e.e. cummings – i am a little church

This is the poem I used at the end of my address. - Rev. Kurt

i am a little church (no great cathedral)
far from the splendor and squalor of hurrying cities
i do not worry if briefer days grow briefest,
i am not sorry when sun and rain make april

my life is the life of the reaper and the sower;
my prayers are prayers of earth's own clumsily striving
(finding and losing and laughing and crying) children
whose any sadness or joy is my grief or my gladness

around me surges a miracle of unceasing
birth and glory and death and resurrection:
over my sleeping self float flaming symbols of hope,
and i wake to a perfect patience of mountains

i am a little church (far from the frantic world
with its rapture and anguish) at peace with nature
i do not worry if longer nights grow longest;
i am not sorry when silence becomes singing

winter by spring, i lift my diminutive spire
to merciful Him Whose only now is forever:
standing erect in the deathless truth of His presence
(welcoming humbly His light and proudly His darkness)

Lear more about his poem here.

On this MLK Jr. Day

Almighty God, by the hand of Moses your servant you led your people out of slavery, and made them free at last: Grant that your Church, following the example of your prophet Martin Luther King, may resist oppression in the name of your love, and may secure for all your children the blessed liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Find a place to help out today: www.serve.gov

A Cartoon from Jeff Stahler

Sermon: January 17

Let us remember Spring will come again
To the scorched, blackened woods, where the wounded trees
Wait with their old wise patience for the heavenly rain,
Sure of the sky: sure of the sea to send its healing breeze,
Sure of the sun, and even as to these
Surely the Spring, when God shall please,
Will come again like a divine surprise
To those who sit today with their great Dead, hands in their hands
Eyes in their eyes
At one with Love, at one with Grief: blind to the scattered things
And changing skies.
[Charlotte Mew – May 1915]

This poem written nearly a 100 years ago expresses the hope for Spring and new life in the midst of death and sorrow. It was written in a time of war but sure feels like it could have been written yesterday for we have seen the pictures and the videos of those who sit today with their great Dead, hands in their hands, eyes in their eyes.

Such grief and tragedy, its almost too much to watch and then Spring comes again, hope in the rubble, a noise, and the rescuers dig and out comes a toddler, after 3 days of being buried, is alive and well, more Spring hope when supplies reach those in need.

There are times of hope and joy in the midst of such darkness and pain. But we have seen so much death and destruction and if those images from Haiti were not bad enough, such heart wrenching scenes of destruction, we then hear from the Rev. Pat Robertson who believes that Haiti suffered from a devastating earthquake because of its "pact with the devil” some 200 years ago. Sadly, whenever a terrible tragedy happens, some ask who is to blame – it happened after the tsunami in 2004, after Hurricane Katrina, and now after the Haitian earthquake. They must have done something to deserve such a tragedy…

Jim Wallis writes, "When evil strikes, it's easy to ask, where is God. The answer: God is suffering in the midst of the evil with those who are suffering."

Theologian David Bentley Hart wrote this upon reflecting on the great tsunami that struck Asia in 2004,

"We are to be guided by the full character of what is revealed of God in Christ. For, after all, if it is from Christ that we are to learn how God relates himself to sin, suffering, evil, and death, it would seem that he provides us little evidence of anything other than a regal, relentless, and miraculous enmity: sin he forgives, suffering he heals, evil he casts out, and death he conquers. And absolutely nowhere does Christ act as if any of these things are part of the eternal work or purposes of God."

That is, evil is not part of God’s plan, tragedy is not God’s way of working things out, God does willingly grieve God’s children. It is natural for us to ask where God is in all of this, and from our Scriptures, we would answer that God is in the rubble with the suffering because we know that is where Jesus would be. And when tragedy does strike, we are called to reach out and help those in need.

I think of the Wedding at Cana that we hear about in today’s Gospel. It wasn’t a tragedy but a celebration, a wedding, not only family, but all the villagers are there and in the midst of which, the wine gave out. No big deal – but for the family hosting the celebration – disgrace would be attached for not having enough; family dishonor. Enter Mary, Jesus’ mom. She tells Jesus the wine is gone. Hint, hint, help out…

Jesus isn’t concerned but Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus says. She forces the issue for Jesus to help out. And Jesus does – he does the first of his signs, the first of his miracles at the wedding in cana of galilee when the water turns into wine, good wine, a nice cabernet maybe. He doesn’t do it show off – in fact, he tries not to do anything – but he listens to his mother (shouldn’t we all?) and turns the situation from shame to joy.

Such service to those in need are what we are called on to do.

This week to help out, ARC had people send a text message from their phone - $10 to help with the relief effort – 1 million and counting gave that way – amazing! It took literally seconds and you made a difference. That is a small first step to help.

This past week, 2 parishioners, a father and daughter flew down with other college students to help rebuild a house in New Orleans. After Katrina and all the relief has come and gone, the long arduous task of recovery and rebuilding has begun there. Their work reminds us that right after tragedy comes the hard work to serve and rebuild, another important step.

On this MLK, Jr. weekend, we are reminded of his words that all life is interrelated and that we all can be great because we all can serve for this is another step, to volunteer our time, on a day off to help those around us in need be they in Monroe, Bridgeport or New Haven. As MLK said,

“And I know now that Jesus is right, that love is the way. And this is why John said, "God is love," so that he who hates does not know God, but he who loves at that moment has the key that opens the door to the meaning of ultimate reality. So this morning there is so much that we have to offer to the world.”

We have so much to offer, so today, let us follow Christ's call. Let us ill the emptiness of our lives, with the new wine that Jesus has made from the water of our lives and in that new wine is the Spirit, like a quenching fire that he has given to each us, these gifts of the spirit for our discipleship. We are blessed to use them for the common good, to help those in need in Monroe or Bridgeport, New Orleans or Haiti. Amen.

A Service of Prayer for Haiti - Washington National Cathedral - 6 PM

Strength through Unity -- L'Union fait la Force: A Service of Prayer for Haiti

Join the Washington National Cathedral for a service of music and prayer for the victims, families, and survivors of the January 12 earthquake in Haiti. The offering will benefit relief efforts in Haiti. The service will feature prayers from interfaith representatives and a Haitian folksong sung by countertenor Jean-Luc Princivil. More details will be forthcoming.

Participants and Guests

• The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, offering a sermon;
• Bishop of Washington John Bryson Chane, offering the invocation;
• Auxiliary Bishop of Washington Barry C. Knestout, representing the Most Rev. Donald W. Wuerl, archbishop of Washington;
• Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III, offering the welcome; and
• The Cathedral Choir of Men and Girls
• Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
• His Excellency Raymond Joseph, Haitian ambassador to the U.S.

Prayer

Gracious God,
I lift my voice in prayer with all the people of the world.

Surround Haiti and her people
with your loving embrace
that they may be:

supported by the world in the work of rescue and recovery;
comforted as they grieve;
strengthened as they bury their dead;
healed as they tend their wounds;
restored in faith and the
hope of things unseen;
and transformed through newness of life in Christ.

Make me an instrument
of divine love, of mercy, of hope, and of new possibility.
Give me eyes to see,
ears to hear, the will to act, and a discerning and generous heart
that I may serve you and those who suffer in whatever way I am able.

In and through the power of the Holy Spirit, I pray. Amen.

The service will be webcast live here. CNN plans to feature live coverage.

An Episcopal Church Portal for Haiti Earthquake Response

The Episcopal Church has set up a website: http://episcopalchurch.org/haiti.php

It contains a #haiti Twitter feed, a donation link to Episcopal Relief & Development and is updated regularly with news and other information.

Where was God in the Earthquake?

Despite the absurd and ignorant rantings of Pat Robertson, all of us struggle in some ways with the horror we see on TV and the internet regarding the tragedy of Haiti after the horrific earthquake.

A priest on his blog asks:  Where Was God in the Earthquake? (Metanoia)

Precisely, the question we ask.  Read his blog post it is well worth it!

One quote from the post:

Theologian David Bentley Hart offers the best answer I know in his book The Doors of the Sea: Where Was God in the Tsunami?  He wrote it upon reflecting on the great tsunami that struck Asia in 2004.  Hart reminds us that "we are to be guided by the full character of what is revealed of God in Christ.  For, after all, if it is from Christ that we are to learn how God relates himself to sin, suffering, evil, and death, it would seem that he provides us little evidence of anything other than a regal, relentless, and miraculous enmity: sin he forgives, suffering he heals, evil he casts out, and death he conquers.  And absolutely nowhere does Christ act as if any of these things are part of the eternal work or purposes of God."

Amen!