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Dear St. Christopher's Family,
I hope you have the chance to notice this piece I have hung in the narthex: this prayer originally from Gloucester Cathedral. It is a gift from Becky, originally to St. George’s Church, but now to us, made in honor of church musicians and other friends who have suffered, and many who have died, from the AIDS epidemic that has ravaged many of our neighbors, friends, and families. Thankfully, I believe the darkest days of this scourge are behind us. But while it is important to remember those who suffered so directly, we must also remember how all of us suffered from the fear and the scapegoating that this crisis, which should have been simply about health, but instead awakened a darker side of us that tried to drive people we loved out of our sight.
The timing of this gift is coincidental, but fortuitous. It has been in our choir loft for a number of years, but only now did we notice that it parallels the plaque of the Lord’s Prayer, another gift to the parish honoring those who served at Fort Rucker, Alabama (this hangs in the office entrance off the Memorial Garden). It is now June, which many celebrate as Pride Month. I know that this is a controversial celebration in our society, and even within our church. But I’d like us to look at this plaque, this prayer, and, before our visceral reactions take hold of us, remember what this plaque and this month mean to many of us.
Genuine Pride (the virtue, not the vice!) comes from understanding who we really are, and not being afraid of that image in the mirror. It means understanding that we are created by a God who really loves us, who knows our deepest secrets, and seeks us out even when we hide in the shadows. And if we take that Pride seriously, we must see that image not only in the mirror, but in our neighbors.
The placement of this plaque is, I believe, significant: I have hung it directly over the water fountain between the restrooms. I am old enough to recall the terrifying unknowing that came with this disease in the 1980s, when we were afraid to be near, to recognize, or even to touch the suffering. Sharing facilities with AIDS victims, especially water fountains, was something many feared to do. Many of us remember when we were afraid to be near, to recognize, or even touch those with different skin, or a different language. But that fear must not close doors to anyone, especially not the door of St. Christopher’s.
I ask you this week not simply to be proud of our parish, but to be proud of everything that you are. I ask you to rejoice with our neighbors, even ones we don’t understand, who are proud of everything they are. Because God loves ALL that we are.
God, make the door of this house wide enough to receive all~
who need human love &friendship,
narrow enough to shut out all envy, pride & strife.
Make its threshold smooth enough
to be no stumbling block
to children nor to strayng feet,
but rugged & strong enough to turn back the tempter’s power.
God make this house a gateway to His eternal Kingdom.
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