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Issues, we all have them!

Matthew 9:20-22

20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment, (KJV)

21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. ( NRSV)

Medical research has a long, troubled racial history. One example is the Tuskegee study, which involved doctors letting black men die from syphilis.

The goal of the United States Public Health Service was to “observe the natural history of untreated syphilis” in black populations, but the subjects were completely unaware and were instead told they were receiving treatment for bad blood when in fact, they received no treatment at all.

Ada McVean B.Sc. writes in her article on the subject “During that time Social Darwinism was rising, predicated on the survival of the fittest, and “scientific racism” (a pseudoscientific practice of using science to reinforce racial biases) was common. Many white people already thought themselves superior to blacks and science and medicine was all too happy to reinforce this hierarchy. Scientific racism was used to justify the African slave trade. Scientists argued that African men were uniquely fit for enslavement due to their physical strength and simple minds. They argued that slaves possessed primitive nervous systems, so did not experience pain as white people did… In order to track the disease’s full progression, researchers provided no effective care as the men died, went blind or insane or experienced other severe health problems due to their untreated syphilis.”

Another example is the case of Henrietta Lacks. She was a poor African-American woman whose cancer cells scientists and drug companies used for decades without her permission. But the list of abuses is long.

It is this history that causes Black Indigenous People Of Color (BIPOC) to distrust the US government and their hesitance to take the Covid-19 vaccine.

 

In Matthew’s gospel there was a woman who also suffered many years under doctors who could do nothing for her disease. This woman was amazing, she was courageous. She didn’t give up or in. She operated out of her hope, and put her faith in a man named Jesus. Just as we have been instructed to practice social distance, wear masks, and constantly wash your hands as a means to avoid contacting the Covid-19 virus. Because of the nature of her disease, she was required, according to Hebrew law, to be isolated from society, not come around others. There are similarities. But she had the courage to go take her healing. She knew within herself that it was there for the taking. Just like our healing, protection and protection for our loved ones is there for the taking. The COVID-19 vaccine has met strict safety standards, followed all the usual steps to ensure that the vaccines are safe, pure and effective.

Beloved, the vaccine provided to all is free and safe and available for all.

I pray that anyone who has reservations or hesitancy about taking the vaccine will have some of that same strength and hope to put their faith and confidence that the government has learned from their mistakes. And that healing is a touch away!

 

Pastor Babette Chatman

 

 

A Prayer for the New

Isaiah 43:16-19 (NRSV)

16 Thus says the Lord,
    who makes a way in the sea,
    a path in the mighty waters,
17 who brings out chariot and horse,
    army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
    they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
18 Do not remember the former things,
    or consider the things of old.
19 I am about to do a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.

It seems that right now, in America, there isn’t much we can agree on. One place we can all find common ground is the upset the pandemic has caused in our lives, no matter what we believe about it. 

Social scientists say that in times of great upheaval, interventions and behavior changes are more likely to stick. In other words, whatever “new” emerges from the disruption created by COVID-19 may have staying power. 

“New” isn’t easy. “New” disrupts us and upends the comfortable and familiar. Instead of plunging ahead, our first instinct is to dawdle, actively or passively resist, and feel nostalgia for what is passing away. As the pandemic wore on, we no longer had the luxury to resist. The circumstances of our lives were changed. 

A global pandemic forced you and me out of our usual habits. Staying home, we accidentally nurtured God’s creation. Before the Great Pause, it was hard just to imagine a clear, pollution-free sky. We nurtured one another, we took time to check in on our friends and family, and showed love and concern for neighbors we may not have met or would not have reached out to otherwise. 

We were—and still are, despite the end being in sight—at a moment that calls to mind John’s vision of “a new heaven and a new earth” in Revelation and of God proclaiming, in Isaiah 43 “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”

If what social science says is true, these new habits of caring for creation, and caring for one another may be more likely to stick. As vaccines become more available, and we are free from the constraints of this virus, let us not fall back into the former things, let us go forward, embracing the new thing that God is doing. 

Prayer: God of all things, old and new, help us to perceive the new thing you are about to do. Give us strength and courage in these times of great upheaval, guide us toward the actions that help make the new things stick. New ways of being a part of your creation and your community. Let our patterns of living reflect the love you have for the world and for all of us. May these actions help us and our neighbors forget the former ways of racism, violence, hatred and division. Let us go forth in the new ways you make in the post-pandemic wilderness. All this we ask in the precious, holy name of Jesus. Amen.

Jenn Luong

Pastoral Intern

Blessing the Feet

This particular Friday in March is the traditional day Campus Ministry would offer in chapel worship a blessing for all travelers heading into Spring Break. It is, after all, our final day before the break. Auggie Sport teams, short-term study abroad students, and participants in Campus Ministry’s Alternative Spring Break Habitat for Humanity build would all be lifted up in prayer for safe travels and meaningful experiences in their organized trips. In addition, our prayers would accompany all who travel over the break for home-goings, destination respites, and other needed vacations or travel. But of course, like last year, many such trips and activities are not happening in this same way. COVID-19 is looming large for the second year as Spring Break begins.

And still, we in Campus Ministry want to offer up a blessing for you and for all. I’m calling it, “Blessing the Feet.” Though travel may be curtailed and trips postponed, our feet (or wheels) will take us somewhere in the days ahead. Maybe not across country or to new ventures, but we will find our feet situating us in a particular place and space. So, may your feet be blessed! 

The prophet Isaiah proclaimed,  

“How beautiful upon the mountains
 are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
 who brings good news,
 who announces salvation,
 who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’” (Isaiah 52:7)

Wherever you go in the days ahead, look to your feet – your beautiful feet! See how they are carrying you into opportunities and settings that may call for peace, for good news, for healing, for rest and renewal, for the unfolding of salvation in our very midst. Bless your feet! 

We pray:

God of Zion, God of Minneapolis:

You call us to walk your way of peace and reconciliation. 

Bless all these beautiful feet moving us to work out your reign of mercy and love in the world. 

Bless the feet of all who travel in these day – may safety prevail.

Bless the feet of those who go home – may welcome prevail.

Bless the feet of activists pounding the streets yearning for change – may justice prevail.  

Bless the feet trending the walkways of COVID-19 – may healing prevail. 

Bless the feet of all who take a moment to stand still – may rest prevail. 

Bless our beautiful feet as they lead us to the peoples and places needing 

to hear and feel your good news in the their lives. 

This we pray in Jesus’ name, who walked for us and walks with us. Amen. 

 

Pastor Justin Lind-Ayres

University Pastor

March is recognized as Women’s History Month

According to excerpts from A Proclamation on Women’s History Month credited to President Biden:  

“Each year, Women’s History Month offers an important opportunity for us to shine a light on the extraordinary legacy of trailblazing American women and girls who have built, shaped, and improved upon our Nation. 

As we celebrate the contributions and progress of women and girls, we must also reflect on the extraordinary and unequal burdens they continue to bear today. 

 Sixty years ago, when former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt confronted President John F. Kennedy about the lack of women in Government, he appointed her as head of a new commission to address the status of women in America and take on discrimination in all of its forms…NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 2021 as Women’s History Month.  I call upon all Americans to observe this month and to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, 2021, with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.  I also invite all Americans to visit www.WomensHistoryMonth.gov to learn more about the vital contribution of women to our Nation’s history.”

On March 8, a series of events will take place at George Floyd Square (38th Street and Chicago Avenue, Minneapolis). 

A call to prayer will begin at 8:00 a.m. Bells will be rung for one minute; then 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence will honor George Floyd’s life; this will be followed by one additional minute of bell ringing. (Congregations and individuals are invited to ring bells at this time as a commemoration of this memorial.) 

If you haven’t already, go and like the Facebook page “Prayers for Justice for George Floyd and Black Liberation”. The “Global Day of Prayer” event is listed on the page. There you will find details about the day, and ways you can get involved. Please share it widely! Here’s the link to the event: https://fb.me/e/zozjurNL

In honor of Women’s History Month we join our prayers, hopes and appreciation for the many female identified, gifted leaders who work tirelessly from the shadows to do the healing work for Justice, Peace, Equity and Inclusion. 

We offer this Prayer:  

God of justice be gracious to all who align their hearts and minds to be in agreement with this prayer. Be gracious with those who do not. We ask that you listen to the hearts of all who are suffering during this time of Pandemic, season of change, anticipation of justice denied, and also those who suffer in silence. We pray for health and wholeness, for peace yoked to justice, for all who labor tirelessly on the frontlines of this fight against the Covid-19 virus. We pray for care and comfort for the families and loved one of the 520,000+ victims who have lost their lives to this virus. We pray for the many people who are being strategically and systematically denied their rights to exercise their rights to vote and participate in a democratic society.

Your Word, oh God, in Proverbs 3:27 and Romans 13:7 says give honor to whom honor is due. In obedience to your  word we take time to honor this month Women, for all the ways they love, lead, serve, care, nurture, protect, instruct, heal, and oh God this list goes on and on.

We thank and praise you, Mothering Father God, for you are a God of justice, blessed are all those who wait for you. Be gracious we pray in the name of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, comforter of all.

Amen

 

Babette Chatman 

University Pastor

A Prayer for Victims of Racial Violence and Injustice

February 26, 2012. A 17 year old, unarmed Black teen named Trayvon Martin was shot and killed as he walked home from a convenience store. His killer was not even arrested at the time. Following outrage from around the country, he was eventually arrested and charged; only to be acquitted a year later. Unfortunately, Trayvon’s story is not an anomaly. It is a story all too familiar to BIPoC communities. Police brutality has been the norm for decades in America. Black citizens, men and boys in particular, are murdered by the hand of authority figures sworn to serve and protect the community. Since we learned Trayvon Martin’s name eight years ago, we have learned the names of so many others whose lives have been senselessly taken. 

Each Friday at Augsburg, we hold 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence in honor of our brother, George Floyd and all those victims of police brutality and White supremacy. 

Silence though, is not enough. 

We must not let George Floyd and Trayvon Martin become just statistics. Their names must be spoken in order that they remain in our collective conscience. It is the least we can do, as we continue our work to end the violence against BIPoC communities due to White body supremacy. 

Today and every day, let us speak their names. 

Trayvon Martin

George Floyd

Tamir Rice

Michael Brown

Eric Garner

Philando Castile

Breonna Taylor

Elijah McClain

Terence Crutcher

Alton Sterling

Freddie Gray

Botham Jean

Bettie Jones

Laquan McDonald

Tyree Davis

Those whose names we do not know

Those whose names we have since forgotten

 

Prayer: 

Most merciful God, let us continue to speak the names of your Beloved, our siblings whose earthly lives ended too soon because of violence and hatred. We pray today for an end to White supremacy, systemic racism, and all their effects. We know it is not your way for your Beloved children to kill one another, and certainly not because of the beautiful gift of diversity you have given us. Open our hearts to see one another as you see us. Equip us for the work of dismantling unjust systems and show us a path toward reconciliation and the true peace only you can provide. This we pray in the holy and sacred name of your Beloved, Christ Jesus. Amen.

 

Jenn Luong

Pastoral Intern

A Prayer for Black History Month

The precursor to Black History Month was created in 1926 in the United States, when historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History announced the second week of February to be “Negro History Week”. This week was chosen because it coincided with the birthday of Abraham Lincoln on February 12 and of Frederick Douglass on February 20, both of which dates black communities had celebrated together since the late 19th century. Negro History Week was the center of the equation. The thought-process behind the week was never recorded, but scholars acknowledge two reasons for its birth: recognition and importance.Woodson felt deeply that at least one week would allow for the general movement to become something annually celebrated. 

At the time of Negro History Week’s launch, Woodson contended that the teaching of black history was essential to ensure the physical and intellectual survival of the race within broader society:

If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated. By 1929, The Journal of Negro History was able to note that with only two exceptions, officials with the State Departments of Educations of “every state with considerable Negro population” had made the event known to that state’s teachers and distributed official literature associated with the event”. Churches also played a significant role in the distribution of literature in association with Negro History Week during this initial interval, with the mainstream and black press aiding in the publicity effort. “When you control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his actions”, Woodson wrote in his book The Miseducation of the American Negro. “You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his ‘proper place’ and will stay in it.” (Source: Wikipedia)

Black History began as a week and grew to cover the month of February. Today we offer a scripture as prayer.

James 1 & Romans 5

Greetings.

Siblings, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.  If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting. Mothering Father God is faithful. Our prayer is that the God of hope, joy and faithfulness will strengthen and encourage all people to do the work of justice, social and racial. That all communities offer value and contribute to the common good in our shared sociality. We give thanks to mothering Father God that the suffering of a people  produced perseverance. And perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through  the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Amen

Rev. Babette Chatman

University Pastor

 

 

A Call for Action

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” As Americans, we must reflect on these words all the time. And especially at this moment, when we are dealing with one of the worst health pandemics and finally the awareness to a systematic long-existing pandemic of injustice. This is also a difficult time because, for the first time in America, we have realized that the hate movement in America is alive and growing.

Dr. King and many of the civil rights leaders understood the power of a single conversation. And the power of continuing to be in conversation with our fellow Americans about the most important things, about who we are and what we strive for. And how we live out our values. America is challenged with experimenting with inclusion. Yet, America fails to recognize this challenge. And every time, we fail to realize this challenge, we continue to create communities that don’t know one another, organizations that don’t understand one another, and communities vulnerable to hate and darkness. And so at this moment, at the same time, we have a new president. And it seems like an end to the cycle of hate. Yet this hate can’t be projected to a past president who used it and fueled it to have created it. That hate still exists and if not directly addressed, it will manifest once again in new ways. 

It finally took a health pandemic to finally see the injustice and brutality of the killing of George Floyd and countless others not filmed or known. Injustice in America is legislated by both public and private actors. The time is now to do what is right and see the darkness in the injustice actions that lead us to this moment. It’s time to stand up against state violence here in our own city and corporate greed that manifests economic inequalities and threatens our lives and our planet.  Dr. King’s legacy and dream and call to action are reminders to all us to act now. We must not stop our efforts to make a change but instead lean forward in every effort to start to heal our nation. And we can do that by reflecting on the call and words of Dr. King that only light can drive out darkness, and only love can stamp out hate. As the young poet Laurent Amanda Gorman said, “’Not broken but simply unfinished,” it’s time for us to work towards the work that is unfinished. 

 

Fardosa Hassan

Muslim Student Program Associate

Assistant Director, Augsburg Interfaith Institute

Fifth House Ensemble Chapel Series

In collaboration with the Augsburg Music Department, Campus Ministry is excited to welcome the Fifth House Ensemble to chapel as part of their residency at Augsburg for a 5-part series of Deep Listening. Fifth House Ensemble taps the collaborative spirit of chamber music to create engaging performances and interactive educational programs, forging meaningful partnerships with unexpected venues, artists of other disciplines, educational institutions, and audiences of every type. Fifth House Ensemble will be leading chapel on January 28 & 29, and February 2, 4 & 5. The services will be live streamed on Zoom.

Fifth House Ensemble will partner with Augsburg University to work with students from the school of music, the McPhail Music Center, and the Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship for a semester-long residency focused on community and co-creation. Fifth House will work directly with composition students to develop their works and provide guidance through entrepreneurship workshops focusing on life outside of school. In the spirit of community, they will introduce Deep Listening – a mindfulness practice motivated by the idea that communal music-making is everyone’s birthright. Throughout the residency, Fifth House also engages Michael Rohd, Quenna Lené Barrett, Leila Ramagopal Pertl and Brian Pertl for a community-focused project entitled We Are Good, exploring questions about our past, our present, and our future, focusing on the need for mutual respect, shared experience, and open dialogue.

Epiphany: The Light Shines Through Resistance

James 4:7 (NRSV) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

As we look to the long Holiday weekend, honoring the life and legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we glean from his radical approach to Social Justice. We hope all will be inspired, shaped, and taught by his example of his nonviolent approach to civil resistance.  He followed the model of civil resistance developed by M.K. Gandhi. He believed that by responding to injustice with civility and to violence with nonviolence, the resister was fulfilling “the Christian doctrine of love.” 

Dr. King believed “We adopt the means of nonviolence because our end is a community at peace with itself. We will try to persuade with our words, but if our words fail, we will try to persuade with our acts.”  

This second Sunday in Epiphany; the theme of our Call is lifted up. As citizens of the world together we are strengthened to carry on the work of peace and justice together. Encouraged to be nonviolent in our activism, care, and service to our neighbors. Standing in solidarity against the insurrectionist domestic terrorists who violently rushed the US capitol on January 6 seeking to harm government officials, overthrow our government, and destroy Democracy. 

No matter what our political differences are, the Christ child came to bring light and love to all of humanity. May we all follow the way of peace submitting ourselves to God. Resisting the devil, resist the evil lies and untruths he spreads, the seeds of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, elitism, white body superiority, nationalism, and marxism that the soil of division is not and will not be fertile.  

In our calling gentle and merciful God:

“Keep us, we pray, in perfect peace.

Help us to walk together, pray together, sing together, and live together until that day when all God’s children

–Black, White, Indigenious, Brown, and other–

Will rejoice in one common band of humanity in the reign of our Lord and of our God, we pray.

Amen.” (MLK)

Babette Chatman

University Pastor

Day of Epiphany

Protesters pushing through the barriers of the Capitol Building;
The sacred American task of the peaceful transition of power interrupted;
Our elected officials scrambling for their safety amid the chaos;
The floor of the Senate invaded;
Shock and dismay sweeping across the country…
All of this today, on the day of the Epiphany:
the day the Christian church celebrates the magi’s encounter with the Christ-child,
the revelation of God coming to earth to dwell among us, to breathe among us,
to bring peace, to bring divine light and love to all peoples, to all nations….

In these hours, we offer our prayers for the safety of our elected officials and for those seeking to restore peace, for leaders speaking truth in the face of falsities espoused by the President of the United States, for the courage for us all to find common ground amid division and disagreement, and for healing for our nation beset by the pandemics of COVID-19 and racism. On this day of the Epiphany, may we light a candle to shine the light of love in our dorms and homes, the light of healing in our neighborhood and communities, the light of hope for our country and the world. May we, together, be light.

My prayer on this shocking day comes from the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. He spoke these words in a speech in 1956, but I have found they have become my prayer on this Epiphany Day.

I pray:

“The urgency of the hour calls for leaders of wise judgment and sound integrity – leaders not in love with money, but in love with justice; leaders not in love with publicity, but in love with humanity.” (MLK)

And I add: May we be such leaders sharing the light of such love in our thoughts, words, and deeds as an Augsburg community, for the sake of each other and for the sake of the world. Amen.

Justin Lind-Ayres
University Pastor
January 6, 2021 – The Epiphany of Our Lord