WorldHope Corps

Sermon preached at The United Methodist Church in Green Village, NJ on Sunday, January 25, 2009 I felt I had to be there. And I’m glad my family went too. Even though we had to sleep on the floor of a church, get up at 6am and walk 2 miles toward the Capital. Even though we had to stand up all day on the Washington Mall in 27 degree temperature (18 degrees in the wind) and due without food or bathrooms. It was an extraordinary, once-in-a-life time experience to stand shoulder to shoulder, and back to front, with 2 million Americans breathing the same air (the huddled masses yearning to breathe free). There was a super positive spirit, festive mood and high energy in the crowd. No one pushed too much or became aggressive in their behavior. No one said “get out of my space!” There was lots of laughter and good will. Strangers talked to each other and treated each other as friends. We met visitors from Texas, Florida, Virginia and Iowa. It was fun to feel patriotic again, and so ...

Bishop Gene Robinson Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest and vocal gay rights leader, opened President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration with a prayer on Sunday's kick-off event—‘ We are One’ concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Unfortunately, due to technical malfunction—some say political conspiracy—the bishop’s prayer was not broadcast. It was a good prayer, worthy of preservation and reflection. He invoked the “God of our many understandings” and asked that our communal Deity would… • Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS. • Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. • Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve pre...

Yes we did! We not only elected America’s first African American President and watched a Black first family move into a White House built by slaves…but more importantly (and more to the point, I think), we elected a wise, bold, determined, non-anxious, self-differentiated, good and strong Leader. One who not only may be able to rise to the great challenges of this present moment, but also loom large as an effective leader on the global stage. Still too early to tell, but in the words of Mordachi about Queen Esther: “Who knows if he has not been chosen for such a time as this?” We can only hope and pray and believe that God will work through this man with common roots and clay feet in the face of pending economic doom. Yes, I was there …in Washington, at the tail end of the "We Are One" concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, on the Mall on Monday to celebrate MLK holiday, and experience the Inaugural festivities at the Capital on Tuesday. I did feel the ‘ground begin...