Month: March 2023

A Wandering Mind and a Murder of Crows

Published by mhelbert on March 16, 2023

So, I’m sitting here on the day between the Ides of March and St. Patrick’s day. I just got back from walking Josie, aka the Beast, and, after, giving her a much needed bath. On days like today when we get to go out a walk for a few miles in the sunshine and air my mind tends to go somewhere on its own. As I listened to the screaming of a murder of crows echoing through the woods, a small hawk flew over. Earlier, I had watched as the Beast looked up. She had spotted a buzzard circling in search of a snack.
So during all of this time, my mind was wandering where it would. Now, I don’t know if anyone else’s mind works like this. Sometimes it’s a bit unnerving. When it came back there was a question formed within its deep folds. And, of course it had nothing to do with sun or birds, or even the Beast. It was a question that I’ve grappled with before. It goes something like this:
What makes the Church any different than any other benevolent organization?
The reason that I wonder about that is that so many people read the Gospel stories and find that Jesus taught moral and ethical behavior as a kind of truth statement. He treated the “Other” as real people who deserved love and acceptance. That whole bit about “turn the other cheek” rings true to many people. So, a lot of people, many who are devote Christians, view the Gospel as a manifesto for doing good works. A case in point, I was part of a discussion about Spiritual Formation with members of a progressive church. Well, the church that I attend, actually. When I asked about what Spiritual Formation was, the overwhelming answer was to grow as moral people. We should learn to do what’s right. Just like Jesus showed us. It sounds like the Red Cross or Crescent. Or, perhaps the local food bank. Doing good and moral work, for these people, is the same as Spiritual Formation.
I thought about that for a bit. What is the difference, if any, between that and classic Spiritual Formation? Because, actually what they are saying is more like Moral Formation to me. There’s nothing wrong with that. It just doesn’t sound like Spiritual Formation.
Moral Formation is necessary for communities to live together in a healthy environment. We must be aware of the needs of others. It also covers such things as environmentalism, health care, housing, and food insecurity. All of these are good and necessary for people to thrive. But, they are all directed outward to the world. That isn’t Spiritual Formation at all.
On the other hand, when I think of Spiritual Formation I think of an inward journey. My mind is drawn to look at God and allow God to look at me. The trajectory is more inward and upward. Not Moral Formation at all.
However, when one practices Spiritual Formation, and it is a practice, one finds that God is looking outward at the world. That’s why Jesus was always looking out at others. Not because He was some moral person. It was because He was the exemplar of a Spiritual person. When we seek to know God and to be known by God, our vision also turns outward. One of my heroes was a Trappist monk named Thomas Merton. He wrote that one day he was standing on a street corner in Louisville, KY when this thought came to him, “In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers … There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.”
Merton was not a better person than anyone else. He did, however, have a deep and lively Spiritual life. Just like Jesus before him, Merton’s practices of Spiritual Formation helped to inform his moral life. The Inward/Upward journey is not complete without the outward focus.
Now, I want to make one thing very clear. In no way am I saying that a person must be a follower of Jesus and practice Spiritual Formation in order to be a moral person. That’s as stupid a statement as it is arrogant. Like I mentioned above, Moral Formation is a good thing. It is a necessary thing. It is a community thing.
What I am saying is Moral Formation is not Spiritual Formation. Even though, in the end, they may net similar outcomes. So, when I consider what is the difference between the Church and benevolent organizations or people, I see that One has the good and welfare of the world as its focus and purpose. The other has God as its focus and purpose. And, to follow God faithfully requires that we also gaze outward.

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Chains! People Have Me Wrapped Up in Chains!

Published by mhelbert on March 14, 2023

Happy Pi Day! I’ll take 3.14159265359 slices of cherry, please!
Yesterday I wrote a pretty pitiful post full of whiny stuff. Well, actually, it was a shameless plug for the upcoming Bible study about Violence. But, it still sounded whiny to me. So, today I thought that I’d revisit something that I’m sure I’ve written about before. Just don’t ask me where or when. C’mon! I’m old! You can’t expect me to remember everything! Sheesh!
That topic is, “Why do I even do this?”
Why did I start this blog thingy over a decade ago? Why have I written well over 500 posts? Why do I continue writing even though very few people ever read it?
Good Questions! I’m glad you asked!
Like I wrote yesterday, there is an organic bond between me and following Jesus. The bond has been forged over more than 50 years of trying, (mostly, unsuccessfully), to faithfully follow Him. During all of those years I’ve experienced the good and bad of Xtianity. I’d like to think that there was more good than bad. I’m simply not sure about that. All those years ago I tossed my hat into the Church, including its history. For the greater part of 1,500 years that history has been bloody and full of violence. Some would say that the Church is just continuing the legacy of God’s people from the beginning. That’s a whole topic in itself. Just not the one I want to touch on now. No, the reason that I want to revisit this question of why is simply an ‘Apology’ in the ancient meaning of that word. Why do I do this thing with words? Words are Power. I’ve written that many times. And, will continue to do so. Because I believe that it’s absolutely true. Words have the power to change and control reality. Especially, the reality in which we each live in. They can, as they say, loose or bind. The binding kind are in my crosshairs.
When I think of words binding folks, the image of Jacob Marley in Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” We’re told that every link in Marley’s chain was forged in this life by the choices that he made in not caring about others. While I know that Dickens was no theologian, his image of the chains is not far off. Whether we carry these chains into a hope for afterlife is beyond me. What I do know, however, is that the Words that we accept and believe very well may. Like I said, Words are Power.
I see the power to bind that words carry whenever I see someone speak derogatory words to another. Things like, “You’ll never amount to anything!” are powerful words. They are able to destroy another person in reality just as dead as any gun. The words that I take aim at are,”Unless you believe exactly as I do, you are going to hell!” Or, “God hates people! If not for Jesus standing between us and God, we would all be incinerated!” Or, “The Church has always thought this. Who are we to question it?” I could continue and produce a long litany of Death Dealing Words. Words that are fired like arrows into the hearts and minds of others. Words flung about without a care of who may be destroyed by them.
So, I write. I write about the Bible and theology. I write about the Church. I write about the abuses that I and countless others received at the hands of people who care not a whit about the damage that their words may cause.
Of course, I would like my words to speak to more people. I believe them to be important in the process of healing from abuse. I believe that my journey may benefit one or two people who are trapped in doubt. I believe that my words contain the Power to Heal.
So, I write. You may not find my words entertaining. Well, that’s not my job. You may think that I’m simply trying to impress with my great knowledge and insights. Well, maybe if I had any. I don’t. I just have my experience and my thoughts about that experience.
And, I write with hope. Hope that someone somewhere may read my words and the links in the chain that binds them to lies and death may weaken. Maybe, even fall off.

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Next Step: Violence in the Bible

Published by mhelbert on March 13, 2023

It’s Monday. Monday after a time change. Monday after the time change that costs us an hour. Why is it that humans have to try to tweek stuff that ain’t broken? Nature kept time for millions of years without our help. So, of course we have to fix it. Because we can. Sheesh!
Anyway, this Monday after the bitchiest time change is a snowy one here on the North Coast. Seven days from the start of astronomical spring and we’re getting more snow than in the whole of February. Again, Sheesh!
If it sounds like I’m complaining, it’s because I am. Well, at least I’m trying to stall for time. Yesterday we finished a Bible study on the Gospel According to John. It only took us 13 months. John can be a bit involved. For the past few years we’ve taken a book of the Bible and worked our way through from beginning to end. We looked at the culture at the time, who wrote it, to whom was it written, and why. I tried to follow a particular method that allowed the text to speak for itself. That meant trying to keep presuppositions and other baggage out. Yeah, it’s not easy. But, it gives us a better glimpse into what the writers were trying to say. Not what we would like them to say.
This next week I promised that we would begin a different kind of study. Instead of studying a particular book, we’re going to dig into a topic: Violence in the Bible. The idea that a loving and benevolent God could engage in acts of extreme violence has been a topic of study since the beginning of the Church. As early as the 2nd century folks were looking for ways to explain what the heck was going on with all of that warfare and dashing kids’ heads against rocks. Not to mention the conquest of Palestine by the Chosen People of God. It seems that blood and guts is something that the God of the Bible has no problem with.
Of course, I’m not going to get into this here. A blog isn’t a forum that allows for the in depth reading that something like this requires. So, consider this a teaser. I may write other posts as we go along.
One thing that I would like to say, though, is that the identity and character of God is quite clear. It doesn’t involve the bully-like portrait that so many paint when looking at the Scriptures. So many people, particularly those who read the Bible as a literal narrative of what happened over 2,500 years ago in the Ancient Near East, (ANE). For these folks the writers pretty much wrote what happened either as it happened, or through some supernatural understanding given by God. So, of course what the Bible says is 100% accurate history. (Spoiler alert: it’s not.) In this “history” God is completely justified in stomping out entire ethnic groups because, Sovereignty. Or, something like that. God is NOT that. At. All.
The big theology word of the day for this is hermeneutic. That’s a fancy way to say how a particular text or event in scripture is interpreted by the folks reading about it. Those mentioned above use a hermeneutic of inerrancy in order to interpret the text. What they should be using is a hermeneutic of the cross.
Ok, ok, before I go further, a bit of explanation is needed. People have told me that when I write stuff on the here blog thing that is about me and the experiences that I have, it’s a better read. They like the personal stories. So do I. Most of the time. These same folks say that when I start to wax academic I tend to lose them. Yeah, I get that. So much of the stuff that I write can seem to be cold and ‘matter of fact.’ Two things about that. 1) It’s my blog and I’ll write what I feel is necessary to write at the time. No explanation necessary. 2) The theological and Bible stuff IS who I am. It is ALL personal. So, yeah.
Sorry about the digression. I’ll flog myself later.
That hermeneutic of the cross thing is all about what happened when Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. This one event revealed the total loving heart of God. God the Son, gave His life in order to create a way for all of creation to have life. Through that action a way was opened that allows all folks everywhere to have access to God. There would no longer be a special, what, “caste” of priests that held that privilege. It was God’s choice to do this. I could go on and on ad nauseum about this. But, I’ll save you the Pepto Bismal. Just suffice it to say that the lens of God’s love on the cross is the only lens through which we can see ‘what else’ was going on in all of those violent stories.
I’ve been prepping for this new study since last fall. I still feel woefully inadequate to the task. I guess that’s why I was wasting time at the beginning of this post. We’ll see in a few weeks if this direction was a fruitful one to take. God is a pretty big topic to discuss. How God acts and why is damned near impossible.
But, we’ll give it a shot.
Sheesh!

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Life? Or, Death? Words Have Power to Create and Destroy

Published by mhelbert on March 8, 2023

It’s March in Northern Ohio.
The day before yesterday, we flirted with 60 degrees. Yesterday and today, 35 with a wind chill in the 20’s. The weather geeks say that we are currently in meteorological Spring. They might be right. I can look out my front door and see crocus starting to peak up into the sky. The robins are back en-mass. The other birds are also out in their full-throated glory filling the air with songs of hope and optimism. And, of course, the real test for this season, dead skunks along the road. Yep, around here Spring is synonymous with squashed-skunk season.
Right now, the sun is pouring through my office window. The orchid and rubber plant on my desk are loving it! It’s also good for my humor. No, not the funny kind of humor. The other kind. You know, the melancholic kind that is exorcised by sunlight. Not a bad day, so far. It’s still early, though.
I recently read a book by Dr. Randy Woodley, (Cherokee), about Indigenous theology and Western worldviews. It was a good read. One of the things that struck me was how he wrote about the traditions of passing on wisdom and stories in the two different worlds. It was a discussion about oral tradition and the written word. For those who’ve read anything that I’ve shared on this here blog thingy know, Words are a big deal with me. Words are not just powerful. They are Power, itself. Ancient people knew this well. Remember that story in Genesis in the Hebrew Bible? “God said,” and “it was so.” Stories like that create identity, if not actual worlds. Indigenous people all over the world have their own identity stories that help to explain their existence in the world. For some Native Americans, the story of how Turtle Island came to be is one such story. Although, there are different versions of the story depending on which Nation tells it, the gist is that the creatures of the earth had a large part in the creation myth. They had to work in order for their world to become real. Creator said that if they didn’t have a stake in the making of their world, they would not be grateful.
Other stories like the Sky Woman and her children gave meaning and purpose to the earliest people on this continent. These words were powerful in that they gave true identity and purpose to the people. They saw that because of Creator partnering with them, they had a vested interest in the care of the world. The earth and the cosmos around them were also part of Creator’s team to make sure that balance and life could continue. They utilized symbols and ceremony to reflect these living relationships. Wisdom and knowledge of how to live together and in the world was passed from generation to generation. The power of the stories created the living bond that stretched from age to age.
We in the West have diminished the power of words to what may be written on a piece of paper. We call those written words “binding.” That seems to me the exact opposite of the words of power that gave life and identity to all of those generations of Indigenous folks who came before us. We think that our way is the best way. All of those ‘Natives’ were nothing more than stone age hunter-gatherers before we arrived to show them the right way of things. Thank God for Us!
I could stop right there and let that thought sink in. But, I’m afraid that the thought may just bounce off and fall on the floor. We who think that our enlightened Western Way is the only way are guilty of the same arrogance that our forebears were. Our words and our laws make that true. Right? Just ask any lawyer or politician. The Rule of Law reigns supreme!
I said that words are Power. It’s true. Words have the power to bring life. Ask our Indigenous sisters and brothers and they will tell you. Words can also bring death. Our Western ideal is built on words like that. Words that kill are baked into Western culture.
I wonder if we can change that.
I wonder if we even care.

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New Beginnings; New Life

Published by mhelbert on March 2, 2023

A week ago my wife and I were trekking around Universal Orlando. She has just retired, and we decided to get away for a bit. Something we haven’t done in, oh, 40 some years. Jobs and family and stuff kept us pretty much at home except for the occasional weekend away. So, this trip was kinda special.
I took my laptop with me hoping to be able to write a bit about the trip while we there. Yeah, that didn’t happen. Besides not having any time to write, the wifi at the resort sucked big time. My computer is slow at the best of times. Add single bar wifi and, well, I could have sent letters via the USPS faster. So, that’s why I’ve been absent from here for a while.
Now, we’re home. It took until Wednesday to recuperate and get back to whatever this is that passes for normal. And, I use that term purposefully.

“Whatever this is that passes for normal.”

I retired from printing three years ago. That was at the beginning of Covid-19 and my time getting fixed up from colon cancer. Not the circumstances that I had thought would ring in the new life of “Formerly employed.” But, over the last three years I’ve tried to adjust and figure out that proverbial “New Normal.” (Spoiler alert: There’s nothing New or Normal about it. Just sayin’.) I have developed new routines and practices that help make sense of every day being Saturday. As time goes on, I’m adding some things to that in order to actually get stuff done. Like this blog.
Now, however, a new variable has been added to the mix. There are now TWO of us retired and trying to make sense of this life of non-employment. Life is never boring! I truly have no idea where the road will lead us. For sure, we want to travel a bit. I proved that I can still do the whole road trip thing. We drove to Orlando in 2 days. We drove home in 1. I’m encouraged that I can get us where we want to go, when we want to go. So, that’s good.
We also have the house that really needs some lovin’. All of those fixes and updates that have been set to the side all of these years are screaming at us for attention. There are walls to fix and paint, a roof that needs help, new windows to install, shutters to build, a garden to put in, and, of course, that grass that never stops growing. I don’t think that we’ll lack for stuff to do.
For me, besides all of the stuff that needs done, those things that my wife and I will work on together, there is the need to continue to study, think, and write. I lost way too much time while connected to the Fundagelical world. I am still trying to heal from what I would consider spiritual abuse. It wasn’t intentional, of course. While many would have viewed some of our early years as ‘cultic,’ there was no manipulation for malicious or self-serving ends by the leaders. They were, and still are, simply ignorant. That doesn’t lessen the damage done by that world.
So, I will continue to reflect, meditate, contemplate, study, and proclaim. I can do nothing else. If anyone is helped to find freedom from the chains that bind them to a false image of God and God’s people, then my work is a good thing. Besides, I find release and healing through this work as well.
Anyway, I just wanted to put something out there to let everyone know that I’m alive and kicking. I hope to reflect more on the whole retirement thing as we grow into it. I’ll also continue to attempt to speak truth to power as I see it.
If you have anything to suggest or comment on, please use the comments section at the end of this post. Perhaps, we can begin a dialog about things that will build us all up.

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