Thursday, February 22, 2007

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN

It is Thursday and I am back in Cambridge. When I arrive on campus is it clear that the events of the weekend class are a distant memory for everyone. Instead, the events half a world away in Tanzania occupy minds and stir emotions. I am grateful for the change -- I have needed to move on too.

I make my way to class where a couple dozen of us are led step by step in the motions of the Eucharist. We move our hands as directed and many of us are self-conscious. We have never before done these sacred gestures in public. Perhaps we have stood behind closed doors in our homes and watched as we struggled to remember and mimic the priestly motions. We have spent years working at becoming -- and in this simple exercise the slow progress is suddenly changed to lightning fast movement. It scares and excites me at the same time.

I am struck by the make up of the class. All but two of us would be identified by society as white and we sit quietly as a older white man speaks about the liturgy and how we are icons for the community of faith and how we are called to embody everything about the congregation in our presence. I wonder if I will ever be an icon for people of color.

In the midst of all this seemingly whiteness I am remembering the Eucharist that was celebrated on minutes prior to the start of class. A woman of color preached a wonderful sermon and later stood at the altar to lead us in the remembrance of our shared salvation story.

She is an icon for me and I am blessed by her presence in my life.
I pray that I can be a blessing too.