“Hear instruction and be wise and refuse it not.” Proverbs 8:33
And so, the universe has brought us together for such a time as this. Blessed are the people!
Dear Lab/Shul Community and Friends,
Many of you know me as Rev. Derrick, of St. James Presbyterian Church in Harlem, NYC. Indeed, I am the Rev. Derrick McQueen, Ph. D., having earned the degree titles in the New Testament and Homiletics — the art of preaching. Now that we have credentials out of the way, allow me to share with you why I am writing to you. I wish to thank the ritual team and the leadership of Lab/Shul for inviting me to be a guest ritual leader for this High Holy Season. We have already lamented and come together for the 9th of Av. We have created ritual music and shared insights into texts and community. Although this is nothing out of the ordinary when a ritual relationship grows over the years, extraordinary is the times in which we find ourselves.
We are living in the age of a worldwide pandemic that is taking the lives and health of hundreds of thousands of people around the world. We are in the midst of an economic wasteland and know not what tomorrow brings. And we are also in the midst of a global social justice uprising having raised our voices to cry out “Black Lives Matter.” We are living in a time when if we did not have our rituals and our communities, it would seem as if there is no hope.
I am with you this season as a ritual artist and faith leader, yes, but first and foremost, I am with you because we are a people who refuse hopelessness. I am with you to gather the seeds of hope for us to incubate during this season of chaos and disease. I believe we are the stewards of this crop of new hope, new rightness, and new justice. How I yearn to see how the cosmos will bend in appreciation as we come to a reckoning of our call to use love’s gifts as the very stones for building, love stones as the very stones that the builders are rejecting.
This season, I find it essential to go on this journey of community and personal introspection to discern, “for what do I need to atone?” Only through atonement will we be able to identify the strengths we need to plant those seeds and see them through to harvest. My friends, it is a great privilege to share this time with you. It is my profound hope that we will find the vulnerability we need to break away from our fears and realize that the embrace we seek is the most palpable form of justice and union we can give to the world. I open my arms, exposing my core…so core to core, let us sojourn in this season for just a little while longer.
Humbly along for the ride,
Rev. Derrick
“We all have strength enough to endure the misfortunes of others.”
Francois Rochefoucauld, 1613 – 1680
