A Letter. . .

            I have been thinking about how I would like to respond to the events of August 11-12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia.                 

            First of all I want to express my appreciation for my clergy colleagues who gave up a significant piece of their busy schedules in order to be a physical witness to the Gospel.  They participated in the emergency response training.  They were as prepared as anyone ever could be for the possibility of violence or arrest.  They wore their robes and clergy stoles as clear identifiers that this was the cost of discipleship and vocation.  They stood in silent witness between the two competing worldviews.  Their witness was powerful.

            Secondly I want to say that so many have spoken eloquent words about how you navigate through such events as we saw this past weekend.  One person reminded us to recall Fred Rodgers words “Look for the helpers.”  Others have initiated candlelight vigils throughout our country as public witness.  Many have expressed condolences for the loss of life:  Heather Heyer, Lieutenant Cullen and Trooper-Pilot Bates.

            As I have reflected over the events and the responses of this weekend, I think we also need some suggestions to ourselves about how we move forward – especially how we can speak to our children and youth.  There are a variety of opportunities being offered and to be offered to continue the dialogue of race in America.  Those are all good ways to engage in thoughtful reflection and I encourage anyone to do so.  The following ideas  are some additional things we can do.

             

LEARN SOME STORIES

            Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor, a theologian, a writer, and a member of the resistance movement and he died in a German Concentration Camp.  Google his name and you can find a variety of sources to tell you about his life.  His writings are also in print.   This is only one of many books to introduce this courageous pastor to you. 

            Wonder of Wonders:  Christmas with Dietrich Bonhoeffer written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

            Anne Frank was a young German Jew who was sheltered in the attic of a Christian home.  She kept a journal of her life which has had a profound affect on countless people as they learned through her the horrors of Nazi rule.  She and her family were eventually found and removed to the Bergen-Belson concentration camp where she died in 1945. 

            Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank has been translated into English and is widely available.

         Although I do not know this book, it does appear to be a resource that is helpful to discuss racism and that horrific practice once used by such organizations as the KKK.  I  included in the “cut and paste” the information of the various awards this book received.

            The Lynching of Louie Sam by Elizabeth Stewart. 

Notable Books for a Global Society White Ravens Collection,

International Youth Library,

Munich Skipping Stones Honor Book Best Books for Kids & Teens,

Canadian Children’s Book Centre 

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction 

John Spray Mystery Award Libbylit Prize (Belgium),

French edition Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award finalist Snow Willow Young Reader’s Choice Award nomination Arthur Ellis Award finalist,

Crime Writers of Canada 

            Another book that I can not personally vouch for but which seems to be written so that it is accessible to a wide variety of readers is the book.  Again, I am doing a “cut and paste” from her website to show the recognition this book has received.

They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.

Released August 2010:
Houghton Mifflin

a YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist! 

a Junior Library Guild Selection

a Richie’s Pick “It is, of course, through reading a book like this — and understanding the “Why?” — that we gain the insight necessary to help stop the flames of hatred and fear from spreading in whatever direction they next travel.”

a Publisher’s Weekly Best Children’s Book of the Year 2010

a School Library Journal Best Children’s Book of the Year 2010

a Kirkus Best Books for Teens 2010

a Horn Book Magazine 2010 Fanfare List

a Booklist Top of the List Winner for 2010 and Editor’s Choice for 2010

a Washington Post Best Children’s Book of 2010

a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best

an ALA Notable title

a CCBC Choices 2011 title

DON’T BE AFRAID TO TALK

         The pictures that appear on our televisions and social media are disturbing.  Nevertheless it is important to talk with our children in an age appropriate manner.  “We are going to change the channel (or turn the TV off) because the news right now is showing people doing hateful things.  It’s not OK to treat one another like that.”  By the time children are elementary and pre-teen those conversations will get longer and more specific.  The books just mentioned may be  helpful to you. 

            Failing to talk about this subject though tells our children a message we don’t want to communicate.  This evil is to be named not ignored.  And why this is evil is to be named so that our children are equipped when they are confronted by the language of hate.

TELL OUR OWN STORIES

        

         For people of faith, we have a lot of stories to tell our children.  Let them hear by our words and see by our actions that we have heard Jesus say:  I command you to love one another.

            For people of our nation, let our children and youth hear from us as adults those words and ideas from the “Pledge of Allegiance”.  We pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States of America, not a Nazi flag, or a Confederate flag, or a Don’t Tread on Me flag.  Those all represent other times and other meanings – but our allegiance is to the flag that represents this great nation.  That clarification to the Pledge was made in 1923 and it seems to me to continue to be appropriate.  The concluding words of the Pledge have stood since its introduction in 1892 – one nation, with liberty and justice for all.         

These are the values that bind us together as a nation.  These are the values we are to teach our children.  These are the values that endure in the midst of events such as occurred in Charlottesville.

LEARN SOME STORIES

DON’T BE AFRAID TO TALK

TELL OUR OWN STORIES

Grace and Peace

Rev. Clara

In Appreciation Of. . .

            As I have been reviewing some of the founding documents of the United Church of Christ, particularly the Congregationalist strain, in preparation for a presentation on History for the Shenandoah Association Institutes, I have been particularly appreciative of the insights of our ancestors in faith.  In particular, I am thankful of the polity of our church.

            One month ago the United Church of Christ met in Baltimore in General Synod 17.  Delegates – some men, some women, some clergy, some lay, some youth – all selected and elected by their respective Conferences back home, gathered as church to consider the issues of the day and the direction of the UCC for the next two years.  Approximately 3,000 delegates acted on behalf of 914,871 (as of fall 2017) members representing 5,032 (as of fall 2017) churches.  There business ranged from hot topic justice concerns to the nitty-gritty of how and who will govern the denomination.

            Back in the late sixteenth century Robert Browne began writing and putting his writing into practice as he gathered a church in Norwich, England.  His writings went against all the acceptable ways churches were organized and governed.  His thoughts became known as the “Congregational Way.”  First and foremost he reminded all who would hear him that Christ was the Head of the Church – not a king, or queen, or bishop, or pope, or patriarch.  He also spoke about equality between “regular church folk” and their pastors.  No one was above anyone else. 

            These ideas took hold and expressed themselves in those Pilgrims and Puritans that settled the Colonies and who are our ancestors in faith.  Congregational framework meant both a freedom from imposition of will from a higher authority, and living together in a covenant relationship one with another.  These fundamental ideas took shape in the founding of our nation and the relationship of the three branches of government one with another.

            From the very beginning the governing body of the church designated those among themselves to make decisions and act on their behalf.  In the beginning those people were only men, only full communicative members of the church, and only men of high integrity and morals.  They were given the historic, biblical, names of officers of the church – elders and deacons.  They were subject to the will of the people because they were voted in and could be voted out.  While holding office it was their responsibility to make responsible decisions based on the best facts they could get.  But also, in addition, they were to make decisions prayerfully, paying attention to the qualities and teachings of Jesus as Head of the Church.  In those meetings, they were the church gathered.

            Every once in awhile, it is good to remember that the church is not a business.  The church is not a civic organization.  The church is not political party.  The church is God’s people gathered.  The church is God’s people choosing to bind themselves together in a relationship of trust and faith.  The church is the Body of Christ to do what Jesus did when he walked the shores of Galilee – proclaim the Love of God, usher in the Realm of God on earth as it is in heaven, focus always and forever on the sacredness of life – each person and all the world(s) around us.  Our meetings, our classrooms, our worship services, our fellowship time together are to be formed by Jesus.  We forget that sometimes.  Today I am thankful for the witness of our ancestors to remind us of the responsibilities of living in covenant with one another, the people gathered as church.

Grace and Peace

Rev. Clara

SABBATH – TOUCHED BY GOD

Antonym of stress-filled schedules

       Sabbath interrupts

       Re-creating present and past

       Future possibilities

       imagery of the Divine

Droplets falling out of summer thunderstorms

       Joining water flowing ever onward

       Skipping over exposed memories of times long past

       Filling the void on the way to the sea

       Trickle to crescendo

       Taking stresses beyond the danger zones

       To calm waters flowing, curving, cutting new paths.

Chirping sounds, rushing water, musical notes, Word proclaimed

       Sabbath whispers to our souls

       “Be still”

       “Be still and know”

       “Be still and know that I am God”

       “Be still”

Morning yellow light illuminating forest floors

Evening golden light bidding quiet rest

       Holy Presence

       Holy Nourisher

       Holy Protector

Restlessness finding rest

Sabbath taking – Holy finding

Gratitude – Or Psalm 8 Part Deux -  Windowpanes

            It is a hot summer day – the kind that fills a room with bright sunshine and highlights the verdant greens outside the window.  It is one of those kinds of days when the heart is full of gratitude.  The creation spills over into all parts of life.  For a moment in time the political dialogue is on mute.  The “to do” list is on hold.  The gift that is our planet, the creation that is around us and includes us, holds sway.

            Yesterday I chose Psalm 8 as my text for preaching on Trinity Sunday.  This morning I am still held by the attention we gave to the Mystery of God in all creation.  The Literary Bible, An Original Translation, David Rosenberg (Counterpoint, Berkeley, 2009) provides a contemporary translation from Hebrew of Psalm 8.  The verses italicized are from this translation.

My Lord Most High

your name shines

on the page of the world

from behind the lights

covering the heavens –

            My musings for the day include window views – and the practice of gratitude for those glimpses of the world we get beyond our shielded panes of glass.  What follows is a Litany of Joy and Gratitude expressed through window moments from my photo collection and David Rosenberg’s translation of the Psalm 8.

My Lord Most High

your names shines

on the page of the world

from behind the lights

covering the heavens-

my lips like infants

held to the breast

grow

to stun the darkest thoughts

when I look up

from the work of my fingers

I see the moon and stars

your hand set there

The sunsets and sunrises,

                                       

the flowers and the changing seasons enter into my busy life and tell me to “Be Still”.

                                                       

                                                                 

and I can barely think

what is a man

how did you spare a thought for him

care to remember

his line

descending through death

yet you let him rise

above himself, toward you

The windows pointing to the Christ Story remind me always of how God cares for us…

From the birth of Jesus…

                                                              

Though the sacrament of baptism….

                                                       

And the Sacrament of Holy Communion where we remember with thanksgiving the sacrifice of the cross and the reality of the Resurrection.

                                    

                                                              

held by music of words…

you set his mind in power

to follow the work of your hand

laying the world at his  feet

all that is nameable

all that changes through time

Stained glass windows tell the story of Jesus for all to see and read and show me the work of God’s hand, the vision of God’s kin-dom.

                                                                 

[St. Stephen’s UCC, Harrisonburg, VA]

[St. Paul’s UCC, Woodstock, VA]

[Mt. Calvary UCC, Woodstock, VA]

from canyons to the stars

to starfish

at bottom of the sea

all that moves blazing a path

in air or water

or deep space of imagination on paper

My Lord Most High

your name shines

on the pages of the world.

How might you illustrate a Psalm of Gratitude?

Grace and Peace,

Rev. Clara