Forming new spiritual communities II: rejecting and reclaiming

3/24

Mario has come back from Italy. What’s going on here has captured his interest and he believes that something special could happen here. Jeremy G, who’s keeping the flame burning here locally, is a key part  of the conversation as well. We head down the street to Flor de Mayo which gives me the opportunity to tell Mario all about the Cuban-Chinese community that once flourished  here on  the Upper West Side. And how members of First Chinese Havana were part of the original Iglesia Presbteriana de West-Park 50 years ago. 

Nirka and her husband Gregorio were part of that community. Greg had been part of Mao’s revolution and then fled to Cuba and joined Castro’s revolution. When reeducation loomed, he made off to New York City. Nirka and her children consider themselves both Asian and Latino in as much as their language is Spanish. Most of the restaurants with Comidas Criollas y Chinas are now gone. But Flor de Mayo continues even though it’s famous pollo a la brasa is now under the direction of a Peruvian chef.

We jump back into the issue of new spiritual communities. Mario still has his interest in connectng with existing communities and their capacities, especially St.Augustine’s in  the Bronx with their garifono community, descendants of Arawak Indians and African slaves. He brings up Redeemer Presbyterian, but I direct him away not wanting to get into a long discussion of  stand alone churches accountable only to themselves and closed to the leadership of not only lgbtq folks but women as well.

I’m interested in having the  open  choir sing with  us in worship. Jeremy responds that most may not be interested in anything related to the church. My point exactly, I say. And I talk about how those from the over 50% in this neighborhood describing themselves as nonaffiiated and the  thousands of them as spiritual but not religious.   

It is they I am concerned about. The came to Mario’s open choir because they sought connection. The growing sense of community brought them back. And I want them to conceive of a local based community continuing even without work center  presence. Praxis, not product, not branding. And I want to help the community come into being, to have people understand the connection between experience and prophetic action, and the service of others. Whether they call it Christian or not I don’t care. Mario and I, each with our own individual spiritual communities, have insites , resources to lend to the project. So we agree to continue the conversation and include Katherine and her questioning  as well.  Along the way we pick up a few strands of Freirian pedagogical precis and education for critical consciousness principles. Their connection with Liberation theology. And the overarching issue of context.

We walk up the street excited about what could happen next.

                                               

                                                                  * * * *

Mitchell is looking for a breaker box, the lights have gone out. I show him the other breaker box that  comtrols the church house. Somewhere along the line, RL loses his Internet.

The 3rd Sunday in Lent: Suffering, endurance, character, hope?

3/23

Cara is there early to help out and calls me to give me a heads up that Joe and La Toya are lingering again. I hustle in to take the lead on this but still realize I will need to take some action to move them on and I am allowing the bureaucratic exigencies of doing that to keep me procrastinating.

After getting them moving…sloooowly….time to finish setting up. And Dion is there to get the chairs out and Roselyn my Columbia journalism friend here again too. I’m hoping she’s there just because but she still has until tomorrow to finish her paper. And Dan is back for spring break.

We’re dealing with water today. And thirst. Beginning with Exodus 17: 1-7, the story of the Hebrews in the desert feeling thirsty, getting impatient with God and being ready to stone Moses. As he says,  What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me. Not an uncommon feeling for pastors.

Then the whole confusing business of God standing on the rock and saying Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink. So when Moses strikes the rock with his trusty magic staff, does he strike God? Well, we don’t now but water flows. The key question, the most important question, the question we are always asking is Is the LORD among us or not?

I tell the story of our week in  court. I’m being  asked to do theological reflection on what happens to us. The fact is, every time our life is on the line, something happens and we make it through. Unless you think it’s all random luck, it appears God wants us here. BUT, likewise, every time our solution seems right around the corner, it disappears on us.  How do we understand that?

After the exodus passage, I play the guitar and sing Rock of ages…, the old standard. (Here’s Johnny Cash…)

We read the psalm responsively, covering much the same territory, then head into Paul’s theological explorations.(Romans 5: 1-11) He was writing letters to congregations, not systematic theology. Probably never thought that 2000 plus years later people would be reading them and taking them as gospel. The key passage is this:

³And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

And I wonder if  any of us really believe that? Cara always says that pressure produces diamonds. And several of us have grown stronger through what we have experienced. Dion asks is there not a scripture that says God will never bring us more than we can bear? And I say, we need to be careful. As someone once said, So if I wee a weaker person, my husband would still be alive? We have to be careful. The actual context in 1 Corinthians 10:13 is temptation:

He will not let you be tempted more than you can bear. But when you are tempted, God will also give you a way to escape that temptation.

The other thing we hear is what doesn’t kill us makes us strong…or can mess us up pretty bad…both are true…it’s that issue of hope again…a spiritual quality beyond optimism.

Finally, we get to the gospel, John 4: 5-42, a long story. Nirka reads it in Spanish and then I do in English. It’s the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. (I could give you Peter, Paul and Mary, the first version I ever heard, but Dave van Ronk is sooo much better…)

A lot to be said here:

1.    Samaritans were descendants of the twelve tribes who wee left behind when the upper classes were dragged off into exile in Babylon. Who the intermarried with the Assyrians and others who wee brought in to colonize, like my Scottish ancestors were put into northern Ireland to control the Irish by the British conquerors, that’s where Scots-Irish come from. In addition to that, they worshipped God on their own mountain, not Jerusalem. To that Jesus will say, Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 

2.     Wells are places of courtship. Not a good place for unmarried men and women  to meet, especially a Jew and a Samaritan. No wonder the disciples wee scandalized.

²⁷Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?”

3.     Again, a key character, like Nicodemus, can only think literally and not get it. The woman thinks he’s got magic water that will keep her from having to make all these trips to the well.

T This is the only time in the gospels, other than the crucifixion, where Jesus says that he is thirsty. (Also John 19:28)

4.     Then there’s the whole discussion of husbands. And Jesus sees clearly who she is.

5.     She calls him a prophet. Biblically, prophets are not those who predict the future but those who can reveal clearly what is right now.

6.     Finally the Samaritans see and believe for themselves, not because of her testimony.

There’s a lot here to think about . But in Lent , it has to being able to see ourselves as we are. Like naked Adam. To face God as we are. Because only once have we faced that, once we have stopped hiding,  then we can experience acceptance, of ourselves by ourselves, to drink the water of reconciliation and begin to feel whole again. That’s what we do in Lent.

We finish by singing Glorious things of Thee are spoken. And make our closing circle. Then clean up. Until we  come back again.

The Session meets to review the story of the court case.

Dan and I are ready to meet Nate for his birthday lunch .

                                                    * * * *

Last Thursday, at the Palestine Film Festival, we received bad news. On February 20^th, we had sponsored the first New York screening of Occupied Palestine, a film by David R. Koff. (http://www.davidrkoff.com/). Finished in 1981, this film has been virtually banned in the US, at first scheduled then can celled then not scheduled at all. Blackballed. Thirty years late, finally screened in New York. Mr. Koff himself came for the screening and q & a. Having lived for all these years labeled a self-hating Jew. Having lived a life as an activist filmmaker, he lived with a perpetual broken heart. On March 6^th, he took his own life.

David R. Koff, presente

And yes, even a tap dancer

3/21

ETHEL is back and in the balcony of the sanctuary. It’s good to hear their music filling the place again. And Antigone flamenco continues to evolve in the studio.

One amazing Open Mic night. Starts with a woman maybe 70/80 years old, says she sings in a nearby Catholic church choir. Her name sounds like the governor’s so I’ll call her Mrs. C. RL connects her with the inimitable Mrs. Miller of the ‘60’s but only he and I are old enough to remember. (for those brave enough…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw07CDid0JM )

But in all honesty, Mrs.C is much better. 

Mrs. C is better

I have no idea what she is going to do, but soon enough she is singing an acapella version of Under the Boardwalk with confidence and clarity. And she follows that up with Unchained Melody…and I wonder 15-20 years from now will I enter into an open mic somewhere and…

Mabel's poetry

We’ve got a bevy of shy young women. Mabel S, a young Latina who shares her poetry. Jaz James, in  from LA and ready to do the Bitter End on Sunday, wanting a warm up and shy about the crowd. Soon enough she’ll sit at the piano and play her original songs. (You can hear Jaz here: https://soundcloud.com/jazjames)

Jaz James from LA gets ready for the Bitter End

She’s got something. Then there’s Camille the tap dancer. That is a first for sure. She does a solo. Then a dance while Mandola Joe does an Irish bit. The young banjo phenom Nick L is back as well as our regulars and new friends Columbia U grads Rose and Josh. And Rose persuades Camille not to

Camille taps

leave but to do one more with her.

Tapping with Rose and Josh

By now, I’m wondering is RL more Major Bowes, Ted Mack or Arthur Godfrey? Well, we’re all winners here and everyone can come back…. (that was me, not RL…)

My friends Esther and Dave have come. Esther sing backup with Katy in a rock band and I have always wanted her to come. Because she also writes her own music and I want to hear her music, on her own, not as a back up. She and Dave stay for the whole night, up to RL’s all star wasn’t intended to be but wound up being anyways signature closer, Stay Awhile.

Stay awhile

Esther says kind of reminds her of an AA meeting. I look quizzical. She says, No I mean everyone’s welcome, everyone’s accepted.. Anyone  can share… And be appreciated. (I get it, you mean the way church is supposed to be…)Next time, Esther, you’re on.

It felt so good that a circle stayed around plying and singing after. Nick and Joe soon followed by Pat and John and Rose and I....

And the aftershow

Later, at the Gate, we agree it would make a great reality TV show. This one for sure would have.

3/22

Marvin has been working all day. Repairing a sidewalk. (No not that sidewalk, the city did that already..), a toilet in the women’s room, a door…little steps, important steps.

I pause to watch Noche in rehearsal, Eric still with the long black flowing robe? Gown? From which Marina emerges, now with a mask on the back of her head for a truly haunting effect. As for the music, well last week when Jeremy M heard it, he said, Well, that’s intense and I said, Boldly taking flamenco where it’s never gone before…

There is a bit of excitement when David S gets trapped between doors but a clever trick gets him out. All this while Berik and Leila are getting their new show up. Opens tonight. I’m off to Milica’s  goddess project at her gallery and don’t make it back in time for the open opening. Time to head home. Sunday is a work day.

It's over: Verdict

3/20

They came from Princeton

It’s over. Walking up Amsterdam, I see RL in the Gate and decide to stop in and share the news. The lawyers made their summary arguments. That took all morning. The judge declared a lunch recess. After lunch, the judge charged the jury and then sent them out to deliberate. They had five question to decide, the first of which was were we negligent or not. Even at this point, they were still offering deals, like Hi-low. That is, if they win, here’s the upper limit. If they lose, they'd still get a limited payoff. Problem was, their minimum was our maximum. The judge said, So you’re rolling the dice. And our attorney said, yes. So a minimum of 350 thousand was on the line.And for us , it was about right and wrong, not rolling the dice. 

The jury was out only 45 minutes. That told me they only answered one question. Still my heart was pounding while we waited. The jury came back. And their verdict? Not negligent.

A unanimous decision. The plaintiff’s attorney asks to poll the jury. And each juror responds,not negligent.  The jury is then dismissed. The plaintiff attorney then moves to have the verdict set aside as not consistent with the facts. And the judge says, Negligence and fact is a jury decision. And they have decided. Not negligent. Motion denied.

The plaintiff’s attorney is visibly  shaken. She has a reputation of  not losing. Of winning  seven figure payoffs for her clients. And she walks away with nothing. Our attorney is elated. Says that the other attorney was the hardest he’s ever been up against.He’s also a man of faith, God is good, he says.

I tell this story to RL and then hustle back to the church. A class from Princeton is here to interview me, They’re looking at faith institutions and social responsibility. I tell them the story of West-Park historically and to the present. Earlier today, they were on my block in Harlem. They listen closely and engage in a good q and a.

After they leave, Jeremy G from the Workcenter stops to talk, Mario is coming back. We need to talk, How does their ongoing work fit in to what we're  trying to do congregation wise? What can we do to build community?

The Dzieci people are arriving.I stop in the chapel to tell them how glad I am that they are here.. Matt M and I talk about continuing the Passion Play from Palm Sunday to Good Friday and I think we have an agreement. The Workcenter choir is arriving and heading upstairs to the gym.

Finally, Martin and I talk. He’so deep into Antigone, it’s hard to draw him out. But it’s time to talk about an ongoing relationship. It’s time to see if they could be an anchor. I tell Martin our story. He shakes his head. Where do we go from here?