Prayers in the wake of Hurricane Sandy; help with Episcopal Relief and Development

The morning after Hurricane Sandy in Central Virginia, photo from my front porch:

 "By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us 

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, 

to guide our feet into the way of peace."  -- Luke 1:78-29

Pray for those who have died, are left homeless, who mourn, who are without power or clean water, here in the U.S. and in the Caribbean:

You can help by donating today to Episcopal Relief and Development by clicking HERE.

Wednesday in Holy Week: Do we have to “accept joyfully our suffering”?

The theme of Wednesday in Holy Week is suffering. Fasten your seatbelt:

The reading from Lamentations 2:1-9 is about the destruction of Jerusalem, “her gates have sunk into the ground.” The Apostle Paul, writing in 2 Corinthians 1:23-2:11, talks of not being “overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.” And Mark 12:1-11 quotes Jesus telling the rather hideous parable of the vine grower who sends his son to the vineyard where the tenants kill him.

Even the prayer for Wednesday in Holy Week underlines the theme of the day:

“Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed …”

The other day, a couple people asked me why we seem to be “descending” into Holy Week. What’s with all this suffering? Can’t we get on with it and “ascend” to the glory of Easter?

Do we really have to “accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time”?

It is true that there are branches of Christianity that glorify suffering with self-flagellation and re-enactments of the crucifixion with real nails and real blood. The readings for today seem to feed into the masochism of those traditions.

So why do we descend at all? Why not get straight to Easter?

The descending is a reminder, first, of our own mortality, and that suffering inevitably accompanies life. Paul’s letters tend be filled with advice to “toughen up.”

The biblical writers are telling something more about the mystery of death. We will get to the new life of resurrection but first we pass through the wall of death. Rather than “accepting joyfully” our suffering, we should not be so quick to glorify death as “natural.” Death sometimes comes as a relief, and death sometimes comes quickly, but there is nothing good about death. Death is the ultimate enemy to be conquered because it robs of us of seeing the life that comes next.

And there is something else at work: Jesus goes to the Cross, not be emulated by us by glorifying his suffering, but rather he goes to the Cross to stand with us in our worst suffering – to suffer with us. We don’t have to re-enact suffering – there is plenty of it in our world to go around.

He goes to the Cross in a plea with us to end the suffering, to end the torture, to end the warfare. He pleads with us to not accept joyfully the sufferings of this world, but to bring end the violence, end the injustice– and eliminate the human-made crosses that kill people and create hells on earth. The traditional icon above symbolizes that by showing Jesus rescuing Adam and Eve from the gates of Hell and bringing them out of death and into new life.

This Holy Week each of us can do something that others might suffer a little less. It may not be huge, but it will be something:

Episcopal Relief and Development is our arm around the world that brings needed help and relief in places destroyed by hurricanes, earthquakes, famines, disease, poverty and other calamities. Robert Ratdke, president of ERD will be with us April 22 at St. Paul’s and I hope you will join us to meet him. You can find out more about ERD and how you can contribute by clicking HERE.

The other organization I highly recommend: Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC). These brave souls go to the most war ravaged lands of this earth to care for refugees and those caught in the crossfire. They advocate with governments for relief, and at no small risk to themselves. Please contribute to CIVIC by clicking HERE.

May you have a blessed Holy Week, and may your walk this week bring you to a closer awareness of the divine within you.

By James Richardson, Fiat Lux

Making our own nest

The readings assigned for today's Daily Office are hard to access. They are about harsh judgment (Ezekiel 7:10-15, 23b-27 and Luke 10:1-17) and both passages exude considerable anger. I wouldn't blame you for stopping right here.

Yet is there some way we can enter this without being pulled into an endless vortex of wrath or the looniness of some recent prophets of the end of the world?

To be sure, contemporary Christianity avoids the dark side of the biblical accounts. The prophet Ezekiel is one angry guy, and he is pointing fingers at Israel for abandoning the God who has never abandoned them. The key phrase is this (Ezekiel 7:27b): "According to their way I will deal with them; according to their own judgments I will judge them. And they shall know that I am the Lord."

In other words, we make our nest and lie in it.

In the passage from Luke, Jesus is angry with those communities that have rejected him. He is also talking about traveling light and giving up creature comforts for the greater good (Luke 10:4): "Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals."

Lately, I've been thinking of how much we have degraded our earth, this great gift from God that sustains life itself. By polluting the planet, are we not abandoning God? What are the consequences (judgment) for polluting our own nest? We seem unable to part with a few creature comforts for the greater good of the planet. Our nest is filling with junk, the air we breath and water we drink is getting dirtier for millions and millions of people on this earth.

And I'm also painfully aware that I don't travel light. My house is crammed full of books, kitchen gadgets, and things I just cannot part with. When I get on an airplane, my bag always seems to weigh a ton -- and I think I am a good packer; I never have to check a bag. Still, I bring more things than I need.

Yet, we also live in an exceedingly complex world, and we could use our ingenuity and our "stuff" to create a world that is sustainable. I pray these biblical passages will point us in that direction. To truly love God is inseparable from loving and repairing our good Earth.

Here is one way that we can: Episcopal Relief and Development has joined a world-wide effort called "Turning Wine into Water" to bring safe drinking water to the poorest regions of the world. You can read more about it by clicking HERE. It is my hope that at St. Paul's we will look into how we can participate in the next few months.

Photo above: Nils-Udo "The Nest", Earth, stones, birch branches, grass, Lüneburg Heath, Germany, 1978.


Photo at right: safe drinking water project provided by Turning Wine into Water.

Update from Episcopal Relief and Development on response to Japanese calamity

Faith groups mobilize in wake of Japan's worst-ever earthquake

By Matthew Davies, March 16, 2011

[Episcopal News Service] In the aftermath of Japan's worst earthquake on record and the deepening threat of radiation leaking from the Fukushima nuclear power plants in the north, faith groups and relief agencies around the world are exploring ways to assist through donations, emergency supplies and prayer.

Episcopal Relief & Development said on March 15 that it is sending financial support to the Nippon Sei Ko Kei (NSKK) to help with its initial emergency relief efforts as the Anglican Communion province continues to gather vital information about its impacted dioceses in the north and begins to assess the immediate needs of the church and the wider Japanese community. To read more, click HERE.

What we can do to assist Japan

Our Episcopal Church has had a long presence in Japan through the Church of the Nippon Se Ko Kei. Our arm of assistance in natural disasters is through Episcopal Relief and Development. This was on the ERD website this morning.

Effects of Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Widespread

March 11, 2011

Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami that struck Japan at 2:46pm local time (12:46am EST). The effects of the disaster are widespread, affecting churches and partners around the Pacific region, including Hawai’i and the west coast of the US. Episcopal Relief & Development staff have reached out to local partners and are standing by, ready to offer assistance.

To read more, click HERE.

One year later: We still have work to do in Haiti

A year ago, Haiti was devastated by a terrible earthquake. More than 200,000 people died, a number that is still mind-numbing. The country was left in ruins, and more lives have been lost from epidemics related to the destruction wrought by the earthquake.

I am proud -- and humbled -- to report to you that St. Paul's Memorial Church gave more than $23,000 to relief efforts in Haiti through Episcopal Relief and Development.

There is still a great deal of work to do, and you can still contribute to ERD by clicking HERE. You can read about ERD's efforts in Haiti by reading a report HERE.

This came the other day from Bishop Shannon Johnston, and it bears discussion and action by our congregation, and I commend it to you:

* * *

January 12, 2011

One year ago, January 12, 2010, the world shook--both literally and figuratively--for the people of Haiti. In 35 seconds, nearly 300,000 lives were lost, millions were displaced and an already desperately inadequate infrastructure was largely destroyed.

Since the poor always suffer the most in times of hardship, Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, is enduring a catastrophe that remains unimaginable even for those who have been there to see for themselves. The toll on human life has been devastating. In Port-au-Prince alone, a million people are still housed in tents, a great many street-side. Need, injury and illness are constant specters. Now, a cholera epidemic looms with a legacy of more death and fear.

What can we do in the face of such horrors? To be sure, the sheer scale of it all is more than daunting. I've often heard comment that whatever groups or individuals might do is so little that it seems almost useless. All too easily we can despair of being able to be of help. On the contrary, I would argue that the need is so great that we--all of us--simply must become involved in any way possible. To be unconnected to the tragedy in Haiti is not a faithful choice. Our faith in the grace and sovereignty of God through Jesus Christ leads us to take action, both for immediate relief and long-term recovery and rebuilding.

In October 2010, I led a small group drawn from three of our congregations to meet with the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti, the Rt. Rev. J. Zache Duracin. Bishop Zache, along with the Rev. Kesner Ajax, his coordinator for partnerships, and Ms. Angela Galbreath, a missionary from the Episcopal Church, escorted us to see not just the destruction and the needs that exist but also the effectiveness of ongoing relief and recovery. The faithfulness, courage and dignity of the Church in Haiti are not merely impressive but absolutely indomitable. Despite the fact that the earthquake destroyed 80 percent of the diocesan infrastructure, children have been back in school since May, truly a remarkable achievement and testament to what the Church there can do even with so little. And I can tell you that our support does indeed make a difference in real day-to-day lives. It was great to be driven in two of the 13 pick-up trucks that have been provided to the Diocese of Haiti by the Diocese of Virginia, and then to see how the others are being used so much as well. In his Christmas letter to fellow bishops, Bishop Zache said that the donations of expertise, labor, food, housing material, medicines and money have helped the people of Haiti to "rise, stand and walk."

Still, as the bishop also made clear, it will take years to rebuild their structures and heal their spirits. So, I am writing this letter to encourage the congregations and individuals of the Diocese of Virginia to become involved in the recovery or to redouble your current efforts. There will be a lot to do over a long period of time. As the people of Christ, we should do no less together with our brothers and sisters in Haiti. There is a reason that we are all "the body of Christ and individually members of it" (I Cor. 12:27).

Begin with your daily prayers. Certainly remember the needs and despair in Haiti, but do not forget prayers of gratitude for the grace and strength of the Episcopal Church's ministry there. Pray that we ourselves would be moved by such a witness. You may wish to visit the Episcopal Church's Web site for various prayers to offer: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/haiti.php.

Other dioceses and persons have posted prayers to share with you at Haiti@episcopalchurch.org.

Consider a partnership between your congregation and one within the Diocese of Haiti. Please contact Buck Blanchard (800-DIOCESE x16), our diocesan director of Mission and Outreach, for more information about this program. Pere Ajax in Haiti will work personally and directly with you to discern the best way to create a mutually beneficial relationship. If, for one reason or another, a full congregational partnership seems like it would be too much then please contact us to discuss working through your region or with another Virginia congregation.

Money is always a primary need and is the most efficient way to get the appropriate aid to the places it is needed most. You may designate a contribution to the "Diocese of Virginia Haiti General Fund" for humanitarian efforts. Alternately, you may also designate a donation for the Diocese of Haiti's first rebuilding priority, the Cathedral complex.

Visit our Haiti table at diocesan Council. Several knowledgeable and involved persons will be staffing the table with material, information and encouragement. Go to the diocesan Haiti Web site for updated information about the Diocese of Haiti and the ongoing ministries for recovery and rebuilding there.

Last October, Bishop Zache told me that he was "overwhelmed" by the generosity of the Diocese of Virginia. I hope and trust that we're just getting started. May we be a light to the darkness where we find it and may we be illumined by the beacon that is the Episcopal Church in Haiti.

Faithfully yours in Christ,

The Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston

Bishop

Duduza dolls for Haiti: Stitchers get out your needles!

Many of you have been generous in so many ways to help the people of Haiti recover from the devastating earthquake. At St. Paul's, we've now contributed more than $24,ooo to Episcopal Relief and Development to assist with purchasing trucks to bring food and supplies into the country. You can learn more about ERD's efforts and make a contribution by clicking HERE.

There is one more way that you can help, and it is catching on big time at St. Paul's: stitching Duduza dolls, or comfort dolls, for children in Haiti. They are simple, beautiful, a easy to make (for those of you who are stitchers).

Jane Rotch, Margaret Haupt and Anne Marshall have been making them at St. Paul's, and we will be sending them to Lauren Stanley, our missioner in Haiti, to get them into the hands of children. You can find the directions for making a doll by clicking HERE.

The photograph at right shows the doll Jane finished a couple of nights ago. Jane wrote me an email about making the dolls, and her is what she told me:

My early experience with knitting a doll showed me that it's much simpler than it appears to be. I did the knitting in an evening (it's only 32 stitches on your needle) and am now working on finishing and stuffing. You can use scraps of leftover yarn, combining bright colors as you please, as long as the face and feet are brown yarn. Dolls can have knitted black hair or a cap, and can be boy or girl (trousers or skirt.)

Thanks Jane!

While I am away...

There is a lot going on at St. Paul's tomorrow, so I hope you will be there. It is the First Sunday of Lent, and it begins with the chanting of the Great Litany. The cantor (Daniel Hine) will be chanting the "prayers of the people" in the opening litany, including the names of those who have asked prayers for healing, and those who have died.

We also have a double-header Sunday in adult education. I hope you will avail yourself of one of these opportunities:

An authentic Haitian Meal Fund Raiser with The Rev. Elisa Wheeler of Episcopal Relief and Development after the 10:00 am service. The Rev. Wheeler will be our guest preacher at both the 8am and 10 am worship services, and will speak at the luncheon about ERD’s work in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

We are also launching Lenten series on end-of-life issues, led by The Rev. Ann Willms, our associate rector. "Talking About Death Won't Kill You: A Lenten Series About Grace-Filled Endings" continue on Wednesday Feb. 24 and through Lent. This Sunday we have a guest speaker, Marcia Childress, who will be joining Ann for this.

Before you decide that this topic is too grim for you, please do think again. Even those of you who are in your 20s need to know about these issues, not just for yourself but for the care you might need to be giving your parents one day. I can tell you from personal experience having cared for my father before he died, I wish I had known more than I did at the time.

An appeal for Haiti from the Diocese of Virginia

February 5, 2010


Trucks for Haiti: Diocese of Virginia Churches Spearhead Campaign

The Diocese of Virginia, responding to a special request from Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), has embarked on a campaign to supply 10 small pickup trucks to ERD for its relief efforts in the Diocese of Haiti. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Diocese of Virginia churches responded by providing trucks to aid in the relief efforts. Katie Mears, co-coordinator of Haiti disaster relief for ERD, contacted the Diocese of Virginia to ask for a repeat performance of that truck campaign, this time for Haiti.

ERD explained that it currently has a system that is working well to bring supplies, water, food and medicine from the Dominican Republic to the Diocese of Haiti's Port-au-Prince central relief area. But many of the earthquake victims have settled in church communities in hilltop villages outside of Port-au-Price and Leogane. ERD needs additional trucks to ferry supplies to these remote areas. ERD asked that the trucks be "small and fierce" to handle the rough road conditions.

The Rev. Buck Aiken, who coordinated the truck campaign for Katrina relief victims, has been charged by Bishop Johnston with responding to ERD's request. Mr. Aiken commented, "ERD and the Diocese of Haiti need these trucks yesterday to distribute much needed emergency supplies. We hope to raise the money, buy the trucks and drive them to the port in Miami by the end of next week - there is no time for delay." A team of drivers hopes to leave Richmond on Thursday, February 11.

Ms. Mears explained that normally ERD would simply buy the trucks in the Dominican Republic. But supply and demand pressures have caused the price of vehicles in the Dominican Republic to skyrocket, making it more cost effective to ship the trucks from the United States.

The goal is to raise $175,000 for the 10 trucks, especially because ERD and Haiti have asked that the trucks be "almost new." We have already received over $85,000 in donations toward that goal. The Diocese of Virginia will coordinate the fundraising and transportation logistics. Initially, the trucks will be titled and insured by the Diocese of Virginia. ERD will take over in Miami, and ultimately ownership will transfer to the Diocese of Haiti for its long-term use.

We recognize that many churches and individuals have already made generous contributions. Thank you so much for that support. We hope that this truck campaign will be another avenue for all of us to come together and provide additional relief.

Please send contributions payable to the Diocese of Virginia with "Haiti Truck Relief" in the memo line (110 West Franklin Street, Richmond VA 23220). The Diocese also is continuing to collect funds for ERD generally and to assist the Diocese's missionary, Lauren Stanley, when she is able to return to Haiti.


Contact:
Buck Blanchard
Director of Mission & Outreach
800-DIOCESE x16
bblanchard@thediocese.net

Haiti bishop: "In the wilderness but safe in faith."

In Haiti's 'new era' Episcopalians around the world offer help

'I extend my arms to the thousands without shelter,' Duracin says

By Pat McCaughan and Mary Frances Schjonberg, January 25, 2010

[Episcopal News Service] In a letter titled "One is in the wilderness but safe in faith," Episcopal Diocese of Haiti Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin says the destructive Jan. 12 earthquake began a "new era" in the history of that impoverished nation.

"This is also a new era in the history of humanitarian aid because the catastrophe has dealt a terrible blow to more than 10 million living beings -- inhabitants who have lost their homes and their way of life," the bishop wrote in a letter posted in French here (ENS received an English translation Jan. 24). "The capital [Port-au-Prince] is transformed into an immense refuge camp. They call desperately for water, food, and medicine."

Elsewhere in the Episcopal Church, dioceses and congregations are continuing to respond to the calls for help from the church's largest diocese.

"Most of our churches are destroyed," Duracin said. "Many schools are only piles of stones."

To read the full story, click HERE.

To contribute to Episcopal Relief and Development's Haiti fund, click HERE.

Haiti bishop describes conditions as "grim"

Haitian bishop briefs Episcopal Relief and Development on diocese's priorities

Headmistress says 'the tragedy was incredible to me'

By Mary Frances Schjonberg, January 22, 2010

[Episcopal News Service] The Haitian diocese suffered greatly with the quake. A number of the diocese's other 254 schools, ranging from preschools to a university and a seminary, were destroyed or heavily damaged, including the Holy Trinity complex of primary, music and trade schools adjacent to the demolished diocesan Cathédrale Sainte Trinité (Holy Trinity Cathedral) in Port-au-Prince.

A portion of the St. Vincent School for Handicapped Children, also in the Haitian capital, collapsed, killing between six and 10 students and staff. Many of the students are living at the camp while arrangements are being made for them to be housed elsewhere.

More than 100 of the diocese's churches have been damaged or destroyed, [Haiti Bishop Jean Zaché] Duracin has said.

As many as 3,000 quake survivors, including many members of the diocese, have congregated on a rocky field next to College Ste. Pierre, a diocesan primary school that the quake destroyed. Duracin, who was left homeless by the quake, has led the effort to organize and maintain the camp, where conditions are described as grim.

TO READ THE FULL STORY, CLICK HERE.

My sermon from our Service of Prayers and Remembrance for Haiti last night

History matters.

The history of the earth matters. The surface of the earth is alive, made of what geologists call tectonic plates. The plates move as surely as the sun shines, and when the plates move, mountains are formed, islands rise, rivers are moved. Earthquakes show no partiality to those living atop the land or by the sea.

The history of people matters.

When Christopher Columbus came to this continent where we now live, among the first islands he found came to be known as Haiti.

Haiti became a French colony, and to call it a colony is to sanitize what it really was: a slave camp, producing sugar to make rum for Europeans. At its peak in the 18th century, France imported 50,000 African slaves a year into Haiti to boost the profits of its sugar trade. If anyone made a pact with the Devil in Haiti, it was the French imperial slave power.

In 1791, the slaves revolted – the only successful slave rebellion in the Americas. Haiti became the second independent republic in the Western Hemisphere, after the United States, and the first independent black republic in the world.

But Haiti paid a terrible price for its independence and geographic isolation. France blockaded Haiti in 1825, threatening to re-enslave the entire population unless the Haitians promised to pay for their freedom.

Haiti paid tribute to France for the next 122 years, and in fact, paid one-third more to France than the United States paid France for the entire Louisiana Purchase.

By 1900, eighty percent of the gross national product of Haiti was being paid to France. To pay the debt, Haiti harvested almost all of its trees; today only 2 percent of its forests remain.

The debt was not paid off until 1947, and it left Haiti completely destitute. With such poverty and such a distorted economy, it is little wonder that Haiti came to be ruled by a series of corrupt despots.

Last week’s earthquake tore open for all the world to see how badly Haiti has been neglected by the developed world and its former slave masters.

The death toll is horrific, now estimated at 200,000 people. With the infrastructure destroyed, medical and relief teams are having a tough time reaching those the most in need. The scale of this disaster is mind-numbing. So far, 80,000 people have been buried in mass graves, roughly10,000 a day.

There are reports of amputations being done without anesthetic. There are an estimated 2 million who are homeless, and many will die from lack of clean drinking water, food and medicine.

Many will die of injuries that are treatable but the treatment will not arrive in time. Medical teams from the University of Virginia will soon depart for Haiti, and our prayers go with them.

Our own Episcopal Church is shattered. There are 100,000 Episcopalians in Haiti; it is our largest diocese; there are 200 Episcopal schools, churches and a university. Nearly every building is demolished. Tonight Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin sleeps in a tent, his house and cathedral destroyed.

And yet, his spirit is not shattered. “What is important is to keep the faith knowing God is with us,” he said in an interview with a Wall Street Journal reporter [the interview can be viewed in a video posted at the bottom of this sermon].

It is tempting to ask, where is God in all this?

Of this I am certain: God is weeping; God is present in the light and in the darkness, on the mountaintop and in the depths of the sea. God is with those who are hurting, and God is with those who are tirelessly working to bring aid and comfort, and dress every wound and wipe every tear.

And God is with all of you who are giving generously to this effort, and God is with you in your prayers and your remembrances tonight.

I am also certain to the bottom of my soul that those who have died are now healed, their pain is no longer. God has brought them out of their pain and bound their wounds. The God I know, the God of Haiti, is a God of limitless love.

“In my house are many dwelling places,” Jesus says. Many dwelling places – a place for you, a place for me, a place for the people of Haiti. Heaven is taken care of, that is the promise that is ours forever.

The question for us to ask tonight is what kind of dwelling places will we build on this earth? This earthquake, I pray, has shaken us out of whatever compliancy we may have about a place called Haiti, and other abandoned islands and neglected peoples.

Before the earthquake, the economy was already a shambles, the land deforested, the government unstable. The national debt of Haiti is $840 million. It would be doubly tragic if Haiti emerged from this earthquake only to have its recovery crippled by the debt of dictators. That debt, $840 million is no larger than an accounting error to many governments. But to a place as small as Haiti, it is a crushing mountain.

I pray this earthquake has shaken us into a realization that the poor of this earth are our poor, their debt is our debt, their work is our work.

It is among the living where pain now dwells. You demonstrate by your being here tonight that you share in that pain. You demonstrate that we are connected to each other and to the grieving people Haiti.

We are connected to each other, no matter where we live, the color of our skin, the language we speak, or the condition of the building where we dwell. We are connected to each other here tonight by our prayers, by our friendships, and we are connected to the people of Haiti.

And we are especially connected by our loving God in whose image we are created.

Love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

And so it is to us to live as God would have us live, to love as God would have us love, and to get on with the work God would have us do to bind the wounds, and build the dwelling places that will last not just in heaven, but on earth. Amen

Please give generously to Episcopal Relief and Development. You can do so by clicking HERE.

Photo above by the Associated Press. This sermon was based on reporting in The Times of London and a column in The New York Times by Nicholas D. Kristof.

The Wall Street Journal interviewed our bishop in Haiti, the Right Rev. Jean Right. Rev. Jean Zaché Duracin. The interview and pictures can be seen below:

Where is God in the rubble of Haiti? Where are we?

Today's sermon is based on John 2:1-11.

The job of the preacher, at its most basic, is to present you with good news. But this week it is hard to get into this pulpit and present you with anything that sounds like good news, and it seems especially hard to preach about a joyous wedding feast in Cana long ago.

The terrible tragedy in Haiti is mind numbing. What little infrastructure in this already desperately poor country collapsed in this terrible earthquake.

There is something about the wedding feast in Cana that may speak to how we respond, but it may take me a little while to get there.

This disaster especially strikes at the heart of our Episcopal church. There are 100,000 Episcopalians living in Haiti; it is the largest diocese in membership in the Episcopal Church. The cathedral in Port-au-Prince was destroyed, as were churches, schools and convents.

As you know, the United States is responding generously with aid and logistical support.
Many charities are mobilizing including our own Episcopal Relief and Development, which has been in Haiti for a very long time, and has a large network in the country that will be put to great use.

We will be there long after others leave, so I hope you will give generously to ERD.

I should not have to waste any time this morning on something else, but I will. Pat Robertson said this past week that the reason Haiti suffered in the earthquake is that Haitians made a “pact with the devil” to free themselves from French colonial rule 200 years ago.

I’ve debated whether to dignify his comment by mentioning it. Forgive me if you think I should have let it go, you are perhaps right.

But Brother Robertson presumes to speak as a man of Jesus, and therefore I think his comment should not be left to stand without challenge from those of us who have the privilege of speaking from a pulpit in Christ’s Church.

So I will put it squarely: Pat Robertson is just flat out wrong. God is not sending punishment upon Haiti.

If I know anything at all about Jesus, and I think I do, it is this: Those who died in the earthquake are victims, and Jesus weeps with them in this terrible tragedy, and Jesus shakes his head when some like Pat Robertson blames the victims, and especially when someone blames the victims in His name.

There are religious people who believe that everything bad that happens in this world is punishment for something, or that it is simply “God’s plan.”

Nothing could be more wrong. Calling it "God's plan" is fatalism, not faith. That is not what Jesus preached and not how he lived. He saw suffering and chastised those who blamed the victims. He brought healing, and then he went to the Cross, not to appease a bloodthirsty God, but to share in our human suffering, and to show us that there really is something more beyond the pain and hurt in this life.

Yet this terrible disaster still leaves many of us wondering how it is that people die so tragically, so unfairly, in a place like Haiti.

I do not pretend this morning to have a complete answer, and maybe not even a very satisfying answer.

We live in an imperfect world, in a universe that is not yet finished. Our natural world has hurricanes and tsunamis and earthquakes. The human world is dominated by human error and greed, where powerful people have not used their God-given talents to bring people out of poverty, or to construct the buildings that can withstand disasters in the poorest parts of the world.

Call it sin or call it human folly, we live in a world where we have enough wealth to end poverty, to build safe buildings, to care for the sick. But it hasn’t happened.

This earthquake has torn open for all to see the terrible neglect of Haiti from the developed world, the world we live in.

In the words of the old prayer book, we have “left undone those things which we ought to have done.”

My intention in saying this is not have you leave here feeling guilty. Rather, I hope we might recommit ourselves to doing all that we can so that places like Haiti have a chance to overcome poverty and calamity.

In a way, this does connect to a joyful wedding feast at Cana a long time ago.

In the story we hear today, Jesus is at a wedding party, and the guests have consumed all the wine. Mary asks him to do something, so Jesus converts six large stone jars of water into wine.
Biblical scholars will tell you this story from the Gospel of John has overtones pointing to the Eucharistic meal, and so it does.

But I want to point out two simple elements to the story:

First, it is a story about hospitality, about how God’s grace extends beyond the limits of our imagination.

It is a story of how God can feed us and sustain us even in it looks we are running out. God is with the people of Haiti, and God is with us.

Second, Jesus gives the guests the good wine. God is not stingy. God opens the best, not the worst. God gives not the leftovers, but the first fruits.

And the guests notice, and they are startled. They expect the cheap wine, but at this party, they get the finest. They expect stinginess, and they get a feast.

Here in Charlottesville, many of us enjoy a very high standard of living. We have schools and roads and health care. Many of us have enough money to take vacations and enjoy the best that life has to offer. We have all that we need and more. We have a feast.

But with the feast comes the call to share the feast, to be hospitable to those around us, and hospitable to those who are far away, because all are God’s children, and all are invited to God’s feast.

We are called to share our first fruits, our finest feast, by sharing the best of our talents, as God gives us those talents, to make this world a better place.

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, and there is no better way to honor Dr. King than by starting in our own homes and workplaces, and then we can look beyond our city and state and to the neglected islands and hamlets of this earth.

We can surround everyone we meet with prayer, and give them the best of who we are, get to work making our prayers real: “thy will be done on earth as it is heaven.” AMEN

Please give generously to Episcopal Relief and Development. You can make a contribution to the Haiti relief fund by clicking HERE.

Haiti and what we can do right now

I had planned a number of items for the blog this week, but that can wait.

The terrible disaster in Haiti should command our attention. Relief is coming, and some already there.

There is something you can do, and you can do it right now. Episcopal Relief and Development is on the ground, has a huge network in Haiti and can bring help to those who hurting. Please donate by clicking HERE.

Letter from Bishop Shannon Johnston on what we can do for Haiti

January 14, 2010 Dear Diocesan Family, As the shocking scenes of destruction and loss of life in Haiti have unfolded on the Web and TV, we share a deep desire to help our brothers and sisters there. While the initial reports are just beginning to come in, we know that houses, hospitals, schools, churches and government buildings - the basic institutions of society - have been left shattered by Tuesday's devastating earthquake. What can we do? We can do what the Church does best - we can pray and we can give generously of ourselves. Please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers in the days, months and years ahead. Episcopal Relief and Development has established an emergency relief fund, which is an effective way to empower the Church to do what needs to be done. Donations to the fund can be made here. With regards to our ongoing mission efforts to Haiti, I can report that the Rev. Lauren Stanley, missionary to Haiti, was in Virginia at the time of the earthquake. The Episcopal Church Center had three other missionaries present there at the time of the quake, and all have been safely accounted for. The Rt. Rev. Jean Zache Duracin, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti, and his family are also safe, and Bishop Duracin is in the process of determining the status of the priests and churches of the diocese. We will be working to determine the best strategy for the young adult mission trip scheduled to the cities of Gonaives and Bayonnais, located northwest of Port-au-Prince, in late February. Currently, the trip is still scheduled as planned, but we will continue to monitor the situation and keep trip participants updated. Please direct any questions or concerns you may have to bishopsoffice@thediocese.net. As more updates become available, we will post them on our Web site at www.thediocese.net. Again, pray for our Haitian brothers and sisters. Faithfully, The Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston Bishop of Virginia

An urgent appeal for help in Haiti

No doubt by now you have heard about the devastating earthquake in Haiti, where it is estimated that as many as 100,000 people are dead. The human scale of this tragedy is truly mind boggling.

The Episcopal Church has a very large presence in Haiti, which is numerically the largest diocese of the Episcopal Church, with dozens of churches and schools.

We have heard sketchy reports that the cathedral in Haiti was destroyed, along with many churches and schools; the bishop's wife is injured; the Roman Catholic bishop apparently was killed. A number of Episcopal Church workers are reported missing.

Episcopal Relief and Development is responding to the disaster, and has issued an urgent appeal for for funds. Our relief agency is well-positioned in Haiti to offer immediate help.

I would ask that you give what you can. You can do so by clicking HERE. And please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers.

Make your ears tingle

Barbara Crafton is an Episcopal priest from New Jersey who spends a lot of time in Italy. She sends out a daily email to her friends called the Geranium Farm, and she maintains a website called GeraniumFarm.org. She is really cool.

Barbara plants a lot of seeds. This one came in this week:

Use The Power You Have

"See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. "
1 Samuel 3:11

Now, there's a colorful expression. Our ears are tingling right now, in fact, every time we turn on the radio for the latest news from the Holy Land. Where can it end, we ask each other. How much worse can it get? What is the way out?

I don't envy your new president, someone says at dinner, and all the Americans nod soberly. An economy in tatters, war in two countries, and worse news from Gaza every day -- the conflict in Gaza has already cost more than 1,000 lives since December and the fighting continues. Such intractable problems, and so huge. No wonder inaugurations begin and end with prayers.

Those entrusted with the leadership of nations carry a heavy and lonely load --heavier than the one we carry. They also wield more power than we do, of course. But we have the power we have, and all of us -- the great and the ordinary -- have our power for a reason. It's to use for the good. None of us are here for ourselves alone. We are here for each other.

We can't be the ones negotiating a ceasefire, but we can pray for one. We can't be on the ground caring for the wounded or comforting the bereaved or housing, but we can support those who are. Episcopal Relief & Development remains in constant touch with the Bishop of Jerusalem, the Rt. Rev. Suheil S. Dawani and with Al Ahli Hospital central Gaza City. The hospital is now treating more than 50 injured civilians every day. The hospital staff is working around the clock to provide emergency medical care. Recently, the hospital finally received a delivery of desperately needed medicine, supplies, blankets, and food -- the ongoing fighting makes such deliveries difficult and dangerous. Episcopal Relief & Development also continues to send funds to help the hospital meet the rising costs of treating patients.

This is our work. Others carry it out for us, but we fund it through our ER&D donations. It literally cannot happen without us.

The Episcopal Church in Gaza

You may not know this, but the Episcopal Church has a presence in Gaza through Episcopal Relief & Development, the arm of our church that aids victims of war, disaster and poverty. 

Yesterday ERD sent the following message asking for immediate financial help and prayer so that it can assist with those injured in the Israeli-Hamas conflict:

Since the recent upsurge on December 27th, the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict has left more than 550 people dead, and 2,500 injured. Episcopal Relief & Development’s partner, the Ahli Arab Hospital, reports devastating civilian casualties and a rising death toll in Gaza City.

During this time of crisis, Episcopal Relief & Development remains in close contact with its partner the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. Episcopal Relief & Development has responded to an urgent appeal from the Diocese by sending initial emergency funds to the Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza.

“We continue to monitor the needs of the Diocese of Jerusalem and are preparing to send additional emergency funds. Please pray for the people of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the Ahi Arab Hospital as they risk their own lives to provide lifesaving emergency care to people injured in the ongoing conflict” said Rob Radtke, President of Episcopal Relief & development.

Ahli Arab Hospital, located at the heart of Gaza City, has treated more than 100 injured civilians since the beginning of the December attacks. The hospital continues to provide essential emergency health care to injured civilians. Ahli Arab Hospital has not turned anyone away despite increasingly dire conditions. The staff and volunteers at the hospital desperately need medicine and emergency supplies to continue their life saving work.

You can donate online to Episcopal Relief and Development for its work in Gaza by clicking HERE. 

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is among the many religious leaders calling for a cease-fire. You can read her statement here: Presiding Bishop on Gaza. Incidentally, a number of commentators friendly to Israel, including David Brooks in the New York Times yesterday, are pointing out that the longer the Israeli military action in Gaza lasts the less effective it is becoming. When the central result is more victims, it creates a new recruiting ground for terrorists and Islamic extremists and the circle of hate and violence continues.