Holey, Wholly, Holy

As I was coming home from a morning walk I heard a hawk cry. I looked up for the source but realized that the cry became that of one song bird after another. At the tippy top of the pine tree in our yard sat a mockingbird, running through the gamut of calls found in my neighborhood.

I was struck by this bird, calling out in many different languages to attract attention and I thought about our own world and how we seem to be desiring to shut voices down as systematically as this bird was crying out to welcome all.

This has been a unique season where three religions celebrate larger tables. Eid completed Ramadan two weeks ago after running simultaneously for the first four weeks of Lent. This Monday was Passover and Thursday was Maundy Thursday. Each of these holy days ends with a meal, welcoming all to the table.

I believe in the sacredness of all life. I believe in a table that invites those who are shunned to be invited first. I believe that each of our Abrahamic religions calls on an open space that welcomes all people. One of the key components of God in each of these religions is compassion and justice; especially for those who are in vulnerable positions.

If the table is as wide as all three of these religions claim, what would it take for us to be like that mockingbird and sing out compassion and justice?

• We would be calling for the return of immigrants illegally deported without trial.
• We would be striving for schools that offer a myriad of ways for students to learn, regardless of their disabilities, language, nationality.
• We would be fighting for the rights of our LGBTQ+ siblings to be accepted for who they are, regardless of their “assigned” gender at birth.
• We would honor our history and the abhorrent treatment to people of color, including but not limited to native Americans and Africans so that we can remember how our country was formed and move forward seeking reconciliation.
• We would honor the many cultures that make up the beauty of who we are as a people.
• We would recognize and admit to our faults in order to learn to do better and to be better.

In the Christian faith, Maundy Thursday is followed by Good Friday. This is the day Christians remember Jesus being mocked by the leaders and eventually killed for being compassionate toward all people and filled with justice. He was killed by those who sought power, but he was also killed by those who were afraid to see the sacredness of all life and to live in a way that invited all to a larger table. He was killed by those who stood back and didn’t speak up for this same justice and compassion. He continues to be killed today by each person who claims to be a Christian but continues to seek power over justice, silence over protest, violence over love, elimination over acceptance.

This table; this open- loving- justice- compassion-filled table, should include those harmed first and then be filled in with the privileged of this world. This table is wide and intentionally inclusive.

Like that mockingbird singing out in a multitude of languages, what would it take to open up this space to echo those tables of compassion and justice of Eid and Passover and Maundy Thursday?