A Glimpse of What the Church Could Be

By Susan Russell

Interrupted by God: Glimpses from the Edge

The Pilgrim Press, Cleveland, Ohio, 2004, $24.00

Encountering Tracey Lind's Interrupted by God: Glimpses from the Edge is a little bit like finding a literary “balm in Gilead” hidden on your library shelf. Her inspired mix of passion, humor and photography serves to sooth the soul sick-of-election-post-mortems and ecclesial power struggles. Glimpses from the Edge turn out to be visions of the center of God's embrace; the hope those visions engender are balm indeed – calling the wounded to wholeness. The homeless family living out the Nativity story, the prostitutes on the New Jersey corner incarnating healing community, the Peruvian shepherdess offering a new model for Good Shepherd combine with other stories and images in a collection of rare grace and balance.

Writing from the center of the city where she serves as dean of Cleveland's Trinity Cathedral , Lind reflects on the journey that brought her there, including her interfaith upbringing, her Episcopal school girlhood, and her encounter with the Holy in a 42nd Street McDonald's during seminary in New York City. Adding richness to the written narrative are the author's photographs that begin each essay: illustrations of “glimpses from the edge” that become icons of grace.

As a charter member of Augustine's “those who sing pray twice” school of thought, I was particularly engaged by Lind's essay “Keep On Singing.” Drawing from scripture, history and her personal experience, she gives compelling witness to the power of song to empower us to engage and triumph over evil. Exploring the historical role of music in African-American spirituality, Lind writes, “[S]inging freed their spirits in the midst of captivity, fed their souls in spite of spiritual hunger, healed their wounds of abuse and sustained them in the wilderness of oppression.”

Whether embracing a fuller understanding of her sexuality, engaging in prophetic ministry in the city center, or resisting the evil one who seems to whisper “Why bother?” at every turn of the journey toward justice, Lind finds comfort, joy and empowerment by giving voice to hope through the spiritual gift of song.

Adopting that discipline as her own, she goes on to share how the power of music – to infuse joy and hope into places subject to discouragement and despair – has fueled her ministry and commitment to justice. Whether embracing a fuller understanding of her sexuality, engaging in prophetic ministry in the city center, or resisting the evil one who seems to whisper “Why bother?” at every turn of the journey toward justice, Lind finds comfort, joy and empowerment by giving voice to hope through the spiritual gift of song. Writing about her experience of singing “For All the Saints” at the consecration of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire, she says, “In that sacred moment, I experienced the joy of Jesus. And right then and there, I made a promise to God and myself; no matter what happens, come hell or high water, no storm will shake my inmost calm, for I'm gonna keep on singing, all the days of my life.”

Her example is one that not only inspires, but empowers readers to “go and do likewise.” Her witness gives hope that the church she has glimpsed – through her literary mind's eye and photographer's lens – is worth the work, the struggle and even the setbacks encountered in the path to its realization. In contrast to those who seem to value institution over inspiration, Lind writes, “The vocation of the church is to feed the body, enliven the spirit, engage the mind and heal the soul. One without the others just doesn't make sense. For it is in the bread, the water, the friendship, the love, the engagement, the knowledge, the freedom and the justice that we see glimpses of God.”

In Interrupted by God we glimpse the church as it could be – its sin-sick soul healed of ecclesial infighting, its heart wounded by institutional struggles made whole, and its voice empowered to keep on singing.

The Rev. Susan Russell is executive director of the Claiming the Blessing coalition, and president of Integrity . She also serves as the online community manager of EveryVoice.net , and may be reached by email at revsusanrussell@earthlink.net .