"Broken World" by The Talleys covered by someone in Southwestern Virginia

This person did a more-than-credible job with this song, and their care for the song and what it says is real. This was recorded a couple of years ago, but I just found it on the Souls Harbor Pentecostal Holiness Church page. That church is located in far Southwestern Virginia. It's rural, mostly white, and majority women, and it's poor. This is a part of the country that struggles with unemployment, poverty, and substance abuse and lacks comprehensive social services.

I like this version of the song better than the original, though I do respect the work done by The Talleys. 

The song begins with a description of real-life problems that most of us face every day. We do indeed live in a broken world where "everything is upside down, wrong is right and right is wrong." Most of can identify with that line, although when we get down to the question we will disagree over what is upside down and what is right-side up and is wrong and what is right. It's easy to take this as code for just about everything on the Trump agenda, but I'll say that capitalism has turned the world upside down. People profit from doing that and keeping things turned around, and it will take a mighty movement of working-class people to set things right. 

There is hope in this song that everything will be set right soon when our Savior comes. The contradiction is that the song says that God created this broken world. Did God create a broken world? Is that true, or did the social order turn things upside down? God's judgement will certainly prevail, but God has a preferential option for the poor and the oppressed and women. God has judged, is judging, and will judge. Heaven and hell are present now. God wants our liberation, and wants us to want it.

Feel this song and think of those in your life who are struggling. Let's give one another reasons to hope and work for liberation and heal this broken world.     

 

 

God loves you for trying...

Two of the drawbacks that I see in mainstream Christianity are the idea that human beings don't deserve God's grace and that we are saved by faith only. Some folks will go further and say that good works come out of faith, but most of them will still hold to the view that we don't deserve God's grace---it may be a free gift from God, but we still don't deserve that.

That doesn't seem logical to me, but it also doesn't seem fully consistent with some scripture. We read in 1 Corinthians 13:11-13 that

11. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things.

12. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.

13. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Being the more important of the three, then, I have to learn how to love and how to work with that. And I think that it's pretty clear that working for justice is love in action if it's done in the right ways and for the right reasons. Maybe it's not that works are somehow better than faith, but that the two exist in tension with one another and help each other go forward and that love is the context and the transmission belt for that. 

I'm no Biblical scholar, though, and folks smarter than me have been debating this for centuries. Whatever the right answer is, I'm going to keep trying to believe and to do the right things, I'm going to fail or fall short, and I'm going to keep trying. Where I am now is not where I will be one year from now. And, like Bishop Barber says, I'm going to keep trying to be someone who God will use.

I recently heard Bishop Barber call on people to repent for not not giving God all of their effort in prayer and at church. I think that he's talking about reconciliation, purification and repentance, and resolving to work hard for social justice alongside of others.   

Anyway, I think that Islam has a good approach to this, or to half of the conundrum anyway. Read the article Allah Loves You Just For Trying  by Omar Suleiman at About Islam and think about how that could apply to you and to Christianity if you're struggling with this. Something similar is said in St. John Chrysostom's Paschal Sermon, a wonderfully moving sermon that most Protestants and Catholics never experience and that Orthodox Christians only hear once a year.

I argue that all of the Abrahamic faiths pray to the same God and that each of the Abrahamic faiths have valuable insights that help all of us. In the Allah Loves You Just For Trying article we find the following encouraging words:

Now, there is something important to understand here: Allah loves you for trying; Allah loves you for being engaged in the state of purification; and Allah loves you for repenting…

But where is it that we actually fall short here? Some of us will repent sincerely for a sin and then insist that we will not return to the sin, yet still return to it. That does not disqualify you from the love of Allah nor does it open up all the previous times that you committed that sin, or nullify the repentance from those previous sins.

The type of insistence and returning to that could cause you to fall out of the love of Allah, out of this journey of attaining the love of Allah is when you insist upon those sins and disregard the sight of Allah and disregard the pursuit of Allah in returning to those sins.

So, that’s the difference between falling short again, getting weak again after you sincerely repent and not being sincere in your repentance in the first place.

Hence, not being sincere in your pursuit of purification in the first place as well. So, we ask Allah to allow us to always be engaged in the effort of purification to allow us to reach better states; and to always allow us to be in His state of love even as we fall short at times just for being in the state of repentance and for being in the state of the effort of purification.

When God Ain't Acting Like God by Dr. Marcus Cosby

 

Take on some tough questions...And think about two different approaches to life

 

I would add that those of us who are exploited and oppressed often don't identify or self-identify as being exploited or oppressed and that we learn to live with it and take it for granted. Reading can also change our lives by building self-awareness, self-consciousness, and understanding. The act of reading is in itself a radical and scary step for many of us. Try reading just seven pages a day to start and test this.

Dudley Randall's great 1969 poem about a conversation or debate between Booker T. Washington, who favored trying to win inclusion in the system, and W.E.B. Du Bois, who sought to overthrow the system, takes this up in a way. Read the entire poem here. Here are the opening verses:

“It seems to me,” said Booker T.,
“It shows a mighty lot of cheek
To study chemistry and Greek
When Mister Charlie needs a hand
To hoe the cotton on his land,

And when Miss Ann looks for a cook,
Why stick your nose inside a book?”

“I don’t agree,” said W.E.B.,
“If I should have the drive to seek
Knowledge of chemistry or Greek,
I’ll do it. Charles and Miss can look
Another place for hand or cook.
Some men rejoice in skill of hand,
And some in cultivating land,
But there are others who maintain
The right to cultivate the brain.”

The Rev. Dr. Helen Svoboda Barber At The Seminary Of The Southwest On 2-28-22

She has some great points about Biblical teaching, race, gender and race and gender justice. This is a good short sermon on doing the "restoration and reconciliation work of God" and what is required of all of us. There is especially good advice to students here.

Everyone has a chapter they don't want read aloud. (I have an encyclopedia.) Here is some help...

 

The Church Is Called To...

 

Le’Andria Johnson Testimony & Hymn Medley (Very Emotional)

 

In Memory Of Steven H. Hively & An Unnamed Mine Worker, Both Recently Killed In Mining Accidents

 The unidentified mine worker killed in Pennsylvania has been identified as  Paul Springer, 44 years old.

Excerpts from Fratelli Tutti by Pope Francis

Read the entire document here.

27. Paradoxically, we have certain ancestral fears that technological development has not succeeded in eliminating; indeed, those fears have been able to hide and spread behind new technologies. Today too, outside the ancient town walls lies the abyss, the territory of the unknown, the wilderness. Whatever comes from there cannot be trusted, for it is unknown, unfamiliar, not part of the village. It is the territory of the “barbarian”, from whom we must defend ourselves at all costs. As a result, new walls are erected for self-preservation, the outside world ceases to exist and leaves only “my” world, to the point that others, no longer considered human beings possessed of an inalienable dignity, become only “them”. Once more, we encounter “the temptation to build a culture of walls, to raise walls, walls in the heart, walls on the land, in order to prevent this encounter with other cultures, with other people. And those who raise walls will end up as slaves within the very walls they have built. They are left without horizons, for they lack this interchange with others”.

28. The loneliness, fear and insecurity experienced by those who feel abandoned by the system creates a fertile terrain for various “mafias”. These flourish because they claim to be defenders of the forgotten, often by providing various forms of assistance even as they pursue their criminal interests. There also exists a typically “mafioso” pedagogy that, by appealing to a false communitarian mystique, creates bonds of dependency and fealty from which it is very difficult to break free.

GLOBALIZATION AND PROGRESS WITHOUT A SHARED ROADMAP

29. With the Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, we do not ignore the positive advances made in the areas of science, technology, medicine, industry and welfare, above all in developed countries. Nonetheless, “we wish to emphasize that, together with these historical advances, great and valued as they are, there exists a moral deterioration that influences international action and a weakening of spiritual values and responsibility. This contributes to a general feeling of frustration, isolation and desperation”. We see “outbreaks of tension and a buildup of arms and ammunition in a global context dominated by uncertainty, disillusionment, fear of the future, and controlled by narrow economic interests”. We can also point to “major political crises, situations of injustice and the lack of an equitable distribution of natural resources… In the face of such crises that result in the deaths of millions of children – emaciated from poverty and hunger – there is an unacceptable silence on the international level”. This panorama, for all its undeniable advances, does not appear to lead to a more humane future.

30. In today’s world, the sense of belonging to a single human family is fading, and the dream of working together for justice and peace seems an outdated utopia. What reigns instead is a cool, comfortable and globalized indifference, born of deep disillusionment concealed behind a deceptive illusion: thinking that we are all-powerful, while failing to realize that we are all in the same boat. This illusion, unmindful of the great fraternal values, leads to “a sort of cynicism. For that is the temptation we face if we go down the road of disenchantment and disappointment… Isolation and withdrawal into one’s own interests are never the way to restore hope and bring about renewal. Rather, it is closeness; it is the culture of encounter. Isolation, no; closeness, yes. Culture clash, no; culture of encounter, yes”.

31. In this world that races ahead, yet lacks a shared roadmap, we increasingly sense that “the gap between concern for one’s personal well-being and the prosperity of the larger human family seems to be stretching to the point of complete division between individuals and human community… It is one thing to feel forced to live together, but something entirely different to value the richness and beauty of those seeds of common life that need to be sought out and cultivated”. Technology is constantly advancing, yet “how wonderful it would be if the growth of scientific and technological innovation could come with more equality and social inclusion. How wonderful would it be, even as we discover faraway planets, to rediscover the needs of the brothers and sisters who orbit around us”.

Audre Lorde On Speaking Up

I think that this needs to be true in politics, in our unions and at work, in our families, in the courts, in the streets...and it is true in our prayer lives as well.

How I Come To Love These Pilgrims---Two versions

The lyrics below and this recorded version of the hymn are different, but both are beautiful. 

How I came to love these pilgrims,

Is to me a great surprise;

And the way the Lord has led me,

Is a wonder in my eyes;

No, I never thought I’d be one,

But I’m happy now to say,

That, although I used to hate them,

I am one of them today!

Refrain:

I feel constrained to say,

I love this narrow way;

O glory, hallelujah,

I am one of them today.

Well I knew the world despised them,

So I said ‘twould never do;

I would lose my reputation

If I join that noisy crew;

But I heard in Sinai’s thunder

“You must surely go that way;”

I am not ashamed to own it,

I am one of them today. [Refrain]

Oft I sneered when they were telling

That they felt no foe within,

That the grace of their Redeemer

Daily kept them free from sin;

But conviction seized my spirit,

Took my hatred all away;

I have found this great salvation,

And I’m one of them today. [Refrain]

It so shocked me that I could not

All my indignation hide,

When they said that God’s old Bible

Never would endorse my pride;-

Though high-headed, proud and haughty,

Yet I heard the Spirit say,

“Will you be a humble pilgrim?’

And I’m one of them today. [Refrain]

Once I thought that their demonstrations

Were entirely out of place;

That I never would consent to

Bring upon me such disgrace;

So I asked the Lord to bless me

In a mild and careful way,-

I broke through and got the glory,

And I’m one of them today. [Refrain]

I’m so glad I ever found them,

For they’ve led me to the right;

And I mean to stay among them,

Daily walking in the light;

Then some day I’ll join their number

Over on the golden shore;

It is settled, hallelujah!

I’m a pilgrim evermore. [Refrain]

Love like Jesus---stand in solidarity with the voiceless & marginalized

 

A Lenten Devotional (Ash Wednesday) From Asti M. White By Way Of The Methodist Federation For Social Action

This comes from the latest edition of the Methodist Federation for Social Action newsletter and is by Asti Nicholas White. a second year Master of Divinity Student at Candler School of Theology with a concentration in Chaplaincy. Currently serving as president of Candler’s Black Student Caucus, Asti has shared interest in exploring the intersections of pastoral care and social justice, (environmental justice/ anti-racism) with non-profits and churches by seeking out healthy and sustainable measures for relationship building around the world. Asti engages in research and advocates for marginalized communities that have been systematically oppressed and do not receive the resources needed for health and vitality.

The MFSA newsletter carries additional Lenten devotionals as well. I highly recommend MFSA.

2022 Lenten Devotional - Ash Wednesday

By Asti N. White

Psalm 82 [NRSV]

A Plea for Justice. A Psalm of Asaph.

1 God has taken his place in the divine council;

in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:

2 “How long will you judge unjustly

and show partiality to the wicked?Selah

3 Give justice to the weak and the orphan;

maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.

4 Rescue the weak and the needy;

deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding,

they walk around in darkness;

all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

6 I say, “You are gods,

children of the Most High, all of you;

7 nevertheless, you shall die like mortals,

and fall like any prince.”[a]

8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth;

for all the nations belong to you!

By internal design, our hearts, minds, body, and strength are all designed to be in relationship with one another, to share a connection of love and justice, and to not do the work alone. One of my favorite Psalms shows a God of Justice and illustrates the importance to share compassion for all of our neighbors. As the world continues to find the ease in divisiveness, the comfort to separate self from community, and the persistence in perpetuating systems of injustice, we are called to an important responsibility to remain faithful to the community. Though the current context of our world and to separate ourselves from our neighbor, we must live into our unique design. We have been created for community and for connection.

Psalm 82 exemplifies both implicit and explicit theological questions about the role and composition of justice. Questions arise from the text regarding justice and judgement which permeates the billowing questions of how judgement and justice are interpreted and comprehended by way of defining God as a judge. The text proceeds by God calling and challenging others to serve the marginalized. Psalm 82 provides an illumination of God’s presence of judgement, through showing the importance of justice, and discerning the prioritization of justice to the lowly.

Within the interaction of the divine council, God’s omniscient power infiltrates throughout Psalm 82 by addressing and identifying the nature and power of God/Elohim. Psalm 82 discloses the interconnectedness of God, the divine council, and the rest of humanity. This call to action manifests the breadth of humanity and the divine. Psalm 82 essentializes the necessity to love and care for one another, specifically advocating and serving the oppressed. The journey of Psalm 82 divulges the paths of God’s love by establishing a precedent for the higher-ranking to rescue the weak and needy.

A demand for intentional care to individuals who do not have knowledge or access shows God’s willingness to call out those in power and the need for God’s divine power in “rise up O God” (Ps. 82:8). The scripture continues to present the ultimate sovereignty and grace of God when both the ancient community and gods of the divine council provide insufficient care of humanity. The message and urgent demand for extending care in Psalm 82 reveals why this passage has been passed down for the church. As Israel journeyed through exile and political distress, this psalm reiterates the past and emphasizes the present importance for bringing judgment against individuals actively restricting justice.

Psalm 82 shows a practical and foundational ortho-praxis of care towards the marginalized. God as judge, demands a healthy and sustained life for those who are oppressed. The modern church and community engaging with this scripture can find strength within the clear and direct communication of justice. Additionally, the psalm calls the church to actionable love and grace, while living in a constant practice of uplifting justice for all. Witnessing God as judge, and the judgement carried out by God, can be a testament and important suggestion to the church for critical discernment towards justice.

The Psalm teaches discerning practices and actions of care, or the lack thereof, seen in both the ancient community and present-day communities. God’s judgement in Psalm 82 shows how to live, emboldened with actionable steps to justice and care, upholding those on the margins. The very presence of God and God’s teaching of care and judgement builds out a depth of relationship shared with one another and with God. Psalm 82 helps in providing a necessary challenge to those in power to dismantle and re-construct society that reflects justice and equity.

In this season of Lent, I pray that we can reflect on this convicting passage. “How long” will we “show partiality,” treat others differently, act holier than thou? Psalm 82 is supposed to make us humans feel uncomfortable. We are all called to a place of unrest, to live in the darkness with our neighbors whom we all have kicked to the lowly, who we have not given justice to, and whom we have not rescued when they have cried out. May we go forth this Lenten season, removing the focus from ourselves, and seeking justice. I ask you this, siblings in God, how long are we going to let this keep going? How long?

Young Catholics: Enter your original poem about the death penalty for a chance to win!

 The following comes from the Catholic Mobilizing Network website. 

Justice and Mercy Poetry Contest for Young Catholics

Enter your original poem about the death penalty for a chance to win!

Are you an 18-30 year old who is enrolled in college or graduate school and motivated by your Catholic faith? Do you care about justice, especially as it pertains to the U.S. criminal legal system?

Enter Catholic Mobilizing Network’s (CMN’s) Justice and Mercy Poetry Contest for Young Catholics with an original poem about the injustice of capital punishment and become eligible to win up to $1,000 in cash.

The first-place winner will also be invited to read their award-winning poem at CMN’s 13th anniversary celebration on October 10, 2022 at the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See in Washington, DC.

Contest winners will be chosen by a diverse group of committee members who bring an array of interest, experience, and skills when it comes to engaging young Catholics, ending the death penalty, and using poetry as a way to nurture the intersection of justice and faith.

Submission Guidelines and Eligibility

This contest is open to Catholics in the United States ages 18-30 who are enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program at an accredited college or university.

Poetry submissions will be accepted from March 1, 2022 - May 31, 2022. Submissions are limited to one poem per person. Formal, rhyming, or free verse poems are welcome.
Contest Prizes

First Place - The first-place winner of the poetry contest will receive a $1,000 cash prize and their poem will be published on CMN’s website and social media channels. The first-place winner will also be invited on an expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC to read their poem live at CMN’s 13th anniversary celebration at the Apostolic Nunciature on October 10, 2022.

Second Place - The second-place winner of the poetry contest will receive a $500 cash prize and their poem will be published on CMN’s website and social media channels.

Third Place - The third-place winner of the poetry contest will receive a $300 cash prize and their poem will be published on CMN’s website and social media channels.

ALL contestants will be invited to an exclusive virtual gathering in the summer of 2022 to hear from death penalty abolition leaders and learn about opportunities for education, advocacy, and prayer in the movement to end the death penalty.

A great testimony of hope for all of us from PHR3SH. Need advice, strength or encouragement? Watch this.

 

Acts of hope...

 

Refugees, migrant workers, the disinherited of the world, people of all religions (and none) are accompanied by God...

 

#MoralMonday March on Raleigh Mobilization Kickoff Press Conference #PoorPeoplesCampaign---Real Preaching!

 

Black History Month Keynote 2022 From Seminary Of The Southwest

I have not listened to all of this yet, but there is some inspired preaching here that we all need to listen to and heed.