A Local Hero of the Faith

Last night I shared a tiny bit about the powerful woman, Sojourner Truth. She was born in nearby Ulster County, NY

Here is my favorite story from her life:

Throughout her life,
Truth sought social change through peaceful methods.
Her actions could speak louder than words.
But when she combined her actions with words,
spoken or sung, the effects verged on extraordinary.

It was during the time that Sojourner Truth
lived among members
of the Northampton Association in Massachusetts,
from 1844 to 1846, that her words and actions
allowed her to perform a feat of near miraculous proportions.

When a rowdy mob of "wild young men"
threatened to disrupt a tent revival meeting she was attending,
Sojourner followed the example of others and hid, "quaking in fear."

Hid, that is, until she remembered who she was
-- not Isabella Hardenbergh the former slave,
not Isabella Hardenbergh an illiterate and powerless black woman
-- but Sojourner Truth, called to preach,
called to testify, called to greatness. She said to herself:

Shall I run away and hide from the devil?
Me, a servant of the living God?
Have I not faith enough to go out and quell that mob,
when I know it is written, "One shall chase a thousand,
and two put ten thousand to flight?"
I know there are not a thousand here;
and I know I am a servant of the living God.
I'll go to the rescue,
and the Lord shall go with and protect me.

Oh, I felt as if I had three hearts!
and that they were so large,
my body could hardly contain them!

(did you catch that? Remember what the Grinch did when his heart Grew 3 sizes?)

Sojourner left the tent alone and unaided,
and walking some thirty rods
to the top of a small rise of ground,
commenced to sing in her most fervid manner,
with all the strength of her most powerful voice,
the hymn on the resurrection of Christ.

With an emphasis on the lyrics,
and little mind to the occasional flat note
and lack of harmony,
Sojourner continued to sing
as the mob of young men surrounded her
with sticks and clubs.
But, instead of beating her,
they entreated Truth to continue singing
and tell them her story.
According to the account in her autobiography:

She did speak; they silently heard,
and civilly asked her many questions.
It seemed to her to be given her
at the time
to answer them with truth and wisdom beyond herself.
Her speech had operated
on the roused passions of the mob like oil on agitated waters;
they were, as a whole entirely subdued,
and only clamored when she ceased to speak or sing. 3

Gradually the din of angry voices subsided
and the only voice which could be heard was Sojourner's.
Climbing into the back of a nearby wagon,
Truth proceeded to preach and sing
to her increasingly respectful congregation.
Finally she struck a unique bargain with the young men.
They promised to leave the site after one last spiritual
and to allow the revival meeting to continue in peace.
Then Sojourner rejoined
her fellow worshippers under the tent.

Sojourner Truth had attitude.
And she had faith.
It took great courage for her to step outside
that tent and put herself in the center
of a mob of disrespectful, and potentially dangerous, men.
Truth could have chosen the easy path
and stayed inside the tent with the others.
Instead, she chose to back up her words with her actions.

She refused to "keep her place,"
to be intimidated or ignored.
She was a force to be reckoned with,
a force with an invisible and mighty right arm
to aid her in her campaign against inequality.

Sojourner knew her fight was not hers alone.
It was her faith in God
that sustained her through her endless series
of trials and tribulations.

During our life, we too face trials,
remember God is with you
just as the Almighty was with Sojourner Truth

ah, Bach

Bach, a great hero of the Christian faith; often over looked because of his centuries old music used for haunted houses and Fantasia. Here's a fun take on his Toccata and Fugue in D Minor that gives you an appreciation for how Bach ran the pedals and keys in order to invoke a physical response from the hearer.




Bach firmly believed that EVERYTHING in music was to glorify God. There was no divide between church music and secular music other than who paid him. He wanted to glorify God. I find this attitude refreshing and different from some of today's artists, who seem to believe it is about being famous and making money.

We too are called to glorify God in our lives. How will you do that today?

What are you willing to give to get

We all have expectations in life; things we would love to see happen or believe it should just be "this way." Many times, we expect others to meet our expectations. If we rely solely on others to met our expectations, we will almost always feel disappointed. Expect top notch athlete's to never make a foolish choice? Unless, you know one and are involved in their life, it probably won't happen.

The best method of achieving our expectations is to recognize we must give something of ourselves to see our expectations met.

If I expect people to pay attention to my sermons, then I need to do the hard work during the week to prepare and craft something that is engaging not simply entertaining or a lecture. If I expect to go on vacation without going into debt, I need to save money now.

What are your expectations in life? for your job? for your worship of God?

What are you willing to do to make the expectations come true? What are you will to give to get your expectations met?

An Ash Wednesday thought

A certified public accountant did something that maybe all of us should do. He decided to open a journal with God. He wanted to write down everything that God gave him and everything that he gave to God. He started keeping a debit and credit book with God.

If someone did him a favor, he put it down as God’s gift to him. He credited God with the sun, his food, his health, his friends and relatives and a thousand other benefits he received.

On the other hand, he put down what he did for God. Finally he gave up, saying, “It is impossible for me to balance the books. I find that God is indeed my creditor and what I have done for him is next to nothing.”

Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ, who did balance our books so that we can know and love the almighty God, creator of us all.

Thoughts and Prayers following the plane crash in Clarence Center

^{John 10:27}My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.

BBC News article on the plane crash, Plane Crash in Buffalo Suburb

I woke up this morning to the terrible news; a plane with over 45 people crashed into a home and there are at least 49 deceased. All I could think of was this scripture; how it feels as if these individuals were snatched away from those they love. The pain and shock of grief hit those left behind hard. Yet in the midst of these feelings, Jesus reminds us that the passengers, crew, and those on the ground are in God's hands. Jesus brings eternal life, and the promise nothing can break the embrace of the triune God who holds all of us.


Holy God, we need you now. Please enter into those who are grieving with your life giving presence, to sustain them with the sweet resurrection promise and to help all who mourn find a new normal in life. Amen

a Prayer for President Obama and the USA

Please read the text of Bishop Gene Robinson's Inaugural Prayer of Invocation (see below) from January 18th and feel free to share this with others. We ask this because this prayer was not broadcast. Of all the inaugural events to neglect to broadcast, it was most unfortunate to omit the prayer of an openly gay Episcopal Bishop, giving the appearance of marginalizing and censoring him.

Millions of people would have heard this prayer, but did not. We are asking you to pass this message on to your email list in the hope that eventually millions will read these beautiful and important words.

Thank you very much.

Bishop Eugene Robinson's Inaugural Prayer:

O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will...

Bless us with tears - for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Bless us with anger - at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort - at the easy, simplistic "answers" we've preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience - and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be "fixed" anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.

Bless us with humility - open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance - replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.

Bless us with compassion and generosity - remembering that every religion's God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.

And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.

Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln's reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy's ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King's dream of a nation for ALL the people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.

Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.

Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.

Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters'
childhoods.

And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we're asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand - that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.

Amen.

a thought for Black History Month

I found this poster striking, and thought it worth sharing

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/01/23/poster-389-years-lat.html

There is much to absorb in this visual history, please take the time to view it.