Many R 2 Blame 4 Trump

 THERE IS PLENTY OF BLAME TO SHARE

+Bishop Durrell Watkins, D.Min. 

   I'm super annoyed. I know, take a number. But I'm not just annoyed by Our Clockwork Orange administration, or by Christian Nationalism (more broadly known as white supremacism), or by the earth crying out in pain (& her tears can cayse us quite a bit of pain) in response to abuse humanity has inflicted upon her. I'm annoyed by the all too common narrative that VP Harris was a bad choice & JB before her (& thst narrative is what made her a candidate).  If only the D's had made wiser choices(!). Um, no.

   I don't buy that  we had bad candidates (when T has a chance in hell, quality isn't the issue, & Harris is as good a leader as we might hope for & better than we deserved). I don't buy that D's are too liberal or too conservative, too much like GOP, too little like Rust belt America. Few D candidates are as left of center as FDR who saved this country from ruin. Both FDR & Johnson promised government help to address poverty and in differing measure, to address racial discrimination. And even if Dems are left of the vibe of the moment, their job is to sell their ideas, not hide/disguise/deny them to win elections. 

   This is a racist, homophobic, sexist country (one's singular lesbian friend or one hardline POC candidate does not negate this), wealth (even by those who lack it) is our religion, & the commercialized American church has embraced the greed & hatred & called them holy. Oligarchy, racism, neo-fascist leanings, & theocracy have conspired together to dominate this country, destroy its diversity, & diminish its compassion. This has been in the works for 40 years & they made a grab for power (complete with attacking the capital & being pardoned for it!!) when they knew few ppl of consequence would stand in their way. That is not the cause of any one or seven Dem tickets. 

Inexiable nonvoters are hugely to blame, as is the media who sold fact checking & truth telling for ratings & $$ while giving free air time to the most loathsome voices in American politics. 

   The coalition of evil told us they were coming (a rare instance of honesty) & the mild middle & pusillanimous media held the door open for them as they came. 

   And, the largest share of blame goes to every eligible voter who saw women's rights bulldozed, trans* people demonized, social safety nets put on the chopping block (as I angrily mix metaphors), & racist rhetoric normalized & thought, "Hell yeah, that sounds pretty good". 

   As culpable are those who saw how ugly it all was & supported it anyway for tax breaks or cult like loyalty to a brand. "I don't feel that way" means squat all if you in fact vote that way.

   We've lost house, senate, scotus, and WH...that coup took decades, not one Tuesday in one November. With little left to lose we may as well offer the bold alternative. They call centrists the "far left." I wish we could organize a loud & fully committed Left. We can at least speak up as conscience demands & vote every single time (local too). 

   But for now, the "how did we get here" question cannot be answered with "people didn't like the old guy who wasn't demonic & they didn't like the woman of color, so what could they do but empower an amoral dictator?" 

   No. People chose perfidy & cruelty & avarice and now we have chaos (as we did in his first term, but now there are fewer adults to restrain him and his dementia has worsened). Maybe we'll learn from this...but I have doubt.

   This is a huge mess. We can all do what we can, if not with real hope of healing, then as least with the consolation of having engaged in moral resistance. But this burning dinosaur turd is not because a Black woman was thrust into a candidacy with only 100 days to build a movement. It's because we've watched bigotry & greed grow larger, stronger, & more organized for over 4 decades without calling it out consistently & with conviction. Some are now coming to the realization that may have been a mistake. (dw)

Litany of Pride and Healing

For Sunshine Cathedral and spiritual communities that refuse to put conditions and limits on divine love,

Welcoming Grace - HEAR OUR PRAYER

 

For an informed, compassionate, and responsible electorate,

Spirit of Cooperation - HEAR OUR PRAYER

 

For those who have died from homophobic or transphobic violence, and those who mourn, and those who fear they could be next,

Spirit of Indomitable Hope - HEAR OUR PRAYER

 

For those whose governments and religious traditions condemn them, sometimes to literal death, and who experience hell on earth as well as threats of perdition beyond,

Spirit of Compassion - HEAR OUR PRAYER

 

For those who died from AIDS, and those who live with HIV but dare not take their health for granted,

Spirit of Life - HEAR OUR PRAYER

 

For those who know the joy of LGBTQ+ pride, and for those whose hearts cry out, “maybe next year,”

God of the Eternal Now - HEAR OUR PRAYER.

 

Queer Saints in heaven and earth, pray for us, pray with us.

 

AMEN.

--Litany prayed at Sunshine Cathedral on June 30, 2024

The Strange Mixture of Anxiety and Hope

I’m worried. I’m worried about Christian Nationalism, which is really white nationalism, it has nothing to do with jesus.

 

I’m worried about rights being rolled back. The right to support gay and trans kids, the right to talk about LGBTQ families in public spaces, a woman’s right to bodily autonomy, the right to vote,

 

the right to learn history as it occurred even if some of it is ugly, the right to hold even the most powerful accountable for their abuse of power…

 

I’m worried for those who have known discrimination and who are being told they will know more of it if certain agendas are enforced.

 

I’m worried, but not hopeless. Because for now, we can vote. We still have a say in how our future will unfold.

 

Democracy is from the Greek, Demokratia meaning “power of the people.” If we don’t use our power, it will be taken from us, and then democracy gives way to something far removed from Jesus’ dream of a divine kin-dom.  

 

Instead of leaving our fears unchallenged, let’s take Jesus’ advice and seek God’s kin-dom, that realm of peace and justice-love where the last are first and the first are last, where even a widow’s mite is meaningful,

 

where hunger isn’t allowed, where the elderly are safe and children are encouraged and people are never demonized for their love and where the sacred value of all people is recognized.

 

The kin-dom of God is in our hands. We can reject Christian empire and embrace instead God’s kin-dom, the non-kingdom, the anti-empire.

 

I’m asking people of faith to dare to dream Jesus’ dream of God’s universal family making sure that no one is oppressed, forgotten, or left out, and then let that dream inform your participation in our democracy, which if we are as Christian as we claim to be, will look more like Jesus’ dream, and less like empire.

 

May the divine kin-dom come and the divine will be done. Amen.

I Hope You Will Vote

 I hope ppl vote for women's rights. I hope ppl vote for LGBTQ+ rights. I hope ppl vote for environmental protection. I hope ppl vote for the feeding of hungry children. I hope ppl vote for Medicare & social security. I hope ppl vote against autocracy & totalitarianism. I hope ppl vote against felonious candidates. I hope ppl VOTE.

Thoughts on Independence Day

I posted these thoughts on Facebook on July 4 this year:

As we end this day of celebrating freedom & independence, I remember & bless the ratification of the 13th Amendment, the 19th Amendment, the voting rights act, the Stonewall Uprising, & Obergefell. I also mourn the dismantling of the voting rights act, the crippling of Roe v. Wade, misapplication of the 2nd amendment, & recent attempts to ignore the establishment clause. I'm not feeling very apple pie & Yankee Doodle. I am daring to hope that the ugliness, bigotry, violence, & autocratic tendencies represented by red cap wearing insurrectionists will be washed away by voters who will not allow a return to the 1950s. I cling tenaciously to hope while I try to believe our country is better than it seems to be. "I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul" (Henley). May the nation's soul be also unconquerable, or at least may the phoenix of progressive values rise from the ashes of hatred and fear. (dw)

Remembering Mother Emanuel

God of many names,

We recall the events of 6 years ago at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

During a time of bible study and prayer, eight parishioners and the pastor were slain by one they welcomed.

People who gathered to seek and serve the God of their understanding were viciously murdered in the place they held sacred.

We know, YHWH Shammah, God who was and is there, that the first voice to cry out in horror, pain, and sorrow, must have been yours.

We know, El Roi, God who sees, that you witness our violence, racism, injustices, and our failure to demand, defend, and demonstrate “liberty and justice for all.”

We know, YHWH Rapha, God who heals, that there is much pain that leads to and results from on-going violence in our world.

YHWH Shalom, you are our peace.

Give us the grace to repent of our violence and to become blessed peace-makers.

Give us hope that justice will yet “roll out like waters.”

Give us the will and show us the way to “do justice, love mercy, and live humbly.”

Give us the courage to resist racism in our society and in our hearts, and to do the work of anti-racism. 

Help us be better. 

Help us do better.

Help us rise to the level of love, compassion, and justice that you desire, El Elyon, God Most High.

On this sad anniversary, we remember, and we bless the Mother Emanuel community of faith. 

Amen.

 

--Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins

Senior Minister

Sunshine Cathedral

 

THE SACRED HEART AS A SYMBOL OF QUEER COMFORT

THE SACRED HEART AS A SYMBOL OF QUEER COMFORT

A Durrell Discourse

June gives us Father's Day and LGBTQ+ Pride, but June (in the Roman Catholic tradition) is also the Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Jesus' Sacred Heart represents love, mercy, grace, and compassion. Jesus' Heart is a symbol of divine love in human experience. Devotion to the Sacred Heart reminds us that faith should be kind and caring. Those of us who are Protestant or Humanist may not have grown up with the Sacred Heart devotional tradition, but if it gives us hope or joy, then why not embrace it?

In the 18th century, Pope Clement approved the Feast of the Sacred Heart for certain locations. In the mid-19th century, Pope Pius approved the Feast for the whole Church. In 1899, Pope Leo dedicated the entire Catholic world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. During his pontificate, John Paul 2 maintained a devotion to the Heart of Jesus.

According to tradition, devotees of the Sacred Heart can expect various blessings and aid throughout life, including inner peace and strong faith.

I love that this Sacred Heart celebration shares a month with LGBTQ+ Pride. The Heart of Jesus is a heart filled with justice-love, a heart with room for all who suffer, a heart that wishes joy and healing for everyone. The Heart of Jesus as a symbol of love seems fitting during a month where people are celebrating their love over against objections and insults from the worlds of politics and religion. People who have been heartbroken by rejection and cruelty can imagine a loving Heart that will always embrace them and never turn them away.

The sacred symbol won't be a comfort for everyone, but for those who miss (or never had but would like to try on) some of the metaphors and symbols of traditional faith, the Sacred Heart may be a balm for the pain that others have inflicted in the name of religion. We are certainly entitled to reject religion, but we also can reclaim and redefine religion. Those who weaponized it do not hold the deed to faith.

Today, my reflections include imagining the Sacred Heart as a sign of love for all who need Love's healing touch, especially the Queer children of God.

(Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins

Sunshine Cathedral)

American Sins

The bold public resurgence of racism, heterosexism, transphobia, xenophobia, jingoism, blatant mendacity, and pathological disregard for the planet is exhausting and discouraging.

But now we can see what many of us were tempted to believe was past, or marginal. Our “have gun will travel” country has built on war, conquest, slavery, genocide, economic exploitation, and dehumanizing “the other” (including Irish and Italian and Polish immigrants before they we lumped into larger “white” identity,  Puerto Ricans even though they are full citizens, Japanese who were incarcerated for their heritage, Chinese whose labor was exploited to build infrastructure, Jews, Muslims, until fairly recently in our history, Catholics, etc.). The ugliness we see has always been with us; we simply have nurtured the beast a bit more in recent years.

Now that we can’t deny our sins, we have an opportunity to correct them, to atone, to heal, to make a conscious decision to be better. This is an ugly time, but it can lead to a better nation...a nation that admits its faults and actively seeks to correct them. May it be so.

49 years after it was made, I finally watched John Waters’ Multiple Maniacs

Tonight was my first time to see John Waters’ 1970 film “Multiple Maniacs.” What a wild ride!

There was a long, bizarre (and pretty vile) scene that involved traditional prayers, summarized bible stories, and the stations of the cross...what amazed me was the accuracy. Often when film makers reference religion, they get a lot wrong. This was hardly devotional, but neither was it ignorant. Of course all of that happened during a pretty gross misuse of a rosary, so there’s that. Oh, the Infant of Prague gets a cameo as well. Why not?

Of course there was shocking violence (so JW), and drugs and lots of sex (so 1970), and random creativity (a lobster monster that just shows up and then just leaves - after doing terrible things), as well as mediocre performances (there are times when you can see people struggling to remember lines, and other times when dialogue is recited without rhythm or feeling like a public school student being forced to recite the preamble to the constitution in front of the class), but then in the midst of all that there is real potential and raw talent being expressed by Mink Stole and Divine.

In the end, after discovering that her beloved daughter (of whom she is super proud for dropping out of school, supporting herself as a sex worker, and dating a domestic terrorist) has been killed, Divine completely loses her shit (she was pretty well on her way before then), acts blindly out of her pain and rage, and is hunted by a system that values punishment over rehabilitation, healing, and restoration.

It was haunting and beautiful and chaotic and disturbing and nauseating and creepy and profound and political and even spiritual...all at once (or at least in quick turns). It’s the kind of thing that was probably better to see alone (As I did), late at night, without so much as a glass of wine. This one requires all senses to be at the ready, including revulsion.

I don’t know why it took me so long to watch it (I’m a John Waters fan and even had the joy of meeting him a couple of years ago), but I’m glad I finally did. A young Waters certainly wasn’t afraid to explore any idea and cross any number of boundaries in doing so.

MM is not humorless, but is far less comical than most of Waters’ films. And in several Divine flix, Divine gives us a wink as the large queen camping it up for laughs...but in Multi-Maniacs, Divine is real in an implausible way...She is simply the lead character, not a comic, but a “maniac.” The character is a woman who is played by a man...not schtick as much as just one more transgressive element in the picture. That may be the most genius part of it.

MM is a thinker. I like that, even if now I have post low-budg Indy horror-slasher flick insomnia. And I may never again be able to enjoy lobster. Don’t worry...I’ll pray through that one! Prayer works...I’m already craving a wood grilled lobster tail dipped in butter. Hmmmmmmm.

Pastoral Response to Violence & Racist Rhetoric

Dear Friends:

I don't have a lot of commentary for you today, or a written homily, or a series of pithy talking points. What I do have is concern for the rise of hatred in the US and in the world, and what I can offer is prayer and an invitation.

Norms of civility and decency have been ignored for a while.

We cringe and cry as we see our siblings of transgender experience shunned, dehumanized, and even murdered. 

We worry that gains made for marriage equality are being undermined. 

We sigh in disbelief as refuge seekers are treated with cruelty. 

We gasp in horror as white supremacists gather in the daylight and spew their vile hatred. 

We are saddened by the personal attacks made by Caucasian government leaders against other leaders who are persons of color. 

And we are completely exhausted by the epidemic of mass shootings that seems to be unique to this wounded nation.

I said I could offer prayer and an invitation. Let me start with the invitation.

Of course we know that the gift of democracy is that we all get to participate in it. 

If you are concerned about the health of our country, then please participate in its governance. Write to your representatives, sign petitions, donate to candidates who articulate your values, and in every single election, please VOTE.

But in addition to taking your civic duties seriously, I invite you to pray daily and worship weekly. When we gather together, sing together, pray together, learn together, are offered both challenge and comfort together, we grow, we heal, we find empowerment, we have our hope renewed. So pray daily for your community, your church, your loved ones, your country, the world...and gather weekly for worship where our shared love and hope can heal our hearts and perhaps infuse the life-stream of the planet with some much needed healing energy. 

And now, for the offering of prayer:

Dear God,

Heal our hearts. 

Heal our nation.

Heal our world.

Heal our needless divisions.

Heal our troublesome suspicions.

Heal our hatreds, our fears, our regrets.

Of course, we know that what you do for us you must do through us, so give us the courage and the grace to respond to your promptings, that we may be your healing hands in the world.

May we use vote and voice, time and treasure, word and work to bring peace and justice to this country and beyond, all for the sake of your love.

Amen. 

Yours in shared service,

 

Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins

Senior Minister

Sunshine Cathedral

 

Why I Resist Trump

Saddam Hussein, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Idi Amin...If more people had resisted them before they became super powerful, brutal, autocratic dictators, history might have unfolded a bit differently. My opposition to Trump is not partisan. I don’t reject him because he’s on “the other team”...I reject him because he is a danger to decency, justice, fairness, equality, and peace. I am not a member of his party (and neither was he for most of his life), but I didn’t wake up in a deep, despondent depression on Nov. 9, 2016 because I’m a tax and spend liberal who doesn’t believe Science is Satan’s tool and who believes compassion is not a sign of weakness and my lady lost (with 3 million more votes than the so-called winner...though that fact is galling)...I woke up in deep despair because an incompetent, soulless, psycho rode a wave of racism, xenophobia and corruption to immense power and I was honestly scared. We will have R and D presidents and they will do things I agree with and things I don’t...my 100% rejection of Trump has nothing to do with that. My rejection of Trump is my chance to say I did what I could when I could to prevent an Idi Amin (who was in power for 8 years...may that not even be an option for us!) from ruling with unchecked brutality in my own country.

Y’all, We Just Have to Do Better

I don’t say this to be unkind, to be condescending, or to be disrespectful of cherished values...I say this because our survival may depend on our waking up. If someone tells you the earth is 6k years old, that person is either a moron, a crazy person, a jokester, or a very sheltered and naive person who has been woefully misinformed. In any case, s/he is WRONG. Who cares? We all should, because if we ignore reliable science on matters like the earth’s age, then we’ll ignore science about climate change, gender identity, sexual orientation, childhood/adolescent/adult development, dementia, immune suppressing diseases...stuff that really matters. You get to have your god, your religion, your rituals, your myths, your values, and your dreams (I am very thankful for my own), but you must also be open to learning, to reason, to peer reviewed information, and to ideas that offer solutions other than “hate/fear those brown people or those queers or those non-Americans over there.”

Children are in cages. Families are torn apart. Refugees fleeing for their lives are being turned away (or turned back to the hells they escaped). The environment is under attack. Same gender loving people and gender non-conforming/non-binary/transgender/two spirit people are having their families, their lives, their very identities threatened. It’s time to wake up. It’s time to be smarter than we’ve been. And it is certainly time to participate fully in our democracy. Apathy is hurting us even more than the dedication of the unenlightened.

The earth isn’t flat and it isn’t young. Living, breathing, named, thinking, socially interactive children matter at least as much as fetuses. The earth isn’t invulnerable. And ignoring these facts has put our collective butts in a sling. Please, let’s do better.

PASTORAL RESPONSE TO “MASTERPIECE” SCOTUS DECISION

PASTORAL RESPONSE TO TODAY’S SCOTUS DECISION
(Re: Colorado Baker refusing to make same-gender loving wedding cake)

Dear Friends,

Same-gender loving and gender non-conforming people have been bullied on playgrounds, harassed in classrooms, physically attacked in parking lots, preached against in pulpits, abandoned by their families, mocked in entertainment, and had their rights to full citizenship debated, voted on, and fought over in courts. The ongoing demonization and dehumanization of LGBTQ people is demoralizing to us.

And so, today’s SCOTUS ruling in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to make a gay themed wedding cake for a same-sex couple is troubling to us, but it is too soon to let ourselves be overly discouraged.

The ruling, apparently, was specific to the one case and does not settle the debate about religion giving one the right to deny service to same-gender loving couples. That conversation will continue for a while and will probably be very hurtful at times to those of us who remain a topic of debate.

But here is what I know:

+ALL people have sacred value.

+Religion has too often been weaponized; however, many of us have discovered that a life of faith can offer hope, joy, compassion, courage, and peace and we are committed to offering a counter-narrative to weaponized religion.

+No court ruling at any time will determine (or limit) our dignity.

+We are each a child of God. No matter who uses God’s name in vain to deny that truth, we will always boldly proclaim that we ARE the beloved children of God.

+Sunshine Cathedral remains committed to celebrating, blessing, and affirming the Rainbow community. LGBTQIA+ have always been lifted up at Sunshine Cathedral as God’s miracles and not God mistakes, and that will continue no matter what.

Today’s SCOTUS decision may have been disappointing to many of us, but remember, it was a “narrow” ruling and hasn’t settled other issues. And, as Jesus said, the kin-dom (the non-kingdom, the anti-empire, the commonwealth, the beloved community) that we belong to is not limited to this world’s systems.

The kin-dom of God is an idea that Jesus held, preached, and died for...a vision of a world of justice, peace, generosity, hope, compassion, goodwill, and equality. We continue to hold the vision of the Kin-dom of God, and we will continue to work to make that vision a reality. “Thy kin-dom come!” Amen.

There is more work to do. We are the laborers to do it. And I affirm that God’s blessing is upon us today and always.

Yours in shared service,

Durrell Watkins, MA, MDiv, DMin

Senior Minister, Sunshine Cathedral

SunshineCathedral.org 

Reclaiming Jesus: A Pastoral Letter

Dear Friends,

I was born and reared in the MidSouth where church was central to social life. Between Sunday school and youth groups, church camps and church sing-alongs, camp meetings/revivals/spiritual renewals, bible colleges and religious radio stations, billboards and bumper stickers, cemetery decoration picnics with prayer services (it’s a thing)…religion was ubiquitous. And while there were some progressive Christian and non-Christian religious communities, the overwhelming feel of the world I grew up in was conservative (and often fundamentalist) Christian.

I have always been drawn to faith and I have never experienced a day where Jesus, God, and scripture didn’t pop up in some manner, and most days (perhaps it’s an occupational hazard), those topics dominate my thoughts!

Early in life I jettisoned the strict, narrow, condemning, fearful, proselytizing brand of Christianity that seemed so normative in my childhood. The God of my experience and understanding is pure love and isn’t partial to Christians or to certain brands of Christians, but responds with grace to anyone searching for Truth and meaning regardless of the symbols and vocabularies that one chooses for the search. My fondness for Jesus and for God as I’ve experienced God through Jesus is genuine and not mere “fire insurance” for the next life. The God to which I have devoted my life and work is bigger than false binaries, bigger than either/or limitations, bigger than our fears and prejudices and self-imposed restrictions and conditions. The God I know and worship and preach is all-inclusive, unconditional, everlasting Love.

But you know what? That doesn’t mean the conservative faith that introduced me to religious living was all wrong. I remember those revivals, those meetings, those renewal services, and I see the wisdom of them. Faith, like anything we take for granted, can become routine, lax, even a bit lifeless. We need to reenergize now and again; we need to renew our commitment, revive our passion, and remember why we chose a life of religious devotion in the first place (or did it choose us?).

Last week, Robert and I were in DC for the Festival of Homiletics and then we participated in the Reclaiming Jesus prayer vigil. A week of preaching, teaching, prayer, and then a vigil of affirmations, reflections, an intentional reclaiming of the healing, compassionate, justice seeking, inclusive ministry and good news of Jesus (followed by a silent procession to the White House) was reviving! In fact, one minister from the Progressive National Baptist Church said, “This feels like a revival.”

This summer, let us have a revival of faith, a revival of progressive values, a revival of commitment. Let us reclaim the message and mission of Jesus and let us faithfully support that message and mission.

Sunshine Cathedral, as always, I am asking you to support the work of this church with your time, talent, and treasure. Pray daily for the church and for its leaders. Make worship a priority and when events are offered to bring us together, support them. Invite people to play and pray with you at Sunshine Cathedral. And if you are away, take faith and commitment with you.

When I travel I almost always visit a church. My only requirement is that it seem to offer a welcoming and inclusive ministry where I can share with others the experience of worship and reflection. I love church. I need it. And even when I can’t be at the one I love the most, I still find myself somewhere worshiping in community. I wish for all of us to so love church that we crave it, that we commit to being part of it no matter where we are. Current trends suggest that such devotion isn’t as common as it once was, but faith has never depended on trends. We can know the joy of devotion. We need it. We deserve it.

23 Christian leaders, men and women, Black and white, Catholic and Protestant, liberal and conservative, evangelical and mainline came together as a council of elders to draft the Reclaiming Jesus affirmation of faith. The entire (and powerful) statement can be read at ReclaimingJesus.org. It includes the following affirmations and denials:

1.     We believe each person is made in God’s image. Therefore, we reject white nationalism and racism.

2.     We believe we are one body. In Christ, there is to be no oppression based on race, gender, identity, or class. Therefore, we reject misogyny…We confess sexism as a sin, requiring repentance and resistance.

3.     We believe how we treat the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the stranger, the sick and the prisoner is how we treat Christ. Therefore, we reject language and policies [that] would debase and abandon the most vulnerable children of God.

4.     We believe truth is morally central to our personal and public lives. Therefore, we reject practices and patterns of lying that are invading our political and civil life.

5.     We believe Christ’s way of leadership is servanthood, not domination. Therefore, we reject any move towards autocratic political leadership and authoritarian rule.

      We believe our churches and our nations are an international community whose interests always surpass national boundaries. The most well-known verse in the New Testament starts with “For God so loved the world”…We, in turn, should love and serve the world and all its inhabitants, rather than seek first narrow, nationalistic prerogatives. Therefore, we reject “America first” as a theological heresy for followers of Christ. While we share a patriotic love for our country, we reject xenophobic or ethnic nationalism…

The elders state: “WE ARE DEEPLY CONCERNED for the soul of our nation, but also for our churches and the integrity of our faith. The present crisis calls us to go deeper—deeper into our relationship to God; deeper into our relationships with each other, especially across racial, ethnic, and national lines; deeper into our relationships with the most vulnerable, who are at greatest risk.”

Reclaiming Jesus is nothing less than a call for renewal, revival, recommitment. Jesus has been weaponized to cause shame and fear and to marginalize many in society; we who believe in the inclusive gospel message must reclaim it, support it, and share it. May God bless us as we do so.

At Sunshine Cathedral, our food sharing programs (Brown Bag Lunch program and collections for food banks), our housing dozens of 12 step groups, our support of the Global Justice Institute, our participating in BOLD-Justice (Broward Organized Leaders Doing Justice), our civil rights history tours, our efforts to help the people of Puerto Rico after the hurricane, to raise funds for Mother Emanuel AME after the shooting at their church, to encourage people in Jamaica and Cuba, our work for marriage equality (and to protect it), our support of transgender services, our efforts to raise money for local HIV/AIDS services and for Heifer International, and our various other programs are all important and are in the spirit of Jesus, but let us also be very clear about who Jesus was and who we who follow his light are meant to be. Reclaiming Jesus is central to everything we do.

As the Reclaiming Jesus elders affirm: “Our urgent need, in a time of moral and political crisis, is to recover the power of confessing our faith. Lament, repent, and then repair. If Jesus is Lord, there is always space for grace. We believe it is time to speak and to act in faith and conscience, not because of politics, but because we are disciples of Jesus Christ.”

Amen!

Bright blessings,

Durrell Watkins, MA, MDiv, DMin

Senior Minister, Sunshine Cathedral
www.sunshinecathedral.net 

Thieves (The Far Right)

“The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy...” - Jesus (as imagined by the writer of John’s Gospel, Holy Bible)

The “Far Right” (religious fundamentalists, nationalists, would be oligarchs, etc.) have stolen so much. They’ve stolen hope from people who need it most. They have stolen religion. They have taken the name of Jesus and weaponized it. They have seized the flag. They have tried to remove honorable patriotism and replace it with selfish, fearful, exclusionary nationalism. I don’t like calling them conservatives. Conservative doesn’t have to mean cruel, or hateful, or violent. I think it’s unfair to compassionate, decent, caring, generous people who just happen to be conservative on a few issues to lump them in with the bigots, warmongers, and science deniers who have even stolen the world “conservative.”

No, the Right isn’t any more entitled to the “conservative” label than they are to the “religious”, “patriotic,” “Christian,” or “values voters” labels. They have stolen those words and swung them like medieval maces against those they would dehumanize and marginalize. So I won’t call the Extreme Right “conservative.” They are thieves who cause unwarranted suffering to far too many people. 

I am not very conservative on many issues, but I have known good people who are more conservative than I am, and they don’t deserve to be counted among those who make up the terrifying religious and political Far Right.

Calling People Animals: A Bible Lesson

Calling People Animals

by Durrell Watkins, DMin

“Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Matthew 15.27

When a woman from an ethnic group that Jesus' community had long held in disdain and with suspicion approached Jesus to help her suffering daughter, Jesus responded in a perplexing manner. He basically called the woman a dog, or perhaps "dog" was an ethnic slur sometimes used against people of her heritage. Tradition and certain readings of ancient texts would have justified Jesus' seeming dismissal of this woman and her pain, but she challenged Jesus. She basically says, "Even if I were a dog, you'd show me some compassion. You'd give me table scraps, scratch my head, speak to me in a gentle voice. How about you treat me as well as you would treat a dog?!" And Jesus then had a change of heart, praised her faith, and blessed her daughter.

If Donald Trump really believes hurting communities are "animals" (another of his famous and frequent insults), then that is a matter for his conscience to wrestle with and hopefully he will experience a breakthrough; but in the mean time, could he maybe show such people the kindness and generosity that we would expect people to show toward animals? We work to rescue, feed, medicate, and shelter animals. It's ugly enough to call people animals, but uglier still to treat people with less kindess than we tend to show animals.

There is so much animosity and hatred in the world right now. Let us pray for healing, and let us be the answers to our own prayers. And when anyone, no matter who he or she might be, dehumanizes an entire community, let us not be silent but rush to affirm the dignity and sacred value of all people.

A Case for Prayer in these Difficult Days

A MESSAGE FROM SUNSHINE CATHEDRAL'S SENIOR MINISTER

Let us pray: 
Dear God,
may our souls be refreshed,
may our fears be relieved,
may our wounded hearts be comforted,
may our will to be agents of positive change be strengthened.
Renew our capacity for hope and let us know that better days are on the way. Give us the wisdom and the courage to help facilitate that very miracle.
Amen.

Dear Friends,

It is unfortunate that the phrase “thoughts and prayers” has become almost trite in its frequent use and is often seen to give those with responsibility some cover for not doing what they are meant to do. Some people have become antagonistic toward any mention of prayer because they feel it is a substitute for action.

But I know the power of prayer. In fact, the prayers of my heart have led to very meaningful action indeed. Of course, what God does for us God must do through us. Prayer isn’t a magical incantation that will spare us personal effort, but prayer can open our hearts and minds, renew our energy, broaden our perspective, and help us maintain hope.

Abraham Heschel wisely stated: “Prayer cannot bring water to parched fields, or mend a broken bridge, or rebuild a ruined city; but prayer can water an arid soul, mend a broken heart, and rebuild a weakened will.”

Prayer can help us change for the better, and then we can help change things for the better.

We are assaulted daily by news reports of gun violence, broken treaties, the rise of nationalism, threats of war, racist demonstrations, and a seeming increase in callousness and cruelty. Honestly, it is exhausting. Sometimes, it’s terrifying.

Still, there are things we can do: we can vote and write Congress and support causes we believe in and speak out against injustice; we can even march and protest and demonstrate if our beliefs and passions call for such action. We ought to do what we can to be good stewards of the planet, helpers of the vulnerable, and allies to targeted and marginalized populations. In fact, our prophetic traditions and gospel witness demand that we love our neighbor, treat others as we would wish to be treated, defend the “widows and orphans” (all who face peril), and that we be generous with our resources.

What we also need to remember is that our faith-action is undergirded by the practice of prayer. Prayer soothes our souls so that we can then tend to parched fields. Prayer helps our hearts heal so that we can keep trying to heal our world. Prayer can fortify our will to do and be better so that we can repair what has been harmed in and among us.

There’s a lot of work to do, and there may be more discouraging news in the days ahead, but I say that prayer is one of our best tools to help keep us focused and optimistic. Our thoughts and prayers must be more than a slogan we toss around, because, as the bible tells us: the fervent and effectual prayers of righteous (committed, justice-seeking, compassionate) people avail much!

We are people of faith, and as such, we are people of prayer. Keep praying. Our prayers will sustain us in these uncertain days. As the old song says, “When nothing else could help, love lifted me.” The Love that God is, the Love that dwells within us, is what we contact and experience in moments of sincere prayer - and It will continue to lift us up.

Hear our prayers, O God.
Grant us hope.
Grant us peace.
Grant us justice.
Grant us the courage to be the answers to our prayers.
Grant us wisdom to do what is right so that we can be healers in our world.
Amen.

Lovingly shared,

Pastor Durrell

Black Panther: A Truly GREAT Film (and here's why)

Of course I LOVED Black Panther. 
We got to see the glory of what could be without the evils of colonialism. 
We got to see the struggle with understanding the difference between serving and saving a nation. 
We got to see the struggle with the tempations of isolationism (and the possible dangers of openness, but still, we are left with the supremacy of bridges over barriers). 
We got to see the mixture of tradition and inovation. 
We got to see the complicated dance of fighting oppression without emulating the oppressor. 
We got to see the difficulties of being a good leader while also being a good person, a person whose values inspires the leadership rather than being sacrificed in the name of leadership. 
And we got to see the pain caused by even well intentioned dishonesty. 

A high regard for science and technology was featured. 
An almost all Black cast, no white savior (though the importance of being an ally was featured), the beauty of shamanic religion, and super bad-assed women warriors were all part of the mix. 

The governing council was gender balanced and age diverse. 
And, the message that war should always be a last resort was unambiguous. 

We also saw the danger of having an unprepared, illegitimate ruler fueled by hate and anger assume power. 

To Queer eyes, there was even a moment for LGBTQ people...a child was left behind/sacrificed to protect a lie (how many children have been abused, rejected, psychologically tormented to protect the lie that heteronormativity is sacred and anything else is damnable?)..the pain that caused impacted him and others for years thereafter. 

The film was beautiful and sophisticated and the social, philosophical, theological, psychological, and political messages artistically communicated could fuel a graduate level academic project (and probably will). All of that with breath taking vistas and thrilling action (and a sweet love story). And miraculously, with all of that going on, it wasn't scattered; it wasn't too much. It remained coherent, focused. The film was entertaining and empowering at the same time. By almost every measure, it is a truly great film.