John 20.19-31        When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Reflection       Today I find myself in the locked and stuffy upstairs room with the disciples. Hiding, afraid, reviewing the countless times I have turned away from Jesus, how I leap to judge others and fail to love and care for my neighbor because I am more concerned with procuring my own safety, security, esteem, power and control. My faith is fickle. I am weak, a coward and a hypocrite.

How about you…. Are you in the upper room too? When have you turned away from Jesus? Hidden your eyes? Closed your ears? Crossed your fingers?....said yes… but? 

Yet, even as we hide, stew and wait for the axe to fall, something extraordinary happens. In the depths of our darkest moment Jesus comes and whispers to our heart, “Peace be with you.”

Peace be with us? How can we be peaceful? The world outside hates us, persecutes us?   It is exploding in violence and every dis-ease. Fear is mongered at every corner. And inside we feel awful, despicable. No matter how many times we say we want to follow Jesus, we turn away and follow our own self interest.

Still, Jesus is relentless and says to us again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Then he breathes the Holy Spirit into us. We are not condemned, rebuked or turned away. In spite of our guilt and fear, in spite of being immersed in a world erupting in violence, vitriol and hatefulness, Jesus breathes on us and we are made one with Jesus and the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.

We are made to participate in the  Divine life of the Trinity, which is why Jesus says, “as the Father has sent me, so I send you.” We unapologetically  participate in the divine life of the Trinity to continue Jesus’ mission bringing peace to all the earth, being peace in all situations. Jesus says to us again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you,” full of peace in the power of the Holy Spirit. Go now into the world, live without fear and be the peace you seek.   

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Gospel Text for the Great Vigil of Easter 15 April 2017

Matthew 28:1-10        After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.' This is my message for you." So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Reflection       Sometimes things do not turn out the way we imagine. Early in the morning as the first day of the week was dawning, the two Marys go to the tomb.  But nothing is as they imagined. Instead of it being a still, dark, quiet morning there is a “great earthquake and an angel of the Lord appears like lightening with clothing white as snow.”

Instead of finding Jesus’ tomb sealed and guarded by Roman soldiers, they find the stone rolled back from the tomb and the Guards struck dumb. Instead of finding Jesus’ decaying body they find an angel who speaks  to them. Where there had been nothing but loss, betrayal, decay and grief, now there is something, a message.

The angel of the Lord says “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified”.  Then the angel directs the women to look into empty space, see the place where he was laid, “he is not here….” In the very experience of God’s absence there is a message of hope, “he is risen…he is not here.”

Hope, the gift of Easter, is found in absence. Hope is in the mystery. Hope is the surprising light found in the midst of darkness. The other day I was talking with a seventy six year old woman who was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when she was eighteen years old. Her hands and feet, shoulders and knees were torturously disfigured, which only made what she said to me even more astonishing. “It turns out I am grateful for my rheumatoid arthritis ( a terribly painful and debilitating disease). Without it I probably would never have left my dysfunctional family of origin in their tiny impoverished midwest town, met so many fabulous doctors and healers, and learned how to pray and put my faith in God rather than my body and choose to live my life to the fullest.” Tears took the place of the words I could not get out. Tears of awe and gladness exchanged places with tears of of sorrow. Sometimes things do not turn out the way we imagine, and so we proclaim, “Alleluia, Christ is risen!”

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Gospel text for Passion Sunday, 9 April 2017

Matthew 27:11-54        Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?” But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.” Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” All of them said, “Let him be crucified!” Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” Then the people as a whole answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots; then they sat down there and kept watch over him. Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’” The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.

From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

Reflection        “… let him be crucified…crucify him” It is hard to hear those words. Even more difficult to say or shout them. The other day I was talking with someone who finds the words, “Crucify him,” down right offensive - he does not like that we say them in our passion narratives. They leave a bad taste is his mind and in his mouth. They are not the winsome version of Christianity he prefers. But here is the thing, every time we judge ourselves as too short, too fat, not good enough, too old, not right, not smart, not worthy…  only human… we are essentially shouting, crucify him, crucify him.

How is this so? Because the Christ, the Word made flesh, lives and breathes and finds its being in and of and as each and every one of us. Divinity, the Christ, is not distant, remote or other. This is the message of the Incarnation, this is the gift of Christmas. God is present and active in and of and as each of us.

That said, when we judge ourselves, mistreat, disregard or abuse ourselves we are essentially crucifying Jesus, the Christ that dwells with us. Likewise, when we dispise, debase, devalue or deny another person, we may just as well be throwing stones and shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify her!” 

It may be difficult to wrap our minds around this. It certainly was for the religious officials whom we hear in John’s gospel castigating Jesus, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God." Jesus answered, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, you are gods’?” (Here Jesus, a good and faithful Jew, is quoting the Hebrew scriptures, Psalm 82.6 “You are gods, children of the Most High, all of you.”)   Jesus continues trying to explain to the irate religious officials that this is not blasphemy. This is the true identity of God’s people who from the beginning are made in the image and likeness of God, children of the Most High. “If those to whom the word of God came were called 'gods'-and the scripture cannot be annulled- can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, 'I am God's Son'? (John 10.33-36) Remember, this is what actually gets Jesus crucified… claiming his identity with God.

We are gods, children of the Most High, all of us. It is difficult for us to wrap our minds around this message because we see where it got Jesus - crucified! Nonetheless, as Jesus’ sisters and brothers,  we are children of God, we are inherently good, unquestionably valuable and find our identity in God. 

The way we treat ourselves and one another is the way we treat Jesus. When we value and care for ourselves and one anther we are turning toward Jesus and revering the Christ that abides with us and all people. On the other hand, when we devalue, degrade or otherwise fail to care for ourselves and one another we are crucifying Jesus, the Christ, our own True Self.

It is no wonder we balk at the words, “Let him be crucified.” They strike at the core of our own being because they condemn the Divinity the lives and breathes and finds its being in each of us, “children of the Most High, all of (us).” It is no wonder we deny our Divine True Self. We are afraid of what other people will say and do to us. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 19 March 2017

John 4:5-42

Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.  A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”

Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him.

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”

Reflection

When Jesus looked at the woman at Jacob’s well he did not see a foreigner, he did not see an unaccompanied woman, he did not see a sinner.  Jesus saw a woman who had spent her life searching for something to quench her desire, her deep longing for the kind of love that is untouched by the vagaries of time and circumstance. Jesus must have looked into this woman’s eyes and recognized her longing for the eternal love of God. So Jesus offered her just that, a blessing that would become in her “a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”

Here is the thing, every day Jesus had to decide to risk his security, safety, esteem, power and control - all of his programs for personal happiness - in order to live in accord with the will of God; to love God with all his “heart, soul, mind and strength…and to love (his) neighbor as himself.”  Every day, every hour, Jesus had to decide to what he would say yes, yes. Would it be yes to his personal privilege, pleasure or protection or would it be yes for the good of others, the benefit of many, for long term gain rather than instant gratification? 

We can only imagine what Jesus must have been feeling in his heart while offering blessing to the woman at Jacob’s well. Perhaps there is a clue in his response to the disciples concern about him having skipped a meal to linger at the well. “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”… “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.” The deepest desire of Jesus’ heart is to do the will of God. In doing the will of God Jesus is nourished and sustained.

This is the way of worshipping God in spirit and in truth; acknowledging the deepest desire of our hearts,  encountering God therein and passing on the blessing for the benefit of others. In this we are nourished and sustained. 

Every day, every hour, Jesus had to decide to what he would say yes, yes. Every hour of every day we also must decide to what we will say yes. “What is your heart’s desire? What do you wish for yourself, for your loved ones and for the world? Is it all about me or is it all about we?” Our answers to these questions determine whether we will forever be hungry and thirsty or eternally sustained.  Amen.

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John 3:1-17        There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Reflection         The  twentieth century age of reason gave us eyes to see and measure things of the flesh and in so doing made great contributions  to civilization; airplanes and antibiotics, personal computers and nuclear power to mention just a few. The modern era also gave birth to the post-modern age that understands reason as good but not sufficient which I believe is more aligned with Jesus’ teaching, “What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.” I believe twenty-first century post-modern thought is catching up with our first century Jesus movement apperception. We must value reason and what it can give us (value the flesh) and “we must be born again from above,” born of the Spirit whereby to understand spiritual things, those truths hidden from the fleshy eyes of reason.

The other day I watched the movie “Hidden Figures,” the true story of three African-American women whose history defining contributions at NASA helped put the first American astronaut into space. That was in 1961. Their story finally became widely public in 2017. For fifty-six years the story of their brilliant contributions was hidden. Clearly, I am not a black woman. I am a person of privilege and still this film reduced me to weeping. I left the theatre and sat in my car overcome by a deep, inscrutable sadness, asking myself “How can these things be?” Finally the words of scripture came to my heart, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matt 25.39) I am culpable. We are all culpable by failing to see and acknowledge the hidden goodness and value of all people.

Our world is replete with signs, things we can see and measure. Everywhere we look we see people suffering every possible disease, disaster and travesty. Anxiety, despair and horror curdle our blood and harden our hearts as we witness vast numbers of people experiencing separation rather than unity and judgment rather than compassion. If we pause to consider each person and situation as an outward and visible sign of something hidden, something more, I wonder if the multitude of human suffering is a harbinger of a deeper spiritual truth, the truth of God suffering? God weeping with us when we are bent, broken and bereft? God weeping because we are failing to see the fundamental dignity and value of all people? I wonder if this is a spiritual truth hidden from the fleshy eyes of reason? 

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Gospel text for Sunday 26 February 2017

Matthew 17:1-9        Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

Reflection       On Monday evening I witnessed a transfiguration, a great change in the appearance and form of some two hundred people sitting on the pews of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Tucson, present for "Welcoming the Stranger" A Multi Faith Prayer Service." It was an exalting, glorifying and spiritual change as the painter’s palette of faces; dark and light, middle eastern and western, prodigies, refugees, immigrants, the privileged and asylum seekers sat together, prayed together and sang each other’s songs while climbing the mountain together to reach the pinnacle of our prayers, “Welcoming the Stranger.”

On Monday evening as I was privileged to sit with other religious leaders and see and hear and worship with Moses, and Abraham, Noah and Jesus, Mohamad and the One that has no name,  "the glory of the Lord settled on the mountain.” Like night and day music perfumed the air; from the penetrating notes of the Sikh rabab, to the perfectly harmonized hymn of the Latter Day Saints, the driving rhythms of the African Baptist choir, to our Jewish and Muslim brothers’ redolent chanted prayers. Yes, this is the Kingdom of God. Yes, this multifarious congregation has been transfigured in my sight. And the wonder and glory of God’s kingdom was present. 

Here is the thing. Mountaintop moments do not last. Rather they give us a glimpse of what is possible. In order to sustain the kingdom of God we must allow ourselves to be transfigured by choosing to live our lives in imitation of Jesus. Like Jesus we are  servants of our God sent to love and care for all people, especially the foreigner, the stranger, the alien, the enemy, the outcast or the least among us. It is time to allow ourselves to be touched by Jesus, to take his counsel to the disciples and us to heart, “Get up and do not be afraid.” It is good to come together to pray. And it is time to come together and act without fear. It is time to take our mountaintop moments into the ordinary moments of our lives. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 19 February 2017

Matthew 5:38-48        Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

 Reflection         Jesus is turning up the heat, inviting us to be honest, ethical and trustworthy -  as he is. Those words, honest, ethical and trustworthy, sound good but when we put them on they may itch, set us apart from the ways of the world. 

“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” “The best defense is a good offense.” “Drastic times call for drastic measures.” “God helps those who help themselves.” Do we not appear inept, inadequate or just plain foolish in the eyes of the world when we choose instead to “Turn the other cheek?” “Refuse to mount a retaliatory attack?” “Put our trust in God rather than ourselves?”

Then we remember, like Jesus we are baptized. By our baptism we make a promise to God and God’s people, to “persevere in resisting evil,” to “proclaim by word and example the Good News” that God is with and for all people, to “love our neighbors as ourselves,” to “strive for justice and peace,” and “respect the dignity of every human being.” Essentially we are promising to be honest, ethical and trustworthy.

By our baptism we die to our ‘world defined’ selves and are born into our ‘God defined’ selves. When the priest anoints our forehead saying, “You are marked as Christ’s own forever,” she is saying, “you are distinguished, you are not like the rest of the world that proclaims, “The man who dies with the most toys wins,” “The only things you can count on are death and taxes.”

By our baptism and anointing we are born as people freed from the shackles of social, political and religious conditions that pit us against one another. By our baptism and anointing we are born as people freed to express our deepest truest self, our inherent goodness. By our baptism and anointing we are freed to love our neighbors, our enemies and those who persecute us. By our baptism and anointing we promise to be honest, ethical and trustworthy, with God's help. 

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