One of my favorite hymns comes from the Supplement to the 1982 Hymnal: Wonder, Love & Praise. It's a collection of spirituals and music from around the Anglican Communion. Unless you have a priest who went to seminary in the 90s (or since then), chances are this hymnal doesn't reside in the pew. Anyway...my favorite hymn is "Cuando el pobre nada tiene" or "When the poor one who has nothing", and I first discovered it at St. Matthew's in Sacramento as a field ed seminarian. At the time I was so busy learning to pronounce the words, that I didn't have time to reflect on the theology.
So today as I was sitting in the sanctuary, practicing the piano, thinking about the state of the world, I was moved by the words of this simple Spanish hymn:
When a poor one who has nothing shares with strangers,
When the thirsty water give unto us all,
When the crippled in their weakness strengthen others,
Then we know that God still goes that road with us.
When at last all those who suffer find their comfort,
When they hope though even hope seems hopelessness,
When we love though hate at times seems all around us,
Then we know that God still goes that road with with.
When our joy fills up our cup to overflowing,
When our lips can speak no words other than true,
When we know that love for simple things is better,
Then we know that God still goes that road with us.
When our homes are filled with goodness in abundance,
When we learn how to make peace instead of war,
When each stranger that we meet is called a neighbor,
Then we know that God still goes that road with us.
Like I said, when I first started learning this hymn, I was so focused on the words in Spanish, that I rarely paid attention to the theology. As the summer went on and I had gotten the hang of the chorus, I would look around our modest gathering and see in the eyes of those present a true look of hope. These people were truly on the margins...many of them hiding from ICE, some who had lost family and friends to drugs or gangs, some who could speak no English at all. And here I was this middle-class white girl trying to learn Spanish so her Bishop would let her get ordained. While I was aware of and sensitive to their struggles, they weren't my struggles. Even though I lived on student loans, meager paychecks and assistance from my parents, I could never imagine the fear that was part of their daily existence.
While I would never claim that I can start to relate to that sense of fear, I think that the state of the world is hitting more and more of us priviledge folks in places beyond our wallets. Now we too fear not having enough food to eat or shelter for our families. We have moved beyond a place of no more going out to eat at resturants, and instead really tightening our belts and grocery lists. As the unemployment and under-employment rates rise, and the poverty level increases, where is our hope to be found? According to the Psalms, and even this hymn, our hope is in God.
A woman shared with me this weekend that she was worried about her church pledge. It's something I've gotten used to hearing. But this time was different...she said that as she and her husband contemplated the possibility of reducing their 2012 pledge, having given into the media's understanding that we are all living with a sense of scarcity, she looked around and discovered that the church had made her life rich. Her theology had shifted from one of scarcity to one of abundance. Even though she has two young children, her husband is a school teacher and her at-home business isn't doing great, her joy had filled her cup to overflowing. Her home is filled with goodness in abundance.
I refuse to give up. I refuse to allow the media to scare me and create fear in me. My help is in the name of God who walks that road with me, even when hope seems hopeless.