pride and prejudice... and the Gospel

Several friends have asked how I’m reacting to the recent media coverage about demonstrations and social media trends following various police actions and grand jury decisions.  Other than pithy summaries of what I’m getting from Bible readings many Sundays, I don’t tend to participate in political banter on Facebook, so you won’t find a lot of reaction to stuff in the media on my page.   Having said that, here’s the punchline of a longer response I wrote to a family member today that represents what’s on my mind and heart these past couple of weeks:   What is potent in our progress on civil rights (heck, what’s essential to human dignity) is when people with more social power and privilege risk of some of that by standing in solidarity with those who feel (and might actually have) less… and to question why things are the way they are… and to hold each other accountable to offering relief, providing opportunities for repentance and reconciliation, and striving for restoration of our equal standing before God. That’s at the heart of what Jesus did in his earthly ministry. Perhaps I got a little preachy here, but for me this is more than just the particulars of what’s been in the media lately, this is about a way of life and the trajectory of our culture. I wonder if we're doing better with daily self-awareness, humility, and concern for others as God would have us be concerned for each other.


For the record, here’s a little more of what I wrote:  Because we take issue with any particular bit of someone’s argument doesn’t warrant us dismissing that person’s entire perspective or other points that person is making. I believe that’s some of what frustrates many people today – the degradation of civil discourse and loss of willingness and ability to engage in rigorous and critical debate without shutting down our minds and hearts because we disagree with some bit of what someone has said in context of a particular time and place. We seem to be too quick to simply agree or disagree… and jump on bandwagons of groupthink. I don’t support violent and destructive riots; nor am I debating the merits of a grand jury decision (I might take issue with the grand jury judicial process itself, but I wasn’t presented with all the evidence or legal considerations presented to these juries); nor do I believe it’s safe these days for any of us to wave a toy gun in public or to mouth-off to or aggressively resist police (even if we disagree in the moment with the attitude or tactics of officers confronting us). These have become flashpoints for more chronic frustration under the surface that is rooted in the avoidance of acknowledging and talking about, despite some social progress, how we (particularly white males of relative privilege) too often fail to acknowledge and challenge presumptions, prejudices, and stereotypes that benefit us and discount others. The subconscious generalizations that drive our behaviors are often based on prior life experience that threatened or harmed us. Parts of our brains hold on to bias and stereotypes for survival –it’s a more basic instinct. However, the opportunity we all have as we mature is to own up to our prejudicial tendencies that unfairly hold others back and support beliefs/systems that benefit us while diminishing other groups of people (and their perspectives and concerns). Though later life experience living and working amid all sorts of diversity (beyond what my mono-cultural suburban childhood exposed me to) has helped me keep check on some of my own prejudices and overcome them in my behavior with others, I still notice my instinct to give some people more benefit of the doubt, to avoid conversations with some people, to assume good things about some people, etc. all based on outward appearances. What is potent in our progress on civil rights (heck, what’s essential to human dignity) is when people with more social power and privilege risk of some of that by standing in solidarity with those who feel (and might actually have) less… and to question why things are the way they are… and to hold each other accountable to offering relief, providing opportunities for repentance and reconciliation, and striving for restoration of our equal standing before God. That’s at the heart of what Jesus did in his earthly ministry. Perhaps I got a little preachy here, but for me this is more than just the particulars of what’s been in the media lately, this is about a way of life and the trajectory of our culture. I wonder if we're doing better with daily self-awareness, humility, and concern for others as God would have us be concerned for each other.

First Sunday of Advent, Year B

awaiting God's tearing open of the heavens and coming down....

restore us, God....

strengthen us with your grace....

help us to keep awake.

"Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen." [Advent 1 Collect from The Book of Common Prayer]

Who/what has the reign? What/who are we subject to?

The Feast of Christ the King was created by Pope Pious XI as an antidote to the rising primacy of secularism in the 1920’s. 

Now celebrated on this last Sunday before we begin a new church year with Advent, the assigned readings for this feast day remind faithful Christians that the good news, charitable/caring mission, and coming judgment of Christ is to reign supreme in our hearts and minds, especially amid the rants of gluttonous commercialism, consumerism, and nationalism that demand our allegiance. 

How might we be surprised to perceive God’s ‘kingdom come’ with the eyes of our heart when caring for the vulnerable, hungry, thirsty, stranger, needy, imprisoned, and sick? 

It’s always a good day to re-cognize the systems and beliefs we support; 
who/what compels us to action (or inaction) toward each other; 
and to what/who we all are ultimately subject. 

[ref. RCL readings for Christ the King, Year A]

in the meantime...

Yes, we’re told the end times will include accounting and judgment... 

and we’re also warned against playing it too safe in the meantime. 

Humility, yes. Timidity, no. 

The timing of the ultimate day of reckoning is unknown. 

What is known is that we’re still alive this day. 

We are to remain alert and awake as children of light, 

rather than dwell in/on the darkness. 

During these days that we’ve been granted, 

how are we handling and investing the talents 

with which we’ve been entrusted?

[ref: RCL readings for Proper 28, Year A]

oil in our lamps

Faithful endurance and spiritual reserves
are fuel we build up 

through practice and perseverance. 

Though they’re not commodities that we can 

sell, trade, and loan to others in a pinch, 

we can (and should) demonstrate them 

as encouragement 

while otherwise sharing freely our 

hope-full instructions, 

patience-filled preparedness, and 

discernment-based disciplines. 

[ref: Matt 25:1-13 / Gospel reading for Proper 27, Year A]

living with the dead

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1)

Imagining faces in that divine crowd 

as we read names of our faithful departed 

and celebrate the mystery and promise of Communion; 

honoring the past, 

hoping for the future, 

and gearing up for the present.   

[ref: All Saints, All Souls/Faithful Departed, and Dias de los Meurtos]

the greatest of these is charitable love

At the heart of our calling are interdependent commands to love – love God and love others.  

How do we describe this love - what does it look and sound like in action (with God and with others)? 

How are we to generate/experience more of it? 

How might we overcome the obstacles to sharing it more freely? 

[ref: RCL readings for Proper 25, Year A]

whose image? whose wealth? toward whose end?

Taxes? Yes. Even earthly empires have a place in God’s grand economy, when used towards the heavenly kingdom.

The same currency that can be inappropriately worshipped also can be utilized charitably and lovingly... and all forms of currency carry debts and responsibility to their creators and sovereign reserves.

When handling the notes on which we’ve printed, among other things, “In God We Trust”, re-cognize where true wealth comes from, in whose image we’re actually created, and to whom we all shall be rendered. What is the basis of our trust?

When discerning tensions between allegiance to earthly empire(s) and to God’s kingdom, we must shine light on how we, individually and collectively, are utilizing our God-given time and talent, as well as our earthly treasure.


[ref: RCL readings for Proper 24, Year A]

walk the walk more than talk the talk

Always good to reminder each other that if we're gonna talk the talk, we better walk the walk. 

Yes, systems, institutions, and groups can and should be held to account for collective actions or lack thereof... 

but, in today’s readings, we’re called first to consider our own personal response-ability and where our hearts and minds are focused when we act, or avoid/fail to act. 

Intentions are important... and what we actually do is more important than what we say we’ll do. 

Also, we get ‘called out’ for our tendency to behave like we’re gods in our own self-interest, and not so gently invited to turn back toward our creator with humility and a genuine desire to serve our creator’s interests... together... in love (acting more toward restoration than retribution).

[ref: RCL reading for Proper 21, Year A]

Go tell it – God’s unreasonably generous grace is available any time to anyone....

Go tell it – God’s unreasonably generous grace is available any time to anyone.... 

and that means in time for every one of us 

and for every one of those who don’t seem to deserve it.  

We’re sent to proclaim this good news

to those who aren’t ‘right’ by our accounting,

those who might appear lazy or uninterested, 

and (gasp!) to those who we fear might actually hear 

what the Holy Spirit is saying to God’s people.  

It may not seem fair, but it’s divine.

[ref: RCL reading for Proper 20, Year A]

turning from tolerance to forgiveness....

remembering that forgiving involves forgetting, over and over again.... not the trespasses that have been done, but the things we presume others ‘owe’ us in order to make things right. 

How often must we release others from the bonds of debt when it just doesn’t seem fair to do so? Won’t they just take advantage of our generosity? What are we expecting of them in order for us to be so generous? 

What do you believe you’d find if you checked the status of your account with God? 

Some balance sheets are only ever reconciled by a gift of outrageously generous grace. 

What do you believe God expects of you once freed from debt? 

Even if, especially if, we are not expecting to receive a bill from our unreasonably gracious host for our portion at the heavenly banquet, how are we expected to pursue and experience reconciliation with other invited guests so that all of us can more truly and freely celebrate the sharing of generous portions together?

[ref: RCL readings for Proper 19, Year A]

riffing on responsibility, repentance, and reconciliation....

What inevitably happens when two or more of us are gathered (politics and discord); who has responsibility for our well being as well as for our actions, or lack of; and do we believe Jesus is among us? 

A professor of mine (Ron Heifetz) used the metaphor of needing to maintain perspective from the balcony while also being on the dance floor in order to effectively mobilize groups for adaptive changes (to see systems for what they are while facilitating new behaviors within them). 

In today's lectionary readings, I hear a call for each of us to watch/maintain perspective from an elevated place as we not only boldly speak about approaching dangers on the horizon but also humbly name brewing unhealthiness within... maintaining fortitude in sharing responsibility for repentance while also providing ongoing opportunities for reconciliation, collectively, with God’s help. 

[ref: RCL readings for Proper 18, Year A]

Before considering our call to faithful patience and steadfast acts of love amid suffering, even in the face of death [ref: RCL readings for Proper 17, Year A],

let’s offer prayerful thanksgiving this ‘Labor Day’ weekend 
for the labor of many others that is often taken for granted, 
but without which we would not live as we do... 

as well as ask God to keep us mindful of our roles in meeting the needs of others: 

"Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen." 
(Collect for Labor Day in the Book of Common Prayer) 

Ite, missa est !

Jesus asks, “But who do you say that I am?” ...and, I imagine him following with, ‘beyond proclaiming that I’m the messiah, what are you actually doing in my name / for my sake... collectively as a church body?’ 

New life in/with Jesus as Christ is a corporal/corporate endeavor, in the best sense of that word – a living body... an expanding ecclesia of inter-functioning parts / all sorts of folk with different traits and talents, all valued and needed for a healthy whole 

Q: what’s your role / part in our life together?

We’re being sent out into the world not only to tell our story

but to demonstrate faith and hope in God’s grace

through intentionally – sometimes outrageously - generous acts

of charitable and reconciling love that loosen

and break open demonic gates

designed to entrap, isolate, and separate us

from our creator and each other. 

[ref: RCL readings for Proper 16, Year A]

yes, you're a part of the new covenant

Moral defilement is matter of the heart and the dirt we allow to take root there. 

Worry less about appearances and what we put in our mouths, and more about the words that cross our lips and the charitable labor of our hands – the quality of those fruits are evidence of the cleanliness of our soul’s soil. 

“...maintain justice, and do what is right.... [God’s] house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” 

Whether or not we were on the earlier invitation list, 
now by grace, 
we’re ALL invited in, with clean hearts, 
demonstrating love toward God and neighbor. 

[ref: RCL readings for Proper 15, Year A]

I'm not able to gently address our assigned lectionary readings this morning while violence persists in the region of the Holy Land and while religious extremists are murderously purging / displacing tens of thousands of Christians and other ethnic and religious minorities in pursuit of establishing a more pure theocracy. The zealots also aim to paralyze their opposition with fear of further terror. 

Confronting violence in God’s name in our scriptures is particularly salient. 

The current storm our sisters and brothers are facing is very real. 

Oh how I yearn to hear Jesus say, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” What a joy it would be to join the psalmist in crying out, “Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” 

Christ, please reach your hand out to those in danger, even of little faith, who are seeking safety and relief. 

O God, make speed to save us. O Lord, make haste to help us. 

[ref: RCL readings for Proper 14, Year A]

This is the Arabic letter “nun,” the first letter in the word “Nazarene.”We're being told in the media that in ISIS controlled regions of Iraq,
it has been painted on doors to identify the homes of Christians
who are then brutally beaten and often executed.

bring me what you have. you give them something to eat

There’s just too much need – I don’t have enough to offer.  

Jesus says, “bring me what you have.”  

Self-centered assumptions and presumptions are interrupted.  

We’re shown God’s way and sent out to do what seems impractical if not impossible.  Hungers and needs are addressed with whatever has been offered in faith and shared in love. 

Amid our thanksgivings and blessings, the Spirit tirelessly encourages ever more generous giving and sharing,... 

revealing ever broader abundance in God’s grace so more and more of God’s family can ‘get it’ and radically communal nourishment becomes the norm in the new kingdom. 

[ref: RCL readings for Proper 13, Year A]

Church of the Multiplication of Loaves & Fishes in Tabgha, Israel(photo by The Rev. Michael S. Bell, 2010) 

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/church-of-loaves-and-fishes

the good, the bad, and our patience and compassionate God

Good and bad seeds are thrown our way.  

Either and both will grow in our hearts if we let them in. 

The seeds that thrive are the ones to which we give most attention.  

Discerning weeds from wheat as they sprout up in our own hearts and become tangled in our own ways of being requires glasses of grace offered to us with patience and compassion by God’s Spirit.  

However, when any of us with haste presume to weed the larger field ourselves, there’s great risk of error from hubris and myopia.  

At the end of all our days, have faith that God will sort out the harvest justly, gathering what is good and throwing the waste to the fire. 

“Let anyone with ears listen!” 

[ref: Matt 13:24-30, 36-43 and RCL reading for Proper 11, Year A]

worms of grace for our godly composting

[ref. Revised Common Lectionary readings for Proper 10, Year A]

e-i-e-i-ohhh... it’s good and godly wise to offer seeds of the Good News widely, 

even seemingly wastefully with faithful flings, 

even upon ground that appears to be infertile or hostile to new life. 

We hope and trust that, through God’s Spirit, some will take hold in fertile soil (perhaps unseen) and yield fruit abundantly (even after we’ve moved on to other mission fields).  

It’s also good and godly wise to be mindful of the rocky roads and thorny thickets of in our own hearts, and occasionally til our own soil, asking for God’s help and worms of grace to make creative use of inevitable natural crap and other compost to better prepare our soulful selves for the acceptance, cultivation, and sharing of Christ-like love. 

liberty for all

Following fireworks and leisure of a day on which we celebrate independence and freedoms (and hopefully remember the sacrifices made in faithful and hopeful pursuit of our liberty).... 

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). 

Jesus never says his way is meant to be a cake walk or that it’s not costly.  

And, when it’s less about continuing to carry the illusion of being capable of doing it all on your own as well as the intellectual hubris and idolatry of having to be right, 

and instead more about surrendering to wisdom and support through community of right relationships with God and neighbor; 

while there’s still labor for us, 

it’s not as complicated, heavy, and seeming hopeless as it’s too often presented and believed to be... 

and liberation and peace become affordable for all.  

Who are we to welcome... and how? 

 “...This is a large work I’ve called you into, but don’t be overwhelmed by it. It’s best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice....” 

 (from Matthew 10:40-42 as paraphrased by Eugene Peterson in The Message)

http://vimeo.com/42584547

Love Free or Die from christopher white on Vimeo.

[re: lectionary readings for Proper 7, Year A]

Jesus saying, “Fear not. I got this.” doesn’t remove our responsibility as disciples. 

No denying it, following Jesus and coming to know the good news more personally may break things open, and possibly apart, and cut through other ties that bind... and we need not fear the fervor of these times. 

Truth and grace will prevail... as kingdom community is revealed and relationships are made new in God’s light.

to create, to redeem, to sustain

Trinity Sunday sermon?

well.... rather than a hasty hack job on doctrine, I’m going to humbly, with faith and hope, begin these Sundays after Pentecost by scratching the surface on the perpetual nature of agape/love to create, redeem, and sustain relationships.

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31, NIV)

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” (2 Cor 13:13, NRSV)

Pentecost: is it better to give or receive?

how 'bout receiving AND sharing?

grappling with gifts

(even if given to any of us for only a period of time) 

and finding fruits

(tasty and nourishing) 

of the Holy Spirit 

given for our commonweal 

when we share 

in breathing with the very breath of God.

post-Ascension action necessary

Jesus prays for us to know and to be known.  Humble ourselves, cast our cares to God, keep awake.... and stop staring up at the sky; get on with it – there’s plenty to be done in his name here-n-now with the help of the Spirit, til the wolf and lion can lie peacefully with the yearling and lamb in glory. 

[ref. lectionary readings for Easter 7, Year A]

to know; to see; to love

Unattainable idols leaving you unfulfilled? Curious?  Seeking?  

It’s unreasonable that God remains unknown.  Overcome ignorance.  

Open the eyes of your heart to see what Jesus reveals about God’s fleshly and breath-filled intimacy with us all as well as God’s desires for our relationships with each other.  

Follow his Spirit into new life.

[ref: lectionary readings for Easter 6, Year A]

St Paul before the Proconsul by Raphael Sanzio, 1515

our home is where the true heart dwells

Home? How can we know the way?  

Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God.  Believe in me.” (John 14:1)  

Through Jesus’ example we see God’s nature – yearning for us to be whole and acting toward us all with justice, mercy, and steadfast love.  

We're invited to follow living stones assembling into a holy dwelling, 

serving as strong rocks ourselves, 

sharing nourishing and pure spiritual milk 

(genuine in faith, hope, and mutual love), 

and helping others come to the many abiding places prepared for us in God’s house, an unbelievably big abode in which there are more hospitality suites and living rooms than we can imagine

[ref: lectionary readings for Easter 5 A]

of mothers, shepherds, and sheep

On this fourth Sunday of Easter (Year A), imagining God as divine mother, in all sense of that... the challenges and the comfort.

Bobby McFerrin: "The 23rd Psalm is dedicated to my mother. She was the driving force in my religious and spiritual education, and I have so many memories of her singing in church. But I wrote it because I'd been reading the Bible one morning, and I was thinking about God's unconditional love, about how we crave it but have so much trouble believing we can trust it, and how we can't fully understand it. And then I left my reading and spent time with my wife and our children. Watching her with them, the way she loved them, I realized one of the ways we're shown a glimpse of how God loves us is through our mothers. They cherish our spirits, they demand that we become our best selves, and they take care of us." (from 'Sing Your Prayers: An Interview With Bobby McFerrin' by Omega Institute:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/omega-institute-for-holistic-studies/bobby-mcferrin_b_1582043.html)

Bobby McFerrin's VOCAbuLarieS featuring SLIXS & Friends,

live in Gdansk, Poland at the Solidarity of Arts Festival, 17 August 2013

A Mother’s Day Proclamation by Julia Ward Howe, 1870

Arise, then, women of this day ! 

Arise, all women who have hearts, whether our baptism be of water or of tears !

Say firmly : We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country, to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.

From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: Disarm, disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence vindicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of council.

Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them then solemnly take council with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, man as the brother of man, each bearing after his own kind the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God.

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women, without limit of nationality, may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient, and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.


For brief, enriching info about this day:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/05/140508-mothers-day-nation-gifts-facts-culture-moms/

http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/mothers-day

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/11/the-radical-history-of-mother-s-day.html

the holy guest becomes our host, and as hosts we see that we’re guests

Don't the best appetizers complement the full meal to come? 

Fruitful sparks can lead to a blazing fire when set within ready kindling. 

Often we’re blind to resurrection and abundance all around us. 

Even as our hearts hunger for what we read and hear, it’s not until they’re also fed through acts of hospitality and generosity, and when bread is broken together (particularly with those once considered strangers), that we’re able, even if only for a few lucid moments, to more fully ‘see’ the truth of Christ in our midst and taste the promise of belonging at God’s heavenly banquet prepared for us - and for all - who repent, forgive, and accept & share the gifts of the Holy Spirit as they’ve been shared with us. 

[ref: lectionary readings for Easter 3 A]

passing through, burning away, letting go, and being born anew

On this '8th day', considering three of the things we hear the Spirit saying to God's people:

1) Walking right through barriers we keep up out of fear, our risen Lord breaths on us the very breath of God, compelling us to be born anew to a living hope.

2) We’re not to hold on to resentments toward others – retaining such ill will becomes toxic not just in our hearts, but festers like an infected sore in our collective body. Forgive others.... and experience forgiveness ourselves by opening our hearts to the grace coming from our risen Lord.

3) When doubts and times of trial test our faith, if we press forward together in love and with hope, our faith can become more genuine and mature, like gold passing through fire, fundamentally remaining unharmed while also becoming further refined and pure as more of the crap is burned away.

a repentant, rejoicing Hallelujah!

Through Facebook this year, a friend intro'd me to Kelley Mooney's authorized adaptation of Leonard Cohen's original Hallelujah.  It hit a necessary chord this year, so I ended up downloading her published version through iTunes and using it as this Easter Sunday's Gospel processional (the hymn before the Gospel reading). 

The image she creates of the Roman centurion looking with fear upon his sword, turning to face his Christ and Lord (Jesus), and falling to his knees to cry alleluia, was particularly poignant, considering not only the international military actions we endlessly endure, but also the more intimate, interpersonal wars we wage daily (and ongoing, for years, in the grudges we keep).  What if we each were to look with fear upon the swords we're carrying, drop them, and turn to face our Christ, falling to our knees in both repentance and joy?

This combination of arresting, humble repentance and overwhelming thanksgiving and joy (that Kelley Mooney has successfully wed to Cohen's classic chords) is in holy contrast to the darker somewhat ambiguous, if not outright ambivalent and broken 'hallelujah' that the Leonard Cohen hints at in the lyrics of his haunting original (see an interview Cohen).  Whereas the poetic songwriter Cohen seems to have been suggesting a cathartic (even orgasmic) utterance that reflexively bursts forth from the dark nights of our souls as a dim glimmer of innate hope (E.g., cover by K.D. Lang), the inspired Kelley Mooney utilizes his same emotional original chords while singing with new, more explicit words right into the brilliant, holy light of Easter, inviting us to join a heavenly chorus of thanksgiving and praise that can melt the hearts of even the most stoic soldiers (ref: Kelley's explanation of her journey with this song).

"But as they went to move the stone, they saw that they were not alone... but Jesus Christ has risen, Hallelujah!"

Palm Sunday

After waving of the palms has ceased and the shouts have subsided... while the haunting cry of 'forsaken' still echos from atop the cross (challenging us to consider who has abandoned whom)... we also enter this week reciting the rest of Psalm 22, including: “Yet you are holy... In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.... For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted.... The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever!” (Psalm 22: 3-5, 26)