Sermon by Dr. Peter Stringham
Trinity Sunday
June 3, 2007
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
First let me say that I am deeply honored to receive the All Saints' Spirituality and Justice award. As a parishioner for the past 30 years, it means a lot to me. Thank you so much.
As part of that award I've been asked to give the sermon today. I plan to briefly review the readings and then I will tell you some of the things I do in my work life that may have contributed to my getting this award.
First the readings.
In the first reading we hear about Isaiah's seeing God on a throne surrounded by a flock of 6 winged angels. One holds a burning coal to his lips. After that God asks who he should send on a task and Isaiah replies. "Here am I; send me!"
In the second reading John sees this fantastic vision of Christ surrounded by 24 thrones guarded by a lion, an eagle, an ox, and another creature with a human face maybe like a sphinx. They all have 6 wings and are covered with eyes.
In the last reading from the Gospel of John, Jesus talks about how we can learn from the Spirit of Truth who will come to guide us after he is gone. This is the Holy Spirit of Trinity Sunday.
I want you all to know I love these readings, because I do centering prayer and co lead a group on Sunday mornings with Martha Bullock. When I meditate I see stuff like flying oxen and lions quite a lot. I recommend centering prayer to all of you even if you just want to see fantastic visions. But more important than the visions, you can hear God, talk with God and get guidance. Whether it is Jesus, or God or the Holy Spirit does not seem to make much difference. The point is we can all have intimate conversations with the divine. I think the point of all the readings today is that talking with God is not just for saints. Talking with God is something all of us can do.
Now I want to tell you a bit about my efforts to prevent violence in teenagers.
I began work as a doctor 40 years ago and worked 1 year in Harlem, New York, 2 years on an Apache Indian reservation in New Mexico, 4 years in Roxbury and for the last 33 years in East Boston. I saw the results of violence in all those places and when I looked at East Boston 33 years ago, the street murder rate was close to what we are hearing about in Roxbury and Dorchester these days. For months I carried around the death certificates of 12 murdered East Boston people - all younger than age 40 and I worried about them.
I would like to say I heard God call me and ask me to do something about the murders. It was much more quiet, but like Isaiah, I did respond to the challenge by saying in my heart, "Here am I; send me!"
I talked with lots of researchers and criminologists and public health people, but mainly I talked with lots of teenagers in East Boston about street fighting. The common advise from the teenagers and the adult leaders in East Boston was that everyone should fight to avoid being called wimps. At the same time they all knew that they were setting these young people up for injury and sometimes murder.
I did find a lot of fighters, but I also met a few teenagers who never fought with anyone and who no one considered wimps. I asked them how they avoided fights and checked this with the science of violence prevention. Then I developed recommendations for doctors to use with their patients and their parents. My efforts and the work of the anti violence movement has grown and these ideas are now used by many people and groups across the country.
It took me many years but over time I was able to convince many of the adult leaders in the town that a non-violent approach to street conflict made much more sense. I talked to all the patients I saw in my office and with anyone I thought would have contact with young people. I talked to younger children, to their fathers and mothers, to the youth leaders, to the coaches, to the teachers, to the police, and to medical people in the Boston area and across the country.
I am happy to say that East Boston does not have a high murder rate these days, and I feel confident that all the adults and teenagers in East Boston working together have made the change in how conflict is addressed.
I will tell now the secret to handling street conflict. You may hear the best of the Judeo-Christian spirit coming through. I think this is the Holy Spirit. If you have any contact with children or teenagers, you can know that this is good advice. I do this in my office when a kid is about 8 to 10 and again when they are teenagers. Pretend you are the parent in with your 10 year old. Or pretend you are the 10 year old.
"Today I am going to talk about how to keep yourself safe on the streets and avoid fights. As a parent you don't want your child fighting with older kids because it is rare but sometimes there is a weapon and you don't want your child hurt. I didn't grow up around here, but I talk to a lot of teenagers. Many of them don't ever fight and no one ever picks on them, so I ask them, "what do you do?" and this is what they have told me.
"They say the most important thing for keeping safe around here is a good attitude. By a 'good attitude' they mean treating everyone they meet like they are a cousin. If your cousin comes up to you and says, "You are a jerk. Your mother is a jerk," you will ask, "why are you saying that?" Maybe you did something wrong. If you did you would say, "Yeah, I did do that. I'm really sorry. How can I make it right with you?" But if you didn't do anything you would explain that. You are treating your cousin with respect - finding out the problem and dealing with it without fighting.
"You can do the same even with people you don't know. If they are upset, you can try to find out what they are mad about and either apologize and make it up to them or say the truth if you didn't do anything wrong.
"Treating people with respect will stop 90% of the fights. There are some times you have to just get away from the other person from the best you can. The first is if you feel genuine fear, get away. The second time you should leave an argument is if you think you are about to lose your temper. If you begin to get mad, say, "I can't talk to you about this now. I will talk to you and settle this, but I won't fight you, and I can't talk to you right now. I am leaving."
"Another time you should leave is if someone is acting crazy or on drugs and wants to fight you. Get away. And lastly if you see an injustice that you cannot stop by yourself, get away and get help. For example, maybe you see three big kids picking on a little kid, and they're too big for you to stop it. If you do nothing, you will feel guilty. So leave and find an adult to stop it.
The main thing I want you to remember is to treat everyone you meet like a cousin with respect and most fights will never happen."
Over the years I've noticed that many teenage boys and girls who never fight or are picked on seemed closely connected to people. In a conflict they become calm rather than stressed. When I talk with them more, I find out that a lot of them feel very close to people and very close to God. In fact, when the American Academy of Pediatrics wanted to develop materials to decrease street violence we named it "Creating Connected Kids" because we knew that connected kids do better.
So this is another intervention I do with all my patients and in closing I invite you all to do it with me today.
Although this intervention is designed for someone who does not necessarily have any specific religion, we in this church today can possibly feel the Holy Spirit.
"Today I am going to teach you how to meditate. Doctors like meditation because it lowers blood pressure and it seems to make kids happier. I want you to pick a word that you like. Choose ‘peace,' ‘love', ‘one' or ‘yes.' Now put your feet on the floor, put your hands on your lap and close your eyes and follow what I say.
"Think the word ... Don't think about the word ... If an idea comes into your head think the word and let the idea gently float away like a feather floating away. You are moving into a quieter and quieter place ... pretty soon you may feel your hands warm. You will feel safe, calm and loved. Some people feel someone is holding them and loving them ... Hang out in this space regularly once or twice a day for 5 to 20 minutes ... After a while you will be able to feel this same peaceful quietness when you are walking down the street when you see the trees or the sky ... when you see your family or friends ... when you see your clothes or your food ... Now keep in this quiet place and I will show you one more thing. Maybe you have a problem - a little problem or a big problem. Think, "I want a helper." And a helper will appear to you ... You can discuss the problem with the helper and you will tend to get good advice. If it is a very big problem, ask the helper to take some of the problem away from you, and the helper will do that ... the main thing is to hang out in this quiet space a lot to learn how to feel this quiet happiness ... What you have learned today is that you have a place within you where you can go whenever you want to feel safe, calm and loved and you have a place where you can go to get good advice ... whenever you want to, open your eyes ..."
Amen.