A Maundy Thursday Reflection – The Eucharist – what does this mean to you

Posted on April 20, 2019 by Hilda Vaughan

On a night such as this one, Jesus said ‘do this in remembrance of me.’
All three readings tonight speak to a ritual which either informs our present practice or is our present practice. In our first reading (Exodus 12:1-4, 11-14) we see The Jews being commanded to keep repeating the story of the Passover which today thousands of years later they repeat with their children every Friday night at the Seder meal. In the second reading, (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) it is what we the followers of Christ continue to do today, 2000 years after his death. It is what has been handed down from the first disciples through the early Church, where we recall the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, as we like them, break bread. In our gospel reading (John 13:1-17, 31b-35) we have the washing of feet which is only recorded in the gospel of John, Do this in remembrance of me, was not repeated here, but this very embarrassing, uncomfortable and humbling practice that has changed a lot through the ages has remained with us as a Maundy Thursday practice. It seems many things happened on that night before the crucifixion, as it is also the time when it is recorded that Jesus commanded his disciples to love one another as he loved them. That is where Maundy Thursday got its name. – Maundy comes from Mandatum – the latin for commandment. In many churches they have a love feast that accompanies the washing of feet, our love feast, however is sharing in the cup of wine.
Our reading of 1 Corinthians rests with me. I very often feel that we participate in the Eucharist but it has somehow lost its deeper meaning to us. We do not come with passion nor do we leave with a passion to be and to do. So, tonight as we commemorate that first Eucharist I ask, What does it mean to us? Yes we assemble in the name of God and in fellowship with one another – united as one, to eat and drink in the Holy sacrament. What happens or is supposed to happen? How do we feel? Does it make any real difference to us?
Elisabeth 1 when pressed to say whether or not she believed the bread and wine to be the actual body and blood of Christ, she said the following words.
“Christ was the word that spake it. He took the bread and brake it; And what his words did make it That I believe and take it”. For most of us we don’t question the significance of the ritual, we just participate. Some believe that it feeds our spiritual souls as food feeds our physical bodies. I challenge you to consider well what you think and why as you eat the flesh of Jesus and drink his blood. How you understand it makes a difference in, if, and how it transforms you, and if, and how you express Christ to others.
It is important that we have a clear understanding of who is in attendance at the Eucharist. We must understand that Jesus is present at every Eucharist. He is the presider. The priest acts as the head of the body Christ, and he represents him. He, the priest that is, brings the bread the wine, our lives and joins them to the sacrifice of Jesus, offering them to the Father. Thus as Christ is presented to us in the body and blood, – our spiritual nourishment, he is also present as the person presiding at the mass.
This spiritual nourishment is not to be taken as if one is entitled to it, but as the opening prayer says we confessing our sins are made worthy of offering our souls and bodies as living sacrifices. We see here that we come to the table with a contrite heart. In the Eucharist before we taste of the banquet, 5 times do we acknowledge together our contriteness: in the opening prayer, the prayer of purity, the kyries, the general confession and in the Agnus Dei – that is the ‘O lamb of God’. It’s a contriteness understood that we are all equal, not as a donkey views the world, but as members of the family of God – none greater than the other. Some may have more resources, but we are all one in the sight of God – one human race. Each deserving of the same dignity as the next person. Galatians 3: 27 and 28 read from the VOICE says, “because all of you who have been initiated into the Anointed One through the ceremonial washing of baptism have put Him on. It makes no difference whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a freeman, a man or a woman, because in Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King, you are all one.”
I’ll go further to stress that our oneness, is a foundational truth of our faith, which if we fail to embrace we cannot truly practice ‘Christness’ Christianity and Christlikeness. In the beginning God made us in his image and gave us God’s life. God never gave some and not others. Thus it means that we are all children of God, all equal in God’s sight, deserving of the same dignity and ‘equalness’. Some have just not acknowledged it. It’s our job as Christlike people to bring them into fellowship with the creator.
On the night Jesus broke bread and gave each disciple a piece. In our Eucharistic prayer this is celebrated in the fraction, that is when the priest breaks the bread and says “we break this bread to share in the body of Christ”. This is a goose pimple moment. I look in awe every Sunday as those words or the equivalent are said and the meaning washes over me. I understand it as ‘the body of Christ broken for the body of Christ’. The first body is the person Christ who in giving of himself was broken for us. The second body is the one family of God united in Christ. For me it also represents our brokenness which is being made whole through the body and blood of Christ. It represents the brokenness of the world which we go to love and serve in the name of Christ.
On the night Jesus took the cup of wine and gave each of them a sip from the same cup. We have no record that they dipped the bread in the wine. They did not scorn each other, they did not consider whether or not they would catch a germ or give their germs to others. They drank trusting God that they were all brethren and family. I wish we would all let the 18% alcohol cleanse us with the fire we feel when it goes down our throats. Drinking from the one cup brings also a humility, which our gospel reading introduces us to. The kind of humility that caused Jesus to wash the feet of the disciples.
You know washing of feet we are told were for the lowliest slave. Have you ever thought about how filthy their feet were. Their roads were not paved, animals were there only form of transport and there would be droppings as the animals went from one place to another. When dry and powdery they walked in it, when rain fell it spattered all over even they were able to avoid walking in it. To wash those sandaled feet was yucky! But Jesus did not ‘skin up’ his face, scorn or turn up his nose. He did the job showing us that we too are called as his servants to forget about ourselves and get down and dirty for his sake.

I shared the following with my students at CTC about 3 weeks ago and I think it becomes relevant today because humility is not a word we use very often these days. Humility for a long time has been a bad word to me. Humility, is very often used in relation to persons wanting others to play dead and roll over, or to be subject to them. One dictionary said ‘humility is the quality of having a modest or low view of one’s importance’. And to top that ‘it gave poor self-esteem as a synonym’. But that is not true. That’s not God’s message to us. That is not who we are in Christ. Humility is not sucking up to anybody or being a door mat. Humility is a quality that Jesus highly admires, one he himself exhibited. He emptied himself. Though he was God he never sought equality with God while on earth. He never thought himself too high to give his life so that humankind could be better. He washed the stinky feet of his disciples.
Humility is about being your authentic true self in Jesus Christ. It is being unpretentious and comfortable with who you are in Christ and seeking to build others up, and not yourself. It is recognizing in the misfortunes of others – there go I but for the grace of God. It is being grateful of one’s ability to walk in God’s grace, love, and forgiveness. It’s what the Eucharist should do for us as well.
When you participate in the Holy Communion and the service how do you feel? Do you leave Church as you came? What does this do for you? Do you come to Church thinking that you are going to leave refreshed? Do you become absorbed in the singing, the readings and prayers? Do we look on it as communing with God along with our brothers and sisters? Do we ever consider that we are worshipping God with Jesus sitting at the table with us? Do we consider that we have been cleansed, forgiven, imperfect yet holy and set apart for the work God has assigned us to do? Do we feel at one with the divine and so are able to do as the Priest says, to go in peace and serve the Lord? Are we thanking God for his continued grace and mercy and committing to continue in righteousness, that is, right living? Is it a weekly renewal of our covenant with Christ, a covenant which was made at our baptism, where we promise to carry on God’s work to love as he loved us, to serve all people and to live in faith until his coming again?
The hymn ‘Here O my Lord I see thee face to face’ helps us understand with these verses, the gist of which are:
This is the hour of banquet and of song;
The heavenly table spread;
We feast, and in feasting, prolong
The hallowed hour of fellowship with Jesus and God.

Ours is the sin, but the righteousness is God:
Ours is the guilt, but the cleansing blood is Jesus;
Our robe, our refuge, and our peace;
Jesus Blood, and righteousness.

When we rise; the symbols disappear;
The feast, but not the love, is past and gone.
The bread and wine removed;
but Jesus is still here, we have a foretaste of the festal joy.

This love and Joy, this sweet foretaste cannot be truly felt if we come to the table like the Pharisee in our self-righteousness; with an attitude that does not acknowledge that we are not worthy to be at the table, but are only there because we are redeemed by Jesus. We must come as the publican! As the confession says ‘being sorry for things done and left undone’. Things not done as they should have been done in the first place, like those times when we get defensive. We should come to the table humbly and available to God to be transformed. We should come and put aside everything else, to revel in the Lord. We should forget about ourselves and concentrate on God, so God is able to reveal Godself to us. Then and only then are we able to go home week after week, living a better life. A life passionate about practicing intentional and deliberate discipleship. Our assurance of pardon makes us joyful, our feast makes us whole and at peace with ourselves and the world.

Participating in the Holy Communion we see does 4 things for us as we are transformed:

  1. it unites with all other Christians and provides us with a pledge of glory to come;
  2. it provides us with spiritual food;
  3. it separate us from our sins;
  4. last but not least we commit to serving others with dignity through love mercy and peace.

Thus participating in the Holy communion brings to mind and reflection, what Jesus said on the first Maundy Thursday. Do this in remembrance of me.

Let us pray,
Lord of the Mass, you who broke bread and shared one cup with your brethren. As we prepare to participate in your crucifixion and resurrection and to be renewed in your love at your table, help us to understand every day a little more about you, what your word, our traditions and rituals mean. Keep reminding us that they are not ends in and of themselves but that they point us to you. They point to how we should seek to live in the world every day and become closer to you, a life where all is done as you would have done it and in remembrance of you. Amen.

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My National Prayer Breakfast Keynote Address

Posted on April 2, 2018 by Hilda Vaughan

This address is for a class called Advanced Seminar in Preaching. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, 
According to Martin Luther King, “We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but we have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers.” Garvey said one God, one aim, one destiny. These men were just expounding the same words of Micah chapter 6 Which says– show justice love kindness and walk humbly before God.
Micah lived in a period of economic upheaval. Assyria, the then dominant world power, was still a menace to what was left of a divided Israel. Unfortunately, the economic prosperity had spawned a selfish materialism, as a means of achieving human desires and success along with a complacent approach to religion in the society. Micah also witnessed the disintegration of personal and social values in his society. Wealth was being invested, but at the same time there was the collapse of the traditional systems of employment and welfare. People suffered from this lack of economic stability and all around there was emotional distress. Age-old values were shrugged off, and social concern was at the bottom of the list of priorities of national and local government officials. The religious leaders did little more than echo the spirit of the time, reinforcing the society that gave them their livelihood. Micah a man from the countryside, had first-hand knowledge of the sufferings of the working folk of his society.

He reveals to Israel that what is required is justice, mercy, love, and humility. I am sure you will agree that Jamaica can be substituted for Israel as our society is no different. Our social values are almost non-existent with our school girls learning to transact sex at an early age. Our women are unable to fend for their children. Children, choose to live on the streets, rather than in a home of misery. It seems no one, but the Don cares. It is the Don who takes on the role of father. He encourages the boys to go to school. He gives them bus fares, uniforms, schoolbooks and motivates them while training them to be his foot soldiers. Mother is happy because she does not have to sleep with her ‘baby father’ to put food on the table, nor does she have to find a man to help her supplement her wages which is not even enough if she did not have a family. This man will make her pregnant as he will refuse to wear a condom.

The indiscipline in our society today is rife, you only need to see how we drive on the roads and look at the amount of money collected in a traffic ticket amnesty. Just try to purchase something in a wholesale downtown. It is not first come, first serve, but whoever can push their way to the front or call out the loudest to catch the eye of the attendant.
The level of violence in our country has caused us to develop a numbness. in 1996, it was cause for concern at 49th World Health Assembly meeting, and has a devastating effect on our children. Professor Maureen Samms-Vaughan a behavioural specialist reports that eight out of ten children between the ages of 12 -14 experience some sort of violence everyday whether through violent parental discipline or corporal punishment in schools. Six in ten Jamaican students say they have been bullied at some point in their lives. Then there is sexual violence that leaves lasting emotional wounds. It steals the dignity, trust and self-esteem of young persons, twenty-four per cent of girls ages 10-15 say their first experience of sex was forced. We steal our children’s innocence when reports show that that forty-six per cent of our women had their first sexual intercourse before age 13

Our high crime rate tells another story of social decay. This was not something that started overnight, as said before in 1996 it had received international attention. It is a sore that has been festering for a long time and every now and again the scab breaks and it oozes. I call it a negative resistance movement, which can only become positive if we address the cause of it. It is resistance because the persons involved have developed a methodology, however warped some of us may think it is, that has helped them learn to live with a dignity, a false sense of equality, born out of I am equal to, or better than you because I can con you, or, I am able to exert physical or emotional power over you. It is resistance, as the lifestyle is born out of a society that consistently fails to provide justice, mercy, and wholeness. The same kind of society Micah is speaking about. The silent motto is ‘wha you waan me fe do’. Nutten nah gwaan fe we, better yet you can’t talk to me, because I am hurting, and I only get relief from the things I take or the people I hurt. This is several generations old up until today, it has become like a generational curse because ‘Is suh the ting set’. We have generations who have never seen their near relatives, or their community members hold a steady job or earn a living any other way than hustling or juggling. Our society is no different from Micah’s.

Three in every twenty Jamaicans live in poverty. Yes, our household poverty rate has decreased significantly but when you consider that every other person living in poverty is a child we need to think again about what is happening in our nation. We also have to consider that 1 in 10 children are not registered, 4 out of every 10 children lack basic access to health, nutrition, education and social welfare. UNICEF says our children are being excluded that is ‘we nuh count dem’. Children are considered excluded if we do not protect them from: violence, abuse, exploitation, or if they are unable to access and benefit from, high quality essential services, high quality information and high quality goods and I am not speaking about name brand goods. They are excluded if anything threatens their ability to participate fully in society NOW and in the future. it has been reported that 74% of our children between the ages of 12-14 had witnessed a violent act, stabbing being the most common through to shooting and rape and in 2017 murder of children went up by 36% above the number in 2016. Things seem to be getting worse not better. Children are murdered, sexually abused and their physical and emotional development is undermined. A child without multiple CXC passes faces severe challenges in accessing higher education or meaningful employment. More than 50 years as a nation and our education system continues to turn out persons who are barely functional in literacy and numeracy and so graduates are ill equipped to contribute positively to their own welfare and to society. one out of 5 babies is born to a teenage mother. While the effort made in teenage pregnancy must be acknowledged, a child giving birth to another child, means double exclusion – 2 children at risk.

We have the wealthy and the owners of capital doling out to ease their conscience while they pay big bucks to security firms to guard they homes. Some live as prisoners as they are unable to move freely out of fear. We throw our hands in the air as we seem unprepared to solve the nations problem. We laughed when God revealed to a Minister of Government that he needed to turn to God to find a solution. We have allowed the imperial system of the world to numb our creativity. We have grown blind to the possibilities, because for too long we have placed band-aids on our problems. We have pandered to world powers and multinationals, we have not been bold, nor have we chosen to stand on God’s covenant to make us a great nation. We have failed to provide social and physical amenities and proper social programmes which benefit the majority of persons which is the right of all human beings. We have not treated people with the respect and dignity they deserve. We rationalize it. We don’t have enough money.

I have spent a long time describing the situation in Jamaica land we love as we like to say, in order for us to truly appreciate the gravity of our situation and to help us pave a practical way forward. We have come to pray and in prayer we don’t only talk to God, we also have to be attentive to God as God gives us solutions and we have to be intentional in carrying these solutions making a new beginning is possible.

Micah tells us, as he told Israel, it does not have to be this way. In our passage God has a conversation with Israel. In verse 3 God asks what have I done? why are you behaving in this way? In Verses 4 and 5, God recounts the things God has done for Israel though Moses and Aaron. God took them out of Egypt with a covenant promise to make them a great nation, but they reneged on their part. They did not follow through. The implications are that a new beginning is still possible. The way forward for Israel lies in the good men and women. Moses. Aaron and Miriam showed them the way. As the Israelites try to make sense of what is required. Verse 8 helps them. It says God has already made it plain how to live. what God is looking for in men and women is simple: We are required to do what is fair and just to your neighbour, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and to take God seriously. God requires of us the same thing today: to make a new beginning, using methods we have used in the past, God requires of us to live justly, mercifully and humbly.
From Micah 6, we learn that we too have a new beginning, That God has provided for us good examples to show the way. All is required of us now is for us to be humble, Just, and merciful that is be loyal and love. Mark 12: 31 helps us understand that. Jesus tells us to love our neighbour just as like we love ourselves. In this new beginning that our ancestors have pointed us to, that God has given us, we are going to act from a position of love through which everyone will experience justice mercy and the humility of others. If we love each other as we love ourselves, it means we will all follow the golden rule, do unto others as we would want them to do to us. We all want good things for ourselves and our families.

Jamaica received a new beginning from God at Independence, God gave us our sovereignty, the ability to govern ourselves, politically, socially and economically as in the best interest of all the many people who make one Jamaica. It was our covenant with God to be a great nation. But we like Israel have squandered it. We think that enforcing laws and going through the powerbroking motions of parliament or running a nation like our colonial masters did, or the multinational corporations suggest is good enough. We have failed to build credible institutions. Instead, those who can feast on their power status, creating a system of oppression rather than a system of justice and mercy. God tells us like he did Israel that this should not be so. Our forgiving and merciful God says a new beginning is still possible. But how?

There were key periods in the life of Israel when things were good, when they were led by Moses and Aaron. We too have not just key times but key people who have shown us the way to live a good life, a life of worth and mercy. The maroons and the Rastas living according to the norms of their communities are good examples of living Justly merciful and humbly with each other.

When slavery was abolished, the new free villages lived in harmony with each other. Jamaican communities once cared for their children. No child was allowed to err even if parents were not on speaking terms. Neighbours made sure that other neighbours ate. Each village had somebody or bodies who would pacify the wrongs and set the community straight.

Each child was given dignity when the bastard law was annulled. Each mother given time to bond with her new baby before going back to work. Olive Lewin traversed Jamaica so we would know our culture and Louise Bennett taught us to be proud of our language. HEART Trust helped those who couldn’t make it academically by giving a skill. Marcus Garvey showed us that we can build industries, if we put our mind to it.
Jamaica of old understood that right relations was the key to existence, that Humility Justice and Mercy were virtues to cultivate. While people had their various opinions, it was with a singleness of heart that they worked for a better community and a better Jamaica

Old time Jamaica understood that Justice speaks to a situation where we each, not only have the same opportunities, but we each have the appropriate tools we need to access these opportunities. They understood that Justice doesn’t only mean being right, it also means being of worth, being respected and treated with dignity. Thus, one should act in a manner where others feel worthy, and that you are being loyal to your covenant relationship with God and your community brothers and sisters. This was riveted in the respect of good morning, good evening, and tenky which took nothing away from them.
Justice says treat others as you would want to be treated. We should show kindness, feel compassion, have mercy for others always placing ourselves in their position and feeling as they do. We must not give ourselves more importance than we deserve. This, can only happen if we work together at the lowest unit of our society, the level of communities, households, and individuals. We exercise this mercy and justice by loving our neighbour.
We can begin again to relate to each other without acrimony – hostility, rancour, animosity, bitterness and spite. We can embrace again the PALS programme in schools and revisit our ‘Values and Attitudes’. We can remember how we felt as children. We can allow our children to have the wonderful fun experiences of childhood while learning the work ethics and values they require to maintain themselves as an adult. We know how. We did it before. We can do it again. Jamaica is paradise, once described as a happy place. We can be happy again, and we will in our new beginning.

This where the Church comes in. In every community there is at least one church. It is the church who best knows how to exemplify love. The Church gets to put into practice what it preaches. It therefore needs to lead the charge to advocate on behalf of others – to show Jamaica how to love. Our Jamaican prophet Bob Marley puts it nicely. He asks Is there a place for the hopeless sinner, who has hurt all mankind just to save his own beliefs? Is the situation reconcilable? yes it is! Bob says ‘let’s, get together in one love’. Bob Marley reminds us as does Micah and Mark that it is in our relationships that we can fix Jamaica. – One love.

One love then becomes our new beginning. A beginning of communities living in harmony with each other, being considerate of the other person’s need. It becomes our means of justice, our means of humility. One love becomes care for our children and the other vulnerable persons in our community. One love means trust for our politicians and they in turn considering the social needs of everyone in their policies. Love here does not mean sex or the love between consenting adults. Love here is treating others as you would a baby, looking out for their best interest. Love means caring for another person, just because they are human like ourselves. Love means respecting ourselves and others. Love means not being selfish, giving as much as or more than you get. Love means that everyone gets according to their needs so that all can be their best self and contribute meaningfully to society. Love means walking in the shoes of another and feeling the stones through the soles. Loves means agreeing to disagree but still doing what is right and what is in the best interest of the community. Love means a singleness of heart.
May we learn to fair and just to our neighbour, be compassionate and loyal in our love, not to take yourself too seriously but take God seriously as we make a new beginning using the template set for us. I wish for us One Love, One Heart, one Destiny in Jamaica land we love.

 

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A Melancholic Christmas

Posted on December 27, 2017 by Hilda Vaughan

“Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah.” Luke 2:10-11

A friend posted how much she missed Christmas when her parents were alive. Her words were “At this time of year, l get sad and depressed. I remember our family getting together, the joy, the laughter the fun! On Christmas Eve at the 6:30 a.m. service Father Louis spoke about persons who found Christmas difficult because they missed loved ones. Christmas is also a difficult time for persons who see others apparently having fun and there is nothing fun in their lives. I am certain each of us can think of a difficult Christmas we have had.

It is what the psychologists call melancholy. A bitter-sweet time I think is the best description. It is a time when we over-expect from life while at the same time, think too much about the inadequacies of this life – the way we would like our life to be, but it isn’t. Young children are sad that the excitement is over. Others dream of the things that they would want but are unable to have. Older children and adults feel sad because as they get older, traditions they love change, or they are no longer experienced in the same way.  It is a time many wish the world was more loving and had more compassion.

I doubt that the first Christmas was any easier for Mary and Joseph. Caesar Augustus had decided to take census, to number everybody. It was the Roman National Identification System (NIDS) in action. If the book of Revelation was written then, they would consider it the ‘Mark of the Beast’. Put yourself in Mary’s shoes. You are pregnant and have to travel 100 miles, not in a car or bus but on a donkey or walking. The trip is estimated to take anywhere between 8-10 days. This must have been a scary and tough journey for a young, pregnant Mary. She must have been asking ‘Why me Lord’. Then to add to the anxiety, her water breaks on the way and they have no proper place to stay. She must ‘kotch’ (stay) in somebody’s out house. You men are probably saying, I cannot identify with Mary, but how helpless would you feel if your wife’s or girlfriend’s water broke in the middle of a trip and there was nowhere comfortable to stay. After all, Is you bring her on the trip, why didn’t you leave her with her parents for the few days?

I don’t know how many of us can identify with not having a place to stay, but we can all certainly identify with being in difficult situations, situations that we would rather not face, situations when we were vulnerable like Mary and Joseph that first Christmas.

The melancholy of Christmas points us to the joy of Christmas, but we must actively participate to experience it.

Verses 10 – 14 of Luke 2, says in those difficult times, when we are uncertain, – Do not be afraid; for see—  I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. Glory to God in the highest heaven… and on earth, peace among those whom God favours!”  We are assured that we are supposed to be happy at Christmas and all times because God has sent his son – A Saviour.  It is a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody in the whole wide world that will bring peace among those of goodwill.

I would like us to focus on those four phrases fear not, Saviour, peace and goodwill. What do they mean for us on this day as we celebrate the birth of Christ.

Fear not! Gabriel tells us that we do not have to second guess our participation in the Christmas story. Like the Shepherds we just need to leave our flocks – our baggage, our doubts, and come look for this Saviour. – our second word.

A Saviour whom God has sent to deliver us from our sins. What are the sins we want to be delivered from?    It’s not only by not keeping God’s law that we sin. We sin when we refuse to be the best we can be. When we fail to live up to our full potential. Full potential here is not fantasizing about what we want and cannot get, or have no way of achieving; nor is it the things that lead to depression and feelings of insecurities. Full potential is those basic characteristics that make us human, that enhances our relationship one to another. Full potential are those things that provide us with inner peace.

We are challenged to go through life living fearlessly and to participate in the Christ Story as the Shepherds where we will meet the Saviour. This Saviour will help us to achieve our full potential as human beings, to become better persons to ourselves and one to another, but we must participate. When we participate we not only become better people we find peace. – our third word

Peace for many of us mean the absence of war or quarrel. That’s not the peace being offered by the Angels if we participate.  This peace is a quiet confidence that all will be well, a calm of one’s soul, of one’s personality. The peace that passes all understanding that St. Paul writes about. It is this peace that we all yearn for – It is difficult to describe but it is an inner calm that allows us to not be afraid. That allows to be our best selves – to live our full potential, despite our circumstances. It is an inner harmony, a wholeness, a completeness that we express by being in harmony with others and our environment even when we feel vulnerable.  This peace is open to all of us and all persons of goodwill. All manner of persons not just believers but the whole human race. All are blessed in Christ’s birth.

The Christ story invites us to participate in this peace. It invites those of us who have participated and who have gotten complacent to be born again with the Christ child, that is become rejuvenated and remember the inner peace we once knew in this busy world. For those of us who have never known this peace, we are invited to open our hearts and our souls to experience this peace that passes all understanding which is available to all of goodwill our fourth word.

Goodwill I once considered to be a characteristic like trust. One had to work hard to not not only earn it, but to keep it. However, Goodwill also means compassion. Com is a prefix meaning with. Thus we are challenged through the Christ story to live our lives with passion for Christ and to have compassion one for another.

We have waited through advent for this time of celebration when the Christ child comes. – A great and joyful event, foretold centuries before in which we are invited to participate.  There is somebody -God’s son – Jesus, who can help us not just over the rough times  of Christmas or difficult situations, but through all times. But like the shepherds we must come and see, we must come and participate in this great and joyful event.

Gabriel has brought us great news that today there is no need to be lonely, depressed, or sad; no need to be afraid. We can live our lives fearlessly, because God has sent his son Jesus, to save us, to free us so we can be our best selves. Jesus comes that we can live with passion and have compassion. Jesus comes that we can be whole and be truly happy. Only one thing is required. Like the shepherds on that first Christmas, we need to participate, not just today but every day in peace, with passion, compassion and without fear which will allow us to experience the true Joys of life. Christmas is the start of this life in which we are invited to participate.

Come, try it! Will you?

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Remembering the Birth of a Baby Boy

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Hilda Vaughan

So, I had a very quiet but fantabulous Christmas 2016. It started off with Church at 6:00 am at Church of the Ascension in Mona. This was like a crescendo starting with the celebration of the Reign of Christ through Advent with the lighting of one more candle each week in the Advent Wreath to Christmas Day

And what a morning it was! Church started as a party (Please don’t tell, that I said so) but it was. It started with ‘Feliz Navidad’. The Music ministry team then did three items the last of which was Barry Chevannes’ ‘Early Christmas Mawnin when the stars dem getting thin’.  Then we lit the Christ Candle of the Advent Wreath and the Liturgy proceeded as per the Book of Common Prayer. The steel band, and the band augmented the piano or organ throughout the service. At the end before the closing Hymn another set of items including the Christmas version of Hallelujah. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyCLe7JlpyE  and the former Rector playing his harmonica. Then after the recessional (closing) hymn the real party started, beginning with ‘We wish you a merry Christmas’. The steel band played a series of Christmas Songs. People started moving to the beat. It was a joy to see.  Sadly we had to go to another service. Some things struck me about that day.

First, Church can be fun and should be fun. It should not be dead and boring even though our services are not loud and we have periods of silence. We don’t always have persons shouting Allelujah outside of where the BCP says we should, and even this varies from Church to Church. Every Sunday I look forward to going to the Church of the Ascension because every worship service differs even though we use the same book of Common Prayer every time. No variation! I go wondering what will be different this morning. I have yet to be disappointed. I did a survey of how the congregation felt about worship ( a class assignment). All respondents liked the format of worship and the mix of music. The other thing that was striking was that most respondents said they would change nothing. Most of those who wanted change wanted to sing more choruses.

Secondly, in the midst of life there is death. During the service a congregant’s father died. Father agreed to administer the last rites. We did this before going on to the second service. I don’t recall ever attending one of these. (I do recall that when my father was dying we called our priest who stopped on his way to Church and he did something, I don’t know what.) We prayed, ushering him onwards and anointed him with oil. Father had us repeat the 23rd psalm. I don’t know who fool him that we knew it. But I was brave and under his lead was able to say it through. Tried saying by myself and I am hopeless I don’t know the verses in order. Don’t mess with me! I know what it says, but to recite it? Nah!  Seriously though, it is important that we understand the stages of life and accept our inevitable death. If we can accept that we are going to die then it is easier to accept that others are going to die and leave us. It is something we have to think about and not gloss over or pay lip service. Understanding that death is a part of life allows us to reflect on the fact that as Christians, physical death is not the end of our journey. But it is actually the beginning of a new phase of life. A phase that you do not participate in if you do not believe in the redemptive power of Jesus Christ. I am tempted to say we go home to heaven. I believe in heaven, with milk and honey and streets of Gold. For many that’s not their concept of heaven. I do not really think it matters. What is important is the understanding that death for those who believe, is only the end of the earthly life. The spirit lives on awaiting the day of resurrection.

Maybe this point should have been first as I started out telling you about Christmas being at the end of a crescendo. The priest of my home Church gets very excited about the last Sunday in ordinary time – that is the Sunday before advent starts. On that Sunday we celebrate the Reign of Christ the King. Then we have Advent when we prepare our hearts and mind to celebrate the commemoration of the birth of Christ.  We also in Advent remember the time when Jesus will come a second time to judge the world. Some Churches celebrate Advent as they would Lent, as if it were a penitential season. While it is a season of preparation, watchfulness and consideration, Advent is more celebratory and joyous. Thomas Keating describes it as preparation for “the spiritual birth of Jesus in us through our participation in the unfolding of the Christmas-Epiphany Mystery”. Now tell me what is repentant about the birth of a child? Nuh pure excitement as you can’t wait to see the baby born?

Christmas as Father Michael of the Church of Ascension suggests is about how a child changes the people into whose lives they come. He says when you have a baby suddenly your life changes. You have to consider the child, – how the decisions you make impact that child and how the child impacts your life. It is not only your life that is affected, but the grandparents, the aunts, uncles, friends who pitch in to help raise the child, so this child affects the wider community. So, it is with the incarnation of Jesus. His birth affects the whole world. His coming did not just change the lives of His parents, but the shepherds, the Magi, the families who lost children because Herod was afraid of the new King, and all who heard him and proclaim his word to this day.  So, the third thing that struck me is that Christmas is a culmination and a beginning of who we are as Christians. Culmination because the word became flesh not just in Jesus Christ coming on earth but in us receiving it and a beginning because as it marks/symbolises the start of the word in in impacting others.

The fourth and final thing is that God provides. This Christmas was very different for me personally. It was one of those growth moments when you realize that your life has changed. But God in his infinite wisdom, place people in your lives to ensure that it runs smoothly. You just have to trust him. Even when you think you are alone, know that he is there always with you, seeing to your needs before you ask. You remember Jesus sending the disciples into the town when he was to enter Jerusalem to get the donkey that was waiting? Is same so God works in our lives. He has everything laid out all ready and waiting for you to access.

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A sermon on Isaiah 11:1-10 What a wonderful world this would be?

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Hilda Vaughan

“A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”  (Isaiah 11:1-10 NRSV)

What a wonderful world this describes. When we reflect on this reading, we realize that what Isaiah is describing is the kind of Jamaica we all want. One where appearances don’t matter. A Jamaica where the poor and destitute are treated fairly. A Jamaica where justice is the same for all whether you are big or small, rich, or poor. The case of the X6 driver is spoken about in hushed tones, and we are hard pressed to convince the average Jamaican that justice was served. The whole nation was outraged by the death of Nicholas, the young Jamaica College student. His potential contribution to society lost. The three-card con man has graduated to cybercrime and scamming. We now have a new controversy brewing about a dance hall scene on the cover of the Yellow Pages. Dance Hall which is so much of Jamaica’s reality that we want to keep it hidden. The sad part about all of this except for the growing crime, is that they are all ‘nine day wonders’. We talk but we do nothing. WE get in a huff, but our heart quietens and that’s the end of it. I know we feel sorry for ourselves. We are sliding down a slippery moral slope, from which many think we are at the point of no return. We are at the point where to climb back up will be a tall order and we bemoan our situation. But what to do?

For Isaiah, his beloved Israel was in the similar situation. The once holy nation of Israel was no longer holy. They had strayed so far that even the ground died. They worshipped other Gods, like our ‘god of prosperity’. Bad choice of word when our government has promised us prosperity, but that was Israel reality as it is ours, they yearned like us for silver and gold. If we read the earlier chapters Isaiah describes the situation well of a nation in crisis. A nation where taxes are more than the people can bear and their sovereignty is threatened. Neighbour against neighbour, young against old, the nobodies against the well-respected. The social fabric of the society was changing faster than they can adjust. The society was given over to parties, feasting and drunkenness, corruption and injustice, the situation with the poor he described as grapes in a wine press. Doesn’t this sound like our society where it seems we are powerless against crime, and so hostile to others. But again, what to do?

Our reading today gives us hope, because we can dream with Isaiah of a time to come when God will rule. John Lennon an atheist has a song called ‘Imagine’. In it he wants the same thing that Isaiah foretells and that we want and hope for. A time when there’s “Nothing to kill or die for, a time when all the people live life in peace No need for greed or hunger. A brotherhood of man.” He imagines “all the people sharing all the world”. Yes, he had a dream like so many other persons – Martin Luther King, Fidel Castro, and we each have our Jamaican heroes. Then there is the teacher who stayed in touch or the mentor who help us make big decisions. We too have the same dream for our Jamaica, only trouble is, what are we doing about it. Are we like Isaiah waiting for this shoot to come to make things right? The Gardeners among us know that when we have a wispy or weak plant we cut it back to encourage the growth of strong stems. The rose it is the branches that come from the base that the gardener encourages. It gives the plant longevity as the old ones die and harden.

Where will this young shoot come from? Who among us will be the young shoot, the strong rose cane that will make our country better again? My friends it is all of us. Each and every one of us is that shoot rising from the stump of decay in Jamaica.
As we await the arrival of King Jesus what are we to do? How is the shoot within us to be cultivated and nurtured? Just pray and all will be changed? Do you think it is a lack of faith and prayer why Jamaica is the way it is? No! It is because we have failed to walk in the way of Jesus. We have failed to do as he suggested in Matthew 25. Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked and visit those in prison – physical or emotional prison. We have failed to actively transform this society to a better place.
Most if not all of us say the Lord’s prayer every day. It has a line in it that says ‘thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven’. In Matthew 25 Jesus said the King will not acknowledge us, if we don’t do the things mentioned. As the shoot, we must be deliberate and act with urgency in bringing about the kingdom here on earth.

We are the hands and feet of God. Each of us called to do his work, not only the spiritual work of praying and feasting at his table but the physical work as Isaiah suggests. The work where each morning we pull on sturdy work clothes and boots, and build communities of righteousness (right living) and faithfulness, by changing people’s lives physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually, helping them to live right. I am sometimes ashamed at how satisfied we are as Church members with the little we do. I know there are challenges and frustrations, we have jobs and families. There so many things we can do and yet we do none of them. Many of us prefer to participate from a distance. Giving money and cheering on those in trenches instead of getting involved physically and emotionally. We all have reasons, I too have had them, but if you are faithful to the workings of the Holy Spirit within, we will see the difference that working at changing people’s lives make. Giving money is good and helping with a book or booklist every year is commendable, but the real transformation takes place by journeying with people. Sharing their joys and sorrows, caring so that they can see a different way of behaving. Matthew 25 does not say anything about our friends. It speaks to strangers. I challenge each of us to take on one personal project where we can make a difference to the life of at least one person. It doesn’t have to cost us anything. We just have to be there for that person.

We are the young shoot that makes a difference in how people work. We as Christians ought to work with integrity and cause others to do the same. In Jamaica, everybody knows somebody to beat the system, to get things done quicker. We take pride in it. It is situations like these that lead to corruption and lack of accountability. It was one of the things Jesus spoke out about Luke 3:13- 14 where he says we shouldn’t give in to extortion, and be satisfied with your wages.” Integrity is essential in the church, in the workplace, marketplace, and especially in the home.

Yes, from the dying stump of our society, along with the shoot of journeying with others and the shoot of integrity the third shoot which must break forth is the shoot of breaking the silences. Breaking the silence of being afraid of speaking up and speaking truth when things go wrong, the silence of child abuse in our homes and our neighbour’s homes, the silence of violence against women again in our homes and our neighbour’s homes, the silence of watch and wait, while the society suffers. In our Church, we know what is to observe silence. While it may be good for reflection silence in the real world may not be such a good thing. There is an adage that says evil prospers when good men do nothing, when they are silent. We fear for our lives but I tell you we are losing it by our silence. Not losing it for Christ either for we live in gated communities and homes with burglar bars and electronic guards. We cannot drive with our windows down. We are afraid to exercise the freedom of walking anywhere at any time. We all know this is not good. We know that this not how the society should be. We can no longer afford to keep the silence.

So friends in order to achieve what Isaiah prophesied we need to act. It is our Bishop Nuttall that built schools all over Jamaica for poor people’s education. It is our time now to build back the social fabric of our society, to make a difference. Our time to not just dream and look forward to the kingdom coming.

This Adventide let us reflect on how best to let the shoot of journeying with others, the shoot of integrity and the shoot of breaking the silences emanate from us, as we deliberately and purposefully work at realizing the kingdom here on earth, by pulling on our work clothes with the wisdom and understanding, the direction, strength, knowledge, and the Fear of life-giving Spirit of God to build righteousness and faithfulness in the land. Amen.

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The Guyana I did not see

Posted on July 19, 2015 by Hilda Vaughan

Guyana-Zoo

I was in Guyana about 2 weeks ago. I arrived by private jet (Fly Jamaica)  for a workshop. I had a free day until the plane came back for me and I had grand plans for the day. I had intended to visit the zoo and botanical gardens.  I had promised my friend from Trinidad to go see the “Cock on the Rock” as was advertised on the zoo wall.

cock-of-the-rock-sm

Cock on the rock – South American bird found in the Guianas (Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana,

To my utter dismay, rain fell most of the morning on the day. I had one pair of shoes with me and I certainly was not having them spoiled just  to fufill my friend’s fantasy. I therefore stayed in the hotel and caught up on some work.

In the evening a very nice taximan picked me up. He charged me US$5.00 extra, but it was worth every penny.  He used to work for the television station and has interviewed several Jamaican DJs. He told me a lot of interesting stories. I wanted to find out about Guyanese Jazz singers. These are extinct apparently. Everywhere you go you hear Reggae music and this seemed to be the most popular music in Guyana. He confirmed this and told me of the number of artistes who come every year from Jamaica.  His job does not define who he is, he told me. That was very clear. He was very engaging and a very good conversationalist, who spoke I suppose standard Guyanese. He spoke with little accent too.

I learnt about the bridge that stretches across the Demerara river. The Harbour Bridge which is a little over a mile long. It connects the East bank to the West Bank. (I almost asked if there was a Gaza too) You are suppossed to laugh. He lives on the West Bank side. By taxi from downtown Georgetown it costs GYD3000 – 3500(US$1:GYD200) to go to the West bank. Yet if you take a taxi to the entrance and another across the bridge the same trip will cost GYD1800.  Life!

We spoke about the new highway, Guyanese life and the rising cost of living. The difference between the the various Caribbean territories.

I found it so funny when he asked me which airport I was going to. All I could say was the far one. I had no clue! I told him the one that was about an hour away. In my mind I said ‘you know the one where private jets land!’ I found out it was called Timheri.

DSC_0692DSC_0684 DSC_0688 DSC_0690

The Waterways and lotus flowers have always fascinated me.  The pictures above were taken by one of my English colleagues at the workshop I attended. Lotuses grow wild and it is such a beautiful sight to see them mixed in with the Taros and Dasheens in the waterways. I took a photo of a waterway but I can ‘t seem to find it. Guyana reminds me a lot of Curacao, with the waterways.

I love Guyana with its wooden buildings with their ornate fretwork and large windows with slats. A lot of the homes have verandahs almost circling them. Several houses on stilts. There appears to be a move away from stilts with persons obviously using the open area under the houses to increase living space. Not such a good idea! I don’t think!. Water always reclaims its space and find back its level. Meaning one day the place will flood again and that newly ceated space will be damaged, may even bring some tops down with it.

Guyana is home to  one of the tallest wooden Churches in the world – St. George’s Cathedral – an Anglican Cathedral in Georgetown, Guyana.

Saint_George_Cathedral_in_Georgetown,_Guyana_

St_George's_Georgetown_Exterior

Last time I was there I took some very nice pictures. I can’t  find them so I am borrowing from the internet.  Don’t worry I am only using pictures that can be used by  every Tom, Dick and Harry (in other words any and everybody).

Next post I will tell you of the Guyana I experienced.

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Barack’s Visit to Jamaica

Posted on June 23, 2015 by Hilda Vaughan

The Welcome was first posted on my Facebook page and then published in the Gleaner on April 10, 2015.  It honours Barack’s ( I have a friend who calls him Barry.  While I like this name, my brother who died eight years ago is called Barry so I can’t bring myself to call him that) visit to Jamaica in April 2015.  When he came I realized he loved Bob Marley. You can’t get better than that. The farewell and comment from my friend are also Facebook posts. It was my pleasure to spend the day with him on the sidelines of my TV.

Welcome

Man,mi heart full. I am actually watching the news waiting for your plane to land. The biggest disappointment is that I cannot see you in the flesh. Love love love you Barack! Hoped you would have brought the children and Michelle for them to enjoy the queen of the Caribbean Islands. I think you should know that I should have started a new job the day of your first inauguration. I told the people I wouldn’t be able to start until the next day. When they asked why I told the truth. If they didn’t want me so be it, experiencing history first hand was more important. I feared they would assassinate you. For the first year, I made sure you were safe before going to bed and in the morning I checked again until I realized that they didn’t have to touch you physically. They could harm you by making sure your policies did not bear fruit. I still pray for you every time I hear your name. I wish you well. I hope you come bearing gifts for mi poor people and as the cartoons suggest, you have on you black green and gold socks and love wi food. Guidance always! You come! Welcome! Welcome! ‪#‎ObamainJA‬

Farewell

Barack you going now. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May his face shine upon you and give you peace. Thanks for the visit. We enjoyed it thoroughly. Thanks for the gifts what ever they are and thanks for encouraging the young people. Lord knows they need it. Remember to bring Michelle and the girls next time. Love you always

Post script

I have a politically shy friend who wrote this lovely piece about Barack but will not share publicly. I think it is too nice for it to be kept between both of us. Thanks for sharing with me and forgive me for sharing with others. She describes Barack as America’s Michael Manley. (My words)
” It’s the quality of the man that we admire. Many persons; black, white and brown; think America just got up and voted because Barack was black but it was the quality of this particular black man.
“We” love Barack’s sincerity, we love that he loves his wife and children. we love that he married a black woman. We love that he loved his mother and grandparents. we love that he has leadership qualities. We love his inspirational speeches.

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Hello world!

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Hilda Vaughan

Hello World indeed! How do we survive? How are we going to survive in a world of hate; a world where we do not care for our fellow man; a world where we have no respect for opinions other than our own?

I dream as Martin Luther King and John Lonnon did of a world:

  • with peace, respect,
  • “no possessions,
  • no need for greed or hunger,
  • a brotherhood of man,
  • where each can coexist though very different.
  • where as Haile Selassie says a world where the colour of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes.

What a wonderful place this would be.

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