The Girl from San Bernardino
A Responsive Reading in 6 Parts
Prelude: And the Congregation said
Part 1: The Secret to Every Story
Part 2: What Good Can Come from Nazareth
Part 3: Breakfast Club Days
Part 4: Naiveté & Nativity
Part 5: Baby Shower
Part 6: To The Girl from San Bernardino
Prelude
And the congregant said:
Oh no — it’s that guy –
The one who’s always pushing us
From spectate
To participate
Are you kidding me?
I thought I was gonna be able
To get in and out of this thing
By watching all the people up front
Sing their songs and say their words
(As if some chaplain from the Sounders, could do the work for us)
“In the beginning was the Word –
And the word was with God –
And the word was God –
And the word became flesh and dwelt among us”
And the crazy train conductor said:
In a moment I will ask you to stand up
And lean into this advent story
But first,
Here’s how this responsive reading works –
When I say, “And the Congregation Said: Such and such”
You, as the congregation, immediately say such and such
Get it?
It is going to require you to listen closely
“They who have ears — Let them hear!”
I believe in you and I know that you can do it
So stand up, stand up
Yes, you, you, and you.
Remember –
When I say, “And the Congregation Said: Such and such”
You, as the congregation, immediately say “such and such”
OK, let’s try this out –
And the Congregation said:
Such and suchAnd the Congregation said:
Mic check, one two, one two
What a great job!
I knew you could do it!
Now on with the poem!
Part 1: The Secret to Every Story
This is the secret to every story you’ve ever heard
This is the secret to every story you’re ever gonna hear
Setting Character Conflict Resolution
Setting Character Conflict Resolution
Setting Character Conflict Resolution
And the Congregation said:
Setting Character Conflict Resolution
And here’s the kicker –
There are, in the classic sense,
Only three resolutions –
Comedy Drama Tragedy
Comedy Drama Tragedy
Comedy Drama Tragedy
Comedy — Everybody gets what they want
Drama — You only get a little of what you want
And Tragedy — You don’t get BLEEP
Does anybody know, are we allowed to say BLEEP in church?
Is that OK?
Part 2: What Good Can Come from Nazareth
For the last 15 years
Whenever someone in Seattle asks me where I’m from
I say, “I’m a refugee from Southern California
Thanks for not closing your borders”
And the Congregation said:
Thanks for not closing your borders
And if they press in,
if they know a little about the Southern California landscape
I say this, “I grew up in the Redlands and Riverside area,
It’s half-way between LA and Palm Springs”
And that’s what everyone who grew up where I grew up
That’s what we all say
And the Congregation said:
That’s what we all say
Why would anyone advertise the city where they grew up
When it’s crime ridden and economically hopeless?
Why would we advertise our home town
When it’s been famous since the 90’s
as a murder capital of the United States?
Nawwww — When people ask me where I’m from
I don’t tell them the truth
I don’t tell ’em I’m from a town like Nazareth
Instead I say, “What good can come from San Bernardino?”
And the Congregation said:
What good can come from San Bernardino
Part 3: Breakfast Club Days
It is Wednesday afternoon, December 2, 2015
I am checking facebook on my way back from lunch
And I see posts talking about a shooting in San Bernardino
Which, given the crime rate in Berdoo, ain’t nothing new
But it quickly becomes clear that this –
This is something different
Fourteen reported dead
County Social Services building
And all I can think about is Kujo
Which is his nickname
From our Breakfast Club days
And the Congregation said:
Don’t you forget about me
Kujo has worked for the County for a decade
He’s a supervisor in the Health Department
And the next detail that rolls in chills me to the bone
The shooting was at a Holiday party
For the San Bernardino County Health Department
The next hours are a blur
J. updates me that he’s gotten a text from Kujo
And Kujo is alive but can’t talk
J. and I are comparing notes and worried
Not sure if Kujo was in the room during the shooting
This goes on for 24 hours
And we wrestle over how to support our friend
Through something like this
Early Thursday afternoon Kujo checks in to Facebook
To let everyone know
He was not on site during the shooting
He is physically OK
Later that night, we get a texts from Kujo
And the floodgates open
He has lost dear friends and employees
And the weight of dark dark questions
Suck the air out of the conversation
You know the kind of dark doubts I’m talking about
They’re the one’s you have textbook answers for
But they are the kind of textbook answers
That your heart does not believe
Yes, that night, the doubts arrive,
Looking for whom they may devour
And this is the form they take –
“If I hadn’t hired them, they’d still be alive”
and –
“Where is Jesus in the midst of this?”
And the Congregation said:
Where is Jesus in the midst of this?
Part 4: Naiveté & Nativity
Isn’t it strange how naiveté and nativity
Sound nearly the same
As if the words themselves dare me to believe
That God took on flesh, became a native,
And dwelt among us
Isn’t it naive to believe that through Christ
One day all tears will be Shalom’d away
That, as Sam asks of Gandalf, in Tolkien’s Middle-earth –
“Is everything sad going to come untrue?”
And the Congregation said:
“Is everything sad going to come untrue?”
I suppose I am strange in that my favorite Christmas song
Has the phrase “death squads” in it
And describes Herod’s determination
To kill all male children under two
In his quest to eradicate an infant
As a threat to his power
That makes sense to me
Because this world is full of tears
And if this Rescue Story of Jesus be true
It must be deeply true
Not pat pat, there there,
my thoughts and prayers are with you true
If this Gospel is worth taking seriously at all,
It must be gritty and robust enough
To absorb the true horrors
And deep fears of this world
And the Congregation said:
Fear not, for I am with you
Part 5: Baby Shower
In the days that follow, details unfold
About the massacre in San Bernardino
And it becomes much more terrifying and bizarre
It is a wife and husband who lived as natives
In the health department —
Where they check our food for safety
They walked into the holiday party
And murdered their co-workers
A planned attack, a sacrifice of others
They murdered the same co-workers who,
Just six months ago,
Had thrown the killers a baby shower
For their newborn girl
It’s that last tidbit that harumphs my attention
Wait, what? Their newborn girl?
What child is this?
And the Congregation said:
What child is this?
Turns out they dropped their daughter
Off with her grandmother
Before they launched their attack
And now, all I can think about is
Writing a love letter to
The girl from San Bernardino
Part 6: To The Girl from San Bernardino
To the Girl from San Bernardino –
To the dear child who does not yet understand
The heaviness of this world
To the little girl who does not yet feel the weight
Of the knowledge of good and evil
God bless you, I hope one day we can be friends
And the Congregation said:
I hope one day we can be friends
This town that we are from, San Bernardino
Is now on the lips of everyone in the world
And we are all asking the question
That you will one day ask
“What good can come from San Bernardino?”
And all I have for you, child, are ancient promises
Things I aspire to and fall short of every day
Ancient promises that go something like this –
“Fear not, for I am with you”
and –
“Forgive them for they know not what they do”
They are ancient promises from an ancient poet
Who came onto the world’s stage this same advent season
Ages and ages ago
As the story goes, this poet was God himself,
Come into the world to experience
The pain and suffering that you, dear daughter,
Will one day know so well
And the Congregation said:
As the story goes
As the story goes, this poet was God himself,
Come into the world to laugh and weep and inhabit
The joy and pain of this world we know
To become the God with skin in the game
And the Congregation said:
Christmas means God has skin in the game
As the story goes, this poet God with skin in the game
Turned our thoughts of power and justice upside down
It is said, he let us kill him, that he might resurrect
A new order unto the universe –
“Greater love has no one than this,
that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
It is said, this poet God with skin in the game
Has ushered in an upside down era where
Enemies really do become friends
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
And the Congregation said:
Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you
To the Girl from San Bernardino, I hope one day we can be friends
And the Congregation said:
I hope one day we can be friends.
I hope one day we can be friends
