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Imagine That

/ arthancock / Leave a comment

As I was driving into church on Thursday morning, I had the opportunity to listen to a portion of President Jimmy Carter’s memorial service at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.  As part of the service, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood sang John Lennon’s classic song “Imagine.”

Most are familiar with this song.  Among the lyrics are:

Imagine there’s no heaven

It’s easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us, only sky…

Imagine there’s no countries

It isn’t hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion, too.

Predictably and almost immediately, reaction among many Christians was harsh. They were offended by the suggestion to “imagine there’s no heaven” or to “imagine… no religion too.” And because the National Cathedral is an Episcopal Church, there was plenty of strident criticism for those who would allow such music to be sung in church on such an august occasion. “Who,” some demanded, “chose that song to be sung at Jimmy Carter’s funeral?” 

Well, the answer to that question is: Jimmy Carter. Yes, the 39th President of the United States and Sunday School teacher requested that John Lennon’s Imagine be played at his funeral.  In fact, it was played at his wife Rosalynn’s funeral as well.  Apparently, it was one of Jimmy Carter’s favorite songs.

Quite frankly, the criticism launched by Christians at those who planned Carter’s funeral reminded me of the verbal assault that Jesus himself experienced from the pharisees, sadducees and scribes of his own day who became enraged when Jesus challenged the religious status quo.

You see, Jimmy Carter, like Jesus, believed that it wasn’t one’s words that mattered as much as one’s actions. Jimmy Carter, like Jesus, pledged his allegiance to God’s agenda of justice and mercy and compassion and love for all.  Jimmy Carter, like Jesus, believed that instead of focusing one’s life on the hereafter, one should do one’s best, right here and now, to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with God. Jimmy Carter, like Jesus, tried to do the right thing despite the consequences to his own political and personal life.  And Jimmy Carter, like Jesus, wasn’t afraid to shake it up so that people might begin to see their lives and the world as does God.

Jimmy Carter was a good, not perfect man. He tried to walk the way of Jesus. With his life, he encouraged us to do the same.  Now, just imagine that.

~Father Art

Anna Ellison Butler Alexander

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This past Tuesday, we celebrated the feast day of Anna Ellison Butler Alexander. I must admit that, if I had ever known who Anna Alexander was, I had forgotten. And shame on me!

Anna Alexander was the first and only African-American consecrated as a deaconess in the Episcopal Church. She served in the Diocese of Georgia her entire career. She was born on St. Simon’s Island just after the Civil War, and spent her early years in Pennick, Darien, and Brunswick Georgia.  In 1894 while still teaching at Darien during the week, Anna founded a mission and school in Pennick, making a 40-mile round trip by boat and foot. She supported herself by taking in sewing, and managed to buy property in 1902, where her brother Charles Alexander and other men then erected a church.

In 1907, addressing the second annual meeting of the diocese’s council of colored churchmen, Bishop Cleland Nelson described Alexander as a “devout, godly and respected colored woman” and consecrated her as a deaconess. As such, Anna worked in the Altamaha River area for the rest of her life, teaching not only academic subjects, but also moral values. Alexander also became the agent for governmental and private aid for both black and white residents, and enlisted neighbors of both races to help. Anna Alexander’s birth date was never recorded, and she later gave various different dates, in part because she feared that she would be forbidden to continue to work in her final years due to her age. If they didn’t know how old she was, they couldn’t tell her to stop! In 1998, she was recognized as a saint by the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia and her diocese began advocating for larger recognition in the Episcopal Church thereafter.

Women, of course, have always had a profound impact on the course of God’s Kingdom here on earth. Throughout the Old Testament, there are numerous stories of godly women who stepped up when needed (and when godly men seemed sorely lacking). Jesus’ own ministry was characterized by uniquely gifted and strong women who demonstrated faithful servanthood and courageous leadership. The subsequent history of the church is plum-full of stories of other women who have proved their mettle. And, of course, here at St. John’s we are blessed with some of the most skilled and wise and willing women with whom I have ever worked.

The life and ministry of Anna Ellison Butler Alexander is but one more reminder of the vital impact of women upon the Kingdom of God. I am immensely grateful to be part of the Episcopal Church as, in the last fifty years or so, we are finally coming to the recognition that, when it comes to faithful, spirit-filled leadership on behalf of the Heavenly Kingdom, God shows no partiality with regard to gender (or race).

~Father Art