the Samaritan woman at the well

The past 8 days have been a whirlwind of amazing experiences.... learning, learning, learning in the most wholesome, challenging, joy-filled ways.

I will start with a quick post about my trip to Asbury Park, NJ last Sunday, June 1st, to hear Reverend Fred Hanna preach at the Triumphant Life Church. The church was filled with the shouts of glory and praise of the Lord and I was filled with awe at the vibrance and richness of the experience and the extent to which the rest of the nation needs to draw upon the vast spiritual resources that are available in African American Christian communities.


Picture from Sharpiron

Reverend Hanna's sermon was a masterpiece, a symphony, that integrated rigorous biblical scholarship, contemporary critical pedagogy, deep spiritual insight, and delight-inducing humor. He drew on the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman in John 4 to call on us all to follow Jesus' example and turn our sights to working at the grassroots level in our communities, to reach out to the poor and marginalized and those "burdened with sin". If such individuals can be supported in uplifting themselves through the "water of life" to the station for which they were created perchance they may in turn be enabled to upraise, uplift and recreate our world. In the last couple of weeks I have been thinking much about our inherent nobility and the high station to which we are all called. What steps should we take to reach this nobility for ourselves and how can we better prepare ourselves to collaborate in the upliftment of others? It strikes me that our own upliftment and that of others are intimately interconnected. It is only in humbly trying to assist others to understand their true nature that we ourselves come to understand our own.

O SON OF SPIRIT!
Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created.
(Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words)

"all i want is the chance to see the person i was meant to be"--from the song "My Refuge" on the Dawnbreaker Collective CD Arise.

A prayer from the Baha'i Writings that seems most suitable for the "samaritan woman" within us or at our side...

"Glory be to Thee, O Lord my God! I beg of Thee by Thy Name through which He Who is Thy Beauty hath been stablished upon the throne of Thy Cause, and by Thy Name through which Thou changest all things, and gatherest together all things, and callest to account all things, and rewardest all things, and preservest all things, and sustainest all things -- I beg of Thee to guard this handmaiden who hath fled for refuge to Thee, and hath sought the shelter of Him in Whom Thou Thyself art manifest, and hath put her whole trust and confidence in Thee.
She is sick, O my God, and hath entered beneath the shadow of the Tree of Thy healing; afflicted, and hath fled to the City of Thy protection; diseased, and hath sought the Fountain-Head of Thy favors; sorely vexed, and hath hasted to attain the Well-Spring of Thy tranquillity; burdened with sin, and hath set her face toward the court of Thy forgiveness.
Attire her, by Thy sovereignty and Thy loving-kindness, O my God and my Beloved, with the raiment of Thy balm and Thy healing, and make her quaff of the cup of Thy mercy and Thy favors. Protect her, moreover, from every affliction and ailment, from all pain and sickness, and from whatsoever may be abhorrent unto Thee.
Thou, in truth, art immensely exalted above all else except Thyself. Thou art, verily, the Healer, the All-Sufficing, the Preserver, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful."
(Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 234)