Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity. They are children, women and men who leave or who are forced to leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for knowing and having, but above all for being more. — MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
FOR THE WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES (2014)
People ask me if I believe songs can change the world. My answer is yes, absolutely. Here’s how: A song can change a heart by creating empathy. A changed heart has the power to change a mind. And when a mind changes, a person changes. When people change, the world changes. One song, one heart, one mind, one person at a time. Songs can bring us to a deeper understanding of each other and ourselves and open the heart to love. — Saved by a Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting, p. 2
To follow Jesus means to live our lives as authentically as he lived his. It means to give away our ego and to follow the God of Love as Jesus shows us. Following Jesus requires a conversion. It requires a new heart and a new mind.
“We can no longer afford to ignore our obligation to work for the abolition of war as a means of solving international problems.”—Thomas Merton, Peace in the Post-Christian Era
Greed, intolerance, ambition for power, and violence are motives that push forward the decision for war, and these motives are often justified by a war ideology that forgets the immeasurable dignity of human life, of every human life, and the respect and care we owe them. — Against War: Building a Culture of Peace, p. 8 (Kindle edition)
It is certain, in any case, that ignorance allied with power is the most ferocious enemy justice can have. — James Baldwin
The Easter Service at Central Presbyterian Church in Mobile was built upon: Building Up a New World – At Early Dawn Service Prayers for Resurrection Sunday C which was written by Dr. Sharon R. Fennema, who serves as Join the Movement toward Racial Justice Curator with UCC National Ministries.
This blessing comes at early dawn
when the day has not yet emerged
and the night lingers on our skin.
Hallelujah. Even now, new life.
This blessing emerges through grief
when the sorrows have not yet left us
and the hope has not yet found us.
Hallelujah. Even now, resurrection.
This blessing calls from emptiness
when we have more questions than answers
and fear turns to amazement turns to joy.
Hallelujah. Even now, rise up.
Christ is risen indeed.
Go in peace to rise up in protest and praise
until new life is witnessed, known, and enjoyed
by all creation. Amen.
Dear reader, as this Easter Sunday ends with the setting of the sun, may we indeed go in peace to rise up in protest and praise until new life is witnessed, known, and enjoyed by all creation.
As we walk through the wilderness of Holy Saturday, can we imagine that we are with the disciples? Alone… afraid… despairing… the broken body of their Lord taken down from the cross and sealed in a tomb. What do we do now? Where is the hope that he taught us about? Are we back in the wilderness again? Is there any way out?
I take comfort in Dan Berrigan’s translation of Isaiah 25:1-5.
Yahweh, You are my God
honor and praise be yours,
Your holy design from of old!
The citadels of the proud
You bring to ground, a rubble.
……………..
You, strength of the hapless,
you, refuge of the poor.
The violent wreak havoc!
their reign—a torrid blast,
a desert, a wind borne plague
But you, you put to silence
boasts of the hard of heart!
Isaiah: Spirit of Courage, Gift of Tears, p. 59
The prophets (both Isaiah and Dan) offer hope in this wilderness we are currently in as a nation. Perhaps this was the hope we were seeking as we gathered to protest the government’s actions and policies in front of the Government Center in Mobile today.
Yahweh you are my God…. In the commentary on this passage, Dan offers sage advice and hope in the midst of the chaos we are experiencing.
The toppling of the idols is not the work of benighted spirits like ourselves, who often as not cannot tell an idol from a burning bush. The toppling is the work of God, who knows, who loves. God, who is truth and love, immeasurable, clears a way in the underbrush, a way through our maze of faltering and waywardness…
Isaiah: Spirit of Courage, Gift of Tears, p. 60
Lead us, Holy Spirit, in the way of peace and love for all of God’s creation and created beings.
On this Good Friday while I consider Jesus, who was condemned by a kangaroo court and executed by the Empire I found myself considering this selection from Fr Daniel Berrigan, SJ’s rendering of the Prophet Isaiah’s thoughts on King Nebuchadnezzar as found in Isaiah 14:4-6.
To this has he come, the tyrant?
to dead end his arrogance?
Yahweh broke him, a dry stick—
broken scepter, broken bones
In hell
The great braggart and blight
wavers, staggers forward,
a face of cobweb—
a skinny shade,
ragged, tattered.
Verse of the day
If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
– James 2:15-17
Voice of the day
Hope is like oxygen. But I don’t think that hope is enough in this conflict. We need more responsibility. We need action plans. We need strategy. We need to strategize that hope to be effective.
– Ali Abu Awwad, “‘My Goal Is Not to Have a Dialogue; My Goal Is to Solve This Madness’”
Prayer of the day
Stir in us a faith that does not settle for empty hope, but rises with responsibility, strategy, and action to meet the real needs of the oppressed and build peace with our hands as well as our hearts.
Pastor Michael Moore's Blog 