Romero and Me--and All of Us

Oscar Romero is now officially a saint.  I've written about him many times before, but I can't resist writing about him again.  When I made this collage card, I couldn't believe that he'd ever be canonized:

I was alive when he was martyred, but I didn't hear or read about it.  I remember reading about some of the more famous murders, particularly of the nuns, and wondering why people would murder nuns or missionaries who were there to help--I had yet to learn of the horrors of colonialism throughout history.

In my first year of college, I was asked to be part of a service that honored the martyrdom of Romero, and this event was likely how I heard of him first.  Or maybe it was earlier that semester when our campus pastor took a group of us to Jubilee Partners.

Jubilee Partners was a group formed by the same people that created Koinonia, the farm in Americus Georgia that most people know because they also created Habitat for Humanity--but they were so much more, in their witness of how Christian love could play out in real practice in one of the most segregated and poor parts of the U.S. south.  In the early years of Jubilee Partners, when I went there, the group helped people from Central America get to Canada, where they could get asylum in the 1980's, when they couldn't get asylum in the U.S.

My consciousness was formed by these encounters and by other encounters I had throughout the 80's.  I met many people in the country illegally, and I heard about the horrors that brought them here.  Then, as now, I couldn't imagine why we wouldn't let these people stay.

At the end of my undergraduate years, just after Platoon came out, my college had a screening of Oliver Stone's Salvador--what a powerful movie.  Stone does a great job of showing the importance of the Catholic church in that war-torn decade of that country.

Many of us may think that those civil wars are over, but many countries in Central America are still being torn apart by violence.  The words of Romero decades ago are sadly still relevant today:  "Brothers, you came from our own people. You are killing your own brothers. Any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God, which says, 'Thou shalt not kill'. No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. It is high time you obeyed your consciences rather than sinful orders. The church cannot remain silent before such an abomination. ...In the name of God, in the name of this suffering people whose cry rises to heaven more loudly each day, I implore you, I beg you, I order you: stop the repression."

But his teachings go beyond just a call for an end to killing.  His messages to the wider church are still powerful:  "A church that doesn't provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn't unsettle, a word of God that doesn't get under anyone’s skin, a word of God that doesn't touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed — ​what gospel is that?"

And even those of us who are not part of a faith tradition can find wisdom in his teachings:  "Each time we look upon the poor, on the farmworkers who harvest the coffee, the sugarcane, or the cotton... remember, there is the face of Christ."

If we treated everyone we met as if that person was God incarnate, what a different world we would have!

But for those of us who are tired from the work of this weary world, here's a message of hope and a reminder of the long view:  "We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own."

On this day that honors a man who was not always honored, let us take heart from his words and from his example.  Let us also remember that he was not always this force for good in the world; indeed, he was chosen to be Archbishop because the upper management of the church thought he would keep his nose stuck in a book and out of politics. 

In these days that feel increasingly more perilous, let us recommit ourselves to the type of love that Romero called us to show:  "Let us not tire of preaching love; it is the force that will overcome the world."

Reformation Collage

On Sunday, I was in charge of the interactive worship service.  I thought about the upcoming holidays--no, not those holidays (Advent, Christmas, New Year's, Epiphany), but the holidays at the end of the month:  Reformation, All Saints, and the various harvest festivals we might celebrate.  Oh yes, and there's Halloween and Day of the Dead.

I decided to think about Reformation by way of collage.  It's been a tumultuous time in nationwide politics, so I wasn't sure I wanted us to think about Reformation in a larger, nationwide sense.  I suggested that we think about Reformation of ourselves and our smaller communities.  What needs to be reformed?  We talked about the differences between reforming and just throwing away and starting over.

We started with prayer.  I prayed for insight and openness, and then I suggested that we go through the pile of magazines that I brought and just rip out what was appealing.  Then we'd see what might be revealed.

It's a variation of vision boards, of course.  I've always wondered what kinds of collages we'd have with a completely different set of magazines.  I had a half year's worth of  O (Oprah) and Eating Well magazines.  I had some Country Living and some religious titles.  It may not surprise you to see what we came up with.

Mine looks very ragged.  We didn't have enough scissors for everyone, so I just tore a bit with my fingers.  You don't need a degree in Psychology to interpret mine:

I really liked this approach from one of my fellow creatives:

I like the spirit of the Rilke quote of course, but more than that, I like the willingness to do something different:

As we worked on our collages, we shared our highs and lows.  At then end of our creating, we talked  a bit about what leapt out at us.  We finished with communion.

If I was doing this again, in addition to praying first, we'd read some scripture.  But overall, I'm pleased with how the service went.  I'm not sure that Martin Luther would approve; he might argue that we should be reforming institutions, not our individual lives.

Saint Romero

Thirty-five years ago today, Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated; no one has ever been brought to trial for this crime.

Until recently, I assumed that we would never see Romero beatified.  But this new Pope has begun to speed up the process.

Saint Romero--how I like the sound of that. 

A few years ago, I created this card to commemorate his life:

I find his life inspiring for all the reasons you might expect:  the standing up to oppression, the speaking truth to power, the martyrdom.

Lately I've been thinking about the fact that he came into greatness late in his life; he was born in 1917, and I don't think he did his best work until the 1970's,, in his late 50's/early 60's.  Looking at the trajectory of his life from the middle years of the century, one would not have predicted that he would speak so eloquently about injustice and the need to fight against it.

In fact, many scholars believe that he was chosen to be Archbishop precisely because he was expected not to make trouble.  All that changed when one of his good friends, an activist Jesuit priest, was assassinated by one of the death squads roaming the country. Romero became increasingly political, increasingly concerned about the poor who were being oppressed by the tiny minority of rich people in the country. He called for reform. He called on the police and the soldiers to stop killing their brethren. And for his vision, he was killed as he consecrated the bread for Mass.

Romero knew that he was in danger from various political forces in the country, but he refused to cower in fear and back down. Likewise, Jesus must have known what wrath he was bringing down upon himself, but he did not back down. Until the end of his life, he called upon us to reform our earthly systems, systems that enrich a few on the backs of the many. Romero and Christ both show us that the forces of empire do not take kindly to being criticized.

In the years since Romero was assassinated, we have seen the kind of economic injustice that infected El Salvador, where a very small proportion of the population controlled much of the money, take over much of the world.  What would Romero call on us to do?  How can we change the very economic structure that oppresses so many?

It's likely not enough for us who have much to give away our wealth, although it's important to share.  But that action won't change the larger system.

I wish I could end with a reassurance that the system will be changed if we just take action--but this time leading us to Holy Week makes me want to go a different direction.

Romero's life story shows that the system will resist change violently.  But the Passion story shows us that even the violence wrought by unjust earthly systems can be changed into a force for redemption and resurrection.  Humans may not be able to force that change--but God can.

Callings of All Kinds

We had a great one day Create in Me retreat with the women's group of St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Springfield, Virginia.  The compressed schedule that we created worked well.  We spent the morning looking primarily at the first creation story in Genesis and talking a bit about the more well-known Adam and Eve story.  And in the afternoon, we looked at God's response to his creations not behaving as he had asked.  It went very well.

We had 5 drop-in stations.  People could make a small flower arrangement or a bow out of paper.  We had a station where people could use markers and stamps to make cards for the troops, and we had a yarn station where people could work on prayer shawls.  I led a drop in station that focused on spiritual journaling and haiku.  Everyone seemed engaged.

The food was wonderful.  One of the women makes cinnamon rolls that are worth every dense calorie.  We had sandwiches, salad, and fruit platters brought in from Wegman's for lunch.  Yumm.

Our closing service was simple, yet meaningful.  We sang some songs, read some Bible passages, and ended with the anointing of hands.

It went very well, which surprised me to a certain extent, because we relied on the women's group to get a lot of it organized (the food and the drop in stations) with little help from us.  Before, my mom still lived in the area, so she did a lot of the organizing and set up.  This time, to make the situation more interesting, one of the leaders of the women's group had to leave for a trip just weeks before the retreat when her mother died suddenly.  But other women stepped up to the challenge.

In some ways, I feel it went better than it had any right to go.  In other ways, I think that it's a great way to run a retreat:  give everyone a chunk and trust that it will come together.

At my mom's new church, they have a week-end long retreat.  I'm impressed that people can be convinced to dedicate a complete week-end.  We've been thinking about ways we could lengthen our Create in Me retreat.  I want to start thinking about Bible studies that I've led and how to have several of them in my files, studies that can be expanded or compressed, depending on what the group needs.

As we left the retreat and drove to my sister's house, my sister said, "You have really missed your calling.  Or maybe you haven't missed it, but you sure have an additional calling."

I felt those Holy Spirit nudges throughout the week-end.  As I sat at worship service with my parents yesterday, I felt this whisper that said that I can't stay in my current work situation forever.  The time may be coming where I need a place that's more in sync with my values. 

That whisper was before the passage from Isaiah (55:2): 

"Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,

and your labour for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food."

That passage has always spoken to me.  It shows up when I need to hear it.  I should probably paste it to my walls.

I'd love to do a collage.  Or maybe I already have.  Last week-end I created a collage that you can see in this post on my creativity blog.

Now is the time to come down from the mountain of my week-end retreat.  But happily, soon it will be time to head to Lutheridge for the longer Create in Me retreat.

There's still time and space for you to come too!  Go here for more details.

If you can't come this year, put it on your calendar for next year; it's always the week-end after Easter.

And if you'd like a shorter Create in Me retreat with a group at your church or other organization, we can bring the experience to you.  Contact me for all the possibilities.

Collage Experiment: Soul Cards, Inspiration Cards

My spouse and I spent the week-end playing with collage. He's working on a large piece with lots of under-the-sea images from his SCUBA magazines. I wanted to play on a smaller canvas with the glitter cards that we picked up at an after-Christmas sale. I also have several old Lutheran green hymnbooks (the LBW), which I retrieved from the garbage and held onto for just this very purpose. You may have to expand the photo to see the parts of the hymnbook that I use.

When I found this image of Archbishop Oscar Romero, a hero of mine, I knew I wanted to do an updated Saint card.



I've always loved Compline, and so I wanted to create a Compline card, something soothing to stare at before sleep.

"Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel" is my favorite Advent hymn, my favorite Christmas season song. I liked mixing in some female images of God with the Advent theme.

I created additional cards, posted here at my creativity blog. I had great fun creating these, and I'll probably do more. What will I do with them? I like the idea of using them for inspiration, both in how I live my life, and in my writing process. Stay tuned!