"Free" | Reflection by Kyle Magri
The Episcopal Church has got to be one of the most fascinating and diverse expressions of the Christian faith that I have ever encountered. I’m a convert to the Episcopal Church, one who has either studied or practiced nearly every religion under the sun before joining this one, and I have to say I’ve felt right at home since my first Sunday service. And not only have I felt right at home but I’ve also never felt more free to be myself in a community of faith before than I have here.
Episcopal author Bonnie Smith Whitehouse puts it best in her book Seasons of Wonder as she writes “For the most part, my Episcopal upbringing was a little love affair in which I encountered a vision of church as a place where anyone who walked in the door was welcome—and, in general, welcome to bring their baggage. Church was probably the most intellectually liberating place in my life, a place to bring all of myself, all of my doubts, and all of my questions. Learning about ritual, liturgy, and history alongside the sacred stories about Jesus’ teachings and love made me hungry to say yes to more…”
Like Mary at the Annunciation, our daily life in our sacred communities invites us to say yes to the invitation to be free, fully embodied, and fully participating members of God’s own body. I’ll never forget my first Ash Wednesday doing Ashes on The Green with Mother Heidi. I got there early and we began to set up the ashes-to-go booth with the help of the Sexton and as people began to line up for ashes, Mother Heidi realized that we had forgotten one very important part of our booth… the free coffee stand! I immediately asked “what can I do to help?” and looking back at the crowd and then at me… Mother Heidi handed me the bowl of ashes and said very matter of factly… “start giving people ashes, I'll get the coffee.” I froze and stared at her, “I… can do that?”... “Yep, of course you can, anyone can give out ashes!” she replied. “I thought you had to be specially trained or something?”... “Nope, just make a cross on peoples foreheads and say something along the lines of ‘you are dust and to dust you shall return’ you got this!” she said with a smile as she ran off to get the coffee.
There I was… a freshman in college… who had been part of the Episcopal Church for no less than a month now… heck I hadn't even had my welcoming ceremony yet. But… here I stood no less… entrusted and empowered with the duty of giving ashes to my fellow members of God’s mystical body. And so I did, even after Mother Heidi got back with the coffee. And that story is just one example of the magic of our Episcopal Church. You are free to sit in the back of the church and take a much needed nap just as much as you are free to stand at the front actively singing every hymn to your heart's content or helping the priests with the sacraments, be you male, female, non-binary, trans, gay, straight, Black, white, red, brown, piously Episcopal since birth or a Zen Buddhist who likes a little sprinkle of Jesus every now and then. You are welcome here and fully free to be yourself, as well as to participate as much or as little as you like, no questions asked.
And that, my dear friends in Christ, is the little spoonful of medicine that our Church has to offer to the world, and most importantly… to YOU! So let's embrace it this lent, let us discern what has been keeping us back from enjoying the freedom of being a beloved child of God in community and lay it down at the feet of Jesus, who will meet us with a smile and tell us very matter of factly “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these…” (John 14:12). Amen! So be it! Amen!