REFLECTION SEPTEMBER 3

Philippians 2

Lift Each Other Up  by Chelsea Page

The artist Isamu Yoshida did the right thing by his friend; he truly looked after others’ interests, not his own, and took up his cross in the way of Jesus. He was being treated like nothing more than a slave, and yet he reclaimed his status as a human being made in the image and likeness of God, by the deep morality of his behavior. This humble action of serving others actually exalted him, challenging the legitimacy of his captors who sought to use and discard him as a human being. How was he able to do this? Many in similar situations do not, and simply perish in body and soul.

For answers, I looked to Rita Nakashima Brock, a Japanese-American theologian who specializes in training churches to work with veterans. Dangerous work like combat often involves profound moral dilemmas, choices that have to be made in the midst of emergency and danger, when there are no good choices. Therefore many returning veterans suffer from “Moral injury,” a type of PTSD which involves grief, shame, guilt, anger, and trouble with forming relationships. Rita Nakashima Brock began the first program in the nation to develop a treatment for moral injury, at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas. She terms this treatment “soul repair” in her book called Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury After War. She asked in an article, “Why do some veterans recover while others continue to struggle? We believe that a key factor is spiritual resiliency or what we call Soul Space, an ability to hold a breathing space, a consciousness inside that what one does as a professional soldier is not all of who one is. We are not just the job we do, that our personal lives are our own, that deep in us is a deep place of knowing who we are and that, maybe, we can be loved again. This is empathetic self-awareness, or even God. It grounds us in the knowledge that what we must sometimes do is not the sum total of who we are, that it does not define us completely.”

Is it possible that the artist Isamu Yoshida, regardless of his religion or spiritual practices, had Soul Space? Perhaps he got his deep interior life from his vocation as an artist. Could Soul Space have been what enabled him to help his friend even though it increased his suffering? Or did the opportunity to help his friend give him a chance to do good and therefore grow his Soul Space, his clear and undeniable self-love and sense of goodness, keeping him spiritually alive in unclear and painful circumstances?

What has made you resilient in times of suffering? Think about the poor people of Houston and what they’ve been going through with Hurricane Harvey. Those who have lost their homes and neighborhoods have been brought low, emptied, even humiliated in some sense. I felt this way when I lived through a forest fire in the Sierra Nevada mountains two years ago this month, and several members of my own township took their lives in the aftermath of the devastation. But true humility is an antidote to humiliation. Knowing humility—knowing one’s true place in the universe—is to believe that every person remains made in the image of God, no matter what terrible things befall them. The more we can see ourselves in the image and likeness of God, no matter what humiliating things we have done or have been done to us, the more we can uplift the image of God in everyone.

This scripture of Paul writing to the Philippians says to “be of one mind” and emulate “the mind of Christ.” Christ taught us to love Neighbor as much as ourselves and to love Self as much as our neighbors. This kind of humility cultivates resiliency and enlarges the Soul Space within us. This week, I pray that you may find the strength to keep your eyes open to the suffering around you, and be compassionate and forgiving toward the suffering within you. May this congregation continue to be a place of resiliency, where people can come to cultivate Soul Space. May it be so. Amen.

COACH’S CORNER

Q&A with Chelsea

Dear friends,

Below our new resident and I are doing a brief interview with the intent of all of you getting to know her better. 

Aart: Chelsea, what surprises you the most about being at Parkview?

Chelsea: It is so quiet. My home church in Murphys CA has people over at the church for meetings, projects, and programs almost every day of the week, even though it’s a small church. The Kansha House has been more quiet and peaceful than I expected, and I am taking the time for solitude to be nurtured in my relationship with God.

Aart: What have you enjoyed most about the ministry you have seen at Parkview?

Chelsea: I’m seriously impressed by the way members of the church are able to talk about their faith and spirituality and what it has meant to them, their families and community. I loved having the chairperson leading worship also speak during the sermon time; the testimonies have evidenced a mature, searching faith as well as a commitment to inspire and nurture one another in community. If anyone else would like to contribute to our sermon and message times by speaking, please let Aart know!

Aart: What does it feel like to do the service every week for a number of weeks?

Chelsea: It is hard for me to be front and center on a regular basis. I wonder what do I really have to teach? I prefer to learn from others. I feel like an honored guest and I hope I am using all the attention up there to point you away from (or through?) myself to God.

Aart:  Your generation is more fond of tattoos than mine. I noticed you have one below your neck. What does your tattoo mean to you?

Chelsea: It is a “lovarchy” – the A means archy (government) and the heart means love. Marcus and I got this symbol for our wedding and it means variously “the government of love,” “self rule in love,” and “the reign of God.” To me it means that God is the only legitimate ruler and that God’s way is love, so I try to govern my own decisions with love.

Aart: What is the most difficult thing for you?

Chelsea: Learning people’s names. Name tags would make things easier for me and other visitors but I am stepping up to the challenge and I appreciate people’s graciousness when I make mistakes.

Aart: What are three things you want the church to know about you?

Chelsea: I am quiet and love to listen, but if you ask me my opinion I will share it. I was born with some hearing loss so I may mishear you from time to time; feel free to correct me. I really value social action and protest and feel privileged to have the opportunity to participate in social movements in Sacramento.

Aart: What is a question that you would like to ask the church?

Chelsea: Where is God leading you as a church – what excites you about the future? Also: would you invite me to spend time with you so I can get to know more people in the church? Invite me over or invite yourself over for coffee or tea, if you like. My email is pastoralresident@parkviewpc.org and I think most of you know where I live. 

Aart: What do you think people of your generation need most from the church?

Chelsea: I am 33 years old, so I am an older millennial compared to my two little sisters. I don’t speak for my generation because we are very diverse. But I can tell you what I have gotten out of church: a place to be loved and known by adults who are wiser than me. My advice to you in reaching out to millennials is to ask them questions – they want to be known for who they are, not for what you have to offer them.

May God bless our ministry.  See you all in church!