Congregational Community

Church of Sunnyvale

* 408-739-3285 * conglchurch@earthlink.net
1112 Bernardo Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 *

by Pastor Gen Heywood

Sunday August 3, our moderator continued our “Sacred Conversations” as she shared part of the story of her journey. She spoke about how our church took a risk by our willingness to enter into “A Sacred Conversation on Race” because it was like opening Pandora’s box. There are hurts and denials and troubles and struggles, and ugly history and much more that comes with such a conversation.

As I listened to Mei, I thought about this box of Pandora. Mei had such a wonderful image for the experience of the conversation. All the hurts and troubles do sting and fly. And once they are all out of the way, there is Hope. That was what was at the bottom of Pandora’s box. It was Hope. And when Hope was released, the healing began.

In some translations Hope is a white moth. In
another, Hope is a creature with white feathers (maybe a dove or an angel), in another translation, Hope is a dragonfly.

The dragonfly has symbolized beauty, magic, mystery, great good and even evil depending on the culture. In this myth of Pandora, Hope takes the form of the dragonfly and does great good. Maybe it is because the wings reflect light and it is the power of light that shows us our way. Maybe it is the ability of the dragonfly to move forward, backward, to turn sharply around that reminds us that Hope must be able to change direction when the situation needs the change. Maybe it is that dragonfly species are as old as 320 Million years (Delitzschala bitterfeldensi, now extinct). Hope, like the dragonfly endures and evolves.

This September, we begin a series “Unnatural Causes: Is inequality making us sick?” During the seven weeks we will consider what is happening and we will also consider ways to be Hope in our world today. Come and join the viewing of the films and the conversations that follow.

With Blessings,
Pastor Gen

THE LEGEND OF PANDORA

From: http://members.shaw.ca/arts_pacs/documents/Pandoralegend.pdf
and www.guardian.co.uk/education/2003/jul/01/primaryschoolteachingresources.primaryeducation

The first mortals lived on earth in a state of perfect innocence and bliss. The air was pure and balmy; the sun shone brightly all the year; the earth brought forth delicious fruit in abundance; and beautiful, fragrant flowers bloomed everywhere. Man was content. Extreme cold, hunger, sickness, and death were unknown. Jupiter, who justly ascribed a good part of this beatific condition to the gift conferred by Prometheus, was greatly displeased, and tried to devise some means to punish mankind for the acceptance of the heavenly fire.

With this purpose in view, he assembled the gods on Mount Olympus, where, in solemn council, they decided to create woman; and as soon as she had been artfully fashioned, each one endowed her with some special charm, to make her more attractive, Their united efforts were crowned with the utmost success. Nothing was lacking, except a name for the peerless creature; and the gods, after due consideration, decreed she should be called Pandora. They then bade Mercury take her to Prometheus as a gift from heaven; but he, knowing only too well that nothing good would come to him from the gods, refused to accept her, and cautioned his brother Epimetheus to follow his example. Unfortunately Epimetheus was of a confiding disposition, and when he beheld the maiden he exclaimed, "Surely so beautiful and gentle a being can bring no evil!" and accepted her most joyfully.

The first days of their union were spent in blissful wanderings, hand in hand, under the cool forest shade; in weaving garlands of fragrant flowers; and in refreshing themselves with the luscious fruit, which hung so temptingly within reach.

One lovely evening, while dancing on the green, they saw Mercury, Jupiter's messenger, coming towards them. His step was slow and weary, his garments dusty and travel-stained, and he seemed almost to stagger beneath the weight of a jeweled box he carried. Pandora immediately ceased dancing, to speculate with feminine curiosity upon the contents of the
chest. In a whisper she begged Epimetheus to ask Mercury what brought him thither. Epimetheus complied with her request; but Mercury evaded the question, asked permission to deposit his burden in their dwelling for safekeeping, professing himself too weary to convey it to its destination that day, and promised to call for it shortly. The permission was promptly granted. Mercury, with a sigh of relief, placed the box in one corner, and then departed, refusing all hospitable offers of rest and refreshment. He had scarcely crossed the threshold, when Pandora expressed a strong desire to have a peep at the contents of the mysterious box; but Epimetheus, surprised and shocked, told her that her curiosity was unseemly. Epimetheus sauntered out alone, thinking she would soon join him, and perhaps by some caress atone for her present wilfulness. Left alone with the mysterious casket, Pandora became more and more inquisitive. Stealthily she drew near and examined it with great interest, for it was curiously wrought of dark wood, and surmounted by a delicately carved head, of such fine workmanship that it seemed to smile and encourage her. Around the box a glittering golden cord was wound, and fastened on top in an intricate knot. She was just on the point of giving up trying to untie the knot, when suddenly the refractory knot yielded to her fumbling fingers, and the cord, unrolling, dropped on the floor. Pandora had heard sounds like whispers issued from the box. The noise now seemed to increase, and she breathlessly applied her ear to the lid to ascertain whether it really proceeded from within. Imagine, therefore, her surprise when she distinctly heard these words, uttered in the most pitiful accents: " Pandora, dear Pandora, have pity upon us ! Free us from this gloomy prison! Open, open, we beseech you!"

Pandora's heart beat so fast and loud, that it seemed for a moment to drown all other sounds. Should she open the box? Filled with compassion for the prisoners, and now overcome by curiosity, she raised the lid to have one little peep.

Now, Jupiter had malignantly crammed into this box all the diseases, sorrows, vices, and crimes that afflict poor humanity; and the box was no sooner opened, than all these ills flew out, in the guise of horrid little brown-winged creatures, closely resembling moths. These little insects fluttered about, alighting, some upon Epimetheus, who had just entered, and some upon Pandora, pricking and stinging them most unmercifully. They then flew out through the open door and windows, and fastened upon the merrymakers without, whose shouts of joy were soon changed into wails of pain and anguish.

Epimetheus and Pandora had never before experienced the faintest sensation of pain or anger; but, as soon as these winged evil spirits had stung them, they began to weep, and, alas ! quarreled for the first time in their lives. Epimetheus reproached his wife in bitterest terms for her action; but in the very midst of his vituperation he suddenly heard a sweet little voice entreat for freedom. The sound proceeded from the unfortunate box, whose cover Pandora had dropped again, in the first moment of her surprise and pain.
"Open, open, and I will heal your wounds! Please let me out! " it pleaded.

The tearful couple viewed each other inquiringly, and listened again. Once more they heard the same pitiful accents; and Epimetheus bade his wife open the box and set the speaker free, adding very amiably, that she had already done so much harm by her ill-fated curiosity, that it would be difficult to add materially to its evil consequences, and that, perchance, the box contained some good spirit, whose ministrations might prove beneficial.

It was well for Pandora that she opened the box a second time, for the gods, with a sudden impulse of compassion, had concealed among the evil spirits one kindly creature, Hope, whose mission was to heal the wounds inflicted by her fellow prisoners.

Lightly fluttering hither and thither on her irridencent wings, Hope touched the wounded places on Pandora's and Epimetheus' afflicted skin, and relieved their suffering, then quickly flew out of the open window, to perform the same gentle office for the other victims, and to cheer their downcast spirits.

Thus, according to the ancients, evil entered into the world, bringing untold misery; but Hope followed closely in its footsteps, to aid struggling humanity, and point to a happier future.

The Triple Evils
From:
"Where Do We Go From Here:
Chaos or Community?"
by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Boston: Beacon Press, 1967.
www.thekingcenter.org/prog/non/triple_evils.html

The Triple Evils of POVERTY, RACISM and WAR are forms of violence that exist in a vicious cycle. They are interrelated, all-inclusive, and stand as barriers to our living in the Beloved Community. When we work to remedy one evil, we affect all evils. The issues change in accordance with the political and social climate of our nation and world. Some contemporary manifestations are in italics below.

POVERTY - materialism, unemployment, homelessness, hunger, malnutrition, illiteracy, infant mortality, slums...

"There is nothing new about poverty. What is new, however, is that we now have the resources to get rid of it. The time has come for an all-out world war against poverty. The well off and the secure have too often become indifferent and oblivious to the poverty and deprivation in their midst. Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation. No individual or nation can be great if it does not have a concern for ‘the least of these’."

RACISM - prejudice, apartheid, anti-Semitism, sexism, colonialism, homophobia, ageism, discrimination against differently abled, stereotypes...

"Racism is a philosophy based on a contempt for life. It is the arrogant assertion that one race is the center of value and object of devotion, before which other races must kneel in submission. It is the absurd dogma that one race is responsible for all the progress of history and alone can assure the progress of the future. Racism is total estrangement. It separates not only bodies, but minds and spirits. Inevitably it descends to inflicting spiritual and physical homicide upon the out-group."

WAR - militarism, imperialism, domestic violence, rape, terrorism, media violence, drugs, child abuse...

"A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war- 'This way of settling differences is not just.' This way of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."

To work against the Triple Evils, you need to: develop a nonviolent frame of mind as described in the "Six Principles of Nonviolence"; and use the Kingian model for social action outlined in the "Six Steps for Nonviolent Social Change."

______________________________

Join Pastor Gen in prayer
for our church
Tuesday mornings
from 9:00-9:30 am.
Come and pray with her in our sanctuary
or take a few minutes for prayer
wherever you are.
______________________________

Unnatural Causes -
Is Inequality Making Us Sick?

Wednesday Night Film and Discussion
September 10 - October 22, 2008
6:30 - 8:00 pm

September 10, Episode One: In Sickness and In Wealth
The opening episode lays out the big picture: who gets sick and why? Set in Louisville, Kentucky, it shows how health and longevity are correlated with class status, how racism imposes an additional risk burden, and how solutions lie in making inequality an urgent public policy matter.

September 17, Episode Two: When the Bough Breaks
African American infant mortality rates remain twice as high as for white Americans. African American mothers with graduate degrees deliver more low birth-weight babies than white women who haven’t finished high school. How might the chronic stress of racism over the life-course become embedded in our bodies and increase risks?

September 24, Episode Three: Becoming American
Recent Mexican immigrants, though often poorer, tend to be healthier than the average American. But the longer they’re here, the worse their relative health becomes. How do social inclusion, community ties and economic mobility play a role in maintaining health?

October 1, Episode Four: Bad Sugar
O’odham Indians living on reservations in southern Arizona, have perhaps the highest rates of Type 2 diabetes in the world. Increasingly, researchers are reconceptualizing chronic diseases like diabetes as a bodily response to poverty, oppression and futurelessness. A new approach suggests that regaining control over a collective future is vital to reversing this epidemic.

October 8, Episode Five: Place Matters
Why are your zip code and street address such a good predictor of population health? What policies and investment decisions create radically different living environments - some that are harmful and others that are protective of health? What actions can make a difference, particularly in low-income communities?

October 15, Episode Six: Collateral Damage
In the Marshall Islands, local populations have been displaced from a traditional way of life by the American military presence. Now that both their social and immune systems have been eroded, they contend with the worst of the “developing” and industrialized worlds: infectious diseases such as tuberculosis due to crowded living conditions and extreme poverty and chronic disease stemming from the stress of dislocation and loss.

October 22, Episode Seven: Not Just a Paycheck
How do unemployment and job insecurity affect health? Residents of western Michigan struggle against depression, domestic violence, and heart disease after the largest refrigerator factory in the country shuts down. Ironically, the plant is owned by a company in Sweden, where mass layoffs – far from devastating lives – are relatively benign, because of government policies that protect workers.