more about buildings

On June 17 I posted a blog - Context Is Everything, with an interesting video from David Byrne where he talks about architecture and music... I raised some questions regarding architecture and theology. Today we had an interesting experience of architecture and theology not working well together. We visited First Christian Church in Phoenix. It is a large, lively congregation, very involved in mission in its community and around the world. I don't think I would attend there (that is another post), but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the church to someone for whom it would fit.
Their building is a stunning place, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is clearly one of his buildings - relatively low ceilings, heavy stone walls, beautiful stained glass used in a way that doesn't allow too much of the beastly hot Phoenix sun into the building. If you go to the website, you'll see that a pipe organ is integrated into the design of the worship space. It looks as if it was originally built for a wealthy mainline congregation (I believe they are Disciples of Christ although I couldn't find that information anywhere on their website). I think I saw a stone indicating the building was constructed in 1972.
The building is stunning and clearly represents the architect's idiosyncratic vision. There is an intellectual side to his buildings that pushes one outside of their comfort zones and calls you to think about space, its meaning, and its use. For those reasons, it felt to me like it wanted a formal, liturgical service. Or maybe a Taize style service. It screams that what happens in those walls is the center of the life of its congregation.
The service was a typical evangelical, big church style service - lots of use of media (notice in the photo on their website that two screens are shoe-horned in, probably in front of pipes of an organ that likely sits unused), a reasonably good band (although it wasn't as balanced or as loud as I would have liked), casual dress on those who led worship and a a friendly, informal style. There were lots of pointers to their community service and the central theme was to report back about a recent mission trip to Kenya. It felt as if the worship service was not at the center of their church life, that would be found in their mission and in small group life.
Finally, it was clear that First Christian Church is not allowing the building to impede its ministries... but it just didn't feel to me like the two fit together.

Firing Squad

Early last Friday morning, Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed by firing squad in Utah. Evidently Utah was the last state to do away with firing squads as a means of execution, going back to a Mormon theological idea that sin requires "blood atonement" for forgiveness to take place.

This is a perfect example of theology influencing behavior and even public policy. And it goes back to the earlier discussion regarding atonement, specifically penal substitutionary atonement. It is much easier to argue for such barbaric practices when one believes that God requires them.

context is everything

Ted has some fascinating presentations and it is always a worthwhile way for me to spend some time and get my imagination piqued. Yesterday I had a few minutes and listened to this talk by David Byrne. I've been a big fan of Talking Heads since their early days and thought it would be a fun listen. It was.



It got me thinking... if architecture influences music as profoundly as David Byrne thinks, does it also influence theology? And as with music, which direction does causation flow? Or does it flow both ways? Some years back an architect told me that a church should either completely remodel or move every 40 years because their building no longer fits their theology or ministry. I think that is true... but how much does the building shape both theology and ministry? And is it more than just impeding you from doing what you want? Does it also contribute in a positive or at least neutral way? What do you think?

spiritual but not religious

"spiritual but not religious" is a very popular descriptor people use these days when describing their spiritual lives. It even has been getting press from Lady Gaga describing herself as very religious while separating that from the church on Larry King to a CNN article on just that topic. My wife is a chaplain with a local hospice provider and seems to have many patients, perhaps even a majority, who would describe themselves that way.

So, no punches pulled... the descriptor doesn't impress me. I have to say that many people I know who use that descriptor are really just saying, "I know there is something more, something bigger than me, but I don't want to relate to that entity in any way that requires anything that requires commitment from me or calls me to a place where I'm not entirely comfortable."

I understand the bad feelings about organized religion. I know the failures of the institutional church as well as anyone and can recite the sins of organized religion's history. I have friends who have been deeply wounded by religious organizations and whose scars will never completely disappear. I've seen the pettiness, the lust for power, the self-righteousness, the easy answers to hard questions. I understand the reluctance to give anything to organized religion... BUT...

It seems to me that the organized part is absolutely and completely necessary for human beings to mature spiritually. Why? Because you can't do it alone. I'm a Baptist and I believe in soul liberty - the idea that each individual is responsible for his or her own faith before God (yes, that is a Baptist idea!) - but, the individual cannot spin it out of his or her own juices. You need a community of faith to give you a vocabulary to begin with. And then you need people to call you on the carpet when you've gone too far and to push you when you haven't gone far enough. To do this efficiently and consistently, you need organization. You need regular times to get together. You need some way to raise and wrestle with the important issues. You need structures. Virtually nothing of any importance happens without organization.

Here is my picture of "spiritual without religion..." - it is like when someone asks for a glass of water, you pour the water into their open hand without a glass. Yeah, they get a little water, but most of the water is spilled onto the ground. Now having a glass requires some effort. You have to wash it. You have to take care so you don't break it. But in the end... a container sure would have made things better.

So, given all of the failings of organized faith, what do we do? Dream dreams of what it should be and jump in. It won't be easy. Inertia is a powerful force, but change can come and the organizations can become more of what they're supposed to be.

Why Theology Is Important

One of my favorite children's books is Fables by Arnold Lobel. It is full of wonderful stories but one of my favorites is The Bad Kangaroo. In it, the child's teacher is visiting the bad kangaroo's parent to talk with them regarding the unruly behavior of their child. The teacher quickly learns that all of the child's behaviors were learned from watching the parents. While many of us would bristle at the thought, our behaviors are deeply influenced by our families of origin, sometimes because we don't want to be like them, but more often, and usually unconsciously, because we fall into long established patterns that we learned from them.

A few weeks ago, my friend Jon put a post u on his blog - Substitutionary Atonement - It's Just a Theory. I commented and said that our theory of the atonement is important because of the ways it effects our behaviors... our thoughts about discipline, child rearing, even crime and punishment. Jon asked me to follow up on that so here were are...

Let me propose that our views of and relationship to God are critical in shaping the way we live. If God is vengeful, then there is always a justification for vengeance. If God's love is always unconditional, then ours must be as well. And the list goes on. The crucifixion of Jesus is at the very center of the Christian story and how we interpret that event tells a tremendous amount regarding our image of God which, in turn, will influence the way we live our lives.

The most popular understanding among right of center American Christians is that of "substitutionary atonement," the idea that there must be a punishment for our sin and the only punishment adequate is death. So, in order that we don't have to suffer eternal death, Jesus who is without sin, dies a brutal and painful death in our place. He substitutes himself for our punishment. So what does this imply about God? God's forgiveness is overcome by the need for vengeance. God's love is never unconditional. It is OK when the innocent suffer for the guilty and that somebody has to suffer. We even have a strong argument for "the end justifies the means."

If that is our understanding of God and we learn how to behave by "watching" our heavenly Father, the results are obvious in every issue from corporal punishment of children to the death penalty to collateral damage in warfare.

But that is not my experience of God and indeed, it is not my experience either as a child or as a father. I would never makes such requirements of my children and my father never made them of me. If I truly believe, as I do, that God is a better parent than I am, that God is all loving, all forgiving, and as Spencer Burke and Barry Taylor said in A Heretics Guide to Eternity, that there are free floaties for all, then I must find a different way to understand that central event in the Christian story. If Jesus did not die as a substitute for me required by God, then why did he die?

As I said in my comments, I much prefer the moral influence and expiation theories. The moral influence theory is just that, Jesus death is a way of influencing humankind to live more closely to God. He gave himself so we might learn how far God will go to show us what we can be... and so we will give ourselves. Expiation is a term used in the Orthodox churches. In it, the act of Jesus is not a legal act but a transformative one... we are changed because he gave himself.

Now, I think we can argue backwards here and ask first, who is God and how do I understand and experience the Holy One? Then, go from there and ask, what would this lead me to think about the death of Jesus? Whatever answer we come up with, theology matters because it gives us a foundation upon which we live.

experience?

On May 8 I posted a piece regarding planning a worship service that I called Constructing an Experience. As I've been listening to the Stephen Prothero book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know and Doesn't, I've been thinking a bit about that blog entry. Is constructing an experience what I'm really doing each week... or should it be?


Prothero goes through the history of religious literacy in the United States and presents a model with a clear shift from head to heart over the years. He says that in the early days of the United States, sermons were doctrinal, almost like theological lectures. Faith included a serious helping of knowledge. Almost all early colleges/universities in the US were founded as training schools for clergy and the common schools and Sundays schools of the time, both aimed at educating the population, all taught religious doctrine. Being a Christian meant knowing a significant amount of material. Prothero says that there was a growing anti-intellectualism that really took hold during the 2nd Great Awakening in the early 1800's where illiterate preachers moved to the forefront and many leading evangelists bragged at their lack of education. Christianity moved from the head to the heart and sermons became more story based, aimed at getting an emotional response.

I don't know enough about the history of that period to know how accurate Prothero's take on it is, but I suspect there is a lot of truth in it. For me, it raises the question, what are we doing on Sunday morning? Is it an event aimed at encouraging a mystical experience? Are we trying to get an emotional response? change the way people live their lives? increase their knowledge? Is it a cultic event where we re-enact rituals? a private communion between individuals and God? And finally is there something that only can happen in this communal gathering or is it just an appendage to a private spiritual life? What exactly are we doing and what is the role of the pastor/leader in planning and facilitating that time together?

What do you think?

acapella

a few years ago there was an acapella group at the local university called Naked Voices that we really enjoyed. Ever since I've enjoyed hearing some of the fun things that acapella groups can do. This video is really cool especially during the first minute and a half or so... enjoy

songcraft

I play guitar with a wonderful singer songwriter named Jamie Green who has entered one of her songs in a contest to perform at one of the Lilith Fair venues. The contest is set up in a neat way, 4 songs come up at a time and you order them from best to worst then the program uses some algorithm to rate the songs. You have to listen to at least 15 seconds of each of the songs in order to judge them.

To participate in the judging, go to Ourstage, click on "judge," choose the "Lilith Fair channels," and pick the city you want to judge (Jamie is in the San Francisco, LA, San Diego competition).

It is addicting and I have listened to snippets from well over 200 of the entries and I've been thinking a bit about songwriting. There are some great songs and great performances (Jamie's included) in the contest and some real bad stuff and it has led me to think about pop songs. There is an old saying among pop songwriters that goes something like - "Don't be a shnook, get to the hook. Please don't bore us, get to the chorus." In well over 1/3rd of the songs I have heard, nothing at all has happened in those 15 seconds. So I listen to the first 30 seconds and if nothing has hooked me, I go on to the next tune, knowing that I may have missed out on something wonderful, but why waste the time? If I listened to more of the songs, I might never get to the one that really is amazing. So, I skip ahead if that first 30 seconds doesn't catch my attention. There is wisdom in that silly saying.

I also have found that there are a lot of songs that sound very similar and a lot of artists who sound alike. Some are better than others, but there is a generic quality to many of them that gets tiring quickly. Then there are the ones that are trying very hard to be different. And some are... most not in a good way. There is a reason why the verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus out, works. When it is well done with material that is interesting and relevant, it has a way of getting past our defenses very quickly. Add a good production and a good performance and you have a great pop song that sticks with us. It may not be great art that will last for generations, but it speaks with an authentic voice and touches our hearts.

So, head over to ourstage, judge some tunes and see if you find a new favorite artist... and if Jamie pops up in one of your quartets, be sure to place her at the top of the heap.

religious literacy

I'm not a prodigious reader but I do usually have two or three books that I'm working through - some I finish and some I lose interest, most take a while, and one that I'm listening to on disk as I commute back and forth to Goleta.

It happens that I'm reading and listening to two books by the same author... and they are important books. The first is the audio book - Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know and Doesn't. In it, Prothero, who is a professor in the department of Religious Studies at Boston University argues that there is a civic reason for every American to be literate in religion. He says that in order to properly understand history and politics, one must understand the religious language and traditions of a people. Equally important, he argues that unless we understand the religions of a given culture, our foreign policy will miss many critical possibilities and pitfalls. For example, he says that had we had experts in the US government ho truly understood Islam as it is understood and practiced in Iraq and Afghanistan, our foreign policies in those countries would have taken very different shapes. He doesn't care whether you believe a articular religion or not, but feels it is critical in or world to understand them and to know the basic beliefs, practices, and narratives.


The second book is God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World and Why Their Differences Matter. This book begins by arguing that all religions are not the same. They do not diagnose the problems of the human condition in the same way, their solutions differ, and the end result they hope for are not the same. The book is his answer to the problem set for in the earlier book. Here are thumbnail sketches of eight religions we should know about in today's world.

I find both of these books to be extremely important ones. Understanding the religious culture of a people is critical to understanding why they do what they do. Without that understanding, there is not possibility of working together to solve the problems we face. Likewise, arguing that every religion is really the same is both insulting to the various religions (the person making the statement always chooses something important to them as the common goal rather than letting the religion speak for itself) and keeps us from really understanding. If we go into the conversation expecting that we're all playing the same game, how will we be able to understand a completely different paradigm of the world.

Obviously there are problems. Trying to distill all of Islam into 40 pages requires oversimplification. Imagine trying to cover Christianity in 36 pages! Still, for most of us, those 40 pages on Islam leave us knowing more than we did when we started. Indeed, even in a country that is majority Christian, the 36 pages on Christianity will leave many folk knowing more than they knew before reading the chapter.

Bottom line, I highly recommend these two books. If you are interested in interfaith work, they provide a good place to start. If you want to be a good citizen of the world, you will be better prepared. If you want to get along better with your neighbors in this increasingly diverse religious mix called America, they are a good place to start.

Social networks

Social networks... or why I think it is impossible to be a follower of Jesus and not be part of a church... I found this a fascinating lecture.

constructing an experience

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

My friend Jon posted this on his blog the other day and I had to put it here for all of you as well... I laughed... but as Jon's wife said, "it is too close." BTW, Jon's blog is great! Do check it out.

First, I'll confess. My church doesn't look like this, but if we could, we likely would. We don't have the staff, expertise, equipment, etc. to pull this kind of a production off but if we did, we likely would head in more or less that direction (albeit with a different theology than most such churches).

As a pastor, every week I am charged with constructing an experience. In the best of weeks, the folk in the congregation have an encounter with the very presence of God. The problem is, I have no control over that. It depends upon the openness of their hearts and most of all, it depends upon God. I can do some things in the service that hopefully contribute a bit to their openness. I can do my best to put together a service that is consistent, centered, and has positive movement and a theme that is relevant to the lives of the members but beyond that I have no power. Some people will experience the presence of God and some will not and that will happen regardless of how well I have done my part. Hopefully, I can construct an experience that will help more people to find that experience than not... or I can manipulate their emotions into something that isn't quite right but sure feels good. and there is the problem. What is the line between manipulating folk and opening a door for them to enter through?

So what the video satirizes is just doing what we can, trying to construct an experience... but the more resources a church has, the more effective it can be at manipulation, at pushing people in a direction that may in fact, impede any real experience of God's presence by forcing an emotional experience on them. If we have the resources, that is actually the easy route. We know how to do that as per the video. Worse yet, in a consumer culture so centered around entertainment, it is all too easy to confuse the slickly produced mega-church worship service with a genuine experience of the presence of God. So for me, the video is a serious warning. We won't ever have a service like that one, but I still need to beware of manipulating my congregation and taking the easy way out - a slick experience vs. the very presence of God.

National Day of Prayer

I have to say that I have ambiguous feelings about a national day of prayer. I believe in prayer. I do it regularly even if without the degree of discipline I'd like. I pray for our government, our leaders, and the world. I think it is good when other people pray as well. Here's the problem for me, pray to whom and how?

As a Christian, I pray in the name of Jesus. I don't feel a particular need to force my theology on other people but if I am praying authentically, that is how I pray. So what do I do in an interfaith gathering? I know of some gatherings where each group prays as authentically as they can, where a Muslim might pray in Arabic, a Jew might recite a Hebrew prayer, etc. But if we go that way, eventually we get to a point that somebody can't cross. A Jew might be offended by a Christian's prayer, a Christian might see a sacrifice done by a Santeria priest as going too far... you get the point. More often then, the prayers are watered down and made generic so as to avoid offending anyone. I find that offensive.

In a recent talk to the Baptist Joint Committee, Martin Marty began with a quote from Montesquieu, who observed that the way "to attack a religion is by favor, not by what drives away, but by what makes men lukewarm." Watering down anybody's prayers makes them lukewarm and ineffectual. If I really feel that my government needs prayer, I want to do it with passion and commitment, not some watered down version meant not to offend anyone. Indeed, if I am praying what I truly believe, I'm going to offend someone.

Bottom line... I'm going to pray. And I'm going to pray for my government, but not because a President has asked me to. I'll be praying because he needs my prayers and because as a nation we have not filled full the promise of the vision of our founders. Part of that vision is a nation where faith is neither curtailed nor supported by the powers of government because government has no role in matters of faith.

Surprise & Delight

A week or so ago, a tweeter I follow pointed me to a blog post questioning the common wisdom that the way to get ahead in business is through innovation. The writer says that innovation for innovations sake is a waste of time and energy. Instead, a business seeking to be successful should aim at "awesomeness." The writer sees four pillars to awesomeness: 1. ethical production - things are always done with an eye to ethics, 2. Insanely great stuff - new isn't enough, it must be great. 3. Love - the high touch part of the equation, people must love what they do and must love their clientele. 4. Thick value - the value added to life is real, significant, and sustainable.

What if we embraced awesomeness in the church? A friend of mine who is an administrator at a Continuing Care Retirement Community came up with a motto for their workers - "surprise & delight." What if we embraced that motto in the church where people didn't just experience the new big thing but instead found surprise and delight in experiencing the awesome?

What Does It Mean to be "A Church?"

More than once I have told people only half jokingly that after 32 years as a pastor and two graduate degrees, I don't understand church. The roles and purposes of church have changed significantly over the last generation and there isn't a consensus as to what the new roles and purposes are. For some, church is a hospital we visit to find healing and strength to go back into the world. For some, it is a place to build social networks. For some it is a place to find spiritually inspiring entertainment. For some it is a base from which to launch various kinds of mission programs. For some it is a series of programs competing with kids soccer, men's therapy group, and women's drum circle. For many, it is completely irrelevant to daily life. Many of those who do attend church do so with the primary question being one of added value, "what value does this experience add to my life?" This question is even more important in a time when virtually all of the roles of the church can be fulfilled in some other way.

Let me share two illustrations that underscore my question, "what does it mean to be a church?" First... some years back I was attending a meeting and met a pastor from a Presbyterian church in Manhattan. As we talked I asked the pastor question - "How many do you have in worship?" It is a convenient metric and it says something even if I'm not sure what. She answered, "30." I was a pastor of a downtown church and the time and knew all of the struggles to keep one of those institutions going and all of the surrounding needs. Her congregation didn't have Sunday school or a youth program. If it were not for a significant endowment, it would have closed years prior. Then, she added, "but we have about 5000 people come through our building each week for 12 step meetings, feeding programs, neighborhood classes, etc. etc. etc." Almost none were "members" and likely a significant proportion would not have called themselves Christian. Almost all received services of one sort or another, consuming resources rather than giving them to the institution. What does it mean to be a church?

And watch this video which I first saw on my friend Bob Cornwall's blog.



Can you be a church in cyberspace? Can our need for human connection be met online and does that have anything to do with being "church?" What do our human networks have to do with our connectedness to the holy?

I have a couple of thoughts. I do not believe that a person can be a follower of Jesus alone. I truly believe it takes a community of accountability and challenge and support for us to follow Jesus. I believe that ministry/service/mission is not enough on its own to quality as a church. They are necessary traits, but there must also be activities that contribute to nurture and there must be experiences that lead to the holy, mystical experiences, for a group of people to be a church. Can it happen online? I'm not sure. I think for me, it has to have skin on it... but I don't know whether that is a more general rule. Does it require a traditional institutional expression? I pretty sure it doesn't, but I think some ind of organizational structure might be required just to make it happen.

So for you, what does it mean to be church? Does the UU church in Second Life qualify? Or even the Presbyterian Church in Manhattan.

the genesis of Arizona's law

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Undocumented people

Arizona. There are pieces of life there that really puzzle me. My daughter lives in Phoenix and we have visited a number of times. We ate breakfast at a Waffle House and there on the door was a sign, "No Hand Guns Allowed." I have to say I was more than taken aback that they needed to have a warning that handguns were not allowed at the Waffle House. I have to wonder what led to the warning... shootout at the Waffle House? The sheriff in Phoenix is more than a little... I'm not even sure what to say when you make male inmates at the county jail wear pink jumpsuits. Now this law that essentially requires law enforcement officers to stop people and check them for their citizenship documents if they suspect they may be here illegally. And we all know that the only folk who will be suspected will have brown skin. Lots of folk are rightly arguing that this is unconstitutional. More are rightly arguing that it is clearly immoral and sinful and counter to any understanding I have as to who we are as a culture. I'll not go over those arguments.

The sickness seems to be spreading as other states are discussing similar laws. The Republicans have already begun battling in California for their primary for the governorship and treatment of undocumented folk is high on the list of issues over which they're squaring off with each trying to prove that they are more draconian. Take it for granted that I think the plans they're floating are illegal, immoral, and sinful... they are also downright stupid for the health of California.

We depend upon undocumented workers in this state. Most of the vegetables, flowers, and wine grapes grown in the US are grown here and common wisdom says that many of the workers are undocumented. If you have ever watched the workers in a field of strawberries or peppers, you know how difficult it would be to get anybody else to do those jobs. Imagine if only 10% of the workers were undocumented and they were all removed tomorrow. Imagine every work day beginning with police officers gathered at the field, checking through every person's documents. Agriculture in California would grind to a halt. Produce would rot in the fields. Our already faltering economy would crash and food prices would skyrocket around the country. That doesn't begin to take into account the ripples in the service industry. These folk carry a significant portion of our economy on their backs. And then there is the impact this would have on law enforcement. Who is catching violent criminals when all of the officers are busy checking for birth certificates? And what happens when all undocumented folk refuse to cooperate with law enforcement for fear of being sent back to Mexico?

a few more random thoughts...

two media recommendations - TC Boyle's book The Tortilla Curtain and the film A Day without a Mexican. Check both out for a more accurate picture of what is going on.

I heard a pastor once say that rather than calling these men and women "illegal aliens," we should call them "good parents" as most are sending money back to Mexico to care for their families.

Many undocumented folk are in mixed families where some are citizens and some are not. Some children here without documents have never lived anywhere else and have all of their relationships and social networks here. Sending the undocumented family members back across a border destroys families and damages the entire fabric of communities.

And finally, we live in a world were goods and capital flow freely across borders but people cannot...

Tax Day

I mailed off all of my tax forms today and like most folk, have mixed feelings at best. We do have a refund... but I also have to make quarterly payments so one hand receives a check while the other writes one. All of it has been more immediate this year with all of the talk going on regarding the federal deficit and the impact it will have on future taxes.

I've been hearing commentators over the last few days say that with the huge deficit and the new health care bill, we will need to raise taxes or cut entitlement programs or both. As a general rule, I believe we should pay as we go. Yes there are some things for which borrowing is a logical plan, but generally, we should pay for the benefits we receive. And if you can't afford a Mercedes, drive a Kia. But here's the problem... we're being told to drive a Kia while nobody is questioning whether or not we really need a 14,000 square foot house with a pool and a tennis court. Huh? Let move away from the metaphor. The largest area of expense in the Federal budget is military spending. Now, the government figures say military spending is 20%, but that does not include costs for past military, interest on the debt incurred by military expenditures, or military costs that fall under other budget categories. The War Resisters League places the percentage of military spending at 54% with 36% going to the current military. In either case or somewhere in between, military spending is a huge piece of the pie. It needs to be a part of the discussion.

A budget is a reflection of values. Where your heart is... there is your money. The US spends more on the military than the next 15 nations combined, accounting for 47 percent of the world’s total military spending. Of the next 15 countries, at least 12 are considered allies of the U.S. So what does this massive spending say about us? Do we need to maintain military bases all around the world? Does that even make us safer? Or are the better ways to spend our money?

I don't mind paying more taxes. I benefit from living in the country in ways I cannot begin to express. It is my responsibility to contribute both to current needs and to the future. Even though I am a pacifist, I won't even complain about a reasonable amount going to the military. I do mind 1/2 of my taxes going to empirism. So let's talk seriously about the budget, about deficits, about the need to both cut spending and to raise taxes, but lets keep military spending on the table and realize that without cutting those expenditures, other changes will be inadequate to solve the problem without causing incredible hardship to our population. Imagine how many seniors would live in poverty if we drastically cut social security. Imagine what would happen to health care for seniors if we did away with medicare. We already have school districts talking about cutting a day from the school week to cut costs... imagine.

One of the primary pieces contributing to the disintegration of the Soviet Union was unsustainable military spending. Infrastructure suffered. Social programs suffered. Education and health care suffered while they continued to spend on the military until everything collapsed.

I Don't Want to Live in a Christian Nation

There is a lot of chatter these days among those on the far right that we live in a Christian nation... or that we used to live in a Christian nation until the Democrats began to push us away from our Christian moorings.

Well, that is at best revisionist history and at worst a complete misunderstanding of the genius that is the United States... but that is another post. Regardless of whether that interpretation is incorrect, I don't want to live in a "Christian" nation. If we were one (which again, is a misread of history), then good riddance. If we were not (now you've got it right), then let's keep it that way.

First, let me address the idea of separation of Church and State. It was not an idea that came from secularists. The deepest roots of those ideas came from the Baptists, the Quakers, and the Unitarians. Indeed, the phrase, "wall of separation" came from the founder of the first Baptist church on English soil, Thomas Helwys. While many religious groups had experienced persecution under the state churches in Europe, those three groups had in common a belief that at its core, the soul must be free. They believed that an individual's relationship to God is between them and God and no outside body, including the state, has the right to dictate what that relationship must look like. At the simplest level, they knew that any time there was a state church, somebody would be unable to seek God as their hearts led them and somebody would be persecuted for not towing the line. Groups like the Puritans, for example, had experienced persecution for their faith but rather than seeing the Americas as an opportunity for freedom, they saw it as a place where they could impose their faith on others and often the persecuted become the persecutors.

The basic problem of living in a "Christian" state is whose version of Christianity are we talking about? Are we Roman Catholic? Or fundamentalist evangelical? Or staunch Calvinist? Or liberal mainline protestant? The early Baptists knew what it meant to be on the wrong end of those questions. Then, what force of the state will be used to enforce that particular understanding of faith? Prison? Using zoning or tax regulations to destroy organizations? The list could go on.

And finally, what happens if one is not a Christian at all? Do we use the power of the state to convert? To "train" children, taking away the freedom and responsibility of their parents?

I don't want to live in a country where any particular version of Christianity is imposed, even my own. I want even less to live in a country where the official state religion is some watered down, civil version of Christianity that has no teeth at all. I also don't want to live in a Muslim country, a Jewish nation, or a place with any other official religion you can name. Instead, I want to live in a place where the government has no say in matters of faith at all, where the government neither supports nor undermines religion. I want to live in a place where I am free to practice my faith or lack thereof as my conscience dictates and where you can do the same. It is only there that truth faith can flourish.

The whores of war

The Republican Party has worked for some time to privatize as many functions of government as possible. The one area I would have expected to be immune from this tampering was the military. Going back to Bush I, Cheney and Rumsfeld have been working to outsource tasks that have traditionally belonged to the military to private firms. In Iraq and Afghanistan, this trend has become frightening. Euphemistically called, "contractors," these folk are not carrying hammers and rulers but instead M4's and automatic weapons. They are guarding diplomats, facilities, and escorting convoys of supplies through war zones. There have even been instances where these mercenaries have commanded US military forces. To make it worse, at least in Iraq, they are not subject to military rules of engagement nor are they subject to civilian law... Yes, you read that correctly, they are essentially above any law while being in incredibly stressful situations and highly armed. Currently there are over 22,000 of them operating in Iraq and Afghanistan. They were even deployed under similar rules in New Orleans after Katrina.

Many of these mercenaries are former US special forces people but others, employed by the US government, were former members of Pinochet's henchmen, apartheid soldiers in South Africa, and the worst of the worst from other war torn places.

This industry has quickly grown to being worth billions of dollars.

Here are some of the pieces that really worry me...

They make war easier. As a nation we think twice about committing our sons and daughters in uniform to war. Mercenaries don't elicit the same concern. And the costs of war are not quite so clear. All of this makes it easier to go to war without the input and approval of the population or even our elected representatives.

We are encouraging private companies to build large, highly trained armies that are not accountable to anyone except the folk running those companies and their bottom lines. We are making our national security dependent upon companies over whom we have no control and who have no accountability to the government or the people of the United States.

What happens if their commercial interests or political ideologies differ from the nation as a whole? Or what if a bunch of crazy billionaires say, "Here is more money than you've ever imagined, let's overthrow the government and turn it into the utopia we envision." At the same time, because these mercenaries are paid so well, they are siphoning off many qualified people from our military and from the militaries of our allies.

As an industry, they benefit from conflict and suffer if there is none so they have significant impetus to be sure that conflict continues and to insure that the primary response to a political conflict is violence. Because it is such a huge industry, they have the ears of many in Washington, on Wall Street, and in other places f influence around the world.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky in the House (H.R. 4650) and Bernie Sanders in the Senate (S. 3023), have introduced bills that would prohibit hiring private mercenaries to perform tasks traditionally done by the military. This is essential to our national security. This is essential to our future. Contact your congress people and encourage them to support these bills.

Easter - Stations of the Cross

Resurrection!



When I am in the darkest night, remind me of the coming dawn. Creator, the one who made everything, remind me that you have transformative power. In your compassionate arms, evil is made good, ugly made beautiful, weak made strong, dead made to live. Allow me to receive your compassion so that I may transform lives around me.

Hear my earnest prayer O God.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 40

Today's parable is a fun one... The Debate tells the story of a young man, unsuccessfully trying to convince a rabbi to take him on as a student. One of my favorite pieces about the Jewish tradition is the requirement for debate and disagreement even to the point that God cannot stop the discussion. There is another story of two rabbis who argued the point of one scripture for years. Finally God became tired of their arguing and stepped in, "Let me tell you what this means..." The rabbis replied, "Who are you to tell us what this scripture means?"

I think there is a similar thread in my tradition - Baptist - although most people wouldn't know it. The idea of soul freedom requires that we wrestle with meaning and struggle with scripture even to the point of arguing with God... It means that we must always hold our answers lightly and be willing to see things from a different perspective. When I was in seminary, one of my professors said to us, "I don't care where you come out on these questions... but you'd better be able to tell me how and why you got there."

So here we are... at the end of Lent. We got here wrestling with some wonderful little parables. I hope you enjoyed this little journey with me. Perhaps next year I'll find a similar discipline to work through those 40 days.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 39

Better to sleep is a very short story that deals with judging others. A father and child join with a group of others keeping vigil through the night. One by one they all fall asleep except the father and son. The son turns to the father and comments that the others had failed in their obligation to which the father replies, “Beloved son, I would prefer that you slept like them rather than slandering them.”

It is so easy to judge the actions or lack of actions of others, especially those who claim to be people of faith. What does it look like for us to share and care and support even those with whom we have significant disagreements?

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 38

Somehow I got behind a day...

So here we are... New Life tells of a mother whose infant dies a few months after birth. As she travels, seeking a miracle, she is told to gather mustard seeds from others who have never experienced loss. She travels and hears the stories of others and is then able to face her own pain.

There certainly is something to be said for sharing the human condition. It does not remove our pain, but it does put it in perspective.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 37

The difference between love and lust is often a subtle one. Lust... wants. Love... gives. That is the theme in today's story - The Besotted King. The king has fallen in love with one of his slaves and, against all propriety, frees her and moves her int the castle, planning to marry her. But the woman becomes ill and nobody can heal her. Finally a holy man is called who says he can heal her but it will be extremely painful. The king agrees to whatever must be done if the woman agrees. To that the holy man responds, "You misunderstand your majesty. The pain will not be hers. It will be yours as she loves another. Give them your blessing to marry and she will recover"

We don't know what the kind did. If he truly loved her, he gave the blessing. If he was only our to possess her, he likely had the man she loved killed and watched her melt away in grief.

Do we love? Or just lust? Likely a mixture of both.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 36

How do we receive gifts of love and grace? That is the question raised by "The Debt of Love." In this story a holy man, dressed as a beggar, enters the city and sees a barber shaving a wealthy nobleman. He asks for a shave and the barber leaves the nobleman and gives him the shave along with some alms. Touched by the show of charity, the holy man determines to reward the barber. Later in the day, a wealthy pilgrim gives him a bag of gold coins. He returns and offers them to the barber who chases him away with the razor, shouting, "What kind of a holy man are you that you come to reward me for an act of love?"

I struggle with accepting gifts. Many times I have had people offer me a gift born of love and genuine appreciation and have struggled with either turning it down or reciprocating. Now, there re times when gifts are given with inappropriate strings which should be refused, but that just makes it more difficult to perceive and then receive what truly are gifts of love.

It is equally difficult to receive compliments with grace. My/our first inclination is to minimize whatever led to the compliment. "I'm not that good of a player." "Did you hear my mistakes?" or "I've been playing guitar a loooonnnggg time." I have been trying to receive such kind words with a genuine, "thank you."

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 35

The Contented Fisherman is a story that I've heard before... it tells of a man lying in his boat after catching "enough fish" only to be given a life plan by a wealthy industrialist leading to a large business with multiple fishing boats so the fisherman could "enjoy life." To that the fisherman replies, "what do you think I'm doing?"

This story made me remember a statement made to me by one of our church members - "You really have to work like crazy to maintain that laid back California facade." An aphorism also came to mind - "Americans live to work, while Europeans work to live."

There is something in the corruption of the Reformed tradition that is central to the formation of our American cultural mindset that says we must be producing to have value and that production is always measured in economic ways. It is a hard current to swim against.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 34

This parable begins the parables that are not included in the book but which are available for download from Paraclete Press if you purchase the book directly from them. Unlike the book, these parables do not include commentary... so I'm on my own.

This story tells us of a man who comes upon an injured fox in the forest and sees a tiger approach with fresh game in its mouth. After eating its fill, the tiger gives the rest to the fox. This happens a number of days until the man decides that the lesson to be learned is that God will provide. He goes into the forest and waits... and waits... until he is nearly at death's door from starvation and cries out to God that God has been absent. God speaks - "O you who are in the path of error, open your eyes to the truth. I do not want you to imitate the disabled fox but rather to follow the example of the tiger."

I'm struck by how easy it is to clearly see the actions of God and yet miss them entirely. And at how the history of people of faith so often reflects us learning exactly the wrong lesson because of that. Add to that the hubris that many reflect that they know God's yearnings as clearly as their own and we have a recipe for a mess. We end up with people drawing lines and building walls, claiming privilege and private blessings, turning away from the other... when the lessons we are to learn are exactly the opposite.

I try to be more humble than that... but it is entirely possible that I am blind to my own preconceptions.

Stations of the Cross - Palm Sunday

Twelfth Station:
Jesus Dies



Give me moments to ponder in my heart your supreme love, a love greater than all others, a love for each and every one of your children.


Thirteenth Station:
The Body of Jesus Is Taken from the Cross



It is easy to be kind and to do good when someone is obviously in pain. It is easy to see a way of healing at that time. Grant me sight for those difficult moments when your people are in pain, in longing in much more subtle ways. Give me vision for shades of gray.


Fourteenth Station:
Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb



When I want to keep my resources to myself, even though they would be used better elsewhere, drive me to give. Keep generosity at the foremost of my thoughts, the tip of my tongue and the ends of my fingers. Remind me that the gifts I give now come back one hundred-fold.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 33

The final parable in the printed version of the book I have is the title parable. In this story a young man is condemned for heresy, a crime for which he is truly guilty. When he is sentenced to death, he does not dispute the charges or beg for his life. He only requests that he be allowed to pick the person to light the flame from among the crowd. On the day of his execution, the judge asks him to choose. As he looks around the crowd, they become more and more uncomfortable as none of them want his death on their conscience. Finally he calls out. "I have held a distorted, muddied and inaccurate view of the divine. I have only one request: that I be set alight by one among you who is innocent of this charge."

Like the story of the woman caught in adultery, this story hinges on the audience being both aware and honest. Unfortunately, in my experience, few fundamentalists are either and I would expect that there would have been someone in either crowd to step forward and claim innocence. I like the way Peter puts it though... "we must question the difference between the heresy of orthodoxy, in which we dogmatically claim to have the truth, and orthodox heresy, in which we humbly admit that we are in the dark but still endeavor to live in the way of Christ as best we can."

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 32

The Reward of a Good Life plays on our expectations and notions of justice. Two brothers live very differing lives - one essentially gives up all to help the poor and dies virtually alone and penniless. The other lives the American Dream and dies in the arms of a loving wife, a good family, and comfortable surroundings. They arrive in heaven and receive the same reward. The first brother is surprised, but pleased and turns to the brother who lived the dream and tells him he is glad they will be together. The second brother weeps at the life he wasted.

Again, we are confronted by the radical nature of unconditional love and unmerited grace. Free floaties for all!

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 31

What is a miracle? Today's parable retells the story of a blind man who is healed by Jesus... only he still is physically blind. As the crowd questions him, he keeps telling them that he was blind, but now he sees.

So what constitutes a miracle? And what does it mean "to see?" Some 22 years ago I had a stark confrontation with my own mortality and the limits of the human body. I was diagnosed with heterozygous familial hyperlipidemia and told that they were unsure if the newly developed meds would help and that if they didn't, I should get my affairs in order. After a few months of serious depression, I began to see and experience life in a different way... a wonderful way. Many folk prayed for me. I still have the condition, but the meds work well for me.

Coincidentally, a church member was diagnosed with the same thing within a few months of me. He was about the same age and had a very similar life situation. Many folk prayed for him. He too experienced a new "seeing" of life. He died a few years later from complications of the disorder.

Were there miracles involved here? If so, what were they? And who experienced them?

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 30

The Book of Love tells us of a God who has grown impatient with the struggles f humanity and the disasters we leave in our wake... so God commands the angels to put together a library containing all of the wisdom needed to avert the disasters. But the library is too large. So, God commands the angels to condense the ideas into a single book... but it is still so large that nobody can lift it, let alone read it. Then God called the angels to condense the wisdom into a booklet, but the people were too lazy to read even the short booklet. Finally, the angels condense the entire library to a single word - love.

If only... All too often those who claim to live by the word only use it as a way of justifying their own prejudices and preconceptions.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 29

The Last Supper examines the character of Judas... an easy target but also a critical character in the story of Jesus and a central one at that. In this parable, Jesus assures Judas that the bread and cup, body and blood are for him.

Again we are confronted by the radical nature of truly unconditional and undeserved love and forgiveness. Lord, have mercy on me... a sinner.

I Know Its Lent

but everything doesn't have to be serious...

yes, this is sexist and exploitative, but it is funny...

Health Care Reform... it begins

I'm not thrilled with this health care reform bill. It is far too conservative for my taste. I would have much preferred a single payer system for all. I think that would be the most efficient and most effective way to address all of the issues we face. As a lesser option, Medicare for any who want it would have been my second choice. I frankly cannot see how a for profit system makes sense either economically or morally when we're talking about health care delivery. A few observations...

I am appalled at the behavior of the Republicans through this debate. As many have observed, they have used fear mongering as a way of clouding the issue and turning people away from the real questions. Some weeks ago I heard a caller on a conservative talk show make what I thought was a brilliant observation. He said, "If health care is a right, then we must pay for it as a government, regardless of what it costs. If it is not a right, then we must not pay for it, regardless of what it costs." So let me say it right out. Adequate health care is a human right and is included in the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Without adequate access to health care, those rights are meaningless.

For those who yell that funding this right will bankrupt our country... I say we make decisions regarding the way we spend our money. We spend more on the military than every other nation in the world combined. And beyond direct spending on our military, since 9/11 we have spent obscene amounts of money on mercenaries who make up a significant portion of those deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Add to that the tax breaks that Bush gave to the wealthiest of the wealthy, driving up the deficit to where it was larger than all of the presidents before him combined... and we could have easily paid for health care for all. We make choices. They may not be easy choices but we make choices. Choosing to leave over 40 million citizens without health care is neither moral, economically sensible, or wise.

In the New York Times today, Paul Krugman showed a wonderful contrast between the leaders of the Democratic and Republican Parties. Obama, speaking to the dems said,

“Every once in a while a moment comes where you have a chance to vindicate all those best hopes that you had about yourself, about this country, where you have a chance to make good on those promises that you made ... And this is the time to make true on that promise. We are not bound to win, but we are bound to be true. We are not bound to succeed, but we are bound to let whatever light we have shine.”

He called to their best nature and to the true possibility of making this country a better place, let the political chips fall where they may.

Newt Gingrich he comments had this to say, If Democrats pass health reform,

“They will have destroyed their party much as Lyndon Johnson shattered the Democratic Party for 40 years”

by passing civil rights legislation.

I think Gingrich showed his, and perhaps his party's true colors here. If passing civil rights legislation hurt the democratic party - and it did as racism turned many against that party - they still did the right and noble thing. That Republicans used racism to further their political ends in the 60's is to their shame. If health care reform hurts the Democrats in coming elections, I am proud of them for doing what is right rather than worrying about their political futures. If the Republicans again use peoples' fears, racism, and ignorance to further their political ends... shame on them.

I continue to be amused at the videos I see of tea baggers shouting against the reforms... that many of them, perhaps even most of them are of Medicare age... and receive government health insurance. Going back to the conservative caller, if health care is not a right, then we should do away with Medicare and let those folk try to find affordable medical insurance on the free market. Hey! It would solve the problems with Social Security as well (which according to that line of thought we probably shouldn't have either) because a lot of those folk would be dying a lot sooner. (sorry for the cynicism, but it is true)

I read a conservative Christian board online every now and then and they are actually talking about secession! One of the posts, spoke about the producing states seceding, leaving behind the states that drain resources like CA to fail with a federal government that has lost its way. First, that is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. CA is not a producing state? Come on! Technology all begins here. The vast majority of fruits and vegetables grown in the US are grown here. The one industry - like it or not - that actually exports product from the US - the movie industry - is located here. I could go on. And it is one of the most frightening things I have ever heard. To take up arms because you disagree with decisions made by the properly elected leaders of the country? I don't even know what to say.

Finally, the one piece that I would recommend to Democratic policy makers is to modify the bills to bring the changes into being more quickly. The longer it takes, the more people suffer and the more easy it will be for the Republicans to continue the fear tactics.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 28

The Empty Exchange is a parable of reconciliation. Two lifelong friends find their relationship damaged when one has an affair with the other's wife. An apology is rejected and they live years without the relationship which had been so important to both. Years later, they find reconciliation when the first rejects a second apology, understanding the pain and brokenness that had opened the door to the betrayal.

In contrast to forgiveness which may come before repentance, Pete says that repentance is a prerequisite for real reconciliation to take place. I'm chewing on this one. I think he is correct. Still, in this story, if the one wronged had made a move sooner, they may have repaired their relationship years sooner.

I find myself thinking about my closest friends and wondering whether there is anything they could do that would cause me to break off my relationship with them... and if so, how I could find reconciliation.

Stations of the Cross Week 5

Tenth Station:
Jesus Is Stripped of His Clothing



When I am tempted to be a follower of societal norms, correct my direction. Allow me to only be a follower of one path, the one of truth. Never allow me to grow so weak that I am a pack member, but only allow me to run with your pack.


Eleventh Station:
Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross




Peel my prejudice away and open my arms that I may embrace all of my family on this world. It is tempting for me to take my anger out on others. Grant me strength to love and not to lash out. Make my hands those of healing and not those of hate.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 27

In some Christian (and Muslim) circles, the afterlife is the center of everything and often it is visualized in terms of the rewards of this world - mansions, golden street, crowns encrusted with gems, even beautiful young virgins... The parable, Mansions, tells us of Jesus describing just such a heaven to his disciples as they sit around a fire. One by one they fall asleep until only one poor, old, anonymous disciple and Jesus are left awake.

the poor disciple asks Jesus whether there will be room for such a one as him in such a place. After all, he has never even seen a mansion. Jesus replies that tucked away in a corner is a cramped little stable with nothing to commend it inside or out except that on a clear night the stars can be seen through the cracks... and he will live there. In this little stable, Jesus says, "you can stay with me."

What are the true treasures of faith and faithfulness? Surely they have nothing to do with gold, mansions, jewels...

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 26

Pete continues the theme of transformative love with another retelling of the Prodigal Son. This one is very much like the original with one more detail... while the son returns home, he doesn't truly repent until after his father welcomes him home. After the party, the son weeps for what he had done.

In his commentary, Pete talks about forgiveness coming before repentance rather than the typical formula of repentance then forgiveness. I like it... as we read in A Heretics Guide to Eternity, free floaties for all.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 25

Overthrowing the Emperor examines power. The emperor rules over a huge empire with an army that inspires fear in the entire world and then he has a dream where he sees his empire in ruins and army destroyed and hears God speak, "There is a power that transcends your earthly power."
He visits the cathedrals and temples. He seeks out all of the leaders of the religions in his empire. He engages in the spiritual practices of the various traditions but experiences nothing. Finally he learns of a holy man who is dying but may have something to teach him. On his death bed, the holy man tells the emperor that the power he seeks is found in the face of the orphan, the poor, the illegal alien, the starving man. God's power is seen in weakness."

God's power is so often misunderstood. Even the scripture that tells us that God's weakness is more powerful than human power is seen as an affirmation that God's weakness is still a power of the same sort humans wield and that the verse is only telling us that the range of God's power is so much above ours that even the lowest edge of it is higher than the highest edge of ours... Pete is telling us that God's power is an entirely different category than ours and truly is found in that which we see as weak. A baby overthrows the principalities and powers of the universe. Peace overcomes violence. The absence of force allows revolutionary change.

I'm currently listening to Jeremy Scahill's book on Blackwater which tells the story of the rise to prominence of his mercenary army but also some of the story of the theocon movement and their quest for power. These are folk who, for the most part, call themselves Christians. As I think of their expression of discipleship, I cannot recognize the Jesus I know. Certainly their lust for power stands at odds with the mission and ministry of Jesus as I understand it.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 24

The Father's Approval is a story of the transformative power of unconditional love. A father loves his son, who loves the father back, but as long as the father is critical of the son's life choices, no change takes place even though the son is not entirely happy with his direction either. When the father finally is able to say to the son, "I love you exactly as you are and you don't need to change anything," the son begins to change.

It has been those folk who have loved me with out preconditions or expectations who have been most important in my formation... and I am thankful for each of you.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 23

In Blindness a scribe encounters Jesus and calls out "Have mercy on me!" Jesus stops, lays hands on him, and immediately the man becomes blind and cries in joy. Jesus tells him, "You will be blind for a while," to which he replies, "It does not matter for the moment you touched me, I saw all I ever need to see."

Again, I'll go in a different direction that Peter in his commentary... I was struck by the impossibility of reproducing a mystical experience. For some folk that leaves them lost. They have experienced the holy and when it never happens again in the same way or perhaps with the same intensity, they lose any faith. Perhaps the one experience is enough?

It also had me thinking of faith and doubt. You can read an earlier post to get my thoughts on faith and doubt as fraternal twins. Perhaps a mystical experience opens us in a new way to doubt as well as faith...

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 22

I'm back on schedule!!!

The Believer tells us the story of a man who considers religion irrational yet is seen praying a prayer that many others believe will bring wealth and health. When asked about it, the man states that of course he does not believe it will work... but the priest had assured him that the prayer works even when you don't believe it.

I'm not entirely sure I understand where Pete is taking this but it made me remember back to a time when I was very ill and the prognosis was not clear. I remember not wanting to pray. It wasn't that I stopped believing in God, I just didn't believe God would do answer in a positive way. I later found out that a large number of people, some of whom I didn't get along with, were praying for me. I believe it was those prayers that got me through. I'm glad that when I didn't believe, someone else did.

Stations of the Cross - week 4

Eighth Station:
Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem




My own reflection clouds my judgment. Break my mirror so that I can see beyond it. Squeeze out my ego when I have become too self absorbed. The world is larger than me or mine. I can do more with you.


Ninth Station:
Jesus Falls a Third Time



Grant me strength to be crazy. Help me to jump off cliffs and to crawl into dark places. Keep my talk and step in time together.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 21

Betrayal... in this little story the wise old teacher is coming to the end of his life and struggling with a faithful disciple who has never gone quite far enough. Finally, after challenging the disciple, the teacher hears the response that the disciple ever has and never will betray his master by questioning the master's teaching or deviating from his path. The teacher responds that in not deviating, the disciple has already betrayed the master.

As a musician this one rings true immediately. It is the ones who see things with new eyes and hear things in new ways that move the traditions forward. I think of Jimi Hendrix who made an electric guitar do things nobody had ever imagined before. Likewise, Michael Hedges took acoustic guitars to places nobody had ever been. If both had just continued to follow their mentors, music would be much less rich today. The same is true in our spiritual lives. I like Karen Armstrong's image of real religion as an art rather than a science... it is only as we push boundaries where they never were meant to go that the art becomes better.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 20

Day 20 hooks a lot of my issues from the very beginning. The title is "God Joins the Army." A significant part of my formation took place in one of the historic peace churches - The Church of the Brethren. I believe that a follower of Jesus should not ever engage in violence and must not serve in the military. When we lived in Pennsylvania, a hotbed of historic peace churches, there was a popular bumper sticker that said, "Loving One's Enemies Probably Begins with Not Killing Them." Makes sense to me.

From the title you can see this involves the military and indeed, a war with the central question being, "whose side is God on?" The answer in the parable is that when God is involved, the "oppressed always win."

I certainly believe that God always sides with the oppressed but to say they always win is naive at best... which raises questions regarding the weakness of God.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 19

One of my oldest and closest friends sent me an e-mail the other day after I mentioned how difficult it has been to stay with this little discipline. Tom told me that the commitment is the good part and to keep at it as best as I can...

that was before I got three days behind.

So... I actually read day 19 on day 19 but didn't get around to writing. The title is the Agnostic who became an Atheist. The story tells us that the agnostic spent years trying to definitively prove the non-existence of God to no avail. He made it his life's work until in his ate 50's he began to despair that he would never succeed. One evening in his study, he was surrounded by a deep stillness. Then he heard a voice speak, "Dear friend, I do not exist."

Pete says that to say one does not believe in God or that "God" does not exist implies a definition of God... one does not believe in a certain conception of who God is and likewise to say one does also implies a certain conception of who God is. You can run with tat one.

The story made me think of a long discussion I had on an airplane with a staunch Calvinist. She told me that God had created her brother, gay... so that God could condemn him to hell. As we talked she looked at me and said, "You and I do not worship the same Jesus." She was absolutely right. If anyone was to ask me whether her god exists, I could easily say, "no." Indeed, if her god is the only option... then I think I'm an atheist.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 18

The Mission of Judas is a thought provoking take on the disciple we love to hate. This story tells us of a dream Judas had that showed him everything that would happen, beginning with his betrayal of Jesus and going all the way through history with the church condemning him. He awakes knowing what he must do as without his betrayal the work of Jesus could not be completed.

Pete asks whether certain acts that appear to be fundamentally against God might actually be gestures of fidelity to God? Is it possible that Judas was also sacrificing himself to the mission of God's grace?

At the very least we must read this story and the scriptural text and wonder whether things are always or even ever as clear as they seem. And we must look at our own hearts and ask the same questions regarding our motivations and our fidelity to the call placed upon our lives.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 17

Day 17 (again, a day late) is the title parable The Orthodox Heretic. In this story a man enters a town seeking asylum. He is running from his home where the authorities want to arrest him for criticizing the state and the church. The caretaker of the church takes him in and offers him protection. Upon learning this, the leaders of the town search the scriptures and decide that the man should be handed over to the authorities. They should respect their leaders and not place their town in danger. The caretaker refuses, saying that the scriptures demand he care for this man. Then the leaders pray for God to speak aloud to all of them and convince the caretaker to do the expedient thing. Finally God speaks and tells the caretaker to turn over the man. He again refuses, saying that in order to remain faithful to God, he must disobey.

Peter again talks about the tradition of arguing with God. More importantly, he gives a foundation for ethics as followers of Jesus. He says, "It is in the face of the suffering child or the flesh of a tortured man that the ethical demand of God is written."

Yesterday I was listening to a video of Marc Thiessen defending "enhanced interrogation." Elsewhere he has appeared on "Christian" television shows doing the same and justifies it as an act that reflects his Christian faith. He has missed the picture altogether.

As an aside, I am struck by the difficulty I'm having keeping this little discipline of blogging on this book each day...

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 16

The Sins of the Father takes place at Judgment day. All of the souls of all of humanity are gathered before the angel who holds the book of judgment. The first to be judged stands and all of humanity cries out - "when we were hungry, you gave us nothing..." And then we discover that the accused is God.

Pete takes the direction of our wrestling with God. For me, it raises questions regarding the absence of God and the presence of evil. But, I like where he goes. He picks up the tradition in the Bible of wrestling with and even accusing God and sees that as a foundational part of our faith tradition. That works for me.

Stations of the Cross, week 3

Sixth Station:
Veronica Wipes Jesus' Face



O Creator, remind me that though I am small, though I am insignificant in this vast universe, everything I do makes a difference. Show me that when I so much as smile to a person who is burdened, I can change the path of fate.



Seventh Station:
Jesus Falls a Second Time



Give me knowledge that I have strengths and weaknesses. Do not allow me to shy away from this fact. Make me strong enough to recognize that I cannot do everything well or correctly the first time, but do not permit me to give up. Keep me stubborn so that I will never stop trying.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 15

Again, I'm late in posting this...

The Last Trial posits a question in an interesting format. The main character has died and is found standing in front of Lucifer who declares that he has cast out God and the Christ from heaven and holds the keys in his hand to either eternal life or eternal death... all the deceased need do is bow down and worship him. Which would you do?

The question raised is whether we follow Jesus for some kind of reward or if there is something in the following that gives it vale above all else? The story brings to mind the temptation stories of Jesus who likewise must decide whether he will worship Satan and take the easy way out or if he will struggle with his call, knowing the difficulty of the path and being unsure of the end. What would you choose? What would I?

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 14

The parable for day 14 is appropriate in some ways since I'm two days late in posting my thoughts. Life got in the way.

The title is Awaiting the Messiah. One day the Messiah decides to return to a large city. After a few days of working there, the Messiah reveals himself to a small group of faithful followers, praying for his return. When they realize who is there, they embrace him, bear witness to what they have been doing, and then ask one question... "Tell us, when will you arrive?" The Christ is said to still be there with that little group, praying with them for his return.

This one took me a while to get, especially once I read Pete's commentary. I expected that e was seeing the parable in the actions of the Church and was looking for a real incarnation. He takes it in a different direction, that of relationship, arguing that the desire for the other is born out of their presence, not their absence. It made me think of a reminder that I often give in wedding sermons to the couple... that they never cease to find delight and surprise in the other because they will never know the other completely.

Come, Lord Jesus... and continue to come as I see you just a little more clearly and know you a little more deeply each day.

Blogging through the Orthodox Heretic, day 13

Today's parable is a subversion of the Prodigal Son. In this story it is the father who runs off and one of the sons waits each day by the gate with robe in hand, calf ready for the slaughter, hoping for the return of the Prodigal Father.

Pete is reflecting on the very human experience of the absence of God and the deep tradition in both Judaism and Christianity of remaining faithful even in the midst of the dark night of the soul. I couldn't help but think of Mother Theresa who struggled with a sense of the absence of God and yet continued to give of herself in service of those beyond the margins. How easy it is to abandon God when we cannot feel God's presence... And how to make sense of experience that tells us that God has abandoned us...

Blogging through the Orthodox Heretic, day 12

Being the Resurrection imagines the story of a small band of disciples who witness the crucifixion and then in their grief they flee Jerusalem, seeking a place where they can live the way Jesus had taught them. They build a small community of simplicity, love, and forgiveness... all with no knowledge of the resurrection.

After 100 years, a group of missionaries finds them. The missionaries were amazed at the community they had found and tell them the good news. That evening they celebrated, but one of the missionaries noticed that the leader was not present and sought him out. The elder spoke, "Each day we have forsaken our very lives for him because we judged him worthy of the sacrifice, wholly worthy of our being. But now, following your news, I am concerned that my children and my children's children may follow him, not because of his radical life and supreme sacrifice, but selfishly, because his sacrifice will ensure their personal salvation and eternal life."

How many times have we heard promises of eternal life filled with all of the good things we didn't experience in life? Would we follow Jesus if the promise was only suffering and an end... Are his words enough? Is the example he lived enough? What are we willing to give... and do we have to receive some kind of reward or is following enough?

Blogging through the Orthodox Heretic, day 11

This parable is the first one I heard from this book as a friend read it aloud in a small group called Exiting Christianity. The story tells of a preacher who learns that whenever he prays for someone, they lose all faith. So, the preacher decides never to pray for anyone. Once, on a trip he finds himself seated next to a very successful banker who does business in as cutthroat a manner as any other, rationalizing that it is the way business is done. Still, the businessman says, "that is not me. I am a man of faith and my experience in church confirms that." The preacher realizes what he must do... he prays for the man who loses his faith immediately. Soon he finds he is no longer able to justify his business practices, quits his job, gives away his possessions, and proceeds to use his talents on behalf of the poor. One day he sees the preacher across the street, runs to him, and thanks the preacher for helping him discover his faith.

One of the questions swirling around these days is whether religion gets in the way of faith and what to do when the institutional church impedes the good news of the gospel by working to buttress the status quo. As a pastor committed to and working within the institutional church these are difficult questions. They are doubly difficult fr me as I do not believe it is possible to really follow Jesus outside of a community of faith.

I have no answers... only more questions... but it is Lent and struggling is good.

Rube Goldberg video

fun!

New Favorite

As much as I love music, I find that I don't listen that much... Part of it is the dearth of good material on the radio - while there certainly is some god pop music, much of it leaves me cold. I find I don't have that much time to listen at home and I find that I usually don't have the CD I want to listen to with me when I'm driving (I don't have mp3 capabilities in my car). And my life situation doesn't expose me to as much new and under-the-radar music as I'd like.


Every once in a while though, I come across a song that clicks for me. Recently I got a mailing of a retreat sponsored by the Alliance of Baptists, the most progressive group in Baptist circles. Carrie Newcomer is slated to do the music. I knew her name but wasn't real familiar with her music and I hadn't known that she had any kind of faith commitment so I went to her website and listened to some tunes.

One song really caught my attention... The Clean Edge of Change The lyrics are wonderful... a sublime performance... just a great song in every way.

First there is the folding in,
To gather light and dark to you.
The journey down so far that it,
Has nowhere else to go but through.
I thought if I tried hard enough,
With endless motion like a bribe,
As if by this the will of God,
Could be bent to my version of right.
Chorus: What happens next is nearly weightless,
The opening where we stand breathless,
On the clean edge of change.
She cannot live beneath my wings,
No more with he see seventy.
How many mornings did I wake,
And wished that it would be you I'd see?
Chorus
Bridge: And who am I, who makes this sound,
Who rode the shadow all the way down?
In that clear space of knowing there's
As many names for dark as for light,
I am choosing mostly now to speak
The names that get me through the night.
But always, with humility,
With a worn out but grateful heart.
Having sang so recently,
Full-throated In the dark.
Chorus:
First there is the folding in,
To gather light and dark to you,
The journey down so far that it,
Has nowhere else to go but through.

I love this song and find myself going back to it again and again.