Heard about this on NPR -- really enjoyed it.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Monday, November 17, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
How To Vote This Year
From Saints Alive!, the All Saints Parish Monthly Newsletter October 2008
Did that headline get your attention? Most Episcopalians I know get pretty revved up by the idea of their priests taking a position on anything political.
You can relax. I’m not actually going to tell you how you should vote, as in which candidate you should support. Rather, I’m going to tell you a way to put a few of the best Christian principles into your decision no matter whether you’re red, blue, or somewhere in between. The material is adapted from pages 304 and 305 of the Book of Common Prayer—the agreement we make with God at baptism of our children and then reaffirm regularly as our guiding rules for living.
Step One: Affirm The Power of God
First is the most basic. Before we make a decision, it’s always good to affirm that we believe in a loving, powerful, kind, and compassionate God who created and sustains all things. It’s so important not to skip this step. It’s easy to say, “Well, I believe that,” and really not think about it very much. Sitting quietly with this idea for a few moments usually produces a kind of calm in us. That improves all our decision-making. Then as we decide, we ask ourselves: “Does this vote affirm to the best of my ability my belief in a powerful and compassionate God?”
Step Two: Affirm God's Passion for People
Second is “like unto it.” Having remembered that God is powerful and present, we then remind ourselves that in the life, person, and work of Jesus Christ, we see that God loves every human being passionately. There are no exceptions. In fact, God seems to have a special interest in the poor, marginalized, and outcast. As people of God, we will always want to exercise all of our powers to cooperate with God’s activity on their behalf. We ask ourselves: “Does this vote affirm to the best of my ability my belief that God cares deeply about the poor and I should too?”
Step Three: Recognize Our "Shadow Side"
Third, we are to take a close look at our own “shadow” side and do what we can to shed light on it. Each of us carries anxiety, fear, envy, greed and gluttony, resentment, lust (especially for power over others), and more. Political strategists of all types understand this very well. If we are aware of the universal tendency to participate in the “isms” like racism, sexism, etc., and are willing to admit we have them and do what we can to heal them, we will be much less susceptible to manipulation. We ask ourselves: “Does this vote, to the best of my ability, recognize and neutralize the fact that I was trained to believe in many ‘isms’ and I’m trying to repent of them?”
This might seem like a lot of work. It is—but voting is important and deserves our efforts. Yes, the questions above are asked at the same time we are reading up on candidates and ballot measures, googling for more information, watching the news and discussing issues of our day with friends and family.
But for the Christian, voting is much more than getting the “facts” as best we can. We are to affirm with all of our activities the broad principles available to us. These principles help us to make the best decisions we can as we step into the voting booth.
Did that headline get your attention? Most Episcopalians I know get pretty revved up by the idea of their priests taking a position on anything political.
You can relax. I’m not actually going to tell you how you should vote, as in which candidate you should support. Rather, I’m going to tell you a way to put a few of the best Christian principles into your decision no matter whether you’re red, blue, or somewhere in between. The material is adapted from pages 304 and 305 of the Book of Common Prayer—the agreement we make with God at baptism of our children and then reaffirm regularly as our guiding rules for living.
Step One: Affirm The Power of God
First is the most basic. Before we make a decision, it’s always good to affirm that we believe in a loving, powerful, kind, and compassionate God who created and sustains all things. It’s so important not to skip this step. It’s easy to say, “Well, I believe that,” and really not think about it very much. Sitting quietly with this idea for a few moments usually produces a kind of calm in us. That improves all our decision-making. Then as we decide, we ask ourselves: “Does this vote affirm to the best of my ability my belief in a powerful and compassionate God?”
Step Two: Affirm God's Passion for People
Second is “like unto it.” Having remembered that God is powerful and present, we then remind ourselves that in the life, person, and work of Jesus Christ, we see that God loves every human being passionately. There are no exceptions. In fact, God seems to have a special interest in the poor, marginalized, and outcast. As people of God, we will always want to exercise all of our powers to cooperate with God’s activity on their behalf. We ask ourselves: “Does this vote affirm to the best of my ability my belief that God cares deeply about the poor and I should too?”
Step Three: Recognize Our "Shadow Side"
Third, we are to take a close look at our own “shadow” side and do what we can to shed light on it. Each of us carries anxiety, fear, envy, greed and gluttony, resentment, lust (especially for power over others), and more. Political strategists of all types understand this very well. If we are aware of the universal tendency to participate in the “isms” like racism, sexism, etc., and are willing to admit we have them and do what we can to heal them, we will be much less susceptible to manipulation. We ask ourselves: “Does this vote, to the best of my ability, recognize and neutralize the fact that I was trained to believe in many ‘isms’ and I’m trying to repent of them?”
This might seem like a lot of work. It is—but voting is important and deserves our efforts. Yes, the questions above are asked at the same time we are reading up on candidates and ballot measures, googling for more information, watching the news and discussing issues of our day with friends and family.
But for the Christian, voting is much more than getting the “facts” as best we can. We are to affirm with all of our activities the broad principles available to us. These principles help us to make the best decisions we can as we step into the voting booth.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
The Dark Knight: Gorgeous Ambivalence
Striking to look at, rich to listen to. Wonderful performances by Freeman, Eckhart, Caine and Oldman -- these guys are real pros and it shows. (And Roberts makes a wonderfully creepy crime boss.) Bale OK except for ridiculous and distracting "Batman voice." Ledger is amazing and heartbreaking. What a loss.
So why only 2-1/2 stars? Muddled, even incoherent, message -- unless it is that society can no longer be counted on to provide safety and justice in a meaningful way; that the price is the sacrifice of the hero to the mentality of the mob; and in this world right and wrong really just come down to the flip of a coin.
This movie is deeply ambivalent about human dignity, whether we should even try to make right choices and our general powerlessness to do so with positive outcomes. (All this regardless of a tip of the hat to human decency in the ferry sequence).
I really think this isn't the moviemakers' fault. Rather, it's the way media is done today (you can't be too positive or hopeful in such a depressed time). At a deep level, it reflects our own incoherence about these issues. Hence the movie's darkness and deep sadness -- a kind of deep enervation where pseudo-feeling is created by moments of violence, a generally uninteresting love triangle and a hero made powerful by technology.
So why only 2-1/2 stars? Muddled, even incoherent, message -- unless it is that society can no longer be counted on to provide safety and justice in a meaningful way; that the price is the sacrifice of the hero to the mentality of the mob; and in this world right and wrong really just come down to the flip of a coin.
This movie is deeply ambivalent about human dignity, whether we should even try to make right choices and our general powerlessness to do so with positive outcomes. (All this regardless of a tip of the hat to human decency in the ferry sequence).
I really think this isn't the moviemakers' fault. Rather, it's the way media is done today (you can't be too positive or hopeful in such a depressed time). At a deep level, it reflects our own incoherence about these issues. Hence the movie's darkness and deep sadness -- a kind of deep enervation where pseudo-feeling is created by moments of violence, a generally uninteresting love triangle and a hero made powerful by technology.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Marching In
Six members and friends of our parish spent the fourth week of October in New Orleans. As part of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana’s relief effort, we helped gut and rebuild homes damaged during Hurricane Katrina more than two years ago.
Some facts: Katrina flooded More than 100,000 homes. 80 percent of the city flooded. More than 1,600 people died. When a barge broke off its moorings, it exploded a 300-foot hole in the levee protecting the 9th Ward. A 30-foot wall of mud, water and debris slammed into one of the poorest sections of the city.
It’s impossible to describe the devastation adequately. Huge sections of the city remain virtually empty today – the houses are there, but people don’t have the resources to rebuild. Trailers take up many front yards. The Lower 9th Ward looks like a bomb went off. Imagine your entire neighborhood with two or three houses left; the rest only slabs and vacant lots, front steps leading to nowhere, scattered debris. That’s what it’s like in the Lower 9th – only worse.
Though it is slowly recovering and rebuilding, this great U.S. city still suffers. But it’s not suffering alone, and it’s not suffering unaided. There are dozens of organizations involved in the rebuilding process. As you might expect, Habitat for Humanity has a large presence there. Every mainline church has teams on the ground. They are responding as Christians do: not running from suffering, but entering it.
We’re promised that that is where God is to be found. I haven’t spoken about this with the individual members of our team, but I think I can speak for all of us in saying that we experienced the truthfulness of that promise last week. If you want a deeper relationship with God, service like this is a good place to start. We don’t have to be physically strong or have a lot of stamina. We just need willingness to help in any way we can. God takes it from there.
Some facts: Katrina flooded More than 100,000 homes. 80 percent of the city flooded. More than 1,600 people died. When a barge broke off its moorings, it exploded a 300-foot hole in the levee protecting the 9th Ward. A 30-foot wall of mud, water and debris slammed into one of the poorest sections of the city.
It’s impossible to describe the devastation adequately. Huge sections of the city remain virtually empty today – the houses are there, but people don’t have the resources to rebuild. Trailers take up many front yards. The Lower 9th Ward looks like a bomb went off. Imagine your entire neighborhood with two or three houses left; the rest only slabs and vacant lots, front steps leading to nowhere, scattered debris. That’s what it’s like in the Lower 9th – only worse.
Though it is slowly recovering and rebuilding, this great U.S. city still suffers. But it’s not suffering alone, and it’s not suffering unaided. There are dozens of organizations involved in the rebuilding process. As you might expect, Habitat for Humanity has a large presence there. Every mainline church has teams on the ground. They are responding as Christians do: not running from suffering, but entering it.
We’re promised that that is where God is to be found. I haven’t spoken about this with the individual members of our team, but I think I can speak for all of us in saying that we experienced the truthfulness of that promise last week. If you want a deeper relationship with God, service like this is a good place to start. We don’t have to be physically strong or have a lot of stamina. We just need willingness to help in any way we can. God takes it from there.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Off To New Orleans
Tomorrow morning (Sunday, October 21) 23 of us from Episcopal Churches in southern Alameda County (Bay Area, for those of you not here) will leave for New Orleans for six days. We'll be working with the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana, contributing what we can to the rebuilding work that's still going on after Katrina. Please keep all of us in your prayers for safe travel and lots of energy!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Jesus-Centered and Progressive an Oxymoron?
I've been thinking a lot lately about my personal mission of "building Jesus-centered, progressive and powerful congregations." I know all of these words are loaded with baggage, so I'll give a couple of quick definitions of what I mean.
"Jesus-centered" is the easy one, in a way. It means a community where Jesus Christ is understood to be the center of the community, drawing us together and sustaining us through easy and difficult times. We understand ourselves to be his followers or disciples, broadly and dynamically defining those terms for ourselves, in community, over time.
In short, a "Jesus-centered community," as I understand it, is a place where people can hear Jesus gracious, gentle call and decide for themselves how they want to respond. If they want to become his disciple, we help them in any way we can to do so. Our concern for them does not rely at all on what they choose. We serve others in his name, as well.
By "progressive," I mean that our faith in Jesus Christ generates a profound desire to meet real human needs and learn how to hold up the injustices in our day to the Gospel message. It gives us courage and creativity in dealing with today's problems -- particularly in addressing the systems that create so much suffering in our neighborhoods and around the world.
I also mean something else by the word "progressive" -- something even more radical than normally meant by it. For me, a deepening faith in Jesus Christ generates an interest in how other people understand God -- and even a celebration of it.
It means focusing on my own walk with Jesus and learning from how others walk with the God of their understanding. I don't have to change them, or make them bad and wrong. In fact, their practices and disciplines (Zen meditation, for example) can actually add to the richness, depth and power of my Christian experience!
I'll say much more about this in the months to come, but it's important to get the conversation going. So many "Jesus-centered congregations" are anything but progressive, and so many "progressive" congregations seem to be mushy and vague about Jesus.
I believe we can, and should, put them together. After all, Jesus' core message was progressive to the extent that it focused on the poor at the expense of the rich (he was the original class warrior) and was powerfully transformative and disruptive to the status quo (and incredibly threatening to the power structures of his day). That's why they had to kill him.
So I'll say this. I am proud to call myself a "Christian progressive." And I am such to the exact extent that my faith in Jesus -- my relationship with him, really -- generates an interest in and concern for others, opens me up to the new, to the different, and to the creative, and gives me courage and strength to contribute to what God is doing in the world: transforming it all.
"Jesus-centered" is the easy one, in a way. It means a community where Jesus Christ is understood to be the center of the community, drawing us together and sustaining us through easy and difficult times. We understand ourselves to be his followers or disciples, broadly and dynamically defining those terms for ourselves, in community, over time.
In short, a "Jesus-centered community," as I understand it, is a place where people can hear Jesus gracious, gentle call and decide for themselves how they want to respond. If they want to become his disciple, we help them in any way we can to do so. Our concern for them does not rely at all on what they choose. We serve others in his name, as well.
By "progressive," I mean that our faith in Jesus Christ generates a profound desire to meet real human needs and learn how to hold up the injustices in our day to the Gospel message. It gives us courage and creativity in dealing with today's problems -- particularly in addressing the systems that create so much suffering in our neighborhoods and around the world.
I also mean something else by the word "progressive" -- something even more radical than normally meant by it. For me, a deepening faith in Jesus Christ generates an interest in how other people understand God -- and even a celebration of it.
It means focusing on my own walk with Jesus and learning from how others walk with the God of their understanding. I don't have to change them, or make them bad and wrong. In fact, their practices and disciplines (Zen meditation, for example) can actually add to the richness, depth and power of my Christian experience!
I'll say much more about this in the months to come, but it's important to get the conversation going. So many "Jesus-centered congregations" are anything but progressive, and so many "progressive" congregations seem to be mushy and vague about Jesus.
I believe we can, and should, put them together. After all, Jesus' core message was progressive to the extent that it focused on the poor at the expense of the rich (he was the original class warrior) and was powerfully transformative and disruptive to the status quo (and incredibly threatening to the power structures of his day). That's why they had to kill him.
So I'll say this. I am proud to call myself a "Christian progressive." And I am such to the exact extent that my faith in Jesus -- my relationship with him, really -- generates an interest in and concern for others, opens me up to the new, to the different, and to the creative, and gives me courage and strength to contribute to what God is doing in the world: transforming it all.
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