Thursday, August 14, 2014 at 7:00 PM, I will head to Union Square.
On August 14, 2014, citizens across America will gather in solidarity to hold vigils and observe a moment of silence to honor victims of police brutality. The New York event will take place on Union Square at 7:00 PM.
Posters and signs encouraged. No bullhorns. This is a peaceful vigil in memory of the victims.
Follow #NMOS14 for more information and to find a vigil near you.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Antiracism, Current Events, New York
A while back, I posted a sermon about children. Grieving the many places where children endure unimaginable violation, it affirms our call to care for children:
In this place, I am reminded that God is at work in all places. And that sustains and challenges me to look for how God is at work and, as the Holy Spirit gives me grace, to join in that work.
Children have been in my heart and on my mind this week.
Faith in God in Christ have put them there.
And in this place, God invites us all to join in caring for the children. The children of this congregation. The children of this community. All the children, all God’s children of the world. May we hear and respond.
Today, my friend Laura Mariko Cheifetz posted a reflection on children “Children Aren’t Disposable“. She reaches a similar conclusion:
I think children matter. I think everyone’s child matters. I do not believe that parents or communities or even children need to be virtuous or free of fault in order to think their children and perhaps even their parents deserve protection and generosity. You can make all the bad decisions you want, but I still believe you and your children deserve life. I extrapolated this from the lesson my parents drummed into me: You do not have to earn grace. It has already been given.
…
Children matter. Their families matter. Grace has already been given. Let’s act like it.
And she does a better job of lifting up ways to act:
Support the Children’s Defense Fund. They do great work at a policy level.
Read Toxic Charity. Consider changing your mission to be less charity and offers more agency to people. Bulk discounts (for your Sunday school or book group) are available. http://www.thethoughtfulchristian.com/Products/9780062076212/toxic-charity–paperback-edition.aspx
Write letters to migrant children. http://www.groundswell-mvmt.org/faithshare/people-are-writing-letters-to-the-migrant-children-and-they-are-beautiful/
Advocate for immigration reform that will allow people dignity and a path to regularization. Congress has recessed for August, so there isn’t legislation to advocate for. But you can still leave a message with your U.S. and state congresspeople urging them to support meaningful immigration reform and humane immigration processes, particularly for children and their parents who may be eligible for asylum, rather than increased criminalization and security measures. TheThoughtfulChristian.com has many books and downloadable studies to help you and your church talk about immigration and take action.
Oppose zero-tolerance policies in schools, stop and frisk public policing, and other ways that disproportionately criminalize black and brown youth.
You may give to UNICEF and UNRWA, who work with children in Gaza and the occupied territories. You can also ask your congresspeople to reconsider our typical military aid package to the nation of Israel. You could work with local peace organizations to advocate for an end to the blockade and the occupation.
Children matter. Join in caring for them.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Current Events, Friends
The people of the Korean peninsula will mark August 15 as Liberation Day. This day of mixed emotions celebrates the end of Japanese colonial rule and the time when two other foreign powers, the Soviet Union and the United States, decided to divide the peninsula. Kurt Esslinger and Hyeyoung Lee, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission coworkers, reflect on this moment and provide prayer and worship resources from the National Council of Churches of Korea.
In a few weeks the entire peninsula of Korea will honor the memory of Liberation Day from Japanese Colonialism on August 15th, 1945. This will be a celebration full of mixed feelings as this day also marks the moment when two foreign powers, the Soviet Union and the United States made the decision without Korean authority to divide the peninsula into two zones. The a long that generally follows the 38th Parallel became the line of division. Upon the Korean War, it also became an impassable wall separating families and independence partners who happened to be on the wrong side.
My new partner organization, the National Council of Churches of Korea is calling upon churches around the world to join them in praying for peace and reconciliation on the Korean peninsula. They have joined together with the Korean Christian Federation that represents Christians in North Korea to write a Joint…
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Filed under Current Events, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Anguish grips my soul as events unfold in Gaza.
I am cautiously grateful for the cease-fire announced today. I have prayed for peace; now I pray the negotiations will succeed.
I have called on Congress to act for a ceasefire in Gaza and to pursue a lasting peace in Israel-Palestine.
I have contributed to UNRWA to support their work caring for Palestine refugees in Gaza. There are a number of other agencies responding to the needs of Palestinians and Israelis.
I also read Izzledin Abuelaish’s book, I Shall Not Hate.
On January 16, 2009, Israeli shells hit Abuelaish’s home in the Gaza Strip. The devastating explosions killed three of his daughters and a niece. A Palestinian doctor, Abuelaish writes of his experience and his refusal to turn to hate and revenge. Faced with heartbreak unimaginable, he called for the peoples of the region to talk to each other and to build relations with each other that could serve as the basis for efforts that might lead to a just peace. Abuelaish lives his call.
As bombs and shells fell on Gaza; as rockets struck Israel; as Israeli tanks rolled and Israeli troops marched; as Palestinians emerged from tunnels; Abuelaish’s words carry a powerful poignancy and a deep urgency.
We use hatred and blame to avoid the reality that eventually we need to come together.
Hatred is an illness. It prevents healing and peace.
Peace is humanity; peace is respect; peace is open dialogue. I don’t think of peace as the absence of anything that just puts it in a negative light. Let’s be positive about what peace is–rather than what it is not.
We do not need to merely accept what is happening around us. We all have the potential to be agents of change.
I believe that Einstein was right when he said life is like riding a bicycle: to keep balanced, we must keep moving. I will keep moving, but I need you to join me in this long journey.
I give thanks for Izzeldin Abuelaish and all who keep moving on the long journey to justice and peace in Gaza and Israel and places around the world. I pray for the courage and strength to keep moving with them.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Books, Current Events, Human Rights
My friend Mihee Kim-Kort provides a theological reflection on Marissa Alexander and fear. “The only way I can make sense of those words is the thought of Jesus speaking us into that darkness. We’re the embodiment of those words, ‘Fear not.’” Mihee includes ideas for action. Good stuff as always. I am always grateful when I see a new post from her appear in my email. Yes. That is a gentle suggestion that you go to her blog and subscribe.
Henry Ossawa Tanneran, an African-American artist, painted The Annunciation in 1898
“What kind of body and performance can adequately represent “fear” in the US judicial system, or in our communities? And why is the proof of fear necessary to assert one’s right to defend one’s life? Racial justice, feminist anti-violence, and anti-prison/policing movements must take the implications of this ruling seriously in order to make their work more relevant to black women’s lives.” -From The Feminist Wire
I remember hearing once that the phrase “Fear not” is found hundreds of time in the Bible. Fear was clearly pervasive in that culture and time period – an oppressive government, economic disparities, and abuse from religious leaders – and then, Jesus comes along. Jesus, with his radical ideas about God’s kingdom and loving enemies, and all those wonderful miracles, Jesus, and his offering the possibility of change in their context, of course, of course, there would…
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Filed under Antiracism, Current Events
This is the manuscript I took into the pulpit at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church today. The preached sermon varied from the manuscript in some instances as the preaching event took place.
People often ask if I miss serving as a pastor in a congregation. I reply that I miss the community, the shared life. But I feel called to my work at the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations. I make mistakes; challenges and frustrations arise, but I believe I am where God has called me.
And then come those Sundays when I have the privilege to take part in the sacrament of baptism. And in the joy and wonder of the moment, I feel a tug to parish ministry.
Because I knew I would have that privilege this morning, I have spent a great deal of time thinking about children. Of course along with the filled expectation of the sacrament, this week has also brought tragedy and sorrow and hope.
Children have been in my heart and on my mind this week.
Israeli children who listen for sirens and take refugee in bomb shelters.
Palestinian children killed upon a beach, under the crushing weight of collapsed homes, on the streets of Gaza.
Israeli and Palestinian children bound together in the violent spiral, not of their making, of occupation and resistance.
Children have been in my heart and on my mind this week.
Nigerian girls abducted from schools and homes, wrenched from their families, held by a rebel group.
Children of Sudan’s Nuba Mountains who huddle in caves as bombs dropped by the government rain around them.
South Sudanese children whose stomachs knot from hunger and malnutrition that threaten their lives.
Syrian children caught in a chaotic cross fire.
Children have been in my heart and on my mind this week.
Children forced to carry guns larger than they are tall in combat.
Children who breathe air-filled with dust and sometimes toxic gases in mines for gold.
Children used, violated, and exploited.
Children have been in my heart and on my mind this week.
Children fleeing rape and gang recruitment and violence in Honduras, El Salvador, and parts of Guatemala who make their way to the United States to be placed in detention centers where they may experience cramped cells without enough food, beds, toilets or showers.
Children have been in my heart and on my mind this week.
Children who lost a parent when a plane went down over the eastern Ukraine.
Children with AIDS or whose parents have AIDS whose lives will be affected by the loss of the researchers and scientists on that plane.
Children have been in my heart and on my mind this week.
Children in our country whose lives are constricted and diminished by racism.
Children bullied because of their sexual orientation.
Children who know violence in their homes, their schools, and their communities.
Children have been in my heart and on my mind this week.
New babies, long-awaited, welcomed, cherished.
Children who receive encouragement, affection, support, and nurture.
Children who enjoy life, bring delight to friends, and share love with family members.
Children have been in my heart and on my mind this week.
And I have wept.
Sweet tears of joy and grace.
Hot, bitter tears of grief and pain and anger.
Purging, cleansing tears that have renewed my commitment.
And I have prayed.
For the circumstances that wound children.
For the children. By name when possible.
Prayer opens me to God.
Prayer also opens me to the children and circumstances for which I pray. It binds me to the children be they in Damascus or Detroit. It calls me to commit to act on behalf of the children for whom I pray.
Prayer makes and nurtures the relationships, key to pursuing justice. And prayer for justice and wholeness in one setting draws me out of myself to experience anew the connections between all forms of injustice. It reminds me of the interdependence of people and life. It transforms me as it leads me to pray—and then act—more broadly than I would have otherwise done.
Children have been in my heart and on my mind this week.
And I have advocated with government officials and others who are in positions to act to reshape realities for children.
And I have made contributions to groups caring for children in the United States and abroad.
And I have invited and challenged my family and friends to learn and pray and act.
Children have been in my heart and on my mind this week.
And I have come to this place, this sanctuary, this congregation.
I come to stand in community. For community is essential to confront the realities of the world. Only together can we stand against the forces that violate children; alone we cannot stand.
I come to sing songs, break bread, share the cup.
I come to celebrate with a family as they present their children for baptism. Affirming their faith in Jesus Christ in a world broken, fearful, and frightening. Proclaiming hope. Sharing love.
I come to remember the grace of God in Jesus Christ. In ways that may surprise us, frighten us, awe us, God is at work. Here. Now. In this community.
When I experience the presence of God, I join Jacob in his affirmation of wonder and faith: “Surely God is in this place — and I did not know it!”
And knowing that God is in this place, reminds me, fills me with hope that God in Jesus Christ is in all places. Even in places where heartache and horror seem strong; even in places where violations occur; even in places where people and relationships are most badly broken and fear and wrong seems strongest, God is at work.
In this place, I am reminded that God is at work in all places. And that sustains and challenges me to look for how God is at work and, as the Holy Spirit gives me grace, to join in that work.
Children have been in my heart and on my mind this week.
Faith in God in Christ have put them there.
And in this place, God invites us all to join in caring for the children. The children of this congregation. The children of this community. All the children, all God’s children of the world. May we hear and respond.
Filed under Current Events, New York, Worship
Last summer, I took part in the CongoSwim, I did not swim. I walked. On a warm, sunny Louisville day, I walked 22,000 steps. 1,000 steps for each mile across Lake Tahoe where the organizers swam.Get in the swim … or the walk … or support the effort in some other way.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Current Events, Exercise, Human Rights, United Nations
I have taken, in my moments of self-care, to walking in support of causes important to me or to my friends. Tonight I do so again. I will walk from 7:00 pm to 7:30 pm in memory of Jim Brennan and in solidarity with all survivors and victims of gun violence, many of whose stories are not told.
As you may have heard, the owner of Brennan’s Colony, Jim Brennan, was killed yesterday afternoon in a shooting in Cleveland Heights. Mr. Brennan was a well respected businessman and community leader, and his establishment is a fixture on Lee Rd.A prayer walk will begin at 7:00 p.m. this evening at the location of Brennan’s, corner of Lee and Silsby in Cleveland Heights. We will walk from there to Church of the Saviour for a prayer vigil that begins at 7:30 p.m.You are welcome to join the Cleveland InterFaith community in this event. We also invite you to spread the word.
Filed under Cleveland Heights, Current Events
A prayer for peace on the Korean Peninsula for the anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War. Thanks Kurt!
Today, June 25th, marks the day commonly recognized as the beginning of the Korean War when international powers dragged the Korean Peninsula back into conflict, except this time within itself. As part of my job with the NCCK, I come into contact with resources, liturgy, and prayers that they have created on behalf of the peaceful reconciliation movement. I would like to share this prayer with you today which comes from a service created by NCCK members for the peaceful reconciliation movement.
Oh Lord, who unites us with the joy of liberation, thank you for filling us with life and joy and for reconciling our divided hearts through [our common worship as Christians around the world and our common communion around the table]. The fellowship you have given us becomes our hope and promise while suffering from deep division between sister to sister, brother to brother, and neighbor to neighbor.
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Filed under Current Events
Dr. Mary Mikhael
bears witness to the circumstances and ministry of the
National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanaon
in the spring of 2014.
9 February 2014
Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church
Manhattan, New York
Along the Graybeard Trail 