Restoring Soul through Community

Incarnating Lawful Love 2 – Christian Peacemaking Basics

2011-12-17T16:24:00.000-05:00

In my lastpost, I began sketching some dynamics which followers of Christ can monitorin the midst of conflict, in ourselves & others. I realized, after the post,that many folks don’t have the training and experiences I’ve been blessed to receivein Christian conciliation. So, I want to lay some biblical peacemaking groundworkbefore I proceed further with describing the dynamics, warning signs and redflags, as well as the encouraging and nurturing signs of God’s activity andpresence within the relationships.

The initial step: Thebasic foundation for any conflict resolution process must be determined. Weclaim that the foundation for our unity is Christ himself, crucified andresurrected, so that we may inherit the promises of God. That sounds abstract,I know, so let’s give alternative examples of foundations to contrast ours. Secularmediation’s goal is to settle material differences in a dispute by use of laws andregulations which pertain to the matter. If a matter ends up in a court of law,laws and regulations which have bearing on the material differences in thatjurisdiction are utilized. Religions have different governing principles thansecular courts, and in some countries (including the US) religious judicatorieshave jurisdiction over those who’ve agreed to abide by the principles &authority of their religious documents in order to be employed, or to engage inbusiness transactions, or to be a member of their organization. Colleges andcorporations also have student, professor or employee handbooks which lay outconditions and expectations of enrollment or employment. Families,congregations and cultures have dynamic systems within which conflict ishandled as determined “appropriate” by that system’s model. Of course, not allof these systems function in healthy, loving or honoring ways from a healthy& loving foundation! Prejudice is harmful, hard to root out, and willpoison every interaction. Prejudice (“partiality” is the word used inScripture) comes in many forms: favoritism, racism, sexism, ethno-centrism,nationalism, classism, deference to financial or worldly status, superiority accordingto human wisdom, and any scale by which we judge others rather than serve them (seethe grid in the last post, for more examples and a graphic image).

Secondly, a realistic assessment of the position orthe interests from which those in conflict operate is imperative toreconciliation. Our subjective position – where we are, how we perceiveourselves & others in relation to one another, how we choose to usewhatever power we may have in that relationship & how we processinformation according to life experiences, e.g. – and the interests we have inthe conflict affect the way we use and abuse concrete, verifiable facts andlegal principles.

Consider one recent news event – Newt Gingrich blasted GOP Rep.Paul Ryan’s plan to balance the federal budget in May as “right-wing socialengineering” and too much of a “radical change”. Within a couple of days, heclaimed to have been “tricked” by the interviewer, and said, “Any ad whichquotes what I said on Sunday is a falsehood.” That statement is self-refutingand self-contradictory, because employing a direct quote cannot be a falsehood.What elicited Gingrich’s blustery response was that he belatedly realized thepolitical context had changed dramatically from his time as Speaker of theHouse. The current GOP political context altered his position because hisinterests (being elected) required that shift. Yet, his other interests (e.g., self-protection and countering a public image of untrustworthiness) meant thathe could not admit his subsequent reevaluation of his own words; thus, hethreatened the news reporters and his political opponents. Belligerence toward andblame-shifting onto others is a mask for failure to face one’s weaknesses and self-contradictions.

Thirdly, powerimbalances have to be recognized and redressed. Our secular legal systemdoesn’t do this well, at all. Yes, Legal Aid attorneys will be provided to alldefendants, but no one imagines that overworked and underpaid attorneys arecapable of balancing out the power imbalance. The force of deep pockets andpolitical influence too frequently prevails. Police, State and local prosecutingattorneys have much more power than the poor, disconnected, and thosediscriminated against in our society. Plus, they also are pressured to “close”or “win” cases, and are judged by voters or politicians according to thoserates. However, government employees that they are, they have significantly fewerresources in contrast to the financial power of corporations, the wealthy andthe numerous higher-paid attorneys they employ to protect their interests, evenat the expense of equal justice, appropriate governance, or proportionaltaxation. The 30-day sentence of house arrest plus 2 years’ probation for BarryBonds is a sad example of unequal justice. Even worse, the complete dearth ofprosecutions of Wall Street financial executives for fabricating financialinstruments to defraud unwary investors, while shifting the risk from failureonto the federal government is shocking. Some applaud the penalties assessed toFNMA and FHLMC; however, I’m aware of how those penalties stand in appalling contrastto the absence of penalties to those investment banks and bankers who garneredfar more wealth from their unethical and devious actions. That’s not to say thatFNMA and FHLMC executives were not malfeasant in financial risk-taking; it isto say that those who were penalized had less power than those who’ve done far worseand escaped penalties, thus far.

In Christian conciliation, the goal of conciliation betweenfellow Christians includes more than a resolution of material differences; thegoal of conciliation between Christians is unity in Christ, loving and servingGod, one another and the church. The foundation has to be scripturally-basedand held together in love within the Body of Christ in community. A faithful Christianunderstands that his/her subjective position and interests must be winnowed bythe Word and the Holy Spirit’s discernment, informed by their brothers andsisters in Christ. The power Christians should use is found in the cross ofChrist. We are called to humble love and service of one another, for the gloryof God and the building up of the church members.

²²For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, ²³butwe proclaim Christ crucified, astumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴butto those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God andthe wisdom of God. ²⁵For God’s foolishness iswiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
²⁶Consider your own call, brothers and sisters:not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not manywere of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose what is foolishin the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shamethe strong; ²⁸God chose what is low and despised inthe world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, ²⁹so that no one might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whobecame for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification andredemption, ³¹in order that, as it is written, “Letthe one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1)

Fundamentally, however, Christian conciliation isn’t possible ifeither party to the conflict determines

Christ is irrelevant to the resolution (i.e.,the person’s goal is not unity in Christ), or
Either party acts as an enemy of Christ, whateverprofession they may make (i.e., one party refuses to honor Jesus’ command tolove the other in accordance with scripture).

In other words, all parties to the conflict must be actingfaithfully toward one another, “in Christ”, and entrusting themselves and oneanother to the Lord who is able to make them stand. (Romans 14:1-12) Thefoundation for Christian reconciliation is Christ himself; we arereconciled through the cross:

¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who oncewere far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴Forhe is our peace; in his flesh hehas made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is,the hostility between us. ¹⁵He has abolished the lawwith its commandments and ordinances, thathe might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus makingpeace, ¹⁶and might reconcile both groups to God inone body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. ¹⁷So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were faroff and peace to those who were near; ¹⁸for throughhim both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹Sothen you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with thesaints and also members of the household of God, ²⁰builtupon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself asthe cornerstone. ²¹In him the whole structure isjoined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; ²²inwhom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.(Ephesians 2)

Basically, if one party or the other party to a conflict determinesto be the other person’s enemy, there’s no possibility of moving forward towardunity in Christ. If the God we worship is the God who “so loved the world thathe gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, buthave eternal life” (John 3:16), then we are called to follow him in ourthoughts, words, and actions toward everyone – including those who act asenemies to us. It isn’t possible to act as the enemy of any person created inGod’s image while following Christ who died, demonstrating God’s love for us. “…whilewe were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son…”(Rom. 5:8-11)

Incarnating Lawful Love among Enemies

2011-12-06T15:21:00.001-05:00

A Personal Note:every person has suffered from conflict in his/her life. No one of us isexempted, although some have certainly experienced more destructive conflictthan others. Extreme alienation is produced by relentless, destructive andviolent enmity. Recovering from a toxic environment which breeds enmity andmurderous stress takes a while, and without God’s love, presence and strongsupport from wise companions, complete healing is unreachable. Whether we’recognizant of the reality or not, most of us have seen Jesus’ warning in Matt.12:43-45 manifested in people we have known. Many, if not all, of us haveexperienced the stress of people who seek to harm us, personally orprofessionally, and who try to fracture the peace and harmony we have withinour families and relationships. These people imagine personal gain to be in others' destruction. Two of my closest genetic relatives have attempted to destroy my marriage,undermine my family, relationships and career for many years & decades. My background is highly academic, and so I’ve wrestled to understand their actionsand enmity from the perspective of my faith journey with Jesus Christ, and as a thorough-goingintellectual with degrees in politics, economics and theology, withtraining and work in biblical conflict resolution. (Though I try to write simply, inother words, I frequently fail! This is a looong post. (o: ) As a Christ-follower, Jesuscalled me to love God, neighbors and enemies in my thoughts, prayers, words andactions. Jesus’ call kills me. Simply put, I don’t want to love these peoplewho actively seek the destruction of my life and family relationships. But, tofollow Jesus, my natural self and its demands must die. Sometimes, that deathhas felt like hell. Forgiving is the biblical process of letting go of ournatural self’s demands, and allowing God to judge others in God’s time. Enemies,by definition, continuously trespass healthy boundaries. (Let Christ-followersremind ourselves, again, all of us have trespassed against others!) In Christ, bythe power of the Holy Spirit, I have chosen love, not enmity. What I reflectabout my journey, below, is meant to encourage others. Perhaps, the patterns observed in those who love and those who hate might resonate with others’ observations, too. May this encourage those who love God to keep following Jesus. To those who don’t know him, Jesus lives. Heis God’s lawful love incarnate – steadfast, faithful, trustworthy, grace-filledand true. God is good. Jesus said,

⁴³“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighborand hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴But I say to you, Love yourenemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵sothat you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise onthe evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on theunrighteous. ⁴⁶For if you love those who love you,what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, whatmore are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father isperfect. (Matthew 5)

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When most of us think about laws, we think about a list ofrules external to us, actions we should or should not take based on criteriaabout which most of us had no influence. The prophets, Jesus, and his apostles,however, clearly indicate that humans already embody laws in our bodies –thoughts, words, tastes, preferences, actions, experiences, reactions andinteractions. By our words, actions,and choices we are constantly revealing whom or what we worship. In ourbodies, we are constantly judging and assessing whether others measure up to our norms of what is “good”,right, fair, just, moral, appropriate or “tasteful” to do. However, as do speedlimits, traffic regulations, societal expectations and criminal laws, humannorms are constantly fluctuating, formed, hardened and softened through goodand bad experiences, affected by good, bad, persuasive, manipulative &/orpowerful people, across cultures, within the course of time. This simplistic (&reductionist) 3-dimensional grid gives an idea of how we naturally embody“laws”. Imagine the diamonds on the grid representing one person measuredaccording to a set of standards, at a certain point in time…

The horizontal plane gives the subjective measure of howlittle/much a person has and accumulates, and the vertical ordering gives theranking a person enacts at any given day or period in life, by priorities oftime, energy and resources. If we add the 3^rd dimension of the depthof time, the fluidity and inter-relationships of the points becomes moreobvious, and we begin to perceive that our life has markers at certain moments(the diamonds), but also assumes a shape and direction over time. Imagine thisdynamic continually being enacted in our body and choices, and the dimensions takeshape in the person we see in the mirror. The person I am lives within a farmore complex developing constellation of people, culture, race, ethnicity andhistory.

As we naturally interact according to our own & others’relative positions on the grid of our bodies & human positions, we willfail to meet people on the holy ground of God’s saving grace, mercy and welcomein Christ. We cannot see ourselves, or know what God knows of us. We cannot fullysee who others are in God’s sight, where they need God, where they struggle,now, and how they long for healing and wholeness. We’re stuck assessing themand ourselves according to humanmeasurements from our relative scale which is subject to time and our bodies.(Rom. 8:5-7) Just as one person has one view from the floor of a canyon, soanother person has a different view when stuck on a cliff, even if both viewsare reflected “truly” at that moment & immediate context. Every aspect of andeach behavioral choice we’ve made in our whole life affects the anglesfrom which we justify, measure and/or condemn ourselves and others.Metaphorically, as soon as we freezetime’s passage to measure and judge ourselves or others, we’ve measuredinaccurately and untruthfully. TheHeisenberg Uncertainty Principle provides a physical metaphor for thisspiritual truth: the more accurately a scientist calculates the position of aparticle in physics, the less accurately the particle’s speed can be measured,and vice versa.

We cannot see the activity of God in our assessments of ourown or others’ positions on the grid. We can only perceive the Holy Spirit’s continuingbreath & life by maintaining our connection to Godself, and inasmuch as possible from our side, with one another. We cannot know others’ hearts, yet we should discerndeveloping fruit (or lack) and our own or others’ motion toward light ordarkness, toward confessing or hiding of sins, toward growing peace and unityor harboring alienation.

Maintaining enmity absolutely depends upon the stoppage oftime at particular points, so that our human grid positions freeze in oursubjective position of judgment/approval, condemnation/release, divorce/affinity,murder, alienation, gossip, slander and perceptions of morality/ immorality. Ofcourse, the judging one claims the “higher” law or principle by which he/shecondemns others, permanently. That law/principle, however externally supported(even with scriptural principles), becomes the unrighteous, hammering gavel bywhich people demand satisfaction, condemn or approve of one another. (Rom. 7:5)The ongoing suffering of people in the land of Palestine/Israel is onemanifestation of an ancient “good” promise held sacrosanct to harm others,today. That shard of time can become a prismof refracted light, or an icicle to stab someone with.

One peculiar manifestation of persons frozen in enmity is anirrational inability to perceive anyone and even time itself from outside ofher/his singular viewpoint from a particular past grid position &perspective. S/he continues bringing the past into the present, with humanwords puffing breath vainly into the past’s rotting glory or shame. All the referentsare from within her/his body’s grid, then,and even verifiable, subsequent and superseding facts are ignored, warped, omittedand denied so s/he can maintain that position of self-justified condemnationand enmity. “Evidence” is fabricated out of nothing. Real and imagined “facts”,deliberately isolated from time & others’ perspectives, and deliberately positionedas the scope through which all else is viewed, become the warped weapons bywhich s/he fight people. S/he will not be reconciled to God, self or others.She or he holds that position in their grid as if life itself depended on it. However,Life is truly livedelsewhere. Sadly, the grid’s triumph, his/her fixed position, and the enmityproduced manifests death, not life. The breath humans puff at the past and deathis lifeless and without power to create new life.

Another peculiar manifestation of sworn enemies is that theydemand the ultimate word. S/he cannot “lose”; every encounter iswin/lose. The only resolution for them is in a declaration of theirright-ness, not reconciliation on any other ground but that of thefalse god of their “principle” within their singular view and story of some “reality”.Her/his view becomes the meta-narrativeby which others should live and view all of life. (For philosopherfriends, the breakdown of post-modernism is that its denial of over-archingmeta-narratives requires the replacement of a common meta-narrative with anindividualistic one. “What’s ethical to you is your ‘good’ choice, and what’sgood for me is fine, too.”) Such a resolution violates any reconciliationpossible in Christ, which is founded on the rock of God’s steadfast love, grace,truth, mercy, justice and redemption. Neither truth nor reality itself has anyeffect on his/her demand for the offender to return to the ground of his/her enmity,unforgiven. There, on that ground, the offender must bow down to the enemy’sprinciple, story, demand, and sacrifice their own. That demand is the very cruxof idolatry and false worship. Followers of Christ know the forgiveness of God that permeates allof life, present, past and future, in all of its health and brokenness, andthey rejoice that the power of God’s love surely triumphed over death in JesusChrist. Even the Hebrew psalmists knew that our forgiveness is grounded on God’slove:

⁶ Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD,and of your steadfast love,

for they have been from of old.

⁷ Do not remember the sins of myyouth or my transgressions;

according to your steadfast love remember me,

for your goodness’ sake, OLORD!

⁸ Good and upright is the LORD;

therefore he instructs sinners in the way. (Psalm 25)

There is no humanly accessible life, truth, grace, love,justice and mercy outside of time, because we ourselves live subject to time. Mercyrequires ongoing love; we needed the self-emptying incarnation to see theliving God-beyond-time, truly, here, now, in future hope, and then. We worship the LORD God, “I AM, I WAS, and I WILL BE”; weserve the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last Word full of grace and truth.This helps explain why reconciliation is improbable with certain people. The truelaw of love which reflects the living, changing and moving reality is subjectedto and falsified by his/her demands that everyone see through his/her scope of afrozen interpretative grid. As Proverb 29:9 clarifies,

If the wise go to law withfools,

There is ranting and ridiculewithout relief.

Paul didn’t allow his weaknesses (1 Cor. 15:8-9) or hisstrengths (Phil. 3:4-6) to determine how he understood himself or others;rather, all believers are “crucified with Christ”. Paul refused to judgehimself or relate to believers according to his legalistic flesh.

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as lossbecause of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of thesurpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have sufferedthe loss of all things, and I regard them as crap*, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, nothaving a righteousness of my own that comes from the law [my position on any human grid], but one that comes throughfaith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. (Phil. 3:7-9) [ *lit. Greek, BDAG]

Paul clearly interpreted life, reality, other people and himselffrom the foundation of and throughGod’s grace revealed sufficient in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.He focused on the continuing work of God in Christ for them and called them tolive by the power of the Holy Spirit being revealed in them. “And this [batch of sinners]is what some of you used to be.But you were washed, you weresanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in theSpirit of our God.” (1 Cor. 6: 11)

The lens through which faithful Christians read life, peopleand scripture is God’s love incarnate in the life, death and resurrection ofJesus. We who follow him have chosen, by grace in the Holy Spirit, to receivethe death which our sins have wrought, and now rejoice in our deliverancethrough death into new life. As we are being conformed to God’s law of love, webear Christ and one another, we continue to be set free from our own and theirhuman legalistic grid – free to see others with God’s loving eyes as the HolySpirit enables us, apart from our sins and their sins, and free to call them tothe freedom and life we celebrate “in Christ”. We seek to be conformed to himby the power of the Holy Spirit, so our embodied law evidences God’s steadfastlove, eternal life and super-abundant grace. (Rom. 5:15-21)

When we freeze our viewpoints and our human actions of justificationor judgment outside of time’s and others’ reach, we have elevated ourselves toan unmerciful, unforgiving, condemning, self-justifying false and frozen idol.

¹ Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, forthe sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.
² Why should the nations say, “Where is theirGod?”
³ Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever hepleases.
⁴ Their idols are silver and gold, the work ofhuman hands.
⁵ They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, butdo not see.
⁶ They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but donot smell.
⁷ They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but donot walk; they make no sound in their throats.
⁸ Those who make them are like them; so are allwho trust in them. (Psalm 115)

As Christians, we call on one another to worship, love andhonor the one and only living God whose very redemptive love is grace-filledincarnate Word. God lives! Jesus lives! This God continues to sanctify, tospeak, to guide, to wash, to conform us to Christ, by the power of theindwelling Holy Spirit and to make us holy inthe course of life, in this time. We await this God’s advent, we seekhis kingdom come, now. May the church be the Body of Christ, building up andencouraging one another to persevere in picking up our crosses and followingJesus. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Speaking Truth to Worldly Power in the Feminine Voice

2011-11-28T14:01:00.001-05:00

Please consider these three women who were in positions of speaking truthfully about inherent risks and dangers to the US and international financial systems: Elizabeth Warren, Brooksley E. Born and Christine Lagarde. All of them have consistently, wisely and courageously held to the truth revealed by their experiences, education, and informed understandings, even at the risk of being sidelined and dismissed. Most women and men would give up in the face of such relentless pressure, but we should be grateful for whatever familial and professional support these women have had that has encouraged them to persevere.

Godly, strong women in scripture are depicted in the roles of judge, prophet, warrior, queen, spiritual leaders, and economic providers. All of us who summarily dismiss the feminine voices in our lives which speak truthfully endanger ourselves and others. The voice of Wisdom in Proverbs is feminine. The voice of Proverbs' Alien or Strange woman is also feminine. (Proverbs describes her by her unrepentant actions of promiscuity, adultery, and her misleading of others while being blind & deaf to the truth.) Spiritual maturity necessitates the discerning of whose voices to listen to by attending to the fruit of their lives. Some of the wisest voices in my life have been/are women's, and yet, some of the most threatening, divisive, violent and abusive voices I've ever heard were also female - and one was a close relative! Hearing well and wisely heeding may mean the difference between life and death. Proverbs certainly indicates so. (cf. Prov. 7-9)

One of the major contributors to the dismissing & ignoring of godly women's voices in the US, in business and other spheres, is an attitude that can prevail unchecked in any male-dominated environment, among them religious circles (not only Christian, but including them). From my perspective and training, it seems to be the metaphorical "fruit" of "reading" reality as one might read Genesis 3:17 erroneously as literalistic, in a way that self-justifies, self-elevates, and promotes a "rule over" mindset. (I read Genesis 3 as a metaphorical, poetic and theological description of the status quo and the results we observe in the human actions and interactions around us. It describes "what is".)

Human responsibility & accountability require that we hear and discern Truth in the male and female voices that constantly clamor for our attention. In this world, men's voices have to soften and welcome women's voices to be heard, and women's voices need assertiveness and confidence to continue speaking despite the ongoing opposition to the feminine voice for being feminine. As Christians, we believe in the God who reveals Godself to us as grace and truth, incarnate Word in the Son, Jesus Christ, and present with us in the indwelling Holy Spirit, through all members of Christ. We receive the words of those who tell truth and whose lives evidence godly ways and wisdom. Any person's repeated and stubborn denial of evident, revealed and living truth should be a warning sign for each of us to walk cautiously when in their presence. Truth, holiness, grace and light journey hand in hand. When men and women, together, reflect God's image faithfully, we more clearly see the world we live in.

For more on Brooksley Born and her gutsy confrontations of men in power, cf. this Washington Post article from 2008.

Honor Your Father & Your Mother

2011-11-18T14:42:00.001-05:00

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus todo good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

God adoptedme into the family of Christ when I was 17 & finishing my first year ofcollege. My believing Mom “bequeathed” me, so to speak, into the care of herbest friends Marty & Marv, when she died. I was 26, then. They’ve been myparents-in-Christ for half my life, and encouraged me to live, work and rejoicein Christ. God has blessed me through a continuity of parents, mentors,brothers- &-sisters-in-Christ; they’ve been humble, trustworthy and wise peoplewhom I trusted to reflect faithfully to me who I am, according to their(imperfect, but loving) perceptions, to support, build up and encourage me tofollow godly paths. Thanks be to God!

One verycomplicated part of the ongoing journey has been reconciling my heart and life inChrist to the family into which I was born. Understanding that every, singleone of us is “God’s handiwork”, first and foremost, is central to being healed.God has said, we are his children, and the familyinto which we are born may support, damage, affect, harm or strengthen us inthat knowledge, in varying measures. Knowing we are God’s handiwork, though, holdseach of us responsible and accountable to God in our actions, reactions,choices and words. In the Day of God, we are accountable to theLORD, our Judge, not to our parents, our siblings, ourneighbors, or our enemies. (Rom. 14:12) Jesus commanded us to love God,neighbors and enemies. Paul also continued to say, “Let us therefore no longerpass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumblingblock or hindrance in the way of another.” (Rom. 14:13)

My birthfamily was a broken family, and both my birth parents are now long deceased. Ourparents had a terrible marriage, and all of us suffered from their conflict anddivorce. My decision not to frame life according to their sins and mistakesreflects my decision to worship God who lives, loves, and offers grace andmercy. The foundational question is whom do we believe tells us the truth aboutourselves, God or people? Insofar as people fail to reflect God’s incarnateWord of grace & truth to us, we must distrust and disbelieve them. FollowingJesus Christ, I could not judge my parents, but will love, forgive and givegrace to them. God presented many opportunities and the power to serve them inoffering grace and forgiveness, over the years. As I matured in Christ, I humbledmyself, loved and served them more, but earlier, there were too many times whenI failed to love them and God because I held onto (justifiable, to my mind) anger,bitterness, resentment or pride. Over the decades and years, however, the truthof Jesus’ wisdom has been manifest in choosing love over judgment. Even inmemories, the daily choice to love and forgive them has redeemed the blessingsand memories of good & joyful times we had together. I know, now, that bothmy parents loved me as best they knew how to love, and parented me with thegoal of my good, in mind: to raise me to be a truthful, wise, ethical, scholarly& hard-working woman. I thank God for the gifts given to me in Mom and Dad.I know that each of them, as every one of us, failed God, themselves, oneanother and us. Only by grace, with thanksgiving toward God, may we trulyreceive, honor and rejoice in God’s gifts to us in one another. Otherwise, weeasily fall into the trap so clearly described by the Psalmist in Psalm 50, inthe italics.

Psalm 50

¹ The mighty one, God the LORD,

speaks and summons the earth

from the rising of the sun toits setting.

² Out ofZion, the perfection of beauty,

God shines forth.

³ OurGod comes and does not keep silence,

before him is a devouring fire,

and a mighty tempest all aroundhim.

⁴ Hecalls to the heavens above

and to the earth, that he mayjudge his people:

⁵ “Gatherto me my faithful ones,

who made a covenant with me bysacrifice!”

⁶ Theheavens declare his righteousness,

for God himself is judge.

Selah

⁷ “Hear,O my people, and I will speak,

O Israel, I will testifyagainst you.

I am God, your God.

⁸ Notfor your sacrifices do I rebuke you;

your burnt offerings arecontinually before me.

⁹ I willnot accept a bull from your house,

or goats from your folds.

¹⁰ Forevery wild animal of the forest is mine,

the cattle on a thousand hills.

¹¹ I knowall the birds of the air,

and all that moves in the fieldis mine.

¹² “If Iwere hungry, I would not tell you,

for the world and all that isin it is mine.

¹³ Do Ieat the flesh of bulls,

or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴ Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving [Makethanksgiving your sacrifice to God],

and pay your vows to the Most High.

¹⁵ Callon me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

¹⁶ But to the wicked God says:

“Whatright have you to recite my statutes,

or takemy covenant on your lips?

¹⁷ Foryou hate discipline,

and youcast my words behind you.

¹⁸ Youmake friends with a thief when you see one,

and youkeep company with adulterers.

¹⁹ “Yougive your mouth free rein for evil,

andyour tongue frames deceit.

²⁰ Yousit and speak against your kin;

youslander your own mother’s child.

²¹ Thesethings you have done and I have been silent;

youthought that I was one just like yourself.

But nowI rebuke you, and lay the charge before you.

²² “Mark this, then, you who forget God,

or Iwill tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver.

²³ Those who bring thanksgiving as theirsacrifice honor me;

to those who go the right way

I will show the salvation of God.”

Divorce andalienation from one another reflect human judgment; divorce is an ongoing separationcarried out upon one another – “I refuse to be ‘with’ you.” We usuallyuse “divorce” only in reference to marriage, but in Scripture, the Greek andHebrew words describe separation, abandonment and cutting off. Attempts to hinder one another, to cause othersto stumble, to throw obstacles in their ways, to gossip about or slander men orwomen, to threaten people with punishment, to lord it over them by making one’swords, laws and reasoning a false judge/god, are sinful ways using human laws todefy God’s Law of love. The goal of human laws is to separate and divideourselves from one another, to manufacture a deceitful, death-producing and punitivehierarchy within humanity (cf. Psalm 62).

God’scovenant is the power and light-filled antidote to the creeping death thatrevels in divisions, divorce and alienation. The goal of God’s covenantal lawis unity in love, in Christ through his broken body and shed blood, which isreflected through us as we confess our own brokenness and failure to love. Whilelaws may resemble one another, superficially, human essence is revealed in ourlove, words and actions toward one another. When we love one another well, weincreasingly conform to Christ’s image, becoming beautiful in holiness andrelational righteousness. The psalmistsand Scripture’s authors wrote of the unrelenting alienation within familieswhich grows out of wrongly applied laws and unloving legalism. Most children ofThe Great Divorce and the smaller divorces (secular or spiritual), today,suffer from the inability to turn from the faulty foundation which broke humanityas a whole, and their families, in particular. They elevate themselves aboveand justify continuing enmity toward siblings. Their path evidences unremittingdivisiveness and self-justification. They seek to break up unity, to harm whatis good (cf. vv. 17-20, above). They simply cannot discern healthy from harmfuloutcomes, and that which is whole, loving and fragrant of Christ infuriatesthem so much that they seek its destruction.

To leave thosepaths of death, we humbly accept the God who loves us and them, the Creator ofour earthly father and mother, the Lord who knows our families and ourselvesthoroughly, the one who brings light and life from darkness and death throughself-giving service. God brought our life out of our parents’ unity (howevertemporary and flawed), and God calls us to choose life and love, carry ourcrosses, share one another’s burdens. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, humbled byGod’s grace, I offer thanksgiving to God, and I will honor and love my fatherand mother. I cannot love God, in truth, if I fail to love them and otherscreated in God’s image. As James noted, when we’ve broken one part of the law,we’ve broken the wholeness of it (James 2:10). We all fall before God’sholiness and righteousness, but God’s steadfast love and mercy in Christ Jesusenables us to stand – in order that we may embody the mercy and love of theindwelling Christ toward others.

[Mortals] say of some temporal suffering, "No futurebliss can make up for it," not knowing Heaven, once attained, will workbackwards and turn even that agony into a glory. And of some sinful pleasurethey say "Let me have but this and I'll take the consequences":little dreaming how damnation will spread back and back into their past andcontaminate the pleasure of the sin. Both processes begin even before death.

(C.S. Lewis, TheGreat Divorce)

Philippians2

⁷But whateverwere gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸Whatis more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth ofknowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I considerthem garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, nothaving a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which isthrough faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis offaith. ¹⁰I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of hisresurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in hisdeath, ¹¹and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from thedead. ¹²Not that I have already obtained all this, or have alreadyarrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesustook hold of me.

¹³Brothers andsisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing Ido: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴Ipress on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called meheavenward in Christ Jesus.

Malfunctions of the Christian Faith

2011-08-19T00:55:00.293-04:00

Miroslav Volf speaking on A Public Faith in this YouTube video gives a wonderful distinction between a coercive faith and an idle faith. His words reminded me strongly of Paul's words to the Corinthians recorded in 1 Corinthians 15. Paul gave a smidgeon of his own coercive religious history from which he was redeemed in v. 9, but plainly questioned whether the Corinthians behavior revealed their own faith to have been "in vain". (Cf. the first 14 chapters for that behavior!)

Volf's new book, A Public Faith, is reviewed here, and I appreciate that the reviewer picked up on some the ramifications also addressed, below.

Volf's thoughts in the video inspired my own tangents. (I'm looking forward to reading the book, in its entirety!) Whether humans want to identify themselves as religious, irreligious or atheist really isn't central to the question of "faith" or "trust" which is manifested by how one lives life. If I should believe that my way of living is superior to any other, then I should choose whether to commend it to others or not. If yes, I might then employ all sorts of subjective variables to govern when/ where/ with whom/ if/ how I commend my way. To use coercion or not is one such variable. If coercion is a possibility, what type of coercion is permissible - verbal, intellectual, legal, financial, persuasion of rank or status, psychological, physical - then, which methods with whom?

You may be able to see that the variables are as infinite as the people and circumstances in which they find themselves.

If I choose not to commend my way to others, then I would have one form of idle faith. I trust in no one, except in my self, the singular, limited view from within that self, and the limited experiences of one person. My way works for me, alone, and for no other. Perhaps I simply would have no aspirations to understand why one would live my way or choose their own way. That might sound appealing to many folk, today, because choosing a particular way is perceived to be offensive to all who might choose otherwise, according to their own variables. However, sooner or later, my way will come face to face with other people, and then my idle faith will be challenged by their way of their own version of idle faith or coercive faith or other choices of what/who to trust... Then, what happens?

Religion forms as a concert of people believe that these ways promote life, peace and harmony in community. Explained so, it should be obvious why laws and religious beliefs conjoin so readily in public life. There are as many religious beliefs as there are self-affirming groups. Many definitions of "religion" incorporate the supernatural. Historically, the supernatural has been perceived to be the commendation and the imprimatur of god(s) upon these ways. If God (or gods) exist then these ways are more than the sum of humanity's thoughts. Anthropomorphic gods are those whose ways are obviously as flawed as humans are flawed, devious, unethical, greedy, ambitious, lustful, self-serving, demanding of obsequious approval, unquestioning obedience, & rejection of all other ways, and prone to rage when not satisfied, etc. There are also religions whose god(s) follow ways other than human ways.

When asked why he believed the Biblical message of God-in-Christ, Eugene Peterson's response was simple and forthright; as I recall, he said, essentially, "because I can live what I believe." If a religion's God is other than merely human, the ways commended need to be fulfillable internally and externally, as it were. Christian belief is that by God's grace, when we face the truth, acknowledge our weaknesses, and confess our wrongs and broken ways, we welcome God to transform our lives from the heart outward, so that we may obey God. The God who embodied Love-with-us, who comes in grace and truth to both friends and enemies, is beyond merely human, as we confess we are.

There are also people who commend and try to coerce others toward certain ways which they themselves have not lived. Current news reports recount heightened public anger against politicians, religious figures, attorneys, and others entrusted with authority who have privately failed to honor whatever patriotic, God-honoring or people-honoring "higher" principles they've publicly professed. We viscerally recognize that such people's commendations are inevitably hypocritical, and if we have sufficient courage and self-awareness, we acknowledge that human lack of moral character clouds discernment, because whatever actions we excuse in ourselves skews our perceptions. Sound judgment proceeds from a life embodying wisdom and knowledge.

For Christians, perceiving that Jesus' anger was directed against such hypocrisy and legalistic obfuscation informs our understanding of Jesus' harsh words recorded in Matthew 23. Matthew described an escalating succession of attempts to entrap Jesus beginning at 21:23, and ending with the lawyer's questioning him in 22:34-36. Entrapment, by definition, only serves the ambitions and interests of the trapper. When the selfish goals of the hunters are exposed in the light, as Jesus exposed the Sadducees, Pharisees, lawyers and scribes, the hunters seek to hide from the truth and destroy the messenger(s), rather than face public ridicule and themselves. Hypocrisy - literally, judging others to standards while living below standards oneself - is the most dangerous form of idle faith. Hypocrites seek to destroy those who can see through their smoke and try to dissipate it.

Hypocrites lack, or merely pretend to have, an essential attribute of integrity: humility. We, humans are more persuaded by people of integrity who serve others than by any disembodied information. There are hypocrites who attain great wealth and/or power in this world, people whose arrogance and narcissism preclude ever admitting errors, flaws or wrongdoing, even - or, especially - in the face of truth. However, we can be thankful that there are also humble people who have become great, freely admitting that we all need one another, that no human can know all truth, that no single person can be an expert at all things, that we accept correction and responsibility for our errors - deliberate and unknowing. The humble wield what power they have in service of others. Humility is the antithesis of human presumption to "know" better than others; the humble listen, serve and love, even though they honor virtues which counter others' ways. The ways (i.e., faith) of the humble will withstand the assault of arrogant self-interest. Coercive faith, of any stripe, is inherently presumptuous. Embodied humility cannot be coercive because humble people serve and consider others' best interests. John Dickson's book, Humilitas, was inspired by his participation in an academic project of Macquarie University in Australia which explored the historical origins of the virtue of humility. In ancient Greece and Rome, humility was scorned and derided as servitude, perceived only as appropriate for lower classes toward superiors, while pride (arrogance) was celebrated as a virtue among men. However, once there was humility incarnate, the willing sacrificing of an innocent and holy person for the guilty, who then rose from death - "and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 1:4), followers were inspired, humility was transformed, serving others redeemed, true power was revealed, and humanity could see by the love of God incarnated that love of neighbors was united with love of God.

An Over-arching or Under-girding God or "Philosophy"?

2011-07-10T01:45:00.000-04:00

I had a conversation with an atheist last week on a blog, and I "heard" something curious in the way we each thought of religion, philosophy, God or not-god.

When he thought of religion, he thought of an over-arching philosophical system. Essentially, it seemed he thought of Someone or a (self/group-sanctified) Group of someones telling other people what to do, when to do it, and how to live in almost every aspect of life. He's not off the mark of many "religious" folks - in every religion, and irreligion, including Christianity. There are many, many people who become religious or irreligious, and many people who become religious or irreligious leaders who are really masking a deep narcissism that wants other people to listen to them as they want to listen to "god."

However, there are also many religious people who start from a foundation of God. They think the best of God, and they trust in God's sustaining creation and love. Do they have tough times, lament, mourn, experience oppression & heartache? Read the Psalms, and you'll find your answer, there, as I did.

What I've noticed as a fairly uniform pattern of the type of person my atheist dialogue partner disliked is that those with over-arching views begin with an assumption of distrust in those who are different than they are, or behave or choose differently. They want to change others, they want to make them into their own image of who "perfect" people should be, they want to tell others that they know best how to do everything, and they want others to believe that their view of the world & every experience is the only "true" view. There is no other story which is allowed to interfere with their "superior" understanding. They will use all sorts of means - some seemingly "good" and others downright ugly - to manipulate or dominate, connive or threaten, cajole or coerce others into compliance. This atheist and I are in agreement, here. We both think those people's beliefs and methods are wrong-headed and unproductive of shalom. (He'd state that differently, though.)

As I've mentioned before, "belief" or "faith" is defined in the doing of life. I don't share the same "faith" as people who have these over-arching views, because I don't arch my own views other people's lives.

Psalm 136 gives the heartbeat of my faith in the continuous refrain:

Psalm 136
¹ O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
² O give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever.
³ O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁴ who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁵ who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁶ who spread out the earth on the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁷ who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁸ the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁹ the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁰ who struck Egypt through their firstborn, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹¹ and brought Israel out from among them, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹² with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹³ who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁴ and made Israel pass through the midst of it, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁵ but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁶ who led his people through the wilderness, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁷ who struck down great kings, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁸ and killed famous kings, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁹ Sihon, king of the Amorites, for his steadfast love endures forever;
²⁰ and Og, king of Bashan, for his steadfast love endures forever;
²¹ and gave their land as a heritage, for his steadfast love endures forever;
²² a heritage to his servant Israel, for his steadfast love endures forever.
²³ It is he who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever;
²⁴ and rescued us from our foes, for his steadfast love endures forever;
²⁵ who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love endures forever.
²⁶ O give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.

We note how differently Jesus tells us to treat others with whom we disagree - even if that disagreement is across every level of life, personal, familial or national. When Jesus tells us to "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect!", Jesus is telling us to love the evil and the good people, just as God does. Jesus came to serve others, not to "over-arch" or lord it over others.

Matthew 6:38-48

³⁸“Here’s another old saying that deserves a second look: ‘Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.’
³⁹Is that going to get us anywhere? Here’s what I propose: ‘Don’t hit back at all.’ If someone strikes you, stand there and take it.
⁴⁰If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it.
⁴¹And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life.
⁴²No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.
⁴³“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’
⁴⁴I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer,
⁴⁵for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty.
⁴⁶If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that.
⁴⁷If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.
⁴⁸“In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.

Let us "Grow up!"

The Simple, the Foolish and the Wicked

2011-07-04T23:42:00.000-04:00

Reading scripture & praying have long formed the center of my daily spiritual discipline. Psalms and Proverbs form “corner pillars” for me, and I’ve read parts of these books almost daily for decades. Psalms are the liturgical songs & prayers of the Old Testament, and Proverbs is one book of Biblical “wisdom” literature. The psalmists taught me how to pray honestly – worshiping God alone, while facing the reality, head-on, of who I am and in what circumstances I find myself. The psalmists appeal to God to reveal his justice in the world, and to guide us in his ways. Proverbs have the purpose of raising up “wise” children to become wise men and women. The “wise” in Scripture are not those who are well-educated, well-traveled, able to reason or argue facilely, well-read, privileged, rich, or well-placed. As a matter of fact, those characteristics are more often markers associated with the unwise, the foolish and the wicked! Rather, as biblically-defined, “wise” people are those who follow God’s paths, commandments and ways in the world, act with truth and integrity, exhibit righteousness in the marketplaces and practice relational righteousness and compassion (toward the weak, the poor, the powerless, the widow, the orphan, the alien).

Years of prayerful, regular reading in Psalms and Proverbs have attuned me to patterns that occur in the overall content and flow in each book. The late Dr. Gerald Wilson, with whom I studied Psalms at Fuller Theological Seminary, specialized in “the shape of the Psalter”, and his teaching helped clarify themes in the Psalms and, indirectly, in Proverbs. Perhaps I could have reached my understandings earlier had I spent more time in rabbinic literature and OT commentaries. :-) Nevertheless, it became clear that both books help the people of God to be shaped by God in order to embody wisdom, godly life and worship. In the early chapters in Proverbs, both parents (cooperating with God and his “master worker”, the feminine-voiced Wisdom) commend, admonish and describe the godly ways to raise children, the need for wise instruction and just discipline of children & youth, the avoidance of sinful companions, sexual immorality, drunkenness, and foolish behavior. A child is born “simple” and will act foolishly, at times. Without godly correction and discipline, our simpleness and foolishness will allow the influence of the wicked to increase over us. Wickedness is the end of those who repeatedly refuse to consider the outcome of their own foolish ways, and who ignore and deny what others’ actions and words reveal about their hearts. As the paths of the wicked & the wise interweave throughout the book of Proverbs, the wicked who won’t acknowledge either their own sin or others' godliness. The wicked seek to deceive others, cover up their own actions, and misuse their humanity and positions to harm others. When acting unwisely and unlovingly in concert with those like them, the "fools" escalate to become “the wicked” who actively seek to lead others down their paths. In the "name of" a self-justifying end, pleasure, wealth, lust, or a misleading "good", the wicked draw in the simple and the fools.

One chapter that describes “the wisdom of the world” as foolishness in God’s sight is Proverbs 26. In the New Testament, Paul clearly drew on his knowledge of Psalms and Proverbs in his writing. For example, 1 Cor. 1:10-2:16 sets God’s wisdom and the worldly wisdom as antithetical and antipathetic to one another. The latter is evidenced by divisiveness & lording it over others, and the former by unifying love, justice and service of God and neighbor, in Christ.

Here are the first 8 verses of Proverbs 26, as an example of the distinction between the wise and the foolish:

Proverbs 26
¹ Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.
² Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, an undeserved curse goes nowhere.
³ A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools.
⁴ Do not answer fools according to their folly, or you will be a fool yourself.
⁵ Answer fools according to their folly, or they will be wise in their own eyes.
⁶ It is like cutting off one’s foot and drinking down violence, to send a message by a fool.
⁷ The legs of a disabled person hang limp; so does a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
⁸ It is like binding a stone in a sling to give honor to a fool.

There’s a Hebrew poetic device in the antithetical parallel in verses 4-5. On the one hand, v. 4 advises that to answer a fool according to their folly makes us a fool, too. However, in the very next verse, we’re advised to answer a fool according to their folly, so they won’t be wise in their own eyes. If we didn’t understand the context of Proverbs, we could throw up our hands in exasperation here, when using our own natural understanding and education-based reading. However, when one understands how folly should be responded to according to Proverbs, this changes the whole picture.

People of high educational achievement, according to the current academy, will inevitably misinterpret scripture at some/many/all points, if that education and credentialing is not founded upon godly wisdom. Our teachers, professors & colleagues teach us that rhetorical argument and logical presentations are keys to academic success & “victory”. Every academic degree or professional credential is celebrated as certifying this person as more qualified to lead, or teach, or advise than another “lesser” degreed or credentialed person. This is a hierarchically-based and often a crony-supporting system, although people of integrity are found within poor systems.

Wisdom, as described in OT and NT, counters that worldly victory and names it insufficient, at best, and false, at worst.

If an immoral, dishonest, unethical, bullying, manipulative or domineering person proclaims his/her superiority over another (according to academic, credentialed, economic/financial, class, gendered, ethnic, or racial standards, etc.) in order to dictate another's behavior, Proverbs and the canon of Scripture name him/her as fools according to their unrighteous, unloving and unwise actions. Prov. 26:1 and 26:8 state clearly that honor is not fitting to a fool, and is, in fact, harmful; yet worldly businesses, society, media, organizations and the academy honor & acclaim fools all the time! In Scripture, fools are identified as fools by their choices and behavior, irrespective of their academic or economic prowess, position, status or credentials.

Paul made this exact same point to the Corinthians. The key verses following his forthright, sarcastic description of the way the Corinthians were behaving (1 Cor. 4:6-13) are 4:17-21. Paul sent Timothy to Corinth to remind them of his “ways in Christ Jesus”, and not of Paul’s “plausible words of wisdom” (2:4-5). He told the Corinthians that he wasn’t interested in “the talk of these arrogant people”, at all, but in their power (what their deeds and actions reveal). (4:19) “For the kingdom of God depends not on talk but on power.” (4:20) The power of God is found in the cross of Christ, which is foolishness and a stumbling block to those who don’t seek God’s life and love in their hearts, in service of God & neighbor, to the spiritual transformation of their lives.

The fools as described in Proverbs, though, have not quite attained to full-blown wickedness. To return to that poetic antithetic parallel in vv. 4-5, what might the writer mean by stating we shouldn’t answer a fool according to his folly in the v. 4? Given the story of wisdom and foolishness in Scripture, it would seem that Paul gave the best response. We don’t answer fools by trying to reason them out of their positions. We don’t try to gain victory over them using the same worldly methods of rhetoric, education, position, human power, manipulation, deception, argumentation, etc. Although education, information and knowledge are useful to a servant who uses them in service of God and neighbors, in themselves, they cannot transform a fool. At times, we may not answer at all, in love and care for them. Proverbs 14:3 claims, “The talk of fools is a rod for their backs, but the lips of the wise preserve them.” As Paul asked in 1 Corinthians 4:21, “What would you prefer? Am I to come to you with a stick, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?” In other words, “will you Corinthians continue to be fools needing correction, or will you turn toward the demonstrated wisdom and power of God in Jesus Christ, and him crucified?”

Yet, v. 5 indicates that fools might become aware of their foolishness and turned toward wisdom, somehow. But, how? We find out by looking at the context of that verse in the chapter, and the context of folly, fools and foolish behavior in Proverbs, overall. As harsh as it seems to our contemporary “sensibilities”, verse 3 commends physical discipline to drive out folly. The Proverbial “rod of discipline” used wisely must not be “a rod of anger”, or a rod that sows injustice (Prov. 22:8). It isn’t a rod of vengeance, or of oppression (Isa. 9:4), or an assertion of human power over another. It isn’t the rod of master over slave, superior over inferior, abuser over victims. The rod of loving discipline is used to alter the paths of the youthful and immature fools, to bring them back to wiser ways, choices and behaviors. Consider the context of the rod in a psalm which is beloved by many to whom I’ve ministered – whether current or former church members – Psalm 23. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff – they comfort me.” (23:4) We can and should cherish the awareness that the chastising of the Lord is for our good (Heb. 12:5-13), to give us appropriate laws which are fulfilled in love of God, self & neighbor, to encourage wisdom and increase strength, to benefit ourselves and our families, and to assure our hope & future (Prov. 23:12-19, 24:13-14). (cf., also, Proverbs 10:13, 13:24, 22:8 & 15, and 29:15)

Jesus' words give the context of love to every law and consequence: "But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your father is merciful." (Luke 6:35-36) Only in the power of the Holy Spirit, which operates through love & self-giving service, do we have a prayer for fulfill his call to us.

A provocative solution to the current prison overcrowding in the US was offered by a professor of criminal justice, Peter Moskos. Salon interviewed him, here. Moskos’ book, In Defense of Flogging, offers the “outrageous idea” of returning the option (by giving the convicted person the freedom to choose) of flogging to the sentencing roster. The interviewer expressed rightful concern that flogging harkens back to days of slavery and other oppressive & abusive relationships. Moskos made the points that prison is a worse punishment and actually may be more detrimental to most prisoners & their families than flogging. A friend who works among the urban poor in a violent neighborhood considered this proposal a possible alternative to passive-aggressive incarceration and ostracism from society that most people commend, today. The fact is that most people in power who make the sentencing decisions really don’t care sufficiently for the people to want to rehabilitate them, so whatever “rod” of punishment is meted out – whether imprisonment, abandonment, social isolation, or flogging – it will more likely perpetuate current patterns of alienation, economic, social & racial injustice, in isolation from healthy contexts. Should we ask, however, if a foolish criminal has or would welcome relationships with wise individuals and a community who can mentor and guide him/her into better paths, might a flogging soon over be a better option than years isolated and tortured with other criminals in a destructive environment? Are we, the church, not called to be such a community offering redemption & hope to one another? (Matthew 25:31-46)

Welcome, Love and Change

2011-06-12T16:03:00.001-04:00

Rev. Dale Kuehne's words
about welcome, as the Rule of St. Benedictine describes it, sharpened what the Holy Spirit has been testifying to our hearts, right now. As Dale wrote, the Rule states, "Every visitor must be received as Christ himself." We're mourning the unexpected loss of our Rhodesian Ridgeback, Lanzo. He was nearly 11 years old. What has struck us - as we mourn - is how keenly we miss his ongoing presence, his affectionate welcome, his smile at being with us in simple tasks and walks, his exuberant joy at our homecomings, and his appreciation for all that we gave him. We've experienced a stark contrast of the intensity in our mourning of our dog (God's good creature!) and our mourning of humans we've known who have tried to use people to serve themselves and their dogmatic agendas. Many humans fail to love, be trustworthy, be steadfast in patience and kindness, or extend welcome. As do many of us, we've known people who've returned hospitality with calumny and insults, who've returned love with human judgment, who've sought evil rather than good. (cf. Prov. 11:27) The hurts I've listened to in pastoral care and hospice rooms testify to the commonality of personal experiences of human betrayal, lies, deception and harm – within families, among friends and colleagues, or within our faith communities. In our humanity, we mourn less the loss of people who've deceived or tried to harm us than we do people or pets who have remained with us, unselfishly faithful and loving, building up and encouraging us through life's journeys.

Jesus' words challenge us past our human capacity. "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven..." (Matt. 5:4-5)

The church of God is called to live out our love & welcome as do the Benedictines with whom Dr. Kuehne prayed, sang and was nurtured in Christ. Too often, we fail to be as Christ to fellow humans made in the image of God. We won't love them as God loves us - with patience, kindness, charity, truthfulness, gentleness, hopefulness, endurance & self-giving service – with love that is undeserved and unmerited.

Fr. Peter from St. Anselm College also expressed to Dale the necessary wisdom within Christ-like hospitality. While we welcome every visitor as we do Christ, we need to have confidence from faith that he or she is the one called to change, to be transformed by God's incarnate Word, just as we are.
There will be visitors who seek their own purposes among us. They use others, pursue their own interests and not those of our churches or families. One example I heard was of a journalist who sought out persons within an inner-city mission whose words could be twisted to confirm the sensational story she wanted to tell, seemingly to further her career, fuel her biases and those of readers. The reality of people loved and served, who learned to grow, live and make healthy choices is inconvenient and thus, ignored. We may not know such visitors' motives when we welcome them, nor should we try (cf. 1 Cor. 4:5). When we're young, we may be too trusting and naïve to expect such treatment, but wisdom is frequently acquired through painful trials. Sooner or later, these visitors' subsequent actions reveal what/who they serve.

Utter humility is required in order for us to change to conform to Christ's Body. As Dale describes his experience with the Benedictine love for visitors: I did not deserve what I received. I did not feel worthy to be treated as Christ. But that is the miracle and trial of grace. You deny it, reject it, or find enough humility to begin to receive it.

When we come into the presence of Christ and come into the presence of those whose lives are filled with the Spirit of Christ, too often, we naturally refuse to humble ourselves to see or join Jesus at work in the jars of clay whom the Potter is molding and shaping, with persistent patience and kindness. When we come into the presence of any person, each one created in God's image, we naturally cannot love or hear them truly because we've categorized them and prejudged them according to some subjective human standard, a disembodied education or "knowledge" (e.g., Gnosticism), or any other distinction unfounded on God's love and justice for all. We hyper-focus on where others don't meet our expectations, and won't read the full context of the human story grounded in God's ongoing creation, love, mercy, grace and justice.

Left to our natural inclinations, out of our arrogance and pride, we wield our self-will and refuse to receive what is being freely offered. We would sooner become "judges with evil thoughts". (James 2:4) In making distinctions and rationalizations, we falsely and unwisely judge one another by causing divisions, joining factions, gossiping, divorcing, slandering, alienating, rejecting, lying, pretending to know hearts/motives, deceiving, or maligning. The Apostle Paul's "vice lists" are cheat sheets for human judgments upon other humans and upon Godself. "Sin" in Scripture is our belligerent and rebellious refusal to humble ourselves, to cease our self-justifying destructive behavior, in order to worship God and love others as our Creator loves us. As self-elected &/or human-acclaimed "gods", we arrogantly demand others to obey us "or else". We will not humbly join Jesus in loving and obeying God the Father by loving, serving and honoring his ongoing presence and work among fellow humans, however broken and flawed. Some of us may even dare to misrepresent "God", mouthing "god" while acting selfishly to impose our wills, lording it over others.

For those who, by grace and the Holy Spirit, choose to die to those ways to follow Christ, our defense is to stand "in Christ", to take refuge in God. "Every visitor must be received as Christ himself." We don't attack with the weapons which our natural inclinations would wield. Instead, we speak truthfully, and discern wisely; we love them according to Jesus' love for us. We don't approve sinful behavior, attitudes or choices perpetuating human injustice and estrangement; rather, we must love others because God enables us to love them. In so denying our human selves, by grace given and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we continue drawing closer to God. He is our refuge & our Creator who knows us better than we know ourselves (& better than any human!). God's Son reveals our God-given image, and by receiving Jesus and entrusting ourselves to live and be led by God's power revealed in Christ, we are adopted children of the Father. God's sent Spirit offers the very strength we need to live humbly, peacefully and righteously in our community. We are empowered to do justly, love mercy, and walk in true life. We choose to believe what God tells us about ourselves, in the Word and by the Holy Spirit. We wisely differentiate between God's truth and human lies. We are assured that although God's truth may hurt, we will be changed in ways that glorify God and make us truly human, "good" via death and resurrection into new creation. We confess and renounce open and hidden sins, and turn our lives toward God's paths. As Dale put it, God's work is always the "Change that believes in me". As we draw closer to God, the One who always steadfastly loves us, we also draw closer to others who join us in seeking to truly image Christ – the community where God reigns.

Thank you, Father, for your gift of loving and justice-doing friends and family-in-Christ. Thank you, too, for your gift of our dog, Lanzo, who always welcomed us joyfully and better than most of us dare to welcome one another.

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring

2011-04-05T13:34:00.004-04:00

To take a tangent that I hope will bring lightness to your heart:

I hope you enjoy listening to this YouTube version of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, by J. S. Bach. Bach's tempos are wonderful for projects such as this.

Wikipedia gives a translation of the German choral accompaniment to the music.

Well for me that I have Jesus,
O how strong I hold to him
that he might refresh my heart,
when sick and sad am I.
Jesus have I, who loves me
and gives me as his own,
ah, therefore I do not leave Jesus,
lest I should break my heart.

—from BWV 147, Chorale movement no 6

Jesus remains my joy,
my heart's comfort and essence,
Jesus resists all suffering,
He is my life's strength,
my eye's desire and sun,
my soul's love and joy;
so will I not leave Jesus
out of heart and face.

—from BWV 147, Chorale movement no. 10

Miroslav Volf on Allah: A Christian Response

2011-04-03T20:23:00.001-04:00

I had an unexpected opportunity to hear Miroslav Volf, Prof. of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School, speak about his new book, Allah: A Christian Response. This wonderful surprise was made possible by the fact that I'd traveled to Pennsylvania to fellowship with colleagues in ministry, and one of them mentioned that Volf was speaking only 5 minutes away. (Thank you, Matt!) I had two reasons to delay my trip home: one was the strong commendation from Fuller Prof. Charles Scalise of Volf's work on reconciliation, and the second was my long-standing commitment to the message of reconciliation through Christ and our call to be his "ambassadors." (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:16-ff.) I'll do my best to summarize Volf's remarks. Any mistakes in conveying his thoughts, the history behind his work, or in the spelling of unfamiliar names are due to my own scribbling & mental processes!

The central question we face, today, according to Volf, is "how can we combine religious exclusivism with social-political pluralism?" There are two major realities that we must contend with:

Globalization – we are not simply interconnected people, any longer, but we are increasingly interdependent. We can no longer expect that actions we take in an isolated part of the world do not have repercussions or reverberations elsewhere.
1. We live in social places which are increasingly pluralistic.
It is not evident that religious adherence is decreasing, numerically; in fact, it is clear that religions are drawing more adherents.
1. Religions are more socially assertive, too, and individuals engage with others along religious lines and outside of their own religious faiths. "Faiths cannot be sequestered, anymore."

The Common Word Initiative began in Jordan. At the behest of Prince Ghazi of Jordan, 38 Muslim scholars wrote a response to Pope Benedict XVI, after the Pope's address in Regensburg, in September, 2006. The questions they considered were, "do we espouse 'exclusive faiths'?" and "how may we treat equally those with whom God is displeased as we treat those with whom God is pleased?"

The Pope had opened his lecture by quoting a medieval discussion in which the Christian questioned the supposedly violent character of the Muslim God. The medieval claim was that the Christian God was rational and reasonable, beginning with the Word of God; this reasonableness helps to found democracy. On the other hand, the medieval dialogue contended, Allah was a God of arbitrary will and thus underwrites totalitarian forms of governance. Because some furor erupted over the Pope's use of this medieval discussion, even though the rest of the Papal speech mitigated or nuanced many of its assertions, Muslim scholars felt the need to respond openly. Their open letter to the Pope helped found some positive work in open dialogue and promotion of reconciliation between Muslims & Christians on the ground of faith we share. A Common Word Between Us & You was the result of the expanded work and collaboration of Muslim authorities and scholars from major streams of thought within Islam. Prof. Volf has participated in resulting discussions with Islamic scholars, as have other Christians committed to loving God and neighbor. The "traditional and mainstream Islamic position" of respecting Christian Scripture is reaffirmed in the work of A Common Word, and their site states, "Indeed, the most fundamental common ground between Islam and Christianity, and the best basis for future dialogue and understanding, is the love of God and the love of the neighbor."

Volf stated that the main argument in his book is that we do, Christians and Muslims, believe in the same God, but "in a qualified way." He agrees that what binds our 2 faiths together are the conjoined commands to love God and to love neighbor. From the standpoint of human societies and communities, he considers that we need to have religious reasons to live in peace, because if humans fail to act corporately, the "privatization" that resulted from the Enlightenment is insufficient to sustain a broad peace. [From my interpretation of his argument, Volf sees religious enterprises as those bonding enterprises which promote our common humanity, truth and communities within this world.] "The more religious we are, the more at peace we will be with our neighbors." (Volf) If it is true that what binds us together is love of God, and love of neighbor, then we need to consider if we share common definitions of the terms: love, neighbor, God. Volf sees religion to take "us out of our own private ways of perceiving reality."

Volf paraphrased a Sufi scholar [I believe the scholar's name is Habib Ali], who perceives and teaches that God is loving and God is justice. Per Volf, Ali has stated that all God's actions [in the world] are regulated by mercy and justice. God, as depicted in the Old Testament, is an obstacle to Muslims because God seems unjust, in many stories. [Many Christians have the same misgivings!] However, regarding the question of the Trinity, which seems to be Tritheism to many orthodox Muslims, Volf pointed out that many of the stated objections by Muslims to the Trinity would be agreed upon by orthodox Christians. In other words, orthodox Christian belief is not Tritheism and the latter is considered a heresy. Thus, Muslims could understand the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams' statement that the Trinity describes the "numerical identity of indivisible divine substance."

According to Volf, no peace in this world can be achieved at the sacrifice of people's integrity and their religious integrity. I understood him as underlining the commitment to human freedom in religious affiliation and belief. Obviously, the extent of freedom is too frequently compromised for particular persons according to particular rationales. Regarding a statement Volf made that women's bodies are "the most contested space of religious discussion", I'll soon write another blog in the series, Misogyny in Secular & Religious Traditions.

However, once that freedom is acknowledged, religious adherents can agree that worship has both "vertical and horizontal modes". The horizontal mode is how we live in this world, and takes seriously "that our lives reveal who we worship." "That from which you draw your ultimate security is your god." It is possible for Muslims to claim that they worship the same God, and for Christians to claim that they worship the same God, but "our deeds reveal otherwise!" I completely resonated with Volf's statement that "our deeds are a more significant indicator of who we worship than our words are." [From my work in reconciliation, I'd concur with Volf and then, I'd add a supplement. Words themselves are a form of deeds, scripturally, and we need to be mindful of James' & Proverbs' injunctions vs. the unruly and unloving tongue (or pen, or writing), and Paul's admonition to speak "only what is useful for building up" one another. I'd venture a guess that Volf would agree, because we're all very aware of how words are used to provoke, demean, antagonize and incite others, today.]

To illustrate Volf's contention (with which I heartily agree!) that "our deeds are a more significant indicator of who we worship than our words are", he said that it seems clear that the Crusaders who, "in the name of" Christ, slaughtered Muslims taking refuge in the Temple (until the blood was "ankle-deep" in some reports) worship the same bloodthirsty god as do the suicide bombers of today who slaughter innocents while shouting "Allahu Akbar". He also used the example of the Muslim leader, Saladin, who became a figure exemplifying principled chivalry to Muslims and Christians.

We need to look at the deeds for their testimony to whom we/others worship. While acknowledging that we who are committed to love God and love neighbor in words and deeds are worshiping the same God, yet we can accept that there are significant and important tensions in understanding the nature of the true God. Questions of salvation and of Godself can only be safely
answered when integrity and freedom of persons is honored as we love our neighbors. In order to further dialogue and promote peace, Volf distinguishes that we need not contend over differences in the ways of salvation in Islam and Christianity, when we can promote the values and common word we share of loving God and neighbor.

Volf added and refined his remarks further in a question and answer session, but I'll save those for a follow-up post.

Misogyny in Secular & Religious Traditions (pt 2)

2011-03-31T12:28:00.002-04:00

The discussion could transfer from here to whether religions, in general, are the cause of women being disrespected and abused. Women may be poorly treated by Christian men, by Muslim men, by Buddhist men, by Hindi men, by men in any cultural setting or religion…and by men, without regard to any religious reasoning, whatsoever. Genuine religious endeavors result from human efforts to reflect a truthful ordering (if there is one…) within a cosmic reality that predates us and human historic & contemporary relationships. False religious endeavors result from human efforts to maintain a status quo or counter-create a false ordering by unjust and inequitable means, and all religious endeavors succeed or fail according to the integrity or its lack in the humans who propagate them. If indeed there is a truthful ordering, one which justly perpetuates life, healthy communities and relationships, religions may be in accord or discord with that deeper reality. (An atheist in this framework would not be one who intellectually doubts the existence of a Deity or deities, but one who actively works against or lives in ways that counter life, community, relational reconciliation and justice.) Legal systems are derivative of religious understandings of appropriate and just ordering.

Chicken or egg? What came first, the religion-based ill-treatment of women, or men's ill-treatment of women which they seek to justify according to some religion, or according to purported intellectual, physical, emotional strengths in men or weaknesses in women? (I'd heard it said that women were incapable of handling finances, when I began working in financial markets & economics 30+ years ago. There have been endless debates over purportedly innate feminine weaknesses, throughout our lifetimes.) Insofar as humans anthropomorphically project their flawed understandings onto religious and legal systems, justice and truth are not served.

Yet, that question of where alienation began might seem irrelevant to the situation in which we find ourselves, now – the endless loop of relentless justification of alienation, devaluation and polarization between genders and belief systems.

The crux of the problem doesn't lie in our gendered differences, but in our non-gendered human abuses of power. Historically, men have held more power and women were among the permanently disenfranchised underclasses of sub-humans (still are, in many regions, and to many men). One obvious form of power can be physical strength and size. But, women aren't the only members of the underclasses. Power-abusers may abuse other families, classes, races, ethnicities, cultures, the physically different, the diversely gifted, as well as the other gender; they may abuse and bully any person with whom they don't identify. Most certainly, a power-abuser will abuse and seek to destroy any person or group who threatens their power base. Consider all the contemporary historical situations within our lifespans where those who have previously been oppressed have turned into power-abusers and money-hoarders, themselves. Proverbs 29:13-14 reads, "The poor and the oppressor have this in common: the LORD gives light to the eyes of both. If a king judges the poor with equity, his throne will be established forever."

Returning to the gospel of John, consider the literary situation of the Samaritan woman's story within the text. Chapter 3 presents the story of Nicodemus, "a leader of the Jews" who came to Jesus "by night." Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, and chided him for his lack of understanding when Nicodemus expressed his puzzlement at Jesus' words. The dark night is surely linked to the darkness in Nicodemus' ability to comprehend and his unwillingness to be seen by fellow Jews with him (cf. Jesus' words in 3:19-21). The scene shifts to John, the Baptist, whose disciples are in discussion with another "Jew" about ritual purification. Who is clean? Who is not clean? Who is "allowed in"? Who is excluded? [The gospel writer uses "Jew" or "Jews" and the place, "Judea" to depict those who are in power, in positions of worldly authority, and which authority is too frequently not congruent with the authority by which God moves.]

The response of John, the Baptist, to his disciples' concern that people were leaving him to follow Jesus offers us a key to Nicodemus' darkness, and the light in the responses of John, the Samaritan woman, and the royal official to Jesus. John responded with the humility. First, he recognized that the real authority he possessed was given by God, in the first place. Second, John knew the Source of all true authority, and he knew himself in God's light: "You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Messiah,but I have been sent ahead of him.'" (3:28) Finally, that was enough, and John rejoiced in that awareness. John didn't seek to grasp more than God had given to him. (cf. Phil. 2:6) "He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease." (3:29-30)

So, let's revisit the story of the Samaritan woman in the light ("It was about noon." 4:6) of John's responses to Jesus, and its literary situation in the text. As a woman, a Samaritan, and one who – for reasons completely irrelevant to the purpose & message of the story the gospel writer was telling – had been married to 5 men, she came to draw water, joyfully received Jesus' prophetic words and mission, and went immediately to tell her village about him. Just as John's disciples first believed Jesus because of John's words, so the villagers first believed Jesus because of her words (4:39-40). Then, they believed Jesus because of his own words, and just as John decreased, so did the Samaritan woman (4:41-42). We sense the joy among the villagers to know Jesus, as "the Savior of the world." (The subtext is that Jesus is not chosen to be the Savior of the worldly, powerful insiders.)

Too often we wrongly believe that reconciliation comes at the cost of our selves. Perhaps we may recall the childishness of our youth when we rarely commended other children, for fear that commending them diminished us. Actually, reconciliation will come at the cost of our false selves, the selves that are perpetuated by lies and abuse of whatever power we possess or seek to exert over others. That power misleads and blinds us to Godself and to God's signs in and mission to the world, when that power is based in our flesh – whether gender, ethnicity, race, economic, political, educational, or religious situation, to name some examples. In order to know Jesus, who Jesus is and to accept God from whom Jesus comes,

we recognize the gifts we possess are not from/in/of ourselves,
we know ourselves and know how to discern wisdom in humans around us (Aside: there's hope here for Nicodemus! Cf. 3:2),
and finally, we joyfully allow ourselves to decrease and be replaced by God and God's Son in others' sight.

Other posts in this series: Part 1

Misogyny in Secular & Religious Traditions (pt 1)

2011-03-27T22:05:00.002-04:00

David Lose, the Director for Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary, points out what seemingly should have been obvious for the past 2 millennia of Christianity in a column at The Huffington Post: the woman at the well is never described in John 4 as a prostitute, or as a promiscuous woman. Jesus doesn't even mention sin in his conversation with her. [Predominantly male] commentators, theologians and church pastors have consistently described her in terms that purport her to be sexually loose, adulterous, and/or promiscuous, and perceive Jesus' words to her as calling her out of her sin.

Johannine scholar, Prof. Marianne Meye Thompson of Fuller Theological Seminary encouraged her students to look at John with fresh eyes. Although we used Raymond Brown's hefty 2-volume commentary on John, Dr. Meye Thompson did not wed us to his interpretation. Brown's view of the woman at the well, "immoral" was his term, was not matched in the words of John and was not clearly supportable in the sociological and cultural ANE context. When we got to this passage, which I had just worked through for another seminary class, we challenged Brown's interpretation.

It is not at all unlikely that a woman of good reputation might be married a number of times. Men could easily divorce women, but women had little right, if any, to divorce men. If a beautiful woman was barren, for instance, she might be divorced for lack of children, lack of sons, or sadly, for "any reason" a man might give.

There was no "labor market" for women, then. They could be gainfully "employed" as daughter, wife and widow. Few women had sufficient property to exist without the support of men. If a woman wasn't gainfully employed in family endeavors, if she had not the means to survive on her own, and if she was not marriageable, she could depend on the generosity of extended family and neighbors (Ruth, & perhaps, Mary – the mother of Jesus), or become "self-employed" – as a prostitute.

In Robert Kysar's book, John: The Maverick Gospel (Revised Edition), one appendix was entitled, "The Women and the Gospel of John." (I hope he's incorporated this into his 3^rd Edition, rather than left it as an after-thought!) Kysar pointed out how remarkable John's presentation of women's faithfulness in the gospel was, for that historical period. The Samaritan woman is discussed in contrast to the disbelieving Nicodemus in ch. 3, as the 2nd evangelist* in the gospel (the 1^st was John the Baptist) – an outsider, Samaritan, woman, rejected (the 5 marriages). The text does not support casting her as an immoral person, and in fact, her discussion with Jesus is very perceptive and he treats her with dignity. She not only believes (where Nicodemus couldn't/didn't), but then she goes and tells her town and THEY believe her. (This could count as another strike against assumptions that John depicted her as immoral -- the testimony of women was irrelevant & the testimony of the immoral people was suspect.) Kysar considers the Samaritan woman as the female counterpart to John the Baptist.

Significant women are consistently portrayed as believers in the gospel: Jesus' mother (ch. 2), Samaritan woman (ch. 4), Martha (ch. 11), Mary (ch. 12), women at the foot of the cross (ch. 19), and Mary Magdalene (ch. 20 - 1st witness/evangelist to the resurrection).

The fact that the woman was married multiple times indicates that she was probably not considered a "fallen woman" in her community. (She would have been stoned to death for adultery, for instance – cf. John 8) It seems far more likely that she was barren, or had been married to older men, or had husbands die, or all of the above. That she was living with a man could be that she was living with a relative of her own, or with a relative of a husband, or as a dependent on others (which might explain why she's carting water, but then again, women to this day have the job of carting water in Africa!).

This post continues: Part 2

a dearth of ongoing righteousness & justice

2011-02-10T14:00:00.003-05:00

^{The historical setting for Ezekiel's word of the LORD is the unwillingness of the people of God, the family of Israel, to be righteous in their ways, to love one another & their neighbors in their actions, every day. Israel has been invaded by Babylon.

30}“As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes forth from the LORD.’
³¹And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with their lips they show much love, but their heart is set on their gain.
³²And lo, you are to them like one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it.
³³When this comes—and come it will!—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
(Ezekiel 33)

What does it mean to "pass judgment"? (Take Two)

2011-01-29T23:44:00.005-05:00

Is it passing judgment to discern that, according to a certain understanding (aka, "religion") of reality, truth, wisdom, and trajectories of consequences (years, decades & generations), certain choices, behaviors, actions & words don't build up individuals, families, communities & posterity? Discernment is always a function of responding to explicit and implicit law-based parameters. Broadly speaking, Law is always set in physical embodied reality, and defines what actions are right/wrong, healthy/unhealthy, wise/unwise, and constructive/destructive for people to take. (cf. Romans 2:12-16)

OR: is "judgment" taking an action based on that discernment -- for instance, legislating against behaviors and mandating subsequent actions in consequences (fines, banishment, imprisonment, excommunication, etc.). Judgment can also be a supportive action, commending and approving of others' actions in the community or in the written laws governing that community. (Biblical examples of supportive judgments would be the commendation of the care of widows and orphans, or the just treatment of aliens.) However, sinful judgments also exist in human societies; "gossip" is considered a sinful judgment on others, according to Scripture. Thus, one person exercising wise or unwise discernment can sin against others with that discernment. Likewise, discernment can be followed by a choice to love (act patiently, kindly & with delight in truth, without envy, pride, quick temper, boastfulness, self-seeking, recording wrongs, etc.).

If a person doesn't commend or approve a behavioral course of action based on his/her discernment & parameters, does that mean s/he is "passing judgment", even should s/he follows love's paths with those behaving thus? (Biblically-defined Love is not hormonally, affinity or preferentially based.) Fundamentally, to require that person to approve of something that s/he hadn't approved of, heretofore, is to ask her/him to change the parameters (or laws) by which they discern reality, truth, wisdom and consequences.

It seems prudent to be clear: it is asking people to change their religion when, for the sake of maintaining relationships, they are required to commend, approve of, or disapprove of and disavow behaviors and actions which their lives &/or the canon by which they've been living have not commended, approved of, or disapproved of & disavowed those behaviors/actions. According to my understanding, that requirement defines proselytizing, not loving others. My religion calls me to love and serve others, not to proselytize them.

The tension of loving ourselves & others while not approving of everything we or they do is difficult to sustain. (I'd say that it's impossible to sustain without the empowering of the Holy Spirit!) Our natural human cop-out is to make new law, or appeal to old law, and use that law to pass judgment on others; thereby we relieve ourselves of the tension and can choose which persons we will choose to "love" and which persons are unworthy of "love". We then use our law to choose whom to include in our circle, and whom to exclude.

But, God's love is perfect (Matt. 5:43-48), and Jesus us calls us to "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." The telos - the goal - of God's law is love.

Militarism or Diplomacy?

2010-12-27T09:01:00.003-05:00

Why is it that those whom I know who are most pro-military endeavors seem to be the least likely to support government efforts to alleviate poverty, to ameliorate power/financial class/opportunity & educational imbalances and to support reconciliation initiatives?

The correlation seems to occur far more often than is warranted by statistical coincidence. Is it also coincidental that so much of current wealth & political power are enmeshed with military power & the manufacturing and sale of armaments? Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times points out the widening chasm between military spending and better budgeting, here.

Proverbs clearly indicates that the wealthy find their refuge in their wealth: "The wealth of the rich is their fortress; the poverty of the poor is their ruin." (Prov. 10:15) The Hebrew word for fortress has military implications, too, and can also mean might, strength and fortifications (ramparts) of a town. Contrast this "strength" to the use of the same root word in Proverbs 14:26: "Fear of the LORD is a stronghold, a refuge for a man's children." (Tanakh)

Prov. 14:32 reads, "The wicked are overthrown by their evil-doing, but the righteous find refuge in their integrity." (cf., Psalm 52:7) The NT concept of being found "in Christ" has strong OT parallels to the Psalmists' and Proverbial understanding of refuge. Military images, such as those found in Ephesians, are replaced with weapons of truth, faith, the Word of God, righteousness, and the gospel of peace.

From my perspective on current events and scriptural studies, there seem to be strong indications that the hard work of developing healthy human relationships and shared community responsibility is easily deferred by most leaders and followers throughout history in favor of force, whether that force is evidenced in military power, academic/intellectual argumentation, facile rhetoric, gender or racial or ethnic domination, bullying or social ostracism, to give a few examples. The righteous are those who find their refuge in God, and whose lives evidence the integrity and holiness of God's ways.

Perhaps the name of this post might be, "Domination or Dominion?" Food for thought & prayer!

Neurotheology

2010-12-16T23:50:00.003-05:00

The spiritual practice of meditation has been shown to have neurological benefits in this new study. The downside of this information is the tendency of humans to co-opt religious practices for utilitarian purposes which inevitably become self-serving - whether those purposes are to gain money via tithing, to feed ambition and desires for fame/infamy, to elevate or suppress people or groups, or perhaps, better brain function.

The research doctor, Andrew Newberg, who has been studying the neurological effects of meditation and prayer seems to understand how difficult it can be to maintain the balance between spirituality and science. He laid out the goals of his scholarship in his book, Principles of Neurotheology, and the 4 goals are excerpted in the NPR article. Any thoughts about pitfalls, implications, dangers, and Newberg's goals?

When considering the primary reasons for developing neurotheology as a field, we can consider four foundational goals for scholarship in this area. These are:

1. To improve our understanding of the human mind and brain.

2. To improve our understanding of religion and theology.

3. To improve the human condition, particularly in the context of health and well being.

4. To improve the human condition, particularly in the context of religion and spirituality.

These four goals are reciprocal in that they suggest that both religious and scientific pursuits might benefit from neurotheological research. The first two are meant to be both esoteric as well as pragmatic regarding scientific and theological disciplines. The second two goals refer to the importance of providing practical applications of neurotheological findings towards improving human life both individually and globally.

The Golden Rule

2010-10-24T17:55:00.003-04:00

I felt as if I virtually spent the afternoon with an old friend this afternoon. Dr. Adele Diamond went to Swarthmore College, and I got to know her a bit while she was there. Adele has strong roots in Judaism, and she reflects with that rich foundation on her field, developmental cognitive neuroscience. There is a full interview posted on Krista Tippett's On Being blog, which is over 50 minutes long. I listened to it, backed up and listened again for almost 2 hours this afternoon. Adele's enthusiasm and deep study within her field is well represented in the interview.

Perhaps most folks might be too time-constrained to listen to the full interview, even though I'd highly recommend it. If you use an MP3 player, you could download the interview and listen to it in the train, the car, while you're mowing the lawn, though!

For merely a couple of minutes, however, you can listen to Rabbi Hillel's & Jesus' different perspectives on the Torah, here.

The first snippet is from an interview with Karen Armstrong, a British author & former nun who wrote A History of God, a comparative study of major religions. Then, there is a snippet from Krista's interview with Adele, who had a different angle on the same Hillel quote. I admit to my bias! I agree with Adele's perspective!

Love or Defensive Living?

2010-08-24T21:54:00.002-04:00

Last evening as it was getting dark, my husband and I were walking back from taking our dog for his evening stroll to the apartment where we've been living the last few months. This neighborhood is predominantly black and lower income. There was a new truck, an ice cream truck parked in the church parking lot we passed. As we returned an SUV had pulled up next to it, and a man was inside the ice cream truck moving around. We glanced over curiously, and the man immediately came out of the ice cream truck and emphatically said, "That's my truck!" We were a bit taken aback, but smiled and said, "That's cool, we just hadn't seen it here before." He launched into a lengthy explanation of how he usually parks it here at the church in the summer for the kids, but he was helping the church take down their old air conditioners from the roof, so he hadn't gotten to it until now. We smiled and agreed it was good for the kids not to have to walk far on the busy roads to get an ice cream, and mentioned that we'd visited the church a couple of weeks previously. He invited us to make sure we go meet the bishop and his wife at the church.

As we walked away, I realized that his primary response was indicative of just how incredibly sensitive and defensive blacks feel daily simply for having different skin color than the majority. We, too, have experienced gatherings where we were subjected to intensified criticism, scrutiny and judgment regarding the different choices we make every day; perhaps those experiences helped us feel more keenly his sense that all white folk default to suspicion of blacks.

Racism isn't an old problem (Scot posted a blog at Jesus Creed today from recent history); it's an ongoing, perennially human problem given the reactions we experience here. It seems one reason we have been so warmly received in this neighborhood may be simply because we respond with the love of Christ to those whom we meet, not with default suspicion or self-protectiveness. We've prayed with them, cried with them, spoken of our trials together, and worshiped with them. I needed to be reminded how precious the gift of welcome and acceptance is to all of us. They don't want to lose touch with us, even though we're moving closer to my husband's office this weekend. We feel very humbled by their caring.

For those folks with pick-up trucks, you know how often you get hit for help moving furniture. Imagine the sense of blessing we felt when one of our older neighbors offered to help us move furniture with his pick-up truck this weekend. His offer was completely spontaneous & unsolicited.

Parables, Greek Myths, Fables & Fairy Tales

2010-08-21T21:09:00.002-04:00

Scot McKnight has been blogging about Klyne Snodgrass' book on Parables at Jesus Creed. Scot's series is entitled, "Imagine a World."

Some thoughts came to mind, today, about where we dwell mentally and how those beliefs affect our interactions with others. Do we dwell among the people who populate Jesus' parables or among those who populate the semi-magical, often base and vindictive, partially human, partially divine characters of mythology, fairy tales, fables, stereotypes and archetypes?

The other day I was listening to an NPR story while I was driving about some day camps thematically centered on a series of novels by Rick Riordan. The novels are founded in Greek mythology. In Greek mythology, the gods are distorted reflections of humans with inhuman powers. They are replete with human frailties and are endowed with abnormal or non-human appearances and powers. They react out of petty and base desires as well as magical aspects of a pseudo-divinity. As I listened, I appreciated the focus on learning about mythology, yet simultaneously I wondered what these children may be absorbing about the identities of gods and humans.

I suspect that the reason such myths are "so enduring", as NPR's Margot Adler described it, is because they tell truths about where we naturally dwell. That very reason can also be the problem because people are never fully human and the gods are never fully divine in myths and archetypes. The gods are brought down to our base level, and the gods never demand that we rise above our own interests. The risk there is that we see others through the distorted lenses of caricature, where humanity isn't fully human. It's much easier to demean a caricature than it is to face someone such as ourselves. (Have you ever tried, politely, to catch the eye of a rude driver? Have you ever tried to correct someone else's false beliefs about you or anyone else? [Consider Obama & the conspiracy theories about his religion, citizenship by birth, etc.!]) Furthermore, when we dwell too long among the inhumans, what is human within us and within others may be swept away in the alienation that grows and spreads between us like the mountainside chasms that form from rushing flood waters.

The gods of myths and fables, the archetypes and stereotypes of literature and psychology become categories into which humans may be slotted and behind which the doors can be locked. Those gods too often justify and serve our selfish interests, choices and ambitions. The false worship and idolatry described in the Bible resides where we refuse to face truth about ourselves, the reality of the world around us, the humanity we share, the outcomes & affects of our choices, and the call to be genuinely human with every single person we encounter. The "white-washed sepulchers" of today may be those who've wrapped themselves in the pretentious garments of professional accomplishment, education, wealth, status, gender, race, "religion", ethnicity, family, titles and circles of influence to distance themselves from the "others" – the poor, the oppressed, the small, the weak, the enemies, or the ones whom they despise or disdain for any reason. Sometimes they may say the right things, but we've been warned, "do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach." (Matt. 23:3-12)

Parables differ from myths, fables and stereotypes in that, as Scot puts it, they imagine a world where God is, where Jesus is, where the reign of God exists in the fullness of shalom – a completeness of love, safety, peace, justice and forgiveness. People in the parables are fully human, loving, hateful, wonderful, flawed, glorious, imperfect, generous, selfish, angry, injured, arrogant, repentant, broken, yet also healing and being healed. The parables' God lovingly reaches out to unlock the doors with love, forgiveness, justice, grace and mercy. The doors are many: of debt (Matt. 18), of physical injury and xenophobia (Luke 10), of foolishness and self-righteousness (Luke 15), of humility and arrogance (Luke 18), among others. Every one of us is locked in and judged by others were it not for God's freeing touch. The parables truthfully expose the humanity in ourselves and others – while we may recognize others, we should also see ourselves in each of them. We never become caricatures imprisoned by God's judgment, but we always remain truly, honestly human, with sinfulness and hopefulness, meanness and generosity. God's mercy and grace are always extended to us with the power to set us free. This God judges every person with justice, not out of fickle and selfish motives, but with true justice that knows the depth of our hearts. Jesus describes the Father who yearns to teach us how to be humbly & lovingly "I-Thou" (cf. Martin Buber) to one another. It's tough love! Scot considers Klyne's thoughts on the parable of the debtors: "God stunningly forgives us of staggering debt, and God disapproves of those who fail to live out graciousness and forgiveness toward others. …As Klyne Snodgrass puts it: 'The kingdom comes with limitless grace in the midst of an evil world, but with it comes limitless demand.' (72)."

The parables call us to leave the masks behind which so many of us hide and the caricatures we make of our enemies. The parables encourage us to risk being honest, vulnerable, flawed, loving and always reaching for better than this present condition. "Limitless demand" is a tall order, but God did not leave us without grace and strength to make that journey.

Let us dwell among those who encourage us to love others as God loves us, looking to the interests of others as does the God of the parables, and not among the false gods of the stereotypes, myths and fables. This true God loves humanity steadfastly, in the Word full of grace & truth. Let us leave behind our self-deceptions, demonizations & objectification of others, and seek the shalom of all. When we use twisted methods to justify and perpetuate our false beliefs, self-serving interests, lies and harm, we break shalom. As Scot wrote about David in Psalm 28, "David's enemies are those who say they want peace (shalom) but what they really want is evil (which means the shattering of shalom)."
"So, let us learn to re-imagine our world and learn to re-imagine it as a world shaped and governed by a good God, the Father, who loves us, who cares for us, and wants to provide for us. Let us go to that God." ~ Scot McKnight

Final Note: As I was writing this blog, Jay Phelan posted his. If I'm not as clear about my thoughts as could be, his words may be clearer!

The Bechdel Test

2010-08-08T22:52:00.001-04:00

Systemic? It surely appears to be!

The Bechdel Test

Whose Image Do We Reflect?

2010-05-03T12:50:00.002-04:00

Observations from end of life: it's clear that the fewer/more people we have seen imaging God in our lives (in words AND deeds) and the less/more effort we have put into imaging God ourselves affects end of life belief/faith/trust in Godself. Where we have placed our focus - on the good or on the evil that seemingly overwhelms the good - increases or decreases peace at all stages of life.

United in Christ or Puffed Up?

2010-04-25T15:57:00.001-04:00

In the light of the current epidemic of polarizing rhetoric and enmity within our country and affecting our fellowship with one another, I was considering 1 Corinthians 4:6:

I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, brothers and sisters, so that you may learn through us the meaning of the saying, "Nothing beyond what is written," so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of one against another.

Paul made a deliberate contrast to the division-minded Corinthians. Paul argued that this human divisiveness is our natural state, and is spiritually immature. We easily & naturally become "puffed up in favor of one against another." Defensiveness and offensiveness to one another are our first inclinations and default positions.

The prepositions in the Greek are helpful to understand the bold portion of the passage: … i[na mh. ei-j u`pe.r tou/ e`no.j fusiou/sqe kata. tou/ e`te,rouÅ
u`pe.r is used to define whom we support or identify with, "be for someone, be on someone's side." kata. is used to delineate whom we oppose, and following the antagonistic verb (fusio,w) translated "puffed up", hostility and opposition are indicated in its usage.

People who don't follow the Lord cannot perceive that Christ-followers are not operating on behalf of one or another person, and against one or another, simply because they're not following God themselves. Outside of Christ, we simply don't know what it means to submit to God, and not to submit the whims, positions, voices, words, arguments, rationalizations and actions warring within ourselves & other people.

Likewise, just as the Pharisees could not perceive the humility of Christ himself submitted in love to the Father, so those of us operating with our focus on ourselves as separated from, or contrasted to other humans also cannot perceive the humility in those following in the footsteps of Christ. When we who follow Christ speak truthfully of reality, of Christ and of God, others hear opposition to themselves. They literally – not just figuratively, not just abstractly – cannot hear love with them and for them.

This immaturity is reminiscent of the immaturity of children, and the struggle of parents to teach their children wisdom and healthy choices. When we scold or discipline our children for doing something dangerous or inconsiderate out of our love for them and understanding of life, they "hear" opposition and criticism. They don't hear "love." I blogged on that difficulty, here. Paul used the same analogy to describe the Corinthians' childish divisiveness in the previous chapter (3:1-4) which had led them to favor Paul himself or Apollos.

So, for those of us who follow Christ, Paul called us to stick to "nothing beyond what is written." Just as Jesus is God-with-us, so we who are conformed to Christ are called to be God-with-others.

We bring this immaturity into our churches. It's inevitable, because everything we've been taught in human words, deeds and education draws lines between ourselves and others. If a brother, sister or enemy speaks truth to us, we revolt against them, instead of honoring the truth, trusting and heeding the Word that is faithfully with us. It takes humility to hear the truth in the Word who convicts us of sin. We naturally want to reject the person speaking truth, rather than face that Word coming in another person's words.

I trust that we who long for the Word, the truth and the grace found in the person of Jesus Christ will humble ourselves, hear his voice, listen to the Word from whomever God uses to bring it. Some days it will be through you, other days through me, another day through our friends, another day through our enemies, and yet another day through Balaam's donkey. Humility is our posture before Godself: "My soul clings to the dust, revive me according to your word." We, in the Covenant, are companions of all who are committed to live the way of the truth and the light, who fear the Lord. We shouldn't be surprised at the lack of companionship we encounter because we're all lost and alienated without our unity in Godself. Our natural human response to such aloneness and alienation is to puff ourselves up, rather than humbly to rest with and steadfastly to love one another. Our natural response to being told the truth by a person or to encountering the truth in an obstacle is to strike out at that person or obstacle, just as Balaam struck his donkey. May our ways before God and one another not be perverse, so that our primary reaction is to strike at those whom God uses to reflect truth: "The angel of the LORD said to him, 'Why have you struck your donkey these three times? I have come out as an adversary, because your way is perverse before me. ³³The donkey saw me, and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let it live.'" (Numbers 22:22-35) The only thing missing in the story is Balaam contritely petting his donkey, giving him an extra measure of feed and rest, and apologizing profusely!

Psalm 119

⁵⁷ The LORD is my portion;

I promise to keep your words.

⁵⁸ I implore your favor with all my heart;

be gracious to me according to your promise.

⁵⁹ When I think of your ways,

I turn my feet to your decrees;

⁶⁰ I hurry and do not delay

to keep your commandments.

⁶¹ Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,

I do not forget your law.

⁶² At midnight I rise to praise you,

because of your righteous ordinances.

⁶³ I am a companion of all who fear you,

of those who keep your precepts.

⁶⁴ The earth, O LORD, is full of your steadfast love;

teach me your statutes.

A Thousand Questions

2010-03-07T15:41:00.003-05:00

We've been on a journey through a harrowing valley in recent months. One night, I woke at 2:00 am and couldn't go back to sleep until 4:30am. (I woke my husband at 4:15am to talk to him, and passed on the sleeplessness!) Each of us walks "through the valley of the shadow of death" every day. Some days, we're don't encounter death as closely as on other days, but then there may be weeks and months on end where death, to all appearances, reigns unchallenged. Death takes various forms in our communities: injustice, slander, deceit, lies, avoidance of the truth, covering up and rationalizing evil choices, breaking one's word (unfaithfulness), assault, greed, partiality toward one's social/ethnic/racial/gender group, friends, or cronies, coveting another's gifts or accomplishments, sloth, irresponsibility, arrogance, insolence, boastful words, conflicts, ruthless behavior, theft, and of course, the final enemy - death itself...

On that one night of many that I lay sleepless, Psalm 23 kept running through my head. I thought through each verse over and over again, and suddenly I was riveted by a new facet of a verse I'd had memorized since childhood:
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for You are with me..."
The LORD is our shepherd.

Who are you walking with in the valleys shadowed by death, today? Is it the one who will kill you in the dark, or abandon you, or who will lay down his life for you? Who comforts you? Whom do you follow there? Is the shepherd you follow the one who teaches you to rationalize lying to others, covering up sin, dismissing or deceiving others to win in "business," taking credit for others' ideas or work, and favoring people who have money, position and status? Or, is the shepherd you follow the One who authors truth, grace and life? Does your shepherd drive you down paths of unrighteousness, spurred and goaded by fear, loss on income, and threats of retribution? Or, does your shepherd lead you gently in paths of righteousness in your relationships with everyone your life touches? If you find yourself reacting unrighteously toward others and toward loved ones, check whom you're following and what belief has led you astray!

So, that was the question that stuck with me and kept me awake. That was the question I turned over to my husband so I could sleep again. WHO IS WITH US, AND WHO ARE WE FOLLOWING in this valley shadowed by death?

We recall, "There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death." (Proverbs 14:12) "He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake."

In the Day of the Lord, we will be accountable for our choices, for whether they have harmed or blessed others, for whether we loved or hated, for whether we strove for ourselves or served one another. This video gives a glimpse of the magnitude of each person's choice: A Thousand Questions. "Here I am, send me!" (Isaiah 6:8) Although each of us seems small in contrast to the pervasiveness of injustice, each of us can stand in the power of the Holy Spirit against the enemies which are not flesh and blood.

best answer to gun scopes with Scripture verses

2010-01-23T13:20:00.002-05:00

There is an editorial printed in The Seattle Times that expresses my thoughts very well. Since I've not had the opportunity to sit and write my thoughts down, I'll offer you Leonard Pitts, Jr.'s thoughts!

'Jesus rifles' lose sight of faith's true aim

Pitts wrote: "Truest faith is not seen in a secret code on a gun sight, a trinket from a store or words on a rock. Rather, faith is seen in the substance of a life lived in service to others, lived as if God were not in fact one's personal echo chamber in the sky."

Shooting Others for Jesus??

2010-01-19T23:04:00.004-05:00

This manufacturer's idea of what is appropriate on the gun sights they make is disturbing on so many levels, I can't think where to begin to discuss it, yet!

Article: US troops issued with gun sights carrying coded references to biblical passages

The biblical passages which seem completely misappropriated, from my POV, are to 2 Cor. 4:6, and John 8:12.

The Lie of a Haitian "pact"

2010-01-17T15:22:00.005-05:00

Can anyone find primary historical texts or sources that can refute this Haitian author's claim that the purported pact with the devil is gossip and slander spread via credulous people? I applaud his reference to 1 Thessalonians 5:20-22 - "Do not despise the words of the prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; refrain from every form of evil." That includes refraining from passing on unsubstantiated gossip, folks!

In the meantime, let us heed the words of the prophet Isaiah in 1:16-17:

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean
remove the evil of your doings
from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
learn to do good,
seek justice,
rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan,
plead for the widow.

Article: God, Satan, and the Birth of Haiti

Check out Larry's post, too, which goes more into detail of what really IS demonic in this worldly order -- the oppression of the poor, and the ghastly disparities in wealth, power and privilege.

Breaking the Chains that Bind Women & Girls

2010-01-13T00:51:00.003-05:00

How we need to love one another! How we need to be reconciled in Christ and being God's hands acting redemptively in love to the poor, the oppressed and the abused!

Break the Chains - a ministry of the Evangelical Covenant Church to get behind.

International Peasants Movement and Violence Against Women

2010-01-12T23:28:00.004-05:00

It was heartening to hear an agreeing voice, tonight. Raj Patel, the economist and author of Stuffed and Starved and The Value of Nothing, referred to the International Peasants Movement during his interview on Democracy Now, today. Patel is particularly interested in "food sovereignty" and the inabilities of capital markets to price goods appropriately, accounting for a wide variety of factors - including environmental impact of production, ecological sustainability of production, cost in carbon emissions, societal costs, etc. He noted that the International Peasants Movement has principles of justice for all people underlying its advocacy. The IPM sees the equalizing of power relationships as one of the root causes behind the injustice that characterizes contemporary capitalism. One of the IPM's platforms, according to Patel, is that, "Food Sovereignty is about an end to all forms of violence against women."

Consider that statement against the backdrop of Genesis 3 and the "fall" from grace of humanity. Consider the implications of what it should mean to be restored to grace and relationship with God and each other because of Jesus Christ. Consider the deeper theological implications of heterosexual marriage "in Christ", and the marriage between Christ and his Bride, the Church.

As a Christian and an academic who studied and worked in Government & Economics, it is clear to me that "equalizing power" isn't the final remedy. Equalization of power in the world's terms is meeting force with opposing force. People get squashed and decimated in such contests of force, and the most squashed are the poorest and the most powerless (more women and children than men, too). God's power, as revealed in Christ, is all about emptying ourselves, dying to self, loving & serving others. How fascinating it seems that wise "peasants" are more clued into the dynamics of systemic injustice and gender violence than are the educated and wealthy! Wisdom certainly can't be purchased with tuition payments!

"Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters! Has God not chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs in the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you? You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" (James 3:5-8)

License Plate Frame on Lutherans

2010-01-07T23:06:00.002-05:00

"Lutherans: More than Good Looks and Jello"

I was driving home after dropping our daughter off at her January internship with a local shelter for homeless women and children, and I read this on the license plate frame of the car in front of me. I laughed aloud, but my laugh was tinged with incredulity.

What in the world would the point of this license plate message be? It's too lame to be a really good joke. (in my opinion!) It's not an invitation to get to know anyone better. It's not direct enough to inspire anyone to seek out a Lutheran Church to visit...

Any ideas what the frame's creator was thinking?

What would your reaction be?

Losses of Meaning

2009-12-31T12:44:00.003-05:00

I was in a large store with our daughter, yesterday. I asked our check-out clerk how she was, and her response was "not good. not good. My baby girl ain't doing too well." She nodded her head toward someone behind me. I turned but didn't see a little girl. "Who?" I asked. "My baby girl - her cousin committed suicide on Christmas. She's right there at the next counter." (another nod) Again, I turned, and saw the young woman who was running the next check-out line was crying as she worked. Another store employee was hovering over her.

I told our clerk that I was a chaplain, and asked her if she thought I might be able to help. She immediately called to the young woman who had been relieved of her duty and was walking toward the Employees Only area, "Sarah, Sarah, come here, girl." She gave Sarah a hug, introduced me, and Sarah walked with me to a table nearby. She continued weeping quietly. My daughter went nearby to get lunch and ate at another table to give us quiet time.

Sarah (not her real name) told me about her cousin's suicide, her aunt's loss and pain and her own feelings of devastation, grief and anger, and questions why her cousin (only 17 years old) hadn't called her. "I've always been there for her, why didn't she call me? I thought she was doing ok. This came totally out of nowhere." We spoke for almost half an hour.

Many of her questions are impossible to answer. Why? Why didn't I see this coming? Why did she leave my auntie in agony because they'd just had an argument, and my auntie had left the house?

I've been reminded as I've prayed for Sarah, her aunt, and her whole family of the movie about Virginia Woolf, The Hours, in which Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep had leading roles.

The Hours began with one suicide and ended with another. In the character of Mrs. Dalloway, Meryl Streep, posed a question to Richard who was suffering with AIDS, which I recall as essentially asking: "Isn't that what we live for - one another?" Richard had been bemoaning the meaninglessness of all his life and his life's work, and was feeling life was all worthless and nothing. The disjuncture between her affirmation of meaning in relationships and his loss of meaning in his work is stark.

There are usually nuggets truth behind our trite generalizations. Men do find meaning in their work and women do find meaning in their relationships. That doesn't mean, however, that loss in one area can't be softened by presence of hope in the other! Loss of either or both can cripple our hearts and darken our lives and visions of hopeful future. I've noticed that in times of deep, personal pain and self-doubt, people may frequently throw off the ties of intimate relationships because those ties feel like bondage, instead of like hope and love.

This leaves the space of heartache & emptiness, or a space suffused with faith & hope in God. Let me be really clear, here, that space suffused with faith and hope in God doesn't FEEL good to us. That space may feel more despairing than good. It may feel like we're hanging onto hope in God and to one another "for dear life"! In fact, the dearness of life itself may be in question.

But, before giving up, I hope every and anyone of us will ask ourselves the hard questions of what we leave behind. From Sarah's perspective, her anger at her cousin's apparent self-centeredness & selfishness is really hard to bear. While recognizing her cousin's despair, Sarah struggled with deep anger that her cousin checked out on the family who loved her. Only God can enter that space of heartache and despair when someone is at that point of crisis. Will we turn toward God, hope, faith and future or damn those who love us to the present hell of doubt, anger, grief and pain? The saddest part of suicide is that we fail to be God-with-us to our families and friends, and we rob them of the opportunity to be God-with-us to us, too. May we live out what it means to be the Body of Christ in our worlds, today!

Rediscovering Values, by Jim Wallis

2009-12-29T16:32:00.004-05:00

Check out the first chapter of Wallis' new book, available by download at Sojourners website: Rediscovering Values.

All of us need to act and re-act appropriately if we truly do want the Change that was promised us by Pres. Obama. This isn't a one person play, but a drama with every one of us on the stage, acting in partnership with one another, or in opposition to each other to aggrandize ourselves. Serving, not hoarding and accumulating, is the only way out of this recession.

I believe that the answer to Wallis' question is YES! "So do Christians have a responsibility to turn over the tables of an unjust market?" (p.20)

Laws of Science and Everything Else But...

2009-12-28T23:00:00.002-05:00

As someone who always is interested in the view of the forest, and less so in the examination of the twigs and bark of individual trees, there are times when I get a new glimpse from another angle that piques my curiosity.

Have you noticed, as I have, that the Laws of the physical sciences are increasingly acceptable to and accepted by the majority of people, at the same time that the societal mores governing personal behavioral choices of language, sexuality, courtesy, thoughtfulness, and caring words and interactions are increasingly unacceptable and probably unenforceable, unless physical harm is caused and studies are conducted to back up the obvious. (For instance, that text-messaging while driving is discourteous, at the least, because of inattention to other drivers, and dangerous to others on the road, at worst. Until danger was proven, discourtesy is insufficient grounding for laws.)

One could say that we brought the economic collapse upon ourselves, by each maximizing our individual profits and disregarding the serving of our neighbors who lost the money that began to line our pockets. The vortex of the tornado of pocket lining, of course, is Wall Street. However, various satellite vortices exist as well, in Washington DC, and in every city center near you and me. It's useless to blame one vortex as more at fault than another (Repubs blame DC and Dems blame NYC, in my experience). The hard facts remain that our vaunting of individual pursuit of happiness (i.e., money, stuff, and freedom to do whatever we choose) destroys our love for neighbor, and the trust we need to build and maintain healthy communities.

Dealing with Criticism

2009-12-21T15:06:00.004-05:00

Our natural responses to criticism are related to our god-like views of ourselves and an inner perception we may hold that our purity is unassailable. Only one who is humble and convinced of his/her own inadequacies (or sinfulness) can honestly assess criticism, ignore the feeling of woundedness to step back and take the spiritual view of what s/he may have said or done to elicit such critique.

It's crucial for us to know ourselves -- I chuckled at one blogger's quoting Edwin Friedman (the late author & speaker on emotional processes within family/ congregational systems) as telling him to "Define the hell out of yourself." If we don't humbly understand and seek understanding about ourselves from both our own interior view and the exterior views of how others perceive us we simply cannot know what criticism is valid or invalid when someone or some group blows us out of the water with their criticism-bombs.

As most of those who've lived long enough probably have had, I've had plenty of painful opportunities to deal with others' harsh criticisms. Words are frequently spoken and written about others to tear them down, not to build up, not to help them mature, not to edify, but to "finalize" them in judgment (as Arthur Frank noted). Friedman also said, "...if you are a leader, expect sabotage." I'd add another insight to his that being a leader is not simply indicated by one's position or title! I've often wondered what the reactions of Jesus' teachers were when they realized that their student was more gifted, insightful and wise than they were. Many teachers and people with positional authority will sabotage their own students or subordinates who threaten them and their illusion of their own superiority or "greatness."

Tim Keller quoted John Newton as saying,

"Whatever...makes us trust in ourselves that we are comparatively wise or good, so as to treat those with contempt who do not subscribe to our doctrines, or follow our party, is a proof and fruit of a self-righteous spirit."

Keller's blog ends with another quote appropriate to our task as Christians:

"A man may have the heart of a Pharisee, while his head is stored with orthodox notions of the unworthiness of the creature, and the riches of free grace. Yea, I would add, the best of men are not wholly free from this leaven; and therefore are too apt to be pleased with such representations as hold up our adversaries to ridicule, and by consequence flatter our own superior judgments. Controversies, for the most part, are so managed as to indulge rather than to repress his wrong disposition; and therefore, generally speaking, they are productive of little good. They provoke those whom they should convince, and puff up those whom they should edify. I hope your performance will savor of a spirit of true humility, and be a means of promoting it in others."

May we always look to the Lord, being wary of the pride within, and seeking to emulate the humility and service of Christ himself.

Does the Cross Matter in This Conflicted World?

2009-12-17T23:08:00.004-05:00

Both self-proclaimed atheists and practical atheists believe the cross is irrelevant to the daily difficulties in life. There are countless "practical atheists" who attend church religiously, wear religious symbols, follow religious traditions, and observe religious days. When it comes to following Christ, however, practical atheists avoid the cross like the plague, rationalize and justify their unrighteous choices, behavior in the marketplace and the home, and their damaging words toward others. The Church is called to be the Body of Christ, made up by individuals who have "been crucified with Christ" and are bonded together in the power of the Holy Spirit. Only through dying to ourselves in order that Christ may live in us and through us, do Christ-followers know that we do and will experience reconciliation here and now.

My answer is to this video is Yes!

Eliminate Violence Against Women

2009-11-26T02:01:00.003-05:00

End violence, any violence, all violence, every bit of violence against women. Take a stand. Glorify God who created men AND women in God's image.

Every day.

Not just today - the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women - but every single day.

And, women, we have a voice. Use it wisely, use it with confidence in God (not in ourselves), and in manners that bless and not curse men. They are our brothers, also made in God's image.

Psalm 109:8 bumper sticker

2009-11-25T00:17:00.001-05:00

If you have any questions about the misappropriation of scripture verses under the guise of sanctifying fundamentally evil praxis, please read Dan's blog, Somebody Needs to Say It. It is fundamentally impossible to be "in Christ" and to pray this prayer, regarding anyone. Please note who is speaking such words in the Psalm, and how the Psalmist responds with love, prayer and goodness:

¹ Do not be silent, O God of my praise.

² For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,

speaking against me with lying tongues.

³ They beset me with words of hate,

and attack me without cause.

4 In return for my love they accuse me,

even while I make prayer for them.

5 So they reward me evil for good,

and hatred for my love.

6 They say, "Appoint a wicked man against him;

let an accuser stand on his right…"

The ones praying this prayer are those with "wicked and deceitful mouths" not those who serve the LORD our God! If these verses don't make it clear enough, consider how the psalmist ends:

²⁶ Help me, O LORD my God!

Save me according to your steadfast love.

²⁷ Let them know that this is your hand;

you, O LORD, have done it.

²⁸ Let them curse, but you will bless.

Let my assailants be put to shame; may your servant be glad.

²⁹ May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;

may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a mantle.

³⁰ With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD;

I will praise him in the midst of the throng.

³¹ For he stands at the right hand of the needy,

to save them from those who would condemn them to death.

We serve a God who blesses us and who calls us to bless others with our mouths and lives. (Cf., James 3:6-18) If we "pray" this prayer – which is truly a curse, we will be among those who are "wrapped in their own shame as in a mantle."

Shane Claibourne's letter to non-believers

2009-11-20T01:39:00.003-05:00

If you have not read Shane's letter yet, please do! (in Esquire magazine)

Quotes that resonated with me:
"I still believe in the afterlife, but too often all the church has done is promise the world that there is lifeafter death and use it as a ticket to ignore the hells around us."
"This is why the triumph over the cross was a triumph over everything ugly we do to
ourselves and to others. It is the final promise that love wins."

P.S., yes, I do believe that love wins. As much brokenness and conflict that surrounds us and touches every life, there are sunlit shafts of hope and joy and love, too. God IS good.

Not a Coincidence

2009-11-19T00:40:00.001-05:00

Seriously, is it possible for anyone to look at this type of male-instigated investigation by a male hierarchy and consider that shifting the focus and blame onto the women is not the central time-worn way for men to ignore their own sins and displace their reactions to the sins of others? Richard Mouw wrote of a conversation with a devout Catholic nun about the Vatican's recent decision to investigate women's religious orders in the United States in his blog, A Vatican Investigation. His report:

She is a wonderful person, a deeply devoted follower of Christ. "I guess the thing that hurts the most," she said, "is the 'Why us?' and 'Why now?' issue. Here we have had this huge scandal of sexual abuse on the part of priests, with no real official action on Rome's part. And all of a sudden they announce, 'We are worried about the nuns, and we're going to investigate them.' What in the world are they thinking?"

I recall a conversation Massimo & I had with a highly intelligent and devout Catholic woman, who had a PhD from Loyola University. She was very active in her parish, employed by the church and had the unusual privilege given by her Vatican II priest of having an equal vote with the male priests. She spoke of her hope that before she died, she would be able to be ordained a Deacon in the Roman Catholic Church. Massimo and I didn't share her hope.

Massimo and I had lived long enough in Italy for me to realize just how far from honoring women the Catholic Church really is, in the institutional sense. I suspect that hierarchy, in itself, is so male that only a particular type of subservient woman could ever participate in it. (Sarah Palin comes to mind in another hierarchy.) Men resist and exclude women who speak truth "in Christ" out of their deep personal connectedness to the image of God they share with men. Men's resistance to women's truth can often be brutal and destructive. Every hierarchy of which I've been a part, from Wall Street investment banks, to commercial banks, to government agencies, to churches, to classrooms, has had a complicit (male) agreement to protect one another from the discomfort of facing the whole truth about the ethics or wisdom or constructive nature of their conduct. Consider how many whistle-blowers are female. While I can perceive that a political system (generically, a system of governance in a corporation, bureaucracy or ecclesiastical body), in itself, may be neutral when unpopulated, it seems abundantly clear that hierarchical leadership will always damage others. The only top-down structure that is healthy is one where the higher placed see their job as serving, hearing and supporting the lower placed. Ranking and placements are fundamentally indicative of world-honoring measurements, not of God's gracious gift of life and worth to humanity.

When the ten [apostles] heard [that the mother of James and John was advocating for them to have place of honor at Jesus' side in his kingdom], they were angry with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:24-28) [Notice how Mom was complicit in trying to abet her sons' hierarchical ambitions!]

So, while I greatly value Mouw's concern and attention to this matter, I draw attention to his use of the word, "arbitrarily", below.

Still, I am with my nun-friend. The Vatican-ordered investigation is deeply distressing. It is hurting some devoted followers of Christ who do not deserve to be treated with suspicion. As one who observes all of this from a distance—but with great interest and concern—I do not want Catholicism to turn back the clock. Neither do I want a turn in the direction of liberal Protestantism. This means that a better option would be to engage in some serious new discussion about what an orthodox Catholicism should look like today. Many of us in the evangelical world would love to engage in some dialogue with "official" Catholicism on that subject. But not with a Vatican hierarchy that arbitrarily picks on Catholics whom we admire as humble servants of the cause of the Gospel. {bolding with underlining added}

From my perspective, I see no arbitrariness to the Vatican hierarchy's choice to pick on Catholic women. It is male weakness, male pride, and sin.

Name it, guys, please! Women have our own weaknesses, pride and sin, but hierarchy in this manifestation isn't. We do hierarchy differently (and also damagingly, I might add, although it frequently doesn't have the sweeping power to cause broad harm that men's hierarchies have). Another post on another day about our stuff – feel free to send me links or articles that you think constructively address women's issues.

Working the Angles

2009-11-15T18:31:00.001-05:00

It's interesting that Eugene Peterson chose this provocative title for his book, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity. The sad commentary for most of us who have spent years in churches, as members, as lay leaders, and among paid staff, is that we've seen far too many pastors, leaders, and church members working the angles. They name themselves followers of Christ, but belie their profession of faith with their political and financial maneuvering. From my experiences in reconciliation ministry, churches and chaplaincy, it's obvious that most people who now don't attend church but who did attend, at some point in life, left the church because of the hypocrisy and damaging relationships that many so-called "pastors" and "Christians" have espoused openly or surreptitiously within the "church" system. As these former church members realized in their hearts, it is sheer hypocrisy to claim to serve God while chasing big donors, ignoring the poor, the elderly, and the marginalized, and chopping off at the knees those who dare to dissent with such methodologies.

Peterson writes,

For a long time, I have been convinced that I could take a person with a high school education, give him or her a six-month trade school training, and provide a pastor who would be satisfactory to any discriminating American congregation. The curriculum would consist of four courses.

Course I: Creative Plagiarism. I would put you in touch with a wide range of excellent and inspirational talks, show you how to alter them just enough to obscure their origins, and get you a reputation for wit and wisdom.

Course II: Voice Control for Prayer and Counseling. We would develop your own distinct style of Holy Joe intonation, acquiring the skill in resonance and modulation that conveys and unmistakable aura of sanctity.

Course III: Efficient Office Management. There is nothing that parishioners admire more in their pastors than the capacity to run a tight ship administratively. If we return all phone calls within twenty-four hours, answer all the letters within a week, distributing enough carbons to key people so that they know we are on top of things, and have just the right amount of clutter on our desk—not too much, or we appear inefficient, not too little or we appear underemployed—we quickly get the reputation for efficiency that is far more important than anything that we actually do.

Course IV: Image Projection. Here we would master the half-dozen well-known and easily implemented devices that that create the impression that we are terrifically busy and widely sought after for counsel by influential people in the community. A one-week refresher course each year would introduce new phrases that would convince our parishioners that we are bold innovators on the cutting edge of the megatrends and at the same time solidly rooted in all the traditional values of our sainted ancestors.

(I have been laughing for several years over this trade school training with which I plan to make my fortune. Recently, though, the joke has backfired on me. I keep seeing advertisements for institutes and workshops all over the country that invite pastors to sign up for this exact curriculum. The advertised course offerings are not quite as honestly labeled as mine, but the content appears to be identical—a curriculum that trains pastors to satisfy the current consumer tastes in religion. I'm not laughing anymore.)

I wouldn't be surprised if names pop into your mind as you read Peterson's words. Whether the names were those of pastors, leaders or church members, what turned our stomachs was the lack of integrity between their faith profession and the way they treated others, the way they conducted business and themselves, in their homes, inside the church, in the community, or in the secular workplace. A mentor and friend with whom I met this week noted that the wheat and the tares (weeds) grow up alongside one another. As Jesus told the parable, the field's owner told his servants not to gather the weeds, "…for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest…" (Matt. 13: 29-30) Peterson's quotation above is indicative of how distorted "church" becomes when the one ordained as "pastor" is one of the weeds. Atheists have asked me why the church allows so many of these (frequently) loud-mouthed, slick-talking and self-aggrandizing weeds among us, and the fact is that our answer has to be that God doesn't permit us to throw out these weeds. (NB: Institutional authorities who fail to reprove, correct, discipline and remove leaders who are demonstrably leading according to worldly methods, however, destroy the meaning of "church" – those called out to follow Christ – and become the very authorities against whom Jesus spoke in Matt. 23.) Regarding the members, however, Paul noted, "…when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some extent I believe it. Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine." (1 Cor. 11:18-19)

It is certain, however, that God would not commend us for endorsing leaders who feed the weeds, who chase after wealth, who demean and gossip about others, who foster divisiveness, and who fail to embody the incarnate Word s/he speaks to the community in life, action, deed, and whose Sunday morning words are contradicted by their lives. As Peterson noted, pastors are supposed to guide the community in the way of Christ, NOT in the ways of the world. "…Christians continue to take certain persons in their communities, set them apart, and say, 'We want you to be responsible for saying and acting among us what we believe about God and kingdom and gospel.'" (p. 23) However, too often institutions with the word, "Church", in their names humanly endorse other humans to lead communities according to human methods and claim their institutional endorsement certifies this person to be "ordained by God." They put an "ordained" or "certified" banner in the name of a god over worldly scheming which subordinates that god to serve their ends. The Almighty God is not there.

So, if people are burdened and burned out by the machinations in their offices and communities and walk into a building named "church", they expect a reprieve and a respite from brokenness, lies, gossip, slander, back-stabbing, self-promotion and incessant undermining, and encouragement to live differently. Instead, too often, they find those same machinations among the church staff, the church committees, and members' relationships with one another. Why, then, should we be surprised to find so many people becoming atheists and people who claim belief in God but would never set foot in another "church"? Biblically, atheism is defined by the actions of doing these very same things! Too many church leaders and members are actually atheists, in practice!

Frankly, one reason I continue in church life is because I have faithful family and friends such as those with whom I fellowshipped this week. We encourage one another to believe God, to live lives of integrity in the face of the charlatans, and to continue to work for the good of God's work here on earth – the mission of Jesus Christ to make disciples, to live in communities that are united in love just as Jesus and the Father are one. The reason we continue, ultimately, is because we have been blessed by God's grace to have the faith to be faithful and to live holy and obedient lives empowered by the Holy Spirit. Neither do we claim more than the wisdom of Jesus and try to sort wheat from tares, now. But, we hope and we pray that by our lives' testimonies others may come to know and love this God whom we serve, and to know God's love for them within the wreckage in which we live. We also pray that those who seek God with their whole hearts will be able to discern lies from truth and not follow these many false shepherds and teachers. Those who are false will be exposed on that Day, we believe, and that which they built will be burned (1 Cor. 3) or swept away (Matt. 7). May the true Lord, our Shepherd, have mercy on us, and lead us in the way everlasting through these valleys shadowed in death. May we be builders approved by God, God-ordained accordingly with lives conformed to the Word who is Jesus Christ, and certified by our love and service that endures the fires and the floods.

Serious Business

2009-10-08T19:00:00.004-04:00

At times, I've been told that I'm too serious, too intense, and at times, too observant and out-spoken for others' comfort levels, and for their political and financial ambitions. May I propose this: the central idea of Religion concerns the serious nature of life in all its difficulties, relationships and outcomes.

Regarding justice and injustice: Most of us think of law and consequences when we think of justice. If people we know, or if we ourselves have experienced injustice or criminal behavior, our thoughts may quickly jump to returning fire for fire. Christians may cringe at the images in Psalm 137:9 "Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock." Many of us cannot imagine wishing such harm to other people's infants and children, much less carrying it out! Taken in the context of the previous verse, the source of pain in this imprecatory prayer becomes clear: "O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us!"

The cry of the psalmist is for retributive justice against the perpetrators of the horrible suffering and pain caused to their children, and to them by watching their children die. We cannot ignore these cries from those who are the most abused, the most downtrodden, the poorest, and the sickest among us. Every one of us has experienced some time in life where we have been victimized by others, but few in the U.S. have experienced this particular pain. The message of this psalm should be considered when we consider the pain war and terrorism bring to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. We know that other groups have also victimized the people, but we shouldn't be surprised at the backlash which occurs when US soldiers and military actions kill or injure children and family members. They cry out for justice, and the natural human response is to seek revenge.

If we look at this Psalm's lament, however, we see a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ. The psalmist does not claim that the people of Israel will be happy when they take revenge on the Babylonians who have taken them captive and killed their children in front of the parents. The avenging people are an ambiguous, "THEY." Why is that?

We should know ourselves well enough to understand that the enacting of vengeance and the exacting of justice according to human measures harm us. There is no detached "justice"; we can only try to increase the distance between ourselves and those whom we have judged. Distance can be measured in miles: an impersonal missile launched from a ship or a plane may feel "impersonal" to the owner of the hand on the trigger, or the commander giving the order to fire, but the missile's explosive destruction is very personally experienced by the people in the impact zone. Distance can be measured in relationships: a distance of race, gender, political party affiliation, religious system, education, economic status, nationality or ethnicity can permit the perpetrator to depersonalize the offense in her imagination, but the offended party knows exactly how personally wounded s/he is. Distance can be created by lies: liars frequently fabricate a false reality that is a combination of blatant lies, innuendo and semi-truths in order to push the truth or the truth-teller away from the liar's self, or worse, to kill the truth-teller by slander, gossip, libel (all of these are a form of judgment and death).

God-with-us, God-in-Christ, the God who reconciles humans to God and to one another - this God loves the victim and the perpetrator. This God loves Nineveh and Jonah, the Persians and the Israelites, the Babylonians and their captives, the Afghans, the Iraqis and the Americans. Our God knows that distancing ourselves in order to cause pain with words or actions, or distancing ourselves from sensing the pain we cause others inflicts harm on us, not just on those whom we've hurt.

During an internship at the Denver Veterans Administration Medical Center, I saw firsthand the damage done to soldiers by their participation in wars. Perhaps, to the people of Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan, these soldiers may have seemed akin to the Babylonians of Psalm 137. Yet, these soldiers also experience pain from participating in war, even those who joined the Army because a relative or friend was killed on September 11, 2001. Their own physical injuries may be healed or treated medically, but the psychological damage may last and last. One Vietnam vet was broken in ways he'd been able to ignore for most of the 40 years since leaving that country. Then, too, our government's system of treating soldiers and vets refuses, at times, to diagnose psychological harm from combat in the interest of saving money, denying benefits' claims, and maintaining troop levels. A soldier may "justify" their actions because "I was only following orders." Nevertheless, he will know - in his body and person - that his actions killed or injured other people. The more people the soldier kills, the higher the risk of PTSD. Imagine then, the soldier returned home is told by the VA that his experiences of anger outbursts, sleeplessness, nightmares, flashbacks, discomfort or fear in crowded places, anxiety if someone stands behind him, are nothing. Our society believes a myth that we have the resources to heal all ills and to treat everything, and to perpetuate that myth people in authority do lie to the suffering, and will "kill" anyone who endangers their myths.

We need to reconsider our myths! That reconsideration is part of the "serious business" of religion.

The Psalmist knew that any revenge against the captors by the captives would harm the captives, too. The implications of our belief in One God and One Creator of all things, and in humans being created in God's image resonate strongly. If God is truly with us in our experiences of suffering and injustice, and not distant from us in dispensing justice, then the Christian call to be conformed to Christ means that Christians love the victims and speak truth to the perpetrators; we reflect grace and truth to every person just as God-in-Christ has done to us. We know that for all that we have been victims of injustice and suffering, we have also been perpetrators of injustice and suffering. We are responsible, we are accountable, and we face and confess the truth about ourselves knowing that the judgment of God against sin has been lifted from us by Jesus Christ's sacrifice.

Christians and our churches must not participate in the polarizing rhetoric that characterizes our national political debates right now. We should and will testify to justice, against unjust and inequitable systems, to the care our society should give to all people, and to the harm we cause ourselves by our distancing ourselves from one another. Our system of providing medical care only to the rich, the employed, and the dying is akin to passing by on the other side of the road from the poor, wounded and sick. Our strategies that harm others in the name of the harm done to us will always damage us, too.

On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway." ~Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hand in Hand

2009-09-10T13:36:00.002-04:00

This video gives us a visual metaphor of how humans need one another. We miss the truth of our interdependency in every regard, not just the physical interdependency which this captures. We miss the holistic interdependency of human and God, male and female, between races, between all ethnic heritages, tribes, nations, humanity and environment, humanity and conditions in which we live. Humans naturally striate and separate themselves from one another, but God's love is found in our unity.

It seems to me that the health care debate is really between those who envision independence and those who are aware of dependence and interdependence. James spoke to this profound reality when he contrasted the partiality being awarded to the privileged with God's choosing of the poor: "My brothers and sisters, you do not hold the faith while practicing partiality. ...Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has God not chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?" (James 2:1, 5)

Hand in Hand

@ TOM

Tom, thank you for your comment. I do believe you completely missed the point that I made, and inadvertently, you strengthened my point. I hear your words as dividing humanity out of people who work in government offices - you characterize them as "bloated, impersonal government bureaucrats" not as people. Any person - whether in a bureaucracy of a governmental entity or of an insurance company - can become "inhuman", as it were, in relation to others. As soon as we stop seeing another person or group of people as anyone we want to be "with", we've divided ourselves from them, instead of listening to and hearing them. I don't trust in a "faceless social responsibility." I hope and work for a society of humans who individually place people's welfare and well-being above self-interest & profit-making.

FWIW, it seems unlikely that anyone working in a democratic governmental structure would be able "to corruptly aggregate to themselves more power" at any level that even draws close to the corrupted power among leaders of Wall Street and insurance companies! The myth of free-market capitalism has been exposed in recent years for market leaders' inability to regulate participants' own sinfulness. The insurance company, AIG, was right in the thick of the corruption and dehumanization. Government jobs simply don't pay that well. There are people in government who care about doing their jobs well and ethically. I'm sure there were individual people working at AIG who were dismayed about the directions their bosses were taking, ethically and in terms of risk-taking.

Human sinfulness being what it is, our society, governmental structures, corporate structures, groups and individuals will always need to be adjusting to compensate for the advantage that self-seeking people will try to take of any system. Right now, the profit-making system holds sway. The human leaders of that system who pursued only profits have harmed too many families and individuals with their carelessness for providing care to the poor and the sick. They do not see themselves as being "with" the poor and the sick, or as being part of a society which is mutually interdependent.

Obviously, the same danger may surface with leaders and individuals working in government offices. But, at the least, they won't personally profit by refusing to be "with" the poor and the sick.

I've always tried to listen to everyone's POV, and although I disagree that the "good and workable suggestions" proposed by Republicans are sufficient to deal with this problem, I do think that leaders should heed what's valuable and true about them.

Church Formation?

2009-08-06T18:17:00.001-04:00

Internet Monk's post on church de-formation or mal-formation and new formation (my words) are healthy and helpful for those leaving institutions masquerading as "church."

He wrote, "short of a view that certain Protestant congregations are the only portals to eternal life, it is hard to say that those who leave these churches are imperiling their souls. For many people, the peril of their souls is exactly why they are gone."

And…

"The current defense of the church may be necessary, but many of the assertions being made are not necessary and have about them the scent of males in power having far too much fun flirting with infallibility. The Christian ministry is one of the few places in our world that men can assert that they and their institutions must be submitted to in the name of God. That's heady stuff, and I'm not even close to being prepared to buy the bona fides of everyone who claims it."

Those of us who seek to follow Christ each day are bound to run up against hypocrisy – in ourselves and in others. We can't avoid it because we're still imperfectly "crucified with Christ"! The power against hypocrisy is repentance, confession and forgiveness, and any institution embodying self-assurance in and of itself (or in and of the priests' or ministers' "ordination") doesn't embody the self-sacrificing love and service of others which we see in Christ Jesus.

Lord, have mercy!

As Iron Sharpens Iron

2009-08-02T01:29:00.004-04:00

Our daughter pulled a sharpening steel out of the drawer, tonight. The rest of us at the dinner table laughed and wondered what knife she was going to sharpen and why!

I was reading articles and posts about philosophical debates, today, too. All of the writings were by men arguing with other men.

Does it occur to us that what passes for "debates" is, too often, one side trying to win vs. another? I.e., the debate's goal seems not pursuing greater truth or exhibiting the "love of wisdom" (philo-sophia), but rather one intellect's victory over another's, one's worldview over another's. The raised arms of victory over another view's "foolishness" crown the conclusion.

Proverbs 27:17 states, "Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens the wits of another." (NRSV)
In the NLT, "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend."
The Tanakh translation is a more literal translation, "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the wit of his friend."

The problem I have with many debates is the goal of victory and triumph over any others. Isn't this simply another perverse form of proselytization by academic or philosophical warfare?

Be a Christian! No, be an Atheist! To be religious means you're an idiot. To be a non-believer means you're going to hell! Religion is anti-intellect, anti-logic, and anti-mind. Atheism is anti-god, anti-believer, and anti-order.

To return to the metaphor my daughter pulled out of the drawer...

Anyone who has sharpened a knife by hand realized that if our angle of sharpening is too high, we dull the blade rather than sharpen it. The knife sharpening experts recommend 15/20 degree beveled angles. In other words, the stone or sharpening steel is more alongside the knife than against it. It is counterproductive to confront the knife edge with a harsher angle. The Hebrew isn't impersonal; the one sharpening the wit of another is a companion or friend. In the context of wisdom literature, "love of wisdom" isn't a love of abstract, detached knowledge and logic but love of wise and thoughtful living in the companionship of fellow humans.

So, to those who love debating, may we examine the product of those arguments! Do you gain or lose friends of differing views? (We all know that gathering people of views similar to ours is the norm!) Do we fail at relating well to the person, or do we gain both increasing insight and relationships that last?

Finally, to make a comment on what may have seemed the "coincidence" of men's debates, may I offer another look at the infamous text most frequently cited vs. women?

1 Timothy 2:8, in my opinion, begins a discussion of negative gender paradigms in that culture. Paul began with the men, "I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument..." The Greek word for argument, dialogismos, has the meaning of a "verbal exchange that takes place when conflicting ideas are expressed, dispute, argument." (BDAG)

I've been around enough discussion boards to recognize that the disputes are most frequently dominated by men. There are some women in the fray, but many have told me in "asides" that they are quiet because they don't want to get beaten up in the "discussions."

Guys, please tell me. Is that a coincidence? Or, would you recognize Paul's admonition as countering a particularly male penchant for warfare - whatever the battlefield?

I love wisdom. I find philosophy intriguing, inspiring and provocative, at its best. But, the warfare, folks, the warfare has gotta go. Telling others they're stupid or hell-bent won't win them to your logic, but it may serve to beat them down into submission to your god. (That god isn't mine.) However, loving them and walking alongside them may build up and encourage them in wisdom.

Perception & Reception

2009-07-24T13:40:00.004-04:00

An essential lesson that most parents learn - and one they hope their children learn, too - is that while we may correct or restrain our children from doing something dangerous, unethical, selfish, or harmful, those very corrections and restraints aren't received by our children as "love." Their reactions inform parents of their displeasure: temper tantrums, sulking, throwing toys, stomping, door slamming, sibling fights, and the like. As adults, we know the consequences that our children do not. We perceive correction, restraint and discipline as intrinsic to loving our children. We don't want them to harm themselves, others, or suffer the consequences of their bad actions. We want them to consider their actions well before they act. (As they age, the actions assume greater significance, involve more serious consequences, and attain life-changing proportions.) Parentally-imposed consequences of correction, restraint, and disciplinary action when children continue to act destructively, harmfully, selfishly, or carelessly, therefore, are essential to appropriate parental love. The Biblical definition of Love incorporates all of this. God's Love includes truth, justice, consequences, mercy, and the promotion of just actions. (The biblical definition of Love is distinguished here from the folk-religious understanding of love by the use of capital "L".)

The folk-religious, popular and facile definition of love relates love to feelings (e.g., "happiness"), emotions, and self-centered perception. Even the delivery of factual information regarding the inevitable results of one's choices, words and actions, is considered to be "unloving" and "judgmental." Consequentially, any correction, discipline and restraint are out of bounds between adults (even within voluntary organizations such as churches, or in corporations). Correction, restraint and discipline are also increasingly considered inappropriate, even unlawful, between parents and children in many areas.

It is certain that humans would prefer never to be informed that our actions are harmful to ourselves or others, never to be corrected, and never, ever to receive consequences for any act we commit, omit, or any errors we make. Thus, we misuse our reasoning abilities in order to externalize all the results we experience; i.e., we blame other people, circumstances, generalities, and Godself for the natural results of our choices, actions and words.

Pearl Mary-Teresa Richards Craigie (writing as John O. Hobbes): "Men heap together the 'mistakes' of their lives and create a monster they call, 'Destiny'." [NB: the quotation marks around 'mistakes' are mine, and reflect my understanding that many actions we retrospectively call, "mistakes", were intentionally committed at the time.]

The transformation we hope to see in our children, while continuing to parent appropriately and carefully, is the transformation in reception. Children growing into teenagers, and then into adults without this transformation will always tend to misperceive Parental Love. This Love includes boundary-setting, information, reality-checks, and then correction, discipline, consequences and encouragement to exhibit behavioral changes. Children receive that Love in a lump as Judgment. In actuality, judgment is not found in Loving (or even unloving!) discernment of error and warning of consequences. Judgment is realized consequences, whether good or bad. The Hindus name this result, Karma. "What goes around comes around." "You reap what you sow." Christians should not depose God as Judge by becoming judges ourselves, imposing consequences for one's situation, unless we're exercising godly authority in an appropriate position and setting, and being Spirit-led. (cf. James 2:1-7) In fact, without God, we may naturally misread another person's situation itself to be a verdict and judgment, when it's not that at all. (cf. John 9:1-5, or the Hindu caste system, or classism, or racism)

The transformation parents long for is in the reception: "can't you see that I discipline, correct, and restrain you because I love you?" We want our children to be re-wired to receive us as "loving" not as unloving Judges. In the parental role, we should impose just consequences on childish and selfish behaviors. Yet, we need to be judges within the context of Love, and we need to contextualize, interpret, and apply the reality of consequences to their level of understanding. We realize that our children need to grasp that there are good/bad bodily, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual consequences to every action, reaction, word, harbored thought, behavior, and habit. A friend who worked in an inner city high school for troubled youth once told me that all he did, day in and day out, was try to teach teenagers that there are consequences for every action. The older we get, the more baggage we accumulate, the stronger we resist correction, the harder it is to experience the transformation in reception.

There comes a time in each of our lives, though, when the "safer" and limited consequences that healthy parents impose are laid aside because they're overtaken by the harsher consequences that outsiders will carry out or that we receive in ourselves and our families. These consequences occur because we refuse correction in the name of a "happiness" which is marked by a presence of pleasure, with an avoidance of discomfort, responsibilities and self-discipline. Schools and teachers may impose disciplinary procedures upon children. Children may bully, ostracize, and physically hurt others because they don't know appropriate boundaries. Police, courts and prisons may get involved as children become disorderly, uncorrectable young adults. More unwise and untransformed adults form families. Dysfunctional marriages and maltreatment of spouses and children may result, creating a whole new generation of unreceptive, untransformed, unloving people. These people are not only unable to receive or offer Love, they simply cannot even perceive Love. Because of this inability to face themselves internally and assess the real consequences of their own choices, they externalize the blame - they "create a monster they call, 'Destiny'."

They've missed the message of God's holy and holistic Love: "Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different than it was before. And taking your life as a whole with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature." -- C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

We grasp the despair of God lamenting over his children when we lament over untransformed, unreceptive and unwelcoming people around us: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD.'" (Matt. 23:37-39)

Let us welcome Love, today!

Warring YouTube Videos

2009-07-23T15:03:00.002-04:00

These videos should remind us how important reconciliation is. The status quo is not acceptable. Alienation in all its manifestations is not "peace." Alienation manifests as passive division, active divisiveness, injustice, lies, slander, gossip, divorce, barriers, walls, and wars.

Ephesians 2

"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it."

Israeli cell phone advertisement

Palestinian response

How Narrow the Gate

2009-07-13T16:36:00.001-04:00

There seems to be a common thread in pastoral conversation with folks in crisis. "But, what will I do if this or that happens?" This is a very difficult question for a pastor to answer because it involves things we cannot know in advance about circumstances, specific situations, or even more problematically, people's choices, reactions, and emotions. As I was pondering the responses I've felt led to give to those seeking my advice for handling a crisis, Jesus' words about the narrow gate struck me afresh.

If a gate is very narrow, consider how difficult it is to see it until you're right smack dab in front of it. In other words, we simply cannot see that gate through which we walk until we're within a few steps of that gate. For we who are naturally planners and controllers of life, the very idea of not knowing where the gate lies to navigate through a situation, a relational crisis or earthquake, an obstacle or conniving person in our professional path, etc., makes us absolutely nuts! "What do you mean, I won't know until I'm there how to handle it? But, you won't be with me in that moment to coach me through the crisis (or the conversation, or the conflict)! I need you to tell me what to do, what to say, and when and where to say it!"

Jesus seems to be saying we cannot know ahead of time; however, we know now that the Holy Spirit is there with us in that moment, at that gate, and ready to guide us, BUT…

Let's look at the context surrounding Matthew 7:13-14 to understand how the Lord wants us to prepare and proceed, and also, let's consider what this narrow gate means to ourselves.

In the immediate context, we prepare ahead by focusing on God: asking, seeking, and knocking at God's door – we may sit quietly, wait patiently, lament with psalms, or request humbly, "please, Lord, help me handle this crisis well!"

We prepare also by focusing on the concerns of the other person, and God's call to love our neighbor as ourselves. With even more impossible a degree of human difficulty, we're called to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matt. 5:44): this is the summation of the commandments and the Prophets – Jesus said, "In everything do to others as you would have them do to you."

Gulp! Now, we're at the narrow gate. We quickly discover, however, that the gate is far too small for us!!! There is no human way we can squeeze through that door. The Greek word, stenos, which is translated "narrow" also carries connotations of being distressed, cramped and confined.

The response I gave to one person who was agonizing over what to do IF and WHEN further crises arose in the grave, life-changing conflict that faced them is indicative of what we need to do when faced with that narrow, impossible to squeeze through gate. I felt led to put my hand on their shoulder, stand next to them and point into middle distance before us: "do you see Jesus' back, there? Follow him!"

We are called to humble ourselves, deny ourselves, die to ourselves, pick up the cross and follow Jesus. Faced with God at the narrow gate, we need to be small enough, humble enough, faithful enough, trusting enough, and willing to die to our selfish interests to get through it. We believe in the God who resurrects new life out of that self-reducing, self-emptying death we must face to love the other, to love the enemy we're facing – even if that enemy is the very one who "promised," "vowed" and is "supposed to" love us forever. (Read the lead-up situations in Matthew 5, prior to Jesus' call to "love our enemies"; the enemies listed which are the most difficult to handle faithfully may be part of our families, workplaces, and communities.)

That narrow gate seems impossible in our minds and to our selfish desires. We want another gate. That "other" gate is in front of us, too. Look, it has another shepherd who appears gentle and innocuous, much less threatening to our instincts for self-preservation! That shepherd makes us feel happy about ourselves and our choices. We feel great relief that we don't have to do the impossible; so, we don't enter that narrow gate.

And so, we begin to journey on that broad and easy road of self-deception when we choose to turn away from the narrow gate that evidences how impossible it is for us to love one another as God loves us.

May we follow Christ, and today be "doers of the Word" – acting on the impossible by allowing God to humble us in the face of our own self-serving and other-denying ways so that we may be "fit" through that narrow gate. May we build upon the rock, trust the invisible God who will show us the way to walk if we've the courage to die to ourselves, our ambitions, and our ideas of how to achieve "happiness."

Jesus as Hood Ornament

2009-07-07T17:01:00.002-04:00

So, how many times have we heard the name (i.e., the power) of Jesus invoked and approval of Jesus claimed by people who don't/won't live according to his ways?

I was driving my car and thought of this metaphor. If Jesus is just my hood ornament then the destination of my car is irrelevant to him and the way I drive is, too.

However, if Jesus is Lord and God, then my destination and my methods of getting there are to be found within his precepts and purposes. My feelings, thoughts, ideas, choices and actions are subject to God Almighty. Otherwise, the claim to worship God is an empty claim of vacuous words and vain "faith."

Jesus isn't even "my co-pilot" in this metaphor. The Holy Spirit indwells me and I drive where and according to the guidance of Godself. If I'm in the office, I "drive" my relating to others, my ethics and my work performance by, for and to God. If I'm at home, I "drive" my relationships with my spouse, children, neighbors and community knowing the love of God as my primary goal, focus and strength.

an interview with a gay activist

2009-06-29T00:34:00.004-04:00

I was listening to the documentary series, In the Life, "stories from the gay experience." This particular video was celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Stonewall. There was an interview with Larry Kramer (the interviewer was Lady Bunny), a long-time gay writer and activist.

Kramer: "...a huge number of gay people do not self-identify first and foremost as gay. Until we can self-identify everyone of us, first and foremost, as gay, before anything else, we're not going to be able to put a population out there that's meaningful. I consider myself gay first, before I'm a gay man, or a gay Jew, or a gay writer or a gay activist. I am gay. And that dictates everything I do, how I look at things, how I react, how I write."
[Kramer then spoke about gays and lesbians in Obama's Administration.]
"It scared me... That's the new philosophy, 'we're all going to work together on this' and I just almost had a fit. We're NOT all in this together, we're NOT all in this together! They are not with us! We have to go and we have to fight for us. I don't want you being in the White House and not fighting for us first and foremost (you gays and lesbians who are on Obama's staff)." [The bolding and caps are an attempt to catch his tonal emphasis, and apparent vehemence.]

Kramer, over and over, made a point of using the word, "population" to describe gays, rather than "community." At one point, he corrected the interviewer on this word.

I found this interview interesting on a number of levels, and disturbing in other regards. If I consider how I'd describe myself, I see my identity as a follower of Christ - seeking to live imitating Christ, loving God and others - as transcending my identity as a woman, a white, an American, a daughter, a wife, a mother, etc. I also see the "church" [ideally, in the power of the Holy Spirit] as transcending, corporately, our human distinctions of gender, racial, cultural, economic, educational, and unique differences.

Substitute "gay" and "population" for "Christ-follower" and "church" and we find that Kramer's claims of gay transcendency over all other aspects of life as not dis-similar to those differences which we hope for in the church.

Here's a difference between us that causes me grave concern as someone committed to be "an ambassador of reconciliation." Christians profess to follow "God-with-us", and to be bearers of Christ, "good news" to everyone around us. [Please note well: I understand that too many "churches" and "Christians" fail to apprehend the justice, mercy, humility and love they are called by God to evidence to the world around them, faithfully. That point gets belabored elsewhere in my blog posts, and is besides this point.]

My point is a question: if Kramer wants to "call out" gays to be a distinct population from everyone else ("they" who are NOT-with-"us"), what would that look like and what would he anticipate the results being? Wouldn't this just result in further fracturing of our society? I don't understand how this kind of response to the majority - "they" - will ever elicit actions of love, goodness, justice and mercy... He sounded much more angry and divisive than peaceful or hopeful in his assertions.