Tag: oppression

Risk delight

Alan / / Sunday Letter

Have mercy on us O God. We are a forgetful people. We forget what it was like when others hemmed us in — behind and before with a wall of violent oppression topped with the razor wire of bigotry. So we do to others as they have done to us. There used to be a Wall that ran through Berlin now another Wall runs through Bethlehem. Heal us of our amnesia and bring down the walls of division in our day. Amen.

 

This poem below by Jack Gilbert defends the right to delight in a world saturated with suffering and division. I share it with you because Christmas is God’s invitation for us to delight…

A Brief for the Defense

Sorrow everywhere. Slaughter everywhere. If babies
are not starving someplace, they are starving
somewhere else. With flies in their nostrils.
But we enjoy our lives because that’s what God wants.
Otherwise the mornings before summer dawn would not
be made so fine. The Bengal tiger would not
be fashioned so miraculously well. The poor women
at the fountain are laughing together between
the suffering they have known and the awfulness
in their future, smiling and laughing while somebody
in the village is very sick. There is laughter
every day in the terrible streets of Calcutta,
and the women laugh in the cages of Bombay.
If we deny our happiness, resist our satisfaction,
we lessen the importance of their deprivation.
We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,
but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have
the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless
furnace of this world. To make injustice the only
measure of our attention is to praise the Devil.
If the locomotive of the Lord runs us down,
we should give thanks that the end had magnitude.
We must admit there will be music despite everything.
We stand at the prow again of a small ship
anchored late at night in the tiny port
looking over to the sleeping island: the waterfront
is three shuttered cafés and one naked light burning.
To hear the faint sound of oars in the silence as a rowboat
comes slowly out and then goes back is truly worth
all the years of sorrow that are to come.

Forget all the pictures you have seen of Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus painted in serene holiness. This modern day picture from Palestine is probably much closer to the truth of their experience.

Pray for the children like Jesus who see too much
too soon!

 

Mary courageously consented …

Consent

Denise Levertov

This was the minute no one speaks of,
when she could still refuse.
A breath unbreathed,
Spirit,
suspended,
waiting.

She did not cry, “I cannot, I am not worthy,”
nor, “I have not the strength.”
She did not submit with gritted teeth,
raging, coerced.
Bravest of all humans,
consent illumined her.
The room filled with its light,
the lily glowed in it,
and the iridescent wings.
Consent,
courage unparalleled,
opened her utterly.

Source: “Annunciation” in Breathing the Water

Occupy Church Street

Alan / / Sunday Letter

Toronto’s Walk A Mile in Her Shoes March
to end violence against women

Today we “occupy” Church Street in the most Jesus-like way! We set out a banquet table with an abundance of food to share with the hungry and homeless of this city. Those who are forever told to “move along” will be invited, welcomed and served. It is probably as close as we will ever get to truly sharing Holy Communion. Lord help us to do so with reverence for each other.

And here is the thing — those of us preparing and serving are the really fortunate ones — far more so than those receiving the meal. We are fortunate for the incredible privilege to serve. If we think our service is a “sacrifice” we still have not understood what it means to live life centred around Jesus. Service is a privilege not a sacrifice because we are all born in the image of a Serving God and therefore to serve is to be who we are originally designed to be. To serve is to speak in our mother tongue — though sadly many of us have not learnt to speak it fluently.

It is a privilege not only because we have an opportunity to live out our Godly design, but also because we get to serve Jesus in our midst. Jesus who comes to us hidden in the swollen face and torn feet of the vulnerable. If the Gospels are to be believed we are more likely to meet Jesus out on Church Street than inside this church building.

It is a privilege to live out the teachings of Jesus who told us that when we throw a party we should invite the blind, crippled, deaf and lame. Jesus also instructed us to be sure to invite people who would never be able to return the favour.

Today is not a “once off” event. It is the culmination of a consistency of service shown throughout the year by a dedicated group of people who have provided a meal and an affirming grace for the vulnerable of the city every Sunday lunch time. Thank you for your witness. Alan

The Situation in Khayelitsha

Despite declines nationally in key crime indicators, Khayelitsha has seen an increase in the number of murders, attempted murders and sexual assaults over the past four years. Between April 2011 and March 2012 there were 360 murders in Khayelitsha. During the same period, there were 648 sexual offences. Complaints by organisations prompted the National Police Commissioner to commission a task team to investigate the efficiency of policing in Khayelitsha. The report revealed that the community police forums in Khayelitsha are not operating effectively. At Khayelitsha Police Station, only one vehicle and one officer are assigned to each sector for visible policing; suspects are often held for more than 48 hours without charge – a severe violation of people’s constitutional rights; and police officers also often fail to take witness statements, resulting in cases being thrown out of court.

Given the lack of trust in the police to provide safety and security, some Khayelitsha residents have taken the law into their own hands, resulting in an explosion of vigilante killings – according to the SAPS, 78 such killings were reported between April 2011 and June 2012 in Khayelitsha. Residents explain that because police and the courts are failing their communities, people are taking the law into their own hands to ensure that justice is done. More recently we have witnessed brutal warfare between rival gangs of schoolchildren, resulting in the deaths of a number of young learners and many children not going to school fearful of being caught in the violence.

GOING FORWARD On 13 December 2012, the first hearings will be held in the Cape Town High Court to determine if the SAPS interdict application will be successful. In the build-up to the hearing we will be actively campaigning to raise awareness of the Commission of Inquiry.

There will be a gathering outside the High Court at 10 a.m. on 13 December 2012.

Everybody matters

Alan / / Sunday Letter

 This past week I have been in Wales sharing Manna and Mercy at the Pastor’s School of the United Reformed Church of Wales. It is the first time Manna and Mercy is being presented in Europe. On this trip I will not only be doing Manna and Mercy but training others, especially pastors, to use the material in their own ministries. See: www.urc-wales.org.uk

For those of you who do not know, Manna and Mercy is an artistic paraphrase of the whole Bible focusing on the main themes of Jesus’ ministry — namely “daily bread” and “mercy”. It is written by Daniel Erlander. See: www.danerlander.com

Today I am preaching at East Belfast Mission. A Methodist Church based on the Newtownards Road in Ballymacarret, an area of social and economic deprivation with high levels of unemployment, ill-health and paramilitary influences. Rated as the fifth most deprived ward of the 566 wards in Northern Ireland, the area has a particularly high incidence of unemployment with many individuals excluded from the labour market through unemployment, disability or ill health. They employ 70 people with over 100 active volunteers. See: www.ebm.org.uk and www.skainos.org

Their mission is nothing less than the transformation and renewal of East Belfast, by offering hope and a future to all those in need in the inner city, regardless of background or belief. They believe that everybody matters. It has been said of the East Belfast Mission congregation that ‘they’d let anyone in there’. I love it!!

Peace, Alan