Nightmares are dreams too...

 

Today is a day in which we celebrate the life, mission and ministry of The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Additionally, the nation will throw partisanship aside and celebrate the inauguration of President Barack Obama for a second term.  This year, 2013 is a very important year, the 50^th Anniversary of the March on Washington will be celebrated in August.  At the March on Washington, Dr. King delivered his “I have a dream speech.”  This year also marks the 150^th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln, which freed thousands of enslaved people.  

I’m very excited about the events and celebrations today.  What I ponder most is: In 2013, has the dream and vision that Dr. King had for our nation come to pass?  Yes, we have a black president.  But the dream of Dr. King is so much more than that.  We often forget that nightmares are dreams too.  After today’s reflections on Dr. King’s speeches, the inaugural pomp and pageantry, America will awaken to a nightmare.  We will awaken to a society where the divide between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ continues to grow.  We will awaken to packed prisons, bourgeoning numbers of homelessness, a grieving community in Connecticut mourning the loss of little innocent children and their caregivers who were simply going to school or work.  We will awaken to a nightmare where teenage and youth suicides are at an all-time high.  We will awaken to suffering people who cannot afford adequate healthcare, struggling single parents, war and its aftermath, senseless murders, drug infested neighborhoods and the list goes on.

Every dream and nightmare ends with an awakening.  Even though we are in a chaotic nightmare, the dream of Dr. King can be revived with a great awakening that this country has never seen before in its history.  It is time for us to awaken into peace, love, unity, equality for all, regardless of color, gender or socioeconomic status.  You too, can be a part of the new “Great Awakening.” We are at a great confluence as a nation.  Allow the words of  the prophet Micah, speaking to us through eternity, be the launching pad to propel us into the new “Great Awakening” of our nation.  “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”  Micah 6:8.  Beloved, we can end this nightmare.  The new “Great Awakening” is upon us.  It’s time to wake up.  The dream must live on, in and through us.  We give thanks for the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and all the possibilities that await us.  

Peace,
Karsten

In the Bleak Midwinter

This past Christmas, I discovered a new carol.  Well, it was in the hymnal 1982 all along, but being the newbie episcopalian that I am, I heard it for the first time at Christmas Eve Mass and the First Sunday after Christmas.  With all this talk of snow, and the fact that we are in the "Bleak midwinter" season, with an extremely dreary day, coupled with the potential arrival of evening snow, this song has been floating around in my head all day.  Thank God for Youtube!  Just meditate on the lyrics which were written by Christina G. Rossetti.

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,

earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;

snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,

in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain;

heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign.  

In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed

the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,

cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;

but his mother only, in her maiden bliss,

worshiped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;

yet what I can I give him:  give my heart.

Beloved, may you find peace in the midst of the darkness and chaos of the bleak midwinter.  May you ever be mindful of the hand of God and his presence in our lives, even as it seems that we await in darkness with the promise of new life and the advent of spring.

Peace,
Karsten  

Fish sandwiches with Jesus

I often think about the miracles that Jesus performed around food and beverages.  I bet the wine at that wedding party at Cana was some good drinking.  Luke's account of the feeding of the five thousand is another example of good eating with Jesus at its best.  Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves and two small fish. 

Luke's account of the story is as follows:
"The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, ‘Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.’ But he said to them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said, ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.’ For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, ‘Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.’ They did so and made them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces."

 I was reminded by my pastor, Rev. Jemonde Taylor that the miracle was not Jesus feeding the five thousand, but rather taking what the disciples had from within them, blessing it and multiplying it.  As we opened our Vestry meeting last night with spiritual formation, this same text was the focus of our discussion.  As the text was read; three things resonated very deeply with me.  The very first thing that Jesus told the disciples was "You give them."  In a world in which we tend to hoard and want to keep things for ourselves, it is clearly evident that we are to be givers, whether that be of food, time, money, or talents.  We are called to give, and not only to give, but give cheerfully. 

The next thing that I took away from this story is that everyone ate and was filled.  The very ministry of Jesus was to level the playing field, to bring equity to a polarized society.  Wouldn't it be something, if everyone's basic needs were met and there were leftovers to share, even after all needs had been met?  At the end of the story, everyone was filled and there were twelve baskets of leftovers.  The lingering question that convicts me is this: "What's left over after you give?"  I know that in this challenging and unstable economic time, we can only focus on what we have.  Take what you have, give it to Jesus.  Let him bless it, share what you have with others.  As was the case with the five thousand souls fed by Jesus, you may have so many fish sandwiches that there may not be enough Texas Pete to go around.  If you give "them" what you have, everyone will be filled and blessed.  What will be left over after you give?

Peace,
Karsten

Grace upon Grace

 

As the season of Christmas continues, yes, it is still Christmas time.  Today is a holiday on two calendars.  Happy New Year!  On the church calendar, today is also the Feast of The Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  Have you ever thought about what your name means?  Do you know what your name means.  Google it, if you don't.  Those of us with particularly unique names may have to dig a little deeper to get down to the surface as to how and why we inherited our names.  The church celebrates the Holy Name of Jesus as a means to commemorate the day that Jesus' parents presented him to the temple to be both named and circumcised.  The name Jesus simply means yahweh saves or salvation.  

The first chapter of the Gospel of John is a very beautifully written account of the incarnation of Christ, or Jesus becoming human.  Kirk Franklin has a somewhat popular song "Now behold the Lamb,"  in this song there is a line that sums up the incarnation or enfleshment of Jesus: "born into sin that we may live again, he's the precious lamb of God."  John 1:16 reads: From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.  From the fullness of Christ, we have received grace upon grace.  Grace defined is simply unmerited divine assistance given to someone.  

Beloved, as we celebrate the new year and ponder all that 2013 has in store for us, take time to remember that God has sought you out by name and through the fullness of his only begotten son given you grace upon grace.  My wish for you during 2013 and beyond, is that you experience the fullness of Christ and rest in the grace upon grace freely given to us.  We are called to be a human expression of the grace of God.  Happy 2013!  Keep the faith, continue to grow in grace.  The world awaits you.

Peace,
Karsten