prompt_front: Now, answer the following question based on the text below, only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: When did Born resign as chairperson of the CFTC?

Read the following text and answer briefly.

Context 1: Brooksley Elizabeth Born (born August 27, 1940) is an American attorney and former public official who, from August 26, 1996, to June 1, 1999, was chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal agency which oversees the U S  futures and commodity options markets  During her tenure on the CFTC, Born lobbied Congress and the President to give the CFTC oversight of off-exchange markets for derivatives, in addition to its role with respect to exchange-traded derivatives, but her warnings were ignored or dismissed, and her calls for reform resisted by other regulators <ref name="nytimes">Goodman, Peter S  The Reckoning - Taking Hard New Look at a Greenspan Legacy, The New York Times, October 9, 2008 </ref> Born resigned as chairperson on June 1, 1999, shortly after Congress passed legislation prohibiting her agency from regulating derivatives 

In 2009, Born received the John F  Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award, along with Sheila Bair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, in recognition of the "political courage she demonstrated in sounding early warnings about conditions that contributed" to the 2007-08 financial crisis 

Early life and education
Born graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School (San Francisco, California) at the age of 16  She then attended Stanford University, where she majored in English and was graduated with the class of 1961   She initially wanted to become a doctor, but a guidance counsellor at Stanford advised her against medicine, so she majored in English literature instead 

She then attended Stanford Law School, one of only seven women in her class   She was the first female student ever to be named president of the Stanford Law Review  She received the "Outstanding Senior" award and graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1964 

Legal career
Immediately after law school Born was selected as a law clerk to judge Henry Edgerton of the U S  Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit  It was during this time that she met her first husband, Jacob C  Landau, who was a journalist covering the Federal courts at the time  Following her clerkship, she became an associate at the Washington, D C -based international law firm of Arnold & Porter  Born was attracted to Arnold & Porter because it was one of the few major law firms to have a woman partner at that time, Carolyn Agger, who was the head of the tax practice  Born took a two-year leave of absence from Arnold & Porter to accompany her first husband to Boston, where he had received a fellowship  During that time she worked as a research assistant to law professor Alan Dershowitz 

Born's early career at Arnold & Porter focused on international trade law, in which she represented a number of Swiss industries and the government of Switzerland  She developed a practice representing clients in numerous complex litigation and arbitration cases involving financial market transactions  Among her high-profile cases was the matter of the Hunt Brothers attempt to corner the market in silver in the 1970s  She made partner at Arnold & Porter, after moving to a three-day schedule to help raise her second child, and eventually rose to be the head of the firm's derivatives practice 

Born was among the first female attorneys to systematically address inequities regarding how the laws treated women  Born and another female lawyer, Marna Tucker, taught what is considered to have been the first "Women and the Law" course at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law  The class exclusively concerned prejudicial treatment of women under the laws of the United States, past and present   Born and Tucker were surprised to discover that there was no textbook on the issue at the time   Born is also one of the co-founders of the National Women's Law Center  Born also helped rewrite the American Bar Association rules to make it possible for more women and minorities to sit on federal bench 

During her long legal career, and into her retirement, Born did much pro bono and other types of volunteer work  She was active in the American Bar Association, the largest professional organization of lawyers in the United States   Initially Born was named a member of the governing council of the ABA's Individual Rights Section, eventually becoming chairperson   Born and Tucker founded the ABA Women's Caucus, the first organization of female lawyers in the ABA   She held several other senior positions in the ABA, including being named the first woman member of the ABA's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary   As a member of the Judiciary Committee, Born provided testimony and opinion on persons nominated for federal judgeships  In 1980 she was named chair of the committee   As chair of the committee, Born was invited to address the U S  Congress regarding the nomination of Judge Sandra Day O'Connor to the U S  Supreme Court 

In 1993, Born's name was floated as a possible candidate for Attorney General of the United States, but Janet Reno was nominated 

In July 2009, Nancy Pelosi appointed Brooksley Born as a commissioner to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) 

Born and the OTC derivatives market
Born was appointed to the CFTC on April 15, 1994, by President Bill Clinton  Due to litigation against Bankers Trust Company by Procter and Gamble and other corporate clients, Born and her team at the CFTC sought comments on the regulation of over-the-counter derivatives, a first step in the process of writing CFTC regulations to supplement the existing regulations of the Federal Reserve System,  the Options Clearing Corporation, and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners  Born was particularly concerned about swaps, financial instruments that are traded over the counter between banks, insurance companies or other funds or companies, and thus have no transparency except to the two counterparties and the counterparties' regulators, if any   CFTC regulation was strenuously opposed by Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, and by Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers  On May 7, 1998, former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt joined Rubin and Greenspan in objecting to the issuance of the CFTC's concept release  Their response dismissed Born's analysis and focused on the hypothetical possibility that CFTC regulation of swaps and other OTC derivative instruments could create a "legal uncertainty" regarding such financial instruments,  hypothetically reducing the value of the instruments  They argued that the imposition of regulatory costs would "stifle financial innovation" and encourage financial capital to transfer its  transactions offshore  The disagreement between Born and the Executive Office's top economic policy advisors has been described not only as a classic Washington turf war, but also a war of ideologies,  insofar as it is possible to argue that Born's actions were consistent with Keynesian and neoclassical economics while Greenspan, Rubin, Levitt, and Summers consistently espoused neoliberal, and neoconservative policies 

In 1998, a trillion-dollar hedge fund called Long Term Capital Management (LTCM) was near collapse   Using mathematical models to calculate debt risk, LTCM used derivatives to leverage $5 billion into more than $1 trillion, doing business with fifteen of Wall Street's largest financial institutions   The derivative transactions were not regulated, nor were investors able to evaluate LTCM's exposures   Born stated, "I thought that LTCM was exactly what I had been worried about"   In the last weekend of September 1998, the President's working group was told that the entire American economy hung in the balance   After intervention by the Federal Reserve, the crisis was averted   In congressional hearings into the crisis, Greenspan acknowledged that language had been introduced into an agriculture bill that would prevent CFTC from regulating the derivatives which were at the center of the crisis that threatened the US economy   U S  Representative Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) asked "How many more failures do you think we'd have to have before some regulation in this area might be appropriate?"  In response, Greenspan brushed aside the substance of Born's warnings with the simple assertion that "the degree of supervision of regulation of the over-the-counter derivatives market is quite adequate to maintain a degree of stability in the system"  Born's warning was that there wasn't any regulation of them   Born's chief of staff, Michael Greenberger summed up Greenspan's position this way: "Greenspan didn't believe that fraud was something that needed to be enforced, and he assumed she probably did  And of course, she did "  Under heavy pressure from the financial lobby, legislation prohibiting regulation of derivatives by Born's agency was passed by the Congress   Born resigned on June 1, 1999 

The derivatives market continued to grow yearly throughout both terms of George W  Bush's administration  On September 15, 2008, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers forced a broad recognition of a financial crisis in both the US and world capital markets   As Lehman Brothers' failure temporarily reduced financial capital's confidence, a number of newspaper articles and television programs suggested that the failure's possible causes included the conflict between the CFTC and the other regulators Faiola, Anthony, Nakashima, Ellen and Drew, Jill  The Crash: Risk and Regulation - What Went Wrong, The Washington Post, October 15, 2008 

Born declined to publicly comment on the unfolding 2008 crisis until March 2009, when she said: "The market grew so enormously, with so little oversight and regulation, that it made the financial crisis much deeper and more pervasive than it otherwise would have been " She also lamented the influence of Wall Street lobbyists on the process and the refusal of regulators to discuss even modest reforms 

An October 2009 Frontline documentary titled "The Warning"  described Born's thwarted efforts to regulate and bring transparency to the derivatives market, and the continuing opposition thereto  The program concluded with an excerpted interview with Born sounding another warning: "I think we will have continuing danger from these markets and that we will have repeats of the financial crisis -- may differ in details but there will be significant financial downturns and disasters attributed to this regulatory gap, over and over, until we learn from experience "

In 2009 Born, along with Sheila Bair of the FDIC, was awarded the John F  Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award in recognition of the "political courage she demonstrated in sounding early warnings about conditions that contributed" to the 2007-08 financial crisis   According to Caroline Kennedy, "Brooksley Born recognized that the financial security of all Americans was being put at risk by the greed, negligence and opposition of  powerful and well connected interests     The catastrophic financial events of recent months have  proved them [Born and Sheila Bair] right "  One member of the President's working group had a change of heart about Brooksley Born   SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt stated "I've come to know her as one of the most capable, dedicated, intelligent and committed public servants that I have ever come to know", adding that "I could have done much better  I could have made a difference" in response to her warnings 

In 2010, a documentary film Inside Job further alleged that derivatives regulation was ineffective from the Clinton administration on  Along with fellow whistleblower, former IMF Chief Economist Raghuram Rajan, who was also scorned by the economic establishment, Brooksley Born was cited as one of the authorities arguing that financial derivatives increase economic risk 

 Personal life 
Born is married to Alexander E  Bennett (also retired from Arnold & Porter)   She has five adult children - two from a previous marriage to Jacob Landau and three stepchildren  Notably, Born was named a partner at Arnold & Porter while working part-time so she could raise her two young children   When both of her children were school-age, Born returned to practice full-time 

References

External links
Attorney profile at Arnold & Porter
Brooksley Born (2009 Winner) of the Profiles in Courage Award, with acceptance speech transcript and NECN video

Profile at MarketsWiki
Speeches and statements
"Testimony Of Brooksley Born Chairperson of the CFTC Concerning The Over-The-Counter Derivatives Market", before the House Committee On Banking And Financial Services, July 24, 1998 
"The Lessons of Long Term Capital Management L P ", Remarks of Brooksley Born, Chairperson of the CFTC, Chicago-Kent-IIT Commodities Law Institute, Chicago, Illinois, October 15, 1998 
 Interview: Brooksley Born for "PBS Frontline: The Warning", PBS, (streaming VIDEO 1 hour), October 20, 2009 
Articles
Manuel Roig-Franzia  "Credit Crisis Cassandra:Brooksley Born's Unheeded Warning Is a Rueful Echo 10 Years On", The Washington Post, May 26, 2009
 Taibbi, Matt  "The Great American Bubble Machine", Rolling Stone'', July 9–23, 2009

1940 births
American women lawyers
Arnold & Porter people
Clinton administration personnel
Columbus School of Law faculty
Commodity Futures Trading Commission personnel
Heads of United States federal agencies
Lawyers from San Francisco
Living people
Stanford Law School alumni
21st-century American women
Stanford University alumni
Context 2: McPherson County (standard abbreviation: MP) is a county located in the U S  state of Kansas   As of the 2020 census, the county population was 30,223  The largest city and county seat is McPherson  The county is named for Civil War General James B  McPherson 

History

Early history

For many millennia, the Great Plains of North America was inhabited by nomadic Native Americans  From the 16th century to 18th century, the Kingdom of France claimed ownership of large parts of North America  In 1762, after the French and Indian War, France secretly ceded New France to Spain, per the Treaty of Fontainebleau  In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France, but keeping title to about 7,500 square miles 

In 1803, most of the land for modern day Kansas was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000 square mile Louisiana Purchase for 2 83 cents per acre  In 1848, after the Mexican–American War, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo with Spain brought into the United States all or part of land for ten future states, including southwest Kansas  In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U S  state 

19th century

From the 1820s to 1870s, the Santa Fe Trail passed through, what is now McPherson County  The trail entered the county, east of Canton, then south of Galva, then north of Inman, and west towards Lyons  In 1855, Charles O  Fuller established a ranch adjacent to the Running Turkey Creek Crossing about two miles south and one mile east of Galva  Fuller's Ranch provided accommodations for travelers on the Santa Fe Trail and was probably the first white settlement in McPherson County 

Peketon County was established in 1860, by the passage of a bill by S  N  Wood:  An act to establish Peketon County  Section 1  - That all that territory west of the sixth principal meridian and south of Township 16, in Kansas Territory, be and the same is hereby erected into a county, to be known by the name of Peketon County  On February 17, 1865, Peketon County was abolished, and McPherson County was made a part of Marion County, which extended from the west line of Chase County to the present western boundary of Kansas 

In 1868, Solomon Stephens and L  N  Holmberg were appointed Justices of the Peace—the first officers in what is now McPherson County  The next year (1869) occurred the first election for the township, now the county of McPherson  McPherson was regularly organized as a county in the spring of 1870, a mass meeting being held at Sweadal  Sweadal, the county seat thus selected, was located about one mile and a half southwest of the present site of Lindsborg  In September, however, the County Commissioners resolved to meet at the latter place, McPherson which had already been located some two years 

In April, 1873, a petition was filed for the county seat re-location  It was signed by 483 voters, and a special election was accordingly ordered for June 10  Upon that day, McPherson received 605 votes, New Gottland 325, King City 3 and Lindsborg 1; McPherson's majority over all, 276  In May the McPherson Town Company had offered, as an inducement for the location of the county seat at this point, the free use of rooms for ten years, and the donation of two squares of land on the town site  The offer was accepted the next month, the County Commissioners selecting blocks 56 and 65  Thus the county seat was established at McPherson and has remained since 

As early as 1875, city leaders of Marion held a meeting to consider a branch railroad from Florence  In 1878, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and parties from Marion County and McPherson County chartered the Marion and McPherson Railway Company   In 1879, a branch line was built from Florence to McPherson, in 1880 it was extended to Lyons, in 1881 it was extended to Ellinwood  The line was leased and operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway  The line from Florence to Marion, was abandoned in 1968  In 1992, the line from Marion to McPherson was sold to Central Kansas Railway  In 1993, after heavy flood damage, the line from Marion to McPherson was abandoned  The original branch line connected Florence, Marion, Canada, Hillsboro, Lehigh, Canton, Galva, McPherson, Conway, Windom, Little River, Mitchell, Lyons, Chase, then connected with the original AT&SF main line at Ellinwood 

In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway extended its main line from Herington to Pratt   This main line connected Herington, Ramona, Tampa, Durham, Waldeck, Canton, Galva, McPherson, Groveland, Inman, Medora, Hutchinson, Whiteside, Partridge, Arlington,  Langdon, Turon, Preston, Natrona, Pratt   In 1888, this main line was extended to Liberal   Later, this line was extended to Tucumcari, New Mexico and Santa Rosa, New Mexico, where it made a connection with the Southern Pacific from El Paso, Texas   The Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway was absorbed by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway  This line is also called the "Golden State Route" 

20th century
The National Old Trails Road, also known as the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, was established in 1912, and was routed through Windom, Conway, McPherson 

Geography

According to the U S  Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which  is land and  (0 3%) is water 

Adjacent counties
 Saline County (north)
 Dickinson County (northeast)
 Marion County (east)
 Harvey County (southeast)
 Reno County (southwest)
 Rice County (west)
 Ellsworth County (northwest)

Major highways
  Interstate 135
  U S  Route 56
  U S  Route 81
  K-4
  K-61
  K-153

Demographics

The McPherson Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of McPherson County 

2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 29,554 people, 11,205 households, and 7,966 families residing in the county   The population density was 33 people per square mile (13/km2)   There were 11,830 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile (5/km2)   The racial makeup of the county was 96 53% White, 0 81% Black or African American, 0 34% Native American, 0 32% Asian, 0 06% Pacific Islander, 0 79% from other races, and 1 16% from two or more races   1 94% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race  37 1% were of German, 12 9% Swedish, 12 1% American, 6 7% English and 6 3% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000 

There were 11,205 households, out of which 33 00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62 50% were married couples living together, 6 00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28 90% were non-families  25 50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11 80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older   The average household size was 2 49 and the average family size was 2 99 

In the county, the population was spread out, with 25 40% under the age of 18, 10 30% from 18 to 24, 25 20% from 25 to 44, 21 80% from 45 to 64, and 17 30% who were 65 years of age or older   The median age was 38 years  For every 100 females there were 95 90 males   For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92 90 males 

The median income for a household in the county was $41,138, and the median income for a family was $48,243  Males had a median income of $33,530 versus $21,175 for females  The per capita income for the county was $18,921   About 4 20% of families and 6 60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5 20% of those under age 18 and 8 10% of those age 65 or over 

Government

Presidential elections
McPherson county is often carried by Republican candidates  The last time a Democratic candidate has carried this county was in 1964 by Lyndon B  Johnson 

Laws
Following amendment to the Kansas Constitution in 1986, the county remained a prohibition, or "dry", county until 1996, when voters approved the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with a 30 percent food sales requirement 

Education

Colleges
 McPherson College in McPherson
 Bethany College in Lindsborg
 Central Christian College in McPherson

Unified school districts
 Smoky Valley USD 400
 McPherson USD 418
 Canton-Galva USD 419
 Moundridge USD 423
 Inman USD 448

School district office in neighboring county
 Goessel USD 411
 Little River-Windom USD 444

Museums
 Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery in Lindsborg
 McCormick-Deering Days Museum in Inman
 McPherson Museum in McPherson
 Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum in Lindsborg
 Kansas Motorcycle Museum in Marquette

Communities

Cities

 Canton
 Galva
 Inman
 Lindsborg
 Marquette
 McPherson (county seat) 
 Moundridge
 Windom

Unincorporated communities
† means a Census-Designated Place (CDP) by the United States Census Bureau 
 Conway
 Elyria†
 Groveland
 Johnstown
 New Gottland
 Roxbury†

Ghost towns
 Alta Mills
 Battle Hill
 Christian
 Doles Park
 Elivon
 King City
 Sweadal

Townships
McPherson County is divided into twenty-five townships   The cities of Lindsborg and McPherson are considered governmentally independent and are excluded from the census figures for the townships   In the following table, the population center is the largest city (or cities) included in that township's population total, if it is of a significant size 

See also
 List of people from McPherson County, Kansas
 National Register of Historic Places listings in McPherson County, Kansas
 McPherson Valley Wetlands
 Maxwell Wildlife Refuge

References

Notes

Further reading

 Wheeler, Wayne Leland  "An Analysis of Social Change in a Swedish-Immigrant Community: The Case of Lindsborg, Kansas " (PhD dissertation, University of Missouri-Columbia; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1959  5905657) 

County
 Through the Years: A Pictorial History of McPherson County; McPherson Sentinel' Heritage House Publishing Co; 1992 
 McPherson County First Courthouse Built About 1869 or 1870; Lindsborg News-Record; March 30, 1959 
 Pioneer Life and Lore of McPherson County, Kansas; Edna Nyquist; Democratic-Opinion Press; 1932 
 A History of the Church of the Brethren in Kansas (includes McPherson College history); Elmer LeRoy Craik; McPherson Daily; Republican Press; 397 pages; 1922 
 Portrait and Biographical Record of Dickinson, Saline, McPherson, and Marion Counties, Kansas; Chapman Bros; 614 pages; 1893 
 Standard Atlas of McPherson County, Kansas; Geo  A  Ogle & Co; 82 pages; 1921 
 Plat Book of McPherson County, Kansas; North West Publishing Co; 50 pages; 1903 
 Edwards' Atlas of McPherson County, Kansas; John P  Edwards; 51 pages; 1884 

Trails
 The Story of the Marking of the Santa Fe Trail by the Daughters of the American Revolution in Kansas and the State of Kansas; Almira Cordry; Crane Co; 164 pages; 1915  (Download 4MB PDF eBook)
 The National Old Trails Road To Southern California, Part 1 (LA to KC); Automobile Club Of Southern California; 64 pages; 1916  (Download 6 8MB PDF eBook)

Mennonite Settlements
 Impact of Mennonite settlement on the cultural landscape of Kansas; Brenda Martin; Kansas State University; 1985/1988  
 Mennonite settlement : the relationship between the physical and cultural environment; Susan Movle; University of Utah; 1975/1886 
 Status of Mennonite women in Kansas in their church and home relationships; Eva Harshbarger; Bluffton College; 1925/1945 

External links

County
 
 McPherson County - Directory of Public Officials
Historical
 , from Hatteberg's People'' on KAKE TV news
Maps
 McPherson County Maps: Current, Historic, KDOT
 Kansas Highway Maps: Current, Historic, KDOT
 Kansas Railroad Maps: Current, 1996, 1915, KDOT and Kansas Historical Society

 
Kansas counties
1867 establishments in Kansas




ground_truth: June 1, 1999.

prompt_front: Now, answer the following question based on the text below, only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: What was the name of the first white settlement in McPherson County?

Read the following text and answer briefly.

Context 3: A Homily from Easter Sunday, 2017 
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb  But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb  As she wept, she bent over to look[a] into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet  They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him ” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus  Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away ” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew,[b] “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher)  Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father  But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God ’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her 
Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Mary wept in the throws of grief  Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Mary dragged herself out of bed after a sleepless night and walked to the tomb in a kind of trance  Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Mary cried—scared, confused, alone  Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Mary thought that the powers of death had the last Word  Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Mary heard a voice in the darkness calling her name—Mary 
Throughout this Lenten season, we’ve examined the ways that the powers and principalities hold us captive—how they push us towards securing our own survival, dominating others, using God for our own agenda  We’ve seen how in Jesus’ ministry, he’s constantly in resistance mode—exposing the powers for what they really are and envisioning an alternative way of living in the world  He describes this way as “the kingdom of God,” the living water we drink so we never thirst again, the light of the world  Jesus invites those who follow him into similar acts of resistance—to free us from the power money has on us by giving it away, to choose to see ourselves as Jesus sees us, resisting the shame that says I’m not enough, to practice Sabbath that contradicts productivity, to untie the grave clothes of someone who’s hands and feet are still tied in the trappings of death 
But all Jesus’ acts of resistance had a cost  All of the times he just wouldn’t shut up, all of the crowds he attracted because he actually noticed those who were normally ignored, the powers finally said enough is enough and put an end to his resistance the only way they could guarantee silence and division—by nailing him to a tree 
Just then, she turned and saw a man the shadow of a man behind her; a man she assumed was the gardener, his face unfamiliar in the darkness  He repeated the question—“Woman, why are you crying?” Thinking that perhaps he knew what happened or worse, that he was a culprit, she begged, “Sir if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him ” But Jesus interrupted her pleading, interrupted her desperation, and called her by name from the darkness, Mary 
Mary  He calls her name  Her name  The name that captures the particularity of her life  To the gardener, she would just be the crying woman  At other points in her life, she was the possessed woman, the woman who wasn’t enough, the woman on the outside of the group  Never nameless—but still unnamed  Never not Mary, but still, not known 
Early in the morning, while it was still dark, God defeated the powers and principalities in the ultimate act of resistance—resurrection  The grave could not contain the Lord  Even death wasn’t enough 
In the resurrection, God defeats the powers of death and shows that it’s God who has the final Word  Nothing, not even death, can keep us from being fully known by God  The powers try to have the final say on our names, our identities, the markers by which we measure ourselves, the systems that hold people captive or keep people in oppression  But Jesus calls us out of the darkness by name 
On this Easter Sunday, we hear our Risen Lord calling our names from the darkness—Jesus, the resurrected one, the name above all names, the great I am, the Prince of Peace, the alpha and omega, the light of the world  The risen Lord has spoken 
This is the name unto which you were baptized  As you come forward and mark the sign of the cross on your forehead today, hear Jesus speaking your name from the darkness and drawing you into the light 
From our worship service on the fifth Sunday of Lent, April 2, 2017 
“Is the Lord really with us or not?” “Is the Lord really with us or not?” Why did you bring us all the way from Egypt to let us die of thirst in this desert? At least in Egypt, we had water  At least in Egypt, we weren’t so thirsty  At least in Egypt, we knew what tomorrow would hold  At least in Egypt, we weren’t so thirsty 
But no, that’s not the story they give us  They are hard on their ancestors  They tell how it is  The elders who sat and wrote down these stories understood something about our bodies, who we are and how we work  After all the generations these stories passed through, they tell the truth about how quickly we forget, about how quickly we complain, about how quickly we grow thirsty, about how much we need water 
It doesn’t take long, does it  By the end of this sermon, I will no doubt feel thirsty, not from walking on hard dusty ground in the heat of the day, but just from speaking with you  Most of us wake up in the morning needing a drink  Our bodies depend on water  We cannot live without it  Thirst, then, doesn’t happen only one time  When the Israelites panicked that they had no water, they weren’t only thinking of the present moment  They knew what was coming! We need water to live! Without water, we will die! Even if we have water for today, we will need water again tomorrow! We can drink until we are satisfied, only to know that we will eventually be thirsty for more 
The gospel of John tells a story about a woman who gave up on this question all together  She moved beyond wondering if the Lord was really with her, so confident God had forgotten her that she gave up wondering at all  Born a Samaritan into a world that valued other bodies as better than her body: male bodies, Jewish bodies, even married bodies  Even after encountering Jesus, she still leaves their conversation without a name, numbered as one of many, simply called, “Samaritan woman ” She too, was thirsty  Most believe that her shame led her to drink water in the heat of the day, when no one else would be at the rocky well, when she could get a drink alone, without experiencing the stigma and stares of others  When she came to get a drink, Jesus was also at the well, thirsty himself and in need of rest and water from the long journey through Samaria 
The Israelites complaint for water sends Moses to the only one who can satisfy, the only one who can meet this need  Moses turns to God, “What should I do with these people? How can I satisfy their thirst? I’ve looked around, I’ve checked far and wide, turned the house upsidedown, looked under the seats of the car, at the bottle of every bottle, I’ve even looked for dew on the ground and under the lids of jars and there is no water to be found  Where do we go for water? Is the Lord really with us or not?
The Israelites who wrote down this story and allowed the ancestors to look like desperate complainers who doubted God and tested God, they were onto something  They knew that we are thirsty people  Jesus knew also  All who are thirsty, come! All who believe in me, drink this living water! We are desperate to feel God’s presence, to be bathed in the water of the Spirit, to know that this is not all there is, to feel a sense of belonging to the One who is greater than I  We can only make it so long in the desert, so long wandering from one trial to the next, without a drink 
And yet, Jesus also says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled  Notice with me: not blessed are those who are righteous, but those who thirst for righteousness  Not blessed are those who are righteous, but those who thirst for righteousness  Blessed are those who thirst for relationship with God, to know God, to see God 
I wonder, “Does Jesus want us to keep wanting?” Does Jesus want us to keep thirsting? Many faithful followers of Jesus throughout history have never claimed their thirst was quenched, never fully satisfied  You know that moment when you quench your thirst, when you sigh with relief when your throat is at ease once again, that’s the opposite of how many of God’s children have described the life of faith  They describe wanting more, being satisfied at times, while knowing they will be thirsty again 
What will be waiting for you at the rock? Will the water gush out, bursting forth, covering you from head to toe with God’s presence, drenching you in hope, cleansing you from the dust that’s caked to your feet and renewing you for a new day, a new hour, a new moment basking in the presence of God?
What will be waiting for you at the rock? Will the water drip slowly, quenching your thirst for but a moment, giving you just a glimpse of God’s spirit? Will it be so hard to get the water from the rock, that you’ll have to bend down, get underneath that dripping water to try and catch a drop? Will it be just enough for you to know, if only for a moment, that God is really with you? Will it be just enough to satisfy you for this hour, but keep you coming back for more?
What will be waiting for you at the rock? What if it seems like the water has run out, like there isn’t a drop left, the way that Mother Teresa described? What then? We follow her example  She still goes to the rock, over and over again, not to get water quench her own thirst, but to relieve the thirst of God’s other children 
This post was adapted from our sermon series on Interpreting Exodus  Pastor Megan preached this sermon at Butner Federal Prison complex on August 30, 2015 
On Father’s Day 2015, we gathered for worship at the labyrinth in front of UNC hospital, having devoted the month of June to exploring the question, “What happens after we die?” Many have watched their father’s die in this place or other similar spaces  We shared in a time of both remembrance and prayer/meditation, participating in the ancient spiritual practice of walking the labyrinth  A labyrinth is a kind of maze, laid out in a circle 
Tony graciously shared the following reflections from his experience at the labyrinth on the hot June day 
It’s smaller than I expected, stark and hard‐surfaced, with no landscaping for ornamentation or shade  I don’t know what to expect from it… or from myself  But that’s part of the appeal  I stand at the entrance, hesitating, trying to clear my mind  This doesn’t work very well, so I just start walking 
Almost immediately, the path presents itself as a linear and chronological symbol of my life’s journey  Like my physical lifetime, it has a beginning and an end, with an as‐yet undetermined amount between  This could be interesting  I like it so far… although I’m insecure about my style… and unsure about proper protocol  Is someone staring at me? Do I have to meditate? How slowly should I walk? Is it better to focus my thoughts… or to simply let them come? Will I control this thing, or allow it to control me?
I begin to see each step as an increment of elapsed time, an irretrievable expenditure of life energy  I equate my initial discomfort to the natural immaturity of my childhood years  I gradually move beyond it, into metaphorical adulthood  This is much better 
Most of the path is a series of gentle arcs  These are fairly easy to maneuver, like my comfortable life  But these segments are connected by intermittent sharp turns, mostly 180‐degree switchbacks  I see these as representing significant life changes or challenges, requiring more concentration and skill to negotiate  I notice that I am executing some of these turns mechanically, and some more gracefully  I begin to anticipate upcoming turns, and try to maintain good form around each one 
I can’t see much of the path ahead, nor the end  I spend a significant amount of mental energy dealing with this uncertainty, constantly wanting to know my real‐time ratio of “distance walked” to “distance remaining”  This is a recurring distraction 
Today is Father’s Day, and my Dad is on my mind  He recently completed his well‐walked journey, and is now watching me… even if as mere metaphor… or only as an element of my own (self‐) consciousness  I feel his presence embedded in his absence  I’m aware that it’s not only my turn to walk… it’s my only turn to walk 
I think about my children, grandson, soon‐to‐arrive granddaughter, and their descendants  The familiar succession of life, death and new life seems magical, divinely‐derived, and strangely better than living forever  My role is limited, but critical  I love the part, and embrace it 
I am acutely aware that others are journeying all around me  These are friends of mine  We meet, almost brushing, as we walk  The path seems purposefully narrow, perhaps perfectly so  I suddenly understand that it is impossible to walk this close to others without being affected by them  I affect them too… seen as small adjustments in their position or posture  As we meet, I try not to encroach too much, but making sure not to pull away  I put creative energy into maintaining the perfect degree of separation between our bodies  This feels like more art than science… each friend deserving a customized approach  This closeness seems good to me 
There is a much younger walker behind me, getting ever closer  I’m clearly holding her back  Maybe this means that the younger generation wants me to hurry up and get out of their way  I remind myself not to stretch the symbolism too far… as I pick up my pace 
I now see the end of the path ahead  I have been expecting this part to be emotionally complicated, but it is not  The final section is round… large and unrestrictive… a qualitative change from the narrow linear pathway  The circle opens up to welcome me  It is easy to step into, a perfectly natural thing to do at the end of my walk  Inside the circle, I am centered… comfortable… peaceful… thankful 
16 As Jesus passed alongside the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon and Andrew, throwing fishing nets into the sea, for they were fishermen  17 “Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people ” 18 Right away, they left their nets and followed him  19 After going a little farther, he saw James and John, Zebedee’s sons, in their boat repairing the fishing nets  20 At that very moment he called them  They followed him, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers 
This is a story about 4 fishermen, Simon, Andrew, James and John  It’s a normal morning at the docks  Each one of them is going about business as usual  They arrived at dawn, bundled up in the cool morning air and started work without much conversation  Simon and Andrew are working on one fishing boat and see the Teacher approaching  “Hey  There he is,” says Andrew  Jesus from Nazareth  You can’t go anywhere without hearing about him lately  What’s he doing down here?” They paddle back to shore, not wanting to miss any trouble this Jesus fellow might stir up  Simon and Andrew get the beach and Jesus comes over to talk to them  It’s like he had come there that morning just to find these two guys  Jesus didn’t say much, “Come and follow me ” Jesus invited these 2 fishermen to be his disciples, to follow after him, to walk behind him, tracing his every step 
Further down the beach, the same scene repeats  This time, Jesus walks directly up to James and John who are focused on repairing their fishing net  Jesus says the same thing to them and now all four fishermen walk behind their rabbi with no idea of what’s ahead of them 
It’s a big deal! The four normal guys, working a normal job, on a normal morning, decide to follow Jesus  Maybe you’ve wondered like I have, how is it that Simon, Andrew, James and John do it? How do they drop everything to follow Jesus? What were they thinking? How did they feel?
It’s interesting  The story doesn’t tell us  There’s nothing about how they felt  It doesn’t say they were excited, or moved, or scared, or joyful or resistant  This story about four fisherman gives us only verbs  Jesus passed alongside the Galilee Sea  He saw two brothers  He said, Come, follow  Then, Simon and Andrew left and followed  Jesus saw James and John  Jesus called them  They followed him 
This is a story about four fisherman who decided to follow Jesus 
This is also a story about fishing  I’ve been fishing been fishing three or four times  Once I realized that fishing was primarily a crack of dawn activity, I knew it wasn’t really for me  Jesus uses a kind of puzzling image about fishing  He says, “Come, follow me, and I’ll show you how to fish for people ” I don’t know about you, but this I find this to be very strange  I realized this week why his image is so confusing to me  What do you imagine when someone talks about fishing? What I imagine when I hear the word “fish” or “fishing” is a fishing pole, the rod, reel, bait, tackle box, worms, that kind of fishing  So I’ve always interpreted what Jesus said this way 
I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men  I will make you fishers of men, if you follow me 
The road Jesus invites these four fishermen to follow him on will mean casting a net of love and welcome to people that they do not anticipate  Jesus will cast his net into the sea of a broken world, filled with sinners, people who have messed up, people who are outsiders, who don’t belong  Jesus will stay in the homes of poor, be guilty of associating prostitutes and touching the hands of people with communicable diseases  Jesus will throw his net into the sea and invite everyone in  Jesus will eventually be arrested and executed because those in power decided his fishing net included a few too many of the wrong people  This is a story about fishing 
This isn’t only a story about four fisherman, or only a story about fishing  It’s also, and perhaps, most importantly, a story about God



ground_truth: The first white settlement in McPherson County was Fuller's Ranch, established by Charles O. Fuller.

prompt_front: Now, answer the following question based on the text below, only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: What did Mary tell the disciples?

Read the following text and answer briefly.

Context 3: 
If this is only a story about four fisherman who decide to follow Jesus, the pressures on you and me! After all, aren’t we too called to follow Jesus? Called to be his disciples? Wasn’t that the invitation you first heard when you first heard about Jesus? God has called us and we must decide  Jesus wants us all to follow him, to be like him, to walk in his footsteps, to do what he does  Of course this story is about that! And they do it, don’t they? Simon, Andrew, James, John, they do it! They decide and they do follow Jesus, imperfectly at that  Still, it’s a lot of pressure, a lot of responsibility  If life becomes all about what we do for Jesus, something is missing 
If this is only a story about fishing, have some of us failed? Is it too late for us? Some of us might not be the best at fishing, not all the great about casting Jesus’ loving net to our brothers and sisters  His net is sometimes, or maybe more than sometimes, a bit more expansive than we might be comfortable with  He calls us to be like him and fish for people, and yet, sometimes we can barely get the net into the water  Perhaps for others, we aren’t even convinced that Jesus would include us in the net at all, no matter how deep into the water he goes  He can really mean me? Would his net really reach me? There’s still more to the story 
This is a story about God, who God is, how God acts, what God does  Before Andrew, Simon, James and John follow Jesus, Jesus finds them  Before they follow Jesus, Jesus comes to them! They don’t have to go searching, they have been found  Jesus saw  Jesus spoke  Jesus called  Jesus said, “Come “ We don’t follow Jesus in order to find him, to prove our worthiness with what we do, or even by showing Jesus how big our nets are  We follow Jesus because he first came to us  He came down to the beach to meet these four fishermen  He came specifically for Simon and for Andrew, for James and for John, for you and me 
This blog post was adapted from Pastor Megan’s sermon at Butner Federal Prison on January 25, 2015 
The life of faith consists of seasons  One scholar suggests that we can categorize these seasons of life as seasons of being securely oriented, painfully disoriented, and surprisingly reoriented  These generalizations could apply to our self-acceptance, our relations to significant others, and our participation in public or private life  We might think about these seasons as passages of life, stages of growth, or even identity crises  Acknowledging where we find ourselves in a particular season can allow us to be honest about where we are at in our lives and where we are in relation to God 
The Psalms, a collection of prayers, songs, and poems addressed to God, correspond to these seasons of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation  As we read through the book, we find Psalms where the writer is full of thanksgiving to God, securely oriented in life  We also find Psalms that demonstrate disorientation, perhaps categorized by loss, transition, grief, suffering, or even anger  Finally, some Psalms are written from a perspective of reorientation, wherein the Psalmist transitions from a period of being disoriented to being reoriented in relation to God and others 
The Psalms can become our partner in prayer  Giving us words when we have none, we pray the Psalms joining with all those who have prayed them before us and all who will pray them after we are gone  As we pray the Psalms, we find permission to be utterly honest with God about our feelings and situation, free to speak openly and deeply to God about what we are experiencing  Praying the Psalms also helps us to envision God’s future when we can’t see it ourselves  Lastly, the Psalms guard us against religion or merely thinking about God  Using their words in prayer brings us into direct conversation with the living God, in language we may never have imagined would come from our lips 
-Pray the assigned Psalm from the daily lectionary, with set Scriptures to read each day  Click here to see today’s readings, subscribe to the daily readings by email, or download the app 
-Pray the Psalms using the practice of praying in color  Click here for an excerpt from Sybil MacBeth’s book that gives instructions for praying in color  I have the book available if anyone would like to borrow it  You can read more about praying in color on her website 
-Pray a Psalm, followed by journal writing  Consider these prompts: Where do I find myself in this Psalm? Where do I find my community? How am I being oriented to God in this prayer? What images or metaphors do I find striking? Explore the image more deeply 
-Pray through a list of Psalms, one per day or the same one each day for a week 
-Pray them as a family or with housemates at mealtime or bedtime 
-Pray abbreviated Psalms as breath prayers  A breath Ppayer rhythm is simple: Breathe in slow and deep as you whisper or think on a phrase… Hold your breath… Then exhale 
I will sing to my God as long as I am 
Psalm 8: Lord, our master, how great is your name in all the earth 
Psalm 104: Seek the Lord and his power; seek his face forever  Remember the wonders he has done 
-Pray the Psalms using lectio divina  For instructions on praying lectio divina individually or in groups, click here  There are also instructions for doing lectio divina in color from Sybil MacBeth’s book 
-Pray a Psalm from the category of life within which you find yourself—orientation, disorientation, or reorientation 
Psalms of Orientation: These Psalms reflect a confident belief that the world is well ordered, reliable, and life-giving to the person of faith 
Psalms of Disorientation: These Psalms reflect the brokenness of life, when it is no longer orderly but savage  Spoken out of the depths, they are still bold acts of faith 
Psalms of New Orientation: The pit is not the end of life; there is more  New orientation Psalms reflect the surprise of new possibilities that are experienced as pure gift from God  They are full of thanks 
Citations: The Message of the Psalms and Praying the Psalms by Walter Brueggemann and Getting Involved with God, by Ellen Davis 
Joseph’s story opens in Genesis 37 and it’s a long one  Joseph was one of 11 kids, the youngest son  In Genesis 37, the story says, “Now Jacob (Joseph’s dad) loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was born when Jacob was old  Jacob had made for him a long robe  When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of his brothers, they hated him and couldn’t even talk nicely to him ” Sibling rivalry, jealousy, family drama—maybe a little too familiar for some of us 
Just when you want to feel bad for Joseph, show him sympathy, “Poor kid—he can’t help that he’s the favorite,” Joseph makes himself quickly unlikeable  When Joseph’s head hits the pillow at night, he has vivid dreams about the future, dreams where he rules over his brothers  In one of these dreams, he’s in the field working with his brothers  They each tie a bundle of grain together…I imagine it like a hay bail  His bail rises up, towering and floating in the air above the others, while each of his ten older brother’s bails of hay, bows down to his bail, as if he’s ruling over them like a king  What’s worse—he didn’t keep his mouth shut about his dreams  Nope  He went ahead and announced them at the dinner table  When I imagine this scene, I’m reminded of the importance of friends  He seriously needed a friend to say, “Dude, listen, you have some dreams where you’re awesome and your brothers treat you like a king  They hate you, man  Keep your dreams to yourself ” Joseph lacked such a friend, so he bragged about his dreams—that combined with his fancy North Face jacket that Daddy bought for him only and the favoritism their dad showed him, brought his brothers to plot about how they might rid themselves of this pesky brat forever 
Joseph’s brothers considered killing Joseph, but they settled on kidnapping him and selling him into slavery instead  That way, they wouldn’t have his death on their foreheads, without having to put up with him anymore  They took Joseph’s fancy coat and destroyed it, making it look like a wild animal killed Joseph  This they showed to their father, so that he would assume that Joseph was dead; their dad would never suspect they had any part in his disappearance 
Meanwhile, Joseph was taken off to Egypt where he worked as a slave  Though he did well there and followed all the rules, he became a victim for a second time, when his master’s wife accused him of a crime he didn’t commit  Over a period of 13 years, Joseph worked as a slave and spent years locked up in prison  After a series of unlikely events, some terrible and some remarkable, Joseph rose to power and became the king’s right hand man, his adviser 
With the king’s blessing and support, Joseph led his country in preparing for a famine, putting food away on reserve during seven years of plenty  When a famine struck the land, Egypt was in a good position, able to lean on the reserved food that Joseph had put away  The surrounding lands, including Joseph’s homeland, had to lean on Egypt for food or else they would starve 
Joseph shows his brother’s enormous generosity  He has them go home, pack up and move their entire family, including their elderly father Jacob to Egypt to be near Joseph  Not long after making the trip to Egypt and being reunited with his father, their father, an elderly man at this point, Jacob dies 
And the final chapter of the story opens  Jacob is dead  Their father is gone  Now what?
Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?” 16 So they approached[b] Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this instruction before he died, 17 ‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you ’ Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father ” Joseph wept when they spoke to him  18 Then his brothers also wept,[c] fell down before him, and said, “We are here as your slaves ” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? 20 Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today  21 So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones ” In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them 
Fear is a powerful force  Fear motivates and fear paralyzes 
It’s a little funny how they phrase the words of their father  The brothers put a great deal of distance between themselves and Joseph  Instead of saying, “Our father told us to tell you…” they say, “Your father to us to tell you…” They distance themselves from Joseph and from the message that their dad supposedly gave them to pass along 
And then, they do it again  “Please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father,” his brothers say  They refer to themselves in third person—“the servants of the God of your father ” It’s not “our crime” that “we committed,” but the crime of these others 
Fear not only keeps them from confession, fear also keeps them from receiving forgiveness  They are scared for their lives the moment their father breathes his last, but haven’t they already been through this conversation with Joseph? At the dinner table, when Joseph revealed his identity to them, he tells them not to worry  “It’s ok  Yeah, it was awful, but look where I am! Look at how God has used me to help save those who would be starving now  I’m even saving you!” Joseph has already offered them forgiveness, but they haven’t fully received it  They haven’t believed what he’s said  Perhaps their views of themselves were so low that they didn’t see themselves worthy of forgiveness  Maybe they’ve carried the guilt for so long about what they’ve done, they fear what life will be like without it  It’s become so much an engrained part of their identity, they don’t know who they are apart from the guilt of what they’ve done  They fear receiving Joseph’s forgiveness  They fear forgiving themselves 
To the plea of the 10 brothers, to this made-up, manipulative, last cry for safety, Joseph has two responses  First, he weeps  His weeping—his display of vulnerability and emotion—causes his brothers to begin to weep also  There they are, 11 grown brothers, weeping on the floor of the house  Why did Joseph begin to weep? The story doesn’t say  Let’s notice, brothers and sisters—the road to releasing fear and offering and receiving forgiveness may not come without weeping 
Fear is a powerful force  Fear is an excellent motivator—moving us to do particular things and act in particular ways  But fear not only motivates, it can also paralyze, cause us to freeze right where we’re at, accept things for how they are  This final chapter begins with the brothers saying to one another, “What if…?” What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us…? Fear finishes the sentence, beginning in the words, “What if…?” Fear finishes the sentence  What if…he still bears a grudge against us? What if…we confess our evil to Joseph and he says that’s the end of us? What if…we ask for forgiveness and he denies it—if I say, will you forgive me, and he says, “no”?
“What if’s” sneak into our minds and hearts 
What if…I never get out of here?
What if I fail as a parent?
What if I don’t belong?
What if no one notices I’m gone?
What if I stand up for what I believe is right and it costs me my reputation?
What if I make a mistake at work and lose my job?
What if I risk opening myself up to someone and get hurt or betrayed again?
What if my body fails me?
What if I can never accept that the past can’t change?
What if I’m not worthy of God’s forgiveness or the forgiveness of those I’ve wronged?
What if I can never forgive myself?
We do not have to live in fear  We do not have to be motivated or paralyzed by it  Look at the God that we serve! Joseph explains how God has been with him  He says to his brothers, “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today ” Does this mean that God wanted or desired Joseph’s brothers to kidnap him, throw him into slavery and ruin his life to avenge their jealousy? No  God doesn’t desire that jealousy and revenge rule our lives  God doesn’t will for us to do evil or to harm other people  Rather, God is able to overcome evil and transform it  God can overcome evil! When Jesus was captured, tried as a criminal and sentenced to death, God overcame death, raising Jesus from the death 
This post was adapted from my sermon preached at Butner Federal Prison on September 14, 2014 
We were gathered at the plaza, right between the giant bull statue and the unattractive fences of a construction site  Luminary bags weighted with rice and lit candles marked the sacred space surrounding 30 of us, one to represent each person who died as a result of domestic violence the previous year in our state  The vigil began as planned, simple, but meaningful, to remember victims of this tragedy and raise awareness about the suffering that takes place behind closed doors  About halfway through the simple service, a woman stumbled into the vigil, interrupting the solemn mood without realizing that a group was gathered and someone was speaking  She stood silent for a few moments, listening to the speaker  When she realized that the speaker was talking about domestic violence, she began to interrupt, asking questions to the speaker, sharing details from her own experience with abuse  “What would you do…what would you do if…?” she cried  Then, as unexpectedly as she joined us and as abruptly as her interruption, she began to weep, uncontrollably crying for the rest of the vigil  A couple of women gathered around her and held her as she wept  Before long, it was my turn to pray  I barely got the words out…I could hardly project my shaking voice over her loud sobs 
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted,” Jesus proclaims in the second line of the beatitudes  Blessed are those who mourn  How is this weeping woman, this victim of abuse, blessed? She mourns the injustices she’s experienced, her suffering, the ways her life has been shaped by pain and her inability to free herself from her oppression  Jesus says that this woman and all her sisters and brothers that mourn with her are blessed 
The Jewish culture that Jesus was born into has a rich history of mourning or practicing lament, stretching back hundreds of years before he was born  The prophets and the Psalms include poems, songs, and speeches, recounting the words of people gathered together for public mourning  This mourning wasn’t a kind of crying about having a bad day or because of a frustration at home or work  The mourning Jesus is referencing is the kind of mourning that is a response to injustice and oppression, those who mourn the impact of the powers, both material and spiritual, on the lives of the most vulnerable 
Blessed are those who mourn  Another beatitude and another paradox  Once again, Jesus’ words are outlandish and nonsensical  How is it that those who mourn are blessed? Aren’t those who are happy and fulfilled, aren’t they the ones that are blessed? Yet, in this beatitude, in this paradox, Jesus once again exposes the powers and envisions an alternative  Jesus exposes the powers that cause people to mourn in the first place, those who experience unjust suffering and loss, the same injustices that cause people to be poor in spirit  It’s these people, the mourners, that are blessed, Jesus says  These are the people that Jesus came for  In God’s empire, mourners are not written off or ignored as uncivilized, uneducated, or badly behaved  Instead, in God’s empire, they are the ones who receive God’s comfort and consolation; God’s hears their cries 
Our culture tends to restrict mourning or public displays of emotion to something appropriate for home life or private time  Further, spending time in mourning may be quickly relegated to a waste of time or an inactive posture  The expression, “Don’t just cry about it, do something,” illustrates this clearly  But mourning is not a useless waste of time or an inactive practice  Mourn is a verb  In fact, mourning elicits action and engagement  Mourning exposes the powers, shows their true colors  Seeing people in mourning is disorienting  It interrupts the lives we lead that are detached from suffering and injustice, forcing us to take another look, to pause, to listen, and to join 
The woman who interrupted our solemn vigil for victims of domestic violence exposed the powers with her loud wailing  She made me feel uncomfortable, like I wanted to look away and get away from her as quickly as possible  And yet, her cries made it impossible for me to forget her  The sound of her weeping echoed in my ears for weeks following and if I try, I can still hear them now, over nine months later  Her mourning moves me to engage in seeking justice for others who have suffered like she has 
1  James Howell, The Beatitudes for Today  Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005 , 45 
2  James Howell, The Beatitudes for Today, 46 



ground_truth: "I have seen the Lord.".