by Chris MortonDivision seems to be at the heart of the Church today. The Church is what I know about, so I won’t suggest that the same is true in synagogues, mosques, temples, or other houses of worship. But if division is central to a gathered community, then each time that we enter that community emotions deep within are being stirred. Deep emotions that are often paradoxical: righteousness and humility, hostility and compassion, impatience and understanding.
Our faith embraces such paradoxes, helping us to find strength and hope in and through the historical narratives that have preceded our time together. Throughout sacred texts from all faith traditions, paradox seems to be a lesson imbedded into the narrative. For instance, for those of us who are Christian, there is a paradox in an often told story. The people made a processional for their new king, gathering their palm branches and laying them on the ground as he straddled a donkey and made his way into Jerusalem, But Jerusalem would not accept Jesus’ message of caring for the most marginalized of society; instead, the authorities of Jerusalem gave him a different crown, one made of thorns that he wore as a mockery while standing on a cross with nails in his hands. The King of kings embraced the paradox of authority and humility in an exemplary way.
In the midst of our own divisiveness in our congregations and denominations, and into the midst of our communities where we decreasingly know our neighbors and rarely share our stories with others, as the divide between the rich and poor widens, Associated Ministries invites all of us in Tacoma-Pierce County to give honor to the people who lost their lives on September 11th ten years ago by celebrating our unity.
BE AS ONE will be a Fall campaign to lift up and to celebrate our unity wherever it can be found: cleaning our community parks together so our children have a safe place to play; sorting donated food so that people who are hungry might have something to eat tonight; hammering nails and sawing boards so that someone can have access to a truly affordable home; gathering people of faith so that we can worship together; sharing our cultures at festivals so that we all might be richer in understanding.
BE AS ONE is our community’s way of saying that we are one --- one people, one community. Rich in diversity, we are a people who will not be divided. Every day, throughout each week of all 12 months of the year people from richly diverse backgrounds join hands and hearts so that our communities are strong. Across cultures, languages, socio-economic status, nationalities, and faith traditions or religions, we come together --- to work, to study, to play, to pray, and to serve.
Being a community of people who embraces our rich diversity is not easy, nor simple. I recently returned from a week-long community-building opportunity, where 18 of us traveled to Mt. Adams. The physical exertion that it took for rock climbing, rappelling, and mountain climbing, while formidable tasks, were not nearly as difficult as the spiritual, emotional, and intellectual challenge that it took to develop a sense of true relationships built upon trust, honesty, and openness. While a community of 18 people is a microcosm of a religious congregation or denomination, a neighborhood, a city or county, the paradoxes of humanity are still evident.
After a rather engaging conversation with a couple of ministers I received a book titled,In a wonderful book titled, Community: The Structure of Belonging, by Peter Block, a book dedicated to transforming communities, Block suggest that “The future is created one room at a time, one gathering at a time. . . Large-scale transformation occurs when enough small group shifts lead to the larger changes. Small groups have the most leverage when they meet as a part of a larger gathering.”
Maybe my time has come for me to be more hospitable to others. Maybe our time has come to BE AS ONE!
