I've been increasingly drawn to the Occupy Wall Street movement. In fact, Sheri and I even talked about heading to Wichita for a day to join the movement happening there, but so far we haven't got beyond talking.
There's a neat website that daily posts new pictures (I think Sheri posted the link in her blog post, The global 99%)) of people briefly describing their circumstances in a handwritten note on plain notebook paper. The intro blurb reads thus, "We are the 99 percent. We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced to chooose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution. We are working long hours for little pay and no rights, if we're working at all. We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything. We are the 99 percent. Brought to you by the people who occupy wall street. Why will YOU occupy?"
Here are three representative notes from this site:
"I graduated from a top university and struggled to get a part-time job where I'm working less than 25 hours a week. I don't have enough money for rent, but somehow, I am one of the lucky ones. I am the 99%."
"I have a good job, a paid house, savings and a master's degree. However, I earn my wealth, I don't merely speculate on other people's activities. I don't gamble other people's money, lose and get tax payers to contract a debt to bail me out and assume my losses. I don't claim millions of dollars for myself by shorting the commodity market while others can't pay rent. I work and I actually produce value, creating a 'bigger pie' for us to share, instead of greedily focusing on getting a larger share of the current pie. I don't take millions of dollars in bonuses for sitting behind a desk with a title. I actually deserve the share of the collective wealth I am getting. That share is proportional to my personal contribution. That contribution is real and useful. I am the 99%."
"I am 39 and have a goob job. My husband goes to school and takes care of our 14 month old after losing his job in 2008. We have no savings and drive old cars and owe his parents over $25,000. We will not be able to buy a home until our parents die - what kind of American dream is that?! We are getting by = we are lucky. We are the 99%."
I read a bunch of these vignettes, and interestingly the scripture that started to echo in my mind, was Marys' song from Luke. "He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever (Luke 1:51-55)."
The Bible resonates with this occupy movement. The movement is working to keep its distance from both political parties, recognizing both are a large part of the current problem. It is working to be inclusive, welcoming people from all walks of life who see the injustice in our financial systems and want to voice their displeasure. It's message is simple, it is not right for 1% of the people in this country to claim this disproportionate amount of the wealth while so many of the remaining 99% struggle to pay for food and other basic needs. Who is going to disagree with this?!
There's a companion website for the wealthy 1% that everyday posts their own notes claiming sympathy and respect for the occupy movement. This site says simply, "We have more than we need, while the 99 percent struggles to survive. This has to change. We believe in an equitable distribution of wealth." Here are two representative notes from this site:
"Because the Bush Era tax cuts were extended, my family will pay no taxes on a $4 million inheritance. We have more than enough already - safe, high-value housing, excellent health care and plenty in the bank for retirement and school. We should be taxed. I am the 1%. I stand with the 99%."
"I made millions studying the math of mortgages and bonds and helping bankers pass the Chartered Financial Analyst Exam. It isn't fair that I have retired in comfort after a career working with financial instruments while people who worked as nurses, teachers, soldiers, etc. are worried about paying for their future, their healthcare, and their children's educations. They are the backbone of this country that allowed me to succeed. I am willing to pay more taxes so that everyone can look forward to a secure future like I do. I am the 1%. I stand with the 99% (Which equals 100% of America)."
These cries of both the 99% and the 1% echo throughout the pages of scripture. Last week's lectionary passages profile just two of the many, many examples we could pull on from both testaments. Micah 3:5-12 and Matthew 23:1-12 are anti-establishment. Micah covers the whole shebang of society - political, judiciary, religious, economic. Matthew zeroes in on the religious establishment. In both cases, the dominant religion has chosen to align itself with the powers that be rather than with the power of God.
In Matthew 23, Jesus indulges in a chapter-long tirade against the Pharisees. It goes on and on. Here are a few of the accusations: the Pharisees exalt themselves and usurp the rightful place of God; they make sacred their affection for gold; they obsess over the trivial details of law while neglecting the weightier issues of justice, mercy and faith; they are hypocrites (Jesus calls them hypocrites in this chapter no fewer than six times); and worse than all else - they put to death those prophets who dare speak truth to power.
Micah is even more graphically to the point. Verses 1-3 in chapter 3 basically say it all. Quoting now from Eugene Peterson's The Message Bible, "Listen, leaders of Jacob, leaders of Israel: Don't you know anything of justice? Haters of good, lovers of evil: Isn't justice in your job description? But you skin my people alive. You rip the meat off their bones. You break up the bones, chop the meat, and throw it in a pot for cannibal stew."
I found a round table discussion hosted by Religion Dispatches magazine. The contributors were theologians, religious authors and journalists. It was difficult to keep straight who said what, but here are a few of their observations about the occupy movement.
"The occupiers want to smash the golden calf of our nation: greed and the worship of Wall Street. But perhaps we're also guilty of making an idol out of religion. In the oft-quoted words of Jewish theologian, Abraham Joshuah Heschel, 'Prayer is meaningless unless it is subversive, unless it seeks to overthrow and to ruin the pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism, falsehoods.' Too often religion is limited to spiritual narcissism, the worship of a dead god for our self-pleasure. The living God transcends the coziness of our churches, mosques and synagogues, and transcends the prayers and ceremonies performed as ends in themselves rather than vehicles for transforming our world. It's time to quit worshipping our golden calves."
"The occupiers are creating an unusual social space where everyone is welcome on an equal footing and where everyone can become sanctified - can be made holy - during a time of great extremity and privation."
"These people long for an end to what is literally unbearable and what cannot go on indefinitely: the secession of the successful and the arrogance that goes with that, the betrayal of the poor and the contempt for workers, the violence of American empire, the ravaging of the planet, the rewarding of what amounts to criminal activity by many bankers and other one-percenters, and the subservience of the political class to the 1%."
One of these contributors offered a tantalizing thought. What would happen if the occupy movement crept its way into the western Christian Church?
I'll close with Micah 3:5-12, taken from The Message Bible. If you read closely, you'll see I've taken a few liberties with the text in order to make it....well.....a little more contemporary shall we say.
Here is God's Message to the prophets, the preachers who lie to my people:
'For as long as they're well paid and well fed, the prophets preach,
'Isn't life wonderful! Peace to all!';
But if you don't pay up and jump on their bandwagon,
their 'God bless you' turns into 'God damn you.'
Therefore, you're going blind. You'll see nothing. You'll live in deep shadows and know nothing.
The sun has set on the prophets. They've had their day; from now on it's night.
Visionaries will be confused, experts will be all mixed up.
They'll hide behind their reputations and make lame excuses to cover up their God-ignorance.'
But me--I'm filled with God's power, filled with God's Spirit of justice and strength,
ready to confront Washington's crime and D.C.'s sin.
The leaders of America and the leaders of corporate America are
leaders contemptuous of justice, who twist and distort right living,
Leaders who build America by killing people, who expand the U.S. by committing crimes.
Judges sell verdicts to the highest bidder,
priests mass-market their teaching, experts preach for high fees,
All the while posturing and pretending dependence on God."
'We've got God on our side. He'll protect us from disaster.'
Because of people like you, America will be turned back into farmland,
D.C. end up as a pile of rubble,
and instead of the capitol encircled by bright city lights,
a few scraggly scrub pines will mark the spot."
Monday, October 31, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Daddies Don't Let Your Daughters Grow Up To Be Oggled
It truly is difficult to walk in someone else's shoes. Unless you happen to wear exactly the same size. Just kidding. Of course I am talking figuratively, as in, imagining what it would be like to be in someone else's situation. No matter how hard we try, we can never know exactly what life is like for someone else. So, it is not surprising that most people who take it upon themselves to fight racism are of a minority race. Most feminists are female. Most Occupy Movement folks are unemployed or struggling financially. This is all natural. Our hearts will be most moved by those causes that affect us directly. But, boy is it powerful when people take up causes that do not affect them directly or even when they are part of the cause or could be negatively affected by a change. Consider how much news time Warren Buffet has received. What wonders could happen if we could stretch ourselves to embrace causes that don't impact our lives directly? What could happen if we stood up for what was right even outside of our self-interest?
Sometimes we wouldn't even have to stretch ourselves too far. Consider what would happen if daddies everywhere united to make sure their daughters' didn't have to put up with sexism and rampant sexualization. So often as parents we have little power to protect our children. This is one time when I don't believe that is the case. As parents we can choose not to buy products that sexualize little girls. As parents we can let our children know that they can be whoever they want to be regardless of their gender. Moms and grandmas and aunts can do these things and, surely, I hope they do. But because these are "women's issues" it will be even more powerful if daddies, grandpas, and uncles take a stand too. To all the testosterone endowed out there: think about what kind of world you want your daughters or granddaughters or future daughter-in-laws to live in and then do what you can to create an environment where that kind of world can grow. It can be as simple as playing catch. Encouraging your daughter in sports, just as much as you would a son, communicates to her that she can be strong, she can compete, she can indeed do anything the boys can do. If she doesn't become a sports enthusiast that is fine, but make space for her to learn that exercise is healthy, can be fun and isn't just about making her body pretty. Give her experience that will let her know immediately that it is baloney when someone says pink and pretty is for girls and sports are for boys. Or if you are more of a handy man, buy her a set of tools, just like you would if she were a boy, and teach her how to use them. Let your daughter see you doing things outside of traditional gender roles too. Cook with her. Clean with her. And remember that how you treat your wife may impact how your daughter lets some guy treat her someday.
Then, if you really want to stretch yourself, check out this website: http://blog.pigtailpals.com/ Here you will find more food for thought. You may not agree with it all but it is worth considering. I particularly like this post http://blog.pigtailpals.com/2011/08/a-letter-to-bella-and-other-girls-with-blue-shoes/
We all have the power to change our world for the better. Sometimes we have more power if we stand up for others than if we stand up for ourselves.
Of course, I realize there are issues for parenting boys too. And yes I realize moms can play catch with their daughters. But there is only so much one can say in one blog post before some of us (namely me) run out of attention span.
So, let's wrap it up with a song. Cue music: Daddies don't let your daughters grow up to be oggled ...by cowboys? It seems like there were cowboys in there somewhere. How does that song go? ; )
Sometimes we wouldn't even have to stretch ourselves too far. Consider what would happen if daddies everywhere united to make sure their daughters' didn't have to put up with sexism and rampant sexualization. So often as parents we have little power to protect our children. This is one time when I don't believe that is the case. As parents we can choose not to buy products that sexualize little girls. As parents we can let our children know that they can be whoever they want to be regardless of their gender. Moms and grandmas and aunts can do these things and, surely, I hope they do. But because these are "women's issues" it will be even more powerful if daddies, grandpas, and uncles take a stand too. To all the testosterone endowed out there: think about what kind of world you want your daughters or granddaughters or future daughter-in-laws to live in and then do what you can to create an environment where that kind of world can grow. It can be as simple as playing catch. Encouraging your daughter in sports, just as much as you would a son, communicates to her that she can be strong, she can compete, she can indeed do anything the boys can do. If she doesn't become a sports enthusiast that is fine, but make space for her to learn that exercise is healthy, can be fun and isn't just about making her body pretty. Give her experience that will let her know immediately that it is baloney when someone says pink and pretty is for girls and sports are for boys. Or if you are more of a handy man, buy her a set of tools, just like you would if she were a boy, and teach her how to use them. Let your daughter see you doing things outside of traditional gender roles too. Cook with her. Clean with her. And remember that how you treat your wife may impact how your daughter lets some guy treat her someday.
Then, if you really want to stretch yourself, check out this website: http://blog.pigtailpals.com/ Here you will find more food for thought. You may not agree with it all but it is worth considering. I particularly like this post http://blog.pigtailpals.com/2011/08/a-letter-to-bella-and-other-girls-with-blue-shoes/
We all have the power to change our world for the better. Sometimes we have more power if we stand up for others than if we stand up for ourselves.
Of course, I realize there are issues for parenting boys too. And yes I realize moms can play catch with their daughters. But there is only so much one can say in one blog post before some of us (namely me) run out of attention span.
So, let's wrap it up with a song. Cue music: Daddies don't let your daughters grow up to be oggled ...by cowboys? It seems like there were cowboys in there somewhere. How does that song go? ; )
Monday, October 24, 2011
Do We Have to be "Missional"?!
by Lynn
For the last several years, the buzz word in our denomination has been "missional". I've had a couple of different problems with this. One, I don't like buzz words. When I see everyone climbing on board a band wagon, no matter how worthy and wonderful the band wagon is, something inside me begins to rebel. Second, most likely because I'm an oldest child, I don't like being told what to do. So when church leaders begin telling me to be missional, I have an instinctively immature knee jerk reaction along the lines of, "You can't tell me what to do. I'll be missional when I feel like being missional!" Third, the word "mission" carries with it so many negative connotations. It's loaded with baggage. Therefore, it has seemed wise to give the term wide berth. But then in the last year, good friends - respected friends, have headed off to China and Bolivia to spend a few years engaged in....missions. So I've reluctantly pulled the word out again and dusted it off, hoping to somehow redeem the word in my own life.
And here's the truth I've been dodging for awhile - churches do need to be missional. Our God is a missional God, always at work pursuing us, seeking us out, transforming our minds, our hearts and our spirits. And God sent a missional Son into this world. Jesus spent his last few years as a missionary. And when he left, he commissioned his followers to continue his work. It seems clear that mission work is foundational in the life of the church.
Here are Jesus' final words for his disciples....and therefore for us, in the book of Matthew. "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age (The Message Bible)." This leads one to believe that Jesus' Great Commission is inextricably linked with discipleship and mission.
Discipleship is the daily and courageous living out of our faith. Mission takes things further. It is the impulse or decision to intentionally reach out to others as representatives of Christ and the Church. But let's back up a little...
I found a helpful little book called, "Is It Insensitive to Share Your Faith?" by James Krabill. Krabill and his wife spent years living and working as teachers in Ivory Coast, Africa. Krabill maintains that if we want to truly comprehend the truth Jesus speaks, we must, "train our minds to think clearly, open our hearts to experience deeply" and then act faithfully on our mind's and hearts' leading. This is a good definition of discipleship. Speaking for myself now, I'm pretty good at the "training my mind" bit. That's fun - to read, to think about, to discuss, and write about theology. I have a much more difficult time with the heart part. That's the piece that requires vulnerability. If I open my heart to the world, the world will surely break it. Far better to keep it safe, keep it insulated. But keeping our heart safe means completely cutting off its ability to grow and whether we like it or not, brokenness is often a ripe condition for growth. Discipleship requires an open mind and an open heart. This sounds trite and cliched, and yet it is also simple truth.
How do we achieve an open heart and mind? Krabill offers three suggestions I appreciate. Encapsulated in his offering is the heart of mission.
First, we confess. As representatives of the church, we have a lot of confessing to do. Certainly if we take a look at the history of mission, we will be reminded of an immoral wedding between imperial powers and the church. Krabill provides a cringeworthy list of anecdotes to prove his point. Here are three...
"In 1099, Christian Crusaders arrived in Jerusalem, capturing the city for the Church. In a final drive to rid the place of 'infidels,' the soldiers rounded up the Jewish population, chased them into their houses of worship, and then lit the buildings on fire. When small children were discovered attempting to escape the flames, the soldiers captured them, threw them up into the air, and caught them on their swords. All this was done while the troops marched in formation around the enflamed buildings, singing 'Christ, We Do All Adore Thee.'
"In the early 1500's, Columbus petitioned the king and queen of Spain with these words, 'I hope in our Lord that Your Highnesses will determine to send priests in great diligence in order to unite to the Church such great populations and to convert them, just as Your Highnesses have destroyed those who were unwilling to confess the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.'
"In Washington D.C. in 1976, thirty Protestant leaders, many of them household names because of their international radio and TV ministries, met with President Ford at the White House, at their own request, to express concern over lagging U.S. military strength. They noted that whenever the U.S. appeared weak, it became difficult for them to function overseas. But when America was perceived as militarily strong, it was easier for them to carry out their ministries without harassment."
This list is shamefully long. The beginning can be traced to the 4th century and the list gets longer everyday.
I had lunch this summer with three college friends. I believe each would call themselves agnostic. Because I'm a pastor, we talked a little about religion. I brought up my interest in the emerging church, a church that works to break with much of the institutioanl and traditional forms of church we have inherited and maintained since the time of Constantine. This piqued their interest. They wanted to know more about this newly emerging way to think about church. I think they would be interested in a community where it feels safe to talk about God and ask hard questions. But presently, they are repelled by their understandings and experiences of church.
Anyone stepping into mission work must be aware of how the Christian Church is perceived. These perceptions cover the gamut from all forms of positive to all forms of negative and everything in between. And perceptions contain a lot of truth. Missional people, those who choose to represent Christ's church, must embody a humility that will allow them to spend time on their knees before those who have been wronged, confessing the sins of the church.
Second, we converse. If confession is the uncomfortable part of being missional, conversing is the fun part. More recently, I have been taken with how innately important it is for us as humans to be able to share our stories. I joined facebook a few months ago. As far as I can tell, facebook is a personal storytelling forum. People share sometimes trivial, sometimes very meaningful experiences from their daily living and their friends go online to read these stories and to express their affirmations, offer encouragement and provide advice and wisdom. And then the process is reciprocated many times over. When you knit these wall posts together, fragments of life stories begin to take shape. We may no longer be a primarily oral culture, sharing our stories around the supper fire at night. But that need to share and hear story has not been diminished in the least. We have simply found new ways to express ourselves.
At the heart of mission is story. In sharing our stories, we build relationships...bridges that unite differences. Huge gulfs of misunderstanding span the differences between gender, generation, nationality, culture, socio-economic status and religion. Conversation doesn't eliminate the divide, but it begins to build the bridge that relationship will complete. Being a missionary, a representative of Christ's church, means sharing your story and your understandings and then listening to others share their differing stories, whether the "other" lives next door or on the other side of the world.
Third, we commend. I like this term. We do not force or coerce or guilt trip or scare or persuade or threaten or cajole or plead or pressure. We commend. Krabill writes,
"The landscape of history is cluttered with ill-fated attempts to impose the Christian faith on unsuspecting, unwilling recipients and to clone them into something other than what they were created to be. Far too often, the methods used in transmitting the gospel have contradicted the message of God's peacemaking initiative in Jesus. In such instances, the church has communicated a message falsely perverse and counter-intuitive to what God is actually up to in the world."
If we are really serious about following Jesus, his words and his example, then it seems only natural to share how Jesus' story has shaped our own. Jesus, in fact, commissions us all to do exactly this - to share God's good news with everyone. But we offer our commendation with humility, recognizing that others have their own glimpse of God's truth to reveal as well - a glimpse that may, through the power of story and relationship, transform our own limited understandings. And we commend, understanding the Christian Church has undergone a quiet revolution in the last century. The majority of Christians, the majority of missionaries, now come from countries other than our own. What does the United States have to learn about church from the univeral Church? But we do commend. With open ears, we offer our commendations to and about God for all those seeking the open conversation.
For the last several years, the buzz word in our denomination has been "missional". I've had a couple of different problems with this. One, I don't like buzz words. When I see everyone climbing on board a band wagon, no matter how worthy and wonderful the band wagon is, something inside me begins to rebel. Second, most likely because I'm an oldest child, I don't like being told what to do. So when church leaders begin telling me to be missional, I have an instinctively immature knee jerk reaction along the lines of, "You can't tell me what to do. I'll be missional when I feel like being missional!" Third, the word "mission" carries with it so many negative connotations. It's loaded with baggage. Therefore, it has seemed wise to give the term wide berth. But then in the last year, good friends - respected friends, have headed off to China and Bolivia to spend a few years engaged in....missions. So I've reluctantly pulled the word out again and dusted it off, hoping to somehow redeem the word in my own life.
And here's the truth I've been dodging for awhile - churches do need to be missional. Our God is a missional God, always at work pursuing us, seeking us out, transforming our minds, our hearts and our spirits. And God sent a missional Son into this world. Jesus spent his last few years as a missionary. And when he left, he commissioned his followers to continue his work. It seems clear that mission work is foundational in the life of the church.
Here are Jesus' final words for his disciples....and therefore for us, in the book of Matthew. "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age (The Message Bible)." This leads one to believe that Jesus' Great Commission is inextricably linked with discipleship and mission.
Discipleship is the daily and courageous living out of our faith. Mission takes things further. It is the impulse or decision to intentionally reach out to others as representatives of Christ and the Church. But let's back up a little...
I found a helpful little book called, "Is It Insensitive to Share Your Faith?" by James Krabill. Krabill and his wife spent years living and working as teachers in Ivory Coast, Africa. Krabill maintains that if we want to truly comprehend the truth Jesus speaks, we must, "train our minds to think clearly, open our hearts to experience deeply" and then act faithfully on our mind's and hearts' leading. This is a good definition of discipleship. Speaking for myself now, I'm pretty good at the "training my mind" bit. That's fun - to read, to think about, to discuss, and write about theology. I have a much more difficult time with the heart part. That's the piece that requires vulnerability. If I open my heart to the world, the world will surely break it. Far better to keep it safe, keep it insulated. But keeping our heart safe means completely cutting off its ability to grow and whether we like it or not, brokenness is often a ripe condition for growth. Discipleship requires an open mind and an open heart. This sounds trite and cliched, and yet it is also simple truth.
How do we achieve an open heart and mind? Krabill offers three suggestions I appreciate. Encapsulated in his offering is the heart of mission.
First, we confess. As representatives of the church, we have a lot of confessing to do. Certainly if we take a look at the history of mission, we will be reminded of an immoral wedding between imperial powers and the church. Krabill provides a cringeworthy list of anecdotes to prove his point. Here are three...
"In 1099, Christian Crusaders arrived in Jerusalem, capturing the city for the Church. In a final drive to rid the place of 'infidels,' the soldiers rounded up the Jewish population, chased them into their houses of worship, and then lit the buildings on fire. When small children were discovered attempting to escape the flames, the soldiers captured them, threw them up into the air, and caught them on their swords. All this was done while the troops marched in formation around the enflamed buildings, singing 'Christ, We Do All Adore Thee.'
"In the early 1500's, Columbus petitioned the king and queen of Spain with these words, 'I hope in our Lord that Your Highnesses will determine to send priests in great diligence in order to unite to the Church such great populations and to convert them, just as Your Highnesses have destroyed those who were unwilling to confess the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.'
"In Washington D.C. in 1976, thirty Protestant leaders, many of them household names because of their international radio and TV ministries, met with President Ford at the White House, at their own request, to express concern over lagging U.S. military strength. They noted that whenever the U.S. appeared weak, it became difficult for them to function overseas. But when America was perceived as militarily strong, it was easier for them to carry out their ministries without harassment."
This list is shamefully long. The beginning can be traced to the 4th century and the list gets longer everyday.
I had lunch this summer with three college friends. I believe each would call themselves agnostic. Because I'm a pastor, we talked a little about religion. I brought up my interest in the emerging church, a church that works to break with much of the institutioanl and traditional forms of church we have inherited and maintained since the time of Constantine. This piqued their interest. They wanted to know more about this newly emerging way to think about church. I think they would be interested in a community where it feels safe to talk about God and ask hard questions. But presently, they are repelled by their understandings and experiences of church.
Anyone stepping into mission work must be aware of how the Christian Church is perceived. These perceptions cover the gamut from all forms of positive to all forms of negative and everything in between. And perceptions contain a lot of truth. Missional people, those who choose to represent Christ's church, must embody a humility that will allow them to spend time on their knees before those who have been wronged, confessing the sins of the church.
Second, we converse. If confession is the uncomfortable part of being missional, conversing is the fun part. More recently, I have been taken with how innately important it is for us as humans to be able to share our stories. I joined facebook a few months ago. As far as I can tell, facebook is a personal storytelling forum. People share sometimes trivial, sometimes very meaningful experiences from their daily living and their friends go online to read these stories and to express their affirmations, offer encouragement and provide advice and wisdom. And then the process is reciprocated many times over. When you knit these wall posts together, fragments of life stories begin to take shape. We may no longer be a primarily oral culture, sharing our stories around the supper fire at night. But that need to share and hear story has not been diminished in the least. We have simply found new ways to express ourselves.
At the heart of mission is story. In sharing our stories, we build relationships...bridges that unite differences. Huge gulfs of misunderstanding span the differences between gender, generation, nationality, culture, socio-economic status and religion. Conversation doesn't eliminate the divide, but it begins to build the bridge that relationship will complete. Being a missionary, a representative of Christ's church, means sharing your story and your understandings and then listening to others share their differing stories, whether the "other" lives next door or on the other side of the world.
Third, we commend. I like this term. We do not force or coerce or guilt trip or scare or persuade or threaten or cajole or plead or pressure. We commend. Krabill writes,
"The landscape of history is cluttered with ill-fated attempts to impose the Christian faith on unsuspecting, unwilling recipients and to clone them into something other than what they were created to be. Far too often, the methods used in transmitting the gospel have contradicted the message of God's peacemaking initiative in Jesus. In such instances, the church has communicated a message falsely perverse and counter-intuitive to what God is actually up to in the world."
If we are really serious about following Jesus, his words and his example, then it seems only natural to share how Jesus' story has shaped our own. Jesus, in fact, commissions us all to do exactly this - to share God's good news with everyone. But we offer our commendation with humility, recognizing that others have their own glimpse of God's truth to reveal as well - a glimpse that may, through the power of story and relationship, transform our own limited understandings. And we commend, understanding the Christian Church has undergone a quiet revolution in the last century. The majority of Christians, the majority of missionaries, now come from countries other than our own. What does the United States have to learn about church from the univeral Church? But we do commend. With open ears, we offer our commendations to and about God for all those seeking the open conversation.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
The Global 99%
by Sheri
I am a bit frustrated at the moment because I can't find any of the links I was going to use in this post. So, I will go ahead and write and maybe some of you can fill in the blanks.
Anyway, a few days ago Lynn posted a blog about church history. Reading that blog, I found it striking how quickly the Christian church traveled from persecuted to persecutor. It reminded me of something I read on facebook a while back (which, of course, I can't find now) stating that the USA is the 1 percent from a global perspective. That is to say, globally we are the wealthy and powerful. This in response to the call of "We are the 99%" that is coming from the Occupy Wall Street Movement.
I don't think this negates the message of the Occupy movement but I do think it is a healthy reminder. If we manage to wrest our power out of the hands of wealth, if we can bring some economic justice to this country, it is important to remember the lessons learned here for the sake of the whole world. Don't stop standing for economic justice when it stops serving your self-interest.
A helpful image for me, (which of course I can't find but it is somewhere on this page http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/archive ) was a person holding a sign that said he was actually in the 1% in wealth but was standing with the 99% anyway. He said it much better than that but that is the gist. I pray that this will be our foreign policy as we take back our voice in politics. We are blessed in this country. Let us stand with the 99% around the world and stand for economic justice for all people. Let our foreign policy be: "We the 1% stand with the 99% for the sake of 100%." That's math with a purpose.
I am a bit frustrated at the moment because I can't find any of the links I was going to use in this post. So, I will go ahead and write and maybe some of you can fill in the blanks.
Anyway, a few days ago Lynn posted a blog about church history. Reading that blog, I found it striking how quickly the Christian church traveled from persecuted to persecutor. It reminded me of something I read on facebook a while back (which, of course, I can't find now) stating that the USA is the 1 percent from a global perspective. That is to say, globally we are the wealthy and powerful. This in response to the call of "We are the 99%" that is coming from the Occupy Wall Street Movement.
I don't think this negates the message of the Occupy movement but I do think it is a healthy reminder. If we manage to wrest our power out of the hands of wealth, if we can bring some economic justice to this country, it is important to remember the lessons learned here for the sake of the whole world. Don't stop standing for economic justice when it stops serving your self-interest.
A helpful image for me, (which of course I can't find but it is somewhere on this page http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/archive ) was a person holding a sign that said he was actually in the 1% in wealth but was standing with the 99% anyway. He said it much better than that but that is the gist. I pray that this will be our foreign policy as we take back our voice in politics. We are blessed in this country. Let us stand with the 99% around the world and stand for economic justice for all people. Let our foreign policy be: "We the 1% stand with the 99% for the sake of 100%." That's math with a purpose.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Christendom: A Really Bad Idea
by Lynn
Have you ever been challenged in understanding how people use the Bible or religion to justify violence and war?
As our country's economic and political policies seek to place ever more power and wealth in the hands of the privileged minority, how do we justify calling ourselves a Christian nation? The Old and New Testaments are equally adamant about justice for the poor and powerless.
A pastor friend posted an interesting article the other week about why Christians are leaving the church. Reasons given include: churches ignore problems of the real world, Christianity is antagonistic to science, churches are unfriendly to people with doubts, Christianity seems shallow.
What I'm describing are some pieces from one of my personal puzzles. Recently I've been able to seize hold of the box lid and see the picture emerge. Interestingly however, the puzzle picture takes us back in time to the church's beginnings.
The infant Christian church in its first three centuries (33 A.D. - 303 A.D.) was a small fringe movement. It was sometimes persecuted, but also enjoyed times of religious freedom in which the movement grew and even thrived. Christianity was exclusively nonviolent for the first 150 years or so and remained a predominantly peaceful movement, especially in its teaching. Many pagans were attracted to Christianity because of its high moral standards. Christians were known for their good works, particularly their care for widows and orphans. By 300, Christians accounted for around 10% of the Roman Empire's population. Then in 303, the Roman emperor, Diocletian, instituted one of the most brutal periods of persecution for Christians. In 306, Constantine became the Roman emperor and he allowed the persecution of Christians to continue for another 5 years. Then, in an abrupt change of course, Constantine, co-signed the Edict of Milan in 313, proclaiming religious tolerance for all religions of the Empire. And with this everything began to change.
Constantine was a smart guy or at least smart enough to learn from his mistakes. The Diocletian persecution was a failure. As history has shown, religious movements often multiply during times of persecution. Aware of threats to the Empire, Constantine needed to take drastic measures to unify his subjects. So he worked to bring together very different religious beliefs under the umbrella of monotheism, though how each group defined their God was up to them, so long as the religious factions could be united in their peaceful support of the empire. Then Constantine took things still further and decided to pick Christianity as his favorite religion. His behavior didn't change. He still waged war. He still murdered people - political rivals, friends, members of his own family. He still viewed himself as just one step removed from God. But at the same time, he began to insert himself into Christian affairs.
His Senate, the coalition of politicians charged with helping him run the Empire, was quite corrupt and even worse, inefficient. Constantine began to make use of Christian bishops to help with the work of the Empire. They distributed food to the needy. They became legal arbitrators. Soon, they acted in an advisory capacity to Constantine himself.
After years of persecution, the Christian Church felt as if the increasingly benevolent reign of Constantine was better than a dream come true, it was a fulfillment of God's promise to his people. But as the church, at first slowly and then at an ever quickening pace, worked to accomodate empire, the religion began to shift in pronounced ways.
I owe much to author Craig Carter and his book, "Rethinking Christ and Culture" for this brief history lesson. Now I turn to Stuart Murray and an excerpt from his book, "The Naked Anabaptist".
"By the end of the fourth century, the catechesis system was being overwhelmed by the numbers flooding into the churches now that Christianity enjoyed imperial favor. Much less time was now devoted to the teaching of Jesus. The emphasis was on uniformity of belief and avoiding heresy, rather than counter-cultural discipleship. The creeds were crucially important to this process, but it seems the life and teachings of Jesus were not.
"There were understandable reasons why the imperial church marginalized Jesus as fourth-century Christians struggled to adapt to a new social and political context. His teachings, which had been challenging enough for a powerless, marginal community, seemed utterly unrealistic and inapplicable for Christians assuming responsibility for an empire. What now did it mean to 'love your enemies' (Matt. 5:44) or 'do not worry about tomorrow' (6:34)? How could such instructions be translated into foreign or economic policies? Jesus seemed not to have anticipated this development or to have given any counsel to those with an imperial administration to run. Gratefully, church leaders turned instead to the Old Testament for guidance: after all, ancient Israel had an economy to run, borders to defend, and a social system to organize.
"Nor were the teachings of Jesus the only problem. More awkward still was his lifestyle, his passion for justice, his confrontations with the wealthy and powerful (the very people whom the churches were now wooing), his care for the outcasts and the downtrodden, his refusal to endorse social norms and traditional gender roles. As the church mixed ever more with the 'movers and shakers,' it was difficult to know what it meant to follow and imitate the 'friend of sinners' who prioritized the 'moved and shaken.' As the churches accepted and relished an honored place in a hierarchical society, the upside-down, last-will-be-first values Jesus taught and practiced were disturbing and distasteful....
"What could the imperial church do? Obviously, their founder could not be airbrushed out of the story altogether. But the life and teaching of Jesus could be reappraised, neutered, and domesticated. The way in which the Sermon on the Mount was handled during the Christendom era is a classis example of this process. Theologians and preachers found several ingenious ways of evading its challenge. Some insisted it was mandatory for the clergy and the monks, but beyond the reach of most Christians. Others said it did not refer to the present age but described life in the coming kingdom of God. Many suggested it applied only to the private sphere, not to public life in the empire. Another interpretation offered reassurance that it was not meant to be obeyed but to show the impossibility of obedience and so throw you back on the grace of God. Or perhaps it applied only to interior attitudes, not to outward behavior, so that it was possible to love the enemies into whom you were thrusting your sword (53-54)."
It is during the fourth century that the traditional theories of atonement emerged, flawed theories still unquestioningly accepted as truth by the great majority of Christians today (see The Nonviolent Atonement by J. Denny Weaver).
Skip ahead to the fifth century and in 420, for the first time, a Christian bishop (Augustine) calls for the violent suppression of the "heretical" Donatist movement. In 436, non-Christians are excluded from the army. And in 528 it becomes illegal to not be Christian. Pagans have three months to convert....or face the consequences. This period from 313 to 528 marks the beginning of Christendom as well as that point in time when the church went off the rails.
Fast forward 1,000 years and we bump up against the Reformation. Carter writes, "Between the fall of Rome in 410 and the sixteenth-century Reformation, Christendom became 'oppressive, a totalitarian religious system, in which the church became phenomenally wealthy and seriously corrupt.' We might tend to be more charitable today, but one would be hard pressed to find a reformer of any stripe in the sixteenth century who would disagree with that assessment."
The Reformation works to correct some of the rampant abuse of power in the church, but doesn't really challenge the structure of Christendom in any significant way. Up next come the Radical Reformers, who in time we come to know as "the Anabaptists". The Anabaptists come from a variety of different streams across Europe, but all of them are busy uncovering the long buried life and teachings of Jesus and paying with their lives as they bravely expose and hold their Biblical discoveries up to society's public light.
It is not an understatement to say that today a new Radical Reformation is well underway in the church. When I hear that mainline denominations are losing members, I don't know if that's all bad. I do think we need to do some starting over with church. And this is exciting. There are people the world over who are working to recover the New Testament vision for church, the pre-Christendom model, and herein lies the potential for so much good. The Christendom Church, while it accomplished some good, also leaves behind a tragic legacy in its wake. But Jesus didn't institute the Christendom Church. If we can go back and recover God's intention for church, then our imaginations cannot contain the amzing trasformations this world could know. That's worth getting excited about!
Have you ever been challenged in understanding how people use the Bible or religion to justify violence and war?
As our country's economic and political policies seek to place ever more power and wealth in the hands of the privileged minority, how do we justify calling ourselves a Christian nation? The Old and New Testaments are equally adamant about justice for the poor and powerless.
A pastor friend posted an interesting article the other week about why Christians are leaving the church. Reasons given include: churches ignore problems of the real world, Christianity is antagonistic to science, churches are unfriendly to people with doubts, Christianity seems shallow.
What I'm describing are some pieces from one of my personal puzzles. Recently I've been able to seize hold of the box lid and see the picture emerge. Interestingly however, the puzzle picture takes us back in time to the church's beginnings.
The infant Christian church in its first three centuries (33 A.D. - 303 A.D.) was a small fringe movement. It was sometimes persecuted, but also enjoyed times of religious freedom in which the movement grew and even thrived. Christianity was exclusively nonviolent for the first 150 years or so and remained a predominantly peaceful movement, especially in its teaching. Many pagans were attracted to Christianity because of its high moral standards. Christians were known for their good works, particularly their care for widows and orphans. By 300, Christians accounted for around 10% of the Roman Empire's population. Then in 303, the Roman emperor, Diocletian, instituted one of the most brutal periods of persecution for Christians. In 306, Constantine became the Roman emperor and he allowed the persecution of Christians to continue for another 5 years. Then, in an abrupt change of course, Constantine, co-signed the Edict of Milan in 313, proclaiming religious tolerance for all religions of the Empire. And with this everything began to change.
Constantine was a smart guy or at least smart enough to learn from his mistakes. The Diocletian persecution was a failure. As history has shown, religious movements often multiply during times of persecution. Aware of threats to the Empire, Constantine needed to take drastic measures to unify his subjects. So he worked to bring together very different religious beliefs under the umbrella of monotheism, though how each group defined their God was up to them, so long as the religious factions could be united in their peaceful support of the empire. Then Constantine took things still further and decided to pick Christianity as his favorite religion. His behavior didn't change. He still waged war. He still murdered people - political rivals, friends, members of his own family. He still viewed himself as just one step removed from God. But at the same time, he began to insert himself into Christian affairs.
His Senate, the coalition of politicians charged with helping him run the Empire, was quite corrupt and even worse, inefficient. Constantine began to make use of Christian bishops to help with the work of the Empire. They distributed food to the needy. They became legal arbitrators. Soon, they acted in an advisory capacity to Constantine himself.
After years of persecution, the Christian Church felt as if the increasingly benevolent reign of Constantine was better than a dream come true, it was a fulfillment of God's promise to his people. But as the church, at first slowly and then at an ever quickening pace, worked to accomodate empire, the religion began to shift in pronounced ways.
I owe much to author Craig Carter and his book, "Rethinking Christ and Culture" for this brief history lesson. Now I turn to Stuart Murray and an excerpt from his book, "The Naked Anabaptist".
"By the end of the fourth century, the catechesis system was being overwhelmed by the numbers flooding into the churches now that Christianity enjoyed imperial favor. Much less time was now devoted to the teaching of Jesus. The emphasis was on uniformity of belief and avoiding heresy, rather than counter-cultural discipleship. The creeds were crucially important to this process, but it seems the life and teachings of Jesus were not.
"There were understandable reasons why the imperial church marginalized Jesus as fourth-century Christians struggled to adapt to a new social and political context. His teachings, which had been challenging enough for a powerless, marginal community, seemed utterly unrealistic and inapplicable for Christians assuming responsibility for an empire. What now did it mean to 'love your enemies' (Matt. 5:44) or 'do not worry about tomorrow' (6:34)? How could such instructions be translated into foreign or economic policies? Jesus seemed not to have anticipated this development or to have given any counsel to those with an imperial administration to run. Gratefully, church leaders turned instead to the Old Testament for guidance: after all, ancient Israel had an economy to run, borders to defend, and a social system to organize.
"Nor were the teachings of Jesus the only problem. More awkward still was his lifestyle, his passion for justice, his confrontations with the wealthy and powerful (the very people whom the churches were now wooing), his care for the outcasts and the downtrodden, his refusal to endorse social norms and traditional gender roles. As the church mixed ever more with the 'movers and shakers,' it was difficult to know what it meant to follow and imitate the 'friend of sinners' who prioritized the 'moved and shaken.' As the churches accepted and relished an honored place in a hierarchical society, the upside-down, last-will-be-first values Jesus taught and practiced were disturbing and distasteful....
"What could the imperial church do? Obviously, their founder could not be airbrushed out of the story altogether. But the life and teaching of Jesus could be reappraised, neutered, and domesticated. The way in which the Sermon on the Mount was handled during the Christendom era is a classis example of this process. Theologians and preachers found several ingenious ways of evading its challenge. Some insisted it was mandatory for the clergy and the monks, but beyond the reach of most Christians. Others said it did not refer to the present age but described life in the coming kingdom of God. Many suggested it applied only to the private sphere, not to public life in the empire. Another interpretation offered reassurance that it was not meant to be obeyed but to show the impossibility of obedience and so throw you back on the grace of God. Or perhaps it applied only to interior attitudes, not to outward behavior, so that it was possible to love the enemies into whom you were thrusting your sword (53-54)."
It is during the fourth century that the traditional theories of atonement emerged, flawed theories still unquestioningly accepted as truth by the great majority of Christians today (see The Nonviolent Atonement by J. Denny Weaver).
Skip ahead to the fifth century and in 420, for the first time, a Christian bishop (Augustine) calls for the violent suppression of the "heretical" Donatist movement. In 436, non-Christians are excluded from the army. And in 528 it becomes illegal to not be Christian. Pagans have three months to convert....or face the consequences. This period from 313 to 528 marks the beginning of Christendom as well as that point in time when the church went off the rails.
Fast forward 1,000 years and we bump up against the Reformation. Carter writes, "Between the fall of Rome in 410 and the sixteenth-century Reformation, Christendom became 'oppressive, a totalitarian religious system, in which the church became phenomenally wealthy and seriously corrupt.' We might tend to be more charitable today, but one would be hard pressed to find a reformer of any stripe in the sixteenth century who would disagree with that assessment."
The Reformation works to correct some of the rampant abuse of power in the church, but doesn't really challenge the structure of Christendom in any significant way. Up next come the Radical Reformers, who in time we come to know as "the Anabaptists". The Anabaptists come from a variety of different streams across Europe, but all of them are busy uncovering the long buried life and teachings of Jesus and paying with their lives as they bravely expose and hold their Biblical discoveries up to society's public light.
It is not an understatement to say that today a new Radical Reformation is well underway in the church. When I hear that mainline denominations are losing members, I don't know if that's all bad. I do think we need to do some starting over with church. And this is exciting. There are people the world over who are working to recover the New Testament vision for church, the pre-Christendom model, and herein lies the potential for so much good. The Christendom Church, while it accomplished some good, also leaves behind a tragic legacy in its wake. But Jesus didn't institute the Christendom Church. If we can go back and recover God's intention for church, then our imaginations cannot contain the amzing trasformations this world could know. That's worth getting excited about!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Sticking It To "The Man": What You Can Do to Fight Corporate Greed
by Sheri
I know "the man" is an outdated term on several levels. But, it gives me such an amusing image of somebody sitting in midst of incense and... all the other stereotypical activities of the 70s. Which brings me to another topic: this particular post keeps tempting me to talk about things that I don't want my daughters to read. I keep imagining them reading over my shoulder and asking awkward questions, (What's pot, Mommy? What does that word mean and why shouldn't we say it?) So, I am doing a little self editing here. Some of you no doubt will immediately realize, for example, that when I say "baloney" below I am really thinking something else. But, you never know who is going to read this, so baloney it is.
Back to "the man". When I use this phrase I am talking of those who have the power in our society, which also equals those who have the money. There is clearly economic injustice in our world and I think many of us are getting a bit fed up with it. So, here are a few of my thoughts on what we can do about it.
1. Give to Charity: Probably not where you were expecting me to go, but this is important. There is a message out there that says,"In order to stimulate the economy, consumers need to go out and spend, spend, spend!" Instead, buy what you need, save for emergencies, and then give to charity. Giving is guaranteed to stimulate the economy. Since the recipients can't afford to tuck the currency away, they are certain to spend the money on goods and services. Giving to charity increases consumer confidence when fewer folks are living in destitution. And it is a most excellent way to shrink the government: less need for social services if charities have all the resources they need. Giving to charity increases compassion and decreases consumerism. It is an all around win.
2. Write Off Your Politicians: We are continuously encouraged to write our politicians. I am not saying this is a bad idea although I do question the efficacy. The responses I have received to my letters make it clear they were never read. But go ahead and write your politicians. However, we need to remember that our politicians have little control over a system that supports their very existence. If they fight the system, they will be removed or rendered ineffective. Furthermore, when we focus on politicians and politics we get side tracked by bipartisan bickering. Whether the republicans are right or the democrats is not the point. We need to focus our attention on the roots of the problem.
3. Explore Alternative News Sources: Whether you are a fan of Fox News or MSNBC, the very fact that you can be a fan of one over and against the other makes it clear that unbiased news does not reign in our world. For the news to be reported in such different ways makes it clear that someone is being influenced. To assume that your preferred news is the only unbiased news around is extremely naive. Peruse the news from entirely different sources, such as from other countries, to give yourself a different perspective.
4. Polish Your Baloney Detector: Divisive language, fear mongering, and name calling are pervasive in our world. Reports on politics nearly always boil down to "Democrats say..." vs. "Republicans say..." It seems like many of the folks on the news have forgotten lessons they should have learned in Kindergarten: it is not nice to call people names. Seriously, it is insulting to me that all we have to do is call some protestors "hippies" and we can dismiss an entire movement ( I am referring to the Occupy Wall Street movement. If you haven't heard about it, these are some people trying to stand up to "the man" for better or worse.) Or we can attach the name Obama to something and depending on your political leanings it is either automatically wonderful or automatically evil. I find it so condescending that it is assumed such tactics will work. I find it equally disheartening that they so often do. Let's really listen to each other and use our minds. When we hear name calling, labeling, or focusing on partisan politics our baloney detectors should go off big time.
5. Boycott Corporate Greed: I was going to propose that we boycott any company whose CEO makes more than $3,000,000 a year. I am all for rewarding intelligence, hard work, creativity and the like. Still, I refuse to believe that anyone is 100 times more intelligent, hard working and creative than the average teacher. However, after a little research I discovered that some of us would have difficulty eating if we boycotted all those companies (In smaller towns this would often involve all the grocery stores and discount stores and since Farmer's Markets in such places aren't year round...no food.) Even doubling that amount to $6,000,000 a year wouldn't help much. It is completely obnoxious how much these people get paid. We may not be able to boycott them all but we can buy locally when possible, buy fair trade when possible, avoid chain stores and chain restaurants, and be aware of the glaring economic injustice all around us. At the very least, claims that executives deserve this type of wage should set off baloney detectors.
I have my own political bias for sure but over the years we have had any combination of Republican or Democrat President and Republican or Democrat dominated Senate and House. While there have been some differences none of them have addressed the underlying problems. And, all their combined efforts have gotten us where we are today. We need to stop the focus on bipartisan politics and focus on where the money and the power are. These are my few humble suggestions. What are yours? Let's stick it to "the man", man.
I know "the man" is an outdated term on several levels. But, it gives me such an amusing image of somebody sitting in midst of incense and... all the other stereotypical activities of the 70s. Which brings me to another topic: this particular post keeps tempting me to talk about things that I don't want my daughters to read. I keep imagining them reading over my shoulder and asking awkward questions, (What's pot, Mommy? What does that word mean and why shouldn't we say it?) So, I am doing a little self editing here. Some of you no doubt will immediately realize, for example, that when I say "baloney" below I am really thinking something else. But, you never know who is going to read this, so baloney it is.
Back to "the man". When I use this phrase I am talking of those who have the power in our society, which also equals those who have the money. There is clearly economic injustice in our world and I think many of us are getting a bit fed up with it. So, here are a few of my thoughts on what we can do about it.
1. Give to Charity: Probably not where you were expecting me to go, but this is important. There is a message out there that says,"In order to stimulate the economy, consumers need to go out and spend, spend, spend!" Instead, buy what you need, save for emergencies, and then give to charity. Giving is guaranteed to stimulate the economy. Since the recipients can't afford to tuck the currency away, they are certain to spend the money on goods and services. Giving to charity increases consumer confidence when fewer folks are living in destitution. And it is a most excellent way to shrink the government: less need for social services if charities have all the resources they need. Giving to charity increases compassion and decreases consumerism. It is an all around win.
2. Write Off Your Politicians: We are continuously encouraged to write our politicians. I am not saying this is a bad idea although I do question the efficacy. The responses I have received to my letters make it clear they were never read. But go ahead and write your politicians. However, we need to remember that our politicians have little control over a system that supports their very existence. If they fight the system, they will be removed or rendered ineffective. Furthermore, when we focus on politicians and politics we get side tracked by bipartisan bickering. Whether the republicans are right or the democrats is not the point. We need to focus our attention on the roots of the problem.
3. Explore Alternative News Sources: Whether you are a fan of Fox News or MSNBC, the very fact that you can be a fan of one over and against the other makes it clear that unbiased news does not reign in our world. For the news to be reported in such different ways makes it clear that someone is being influenced. To assume that your preferred news is the only unbiased news around is extremely naive. Peruse the news from entirely different sources, such as from other countries, to give yourself a different perspective.
4. Polish Your Baloney Detector: Divisive language, fear mongering, and name calling are pervasive in our world. Reports on politics nearly always boil down to "Democrats say..." vs. "Republicans say..." It seems like many of the folks on the news have forgotten lessons they should have learned in Kindergarten: it is not nice to call people names. Seriously, it is insulting to me that all we have to do is call some protestors "hippies" and we can dismiss an entire movement ( I am referring to the Occupy Wall Street movement. If you haven't heard about it, these are some people trying to stand up to "the man" for better or worse.) Or we can attach the name Obama to something and depending on your political leanings it is either automatically wonderful or automatically evil. I find it so condescending that it is assumed such tactics will work. I find it equally disheartening that they so often do. Let's really listen to each other and use our minds. When we hear name calling, labeling, or focusing on partisan politics our baloney detectors should go off big time.
5. Boycott Corporate Greed: I was going to propose that we boycott any company whose CEO makes more than $3,000,000 a year. I am all for rewarding intelligence, hard work, creativity and the like. Still, I refuse to believe that anyone is 100 times more intelligent, hard working and creative than the average teacher. However, after a little research I discovered that some of us would have difficulty eating if we boycotted all those companies (In smaller towns this would often involve all the grocery stores and discount stores and since Farmer's Markets in such places aren't year round...no food.) Even doubling that amount to $6,000,000 a year wouldn't help much. It is completely obnoxious how much these people get paid. We may not be able to boycott them all but we can buy locally when possible, buy fair trade when possible, avoid chain stores and chain restaurants, and be aware of the glaring economic injustice all around us. At the very least, claims that executives deserve this type of wage should set off baloney detectors.
I have my own political bias for sure but over the years we have had any combination of Republican or Democrat President and Republican or Democrat dominated Senate and House. While there have been some differences none of them have addressed the underlying problems. And, all their combined efforts have gotten us where we are today. We need to stop the focus on bipartisan politics and focus on where the money and the power are. These are my few humble suggestions. What are yours? Let's stick it to "the man", man.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Harry Potter and the Relentless Prayer
by Lynn
I have often used the word "relentless" to describe my 7 year old daughter - unyielding, persistent and steady. When Becca sets her mind on something, whether it be writing a book or pursuing a line of argument, she doesn't let anything or anyone stand in her way.
I read a book recently by Alan Weisman called, "The World Without Us". A primary theme in the book is nature's relentless force. At one point, the author oberves how even flowers, germinating in the cracks of concrete, will eventually "heave aside entire slabs of cement". Nature's unblinking persistence gives me much hope.
Relentlessness seems also to be a quality God appreciates. Of course, it goes without saying that any personal characteristic aimed in the wrong direction can do much damage. But when everything is neatly lined up, relentlessness is not such a bad personality trait.
Jesus has something to say about being relentless too. He tells a group a story about a widow and an unjust judge. The unjust judge has no real interest in doing the right thing. You get the idea that self-gratification is his primary motivation. Appeals on ethical or moral grounds aren't going to get anyone very far with him. But he messes with the wrong person when he rules against a certain widow in that city, because she is determined to grab hold of justice for herself. If it takes her the rest of her life, she is prepared. Everyday she goes and pesters the judge with her demands for justice. She is unrelenting. And eventually, in an effort to make his life easier, the judge caves to her demands.
Now here's the interesting thing about this story. It's actually not about a judge and a widow. That's just the window dressing. This story is about our relationship with God and more specifically, it's about prayer. The prelude to the parable reads, "Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lost heart". Later, comparing the unjust judge to God, Jesus says, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?" Pray always without losing heart and cry out to God day and night. Take the desires of your heart and soul seriously and be relentless in prayer. That's the message here.
In the book, "Quarks, Chaos and Christianity", physicist and theologian John Polkinghorne writes, "If the future is truly open, not just a rearrangement of the past, will not God have to know the world in time, as it develops? If this is the case, even God does not yet know the unformed future. This is not an imperfection in God, for the future is not yet there to be known. If this is right, then there must be an experience of time within God, in addition to his external nature....History unrolls, rather than just existing. We make the future; it is not up there waiting for us to arrive. Of course, I believe that God is fully prepared for the future, but I do not believe he knows beforehand exactly what the choice of a free agent, or the outcomes of a free process will be."
Polkinghorne then applies this idea to the act of prayer. "We have our little part to play in bringing about this future; we have our little room for maneuver. God has also reserved to himself some providential room for maneuver in bringing about the future of the world. When we pray, the first thing we do is we offer our room for maneuver to be taken by God and used by him in the most effective way in relation to his room for maneuver, in accordance with his providential will. In more traditional language, we offer our will to be aligned with the divine will. I believe that when this alignment takes place, things become possible that are not possible when human and divine wills are at cross purposes. Therefore, prayer is genuinely instrumental. It genuinely changes the world."
So then let's pair this idea of giving over our room for maneuver to God with the idea of relentless prayer. It's a beautiful marriage. When we repeatedly, everyday work to align our will with God's, things happen. Sometimes amazing things happen. And if we, together with many others, all offer our room for maneuver over to God, well you can see how powerful prayer can be. Sometimes I have a tendency to downplay the power of prayer. I can't get my mind around it most of the time and so I've been known to dismiss it. I need reminders like this that I have a cosmic tool at the tip of my tongue that God urges me to use always.
Here's a final reminder we need to hear often. God is also relentless. My husband and I went to see the final Harry Potter movie this last summer. It was great! Here's what I love most about Harry Potter. The whole underlying message of the series seems to be, "Love always wins." No matter how crippled or at a disadvantage Harry and his friends are, still, love always wins. That too calls to mind the idea of flowers causing pavement to buckle. The other night during her bedtime prayer, Becca was talking about something weighing on her heart. Then she stopped and said, almost as if reminding both herself and God, "But love always wins." God's love is relentless. It is always there. It is the greatest force in this universe. It is always striving, pulsating, radiating, becoming. Tapping into this power with prayer creates a pretty awe-inspiring catalyst for change.
Perhaps prayer is this world's heartbeat of hope.
I have often used the word "relentless" to describe my 7 year old daughter - unyielding, persistent and steady. When Becca sets her mind on something, whether it be writing a book or pursuing a line of argument, she doesn't let anything or anyone stand in her way.
I read a book recently by Alan Weisman called, "The World Without Us". A primary theme in the book is nature's relentless force. At one point, the author oberves how even flowers, germinating in the cracks of concrete, will eventually "heave aside entire slabs of cement". Nature's unblinking persistence gives me much hope.
Relentlessness seems also to be a quality God appreciates. Of course, it goes without saying that any personal characteristic aimed in the wrong direction can do much damage. But when everything is neatly lined up, relentlessness is not such a bad personality trait.
Jesus has something to say about being relentless too. He tells a group a story about a widow and an unjust judge. The unjust judge has no real interest in doing the right thing. You get the idea that self-gratification is his primary motivation. Appeals on ethical or moral grounds aren't going to get anyone very far with him. But he messes with the wrong person when he rules against a certain widow in that city, because she is determined to grab hold of justice for herself. If it takes her the rest of her life, she is prepared. Everyday she goes and pesters the judge with her demands for justice. She is unrelenting. And eventually, in an effort to make his life easier, the judge caves to her demands.
Now here's the interesting thing about this story. It's actually not about a judge and a widow. That's just the window dressing. This story is about our relationship with God and more specifically, it's about prayer. The prelude to the parable reads, "Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lost heart". Later, comparing the unjust judge to God, Jesus says, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?" Pray always without losing heart and cry out to God day and night. Take the desires of your heart and soul seriously and be relentless in prayer. That's the message here.
In the book, "Quarks, Chaos and Christianity", physicist and theologian John Polkinghorne writes, "If the future is truly open, not just a rearrangement of the past, will not God have to know the world in time, as it develops? If this is the case, even God does not yet know the unformed future. This is not an imperfection in God, for the future is not yet there to be known. If this is right, then there must be an experience of time within God, in addition to his external nature....History unrolls, rather than just existing. We make the future; it is not up there waiting for us to arrive. Of course, I believe that God is fully prepared for the future, but I do not believe he knows beforehand exactly what the choice of a free agent, or the outcomes of a free process will be."
Polkinghorne then applies this idea to the act of prayer. "We have our little part to play in bringing about this future; we have our little room for maneuver. God has also reserved to himself some providential room for maneuver in bringing about the future of the world. When we pray, the first thing we do is we offer our room for maneuver to be taken by God and used by him in the most effective way in relation to his room for maneuver, in accordance with his providential will. In more traditional language, we offer our will to be aligned with the divine will. I believe that when this alignment takes place, things become possible that are not possible when human and divine wills are at cross purposes. Therefore, prayer is genuinely instrumental. It genuinely changes the world."
So then let's pair this idea of giving over our room for maneuver to God with the idea of relentless prayer. It's a beautiful marriage. When we repeatedly, everyday work to align our will with God's, things happen. Sometimes amazing things happen. And if we, together with many others, all offer our room for maneuver over to God, well you can see how powerful prayer can be. Sometimes I have a tendency to downplay the power of prayer. I can't get my mind around it most of the time and so I've been known to dismiss it. I need reminders like this that I have a cosmic tool at the tip of my tongue that God urges me to use always.
Here's a final reminder we need to hear often. God is also relentless. My husband and I went to see the final Harry Potter movie this last summer. It was great! Here's what I love most about Harry Potter. The whole underlying message of the series seems to be, "Love always wins." No matter how crippled or at a disadvantage Harry and his friends are, still, love always wins. That too calls to mind the idea of flowers causing pavement to buckle. The other night during her bedtime prayer, Becca was talking about something weighing on her heart. Then she stopped and said, almost as if reminding both herself and God, "But love always wins." God's love is relentless. It is always there. It is the greatest force in this universe. It is always striving, pulsating, radiating, becoming. Tapping into this power with prayer creates a pretty awe-inspiring catalyst for change.
Perhaps prayer is this world's heartbeat of hope.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Why the Drought Doesn't Totally Stink
by Sheri
Some positive things about the drought
1. Dirt roads are awesome for biking now: nearly as hard as pavement but without all the traffic
2. My hibiscus has been flowering for months! It thinks we have moved to the tropics with all this sun.
3. Fewer hedge balls.
4. Fewer mosquitos.
5. Harvest shouldn't take long.
6. Opportunity to test how long our ponds will hold water without rain.
7. Fewer dandelions in the yard.
8. No muddy footprints in the house.
9. One can get a lot of outdoor work done...as long as it doesn't involve digging...or growing things.
10.When I water my plants the smell of wet dirt is almost intoxicating.
Whew! That stretched my optimism muscles! Optimism is important. If we assume the worst it is difficult to work for the best.
Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
This is not about ignoring the hardships of life. This is about finding the good in life and making that good the center of your thoughts, the focus upon which to build.
I have never considered myself an optimist but I have been consciously enjoying the lack of mosquitos by spending more time outside. When I water my plants, I breathe deeply the intoxicating smell of wet dirt. Then I pray that smell will become more prevalent (as in rain). Then I pray for those who are suffering from even more severe drought around the world and count my blessings again. If we remove our focus from what is troubling us, we can see what is troubling our neighbor and lend a helping hand. This is not blind optimism but optimism that sees and distributes hope.
Sometimes, if you look in the right place, even drought can look like this.
Some positive things about the drought
1. Dirt roads are awesome for biking now: nearly as hard as pavement but without all the traffic
2. My hibiscus has been flowering for months! It thinks we have moved to the tropics with all this sun.
3. Fewer hedge balls.
4. Fewer mosquitos.
5. Harvest shouldn't take long.
6. Opportunity to test how long our ponds will hold water without rain.
7. Fewer dandelions in the yard.
8. No muddy footprints in the house.
9. One can get a lot of outdoor work done...as long as it doesn't involve digging...or growing things.
10.When I water my plants the smell of wet dirt is almost intoxicating.
Whew! That stretched my optimism muscles! Optimism is important. If we assume the worst it is difficult to work for the best.
Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
This is not about ignoring the hardships of life. This is about finding the good in life and making that good the center of your thoughts, the focus upon which to build.
I have never considered myself an optimist but I have been consciously enjoying the lack of mosquitos by spending more time outside. When I water my plants, I breathe deeply the intoxicating smell of wet dirt. Then I pray that smell will become more prevalent (as in rain). Then I pray for those who are suffering from even more severe drought around the world and count my blessings again. If we remove our focus from what is troubling us, we can see what is troubling our neighbor and lend a helping hand. This is not blind optimism but optimism that sees and distributes hope.
Sometimes, if you look in the right place, even drought can look like this.
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| A partially opened hibiscus flower in my backyard. |
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