Friday, June 28, 2013
Poem for the Elhakawati Theatre
There have unfortunately been times in the history of the United States when actors, poets, musicians, writers, and people of faith and/or good will were censored because of a culture of fear, prejudice, and hate. Take time to recognize where this continues in our world in places we support with U.S. munitions and political good will.
Poem for the Elhakawati Theatre
Who have we become as people of the Christian faith if we try to pretend that faith and politics are unrelated? How many ways can we dodge the love of Jesus and pretend it has nothing to do with the way we oppress?
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Just in case...
Just in case you thought you knew everything, or even something, check out
I keep coming back to humility as the center of my spiritual life as a Christian. This is not a self-denigrating statement but a realization that there is so much to 'know' and so little I can claim as my definitive 'knowledge.'
In the face of the unknown, Jesus calls his body, the people of Christ, to listen well to what we do not know and claim little but God's love.
Christ Jesus calls us to be absolutely firm about the needs of justice and the eternal hope that comes only from trusting God and not ourselves. He calls us to love and serve the very present needs of people who are enslaved by laws about marriage, persecuted because they are not Christian, poor because we are rich, and victimized by violence because they have no power to resist.
I wonder what the growing edges of the cosmos will continue to teach us about the growing edges of a God whose love is beyond our knowing.
Monday, April 9, 2012
A Humbling Reminder
I had a few minutes today to catch up on our friends, Fred and Gloria Strickert, who are serving in Jerusalem ( http://walkinjerusalem.blogspot.com/).
Their blog featured the Holy Week gatherings of Christians in Palestine and Jerusalem. Their message underscores the reality that the pilgrims who gather there from around the world have no trouble making their way in and out of Jerusalem, while the Palestinian people who live in Israel/Palestine cannot receive permission to gather with the wider faith community.
As I read their blog, I was reminded how important it is to see beyond my day-to-day life into a wider world. I don't mean that my life isn't important, but as it is for most of us there are so many self-imposed boundaries that impair my sight. I mostly pay attention to very necessary activities, my work, my family, my church, my community. It's good to pay attention to these vocations. It's not so good when I allow these 'duties' to be a barrier to my self-proclaimed commitment to actively advocate for sisters and brothers who are not allowed to walk across their own town because of walls and permissions and harassment imposed by government policies.
As I reflected on Fred and Gloria's profound message, I thought of my own father's report of visiting the Berlin Wall shortly after it went up. I was in grade school but I still vividly remember his stories. They were about families who, because of the Berlin Wall, were split in two and suffered terrible poverty, fear, and hopelessness. My father spoke passionately about the horrible injustice of this wall and the doomed failure of any government that would, in the name of security, build walls to separate communities and families.
I can't get my father's story telling out of my head as I ask questions about who we are as United States citizens. Why is it that as a society we talk about injustice but do so much to impoverish others? How can we, as the Christian community, make more of an effort to speak up and speak out against injustice and prejudice? Why is it that as a people we can be outraged that we don't have prayer in public schools but care nothing about the fact that as a nation are sending munitions and millions of dollars of 'aid' so that other countries can kill and persecute their citizens, all in the name of national security?
I pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to wake us up and push us forward so we might be willing to do more than tend to our own personal daily business. It's a bit frightening to do so, but I pray that we would listen well to the voice of the followers of Jesus who, in the end, went out and shared the good news; the news that Jesus, who is raised from the dead, has turned things upside down and made the first last, and the last first.
Their blog featured the Holy Week gatherings of Christians in Palestine and Jerusalem. Their message underscores the reality that the pilgrims who gather there from around the world have no trouble making their way in and out of Jerusalem, while the Palestinian people who live in Israel/Palestine cannot receive permission to gather with the wider faith community.
As I read their blog, I was reminded how important it is to see beyond my day-to-day life into a wider world. I don't mean that my life isn't important, but as it is for most of us there are so many self-imposed boundaries that impair my sight. I mostly pay attention to very necessary activities, my work, my family, my church, my community. It's good to pay attention to these vocations. It's not so good when I allow these 'duties' to be a barrier to my self-proclaimed commitment to actively advocate for sisters and brothers who are not allowed to walk across their own town because of walls and permissions and harassment imposed by government policies.
As I reflected on Fred and Gloria's profound message, I thought of my own father's report of visiting the Berlin Wall shortly after it went up. I was in grade school but I still vividly remember his stories. They were about families who, because of the Berlin Wall, were split in two and suffered terrible poverty, fear, and hopelessness. My father spoke passionately about the horrible injustice of this wall and the doomed failure of any government that would, in the name of security, build walls to separate communities and families.
I can't get my father's story telling out of my head as I ask questions about who we are as United States citizens. Why is it that as a society we talk about injustice but do so much to impoverish others? How can we, as the Christian community, make more of an effort to speak up and speak out against injustice and prejudice? Why is it that as a people we can be outraged that we don't have prayer in public schools but care nothing about the fact that as a nation are sending munitions and millions of dollars of 'aid' so that other countries can kill and persecute their citizens, all in the name of national security?
I pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to wake us up and push us forward so we might be willing to do more than tend to our own personal daily business. It's a bit frightening to do so, but I pray that we would listen well to the voice of the followers of Jesus who, in the end, went out and shared the good news; the news that Jesus, who is raised from the dead, has turned things upside down and made the first last, and the last first.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Nothing is lost for long on the web!
An Embarrasment of Riches
There
are days I complain and even despair at some of the challenges of my
daily calling at work, but most days I am nearly embarrassed because
life is so incredibly rich.
On a daily basis I am allowed to get to know and deepen relationships with college students and colleagues at Wartburg College, in Waverly, Iowa. These are people who ask some of the most important questions any of us ask about the world, questions like: How can I make life better for others? What is most important for us to be doing as God's people, the church? Does my life have meaning? Where is God when I'm hurting? How is God calling me to live into the future?
On a daily basis I am challenged to think in new ways and am pushed to listen and look for God's work in others. I get to hear beautiful music, have deep conversations, wonder about Holy Scripture, share in other people's successes and failures. I am called to account for my gifts and am allowed to lift up the gifts of others.
Talk about riches to share. I am so full there is no room left for complaint.
On a daily basis I am allowed to get to know and deepen relationships with college students and colleagues at Wartburg College, in Waverly, Iowa. These are people who ask some of the most important questions any of us ask about the world, questions like: How can I make life better for others? What is most important for us to be doing as God's people, the church? Does my life have meaning? Where is God when I'm hurting? How is God calling me to live into the future?
On a daily basis I am challenged to think in new ways and am pushed to listen and look for God's work in others. I get to hear beautiful music, have deep conversations, wonder about Holy Scripture, share in other people's successes and failures. I am called to account for my gifts and am allowed to lift up the gifts of others.
Talk about riches to share. I am so full there is no room left for complaint.
An Embarrassment of Riches
Well, I just proved I am wondering and wandering and obviously, too old to keep a blog. In an effort to correct my last post, I deleted it! When I wonder about about questions of meaning and purpose and blogs aren't the last word in whether or not we have something to say. May God's blessings sustain you in the coming week.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Trust Enfleshed
If you want to be energized for your Christmas celebrations read the short article, Entwined with Us, by John Buchanan, editor of the Christian Century. In just a few short words he reaches out to the essence of the Christian faith, trust in God who we meet in Jesus. Whether young or old, rich or poor, when it comes down to crucial decisions about our lives and the way we will live our faith, the question of trust becomes the commons on which we meet.
It doesn't really matter how many Christmas presents you do or do not buy for people this year in an effort to love God first if you don't trust that the Christ child was born for you and your worst enemies.
It doesn't really matter if you would do anything for your own children and are the best parent in the world if you don't trust that God in Christ holds the lives of every child in holy arms of love that are greater than your own.
It doesn't really matter if you give away all your belongings and live on the edges of society to show your solidarity with those in need if you do not trust that God in Christ is at work raising up the lowly and sending the rich away without a thing.
Yesterday I watched a simulcast of a joint prayer service held by Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem and the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., (Washington National Cathedral). I am certain that the richness of the shared prayers and homilies, the energy of choirs and congregational singing came from the depths of the participant's trust in Jesus, but the visual contrasts were hard to reconcile. You don't need to point out the simple, bare sanctuary of Christmas Lutheran and the elaborate accouterments of the National Cathedral, or the heartfelt choir music of children's and adult choirs in Bethlehem and the somewhat 'distanced' participation of worshippers in National Cathedral. These contrasts speak for themselves.
You don't need a translator to know that the people who walk out of Christmas Lutheran Church never forget that trusting God is always personally challenging or that the challenge for the people who walk out of the National Cathedral is that of daily remembering that trusting Jesus with their lives is not about bank accounts or individual economic security.
Faithful trust in God's life-changing Word, Jesus Christ, brought the two communities together for prayer. Can we who are accustomed to watching from a distance trust God's call to us to take the time and expend the energy needed to meet, know, and trust that flesh and blood relationships are not an add-on to faith in Jesus but the beginning and end of God's enduring, steadfast love in us?
It doesn't really matter how many Christmas presents you do or do not buy for people this year in an effort to love God first if you don't trust that the Christ child was born for you and your worst enemies.
It doesn't really matter if you would do anything for your own children and are the best parent in the world if you don't trust that God in Christ holds the lives of every child in holy arms of love that are greater than your own.
It doesn't really matter if you give away all your belongings and live on the edges of society to show your solidarity with those in need if you do not trust that God in Christ is at work raising up the lowly and sending the rich away without a thing.
Yesterday I watched a simulcast of a joint prayer service held by Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem and the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., (Washington National Cathedral). I am certain that the richness of the shared prayers and homilies, the energy of choirs and congregational singing came from the depths of the participant's trust in Jesus, but the visual contrasts were hard to reconcile. You don't need to point out the simple, bare sanctuary of Christmas Lutheran and the elaborate accouterments of the National Cathedral, or the heartfelt choir music of children's and adult choirs in Bethlehem and the somewhat 'distanced' participation of worshippers in National Cathedral. These contrasts speak for themselves.
You don't need a translator to know that the people who walk out of Christmas Lutheran Church never forget that trusting God is always personally challenging or that the challenge for the people who walk out of the National Cathedral is that of daily remembering that trusting Jesus with their lives is not about bank accounts or individual economic security.
Faithful trust in God's life-changing Word, Jesus Christ, brought the two communities together for prayer. Can we who are accustomed to watching from a distance trust God's call to us to take the time and expend the energy needed to meet, know, and trust that flesh and blood relationships are not an add-on to faith in Jesus but the beginning and end of God's enduring, steadfast love in us?
Friday, April 2, 2010
Good News and Bad News
I was delighted to read the latest update on the website Churches for Middle East Peace that announced that Eastern and Western Christianity are working to find a way to actually celebrate Easter on the same date. In a world that is literally dying for good news, perhaps a small victory in this area of agreement about the highest festival of the church year will at least symbolically assist us in our common work.
On the other hand, I spent a portion of last night watching the movie, Jesus Camp. I know it's an older film (2006) but from all indications (blogs and letters to the editor from daily newspaper and websites) the temptation to use Jesus to indoctrinate and negatively form children and adults is alive and well. I can't help but wonder if we aren't all complicit with our unwillingness to give up "being right for being loving" (Good Friday bidding prayers today from St. Paul's Lutheran, Waverly, IA).
As the above experiences intersect with the Good Friday Veneration of the Cross service I attended at noon, I am drawn even move deeply into mystery of God's grace for in Jesus Christ, for it is indeed a mystery. How can such a holy love endure when we refuse to live that love out in our life together as God's people?
On the other hand, I spent a portion of last night watching the movie, Jesus Camp. I know it's an older film (2006) but from all indications (blogs and letters to the editor from daily newspaper and websites) the temptation to use Jesus to indoctrinate and negatively form children and adults is alive and well. I can't help but wonder if we aren't all complicit with our unwillingness to give up "being right for being loving" (Good Friday bidding prayers today from St. Paul's Lutheran, Waverly, IA).
As the above experiences intersect with the Good Friday Veneration of the Cross service I attended at noon, I am drawn even move deeply into mystery of God's grace for in Jesus Christ, for it is indeed a mystery. How can such a holy love endure when we refuse to live that love out in our life together as God's people?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)