The Martyr of Black Friday (Why I Won't Shop Today)

Black Friday has never been the same since 2008. That year, it turned from something mildly annoying to something approaching evil. I know, I know. You're already calling me a Debbie Downer. I know, I know, I'm probably too late to stop you from shopping today.

But if I could, I would.

Yes, I'm a junkie for consumer electronics. Yes, I love to buy as much as the next guy. Yes, I know and understand that retail sales will help drive economic recovery. Blah, blah, blah...

But there is something about Black Friday that reveals the dark underbelly of our consumerist economy. There is something about the pushing, shoving crowds, eager to save a few bucks, that causes the skin to grow cold. There is something about the gleeful TV reporters, interviewing the early shoppers like they are some kind of modern-day heroes, that makes me sick.

You see, I can't help but remember the Martyr of Black Friday. Do you remember him? He was a Haitian immigrant named Jdimitai Damour. who worked at a Wal-Mart in New York State. And on Black Friday, 2008, he was trampled to death by hoards of shoppers who apparently did not see, or did not care, that a man's life was at stake.

What makes his death even more surreal is that he was apparently not a *small* man. He was a big guy. But there is something about the push of a hoard that can overwhelm anyone.

The best recounting of his death I ever read was from the LA Times, and reporter Erika Hayasaki. A good portion of that story is below, with a little editing for space....

 CRUSHED IN THE RUSH FOR BARGAINS
by Erika Hayasaki

"He took his last breath on a gray floor, between a row of soda machines and a device that disperses change for cans and plastics.

Trampled by a mob of bargain-hungry Black Friday shoppers, Jdimytai Damour, 34, died by asphyxiation, leaving people across the world asking: Why, and how?

Audio-enhanced chatter captured on a cellphone video posted on YouTube, along with interviews with witnesses, offers a hint. The video shows a police officer crouching by a 6-foot-5, 270-pound man lying at the entrance of a Long Island Wal-Mart. A paramedic pumps the man's chest so forcefully his limp legs and feet joggle. Shoppers peer in from behind glass doors, as others stand a few feet away, hands in pockets.

"They need to shock him," a voice says. The paramedic stops pumping.

The man's shirt has been pulled to his neck, revealing his large belly. A woman in the crowd mutters "pregnant." Another cracks a joke.

The women begin to laugh.

The trouble began well before the sun rose.

Just after 1 a.m., Jennifer Jones, 25, and niece Alicia Sgro, 14, parked themselves behind the 200 or so early shoppers, in front of the Valley Stream store, 20 miles east of Manhattan. Jones wanted the 32-inch plasma flat-screen TV on sale for $388. Sgro hoped to pick up DVDs, like "Cloverfield," on sale for $2 to $9.

Dressed in heavy coats and a blanket, they brought Pop-Tarts, muffins and Chex Mix for the wait. The couple in front of them wanted the $25 microwave. The guy behind wanted the $5 blender.

By the time Nakea Augustine showed up at 3:15 a.m. on Nov. 25, the line had grown to 1,000, snaking down to a National Wholesale Liquidators store, stopping near a fire hydrant....

By 3:30 a.m., the crowd had grown to 2,000, and Jones and her niece decided to fold their chairs, standing to mark their territory. In the 30-degree darkness, their bodies felt hot-glued to everyone else. The line began to heave and sway, like a tugboat dragging its vessels through a heavy current...

Shortly before 5 a.m. an announcement went over store intercom: "Doors are about to open in the next five minutes." As opening got closer, people started counting down: "Five, four, three, two, one!"

Augustine saw a worker inside begin to open the door, slowly. Suddenly, everyone started pushing from all directions. They knocked the door off its hinges. A worker tried to use it as a shield, but the glass shattered.

The crowd ran right into the soda machines. Pop Pop and others darted to the side where Damour had been, and held the machines in place as the crowd surged forward.

He didn't see Damour anymore...

Augustine tried to keep her balance as she was pushed forward. She saw people fall and knew she had to keep moving or she'd fall too. One woman had cuts from the glass across her face. Augustine saw Damour sprawled out. She managed not to step on him.

Durell George, 26, who works in Internet sales, heard people screaming and tried to jump out of their way. A woman in brown pants and a long coat fell but others pulled her to the customer service section. George went to see if she was OK.

Augustine kept going, down the jam-packed aisles, still moving with the crowd, still heading to the deals. People guarded the televisions so no one else could grab them. Augustine raced for the toy section and snatched up a bike, a dollhouse, 10 Hannah Montana dolls for $5 apiece.

Two hours later, Augustine checked out, just as the store announced it was closing. She got in line, and spent $495 on 36 items. She did not know what became of the man who had fallen to the ground.

Pop Pop had continued to staff the door, but word eventually spread through the employees that Damour was dead. Paramedics took his body away and police declared the area a crime scene. Pop Pop joined other workers in a prayer.

Later, Pop Pop thought of his daughter. She works at the same Wal-Mart, but was off on Black Friday. It could have been her, he thought, or him...

Nearly a week after Damour's death, candles burned next to photos of him, atop an altar near the spot where he died. People left comments in a condolence book:

"So sorry that people did this to a young and honest hardworking gentleman."

"You damn animals, there was no reason to rush in like a herd of cattle and kill an innocent young man."

"Jdimytai is an angel and he's not doing maintenance anymore."

On Monday, a coroner ruled Damour died from suffocation. On Wednesday, his family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Wal-Mart.

By Thursday evening, life at the store had mostly returned to normal. Bored-looking greeters stood hunched at the front doors. Workers rounded up stray grocery carts. Employees clocked out. Overnight staff clocked in.

Pop Pop came outside for a cigarette break, standing steps from where it all happened.

"To me, that boy got killed over $100, for a TV," he said. "When you see somebody on the ground, you just don't step on them and keep going. . . . That's somebody's life."

Damour's altar stood mostly ignored for nearly two hours that night. Customers rushed by without stopping, or even looking. They were too busy getting to the deals."

Let's be clear: no bargain, no sale, no "one-day-only" deal is worth a human life. Not then. Not now. Not ever. In fact, it's an event like this that truly shows the final horror of Black Friday, and what it means for us.

My friend and colleague, Rev. David Weber, well described it last year in a short post on Facebook. He said:

"Americans stopped for awhile yesterday to give thanks for what they have, then rose this morning, early, and left the house, praying 'But it's not enough.' "

 Exactly.

Frederick Buechner once said that if you really want to know what you value in this world, watch where your feet take you. As each year passes, I see the wisdom in this. The feet are a great barometer for,  and window to, the soul. The places we end up spending our time, the people we spend it with, the things we do, they show us, more than our words who we are and what we value.

Yes, we SAY we value giving thanks. Yes, we SAY that we are grateful for the simple things --shelter, clothing, food, friends, family. Yes, we SAY that the "best things in life are free."

But is that how we live? On Black Friday, as we watch the local news reports of the pushing, shoving crowds at our local stores, is there any evidence that we really believe this?

No. Our feet tell us otherwise. They tell us we are still far too afraid and far too empty of all that really matters. We fill ourselves up with the latest gadgets. We convince ourselves that money is so tight that the few bucks we save today will somehow make some lasting difference in our family's lives. (Hint: it won't)

Jim Wallis pointed all this out in a great blog yesterday. He writes:

The relentless pressure of advertising tells us that “there is never enough,” and that you should “worry” constantly about what you eat and drink, what you wear, whether your future is secure, and more. But Jesus says the exact opposite. They say, “Worry all the time!” But Christ says, “Don’t worry!”

The pressure we feel doesn’t just come from the ads we get in our inboxes or see on television. All of us have family and friends who are going to be doing a lot of shopping. If a friend goes out and spends money on us, we feel guilty if we don’t reciprocate at roughly the same level. What’s worse is if someone gets us a gift and we don’t get them anything at all. The problem is not giving gifts.  Giving gifts becomes a problem when the exchange of stuff replaces building relationships.

Wallis notes the final insanity: All of this happens allegedly in the service of "holy days." The idea that the Christian holiday of Christmas --celebrating the birth of a poor peasant child into the world-- is appropriately marked by an orgy of consumer spending is INSANE. It's sick. It's a twisting and bastardizing everything that holiday used to mean. (And still does...)


Christmas is about:

PEACE
HOPE
JOY
LOVE

No amount of mall shopping can buy any of these things.

That is why so many people are increasingly opting out of consumerist giving at Christmastime. At Northaven, for example, we'll begin our "Alternative Gift Market" next week.

It's a very simple idea: members pick out one of a dozen agencies in Dallas and beyond that works with the poor, the homeless, lgbt rights, women, children, etc...

Then, they give a donation that we forward on to those agencies (100 percent of it. We pay for any overhead internally...). The member then gets a card to give to their loved one that says:

"A gift has been given in your honor to (Christ's Foundry) or (Reconciling Ministries)" or about a dozen other agencies that are familiar to our members.

That way, people give gifts of real meaning; and gifts that actually help others! There's no pushing. There's no shoving. And, more than any other kind of external gift, the people who get these gifts can know and understand that they are cared and loved....because the whole process is simply a "paying forward" of the gifts we've been given.

The beauty is, you don't have to do this through our little "Alternative Gift Market." You can do it through hundreds of agencies and groups near and dear to your heart, or the hearts of those you love.

Wallis suggest what we most need in our society is to move from "greed is good" and to "enough is enough."

I think he's right. If Thanksgiving means anything, it should remind us of the thousands of blessings we take for granted each and every day. Our lives are dripping with blessings. If you have forgotten this, start with the big ones: food, clothing, shelter.

Do this today: Open up the crawl space, and take a look at the furnace in your house. I mean this literally. Use your feet to take you there (remember: they teach us what we value) go and LOOK at it.

Then, go check the outside temperature. And give thanks for the heater. Give thanks for every day it works.

Yes, it sounds silly. But sometimes we have to start there to really remember and realize the extent of the blessings all around us. And the more content we become with who we are, with what we have, with all of our gifts (large and small), the less we'll have the need for "MORE."

At the Jim Finley Retreat last year, he cited a prayer that is attributed to the Buddha (although apparently he probably didn't say it.) It's a prayer of Thanksgiving that breaks down thankfulness to its more basic component:

"Let us all be thankful for this day, for we have learned a great deal; if we have not learned a great deal, then at least we learned a little; if we did not learn a little, then at least we did not become sick; if we did become sick, then at least we did not die. So, let us all be thankful."

All gratitude begins with gratitude for the gift of being alive right now, and for the gift of things like food, clothing, shelter, friends.

And! The more we give thanks for the "big" blessings, the more we'll be able to see and recognize all the small ones in our lives too.

Every great religious tradition speaks of this kind of "mindfulness" or "paying attention." Jesus did it when he called us to "consider the lilies of the field," and the "birds of the air." The more we meditate on simple things like this, the less we'll worry about tomorrow.

And the more content we will become with who we are. The more that "hope, peace, love and joy" and spread into our hearts, and keep us from mistaking the love of family or friends with the love of a new XBox 360.

Honor the holidays.
Honor your loved ones.
Honor Jdimitai Damour.
Make difference choices this holiday season.
You can celebrate the real reason for the season.

And nobody has to die.

2011 Updates: Today, I have written a second blog on these issues, and invite you to check it out. If further explains and clarifies my own personal views on these issues. Find it here.

I've also written a new song about it, that you can find here.

Also, my friends at "Occupy Dallas" have posted this truly disturbing video of shoppers almost being trampled, just like Jdmytai. It's hard to fathom how, even with his death this still goes on.

Finally, in doing some Googling, I discovered a pitiful CODA to this story...
In the years since this has happened, apparently Walmart has been vigorously contesting a measly $7,000 fine from OSHA.

First reported in the New York Times, many observers have been baffled: Why has Walmart spent upwards of $2 MILLION to fight a $7,000 fine?

The answer seems to be: precedent. Walmart appears to believe that agreeing to the fine will bind them to legal precedent and perhaps bigger fines, should there be additional incidents in the future. The bottom line seems to still be the bottom line, and not concern for people. How pitiful.


(As always, if you like this post, then "like" this on Facebook by clicking the box below, so others can see too...)

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Bullying, And The Theology Behind It

 (I intended to post this sermon weeks ago, but life marches on and I never got around to it. This was preached in response to the bullying deaths of several LGBT teens in the weeks prior. You can hear it here. Significantly, at the conclusion of the sermon it got a standing ovation...which I take not to be for me, but for because people really do want to see the Church change on this issue...EF)

BULLYING AND THE THEOLOGY BEHIND IT
A Sermon Preached at Northaven United Methodist, Dallas Texas
 October 10, 2010


As I shared with the Northaven family in an email this week, I am feeling called this morning to address the issue of the "bullying" of LGBT young people that has been so much in the news the past few weeks. It seems to me that now is the time to speak out on this issue, and I believe God has given us the opportunity to do so today.

As you may have heard, over the past few weeks, SIX young persons who were either self-identified as gay, or bullied as if they were, have committed suicide, including one here in our state. This is clearly a deeply disturbing moment, and the kind of thing that feels like an epidemic.

And it reminds us of this morning's Hebrew Scripture reading:

"My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick ... For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me."

Yet I can almost hear cynics in the greater community saying, "Well, yeah, it's bad, it's horrifying, but statistically does that indicate an epidemic?"

So, this week I talked with Sam Wilkes, one of the directors of "Youth First Texas" (a Dallas-based group that offers support and services to LGBT youth all over North Texas). Many of you know well of "Youth First Texas," and we're pleased to count them as partners and friends here in the Dallas area.

Sam gave me a chilling statistic: Last year, Youth First Texas did a survey of the kids their organization serves. That survey found that 50 percent of the kids served by Youth First Texas have not just *contemplated* suicide, but 50 percent had actually *attempted* suicide. (50 percent!) That, friends, IS an epidemic.

"My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick...For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me."

These horrifying recent suicides simply point to a preexisting societal issue: that over and over and over, LGBT young people are being driven to the point where they seriously consider ending their lives. We MUST speak about this. The Church of Jesus Christ must speak about this.

The first thing I'd like to do is to take a moment and address young people themselves. This is one of those places I hope this message gets out to those listening by podcast, or reading later.

To young people everywhere: Please know that God loves you. Know that God loves you just as you are. Whatever you have been told by others about who you are, whatever you have been told in other churches about who you are, know that God loves you for who you are.

Here at Northaven, we believe that God accepts LGBT people as good children of God. Every person has flaws. Nobody is perfect. But being gay is not a "flaw" to God. If you are hearing messages contrary to this, please know that there are many churches, many groups, who can help you. Maybe they are not very near where you live, but they are out there.

And if you are feeling suicidal, please, please, please, REACH OUT. Find a trusted friend or loved one to talk to. Call our friends at the Teen Contact Crisis line here in Dallas. (Northaven has a long history with Contact.) Their counselors are trained to help sensitively and caringly help kids who are LGBT. You can find them at www.teencontact.org, or 972-233-8336. Our friends at Youth First Texas also offer many activities for LGBT youth, and I am told that young people come from all over North Texas, sometimes from small towns and long distances, to find support and connection among the Youth First Texas community.

So, to the kids, PLEASE reach out. God would never want you to hurt yourself, no one in this church would want you to hurt yourself, and your life matters to God.

(By the way, if you are adult who is experiencing your own questions, we here at Northaven are honored to be the home of the "Coming Out Workshop" led by our own Jim McBride. Jim is a very skilled counselor, and the group has helped many people in Dallas over the years. A new group is actually scheduled to start this coming Tuesday night. And you can find information at our church's website).

The second thing I'd like to say to young folks is to pick up on a phrase I have heard online a lot this week. I've been watching some videos called "It Gets Better." It's a series of videos addressed to young folks to send them the message that whatever they are going through, there is hope.

It seems to me that we here at Northaven know intuitively know something about this. In some way, we can also give you the hope that "It Gets Better." We have dozens and dozens of gay couples and lesbian couples who are raising their families in quiet and proud faith. They and our traditional families form what we call a "blended church" where everybody prays, worships, loves, and serves together.

Sometimes here, inside our walls, we may forget how many people do not have the haven we have here. Here at Northaven, we have a gay couples who will celebrate 50 years together next January. We have many others who have been together 10, 20, 30 and 40 years; quietly living out their faith, raising their families. So, to those who may be listening, and in need of hope, please know that we here KNOW that LGBT persons are loving parents, partners, neighbors, and friends. And someday that can be possible for you too. It can get "better."

Here at Northaven, we have known for several decades that God calls us to love and accept all of God's children, and that sexual orientation is not a barrier to our relationship with God, or to God's love for us.

We know that Jesus never says one word that would justify the "bullying" OR rejection of LGBT people in any way. We know that Paul's words in the New Testament do not say one word about loving, committed long-term relationships that we see between gay couples and lesbian couples in our congregation and in society today. We know that if you turn to the teachings of Jesus, what he did teach is that we should love God, our neighbor and ourselves. We should treat our neighbors and others the way we wish to be treated.

We at Northaven know that in many denominations, it is not the words or teachings of Jesus that allegedly justify the rejection of LGBT people. The only thing that justifies it is the received "teaching" of human beings in another historical time and culture. Despite these things we know, it is clear that many people within the Church of Jesus Christ (Church with a capital C) continue to reject and condemn LGBT people, and are often blatantly homophobic in their practice.

Before I turn to that, let me talk a bit about the bullying that's going on in society right now, and just why it seems to me it has become so lethal and dangerous. I actually believe there are some specific reasons as to WHY it is a lethal kind of bullying.

You know, teasing is something we humans do to each other, and something that happens in nature...

Among our staff here at church, we like to tease each other and joke around in staff meetings. There is something quite healthy at being able to laugh at yourself and laugh with others. I've said before, I think it's actually something of a sign of spiritual good health. When it's done in genuinely good humor, it can be a very healthy thing. We do this in committee meetings sometimes too. We can gently tease each other and laugh with each other.
But that's not what's happening in these instances of bullying.

There's also the sense that groups sometimes push weaker members to as to make them stronger. You see this in a litter of new born puppies, and that extra pushing that is done to the weakest and the smallest can help them grow stronger.
But that's not what's happening in these instances of bullying either.

Finally, teasing takes place among kids. When I was in the 7th grade at Westwood Junior High, I had a nickname. It's a nickname I will not share with you, but it was a pretty humiliating nickname for a 7th grade boy. I remember being teased in gym class. I remember the pain of that. But teasing happens.
But that's not what's happening in these instances of bullying either.

You see, friends, when I was teased in 7th grade, never once did I believe or understand that this teasing was about my personhood. Never once did I connect this teasing with something inherent *about* me, who I am as a person.
But this IS what happens with LGBT persons.

Because of the negative stereotypes of LGBT persons in parts of our culture, because of the negative theological and spiritual messages about LGBT persons in parts of God's Church, what in other places might just be "ordinary teasing" takes on an added, dangerous, and clearly sometimes lethal layer.

This teasing becomes something that -- to both the bully and the "bullied" -- appears to be justified, sanctioned, perhaps even blessed by God and the church. (It's not, but that's what it can seem like...) And this is what raises this bullying far beyond and past more normal "teasing." It reveals the horrifying truth we must confront in the Church of Jesus Christ: that the negative messages about gay and lesbian persons, the homophobic theology of churches, and even the silence of churches, allow bullies and bullied alike to believe God approves of it.

So, having talked about this horrifying theological/spiritual layer to this bullying, I would like now to address some more folks who are probably not here today in the room.

I would like to speak these next thoughts directly to the Church of Jesus Christ (with a capital C). Those who might be reading or hearing this out in the greater world. I want to speak now directly to clergy colleagues. I want to speak to lay people in other churches.

Dear friends in Christ, it is time to end the harmful and negative messages in much of today's Christian theology. I call upon all who consider themselves Christian to search their hearts, and search their faith, and to move toward the unconditional acceptance of LGBT persons.

And in terms of effect on the culture, in terms of what people hear in an anti-gay Christian message, I want to say it all becomes one message to the ears of the hearers, in the ears of the culture. Let me illustrate. I'm sure you have all heard of the small Baptist "sect" from central Kansas. I will not dignify them by mentioning their name. But they are useful as an example today.

They picket at the funerals of LGBT persons who have died. They picket at the funerals of members of our military. The hold up signs that say "God Hates..." (and I will not say the rest ... You know what it is...) Everybody I know condemns them. Even other churches who reject LBGT persons reject their tactics. They are a marginal group, offensive on the scale of the KKK in a previous generation.

But, dear friends, a year ago, the pastor of the largest Baptist church downtown preached a sermon titled "Why Gay Is Not OK."

And I am here to say this about the juxtaposition of the Baptist sect in Kansas and the Baptist preacher downtown: In terms of effect, effect on the culture, effect on the church, the message that is "heard out there," there is NO daylight between them.

One wears a slightly nicer suit and smiles at the camera while they say it. But in terms of effect, the words of "God Hates ____" and "Gay Is Not OK" are exactly the same!

That is why we must call on all Christian Churches to reject such things. Because, dear church, this theology is potentially lethal, providing a theological framework for a bullying where words can turn to literal violence.

Along these lines, maybe you heard this week that one of the large anti-gay Christian groups, Exodus International, has announced they will cancel their surreally-named "Day of Truth." This was a day on which this anti-gay group encouraged Christian high school kids to confront their fellow LGBT teens with clear anti-gay messages in school.

As I said, the leader of this group has apparently told CNN they will cancel this year's event. While I cannot applaud the still dangerous goals of this group, I sincerely applaud them for backing off this dangerous program. And I suggest that the mere fact that they did cancel this event, in the current cultural milieu of these suicides, suggests a tacit admission on their part that they intuitively know this program was harmful to kids.

So, the clear call is to repentance -- to renounce and reject theology, spirituality, and practice that excludes, marginalizes and otherwise harms LGBT persons from understanding or hearing God's full and unconditional love for them.

But beyond this call for repentance to the Church of Jesus Christ, I want to address a final word to clergy and lay folk who may be in churches in the so-called "big fat middle." (I call many of these churches "don't ask, don't tell" churches...) They are churches who never say anything, positive or negative, about gay or lesbian people, in part because they live in constant fear of controversy. They are nice people. They are good people.

But I am here to say that this silence has become culpability. This silence, is now, itself, sin. Because of the existence of great swaths of anti-gay theology in "Christian" churches, it becomes even more imperative for those in the middle to speak out. So, if you are a clergy who has always been silently supportive, now is the time to publicly say something. If you are a congregation that is mostly "don't ask, don't tell," now is the time to say something.

Study after study shows that one of the words young people under 40 mostly closely associate with the Church (capital C) of Jesus Christ is the word "homophobic." That should tell us something. The reason to speak now is because if you do not, many will assume that you agree with an anti-gay theology. Future bullies will hear and believe that. Future LGBT teens will hear and believe that. Your silence could, quite literally, help kill people.

I know that sounds dramatic. But that is precisely the point. With scores of LGBT teens attempting suicide, with six that have recently happened it is far, far FAR past time for us to speak boldly and prophetically on this issue.

If you are a church in the "big middle" who is caught up in fear, and wanting to have a conversation on these issues, I can certainly encourage you to prayerfully consider our new "This I Know" study, a companion guide to the film "For the Bible Tells Me So." We have produced this study with prominent nationally known theologians, and it would make a great way for your church to start talking about these issues. You can learn more about it at www.thisiknowstudy.org.

People all the time ask me, "Eric, why did Northaven feel the need to vote on being 'Reconciling?' Why paint it on the wall of your Atrium? Why NOT just do it silently? Or why not just be a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" church?"

I always used to say, "Because it's important to send a message to ourselves and to the world that there is a difference between your church and the churches who are preaching messages of exclusion.

But given the suicides of recent weeks let me say this more boldly, it's important to put SEPARATION between your Christianity and the Christianity of the Kansas sect, and the Baptist preacher downtown. Speak out!

Ironically, tomorrow is national "Coming Out Day" and many LGBT persons may be coming out of the closet for the first time. Churches and ministers who are silently supportive must also "come out." It makes a difference. Maybe your church isn't ready to be fully Reconciling. At least commit to a small group of the "This I Know Study." Pastors, address the bullying and your own acceptance of LGBT persons in a pastor's column. Do SOMETHING. Take action to show God's love for LGBT persons. NOW is the time.

This week in a blog entry, the Rev. Debra Haffner passed along a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer. You may recall that Bonhoeffer was a German minister during the time of WWII, who struggled mightily about how or what to do to stand up to the Nazi regime. Bonhoeffer said this:

"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil; God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."

A lot of people hate when anything about the Nazis gets mentioned. I get that. People in our culture are forever calling other people Nazis. But this quote isn't really about Nazis. It's about somebody inside the church, in the "silent majority" of churches, deciding they can no longer be silent, and realizing that their silence is aiding not the work of God, but the work of those who would spread hate.

Earlier, I mentioned the small Baptist sect from Kansas (notice, I won't even call them a church) and how they are somewhat like the KKK. But there is one crucial difference. Groups like the KKK eventually were marginalized when the church of Jesus Christ finally said "ENOUGH!" and pushed back against them. Average ordinary churches made being in the Klan a social anathema. People would no longer would tolerate that kind of racism, a racism that, like the current situation, too often seemed to be sponsored by, or silently approved by, the Church.

One day, the forces of hate against LGBT may also be marginalized. But it will only happen when those in the middle of the road finally speak up and finally stand up.

The Gospel lesson is instructive. Ten lepers are healed. Only one comes back to offer thanks and praise to Jesus. Only one stands up. The other nine do not.

Dear Church of Jesus Christ: It can seem like a lonely and risky business to make a tough social stand on an issue like this. But more than your fear is at stake. Quite literally, as we have learned these last few weeks, lives are at stake.

Church of Jesus Christ: be bold and prophetic in support of gay and lesbian people. Now is the time.

Amen.

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Three Shows Coming Up

Just a last minute post to say how excited I am about the shows coming up in the next few days.

First off, Connections is back with our new show. We've been rehearsing the past few months, and tomorrow night we're back with our fifth tribute show:

Connections Tribute to Billy Joel and Stevie Wonder

November 13, 2010 7 pm
Stonebridge United Methodist Church
1800 South Stonebridge Drive
McKinney, TX
(214) 726-0578

I've often written blogs about my love for the artists we cover. I don't really have time to write an entry on Stevie Wonder, even though he's a musical genius. But I did write this a few years back about Billy Joel and his music.

I'm more than pleased to be singing some of my favorite Billy songs...."Piano Man," "You May Be Right"...and most of all "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant."

And as of Saturday night, I will be able to say I've been able to sing my top three alltime favorite songs with Connections ("There's a Place in the World for a Gambler," and "Make Me Smile" being the other two...)

Added bonus: Cornell is back!!! The incomparable Cornell K is joining us again for this show, on woodwinds an recreating Steve's harmonica parts.

Then, Sunday I'll be doing a short set of my own music at something called "Chile Pepperama." A whole bunch of local musicians will be providing the music throughout the weekend:

Then, Tuesday I'll play another noon set of my music for the great folks down at "The Bridge" in downtown Dallas. My friend and fellow bandmate, John Fleming, arranges for a local musician to play a show for the homeless folks there.

 

That's me playing there back in early September. It will be a joy to be there again. It's a great cause and I always enjoy going.

The show tomorrow night will be a first and last:

First time to see the new Billy Joel/Stevie Wonder show.

Last time to see the band this year.

Hope to see a lot of you on Saturday and Sunday.

Eric

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How Can They Keep From Singing?

I want you to spend a few minutes and listen to some audio links below.

The first is a story I heard tonight on KERA, driving home from the "Second Monday" series at Northaven. (And it led me to the second link when I got inside to my computer...)

It was a "driveway moment" for me, and I found myself sitting in the car until the story ended. And, at one specific moment, I found myself in tears.

It's a story about some medical professionals, and an experience they had one night, working in a triage hospital, just following the earthquake in Haiti.

Certainly, we never saw the complete horror that these folks saw. But, even on Haiti's best day, it was always a country hanging by a thread. And during my trips, just walking down the street on Haiti's best day ever, you'd see children whose playground was a garbage dump; sharing it with feral hogs. You'd see women selling fresh fruits alongside an open sewer. You'd see adults suffering from a lack of even the most basic of medical care.

Even on it's best day, Haiti was a country that would break your heart.

And yet, there was something about the faith of the people --at least the Haitian Methodists we knew-- that might also heal your heart too.

I know that sounds strange. So, maybe the thing to do is listen to the story, and I'll say more afterwards:


(this is the whole episode, I'm writing tonight about the first story...so you can pause it after, if you like...)

This story is called "Six Months After the Earthquake," and it was on a program called "The Story." But, as I understand it, the story originally comes from a program called "Under The Sun."

Here's another bit of audio from the "Under the Sun" blog, and more of what the docs/nurses say about their experiences of hearing the Haitians sing, their reaction to it, and how they were changed.

It's hard to imagine that it's been six months since the quake. There is a LOT of rebuilding still to do. About two weeks ago, I had coffee with Marji Bishir, and she shared with me some of the pictures she took at the site of the Petit-Guave Eye Clinic. I have to say, I was probably not prepared to see the empty slab where the clinic used to be, even though I knew what had happened there.

As I said above, there is no question that the sights these docs and nurses describe are far worse than anything else I ever saw in Haiti in my five trips. But, I too had a very similar reaction based on a very similar experience.

I will never forget how every time we worshiped at the Methodist Church in Petit-Guave, the people sang from memory...hundreds of them in that church...no hymnals...no bulletin...no song leader...

The sound filled the room. Like the one woman in this story says, you felt like the sound was filling the whole town.

In the midst of lives of abject poverty, in the midst of a rural town, people who had no resources and (what seemed to me) little reason for hope, sang songs about how Jesus loved them.

Their singing helped me to re-understand faith, or perhaps to fully comprehend it for the first time. Maybe ever. It was a shock to realize what it meant to have faith --clearly a deep and abiding faith, a faith that makes you want to SING OUT loudly-- even in the midst of a country where, on its best day, life seemed to hang by a thread.

So, off and on these past months, I've been listening to some old tapes that I've digitized into a CD of the Petit-Guave Methodist Church choir. Somebody gave me a copy, and I'm pretty sure it was because they could tell how moved I had been. Maybe I can post some so all yall can hear it.
---------------------------------------

There is something about singing.

There is something about doing it --about raising your voice in song-- that can drive the darkness away, that can express a joy, a faith, a hope that perhaps nothing else really ever does.

Although it's not a specifically religious song, when I wrote my song "I Will Sing," I think I had this kind of thing in mind. (I definitely remember having the people of Petit-Guave and their singing in mind...)

There IS something about singing that drives the doubt and fear away...even in the midst of the poorest country in the western world.

I know that not everybody sings from a religious point of view. Heck, I don't always sing from an *explicitly* religious point of view.

But whatever our sense of "God" is, there IS something, deep in our DNA, that makes us look heavenward and raise our voices in the toughest of times. We've been doing it for millennia. It seems we can't help but do it. We're wired for it.

Which reminds me of an old hymn, titled, appropriately enough, "How Can I Keep From Singing?" The hymn is in the "Faith We Sing" book, put out by the United Methodist Church, but it dates to the 1860s, if not before:

"Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing;
It finds an echo in my soul--
How can I keep from singing?"

The great Pete Seeger picked up the song in the last half of the 20th century, and repopularized it for a whole new generation. And, God bless Pete, I love his version. But he took out all the religious language. And I understand why he did it. But there is an added dimension to realizing the original spiritual context of the song, and how it speaks to this very phenomenon that we saw in Haiti.

Lines like this, for example:

"No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that refuge clinging;
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?"

Whatever you think of faith in God, whatever you think of Christianity --and, God knows, there are lots of things that could make you wary of both-- at the very least I hope you too can stand in awe of this kind of singing faith.

And, at the very best, you might learn the truth that put the shake in the voice of those medical professionals, as they heard Haitians who, in the midst of the greatest humanitarian crisis of our lifetime, sang to a God who loves them.

That was a truth I learned in Haiti too. And I will always thank God, and the people of Haiti, for teaching me.

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A New Song: "Fogelberg"

I've talked about the Fogelberg Weekend on Facebook, but not here at the blog. It's a pretty amazing thing that's fallen in my lap in the past month.

The last weekend of August, the City of Peoria, Illinois will dedicate a memorial to Dan Fogelberg along the riverside there. You can read about it here.

The weekend will feature the dedication of the memorial, followed by a Saturday night tribute concert, with some local Illinois musicians offering their tribute to Dan. But, about three weeks ago, I got a call from Deb Jelinek, who works with Jean Fogelberg. The call was to invite Rusty and me, as members of Connections, to perform at a "welcome party" on Friday night, hosted by Jean and Deb.

The night will feature musicians from all over the country who have done tributes to Fogelberg, along with several members of Dan's band: Jim Photoglo (who I've met at Kerrville and SWRFA) and Michael Hanna.

Wow.

We're both still a little speechless about it all. It's an incredible offer and gift to be asked to be a part of this. Just amazing.

So, of course we're going. Right now, we're trying to figure out which of Dan's songs we ought to offer to do. Deb's asked us to put together a list of five.

So, for all you Connections' fans who have seen our Fogelberg tribute, let us know:

What songs do you think we should do? Leave me a comment below and tell me what you think.

When I got back from Kerrville, I had a song rattling around in my head...a tune, really. It dawned on me about ten days ago that it was a tribute song for Dan. I've titled it "Fogelberg."
There's a demo below, for your enjoyment.

As a tribute song, this one is dripping with Fogelberg references. The music and production are blunt homage. And so are the lyrics! This song contains twelve distinct references to twelve different Dan Fogelberg songs in the lyrics. I kid you not. Some references involve clear and direct "borrowing. Others are allusions or song titles.


I won't give them all away here, but I'd love for you to take your best shot at guessing them. (Hint: none of them repeat, and none of them are in the bridge) Some are obvious. Others may take some work. I'll post the lyrics below to help you out.

Not quite sure what I'll do with this one, still working out the kinks.

So, let me know what you think, and take your best shot at guessing those lyric-references.



"Fogelberg"
words and music by Eric Folkerth

At home high on the mountain
Or sailing on the sea
A poet from a river town
Who set his spirit free.

A troubadour, a gambler
With his place in the world
And every time he sang his songs
Our lives are what we heard

You once thanked your father,
For giving songs to you
And we're forever grateful
That you shared your gift too
So may we ever be…
Your living legacy.

A soundtrack for each passing year
Through all the joy and pain
Days that seemed part of the plan
Nights snow turned to rain

Along the road, you gave to us
A wisdom spelled out plain --
Like it's always gonna to be a day
And that love is not so strange

You once thanked your father,
For giving songs to you
And we're forever grateful
That you shared your gift too
So may we ever be…
Your living legacy.

But you left us far to soon
Cold tears in our eyes
Wondering 'bout the missing years and
Full of questions why

But maybe in your leaving
You helped us all to see
That death just keeps us honest
And reminds us we are free.

When the weary journey's ended
And all our days are gone
Time will still our singing
But songs live ever on.
And they will ever be…
They will ever be…
They will ever be...
Your living legacy.

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Fifty Years

An awfully momentous event went relatively unnoticed over the weekend. My folks celebrated their 50-year wedding anniversary.

The "relatively unnoticed" part is that the big celebration is going to happen in early August. That week, all of us kids, all of our kids and spouses, Mom and Dad, are headed up to Estes Park to a couple of cabins at the YMCA of the Rockies.

 It's a place we spent lots of summers when it was just three kids, them, and a station wagon. Now, the trip will involve four families coming from three cities....12 people, several cars and probably a couple of plane flights.

Check out these pics, from very early in their marriage...

Man, were they young and stylin'

I have no real way to quantify what fifty years means, except to note that these days it seems an extraordinary achievement. It's also a bit strange to imagine that I've been around for most of that journey with them. I'm trying not to think too deeply about that so as to avoid associating my personhood with the word "50" for as long as possible.

One thing I love about watching my parents these days is how clearly they enjoy spending time with each other. They keep busy with a great many things, between their own interests, the lakehouse, and kids/grandkids in three different cities. But, first and foremost, they love being with each other, and it's really wonderful to see.

 

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad.

Love, Eric

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Goodbye, Paul (or, "Infrastructure is Grace")

This week, we're saying final goodbye's to Paul Escamilla. For some of us, the goodbyes have been going on for a while now. Paul, as many of you will know, has been a minister here in North Texas for well over 20 years now. He's also one of the founding members of Connections.

After our North Texas Annual Conference ends tomorrow, Paul and Elizabeth will end a week of nomad-existence, and sojourn to Austin, where he'll become the senior pastor of St. John's UMC. (Memo to my many Austin friends: It'd be worth checking out. Just sayin')

For reasons not worth repeating here, Paul's been out of local church ministry for a couple of years now, having been working on the staff of Perkins School of Theology most recently. But, truthfully, Paul was built to be a pastor. It's just in his DNA. In fact, to a person, when somebody I knew heard the news that Paul would be going to St. John's, they said, "YES! Paul needs to be in the local church."

Everybody who knows him thinks so.

Paul is a gifted pastor, preacher, and the author of many books. He's got a passion for leading/planning worship unrivaled among my peers. He's also a sensitive and caring soul, and has a caring spirit about him.

He has a certain eloquence that can sometime be an acquired taste. Sometimes, while he's in the midst of a metaphor or analogy, you wonder exactly where he's going. But the metaphors almost always end up in a very deep place that leaves you thinking "Ah…"

Most of the time, that is. There are times when you still end up scratching your head and thinking "Huh?"

In those moment Paul can remind me vaguely of the Phil Dunphy character on "Modern Family." (Can I get a witness?)

A few weeks back, Rusty King and me paused to note that Connections probably would have never become what it is today without Paul. What we meant by this is that besides all us "founding members" who banded together to set the vision, we needed an actual "home" for the band…a place to rehearse…a place to try out new shows.

Paul was the one who provided that place when he came to Spring Valley and offered it as a home base. He didn't have to. It was, no doubt, a risky thing at first. I am sure there were naysayers wondering why Paul offered the space to a group that was not just Spring Valley's alone. But credit Paul for supporting the band in this way. Without it, we could not have become what we are today. It represents the kind of "connectional" spirit many of us could stand to learn.

BTW, it was Paul who pushed us to use the name "Connections;" which was a name I initially hated, favoring another I won't even mention here. But Paul was persistent: the name symbolized what the band was about, he said.

And he was absolutely and completely right. (And I have never been more pleased to have been wrong…)

Two weeks ago, we had a "farewell" party with our Connections band members over at our house. Ostensibly, it was to say goodbye; but unbeknownst to Paul, it was also to present him with this guitar...

As you can see, each member of our band signed it, and Michael Shehan took pics of each us pointing to our own signatures. He then created this marvelous composite poster that you see above.

We wrote another message on the back too.

Paul was genuinely surprised, which pleased us all. It was a good night of goodbyes.
-----------------------------------

While Paul is known for many goofy, Phil Dunphy-like expressions from the stage --sometimes leaving the rest of us in the band not quite sure what to say next-- there is one that really stands out in everybody's memory.

One night, in-between songs, Paul said,

"Well, you know what they say: 'Infrastructure is Grace.'"

The comment fell like a thud. The rest of us looked at each other, blankly.

"Um…yeah….wonder who 'they" is?" we thought. "Cause I've never heard that in my life."

We all rolled our eyes and giggled.

"That's just Paul…" we thought.

Finally, maybe months later, Paul explained himself at dinner before another show. He explained that things like Connections could never happens without a certain amount of infrastructure…churches to host the shows…volunteers to set the rooms and bring the desserts…a place to rehearse…a system to collected the funds we raise and disburse them with ease (through the North Texas Conference)

All of this, Paul said, was "infrastructure." And in many great and small ways, this kind of mundane infrastructure could become a "means of grace" for all of us.

Dang it if he wasn't completely right. It wasn't goofy at all.

It was brilliant.

Infrastructure *is* grace.
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I missed the last goodbye party for Paul over Memorial Day Weekend, since I was at the yearly tribal gathering of the Kerrville nation. And so I thought I'd missed Paul for good. Not that we'll never see each other again. But I know how these things work. It's not my first rodeo.

Turns out, though, he was here this week at Annual Conference. And, even more poignantly, he and I were the two "sponsoring elders" Rodney Whitfield chose to have stand with him as he was ordained tonight.

And so it was that, one last time, Paul and I got to sit right next to each other, during the ordination service that ended about an hour ago now. It was a great service, btw. Paul and I both agree that Bill Lawrence's sermon might well be the single best ordination sermon we've ever heard.

And it was special to get to stand with Rodney. (Who is a fine young minister with a bright future, if I do say so myself).

But what happened during the service is that we were asked at the last minute to serve communion to the folks in the "overflow" room. Turns out, they hadn't quite thought through who would do this, and needed some folks to go over to the fellowship hall, where a video feed was being beamed in live.

Of course, we said "yes," and so as dozens of communion servers fanned out across the cavernous sanctuary, we literally headed out the doors, rushing out through a bunch of winding hallways, and even outdoors for a moment, before emerging into the fellowship hall. There, we found several HUNDRED people, seemingly grateful to see us.

It was definitely more than we expected to see. We figured on a few dozen. But people just kept coming and coming. And so Paul, me, Joe and Kay kept serving and serving.

I thought of what a great metaphor that was. It was kind of like what we've tried to do with Connections….ie, get outside of the walls of the traditional church, and find the people where they are; and, hopefully, offer a little grace. Really, it's what we should be doing all the time, in a completely non-metaphorical way. But, I digress...

And then, after everybody else had been served, Paul and I served each other communion one last time. Which was a moment we couldn't have planned in a million years, of course.

So, now, I'm back at the hotel, writing this down, and giving thanks to God for that moment and for my friend.

And while I definitely cannot say that it's true all of the time, it is true now and then.

Now and then, infrastructure is grace.

Thanks, Paul.

We'll miss you.

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"Happy Anniversary, Baby..."

One of the more obvious proofs that Dennise loves me is that she puts up with me going to Kerrville over Memorial Day Weekend. Not only that, but sometimes she even comes too.

The big deal of this is that this weekend almost always coincides with our anniversary. As it does this year. In fact, it's today.

I'm writing this a week early and assuming that Google's auto-post feature is going to work. Assuming it did, this should post on the morning of the 29th, as I awake from my Camp Nashbill tent, and as Dennise and Maria will head to Love Field to join me later today.

We're closing in on twenty years, in just a few more. Often hard to believe the time has flown by like that.

The song below is one I wrote on our ten-year anniversary trip back to Santa Fe and Taos, where we'd spent our honeymoon. Over the past few weeks, I've been working on multi-tracking it, and probably still need to do some work ( the lead vox are a bit, "meh," to me...). But I really like how it's coming together.

It was a song I really liked at the time I wrote it and --as each year rolls by-- has newer and deeper meaning to me. Life's been especially good lately, and among all the things I am grateful for, and I am very grateful for that May day "so many years ago."

Love you, babe. See you later today.....

E

Better The Higher You Climb (words and music by Eric Folkerth)

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Because You Were Once an Alien

Last Saturday, I had the great honor of participating in the second MegaMarch here in Dallas, Texas.
Twenty or so Northaveners(1a), and a few friends from the North Texas Conference, joined our voices with the 56,000-plus folks who gathered in downtown.(1)

(Myself and old friend, Rev. Gerald Britt, just before the march began) 

 (People in line, ready to march)

 (Northaveners David and Rei Coley)

Also marching with us were members of Christ's Foundry United Methodist, our partner church in the Bachman Lake area of town. Their church is made up of mostly immigrant members, and their pastor and my friend is Rev. Owen Ross; who gave the benediction at the end of the march. (Please see footnote (1a) for some YouTubes of some of our group)

These thoughts first appeared as my sermon on Sunday, and you can hear that here. But several have asked for a transcript. So, in what follows, I will take my best shot at a "comprehensive" statement on how I see the issues of immigration reform from the perspective of a person of faith.

I believe immigration is a key social issue for us because:
-- Immigration is clearly a passionate issue for large numbers of our citizens
-- Our faith calls us, the Bible calls us, over and over, to speak to this issue.
-- Immigration, and issues of race, also directly affect Latino/Latina citizens and brothers and sisters in Christ.

Let me speak to each of these...

Immigration is a passionate issue for large numbers of our citizens.
However you feel about immigration, there is no question it's an important topic to many in our society. Saturday's march embodies this point better than anything I know. The march featured upwards of 50,000 people(1). The MegaMarch of four years ago featured close to ten times this: 500,000 people. These two marches together, separated by four short years, are the largest two gatherings on any social issue in any historical time in the history of Dallas, Texas.

(this image from the Dallas Morning News)

Let me say it this way:

If you took the total number of people who have marched on any social issue in the history of Dallas County...
Marches for Peace...
Marches for the Environment...
Marches for Civil Rights and School busing...
Tea Party Rallies (And I mean any Tea Party rally in the entire county)…
Marches on any issue on any side of the political spectrum...

(this image from the Dallas Morning News)

If you added all up ALL THESE, they would not even equal HALF the total number of people involved in these two marches.

Think about that. More folks marching in support of immigration reform, than any other social issue in Dallas' history, COMBINED.(2) And lest we be misled, the vast majority of those who marched in both of these marches are American citizens.

That is why, in my statement to the press on Thursday, I strongly urged them to provide this context in their coverage of other social movements in our world today. Small, tiny rallies often get copious press. Tea Party rallies of several hundred are covered along with the statement that "the movement is growing." It may well be growing; I'm not trying to suggest it isn't. But I *do* believe it's the media's job to provide context for public gatherings. (3)

It is clear that, in terms of sheer numbers of "feet in the street," immigration is the most important issue right now. So, if we are Wesleyan enough to believe in our founders call that "The world is our parish," we must look out our windows and hear what the world is saying to us today. (4)

Our faith calls us, the Bible calls us, over and over, to speak to this issue.
At Thursday's press conference, I put forth some of the theological and spiritual reason why I believe it's important to advocate for immigration reform. You can read that statement here.

 (Dallas area Catholic Bishop Kevin Farrell turns toward the crowd and prays an opening prayer)

Because of time, I only mentioned a small sliver of the large swath of Biblical passages that are relevant to the issue of immigration. Here in this blog, I'm happy to expand on this...

The Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) remind us time and time again, to treat the foreigner, the "alien," the outsider as if they were one of their own.

Exodus 12:49 "...there shall be one law for the native and for the alien who resides among you."

Leviticus 24:12 "You shall have one law for the alien and for the citizen; for I am the Lord your God."

Numbers 15:15-16 "...there shall be for you and the resident alien a single statute, a perpetual state throughout all generations; you and the alien shall be alike before the Lord. You and the alien who resides among you shall have the same law and the same ordinance."

Deuteronomy 28:19 "Cursed be anyone who deprives the alien, the orphan, and the widow of justice."

I could go on, and on. Literally. By my own brief count, there are more than twenty clear passages, exhorting God's Holy People to treat the "alien" or "stranger" or "foreigner" by the same laws and privileges that apply to the native born. (5)


But there's more. A few of these passages not only exhort the people to treat the "alien/stranger" well, but they also give a specific spiritual/theological reason for this. (I am indebted to my Old Testament professor, Dr. John Holbert, for pointing out this next insight to me several years ago)

Note the special reasoning that these next three passages give for why we should treat foreigners and immigrants well:

Deuteronomy 10:19 "You shall love the stranger, for your were strangers in the land of Egypt."

Leviticus 19:33 "When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt."

Exodus 22:9 "You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for your were aliens in the land of Egypt."

God calls God's Holy people to reach out and love the stranger, because YOU were strangers and aliens once too.

Gee, does that remind you of any immigrant nation you might happen to currently live in?!

Immigration is important in the New Testament too.
Jesus' story begins with a story of migration. Have you ever stopped to consider that? The Christmas story --the story of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, a story we lovingly retell each December-- is a migration story. And it doesn't just end with Jesus' birth. Soon after, Joseph follows the advice of an angel and takes the family to Egypt. In other words: before Jesus is even one year old, he is a political and religious refugee in a foreign land.

When Jesus preaches his first sermon ever, (Luke 4) in his hometown of Nazareth, he tells them he's come to preach Good News to the poor, release of captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. The hometown crowd is thrilled!

But! Then he goes on to remind them that God often sends prophets to foreigners and those outside the faith. And suddenly, their joy evaporates. In what must have seemed like a shocking turn of events, they seek to rise up and kill him. Even in Jesus' day, advocating for the foreigner and the outsider could raise the anger of the hometown crowd.

In Matthew 25, Jesus calls us to "welcome the stranger." And when we do, Jesus says, we are not just welcoming a person, we are welcoming God.

The Bible Does Not Distinguish Between "Legal" and "Illegal"
Friends, despite these many passages, many people draw a dividing line of the issue of "legal" verses "illegal" immigrants. Many people say, "I am all for welcoming and loving the stranger, just so long as they are here legally." I have heard this a lot from a lot of very well meaning people. And I really do understand and respect that view.

But the Bible does not make a distinction between legal and illegal. That is our modern issue.

Nowhere does it say "When you welcome the legally-present stranger, then you welcome me."

Nowhere does it say "treat the legally-present alien as if they are one of your own."

And if this seems strange, or even off-base, please see Footnote 6 below for a more detailed treatment of this issue.


For those of us who are Methodists, the World IS our parish. I happen to believe that God's call to us is to love our neighbors the way God loves us; without condition and prejudgment. God's command is to look outside our windows, look at those in our community and to LOVE them. Period.

To advocate for immigration reform is not to advocate for more illegal immigration. Far from it! Instead, it is to say that our calling should be to advocate for fair, just, and reasonable levels of immigration from our neighboring countries, and perhaps for guest worker programs such as work in other nations. I also believe our calling is to advocate for families to remain unified.

What the United Methodist Church has said.
That is why the 2008 General Conference of the United Methodist Church passed a very clear resolution, calling for comprehensive immigration reform. The statement was a part of a  larger resolution titled "Welcoming the Migrant to the US," and can be read in full here.

Among other things, the United Methodist Church affirms the United States as a nation of immigrants, cites many of these same scriptural references, and says:

"….the United Methodist Church understands that at the center of Christian faithfulness to Scripture is the call we have been given to love and welcome the sojourner. We call upon all United Methodist churches to welcome newly arriving migrants in their communities, t love them as we do ourselves, to treat them as one of our native-born, to see in them the presence of the incarnated Jesus, and to show hospitality to the migrants in our midst, believing that through their presence we are receiving the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ."

There are several more pages to this statement, which lay out specific ways a United Methodist congregation might be engaged in the ministry of supporting immigrants. And, at the end of the statement, are some specifics for why the United Methodist Church calls on the government to pass comprehensive immigration reform (and there are some examples of what the church believes that would look like). Again, feel free to read the entire statement here.

That is why our friends at Christ's Foundry United Methodist Church made these signs for us to march with on Saturday. Members of both churches marched with these signs, witnessing to the truth of our United Methodist Church's resolution on immigration reform.

Speaking of Christ's Foundry, all these issues come close to home when I listen to my friend and colleague, Rev. Own Ross, pastor of the that church. For the past month, Owen Ross has been telling me the story of one of his members, a young man named "Cristian." I had the great good fortune to march alongside Cristian on Saturday.

Cristian is enrolled in junior college here in Farmers Branch. But a routine traffic stop there has landed him squarely in the middle of the hodgepodge of current immigration law, because his papers were not in order, even though everybody else in his family *does* have their documentation. I Facebooked with Owen the day of Cristian's recent hearing, and I could feel Owen's deep sadness upon learning of the judge's initial ruling.

Owen considers Cristian to be one of the most trustworthy young men in his congregation. He's even given Cristian a key to his house, so that Cristian can watch things when Owen is out of town.

Unless the decision is reversed on appeal, or unless the Dream Act is passed immediately, Cristian is likely to be sent away to a country he has never known. Which is why, as we marched with signs that said "Pass the Dream Act," it was not a theoretical plea. It was about real people, and real United Methodists.

 (Owen carries his sign, with Cristian to his left)

Immigration, and issues of race, also directly affect Latino/Latina citizens and brothers and sisters in Christ.
As I said near the beginning, issues of immigration, whether we like it or not, also open up the touchy and tender subject of race. And we must speak about this, and speak about it plainly.

What has got so many of our brothers and sisters upset about the new law in Arizona is that there seems to be no good way to enforce such a law without engaging in some kind of racial profiling. I am aware that those who wrote the law deny this

OK, then, so how CAN it be enforced? As one young man's sign put it(7)"

How do you tell who is illegal, and who is not?

As somebody who for 20 years now has had Latinos and Latinas in my own family, I can assure you: you can't.

Laws like Arizona's run the risk of violating the liberty of our own citizens, precisely because racial profiling and stereotyping still goes on in our society. Sometimes, it's innocent. Sometimes, it's not. But it happens.

The sensitive truth is, we ALL do it. we all make assumptions about other people, and about their race and status. Blacks do it to whites, and even to other blacks. (Remember Spike Lee's "School Daze?") Latinos do it to each other, and to other groups. Whites do it to each and to other groups too.

There is a much of this that is racism-neutral...ie, is not about racism, but is simply about the assumptions we make about people.

But in the specific case of Latinos and Latinas, it happens far more often that you might imagine. Perhaps you read the story in the Dallas Morning News, from Mercedes Olivera over the weekend. She relays a story from my old and dear friend, State Representative Rafael Anchia. Raf tells a story of growing up in Central Florida, and of being denied service in a restaurant because he and his family --more light skinned Latinos-- were speaking Spanish. This man, now a state representative, knows and remembers what being profiled is like.

And so it is that many Latinos don't teach their children Spanish. That was the case in Dennise's home.(8) As she grew up in Irving, her father, Richard Garcia, remembered his own experience of being punished for speaking Spanish in a West Dallas elementary school --a teacher locked him in a closet. So, he vowed to *not* teach his own children Spanish.

(just as the march is about to start)

Flash forward to a time when Dennise was a little girl. Her father Richard had had a heart attack and had to stop work as a spot welder. He eventually started mowing lawns to make ends meet. They mowed lawns all over near North Dallas. (Every now and then, we'll be driving around, and Dennise will point one out. The closest is about four blocks from Northaven…) On weekends, she and her siblings would go to help.

One Saturday, while Dennise was out helping, her father was around the corner and out of sight, when she was approached by INS agents. They came up to her and began speaking to her in Spanish.

Which, as you might imagine, terrified her because a) they were big scary-looking government guys, and b) as I just mentioned she didn't speak Spanish!

Lord knows how "guilty" she must have looked to them, as she stood there mute, unable to respond to their spanish inquiries.

Her father soon appeared from around the corner and waved them off. (Maybe he had to show ID?)

But that's not all. Let me tell you the most amazing story I have ever heard about racial assumptions. And let me carefully set the scene…

Just a few years ago now, Dennise had just finished a hearing and had returned to her chambers.  She was standing in her judicial chambers, which clearly say "Judge Dennise Garcia" on the door. She was standing behind her desk, that has a nameplate  that reads "Judge Dennise Garcia." She is standing *behind* that desk with her robe on. (Standard black, judicial robe)

With her in the office, are two of her office staff; both blonde, white women wearing pant suits. These two are standing in the middle of the room. (Remember: She is standing behind her desk, that has a nameplate on it that says "Judge Dennise Garcia," and is wearing here black judicial robe…)

A young man come in the room. He's a "runner" with documents for the court.  He comes into the room, takes a brief look at Dennise, and then turns to wait to talk to Dennise's two office staff members.

Dennise, done with the hearing and willing to help out, says to him, "May I help you?"

He looks at right at her and says, "No, I am waiting to talk to the Judge."

Taken aback, she pauses for a moment. Then, she says again, "OK...May I help you?"

And at this, the young man looks back again, and for the first time, seems to really see who she is. Filled with embarrassment and apology, he approaches her desk.

I suppose this misidentification could have been about being a woman, except that everybody in the room was a woman. We're left with almost no other choice than to assume that this was the kind of thing that Latinos and Latinas will tell you happens all the time: incorrect assumptions and stereotypes about who they are.

This example was SO ridiculous that Dennise was never angry at this guy. In fact, this example is so incredibly ridiculous as to make you laugh, really.

These are just a few of the stories I have heard during my life. There are more, please believe me. More from Dennise's life. More from the lives of friends I've made along the way. Stories of clear race-based incidents, many of which are innocuous. But that's not the point. The point is: they happen. And they happen in ways that they never happen to me.

As a Hispanic Facebook friend --who is quite well known throughout Dallas-- noted the other day "It's happened to all of us..."

And the point of telling these kinds of stories, especially this last one in Dennise's chambers, is to drive home the underlying point:

That if it is THAT easy to make assumptions about a clearly identified Latina, how, dear friends, can we believe that a law like the one in Arizona will be impartially enforced?


The obvious answer is: we can't.

And this is not to impugn the good law enforcement officers of Arizona, or anywhere else. But it is to note that it is our human nature that makes assumptions. And in the case of race and the power of the state, it would be far too easy for law enforcement to infringe the rights of our own law abiding citizens.

All this is why many of our Latino/Latina brothers and sisters are rightly concerned about the Arizona law. Far too many of them have their own stories of being profiled, and know how easy it would be for such a law to be abused.
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Love of the neighbor
Time after time, Jesus reminds us to love the neighbor. Time after time, Jesus reminds us that our "neighbor" is often one we we consider to be a foreigner and an outsider. In the famous parable of the Good Samaritan, the good neighbor is an "other," an "outsider" a Samaritan.

And Jesus tells us: Go out, and be like *that* guy."

"Love your neighbor as yourself," Jesus says, is the greatest and most fundamental commandment of all. All the rest hang on this one.

That is why Saturday, in my view, was a beautiful day...

 (At City Hall plaza)

(A Dallas Morning News shot of City Hall Plaza, after the march)

Tens of thousands of people wearing white shirts and waving thousands of American flags. Immigrants and citizens standing together, with a common and positive message advocating for the inclusion of all people. Tens of thousands of people marched; and just like last time, not ONE arrest! Marchers even brought their own trashbags to pick up after themselves..and the city, last time, commended the marches for how neat and clean they left the parade route.

Jewish, Christian and Muslim clergy, all marching ---as were at least six of our United Methodist clergy-- in support of immigration reform. All witnessing to the truth that: we CAN welcome the stranger....we CAN embrace the outsider...we CAN LOVE the stranger as ourself.

Not only can we, but believing that God calls us to this work.

(thanks to Billy MacLeod for this one)

"When you did it to the least of these…"
Near the middle of the march, something happened that almost brought me to tears, and almost brought me to tears when I saw it on the news later. Midway through the march, we passed the Sheraton Hotel(9). It's the scene of the annual "Black Tie Dinner," which many of us here at Northaven enjoy each Fall.

We march past the backdoors --the loading docks-- of that hotel. And as we looked over, we saw the mostly Latino and Latina faces of hotel workers who had come out to greet us.

They were dressed in the uniforms of maids and dishwashers; busboys and bellhops; short-order cooks and waiters. It struck me that some of them might have served me (and maybe some of you) at the Black Tie Dinner.

They were lined up against the wall, on the outside sidewalk as we passed by. Wide-eyed, they were smiling and they were cheering. I don't know if all of them are legal or not.

But I thought of all those who are like them. I thought of all the thousands of people who were working that day and could not get off work to come to such a march. I thought of all those everywhere who work and serve, cook and clean, and generally keep our city running, quietly and behind the scenes.

And, in that moment, what I knew that Saturday's march was for THEM.

They are why we marched.

They are why, in God's name, we advocate for immigration reform, and a more just world for all God's children.
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Footnotes
(1a) This one shows Kaye Gooch, Bryan Coley, Rachel 'Rei' Coley and David Coley at the 24 sec mark. Kim Batchelor at the 40 sec mark, and Ron Wilhelm and Linda Harris at the 44 sec mark. This one shows Kenny Wickline at 9:12 mark. Bob Radford and Mike Kelly at 8:47. And this final one show me at 5 min and 38 sec.
These clips also give you a sense of just huge this march was.

(1)Initial estimates placed the crowd size at 25,000. Later police statements indicated that this number refers to the total number that gathered at City Hall plaza after the march, and that the total number of marchers was likely between 50 and 60,000. My sermon refers to the initial estimate, which was all that was known at the time.

(2) I have spoken with many friends who have been "activists" on various causes in Dallas' history. All have agreed with the basic premise of my statement. For example, a "peace rally" just before the Iraq War began drew 5,000 people to downtown. Nothing to sneeze at, for sure. But a tiny sliver of the 550,000 who marched on immigration. Think of it another way: have there been even 10 rallies of 50,000 people? (No). Have their been 20 of 25,000 people? (No). I am fairly certain the basic premise here is solid, and would love for some journalist to confirm it.

(3) If there had been recent Peace marches --if any other social movement was getting lots of press right now-- I would likely mention them too. I'm not trying to make any political point here.

(4) The national rally in support of immigration reform, which took place the weekend health reform was passed and got almost *no* national press,  drew the largest one-day crowd to the National Mall in Washington in the Obama Administration's tenure…larger than any other gathering on any social issue there, and serving to make this same point I am making here, on a national scale.

(5) Here is a brief list beyond those I've already mentioned:
Exodus 2:22
Lev 19:10
Lev 23: 22
Lev 25:22
Duet 24:17
Duet 24:19
For a very comprehensive list of these and many other Old Testament and New Testament passages, click here.

(6) I have checked this with several prominent Biblical scholars whom I know personally, and each agree with this assessment. To suggest that there was some sort of distinction made in these Biblical texts between "legal and illegal" makes no logical sense, and would undercut the main theological justification of the passages ("remember that you were once an alien"). You will recall that Israel's status in Egypt was as a group of slave people. Not only were they not citizens of Egypt, they weren't even a status of foreigner afforded legal rights of any kind!

I note this because some Biblical scholars claim the words "sojourner" or "alien" or "stranger" refer to some kind of legally sanctioned status within ancient Israel. The implication being: therefore these passages do not apply to "illegal immigrants" of today.

However, as I've just noted, this interpretation makes no logical sense in the original context of the passages themselves, when the original metaphor given was to remember being a nation of slaves; without any legal rights whatsoever.

The call to God's holy people is to not be like the Egyptians --who denied rights to their forebearers-- but to look past legal status and welcome all who are "aliens," "strangers," or "foreigners."That is precisely what will distinguish them as God's Holy people, and not simply another average nation in a world of average nations.

(7) I learned later that this is young man is Sol Weiner, son of our friend David Weiner.

(8) I thank Dennise for the permission to share these stories, which are really her's.

(9) I incorrectly identify this in the sermon as the "Adams' Mark," which was its name a few years back. I need to keep up.

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