An Evening Prayer Service for the People of Haiti

(Updated 01/26/10)
Tuesday, January 26 at 7 p.m. St. Edward's in San Jose
Haiti Prayer Service Raises over $500!
Updated with links and additional information on 1/23/10

A prayer service combining silence, song, prayer, and an opportunity to give via Episcopal Relief and Development was held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 26 at St. Edward's Episcopal Church, 15040 Union Ave., San Jose (corner of Union and Hwy 85). The small group of 20+ people raised over $500 to go toward Haiti relief through ERD.

In response, from Lauren Stanley: "on behalf of the Bishop of Haiti, The Rt. Rev. Jean Zache Duracin, thank you for your love and support."

There is now a video available, taken by the Wall Street Journal of how the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti is helping in the midst of this tragedy. (Broken link to video fixed 1/25/10)

Update (1/23/10): Here is an interview of The Reverend Lauren Stanley, Appointed Missionary to Haiti, on the situation there. There is a 4 minute version that aired on the radio. There is also 16+ minute version.

"The Cathedral...is gone..."

The following are the two parts to the sermon of my friend, colleague, fellow Virginia Seminary alum, and appointed missionary of The Episcopal Church to Haiti The Reverend Lauren Stanley. She was in Virginia at the time of the earthquake and so is doing what she can from hundreds of miles away.

Lauren Stanley Sermon, Part I

Lauren Stanley Sermon, Part II

Pray for her, for those she cares about but of whom she has no news, and indeed for all the people of Haiti.

Stewards of God's Grace

"When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now." Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him." - John 2:10-11

As noted in my earlier post, when calamity strikes, it is often difficult to respond at all, much less respond helpfully. Couple that with the miracle at the wedding at Cana that is the Gospel reading for this past Sunday, and you have celebration colliding with calamity.

Beyond asking the question "Where is God in all of this?" (which is addressed in the video in the previous post) we hopefully move to the question "Where does God want me to be in all of this?" There are a variety of answers to that question. In the short term, the answer is to give money that can both be transmitted quickly and can support the local economy rather than collecting food, water, and other necessities and shipping them there. It may not be as personally satisfying for us to click a "donate" button or write a check, but this isn't really about us anyway.

In the longer term, it is worth thinking about what sort of long-term "partnership with providence" we might direct towards Haiti. In other words, what is God already doing and planning to do there and how might we most effectively partner with God in that effort? The fact is that we are merely stewards of divine wine--beverage of the Heavenly Banquet. We neither purchase nor create the wine of God's blessings, we simply convey it to those who need to "taste and see that the Lord is good." (Psalm 34:8). The wonderful thing is that this tasting and seeing is not limited to those in extreme physical need. We need to taste that Kingdom wine, that celebration in the midst of calamity, as much as anyone else does. It is in being stewards, being purveyors of God's grace and mercy, that we know ourselves to be both blessed and a blessing to others.

Speechless in San Jose

In the wake of the unspeakable tragedy of the earthquake in Haiti on Tuesday, I've been searching for words to speak of the unspeakable. Many others have spoken, some with less than helpful words. In the wake of Pat Robertson's assertion that this is somehow God's retribution for an ancient pact with the devil, my friend The Reverend Frank Logue and his parish, King of Peace in Kingsland, Georgia, have crafted this helpful response. If a picture is worth a thousand words, than the following says it all



Please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers.