Ferguson Shows Us We Have Not Dealt Sufficiently With White Privilege

This country has a long history of shameful treatment of non-majority groups. And whenever an unarmed person of color is killed, memories of a painful past resurface and healing is delayed, as images of economic oppression, segregation, mobs protesting the arrival of African American children to previously non-integrated schools, demoralizing Jim Crow laws, dehumanizing caricatures in art and ads, and heartless, souless practice of lynching are brought to mind. Some of us have the privilege of not having to relive those painful memories, but our humanity demands that we remember and care and vow to be part of a future where racism as well as misogyny and homophobia no longer divide communities and ruin lives. We all have both privilege and peril, and of course race or gender or sexual orientation are not the only determining factors of one's life experience, AND it also true that in our country there are advantages upon which one can depend simply for being white and there are hazzards one must fear simply for being non-white and until we as a soceity own this unpleasant truth and work collectively to change it (without denying why there is a need for such change), the problems and injustices will only continue, and at times escalate.

Pastoral Prayer for Ferguson, MO

Haven’t we had enough of war: not only the wars we export, but the wars on our streets, the wars that wage in our own hearts?

Aren’t we yet willing to recognize the devastating legacy of racism?

Can’t we seek to heal the wounds caused by injustice, domination, and exploitation?

Will we ever cease our worship of violence and our distrust of the Other?

The Earth and Her inhabitants are weary from conflict. We are despondent to see once again communities torn apart by injustice and disregard for the dignity of every person.

The riots, the pain, the losses in Ferguson, Missouri that have followed the brutal slaying of Michael Brown bring all these questions to mind, questions that we grow so tired of asking, questions that still have not found satisfying answers.

And so we turn once again to prayer. There will be letters written and protests and debates, but in the meantime, in this moment, in this time of sadness and frustration, we choose to quiet ourselves, to know that there is a Universal Power that flows through every life, that is part of every life, that excludes no one for any reason, and in the name of this one Power we affirm hope and the possibility of healing in our world. In the name of the Omnipresence we affirm blessings for the residents of Ferguson. In the name of Justice Herself, we affirm wisdom for those who must lead us through the difficulties at hand.

God of many names, mystery beyond our naming, give us the courage and the resilience to not allow our weariness to prevail, but rather let us continue to hope for, work for, and settle for nothing less than “liberty and justice for ALL.”

Amen.

Rev Dr Durrell Watkins

Senior Minister, Sunshine Cathedral

Jesus Heals & is Healed

JESUS HEALS AND IS HEALED
Reflection by Rev Dr Durrell Watkins

Matthew 15.21-28
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.Just then a Canaanite woman
from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly. 

Matthew may be confronting his community’s prejudices by imagining Jesus overcoming a prejudice within himself. Deuteronomy 20.17 says, “Completely destroy…the Canaanites…as God has commanded you.” A literal reading of the ancient text could have given Matthew’s community tacit permission to hate or exclude or vilify Canaanites, but when a Canaanite woman comes to Jesus for help, he first sees her as “the Other”, one he had been taught to look down on (like a “dog”), but as she stands up for herself, Jesus finally sees her humanity, and realizes that she is fully a child of God.
Then he blesses her by healing her daughter, but he is healed of his own bigotry as well. And hopefully, those who read the text will find healing from some of their own prejudices as well.

Resources for Progressive Churches

Resources for Progressive Churches (and for those not yet part of a progressive spiritual community)

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Sunshine-Cathedral-Resources-for-Your-Journey.html?soid=1101614674562&aid=bhU9GAQOVto

Depression is No Joke

I didn't know that Robin Williams struggled with depression, but I'm not surprised. That much creativity and genius often has a deep, internal struggle behind it. And for him to be so up, the downward swings must have been very difficult. Anyway, I'm not qualified to analyze the late Robin Williams, but his sad departure from this life brings to mind loved ones who have battled depression. I struggled with depression as a child and four years ago I found myself in the midst of deep despair, and I am so thankful for friends who loved me through it as well as medication and therapy. I got through it and have gotten good at self-care, but I am ever mindful of those who are still trying to find their place of peace and wholeness. May all who are hurting today find the strength and comfort they need.

The Sacrament of Sharing

New Resource on the spirituality of generosity

Financial gifts are needed to support good causes and churches are especially dependent on faithful, goodwill offerings. But giving is more than funding projects; it is a spiritual discipline that helps the giver grow. Generous people tend to be happier and they feel personally invested in the good work their gifts make possible. As much as churches and charities need our gifts, we need to be givers. This short book will encourage you to grow in the grace of giving and to experience the blessing that it is to be a consistent, generous giver.

The Sacrament of Sharing 

Parable of the Scattered Seeds & Story of Jacob & Esau

Gen. 25.20-34 & Matthew 13.1-9, 19-23...a Reflection

Durrell Watkins, DMin

The parable in the gospel reading comes with its own explanation.  Some of us hear a word of hope and healing, and it sounds good and we are thrilled to hear it, but we can’t really commit to it yet. It got us excited in the moment, but we haven’t had a shift in consciousness, so no real change takes place.

Some of us hear a word of hope and healing, and it is very encouraging, but we can’t really pursue it because we allow ourselves to be immediately distracted by the obstacles and challenges. We keep our focus on what is wrong rather than allowing ourselves to pursue a path of liberation.

But some of us hear a word of hope and healing and we embrace it, internalize it, own it, try to live it, begin to grow into it, and that word that sinks into our subconscious mind becomes part of us and transformation takes place.

This isn’t really three kinds of people, but most people at different stages in their lives. But we can always work toward becoming the people who are rich soil receiving the seeds of empowerment and liberation and allowing those seeds to take root.

Without going into ancient inheritance practices and the reasoning behind them, and beyond the acknowledgement that the Genesis story is a myth of origin creatively weaving a story around geo-political tensions, I think we can look at the story as symbolic for realities in our own lives.

Esau isn’t aware of what he is really worth. Sacred value is the birthright we each have inherited, but we have traded it for dogmas and creeds, biblolatry and traditions, giving away healthy self-esteem for the temporary satisfaction of being told we are morally superior to an imagined “other” or that we have reservations at the heavenly banquet hall. By not believing in our innate goodness, we settle for comforts which cannot endure and then often become angry when others have dared to search for meaning beyond our inherited paradigm.

Jacob also doesn’t realize his inherent dignity and sacred value. He believes he has to scheme, cheat, lie, or steal from someone else in order for him to have what he needs to feel good about himself. Just as Esau gives his self-esteem away too easily and then is furious that others find meaning in ways other than he has thought to pursue, Jacob believes the only way he can matter is to take away someone else’s dignity, hope, or opportunity. They both make painful mistakes because they don’t realize that just as they are they have potential and merit and their lives are full of opportunities for discovery and expression.

Later Jacob will claim the gift he conned Esau out of by disguising himself as Esau. He has to lie and hide and pretend to be something he isn’t. This closeted experience is not fulfilling. He doesn’t really get a blessing because he spends the next several years hiding and running and suffering the pain of regret. One can never be truly blessed by living a lie.

While Esau is willing to sell his value, and Jacob is so unaware of his that he is willing to steal someone else’s in order to feel valued himself, the fact remains they are twins. They share origins. They share history. They are connected. They part of a larger whole. They are equal, even while each is unique. Neither trading nor conniving is necessary … they are both threads in the sacred tapestry of life.

Isaac also suffers from “not-enough-ness.” He suffers from the delusion that he has only one blessing to give. His scarcity mentality has convinced him that he is limited in what he can share. He is rich enough to have an heir, but even at that he doesn’t realize how blessed he really is. He has two children to love, two with whom to share his best gifts. He has more to give than he knows and more people to share his gifts with than he is willing to acknowledge. Like his sons, he doesn’t get how blessed he really is, and not realizing how blessed he is, he also can’t realize how many blessings he has to share.

Rebekah, too, isn’t aware that she has more love to give than to just one son. She clearly loves Jacob. Her blessing is denied to Esau, and Isaac’s is denied to Jacob and dysfunction follows.

Maybe Rebekah preferred Jacob because Isaac preferred Esau, and she couldn’t stand for Jacob to not have a parent’s full adoration.

Of course, Isaac isn’t entirely to blame for this mess. How does he know how to be a good father? His was willing to carve him up like a Thanksgiving Turkey because he believed a blood-thirsty deity required it, and he was more devoted to his delusions about the deity than to his own child. How many parents have sacrificed their children in the name of bad religion?

This dysfunctional family, full of deceit and madness and rage and trickery and triangulation suffers a lot of pain and the cycles of dysfunction are passed down from one generation to the next. But that isn’t how it has to be.

Eventually, Jacob will not be his mother’s favorite, his father’s spare son, his brother’s enemy, or a lonely, scared little person who believes he can only be someone if he takes away someone else’s good fortune. Jacob finally wrestles with God/the better angels of his nature/his conscience/his consciousness/his ideals and he will not let the divine presence go until he gets his own blessing. And his blessing is to know who is he really is, to come to accept his sacred value.

Now, Jacob isn’t always the best husband or father, wrestling with the angel is the beginning of overcoming his demons, but there will be more work to do…healing is a process and a messy one sometimes, but the healing begins as soon as he is willing to embrace a “new thought” about himself. Maybe that’s the blessing we are all seeking and that blessing may begin to change our lives for the better.