conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

sunday sermon: christ was around me everywhere

Follow the extended link for the sermon.

Villanelle

Love, Love was incarnate there
In childhood's glow and mystery,
Christ was around me everywhere.

On my knees I learned a bedside prayer,
Mother and father leading me.
Love, Love was incarnate there.

In his rough hug, in her girlish hair
About my face, in our revelry,
Christ was around me everywhere.

In grandparents' kisses, in the care
Of aunts and uncles, in family,
Love, Love was incarnate there.

Daily I met His doting stare
From a cross on a wall or rosary.
Christ was around me everywhere.

In the clang of church bells in the air
I heard His call - my destiny!
Love, Love was incarnate there.
Christ was around me everywhere.

- Villanelle by Joseph Awad, Shenandoah Long Ago

Joseph Awad is one of my favorite poets. I first encountered him shortly after I graduated college. It was one of those times in my life when family and friendship seemed scarce. You may know those times...when loneliness somehow keeps us from connecting with even our family...or our friends. There is some rift, some misspoken word or deep injury that cannot even now be reconciled. One of the most difficult things to do is to learn to live with this reality, that our relationships are demanding and no longer simple, reliable, and perfectly supportive as perhaps we imagined they were when we were children.

I needed something to help overcome that loneliness. And this poem by Joseph Awad was part of that. The way he shapes the images of childhood, of the deep trust that a child has for family, into images of God and Christ are entrancing. He makes almost startling connections...brave connections founded on trust in God. That was a lesson I had to learn and Joseph helped to teach me. There are many other poems in the same volume. Some are not as promising, so full of hope and gentleness. His childhood was far from perfect. But it is this one that I always gravitate toward when I return to his work. There is a profound innocence here. And in that innocence is a divine love proclaimed.

For me, this particular kind of love has always been reassuring. It is deeper than sentimentality. It is far more than whimsy. And during times in my life when I feel burdened and that deep loneliness creeps back in, I return to Awad's divine love. It restores me to a right sense of place in the universe. It reminds me who and whose I am.

It shows me what connections exist between myself and others...a glimpse or two of God's intention and desire.

The passage from Hebrews this morning has the same quality as Awad's poem. It is a mystical passage proclaiming the nature of our relationship with God, our place in the universe and the responsibilities demanded of us here in this life.

1:1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets,

1:2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds.

1:3 He is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

1:4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

2:5 Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels.

2:6 But someone has testified somewhere, "What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them?

2:7 You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor,

2:8 subjecting all things under their feet." Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control.

Maybe we find the language about angels and celestial throne rooms strange and confusing. But looking into the poetic language of this passage reveals much. There is a relationship with God that we have through Christ. It involves how the very universe itself was created...God's originating intention and desire in Genesis and its reiteration in the saving work of Jesus. The author of Hebrews has a very strong sense of place...of who they are and to whom they belong. This sense of place is founded upon this mystical understanding of the celestial order and humanity's place within it. There is awe: "What are human beings that you are mindful of them?" There is responsibility: "you have crowned them with glory and honor, subjecting all things under their feet." There is redemption: " He, [Christ] is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word."

This vision from Hebrews is an attempt to grasp what right relationship in God is like...and how it might be understood in our human relationships...during times of joy and in times of suffering.

The passage from Mark has a similar line of thought.

10:13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them.

10:14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.

10:15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it."

10:16 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Jesus' indignation is focused upon the disciples once again simply because they are trying to keep people from bothering him...trying to keep grasping little hands away from the hem of his robes. There is a joy, an innocence in the way the children are perceived here. And there is a hopefulness expressed by those who bring their children to Christ. Sure, there is a certain lack of decorum perhaps, but what many commentators suggest is that the words of Christ, "receive the Kingdom of God as a little child," reflect a certain necessary dependence upon others...a child's need for guidance and assistance. Our need of blessing. This is the kind of innocence that is invited in the Kingdom, encouraged by God.

Love, Love was incarnate there
In childhood's glow and mystery,
Christ was around me everywhere.

The sense of place expounded upon by the author of Hebrews and by Joseph Awad is the adult expression of what dependence and faith may look like...may be understood. It is a generous impression, kind and gentle. Childlike innocence is honored and valued. But what do we do when the world is not so kind? How do we honor this relationship when life is destructive and cruel.

Faith is always about relationship...community. But, as we all know, it is not always sunshine and roses. Sometimes loneliness won't go away. Sometimes horrors occur. Chaos and mayhem come and reap destruction upon community and families and love appears silenced.

Early last week a man walked into a school in an Amish community in Pennsylvania. He ordered teachers and children out of the school house and, according to news reports, forced eleven young girls to line up against the wall. He shot each one execution style, killing five before ending his own life as police stormed the building.

This is unimaginable terror and violence. This is horror beyond comprehension. So, as sad as we may be in hearing this word through the media, it is newsworthy. It is something we must all know about. This is a burden that is shared...But in my opinion, there is something just as newsworthy in this story. Now, now that we know the horrible details, we should all pay close attention to how the Amish respond.

Yes, they are sectarian.
Yes, they shun much of what we deem necessary and good for civilization. How they live without the Internet, I will never understand. But they have much to teach us about knowing one's place in the world. Like the author of Hebrews, Jesus in Mark's gospel and the poet Joseph Awad, they know their place in God's universe and can name it. And perhaps more importantly, they can act from within this understanding.

They stick together and draw the suffering of all into their embrace.

NY Times article by Laurie Goodstein (October 4th)

In one sign of their approach to tragedy, Amish residents started a charity fund yesterday not only to help the victims’ families but also to help the gunman’s widow...

...The Amish surmount hardship through mutual aid. When a barn burns, they do not call the insurance company. They have a barn raising, said Kimberly D. Schmidt, associate professor of history at Eastern Mennonite University, in Harrisonburg, Va., who has studied Amish women.

“For the families who lost children, there will be a tremendous community outpouring of love and support,” Ms. Schmidt said. “They will not suffer alone in their grief at all. People will bring in meals for weeks. As devastating as this is, there’s so much strength they can draw from their community.”

They do not shun the widow of the gunman...She too is to be loved and pitied. She will receive their compassion.

LA Times article By Ellen Barry and Stephanie Simon, Times Staff Writers October 3, 2006

But [Charles] Roberts’ brutality evoked very little anger among the community Monday. Men in broad-brimmed hats and suspenders and women in bonnets and long dark dresses expressed grief and shock, but in hushed, muted tones. “It’s a sad day,” Jacob King, a 31-year-old stonemason[,] said. He could think of nothing else to add, just repeated that one word, “sad.”

Rather than dwell on the victims — though this is a close-knit community, where few are strangers — Amish residents spoke of their concern for Roberts’ family; their sorrow that a man could become so unhinged, so alienated from the Lord.

“I wish someone could have helped him out, poor soul. It’s obvious that something was troubling him,” said Steve, a 54-year-old carpenter who, like many here, would not give his full name.

That is the understatement of the year. Mr. Roberts was crushed. He had been destroyed by something...mental illness? Bitterness? Shame? All we can do is speculate. The Amish are crushed. Do not be mistaken. How could they not be? But they take the time to spare kind words for the man who killed their children. Is it possible that they can look beyond the events of the day? Is it possible that they can see and feel beyond the outrage? They name sadness...and it extends beyond their sadness about their children to the man broken enough to commit such an atrocity.

By TERRY MATTINGLY Scripps Howard News Service 04-OCT-06

The gunman's stunned wife released a media statement that showed her understanding of her Amish neighbors and their beliefs. She knew she could appeal for prayers and forgiveness, even though outsiders might find her words hard to fathom.

"Our hearts are broken, our lives are shattered and we grieve for the innocence and lives that were lost today," said Marie Roberts. "Above all, please, pray for the families who lost children and, please, pray, too, for our family and children."

Some of the Amish went even further. One woman told the Los Angeles Times: "I am very thankful that I was raised to believe you don't fight back. You should forgive."

...[The] Amish believe that God knows all and that God, and only God, can judge. What the Amish emphasize...is that forgiveness is the only way that humans can break a cycle of violence and sin.

I have been thinking about the Awad poem all week...thinking about parents and children and the crushing burden, the grief that the parents of those little girls must be experiencing. I have been thinking of the children whose father committed such violence. The ramifications of this tragedy will be felt in the Amish community and the Roberts' family perhaps for generations.

Children can die. Some of us here may know this too well. Violence can and will happen. The Amish are not naive. They know violence and yet they have chosen non-violence. Actually, because they know that violence and cruelty will arise they have chosen non-violence.

I will admit that their lifestyle is extreme. No electricity. No Internet! No zippers! But that they make such a strong connection between the virtue of forgiveness, an expression of their understanding of their life in and with God, and their day-to-day life is a lesson for us. There is no room for vengeance or cruelty in a time like this.

Everything they do, how they live, what they choose to avoid in hyper-technological America is a response to how they understand their place in God's creation. In their compassion they speak of the awe of being created. In their love, simplicity and community bonds, they speak of the incredible responsibility charged to all of us. Creation is in submission to us. Simplicity may be demanded of us in this relationship.

Christ wants to call us brothers and sisters. He wants to receive us as little children. God created us a little lower than the angels.

May God uphold us in this. May God continue to bless us as we seek innocence. And may we, like Joseph Awad proclaim...

I heard His call - my destiny!
Love, Love was incarnate there.
Christ was around me everywhere.

Amen.

Posted by tripp at October 8, 2006 05:15 AM