I went to the newcomers class today St John's Episcopal Church in Fort Smith which has been my church home for a little less than a year now. In the class today we learned about how our church is part of not only the Diocese of Arkansas but that we are also part of the global Episcopalian and Anglican community. Then I get home and get on social media and I'm bombarded with three main stories on my news feed. The first one about a shooting in a church today in Tennessee. Followed shortly by speculation of terrorism given that the shooter was not born in this country and was not a US citizen. The second news item that appears on my social media page is the controversy surrounding whether or not NFL players should kneel during the national anthem. This followed by people quoting both Federal and NFL regulations surrounding the flag and the national anthem in order to support their arguments. The third item was the continued controversy surrounding symbols of the Confederacy in the south. People arguing both sides. One side being that these symbol should be destroyed because of what they stand for namely the enslavement of African-Americans. The opposing argument being these symbols need to be preserved that For Better or For Worse they are part of our history.
What strikes me with all of these is in the post 9/11 World we have forgotten that we are a plural society. That was one of the themes today in our newcomers class that head come up with members who had come from other denominations and gravitated towards the Episcopal Church because we are very plural Church. As our Minister father Mike said episcopalians are in the middle between the Catholics and the Reformation brought forth by Martin Luther. Which explains why my maternal grandparents decided on the Episcopal Church. My mom's mom was raised congregationalist and my mom's dad was a divorced Catholic when they met. This was the first time that that actually made sense to me. They raised my mom and her brother in the Episcopal Church and my mom subsequently had me baptized in the Episcopal Church and raised me in the Episcopal Church. I went to the same Episcopal Church in San Francisco for over 30 years until it became clear to my mom and I that we needed a new church home because the church was no longer aligning with our beliefs. Thankfully we found Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church in Belvedere California and I continue to go there even after my mom's death. I remember that was the hardest part of leaving California was not knowing whether or not I would find a church home that would encourage pluralism deep in the heart of the Bible Belt. I researched online and found St John's Episcopal Church in Fort Smith. It took me a few months after I moved to Oklahoma to finally get up the nerve to go to St John's and to get back to the Episcopal Church. Part of it was this is the first church home that I have had that my mother was not physically present with me. As my medical intuitive told me recently I needed to stop trying to fill the void left by my mom from outside myself and instead I needed to fill that void with God. Then by Divine Providence the newcomers class came up and what struck me in between that and what I read on social media today what is this idea of a plural society and I remember to quote from one of my favorite TV shows The West Wing."So what bothers them [terrorists] about us? Well, the variety of cheers alone coming from the cheap seats at Giants stadium when they're playing the Cowboys is enough for a jihad, to say nothing of street corners lined church next to synagogue, next to mosque, newspapers that can print anything they want, women who can do anything they want including taking a rocket ship to outer space, vote, and play soccer. This is a plural society. That means we accept more than one idea." -West Wing. I wonder after reading the news feed on social media today whether we are in some ways losing our plural society? I'll leave you with some homework that I am doing this week as part of the course for mindvalley. Keep track of what judgment you make this week whether it's on your phone or on a three-by-five card keep track of your judgement even the little ones. I believe it is in part these judgments that block us from truly becoming a plural society.
