Protest, tensions, poetry and Christmas

St. Paul’s Cathedral in London is a magnificent building. Visitors swarm to visit this 400-year-old architectural wonder that is known as England’s Cathedral. Until recently, people did not take note that it was located in London’s financial district. It seemed that God and mammon existed quite comfortably next door to each other.

Then came protestors. The Occupy Wall Street movement has not simply spread all across America, it is a protest movement that covers the globe. As the movement has spread, the message has not changed.

More and more people of conscience do not believe the wealth of the world should be controlled by a relatively small group of greedy, selfish super-rich. In Christian teaching, greed is one of the seven deadly sins. From a purely secular point-of-view, few believe that billions should live in poverty while the elite rich live in flagrant luxury.

The protesters arrived in London. Their banners announced “Occupy London Stock Exchange.” The way London police handled the protesters around London Stock Exchange was one matter. When protesters took over the spacious courtyards of England’s cathedral, it was another dynamic. After all, Jesus was a protester in the courtyard of the great temple in Jerusalem. The confrontation between God and mammon was real.

It takes a lot of money to support an operation like St. Paul’s. The cathedral collects fees from its visitors and sells them memorabilia of their experience. St. Paul’s clears about $25,000 a day on its operation.

In an unintended consequence, protestors shut down the entire operation. Loss of income was climbing into hundreds of thousands of dollars. The graffiti they painted on the walls of the cathedral was very upsetting, probably as much as Jesus upsetting the money tables in the Jerusalem Temple many years prior.

Should England’s cathedral (Episcopal) resort to the London police? Should they try to negotiate with their newest neighbors? Should their uninvited guests be allowed to use the cathedral restrooms?

The cathedral’s vacillation is recorded for everyone to read in daily news releases. The dean of the cathedral has resigned. So also have other staff members. The conflict between God and mammon can become very real.

For the present, the cathedral has decided to allow protestors to stay through the end of the year. The final chapter has not been written.

I confess that I would not have taken any note of the drama in London were it not for a friend of mine, Owen Vigeon, a retired Episcopal priest who lives in London. Owen is a very fine poet. He occasionally sends me some of his work. I like poetry, but I love poets. I am reminded that almost all of the Old Testament prophets were poets. Poets can effectively speak truth in a way that mere preachers or politicians can never master. They say things so very nicely until you really think about it.

Owen sent me his latest poem. It is obviously inspired by the occupation of St. Paul’s.

I am privileged to share it with you all.

Magnificat of the

Protesters 2011

A Song of the Word Made Flesh

“And the word was made human, and he pitched his tent among us.” John 1:14

When I pitched my tent in the human race

And stirred in my mother’s womb,

Her soul was roused to prophetic grace

As she warned of impending doom.

When the mighty will lose their seat and power

And the meek and humble joyfully flower.

When the rag tag and bobtail pitched their tents

On St. Paul’s Cathedral holy gate

To register their discontents

With an un-egalitarian state,

My Clergy seemed somewhat perplexed

To know what ought to happen next

And truth to tell the English nation

Showed both disgust and indignation.

Yet in Cathedrals everywhere

There hung on the November air

The echo of My Mother’s prayer

That tells what Heaven thinks is “fair.”

Each waft of Chorus Evensong

Conveyed God’s sense of right and wrong

Who stuffs the hungry with bonus pay

While the rich he is sending empty away.

This, as My Dad confirms to me,

Is what life is like in eternity.

Til then I fear My Mother’s vision

Will still be met with indecision.

But those whose banner now display

The motto “WHAT WOULD JESUS SAY?”

Had better learn the gospel truth

Which I have practiced since my youth.

Whatever the questions you may have selected,

My answers will always be quite unexpected.

OWEN VIGEON 2011

May the visit of the Son of God be real to us all and always. Merry Christmas.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister who lives in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.

Opinions expressed on the Faith page are the author’s and are not necessarily those of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, its staff or its parent company, Wick Communications Co. To submit a column or other news for the Faith page, send email to news@frontiersman.com, or call 352-2268.