News from the Congregation June 11, 2021

Jun 11

Written By Steven Lee; Marsha Ra & Bob Deming

‘Cheap Grace’; ‘The Modern Mind, Part IV’ | July Book Discussion - Paul Daniels Discusses J Cone’s Black Theology and Black Power, Auditions for Cathedral’s Schola Cantorum, Diocesan Lecture Series on Reparations, Volunteer at CCC’s Sunday Soup Kitchen, | Sunday Programs (11 am Worship Service, 11:45 pm Coffee Half-Hour - Open Conversation or Vestry Meeting) |Weekday Programs (M-S Morning and Evening Prayer).

Canon Lee

In his book The Cost of Discipleship, the theologian and Christian martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer defines cheap and costly grace:

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows Him.

Bonhoeffer's own life, and death, set an intimidating standard for Christian witness. However, there are small yet still significant ways we can avoid the trap of cheap grace.

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In the popular imagination, the word "apocalypse" connotes the End of the World. But the original ancient Greek word (ἀποκάλυψις) just means "uncovering." Hence, the word can also mean a "revelation." For this reason, the final book of the Bible is known as the "Apocalypse," or sometimes, the "Revelation" to John.

During the past 12 months, we have experienced both meanings of the word. The pandemic, at times, has felt like the End of the World. The pandemic has also uncovered realities many of us have long preferred not to acknowledge.

Essential workers, often the most poorly paid and so often racial minorities, literally risked their lives to go to work. Many non-essential professional staff, so often better paid, were able to work safely from home.

It is easy to recognize the problem. It is harder to do anything about it.

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In the budget for the new fiscal year, the Cathedral, as a matter of equity, will hire security staff as full-time employees of the Cathedral. They will receive the same benefits that other full-time employees enjoy.

This decision entails a significant cost. This increased expense is equivalent to everyone in the Congregation tripling their donations, so the Congregation triples its Cost Share to the Cathedral.

Despite the financial difficulties brought on by the pandemic, the Cathedral is moving ahead with this important effort. This serves as one small yet still meaningful example of what it means to put our oft-proclaimed ideals of Christian discipleship into real-world practice.

The Rev. Canon Steven Lee
Canon Pastor and Vicar

Marsha and Bob

his four-reflection inquiry is about the modern mind. The fourth and final reflection modifies an earlier formulation and works with new views that eventually relate to our shared context of the Cathedral and the Congregation.

I have come to realize that the modern mind sculptures are not really about ranking one as first, another as second and another as third. A better approach is to emphasize the three parts of the modern mind—Autonomous, Reflective, Algorithmic—working together, in an integrated fashion, with everything seeming to fit together.

This graphic of the three statues superimposed on the awards platform no longer has numbers.

The platform with three levels might be informative in its own nuanced way. On the left, one settles on awareness of something deriving from the Autonomous Mind; shifting to the center, one takes a step up and focuses the Reflective Mind on that which seems important; and lastly moving to the right, one steps way down and works with the Algorithmic Mind, presumably on a solution that ends up being more grounded.

Let me make a fundamental shift. While continuing with big picture thinking, I have tried to encompass a religious perspective. My resource for images again is Adobe Stock. The image I select is titled Trigurtas Vektor, and it is in the category of Prayers, Meditation and Relaxation. Its origin seems to be a Celtic knot.

My purpose is to play off the above image in three ways: first from a psychological view, second from a Christian view, and third from a Cathedral and Congregation view.

For the psychological view, I revisit the first reflection. You may remember Keith Stanovich’s diagram of his tripartite structure of the Autonomous Mind, the Algorithmic Mind and the Reflective Mind. I make a switch and picture the modern mind temporally, with the Autonomous Mind on the left, the Reflective Mind in the middle and the Algorithmic Mind on the right. Now, with the assistance of my first transformed Trigurtas Vektor image, I am able to re-picture the modern mind spatially in a new way. The Autonomous Mind of Type 1 fast processing is in the center up top: this happens automatically with little effort. The Reflective Mind of Type 2 slow processing is in the lower left: this requires effort, but the benefit is that it helps to ground people. The Algorithmic Mind of Type 2 slower processing is in the lower right: this also requires effort but again the benefit is that it is grounding.

Next, I overlay the Holy Trinity onto my second transformed Trigurtas Vektor image. God the father belongs up top in the center; Jesus the son, who lived over two thousand years ago, belongs in the lower left; and the Holy Spirit belongs in the lower right, presumably having an important connection to the future.

Lastly, I shift to the Cathedral and the Congregation. I combine the concepts on my third transformed Trigurtas Vektor image.

Does this amalgamation make everything clear? I know there is still a fair amount of work to be done.

I bring in the context of the Cathedral and the coming months when we start to reconvene. Where might pieces fit, as I try to apply this image to a new time.

I first imagine Type 1 Autonomous Mind, the one located up top, associated with God the Father. We are likely to enjoy the clergy, the congregants, the liturgy, the music, the prayers, just being in the flow of a service in a setting we revere. Next comes the slow Type 2 Reflective Mind, the one located in the lower left and associated with Jesus. One part of the service that features the Reflective Mind is the sermon. For those who have known me over the years, they have seen my habit of taking notes. This helps in my later reflection to try to piece together the meaning and the significance. The Prayers of the People, which Sub-Dean Patrick Malloy writes on a weekly basis, is another part of the service that engages the Reflective Mind because this helps to remind what is going on in the world. Lastly comes the slower Type 2 Algorithmic Mind, the one located in the lower right, associated with the Holy Spirit. Where does that fit in the service?

During the Covid Pandemic, the Congregation and the Cathedral has had to explore different ways of worshiping. Typically, after the 11 am Sunday service that is broadcast online, there is a coffee hour without coffee on the Zoom Sunday link at the Congregation’s website from about 11:50 am to 12:30 pm. Quite a few of these coffee hours have been thematically based, and they have proved interesting, as they open up a wider view of what is going on in the Congregation, at the Cathedral, within the New York Episcopal Diocese and even beyond.

These thematic coffee hours are where the Algorithmic Mind might fit. And I go further: not just information about, but involvement in. To explain what I am getting at, I need to rely on a religious author.

In these four reflections, Matthew Fox serves as the fourth author from whom I seek inspiration. I extract only one distinction. Fox explains in Original Blessing (1983): “Christians seeking comfort have been defining community as a noun. In fact, community is people building something together, working on a common project (cum-munio)” (p. 26).

Working on a common project in an effort to build together is an illustration of the Algorithmic Mind. I am not suggesting people come together and immediately pick a common project. Initiatives happen in their own time and in their own unique ways. I am suggesting, for the Congregation and the Cathedral, that there be openness toward the Algorithmic Mind because that is our likely area of growth in the 21st century. Why cannot engaging with the future be one of the fundamental parts of the purview of a worshiping community?

(For engagement or for communication about something of note, my email address is available in the Realm Directory, under my name Robert Deming.)

NEWS FROM THE DIOCESE

Voices Heard: A Diocese Explores Pathways Toward Reparations

A webinar series sponsored by the Reparations Committee of the Diocese of New York

The legacy of the transatlantic slave trade is deeply entrenched in the structural systems and legislative actions that govern communities today. This series of panel discussions organized by the Reparations Committee for the Diocese intends to broaden awareness and deepen our understanding of the pressing topics of an intractable nature of systemic racism on education, health, economics, gender, policing and the criminal justice system, the church and more that negatively impact people of African heritage.

Bringing experts, community organizers, civic leaders, clergy and laity into dialogue will help to inform us and make commitments for engagement in our own communities as we prepare our cause for action in making recommendations for the task brought forth through Resolution regarding the Reparations Fund.

All webinars are on Tuesdays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.

Reaching For a Better Tomorrow: The Work and Mission of Hudson Link Working For Higher Education in Prison
Tuesday, June 22
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_j5SokWcXRq-2Aj_VW1m-Ng

The Awakening of Unwoke People: Church, Religion and State
Tuesday, July 6
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_O7p4u1B2RT6JOI8VH4F7lQ

Rectors of Color: Examining the Missed Opportunities of Deployment
Tuesday, July 20
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_We8dfFOxSrmEbPHnK1WZmA

NEWS FROM THE CATHEDRAL

July Book Group Discussion - Black Theology and Black Power

Join the Cathedral family as we read together James Cohn’s seminal work “Black Theology and Black Power” Facilitated by Rev. Paul Daniels II, this group will meet at 12:00 noon on Zoom (link to be provided) for four Sunday’s in July. All are welcome. The book may be purchased in hard copy or as an ebook.

Fr. Paul Daniels Awarded a Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship. For more information on Paul’s award and his scholarship at Fordham University, click here. The article is excellent.

Auditions for Cathedral Schola Cantorum

The Cathedral Music Team is excited to resume our Cathedral Schola Cantorum, inviting all youth currently in middle school and high school to audition for placement in the Schola. This ensemble will share in the great Cathedral tradition of choral singing that has been a hallmark at St. John the Divine for nearly 120 years. The Schola Cantorum will rehearse once a week on a date to be confirmed, and will sing at select liturgies and concerts throughout the year. The Schola Cantorum will frequently perform in collaboration with the Cathedral Choristers, an ensemble made up of students from the Cathedral School, and with the other ensembles in residence at the Cathedral. For more information and to schedule an audition, please contact Samuel Kuffuor-Afriyie, Organ Scholar, at Skuffuor@stjohndivine.org.

GIVE/SERVE

Questions about Realm
Christopher Clowdus and Neil Reilly invite your questions about Realm, the Congregation's giving database, at this email address: stewardship@saintsaviour.org.

CCC - Volunteer Opportunity at Sunday Soup Kitchen
Join us at CCC's Sunday Soup Kitchen (8:30 am - 11:00 am) to help prepare and distribute food and to staff Saint Saviour's Table. Please CLICK HERE to sign up! Shifts are open through the third week in July. Thank you so much for volunteering!

THIS SUNDAY, June 14, 2021

11:00 AM - Watch the Cathedral worship service on Zoom with other members of the Congregation. As a way to maintain a prayerful atmosphere, we will be turning off Zoom chat for the duration of the service.

You can also watch the Cathedral Worship Service
On Facebook: http://facebook.com/StJohnDivineNYC
On the Cathedral website: http://www.stjohndivine.org

12:00 PM - Digital Coffee Half-Hour (begins at apprx 11:45 this week)
Join us at this week’s Digital Coffee Hour to meet members of the congregation or hear guest speakers, This week the Congregation is welcome to stay on the same zoom link for coffee-hour, or head to a different link to attend the Vestry meeting.

June 27: Conversation with the Rev. Gina Gore, Chaplain, The Cathedral School