There was an article in last Sunday’s New York Times that broke my heart and made me wonder about what ministry ought to look like as we move through this difficult economic time.
The article said that “millions of Americans remain out of work.” It said that about 2.7 million jobless people are due to lose their unemployment benefits before the end of April unless Congress approves the Obama administration’s proposal to extend those benefits.
The article’s author, Peter S. Goodman, wrote, “Call them the new poor: people long accustomed to the comforts of middleclass life who are now relying on public assistance for the first time in their lives – potentially for years to come.”
Well, if the “new poor” are going to be in dire straits for “years to come,” the prognosis for the “chronically or habitually poor” has got to be a whole lot worse.
Nationally, there are 6.3 million people out of work, and who have been unemployed for at least six months, the article said. The only time the unemployment rate was worse was in the 1980s.
How, then, do we serve? How do we do ministry?
We as a people have learned to “make do” all of our lives, but my feeling is that we are going to have to step it up a bit. When people do not have jobs, they cannot pay mortgage or rent, they cannot pay utilities or buy medicine or formula or pay their car notes.
It is at those times that people turn …not to God, necessarily, but to the church.
I think we ought to be proactive, meaning, I think we ought to be thinking and planning about how we are going to do ministry as the misery of the people in our community grows as their needs grow. I know that many in our own congregation are in need as well.
We have to pray, think and plan.
I believe that in giving, one receives. I remember listening to my mother talk about bread lines or food lines that formed during and after the Great Depression. The community had to become a community, practicing ujima, collective work and responsibility, and ujaama, cooperative economics, in order to survive.
Mama didn’t know anything about Kwanzaa or the principles of nguza sabo, but she did know that the community had to work together and share in order to survive.
We have been good about giving seasonally, at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it feels like we are going to have to bump up our outreach ministry, because the times call for it and because it is what Jesus would want us to do.
Those in our congregation in need, please speak up! This is not the time to be proud. But know that we will ask everyone to give, to help, to work in whatever way you can. Collectively, we can get through this difficult time and get the community through it as well.
Who knows but that God has kept Advent for “such a time as this?” One person told me that Advent is “the little church that can.”
We will see, beloved. We will certainly see.
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Be Strong and Do the Work!
The Pastor’s Page
What I love about the Olympics is that it is evidence that if we do the work, excellence will follow.
In the Bible, God tells his prophets to “be strong and do the work.” David told that to Solomon, his son, whom God wanted to build the Temple. David had wanted to do it, but God said he could not because he had been a warrior and had shed blood.
The task, then, fell on Solomon. David knew that in order to do anything worth anything that it takes work, and faith, and perseverance, washed frequently with tears of frustration and sometimes pain. “Doing the work” is not an easy thing.
David knew it, and knew he had to prepare his son, as best he could, for the journey ahead. He charged his son, publicly, to be careful to follow God’s commands so that he, Solomon, could possess the land and pass it on as an inheritance. He told his son to acknowledge God and “serve God with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind…for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. Consider now,” David continues, “for the Lord has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong …and do the work.
David repeated his advice to his son at the end of that same chapter in 2 Chronicles 18. As if tasting the difficulty of the task ahead, he said again, “Be strong and courageous and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord God, my God, is with you.”
When I see Olympic athletes, I absolutely know the work, the time, the pain, the disappointments, and the small glimpses of success they have seen as they have “done the work.” Ironically, it takes a lot of work to see what looks like easy success. Their feats only look easy because they have done the work.
In a week, we will be commissioning all of the new officers of the church, and my word to do is to “be strong and do the work.” Enroll in your Bible study, but do more. Do the work. Study the Word. Pray about it, so that you can be convicted by it. Be strong and do the work … whether you have 3 people or 30 people in your monthly meetings … which you must, by the way, have. You are building a room in the sanctuary of God’s temple, which is this world, generally, and our community, specifically. Be strong and do the work, when you are most discouraged, most disappointed, when you are in emotional and or spiritual pain. Be strong and do the work when people notice what you do and when people ignore what you do or try to sabotage what you do.
Be sure that building anything, be it athletic prowess, music excellence, even a strong family, is not an easy thing. It takes daily work, to strengthen what you have already done and to build upon what you have done. Once any of us give up, look back, or throw our hands up, we throw excellence to the wind. As long as we have breath in our bodies, it is paramount that we remember that we are to “be strong and do the work.”
Think about what you are signing on to do as you watch the Olympics, or any sports event. Think about it when you watch Beyonce or Mary J Blige. What you see did not come easily. It took work, and faith and patience and love …and a determination that the end product WILL be excellence.
In so doing, excellence, or creating excellence becomes a habit, a way of life. We run a marathon for God. We, then, must practice and, no matter what, promise God that we will “be strong and do the work.”
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
What I love about the Olympics is that it is evidence that if we do the work, excellence will follow.
In the Bible, God tells his prophets to “be strong and do the work.” David told that to Solomon, his son, whom God wanted to build the Temple. David had wanted to do it, but God said he could not because he had been a warrior and had shed blood.
The task, then, fell on Solomon. David knew that in order to do anything worth anything that it takes work, and faith, and perseverance, washed frequently with tears of frustration and sometimes pain. “Doing the work” is not an easy thing.
David knew it, and knew he had to prepare his son, as best he could, for the journey ahead. He charged his son, publicly, to be careful to follow God’s commands so that he, Solomon, could possess the land and pass it on as an inheritance. He told his son to acknowledge God and “serve God with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind…for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. Consider now,” David continues, “for the Lord has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong …and do the work.
David repeated his advice to his son at the end of that same chapter in 2 Chronicles 18. As if tasting the difficulty of the task ahead, he said again, “Be strong and courageous and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord God, my God, is with you.”
When I see Olympic athletes, I absolutely know the work, the time, the pain, the disappointments, and the small glimpses of success they have seen as they have “done the work.” Ironically, it takes a lot of work to see what looks like easy success. Their feats only look easy because they have done the work.
In a week, we will be commissioning all of the new officers of the church, and my word to do is to “be strong and do the work.” Enroll in your Bible study, but do more. Do the work. Study the Word. Pray about it, so that you can be convicted by it. Be strong and do the work … whether you have 3 people or 30 people in your monthly meetings … which you must, by the way, have. You are building a room in the sanctuary of God’s temple, which is this world, generally, and our community, specifically. Be strong and do the work, when you are most discouraged, most disappointed, when you are in emotional and or spiritual pain. Be strong and do the work when people notice what you do and when people ignore what you do or try to sabotage what you do.
Be sure that building anything, be it athletic prowess, music excellence, even a strong family, is not an easy thing. It takes daily work, to strengthen what you have already done and to build upon what you have done. Once any of us give up, look back, or throw our hands up, we throw excellence to the wind. As long as we have breath in our bodies, it is paramount that we remember that we are to “be strong and do the work.”
Think about what you are signing on to do as you watch the Olympics, or any sports event. Think about it when you watch Beyonce or Mary J Blige. What you see did not come easily. It took work, and faith and patience and love …and a determination that the end product WILL be excellence.
In so doing, excellence, or creating excellence becomes a habit, a way of life. We run a marathon for God. We, then, must practice and, no matter what, promise God that we will “be strong and do the work.”
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Forgiveness, Squared
The Pastor’s Page
Forgiveness is a mighty thing, a mighty and powerful thing.
There was a story this week about a man named Dean Cage who was accused of raping 15 year old Loretta Zilinger 16 years ago.
She said her attacker was a tall black man. She had kept her eyes open during her rape and had touched her attacker’s face, trying to make sure she remembered all of his features.
A week later, Chicago police took her to meat packing plant where a tall black man, Dean Cage, was employed. They showed him to her and she said he was the one who raped her.
From the moment he was arrested, he said they had gotten the wrong man, but he was convicted and sent to prison.
He was freed, exonerated by DNA evidence in 2008.
He said he hated Zilinger, and wanted her to suffer. He had been wrongfully jailed; his life had been ruined, and though he was out of prison, it was hard for him to find work and to start his life over.
She should suffer, and suffer bad, he said.
Then, Loretta appeared on the Dr. Phil show. She was angry when she heard Cage had been released and exonerated. She was afraid and was afraid for her family, but she was also on a mission to talk to rape victims and help them recover.
When she appeared on Dr. Phil’s show, he brought it up that her accused attacker had been released. She was visibly angry …but Dr. Phil explained DNA evidence to her. Her husband, a police officer, also talked with her about it. Until this time, the couple had not really talked about her experience, nor had they talked about her feelings about DNA testing. He said to her that DNA testing was very reliable. A saliva sample left on her body by her assailant had been tested and the saliva did not belong to Cage.
Now she realized she had made a mistake. She felt guilty. Dr. Phil offered to bring her accused assailant to the show so she could meet him and apologize.
She agreed.
What is remarkable is that Cage agreed to come and meet her. She had been raped, sure, but he had been falsely accused and had spent 16 years in jail. He had not been allowed to see his mother when she fell ill. He had had to cancel his wedding. And now, out of jail, he was having trouble finding gainful employment.
It was her fault. Hers and the system which has too often been willing to throw a black man in prison.
But he agreed to see her on the show. He did. She apologized. He accepted. They hugged. He smiled. And he said that it was right to forgive her.
Could you have done that? Have you forgiven someone who really did you wrong?
Like I said, forgiveness is a powerful thing, a mighty and powerful thing.
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
Forgiveness is a mighty thing, a mighty and powerful thing.
There was a story this week about a man named Dean Cage who was accused of raping 15 year old Loretta Zilinger 16 years ago.
She said her attacker was a tall black man. She had kept her eyes open during her rape and had touched her attacker’s face, trying to make sure she remembered all of his features.
A week later, Chicago police took her to meat packing plant where a tall black man, Dean Cage, was employed. They showed him to her and she said he was the one who raped her.
From the moment he was arrested, he said they had gotten the wrong man, but he was convicted and sent to prison.
He was freed, exonerated by DNA evidence in 2008.
He said he hated Zilinger, and wanted her to suffer. He had been wrongfully jailed; his life had been ruined, and though he was out of prison, it was hard for him to find work and to start his life over.
She should suffer, and suffer bad, he said.
Then, Loretta appeared on the Dr. Phil show. She was angry when she heard Cage had been released and exonerated. She was afraid and was afraid for her family, but she was also on a mission to talk to rape victims and help them recover.
When she appeared on Dr. Phil’s show, he brought it up that her accused attacker had been released. She was visibly angry …but Dr. Phil explained DNA evidence to her. Her husband, a police officer, also talked with her about it. Until this time, the couple had not really talked about her experience, nor had they talked about her feelings about DNA testing. He said to her that DNA testing was very reliable. A saliva sample left on her body by her assailant had been tested and the saliva did not belong to Cage.
Now she realized she had made a mistake. She felt guilty. Dr. Phil offered to bring her accused assailant to the show so she could meet him and apologize.
She agreed.
What is remarkable is that Cage agreed to come and meet her. She had been raped, sure, but he had been falsely accused and had spent 16 years in jail. He had not been allowed to see his mother when she fell ill. He had had to cancel his wedding. And now, out of jail, he was having trouble finding gainful employment.
It was her fault. Hers and the system which has too often been willing to throw a black man in prison.
But he agreed to see her on the show. He did. She apologized. He accepted. They hugged. He smiled. And he said that it was right to forgive her.
Could you have done that? Have you forgiven someone who really did you wrong?
Like I said, forgiveness is a powerful thing, a mighty and powerful thing.
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
Monday, February 1, 2010
More on "Post Racial" America
The Pastor’s Page
I wish I could say I was stunned by Chris Matthews saying that President Barack Obama is “post racial,” and that for an hour, he (Matthews) forgot he was a black man. But I am not.
I am, though, fairly irritated that someone who is supposed to be intelligent would say something so stupid, and yes, I do mean stupid. And I am irritated that white people in general seem to want to claim that this is a post racial society. Are you kidding me?
I remember the day after Obama won the White House. All the major media were saying that his election signaled the beginning of post racial America. Richard Cohen, of the Washington Post, might have been the first journalist on record to call Obama “post racial,” saying the day after the election, “we have overcome.”
An article in the Wall Street Journal said that the president’s election said that his win made it possible to “put to rest the myth of racism as a barrier to achievement in this splendid country.” And Rudolph Giuliani said that his election moved us beyond the idea of race and racial separation and unfairness.
None of those statements are true, though I know the writers wish they were. White people seem to want racism to die instantly, without viable work being done, and then dance in the streets singing “racism is dead” like the munchkins in “The Wizard of Oz” danced in glee after a house fell on the wicked witch of the north.
It is not going to happen.
America was built on racism, and was a product of a Constitution and Declaration of Independence that wrote racism into our very fabric. Black people were only ¾ of a person, according to our highest legal document. Indians were totally ignored. The United States was founded on the principle that all white men are created equal. It was called democracy, but it was a very peculiar and specific type of democracy where capitalism would make sure that white people with money maintained power.
And though the Constitution was written at a time when the church and therefore the Gospel, exerted big influence on America’s people, that influence, unfortunately, supported racism and even participated in it.
We therefore live in a culture of racism, a culture which has been bred, honed and fine-tuned over the years. Egalitarianism is not an issue; all people were not SUPPOSED to be treated equally. Capitalism, combined with racism, helped form our country, and those two “isms” are still alive today. They will not die easily, if at all.
What is post-racial anyway? How can a person be post racial? I have no answer for that, but a post racial society is so far from what we are that it is laughable that anyone would say anything different. A post racial society might be defined as a society where race does not matter. That is not the United States. Nor are we a society where power and wealth are not tied to race, or a society which is color blind. All of those are possible definitions of a post racial society, and none of them are applicable to the United States.
Why do I say that? Because it is still easier for white people than black to get jobs, black people still receive less comprehensive health care than do whites. Schools in black neighborhoods are still understaffed and lacking in adequate resources. Young black boys in school with behavior problems are still treated differently than white boys with the same behavior issues. Police are still guilty of racial profiling and are still quick to shoot first and ask questions later. Black people who use crack cocaine still get greater prison sentences than do white people who use cocaine… The list goes on. We are not post racial, and cannot be, as long as those situations, and more, are our reality.
Why are white people so anxious to say that the race problem is gone? I think it is because they are unable to own their culture’s history. It is not pretty. It is, as a matter of fact, downright disturbing. There has been economic, judicial, and physical domestic terrorism practiced in this country. It is easier to deny it than to own it. The problem of racism in America is made bigger because white people deny its existence and black people, rightfully so, hold anger because of that denial.
White people seem to want the problem to just go away, but no problem dissipates without acknowledging its existence and then working to fix what’s wrong … and what is fundamentally wrong is that the cries of African Americans has never been acknowledged as justified … PLUS, the white culture has continually, over the years, added more racist behavior on top of an already sad and sordid past.
The situation then is one of a trust broken, a trust by African Americans that they would be treated as equal human beings with dignity but finding that not to be the case. America’s whites have continually used their privileged status to get what they want, at any cost, to any people. Its treatment of American Indians, wiping out whole Indian cultures and relegating survivors to reservations is appalling. America’s whites have continually violated what should be a given: the belief that all peoples have worth.
They have heaped insult upon injury, leading to despair on the part of some African Americans, and anger with many to most. They have not been their brothers’ keeper, but instead have been their brothers’ brutalizers. Egalitarianism was never a goal of white people. And so, African Americans have worked for acceptance yet never found it. African Americans have been good enough to fight in America’s wars but not good enough to receive decent treatment when they got home. African Americans have been used, their gifts violated and exploited, and then kicked to the curb. And white Americans have never acknowledged they have done that.
The result to this white denial, as I said, has been black anger. We have skirted around the issue, but not dealt with it. In a relationship (and this is about relationship) where trust has been violated, it takes a long time once the problem has been owned to fix things; if the problem is never acknowledged, the relationship invariably fails. There has never been healing between the races because the problem has never been owned by white America. Black people have succeeded not because of white people, but in spite of black people, but the hurt has never gone away.
There is yet another issue to all of this: not all people who are saying we are “post racial” are white. Many, too many, African Americans are using the phrase as well, and believing it. Many African Americans have been so interested in being a part of the white culture that they, too, just want racism to go away so that they can assimilate in peace. They are consumed with self hatred and suffer from a denial syndrome as well: that of denying that they are African American.
The term “post racial” implies that there was a “pre racial.” We have never been a pre racial society. “Post” means that something has come after an event. A woman can be pre menopausal, menopausal .. and only then, post menopausal. The pre menopausal part of her life is generally OK; being menopausal is traumatic for some, uncomfortable for most … but once it is done and a woman is “post menopausal,” she has suffered and endured the process of changing and generally has relief and high quality of life.
America has never endure the process of changing from a racial society, a society where racism has been at the helm for far too long.
Surely Chris Matthews and others realize that.
I wish I could say I was stunned by Chris Matthews saying that President Barack Obama is “post racial,” and that for an hour, he (Matthews) forgot he was a black man. But I am not.
I am, though, fairly irritated that someone who is supposed to be intelligent would say something so stupid, and yes, I do mean stupid. And I am irritated that white people in general seem to want to claim that this is a post racial society. Are you kidding me?
I remember the day after Obama won the White House. All the major media were saying that his election signaled the beginning of post racial America. Richard Cohen, of the Washington Post, might have been the first journalist on record to call Obama “post racial,” saying the day after the election, “we have overcome.”
An article in the Wall Street Journal said that the president’s election said that his win made it possible to “put to rest the myth of racism as a barrier to achievement in this splendid country.” And Rudolph Giuliani said that his election moved us beyond the idea of race and racial separation and unfairness.
None of those statements are true, though I know the writers wish they were. White people seem to want racism to die instantly, without viable work being done, and then dance in the streets singing “racism is dead” like the munchkins in “The Wizard of Oz” danced in glee after a house fell on the wicked witch of the north.
It is not going to happen.
America was built on racism, and was a product of a Constitution and Declaration of Independence that wrote racism into our very fabric. Black people were only ¾ of a person, according to our highest legal document. Indians were totally ignored. The United States was founded on the principle that all white men are created equal. It was called democracy, but it was a very peculiar and specific type of democracy where capitalism would make sure that white people with money maintained power.
And though the Constitution was written at a time when the church and therefore the Gospel, exerted big influence on America’s people, that influence, unfortunately, supported racism and even participated in it.
We therefore live in a culture of racism, a culture which has been bred, honed and fine-tuned over the years. Egalitarianism is not an issue; all people were not SUPPOSED to be treated equally. Capitalism, combined with racism, helped form our country, and those two “isms” are still alive today. They will not die easily, if at all.
What is post-racial anyway? How can a person be post racial? I have no answer for that, but a post racial society is so far from what we are that it is laughable that anyone would say anything different. A post racial society might be defined as a society where race does not matter. That is not the United States. Nor are we a society where power and wealth are not tied to race, or a society which is color blind. All of those are possible definitions of a post racial society, and none of them are applicable to the United States.
Why do I say that? Because it is still easier for white people than black to get jobs, black people still receive less comprehensive health care than do whites. Schools in black neighborhoods are still understaffed and lacking in adequate resources. Young black boys in school with behavior problems are still treated differently than white boys with the same behavior issues. Police are still guilty of racial profiling and are still quick to shoot first and ask questions later. Black people who use crack cocaine still get greater prison sentences than do white people who use cocaine… The list goes on. We are not post racial, and cannot be, as long as those situations, and more, are our reality.
Why are white people so anxious to say that the race problem is gone? I think it is because they are unable to own their culture’s history. It is not pretty. It is, as a matter of fact, downright disturbing. There has been economic, judicial, and physical domestic terrorism practiced in this country. It is easier to deny it than to own it. The problem of racism in America is made bigger because white people deny its existence and black people, rightfully so, hold anger because of that denial.
White people seem to want the problem to just go away, but no problem dissipates without acknowledging its existence and then working to fix what’s wrong … and what is fundamentally wrong is that the cries of African Americans has never been acknowledged as justified … PLUS, the white culture has continually, over the years, added more racist behavior on top of an already sad and sordid past.
The situation then is one of a trust broken, a trust by African Americans that they would be treated as equal human beings with dignity but finding that not to be the case. America’s whites have continually used their privileged status to get what they want, at any cost, to any people. Its treatment of American Indians, wiping out whole Indian cultures and relegating survivors to reservations is appalling. America’s whites have continually violated what should be a given: the belief that all peoples have worth.
They have heaped insult upon injury, leading to despair on the part of some African Americans, and anger with many to most. They have not been their brothers’ keeper, but instead have been their brothers’ brutalizers. Egalitarianism was never a goal of white people. And so, African Americans have worked for acceptance yet never found it. African Americans have been good enough to fight in America’s wars but not good enough to receive decent treatment when they got home. African Americans have been used, their gifts violated and exploited, and then kicked to the curb. And white Americans have never acknowledged they have done that.
The result to this white denial, as I said, has been black anger. We have skirted around the issue, but not dealt with it. In a relationship (and this is about relationship) where trust has been violated, it takes a long time once the problem has been owned to fix things; if the problem is never acknowledged, the relationship invariably fails. There has never been healing between the races because the problem has never been owned by white America. Black people have succeeded not because of white people, but in spite of black people, but the hurt has never gone away.
There is yet another issue to all of this: not all people who are saying we are “post racial” are white. Many, too many, African Americans are using the phrase as well, and believing it. Many African Americans have been so interested in being a part of the white culture that they, too, just want racism to go away so that they can assimilate in peace. They are consumed with self hatred and suffer from a denial syndrome as well: that of denying that they are African American.
The term “post racial” implies that there was a “pre racial.” We have never been a pre racial society. “Post” means that something has come after an event. A woman can be pre menopausal, menopausal .. and only then, post menopausal. The pre menopausal part of her life is generally OK; being menopausal is traumatic for some, uncomfortable for most … but once it is done and a woman is “post menopausal,” she has suffered and endured the process of changing and generally has relief and high quality of life.
America has never endure the process of changing from a racial society, a society where racism has been at the helm for far too long.
Surely Chris Matthews and others realize that.
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