Beloved St. John’s community,
These days are so very dark. There are days I wake up and have the briefest moment thinking it’s all just been a dystopian nightmare. But before our ears and eyes, our friends and neighbors—children, citizens, immigrants, those with papers and those without—are detained violently, without regard to any of the constitutional rights that we hold dear in this nation, by the very government our nation elected and who is sworn to protect us.
You know all this already. I am saying it because it is also true that a beautiful uprising of nonviolent resistance is taking place in the cities—wildly creative, generous, brave, and responsive. And much of this nonviolent resistance is fueled, supported, and nourished by people of faith like you and me who are digging deep to remember why, in fact, we are here.
Listen again to what Jesus said his mission was about:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Jesus himself took his cues from the ancient prophets of his tradition and from the presence of the Spirit, that untamed wind that “blows where it wills,” as Jesus told Nicodemus in their nighttime conversation. We also have both the living stories of our ancient traditions and the presence of the living God with us, the Spirit who ensouls all that lives, including our friends and our enemies too.
In such a time as this, it is incumbent upon each one of us to say yes to what the Spirit asks of us, in alignment with the will of God for liberation, healing, welcome, and the welfare of all life. We are not all the same. We do not all have the same capacities, availabilities, gifts or resources. But each one of us has a role to play in what is happening in the Twin Cities these days. Each one of us has something to offer. And all of it matters. You can make donations to the Episcopal Church in Minnesota Migrant Support Fund:
https://onrealm.org/ECMN/-/form/give/migrantsupport
These funds are used to address the immediate needs of migrants associated with keeping families safely together, providing for the basic needs of families such as food, housing, some legal expenses and more.
You can donate to Casa Maria, a program of our sister church St. Nicholas in Richfield, which provides food, clothing, and support to people in need, including immigrants:
https://givebutter.com/casa-maria
You can support the call by ISAIAH and MARCH to a day of fasting, prayer, and resistance tomorrow, Friday January 23—in which we are asked not to do any consumer spending or work, and instead to take the opportunity to express your resistance in love, as the Spirit calls you. There will be various marches at 2pm on Friday as well, though the temperature will be dangerously low. I will be participating in one of those, and I am involved in interfaith clergy activities in the Twin Cities today and tomorrow as well.
In the days to come, the choices that we make today could well be the difference between which direction our nation takes. Somehow, Minneapolis has again become ground zero for national and global movements of revelation and resistance. Revelation of the truth of what is happening, such as ICE kidnapping five year old Liam Conejo Ramos and using him as bait to get his family to open the door, and then deporting little Liam and his father to Texas, despite the fact that they are legally here on a pending asylum claim and there are no deportation orders against them. Three other schoolchildren were also detained in Columbia Heights this week. This is wicked, outrageous, and terrible. And resistance: in a million creative ways, people of the Twin Cities are saying no to oppression, and yes to love and sharing and supporting one another. It’s beautiful to see.
Regardless of whatever else the Spirit is asking of you, I believe it is important for each one of us to publicly voice our concerns to our elected officials. We, the people of the United States and no one else, still do have the power in what remains of democracy to hold our government accountable and insist upon the bedrock principles that our nation was always meant to uphold—that all people are created equal and have inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Of course we need reasonable immigration laws that are enforced. What is happening now has no relationship to this at all. It is a reign of terror against people of color, and a vindictive retaliation by the federal government against people who disagree with it and criticize it with no regard to what is good, true, or just.
King Herod died and no one now remembers him. The Roman Empire eventually collapsed under its own weight and vanished. But all over the world people still follow Jesus, the nobody from the backwater of Palestine who stood for love, healing, and liberation. He paid a great price for it, as we too may be called to pay a price. But I would rather lose what I cannot keep in order to stand for what is right, to follow Jesus’ Way of Love, to embody healing and love and kindness and justice and keep my soul intact. I encourage each of you to do the same.
This storm is terrible, but it will not last forever. While it is here let us stay grounded in love and the presence of God, be nourished spiritually together, take one day at a time, remember to laugh, and take courage, dear ones. It is really true that love is stronger than hate.
In Christ’s love, Lisa
