Mission Council recently voted to reaffirm the Grace Church Values Statements. Mary McLain spoke on "Honor everyone's age, race, economic situation, sexual orientation, family configuration and religious approach" at last Sunday's service.

Our value statements are similar to the 10 commandments: Simple and easy to understand but complicated in application. In fact this elaboration of ours on the commandments is pretty cheeky--it puts us right out there on top of the our hill saying "look at us"--when the most I think we can do is say "with God's help" the way our baptismal vows have us say that we will respect the dignity of every human being--with God's help. In the prayer book catechism, after the part about the ten commandments,  it even poses the question, "Since we don't fully obey them are they useful at all?" And the answer is "Since we do not fully obey them, we see more clearly our sin and our need for redemption."  

When Roger asked me to speak on one of our values, I chose: "Honor everyone's age, race, economic situation, sexual orientation, family configuration and religious approach."  I chose this one because for over 30 years I worked enforcing the state and federal laws concerning discrimination--the dis-honoring of people based on factors over which they had no control. I get pretty outraged at dis-honoring.

The thing about the commandments and these values is that there are no asterisks or exceptions, Take, for example, the one about economic condition. Honoring everyone's economic condition. We don't get an exception if they are smelly, unwashed, ragged, or beg.  

And what does honoring mean? Tolerating? Chuck Bowles used to say he didn't want to be tolerated, he wanted to be accepted. Maybe there are levels of honoring--like Ken Lyon talked one time when he spoke on levels of caring and giving. He said it is easy to help people who are victims of a natural disaster but harder when the person's own actions or decisions led to their hardship. So what level are we at when we invite a person in but make them stand at the door and not sit with them? Is it honoring if we complain that everyone is not contributing equally when we have no idea the hardships they may face with unemployment, underemployment, poverty wages or obligations we know nothing about?  

This honoring stuff is tricky.

We live in a time now when more people live in poverty than in the so-called Great Depression, but our culture still tells us that the poor deserve to be poor. The culture says they could work if they wanted to, or they have no skills because they didn't go to school, or they drink, or take drugs. If it is their own fault, we have no responsibility--a neat exchange. And the hungry deserve to be hungry too, by this reasoning. I know the people of Grace are better than this, but we have to be vigilant--we are not immune to the messages of the culture. It does get tricky.

So, let's ask God to help us honor each one we meet--no exceptions. Leave the judging to God. She can see everyone's insides.

"Wonderful fellowship! Unique view of the history of the world & humankind's understanding & ongoing relationship with each other and God! Would highly recommend to anyone who has ever asked "Why?" concerning their own or another's belief system."

"Through EfM I learned about my Judeo-Christian faith from Genesis to the Gospels, and I learned about the early Church and the miracle of its origin and survival in the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles. Most important of all, I learned that Jesus is in my life and all I have to do is invite Him into my consciousness to make His presence a reality.

"EfM has made it easier for me to have personal relationships with clergy, staff, and fellow worshipers. I guess you could say that I now feel that I am part of a community and not just a churchgoer. I know that these feelings began in the EfM sessions, in particular when I became a part of the small EfM community."

There are two opportunities for EfM in the Cincinnati area for the coming school year. Classes start in mid September and run through May.

The first is on Monday evenings at Grace Episcopal Church in College Hill.

Classes begin September 10 and are from 7 to 9:30 pm.

The second is a new group at St Anne's in West Chester on Tuesday evenings. The exact start times are still tentative.

Grace Church member Hawley Todd TSSF (who is also our Diocesan EfM coordinator) is mentoring both classes. For more information or to sign up, please contact Hawley at todd@episcopalhealing.org   or 513-967-6581.

Jackie Millay is offering a five-session "RELAX INTO THE WEEKEND" ChiKung/TaiChi class series at Grace Church starting Friday, August 10 from 6:30 to 8pm.  It is directly following the August 4 ChiKung/TaiChi workshop at Grace, and the classes will build on that.   Newbies are fine, though. 

This workshop can provide an experiential, meditative means of gathering, storing, and circulating vital life force energy(Chi/Qi), through a set of relaxing, restoring, exercises (Kung). 

Jackie wants to see which people may be interested in just ChiKung, which would be interested in just TaiChi, or both. Please let Jackie know if you're interested; have questions/ideas, etc.

Learn more at Jackie's website harmonicpulsewellness.com.  Or call her at 513-541-4900 and 513-405-1514.