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In his excellent sermon yesterday, as part of our Lenten Preaching Series, the Rev. Mark Scott drew our attention to a remarkable poem by Langston Hughes. Few of us had ever heard of the poem before, but we found it arresting. We were struck by how it’s refrain - "Let America be America again" - echoed as a counterpoint to the motto "Make America Great Again." We were moved by its insistence on the holy connection of all people and its implication that Resurrection happens to us rather than to me.
Langston Hughes' message feels particularly timely in focusing us for Holy Week. Episcopalians loooove the Paschal Triduum. But what is our posture as we dive into it this year? Are we just putting on a show which will leave people saying "They did a good job" or "They picked the right hymns"? Or are we inviting people into a deep truth about how we are connected to God and one another and how to get to the Resurrection?
We get to the Resurrection together - through washing one another's feet, holding the big wooden cross for others to kneel before, staying silent before the reserved sacrament, giving generously to the work of the saints in Jerusalem through the Good Friday offering, making space in our calendars to stay up late (or get up very early) to keep vigil alongside one another. All of this prepares us to proclaim whole-heartedly the mysterious truth in which we place all of our hope: "He is Risen!"
In the photo: Ruth Zakarian, Ned Notis-McConarty, Mark Scott, Christie Towers
Dean Amy
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