"Glory To The New Born King... Now What?"

The Christmas holiday is now over and many of us have spent way too much money on gifts that we won't be able to wear next year, or electronics that will be upgraded - making that new Wii look antiquated, and ate enough turkey and dressing not to want to see a turkey leg for another 11 months; Oh, and I almost forgot - the reason for the season - the birth of little baby Jesus...  Sooo now that we have obeyed the Hark! And listened intently to The Herald Angels Sing (Messengers bringing the "Good News" about the birth of Jesus), we've girded up our loins to Go Tell It On The Mountain, and listened to the Little Drummer Boy serenade baby Jesus on a calm and Silent Night - a night boasting "a triumph of the skies" - that astronomical occurrence said to happen only once every 3,000 years - what's next? 

What do we do now?  Now that the child who was born to swallow up death has arrived, are we to continue living the same way?  Are we to continue on the same course we were presently on, even though it does nothing to nurture our soul or adds to our spiritual growth?  Do we continue with the same go nowhere do nothing crowd?  Or do we change our minds and get involved with our own salvation, both personally and spiritually?  It's time out for lazy Christians who quote biblical scripture to buttress their prejudices without a full understanding of what it is they are quoting.  It's time out for opportunistic and convenient activist who show up at dark times in other people's lives.  It's time out for doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome.  And finally, it's time out for playing church!  

With the birth of Jesus, aka Emmanuel (God with us), more is required of us.  A sacrifice of the Most High has guaranteed our ransom.  We ought to want to do better, to be better, to love harder.  If God required a sacrifice of God's Self, what must S/HE require of us?  The birth of Jesus is said to have reconciled God to humankind; What then will it take for humans to be reconciled to one another?  Now is the time for humankind - men and women - to take responsibility not only for our own self, but to get actively involved in the life  and struggles of others.  With the birth of Jesus, the logos made flesh, we must show up, be present and accounted for and become worthy of such an awesome sacrifice. 

As I close I want to invite you to participate in an age-old tradition that I grew up knowing as "Watch Night" Service.  On December 31, 1862 enslaved Africans in America gathered together to wait for the news that freedom had come by way of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.  On January 1, 1863, the word did indeed come - although freedom in its purest sense was still elusive.  Since that time, African Americans have gathered together in homes and churches across this nation and abroad in worship, song and praise to commemorate the night that our ancestors watched and waited for freedom's arrival.  Just as they stood watch over freedom, we too will gather together in celebration, song, dance and praise to watch over our spiritual relationship with God and the coming of a New Year, full of new possibilities, new beginnings, renewed covenants and yes, new freedoms!  

For more information please visit our website at www.rizefellowship.org.  RIZE UP and BE FREE!
© Dorinda G. Henry, 2010

THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!           

" T'is The Season"

Luke 2:1-14(15-20)

Said the shepard boy to the mighty king
Do you know what I know
In your palace wall mighty king
Do you know what I know
A child, a child
Shivers in the cold
Let us bring him silver and gold
Let us bring him silver and gold

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know...  It has been a minute since my last post, but my goodness it is the holiday season, and for us Christians, it's Christmas! You know that time of year that we have set aside to celebrate the birth of little baby Jesus!  And how do we celebrate the birth of baby Jesus?  We go out and blow our rent, mortgage, car and/other utilities payment to buy a Wii, Xbox's, and games that cost over $50.00 a pop - all the while celebrating the birth of baby Jesus!  And yes, I, even I am trying to get a call into to Santa for an IPad.  I mean seriously, if I had that IPad I could have posted much sooner than now and you would have already gotten my take on this particular time of the year and my feelings about the birth of little baby Jesus.  You would have already learned that I believe we are not telling the real story of Jesus' birth and the significance of it to people who are not among the "Who's Who," or those who have been cut off, locked out and ostracized from family, church and community.

Instead of telling the story of the birth of Jesus in the usual glorious way, I'll start by talking about where he was born - in a stable behind the home of a relative of either Mary or Joseph.  I would have already told you that within this stable, we would have found animals of course and all the accouterments of high-end living for animals!  The stable was probably damp and cold with very little to no sanitary place for the birth of anything, especially our Lord and Saviour for crying out loud!  No doubt, there was hay, grass or some other manner of food only fit for animals.   Food that was placed inside a little wooden trough, or in this case, also known as a manger - the same kind of manger that little baby Jesus was born in!  Yes, baby Jesus was born in a feeding trough for animals.  Have you heard that preached on Sunday morning?  I doubt it.  And those swaddling clothes - was more like a blanket or pieces of a blanket or other hand-me-down pieces of cloth Mary and Joseph may have managed to find lying around to wrap baby Jesus up in the ancient practice of swaddling.  And if you're now wondering what "swaddling" is, it is an old technique or practice used to restrict the movement of a newly born baby's limbs.  It protects the baby from his/her own limbs and keeps them warm.  It also acts to keep the baby all snuggle bunny as if still in the womb until the baby is ready to spread their wings.  Trust and believe, if you have had a baby or know someone who has, I promise, you have seen a baby wrapped in the art of "swaddling."

Okay, enough of that.  Now where was I?  Oh yeah, if I had that IPad, I could have already told you the particular significance of Luke's account of the birth of little baby Jesus.  Luke tells us shepherds were at the scene of his birth.  They were "living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night" (v. 8b).  Why is this important?  Because  on the one hand, King David, Jesus' ancestor - that reckless, dancing, adulterer and murderer - was also a lowly and comely shepherd before he became king.  Furthermore, by pointing out that the shepherds were 'living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock,' the writer of Luke is signifying that these particular shepherds were probably outcasts in the community because they were not home protecting their wives and family.  So now we have a miracle child - a bastard child borne of a woman that the Catholic church would have us to believe was a virgin before the pregnancy and yes, even after little baby Jesus was born.  As the sacred text records, aside from the fact of the record, this child was also "registered" right along with the regular ole common folk, sinners like you and me; he was born in abject poverty with nothing but a few poor shepherds, some sheep and various other animals to bear witness of his birth, and yet this is the child who would be the Christ or Messiah.  I mean really...  Can you get anymore humbling than that?  Think about it...  As we have also read, this baby Jesus was also  said to be Emmanuel, that is, "God with us."  So what we really have here is God humbling himself to the extent that S/HE chose to come to us as lowly and abased as one could.  It is no wonder that Luke emphasized the celebration of such a birth with  "a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God" (v. 13b).  It gives a whole new meaning to the words, "Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me" (Luke 7:23).

So, I get it.  I really do get it!  If this is how the birth of Jesus was preached on Sunday morning from the pulpits around this country and others, I wonder if it would still be so difficult for some "good Christians" to view the potential of every other homeless, bastard child borne of a woman who doesn't know who the father is as a potential Messiah?  I wonder if it would cause some "good Christians" to have more care and concern for and about the unborn, than the born?  Would it change the minds of some of these "good Christians" who fight for and even kill to protect the unborn, but won't bat an eyelash over the death of hundreds, even thousands of newly born babies who have little to no food to eat, access to health-care, adequate clothing and shelter?  How quickly would we have sent away so many of our mother's babies to fight and die in a fabricated war?  Would some "good Christians" have acted differently in the lives of others who have fallen victim to tribal genocide, senseless violence in our city streets, curable diseases or by their own hands?  I believe if this was the way Jesus' birth was told, there would be more care, compassion and presence in the birth of some of our most vulnerable members of society.  For each of them lost to us, so too has their brightness, their  potential "goodness and light." 

T'is the season - to show up in the lives of others - to be present and accounted for - to speak truth to power and to reflect upon what this season is really about - "Glory to God in the highest... and peace and goodwill to all on earth" (v. 14).  Oh and an IPad for me!  Naw I'm jes kiddn'...  No seriously ;-)  Okay, I'm done but please...

Listen to what I say
Pray for peace people everywhere
Listen to what I say
The child, the child
Sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light

The child, the child
Sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light

                           (Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker)

© Dorinda G. Henry, 2010

THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!

" God's Got a LOT of Nerve!"

Genesis 19

Well suh...  Maybe God is trying to tell us something...  But what?  Because surely you didn't think I was going to move on from Genesis 19 without discussing that scoundrel Lot did you?  I just know you didn't think that I, ME, Rev. Dorinda G. "Here's anotha piece of my mind" Henry, was gonna just walk on by the narrative of Sodom and Gomorrah without talking about the "Father of the Year" candidate, the right, good and just Lot!  I mean really, how often do we get to talk about this seedy character?  We know all about Abraham and his negotiating with what many have determined to be God, just prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  We know all about the trials and tensions between Sarah and Hagar.  We even know all about something quite strange happening to Lot's wife on the way out of Sodom and Gomorrah.  In fact, hell, if we are to believe everything we read in the bible, she might still be standing there petrified and frozen for all eternity in a pillar of salt.  But what we don't know much about is that Lot and his two virgin daughters are all that is saved from the cataclysmic goings on that destroyed several cities of the Plain right along with Sodom and Gomorrah.  And even more, that he conspicuously ends up living in a cave up in the hills with his two virgin daughters - the same two virgin daughters he previously offered up to the angry mob, to "do to them as you please" (v. 8b).

As we soon find out, Lot, much like one of his ancestors, Noah, liked to indulge in the consumption of strong drink.  And like Noah, I suppose after half-ass welcoming divine visitors with baking a couple pieces of unleavened bread (nothing like the hospitality demonstrated by his uncle-brother, Abraham), offering his virgin daughters up to an angry mob to have their way with them, watching several cities go up in flames and then seeing his wife turned into a pillar of salt, hell, I suppose he too, needed a stiff drink.  But, if I may, I'd like to stay with my "Color Purple" theme and paint the picture of what happens next with Lot in the same hue.  Why?  Well, because...  Like Noah, the writers of the ancient text wants us to believe that Lot drinks so much that he passes out to the point that unbeknownst to him, he is tricked into having sex with both of his virgin daughters on two separate nights. The text also wants us to believe he did not know when they laid with him or when they got up.  I suppose, his message to the angry mob landed on his daughters and they decided to do with him as they pleased and had their father in ways "after all the manner of the world... and [laid] with him, so that [they might] preserve offspring through [their] father" (vv. 30-38).  Umm hmph!  Once again, I hear The Color Purple echoed through the voice of Lot saying to his daughters; "You betta not tell nobody but God.  It'll kill ya Mammy."  The truth of the matter is that in this case, it probably did.  I'm jes saying...

The sons borne of these incestuous encounters between Lot and his daughters, are Moab, the ancestor of the Moabites and Ben-ammi, the ancestor of the Ammonites.  Both of these names are translated in such a way to expose the incest theme - Moab (of the same father) and Ben-ammi (Son of my Paternal kin).  And if you know like I know, and you should know by now, because the bible tells you so, that from the Moabites, comes Ruth, the ancestor of King David and eventually, Jesus!  So what is God trying to tell us?  That through miscreants, social and cultural misfits, in everyone of us, saint and sinner alike, a potential Messiah lurks just beneath the surface. Let the church say Yessss... Yeesssss.... Yeeessssssssss!
© Dorinda G. Henry, 2010

THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!

"Sister, We're Two of a Kind"

"Sister, 

you've been on my mind

Sister, we're two of a kind

So, sister, 

I'm keepin' my eye on you.

I betcha think I don't know nothin

But singin' the blues, 

Oh, sister,have I got news for you, 

I'm something,

I hope you think 

that you're something too...

Umm hmmm, ummm hmmm... umm...mmm... Okay, okay I can't quite get it!  But surely you did know that with this being the 25th anniversary of one of my favorite movies, that I was going to find some kinda way to include it in one of my post.  We are up the Genesis 20 and trust and believe you me, it has been a very interesting journey to say the least.  So, if you've been following, and I hope you have, then you know that we are Reading the Bible Again for the First Time.  And I tell you it seems that there is more drama in the bible than the Atlanta House Wives, Desperate Housewives, and Dexter put together.  I had to throw Dexter in there because of all the killing that has been going on so far.  Starting off with Cain and Abel, then God getting so fed up with the humans that S/HE drowned them all, with the exception of Noah, that righteous drunkard that passed out butt-ass naked, exposing himself to his son Ham, right on up to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah - that was not destroyed because men were having sex with men.  Hell it seems more plausible that the ancient text wants us to know that whole cities can and will be destroyed, not withstanding a precious few, when injustice, a lack of hospitality, mistreatment of others and abject depravity is the rule and not the exception.

I don't know how many times the ancient text recorded God's frustration with human kind enough to "kill 'em all!"  Lord today!  Where is all that grace we heard about?  Oh that's right, according to Christianity, that doesn't happen until the NEW TESTAMENT.  Whatever!  Anyhue, moving right along...  But for the sake of consistency, if you are new to my blog, I suggest you take a look back at the month(s) of March and April and read the posts; "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," "A Mistress and Her Slave," and "Both Of Us Got Babies Now."  Because I believe I have already given sufficient time and attention to these chapters, I want to do a little daydreaming and take some artistic license of my own as it relates the tension between Sarai and Hagar.  

Here we have two women, who we know don't have any more rights than the detainees at Guantanamo Bay.  Each of them are the victim of an androcentric (male centered) society, that regards women as nothing more than property, with the sacred worth of something just above a dog.  Sarai has been pimped out by her husband, Abram and she in return pimps out her slave-girl, Hagar to her husband.  Sarai's behavior reflects an unconscious response and reaction of one abused who in turn acts in like manner to abuse another.  It isn't her fault and she is not the conscious monster of her oppressor, rather she does what she has been groomed and conditioned to believe is the way of the world.  It is nothing more than the learned behavior of her oppressor in the ways of oppressing others.  We can see this in examples great and small - from families, to relationships, to entire systems of governing.

African Americans took on the disciplinary tactics of the slave-masters to discipline their children and each other.  In like manner, women take on the oppressive tactics of men to oppress other women and so, on and so on and so on.  But just once I would like to tell the story of Sarai and Hagar in the same way of Shug Avery and Ms. Celie.  After having climbed from under all the stale, stank, musty and funky waters of sexual abuse, shame and worthlessness, they found each other in the midst of their own painful and tormented lives,  to reach out from behind the social and cultural paradigms that kept them in bondage and enemies of one another to be that story of liberation and freedom for the other.  Each of them in their own way and at the appointed hour acted on behalf of the other in a selfless kind of love to help the other get free.  If only Sarai, could have seen the beauty of herself reflected in the dimly lit eyes of a scared and abused Hagar to care for and protect her and in so doing care for and protect herself, we may have read a different narrative.  Consequently, the sons of these two women could very well have grown up to be loving brothers, as opposed to enemies, destined to war against each other until this world is no more.

Oh how I wish more people would get a comb and scratch a love song of liberation out of another hurt person's hair.

Scufflin', 

I been up that lonesome road

And I seen alot of suns going down

Oh, but trust me,

No low life's gonna run me around.

So let me tell you somethin' sister,

Remember your name, 

No twister

Gonna steal you stuff away, 

My sister,

We sho' ain't got a whole lot of time

So shake your shimmy 

Sister,

'Cause honey the 'shug' 

is feelin' fine."

                   (Quincy Jones)

© Dorinda G. Henry, 2010

THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!

"Who Told You That You Were Naked?"

"They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and [the woman] hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, 'Where are you?'  He (the man) said, 'I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.'  [God] said, 'Who told you that you were naked'" (NRSV Genesis 3:8-11a)?

I don't know about you, but I find this entire dialogue rather humorous and yet instructive.  I mean really...  Here the ancient text places God's proximity to human beings up close and personal.  As God moves about in the "Garden," S/HE appears to cast off a distinctive sound - unlike any of the other animals, birds and all manner of creepy crawly things that is.  And since the ancient text has already informed us of the presence of four rivers - 1) Pishon, which flows around Havilah, "where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good;" also, sometimes identified with the Arabian Peninsula, 2) Gihon, "the one that flows around the whole land of Cush" (Ethiopia), which is identified with the the "Horn of Africa," 3) the Tigris, which "flows east of Assyria, and 4) the Euphrates river - we can be sure it was not the sound of rushing water either (vv. 11-14). 

The mere sound of God moving about in the "Garden," arguably, the "Cradle of Civilization," is enough for the humans - who have taken a bite out of crime (The tree of good and evil) - to be afraid, to be very afraid.  Why?  Because all of sudden, their eyes have been metaphorically opened, and now they realize that they are naked!  Heaven forbid!  Okay, hold on...  I'm sorry, but I did warn you all that I was a precocious child, yes?  Yes, well, I still am.  So, what on earth could have been so different about their 'nakedness' that was perceived to be more offensive to God than the 'nakedness' of the other animals that they felt the need to cover up?  I mean, really...  Were not all that was created, 'naked?'  Wasn't the lion naked?  Maybe the bear?  How about the orangutan?  Now I don't know about you, but I've seen an orangutan or two in my life, and uh, well...  Let's just say they look pretty 'naked' to me!  Aside from their hair - and I've also seen enough "Adams" walking around here with so much hair on their bodies that I feared the Atlanta zoo was missing some of its residents - the orangutan, gorilla, hell the whole monkey family for that matter - looks a little 'naked' to me.  What was it then that made the humans run for cover?  And more to the point, why is it that God seems to be a bit perturbed that the humans had covered up?

"WHO TOLD YOU THAT YOU WERE NAKED?"  Reaching for my trusted black woman's cotton patch version, I sympathize with the early humans as I recall the distinctive sound of my own Mama walking up on me when I was behaving in a way that was less than honorable or doing something I knew I didn't have any business doing.  Like the voice of God, I can still hear her question and admonishment in the tone that only a Mama has, "Who told you that you had to act that way, talk that way?  Who told you that you were ugly, or too skinny or too fat?  Who told you that you were too black, too smart or too dumb, too pretty?  Who told you that?"  And much in the way the early humans responded to God, by placing blame on the female species and she in turn placing blame on the serpent, I too, found something or someone else to deflect Mama's wrath away from me and onto another for my own shortcomings, my own cowardice, and my own stubbornness. 

As we will see in future readings of the bible, human beings will consistently frustrate and anger God.  Rather than take responsibility for the choices that they make, they come up with excuses and place blame on others when they disappoint God.  In like manner, I've done the same regarding God's call on my life.  No more.  Now is the time to do what it is that I know God has for me, and that which is mine to do.   

Thankfully, God sees the beauty and value even in their/our weaknesses and uses  them, they and those who eventually RIZE to the occasion of the appointed hour to answer the question, "WHO TOLD YOU THAT YOU WERE NAKED?" with a resounding cry, "I DID!  I looked at myself and saw my frailties in comparison to all that was and all that is, and I was afraid - I am afraid!"  But I know that I know, that I know that I know, that God never fails.  And so, as I take my leave of this post, I replace a sense of chronological time with typological time and hear God's instruction to Abram in Genesis 13:17, to "Rise up, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you," as my own call to walk out on faith, "the length and breadth of the land," to take a stand, and to RIZE UP AND BE FREE!

Stay tuned for a ministry near you! 

© Dorinda G. Henry, 2010

THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!

"In The Beginning"

"In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.  Then God said, 'Let there be light'; And there was light.  And God saw that the light was good... (NRSV Genesis 1:1-4a)."

In 1990, Robert Fulghum wrote the book, All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten.  Aside from the fact that I love the title, it caused me to reflect upon my own learning in Kindergarten.  And you know what?  He's right!  One of the first things he reminds us of learning in Kindergarten is, "Share everything."  He goes on to list a number of other one liners that we know today, but seldom do we apply to our everyday living.  Things like "Play fair," and one of my favorites, "Be aware of wonder."  Imagine that!  So, as I enter into this post, about the first four chapters of Genesis, I do so from those three directives.

First, "SHARE EVERYTHING!"  In the previous post, I pointed out the contrast between the creation narratives of chapters one and two.  So I'm not going to dwell on that here, but what I am going to do is urge you to compare the two narratives in your kindergarten mind and ask yourself the question, "Which one of these creation stories do you think your kindergarten learning would most support?  Would it be the one that created "humankind" equally - where there is no superiority or inferiority?  Would your kindergarten learning most support the notion of equal participation and "sharing of everything?"  Or would your kindergarten learning support the creation narrative that identifies a "greater" and a "lesser?"  One that emphasized the notion of a big "I" and a little "u?"  When two little people are found out to have done the same thing wrong, would your kindergarten learning support a disciplinary course of action that was more severe to one as opposed to the other?  And, would it then support that the rest of the class be punished because the identified little "u"  and only "u," was disobedient?  Would your kindergarten learning and mind be alright with that?  Somehow, I don't think so.

The second directive; "PLAY FAIR!"  This one really is dependent upon the former.  If we can get our minds around "sharing everything," "playing fair," is a no brainier!  But as the Genesis story continues, we find that indeed, when the first is not observed and adhered to, then the rest are destined to fail.  "Playing fair," presupposes an egalitarian understanding and approach.  If, however, there is a group of young people, set aside as "special," and having the favor of the Teacher, the other group is subjected to the whim of the "special" group and the Teacher.  And, if I might add, that the identified "special" group - with all of their perks and privileges - adopts a sense of superiority that lead to the exploitation and frankly speaking, the abuse of the second group - that has inadvertently taken on a sense of inferiority.  Their worth is inextricably bound to the worth placed upon them by the perceived Teacher and the "special" little people.  "Playing fair" becomes an act of self preservation.  For example, the "other" one is a faster runner than the "special" one, but s/he slows to let the "special" one win the race.  The "special" one gets the award, the accolades, hugs and kisses, while the "other" one is left watching, hoping that their little act of selflessness ingratiates them to the Teacher and the "special" one group.  I hear ya'll yelling all the way over here; "What in the hell is she talking about now?  And what does this have to do with Genesis 1-4?!?  In a word, EVERYTHING!

From chapters 2-4 we see this dynamic played out between what becomes a singular Adam  and a singular Eve.  We see it played out between their two sons, Cain and Abel.  Distinctions were made, establishing power dynamics and a hierarchy of authority.  Men are the superior and women are henceforth and forevermore - inferior. And, it is important to know WHO made those distinctions and why!  What is "good" and "acceptable," creates a sibling rivalry that leads to murder.   But, if we had just stayed in chapter one, with our kindergarten mind, we could all be on one accord.  Why?  How?  Because, we would know that there is enough on God's green earth for everyone.  We would know that there is no such thing as a big "I" and a little "u."  Each of us to our own meaning would have sacred worth, validity, respect and reverence.  It is here that the third and final directive shows up.

"BE AWARE OF WONDER!"  Dare to imagine a world of endless bounty, a world where there is no lack.  Dare to imagine a world of equality?  There is no big "I" and little "u."  Dare to imagine that I am better, because you are given all the room and resources to be your best and vice versa.  Dare to imagine that we are all back in the sandbox, totally and completely amazed and intrigued by how much sand we can put in our shoes, or how pretty my skin is and your eyes are.  Dare to imagine nothing more than the excitement of making a new friend!  I see someone all the way in Turkey.  Waving my hand in the air, Teacher!  Teacher!  May I go first?  Yes?  Thank you...

Hi, my name is Dorinda, what's your name?

© Dorinda G. Henry, 2010   

THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!

"For the Bible Tells Me So"

"Jesus Loves me this I know,

For the bible tells me so;

Little ones to him belong,

They are weak but he is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves!

For the bible tells me so..."

Umph...  I tell you, if I don't remember anything or singing any other song from my childhood, I remember singing "Jesus Loves Me."  That song has been sang by millions of children, youth, young adults, and, if I or you thought we had escaped it when we became adults, guess again, because Whitney Houston came along and gave us a very soulful rendition of it in the hit movie The Bodyguard.  So now we have a whole new "adult" way of singing it.  The point of the song is that Jesus loves me.  And how do I know that Jesus loves me?  Because the bible tells me so.  The belief that Jesus loves me is predicated upon the belief, my belief, that the bible doesn't lie - that it is infallible, the inerrant Word of God.  But what happens if the basis of the assertion is called into question?  In other words, what happens if I find the bible not to be as trustworthy as I had been led to believe as a child?  What if, one day, while I was reading the bible, I came across a verse that read, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways" (NRSV 1 Corinthians 13:11)?  What if after reading that particular verse, I put away those comfortable childish thoughts, and put on a new season of reasoning with my adult mind?  And, what if my adult mind found that much in the bible IS because of what my lying eyes have told me it is?

I hear some of ya'll yelling out there, "What in the hell is she talking about now?"  Well, what I'm talking about is that often times we good Christians, especially us good church-going-black-folk, get our bible speak from the Pastor of our local church on Sunday morning.  Not only do we get the Word of God from the Pastor, but we also get his/her thoughts.  We get their ideas, suppositions and yes, their prejudices.  For example, when we hear the Pastor get up in the pulpit, "To proclaim what thus says the Lord," all the respect and reverence we have for the bible, is inadvertently transferred onto the Pastor.  The Pastor and all that s/he says becomes the authority - infallible and inerrant - without flaw or mistake.  And, if I may be so bold to submit the perception is that they themselves become "incapable of error or mistakes." 

Therefore, when the Pastor quotes the bible saying, "So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then [God] took one of [the man's ribs] and closed up its place with flesh.  And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.  Then the man said, 'This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman for out of Man this one was taken,'" that IS the creation narrative (Genesis 2:21-23).  There is no other one.  I don't care how many times we read the bible - or say that we've read the bible, not only is that THE creation narrative, but it is the ONLY creation narrative.  Consequently, it creates an unquestionable adherence to the following directive; "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24).  THE MESSAGE from God is thus - "man" is superior and "woman" is inferior.  Also, marriage is assumptive between a man and a woman as the "right," and the only "right" way to be in right relationship with God.  It's the way God had planned it, right?  So what's the problem?  Well, I thought you'd never ask...

The problem is that an entire chapter has been passed over, ignored, overlooked, forgotten, hell you name it.  Whatever you want to come up with, fine.  The fact of the matter is, not only has a whole chapter been disregarded to get to THAT particular creation narrative, but some 51 verses (31 in the first chapter and 20 in the second chapter) have been overlooked as well.  If we were not so quick to believe our lying eyes, or the lying Pastor, not only would  we have seen the first creation narrative, but we would have seen it with profound clarity.  We would then SEE to read the words, "Then God said, let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over... every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.  So God created humankind in his image in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:26,27).  Likewise, it would create an unquestionable adherence to the following directive; "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; (v. 28b).  THE MESSAGE from God is thus - We, males and females (notice the plurality of each) are created simultaneously.  We are both given the same authority to have dominion over all living things.  We are created EQUAL, given EQUAL power and EQUAL authority.  It's the way God had planned it, right?  So what's the problem?  Umph, really?  Surely I don't have to state the obvious...  Funny thing though, there is no mention or intimation of marriage, and yet, this is where God "saw everything that [S/HE] had made, and indeed, it was very good" (v. 31).  S/HE also didn't seem to be too impressed with the way things turned out in the chapter 2 creation narrative.  Jes a lil sumptn I thought you should know.  But wait!  Don't leave!  That's just the beginning!  We have 66 books to go!  I'm not even warmed up yet. ;)

Why this here with us now, you ask?  Because "The Bible" is our next subject matter for my bible study class.  Who'da thunk it?  We are Reading the Bible Again for the First Time.  Yes, this is the title of another one of my favorite books by Marcus Borg.  It will be read along with our exploration of "The Bible" with new and improved - truth telling eyes.  Now that you know that your eyes will lie to you, put on your critical lenses so you can see clearly, that we are all made in the image of God.  How do I know this?  Because the bible tells me so.

"Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves me!

For the bible tells me so!" 

© Dorinda G. Henry, 2010

THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!

"Love's In Need of Love Today"

"Good morn or evening friends

Here's your friendly announcer

I have serious news to pass on to every-body

What I'm about to say

Could mean the world's disaster

Could change your joy and laughter to tears and pain

It's that 

Love's in need of love today

Don't delay

Send yours in right away

Hate's goin' round

Breaking many hearts

Stop it please

Before it's gone too far"

It has been just over a week since the news broke about lawsuits filed against Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, alleging sexual abuse of young men recruited into his Long Fellows Academy.  Among other allegations, the lawsuits allege that while they were above the age of consent, but still in their teenage years, Eddie Long violated his "fiduciary duty as their spiritual adviser by pushing them into sex."  Since that time, the media, the internet and the telephone committee has spread the word near and far.  I have received and delivered text messages, emails, voice messages and if by chance someone did not have access to any of the new technology, I have no doubt we would have strung together two empty cans of chicken noodle soup to get the latest update.  I have watched videos, read article after article, and even had a brief conversation with a homeless person in the park about it.  It has been ev-er-ywhere!  The responses to the controversy seem to have developed into three discernible categories: 1) Pray 2) Vilify and 3) The Bully Pulpit.  Oh, and the occasional opportunistic "ambulance chaser."  Individuals - be they private citizens or preachers - who aren't on anyone's radar but their own, trying to take advantage of this unfortunate moment to propel themselves into the spotlight.  Needless to say, I won't bother with the "ambulance chasers."  I'll leave them to chase after their own tail or the next story they think they should lasso on to.   

Let's begin with the first category; "Let's pray."  That's right, "God's got it!"  From corner to corner, street to street, church to church, state to state, preacher to teacher, choir to pew, dog to cat, "Prayer" is going to make it all go away, or at the very least, better.  Prayers have gone forth, in the mighty name of Jesus to "fix it."  I shudder to think what or who it is that God's got or exactly what Jesus is supposed to fix.  It's oddly peculiar to me that members of a church, whose leader preaches prosperity at all cost would call on the name of a Mediterranean Jewish peasant to "fix" something for him.  Would that not be the "functional equivalent" of a homeless person being asked to give a man with a private jet and a Bentley a ride to the bank on their back?  I'm jes saying...  And, did the thought ever occur to you all in the "Praying" category that maybe, just maybe, indeed, "God's got it," and that's why this is here with us now?  Again, I'm jes saying...

Category number two, "vilify," is one that I initially found myself drawn towards.  In September of 2004, Like many same-and-both-gender loving people, I watched in utter disbelief, as Eddie Long and Bernice King, (the co-organizer and the youngest daughter of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), led a march of more than 20 thousand people through the streets of Atlanta, GA in support of a Constitutional Amendment to ban gay marriage.  So upon hearing of a "ceremony," he allegedly conducted between himself and the young boys - complete with candles, the reading of scripture, the exchange of promises/vows and jewelry - I felt like shouting louder than the recorded voices of those who wanted Jesus put to death - CRUCIFY HIM, CRUCIFY HIM, CRUCIFY HIM!  I've read the commentaries written by kindred souls who appear to have been waiting with bated breath for the chance to give this man a piece of our collective mind.  I was saddened by what came across as a "na, na - na, na, na" moment, an obscene lust for revenge, and calls for nothing short of Long's head brought before us on a silver platter.  As a woman of God, I am ashamed of feeling this way - "For what will it profit [us]  if [we] gain the whole world, but lose [our] soul?  Or what will [we] give in return for [our] soul (KJV Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:36,37)?   It doesn't make me, or us any better.  Ironically, we have a rare opportunity to stand in the gap.  Rather than allow this to turn into another, "The homosexual bogeyman made me do it" episode, we should make ourselves available to reach across both lines with Love, understanding and compassion, to help to bring about some manner of reconciliation, healing and transformation.  

Bringing up the rear is the third category of the "Bully Pulpit."  This category encompasses the previous two categories.  Each of them, the Prayer warriors, and vitriolic vilifiers of both accused and accuser, have stepped up to the proverbial mic, cleared their throats of any physical resistance to this moment of righteous indignation and claimed the victory over a soon to be fallen foe.  Herein lies the problem.  There is no fallen foe.  There is no victory - none!  No one wins.  For if there is one who has fallen, doesn't the foundation of our faith require us to forgive and be merciful as God has forgiven and shown us mercy?  I don't know, I could be wrong, but somewhere I read, "Forgive us our trespass, as we forgive those who trespass against us."  If, there is Love; If, there is compassion; If there is forgiveness; THEN there is redemption, we may all be changed.  I'm going to stop and retire here because I feel my help coming and I don't want to sound too preachy.  ;)

One parting thought.  In the midst of all the noise and spectacle surrounding this controversy, through all of the praying, the vilifying, and pulpit bullying, one guiding principle is precariously missing.  "Love thy neighbor as thyself," is yet to find a resting place among the scores of casually thrown about scriptural passages.  What happened to Love?  Where did it go?  How did it get lost?  How did it get left out of a conversation that has as its backdrop America's moral compass, the  institutional Black Church?  Have we forgotten what Love looks like - what it feels like?  Is Love only good in times of comfort and convenience?  Is it true what the Spinners sang about Love - that "Love don't Love nobody?"  Or, was Stevie Wonder on to something more profound, warning us that in times like these, even "Love is in need of Love today?"   If this is the case, ev-er-ybody, please, just take a moment, pause and remember Love...  It's feeling a little neglected.  And where Love is absent; Hate triumphs.

"The force of evil plans

To make you its possession 

And it will if we let it

Destroy ev-er-y-body

We all must take 

Precautionary measures

If Love and peace you treasure

Then you'll hear me when I say

Oh that 

Love's in need of love today

Don't delay

Send yours in right away

Hate's goin' round

Breaking many hearts

Stop it please

Before it's gone too far"

               (Stevie Wonder)
© Dorinda G. Henry, 2010

THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!

"There's No Place Like Home"

       
"Maybe there's a chance for me to go back
Now that I have some direction
It sure would be nice to be back home
Where there's love and affection
And just maybe I can convince time to slow up
Giving me enough time in my life to grow up
Time, be my friend
Let me start again." 

In the final chapter of Marcus Borg's book, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, he lays out his image of Jesus - which is wholly contrary to the most commonly held beliefs and images of Jesus - as "a spirit person, subversive sage, social prophet and movement founder who invited his followers and hearers into a transforming relationship with the same Spirit that he himself knew, and into a community whose social vision was shaped by the core value of compassion."  As I've stated in previous posts, this is not the image of Jesus that we were introduced to as children.  Nor is it the image of Jesus that oppressed peoples around the country and the world are accustomed to.  Finally, it is not the image of Jesus that is being preached in most mini and mega churches today.

And while I know many of you are probably expecting me to weigh in on the latest controversy surrounding Eddie Long, and his alleged seduction and coercion of impressionable, at risk young boys, I will do so in the context of the bigger picture.  I want to focus my comments on what I believe to be the larger issue, and interestingly enough, the misconception of Jesus in church and society as professed from the pulpits of the institutional Black Church, which also includes mosques and temples.  While Jesus and Christianity is our focus, the insidious nature of using religious dogma, tradition and faith as weapons of bondage, oppression and tyranny against other human beings that the dominate group(s) in society have determined to be of lesser value, is a practice that crosses all religious lines.  But for us Christians, if we knew Jesus as a "spirit person, a subversive sage, social prophet and movement founder," that calls for us to engage and encounter one another with love and compassion; If we knew Jesus as one who saw the "sacred worth" of each and every one of God's people, the controversy surrounding Eddie Long would be moot.  We would not be here at all.

He, Eddie Long, would not have ever felt the need to castigate God's same-and-both-gender loving people.  And I, the media, progressive minded folk and other same-and-both-gender loving people would not be cheering and dancing around the proverbial camp-fire, roasting marshmallows around his "chickens coming home to roost" moment.  Honestly, I am troubled by the dichotomy of my internal urgings.  On the one hand, as a woman and a lesbian, I feel a supreme gladness in my heart that this man in particular, has had the cover of excessive exhibitions of masculinity, piety, marriage, and misguided misinterpretations of scripture snatched off of him.  On the other hand, I feel an equal sense of sorrow and a maternal need to protect him, as he too, is a victim of the very religiosity he so loudly purported.  It is never a good day when people are taken through what both he, and the young boys are about to go through.  It is an incredibly sad time for African Americans as well.  But, "Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh" (Galatians 6:7,8a).  And so, while I struggle in my own flesh - not with my sexuality mind you - but with what has happened to this man, who by the way, is still my brother, I do take heed, because God is passing by.

Now, back to the matter at hand.  Central to Borg's claim is that the bible can be summed up in three "macro-stories, the Exodus Story, the Story of Exile and Return and, the Priestly Story."  We, African Americans, know the Exodus Story almost intimately.  As descendants of captured, kidnapped, raped, beaten, lynched, exploited and enslaved Africans, we know what it was/is like living under the rule/yoke of Pharaoh.  Those long, hot days in the fields picking and chopping cotton and tobacco was akin to making bricks without straw.  We, too, bore the lash of the slave master's quirt on our backs for nothing more than for the taskmaster to exact absolute control of our minds and our bodies.  As such, we also know the Story of Exile and Return.  I, like many other African Americans, have made the pilgrimage back to Africa - that place where many of us call Home.  And like the Israelites on their journey to the "promised land," and the "Prodigal Son," we too have traveled to a far and distant land, and we found ourselves among new and unfamiliar people.  We, too, have landed in places closely resembling that of a "pig's pen" and longed to return Home.  To take this even further to the margins of the marginalized, when it comes to the institutional Black Church, we, same-and-both-gender loving people, have been set apart, put out and ostracized from a place in our community, our homes and yes, even our churches.  We have traveled near and far to find a place for us that closely resembles that which was, is comfortable and familiar to our hearing, our cultural understanding, racial kinship, tradition and worship experience.  We, too, know well the loneliness and longing for Home.

Finally, the Priestly Story is for me, Jesus' Story. It is the story of a man with a message of divine love, inclusion and compassion.  It is a message that welcomes all to the table of fellowship.  This is the story of one who stood against the kind of conventional wisdom that created the atmosphere that causes one like Eddie Long to live his life in dark, hidden and secret places.  One that leads to destructive behavior with, as we have seen, potentially catastrophic consequences.  Jesus' Story, as the imitatio dei (imitation of God), the incarnation of divine Wisdom, Sophia, is the story of a sage introducing a new and alternative wisdom whose message "sets the captives free."  That is, any and all persons who are or have been victims of conventional wisdom - racism, economic exploitation, religious arrogance and intolerance, sexism and homophobia - to be free.  We are to be free to be all that God has called us into purpose to be.  It is to be on the journey back to that place where we all were once before, floating in the abyss of divine love and compassion with God - HOME.  Oh how I pray; 

"If you're list'ning God
Please don't make it hard to know
If we should believe in things that we see
Tell us, should we run away should we try and stay
Or would it be better just to let things be?

Living here, in this brand new world
Might be a fantasy
But it taught me to love
So it's real, real to me
 
And I've learned
That we must look inside our hearts
To find a world full of love
Like yours
Like mine
 
Like home..."             
             (Charles Emanuel Smalls)
© Dorinda G. Henry, 2010

THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST! 

"Sophia, Sophia, Sophia"

Wisdom is a Woman and her name is Sophia!

One of my favorite books in the whole wide world is Alice Walker's The Color Purple.  In the book there is an amazingly large character in life, size, personality, tenacity and strength.  The character's name is Sophia, played by the incomparable Oprah Winfrey in Steven Spielburg's film adaptation by the same title.  We are first introduced to this "generous recipe of a woman," as the love interest of Harpo.  Admittedly I'm making some assumptions here about your familiarity with this book, so if you are not familiar with the book or the movie, here's a tip - stop what you're doing and go get it!  Don't walk, but run, run as fast as you can and go get it!  Okay, where was I?  Oh yeah, "Sophia, Sophia, Sophia!"  No doubt you are asking yourself, where is she going with this?  Well, be patient and you'll see soon enough.  Sometimes, the journey to a given destination is the best part, so hold on to your tail feathers. It may not have anything to do with it - and then again, maybe it does.

As you know, we have been dealing with Marcus Borg's book, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time.  We just finished chapter 5, which is entitled, "Jesus, the Wisdom of God; Sophia becomes flesh."  Ahhh, if you know anything about me, and maybe most of you don't, but a few of you do, you know that I was scratching like a dog with a bad case of fleas to get to this chapter.  Along with chapter 5, I asked the class to read Proverbs 1:20-9.  It would be irresponsible of me to simply go over the chapter without at least including Proverbs.  For without it traveling along with us on this journey to meet Jesus again for the first time, we would not be able to "eat of [her] bread and drink of the wine [she] has mixed" for our journey (Proverbs 9:5).  We might get to our final destination, but it won't be as fulfilling, nor as fun if we leave it behind.  I also suggest you read the Wisdom of Solomon and Sirach.  Okay, are you ready?  Get set...  Let's go.

In both Hebrew and Greek, "wisdom" is a feminine noun.  In Hebrew it is Hokmah.  In Greek, it is Sophia and because in English, Sophia is a female name, whenever "wisdom" is personified as a woman or having female characteristics in the text - even if the text is in Hebrew - scholars commonly use the name Sophia.  Thereby remaining ever mindful of its feminine personification.  And so, when we read in Proverbs, "wisdom" saying to us; "The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago.  Ages ago I was set up at the first, before the beginning of the earth.  When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.  Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth - when he had not yet made earth an fields, or the world's first bits of soil.  When he established the heavens, I was there... I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race," we must hear it in the feminine form (Proverbs 9:22-27a, 30a,31).

Along with that, we hear her echoed voice in the book of John, where a similar declaration is made; "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.  What has come into being in him is life, and the life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it" (John 1:1-5).  Now, before you men go getting all wound up and excited, traditionally, a common mistake is made here.  Jesus, is consciously and unconsciously, read into the text where the word "Word" is.  "Word," in Greek is logos, which is a masculine noun.  It is a leap, and a good try, but it doesn't signify Jesus, nor does it translate into the masculine.  Why?  Because in this context, logos is referencing the Hebrew connotation of "wisdom," which is and remains feminine - Sophia.  So no, Jesus was not in the beginning with God, the logos was.  And what is logos?  Scholars call it the "functional equivalent" of Sophia.  We must then read that passage thus, "In the beginning was Sophia, and Sophia was God.  She was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through her, and without her not one thing came into being...."  Whew!  Now that was a lot! 

   

Both of the referenced passages point to attributes of God - all powerful, all knowing, "the fashioner of all things," "the mother of all good things." And again, emphasizing the "functional equivalency" of words, not only was Sophia with God, but indeed, Sophia is the female image of God.  Whoa Lawd!  Hold on, hold on, don't go getting your panties in a wad.  I'm just saying!  Step out of your traditional comfort zone of conventional wisdom and into the new alternative wisdom introduced to us by Jesus the Nazarene.  Okay, okay, I'm gonna wrap this up, because it really is too deep and too much to try to cover in one post, but suffice it to say, in the synoptic gospels, that is Matthew, Mark and Luke, a correlation is drawn between Jesus and Sophia.  Jesus speaks of both himself and John the Baptizer as children of Sophia, "For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say,'He has a demon'; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  Nevertheless, [Sophia] is vindicated by all her children" (Luke 7:33-35).  Why did I insert Sophia in that text?  Remember, whenever "wisdom" is used in the female form, i.e. traits characteristically associated with a woman, Sophia is used.

I'll end this post with the gospel of John where we reach that climatic moment when... drum roll please - "And [Sophia] became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen [her] glory..." (John 1:14a).  Yes,  "Jesus is the incarnation of divine [wisdom], Sophia becomes flesh."  Umph, umph, umph, "Miss Celie!  I's feels like sanging!"   

"Sophia, Sophia, Sophia!  Ooooo wee!  Dat sho' is a purty name!"

© Dorinda G. Henry, 2010

THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!

"What Would Jesus Do?"

W.W.J.D?

"Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  He said to them, 'It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer:' 'but you are making it a den of robbers'" (NRSV Matthew 21:12).

Over the course of the last couple of weeks our bible study class has expanded into two different groups.  There is the Sunday morning, 9:30am group - that has been with me since the beginning, and now a Wednesday, 6:30pm group.  My 9:30am group is considered my advanced class.  We'll see how long it takes for the Wednesday night crew to show up on Sunday morning.  I understand for many, Sunday morning at 9:30am might be a little rough, but stay tuned, let's "see what colors Shug Avery g'on put on the wall this time."

As you know we are exploring the life and times of Jesus the Nazarene.  The man, Christians have built their entire faith upon.  It has been an interesting journey to say the least.  Initially, many in the second group found the class a bit overwhelming and, of course, threatening.  Many felt their faith was being called into question.  Some became disillusioned, and still others are waiting for the seven demons to come out of me.  It's like they're scared to be in the room with me, but they don't want to miss the drama!  And then there are my inquisitive, critical thinkers - whose life and faith walk has landed them in a space and place where suddenly a light bulb has gone off and they're beginning to see clearer.  I now understand more than ever what it is to teach and preach and to be there at the "a ha!" moment.  That's Good News!  With that, I come to this post.  "WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?"

I'm sure most of you think this cute little phrase just showed up in the mid 1990s, but nooo, remember, "What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9).  The same is true for this.  In 1896, Charles Sheldon penned a book entitled, In His Steps; What Would Jesus Do?  The book was based primarily upon Jesus being a "moral" example to follow, as opposed to the pie in the sky Saviour.  It really is interesting and quite frankly, rather comical to know that many Christians are walking around with this bracelet, or wearing t-shirts with the acronym on it without knowing that it is based upon "Christian Socialism."  That is, the ethos (spirit, ideology)  of it is rooted in a left of center Christianity and a politically socialist approach.  It is what scholars and progressive Christians define as a "Social Gospel" - applying our moral resources to issues of justice and human rights on a daily basis.  How then do we, progressive Christians, answer the question, "What Would Jesus Do?"  We have to first get a decent understanding of the WHO he was, and FROM whence he came.

The scriptures tell us, he was Jewish, the son of a carpenter and a virgin mother, Mary - ;) ;).  He may or may not have been married, hung out with a rag-tag gang of social misfits, and his ministry of compassion and inclusion lasted for about a year.   Not only was he said to be of God, but God indeed.  From the outset of his ministry, he presented himself in a way that has been characterized as the imitatio dei (imitation of God), one that reflected the imago dei (image of God) by living and being an example for others to follow.  At every turn he challenged the social  orders and political structures under which he lived.  He challenged his contemporary religious traditions, practices, and beliefs - those traditions that were based upon the purity system.  A system Marcus Borg points out as based upon social boundaries that separated persons between "pure and impure, righteous and sinner, whole and not whole, male and female, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile."  Jesus, the imitatio dei, on the other hand, introduced a conflicting system, an alternative system - God's system - that is based upon compassion - where there are no social boundaries.  Jesus' association and relationship with the outcast of the community, the impure (women, the poor, the physically maimed, those afflicted with illnesses and disease, the homeless, etc.) was a radical departure from the purity system.  Essentially, he was replacing the purity system of separation with God's system of compassion.

Our present day purity system is made up of the same types of powers and principalities.  We see and hear from the people who have established today's social boundaries based upon a tradition passed down to them by others who benefited from the same system.  We, too, are placed in social categories with varying degrees of purity (acceptable, righteous, "normal") that separate and divide us.  We are separated by race, gender, religion, economics and sexuality.  And each of those are further broken down into even more varying degrees of purity.  We, African American people, well hell, most of us for that matter, received our information about Jesus from our oppressors - those who enslaved our ancestors or from those of the dominant group.  Certainly, we know, and if we don't, we ought to know, that what we received was an indoctrination and not an education.  It was one that would not lead to a theology of liberation and compassion, but one that would lead to a theology of bondage and obtuse subjects.  It would work against it's very nature and thus facilitate its own demise.  Therefore, like the purity system faced by Jesus, we, too are faced with our own purity system and like Jesus, we, too, must take a stand. 

As it was and as it is still the case today, that system is threatened by the MAN and his message.  It also explains why this Jesus - this imitatio dei - this Jesus of compassion - this Jesus of equality - this Jesus of inclusion - the Jesus that called the religious leaders of his day "unmarked graves" for their focus on and preoccupation with money over and against justice - is not the Jesus being preached about or talked about in most mini and mega-churches today. 

WHAT WOULD JESUS DO about the church's response to the growing rate of illiteracy of our children?  About women being treated as second class citizens, raped, abused, and denied access to pulpits?  About the elderly?  About the poor?  About homelessness?  About people living with HIV/AIDS?  About same-and-both-gender loving people?  About our silence when our transgender brothers and sisters are beaten and killed like dogs in the street?  About ego driven declarations of war?  When confronted with social issues of his day, and the temple/church's response to them, it was recorded, that he "entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  He said to them, 'It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer:' 'but you are making it a den of robbers'" (Matthew 21:12).  Um hmph... You guessed it.  I gotta get with this thang according to the black woman's cotton patch version and answer the question; WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? this way;

"Tear the roof off, we're gonna tear the roof off the mother sucker

Tear the roof off the sucker

Tear the roof off, we're gonna tear the roof off the mother sucker

Tear the roof off the sucker...
We're gonna turn this mother out
We're gonna turn this mother out"

                                       (Parliament)

© Dorinda G. Henry, 2010

THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST! 

"What Manner of Man is This?"

"And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.  And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?  And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.  And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful?  How is it that ye have no faith?  And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, 'What manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him'" (KJV Mark 4:37-41)?

I was a precocious child to say the least.  Yes, it's true.  I know that might be hard for some of you to believe, but I have to be honest, I was a bit ahead of my time.  So it should be no surprise to you that as a child and blessed with preadolescence naivete', when I would hear stories like this about Jesus, I was absolutely fascinated by them.  I, too, like the men in the vessel accompanying Jesus, would marvel at what I had determined had undoubtedly occurred was an amazing magic trick.  I was so moved that I would offer to sweep the floor, take out the trash and do the dishes for a couple nickles so I could go to the corner store and buy a magic kit that would show me how to duplicate the same trick.  It was magic pure and simple!  Once I realized they didn't have a magic kit powerful enough to control the weather, I would pout and kick rocks all the way back home.  Then I would see something on TV where somebody was able to move objects with their mind!  I thought "What?  I could have done that without doing all that work for a couple of nickles?"  That did it.  I was off, waiting for the next storm to show up so I could run outside and fix my mind on the wind and make it settle down before it tore up somebody's house!  As soon as I saw the clouds forming, and tumbleweeds running down the street trying to get away from it, I would rush outside barefooted - cause Jesus was barefooted most of the time - and I would look that storm in its face and fix my mind on it!  If that didn't work, I would squint my eyes at it so it would know I was serious about this thang and meant business.  But, you see, um, in Texas, uhhhh yeah, Texas has dust storms and um, well... Uh, I couldn't concentrate because of the dust beating against my skin and getting into my eyes.  Or, Mama yelling at me from the window, "DORINDA! Get your little narrow ass back in this house!"  So... I figured, you know, I didn't have enough time!

Okay, okay, not to be outdone, I decided I was gonna do the "Walk on water" trick.  It was hot.  I couldn't swim and since no one was available to watch me, Mama wouldn't let me get in the water, so, I reasoned, "I'm a little girl and Jesus had to have weighed more than I do, so if the water could hold him, I know it can hold me!"  There I went.  And....  There I went - under water.  Thankfully God takes care of fools and babies and there was always someone close by who heard or saw my shrieks and shrills of panic or Mama running toward me screaming, "Lawd hammercy!  Help me Jesus!  Jesus!  Help me!"  By the time they got me out of the water, and Mama started whooping me, I stopped trying to be Jesus and started calling for him myself - "Jesus!  Jesus!  Jeeessssuuuusss!  Help me Jesus!"  Fortunately and unfortunately that was my last attempt at trying to recreate the miraculous events and circumstances that were attributed to that Jewish Mediterranean peasant called Jesus.  Fortunate because I stopped scaring the life out of Mama.  Unfortunate because I began to think all of it was a lie.

As Christians, many, most, if not all of us are indoctrinated into our faith with these fanciful, magical and unexplainable occurrences associated with Jesus the Christ to the point that we fail to acquaint ourselves with Jesus the Nazarene.  All too often we get caught up in the magnificent or the Magnificat and dwell on the beautiful and the glorious wonder of "The Greatest Story Ever Told" without walking along side this man as he daringly confronted the winds of religious arrogance and intolerance.  We shy away from the man as he stands in solidarity with the women, the sick, the poor, the homeless and "disinherited" of the earth.  We don't know that man!  We pass by like sleepwalking witnesses of his message of inclusion, love, honor, respect and responsibility to and for all humanity.  We run on to the end without standing by his side as he got caught up in the storms of lies, conspiracy, deceit, rejection and persecution.  No, we have no idea of the man whose death is falsely placed at the feet of the Jews - we just hate the Jews!  And why?  Because rather than introduce us to a person, the source of our faith as a revolutionary, a liberating "spirit person" - endowed with the same internal energy and availed access to the same external forces that we too share in - it was socially,  sexually, economically, culturally, politically and theologically expedient for us to be infected with hatred, disassociated, unaffected and thus in-effective in the lives of others suffering.

That and more is the crux behind this bible study series, "Who Is Jesus?" and, "What manner of man is this?"   I hope during this time together, walking along the dusty and perilous roads of change, we will be convicted to walk hand in hand, side by side, fully awake and conscious of our individual and collective responsibility to "lift as we climb."  It's our modern day miracle of presence, compassion, love and acceptance that will cause others to stand in awe and be so marveled by our works that they say one to another, "What manner of wo/man is this?"

© Dorinda G. Henry, 2010

THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!