Jonathan Myrick Daniels was born in Keene, New Hampshire, in 1939. He was shot and killed by an unemployed highway worker in Hayneville, Alabama, August 14, 1965.
From high school in Keene to graduate school at Harvard, Jonathan wrestled with the meaning of life and death and vocation. Attracted to medicine, the ordained ministry, law and writing, he found himself close to a loss of faith when his search was resolved by a profound conversion on Easter Day 1962 at the Church of the Advent in Boston. Jonathan entered the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In March 1965, the televised appeal of Martin Luther King, Jr. to come to Selma to secure for all citizens the right to vote drew Jonathan to a time and place where the nation's racism and the Episcopal Church's share in that inheritance were exposed.
He returned to seminary and asked leave to work in Selma where he would be sponsored by the Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity. Conviction of his calling was deepened at Evening Prayer during the singing of the Magnificat: "He hath put down the mighty from their seat and hat exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things.' I knew that I must go to Selma. The Virgin's song was to grow more and more dear to me in the weeks ahead."
Jailed on August 14 for joining a picket line, Jonathan and his companions were unexpectedly released. Aware that they were in danger, four of them walked to a small store. A sixteen-year-old Ruby Sales reached the top step of the entrance, a man with a gun appeared, cursing her. Jonathan pulled her to one side to shield her from the unexpected threats. As a result, he was killed by a blast from the 12-gauge gun.
The letters and papers Jonathan left bear eloquent witness to the profound faith Selma had upon him. He writes, "The doctrine of the creeds, the enacted faith of the sacraments, were the essential preconditions of the experience itself. The faith with which I went to Selma has not changed: it has grown...I began to know in my bones and sinews that I had been truly baptized into the Lord's death and resurrection...with them, the black men and white men, with all life, in him whose Name is above all the names that the races and nations shout...We are indelibly and unspeakably one." (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, Page 526).
How very interesting that we commemorate Jonathan Myrick Daniels who sites the Magnificat when two days from now, we will celebrate Saint Mary the Virgin. As I read about this incredible individual, the narrative of his achievements, his conversion, his faith, his interest in civil rights and social activism I was moved by the information that was available.
The verses from the Magnificat that touched the heart of Jonathan M. Daniels in the New Revised Standard Version read: "He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with all good things, and sent the rich away empty." (Luke 1: 52, 53). The narrative of the life and work of Jonathan M. Daniels, the work of civil rights on behalf of people of different races, cultures, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities/expressions, challenges, genders etc, is a work that for many who are powerful because of privilege are brought down and those who are not privileged are lifted up. Those who are hungry for a sense of equality are filled up, while those who were rich with opportunities at the expense of those who were not so fortunate leave feeling empty. Here in lies the paradox of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and yet it is also at the heart of who Jesus is, and the work of Christians through out the ages.
The message that comes from the Gospel lifts up those who are laid low due to sickness, death, poverty, discrimination and separation from the Church, a sense of community and a society where the wealthy gain at the expense of those who are not. Where wealth is understood as having property, power, prestige and money, the Gospel challenges us to find our true wealth in a sense of who we are, who we love, whether or not we love at all, and finding true freedom not in monetary things, but in those things that even after death do not die. Faith for example is something that as we invest time in prayer, the reading of Scripture and the Book of Common Prayer or other spiritual resources, becomes more precious than any gold watch or i pod. Hope as we ask God to help us get through this difficult economy where corporate corruption and greed have been working hard to take more and more away from people, to keep them going above and beyond what can fill most football stadiums. When we ask God to give us hope that in the end God is really all we need and will ultimately supply what we truly need, that hope will not disappoint us, because hope in God never dies. And then there is love. Love as in God's unconditional and all inclusive love. God's love is not bound by any race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, lack of wealth, challenge, ability to speak and write in English or any other language or employment status. God's love is given to us, just by the reality that God has created us in the image and likeness of the Holy Trinity. God loves us in that great community of love called the Holy Trinity. It is a love that even our sins do not change. The fact that we are sinners makes God love us all the more. God sent Jesus Christ, God's Son to take on to God's Self the sins of the world through the Christ's death and resurrection. God gave us the Holy Spirit who "guides us into all truth." (See John 16: 12-13).
These and many other aspects of who we are, are often those things that the world around us ignores or really hates with all fury. We are regarded as the poor of the world because we reject prejudice and violent oppression of different groups of people. This was one of the reasons that Jonathan M. Daniels was martyred, and it is one of the reasons why the Episcopal Church and the ELCA face so much rejection from other more conservative Christian churches. Jesus Christ himself was rejected and ultimately crucified to take on our sins, yes, but also because he loved the unlovable of society and the church of his time. The lowly were raised up, and the mighty were brought down.
Over the past two weeks since Judge Walker announced that Prop. 8 in California is "unconstitutional" suddenly we have seen LGBT people who were kept low because they were not able to be married, are being raised up. While those who oppose the legalization of same-sex marriages are brought low and that is why they are so angry and are insisting on revenge. When the mighty are brought down and the lowly raised up, the mghty that have been brought down have to take it out on those who have recently been raised up. The Christian Right cannot stand to loose. They honestly believe that it is in the Name of Jesus Christ and for his sake that they must win. Because they refuse to see homosexuality as something that is good and holy when shared between people in loving, committed relationships, they must resort to religious, spiritual and political violence to bring LGBT people and marriage equality down. Progressive Christians and others who stand on the side of marriage equality must continue to have those conversations with people about how marriage equality is a wonderful and good thing. The voices of people like Bishop Gene Robinson, Fr. Gray Temple, Rev. Susan Russell, Rev. David Norgard and so many more are so very important. Just as important are the stories and lives of those of us who are LGBTQ so that people will continue to learn and know the truth about being LGBTQ and we can change the fear, prejudice and cruelty into tranquility, acceptance and peaceful relationships.
Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 14, Book of Common Prayer, Page 232).
O God of justice and compassion, you put down the proud and mighty from their place, and lift up the poor and the afflicted: we give you thanks for your faithful witness Jonathan Myrick Daniels, who, in the midst of injustice and violence, risked and gave his life for another; and we pray that we, following his example, may make no peace with oppression; through Jesus Christ the just one, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Jonathan Myrick Daniels, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, Page 527).
Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Oppressed, Book of Common Prayer, Page 826).
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