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Here we are, children of the night

Come in from the wind and rain,

Wagons circled against the foe

Fighting of the grief and pain.

We are courageous, we are afraid,

We move on but we have stayed.

Here the prison walls are crumbled,

Our rebellion rages on

We may lean but remain standing

Until our dignity is won.

We are captives, we are free,

We are blinded yet we see.

Our wounds are here wide open

Fragile hearts slipped off the shelf,

Lovers in every sense of the word

Except the word itself

We are strangers, we are brothers,

We are exiled from all others

We speak of death but go on living

Our tears out weigh our joy

A generation's unknown soldiers

With no weapon to deploy

I am you and you are me

An impoverished fraternity.

They huddled in the abandoned house that night

United against the cold; two fifteen, one twelve.

Met at a subway station, lunch time at the trash bin.

Reminisced about dad, two six packs a night and the back of his hand.

Teachers never noticed the bruises on their cheeks, those lifeless eyes.

Just marked them down for unsocial behavior.

Abandoned house is gone now, so are they.

No one knows what set the blaze.

They were shackled by their innocence

Forever children now, they played at grownup games.

We made it our business. directing their lives,

Tied them into knots, tried to make them fit.

We instilled them with a yearning

A hunger that would never be satisfied.

We tried to chip away the mold that held them

But only the fires of hell could melt away their chains.

Ironic remembrance; all that made them wrong

Is now the circumstance that makes them right.

We shed a mournful tear, final goodbyes.

Call upon God to ease our guilt

And forget that we didn't want them here in the first place.

ALL I HAVE

All I have to offer you

Is this sip of wine,

A few drops of blood

An unknown grape

Gladly shed for me

All I have to offer you

Is this wilted flower petal,

Bouquets that lined the wall,

All gone now

The fragrance still lingers.

All I have to offer you

Is this moment in time,

I know nothing of tomorrow,

It knows nothing of me,

We hold the now.

All that I have to offer you

Is a pillow for the night

The morning sun may hide its face,

Grey clouds may come

To weep on our slumber.

All I have to offer you

Is all that I am,

And I offer you

All that I have

Such as it is.

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Matthew 21:33-46

Several years ago while on vacation in California, I went on some winery tours in Sonoma and the Napa Valley.  After all, if you are Episcopalian, what is a vacation without a winery tour?  I can’t really tell you who produced the best wines; I am not much of an aficionado.  Until I was thirty I thought all wines came in a box.  What impressed me most was the pride, attention to detail and the passion that went into the wine making.  This was more than farming and manufacturing of a product; it was art.

Assuming the grape growers of the parable in Matthew put as much care into their vineyards as the growers in Sonoma, is it any wonder they wanted to keep the harvest for themselves.  So much of their lives went into producing a harvest, should we be surprised that they would go to extremes, even actually killing to protect it.  Certainly in our culture we should understand.  Isn’t that the American Way?  Aren’t we entitled to enjoy the fruits of our labors?  We have put our blood, sweat and tears into making our country great for more than two centuries so aren’t we entitled to food on the table, a roof over our heads, a nice car, good health, cable TV, cell phones, laptops, roads without potholes…whew…etc. etc. .Then, when we have met these “basic needs” for ourselves and our families, we can think about we can give back to God.  Right?

It is hard to let go… hard to let go of what we have come to depend on…instead of depending on God.   

I moved recently to a smaller apartment.  I had to do quite a bit of downsizing.  There were so many things that were gifts from family and friends or were mementos of special times in my life.  Yet, most of them were stored away, not seen or touched for years. I think I felt if I hung on to them they would mean something to my family when I died and that the memories would live on.  But I have to admit that when my mother died and my sister and I went through her things our reaction was usually, “what was she keeping that for?”

One could contradict me by pointing out that our society has a throw away mentality.  When something is no longer of use to us we just dispose of it and get another.  But, that attitude is just another example of how we cling to the old idea that the earth is ours to subdue and do with as we please.  The time has come, perhaps came long ago, for us to wake up and return this planet to what God intended.

READING Isaiah 5 : 1-7

It is time to stop growing wild grapes and make it a vintage year always remembering who it was that planted the vineyard in the first place.  And when God comes to reclaim what is God’s, we must be ready to let it go.  And God comes everyday.

Everyday is our opportunity to share our participation in God’s abundance.

Everyday is an opportunity to share our faith and spread the Good News.

Everyday is an opportunity to walk in love