moment is why he’s here. No its about all those fears that keep us from doing the right thing. That keep us from taking the risk. What the people of le Chambon were able to overcome. 

Jesus says that when he is lifted up (remember last week?),people will be drawn to him irresistably...That’s part of how it gets written on your hearts, by seeing it. In Latin America we used to talk about the propaganda of the deed, acts whose meaning were  so inherently clear that everyone would immediately understand. 

That is what can defeat the ruler of this world. That is the forces of intimidation, seduction, manipulation, anything to take you away from your values. 

That’s the greatest thing we can do for our children, is to live our life here in such a way that they will understand what is expected. That the covenant will be writtn on their hearts. That when their moment comes, they will do the right thing. 

Today we finis with O Jesus I have promised and then  we make our cirlce and sing Amen. 

The young woman is an actress, from West Virginia, come to the city to study theatre. We introduce her to Don.

Jamie wants to talk  with Don about possibilitities, but we have to have a meting  with Rev. Sekou about the upcoming event with Cornell West and him on Thursday. So I let them go wishing I could be part of their  conversation.

After our meeting with Sekou, I stick around for Jane’s service.  I had agreed to be ready to preach for her  if she was not able to make it back form the coast, but she’s here. It’s their fifth month anniversary and the  thanks to West-Park and me were effusive. In my brief reflection, I reference the Jeremiah covenant on the heart and le Chambon. 

Late in the afternoon, the Dark Lady Players are celebrating Our Lady Day, the Day of the Anunciation  with their production of Four Comic Anunciations to the Virgin Mary by William Shakespeare. Four scenes from Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Twefth Night and Hamlet. Each, in their view, a parody of the  Biblical anuniciation story. 

DLP has drawn a good audience for a late Sunday afternoon. In the 40-50 range. Given the fact that it’s not a bad draw for any off-off Broadway production, even Shakespeare straight up, this is a real sign of progress for DLP. They have set themselves a daunting task. For a company that is not only experimental but esoteric Shakespeare, they are beginning to establish a place of awareness in the general and theatre going public. Inch by inch, step by step,  through persistence, hard core rigorous scholarship and boundary pushing creative work, they are gaining a foothold. They still have to struggle with how to make it entertaining, fun, beyond the didactic exploration of what’s beneath the surface. It’s a task not unlike trying to reinvigorate a small but detrmined congregation, bring the center into being  and restoring a wounded building while trying to particpate in the birth of a new way of being church. We’re in this together.

Seventeenth Day in Lent: A great and radical reversal

3/12

Good conversation with Tracy. Winning the release of two of the arrested workers in a good thing. The third remains under threat of deportation. And there remain the big picture issues around immigration...like how amnesty or legalization for a certain percentage would lead to criminalization for others. How documented workers need to grow in thier undstanding of how discrimination against undocumented only lowers the value of thei own labor. It’s not about protecting American jobs, it’s about a global economy and the shared interest of workers across borders. 

I introduce Tracy to Teddy and Steve. I continue to work on linking the anti-sweatshop organizers with #ows organizers. Get the anti-sweatshop folks involved in the M17/18 actions. The hunger issue, the exploitation of immigrants issues, are right in line with the solemn march being planned for Saturday.

Ted and Marsha have come and continue to work on budgets for both the congregation and Center. It looks like we might have something that is actually achievable. Not easy, but possible. 

We gather for Bible Study. It’s a good group, including a visitor who was in worship on Sunday and Rev. Brenda Berry from the Bronx. She’s also part of Presbytery’s Committee on Nurture of Congregations, a group we felt received us well and understands what we are trying to do. I’m sharing something new I've learned. 

John H had approached me about scheduling the Dark Lady Players for a production on March 25th,  the Feast of the Anunciation. Realized that was one I hadn’t been aware of. A little research told me that for centuries, the Eastern Church, the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches celebrate this day, nine months before Christmas. For the Orthidox, it actually marks the beginning of the Incarnation. And so, even though it seems to fit better in Advent, we study Luke 1:26-38.

We read about the visit of the angel Gabriel. Literary echoes of Sinai and Pentecost. The same story in the Quran. One way or another, Luke wants us to see this as special, even as a beginning of a new creation.  But we wind up with the words of the Magnificat, 

almost a paraphrase of Sarah’s song in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Both have this promise of a great and radical reversal, but with one difference, in Mary’s song, she proclaims that it is already accomplished....

He has shown strength with his arm;

He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts;

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has exalted the holy;

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent empty away.

And there is interest that such strong prophetic words were spoken by women. And Pastor Berry brings up the prophet Anna who appears in the Temple at the time of the song of Simeon, the Nunc Dimittis. Our study closes with plans to come back next week for St.Joseph's Day. 

On the way home, I run into Teddy. Catch up on his day. It’s dark. And warm. A good night.