04/11/2014
SPIRIT Blog
"Strong Songs of the Soul"
Dear Reader:
When I was a seminarian, I was fortunate enough to study under a seminal voice in black theology, Dr. James Cone. Each class session was riveting, challenging and consequential. God-talk with Dr. Cone never felt superfluous or disconnected. It was in that classroom that I was first able to articulate for myself that queer theology was essential, immediate and a vital life and death issue for millions of us. This was not theology as an exercise, it was the soul singing for its life.
The events of Holy Week begin this Sunday as we process with our palms waving and begin reflecting on the archetypal drama of Holy Week. Our Easter traditions have become comforting and familiar, but it is important to remain mindful that in 1st century Jerusalem God-talk was a high-risk
endeavor. We look back and wonder why the crowds were so quick to proclaim Jesus from Nazareth as a Messiah when it would surely lead to harsh repercussions. Jesus answered those who asked the same questions in his own time by saying, “If the people are stifled, the stones themselves will take up the song.”
The power of the Holy Week journey is in the persistence of the soul to be as free and alive with Love as the spark of the Divine first placed within us – the wildfire of our origins. The Resurrected Christ becomes a symbol for this persistence and a harbinger of resilience in the most destitute of situations. And that is something worth singing about.
I hope we each find your strong vital song anew this year. See you on the way to something good.
Glad you’re there,
Rev. Pressley
SPIRIT Blog
"Strong Songs of the Soul"
Dear Reader:
When I was a seminarian, I was fortunate enough to study under a seminal voice in black theology, Dr. James Cone. Each class session was riveting, challenging and consequential. God-talk with Dr. Cone never felt superfluous or disconnected. It was in that classroom that I was first able to articulate for myself that queer theology was essential, immediate and a vital life and death issue for millions of us. This was not theology as an exercise, it was the soul singing for its life.
The events of Holy Week begin this Sunday as we process with our palms waving and begin reflecting on the archetypal drama of Holy Week. Our Easter traditions have become comforting and familiar, but it is important to remain mindful that in 1st century Jerusalem God-talk was a high-risk
endeavor. We look back and wonder why the crowds were so quick to proclaim Jesus from Nazareth as a Messiah when it would surely lead to harsh repercussions. Jesus answered those who asked the same questions in his own time by saying, “If the people are stifled, the stones themselves will take up the song.”
The power of the Holy Week journey is in the persistence of the soul to be as free and alive with Love as the spark of the Divine first placed within us – the wildfire of our origins. The Resurrected Christ becomes a symbol for this persistence and a harbinger of resilience in the most destitute of situations. And that is something worth singing about.
I hope we each find your strong vital song anew this year. See you on the way to something good.
Glad you’re there,
Rev. Pressley