Thhis one's off an e-mail post from yesterday
FOOD FOR THE JOURNEY
I’ve heard from some clergy people that pastors should not let people in their congregations know their opinions about certain hot-button issues so as not to influence (positively or otherwise) the opinions of their congregants. Then I’ve heard others say they share their opinions about all kinds of stuff rather freely – must be those younger people that blog and tweet and all that, the ones that are used to sharing thoughts and opinions easily and openly. Some say the clergy should stay out of the messy world of politics and stick with “the Gospel”. Others say what Jesus said was very political – that it was all about politics!
Lately I’ve seen and heard so much about one general theme: Homosexuality in the political forum (granting equal rights to gay couple, etc – in the case of states and the district) and in the church world as well (I’m sure you’ve all heard about the ELCA officially opening the door to ordaining gay candidates in committed relationships. You’ve heard church people talk about this, you’ve seen the talking heads on TV and heard them on the radio. There’s a portion of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) that is seriously considering leaving the church to… well, I don’t know. The Episcopal church is feeling the split already-they’ve just ordained their second openly gay bishop). Uganda has just passed a law (if I understand things rightly) that makes homosexual acts punishable by rather severe prison time. This was done ostensibly to protect the culture and people of Uganda from cultural melt-down.
People’s reactions to all this range from the negative [allowing all this would destroy the institution of marriage, it would force congregations to accept a gay clergy person (actually not true), it’s against the bible, it’s against God’s natural laws, it’s immoral] to the positive [finally we’re recognizing people’s civil rights]. I recognize it’s a visceral issue, one that people “feel” more than “think”. If you think it’s wrong, it’s probably not because you heard someone spell out a well-reasoned opinion why granting homosexual couples “married” rights, or why opening the door to gay clergy in committed relationships, would be a bad thing. It’s probably because of what you believe… deep down. If you think it’s wrong, it’s probably not so much because you think the bible says it… but because it’s just not the natural way of things!
I’m hearing things among my clergy peers, hurtful and painful things, I’m seeing things like the Uganda law, and reactions to the ELCA or the Episcopal church or the recent DC Council decision to allow gay unions and I have to react against it! I’m not gay, I don’t get it. But I think, and feel, if people of the same sex want to bring their relationships into some sort of “official” status… why can’t we let them? As far as destroying the institution of marriage… we heterosexuals already have a 50% failure rate for marriages in any given year. I think a 50% in anything is pretty bad – it would be an “F” in school! But here we have people who want to “make it legit”. I assume they want to be married because they plan to be in it for the long haul. I don’t care for people jumping from bed to bed… gay or straight.
Again, I’m not gay, but I just don’t think it’s right to prevent people who have committed them selves to each other (in the only ways they are able at this point – by standing before themselves and God and saying so), who have not only shared the blessings, but the trials of a committed relationship, who have learned to bear each other’s burdens (as any long-term married couple learns to do), and then prevent them from being with their partners when the other is in the hospital! It’s not only irresponsible of us, it’s a moral travesty for us to prevent committed gay couples from being able to share rights – simple rights we married couples take for granted – that married couples share! We’re not talking about giving people the right to jump from bed to bed… the people who want to do that probably aren’t looking for a way to make their relationships (or lack of them) legally binding!
“But the bible says…” Don’t use the bible to your own ends! I can’t remember hearing anyone who is opposed to gay unions/marriage also say they’re opposed to divorce on biblical grounds. Jesus says nothing about homosexuality, but does say divorce is a sin! And anyone who divorces a person and marries another commits adultery! But that seems to be not only tolerated, but accepted, as a cultural matter of course.
Now, it wasn’t that long ago that church leaders actually did react to divorce. Years ago, when I was in college, I worked with a young lady whose father left the family; her, her sister and their mother, for another woman. They were church-attending Lutherans, but when the father filed for divorce, the church leaders asked her mother to stop teaching Sunday School because they felt it was immoral for a divorced woman to teach their children. She told me her mother left that church and never went to church again!
So, is divorce, by definition wrong? Well, sometimes some marriages should end! For some it can be literally life-saving! But often it’s sad when a marriage ends, almost like the death of a person we love. But just because some abuse the right to divorce, should we stop allowing it? Now of course, enlightened by time and culture, we’d think that response to her mother was without compassion or Gospel Grace! We have learned to live with divorce as a part of life. I don’t want to equate gay unions with something as destructive as divorce, but I bring this up as a way to show that we, culturally, don’t “react” to divorce as we once did.
It was the same way with the idea of ordaining women back in the day. Boy did people react to that! It’s wrong! It’s against the bible! It’s against the natural order! And today… nary a peep. Well, occasionally a peep… but we don’t take those peeps very seriously! Why not? Because we just don’t think a persons genitalia should be one of the criteria for whether they might make a good pastor or not! Are we wrong for ordaining women? Do we “buy” that it’s against God’s law any more? That argument has lost its moral standing! That dog don’t hunt!
Back in 2000, my wife and I were in Ghana, West Africa, ostensibly to just be tourists. That trip was very powerful for many reasons – not the least of which being it was on that trip we met a little girl who would later be our daughter. We were able to visit a “Slave Castle”, the Elmina Slave Castle. It was more what we might consider a fort from our 19th century Western US rather than the European style castles. It had about three main floors around the edge of a court yard. Almost the whole first floor around this big courtyard, were cages – literal cages – where they would house the people they’d collected from d the surrounding countryside. In the center of this open courtyard, in full view of the people in the cages, was a church.
While I was looking at the church, right there in between all the pain and destruction of broken lives, I wondered how they could have totally missed the picture so badly. How could they have worshipped their Jesus, yet have no notion that what they were doing was so immoral? I can say that after 300 years of hindsight. I wonder what they will say about us three hundred years from now? How could they have missed the picture so badly? Would they be talking about us not allowing people, all people, the simple rights afforded all legally recognized couples? Would they be talking about us treating gay people as equal people… in church, in life?
It’s not about doing them a favor. It really is a matter of rights… a matter of equality… a matter of justice! But that’s just my opinion.
Peace,
Pr. Chad K.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Food For The Journey
FOOD FOR THE JOURNEY Week of August 24th, 2009
Folks,
Any Trekies out there? Star Trek fans… here’s a trivia question: Do you remember the “Prime Directive”? This was the thing above all else that the space travelers needed to abide by.
Here it is from Wikipedia: “In the fictional universe of Star Trek, the Prime Directive, Starfleet’s General Order #1, is the most prominent guiding principle of the United Federation of Planets. The Prime Directive dictates that there can be no interference with the internal development of pre-warp civilizations, consistent with the historical real world concept of Westphalian sovereignty. It has special implications, however, for civilizations that have not yet developed the technology for interstellar spaceflight ("pre-warp"), since no primitive culture can be given or exposed to any information regarding advanced technology or the existence of extraplanetary civilizations, lest this exposure alter the natural development of the civilization.”
Do you think we have theological Prime Directives? Do we each carry in us, in our lives, some foundational belief that affects our view of life? Some most basic tenant of faith that informs our relationships?
People of faith seem to have something that leads them… that motivates them in their lives… some basic/foundational belief that informs their judgments and actions. What’s your Prime Directive of God?
I just received a letter from one of our synod pastors calling a meeting to see what should be done. He’s referencing the latest news out of the Evangelical Lutheran Church In America (ELCA), our National church body. Last week the ELCA, in its national bi-yearly gathering, passed, among other things, a resolution that would allow homosexual people in committed relationships to be ordained as pastors in Christ’s church. For this pastor, and others, I assume the possibility of leaving the ELCA is on the table. According to his letter, the key issue is “not homosexuality, but our understanding of God’s word”. For him, THIS is his Prime Directive. He believes the passing of this resolution is just another of many decisions made by the ELCA indicating this church is drifting away from “God’s Word”. And does it lead to a line in the sand? For this pastor and for others in the ELCA, the idea of ordaining homosexuals in committed relationships is stepping over the line. This pastor is motivated by being faithful to God’s word… and ordaining homosexuals in committed relationships is an extreme expression of going against God’s Word.
What does this bring up in you? What’s your “God’s Word”?
About three years ago I was listening to an NPR story from a female reporter in Iraq doing a story on some US civilian trainers there. During the story one of the American men she was interviewing was talking about the Iraqi custom of men holding hands – he talked about the difficulty of getting them to stop doing that. The female reporter asked why he would want to do that, and he responded by saying that it just wasn’t right for men to hold hands, that it was just wrong.
Based on her response, you could tell she had a very different perspective. She responded with something about that being their culture and that he (the man being interviewed) should recognize that he is in another culture – a foreign culture – and the people in this culture have their own customs and practices that are different… and should be respected as such!
Then later in the story she referenced women not having the freedoms women have here in the States, and that it was our responsibility to try and help women have more rights and privileges, as men do in Iraq. And I thought – how interesting… she criticized the American man for wanting to try and change the custom of men holding hands, but she could not accept the custom of women not being equal. Now I’m not judging the custom as right or wrong, just commenting on her judgment of which customs to respect and leave alone and which customs change because they are “wrong”. She had a line… she could only accept cultural customs so far.
I once wrote a sermon based on the idea that we all may have a line we are unwilling to cross. For some the line is pretty close and for others the line is pretty far away. Where is your line? What is the foundational principle of your faith? What is “God’s Word” for you?
Let’s say its love… Sounds like an admirable divine Prime Directive. Jesus calls us to love. Okay… What does it look like? Does it mean to give money to anyone that asks you? Or do you have a criteria for generosity? Whom are you called to love?
We’re seeing this line come up for many people, and this topic of Homosexuality is the lightning rod for it. There are sides being drawn… unfortunately! Can we have a difference of opinion and STILL remain in the same family? Can we have a line, and STILL dwell together in God’s house? Can we share a prime directive that includes us all?
Things to think about…
Peace,
Pr. C-
Folks,
Any Trekies out there? Star Trek fans… here’s a trivia question: Do you remember the “Prime Directive”? This was the thing above all else that the space travelers needed to abide by.
Here it is from Wikipedia: “In the fictional universe of Star Trek, the Prime Directive, Starfleet’s General Order #1, is the most prominent guiding principle of the United Federation of Planets. The Prime Directive dictates that there can be no interference with the internal development of pre-warp civilizations, consistent with the historical real world concept of Westphalian sovereignty. It has special implications, however, for civilizations that have not yet developed the technology for interstellar spaceflight ("pre-warp"), since no primitive culture can be given or exposed to any information regarding advanced technology or the existence of extraplanetary civilizations, lest this exposure alter the natural development of the civilization.”
Do you think we have theological Prime Directives? Do we each carry in us, in our lives, some foundational belief that affects our view of life? Some most basic tenant of faith that informs our relationships?
People of faith seem to have something that leads them… that motivates them in their lives… some basic/foundational belief that informs their judgments and actions. What’s your Prime Directive of God?
I just received a letter from one of our synod pastors calling a meeting to see what should be done. He’s referencing the latest news out of the Evangelical Lutheran Church In America (ELCA), our National church body. Last week the ELCA, in its national bi-yearly gathering, passed, among other things, a resolution that would allow homosexual people in committed relationships to be ordained as pastors in Christ’s church. For this pastor, and others, I assume the possibility of leaving the ELCA is on the table. According to his letter, the key issue is “not homosexuality, but our understanding of God’s word”. For him, THIS is his Prime Directive. He believes the passing of this resolution is just another of many decisions made by the ELCA indicating this church is drifting away from “God’s Word”. And does it lead to a line in the sand? For this pastor and for others in the ELCA, the idea of ordaining homosexuals in committed relationships is stepping over the line. This pastor is motivated by being faithful to God’s word… and ordaining homosexuals in committed relationships is an extreme expression of going against God’s Word.
What does this bring up in you? What’s your “God’s Word”?
About three years ago I was listening to an NPR story from a female reporter in Iraq doing a story on some US civilian trainers there. During the story one of the American men she was interviewing was talking about the Iraqi custom of men holding hands – he talked about the difficulty of getting them to stop doing that. The female reporter asked why he would want to do that, and he responded by saying that it just wasn’t right for men to hold hands, that it was just wrong.
Based on her response, you could tell she had a very different perspective. She responded with something about that being their culture and that he (the man being interviewed) should recognize that he is in another culture – a foreign culture – and the people in this culture have their own customs and practices that are different… and should be respected as such!
Then later in the story she referenced women not having the freedoms women have here in the States, and that it was our responsibility to try and help women have more rights and privileges, as men do in Iraq. And I thought – how interesting… she criticized the American man for wanting to try and change the custom of men holding hands, but she could not accept the custom of women not being equal. Now I’m not judging the custom as right or wrong, just commenting on her judgment of which customs to respect and leave alone and which customs change because they are “wrong”. She had a line… she could only accept cultural customs so far.
I once wrote a sermon based on the idea that we all may have a line we are unwilling to cross. For some the line is pretty close and for others the line is pretty far away. Where is your line? What is the foundational principle of your faith? What is “God’s Word” for you?
Let’s say its love… Sounds like an admirable divine Prime Directive. Jesus calls us to love. Okay… What does it look like? Does it mean to give money to anyone that asks you? Or do you have a criteria for generosity? Whom are you called to love?
We’re seeing this line come up for many people, and this topic of Homosexuality is the lightning rod for it. There are sides being drawn… unfortunately! Can we have a difference of opinion and STILL remain in the same family? Can we have a line, and STILL dwell together in God’s house? Can we share a prime directive that includes us all?
Things to think about…
Peace,
Pr. C-
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Food For The Journey
FOOD FOR THE JOURNEY Week of August 10th, 2009
Sacred Memory…
When I was a kid, sometimes when my mother would listen to the radio, after some particularly meaningful song, she’d tell me some background about a place or time, or a person that the song reminded her of. She’d sometimes tell me about an uncle, or a cousin, or a story about when she was at school. I didn’t think it was ramblings, but I certainly didn’t see it from the same “eyes” of memory that she had. I certainly didn’t have the same appreciation for the song that she had. To me, that song was just an old song.
I can remember as a child hearing my grandparents talking about some of their experiences back in World War II, or other events in their lives. Looking back, they would talk with such meaning, as if they were seeing these events again, as if they were trying to describe them to a person that couldn’t see those events with the same eyes of experience. It was almost as if they were trying to convey to me the feelings and perceptions they had as they were living those events. The thing is, they weren’t trying to tell me about a memory… they were trying to tell me about themselves through that memory!
But, I was too young to appreciate what they were doing. I didn’t get it. I lived primarily in the moment, or if I looked anywhere it was to the future. The past wasn’t something I looked at too much, probably because there might not have been too much of it in my life to be very reflective about it.
Then years later, I’d do my clinical chaplaincy work in a retirement home/assisted living center/nursing home complex in Gaithersburg MD, called Asbury Methodist Village, in the summer of 1996. At the time I was all of 30 years old. During our first week there, we were greeted and briefed by a number of staff members, who talked to us on a number of things related to work and ministry among the elderly. We had nurses and social workers come talk to us about what life is like as an older person, what they might be going through emotionally, intellectually, physically, etc. We had people come and talk with us about various infirmities and diseases that are related primarily to the elderly – like Alzheimer’s disease.
I remember one particular social worker who came to talk to us. She talked with us about the power of Reminiscence… that thing people do more of as they get older. To the young, “reminiscence” is pretty much remembering. And reminiscing is pretty much talking about old times. But the social worker talked about this as a natural process, as something people do; either to make more sense of the present, to make peace with the past, to anchor the living process in something. It’s a natural part of our aging process, she’d say. And as she spoke about this process, it sounded almost like something holy. She described something that naturally occurs in us as something that took on the feel of a Sacred Pilgrimage to a sacred place… but the sacred place is in our history, in our psyche, in our souls.
Well, as it turns out, I’ve noticed I’m doing this more and more. I hear a song that I’d heard back when, and it brings back all kinds of memories. And I find my self telling my kids about this or that event in my life. And once I figure out what I’m doing… I realize it’s more than just a story. And I see they don’t get it. How can I put in words – although it’s a story… it’s not just a story. I’m telling you about myself, about who I am, about my pilgrimage through this life so far. How can you say this on words? How can you convey meaning of your life as a story-teller, a teller of stories… about yourself, only told in pieces… one story at a time? But to them, they’re just stories.
For about four years, my father enjoyed writing poetry. They weren’t the most sophisticated poems, nor the most articulate pieces… but they represented a piece of his memories… which unfortunately are fading now more and more with each passing day. He’d write about his past, places he went to in his life and career as a Foreign Service Officer, he’d write about his growing up years, about his father, etc. unfortunately he hasn’t been able to do this for about a year now. He’s developing a form of dementia that’s stealing his memories. So his poems mean more to me now that I know what they’re really about… now that I’m beginning the process of reminiscing myself.
One of my professors at Seminary used to say – “The bible does not reveal its secrets to disinterested passers-by.” Maybe it’s not all going to be spelled out for us… maybe we have to dig a little. I wonder if this isn’t what our spiritual journey’s are like. I wonder if all the important things we need to know about living well, about forgiveness, about God and grace, about faith and hope… are already there? Is it a matter of just getting that stuff out… in the right way, at the right time? Maybe it’s about Remembering… about looking back on our lives, reading between the lines, and seeing the sacred between the empty spaces of our journey, about having the courage to seek deep within and shine the light in those dark corners we haven’t looked at in a long, long time… Maybe it’s the same way with our growth as healthy people – maybe we have to take time to look inside us, in our journey thus far… in our memories, our Sacred Memories… memories handed down to us from ages ago, memories that were introduced to our spiritual DNA a long time ago. This has led me to believe in something that really does exist… Sacred Remembering.
There is a scene in the movie “The Legend of Bagger Vance”, about a gifted golfer who returns from WWI psychologically wounded. He is struggling with some demons that prevent him from living as a whole and healthy human being (sound familiar?). Well, this character Bagger Vance comes along to help him in his journey. Basically it’s a movie about living well, using the game of golf as a tool for doing so. Here’s a scene that speaks about Sacred Remembering
Bagger Vance: Yep... Inside each and every one of us is one true authentic swing... Somethin' we was born with... Somethin' that's ours and ours alone... Somethin' that can't be taught to ya or learned... Somethin' that got to be remembered... Over time the world can, rob us of that swing... It get buried inside us under all our wouldas and couldas and shouldas... Some folk even forget what their swing was like...
Watch it here:
This scene is a more full scene, but it’s subtitled in some other language, and the sound quality isn’t all that great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nna6BpU8i2I&feature=related
Here’s the same scene, better quality sound (without the sub-titles) but it’s shorter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH4oOnh6DyI
It’s all there… we just have to Remember!
Peace,
Pr. C-
Sacred Memory…
When I was a kid, sometimes when my mother would listen to the radio, after some particularly meaningful song, she’d tell me some background about a place or time, or a person that the song reminded her of. She’d sometimes tell me about an uncle, or a cousin, or a story about when she was at school. I didn’t think it was ramblings, but I certainly didn’t see it from the same “eyes” of memory that she had. I certainly didn’t have the same appreciation for the song that she had. To me, that song was just an old song.
I can remember as a child hearing my grandparents talking about some of their experiences back in World War II, or other events in their lives. Looking back, they would talk with such meaning, as if they were seeing these events again, as if they were trying to describe them to a person that couldn’t see those events with the same eyes of experience. It was almost as if they were trying to convey to me the feelings and perceptions they had as they were living those events. The thing is, they weren’t trying to tell me about a memory… they were trying to tell me about themselves through that memory!
But, I was too young to appreciate what they were doing. I didn’t get it. I lived primarily in the moment, or if I looked anywhere it was to the future. The past wasn’t something I looked at too much, probably because there might not have been too much of it in my life to be very reflective about it.
Then years later, I’d do my clinical chaplaincy work in a retirement home/assisted living center/nursing home complex in Gaithersburg MD, called Asbury Methodist Village, in the summer of 1996. At the time I was all of 30 years old. During our first week there, we were greeted and briefed by a number of staff members, who talked to us on a number of things related to work and ministry among the elderly. We had nurses and social workers come talk to us about what life is like as an older person, what they might be going through emotionally, intellectually, physically, etc. We had people come and talk with us about various infirmities and diseases that are related primarily to the elderly – like Alzheimer’s disease.
I remember one particular social worker who came to talk to us. She talked with us about the power of Reminiscence… that thing people do more of as they get older. To the young, “reminiscence” is pretty much remembering. And reminiscing is pretty much talking about old times. But the social worker talked about this as a natural process, as something people do; either to make more sense of the present, to make peace with the past, to anchor the living process in something. It’s a natural part of our aging process, she’d say. And as she spoke about this process, it sounded almost like something holy. She described something that naturally occurs in us as something that took on the feel of a Sacred Pilgrimage to a sacred place… but the sacred place is in our history, in our psyche, in our souls.
Well, as it turns out, I’ve noticed I’m doing this more and more. I hear a song that I’d heard back when, and it brings back all kinds of memories. And I find my self telling my kids about this or that event in my life. And once I figure out what I’m doing… I realize it’s more than just a story. And I see they don’t get it. How can I put in words – although it’s a story… it’s not just a story. I’m telling you about myself, about who I am, about my pilgrimage through this life so far. How can you say this on words? How can you convey meaning of your life as a story-teller, a teller of stories… about yourself, only told in pieces… one story at a time? But to them, they’re just stories.
For about four years, my father enjoyed writing poetry. They weren’t the most sophisticated poems, nor the most articulate pieces… but they represented a piece of his memories… which unfortunately are fading now more and more with each passing day. He’d write about his past, places he went to in his life and career as a Foreign Service Officer, he’d write about his growing up years, about his father, etc. unfortunately he hasn’t been able to do this for about a year now. He’s developing a form of dementia that’s stealing his memories. So his poems mean more to me now that I know what they’re really about… now that I’m beginning the process of reminiscing myself.
One of my professors at Seminary used to say – “The bible does not reveal its secrets to disinterested passers-by.” Maybe it’s not all going to be spelled out for us… maybe we have to dig a little. I wonder if this isn’t what our spiritual journey’s are like. I wonder if all the important things we need to know about living well, about forgiveness, about God and grace, about faith and hope… are already there? Is it a matter of just getting that stuff out… in the right way, at the right time? Maybe it’s about Remembering… about looking back on our lives, reading between the lines, and seeing the sacred between the empty spaces of our journey, about having the courage to seek deep within and shine the light in those dark corners we haven’t looked at in a long, long time… Maybe it’s the same way with our growth as healthy people – maybe we have to take time to look inside us, in our journey thus far… in our memories, our Sacred Memories… memories handed down to us from ages ago, memories that were introduced to our spiritual DNA a long time ago. This has led me to believe in something that really does exist… Sacred Remembering.
There is a scene in the movie “The Legend of Bagger Vance”, about a gifted golfer who returns from WWI psychologically wounded. He is struggling with some demons that prevent him from living as a whole and healthy human being (sound familiar?). Well, this character Bagger Vance comes along to help him in his journey. Basically it’s a movie about living well, using the game of golf as a tool for doing so. Here’s a scene that speaks about Sacred Remembering
Bagger Vance: Yep... Inside each and every one of us is one true authentic swing... Somethin' we was born with... Somethin' that's ours and ours alone... Somethin' that can't be taught to ya or learned... Somethin' that got to be remembered... Over time the world can, rob us of that swing... It get buried inside us under all our wouldas and couldas and shouldas... Some folk even forget what their swing was like...
Watch it here:
This scene is a more full scene, but it’s subtitled in some other language, and the sound quality isn’t all that great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nna6BpU8i2I&feature=related
Here’s the same scene, better quality sound (without the sub-titles) but it’s shorter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH4oOnh6DyI
It’s all there… we just have to Remember!
Peace,
Pr. C-
Food For The Journey
FOOD FOR THE JOURNEY Week of August 3rd, 2009
Folks…
You ever heard about how to kill a frog without the frog knowing it? You put the frog in a pot of cold water – so it’s comfortable… you know, so it doesn’t suspect anything. And you slowly turn up the heat until you bring the water to a boil. As the story goes, the frog will never notice it getting hotter and hotter… but the trick is to turn up the heat SLOWLY!
You ever stop to notice how fast things are? You ever wonder how things got so crazy? Well, it didn’t happen over-night. Our planners and day-timers, blackberries and schedules seem to suck the “moment” right out of our lives… but it happens little by little, over a long period of time. I think the thing is we’re geared to “produce”. If we spend our time on things that are not “productive” then we tend to feel guilty. So we lean towards doing, and doing, and doing. What can we “show” for our time spent? Some people over the years have even told me that if they could get by without sleeping, they would.
I know relaxing is in many respects “un-American”. The American ethos was formed from people that created this country by the sweat of their brow, forging ahead with the strength of their own backs. Our industrial might was founded on those ethics of putting in “an honest 8”. And look where it has gotten us – we’ve become a world industrial leader. Countries still want to be like us in some ways.
Being industrious is not a bad thing… it can help us learn about goals, and living up to our potential… all admirable things. Wouldn’t we want our children to live this way?
What I’m talking about is an imbalance in the way we live our lives. Our “honest 8” has become more and more an honest 10, or 12. We’ve forgotten the “moment”. When was the last time you had a Moment with God? Most of us have to find them as we can… squeezing them in between meetings, or driving from here to there.
Take your time back! You don’t have to let ‘em crank the heat up more and more! Yes there are some things we HAVE to do! But I don’t think those HAVE TO’s are as many as we might think. There probably are more things we have CHOSEN to do because of a variety of reasons. But in the midst of this, don’t forget to take time to just relax.
If you don’t already do this (If you do do this, you really are a step ahead) take a “moment” to be with your kids, with your spouse, with a person you care for, with God (pray, meditate, or however you connect with God) … schedule it, block out some time if you have to… and talk, eat, go for a walk, relax. Our in-box will still be there… it never goes anywhere anyway, and no matter how much we do, there’s always stuff in it… so…
Take A Moment… and see where it takes you!
And just for kicks - here’s a story about The Moment… http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/28/AR2009072803220.html
Peace,
Pr. C-
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. Marcel Proust
Folks…
You ever heard about how to kill a frog without the frog knowing it? You put the frog in a pot of cold water – so it’s comfortable… you know, so it doesn’t suspect anything. And you slowly turn up the heat until you bring the water to a boil. As the story goes, the frog will never notice it getting hotter and hotter… but the trick is to turn up the heat SLOWLY!
You ever stop to notice how fast things are? You ever wonder how things got so crazy? Well, it didn’t happen over-night. Our planners and day-timers, blackberries and schedules seem to suck the “moment” right out of our lives… but it happens little by little, over a long period of time. I think the thing is we’re geared to “produce”. If we spend our time on things that are not “productive” then we tend to feel guilty. So we lean towards doing, and doing, and doing. What can we “show” for our time spent? Some people over the years have even told me that if they could get by without sleeping, they would.
I know relaxing is in many respects “un-American”. The American ethos was formed from people that created this country by the sweat of their brow, forging ahead with the strength of their own backs. Our industrial might was founded on those ethics of putting in “an honest 8”. And look where it has gotten us – we’ve become a world industrial leader. Countries still want to be like us in some ways.
Being industrious is not a bad thing… it can help us learn about goals, and living up to our potential… all admirable things. Wouldn’t we want our children to live this way?
What I’m talking about is an imbalance in the way we live our lives. Our “honest 8” has become more and more an honest 10, or 12. We’ve forgotten the “moment”. When was the last time you had a Moment with God? Most of us have to find them as we can… squeezing them in between meetings, or driving from here to there.
Take your time back! You don’t have to let ‘em crank the heat up more and more! Yes there are some things we HAVE to do! But I don’t think those HAVE TO’s are as many as we might think. There probably are more things we have CHOSEN to do because of a variety of reasons. But in the midst of this, don’t forget to take time to just relax.
If you don’t already do this (If you do do this, you really are a step ahead) take a “moment” to be with your kids, with your spouse, with a person you care for, with God (pray, meditate, or however you connect with God) … schedule it, block out some time if you have to… and talk, eat, go for a walk, relax. Our in-box will still be there… it never goes anywhere anyway, and no matter how much we do, there’s always stuff in it… so…
Take A Moment… and see where it takes you!
And just for kicks - here’s a story about The Moment… http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/28/AR2009072803220.html
Peace,
Pr. C-
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. Marcel Proust
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Poem
This poem below was part of my sermon this past Sunday. I was processing the Sunday readings, thinking.. thinking...
The first reading had God listening to the people... calling a prophet from among them, one from within the people.
Then in the Gospel reading, Jesus comes and speaks as one with authority! I'm thinking about all this... about what we think prophets are today - people who predict future events - mostly doom and gloom events.
When in actuality that's NOT what they were in the day. They were people who were good at, and called to... speak the obvious. Listen y'all... if you keep living off credit, sooner or later, you're gonna crash!
That's not "predicting" events so much as having a clear(er) eye on what certain behaviors and choices will bring.
So I'm processing this stuff... and I read an article in one of my journals from a pastor who writes that another image of ministry is the image of the "poet". The author mentions "Poets see the despair and heartahce as well as the beauty and miracle that lie just beneath the thin veneer of the ordinary, and they describe this in ways that are recognized not only in the mind, but more profoundly in the soul." (M. Craig Barnes, Christian Century, Feb 10. 2009)
He says pastors are called to do the same thing. He says all who are called to do this ministry have this "poetic vision". WOW! This hit me like a ton of brinck... in fact I had to put the article down and stop reading for a day.
So... Poets!?!?! We're called to speak of the obvious, to the souls of the congregation! What about the prophet?
Well, most of our religious gatherings are centered more often than not around the left-brain. This led me to want to center this past Sunday morning around the Right -brain. So... I wrote a poem to "speak" for me...And... here goes:
Does the Prophet still live?
In the ancient Hebrew world, the prohpet lived
As recorded, he spoke -Thus says the Lord!
He was told to speak what he heard
unrefined,
unaltered mouth-piece,
a direct messenger
"Tell my people - Thus says the Lord!"
The meaning revealed - through words
Thus says the Lord!
Ages ago, the prophet lived
Revealing the word
Bringing the word
Lifting the word
Making it clear - clearer
to the people
One from among them
a familiar voice
speaking a familiar word
a divine word reminded
In ages past...
Does the prophet still live?
Doe we miss you, Oh prophet?
Gentle or agitated, speak!
Do you reveal that word today?
Reveal the face of God?
Lift the pre-existent light from within?
Do we miss you, prohpet?
Prophet... today a mis-shapen title
twisted with anger
bent on distruction
Doom - The fires of hell so close to us...
Prophet indeed!
Speak today, Oh prophet of God!
Where are you today?
What are you today?
An artist revealing a painting...
reflecting from your heart
a painting already there
Look at the world, prophet of God...
What do you see there
that no-one else sees?
Reveal that sacred art, prophet
A familiar voice, no doubt...
Reminding me - have I seen this piece before?
--What is that?
--Oh that... that's just life
Boring
Mundane
Predictable
Life?
The blessedness of the routine
The sacredness of the ordinary
--Do you see it, people of God?
Listen...
closer...
Can you hear the music of the spheres?
Repair those doors of perception
and you will know!
Take an hour to pray one word...
Take an eternal moment to listen for the response...
--Whose face did you see across from you when you last ate?
--Oh, them? That was just...
Just?
Oh blessed prophet, where are you?
Help me part that stubborn veil
remind me again of those forgotten things...
remove these cataracts of the heart...
the ordinary blindness of the comfortable
Where is that voice of God, Oh prophet?
Drop me into the thick of it - and pop my ears open!
Distil for me the voice of God from the noise...
...I hear something
Call me to sift the sights my eyes see...
guide me to the vision
speak those familiar words, Oh prophet,
those holy wordsSpeak - "Thus says the Lord!"
I know that...
I knew that...
Does the prophet still live?
The first reading had God listening to the people... calling a prophet from among them, one from within the people.
Then in the Gospel reading, Jesus comes and speaks as one with authority! I'm thinking about all this... about what we think prophets are today - people who predict future events - mostly doom and gloom events.
When in actuality that's NOT what they were in the day. They were people who were good at, and called to... speak the obvious. Listen y'all... if you keep living off credit, sooner or later, you're gonna crash!
That's not "predicting" events so much as having a clear(er) eye on what certain behaviors and choices will bring.
So I'm processing this stuff... and I read an article in one of my journals from a pastor who writes that another image of ministry is the image of the "poet". The author mentions "Poets see the despair and heartahce as well as the beauty and miracle that lie just beneath the thin veneer of the ordinary, and they describe this in ways that are recognized not only in the mind, but more profoundly in the soul." (M. Craig Barnes, Christian Century, Feb 10. 2009)
He says pastors are called to do the same thing. He says all who are called to do this ministry have this "poetic vision". WOW! This hit me like a ton of brinck... in fact I had to put the article down and stop reading for a day.
So... Poets!?!?! We're called to speak of the obvious, to the souls of the congregation! What about the prophet?
Well, most of our religious gatherings are centered more often than not around the left-brain. This led me to want to center this past Sunday morning around the Right -brain. So... I wrote a poem to "speak" for me...And... here goes:
Does the Prophet still live?
In the ancient Hebrew world, the prohpet lived
As recorded, he spoke -Thus says the Lord!
He was told to speak what he heard
unrefined,
unaltered mouth-piece,
a direct messenger
"Tell my people - Thus says the Lord!"
The meaning revealed - through words
Thus says the Lord!
Ages ago, the prophet lived
Revealing the word
Bringing the word
Lifting the word
Making it clear - clearer
to the people
One from among them
a familiar voice
speaking a familiar word
a divine word reminded
In ages past...
Does the prophet still live?
Doe we miss you, Oh prophet?
Gentle or agitated, speak!
Do you reveal that word today?
Reveal the face of God?
Lift the pre-existent light from within?
Do we miss you, prohpet?
Prophet... today a mis-shapen title
twisted with anger
bent on distruction
Doom - The fires of hell so close to us...
Prophet indeed!
Speak today, Oh prophet of God!
Where are you today?
What are you today?
An artist revealing a painting...
reflecting from your heart
a painting already there
Look at the world, prophet of God...
What do you see there
that no-one else sees?
Reveal that sacred art, prophet
A familiar voice, no doubt...
Reminding me - have I seen this piece before?
--What is that?
--Oh that... that's just life
Boring
Mundane
Predictable
Life?
The blessedness of the routine
The sacredness of the ordinary
--Do you see it, people of God?
Listen...
closer...
Can you hear the music of the spheres?
Repair those doors of perception
and you will know!
Take an hour to pray one word...
Take an eternal moment to listen for the response...
--Whose face did you see across from you when you last ate?
--Oh, them? That was just...
Just?
Oh blessed prophet, where are you?
Help me part that stubborn veil
remind me again of those forgotten things...
remove these cataracts of the heart...
the ordinary blindness of the comfortable
Where is that voice of God, Oh prophet?
Drop me into the thick of it - and pop my ears open!
Distil for me the voice of God from the noise...
...I hear something
Call me to sift the sights my eyes see...
guide me to the vision
speak those familiar words, Oh prophet,
those holy wordsSpeak - "Thus says the Lord!"
I know that...
I knew that...
Does the prophet still live?
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
BIBLE 101
"I don't know much about the bible."
"I'd participate more, but I feel like they know a lot more than I do."
"I'd feel a little weird going to a bible -Everyone would know WAY more than me!"
Well, here's your shot! I'd like to start a bible study for beginners! Call it Bible Study for Dummies... Beginners Bible Study... Bible 101... or whatever... It's for people who might be interested in this, except they don't think they know enough to be in a group.
When: First class - Sunday Feb 8th
Where: Oakland Mills Interfaith Center 5885Robert Oliver Place, Columbia, MD 21045
Time: 7:00PM to 8:30 PM
Here's the thing... the bible is the Sacred Document for both the Jewish and Christian traditions. (We'll talk about that more in class) And in recent surveys, most American claim to claim belonging in a particular flavor of religion (that claims the bible as it's sacred Scripture. Yet ALSO - most Americans claim to know very little about the bible.
What IS the bible? Good question! We'll talk about this.
Is the bible TRUE? Yet another good question... that we'll talk about
Here's the thing - the bible has, for about 3 thousand years (the Hebrew scriptures have been around for a little longer) has been motivating, empowering, leading, healing, guiding (and more) people for a long time.
The bible has lots of stories... stories of people, and God, and the interactions between the human and the divine. I believe one reason these stories are still around after so long is because they speak to the human condition, whether 3 thousand years ago, or now.
Anyway - YOU are invited!
But I need you to let me know if you plan to come. Please call the church office 410-730-1970 and let us know you're coming. This way I can plan for an appropriate room.
Thanks
"I'd participate more, but I feel like they know a lot more than I do."
"I'd feel a little weird going to a bible -Everyone would know WAY more than me!"
Well, here's your shot! I'd like to start a bible study for beginners! Call it Bible Study for Dummies... Beginners Bible Study... Bible 101... or whatever... It's for people who might be interested in this, except they don't think they know enough to be in a group.
When: First class - Sunday Feb 8th
Where: Oakland Mills Interfaith Center 5885Robert Oliver Place, Columbia, MD 21045
Time: 7:00PM to 8:30 PM
Here's the thing... the bible is the Sacred Document for both the Jewish and Christian traditions. (We'll talk about that more in class) And in recent surveys, most American claim to claim belonging in a particular flavor of religion (that claims the bible as it's sacred Scripture. Yet ALSO - most Americans claim to know very little about the bible.
What IS the bible? Good question! We'll talk about this.
Is the bible TRUE? Yet another good question... that we'll talk about
Here's the thing - the bible has, for about 3 thousand years (the Hebrew scriptures have been around for a little longer) has been motivating, empowering, leading, healing, guiding (and more) people for a long time.
The bible has lots of stories... stories of people, and God, and the interactions between the human and the divine. I believe one reason these stories are still around after so long is because they speak to the human condition, whether 3 thousand years ago, or now.
Anyway - YOU are invited!
But I need you to let me know if you plan to come. Please call the church office 410-730-1970 and let us know you're coming. This way I can plan for an appropriate room.
Thanks
Monday, December 15, 2008
Bringin' it home #4
It was interesting to see how, during this financial crisis, the first reaction of some of the leaders and pundits out there was to tell us to spend money. My first reaction would have been to tell people to pray... 'course in the line of work I'm in, well, it kinda goes with the territory.
I know public figures are reluctant to get people praying. But this to me sounds very much like times the Old Testament prophets would have lived in and spoken about.
One thing people misinterpret about OT prophets is the notion that they "predicted" the future. More often than not, they were just astute observers of their time and environment. They "saw" possible outcomes of their people's follies kind of like the outcomes a parent might see if they saw their kids do something not-so-smart. "Son, you're gonna hurt yourself if you ride your bike on the ice!""People of God - if you keep living this way... 'X' will happen" -- but they put it in "God-language"... "God won't be happy with this!"
Now, today, it doesn't take much smarts to figure out that if you base a financial system more and more on greed, then something is bound to throw the whole system out of whack. Truth is, for our capitalistic/financial system, a certain amount of greed keeps the system running... but too much can... well... cause what's happening now.
Now, if we have a system based on greed ("a little is good"), and yet we teach our children not to be greedy, is there an inconsistency there? Thou shall not covet. Is this realistic? Not in the system we have. If none of us were greedy - at all - from this point forward for about one year... our financial system would collapse! And we'd have to reinvent ourselves.When the price of gas went up to $3.+ a gallon and oil was at almost $150 per barrel, we thought - Oh no! We have to change our ways! We must not be dependent on oil! So we changed our habits. We started driving less. We made a mad scramble for renewable resources.
Now... that oil is around $50 or less a barrel, and gas prices have come down... are we going to stop moving towards renewable energy? Is the urgency any less now?Well, what about our spiritual lives? Many people feel a spiritual emptiness, and we long for a means to satiate that thirst. "Where is God?" "How can I experience God in my life?" "I'm looking for something, I just can't quite put my finger on what." We buy the books, go to the workshops and conferences, talk with our friends about spiritual stuff, we search on line for this stuff.
I go back to some of those cultures where the people are surrounded by God-stuff. They believe they are in some way living right smack in the middle of the Sacred. And we tend to romanticize this. We idealize the American Indians for this, not knowing the reality is close, but not exactly what we're idealizing.
The point is - because we miss this - this sense of the sacred in our lives - we seek it! We're starved for it, we're thirsting for it. And I don't think our capitalistic system (which I have to say is as dominant in our lives today as the church used to be in the lives of the medieval European villagers) helps us satisfy this urge.
I can see an economist say (or a tax preparer), "Our financial/capitalist system is not designed to fulfill spiritual needs... that's what religious institutions are for!" And that's true. But when this system dominates almost all other systems, when other systems in our society are based on a system like this... I'm not surprised we have so many people that are so spiritually hungry!I don't want to sound like a biblical prophet - repent, God is not happy-. I believe God loves us no matter what. I'm not so much worried about God as I am about us! We can't sustain such a spiritually empty system indefinitely without paying some price for it. And for many of us, that price is a hungering , a longing for something Sacred.
Maybe this Advent season, this time of expectant waiting... is the perfect time for us to readjust our own lives. What can we, each of us in our own lives, do to seek and be open to the sacred? First step - ask God what we need to do. Second step - be open to the answer. If you get a message to pray more, do that. If you get a message to travel somewhere, go. If you get a message to go on some pilgrimage, go... a vision quest... meditate more... find a communityof like-minded people... whatever... start there I say.
I know public figures are reluctant to get people praying. But this to me sounds very much like times the Old Testament prophets would have lived in and spoken about.
One thing people misinterpret about OT prophets is the notion that they "predicted" the future. More often than not, they were just astute observers of their time and environment. They "saw" possible outcomes of their people's follies kind of like the outcomes a parent might see if they saw their kids do something not-so-smart. "Son, you're gonna hurt yourself if you ride your bike on the ice!""People of God - if you keep living this way... 'X' will happen" -- but they put it in "God-language"... "God won't be happy with this!"
Now, today, it doesn't take much smarts to figure out that if you base a financial system more and more on greed, then something is bound to throw the whole system out of whack. Truth is, for our capitalistic/financial system, a certain amount of greed keeps the system running... but too much can... well... cause what's happening now.
Now, if we have a system based on greed ("a little is good"), and yet we teach our children not to be greedy, is there an inconsistency there? Thou shall not covet. Is this realistic? Not in the system we have. If none of us were greedy - at all - from this point forward for about one year... our financial system would collapse! And we'd have to reinvent ourselves.When the price of gas went up to $3.+ a gallon and oil was at almost $150 per barrel, we thought - Oh no! We have to change our ways! We must not be dependent on oil! So we changed our habits. We started driving less. We made a mad scramble for renewable resources.
Now... that oil is around $50 or less a barrel, and gas prices have come down... are we going to stop moving towards renewable energy? Is the urgency any less now?Well, what about our spiritual lives? Many people feel a spiritual emptiness, and we long for a means to satiate that thirst. "Where is God?" "How can I experience God in my life?" "I'm looking for something, I just can't quite put my finger on what." We buy the books, go to the workshops and conferences, talk with our friends about spiritual stuff, we search on line for this stuff.
I go back to some of those cultures where the people are surrounded by God-stuff. They believe they are in some way living right smack in the middle of the Sacred. And we tend to romanticize this. We idealize the American Indians for this, not knowing the reality is close, but not exactly what we're idealizing.
The point is - because we miss this - this sense of the sacred in our lives - we seek it! We're starved for it, we're thirsting for it. And I don't think our capitalistic system (which I have to say is as dominant in our lives today as the church used to be in the lives of the medieval European villagers) helps us satisfy this urge.
I can see an economist say (or a tax preparer), "Our financial/capitalist system is not designed to fulfill spiritual needs... that's what religious institutions are for!" And that's true. But when this system dominates almost all other systems, when other systems in our society are based on a system like this... I'm not surprised we have so many people that are so spiritually hungry!I don't want to sound like a biblical prophet - repent, God is not happy-. I believe God loves us no matter what. I'm not so much worried about God as I am about us! We can't sustain such a spiritually empty system indefinitely without paying some price for it. And for many of us, that price is a hungering , a longing for something Sacred.
Maybe this Advent season, this time of expectant waiting... is the perfect time for us to readjust our own lives. What can we, each of us in our own lives, do to seek and be open to the sacred? First step - ask God what we need to do. Second step - be open to the answer. If you get a message to pray more, do that. If you get a message to travel somewhere, go. If you get a message to go on some pilgrimage, go... a vision quest... meditate more... find a communityof like-minded people... whatever... start there I say.
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