Why I am in ABCUSA?

This is a key question for me these days when I am feeling less and less welcome in the larger denomination.

I did not grow up in a Baptist tradition and didn't choose it until I was a student at Eastern Baptist Seminary. There I learned about a denomination that was committed to racial, economic, cultural, and theological diversity. I learned that we hear the voice of God most clearly when we struggle together with those who see and hear things differently. I learned that the voice of God is often, usually, first heard by a small minority who bring it to the larger group. There the message is often rejected, but I was told of a tradition that kept those subversive messages close to their hearts just in case there was something of the Spirit of God present in them. I became an American Baptist not because I agreed with all of the other American Baptists but because I didn't. I joined a denomination that had Unitarians and fundamentalists both (and I needed to hear from both). I learned of a mission movement that was committed to contextualization of their ministries and was very effective and efficient because work was contextual. I saw the extravagant beauty and grace of God in that disparate mix of people.

Through the years, my theology has changed radically. Still, I felt there was a place for me in that mix because no matter where I was on the theological spectrum, there was someone both to my right and my left with whom I could fellowship, struggle, serve, and grow.

I am progressive on most social issues (and believe that way because I believe that is what faithfulness to the scriptures require). Because of those views, I am feeling more and more alienated from the denomination I joined back in the 70's. There are groups that are probably closer to me theologically such as the Alliance of Baptists, but I don't want to lose the diversity of the ABC. I like having conservative partners in mission. I learn from them and I think they learn from me.

So... I stay in the ABC.

missing an old friend

Back in the 80's I played in a band called August in Philadelphia (the band is still playing too!) We used to play at this wonderful little music club in New Hope, PA called John and Peters, often on Sunday afternoon. There was a music store 2 doors down that I would visit on breaks that had this amazing acoustic guitar hanging on the wall... I loved it but couldn't afford it.

Then one week, there was a sign in the window - "Going Out of Business Sale." The guitar was still there and the price was slashed. Monday I went back and purchased the guitar, then sold another one and broke even. It is the guitar that I am playing in the photo.

In the late 80's I switched from electric to acoustic as my primary instrument. That guitar was the only guitar I played from about 1988 until August of '99 when it was stolen on a visit to Philadelphia. I felt as if my fingers had been cut off and truly considered giving up playing. I couldn't imagine making music with any other guitar. That Lowden was "my" guitar and my sound.

The folk at Lowden were great when my guitar was stolen. They built me a wonderful replacement and a person in the company even loaned me a guitar for 6 months while my guitar was being built. George Lowden personally carved the braces in an older style that they were not using at the time and chose the inlays to match their 25th anniversary model. In those days, the large shop guitars where built by the folk who now run Avalon Guitars and George Lowden was president of the company. They have since parted ways with George taking his designs and starting a new company with the other folk becoming Avalon. Both George and Steve from Avalon were amazing to me. Thank you both.

Alexis and I have one of our rare gigs coming up (10/28 at Cold Springs Tavern outside of Santa Barbara) and I was watching an old video from a television show we had done in Albany in '98. Man did that guitar sound great! Indeed, I would say it was the best guitar I've ever owned and possibly the best one I've ever played - certainly among the top 5. Something just worked that day in the Lowden shop when they built that guitar back in '86. I love the new guitar but I still miss "my" Lowden. I'd love to get "my" guitar back someday so... if you run into a Lowden L25C serial number 271, it is my baby. And if I never get it back... I hope someone is still playing it and realizes what an amazing guitar they have.

convenient scapegoat

If it wasn't so pathetic it would be funny to listen as Republican leaders have tried to blame Democrats for the Foley mess. In spite of the growing evidence that the leaders in the house had received multiple reports and did nothing perhaps for years... they're claiming it is the Democrats playing politics that Foley's actions came out now.

And then... and then... the Republicans tried to blame Clinton for the mess with North Korea. And that is after they had both houses and the presidency for how long?

I only hope that in November, the American public will show that they have learned.

multi-cultural mess

About 7 years ago we did an exchange with a church in Leicester, England, a place that calls itself the heart of multi-cultural England. I was surprised at how multi-cultural Great Britain is. Leicester has very large populations of Pakistani and Indian folk (and some of the best Indian food I've ever eaten!). As we traveled around we saw road signs in Welsh in Wales, stayed with a family in Scotland whose children went to a school where instruction took place in Gailic, and on another trip we visited a church in London where the small congregation included people who spoke 22 different languages. We saw a picture not only of diversity but of a culture that was working to celebrate that diversity. It was wonderful!

Then this week I saw a news article reporting that some British government officials are calling to bar Muslim women from wearing their veils as it emphasizes their differences and one of the government officials said that he feels uncomfortable talking to someone whose face he cannot see.

I was aghast. This came the same day as an interfaith event here in Santa Barbara where Hindu, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish speakers shared some of their faith and spoke of their dreams that we can learn to live and work together for a more civil society. Yes, there are differences and the veil makes them obvious. They need not keep us apart though. And to the government official who feels uncomfortable... get over it.

Shocking the Monkey

I've been a huge fan of Peter Gabriel for a long time. Today I came across a link thatjust thrilled me. His record company - real World - has a site devoted to remixes of songs in their catalog. They have just completed a competition for remixes of Shock the Monkey. It is amazing what someone with talent and the right equipment can do in remixing a song.

I have only listened to about 20 but the different takes on this song from individual to individual really do amaze me. At this point, this mix by Caml is my favorite. It takes the song in a completely different direction but works perfectly. If you click on the link to top twenty at the top of the page you can listen to some other takes on the song.

Grace Abounds

In this week where the horrific violence in Iraq continues to mount, we've heard multiple reports of deadly violence in schools in the US, the most unexpected event taking place at an Amish school in Pennsylvania. I cannot imagine a place where such violence is less likely to happen. These are quiet, simple, peaceful people of faith. But it did. Charles Carl Robert's entered the school planning to molest 10 girls and ended up shooting instead. And as of 10/4, 5 young girls had died, 3 were in critical condition, and 2 were serious. Roberts is also dead.

It was a terrible disconnect that this took place in a school where a sign proclaimed, "visitors bring joy." This visitor brought grief and pain. He tried to leave hatred and revenge in his wake but the folk in that little community refused. Instead, they returned grace. The Amish do not have insurance so when a need arises the community and other Amish communities around the country rise up and contribute until the needs are met. Funds were established to help the families of each of the girls who were shot. The Amish also set up a fund for Robert's family, knowing that their lives were turned inside out as well. It was also widely reported that the Roberts family would be welcome at the funerals of the girls to share as they all mourn.

These expressions of grace will not bring back the girls who have died but they will offer healing to the entire community. They will not make sense of meaningless deaths, but they will offer hope that the love of God overcomes even senseless violence. They stand out as a radical example of the power of Jesus' love to change the world works. In these violent times. We need those examples.

I am heart-broken that this event was the catalyst for this example of grace but deeply glad that if such events take place, at least amazing grace is available to see us through.

Manzanar

I've been a fan of Ansel Adams photos since my college days when I first saw them. He captured the majesty of Yosemite like no one else. I wasn't aware that he ever photographed people.

While we were in Hawaii, we visited the Honolulu Academy of Arts and saw an exhibit of photos that Ansel Adams made of the Japanese interment camp at Manzanar in California. It was heartbreaking to see the pain inflicted upon these folk - mostly American citizens - simply because of their ancestry. One photo that still haunts me is of a mother holding the Congressional Medal of Honor she received for her son who had sacrificed himself to save his colleagues by diving on a hand grenade. She received the medal while living behind barbed wire and after having had everything she owned taken away from her. And here we are talking about profiling people because they look Arab or are Muslim... and history threatens to repeat itself.

property and the ABC and PSW

It is my understanding that everyone involved in the separation of the PSW from the ABCUSA is trying to work in good faith when it comes to property issues. That is a good thing as the region holds title to many church properties and it could turn into an ugly mess. From what I understand, they are working hard to honor the individual congregations. That is wonderful.

The questions I have, have to do with the property that was owned by the PSW. Much of it was given or paid for with money given with the understanding that the resources would belong to an ABC related organization. That includes millions of dollars worth of property in the camps and other assets. Why should it be assumed that these assets go with the new Transformation Ministries? The argument would be that they hold the titles and they are the successor organization to the American Baptist Churches of the Pacific Southwest. I would think that an argument could be made that because they are no longer related to the ABCUSA, they are an entirely new organization and that the American Baptists of the Pacific Southwest or whatever organization of American Baptist related churches in the Pacific Southwest is the true successor and that all of the assets should go to them.

The very fact that churches deeded their properties to the PSW is a testament to this. Most churches who deeded their property to the PSW did so to keep the property from leaving the ABC family. Look at the scenario. A church owns its property. An outside group wants to have a church in the area but cannot afford property. They all join the ABC church, outnumber its members, vote to withdraw from ABC and then own the property. To prevent this from happening, churches put their titles in the hands of the region. This is an analog of what has happened. For whatever reason (and the reason doesn't matter), a majority in the PSW has voted to withdraw from ABC and take the properties with them.

Now I am in no way implying that their was malice involved in the PSW's actions. The vast majority of the folk I know in PSW are people of integrity and deep commitment to following Jesus. Indeed, they would argue that they are following the true intent of the donors by continuing their mission. It is here that the discussion needs to take place. Perhaps they are. On the other hand, perhaps these generous folk of earlier generations really did have a commitment to the ABC. We are talking about serious resources here that will impact the way ministry is done and the potential impact of those ministries.

The analogy of divorce has been used more than once by leaders in PSW. Well, in a divorce, nobody walks away with all of the assets. These assets should all be on the table.

I am ashamed

I have never been particularly patriotic. Being formed during the 60's no doubt contributed as did my understanding that as a follower of Jesus that my ultimate citizenship is not in any nation/state, but in the kindom of God. Still, I have always been especially proud of the values upon which this nation was founded. Certainly, we have not always lived up to them but we never (or at least seldom) outright rejected them. And always, someone would hold them up and call us to move towards our better selves.

A few years ago, Alexis was in the Balkans and was warned not to tell anyone she was an American. My first reaction was resignation but there was also a hint of surprise... "Don't they know what we stand for?"

Well, today I am ashamed. Yesterday the House voted for legislation that outright rejects everything that I thought we stood for as Americans. And immediately afterwards, the Republicans accused the Democrats who voted against the bill as being pro-terrorist. All of this following the release of the April intelligence estimate that concluded that everything we are doing in Iraq is making terrorism worse. Well, today I am ashamed to be an American. If this bill becomes law, I will truly be ashamed that we no longer stand up for human dignity or the rule of law.

a smile...

this came from an aquaintence who got it from a friend who got it from a friend... and so the original author is long lost. It may indeed be that most famous and prolific writer - Anonymous

I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, start
out dead and get it out of the way. Then you wake up in a nursing home, feeling better every day. You get kicked out for being too healthy, go collect your pension, then, when you start work, you get a gold watch on your first day. You work 40 years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You drink alcohol, you party, you're generally promiscuous and you get ready for High School. You go to primary school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a baby, then, you spend your last 9 months floating peacefully with luxuries like central heating, spa room service on tap, larger quarters everyday, and finally you finish off as an orgasm.

Raises some interesting questions about the meaning and purpose of life doesn't it?

torture

These days it feels like deja vu... "it depends on what is is..." only now the stakes are much higher. So when is torture not torture? When does it become "coercive interrogation?" It seems as if this administration is arguing that as long as we aren't applying electrodes to genitals, breaking bones, raping, or murdering, it is OK. That leaves water-boarding, hanging upside down, sexual humiliation, and all sorts of other things that seem to me to fit any reasonable definition of torture.

So why should we not do any of these things? First off, it doesn't work. When these "coercive techniques" are being used, someone will say anything to get them to stop. How often do you think they'll tell the truth? If the torture stops with a lie, we've reinforced lying. If it doesn't stop with the truth, then we taught them that the torture won't stop anyway so why tell the truth? It doesn't work and experience has shown that the information that came using these "techniques" has been unreliable at best.

Second, it destroys any moral authority we have. Yes, some of the terrible people out there will torture American soldiers, journalists, and even civilians anyway but when we use torture, we have no argument before the world that we are any different than the terrorists. And there will be those who will follow our example and more American soldiers, journalists, and even civilians will find themselves being tortured around the world.

Third, and this is the most important reason, torture is wrong. There is no justification under any circumstances for using torture.

I'm reminded of the story of the holy man who was meditating near a river that was rising rapidly. He looked over and saw a scorpion sitting on a high spot that had turned to a tiny island, soon to be engulfed by the flood. He walked over and reached down to save the scorpion and the insect tried to sting him. This happened a number of times until a passerby remarked, "You know, you will get stung if you keep doing that. It is in the nature of the scorpion to sting." The holy man replied, "Yes, it is in the scorpion's nature to sting. It is in my nature to do what is good and right. Why should I allow the scorpion to make me change my nature?"

As a people we are allowing the "scorpions" to cause us to abandon our most beautiful values and deeply held convictions. We must hold true to who we claim we are and stand against the forces that are calling us to compromise what we know is right and true. We must not torture.

paradise

just a short note here... we just got back from a wonderful week of rest and relaxation on Oahu and I'm trying to catch up with everything.

We stayed at Eden-by-the-Sea, a little guest house for two run by Jeff and Lynda Mueller as a ministry to professional church staff. They really have a gift of hospitality and have provided a beautiful spot to refresh and relax. They didn't miss a detail in making everything easy and enjoyable for us. I highly recommend their ministry to any of you for whom it fits.

The Heretics Guide part 2

I finished my second read through A Heretic's Guide to Eternity the other day and need to say a bit more about it...

I first discovered that I was a heretic back in 1975 when I went through my ordination council with the Philadelphia Baptist Association. They voted me down, called me back for more questions, voted me down again, tried to get a local pastor to tutor me in the "right path," and when they couldn't called me back for more questions... actually just one - "Is there any chance your views will change?" When I replied "yes, I'm sure they will" that gave them the out they needed and they voted to allow the congregation I was already serving to proceed with ordination. Many times since then, I have been branded with the same title. Well, after reading the book, I am a little happier with the title than I was before. In fact, maybe I'll even own it! I'm reminded of an adult Sunday School class about 2 years ago at Cambridge Drive Church where three groups were charged with writing a good old fashioned confession of faith. The one that I liked the best began with the statement, "All Confessions of Faith must be written in pencil." I like that alot

So to the book... as I said before a primary theme is the juxtaposition of spirituality defined by grace vs. "religion" by which Spencer means all of the institutional stuff - rules, confessions, dogma, etc. etc. I find myself agreeing with many of his conclusions. I believe in the primacy of grace and free floaties. I believe that God is bigger than any of our systems of thought, or doctrine, or even of experience. I believe that we can find "truth" in just about every religion out there while still owning that they are not the same. I like unversalism as a starting point. I even believe that our understanding of God is growing as a culture and we are moving beyond where we were and it is a good thing. But... and it is a big but... there are two places where I feel like Spencer has dropped the ball.

1. He talks about "religion" as being culturally bound and shaped while "spirituality" (which is where he says we're headed) is universal. I think he is falling into the same trap that our ancestors in the faith lived in - the idea that we have gotten to the end of revelation and our views are eternal while everyone else's are flawed. Again, I agree with his conclusions that the Church as we have known it is quickly dying and will be gone in a relatively short time, but the forms that will replace it are still culturally bound, just bound to a new culture. This is a very important critique because it changes the whole nature of the argument. If his new schema is eternal and universal, then it becomes static and cannot be questioned. If it too is written in pencil, then the journey continues.

2. While Spencer clearly says that faith must be communal for it to be all that it can be, he doesn't give any way to build that community of faith once he has discarded the institutions of the past. Indeed, his few short descriptions of his community of faith left me feeling very sad. I really want to hear him tell what this new community of faith might look like without any institutional trappings. Base communities that struggle together over praxis... house churches that study and hold one another accountable... intentional communities that live faith as an alternative lifestyle... we need something more than what feels to me as too easy an escape from the joys and difficulties of community.

I also wanted a bit more about the way we follow Jesus in this murky water of religious pluralism... how does that play itself out in the free-wheeling, market driven world of spirituality where each person spins their own, often out of their own juices and often out of what feels easy and convenient rather than what challenges us to grow and change and serve.

To the degree that this book reflects some of the thought in at least one wing of the "emerging" church, it will provide a convenient target for some on the conservative side of things who are already condemning this movement as being soft on doctrine and anything but orthodox. He obviously pushes the envelope more than many of the other writers dealing with similar subject matter. I'm sure that the title "heretic" will be thrown at him more than once in the coming days.

All in all, I think it is an important book that will help frame some great discussions about the next steps for a Church that must leave behind its antiquated forms and find new ways of being followers of Jesus in a radically new world. Pick it up and read it and then wrestle with the ideas with a group of friends. Who knows, you may begin to answer the question I was left with... OK now what? How do we do this new thing together?

Obscenity

Yesterday was Labor Day. I grew up in a blue color family in a rust belt city so Labor Day has always brought up some strong feelings for me. I have a deeply held belief that working folk deserve the fruits of their labor and ought to share in the fruits of this society. Sadly, this is becoming less and less possible.

Yesterday there was an article that my local paper carried from the Miami Herald with some frightening statistics... Productivity is up but standard of living is going down for working folk. Wages are the lowest on record as a percentage of the national income while corporate profits are at a 56 year high. In 2005, CEO's earned 262 times the average worker's pay (up from 24 times in 1965).

I think we need a maximum wage law... or at least incredibly high taxes - 90% or more - on incomes above a certain level. Or maybe some of the executives could learn from a good example. There are CEO's who are doing it right.

Jim Sinegal, CEO and founder of Costco, makes about $350K which is approximately 12 times what the average worker on the floor of a Costco makes. If he was at the typical multiplier of most CEO's he'd be making nearly 8 million! Costco also pays above the market rate and provides higher benefits for those folk on the floor. Wall Street doesn't like him. Companies like Walmart hate him. Seems to me, he's doing things right.

33 & counting

Yesterday was the 33rd anniversary of the wedding of Roy & Cheryl Donkin. Hard to believe!

Through the easy times and the not so easy ones, I love you Cheryl!

the truth isn't sexy

the truth isn't sexy

This music video - Constance - reminds us that human trafficing is not a pretty thing. Watching this video and contrasting it to the scripture I'm preaching on this Sunday from the Song of Solomon really shows God's intention for the way we interact vs. the way that people can be objectified and abused.

only in California

A beetle with a jet engine that is street legal! How else can you add 1350 hp to your car?

Katrina, 1 Year Later

Every Sunday we ask for prayer requests during our worship service and every week, one of our 8 year olds asks us to remember the folk who are still suffering from the effects of that storm. This morning, the president said that he takes "full responsibility" for the federal response (or lack thereof). On the one hand, he should take responsibility. After all, he is the president. On the other hand, it is an easy political gesture that allows the rest of the government to escape their responsibility. After all, we have a Republican House and a Republican Senate. They congress has acted, in large degree, as a rubber stamp for the current administration. They must also bear responsibility for what has happened as they have shaped the policies and supported the philosophy that allowed the Gulf coast to languish while we destroy Iraq, allowed real anti-terrorism programs to suffer, and gave tax cuts to the rich. In two months we should vote them all out.

This morning there was an interesting editorial in our paper written by former FEMA head, James Witt and Max Stier. In the editorial they chose to focus on the positive lessons we should learn from the disaster. Basically it is an argument for good government, with good staff, adequate funding, and a long term perspective (all of which were and are lacking under an administration that argues against "big government.") We don't need less government. We need more. It just needs to be efficient and competent.

The Lord of War

Last night I watched The Lord of War a second time... this time in preparation for my sermon this morning (I used a clip in the sermon from 1:51:32-1:55:30). It is a profoundly disturbing film on many, many levels and is based on the true story of Yuri Orlov, an arms dealer. The bits that hang with me and make my stomach churn are the statement that our president (whoever he is at the time) is the world's largest arms dealer, selling more in a day that Yuri does in a year, and the liner note that the five largest arms dealers the world are the US, the UK, Russia, France, and China - the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. I watch Yuri with loathing and then realize that he is us as we sell arms through our government and spread the same violence that he does only on an even wider level.

The arms trade is immoral on every level. There must be... there must be a movement to stop the international trade of arms on all levels if we are ever to see peace. Shouldn't those of us who claim to follow the Prince of Peace and who preach the gospel of peace be the first to propose this idea and to work for it?

grace?!?

I received a proof of Spencer Burke & Barry Taylor's book The Heretic's Guide to Eternity and was asked to read it and blog about it. I want to read the entire book before I say much but...

Spencer's primary theme is one of grace... grace unconditional and untamed. Around this theme he says that Christianity must change not only it's face but also its guts. Forms are not enough, the theology underneath must change as well. Adding new media or music doesn't go far enough. It is an argument that I've been making for a while.

This week, I had an experience that underscored this for me. I heard a speaker, tauted as "the stuff" for YA's. And to be truthful, there was a vocal bunch of followers there. But as I listened to the words, I wondered how others would hear the message. He spoke of abortion in a very judgmental way and promised that God would make a way financially for women who chose to follow the pregnancy to term regardless of their situation. He talked about the substitutionary atonement as Jesus died in our place at the hands of a judgmental god.

I left thinking that if that is the theology of the Church, it deserves to disappear. My heart resonates with a God who loves us without strings, of a grace that truly is amazing, of a savior who understands and identifies with our struggles rather than making easy and quick judgements.

I think Spencer and Barry are right on target when they talk about the shifts that must take place. I am not finished with the book yet so I'll say more in a few days. I do wonder as they dismiss the institutional church where they will find community and communal expressions for their faith. I worry about what seems to be a furthering of the individualization of faith... but as I said, I'm not finished with the book and I'm hopful that they'll say more about these issues. Check back later for more.

Whoo Whoo

Three days short of two years on the wait list, today I received notice that I've come to the top of the list to purchase an Analogman King of Tone two channel overdrive box for my pedal board... one step closer to completion.

Whooo Whoo!

Soliton August '06

This past weekend was Soliton. It was my second year to be part of the gathering and I have to tell you that I was really looking forward to it. As things worked out, I missed the first day as my wife was having torn cartilage repaired in her knee, but I got there for Friday & Saturday.

The theme was "hospitality." The concept was stretched in the pragmatic realm as there were more participants this year and because the hosting community - The Bridge of Ventura - lost their space some months ago. The results were that the various sessions were hosted in the Presbyterian Church, member's homes, a park, etc. More importantly though the concept was stretched with questions pushing us to consider the implications of hospitality for peacemaking, evangelism, institutional and personal change...

There will be a lot for me to chew on (as there was in the previous year). The question of what is clean and unclean and how the Trickster transforms the unclean and brings about redemption will be on the burner a lot for the coming days.

Probably the most important part of the event for me is connecting with folk that I met there and may only see there. It is wonderful to know that our ties go across geography, theology, age, and culture.

I would highly recommend that you all put this event on your calendar for next year.

something completely different

For a few months I've been slowly putting together my pedalboard. For an electric guitarist, a pedalboard is the equivalent of a painter's palette. It allows the player to mix sounds and create new colors by manipulating the guitar's tones electronically. Currently I have two or three more pedals to add and the board will be done. For any who care, the board currently includes (in order of signal chain) a boss tuner, a modded dynacomp, an HBE power screamer overdrive, a modded phase 90, a boss chorus, a chatmods deeelaaayyy, a highly modded wah wah pedal, and a Duncan booster. I have a Build Your Own Clone envelope filter in process and, after a two year wait, am nearing the top of the list for an Analogman king of tone overdrive. I'd like to add a BYOC envelope volume pedal and maybe an octave box as well. I'm also slowly replacing all of the cables with Lava Cables ELC cable. It is great cable and very reasonably priced for the quality but the price still adds up when you have that many pedals. On the other hand, having the low quality cable that I had before in that many places really degrades your sound. So as I can, I'll be buying the ELC and taking the blanket off my tone.

My daughter Alexis did part of her college years at Bard college in their art department. I asked her to paint a few pedal boxes for me and she enjoyed it a lot and so is offering her services. Drop me a note if you're interested in having one painted.

First is the second one she painted - the modded Phase 90 which is already on the board. She used reds and oranges because the original pedal was orange so she already had her background color.

The first box she painted was the BYOC envelope filter. BYOC is a company that produces very high quality kits for people to build their own pedals. The boxes come unfinished. A friend of Alexis' is putting the electronics together and she did the box.

These photos were taken before the clear coat was added and unfortunately the clear coal wasn't completely clear. It darkened and dulled the colors a tiny bit. On the next box we'll use something different.<

61st Anniversary

Yesterday was the 61st anniversary of the dropping of a nuclear device on Hiroshima. It was an attack that killed 140,000 people - mostly civilians. Three days later a second device was dropped on Nagasaki, killing 80,000 more. These were sinful acts with absolutely no justification.
In a speech marking that anniversary, Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba of Hiroshima called for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. It is long past the time that that must be done. What we need now are some courageous leaders of nations with nuclear weapons to join in that call.

the myth of redemptive violence

I participate in a discussion group of Christian musicians where someone asked whether Israel had gone too far. I was amazed at the vocal folk who believe that violence is necessary, at times good, and doesn't conflict at all with one's faith as a Christian. The argument goes that there are some ends that cannot be achieved by any means other than violent ones. There is something cleansing about violence and "right." Indeed, a thread branched off from that one about "moral" violence.

I've shared before that part of my formation was in the historic peaces churches so this idea is repugnant to me. My faith is in a God of love and I seek to follow the Prince of Peace.

It seems to me that Jesus was pretty clear that violence was not an acceptable option. He said, "Love your enemies..." and in Matthew's version, "do good to those who persecute you." In Luke, "do good to those who hate you." As the bumper sticker says, "Loving your enemies probably begins with not killing them." When Peter drew a sword to protect him from the Roman soldiers, Jesus stopped him, "all who take the sword will die by the sword." When violence was committed on him, Jesus received it, asked for forgiveness for the perpetrators, and God used his non-violent act to change the world.

Paul reminds us to feed a hungry enemy and to overcome evil with good.

The earliest Christians refused to take up arms in the face of terrible persecution and the Church grew in the blood of the martyrs.

And what does this myth say about God? We claim to believe in a God of love who went so far as to send Jesus to the cross as a demonstration of that love, yet who would turn around and call for a war that results in human blood flowing to the horses' bridles? We claim to worship a God who counts the hairs of our heads and who knows every sparrow that falls but who doesn't mourn when 14 children trying to flee a war zone are hit with a missile? We claim to worship a God whose love overcomes even the power of death but who cannot come up with a better way to solve the world's problems than through a bloodbath? It doesn't make sense to me. Indeed, that is not the God I worship.

So why is it that people of faith who claim to follow the Prince of Peace cannot see beyond the violence? I think it is a lack of imagination, a lack of faith, a lack of love, and maybe even bloodlust. Lack of imagination because they cannot envision something better... Lack of faith because they do not trust God to work things out, they must do it and the only option they see (lack of imagination) is a violent one... Lack of love because they cannot allow themselves to love their enemies, many of whom may have done horrendous things... Bloodlust because there is something thrilling about violence and we have all known times when the desire for revenge welled up in our guts (I have identified more than I like with Bruce Cockburn's song - If I Had a Rocket Launcher) I know how I would want to react if I was an Israeli and saw Hezbollah's missiles raining down on my home, or a Lebanese watching my children shredded by US made, Israeli dropped cluster bombs.

Violence is not redemptive, it is something to be redeemed from. Those who take the sword, die by the sword. I believe that we have not risked believing Jesus yet. We have not submitted to the command of Jesus to love our enemies. When we do, if we do, we will see the love of God break forth in ways we have not imagined.

why I like post-conservatism and post-liberalism

A while back, Relevant Magazine had an interview with Tony Jones, the national coordinator of Emergent.

here is a question and answer that Ryan, a friend of mine, quoted on his blog a few weeks ago.

RM: You mentioned earlier that you have lesbian pastors and conservative absolutists. It seems that it would create a tension point when it comes to endorsing that person’s view or platform.

TJ: If you believe that Christianity is—at its very heart—a tension-filled, dialectical endeavor, you have less problems with these tension-filled relationships with believers. Christianity is paradoxical. Life comes out of death. Jesus was fully human and fully divine. We haven’t yet found that there’s anything that justifies us breaking fellowship with somebody else who loves and is trying to follow Jesus. Why would you break fellowship with someone because you have a different understanding of the atonement than they do? Or a different understanding of human sexuality than they do? It seems nonsensical that we’d give each other tests and try to hang it over someone else’s head and say, “Hey, dude. I’m going to break fellowship with you if we can’t come to agreement on this particular issue.” It just doesn’t seem to be the nature of human life. Maybe you’re right. Maybe it will get to a breaking point. People have left. Some people have been very forthright about why they’ve left. I certainly don’t think that the issue of absolute truth is a good reason to break fellowship with someone who’s trying to follow Jesus.

I like it a lot. It is worth reading the entire interview at the link in the first paragraph.

bad taste? perhaps

A few folk have called me to task for calling W an idiot in an earlier post... Perhaps it was a cheap shot, particularly when I didn't address the issue he raised. During his first ever veto, the pres equated using embryonic stem cells for research with murder. Actually, he was stronger than that. He said it is murder. And this, while claiming the higher ground and refusing to use taxpayer funds to kill children.

Let's look at the implication of his statement. If using an embryo for stem cell research is murder, what is throwing 10's of thousands of them into the trash? Should all fertility clinics that use in vitro fertilization be closed? After all, each procedure produces a number of embryos that will be discarded. If destroying an embryo is murder, then that is a multiple homicide. And should the couple be charged as accessories? After all, they provided the eggs and sperm to produce the embryos, knowing full well that many would be destroyed. And what about the laws regarding the disposal of deceased persons' bodies... do they apply to embryos (it is murder)? And if using embryonic stem cells is murder, why is it that private research companies can continue to do it as the law only referred to government funding, not private?

Finally, the president said that never before have government funds been used to murder children. What about the thousands of Iraqi children who have died by American bombs (paid for with tax payer money)? To say that collateral damage in war is not the same as murder would be a fine distinction that I think the mothers of those children would have difficulty seeing.

It all seems obvious that using the word "murder" was a deliberate attempt to inflame the passions of those who equate the procedure with abortion. Clearly he doesn't really believe what he said or he would be pushing to outlaw those fertility clinics, arrest the workers in the clinics and the prospective parents, and establish legal standing for the embryos.

Finally, I did not argue for embryonic stem cell research, although I think it may hold some promise. What I should have said is that the president's logic is seriously flawed... actually I should have said it was idiotic.

ABC content... the story continues

Last week, Roy Medley - the General Secretary of the ABCUSA - released a letter that has caused a great deal of discussion on the left and the right. In the letter, Roy promises to "implement the policies of the General Board." The two biggest questions are "Why now?" and "What is he trying to accomplish?" Unfortunately, he also conflates sexual abuse by persons in positions of power with homosexual relationships... but that is another issue entirely.

A bit of history here again... in '92 a resolution was passed by the general board that read simply "We affirm that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching." It was an unusual resolution in that there was no theological or sociological background and no steps for implementation. Additionally, it was passed in an unusual way - by mail, with no discussion. Presumably, this is the policy that Roy is planning to implement even though it prescribes no steps for implementation. It is also the policy that PSW was requesting be implemented before they voted to withdraw from the denomination.

In '93, a second resolution on human sexuality was passed. This one included all of the background materials and steps for implementation. Among other things, this second resolution calls on American Baptists to "Acknowledge that there exists a variety of understandings throughout our denomination on issues of human sexuality such as homosexuality and engage in dialogue concerning these issues."

Read together one can only conclude that the second resolution is a corrective to the first. "We" don't affirm anything in common regarding homosexuality. Indeed, there are a variety of understandings held by American Baptists ranging from the idea that no homosexual relationship is ever anything except sinful and that homosexual people should never be allowed in leadership roles all of the way to the belief that homosexual relationships are just a reflection of the diversity of God's beautiful creation. If a resolution needs to be implemented, it is the second which, again, presumably corrects the mistakes of the first one.

Still, it looks as if Roy is responding to the call of conservatives and speaking solely about the first resolution. Why now? and what is he trying to accomplish? Why didn't he say these things earlier when he instead stood for Baptist principals and seemed to be standing on the second resolution? At the last biennial meeting, he said that he would not allow differences over these issues to separate him from sisters and brothers in Christ. It may have been that PSW would not have withdrawn had he given this "sermon" rather than the one he gave. I can only conclude that the folk at our headquarters didn't expect that the PSW would actually withdraw and that now that PSW has, they are trying to keep other more conservative regions from following suit. In doing so, they are breaking from Baptist tradition, violating the fully formed, discussed, and more recent resolution, and may be pushing some of the more left-leaning churches to look to other connections.

I joined ABC in about 1977 because I was impressed by the diversity - racial, cultural, and theological. I believed and believe that a Christian communion like that most clearly reflects the kindom of God. I believe a denomination with that openness to one another and commitment to learning from those with whom we differ has the best position to speak in a post-modern world. I truly believe that my understanding of the Baptist tradition holds the most hope for a denomination in the future. Sadly, the short-sighted stands taken by those in Valley Forge seem to be pushing us towards extinction. The conservatives will not be placated. The liberals will be hurt. The post-moderns will pack their bags and walk because they have more important issues to discuss. Very little will be left.

so much to write about

Boy... there is so much to write about. President Bush once again shows he is an idiot... declaring that federally funded stem cell research would be doing something that had never been done in the history of our country - using federal money to fund the killing of children... I guess he doesn't watch the news to see what is going on In Iraq. We won't even talk about the logical end of declaring that destroying an embryo is murder.

The Southern Baptists have shown their idiocy again too... they approved a resolution on the environment at their June meeting saying they would not "support solutions based on 'questionable science' that could hurt the economy," i.e. they don't believe in global warming in spite of virtually unanimous agreement about it by atmospheric scientists.

Nope... I'm going to write about separation of church and state. Trinity United Methodist church is a congregation that I know well. It is located on a busy street in downtown Albany, NY, crowded with bars, restaurants, and lots of people. Together with the other FOCUS churches, they have a long history of involvement in social justice issues and outreach to those on the edges of society.

Trinity has begun a program to give teenagers someplace to go and something to do. They have started a concert series with rock/punk/ska/ etc. bands and it evidently is attracting a lot of kids. The city of Albany has cited them for running an illegal nightclub! The city is trying to define what their ministry can be and even what constitutes church music. The police chief, James Tuffey said "An organ recital is a church event. This is not a church event."

This is precisely the kind of issue that the early proponents of separation of church and state foresaw. Those early proponents were people of faith - Baptists, Quakers, and Unitarians mostly - who believed that faith had to be free to be real and that no government had any right to constrain it in any way. The doctrine was articulated not to keep faith out of government, but to keep government out of faith. The city of Albany has no right to define Trinity's ministry or to constrain it from following what it believes to be the leading of the Spirit. If the city prevails in court today, it bodes badly for all of us who are seeking to do the ministry to which we have been called. At any time, a city government could step in and say, "can't do that."

Here's an
article in the Albany paper.

it doesn't work

Let me first say, Israel exists... and it has a right to continue existing. Israel has a right to defend itself. The people of Israel have a right to security.

Their strategy however, doesn't work. Never has. Never will. The king has no clothes. Let's say it out loud! For decades Israel has responded to terror with military strikes with huge numbers of civilian casualties. Every univolved casualty creates an extended community of people filled with anger and hatred. Destroying Lebanon will not stop Hezbollah... it will only add new members to its numbers as innocent Lebanese find themselves hating what they have experienced as disproportionate and random violence at the hands of Israel. All of this does not make Israel more secure. It makes Israel less so. Wouldn't you wish the destruction of a country that just launched a missile at your home when you had done nothing to that people? Israel is not defending itself. It is lashing out at targets it cannot distinguish and in the process constructing a history that becomes more difficult to escape each day.

There is no question that Hezbollah is in Lebanon, that they keep weapons among civilian populations, and that the Lebanese government is powerless to control them, but wouldn't a more effective strategy have been to work with the Lebanese government to root out Hezbollah rather than destroying the infrastructure of the country? Wouldn't a more effective strategy have been to work with the more moderate Arab states for their common interests - peace? I realize that the US debacle in Iraq has only served to make everything worse in that region of the world but wouldn't there have been some value in at least trying to bring together the world community to stop the trading of arms, both legal and illegal ones, into this volatile region? to end the poverty and despair among refugees that leaves little room for any emotions other than hatred? to recall a history of a place that was home to a variety of different religious traditions who lived together in respect?

The current strategy simply does not work. And it doesn't work for the Palestinians either. They have a right to a home, to economic security, to self-determination but the continuing violence ensures only that they will have none.

I guess it does work for Hezbollah. They alone further their agenda with this destruction. Continuing the pattern only makes them more successful.

Idiots like the Newt are declaring it World War III and may succeed in creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. It certainly could become that if someone doesn't scale things down and begin negotiating. An idiot president making cowboy-like remarks with overly simplistic advice rather than using the positive power of the US to help craft a pathway to peace doesn't help.

As a world, let's do something that does work. Let's work for peace in that area. Nobody but Hezbollah loses then.

the end of the spear

A few days ago we rented The End of the Spear, a film about missionaries who worked among the Waodani people of the Amazon basin. Throughout their history, the Waodani's culture was marked by the cycle of revenge. Each generation was exacting revenge on their neighbors for killing their family members... who of course were speared in revenge for earlier violence. And the cycle continued until one village was willing to stop the violence and choose to follow the path of a God of love and forgiveness rather than vengeance and retribution. They chose the end of the spear rather than dying at the end of the spear.

Today the Israeli government attacked Lebanon and the Gaza strip again, in retaliation for soldiers who were captured by Palestinians and for rockets launched into Israel. Of course, the soldiers were taken and the rockets launched in retaliation for earlier violence which came in response to earlier violence.

This evening I heard a commentator on the radio speaking about Ithe ongoing violence between the Israelis and the Palestinains. The commentator remarked that he could not see an end to the violence until one of the two peoples had been completely iradicated. Neither would willingly choose to end the cycle of revenge.

I hope the commentator is wrong. I hope that someone will have the courage to say" "no to revenge and stop the cycle of violence. I hope that politicians around the world, especially in America, will apply pressure on all of the parties to end the killing and let the place be what we call it - a holy land, marked by forgiveness and love, shaped by the presence of God, held in the hope of a future of shalom/salam.

Jubilee & government functions

In the 25th chapter of Leviticus there is an interesting law... the Year of Jubilee. Every 50 years all debt was to be cancelled and all lands and property returned to the family that originally owned it. Due to hard work or luck on one family's part and or laziness or bad luck on another's, capital was consolidated in the hands of some families while others went without. It is a self-perpetuating system once it gets moving. Those with many resources get more. Those with few end up with less. God's wisdom did not allow for an aristocracy to form and one of the functions of the government was to re-allocate resources so that this consolidation would not become permanent.

Needless to say, scholars do not see evidence that the Year of Jubilee was ever observed. Those with resources... and power... wouldn't allow it to happen and those who would have benefited from the observance had no power to make it happen.

It continues to be a legitimate function of government to re-allocate resources so that those in need have enough. The estate tax, which should be called the Paris Hilton Tax, is one example. Those who have benefited from generations of consolidated wealth and from a system that enabled them to become so wealthy owe a significant portion to the society they live in. Some of that wealth needs to get spread around. Yet, some 16 of the nations 18 wealthiest families are fighting hard to have the tax repealed... (latest word is that the folk gathered in Washington DC for Pentecost 2006 where able to convince Frist to remove the bill from consideration at this time).

Another example of Jubilee at work today is affirmative action. It represents one more legitimate government attempt to break the patterns of consolidation of wealth and power by presenting those without some of the same opportunities and education enjoyed by the haves.

On an international scale, Jubilee might take the shape of forgiveness of debt to developing nations so their resources might be freed for actual development.

The list could go on... but it is critical that as a society we find ways to spread the wealth around and work to ensure that opportunity and resources are "distributed to all, as any have need" (Acts 2:45)

God is in the roses...

I’m struck again at the ways that God provides for us… Back in ’87 when I first learned about my familial hyperlipidemia, I learned that the prayers and concerns of a wider community make a huge difference. I have certainly felt that over the last months as my parents journey through hospice proceeded. Thank you to all who sent prayers our ways.

Another wonderful blessing during these difficult days has been re-connecting with family, some of whom I haven’t seen in decades. We left my mother’s funeral with commitments to connect under more joyful circumstances. I hope we’re able to keep those commitments but even if we don’t, it was wonderful to be together.

A third piece took place that was entirely unexpected and grace filled. When we arrived in Pittsburgh, my brother-in-law told me that the Three Rivers Arts Festival was taking place and that on Saturday evening, Rosanne Cash was performing a free concert. I think Rosanne Cash is a wonderful songwriter and I really appreciate her work but hadn’t heard anything from her most recent CD – Black Cadillac.
Cheryl and I took a picnic and went to the Point to eat and hear the concert. Rosanne took the stage and played the title tune, Black Cadillac, and then announced that much of the material they would perform would be from that CD… a recording about loss and transformation inspired by the deaths of her parents. The lyrics spoke to me exactly where I was and gave voice to feelings that I wasn’t able to speak yet. Thank you Rosanne Cash for helping me in my journey to healing. As I write these words, I’m listening to the CD…

God is in the roses
the petals and the thorns
storms out on the oceans
the souls who will be born
and every drop of rain that falls
falls for those who mourn
God is in the roses
and the thorns

The sun is on the cemetery
leaves are on the stones
there never was a place on earth
that felt so much like home
we're falling like the velvet petals
we're bleeding and we're torn
but God is in the roses
and the thorns

I certainly feel both bleeding and torn, but God is here in both the roses and the thorns… And when she sang House on the Lake I couldn’t help but realize I will never visit Pittsburgh to see my parents again and my ties to the steel city are forever changed. I know the feeling that “it’s a lonely world…” but I also know what it feels like to never really be alone.

in memoriam, Beverly Jean Donkin

On 6/14 at about 2:00 in the afternoon, my mother died. The hospice nurse was with her at the time. That was good as her deepest fear was of being alone. For about a week prior, she was slipping in and out of consciousness so I hadn't spoken to her in over a week. I didn't have the opportunity to have one of my sisters hold a phone to her ear while I talked to her.

It was a difficult time as mother had a lot of unresolved issues... more than I realized. There were tensions with my sisters. Mom did get to ask one of them for forgiveness and received it but she never got there with my other sister. She never came to terms with the death of my biological father, Barney, and so her relationship with George Donkin was never quite what it could have been. That played itself out in the family in many ways both obvious and not. The pastor did a wonderful job in the service of acknowledging those issues while still offering us hope and calling us to forgiveness and grace.

I loved my mother in spite of those issues and I am thankful that she did her best to be a good and loving mother. I'm sorry that we weren't able to share more deeply and find closure but I can forgive her and hope that she can forgive me even now. Most of all, I hope I will learn and do a better job of sharing with those whom I love.

on the web... finally

The church we're part of has just put a web site up on the web. Check it out and let me know what you think.
CambridgeDriveChurchdotorg

going to the chapel...

I've had some feelings of discomfort for a number of years now whenever I sign a wedding license. I find myself feeling odd about being an agent of the state when I am supposed to be representing a community of faith. At the same time, it is wonderful to be a part of two people declaring their love and their commitment in the context of their faith community and before God... which brings me to the issue of the so-called "marriage amendment."

First off I am disgusted by the Republicans for introducing this issue when they know it will not pass (and likely don't want it to!). It seems nothing more than a cynical attempt to mobilize a part of the their constituency.

Second, the arguments used are almost always religious ones and this dances very close to impinging on my freedom of religion.

Third, what business does the state have dictating religious issues?

So what should we do? I think the state should do away with marriage as a legal category completely. Let it do what it does - recognize a contract between two people that includes rules about how property is divided and defines a number of responsibilities that they share including medical care for one another, child rearing issues, etc. Call it what it is - a civil union. The state has no role in marriage as a religious/moral institution. Frankly I don't care what gender the parties are when they enter into this contract.

Communities of faith would then perform weddings as what they are - a covenant between two people in the context of their faith community before God, using whatever criteria that community deems appropriate. Clergy would no longer be a part of the legal contract, only the moral/religious one.

Many folk would do both, go to the courthouse and enter into a civil union and then have a wedding in their community of faith. Many others would skip the wedding because it would hold little meaning for them and would be seen as unnecessary. In my estimation this would strengthen marriage as those who entered into it would be truly committed to it. Those not so committed could still enjoy the benefits of a legal relationship with the protections it affords.

Entropy, Evolution, & ABC

Back in high school I had a good friend with whom I had lots of philosophical discussions (hey, we were in high school!) We would sit and talk for hours. One of his favorite topics was "why evolution overcomes entropy." Of course, some folk argue that it doesn't. Recently I've been thinking about how this applies to theology and to life in the Church.

It seems to me that a big piece of the conflict in the church and certainly in my denomination is not really about authority of scripture but about whether one adhers to entropy or evolution in their theology. Let me characature the two understandings...

Those who favor entropy see a world that was created perfect and has been winding down ever since the fall. Everything was complete on the 6th day and the sinfulness of humanity has been dragging things down further and further every day since. Technology is suspect because it always takes us further away from what was. Social change is suspect for the same reason. Any new discoveries or understandings have to be shoe-horned into a static theology or they are discarded. God never does anything new because on the 6th day, God was finished and God never does anything outside of a completed revelation. We must seek to be like the earliest churches as they were closer to the "true" church.

Those who favor evolution see that creation was not complete and that God is still at work. New things are waiting to be discovered and new understandings will be revealed. The perfect creation is not at the beginning, it is at the end and we, in partnership with God, are working our way towards it. Theology is always "written in pencil" as God comes to us from the future and surprises us. Social change is not only good, it is required. Technologic change is to be embraced. The church changes as its context changes and the "true" church is one that is faithful in its context.

It seems to me that there are good supports for both understandings in scripture and few if any people really sit at the extremes. Most of us hold some of both views. Which one understands to be dominant is the key. Those who voted for PSW to withdraw from ABCUSA hold to entropy. Personally, I embrace evolution. How about you?

Iraq & murder

I've been thinking a lot about the situation in Haditha... Let me begin with my usual disclaimer. I am a pacifist and I believe that there is no justification for a Christian to engage in war.

Now... thinking about the situation in Iraq, what would one expect? We have leaders from the President to the Attorney General telling us that the Geneva Convention no longer applies. A war was begun under what look to be either false pretenses or gross incompetence and lots of people have died for what? We have 20 year olds with automatic weapons risking their lives daily and always unsure who the enemy is, after all, they aren't fighting an army, it is more like fighting a bunch of street gangs. We have a moral situation where Iraqi deaths aren't even counted and "collateral damage" is greeted with a shrug. We drop bombs on villages knowing full well that bombs don't discriminate in who they kill and that is OK. We have kids who either just want to get home alive and are frightened all of the time. We have others who have developed a taste for the thrill of playing God. We have leaders with compromised moral understandings and a Marist-like commitment that allows any means if it leads to the end they desire. And when things go wrong, even though the troups have pretty much followed the messages they've been getting from the top, they get blamed and end up in jail (see Abu Ghraib in light of the administrations discussions on torture).

Given all of this, what would we expect to happen? Some good kids have been stuck in a terrible situation with contradictory "moral" messages and we expect them to know when a killing is "good" and not? And if a mistake is made...

The bottom line is that war is horrible. Period. This one in particular - and probably all modern wars - has no justification. And any blame for the actions of those soldiers must be shared with those in leadership who sent them into this terrible and unnecessary situation. The lives of these soldiers may be ruined as they possibly end up spending the rest of their lives in jail. They will carry guilt and the scars of their actions whatever happens. There is a way to stop this from happening again. Bring them home as soon as possible.

different vantage points

Funeral practices differ from place to place, ethnic background to ethnic background, and probably even by class. That said, the practices we had for dad were pretty typical blue collar, anglo, Pittsburgh. That meant that we began with a viewing at the funeral home. I was not looking forward to the viewing. I pictured standing around near an open casket with a parade of folk coming by saying "I'm so sorry for your loss. Doesn't he look natural?"

Well... he didn't look natural so that part was gone. We did get lots of "sorry"s but the piece that I wasn't expecting and really appreciated was the stories. People shared short stories about dad that showed the different way they had experienced him. One jumped out. Dad had a twin - Dave - and together they worked at a local grocery store while in their teens. The owner lived across the street from dad as he grew up. The grocer had two sons - Dave and Wayne. I never paid any attention until Dave told me that Wayne's first name was George and that they were named after dad and his twin. Then Dave told me stories of dad babysitting for him and his brother and even going on vacation with them. I never pictured dad babysitting. I could only imagine the impression he and Uncle Dave had made that got two children named after them.

Another piece that was wonderful was to see who showed up. Towards the end of his working, dad worked for a large construction company. The retired owner showed up at the funeral home and spoke about what a dependable and good worker dad had been.

After the service we had a luncheon and told more stories. A cousin sand an off-color song that dad taught him as a child. A second cousin shared that she was 15 before she realized that his name wasn't "Uncle Sausage" - dad liked to come up with names for everyone and when nothing else came to mind - sausage was the fall back.

Add to that just connecting with family and friends and while there were tears, it was also a good time together. Still, it feels odd to begin to realize that very soon my generation will be the old ones. It is already true on the Donkin side.

Mom is not doing well and I doubt that it will be long before we have another viewing and funeral... When I left, it was pretty obvious that it would be the final time we'd be together. That was very difficult for her and for me.

we're back

We're back in town now after a whirlwind trip that was filled with grace and difficulty... Thank all of you who have sent your prayers and your good thoughts our way. I learned long ago that prayers from all quarters become a net of support that can see a person through the most difficult of times. We felt that net.
I'll write some more as soon as I get caught up a bit... but again, thank you all.

the weekend from hell

this morning, I got up, printed out my sermon, was getting ready to do my outline (my normal proceedure on Sunday mornings) and I got this pain in my abdomen on the left side. It kept getting worse and worse. I broke out in a cold sweat and could barely stand... it all brought back some very unpleasant memories. In my early twenties I passed kidney stones on two occassions.

So off we went to the ER and sure enough, that is the problem. After a number of shots of some serious pain killers the pain dropped from a 10 to a 1 or 2. Since then I've been in bed or leaning over the porcelan god and tonight I'm supposed to fly...

My cynical imagination says things could get worse but I sure hope they don't.

in memoriam George W. Donkin jr.

Some of you know that both of my parents were admitted into hospice in February. Both had severe emphysema and mom has an abdominal aneurysm as well. Dad died peacefully in his sleep this morning. I got to speak to him yesterday on the phone and assured him that we love him and it was OK to let go, we would see that mom was cared for.

Growing up we had the ambiguous relationship that children often have with their parents. Dad never showed his emotions very well and wasn't there a lot. He was a diesel mechanic and worked hard all of his life. He left for work before I got up, came home, often after a stop at a bar for a beer and talk with friends, took a hot bath, ate dinner, and went to sleep. Saturdays, he slept half the day. Sundays, we went to church and then to my grandmother's for Sunday dinner. Friday and Saturday nights were often cards with family or, for a few years, my parents went bowling. I never remember him missing a day of work for any reason. In his late 30's he had back problems... he wore a brace and went to work and when he came home he could barely stand, I would pull on his legs to relieve the pressure. The next day, he went back to work.

It was later that I began to realize that the hard work was his way of showing love. He understood his role as providing for his family and he did that the best he could as a blue collar worker for as long as he could. He probably should have died a few weeks ago but he hung on because he didn't want to leave mother alone.

When I turned 18 I learned that he was not my biological father. My mother married right out of high school, had my older sister, divorced, met my biological father & married, had me, and when I was 9 months old, he died. George Donkin, in his mid 20's, married Jean with a 6 year old daughter and 1 year old son. Three years later George and Jean had a daughter. My biological father was in many ways a fantasy - he was a first mate on an oil tanker and spent much of his time away at sea. When he was at home, it was all gifts and parties and the realities of living together never intruded. George competed with that image all of his life. I know it was difficult for him but he hung in there.

It wasn't until I was well into my adult years that I began to understand more of him and appreciate his love and the faithfulness with which he expressed it. I hope that I have learned that from him.

I love you, Dad. Peace be with you and may God hold you in the palm of his hands.

restorative justice

Well, the Enron verdicts have come back and they're guilty. Lay faces up to 45 years in federal prison and Skilling up to 185. Sentencing is set for September 11 (boy that is a wonderful coincidence).

The Enron scandal and the crimes behind it exemplified the worst in capitalism and in human greed. Something inside me hopes these men get the maximum sentences allowed. They brought financial ruin to thousands of people while they lived lives of incredible luxury. There is another instinct in me though... Wouldn't it be nice to see restorative justice play a part in their sentences? Some kind of justice that helps make things more like what they were or at least like what they might have been...

What might that look like? some ideas...

take everything they and their immediate families own and distribute their assets among those who suffered because of their fraud.

take everything related to the benefits that came from their fraud i.e. from family members who benefited from their crimes. Gifts given to family & friends, etc.

spread intangible benefits other family and friends received from the crimes among the victims... For example, if there are children who were educated with those funds, they should be assessed on their earnings for the rest of their lives that come from their education and the contacts they made due to their financial status. I have to say that my gut recoils a little at assessing the earnings of children etc. but that does reflect the realities of class in our society and how difficult it is to move upward... anyone who had their financial futures (and those of their heirs) ruined could see that impact for generations. Perhaps the restoration needs to travel at least one generation...

have Skilling and Lay spend the rest of their lives, 10 hours a day, 6 days a week working for those whom they hurt. That might mean doing menial jobs like cleaning toilets, caring for those folk as they age and deteriorate, etc.

any other thoughts?

reformation

About 20 years ago the Southern Baptists went through a take-over by a group of fundamentalists who threw out the Baptist tradition. Two groups withdrew and affirmed our tradition. One of the groups, The Alliance of Baptists fits me theologically. They're left of center and take stands on issues that are important to me. The downside, is that they think pretty much like me and so one of the values that I hold dearest - diversity - is not evidenced as I or they would like. Their covenant is a good Baptist document. The second group, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is one that I believe holds a great deal of hope. They are more centrist than the Alliance which has enabled them to be much larger and a bit more diverse. Still they own Baptist principles which is clearly seen in their core values.

The American Baptists have been struggling for years with the same issues that ran over the Southern Baptists... and the withdrawal of the American Baptist Churches of the Pacific Southwest is one battle in this conflict. While the PSW obviously was not able to exert the kind of influence they wanted in the national body, there still has been considerable back peddling from our tradition by the national body. That is seen by the inclusion of a statement about sexuality in the document - We Are American Baptists. No other interpretive statements are included in the document.

The forces that want to discard our traditions of freedom continue to hammer away and will not be satisfied until they can emasculate the power of the scriptures by imposing interpretations that all must believe in order to be "in." I am hopeful though. The push from the right resulted in a backlash among some Southern Baptists that is evidenced in the two bodies I mentioned above. I am hopeful that ABC will react strongly and that the push from the right will result in a new emphasis and ownership of the Baptist traditions of soul freedom, church freedom, Bible freedom, and separation of Church and State. I'm hopeful that these conflicts will push the ABC to own who it is and stand proudly in that identity, stop fighting over issues that need not be on the table, and get about the call to be missional churches in our communities and around the world.

Baby Got Book

I'm a Baptist... and I take the Bible very, very seriously.

so here's a fun little video, Baby Got Book

have fun

words

The other day I was talking to a friend about purchasing a new Bible for her 11 year old. We talked a bit about the difficulty of translating, semantic range of words, and how language reflects a paradigm for the universe and that translation is at best difficult and probably closer to impossible.

That got me thinking about words in general and the difficulty of communicating anything. I can't tell you how many times someone has made a comment to me - for good or ill - about a sermon that I preached and I found myself wondering whether they had been in the same room only to conclude that while they may have been in the same room, they were in a different universe. They obviously had not heard what I thought I said. So words are inefficient ways of sharing anything real but they are all we have. I take words seriously.

All that said, I came across this entry at Robby McAlpine's blog

Actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays:

Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.

She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room temperature Canadian beef.

She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.

The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge free ATM.

The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.

McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.

From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.

Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.

Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.

John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant and she was the East River.

Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.

The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.

The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.

He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.

The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.

He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

Her eyes were like limpid pools, only they had forgotten to put in any pH cleanser.

She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.

It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.

so much for words...

Immigration

Back in our Albany days, the church there went through a great discernment process. One of the steps was to "better up" all the ideas on the table - to work them through in the best way possible to their logical ends. As I look at the immigration question, it feels as if nobody is doing that. Nobody - or very few - seems to be following their proposals through to their ends. Get rid of the undocumented? What would that do to food prices? Follow that out for those on the edge in the colder parts of the country who are already reeling from fuel prices and choose between heating an apartment or buying food. And what does it say about who we are, this nation of immigrants, if we militarize our borders, criminalize those who are here to make a life for their children, etc.? It smacks of "I go mine, screw you!"

Finally, I'm struck that in this era of globalization, borders have disappeared for goods, for capital, for jobs... but not for people. Somehow, we have things wrong there. Either the borders become porous and rights become consistent or the borders should be more solid (I'll write more about this another day).

My hope is that all of the proposed solutions would come with a discussion that bettered them up...

And of course, there is also the scriptural injunctions regarding aliens, ie undocumented immigrants:

Leviticus 19:33-34 (NRSV)
When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. [34] The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Mother's Day

Throughout history there have been holiday's to remember our mothers... but in the US, the first official celebrations took place in 1873 when women in 18 cities observed the Mothers Day for Peace after Julia Ward Howe promoted the day in reaction to the carnage of the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. Looking at the death, she felt that mother's bore the greatest pain of war and therefore needed to organize against it. Boston celebrated this Mothers Day for at least 10 years and it was observed as an anti-war holiday for about 30 years in various places.

As we think today of 2500+ mothers in the US and countless others around the world who will not receive a phone call, card, flowers, or a hug because their children have died in wars, let us join with Julia Ward Howe and stand against this most serious affront against motherhood, the killing of their children. Let us, in the name of all of our mothers, banish war forever.

heavy rotation

What's in heavy rotation in my i-pod? nothing... I don't have one. So what is in heavy rotation in my CD players?


Sara Groves release - Add to the Beauty is getting a lot of play. The textures, melodies, and the quality of her voice takes me back to some good New England folk music - reminding me a bit of Dar Williams or Jonatha Brook at times. That is cool, but it is the theology that catches my attention. Lines like "Love wash over a multitude of things... make us whole." And the lyrics to "Just Showed Up for my Own Life" all add up to her work really adding to the beauty. Thanks Sara.



Imogen Heap has been a favorite of mine for a few years and her last studio release is amazing. The textures make me wish that I played keyboards and spent all of my time learning to harness computers for music rather than playing guitar. If you don't know her, check out her website here and her myspace here. Wonderful evocative music.

Somewhere deep inside there's a true funk soldier. Which brings me to Prince.

3121 Isn't his best effort but there is some great material on it and when Prince wants to get funky... nobody holds a candle to him. It is interesting to see how he wrestles with the intersection of his notoriously explicit sexuality and his relatively newly found faith as a Jehovah's witness... One of these days our church band will probably end up playing "Beautiful, Loved, and Blessed" and maybe "The Word" too.


Finally an older disk that I hadn't played for a while... Julie Miller's Broken Things which was released in '99.

A good friend of mine's significant other is in Afghanistan. Stephanie and I are recording a few tunes to send to James. As we were talking about songs to do, I thought of Julie Miller and pulled the disk out after not listening to it for a long time. A tune called "Speed of Light" from this CD is on the short list.

the only thing that doesn't change
makes everything else rearrange
is the speed of light
the speed of light
your love for me must be
the speed of light

Julie Miller is an amazing songwriter with a unique voice that you will either love or hate (I love it). Her songs will tear your heart open and then offer healing. I sang "Broken Things" at a service following 9/11 and it remains one of the most meaningful songs I know. The chorus goes:

you can have my heart
if you don't mind broken things
you can have my life
if you don't mind these tears.
I heard that you make old things new
so I give these pieces all to you
if you want it you can have my heart

So... that's what I'm listening to these days.

formation

I've got a link on the side here to Heather Armstrong's blog, much of which describes life with her daughter Leta, now 27 months old and pictured to the right. On Monday's post, she talked about trying to teach Leta to say please... and when she does they would respond with "that's right." Leta quickly added "that's right" to any "please" followed by "huh?" which evidently is a common punctuation in their house. Here's a link to an audio clip of Leta asking nicely.

That little mp3 is wonderfully cute but underscores a pretty serious truth... much of the formation of our children happens as a result of what they see us doing. If we are violent or dismissive of others, they will be. If we model thankfulness, they will find things to be thankful for. If we show love and concern, they will learn caring and compassion. If we want our children to grow up with faith, they need to see us living our faith each and every day.

I know it isn't always that simple. Children have their own minds and do choose, must choose, their own paths but we as parents and as the wider community have a great deal to do with the foundation they have and with the choices they will choose between.

Which Jesus?

Back in seminary days I had a great prof (among many others) for social ethics named Doug Miller. Well, it turns out that Doug lives in Santa Barbara so we get to see each other regularly. He is finishing a book on the political setting and implications of the gospel and came to our adult Sunday school class today to share some of his ideas.

He began by talking a bit about the 3 "quests for the historical Jesus," ending with the idea that accepting Jesus as one's savior means accepting the facts that we can discern about who he was, what he did, and what he said in a specific political and cultural context. Doug sees the political message of Jesus as being somewhat parallel to what we would characterize today as liberal or progressive and as being central to the gospel. Issues such as distribution of wealth, affirmative action, and the role of the government in caring for the poor were/are central to the good news of the gospel. To divorce those ideas from Jesus and to ignore them in our current political setting is to reject the true Jesus and embrace idolatry.

Doug will share again next week in our class... and hopefully the book will be published relatively soon. I'm looking forward to hearing and then reading more.

FWIW, these words are my interpretation of what Doug said and may or may not accurately reflect his views.

following the links

I was just going through some of my links and came across this post on Jon Reid's blog...

I'm sitting here outside my daughters' “studio class,” which is like a practice piano recital performed for the other students. After an older student finished, the teacher gave his critique:

“It's not that you made a mistake; mistakes happen. But when you made the mistake, you became flustered. For the next few measures, all the notes were right but the music was gone. Get beyond the mistake. Music is not like painting. In painting, if you make a mistake, it's there forever. But in music, if you make a mistake, we forget about it because we are looking forward to what is coming next.”

good theology there...

links

For months I've been looking at my links and realizing that they didn't reflect the blogs I actually read. I had Tall Skinny Kiwi there because all Christian blogs have to have that link right? But I never read Tall Skinny Kiwi. Gone. I regularly read Dennis McFadden's His Barking Dog. Dennis is a friend and I deeply appreciate him although we disagree about at least as much as we agree. I read him to see what thoughtful folk on the right are thinking about. Added. Billy Calderwood is a local pastor who is extremely thoughtful and creative and a great guy but I didn't have a link to his blog before... added.

A few others disappeared and a few were added so the links are more reflective of what I actually read regularly. so... follow the links and get an idea of some of the stuff I read. BTW, they are in no particular order.

flying boy

My son John has always enjoyed sports... and he is a big guy (6'2" and 270 as a jr. in high school). At that size he tried football his freshman year but dislocated his knee and decided against it. He really enjoyed baseball but doesn't move as quickly as some of the smaller guys. This year he found a new sport - wrestling. He has been at a bit of a disadvantage because many of the other wrestlers have been doing it since elementary school. Still, he has enjoyed it and is improving.

Last week he went to a state tournament in Greco-Roman style wrestling which emphasizes upper body strength. The dramatic happened when in one of his matches the other wrestler performed a move called a supplex. Well that is them in the photo. John is the one in the blue singlet. If you could see his face it is no doubt a look of surprise - nobody can pick up and throw someone who weighs 270... or so he and we thought.

Hmmm...

On Easter every year, the Calvary Chapel in town has its worship service at the Sunken Garden by the courthouse. This year the newspaper reported that they spent $75,000 on the service including advertising and broadcasts. They got about 5000 people there. Today, the march for immigrant rights ended at the sunken gardens... with 15,000 in attendance. Almost nothing was sent putting it together.

makes me wonder what the Church is doing wrong...

A Day without a Mexican II

Today I particiated in a march in Santa Barbara along with 15 thousand others in support of immigrants rights. It was wonderful and amazing to see so many folk in solidarity with those most vulnerable workers in our system - the undocumented.

There has been a lot of hype and fear mongering around this issue. Let me just throw a few pieces out the window. Undocumented workers pay taxes. They do not take jobs away from Americans. They do jobs that most Americans of any race will not take (I can't imagine bending over a field of strawberries day in and day out). Many of them have children who are US citizens. They make a significant contribution to our economy and should be allowed the benefits of the society. Unless you are 100% Native American, you have undocumented immigrants in your family tree. (Even then, at some point those folk immigrated to this continent). If we were to send all of the undocumented workers back to their homelands, the impact on our economy would be enormous. Folk who are having to choose between food and energy now would find that choice pressed not only from the energy side but from incredible increases in food. (One expert has said that nearly 100% of the folk working in the fields in CA picking produce are undocumented... even if they are off by 50% the impact on food costs would be unbelievable).

Si se puede!