Meditations September 2020
As we prepared for our 2020 elections, we recognized the need to pray and meditate fervently. We began posting thoughts to help guide, focus, and inspire all who sought to pray, meditate, and light their candles during this season. Today, we continue to post meditations in the same spirit which led us to begin this effort. Below, please scroll through our collection of multi-faith perspectives to help you prepare your heart and spirit, uplift you, and encourage you through the days ahead. Together, let us seek to bring Healing within our relationships and country, as well as support for issues of Justice and Peace.
Day #7
9-30-2020: How long, O God, shall I be a bystander?
by The Rev. Dr. H. Stephen Shoemaker
In face of the denigration of many Americans from the highest office in the land—people of color, women, immigrants—God, give us courage to resist the policies and language of all in public office who demean the dignity of human persons made in the image of God.
On November 9, 1938 in Germany, the mostly hidden and unofficial violence against the Jewish people turned open and official. Throughout Germany Jewish homes, synagogues and businesses were ransacked, holy books burned, sacred objects destroyed. It is called Krystallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass.
That night, the young theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who would later be executed for his defense of the Jews and opposition to Hitler, read these words from Psalm 74, verses 1-10:
1) O God, why have You rejected us forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
2) Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance; And this Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.
3) Turn Your footsteps toward the perpetual ruins; The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary.
4) Your adversaries have roared in the midst of Your meeting place; They have set up their own standards for signs.
5) It seems as if one had lifted up His axe in a forest of trees.
6) And now all its carved work They smash with hatchet and hammers.
7) They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name.
8) They said in their heart, “Let us completely subdue them.” They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9) We do not see our signs; There is no longer any prophet, Nor is there any among us who knows how long.
10) How long, O God, will the adversary revile, And the enemy spurn Your name forever? ([N]RSV)*
Echoing the question in verse 10, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in the margin of his Bible: “How long, O God, shall I be a bystander?” Here is one of the deepest meanings of the cross we take up as we follow Jesus: we will no longer be bystanders.
*New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
H. Stephen Shoemaker is pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Statesville, North Carolina. He has served churches in Louisville, Kentucky; Ft. Worth, Texas; and Charlotte, North Carolina. Dr. Shoemaker has taught preaching and religion on the university and seminary levels, most recently at Johnson C. Smith University, an historically black university in Charlotte. He is also the author of eight books.
Day #6
9-29-2020: DIETRICH BONHOEFFER'S CALL TO "ACTION"
by Connie Kissinger
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian. As Nazi influence in Germany intensified, he came to America to study theology. While attending a Baptist church in Harlem, he became deeply interested in the issue of racial injustice.
When Hitler came to power, Dietrich returned to his country…..to "share the trials of this time with my people." He took a bold stand when other church leaders failed to do so.
Dietrich’s active involvement in the resistance movement led to his capture. He was sent to a concentration camp and executed.
Here is a section of his final writings shortly before his death:
ACTION:
Dare to do what is just, not what fancy may call for; Lose no time with what may be, but boldly grasp what is real. The world of thought is escape; freedom comes only through action. Step out beyond anxious waiting and into the storm of events, carried only by God’s command and by your own faith; then will freedom exultantly cry out to welcome your spirit.
We take a form of action as we gather in prayer and meditation, our collective positive energy holding a space for the intervention of Grace……for Truth, Justice and Peace in these tumultuous times in our country. - Connie Kissinger
Connie Kissinger is an Hawai`i-born, retired entertainer, currently residing in Houston, TX. She shares that she is thrilled to join with kindred souls of Shine Your Light. She reads her meditation in the attached video.
September 28, 2020
Day #5 - Yom Kippur
From sundown on Sunday evening, September 27th, to sundown on Monday, September 28th, our Jewish brothers and sisters are observing Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. In addition to fasting and repentance, FORGIVENESS is a major component of taking part in this, considered their holiest day of the year. It is also traditional on this day to light a Memorial Candle as an observant takes time to remember those who have died. This year, Israel’s President Rivlin has requested that Israelis across the globe light a Memorial Candle to remember those who have died of CoVid-19. Some will light a candle in memory of their parents, adhering to the commandment to “Honor thy father and mother.” This provides an opportunity to not only ask forgiveness from a parent for actions and attitudes toward them, but to also offer forgiveness to that parent. As you light your candle in prayer and meditation for our country, perhaps there are others whom you would like to remember. May the time you offer in Forgiveness also include a sense of Healing and Gratitude – not only for the relationship we have had with those who have died, but for our relationship with each other…and with our country. Thank you for your continued commitment to pray and meditate for our country. We are seeing Light shining and revealing Truth each day! May it also continue to shine forth from your heart and within your life. KEEP SHINING! The Shine Your Light Team
Day #4
9/27/2020 - A musical meditation, based upon Psalm 1: TRUTH IS GOD’S GIFT
- Interpretive text by Mel White –
Performed by the Turtle Creek Chorale of Dallas, Texas. Mel White was commissioned for this album, “Psalms,” to provide the lyrics to the opening track. For a sound track to hear this beautifully-rendered anthem composed by Danny Ray, please see the attached recording. We are grateful to the Rev. Dr. White, Dr. Tim Seelig (the TCC's former conductor), and Sean Baugh, current Artistic Director of the Turtle Creek Chorale, for providing us with permission to use this recording on our website.
Freedom comes to those who love the truth --
Not to those who follow after half-truth, distortion, and lies.
Truth is god’s gift.
Somewhere in your heart, you know what is right and good and true.
Seek it. Find it. Act upon it.
Let it set you free.
And you will be like a tree planted in good, rich soil by the river of life.
The hungry will be fed by your fruit.
The weak will sit in your shade and grow strong again.
No storm will bend your trunk. No gale will break your branches.
But if you follow after untruth, if you live your life on lies,
You will be like sand in a desert storm.
You will be like leaves in an autumn wind.
And when that moment comes when you see yourself through the loving eyes of god,
You will not stand proudly, but fall gasping to your knees, ashamed.
Your creator will walk beside you on your journey after truth.
But if you follow untruth, you will walk alone.
Freedom comes to those who love the truth.
Truth is god’s gift.
Somewhere in your heart, you know what is right and good and true.
Seek it. Find it. Act upon it.
Let it set you free.
- Mel White
For 30 years, the Rev. Dr. Mel White had served the evangelical Christian community as a pastor, seminary professor, best-selling author, prize-winning filmmaker, communication consultant and ghost writer to its most famous and powerful leaders. He was hired by national publishers to write books — primarily “autobiographies” — for his ghost-writing clients including Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, D. James Kennedy, and Pat Robertson. In April, 1994, Mel came out of the closet to give hope and healing to other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Christians, to confront the misleading anti-gay rhetoric of the radical right, and to launch his own fight for justice and understanding for LGBT people. He and his husband, Gary Nixon, have traveled across the country, speaking on university campuses, teaching the “soul force” principles of Gandhi and King, organizing people of faith to do justice.
Day #3
9-26-2020: A PRAYER FOR PUBLIC OFFICERS
by Walter Rauschenbush, and read by Thomas Poole
“O God, Thou great governor of all the world, we pray thee for all who hold public office and power, for the life, the welfare, and the virtue of the people are in their hands to make or to mar. We remember with shame that in the past the mighty have preyed on the labors of the poor; that they have laid nations in the dust by their oppression, and have thwarted the love and prayers of thy servants. We bless thee that the new spirit of democracy has touched even the kings of the earth. We rejoice that by the free institutions of our country the tyrannous instincts of the strong may be curbed and turned to the patient service of the commonwealth.
“Strengthen the sense of duty in our political life. Grant that the servants of the state may feel ever more deeply that any diversion of their public powers for private ends is a betrayal of their country. Purge our cities and states and nation of the deep causes of corruption which have so often made sin profitable and uprightness hard. Bring to an end the stale days of party cunning. Breathe a new spirit into our nation. Lift us from the dust and mire of the past that we may gird ourselves for a new day’s work. Give our leaders a new vision of the possible future of our country and set their hearts on fire with large resolves. Raise up a new generation of public [servants], who will have the faith and daring of the Kingdom of God in their hearts, and who will enlist for life in a holy warfare for the freedom and rights of the people.” – from Prayer of the Social Awakening, by Walter Rauschenbush, c. 1910
Walter Rauschenbusch (1861 - 1918) was a clergyman and theology professor in the United States. As an ordained Baptist minister in New York City, his eyes were opened, and he agonized over the myriad of social problems and suffering he encountered in a poverty-stricken neighborhood. He was one to speak out and take action, eventually becoming acknowledged as the leader of the Social Gospel movement in the United States.
(https://www.britannica.com/biography/Walter-Rauschenbusch, accessed 9/25/2020 )
Please visit the video below to access a reading of this prayer by its contributor, Tom Poole, of Honolulu, Hawai`i. Dr. Poole, a musicologist and theologian by training, is a church musician by profession. He takes seriously the study of culture, music and the arts for expressions of the presence of the Divine.
September 25, 2020
Day #2 - Today
by Dr. Tim Seelig
Today, I woke with renewed anticipation of a new day. “Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. And what to my wondering eye did appear?”
A huge mess, that’s what.
A quick look around revealed pain and suffering of Biblical proportions - surely harbingers of the end times. The temptation was to return to the fluffy down comforter that had moments ago offered me sanctuary from all the woes of the world. It was even still warm.
But no, that was not my calling for this day. I was called to more. To do better. But where could I find the strength to fight? By looking inside. OK, here we go.
Sit quietly. Close your eyes (which you can’t actually do because you have to keep reading. Just pretend.) Take in a deep cleansing breath. Then another. At the top of that second breath, gather all the thoughts you have of fear and dread and anger. Hold it as long as it takes to think of every last one of them. Some may even have faces! It may take a while. You may turn blue. Not to worry, you can’t die from holding your breath. Then, let that breath go and as you do, send those nasty particles as far away as you can (more than 6 feet). Make sure it is a complete emptying of the clutter. Hold the empty for a moment thinking of only joy and peace and those who bring it. Then with a slow inhalation, bring in only beauty. (You may have to rinse and repeat throughout the day!)
This day will be a great day. It will be great because you heeded the call!
A joy-filled day to all and to all a goodnight.
Dr. Tim Seelig is the Artistic Director of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. Prior to this position, he served for two decades as director of the Turtle Creek Chorale in Texas. He has authored five books on the topics of choral music and vocal technique. As a clinician, he has appeared at state, regional and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association and the Music Educators National Conference.
Day #1 - The Awesome Power of Prayer
by the Rev. Dr. Allan Aubrey Boesak
In 1985, seeing the horrific carnage being caused in our communities by the police and the army and intensified by the State of Emergency, I repeated a call I made first in 1979: for the church to pray for the downfall of the apartheid regime in South Africa. It caused havoc. One church leader thought it was an issue to be discussed. The rest fiercely rejected it out of hand. Politicians, businesspersons, and even academics screamed indignation. In the media it was chaos. The regime was enraged. I, and those who agreed with me were accused of plotting the violent overthrow of the government. The abuse was terrifying.
Our response that it was a call to prayer, not violent revolution, that we were calling for prayer precisely because we did not want violent revolution, was not even heard. Our question whether the white minority, racist, oppressive, apartheid regime was in fact legitimate, was ignored. As was our question why prayer should strike such fear in the hearts of such powerful people. The question why a call to prayer would cause more outrage in these circles than detention without trial and torture, or children and the elderly hungered to death in those concentration camps the regime called “Bantustans,” or unarmed children shot to death in the streets, could not even be answered. The answer was all too painfully clear. All of them benefited from this system of hatred, submission, and exploitation.
But we persisted, prevailed, and prayed in churches all over the country. It was a stunning moment. Thousands of people, on their knees, praying for deliverance, justice, and peace. Across the country the terror went on. Perhaps more so, driven by the madness of fear, not of us, but for the judgment of God. Around the church where I preached as police with dogs, armored vehicles, guns and tear gas were lined up in their hundreds. Inside the church, however, there was no fear.
We knew three things: one, the power of God is above all. Two, the power of prayer is unstoppable. Three, our prayers were righteous. We were not staging a stunt. Our prayers were rooted in the prayers going up in homes, in prison cells, and churches all over the country for years now. Separately and together, in one continuous line of fragile faith and unshakeable hope, a million candles were burning. The darkness did not know it yet, but it was already being driven away.
That was 1985. By 1989 the walls of apartheid were crumbling and falling. 1990 saw the beginning of the end, and the glimmer of our candles became the light of the rising sun. There is awesome power in prayer. I know. I have lived it. © Allan Aubrey Boesak
Dr, Allan Aubrey Boesak
Allan Boesak is a South African Black liberation theologian who played a leading role in the anti-apartheid struggle. An author and global human rights activist, he teaches Black liberation theology and ethics at the University of Pretoria. He and his family proudly consider themselves part of the Keawala'i Church `ohana (family).
In Preparation
9-21-2020 – In Preparation
by The Rev. Danette Kong
We cannot prepare for what lies ahead without fully encountering our very selves. Who are we to light our candles, to meditate, to pray, and stand for justice and peace, without taking into full account the condition of our own inner being?
None of us is able to come to this sacred act of prayer and meditation with a completely clean heart, for each of us holds knowledge of our failures and incompleteness. But let us approach these 40 days, offering our hearts in humility and love.
Thank you for bringing yourself to this effort, along with your hope, your talent, your joys, your dreams and accomplishments – and yes, even your broken spirit, your overblown ego, and judgmentalism. Bring your whole self, and find healing in your interaction with the Divine.
As you read these words by Hindu poet and philosopher, Rabindranath Tagore, recognize that it is not your place of worship that matters, or even the ritual you ascribe to, but the condition of your heart. Read his words as you anticipate our 40 days of prayer and meditation. How are you preparing your heart?
“Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God, first fill your own house with the fragrance of love. Go not to the temple to light candles before the altar of God, first remove the darkness of sin from your heart. Go not to the temple to bow down your head in prayer, first learn to bow in humility before your fellow men. Go not to the temple to pray on bended knees, first bend down to lift someone who is down trodden. Go not to the temple to ask for forgiveness for your sins, first forgive from your heart those who have sinned against you.” – by Rabindranath Tagore, of Calcutta, India (1861-1941). He was the first lyricist, as well as the first non-European to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 1914.
Danette Kong, retired hospital chaplain and ordained clergy with the United Church of Christ, is a member of Hui Aloha `o Maui Indivisible, and reads her meditation in the attached video.
Over one hundred interfaith and community organizations in Hawai`i rang their bells for peace on Monday, September 21, 2020. Many of us shared our desire and commitment for world peace by sounding our own bells or singing bowls. You can watch a videotape of all the action on the Facebook page of KTUH - FM Honolulu. The ceremony began at 11:40 a.m., Hawai`i time, with ringing for 5 minutes at noon. This joyful and meaningful celebration was coordinated by the Buddhist temples of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawai`i.
A Reflection on 9-11-2001
by Sunway
I was in LA. Sound asleep in a quiet hotel room when my phone started ringing at 5:50am. “Who in the world is calling me at this hour?” I thought. It was my friend and drummer, Shane. “Turn on the TV” was all he said. As I watched the horrific videos replay over and over of a plane slamming into the first World Trade Center tower, my mind went to my family in Hawaii. They were all asleep. I began calling. Repeating the words Shane had said to me. “Turn on the TV.” What I remember most was explaining to my 75 yr old grandfather what had happened.. somehow he didn’t want to hear about it. He said he’d check later. He said he was going back to sleep. I pleaded with him to check the news. I explained what had happened. I knew he understood what I was telling him but he would not turn on the TV, he said. Later I would come to realize it reminded him too much of the attack on Pearl Harbor. And he wasn’t ready to face that sort of horror and loss again. And now, 19 years later, we are faced with a new and different kind of attack. And a new and different kind of loss. An attack on our health, firstly... but also an attack on our way of living, on what we perceive to be the loss of our freedoms, on our lives before COVID.... on, many say, the loss of our democracy. How do we learn from our past? Can we allow hindsight and the pain of what we’ve endured, reach us to move forward with compassion and unity? Like we did in the days, weeks, and months after 9/11? To not rely so much on what we’re told, but more on what we know and what we feel? I still have faith in the greater good. I still believe in that light that shines deep within no matter how much chaos and destruction surrounds it. Tell someone you love them today. Attempt to listen to understand, not to respond. Our power is in our own hands. Not in some politician’s, not in some pastor’s, or rabbi’s, or some guru’s words. Definitely not in what we see in social media or on cable network TV. Trust yourself. Love your family and friends. Take care of your neighbors. And never forget. - from Sunway, professional singer-songwriter from Honolulu, Hawai`i.
9-9-2020: PERFECT LOVE
by Dr. Ellen Caringer
Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect love. - I John 4:18
Love is Letting Go of Fear - Jerry Jampolsky M.D., author of the book Love is Letting Go of Fear
You gain strength, Courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face . . . .
You must do the thing you cannot do. - Eleanor Roosevelt
And when doubt, despair and denial threaten to dismantle your dreams, Love will rear up in your defense. - Sarah Ban Breathnach
Right now between pandemics and politics that seek to sow discord and racial divisions, it feels ever so tempting to retreat in fear. But comfort and peace cannot be found when we retreat in fear. Stepping out and taking a stand against racial hatred and the politics of division can also feel very fearful if we forget that such a stand is borne of deep love. A deep love that is pure and buoyed by a higher power that loves and cares for each of us and promises to accompany us each step of the way. It is in stepping out, in faith, that we can feel the brush of angels’ wings accompanying our flight. So today if you are feeling fearful about the next steps you face in these days of uncertainty, know there is a loving powerful spirit who does the heavy lifting, if we are willing to ask for that help.
Today, as often happens, I feel those moments of fear that seem to nip at my heals in these times of trouble. But I am slowly choosing not to look behind, but ahead - at the prize - at the goal of a world where all live in peace, and in love, and without division and racial hatred. It will take work and prayer on all of our parts to hold that vision. Let us also remember that there is added strength when we step out together. And when we feel fear creep in, let’s remember the words of Sarah Ban Breathnach: “ . . . . courage is fear that has said her prayers.”
May perfect love accompany each of our steps in the days ahead!
- Ellen Caringer, PhD (Kihei, Maui) Dr. Caringer is a child psychologist and neuropsychologist on the island of Maui. She is one of the founders of Hui Aloha `o Maui Indivisible and a member of Keawala`i Congregational Church.
Here's a little video to add a spark of joy to your day!
Dustin Ebesu of Makakilo, O`ahu, Hawai`i, and his harp, Ellie, sent us this rendition of "This Little Light of Mine." Dustin says, "Everyone, let your candles and heart shine light, love, peace and harmony to our country and our world. Mahalo!"