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Category: Following Jesus

Just a thought

I just read the following blog:
http://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2012/10/27/tearing-up-the-letter-what-could-you-ever-trade-your-soul-for-jesus-by-bruce-crawford/
Much of what is contained in it resonates with me. I, too, was indoctrinated under the western, white patriarchy that is so pervasive in our culture. I remember sitting with the pastor who was going to perform my wedding and telling him that, as the man, I was going to be the head of the household and my wife would submit. He disagreed, but did not try too hard to dissuade me. Of course, over time the reality of my statement proved untenable. But, I continued to preach the conservative evangelical position as true orthodox doctrine.
It took rubbing elbows with a variety of cultural influences at seminary to remove the scales from my eyes. As I studied with and learned from African American men and women, Anglo women and men who truly understood the cultural contexts of those who wrote and compiled the scriptures I found that the so-called orthodox position was merely a cultural expression that had little support from the scripture that they claimed to live by.
Now, I find that I must live to respect others, especially those who live at the margins of the patriarchal culture of the West.

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One more thing…

Just so that no one misunderstands my desire to post on politics…
I am not so politically minded that I think that the upcoming election is a ‘be all and end all” for our society, culture or way of life. I am simply offering a point of view that I have spent much time reflecting on. As far as this election is concerned, it is important, but not of ultimate import. I am providing a link to a blog by Dr.Peter Enns. I think that the piece is well-written and presents a balanced approach to politics in our culture. BTW…I agree with Dr. Enns’ on this.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/peterenns/2012/09/dear-christian-if-the-thought-of-either-romney-or-obama-getting-elected-makes-you-fearful-angry-or-depressed-you-have-what-we-call-a-theological-problem/

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Thoughts on ethics, justice and the upcoming election

I know that there are many who take issue with my politics. That’s ok. This is America. I must, however, give a bit more clarity to my position. I don’t want folks to think that I’m simply being “contrary.” I apologize in advance for the length of this post. But, there are issues that I think are deserving of thought and reflection. Especially, as we are presented with such disparate positions as we are in the current campaign. So, I hope that you are provoked to think and discuss openly and respectfully about things. I don’t presume to think that this will change anyone’s mind about which party or candidate to support. But, hey, why not stir the pot a little?

As the American election season continues to move forward to its climax in November I felt an uncomfortable urge to throw in a bit more of my slightly, (?), biased opinion. I have made it fairly clear that I do not support the GOP platform nor its banner-bearer, Mitt Romney. This has made many of my Evangelical sisters and brothers look at me suspiciously. After all, isn’t Christian ethical and moral identity tied to a politically conservative position? Isn’t it for the sake of a “Christian America” that we contend vigorously with the evils of progressive and liberal thought? I think that there is more to consider in this run-up to November than the current economic conditions in this country, and the world at large. I don’t think that we can separate economic issues from issues of justice and ethics. However, both political parties would have us believe that just such a position is not only possible, but proper. Let me take a quick look at some of the issues I see.
Mr. Obama has, at the very least, been a mediocre manager and administrator. However, I believe that his naiveté and lack of consensus in the other branches of government have been mitigating factors in this. The statements and policies emanating from the current White House have had, if nothing else, an egalitarian flavor. Look at the positions on Mexican immigration, rights for the marginalized, i.e. gay/lesbian, Muslim, and other peripheral groups. While many on the so-called political right see this as a threat to the American ethic, others see this as the practical working of Paul’s view that in Christ there is neither slave nor free, male nor female, Greek nor barbarian. All are equal in the sight of Yahweh and have inherent worth as eikons of God. I think that his desire for equal healthcare availability for every citizen is praiseworthy. However, I’m not convinced that the current method is the best. What is good, however, is that something other than talk has actually been implemented. They say it’s easier to steer a vehicle that’s moving than one that is not. Hopefully, the conversation will continue toward policies that are just and equitable.
The GOP, on the other hand is championing the right of the American people to be free from government interference so that they can move forward and achieve their share of the elusive, if not mythical, American Dream. In promoting this they have become, in my view, ethically utilitarian. In a nutshell, utilitarianism is “The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.”[1]This is long-winded way of stating that the ends justify the means. In the New Testament, Caiaphas stated this idea clearly when he said that it was better for One to die for the benefit of the entire nation. Or, for the trekkies in the crowd, Mr. Spock’s declaration that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few…or the one.
How does this pertain to the current political campaign? The GOP has taken a stance that what benefits the many, namely the white, middle class majority, is the direction that government must take. In their view that is to create policies that make it easier for businesses and entrepreneurs to function. Thus, in theory, this will create job opportunities and an environment for the marketplace to flourish. This is wonderful! But, it is an end that has consequences along the way. Consequences that the GOP thinks are worth the final “good.” Let’s take a look at a few.
Mr. Romney made a statement in Feb. of this year that caused the first red flag to be flown in my mind. He said, “I’m not concerned about the very poor,” Romney said. “There’s a safety net there, and if it needs repair I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the heart of America, the 95% of Americans who are right now struggling.”[2]This is as utilitarian a statement as anyone could make. By alluding to a non-existent safety net Mr. Romney can justify putting the concerns of the very poor on a back-burner. So, after 4 years of a Romney presidency, he can conceivably state that the goal of helping the 95% may be successful, but we never got around to fixing the net…it was not the expedient thing to do. Yes, I am speculating here. But, it is a valid question for people to consider.
In response to this I would like to quote one of my professors, Wyndy Corbin Reuschling. She wrote, “this emphasis on the greatest good for the greatest number and what serves their needs is in contrast to the scriptural obligations to care for the least of these, for the minority and for those on margins of social and political power. This is especially problematic if one has even a cursory view of human history, and even church history, and the tyranny of the greatest good defined by the majority and their tyranny over the minority. We know that the majority can be wrong and often have the resources to muster the ideological power and political support to enforce the view that might makes right and the majority always wins.”[3]The case for working for the happiness of all, especially those who have little or no voice in the process, is of paramount importance for those who claim allegiance to the text of Holy Writ. The God of the Bible mandated that it was the responsibility of those who would follow the Way to care for the widows, orphans and aliens among them. Jesus, in his first recorded message to those in the synagogue, quoted the prophet Isaiah saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[4]It seems that there is a kind of ‘entitlement’ that has been proclaimed by divine fiat that we who choose to follow Christ must consider seriously.

Mr. Romney is also on record in favor of the construction of what is known as the Keystone Pipeline. This is a project that will allow oil extracted from Canadian oil sand to be transported across the U.S. to refineries and export facilities. Much ink has been spilled on this issue. Most of which, I fear, most Americans are utterly unaware of. Allow me to share a couple of concerns. While many still think that global warming is simply a political ploy to add regulations and burdens to business and industry, the evidence is mounting to prove it. The extraction of oil from Canada may very well add to the problem of increased greenhouse gases in ways that boggles the mind. One source states,

“The oil sands are Canada’s fastest growing source of GHGs,” said the document. It estimated that the industry’s annual greenhouse gas emissions would rise by nearly 900% from 1990 to 2020. By the end of that period, the oil sands — with an estimated annual footprint of 90 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent gases in 2020 — would exceed the carbon footprint of all cars and SUVs on Canadian roads from 2008, according to the Environment Canada document.
The document also warns of other rising air pollutants that could cause acid rain or other forms of acidification to damage lakes in Saskatchewan and Alberta, along with particulate matter that could be toxic to rivers, the landscape and wildlife.”[5]

Besides the atmospheric threat, there is the threat to the environment from the path of the pipeline itself. It has been the plan of the developers to build the pipeline across the largest fresh water aquifer in the U.S. This link will allow those interested to read just one of many articles that voice concern for this major source of drinking water and irrigation, http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20110811/keystone-xl-pipeline-route-ogallala-aquifer-nebraska-sandhills. Yet, those who favor the project state that the benefits far outweigh the risks. Jobs will be created and money will be made, (at least by those at the top of the investment food chain). There is reason to pause and consider this, though. There are some who would contest the optimistic view of the project. One such sources states,

“According to the U.S. State Department the pipeline would create at most 6,500 temporary construction jobs, and would leave only “hundreds” of permanent jobs, according to TransCanada, the Canadian company that wants to build the pipeline. Claims that the pipeline would employ tens or even hundreds of thousands of people are simply not true. A Cornell University study concludes the pipeline would kill more jobs than it would create, by reducing investment in the clean energy economy”[6]

(On this issue I think that Mr. Obama has taken the prudent position to deny the project’s access and to encourage further study and conversation.)
Utilitarianism is a normative ethical position that may help people when making moral decisions. It is not, however, the best way to proceed. What constitutes the ‘good of the many’? Who is able to render that position for all concerned? Pope John Paul II had concerns about the tendency for utilitarianism to make people, individuals and groups, objects of use. He wrote, “Utilitarianism is a civilization of production and of use, a civilization of things and not of persons, a civilization in which persons are used in the same way as things are used.”[7] It is this philosophy as espoused by the GOP that causes me concern. It does not seem to matter to them what happens to the few, as long as the many benefit. In civilized society we are, in fact, our brothers’ keeper. For those of us who accept as normative the admonition of Scripture, we have a mandate from Yahweh to care for the marginalized in society. And, I feel, that the government that is elected must share in that mandate. To not do so evidences a considered disregard for justice for all.
So, what does that do for my personal position? Well, none of the choices available are ideal, or even really good. However, when presented with a choice between a well-meaning, yet naïve incumbent who seems to be clear on what is just and a challenger who is equally clear in what is unjust, I must choose justice.


[1]Mill, John Stuart, Utilitarianism, in The Basic Writings of John Stuart Mill, (Modern Library: New York, 2002). Qtd. In Corbin Reuschling, Wyndy, Reviving Evangelical Ethics: The Promises and Pitfalls of Classic Models of Morality, (BrazosPress: Grand Rapids, 2008).
[3]Corbin Reuschling, Wyndy, Reviving Evangelical Ethics: The Promises and Pitfalls of Classic Models of Morality, (BrazosPress: Grand Rapids, 2008).
[4]Luke 4:18-19, NIV 2011.
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Away for a bit

It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve been here. There’s simply been too much on my plate to spend time with this blog. My dad was back in hospital again. It really sux getting old. He’s a tough old codger, though. And, I started at a new position at work last week. New stuff to learn and not a lot of time to learn it. Ah, yes! I love it when they move the cheese.
Anyway, I’ve spent the better share of the last month ruminating on how the Euro-American worldview is simply NOT the best way to live a full and abundant life. I’ve read a couple books from a Zen point of view. One of them by a Jesuit priest who uses Zen practices to deepen his spiritual life with Yahweh. Interesting stuff that I will comment on later. I’ve also been studying material written from a First Inhabitant point of view. I have been encouraged to look at this by Randy Woodley. He is an American Cherokee with a Ph.D from Asbury Seminary. Having been following his online works and blogs, as well as working through his newest tome, Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision, has given me much to meditate on. This, too, I’ll comment on later. All of this to say, I am in the process of trying to reconcile the Euro-American culture with the Very Good Creation that Yahweh has provided for all living things to dwell in. It’s difficult. Actually, it’s impossible. We who are of European descent have much to bring to the discussion, but we are not the answer or telos of that discussion.

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Reconciled life

Today I was reading in Romans 5. Paul wrote that because of Yahweh’s great love we have been reconciled to God. Whereas we were enemies, (by our own doing), we are now friends who are saved from wrath. I began to wonder what a reconciled life might look like. If we are no longer subjected to wrath, how should we live? Honestly, I can’t give a good or comprehensive answer to this. What might be evidenced in my life would be wholly inappropriate for someone else. But, I think there are some things that warrant mention.
If we live our lives with an eye to what others may think, even if it is to be a so-called “witness”; that is wrong. Jesus made it clear that any good that we do should be done for the Father alone. Yet, I’ve heard many good intentioned people state that we must watch ourselves and maintain some kind of piety so that others will see and desire to live in a similar fashion. So far, I’ve not seen the masses storming the gates to get in.
I think that a reconciled life may allow people to maintain a kind of aloofness, or detachment, from the concerns of the world system and culture. I’m amused at some people who take the markets and politics and other things so seriously. It is the end of the world as we know it now that the Supreme Court has upheld the health care act. Yet, these same people will make profit hand over fist at the expense of this act. We are not affected by this. Ours is not the way of culture and politics.  Ours is the way of reconciliation. Ours is the way of the cross.
I think that reconciled people are reattached to the very good creation. Where we were once cut off, especially in the West, we are put into a right relation with the earth and all that it contains. We experience God’s shalom, or as one writer put it, the Harmony Way. According to Genesis, humans were put in here to serve and protect the earth as God’s eikons. We are stewards who must answer to the Lord of the Manor. Unreconciled people view the earth as humanity’s servant. Something to be used and abused to fulfill our own appetites and greed. Not so, says the scripture. We, being reconciled to God, are also reconciled to the very good creation.
I think that this is a good topic for reflection. What do reconciled people look like?  How does this affect our relationships with Yahweh; others; the cosmos? I don’t know for sure, but God does. I trust that we will be led to greater clarity and understanding because of Yahweh’s great love.

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Grasping

For any who have read some of my ramblings, I just want to say that these are mostly intended to be food for thought. Little observations and feelings that I put out here to help me think through things and find out what I really think.
With that in mind, this A.M. I found myself reflecting on failure. This lead me to the story of the garden. Now, there’s a lot in the story recorded in Genesis 2 & 3. More than I care to get into now. But, one thing that did jump out at me was the idea of ‘grasping.’ Let’s recap. Adam and Eve were placed in the garden to care for it, to cultivate it, and to serve and protect it. It would be ok to think that they, in their own way, farmed the land. We are lead to understand that the land willingly gave up its strength so that whatever crop was planted grew up healthy and full of fruit. During the times when they were acting in their role as stewards, they probably had lots of time to think and discuss their lives and relationships with the very good creation, with each other, and with God. It appears that somewhere in the course of their lives they began to speculate about how God related to the very good creation and to them, in particular. The reason I say that is because when they were confronted with the choice of following the known will of Elohim or not, they seemed to have already formed a positive opinion of God’s role against a more negative view of their own. When the serpent offered his opinion that they would certainly not die if they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they accepted his opinion. The text reads, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it” (Gen. 3:6a&b, NIV2011). She saw that eating the fruit would allow one to grasp at the things, the attributes, of God. Not content to fulfill the role intended for humankind, she coveted that which was intrinsically divine.
Now, let’s contrast that with another person. Yeshua ben Yosef, of questionable birth, (i.e., Yosef was not his dad), came on the scene. Throughout his life he learned a trade and he learned about Yahweh from his family and friends. He grew strong in the Spirit and was especially close to his heavenly Father. He did not need to speculate about God’s role in the very good creation. He was intimately aware of it. He was also intimate with the barriers that humanity placed on one in relation to Yahweh. Of anyone in history, he was the one who could properly ‘grasp’ at the things that were in the purview of God. Yet, one of the earliest hymns of the fledgling ecclesia reads, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage” (Phil. 2:6). Jesus did not grasp at that which was not his to have. In this Kenotic hymn we have a glimpse into the proper position for humankind. He emptied himself and took on the form of a servant; a slave. Like the story of the garden, Jesus confronted the same temptation: to become ‘like God.’ In his case, he was God! But, he willingly and humbly chose not to grasp at that. He laid it down. And, in so doing has provided the example by which we, as his followers, should emulate. Yes, we are by adoption daughters and sons of God. Yes, we have rights as children and heirs. But, our place in this life is to take the form of a servant. A servant to God, to humanity, to the very good creation.

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God’s Relentless, All Consuming Love

As I continue to contemplate Yahweh’s love for the good creation in general, and humanity in particular, I am brought back to something I began to get a glimpse of many months ago. That is, that God’s desire and love for us is relentless. No matter where we wander in life’s forests, deserts and meadows, Yahweh will pursue us. I caught a bit of a picture that, while imperfect, does reveal a little of how I see God’s pursuit of us, God’s beloved.
Presently, there are several wildfires burning out of control in Colorado and New Mexico. These fires are driven by wind and fueled by dead growth and litter. The fires are relentless in their advance. Nothing escapes the lick of the flame. All is consumed. In the process, the pine beetle that has destroyed trees is consumed. The governor of New Mexico mentioned that in some places the pine needles on the forest floor is as deep as 4 feet. This, too, is consumed opening the ground to the sun and rain. The dead wood is removed. All of this creates the possibility for new growth; new hope.
This metaphor, like all metaphors, has limitations. But, I see God’s relentless, all consuming love burning in our lives. It consumes everything. The good, the bad and the ugly. Yes, some things will be caught in the process. But, the hope of new life is present in the ashes. The good and healthy seed will germinate and grow. The soil, rich with new nutrients, will be able to receive the sun and rain without the litter that has fallen to block it. Those pests and parasites will be destroyed. Those creatures that escaped will be able to return. The forest, like our life, will not be the same. Yet, God will bless. God will be present. God will continue to love us…relentlessly.

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God’s Furious Love

I just finished Brennan Manning’s The Furious Longing of God. I have always enjoyed reading Manning. He showed me that I am a Ragamuffin. That was a great help to me. It’s amazing how that kind of insight can help to do away with pretensions.
This book had as its underlying theme a verse from Song of Songs. It reads, “I belong to my Beloved’s. His desire is for me” (7:10). As I reflected on this I was taken back a few months to when I really began to realize Yahweh’s relentless pursuit of me. Yet, it has been so easy for me to slip into the notion that God is enthroned in a heaven that I cannot reach. God is attentive to my prayer, but somewhat aloof. We pray for God’s grace and wisdom. We pray for God to win our battles. We pray that others will see things clearly, (code for ‘My Way’). But, the Lover of our souls desires us. The Creator/Yahweh has walked among us because of that desire. Jesus, the one and only Son loved enough to change water to wine and to heal lepers. He, the true Image of God, went willingly to the cross because of Yahweh’s great passion for us. 
Yet, we debate about subjective genitives and whether Adam and Eve were actual people. We take the life, death, resurrection and ascension and call it ‘the Christ event.’ People debate about justification and sola scriptura, making these what the good news is about. We have to think and believe certain ways or else we are sliding down some slippery slope. (I don’t know about you, but sled riding is Fun!)
And, all the while God is still relentlessly pursuing us. The more I consider this love of God, the more I am being convinced that this other stuff doesn’t really matter. Frankly, it does not matter to me if the creation story is a factual news story or if it is Israel’s story written as a result of the captivity. God loves me. I am not going to get into discussions with people who think that they understand any of the so-called laws of thermodynamics. It simply is not important when one considers that “love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:10b). John the Elder wrote that God is love. We are under compulsion to follow Jesus’ command to love one another as He has loved us. We are the recipients of Yahweh’s unrestrained and furious love. The rest is just fluff.

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