Advent 3: What songs bring you peace?

 12/4/16

Today we sing the second verse of Barbara Lundblad’s rewriting of  O Come Immanuel…as we light our candles…

O come, O come, Immanuel

And bless each place your people dwell.

Melt ev’ry weapon crafted for war,

Bring peace upon the earth forever more.

Rejoice, rejoice! Take heart and do not fear,

God’s chosen one, Immanuel, draws near.

2. O come, green shoot of Jesse, free

Your people from despair and apathy;

Forge justice for the poor and the meek,

Grant safety for the young ones and the weak

Today’s theme is “peace”. And I am not feeling much peace. In fact, as I was preparing for leading my lectionary study group last Wednesday, I found myself getting annoyed. The passages seemed too familiar and predictable…the sense of apocalyptic, the very straight forward and obvious calls for justice and righteousness, the prophetic zeal of John the Baptist. The beautiful vision of Isaiah.  It’s so easy to take any one of these  and fly off in a righteous sounding way. But so what? or how to have a new insight? As I said, I am not feeling peace…

I still can’t come to terms with the election….The President-elect seems to confirm the theory that he really  didn’t believe he’d be elected.  And/or is not really interested in governing. 

#  He wants to “sleep in his own bed,” he wants to create west wing on 5th ave…(I did hear he wants to attend 5th Avenue Presbyterian Church…

# He is still holding rallies like he’s still campaigning….it’s what he enjoys best…and seems he wants to do so even after his inauguration

#  He is  appointing people who have the worst traits associated to the Republican party. 

There are daily reports of acts of xenophobia perpetrated in the name of “Trump”….the flood gates have been opened…and the mainstream media keeps trying to “normalize” things…

Beyond Trump, there’s the ongoing struggle at Standing Rock….this weekend some 2000 military veterans are going there to provide security and solidarity  (this one’s on Obama to do the right thing…while he’s still President…)

Voices are still crying out for justice for Eric Garner…while Officer Pantaleo believes that once our new president is inaugurated, he’ll have a better chance…

I could be going to protests/actions every day..there’s a march today to Gracie Mansion to demand action on officer Pantaleo…there’s a rally taking place to show solidarity for Standing Rock…there’s a black community tribute to Fidel Castro..

a community remembers...

I want to go out and protest but something holds me back….

We’re going to talk about songs today..and I’ll start with John the Baptists’s song…and yes, it is apocalyptic...

But as President OBAMA told us…IT’s NOT the APOCALYPSE.. We have to ask ourselves however, who are we in his prophesy? Are we among the brood of vipers? … John is completely  unuanced…he doesn’t care what people think…doesn’t soften his message so that people “can hear it” (thank you Jill Duffiield…who says, as a preacher, ..”he is everything I am not…”  BUT in this congregation, people keep coming to me not in repentance but in need of comfort…..we participated last week in the weekend of witness with MICAH and the Justice League….including the demand to fire Pantaleo…why does that make me anxious?  Maybe because of the two young men from this congregation who serve on the police force……Latino immigrants who truly signed to protect, defend and serve…..

Like in our understanding of why Hillary failed…my mentor, Philip Newell always said,  the  Liberals are the  true problem…they enjoy the benefits of privilege with no guilt because after all, they’re liberals…. and they don’t count the notes….During Occupy, in my talk at Yale I related that thought  and was taken to task by liberal funders…I am constantly reminded by the critique of my  kids, and grass root organizers like my friend  Jason,  my friends the Communists… I want a new radical community…one that is countercultural…we have to hear John’s words directed to us…individually and personally ….I wonder, OK, it's a story, but what if his father Zechariah, like it says in the Bible, truly was a temple priest, a tall steeple preacher…that makes John a child of privilege….that makes Jesus the po’boy cousin…and I have to wonder and what’s at work in his psychology?

What I learn from my migrant work….Stony point’s efforts at interfaith organizing …and Standing Rock…I DON’T FEEL LIKE PEACE….

The Truth be told….we are all BOTH wheat and chaff…..

It takes songs of HOPE to keep us going….

ISAIAH’s song…takes us back to the Peaceable Kingdom again…let’s start with the “root” that springs forth from the stump….you think life has been snuffed out, and a green shoot “springs forth”…(we’re now learning from the Hidden Life of Trees, about the social nature  of trees…about their  sending life to the stump..

The stump...

Author  Peter Wohlleben has delighted readers and talk-show audiences alike with the news — long known to biologists — that trees in the forest are social beings. They can count, learn and remember; nurse sick neighbors; warn each other of danger by sending electrical signals across a fungal network known as the “Wood Wide Web”; and, for reasons unknown, keep the ancient stumps of long-felled companions alive for centuries by feeding them a sugar solution through their roots.

Isaiah wants us to imagine that shoot…(.identical words in Isaiah and Micah…Micah saw “Jerusalem of blood..” he was grassroots prophet…Isaiah’s mood was that of a profound sadness…he prophesied from the inside…)both spoke of a true day of peace.such a full day of peace that the natural violence of creation is set aside…natural enemies lie down together(perhaps warily) and lions eat hay…we’ll be vegans…

The Peaceable Kingdom

Note that Isaiah celebrates something that is already under way…after a time of national devastation comes  HOPE…let us pay attention..                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

So the question is what songs bring us peace?

There is  an ongoing conversation in world of artists…about getting across messages of spirit or justice: didactic vs. intuitive

Nevertheless, we always need the sustaining power and value of a PETE SEEGER 

As for MY SONGS…after the conventions I began ending my performances with Dylan’s                                                                                               It's A Hard Rain…

Then Mary Gauthier’s Mercy Now…

….and new  “Anthem”

So……What songs bring you peace? Inspire?  For some at this time of year it is Christmas music with it’s  themes of Joy and Hope….for Jeremy it’s Toshi Reagon..we need to sing our song together to bring us peace…and inspire us to work of peace…

After our prayers, we break bread together and go out into the world…

Thank you Leila

Most of the bad stuff we do to ourselves

9/19

One of my periodic visitors comes in. One who’s speech is almost unintelligible. I always hate the part where he rolls up his pant leg to show swollen leg and its bandage. It is only ever going to be what I have in my pocket, nothing more. It’s a common ritual, a bad idea.

My friend Rick Ufford-Chase, fresh from his victory at the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board Meeting in Louisville, where the Stony Point Center (http://www.stonypointcenter.org/) was given a chance to take control of its own property, has come down for a visit. With him are Allan and Todd, representatives of a Birmingham based non-profit, Hope Manifest, (http://www.hopemanifest.org/home.html) which has been created to help other non-profits develop financial plans and funding. And Shannon, from the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship and the Columbia Accompaniment Program (http://presbypeacefellowship.org/colombia) where volunteers walk side by side with vulnerable people in Columbia, to provide safety and witness. 

I give them the social history tour of the church, especially pointing out the picture of Jan Orr-Harter, one of the founders of the PPF, and the Peacemonger Press,  with the support of Pastor Bob Davidson and the organizing that led to the March Against Nuclear Proliferation, planned at West-Park and bringing a million people to New York City. 

Then we head to Popovers for a longer discussion. Part of what is at stake is the relationship of the Columbia Accompaniment Program with New York City Presbytery’s Social Witness Council, CWSW,  which I formerly chaired. I explained that with the current state of chaos at Presbytery, it’s hard to read. Issues include:

• Dwindling funds which have led to:
• Reduction of staff, including Annie who was an amazing organizer for CWSW
• Reduction of available money for grants

It’s all part of the death, or radical reshaping of our historic mainline denominations. No more available staff to plan programs and conduct ministries. Energy and time absorbed in internal squabbling, shrinking membership, funding bases. The strategy that excites Rick and I is a emphasis on building strong ministry fro the ground up. Grassroots based. If we focus there, do good work there, the rest will follow.  SO part of the discussion is how in a time with no assigned staff, PPF can help Presbytery and its congregations organize to do good work on the ground. It’s exactly what we’re committed to doing at West-Park. And we’re still working to see what our relationship could be.

Later, Paul for Spaceworks, comes with representatives from the Department of Cultural Affairs. Mim and Jamie have come representing the Center. We do the whole tour. The hope is to work with them to develop affordable rehearsal and performance spaces for emerging artists in the city.  

After I return from a late  lunch with Jamie, things begin to get crazy. Lynnea of Frog & Peach wants to talk but there's  an intense man wanting to talk to me. Says his name is Danny. Short with a tight t-shirt, muscular arms, a buzz cut, almost skinhead short and a beard.  jeans and work boots. And burning eyes with a furrowed brow.

An incident has upset him. Walking down Amsterdam Avenue, he saw two men at an outdoor cafe having lunch. He asked a question, as he put it,  a guy responded. Next thing Danny is calling him out and the manger is coming out and telling him to get out before he calls the police. Was that right?

It was his restaurant and you were threatening his customer.

Was I just supposed to take it? I got to stand up for myself.Wouldn’t you? Would you just walk away?

Yes.

I called him a fucking faggot. A fruit. Are you gay?

No. But....

I don’t like these guys. I like women. And tells me a story of  being picked up by  guy last night, being paid for all night, drinks, drugs, I danced my ass off...and then not staying wit the guy He was pissed off. Is that right?

I shrug my shoulders. Seems like you set it up.

We watched the Wrestler with Mickey Roarke. I love that movie. He says the world don’t give a shit about me..remember that?

Circles back to the street incident again. I just don’t feel good. About myself. Be on the streets for 3 years. An all too familiar story follows of someone who’s been a lower level janitor, custodian, then laid off in downsizing. 

So how do you keep it together?

Alcohol. Dope. Cocaine. Specailly crack....love that crack....prostitutes with no protection, no condoms, probably get AIDS or somethin....then back to the cafe scene again. What does this mean?

Sounds like you’re dealing with a lot of pain. An danger. 

Anger? My mom died when I was 3. Why? Why did that happen?  He looks at the statue of Jesus on my desk. Why does he hate me? Why did he do that? Why? To me?

He doesn’t hate you. And he didn’t kill your mother...I don’t have an answer.

I like sex. I like masturbation. Is that wrong?.

Not necessarily. 

He thinks it is, he says, looking at Jesus.

Actually he didn’t say anything about it. 

Why does he do this to me?

He doesn’t. I think most of the bad things we do to ourselves. 

Back to last night again. To the guy.  He lived in a SRO.... Cause he’s got HIV. They say you have to have HIV to get an SRO...Is that right?

Not true. Westside Federation has all kinds of  buildings...AIDS, mental illness, senor citizens, addiction....

Rehab never fuckin works...

Not if you don’t follow up. Not what i’m talking about. I give him the number of the Goddard -Riverside, our neighborhood settlement house. The home of our  friends at  Project Reachout. Go talk to these guys. They’ll know what you're  eligibe for....

He takes the card. Starts back through the cafe incident again. If I see that motherfucker again, I’ll smash him. I’ll fuck him up, I’ll...what does that mean?

It takes a big man to walk away, quiet.

Then back to the Wrestler one more time. The world doesn’t give a shit about me...What does tha mean?

That means you identify wth Mickey Roarke. Think no one cares.  And maybe no one does. You have to start with yorself...Look, it’s geeting late.

Lynnea has peeked in a couple of times. And ultimately let.

Just five more minutes, Can I have your number? Can I call you? Just to talk?

So I give him the church number. He squints. Furrows his borw. Walks out.  

Didn’t get the calls doen ai wanted to do. I have people I  need to visit. I am not dismissive of Danny. Not that I don’t care. Just really worn out by addiction right now.  Just wears me out.

If you want to do something about  it, we’ll walk with you...if not, I’ll listen. Within limits. I know they are there. Finding what they are is hard.