For the Healing of the Nations

Psalm 67; John 14:23-27; Revelation 22:1-5

May 26, 2019

Welcome to the Sabbath Cafe, our summertime experiment in worship gathering. Most of worship will be conversational, with just a brief homily to prompt some of our discussion.

The leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations. The leaves of the tree of life wave on the winds of our breath as we sing songs of praise. The leaves of the tree of life shimmy to the sound of our song.

I want to play a brief clip for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYnLRf-SNxY

That’s a group of Iranian young adults dancing to the Pharell Williams song Happy. I thought about that video, which is about five years old now, this week as I pondered the words from Revelation amidst the background noise of saber rattling.

There are at least two things you need to know about that video: first, Iranian authorities arrested those kids for behavior contrary to the values of the revolution, or some such garbage; second; those kids and their neighbors are the ones our leaders are talking about going to war against.

The leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations. There was a story in the Post last week about the 50^th anniversary of the battle known as Hamburger Hill during the worst days of the American war. One of the vets quoted in the story noted that by the end of the 10-day struggle over an otherwise anonymous jungle mountain the top of the hill had been completely deforested. The story had a picture with it that could have been called “when the leaves of the trees are gone the healing of the nations is a distant dream.”

On this Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend, my prayer is that we plant trees whose leaves will be for the healing of the nations. Moreover, I pray that we may water those trees with our tears.

Memorial Day falls always in the run-up to various Pride celebrations around the country, and this year Pride festivals will be marking the 50^th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. The queer folk – gay men, drag queens, lesbians – stood up in New York City against the powers and principalities – those enforcing traditional values who appear to me to be not that different from the Iranian officials cracking down on basic human expression.

That’s the kind of pride we need a lot more of – always. For exuberantly shared human expressions tend to end in tears. Sometimes tears of joy; sometimes tears of sorrow – but deeply felt human emotion tends to end with tears.

Honestly, I watch that video of Iranian kids dancing, and water rises to my eyes. I think about the long journey from Stonewall to marriage equality, and water rises to my eyes. I think about the possibility of another senseless war, and water rises to my eyes. I think about the complete lack of GLBTQ rights in Iran, and water rises to my eyes. I think about the weddings of loving same-gender couples it has been my deepest privilege to officiate, and water rises to my eyes.

May that water roll down and refresh the deepest roots of the tree of life, and may its leaves be for the healing of the nations.