Les Mis Revisted - with a disturbing twist

I have now seen Les Mis three times in the theater, and I still love (nearly) everything about this movie. But I am not writing now about all the things I love about the movie and about the musical in general. I am writing about one thing about the movie that I find disturbing. 

Every time I've seen this movie, I notices different things. This time, I noticed one unfortunate prop addition that I hand not noticed before. This prop, in my opinion, has no business in this particular scene. In fact, the addition of this prop undermines everything that this scene is about, and indeed in my humble opinion negates many of the themes of this movie/musical. The scene? the final one, of the heavenly barricade. The offensive props? GUNS.

Yes, guns. At the heavenly barricade, where all the people we have just witnessed in the last two hours tragically die, most of them from guns, they are sporting more guns. Check it out. As these poor dead souls sing: 

Do you hear the people sing?
Lost in the valley of the night
It is the music of a people who are climbing to the light-
For the wretched of the earth
There is a flame that never dies
Even the darkest nights will end and the sun will rise!

They will live again in freedom in the garden of the lord
They will walk behind the ploughshare
They will put away the sword
The chain will be broken and all men will have their reward!

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes!

It is a song of peace. It is a song of freedom from violence. It is a song of hope. They are now free from war and death and pain and suffering and violence. So why on God's green earth are they holding GUNS!?!?!?

It is true they are not shooting them at anyone. Rather, they are waving them in the air in victory. But why are they even there in the first place? If this last scene is indeed supposed to be heaven, as we are lead to believe, shouldn't heaven be a gun-free place? If it is true, what this musical is telling us, that "to love another person is to see the face of God," then guns have no place in heaven. If it is true, that at the end of our days God will wipe all our tears from our eyes and pain will be no more (Rev. 21:4) then guns have no place in heaven. If in Jesus Christ our death has been swallowed up in victory and no longer has any sting (1 Corinthians 15), then instruments of death have no place in heaven. 

It may seem like a tiny detail, but I see this one small prop undermines the beauty of the entire piece. The film makers should have known better. Had whoever was in charge of props watched their own movie, they would have learned that violence only leads to senseless death, and love is the way of life worth living. And if love is good enough for life, it should be good enough for death too. 

When we see gun violence in the news nearly every day (especially living near Trenton, where there are shootings nearly every week), showing guns in a place that might be heaven is very unsettling and upsetting, at least it is to me. 

Lent Homily - It's a good thing we're not being graded

For Lent, we are going through the passion narrative according to the Gospel of Luke. I preached this homily on our second Wednesday of Lent, February 27th on Luke 22: 39-62

Lent began with the testing of Jesus in the wilderness. We heard the story just a few weeks ago, how the devil tempted Jesus with food to satisfy his physical hunger, with power to rule the world, and with the ability to live without human limitations. Jesus passed the test with flying colors, and the defeated devil ran off to reappear at an opportune time. Well, the moment has arrived; the time has come – the power of darkness has returned in full force and is now running the show.

This time, it is the disciples, not Jesus, who find they are facing the devil’s exam. And this is no “pop quiz” - three times Jesus prepped his followers for what was going to happen, saying “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised;” and later, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands;” and again “For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon.” Jesus gave his students ample warning that the end of their semester was close at hand. And the test that the devil would dish out would be the most frightening experience of their lives.

For some last minute cramming, Jesus takes his disciples to his favorite place to pray. Jesus tells them to pray that they will not fall into temptation. Judging by what happens later on, they should have prayed that they would not be overcome by their confusion, fear, and grief, because they end up succumbing to all three. Jesus himself prefers to pray in solitude, a short prayer that shows a resigned yet determined Jesus, who seems to rise from his “dark night of the soul” ready to face the many trials of the night.

Imagine his dismay when he comes upon the disciples, not fervently praying as he recommended, but drained by grief and stress, and yielding to their exhaustion. I can’t really blame them, though. Many of us have felt what it’s like to feel drained after an intense crisis. The adrenaline of the moment does not last forever, and when it runs out, the fallout of tiredness can be crushing.

They were still rubbing the sleep from their eyes and Jesus was in the middle of scolding them - when Judas arrives. He had found the perfect time to finally trap Jesus – alone and in the dark, away from the masses that followed and supported Jesus. Twelve peasants from the country were no match for a crowd of armed men. But instead of simply pointing which man was the one they came to arrest, Judas instead approaches Jesus to kiss him, and so solidifies his reputation as the most notorious back-stabber in all of history.

When it dawned on the disciples that Jesus was in trouble, they lashed out in their confusion and gave in to anger. After all, the beloved teacher they had been following for three years was in danger! He was being unfairly arrested under the cover of darkness! It was an unfair fight from the beginning, and they wanted to fight back!

But the disciples had not only forgotten the three times Jesus had warned them of this moment, they had forgotten entirely what the Jesus was about. Three years later, and they had still not gotten that Jesus is about healing, and not hate. He is about forgiveness, not force. He is about reconciliation, not revenge. But instead, his disciples lash out at the nearest person, someone not even there by his own will, and cause him bodily harm. Yet again Jesus had to show them the right answer – compassion, not violence.

When Jesus is seized and the other disciples likely run away, it is only Peter who remains, though following at a distance, not wanting to be seen or caught. But even our beloved Peter, the star pupil, fails his last test miserably - even after being given three chances to “get it right.” Though earlier he had professed his determination to follow Jesus even to death, he too is overwhelmed by fear, and gives into his own desire for self-preservation.

I think though, even though Peter in the end failed the test, he did to one thing right. He may have fallen asleep at prayer, he may have wanted strike at those who wished him harm, and he may have wanted to run away, but he stayed with Jesus, and when in the courtyard during Jesus’ trial, Peter sat in the light.

When the darkness seemed thickest, when the forces of evil were surrounding Jesus and licking their lips in anticipation, when it seemed that dawn might never come, Peter still sat in the light.  Though it caused others to be able to identify him, he could not leave the light, nor could he not leave Jesus’ side.

Peter should get extra credit for this, but he doesn't  The rooster still cruelly crows and Jesus looks at Peter, perhaps with a mixture of reprimand and pity. But in the end, we remember it is really Jesus that is on trial here. It is Jesus who is being punished for his welcoming message of healing, love, and forgiveness. It is Jesus who is fighting the ultimate battle against temptation, the powers of evil, and death. Though Peter can’t see it yet, though it will test Jesus to his utmost and will cost him his life, Jesus is going to win.

Pastor Blessings/Perks

One of the perks of living on the East Coast is the easy access to the ocean (unless you are in the middle of a hurricane. Then it is pretty horrible). Even better are generous members of our congregations who own rental homes minutes from the beach. A family from Beau's congregation owns a home they rent in the summer in Brigantine, NJ, and offered to let us stay in it when we want to, off-season of course. We took them up on their generous offer two weeks ago. The previous weekend we spent apart, me at the synod HS Winter Youth Assembly and he at camp Konionia in Upstate NY for a youth weekend. So we decided it would be a good time to get away! It was also very good to get away from the business of our lives (it IS Lent). We had both been crazy busy for the last few weeks that it was so nice to get away together! Brigantine is a actually an island directly north of Atlantic City. It's very peaceful, especially off-season, and we found a great pub with awesome food and live music, and a nice bagel shop. It sustained some damage from the storm, mostly homes, but it seems most business are still running. It was rather rainy and overcast, but it was still lovely.

Sermon from 2-24

Grace and peace to you from God our father and from our lord and savior Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Close your eyes for a moment and picture Jesus in your mind. Go ahead, close them. What does Jesus look like to you? Does he have long flowing blond hair and blue eyes? Does he have dark skin and a beard? Does he have a piercing gaze or a strong jaw line?....

What is the Jesus in your mind wearing? Is he wearing a pristine white robe and blue sash? Or are his clothes stained and travel-worn, and unraveling a bit? Are his sandals falling apart, or are they the newest Nike flip flops?....

And what is the Jesus in your mind doing? Are his arms spread wide as he teaches a crowd of people? Are his hands open in welcome? Is he kneeling in prayer and looking up to heaven? Is he hugging a child or healing someone who is sick?...

And when he opens his mouth, what is Jesus saying? Does he say “blessed are the peacemakers?” or “Get behind me Satan?” Is he telling a parable or teaching his disciples? Is he praying or singing or saying anything at all?...

As you close your eyes and think about Jesus, who is Jesus for you?...

You can open your eyes now. Of course we can never REALLY know what Jesus looked or sounded like. There are as many pictures of Jesus as there are people in this room, as many images as there have ever been Christians on this planet. I’ve seen the blond-haired and blue-eyed Jesus pictured in central China, and I’ve also seen African-American Jesus with a big ‘fro in a church in a Catholic church in Chicago. For Leonardo Da Vinci, Jesus had long brown hair and wore a red and blue robe. And then there is that picture of Jesus that hung on your grandma’s wall, the one everyone has seen at one point or another – Jesus, serenely looking off to the side, long wavy hair shining from the mysterious glow that seems to be coming off of Jesus like a mist.

Of course Jesus always looked like this when he walked this earth, right? – placid, clean, and slightly radiating holiness? He’s never angry or frustrated, never rude to those with power and authority, never ever stubborn to a fault.

I’m really hoping that you’re catching my sarcasm here, because at this point you should be thinking  about how Jesus was just all these things he’s  not ‘supposed’ to be, just in these few verses from Luke today. If there is one thing we can know about Jesus, it should be that he is full of surprises, and surprising things are always happening when Jesus is involved, and our story today is no exception.

Surprise number one: there are some Pharisees that seem to care about Jesus’ welfare. Normally Pharisees tend to argue with Jesus, but these Pharisees instead give him a heads up that King Herod has a hit out on him.

Surprise number two: Jesus not only blows off their warning, but announces his resolution to continue his work, straight into the jaws of others who also want to kill him.

Surprise number three: Jesus describes himself as a chicken.

Of course Jesus is the very opposite of what we now think of as “a chicken.” In this story he shows he is not afraid of death, whether from the threat of murder from the king who killed John the Baptist, or from the city with a history of murdering God’s messengers. He is not afraid of what the powers of this world can do to him. He is not afraid of the consequences of his quest to gather all of his children into his loving care. He is not a chicken who is a coward, but a chicken who cares for her baby chicks.

As any mother would probably tell you, the desire to protect your children trumps any sort of physical danger you could possibly encounter. The power of a mother’s love is legendary, as are the lengths that mothers are willing to go for the health and happiness of their children.

Mary became the mother of Jesus even though she knew it would cost her status, perhaps her future marriage, or even her very life to follow God’s calling to be the mother of the Messiah. Another celebrated mother, Mother Theresa, never had children herself, but selflessly cared for the most ailing and most ignored of India’s poor. Every day, everywhere, mothers feed, clothe, and care for their children whether their children are naughty or nice, whether they are happy or sad, whether they will become the next president of the United States or the next in line at the unemployment office. A mother’s love for her children, biological or otherwise, is uncompromising and unconditional.

So it is only natural that so often in the Old Testament, God describes the love God has for us to be as powerful as the love a mother has for her child. God’s love for us is like a nursing mother for her baby, like a mother bear protecting her cubs at all costs, like a mother hen extending her wings of safety over her wayward young chicks. It is a beautifully tender image, marred only by the fact that these chicks do NOT want to be gathered under the wings of their mother hen. These chicks not only refuse the love offered to them, they seek to kill the very one who wants to protect them. But still, the mother hen continues to love her chicks, even her rebellious ones, whether they are from first century Jerusalem or twenty-first century East Windsor.

This indeed is a moving image, but it is not a complete one. In the end, Jesus is NOT the same as a mother hen caring for her chicks. Jesus is of course so much more than that. The most beautifully descriptive language could never fully express who Jesus is and what he has done for us.  No portrait of Jesus we can paint could ever be exact. But we do have access to one portrait of Jesus that is COMPLETELY accurate, one image that we see nearly every day that fully captures Jesus better than any painting or description ever could. This comes not from the words that Jesus said, but comes from something that he transformed.

In the world of Jesus’ time, it was an instrument of execution, coarse and full of splinters and nails. Today, it is everywhere, often ornately decorated, made of fine gold or precious stones and put on jewelry or used as wall art. In a few weeks some of you will create them out of the palm fronds we use for Palm Sunday. But no matter what form it takes, adorned or in its uncovered horror, when we see a cross, we are witnessing the lengths that love will go for poor sinners like us. Do you really want to know, in all his fullness, what Jesus was like? Just look at the cross.

In today’s reading, in our journey through the season of Lent, Jesus is on his way to die. Jesus knows this, knows that the very people he came to save want to kill him, and he doesn’t even blink. Jesus knows his destiny, and knows that not Herod, not the Pharisees, not unwilling children, and not even the cross can keep him from his final goal, from the completion of his work. And Jesus will not stop until all of his children, every last one of us, are underneath his outstretched arms.

In our own journeys through the season of Lent, we remember that we too are on our way to die. But because we follow the crucified and risen Jesus, we can find hope in the face of suffering; we see life in a tool of death, and we encounter our own self-portraits in the rough wood of the cross. What was done on the cross needs never to be repeated, but today, tomorrow, and the next day we all continue the work that Jesus began. When the world tells us to leave the way because it is too hard, we can press on - because there are still demons to be cast out and cures to be given. There are Jerusalems to be saved and chicks to gather. And hopefully we will find that day by day we too are being transformed into instruments of life and hope. AMEN. 

Emily Dickinson Never Ceases to Amaze.

I got a blast from the past listening to NPR recently - they were talking about the poet Emily Dickinson, one of my favorite poets, especially as a teenager. Once I got a slim volume of some of her poetry from the Scholastic Book Fliers (weren't those things AWESOME!) and I read every poem over and over. Eventually the cover fell off, but I kept reading it. One of my favorites was one that begins "This world is not conclusion." After hearing the NPR segment, I went to my "Collected Works of Emily Dickinson" from Barnes and Noble that I bought a few years ago to replace my worn out copy. I looked up the poem - yes, just as I remembered! Awesome! 

Recently on Facebook I heard of an event, "Show them a theologian." You pick a theologian and use his/her picture as your profile picture. I mentally rounded up the usual suspects - Bonhoeffer, Thomas Merton, MLK Jr, Henri Nouwen... but hmm, where were the women? I haven't read a lot of Julian of Norwich, and I'm not the biggest fan of Theresa of Avila. Then, bam! An idea! I could use Emily!

I wanted also to include one of her poems, of course, and why not use my favorite, to show that she often wrote about faith, God, and eternal life? And why type it when you can google search it? But I got an unintended surprise. The poem I found was not the poem I remembered from childhood. What I found was I think the original, before it was edited for cleanliness and also before it was ABRIDGED. It turns out the poem that I had known and loved was not the COMPLETE POEM. I had no idea. And the poem in its entirety is more amazing, more subtle, more thought-provoking than the original. I'll share both for comparison. The one I grew up with:



THIS world is not conclusion;
  A sequel stands beyond,
Invisible, as music,
  But positive, as sound.
It beckons and it baffles;        
  Philosophies don’t know,
And through a riddle, at the last,
  Sagacity must go.
To guess it puzzles scholars;
  To gain it, men have shown         
Contempt of generations,
  And crucifixion known.



Nice and neat and drawn together. Now, this is the original, I think (I'm actually finding it hard to discover why it was edited the way it was). Imagine my shock and delight. 



This World is not Conclusion.
A Species stands beyond --
Invisible, as Music --
But positive, as Sound --
It beckons, and it baffles --
Philosophy -- don't know --
And through a Riddle, at the last --
Sagacity, must go --
To guess it, puzzles scholars --
To gain it, Men have borne
Contempt of Generations
And Crucifixion, shown --
Faith slips -- and laughs, and rallies --
Blushes, if any see --
Plucks at a twig of Evidence --
And asks a Vane, the way --
Much Gesture, from the Pulpit --
Strong Hallelujahs roll --
Narcotics cannot still the Tooth
That nibbles at the soul --


Wow. What a difference that last stanza makes. It entirely changes the meaning of the poem. The first one ends with such trusting certainty in the unknown, while the second (or rather the first? Since it was the original?) leaves you with that nagging feeling of doubt... or it it belief in an afterlife that is nagging the soul? (Narcotics here refers to drugs used for dulling a toothache). It's unclear, and so much more realistic and interesting. The first poem affirms that we will never know what is beyond death in this lifetime, and the second affirms that this knowledge nags at us like a toothache.  No one has pat answers about what lies beyond, of course. Our faith gets tripped up all the time. But to think of heaven as another species (as in, we'll have immortal bodies like Paul writes, perhaps? 1 Corinthians 15:53: "For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality." ) rather than a sequel (more of the same thing) is so much more compelling... and Biblical. Way to go, Emily. 

League of Extraordinary Novice Church Leaders 2013

Formerly known as Region 7 First Call Education renamed to Leadership Guild, unfortunately nicknamed "Baby Pastor School."

For the record, not all of us who attend this event are young or pastors. Some of us are second-, third-, or whatever career people, and not all are ordained. But we are all in our first three years of ministry, during which we attend this one-week event. 

Last year's event was pretty much a big blur. It came straight on the heels of my ordination - I was by far the "youngest" pastor there. I pretty much showed up that Monday and walked around saying "Hi. I've been a pastor for about 24 hours now. I'm so exhausted." 

This year, things had been changed for the better, and not just my level of consciousness. The previous year we shared in our feedback that there was too much sitting and not enough downtime, and egads! They listened! Not only did we learn about adaptive leadership from the great book Leadership on the Line, but we were offered different "tracks" to pursue so as to tailor our experience to help our context. Plus we learned a fairly helpful way to discuss problems and brought actual case studied from our congregations to discuss.   The discussions we had at night with the bishops, including ours from NJ, Bishop Riley, were extraordinary. We "got up on the balcony" with them and they heard our hopes and our fears. PLUS I painted some pictures inspired by the 1 Corinthians reading of the upcoming week and did some yoga and a little reading. AND I got to see some old compadres from Luther seminary.


Worship, I think, was my favorite part. We were in this great flexible space and every time we worshiped it was in a slightly different configuration. Nothing too crazy, but it was fun to see how the worship planners shaped the space to fit the service - whether for Eucharist  Holden Evening Prayer, or a healing service. We lit candles, wrote on rocks, prayed for one another's communities, learned new songs and sang some oldies from the ELW lead by some awesome guitarists and musicians. And we didn't almost light the place on fire, like we nearly did last year. :) 

One of the many blessings that came out of this time was a sense of not being alone - we were all in widely diverse contexts, of course, but we were all working together in a common mission. And I now have a mentor, which I'm really excited about!

Well done, Region 7, well done.

Les Mis Epiphany Sermon

Grace and peace to you from God our father and from our lord and savior Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Imagine for a moment that you are the president of the United States. You are going about your business, doing your president thing, when one morning you hear a knock on your door. Some dignitaries from various nations approach your desk with a question. They eagerly ask, “Where is the new president of the United States? Our intelligence has informed us that a new president is now in office, and we have come to pay our respects.” Your blood suddenly turns cold. To your knowledge there has been no election, no new president. You are the one in power, and you’d like to keep it that way. After all, you've worked so hard to get here. Who, then, could these ambassadors be speaking of? And what might it take to keep all this confusion quiet?

Where else would you look for the president of the United States than at the White House? And where else would you look for the birth of a king than in a royal palace? But when the wise men finally showed up on the scene that first Christmas, knocking on King Herod’s palace door, they were not welcome visitors. Their arrival struck fear into the hearts of those in power. Their arrival signaled to those who had a stake in the status quo that change was on the horizon. And for someone like King Herod – comfortable, in control, and backed by the Roman Empire, change is a bad thing.

But this is not exactly how Christmas cards and Hallmark store displays have taught us to imagine the scene, in a stylized stable with well-behaved animals, dirty shepherd next to richly dressed men bearing gifts, with bright pointed star hanging overhead, shining light on the serene scene. In reality, Christmas is long over by the time the star leads these wise men to the place where Jesus is. Their journey was long and hard, probably through mountains and deserts, and when they finally arrived their news brought fear and not joy. But through hardship and suspicion they still pressed on, until finally the star stopped and revealed to the wise men where Jesus was. It was there, in a house somewhere in Bethlehem, that these wise sages of the East witnessed the unveiling of God face to face. They saw firsthand God’s “epiphany.”

This day and this season we now enter into has a funny name. “Epiphany” is not a word we use often anymore. “I had an epiphany at work today,” you might say to a friend, referring to brainstorming a good idea for a project. Really though, it’s that light bulb moment, quite literally, when a realization dawns on you, when suddenly things make sense and you can’t figure out how you couldn't see it just a moment ago. It’s when the world suddenly shifts into focus, like putting on a new pair of glasses and you’re taken aback for a moment at how clear the world looks.

When those really good ah-ha moments happen – like when you fall in love for the first time or the birth of your first child– your life is never quite the same again. And how could you live your life in the same old darkness now that the light has dawned? How could you put on your old out-of-date glasses now that your way is bright and clear? You can never go back, nor would you want to. You are living in a new world. Everything has changed.

Everything changed the night when Jesus was born, when the King of Kings and Lord of Lords reveals his face between bands of cloth in the straw of a manger. Everything changed when angels announced his birth and shepherds sang his praises. Everything changed when these men from another religion and another country acknowledged Jesus as their true king. As Mary’s song said, the world would be turned upside down – the mighty would be brought low and the lowly lifted up, the hungry would be fed and the full sent away empty. The ordinary order of the world of haves and have-nots could no longer hold. All because God revealed God’s true character in a baby born in Bethlehem.

But Epiphany is not just a one-time occasion that we celebrate and remember having happened in the past. No, God has Epiphanies all over the place. The God we worship is continually revealing to us who God is and how God is working in the world – through people, through churches and congregations, and even through other unlikely sources. Even Hollywood can sometimes be a medium of God’s epiphanies. Have you ever seen a film that just hit you right here, even if you’re not sure why? Les Miserable was such a film for me. And if you haven’t seen it yet, I would highly recommend it.

It follows the fortunes of one man, Jean Valjean, as he is chased through life by the sins of his past but at the same time being drawn by hope and love into a better future. At the very start he is a hardened criminal, released on parole after 19 years in prison. He seeks work but is turned away time and time again because he is an ex-con. Hungry, cold, and desperate, he finds himself sleeping in a church, where the bishop of the church finds him and welcomes him, feeds him, and offers him a warm place to sleep.

But Valjean saw the fine silver cutlery while he ate and in his wretched state he could not help himself. That night he stole the silver and took off. He is caught and dragged back before the bishop, beaten and in chains. . Valjean knew that this was it for him, that he would go back to prison and would live the rest of his life there. The soldiers knew that too. They sneered and repeated his ridiculous story, about how the bishop had felt sorry for Valjean and had given him the silver out of pity. Like any person, even a bishop, would be so kind to an ex-con.

But the bishop said, “That’s right. But my friend you left so early, surely something slipped your mind…” He took the silver candlesticks down from the mantle, “you forgot, I gave these also, would you leave the best behind?”Both the soldiers and Valjean are aghast. Valjean is released, but the bishop was not finished. He told Valjean that he must use the silver to become an honest man, and that his gift had rescued Valjean’s soul for God.

Valjean couldn’t believe it. This bishop, this upright man in the church had not only lied about Valjean stealing the silver, but had given him the candlesticks to boot! The bishop had given him his freedom, and said that he had a soul worth saving. Before this, Valjean had been consumed by hate and despair, but now he wondered if there was another way to live? What if he did have a soul, and his life now belonged to God? How should he live?

The rest of the movie reveals to us how this man chose to live the rest of his life after this epiphany - to live for others and not just for himself. At the end of his life, on his deathbed surrounded by his loved ones both living and dead, he is able to sum up his life: “to love another person is to see the face of God.”

Though we don’t know what happened to the wise men after they saw the face of God, we can assume that they were never the same again. Their lives had changed. For one thing, they had become fugitives, sneaking out of the country to avoid becoming Herod’s informants. Herod had no intention of paying homage to the new born king. He would rather snuff out any threat to his power than see the true face of God revealed in a humble child.

But God continues reveals himself in unexpected places and to unlikely people. God reveals God’s face to a teenaged girl and her carpenter fiancé…..to dirty shepherds in the middle of the night… and to star-gazing sages of the orient…. And also to you and to me. For God revealed his face in the form of a small child so that all people could have a place at the table – Jews, gentiles, men, women, and children, black and white, carpenters and lawyers, straight, gay, depressed, happy, mentally-challenged, socially challenged, financially challenged, bored, addicted, busy, ex-cons and bishops. Lift up your eyes and look around - we’re all here at the table, because the light of the world shown out and brought us to this place.  “Arise, shine; for your light has come.” Amen.