Lawn mowing season is upon us. I confess that I would never mow the lawn with as much gusto as after I had watched a “Superman” movie in the day when such a movie series was a thing! And I am talking about my adult self! So, what was it that captured my imagination? The Superman theme song would even be playing in my head. I understand that this is a man thing, but letting the superhero in each of us surface is universal.
The final statement on the GRACE acrostic is about equipping the saints for the transformation of the world. God summons forward superheroes of faith; people restored in the divine image; members of the Church that “wonderful and sacred mystery”: that stands for the lifting up of things cast down, and the making new of things that had grown old; all part of the “effectual working of God’s providence” carrying out “in tranquility the plan of salvation” (BCP p 528 and other pages).
We call heroes of faith saints. And yet we are all God’s holy ones. And we are purposed as such to be reconcilers of God and God’s creation. As Rowan Williams says in Tokens of Trust “we make God credible” by living lives being shaped in the image or way of Jesus for others to witness and become familiar with God who is love. God in us is our superpower!
On Tuesday evenings a group mostly of parents with young families gather at Grace to eat a meal together and share their faith stories with each other. We have been reading “Dancing in the Darkness” by Otis Moss III, a senior pastor of the United Church of Christ in Chicago. In a chapter entitled “Rework your origin story: become a spiritual hero” he writes “Ever since I was a kid I have wondered where heroes come from. How some people, bruised and broken, find ways to not just tolerate the darkness and seize opportunities in the chaos, but to transform themselves and do extraordinary good”. “How do some nations do the same?” he adds.
He quotes his own comic superman – Tchalla, King of Wakanda, from Black Panther, “God works through me the same as you. There is no feat I achieve that you are not capable of”. And, “As I grew up, reading and watching stories of superheroes in a house that also lifted up the tradition of Dr King, I made the connection”. I invite you to read the book to dive deeper into Pastor Moss’s insights. It is a quick and profoundly transformative read.
The gathering of Grace members were asked to reflect on their own influential spiritual heroes, and also on their own superhero gifts. I certainly can think of a few, perhaps many of whom would never have known their positive impact on my life. What about you?
I offer all of this as a preview of the coming weekend’s emphasis at Grace on tracing our past. On Saturday, May 31 from 11-4, in the first major event of the 150th year celebration, we will listen to the early history of Grace. Who were the spiritual heroes that dared to plant an Episcopal church in St Helena? What obstacles did they have to overcome? What faith did they inspire? Lin Weber will share with us her findings as she works at preparing a new history of Grace as part of our 150th anniversary.
We will then be invited to make our own footsteps on a historical chart, marking the times and conditions in which we arrived at Grace and became part of its greater story, and it became part of ours.
At the end of the afternoon, we will give thanks to God for the spiritual heroes who are mostly still among us. We will hear their testimony on film, as we show the movie “A work well begun” and see their endeavors as they laid the foundation of the renovated and expanded physical presence of Grace Church as we know it today. We who worship today at Grace share concretely in the faith inspired goals of a generation ago; and whose generosity of life we are seeking to pay forward in our current efforts to create the Sustaining Grace Fund.
Every time we engage with God through the regular offering of the Eucharist, we leave with the choice of three powerful prayers. At the Eucharist at 10am, we pray “Send us now into the world in peace and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart”. There is an alternative post communion prayer patterned from the Rite One service from 8am “Send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord”. At 8am, we ask “We humbly beseech Thee so to assist us with Thy grace, that we may continue in all such good works as Thou has prepared for us to walk in”.
In other words, stir up in us the superpowers of Your Grace for the transforming of this world. It started as an intentional community one hundred and fifty years ago; and it continues to this day even as of yesterday as the newest group to gather in our midst considered their own relationships to spiritual heroes and superpowers, to saints past, present and future.
Bishop Alan
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