Friday E-News | November 29, 2024

Dear saints,

Among the snarkier Episcopalians, there is a game of “Sermon Bingo” that has made the rounds. Each player consults their scorecard during the homiletical moment, on the prowl for such developments as: “Jesus is not mentioned,” “C.S. Lewis is referenced,” “The wrong readings were consulted, but the sermons is preached regardless,” and my personal favorite, “The priest mentions shame and/or Brené Brown but ignores the lectionary.” If you get bingo, you must immediately stand and shout “Hallelujah!” making it appear is if you’re responding to the sermon. All this, by way of introduction to say that I found a Brené Brown quote that seems relevant to the moment, and if you stand and shout during the next sermon I will know you that just won bingo. Brown writes: “People are hard to hate close up. Move in.”  

What she’s saying, I think, is that the lines that divide us are social constructs. They are artifacts of culture, and we can overcome them by getting closer to one another. How might we "move in" toward those who differ from us?

We could talk at length about the social influences that exacerbate our divisions. We could offer symposia on targeted news channels, the tendency of like-minded folks to live next to each other, and the challenges of disinformation from today’s social media environment. Those would all be worthwhile pursuits. 

Or, hear me out, we could eat together. We could break bread with people who agree with us, and some who don’t. We could share a meal with folks who have more resources than us, and those who have fewer. We could host the homeless through Covenant Community’s Thanksgiving Dinner. We could make dinner for the neighborhood after the Welcome Table service on Sunday nights. We could get together with extended members of our family. We could take up the Surgeon General’s invitation to eat with friends and strangers in 2025. Yes to all of that. 

One of the gifts of Thanksgiving is that we are culturally inclined to sit down for a meal, at a table, with real people, in a room. The trope is that we’ll try to avoid spicy subjects, which is probably wise. But there’s something rare about getting people together over a table who might not normally dine in the same space. There’s something beautiful about it, in the end. 

Here we are, with our varied jobs, outfits, perspectives, and voting history. But that turkey sure is moist, isn’t it. And how are your kids doing? And how are you, really? What an opportunity to "move in,"’ to understand the world from someone else’s perspective. I wonder if we might bridge some kind of socio-political divide over a slice of peCAAHN pie. 

Christians have been doing this for a long time. One of the best recipes for church comes from the Acts of the Apostles: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and the prayers” (2:42). Jesus does some of his best work over snacks and meals. So too can we.

Happy thanksgiving, friends. I thank God, deeply, for you, for this extraordinary community. 

Peace,