Bishop Tutu prays the Daily Office

I had to redo my sermon because of late breaking news. Bishop Tutu had died on 1 Christmas, and I was to be the celebrant and preacher for the mass on Zoom that morning. Easy enough. He was a light in the darkness.

After mass I sent a message to members of the Order of the Ascension that touched on two matters related to Blessed Desmond. A few others then shared their experience with him.

I only met him once. In 1984 he won the Nobel Peace Prize. He had been staying at General Seminary (GTS) in New York that year and had agreed to speak at the convention of the Diocese of Connecticut. I was on the Connecticut bishop's staff through much of the 80s. My bishop asked me to pick Bishop Tutu up and drive him to the convention. Linda Miska was the communications person on staff and an Associate of the Order of the Ascension. She and I drove to the City to get the bishop. That was against the backdrop of our bishop having had a visit by agents of the South African security services. No direct threats had been made. Maybe they thought Bishop Arthur would be so impressed by them that he would cancel Bishop Tutu’s address.

Linda and I got ourselves to GTS in plenty of time. Things did get off to a rocky start as the parking limit in front of the seminary was just an hour. Bishop Tutu really liked people. He liked to talk with them. He listened to them. He would allow them to impact his schedule. In this case, my schedule. Linda and I hung around outside what was then the school’s bookstore. I tried to look patient. I think Linda was thrilled just to be watching the bishop as he slowly made his way toward us through a crowd of students and others congratulating him on the Prize. While all this was happening a police officer was writing a ticket to place on my car. A student front desk staffer saw that and rushed out. The conversation was something like this. Student: “The car is for Bishop Tutu. He just won the Nobel Peace Prize. He’ll be out in a minute.” Officer: That’s great. This is New York City. Here’s the ticket.” The bishop gets in the back seat. I start to drive. I was using city streets because by this time the major highways were jammed. I think we were someplace in Harlem when Blessed Desmond said, “Father, could we stop and say the Office?” My mind raced through a mix of logistics and anxieties. Was there enough time? I wanted to say the Office with this man. We were still far from the convention site. My bishop wouldn’t be happy if I didn’t get this South African saint to the convention on time. So, I said, “maybe we could do that once we’re out of the city.” He accepted that.

As we moved into Connecticut, I noticed that he had gone to sleep. His head resting on a green and white pillow my grandmother had made for me. I wish I still had that pillow.  When I saw that he was awake I asked if he wanted to say the Office. “That’s alright. I’ve said it for us.” He had quietly said Evening Prayer in the backseat as we left New York.

We arrived at the convention center. As I pulled in, my car was surrounded by police officers. They wanted to search for bombs. That had not been among my anxieties.

The Church is the fellowship whence adoration, worship and praise ascend to the heavenly throne and in company with the angels and archangels and with the whole host of heaven we sing as did the cherubic choir in Isaiah’s vision and as we shall soon be bidden to do in his glorious service: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts, Heaven and earth are full of thy glory.[i] Desmond Tutu

More in the days ahead.

rag+

---

[i] From Tutu: Voice of the Voiceless, Shirley Du Boulay, Page 213. From a sermon by Bishop Tutu as he was enthroned as Bishop of Johannesburg. Du Boulay introduced the quote this way – for the most part, however, his charge was a theological dissertation on the nature of the church and his intentions for the diocese. He questioned whether the church was a cozy club, a mystical ivory tower, a spiritual ghetto or a center of good works. No, it existed primarily for the worship of God.

Those burning Ember Days

This week we celebrate something ancient and mysterious in the church calendar—the Ember Days. Ember Days are periods set aside four times a year for prayer, fasting, and dedication. They occur on the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday following four particular days of the year: St Lucy’s Day (Dec. 13), the first Sunday in Lent, the Feast of Pentecost, and Holy Cross Day—a pattern apparently sometimes shortened to Lenty, Penty, Crucy, Lucy. (Full disclosure: I read this on Wikipedia, so I don’t know if it’s actually true. Second full disclosure: I really hope that it is.) I’d love to say that the word “ember” here has some connection to fire—that these are the days when Christians are burning with faith, hope, and charity. But alas, the origin of the term has nothing to do with hot, burning coals of love and justice but some ancient words having to do with quarterly cycles—“ember” is a reference to the timing of the days, not their spiritual quality.

You can easily see how Ember Days mark the seasons of the year; what is less obvious, and less well-understood, is that early in the Church’s history, they also became associated with ordinations. This affiliation is clear in our current prayer book, where the readings and prayers assigned for these three days are “For the Ministry”—for those to be ordained, for the choice of fit persons for ministry, for all Christians in their vocation. That last Ember Day is an interesting one. It reminds us—all of us, clergy and lay alike—that ministry is not something you have to wear a collar to do. We are all called to ministry, both in the Church and in our lives outside of the Church. So…what’s yours? What is the ministry to which God has called you?

Now, I can hear some of you thinking, “Good grief, is Erika trying to get us to do more things at church? I am too tired to even think about my ministry – what was that next email in my inbox….?” But please, hang on—keep reading. I know that you’re tired, weak, and worn. I can see how reluctant people are to commit their time and their energy at a time when time and energy feel particularly low. And yet, here are these Ember Days, reminding us that all Christians have a ministry—of hospitality, of justice, of prayer, of pastoral care, of the sacraments, of stewardship, of preaching, of imagining, of creativity, of singing. Ready or not, here it comes.

My friends, here is some good news: when we exercise that ministry, when we live the life that we were made to live and do what we’re called to do, we find ourselves dipping into a deep wellspring of life. We find new energy, new space, new enthusiasm…maybe even a new fire burning in our bellies. When we find our ministry and actually do it, we light up like an Advent wreath.

So in these Ember Days, take a moment, a breath, a quiet prayer, and think about your ministry. What is the ministry you exercise at home? At work? At church? On the bus? In the pharmacy? Online? Ask God to help you locate the center, the burning hot coal, of your calling. And then, in the words of one ancient wise man, “Why not become all flame?”

The Very Rev’d Erika L Takacs
Rector, Church of the Atonement, Chicago
-------------------------------------

“For the Ministry” III. For all Christians in their vocation

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Renewal-Apostolate Cycle

A PDF - The Renewal-Apostolate Cycle

There are a number of related resources on the Shaping the Parish Resources page

How Cognitive Biases Affect Our Thinking

This is something of a follow up on “They see what they want to see” posting a few days ago. It’s a six minute video explaining cognitive bias – “How Cognitive Biases Affect Our Thinking” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RghwukdKJ-g

From their description – “Cognitive biases are part of being human. Mental shortcuts allow us to function in a complex world and ensure our safety and survival. But in some situations they misfire and cause us to simplify the world in an inaccurate way. But with conscious effort, we can work to overcome them.”

It’s another resource for justice and truth. Maybe something to consider during our table conversation today.

V.    Lord, keep this nation under your care;
R.    And guide us in the way of justice and truth.

President Lincoln inviting us to a day of Thanksgiving and Praise

I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.   1863

Interesting stuff.

Both acknowledgement of “deliverances and blessings” and “humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience.”

Another way of acknowledging how change really occurs in individuals and nations. Some mix of grace and judgment, acceptance and challenge.

rag+

They see what they want to see

"So many people look at this case and they see what they want to see. They have a preconceived notion, and they tailor the facts to fit whatever they believe." Thomas Binger, Kenosha prosecutor.

We have no choice, in the moment, except to look through the lens we have. We all have mental models, bias, selectivity about what we notice. All of us.

One of the tasks in doing good parish development is to expand the number of lenses people make use of. There are many useful mental models in the fields of parish development, organization development, and ascetical theology. In training novices in the Order of the Ascension we begin by helping them to have an initial 9 lenses. The point is to confuse them. To shake up their assumptions. To broaden the range of what they see and what they take into consideration as they make decisions and take action. For many years too many clergy had too few lenses. It was all self-differentiated leadership or some other leadership model. Sometimes the broadening is done by looking at history. When I wrote Stay in the City many years ago it came as a revelation to many in our urban dioceses. The process of closing an average of one Philadelphia city parish per year for 40 years wasn't on our mental screen. We dealt with each case one-by-one. We lacked an awareness of a bigger picture. An unconscious bias. Comparing our history with what the Lutherans had been doing in Philadelphia offered a deeper perspective about what had actually been happening and what choices we actually had. In the last couple of weeks my understanding of the Rittenhouse case shifted when I saw the videos that the jury was seeing. Okay, maybe under the law it was self-defense. And I needed to acknowledge that and affirm the rule of law. But, but, but ....

He shouldn't have been there to begin with. He shouldn't have engaged in "open carry" with an AR-15. And to be fair, the two people chasing him with guns shouldn't have been doing that either. And the guy who ran after him as he retreated shouldn't have done that. And the guy with the skateboard ... And the governor and the police should have done more. On and on.

And more ...

Even if the verdict was legally correct, and absolutely necessary, it will legitimize others openly carrying guns into volatile situations. As does the lack of prosecuting those on "the other side" openly displaying and shooting handguns. 

I could go on. You too I bet. So many facets to this. 

I find myself trying to identify what lenses I'm looking through. My acceptance of the verdict is related to lenses of due process, jury trials, and the legitimacy of self-defense. I carry a deep appreciation for the traditions of liberal democracy. I also have a lens about systemic racism. When I was in my 20s I had two experiences of white neighbors calling the police because black friends were at my home. Two different homes, in two different neighborhoods. The struggle isn't over.  I also have a lens about handling guns based on about 60 hours of training and hundreds of hours on a range.

Another lens has been the daily office. Saying the prayers of the church each day for most of 55 years has offered me another way of understanding what I experience. Today I said the psalm, "He lifted the poor out of misery" and "whoever is wise will ponder these things, and consider well the mercies of the Lord." And from Isaiah, "I'm about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things will not be remembered or come to mind." Somehow, I find that emotionally strengthening and reality grounding. 

Many priests are spending today trying to think of how to address yesterday's verdict. The simple minded among us will believe it calls for us to make some definitive judgment. We'd like to see our self as prophets. Maybe the task is more about inviting people to consider the aspects of truth in other lenses. And ground themselves in the truth of God's reality.

Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule

 rag+