Dear People of Christ Church,
It is good to be back writing in this space and breathing fresh New England air! Having spent a week in Colorado at 8000 feet, I have a new appreciation for all the oxygen that comes at sea level (I'm even appreciating the humidity). I left for Colorado feeling so buoyed by the Holy Spirit we encountered at Pentecost in our service with St Peter's, and was sorry not to be able to talk more with you about it last week. Suffice it to say that God was most definitely present. The loose collection funds (not the checks written to each parish, but the cash in the plate) will be divided between Connect Africa a group that works with AIDS orphans in Uganda, and the Diocesan Jubilee Ministries, which funds local work on the ground in Africa with our partners there.
Coming back from vacation, I was greeted by the very happy news that our CPA (Community Preservation Act) application had cleared one more step in its path to approval. After being OK'ed by the Community Preservation Committee, it then went to the Law Department, then to City Council to be passed to the Long Term Debt Committee, which then sent it back to Council for the final vote. So pray--and tell your city counselor to vote yes (also give your thanks to Shawn Russell and Bill Fowler, whose efforts have kept this going). The CPA funds are a crucial part of our hopes for Christ Church's future stability. If you haven't yet had time to do the survey for our building needs, please do it. Junior Warden Sarah Staley will have print copies this Sunday if you have had difficulty with the web.
Meanwhile, summer brings wonderful opportunities for ministry and community. This coming Sunday and Monday, our summer book group will begin meeting (Sunday after the 9:00 service and Monday at the Kerr home)--read chapters 1 and 2 to start this week. July 5, we begin offering games at the Home Suites Inn, and then later in July we work with B Safe day camp in Boston
with reading, lunch, and our Friday field trip to Houghton's Pond.
There is much to do, but I hope in the midst of it you will be finding some Sabbath time for yourself. Sometimes it's not so much the length of time as it is the depth; you don't need 8 weeks of uninterrupted rest and tropical fun to reconnect with God and your quiet self. Of course, if you're a parent, vacation can feel like more work than work... but I guess each of us gets through that differently!
So take Sabbath--rest with empty hands, nothing to produce, nothing to consume, just receptivity to the gifts God gives. The New Zealand prayer book translates psalm 127 like this: "It is but lost labor that we haste to rise up early, and so late take rest, and eat the bread of anxiety. For those beloved of God are given gifts even while they sleep."
Gifts from God, even as we sleep! That is a pretty compelling invitation to blessing and wonder. So take some Sabbath in rest and relaxation, but also take Sabbath in church; our sacraments and life together feed us all in innumerable ways, and I hope to see you at the table soon.
Blessings,
Sara+
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Tattoos on the heart
Dear People of Christ Church,
This morning, I've been trolling the internet for quotes to promote our summer book group-we're reading: Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion by Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit priest who works with gangs in LA. The motto of Homeboy Industries, the group he founded, is "Nothing stops a bullet like a job."
I've wanted to read it since I heard the author on the NPR show Fresh Air, a whole year ago. It came to mind again when I saw an online slideshow about the California prison crisis, brought to light during recent Supreme Court hearings about the overcrowding there. The pictures--the whole situation--is an invitation to complete hopelessness. 60-70 percent inmates released from prison in California return, one of the highest rates in the country. It's hard to compare figures from different studies, but one researcher found that the rate in Massachusetts was just a little more than half that: 39%.
So I spent the morning researching this priest-Gregory Boyle-and his work in LA. Looking for stories of redemption and hope, thinking I'd find the thing that would make it OK--a story about those 30 percent who don't go back to jail. The thing is, every article I read has a version of the same sentence: in X years, Father Boyle has done the funerals of X current and former gang members. And the number kept increasing-175, 200, 225. It's a vivid reminder of how this will not be a pleasant book study about inspiring work done far away. This will not be a time to gather together, maybe to send $50 when we're done to help support the project. Hardly enough.
At its heart, this is a spiritual and theological problem as well as a social one. You can only go so far with training and aid programs. Even striving for just and fair laws that both protect society and provide the opportunity to redirect the lives of criminals will still not make us into a peaceful society without violence or hatred.
The thing is, in some ways the manifestation of the problem I was reacting to--the increasing number of funerals--is also the solution. Seeing that number of Rev. Gregory Boyle's funerals swell up and up was a witness to the fact that someone is counting. There is no death that is insignificant, no one who is beyond remembrance. This is the witness of all the contemporary saints-Paul Farmer working in Haiti and Rwanda, Mother Theresa of Calcutta, India. People like them remind us to see people not as "the poor" or "the homeless" but as individual children beloved by their Creator. It is tragic when someone is murdered, robbed of their potential-the world is robbed as surely as they themselves are. Gregory Boyle writes,
The first kid I buried was an eighteen-year-old identical twin. Even the family had a hard time distinguishing these two brothers from each other. At the funeral, Vicente peered into the casket of his brother, Danny. They were both wearing identical clothes. It was as if someone had slapped a mirror down and Vicente was staring at his own reflection. Because this was my first funeral of this kind, the snapshot of a young man peering at his own mirror image has stayed with me all these years, as a metaphor for gang violence in all its self-destruction.
The challenge for us as people of faith is to see ourselves in Danny. To see our children lying on the street. To witness and pray at all the deaths, and to work constructively for all the lives. Maybe I will send that $50 to Gregory Boyle after all. It's true that it's not enough-but it is something.
Blessings,
Sara+
This morning, I've been trolling the internet for quotes to promote our summer book group-we're reading: Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion by Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit priest who works with gangs in LA. The motto of Homeboy Industries, the group he founded, is "Nothing stops a bullet like a job."
I've wanted to read it since I heard the author on the NPR show Fresh Air, a whole year ago. It came to mind again when I saw an online slideshow about the California prison crisis, brought to light during recent Supreme Court hearings about the overcrowding there. The pictures--the whole situation--is an invitation to complete hopelessness. 60-70 percent inmates released from prison in California return, one of the highest rates in the country. It's hard to compare figures from different studies, but one researcher found that the rate in Massachusetts was just a little more than half that: 39%.
So I spent the morning researching this priest-Gregory Boyle-and his work in LA. Looking for stories of redemption and hope, thinking I'd find the thing that would make it OK--a story about those 30 percent who don't go back to jail. The thing is, every article I read has a version of the same sentence: in X years, Father Boyle has done the funerals of X current and former gang members. And the number kept increasing-175, 200, 225. It's a vivid reminder of how this will not be a pleasant book study about inspiring work done far away. This will not be a time to gather together, maybe to send $50 when we're done to help support the project. Hardly enough.
At its heart, this is a spiritual and theological problem as well as a social one. You can only go so far with training and aid programs. Even striving for just and fair laws that both protect society and provide the opportunity to redirect the lives of criminals will still not make us into a peaceful society without violence or hatred.
The thing is, in some ways the manifestation of the problem I was reacting to--the increasing number of funerals--is also the solution. Seeing that number of Rev. Gregory Boyle's funerals swell up and up was a witness to the fact that someone is counting. There is no death that is insignificant, no one who is beyond remembrance. This is the witness of all the contemporary saints-Paul Farmer working in Haiti and Rwanda, Mother Theresa of Calcutta, India. People like them remind us to see people not as "the poor" or "the homeless" but as individual children beloved by their Creator. It is tragic when someone is murdered, robbed of their potential-the world is robbed as surely as they themselves are. Gregory Boyle writes,
The first kid I buried was an eighteen-year-old identical twin. Even the family had a hard time distinguishing these two brothers from each other. At the funeral, Vicente peered into the casket of his brother, Danny. They were both wearing identical clothes. It was as if someone had slapped a mirror down and Vicente was staring at his own reflection. Because this was my first funeral of this kind, the snapshot of a young man peering at his own mirror image has stayed with me all these years, as a metaphor for gang violence in all its self-destruction.
The challenge for us as people of faith is to see ourselves in Danny. To see our children lying on the street. To witness and pray at all the deaths, and to work constructively for all the lives. Maybe I will send that $50 to Gregory Boyle after all. It's true that it's not enough-but it is something.
Blessings,
Sara+
Thursday, June 9, 2011
This weekend, we celebrate our third all encompassing children's service-kids will do the readings, bring up the offerings, stand with me at the altar, and, of course, hear the children's sermon-this month, offered by our Micah Project intern Paul Hartge. This will also be our last children's service for the summer, so please remember to bring your diaper donations. They are, of course, accepted at any time, but we won't be putting out the crib in July since our July 4th weekend service is outside.
This afternoon, a colleague and I met with the manager of the Home Suites Inn on Totten Pond Road. As you may know, the state of Massachusetts contracts with hotels to house families when shelter space is not available. Right here in Waltham, 85 families are housed at the Home Suites. The average stay is about 3 months, but some have been there for over a year waiting to be connected to permanent housing. Last Christmas, Christ Church collected presents for the kids staying there-at that time, there were 56. Now, there are 117.
Homelessness comes up in the news every once in a while, but most often, it's an issue we don't think about. In the wake of the sudden tornado in Western Massachusetts yesterday, and the destruction in the Midwest of recent weeks, we're reminded that losing a home is something that can happen to anyone. Homelessness doesn't just impact individuals-in Massachusetts, fully half (52%) the homeless are parents and children. From 2008 to 2009, there was a 37% increase in families needing shelter over the existing shelter system.
The good news is that policy makers are figuring out what works.Are you ready for this?
The solution to homelessness seems to be...homes! As Massachusetts State Representative Byron Rushing quoted his mother at a talk he gave last year (see my blog post on the forum, his family was poor growing up because they lacked money. The reason the homeless are homeless is that they lack permanent homes. It's just that simple. A new movement called "Housing First" is discovering that it's not just better for the individuals and families who are homeless, but also more cost effective, to first provide a home and then figure out how to empower people for financial and social independence.
Especially in times of tight budgets, there is a lot that we can do-politically as well as materially. In two weeks, several local organizations (including the Waltham Ministerial Association, which I co-chair) will be hosting a forum on what congregations and communities can do at First Presbyterian Church on Alder St (info below).
On the other side of the issue, one very simple thing we can offer homeless people is companionship. A colleague of mine and I are hoping to gather enough volunteers to offer a Games Hour at Home Suites this summer-when school is out, the 117 children staying there will not have a lot to do, and an hour of fun will help to lighten the load. Volunteers are invited in pairs or singles, who would be willing to help out for an hour twice over the summer. Games will be offered Tuesday afternoons from 2:30-3:30, starting July 5. Please let me know ASAP if you'd be interested in helping.
Blessings,
Sara+
This afternoon, a colleague and I met with the manager of the Home Suites Inn on Totten Pond Road. As you may know, the state of Massachusetts contracts with hotels to house families when shelter space is not available. Right here in Waltham, 85 families are housed at the Home Suites. The average stay is about 3 months, but some have been there for over a year waiting to be connected to permanent housing. Last Christmas, Christ Church collected presents for the kids staying there-at that time, there were 56. Now, there are 117.
Homelessness comes up in the news every once in a while, but most often, it's an issue we don't think about. In the wake of the sudden tornado in Western Massachusetts yesterday, and the destruction in the Midwest of recent weeks, we're reminded that losing a home is something that can happen to anyone. Homelessness doesn't just impact individuals-in Massachusetts, fully half (52%) the homeless are parents and children. From 2008 to 2009, there was a 37% increase in families needing shelter over the existing shelter system.
The good news is that policy makers are figuring out what works.Are you ready for this?
The solution to homelessness seems to be...homes! As Massachusetts State Representative Byron Rushing quoted his mother at a talk he gave last year (see my blog post on the forum, his family was poor growing up because they lacked money. The reason the homeless are homeless is that they lack permanent homes. It's just that simple. A new movement called "Housing First" is discovering that it's not just better for the individuals and families who are homeless, but also more cost effective, to first provide a home and then figure out how to empower people for financial and social independence.
Especially in times of tight budgets, there is a lot that we can do-politically as well as materially. In two weeks, several local organizations (including the Waltham Ministerial Association, which I co-chair) will be hosting a forum on what congregations and communities can do at First Presbyterian Church on Alder St (info below).
On the other side of the issue, one very simple thing we can offer homeless people is companionship. A colleague of mine and I are hoping to gather enough volunteers to offer a Games Hour at Home Suites this summer-when school is out, the 117 children staying there will not have a lot to do, and an hour of fun will help to lighten the load. Volunteers are invited in pairs or singles, who would be willing to help out for an hour twice over the summer. Games will be offered Tuesday afternoons from 2:30-3:30, starting July 5. Please let me know ASAP if you'd be interested in helping.
Blessings,
Sara+
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