Strange bedfellows...well, just strange everything.

       

I have been trying, really trying, to stay above the political fray, that "sturm und drang"  which has become the stage setting for the primary races in this country.  Up until very recently, I have been able to avoid any involvement in the political process as it has been evolving around these parts.  I embraced my inner creative spirit and began watching a host of crafting and cooking shows on the local Public Television outlet.  I watched as Jacques whipped egg whites into soufflés, Rich gave professional plumbing advice to homeowners, and Rick guided us all over Europe telling us the best things to pack and how to buy a good loaf of bread in Paris, but politics finally caught up with me once the New York Primary came into view.
Feeling a bit guilty that I had not gotten at all involved with the political process, I made a modest donation to a favored candidate (Note: I am not saying which one. Nor will I tell you if you ask me.)
I then volunteered to do some phone calling, mostly because it gave me something to do; I got to see a few friends, and I knew the person running the phone bank needed some help during the day hours. I should have thought again about doing both.  I then began to appear on the political radar.
Suddenly I was on every A-list for fundraising and political action.  I began getting conflicting robo-calls from both major parties and for more candidates than I ever wanted to consider for dog catcher, let alone President of the United States. My name suddenly appeared on the mailing lists of everyone; the vitriol with which this literature is filled is an embarrassment the candidates and their handlers and insult to the intelligence of the American public.

In an attempt to understand what is really gong on in this whole process, I decided to collect my own "data" to help me make meaning out of all the gobbledygook that we have been asked to wade through. So over the past two days I watched six hours of "news" using ten stations: 3 major networks, 6 cable channels and the Public Broadcasting System.  I just "sampled" each watching the station for five to ten minutes noting the gender of the broadcasters, and how many times they mentioned each of the four major candidates. ( Sorry John Kasich, you did not make the cut.) My completely unscientific observations on the numbers are very telling:
Over the six hours I watched the news fifty men and thirty-seven women presented some form of what the networks consider to be "news". During that time Donald Trump was mentioned twenty-three times; Raphael Edward "Ted" Cruz was  mentioned seventeen times, and Sanders and Clinton tied at eight times each.

I also made some observations of my own: 
          1. Donald Trump uses his hands to distraction when he speaks; he also needs help with staying on point.  Perhaps we could find a high school debate coach to work with him...and a foreign policy specialist.
          2. Several powerful Republicans do not really like Ted Cruz, but his law professor liked him because he raised his hand quite a bit and had lots to say. It also seems his fellow law students did not like him either.  Teacher's Pet Syndrome?
          3. Bernie Sanders wife is one of his most trusted advisors who actually seems like a nice person.  Bernie still sounds like he left Brooklyn yesterday, and that's okay by me.  I lived there for seventeen years.
  4. Clinton will have to re-live some very unpleasant memories from her husband's presidency. Should she be held responsible for his bad choices? 

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Beginning last week, our Sunday Bible Study Group started their study of the Book of Acts, my favorite book in the Second Testament.  It was the first Biblical book I ever studied, and, as a history teacher, I really appreciated its flow as the writer described the history of how the Early Church grew and spread to include all kinds of people across the ancient world. Its sequencing was something I immediately understood, since that is the way I understood history as occurring, but Acts is more than the simple listing of events in the early church, it tells the stories of how different people came to know and understand the work of the risen Christ, our Lord and Savior.

The Book of Acts is an interesting piece of biblical writing.  It is the second half of the Gospel of Luke. It describes the spreading of the Church throughout the ancient world, beyond Israel encompassing many different peoples. It was intended to be read to a Greek speaking audience, a sort of sophisticated, well-educated group, telling the story of the establishment of the Church and its growth across the Mediterranean world. Acts has two major forces: the geographic shift from Jerusalem to Rome and the somewhat contentious juxtaposition of Peter and Paul.  Peter representing the traditional view of the Messiah, and Paul’s more global view of Christ’s message to the wider world.

In today’s reading from Acts, we know that Peter is in Joppa, a port city on the Mediterranean.  Joppa was the place where the cedars of Lebanon were delivered to King Solomon and important in the story of Jonah. It is the port from which he departs on his ill-fated journey that ends up with an encounter with a rather large sea creature…you may recall how that ends for him. Joppa is now part of the old quarter of Tel Aviv, a major city in Israel, more worldly and secular that Jerusalem…a bit more hip and modern.

In our reading Peter prays for Tabitha, a believer who has recently died.  It is reminiscent of Jesus’s encounter with Lazarus and Jarius’ daughter. In both of those instances, at Jesus’ command the dead rose again.  But what can this brief description and description of Tabitha/Dorcas tell us about her importance to the early church?

We know that she was a charitable woman; the widows were mourning her passing. Since she was able to help those in need, we can assume she was rather well off. She must have had some sort of prominence in the community since Peter came from another town, Lydda, at the behest of the community of believers at Joppa. We can assume she offered hospitality to the women to whom she ministered, for they made it clear to Peter that he needed to come…right away.

Hospitality was very much a signpost of the early Church.  There were no Hiltons, Marriots or Ramadas…heck, there were no Motel Six’s.  Travelers really did depend …” on the kindness of strangers”, as Tennessee Williams would have put it. People depended on likeminded people to help them find food and shelter.

And the early Christian communities were pretty tight.  Most groups met in private homes to talk about experiences, reflect on their lives and eat together remembering the meal the disciples and Jesus shared the night before he died.

Last Sunday you might have noticed that I was not here. I attended a unique Sunday service at a unique Church in Brooklyn…a block away from the Gowanas Canal. St Lydia’s is a mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with support form the NY Lutheran Synod and the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island.  Sunday and Monday they have a Supper Church service very much like what Tabitha/Dorcas would have known and been comfortable in attending.  The gathered group brings ingredients and flowers for the meal, prepares and cooks dinner, sets the table and shares prayers, a homily and a Eucharist…then dinner is eaten and all hands clean up and go into the world in peace. 

But on the second Sunday, different things happen.  That is Waffle Church - a time for families with children to come together in the mid-morning to do some art that includes glue and glitter, guitar strings and singing, floor rugs and fooling around, and more fun than you can imagine. Grown-ups make waffles, peel fruit, pour juice, sing silly songs, and enjoy time with the kinder as they learn about faith and community. Kid friendly homilies intertwined with easily remembered songs are intertwined together to create a worship space that is comfortable and welcoming.

So, what can we learn from the experiences of Tabitha, the folks at Waffle Church and our gathered community at Christ Church? Well, I am not sure.  Perhaps we need to be open to the work of the Spirit among us, to be open to new ideas, to new ways of “doing church”, to preserve and honor those things that work for us, that help us in our spiritual journey, and to incorporate both and to keep what is central and holy in what we do.