Living in coronavirusworld 203: At last, Church bells in Paris...

 

11/7

Into the streets

I want to remember this day.  

Morningside Park

bluegrass

It was bright and sunny and warm as I headed to the Farmers’ Market.  A perfect fall day. Even with the ongoing uncertainty, the desire to have it over, but over right.. The market the perfect place to spend some time. I’m cheered by a trio of bluegrass buskers come to play for the people.  I wander through  the market checking out produce, craft spirits, breads, pickles, art works, baked goods and fresh from the farm meat. Bought some bolognese, some weisswurst, a shepherd’s pie, fresh baked cookies and some Colombian coffee.

I stop to enjoy a cup of coffee and a cranberry walnut cookie on a park bench.  Then I hear it. Pots and pans being rattled reminding me of what we heard every night at 7 honoring our “heroes.” A sound from earlier in the pandemic. I wondered what was going on. Only from one window.  Could it be a family celebration of some kind? Then slowly the sound began to build as more people joined in. And  then the rising crescendo of a cheer and then a steady stream of car horns and even a big bass truck horn. I was almost afraid to hope.  What else could it be? But still hesitant to let myself believe.  So I nervously pulled out my phone and there it was. Joe Biden had been declared President and Kamala Harris Vice-President. And I felt a dam begin to break. 

red leaves

I almost broke when I heard a bike rider proclaim “We did it! We drove him out!” And more and more people cheering, “We did it. We did it.”  I look up and realize that some trees have  turned bright red. Almost like they had waited for the declaration to be made for  their colors  to come out. (And maybe wishing they could turn blue?)

I make my way to Fredrick Douglass Boulevard. It seems lie from every open car window I am hearing Kool & the Gang’s” Celebration…..” 

                                                           "Celebration"

People are pouring out of apartment buildings and into the street. 

Snapshots:

*A man  with a cup walks by, says, “Joe Biden’s President! Spare change? Joe Biden’s President!…”

* I see a couple walking with their little daughter. She is wearing a princess outfit and carrying a sign, “Kamala is my Vice President”. And I know that when she sees the Vice President, she will see someone who looks like her and not an old white man. Her idea of what she can be grows like her glowing smile. 

celebration

* The bars are sending servers out with trays of shots of celebration for the people 

*. The Mister Softee ice cream truck appears out of nowhere after weeks of absence.  its jingle jangling like it’s spring again. 

a toast to Joe and Kamala

I’m trying to take it all in. I’m hearing the voices. Seeing the faces.  This Harlem. The majority are black. And they truly feel they drove this man out of the Whitehouse. These are the people I saw lined up day after day waiting three hour or more to vote. Sometimes having to come back a second day. Sometimes standing in the cold and freezing rain.  Just to vote. And they feel it mattered. And they mattered. And truth be told, nationwide, they, especially black women, were the difference. An al time record number of people voted. And their voting, their participation rescued democracy from those who won do everything I their power  to suppress the vote. They still believed  it could  matter. And it did. And that counts do something. I hear the voices, see the faces, and I begin to choke up. This is special. Like Obama in 08. 

Throughout the afternoon, I keep getting texts and messages from people all around the world…Germany, Chile, Denmark…a friend I haven’t heart from in months calls me from Californa, because she has too…my boys report  the celebration in Brooklyn.  My journalist friend in Pittsburgh and I agree, its like a Mazeroski moment, a walk off home run in the bottom of the 9th, the scrappy Pirates beating the  mighty Yankees for the World Series title. 

Someone who knows me better than anyone else invites me over. We sit on a  balcony, share cheese and crackers and IPA, our accounts of the day, as the sun sets and darkness falls over Harlem. 

Look, I understand the proximate nature of this victory. The narrowness. The limitations of the vision of Joe Biden. His problematic history. But there is a decency there, a vulnerability, someone who understands loss. And I feel I can breathe again. Not wake up every morning with a sick headache, another offense of the day. That’s gone.  It will take a while to emotionally accept that. There I much work to be done.

I hear the voices again. We did it!  People who believe they have won one victory can believe they can win more. And they can.

Church bells are ringing in Paris.

    

.

On the Sunday after.....

11/16

We gathered slowly, as if slowly awakening too a new reality. We open with Tutu’s words, more 

meaningful than ever now…

Goodness is stronger than evil;

love is stronger than hate;

light is stronger than darkness;

life is stronger than death.

Victory is ours, victory is ours

through him who loved us. 

Victory is ours, victory is ours

through him who loved us.

Our first hymn was “Today we all are called to be disciples of   the Lord…”  

and following threading of the Gospel, we shared this song by Leonard Cohen: 

The world we are in this Sunday is a very different world than we were in last Sunday and is a place none of us imagined we would be in. If you are like me, you are still somewhat in a state of shock, of disbelief.  I’ve been struggling all week to come up with the right words to share with our community. 

Tuesday night, I kept waiting for the tide to turn, it never did. At 1:30 AM, I watched an episode of “Gotham”, a Batman origins series. The Penguin had somehow managed to get elected mayor of Gotham City. I realized that we were like Gotham City with no Batman around to save us. My friend pastor Heidi said that she felt like she did when she watched the towers come down, like something horrible was  happening and that there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. My son Dan said that this was the most historic thing that had happened in his lifetime. I said that he had been alive for 9/11. And he said that this felt worse. And I understand that. I do feel that our country will never be the same.  Something about our very core has been called into question. Or brought to light. Something that goes to the core of our identity as a people. It’s that serious. 

There has been an unceasing outpouring of analysis and lamentation and exhortation on every media and especially social media. That is understandable.There is a deep felt need to try and make sense of this, it’s a coping mechanism. It’s why I’ve held back for awhile. Trying to feel where i need to be. There’s been outpourings of people into the streets …today I joined them…but there is no achievable demand we make …it’s only an expression of our anger, our fears, our commitment…but…

There are voices calling on us to “come together”…to “reconcile…” Not so fast. 

First, allow yourselves to grieve and mourn awhile. Let yourselves feel that. You don’t need to “move on..” or “get over it…”.….Not yet. Secretary Clinton and President Obama are saying all the right things, acting as if this were simply a transfer of governance, a transition. But there is a danger here of normalizing this process.  But this is not normal. Not in any way. Not at all

Michael Moore has daily 5 point to do lists…they are helpful but…

Draw close to people you care about and let them know you love them. That’s first.

We need to be in prayers of compassion and solidarity as well…

Politics aside, I feel deeply for Hillary Clinton…I’m sure that she went to bed Monday night fully believing that she would be President and calling Mr. Trump must have been the most difficult thing she’d ever done. 

And for President Obama, at the peak of his approval ratings, ready to leave a lasting legacy, To see it all called onto question if not outright rejected..

And I pray for my generation of women…my sisters…the ones who go back to the coat hangar abortion days…who fought for  choice…the ill fated Equal Rights Amendment…who accompanied women through gauntlets of Project Rescue militants …they saw in Hillary an affirmation of their lives and embodiment of their struggle, they saw Hillary’s presumptive presidency as breaking the glass ceiling, as a sign as significant as Obama’s election.Their sense of betrayal is personal and profound. I understood their support of Hillary in a way my boys never could.

And we must pray for all those who feel threatened and vulnerable, left insecure by this outcome…for immigrants, people of color, Muslims, LGBTQ persons…and given some of what has been unleashed, their fears are real…

Scriptures have an uncanny way of intersecting with our lives…Luke 21: 5-19 has the apocalyptic vision of the destruction of the  temple…perhaps a symbol as vital to that people as the presidency  is to us….I have a feeling that politics as we have  known them are over…the republican party has gone to where it has been headed and a venerable Democratic party has found its days over…

….the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down….

As Michael Moore put it, Donald Trump is a human Molotov cocktail…inspired by conversations overheard in a homeless encampment, my friend Catherine Feeney wrote these words on her  post-Occupy “America” album..

I  wanna make some loud noises 

Set something off 

Light it on fire and then 

Watch it blow up 

I am the whistle before the explosion 

I am the heat that makes powder expand 

Some days I wake up lucky 

Today I am the queen of the damned 

Something to empty 

Something to swallow 

Something to burn out 

Someone to follow 

I wanna make some loud noises 

Piss someone off 

Get a fight going and then 

Watch it blow up 

Make it blow up 

Something to empty 

Something to swallow 

Something to burn out 

Someone to follow

I’m not sure whether that represents Trump voters or how I feel right now…

Luke is very aware of what the consequences are of faithfulness in such times:

12"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17You will be hated by all because of my name. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By your endurance you will gain your souls.

We have NO idea what the days ahead of us may require..Luke’s  description of “betrayal” truly touches me…it is common…familiar…we’ve been there..remember the House UnAmerican Activities Committee hearings? Or the Harvard Secret Court of 1920 where friend and family turned against each other  in the homosexual trials ? Or the German Democratic Republic  where perhaps a half million or more  turned  informers?…..or what happens to Palestinian prisoners today?

and will lose your lives…

By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Thankfully, Isaiah  gives us a vision of an new creation….IF I have HOPE at all, it is  that a new creation will emerge…

Here is the Vision: The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent-its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.

It’s an image that hat has been special for my Quaker relatives. Their meeting house has the peaceable Kingdom Paintings by Hicks on the walls. It’s an image that comports me. 

Speaking ONLY of the CHURCH…I believe that we are called to be a community of resistance. 

WE are now called to define what Cornell West calls REVOLUTIONARY CHRISTIANS…a visible counter-cultural community…

And we must be absolutely committed to MAKING SAFE ALL WHO FEEL VULNERABLE. We also need to grow in understanding of the  forgotten people who supported Trump…like those from my my hometown…former mill towns and factory towns and mimic communities…left beside the road and treated with condescension by the liberal elite…

But we must never compromise with the other supporters, the voices of hatred and rejection…of misogyny, xenophobia, islamophobia, racism..

We need to engage in local projects…last Friday, Pastor Heidi and I met with the National Mobilization Against Sweat Shops  people…a new campaign is rising  to end wage theft through a Secure Wages Earned Against Theft bill…sin this campaign we walk shoulder to shoulder with those who have been made to feel threatened, the most vulnerable among us…the undocumented immigrants from Mexico, China, West Africa…

And friends, this is just the beginning…

Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

We shared our reflections with one another. Russ sees us at a new day needing a new prophetic way too be church. Pat is still in shock and disbelief. Leila surprised that we were surprised given the fear we had expressed last week. It is good to be together.

Our final hymn was “ O Day of Peace”:

Then we held  hands .Prayed. Sang Amen. And went back into the world…

Thank you Leila....

                                Oh...and Russ reminded us,"Now we must be Batman..."

                                                                     ****

First Reading Isaiah 65:17-25

17For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. 18But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. 19I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. 20No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed. 21They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 23They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the LORD-and their descendants as well. 24Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. 25The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent-its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.

Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Gospel Luke 21:5-19

5When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, 6"As for these things that you see,

7They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" 8And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is near!' Do not go after them.

9"When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." 10Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

12"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17You will be hated by all because of my name. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Is the day of the Lord already here? Or is it just the election?

11/6

We had a great day on Halloween. Warm and beautiful. Leila and Pat made great  decorations. there was Marsha, another Bible Study…I enjoyed the night…only when I went to bed did I begin to feel the cold chill of dread that the next day I would start seeing holiday decorations in stores. Dunkin Donuts has their candy cane crunch donuts out already. I feel the grains of sand of another year running out and it makes me feel sad, at least…look, .I desperately need November. I want to say  Don’t be in such a rush…

I took a long walk yesterday. ..through Central Park…the beautiful colors of the leaves..people skating on Lasker Rink…and people picnicking on the grass…

Why mention all of these things? Because whatever else is going on, life is going on…and I need to remind myself of that before the election..

Yes, we have an election coming up…and with margins slim, there is a sense of “upheaval, anxiety and fear.” (this is what was said about the context of texts…by Jill Duffield) Fear, anxiety, apocalyptic talk, questions of power and glory, uncertain outcomes - Does that sound like our national mood? Actually it’s Jill Duffield describing the test of the week…all these things pervade the readings for this week. 

I’ve had a sense of the apocalyptic ever since the conventions…like nothing I’d ever seen before…

I started singing  “A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall” as part of my shows …and church….and “Mercy Now” by Marty Gauthier…

My father could use a little mercy now

The fruits of his labor fall and rot slowly on the ground

His work is almost over it won't be long, he won't be around

I love my father, he could use some mercy now

My brother could use a little mercy now

He's a stranger to freedom, he's shackled to his fear and his doubt

The pain that he lives in it's almost more than living will allow

I love my bother, he could use some mercy now

My church and my country could use a little mercy now

As they sink into a poisoned pit it's going to take forever to climb out

They carry the weight of the faithful who follow them down

I love my church and country, they could use some mercy now

Every living thing could use a little mercy now

Only the hand of grace can end the race towards another mushroom cloud

People in power, they'll do anything to keep their crown

I love life and life itself could use some mercy now

Yeah, we all could use a little mercy now

I know we don't deserve it but we need it anyhow

We hang in the balance dangle 'tween hell and hallowed ground

And every single one of us could use some mercy now

Every single one of us could use some mercy now

Every single one of us could use some mercy now

….

So much in that song seems so apt…I kept feeling like I had to  sound an alarm….

so let’s take a look at these texts..

Haggai asks Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing?  The people have returned from exile, found their temple in ruins…over the last several years, when we’ve had this passage, it felt like it referred to  our church building (or church?) But when we look around now, so much of the building has been restored, there has been so much…progress…but the  what has happened to the  church? 

But this year we look outside the church…what do you see? A situation that seems more dire than any I’ve remembered…it's easy to forget all that has been bettered the last 8 years…(and also that many of these could be reversed by a stroke of a pen…)

The prophet’s word is clear…we are to “take courage”..”I am with you…my spirit abides among you….do not fear….

Thessalonians comes from another anxious  time… a time of imperial oppression…hear these words again…

1As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, 2not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. 4He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. 5Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you?

Uh….there’s a description there I’m tempted to comment on, but won’t…I have to remind myself that for many voters, Hillary may seem like the "lawless one..” the feelings were so passionate..Paul cautions his people not top believe that the day of the Lord is here already…

 we are not to be shaken or alarmed…

So how down? What are you feeling? 

These are profoundly important decisions before us which will have consequences…

But no matter what happens, the leaves will still be around awhile  longer, Thanksgiving will come and then Christmas, skaters will circle Lasker as the world spins and regardless of the result, we have work to do…

As people from the reformed tradition, regardless of who is in there, they will be flawed, they will not represent God’s will and we will need to call the to account…that’s what we do…

Thessalonians refers to us ….We …our community…are the first fruits of salvation…a counercultural community within the broader community….we are called to live together, work together, be together, in resistance to the power of empire and as a demonstration of the power of the risen Christ…so get out and vote Tuesday, take a deep breath…and then, back to work…there’s work to be done…

First we need to join in  prayer…our neighbor SPSA has been holding non-partisan prayer vigils every Wednesday...

So let us begin with  prayer....

                                                   ****

So we talked about how we were feeling...one of us felt that the Clintons had talked their friend Donald into running to guarantee Hillary's victory...others expressed genuine fear...seeing something arise in our country that we genuinely fear...yet others expressed the sense of overall cynicism that reflects the feelings of our children..the feelings of anxiety over uncertainty is palpable...

So we said our prayers, we shared bread and cup...and sang "Amen"

Our table

15bIn the second year of King Darius,

1in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai, saying: 2Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say, 3Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? 4Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the LORD; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the LORD; work, for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts, 5according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. 6For thus says the LORD of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; 7and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the LORD of hosts. 8The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of hosts. 9The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the LORD of hosts.

Second Reading 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

1As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, 2not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. 4He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. 5Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you?

13But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.

16Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, 17comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word

Gospel Luke 20:27-38

27Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him 28and asked him a question, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 29Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; 30then the second 31and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. 32Finally the woman also died. 33In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her."

34Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; 35but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. 37And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive."

What is your vision?

Sermon 10/23

28Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

30I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes. 32Then everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.

Is that text from Joel familiar to you? It’s quoted in our Pentecost story own Acts. It’s apocalyptic.. in its very nature…and if you look close, it’s got prophecy coming from unexpected places…the “sons and daughters” ..”old men”…and a friend once pointed out, it’s seemingly reversed..IE, you‘d expect the young to have dreams, the  old to have visions…and it is all a result of an outpouring off the Holy Spirit…

For months, as I’ve watched our election process,I’ve felt a sense of the apocalyptic…that’s why I love Bob Dylan’s songs like “Hard Rain”…the more I think about it , it seems like everybody’s got a sense of the apocalyptic…

Trump supporters feel like the country’s in peril and only one man save it. 

Others feel that  IF Trump is elected its all over.

Bernie supporters believed it was time for a revolution.

Hmmmmm…..it might be interesting to think about it not in terms of terror to come but what are the dreams? What do the visions look like?

A commentator I have really come to appreciate, Jill Duffield, (editor of Presbyterian Outlook,a former pastor in South Carolina) raises the issue of civility, how protestants make it next to godliness.And how it can curtail community, because we never know what’s really going on.  Paul’s whininess in jail or the tax collector’s fervent prayer. Civility can be used to silence voices. And be a substitute for true community.

BUT…I think what I miss most of all right now is civility. There has been a meanness,a  coarseness like I don’t remember. Though come to think about it,  I do remember:

Barry Goldwater and the nuclear bomb ads

My pastor keeping us after worship to tell us that If Kennedy was elected, the pope would be running the country

George Herbert Bush’s Willie Horton ads against  Dukakis…implying if he were elected black criminals would run wild.

Soo…but nevertheless…there was a tradition of civility, cross aisle friendships…like the surprising close friendship of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Anton Scalia….

Hmmmm….

I like Michelle Obama’s statement (I would vote for her) that when they go low, we go high….

So what am I saying?

It feels apocalyptic to me..with climate change, black lives matter…BUT we’ve lived through a lot of apocalyptic times.

Yes, we need to restore civility, but not silence voices…

The big one is about visions and dreams…do you still have a dream? a vision? what will  we leave behind us?

That’s a pretty big question for me right now…at this stage  of my life..

Can we move beyond apocalyptic fear to having a real vision and working to make it real? What does it  look like? Feel like? It’s up to us to define it…to make it clear

As part of our service, I sang Bob Dylan’s A Hard rain’s a gonna fall…and added these words:

And I’ll sing for the players who take a brave knee

As the anthem plays an black bodies bleed

And I’ll call out the man who wants a great wall

And all who resident while more bodies fall

And I’ll say to straight before it’s too late

It will takeout strong love to our back the hate

And it’s a hard rain’s gonna fall….

Joel 2: 23-32

23O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the LORD your God; 

for he has given the early rain for your vindication, he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the later rain, as before. 24The threshing floors shall be full of grain, the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

25I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent against you.

26You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. 27You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I, the LORD, am your God and there is no other. And my people shall never again be put to shame.

28Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

30I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes. 32Then everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.

Second Reading 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

6As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

16At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! 17But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. 18The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Gospel Luke 18:9-14

9He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: 10"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' 13But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' 14I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."