Gift of Grace

Rev. Bill Hamilton-Holway, Gift of Grace - Part 1

Grace. Is it the movement of a dancer?
A chorus of dancers?
Is it words of thanksgiving before a meal?

Grace. Is it the name of a beloved one?
Is it a title as in Your Grace?

Theologically, in the Christian tradition,
Grace is the Love of God, unmerited,
bestowed freely upon humankind.
It is a sense of protection, of being chosen,
whether you want to be, or not.

It's a difficult term for those of us who wonder about God,
or who prefer to speak of reality in non-theological language.

That's why Grace is our theme for the month of November.

Maybe if we struggle with it, we'll find a new sense of its meaning.

Some of us, I suspect, dismiss "grace" because it seems hierarchical.
Some believe God's grace is for those who have been baptized,
for those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

That's a view contrary to our Universalist heritage.
Early Christians disagreed about this.
We're descended from those who understood God's love as limitless,
as universal.
If there is Grace, it is for All.

What then, we may ask, is given to us all?

Perhaps we can enter into this realm of Grace by participating in a litany.
I'll offer you some words, some images, and your response is:
"We give thanks." Will you say this:

WE GIVE THANKS.

For this revolving Earth, sunrise and sunset:

WE GIVE THANKS.

For millions of stars beyond our ability to count:

WE GIVE THANKS.

For food we plant but cannot grow, for fresh water to drink:

WE GIVE THANKS.

For this gathered community of all ages, opening the circle, inviting us in:

WE GIVE THANKS.

For all things coming to us as gifts from sources beyond ourselves:

WE GIVE THANKS.

* * * * *

Breathe in:
what a gift,
here for the inhaling.

Life-giving.
The gift of Life.
Right here. Right now.
A given.

Grace is what is right before us.

All we need do is open ourselves to the experience,
and ready ourselves, center ourselves, ground ourselves,
to receive with gratitude.

Grace, as in gracious,
like the host receiving the guest,
like the guest appreciating the host.

Here we are upon this blue green earth.
Who could have imagined it?
Here we are, you and I, in this moment, in this gift.

What shall we do with this gift?
Or, is "doing" not a gracious thing?
Are we here just to be?

Yet, our being – all 7+ billion of us –changes this earth we have been given.
What more than being are we called to do?

Native people implore us:
Imagine to the seventh generation to come,
Do what is necessary to save this gift of grace for all generations.

Live simply.
Consume less.
Eat what is healthy.
Keep the water clean.
Share with those in need.
Feed the hungry.
Shelter the homeless.
Cultivate curiosity.
Create community.
Create community with more and more people.
Welcome the stranger.
Listen with appreciation.
Speak with gratitude.

What is necessary to save this gift for all generations?
Practice grace,
in your motion,
in your prayer,
in your community.

Practice grace.

Bless the earth and all your children,
one creation,
live in peace.

Rev. Barbara Hamilton-Holway, Gift of Grace - Part 2

Grace happens when you can say, "Good day to be a human being!"

That's what church member Larry Nagle says about the day of the Greater Richmond Interfaith Harmony Walk to End Hunger. Good to see a river of gold ~ church members in bright golden Standing on the Side of Love T-shirts. Good to walk under blue skies and glorious sunshine with people from all around the community. Sixty of us from the church walk. Our congregation raises more money than ever in support of the GRIP shelter and soup kitchen. Walkers feel the support of all of you.

This Wednesday, good day to be a human being. Bill and I meet up with ministers from our congregation, Rev. Craig Scott, Marcus, his sweetie Emily, Laura, her partner Katie and their baby daughter Johanna at Occupy Oakland. We gather at the Interfaith Tent. Inside the tent, people sit in silent meditation. Outside the tent we sing. Rev. Deb Lee reads Dr. Martin Luther King's principles of non-violence. A rabbi offers a prayer in English and in Hebrew. A woman with an infant in a baby carrier on her chest offers a chant. "We'll flood the streets with justice. We are freedom bound."

Deb gives large cardboard red-painted valentine hearts to Emily who gives a heart to me. As I march, I carry the big heart by my side. We stand on the side of love.

We join with others. We fill the streets ~ teachers, students, parents pushing kids in strollers, nurses, doctors, attorneys, construction workers, unemployed, underemployed, a guitar strumming skate boarder, a brass band, a didgeridoo player, a tuba player, drummers Sistah Boom, banner carriers, chanters, poets for the people, grandmothers for peace, ministers. 300 children in a children's brigade carry their hand written signs ~ "Occupying our Future." The children chant what they are taught, "Share, share, share." We stretch over many city blocks. Thousands throughout the day rally for economic justice. Peaceful, joyful, good-spirited community.

As we leave the march, I ask a stranger, "Would you like this heart?" I pass on the cardboard valentine heart. "Awesome," she says, "Thank you."

The next morning as we hear of the vandalism, our hearts sink. We wonder if it's a good day to be human.

Hurt, anger, powerlessness and despair stir destructive actions.

We can't let the actions of a few disrupt our experience of a beautiful, awesome gathering of community.
Disruptions happen. We see it in classrooms, in meetings, in churches and homes. We see it in ourselves. We act out. Raise our voices. We say and do mean things. We disrupt the process, destroy the good energy.
After disruptions, can grace happen?
Refocus. Return to one another. Occupy community.
A stunning example happened here Thursday evening.
Picture this. People gather for supper and vespers. People in their 80s and in each decade of life on down to a less than one year old baby. After dinner, kids and adults fold song sheets of paper into boats. Everyone leans over the atrium fountain. Boats sail across the water.
At vespers, active boys, who had thought of bombing the paper boats, look up to Marcus and follow his movements. May this chalice "remind us of the divine spark in all creation. The power of love to heal what is broken. And to be grateful for life's blessings each day."
Kids and adults enact a story. Kindness like a valentine heart passes from child to cat to bird to one creature to the next to the next and comes full circle back to the child. Goodness flowing.
All, adults and energetic kids, join in meditation. You can choose to sit, walk, or stand in a yoga tree pose. Marcus offers options. And he requires silence. And the silence lasts and lasts, longer than you think possible.
We practice living in peace.
Want to be drones with Marcus? The boys rush forward. They join Marcus in singing the drone notes of a song. We sing a song in three parts. Three parts! That can be difficult. But it was easy. The drones sing "Breathe in, Breath out." Other sing, "When I breathe in, I'll breathe in peace. When I breathe out, I'll breathe out love." As we become stronger in our parts, sopranos sing descant.
Play, stories, silent meditation, songs, reminders of goodness. Smiles shine on faces. Good day to be a human being.
Today, tomorrow, good days to be a human being. Get outside, away from computers and television. Get out of isolation into community. Kindle divine sparks. Remember your power to heal. Be grateful. Pass along kindness. Inhabit your goodness. Practice peace. Sing. Become strong in your part. Occupy the bigness of love. Life is good. Grace happens.
Closing Blessing
Here we are.
Make us whole, interwoven, all connected,
planet wide and inmost soul.
Bid our waste and warfare cease.
Fill us all with grace over flowing.
Teach us how to live in peace.
--From Earth Was Given as a Garden, words by Roberta Bard

This month Princeton Professor and activist Cornel West was arrested once in front of the Supreme Court for rallying against the influence of corporations and once at Occupy Wallstreet.

Alice Walker writes,

the joyful news of your arrest
this sunday morning everything
is bringing tears. in church this morning
not a church anyone from my childhood
would recognize
as church
a brother singing
ecstatic
about the bigness of love and then this moment news of your arrest
on the steps of the supreme court
a place of intrigue and distrust; news of the illegal sign you carried that you probably made yourself: Poverty Is The Greatest Violence Of All. brother cornel. brother west.
what a joy it is to hear this news of you.
that you have not forgotten
what our best people taught us
as they rose to meet their day: not to be silent
not to fade into the shadows
not to live and die in vain.
But to glorify the love that demands we stand
in danger shaking off
our chains.