A Season of lamenting

A Season of Lamenting Jeremiah 8:18-22 (NRSV) 18 My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick. 19 Hark, the cry of my poor people from far and wide in the land: "Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in her?" ("Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with their foreign idols?") 20 "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." 21 For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me. 22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored? Matthew 2:16-18 (NRSV) 16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: 18 "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more." The Christmas song “Silent Night, Holy Night” is a song that I used to love as a child but when I grew older and examined the biblical narrative for myself to discover that the night(s) were not silent nor outwardly holy. I will never forget talking to my former Minister of Music the Late Great Philip G. Freeman about the song and the bible to which Phil stated he “will never play the song again, because he would refuse to perpetrate a lie.” What I discovered as a Pastor is that this time of the year we know as Advent is in reality a “Time of lamenting.” The season itself is going through a period of “Grief.” Fall is reluctantly giving way to winter as foliage battles from green summer colors to the golden brown, and orange of its resistance to go quietly. Things in nature are what Hospice people call “Actively Dying” during this time of year. Along with nature “Actively dying” are the dreams of so many people during this time of year. So many people started off this year with high hopes and expectations only to have them turn into the Brown and oranges of a setting sun. The realization that you will not accomplish all or most of the things you set out to do at the beginning of the year can be a saddening reality. The sun sets early (or so it seems) which for some people is extremely depressing. Some people have to get up when it is dark and come home when it is dark. For people of African Ancestry this is very troubling and creates some psychological and emotional challenges to our body/mind equilibrium. The Sun has always provided us with plenty of Vitamin D but during the dark days of winter we are lacking and that does not bode well for a jovial disposition. This indeed is a “Season of Lament.” Then there is the infusion of Corporate America’s version of Christmas complete with “Just the right thing you have to buy to make Christmas just right.” The unreal expectations of buying gifts for people are the biggest hypocrisy perpetrated on people ever. For those who truly try to practice “Good will” towards all people every day this season of “Fake Frivolity” is frustrating. This is a “Season of Lamenting.” As a Pastor I have had to deal with what others do not have a clue about and that is that more people die during this season than any other part of the year. Why that is, is a mystery but it is. The other facts are that more people are stressed out during this time of year; more people lose their jobs during this time of year; and more people lose hope during this time of year. This truly is a “Season of Lamenting.” Jeremiah Lamented in the above text because his people were suffering and did not understand why. The Matthew text which is used frequently during the Advent season speaks to Mothers weeping over the senseless Killing of their children. Chicago will hit 500 murders in 2012; we have faced the most horrible of killings in the mass murder of 1st graders in Newtown, CT. The Season was ushered in by a horrendous storm called Sandy and the people still have not recovered yet everybody is supposed to make “Happy Happy.” Right wing politicians are taking America over the “Fiscal Cliff” where people receiving Unemployment have already tumbled over that cliff because of the posturing against the Black President. Yet the media merchandises merriment at the expense of the misery of masses of people. This is truly a “Season of Lamenting.” The only entity facing reality is found in nature. Things die during this time of year! Things hide from the cold during this time of year. Things become bare, naked and exposed during this time of year. The Sun becomes short tempered during this time of year and refuses to hang around with us for too long. Things in nature are Lamenting! And I have found that Grief is Medicinal! Lamenting is cleansing and sorrow can lead to appreciation of joy. Things die but they won’t stay dead! They will, in time be resurrected! It won’t happen overnight, it won’t come about in a moment or a flash but it is a process. For those of you why would interrupt the grieving process you do so at your own peril. You must purge! You must sit with the uncomfortable! You must tarry with the troublesome to experience true transformation. Children are dying and somebody needs to weep wailing tears for Chicago Street corners that bear witness to a life that will never be because of America’s love affair with guns. Unfulfilled Dreams are dying on the vine never to be and tears should be shed which will shed light on the why of their death. The Country is careening toward chaos because of Corporate money and somebody needs to mourn the hypocrisy of American Christianity that supports Capitalistic religion. Only then can one’s soul be so scarred by sorrow that something significant can see the light of day. Jesus was born to be murdered! Babies were slaughtered this is a “Season of Lamenting” what humans are really capable of doing. But the Lamenting can lead to serious reflection; The Weeping can give way to honest worship that does not seek to be seen in church only but is the smile of a child whose sees true love in your hand of help. The Season can lead to a structural change in how we related to one another where we sit with the pain and sorrow of the poor, the jobless, the under-insured, the heart broken, the Church hurt and not speak but allow the ministry of presence to pour oil of healing upon their hearts. Maybe we need to follow the lead of nature and be real so that we can learn to love one another and not just love. My prayers are for truth! My Prayers are for honesty! My prayers are for sincerity in serving the suffering and exposing the scandal of a forced smile bought and paid for by Apple, Microsoft, or the Stock exchange.

The Violence that Violence Produced

I watched your movies of how you "tamed the West" and many of us played "cowboys & Indians" not realizing that the real lesson was "how to denigrate and destroy" other people's lives. I grew older and watched John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Clint Eastwood, Roy Rogers, The Big Valley, Bonanza, Gun Smoke, Have Gun Will Travel and all the Westerns I could. We played shoot em up at the Ok Corral because you said it was harmless fun. Little did we know you were teaching us that some lives were less important than others. I grew older still and watched your War Movies, machine guns, G.I. Joe, hand Grenades, Tanks and Sub Marines. So we played War Games to prove our manhood not knowing you were justifying the Killing of innocents by painting some people as less than human. I got older still and graduated to Cops & Robbers. I watched all the shows all the movies from "Dragnet" to "Hill Street Blues ("Let’s be careful out there"), to "NYD," to "Law & Order." And it seemed clear that you were saying a man without a Gun is a man without courage. You were saying Violence is viable to get your way and get what you want. I stand stunned today, at the deaths of little children by a man with a gun. But I am not Stunned by the act; I am in deep sorrow about the innocent lives lost. I am Stunned at you, America! YOU! Because you act like you don't know why! What did you expect America? Huh? What did you expect to eventually happen? And please don't start the dialog about the shooter being Mentally Ill. Tell me, is the Military official who gives the order to send a Drone to Eviscerate a life because of that person's affiliation with a group, Mentally ILL, America? And when innocent lives are what you call Collateral Damage, left in the wake, is the person that gave the order Mentally Ill? Are you saying that the gang banger in Chicago who sprays innocent children on a Street Corner is Mentally Ill? Was the Shock & Awe based on a lie about Weapons of Mass Destruction initiated by a Mentally Ill person? Was the Killer of Jordan Davis at a gas station for music playing in a car that he was a passenger in by a Mentally ILL man? Was the Killer of Trayvon Martin for wearing a Hoodie by a Mentally ILL man? Maybe it will come out that the shooter did have some Mental issues or maybe not, but don't start that discussion so soon. You did not do this in any of these others, and I wonder why? America you are such a strange nation! You don't see it do you? How come in the UK in 2011 there were 58 murders by Gun but in the U.S. in 2011 there were 8,775? America you have the most Guns, most violent minded most Incarcerations of people of color for non-violent offenses than any other nation on Earth! Guns were made to kill, plain and simple! People can say they use them for target practice and I guess I could Juggle Chain Saws for fun if I wanted to. However that does not change the purpose of Chain saws and it does not change the purpose of Guns. Too many people have too easy access to Guns; too many people can buy Guns on-line with no background checks; too many people have Assault weapons which have no business in the hands of anyone except law enforcement or military personnel. This nation talks too much about killing, Violence and destruction. This nation has too much hate speech coming from the mouths of too many Wealthy Right wing zealots. America you are such a strange nation! I am Stunned not at the act and the victims, for them I am in deep sorrow because parents are grieving unnecessarily tonight. I am stunned that you America, cable talk shows, you America Media pundits, You America professional politicians, cannot see that you created the climate! America you are such a strange nation!