Living in coronavirusworld 138: There's good out there

8/13

And there is....

Still here

For what it's worth, emergency vehicles are still a constant in the neighborhood. Was it always that way before and I just didn't notice?

I’ve found the hours I spent at home going through boxes of the artifacts of my life as well as just driving around Pittsburgh has stayed with me all week. I’ve kind of retreated into myself. Not intentionally but I just realized it. I have a chorus: “Roaming around the streets I’m a captive of memory…there’s a ghost around every corner…and some of them are me…” Now all I need is a song…

I come out for a late afternoon performance on the Peoples Music Network national “song swap.” I play my Black Lives Matter song, “How Long, O Lord.” Singers from New York City, upstate, the Berkshires, California, Nashville….Most of us old. Trying to keep the faith. Old folkies. One very moving song about watching Pete and Toshi’s last dance. A lot of years in the struggle represented here. Pete lives on in these songs.

boxers

I walk through Morningside. No egret. But I see the boxers, These are the  markers of my daily life:  egrets, turtles, boxers  and Tim and his trombone. 

8/14

John Lennon tree

All you need is love

This week’s “virtual 5K” is the “Brew Run” I decide to do the Central Park West Drive to Columbus Circle course. Plenty of shade. And an iced coffee at the Maine Memorial. Walking down 79th to the Gate, I see someone has created a ‘John Lennon tree.”Right in front of Gary Tracy, Optometrist, famous for making John’s glasses. It’s a reminder that during his years here, he loved the neighborhood because in our classic New York way, for us he was just another neighbor. He would sit in Cafe La Fortuna on 71st street writing songs most weekdays. Sadly skyrocketing rents and the death of the owner’s wife led to its closing in 2008. Like I said, he was a neighbor.

Late afternoon drinks with Dion and RL and Mandola Joe at the Gate. Joe sharing his latest photos of insects and flowers in Central Park. I missed these simple moment during quarantine. The outdoor cafe version of the Gate gives us back a piece of our stolen lives.

I host the West Park (virtual) Open Mic again. The community gathers, each in their own ZOOM box. Oldies, classics, originals, a capellas, Carpenters and covers. I play a song written in Yale days I intended to play at the cabaret I never made it to last night. And two songs about Pittsburgh. And another “recovered” song and a cover song. That’s what we do. Share among friends. My Dead t-shirt, a “Steal Your Face” skull with a mask, reads “We will get by. We will survive.”

Third Sunday in Easter: Feed my sheep

5/5

Beverley Church

On a cold and rainy day, the walk to Beverley from the subway station is no fun. As I arrive, I find my pone is dying and with it my sermon. Thankfully, Irina the accompanist has a charger and I don't need to freestyle...

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! (I'm trying to get them to learn this exchange for the whole of Easter..)

Today our Resurrection celebration continues....

This is another of my favorite resurrection stories. Former Episcopal Bishop Spong of Newark used to say he believed this was the first story of the resurrection.   Let's be clear on what's  going on  here.

It's clear that the disciples have given up. Jesus is dead and gone. It was a nice run, a good  run. There had been hope, excitement. But it's all gone now. No use crying over spilt milk. Time to move on. And go back to their old life. Back to being fishermen as if nothing had ever happened. And when Peter says he's going fishing, they all follow.  And they fish all night. And catch nothing.

When Jesus tells them to try the other side, they get so many they can barely haul it in. (As to why 153? Don't ask. No one knows...) Stop right there. Sometimes we keep on doing what we've always been doing with no results. Jesus says Try the other side. That's what he always does. Gets us to see what we haven't seen before. Try what we haven't tried. And then????..they get so many they can barely haul it in. 

John, the one who loved him, gets it immediately and cries "it's the Lord" and jumped in. Maybe it was Jesus' voice that got him, just like Mary on Easter day. Peter, hears John, but doesn't know, and like Adam in the garden, feels embarrassed and puts his clothes on. (Swimming  naked would have been easier..)

It's what happens on the beach I love. Notice they had not recognized him. No glowing body, no halo. Nothing fancy. Just like Mary thought he was the gardener, the resurrected Jesus looks ordinary. (Warning....he still does that ...shows up when least expected...and so ordinary looking you don't recognize him at first...)

There's a charcoal fire going. And he puts some fish on the fire. Stop a minute. Close your  eyes. Imagine the beach. The feel of the morning sun. The smell of salt in the air. (Or not, it's actually a lake...But I like the smell of sea air..)..the smell of charcoal...then of the fish starting to cook.....

(Throughout Lent when I was growing up, every neighborhood church had a fish fry every Friday...I associate that smell with Lent...)

And Bishop Spong says here is where they know he is with them...not through some spectacular resurrection display, but in the simplest of acts, something they had done a 100 times before, breakfast on the beach, and in the smell an the taste and the presence of each other around the fire, they know he is there with him. And my friends, that's how we know he is risen..in our presence, here in this place,  with each other, we feel it, know it, he is in our midst.

But my friends, if you know he is alive, there are consequences. Demands. And that's what now faces Peter. He's got to be filled with guilt. When he pulled his clothes on, he felt guilty as Adam. He had after all, denied Jesus three times. So Jesus gives him three chances to un-deny him. By the the third time, Peter's starting to feel hurt.

Now I'm one who believes you all can understand the Bible by reading it yourself, with discipline, with regularity. With prayer. And the leading of the Holy Spirit. And community, with each other. You don't need a seminary degree to get it.  But here's where we ministers help.

Jesus asks Peter "do you love me"  with the word "agape" ..self-giving  love...and Peter answers with "philos"....brotherly love...he's still holding back, you see? And Jesus' answer is pretty clear...if you love me, tend my lambs, feed my sheep..

That's it, right there.

Look, it's our call  to extend grace to each other. But the fact is, in human relationships, you can exhaust another's patience and run out of grace. Believe me, I know.  But not so with Jesus.

I'm willing to bet that like Peter, everyone of us in here has denied Jesus (and not just in words) at least 3 times...some of us might be feeling that this morning...

And the point is, our Easter story, our resurrection story is that he's ready to take us back again. Even today. BUT....
you can't just tell Jesus you love him. The way you let him know you mean it is you tend his lambs, you feed his sheep. Believe me, he'll know.  And on this rock, Peter and all of us Peters, the church is built...


After this he said, Follow me...

Let those with ears to hear, hear..
Amen.

                                                    ****


Three  postscripts..yesterday was the 49th anniversary of the Kent State/Jacksom State shootings. A day that changed my life...Pete Seeger's 100th birthday.  Throughout his life Pete tended the lambs and fed the sheep and kept us going in dark times ...we give thanks to God for his life and witness..

Today is Cinco de Mayo. No it's not Mexican independence day. It's when a badly outnumbered Mexican army unit defeated the French at Puebla. Thus preventing the French from aiding the US Confederacy. What we're really celebrating is the ongoing contribution of Mexicans to US society and culture. We do that by opening doors and embracing brothers and sisters, not building walls. No one who doesn't support immigrants should have a shot of tequila or Corona, lime or no lime.
Tend his lambs, feed his sheep.



Gospel John 21:1-19

1After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

4Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No." 6He said to them, "Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. 8But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

9When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." 11So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

15When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." 16A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep." 17He said to him the third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. 18Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go." 19(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, "Follow me."

We shall not be moved: Who do you rely on?

9/20/15

Jeremy and I had just led the congregation in  We shall not be moved, as a movement song. Thne we read the 1^st Psalm,  peoples’ mic style which we hadn’t done in a long time.

Happy are those
    who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
    or sit in the seat of scoffers;
² but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law they meditate day and night.
³ They are like trees
    planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
    and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

⁴ The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
⁶ for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

Then Jeremy picked up the guitar and we did it spiritual style, like Johnny Cash. 

Glory hallelujah, I shall not be moved
Anchored in Jehovah, I shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's planted by the waters
I shall not be moved

In His love abiding, I shall not be moved
And in Him confiding, I shall not be moved
Just like the tree that's planted by the water
I shall not be moved

I shall not be, I shall not be moved
I shall not be, I shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's planted by the water
I shall not be moved

Though all hell assail me, I shall not be moved
Jesus will not fail me, I shall not be moved
Just like the tree that's planted by the water
I shall not be moved

Though the tempest rages, I shall not be moved
On the rock of ages, I shall not be moved
Just like the tree that's planted by the water
I shall not be moved

I shall not be, I shall not be moved
I shall not be, I shall not be moved
Just like the tree that's planted by the water
I shall not be moved

I learned this song as a movement song. As an organizing song.  But like so many movement songs, it has its roots in  the African American religious tradition.  So you can find Seeger and Springsteen and Mavis Staples and the Seekers and Irish versions and Joan Baez in the farmworkers’ version, No Nos Moveran…

…and I just found the religious versions by Johnny Cash and Mississippi John Hurt  accompanied by his classic Travis picking…(and with this Jeremy starts Travis picking  This song has DEEP roots…roots as deep as, well, a tree planted by the river…

So today we read the very first psalm. Along with the 2^nd, it serves as an into to all that follows. Telling us it’s a whole book about a way, not a theology, not a doctrine, a way of doing things…the righteous way of doing things…

¹ Happy are those
    who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
    or sit in the seat of scoffers;
² but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law they meditate day and night.
³ They are like trees
    planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
    and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

⁴ The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
⁶ for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

It says to go the way of the righteous is to be happy…It’s first explicit message is ….don’t sit in the seat of scoffers, or as it says in the King James Version, the seat of the scornful….

It’s not easy is it? Especially when watching a debate like we had the other night….this continues our conversation  about sticks and stones….it is so easy to scoff, to be scornful, to be cynical (Sharon Welch says cynicism is the prerogative of the privileged…) So easy. And so destructive.  It is so much harder to say something  constructive.

Back to those trees….those who delight in the law…think about that word delight…what does that feel like? 9Jeremy thinks immediately of the taste of ice cream. And Dion smiles..)

Meditate day and night…what might that feel like?  Maybe take one commandment and just reflect on it, just meditate….it’s that internal life that gives the tree its deep roots, it’s strength…and it is such trees that bear fruit…

That which is wicked…(no quick definition here, but you can  feel it in the scoffing…) has no substance, bears no fruit, withers , is easily blown away…..and they will not win in the end..

(Sometimes I believe that…and sometimes I don’t…)

Sometimes that river is a raging flood picking up everything in it's a path…a literal Katrina or Sandy….sometimes it feels like we’ll get swept away…even drown….

It’s not surprising that movement songs came from the African -American community because that is a community of struggle…of  survival…in the religious version, it’s Jehovah, it's Jesus who is the tree to hold onto. In the movement songs, it is in our collective shared humanity….in our solidarity…our mutual commitment to one another…and in the end, I’m not sure how different those two realities are…

So let’s think a minute… when the storm comes, the waters raging, who are our trees?  Who can we rely on? If you had one phone call to make, who would  it be? Relative? Friend? Who? 

(For some it’s a parent, for another her sister, for another his fiancé…for others, friends…we bring their faces to mind..

Can we see them? Can we give thanks for them? Name them?

With them in mind, let us sing….

And we sing once more with full voice, We shall not be moved…

One of the sisters was with us today, fully participating. And some one who feels very but not quite familiar at the same time until I realize that it’s James from open mic, shorn of his Elizabethan hair, shaved of his beard.

After the service, he wants to marry his fiancee Hannah from Michigan who seems young. I ask if he has a license. A driver’s license? He asks. No, a marriage license.  He asks if they can run down town right now and get one. Well actually no, closed on Sundays.

I’m very uncertain here. Ask them to meet me in my office.

I think this through.  I can meet a pastoral need (which would take some serious exploration to understand..) which will have no legal implications whatsoever. James seems to be living in a very dramatic world at the moment. In which he leads a theatre company called Lord Essex’ men…

At his request, we go back to the chapel. I do a very traditional service. They seem happy.  I so want to know what Hannah sees, thinks, feels. I pray for them. Tell them if they want to to count, they’ll need to bring me back a license…What is the story?

We shall see. You just never know….. on any given day…

I leave them. Wait for the 7 bus to take me home. The African-American day parade will be in full swing marching up Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard.  And  will continue all day long into the night….