I Lift My Lamp Beside the Golden Door

 as i think of the situation at the southern border of the usa, i understand the fear of many in our country who say that we cannot take in an infinite number of refugees who are fleeing horrific conditions in their own countries.  some of us are afraid that those who make their way across the border will take jobs away from those already here.  others believe that our economy will not withstand the demands made on it by immigrants who are destitute.  so often, i hear the complaint that we simply cannot take on the needs of every person who seeks asylum here.  then there are those who decry the effect on what they perceive to be our culture, those who see their vision of a white-dominated english-speaking society being destroyed by an influx of large numbers of brown, spanish-speaking invaders.  a few days ago i heard a couple of trump supporters who were being interviewed on television as they cheered his positions that they believed would return us to an earlier time like the 1950s when "everyone knew their place," meaning that those who were white and born in this country were in control and people of color were subservient to that white majority.

we are being forced to choose between two americas: the one that maintains the dominance of a shrinking white majority and the one that believes that we ought to welcome those who come to us for the protection and support that they cannot find in their own lands.  will we be the america of emma lazarus' poem, "the new colossus" that, like the statue of liberty, "glows world-wide welcome?"  will we say, "send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me," or will we be a nation that turns its back on the needs of "[the] tired, [the] poor, [the] huddled masses yearning to breath free?"  we live in the richest country in the world.  we are a nation of immigrants.  we must live up to our ideals and the beliefs on which the country was founded.  our declaration of independence says that "all . . . are created equal, . . . endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."  surely, we cannot suppose that those rights are only granted to native-born americans if all are created equal.  

our national character is being tested.  though granting asylum to those seeking to escape persecution, crime, poverty, and corruption in other lands may put a strain on our economy, in the long run our country will be strengthened by our compassion for others and our willingness to act on that compassion.  may we be who we say we are, the "mother of exiles."  may we not be fearful of those come from other cultures, speaking a language other than english.  may we continue to be enriched culturally and economically by those who come seeking sanctuary.  shalom.

To Know Him Is to Love Him

 i have a male relative that it is difficult for me to be around.  he talks incessantly and loudly.  after i have been with them for a couple of hours, i want to throw up my hands and yell, "just be quiet for a few minutes--i can't even think!"  he is a kind, generous person who delights in helping others.  i feel badly for having angry thoughts directed towards him.   as i sit here thinking about my recent visit with him, i wonder why my relative can be so caring in many ways and yet he is thoughtless about his conversation when he is around others.  

during this last visit, i looked over at his wife, noticing how she sat with a smile which seemed to say, "just let him say what he is compelled to say and wait until he runs out of steam."  she, too, is wonderfully kind and thoughtful.  i'm sure she realizes that her husband gets on others' nerves but she has learned that beneath his nervous chatter is an open, generous heart.  she must love his totally, having accepted this one flaw as part of who he is.  he would not be himself without his tendency to talk too much, and, rather than try to change him, she has developed the patience to let him run on until he is ready to listen to what she has to say.

upon returning home, the thought occurred to me that i ought to be grateful for my relative.  his ability to irritate me and bring out the worst in me gives me an opportunity to practice the skill of patience.  to be around him for any length of time, i must learn to keep my heart open and to accept him as his wife does.  i have to accept him as he is, seeing the total person, not just this one annoying flaw.  as i realized this, i began to think about why he has this tendency to monopolize a conversation and force others to sit and listen as he runs on.  perhaps he is nervous around others he doesn't know well or see often, and his incessant chatter is a cover for his own discomfort and shyness.  maybe one of his parents behaved in this way, and he is copying them.  whatever the underlying cause, i know that he wants to make me feel welcome when i come into his home and that his hugs and handshakes are indications of a genuine affection for me.  if i spend more than one day in his home, by the second day he seems calmer and less intent on monopolizing conversations.  when i prepare to leave, he always hugs me and thanks me for my visit, tells me how much he loves and appreciates me, and invites me to return whenever i can.  at that point, i fell ashamed of my anger towards him and vow to work on my skills of acceptance.

may we each learn greater tolerance of others, even when we find them annoying.  may we think about their better qualities and try to figure how why they are as they are without wanting to change them.  may we love them, not despite their flaws, but because of them.  may we develop even-minded calm in the midst of our tendency towards irritability and impatience.  shalom.

That This Heart of Mine Embraces

 our daughter is visiting us this week, so i have not had time to write a new post.  i hope to be back writing next week.  may all have a great week.  shalom.

Let us Find the Promised Rest

 this morning as i prepared to write this blog post, i was thinking of how our minds work.  what surprises me is our ability to change our thought processes.  we can either allow our conscious minds to control us or we can choose to control them.  our thoughts are not who we are, they are the products of what we are becoming.  not long ago, i lived my life reactively.  if others spoke to me in an unkind or thoughtless way, i either lashed out at them or stewed over how to get back at them.  i spent much of my time thinking of petty annoyances and slights, as i harbored thoughts of how much i disliked this or that other person.  i dwelt on my past, filled with resentments towards those who had held me back as i grew up.  i was quick to become angry and felt a sense of superiority regarding others.

as i've gotten older, i've come to realize that no one is out to cause me suffering and grief.  when others speak to me in ways that are hurtful and spiteful, they are not really being hateful to me.  instead, their words or actions are coming from a place of deep hurt, and i happen to be a convenient target to express the suffering they feel.  if i let go of the initial desire to return their mean words, i can feel a deep compassion for them and wish them peace and relief from their pain.  my own impulse to hurt others doesn't come from a natural enmity towards them but rather from my own suffering.  when we stop the pettiness of our thoughts and turn from the superficial propensity to behave with unkindness and turn to our deepest desires to be whole and to help others to find wholeness, we see that we are all alike.  often we don't stop before we act or speak in order to discern why others treat us as they do.  when we train our minds to be calm and turn to our deep well of goodness and compassion, we can stop the compulsion to treat those who injure us with an equal measure of hurt.

may we calm our minds and in that stillness find compassion towards those who seem to feel little compassion for us.  may we look at a situation from many perspectives, not just from our first reaction of hurt or anger.  may we be grateful to those who wound us for allowing us an opportunity to practice lovingkindness.  may we find peace that allows us to show love when our first inclination is to return hate for hate and injury for injury.  shalom.

Service Be Our True Vocation

 all my life i have attended church services every sunday.  the only times i would miss is when i was ill or when i was traveling.  the pandemic has changed that.  i have only attended worship at the church of which i am a member once during this time, and that was because i was needed to accompany the service in the absence of the regular organist.  twice a month, i play for services at another church that is without an organist.  when i am not needed to play for a service, i have been absent from worship.  i have felt safe in attending services as the organist, since i am able to self-isolate behind the music rack of the organ console.  i still don't feel secure about sitting in the congregation during a service, since both churches where i play have abandoned social distancing protocols, and most people no longer wear masks.  i'm not ready to return to normal in an enclosed space where large numbers of people are present.

what has surprised me during my absence from every-sunday attendance at worship is that i don't miss it that much.  certainly, i miss seeing friends that i only see at that time but otherwise not being there every sunday has not left a void in my life.  i feel no guilt in missing worship.  my wife has expressed the same sentiments.  we have a close relative who is greatly disturbed that we have not been attending church.  his wife has not attended either and has no plans to resume going to church in the near future.  this relative reminds us of our failure to participate in worship every time we see him and lets us know that others have been asking about us and when we plan to come back to church.  he is of the opinion that God will take note of his presence and look favorably on him while viewing us with disapproval.  

my wife and i don't plan to go back to worship each sunday until the fall, and we're not certain we'll attend the church to which we belong.  we have a new minister who has changed the pattern of our services quite radically.  we're afraid that those changes will make us ill at ease, so we may worship at other churches on some sundays, returning to our own church only once or twice a month.  we've made friends in a couple of other congregations, and we feel more at home in their worship services than we do in those of our own congregation now.  whatever we do, the pandemic has changed our way of thinking about participation in church permanently.  were it not for the opportunity to see others that we have come to count as friends and to hear and participate in the music of the church, we might abandon attendance on sunday mornings altogether.

as children we were compelled to go to church.  as adults, we went out of habit or because i was employed as a church musician.  now that the pandemic has forced us to stay home on sunday mornings, we have re-examined our reasons for church attendance and have found that we will go back only to rekindle friendships and be a part of the camaraderie we find with those friends.

may we be honest with ourselves about our faith and the obligations we feel towards it.  may our worship be about loving others rather than out of a sense of duty, force of habit, or fear of a deity's wrath.  may we find what normal is for us now as we emerge from the isolation caused by the pandemic.  shalom.