by Brandon Beck

Shakespeare, in Romeo and Juliet, has Juliet ask, “What’s in a name?”  In what’s become a famous soliloquy (Act 2, Scene ii), Juliet wonders why her family and Romeo’s should keep their love from being known.

Semiotics, the study of signs and symbols and their use in communication and meaning making, has been applied by philosophers, linguists, anthropologists, theologians, and others. Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1912) was a Swiss semiotician who worked in the subfield of semiology, focusing on the bilateral nature of the sign – the signifier and the signified. Saussure taught that words only have meaning in social context. What I say and think I mean only have meaning when you hear it and assign it value.

In The Princess Bride, a 1987 comedy-adventure film based on the 1973 book of the same name, Inigo Montoya says to Vizzini, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Finnish academic Osmo Wiio’s somewhat satiric, yet accurate, laws of communication, state, “If communication can fail, it will.”

I live in Texas. Our Legislature meets every two years. In the last several sessions, one topic has held traction in the House and the Senate – anti-LGBTQ (especially anti-trans) legislation. Session after session, activists and advocates in the legislature, in the lobby, and in the public square have thwarted efforts to disenfranchise LGBTQ Texans. This year was different.

Texas, as of Friday 19 May 2023, is near enacting a law banning diversity offices in public universities. SB14 passed and will go to Gov Abbot, who says he will sign it. This bill bans minors from receiving trans-affirming medical care. The House has approved SB15 which bans transgender athletes from participating in sports based on gender. A bill that would have ended a law criminalizing homosexuality in Texas did not make it to the floor.

What’s in a name?

My name is Brandon. It hasn’t always been, but it is now.

He and She are signifiers of gender. The person to whom the pronoun refers is the signified. My pronouns are he/him. I am male.

How do you know what someone means when they use a word to describe a group of which you’re a part? Does the word really mean what you think it means?

Supporters of SB14, during the hearings, described transgender Texans as a “social contagion.”^[1]

Communication fails.

Even Jesus’ Law of love:

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy. ⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who harass you ⁴⁵ so that you will be acting as children of your Father who is in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both the evil and the good and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous.⁴⁶ If you love only those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸ Therefore, just as your heavenly Father is complete in showing love to everyone, so also you must be complete.^[2]

We enter a covenant with Jesus and reaffirm it again and again at Baptism:

I will follow the apostles’ teaching; I will be in community, break bread, pray; I will resist evil, repent, return; I will proclaim by word and example the Good News; I will seek and serve Christ in ALL PERSONS; I will LOVE my neighbor as myself; I will strive for justice and peace among all people; I will respect the dignity of every human being.

This love that Jesus teaches – of whose name we seem to have forgotten, whose signified is nearly lost, whose meaning seems absent these days – this love of Jesus we have allowed to fail to be communicated to our neighbors In Biblical Greek “love” is ἀγάπη (agape), considered the highest form of love – that between God and God’s Son – incarnational love – sacrificial love – perichoretic love – mysterious love. Nothing should be desired more or shared more than the love we receive from heaven.

When we promise to live baptismally, repeating those words everytime we support a newly baptized sibling in Christ, what are we signifying? What do we really mean? Do our words and actions toward all our neighbors, no matter their name, demonstrate the love of God – Three-in-One?

In whatever name you call the Trinity –  

Mother, Child, Womb.

God, Logos, Sophia.

Love, Beloved, Lover.

Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer.

Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

Amen.

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^[1] https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/02/texas-trans-kids-health-care-ban/

^[2] CEB, Matthew 5:43-48

by Demi Prentiss

The Gospel for this week reminds us, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10). For many, Jesus’ promise seems laughable, as we have faced the isolation enforced by Covid prevention measures and now the reduced attendance many congregations are experiencing. The past few years have cramped our vision and promoted scarcity thinking. Fear cripples our imaginations, and perceiving abundance challenges our common sense.

In Isaiah 54:2 the prophet reminds the Israelites to think bigger: “Clear lots of ground for your tents! Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big! Use plenty of rope, drive the tent pegs deep” (The Message). Like Israelites returning from exile, we in the post-Covid church are called to widen our vision and our embrace. Open our doors to welcome unfamiliar people and experiences. Sharpen our vision to perceive who our supporters and our allies are.  Be courageous to invite contributions – both monetary and intangible gifts.  Partner with both modest givers and big spenders alike.

Last week’s Gospel story of two dispirited disciples walking to Emmaus has always invited my speculation: What was the “tell” that allowed the two breaking bread with Jesus to, at last, recognize him?  When the Risen Christ broke the bread, did they catch a glimpse of the nail holes in his hands? Was it the distinctive way he blessed the bread, or broke it, or poured the cup of wine that tipped them off? Perhaps it was the way he said “Abba” as he asked God’s blessing for the meal? Or the gestures he used as he handed food and drink to the others at table with him?

I like to think that the real giveaway was his hospitality – the way he embodied the message of open-handed abundance as he presided at the meal. “Enough is as good as a feast.” All who dine with Christ experience abundant life.

Jesus challenges believers to see him in the people we encounter every day – the stranger on the road, the surprise visitor, the people at our table, even those who are not our favorite companions. Where we see Jesus, we are called to see the abundance that he brings. As we widen our vision and our embrace, we enlarge the site of our tent – we make plenty good room, and shift our perception from scarcity to a heightened awareness of gift and opportunity.  For us personally and for our society, our recovery – from pandemic, from hard-fought elections, from the dangers of everyday living and the fear of the unknown – may well depend on our ability to incarnate the abundance Christ promises. “Risen Lord, be known to us in the breaking of the bread.”

by Brandon Beck

The patron saint of my home church is Mark.

I live in a town named for Mark on a river named for Mark.

Archaeological surveys show that people have inhabited this land for around 12,000 years, and Spanish settlers, under the leadership of conquistadors and missionaries, settled here around 1648.

The names of the river and town recognize Spanish colonialism – San Marcos; the name of the church recognizes the subsequent Anglo invasion – St. Mark’s. But what became of the indigenous names?

My friends Mario Garza and Maria Rocha strive for justice and peace every day by remembering and speaking the language of their people – the people of this land – the Coahuiltecan People, by educating others about the history of this land and its people, and by living their own heritage as modern Coahuiltecans authentically.

The Feast of St. Mark is a time when our church gathers at the San Marcos River for baptisms, blessings, and barbecue (actually fried chicken, but I like alliteration).

As we promise together to strive for justice and peace among all, and pledge to respect the dignity of the Earth and every human being – when we gather at the river to pray with St Mark and all the Saints – may we remember those who predate us and our names.

by Pam Tinsley

“Be Kind” were the words written on our 2½ year-old granddaughter’s shirt on the same day that a new book arrived. The cover of the book, 10 Hidden Heroes, shows children and adults helping others as they go about their everyday lives. Because I believe strongly in making our world more loving by living out our baptismal promises in daily life, I was eager to share this book with our little granddaughter.

She and I sat down together and searched through the pictures on each two-page spread. One set of pictures features hidden heroes nursing others back to health. Although one setting was in a hospital with nurses and doctors caring for patients, there was also a child tending to another child’s scraped knee and a girl caring for her injured cat. Another set of pictures highlights hidden heroes striving to protect the environment by planting trees, recycling, composting, and riding bikes. A boy stocking shelves in a food bank shows young readers how to serve those less fortunate. There are even hidden heroes who invent and do research to develop medicines and “treasures for humankind.”   

Hidden Heroes author, Mark K. Shriver, is the president of Save the Children Action Network, and hopes that it can help children and their parents make the world a better place. When I read the book with our granddaughter, not only is she learning to count as she searches for the hidden heroes in the pictures, together we’re also making connections as we look to her family, friends, preschool, and community for examples of kindness and compassion. And this is a time for talking, too, about how she herself can be kinder and more compassionate.

Who are the hidden heroes in your life, and how might they inspire you – us – to make our world more loving and just?

By Pam Tinsley

For years I commuted to Seattle, often by bus. I found the bus drivers to be courteous and helpful – some friendly, and others, business-like. And, like anyone who faces the public daily, they encounter gracious passengers and rude, even unruly, passengers while trying to treat them respectfully.

Linda Wilson-Allen takes her role as a bus driver to a whole new level. A 2013 article in the San Francisco Chronicle describes Linda as someone who “loves the people on the bus, knows the regulars, learns their names. She will wait for them if they are late, and then make up the time on her route. She would get out of the driver’s seat of her bus to help seniors.” One day, Linda even reached out to a passenger who was lost and afraid and then invited her to join her family for Thanksgiving dinner. Her kindness has touched people so powerfully that some passengers will let another bus pass by just so they can ride with Linda.

Linda’s story inspired the pastors of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church (MPPC). Because her job can be thankless and filled with frustrations from cranky passengers to traffic jams and breakdowns, they invited her to share with the congregation how she keeps such a positive attitude.  Linda told them that her work is to minister to God’s people. She begins her day with prayer – at the crack of dawn. She asks God for guidance and how God might help her bless the people she encounters on her route. She asks God to help her shine light into dark places.

After she shared her story at MPPC, senior pastor John Ortberg reminded his congregation of the wider lesson we all can learn from Linda about ministry. He said, “My patients are my ministry. My clients are my ministry. My neighborhood is my ministry. My store is my ministry. I’m just going to go through every day and reach up to Jesus so that the power of the Holy Spirit is in me all the time, and then be a part of a little community here where I have people I can know and love and care about and serve for and who can help me grow, and then I’m going out. I will go out and bless.”

How will you go out and bless today?

by Pam Tinsley

This past week I’ve heard two moms express their anguish when their young kiddos contracted Covid-19. Both have been extremely cautious over the past 18 months, practicing social-distancing and faithful masking, along with their own vaccination. Both kids were exposed at school or day-camp, in one case because masks weren’t required for children who are five-and-under, and the other because their state doesn’t require masks at all; wearing masks is even discouraged.

Both kiddos got sick. And, because it was Covid, the impact on the children’s families was substantial. Kelly’s eight-month-old baby brother had to stay with his grandparents for ten days to avoid infection. Both kids’ parents had to quarantine and work from home during isolation – that is, work and care for their sick child.

The words the moms used to describe their emotions were fear and anger. They feared for their children’s health and well-being; they feared for those who might have been unknowingly exposed to the coronavirus through their kids; and they also feared that they might end up with a breakthrough infection themselves. They were angry – “Mama bear angry” – that this had happened after they had been so careful: angry about lax attitudes that contribute to the virus’s ongoing spread and its variants.

While there are some who simply refuse to be vaccinated or to wear masks, others have legitimate reasons for fearing vaccination – such as Black Americans who know the US government history of experimenting on them without their consent or those in low-paying jobs whose employers won’t provide time off from work for them to be vaccinated or sick leave if they have a reaction. If we truly promise at Baptism to love our neighbor as Christ loves us; if we truly promise to treat people with dignity and respect – we will strive to listen to and hear their concerns, walk with them in love, and do what we can to reduce their reluctance. Our promises call for us to pray persistently to our God of abundance for wisdom, guidance, healing, and reconciliation. And as members of society, we are called to act responsibly to collectively protect the vulnerable and those who can’t yet protect themselves – our little ones like the young children of the two moms. Because our Baptismal promises call for both faith and action, every day of our lives.