Ending the Iraq War

Today there were hearings in congress to learn about the progress of the Iraq war. Needless to say, those testifying stayed with the party line. As a person of faith and as an American, those answers are not acceptable to me. We must leave and do so now.

Following is the text of a proposal from the Network of Spiritual Progressives that was drafted by Tony Campolo, an American Baptist and noted evangelical, and Rabbi Michael Lerner who represents the other end of the religious spectrum. It can be found here and if you agree, you can sign it and/or make a donation to have the proposal appear as a newspaper advertisement in major papers around the country. I signed.

The war in Iraq is unlikely to end until Congress specifically cuts the funding for the war and refuses to pass any funding authorization for the Dept. of Defense until the troops are headed safely home. Many Americans are not ready to make that demand on their Congressional representatives quite yet. They want to know what will happen next after funds are cut. To answer that, and strengthen Congressional resolve to end the war, the peace forces need to introduce a new ethical and spiritual vision of how America could change the way it acts and is perceived in the world. Here’s how.

I. The War is Wrong: Repentance Is Necessary

The remedy for wrong-doing begins not only with the act of changing the path (stop funding war) but also with apology and repentance (in the Biblical sense repentance conveys a return to one’s highest self after one has gone astray and betrayed one’s highest values). Therefore, we ask that our elected representatives go before the U.N. and acknowledge that it was wrong for the U.S. to invade Iraq, that hundreds of thousands of innocent people have been killed and wounded in the chain of events that our invasion precipitated. The war has also created over two million refugees. For the suffering and deaths that have come from this invasion, we, the American people, must ask forgiveness since we overwhelmingly supported this great wrong when it began in 2003 and allowed it to continue. The scripture declares:
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (II Chronicles 7:14 KJV)

It is not a sign of weakness to confess wrong-doing. We believe that it is only the spiritually strong who are able to do this. Such a confession will go far to restore the stature of America as a truly moral nation. And in repenting on behalf of all Americans, including those who are not religious, the president (or Congress) should acknowledge that this entire society has mistakenly adhered to the view that safety and security can be achieved through domination or control of others, but that a better path to safety and security is to treat others with generosity, kindness and genuine concern for their well being.

We urge the Congress to pass a resolution rejecting the strategy of domination and embracing the strategy of generosity, and calling upon the world’s peoples to forgive our society for the destructive path it has followed. It should then convey this appeal for forgiveness on behalf of the American people to the peoples of the world.

II. Replace U.S. and British Forces in Iraq with an International Peace Force Acceptable to the Iraqi People

While no such force is possible as long as the U.S. presence continues, an international force, composed primarily of Muslims from non-neighboring states, but also non-Muslims from other states not engaged in violence or economic boycotts against the Iraqi people, could provide security and fill the power vacuum and conduct a plebiscite so that the Iraqi people themselves could determine their own future. The U.S. should give all our Iraqi military bases to this force, leave no forces behind as “advisors” or deployed in neighboring states ready to re-intervene. And we should require that all U.S. corporations operating in Iraq give at least the majority of their Iraq-derived profits to the task of Iraqi reconstruction.

III. Rebuild Iraq. Launch a Global Marshall Plan.

True repentance requires the works of repentance. It is not enough to simply say We’re sorry!” So the U.S. must commit the hundreds of billions needed to fully rebuild Iraq. Yet the rebuilding of Iraq should only be part of a larger Global Marshall Plan which the U.S. should announce now—to commit at least 1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the U.S. each year for the next twenty years toward the goal of eliminating global and domestic poverty, homelessness, inadequate health care, inadequate education, and for repairing the environment. Just as the first Marshall Plan allocated 1.5–2% of GDP after the Second World War to the rebuilding of Europe, this second Marshall Plan, extended to the rest of the world, will provide far more homeland security for the U.S. than the currently planned military spending that will squander our resources.

The Global Marshall Plan we propose is a major step toward a Strategy of Generosity which is the key to rebuilding trust in the United States. It is this kind of generosity which is required by the Scriptures of all the Abrahamic religions and should be pursued not only because it helps increase American security and respect for America around the world, but because it is morally appropriate and religiously mandated. If our Global Marshall Plan is backed by American political leaders purely for utilitarian reasons, it will be far less successful than if it is perceived by others around the world to have been supported by Americans because of a genuine caring for others and not solely because it is in our security interests to do so. Fostering an ethos of genuine caring for others—countering the ethos of selfishness, materialism and me-firstism that has been the “common sense” of a cynical media and our market-driven-culture—must become the highest domestic and foreign policy priority for our society.

If you agree with our perspective, please join the Network of Spiritual Progressives (you don’t have to be religious or believe in God—secular people with a spiritual consciousness as reflected in this ad are welcome) and help us spread these ideas. And ask anyone seeking your political support in 2008 to publicly endorse the Global Marshall Plan and the Strategy of Generosity. Don’t let media and politicians convince you this is “unrealistic” or “utopian,” because history shows (and the Iraq war proves) that militarism and domination are far less “realistic” as paths to peace and security. Please donate to help us publish this information in Congressional districts that do not yet call for an end to the war. (Donors of $500 or more will have their names listed on future ads, but every donation, no matter how small, will be greatly appreciated).

We, the undersigned, support the concept of repentance and generosity as central to the way to end the war in Iraq. We call upon our elected officials, media, and fellow citizens to give serious consideration to the strategy outlined above which requires a fundamental rethinking of what can really provide security for the U.S.

Drafted by Rev. Tony Campolo (author, Letters to a Young Evangelical) and Rabbi Michael Lerner (editor, Tikkun Magazine and national Chair, the Network of Spiritual Progressives) and signed by over 2500 people

3 films

over the last few weeks we've seen three films that were really wonderful, each of which dealt with impossible dreams.

The first was The Amateurs, starring Jeff Bridges. It is a sweet movie with an odd cast of characters and an unlikely story. Jeff ridges plays a character not unlike many others he has played - a lovable loser. He comes up with an idea... their little town will be the first town to produce a full length porno film. The porno film is a disaster but everything turns out in the end.

The second was King of California. Michael Douglas plays a character recently released from a mental hospital who has a dream of finding buried treasure. He pulls his daughter into this crazy scheme and they go searching after the treasure. You'll have to watch it to discover whether they find it.

The third is a completely different take on impossible dreams - Trade tells the story of a teenage Mexican boy trying to rescue his sister who has been trafficked into the US. Against impossible odds, Jorge goes after his sister Adrianna as she is sold in this strange new land of the United States. He is helped by an American police officer who is searching for a daughter he fathered via an affair some years earlier and who was sold into sex slavery by her mother. It is a glimpse of the darkest hell that human beings can create contrasted with love that will endure anything.

The three films point to the most beautiful aspects of the human spirit and in the case of Trade, the ugliest as well. I highly recommend all three films.

gigs

I've been playing with Jamie Green for a while now. She is a great songwriter and a wonderful performer and I've had a lot of fun working with her.


Recently, we've added a percussionist named Bob Terry. Bob has played with folk like Eddie Money, John Mellencamp, and Wang Chung and is one of those wonderful drummers who can lay down a groove that moves your very soul.

The next steps are a bass player and maybe a keyboard player.

In the meantime, we have two gigs this weekend...

Saturday, April 5th, 2008
@ Border's Books
2-4pm
900 State St. (Outdoors)
Santa Barbara CA
Price: Free

Sunday, April 6th, 2008
@ Stearn's Wharf Vintners Tasting Room
2:30 - 4:30
Stearn's Wharf - Outdoor Patio
Santa Barbara CA
Price: Free

If you're in beautiful Santa Barbara, stop by and have a listen and be sure to say "hi!"

what would you do with $16500?

What would you do with an extra $16500? Pay off some debt? Put it towards a car or a new flat screen tv? Buy a new guitar? Pay for school for one of your kids? Make a contribution to your church or some important charity? Just have enough cash to make ends meet in this time when things are pretty shaky for a lot of us...
Think of that number $16,500 when your $1200 "economic stimulus" check arrives. Why? Because that is the amount that your household is paying towards the Iraq war.
Is it worth it? Are you getting your money's worth?

Last Lecture

The web is a wondrous place filled with heart-touching stories, smut, and incredible information. A few days ago I came across what is evidently a lecture series at Carnegie Mellon University called “The Last Lecture.” In it, professors are invited to give an open lecture, imagining that it was the last chance they would ever get to talk to the students of the university. It became a way to talk about what the professors see as really important.

For one of the professors, Randy Pausch, it was more than just an exercise. One month before his lecture, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer with a prognosis of just a few months to live. His topic is achieving one’s childhood dreams. You can watch it here.

Since seeing his video, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I would say in a final sermon. At this point, I have to admit that my final sermon would not be very original. The title would likely be "Free Floaties for All" and would come from Spencer Burke’s book, The Heretic’s Guide to Eternity. He tells a story of standing on the beach one day with his 5 year old son watching huge waves roll in. The son turned to him and said something to the effect of, “Dad, I love you. I love you so much that if we were out there in the ocean and we knew that we were going to drown and we had one floatie… I’d give it to you.” That story forms the foundation of his theology… and it is a good one. He says that the basic premise of Christianity is that God gives us all free floaties. Period. There is nothing we can do to deserve God’s love and nothing we can do to separate ourselves from that love. That would pretty much be the content of my “last” sermon, the one that included everything that I wanted to be sure I said before it was too late.

So, if you had one final opportunity to tell the folk around you, the folk whom you love the one thing you think is most important, what would it be?

Obama wins Texas

this in from MSNBC

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
NBC News has allocated the remaining nine Texas caucus delegates, 7-2, in favor of Obama. That means the Illinois senator has won the most delegates, 99-94, as a result of both the Texas primary and caucuses.

Obama now leads by 129 in the overall delegate count, 1637-1508. Obama leads by 162 pledged delegates, 1415-1253. (There remains just one delegate unallocated from Democrats Abroad.) Clinton leads among superdelegates, 255-222, per the NBC News Political Unit count.

Also note, the Obama campaign has passed around that it has picked up two delegates in Mississippi, showing Obama with a 20-13 lead. NBC News' count remains 19-14 for Obama so far

Life is still hard in SB

One side event we're planning around Alexis' wedding is a wine tasting tour for friends attending from back east. We have a couple of wineries chosen already but a tasting is always worth doing.

One of our family's favorite wineries is Beckmen, so much so that we're members of one of their wine clubs. They're first on the list for our tasting followed by Stolpman (big, tannic Rhone style reds) and Mandolina (CalItal wines) but we needed at least one more and maybe two for the day.

We've been thinking about one of the larger wineries in the area - either Firestone or Fess Parker (yep, the Daniel Boone Fess Parker). Both of these wineries have decent wines at a lower price point than the others I had chosen. The women folk in the family prefer the tasting room at Firestone so we're leaning that way.

Last Friday, we had to pick up a few bottles of wine that we had ordered at Beckmen so we took part of the afternoon for a tasting. We started at Beckmen and had some wonderful wines from both their estate wines and the higher end Purisima wines. We tasted two Grenache's - an estate and the Purisima Vineyard wine. Both were wonderful and very drinkable now or worthy of a few years of cellaring. We also had two different Syrahs - the Estate Syrah and a Barrel Select Purisima. Again, wonderful big wines... a bit more fruit forward than the Grenache. We finished our tasting with a taste of a blend just called Purisima. Heaven in a bottle!

From Beckmen we headed to Zaca Mesa, one of the first wineries founded in Santa Barbara County after prohibition. We had heard good things about some of their wines but hadn't tasted any before this. We began with two Rhone style whites, a viognier and a roussanne. We don't drink a lot of white wine and I don't usually care for either of these varieties but both were very, very nice. If we were on a shopping trip, I would have come home with a bottle or three of the viognier. From there we went to the reds. Their Estate Syrah was very nice, but not quite as good as the Beckmen estate version. Our final wine was the Z Three, a blend of Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Grenache. It is a wonderful wine. We had to purchase a bottle.

Our last stop was Babcock. One of our wino friends really likes their Pinot Noir so we thought we'd try a tasting to see whether we should add them. Many who've seen the film Sideways, associate Pinots with Santa Barbara County. I guess there are a few good ones here (I don't particularly care for Pinots) but they really do pale in comparison to the Rhone style wines which are perfect for this place. So... we went to Babcock and began with a few whites - a Pinto Gris and a Chardonnay. Neither were "wows" but both were reasonably good wines. Then we had their rose - Big Fat Pink Shiraz. It was simple, but fun and we bought two bottles. This was followed by a Pinot Noir (still not my favorite varietal) and a Cabernet. Again, passable but not something I would purchase. We ended with a late harvest Chardonnay. Late harvest wines are very sweet, almost syrupy. The grapes are left on the vines until they begin to turn into raisins. The concentrated sugars make very complicated wines that can be amazing in small quantities... too much and you go into diabetic shock. Usually late harvests are made from Riesling, Muscat, or Gewürztraminer. The Chardonnay version was much more simple without the floral flavors one expects especially from Gewürztraminer... again not bad but not anything I would purchase.

So... we may add Zaca Mesa to the list along with probably Firestone although, we may do another tasting or two just to be sure. Life is hard.

who are we

I've been fascinated by brain research ever since I read a book with the title The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. A friend sent a link to this lecture and it is fascinating as Dr. Bolte Taylor shares her experience and challenges us to live in both halves of our brains.

McCain on health care reform

Let me first off say that I believe a McCain presidency would be almost as big a mistake as the Bush presidencies were/are. Occasionally I'll post reasons why.

The first has to do with health care. On his web site's health care page, McCain says, among other things that he would

Reform the tax code to eliminate the bias toward employer-sponsored health insurance, and provide all individuals with a $2,500 tax credit ($5,000 for families) to increase incentives for insurance coverage. Individuals owning innovative multi-year policies that cost less than the full credit can deposit remainder in expanded health savings accounts.

Let's unpack that for a minute. "Eliminate the bias toward employer sponsored health insurance..." What is the bias in the tax code? Employers can deduct the cost of provided insurance from their corporate income. If employers could not deduct these costs, does anyone really believe they would continue to provide it? Think how that would increase their already unsustainable costs. For example, if an employer was paying $10,000 a year for insurance for an employee and they suddenly could not deduct those costs, their real costs for that same benefit could jump as much as 35% to $13500. Bye bye health coverage as a benefit.

So what is McCain's solution then? a $2500 tax credit or $5000 for a family per year. Now, I don't know what insurance costs are where you live but my employer pays a lot more than $5K for my family's insurance. If I could purchase insurance in my area - which I can't because of controlled health issues - it would probably be at least $25K a year and possibly more. That means $20K+ out of my pocket. Of course, we cannot afford that so my controlled medical condition would no longer be controlled and well... you get the picture. And for those folk who are currently uninsured, the tax credit is not enough to enable them to purchase insurance either so it helps nobody.

So what solution does McCain's plan offer to the health care crisis? Even fewer people with adequate health insurance.

Is that the kind of health care reform you want? If it is, vote for John McCain.

experience?

The big claim from the Clinton campaign has been Hillary's experience qualifies her to be president while Obama has done nothing but talk. Wes Walls at Ketchup and Caviar has a great post outlining the accomplishments of both.

It is really worth a read and completely blows away the Clinton camps argument. Just one number to compare... in his first year as a Senator, Obama introduced 152 bills, most of them substantive, and co-sponsored 427 more. In 6 years as a senator, Hillary introduced 20 bills... and most of them were about things like naming courthouses.

Read the list and you'll quickly see that Obama has exactly the kind of experience we need.

Songwriting

Ever wonder about the songwriting process? How does a songwriter sit down and come up with words, melody, and chord changes that touch our hearts and make our spirits soar? Obviously, the process is different for different songwriters and under different circumstances. Some songwriters are inspired by events in their lives and the songs just flow. Others work at it like a 9-5 job. I remember reading once that Paul Simon has an office that he goes to each day and sits at a desk and writes.

Well, my friend Miche Fambro is a great songwriter and an all around astounding musician. Mick has put this wonderful video up on youtube to give us all some insight into how the process works at least sometimes.

4000

Five years and now the official death count of US military in Iraq is now 4000. There are officially 29314 wounded. And the department of defense reports that 145 US military personnel in Iraq have committed suicide. Of course, nobody is really counting the Iraqis. You can see all of the statistics at Iraq Coalition Casualties.

Bring them home.

But ending this war is not enough. We must address the mindset in this country that sees violence as the primary and best response to conflict. This must be changed.

Race in America

"My name is Roy. I'm a white, middle-aged, middle class, well-educated, male."

"Hi Roy!"

For years, I've had the fantasy of beginning a sermon on MLK Day that way. But having said all of that, I need to say some more. I grew up in what was then a blue collar, integrated neighborhood in Pittsburgh (Wilkinsburg) and experienced the racial tensions that were so prevalent during the 60's. We joked that we got off school 5 days every May for the annual riot season. I saw as the police waded into the violent confrontations between the black and white kids and essentially took the side of the white kids. I watched as my white friends went off to college and my black friends ended up in menial jobs or jail unless they were good enough athletes to get into a college on a scholarship. One friend from my high school got a basketball scholarship to the same rural white college I attended. He never graduated.

I could give hundreds of illustrations, some from my past and some as recent as a few weeks ago in beautiful Santa Barbara, all of which point to one inescapable truth - that the black experience in America is not the same as the white one. Unless we acknowledge this and work together to address it, it will continue to poison our common life.

Yesterday, I was driving a distance to a meeting and was listening to right wing talk radio as I drove. I came home and read a number of comments from folk on the right regarding Obama's speech on Race and I am struck by the inability to see what strikes me as obvious. Race still is an issue in the United States and Obama provides us with an opportunity to address this issue in ways that we have not. Again and again I heard or read comments that denigrated or even denied the black experience and in doing so, removed any possibility of movement forward. More and more I find myself motivated to become involved in this campaign.

Obama on Race

that's why I'm hoping that he becomes our next president.

that's why the world needs Obama to be the next leader of the United States

Gee... life is hard

My daughter is getting married in August and we're working on all of the details for the service and the reception. Parts of the preparation have been a lot of fun.

Alexis and Christian wanted two things at the reception... live music for dancing and decent wine (we do live in wine country). That presented problems. Volume rules and anti-alcohol policies ruled out many different spaces. Add to that the fact that we live in Santa Barbara where everything costs more and the possibilities narrowed quickly. We chose a venue that met our hopes, was reasonably affordable (it is Santa Barbara so reasonable is relative), allowed live music, and had a great menu. We tasted the wines available and at $20 a bottle and up, we were less than impressed. There is a $10 corkage fee so we figured anything $10 a bottle or less and we'd be ahead of the game. So... we've been having tastings of sub $10 wines.

This evening we were tasting some whites. Today, I picked up two bottles - a Tiger Hill Sauvignon Blanc from India! (as a joke, we tasted some Indian wines when we were in India in October and they were bad) and a bottle of Montes Chardonnay from Chile. From an earlier shopping trip I had bottles of Kono Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, a Firestone Chardonnay, a Fetzer Chardonnay, and a Kendall Jackson Chardonnay - all of which were well under our $10 limit.

Cheryl made some amazing chicken and Cheryl, Alexis, Christin, and I had dinner and tastes of 6 wines.

Here are some thoughts...

Tiger Hill - very simple, watery... let's just say that everyone dumped their little tastes.

Kono Sauvignon Blanc - This wine is from the Marlborough region of New Zealand which is known for wonderful citrusy wines. Some great ones like the Kim Crawford cost $13-15 a bottle. The Kona still had some of the grapefruit flavors I associate with this region but it didn't have a lot more than that. I liked it. Nobody else did.

Fetzer Chardonnay - years ago we used to drink Fetzer Sundial and thought this would be a reasonable wine to try. The label said "apple, pear, and tropical fruits." I tasted a dominant flavor of banana which I'm not crazy about. Everybody else liked it more than I did.

Montes Chardonnay - Alexis took a sip and immediately dumped it. She said, amoxicillan! bubble gum flavored amoxicillan." Everyone dumped it.

Firestone Chardonnay - I liked this idea since Firestone is a Santa Barbara winery and they have reasonably good wines. This chard had a bit more citrus than the others. I liked it. Alexis and Cheryl didn't.

Kendall Jackson Chardonnay - KJ has some vineyards right along route 1 in the northern part of Santa Barbara county and blends grapes from a number of regions including Santa Barbara County to make these lower level wines. While this one wasn't a great wine, it also didn't have any overwhelming flaws. Everyone liked it enough to add to it our list and nobody dumped it.

We tasted reds and a few other whites earlier (I'll blog about this later) and it seems that it is much easier to find reasonable reds than whites in the sub $10 range. We'll likely purchase a few cases of the Kendall Jackson to supplement a Paul Mas Sauvignon Blanc that we purchased after an earlier tasting...

someone is wrong on the internet

I participate in a number of mostly guitar related forums online but one I frequent is a the Christian Musician Forum. There are some wonderful folk who visit the list and I enjoy their online company... most of the time. It is one of the few boards I frequent that allows discussion of political topics. It also often has theological threads. In both cases, many of the views of the participants are far to the right of mine. I haven't learned to keep quiet and as my friend Toni, has reminded me, sometimes disagreeing causes more light than heat. Still, I find myself identifying with this cartoon that Toni had on his blog.



The cartoon comes from xkcd. Go there and do the mouse over to see the rest of the text. Thanks Steve!

If Obama Wasn't Black

He wouldn't be Obama. It is that simple. If he was white, female, differently abled, whatever, he would not be Obama. The man is where he is because of who he is and he is who he is because of the experiences that have shaped him. A central part of that experience comes from growing up as a man of color in the United States. His experience shaped his career choices. It presented him with a specific mix of opportunities, culture, and obstacles - all of which contribute to the man he is today. It shaped his message. It shaped his view of America. It shaped his dreams of what he could be and what we could be. So yes, Geraldine Ferraro, were Obama not black, he would not be where he is. But that is no different than saying, "if an eagle didn't have wings, it couldn't fly."

Of course, that is not what Ferraro meant. She meant that he is not qualified and that somehow, Barack Obama is the recipient of some kind of affirmative action for politicians that catapults him to the front of the line because of race. He is not capable but we'll give him a shot because he's black. She is belittling him... and all of the rest of us. It gives those who are blatantly racist a good excuse to not even consider Obama and it calls into question the judgment of anyone who is in the Obama camp.

This represents racism of the worst kind. It plays on all of the old stereotypes of a black man both as incapable and as irresistible. Just as race seems to be receeding as an issue in American life, it calls it back to the forefront and renders any progress we have made as suspect. That Ferraro doesn't seem to get it only shows the depth of racism in her. That Hillary Clinton has not condemned the statement in a categorical way only shows the degree to which she is willing to turn her back on what is right if it is politically expedient.

Of course, Obama is not only black. He is male. He is well educated. He comes from the midwest in urban settings. He had a specific experience of class. He has a lifetime of experience in the African American Church. He has a genetic makeup with certain abilities hard-wired into him. He has a wide variety of descriptors, each of which has served to help shape him into the man he is. And there is something in his character that has decided how each of these influences would change him. All in all, of the choices available, it adds up to the candidate for whom I would like to vote for president.

Olbermann on Ferraro

We've all heard the comments by Geraldine Ferraro that Obama would not be where he is where he not black...

Keith Olbermann has a hard hitting commentary on this incident.




my next post will give another perspective on Ferraro's comments.

Southern Baptists and the Environment

As the question of global warming moved to the center of public discourse, the evangelical Christian community was visibly vocal in opposition even to the issue being raised. When they did address it, it was often seen as a ruse of the devil to keep churches from addressing "real" issues or a part of some left wing conspiracy to destroy our culture. There were some pockets of dissent as some evangelicals talked about the responsibility of stewardship of the earth but, in large degree, they were drowned out by the majority voice. The Southern Baptist Convention was among the loudest in dismissing any discussion of global warming as a moral issue for Christians to consider.

This past week, a group of over 40 prominent Southern Baptist leaders released a Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change that represents a very cautious but real change in direction. They acknowledge that in the scientific community "there is general agreement" regarding the cause, the nature, and the severity of global warming. They go on to say

Though the claims of science are neither infallible nor unanimous, they are substantial and cannot be dismissed out of hand on either scientific or theological grounds. Therefore, in the face of intense concern and guided by the biblical principle of creation stewardship, we resolve to engage this issue without any further lingering over the basic reality of the problem or our responsibility to address it. Humans must be proactive and take responsibility for our contributions to climate change—however great or small.

Again and again in the statement the writers reaffirm stances on abortion and homosexuality - the social issues that Southern Baptists have held central. The writers did not want to open themselves to criticism that they were abandoning what the SBC sees as clear issues for controversial ones. Still, they take a stand on climate change and, given the history, it is a courageous one.

I have little respect for the Southern Baptist Convention. In my opinion they have abandoned the heart of the Baptist tradition. In shutting down any room for difference of opinion, they have lost the ability to hear the voice of the Spirit and deadened any sensitivity to the movement of God in changing contexts. Having said that, this statement gives me hope that perhaps there is a possibility for movement in the SBC. In spite of the cautiousness of the statement, it still represents the possibility of seeing new problems, new contexts, and new answers. That is grace.

which president?

Which Great US President Are You Most Like? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as John Kennedy 35th President, in office from 1961-1963 Born: 1917 Died: 1963 (assassainated) John Kennedy 67% Theodore Roosevelt 62% Abraham Lincoln 59% Dwight Eisenhower 57% Franklin Roosevelt 55% Thomas Jefferson 50% Woodrow Wilson 45% Ronald Reagan 45% George Washington 45% Lyndon Johnson 43% Harry Truman 29%

How the Mighty Are Fallen

By now everyone has read or heard about the fall of Elliot Spitzer, governor of New York. Spitzer was State Attorney General while we still lived in Albany and I have to say that I was impressed with him. He was a staunch defender of the rights of the general population and went after power people who were abusing their power. He made tons of enemies in high places. He was elected to the governorship with 69% of the vote on promises to reform the ethics of New York State politics. The people were behind him. He ran smack into the state legislature with both parties opposing his reforms and his agenda stumbled causing public support to sag. Still, he was charismatic and principled and some still spoke of an eventual presidential bid.

Then this. He is caught with a telephone trail of interactions with a prostitution ring. A politician whose career was based on standing against corruption and pursuing law breakers in the highest of positions with relentless determinism is caught breaking some of the very laws he had worked so hard to enforce. New York City papers are calling for his resignation with Newsday saying he "is either viciously self-destructive or pathologically arrogant, believing he wouldn't be caught."

I find myself wondering about that. In the church, we have more than once heard of very prominent church leaders being caught in similar sins and just like with Spitzer, they are often issues against which the preachers have railed long and hard. They cannot but know that getting caught would not only deeply damage their families and destroy their careers, it would damage, perhaps beyond repair, the work they have committed their lives to. Spitzer has just added one more reason to not trust politicians or the political process. All of those preachers have added one more example of the hypocrisy of people of faith. Any hope of reform was completely derailed.

What was he thinking? What were they thinking?

I suppose he'll need to resign. If he doesn't, accomplishing anything through the rest of his term will be next to impossible. Re-establishing trust with the populace would be the key and doing that would involve public contrition and public acknowledgement that he had betrayed not only his family but the hopes and dreams of the 69% who had voted for him. It wouldn't be pretty and would hurt his family even more.

Ten Canoes

I watch a lot of movies because I use clips in many/most of my sermons. So, I am always looking for interesting films that might have a 2 or 3 minute clip that I can use to underscore a theme in a sermon.

Yesterday I rented Ten Canoes, a wonderful little film directed by Rolf de Heer that tells a traditional Australian story within a story. The film is slow and quiet but worth seeing in itself. When pared with the documentary on the making of the film in the special features, it is as life enhancing as any film that I've seen in a long time. I highly recommend it.

Bible meme

I ran across this Bible meme at Bob Cornwall's blog who got it at Even the Devils Believe.

1. What translation of the Bible do you like best?

These days, I'm using The Message most often. I know it is not always a good translation and at times it misses the point entirely... but there are times when the phrasing is just perfect for today. If I want accuracy, I go to the NRSV.

2. Old or New Testament?

My gut wants to immediately say, "New," but there are some amazing stories in the Old that I would never want to lose. So a slight edge goes to the New.

3. Favorite Book of the Bible?

It's going to be one of the prophets... probably Isaiah

4. Favorite Chapter?

Isaiah 60... Arise! Shine!

5. Favorite Verse? (feel free to explain yourself if you have to)

how about 2? Romans 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NRSV)

6. Bible character you think you’re most like?

boy... I'm not sure I want to answer this honestly for all to see...

7. One thing from the Bible that confuses you?

how it inspires such idiocy in people

8. Moses or Paul?

Frankly, neither one... and both. Moses is kind of a cardboard character. We don't get much of his guts. And Paul, I'm not sure that I would like him in person. He seems a bit to sure of himself for me. Having said that, both of them are important characters to my faith.

9. A teaching from the Bible that you struggle with or don’t get?

This really is the wrong question. It isn't an instruction manual, there for us to study and learn whether A, B, or C is the proper answer. It is a story book, telling the story of people's experience of God through the centuries and their interpretations of those experiences.

10. Coolest name in the Bible?

Zipporah. As other's have said, I wanted to use this as the name for our daughter. We could have called her Zippy for short. Well, not really... but it has been a fun story in our house. For a while Alexis used it as her screen name.

The Fall of the Soviet Union and Iraq

What do these two subjects have to do with one another? Let's first talk briefly about the Soviet Union. It fell not because of the strength of America but because of the weakness of its own economy which was overburdened by a military budget that bled everything else dry. Military spending is not productive spending. It doesn't provide infrastructure or goods to the public. Instead it is just a little better than throwing the money away. It is the epitome of the disposable product. So all of this wasteful spending as they tried to keep up with us in an arms race while sustaining a war in Afghanistan was more than they could afford. When their economy collapsed, as was inevitable because of the percentage of non-productive sending, the nation crumbled.

Last Thursday Joseph Stigletz, a Nobel Prize winning economist, and Robert Hormatz, vice chairman of Goldman-Sachs International, testified before the Joint Economic Committee of congress. Stigletz said that he believes the overall cost of the Iraq war will be around 3 trillion dollars with the direct cost to US taxpayers being at least $2 trillion.

Both men testified about the opportunities to make this country better that are rendered impossible because of this war. Stigletz said that for a fraction of the cost, Social Security and Medicare could have been kept easily solvent for at least 50 more years. Each day's spending could put 58,000 children in Head Start, make college affordable for 160,000 students, pay the annual salaries of 11,000 border patrol agents or 14,000 police officers. And that is one day's costs. Watch this little film from the American Friends Service Committee to see more of what could be done with just 1 day's expenditure for this war.

Stigletz also noted that 40% of the vets from the first Gulf War are eligible for disability benefits which will go on for decades. Imagine, he asked, what the numbers will be for this war which will involve 2 million troops and go on for at least the 5 years we already have under our belt? Imagine with me the social costs when the safety net for them fails as it did for the Viet Nam vets - remember how many of them ended up homeless on the streets? How many of these young men and women will end up discarded? And what will happen to their families?

And finally they testified that because of tax cuts during war and what was an already growing deficit, this war is financed almost entirely by deficit spending. Bush has worked to try to hide the costs of the war by bypassing the normal budget process and using emergency appropriations for the funds. The costs will be hanging around our necks like an albatross for decades to come.

And John McCain says we should expect to stay there another 100 year!

Let me make a prediction. If we do, we will fall just like the Soviet Union did and for essentially the same reasons. It will have nothing to do with the strength of our ideals or the beautiful vision upon which this nation was founded. It will be because of a poorly planned and completely unnecessary war that strangled our economy.

A vote for McCain will virtually insure that end. Actually, I think a vote for Hillary will too. It is only Obama who is talking about seeing security in a new way - of building coalitions and negotiating before dropping bombs.

new layout

well... not very new. It probably looks pretty much the same to you, but it reflects a new way that blogger manages the layout of the page. In switching over, I lost all of my links and widgets on the sidebar so it gives me a chance to re-evaluate what is there. I'll be adding more as I go along.

The first new one is the music player with the tunes from soundclick. I have it set to play automatically as soon as you navigate to the page... is that too annoying?

The blogs that I linked are ones that I read regularly. There are obviously lots of others out there that are worth reading and which I visit occassionally, but these are my regular reads.

too close to true

The Onion put this wonderful piece of satire on the web...


Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

except it isn't so far from the truth... watch this clip from an interview with Don Siegelman regarding the theft of the 2002 election for governor in Alabama. The rest of Siegelman's story was covered on 60 Minutes. Scary stuff.

One Day

Ever think about what we could do if we diverted the cost of just one day of the Iraq war to meet social needs here in the US?



now imagine if we diverted all of those resources used in that war to touching the needs of the world... imagine how that would impact our security.

Thanks to the American Friends Service Committee

Frozen

when I think of frozen, it is usually in relation to thinking of February back in Albany, New York.

This is a delightful performance art piece done by improv everywhere that gives new meaning to the word

Station Fifteen

Station Fifteen - Resurrection!

The traditional Stations of the Cross end with the 14th station, "Jesus Body Is Laid in the Tomb." As Protestants who stand outside that tradition, we felt that the story was incomplete. Good Friday must be followed by Easter Sunday. Death must give way to life. God's love transforms the whole order of creation. So, our Stations include a 15th Station - Resurrection. As you see it is the brightest of the paintings. It is also the largest, symbolizing the fact that the resurrection gives meaning to all that went before.



Prayer for the Fifteenth Station

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

music

for a number of years Alexis and I have had some songs up on Soundclick.

I've played a variety of styles of music since that project - Jamie Green, Karen Thurber, Soulamente, and a funk project that was tentatively called "The Broken Hipsters" that never grew wings. I'm still very proud of the music Alexis and I did and it has been available at soundclick and CD Baby and I think even Itunes.

Sometime ago Soundclick added the code for a player to add to a page and I hadn't done it... so here it is. (moved to sidebar...)


Hope you like the tunes... you can click on store and purchase them for download and add them to your mp3 player or go to . CD Baby and get the CD of our earlier material.

amazing

such a diverse and wondrous creation...

Partscaster progress

Things are almost finished with the partscaster.

Here's the body with 6 coats of tung oil, the shielding, and the studs for the floating bridge installed. Looks pretty good doesn't it?



Here's the headstock with my little logo. It was dark when I applied it and I couldn't see as well as I would have liked in the garage... so it is a little crooked and there is a cat hair underneath it. Oh well.

I had a few pieces of exotic woods sitting in the garage that I've been waiting to use for something for over 20 years... so I cut a truss rod cover from a piece of stripped ebony. I don't have the proper tools so the line isn't quite even but I like the rustic look. I put one coat of tung oil on it.



and here it is with everything assembled...



which leads us to the almost part... I plugged it in and there is a problem with the fancy switch I added. It splits the bridge pickup when you combine that pickup with the single coils so 4 of 5 of the pickup selections are humbucking. Well, it is splitting the pickup but to the wrong coils so I have single coil hum in two positions that should be hum free. I'm trying to find out which wires to move so that it will work correctly and then we'll be set to go. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll have an answer and maybe have it ready to play in church in the morning.

Ouch

Churches walk a very fine line between being relevant to the culture and embracing it whole hog. Incarnation requires us to be relevant in the context we find ourselves but many of the values of the dominant culture are antithetical to the call of Jesus. If we do not speak the language of the culture and understand it, then we have nothing to say. At the same time, if we fail to be authentic to the values of Jesus in our context, we lose our credibility and damage the ministry of the church.

Sometimes, the line is really difficult to walk. I wonder when worship treads too close to entertainment or when church leaders become celebrities. At CDCC, we try to use media well, present music with quality, and I work hard to make my sermons engaging. I want to keep people's attention in a world where they are inundated with high production value entertainment. Running a church that speaks to this culture isn't cheap, especially in Santa Barbara. Money is an issue we cannot ignore but we must always be good stewards of the money we receive. And it is difficult to measure "success" outside of its cultural trappings.

Add to that a culture that has high expectations of the Church even as they ignore it. Folk in the broader culture expect churches of all institutions, to be authentic to the values we espouse. We become an easy target if we slip over the line even a little.

A friend shared this link to a youtube video that evidently came from an Australian television show called Chaser's War on Everything. It is a parody of a very large church in Australia with huge numbers of people, incredibly high production values, and more resources than many small countries in the developing world. I have no idea how fairly the parody reflects Hillsong, but it certainly hurts any of us in the institutional church who struggle with those lines. Evidently the perception of some in Australia is that Hillsong has crossed the line.



I have to say that I wrestled with whether or not I should post the video. I did laugh... and cringe as I watched it. Most of all though, I prayed... May God keep the Church of Jesus from becoming like this parody. I posted it as a reminder to myself...

gear

The other day, I blogged about v-picks and what a great product they are. Well, I was thinking about guitar gear and thought I'd post a few products and vendors that I really appreciate.

First... the big one - Lowden Guitars. George, Flo, and company build the most amazing acoustic guitars and they are wonderful people. If you are in the market for a small shop acoustic guitar, make sure you check out a Lowden.

Every musician who carries an instrument around needs a good case. There are lots of options at a variety of price points with different purposes in mind. For everyday use, I really like a good gig bag. They are light in weight. You can sling them over your shoulder, freeing up your hands. And the good ones are almost as protective as old fashioned hard cases. My favorite is the Incase slim bag. They aren't cheap but they are great bags and really protect your electric guitar or bass. Unfortunately, they don't make an acoustic bag any longer. Mono makes an acoustic bag that looks pretty good. One of these days, I'll probably try one out.

Most fingerboards are not finished and so the wood is subject to drying out. A good fingerboard oil is a must but what to use is a bigger question. There are lots of products available - some of which are marketed for guitars and others that are either aimed at other purposes ("lemon oil" furniture polish) or just bizarre (nose oil!). I really like Fret Doctor. It is a mix of natural oils and stabilizers that works great. It is also available in smaller bottles for use as bore oil for woodwinds.

Strings... without strings, a guitar doesn't do much. In the last decade or so, a number of companies have released strings that are coated with teflon like substances to increase string life - strings lose their brightness as dirt and corrosion build up. I tried a number of those different strings on my acoustic guitars and just didn't care for any of them. They lasted a long time, but they didn't sound very good to me. I found a little company called Wyres Strings in Canada that makes coated strings that sound as good to me as the uncoated ones. They last forever and sound great. I use the TP1256 which have light gauge trebles and medium gauge bass strings. This works great for dropped tunings and gives me a little bigger bottom.

On electric guitar, I don't hear the change as strings age quite as drastically as I do on acoustic so I go for inexpensive here. I purchase my electric strings from Webstrings and used to get my acoustic strings there as well. There are only a few companies that actually manufactuer guitar strings. Most come from those couple of factories and are re-branded by a company that markets them... so there is a strong possibility that strings from webstrings are the same ones you get at the local music store... except the webstrings cost half as much.

Back to the partscaster. There are 3 or 4 companies that make wonderful guitar bodies and necks - Warmoth, and USA Custom Guitars stand out. Between those two companies you can get great bodies or necks made in the USA of top qualty woods with an amazing number of options... and there are other companies such as allparts or mightymite that offer fewer options at lower prices from overseas manufacturers. (I put together a beautiful guitar using parts from Warmoth and USACG.) For me though, Carvin guitars works. It is true that there is only one body shape and one neck profile available but the options for different woods are there, the price is right, and the fit of the parts is second to none. If you go with one of their kits, you get everything you need at a much lower price point than you would pay if you purchased everything separately. In the next few days, I hope to finish my latest partscaster and I'll post some more photos.

Last, my favorite acoustic guitar shop in the world is Cathedral Music in Troy, New York. Klem says he doesn't sell any junk and that is absolutely true. Klem's inventory is not the biggest but every guitar he sells at any price point is a gem. His customer service is also second to none. Don't buy a high end acoustic guitar without talking to Klem first... and tell him that I sent you.

Station Fourteen

Station Fourteen - Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb



Prayer for Station Fourteen

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.

Station Thirteen

Station Thirteen - The Body of Jesus Is Taken Down from the Cross



Prayer for Station Thirteen

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.

Station Twelve

Station Twelve - Jesus Dies



Prayer for Station Twelve

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.

cool product

Guitar players are often gear whores... we have this myth that if we just purchase the correct equipment we'll become stars. So we go through lots of different guitars, amps, accessories (ask my wife, she can tell you how many guitars and amps I've gone through)... The problem is that while many are great, they are not qualitatively different from the one you just sold, and then you wish you had the old one back - boy I wish I had that '68 tele back and the '64 Deluxe Reverb and the '70 Marshall 50 and the...

Well, I came across a wonderful little product that is great and truly is qualitatively different. I had been using ivory picks made from old piano keys. They sound great and feel great but they are expensive, inconsistent, and hard to find. One of the guitar websites that I frequent has had a lot of buzz about a new pick company (how boring can you get?) with picks made of acrylic. Frankly, I wasn't expecting much and didn't plan to order any. When I visited NAMM, V-Picks had a booth and were handing out free samples. Their picks aren't cheap for picks - $4, but they're a lot less than my ivory ones. So, I picked one up, not expecting to be impressed. I was. It is great! It sounds great. It feels great. I like it as much or more than the ivory picks and it is 1/5th the price or less and it looks as if it will last a very long time. So I ordered some more including some of their acoustic models which have a slightly different bevel. Again, I didn't expect much. I knew that different materials sound different, but different bevels? Well, they are completely different and I am thrilled to have both.

If you play guitar, check out these picks. They really are amazing and do sound and play significantly differently than your stock music store picks. Thanks Vinni

Station Eleven

Station Eleven - Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross



Prayer for Station Eleven

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.

bolt-t progress

I promised to follow the process of putting together the Carvin Bolt T kit. Frankly it has been frustrating. I waited longer for the kit than I expected but was very pleased with it when it finally arrived. The body



is very light weight (which generally is a good thing) and has pleasant grain for alder which isn't a fancy looking wood. The original plan was to dye it using bing cherry from Woodburst Dyes. I placed an order with them with the expectation that it would arrive in about a week... after three weeks of waiting I canceled the order.

In the meantime, I sanded the arm and belly cuts to be a little deeper than the original body and then decided just to use tung oil as a finish. So here is the body after the sanding and two coats of the finish.



Tung oil is a very easy finish to use and I like the look, the feel, and any effect that it might have on the tone of a solid body guitar. It darkens the alder nicely and brings out the grain. I added a third coat this morning and plan two or three more. More coats will give a little more gloss to the finish and will darken the wood a little more.

While I was waiting for the stain to come, I put 4 coats of tung oil on the back of the neck and the headstock. Notice that the oil doesn't darken the maple nearly as much as it does alder.



Here is the front of the neck. You don't add finish to the ebony fingerboard. I really like the little streak of lighter color in the grain.



I also changed the switch for selecting pickups while everything else was sitting.

Another little frustration presented itself yesterday. On the other partscasters that I've put together, I did a little logo on waterslide decal paper and applied it on the headstock. I had a small piece of decal paper left over from a previous build, put it in the printer, printed my logo and... the ink didn't stick to the paper. I guess there must be some kind of coating on the paper than didn't age well since its been sitting for about 2 years. So, either I wait to get more decal paper before putting the guitar together or go without my little decal. And I've not been able to find any of this paper locally. I'd have to purchase it via the web. ARGGGHHHH

So... I'm looking at final assembly in about 3 or 4 days without the decal, or waiting about a week or so if I choose to put the decal on.

Station Ten

Station Ten - Jesus is Stripped of His Clothing



Prayer for Station Ten

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.

Station Nine

Station Nine - Jesus Falls a Third Time



Prayer for Station Nine

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.

Station Eight

Station Eight - Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem



Prayer for Station Eight

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.

Station Seven

Station Seven - Jesus Falls a Second Time



Prayer for Station Seven:

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.

Simpsonized!

I've been Simpsonized!

Station Six

Station Six - Veronica Wipes Jesus' Face



Prayer for Station Six

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

Station Five

Station Five - Simone of Cyrene Is Made to Carry Jesus' Cross



Prayer for Station Five

Sometimes I am frightened to give of myself to others. Peel the caul from my eyes so that I might see when I give part of myself to help another, I will gain ten times ten what was given. Show me that there is nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

Station Four

Station Four - Jesus Meets Mary, His Mother



Prayer for Station Four

In the midst of a hectic world, I am thrown. I turn my head this way and that, seeking solace in the mess. Guide me to those who will nurture me. Lead me to those who will lift me up out of the mess so that I might find that peace that passes understanding.

New Partscaster

In my profile I mention that I play a partscaster electric. For those of you who aren't guitarists, let me explain. In the electric guitar world, there are basically two families of guitars - those based on Gibson designs and those based on Fender designs. Fender style construction included a bolt on neck. What that means in practical terms is that putting together a guitar with that style construction is sort of like building with legos... you purchase well made parts, bolt or screw everything in place and you have a guitar. Obviously the parts making requires a great deal of skill and complicated machinery and there is the issue of setting the guitar up (adjusting everything) to make it play well and in tune, but basically if you are putting together a partscaster, it isn't rocket science. Good parts, careful assembly and you have a decent guitar.



I did my first partscaster (that's it above)about 5 years ago using a Carvin kit. Basically I bought that kit because it was inexpensive and I hoped I'd get an OK guitar out of the deal. I love the guitar. I have changed some of the electronics to my taste but even stock, I really enjoyed that guitar. So I though using more expensive parts from a variety of vendors could get me something I liked even better. I built this guitar:



pretty huh? The parts are very high quality and I did a good job putting it together. Still, it didn't sound any better than the Carvin and I prefer the shape of the Carvin neck (read, I like the way the Carvin feels better)

Then, I began to get an itch of a different type of bridge on a guitar (these two were both hardtails which means the bridge is solidly flat against the guitar body) and I have been wanting a floating trem. So the fancy partscaster sold and I ordered another kit from Carvin, this one with a trem bridge. I found that the carvin body and neck fit together better than the parts from other vendors, I liked the pickups on the Carvin, and I prefer the sound of the simpler wood body of alder over the fancy stuff, and I like an ebony fingerboard on a maple neck so the kit made sense and cost a lot less than sourcing out all of the parts individually. The only things I changed from the stock kit are the addition of stainless steel frets and a different bridge pickup. I ordered the kit on December 5.

The kit arrived today! Whooo Whooo! At this point, I'm just doing final sanding so there is nothing exciting to show... well, here's the body



I am going to carve the arm and belly cutouts a little deeper. The body will be stained with bing cherry from Woodburst and I'll do a tung oil finish on top of that and on the neck (I love the feel of tung oil). I'll also be swapping out the switch for a fancier one that does some cool things beyond the stock switch. This will be the first time I've set up a guitar with a trem so wish me luck with that. As the kit comes together, I'll blog about the process and add some photos.

Station Three

Station Three: Jesus Falls the First Time




Prayer for the Third Station

In my fear of failure, I abandon difficult projects, people, and problems. I procrastinate, and I finish tasks haphazardly. Buttress my soul with your strength. Help me to see that I can accomplish anything with you by my side.

Station 2

The Second Station - Jesus Takes His Cross



Prayer for the Second Station
Along my journey there will be obstacles. Give me the strength to pursue my path. Give me courage to persist in life’s problems. Allow my eyes to be opened to the world and the communal struggles your people face. Give me courage to join together with my sisters and brothers to take up our communal crosses.

Obama for President

I voted for Obama. I think he is the far stronger of the two candidates left in the Democratic party. I haven't worked for his campaign. Frankly, I'm not as happy with some of his policies as I was with some of the candidates who have withdrawn. Still, he was my choice because of some intangibles that I couldn't quite make clear.

The following video expresses those thoughts clearly. It is just under 22 minutes long but it is worth listening to the entire thing. Let Lawrence Lessig tell you why he is for Obama and if your state is still to come in the primaries, Vote Obama for the next president of the United States.

Had I seen this video a week or so ago, I think I would have been out actively campaigning for Obama.

Station 1

As I said in my previous post, Alexis did the paintings and wrote the prayers for our stations at Cambridge Drive Church. Because the tradition of the Stations of the Cross is foreign to our tradition, she was freed to interpret the stations in ways that go far afield from the tradition. The paintings are abstract. The prayers are personal. I hope you find them helpful in your faith journey.

Opening Prayer:

Dear Creator – Thank you for your greatest miracle, and your greatest gift. I walk now, remembering your walk two thousand years before. My heart meditating on the world’s most awesome power, your love.
Amen.


The First Station: Jesus is Condemned to Die





Prayer for the First Station:

Some will accuse and some will attack. When words come at me like swords, I pray for understanding of hurt hearts and of frightened minds. Give me strength to be wise, still my heart of confusion, give me clarity to see, and grant me peace to forgive.

Ash Wednesday and the Stations of the Cross

I'm a Baptist. We aren't known for being particularly concerned with ancient rituals, liturgy, the church year, or religious artwork. In part that is true for me except I do find the church year very meaningful and helpful in setting a rhythm for my life.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Penitential seasons are not important in my tradition but this one is for me. Actually this is the first year in at least 20 that I haven't had ashes on my forehead. One thing we do at Cambridge Drive Church each year is to hang stations of the cross. I finished hanging the paintings this morning and will spend some time praying through them later today.

Throughout Lent, I will post the paintings and the suggested prayers that we have on our walls... but first some information. This text is from a handout that we have near the first station. It is based on a Roman Catholic site that can be found here.

Why Do the Stations?
The most important reason for reviving the practice of making the Stations of the Cross is that it is a powerful way to contemplate, and enter into, the mystery of Jesus' gift of himself to us. It takes the reflection on the passion out of my head, and makes it an imaginative exercise. It involves my senses, my experience and my emotions. To the extent I come to experience the love of Jesus for me, to that extent the gratitude I feel will be deep. Deep gratitude leads to real generosity and a desire to love as I have been loved. First, just a note about the history of the stations.

The History:
From the earliest of days, followers of Jesus told the story of his passion, death and resurrection. When pilgrims came to see Jerusalem, they were anxious to see the sites where Jesus was. These sites become important holy connections with Jesus. Eventually, following in the footsteps of the Lord, along the way of the cross, became a part of the pilgrimage visit. The stations, as we know them today, came about when it was no longer easy or even possible to visit the holy sites. In the 1500's, villages all over Europe started creating "replicas" of the way of the cross, with small shrines commemorating the places along the route in Jerusalem. Eventually, these shrines became the set of 14 stations we now know and were placed in almost every Catholic Church in the world. More recently, this devotional practice has been embraced by other Christian traditions.

The Context:
The first point to note is that this is prayer. It isn't an intellectual exercise. It is in the context of my relationship with God. I could read through the text of each of the stations, and look at the pictures, but that wouldn't necessarily be prayer. This is an invitation to enter into a gifted faith experience of who Jesus is for me. It becomes prayer when I open my heart to be touched, and it leads me to express my response in prayer.
The second thing to remember is that this is an imaginative exercise. Its purpose is not a historical examination of "what really happened" on that day in history. It's about something far more profound. This is an opportunity to use this long standing Christian prayer to let Jesus touch my heart deeply by showing me the depth of his love for me. The context is the historical fact that he was made to carry the instrument of his death, from the place where he was condemned to die, to Calvary where he died, and that he was taken down and laid in a tomb. The religious context is that today Jesus wants to use any means available to move my heart to know his love for me. These exercises can allow me to imaginatively visualize the "meaning" of his passion and death.
The point of this exercise is to lead us to gratitude. It will also lead us into a sense of solidarity with all our brothers and sisters. In our busy, high tech lives we can easily get out of touch with the terrible suffering of real people in our world. Journeying with Jesus in the Stations allows us to imagine his entry into the experience of those who are tortured, unjustly accused or victimized, sitting on death row, carrying impossible burdens, facing terminal illnesses, or simply fatigued with life.

How to:
Just go from one station to another. When "arriving" at a station, begin by looking carefully at the image itself. Let the image lead your imagination wherever it will go. Then read the description of the station. Look at the image again and let it lead you deeper into your experience of Jesus' love and suffering. Then, pray. You may pray the prayers that are written on the wall or use your own prayer. When you finish the 14th station, stop and remember that the story is not over. Good Friday is followed by Easter Sunday and the death of Jesus leads to his resurrection. Spend a few moments in contemplation of that miracle and of the power of God that overcomes even the power of death. For this reason, we have an additional station which goes beyond the traditional 14 - Resurrection

When you are finished, sit in silence and pray a while, resting in the experience.

The paintings and prayers were done by Alexis Donkin. In addition to being my daughter, Alexis is an amazing young woman. She did part of her undergraduate education at Bard College as a painting major. She finished at Juniata College as a Peace & Conflict Studies major and is finishing a masters in the International Studies department at UCSB with plans to pursue a PhD in conflict studies with an emphasis on the way that religious traditions play out in conflict situations.

I hope you find these stations as meaningful as I do. If you are in the Santa Barbara area and would like to experience them all at once, drop me a note and we'll arrange a time.

Super Tuesday

Tomorrow is February 5, Super Tuesday...

If you are in a state that is having a primary, be sure to vote!

Superbowl

I'm not a HUGE a football fan, but I grew up in Pittsburgh where football is religion so it is next to impossible to not at least be a little fan. Well... I'm more than a little fan. I'm a big fan at least of the Steelers. I began this past season that they would make it to the superbowl. Inconsistent play and an offensive line that allowed far too many sacks kept that from being anything more than a fantasy.

There is no question that the New England Patriots are a talented team. They won every game through the season. They made very few mistakes and broke lots of records. Somehow, I could not like them and every week I hoped they would lose.

Early in the season, the New England Patriots were caught cheating. They were filming the defensive play calls of an opposing team. In effect, they stole the other teams playbook. I immediately thought about what would happen if a grad student cheated on a test by stealing the questions before hand. Of course, they would be thrown out of school with no hope of being admitted into any school for a graduate program ever again. Even in High School if you're caught cheating on a test, you fail the test and perhaps the term. Well, the Patriots kept the win and were given a fine - chump change in NFL terms.

As the season went on, they ran up scores on some of the teams that they beat. Their arrogance was disgusting. When it came to the superbowl, they were picked to win by 2 touchdowns and in reality, it seemed to be a reasonable prediction. Reports came out that during the week prior to the game, their players sent invitations to players from the opposing team to come to their victory parties. They even tried to trademark "19-0."

And then the game took place and the Giants did everything right... they pressured Tom Brady, they hit the receivers, they won in the trenches on both sides of the ball and they did the one thing that no other team had been able to pull off against the Patriots, they made the big plays when they were needed. They won. And how the mighty are fallen.

I've watched every superbowl including the ones that were won by the Steelers but I don't think any win has satisfied me more than the Giants beating the Patriots.

There were a few great commercials (I really liked the e-trade commercials) and Tom Petty didn't have any wardrobe malfunctions... but best of all, the Patriots LOST!!!!!

NAMM 3

In my first post about NAMM, I showed some photos of the Lowden booth and a photo of my friend Thomas Leeb, who is both an amazing player and an endorser of Lowden Guitars (and a great guy too). Now NAMM is not a place for subtlety. It is all about flash, about catching your attention and grabbing you as you walk by. Add to that the fact that the volume police are always around to be sure that nothing rises above the general din of the place. Demonstrators have a fraction of a second to catch someone's attention above all the flashing lights, skin, noise, crazy hair, tattoos, and more skin. Thomas can play with as much beauty, grace, and subtlety as anyone out there but if he did at NAMM, nobody would stop to listen. Thomas can also do the flash thing better than just about anyone on an acoustic guitar. The video below is of a performance at Tone Merchants with Thomas playing a piece that was very popular at NAMM and always gathered a huge crowd which blocked the walkway. Talk about flashy playing.



For anyone who cares, he is playing a Lowden F35 with maple sides and back and spruce top. And yes, there is an added piece of wood there at the cutaway to help stop him from wearing through the top of the guitar.