A Real Family Story

If you are looking for a poignant, sad, but beautiful story that will remind you what is important in life, I strongly suggest reading "Against All Odds, a Beautiful Life" in the January 24th edition of the New York Times.

The article tells the story of Maurice Mannion-Vanover who died at age 20 on January 14th. So often when I read news stories of young men dying it is because of violence -- whether that violence is at home, in their neighborhoods, or in war.

Maurice's story, however, is a family story. When Maurice was a baby he was adopted by a gay couple. Eventually, they adopted another boy, also. Maurice was not expected to live more than 6 months after his birth, but he managed, despite many challenges, to live until he was 20.

What I love about this article is that it tells such a normal family story, filled with happiness and pain, struggle and joy, commitment and separation, sadness and love. The fact that the family at the center of this story is two gay men and their two African-American adopted sons doesn't really matter. They are a family that has endured illness, divorce, and death. Like any other American family they stood together at Maurice's funeral and grieved his untimely death. Because that's what families do.

In the midst of the sadness, can we celebrate how normal this non-traditional family is? Can we start to accept that a family is defined not by external appearances or sexuality but by love, commitment, faith, and a life shared together?

Oh yes! One other detail I love. They are members of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Montclair, NJ. They had a parish home that accepted and embraced them. If anyone tells you that religion isn't a good thing or that the church judges instead of loves, tell them Maurice's story. Tell them about the Episcopal Church.

And when you tell the story, don't forget to mention Rocky. He's the horse! I'll stop typing so you can read the article.

This story will definitely preach!

Honoring a New Hampshire Saint on Martin Luther King Day

Jonathan Myrick Daniels, a native of Keene, New Hampshire, was killed in Alabama on August 20, 1965. He was a 26 year old Episcopal seminary student who gave his life so that an African-American teenager, Ruby Sales, would not be harmed. He is rightly considered a Christian martyr and a saint of the church whose feast day on the church calendar is August 14.

Daniels and Sales are two of the countless people--people of different ethnicities, religions, ages, backgrounds, and political beliefs--who participated in the civil rights movement and helped to bring about the transformation of our nation.

I'm reminded of Daniels today because of an excellent column in today's Boston Globe by Adrian Walker, "On King holiday, honoring heroes," that focuses on Daniels passion and sacrifice. Beyond his willingness to give his life, Daniels' commitment, as a white northerner, reminds us that real transformation in our nation--a transformation that is ongoing today--comes when we open ourselves to those who are different from us.

As Ruby Sales said (as quoted in Walker's column): "If I had never met Jonathan Daniels, I would have only had a monolithic view of white people and he would have had one view of black people. We opened each other's worlds so we could see each other's humanity. That's really what the movement was about."

Following Jonathan's and Ruby's examples, perhaps the best thing to remember on this Martin Luther King Day is that the world will only become a better place when we open ourselves to relationships with those who differ from us, with those who are often separated from us. When we do this, we not only "see each other's humanity," we create community.

I highly recommend taking a few minutes to read Walker's column in the Globe. Not only does he give a fuller picture of Daniels' life and commitment than I've giving here, but he articulates the essence of what this national holiday is truly about.

Take Away the Arrogance and Hatred Which Infect Our Hearts

Six people killed and a member of Congress in critical condition in the hospital. The tragedy in Tucson has saturated the news as people try to respond and comprehend what happened. In what has become a common rite in western society, people have been leaving flowers, keepsakes, and notes in support of Congresswoman Giffords and those who were killed and injured.

Lost in the midst of this tragedy is one reported in the Boston Globe on Wednesday, January 12th in an article titled "Students Mourn Nebraska School Administrator Slain by Teen." A school principal was shot last week by a student she had suspended earlier in the day. Later that same day the student killed himself.

It seems at times, doesn't it, that we live in a society gone mad. I'm not sure if these sorts of things happen more often than they used to or if we just hear about it more because of the overload of information that comes to us. Whatever it is, I wonder what my response is to be to this as a Christian person. These events happened far away from me and my life really has not been changed by them. But do I just let them pass or is this a call to live in a new way?

I'm not sure what the answer is, but I know where I start in situations like this. I start by praying the prayer "For the Human Family" found on page 815 of the Book of Common Prayer.

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus Christ your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Once I've prayed the prayer, the question becomes: How do I put this into action? It's fine to place my faith in God and wait for God's "good time" to bring the divine purpose into fulfillment. But that doesn't mean I bear no responsibility for the society in which I live today.

As Christians, one of our primary calls is to create community, a special sort of community that lives by faith, hope, and love despite the differences that might divide us. As God's people, as the Body of Christ, we have it within our power to make a difference by showing the world that there is another way to live together.

What might happen if we took seriously not only praying this prayer, but also living it?

Even the Snow Praises God

It's January 12th and we're getting our first "real" snow day of the season in New Hampshire. This seems a good time to lift up a prayer to God using the words of Canticle 12 from Morning Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer.

Invocation
Glorify the Lord, all you works of the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him forever.
In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him forever.

I The Cosmic Order
Glorify the Lord, you angels and all the powers of the Lord,*
O heavens and all waters above the heavens.
Sun and moon and stars of the sky, glorify the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him forever.

Glorify the Lord, every shower of rain and fall of dew,*
all the winds and fire and heat.
Winter and summer, glorify the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him forever.

Glorify the Lord, O chill and cold,*
drops of dew and flakes of snow.
Frost and cold, ice and sleet, glorify the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him forever.

Glorify the Lord, O nights and days,*
O shining light and enfolding dark.
Storm clouds and thunderbolts, glorify the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him forever.

Doxology
Let us glorify the Lord: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;*
praise him and highly exalt him forever.
In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord,*
praise him and highly exalt him forever.

On the 10th Day of Christmas . . . Reality Hit!

As always, I feel as if I am at least a couple of days behind on this blog (well, I'm probably behind on more than that, but I'm not going to get too stressed about it today!). Anyway, I'm sitting here at home while most everyone else is starting back to work, school, and the other normal activities of life. Really, I have been working today because I've been mostly off for the past week, but the office is closed so I'm not catching up on some things at home.

We're still in the Twelve Days of Christmas which means that our tree is still up and decorated and the house has a festive look to it. However, most of our neighbors have put their trees by the side of the road, all the things I've put off until after the first of the year now need to be done, and my calendar is about to become very full. Ugh!

This is a good time for me to re-read words by Frederick Buechner in his book, Now and Then.

"Taking your children to school and kissing your wife goodbye. Eating lunch with a friend. Trying to do a decent day's work. Hearing the rain patter against the window. There is no event so commonplace but that God is present within it, always hiddenly, always leaving room to recognize him or not to recognize him, but all the more fascinatingly because of that, all the more compellingly and hauntingly."

What this means for me is that it is about time to stop looking for Jesus in the manger and begin looking for him in the midst of the everyday parts of my life, the parts I cherish and the parts I take for granted, the parts I wish I could ignore and the parts I embrace, the parts that cause stress and the parts that lift me up. God, the Incarnate One, is in all of them, if only I will look.

"There is no event so commonplace but that God is present within it." And isn't that the point of Christmas anyway?