Please join us in the virtual world of Second Life each Sunday at 2pm Pacific/ 5pm Eastern time. Download the interface at Secondlife.com, create your avatar, and join us at Sunshine Cathedral.
Call to Worship
Sunshine Cathedral is a different kind of church where the past is past and the future has infinite possibilities!
This is the day our God has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Opening Prayer
CLICK HERE for Audio of the Opening Prayer
God full of mercy, bless the souls of all who are in our hearts on this Transgender Day of Remembrance. We call to mind today young and old, of every race, faith, and gender experience, who have died by violence. We remember those who have died because they would not hide, or did not pass, or did pass, or stood too proud. Today we name them: the reluctant activist; the fiery hurler of heels; the warrior for quiet truth; the one whom no one really knew.
As many as we can name, there are thousands more whom we cannot, and for whom no Kaddish may have been said. We mourn their senseless deaths, and give thanks for their lives, for their teaching, and for the brief glow of each holy flame. We pray for the strength to carry on their legacy of vision, bravery, and love.
And as we remember them, we remember with them the thousands more who have taken their own lives. We pray for resolve to root out the injustice, ignorance, and cruelty that grow despair. And we pray, God, that all those who perpetrate hate and violence will speedily come to understand that Your creation has many faces, many genders, many holy expressions.
Blessed are they, who have allowed their divine image to shine in the world. Blessed is God, in Whom no light is extinguished. Amen.
(Prayer by Rabbi Reuben Zellman - https://www.keshetonline.org/resources/prayer-for-transgender-day-of-remembrance)
The Lessons
From the Wisdom of Robert Louis Stevenson
You cannot run away from weakness; you must some time fight it out or perish; and if that be so, why not now, and where you stand?
From the Book of Esther, Chapter 4
14…[Mordecai said, I]f you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance … will arise from another place, but you and your … family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16… I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher
CLICK HERE for Audio of Reflection "For Such a Time as This"
November 20 is International Transgender day of Remembrance. And this being the Sunday closest to that day is the Sunday we recall this important day. This is the day each year when we remember and memorialize those children of God who have been murdered in the past year as a result of the hatred we call transphobia. This day of memorial was founded in 1999 by a small group of people to memorialize the murder of Rita Hester in Allston, Massachusetts… just a few miles from where I live.
Rita Hester was a transgender African American woman who was murdered on November 28, 1998. And the grief and anger of her murder inspired people in the Boston area to examine the intersectionality of Rita Hester’s multiple points of marginalization… she was African American, she was transgender, she was a woman. The conscience of a community was jolted to recognition of bigotry upon bigotry that culminated in her death.
The idea of memorializing those murdered as a result of transphobia was born from one murder in 1999 and by 2010, Transgender Day of Remembrance was observed in 185 cities in 20 countries. And each year the names of those murdered in the past year are read aloud as we will do for our dead again this year. Did those who organized that first memorial in 1999 have known that their actions would lead to a worldwide memorial observance that would raise awareness of transphobia 20 years later?
It seems that human beings are hardwired to marginalize other human beings. In our story from the book of Esther this morning Queen Esther is challenged to risk her own life to save those of her fellow Jewish people who were about to be exterminated by the evil Haman. Now Haman’s hatred of the Jewish people was a direct result of the refusal of one Jewish man to bow down to him as he walked in and out of the gates of palace. That Jewish man’s name was Mordecai, the uncle of Queen Esther.
Esther did not take on this cause to save her people. She did not set out to save her ancestral family living in the realm of King Xerxes in Persia. His palace was in what is modern day Iran near the border with Iraq, far away from the ancestral home of her people in what is known as Israel today. She was not an activist. But she found herself in a position to speak truth to power, to tell her husband, King Xerxes, the plans of Haman to exterminate her people.
But in order to speak to him she had to risk coming into his presence without an invitation. And if he was displeased with her intrusion she would have been executed. She was asked by her uncle Mordecai to go in to the king. She was hesitant. But her uncle asked her an important and poignant question, “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
This is where we find ourselves today. Who knows but that we have come to our position of privilege for such a time as this. Even as gay men and lesbians we enjoy the protections of the law and the privileges of tolerance if not acceptance. This is not so for our transgender siblings. We are duty bound to use that privilege to work for justice on their behalf, to use our voices to speak truth to power on behalf of those who are voiceless.
In the United States 2021 has been the deadliest year on record for transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming Americans at 46. The Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide research project released an update of Trans Murder Monitoring showing 2021 to be the deadliest year for trans and gender-diverse people since the began collecting data, with 375 registered murders in the past year.And we know this number to be far, far larger.
And so today we remember some of the names of people murdered for simply being themselves. Names of people who are loved by friends and family, people whose contribution to the wellbeing of human kind is now lost to history. They were sent to their graves with all of the potential of their lives, the art, the literature, the music, the engineering, the mathematics, physics, and other scientific knowledge that might have changed the course of history. These names serve to remind us to remember them all by name. These are but of few of those we lost to violence born of hate and bigotry.
Tyianna “Davarea” Alexander
Samuel Edmund Damián Valentín
Bianca “Muffin” Bankz
Dominique Jackson
Fifty Bandz
Alexus Braxton
Chyna Carrillo
Jeffery “JJ” Bright
Jenna Franks
Aidelen Evans
Diamond Kyree Sanders
Rayanna Pardo
Jaida Peterson
Dominque Lucious
Remy Fennell
Tiara Banks
Jahaira DeAlto Balenciaga
Natalia Smüt
Iris Santos
Tiffany Thomas
Keri Washington
Thomas Hardin
Whispering Wind Bear Spirit
Sophie Vásquez
Danny Henson
Serenity Hollis
Poe Delwyn Black
Oliver “Ollie” Taylor
Tierramarie Lewis
EJ Boykin
Taya Ashton
Shai Vanderpump
Miss CoCo
Pooh Johnson
Zoella Martinez
Disaya Monaee
Brianna Ulmer
Kièr Solomon
Mel Groves
Royal Poetical Starz
Jessi Hart
Jo Acker
Rikkey Outumuro
Jenny De Leon
Marquiisha Lawrence
For these all those unnamed in this and all generations we remember their lives. We remember those who loved them and miss them. We mourn for them and for all humanity who are the worse for their loss.
“Let us pray.
Speak to us this day, O God,
and humble us to hear your word.
Make us still enough to notice your presence,
Quiet enough to hear your voice,
Brave enough to speak your good news,
and wise enough to follow your spirit.
So often we pray to you for life:
to preserve life, to prolong life,
to guard life, to begin life.
Today we pray for something else.
We pray for courage to lose our life for your sake,
and we pray for the wisdom to find it.
As Mordecai challenged Esther to be faithful at all costs,
make us hear the voices of people oppressed,
whose stories challenge our way of life.
We pray for your children everywhere:
For your people who are suffering,
Discriminated against because of their race, gender identity,
sexuality, or religion.
For your people who are fearful,
Faced with losing their access to healthcare or treatment.
For your people who are isolated,
Living in the shackles of addiction or abuse
Holy comforter, challenger, redeemer,
We know that you are in our midst.
Help us recognize your spirit on the move,
and empower us to join your work.
Help us be your church, reformed and still being reformed.
Help us be your people, formed and still being formed.
Help us boldly share the news of your love,
For such a time as this.
Amen.”
https://andalsowithyou.blog/2017/07/27/prayers-from-matthew-and-esther-for-such-a-time-as-this/
For a list of music suggested to meditate on for this service click the link below:
"Living in Abundance" Sunday,November 7 , 2021, Sunshine Cathedral of Second Life
Please join us in the virtual world of Second Life each Sunday at 2pm Pacific/ 5pm Eastern time. Download the interface at Secondlife.com, create your avatar, and join us at Sunshine Cathedral.
Call to Worship
Sunshine Cathedral is a different kind of church where the past is past and the future has infinite possibilities!
This is the day our God has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Opening Prayer
Click Here for Audio of the Opening Prayer
God is with us. Let us pray.
That we may be strengthened by divine grace for the tasks of this week.
That those who are in need will be helped and comforted.
That people of goodwill everywhere will seek peace and justice.
For these things we pray that the hearts of all humans may open. Amen.
The Lessons
Click Here for Audio of the first Reading
A Reading from Scripture 1 Kings 17:8-16
The word of the Lord came to Elijah, saying, “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”
But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.”
She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
Click Here for Audio of the Gospel Reading
Words of Scripture from the Gospel according to Mark 12:38-44
As Jesus taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher
Click here for audio of "Living in Abundance"
As is the case with many readings from our sacred texts the lessons contained therein can be tricky to discern. For instance both of these texts are regularly used by shyster TV and internet preachers to get poor people to give their last dollar so that they can live in luxury flying around in private planes and eating fine food. So let’s understand that neither of these stories is about that kind of giving.
Let’s also understand that this is not a subtext for women financing the needs of men or women giving everything they have, even putting their child in peril of starvation, to meet the needs of a strange man that shows up at their door step. Now that we have those two things out of the way, now that we understand neither of these examples is what these stories are about, now we can move on to look at what these stories ARE about.
Let’s start with the reading from 1 Kings. Elijah is a magical figure in the Hebrew scriptures much as Jesus is in the Christian scriptures of what is called by some the “new” testament. Elijah shows up at the Passover Seder as a figure that “returns” to earth to herald a new age. Sound familiar? In fact, some people thought Jesus was Elijah returned. And Elijah even shows up in the Quran as a messenger or prophet of God.
So what is this story telling us? Clearly any story where Elijah appears is important. Well we could use the story of the blessing of the loaves and fishes or what is called the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” form then Christian testament. This story is related in all four gospels. Both of these stories tell of the miraculous extension of a limited amount of food to make an unlimited amount of meals. We know for sure in real life that this does not happen. So what gives here?
Let’s look at the second story in our gospel lesson that features Jesus watching people putting money into the treasury. But wait a minute… what did he say just BEFORE he sat down opposite the treasury to watch people putting in money. He says, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
THEN he sits down to watch people putting money into the treasury. He knows that he will see the same scenario play out every time he sits down to observe this ritual. The rich will put in large sums of money. And the poorest, in an act of faith, will put in tiny amounts because they have so little. And so he uses this as a teaching tool for his disciples to help them understand that how the world judges money is not the true measure of the worth of an offering.
These two stories may or may not be about the faith of the women, we will leave that for another days’ discussions. But for sure both of these stories are about how we perceive whether we are living in want or living in abundance, whether we are living in scarcity or living in abundance, whether we are living in poverty or living in abundance. Now let me be clear, poverty means one thing when you have enough to eat and when you are hungry. But we are not talking here about our physical well-being, we are talking about our emotional and spiritual health.
For instance, I have had times in my life when I felt like I was the richest and most contented person on the planet with only a few dollars in my bank account. There have been other times when I was lonely and distraught about my life when I had all the money I needed and owed no one a penny. So clearly our outlook upon our circumstances need not be fixated on our bank balance or net worth. What IS important is how we perceive abundance.
Let me say here again… that it is very difficult to live in abundance when we are hungry. But there have been times when I turned down help out of false pride when I was sunk deep into a mindset of scarcity. When we live in an emotional and spiritual state of abundance we gladly accept the help we need because we know that there is enough for everyone. We know that it is not shameful to be in need, that what is shameful is to refuse help when we need it because pride clouds our minds with a mindset of poverty.
This principle also causes us to be greedy when we do have enough for ourselves. We neglect the poor in fear that we will give too much of what we have away and then not have enough ourselves. So living in a mindset of emotional and spiritual abundance is just as important when we have enough as when we are in need.
Here’s an example of what I mean, each month and year there is more than enough food grown in the world to feed everyone. But the rich buy more than they need and throw away tons of food because they have the resources to capture the food. It is incumbent upon those of us who have enough to share with those who do not have enough and that can ONLY happen when all of us live in the mindset that there is enough! Enough food, enough water, enough resources for everyone to have fresh water, food, shelter, and sanitary facilities.
When we all live in a mindset of scarcity then we tolerate people who find themselves experiencing homelessness and hunger. When did humanity stoop so low that we honestly allow ourselves to think that people living on the steps of churches covered in cardboard is acceptable? This is NOT acceptable. It is the job of government and religious and charitable organizations to join hands to ensure that every human’s basic needs are met.
What was identified in psychology as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as the most basic needs of every human being are these: air, water, food, sex, sleep, clothing, shelter, healthcare, and personal, emotional, and financial security. The theory suggests that if every human being had these basic needs met then most of the ills of society simply would not exist. But we humans do not live in a mindset of abundance, we live in a mindset of scarcity. If I have enough I dare not share lest myself and my family go hungry or lose the little that we have.
As the holiday season approaches let us consider how we will give gifts this year. Consider how fortunate we are to have survived in this pandemic. Consider how blessed we are to live in the country where all we have to do is make an appointment to get vaccines we need to survive and thrive through flu season and the continuing pandemic. Let us all consider how we can share what we have with those who have less this holiday season.
Advent is just a few weeks away now… let us give thanks for what we have been blessed with by practicing living in emotional and spiritual abundance knowing that what God wants for each of us is to be happy, joyous, and free. Amen.
For a list of music suggested to meditate on for this service click the link bel01:
Download SL20211107
Posted at 12:23 PM in Feminist Liberation Theology, LGBT Issues, Political Commentary, Religion, Second Life, Sermons, Spirituality, Theology, Virtual Church | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Feminist Liberation Theology, LGBT Issues, Religion, Second Life, Second Life, Sermons, Spirituality, Sunshine Cathedral, Theology, Virtual Church
| Reblog (0)