I know it’s been a while since I’ve been here. There are many reasons for that. Hopefully, I’ll be back soon with loads of new material.
Right now, however, I want to let you know about the condition of Rachel Held Evans. If you ever followed me on Facebook or twitter you are aware of the high esteem in which I hold RHE. She has been an encouragement to me and many others as we navigate the path away from toxic evangelicalism. So, Thank you,Rachel for your openness and willingness to share your journey with us.
According to Rachel’s husband, Dan, Rachel went in for treatment of an infection. She had a negative reaction to the treatment and began to experience seizures. The medical staff have put her in a medically induced coma.
She is currently still in that condition in the ICU.
I just looked at the stats from this here blog-thingy. It’s been a few months since I last scribbled some kind of nonsense. So, I thought that I’d take a minute to catch us all up on what’s happened since then.
I’m still slicing bread and packing cookies at Giant Eagle part time. It gives me something to do and adds a couple extra bucks. I am really looking forward to the day I can move on from there. Not that it’s a bad job. It’s not. But, at best it’s filling the interim until I get to what I’ve really been working toward.
And, that is ordination as a priest in the Episcopal Church. I’ve been working toward that for the last year. And, it’ll likely be another year or so before ordination could take place. I’m currently in the pre-interview part of the process. I spent 6 months meeting with a Discernment Committee. After that I had a weekend retreat where I sat for another 4 interviews. I have just completed all of the paperwork that’s required. Now, I’m waiting for a call from the Bishop’s office to set up an interview with the Bishop. She can give me a thumbs up or thumbs down. If it’s thumbs up I become a postulant and move on. Thumbs down, I get used to slicing bread and packing cookies. Here’s hoping for UP!
I’m also currently helping with a Bible study at St. Barnabas. This year we’re taking a trip through the Book of Revelation entitled “Revelation: Prophecy, NOT Prediction.” The study is open in person and on Zoom. If you would be interested reply to this post and I’ll get you more info.
Other than that there’s not a whole lot happening. Doing some odd renovation on the house, enjoying spending time with my wife, and other assorted old people things.
Hopefully it won’t be months until I get back. Maybe I’ll even have something worthwhile to write. Wouldn’t that be special?
A few days ago I wrote something that was purposefully ambiguous. It was simply an invitation to think about current events without fear.
Today, however, I want to celebrate. Yesterday my wife and I celebrated 49 years of marriage. We celebrated simply with a drive and dinner. I guess when you get to this stage of life and relationship simple is good. In like fashion, this post will be short and simple. Our marriage has been fraught, as many are. There were times when it was in imminent danger of collapse. Mostly because of me.
So, I want to express my deep love and gratitude to the person who never gave up, my wife. Her steadfast love and concern single handedly kept things working. I don’t even know how. God? Perhaps. The result has been incredible gratitude for her as wife, partner, and friend. There are truly no words to express this. “I love you,” doesn’t quite get it. Those are the only words that I have.
I just watched Oppenheimer for the first time. To be honest, I was underwhelmed. I mean the story was OK. And the acting really good. But, at the end I was left kinda, ‘meh.’
One thing that did touch my mind and heart was a line at the beginning. Oppenheimer was watching water drop into a pool. In his mind he saw flashes of light. The images switched between his pensive face and the special effects. Then, there was a voice over that said something like, ‘I see things that other people don’t.’ Not like the kid in ‘The Sixth Sense’ way of seeing. Oppenheimer didn’t see dead people. No, he saw the hidden world of quantum physics. The stuff of science fiction and horror stories. And, as we all know, it wasn’t fiction…it was truly horror.
The reason I write this is not to vent my anger at nuclear weaponry or the threat of mutual, global annihilation. That may be the topic of some future post. Not today, though. No, I want to write that I, too, see things that most other people don’t see. I’m sure that we all share to some degree certain insights into how life works. The liquidity of time; the touch of a butterfly’s wing. What I see is slightly different.
Over the years I’ve shared bits and pieces of my life within the religious world. From conservative Evangelicalism through the desert of nothingness to where I am today. I’m labeled Episcopalian. That’s just a label. Kinda like I root for Manchester City in real football. I root for the openness and inclusion that the Episcopal Church waters and cultivates so that the divine seed may bud and flower with the beauty of God’s love. That’s all good. However, it doesn’t reveal the reality of things. True Church is the embodiment of Messiah Jesus in the world. It doesn’t necessarily explain the world. It does offer tools with which to explore it.
I’m truly a contemplative. You can google that if you want. Check out the examples that you find. Even the wiki thing may prove helpful. That is if you’re interested. To me, I see the reality behind the curtain. In biblical studies that’s called ‘Apocalypse.’ To reveal.
Right now we live in a chaotic world. It’s not just a U.S. thing. It’s global. Lot’s of folks are on edge. Even a friend who is a spiritual stalwart shared that she’s afraid.
I see John the Seer’s many-headed beast coming up out of the sea. In that story the beast was Rome. In mine, it is the many-headed beast of the systems that run rampant over the earth. It demands to be bowed to and worshiped. Those who refuse are devoured by the fearsome maw on one of its heads. And we fear. Our fear is our felt reality. We don’t know who will be the next victim of its seeming unlimited power. A power given it by the Great Dragon who exists from the beginning of time. A beast in its own right that controls this beast. Yet, it doesn’t care about the beast. In its great anger simply wants to destroy. The beast is simply a means to that end.
I look behind the curtain and see that which few see. There I see a great light. A prism of colors streaming from it. There are myriad creatures that sing with a great voice. The voices are like the roaring of the sea, yet like the whisper of the summer breeze. They all sing in their own voice, yet they are in close harmony. They sing the praise of the One Who sits in the light. The One Who is the source of the light.
I see also thousands upon millions of people. They stand with heads bowed and beat the breasts crying out, “How long? How long must those upon the face of the earth suffer under the feet of the Dragon and its beast?”
I hear a voice. A quiet voice. As John wrote, a voice “of a lamb which was slain.” I contemplate on that. What lamb? Why a lamb? The voice tells me that this lamb is the One Who was slain by the first beast that was Rome. By His death and His blood He redeemed from death all who were under the foot of the beast.
The beast that I see is not Rome. Nor is it any particular government. I wrote that this beast is the world systems represented by its many heads. From its many mouths it speaks lies and creates fear. A deadly, paralyzing fear. For the Dragon knows that those who live in fear are already his. “Fear is the mind killer,” the Bene Gesserit say. It’s far more than that. Fear is the soul killer. It is the life-ender. It is the prison where the worshipers of the beast are held captive.
John’s vision tells readers that the Lamb and the white-robed army wage a great war against the beast and its followers. We call this war Armageddon. John saw the heavens opened and One on a white horse ride out to meet the armies of the beast. The armies of heaven were arrayed in white linen. They, too, rode white horses. The armies clashed and there was great bloodshed. The beast and the Dragon were thrown into a lake of fire. The ungodly, unholy reign of the Dragon and its minions was ended.
In my sight, I see things differently. There are no white horses and riders. No armies form up to wage bloody battle. No, I still see the Lamb enthroned at the right hand of the Father. He gazes at the Father and says, “Abba! These are all in bondage to the beast and the Dragon. Let my blood be for theirs!” And, it was so.
The beast, embodied in the systems of this world, was destroyed. The beast and its Dungeon Master the Dragon, were chained and thrown into the abyss where they were imprisoned forever. Humanity was redeemed and released!
Behind the curtain God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit waged war. And they won.
This is done. It’s finished. Nothing more can be added to what God has already done!
What, then, is this that we experience in our real world day after day? In my vision it’s the time before the last battle of the Lamb. The battle where the weapons are the sword of His mouth; His Word. Apocalypse is timeless. Meaning that what we see is assured, yet perhaps not yet known. This is the key.
I wrote all of this because of fear. We live in an unsettling time. Chaos reigns. Wars are waged and injustice flourishes like stinging nettles in the garden. Hope seems to be gone from our lives. My vision, however, is one of hope. Nothing that we experience now is cause for fear and anxiety. The Lamb has won! The power of the Dragon has been broken! We are able to stand up and have hope that what we see and experience can, and WILL, end. Does this mean we should sit on our collective arses and complacently wait? For what? The systems to simply implode and disappear? While I don’t see the blood-soaked scene that John saw, I also don’t see the followers of the Lamb sitting idly by. They take the same sword of the Lamb and stand against the systems of hate and greed and power and lust and war. With it they, we, are empowered to stand and seize the victory that the Lamb has won.
Don’t fear! Stand up and rejoice! The other John, John the Elder, wrote, “there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.”
Hi! I want to apologize in advance. Today’s blog is longer than usual because I am citing two passages from the Bible. One is from the Psalms the other from the Wisdom of Solomon. Yeah, I know, Wisdom isn’t ‘canonical.’ But, even that giant of the Reformation, Martin Luther said that the Apocrypha is useful. And, if you’re Roman Catholic, the Apocrypha IS part of the Canon. The last time I wrote here I talked about politics. Not something that I really enjoy. But, a reality that affects everyone to one degree or another. I’ve tried to stay away from writing about the current political climate in the U.S. Especially, the administration of Pres. Donald Trump. Truth be told, I don’t like Donald Trump. I especially don’t like the administration that he’s assembled to keep his ego stroked. And, I truly don’t like many of his ideas and policies. But, that’s not the real reason that I don’t like what’s happening in Washington. First, let preface this with a bit of a qualifier. The present President and administration are no more unqualified or corrupt than any previous administration. Warren G. Harding’s Teapot Dome scandal comes to mind. But, let’s face it. Politics is dark game where stakes can be unimaginably high. Especially at the federal level. So, why don’t I like Trump & Co.? If they’re no better nor worse than any administration, why single them out? Because they say and do the quiet stuff out loud? Because they are singularly evil or corrupt? I already stated that they’re no different than previous administrations. Most of you know that I am a student of the Christian Bible. I have a Masters degree in Divinity. I truly love the Scriptures. A constant theme in the Bible is justice. The text demands righteousness of the leaders of ancient Israel. Those demands have not expired with the writing of the Christian New Testament. Maybe I’ll write more about that some other time. Right now I just want to share a couple passages from Scripture that speak to why Donald Trump is not on my list of favorite people. He is, however, on my prayer list.
Why do you boast, O mighty one, of mischief done against the godly? All day long you are plotting destruction. Your tongue is like a sharp razor, you worker of treachery. You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking the truth. Selah You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue. But God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah The righteous will see, and fear, and will laugh at the evildoer, saying, “See the one who would not take refuge in God, but trusted in abundant riches, and sought refuge in wealth.1
For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves, “Short and sorrowful is our life, and there is no remedy when a life comes to its end, and no one has been known to return from Hades. For we were born by mere chance, and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been, for the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our hearts; when it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes, and the spirit will dissolve like empty air. Our name will be forgotten in time, and no one will remember our works; our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud, and be scattered like mist that is chased by the rays of the sun and overcome by its heat. For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow, and there is no return from our death, because it is sealed up and no one turns back. “Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that exist, and make use of the creation to the full as in youth. Let us take our fill of costly wine and perfumes, and let no flower of spring pass us by. Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither. Let none of us fail to share in our revelry; everywhere let us leave signs of enjoyment, because this is our portion, and this our lot. Let us oppress the righteous poor man; let us not spare the widow or regard the gray hairs of the aged. But let our might be our law of right, for what is weak proves itself to be useless. “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training. He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord. He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange. We are considered by him as something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous happy, and boasts that God is his father. Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; for if the righteous man is God’s child, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. Let us test him with insult and torture, so that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected.” Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray, for their wickedness blinded them, and they did not know the secret purposes of God, nor hoped for the wages of holiness, nor discerned the prize for blameless souls; for God created us for incorruption, and made us in the image of his own eternity, but through the devil’s envy death entered the world, and those who belong to his company experience it.2
1The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Ps 52:1–7. 2The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Wis 2:1–24.
I don’t have anything particular to write about today.
I just feel like writing. Sometimes we don’t need a reason to do something.
Like going for a walk in the woods. Yeah, we can say that we need the exercise.
That some fresh air will do us some good. But, it’s just the time we take to walk that’s important. Or, maybe it’s just a matter of killing some time.
Lord knows that I’ve shot my share of seconds and minutes over seven decades of walking on the surface of the Big, Blue Ball.
Those times when ya just sit on your butt in front of the LED screen. (What used to be the “tube”). Or, maybe wander aimlessly through a good book.
Soaking up the life of imaginary characters in an imaginary world.
I don’t know about y’all, but my bookshelves are chock full of hours of my time. But, really, what better way to waste time?
Ok, playing guitar is up there as well.
The countless scales and chops that have exercised my fingers and my mind.
Where have all of those notes gone?
Vapor. Smoke. Gone.
Or, are they?
Perhaps their resonance is still being felt and heard by some flock of Puffins somewhere. Maybe the waves of sound have bounced and ricocheted through the clouds and found their way into the oceans where they confuse the dolphins and whales.
Can you imagine the solo from Kid Charlemagne guiding a pod of orcas
It would be fun to see them dancing among the waves! Right now I’m wasting my time at this keyboard.
The one safe place that my own thoughts can dance like those orcas.
I have nothing to say of any import.
I just like the sound of the keys clicking under the weight of my fingers; under the weight of my mind.
Isn’t it amazing how our species has reduced communication to such media?
From the chicken scratches of cuneiform to the simple 24 characters that we English speakers use to form the mist of ideas into the clay of language.
Look at us grow! Is it growth?
Has the reduction of our thoughts and stories to characters arranged in a certain order truly been the cultural boon that so many post-moderns think it is?
I think of the oral traditions that once carried our culture and our lives from one generation to the next.
I try to imagine the relationships that were once held sacred as a storyteller told of the ancestors’ wisdom.
How the people looked into the eyes and the hearts of each other. Is our way truly so advanced? I don’t know.
The connections that language create between people seem to have been sloughed off as some archaic relic that we no longer need. I don’t know.
I’m just rambling here because I can.
Right now I’d rather waste my time typing away than watching Andrew Zimmern prattle on about some “Delicious Destination.”
Soon I have to get ready to go to work
A different kind of wasting time.
A waste, nonetheless. Someone’s gotta slice the bread and pack the cookies so that privileged white people can have their goodies. Fun. Well, not really. It is what it is. And, the clock hands keep spinning, spinning, spinning.
Politics. That thing that we’ve been told should never be discussed at Thanksgiving. That tool of governance used to dig up and till the soil of the electorate in order for this or that political whatever to plant its seeds of thought. Then, hoping that a constituent plant will grow and bear fruit.
According to the politicians, politics is what makes the world go round. They want everyone to believe that; to believe them.
And, we do! We place our faith and trust in whatever politics makes us feel good about ourselves. Whatever position allows us to feel safe and secure. So, we put up banners and lawn signs. We go to rallies and town halls to support what we think is good and right and proper for us and for everyone else. Then, after a time, we realize that those we support can’t come through on what they promised. Disillusionment. So, we modify our expectations and seek other people and policies that we can support.
And, the circle goes round and round and round and……..
As a follower of Christ I have a rather complicated relationship with politics. I’ve heard many say that if we truly believe and accept what’s written in the Bible we must be apolitical. After all Jesus never talked about politics. In fact, He stayed out of the politics of His day. He never railed against the Romans. He was not a vocal opponent about how the Jewish people should be governed. Yeah, He took issue with the abuses that the religious leaders poured on people. But, actual governance? No. He told His disciples that while they may live in this world, they were not part of it. The world in which they lived was a heavenly world where stuff about food and clothing were not to be worried about. Didn’t God provide for the birds of the air and the lilies of the field? Such a vision of utopia! A world without cares and worries! That’s what many think that Jesus was talking about.
But…….
That’s not our reality, is it? Nope. We live in a world where politics force us to act. Where we have responsibilities to do whatever we can to keep ourselves and our families safe and secure. We all gotta join the fray to keep our heads above water. Most of all, we gotta try to make sense of the chaos that our leaders create every day. I am pointing directly at the situation that we live in right now. Washington is nuts. There are so many voices coming from there that it’s hard to discern one from the other. The cacophony rising from the halls of political power is deafening. It hurts my ears. There is little sense being made by those we entrust with our well-being. While that discord and confusion seems unique, it’s not. Every political group and government has stirred up its own version of suspicion and mistrust. EVERY SINGLE ONE!!! Yeah, we do live in a tumultuous time. I talk with a lot of folks who live in fear of what tomorrow may bring. Will our rights completely disappear into fascist totalitarianism? Will our 401(k) survive the confusion? What about those of us who receive Social Security? Not to mention book bans and cultural genocide! “There’s too much!”, they say as tears flow and folks find themselves shaking in fear.
I wrestle with how to respond to the fear and anger that so many of my friends and fellow Christians feel. There seems to be no bridging the chasm between what the world demand and what Jesus seems to say. Trees have been felled in order to make the paper that folks and scholars use to argued about politics and the Church. To what end? (Spoiler alert : none. None at all.) Yet we keep jabbering on about how this view is right; that view is not. In fact, that view is likely sinful and dangerous. What view is that? Doesn’t matter. Whatever view is different from whomever is speaking. Amiright?
So, how do we respond? As leaders in the church we must respond. I recently read that a leader’s job in these chaotic times is to attempt to try and help people live and flourish where living and flourishing seem distant and impossible. So, what response can we make? There are a couple of ways, I think. Not everyone can accept them. I, myself, have a hard time wrapping my head around how to respond. But, one thing that I know with certainty, God’s world is not a world of confusion and discord. God’s world is where peace is reality. The question is, how in God’s Name do we get there? If we do, somehow, find our way, how should we live in such a place?
Please understand that I’m not one of those religious folks who advocate separation from real life. You know, those who move to the wilderness to escape the corruption that they say plagues our nation and our world. Nor am I one of the new monastics who, while living in the world, choose to cloister themselves and develop their own ways. They go to “christian” stores and theaters and schools. Their desire is not to be counter-culture, but to build a separate culture that builds barriers against the ‘forces of evil’ that rule the outside world. These are real reactions that many use to deal with, and insulate themselves from, the chaos and uncertainty of today’s world. In some ways I can’t fault them. However, this lifestyle is not the lifestyle that I see in the Scriptures nor in the Fathers nor in the Church.
If I was asked my opinion on such things I’d have to start with the fact that everything in Scripture was written by and to real people in the real world. Folks trying to get by on what they knew about life and God. Then, I would have to tell anyone who was bored enough to listen that God, Godself, did not just sit by twiddling His thumbs watching corruption and death have their way. God never said, “Oh well, that’s none of my business. Please pass a croissant.” No! In the face of injustice and cruelty God acted decisively. He sent Messiah Jesus to put an end to the power that the world and the world’s systems held over the entire world. If God was willing to act, so should we who say that we are followers of God in Messiah Jesus.
What would this action look like? Sorry, I don’t have a comprehensive list to give you. There are lots of lawful ways to stand against injustice and corruption. In the U.S. we can vote our conscience. Some Christian don’t because, again, that separatist thing. To that kind of thinking I call BS. We absolutely should vote and participate in the democratic process. Not everyone in the world has such a choice. Don’t squander it! We can protest and march. I march and take part in Pride activities as a matter of conscience. We can write to and engage elected officials at town halls to speak about our ideas and feelings regarding various legislation. These things and others are ways that we can give voice to the voiceless and strive for justice in our world.Actions are great. We should feel comfortable with them.
What about our peace? I mentioned that many are suffering anxiety and fear these days. This is an issue that’s not easily dealt with. I feel that it can truly be addressed by the Good Grace of God through the Holy Spirit. Peace in the knowledge that what we experience in the world is not necessarily our true reality. I’m talking to followers of Messiah now. Our reality is in the world of God’s Good Presence. Jesus told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world. That’s true. We who walk in the Way of Messiah know this. God is our Way. We own our lives in this world and are not owned by it. Speaking for myself, my peace does not depend on what the latest executive order is. My serenity is not broken by the roller coaster of Wall St. I see things as they are, not how they appear. I’m clear eyed to help the oppressed, the LGBTQ community, immigrants, and the homeless. If I am not under the circumstances, I can work to effect change on the circumstances. In a word, I am free. This is why Messiah lived, died, and was resurrected. That we might all be free from those powers that seem so driven to destroy us and others.
So, have hope! God is alive and well. We can be also.
Hello Joanne! I have desired to write to you for many years. Ever since I read the first Harry Potter book. Admittedly, I was not part of the target audience. I was in my 50s. Still, I was hooked by the magical world that you created. I and my daughter, also an adult, waited with bated breath for each new episode as you wove strands magic from that Great River of Creativity that flows through the universe into a new magical world where the impossible becomes, not only possible, but reality. How could I not be captured by that? For that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I also want to note your works of charity and benevolence. I was adopted at the age of 6 months. During extremely important first months I was in an institution. Of course, I don’t remember that. However, not having the love and nurture that a child requires during those months did leave its mark. Some things cannot be undone. I was fortunate. I was embraced by warm and caring people who were unable to conceive their own child. So, became the first of two blessed souls who would live with a new family name, a new history, and a new hope. I do hope and pray thatLumoscontinues to work and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Weaving together hope and unity in families is a truly noble work. Your conceiving Volant Charitable Trust is also a mark of your warm and caring heart. Those who are the most vulnerable and at risk need the support of people with means, like you. Thank you so very much for these and other works of benevolence that find their root and home in your heart. I, like you, think that every child, every life, has a right to live, thrive, and find joy. Our lives on this planet truly are too short. To acknowledge and allow others who don’t have our privilege to continue in disadvantage is a grievous sin. That’s why we work to tirelessly to give these others hope. Isn’t it? All of this leads me to scratch my head, Jo. (You don’t mind if I call you Jo, do you?) Yeah, scratching my head at your apparent lack of knowledge about humanity and the human condition. You seem to see many things that are good and necessary. But, only in part. Please, if you will indulge me for a moment. Perhaps I can explain. We both read and accept the Holy Bible as Sacred Writ. The stories and tales that were written so many centuries ago still have a hold on our hearts and minds. They tell us of God’s relating to the Cosmos, in particular, humanity. I love the arch of God’s faithfulness to the World from the beginning of relationship through to the culmination in the life, death, and resurrection of Messiah Jesus. How wonderful is that? Truly a story of hope for all people. Have you ever read Psalm 139? In that psalm are some of the most beautiful words ever written. The psalmist wrote, “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.” Aren’t those words beautiful. They inspire awe at the Majesty and Goodness of our God. May His Name be Praised! The thought that God sees us as we are secretly formed in the darkness of the womb. That God Most High is Present as the knitting takes place creating from nothing a true work of art and beauty! Who can comprehend such a thing? My daughter is an avid knitter. She concentrates on the task with the focus of a surgeon, fingers moving deftly. Each stitch given a purpose and place within the whole. It’s truly a joy to watch the magic happen as strands of yarn become a whole piece composed of countless thousands of such stitches. Sometimes, however, a stitch may be dropped. Or, perhaps, that ‘knit one; pearl two’ is transposed to ‘knit two, pearl one.” It happens. Or, maybe when one color gives way to another, this new color is added one stitch too soon or too late? That, too, happens. How would that look in our psalmists view? A dropped stitch? Perhaps that would result in a child born with Downs Syndrome or cleft palate. Starting a color in the wrong place? A child born without a limb or a brain that never developed. Does that make that child any less a work of wonder? Have you ever looked into the face of a Downs child? Truly you are looking into the face of God! We cherish these folks. They are truly God’s Children. No less than you or me. I’m sure that you agree. Did you know that there are children who are born truly androgynous? Born with two complete sets of genitals, one female, the other male? What happens to such a child? Well, usually the parents and doctor make a decision. They choose one gender over the other. But, what if they choose wrong? Will not that young girl grow up trapped in a body that is not hers? Is their no hope or respite for her? I’m sure that you can see the injustice of such a thing. Such a person, fearfully and wonderfully made must be able to sprout her wings and fly freely among the clouds! But, Jo, what if that dropped stitch involved a persons heart and mind? What if the person is born with differences in the unseen realm? I’m quite sure that a person with a fertile imagination as you can visualize such a thing. Perhaps a different way that hormones work their magic on the development of the person could result in a person who has the character of a saint. Or, not. Could not such a fearfully and wonderfully made person be born whose affections are different than yours or mine? What if that young girl’s body doesn’t produce estrogen as it should as she grows and matures? She, too, might find herself trapped in the wrong kind of body. One which denies the reality of who she KNOWS that she is? Are we so omniscient that we can see and understand and render judgment on such a person? That we can judge with impunity her own experience? My dearest Joanne, I can’t imagine the arrogance that it would take to be that person. And, yet, you have deigned to be that judge. Even with all of the gifts that you have been given, intelligence, imagination, wealth, and privilege, you cannot seem to see that these other people have received different kinds of gifts. Where I live, many Native American nations consider these ‘Two Spirit’ people. They are revered and honored because they have the gift of seeing things in two worlds. I like that, don’t you? I guess, Jo, that my point is who are we to judge that which has been created in the image of God? What right do we have to deny the reality that so many millions of our fellow humans live? Does a trans woman in Mexico really affect you? Are we not fellow passengers in this life? I suppose the bottom line is, Please, Jo! Knock this shit off. You are consciously hurting others. Other human beings who are simply trying to live their own lives. Affectionately, Mike
Last Thursday was Maundy Thursday. That’s the day that Christians around the globe commemorate the Last Supper that Messiah Jesus ate with His disciples before His crucifixion. I had the joy of preaching at St. B’s that night. Some said I may have been a tad harsh. Others that I was just preaching to the choir. You can make up your mind on where my mind may have been.
Back in January I wrote a post about the suicide death of the sister of a co-worker. That particular death struck hard at my heart and mind. I shared my anger about it. Why this death? A person I never met. I still hurts to think about it. I’ve realized that my anger wasn’t/isn’t directed at the single loss of innocent life. It isn’t even about the feelings of loneliness and desolation that ended in this final act of desperation. I wrote a second post about the I call the “Human Condition.” In that I argued that the question of theodicy, or why a all powerful and loving God can allow evil to remain in the world. I stated that what we call “evil” is simply the Human Condition that our species has always lived in. Deal with it. Today I want wrap this topic up. I want to define the anger that I felt then, and continue to feel now. I will expose the ultimate object of my anger. But, first a short digression about God’s actions, or inaction. The story that the Bible tells reveals the way in which God chose to deal with the Human Condition. It describes the condition in terms of sin and disobedience. Although, I think disobedience is simply a result of the Human Condition. Anyway, it seems that God wanted to identify for us what we were dealing with. An all powerful drive toward, well, self-destruction. Through war, greed, poverty, seeking power, and all sorts of mean, nasty things that humanity perpetrated on itself and the world, God pointed out our inability to do much, if anything, to change that. Enter Messiah Jesus. The Gospel story tells us how God changed the trajectory of humanity. Through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Messiah God, somehow, destroyed what the Bible calls the Power of Sin and Death. These, according to the text, are the driving force behind the Human Condition. In doing this God also created a community. Some call it the Church or the Body of Christ or whatever. Jesus in the Gospels, particularly the Sermon on the Mount, described life in this community, or the Kingdom of God. This community has trusted in Messiah Jesus. It accepts and proclaims the resurrection of Jesus. It lives in selfless service to one another and the world at large. Until it doesn’t. And, it hasn’t since its birth. This community of faith continues to struggle within the Human Condition rather that to be a voice of hope. That it should offer an alternative to that litany of mean, nasty things I mentioned earlier. We, and I mean “We,” have more than dropped the ball. We intentionally kicked it into the woods and walked away. The mandate the Jesus gave us on the night that He was betrayed was, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. I have loved you in order that you also love one another,” (John 13:34, my paraphrase). The Church, at least the variety that I spent more than 30 years in, has looked at this verse and said, “Ok. I can love my sisters and brothers just fine, thank you. That doesn’t mean that I have to love those foul vermin on the outside, right?” Wrong. Jesus never limited His love to those inside the club. In fact, He reserved some of His most cutting condemnation on them. Yet, we still keep our eyes firmly on our collective navels and clutch our pearls so tightly that we nearly choke ourselves when someone on the ‘outside’ tries to knock on the door. This, my dear readers, is the definition of Failure! I don’t care if we discuss the fundagelical world that I escaped, the Roman Church, the Episcopal Church, or any other incarnation of Orthodox or protestant ‘Members Only’ club out there. We have ALL failed! Period! End of discussion! My heart is genuinely broken at the loss of my co-worker’s sister. The loss to her family is greater than I can imagine. And, I am angry at the Systems that backed this beautiful, young person into a corner that she could not escape. My true anger is directed at the Church. Where were we when this girl needed help? I know, we can all say that unless she asked, what were we supposed to do? (Shrug.) That’s not the point. My emotions run hot about this because the Church has been neutered. By it’s own doing! Our voice has been silenced because we have chosen to follow the and embrace THE VERY SYSTEMS THAT ARE KILLING PEOPLE!!! How can we claim to be a voice of hope in a hopeless world when we, ourselves, are hopeless? How are people to know that the Church is here for them unless we prove trustworthy? Unless we have shown by our love and praxis that they can come to us when they are in need? I don’t know. I’m ranting. But, that’s what I’m good at. Sue me. If we don’t embrace our calling as a Peculiar People who stand with the people of the world and against the Powers that Be, we are above all people to be pitied. For, then, we prove that we have truly lost our way.
I know that I’m a little late to the party. I’m old. Give me a break.
Last week Episcopal Bishop of Washington, D.C., the Rt. Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde spoke at the National Cathedral. It was a special service for an interfaith service that was part of the transition of power. I didn’t watch it. Nor, anything pertaining to the inauguration. Just not interested. I did, however, hear the rumblings after the event. So many on social media, as well as the once well-regarded legacy media, were talking about this woman preacher who challenged Mr. Trump. I finally got to see the short sound-bite taken from the end of the sermon. Yeah, it was a gutsy move. But, I wanted to see the entire sermon in order to hear the context. For anyone who knows me, I am all about context, context, context. So, I sat down and watched it. I was truly impressed by the courage of this person. Yeah, she was preaching to a hostile audience. Yeah, she was concise and pointed in her remarks. Above all, though, she actually fulfilled her vocation. All followers are charged with speaking truth to power. Our leaders are especially responsible for this. However, it has been sorely missing from our pulpits. Those who follow Messiah Jesus have simply been sitting on our thumbs while our name and reputation have been hijacked by a militantly nationalist group of “believers.” I use quotation marks for that because the only thing they really believe in is their own lusts and desires. But, that’s a post for another time.
Bishop Budde did the right thing. Period. She spoke up for those with no voice. She proclaimed the Gospel of Love that Jesus spoke. She did it with fear and quaking. But, she did it.
I am proud to be an Episcopalian. Not just because of Bishop Budde’s remarks. But, because she has represented well what the Episcopal Church is becoming. It’s not where is should be by any stretch. Our history is rather sordid when it comes to our relationship with the halls of power. But, it seems that it is trying to live its repentance in real life. That’s a reason to be proud.
I’m sharing the full video of Bishop Budde’s sermon for those who want to see it in its entirety.
A quick note: The sermon should not simply be seen as a cheap political shot. Bishop Budde’s words are important for all of us to hear. None of us are blameless. All are guilty. So, don’t say or think that this was just for MAGA or Trump. These are word that we all should heed.
