sacramental effort

The mouth of the Lord has spoken: act justly, love mercy, and proceed humbly with your God A path has been laid for us in loving god: By loving one another, we enable each other to be transformed by God’s grace. God’s glory has been revealed in the colorful, beautiful tapestry that makes up the Body of Christ. We all shall witness this glory together with God’s help. Boundary shaping God, who undermines harmful categories, harmful teaching, and harmful systems with all-encompassing radical love, we give you thanks for the beauty of our bodies, and how the diversity of our beautiful and unique bodies is a part of your Body that is here in this particular place. Erase our fear of what is different. Remove what prevents us from loving our neighbor. Heal us of hatred, and self-loathing, and compel us to act with charity to all of your creation. Amen.

I am particularly in love, lately, with these lyrics of a song from a new album of Gungor’s, which is sort of post-rock/indie/alternative band that makes Christian sacred music, called “Am I?” (found on iTunes  here. ) “Am I a spirit? Am I the chaos? Am I the lie? Am I alright? Am I loved? Am I an alien? Am I a sight? Am I alright? Am I a dream? Am I a memory? Am I awake? Am I ok? Am I the stars? And am I infinite? Am I a mist? Will I be missed? Am I am I am I am I Am I am I am I am I? Are you there? Are you listening? Are you anything?” The lyrics are mesmerizing; the music is mesmerizing. I have listened to this one song a lot, and the questions it asks still echo in my bones for what they are: fundamental questions that take nothing for granted. Asking these questions, and merely sitting with them, is very mindful. The questions conjure up images for me, and this song’s musical treatment of the questions are incredibly evocative. For me it’s as if the asking of these que

Ephphatha! Open Up! May our eyes open to the hurts of our neighbors and the needs of those pushed to the margins in our communities. Open up! Jesus’ perspective was opened by his experience with the Syrophoenecian woman. May our minds open to the perspectives of those who are not like us, that our actions may lead them to the open doors of radical hospitality that we are called to share as Christians. Open up! The deaf man's ears were opened by Jesus’ healing touch. May our ears open that we listen with charity to our neighbors, especially those neighbors whose viewpoints are different than ours. Open up! The voiceless man’s ability to speak was opened up by Jesus’s healing touch. May our mouths open to speak out against injustice in the world that harms and oppresses our neighbors. May our mouths cry out with joy the good news of Jesus Christ to the world. Open up! The hearts of all who witnessed Jesus’ miracles were opened to wonder at the power of God’s love. M