Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Doubt
A letter to a friend who's teaching a course on doubt.
David,
I've given a lot of thought to doubt - or whatever it is ... and there have been times in my life when "belief" in any conventional sense seemed impossible.
For my doctoral work, I wrote a chapter about the role of doubt in the believer's life - focusing on St. John of the Cross' "Dark Night of the Soul" - that doubt is always a segue to another chapter - doubt signals the close of one chapter, a chapter that worked well for a period of time, but since time never stands still, neither does faith. But we cling to "our faith" because it feels secure, but faith clung too, when it's no longer apropos become dysfunctional, if not destructive, which, I think, is the problem with fundamentalism (an issue Rob Bell is trying to address). Fundamentalism/various forms of evangelicalism have a harshness to them because they're angry about a faith no longer working, so they shout ever-louder, denounce all the more, and pump one another up in endless self-congratulating worship services and hyped up high-school-like pep rallies.
St. John of the Cross (late 1500s) suggested that God's best work was being done in our lives when we had no idea what God was doing. God conceals God's work from us, lest we rush in and muck it all up with our suggestions. It feels as if God is absent, but God is only moving ahead of us, and when the time is right, will reveal to us a further work.
John Calvin, too, works with doubt from a slightly different angle - that we needn't fear doubt, because faith is God's gift, and what God gives, God preserves. Our faith, at best, mostly limps along, but it never dies, because God sustains it.
For me, there's no sense fighting it or faking it - it is what it is ... and biblically, we are very much the one who says, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief."
Perhaps most important, Paul Tillich - his book, "The Dynamics of Faith" - he says that all faith, if it's a living faith, has the possibility of doubt, even radical doubt, and sometimes the possibility becomes reality.
A faith that cannot doubt is no faith at all. It has ceased to live.
It's not that doubt is always there ... sometimes in a moment, it's gone, and we believe with a rare purity ... even for months at a time, but then, doubt comes along.
Doubt is friend that keeps faith on its toes, so speak, or on its knees. Doubt is faith's best friend, keeping it honest and humble (another issue for fundamentalists/evangelicals - not the Rob Bell kind) who have to have all the answers all the time.
When it comes to dealing with doubt, it’s sort of like dealing with a cold – we let it run its course, and in the case of doubt, do its work.
But at the same time, we take Aspirin and get some rest … when doubt comes our way (and it’s really always there, sort of like a neighbor whom we only see from time-to-time), we can call upon some resources.
In yesterday’s message, I wrote:
And God sees to it that we have help along the way:
We have the Bible …
We have Moses and the Prophets …
We have the Apostolic witness of the early church …
We have the Holy Spirit …
We have great women and men to inspire us …
We have prayer and fellowship …
We have the gathered wisdom of the ages …
We have one another …
And we have Jesus!
I have never seen doubt as the opposite of faith; rather, doubt, is a traveling companion, if not beside us, at least only a few rows removed from us.
The opposite of doubt, if we can even speak of such things, might well be hyper-faith – faith that fearfully refuses to think, fearfully refuses to be honest about itself and what others might be thinking and feeling, too.
I don’t think God has a problem with someone who says, “I don’t believe” – sometimes they can’t, because they’ve only seen bad examples of faith … or sometimes, because they’re too proud to believe, and pride is only the flip side of fear and self-doubt – but whatever, this isn’t an issue for God.
The central issue in the Bible are people who “believe too much” but without mind and heart in the right place – they “talk the talk, but they don’t walk the walk) – the people of ancient Israel who spoke of the LORD Almighty in traditional terms, and then went off after the baals! They were hyper-religious – that’s an issue for God. When they “take the name of God in vain” – talking the talk, but not walking the walk.
I think God might well say to the fundamentalists/evangelicals – relax! Learn to appreciate the doubt within your hearts and minds, and be kind to those who express such thoughts and feelings to you.
Hell is not made for those who doubt – we’d all be there, but hell is an experience right now of those who have neither the grace nor the courage to admit it.
When someone enters a period of doubt, we journey with them, because it’s our journey, too.
We’re all in this one together.
And then trust God … in some sort of basic way … the sun sets and the sun comes up again.
Things are born, and then born again …
Relax!
David,
I've given a lot of thought to doubt - or whatever it is ... and there have been times in my life when "belief" in any conventional sense seemed impossible.
For my doctoral work, I wrote a chapter about the role of doubt in the believer's life - focusing on St. John of the Cross' "Dark Night of the Soul" - that doubt is always a segue to another chapter - doubt signals the close of one chapter, a chapter that worked well for a period of time, but since time never stands still, neither does faith. But we cling to "our faith" because it feels secure, but faith clung too, when it's no longer apropos become dysfunctional, if not destructive, which, I think, is the problem with fundamentalism (an issue Rob Bell is trying to address). Fundamentalism/various forms of evangelicalism have a harshness to them because they're angry about a faith no longer working, so they shout ever-louder, denounce all the more, and pump one another up in endless self-congratulating worship services and hyped up high-school-like pep rallies.
St. John of the Cross (late 1500s) suggested that God's best work was being done in our lives when we had no idea what God was doing. God conceals God's work from us, lest we rush in and muck it all up with our suggestions. It feels as if God is absent, but God is only moving ahead of us, and when the time is right, will reveal to us a further work.
John Calvin, too, works with doubt from a slightly different angle - that we needn't fear doubt, because faith is God's gift, and what God gives, God preserves. Our faith, at best, mostly limps along, but it never dies, because God sustains it.
For me, there's no sense fighting it or faking it - it is what it is ... and biblically, we are very much the one who says, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief."
Perhaps most important, Paul Tillich - his book, "The Dynamics of Faith" - he says that all faith, if it's a living faith, has the possibility of doubt, even radical doubt, and sometimes the possibility becomes reality.
A faith that cannot doubt is no faith at all. It has ceased to live.
It's not that doubt is always there ... sometimes in a moment, it's gone, and we believe with a rare purity ... even for months at a time, but then, doubt comes along.
Doubt is friend that keeps faith on its toes, so speak, or on its knees. Doubt is faith's best friend, keeping it honest and humble (another issue for fundamentalists/evangelicals - not the Rob Bell kind) who have to have all the answers all the time.
When it comes to dealing with doubt, it’s sort of like dealing with a cold – we let it run its course, and in the case of doubt, do its work.
But at the same time, we take Aspirin and get some rest … when doubt comes our way (and it’s really always there, sort of like a neighbor whom we only see from time-to-time), we can call upon some resources.
In yesterday’s message, I wrote:
And God sees to it that we have help along the way:
We have the Bible …
We have Moses and the Prophets …
We have the Apostolic witness of the early church …
We have the Holy Spirit …
We have great women and men to inspire us …
We have prayer and fellowship …
We have the gathered wisdom of the ages …
We have one another …
And we have Jesus!
I have never seen doubt as the opposite of faith; rather, doubt, is a traveling companion, if not beside us, at least only a few rows removed from us.
The opposite of doubt, if we can even speak of such things, might well be hyper-faith – faith that fearfully refuses to think, fearfully refuses to be honest about itself and what others might be thinking and feeling, too.
I don’t think God has a problem with someone who says, “I don’t believe” – sometimes they can’t, because they’ve only seen bad examples of faith … or sometimes, because they’re too proud to believe, and pride is only the flip side of fear and self-doubt – but whatever, this isn’t an issue for God.
The central issue in the Bible are people who “believe too much” but without mind and heart in the right place – they “talk the talk, but they don’t walk the walk) – the people of ancient Israel who spoke of the LORD Almighty in traditional terms, and then went off after the baals! They were hyper-religious – that’s an issue for God. When they “take the name of God in vain” – talking the talk, but not walking the walk.
I think God might well say to the fundamentalists/evangelicals – relax! Learn to appreciate the doubt within your hearts and minds, and be kind to those who express such thoughts and feelings to you.
Hell is not made for those who doubt – we’d all be there, but hell is an experience right now of those who have neither the grace nor the courage to admit it.
When someone enters a period of doubt, we journey with them, because it’s our journey, too.
We’re all in this one together.
And then trust God … in some sort of basic way … the sun sets and the sun comes up again.
Things are born, and then born again …
Relax!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
In These Times ...
I find fear creeping in at the edges of my mind and heart.
Every newscast brings more sad news for tens of thousands of Americans and folks around the world.
And, then, Citi Group purchases a $50 million dollar corporate jet – get this, it carries 12, and get this and then some, ordered from a French company. Ha! And when challenged by Keith Olbermann, they declined to comment, saying, “security reasons” prohibit us from commenting on our fleet. Yeah, sure – security? No, shame! Plain old shame!
Sadly, their avarice is my money at work, and I’m not real fond of that.
Oh sure, it’s Capitalism, some say. It’s the Free Market, and we all love that, don’t we?
Naw, it’s just plain old greed at work – over-the-top entitlement – the worm in the apple gnawing away at our character and our economy.
I think we’ve got ourselves into a real pickle.
And certain forms of Christianity haven’t helped one bit:
¸ The feel-good, advance-yourself, Jesus-loves-you-always, let’s-clap-our-hands-and-love-one-another, kind of Christianity.
¸ The James Dobson brand of Christianity, with his snarling intrusion into the American bedroom.
¸ The psycho-babble kind of Christianity, where Sunday morning is nothing more than a couch for therapy and learning “five steps to happiness.”
¸ And Americanized Christianity where flag and faith are all entwined in one another, and no one knows where country and Christ begin or end.
Here’s where I have hope for mainline Protestant Christianity to regain some traction. Ours has been a faithful voice, crying in the wilderness of prosperity and evangelical power. As the megachurches zoomed into view and climbed to the top of the numbers heap, we all hung our head and slinked away, ashamed of our faith, and wondering why we were such a failure.
But we’re not a failure at all. And though the numbers are not likely to change in the foreseeable future, it’s all about integrity and responsibility, and the numbers be damned, if you will.
This is not Wall Street after all. It’s not about some bottom line of success. It’s faithfulness and critical thinking. Do we really have anything at all to say?
We’ve been studying the prophets and the kings of Israel and Judah, background to Jesus our LORD. Here we find some grit to throw on the road for traction. Here is where we find some guidance in such times, when the bastions of power and religion have proved hollow!
Yes, I find fear creeping in at the edges, because bad things happen when human beings forget one another, when a nation worships at the alter of prosperity and condemns millions to a life of hardship. Bad things happen when religion loses its bearings and can no longer muster the courage or the conviction to tell the truth to itself, much less to anyone else.
The simple truth, at least as I read in the Prophets and in the life of Jesus: our nation has spent way too much time at the alter of Wall Street and allowed wealth to be concentrated into the hands of a strange breed of royalty who lost their bearings, who spent corporate profits foolishly, who lived high on the hog and damned the rest of us, and way too many Christians, enamored with visions of Jesus and wealth, lost their minds and their souls, as well.
But I think God for God!
God’s Spirit yet strives with our spirit, and when God’s people dig into the Word thoughtfully, intelligently, looking not for ways to condemn others, nor for ways to feather our own bed, but to discern the will of God and to seek ways by which we can effect salvation – shalom – here and now - real peace and a prosperity that leaves no one behind – when such things become our purpose, there will be showers of blessing from on high!
It’s time for decency, a kindliness toward one another, an honest humility, and it’s time for the powerful and the wealthy, for the super-religionists of the world, Christian or otherwise, to remember, that even on the loftiest of thrones, we’re still sitting only on our own rumps (Montaigne), and our task on earth is not to build thrones for ourselves, but to sew pillows for one another, to make the sitting a tad bit easier!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Bishop Robinson's Prayer
A Prayer for the Nation and Our Next President, Barack Obama
(Also available on YouTube).
By The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire
Opening Inaugural Event
Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
January 18, 2009
Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.
O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…
Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.
Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.
And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.
Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.
Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.
Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.
Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.
And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.
AMEN.
(Also available on YouTube).
By The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire
Opening Inaugural Event
Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
January 18, 2009
Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.
O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…
Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.
Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.
And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.
Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.
Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.
Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.
Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.
And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.
AMEN.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
25 Things ...
A friend of mine on Facebook, a young lady who lives in Minnesota but attended the church I served in Detroit - this is a remarkable piece of writing ... enjoy it, and enjoy the reflections of your own life.
1.It took me eleven years to finish a bachelor's degree. I changed my major three times, even though I've known that I wanted to be a teacher since I was in 1st grade. My degree is not in education; it's a business and urban planning degree.
2. My life revolves completely around my family, and more specifically, my daughter. Most every thought I have is about her. Even though she is almost a year and a half old, I check on her several times at night to make sure she's still breathing. The thought of anything bad happening to her chills my blood.
3. I've never met my real dad.
4. I waver between materialism and remembering the important things in life. I sometimes have a hard time maintaining perspective.
5. I taught my cat to sit on command. She gained one pound during her training from all the treats it took.
6. I am good at many things. I am not great at any one thing.
7. I am an outgoing introvert. I love people, but I need to be alone.
8. I will eat candy corn or conversation heart candy until I'm sick. I've also been known to make candy corn fangs a time or two.
9. I never tell anyone how much Berkeley sleeps or how late she sleeps in the morning for fear of someone causing me serious bodily harm.
10. I refused to shack up with my husband until we were engaged or married. He convinced me to do a trial run to make sure we were all compatible (Eric, me, and the cat). We agreed that I would live with him for a three-month period. At the end of the trial run, Eric tried to convince me to stay. I insisted I move back to my house (and did!). A month later he proposed.
11. I've never been to Europe. The only place in Mexico I've been is Nogales, which doesn't really count. My dream vacation destinations include Africa, the Greek Isles, Israel, and France. The most exotic trips I've taken include Australia and Costa Rica.
12. I read every single night before bed. My favorite books take place in far away lands, like Afghanistan, India, or Africa. I average about two or three books per month.
13. I really, really want another baby.
14. I grew up with strict TV rules. Today, watching TV is one of my favorite ways to unwind and decompress at the end of the day. I don't allow my daughter to watch TV, except on very rare/special occasions.
15. I played the flute from 5th grade through high school. I picked up trombone in high school (too many flutes, not enough trombones). I still have a flute, and play every now and again. I'm not nearly as good as I used to be.
16. I love karaoke.
17. I hate olives, pickles, and beets.
18. I sometimes feel guilty that I don't do enough creative, "developmentally appropriate" activities with my child.
19. I teared up when Barack Obama was elected and again when he was inaugurated.
20. I live in Minnesota and my mittens don't match my hat, my hat doesn't match my boots, and my boots don't match my coat. I feel like a slob every time I leave the house in the winter (which is about 6 months out of the year).
21. I was always afraid of getting beat up by the burnouts in junior high.
22. I've had a lot of sadness and hard times in my life. Despite that, I am very happy now, and am overwhelmed with how blessed I am.
23. I'm afraid of the dark and have nightmares sometimes.
24. I can't remember the last time I told a lie.
25. I just went to check on Berkeley while she naps. She's still breathing.
1.It took me eleven years to finish a bachelor's degree. I changed my major three times, even though I've known that I wanted to be a teacher since I was in 1st grade. My degree is not in education; it's a business and urban planning degree.
2. My life revolves completely around my family, and more specifically, my daughter. Most every thought I have is about her. Even though she is almost a year and a half old, I check on her several times at night to make sure she's still breathing. The thought of anything bad happening to her chills my blood.
3. I've never met my real dad.
4. I waver between materialism and remembering the important things in life. I sometimes have a hard time maintaining perspective.
5. I taught my cat to sit on command. She gained one pound during her training from all the treats it took.
6. I am good at many things. I am not great at any one thing.
7. I am an outgoing introvert. I love people, but I need to be alone.
8. I will eat candy corn or conversation heart candy until I'm sick. I've also been known to make candy corn fangs a time or two.
9. I never tell anyone how much Berkeley sleeps or how late she sleeps in the morning for fear of someone causing me serious bodily harm.
10. I refused to shack up with my husband until we were engaged or married. He convinced me to do a trial run to make sure we were all compatible (Eric, me, and the cat). We agreed that I would live with him for a three-month period. At the end of the trial run, Eric tried to convince me to stay. I insisted I move back to my house (and did!). A month later he proposed.
11. I've never been to Europe. The only place in Mexico I've been is Nogales, which doesn't really count. My dream vacation destinations include Africa, the Greek Isles, Israel, and France. The most exotic trips I've taken include Australia and Costa Rica.
12. I read every single night before bed. My favorite books take place in far away lands, like Afghanistan, India, or Africa. I average about two or three books per month.
13. I really, really want another baby.
14. I grew up with strict TV rules. Today, watching TV is one of my favorite ways to unwind and decompress at the end of the day. I don't allow my daughter to watch TV, except on very rare/special occasions.
15. I played the flute from 5th grade through high school. I picked up trombone in high school (too many flutes, not enough trombones). I still have a flute, and play every now and again. I'm not nearly as good as I used to be.
16. I love karaoke.
17. I hate olives, pickles, and beets.
18. I sometimes feel guilty that I don't do enough creative, "developmentally appropriate" activities with my child.
19. I teared up when Barack Obama was elected and again when he was inaugurated.
20. I live in Minnesota and my mittens don't match my hat, my hat doesn't match my boots, and my boots don't match my coat. I feel like a slob every time I leave the house in the winter (which is about 6 months out of the year).
21. I was always afraid of getting beat up by the burnouts in junior high.
22. I've had a lot of sadness and hard times in my life. Despite that, I am very happy now, and am overwhelmed with how blessed I am.
23. I'm afraid of the dark and have nightmares sometimes.
24. I can't remember the last time I told a lie.
25. I just went to check on Berkeley while she naps. She's still breathing.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Happy to be a Presbyterian
I’m happy to be a Presbyterian … and here are a few reasons why:
We may be a little pedantic, now and then … even a little dry, but we care about what we know, and we know some mighty important things.
Several months ago, I had lunch with an associate pastor from a large SoCal church … a good guy who came to Christ from a life of drugs, etc. – and I have no doubt of his conversion, and God be praised for it.
As he tried a time or two to “convert” me, and I light-heartedly parried his moves, he laughed. We enjoyed our lunch, but both knew how far apart we were, in spite of both being Christians. We commented on the hard reality: folks like us rarely ever get together for lunch. We just talk about each other at a distance.
At one point, I commented on the two essential views of the atonement: Anselm and Abelard, of which he had no knowledge. I’ve since set him some websites to explore both of these theologians.
That someone in the pew might not know such things is permissible, but someone who wear the tag, “pastor” or “rev” ought to know such things.
Recently, I accessed the church’s website and checked out the “sermon outlines” from the sr. pastor – to say that I was aghast is to put it lightly. The outlines were typical of a pattern emerging in some traditions in the last ten years – the hand-out outline, for folks to fill in the blanks, along with PowerPoint.
Sure, preaching needs to be accessible to the people, and not so “intellectual” – but I couldn’t help but think: “This is really shallow” – a few miscellaneous thoughts strung together will Scripture tacked on without any apparent effort to plumb the text.
The other outlines were similar, and I thought again, “If this is what they’re feeding the flock, the calorie intake is terribly low – a starvation level diet.”
Anyway, we Presbyterians have a long and worthy tradition of prepared preaching. We know something about Anselm and Abelard, and it’s reflected in our proclamation and in the stories of our churches.
The gospel is simple, but not simplistic! Jesus and the love of God take us on a profound journey in a vast landscape of ideas and characters, leading us to a life-long effort to make this a better world.
The fact that we’ve not been hugely popular in recent decades should call us to attention, but not undue alarm.
The sun is already setting on the megachurch phenomenon, and folks who are attracted to the simplistic Powerpoint and fill-in-the-blank Christianity are already on the move to the next whatever-it-is they’re looking for.
Where it goes from here, though, hard to say. Can anyone ever predict the future?
But this I know, the heart and soul of the church is all about good thinking about God … which is nothing less than prayer.
The gospel is both greater and less than human estimate – greater than our meager expectations, and less than the hype often associated with the silly promises of “Jesus can do everything.”
Good thinking will always be central, and good training for those who hope to wear the tag, “pastor” or “rev.”
Our commitment to good thinking and good learning is a part of our worthy heritage and a pathway for our future.
We may be a little pedantic, now and then … even a little dry, but we care about what we know, and we know some mighty important things.
Several months ago, I had lunch with an associate pastor from a large SoCal church … a good guy who came to Christ from a life of drugs, etc. – and I have no doubt of his conversion, and God be praised for it.
As he tried a time or two to “convert” me, and I light-heartedly parried his moves, he laughed. We enjoyed our lunch, but both knew how far apart we were, in spite of both being Christians. We commented on the hard reality: folks like us rarely ever get together for lunch. We just talk about each other at a distance.
At one point, I commented on the two essential views of the atonement: Anselm and Abelard, of which he had no knowledge. I’ve since set him some websites to explore both of these theologians.
That someone in the pew might not know such things is permissible, but someone who wear the tag, “pastor” or “rev” ought to know such things.
Recently, I accessed the church’s website and checked out the “sermon outlines” from the sr. pastor – to say that I was aghast is to put it lightly. The outlines were typical of a pattern emerging in some traditions in the last ten years – the hand-out outline, for folks to fill in the blanks, along with PowerPoint.
Sure, preaching needs to be accessible to the people, and not so “intellectual” – but I couldn’t help but think: “This is really shallow” – a few miscellaneous thoughts strung together will Scripture tacked on without any apparent effort to plumb the text.
The other outlines were similar, and I thought again, “If this is what they’re feeding the flock, the calorie intake is terribly low – a starvation level diet.”
Anyway, we Presbyterians have a long and worthy tradition of prepared preaching. We know something about Anselm and Abelard, and it’s reflected in our proclamation and in the stories of our churches.
The gospel is simple, but not simplistic! Jesus and the love of God take us on a profound journey in a vast landscape of ideas and characters, leading us to a life-long effort to make this a better world.
The fact that we’ve not been hugely popular in recent decades should call us to attention, but not undue alarm.
The sun is already setting on the megachurch phenomenon, and folks who are attracted to the simplistic Powerpoint and fill-in-the-blank Christianity are already on the move to the next whatever-it-is they’re looking for.
Where it goes from here, though, hard to say. Can anyone ever predict the future?
But this I know, the heart and soul of the church is all about good thinking about God … which is nothing less than prayer.
The gospel is both greater and less than human estimate – greater than our meager expectations, and less than the hype often associated with the silly promises of “Jesus can do everything.”
Good thinking will always be central, and good training for those who hope to wear the tag, “pastor” or “rev.”
Our commitment to good thinking and good learning is a part of our worthy heritage and a pathway for our future.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Roll Down Like Waters
Some thoughts for meeting with FedEx workers and Teamsters – Tuesday, August 26, 2008 – El Segundo
Tom Eggebeen, Interim Pastor
Covenant Presbyterian Church
80th & Sepulveda – Los Angeles 90045
Religious communities generally respond to the language of justice …
“Let justice roll down like waters” (Amos 5:24).
The heart and soul of the Bible is the creation of a just society … and what, we might ask, is just?
Where folks are safe … where a social safety net covers the extremes of life … not a regulated society as we saw with the Soviet Union, but a free society in which all of us are committed to the wellbeing of everyone … and through good government, good unions, the various forces of the economy are guarded and regulated to provide safety for everyone – children with health-care and safe education; workers protected from the whims of Wall Street, which in a moment, with a flash of the pen, can strip away or greatly reduce health benefits and do a vanishing act with pensions.
The issue for CLUE is justice.
Safety.
And though CLUE has primarily been focused on the working poor, the effort now directed to assist FedEx employees is an expansion of concern, recognizing that in the current environment of corporate greed and unregulated financial systems, those who are middle-class and fully employed today, could be quickly reduced to barely getting by, or even descending into poverty.
The heart of America’s greatness has been the Middle Class.
The Middle Class is a social construct created by a strong and regulatory partnership between government and industry. Left to itself, industry become increasingly profit-centered, and in our day, we see the disappearance of family-owned business replaced by corporations held hostage by speculators and Wall Street.
Offering good wages as an incentive to discourage unions has been a part of the strategy, and for a time, it’s worked, but the globalization of America’s economy, the depletion of our surplus and the growth of deficit spending has weakened the American dollar, driving up prices at home, reducing our standard of living, and leading many companies to downsize – taking it out of the pockets of those who put their backs into it, while often rewarding those in charge. The various boardrooms of America’s giant corporations are filled with those looking our for their own interests, and look after themselves, they do.
Without regulation, economies all go the same route – the rich get richer, the middle class shrinks, and the poor are driven into the deepest of trenches. Until just a few hold most of the dollars; beneath them, a very small middle class, and beneath them, what was called, in other times, serfs.
Who’s to look after you?
Can your parents do it?
Your friends across the street?
Our children? (That’s my strategy … just kidding).
America’s relationship to the working person has been a simple one. Without government regulation or unions, people are worked and discarded. Pensions and other benefits come and go.
We are soon to celebrate Labor Day.
Labor Day grew in the late 1800s when Americans shifted from farm to factory, and millions of immigrants came to our shores in search of work.
Wise and thoughtful people soon recognized the terrible working conditions in our factories, coalmines and oil fields, with children often bearing the brunt of it. Who would protect the children?
Read “Oil,” Upton Sinclair’s book about the California oil fields, on which the film, “There Will be Blood” was based.
Who would protect the children?
Who would protect the man in the Pennsylvania coalmine?
Who would build the schools?
Who would keep big business from draining away the social capital of the nation by unrelenting hours of hard work, low wages, dangerous environments and no social security whatsoever?
Things changed.
No longer were we an agrarian society with the children growing up and living on gramma and grampa’s farm. We became an urban society, where the need to look after one another on a larger scale became paramount.
CLUE and other similar organizations remind us – to be human is to be humane. To be humane, is to look after one another, to practice the Golden Rule, to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.
The great faith traditions of our world have always seen justice as the ethical heart and soul of believing in God.
To love one another … is to care for one another … and in a complicated society of 310 million people, care is best enacted through corporate structures to help everyone remember the Golden Rule and to protect everyone.
Structures: like good government working in partnership with industry – good government passing and enforcing safe food laws, protections for pensions and health care for every citizen.
Structures: like unions – like the Teamsters, who help business remember the higher principles of life – unions, who go to bat for their members, to protect them, to keep them and their families, so that a man and woman can go home at night feeling safe!
I was a Teamster for 5 years – during school, I loaded trailers at Spartan Warehouse in Grand Rapids, MI – a large grocery store chain.
We were paid $3.65 an hour – that was a great wage then, with plenty of overtime (all my school buds were envious), allowing these hardworking men (and it was just men then) to be middle class – to buy a 17 foot fishing boat, maybe even a small cottage up north – TVs and cars – they were a part of the Middle Class,
And it’s the Middle Class that made this country great.
And right now, it’s the Middle Class threatened with serious decline.
CLUE understands this and is working with you to protect your interests and help this nation rebuild the safety net for all of its good citizens.
Tom Eggebeen, Interim Pastor
Covenant Presbyterian Church
80th & Sepulveda – Los Angeles 90045
Religious communities generally respond to the language of justice …
“Let justice roll down like waters” (Amos 5:24).
The heart and soul of the Bible is the creation of a just society … and what, we might ask, is just?
Where folks are safe … where a social safety net covers the extremes of life … not a regulated society as we saw with the Soviet Union, but a free society in which all of us are committed to the wellbeing of everyone … and through good government, good unions, the various forces of the economy are guarded and regulated to provide safety for everyone – children with health-care and safe education; workers protected from the whims of Wall Street, which in a moment, with a flash of the pen, can strip away or greatly reduce health benefits and do a vanishing act with pensions.
The issue for CLUE is justice.
Safety.
And though CLUE has primarily been focused on the working poor, the effort now directed to assist FedEx employees is an expansion of concern, recognizing that in the current environment of corporate greed and unregulated financial systems, those who are middle-class and fully employed today, could be quickly reduced to barely getting by, or even descending into poverty.
The heart of America’s greatness has been the Middle Class.
The Middle Class is a social construct created by a strong and regulatory partnership between government and industry. Left to itself, industry become increasingly profit-centered, and in our day, we see the disappearance of family-owned business replaced by corporations held hostage by speculators and Wall Street.
Offering good wages as an incentive to discourage unions has been a part of the strategy, and for a time, it’s worked, but the globalization of America’s economy, the depletion of our surplus and the growth of deficit spending has weakened the American dollar, driving up prices at home, reducing our standard of living, and leading many companies to downsize – taking it out of the pockets of those who put their backs into it, while often rewarding those in charge. The various boardrooms of America’s giant corporations are filled with those looking our for their own interests, and look after themselves, they do.
Without regulation, economies all go the same route – the rich get richer, the middle class shrinks, and the poor are driven into the deepest of trenches. Until just a few hold most of the dollars; beneath them, a very small middle class, and beneath them, what was called, in other times, serfs.
Who’s to look after you?
Can your parents do it?
Your friends across the street?
Our children? (That’s my strategy … just kidding).
America’s relationship to the working person has been a simple one. Without government regulation or unions, people are worked and discarded. Pensions and other benefits come and go.
We are soon to celebrate Labor Day.
Labor Day grew in the late 1800s when Americans shifted from farm to factory, and millions of immigrants came to our shores in search of work.
Wise and thoughtful people soon recognized the terrible working conditions in our factories, coalmines and oil fields, with children often bearing the brunt of it. Who would protect the children?
Read “Oil,” Upton Sinclair’s book about the California oil fields, on which the film, “There Will be Blood” was based.
Who would protect the children?
Who would protect the man in the Pennsylvania coalmine?
Who would build the schools?
Who would keep big business from draining away the social capital of the nation by unrelenting hours of hard work, low wages, dangerous environments and no social security whatsoever?
Things changed.
No longer were we an agrarian society with the children growing up and living on gramma and grampa’s farm. We became an urban society, where the need to look after one another on a larger scale became paramount.
CLUE and other similar organizations remind us – to be human is to be humane. To be humane, is to look after one another, to practice the Golden Rule, to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.
The great faith traditions of our world have always seen justice as the ethical heart and soul of believing in God.
To love one another … is to care for one another … and in a complicated society of 310 million people, care is best enacted through corporate structures to help everyone remember the Golden Rule and to protect everyone.
Structures: like good government working in partnership with industry – good government passing and enforcing safe food laws, protections for pensions and health care for every citizen.
Structures: like unions – like the Teamsters, who help business remember the higher principles of life – unions, who go to bat for their members, to protect them, to keep them and their families, so that a man and woman can go home at night feeling safe!
I was a Teamster for 5 years – during school, I loaded trailers at Spartan Warehouse in Grand Rapids, MI – a large grocery store chain.
We were paid $3.65 an hour – that was a great wage then, with plenty of overtime (all my school buds were envious), allowing these hardworking men (and it was just men then) to be middle class – to buy a 17 foot fishing boat, maybe even a small cottage up north – TVs and cars – they were a part of the Middle Class,
And it’s the Middle Class that made this country great.
And right now, it’s the Middle Class threatened with serious decline.
CLUE understands this and is working with you to protect your interests and help this nation rebuild the safety net for all of its good citizens.
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