Author: St. John

One of the most important lessons a child can learn is not how to succeed, but how to fail. I know that sounds counterintuitive. We want children to have plenty of examples and opportunities to learn how to live a good and happy life. That is important. We also want our children to admire us, and think we are wise.  And we are human, so we make mistakes, we make bad choices, we all inevitably fail. 

The example of how to do that well, how deal with the inevitable pitfalls in life in a way that shows character, that is a lesson that needs to be learned. Our children need to learn humility, how to make amends, how to genuinely express remorse and to do better next time. They need to learn how to earn the forgiveness of others and become better for it. None of this is fun. But we all know people who have not learned these lessons. And we probably don’t like them. 

Such hard work, but critical to becoming human. People who model this are the people that I want as friends, people who ask for forgiveness, and people who are gracious enough to realize that we all make mistakes and to forgive me when I deserve it. These are the people we also want as our leaders.

It makes sense that we need to learn these things not only as individuals in our relationships and work, but also as a society and a country. We look to history to show us leaders who have done well, who inspire us, who have lead with strength of character. We also see people who we do not admire, who have lead us where we should not have gone. I know that opinions will differ but we can agree that history teaches us valuable lessons about people and policies, and that mistakes have been made.

So when it comes to teaching history, we have to be honest with our children. They have the right to know about racism, about the Holocaust, about the struggles for justice among minorities and women. How will they be able to even form an opinion if they don’t know the truth as we currently understand it? Our children need to be prepared to be citizens as well as leaders, and they deserve to be respected as the intelligent and inquisitive people they are. Our children will not be ready to function in our complicated world if they are not grounded in reality. Mistakes have been made. We don’t have to make them again.

We may be concerned about interpretation. I had a professor in college who was highly charismatic, an excellent teacher, and had definite political and religious opinions. He asked me to dinner one time to try to understand my faith. He wasn’t trying to talk me out of it, he just didn’t understand it. We had a wonderful discussion that helped me come to clarity about some of my beliefs. It didn’t threaten me or God that I talked about it. In fact, I left the discussion proud of the way I had held my own, and I know the professor admired me for that as well.

We are not threatened when our children learn about systemic racism. In fact, it might help us gain some clarity about the history of institutional racism in our country. Maybe when our grandchildren talk about what they are learning, we can see ways to be an ally we had not considered. There is history and current reality that we would all benefit from knowing more about. Maybe we will stop making the same mistakes.

We don’t have to be afraid of letting teachers do the wonderful job of teaching that they do. We don’t have to legislate what they say. We don’t need to prove anyone’s loyalty or right belief. We do have to trust one another, listen, be willing to learn ourselves. We have to commit to making our world better, not continuing the oppression. 

“There are many different gifts, but it is always the same Spirit…. The particular manifestation of the Spirit granted to each one is to be used for the general good.” 1 Corinthians 12:4 and 12:6.

I am always impressed by the many and varied gifts God has given to members of St. John’s, and by the many creative ways these gifts are used for the benefit of the church and the community. It is truly an illustration of God’s abundant, overflowing generosity.

There are those with the gift of hospitality, whether expressed in events like the Sunday Coffee Hour, Easter Sunday brunch or at the Red Door Café. There are gardeners, those who keep the grounds beautiful and indoor plants flourishing and those who plant and tend vegetables at the Inner City Garden. There are those who volunteer monthly at the Food Pantry, organizing the food and assisting clients, or welcoming women who come for Coffee and Conversation. There are those who welcome visitors and guide them around the building, those practical souls who maintain the building to look its best or decorate it for special occasions. There are those whose gift is to pray for the needs of others, or to teach, or to deal with day-to-day business of the parish and finances. The Altar Guild prepares meticulously for services, washing and ironing linens, cleaning silver and brass, so all is ready in its proper place for the priest, acolytes and chalicers. The organist and choir bless our worship with the gift of music. Eucharistic Visitors keep in touch with those who cannot attend in person.

Gifts, above and beyond those mentioned, all used for the general good and the glory of God.

Photography is my passion. I captured this image at the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company Homes. A portion of these homes are abandoned and I had an opportunity this past winter to photograph the discarded spaces.

As I stood in the empty kitchen of a once vibrant home, I stared out of this window. I gazed at the snow on the roof of the abandoned complex across the street. I watched my friends struggling to walk up the icy path following my footsteps to this home. I began to notice how the light coming through the broken pane twisted and bent to reach my cold face and hands. The light rays danced as the wind ever so slightly moved the shattered bits of glass. A delicate dance performed at the perfect moment to an audience of one.

I lifted my camera, click, click, click. My mind and body shifted to the task at hand, capturing the moment, freezing time for an instant. It wasn’t until my drive home that my thoughts returned to the broken window and that beautiful dance of light and motion. Broken but the light still permeated the window pane, the kitchen and my thoughts. I was thinking about the heat from the sun, the motion of the wind and the power of God.

Today, as I once again look at this photograph, I remember that cold winter day. The memories of that moment in the abandoned kitchen flood my thinking and I’m brought to my own brokenness. The ways in which life has cracked and in some cases fractured my tough exterior. I think we are all broken in some way but we are afraid to show those cracks or expose our brokenness. We are conditioned to show the world our perfect self. We really aren’t perfect, are we?

The cracks exist but I think God uses them. God knows that we are not perfect. He sees us as we are. He knows our brokenness. Maybe it is through those cracks in our tough exterior, that hidden brokenness that God brings light. God permeates our souls through the very cracks that we are ashamed to show the world. I wonder if I am ready to show my brokenness? Am I brave enough to allow God in to heal the cracks?