Prayer Service at the Pentagon
August 6, 2007

Good morning sisters and brothers. Thank you for being here so early to call down the Spirit to this evil place. We know that today is the 62nd anniversary of the dropping of the bomb in Hiroshima . Let us begin with a moment of silence for those who suffered as a result of that instant holocaust and let us also remember that on that day a part of the Earth herself was destroyed.

Today is also the feast day of the Transfiguration of the Lord. In a few moments we are going to hear an alternative reading of the gospel.

In our study and reflection on the Transfiguration, we came to see that this is a rare, personal experience with God, in which those who are conscious of their meeting with God come to know the Christ and their place in the gospel while those who are not miss a pivotal opportunity to be liberated from the false assumptions of the culture. John Dear points our that in Luke's gospel, the sleepy disciples nearly missed the event. We see in our alternative reading the consequence of that lack of focus.

An Alternate Transfiguration of Jesus

About eight days after Jesus gave the conditions of discipleship; he took a U.S. soldier and two civilians, one from the DoD and the other from Bechtel and went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem . The three disciples had been overcome by exhaustion from war, managing resources, and lobbying congress, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory 16 and the two men standing with him. As they were about to part from him, the soldier said to Jesus, "Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." But he did not know what he was saying. While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my chosen Son; listen to him." After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen.

On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him despairing over drought and the rapid changes to Global weather. There was a couple in the crowd who cried out, "teacher, a few years ago we had a conflict among our peoples that we attempted to solve by violence. It failed and the Department of Defense proposed to come in and restore order to protect us. The DoD seized hundreds of acres here for a new military base. People have found radioactive waste in our drinking water, resulting from the tests performed on the base. There is an evil spirit about their practices, as they've occupied over 30 million acres of land worldwide and have strong-armed our country into a Status of Forces Agreement, which has exempted them from cleaning up or paying for its environmental damage to our land. I begged your disciples to cast out the enemy, and instead they've created environmental problems that will last for millions of years" Jesus said in reply, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you and endure you? Let me see your land."

As Jesus walked onto the land, he wept at the site of affluence within the military base, while a short distance away people stumbled around due to malnourishment and excessive heat. He mourned the impact to the environment of the constant flights and heavy equipment being used daily, the storage of radioactive waste that had tripled cancer rates, and the destruction of the local ecosystem for plants and wildlife. A woman approached him and said, “Teacher, can you do something to restore our land and our way of life?” Jesus said to her, If you can! Everything is possible to one who has faith.” Then the woman cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” So Jesus rebuked the evil sprit of war and all war for its immoral nature, healed the hurt between the neighbors, and returned the land to a state of nonviolent interconnectedness and community, a state unknown to occupation and modern warfare. Then Jesus rebuked the evil spirit of the DoD for its thirst of domination and control; healing the air, water, land, and people.

Later, the three disciples fell upon the feet of Jesus in private saying, “Teacher, why could we not drive the enemy out?” He said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer and nonviolent resistance. You cannot recognize the dignity of Mother Earth nor all of her people by pillaging resources for a few. In direct consequence you harm many others, know that all of creation is interconnected.

And all were astonished by the majesty of God. While they were all amazed at his every deed, he said to the three disciples, “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men." But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them so that they should not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

An argument arose among the disciples about which belonged to the most powerful group on Earth. Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took some soil and placed it by his side and said to them, "Whoever receives this soil in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest." Then one of the disciples said in reply, "Master, we saw people casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent them because they were from the Axis of Evil." Jesus said to him, "Take the beam out of your own eye! Were you not a part of the disciples who tried casting out the demon of war with war? Did you not cause severe famine and contamination by your carelessness with Mother Earth? Do not prevent these people you speak of, for in labeling a people let alone one person as evil, is a grave mistake. Anyone who truly knows my spirit knows that love of neighbor is the only way to cast out these demons.

When the days for his being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Washington , D.C., and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered an indigenous village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Washington , D.C. When the soldiers saw this they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire; that is, our Tomahawk missiles, from heaven to consume them?" Jesus turned and rebuked them, “Do you not yet understand what is meant by ‘love your enemies' or to ‘treat your neighbor as yourself'? “If you are attacked, search for a reason why your brother or sister is attacking you. Then embrace this opportunity to pray and do good works for those whom attacked you. "Stop the cycle of violence, that you may not be consumed by violence yourselves. For as you wage war on the environment, you will discover you've waged war on yourselves. The damages, with which you bring to Mother Earth, will be experienced not only by you, but your children, and your children's children. God cannot bless you in taking the life of God's children and Mother Earth herself! Do not call upon my name or my creator's name in supporting your own blindness to the truth. I beg you, please, look at what you're doing to all of creation! Look at what you are doing to yourselves.

Reflection

So we see from our reading that those who are unaware of the fullness of their experience of the Christ will continue trying to purge violence with violence, be disconnected from the source of true creation and order, jockey for power, and resort to hypocrisy and vengefulness. These traits, and particularly the disconnect from the source of creation and order is of fatal consequence to all of life on this planet.

We come to this place, month after month, year after year- some of us for decades- to speak to this truth and perhaps today our message is more dire than ever before. As the Department of Defense turned the order of life against itself with the perversion of the atom in the nuclear bomb, so too today is it with regard to our rapidly changing climate. We know that many experts predict that we have less than 10 years to address this impending disaster. We know that over the past decade alone, over 2.5 billion people have been impacted and economic losses have exceeded $690 billion. We know that climate change has been responsible for nearly 500,000 deaths—95% of these casualties occurring in poor countries. We know, that rising sea levels, projected to displace over 100 million people, will create a humanitarian crisis of unparalleled proportions. And while we obediently change our light bulbs and drive hybrid cars or ride our bikes, the Pentagon continues to put thousands of planes in the air, daily, for no other purpose than to pursue death. Now sisters and brothers, there is no such thing as a green war and I do not want to see hybrid tanks plowing through Baghdad . The issue of global warming is just the latest proof that the U.S. military hands us over to the grip of death with its every move. Their contribution to global warming, being the entity that purchases the most oil on the planet, the entity that owns and desecrates the most land, the entity that in three weeks in Iraq used oil equivalent to the oil used by all allied forces in 4 years in WWI, is proof that one needn't be under their bombs to die from their deeds. Though we all play a part in saving the Earth, which is our only home, we must indite the Department of Defense and the criminal empire that it serves with the greatest responsibility for the hastening of apocalypse. It is they who have pursued the Earth and all life on it the way a rapist pursues his victim. It is they who have made sure that this country is the highest emitter of carbon into the atmosphere, the citizens confused and ill equipped to respond to climate change, the scientists silenced or bought, the oil company CEOs fat with favor. It is they who have violently pursued economic policies that rely on and further the cause of those who profit from unsustainable living. That is what they have done. Now what will we do?

We must continue to come here like the presence of Spirit among the sleepy disciples, and be Christ's heart, hands, mouths, and feat, but also Christ's transfiguration. We must call down the Spirit and be a presence among Spirit on this peak, and invite ourselves, each other, and all those who pass by to know a God who is Love, a Gospel that is Liberation, and a hope that gives courage beyond arms. Amen.

Let us sing.
Finlandia Hymn, 1934 adaptation by Lloyd Stone

This is my song, Oh God of all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is;
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my sacred shrine.
But other hearts in other lands are beating,
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.
My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine.
But other lands have sunlight too and clover,
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
Oh hear my song, oh God of all the nations,
A song of peace for their land and for mine.

The Eucharist.