Dearly Beloved,
There is so much to say on this last Wednesday before my sabbatical begins. First: thank you so much for your love and care these last few weeks -- for gifts and cards, poems and music, hugs and blessings -- and for your prayers in the weeks to come. I will be holding our congregation and each of you in my prayers as I am on sabbatical and doing deep exploration and reflection on the idea of Ubuntu: I am because we are.
A few things: along with Bernie Depperschmidt's 90th birthday: Frank Carpenter is also celebrating a 90th birthday this next week! Please send Frank cards (641 FALCON CREST WAY, LOVELAND, CO 80537) and lots of love to celebrate! This Sunday is Pentecost, please wear red if you have some. You're also invited to bring a red candle to place on our communion table as we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. Just a reminder to collect water during your summer travels: we will bless that water on September 7th and use it for baptisms, home blessings and any other water-involving rituals.
And now, to turn to our world. I am heartbroken, as I imagine you are, following the antisemitic attack that took place in Boulder on Sunday, where individuals participating in a peaceful march for the safe return of hostages were targeted with an incendiary device. At least eight people were injured in this appalling act of hate. Together Colorado, a faith based community organization of which I am a part, wrote an excellent letter condemning this hate crime and I encourage you to read it HERE. You may be aware that antisemitism has been on the rise here in the United States the last couple of years. As Christians, with our own particular history of anti-Jewish sentiment and violence, it is especially important for us to stand with our Jewish siblings and to condemn every act and all forms of violence against them.
It is also important in response to this particular act of violence that we do not make blanket judgments about our non-citizen or Muslim siblings. This hate crime was perpetrated by a single person and does not reflect on larger communities of which they may be a part. Our immigrant and Muslim siblings already experience significant discrimination and violence towards them here in the United States and in many other places around the world.
I am reminded at times like this that we follow Jesus Christ who lived his life for others and showed us how to break down barriers, how to draw in those left on the margins of society: the poor, widowed, sick, untouchable, outcast, foreign, and female. As Christ followers, we hold gently the both-and of violence done to our Jewish siblings here in our communities alongside the genocide occurring in Gaza. We condemn violence, prejudice and oppression everywhere we see it, seeking to be peacemakers at every turn. Our weary and warring world needs more love, not more judgment. It needs more peace, curiosity, understanding, and grace. This is no easy task, but it is, God's beloved, the call. It is what courageous justice looks like. It is what it means to cultivate the experience of belonging and God's boundless love for ALL people.
In conjunction with standing with our Jewish siblings, I would be remiss if I did not address the harm being done to our trans siblings. As a middle aged woman who still works hard to use inclusive language when speaking about humans and about God, the movement to empower women in sports is near and dear to me. I loved participating in sports as a child and young adult! And I am troubled by the ways in which language about women and girl's empowerment in sports is being used to demonize trans children and youth who also want to participate in sports and want to do so as their full and true selves.
Sports are a place of empowerment, connection and community. When I moved to the United States in the summer of 2000 (entering my junior year of high school) I immediately signed up for soccer. Not because I was good at it (I wasn't very), but because I wanted to make friends. My best friend from high school is a teammate from the swim team. Sports were essential to my adjustment and social life moving across continents and changing schools in the middle of high school.
Sports are equally important for all children and youth. For a transgender child or youth, sports can be a place where they can make connections with other children and youth, as they were for me. A place where they can build confidence, practice discipline and hard work, and build community. As someone who strongly believes that women and girls should be encouraged and supported in playing sports, I think it's essential that ALL women and girls be allowed to do this -- whatever their skill, ability, or special needs, whatever their nationality, first language, or race, whatever gender they were assigned at birth.
As you see and hear news about trans children and youth in sports, I hope that you will consider how this news impacts transgender children and their families -- children and families already struggling to find acceptance, support, and belonging. Consider how much physical activity contributes to mental wellness and remember that many transgender children, youth and adults struggle with depression and anxiety. I hope you will consider how it affects our adult trans siblings many of whom did not have the opportunity to be their true and full selves until well into adulthood. And I hope that together we can wonder what it looks like to be a beacon of extravagant welcome, courageous justice, and transforming community in this particular time and situation. I hope and pray that we can step outside of what is comfortable or what we can understand as we seek to share belonging, purpose, and God's boundless love with all people.
Whew. Deep breath.
I realize that this is some heavy stuff. I would have rather just talked about my upcoming trip and your summer. But God's call is to face the world with honesty, love, and courage. Even and especially when it is hard. Another deep breath.
God's beloved, my beloved church family, I am so grateful for you. And for this community of faith and love. Where we don't all have to agree. And where we can wrestle together about what it looks like to love God with all that we are and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
With more love and gratitude than I have words to express,
Thandiwe
