Some children see Him lily white,
the baby Jesus born this night.
Some children see Him lily white,
with tresses soft and fair.
Some children see Him bronzed and brown,
The Lord of heav'n to earth come down.
Some children see Him bronzed and brown,
with dark and heavy hair.
Some children see Him almond-eyed,
this Savior whom we kneel beside.
some children see Him almond-eyed,
with skin of yellow hue.
Some children see Him dark as they,
sweet Mary's Son to whom we pray.
Some children see him dark as they,
and, ah! they love Him, too!
The children in each different place
will see the baby Jesus' face
like theirs, but bright with heavenly grace,
and filled with holy light.
O lay aside each earthly thing
and with thy heart as offering,
come worship now the infant King.
'Tis love that's born tonight!
Those are the words from the 1951 carol from Alfred Burt. Our church band is doing an arrangement of it this Sunday in church based on one done by Stacy Sullivan that is just wonderful. She doesn't have a clip on her page but you can listen to it and purchase it on Napster (I didn't check Itunes) or at Amazon. Check it out.
Along with the song, I'll be showing a bunch of paintings of Jesus through the years that show him as everything from a rock star to a rastaman, a homeboy to Che Guevara, an icon to a boxer. You get the picture. It all has me thinking... when does it become a bad thing to identify Jesus with ourselves? When is it bad to make Jesus one of us? I've always loved Some Children See Him and deeply appreciated the history behind a last supper painting at the cathedral in Petionville Haiti that has one white character - Judas. It is good to identify Jesus with ourselves but it does take us outside of the particularity of the incarnation. Jesus was a Palestinian peasant living at a particular place and a particular time and that particularity has everything to do with God's self-revelation in him. God's self-revelation is as contextual as it could possibly be. Of course, if God is revealed only as a Palestinian peasant from that time, he becomes irrelevant to those of us here in the 21st century. The Jesus of faith must break out of the particular confines of a single place or time in history.
Which brings me back to my conundrum... when is identifying Jesus with ourselves too much? I'd be the first one to cringe at those who turn Jesus into a flag waving Republican but tears ran down my face as I listened to Stacy Sullivan sing Burt's words.
FWIW, that's what I'm preaching on this Sunday. Any thoughts?
Friday, December 30, 2005
Monday, December 26, 2005
angels' wings
well... not exactly. They were actually butterfly wings. On the 24th, the weather was gorgeous - the sun was shining and it was very warm so we went for a walk at Ellwood Mesa which I've blogged about before. There is a place in the woods that is a winter roosting site for monarch butterflies. As you see in the photo, they hang from the eucalyptus trees in clumps but when the weather is warm, the air is full of them. It was magical as thousands hung in clumps on the trees and hundreds more floated in the sky above us. It was magical.
extravagant beauty...
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Merry Christmas!
may the peace of Christ rest in your heart...
the joy of Christ shine in your eyes...
the light of Christ brighten your path...
blessings!
the joy of Christ shine in your eyes...
the light of Christ brighten your path...
blessings!
Thursday, December 22, 2005
it's a beginning
In the Jewish scriptures there is a provision for a Year of Jubilee - every 49 years, all debt would be forgiven and all lands go back to the orginal families of ownership. It was a way of preventing any one family from accumulating too much wealth and relegating others to perpetual poverty. Scholars tell us that the provision was never invoked. Then as now, those with power use it to retain their positions. Those without... well, too bad.
The IMF has extended 100% debt relief to 19 countries. There are those who say that this is just a ploy by the IMF to get those liberal do-gooders off its back. After all, the debt relief only amounts to about $3.3 billion and there are many countries that owe much more and desperately need relief. It certainly isn't the Year of Jubilee. Still, it is a beginning... and those 19 countries and their citizens will be much better off once this relief is granted in 2006.
The IMF has extended 100% debt relief to 19 countries. There are those who say that this is just a ploy by the IMF to get those liberal do-gooders off its back. After all, the debt relief only amounts to about $3.3 billion and there are many countries that owe much more and desperately need relief. It certainly isn't the Year of Jubilee. Still, it is a beginning... and those 19 countries and their citizens will be much better off once this relief is granted in 2006.
music gone bad
Take a listen to O Holy Night
I just hope it was done as a joke... then it was really successful. If it was serious... then it is so sad.
I just hope it was done as a joke... then it was really successful. If it was serious... then it is so sad.
Morals and Money 2
Last Friday the newspaper in nearby Santa Maria ran a comment on the budget that placed it in the context of Christmas and no room at the inn.
worth a read...
worth a read...
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Missing Church
In a blog a few days ago, I made some negative comments about those churches that are closing down on Christmas.
Since then I've had some discussion with a friend I made at Soliton this year - Angela. She has a keen mind and a wonderful spirit and I really enjoyed meeting her and beginning our relationship. She has raised some good questions for me regarding this issue and she has blogged on it too.
Anyway, it all got me thinking... what did this hook in me that gave me such a negative reaction. Angela mentioned that one year she and her husband were ill at Easter and missed church services but still felt as if they had had a good encounter with God at home(my paraphrase). Well, when I miss worship services on a Sunday regardless of the reason, my entire week is thrown off. Yes, I can worship alone or with my family but it is different when we are gathered together with brothers and sisters as "church." Plus, that whole rhythm thing for me comes into play. I need a rhythm of alone and together time. Sunday worship services are one of the key markers of the week for me.
When we lived in snow country, every couple of years we'd get a big snowfall on Saturday night into Sunday morning and I would get calls beginning about 6 on Sunday morning - "Are we closing church?" The only time I said "yes" was a year when the police shut down the roads to all but emergency traffic. Other than that, we had "church" even if I had to get there on my cross country skis and only a handful of people made it. I would tell folk, "if you feel it is too dangerous to go out, stay home, but we will be there for those who want to come." And for me, it was/is stronger than "want," it is "need."
So... we're having service on Christmas. I hope some folk come. I'll be there.
Since then I've had some discussion with a friend I made at Soliton this year - Angela. She has a keen mind and a wonderful spirit and I really enjoyed meeting her and beginning our relationship. She has raised some good questions for me regarding this issue and she has blogged on it too.
Anyway, it all got me thinking... what did this hook in me that gave me such a negative reaction. Angela mentioned that one year she and her husband were ill at Easter and missed church services but still felt as if they had had a good encounter with God at home(my paraphrase). Well, when I miss worship services on a Sunday regardless of the reason, my entire week is thrown off. Yes, I can worship alone or with my family but it is different when we are gathered together with brothers and sisters as "church." Plus, that whole rhythm thing for me comes into play. I need a rhythm of alone and together time. Sunday worship services are one of the key markers of the week for me.
When we lived in snow country, every couple of years we'd get a big snowfall on Saturday night into Sunday morning and I would get calls beginning about 6 on Sunday morning - "Are we closing church?" The only time I said "yes" was a year when the police shut down the roads to all but emergency traffic. Other than that, we had "church" even if I had to get there on my cross country skis and only a handful of people made it. I would tell folk, "if you feel it is too dangerous to go out, stay home, but we will be there for those who want to come." And for me, it was/is stronger than "want," it is "need."
So... we're having service on Christmas. I hope some folk come. I'll be there.
Morals and Money
Yesterday and today the House (212 to 206) and the Senate (tied, broken by Cheney) passeda budget that gives huge tax cuts to the wealthy while cutting programs that benefit the most vulnerable. Yes... I know I've said it before but it is still true. The budget is immoral.
114 Faith Leaders and activists were arrested the other day while protesting the budget.
To learn more about the ins and outs go here.
114 Faith Leaders and activists were arrested the other day while protesting the budget.
To learn more about the ins and outs go here.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Christmas is threatened!!!
And the threat is more real than I ever imagined. No, it isn't those secular humanists, it is the big evangelical churches that are the real threat. This year, a number of large, visible, evangelical churches around the US are shutting down for Christmas because it happens on a Sunday. Their reason? so that people can spend time with their families.
Do you see it? They have turned Christmas from a holy day that is central to the church year into a family holiday. They have turned it from a celebration of the birth of Jesus into a celebration of giving stuff to the people closest to us. They are taking Christ out of Christmas and cancelling the mass part (that is where the word came from you know... the mass that celebrates the birth of Christ). They have made this, one of the holiest days of the year, into a secular holiday.
Of all days of the year, that is one when we ought to have church. If folk complain that they want to be with their families, they should be encouraged to worship together. If their family members won't go to church, what better way to bear witness than to tell them that the true meaning of Christmas is about the birth of Jesus... and church is where we'll be.
For those of you believers who belong to a church that is shutting down... I hope that you will go somewhere else and tell the leaders of your church that they blew it bigtime.
Do you see it? They have turned Christmas from a holy day that is central to the church year into a family holiday. They have turned it from a celebration of the birth of Jesus into a celebration of giving stuff to the people closest to us. They are taking Christ out of Christmas and cancelling the mass part (that is where the word came from you know... the mass that celebrates the birth of Christ). They have made this, one of the holiest days of the year, into a secular holiday.
Of all days of the year, that is one when we ought to have church. If folk complain that they want to be with their families, they should be encouraged to worship together. If their family members won't go to church, what better way to bear witness than to tell them that the true meaning of Christmas is about the birth of Jesus... and church is where we'll be.
For those of you believers who belong to a church that is shutting down... I hope that you will go somewhere else and tell the leaders of your church that they blew it bigtime.
Friday, December 16, 2005
Celebrate!
December 13 is a special day in our house. 10 years ago on December 13, we sat in a judge's office and signed the final adoption papers for our son John. John came to us as a foster child at age 16 months and we all lived in that limbo until he was 5 when he was freed for adoption and became part of our forever family.
We remember that day each year in a small way. Last night (the 13th didn't work with schedules), we all went out to a restaurant that John chose and had a few hours of celebrating our forever family.
There are those who say that John was blessed... and there is some truth in that. His life would have been very different had things not gone the way they did. Many, many children in foster care end up with pretty dismal outcomes. Still, there is a hint of paternalism in those comments that doesn't get all of the truth. The entire family was blessed that day. The fact that he has different genes makes him no less my son. The fact that I didn't witness his birth makes me no less his father. The fact that he has blue eyes, is 6'2" and built like a lineman doesn't make him any less a part of this forever family.
Some say that adoptive chilcdren are chosen... that is sort of true... but it is also true of biological children (we chose to get pregnant). In either case, it is a matter of a family deciding to love one another, to put one another first, to tolerate the warts and embrace the foibles, to be a family no matter what comes.
John is my baby boy... even though I wouldn't dare try to put him on my lap. Sometimes he frustrates me - after all he is a 16 year old boy/man. Sometimes he amazes me - he has such a good heart. I am blessed that he was allowed to be a part of my life.
We remember that day each year in a small way. Last night (the 13th didn't work with schedules), we all went out to a restaurant that John chose and had a few hours of celebrating our forever family.
There are those who say that John was blessed... and there is some truth in that. His life would have been very different had things not gone the way they did. Many, many children in foster care end up with pretty dismal outcomes. Still, there is a hint of paternalism in those comments that doesn't get all of the truth. The entire family was blessed that day. The fact that he has different genes makes him no less my son. The fact that I didn't witness his birth makes me no less his father. The fact that he has blue eyes, is 6'2" and built like a lineman doesn't make him any less a part of this forever family.
Some say that adoptive chilcdren are chosen... that is sort of true... but it is also true of biological children (we chose to get pregnant). In either case, it is a matter of a family deciding to love one another, to put one another first, to tolerate the warts and embrace the foibles, to be a family no matter what comes.
John is my baby boy... even though I wouldn't dare try to put him on my lap. Sometimes he frustrates me - after all he is a 16 year old boy/man. Sometimes he amazes me - he has such a good heart. I am blessed that he was allowed to be a part of my life.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
A Culture of Death
When we first became parents one thing was very clear... if we wanted our children to learn to respond without violence, we needed to refrain from violence. We have all groaned at the mother in the mall smacking the older of two children, "I'll teach you not to hit someone smaller than you."
Yesterday the state of California walked with eyes wide open into the same stupidity - Stanley Tookie Williams was executed. I don't doubt that he did terrible things. Even if he was not guilty of the murders for which he was convicted, as the co-founder of the Crips, there was more than enough blood on his hands. No, the questions are whether the state had the moral right do take his life, whether his death serves any purpose other than revenge, whether we are better off with Tookie Williams dead?
Like the mother in the mall, at best we send mixed messages when we execute someone for killing. But the situation is much worse than that... we have seen statistics that show the death penalty is not applied fairly. Kill a white person and you're more than 5 times as likely to get the death penalty than you are for killing a black person. Find yourself poor, minority, and not particularly bright and the odds go up. On the other hand, if you are rich and famous, especially in California, you don't even go to jail. And there are those clear, even if rare, instances where the person executed or sentenced to execution is later discovered to truly have been innocent. If an execution has taken place, there is no turning back. And what of those who do find redemption in prison and begin to make a difference? Are we better off serving some blood lust than allowing them to begin to make amends for the horrific things they had done?
The political commentators made me even more cynical when they said that the governator made the correct political decision... there wasn't a groundswell of support for Williams and commuting the sentence would have damaged his conservative base so he was better off allowing the execution to proceed. And the execution becomes about politics rather than a man's life. It is not relevant whether he found some kind of redemption in prison, which apparently he had as he worked against gang violence. The political games are played. The culture of violence is reinforced. The root causes of gang culture are ignored and nobody goes home satisfied that the world is a better place.
It is time to end the death penalty.
Yesterday the state of California walked with eyes wide open into the same stupidity - Stanley Tookie Williams was executed. I don't doubt that he did terrible things. Even if he was not guilty of the murders for which he was convicted, as the co-founder of the Crips, there was more than enough blood on his hands. No, the questions are whether the state had the moral right do take his life, whether his death serves any purpose other than revenge, whether we are better off with Tookie Williams dead?
Like the mother in the mall, at best we send mixed messages when we execute someone for killing. But the situation is much worse than that... we have seen statistics that show the death penalty is not applied fairly. Kill a white person and you're more than 5 times as likely to get the death penalty than you are for killing a black person. Find yourself poor, minority, and not particularly bright and the odds go up. On the other hand, if you are rich and famous, especially in California, you don't even go to jail. And there are those clear, even if rare, instances where the person executed or sentenced to execution is later discovered to truly have been innocent. If an execution has taken place, there is no turning back. And what of those who do find redemption in prison and begin to make a difference? Are we better off serving some blood lust than allowing them to begin to make amends for the horrific things they had done?
The political commentators made me even more cynical when they said that the governator made the correct political decision... there wasn't a groundswell of support for Williams and commuting the sentence would have damaged his conservative base so he was better off allowing the execution to proceed. And the execution becomes about politics rather than a man's life. It is not relevant whether he found some kind of redemption in prison, which apparently he had as he worked against gang violence. The political games are played. The culture of violence is reinforced. The root causes of gang culture are ignored and nobody goes home satisfied that the world is a better place.
It is time to end the death penalty.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Aslan is on the move
Last night I attended The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with our older elementary program - TEAM. The film was everything I had hoped... almost. The characters could have been fleshed out a bit more but they didn't detract from the story. And I was afraid it took a bit long to get into Narnia but none of the kids complained about that. All in all, it is a wonderful telling of the book which is a wonderful allegory of the gospel. I found the sacrifice scene to be much more moving than The Passion of the Christ because the lion seemed much more human than Gibson's Jesus and the death was placed in a context that gave it meaning. Plus, it includes the resurrection.
After the film, we had a short discussion with the kids and I was impressed at what they got from it. I think we'll get a lot of mileage from it. FWIW, more than one of the kids remarked that "it is a buyer..." that is, a film that they will purchase once it is released on DVD. I also have a feeling that some of them will actually read the books now!
I highly recommend this film for older children (it is pretty intense for younger ones) and probably can be a good discussion starter for adults too. Go see it with a group of friends or with a bunch of kids and then discuss it.
After the film, we had a short discussion with the kids and I was impressed at what they got from it. I think we'll get a lot of mileage from it. FWIW, more than one of the kids remarked that "it is a buyer..." that is, a film that they will purchase once it is released on DVD. I also have a feeling that some of them will actually read the books now!
I highly recommend this film for older children (it is pretty intense for younger ones) and probably can be a good discussion starter for adults too. Go see it with a group of friends or with a bunch of kids and then discuss it.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Films & Hope
I like movies. I wouldn't say that I'm a film buff because I'm not that serious about them but I think they can be very important expressions in our culture.
I went to see The Passion of the Christ with low expectations and my expectations were pretty much met. One reviewer referred to the main character as "Jesus Christ Super-stoic" and I think that was on target. I was struck by the over-the-top, pornographic nature of the violence which also seemed well beyond the capacity of the human body to endure. In addition, it was Mel Gibson's Stations of the Cross which is a very particular style of devotional exercise that is essentially meaningless to the outsider. Without already knowing the story, it seemed difficult to understand. All in all, I saw the film as being very weak as a way to communicate the gospel. I sat next to an obviously unchurched young man who seemed to reinforce my take. He pretty much reacted to the film as if it was a slasher movie with Jesus having no more significance than a young woman being caught by Freddy Kruger.
Today, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe opens and I'm excited. The reviews that I've read seem to agree that Aslan is a much more complete Christ figure than Mel Gibson's interpretation. On Sunday I'm going to see it with our older elementary program - TEAM. I'm hopeful that it will provide an open wardrobe... er doorway to discussion with the young people and with lots of adults.
I'll post my impressions on Monday.
I went to see The Passion of the Christ with low expectations and my expectations were pretty much met. One reviewer referred to the main character as "Jesus Christ Super-stoic" and I think that was on target. I was struck by the over-the-top, pornographic nature of the violence which also seemed well beyond the capacity of the human body to endure. In addition, it was Mel Gibson's Stations of the Cross which is a very particular style of devotional exercise that is essentially meaningless to the outsider. Without already knowing the story, it seemed difficult to understand. All in all, I saw the film as being very weak as a way to communicate the gospel. I sat next to an obviously unchurched young man who seemed to reinforce my take. He pretty much reacted to the film as if it was a slasher movie with Jesus having no more significance than a young woman being caught by Freddy Kruger.
Today, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe opens and I'm excited. The reviews that I've read seem to agree that Aslan is a much more complete Christ figure than Mel Gibson's interpretation. On Sunday I'm going to see it with our older elementary program - TEAM. I'm hopeful that it will provide an open wardrobe... er doorway to discussion with the young people and with lots of adults.
I'll post my impressions on Monday.
Beauty & Frustration
I live in one of the most beautiful settings in the world. Santa Barbara sits between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ynez mountains. The view is spectacular from just about anywhere. There are always birds singing and flowers blooming.
The other day we went for a walk in one of our favorite places - Ellwood Mesa - which has a wintering spot for monarch butterflies and a cliff that overlooks the ocean. We walked to the "magic circle" where the butterflies winter and there were thousands of them - hanging in clumps from the eucalyptus trees, filling the air... Then we walked to the edge of the cliff and watched as a pod of dolphins swam by.
But there was a disturbing piece too... a large section of the mesa is being turned into huge homes for the monstrously wealthy. I haven't seen the numbers but my expectation is that the homes will go between $2.5 & 3 million or more. We desperately need housing on the south coast. The rule of thumb is that you need to build 1 new housing unit for every 1.5 jobs created. Since 1990, that puts us at a deficit of some 8000 housing units. But, the houses that are needed are not multi-million dollar homes in a place where the median family income is about $65K. This use of space is atrocious when large numbers of middle class folk commute an hour or more each way to work here because they cannot afford housing. It is a recipe for disaster for the community as the middle class disappears.
And there is more. Folk here often complain that we need to preserve the green space around us... and oppose using vacant land that is surrounded by barbed wire for affordable housing yet this project is being built on land that was widely used for recreation and does nothing to serve the real needs of the community.
As a person of faith I must see both stewardship of the beauty that surrounds me and the need for housing for ordinary folk as spiritual issues. They'll be central on my plate for the next period of time.
The other day we went for a walk in one of our favorite places - Ellwood Mesa - which has a wintering spot for monarch butterflies and a cliff that overlooks the ocean. We walked to the "magic circle" where the butterflies winter and there were thousands of them - hanging in clumps from the eucalyptus trees, filling the air... Then we walked to the edge of the cliff and watched as a pod of dolphins swam by.
But there was a disturbing piece too... a large section of the mesa is being turned into huge homes for the monstrously wealthy. I haven't seen the numbers but my expectation is that the homes will go between $2.5 & 3 million or more. We desperately need housing on the south coast. The rule of thumb is that you need to build 1 new housing unit for every 1.5 jobs created. Since 1990, that puts us at a deficit of some 8000 housing units. But, the houses that are needed are not multi-million dollar homes in a place where the median family income is about $65K. This use of space is atrocious when large numbers of middle class folk commute an hour or more each way to work here because they cannot afford housing. It is a recipe for disaster for the community as the middle class disappears.
And there is more. Folk here often complain that we need to preserve the green space around us... and oppose using vacant land that is surrounded by barbed wire for affordable housing yet this project is being built on land that was widely used for recreation and does nothing to serve the real needs of the community.
As a person of faith I must see both stewardship of the beauty that surrounds me and the need for housing for ordinary folk as spiritual issues. They'll be central on my plate for the next period of time.
Friday, December 02, 2005
I really like Jesus
I really, really do. In an earlier blog I mentioned Marcus Borg's book Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time. It is a short book but I'm working through it slowly...
Anyway, chapter 3 really got me thinking. In it, Borg places Jesus in the context of a culture that was shaped by its understandings of purity - what is clean and what is not. He portrays Jesus as a subversive who replaces a system of purity with one of compassion. Key to his argument is a quote from Jesus in Luke 6:36 - "Be compassionate as God is compassionate." Borg sees this quote as a deliberate subversion of the Old Testament text - "Be holy as God is holy," Leviticus 11:44. In both his words and his actions, Jesus throws out all of the purity requirements. In Jesus' view, the primary characteristic of God is not holiness... it is compassion.
The implications for us are amazing. Following Jesus means always openning our hearts to the other. It means always standing in solidarity with those who are at the margins. It means discarding any silly ideas regarding holiness and realizing that not only is it not a central requirement for the Christian, it isn't a requirement at all.
Borg touches homosexuality and says that "the shattering of purity boundaries by both Jesus and Paul should also apply to the purity code's perception of homosexuality" and that "In Christ, there is neither straight nor gay." (p59)
Yeah... I really like Jesus.
Anyway, chapter 3 really got me thinking. In it, Borg places Jesus in the context of a culture that was shaped by its understandings of purity - what is clean and what is not. He portrays Jesus as a subversive who replaces a system of purity with one of compassion. Key to his argument is a quote from Jesus in Luke 6:36 - "Be compassionate as God is compassionate." Borg sees this quote as a deliberate subversion of the Old Testament text - "Be holy as God is holy," Leviticus 11:44. In both his words and his actions, Jesus throws out all of the purity requirements. In Jesus' view, the primary characteristic of God is not holiness... it is compassion.
The implications for us are amazing. Following Jesus means always openning our hearts to the other. It means always standing in solidarity with those who are at the margins. It means discarding any silly ideas regarding holiness and realizing that not only is it not a central requirement for the Christian, it isn't a requirement at all.
Borg touches homosexuality and says that "the shattering of purity boundaries by both Jesus and Paul should also apply to the purity code's perception of homosexuality" and that "In Christ, there is neither straight nor gay." (p59)
Yeah... I really like Jesus.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
The Rhythm of Life
I think everything has rhythm... We see the rhythm of the seasons as creation moves from rest to birth to fecundity to closing down... of the day as the sun marches through the sky... of the month as the phases of the moon change... in a woman's cycle... in the circle of life that we go through in the course of our lives... we see it in scripture in the commandment that we rest on the 7th day... and in the church as the liturgical calendar cycles through the church year and the three year lectionary.
I believe the need for rhythm is built into the very nature of human beings. But it is so difficult to find in our culture. There is no time to rest. The lines between work time, play time, and rest time are completely blurred. We are too busy, too pulled, too pre-occupied. And all of that is worse here in California where there aren't even radical changes in the seasons that force a person to change their lives. At least in the snow country, when winter comes you are forced to turn inward a bit and when spring comes, the bursting forth of new life is amazing.
That lack of rhythm here in amazing Santa Barbara (it is drop dead gorgeous) has been the most difficult adjustment for me. Yes, there are differences in the seasons, subtle though they are, but they do not force themselves on you. It is easy to go on and allow everyday to be exactly like the day before. I find myself disoriented as to time of year (how can it be Advent when I'm wearing a short-sleeved shirt and no jacket?) The lines between work and play are blurry and it requires a lot of running to maintain that laid back California lifestyle. So all of that forces me to work harder to find rhythm. It forces me to take more seriously the rhythm of the week with Sunday as time for worship, the rhythm of the year with Advent as a special time of preparation, the rhythm of my life as I sit here in my middle age knowing that I will not be forever.
I teach 4 students beginning guitar. Rhythm is one of the most difficult pieces for them to learn. Hopefully it will be a skill that serves not only their music but all of their lives.
I believe the need for rhythm is built into the very nature of human beings. But it is so difficult to find in our culture. There is no time to rest. The lines between work time, play time, and rest time are completely blurred. We are too busy, too pulled, too pre-occupied. And all of that is worse here in California where there aren't even radical changes in the seasons that force a person to change their lives. At least in the snow country, when winter comes you are forced to turn inward a bit and when spring comes, the bursting forth of new life is amazing.
That lack of rhythm here in amazing Santa Barbara (it is drop dead gorgeous) has been the most difficult adjustment for me. Yes, there are differences in the seasons, subtle though they are, but they do not force themselves on you. It is easy to go on and allow everyday to be exactly like the day before. I find myself disoriented as to time of year (how can it be Advent when I'm wearing a short-sleeved shirt and no jacket?) The lines between work and play are blurry and it requires a lot of running to maintain that laid back California lifestyle. So all of that forces me to work harder to find rhythm. It forces me to take more seriously the rhythm of the week with Sunday as time for worship, the rhythm of the year with Advent as a special time of preparation, the rhythm of my life as I sit here in my middle age knowing that I will not be forever.
I teach 4 students beginning guitar. Rhythm is one of the most difficult pieces for them to learn. Hopefully it will be a skill that serves not only their music but all of their lives.
Friday, November 25, 2005
Science and silliness... Mystery and Wonder
Every now and then I take a look at The Onion and have a good smile.
This one really got me laughing - Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity... While nobody has gone after the theory of gravity yet, this does smack of the same kinds of pseudo-science and accommodation to Enlightenment Rationalism that lies behind most creationism and "intelligent design" theories. And we wonder why our science students lag behind those in most of the rest of the world.
I've been reading a little book by Marcus Borg called Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time. Borg begins the book by sharing his story as he went from naivete, to criticism, to post-critical naivete. He shares a wonderful illustration of a native American story-teller who begins his tribe's creation story with the line - "Now, I don't know if it actually happened this way, but I know it is true." To the mind steeped in Enlightenment Rationalism and criticism that statement seems contradictory. The text must be literally accurate or it cannot be true. To a mind open to mystery and wonder, truth is an entirely different category than accuracy. As long as we read sacred texts as if they were physics or biology or even sociology texts, we will miss the point and miss out on the mystery, the wonder, and the awe. This makes me remember one more quote that I came across years ago in a book on Austrlia I think entitled Dreamkeepers... "once it stops bein' a mystery it stops bein' true" David Mowaljarlai - Ngarinyin Aboriginal Elder
So what do I say about my creation stories as a Christian? "Now, I don't know if it actually happened this way, but I know it is true." And evolution? I'm as sure as I can be that it pretty much happened that way... but that doesn't tell me very much about what is true.
This one really got me laughing - Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity... While nobody has gone after the theory of gravity yet, this does smack of the same kinds of pseudo-science and accommodation to Enlightenment Rationalism that lies behind most creationism and "intelligent design" theories. And we wonder why our science students lag behind those in most of the rest of the world.
I've been reading a little book by Marcus Borg called Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time. Borg begins the book by sharing his story as he went from naivete, to criticism, to post-critical naivete. He shares a wonderful illustration of a native American story-teller who begins his tribe's creation story with the line - "Now, I don't know if it actually happened this way, but I know it is true." To the mind steeped in Enlightenment Rationalism and criticism that statement seems contradictory. The text must be literally accurate or it cannot be true. To a mind open to mystery and wonder, truth is an entirely different category than accuracy. As long as we read sacred texts as if they were physics or biology or even sociology texts, we will miss the point and miss out on the mystery, the wonder, and the awe. This makes me remember one more quote that I came across years ago in a book on Austrlia I think entitled Dreamkeepers... "once it stops bein' a mystery it stops bein' true" David Mowaljarlai - Ngarinyin Aboriginal Elder
So what do I say about my creation stories as a Christian? "Now, I don't know if it actually happened this way, but I know it is true." And evolution? I'm as sure as I can be that it pretty much happened that way... but that doesn't tell me very much about what is true.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Creeds and Confessions
One of the places of controversy in my denomination is the questions of creeds vs. confessions and the role of either in the life of the church.
Any person who has grown up in one of the liturgical churches is familiar with the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. These documents were meant as condensations of faith... if you knew them and believed everything that was in them, you were part of the in-crowd, the church. In spite of Glenn Layne's statement in his blog, that we have "a robust creedal core to our faith," The earliest Baptists and all true Baptists since then have rejected creeds. They did this for a number of reasons: 1. You can't boil all of faith down to a three paragraph statement. 2. That God works contextually and who knows, God may have something else that is required of you where you are. 3.Nobody can tell someone else what they must believe. Faith is always between God and the individual.
The early Baptists did have confessions though. It may sound like mincing words, but the difference is huge. While creeds are prescriptive, confessions are descriptive. Creeds represented a list of things you had to believe dictated by a bunch of elite. Confessions were consensus documents hammered out by a community that said, this is what we believe right now, all of us. Confessions were used for discipline but only because the individual being disciplined had already agreed to the content. Indeed, the individual being disciplined or at least their community had a part in producing the document. And confessions were always "written in pencil." That is, there was always an expectation that it would change.
A confession becomes a creed when it is imposed upon folk who had either no role in producing it or were not part of the consensus. As you can imagine, with any group with over a million members, reaching consensus on anything is next to impossible. Confessions are next to impossible except in the broadest terms.
Any document that comes from the American Baptist General Board that adds new criteria for churches to be a part of the body is a creed... and as I said in an earlier blog, there is no place for creedalism in the Baptist tradition.
Any person who has grown up in one of the liturgical churches is familiar with the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. These documents were meant as condensations of faith... if you knew them and believed everything that was in them, you were part of the in-crowd, the church. In spite of Glenn Layne's statement in his blog, that we have "a robust creedal core to our faith," The earliest Baptists and all true Baptists since then have rejected creeds. They did this for a number of reasons: 1. You can't boil all of faith down to a three paragraph statement. 2. That God works contextually and who knows, God may have something else that is required of you where you are. 3.Nobody can tell someone else what they must believe. Faith is always between God and the individual.
The early Baptists did have confessions though. It may sound like mincing words, but the difference is huge. While creeds are prescriptive, confessions are descriptive. Creeds represented a list of things you had to believe dictated by a bunch of elite. Confessions were consensus documents hammered out by a community that said, this is what we believe right now, all of us. Confessions were used for discipline but only because the individual being disciplined had already agreed to the content. Indeed, the individual being disciplined or at least their community had a part in producing the document. And confessions were always "written in pencil." That is, there was always an expectation that it would change.
A confession becomes a creed when it is imposed upon folk who had either no role in producing it or were not part of the consensus. As you can imagine, with any group with over a million members, reaching consensus on anything is next to impossible. Confessions are next to impossible except in the broadest terms.
Any document that comes from the American Baptist General Board that adds new criteria for churches to be a part of the body is a creed... and as I said in an earlier blog, there is no place for creedalism in the Baptist tradition.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
The Sound of the Spheres
These days I'm playing a lot more electric guitar than acoustic. They are different instruments that require a completely different approach and switching from one to another can be tricky.
Last night we hosted a concert at our church with Thomas Leeb (more about Thomas in a paragraph or two) and Alexis and I opened. It was time to pull out the Lowden. I am again amazed at the design of a good acoustic that puts a great deal of tension on very thin plates of wood and makes such beautiful sounds... at least when played well.
And that brings us to Thomas. He is amazing. He did things that human bodies and wooden boxes shouldn't be able to do. Now I have to admit that sometimes watching a soloist on any instrument bores me. It is so easy for them to get caught up in the mechanics of what they're doing or lost in their own private nirvana... not so with Thomas. While his technique really is other-worldly, he never strays so far that he can't bring the audience with him. And the stories between songs quickly turn the audience into a gathering of friends listening to a buddy who just happens a world class player. For you gear heads, the guitar in the photo is a Lowden O25C. He is currently playing a Lowden F35C made of curly maple that is just a beautiful guitar and sounds like the spheres vibrating when he plays it.
If you ever get a chance to see Thomas play, do it. If you enjoy acoustic guitar taken to new places, buy his CDs.
So how did we do? OK. Alexis was her typical electric self.... amazing stage presence. I made a few goofs and was completely outclassed by Thomas but that is OK... music is also about just communicating what is in your heart, about having fun, about joining with the spheres.
Last night we hosted a concert at our church with Thomas Leeb (more about Thomas in a paragraph or two) and Alexis and I opened. It was time to pull out the Lowden. I am again amazed at the design of a good acoustic that puts a great deal of tension on very thin plates of wood and makes such beautiful sounds... at least when played well.
And that brings us to Thomas. He is amazing. He did things that human bodies and wooden boxes shouldn't be able to do. Now I have to admit that sometimes watching a soloist on any instrument bores me. It is so easy for them to get caught up in the mechanics of what they're doing or lost in their own private nirvana... not so with Thomas. While his technique really is other-worldly, he never strays so far that he can't bring the audience with him. And the stories between songs quickly turn the audience into a gathering of friends listening to a buddy who just happens a world class player. For you gear heads, the guitar in the photo is a Lowden O25C. He is currently playing a Lowden F35C made of curly maple that is just a beautiful guitar and sounds like the spheres vibrating when he plays it.
If you ever get a chance to see Thomas play, do it. If you enjoy acoustic guitar taken to new places, buy his CDs.
So how did we do? OK. Alexis was her typical electric self.... amazing stage presence. I made a few goofs and was completely outclassed by Thomas but that is OK... music is also about just communicating what is in your heart, about having fun, about joining with the spheres.
General board caves
Well... the general board of ABC was meeting this past week and continues to struggle with questions about polity and homosexuality. This time they caved.
It is official policy of ABC going all the way back to 1907 that any statements or stands taken by the general board are not binding on local churches. Still, statements that come from the gb are important as they shape the perception of what we are and what we believe.
A few years ago a document was produced called We Are American Baptists in large degree as a response to those who were complaining that we didn't have a clear faith statement (well duh... we are/were real baptists and creedal statements are anathema). Well, an amendment was made to that document...The amendment adds the following statement to the section A Biblical People: "Who submit to the teaching of Scripture that God's design for sexual intimacy places it within the context of marriage between one man and one woman, and acknowledge that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Biblical teaching."
Evidently the executive minister of the PSW region had made a presentation stating 3 things that had to be done to keep PSW in ABC... I don't know whether this was one but I'm sure that the vote was, at least in part, a reaction to his presentation.
I am deeply saddened by this move. My guess is that it won't be enough to placate the conservatives/revisionists. The conservatives will want to go the next step and remove congregational autonomy to choose who the churches believe God has called as their leaders, to interpret scripture as they hear it, and in the end the conservatives will want to stamp out any dissent that remains. And it will serve to be used as a club that will hurt GLBT folk and drive them further from the experience of the love of God... one more body has condemned them.
It was a UCC church (for those of you who don't know such things, read "liberal") that coined the phrase - What Would Jesus Do? Well... this wasn't the answer.
It is official policy of ABC going all the way back to 1907 that any statements or stands taken by the general board are not binding on local churches. Still, statements that come from the gb are important as they shape the perception of what we are and what we believe.
A few years ago a document was produced called We Are American Baptists in large degree as a response to those who were complaining that we didn't have a clear faith statement (well duh... we are/were real baptists and creedal statements are anathema). Well, an amendment was made to that document...The amendment adds the following statement to the section A Biblical People: "Who submit to the teaching of Scripture that God's design for sexual intimacy places it within the context of marriage between one man and one woman, and acknowledge that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Biblical teaching."
Evidently the executive minister of the PSW region had made a presentation stating 3 things that had to be done to keep PSW in ABC... I don't know whether this was one but I'm sure that the vote was, at least in part, a reaction to his presentation.
I am deeply saddened by this move. My guess is that it won't be enough to placate the conservatives/revisionists. The conservatives will want to go the next step and remove congregational autonomy to choose who the churches believe God has called as their leaders, to interpret scripture as they hear it, and in the end the conservatives will want to stamp out any dissent that remains. And it will serve to be used as a club that will hurt GLBT folk and drive them further from the experience of the love of God... one more body has condemned them.
It was a UCC church (for those of you who don't know such things, read "liberal") that coined the phrase - What Would Jesus Do? Well... this wasn't the answer.
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