10th Wedding Anniversary Reflection for Interfaith Communities for Justice and Peace (ICUJP)
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| Jill and I celebrating when we learned that she as cancer-free! |
What I want to share with you during my five-minute reflection is some happy news: Jill and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary today. We were married ten years ago on September 10th and delayed our Hawaiian honeymoon so we could attend the 10th anniversary of ICUJP. Now we are scheduling our 10th anniversary road trip so we can take part in tomorrow’s ICUJP celebration before we drive up to the Pacific Northwest.
As you can easily see, I feel deeply committed to ICUJP. Y’all have
become like family to me over the years. You mean so much to me it’s hard to
put into words. I’m eager to hear what each of you have to say about 9/11 and
ICUJP.
When I prayed about what I was going to say for this reflection,
a passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans came to mind: “All things work
together for good for those who love God and are called according to God’s
purpose” (Romans:28).
What happened on 9/11
was horrific and evil, yet out of its ashes, ICUJP was born and the interfaith
movement was revitalized. I became involved with interfaith work because I was
so disturbed by the anti-Muslim reaction to 9/11 that I started going to mosques
and getting to know my Muslim neighbors. I even fasted during Ramadan! This led
me to the interfaith movement and to ICUJP. I can’t thank God enough for how my
life was transformed by this beloved community!
9/11 was what Christians call a Kairos moment. According to Mark
1:14-15, Kairos is to extraordinary time when we are called to change inwardly. Additionally, Luke’s gospel reminds us that kairos is a time in which we’re required to change as a
community and a people (Luke 12:54-56). Kairos is also a dangerous time. It is critical to
recognize it, for if you allow it to pass the loss will be immeasurable. As Paul says, it’s “time to wake up from your
slumber” (Romans 13:11-13). Paul also
affirms that Kairos time is here and now.
It calls for action, conversion and transformation—a change of life (11
Corinthians 6:1-2) — Kairos is not just crisis but also an opportunity and favor
that God bestows on us. God assists us in discerning the kairos—a moment of
grace.
My Mennonite friend Bert Newton felt called by the Kairos moment
of 9/11 to start the Palm Sunday Peace Parade to demonstrate Jesus as the
Prince of Peace. Each year a hundred or more people of faith would gather with
palm branches in one hand and peace signs in the other to affirm that Jesus rode
a donkey, not a warhorse, into Jerusalem to end war, according to the prophesy
of Zachariah. As followers of Jesus, we are likewise called to be peacemakers.
As a Quaker, I attended these Palm Sunday Peace Parades in
Pasadena for many years, never dreaming how it would change my life. Ten years ago,
a Kairos moment occurred during this parade. While marching with my fellow
pacifists, I met a remarkable woman named Jill Shook. We talked for a few
minutes, found each other intriguing and attractive, and began an email correspondence.
We went on three dates, and three weeks after we met, I proposed marriage to
her on my birthday. She said “Okay”, and it was birthday present I ever
received!
We both felt that our meeting was what Jews call “bershert”
or destiny. During our marriage vows, we affirmed our belief that “the Prince
of Peace had brought us together for a purpose greater than either of us could
imagine.”
This has certainly proven to be the case.
As you know, we were led to found a housing justice nonprofit
called Making Housing and Community Happen, and it is thriving beyond our
wildest expectations. Over the last three years we have successfully advocated
for 250 units of affordable and supportive housing. We’ve also had 50 churches contact
us about having affordable housing built on their underutilized land. We have
embarked on a campaign to have religious land rezoned to make this possible.
This could be a game-changer and lead to thousands of affordable units not just
in Pasadena but throughout our state, and the nation.
God has blessed me with many gifts, but by far the most
important is friendship. I feel impelled to close with some sad news. Our dear
friend Joseph Prabhu is in hospice. I have been privileged to visit him this
week and can report that he is in good spirits. We’ve had great talks by his
bedside and he has been comforted by my reading from the Psalms. He sends his
love and greetings to us, and deeply appreciates what we are doing to promote
justice and peace.
Joseph’s friendship, and most of all, Jill’s love, are some of the many precious gifts
that I have received from the interfaith movement. What a blessing it is to be
part of the beloved community of those who are seeking to end war and poverty
and all forms of injustice. May we never cease this beautiful struggle!
