One of the most difficult things to do, either in interfaith dialogue or in evangelism, is to explain your beliefs briefly and clearly so that others can understand them. As I prepare for Lent, Good Friday, and Easter, I've been thinking about how hard it is to convey to non-Christians what this season means to me and what the Passion of Jesus means. In representing Christianity to students in "Building Bridges" presentations and in preaching to Unitarian Universalists in recent months, I have found it helpful to quote Bruce Springsteen's album "The Rising," which won the Grammy for Best Rock Album of the Year. You probably should take with a grain of salt any music review offered by yours truly, but in my opinion, this is the first great work of art created in the aftermath of 9/11. Here is my quick summary of the Gospel.
The Boss knows that we live in a world which God created as good, one in which God intends each of us to be an original blessing to others, as the theologian Matthew Fox puts it, but we also confront real evil, as we all saw on 9/11:
"Tell me how do I begin again?We live in an in-between time where there is both great evil and God's freely given grace. We live under a
My city's in ruins."
"Sky of glory and sadness. . .
Sky of mercy, sky of fear "
Christianity rests on the Good News Jesus proclaimed, that God loves us and forgives all our faults and shortcomings, without our needing to prove anything to anyone, and accepting this freely-given, unmerited love can transform our lives. In the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, Christians see how extravagantly God loves us. Following him can make us into something far better than we could ever be through our own efforts alone: we can become a little more like the one who suffered to redeem the world rather than inflict suffering on others. The song which is, I think, the very best cut on a very great album, says the firefighters, cops, EMTs and others who raced into the Towers, because "love and duty called you some place higher." Christians sometimes talk about "the imitation of Christ", which is what the rescue workers, nurses, construction workers, and other volunteers who rushed to Ground Zero did. Following him and them, we can become more like him:
"May your strength give us strength.
May your faith give us faith.
May your hope give us hope.
May your love give us love."
(copyright 2002 Bruce Springsteen)
Let the church say Amen!
Shalom/Salaam/Shanti/Pax,
Tom
Special thanks go to the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation (Newsday Charities) for a gift of $48,000 for our social service programs, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) for its gift of $25,000 for World Trade Center assistance, Episcopal Relief and Development for $20,000 for WTC assistance, and 1st Presbyterian Church of Baldwin for $3,000 for chaplaincy, transportation and medical assistance. We also thank the following for their gifts of $500 or more:
We are grateful also to faith-based institutions, agencies, businesses, and others who gave less, but whose gifts are just as important, and we thank the numerous individuals who also gave but asked that we not publish their names.
Over the past few weeks, the LIMFF has brought "Building Bridges" panels into several of Long Island's middle and high schools. This year there have been opportunities to visit both public and private schools to present religious voices from several traditions. In some settings the program has included a chance for students to get "up close and personal" with religions new to them. Students at Hauppauge High School were invited to try Zen meditation with several young Buddhists. Students at the Knox School in St. James learned how to don a sari, and heard the life story of a survivor of the Holocaust. More programs like these are planned through the spring months,in fact, some schools have already asked us to return, bringing more faiths to their students.
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of attending these programs is listening to the questions students ask the panelists. The fact that questions are asked is a good sign that the panelists have made a presentation compelling enough to hold students' attention - no mean task! Questions cover the spectrum of religious practice and belief. Young people have a chance to ask Sikhs why they don't cut their hair, and Muslims why they cover their heads. They can ask a Christian if women will ever be admitted to the priesthood, and ask Hindus why cows are sacred. While all these questions could be looked up in written sources, having a real live person to talk with makes the experience come alive and students are much more likely to remember the answers.
Sociologist Ronald Johnson tells us that "adolescence is the time when a person must transform religious attitudes from secondhand to firsthand fittings of his or her personality." This moment in time comes alive when students ask probing questions of the panelists: "What about your religion don't you like?" "Do I have to become a Buddhist to meditate?" "Why didn't you give up hope when you were imprisoned in the concentration camp?" "Why do Hindus believe in reincarnation?"
The LIMFF has been blessed to find schools who are open to "education about religion." Their students are proving how deeply appropriate - and appreciated - our work can be.
The Bridgehampton Community of Faith will weave together sacred music, Scripture, and Lenten meditations as they prepare for Good Friday and Easter. On Sunday, April 6, at 3 p.m. they are presenting Franz Joseph Haydn's "The Seven Last Words of Christ" at Incarnation Lutheran Church, which is located on Montauk Highway at Hayground Road, between Water Mill and Bridgehampton. All are invited. Call Pastor Rose Ann Vita at 631-537-1187 for further information.
Several local interfaith clergy associations sponsor a film and dialogue series in their communities. In conjunction with local churches and synagogues, the Greater Port Jefferson-Northern Brookhaven Arts Council has a three-part "Festival of Films and Faith" which screen mass- market movies, followed by interfaith panels discussing the films. On April 5, for example, they will look at "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" at 1st Presbyterian Church in Pt. Jefferson at 7 p.m. The Huntington Clergy Association usually shows independent or foreign films. On April 10 they are showing "Bend It Like Beckham" (a comedy about inter-generational struggles within an Anglo-Indian family) at the Cinema Arts Center at 7 p.m. , followed by a panel discussion with a Unitarian universalist pastor, a professor of world religions, and a Sikh representative from the Multi-Faith Forum.
Carolyn Winfrey Gillette is a pastor and hymn writer. Many denominations and ecumenical groups have posted her hymns on their web sites as resources for congregations including the American Baptist Churches, Church World Service, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America and the United Methodist Church. Her hymn written on Sept. 11 ("O God, Our Words Cannot Express") has been used by many churches. On March 20 Carolyn wrote a new hymn for churches shortly before our country went to war.
"God, Whose Love Is Always Stronger"
Tune: BEACH SPRING 8.7.8.7 D ("God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending")
God, whose love is always stronger Than our weakness, pride and fear,
In your world, we pray and wonder How to be more faithful here.
Hate too often grows inside us; Fear rules what the nations do.
So we pray, when wars divide us: Give us love, Lord! Make us new!
Love is patient, kind and caring, Never arrogant or rude,
Never boastful, all things bearing; Love rejoices in the truth.
When we're caught up in believing War will make the terror cease,
Show us Jesus' way of living; May our strength be in your peace.
May our faith in you be nourished; May your churches hear your call.
May our lives be filled with courage As we speak your love for all.
Now emboldened by your Spirit Who has given us new birth,
Give us love, that we may share it Till your love renews the earth!
Biblical References: Romans 8:28-39, 2 Corinthians 12:9, John 3:7, Revelation 21:5, 1 Corinthians 13:4-5, John 14:27, Matthew 5-7, 1
Thessalonians 2:2, John 3:16, 17:18, Psalm 46:9, and Romans 8:22.
Suggested Tune: The Sacred Harp, 1844. Harm. James H. Wood, 1958.
Alternate Tunes:
Author Anne Lamott describes herself as a "sober alcoholic, a born-again Christian and a liberal activist," a combination which must cause some fellow believers apoplexy. "Bird by Bird with Annie" a film airing in the new PBS series "Independent Lens," is a funny, honest, and uplifting portrait of a writer whose six novels and three best-selling non-fiction books have brought laughter and inspiration to many. We see Lamott autographing books, teaching a writing class, and leading worship in a nursing home (which she has done for a decade). We also see the author as evangelist, someone who has drawn many to the Presbyterian church she found one day while wandering through a nearby flea market with a bad hangover. Without exaggeration, Lamott credits this fellowship of sinners and saints with saving her life. Like the woman at the well in the Gospel according to John, she tells her friends "Come and see what I have found."
In "Bird by Bird with Annie", Lamott recalls her childhood as a shy girl who grew into an often-ridiculed adolescent, the class clown, and regular drinker by age 13. She describes facing pregnancy as an unmarried young woman, how she weighed the decision of whether or not to have an abortion, her life as a single mother (the basis of her hilarious book "Operating Instructions"), her work as a writer (which led to another bestseller, "Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life") and her spiritual journey (which she chronicled in a third best-selling book, "Traveling Mercies"). Lamott shares her mistakes and missteps, her grief when a friend dies, and her profound trust in Jesus.
"Bird by Bird with Annie" airs on WNET/13 on Tuesday, April 22 at 10:30 p.m. Also worth catching is the preceding installment of "Independent Lens" on April 8 at 10 p.m., "Strange Fruit," which tells about the Jewish teacher from the Bronx who wrote Billy Holiday's haunting protest against lynching, and "Sisters in Resistance" (April 29 at 10 p.m.), the story of four young women whose faith led them into the French Resistance during World War II and brought them out of Ravensbruck together.
--TWG-
JESUS ALIVE 2005 is sponsoring three locations for the National Day of Prayer on May lst:
Name
Title
Religion/denomination
Address
Phone
Fax
Is the above information new? Updated?
Operation Easter Cards
St. Mary's Episcopal Church
P. O. Box 201
252 Rushmore Avenue
Carle Place, NY 11514-0201.
First Presbyterian Church of Baldwin and the Church World Service Interfaith Trauma Response Team (ITRT) will offer a seminar to help prepare faith leaders and caregivers for meeting the long-term challenges stemming from traumatic events such as that of September 11, 2001, and April 19, 1995. The "Preparing to Work at a Critical Incident Site" training seminar covers the nature and scope of public trauma, the responses by the faith community to public trauma and preparing appropriate responses to meet the emotional and spiritual needs of faith communities and those traumatized by crisis events. The seminar presenters are professionally-trained leaders from Oklahoma City with extensive experience stemming from the tragic event of April 19, 1995, and sixteen months of workshop and training seminar presentations in the NYC and Washington D.C. areas.
The seminar is open to leaders of all faiths who provide spiritual and emotional care to their congregations and communities. There is no cost to attend the seminar.
If you plan to attend, please register prior to the date of the event. Please send your name, your e-mail address (or fax number) and phone number to:
Bill Sage, CoordinatorYour registration will be confirmed by reply.
CWS Interfaith Trauma Response
Register via e-mail to: wsageo@aol.com;
Or fax to: (212) 288-6906
Or telephone to: (212) 288-6857
The Long Island Council of Churches is a 501.c.3 not-for-profit. Donations to support our work are always appreciated and are tax-deductible.
Long Island Council of Churches
1644 Denton Green
Hempstead, NY 11550
voice: 516-565-0290
fax: 516-565-0291
email: licchemp@aol.com
Web: www.ncccusa.org/ecmin/licc