Life Continues. Can we now get back to Advent?

We now return you to your regularly scheduled life...Original Painting by R. Pitts

It is interesting how humanity tends to throw all of their energy and faith into a civilization long removed from this side of eternity or a weathered elder who remains in blessed (and infamous) memory, that they can neither touch nor see but scoff at a people who celebrate the Creator who breathed ruach into our very beings who we can not see but reverberates throughout all, walking and struggling with us.

Advent is one of my favorite times of the year; "Unexpected and Mysterious" repeatedly loops in the background of my days as "O Come O Come Emmanuel". Each morning even as the sky flutters closer in brilliant hues of blue, center stage and the earthen goddesses pull fragile shawls of crystal even closer, my vision still reveres in awe. Even as snowstorms race across the horizons, I await this with great joy each and every year.

This Advent season has dawned upon us and yet my spirit was irritated. Another Friday has come upon us, but thanks to all this fatality freak out that has poison a multitude of people  our senses have been jarred with all of this end of the world language.

It's Friday. We're still here. Enough already.

Instead of lamenting that this is the end of the world, perhaps we should greet the horizon that slowly curls into our existence with new understanding. "As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience." This should be a new beginning for all of us; for a small town in Newton, Connecticut the world did indeed end an entire week ago. We should strive and struggle as this year bows from the stage and one awaits in the wings, that as people of Faith, that as children of the Creator we love our neighbor and the stranger just as we love ourselves. Let this be a end to pain, suffering, negativity and a beginning to who God has called us to be.

Besides, the world couldn't end today. I'm preaching on Epiphany. Woot!

Lape Bondye, God's Peace. 

At the Feet of the Elders

What a way to celebrate a birthday.

As my pathways swerve deeper into the beauty of this ministry and of my call, I am privileged to be in the presence of theologians who shine as rare as luminous gems resting behind crystal glass.

It is apparent that this church of brothers and sisters perhaps does not always reflect who I am in the ethereal mirror which shimmers before me; the question is posed, for an ancient tribe of people so connected to the Creator why have we clung to Christianity throughout the ages?

When you are called, you are called.

Dr. James Cone, a premier African American theologian stated during the tumultuous and turbulent 60’s that “God is Black.” As we continue to explore voices that cry out for identification and liberation in the here and now, Dr. Cone reiterates, “I still believe that ‘God is Black ‘in the sense that God’s identity is found in the faces of those who are exploited and humiliated because of their color. But I also believe that God is mother, rice, red and a host of other things that give life to those whom society condemns to death.”

The Creator breathes justice within our spirits and it vibrates into how we can encourage and teach others.

So, Wednesday evening what could be more important than being in the midst of the Conference of International Black Lutherans as they celebrated their 25^th anniversary? Elders, some like Dr. Rudy Featherstone who was Dr. Perry’s pastor; Elders such as Bishop Holloway from the Southeastern Ohio Synod who brought his wit and humor as he reconnected with others; Elders such as Peter Nash who reminded us in worship that evening “the jar of meal will never be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail”. 

You can never have too much church...

Being among these elders of African descent awakened me to the fact that the next generation of CIBL  needed to arise from the dying waves that visit the shores in the deepness of the evening and as they listened to my voice I realized, proudly that I was one among them.

Lape Bondye, God’s Peace.

ACL

So I usually brag being from Wisconsin about Summerfest, largest music festival in America, right in my backyard and LSTC's in the great city of Milwaukee, Chicago's up and coming hip cousin.  Last weekend I was introduced to something equally as great as my longtime tradition of Summerfest, the Austin City Limit's Music Festival (ACL)...oh my goodness! 70,000 people hanging out for three days in a giant park that overlooks downtown Austin, listening to so many greats of so many different genres.  I filled my mornings with bluegrass, banjo's and mandolin's playing at rapid paces, and in the evenings I deafened myself with electric guitars and drums.  I had an amazing time and I didn't really peg the true why until the third day of the festival.
Keep in mind there is a quote by one of my friends that I might majorly screw up, but she was explaining to someone my love of music..."no you dont understand, he is addicted to live music, it's like his crack."  Now that is a little over the top, but not too far off and the reason i say this is because of the layout of my third day.
I woke up Sunday morning, I went to church and preached the sermon (oh yeah I was tired, but Stewardship Sunday waits for no one!!!).  I left immediately and I arrived to the park, able to get front and center for this onslaught of music.  I had a little time before Gary Clark Jr, Austin native who plays the guitar to it's extreme, so much so that I think he might be Hendrix reborn.    After that was a newer group called the Civil Wars, with heart crushing harmonies and stories of love lost.  Then came The Avett Brothers, my whole reason for going to ACL, one of my favorite bands ever and a group that just seems to ignite crowds with their behavior and sing along style of music.  I closed out the night and weekend with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who I have been listening to for years.  But why does any of this matter?

Jimi...I mean Gary Clark Jr.

The Civil Wars

The Avett Brothers!!!

I realized why I need or am addicted to live music...Gary Clark Jr. plays with a spirit that anyone recognizes as pure passion for music.  He knows his guitar so well that he can sing what he plays, a rare feat in soloing (Jimi Hendrix could do it).  The Civil Wars have a passion in their lyrics that you realize in the way they sing and harmonize, they really synced with the crowd.  The Avett's have an energy that I have never seen matched.  The way they sing and scream, run around and play with a ferocity that is unmatched, but can slow it down and sing a ballad that brings tears to the eyes.  That kind of raw power can only be created by a few.  Lastly, the longevity of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, knowing their ups and downs and all they survived over the years, and how they have adapted over the years.  They have found their niche and they cant imagine doing anything else.
Live music creates a family that seems to understand each other.  Especially at the front, the theme is that the people we are about to see play music that understands me, excites me, empowers me, and for some including me, got me through the hardest parts of life.  I have seen joy and pain in concerts, people laughing and some crying, others smiling while others look deep in thought.  This weekend was worship; a community living together, breaking bread together, caring for each other, standing in the rain together, standing in the sun together, and singing loudly, always looking out for one another.  We became something more together than apart, the same calling that has pushed me to seminary and kept me in the church all these years.