PEACE

The dominant expression of Christianity in America today has ventured off road and lost its way in making the birth of Jesus primarily about who gets to go to heaven after dying. It has gone astray emphasizing one’s decision to accept Jesus as defined by various dogmas, creeds and religious observances. When the story of the nativity and the kingdom message of Jesus were taken out of their real world context and made to mostly apply to asking him for salvation in the hereafter, we took a wrong turn.

“Good news of great joy for all the people,” was the angelic explanation of Christ’s birth to shepherds in Bethlehem. God is with the militarily oppressed, economically disadvantaged and spiritually downtrodden was the central message of Christ’s birth. The good news Jesus told his followers to take everywhere after he went to the cross is that God will not be dealing with us as our sins deserve. His favor rests upon everyone. He has reconciled us to himself, not counting our sins against us; as Paul explained to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 5). Now, with God’s help, as we believe this good news, we are able to step into the easy yoke of loving our neighbor as ourselves, doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with God; thereby establishing his kingdom. “As I have loved you,” said Jesus, “so love one another.” It’s not all that complicated.

Jesus’ manifesto of the kingdom of God known to us as the Sermon on the Mount focused in its entirety on how we are to treat one another in this life. The prayer he taught his followers to pray featured the request for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Living the Jesus way will not be found in wealth and power seeking nor in judgmental, man made religion; but in humbly serving others, forgiving our enemies, caring for the poor and, very importantly, in being a peace maker. When Jesus spoke of some who would miss out on the kingdom, he wasn’t referring to those who would get sent to hell when they die, but rather, to those whose pride and greed keeps them on the outside of kingdom living—muddling through an existence that diminishes and destroys one in intolerance, anger, hatred, striking back, bitterness, strife, lust, excess, and always fearing a stinging, meaningless death.

By allowing the Romans to crucify him when he could have employed divine power to protect himself, Jesus modeled how to deal with enemies. If we live by the sword, the sword will be used against us continuously. But, if we live with love and forgiveness in our hearts and choose not to take vengeance, they may still use a sword against us, but good always rises again to ultimately overcome evil. The Roman Empire is no longer; but there are 2.5 billion followers of Jesus on the planet today.

My prayer is that, in a world suffering under crushing burdens of war and injustice, all citizens of God’s kingdom will rediscover the ways of peace and get on with making it. And may we not allow our religion to get in the way in the process.

SLICK MITT

As speeches go, it was a good one. Mitt Romney covered all the bases, the Founding Fathers, John F. Kennedy, patriotism, religious freedom, mom and apple pie. We are all now assured that there won’t be a hotline between the White House and Salt Lake City if he is elected as our next president. Specifically, he attempted to convince us that, as president, he will be guided by what is best for the American people as a whole and not the particulars of his personal faith.

Holy council of apostles, Batman! Did he really say that? Does he really want us to believe that as a 3rd generation Mormon, raised in one of the most prominent Mormon families, and a long time Mormon leader himself, he doesn’t subscribe to his convictions sufficiently to make them the guiding principle in the critically important decisions of the presidency? What kind of a faith is that?

My issue with Romney isn’t his Mormonism. As a Mormon he isn’t likely to make any worse decisions than, say, a Methodist. His Mormonism hasn’t seemed to hurt him as a businessman or Massachusetts governor. He’s been generally successful in those arenas. And, we sure can’t fault a guy aspiring to be a god someday for wanting to stop by the presidency along the way.

I just don’t believe him when he says he won’t be governed by his personal faith when it comes to the presidency. Hopefully, we all are guided by the convictions of our personal belief system. If elected, I wouldn’t fault him for bringing his Mormon worldview to the table. He should be free to quote the Book of Mormon just like Lincoln or Clinton quoted the Bible. He should be respected for soliciting advice from trusted advisors in his faith community, as have most presidents. These are things we would expect of anyone with a heartfelt faith. But Romney is trying to convince us that he will erect a wall of separation between himself and his Mormonism when he is the president. That strikes me as a very disingenuous, politically motivated thing to say.

Of all the candidates seeking their party’s nomination for the presidency today, Mitt Romney seems to be the most flagrant in telling the voters what they want to hear. In this case, he’s trying to calm the fears of evangelicals and Religious Right types who are skittish about Mormonism, just like he has tried to do with his abortion rights flip-flop. He’s an ear-tickler if there ever was one. Remember, slick Willy? Well, from where I sit, this guy is slick Mitt. I’m not buying it.

RIGHT NOW

Someone once said to me, “If I’d known I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.” I chuckled in agreement. Later I remembered that during one of those seasons when I did take better care of myself and even trained for a marathon, the week before the race I got a stress fracture in my foot and my wife had emergency surgery. I did not get to run that marathon.

Much of my life has been spent overlooking the right now. For too many years I kept my focus upon an imagined future. I say “imagined future” because the future does not exist outside of the imagination. Absolutely nothing I do today guarantees that tomorrow will come or turn out a certain way. The future is not a thing that stands in line waiting for its turn like when we wait for our number to be drawn at the driver’s license renewal station. It is entirely a figment of our imagination—a phantom. There is only now—this fleeting moment, a beat of the heart and a drawn breath. Where I am, who I’m with and what I’m doing right now is all that is certain, though fleeting.

While there may be some steps I can take today that may bring positive results tomorrow, there are no certainties. I could, for example, eat better and exercise today in the hope of being healthier tomorrow; but that doesn’t guarantee that I won’t slip in the shower and break my neck today. That’s why right now is so all important.

Persons afflicted with Alzheimer’s sometimes revert to reliving the past while being disconnected from the present. It is painful to watch and sorrowful to loved ones who are no longer recognized. However, because they understand that the person is ill and can’t help it, family and friends valiantly and loyally continue to love and care.

One who lives in the future and, in effect, is disconnected from the present is also difficult to deal with. Lacking the excuse of a medical condition, this person has chosen to devalue the immediate affections and presence of loved ones and friends by living in his or her future fantasy. The smiles, nods, tears, gestures, sounds and experiences of today's moments are overlooked in the rush to the future. Both the Alzheimer’s patient and the future chaser are denied the full benefit of right now; as are those forced to deal with him or her. Patience and sympathy from loved ones can wear thin.

This is why Jesus cautioned us to “take no thought for tomorrow... because tomorrow will take care of itself” (Matthew 6:25-34). Instead, he said we should focus upon living in God’s domain right now. God’s domain is loving relationships. Folks who don’t take this to heart wake up one day to discover their kids have grown up, graduated and moved away and now they’re left wondering where all those years went. What happened to those times that should have been given to laughter, hugs and memory making? They were lost to the priority of chasing the mirage of the future.

Will you join me in pulling out of someday and zeroing in on right now? We can do it if we’ll focus upon loving those around us, cherish the sound of their voice, listen to their thoughts and feelings and savor this present moment before it evaporates into yesterday.

BEACHES & THANKSGIVING

Gratitude is like my first trip to an ocean beach. What a different world it was from the corn fields, prairies and timberlands of Iowa where I grew up. Standing in awe of the rolling surf as the warm sand squeezed between my toes, I was speechless. The salt air was invigorating. Everywhere there were seashells of many sizes and colors and other flotsam and driftwood shapes to examine. Gulls glided and squawked close by making me think I could catch them in my bare hands, but never did. It was a world of discovery and fascination to a young boy experiencing it for the first time.

Each time I travel from my everyday existence to the shores of gratitude I find myself similarly overtaken. So many things to look at and discover, so much to ponder and learn, and such big new horizons to take in; it is breathtaking.

Today I am grateful for adversity because it makes me flex muscles of faith and hope. I am grateful for mystery because it makes me seek truth. I am grateful for transition because it keeps me fresh. I am grateful for every reminder I am not in control because it forces me to press into God.

I am grateful for true friends and loved ones who won’t let me pretend I’m not who I am. I am grateful for survival from my past which allows me to have the gift of today. I am grateful for every material blessing I enjoy along with the knowledge it all could vanish in the next storm.

I am grateful for love and grace given through Jesus Christ. Today, I join the anthem of the ages that shouts in the face of all that is troubling, strange and difficult, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!”

Oh, and I’m thankful for the corn fields, prairies and timberlands of Iowa and the beautiful wildlife I’ve enjoyed while sitting silently in a deer stand this Fall. God has joined me there.

CHARITY OR JUSTICE

At the OFF THE MAP (http://www.offthemap.com/live/) conference I recently attended, Richard Twiss, a Lakota Sioux writer, speaker and Christian leader, told a poignant parable that underscores the challenges of justice and reconcilliation.

Suppose I stole your luxury SUV and several years later came to you feeling guilty about it and said, "I'm really sorry I did that and I want to ask your forgiveness." You might say in return, "OK, I forgive you. I see you feel bad about it and want us to be friends. Can I have my vehicle back?" If I then say to you, "Return the vehicle! I can't do that! I put a bunch of miles on it then traded it for a new one. I don't have it anymore. I want you to forgive me, but I can't return the vehicle because the only one I have is my own and I need it."

I'm sure you would agree that I'd be guilty of a grave injustice. If you were gracious enough, we might still be able to reconcile. That is, if you were able to forget the loss and move on we could have a friendship. But it would be built upon unmerited favor granted to me by you and not upon justice. Justice would require me to make some kind of reparation for your loss. If we wanted to restore justice to the relationship, I would owe you a bunch--more than the actual value of the SUV I stole considering all it put it you through as a result of my theft.

Many of the ills that we face globally can be traced back to periods of colonialism and conquest that have left entire people groups disenfranchised, ripped off and powerless. Poverty and AIDS in Africa, Islamic extremism, racial inequality in the U.S.A., immigration controversies and more are fruits of an earlier injustice done by a dominating power. And while it is true in most of these cases that none of us today are in a position to return the original "stolen SUV" since it is long gone, we should want to address in meaningful ways the injustices that still haunt the cultures and psyches of the oppressed. Apologizing isn't enough. Good will isn't enough. Charity isn't enough. Me saying to you, "Get over it, that was then this is now," is a cop out and an insult.

Going back to our parable. If I decide that to try and make you and myself feel better, I'm going to send you a nice Christmas gift every year, that would be charity. It's a nice thing to do but it really doesn't fix the greater injustice. That requires a much more proactive and sacrificial effort over a long period of time.

Many of us have already begun to receive the annual holiday appeals for charity contributions from all the organizations we may have supported in the past. We give to several of them as I'm sure you do. This year, however, when I sit down to write my checks, I'm asking myself if there is more I can do toward the cause of justice? Is my giving motivated by a need to salve my conscience, or to make sure I'm doing my part to make sure there is liberty and justice for all? Charity is a good thing as far as it goes. But, it doesn't excuse us from getting informed and doing the hard work necessary to restore justice wherever we find lingering, unresolved injustice.

A good place to start in learning how Jesus intended for us to address injustice and find ways we can get involved is to read Brian McLaren's Everything Must Change, Thomas Nelson, 2007. This may be one of the most important books you will ever read.

Gossip and Big Stories

Michael Kahn, Reuters, has released an article about a recent study that shows people are more likely to believe gossip even when facts to the contrary are present. According to Kahn, "Gossip is more powerful than truth, a study showed on Monday, suggesting people believe what they hear through the grapevine even if they have evidence to the contrary. Researchers, testing students using a computer game, also found gossip played an important role when people make decisions, said Ralf Sommerfeld, an evolutionary biologist at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, who led the study. 'We show that gossip has a strong influence... even when participants have access to the original information as well as gossip about the same information,' the researchers wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

This will not surprise anyone who has ever been the victim of a false rumor that has gotten a foothold in a social network. Once unleashed it is almost impossible to quash it. Tabloids thrive on this human character flaw. We love gossip, and misinformation being passed on by someone we know and trust as truth is almost instantly absolute.

For me, this raises some interesting questions about the big stories (metanarratives)we have grown up with. Baby Boomers who grew up with the TV Westerns of the 1950's, for example, just knew that the cowboys and cavalry were the good guys and the Indians were the bad guys. Many still have a hard time believing such may have not always been the case even though the facts actually point to the United States' westward expansion as one of insensitive colonialism that plundered boundaries and villages of the First Nations People sometimes with genocidal intent. There are many similar examples of mainstream thinking that are based more on gossip than actual fact. Anyone who still believes Republicans are the more fiscally conservative party is totally ignoring the facts. Or, that the Democrats are less thirsty for oil money. Pure gossip on both counts.

As a theologian of sorts, it also raises questions about orthodoxy. Given the fact that "orthodoxy" has gone through numerous revisions and evolutionary turns over the course of history in all religions, including Christianity, we have to wonder how much of it was founded upon relationally networked misinformation--gossip. So-and-so said to so-and-so who passed it along to so-and-so and before long it became mainstream "correct" thinking on the matter in public opinion. The more convincing and charismatic a purveyor of information can be, the more likely the rest of us will readily buy into whatever they are offering--facts or no facts. Before long it becomes a big story we all assume is correct.

Dan Simmons, penned these words: "I been thinkin' outside the box, out beyond the orthodox..." (Its a stanza from a song he wrote which you can listen to online at http://www.soundclick.com/pro/view/02/default.cfm?andID=661040&content=song&songID=5329199. It would be good for all of us to do that. Orthodoxy is a fickle business and I'm not as impressed with it as I once was. Just because we no longer believe in Santa or the Tooth Fairy, doesn't mean we've exhausted our list of misinformed beliefs. I think we all have a good bit of gossip to sort through and set aside in favor of more accurate information.

Jesus, Celebrity Endorser

According to a web posting by Deidre Woollard, a winery in Israel has enlisted Jesus as a spokesman. His picture is on the label. “The Grapes of Galilee is a new Israeli wine label aimed at American Christians. The grapes are grown in the region where Jesus Christ is said to have lived, and they are irrigated with water from the Jordan River, where he was baptized.” What a great idea! After all, Jesus’ reputation as a winemaker is next to none. Reports are that his wine exceeds in quality most standard offerings.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Jesus has been enlisted as celebrity endorser. In Jesus’ name, Crusaders invaded the Middle East and sacked Moslem villages, often with genocidal intent. In Jesus’ name King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella tortured and ethnically cleansed Spain’s Jews, Protestants, Moslems and anyone else they felt didn’t toe the mark. Christian Reformers Zwingli and John Calvin both had people executed on behalf of Jesus. Calvin liked to have them burned at the stake with green wood so the slow burning fire would torture them longer. Jesus’ endorsement was claimed by both sides in the American Civil War. Jesus endorsed the construction of the now defunct City of Faith with 60 foot praying hands out front by telling Oral Roberts he would die if he didn’t raise 12 million dollars. And throughout history Jesus has been put forward as the spokesperson for every new denomination and sect. Jesus even endorsed George Bush, some have claimed.

There is, however, a big difference between his Grapes of Galilee endorsement and these others I’ve just mentioned. Grapes of Galilee is a wine. The beverage of choice in these other matters was Kool Aid.

MAHMOUD, LET'S DO LUNCH.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, does not strike me as the kind of guy I’d enjoy sharing a cart with in a round of golf. In fact, to be perfectly honest, the guy gives me the creeps. If even half the stuff that is reported about him is true, extreme caution is in order when dealing with him.

Still, I think it is a very good thing that he was invited to speak by Columbia University. What happened yesterday at their controversial speakers’ forum is the kind of thing that just might keep us from resorting to bombs and guns in our international dealings. As long as we can keep engaged in dialogue there is hope that maybe the day will come that Iran and the world community will agree that whatever our differences, as profound and complicated as they are, they aren’t worth going to war over. Because, once we go to war, everybody loses. Ongoing conversation, on the other hand, furthers the chances that each party will discover elements of common humanity upon which they can lay foundations for more peaceful resolutions.

Isolating and stigmatizing usually ends up stiffening resolve and defiance. Despots and tyrants when backed into a corner tend to resort to desperation to preserve their power. That’s when the neighborhood gets really dangerous.

I’m a firm believer in the concept that in the free exchange of ideas truth will ultimately prevail. Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of liberty. It is one of those values brave individuals have fought to preserve on the battlefield. What sense does it make to defend it and then deny it to a person we hope to win over to our way of thinking? So let’s keep talking. Sure, we will have to work hard to get past the revulsion we feel toward a guy that denies the Holocaust and has called for the destruction of Israel, but while we are listening there is a much greater likelihood that we will also be listened to.

Jesus said, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. It’s pretty hard to share a meal with anyone without having some conversation. Therein is the key to overcoming evil with good. It is the opposite of scorning, intimidating and threatening.

So, Mahmoud, let’s do lunch.

Hypocrits and Cheaters

A judge in Polk County, Iowa recently ruled the Iowa law banning same sex marriages was unconstitutional. This started a race to the courthouse between same sex couples hoping to get “legally” married and those hoping to see this appalling example of judicial activism overturned. The gay couples ran to the courthouse to get marriage licenses. Those opposed rushed to get a stay allowing them time to get the judge’s ruling overturned on appeal. One gay couple from Ames, Iowa won the race and had a wedding ceremony in a local pastor’s front yard only minutes before a stay was issued. Technically, they are now legally married in the State of Iowa, although there remains some doubt as to whether they will remain so.

Being a happily married heterosexual who plans to continue as such no matter what the courts say, there is a part of me that thinks this has nothing to do with me. That it happened in my home town and was front and center in all the local news coverage makes it more difficult to ignore than if it had happened in Mars or Massachusetts, however.

Clearly there are clashing worldviews and each is hoping to prevail in the courts. The state legislature will probably get involved before it is over and our judiciary will be embroiled in this matter for years to come. In the meantime what are the rest of us to do?

Some, including local talk radio personalities, have gone into hysteria and hostility as they presume to speak for God and the Founding Fathers. Their angst-ridden decrying of societal norms shifting away from their values is causing very polarizing and excluding fallout with which many of us would prefer not to be associated. The activists on the other side are equally smug and offensive as they go about trying to stamp out dissent and run rough shod over the constitution by bypassing the will of “we the people” established by the legislative process.

Since divorce rates among religious defenders of traditional marriage are essentially the same as in the society at large, I don’t think they can speak with much authority in the defense of marriage. Marriage isn’t doing all that well among them; neither is traditional morality it would appear by the evidence of scandal after scandal that hit the headlines. Little wonder that the terms religious and hypocrites are almost synonymous to many.

But, the proponents of gay marriage who are intentionally manipulating the system for their selfish agenda are bad role models, too. Cheaters do not prosper in the end. They lose. Cheating eventually backfires. This end game around established law and societal norms is very unsavory to many and invites a negative reaction.

Americans have a way of eventually getting around to reacting to abuses of power and unfairness. Stand by as “we the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union” work our way out of this dilemma. Hopefully, we won’t lose our decency and civility more than we already have in the process. I hope neither hypocrites nor cheaters get the last word.

WHY IS THIS NEWS?

There was a gasp of shocked consternation that momentarily lowered the oxygen level among the faithful last week. It hit the news wires that Mother Teresa, who worked among the poorest of the poor in Calcutta for more than 40 years, and who is on the fast track to sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church, spent much of her adult life doubting the existence of God. Letters she had written to confidants and confessors reveal that she felt utterly abandoned by God most of the time and had at one point given up praying. This insight into her private inner life stands in sharp contrast to her tireless, humble, public life which set the modern standard for Christian compassion and mercy ministry, and for which she received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

Others will write about the deeper insights we may glean from the posthumously published letters of “The Saint of the Gutters.” What I want to discuss is why is this news? Why, as if it is unthinkable, would anyone be surprised by anyone, saint or Joe Six-pack, having spiritual doubts?

The reason why is because we have developed and refined a religious way of thinking and living that denies and pretends we don’t have such doubts. Confident, certain types are our role models. We emulate people who appear to know what they believe and why they are right. Nobody wants a pastor or teacher who says he or she isn’t sure about what we’re doing. Doubters and skeptics aren’t welcome in the inner circles of the convinced. We delude ourselves into thinking the “real greats of the faith” don’t have dark moments of the soul like the rest of us. Mother Teresa fell prey to this mindset and had asked that the letters she had written be destroyed before the public could find out about her struggle. Thank God they weren't.

In his introduction to my book Quit “Going” to Church...And Other Musings of a Formerly Institutional Man, Xulon Press, 2007, Dr. John Dilley quotes M. Scott Peck:“...virtually all of the evil in this world is committed by people who are absolutely certain they know what they are doing.” In other words, only scandal and strife follows in the wake of ideologues. When will we ever learn that having doubts about God is as normal as breathing? There is no shame in it. It is a sign of sanity and an essential process of a healthy faith journey. It is one of the components that form the humility Jesus said would characterize citizens of his kingdom. Even Jesus had moments of doubt (Matthew 26:36-44)... and he didn’t hide it.

If Mother Teresa had “gone public” with her doubts as she carried on with her incredible service to humanity, how many shame-ridden secretly doubting souls could she have encouraged in the journey? Hopefully, more of us will rise up and say enough! to these religious practices that breed denial and doubt–hiding false facades and pressure us into pretending to be on top in public while keeping our struggles and doubts private. I want to be around people who are honest about their struggles and won’t all the time project only serenity and certainty.

The Sky is Firmly in Place

Researchers from a wide variety of secular and religiously affiliated organizations are agreeing that church attendance among young adults is in sharp decline. The studies show that 70-80% of young adults are leaving their churches before the age of 22. Only 35% of them later return. This trend is cited by some as evidence America has become a “post-Christian nation” following in the footsteps of Western Europe.

Religious traditionalists who have the annoying habit of seeing themselves as the official standard of measurement for all things validly spiritual and true are very troubled by this trend. With “the sky is falling” alarmism a burgeoning industry of seminars, conferences, and publishing has been created to teach pastors and youth workers how to stop this mass exodus. Most of the popular strategies and tactics fall into the category of entertain and hold. If the youth leader is hip enough, the music rock enough, the ambiance trendy enough and the events fun enough maybe a few will stick around and change their minds about dropping out of church. The reasoning behind these efforts is that, since they are the only true light bearers, they must react to this trend with extraordinary effort to keep the young people in their churches. If they can’t keep them coming to their programs, America is doomed. In my opinion this is nothing less than religious narcissism. It is wrong headed on several levels.

First, it is absolutely a false assumption that young adults leaving the church are disconnecting from God. Researchers are also finding that there is a rise in belief in God and interest in things spiritual among the youth of America. Young people today are more likely to pray and give themselves to acts of compassion than the youth of a generation ago. Many of them are finding it necessary to escape stifling, program based religion in order to spread their wings spiritually.

Second, it is the height of arrogance for any of us to conclude that our way of doing things is God’s preferred way of doing things. If history teaches us anything it declares loudly that God changes tactics from time to time. Forms and traditions that may have been fresh, life-giving and in step with what God was doing to interact with humanity at one time often have long since been added to the pile of obsolete and no longer useful “wineskins” today. Efforts to hold onto people and keep them engaged in things God has moved on from can become counter productive and even idolatrous.

Third and most important in this discussion is the shortsighted and negative view of God the alarmists project. Their inflated view of their own importance reveals a genuine lack of confidence in God. It assumes that God’s hands are tied to their “success” . If they aren’t carrying the day, neither is God it is assumed. That is an absurd and insulting to God proposition. God, who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will (Ephesians 1:11), is not bound or limited by our customs and comfort zones of religious practice.

From where I sit it looks to me like God is enjoying unprecedented success in engaging the hearts and minds of the emerging generation. How God is doing it may not look “churchy” but these are great days for what is most important to the Almighty.

My Wedding Ring

Saturday, August 4, my wife, Sally, and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary. For me, it will stand out as one of the best days I have ever had. No credit to me though, Sally is the one that made it so special.

A couple of weeks ago she made the odd request that I leave the anniversary planning to her. She communicated a strong resolve to be in charge of the proceedings. We'd had 34 years of experience with my anniversary planning. A change was long overdue. Let's just say that obligatory sentimentality isn't one of my strengths. I readily agreed to give her the day. And let me tell you, she hit the ball out of the park. I'll spare you the details of our trip to the Farmer's Market in the morning, the movie Hairspray in the afternoon, the romantic dinner, and the live jazz at a quaint East Village establishment to cap off the day. They were only infrastructure for the hand holding, laughter, cuddling, conversation, and her gift.

After dinner she reached into her purse and pulled out a ring box. In it was a sparkling re-creation of the wedding ring I first saw when she placed it on my finger 35 years ago in our wedding ceremony. I say "re-creation" because I had not worn the original one since they cut it off my finger in the emergency room after a fall from a ladder left me with a shattered wrist a year ago. I had worn the original ring full time for 34 years during which it had accompanied my hand while landscaping, doing factory work, working on home improvement projects, painting and the like. It showed much wear and tear. The distorted, paint encrusted ring they removed from my finger that day had gone through many hardships, as has our marriage.

I couldn't believe it when she told me that this ring so shiny and new was, in fact, my original ring. She had paid a jeweler to restore it. The old dings, cracks and stains are all gone. It looks brand new. She gave me the ring and read me a poem she had written to "My Love," as she repeatedly referred to me in the poem.

As I put the ring on, I couldn't help but think that just as the special skills of a jeweler can restore a ring, so can a life worn marraige get refurbished with some intentional planning to be together, fun and celebration of each other, and time given to reflective conversation. I went to sleep Saturday night, my hand touching hers, thinking our marriage seems shiny and new today, too. It was a very happy anniversary.

THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY...

There is a maxim of war being tossed around in conversations and strategy sessions these days: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” It seems that mercenary elements that absolutely hate America and have brutally resisted our presence in Iraq have now begun collaborating with us against al Qaeda. The United States is relying upon the Middle Eastern custom of baksheesh (bribery) to buy favors from these folks who would kill us in a heart beat if given half a chance.

Does anybody remember the events that made the late Saddam Hussein the powerful player he became on the world stage? Back in the days of the Islamic revolution in Iran that brought down the Shah, when American hostages were held for 444 days, and the late Ayatollah Khomeini was ushered to power, the United States armed and invested in Saddam Hussein led Iraq to resist the Iranians in the region. Hussein parlayed this military and monetary largesse into making Iraq a major force. He decided our support earned him a pass so he cruelly gassed the Kurds and the Iranians in defiance of global prohibitions against chemical warfare. He also built a nuclear reactor which would have led to the development of atomic weapons had the Israelis not destroyed it in a brazen air strike. He did it and got away with it because our mindset at the time was the enemy of our enemy is our friend. And had he not tried to expand his power in the region by invading Kuwait in 1991, he may never have been held accountable for his atrocities.

History now clearly shows that the United States was complicit in creating the monster we later felt we had to topple in Iraq. Now, here we go again. We are playing the same game with militias and tribal gangs who are showing a willingness to fight against al Qaeda in exchange for money, arms, and political power. Politicians are trying to tell us that this is a positive development and evidence of the success of our war effort. I say it is sheer madness that only expands the conflict, empowers new monsters we will have to deal with later, and further underscores the evil and futility of this war.

By brute military force, and at great cost of life and limb, we may be able to clamp down on the region hard enough to restrain violence for a time. But, if we foster rivalry and hatred between people because it serves our national interest, we are choosing a despicable course that will only hurt us in the long run. Instead of the selfish and shortsighted policy that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, we should be looking for ways to make friends of everyone in that part of the world and overcome evil with good.

Viva! Papa Nazi

The headline of the July 11 Des Moines Register was the 85% "NO" vote by the citizens to the proposal to increase the local sales tax. Tucked back on page 9A was an Asociated Press article with the caption "Pope: Catholic Church is the only true church." That should have been the headline because the implications have far more reaching consequences than whether we pay another penny tax on our purchases.

Pope Benedict XVI, according to Nicole Winfield of the AP, not only believes the Roman Catholic church is the only true church, he also asserts that Catholicism "provides the only true path to salvation." Hello! In other words, of the 2.5 billion people who claim to be Christian on the planet today, only the Catholics are really Christians. The rest of us are substandard, unredeemed, misguided, defrauded, unqualified imposters. According to this pope, sometimes called "Papa Nazi" by his detractors who point out his affiliation with Hitler's Nazi youth organization in earlier years, other Christian communities "cannot be called 'churches' in the proper sense." That means if we are Lutheran, Episcopalian, Methodist, Baptist, Assemby of God, etc. we are not Christians, our church isn't either. Only by converting to Catholicism, attending Mass, observing the Catholic sacraments administered by an official priest can one hope to be saved. Yikes!

I cannot overstate the sinister implications of this declaration at this time in world history. Nor can I think of anything that could be more contrary to the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. My first impulse is to fight this evil with angry protest and hostility. But, then I remember what the scriptures say; "overcome evil with good." So... I pray God's blessing on Pope Benedict XVI, my brother in Christ, and all of his followers, who, like me, are trying to find their way in a spiritually diverse and complicated world. May the day come when we realize that it is only by having love one for another that we can make any claim to be true followers of Jesus Christ.

Thoughtful Voters, America Needs You

If the polls are to be believed, the upcoming presidential election season offers one of the greatest opportunities for change on the political landscape in my memory. President Bush’s approval rating is bouncing around historic lows for a sitting president and the approval rating for congress is even lower. The American public is really disgusted with the whole bunch.

Besides the very unpopular war we are engaged in, people are fed up with the fact that these politicians are incapable of breaking through partisan bickering and actually running the country. The tit-for-tat, he said-she said noise pollution cloud that hangs over Washington is choking out healthy dialogue and meaningful progress. It is a toxic atmosphere. It reminds me of the time that the coach benched the entire first team and sent the second and third string players into the game because the starters weren’t playing up to our potential. Voters are ready to bench the under achievers and send in new players with different attitudes and skill sets.

What I am hoping for is that enough of us will break away from blind party loyalties on both sides of the aisle to find out who among the candidates offers the clearest vision for the future and can break through the current impasse. That will mean refusing to let the media, the spin controllers, agenda peddlers, and radical fringes do our thinking for us. It will mean reading between the lines, studying policy and voting records and taking note of what the candidates really stand for. It will mean forgetting about Paris Hilton and Rosie O’Donnell and their ilk while we focus on more important things. It will mean thinking beyond local politics and reasoning through foreign policy implications. It will mean looking out for not only our own interests, but also the interests of others. It will mean offering with our vote the opportunity to govern this great nation only to those who are genuinely motivated by public service not greed and lust for power, and who refuse to pander to special interest groups. It will mean saying a resounding NO to the politics that settles for the lowest common denominator and avoids solving the big issues of our time. Remember, we voted in those who are failing us and we can find replacements to put in their place.

GOD, HELP US, PLEASE!?

Before I could introduce myself and get his name, he picked up my book, frowningly turned a few pages, gave a brief glimpse to the back cover, and then asked in stern tones, “Are you a part of ... (mentioning a contemporary Christian movement)? I’ve heard about them,” he sniffed. He then proceeded to inform me what his denominational persuasion was and that he thought “we should go by the Bible.” He even proudly volunteered that he was currently at odds with his pastor because he wasn’t teaching the Bible “correctly.” “My name is Steve,” I interrupted offering a handshake.

I was sitting at a table as the invited guest author for a book signing at a local Christian bookstore. Talking to me was optional. I was only there to sign my book for anyone interested enough to buy it. Many people bypassed my table and went politely about their business just as I have numerous times in bookstores. This gentleman walked in, saw me sitting there, noticed the title of my book (Quit “Going” to Church...And Other Musings of a Former Institutional Man http://xulonpress.com/book_detail.php?id=4001), made a snap judgment that my writings were unbiblical and threatening to his “true” Christianity, and felt like he needed to get in my face. He didn’t know me, didn’t want to know me, and didn’t think he needed to take the time to consider what I have to say before judging me to be his adversary. After spewing his excluding bile, he walked away in smug confidence that he had held to his righteous standards and had clearly established the demarcation between him and me. I sat there sadly thinking I know how he feels because that is how I used to think.

Many of us were trained and groomed in a tradition that made being convinced of the correctness of our point of view the all important thing. We were taught how to win arguments in defense of our beliefs. Opposing views were to be vigorously resisted. Many of the Bible classes and sermon series we were subjected to (and that I used to teach) focused on the evils of groups, denominations, or movements that offered an alternative perspective. Our mission was to hold the line against anything and everyone that seems different. To carry this out effectively it was necessary to share membership only with those who agree with us. We got together to reinforce what we believed and to remind ourselves how evil the rest of the world is. We were defined by what we were against and how different we were from everybody else.

I no longer look at others this way. I am so very sorry I ever did. Yes, there are points of view that I cannot agree with. But I strive to not allow points of disagreement to become obstacles to what can hopefully become a generative relationship. While seeking to find points of commonality, empathy, and understanding, one often finds reasons to actually like and listen to others. That is life giving in the sense that it fosters bonds of affection and stimulates personal growth. This is what Jesus modeled when he intentionally socialized with marginalized people such as drunkards, prostitutes and “sinners” (Luke 15). I don’t mind that the man didn’t buy my book. I’m just disappointed he walked away before discovering how much I love God and the Bible, too.

MY DAD

If we don’t season our cultural analysis and introspection with some gratitude from time to time, we tend to get a little on the grumpy side. I know I do. With Father’s Day approaching, I’ve been thinking about my dad. What a guy he is!

Dad came from the humblest of beginnings. As a child he was exposed to poverty, hunger, abuse, alcoholism and more. Positive role models were scarce. Street fighting was a way of life in those days of bigotry and segregation. He was what we call today a gang-banger in the hood. Although schooling was not emphasized, an 8th grade education was all his parents had, Dad had street smarts and the precocious insight to understand that if he were ever to amount to anything he had to get out of that way of life. He enrolled in the army just after WWII. There he was selected to serve in an elite Special Forces unit.

After his honorable discharge, he briefly returned to the party lifestyle until a spiritual encounter set him on a forever changed course. This once poor street kid married the church pianist, enrolled in a Bible college, completed theological training, became a very successful pastor for 16 years, before going on to serve as a denominational leader and administrator. All this, while raising 4 exuberant kids. He has spoken to audiences all over the United States in a style that is next to none. He is a consummate story teller. He has also served on boards and committees that have involved him internationally with high government officials.

He retired briefly before accepting the call to full time chaplaincy at a large retirement complex. Although he hits 78 next month, he preaches several times a week, makes hospital calls, conducts funerals, counsels, attends strategy meetings AND is writing what I think will be a great book. We recently moved 4 doors down from him and mom in the same townhome complex. He is fully engaged in life and world affairs about which we have frequent stimulating conversations. He is a man of deep thought and prayer. He is my friend, my mentor, my hero, a gentleman through and through, and I’m so glad he is my dad. Happy Father’s Day!

National Bird-flipping

What goes around comes around. We reap what we sow. A man’s appetite works for him. Opportunity knocks. You don’t spit into the wind. Wake up and smell the coffee.

What the heck am I talking about? Immigration. It seems to be on everyone’s mind these days. Each of these above quoted tidbits of scripture or cliché have something to do with the current immigration debate in congress. This debate showcases one of the clearest examples of political grandstanding and hucksterism I have ever seen. Playing off of our irrational fears and selfishness, the politicians are trying to convince us that they are going to fix the problem (assuming there is a problem to fix). I’ll go on the record by saying they won’t fix the problem because they can’t.

Whatever laws congress enacts to “get tough” on immigration will have the same clout as the treaty the Sioux Indians signed with the United States. The original treaty stipulated that the First Nations people would retain sovereignty over the Black Hills in present day South Dakota. Settlers were forbidden by the law from entering the Indians’ sacred territory. Custer’s cavalry had been dispatched into the region to enforce that law and protect the borders. Then gold was discovered and the law became as worthless as the paper it was signed on. A stampede of opportunity seekers crossed the border, overwhelmed law enforcement, and created a new reality.

The “gold” of opportunity resides inside the borders of the United States. Hungry and hopeful people will not be deterred in their quest to lay hold of it. They are here and they are coming and anyone who imagines that we are going to stop them is ignorant of history and living in extreme denial. It is human nature to resent people who don’t play by the rules and seek to get an unfair advantage. Many are reacting to illegal immigrants with the same attitude they react to lane cutters and rule breakers in traffic. But, just as honking one’s horn and offering a finger salute doesn’t stop line cutters and traffic violators, our immigration laws and attempts to secure our borders will continue to be ineffective.

We value law and order when it protects our interests. When it doesn’t we change the rules. All the high sounding rhetoric about law and order forgets the colonialism, slavery, invasion and conquest that shades our history as a nation. We are reaping what we have sown and the best we could do in reaction to the new wave of opportunity seekers is be hospitable, cultivate the potential benefits of the new reality, and stop this embarrassing, immature national bird-flipping. If we don’t, history could repeat itself and the “hostiles” could end up confined to the reservation—or worse.

SAY YES FOR A CHANGE

If you grew up in a segregated white neighborhood in Bible-belt America in the 1950’s and 60’s and went to a conservative church with similar situated folks, chances are good that you did not think of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement as being good for America. In fact, you likely were taught that it was a sinister, communist plot to destroy America. Thank God history has shown how utterly wrong that mindset is.

At the beginning of the 20th Century, women’s suffrage was represented in sermons and editorials as a menacing threat to democracy. Horrible outcomes were predicted if women were given the right to vote. Only a social Neanderthal would think that today. Also, it was in that same time frame when the great split between Bible-belt fundamentalists and the practitioners of the so-called “liberal” social gospel occurred. The fundamentalists retreated into revivalism and rapture hype, and have only recently awakened to the fact that, if they don’t get involved addressing the pressing issues of social injustice and the ills of poverty, they’ll become totally irrelevant in today’s world.

It was once thought that the “Christian” thing to do was to militarily conquer Native Americans, force them to live on reservations, and take their children away from their families (at gunpoint if necessary) to live in boarding schools run by missionaries. If you were a mainstream, God-fearing, white American in the mid to late 1800’s, that’s what you most likely would have supported. We continue to reap the horrible consequences of this evil policy— even as we are with the lingering impact of the slave trade that was promoted often times by religiously devout people.

These, and many other examples I could cite, illustrate the reality that religious folks often find themselves on the wrong side of issues. It seems to be a knee jerk reaction on the part of conservative religionists to do whatever it takes to protect the status quo. Declaring a resounding “no!” to change is the default position of many. I understand that there can be wisdom in putting the brakes on accelerating cultural upheaval in order to allow progress to be implemented in a more mature and considered fashion. But, too many automatically stand in defiance of societal evolution digging in their heels and label anything new as satanic and threatening to their sacred comfort zone. It is the mindset that caused some to plot the execution of Jesus 2000 years ago when he was proposing a new social/spiritual order of God’s governance characterized by compassion, love for neighbors and enemies, and the elimination of excluding beliefs and practices.

Will we ever learn? Join me in accepting the challenge to say yes to something new today.

Tornadoes Suck!

Tornadoes suck! Yes, I intended to use this unoriginal pun. That’s the way I feel as I look at the total devastation and learn of the dozen or so deaths caused by the F-5 tornado that struck Greensburg, Kansas this past weekend. May God help those whose lives have been forever changed by this act of nature.

It raises some serious questions like, considering all the vast open spaces of western Kansas, why did the tornado zero in on the tiny town of Greensburg? You have to figure that the odds of such a storm colliding with that little town in that wide open, rural area are very small. We’ll never know the answer, of course, but I’ll bet many of the God-fearing residents of the now flattened community are wondering the same thing.

Another question is why wasn’t I in Greensburg? I’m guessing the odds that I’d drive into town that day aren’t that much different than the odds that an F-5 tornado would show up. Or, I might ask, why wasn’t I born in Darfur where genocide and drought are leaving an unimaginable toll of human suffering? How was it decided that I would be born in free and prosperous America and would be completely out of harms way the day of the tornado?

Only God knows the answers to these questions, but I sure want to thank him for my good luck!

Even So, Keep Coming, Jesus

I recently heard a statement that made me sit straight up in one of those, “Aha! Of Course!” moments. Here it is: JESUS DID NOT COME TO EARTH TO START ANOTHER RELIGION.

Read the recorded words of Jesus in the Gospels of the New Testament and you will not find a single statement about an organizational strategy for starting a new religion.

Ø He did not declare where a headquarters should be. In fact, he told his followers to scatter from where they were and go to the remotest parts of the earth with his message.
Ø He did not establish any leadership certification ceremonies. In fact, he said that those who aspire to greatness among his followers must learn to be the servants of others.
Ø He did not establish any elaborate liturgies. In fact, he cautioned we should do our praying and giving in private (Matthew 6:1-6).
Ø He did not organize any capital funding campaigns for organizational expansion. In fact, he said his followers should simply give to the poor because laying up treasure on earth usually doesn’t turn out too well (Matthew 6:19).
Ø He didn’t acquire property for either himself or his successors. In fact, he predicted the complete destruction of the centerpiece religious edifice of his day.
Ø He did not develop any bylaws, dogmas, or rules of order. In fact, he said the only way anyone would be able to tell who is really following him and who is not is by how we love one another (John 13:35).

He did speak of “build[ing] my church,” but only in the context of affirming that the rock solid declaration that he was “the Christ, the son of the living God,” would eventually result in the demolition of the “gates of hell” (Matthew 16:18). The phrase “building the church” as we use it today is very different in meaning from what Jesus was speaking of when he turned the phrase.

So, if Jesus wasn’t starting a new religion, what was he up to? He was establishing God’s kingdom. The lead off request of his prayer time was “your kingdom come, your will be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” There it is! Jesus envisioned an earth encompassing “kingdom” that has been gaining momentum ever since. It is the influence of God upon our very movements, breathing and existence (Acts 17:24-28). I, like many who read this, have wasted a lot of time and energy trying to get to God through religious endeavor. But, I’m pleased to announce that coming to a neighborhood near us all is the kingdom of God. In fact, there is mounting evidence that it’s here already. Maybe you saw on national TV last evening how people across this country and beyond donated tens of millions of dollars to alleviate poverty globally. That’s real kingdom stuff! Even so, keep coming, Lord Jesus.

IF YOU'RE GOING TO CHANGE, EDITH, HURRY UP AND CHANGE!

Dan Sullivan, in his insightful booklet, How the Best Get Better (© The Strategic Coach, Inc.), makes the following observation: “All stages of individual growth come from having goals—desiring something new, better and different. At first, goals liberate and motivate us; once achieved, they hobble and hinder us. Working to achieve a set of goals motivates us to develop specific relationships, structures, and personal habits. Once the goals are achieved, these same relationships, structures, and habits—now firmly entrenched—become The Ceiling of Complexity that prevents the next stage of growth. People become the prisoners of their own success, sometimes for the rest of their lives (p.9). He goes on to say that only by establishing new goals are we then forced “to develop new relationships, structures, and habits.”

Assuming that Mr. Sullivan is correct, the question I must answer is, am I more about maintaining what I’ve already accomplished, or am I more about moving forward and upward in personal growth? The more I strive to consolidate gains and fortify already accomplished goals the less likely I will be to adapt sufficiently to produce positive change and greater success.

Change resisters want to hold fast to the norms of earlier success. They do so at great peril. Whenever one stops looking for ways to break away from the “stuff, details, complications, conflicts, and contradictions that come from doing things a certain way for a long time,” one stops growing. . When I stop growing, I start dying. It’s that simple.

I am challenging myself daily to do something new and different than I did yesterday.

BEWARE! ENVIRONMENTAL FUNDAMENTALISTS!

First, let’s get one thing straight. There is simply no intelligent argument in favor of destroying the environment, depleting precious resources, and leaving behind a mess others have to clean up. Leave it in better shape than you found it is a philosophy everyone can agree to. If the current debate over global warming reminds us all to be better stewards of the earth, well and good.

But I’ll be danged if I’m going to fall prey to another legalistic fundamentalism! I went down that route in my early exposure to fundamentalist Christianity and it’s taken me years to get over it. The fundamentalists are those who have rigid and judgmental attitudes of how a “righteous” person ought to live. The fundamentalist circles I was in evaluated people by whether or not they smoked tobacco, drank alcohol, went to dances, played cards and wore makeup. The “real” committed faithful didn’t frequent bowling alleys or pool parlors, they didn’t wear wedding rings, and the women didn’t wear slacks. The “true believers” regarded folks who did such things with condescension and condemnation.

Now I read in the April 9, 2007 issue of Time that there is a new list of 51 do’s and don’ts for those who want to be environmentally righteous. Among them are # 29 “Remove the tie” and #31“Wear green eye shadow” (p.89). And, not surprisingly, as with all such controlling systems, they have even figured out a way one can “Pay for your carbon sins” (#42, p. 94). Hallelujah! I can be “redeemed” simply by contributing money that “typically funds clean-energy projects”. Translation, contributions will pay the environmental religionists’ salaries.

God help us! The last thing we need is another fundamentalist religion on the planet. Especially one that won’t let me wear a tie when I want to—which is almost never.

THE CULT OF INDIVIDUALISM

Most of my adult life was lived in the wild west—Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota. These are places where the cowboy mystique is ubiquitous. John Wayne’s ghost lurks about every historical marker—places where Indians lived and cavalry rode. In 1977, I conducted a funeral for a man who had ridden on horseback all the way from Texas to Montana as part of the crew for one of the last cross-country cattle drives of the old era, circa 1906.

Many western folks are rugged individualists. Just give ‘em a home where the buffalo roam, and leave them alone. I confess that I embraced the romance of the west when I lived there. Yes, I wore a cowboy hat! That is, until it went floating down the Yellowstone River after I slipped on a rock while trout fishing. I have “cowboyed up” by participating in round ups and brandings. I owned a horse for a short time. His name was “Keno”. I even threw a few loops as a team roper just for fun.

The problem with all this is that rugged individualism is a dysfunctional way to live. It requires emotional detachment, repressed feelings, anti-social behaviors, pride and selfishness to be carried out successfully. The lonely cowboy romanticized in the paintings is lonely because he has few friends, is estranged from his family, and would rather be with cows than people.

As a way of life the cowboy mystique is fading into history. The modern replacement for it is suburbia. Just give me a home behind a fence with a well manicured lawn where a machine will answer my phone while I hide in front of my TV. This, too, I have learned is a dysfunctional way to live. And just as the old cowboys are a dying breed, so will the disengaged suburbanite fade into history. We live in an ever more crowded global village and we must learn how to be neighborly. We must become more and more our brothers’ keeper. Those of us who might prefer the good old days are going to have to grow up and get involved. Jesus’ words are becoming crystal clear... love God, love people, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick, seek justice for the oppressed, and do good to those who mistreat you. Individualism must yield to community.

CONFORMITY OR CONVERSION

When Jesus told his followers to go and make disciples, what exactly did he have in mind? As far as I know, Jesus only gave one defining template. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:35). Were they loving each other or not? It would be easy to tell. Who is serving others? Who is laying down their life for another? Who is turning the other cheek? Who is feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, visiting orphans and widows, and praying for their enemies? Christ commissioned his disciples to love one another and go help others love one another. This they could do best by sharing wherever they went the good news of God’s reconciling love toward everyone through Jesus Christ and modeling that love in deed and word. Simple.

Tragically, history tells us that, from the earliest days of Christianity, many claiming to be followers of Jesus decided loving one another was an unsatisfactory measurement of who should be considered a fellow disciple. In a very short time, agreeing with “us” became much more important than simply loving us and others. The sorting out questions turned the focus to discovering who thinks like we think and cooperates with our ways of doing things rather than assessing if love was present.

Now, as everybody knows today, “loving one another” is way down on a long list of other “true disciple” identifiers such as saying specific words in a certain way, showing up regularly at church services, resorting to “acceptable” Bible interpretations as ones basis of belief, voting Republican or maybe conservative Democrat, supporting pro-family values causes, listening to Christian radio, and being disdainful of everyone who sins differently than “we” do. Loving one another may be all Jesus looks for in a disciple, but I can assure you it takes a great deal more to be recognized as a member in good standing on most church membership lists today.

Whether we will admit it or not, many churches have long ago abandoned making converts to loveful living and are, instead, devoting their time and money to getting people to conform to rules and habits of doing things religious the way they like them done.

HORNS OF A DILEMMA

It looks like the Republicans and their buddies, the religious right, have a dilemma. The two candidates currently in the forefront of Republican presidential politics, Rudy Giuliani & Mitt Romney, have some big negatives for religious conservatives. Giuliani is supportive of abortion and gay rights. Romney is a Mormon who at one time was also aggressively pro-abortion rights (although, since he decided to run for president, he claims he’s changed his mind about that). What an ideological conundrum for the morality crowd.

Being pro-life has been a “non-negotiable” litmus test for anyone the religious right has endorsed. And, almost every evangelical who has attended an adult Sunday school class for more than a couple of years has received indoctrination showing Mormonism to be a false cult, dangerous and threatening to anyone holding forth the Bible as the authoritative Word of God. Evangelicals, who make up the largest segment of the religious right, also espouse Biblical authority as a non-negotiable.

The old saying is that “politics makes strange bedfellows.” It will be fascinating to watch which of these two candidates (assuming they continue to be the frontrunners) the religious right will go to bed with. If anyone who has claimed to be pro-life and believes in the authority of the Bible ends up supporting either of these two candidates, they may be rightly criticized as a hypocrite. Their supposed non-negotiables will have been put aside for the sake of winning an election and occupying the seats of power. Never mind what the Bible cautions about those who clamor for earthly power.

I’m all for participating in the political process. But, as soon as one claims to have views that are godlier, more biblical, traditional, or whatever other morally superior label you want to give them, only to later put them on the back burner in order to secure power; they can be sure they are on the road to getting caught in embarrassing hypocrisy. That’s a mistake I hope to avoid making this time around.

POKER AND PACIFISM

I admit it. I like to watch tournament poker on TV. I'm not sure why since I don't play poker. I gave it up when I lost $20 in a game my freshman year at college. Haven't played since. I guess I fall into the category of gullible couch potatos who are entertained by the colorful personalities, the bluffing and betting strategies, and the huge pots on the line.

One of the things I've noticed is they never show us what losers do after they lose. Do they go to a bar and drown their sorrow? Do they go home and yell at their kids? Do they go find another game where they hope to recover their losses? Do they just shrug and wait for another day? Last night I saw a guy who had come all the way from Japan trying to convince an interviewer how happy he was to have had the privilege of coming to America and losing the $10,000 it cost him to buy into the tournament. Give me a break!

Right now there is a "high stakes poker game" of global proportions happening in the Middle East. In the form of troop build ups, warships moving into the zone, diplomatic intimidation and "everything on the table" (all in) maneuvering, the United States and her allies are hoping to get Iran to "fold" its uranium enrichment and nuclear weapons program. The "table chattter" is confrontational and threatening. The suspense of the moment is intense compounded by the fact that those of us in the viewing audience don't have the benefit of those little table cameras that show us what hands the players have. And as we learned in Iraq, even when we think we know we don't. Either the "cameras malfunction" or the "production editors" lie.

I think we'd all be better off if we gave up poker. If we've got billions of dollars to gamble on high stakes adventures that someone is guaranteed to lose and suffer the consequences, wouldn't it be money better spent if we devoted it to feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and caring for the sick and imprisoned as Jesus said nations were to be doing in Matthew 25? What if our only presence in the Middle East was to do good to our enemies? What if we were serious about blessing those who mistreat us in order to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:14-21)? I think it would be worth a try because we have so much to lose and, as I see it, politically, emotionally and spiritually, we're playing with a "short stack."

CHILDLIKENESS

One of the things that make little children cute is their innocense. They have an outlook that is unencumbered by "knowledge" that so often takes the lustre off of wonderment. I recall the occasion when I was in 3rd grade that I first learned where babies come from. I, up to that point, had acquired some information about a certain behavior that "naughty" people did that was represented by a certain four letter word, but had no clue that it had anything to do with reproduction. It upset me to no end when a friend said my mom and dad had "done it" or I wouldn't have been born. I laid in bed crying that night as I considered the horrible prospect. Dad was cool in the way he helped me process that information from a biblical perspective and give it a positive, wholesome spin. Still, that passage of discovery and maturity, took away from me some of the magic and mystery about life that I had enjoyed up to the moment (though it did open the door to some enjoyable moments in my future).

I think about such milestones of learning on the journey toward adulthood when I read what Jesus said about children and his kingdom. "Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'" He made a similar point when conversing with Nicodemus as recorded in John 3. Jesus' assertion that being "born again" was the only way Nicodemus could "see the kingdom of God" was another way of saying childlikeness is essential for kingdom participation, as in the Matthew 18 passage above.

It would be equally absurd to think Jesus was requiring Nicodemus to regress to the point of going back into his mother's womb, or that I am required to delete from my understanding essential information like the facts of life before either of us can enter God's kingdom. So what was the point Jesus was making? The key phrase is humbling oneself. Jesus' disciples were keen to know the path to status in the kingdom. Jesus called a child heretofore excluded from their conversation, placed him front and center, and answered that it would be the kind of humility displayed by this child who was being asked to stand in front of a bunch of grown men that leads to greatness in God's kingdom. This child was just a little person rolling along in life not encumbered by philosophizing quests for greatness--blissfully unaware of the political scheming and self-agrandizing shenanigans that many adults get into. Much of this stuff characterizes our religious endeavors, things like striving, posturing and approval seeking.

I think Jesus was trying to get us to understand that kingdom greatness comes more readily to those who are oblivious to such things and are just happily and humbly "playing" in the playground of life.

HAPPILY UNCERTAIN

How's this for a quote? "There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are unknowns; that is to say, we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns--the ones we don't know we don't know" (Donald Rumsfeld as quoted by Evan Eisenberg and Jeffrey Fisher in Time, January 29, 2007, p.142). Huh?

It may come as a surprize that some pretty significant Bible characters said essentially the same thing. Isaiah quoted God as saying: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Jesus told his disciples: "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear..." Speaking of events they were anticiapting about his kingdom, he also told them matter of factly, "It is not for you to know the times and dates the Father has set by his own authority." St. Paul echoed Isaiah's words and wrote to the Romans, "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!" He also reminded the Corinthians that, "For now we see in a mirror dimly... now I know in part..." And, John agreed, stating, "what we will be has not yet been made known."

The trick is keeping humble enough to remember that "we don't know what we don't know." Our tendency, instead, is to take pride in things on which we think we have certainty. Most of us have constructed sheltering systems of thought and belief in which we hide to shield us from "unknown unknowns" and, in effect, deny their existence. These shelters, be they creeds, systematic theologies, political views, or the traditions that have been passed down to us, tend to make us very suspicious of and closed to anything new. My own formal training as a Bible scholar and pastor was designed to prepare me to defend what we "knew" to be true and ready to win the argument against any suggestions to the contrary. All questions had specific "correct" answers. Historically, people have been literally put to death for suggesting that something everybody "knew" to be true was not true--things like the earth isn't flat or the sun doesn't orbit around the earth.

As a friend of mine stated at breakfast this morning, "Faith is the flower that can only grow out of the soil of doubt." In other words, the faith that connects us with the unknowable (God) is not so much about being certain what we know, but, like the little child, being okay for now with with what we don't or can't know. Study, inquiry, searching, evolving opinion and even doubt can be evidence of blossoming faith. Dogmatism, rigidity and opinionatedness, on the other hand, tend to be counterproductive to faith and can be dangerous. It is people with this mindset that fly airplanes into buildings and burn dissenters at the stake.

Given the contrast, I've decided to be happily uncertain.

MAYBE WE SHOULD RETHINK THIS

I recently returned from Missoula, Montana where I participated in a conference with the oxymoronic title "The Good News About Hell." Glen Moyer, who writes a weekly column in the Missoulian under the heading "The Adventures of Clothman" (http://www.clothman.com/) was the host. I shared in two of the sessions. The stated purpose of the conference was to expand the dialogue about the hell doctrine which assigns to eternal conscious torment all nonbelievers in Christ when they die.

In preparation for this conference, I learned some facinating things:
1. The Old Testament contains no references to the traditional Christian hell. A fact which most modern Bible translations acknowledge.
2. Most of Jesus' teaching about what some older English Bibles translate as "hell" was really about an actual place outside of Jerusalem known as Gehenna in the Greek. It was the city dump where once King Ahaz had led Israel in human sacrifice to the idol Molech and was regarded as a cursed place. There the fire never stopped burning and the maggots (worms) never died.
3. Only one of six schools of theology that rose to prominence in the first centuries after Christ taught any kind of eternal torment in the afterlife. The majority taught the doctrine of the restoration of all things as did the apostles of Jesus as indicated in Acts 3:21 and Colossians 1:19-20.
4. No sermon recorded in Acts (the first sermons of Christianity) mentions or threatens eternal damnation.
5. Neither the Apostles' Creed nor the Nicaean Creed, two of the earliest known formal creeds of Christianity, mention eternal damnation as the destiny of unbelievers.
6. The literal hell of eternal conscious torment did not appear as the "official" doctrine of the church until the 6th Century--500 years after Jesus sent his followers to spread the gospel or good news of his living example, teaching, death on the cross and resurrection.

Given the fact that hellfire and damnation preaching has gone the way of the 8 track in most churches today--because most pastors instinctively sense there is something wrong with the notion that a loving God would doom the majority of the human race to eternal hell--I, and many others, believe it is time we revisit this horrible doctrine and assign it to the trash heap of history with other church dogmas that have been discarded such as justified slavery, inferiority of women, the earth is the center of the universe, and many others.

Dog Park Spirituality

During the holidays I learned of a couple who own a giant Great Dane dog that they frequently take to a nearby dog park. There the dog is allowed to run freely and frolic with other dogs--different breeds, large and small. Amazingly, most of the time the dogs get along and play nicely, although an occasional skirmish does break out. Owners quickly retrieve their dogs and pull them away from the growling and barking confrontations. Play usually resumes.

What facinates me about all this is the network of friends this couple has developed as they and the other dog owners have stood in the waiting area and visited with each other. People they would have never connected with in their "normal" social network have become genuine friends that they look forward to seeing and even get together with to socialize away from the park from time to time. These folks are as diverse as their dog breeds. Republicans and democrats, Christians and non-Christians, pro-life and pro-choice, advocates of legalizing medical marijuana and those who would oppose it, all convening at predictable times at the dog park. It has become such a community that they have a bulletin board that posts news about regulars. If someone has had their pet die it gets posted on the bulletin board and many who see it send sympathy cards or otherwise make contact. My acquaintences even confessed that it being winter their outings to the park were less frequent and they were "missing" some of the people they have grown to care about.

As far as I know Jesus didn't hang out at a dog park, but there is no question that he frequented market places, fishing docks, scenic overlooks, courtyards and parties. Because of this he was criticized for being too comfortable around drunkards, gluttons and sinners. The Gospels tell us that most people he encountered were "delighted" by his presence. Could it be that it wasn't moralizing sermons they were drawn to, but rather, his listening ear, engaging smile, and his participation in the lives of the people he encountered? I can imagine people going to places where they had encountered him before in the hope he would show up again.

Whether it's a dog park, bowling league, coffee shop, break room at work, back yard bar-b-que, or foyer at church the coolest and most important stuff of life goes on where people build relationship with each other enough to care about each other no matter what their "breed of dog."