Why be reasonable?

For Christmas I was given A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, by Edwin H. Friedman.  The book is filled with notions that challenge me on many levels.  Early in the book, one such notion that struck a chord was Friedman's belief that having an "unreasonable faith in 'being reasonable'" puts a leader and the group s/he leads at risk.  Sometimes we need not to be reasonable. 

How many times have you heard someone say, "Let's be reasonable." Or, "You're not being reasonable."  Why are we so concerned with being reasonable?  There are times not to be reasonable, but rather bold and outrageous.  There are times to simply do what must be done, even when it's not the "reasonable" thing, the "popular" thing, nor the "prudent" thing, but it's simply the right thing to do.

Our faith at its essence and core is NOT reasonable.  There's nothing reasonable in the bold and prophetic story of Holy Scripture. There's nothing reasonable about death on a cross and resurrection to new life.  There's nothing reasonable about the call to follow Jesus as Lord.  Our faith calls us to put our faith in an outrageous and unreasonable Savior.  Our world will not be transformed into a fuller vision of the Kingdom of God by reasonable faith and reasonable leaders and reasonable actions.    

Do we have the nerve?  Do we dare?  I'm afraid we are all too often held captive by our failure of nerve and our need to play it safe and be "reasonable".  God give us the courage and strength to be "unreasonable" Christians, to be bold and prophetic people of faith in a world where far too many are held captive by a "reasonable" faith of playing it safe.

In Christ,

Paul+ 

O Holy One Thou Didst Come

It's been a long while since I've posted anything.  I've wanted to, but...I just didn't and I'm not exactly sure why.  Finally today though I thought I would post a poem that I wrote earlier in Advent.
Peace to you in this most holy season.
Paul+

O Holy One thou didst come

to bid my soul to thee.

The Son of God through pain and groans

thou wast born for me.

This night thou sleeps in angel’s arms

upon the Virgin’s breast.

But Calvary is thy fate dear child

for there salvation rest.

The saints rejoice and heaven sings

                  for death has lost its sting.

Sin no longer claims my soul

                  God’s mercy thou didst bring.

O Holy One thou didst come

                  to live and die for me.

For in thy love, the Word made flesh

                  thou hast set thy people free.

The best is behind us!

Recently I went to see the new Woody Allen movie, "Midnight in Paris" - a pleasant, romantic and thought provoking movie.  The main character Gil Pender, played by Owen Wilson, is a Hollywood writer who wants to be a "real" writer.  Traveling in Paris with his finance and her family, he longs to stay, rent a little apartment and make a go of it.  He dreams of life during what he feels is the "Golden Age" of Paris - the 1920's, the days of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Eliot.  Surely this time was more alive, more vibrant, more real than 2011.  If he had only been born then, surely that was the time to be alive! 

 

One evening after a few drinks and getting lost on his way back to the hotel, he is magically transported through time back to the 1920's in Paris.  There he finds himself having drinks with Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dali and Pablo Picasso.  He returns night after night confused and in disbelief, yet so alive by his remarkable encounters.  Surely this time was like no other and there would never be time like that again.  One encounter leads to another and then another.  (I don't want to tell you the whole story!) 

 

Finally, however, he realizes the meaning of this sacred journey...the best was NOT in the past.  There was NO Golden Age.  No perfect time.  The "age" in which we live is measured by how we live in this time and this place.  WE make the time in which we live either "Golden" or "Rusted". 

 

We can either live with the assurance of the miraculous work that God is doing today and the hope of what God will do tomorrow, or we can constantly look over our shoulder and think, "God's not doing it like he used to. God used to really do some miraculous things. Boy - in the good old days, the church was really the church, priests were really priests, a man was really a man and woman really a woman, America was really America!  Oh, if we could only return to 19?? - those were the good days, the Golden Days."

 

We live in the time in which we live.  There is no magical manipulation of time which can transport us to some idyllic period which we believe was "better".  Today is going to be as "Golden" as we want to make it.  Today will be as full and alive, as vibrant and rich, as pregnant with possibility and creativity as we allow it.

 

Let us open ourselves to the possibilities of today!  Let us live today as the Golden Age of hope, the Golden Age of life, the Golden Age of God...the best is NOT behind us - the best is still before us - if we open ourselves to it!!

"Moderates can no longer afford to be silent."

I recently finished reading The Tenth Parallel: Dispatches from the Fault Line Between Christianity and Islam, by Eliza Griswold, the daughter of our former Presiding Bishop, Frank Griswold.  This engaging book is the result of seven years of work, as Griswold traveled the globe between the equator and the tenth parallel in an "urgent examination of the relationship between faith and worldly power."    

Though there are many points worthy of discussion, one quote continues to come to mind. While in Indonesia Griswold met with the founder of the Sisters in Islam, a Malaysian NGO that protects women's rights, who said, "Moderates can no longer afford to be silent." (p.203) This Griswold believes "is a sentiment one could easily hear among American Christians, be they Episcopalians, Catholics, or evangelicals." (p.203)  I agree!

I'm growing weary of the dominate voice of faith whether Christian or Islamic being that of radical extremists either on the left or right.  I'm tired of hearing Christian voices that in no way reflect the faith that I understand and hold dear.  I'm not saying that we should not hear these perspectives, but I fear that drown out other voices.  Other voices, moderate voices, reconciling voices need to be heard.  

Episcopalians can make a difference!  I believe we have a unique and wonderful way of understanding God and engaging the world.  Though Episcopalians are a rather small minority in the USA, our voice needs to be heard.  Our churches need to take active service and leadership roles in the world.  We have a great message that needs to be shared.  We have wonderful Anglican way of being and worship that needs to be experienced by more people.  We have an engaging and challenging theology that has ample room for many across the theological spectrum. 

     

Moderates can no longer afford to be silent!  Not only for the health of the Christian faith, but for the health and well being of our relationships with those who differ from us.

In Christ,

Paul+

"Moralistic Therapeutic Deism"

In her book Almost Christian, Kenda Creasey Dean, Associate Professor of Youth, Church and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary, presents her belief that, "American young people are, theoretically, fine with religious faith - but it does not concern them very much, and it is not durable enough to survive long after they graduate from high school." (p. 3)  And...she puts the responsibility on us, the adults, parents, "big people" because we have been feeding them a half-hearted, weak, watered down, passionless, and anything goes faith.  We have not taken our own spiritual development seriously and it shows in the spiritual life, or should I say lack of spiritual life of young people. 

We have turned Christianity into what Dean calls, "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism" (that's a mouth full...but it's not the Christian faith and it's not a faith that will sustain us.)

Guiding Beliefs of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism:

1) A god exists who created and orders the world and watches over life on earth.

2) God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the bible and by most world religions.

3) The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.

4) God is not involved in my life except when I need God to resolve a problem.

5) Good people go to heaven when they die.

These are "nice" things, but not the transformational life giving power of the Gospel.  Our kids want something with substance not a faith of anything goes.  Dean writes, "youth are unlikely to take hold of a "god" who is too limp to take hold of them." (p.36) 

This holds true for all of us - young and old alike.  Maybe our faith and our God simply have become "too limp."  Why invest our time, our lives, our souls, our energy in a limp faith and limp God? 

Fitness folks often speak of developing a strong core.  If you have a strong core it will increase your overall strength and vitality - so too with our life of faith.  We need to work on developing a strong core.  A core built around faith in the Risen Lord.  A core shaped by our baptismal covenant.  A core sustained by scripture, prayer, service and the sacraments. 

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is "nice", but nice will not sustain us, nice will not save us.

In Christ,

Paul+

Scared Sacred

We’ve all heard stories of a young person who was headed down the wrong path and then due to some blessed horrific encounter, they were “scared straight.”  Something broke into their lives, opened their eyes, changed their souls and they were dramatically transformed, and began to journey down a new and life giving path. 

A couple of times recently when writing to parishioners, I’ve had most curious and related typos.  Once when I meant to ask if someone was “scared” I asked if they were “sacred,” and in the other incident I spoke of “scared and holy time” rather than “sacred and holy time.”  I could just chalk these up to more of Paul’s typos, but I think there is insight to be found.  (I’m now convinced, by the way, that they are the Spirit’s clever way of teaching me something…that’s my story and I’m sticking with it!!) 

After my most recent “typo,” my wise friend, with whom I was texting, wrote back and said, “Did you notice your typo?  You asked the person if they were ‘scared’ but you typed ‘Are you sacred?’” She went further to say that perhaps we forget that at times when we are most scared are also times that can be most sacred. For in these times we are vulnerable, open and calling upon the Lord.  Sometimes, we need to be “scared sacred.” 

I don’t like being afraid.  I don’t like being scared and vulnerable, but there are certainly times when that is the only way Spirit can break through the sin of my pride and ego. My fear can be transformed into courage and confidence through the indwelling of the power of our Creator!  My trembling heart and soul can find a place of blessed peace and stillness in grace filled arms of the Lord!  My confusion and disorientation can be formed into clarity and certainty by the gentle guiding of the Holy Spirit.

O that in our times of fear and trembling, we may not find ourselves in a place of holy abandonment, but rather sacred assurance in the one true and living God who will never leave us nor forsake us.  May we find ourselves blessedly “scared sacred.”

Peace,

Paul+

Psalm 121

 ¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
   where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the LORD,
   the Maker of heaven and earth.
 ³ He will not let your foot slip—
   he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
   will neither slumber nor sleep.
 ⁵ The LORD watches over you—
   the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
   nor the moon by night.

 ⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
   he will watch over your life;
⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
   both now and forevermore.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, the comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)

For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you. (Isaiah 41:13)

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6)

The Lord is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)

God is our refuge and strength an ever-present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)

"Good! We got the bastard!"

Since waking up Monday morning to the news of a US Navy Seal covert operation that invaded a compound in Pakistan and killed one of the most wanted criminals in the world, who for most Americans is THE personification of evil, Osama bin Laden,  I have been filled with conflicting thoughts and emotions.

Upon hearing the news, I must confess that my immediate thought was, "Good! We got the bastard!"  I made my hand into a fist with a gesture of victory.  It's true!  But...that didn't last for long.  The joy of revenge and retaliation is always fleeting, even if justified.  The dead are still dead.  The towers are still down.  The nation and the world have been changed forever and that will not change even though bin Laden is dead.

My momentary joy was overtaken with the shame of my sinful reaction, truth of the broken state of the world in which we live and our desperate need for a Savior.   We live in a world where hatred, prejudice, and violence are very real.  We live in a world where at times there can be the palpable presence of clear and present dangers.

But, we are a people who profess faith in Jesus Christ, whose name is "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, PRINCE OF PEACE."  (Isaiah 9:6) This is the one to whom we give praise and glory.  Let us remember the words we heard on Maundy Thursday, "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35) 

I am not advocating that we bury our heads in the sand and allow ourselves to be threatened or terrorized. We are to be "wise as serpents and innocent as doves," indeed.  (Matthew 10:16)  To be a Christian does not mean that we allow ourselves to be bullied or abused, nor do we allow it for others.  And while unfortunately there are times when violence becomes the means by which, in our broken way, we bring something to an "end" - though it really is not an end - we cannot celebrate and applaud it. 

I was troubled to see our citizens rejoicing in the streets, cheering, and waving our flag.  As Christians, we do not rejoice in death.  We do not applaud murder.  We do not celebrate violence and killing.  When our human condition finds no other way forward except through violence and death, even if "justified," we should not celebrate in the streets.  Rather, we should fall to our knees and pray for God's mercy upon our souls and the souls of our enemies. 

I am reminded of the Jewish midrash that after the Egyptians had been drowned in the Red Sea and the children of Israel were safe, the angels were rejoicing in heaven, but God stopped them and would not allow it, "The works of my hands are drowning in the sea, and you wish to sing praises?" (Talmud Tractate Megillah 10b)   Though you and I may have enemies and hold hatred in our hearts, though they may have committed great evil against us - we shall not rejoice in their death! 

Am I glad we got him?  Yes.  Am I proud of our President?  Yes.  Am I proud of our soldiers, who day in and day out risk their lives for our freedom and for the freedom of others?  Yes.  But, I do so always praying that the words of the prophet Isaiah would come to pass sooner rather than later.  Our world has experienced enough hate and bloodshed.  We've buried enough soldiers and innocent victims.  We've made enough guns and built enough bombs.  O that we may, "beat [our] swords into plowshares, and [our] spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."  (Isaiah 2:4b)

God have mercy on our souls and upon the souls of our enemies that one day we shall be united one to another in your merciful and reconciling arms.

In Christ,

Paul+

   

For Peace

Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

 

For Peace Among the Nations

Almighty God our heavenly Father, guide the nations of the world into the way of justice and truth, and establish among them that peace which is the fruit of righteousness, that they may become the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

For our Enemies

 O God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth: deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For the President of the United States and all in Civil Authority

O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world: We commend this nation to thy merciful care, that, being guided by thy Providence, we may dwell secure in thy peace. Grant to the President of the United States, the Governor of this State, and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do thy will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness, and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in thy fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

For those in the Armed Forces of our Country

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.