People aren't illegal & America is far from Christian

Imagine if someone told you that you can't move to another state to get a job. That's exactly what the U.S. is telling our neighbors in Mexico. Why?  Because we have and have always had an immigration policy rooted in white supremacy and based on the ridiculous notion that country borders are somehow where human rights end. Borders established by theft, pillaging, rape, and slavery, I might add. I'm a radical. I don't believe it is moral in the slightest to tell people they cannot move or work. Documentation be damned (my ancestors didn't have it, I assure you!).  

We have not loved God with our whole hearts. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. Not in the slightest. Not our citizenry. Not our neighbors in other countries. Like Cain of old, we have defiantly shook our fist at the God of the exiles and the strangers and demanded of God "are we our brothers' keepers?!"  God answered emphatically "yes" and we went on in our shameful denigration of our neighbors, all the while calling ourselves a "Christian nation."  We ought to be ashamed and broken hearted as a people over this. And we ought to show works meet for repentance by shaming any politician getting his political points by appealing to a racist, white supremacist policy...Trump...and any politician demanding we put walls up that are eerie reminders of the Berlin Wall but in our own nation...almost every GOP politician...and by voting for a just and moral free immigration policy and demanding our representatives get it done. 

People are not illegal.

Praying for the dead to the Virgin...in Spanish

Most of you know I'm a church hopper and a universalist. Maybe it's a reaction to my very narrow religious upbringing. Or just a reaction to the work of the Spirit. I haven't blogged in a while but perhaps this blog will be a branch out and a way forward for me to write. 

With my friend Wendy, we do a podcast where we visit various denominations and talk about it (churchhopperspodcast.com). But not all my spiritual experiences happen in those settings. Tonight it happened in the home of a coworker. 

A couple of weeks ago, my coworker lost a loved one. She was unable to travel the thousands of miles to be home. But as any good Catholic would, she has been holding vigil at her home for a week and praying the rosary for her loved one who has gone before. She invited me to attend and it was beautiful. Here's what I learned, observed, and felt in those moments:  

1. It was the women who went first to the tomb

The gathering tonight was open to men because I was there. But I was the only man. This isn't a criticism of the other men--they may have been there other nights or there may have been other reasons they didn't attend. But I notice across the spectrum of traditionally patriarchal religious contexts that it is the women who feel and move in and teach the faith...in life and in death. Just like the women who came first to the tomb of Jesus and who first proclaimed his resurrection. How have we valued and heard and lifted up the lives and voices of women in our worship?  

2. I believe in the Virgin

Tonight the Hispanic women gathered asked me two questions several times. First, where did I learn Spanish? (high school and some good Mexican friends). And then "are you Catholic?"  Well, of course I think I'm the most catholic of catholicism...if we are talking about universalism and the universal body of God. But no, I'm not Roman Catholic. So I just explained why I would be there to pray the rosary. Simply put--I believe in the Virgin. I believe in the Mother of God. And the mothers of God all around me...the ones in the room too. I believe in the Divine Feminine and her virginity is important to me only because it represents female autonomy without need for outside influence to bring forth life or the Divine. I believe in Mary, the mother of Jesus. And I do believe she was blessed among women and that the fruit of her womb was blessed. And if any of us who are born of woman will ever see God, then surely the mother of God (and all those who birth the Divine) will reign as Queen of heaven, of all the saints and apostles...and isn't it right to ask her to pray for us?  Because if there really is no death but the promise of eternal life, then surely there is a mystical communion beyond the communion we share here. 

3. Praying for the dead works

Now I'm not making a statement about affecting people's eternal state. How could I possibly know that?  But I know this. I didn't know my friend's loved one. But after praying for the Virgin to intercede for him, and gazing on his picture on the altar as we contemplatively prayed together, I felt a compassion and a connection with a man I had never met and would never meet here. A man who didn't speak my native language. Or hold my theological beliefs. And I felt compassion. I felt a real desire for him to truly rest in peace. And I felt a connection with those who grieved. I can only imagine the kind of sacramental moments those who did know him felt. I can't imagine a better way to grieve with those who grieve than to remember with them, to feel with them, to pray with them. 

4. Pentecost still happens

I knew most of the prayers in Spanish. I struggled to say them as quickly and sometimes reverted to English but that was ok. Like the original day of Pentecost when a group of schismatic radical Jews started speaking in languages that were a sign to those on the outside, so it is today. Those on the inside (and we are all both in the in crowd and outside the walls, depending on what area of life we are taking about) spoke their truth. And miraculously, those on the outside heads that Truth and it sounded EXACTLY like their own native tongue. Truth is not confined to a creed, a language, a nationality, an experience, or location. It is not bound by doctrine or framework. Rather, it is the free flow of the same Spirit between the most intimate of friends and between the most different strangers. As I prayed with catholic women who probably were praying with very different ideas about what prayer is, who God is, how God works, and even what it means to be a follower of God...I felt an enduring connection. I felt one body, one Spirit, one God and Mother and Father of us all. And I could truly pray with heartfelt meaning como era en el principio, ahora y siempre, de los siglos y los santos siglos, AMEN. 

Why you'll have to refuse me communion...

I know the rules.  Believe me, I do.  I was raised in Landmark Missionary Baptist churches...we didn't evaluate your baptism, or what kind of church you belonged to...we had a truly closed communion table.  If you weren't a member of THAT particular local congregation, you didn't take the Lord's Supper.  Growing up, I would've NEVER expected to take communion even at my brother's church...and I laid hands on my brother to ordain him as a deacon.

The discussion of "open table" versus "closed table" versus "close table" or everything in-between is so over for me.  I believe in the open table, because I honestly cannot reconcile anything else with the gospel of Christ who served even Judas at the table.  Yes, I'm aware of the arguments against that too...I preached them, remember?  They are without much merit in my book.  But this isn't really about books or bibles for me.  This is about people and tables and about whose guests we are when we come to "The Lord's Table."

I am a Christian.  One who understands all the nuance and doctrine around why certain churches don't allow people to take communion.  I know that I can't in some churches because I'm queer.  In others because I cuss.  Some because of what clothes I'm wearing.  In the Roman Catholic church, I supposedly can't take it because I've not been confirmed as a Roman Catholic.  The explanation is always something like "well, we believe in transubstantiation and we don't want anyone to take the host that doesn't believe in the literal presence of Christ."  Which, of course, would effectually cut out a great many Catholics who DO take the Eucharist each Sunday, since most of them usually look confused when I explain what it is that their church actually teaches about the Real Presence.

Sometimes coming to Christ's table and saying you belong there is an act of subversion...it subverts the Empire that seeks to consolidate power at the expense of God's people.  As a Christian, I am not trying to be rude or disrespectful.  I am not trying to mock your beliefs or disregard them.  Rather, I am, faithfully, quietly, and without fanfare, simply saying "This is wrong.  God is right."  Like the early Apostles told to stop preaching about Jesus, I ask "should we obey man rather than God?"  So I can't.  I don't make a big deal about it.  If I thought an individual with whom I have a relationship could be offended or misunderstand my participation in the holy meal, I would talk to them...I would consider the impact of my actions...and I would proceed as faithfully and as lovingly as I could.  And even then, I might do as I always have done and am committed to keep doing...go forward, and put out my hands in humble supplication for what we say is Christ for us, with us, and in us.

If I go and you say no, ok.  But you WILL have to tell me no.  You can refuse me communion...it's your church's right and the clergy person's right ("right" is certainly a loaded term in Christianity).  But you'll have to do it.  Don't expect me to refuse MYSELF communion!  You'll have to actually live out what you think is most important...because I'll be there in front of you with my hands extended and waiting.  But why would I simply refuse communion?  It makes no sense to me.

If you don't think that the bread and wine are really part of communion with God, then stop calling it communion.  And if you refuse me communion, that's fine...but you'll have to do it, because you NEED the spiritual exercise of asking yourself why you would deny ANYONE who says "I want communion."  Aren't you really just saying "no matter how much you want to commune with God, you can't...because _________."  Ok, you may believe that...but you'll have to be the one to say it by telling me no.

If it isn't a blessing for me because I'm denied the blessing, then stop calling it Eucharist (literally "bless").

If it's your church's own supper, then just don't call it the Lord's Supper anymore.

If it isn't an "outward sign of an inward grace" that I can testify to, then stop calling it a sacrament.

If you think there are people outside your church who are united with Christ but can't receive bread and wine in YOUR church, then just stop lying and saying "the body of Christ."  You don't discern the body...and Paul says that you eat and drink damnation to yourself (yes, THAT is what that scripture is ACTUALLY about...your church and how it cuts people out of communion, not "sinners" at the table).

Just call it..."Member Snacks"  That makes for a good bulletin heading...

How to have a conversation with today's church (most denominations)

It's just getting old fast. Having the same convos with everyone. 

Church: aren't we great?

Person: no actually here's an area that is bad. 

C: wow. And I thought we were doing so well. 

P: I can help you fix it. 

C: well I'm not convinced you're right about this thing that you would know more about than us, but in any case we have a committee for that. 

P: do you have ppl on your Cmte that get this thing? 

C: no but they get church. 

P: but the church is causing  the problem with the thing. You're not getting the thing. 

C: have you ever served on a committee in church? 

P: no but this thing directly affects me and I'm an expert on this. 

C: well, you just don't understand church. There's more here than just that one thing. Look at how well we are doing ordaining women. 

P: you have women ministers here? 

C: no but our denomination does. 

P: then how does...wait, that isn't even the thing!  

C: why do you want to focus so much on one thing?  We're talking about Jesus and so many other things. 

P: yeah but you asked me about how great church was and here's an area where we can do better. 

C: you must not know about our church. Here's a different thing we faced a long time ago and we fixed it really good. Trust us. 

P: I don't think it was really fixed. Cuz it looks like maybe this thing is connected. 

C: of course we fixed it. It's our history. 

P: well even if you did, the thing I'm talking about is broken. 

C: broken isn't a word we like to use. 

P: fucked up, messed up, unchristian, ridiculous, stupid, WRONG. 

C: you know, your voice is important...but I hear that you're really angry.  This church is really about being happy and peaceful. 

P: then maybe this church isn't for me. 

C: really?!  But we're so great!!