It has been a sad morning. I just found out that a friend from the Marfan's forum on Facebook died; probably from an aortic dissection or rupture. I think she was from Virginia; I never interacted directly with her but her death has hit the online marfan community pretty hard. She is the embodiment of all of our worst fears.
Today is also the anniversary of the accident which led to the death of Professor Adolf Hansen's daughter Bonnie. He was a professor of mine at seminary who taught classes on ministry to the sick and on Death and Dying.. His faith in the face of an unimaginably horrible event was powerful then and has become more meaningful over the years. Professor Hansen helped us to understand that when we experience tragedy, God understands! After all, God in Christ was crucified! God experienced loss. Yet, and most importantly, God turned the ultimate tragedy into the ultimate good. Christ was resurrected!
Adolf told us what helped him cope with Bonnie's death. (One never "get's over" a death; and really, would you want to? ) He told us that while God understands and shares our pain, "God works for good in everything."
So, to Shanon and Bonnie: May you rest in peace and dwell forever with The Lord.
As for those of us left to mourn their passing, we pray The Lord will deal graciously with us and help us to see Hope despite our grief.
Amen.
Longing to Write.
I have always wanted to be a writer. I envy you that you are. I have been told since College that "Writer's write." I guess I gave up long ago. Most people who know me know me well enough to know that I can be very stubborn when I want to be. Combine stubbornness and perfectionism and you have the perfect excuse to not write. and so I don't. I would like to write. I've had people ask me to write more. But I can't seem to do it.
I was watching the Bush Library opening yesterday and I was struck by the fact that President Bush paints for three hours every day! Thinking back on his administration I am struck by the fact that he and I share stubbornness He has the advantage of having discipline. I have none. Never have. So, how do I become a writer? I've been told countless times to be disciplined about it. Write for an hour every day without censorship. But I fail. I make lots of pretty noises and set up blogs or post things to FB... I think the longest I've gone has been a couple of weeks.
I certainly have enough material.
Several near death experiences
a chronic debilitating medical condition
chronic pain
experience as a chaplain on a Hospice floor
Seminary
My fight with Depression
My mother's Alzheimer's
Being a stay at home Dad and being part of a very strange sort of almost reverse discrimination.
Another part of my problem is that I really love to read. I would much prefer to read than write. But, let's be honest. I also love watching television! I really don't understand how folks like Gigi and Adrienne or any of my other blogger friends do it. They all have houses to keep clean, books to read, Doctor's appointments, kids to pick up. How do they do it? I would love to know. I have 2 distinct audiences waiting. I've been asked to be a guest blogger. I know there really is no secret to doing it other than simply doing it. Here's hoping I can continue with it...
On being "Disabled"
Maya Brown-Zimmerman has asked an interesting and good question.
She asks "What does it mean to be disabled? Is it different than having a disability? What does it mean to view ourselves as such, and is that different from how the world views us?"
On a simple level this is just an exercise in semantics. But words are important when it comes to determining how one views oneself. This is the first step in answering Maya's question.
Part of Maya's question is easy for me to answer. I have a government agency which has defined me. The Social Security Administration has judged that I am "Disabled." Therefore, I am eligible to collect money that I paid into my Soc. Sec. account; I'm also eligible for Medicare. So, as far as the government (IRS, HHS, etc.) are concerned, I am Disabled. When health care folks ask about my status, I have an easy answer. In that sense, I really don't care what the answer to Maya's question is; just keep the checks comin'!
But, more importantly, how do I see myself? For me, this is the crux of Maya's question. The word disabled brings to mind an image of a car on the side of the road with its hazard lights on. What to do? Call a tow truck to take it to get repaired. I've done a lot in my life. I've managed retail stores, sold things, worked in law offices, trained horses and riders, taught school, more recently I've worked as a chaplain. I was born with Marfan's. Yet I've still done all these things and more. Yes, like Maya, I have limitations (which are so great I can't work full time) and need a lot of help. But I am far from being broken down. I am not Disabled. I have a disability. You can even say I have a handicap. (I actually am fine with being called handicapped. For me, it is more accurate and less bothersome than being called disabled.)
Words and labels are important. But the context in which they are used matter too. I don't care what a government bureaucrat or health care provider calls me. But I am not disabled. I am a stay at home Dad to an unbelievably energetic 2 year old. I am a Sunday School teacher. I am a husband. I am a friend and confidant. I have a disability.
A Still More Glorious Dawn Awaits.
Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking have always had my interest and respect. Now, coming back to them after spending time in seminary and working in ministry, I see this.
What an amazing eschatology these two have. Here are the lyrics and comments from the creator.
A musical tribute to two great men of science. Carl Sagan and his cosmologist companion Stephen Hawking present: A Glorious Dawn - Cosmos remixed. Almost all samples and footage taken from Carl Sagan's Cosmos and Stephen Hawking's Universe series.
Lyrics:
[Sagan]
If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch
You must first invent the universe
Space is filled with a network of wormholes
You might emerge somewhere else in space
Some when-else in time
The sky calls to us
If we do not destroy ourselves
We will one day venture to the stars
A still more glorious dawn awaits
Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise
A morning filled with 400 billion suns
The rising of the milky way
The Cosmos is full beyond measure of elegant truths
Of exquisite interrelationships
Of the awesome machinery of nature
I believe our future depends powerfully
On how well we understand this cosmos
In which we float like a mote of dust
In the morning sky
But the brain does much more than just recollect
It inter-compares, it synthesizes, it analyzes
it generates abstractions
The simplest thought like the concept of the number one
Has an elaborate logical underpinning
The brain has it's own language
For testing the structure and consistency of the world
[Hawking]
For thousands of years
People have wondered about the universe
Did it stretch out forever
Or was there a limit
From the big bang to black holes
From dark matter to a possible big crunch
Our image of the universe today
Is full of strange sounding ideas
[Sagan}
How lucky we are to live in this time
The first moment in human history
When we are in fact visiting other worlds
The surface of the earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean
Recently we've waded a little way out
And the water seems inviting!
What an amazing eschatology these two have. Here are the lyrics and comments from the creator.
A musical tribute to two great men of science. Carl Sagan and his cosmologist companion Stephen Hawking present: A Glorious Dawn - Cosmos remixed. Almost all samples and footage taken from Carl Sagan's Cosmos and Stephen Hawking's Universe series.
Lyrics:
[Sagan]
If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch
You must first invent the universe
Space is filled with a network of wormholes
You might emerge somewhere else in space
Some when-else in time
The sky calls to us
If we do not destroy ourselves
We will one day venture to the stars
A still more glorious dawn awaits
Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise
A morning filled with 400 billion suns
The rising of the milky way
The Cosmos is full beyond measure of elegant truths
Of exquisite interrelationships
Of the awesome machinery of nature
I believe our future depends powerfully
On how well we understand this cosmos
In which we float like a mote of dust
In the morning sky
But the brain does much more than just recollect
It inter-compares, it synthesizes, it analyzes
it generates abstractions
The simplest thought like the concept of the number one
Has an elaborate logical underpinning
The brain has it's own language
For testing the structure and consistency of the world
[Hawking]
For thousands of years
People have wondered about the universe
Did it stretch out forever
Or was there a limit
From the big bang to black holes
From dark matter to a possible big crunch
Our image of the universe today
Is full of strange sounding ideas
[Sagan}
How lucky we are to live in this time
The first moment in human history
When we are in fact visiting other worlds
The surface of the earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean
Recently we've waded a little way out
And the water seems inviting!
"lower case, Upper Case" - Sermon for Project Renewal 9-19
I preached this sermon during a worship service for a group called Project Renewal. It is a group that bring folks with disabilities together for worship, lunch, Bible study and friendship. The scripture that was read is Romans 8:16-39.
This is the first sermon I've written and presented.
"lower case, Upper Case" - 9/19/09
I have good news! I realize it is in my job description to have The Good News. But this is a bit different. This is good news in lower case. My wife and I are expecting our first child in March! Now deciding to have a child is frequently a difficult decision. But for Mary and me, it was even more complicated. I have a genetic disorder called Marfan’s Syndrome. It is a connective tissue disorder that affects every system of the body. It is autosomal dominant, which means that there is a 50-50 chance our child will have it. It is a leap of faith for us to decide to have a child whose future health is decided by the same odds as a coin-flip.
Marfan’s is a serious condition. As I said, it affects every system of the body and it affects every person differently. For me, the most problematic part is that Marfan’s can affect the structure of blood vessels; Most at risk, is the aorta, the artery that attaches to the heart and which carries all of the blood to the rest of the body. To keep it strong, the aorta is encased in connective tissue, sort of like a garden hose with a hard outer casing and a softer lining. In people with Marfan’s this connective tissue is weaker than normal. This causes weak spots that can lead to a tearing of the inner lining (called a dissection) or even a total rupture. In 1994, my aortic arch ruptured. By the grace of God and expert medical care, I survived.
I was working behind the counter at a small electronics store in St. Louis, were I was living at the time. I was talking to a customer and I bent over to pick up an owners manual, in order to explain something to her. As I bent over, I felt like somebody had punched me in the throat. No pain really, just a pop. Then everything went black. I went to the hospital. I had surgery immediately. Recovery from this kind of surgery is long, difficult and frequently incomplete. It was a few weeks before I could walk any distance at all. It was over 2 months before I could drive. I was prescribed a permanent and daily dose of blood thinners that complicates everything from the food I eat to dentist appointments, to say nothing of further surgery. I was almost fully recovered when, a year to the day, I had another emergency room visit that led to another surgery. Another year of recovery and I was able to function somewhat normally.
Since those surgeries in 1994 and 1995, I have had 4 others on my aorta. Actually, six years ago today, I had surgery to almost completely replace it. I’ve also had numerous other procedures for Marfan’s related issues; the most recent was just six months ago.
So, why am I telling you this? I certainly don’t have a monopoly on health issues; especially not in this room. I’m telling you because having this history is really the only way I feel like I can say anything to you about the love of God amid suffering. It frustrates me to no end when good-intentioned folk try to offer reassurances when it is clear that they have no understand of what chronic illness is about. Especially professional theologians who write about suffering from academic ivory towers, or preachers in expensive suits who clearly don’t get it.
However, there are some professional theologians who understand suffering and have their own dramatic stories. Jurgen Moltmann is one. I recently had the good fortune to meet him when he spoke at Garrett-Evangelical Seminary’s academic convocation. I already knew his story from reading his books, but it was much more moving to hear him personally recount the story of his conscription into the German army in WW II and how he watched his hometown of Hamburg burn to the ground as a result of the Allied bombing campaign. Professor Moltmann eventually found himself in the forests of Belgium where he surrendered and became an English Prisoner of War. He ended up in a labor camp in Kilmarnock, Scotland. He plunged into despair as he learned for the first time about the systematic murder that took place in Nazi concentration camps. But it was also at this point when he received a Bible. It was his first encounter with scripture. He was struck immediately by the Psalms of lament. He discovered that not only was it permissible to rail at God, the Bible actually gives us a way to do it! Even more dramatic though, was Professor Moltmann’s reaction to the story of the Passion of Christ. As he read the words, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Moltmann thought “now, here is one who understands me!”
Moltmann’s encounter with the crucifixion came comparatively late in life. Many of us have been taught from childhood that Christ died to save us. We see it on t-shirts and bumper stickers that we are “Saved by the blood of Christ”. It is unfortunate that this truth has become a soundbite. I imagine that the use of these slogans is in many cases more of a shot across the bow in the so called Culture Wars than a real theological statement. Perhaps it is the politically charged rhetoric that some use, perhaps it is the gruesome reality of crucifixion. Perhaps it is for other reasons, but many have turned away from discussing the story of Christ’s painful and bloody death. It doesn’t take much imagination to realize that crucifixion was a lousy way to die.
But, No matter how disturbing or controversial the story of Christ’s painful death is, it is crucial in understanding the scriptures like the passage from Romans we heard earlier. Christ’s death has much to say about suffering in our own lives. Many of the world’s greatest theologians have tried to explain the existence of suffering and how we, as Christians should respond to it.
Allow me to briefly outline the tradition this way: St. Augustine, in his discussion of the Psalms, expresses concern that we not grieve for our pain too much. It might show a lack of faith and is a preoccupation with the world when we should be concerned with higher things. We should understand that any suffering that we experience has a purpose, and as Augustine writes “it’s purpose is that the flame of our own desire for God may burn into a brighter blaze.” This may be wonderful theologically, and is appropriate for his time and place, but I can imagine the response Augustine might get if he said something like that to you folks.
Martin Luther is slightly more helpful. He says that grieving is understandable and God wants us to be able to do so, but in the end he really only disagrees with Augustine by a matter of degrees. God wants us to be able to grieve, just not too much.
John Calvin discusses suffering through the lens of predestination by writing that “all adversities proceed from God’s hand.” Calvin redeems suffering explaining that it is part of the divine. Pain is as much a part of life as is pleasure. Again, helpful academically, but unfortunately, well meaning people incorrectly invoke Calvin saying such things as “This must be all part of God’s plan.”
Now, these ideas were ground breaking and probably helpful in their own time and context. But things have changed greatly since when Calvin, the most recent of these three wrote in the 16th century. The modern theologian Karl Barth discusses the miracle of The Cross by saying that Christ’s death is a victory over sin and death. I think Barth is getting closer to something very helpful. We also know that he initially posited this idea during a funeral sermon for his son, who had been killed in an accident a few days earlier. Clearly, Barth knows something about suffering.
Building upon Barth is Jürgen Moltmann. In his book The Way of Jesus Christ, Moltmann writes, “At the centre of Christian faith is the history of Christ. At the centre of the history of Christ is his passion and his death on the Cross.” This is echoed in the comments he made to my seminary colleagues a week ago when while telling the story of his first reading of the Bible he said that, “Christ became (his) brother in suffering.”
But for many of us, God still seems remote. So, how do we bridge the gap? How can we be comforted by God? One way is in community, by coming together as you have today with similarly situated friends. Another way is through prayer and the rituals of the church.
Since my first surgery in ’94 and ’95, I have had numerous others. But, the most extensive and serious was in April of 2008. The most powerful example of the power of prayer and ritual I have ever experienced occurred during the bleakest point of my recovery from that surgery.
Before I had surgery, I told my wife Mary that if things got bad and I was very sick, the UMC Book of Worship had a wonderful service that might make the family feel better. Initially things went well, but after a few days, my condition worsened. I spent 4 weeks in Intensive care on a ventilator. I became so sick and was having such trouble breathing that the doctors decided to perform a tracheotomy. The doctors then told my family that it might be months before I was well enough to walk out of the hospital if, in fact, I ever recovered that well at all.
My parents’ pastor, Rev. Alex Hendrickson, agreed to perform the ceremony at my bedside. She even had an anointing balm that she had gotten on a recent trip to Jerusalem. I remember that my whole family, including Mary’s parents and older sister, were arrayed about my hospital bed. They laid their hands on me. Rev. Hendrickson took the balm and made the sign of the cross on my forehead. I remember feeling a wonderful warmth come over my body and a sensation of light going through me, piercing my chest and going skyward. I could actually feel the light! It was a feeling I had not felt before but somehow, I knew exactly what it was. I hesitate to name it for fear of minimizing it, somehow limiting it. It is indescribable, impossible to understand, but I think most call it the Holy Spirit.
Now, despite being in seminary and being a candidate for ordination, I am a bit of a skeptic. I realize that I was heavily medicated. Prior to and after this experience I was having hallucinations. But I remember vividly that everyone in that room was in tears. They all felt something too.
Again, I don’t recommend relying on faith to cure disease. I’m a big fan of doctors and am in awe of their skill. I believe it is important to pray but believing that prayer can cure disease is a theological slippery slope that I’m not willing to tread on. But having said that, the prayers of my family and friends were heard. While I’m not willing to say that I was cured by prayer and by the anointing with oil, they made me and the ones I love feel closer to God in their time of greatest loneliness and despair.
So, The Good News. And this time I mean The Good News in capital letters.
The Good News is that God gets it. God is not a clockmaker who set the world in motion and has gone away. God became human knowing that pain, limitedness, sorrow and grief waited. God became Christ knowing that Christ’s death would be painful and bloody. God knew Christ’s friends would betray him and God knew that Christ ultimately would be abandoned.
But God also knew that ultimately God in Christ would be raised from the dead. God knew that his death and resurrection would give us hope that someday we too will overcome our grief and our sorrow and our anger and our pain.
As Paul wrote,
I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Truly, this is one who understands us.
Amen.
This is the first sermon I've written and presented.
"lower case, Upper Case" - 9/19/09
I have good news! I realize it is in my job description to have The Good News. But this is a bit different. This is good news in lower case. My wife and I are expecting our first child in March! Now deciding to have a child is frequently a difficult decision. But for Mary and me, it was even more complicated. I have a genetic disorder called Marfan’s Syndrome. It is a connective tissue disorder that affects every system of the body. It is autosomal dominant, which means that there is a 50-50 chance our child will have it. It is a leap of faith for us to decide to have a child whose future health is decided by the same odds as a coin-flip.
Marfan’s is a serious condition. As I said, it affects every system of the body and it affects every person differently. For me, the most problematic part is that Marfan’s can affect the structure of blood vessels; Most at risk, is the aorta, the artery that attaches to the heart and which carries all of the blood to the rest of the body. To keep it strong, the aorta is encased in connective tissue, sort of like a garden hose with a hard outer casing and a softer lining. In people with Marfan’s this connective tissue is weaker than normal. This causes weak spots that can lead to a tearing of the inner lining (called a dissection) or even a total rupture. In 1994, my aortic arch ruptured. By the grace of God and expert medical care, I survived.
I was working behind the counter at a small electronics store in St. Louis, were I was living at the time. I was talking to a customer and I bent over to pick up an owners manual, in order to explain something to her. As I bent over, I felt like somebody had punched me in the throat. No pain really, just a pop. Then everything went black. I went to the hospital. I had surgery immediately. Recovery from this kind of surgery is long, difficult and frequently incomplete. It was a few weeks before I could walk any distance at all. It was over 2 months before I could drive. I was prescribed a permanent and daily dose of blood thinners that complicates everything from the food I eat to dentist appointments, to say nothing of further surgery. I was almost fully recovered when, a year to the day, I had another emergency room visit that led to another surgery. Another year of recovery and I was able to function somewhat normally.
Since those surgeries in 1994 and 1995, I have had 4 others on my aorta. Actually, six years ago today, I had surgery to almost completely replace it. I’ve also had numerous other procedures for Marfan’s related issues; the most recent was just six months ago.
So, why am I telling you this? I certainly don’t have a monopoly on health issues; especially not in this room. I’m telling you because having this history is really the only way I feel like I can say anything to you about the love of God amid suffering. It frustrates me to no end when good-intentioned folk try to offer reassurances when it is clear that they have no understand of what chronic illness is about. Especially professional theologians who write about suffering from academic ivory towers, or preachers in expensive suits who clearly don’t get it.
However, there are some professional theologians who understand suffering and have their own dramatic stories. Jurgen Moltmann is one. I recently had the good fortune to meet him when he spoke at Garrett-Evangelical Seminary’s academic convocation. I already knew his story from reading his books, but it was much more moving to hear him personally recount the story of his conscription into the German army in WW II and how he watched his hometown of Hamburg burn to the ground as a result of the Allied bombing campaign. Professor Moltmann eventually found himself in the forests of Belgium where he surrendered and became an English Prisoner of War. He ended up in a labor camp in Kilmarnock, Scotland. He plunged into despair as he learned for the first time about the systematic murder that took place in Nazi concentration camps. But it was also at this point when he received a Bible. It was his first encounter with scripture. He was struck immediately by the Psalms of lament. He discovered that not only was it permissible to rail at God, the Bible actually gives us a way to do it! Even more dramatic though, was Professor Moltmann’s reaction to the story of the Passion of Christ. As he read the words, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Moltmann thought “now, here is one who understands me!”
Moltmann’s encounter with the crucifixion came comparatively late in life. Many of us have been taught from childhood that Christ died to save us. We see it on t-shirts and bumper stickers that we are “Saved by the blood of Christ”. It is unfortunate that this truth has become a soundbite. I imagine that the use of these slogans is in many cases more of a shot across the bow in the so called Culture Wars than a real theological statement. Perhaps it is the politically charged rhetoric that some use, perhaps it is the gruesome reality of crucifixion. Perhaps it is for other reasons, but many have turned away from discussing the story of Christ’s painful and bloody death. It doesn’t take much imagination to realize that crucifixion was a lousy way to die.
But, No matter how disturbing or controversial the story of Christ’s painful death is, it is crucial in understanding the scriptures like the passage from Romans we heard earlier. Christ’s death has much to say about suffering in our own lives. Many of the world’s greatest theologians have tried to explain the existence of suffering and how we, as Christians should respond to it.
Allow me to briefly outline the tradition this way: St. Augustine, in his discussion of the Psalms, expresses concern that we not grieve for our pain too much. It might show a lack of faith and is a preoccupation with the world when we should be concerned with higher things. We should understand that any suffering that we experience has a purpose, and as Augustine writes “it’s purpose is that the flame of our own desire for God may burn into a brighter blaze.” This may be wonderful theologically, and is appropriate for his time and place, but I can imagine the response Augustine might get if he said something like that to you folks.
Martin Luther is slightly more helpful. He says that grieving is understandable and God wants us to be able to do so, but in the end he really only disagrees with Augustine by a matter of degrees. God wants us to be able to grieve, just not too much.
John Calvin discusses suffering through the lens of predestination by writing that “all adversities proceed from God’s hand.” Calvin redeems suffering explaining that it is part of the divine. Pain is as much a part of life as is pleasure. Again, helpful academically, but unfortunately, well meaning people incorrectly invoke Calvin saying such things as “This must be all part of God’s plan.”
Now, these ideas were ground breaking and probably helpful in their own time and context. But things have changed greatly since when Calvin, the most recent of these three wrote in the 16th century. The modern theologian Karl Barth discusses the miracle of The Cross by saying that Christ’s death is a victory over sin and death. I think Barth is getting closer to something very helpful. We also know that he initially posited this idea during a funeral sermon for his son, who had been killed in an accident a few days earlier. Clearly, Barth knows something about suffering.
Building upon Barth is Jürgen Moltmann. In his book The Way of Jesus Christ, Moltmann writes, “At the centre of Christian faith is the history of Christ. At the centre of the history of Christ is his passion and his death on the Cross.” This is echoed in the comments he made to my seminary colleagues a week ago when while telling the story of his first reading of the Bible he said that, “Christ became (his) brother in suffering.”
But for many of us, God still seems remote. So, how do we bridge the gap? How can we be comforted by God? One way is in community, by coming together as you have today with similarly situated friends. Another way is through prayer and the rituals of the church.
Since my first surgery in ’94 and ’95, I have had numerous others. But, the most extensive and serious was in April of 2008. The most powerful example of the power of prayer and ritual I have ever experienced occurred during the bleakest point of my recovery from that surgery.
Before I had surgery, I told my wife Mary that if things got bad and I was very sick, the UMC Book of Worship had a wonderful service that might make the family feel better. Initially things went well, but after a few days, my condition worsened. I spent 4 weeks in Intensive care on a ventilator. I became so sick and was having such trouble breathing that the doctors decided to perform a tracheotomy. The doctors then told my family that it might be months before I was well enough to walk out of the hospital if, in fact, I ever recovered that well at all.
My parents’ pastor, Rev. Alex Hendrickson, agreed to perform the ceremony at my bedside. She even had an anointing balm that she had gotten on a recent trip to Jerusalem. I remember that my whole family, including Mary’s parents and older sister, were arrayed about my hospital bed. They laid their hands on me. Rev. Hendrickson took the balm and made the sign of the cross on my forehead. I remember feeling a wonderful warmth come over my body and a sensation of light going through me, piercing my chest and going skyward. I could actually feel the light! It was a feeling I had not felt before but somehow, I knew exactly what it was. I hesitate to name it for fear of minimizing it, somehow limiting it. It is indescribable, impossible to understand, but I think most call it the Holy Spirit.
Now, despite being in seminary and being a candidate for ordination, I am a bit of a skeptic. I realize that I was heavily medicated. Prior to and after this experience I was having hallucinations. But I remember vividly that everyone in that room was in tears. They all felt something too.
Again, I don’t recommend relying on faith to cure disease. I’m a big fan of doctors and am in awe of their skill. I believe it is important to pray but believing that prayer can cure disease is a theological slippery slope that I’m not willing to tread on. But having said that, the prayers of my family and friends were heard. While I’m not willing to say that I was cured by prayer and by the anointing with oil, they made me and the ones I love feel closer to God in their time of greatest loneliness and despair.
So, The Good News. And this time I mean The Good News in capital letters.
The Good News is that God gets it. God is not a clockmaker who set the world in motion and has gone away. God became human knowing that pain, limitedness, sorrow and grief waited. God became Christ knowing that Christ’s death would be painful and bloody. God knew Christ’s friends would betray him and God knew that Christ ultimately would be abandoned.
But God also knew that ultimately God in Christ would be raised from the dead. God knew that his death and resurrection would give us hope that someday we too will overcome our grief and our sorrow and our anger and our pain.
As Paul wrote,
I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Truly, this is one who understands us.
Amen.
"imagining and constructing a church that incoporates the whole human family"
"Until white people recognize their own ethnicity, they will continue to be trapped in a taken-for-granted world in which they think of their own ways as normative and everyone else as an aberration. They thus will have no perspective from which to tell their own story or name their cultural strengths and needs. This unreflective condition not only drains away the vitality of their congregational life, it also makes them poor partners in imagining and constructing a church that incoporates the whole human family."
Frank, Thomas Edward. "Polity, Practice and the Mission of the United Methodist Church", Abingdon, 2007 p. 96
I was reading this book as I catch up on overdue work for Dr. Crain. Don't worry Dr Crain! I'm making progress on my paper!!! And don't worry Dr. Hogue, I'm getting to your stuff too!!! ;-)
This quote caught my eye. It is a powerful reminder that white people have a heritage too. The world is not made up of us and everybody else. When we forget this it is not only a detriment to those against whom we discriminate, but it is a detriment to our story as well.
I recently had a brief and somewhat heated discussion (on Facebook) with a high school classmate who is now a UMC Elder serving a church downstate. He was displeased with ELCA's recent decision allowing homosexual people in long term relationships to be ordained. He passionately believes that homosexuality is a sin. Ergo those living unrepentantly in a condition of sin should not be ordained. This conversation unnerved me quite a bit (until I was soothed by three amazing women, thanks Elaine, Alex and Mary!) But I've still been thinking about it. Now I've come across the quotation above and I started to wonder, would the above quotation apply if we changed to language from ethnicity to sexuality? With apologies to Professor Frank, it might read something like this:
"Until -straight- people recognize their own -sexuality-, they will continue to be trapped in a taken-for-granted world in which they think of their own ways as normative and everyone else as an aberration."
I'm not sure I'm willing to say that opposition to ordination of LGBTQ people is an "unreflective condition." But I am sure that it "makes them poor partners in imagining and constructing a church that incoporates the whole human family."
Thoughts?
Frank, Thomas Edward. "Polity, Practice and the Mission of the United Methodist Church", Abingdon, 2007 p. 96
I was reading this book as I catch up on overdue work for Dr. Crain. Don't worry Dr Crain! I'm making progress on my paper!!! And don't worry Dr. Hogue, I'm getting to your stuff too!!! ;-)
This quote caught my eye. It is a powerful reminder that white people have a heritage too. The world is not made up of us and everybody else. When we forget this it is not only a detriment to those against whom we discriminate, but it is a detriment to our story as well.
I recently had a brief and somewhat heated discussion (on Facebook) with a high school classmate who is now a UMC Elder serving a church downstate. He was displeased with ELCA's recent decision allowing homosexual people in long term relationships to be ordained. He passionately believes that homosexuality is a sin. Ergo those living unrepentantly in a condition of sin should not be ordained. This conversation unnerved me quite a bit (until I was soothed by three amazing women, thanks Elaine, Alex and Mary!) But I've still been thinking about it. Now I've come across the quotation above and I started to wonder, would the above quotation apply if we changed to language from ethnicity to sexuality? With apologies to Professor Frank, it might read something like this:
"Until -straight- people recognize their own -sexuality-, they will continue to be trapped in a taken-for-granted world in which they think of their own ways as normative and everyone else as an aberration."
I'm not sure I'm willing to say that opposition to ordination of LGBTQ people is an "unreflective condition." But I am sure that it "makes them poor partners in imagining and constructing a church that incoporates the whole human family."
Thoughts?
Rev. Joseph Lowery's Benediction ~ A Capstone
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou who has brought us thus far along the way, thou who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path, we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee. Shadowed beneath thy hand may we forever stand -- true to thee, O God, and true to our native land.We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we've shared this day. We pray now, O Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant, Barack Obama, the 44th president of these United States, his family and his administration. He has come to this high office at a low moment in the national and, indeed, the global fiscal climate. But because we know you got the whole world in your hand, we pray for not only our nation, but for the community of nations. Our faith does not shrink, though pressed by the flood of mortal ills.
For we know that, Lord, you're able and you're willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor or the least of these and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.
We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that, yes, we can work together to achieve a more perfect union. And while we have sown the seeds of greed -- the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.
And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance.
And as we leave this mountaintop, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.
Bless President Barack, First Lady Michelle. Look over our little, angelic Sasha and Malia.
We go now to walk together, children, pledging that we won't get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone, with your hands of power and your heart of love.
Help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid; when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around -(laughter)- when yellow will be mellow -(laughter)- when the red man can get ahead, man -(laughter)- and when white will embrace what is right.
Let all those who do justice and love mercy say amen.
AUDIENCE: Amen!
REV. LOWERY: Say amen --
AUDIENCE: Amen!
REV. LOWERY: -- and amen.
AUDIENCE: Amen! (Cheers, applause.)
END.
Transcript courtesy Federal News Service
http://blogs.suntimes.com/
http://www.youtube.com/wat
Evangelicalism.
Brett over at The Hendricksonians
did a book review that brought up a question I've though about on and off. Here are my comments about his post:
We need to come up with a better word. For most of the political left, including devout Christians, "Evangelical" has become a dirty word. This is unfortunate. Aren't, or at least shouldn't, all Christians be evangelical? Is that pretty much the job description? At the very minimum it is for us clergy types. We are called to evangelize. Just as the Pro-Life movement has claimed the linguistic high ground, (Is it possible to be anti-life?)the 'old-time religion' types have taken a very important word and used it in a very narrow way, thus giving it a connotation that excludes many of the people it should include. Can we redeem Evangelicalism? should we come up with a better word? Delwin Brown has a great book called "What does a Progressive Christian Believe" that discusses this. I'm not certain I like the word Progressive. Thoughts?
So? What do you think?
did a book review that brought up a question I've though about on and off. Here are my comments about his post:
We need to come up with a better word. For most of the political left, including devout Christians, "Evangelical" has become a dirty word. This is unfortunate. Aren't, or at least shouldn't, all Christians be evangelical? Is that pretty much the job description? At the very minimum it is for us clergy types. We are called to evangelize. Just as the Pro-Life movement has claimed the linguistic high ground, (Is it possible to be anti-life?)the 'old-time religion' types have taken a very important word and used it in a very narrow way, thus giving it a connotation that excludes many of the people it should include. Can we redeem Evangelicalism? should we come up with a better word? Delwin Brown has a great book called "What does a Progressive Christian Believe" that discusses this. I'm not certain I like the word Progressive. Thoughts?
So? What do you think?
Support Peace in the Holy Land, Urge President-elect Obama to take action
I have just added my name to an ecumenical Christian letter to President-elect Obama and am writing you to encourage you to do the same. American Christian leaders and congregants of the Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox and Protestant traditions have joined together to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and urge President-elect Obama to make Israeli-Palestinian peace an immediate priority of his Administration.
You can support this Christian Call for Holy Land Peace by adding your name to the ecumenical letter that has been signed by Christian leaders and congregants from across the nation. Visit http://www.cmep.org/letter to sign the letter and join your fellow American Christians in supporting vigorous U.S. diplomatic efforts to secure a just and lasting two-state solution.
To view the letter and a list of the national Christian leaders signatories, and to add you name, go to http://www.cmep.org/letter.
The last day to add your name is January 16, 2009. The letter signed by national Christian leaders was sent to the Obama transition team on December 1, 2008. The final letter signed by leaders and congregants will be delivered to President Obama during the time of inauguration. Please stand with those calling for peace in Holy Land by adding your name today at http://www.cmep.org/letter.
You can support this Christian Call for Holy Land Peace by adding your name to the ecumenical letter that has been signed by Christian leaders and congregants from across the nation. Visit http://www.cmep.org/letter to sign the letter and join your fellow American Christians in supporting vigorous U.S. diplomatic efforts to secure a just and lasting two-state solution.
To view the letter and a list of the national Christian leaders signatories, and to add you name, go to http://www.cmep.org/letter.
The last day to add your name is January 16, 2009. The letter signed by national Christian leaders was sent to the Obama transition team on December 1, 2008. The final letter signed by leaders and congregants will be delivered to President Obama during the time of inauguration. Please stand with those calling for peace in Holy Land by adding your name today at http://www.cmep.org/letter.
Better Days
I'm supposed to be working on a paper, but I'm thinking about CPE, Israel hitting a school and killing children and the unbridled joy of my friends Ross and Amanda's new baby. Then this came on.
(there's)something only you can give
And that's faith and trust and peace while we're alive
And it's one poor child that saved this world
And there's 10 million more who probably could
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them
(there's)something only you can give
And that's faith and trust and peace while we're alive
And it's one poor child that saved this world
And there's 10 million more who probably could
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them
Rick Warren's Invocation at the Inaguration
I wrote a letter to the President elect and posted it before I had a chance to copy it for posting here. It is probably obvious what it said. I wish he would have picked someone else. Perhaps Martin Marty or even Ken Vaux, a professor at G-ETS who advised the President-elect during the election. But, he picked Rev. Warren. Here is some info I picked up from a Facebook group. I urge everyone to write to voice their disapproval. Even if you don't support gay-marriage, I think you might agree that Pastor Warren's linkage of gay marriage with incest and polygamy is a bit too extreme.
Here's the text from the Facebook page:
Divisive, homophobic Saddleback Church minister Rick Warren has been invited to give President Elect Obama's inaugural invocation.
HERE'S WHAT HE HAS TO SAY ON GAY UNIONS:
Rick Warren: But the issue to me is, I’m not opposed to that as much as I’m opposed to the redefinition of a 5,000-year definition of marriage. I’m opposed to having a brother and sister be together and call that marriage. I’m opposed to an older guy marrying a child and calling that a marriage. I’m opposed to one guy having multiple wives and calling that marriage.
Steven Waldman: Do you think, though, that they are equivalent to having gays getting married?
Rick Warren: Oh I do.
DOES THIS REPRESENT THE CHANGE YOU VOTED FOR? DOES THIS MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE INCLUDED IN THIS SYMBOLIC DAY OF NEW BEGINNINGS? YOU CAN TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW:
1. CALL 202-540-3000 , press "2," speak with a live person
2. SEND a letter letting the transition team know what you think here http://change.gov/page/content/contact, and
3. EMAIL Parag Mehta, Obama's LGBT liaison on the transition team at parag.mehta@ptt.gov.
Here's the text from the Facebook page:
Divisive, homophobic Saddleback Church minister Rick Warren has been invited to give President Elect Obama's inaugural invocation.
HERE'S WHAT HE HAS TO SAY ON GAY UNIONS:
Rick Warren: But the issue to me is, I’m not opposed to that as much as I’m opposed to the redefinition of a 5,000-year definition of marriage. I’m opposed to having a brother and sister be together and call that marriage. I’m opposed to an older guy marrying a child and calling that a marriage. I’m opposed to one guy having multiple wives and calling that marriage.
Steven Waldman: Do you think, though, that they are equivalent to having gays getting married?
Rick Warren: Oh I do.
DOES THIS REPRESENT THE CHANGE YOU VOTED FOR? DOES THIS MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE INCLUDED IN THIS SYMBOLIC DAY OF NEW BEGINNINGS? YOU CAN TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW:
1. CALL 202-540-3000 , press "2," speak with a live person
2. SEND a letter letting the transition team know what you think here http://change.gov/page/content/contact, and
3. EMAIL Parag Mehta, Obama's LGBT liaison on the transition team at parag.mehta@ptt.gov.
Hello readers!
I'm finishing up papers for my second to last full semester of MA studies at G-ETS. I'm pondering my future. Employment? More School? Something in between? One of my final papers is on my theology of suffering. I'll post some of it here for your reading pleasure.
In the meantime. Grace and Peace to you and enjoy this:
In the meantime. Grace and Peace to you and enjoy this:
See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die
READ THIS TOO!!!!!!!
Here's the link.
Here's the text:
Here's the text:
James Dobson, you owe America an apology. The fictional letter released through your Focus on the Family Action organization, titled “Letter From 2012 in Obama’s America”, crosses all lines of decent public discourse. In a time of utter political incivility, it shows the kind of negative Christian leadership that has become so embarrassing to so many of your fellow Christians in America. We are weary of this kind of Christian leadership, and that is why so many are forsaking the Religious Right in this election.
This letter offers nothing but fear. It apocalyptically depicts terrorist attacks in American cities, churches losing their tax exempt status for not allowing gay marriages, pornography pushed in front of our children, doctors and nurses forced to perform abortions, euthanasia as commonplace, inner-city crime gone wild because of lack of gun ownership, home schooling banned, restricted religious speech, liberal censorship shutting down conservative talk shows, Christian publishers forced out of business, Israel nuked, power blackouts because of environmental restrictions, brave Christian resisters jailed by a liberal Supreme court, and finally, good Christian families emigrating to Australia and New Zealand.
It is shocking how thoroughly biblical teachings against slander—misrepresentations that damage another’s reputation—are ignored (Ephesians 4:29-31, Colossians 3:8, Titus 3:2). Such outrageous predictions not only damage your credibility, they slander Barack Obama who, you should remember, is a brother in Christ, and they insult any Christian who might choose to vote for him.
Let me make this clear: Christians will be voting both ways in this election, informed by their good faith, and based on their views of what are the best public policies and direction for America. But in utter disrespect for the prayerful discernment of your fellow Christians, this letter stirs their ugliest fears, appealing to their worst impulses instead of their best.
Fear is the clear motivator in the letter; especially fear that evangelical Christians might vote for Barack Obama. The letter was very revealing when it suggested that “younger Evangelicals” became the “swing vote” that elected Obama and the results were catastrophic.
You make a mistake when you assume that younger Christians don’t care as much as you about the sanctity of life. They do care—very much—but they have a more consistent ethic of life. Both broader and deeper, it is inclusive of abortion, but also of the many other assaults on human life and dignity. For the new generation, poverty, hunger, and disease are also life issues; creation care is a life issue; genocide, torture, the death penalty, and human rights are life issues; war is a life issue. What happens to poor children after they are born is also a life issue.
The America you helped vote into power has lost its moral standing in the world, and even here at home. The America you told Christians to vote for in past elections is now an embarrassment to Christians around the globe, and to the children of your generation of evangelicals. And the vision of America that you still tell Christians to vote for is not the one that many in a new generation of Christians believes expresses their best values and convictions.
Christians should be committed to the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of America, and the church is to live an alternative existence of love and justice, offering a prophetic witness to politics. Elections are full of imperfect choices where we all seek to what is best for the “common good” by applying the values of our faith as best we can.
Dr. Dobson, you of course have the same right as every Christian and every American to vote your own convictions on the issues you most care about, but you have chosen to insult the convictions of millions of other Christians, whose own deeply held faith convictions might motivate them to vote differently than you. This epistle of fear is perhaps the dying gasp of a discredited heterodoxy of conservative religion and conservative politics. But out of that death, a resurrection of biblical politics more faithful to the whole gospel—one that is truly good news—might indeed be coming to life.
VOTE SMART
There are several very important issues on the Illinois ballot that I urge you to look into before you vote.
1. The ballot initiative to redo the Illinois State Constitution.
You can find arguments Pro and Con here: http://www.lwvil.org/ConCon.asp
I am very much against it for several reasons.
1. The potential benefits are outweighed by the cost.
a. The State is already in a deficit why spend more on this?
b. Even if the State had the money, couldn’t we spend it in other places? Like education, poverty elimination programs…?
2. The issues that will be addressed by the “Con-Con” can be and in many cases are being addressed through legislation.
3. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”
a. We have our problems, but they are not Constitutional ones!
2. Judicial appointments
In Illinois, our Judges are elected. It is a long and tedious process in the ballot box. As a former litigation paralegal, I can tell you that having qualified judges on the bench is critical to the judicial process. It is very important to know for whom you are voting! However, researching each individual judge would be impossible. Each year, I use the ISBA’s guide. You can find it here: http://www.isba.org/judicialevaluations/cook/12.asp
(This is for Evanston only. For the rest of Illinois, go here: http://www.isba.org/judicialevaluations/index.html
Print it out and take it into the voting booth with you!
Be an educated voter. The Tribune Website has a wonderful website that allows you to see the ballot before you go in the voting booth. Use it! You can find it on their homepage here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
I got this from UMC-GBCS
An Urgent Plea to Clergy to Petition to Save Troy Davis' Life
Dear Jay,
Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed by the state of Georgia on October 27 at 7 pm, even though serious claims of innocence have never been heard in court.
Clergy can take action today and sign a petition that encourages Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue to prevent this execution. If you are clergy, or if you can urge your pastor to sign the letter (shown below), please contact Brian Evans with Amnesty International who is collecting the information. Brian's email is bevans@aiusa.org and his phone number is 202-544-0200, ext. 496. Please include your name, title, church name, mailing address, phone number, and email address. Please act now as the deadline for signing on is October 23rd.
Be sure to spread this to friends, family, and fellow church members to help spare Troy Davis' life.
About Troy Davis
Troy Davis was convicted of murder solely on the basis of testimony by witnesses. Seven of the nine non-police witnesses have since recanted or changed their testimony, with several implicating possible police coercion. However, due to an increasingly restrictive appeals process, none of this new evidence has ever been heard in court. You can find out more about Troy Davis here.
Clergy Letter to Governor Perdue
Dear Governor Perdue,
We the undersigned clergy write to you as the chief political leader of your state. As leaders in our respective faith communities, we all find within our teachings a divine directive to support justice in the world and to uphold the sacredness of life. As Governor, you too bear a responsibility to support and promote justice for the people of Georgia. As such, our faith compels us to share with you our concern for Troy Anthony Davis, who faces execution by the state of Georgia on behalf of its citizens.
Almost twenty years ago, a police officer was tragically murdered in Savannah. We are deeply troubled that an innocent man may be executed for this awful crime. Should the state of Georgia carry out the execution of Troy Davis on October, 27, it is possible that justice will be denied for both Davis and Officer Mark Allen MacPhail.
We are distressed by the inability of the appeals courts to provide a hearing or new trial to examine evidence that Troy Davis did not murder Mark MacPhail. We are distressed that in a case based solely on witness testimony the unprecedented number of witness recantations has not impressed the courts enough to re-examine the case. We are distressed that the appeals process has become so restrictive that the bar for proving innocence has become virtually unattainable. Finality and procedure must never be deemed of higher importance than questions of innocence and truth in the pursuit of justice, especially when human life is at stake.
In 2005, despite his feeling that Robin Lovitt was guilty of murder, enough doubts emerged to suggest his innocence so that Governor Mark Warner of Virginia commuted the sentence of death to life in order to prevent the possibility of a wrongful execution. The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles has the same option. Questions of innocence in the Davis case have not been resolved in a court of law. Such questions weigh very heavily on our hearts. Commuting Davis's sentence to life would affirm the principle that doubt is not acceptable in the application of a system that irreversibly takes human life.
We are aware that executive clemency power in Georgia rests in the hands of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. We are also aware that the board acts on behalf of the executive branch of government and is a governor-appointed body. We believe that the reputation of your state is on the line. The faith Georgia citizens have in the justice system is also on the line. We believe you have tremendous influence and moral authority as the leader of your state. We pray that you will ask God for guidance on how best to use the prestige of your office to ensure that a terrible, but preventable, tragedy does not befall your state on October 27.
Yours truly,
[List of endorsers]
Thank you for taking action. The barbarity of the death penalty must be abolished, but until we achieve universal abolition we must work to save every life.
In Christ,
Bill Mefford
Director, United Methodists Against the Death Penalty
Dear Jay,
Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed by the state of Georgia on October 27 at 7 pm, even though serious claims of innocence have never been heard in court.
Clergy can take action today and sign a petition that encourages Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue to prevent this execution. If you are clergy, or if you can urge your pastor to sign the letter (shown below), please contact Brian Evans with Amnesty International who is collecting the information. Brian's email is bevans@aiusa.org and his phone number is 202-544-0200, ext. 496. Please include your name, title, church name, mailing address, phone number, and email address. Please act now as the deadline for signing on is October 23rd.
Be sure to spread this to friends, family, and fellow church members to help spare Troy Davis' life.
About Troy Davis
Troy Davis was convicted of murder solely on the basis of testimony by witnesses. Seven of the nine non-police witnesses have since recanted or changed their testimony, with several implicating possible police coercion. However, due to an increasingly restrictive appeals process, none of this new evidence has ever been heard in court. You can find out more about Troy Davis here.
Clergy Letter to Governor Perdue
Dear Governor Perdue,
We the undersigned clergy write to you as the chief political leader of your state. As leaders in our respective faith communities, we all find within our teachings a divine directive to support justice in the world and to uphold the sacredness of life. As Governor, you too bear a responsibility to support and promote justice for the people of Georgia. As such, our faith compels us to share with you our concern for Troy Anthony Davis, who faces execution by the state of Georgia on behalf of its citizens.
Almost twenty years ago, a police officer was tragically murdered in Savannah. We are deeply troubled that an innocent man may be executed for this awful crime. Should the state of Georgia carry out the execution of Troy Davis on October, 27, it is possible that justice will be denied for both Davis and Officer Mark Allen MacPhail.
We are distressed by the inability of the appeals courts to provide a hearing or new trial to examine evidence that Troy Davis did not murder Mark MacPhail. We are distressed that in a case based solely on witness testimony the unprecedented number of witness recantations has not impressed the courts enough to re-examine the case. We are distressed that the appeals process has become so restrictive that the bar for proving innocence has become virtually unattainable. Finality and procedure must never be deemed of higher importance than questions of innocence and truth in the pursuit of justice, especially when human life is at stake.
In 2005, despite his feeling that Robin Lovitt was guilty of murder, enough doubts emerged to suggest his innocence so that Governor Mark Warner of Virginia commuted the sentence of death to life in order to prevent the possibility of a wrongful execution. The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles has the same option. Questions of innocence in the Davis case have not been resolved in a court of law. Such questions weigh very heavily on our hearts. Commuting Davis's sentence to life would affirm the principle that doubt is not acceptable in the application of a system that irreversibly takes human life.
We are aware that executive clemency power in Georgia rests in the hands of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. We are also aware that the board acts on behalf of the executive branch of government and is a governor-appointed body. We believe that the reputation of your state is on the line. The faith Georgia citizens have in the justice system is also on the line. We believe you have tremendous influence and moral authority as the leader of your state. We pray that you will ask God for guidance on how best to use the prestige of your office to ensure that a terrible, but preventable, tragedy does not befall your state on October 27.
Yours truly,
[List of endorsers]
Thank you for taking action. The barbarity of the death penalty must be abolished, but until we achieve universal abolition we must work to save every life.
In Christ,
Bill Mefford
Director, United Methodists Against the Death Penalty
RIP Ophelia
A friend's cat died recently. Another friend sent me this. I thought I'd share it in honor of Ophelia and her owner.
Purring" by Coleman Barks
The internet says science is not sure
how cats purr, probably
a vibration of the whole larynx,
unlike what we do when we talk.
Less likely, a blood vessel
moving across the chest wall.
As a child I tried to make every cat I met
purr. That was one of the early miracles,
the stroking to perfection.
Here is something I have never heard:
a feline purrs in two conditions,
when deeply content and when
mortally wounded, to calm themselves,
readying for the death-opening.
The low frequency evidently helps
to strengthen bones and heal
damaged organs.
Say poetry is a human purr,
vessel mooring in the chest,
a closed-mouthed refuge, the feel
of a glide through dying.
One winter morning on a sunny chair,
inside this only body,
a far-off inboard motorboat
sings the empty room, urrrrrrrhhhh
urrrrrrrhhhhh
urrrrrrrhhhh
"Purring" by Coleman Barks from Winter Sky: New and Selected Poems,
1968–2008. (c) University of Georgia Press, 2008
Purring" by Coleman Barks
The internet says science is not sure
how cats purr, probably
a vibration of the whole larynx,
unlike what we do when we talk.
Less likely, a blood vessel
moving across the chest wall.
As a child I tried to make every cat I met
purr. That was one of the early miracles,
the stroking to perfection.
Here is something I have never heard:
a feline purrs in two conditions,
when deeply content and when
mortally wounded, to calm themselves,
readying for the death-opening.
The low frequency evidently helps
to strengthen bones and heal
damaged organs.
Say poetry is a human purr,
vessel mooring in the chest,
a closed-mouthed refuge, the feel
of a glide through dying.
One winter morning on a sunny chair,
inside this only body,
a far-off inboard motorboat
sings the empty room, urrrrrrrhhhh
urrrrrrrhhhhh
urrrrrrrhhhh
"Purring" by Coleman Barks from Winter Sky: New and Selected Poems,
1968–2008. (c) University of Georgia Press, 2008
The Carillon
Here is this month's Carillon. The final version of my piece is on page 2. I'm not terribly happy about the title. I didn't get to write it. Click on the image to get to it.
I've been asked to write a piece for our Church newsletter about my recent surgery. My instructions were:
1. Take us through your experience.
2. Do it in 600 words or less
3. Can I have it by Friday?
yeesh!
Luckily, I had some time come free yesterday. (It happened right after I got the call asking if I could do this. That sort of thing spurs an entire other conversation...) So, here it is, very much in un-edited form. I Welcome your comments. Feel free to correct my memory of events and to comment on my writing. I'll post a link to the final copy when it gets published.
When Roy Larson offered me this space to discuss the adventure of the past few months, I was surprised and honored. Primarily, I was pleased. I am pleased that I have been given an opportunity to thank you, the community of The Temple for your prayers and support over these past months. Thanks to Rev. Blackwell’s mention of me during the services, many of you know that I had major surgery. What you probably don’t know is that this is my fifth surgery to repair my aorta. I have a genetic disorder called Marfan’s Syndrome which is a connective tissue disorder that affects every system of the body. Most dramatically, it can affect the structure of the aorta, causing weak spots that can lead to a tearing of the inner lining (called a dissection) or even a total rupture. In 1994, my aortic arch ruptured. By the grace of God and expert medical care, I survived. Over the intervening years, I have had 4 more surgeries, but none has been extensive as the one this spring and never have I been as close to death.
Obviously, everyone was very worried. My family, friends and colleagues at Garrett- Evangelical had me on their churches’ prayer chain; I had all my bases covered, Catholics, Presbyterians, Baptists and yes, more than a few Methodists, AME, UMC and all our Methodist family were lifting us in prayer. Knowing this was a great help, it helped all of us feel less alone.
One of the most powerful examples of the power of prayer occurred during the bleakest point of my recovery. I was having such trouble breathing that the doctors decided to perform a tracheotomy. I remember very little, I was very sick and sedated. The doctors had told my family that it might be months before I was well enough to walk out of the hospital if, in fact, I ever recovered that well at all.
Before I had surgery, my wife Mary and I were making the arrangements that anyone facing a medical procedure should: power of attorney, living will etc. I told Mary that if things got bad and I was very sick, the UMC Book of Worship had a wonderful service that might make the family feel better. Mary had been in contact with my friends at seminary. Barb faxed it to my parents’ pastor, Rev. Alex Hendrickson, who, being Presbyterian didn’t have access to it. She agreed to perform the ceremony at my bedside. She even had an anointing balm that she had gotten on a recent trip to Jerusalem.
I remember that my whole family, including Mary’s parents and older sister, were arrayed about my hospital bed. They laid their hands on me. Rev. Hendrickson started the service. Despite not being able to speak very well, I mouthed the words with her. She took the balm and made the sign of the cross on my forehead. I remember feeling a wonderful warmth come over my body and a sensation of light going through me, piercing my chest and going skyward. I could actually feel the light! It was a feeling I had not felt before but somehow, I knew exactly what it was. I hesitate to name it for fear of minimizing it, somehow limiting it. It is indescribable, impossible to understand, but I think most call it the Holy Spirit.
Now, despite being in seminary and being a candidate for ordination, I am a bit of a skeptic. I don’t recommend relying on faith to cure disease. I’m a big fan of doctors and am in awe of their skill. I believe it is important to pray but believing that prayer can cure disease is a theological slippery slope that I’m not willing to tread on. But having said that, your prayers and the prayers of the churches of my family, friends and colleagues were heard. While I’m not wiling to say that I was cured by prayer and by the anointing with oil, they made me and the ones I love feel closer to God in their time of greatest loneliness and despair, and it is for your part in that miracle that I can never thank you enough.
1. Take us through your experience.
2. Do it in 600 words or less
3. Can I have it by Friday?
yeesh!
Luckily, I had some time come free yesterday. (It happened right after I got the call asking if I could do this. That sort of thing spurs an entire other conversation...) So, here it is, very much in un-edited form. I Welcome your comments. Feel free to correct my memory of events and to comment on my writing. I'll post a link to the final copy when it gets published.
When Roy Larson offered me this space to discuss the adventure of the past few months, I was surprised and honored. Primarily, I was pleased. I am pleased that I have been given an opportunity to thank you, the community of The Temple for your prayers and support over these past months. Thanks to Rev. Blackwell’s mention of me during the services, many of you know that I had major surgery. What you probably don’t know is that this is my fifth surgery to repair my aorta. I have a genetic disorder called Marfan’s Syndrome which is a connective tissue disorder that affects every system of the body. Most dramatically, it can affect the structure of the aorta, causing weak spots that can lead to a tearing of the inner lining (called a dissection) or even a total rupture. In 1994, my aortic arch ruptured. By the grace of God and expert medical care, I survived. Over the intervening years, I have had 4 more surgeries, but none has been extensive as the one this spring and never have I been as close to death.
Obviously, everyone was very worried. My family, friends and colleagues at Garrett- Evangelical had me on their churches’ prayer chain; I had all my bases covered, Catholics, Presbyterians, Baptists and yes, more than a few Methodists, AME, UMC and all our Methodist family were lifting us in prayer. Knowing this was a great help, it helped all of us feel less alone.
One of the most powerful examples of the power of prayer occurred during the bleakest point of my recovery. I was having such trouble breathing that the doctors decided to perform a tracheotomy. I remember very little, I was very sick and sedated. The doctors had told my family that it might be months before I was well enough to walk out of the hospital if, in fact, I ever recovered that well at all.
Before I had surgery, my wife Mary and I were making the arrangements that anyone facing a medical procedure should: power of attorney, living will etc. I told Mary that if things got bad and I was very sick, the UMC Book of Worship had a wonderful service that might make the family feel better. Mary had been in contact with my friends at seminary. Barb faxed it to my parents’ pastor, Rev. Alex Hendrickson, who, being Presbyterian didn’t have access to it. She agreed to perform the ceremony at my bedside. She even had an anointing balm that she had gotten on a recent trip to Jerusalem.
I remember that my whole family, including Mary’s parents and older sister, were arrayed about my hospital bed. They laid their hands on me. Rev. Hendrickson started the service. Despite not being able to speak very well, I mouthed the words with her. She took the balm and made the sign of the cross on my forehead. I remember feeling a wonderful warmth come over my body and a sensation of light going through me, piercing my chest and going skyward. I could actually feel the light! It was a feeling I had not felt before but somehow, I knew exactly what it was. I hesitate to name it for fear of minimizing it, somehow limiting it. It is indescribable, impossible to understand, but I think most call it the Holy Spirit.
Now, despite being in seminary and being a candidate for ordination, I am a bit of a skeptic. I don’t recommend relying on faith to cure disease. I’m a big fan of doctors and am in awe of their skill. I believe it is important to pray but believing that prayer can cure disease is a theological slippery slope that I’m not willing to tread on. But having said that, your prayers and the prayers of the churches of my family, friends and colleagues were heard. While I’m not wiling to say that I was cured by prayer and by the anointing with oil, they made me and the ones I love feel closer to God in their time of greatest loneliness and despair, and it is for your part in that miracle that I can never thank you enough.
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