Tag: goodness

The Picture Is Only Half the Story

I don’t preach very often anymore and so don’t have sermons to post.
But last Friday I was deeply honored to be asked to speak at the Shabbat service at Congregation Beth Israel in San Diego, CA. The service was also the Installation of their new Senior Rabbi, Rabbi Jason Nevarez, who has been a friend and colleague for nearly 20 years. This is what I said….

Shabbat Shalom.

First things first.
Jason, thank you for the invitation to be a part of your Installation and to share in this special Shabbat service with you. I am honored. And, Congregation Beth Israel…thank you for your welcome and for your hospitality in having me here to share this moment with you. I believe it matters.

Probably like yours, our home is filled with pictures.
Curious about how many there were, I began to count. I stopped at 200…and that does not include the digital picture frame in our living room with its new picture every 15 seconds. But, what caught my attention, as I counted and looked, again, at the pictures hung on our walls and in frames on our bookcases, was a scrap of paper my wife found somewhere and placed above one grouping of pictures hung on the wall at the top of the stairs.
It reads, “The picture is only half the story.”
I invite you to think about that for a moment.
For me, at least, and maybe also for you, the pictures in our home reach back or down and pull into the present both wonderful and poignant memories. Some capture those everyday moments which add up to a lifetime like the picture of our youngest son when he was 5 or 6 with his foot on his soccer ball and a huge grin on his face. Or, the one of us standing on the beach and watching the waves. Other pictures are reminders of more poignant moments. Like the picture of our son holding his son for the first time. Or, the one of our whole family taken after having had dinner together. The last time we were all together before my father passed away.
The picture is only half the story.
The rest…
The important part…
Tells the story of our lives.
What we remember and reminders of who we are and of what we value.
And, of those transformative moments which shaped and continue to reshape who we are.

Why am I telling you all of this?
Because, while we might not take an actual picture this evening, right here and right now might be one of those moments worth remembering and holding on to. A mental snapshot, if you will.
Look around.
Here you are.
Together again after being apart for so long.
Congregants and friends.
Here in a beautiful sanctuary which holds its own fair share of memories and in which prayers whispered long ago still echo.
Gathered to celebrate the installation of your new Senior Rabbi.
And this…
A Presbyterian pastor.
A Christian minister.
Standing before you on the Bima.
Having been asked to deliver this evenings’ reflection.
I don’t know about you, but for me, it is a first.
And a moment, in what it represents,
For you.
For me.
For Rabbi Nevarez.
That I believe is worth remembering and holding onto and lifting up as one small step towards that which God intends.

As I thought about what I might say this evening (besides my reflection on pictures), I found myself thinking about why Rabbi Nevarez asked me to be here and to speak.Maybe it’s because we have been both friends and colleagues for nearly 20 years.
His faith encouraging mine, helping to make me a better Christian.
And, I hope, my faith encouraging him, helping to make him a better Jew.
As, together, we worked to make our communities better and safer not just for us and for our congregants, but for each and every person.
Feeding those who were hungry.
Providing a safe place to sleep for those who would otherwise be huddled outside during the cold New York winters.
Sitting with elected officials and school superintendents to discuss how best to respond to anti-semetic graffiti found at one of our schools.
Doing our best to be a presence and a voice and a witness for welcome and inclusion and respect in the communities in which we lived and worked. Side by side being a witness for the best of our faith traditions.

Or, maybe it was because our congregations worked together for many years in Nicaragua building homes for families who had been living in shelters made of scraps of wood and metal and plastic. There we were a Rabbi and a Pastor; Christians and Jews working side by side. But it was not just the homes which were important. There was and is also this. Rabbi Nevarez trusting a Christian pastor to help the youth from his congregation deepen their understanding of tikkun olam and what it meant and means to live in such ways as to help heal the world God has entrusted, now, to our care and keeping. Just as I trusted him to help the youth from my congregation learn what it means and what it takes to see and to treat the other as neighbor, whoever that is in our communities, and so better learn what it means to love God.

Or, maybe I am overthinking this.
And…where did I put it? [A New York Yankee’s baseball cap]
Maybe he just wanted someone else to be here who is a New York Yankees fan.

But, in all seriousness…
Remembering so many of those moments and what they meant and how they shaped my life pushed me to think about it all a bit more. What was the reason behind all of what we did?
As I tried to find words for what I was thinking and feeling, I found myself turning here. To the opening chapter in Genesis. Nobody has asked or will ever ask for my opinion, but I wish the opening chapter of Genesis was labeled Prologue rather than Chapter 1 because I believe it was written and placed where it is in order to provide a lens through which we are to read the whole rest of sacred text. Written in the midst of the existential crisis of the Babylonian exile after Jerusalem and the Temple had been destroyed and the King killed and the people exiled from what they understood to be the Promised Land, the question was “Where is God in the midst of all this?” And out of that crisis and struggle emerged this incredible affirmation of faith.
“And God saw that it was good.”

I find myself wondering…
Jason, is that a part of what we were holding onto as we did what we did?
Knowing we are not there yet, but trusting that the promise and the possibility still lies before us.
That God’s intention for creation…
The goodness, often covered up, but still there is worth believing in and holding onto?
And, for today…
Is that how you and I are called to live?
Is such an affirmation a part of what is needed?
The lens through which we are, not just to read scripture, but to see each other and to look out onto the world
Even in…
Especially in the tumultuous days in which we live.
I wonder…

And, as that opening Prologue of Genesis 1 comes to a close, we read these words.
And God created humankind in God’s own image.
Male and female God created them.
I have to admit I hold my breath a bit in offering a reflection on a verse from the Torah which all of you probably know far better than I. But what stands out to me in this verse is the word image. As I understand it, this word is related to the word used for what a sculptor makes. The likeness created by an artist capturing something of the essence of the subject.
Here is what that means to me.
You carry in your being a piece of the image of that which we know and name as God.
And, so does the person next to you.
And, so does the person next to them.
So, when you both…
When you all recognize and affirm that, a bit more of God becomes present in our midst.
Then, multiply that by all who are here.
And then by all in the communities around you.
And then outward into the world God entrusts to our care and keeping.
How much more of the Holy becomes visible and present and transformative when we see and acknowledge and claim that promise for ourselves and for all others?

Jason, for me at least, but maybe for you as well, these words are among those which provided the hope and the courage and the strength to do all of what we did together and more.
So my prayer for you and for Congregation Beth Israel is this…
May these words from sacred text continue to turn you in the direction of what might be and of what God intends, and continue to be the vision and the hope and the strength and the courage you need for the work God places before you.

And, if I may, this…
A 60 second postscript.
An additional reminder and challenge for both you and your congregation.
I turn from the Torah to the prophets, and to this verse from Micah.
God has told you, O Mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice
To love kindness
And to walk humbly with your God?
For most of my life I thought doing justice and loving kindness and walking with God all happened in parallel. All at the same time. But lately I have come to think of this verse as sequential.
One imperative building on the other.
First, do justice.
And, love kindness.
Then, as a result, you find yourselves walking with God.
So my charge to you…to all of you…is this.
Do justice.
Love kindness.
So that you might find yourself blessed and walking with God into the world God continues to love so very much.

Reminders

We went to church again last Sunday.
It was nice.
The people around us were welcoming.
The pastor was honest and thoughtful with what she said.
In a variety of different ways we were reminded of the communities around us.
From those down the street to those across the world.
But, what I left with was this.
For one hour
Out of the 168 hours in my week
I was reminded of goodness.
And, compassion.
And, gratitude.
And, grace.
Those words were said out loud.
Both to me and for me.
And, more than that, I said those words out loud.
To me and for me.
And also to and for you.

I was reminded of the larger circles around my life.
And, that we are made for each other.
And, are to care for each other.
And, that I am not (and neither are you) the center of that circle.

I was also reminded I was not perfect.
(Something I already know all too well.)
But in the next breath,
I was reminded that, even though I am far from perfect,
I am valued.
And valuable.
And, have the ability and the opportunity
In the moment before me
To make myself better.
And the world around me better.

All of that in one hour.
Only one hour.
Out of the 168 hours in my week.

In the other 167 hours of my week
Between the news
And the social media posts
And the grocery store checkout lines
I am reminded how petty we can be.
And, how thoughtless and uncaring we can be.
And, how inhuman we, too often, are.
For 167 hours each week we are bombarded by the reminders of our worst selves.
But for that one hour….

We dare not forget the horror and the heartbreak with which so many people live.
But, we should not forget the goodness either.
In ourselves.
And, in each other.
I, for one, need the reminder.

And, It Was Good

There is this.
A snapshot of this past week captured in the headlines in the news.
She Said. Then He Said.
Florence Triggered Floods Wash Into South Carolina
Tsunami and Earthquake in Indonesia Kill Nearly 400

And, this.
‘Tip of the iceberg’: predator priests abused thousands of children in Germany
Child Dies After Refugee Boat Capsizes
383,000 Estimated Death Toll in South Sudan’s War

And this.
Airstrikes Are Killing More Civilians in Afghanistan
Before Kavanaugh Hearing New Accusations and Doubts Emerge
UN Speeches Suggest Israeli-Palestinian Divide is Deeper Than Ever

Then there is this.
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light.” and there was light. And, God saw that the light was good.

And then there was sun and moon and plants and animals and creeping things and flying things. All declared good. All leading up to this.
The God said, “Let us make humankind in our own image according to our likeness…So God created humankind in God’s own image. Male and female God created them…And God saw everything that had been made, and indeed, it was very good.

It was sometime in August when I sat at my desk and realized that, at that time, I had only five more sermons to preach here at Bedford Presbyterian Church. Including this morning that number is now down to three. I spent part of that August morning thinking about what I would like to share with you over the course of my last couple months here. At that moment, I was thinking mostly about you. What I realized this past week, as I began to think about this morning, was the Bible passages which I found myself thinking about on that August morning were really mostly for me.
The reminders which I needed.
Reminders from you to me.
Reminders from the heart of this community of faith which has given me so much and shaped so much of my faith and sustained me in more ways than I know or can name. Reminders of what I want and need to carry with me as I step away from here and towards what comes next. So, this morning I turn once again to the incredible affirmation of faith written as Prologue for all that is to follow in the Bible.

I don’t think of myself as naive.
Or, as a glass always half full optimist.
I know how life pushes in on you and on me.
And how unfair life can be.
And how best laid plans often go awry.
I live with that each day.
The unexpected phone call. The conversation in front of the Post Office.
He lost his job. A family member died. The doctor’s report was not good.

And, I pay attention the what is happening around me.
I do my best to be informed.
I read and listen to the news.
Even when it makes my stomach churn and my heart break.
Especially lately when so much of what I read and hear makes me angry and sad and disappointed and fearful.
I am not usually a fan of the theological construct of total depravity. That we are all sinful and lost and inclined to be the worst and do the worst.
But, looking around, that idea is hard to ignore.
Which is why I need this morning.
And why I need to open the Bible.

I have preached this sermon before, but, as I said a moment ago, today I need the reminder.
Maybe you do to.
The witness found in Genesis 1 is not about science.
And, not about history.
And, not about creation.
It is, primarily, an Affirmation of Faith.
A reminder that you and I have a choice about where we will stand and what we will see.
And about how we will see ourselves and how we will view each other.
And, about how we will see and understand the world in which we live.

These words were written during one of the most challenging times for ancient Israel.
The country had been conquered.
The people were in exile.
Jerusalem and the temple had been destroyed.
The signs of God’s promise – land, king, temple – had been killed or destroyed or overrun.
Out of that darkness and despair came this.
And God saw all that God had made and, indeed, it was very good.

I need to believe that.
Even more than what I need, I chose to believe that.
I chose to believe the world is destined for better.
I chose to be you and I are destined for better.
I chose to believe you and I can and are called to make the world better.
I chose to believe there is more goodness in the world than evil.
I chose to believe there is more decency and kindness than indifference and hatred.
I chose to believe the long arc of history does, in fact, bend in the direction of justice.
That choice is the source for the strength and the courage and the faith I need to do what I do just where I am in my own small way to hold onto that goodness. To help bend that arc.

Can I prove any of this to you?
No.
And, there is certainly enough proof out there to say I am wrong.
And, that my trust and faith are misplaced.
The news this week felt like a punch in the stomach.
Then, I open the Bible.
And, make the choice again
To hold onto these words that there is goodness.
Built into our DNA goodness.
And, I chose to face in that direction.
Because where we stand and what we see helps determine the direction we go.
Consider this… (Video – Vertigo Backwards)
This is the truth
If we turn things upside down
We can’t expect goodness to win in the world
I would be lying to you if I said that
The human race has a great future ahead
That altruism could replace egoism
That your lives could be filled with joy
That your children could be safe and healthy
Before anything you must know
The human race does not deserve these things
And I am convinced of this because I know you
Corruption and hypocrisy are in your nature
Compassion breeds weakness when only the strong survive and
I refuse to believe under any circumstance that
You can turn things around in the coming years
This world may be sinking to new depths but
There are even more revelations to come
The human race has only one destiny
And whether you like it or not
This is what is real
I am the Lord, your God
You should know I believe exactly the opposite
I am the Lord, your God
This is what is real
And whether you like it or not
The human race has only one destiny
There are even more revelations to come
This world may be sinking to new depths but
You can turn things around in the coming years
I refuse to believe under any circumstances that
Compassion breeds weakness when only the strong survive and
Corruption and hypocrisy are in your nature
And I am convinced of this because I know you
The human race does not deserve these things
Before anything you must know
That your children could be safe and healthy
That your lives could be filled with joy
That altruism could replace egotism
The human race has a great future ahead
I would be lying to you if I said that
We can’t expect goodness to win in the world
If we turn things upside down
This is the truth.

Tomorrow

In many ways I am a creature of habit.
Up early.
Put the dog out.
Start the coffee.
Feed the dog.
Get the paper.
By this time the coffee is ready.
Breakfast.
Coffee.
Toast.
Morning news.
The only problem is the morning news is so offensive.
I finish reading and I feel more disgusted than informed.
And, so my day begins.

Maybe it is time I change my routine.
What about this?
Put the dog out.
Start the coffee.
Get the paper.
But then, instead of the news…
Sit for a few minutes outside allowing the early morning to seep into my soul. Instead of the news, take five or ten minutes to read something inspiring or thought-provoking. Something that will feed my mind and spirit instead of leaving me either angry or my stomach in knots. Pick up my journal and list 10 things for which I am grateful pausing long enough to say Thank you.

I will still need to face the news.
The inhumanity.
The pettiness.
The greed.
The violence and hatred.
But, it will have to wait.
Until after I have taken a few moments
To see the beauty.
And, to drink in the gift of the day.
And to be reminded of goodness and grace.
And lean into the dreams and insights of those who share this journey with me.

Tomorrow.

If You See Something Say Something

When we meet on Sunday afternoon with the young adults who participate in our Confirmation program, one of the challenges Kathy DiBiasi and I face as we talk with them about God and Jesus and the difference between faith and religion, is how to read and understand the Bible. They are so used to reading textbooks – history books and science books or current event articles – and learning or memorizing what they read so they can play it back on quizzes or tests that they try to do the same thing with the Bible. We try to encourage them to read the Bible for meaning and not like a science book or the newspaper.

One of the ways we do this is we will give them Robert Frost’s poem The Road Less Traveled. You probably know it. It begins like this.
Two road diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
And it ends with these two lines.
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

We give them the poem, ask them to read it and then ask them to share with us what it means. There is usually an awkward pause of some sort as they try figure out what the poem has to do with God or Jesus or church or faith, because that is usually the default/go to answer for questions like this which are asked by the Pastor or the Director of Educational Ministries. But they finally get around to telling us the poem is about what choice you will make and what path you will follow. Then, having gotten them that far, we give them a Bible and ask them to turn to Genesis 1. The very first words in the Bible.
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep. Then God said, Let there be light,” and there was light. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Once they have found their way to that page in the Bible, we ask them to read through the entire chapter and then to tell us what it means. We give them this hint. It is not about creation.

Trusting you can do at least two things at the same time, if you want to read through Genesis 1 yourself to while I continue feel free to do so. Just remember. It is not about creation.

Here is some background which is important as you read through or think about these verses and as you seek to understand the Bible.

The Bible was not written front to back. The authors didn’t sit down and start with page one and work their way forward. The Bible was, in fact, written backwards. Authors looking back from transformative moments – the Exodus in Hebrew Scripture or the resurrection in Christian scripture – and creating a narrative to give meaning to what they had experienced.
Genesis 1 was written sometime around the middle of the 5th century BCE at the time the Babylonian exile which was an existential crisis point in Jewish history. All the touchstones they turned to and relied on to identify themselves as God’s Chosen People – land, King, Temple, Torah – had been lost or destroyed. Life and faith and identity were in chaos. In the midst of all that uncertainty, the authors and compilers of the Hebrew Bible wrote these opening verses.
If I were in charge of putting the Bible together. I would call these opening verses a Prologue and not Chapter 1 because these words, at least for me, inform the whole rest of the narrative.

So, where is all this going? To get there, back to the question Kathy and I ask the Ninth Graders in Confirmation.
What do these verses mean?
For me they read as a Statement of Faith.
The world is chaotic and broken.
Formless. A void. Dark.
And, in that darkness and brokenness and void God creates bringing order to the chaos. And, not just creates, declares what is made good.
Light. Dark. Day. Night. Sea monsters. Creeping things.
All good.
Then, humankind created in God’s own image.
Male and female created in God’s own image.
And God saw what God had made and behold it was not just good, but very good.

I don’t know about you, but the world does not feel very good or very orderly to me right now. Beyond the relentless day in/day out swirl of craziness two headlines particularly gave me pause this week. The first is that there were 11 school shootings in the first 23 days of January. One every other day. The second was an article wondering if we even care about such events anymore.
We are drowning…
I am drowning…
In bad news and brokenness and heartache and heartbreak.
So here is what I did.
I went on Facebook and asked for people to tell me where they had seen or experienced kindness this week. Or, seen people treating others decently. And, people responded. Here is what they said.

I like this question… it makes me consider again the woman who smiled at me and made a nice comment as I waited for her to get out of her car so I could get in mine. And the woman who said hello to all the staff of the coffee shop when she walked in. And to appreciate even more all the people who took the time to wish me well after surgery. Small acts, but taken together they help to make each interaction more human, and make each day more connected.

In Katonah when I want to grab a quick bite I either go to Goldberg’s Deli or the Pizza Station. The majority of staff in those two places are all Latino (mostly Guatemalan) and I am consistently welcomed and engaged in conversation that feels like something more than small talk. Being comforted by the opportunity to speak Spanish in those situations reminds me of the hospitality and community that seems to emanate from Latino culture and families. And the grace they display all the while facing unjust immigration reform. It makes me stop and think. If only solving the problem were as easy as interacting at the deli.

Grocery store; smiles & friendly comments to a mom with loud kids. Post Office; a man held the door for me & others.

Cars who slow down when going by my puppy and I on the road. Trying not to scare her.

I am so grateful that I see it (almost) every day at work. And I love every reminder for random acts of kindness, so thank you for that, and the thoughtful question!

A man on my walk to work yesterday gave me the brightest and warmest of smiles as we passed each other on the street. Instead of avoiding eye contact, we both briefly exchanged a sense of our shared humanity.

In the chaos of a NYC store, my daughter lost her purse. The young man who found it, texted her and It was returned to her within a couple of hours.

My 5 year old daughter giving friends, teachers and us hugs.

I saw an older woman who walks with a cane kneel down to hold a toddler at bay so that his mother could focus on getting her bike off the train.

At the Atlanta airport the folks were super kind when my wife lost her boarding pass. Also the orphans in Mexico were incredibly kind and patient with us Americans who don’t know their language.

So here is what feels like truth to me.
There are huge issues out there.
Just as there have always been.
Some seem to be getting better, but others are getting worse.
Racism. Poverty. Misuse and abuse of power whether in governments or in the workplace. Opioids. Hunger. Whatever was above the fold on the front page of whatever newspaper you glanced at this morning. We ignore those issues at our own peril.

But there is also this.
The older woman with the cane who kneels down to hold the hand of a toddler.
The stranger who smiles when you pass on the street.
The little girl who wants to give you a hug.
Those everyday kindnesses which grace your life.

Maybe all this is my own Statement of Faith.
I believe there is more goodness in the world than evil.
And, while not the solution to everything between us and God’s Kingdom come, certainly a place we can begin is with those everyday kindnesses and goodness, and those moments of decency and respect which punctuate the lives of most of us each day.

So, don’t turn away from the hard work which is ours to do. But, also, know and name and embody the goodness which the Bible claims is built into your very DNA. And, share that goodness with others awakening theirs in them. And, when you see something, say something. Notice the hug of a child and the couple walking down the street holding hands. Pay attention the kindness of a stranger and the door held for another. And, say something. At least to yourself so you stop long enough to see clearly those life giving moments which grace your day that you might remember how and who you were created to be.

Then turn and be that for another.

And It Was Good…

For tomorrow (Sunday) I have written my Sunday morning reflection based on Genesis 1, the opening verses to Hebrew Scripture and the Christian Bible. For me, those words are more a Statement of Faith than a description of how the world came into being.

We all know the world is not good.
Bad things happen.
Awful things happen.
The news that lands on our doorsteps or fills our social media feeds makes its money telling us how awful the world is and how bad people are. If that is all there is or how it is as some (maybe correctly) say, then me first/mine first/survival of the fittest would be the only reasonable response.

But, that is not all there is.
Despite the odds, there is goodness.
And, there is kindness.
And, there is compassion.
And, there is the hand extended.
There is the concern for the other that has its roots in the understanding that we do better when all do better or that somehow we are connected to and responsible for each other.
Can I prove that?
No.
But, I can believe that and can live my life facing in that direction.

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Several things I believe: