Friends,
I am traveling which leaves me disconnected from home. Gathering at a national event brings up so many feelings. All of our travels were delayed, disrupted, they were a struggle to leave and a struggle to arrive.
Most of us form the south and east were dealing with ice and snow, a large contingent from Minneapolis were dealing with ICE and border patrol.
We all found a way to be present with each other, imagining a church where each member has a calling, and each congregation has a role in their community. I feel uplifted.
-Liz
Prayer
I am at Forma, the Episcopal gathering of religious educators and others concerned with how we form our congregations as a people. Formation is the language used to distinguish between learning pieces of information and the work of helping people to incorporate learning into our bodies, our minds, and our souls. The goal of formation is not to only know, but to be formed into the person (and the congregation) that God has called us to be.
Each evening this conference had a half hour "Closing Moment" to end our activities. They all have been great. I want to share what we did last night as it gave a great example of how we can connect our spiritual lives with our actions in the world. (The exercise also integrated technology in a creative way!)
We gathered in the worship space with singing and then were encouraged to take part in any number of prayer stations. A large screen showed us the choices and they were explained verbally. I took part in most of the choices in the half hour but each was rich enough to use the whole time.
On the floor in the front was a huge cloth map of the world. Two big baskets of battery powered votives and a circle of chairs allowed us to light a candle for a part of the world that is on our hearts, and then to sit in a time of reflection on our planet. I thought about war, about climate change, about women's rights as I considered my world wide prayers.
At the baptismal font in the back of the sanctuary were slips of paper with "star words" for this "Season After Epiphany". We were encouraged to either close our eyes and choose a word at random, or to reflect on the huge selection of words and choose the one that calls to us. The language connected our baptismal promises to our word choice--this is an opportunity to change the direction of our lives for this season.
I selected the word rest, or perhaps it selected me. I sat at the station for a long time trying to come up with a different choice--I have so much to do. Yet this was clearly my word. In the prayer time I realized I must take on fewer projects as I want to be available to be at protests without pre-planning. It is not rest as in do nothing, but rather rest from the tight schedule I keep. I was thrilled to find my coworker had been called to the same word.
In episcopal fashion, one of the stations gave participants the opportunity to burn a bit of incense. My allergies make such exercises a challenge, but it reminded me that our faith is not only about words. It involves all of our senses, it is requires all of who we are.
For personal prayers there was a healing station offering anointing with oil.
The online prayer station was a link to access with our phones. I thought at first this was a way to donate money to the episcopal immigration ministries, but it was not. It was a connection to website that helps us to send letters to our politicians! I am pleased this was considered a form of prayer.
I went first to the altar, covered with icons of saints. My heritage is not big on saints but my experience at Episcopal Divinity School gave me an appreciation for this practice. We were encouraged either to kneel at the communion rail or to step close to the altar and sit on the huge chairs. The saints offered included the modern ones like The Rev. Dr. King, Fannie Lou Hammer, and Dorothy Day. I wish I had a list for there were many I don't know and I'd love to research them further.
This station moved me to tears. I moved around, sitting on the chairs and finding different spots at the rail. The connection to the eucharist, where I take into me the body of Christ, and the historical connection to the church as the body of Christ was overwhelming and positive. There have been so many people who have asked how our faith can make the world better. There are so many people asking how our faith can make the world better.
I discovered I am called to rest so as to be ready, and I will do this with whole history of saints in the Christian tradition.
How does your church integrate prayer and justice work? Reply to this email to let me know what's happening.
The music at this conference is from Music That Makes Community, a group that encourages communal singing from our heart and soul. The music is simple, repetitive, and done without words.
Justice Aid offers twelve months of Music that Matters.
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