Morning:
I hope this message reaches you well. On Wednesday, I spent my time posting on the secular (the consumption in the hood piece) instead of the sacred...and the secular dogged me ALL DAY LONG. It seemed that I kept running into situations where folk wanted to talk to me about race relations, the presidential elections or just plain get on my nerves...So, I take refuge in the sacred once again...
Today's text gives us insight into the relationship between two cousins: John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ. Here Jesus rolls through from Galilee to visit John and be baptized by John. And you can imagine after some refreshment, chatting about how Aunt Mary and Aunt Liz are doing and the rest of the fam, Jesus offers to be baptized by John. And clearly, John is like: "What, nah, fa' real Cuz,...if anything you need to be hooking ME up". But Jesus insists on having John baptize him, Christ is baptized and then exalted by the Lord.
Now, what is interesting about this is to understand this interaction as an example of family supporting family--- as Jesus came to both honor the work of his cousin John and to confirm the works of his cousin John. It's as if Jesus was saying "Man, you have been hype-ing me up all this time so the least I can do is roll through and be supportive." And that sentiment so ministered to me because of a recent experience I had this summer.
Earlier in the summer, my cousin Joyce---who is a grammar school principal in Chicago---sent me the following text message:
"R U free on June 10 I'd like for you to be the commencement speaker."
Now the email was quite a surprise to me. My first response was: "Do what?... where?" See, Joyce is my older cousin and like a sister to me and I have looked up to her my entire life---not to mention the fact that the is 6'0 and I am 5'2 1/2---and yes I'm hanging on to the 1/2 inch thank you very much. Furthermore, Joyce has ALWAYS been supportive of me---and especially my education--- so much so that she accompanied my mom tovisit me in West Africa for two weeks when I was doing my dissertation field work there. So, I knew that I HAD to do the commencement address when she asked.
So, I ordered my doctoral regalia, booked a ticket, worked on my remarks, and headed to the Chi. Now my mama---a retired 33 year Veteran Chicago public school teacher--- Joyce's mama & our Aunt Dot (both retired nurses) and cousin Phyllis were all planning t attend as well so it was gon' be super-fun with family there to support us both.
Interestingly, before the ceremony, Joyce was insistent on having us visit her school. I hemmed and hawwed, didn't want to be in the way, said we could come by after the ceremony to take the grand tour----I think I thought it would rattle my nerves EVEN MORE to have to do a meet-and-greet BEFORE giving my remarks.
But, my Aunt stressed that Joyce REALLY wanted Mama and I to see the school beforehand...and I'm sooooo glad I did. IT WAS REALLY THRILLING. The school was filled with sunlight that day and beamed with love and joy and energy. And the staff were generous letting us into their classrooms, telling us about Joyce as a principal, sharing war stories with mama and talking about how much they loved working there. During the tour, we also looked at student projects and visited the library as Joyce introduced her Aunt as a former Chicago Public School teacher and her cousin as the commencement speaker, Dr. Nicole Anderson.
And, the children were beautiful. As we walked the halls, the kids GREETED Mrs. Fisher (Joyce's married name), WAVED at Mrs. Fisher, HIGH-FIVED Mrs. Fisher, HUGGED Mrs. Fisher as Mrs. Fisher made her way through the halls patting shoulders, returning hugs and high fives...and of course giving a quick rebuke to a few wayward youth at the security guard desk for some unsavory activities: "X, i' m not happy to see you here again today...bad idea you working on, bad choice indeed". I loved that quick shot of discipline unleashed on the way as she kept it moving and I fell out laughin' in the stairwell.
After the tour, it was time to head to the high school down the street where the ceremony would be held to robe up, get in line and process in with the students. It was scorching hot or "SCOTCHIN' HOT" as mama would say as I donned that black velvet robe, doctoral hood and tam...and I did indeed stand out from the 8th graders in their lightweight purple or white robes.
But my regalia is the uniform of my profession as a faculty member so this was as good an opportunity to wear it as any---especially for folks who might not see such garments very often at the grammar school graduation on Chicago's South Side. So, we processed in as I thanked Jesus for that cool auditorium.
So, about a third of the way into the ceremony, I rose to give my remarks to celebrate this day with the families, staff and students present. I began with "This IS the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." And the audience buzzed with "yeses", "alrights", and "thank you Jesuses". I then took a moment to honor students, family, staff and my own family who were present. Our grandmother (Joyce and I)---who never graduated from grammar school in Mississippi---now had two granddaughters who are educators: one a school principal and the other a college professor. So I felt compelled to honor our foremother on that day.
I then went on with the purpose of my talk: to celebrate these student's accomplishments and to encourage them---all the while riding the wave of joy and promise that the Obama victory had let loose on so many South Siders only a week before.
However, more than that I---like John so many centuries before--- WAS THERE TO HONOR MY OWN COUSIN, TO MAKE HER LOOK GOOD, and celebrate her school community with my offering. When I returned to my seat, Joyce looked dumbfounded and overwhelmed by my remarks.
And then Joyce rose to officiate the ceremony and to send ---" her scholars and her leaders" as she called them---her graduates off with joy, humor, love (and relief in some cases). And I sat there beaming with pride for her and all that she had done with this school her first year as principal there....just as I am sure John beamed with pride and joy when the spirit of the Lord descended on Christ and the Lord declared his pleasure in HIM.
Interestingly, after the ceremony, I was mobbed by parents who thanked me, expressed overwhelming appreciation for my speech, took my business cards for children in need of mentors and wanted pictures of me in the regalia with their kids.
After the last photo opps---and kissing my Aunts and cousin goodbye---Mama and I rode back to school with Joyce to chat a bit as Joyce seemed to be on a high of relief, release and joy. As we parted, she said laughing, " ...Now you know I already have you down to come back next year. Keep the date open." And she called that night to tell me again that she continued to hear great things about my address from parents and staff for the rest of the day.
So, as this process of blogging the scriptures unfolded, I had no idea that reading about Jesus and John would have me reflect on my own relationship with my own cousin Joyce and our unlikely path to become ministers in education.
And yet, this text is a powerful reminder of how the Lord used two cousins to do HIS work. I pray that the work that Joyce and I do (and that of all educators) can continue to encourage young people on the path to higher learning and ethical living that honors the Lord.
Amazed at what the word can illuminate EVERYDAY!
---Nicole
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