Holy Listening: When the Story is the Good News

Holy Listening: When the Story is the Good News

The Rev. Vicki Ix Managing Editor, ABUNDANT Times

Throughout the synoptic gospels, the word “listen” appears 89 times. Sometimes, it is God who points to the power of Jesus’ word. "Then from the cloud came a voice that said, 'This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!'" Luke 9:35

Sometimes, we are given the example of a disciple who wisely stills themselves to hear Jesus speak. "She had a sister named Mary, who sat at Jesus’s feet and listened to what he was saying." Luke 10:39

And, often, it is Jesus himself bidding us to open ourselves to his voice. "Let anyone with ears listen!" Matthew 11:15

This issue of ABUNDANT Times is dedicated to the power of listening for disciples of Jesus and how we, in Western Massachusetts, have been making a concerted effort to listen to stories that can change us for the better and lead us to the transformative work of the gospel in our lives.

Listening is a spiritual practice when we are awake to the present moment and the Presence among and between us. That doesn’t mean listening is easy or always pleasant. It can be hard to hear the truth of history especially when the lens through which it passes is a precious human being. It can be painful to sit with the injustices of the past and of our present, but holy listening is Spirit-led and we are never alone when two or three are gathered. Christ is always with us in the breaking open of our lives.

The events described here were opportunities for us to listen together and be changed. There have been, and will be, more. But these recent gatherings suggest that we are committed to honoring personal narratives as sacred space in which the wounds of the past and the hope of God’s dream might meet. If we are willing to receive narratives that both break our hearts and shine with the resurrection, the stories themselves become the gateway to the fullness of life Jesus wants for us all.

Indigenous Peoples' Day Gathering

Together with the Diocese of Massachusetts and the MA/WMA Indigenous Peoples Justice Network, our diocese planned a day of holy listening at All Saints Episcopal Church in Worcester. Graciously funded by a Province I grant, the gathering on October 9, 2023 began with a land acknowledgement read by the Rev. Samuel J. Smith, rector and host. “We begin with the truth. We worship on the unceded land of the Nipmuc and Agawam.” Smith continued with a summary of the relationship between the native peoples and the English which began with respect and mutuality but deteriorated into a series of broken promises. The settlers moved many of the indigenous people into praying towns where they were stripped of their culture and forcibly converted to Christianity.

“This is just a fragment of an unacknowledged history,” Smith said to the gathering which included two bishops. “As Christians in The Episcopal Church, we acknowledge this truth and the many ways in which the Church has been complicit in the destruction of native culture. With the wider Episcopal Church we commit to truth-telling and to the work of decolonization that is rightly ours to do.”

The morning session was essentially the Liturgy of the Word as prayer and song surrounded the sharing of stories. For two hours we listened to native voices among us in a panel moderated by Mr. Eric La Forest, co-chair of the Beloved Community Commission. Each spoke of how being an indigenous person in New England came with great challenges rooted in colonizing culture and reminded us of the living presence of native people thriving in spite of historical efforts to erase them.

After the panel we moved from the word to the table—literally. We ate together many of the foods that are still central to native cuisine. We returned to the sanctuary to learn about the Massachusetts Indigenous Legislative Agenda from Mahtowin Munro, United American Indians of New England (UAINE).

The Liturgy of the Table followed. Bishops Fisher and Gates shared preaching and presiding. The Rt. Rev. Carol Gallagher was the principal celebrant, but could not be present due to illness.

Diocesan Sacred Ground Circles

The new year came with a new way of engaging the Sacred Ground curriculum created by The Episcopal Church in 2018. E. Jahn Hart of Christ Church Cathedral and the Rev. Pamela Porter organized our first online diocesan circles.

Many congregations have held Sacred Ground circles. To see how far the program has spread in Western Massachusetts, we can search for “Sacred Ground” on The Episcopal Asset Map. It is vitally important to make sure you add Sacred Ground to your parish profile on the Asset Map to be counted. Many congregations did Sacred Ground in-person and some did it online during the pandemic. Hart and Porter, as members of the Beloved Community Commission, have taken us to the next level by making it possible for anyone in our diocese to participate in this challenging, transformative spiritual experience.

Three circles are running concurrently from January to June—eleven sessions plus an initial introductory meeting. Each circle has two facilitators who have completed Sacred Ground and been prepared for the work of holding space for conversations about the truth of US history, the sin of slavery, and the ongoing impact of white supremacy.

Sacred Ground requires a faithful commitment over time and a willingness to prepare for each conversation. Those who have made the journey often find themselves asking the question, “What’s next?” Our Beloved Community Commission is now curating resources to meet this need that may be found here: www.diocesewma.org/our-sharedmission/sacred-ground-resources

Bending Toward Justice 2024

Our 5th annual Bending Toward Justice gathering on January 20, 2024, sponsored by the Social Justice Commission, featured the Rt. Rev. Allen K. Shin, Bishop Suffragan of New York. The online experience, which included over 70 people, began with prayer in the spirit of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.—the inspiration for Bending Toward Justice and the reason the event takes place on the Saturday following Martin Luther King Day. It is a day to pray for God’s justice and for those who labor for it to be spiritually nurtured for the work of the year ahead. Started in-person in 2020, the pandemic necessitated the move online which opened the way for many voices near and far.

Bishop Shin’s keynote included some of the history of Asians in America and in The Episcopal Church. His own personal stories—his family’s experience, the racist taunts hurled at Asian Americans during the pandemic—allowed us into the private pain of white supremacy.

In the evaluation for Bending Toward Justice, participants spoke about the impact of listening to Bishop Shin:

• “He opened my eyes to the realities of his life and the racial struggles of the Asian population.”

• “The gift of his sacred story was deeply moving and informative.”

• “I realized how little I know about the history of some peoples.”

Disability: A Listening Session

On January 31, 2024, the bishop, canons, and select members of diocesan staff participated in our first gathering of disabled Episcopalians. The online meeting was facilitated by the Communications Office as part of an effort to listen to the concerns and needs of the faithful who might require an accommodation in our many mediums of diocesan communication. Each participant was given time to address those assembled and speak to how they have felt supported by our diocese and ways in which our diocese could do better. The stories were very personal and powerful. The desire to be seen and to see themselves in church communications was strong.

Although this was the first meeting of its kind, plans are underway for a spiritual retreat just for disabled Episcopalians and Lutherans among us. This online retreat will be a virtual space of healing reflection, prayer, and guided meditations. Participants will be invited to explore how to meet Jesus in the everyday challenges of living with a disability. Through a series of meditations and online activities based on biblical passages and other spiritual narratives of people with disabilities, participants will be led to an encounter with Jesus, disability, and vulnerability, to nurture renewed compassion and love.

Scheduled for Saturday, May 4th from 9:30 am – 12 noon via Zoom, the retreat will be led by Dr. Diana Ventura. Dr. Ventura is the author of Our Fractured Wholeness. She is a public health researcher at Harvard University and an adjunct professor of practical theology at Boston University. Dr. Ventura’s teaching and research explores a wide range of topics, including disability studies, chronic disease, health, aging, research methods, spirituality, and Christian mysticism.

A Conversation about Reparations with The Rev. Peter Jarrett-Schell

Our most recent opportunity for holy listening was a webinar planned by the Bishop’s Office with the support of the Beloved Community Commission on March 12, 2024. The hour with the Rev. Peter JarrettSchell, author of Reparations: A Plan for Churches, reminded us that our road to atoning for the sin of slavery as a diocese will be wholly unique and spiritually challenging.

The Diocese of Washington, in its seventh year of reparations ministry, has learned much about the importance of listening to the truth of the diocesan story and the stories of those with whom we hope to make amends. In our journey we will get things right and we will make mistakes. We will learn so much and face the limits of our understanding. Jarrett-Schell assured us that there will be joy along the way.

Jarrett-Schell’s book is an excellent reference for any congregation that might feel ready to explore its own history, but the work is at the diocesan level now and our Beloved Community Commission has a sub-group dedicated to the work outlined in the resolution passed by the 122nd Diocesan Convention last November.

Our diocese hopes to model a process that will be a gift and guide to any congregation willing to enter this transformative work. Again, how our diocese approaches this important effort will be unlike others. It will be a process that reflects our story—the history of this place and Episcopalians here even before this diocese was established nearly 125 years ago. It will highlight the ways in which the Diocese of Western Massachusetts has benefitted from chattel slavery, Indigenous dispossession, and resource extraction during the time of slavery and beyond. We will not rush this important work nor will we reach a place where it is finished. Our diocesan resolution frees us to begin a concrete work that will invariably become a spiritual practice for us.

In the forward to Jarrett-Schell’s book, Canon Stephanie Spellers writes:

“Jesus regularly issued the invitation to sacrifice and self-emptying on the journey to new life. Especially when he encountered people with privilege, he was clear on the path to salvation: change your ways, relinquish your hold on privilege, admit what you have received at the expense of others, and make amends to those who have been hurt by the very systems designed to benefit you. Then you will know eternal life.”

We've been listening to many voices

As Alison Gamache and I began work on this issue of ABUNDANT Times, I found the search for a theme especially daunting. I couldn’t see it. It wasn’t crystal clear like previous issues in which we featured a specific ministry or a way of being church in the world, like being a deacon. We went round and round with multiple ideas and discussed cover art. None of it felt right. It was all too small to reflect how much had been going on this program year. As I listed all the significant events from fall to spring, it was clear that we’ve been listening. We’ve been listening to many voices—near and far. It also became clear to me that all this listening has lead us to act in important ways. This makes listening holy—a spiritual practice integral to the way of love.

Back in October as we honored Indigenous Peoples’ Day, I took a lot of photos. It was one of those days when I knew there would be a visual story to tell. The one I keep coming back to is an image of two diocesan bishops listening deeply, actively to the painful stories of native neighbors. I remember feeling such love for The Episcopal Church and for leaders who understand that the stories themselves are the good news—an entry point to suffering and resurrection in the lives of all who follow Jesus. ♦