Easter Service Lives On

I am still enjoying the lingering sense of joy from last Sunday's Easter service. The morning was filled with good news. A definite highlight from the morning for me was the confirmation of Tom's membership (Rita suggested we should confirm him every year!). Tom's story of his faith journey was very moving and I am pleased to post the full version of his story here.

BONUS - After Tom's story be sure to read the community blessing that was shared by Rita.

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While growing up, I often wandered lonely as a cloud, as I was a Catholic living in an overwhelming Protestant town (just over 3000 people and about 12 churches.) Every Friday at school, it was fish sticks for hot-lunch and serious heat for the Catholic kids.

We attended St. Joseph’s in Yakima and I went to CCD classes every Saturday. Despite being baptized, taking first communion, and being confirmed in the Church, I always had a sense of disconnect or doubt about the reality of it all. These doubts began at a very early age. For instance, my mother would tell me the candle hanging from the ceiling meant that God was in the house. This left me to wonder, if I blew the candle out, does God leave?

The Catholic Mass seemed such a mysterious ritual that I had trouble accepting the message. For one thing, until I was about nine years old, it was said in Latin. For another, the priest had his back to the congregation while he was performing some elaborate ritual on the altar so I had little idea of what he was doing. This would change later on, as would the No-Meat-on-Friday rule, but by then it was too late for me to have formed a deep commitment to the Church. I suspect that I was not alone in this. As evidence that my friends and I weren’t taking things as seriously as the priests and nuns would have liked, the three most popular confirmation names in the year I was confirmed were John, Paul, and George. Also, there many jokes made about the possibility of a Saint Ringo.

As I was growing up, I noticed that my older siblings stopped going to CCD and to Mass when they reached their mid-teens. I followed suit, but for reasons I really can’t defend and don’t subscribe to now. You see, from about second grade on, I knew I wanted to be a scientist. The scientist as atheist was the prevailing message in the media and it was reflected in the popular opinion of the town that you can’t believe science and believe in God. So I bought into this. In college I would describe myself as an atheist, but I’m not sure that I ever truly was. If I were really an atheist, would I have been so deeply disturbed as I was by the movie “The Exorcist”? I mean, if there’s no God, then there’s no Satan, right? Shops selling occult supplies were popular in the 70’s, and I felt really uneasy every time I passed one.

On the flip side, every time I found myself among ancient trees or in a quiet space away from people, I felt something. At the time I just assumed it was me feeling an appreciation for nature, but looking back I think I was feeling the Spirit. There is certain spirituality about an old growth forest. For many years that is where I would go to seek refuge and renewal. When I would visit these places with Penny and her family, they would invariably begin talking and laughing loudly and I would invariably turn and say: “Penny, you’re talking in church”.

In 1994, Penny and I took a trip to Asia, which included four days in Bali. Bali at the time was like Shangri-La (except for all the vacationing Aussies.) The sense of the spiritual was undeniable and ever-present. The people were totally plugged into their religion and into caring for the earth. I never again described myself as an atheist, but I was not sure which spiritual path I should follow. I began an investigation into a number of different teachings and became confused by most of them. At the time I formed the opinion that there were a number of paths to the “top of the mountain,” spiritually speaking; all that really mattered was that your journey was a sincere one.

Also, at around this time, I was deeply interested in Archeology (actually from the late 80’s on.) I was a member in the Archeology Institute of America for twelve years. As such, I became very interested in Biblical Archeology. In particular, I became fascinated with Jesus the man. The more information I uncovered, the more I grew to respect this man. I wasn’t necessarily thinking in terms of divinity, but his courage and compassion really impacted me.

In 1996 my mother passed away; another life claimed by cigarettes. Most of the family was there in vigil at the hospital when Dad had to excuse himself to run home to feed the dog. Penny and I accompanied him. It was a short trip, but the phone rang almost as we entered the door with the news that mom had passed. The priest who had given her Last Rights the day before told us he had seen this many times before, that a spouse will wait for their life partner to leave the room before they pass. It’s as if they want to spare them the pain of watching when it happens.

Shortly thereafter, something extraordinary happened to me. Its most commonly described as a “visit in a dream”; except I don’t think I was dreaming. Mom’s visit was too real. It’s strange that I can’t describe what she looked like, but then, I was seeing the whole thing through her eyes. I knew what she had felt as she moved toward the light. She was almost laughing and wondering why she had ever feared death. I sensed the presence of other souls, and I sensed the overwhelming presence of God. From then on, all doubts about the existence of God or the afterlife were gone. In the immediate aftermath of this experience I could feel God everywhere and in all things.

Another consequence of this experience is that I began to pray, I mean really pray, from the heart. I feel in my heart that some my prayers produced some extraordinary results, especially at work. I was pretty good at raising monoclonal antibodies, but suddenly I was getting results five times better than what I was used to. As I say, I was good, but I wasn’t that good. Something clearly was happening, perhaps even a small miracle. It led me to the conclusion that small miracles are still miracles, so perhaps the larger miracles described in the Bible could be true as well. How else can we explain all the thousands of crutches left behind at Lourdes?

So far I’ve only been talking about how I found my way to God, now I want to tell you how I found my way to Keystone in particular. It began with the war in Iraq and the moral outrage I felt as a consequence of the war. It should be remembered that on the eve of war Seattle was witness to its largest demonstration ever. The papers said 10,000 people were there, but it was at least 50,000. I know this for a fact, I was there. Worldwide, 15,000,000 million people took to the streets to say, “No” to war. War came anyway.

It should also be remembered that in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks many, many people became very fearful and paranoid. Certain politicians played upon this fear to generate support for an invasion that had been planned months before the 9/11 attack. We were lied into a war. Those of us opposed to the war knew this up front. Those who supported it would not acknowledge that this was the case. I continued to go to many demonstrations, and at every one there would be people screaming that we lacked patriotism or worse, that we were traitors.

After a time, I discovered the Green Lake Peace Vigil. It actually began immediately after 9/11 as an appeal not to respond to violence with more violence. It began small but had grown to a sizable number by the time I became involved. To gather with a group a people and pray for peace had a greater appeal for me than to surround myself with a bunch of angry people shouting through megaphones into my ears. By this time a significant number of people had realized that the Iraq war was a grave mistake, so many of the cars driving by our group honked their horns in support. Others, however, became angry at our presence and on occasion would try and run their cars into the crowd.

The war dragged on and on. Months, actually years, passed and the task of organizing the event became too much of a burden for the original organizers. It was decided to hold a potluck to honor all who had organized or participated in the vigil and to make an appeal to anyone who would take on the responsibility of organizing the weekly vigil. It was held in Battson Hall. This was my first introduction to Keystone. Prior to the event I printed out a list of prayers for peace from every major religion around the world. When I got up to try and read some of them at the potluck I was completely overcome with emotion and started to cry. I wasn’t alone. As long as I live, I will never forget that moment.

I hope this doesn’t seem like I’m shifting paradigms without a clutch, but the other thing that made UCC stand out in my mind involved an Ad that the networks refused to run.

For some time now, there have been a number of conservative religious “leaders” who have been using sections of the Old Testament to condemn those of the GLBT community. A few years ago, UCC wanted to run an Ad during the Super Bowl which made it clear that everyone was welcome at our church. The networks refused to run the Ad, but it did appear online. The concept of universal inclusiveness had great appeal to me. So, UCC became fixed in my mind.

Now as you all know, in 2007 I lost my job at Trubion. This was really a traumatic event in my life, to say the least. You also know that my wife is Chinese. In Asia, the notion that you can simply be laid-off for no apparent reason is a foreign one. She was totally stressed and very upset emotionally. She sought refuge in her Chinese language Bible and in prayer. She also suggested that we start going to church. I agreed, provided that I got to pick the church. With Keystone and the UCC lodged in my memory, I showed up here. When I heard Rich give a sermon for the first time, I knew in my heart that I had made the right choice. When we prepared the meal for the folks at St. Martins, a voice inside told me this something you need to be doing. Yes, we are each other’s keepers.

I want to reveal to you the great gift that you all have given me. Since joining this community, I have learned how to see God in people’s faces. It’s easy to do as I look around this congregation, but now I see God in places and faces where I never expected. Thank you all.

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Community Blessing

Tom,

You have called us by name and we are yours!

On this day of Resurrection we confirm what we have known and appreciated for a long time--your enduring presence and commitment to your God and us, your community of faith.

Thomas, you are Good News and you are etched in our hearts! On this day of Resurrection we confirm and celebrate the many gifts you share with us:

-A passion for peace
-Your concern for the poor and a desire to help lead us in service to the poor
-Your prayerful heart and love of knowledge
-Your open and seeking heart and the eyes to see
-Your laughter and Oh, that reverence you have for all Creation!

Tom, your gifts strengthen and encourage our gifts. We are grateful for your compassion and your friendship. Thank you for choosing to be with us as we strive to live the fullness of the Gospel Call and the Easter Promise. As a sign of our solidarity and support let us now lay our hands on Tom as we bless him with joyful affirmation.

Let us pray:

Loving and gracious God, Creator of forest cathedrals. You who give us the eyes to see You in every face and in every leaf, we ask your special blessing on Tom on this day of deepening commitment.

May Tom continue to grow in Your love and, with our encouragement.
May he continue to live his call of peace-making and home-coming for others.
May Tom's compassion enhance our compassion for all people--and for our beautiful earth.
May our walk, together with Tom, as followers of Christ, boldly proclaim an "On-Going Alleluia" of Holy Belonging and Abundance for everyone!

Tom, may you know now and always the love and support of all of us, your faith community here at Keystone.

Thomas, clothed in our Creator's dream and wrapped in the cloth of your community here in this we celebrate your presence with us.

May your "Yes" to God's Call and your "Yes" to us be good joy, good light, and good bread, for Penny, for your family, for us, and for our world.

And let us all say, AMEN!