Lectio Divina
American Christianity has betrayed the religion of Jesus almost beyond redemption.
Churches have been established for the underprivileged, for the weak, for the poor, on the theory that they prefer to be among themselves.
Churches have been established for the Chinese, the Japanese, the Korean, the Mexican, the Filipino, the Italian, and the Negro, with the same theory in mind.
The result is that in the one place in which normal, free contacts might be most naturally established - in which the relations of the individual to his God should take priority over conditions of class, race, power, status, wealth, or the like - this place is one of the chief instruments for guaranteeing barriers.
Howard Thurman, c. 1949
A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
Luke 10
Prayer
O LORD
when you see us
bishops and pastors
in tailored collars and tax exemptions,
hurrying between pulpits and meetings
keeping careers and annual budgets afloat
I wonder,
what do you feel?
Do you mourn with Thurman in ‘49
lamenting the wound
that still bleeds in our pews?
God
most days
I do.
The faith of Jesus
has been soiled
by the hands that claim it
Both, the church
and the angry mob
who rage against it
in your name,
are preoccupied with questions
you never asked.
Here in the dust,
beyond criticisms and defense,
Father, I kneel
with my confusions,
wondering what could be
if love were our only rule.
Teach me the patience
to sit in that dirt,
where the disinherited wait
to see as you see
to touch what you touch
to let compassion
reorder my certainties.
Give me courage
to walk without reward
to stand in a church
and still believe
in Christ
not the one enthroned in
stained glass and slogans
but the one who sat low,
whose robe gathered
the dust of the poor
Blessing
Dear Friend
May you acknowledge
the imperfections
of our world and our churches
And may you still love
with a kindness and a faith
that does not compute
May you plant sequoias
May you practice resurrection
In the Name of the One
crucified by our sins
and risen from the dust
Amen