February 19, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Black History Month:  Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was born a slave in either 1817 or 1818 on a plantation in Talbot County, Maryland.  Having an unspecified birthdate, he chose February 14 as his birthday because his mother called him her “Little Valentine.”

At the age of six he was separated from his family, eventually being sent to serve a white family in Baltimore.  The Mistress of the house began teaching him to read, but then, influenced by her husband, stopped the lessons and hid all reading materials.  Frederick realized that knowledge was the pathway to freedom and taught himself to read and write in secret.  He was eventually given to another owner who had a reputation for cruelty, and he whipped Frederick often.  On September 3, 1838, he escaped to freedom dressed as a sailor and carrying the identification and protection papers of a free black sailor, arriving in Philadelphia with a final destination of New York City the next day.

He was religiously active and spoke out often against the church’s complicity in slavery and their hypocrisy.  Douglass accused slaveholders of wickedness, a lack of morality, and a failure to follow the Golden Rule.  He made distinctions between the “Christianity of Christ” and the “Christianity of America,” considering religious slaveholders and clergy who defended slavery as the most brutal, sinful, and cynical of all.

In What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? he sharply criticized the attitude of religious people who kept silent about slavery due to political expediency or not wanting to offend anyone, and he charged that ministers committed a blasphemy when they taught it as sanctioned by religion.  He considered that a law passed to support slavery was "one of the grossest infringements of Christian Liberty" and said that pro-slavery clergymen within the American Church "stripped the love of God of its beauty, and leave the throne of religion a huge, horrible, repulsive form", and "an abomination in the sight of God."

Frederick Douglass became a great orator and writer, and he reminds us that the Church cannot sit idly by in silence when any of God’s children are mistreated, abused, and/or neglected.

Open our eyes, O Lord, to the injustices committed on our behalf.  Awaken us to the unpleasant truths that a whitewashed history tries to cover up.  Free us from the bonds of prejudice and fear.  Allow us to see the value and contributions of those who are different.  And give us the strength and courage to work for justice, freedom, and peace in the face of opposition, while respecting the dignity of every human being.  Amen.

February 12, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Black History Month:  Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr., was the son and grandson of Baptist preachers, and became the pastor of a Baptist church in Montgomery, AL, in 1954.  He became the face of the equality movement following the arrest of Rosa Parks when he led the Montgomery bus boycott.

Like Saint Paul, King faced a variety of obstacles and persecutions:  his home was dynamited, he was stabbed, harassed by death threats, and jailed over 30 times.  And on April 4, 1968, he was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN.

While in jail in Birmingham for participating in a non-violent equality march, he wrote a response to the public concerns of eight white clergymen.  In that letter he made the following statements:

            Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

            Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider.

            You deplore the demonstrations . . . but do not express concern for the conditions that                                    brought the demonstrations into being.

            Privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily.

            Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the                                           oppressed.

            We can never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was “legal.”

            It was “illegal” to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s Germany.

            Will we be extremists for hate, or will we be extremists for love?

            Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice, or will we be extremists for the

                        cause of justice?

The whole letter can be found here, and I would encourage you to read it in its entirety, as we are facing the same issues of division, hatred, oppression, and injustices today that Martin Luther King, Jr., faced then.

We must answer today the questions he asked of the white pastors of Birmingham in 1963: 

Will we be extremists for hate, or will we be extremists for love?  Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice, or will we be extremists for the cause of justice?

His Feast Day on the Church Calendar is April 4 (alternate day, January 15).

Open our eyes, O Lord, to the injustices committed on our behalf.  Awaken us to the unpleasant truths that a whitewashed history tries to cover up.  Free us from the bonds of prejudice and fear.  Allow us to see the value and contributions of those who are different.  And give us the strength to work for justice, freedom, and peace, while respecting the dignity of every human being.  Amen.

February 5, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Black History Month:  Absalom Jones

Absalom Jones was born a house slave in 1746 in Delaware.  As a child he taught himself to read using the New Testament and other books.  When he was sixteen he was sold to a store owner in Philadelphia where he attended a night school for Blacks operated by the Quakers.  He married another slave when he was twenty and purchased her freedom with his earnings.  He was eventually able to purchase his own freedom in 1784.

He attended St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church where he served as a lay minister for its Black membership.  He was an active evangelist and helped to increase Black membership at the church.  This increase, however, scared the parish vestry, and they moved to segregate their Black members into the upstairs gallery.  When the ushers tried to remove them, they all walked out, never to return.

In 1787, Black Christians organized the first-ever Free African Society, with Absalom Jones and his friend Richard Allen elected as overseers.  The Society connected with similar groups in other cities, collected dues to benefit those in need, and built St. Thomas African Episcopal Church, which was dedicated on July 17, 1794.

Parishioners of St. Thomas applied for membership in the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania with the following conditions: 1) they be received as an organized body; 2) they have control over local affairs; and, 3) that Absalom Jones be licensed as a lay reader and ordained, if qualified, to the ministry.  The church was admitted to the diocese in October of 1794, and Bishop William White, the second bishop in the Episcopal Church, ordained Absalom Jones to the diaconate in 1795 and as a priest on September 21, 1802.

During his time there, he denounced slavery and preached that God was always on the side of the oppressed and distressed.  The church gained 500 members in its first year.

His Feast Day on the Church Calendar is February 13.

Open our eyes, O Lord, to the injustices committed on our behalf.  Awaken us to the unpleasant truths that a whitewashed history tries to cover up.  Free us from the bonds of prejudice and fear.  Allow us to see the value and contributions of those who are different.  And gives us the strength to work for justice, freedom, and peace, while respecting the dignity of every human being.

January 29, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Prayer

“I choose now to pause.”

I have a number of prayer apps on my phone.  Some are Roman Catholic based and some are Episcopal based.  A couple of them have an audio option, while most of them require you to read through the prayers.  These apps are especially helpful when I don’t have a Prayer Book with me, since the Daily Offices are right there on my phone.  They are also helpful for those times I just want to sit and listen to someone else read through the Office.

I was talking with someone the other day about prayer.  A variety of things came up in that conversation, but there were two things that stuck out in my mind.  The first is that God is not a vending machine and our prayers are not the quarters that we insert.  And the second is that prayer, more than anything else, is the conversation you have with God – it works to deepen your knowledge and love of God while also providing time for you to listen to God.

Those, of course, are very basic ideas about prayer, and we could (should?) spend much more time delving into the topic and practice.

Another thing about prayer that I think is important is that it is intentional.  I hear people tell me all the time that they pray in their car on their way to work, or they pray in the shower, or they pray while they are making dinner, or whenever.  I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, because I have done them all at one time or another.  But how much more meaningful are our conversations when we aren’t distracted by traffic, or time constraints, or boiling water?

When you pray, make it a practice to be intentional.  When you pray, create space in your day to invite God to be with you.  When you pray, make sure God is your priority in that moment.

When you pray, choose a time to pause.

Blessings,

January 22, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . The Bleak Midwinter

“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.” – Hymn 112

A few weeks ago I was talking with a friend and they mentioned that this was their favorite Christmas hymn.  As I sat eating breakfast yesterday, I looked out at the field and mountains with dawn just beginning to break over the hills.  The trees were stark, dark and leafless, deep into their winter hibernation.  The grassy field and mountains were all monochromatic winter brown with the snow from last week’s storm laying hard-packed on the ground.  And as I looked out, this hymn came to mind.

We have come to that point in the year when we start noticing the sun rising earlier.  Morning commutes aren’t necessarily happening in the dark.  We can see that spring is coming.

It occurred to me, though, that the “bleak midwinter” doesn’t take place in the dark.  The bleak midwinter doesn’t take place when we are deep in winter and the sun doesn’t peak over the horizon until much later.  It doesn’t take place when mornings and evenings are dark.

Instead, the bleak midwinter happens now – still in the dead of winter, but when the sun begins to rise earlier.  It happens when there’s just enough light to see the dark and stark trees.  It happens when the only thing you seem to see is one long, monochromatic shade of brown.  It happens when the hard-packed snow doesn’t glisten, but is only a whiter shade of pale.

But here’s the thing about the bleak midwinter:  it happens when there’s just enough light to see the bleakness.  It happens as the light begins to drive back the darkness.

We may be in the bleak midwinter.  The frosty wind moans over earth standing hard as iron when water turns to stone.  But darkness is losing its grip, and light begins to take hold.  So wherever you may be, and whatever bleakness you are facing, know that it will not last because the light is coming.

Blessings,

January 15, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Fire Relief

We have all seen the devastation of the wildfires in California, and while I can’t be sure, I think it will become one of the biggest natural disasters in our history, if not the biggest.  Pictures of lost homes, businesses, churches, and schools are almost beyond comprehension.  And while we know firsthand the devastation wildfires can inflict, we were fortunate to not have the destruction seen in California.

If you are able to financially donate to relief efforts, here are a few links which I think would do the most good:

https://support.episcopalrelief.org/wildfire-2025

https://diocesela.org/fire-response/

https://www.directrelief.org/emergency/california-wildfires/

https://www.cafirefoundation.org/what-we-do/for-communities/disaster-relief

https://www.ncjwla.org/lafire/

https://secure.projecthope.org/site/SPageNavigator/FY25_01_LA_Fire_and_General_Unrestricted_Support_Web_LO_12860.html

A Prayer for Victims of the Fires

Gracious Lord, surround all those who have lost homes, businesses, livelihoods, schools, churches, and family members with your never-failing love.  Give them hope amid despair.  Give them space for mourning and resilience to carry on.  Deliver them from the bitterness of eternal death, and give them the strength of your presence that they may know and find life from death.

A Prayer for Emergency Workers

Lord God, our strong deliverer:  When those charged with responding to crises feel overwhelmed by the numbers of those suffering and the vastness of devastation, uphold them in their fatigue and banish their despair.  Give them comfort, and renew their energy and compassion, for the sake of Jesus in whom is our life and our hope.

Blessings,

January 8, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Sunshine

On January 5 we had our first real snow of the year.  Coming on the 12^th Day of Christmas, I guess, technically, we still got our white Christmas.  But even with the snow, both Sunday and Monday were rather dreary days. 

Yesterday, however, was glorious!  The sky was bright blue, the sun was shining, and the sunlight reflecting off the new snow was almost blinding.  Although the temperature only reached 26, it felt much warmer than that.

One of the things I really love is a calm and bright sunny day after a winter storm.  People smile.  Attitudes are much improved.  And if you have any cleanup to do, the sunshine even makes that tolerable.  In this winter sunshine there was a sense of joy and life in the people I encountered on my walk downtown.

The Christmas season began with the birth of Christ.  The Gospel of John tells us that “in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

Monday was the Feast of the Epiphany, when we celebrate the arrival of the wise men from the East who followed a star to the home of Mary and Jesus in Bethlehem.  They followed a light that shone in the darkness which eventually led them to a life found in Christ Jesus.

Christmas and Epiphany are about the arrival of God’s light in a darkened world. 

This winter, may the light of Christ shine in and through you like sunshine after a winter storm so that you may bring joy and life to all those whom you touch.

Blessings,

January 1, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Silence

[An angel said to Elijah], “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”  Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.  When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.  Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” – 1 Kings 19:11-13

Today is January 1, 2025.  It is New Year’s Day.  It is also the Eighth Day of Christmas and the Feast of the Holy Name.  There’s a lot going on today.  In addition to continuing the Christmas festivities, this is the day we celebrate the naming of Jesus (taken from the Jewish tradition of naming male children eight days after their birth).  And if you’re like me, to be honest, there are a number of Bowl Games to follow and overeat on chips, dips, and the like.

Despite offices being closed today, there is plenty to do and plenty which to keep us busy.

In the midst of everything – Christmas, New Year’s, our 12^th Night Party, Annual Meeting prep, and, and, and – the above passage of Elijah’s encounter with God popped into my head.

As we navigate all of the busy-ness in our lives, remember to take time and listen for God, remembering that God cannot be heard through the noise of wind, earthquakes, fire, or Bowl Games.  God, it seems, is heard in the silence. 

In the midst of all that is going on, find time to slip away.  Find time for quiet.  Find time for silence.  In that silence you just might hear the voice of God speaking to you.  And in that silence you just might be able to answer God’s question:  What are you doing here?

Merry Christmas,