The Christian Hospitality Blog

What is Christian Hospitality?

2008-08-20T09:46:00.004-05:00

What is Christian Hospitality? Brian D. McLaren, a veteran Pastor, explores the subject in Newsweek's "On Faith" Blog.
Check out an excerpt below:
Sally Qunn's tribute to Tim Russert, and in particular the story of her choosing to take the eucharist at Tim's Catholic funeral, reminded me of so many stories I've heard through the years ... stories of sincere people with little or no religious commitment, meeting someone like Tim Russert whose faith was real and winsome, and through them being drawn closer to God, or at least to the possibility of searching for God.
Sadly, some of the responses to her story also reminded me of these stories, because very often, when people began reaching toward God, they would naturally seek out a church. But what they often met in the church was disdain, rejection, critique, exclusion, judgment, and other less-than-hospitable treatment. No doubt, the people who "welcomed" them this way thought they were doing the right thing, and perhaps they were from some vantage point. [snip]
In my book "A Search for What is Real" (Zondervan, 2007), I wrote a chapter that could be helpful to both the insiders and outsiders. It was called "Why Is Church the Last Place I Think of for Help in My Spiritual Search?" I talked about three types of churches.
First, there are Type 1 or "finders only" churches - and these are represented by the most critical responses to Sally's story.
Second, there are Type 2 or "seekers only" churches, which "attract the kind of people who are turned off by ... Type 1 dogmatism." These faith communities welcome everyone, but they become less hospitable the clearer and deeper a person's spiritual commitments and experiences become.
I end up highlighting the need for more Type 3 or "seeker-finder" faith communities, groups which take on the dynamic challenge of being highly welcoming to seekers and skeptics, while having high levels of commitment and deep reservoirs of theology in their core members.

Pentecost

2008-04-28T10:22:00.010-05:00

Pentecost is one of my favorite Christian holidays. This year it falls on May 11, the same day as Mother's Day. Pentecost was a Jewish holiday, and the followers of Jesus were gathered to celebrate it shortly after the resurrection of Jesus when little flames appeared above each of their heads, representing the Holy Spirit of God. We still celebrate this holiday every year. A fun way to celebrate is by creating a candle display, either on the communion table or some other spot near the front of the church.

Another fun activity associated with Pentecost is inviting members of the church to wear red or other colors seen in fire, such as orange or yellow.

You can also adapt the Tibetan idea of making prayer flags. Since the holiday is associated with the Holy Spirit, which blows through the people like a wind, it is a good way to involve people in celebrating Pentecost. Prayer flags are simple cloth squares on which people write their prayers. They are generally strung on long strings and hung where the wind will catch them. Tibetans leave their flags up and allow them to unravel in the weather, but you can take your flags down after the holiday if you like.

Since Pentecost is also considered the birthday of the church, some churches light candles on a birthday cake and sing happy birthday. Here is a link to directions for a Pentecost cake.

Visit us at www.rivertonchurch.org.

Manga Jesus

2008-02-10T19:19:00.000-05:00

If you've ever wondered, as a blogger on fanboy.com has, "What would Manga Jesus do?", now is your chance to find out. Apparently the holy scripture is getting the Manga treatment, according to an article in the New York Times.

Ajinbayo Akinsiku wants the world to know Jesus Christ, just not the gentle, blue-eyed Christ of old Hollywood movies and illustrated Bibles.
“For the unchurched, the book is to show that this thing, the Bible, is still relevant,” Mr. Akinsiku said.
Mr. Akinsiku says his Son of God is “a samurai stranger who’s come to town, in silhouette,” here to shake things up in a new, much-abridged version of the Bible rooted in manga, the Japanese form of graphic novels.
“We present things in a very brazen way,” said Mr. Akinsiku, who hopes to become an Anglican priest and who is the author of “The Manga Bible: From Genesis to Revelation.” “Christ is a hard guy, seeking revolution and revolt, a tough guy.”

If you want to check it out, it will set you back $12.95 in most bookstores and comic outlets that carry it, although you can get it for less at Amazon.com.

Beating the Holiday Blues

2007-11-29T13:10:00.000-05:00

It's gray and rainy where I'm at today, and I'm facing the first Christmas since the sudden death of my mother earlier this month. In short, I, like millions of people, am going into the holiday season with some dread mixed into my usual anticipation. But, in addition to being a grieving daughter who needs to support a grieving father, I'm also the mom of young children who deserve a beautiful, spiritual holiday filled with wonder and joy. What is there to do?

Beliefnet blogger Therese Borchard has come up with an excellent guide for heading off holiday blues. If there is any chance that you could end up depressed and worn out by the holiday season, I urge you to check this out and put a high priority on following her very good advice--especially if you are a woman.

As you probably know, women have traditionally shouldered a disproportionate amount of the holiday tasks. Admit it, ladies--part of it is our own doing. If you are like me, you are prone to Martha Stewart Syndrome--wanting your home and gifts and holiday cooking to shine with unrealistic brightness. Martha Stewart happens to be blessed (or maybe cursed?) with an unusual ability to go at full steam with just a few hours of sleep, and she has a large staff to help her achieve holiday perfection. If you don't have these advantages, cut yourself some slack, skimp on the decorating, and go the "semi-homemade" route with the cooking.

My mom was prone to worrying about everyone else's well-being when her own family history and underlying conditions indicated that her own heart health was in danger. Putting yourself and your health first is not selfish; it could be what enables your family to be blessed to celebrate many more Christmases with you in their midst. If you are young and healthy now, great--start early and develop great habits. Don't be afraid to explain to your loved ones (even children) that you need to take care of yourself and your own needs. It will probably make you a better parent (less cranky, at least, I'm guessing) and you will be providing them with the lasting legacy of great role modeling.

Most of all, make time for your spirit this Christmas. Go to church every Sunday in December, not just Christmas. See an uplifting movie or play, such as "It's a Wonderful Life," "A Christmas Carol" or the more contemporary "Family Man." Carve out time for prayer and meditation. It doesn't have to be stiff and formal. One of my favorite meditative things to do this time of year is to sit alone with the Christmas tree lit and the other lights off for a few minutes before bedtime. The beauty of the lights and the memories attached to the decorations lifts my spirit.

Take care of yourself this holiday season, and may God bless us all, everyone.

When Doubt is a Good Thing

2007-10-09T10:09:00.000-05:00

As a Pastor I've preached lots of sermons on the idea that it is okay to doubt. Usually the sermons come on the Sunday after Easter, when the church hears about how one of the disciples, Thomas, doubted the Resurrection of Jesus and (the risen) Jesus handles his doubts with compassion.

Until yesterday, though, I never thought how important doubt can be to one's own sense of well-being, until I heard a radio interview with Shalom Auslander on the program Fresh Air. I've heard Auslander before, on my favorite radio program This American Life, and I found him, like most of the contributers, to be insightful and funny. Until now, though, I had no idea that there was a darker side to his Ultra-Orthodox Jewish upbringing.

Auslander grew up in a disfunctional family with an angry dad, and in his heart of hearts is an image of God very much like his own dad--a mean bully. Years of therapy, cutting himself off from his family, and extensive study of religion have not budged his conviction that God is real, and also a meanie who is out to get him if he disobeys a long list of ridiculous laws that are impossible to obey perfectly and that he has therefore abandoned. If you've ever wondered why people hate religion and find it to be oppressive and evil, Shalom Auslander is Exhibit A. He wants to have doubts, he behaves like a person who has far more doubt than faith, but the fact is that he has never had a single real moment of doubting.

So, what is the solution? The Soviet Union outlawed religion and it just went underground. Today the Russian Orthodox church has regained its stutus in Russian culture. And, on a deeper level, the Soviet society never did away with the oppressive aspects of religion that folks like Auslander condemn. On a recent trip to Russia, we brought back Soviet propoganda that could have been written by Jerry Fallwell. It focused on the importance of avoiding strong drink, tobacco, and extramarital sex, and on taking care of your kids and working hard without expecting any reward except solidarity with comrades. I don't think I have to tell you how successful this propaganda was in reducing the Russian appetite for pleasures of the flesh. If anything, the lurid way it depicted these excesses may have given them the extra thrill of forbidden fruit for some citizens.

When it comes to religion and morality, there's the soft sell, the hard sell and then there is indoctrination. The United Church of Christ, my denomination, is dominated by churches that practice the soft sell and emphasize the postives of living a moral life--like, you don't have to keep your lies straight if you don't tell any! Soviet propaganda represents the hard sell. What Shalom Auslander experienced was indoctrination, and it led him to the opposite extreme of behavior after he left his home and school, because he had yet to develop a moral compass based on personal integrity.

I am personally morally opposed to participating in indoctrination, but according to how our US Constitution is currently interpreted, religious indoctrination of the kind Shalom Auslander experienced as a young child is perfectly legal. In a recent court case, the leader of a small sect in Utah was convicted and sent to prison for indoctrinating an underage girl that she must marry her cousin and submit to having sex with him. Most indoctrinated children are not encouraged to break the law or to submit to becoming a victim of a crime, however, so prosecution will do little to ease the pain of people like Shalom Auslander.

I think the question is, do those of us who find comfort and joy in religious faith owe some kind of moral debt to those like Auslander whose lives are shattered by religious indoctrination? Auslander resents people like me, what he would call religious moderates. He believes that people like me make it possible for groups like Al Queda to perpetrate unspeakable crimes against humanity in the name of religion simply because we lend legitimacy to religion. I don't agree with him, but how do I reach out and try to help someone who thinks I'm perpetuating evil just because I like to pray, read the Bible, sing hymns and eat suppers with others who like the same things? It's kind of hard to blame the guy for seeing things in black/white, either/or terms, given his first eighteen years of life, but I'm not going to be able to see things the way he does, so how do we bridge the gap?

Weddings

2007-08-06T14:41:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about weddings lately, partly because I have an anniversary coming up on August 18 and have also been invited to co-officiate at a family wedding on the same date. Weddings have become a giant industry in my lifetime; the average American wedding now costs $30,000. TV shows like "Bridezillas" (a documentary-style show on the Women's Entertainment network that features out-of-control brides in the last few frantic weeks before the wedding up through the reception) only seem to increase America's appetite for bloated nuptials. The divorce rate seems to have stablilized, but the rising cost of weddings seems to be having little effect on whether the marriages that weddings are supposed to be about ultimately go the distance.

Churches and other houses of worship are increasingly moving out of the wedding loop. Millions of people have weddings performed by Justices of the Peace or by friends who have gotten ordained online for free through organizations like The Universal Life Church (word to the wise--weddings performed by such ad hoc clergy are not valid in several states and jurisdictions, including Connecticut, where I live). Reception venues, eager to cater to couples, make it easy for them to have weddings on site, eliminating the trouble of commuting from a house of worship. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I would like to feel that the counseling and support clergy provide to couples help them to make stronger marriages, but the research about divorce prevention is new, and new counseling techniques coming from the research is not common and doesn't yet have a proven track record. Churches could have a positive effect in encouraging couples not to over-spend on weddings, but most have been reluctant to venture into that territory. In fact, I don't know of a church that has a ministry to would-be couples in this way.

I can only speak for myself and my own wedding and marriage. We spent way below the national average at the time (then the average was $20,000) and six years and two kids later, we still like each other and feel madly in love. I would have done some things differently if I had it to do over, but nothing that would have increased the total expenses. One thing that I think was different for us was how much both of us planned the wedding together. We designed the invitations and a wedding website together. I did most of the heavy lifting but my husband more than pulled his weight.

The site that does the most to help would-be brides remain sane in the face of enormous pressure to be model-gorgeous and have a perfect wedding is indiebride.com. The articles there don't generally address spirituality directly, but helping people not fall into a commercialized trap has a spiritual dimension to it. It includes articles about the very latest books that dissect wedding-related craziness. It also helps women connect with a community of others thinking deeply about weddings and marriages.

Ecomall offers ideas for "green" weddings, and the whole idea behind green weddings is to limit conspicious consumption, so that is a good place to look for ideas to keep weddings less crazy and less expensive as well.

My favorite book for helping plan a wedding that prepares you for marriage is Becoming Married by Herbert Anderson and Robert Cotton Fite. It is available through Amazon.com. It comes from a Christian viewpoint but the wisdom in it is universal.

Do you have wedding wisdom our questions to share? Post your comments here.

Synod is coming!

2007-05-29T09:43:00.001-05:00

Today's cool link is about General Synod, the national meeting of our denomination, is being held in Hartford on June 22-23, with some pre-synod events also scheduled for June 21. This is the 50th anniversary of our denomination and some really amazing events have been planned. Highlights include a launch of the Amistad in New Haven on June 21, a conference on the environment planned in Hartford for the same day, a multi-site event called "Synod in the City" to be held all-day Saturday, June 23 and featuring major speakers and performance events, including Senator Barack Obama, Bill Moyers and many others, and a festival worship on June 24 at 3 pm. Some events are free, others require registration. Volunteers are still needed. Check out all the info here.

Visit us at www.rivertonchurch.org.

Praying for the Earth

2007-05-11T16:09:00.000-05:00

Many religions teach that God created the earth and charged people with its care. We don't always take this job seriously, even though most people love nature and depend on spending time surrounded by the beauty of nature to feel fully human and fully alive.

Our ancestors used to celebrate the gift of creation during the times that the seasons changed. It is good to pause to give thanks for what we have been given, and to re-commit to being good stewards of the created world. This is what Earth Prayers is all about. Not everyone loves "church"--the traditional hymns, the organ music, sermons--but almost everyone loves the beauty of nature.

We are very blessed to be able to inaugurate our "Earth Prayers" with the music of Jim Cole. Jim is himself a deeply spiritual person whose harmonic overtones singing strikes deep chords in those who are fortunate to hear it. After the music, there will be a chance to walk a sacred path on a Labyrinth. Whether you are a religious person who regularly attends a Church, Synagogue, Mosque or other house of worship, or the kind of person whose preferred method of connecting with your spiritual side involves a long walk in the woods, I hope you will join us for Earth Prayers.

Visit us at www.rivertonchurch.org.

Warming Up

2007-05-03T10:34:00.000-05:00

Our congregation has been dealing with deferred maintenance on the building lately. No sooner had we finished replacing an ailing roof than we got the word from the company that serviced our furnace that its days were numbers. Sure enough, less than a year later, the furnace, which had outlived its normal lifespan by decades, blew off the fire door and then died altogether. We were too busy arranging to have the furnace replaced to even ask the "why us, why this, why now?" questions.

Less than a month later, we have installed a more efficient propane heater. We will be saving energy, money, and the environment with this cleaner-burning system. Of course, the furnace did have a cost: $8,000, to be exact. We hadn't quite finished paying off the roof, and then the new furnace doubled our debt. But before we spent too much time wondering "How are we going to pay for this?" donations from friends of the church began pouring in. A woman who had temporarily come into a large amount of liquid cash sent us a large donation. Another friend of the church heard about our plight through the grapevine and also sent a donation. We are not in the clear yet, but this new furnace isn't just warming bodies, it is also warming hearts.

Visit us at www.rivertonchurch.org.

Attack of the Cranky Athiests

2007-04-27T12:57:00.000-05:00

Another day, another cranky athiest. Christopher Hitchens, who is apparently a respected journalist, has published a book called God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.

Here's what he has to say about his friends who are religious, as excerpted in Slate online magazine.

Religious faith is, precisely because we are still-evolving creatures, ineradicable. It will never die out, or at least not until we get over our fear of death, and of the dark, and of the unknown, and of each other. For this reason, I would not prohibit it even if I thought I could. Very generous of me, you may say. But will the religious grant me the same indulgence? I ask because there is a real and serious difference between me and my religious friends, and the real and serious friends are sufficiently honest to admit it. I would be quite content to go to their children's bar mitzvahs, to marvel at their Gothic cathedrals, to "respect" their belief that the Koran was dictated, though exclusively in Arabic, to an illiterate merchant, or to interest myself in Wicca and Hindu and Jain consolations. And as it happens, I will continue to do this without insisting on the polite reciprocal condition—which is that they in turn leave me alone. But this, religion is ultimately incapable of doing. As I write these words, and as you read them, people of faith are in their different ways planning your and my destruction, and the destruction of all the hard-won human attainments that I have touched upon. Religion poisons everything.

I would say somebody needs a hug, but I think he's past the point where a hug will help.

Check this out, though: he says he just wants his religious friends to leave him alone. Maybe he needs some new friends? Cause, like, I don't remember ever getting in the face of my atheist friends, and I have plenty of them. And I don't EVER remember accusing Atheists of "Plotting...the destruction of all the hard-won human attainments..."

Maybe I shouldn't take this personally, but it's kind of hard not to, because he is lumping me in with, like, suicide bombers.

Why do people do this--educated people who know which fork they are supposed to use for the main course and which one for salad at a formal dinner, I mean?

Well, I'm guessing Mr. Hitchens is really frustrated with a lot of bad things going on in the world. I don't blame him for that. And I don't blame him for wanting something or someone to blame. I'd kind of like to be able to blame the Soviets, or the Devil, or whatever. But the Soviets had to go and self-destruct on me, and I've found that there is some good and some evil in everyone, so blaming stuff on the Devil doesn't really give me much satisfaction. Bad stuff happens, and I'll be the first one to admit that the world's religions have not come up with a perfect, all-encompassing explanation for the problem of evil. I guess it could be because, as a religious person, I am in fact the answer to the question "What is the cause of the problem of evil?" but I don't really think so.

I guess in Mr. Hitchen's mind, religion is about answering the big questions, and he's right. But not all religious people think that religion has the answers to the big questions. I sure don't. I guess religion that claims to have all the answers has a lot of appeal in uncertain, scary times like ours. It doesn't have any appeal for me. It makes me really sad to see so many people settle for easy (if imperfect) answers to what the Garrison Keillor charactor Guy Noir calls "life's persistent questions," but right now I'm not in an angry place about that. If it wasn't religion claiming to have the answers it would be (and in many cases is) political parties or multinational corporations or Think Tanks or some other institutions. Institutions are run by and for humans, and like the humans that create them, they are flawed. This includes the institution of journalism, I'm sorry to tell poor Mr. Hitchens.

I do feel that it is important to wrestle with the big questions, to wrestle with them together in a like-hearted community with a spirit of compassion, because none of us has all the answers. That is what religion is about for me, and for a lot of other people too.

Fairness

2007-04-20T21:14:00.000-05:00

When I was a teenager, a group called the Boomtown Rats sang a song called, "I Don't Like Mondays" about a girl who went on a shooting rampage. When they asked her why she did it, she said, "I don't like Mondays." In the song, the Boomtown Rats sang, "They can see no reasons 'cause there are no reasons." And so it is with another shooting incident on another Monday many years hence.

We can see no reason that a student at Virginia Tech shot dozens of innocent people before turning the gun on himself. I myself had a pleasant day and heard nothing about the tragedy for hours. "It's not fair," my kids say when confronted with something they don't like. They say "it's not fair" when they have to go to bed on time, or when someone is driving recklessly on the highway or for what seems like a million other reasons. They're right. Life isn't fair. Sometimes circumstances drive this fact home with great force.

Because the killings are close to home--not in our backyard, maybe, but in a place like the place where we live. Because the brutality was unexpected--this was a quiet corner of the world.

Because the victims and the perpetrator seemed to have everything to live for--all were in the prime of their lives, and seemed destined for future success.

Because it might have been prevented, if the alarm was sounded earlier, or if previous cries for help by the perpetrator had been heeded.

Life isn't fair. I've presided at the funerals of young people like these young victims, cut down tragically in the prime of their lives. What do you say to their families? There is nothing to say except "I don't know what to say." Some things go beyond words. Sometimes all we can do is be present with those who suffer, and maybe after a while they will see that, in the words of the gospel according to John, "The light still shines into the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

Prayers for Virginia Tech

2007-04-20T19:27:00.000-05:00

The UCC has created a prayer forum for the Virginia Tech tragedy. (It requires registration.)

They have also provided this prayer for Sunday: The Rev. John H. Thomas, UCC general minister and president, has released a special litany in response to the violence at Virginia Tech. Here is the text:
Through the ages we hear the Risen Christ: "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." Yet today we grieve for precious lambs, not fed, but slaughtered. For those sons and daughters, students and classmates, colleagues and friends whose lives we cherish, whose loss we mourn, we pray, Lord, have mercy.
[A TIME OF SILENCE IS KEPT]
Through the ages we hear the Risen Christ: "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Tend my sheep." Yet today your flock is scattered by fear at Virginia Tech and throughout the world where guns and bombs kill and maim. For those paralyzed by fear in Blacksburg and Baghdad, Kabul and Karachi, Gaza and the Golan Heights, we pray, Christ, have mercy.
[A TIME OF SILENCE IS KEPT]
Through the ages we hear the Risen Christ, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" "Yes, Lord, you know every thing, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep." Yet today we are hungry - hungry for peace, hungry for justice, hungry for security, hungry for hope. For children who look for bread but are given the crushing stone of violence, often with our complicity, we pray, Lord, have mercy.
[A TIME OF SILENCE IS KEPT]
Take us, O God, to places we are reluctant to go, to the wounded places, the shattered places, the terrified places. There may we feed your lambs with compassion, tend your sheep with healing, feed your flock with hope. There, with Peter, may we move from denial to discipleship, and thus find strength in the midst of this week's sorrow and rage, to sing again the Easter song, "Alleluia, Christ is risen!" Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia! Amen. (This prayer uses themes from the Gospel lesson for the third Sunday of Easter, John 21.1-19)

Media on Jesus

2007-04-05T09:19:00.000-05:00

As Easter approaches, we are in the middle of "National Write about Christianity" week. One of the most interesting articles in this vein appeared in Salon earlier this week.
It is an interview with the famous Biblical scholar Elaine Pagels about "The Gospel According to Judas." I read this gospel last year when it came out, along with the commentary included in the published version, but I guess I didn't totally get it. Pagels says the gospel was written around the same time as the gospel according to John (at the end of the First Century or early in the Second Century, or about 1900 years ago.)

Pagels helped me to put the gospel in context by explaining that the author (probably a fan of Judas, not Judas himself, who was long dead by then) was advocating an alternative position on Christian martyrdom. At the time this book was written, Christians were widely persecuted. According to popular Christian history, the "right" choice for Christians, if confronted by civil authorities and accused of being a Christian, was to publicly embrace your faith and just take the torture and even death that followed. Pagels says that the gospel according to Judas is advocating a "those who fight and run away live to fight another day" position.

My formal education in early church history was completed 19 years ago (I am getting sooo old) but I do remember what I learned about this topic. While martyrs (those who were persecuted and/or died for their faith) have always been celebrated and honored, the church made a provision for those who renounced the faith under the strain of persecution. Indeed, it was this very thing that apparently led the early church to create the act of penance. Penance was originally a one-time chance for a serious sinner to redeem him/herself. According to my Church History Professor (Mark Burrows, now of Andover Newton seminary) the sinful act for which a person received penance was usually cracking under the pressure of persecution and renouncing Christianity.

We think of this as something that only happened in the distant past, but I personally know people (not from the US) who were tortured for their Christian faith, so this is not necessarily a dead issue, though it is not really an issue in the United States today.

The other thing it brings up is the idea that there was never a time when all Christians agreed about major matters of faith. There have always been different ways of understanding and practicing faith.

Read the Salon article (you must watch a brief ad first.)

Visit us at www.rivertonchurch.org.

New Life

2007-04-02T11:55:00.000-05:00

Several months back I blogged about The Rev. Terry Ryan, a local pastor in my own denomination who needed a kidney transplant due to a congenital problem. I am happy to report that Terry received his long hoped for kidney last week. The kidney is working, the donor is recovering nicely, and it appears that there is every reason to be hopeful and even joyful, although Terry is still in a lot of pain and requesting prayers for an end to pain and a full and speedy recovery for himself and his donor.

I'm not exactly a fan of Marianne Williamson, but sometimes her prayers hit just the right note for me. This healing prayer of hers really inspired me, and I hope it inspires you, whatever healing you need right now.

Dear God,
Be my redeemer, my internal teacher, my divine physician.
Thank You for Your presence in my life.
I surrender to You all I am, all I think, all I feel, and all I have.
I recognize in this moment that Yours is the power to heal and make whole.
You who have the power to work miracles, You who rule time and space, please take me in Your arms and hold me.
Dear Lord, please lift me up and heal me.
Cast out of my mind all thoughts that are not of You.
Cast out of me all harsh and critical nature.
Cast out of me all violence and all anger.
Cast out of me all demons from my past.
For I would be made new.
I wish to walk so close to You that we might be as one.
I ask for new life, new mind, new body, new spirit.
Dear God, please come into me and release me from this pain.
Amen.

Reflections on Palm Sunday

2007-04-02T11:47:00.000-05:00

A cynical person might say that Palm Sunday doesn’t matter in the grand scheme because less than a week later, Jesus dies. A hopeful person might say that Palm Sunday does matter because a week later Jesus is alive, and Palm Sunday is a sign that those who celebrate and Bless Jesus are right. There are two ways you can look at the incident in the Bible we now celebrate on Palm Sunday—you can see it as the beginning of the end, or as the end of the beginning. It is the last time, at least according to the Bible, that Jesus is treated like a hero prior to his persecution and death. But it is also the beginning of a religious celebration we observe 2000 years later.

Last week, sometime between our church service on Sunday and Monday morning, our church furnace quit. It had had a long, hardworking life and it was the furnace’s time. You could say the timing was bad—it has made for a cold Palm Sunday. On the other hand, it could have been far worse—it could have quit during a week when the weather plunged to near zero at night, leaving the congregation with a dilemma about how to keep the pipes from freezing. Instead, the furnace brought us through another winter. The new furnace will probably be much more efficient, meaning we will spend somewhat less per gallon of oil to heat the building.
It seems like it has been one thing after another because maintenance of this building has been deferred for a very long time. This congregation has been through a lot over the years. In some ways this time is easy—when a furnace breaks, we know how to fix it. When conflicts between members arise and relationships break, it can be much more complicated to try and fix that.

It has been my practice in life to try and take the blessing in every good experience, and look for the lesson in every bad experience. On the Palm Sundays of my life, I have tried to go with the flow, soak it all in and stored it up in my memory banks, but too often, I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop and ruin the good times. After the Good Fridays of my own life, I have looked to find lessons, hoping I can make changes and prevent things from getting so bad again. In all of this something has been lacking. I didn’t know what until I received my star gift in January. Star gifts, for those of you who don't know about them, are little paper stars with a word on them passed out on the first Sunday of the new year. The word is your gift for the year, a word that will serve as the basis of meditation in the coming year. My gift for 2007 is "hope." Too often, I don’t give hope much of a chance. I certainly don’t lead with hope, and I don’t like it when people try to get me to do it. Sometimes hope dawns, as it did for the followers of Jesus on Easter morning. But I don’t do very well at making hope my default mode, my starting place. That’s too bad, because when I get to the place of hope, I’m pretty good at it. I get inspired. I inspire others.

Today, on this chilly Palm Sunday, God is calling us to lead with our hopes and not with our fears.

We all know hope can seem misplaced, and even silly. We know that if we’ve ever seen American Idol auditions. But the hope of 16-year-olds who’ve decided to try and be a star this week is a far different thing from the collective hope of this congregation, which has gone through so much and endured so much and accomplished so much. If we don’t try, we don’t ever fail, but we don’t ever succeed, either. So this Palm Sunday, I’ve decided to lead with hope. I’ve decided to lead with hope because Palm Sunday is about hope. Even though the week that begins with Palm Sunday ends with Good Friday, the following week begins with Easter. I hope you will decide to lead with your hope as well today and every day.

A Fun "Ship" Ride

2007-03-24T17:35:00.000-05:00

I just discovered a really fun, interesting, thoughtful Christian website. Based in the UK, Ship of Fools offers an interesting mix including bulletin boards, regular columns, photos of funny/weird Christian-oriented merchandise, and an interesting column called "Mystery Worship" that details the experiences of people who visit churches for Sunday worship and then report on the experience online. It includes reports of a visit to New Life Church, the church founded by disgraced Pastor Ted Haggard, both before and after his fall from grace. I don't know if this writer is typical, but she was honest, thorough, and thoughtful in her assessment. (In cased you're wondering, she liked the church better post-Ted and enjoyed the sermon by the interim pastor much more.)

Visit us at www.rivertonchurch.org.

Jesus Buried With Wife and Kid?

2007-02-26T11:46:00.000-05:00

That's the idea at the center of a forthcoming documentary directed by James Cameron of Titanic fame.

CNN reports that,

"The Lost Tomb of Christ," which the Discovery Channel will run on March 4, argues that 10 ancient ossuaries -- small caskets used to store bones -- discovered in a suburb of Jerusalem in 1980 may have contained the bones of Jesus and his family, according to a press release issued by the Discovery Channel.

Archeologists and Biblical Scholars, for the most part, are scoffing at the film's sensationalistic claims. The CNN story continues,

Stephen Pfann, a biblical scholar at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem who was interviewed in the documentary, said the film's hypothesis holds little weight.
"I don't think that Christians are going to buy into this," Pfann said. "But skeptics, in general, would like to see something that pokes holes into the story that so many people hold dear."
"How possible is it?" Pfann said. "On a scale of one through 10 -- 10 being completely possible -- it's probably a one, maybe a one and a half."
Pfann is even unsure that the name "Jesus" on the caskets was read correctly. He thinks it's more likely the name "Hanun."
Kloner also said the filmmakers' assertions are false.
"It was an ordinary middle-class Jerusalem burial cave," Kloner said. "The names on the caskets are the most common names found among Jews at the time."

Those of us over forty have lived through several of these sensationalistic media blitzes, designed to provide their originators with fame, quick cash, or (usually) both. Since Cameron lacks for neither fame nor money (as far as I know), it is possible that his motives are pure, even if his theory is unlikely to win over many people.

Though this story of Jesus being buried with the wife and kid is likely not true (and lacks the probability of being proved true even if it is), it begs the question of, "What if?" What if Jesus did not die and later resurrect? What if he somehow managed to slink out of the limelight and settle in the suburbs with a wife (Mary Magdelene) and have a kid before dying of natural causes? What if the whole persecution and execution of Jesus never happened? Would this, as some claim, drive a stake into the heart of Christianity, causing the religion to disintegrate?

Christians are of two minds about this. In the book The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions, liberal Biblical scholar Marcus Borg and conservative Biblical scholar N.T. Wright attempt to demonstrate that it is possible to bridge the gap between those (like Wright) who feel that the Bible is literally true and those (like Borg) who feel that while much that the Bible records did not literally happen, Christianity is still a viable religion. Wright and Borg are friends who have agreed to disagree and who feel that their individual faith journeys have been enriched by their ongoing dialogue. I've never met N.T. Wright but I did spend several days at a conference where Marcus Borg was a keynote speaker. At one point, Borg related a story about a joint interview he and Wright did. The interviewer posed the "what if" at the heart of Cameron's new documentary--what if the bones of Jesus were found, and were proved to be real by DNA testing, thus demonstrating that the resurrection didn't happen (or at least didn't happen exactly as described in the Bible, with Jesus ultimately ascending into heaven afterwards.) Borg was startled and even shocked to hear Wright say that under such circumstances he would find himself another line of work, because Borg's gut response was, essentially, so what? As I seem to recall (and I may be wrong about this part of the story), both men were surprised by the response of the other.

I can sympathize with both men, with Borg's feeling of, "How can you care about that?" and Wright's feeling, "How can you not care?" The fact is, the Christian Church is a big tent. It contains both of these varieties of Christians and many who are somewhere in-between these two extremes. For some of us, this is okay and maybe even a plus. Others would like to either find a way to bring the others to an experience of conversion to their point of view, or failing that, root out those who disagree with them. My denomination, the United Church of Christ, is famously "liberal." Each member of the church is bound by their own conscience, nothing more and nothing less. This is true when it comes to matters of faith, such as the truth and significance of the resurrection.

Though we Christians don't talk about it much, the church is always potentially one generation away from extinction. While the Christian faith is still is gaining converts worldwide, many have fallen away from the church, either switching to some other religion such as Islam, or becoming the kind of Agnostics who spend their Sunday mornings sleeping late and doing crossword puzzles. I doubt there is a "magic bullet" that can destroy Christianity, although infighting between Christian "liberals" and "conservatives" generates more heat than light. Ultimately, though, the real enemy of any religion is indifference.

Read about the UCC concept of Christian faith at http://www.ucc.org/faith/index.html

Visit us at www.rivertonchurch.org.

Transformation

2007-02-19T18:11:00.000-05:00

Sermon preached 2/18/06

Luke 9:28-36
9:28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.
9:29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.
9:30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him.
9:31 They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
9:32 Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
9:33 Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- not knowing what he said.
9:34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud.
9:35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"
9:36 When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

Yesterday was a rite of passage for me. For the first time I took the kids to a film of a book that one of them had read. Lida picked up a copy of Bridge to Terabithia shortly after she started school last fall and with my help began to read it. At first she struggled word by word, and after a page or so I would read the rest of the chapter to her. Eventually she could pretty much read on her own, though I still read some parts to her. In November we learned that there would be a major motion picture of the book released in February, so we made it a goal to finish the book by then. We finally finished a couple of weeks ago.

Bridge to Terabithia is a rite of passage book. It tells the story of Jess Aarons, a poor son of a farmer and his wife who dreams of a better life. At the beginning of the year in fifth grade he befriends a city girl from Washington, DC whose novelist parents have moved her to the country because they think it will be good for her. At first they get off to a rocky start, but soon the boy who is a gifted artist and the girl who is a gifted writer become close friends and begin swinging on a rope swing over the nearby creek and hanging out in the woods near their home. Soon they imagine it is really an imaginary kingdom with trolls and such, and that they are the king and queen.

Eventually tragedy strikes—Leslie dies in a tragic accident. It is the first major loss of young Jess’s life, and it is a learning experience for him. His parents take over his chores and make him pancakes. His 5th grade teacher, normally stern, takes him aside and speaks gently to him about grieving when he misbehaves in class. The transformation that began in him when he became friends with Leslie turns out not to be dependent on her physical presence. Leslie is gone forever, but the transformation in his life that began with their friendship continues. He is beginning to see things differently. He has realized that both grownups and his annoying little sister May Belle are human beings too, just like him and Leslie. In the end he builds a bridge over the creek and he brings his little sister with him to the imaginary kingdom.

The experience Jess goes through has striking parallels to the experience of Peter, John and James in today’s lesson from the gospel according to Luke. The three of them are traveling along with Jesus, most likely enjoying the ride and not even thinking that it will end, let alone imagining how it will end. It must be an exciting time—Jesus is preaching and healing, comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable everywhere he goes, and his following is growing. Then they are taken up to a mountaintop and experience theophany—a direct experience of the presence of God. It can’t get much better than this, they are imagining.

What they are not thinking is what is about to happen—that things will get worse-much, much worse-but they are becoming equipped to handle what is coming by the transformation process that started on the mountaintop.
The truth is, most of us don’t set out to be transformed. Most of us aren’t seekers, those people who go to India to find a guru who will help them get on the path of enlightenment. Most of us are just seeking to avoid pain and trouble, to do the best we can with what God has given us. What most of us desire most of all are creature comforts—a nice place to live, a loving family and caring friends. We like to have a little fun now and then. We want to have our health for as long as we can. That sums up most people’s lives, and it summed up the lives of these three disciples up to the point that they met Jesus. When they met him, they were doing their jobs, just making a living. The path to transformation really began for them then, but it was still possible for them to be basically the same guys they had always been as they followed Jesus.

Sara Miles was a person in some ways like Peter, John and James. She was the person her parents had raised her to be—a liberal atheist who spent Sunday mornings sleeping late, cooking brunch, and reading the New York Times Book Review. And then, like the disciples, she found herself drawn to Jesus. Since it was the 21st century, she began going to church. In an excerpt from her new book published in Salon, she writes,

My first year at St. Gregory's would begin, and end, with questions. Now I understand that questions are at the heart of faith, and that certainties about God can flicker on and off, no matter what you think you know. But back then, I thought "believers" were people who knew exactly what they believed and had nailed all the answers.

My first set of questions was very basic. I covertly studied the faces of people at Saint Gregory's when they took the bread, trying to guess what they were feeling, but I was too proud and too timid to ask either priests or congregants the beginner's queries: Why do you cross yourselves? What are the candles for? How do you pray? And, more seriously: Do you really believe this stuff?

My next question was not about God or church; it was nakedly about me, and my fears. What would my friends think?

In America, I knew exactly one person who was a Christian. It turned out that my friend Mark Pritchard, an introverted writer with a tongue piercing, attended a Lutheran church with wooden pews where he sang old-fashioned hymns every Sunday. So I took some walks with Mark, trying to draw him out, but despite his orange Mohawk and wild sexual politics, he was a fairly Lutheran guy, not much given to discussing his emotions or spiritual life. "Sure, well, I believe in first principles," Mark said to me, cautiously, when I probed him about his beliefs. He might as well have been speaking Greek. "Oh," I said. I didn't know anyone else who went to church.

That sense of confusion, the feeling of “what’s it all about,” must be very familiar to Peter, John and James. I imagine they are feeling this most of all in the wake of the Transfiguration. Jesus has given them hints of the changes to come, of his crucifixion and resurrection, but I’m betting that the disciples don’t understand these hints, except in hindsight—“Oh, that’s what Jesus was talking about.” The disciples have not fallen in with Jesus to be transformed, any more than most of us have. We are here because it is where we have always been, or because, as in the case of Sara, what we were doing before isn’t working for us anymore. There might have been people like that who followed Jesus, but the Bible doesn’t record him as choosing that type of person as disciples, although I suppose some of the less famous disciples might have fit into that category. Jesus seems to favor regular, down-to-earth people as disciples, people who are mostly concerned with earthly things like making a living and fitting in with their families, people who do not seek transforming experiences, at least, not when they first encounter Jesus. Some of us have dramatic, transformative experiences, but most people, looking back, find that they changed over time and in response to life’s events. Paul advised the early Christians "not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect."

He saw transformation as an ongoing process, even though his process of transformation began with a dramatic event and a total turnaround of his life. One thing is for sure—the lives of these three fishermen didn’t not end up as they, or anyone, would have imagined before they met Jesus. All became leaders in the early church. Peter is considered to be the first Pope. All but John met violent deaths because of their faith. In a way, disciples have given transformation a bad name. Some might find sacrifice romantic, but most of us have families to think of. We are willing to change—if we have to--but we are hoping it will only go so far. Odds are very, very slim that any of us will become martyrs. We are not pioneers of the faith, like these men. But the process of transformation can be less than smooth. Sara Miles, who converted at 46, writes,

“…even as I kept going to church, the questions raised by the experience only multiplied. Conversion was turning out to be quite far from the greeting-card moment promised by televangelists, when Jesus steps into your life, personally saves you, and becomes your lucky charm forever. Instead, it was socially and politically awkward, as well as profoundly confusing. I wasn't struck with any sudden conviction that I now understood the "truth." If anything, I was just crabbier, lonelier, and more destabilized. “

“The child I was, protected from religion by her parents, at some point had become the woman crying at the communion table. Those tears weren't a conclusion, or a happy ending, just part of a motion toward something. It was still continuing. God didn't work in people according to a convenient schedule, by explaining everything or tying up the loose plot lines of every story. Sometimes nothing was settled.”

The walk of faith can sometimes be unsettling, but it can also be worthwhile, as millions of faithful who have gone before us can testify. May we continue to be transformed by it.

Visit us at www.rivertonchurch.org.

The Beatitudes

2007-02-14T14:32:00.000-05:00

This is a version of the sermon I preached on Sunday, February 11.

Today the topic is the Beatitudes, one of them most loved, most known, and most puzzling passages of scripture. It is loved for talking about how people who are having a really rough time—the poor, the hungry, the hated—are blessed by God. It is puzzling, though, because most people don’t exactly think of being hungry, or poor, or hated as blessings.
There are two versions of this scripture. One is in Matthew, and is known as the Sermon on the Mount, and the other, the one we heard today, is in Luke, and takes place on a plain. This one, the one that is less familiar, is a little different from the Matthew version. In that version, Jesus doesn’t say, “poor” but instead says “poor in spirit.” By this he doesn’t mean “sad” or “dispirited,” but rather “those who have the same spirit as the poor.” And in this version, it goes on to tell what Jesus said about those in the opposite conditions—the rich, the full, those who are well spoken of—"Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. "Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. "Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets."
I can see why the other version of the Beatitudes is more popular—because it focuses on the blessings and leaves out the negative sayings. Why the two versions? It is possible that Jesus had similar things to say on many occasions, since his ministry was, in part, sort of like a tour, and the gospels are sort of like live albums, recording slightly different versions of the same sayings.
Anyway, I don’t think Jesus is trying to exactly curse those who have been more lucky in life—those who have full stomachs and riches and are respected in their communities. Jesus is just observing that over time, everyone experiences plenty and want, experiences good times and bad times, and over the course of history different people have been on the top of the heap in different time. There is often an element of justice in these reversals of fortune. There is a saying that goes something like this—you meet the same people on your way down as you met on your way up. In other words, try to be a good, kind person when you are riding high, because sooner or later you are likely to be laid low and you want people to give you a hand and help you back up.
But where is the blessing in being hungry, or being persecuted for your beliefs? This is a complicated and potentially dangerous idea. In 1998 I took a mission trip to Nicaragua. I had never seen such poverty, people living on the streets and in shacks. It blew my experiences in Appalachia away. Through translators we met some of these very poor people and heard their stories. At the end of each day our facilitator and leader helped the group reflect on our circumstances. The participants were very comfortable, upper-middle-class college students. They had never known hunger or want, and had never seen such poverty either. I spent the trip feeling appalled to live in a world where the world’s resources are so unevenly distributed. The college students, on the other hand, had a different take. “The people seem happy,” they all said, over and over again. It was clear that they felt that the lives of these people were okay. They had no sense of guilt and shame for having easier, more plush lives. They had no sense that something ought to be done to change the world to make poverty like this go away. The facilitator, a native Nicaraguan woman educated partly in the US, tried to push them out of this. “All of these people have problems,” she said, but I’m not sure these young people ever quite got what she was trying to show them. They didn’t see this as unfair, but merely as how things are. It never occurred to them that these circumstances needed to be changed, and not just by some Americans cleaning and painting one clinic in one poor neighborhood for one week. These young women were all to ready to dismiss the real needs of these real people simply by thinking that there is a special blessing in being poor.
On the other hand, many poor people listen to Jesus say “blessed are the poor,” and they do not attack him. Why? Probably because they see Jesus as a person who has known poverty, and who lives a very simple lifestyle himself. They understand that he knows the challenges and the pain of poverty, and that he also knows that there are blessings to be found in every experience. And Jesus wants to make it clear to them that God does not see things the way people see things—that God loves and cares for those who are in difficult circumstances, and those who stick their necks out for just causes, even if the people around them desert them.
Last week on Oprah there was a show about a movie that is supposed to be life-changing. This movie, The Secret, was made by Australian Rhonda Byrne, and she says that if you follow its philosophy, you can create the life you want.Rhonda defines The Secret as the law of attraction, which is the principle that "like attracts like." Rhonda calls it "the most powerful law in the universe," and says it is working all the time. "What we do is we attract into our lives the things we want, and that is based on what we're thinking and feeling," Rhonda says. The principle explains that we create our own circumstances by the choices we make in life. And the choices we make are fueled by our thoughts—which means our thoughts are the most powerful things we have here on earth.

This idea is simple, but of course it is not easy. Lisa Nichols, a proponent of this viewpoint, describes it this way: "If you were at a restaurant and you ordered something, you fully expect it to come served that way. That's how the universe is. You're putting out orders—consciously and unconsciously," Lisa says. "So if you say, 'I'll never have a great relationship,' you just placed an order."

In the Beatitudes, Jesus suggests that true blessings do not come from chasing after riches and popular acclaim. True blessings, spiritual blessings, come out of difficulty and challenges. Jesus is suggesting that people look at their own lives, regardless of their current circumstances and history, and understand that God loves and blesses them.

Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith says that thoughts—which turn into experience, speech and behavior—become the "feeling tone of your life."

"An individual can actually begin to generate a certain feeling of gratitude, of love, of peace and of harmony, and the universe will begin to match that feeling tone—and what will flow into your life will match the feeling that you're holding," he says. "It means that everyone…can release themselves from being a victim and begin to take control of their life's destiny." Gratitude is one example of the magnetic force of the universe. "Basically, nothing new can come into your life unless you open yourself up to being grateful [for what you already have]," he says.

Instead of looking at their lives and saying, “I’m poor, I’m nothing, I’m nobody, everyone hates me,” Jesus is inviting those who suffer, especially those who suffer most, to focus their energy towards thinking the one and only God, the glorious creator of the Universe, loves me. I am blessed in the eyes of God.

Sometimes that which we see as a curse, maybe even a curse by God, leads us down the path that we need to go. Some of the finest people I have ever known are among the most modest—modest in circumstance and modest in demeanor. Every worshipping community I have ever been part of has someone whose faith and spirituality humble me, and for the most part these are people who have known many difficulties and are quite humble. In one parish it was an older, widowed woman who coordinated the food pantry donations. She would get up in church and gently explain that while they were lovely, cake mixes were not good donations because most people who visited our pantry lived in their cars. In Bible study class she spoke of a strong, constant sense of the presence of God, and joy in serving him. I suppose you could say she was not exactly setting the world on fire, but that would be missing the point. She certainly set my heart on fire when she spoke very quietly from her own deep conviction. She felt blessed. She was blessed. And for me to understand that has been a blessing.
May we all come to understand that this is the nature of blessing—that it doesn’t come from a fancy house or job or car. Those things, though nice to have, can just become a burden, a distraction that separates us from God. When we become concerned about having nice things and happy times, we lose sight of the need to find meaning and purpose in life, and a sense of meaning and purpose leads to true happiness.

In a recent New York Times magazine article about the academic study of happiness, a class at George Mason University learned that there is a difference between feeling good, "which according to positive psychologists only creates a hunger for more pleasure — they call this syndrome the hedonic treadmill — and doing good, which can lead to lasting happiness." This is the nature of true blessings, and true happiness.

True blessings come from God, and lead us back to God again and again. May you be truly blessed.

Intentional Butterfly

2007-02-05T12:29:00.000-05:00

I just discovered this new site, Intentional Butterfly. It is part of Innerlinks, a site that enables you to use virtual angel and mentor cards (Innerlinks requires registration but Intentional Butterfly does not.)

The Intentional Butterfly site introduces itself by saying,

You are important.

Your thoughts create.

Your actions matter.

Your presence changes everything.

Be an Intentional Butterfly,
a participant in the ripple effect of caring.

The features include a virtual sanctuary that invites you to make a blessing, an invitation to join the Intentional Butterfly circle (it is so new that they are inviting participants to help define the implications of that membership), a b-board, and an invitation to submit inspiring stories, etc. for their online library.

I have been using the Innerlinks angel cards for years and have always gotten a good vibe from the organization. You might like to at least check it out.

It's Groundhog Day!

2007-02-04T12:38:00.000-05:00

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, February 4.

The movie "Groundhog Day" has become a favorite of many since its bigscreen debut in 1993. It tells the story of an obnoxious Pittsburgh weatherman named Phil Connors who is sent, along with a crew, to Punxatawney Pennsylvania to cover their Groundhog Day festivities. Groundhog day is a major event in Punxatawney, featuring crowds, fireworks and a groundhog named Phil that they claim is the same Groundhog that has been predicting the coming of spring, with the aid of the town's Groundhog Society, since the 1880s. Phil the weatherman is none too happy to be part of this, and he goes to sleep at the end of his miserable day anticipating returning to Pittsburgh the next morning. To his surprise, he awakes to the same song on the radio the next day, and the same exact DJ patter announcing "It's Groundhog Day!" He goes out into the hall of the inn where he is staying and discovers that today is yesterday--or yesterday is today--however you say it, it is Groundhog Day all over again, and nobody else notices except for him. This happens to him day after day--he goes to bed at the end of Groundhog Day and wakes up again on the morning of Groundhog Day. He tries everything he can think of to escape it, including suicide, but he still wakes up again on the morning of Groundhog Day.

In a 2005 National Review article called "A Movie for All Time," Jonah Goldberg writes,
In the years since its release the film has been taken up by Jews, Catholics, Evangelicals, Hindus, Buddhists, Wiccans, and followers of the oppressed Chinese Falun Gong movement. Meanwhile, the Internet brims with weighty philosophical treatises on the deep Platonist, Aristotelian, and existentialist themes providing the skin and bones beneath the film's clown makeup. On National Review Online's group blog, The Corner, I asked readers to send in their views on the film. Over 200 e-mails later I had learned that countless professors use it to teach ethics and a host of philosophical approaches. Several pastors sent me excerpts from sermons in which Groundhog Day was the central metaphor. And dozens of committed Christians of all denominations related that it was one of their most cherished movies."

When the Museum of Modern Art in New York debuted a film series on "The Hidden God: Film and Faith" two years ago, it opened with Groundhog Day. The rest of the films were drawn from the ranks of turgid and bleak intellectual cinema, including standards from Ingmar Bergman and Roberto Rossellini. According to the New York Times, curators of the series were stunned to discover that so many of the 35 leading literary and religious scholars who had been polled to pick the series entries had chosen Groundhog Day that a spat had broken out among the scholars over who would get to write about the film for the catalogue. In a wonderful essay for the Christian magazine Touchstone, theology professor Michael P. Foley wrote that Groundhog Day is "a stunning allegory of moral, intellectual, and even religious excellence in the face of postmodern decay, a sort of Christian-Aristotelian Pilgrim's Progress for those lost in the contemporary cosmos." Charles Murray, author of Human Accomplishment, has cited Groundhog Day more than once as one of the few cultural achievements of recent times that will be remembered centuries from now. He was quoted in The New Yorker declaring, "It is a brilliant moral fable offering an Aristotelian view of the world."

I know what you're thinking: We're talking about the movie in which Bill Murray tells a big rat sitting on his lap, "Don't drive angry," right? Yep, that's the one. You might like to know that the rodent in question is actually Jesus—at least that's what film historian Michael Bronski told the Times. "The groundhog is clearly the resurrected Christ, the ever-hopeful renewal of life at springtime, at a time of pagan-Christian holidays. And when I say that the groundhog is Jesus, I say that with great respect."

That may be going overboard, but something important is going on here. What is it about this ostensibly farcical film about a wisecracking weatherman that speaks to so many on such a deep spiritual level?...

To me, Groundhog Day is a profound meditation on the nature of existence, and on the role of love in human life. Phil finds himself trapped in an existence in which the good and bad things that happen to him literally repeat on a daily basis. Psychotherapists often advise their unhappy clients to examine their own lives for recurring patterns--do they keep getting stuck in dead-end jobs or relationships? Do they move from one place to another, seeking a change, only finding that they manage to re-create the same miserable circumstances over and over again? At one point, Phil says to a local guy he meets in a Bowling Alley bar, "What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?" The man replies, "That about sums it up for me." I know that I was able to take fees for therapy out of my budget only after I faced the fact that my life had become as repetitive as Phil's in Groundhog Day.

The thing is, and I hope I'm not giving away the ending here--Phil doesn't free himself from re-living Groundhog Day over and over again by trying to free himself. He begins to free himself essentially by saying, "Okay, let's say this goes on forever. How can I make the best of it?"

Life is life. The nature of human existence hasn't really changed much. Pick up the Bible or ancient Greek or Roman texts and you'll discover that humans have been prone to the same flaws and virtues at least as long as people have been writing about them. Since the time of these ancient writings, human beings have sought to discover the meaning, the purpose in human existence, and the answers have not changed yet. So Phil, having discerned the repetitive and seemingly meaningless nature of his existence, chooses to undertake this journey of discovery for himself. First he tries to milk his repetitive days for attention. He seduces women. He robs a bank and uses the money to bankroll an extravagant evening out. But soon that begins to feel hollow. Finally, he discovers that there is something he cares about--or, more properly, someone. He finds himself drawn to his producer, Rita, played by Andie McDowell. Day after day he attempts to woo her, and night after night, sooner or later, the evening ends abruptly with a well-deserved slap in the face. He attempts suicide over and over, but each time, he wakes up again the morning of Groundhog Day. Finally, he gets so desperate that he tries something he initially considered ridiculous--he gets real with her and confides his predicament in her, trusting that she will have compassion for him.

In today's reading from the New Testament we hear Paul's brilliant meditation on love, a meditation that rings true to Phil's journey. "Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Rita agrees to try and stave off the repetition of Groundhog Day by staying awake with him, but she falls asleep. As she lies sleeping beside him, Phil tells her how much she means to him, knowing she can't hear, but needing to express it for himself anyway. He tells her it doesn't matter if she hears him, or if he ever gets a chance to let her know he loves her. What matters is that he does love. It doesn't stop Groundhog Day from coming again the very next day, but somehow things have changed for Phil, because at last he has truly learned how to love. This is the nature of the spiritual journey that Phil must make in order to escape his predicament--he must learn how to love, to truly, truly love. He begins to think about something Rita said--that maybe what is happening to him is not a curse. Maybe he should try to think positively and make the best of it. He follows her advice and takes up piano and ice carving. He even tries to save a homeless man, but night after night he dies. Undeterred, he seeks others to help, and in these cases, he succeeds. Eventually, Rita responds to his love, and finally, finally he wakes up and it is February 3. Rita is by his side, and together they go outside. The town of Punxatawney Pennsylvania is covered with snow but the sun is shining. Phil puts his arm around Rita, looks at her and says, quite sincerely, "Let's live here."

In a way, life is like "Groundhog Day" for all of us. When we pay attention, we discover that we get a chance to make up for our past mistakes. And that is a blessing.

Native American Rainbow Legend

2007-01-25T12:20:00.000-05:00

This is the Native American legend about how bluebirds created the rainbow. I told the story at the funeral of Ginny Jespersen this week, and have received requests for copies of the story.

Visit us at www.rivertonchurch.org.

Spiritual Literacy

2007-01-24T15:17:00.000-05:00

This week's cool link is Spirituality and Practice. Spirituality and Practice is a website run by Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat. Frederic is a United Church of Christ clergy person with a journalism ministry, and Mary Ann is studying to become an interfaith minister. The Brussats are also members of the Mevlevi Sufi order that traces its inspiration to Rumi. They are the joint authors of the book Spiritual literacy. The website features movie reviews, ideas for spiritual practice, online spirituality courses, an interactive community and much, much more.
Visit us at www.rivertonchurch.org.

2007-01-18T11:16:00.000-05:00

Dude, Where's My Blog?

Okay, so I haven't blogged for a while, but I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out which direction to go with the blog. I've decided to go with a "check out this cool link" format. Blog readers tend to self-select, so anyone who doesn't like the format will just not read the blog.

For my first link I've selected the best Christian link I've found so far on the internet: the online labyrinth. It's not a virtual labyrinth experience, though they have one of those at the Grace Cathedral labyrinth-related website Veriditas.net. Instead it is a series of narrated, interactive devotions set to music that you can do at your own pace. It is tough to describe and needs to be experienced to be believed. It takes a while (maybe 30 minutes) but it is worth the time. They have found a way to adapt the new technology to the ancient art of meditation. Make sure you click on the graphic elements that come up, because you have to discover the interactive features on your own. Enjoy!

Another link you might enjoy: Veriditas online virtual labyrinth experience.

Visit us at www.rivertonchurch.org.

2006-11-21T22:26:00.000-05:00

Another !$&#$) Day In Paradise (Scroll to end of this post for update)

I just received an email saying that Terry Ryan, who needs a kidney transplant, is in need of a new donor. He had a donor lined up, but that fell through. My mom used to have a saying about frustrating things: "It's enough to make a preacher cuss." I've learned that it doesn't take as much as she thought to make a preacher cuss, but this makes me want to SERIOUSLY cuss. Terry is a swell guy, a good person, a great preacher and an all-around quality human being. Why him, why now, why this?

Meanwhile, a colleague from the Small Church Ministry I volunteer for has lost is sister to ALS (Lou Gerig's disease) and is spending all his time helping to care for his daughter-in-law, whose melanoma has metasticized to several areas of her body. She is being treated but it doesn't look good. She is a mother to an 11-year-old.

I wish I had words of wisdom about these pieces of terrible news, but no mere words could fix serious problems like these. They might help, but words are limited in their power to heal. One of my professors became a widow at the age of 25, and she said the best advice she had ever gotten was "hang on to Jesus."

"What do you mean--hang on to Jesus?" My professor was (an is) a highly educated intellectual. Yeah, she's a minister, but she is not the hang onto Jesus type by nature. But she is that she had to hang onto Jesus, in spite of her doubts and fears and discomfort with doing that. So I hope these friends of mine are figuring out how to hang onto Jesus right now. because that's what they need.

Update: Terry has found many potential donors who are currently being screened by Yale New Haven Hospital.

Visit us at www.rivertonchurch.org.

2006-11-13T13:38:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I started this blog with all good intentions, but then I kind of froze for a couple of weeks and didn't blog at all, mostly because I'm afraid my blog will stink and nobody will read it, or else that it will be offensive and everyone will read it. Life has taught me that sometimes the best way to start something is to just start, so from now on I'm going to just say my say and let the chips fall where they may.

So, why the Blog? Because I wanted to talk about being a Christian. Why am I a Christian? I'm a Christian because I'm a Christian. I know that may sound lame, but my parents began taking me to church when I was a toddler. As a teen I began doubting a literal interpretation of church doctrines and stopped going to church for a while. I read about eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism and feminist nature religion (Wicca), but after a while I still felt like a Christian and I missed being part of a community so I went back to church, but on my own terms--I found an open-minded community that encouraged people to wrestle with questions about faith and ultimate reality. If I didn't have the early background in Christianity, I don't know if I'd be a Christian. In college I tried on the idea that being really smart and educated meant I should become an atheist, but I could never muster enough blind faith to say for sure that there is no God.

Then I took a class in literature of the Bible, and my professor said the Hebrew people were faith geniuses. What did he mean by that? I mean, God as depicted the Hebrew scriptures is not always the kind of Deity that makes modern people feel all warm and fuzzy. He threatens to smite people all the time, for one thing. And then there are the so-called heroes of the Bible. People like Moses, who commited a murder in a fit of passion (a murder based on his anger against someone oppressing one of the Hebrew people, but still) and Lot, who invited strangers to have sex with his daughters rather than rape his male houseguests. Lovely.

On the other hand, I knew a lot of really nice, admirable Jewish and Christian people, so I figured they must have found a way to square these weird Bible stories with values like care of creation and justice for the oppressed. Why did they bother with the Bible at all? Eventually I discovered a method of Bible study that worked for me. It is an ancient method called Lectio Divina, and it involves reading the text three times. After the first reading, you pick out a word or phrase that stands out for you. After the second reading, you answer the question, "What does this passage have to say to us today?" And after the third reading, you answer the question, "What is this verse calling us to in the future?" Lectio Divina helps me find the gold in even the most baffling and troubling passages of scripture, and it helps me focus when I'm having trouble writing my sermons. Try it yourself, with this passage that will form the basis of my next sermon:

2006-10-17T12:12:00.000-05:00

I'm God-Who Are You? [Job 38:1-7, (34-41)]

That's the basic attitude behind the text in the book of Job I'll be talking about this coming Sunday, October 22, 2006. God asks Job, "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may cover you?" God goes on and on like this, until you can almost hear Job thinking, "OKAY, God, I get it: you're wise, I'm a schmuck; You're all-powerful, I'm a 98-pound-weakling. WHY do I keep getting sand kicked in my face? What are you trying to tell me, God?"

According to leading scientist and famous atheist Richard Dawkins, it is stupid to ask these kinds of why questions.

In a way Dawkins is right, you know. Science is about asking questions and getting answers. Religion is about learning to live with questions that we will never be able to answer. On the face of it, that does seem stupid.

On the internet you run into a lot of people like Dawkins who are smug and superior and blame religion for the world's ills, but they're not getting book deals and Salon interviews. He goes on and on about what it means to be religious. What does he know about what it means to be religious? He left the church as a teen, and his insider knowlege about religion obviously hasn't progressed much since then.

It is true that the list of things science can do for us seems to be getting longer and longer, while the list of things religion can do for us stays the same. It is also true that learning about religion, to a great extent, involves learning what religion can't do.

So, why bother with religion? All I can say is that it feels right to me. I'm as uncomfortable with religious extremism as the next person, but the idea that I give aid and comfort to religious extremism by participating in religion on any level is annoying at best. Dawkins and his ilk are like modern-day Carrie Nations, trying to smash moderate religious faith with sledgehammers to stop the terrorists. Prohibition of alcohol was a dismal failure, because it didn't address the reasons why people drink, just as railing against religion as stupid doesn't address why increasing numbers of people turn to religious extremism.