in a Tent of Perpetual Adaptation

Keepin' the Faith

2012-03-09T08:27:00.000-06:00

Flipping through the channels last night after the Big 12 men's basketball quarter-final - Tigers won 88-70, Go Mizzou! - we caught the end of a PBS fund-raising re-broadcast of Peter, Paul & Mary's 25th anniversary concert from 1986.

Wow. What memories. My parents had several PP&M albums. My sister played guitar, and I remember harmonizing to "If I Had a Hammer" and "Blowin' in the Wind" and so on.

But mostly, I remember the late 60's and early 70's. I know; if you remember the 1960's, you weren't really there. Well, I was too young - and naive - to do drugs, and I read a lot. So I have memories of reading the news about what others were doing. And as a fairly sheltered but idealistic young person, with parents who indulged that side of us, I sort of felt like I was part of "the movement."

Suffice to say that Vietnam, Watergate, and the Civil Rights movement were defining for my personality and perspective. Those memories - of feelings as much as events - still influence my reactions to modern social and political issues. (Gee, really? We couldn't tell....)

It all comes back, every time I listen to those songs. I've got several PP&M CD's - a couple that my folks had on LP, and a holiday CD that ends with "Blowin' in the Wind." I confessed to Mary that I can't listen to them sing that song, ever, without tearing up.

The passion in their singing and the memories of causes connected to their songs made me wonder, what ever happened? Where is the similar outrage today over issues of injustice, oppression, and violence? Those evils are still around, still devastating lives and souls. Where are the marches, the sit-ins, the refusals to back down or compromise or stay silent?

I don't think it's just that I'm older/wiser/have more perspective. Oh, I understand the irony in Billy Joel's "Angry Young Man": "He likes to be known as the angry young man, with his fist in the air and his heart in his hand." Although later in the song, Joel will rhyme it "and his head in the sand."

Somehow, it just doesn't seem to be as easy to be outraged so uncompromisingly. Is that me or the world? I don't know, but I ponder it regularly. Especially when I hear things like this:

Blowin' in the Wind?

2012-03-07T11:24:00.003-06:00

It's tornado season here in the Midwest. Fortunately, the basement storage room is secure and stocked with emergency supplies.

Another clergy blogger (how many of us are there, anyway?) commented on a conservative preacher's pronouncement of a recent tornado as "God's judgment." Hear dripping sarcasm as you read this. And weep a little at the thought that some will make such judgments in all seriousness.

Why do some people have such a need to cast blame, to victimize the innocent all over again? Where, in that rank judgmentalism, is God's compassion, sorrow, and solidarity with those suffering disaster?

It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and gives all of us a bad name....

Where Does Freedom End?

2012-03-01T16:56:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, a Roman Catholic school fired a teacher for planning to get married. The teacher happened to be gay. The church acted within days of a recent court ruling upholding another religious school's firing of a teacher for trying to get her job back after being off for illness.

The court's reasoning in the second case was that the teacher was somehow a "called" religious employee, and not just a teacher. The school's public rationale in the first instance is that the teacher violated an employee policy that prohibits disagreeing with Roman Catholic beliefs.

These and other recent issues, like whether religious hospitals have to provide certain forms of health coverage for their employees (for instance, birth control), are couched in the terminology of "religious freedom."

The United States Constitution enshrines the "free exercise" of religion - you can believe what you want, and so can I, and so can Joe Shmoe in East Overshoe, without the government telling us how to believe or even whether to believe.

And that's important. I fully stand behind that. But it seems that some people (and institutions) can't be content believing what they want, without restricting the "free exercise" of others.

When I was growing up, the customary explanation of freedom's limits was "your freedom stops at the end of my nose." In other words, you are free to do anything you want - until you decide you want to punch me in the nose. That's where your freedom stops - when it interferes with my freedom.

So none of us is completely "free." We all have to act and speak within limits that support a civil and civilized society.

How then to uphold religious freedom? How to support freedom of belief without, say, forcing a church to hire an atheist as preacher so that person won't be "discriminated against"?

I agree that churches and other worshipping communities need the ability to employ religious leaders (pastors, priests, etc.) with the same beliefs. But lots of organizations seem to want to stretch the limits of "church" or "religious leader" far beyond that.

I've worked with church musicians who were Jewish and Buddhist; that didn't affect their musical ability. I know of at least one synagogue who hired a Christian as musician and choir director; that didn't compromise his musicianship or their worship.

And I've certainly never had problems with church secretaries or custodians who don't completely match the congregation's theology. They're all hired for a specific job, with duties detailed in writing, and faith (theirs or ours) doesn't enter into it.

Nor would I try to limit their access to health care, just because I don't believe in what they (and their doctor) think they need.

It's a given (though some churches still push at it) that organizations receiving a 501(c)(3) tax exemption as "religious" give up the ability to engage in partisan politics to a "significant" degree. The trade-off for not paying taxes on church receipts is a limit on "free" speech.

Shouldn't there be some sort of similar understanding when it comes to other things? Should a school be able to fire a teacher if they don't like his or her personal life, just because they're "religious"? Should a company be able to deny its employees certain kinds of health care that the boss doesn't like, just because it's a "religious" company?

I don't think so. I think, for a free society to function for the benefit of all its citizens, we all have to accept certain limits. Which is not the same thing as saying you can't believe what you want; you just can't force me to go along with you.

Your freedom stops at the end of my nose...or other body parts.

More Lenten Journeying

2012-02-25T11:06:00.001-06:00

I'm not leading an adult study series during Lent this year. With our new Saturday-evening worship service still finding its legs, and teaching Confirmation class, something's gotta go.

But there are plenty of resources out there for folks interested in exploring their faith more deeply during these days of preparation. On Thursday, I noted Tony Jones's weekly discovery of alternate understandings of the atonement.

Today I found a couple more. First up, the 40 Day Journey. Emerging Church leaders Doug Pagitt (author of Church in the Inventive Age) and Phyllis Tickle (author of lots of things) are doing video conversations on what Lent means for modern people.

And for those who are salivating over the upcoming March Madness (and really, who isn't?), Episcopal priest Tim Schenck has put together Lent Madness, an 32-saint bracketed elimination tournament to see who wins the Golden Halo. Go to the site, download your bracket calendar, and vote!

A Lenten Journey

2012-02-23T13:52:00.004-06:00

Tony Jones at Theoblogy has started an interesting thread for Lent. Each week he'll blog about a different approach to understanding Jesus' death. And the truth is that there are a variety of "answers" presented by scripture to the question, what is Jesus' death about?

The most well-known perspective in Western Christianity is, in technical terms, penal substitutionary atonement. That is, Christ's death was a punishment for sin that he, sinless himself, willing took on for our sakes in order to satisfy God's demand for justice prior to providing forgiveness.

This week, Jones explores the Orthodox perspective of union with God, sometimes characterized as "at-one-ment." This resonates well with me, and recalls one of my favorite passages from scripture: "This is what love is: it is...that [God] loved us and sent [the] Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven...if we love one another, God lives in union with us, and [God's] love is made perfect in us." (1 John 4:10, 12 TEV)

I think this is a really important discussion, and I'll be following it (and linking to it) throughout Lent this year.

One of the problems with Lent in the popular mind, and one of the consequent problems people have with Christianity, is the whole idea of a blood-thirsty, punishment-demanding God who can only be satisfied if someone dies - preferably painfully and with copious amounts of gore. It was a big problem, for instance, with Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ.

Check in each week to see what Tony has to say about the atonement, and by the time we get to Easter together, we may actually be able to appreciate what God has done for us!

Christian, or Christian?

2012-02-18T15:30:00.000-06:00

So the other day I referred to Jeremy Lin, the undrafted Harvard grad who came off the far end of the bench to lead the Knicks to victory after victory. Then yesterday they lost. Sorry if I jinxed it all, Jeremy....

Turns out Lin considers himself a Christian. I don't mean that he's "just" a church member, but he self-identifies as a person of faith, who tries to live intentionally according to his faith's teaching. (Although I dislike the false distinction that some people make between "real" Christians and "just" church members. I know just as many born-again types who are phoning it in.)

New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote about Lin's stated attempt to live his faith through the way he plays basketball. It's an interesting analysis of the different thought-worlds in sports and faith.

Brooks sees the two thought-worlds as incompatible. Sports, he says, is about victory and supremacy; faith (particularly the Christian faith) is about humility. I particularly like the conclusion in his final paragraph:

      Much of the anger that arises when religion mixes with sport or with politics
      comes from people who want to deny that this contradiction exists and who
      want to live in a world in which there is only one morality, one set of
      qualities and where everything is easy, untragic and clean. Life and religion
      are more complicated than that.

It's something Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum might ponder. Santorum has now been quoted calling President Obama's faith "phony" and "not...based on the Bible."

I get that Santorum comes from a very different place theologically - and to be clear, I don't agree with him. But this is more of the same divisiveness and antagonism that are making it difficult to find solutions to the very real problems our society faces.

It is possible to disagree without being disagreeable, to have a different opinion about "what faith requires" without saying the other person is unbiblical or heretical or a phony.

And I get that Santorum's still trying to nail down the GOP nomination, and has to fend off other contenders and please a certain hard-line constituency, both situations that tend to lead to uncompromising statements.

But as one who lives (and leads) in a denomination that attempts to bring people together under the prayer of Jesus, "that they may all be one," I'm offended by what Santorum said.

Hoop Dreams

2012-02-16T12:06:00.001-06:00

No one has ever mistaken me for an athlete - at least, not after watching me play ball. And that's okay; I gave up my major-league dreams a loooong time ago.

But living in a major-university town with big-time college sports is a lot of fun! I've been reading the sports pages more regularly, watching games on TV more often. It takes me back to my days in college, when I went to all the home basketball games and knew the players. Or my time in Boston, when I watched the Celtics on TV and ached for a seat at "the Gah-den," even if it was behind a pillar.

What a treat this year, to watch the Missouri Tigers do things no one thought possible, pre-season! And just as much fun, the last week, has been to see fellow Harvard alum Jeremy Lin come out of nowhere off the bench and turn the New York Knicks into winners!

Never been a Knicks fan (see Celtics, above) but I could root for Lin. Gotta love an underdog!

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

2012-02-12T16:56:00.002-06:00

Or maybe not so far away....

Timothy Sexton, writing on Yahoo, dares to suggest that the Star Wars "prequel" movies were better than the original trilogy - don't kill the messenger here!

Anyway, since a 3-D version of The Phantom Menace has opened, it seemed an interesting connection. Read Sexton's thoughts here.

A Sad Announcement

2012-02-11T15:29:00.001-06:00

Bangor Theological Seminary, a "closely related" seminary of the United Church of Christ, announced yesterday that it would "suspend" its degree programs at the end of the 2012-2013 academic year. The full press release is here.

It's sad, for a number of reasons. Certainly, the potential permanent closure of another historic institution of higher learning - and one in a poorly-served location - is troubling. Bangor, Maine is nearly five hours north of Boston and the next closest graduate theology programs affiliated with mainline denominations. The seminary was poised to celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2014.

Bangor Seminary was also the last resource for preachers and pastors for dozens of small congregations in northern Maine. Hundreds of students "cut their teeth" by serving these churches on the weekend and through the summer, often renewing life in struggling situations. And Bangor provided education to many non-traditional students - one of its primary and early missions.

Now, there have been signs of difficulty for several years. On-site enrollment has slipped, leading the Seminary to open a branch campus in the major (for Maine) metropolitan area of Portland. And the Seminary moved all its functions, some time ago, to nearby Husson College, abandoning its historic location and buildings in downtown Bangor.

But there's a personal sadness, too. My father, who will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of his ordination this summer, graduated from Bangor in 1960 and served a total of four years with two small rural congregations.

I was born while Dad & Mom were at Bangor (as were two of my sisters), learned to walk in the student lounge, fed squirrels on the fire escape outside our apartment, and climbed the stairs to the attic study room before bedtime to say goodnight.

I remember regular visits to the campus while on family vacations, full of Dad's stories about classmates, professors, and churches - as well as visits with some of those church folk from long before. I can still picture in my mind the "honor roll" of missionaries, from the seminary's founding days to the present, hanging in one of the classrooms, positioned so that students could always see it behind the professor.

And while I attended divinity school in Boston and during my early years of ministry, Dad and I would attend Bangor's annual Convocation (three lectures by three well-known speakers) over three days...in January...in Bangor, Maine.

It was disappointing, when Mary and I visited Maine a few years ago, to see the old campus abandoned and empty. I understand one of the old buildings has been converted into affordable housing for seniors and disabled veterans.

But the complete suspension of educational programs, with no clear direction for the future, is truly sad. Shed a tear....

"What They Said..."

2012-02-08T14:20:00.000-06:00

There are a lot of folks out there in the blogosphere, making intelligent comments. I figured I'd pass a few of them along today, that struck me as particularly pertinent.

A colleague writing at Philosophy Over Coffee notes how his experiences in amateur theater affected his practice of ministry. Having done my share of community theater over the years, I echo a lot of what he says.

Greg Garrett at Patheos reflects on the arrogant and uncompromising tone of current political discourse. I really like his conclusion: "I believe that I am called to recognize that the essential differences between Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, anarchist, are somehow a part of God's plan. Even if I myself am so appallingly stupid that I cannot recognize how that might be true."

And friend Wes Ellis compares the very public Christians we see in our culture with Jesus' "secret admirers." That's a conversation that fits right in with what I'm thinking about for this Saturday evening's worship gathering, so I think I'll "borrow" some of his ideas!

What Characterizes "a Faithful Life"?

2012-02-04T12:26:00.000-06:00

I've been postponing this for a while, not exactly sure what to say - or do, to be consistent with what I might say. A couple weeks ago I finished Shane Claiborne's The Irresistible Revolution.

It's a challenging book, to say the least. Shane is a co-founder of The Simple Way, a group of Christians intentionally living in community, in simplicity, and in solidarity with those around them. They have given up a lot of what modern American society considers "essential" in order to follow the example and teachings of Jesus.

This has led them to locate in the heart of inner-city Philadelphia, to share resources and decision-making in the most radical egalitarianism, and to open themselves to any and all who ask.

Claiborne and his friends make a strong case for Jesus' invitation to the rich young ruler: sell all you have and give to the poor." (Matt. 19:21; Luke 18:22) They practice a literal obedience to the teachings of Jesus, as closely as they can.

It's actually a bit frightening to read a book like that. Mary and I have a nice house and possessions enough to fill it, health insurance, retirement accounts, and so on. We also want to take our faith seriously. Do we have, in the words of Delbert McClinton, "too much stuff"?

I read about another approach today - and I haven't read this book yet, but it's being advertised on religious blogs. Tony Jones has some nice things to say about Enough by Adam Hamilton.

Perhaps, in an age of continuing economic uncertainty and instability, a bit of simplicity and discipline will be a good thing for each of us, and all of us together.

And perhaps what tempts me most about The Simple Way and its approach is that a concrete difference is being made in people's individual lives and in their community - and the rest of us are being challenged to live our faith as seriously as we talk about it.

Still not sure what I'm going to do differently in regard to all this.... But it's on my mind, keeps me awake sometimes, and always pushes me to question whether I'm living faithfully enough.

Want a Bite?

2012-01-29T16:11:00.001-06:00

Last night Mary and I watched "The Big Waste" from Food Network (recorded from its original airing last weekend). We definitely enjoy good food and cooking, and have made special trips to eat at the restaurants of chefs we particularly like.

And yes, there's a particularly irony in the fact that our nation faces a major obesity epidemic at the same time that it has exalted chefs to cult status. More than one person has characterized the Food Network as "food porn," and there's a certain justification there. But that's another topic.

This show was about the sometimes-deliberate, always disturbing amount of waste in the food industry - from growers to stores to restaurants, including customers. Four star chefs (including my favorite Michael Symon - Cleveland rocks!) competed to make award-winning food out of leftovers and discards. Along the way, they learned the extent of food waste in America today.

According to the show, about 40 percent of food is never eaten. For every American man, woman, and child, 200 pounds of perfectly good food winds up in the trash every year.

New York City chef (and show participant) Alex Guarnaschelli had some suggestions after the show for how to reduce waste.

Mary and I were shocked. Sure, we suspected there was some discard, but this much? I do remember, as a child, picking apples with my family and growing a large garden. "Real" food isn't always as perfect as the magazine pictures - even if it's just as tasty.

And think what could be done with food that isn't perfect but tastes fine and isn't a hazard - schools, food pantries, homeless shelters. Some blog comments attacked government regulations for standing in the way. I don't know how much that's a factor, although I'm sure it plays some role. But re-regulating is tricky business, with loads of unintended consequences. Maybe companies could be more intentional about their usage and donating practices, though....

We're definitely going to reconsider and revise our food buying habits after watching "The Big Waste." No date has been set for the show to repeat, but if you see it, watch it.

Nose Buried in a Book

2012-01-20T15:20:00.005-06:00

I spent a lot of my childhood and youth absorbed in reading - everything from children's biographies of "great Americans" to the encyclopedia, from Sherlock Holmes to Tolkein. And I still love to get books as gifts, or from the library, or recommended by friends and family.

Rex Stout's mystery character Nero Wolfe was often portrayed as reading three books at the same time - not literally all open at the same time, but reading through them alternately. You know what I mean....

I wound up in that spot myself after Christmas, with a gift-book from my son, another for my birthday from my step-daughter, and one I still hadn't finished yet. So this week I finally finished the Christmas book, after I'd already finished the (shorter) birthday book - and now I'm getting back to the original one of the three.

Not as easy as Nero Wolfe made it seem, which doesn't surprise me. I've had to reconnect with, and review, the first book I started (and abandoned). It was probably easy to abandon because it was the most discomfiting.

Anyway, I made nice comments about Diarmaid MacCulloch's Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years earlier. But having finished it, they still hold true. He's a great writer, provides lots of helps (including important cross-references to previous mentions of quickly-gone-over issues or persons), and doesn't overlook minor themes in Christian history and thought. I still can't remember all the differences between Miaphysites, Dyophysites, Monothelites, and the raft of other "heresies." But that's my fault; not his.

I also read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I like mysteries, and this was a good one. The author (the late Stieg Larsen) creates memorable characters you want to know more about. He sets up the plot and its climax with great care and detail. And the entire story is believable enough that I'm looking forward to reading the next two books in the series.

However, I don't think I want to see the movie. There's definitely some graphic and disturbing content, none of which seems gratuitous. But personally, it's easier to handle on the printed page; I'm not interested in seeing those scenes dramatized visually.

And to follow-up the week's earlier comments about public Christianity and politicians, here's the Dalai Lama: "Politicians need religion even more than a hermit in retreat. If the hermit acts inspired by bad motivation, he'll harm only himself. But if a politician, who can directly influence an entire society, acts with bad motivation, a large number of people will experience negative consequences." (My Spiritual Journey, HarperOne)

And Gandhi: "Ask the poor. They will tell you who the Christians are." (quoted in Shane Claiborne's The Irresistible Revolution)

Does It Have to Be One or the Other?

2012-01-18T09:14:00.002-06:00

There's a YouTube video making the rounds these days, Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus by Jefferson Bethke, a poet from Tacoma, Washington.

Not surprisingly (remember John Lennon and "Imagine"? "Imagine there's no heaven, and no religion, too...."), Bethke has his supporters and detractors. Tony Jones gets a bit snarky and impatient with a 20-something's idealism, and in reactive defense I'm reminded of Dar Williams' "Teenagers, Kick Our Butts."

Nadia Bolz Weber has a more restrained (and therefore more helpful) response that affirms Bethke's dissatisfactions while also affirming things he overlooks.

Meanwhile, Roger S. Gottlieb asks, Are Any Christians Running for President? It not only reflects some of the Bethke's discontent, but also some of the dissatisfaction with Tebow that I mentioned yesterday....

Gottlieb focuses on announced Republican candidates for this year's presidential election, but that is not to say that Democratic candidates are any better at actually putting their espoused faith into practice. Assuming that President Obama will run again and that he will somehow talk about his faith as a guiding influence, it might be interesting to ponder (or to ask him outright) where in the Bible it suggests that we assassinate Osama bin-Laden, or restrict domestic liberties.

I think the bottom line is that honest faith is difficult to align completely with pragmatic politics. But listen, read, form your own opinion - and hey, maybe we can bat it around some Saturday evening.

To Tebow or Not to Tebow

2012-01-17T09:34:00.001-06:00

With apologies to the Bard.... I bumped into an interesting online discussion over the last couple days. A multimedia resource website asks, Do We Need Christian Celebrities? and the answer is equivocal but supportive. Tim Tebow, Justin Bieber and the like can set a good example of faithfulness in adversity, it says. We don't "need" them but can be grateful for them.

On the other hand, friend Wes Ellis blogs about My Beef with Tebow. And he makes an important point that registered in my gut before I had the words to express it.

"My real beef is with what has become the accepted cultural evidence of a person's faith. His example, to me, represents the status quo... a superficial sort of Christianity (not that Tim is necessarily superficial in his own faith). What if Tebow's work in helping orphans was the real testament of his faith in Christ?"

That's what grates me about the first article. It gushes that "John 3:16 has probably never in the history of the world had more widespread attention than when Tim Tebow played football." Really? Seriously? That's the kind of fawning the same article goes on to criticize, albeit rather back-handedly.

I just can't get too excited about Tim Tebow - no matter how wonderful he may be in real life or on the football field - when I see people all around me making a concrete and compassionate difference in people's lives, and getting absolutely no credit or press for it.

On another topic, related to yesterday's Martin Luther King observance, here's Wynton Marsalis on King.
      By the time I became a teenager, the street-level perception was: King had seemed
      too willing to make nice for white folks," Marsalis says. "For us, the dashiki clad,
      big-afro revolutionary was it. This was 350 years of oppression come crashing
      down on you, and here King is asking you to whisper instead of holler. Man, you
      must be crazy.

      But let's not forget. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. paid the ultimate price to bring our
     nation together in the fight for freedom. The power in national unity, is something
      that we've forgotten. It's up to us to revive and sustain it, today and always.

The full report is on CBSNews.com. Thanks to Josh Privitt for this!

Wrestling with History

2012-01-16T11:28:00.004-06:00

Mary and I love living here in Columbia. The city features lots of things we appreciate and enjoy. But I'm having some ambivalence about history, which normally I love.

A variety of buildings downtown sport bronze plaques, identifying this or that historical event. The "columns" are unmistakeable. And I'm regularly intrigued by the daily Civil War-era notes in the local paper.

Still, I have to grit my teeth once in a while. Occasionally there's been a notice about slave sales in those Civil War remembrances - 150 years ago, but here in my new hometown.

And a week or so ago, I noticed a large memorial "rock" with attached plaque in front of the county courthouse, memorializing Confederate soldiers. Specifically, the plaque (donated in 1935 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy) cites the "valor and patriotism" of Confederate soldiers from Boone County.

Individual valor there may have been, but patriotism? - I don't think so. The southern states rebelled against their lawfully elected federal government, not because of "states' rights" as so many apologists still want to claim, but to continue to keep other human beings in bondage.

Other arguments were developed - both during the War, to elicit support from non-slave-owning southerners, and afterward, to attempt to reunite the country emotionally. But the awful truth is that one side was sinfully wrong, and to attempt to justify its actions or whitewash its cause is equally wrong.

And on a day when our nation pauses to honor the legacy of freedom and equality championed by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I have to express my sadness at the continuing existence in our midst of a symbol "honoring" those who would have kept him and his people in chains. It will be on my mind this evening, as I walk and worship in one of Columbia's King celebrations.

It Still Feels "New"

2012-01-09T15:14:00.004-06:00

Nine days in, I'm still in "New Year's" mode. And I know it's an artificial marker, a human construct to organize time and order life.

But such things do help us make sense of the world around us - and hey, I'm all for being organized and orderly!

Wes Ellis at Living in the Kingdom blog posted Shane Claiborne's 12 Hopes for 2012 the other day. Claiborne is an author and activist for social and spiritual change, and I'm working through his book The Irresistible Revolution, when I'm not wading through MacCulloch's Christianity.

I like his 12 Hopes. They seem both practical and humanly possible. And shouldn't we resolve to do things we can actually accomplish? Check it out!

Let's Hope It's a Good One!

2012-01-02T15:16:00.000-06:00

John Lennon's "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)" includes the hope that a new year will be "a good one, without any fear." Don't know if I dare wish for all of that - although it would be nice.

We've started the New Year with some un-decorating (the entire process will take most of the week, since we're back at work tomorrow). We held an open house yesterday, for church folk and people Mary works with. And everything still looked festive.

But now it's time to put nutcrackers and lights, snowmen and Santas away for another year. Which always feels like an ending - church, for instance, always seems rather drab for a few weeks after the Christmas decorations are gone.

Yet, as the calendar attests, it really is a beginning. An entire year stretches out before us, complete with a leap year's extra day. So much might be done....

We had friends and family members who experienced tragedy in their lives in 2011; at least one surgery is scheduled for the next couple weeks. But unlike some years in my past (in everyone's), last year looks pretty good in hindsight, and the coming year holds promise.

Of course, one can never predict what might happen. But one can hope, and so I do - for myself, my family and friends, and for the world. "No fear" would be nice, indeed.

Reading My Way Out of the Year..

2011-12-31T12:11:00.001-06:00

...and into the next. Got Diarmaid ~~McCullough's~~ MacCulloch's Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years for Christmas, and I've been wading through it while on vacation. Or perhaps "slogging" would be a better description - it's over 1000 pages.

So far, though, it's quite a good book, comprehensive and well-written. MacCulloch includes more information on smaller branches of Christianity than many such surveys - important stuff on Syriac Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches, for instance. Heavily footnoted, and with liberal references to other parts of the book, making connections between various ideas and how they worked out.

Still, it's making me scratch my head. I'm in the first 1000 years of Christianity (MacCulloch's "first" of three thousand years is the Greek and Jewish background from about 1000 BCE), and I'd forgotten - or pushed out of my mind - all the supposed heresies and such I studied in school.

Antiochene or Alexandrian, Miaphysites and Dyophysites, Monothelites and Arians, "Spiritual" Franciscans and Albigensians, homoousios or homoiousios. I could never keep it all straight, or understand why this or that fine shading of difference was such a big deal that people had to be killed for it. Still can't....

Take the Greek words just above - two attempts in the first 300 years or so to describe with precision just how Jesus was also God. The "same" essence/substance, or "similar" essence/substance - what a difference an i makes, enough that bishops got into fistfights over it. Ah, the religion of love and compassion!

I've never claimed to be systematic in my beliefs; I think there's way too much we don't know, can't know, are too limited to understand. Thomas Aquinas wrote a systematic theology of 61 volumes, and it wasn't even finished when he died.

So it's good, every few chapters, to read something encouraging when MacCulloch tells of, say, an enlightened mystic or pope or emperor, etc. It reminds me that this terribly human enterprise never strays wholly away from the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

And I am grateful that the folks I live and serve with are more interested in how to live faithfully day by day, how to serve their neighbors, how to bring love and compassion into the world than precise and systematic definitions of everything under the sun.

Because that's really what it's all about, as I see it, and what I hope to be doing more of in the coming year. Happy New Year, everyone! Let's make it a good one.

I'll Be Home for Christmas

2011-12-24T10:58:00.000-06:00

I was raised in church parsonages - in fact, except for my college and seminary years, I actually lived in some church's parsonage from age 3 to age 38. Obviously then, Dad (and sometimes Mom, too) worked on Christmas Eve and every few years, Christmas Day.

One thing this meant was, we never spent time with grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and assorted other relatives at Christmas. Try getting 5 kids ready to travel cross-country after an 11 pm Christmas Eve service....

I remember asking about that one young year, probably after hearing about some schoolmate planning to see this relative or that one. Mom and Dad's answer was that "we are a family, and we spend Christmas together."

All well and good, until my siblings and I started to get married and have kids - and deal with the expectations of both sets of grandparents. Because if we were "a family" when I was 9, we were still a family expected to "spend Christmas together" whenever possible.

It took some very tactful, and repeated explanations before staying at home for Christmas became acceptable. But after a busy season with high expectations, and the weeks of preparation before that even starts, it's very nice to take a week off and do close-to-nothing.

Fred Schmidt at Patheos blog writes about "Forced Family Fun," and reading it stirred up these memories and reflections. But truth be told, they bubble up to the surface every year, because no matter where I've been, there are always several families taking the holiday shuttle from one house to another, negotiating time schedules and travel and traditions.

And while I have experienced a regular sense of comfort and familiarity in the midst of my large family, at occasional holidays and reunions, I also sense the heightened expectations and possibility for something to go awry.

So I like Schmidt's recommendations, particularly the last: Treat Christmas like the holy day it is.

Here's to a truly Merry Christmas for us all!

Is There Room Here, or Not?

2011-12-22T14:58:00.003-06:00

E. B. White, essayist and author of Charlotte's Web, once wrote, "If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."

That's certainly true during the Christmas season, at least in my perspective!

Five days ago, our Saturday-evening alternative service The Welcome-Place had a visitor. Dr. Kirk Sinclair, the Hiking Humanitarian, is an author who is walking 5000 miles across the country to raise awareness about health, housing, and hunger.

Kirk spoke for several minutes during our open-discussion time, talking about some of the lessons he's learning as he interacts with people doing community ministry across our land. He talked about the importance of the "community" nature of civic ministry, and I resonated a lot with his Four Points (which I hope he posts on his website soon, because I warned him I'd forget them, and I did).

The first two points I remember, at least. 1. Every project needs a catalyst - that is, someone or some group that sees the need and gets a response started.

But 2. That catalyzing person or group needs to bring in others. If the project remains the "sole property" of one person or group, it will never generate larger sympathy, resources, and energy. If people can brush off a need by saying, "So-and-so will take care of it; they always have," the thing will eventually fall apart.

He also talked about having everybody both contribute to and benefit from a community ministry project, so it isn't viewed as something "we" do "for them." Lots of wisdom in what Kirk had to say.

I've just started reading Shane Claiborne's book The Irresistible Revolution. And the other day I found an article on Brian McLaren's blog about Shane and his brand of "radical monasticism."

The quote in the second paragraph really caught my eye, and made me think of the homeless ministry I've become involved in here, which supports a daytime drop-in center five days a week. Many of our supporters are also involved with Room at the Inn, a winter overnight shelter that's starting its third year.

The quote was, "How can you worship a homeless man on Sunday and evict him on Monday?"

Housing is one of the issues on Kirk Sinclair's agenda, and it's certainly something this community needs to wrestle with - as many communities do in the USA. There's been an incredible increase in Columbia's population over the last 10 years - my neighborhood didn't exist when my son attended college here in 2000-2003.

But an equally incredible number of people are teetering right on the edge. Over 200 public-school children in our city did not have a permanent address last year. Several mobile-home parks are closing in the next few months, and residents have few options and fewer available funds.

I don't have any easier answers today than I did yesterday. But once again, I think it's important for any of us who desire to be faithful, to wrestle with the questions. What is our responsibility to our brother or sister? How much can we - should we - sacrifice from our own comfortable lifestyles for the sake of others?

A few weeks ago I quoted Thomas Merton in my Sunday message.

      Into this world, this demented inn,
      in which there is absolutely no room for him at all,
      Christ has come uninvited.
      But because he cannot be at home in it,
      because he is out of place in it,
      and yet he must be in it,
      his place is with those others for whom there is no room.

How shall we take our place with, and make room for, those whom Christ is already with? Suggestions welcome....

Balancing Acts

2011-12-22T11:30:00.000-06:00

Over the past couple weeks, a Facebook friend (and former colleague) has posted a couple articles that got me thinking - especially as she wound up "caught in the middle" in a fortunately minor way.

Home-improvement giant Lowe's stopped advertising on the TLC reality-show "All-American Muslim" after a small conservative-Christian group criticized the show as a "danger to American liberties and traditional values."

First off - what utter hoo-hah. The conservative group obviously doesn't watch the program, or else is so traumatized by anything that's the least bit different from what they believe that all rational thought has left them.

The fact is, we're a very diverse nation and getting more so all the time. We've got to learn to live with each other, and an important part of that is learning about each other. Listening politely to someone explain what they believe does not automatically cause conversion to their beliefs. But it is an essential factor in getting along.

So my friend decides she'll have to buy her Christmas tree at another large home-improvement store, in protest against Lowe's. Which (a) is her right and privilege, and (b) is one of those decisions by which we live out our beliefs, rather than just talking about them.

But lo and behold, the other large home-improvement chain, Home Depot, has its own problems. Seems a large number of the products it sells are produced by companies owned and controlled by the Koch Brothers, who have ties to the Tea Party, the John Birch Society, and a variety of other very conservative organizations.

Whether you agree with them or not is beside the point right now. What I saw happening through my friend's Facebook posts was the uncovering of a significant dilemma: If I want to live fully in accord with my beliefs, then I do not want to support those with whom I disagree.

But in a complex, interconnected world, how do I (a) know what to avoid and (b) avoid it while still purchasing the products I need? When does my desire to "walk the walk" make life too difficult (acknowledging that faithfulness entails sacrifice)? I don't have an answer for this one.

At one point in my life, a much-younger me thought the solution was simple, and wasn't aware of the range of unintended consequences with boycotts, however well-intentioned. For instance, boycotting a store because of the product(s) it sells may indeed "send a message" to corporate headquarters - if enough people do it. But what about the effect of a business downturn on the local men and women who work there and rely on the wages that store provides?

Walmart is a case in point. The company seems to exercise an incredible amount of leverage over producers, negotiating deep price discounts. It also seems to keep wages and benefits as low as possible, and often takes business away from locally-based merchants.

But it does provide an incredible number of jobs to people who might have nothing otherwise, and its low prices certainly allow low-income families to stretch their meager dollars. So, is Walmart all bad?

Again, I don't have an answer. But I do think it's important to raise the question and not avoid it. Because we ought to be thinking regularly about how our faith is put into practice in daily life - not only in how we do our jobs or relate with our friends and family, but on the purchases we make and the influence we exercise on our society.

And because this is a heavy topic for this close to Christmas, here's something to laugh about.

Christmas Greetings

2011-12-21T12:05:00.000-06:00

Geoffrey Black, General Minister & President of the United Church of Christ, shares his Christmas greetings with our denomination and the world:

"Dear sister and brother travelers and followers of the way;

With you I share the joy of anticipation of even greater joy:

It is the joy that comes in the assurance of God’s love for us and God’s eternal presence with us."

(read more...)

A "New" Song for Christmas

2011-12-16T08:40:00.000-06:00

Just bought James Taylor's several-years-old Christmas album - okay, it's a CD, but I'm "seasoned" enough to remember large black vinyl discs.... Anyway, I love James Taylor's sound, and this is almost without fault. (Yes, I'm also picky.) The producer was jazz artist Dave Grusin, and this is a song he co-wrote that I am really liking.

A Modern Magnificat?

2011-12-12T11:09:00.002-06:00

One of the traditional lessons of Advent is the Magnificat, Mary's hymn of praise in Luke 1. And it puts a completely different spin on Mary and on Christmas.
"[God] has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; [God] has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty." (Luke 1:52-53)

I have a natural reluctance to getting too involved in "campaigns" and "issues"; while the world is definitely not operating the way I believe God wants, our human imperfections prevent us from seeing perfectly how to fix things. And so thoughtful, well-intentioned Christians can and do disagree on how to help the disadvantaged in our society.

But it's becoming more and more clear, as I read and listen to friends and colleagues, that something must be changed in the way we order our society and how we make opportunities for work and advancement available.

A group of clergy have drafted a "call to action," and I have been asked to sign on. After pondering the matter for a week, I realized that I have to do so, if I'm to be faithful to the Word I hear God speaking. The statement can be found here.

I'm pleased that it does not recommend a specific plan of action for our nation's leaders but seems to recognize that many means might lead us to the end we seek. But I also appreciate its insistence that the way things are now isn't right, and that we can do better.

This coming weekend, our church's worship services will be visited by the Hiking Humanitarian, Kirk Sinclair. Sinclair - a UCC member from Connecticut - is walking across the US with his wife Cindy, to raise awareness around issues of hunger, health, and housing.

I invite you, in the spirit of Advent, to reflect on Mary's hymn and consider how each of us might help our nation's leaders live up to our potential, especially providing meaningful opportunities for the disadvantaged and disenfranchised.

Charlie Brown vs. Christmas

2011-12-11T15:35:00.001-06:00

Not that I want to pile on Bill O'Reilly, but I can't help passing this along - just 'cause I love A Charlie Brown Christmas so much! It's my absolute favorite Christmas movie - love the story, love the music, love the whole "that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown" moment.

So here's an editorial from the Minneapolis-St. Paul StarTribune, with some details on how A Charlie Brown Christmas came to be. "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!" And Merry Christmas to us all.

Movie Review, Second-Hand

2011-12-10T12:34:00.001-06:00

Friend Wes Ellis at Living in the Kingdom reviews the conservative hullabaloo about The Muppets movie. Seems it perpetuates "class warfare," according to Fox News.

How anyone can criticize the Muppets, I don't know! I mean - Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, Elmo - and my personal favorite, the Count ("Seven. That's seven Muppets mentioned in the same sentence!")

My favorite version of Charles Dickens' classic Christmas tale is The Muppet Christmas Carol with the great Michael Caine.

Don't know whether we'll get to see the Muppets at the theater this year, but with grandchildren, I'm sure I'll see it sooner or later. So as Johnny Carson used to say in occasional skits: Come on, Fox News; lighten up!

Passing along a Prayer

2011-12-06T14:24:00.001-06:00

Advent is always a time for sharing spiritual resources one finds - how many forwarded emails have you received already?

I thought this was a lovely prayer - and a significant reworking (especially in the last two lines) by Brian McLaren, who writes:

I'm a subscriber to an email list that sent out this prayer today from St. Augustine:

Christmas Prayer
Let the just rejoice,
for their justifier is born.
Let the sick and infirm rejoice,
For their saviour is born.
Let the captives rejoice,
For their Redeemer is born.
Let slaves rejoice,
for their Master is born.
Let free men rejoice,
For their Liberator is born.

St. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-440)

I couldn't help but wonder why the prayer didn't go like this:

Let the guilty rejoice,
for their justifier is born.
Let the sick and infirm rejoice,
For their saviour is born.
Let the captives rejoice,
For their Redeemer is born.
Let slaves rejoice,
for their liberator is born.
Let free men rejoice,
For their Master is born.

We may have different opinions but...

2011-12-01T14:47:00.001-06:00

People often have different opinions about things, but usually there are resources to turn to, to determine the facts in the matter.

Lots of people are still divided on the issue of same-gender marriage. Those who oppose it sometimes state that same-gender couples somehow can't be as effective parents as male-female couples, or that the children will somehow be less capable, or that same-gender couples want something "special" that male-female couples (like my wife and me) don't have.

Fortunately, there are resources to turn to, to determine the facts in this particular matter. And here's one that's been making the rounds lately.

Zach Wahls is an Iowa college student, scored high on his ACT, made Eagle Scout - and speaks to the Iowa legislature about his family. It's worth a listen.

Advent - a Little Differently

2011-11-29T09:42:00.001-06:00

The season of Advent opens a new year in the life of the Church. September may be the start of "regular" programming in most congregations - Sunday school, fellowship groups, etc. - but Advent is the beginning of the calendar we build our worship life around.

Unlike the world around us, we don't jump right into celebrating the Birth of Jesus at the beginning of Advent. Instead, Advent revolves around two things (at least): preparing ourselves for the coming of the Christ-child, and recalling the ancient-and-ever longing of God's people for deliverance from bondage.

We may be bound to many things in our lives, in unhealthy or oppressive ways. The Hebrew people cried out for deliverance from slavery in Egypt. The Israelites ached for release from exile in Babylon. Jesus' contemporaries looked for freedom from Roman domination.

What bondage do we long to be delivered from? What fetters weigh us down and hold us back from living faithful lives? These are what Jesus comes to deliver us from, whatever they may be. And that is what Christmas is really all about.

To get a fresh sense for all this, my Sunday morning reflections include songs from the Broadway musical West Side Story. Which is not as odd as it sounds. Last Sunday, for instance, a guest soloist sang "Something's Coming," which definitely suggests God's response to our need for a Deliverer.

Of course, not all the songs from West Side Story fit. So I have to include one of my favorites here. My son introduced me, several years ago, to a 1996 recording of the West Side Story soundtrack. The songs were sung by a variety of artists from different genres.

The absolute best one, in my opinion - and definitely the most fun - is "I Feel Pretty" by the marvelously outrageous Little Richard. Take a listen....

A Thanksgiving Prayer

2011-11-22T14:49:00.001-06:00

Years ago, Walter Rauschenbusch (a leading light in the Social Gospel movement) wrote this prayer. Thanks to Brian McLaren for passing it along!

O God, we thank you for this earth, our home;

For the wide sky and the blessed sun,
For the salt sea and the running water,
For the everlasting hills
And the never-resting winds,
For trees and the common grass underfoot.

We thank you for our senses

By which we hear the songs of birds,
And see the splendor of the summer fields,
And taste of the autumn fruits,
And rejoice in the feel of the snow,
And smell the breath of the spring.

Grant us a heart wide open to all this beauty;

And save our souls from being so blind
That we pass unseeing
When even the common thornbush
Is aflame with your glory, O God our creator,
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

And may your Thanksgiving be filled with the remembrance of blessings past, and of promises future.

Making Sure that Church Is Safe

2011-11-14T10:46:00.001-06:00

Recent events at Penn State, and reminders of a similar scandal with the Boston Red Sox in the 1970's, should - and probably do - raise questions in many parents' minds. "How safe is my child's school/sports team/church?"

Most organizations have become much more aware of the possibility of abuse since the scandals in Roman Catholic congregations in the 1980's. Most have put safeguards into practice, or reinforced those they already utilized.

But it's still possible for people to think, "it can't happen here." Unfortunately, the truth is that it can. In a presentation by Dr. Jaime Romo several years ago, I learned the following statistics:

by age 18, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 8 men will have experienced sexual abuse (from "inappropriate touch" to worse)
90% of abusers are known by the victim
90% of abusers have never been caught

So yes, it can "happen here" - anywhere. And it's not about sinister strangers, and background checks are not a fail-safe guarantee. So it's important for every organization to develop policies and practices that safeguard children and foster a culture of safety.

I'm glad that our congregation is already working to reinforce and coordinate the practices of its several programs. Of course our preschool, Little One's Day Out, follows state staffing requirements and practices a variety of other safe behaviors. As I assured parents at the annual Open House in September, we take seriously their trust, and our responsibility to care for their children.

Our Sunday-school and youth programs also have developed and follow a variety of "best practices" to maintain a safe atmosphere for our children. Our nursery staffers are background-checked and are known by members, and our ministry staff receive "boundary awareness" training every three years from our regional office.

But we're not going to rest on that. At Church Council tomorrow night, we'll talk about what else we ought to do to be as safe as we can be. It's not always a comfortable conversation, but it's necessary and important, because of the lives we're entrusted with.

What Do We Stand for?

2011-11-09T14:56:00.000-06:00

Fred Schmidt at Patheos writes cogently about "the issue-driven church."
It's worth a read, because it succinctly expresses some qualms I've had for a long time - not to mention pointing out some reactions I've witnessed over the years among good church people.

I think this can be a particularly relevant thought for a church like ours, because we're the only UCC congregation in town.

In some places, there might be two or three churches of a single denomination. That allows Church A to fill a certain niche, while Church B fills another and Church C still another - all while maintaining the denomination's presence. Columbia has that among Disciples, Baptist, and Presbyterian congregations, to mention a few.

But we're the only UCC congregation for at least half an hour in any direction. Which means, to me, that we have a responsibility to be accessible and welcoming to those of our denomination who hold a variety of views on issue X or Y or Z.

I find Schmidt's suggestions (on the second page) to be spot-on:

lift up the God who is both with us and different from us,
be clear about what the Christian story is, distinct from the surrounding culture,
focus on what God desires and not what is in our (national/ethnic/racial/whatever) interest, and
talk back regularly, often, and clearly to our denomination.

If we do all this, he suggests, we may wind up making lots of people uncomfortable. But if everyone's unhappy about it, it's quite possible we're doing the right thing.

Halloween & Other Holidays

2011-10-31T11:14:00.001-05:00

It's Halloween, of course. I've already passed out treats to the preschoolers here at church, and I'll be sitting by the front door at home this evening.
I also teased the children at church yesterday, during my weekly chat with them in worship. None of them wanted the broccoli I brought! But all of them took the candy. There's good, and then there's good, I guess.... Teehee.

Jonathon Fitzgerald at Patheos writes about his experiences with Halloween - or, as his church observed it, Hallelujah Night.

I like his idea of celebrating El Dia de los Muertos instead this year. That was something we got glimpses of in heavily Hispanic southern California. As Fitzgerald notes, it better reflects the All Saints focus at the root of Halloween (All Hallows' Evening).

We did something of that at our worship service yesterday, remembering our members who have died in the past year in the German Evangelical tradition of Totenfest. Our commitment to each other in the bonds of Christian community calls us to walk with each other all the way through the end of earthly life.

The other event we referenced during yesterday's worship was Reformation Day. For those of us in Protestant traditions, the call to be semper reformanda - always reforming - is a constant challenge to our human tendency to inertia and institutionalization, comfort and compromising.

But I think Diana Butler Bass, also at Patheos, may go a bit far when she talks about Putting the Protest Back in Protestant. It's just too easy to say that "Protestant" comes from Martin Luther's "protest" against certain practices of the Church of his day.

Actually, the word is rooted in pro testare - to speak for (not against). And yes, our modern protest comes from the same place. But if protesting - marches, sit-ins, boycotts, etc. - are all that Protestant churches are about; if "the heart of Protestantism is the courage to challenge injustice and to give voice to those who have no voice," where's Jesus and grace and reconciliation? Where's the Dominion of God which is not like any of the kingdoms or systems of this world?

I'm as upset as anyone about the current economic situation in our society. Brian McLaren quotes Eugene Robinson on the extreme disparity between the middle and lower classes and the upper class.

But that argument - or any other "issue" - is not "the heart" of our faith. If it were, UCC would stand for the United Church of Causes.

Instead, the "justice" proclaimed by prophets and Gospels is of a different character than the "justice" demanded by protesters and social advocates. It's more akin to the reclaimed and repentant relationships built by South Africa's truth and reconciliation commissions, which were not about "sticking it to the Man" but making space for people to confess and forgive and reconnect.

The Church of Jesus Christ is different - and so we cannot simply follow along with the program of any social justice group, no matter how correct they may seem. We can definitely promote and work for fairness and equality, but we need also and especially to advocate and act for reconciliation, not just a change in "who's on top."

Media & Messages

2011-10-25T14:32:00.002-05:00

Friend and former colleague Wes Ellis of Living in the Kingdom nudged me, once again, to add to my reading list a few months ago. So yesterday at lunch, I finished Shane Hipps's Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith.

It was a good read - thanks, Wes! Hipps, relying heavily on Marshall McLuhan, reviews a variety of ways of communicating and suggests that the format of any communication affects the content of the message.

Therefore, how we communicate our faith affects how we perceive that faith. For instance, once the printing press came into use, faith was communicated through books (like individually owned Bibles) and was perceived primarily as a set of arguments, doctrines, rationalizations, and so on that could be logically detailed and definitively defined. Faith became holding the correct ideas about God.

Hipps moves through a series of descriptions about various stages and styles of communication and winds up (of course) reflecting on how God communicates through the person of Jesus Christ, and through Christ's ongoing Body the Church.

And he recounts several discussions with folks who have unsatisfying experiences of Church and Christians. It's a subject we spent some time on last Saturday evening, during our "Reflections on Life & Faith" at The Welcome-Place.

I was intrigued by what Hipps had to say, and plan to share it with The Welcome-Place crowd this Saturday evening - and right now. From pages 168-170 of the hardcover edition:

"If God's chosen medium for his message was the person of Jesus Christ, and the church is the body of Christ, that means God has chosen the church to extend his revelation in a special way. The church exists to embody and proclaim the good news of God's kingdom. [So far, so good.] If the medium is the message, the message of the gospel is conveyed by the medium of the church's life in the world. [Which is where it gets problematic for some people, and even hypocritical.]

"You cannot separate the medium from the message. The church is simply an expression of the gospel. The church is a direct reflection of Jesus, God's chosen medium sent to be - not just to proclaim - a message of healing and hope to the world....

"We are the message, in all our hypocrisy and fear, in all our giftedness and hope, in all our brokenness and bitterness, in all our faith and love, in all our gossip and self-righteousness, in all our grace and gratitude....

"Why would God choose such a frail, failing, and inconsistent medium to embody his abiding message?"

"Is it possible that God chose a collection of bent and bruised hearts to bear the message of redemption and reconciliation because that is a message in itself? [emphasis added] Maybe God chose a medium of weakness to reveal his stunning power to reach through human failure, sin, and sadness to grow new life....

"Whatever God's reasons for choosing the church to be the message, we should not confuse this idea with a demand for perfection. Our goal as a church is not perfection. [As Bruno Bettelheim wrote about parenting, "It's enough to be good-enough."] Such a goal only breeds greater hypocrisy and broadens our blind spots. Instead we might see, by God's grace, to become communities of humility, repentance, and authentic hope."

More Old Haunts

2011-10-17T14:52:00.001-05:00

While reading the story of Ulysses Grant's life, I had some flashbacks to the early years of my ministry.

The first church I served was a small country chapel a few miles north of Georgetown, Ohio. What I discovered one day, while driving around town, was that Georgetown was where Grant spent his childhood, until he entered West Point in 1839.

Being the historical-plaque lover that I am, I noticed a sign for the Grant Schoolhouse, and an arrow pointing to Grant's Childhood Home. But 25 years ago, neither was in decent repair or open for visitors regularly.

That's changed now, thankfully, and the sites seem to be in good shape and encourage visits. But it was a bit nostalgic to revisit those memories, and get a better idea of just how much of Grant's life actually took place in and was influenced by a former home of mine.

Old Haunts

2011-10-15T13:44:00.000-05:00

Seems like an appropriate title for October....

I'm continuing my anniversary reading about the Civil War, working now on Emory Thomas' biography of Robert E. Lee. The book dispensed fairly quickly with Lee's pre-war life, but one odd comment made me sit upright.

After graduating from West Point, Lee went into the Army's Engineer Corps. His second assignment was in Washington DC, assisting Corps head General Charles Gratiot. There was a lot of paperwork involved, and voluminous correspondence.

Thomas quotes one letter to illustrate the sheer dullness of the work. "The Vouchers for disbursements made during the first quarter of this year by Mr. Hubbard, Agent on Account of the improvement at Ashtabula Creek, Ohio...." The year is probably 1834 or 1835.

From 1986-1995 we lived in Ashtabula, Ohio, in the Harbor neighborhood. There's only one "Ashtabula" in the entire world. I do a double-take every time I hear it mentioned in Bob Dylan's "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome."

Two blocks from our house, overlooking a public beach, was the Hubbard House. At the time, it was in quite a state of disrepair, but plans had been made to turn it into a museum of the Underground Railroad, although funds were in short supply.

The Hubbard House was well-known in town as a stop on the Underground Railroad for escaped slaves, and the last point they arrived at before crossing Lake Erie to safety in Canada. We knew Hubbard descendants and worked with some of them in the community's Arts Center.

After a bit of research, it's my hunch that Lee's "Mr. Hubbard" was most likely William Hubbard, who came to what was then still the Connecticut Western Reserve to be the land agent for his uncle's real estate holdings. William later built the Hubbard House, and I knew his great-great grandson Tim.

I find it ironic that Hubbard, a strong abolitionist, is mentioned by Lee's biographer (though not in that context). And since I knew Tim, that makes me "six degrees" from Robert E. Lee!

In honor of "old haunts," here's Madeleine Peyroux's version of Dylan's song:

Not of This World?

2011-10-10T15:26:00.003-05:00

Over the weekend, I read a book called Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America, by Stephen G. Bloom. (Thanks, Jana!)

The author, who is Jewish, relocates with his family to Iowa to teach journalism at a university. After spending all his life in cities amid vibrant Jewish culture, Bloom is confronted by an almost completely Christian atmosphere and wonders how to accommodate it without losing his identity.

He learns of a Hasidic community in the northern Iowa town of Postville, centered around a kosher slaughterhouse and meat-packing business and decides to visit, in hopes that their experience of life away from large Jewish centers might inform his own.

Bloom's personal search becomes a book, as he discovers a brewing conflict in Postville between the very strict and idiosyncratic way of life of the Hasidim and the typical mores of the rural Midwest.

The Iowans, while slow to accept "outsiders" and newcomers, set great store in manners, fairness, going along with local traditions, and helping neighbors.

The Hasidim, on the other hand, isolate themselves from contact with others in order to protect themselves from outside influence and do not seem to care about coming to terms with their new neighbors.

Postville gave some things to think about. One of the latest "Christian" slogans is "Not of this world," found on car-window stickers and T-shirts. It comes from a passage in John's Gospel (17:15-16), in which Jesus prays that God protect his disciples who "do not belong to the world."

And throughout history, there have been a number of Christian groups who felt they must separate themselves from society and its ways, in order to maintain the integrity of their faith.

But how does that square with a God who choses to incarnate - become human - in order to redeem Creation? I've long loved Clarence Jordan's "Cotton Patch" version of John 1:14 - "The Word became a man and moved in with us."

According to Genesis, God declared Creation "good." And Jesus proclaimed the arrival of God's reign in and on this world rather than somewhere else.

It seems to me, then, that any attempt to isolate from the world and other people runs counter to what we've been called to do - to make visible God's Dominion in our midst and invite others to participate in it also.

That involves not only living personally moral lives, but witnessing for greater peace and justice in society, believing that God cares not only for individuals' eternal salvation but our just and equitable life as a community.

Ready for Some Football?

2011-10-05T10:10:00.001-05:00

Fall means football, of course, and that's particularly visible in a university town. Mary and I discovered that there's an implied dress code at the grocery store on Saturdays - team apparel! I love it.

I went to high school in east central Ohio - didn't play football, but where there's good football, there are good marching bands. I spent two years marching up and down the field, pregame and halftime, and in parades.

Good and bad experiences in that, and some personal learning in it. But on the edge of the Appalachians, an hour from Pittsburgh and Steeler country, football was an abiding and consuming passion.

Blogger Chelle Stearns writes about football, rituals, heroes, and faith at The Other Journal. She sees similarities between football and faith in the giving of money, the wearing of appropriate clothing, the vocal expressions of praise and lament, and the identification of heroes and leaders.

Stearns gives special focus to the heroes/leaders aspect and how the way we identify and describe them tells a lot about our underlying assumptions and priorities. She contrasts typical "warrior-hero" imagery with the "healer-hero" and presents the character Sam Gamgee from Tolkein's Lord of the Rings as an example.

Interesting analysis, and definitely worth a read!

Friend Wes Ellis in California posted yesterday on Rob Bell's apparent relocation to Los Angeles to consult on a new TV show. Wes comments on the general state of "Christian" media, and I generally agree with his assessment.

One example he missed - that I never watched but occasionally read about - was Joan of Arcadia, which gives me an excuse to put some music in: Joan Osbourne and the theme song.

Boo!

2011-10-03T14:56:00.003-05:00

This month's big holiday is Halloween, of course. And - wouldn't you know it? - somebody's out there trying to scare you.

Brian McLaren's regular contribution to Patheos reflects on the fear-mongering of Richard Land, a leader in the Southern Baptist Convention. Land claimed, in a recent radio broadcast, that LGBT activists are "recruiting" children in the public schools.

It's absolute balderdash, to be sure. But any accusation touted in the media seems to get accepted as Gospel-truth by a lot of people, so it's a dangerous, damaging lie. And it contributes to the ongoing anti-gay violence.

McLaren correctly points out the escalation of rhetoric in much "public discourse" these days. Advocates of one side or another seem more interested in scoring points than debating intelligently, honestly, and with a measure of humility.

I'm often reminded these days of the climactic speech by Michael Douglas' character in The American President. Douglas realizes that his opponent " is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections."

Perhaps. But our poisoned national conversation is an obvious victim, as is truth, as are all those innocent people run over by the lemmings heading toward the latest intellectual cliff.

How do Christians respond? McLaren urges us not to be afraid. That's a word that sounds from one end of the Bible to another: be not afraid. And as the apostle reminds us, "perfect love casts out fear."

Another Follow-Up

2011-09-29T15:42:00.000-05:00

A couple months ago, I posted about watching the movie The Adjustment Bureau and its presumption that there's "a plan" for everyone, "a reason" for everything that happens to us.

That question came up last weekend in our Saturday-evening service, The Welcome-Place. We have a time of open question-and-answer, when we hope the resources of our faith can shed some light on the events of our week.

Obviously, the question comes up all the time. Somebody dies, and somebody else says, it happened for a reason. There's a car accident or a natural disaster or a job loss, and somebody says, it's part of God's plan.

Christian Piatt confronts this damaging misconception in a post at TheOOZE blog. Alluding to the Buddhist teaching, "if you see the Buddha on the road, kill him," Piatt reflects on how easily we imagine a God in our own image, and how necessary it is for us to discard those inadequate images.

I particularly like his quote from Rousseau: "God created man in his own image. And man, being a gentleman, returned the favor." This was, obviously, not a good thing in Rousseau's opinion.

Or as poet Anne Lamott once wrote, if the God you believe in hates all the same people you do, then you know you've created God in your own image.

We'll be talking about "connecting with the Divine" this weekend at The Welcome-Place. I'm looking forward to hearing what questions come up, and what answers we find together.

And It's Begun!

2011-09-26T11:59:00.002-05:00

We opened The Welcome-Place 9 days ago - our church's new Saturday-evening worship experience. The first couple gatherings have been fun, and I'm grateful for all the support we've received.

One of the differences between The Welcome-Place and our more traditional Sunday-morning service is interaction. I wanted to build in intentional places for interaction between worship leader and worshippers and among worshippers. And I mean more than just typical unison prayers or responsive readings.

One of the churches I served in California had a weekly Q&A moment that was really refreshing, and often deeply informative. People raised questions about community issues, current movies and TV, life events - just about everything. (With good humor, the moment was known as Stump the Preacher!)

It takes time to get something like that started - to get everyone expecting it and comfortable with participating. But I think we've made a good beginning.

One of the questions that came up this past Saturday evening was about human choice - is our life-path predetermined by God or are we able to pick our own way? Of course, scripture is ambiguous on that. Jeremiah says that God knew him and called him to prophecy before his birth. But Paul challenges us to work out our own salvation.

Coincidentally, Brian McLaren received a question on this very topic recently. Here's a bit of his response: "Bottom line: the Bible never says God is in control. 'In control' derives its meaning from the world of machines and machine operation ... but the universe is not (merely) a machine, and God isn't a machine operator."

While wandering around the blogosphere, I also found a couple other interesting posts on Spencer Burke's The Ooze, which related to the kind of atmosphere we hope to create at The Welcome-Place. Bradley Duncan writes about The Non-Toxic Gospel. And Chuck Queen asks, Who Are You? Saint or Sinner.

Following Up on Things

2011-09-19T15:48:00.000-05:00

A few posts ago, I mentioned Shane Claiborne and Ben Cohen's event, Jesus, Bombs and Ice Cream. It was intended to be an alternative - and reflective - observance of 9/11. Here's a CNN report on what happened and what was discussed.

I also self-promoted our church's new worship service, The Welcome-Place, which began this past weekend. The Missourian, the newspaper of the University of Missouri's journalism school, sent a reporter to see what happened on the first evening.

Another Civil War History "Moment"

2011-09-17T11:58:00.000-05:00

Sorta like the old Bicentennial moments or Black History Month moments on TV....

We watched the 1989 movie Glory last night - Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington - these last, two of our favorite actors.

It's the story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first documented all-black unit in the Union Army.

The picture at left is the memorial to the 54th and its commander, Col. Robert Gould Shaw. It was done by Augustus Saint-Gaudens and is located on the edge of Boston Common across from the State House.

The film was powerful and inspiring - although for me, it raises the same hackles I experienced in my Civil War reading over the past few months and at various anniversary events.

As a boy, I remember reading a number of those old "biographies for boys" - varnished treatments of various historical figures that glossed over details, complexities, and embarrassments. Of course, several of them were about Civil War figures, including Confederate officers like Lee and Jackson.

But for all their fine family life, spiritual practice, personal magnetism or whatever, I just can't get past the fact that they were fighting to maintain slavery - to own other people (whom they would not credit as fully human).

Never mind the Southern apologists, old or modern; that's what the Civil War was about - slavery and the racism it was built on.

So I read or watch, and grit my teeth and stew inside - both at the tragedy of certain historical facts, and at the occasional attempt to whitewash the past and its meaning.

I mean, really - a Confederate flag, either on someone's pickup truck or flying from a state capitol? Nobody's trying to "be fair" to Tories or to justify anti-Revolutionary activities in the late 1700's.

And this is just personal venting, in a way - because I can. But during the movie last night, I marveled again at the commitment of some whites in the face of insult and obstacle and the nobility and courage of the men of the 54th Massachusetts.

A Wedding Story

2011-09-13T13:51:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I officiated at a wedding, about an hour away from home. It's certainly not the first wedding I've done in 28 years - far from it - and not the first one I've traveled to.

Last fall, not long after we arrived in Columbia, I got a frantic phone call. Young bride, wedding date set for the following weekend - and their minister had died. Tragic, and I'm glad I was able to help them out.

A nice young couple with loving families. They got married at a woodland "event center" - and the rain that was just hanging overhead all day really started dripping as the service began. But the bride wanted it outdoors, and we managed - with not a few umbrellas among the guests.

It went smoothly enough that one of the bridesmaids asked for my contact information, and a couple months later I got the first email from her. So last weekend I shared with these families for the second time.

Again, loving families, a smooth and easy ceremony with only the usual amount of imperfection. (I always tell couples that it's not "real" unless something goes a bit awry - and whatever it is, always gives something amusing to look back on.)

But of course, it was an odd weekend to plan a wedding. Saturday's date was an easy one to remember: 9-10-11. But it was also the anniversary weekend of 9/11, and there'd been news coverage all weekend long.

Yet here were these two, and their supportive families celebrating joyfully, and no conscious mention of the 10-year-old tragedy. And it made me think back to the Sunday after 9/11.

In the church I was serving at the time, we'd had New Member Sunday scheduled for several weeks. But one couple who was planning to join would be out of town. Still, several others were joining that Sunday, and this couple would "catch up" later.

Until the tragic events of 9/11, and that congregation was as packed as every other one across the country. And as I looked out across the crowd, I saw the couple who hadn't been planning to be there.

They told me that they just couldn't imagine being anywhere else on that day. When the time came to recognize new members, I made sure they came up with the rest.

And I realized as I introduced them all that they were making a powerful statement before the congregation. When all else in our country was still confused and fearful, these folks joining that church - and especially the two who had changed their plans at the last minute - they were all declaring visibly that there was hope yet to be found, and strength, and compassion enough to share.

My wedding couple and their families gave me the same strong impression. So many voices in our country - though there are exceptions - are still talking about fear, uncertainty, insecurity, reactiveness.

But these folks set that all aside - and I believe it was not unintentional - to focus on the love that binds people together and upholds the world.

In the first letter of John, the apostle writes, "No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in union with us, and [God's] love is made perfect in us." (TEV)

As two people come together from lives that were previously separate and different, they not only become united to each other in their wedding, but they unite their separate families into one, and their friendship circles, and all their acquaintances - and we who once were divided can never consider ourselves apart again.

It is that hopefulness - innocent, perhaps, but powerful and real nevertheless - that safeguards the future of the world.

Thinking & Praying on 9/11

2011-09-11T09:33:00.002-05:00

Over the last couple weeks, I've posted several things reflecting on, or responding to, the tenth anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11. Partly, it's my way of working through how I'm feeling.

But partly, I have this sense that we need to do more - this year and from now on - than simply "remember." We need to move on, to change, to do something differently.

I've had this hunch that we're stuck, as a nation, in a sense of being victims. And that's led us generally to support the measures our leaders promote - to attack, to curtail liberties, to hunker down in fear and watchfulness.

First, I think it's important on this day and in the midst of this sort of event/remembrance to pray - to intentionally ask for guidance from somewhere other than our culture and our own damaged spirits. A fellow blogging pastor offers a prayer this morning, recalling at the end the Easter promise which we so often gloss over in "real life."

We also need to turn to our tradition's resources, especially scripture. Lutheran pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber reflects on this morning's suggested Gospel text and its challenge to radical forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-35).

She writes: "And what’s really hard is forgiving people who have sinned against us. What’s really hard is to know what to do when out hearts are filled not with forgiveness and mercy but with rage.

"On this, the 10th anniversary of September 11—something that for many marks us Americans as people who have been sinned against in a profound and unforgettable way—a text on forgiveness, the likes of which we have here in Matthew 18, might be the perfect opportunity to speak a little truth about what is really in our hearts.

"The hardest question is this: From where will we attain this forgiveness for those who have caused us harm? I’ll tell you one thing for sure. It ain’t in my heart. No sir. It’s kinda dark in there."

UCC General Minister & President Geoffrey A. Black offered a Pastoral Letter on the UCC website. He concludes, in part: "My hope is that we use this anniversary as an opportunity to reflect on these ten years, the years of America’s longest war, and begin to chart a new direction.

"Perhaps [our living, loving and merciful God] is who we turn to and where we start as we contemplate beginning anew our work toward God’s just and peaceful realm 'on earth as it is in heaven.'"

Finally, Washington Post columnist E. J. Dionne suggests that it's "Time to Leave 9/11 Behind." In this anniversary year also of the beginning of the Civil War, he turns to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

"We have no alternative from now on but to look forward and not back. This does not dishonor the fallen heroes, and Lincoln explained why at Gettysburg. 'We can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow this ground,' he said. 'The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.' The best we could do, Lincoln declared, was to commit ourselves to 'a new birth of freedom.' This is still our calling."

Plenty here to think about...and to guide our praying on this day and in the days to come.

A New Month - A New Program

2011-09-07T09:34:00.001-05:00

As other blogging preachers have been noting recently, September means school begins again - and it also means the church year starts up anew.

That's not the liturgical Christian calendar, which begins on the first Sunday of Advent and ends with Reign of Christ Sunday in late November.

No, this is the "real" church calendar of programs, activities, and regular events; it roughly follows the school year and then basically goes on hiatus for the summer.

Well, we're back in the thick of things this week - Rally Day, Sunday school starting up, the choir returning in full force. It feels good.

We're also finally accomplishing something that's been 2 years in planning - a second, very different worship service at an alternative time.

We previewed music for the congregation last week. We've got flyers and postcards to distribute. And we've also been profiled in The Missourian, the university's newspaper.

So tell your friends and neighbors - make the invitation and let the Holy Spirit do the rest. Perhaps I'll see you on Saturday, Sept. 17?

What Flavor Would Jesus Eat?

2011-08-30T11:34:00.000-05:00

Last week I posted some comments from a collection of reflections on the 10th anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11.

How to address that anniversary continues to be a haunting question for me. I'm not convinced that "one more memorial service" is the answer.

So I've been promoting SERVE2011, the United Methodist Church's effort to observe the weekend with community service projects. Our Methodist neighbors here in Columbia are doing a great job of involving people from across the community.

Now activist/author Shane Claiborne and ice-cream mogul Ben Cohen are getting together on a different kind of observance. Claiborne reflects on his reasoning in a Patheos blog article. Don't miss Ben Cohen's video invitation at the bottom of the article.

After 10 years, it seems to me this is the kind of dialogue we ought to be having, to see what road our security-focused reactions have taken us down, as a nation founded on liberty and equality.
At the very least, honest discussion will be a good thing.

How Can We "Open Up"?

2011-08-29T12:15:00.000-05:00

I got a phone call last week. Someone was looking for a church and wondered if our church was "open and affirming."

It's not the first time I've received a call or email like that, and I'm actually glad whenever someone has a specific question to ask, rather than a vague "what's your church like?"

But that doesn't make it any easier to answer because, as I've commented before, the answer's not easy to pin down. Still, the discussion in the office afterward got me thinking.

"Open And Affirming" (also known as ONA) is United Church of Christ jargon for congregations that welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered (lgbt) persons unconditionally - into worship, membership, participation - as they are. About 10% of UCC congregations are officially Open And Affirming.

Of course, many other churches - including ours - accept and welcome lgbt persons. But to be explicitly ONA can be sign of assured safety and invitation, when so many Christians and churches are vocally anti-gay.

Yet many church people are concerned that taking on a label more specific than "Christian" or denomination can lead to a one-issue focus, spotlighting certain people and problems and potentially minimizing the rest of life.

I have served ONA churches in the past, quite happily. I have also heard lgbt persons say that they want to be part of a church that addresses their whole lives, and not just their orientation. In fact, the church Mary and I belonged to chose not to become ONA for many years for precisely that reason - they wanted everyone to be included and all of life to be celebrated equally.

And I think, really, that's the goal of ONA - not to develop a "gay church" but to help people get to the point of celebrating all of life in its many forms.

But when some people have historically been excluded, we need to do some intentional work to revise our thinking, speaking, and acting - and some intentional communicating to say that we've grown, or that "what everybody else says" doesn't represent our congregation.

And that, I think, is the gift of the Open And Affirming process and declaration. It teaches us something we may not have fully understood, and it communicates to others that we are, indeed, a safe and welcoming place.

And, as last week's phone call suggests, people are looking. Lgbt persons are seeking a place to practice and develop their faith. Parents and siblings of lgbt persons are seeking a fellowship that includes their family member, that doesn't demean someone they love.

So, how does a church become Open And Affirming, and then move beyond that? It seems to me that ONA can be seen as a bit artificial if it's not approached as an issue consistent with the rest of the church's mission. but a church doesn't look like a one-trick pony if ONA simply reflects a larger vision about what faith calls us to do and who God calls us to embrace.

Becoming explicitly Open And Affirming is a serious step - that's why the UCC recommends a many-month process of education and discussion rather than a simple yea-or-nay vote. And honestly, with everything else that's going on right now, I'm not ready for that commitment of time and energy yet.

But it's not going to go away, either - as last week's phone call clearly shows. So I hope my caller - and others - will be patient. Trust, for the present, my gut-sense of this church's foundation of hospitality.

And if we can walk together for a while, even a bit tentatively, I'm confident that - to paraphrase Jack Nicholson (to Helen Hunt) in As Good as It Gets - you'll make us want to be even better people.

Looking Back at 9/11, and Looking Forward

2011-08-25T16:33:00.000-05:00

In its August 23 issue, The Christian Century, a 127-year-old mainline-oriented magazine, printed reflections from several religious leaders on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy.

As we approach that date, I think it's important to consider what it ought to mean for us as people of faith and where it ought to lead us. I offer these brief quotes and commend the full articles (linked).

Scott Bader-Saye from Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest wrote, "I think the most significant change that occurred on 9/11 was that America became a victim.... The moral challenge for the victim comes in the temptation to use one's suffering as a shield to deflect moral questions, to say 'never again' and to whisper under one's breath, 'whatever it takes'.... Jesus does not allow Christians to take refuge in the blank check of 'whatever it takes.'"

Michael Lindvall, pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City, wrote about the National 9/11 Memorial, which several of his congregants are working on. "Human beings are united by many things, many of them perverse. People are united by race and language, sect and geography; too often they are united by hatred and anger. To be united by hope would be exceptional. The 9/11 memorial seeks to recall the spirit of exceptional unity in the nation and world in the days just after 9/11 - not wistfully, but in a way that dares to hope that such a spirit is ever a possibility."

Stephen Paul Bouman of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America wrote, after recalling ways that people helped others in the immediate aftermath, "I am more convinced than ever that a church in mission in these ways, a church that turns its face toward the poor and the stranger and to those hungry for a story and a vocation, a church that lifts up its voice in lament and that is rooted in community, will always be a church in renewal."

Robin Lovin of Southern Methodist University, wrote "We do not understand our ideals clearly enough to argue about how to implement them, so we argue about whether we are secure and what we can afford...it is hardly surprising that the arguments do not take us very far together.... [F]ear and uncertainty have taken their toll. Ten years later, we find ourselves less clear about who we are and less able to envision a common future than we were before."

And John Paul Lederach of the University of Notre Dame, wrote, "The profound truth of Jesus' life came home in the form of his simplest yet most radical act: befriending the enemy.... He chose love over fear, engagement over isolation and separation. What endures since 9/11 is the need to build relationships across our perceived divisions with those who see the world differently and with those whom we may most fear."

An Amusing Anniversary

2011-08-23T09:58:00.000-05:00

Tony Jones has a reminder, and brief discussion, about the upcoming 30th anniversary of Monty Python's Life of Brian.

Irreverent? Yes, but also perceptive and thought-provoking in some important ways. Check out the link to Tony's "Theoblogy" above, and don't miss the "New Statesman" article he references or the video clip!

And Now, Back to Real Life

2011-08-17T14:33:00.000-05:00

That's right; the fun's over. We're here to work. Life is short and brutish, and then we die. grimace

Well, I didn't mean that. All I meant was that I'm finished with silly vacation-notes and am moving on to something more relevant - at least, I hope so.

Wes Ellis links to a reprint of a two-year-old Shane Claiborne article, "What if Jesus Meant All That Stuff?" It continues to make its point. Wes also refers to Shane Hipps in another post, and now I have two more books on my reading list. Thanks, Wes - really!

Brian McLaren links to an article about religion professors in trouble at Calvin College. While the theology over there isn't mine, the basic question always needs to be asked: what "sacred cows" do I hold, unthinkingly?

That's where Carol Howard Merritt is going over at TribalChurch.org in this post about desires to be "inclusive" and things that get in the way.

Postcards from Vacation

2011-08-10T10:16:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I've been on vacation for a while. Good to go away, and good to be back home again. Some random thoughts that have been circling in my mind....

Read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. A powerful story of scientific progress and one family's collision with it. Mary's nephew is a research scientist, and I'm hoping he'll have some comments I can share.

As usual when I'm on the road for an extended period, I saw a number of stickers on cars. I don't know why I don't see as many in Missouri as I did in California - could be because I'm not putting in as many miles every day!

But of course we saw the ubiquitous "fish" symbol:

and its varient:

You can't see one of those without sooner or later seeing:

Which instigates the reaction:

My favorite, however, is:

Also, we had dinner last night at Julian in Kansas City, where we celebrated Thanksgiving last year. Chef Tio moved around the dining room again, and I joked that we flew in from California just to eat there. Loved the food, and wish it were closer! The chef was also a contestant on Top Chef Masters.

Grandkids

2011-07-30T12:25:00.000-05:00

I can't help showing them off.

I am a lucky man!

Time & Memory

2011-07-29T12:04:00.000-05:00

According to American Scholar several years ago, a Buddhist monk was visiting New York City. Needing to go somewhere, he was told by his Western host that they could save ten minutes by making a complex subway transfer at Grand Central Station.

When they emerged from underground in Central Park, the monk sat down on a bench. His host asked what he was doing. The monk replied, "I thought we should enjoy the ten minutes."

Once upon a time, there was such a thing as Sabbath. Businesses were usually closed, and very few community activities were scheduled, on Sundays. My first after-school job was in a brand-new mall, and the Sears store that anchored it paid extra rent to be closed on Sunday - the only store that did so.

Life marches on, and I'm not saying things are all bad right now. But we don't seem to have as much control over our time and busyness as perhaps we used to. Christine Valters Paintner writes about "The Holy Pause" and how to regain some influence over our lives and time.

I read an article a couple weeks ago, somewhere, that suggested Google (representing the whole search-engine phenomenon on the internet) is messing with our young people's minds. It said we don't need to remember things anymore, because we can just "google" what we want to know.

I've never been much of one for rote memorization - learning something "by heart" just for the sake of doing it. When I was a kid (is this post getting to be all about "when I was your age"?), an encyclopedia salesman actually came to our elementary school to sell the World Book to all our families. His catch-phrase, to convince us what a good thing it was to own an encyclopedia, was "We never guess; we look it up."

Boy, did I like that. Over the years, I probably read most of that set of encyclopedias (yes, my folks bought one), volume by volume, sitting over the warm-air vent during the winter. And even today, I tend to know where to look for the answer, rather than knowing what the answer is. So I don't know that Google's such a terrible thing for the human mind.

On the other hand, as Brian Kirk notes in two blog posts, Google has fine-tuned its operation so that you and I might look up the same thing but get somewhat different answers. It does that by referencing our previous searches to tailor your or my result to things that are similar to what we've looked for before. Read "The Google-fication of God, Part 1."

Kirk asks if this is what we're doing in our churches, and suggests there may be some non-negotiables in our faith that can't be tailored to my or your unique sensibilities. But he also ends up with some positive thoughts about Google and developing the habit of looking things up rather than just going with "what I think" off the top of our heads.

As long, he says, as we keep coming back to the source of our knowledge and faith, we'll do all right. For that, we need time - which circles right back to where I began. Not only "where" do we find insight for living our faith, but "when"?

Hittin' the To-Do List

2011-07-26T14:42:00.000-05:00

Raise your hand if you expect summer to be a slower, less busy, relaxing time. I feel like the Romper Room lady at the end of the show, looking through her mirror to "see Billy and Susie and Mike and Nancy...."

Hands down. Now, raise your hand if your actual experience of summer this year is slower, less busy, relaxing. That's what I thought. Not mine, either.

But hey, it's been a good one so far, anyway! Played softball almost every Thursday - without breaking anything. Had an anniversary weekend away with my wife. Got to see my brand-new grandson and his big sister. And we're heading out in a few days for a real vacation.

Really, I probably shouldn't even have considered the possibility of a slow-down, seeing as it's just the end of my first year here in Columbia. If I'd thought about it at all, experience probably would have told me that I've still got some things to witness "for the first time." And we've already started some new programs (and are working on others), and they won't wait for the cool autumn air.

In all honesty, though I'm ready for a vacation, I also continue to be energized by all that's going on here. We've got a college ministry that will be starting up again in a few weeks, as the local population jumps by about 30,000 with the arrival of students for the fall.

And we're starting a new worship service - something completely different - on Saturday evenings, in 7 1/2 weeks. Ya think there's not, maybe, one or two things left to do?

Here's the marketing graphic for our new service, The Welcome-Place, designed by a great, young local artist (and member of our church!).

I've also been talking with a young web designer, and her revisions to our church website should show up online in the next two or three days.

Now, raise your hand if - busy or not - you're having fun. Yeah, mine's up there, too.

It's Out of Your Hands

2011-07-18T12:00:00.000-05:00

Last night Mary and I watched The Adjustment Bureau, with Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, and Malcolm McDowell. It's about the way unseen "agents" direct our actions so that a grand "plan" is maintained.

Of course, Matt Damon accidentally discovers the existence of these agents and isn't at all happy about having his actions determined for him, particularly once he meets Emily Blunt, who is not part of his "plan."

Now, normally I watch movies for entertainment - to take my mind off work and the world; I'm not big on "message films." But I couldn't help noticing how there was a particular theology at work in this movie, and it didn't sit too well with me.

Granted, "it's only a movie," and I don't want to take it too seriously or put too much emphasis on it. But it did sort of play into some ideas that seem to be part of our culture's pop-spirituality, which sometimes get injected into people's faith and the church.

I think the biggest one, and the one that most rubbed me the wrong way, was the idea that there's "a plan" that has been determined for each one of us and the entire universe, and that plan is being relentlessly worked out.

The "agents" in this film, eerily reminiscent of The Matrix's Mr. Smith, make "adjustments" in order to keep the plan on track. For instance, Harry was supposed to make Matt Damon's coffee spill by a certain time, so that Damon would miss a certain bus and not meet Emily Blunt. When Harry missed his assignment, other agents attempted to fix things so the plan wouldn't be derailed.

It doesn't matter what Matt Damon wants or believes will be good for himself. It doesn't matter what he's personally willing to give up for something else. "The plan" must be maintained - to the point of agents directly causing a car accident that seriously injures several people, and another agent threatening to cause life-altering injury to Emily Blunt.

The big question, of course, is "is there free will?" That is, are human beings capable of complete freedom in the choices we make? Theologically, most Christians would affirm some degree of free will - it's a pretty poor life if all my choices are made for me, and my decision to follow Jesus isn't worth much if I don't freely make it.

But we often hear people say things like, "it must be God's will." And it happens in the most tragic and hurtful ways - God's will that a baby succumb to illness? God's will that thousands of people die in a hurricane or tsunami? Really?

I don't think so, and it irks me to hear people say that sort of thing. Even if they mean to be comforting, it's not. To suggest that it's "part of the plan" or "God's will" for something bad to happen, is to say we have a capricious God who's not really interested in the reality of our lives and pains and fears.

I don't believe that, and I don't think that's the kind of God Jesus presented. The God of scripture doesn't manipulate us like some cosmic puppet-master, and doesn't brush off human suffering uncaringly. Even Jesus himself had complete freedom to walk away from his ministry, and the disciples had complete freedom to say, "no, thanks, we'll just keep on fishing" - as the rich young ruler of Matthew 19:16-22 had complete freedom to choose either his wealth or following Jesus.

The movie was a fun ride overall, I have to say. At least, until I started thinking. Which is why my mind keeps returning to Harry Potter and Dumbledore's reminder that "our choices...show what we truly are."

End of an Era

2011-07-16T15:16:00.000-05:00

Saw the latest/last Harry Potter movie yesterday afternoon - Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. What a ride! Not just this film, but the entire "franchise" - 8 films, based on 7 books, covering 7 years' time in a universe that might coexist within the one we know, if only we were attuned to it and allowed to see it.

Yeah, that's kinda geeky. But author J. K. Rowling did quite a marvelous job of creating the world of Harry Potter within a reasonable facsimile of this world, with such depth of reality and yet conjecturally plausible explanation for why we do not see all around us wizards and witches, Hogwarts and Diagon Alley and Platform 9 3/4.

Even more, Rowling wrote with such accuracy and sensitivity as to engage millions upon millions of children and youth (and their parents. grandparents, and teachers), holding them to a story that was fully revealed only after disappointments and shocks, and thousands of pages in 7 large volumes, some of which appeared after great and anxiety-producing delay.

And though the movies might have reproduced such things, the books themselves were not at all noisy or flashy, nor filled with special effects or hyperkinetic motion. The tale unwound at an almost leisurely pace, here a bit faster, there a bit more pensive.

And lessons - there were lessons galore, though not the hit-one-over-the-head version of Aesop's Fables or much of what passes for "good" children's literature. They are often, though not exclusively, placed on the lips of Professor Dumbledore.

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live." "It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be." "It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends."

And probably my favorite, from the second book, Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets, "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

Goodness, now I'm afraid I'll have to pick them all up and start reading again....

When Business-as-Usual Stops Working

2011-07-15T11:04:00.000-05:00

I'm usually loth to get overly "political," here or at church in general, because I am convinced that sincere, well-meaning Christians can have differences of opinion on how to live faithfully "in the world." I don't think there is One Christian Way to govern a nation, or respond to suffering, or live in community.

Nevertheless, there are times, sometimes, when I really get frustrated about politicians and how they speak and act. And the current arguments in Washington over raising/not raising the debt ceiling are starting to get to me.

In the 1980s, when Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton were glaring at each other over the brink of federal financial collapse, a member of one of my church's families was a low-level government employee. And she went unpaid for several weeks during the federal-government shut-down, while Congress and the President postured and spun and generally ignored their responsibility to make things work.

So I'm not terribly sympathetic to hardliners on this or that economic theory, because someone is going to go hungry for the sake of someone else's "principle."

Yesterday I read an article by Brian McLaren, and I think it's worth sharing. I don't expect everyone who reads it to be convinced, but I do hope that it makes people stop and think, and double-check whether their actions and ideas are being guided by the standards of our faith, or by something else.

I invite you to read about McLaren's "Debt-Ceiling Dreams" and ponder whether our political leaders have all missed the boat somehow.

Politics, as the generals sing in Evita, may be "the art of the possible," but it also has to do with the health and wellbeing of the polis, the city. Former Congressman and Vice-President Hubert Humphrey once said, "the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped."

Spare-Time Pursuits

2011-07-07T11:54:00.001-05:00

Now that I'm home from visiting the grandkids (and why does that still feel just a bit "odd" to say?), it feels like summer is really starting to kick in - you know, the slower pace, fewer scheduled activities, time for reflection, etc. It's one of the things I look forward to every year, and I've seen it happen just about the same way whether I've served in a permanent or interim pastorate.

So I've been playing softball on Thursday nights, and I'm still in one piece. (The only bone I ever broke came playing in a church softball league. "Love one another," indeed!) Mary and I are trying to figure out how to see all the "summer blockbuster" movies we're interested in.

And I started re-reading some favorite mystery novels. Years and years ago, my dad introduced me to Rex Stout's character Nero Wolfe, and since then I've read almost the complete series. So a few nights ago, I picked up Fer-de-Lance again, the first one. It's been ages, but the characters and milieu quickly came back to mind.

I've read a lot of mysteries over the years, some more than once. In addition to Nero Wolfe, I particularly like Robert B. Parker's Spenser, Sherlock Holmes, and of course Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, Poirot, and Tommy & Tuppence.

A fellow mystery buff once commented that many ministers seem to like mysteries and suggested that it had to do with the neat, regular triumph of good over evil. Perhaps. One writer noted about the incredibly eccentric Nero Wolfe that his unbreakable home routines and habits served to provide a calm and stable atmosphere in the midst of a chaotic world. So, great summer reading, in my opinion.

Of course, everything pales in comparison to the final installment of the Harry Potter film series. One of these days, perhaps I'll have more to say about Harry Potter; I've read all the books twice and seen each of the films.

But here's a first comment, with more apparently coming, from one blogger, about The End of Harry Potter.

From Sea to Shining Sea

2011-07-04T12:04:00.000-05:00

Well, I didn't drive quite that far, but I did sit behind the wheel for a total of 27 hours and about 1750 miles, round trip. But hey, it was more than worth it to see my grandchildren!

I've made a lot of those long road trips in the past twelve years, beginning with my move to California. And I enjoy the quiet, the familiar CDs, the historic and evocative sights along the way. Of course, like this trip, I never really stop to see the sights - I drive past, catch a glimpse of something I've read about or a sign pointing to a historic marker.

We didn't travel to the Southwest when I was growing up - too many miles and too hot by the time we might get there. But we sure saw a lot in the rest of the country - Revolutionary and Civil War battlefields, Independence Hall and the Wall Drug Store, state and national parks, mountains and rivers, the Atlantic Coast from Maine to Florida.

But I don't remember very much reflection about where we were and what we were seeing - at least, not the kind I've done when I've made these trips alone. I suppose it all began with the preparations for my move West. I decided to follow old Route 66 and began reading: travel guides, Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.

Getting away from the interstate, or following it when there was nothing else for dozens of miles in either direction, I saw evidence of a lot of hopes and dreams - and hardships and disappointments. For instance, along the track of Route 66, dozens of businesses sprang up to cater to travelers. Now there are dozens of small towns filled with shuttered motels and boarded-up cafes, bypassed by travelers and truckers on the interstate.

On this trip, I saw more of that in little towns that aren't even listed on maps of the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles - run-down businesses, empty storefronts, ramshackle homesites. And then there were the long miles in between - barns falling down, farmhouses abandoned. Perhaps a little life around the big grain elevators, a plume of dust in the distance as a pickup truck barrels down a long, long dirt road.

I thought of the folks who once populated these small towns - where did they go? Did they pick up and start over somewhere else? What happened to their investment of emotion and energy, not to mention finance?

There were some farms and ranches that seemed to be making a go of it. But were they like other farmers I've known, working a factory or industrial job somewhere to "support" working on the land they loved? The only ones who really seemed to be making money were the big ranch-factories, with tens of thousands of cattle crammed onto feedlots and into transfer pens.

The 1996 book Bad Land by Jonathon Raban tells of efforts in the early 1900s to settle eastern Montana by homesteading. The railroads brought people out, after convincing them it would be an easy life. Within a few years, for most, it was revealed as fantasy, mirage.

My travels constantly remind me what a beautiful land we live in, from the lush woodlands of the East and the fertile fields of the Midwest to the severe deserts of the Southwest. But there are also countless stories of heartache and disillusionment and ruin.

This year, as I celebrate - and I know I have lots of reasons to do so - I want also to remember those who found their dreams shattered, their fortunes evaporated, and themselves driven far from places and people they loved. I hope some of them, at least, found a home and a future further down the road.

Too Funny!

2011-06-27T09:42:00.000-05:00

A blogging colleague at Philosophy Over Coffee posted a cartoon on "Biblical Christianity" this morning. Not to be missed!!!

New York State of Mind?

2011-06-26T15:22:00.001-05:00

UPDATE: Here's another opinion piece, by former opponent David Frum. Always nice to see someone publicly admit to a change of mind/heart! (Thanks to colleague Mark Pettis for passing this along.)

New York state legislators have passed, and Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed, a bill legalizing marriage for same-gender couples. It's the most populous state to do so, so far, and there have been predictions and recriminations galore. Here's a New York Times article and an NYT Sunday Review opinion piece by Frank Bruni.

I particularly like Bruni's perspective. Ultimately, this isn't about "issues" or "doctrines" but about people - real, flesh-and-blood people who live and love, who are just as much created in God's image as anyone else, and who are asking America to live up to its promise of equality for all.

And I do think these decisions become much clearer when we don't think in terms of some vague "them" but about specific people - faces, names, recognized smiles, appreciated characteristics, demonstrated relationships.

Now, are there sincere Christians who disagree with me? Of course. And somehow or other, someday or other, we'll have to work through that.

But for me, this step is encouraging, because I've got dear friends and family members who are gay. And I'd like them to be treated the same way I am, and granted the same access to our nation's rights that I am.

In the 8th chapter of the New Testament book of Acts, Philip meets an Ethiopian court official who is a eunuch - a castrated male - and baptizes him. As Rob Bell notes in one of his books, this act is a powerful and surprising gesture. It contradicted everything that religion had said up to that point.

God was believed to inhabit (at least some of the time) the innermost area of the Jerusalem Temple; the high priest was the only one allowed in there, and only once a year. The rest of the priests were allowed in the area just outside that, and faithful male Jews in the area just outside that. Women and Gentiles were kept still further away.

But this mutilated foreigner was not allowed anywhere near the Temple, even though he clearly had an interest in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Philip demonstrated that the man's specific and looked-down-upon identity was not an issue in the fellowship of Jesus Christ, and welcomed him fully into the fold by baptizing him.

We're still learning - as an "equal" society and as grace-oriented Christians - to welcome and embrace those who aren't like us. If this is a step forward for our society, as I believe it is, perhaps it can begin to be a step forward for the Church, as well.

Google Surprise

2011-06-23T13:53:00.000-05:00

No, it's not a new dish from the Food Network (I can't imagine what they'd make it out of!).

But I googled myself today - not because I'm self-absorbed, but because someone called me after being upsettingly misdirected by a search-engine link to this blog. I wanted to check it for myself and make sure someone hadn't sabotaged things.

Thankfully, I didn't find any rogue links. But I did find a whole host of other Steve Swopes out there, including a BMX biker - definitely not me - a Roman Catholic deacon, and the head of a marketing company. Intriguing....

What surprised the most was finding myself quoted in actor Kirk Douglas' 2007 book Let's Face It: 90 Years of Living, Loving, and Learning. On page 212, Douglas writes about divisiveness among people of different faiths and quotes a 2005 Los Angeles Times article on the Irvine CA church I was serving.

Now, he muddles some of the story's details - and hey, he never called me! But how fascinating, and not a little unnerving, to see how far one's words can travel in this internet-age. Hopefully, they'll do someone some good.

Where Are the Pictures?

2011-06-20T15:50:00.000-05:00

No new baby pics yet - at least, not anywhere but on my phone right now. But I don't want to turn into the electronic version of the stereotypical - and monomaniacal - grandparent, either. So, baby update: so far, so good.

Meanwhile, had a nice, belated anniversary weekend in Chicago. Saw Mary's nephew and his partner, took a great walking/food tour of a couple northside neighborhoods with them, had lunch with my son for Father's Day - and didn't get rained on, the entire weekend!

We also added another Food Network chef to our list - we need a trophy case for swiped menus, or maybe we should just remember to take more pictures - first "Top Chef Master" Rick Bayless of Frontera Grill. Didn't actually see Rick, of course, but we ate at his signature restaurant, and it was as good as advertised.

New Arrival

2011-06-17T07:27:00.001-05:00

And heeeeere's Jack, my new grandson.

Born late Thursday night, Mama and baby are healthy.

Now to figure out when to visit....

Numbers update -

Time of birth: 10:47 pm (MT)
6 lb 7 oz, 19 1/2 in

Wrapping Up the Week

2011-06-16T11:28:00.000-05:00

Friend and former daily colleague Wes Ellis has some cogent thoughts on the way we think about our nation and its purpose, especially important as we sit in between Memorial Day and Independence Day and listen to the continuing and argumentative voices coming out of Washington and on the way-too-early campaign trail.

Brian McLaren and Tony Jones are now blogging through Patheos, as part of its Progressive Christian Portal. And hey, don't I sound really with it and technologically savvy? Trouble is, I don't really know what that all means...so I linked it on the sidebar. There's an especially good set of discussions going on this week and next about just what "Progressive Christianity" is.

Patheos also hosts a number of other writers I've read and enjoyed, like UCC theologian Scott Paeth - and some I haven't heard of before. Looks like a good place to visit once in a while....

And my colleague at Philosophy Over Coffee has written three posts about clergy vestments - what he's wearing or not wearing, why or why not, what various garb is supposed to symbolize, etc. It's some good reflection, especially after my bright red (crimson, really) robe for Pentecost Sunday last week, and something new for the summer after Father's Day. Here's the first, the second, and the third.

And big news: I'm waiting to hear from my oldest daughter who's going in to have labor induced, as I type this. New grandson Jack (at least, that's what the sonogram tech says) is on the way - pictures at the earliest opportunity!

Catching Up

2011-06-13T21:25:00.000-05:00

Hmm, time to catch up again...still trying to figure out the habit/discipline of this thing, when nearly 28 years of experience nudges me to prioritize the personal. Someone once said that "statistics are human faces with the tears wiped off." I have to remember that this computer screen represents human faces - whom I may not know or ever actually connect with, but real, nonetheless.

Looks like the Comments bug has been fixed - at least, a comment or two has appeared.

Spent last Saturday at the Missouri Mid-South Conference Annual Gathering (a big regional church meeting, for those of you not consumed by church life). Then spent a couple hours on Sunday talking about the upcoming General Synod (the UCC's every-other-year national meeting) - learned that Leonard Pitts, Jr., a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Miami Herald whom I have quoted and linked approvingly here, is a UCC member and will speak at Synod!

And I spent some good time, several times today, looking at and working on music for our church's planned "alternative" service, to begin in September. I think this will be the biggest piece of the puzzle to add and maintain, and it feels good to get some concreteness to it!

Continuing to read on the Civil War, as the local paper continues to print a "this day in Civil War history" piece. The virulent feelings and violent reactions in this part of the country stagger the mind. Union leaders made some significant mistakes that complicated things and had lasting impact - I remember reading, with surprise, that Harry Truman's grandmother would not allow him in her home while he was wearing his Army uniform.

Also learned that the standard "picture" of General Grant as an unimaginative, men-wasting leader was started in the South as a way of raising Lee, and perpetuated in the North by those who thought they should have had Grant's job and fame. The venality of human beings continues to amaze me...and makes me wonder how naive I am.

Something to Smile about

2011-06-07T09:25:00.000-05:00

Every once in a while, something happens to remind me that people are generally good and life is generally moving in a positive direction. Of course, there are probably lots of those moments that get overlooked because they don't warrant the media attention that divisiveness and conflict do.

But The Washington Post has an article that's uplifting, and even more so as our nation observes the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, and I continue to read about it. (Love my new library card!)

In 1896, the US Supreme Court ruled, in Plessy v. Ferguson, that "separate but equal" laws did not violate anyone's rights, solidifying the hold of "Jim Crow" in the American South. This wasn't reversed until the Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954. Although a 1946 court decision in California, Mendez v. Westminster, struck down the segregated schooling of Mexican-American children, leading Governor Earl Warren to sign legislation repealing the rest of California's segregation statutes; Warren would later become Chief Justice of the Supremes and write the unanimous opinion for Brown.

History lesson out of the way. The Post reports that descendants of Plessy and Ferguson have met and joined together in a foundation to continue educating about and advocating for civil rights. Let the walls continue to come a-tumblin' down! And let the descendants of enemies join hands as friends.

Housekeeping

2011-06-03T11:31:00.001-05:00

I've received word that there's been some difficulty posting comments recently. After a bit of checking, this appears to be an issue with the host service, which they are aware of and are working on. Hopefully, it'll all be back to normal soon.

Meanwhile, I hope you've noticed the addition of Share buttons at the bottom of each post. They're intended to make it easier to pass things along to friends, via email or various social-network services, should you wish to do so.

Memorial Day

2011-05-28T13:10:00.000-05:00

Memorial Day (originally, Decoration Day) began after the Civil War, to honor those who had died in that awful conflict. I'm reading Drew Gilpin Faust's This Republic of Suffering, which details the many ways in which the Civil War changed American attitudes toward death, the dead, and how we treat them.

(reprinted by arrangement with caglecartoons.com)

Weather

2011-05-25T10:06:00.000-05:00

"Weather" - that's putting it mildly. The Mississippi River is still running way over normal, even though flooded towns and drowned fields are beginning to see lower water levels. Tornados have been striking all around - St. Louis a few weeks ago, neighboring states last night, and of course, a terrible one on Sunday in Joplin, Missouri, just 4 hours away.

Fortunately, all we've had at our house is rain and wind, but plenty of that and more. Upside: the grass, trees, flowers, and plants are all gorgeously green. Downside: the grass is growing, and it's often too wet to mow.

Small problems, of course, compared to those of folks in Joplin and other places. I remember Dad driving us through one bad site in southwest Ohio in the early 1960's (Xenia?), and living just above a long line of devastation south of Louisville in the mid-1990's.

We've heard the occasional tornado siren, seen the warnings flashed across the TV screen. We've even got some emergency supplies in the basement storage room, which will be a safe shelter "just in case." Mary doesn't agree with me, but it still somehow seems more manageable than the threat of unpredictable earthquakes in California.

Anyway, from all of Joplin's horrific damage, Mary sent me this image. Her work has a connection with St. John's Hospital in Joplin, which was hit directly and almost totally destroyed Sunday. What a wonder, then to see:

Rapture

2011-05-23T14:55:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, in the middle of my sermon, I threw out an ad-libbed line about the May 21 rapture rumors...something about how it looks like we're all still here.

Really, I never know how to react to this sort of stuff. I don't, myself, have an inclination to match up biblical "clues" with current events in order to pinpoint the date when "Jesus is coming."

I don't know how many times I've been asked, at the beginning of a war or after some natural disaster, "Pastor, is this a sign of the End Times?" I'm sad for the folks who feel so threatened by modern life that they believe they have to escape it to remain holy - and believe that God wants that.

Of course, Jesus told the disciples that no one will know the day or the hour (Mark 13:32) - so how can certain people believe they've got an inside scoop on something Jesus himself wasn't privy to? But I do like how The Simpsons treated it, in the "Thank God, It's Doomsday" episode (which, apparently, was shown in reruns recently).

On a more serious note, a blogging colleague posted some thoughts today. And Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, great-grandson of Social Gospel founder Walter Rauschenbusch, had this to say at Huffington Post; I like it.

More Civil War stuff

2011-05-19T10:51:00.000-05:00

I'm continuing to read about the American Civil War, which began 150 years ago this year. It's been interesting to see the variety of comments and retrospectives already out there, with (I'm sure) more to come.

The local paper has been printing a digest of news articles from area papers - an "on this day 150 years ago" sort of thing. It's been fascinating to see the number of mundane details, which often get overlooked in grand, book-length studies.

It's also been a bit disconcerting to realize how prevalent slavery was in this area at the time, and to see already how vicious and intractable the conflict would be.

I've subscribed for years to Down East magazine, about the state of Maine where I was born. They ran an article a couple of months ago on the human price paid in that state alone, and how it affected the state's present economic and political standing. The loss of young male lives was so severe that the state's fortunes never recovered.

One of the current political topics is "states' rights" - the right of individual states to ignore federal mandates, e.g., President Obama's health insurance program. States' rights was a cry as early as Andrew Jackson's presidency and became a primary rationale - after the fact - for Southern secession.

However, Leonard Pitts, a Florida newspaper columnist reprinted in the local paper, editorialized about the real cause of the Civil War, and I think it's important to keep it in mind. As Samuel Adams told the Continental Congress when a ban on slavery was removed from the Declaration of Independence, there would be bloodshed a hundred years hence - and so there was.

LiveScience.com also has an article on Six Civil War Myths, which is enlightening. Of course, our school histories often leave out details, blur complicated facts, and otherwise perpetuate misconceptions. So it's always helpful to review and reconsider.

Which brings up a personal sad point. General Joshua Chamberlain of the 20th Maine has been portrayed (notably, in Gettysburg by one of the Daniels' brothers - Jeff?) as the pivotal figure in the Union victory at Gettysburg. It's nice to see, especially for us quiet, bookish sorts, that an untrained academic can be such a hero.

Well, as the song goes, it ain't necessarily so. I don't have the citation available, but I read something in the last couple weeks that suggested that Chamberlain's role wasn't quite as significant as recent portrayals have made it seem. Not really taking anything away from Chamberlain - who went on to become governor of Maine and president of Bowdoin College - but he wasn't a superhero, either. History would be more nuanced than we make it....

We still live with the legacy of the Civil War - continuing debates over Confederate flags, a tragically high proportion of young black males in the criminal justice system, the previously mentioned states' rights debates, perniciously lingering racism. Perhaps this 150th anniversary observance can teach us more than the soft-pedaled centennial 50 years ago.

How to Live with Others

2011-05-15T16:06:00.000-05:00

I grew up in a family. Of course, we all did, somehow or other. I also grew up, quite literally, in churches - attending regularly, knowing church people familiarly, being influenced by church culture. Again, many folks share that personal history.

But I bring it up because it affects the way I have come to think about issues. How many of our families, or our churches, are completely unanimous on absolutely everything? Mine's not.

Often, there really are, as our parents often told us, two sides to every story (at least). And that's especially true when one considers social problems and how to solve them. Well-meaning and compassionate Christians (I know I've said this before) can and do disagree about the level of priority for X or Y, and especially about how to address it most effectively.

Case in point: equal treatment for lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgendered (LGBT) persons in our society, and within the Christian church. For a variety of reasons - scriptural and otherwise - I believe that LGBT persons belong in the church, should be accepted and affirmed by the church, and - to the extent we do not do that - we are not being good shepherds of the sheep Christ calls us to care for.

Obviously, not everyone feels the same, and so there has been a movement, on the part of folks like me, to attempt to convince "them" to see things differently. And I confess that this has not always been handled with sensitivity, patience, or compassion.

Recently, one LGBT-supportive group tried to purchase ad space in Sojourners, a magazine self-described as "a progressive Christian commentary on faith, politics and culture." Its mission statement declares its intention "to articulate the biblical call to social justice...."

The ad was rejected, and the reactions began. Tony Jones was one of the first I read. He has since moderated a bit, partly after reading Brian McLaren's opinion (read post 1 & 2).

I've linked to these guys a lot lately, because I find them both thoughtful and irenic; they (unlike other "Christian" leaders and writers) don't get angry, in-your-face, insulting. And I find that to be particularly appropriate and necessary in Christian discussion.

Especially, I was taken by McLaren's nuanced approach to "what is Sojourners' primary mission?" And it doesn't matter whether I agree with Sojourners or not. It's important to understand how they define their own purpose, and whether they think "it's time" for them to do this or not.

There's a strong strain of "if you're not with us, you're against us" in these sorts of discussions. And it's important for Christians to remember that Jesus said, "whoever is not against us, is for us." (Mark 9:40) Too often, Christians and Christian groups completely dismiss those who don't agree with them on absolutely everything.

But that separates us from potential partners on issues we can agree on, folks who might actually help us get something significant accomplished - and people we might learn from, or who might learn from us, as we work together on a project. Minds and hearts are changed in many ways.

In the early years of the church, non-believers marveled at the dramatic growth and powerful love shown by Christians. It was not because of doctrinal purity, unanimity on social-justice issues, or a particular style of organization, but "see how much they love one another." (Tertullian)

If they would "see how much we love one another," maybe the church would grow like that again.

Reading Rob Bell - Final Words?

2011-05-12T13:47:00.000-05:00

I feel like Peter Falk's rumpled TV detective Columbo, who would finish questioning a suspect, head toward the door...then turn around with a wave of his chewed-up cigar and an embarrassed look on his downturned face and say, "Oh, just one more thing...."

That final thought, so artfully off-hand and seemingly guileless, would always skewer the real culprit. Don't get your hopes up for this one....

But I got the latest issue of The Christian Century in yesterday's mail, and the cover article is a review of Rob Bell's Love Wins by Iowa Lutheran pastor Peter W. Marty (son of church historian and prolific writer Martin E. Marty).

Marty, I think, really gets the heart of Bell's book - and I wish I could link to the article on the Century's website, but they've made everything subscription-required now. If you're already a print subscriber, you'll see the article soon and/or can access it online for free. If not, most public libraries subscribe to the Century. If you'd still like the link, here it is.

Marty focuses on two important aspects of Bell's book that the dogmatists minimize or ignore. First, the anxiety of newcomers and visitors to our churches, because they have heard consistent messages that Christianity is about prohibitions and restrictions, and those who fail are blithely consigned by God to eternal conscious torment.

Second, there's very little humility on the part of those who believe they know who's going to heaven, who's not, and how to get there. Marty quotes author Marilynne Robinson: "There is something about certainty that makes Christianity very unchristian."

That's the point that starts Bell on his mental journey. At a church art exhibit, someone hung a picture of Gandhi. An unknown visitor stuck a note on the picture, saying that Gandhi was going to hell. And Bell reacted, "Really? We have confirmation of this? Somebody knows this? Without a doubt?"

The issue in discussions about Bell's book and its underlying premise is the debate between God's holiness and God's compassion. Biblically, the myriad attributes of God might be placed into two columns: God's creativity and God's judgment. And biblically, God's creativity - forgiveness, compassion, life-giving, love, etc. - always trumps judgment.

But many people still are stuck in a view of God as primarily concerned with maintaining a strict and uncompromising holiness, and punishing offenders. And even the gracious gift of Christ - because "God so loves the world" - winds up presenting a Jesus who must somehow protect us from God.

That doesn't sound like good news, and it doesn't match up with the vision of God which Jesus reveals to us as the Divine-become-human. Bell, on the other hand, recalls us to our primary vocation as followers of Jesus, which is to proclaim Good News, to feed the sheep, and to welcome the outcast.

Reading Rob Bell, Part Two, etc.

2011-05-06T16:26:00.000-05:00

Okay, so a couple weeks ago, I posted some preliminary comments on Rob Bell's latest book Love Wins. And in the back of my mind (while other things have occupied the front - can anyone say, Easter?) I've been trying to figure out what else to say.

Well, I haven't been able to add much. Oh, I finished it, and read it again. I think it's a well-argued book for what it is - not ivory-tower academic systematics but street-level pastoral theology.

And I think Bell is onto something - as a number of thinkers have been onto something down through the centuries when they followed this particular trail of bread crumbs. God is not the free and infinite God we confess if God is not able to keep the possibility of salvation open after death. Instead, God becomes chained to a concept and a finite time schedule, if people absolutely must profess a certain belief or do a certain thing before their earthly life ends.

A blogger I've been reading for a while took a Lenten break and is back, and he posted some comments on Love Wins this week.

Meanwhile, Brian McLaren (again, I know) reflects on comments from Yale theologian Miroslav Volf, after the death of Osama bin Laden.

And UCC General Minister & President Geoffrey A. Black issues A Call to Prayer for the Pathways to Peace. To give more weight to Black's comments, I remember that he was New York Conference Minister 10 years ago....

Meanwhile, the men's softball team won last night! I suspect our worthy opponents were hampered by playing us at 9 pm as the second game of a double-header (and I don't look forward to being in that situation next Thursday). But hey, we'll take the W, and look forward to a re-match.

And it's Oaks Day in Louisville - the annual fillies' race often preferred by locals over tomorrow's heavily-celebritized Derby. Of course, they don't show the Oaks on national TV, but I'll be watching the Run for the Roses tomorrow. And rooting for jockey Calvin Borel - can he make it 4 wins in the last 5 years? Watch the rail...!

And you know somebody, somewhere in Louisville, will be covering this tonight and tomorrow night.

Right Back into It

2011-05-02T11:52:00.000-05:00

So I'm back from a week's vacation - and truth be told, wishing I had a vacation from my vacation, thanks to all the driving and projects.

Anyway, I had hoped to be able to reflect quietly on Easter, time off, family, etc. But I wake up this morning to the news of the assassination of Osama bin-Laden. And it stirs up and unsettles all kinds of things.

In 1972, Alabama governor George Wallace was shot and permanently crippled in an assassination attempt. At the time, of course, Wallace was best known as a rabid segregationist and unrepentant opponent of civil rights.

I was in high school at the time and possessed of all the idealism of that age - without really having to do anything to back it up. At our weekly Boy Scout meeting, the scoutmaster announced the news of Wallace's shooting.

I am embarrassed to admit it, but I (and one other young man) cheered at the news - briefly, because our scoutmaster cut us off abruptly and sternly. I can still feel his glare as he told us that, no matter how distasteful someone's beliefs or actions were, it was never right to cheer their misfortune.

Obviously, that colors my thinking on bin-Laden's assassination. The celebrations shown on the news - in New York City, outside the White House - take me back to 1972 and turn my stomach.

I've seen all kinds of hoorahs on Facebook already; I'm sure you have, too. But thankfully, other voices are raised, as well. Diana Butler Bass, Christian author, asked, "What if we responded in reverent prayer and quiet introspection instead of patriotic frenzy? That would be truly American exceptionalism."

And Brian McLaren posted this on his blog. I particularly like his comment that "Joyfully celebrating the killing of a killer who joyfully celebrated killing carries an irony that I hope will not be lost on us. Are we learning anything, or simply spinning harder in the cycle of violence?" It's the sort of thing that's been on my mind every year as the 9/11 anniversary rolls around.

As our nation's reputation in the Middle East still suffers from unfortunate choices and changes-of-side, we do not need to give anyone more reasons to hate America. As a still-predominantly Christian people who continue to struggle with how to treat those of other faiths and make room for them in our national life, we do not need to give anyone more reasons to believe we are "anti-Islam."

I will be praying for bin-Laden's soul, even as I pray for those who have been harmed by his mistaken ideology and violent followers, and as I pray for all those caught in the middle. I hope you'll join me.

At Long Last, Easter!

2011-04-24T08:10:00.000-05:00

Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Here's Rob Bell's "Resurrection" video from 2010.

Holy Saturday

2011-04-23T12:58:00.000-05:00

One good 80's power ballad deserves another.... Another "oh!" moment for me when I recognized the references to baptism and transfiguration.

Lord Have Mercy

2011-04-22T11:33:00.000-05:00

My preaching professor in seminary had a list of "ten commandments" for preachers. The only one I remember was "no moral lessons on high holy days." In other words, don't say "because X, you should do Y"; instead, just proclaim joyfully that Christ is born/raised/etc.

It made sense, but at the same time it's difficult to follow. If we are supposed to be following Jesus and not just "believing in him," then there ought to be something we can learn and emulate in each of his moments, teachings, actions.

Which brings us to today, Good Friday. What are we supposed to do in imitation of Jesus? Some early Christians believed that they should actively court martyrdom because Jesus went willingly to the cross. I don't think that's what God has in mind.

A group of us clergy gather weekly for Bible study in preparation for preaching. And one of the things we talked about last week was what I call "deathliness" - not just physical end-of-mortal-existence, but the life-defeating, soul-shattering that occurs at any time.

And Jesus' death says that power also is ended by God; we no longer need to treat it as inevitable or ultimately controlling.

So, where does "deathliness" stab at our lives? How or when do you and I experience deathliness in the midst of living life? And what might it mean to trust that God has ended that gripping power on the cross? How might we live differently if we know that the Lord does have mercy upon us, not only after life but in this life?

Odd connection, perhaps, but this song came to mind as I pondered that last sentence. I remember being surprised the first time I heard this on the radio, realizing what Mister Mister was singing in "Kyrie Eleison." Lord have mercy, indeed, down the road each of us travels.

Gotta love the 80's hair and Members Only jacket....

Holy Week Debates

2011-04-21T11:38:00.000-05:00

About this time of year, every year, somebody-or-other writes an article or gives a speech essentially questioning the historical accuracy of the Biblical witness on Jesus' miracles or (most often) the resurrection. I posted about one researcher's work on Tuesday, for instance.

The ever-intriguing Tony Jones has responded to a recent post by Jesus Seminar fellow and liberal darling Marcus Borg (and I think I can be a little snarky like that, since I generally self-identify as liberal).

I've read a good bit of Borg, worked with lots of folks in California who just really appreciated his thinking, and am myself grateful (as one of Tony's commentors points out) that lots of people have "found" Jesus because Borg's approach makes Christianity seem more reasonable in a modern context and less "miraculous and unbelievable."

But I agree with Tony (and I'm sure he's relieved) that folks like Borg seem to be trying to explain the unexplainable, quantify the unquantifiable - pin down and define and categorize and draw permanent boundaries around...well, God - who, to be truly God, must be beyond our human ability to pin down, define, etc.

In short, I'm willing to allow some mystery, some dangling details, some unanswered questions. I don't think that authentic faith relies on having everything nailed down (to use an apt, if cringe-worthy, metaphor). And personally, I'm not all that focused on "what actually happened" but "what does it mean?" As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, the important question is not "who is Jesus Christ" but "who is Jesus Christ for me?"

That sort of leads into further discussion - because it's still going on, like crazy - on Rob Bell's latest book, Love Wins. I haven't finished my second reading yet, but here's a review from The Other Journal blog. It's a bit deep in places, but ultimately favorable.

What I appreciate the reviewer emphasizing, and what I appreciated in my first reading of Bell's book, was the disavowal of "salvation" as "my ticket out of earth and into heaven." That approach repudiates God's blessing upon this "good" creation and allows folks to ignore all kinds of ills that affect people in this life - that are opposed to the defining characteristics of God's Dominion.

I heard the late Robert McAfee Brown, years ago, say that if the Kingdom of God in its future fulfillment is characterized by such things as love and peace and justice, then those of us who claim to be citizens of that Kingdom had better be demonstrating love and peace and justice and so on, all the way on our pilgrim journey.

Wasted Time & Energy?

2011-04-19T11:45:00.000-05:00

Yet another researcher has "solved" one more "problem" in the Bible and Christian tradition. Color me underwhelmed.

Apparently, a professor at Britain's University of Cambridge has determined exactly when Jesus shared the Last Supper with his disciples, allowing the world finally to pinpoint an exact (and consistent) date for Easter. Here's the link to the online article.

I don't mean to Scrooge this, but is it really that important? Was this necessary? Yes, the four Gospels differ on which day the Last Supper happened. Matthew, Mark, and Luke set it on the first day of Passover; John places it on the eve of Passover.

But the Gospel writers were not interested in objectively accurate history; they were writing documents to convince people that "Jesus is Lord." None of them were Semitic Jews, and probably none of them were all that familiar with Temple customs.

The British professor claims to have uncovered evidence of an alternative religious calendar system, which Jesus was following. Really?

We expend so much energy debating "what exactly happened" that we miss the larger point - and the original point of the Gospel writers - which is, what does it mean?

The meaning of the Last Supper isn't connected to an exact notation in Jesus' Daytimer. Instead, it carries a multitude of significances, including the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, a table spread "in the presence of enemies," a glimpse of the heavenly banquet, and brokenness that heals our brokenness by compassion poured out to overflowing.

Holy Week Has Begun

2011-04-18T09:56:00.000-05:00

Brian McLaren posted an insightful "what if" yesterday that caught my attention. I invite you to ponder Palm Sunday 2011: End of Violence.

More Civil War

2011-04-16T16:26:00.000-05:00

Isn't that an oxymoron - a "civil" war? This one certainly wasn't!

Anyway, I've gathered a few more family and related details. Dad often told us about an ancestor who "could shoot the eye out of a squirrel." The Union Army wanted him to be a sniper, but he refused. "He would fight like a man in battle, but he wouldn't hide and shoot from ambush." (Quotes from my father's family history)

My sister Linda has done some more digging and has posted some results on a family blog. The ancestor was my father's father's mother's father, Jacob H. Bogart.

There are church connections to the war, as well. One of the members of Columbia UCC published a family history. His German ancestors were in rural Missouri before the war and several were killed by "bushwhackers," guerrilla bands like Quantrill's Raiders who terrorized the innocent. "Collateral damage" indeed!

One of the local UCC churches, I think in Boonville, has an Honor Roll board, listing members killed during the Civil War. Included in the listing are members who died in battle and those who were "killed by bushwhackers." I remember getting a shiver, seeing that for the first time.

The first church I served as pastor was in a small town in rural southwest Ohio. The members came mostly from surrounding farms and the few villages. One of those folks remembered his grandfather telling the story of members of Morgan's Raiders riding through the town of New Hope, past an old hotel that was still standing in the mid-1980's, and across a no-longer-used covered bridge. All this was very near where we lived at the time.

The War Begins - 150 Years After

2011-04-12T18:37:00.000-05:00

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War. The local paper has been printing brief historical reviews for several months, recalling the events and emotions leading up to the official onset of armed conflict.

In today's antagonistic atmosphere, perhaps it's even more important to remember this tragedy and its roots in political division and stalemate. What is at the heart of our current discussion of budgets and taxes is a fundamental disagreement over the proper role of the federal government and the ability of states (and even individuals) to opt out of program X or issue Y.

I think it's important to remember that slavery was the initiating cause - in spite of post-war revisionism that put the focus on states' rights, economic disparities, industrialism vs. agriculture, and so on. As the historian Sidney Ahlstrom put it in his A Religious History of the American People, "Had there been no slavery, there would have been no war. Had there been no moral condemnation of slavery, there would have been no war."

In fact, according to the authors of The Civil War, the companion volume to the PBS series by Ken Burns, in the early 1800's there was a growing sense of discomfort with slavery among Southerners. But that was pushed aside in reaction to Northern abolitionism's moral challenge, and a hardline argument developed in its place.

I'm reading The Civil War right now, and John J. Pullen's The 20th Maine is next on my list. Pullen's book is the story of the Maine regiment, commanded by Joshua Chamberlain, that helped turn the tide at Gettysburg by holding Little Round Top. I'm hoping to find other books at the local library, including some with a more local focus.

I'll have more to say in a few days. I've got some family stories to share, and some local anecdotes I've already heard. But I can't help just shaking my head in wonder and dismay at the tragic loss of life and destruction of hopes, even as I recognize the great necessity.

Movie Prejudices

2011-04-11T14:42:00.000-05:00

Mary will agree that I have certain prejudices about movies. I watch movies for escape and entertainment, so I don't want a "message." "Heart-warming" as a description is not going to sell me a ticket.

And I'm not a big fan of Drew Barrymore, Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, Sandra Bullock, or Meryl Streep. (That list is not exhaustive, but they're definitely names that come to mind immediately.)

On the other hand, I'll watch every James Bond film - new and again on DVD. Also Humphrey Bogart. And definitely Star Wars. Love Morgan Freeman, Sean Connery, Will Smith no matter what they're doing.

Of course, there are exceptions. A big one: Fifty First Dates with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler, which according to my criteria, ought to have three strikes against it. I'd even watch it again. Go figure....

And this weekend we watched The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock. As I said, not a Sandra fan - but this gets added to my exceptions list. She was good - enough even to overcome the heart-warming thing.

So maybe I should loosen up on my prejudices...or maybe I just need an action movie this weekend.

A Home I Didn't Even Know

2011-04-08T11:03:00.000-05:00

My sister emailed me the other day. For several years she's been digging into our family history, trying to put pieces together, make connections, discover more information, etc.

She even started a blog to share what she's learning, and perhaps draw out even more information. And I teased her a week or so ago, because she hadn't posted anything for a long while (like I have any room to talk - but hey, it's my little sister).

So she got back at me. The email was an assignment. That's what I get for having a sister who's a teacher.

It turns out that my mother's mother's father lived - wait for it - right here in Missouri! According to the 1870 census, he and several family members lived somewhere in Barton County, on the Kansas border. But by the 1880 census, the family was back in Delaware, where marriages would occur and children would be born and my mom would finally greet the world.

This was all new information for us. I've got Kentucky connections through my father and Philadelphia-New Jersey-Delaware connections through my mother, and Mary's got Iowa and California connections. But when we moved to Missouri last summer, we assumed it was fresh territory for both our families (except for my son's time in college here).

Guess again! Of course, I stopped being surprised at that sort of thing long ago. The church I was confirmed in had two large extended families, and lots of members were connected somehow to one or the other. A few months after we moved there, someone visited my dad's office and disclosed that we were related to one of those families, too - through my father's father's second wife's...something-or-other. But it was a connection.

And I met people in California - thousands of miles from anywhere I'd ever lived before - who had connections to my family, to a church I'd once served, to my wife's parents' hometown....

And now this. I'm intrigued, and amused, and ultimately not at all surprised. If we can't recognize it any other way, at least we must realize how connected we are, as people, to each other. And the details of race, ethnicity, hometown, beliefs, and so on don't matter nearly as much as we sometimes want to believe.

Reading Rob Bell, Part One

2011-04-05T15:09:00.000-05:00

I'm about two-thirds of the way through Rob Bell's Love Wins - and I'll need to re-read it from start to finish before I can make some intelligent comments. (Does that mean what follows will be unintelligent comments? I leave that determination to you....)

Of course, it seems everybody and their sister has been commenting on the book over the last two months - some without even actually reading it. (See my previous posts here and here.) Tony Jones has been one writer/blogger who has addressed both the controversy and the book.

One of the milder criticisms I've noticed lately is Bell doesn't offer a consistently argued, clearly documented set of ideas. People have criticized his sloppy theology, his carefree dismissal of footnotes, his selective use of historical debates, his singular interpretation, his happy ignorance of critics and their screeds.

Once upon a time, I too was enamored of grand, systematic theologies that incorporated an explanation for everything. Then I left seminary and entered real life.

And I just can't get excited anymore about overarching systems that attempt to provide internally consistent answers and descriptions of everything. Life is just too messy. Freedom offers too many possibilities. Grace comes at unexpected times, to the least expected people.

Systematic theology seems more and more artificial (and not a little hubristic) to me - in its clarity of organization, its presentation of an ultimately knowable God, its assumption that all answers can be discovered and provided.

That's especially true when it attempts to base itself on (a) a reality - God - whom we can never exhaustively and completely know and (b) the Bible, which is not an internally consistent and logically organized set of propositions but a narrative of a people's periodic encounter with the Divine.

Some have made the argument that Bell is a pastor, not a theologian, as if that allows him some slack, as if he's not on the same mental plane as some ivory-tower theologian isolated in academia. Baloney.

What I'm starting to see in Bell's book is something akin to one of Paul's Biblical letters - a communication to a "church" (even if it isn't confined to one community or building) that is wrestling with a specific problem or crisis.

And the answer can't be hypothetical, theoretical, academic; it has to be real and passionate and connected to people's everyday lives. And that's exactly what is Bell is doing, as I read him.

Which does not in any way denigrate the scholarly quality of his argument. Bell seems to be incredibly well-read and studied; his knowledge of scripture and church history is expansive. He doesn't identify all his Biblical quotes by chapter and verse, and I suspect that's because his primary audience seems to be his own evangelical circle - and those folks will know exactly what he's quoting and where to find it.

So I'm excited to finish, and then to read again. And perhaps by this time next week I'll have something more specific to say.

I Got Mine!

2011-04-01T15:24:00.000-05:00

My copy of Rob Bell's Love Wins, that is. Picked it up today and started reading over lunch. I'll probably be reading and re-reading for the next week or so, before I post my own reactions to it. (So far, he's starting out well, in my opinion.)

Meanwhile, you might check out a few (more - will it ever end?) blog posts on Bell's book - from Tony Jones, Brian McLaren, and Wes Ellis. Dontcha love McLaren's "April Fool's" post?

Also, here's a very interesting and encouraging link I found on Brian McLaren's blog, an acknowledgement of the many Muslim voices that have already been raised against violence. Don't believe the anti-Muslim bluster!

And the publish date for the next issue of [sh]OUT Magazine, from the University of Missouri's LGBTQ Resource Center, is April 25th. Hmm, I wonder how my picture turned out....

Here We Go Again?

2011-03-29T14:50:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to put off thinking about the latest "military action" in Libya, but the subject keeps floating to the top of my mind.

There are several dangers to that. First, I'm so tired of American intervention in places I'm not sure we belong, with a potential for escalation that our humanness has trouble resisting. It feels like one more bad episode of "we're from the government, and we're here to help."

Now, I believe that there is, indeed, a proper role for government in alleviating suffering in a complex society. But I know that we (and in America, the government really is "we") too often overlook potential consequences of this or that plan, because something "feels good" to do.

Second, I have serious, personal trouble with military muscle-flexing when we are not under direct and clear attack. I understand the necessity of having military forces - and I deeply respect the courage and commitment of those who volunteer to put themselves in harm's way for our sakes.

But I have trouble with the idea that "it's our job" to be the world's police force, or even to be so consistently involved in NATO or UN policing. Aren't there others, geographically or politically closer, who might take a leadership role for a change?

And aren't we already extended enough, militarily? Shouldn't our limited resources be directed toward something more humanitarian, like Japan's tragic situation?

Third, I know there are significant complexities in the Libyan situation. This is more than just "Bad Gaddafi!" For better or worse, my best friend from college regularly posts articles on Facebook - and since he's retired Navy, now teaching political science and international relations, they're well-written articles with commanding arguments. Here's one, for instance, that resonates in me.

But I just can't help thinking that we're close to getting ourselves stuck in yet another quagmire. My post-Christmas reading of Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia reinforced my sense that the Middle East is a tricky place, full of traps for the unaware - and most of the time, our leaders (from both parties) have seemed dangerously unaware of the history of Middle Eastern conflicts and rivalries. Back in October, I posted a cartoon about the war in Afghanistan that continues to echo in my mind.

Finally, while I have often lived it out imperfectly, I have a basic belief that Christianity ought to be much more peace-oriented than it often is. The Kingdom we serve, in which our true citizenship lies, is not like the kingdoms of this world. And a dominant characteristic of this-worldly kingdoms is their use of coercive force to get their way.

Do innocents need to be protected? Surely. How do we do that, without (a) harming other innocents and (b) corrupting ourselves in the process? I haven't a clue.

But I am anxious for the immediate future in Libya, and in the hearts and minds and lives of those who may be called to intervene there. And I continue to hold that entire situation in prayer. Join me, please.

Continuing Discussions

2011-03-25T10:02:00.000-05:00

The discussion on prayer at Tony Jones's Theoblogy continues, with quite a bit of back-and-forth.

I'm still waiting for my ordered copy of Rob Bell's Love Wins, and that debate also rages on. Tony Jones, again, contributes another take on human freedom. I appreciate his awareness of the influence of structures (often unrecognized), whether institutional or expectational, but I can't discard the moral agency of each individual, the ability to - and necessity of - making choices even among limited options.

It always seems rather tragic to me when a natural disaster or other crisis leads religious leaders to spout some variation on "they deserve it because they're not Christians." Brian McLaren responded to one of these misguided comments about the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear-plant disaster in Japan.

And speaking of Japan, there are myriad ways to contribute to the ongoing relief efforts. The United Church of Christ has set up a special Disaster Relief webpage, and FEMA has recommended a number of agencies, including Church World Service and the American Red Cross. The links in the preceding sentence go directly to webpages that can securely take your online contribution.

A Time to Pray, Part 2

2011-03-23T16:04:00.000-05:00

A few days ago, I ruminated (not very conclusively) on praying in the face of the recent disasters and reactions to oppression (and consequent re-reactions).

Tony Jones posted this on his Theoblogy, and I thought it was an interesting discussion starter, even if I don't agree with his first point - that, biblically speaking, prayer is not about changing us (see my comment, about the 20th in the list).

I do agree with his second point, though, which is that prayer is not about changing God. To think that God will only exercise the unlimited divine power if enough people specifically ask, is to deny God's compassion and make God's actions subject to our request - that is, it puts us in control of God.

I admit that there's a theological question in whose prayers get answered and whose don't. And it's worth some serious thought and discussion to grapple with how God might be responding, for instance, to the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear-plant threat in Japan - why didn't an all-knowing, all-powerful God prevent it?

But I hope that Jones finally comes up with a better reason to pray than "obedience," because I don't think God is capricious, commanding that we do something (Paul's "pray unceasingly") "just because."

Reading List

2011-03-19T10:54:00.000-05:00

If you've been tracking my reading list, over on the right-hand side (And of course everyone's doing that, right? Right...?), you might have noticed that it hasn't gone much of anywhere in a while.

Oh, there's been some light reading, thanks to Christmas and birthday gifts from my lovely and indulgent wife. And I've whipped through those, partly out of excitement at new information and partly as "time off" for my mind.

But I've been "stuck" on Kenneth Bailey's Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes for a while.

Of course, that's not the whole story. Like lots of people, in ministry and elsewhere, I get magazines, journals, newspapers - and since I pay for the subscriptions, I feel compelled to actually read them, usually ahead of the latest book, since they're often more time-oriented.

I've also re-read a couple things, and portions of other things, to prepare for various study groups, as well as Sunday mornings. And it seems redundant to me, to re-list a book I've already read.

I'm almost done with the Bailey, though. And a book from the pile on my desk has migrated to my briefcase in anticipation. And I've got two new books on order, including Rob Bell's new Love Wins.

Speaking of which, and expecting that it will jump to the top of the heap when it actually arrives, here's a video by Bell himself, sort of a "trailer" for the book. (Since when did books start having trailers, like movies?)

I really like the questions Bell asks here - and sometimes I think it really is more about asking the right questions than having the right answers.

A Time to Pray

2011-03-18T14:02:00.000-05:00

We've had a heckuva start to the Lenten season this year. I don't mean in our local church or community, but around the world that is, thanks to media-mediated immediacy (didja like that?), truly a global village.

Freedom-seeking unrest in various Middle Eastern countries, and some predictable but nevertheless tragic reactions by the powers-that-still-be. A devastating earthquake followed by a tsunami which initiated a nuclear-plant disaster that is still unresolved.

Of course, into our individual lives "rain" falls, as well. I think of a particular person facing serious surgery, and another attempting to mitigate a diagnosis, and another coming to grips with deep issues of identity and relationship.

I found this article on one of the blogs I check in on, Spencer Burke's The Ooze. I'm not sure I agree with everything the author seems to suggest, but his general direction makes me think once more about the direction and priorities of our lives in a modern world.

Humility...repentance...trust in God, rather than in our own health regimens or bank accounts or technologies....

I read an article some years ago, that suggested the purpose of prayer is not to convince God to do what God wouldn't otherwise do (heal me, fix this problem, etc.); prayer is not about badgering a disinterested God.

Rather, it is about moving our minds in a direction closer to where God's heart already is, as we reflect intentionally on the needs of others, and our own imperfection.

And just the other week I read another eye-opening article (maybe one can teach an old dog new tricks?) that suggested another purpose of my prayer, or yours, is to pray on behalf of those who are so devastated that they cannot pray for themselves.

At the very end of Lent, we'll focus on Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane - the Gospel of John spends whole chapters on that.

Perhaps part of our journey with Jesus, on his road to Jerusalem and the cross, is to learn better how to pray and what/whom to pray for, so that when we arrive at the Garden with him this year, we'll be ready to stay awake and watch.

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this...perhaps I'm just typing my way around my heart's unvoiced cry, "Lord, in the midst of all this unholy tragedy, teach me to pray."

Is It Ever "Too Late"?

2011-03-15T15:13:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago and in the midst of a number of brief items and links, I mentioned Rob Bell's upcoming book Love Wins and the controversy that surrounded it even before it hit bookstore shelves.

Well, the book is available today. No, I haven't picked up my copy yet; I still have 5 other books sitting on my desk (and one or two, I think, on my Amazon wish list). But I'll get one soon.

And I think I'll probably spend a post or two talking about it, because Bell's topic is universalism - that is, the belief that all people will somehow be "saved" by God.

Which is not a mainstream Christian position, as the pre-publication controversy around Bell shows. And yet, it is a position that has popped up throughout Christian history and, according to some authors, has significant Biblical support.

Wes Ellis commented in his usual, enthusiastic but thoughtful style today on the appearance of Love Wins. I'm sure he and I will bat some ideas back and forth; he's the reason I started reading Bell in the first place. (Those folks in Ramona CA are a lucky bunch to have him!)

Especially check out the video clip of Bell himself (and ignore the editorial pop-up comments). I particularly like his idea that we should, as someone put it, bring "up there" down here.

Tony Jones has also tried to initiate a discussion about universalism, beginning back in January. You can see his periodic posts at Theoblogy, including this one about Judas Iscariot. But definitely check out "The Post You Need to Read about Universalism."

My own thinking on this topic was influenced, back in high school, by my reading C. S. Lewis' The Great Divorce.

To wrap things up for today, here's southern California singer-songwriter-pianist Bill Cantos and "Love Wins," the title track from his 2007 album. Mary and I heard him perform regularly at one of our favorite events, the KSBR Birthday Bash. Ah, jazz under the southern California sun...!

Stereotyping & Demonizing

2011-03-11T09:40:00.000-06:00

The church's Men's Fellowship meets for breakfast on Sunday, and this month's speaker will be a long-time resident of the community - who is also Muslim.

I was glad to see the announcement for this; it's got to be a bad time to be Muslim in the USA right now. Congressman Peter King's "hearings" made me think of the Old West characterization, "the only good Indian is a dead Indian." Some folks haven't come all that far, I guess....

The hearings have also raised a lot of questions, although none of them seem to have gotten through to Rep. King. For instance, King's unverified accusation that 80-85% of US mosques are radicalized sounds suspiciously like Eugene McCarthy's "200 card-carrying Communists" - none of whom were ever identified. The truth is that American mosques and Muslims have been incredibly cooperative. See this link also.

In fact, like McCarthy's witch hunt in the 1950's, American Muslims are being criticized by the Congressman - not for actually being terrorists, but for not doing enough against terrorism. (Listen to John Stewart of The Daily Show, on the video clip in this article.)

In an odd instance of "the pot calling the kettle black," King has never renounced his support for the Irish Republican Army and its campaign of terror in Northern Ireland, which caused the deaths of numbers of innocent civilians, including American citizens. Not only that, but King and his supporters ignore a much larger danger in home-grown hate groups that have nothing to do with Islam.

As war rages on in Iraq and Afghanistan and turmoil engulfs other Middle Eastern countries, I understand that there is a continuing threat toward our country and our fellow citizens. But war has always seemed to bring out profiteers, those who gain from the misery and death of others. The "war on terror" has spawned its own industry of dubious experts, and it's worth pondering how much of our fear is generated by those seeking to make a buck.

Finally, I posted comments last fall about the New York City mosque controversy. I learned an interesting fact recently: the people initiating the plans for an Islamic community center near (not at) the 9/11 site are Sufis, members of a mystical and very peaceful branch of Islam, who are often persecuted by other Muslims for their gentle ways.

I'm looking forward to our visitor Sunday morning - not only to hear what he has to say, but especially to make another connection to the Islamic community here, and build bridges instead of walls.

Ashes to Ashes

2011-03-09T15:21:00.000-06:00

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

For a long time, I've had a real affinity for the liturgical year. Wes Ellis posted about the church's calendar the other week....

I've used the image of "telling the story of salvation" as a way to give meaning to the traditional church calendar, in a world with lots of other calendars (school year, Hallmark, sports seasons, etc.). Through the rhythm and emphases of the liturgical seasons, we "walk with Jesus" from birth to death and resurrection into imitative discipleship.

In this rhythm, Lent invites us to get serious about following Jesus. It confronts us with his determination not to avoid death, and challenges us to commit ourselves with the same clarity and intentionality.

Historically, that has led to all sorts of experiences of self-denial, including the familiar "Lenten fasting." Now, I love the liturgical year, but I'm also not very fond of rituals like giving something up for Lent or making New Year's resolutions or whatever. (I didn't like practicing scales on my clarinet or finger exercises at the piano, either.)

But I decided to inject some discipline into my Lent this year, because I'm still figuring out what I'm doing here, right here in the blogosphere. So my plan is to post at least twice a week - and you all get to keep me honest.

By doing this, I hope to accomplish at least two things. First, just to be more consistent about this. Not because I think I have anything particular stellar to say, but because my intention has always been for this to be a conversation-starter, another first step (like Sunday morning's message) in an ongoing dialogue that helps us learn about each other and grow in our faith together.

Second, to use this commitment as a way to re-order my time. I mean, how much celebrity and lifestyle "news" and endlessly circular internet "discussion" does anyone really need? I'm still searching for a good sense of balance in my life right now - church and home and self. And I figure that breaking some old patterns and setting some new ones might assist that.

We'll see. But perhaps my appreciation for the church calendar will reinforce this inner searching and actually lead to something. In any case, I'll be dropping bread crumbs along the trail, right here, twice a week. Follow along, if you will....

Catching Up, Again

2011-03-03T10:21:00.000-06:00

It's been a busy couple weeks. Haven't meant to neglect the blogosphere. In fact, I've been reading it pretty regularly. My internal question always is, what's worth repeating and what's not? Or, what level of sharing is important/helpful and what is just self-absorbed or self-glorifying?

Can you tell that I'm still figuring out this "social media" thing?

Nevertheless, there have been things I've read, online and elsewhere, that have set me to thinking. Because there's a lot going on in the world right now, and a lot of folks are reflecting seriously on those things.

Brian McLaren comments, and echoes the comments of others, on the national budget discussion.

Tony Jones comments on LGBTQ rights here, here, and here. Still waiting to see the article in [sh]OUT....

Rob Bell meditates on suffering, just in time for Lent.

Wes Ellis passes on thoughts from his seminary studies, also appropriate for Lent, on responding to the suffering and needy.

Brian McLaren and Tony Jones react to conservative flak about Rob Bell's new book, including noting that the critics haven't actually read the book.

And last but certainly not least, the Rev. Dr. Peter J. Gomes, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and Pusey Minister of Memorial Church at Harvard University, died on Monday at age 68. These articles from Harvard Magazine and Tony Jones's Theoblogy will give you a sense of the man and his legacy (definitely check out the short video of Gomes with Stephen Colbert on Tony Jones's post!).

Gomes began his ministry and teaching at Harvard in 1974; I studied at the Divinity School from 1980-83. One of my first classes, a required introduction to study for the ministry, was co-taught by Gomes. When my faculty advisor went on sabbatical at the beginning of my second year, Gomes was appointed for me in his place.

I probably didn't take enough advantage of his wisdom and temperament during those years; I do have an impression of a gentle, accepting spirit. Over the past year I've read his The Good Book and The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus. And I really resonate with his approach and style, not to mention his conclusions.

A number of years ago, Gomes delivered the eulogy for a Harvard colleague, and it was reprinted in the Divinity School bulletin. The power and hope and invitation in his ending struck me, and I turn to these words often when officiating at funerals.

"...we may speculate on what lies ahead, but we are wiser to rejoice in our experience of what we have known and loved, shared, and now lost.

"We Christians hope and believe that we will meet again, and that will be a real reunion indeed, unlike anything that we have seen around here. All that we can do now, however, is to remember and be grateful, and to perpetuate as we can those virtues, qualities, and customs with which we associate the best" of the loved one now departed.