Alana Levandoski
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Eastertide vigil - we've lost one of our young prophets

5/4/2019

4 Comments

 

There was a point in the last 3 weeks, where I really began to realize that social media has so much power for good, but also has the potential to be simply the ultimate way for us to work out our own neurosis. So, seeing this in myself, (that I often share things in a reactive state), I committed to not sharing a post on instagram or facebook (my main social media spaces), without first sitting in silence, in the hope that the energy of that sharing will not contribute to a spiral of violence or adolescent drama, but help raise awareness, to hold, and to give back to the great Mystery, the suffering of the world.

In the midst of this Eastertide vigil, has been the reality of Rachel Held Evans' medically induced coma and wondering as so many of us were, what the outcome of her medical situation would be. Sadly, very, very sadly, she died Saturday, May 4th, 2019, at the age of 37, leaving behind her young family.

I tucked my children in tonight, just gutted. 


As the rest of us grieve the loss of this brilliant, Christian prophet, may those closest to her be protected from any imposed ownership. And... in particular, protected from any judgemental or "against" energy. 

I shared my social media post out of silence today, about Rachel. A wave of grief and gratitude for her life is flooding my newsfeed, and what I have noticed most, is how many people named her as the author who used her privileged position to step aside and offer others a platform. 

For me, what I've really appreciated about her, is how she found the words to guide so many sincerely hurting people, through the painful, unmooring process of spiritual metamorphosis. So much shame can accompany this process. It can be terrifying to admit we have been wounded by the religious culture of our upbringing. 

It is one thing to preach. It is another thing to live what you preach. There was something in her giftedness for seeing the gem at the heart of her tradition, that challenged her to live those values.

So, this Sunday Song is to honour one of the great theologians of the ancient/renewing Christianity, Rachel Held Evans. May many of her words be on our lips in the years to come.

One phrase of hers that I will forever carry with me, is: "Jesus is how God feels toward us." 

The Christianity she discovered through her own seeker's journey, is the kind that will live in the hearts of people, whether there is one church building left standing. It is the kind that was whispered in the mines of Roman occupied Britain in 1st century AD: that the Christ mystery is the great equalizer of slaves and Caesars. Raising what has been made low, and making low what has been elevated. The Christianity that in its marrow, knows "inclusive" and "affirming" doesn't even go far enough...  because many in the LGBTQ2 community have a deeply moving, precious teaching voice that needs to be heard in the church. The Christianity that recognizes its own horrific stain(s) on history, and particularly acknowledges that people of color have very integral, important things to say, yes, to the white community, and that it is necessary for those voices to be heard. The Christianity that sees how the innate fire in the belly for teaching and preaching can be born in any kind of person... women included... and that Sophia may be the very fire of that fire.

I have chanted Let This Mind Be in You in front of many audiences. Many have received it very warmly. But I've been amazed at how many people have told me they think it is irreverent.

The irony is that the chant merely quotes Philippians 2:5, which is the beginning of one of the great Christological hymns, harkening to the self-emptying nature of the incarnate Christ. 

Well done, good and faithful servant. Rachel Held Evans, in many, very tangible ways, you lived this verse:

Let this mind be in you
Which was also in Christ Jesus




4 Comments
Ryan Roman
5/5/2019 05:13:15 am

Thank you for this beautiful post. It’s odd because I never personally met RHE, but I’m grieving her loss. I don’t really know how to grieve, so your reflection has helped. I see so many people grieving, RHE has a wonderful legacy indeed. Personally, I credit her as to me attending an Episcopal church. I literally bring my family to our local Episcopal church because of that beautiful soul from a small town in TN. Thank you for your peaceful & loving reflection.

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Valerie Ohle link
5/5/2019 06:33:20 am

My stepdad passed unexpectedly Friday morning and my heart broke. Then yesterday something scooped up those shattered pieces and ground them into dust when I read the news of RHE's passing. I didn't know her personally either other than a few possible interaction here or there on Twitter ... only through her books, her blog, her voice in the wilderness of social media. But she taught me through Searching for Sunday to understand, embrace, and cherish the sacraments in a way that makes them daily just as you have taught me to sing them. So today is all Andrew Peterson's Lay Me Down and now your Let This Mind Be In You. Lord, in your mercy, hear my prayers.

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Carl Riedy
5/5/2019 10:53:03 am

Thank you Alana.
I am Episcopalian and our rector today mentioned the loss of RHE in his homily. He has shared her writings with our youth as part of the youth ministry and cited her death as an example of a new scarcity, a lost prophet that new joy was on the other side of mourning ... light on the other side of darkness ... abundance on the other side of scarcity. In today's gospel reading, Christ told his disciples to cast the net on the other side of the boat to find fish. RHE did just that and it is incumbent on us to continue to do the same.
May the Divine Three surround and embrace you with a love only they can provide at this time of loss.

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Rachelle Shimondle
5/6/2019 08:39:16 am

Thank you for sharing, I didn't know her well but am so up-heaved with her passing, I've never wondered much on the "why" of death nor have I really experienced it on a close level. But for some reason I am so wrestling with this, and WHY, my mind knows there is no why, but my heart is mad.

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    Alana Levandoski is a song and chant writer, recording artist and music producer, in the Christian tradition, who lives with her family on a regenerative farm on the Canadian prairies.

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