By Ted Pardoe
There is a low-key event that takes place during the season of Easter. It is called Rogation Sunday. I say low key since compared with the celebration of the Ascension of Jesus Christ and the indwelling in the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Rogation Sunday does not have the same profile. The word rogation comes from the Latin rogare “to ask (for God’s blessings and mercy)”. Blessings and mercy for the crops that sustain and nourish us humans. The observance of Rogation Sunday allows Christians to ask for God’s blessings and mercy and to acknowledge our dependance on the gifts of God given to us in creation.
It is a combination of giving thanks for God’s creation and expressing our human role in planting and harvesting crops and declaring that we must also be stewards of this great gift. Now Earth Day has come and gone so Rogation Sunday may serve as a timely reminder of this responsibility that we have. I would like to give a shout out to a fellow clergy person here in Greenwich for her work to help us live into this work. The Reverend Stephanie Johnson, Rector at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Riverside has written a book with the title “How Can I Care for Creation?”
Stephanie has developed her passion for stewardship of this fragile planet on which we reside since we were each ordained a little over ten years ago. She has made important contributions to climate care being a priority in the national Episcopal Church, merry little band that we are in Christendom. Her voice is heard on this critical topic in the House of Bishops and the General Convention of our church. But it is clearly a universal message. Get a copy of her book and make a contribution to a life of grace for the whole world.
The intersection of prayers for the fruits of the earth and the role and needs of humankind on rogation Sunday prompts me to turn to a related role that a good number of people in Greenwich are pursuing. This is engaging in conversations and related activities around becoming anti-racist. For this another shout out is in order. This one goes to Erin O. Crosby the YWCA Greenwich Director of Women’s Empowerment and Racial Justice. She and her colleagues have given the town the gift of the 21-Day Racial Equity and Social Justice Challenge.
A daily e-mail has been arriving and each one is providing excellent opportunities to go deeper into my thinking and understanding about race and racism which I see taking me toward the possibility of participating in an anti-racist future. I applaud this venture and will eagerly continue on the journey. I also look forward to connecting with others who are participating and those who have not to expand this important work in our community. Let’s keep going Greenwich!
There is another clergy colleague in our community who likes to ask “what are you reading?” when we connect for one reason or another. I have very much enjoyed our discussions about the variety of different books that we have shared with one another. I have not had a recent talk with him but I would like to share with you readers of this column a book that is making a large impression me. It is “Caste The Origins of Our Discontents.” The author is the Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson.
“Caste” takes a new direction in the sizeable body of work on race which is a social construct, but with a real lived reality. Wilkerson takes a true deep dive into an exploration of how our country has been shaped by a hidden caste system. That’s right, a caste system like the ones in India and Nazi Germany. The author presents to her readers how the Nazis studied the racial systems in America to plan their strategy for handling of the Jews. I encourage people to get their heads and hearts into this meaningful new book.
As I write this piece at my office desk, I glance at a picture of five Labrador Retrievers. Above the picture are the words “WE ARE THE SAME ANIMAL” and below it “RACISM IS STUPID.” Simple but effective. It is my prayer around this time of Rogation Sunday that each one of us may, in whatever way we are comfortable, seek to be blessings and offer mercy to one another to see our way together to an anti-racist future. Let the people say “Amen.”
