|
At the end of our Ash Wednesday Service at Bethel-Bethany UCC in urban Milwaukee, after the imposition of the ashes, Interim Pastor Susan Schneider-Adams invited worshipers to sing the African-American-Spiritual “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me.”
This deeply moving spiritual, first sung in the midst of enslavement, calls us to walk with Jesus all along our pilgrim journey during our trials and when we’re troubled.
Strengthened when we sing together: Acknowledging the power of song to strengthen and guide us through our trials and troubles, the editors of the Chalice Hymnal (Disciples of Christ 1998) placed the hymn “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me” in the “Perseverance and Conflict” section of the hymnal in the company of songs like “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” “We Shall Overcome” and “Life Every Voice and Sing.”
As we begin Lent, once more singing of our desire to walk with Jesus, I am reminded of how song has guided people through trials and troubles such as we are experiencing in the streets of Minneapolis, around our country, and in other parts of the world; places where faithful, compassionate, and courageous people are rising up and marching and singing together in resistance to injustice.
Whether it be Minneapolis or Kiev or Gaza City or urban, suburban or rural Wisconsin or anywhere our neighbors suffer and experience the trials and troubles of our present day, I’m aware that the call to become the Beloved Community is ongoing and never ending. We need community (church/synagogue/mosque, small supportive groups, civic organizations, and mass rallies) where we are strengthened in prayer and empowered in song; places where the Spirit touches and inspires and encourages us to leave comfort behind and join the struggle. The invitation to walk with Jesus brings us together on the journey to justice with God’s people – our neighbors – here, there, and everywhere.
Strengthened when we act together: Reflecting on spirituality and how the Spirit empowers and sustains us as we seek to become the Beloved Community, I decided to invite two of my spiritual friends to meet with me to talk about how community has nurtured and strengthened them spiritually in the midst of the trials and troubles in their urban Minneapolis community.
On that Ash Wednesday evening, we three aging activist types met on Zoom with the mark of the cross on our foreheads, a sign that in our own ways, we were recommitting ourselves to walk with Jesus.
Both Michael and his wife, Amy, and Winton and his wife, Tammy, live in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood of Minneapolis, a culturally and economically diverse community that has been and continues to be a significant hub for justice work and community activism in that city.
In the midst of the ICE occupation, my friends have been deeply involved in the resistance movement and have joined with others in protests and rallies, delivered food and supplies to families that are confined to their homes, and been called out in the early morning hours to stand up and blow their whistles in protest of ICE actions and as a warning to their neighbors. Along with thousands of others and moved by the Spirit, they have sought to maintain the Beloved Community.
Asked where they found spiritual renewal and empowerment, they both talked about their church community and groups within the church that encouraged contemplation, reflection, and action: book discussion, Bible study, prayer/spirituality, and mission groups, places where they could reflect on the call to action and find compassionate support in the midst of their journeys.
In his book The Way of the Heart: Desert Spirituality and Contemporary Ministries, Henri Nouwen writes:
“A real spiritual life makes us so alert and aware of the world around us, that all that happens becomes a part of our contemplation and meditation and invites us to free and fearless response.”
Strengthened when we contemplate and reflect together: Beyond their local faith community, Winton feels support from his work as a facilitator and participant in Courage to Renewal Groups inspired by the work of Parker Palmer. Michael talked about his participation in his Action and Contemplation Group and the training he received with Richard Rohr and his leadership group. Their participation in communities of support where they could be vulnerable and where they were empowered reminded me of the groups both in church and beyond that have nurtured me -- communities that offer us hope when the trials and troubles of the world can overwhelm us.
It is vital to gather with others in spiritual communities that nurture and strengthen us for the journey, communities that treat the other as beloved.
Strengthened when we’re out there in the world together: In the midst of the resistance movement in Minneapolis, Michael and Winton also spoke of being aware that they were part of larger networks of people who hold to the same values, calling and vision for their community and the world, These are people in their denominational families and people of other faith communities and people of no particular spiritual community, people who love their neighbors. In their own ways both spoke of how they felt most empowered in the presence of others seeking to do just that: love their neighbor. In those acts of neighbor love, Winton celebrates how he was “neighbored.” In those shared actions – large and small – they felt the spiritual connection with the Beloved Community.
Strengthened when we sing together: One of the actions that reminded them profoundly and deeply that they were part of a larger beloved community was participating in Singing Resistance. Inspired by songs sung in church sanctuaries and while marching arm in arm on the streets with people of all ages and backgrounds there was a sense of solidarity and community as they raised their voices with others in unity.
Attending worship during the Epiphany season at the faith community in Minneapolis where Michael and Amy and Winton and Tammy are committed participants, I was struck by the powerful witness of their urban congregation and the larger Minnesota community, and how God’s people came together in the midst of troubling times to strengthen and inspire one another. I was especially reminded of our connection with one another, as we sang that morning this powerful song of loving solidarity written by Sarina Partridge, first sung inside the walls of Hennepin Avenue United Methodist in Minneapolis. A song carried into the streets that proclaims:
We are here (We are here)
In our city (in our city)
Our love for each other will carry us through
Yes, our love for each other will carry us through
We are here (with our neighbor)
With our neighbor (with our neighbor)
Our love for each other will carry us through
Yes, our love for each other will carry us through.
As we reflect together on where we find spiritual strength, healing, and renewal in our shared effort to become the Beloved Community -- in our faith communities and in the world around us – may God walk with us that we might persevere through times of conflict knowing that God and our “love for each other will carry us through.”
May we become the Beloved Community
Questions for discussion:
- Where do we go to be spiritually empowered and renewed as we seek to become the Beloved Community?
- How does your faith community encourage and inspire you and others to step out and join with others to become the beloved community?
- How does your action in the world empower you spiritually and help you to create the Beloved Community?
| 
