...For all the saints

As we are fast approaching the most sacred time on the Christian calendar, I am trying to carve out some time to ponder over the past year and the changes it has brought to my life thinking in particular about those companions in mission that I have lost  along the way. It has been a year of loss both personal and congregationally for me and the folks at the parish to which I am assigned here on Staten Island. Friends, fellow clergy members, parishoners, and local folk active in our extended faith community,  have crossed over into the veil.  

Some families have lost a parent at too young an age; another lost both a sibling and a parent in the same year.  Another family lost an adult son in a freak car accident in which he was killed while sitting on a bench waiting for a bus. A patriarch for an extended family lost a heroic battle with debilitating illness and organ transplant. Our parish choir has lost four members in the last year alone. 

Two of my closest spiritual guides have died this year.  One, at a much too young age, the other after an illness left untreated for too long that resulted in a prolonged and difficult death.

And yet, life does move on in the continuum of time and space.  We grieve, and the grief does not leave us.  It scabs over and then falls off leaving a mark that we will carry with us for the rest of our natural life.  Memories become less painful, and we can often laugh at past events shared with our dearly departed ones, that seemed impossible to do in the immediate time surrounding their deaths.

And the year moves on and new  life enters into it. 

Even though the past year brought with it times of deep sorrow and despair, New light and life has seeped into it as well.  Several cousins welcomed new babies into their lives adding another grandchild, or experiencing one for the very first time. A niece gave birth to my brother's first grandchild, a daughter...sort of following a pattern for him: four sisters, two daughters and now a beauty of a grandchild. My daughter-in-law gave us a new grandchild, nephew and cousin that has given my "baby" one of his own. 

And the circle of life continues to roll and roll and roll. We ride it for a time here, and later in eternity.  It is a mysterious, event-filled and scary ride...but not one any of us would change.

This Sunday, those of us who worship in the Western Christian tradition will affirm our belief in the eternity of our lives as we celebrate again the ancient Easter liturgy and greet each other with the words: "Alleluia, Christ is Risen!", holding fast to the belief that those words so true to the apostles and disciples of old, are just as true for us today.

"The Lord is risen, indeed. Alleluia!"

Cuba and spirituality

For many Cubans born after The Revolution, religious spirituality and Cuban culture are emphatically oxymoronic. Christianity in general, and Roman Catholicism in particular were parts of the social and national life that were supposedly erased away by Fidel and his followers.  And on the surface and in conversation with those born post 1960, this is true.  On a recent trip to Cuba I met two young tour guides who informed me that Christmas celebration were again allowed after the visit of Pope John Paul, but only old people actually celebrated it.  The young much preferred celebrating the New Year. We were permitted to visit the Cathedral in Havana, but when I asked who was it dedicated to, neither of my guides could answer me repeating over and over again that it was just "The Cathedral".

We were informed that if religion among the Cuban population could be broken down into groups, the largest number would be Christian, the second group would be followers of Santeria, and the lowest percentage would be Jews.

Walking around in various towns and neighborhoods in Cuba reveals a religious heritage that has not been eradicated by 60 years of Socialist presence.  From the names of the streets and plazas to the not so secret street shrines and lovingly maintained personal religious items of the people, spirituality has been alive, perhaps sub-rosa, but still there in Cuba all these years.

It is easy to identify followers of Santeria on the streets of Havana, Santa Clara, Trinidad or Cienfuegos, the towns we visited.  Many of them are attired completely in white, a sign of their initiation into this religious melding of Catholicism and traditional African worship.

Grand Synagogue

Most of the Jews who live in Cuba reside in the metropolitan area of Havana and attend one of two synagogues: one is the conservative and the other is an orthodox Sephardic congregation. The conservative congregation worships in a mid-century modern building near the Malecon, the wide shore-hugging promenade that holds Havana away from the wild Caribbean Sea. The Sephardic Hebrew Center of Cuba building is in downtown Havana.

La Virgen de Caritas

The squares of Old Havana include San Francisco and Cathedral squares. There is a newly renamed street in honor of Mother Teresa, and a new Greek Orthodox Church has just opened near the Malecon. We passed Baptist, Methodist and Roman Catholic churches that are open and functioning.

La Virgen

Several of these hidden in plain sight symbols are the various street shrines, private statues and altar pieces dedicated to La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre.  You can see her in churches, on windowsills, in posters, on tiled walls in private homes, in organic street motifs. She is the patroness of Cuba with a long history and many devoted followers both Christian and Santerian. Her presence has been important to them, and her image is important even to many who profess that they have no religious faith.  And she has an interesting and decidedly Cuban story.

Tradition holds that in 1612 two Native American brothers and an African slave set out to collect ocean water to make salt. They are called "the three Juans". They made the salt for preserving meat at  El Cobre. While at sea, a storm arose, rocking their  boat. One of them was wearing a medal with the image of the Virgin Mary, and they began to pray for her protection. Suddenly, the storm was gone. In the distance was an  object floating in the water.  It was a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the child Jesus and a cross. The statue was fastened to a board with an inscription saying "Yo Soy la Virgen de la Caridad" or "I am the Virgin of Charity." Dispite being in the salt water, the statue remained completely dry. This image was enshrined in several places, until it finally rested at El Cobre, a copper mining town, and the place where the first groups of enslaved people were freed in 1801.

So, in reality, the Virgin of Charity of Cobra has been around far longer than Fidel and his crew.  Her image can be seen in the streets of Havana, in the gardens of Santa Clara, in the small apartments of retirees, and in the studio of one of Cuban's most celebrated artists. She has been a symbol of hope for the faithful of Cuba for over 400 years; that is a heck of a lot longer than Fidel's measly 60.

Impressions of Cuba: La Perla del Caribe

I just returned from an eight day trip to Cuba.  I know what you are thinking: How did she go to Cuba?  Aren't American Citizens forbidden to visit Cuba?  The answer is complicated.  "Est complicado" is an expression one hears all over Cuba, and we were all over Cuba in those eight days. Individual American will find it difficult to book a flight to Cuba unless they opt to first fly to Canada, Mexico or the Azores and then to Cuba. You can then go to one of the few resort hotels Cuba has developed to entice residents of northern climes to spend some time at the beautiful beaches at the all-inclusive resorts on the west and south coasts of the island. The folks who go there do not really interact with the locals. Oh, they may speak to their waiter or house maid about the island, or use the occasional taxi driver to get back and forth to a close by paladar...a privately owned restaurant, but that is about as close as they come to interacting with the Cuban people. My trip was a bit different.

It was advertised as a "People to People" event, and we did meet quite a lot of the locals and visited art schools, senior centers, a Boys and Girls Club, attended a Baroque music concert and listened to a chamber music presentation of traditional and modern Cuban music. We went to the Che Guevera Memorial, Ernest Hemingway's house, an old Franciscan Monastery, and Havana's Cathedral.  We went to artists' residences and saw their outrageous work, and spent time in a market where you could buy "Cuba" baseball caps and Che refrigerator magnets.  

Here are some quick observations:
1. The Cuban People love to talk to foreigners, and have opinions about how things should be in Cuba. Many have only learned the "party line".  Be polite and listen to them.  They just want to make you understand their way of life.
2. The infrastructure is horrible.  The roads are rough, and the railroad is unreliable.
3. There are NO beaches in Havana.
4. Che Guvera's grandmother was a Lynch.  She was Irish.
5. The population of Cuba is approximately 11 million.  There are over 11 million people living in the NYC metropolitan tri-state area of NY, NJ and CT.
6. There are 30,000 cars registered in Cuba. They are considered to be a UNESCO Historic treasure and cannot be shipped out of Cuba.
7. The chief source of protein in Cuba is the pig...pork is king.
8. Fishing out in the Caribbean Sea is discouraged.  The Cuban Government does not want anyone to have access to a good fishing boat that might make the 90 mile trip to Key West.
9. Any economic problem is the fault of the "embargo", and thus the United States, but they are gracious to Americans who have dollars to spend.
10.  Bring your own toilet paper, tissues and hand sanitizer.  You will need them.  Several restaurants had brand-spanking new toilets, but no seats....get over yourself: this is Cuba.


Despite the problems, I am glad I went to Cuba.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWlndyXffdE