Category: Life and culture

Color Blind?

Published by mhelbert on July 6, 2020

Last week I wrote how my Dad reacted to the murder of MLK.
My Dad grew up in a small town where there were few, if any, African Americans.
He was a child of his time.
Jim Crow was still the rule of the Land, if not the actual Law.
Blacks were viewed not only as “Other,” but as “Less Than.”
Outside of a few city slicker, bleeding hearts no one even thought twice about it.
Most folks were like my Dad simply trying to get their piece of the American Pie.
They really had no time to think about things like Equal Rights and Red Lining.
Hell, I’m pretty sure my Dad went to his grave having never heard of Red Lining!
No one cared.
Period.
They had their own worries and concerns.
“Blacks? Who cares? Let them worry about themselves. That is, as long as they don’t show up in my neighborhood!”

My first contact with Blacks was when I was a very young child. I lived in a lily-white world. Except, on garbage day.
That’s when the Negroes came down our street with the garbage truck to collect the stuff that we no longer wanted.
The Garbage.
Imagine my young, white mind seeing this.
My dad went to work somewhere magical every day.
Negroes collect garbage.

Of course, my parents never said anything to dispel that thought.
As far as they were concerned my observations were spot on.
Negroes collect garbage.

Throughout my youth I never had any other real contact with African Americans.
Oh, yeah, they showed up on the news fairly regularly.
But, with Dad’s commentary in my ear, there were no positive images seen or understood.

That is, until Music.

I remember the first time I heard “Green Onions” by Booker T. & the MG’s.
Holy Shit!
What was that sound?
Do you feel that?

First the ears, then the eyes Opened!

Later, who’s that guy with the ‘fro?
Jimi Who?
Oh. My. God.
Is that a guitar?

Mind. Blown.

The circuits in my brain began to search for new pathways to describe and explain the cognitive dissonance that I experienced.
I had always heard that Blacks were something, (note “something,” not “someone”), to be at best ignored. They had no talent or ability that would interest a white person.

But, Bloody Hell!
That guy could Play!

I picked up B.B King, and Albert King.
Fats Domino and, of course, the King of Soul…James Brown.
(My Dad had no use for Brown. He referred to him as a Screaming N-R.)

Once on a journey to the hinterland of Cleveland Public Hall to relish the sweet sounds and harmonies of Three Dog Night, I heard nature’s call. When I got to the Relief Portal I found that all of the stalls had a coin slot on them. So, now it costs a buck for a coke and a quarter to get rid of it. They had us coming and going.
However, one young man, about 6 feet tall and ebony of hue, wearing a sheepskin vest and a wide-brimmed hat held the door open for me. “No way someone should have to pay to piss.”

More of the instilled hatred that my Father tried to pass on to me was flushed away.

Yet, my destiny seemed to be in following my white forebears through life. I got a job with a mostly white business. That business busied me for the next 40+ years. I had limited contact with folks who did not look like me.
I found myself engulfed in the cultural tsunami that was Ronnie Reagan.
Yes, I have repented of my youthful foolishness. My back striped from self-flagellation.
But, the mantra of that time was, that nothing was more important than the economy. And, that economy is ‘Color-Blind.’
That meant that everyone and anyone had equal access to the same prosperity. All you had to do was work hard at it.
See!
Color Blind!

Unless, of course, you were one of those Welfare Mothers who became baby factories for no other reason than to suckle on the Government Teet.
Or, you were one of those crack head, absentee fathers who stuck his dark wick into any willing receptacle. Of which, there were apparently an endless supply. (See Welfare Mother.)

No. Racism didn’t die when the laws changed.
White folks thought it did.
That’s why white folks invented the term Color Blind.
You see, Lady Justice wears a blindfold. So, if the Law says ‘Equal,’ then that means that 400 years of oppression suddenly vanishes. Just like that White Jeannie with the skimpy harem outfit and the blink and nod thing. Gone!

Now that I’m older, so much older…
I see that the only color that white folks are blind to is White.
Yeah, I know that technically White is the absence of all color, but play along.

Who was it that affixed the moniker “Red Man” to indigenous Americans?
What group of people colored the Asian “Yellow”?
What enlightened culture labeled an entire continent, “The Dark Continent”?
Oh, you thought that was because of the deep, dark jungle?
Yeah, probably not entirely.

White people, the squeaky-clean, sparkling progenitors of everything good and worthwhile in the world have done more to demean and destroy anyone, or any culture, that may seem to set them in a poor light.
White folks can’t stand to be “Losers” or “Also Rans” or anything less than King of the Hill.

But, in more ways than we care to admit.

We are.

Actually, that pretty much sums this up.

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1 Corinthians_Unity pt. 3

Published by mhelbert on June 24, 2020

Oy, will those kids ever stop arguing????

When I go to weddings the first thing I do is look at the program for the ceremony. In almost every case there is one passage from Scripture that appears that is one of the most misused passages, (and, there are Many!), of any. This passage is 1 Corinthians 13.
The “Love” chapter.
I cringe when I see that listed as a reading. Usually, it will be read by one of the bride’s friends from childhood. You know the one, she stayed up late with the bride doing each others’ hair and joking about the length of the quarterback’s, well, you know.
The reason I find this particular passage so distasteful is because it was NEVER meant to be read only at weddings. In fact, the content alone is not about the love found in some fairy tale of wedded bliss.
This passage was placed in this particular spot between chapters 12 & 14 for a specific reason by St. Paul.
As we are learning in our Bible study at St. Barnabas, the Corinthian church had a serious identity problem. They were all excited about the personalities who came to visit them.
Paul, Apollos, the M&Ms Guys…whoever. They were totally enamored by the kinds of Spiritual gifts that they could flaunt at one another. People took pleasure in standing up in the midst of their gatherings and saying something wise, or at least esoteric sounding enough to make people applaud them.
They were all about what each of them thought of themselves.
So, right in the middle of trying to straighten out their thinking on gifts and order and stuff, Paul tossed in “a more excellent way.”
He wrote:

“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”
Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (1 Co 13:1–13). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

Read that carefully.
Note that what Paul was saying that Love is Hard.
He wasn’t talking about some warm and fuzzy feeling in my chest. There are many people who follow Jesus who Do think about love that way.
No. Paul talked about sacrificing his body and experiencing ecstatic plateaus of spirituality. He wrote of all knowing and understanding.
All things that the church at Corinth prized as the highest reward for their troubles.
These are also things that many in today’s church cultures most value.
“I have the correct doctrine!”
“I understand the hidden things of the Bible and prophecy!”
“I am an enlightened progressive who really gets inclusiveness!”

But, there is a more excellent way.

John the Elder wrote:

“The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (1 Jn 4:8). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

Jesus revealed what he considered the two greatest commandments.
The second one,

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Mt 22:39). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

That’s enough to make my point, I think.

I find that I can sit and spend meaningful time with those I disagree with. There are usually areas of common concern that we can talk about. Perhaps, we can disagree amicably. Even though it’s unlikely either of us will be swayed to think differently.
There still is that part of us that shares faith in the One God who has called us to faith in Christ.

Can I sit down with someone whom I think is a bigoted, hateful Christian and share a meal?
I would hope that I could.
Would I let that person off the hook for their bigotry and hatred?
Not on your life!!!
They would get an earful from me.
I would do my best to paint them into a corner where they would either need to repent or get up and leave.

There is NO ROOM in the Body of Christ for Hatred or Exclusion!!

Yet, as far as it depended on me, I would hope that I could extend the Unity of the Spirit toward such a person. For I am called to Love them.
I may not succeed well. (Or, at all!)
But, I would be compelled to try.

I am not responsible for siblings with whom I disagree.
I can pray for them.
For sure, I can rebuke them and encourage them to join me on a better path.

At the end of the day we are each responsible for our own thoughts and actions. As I lay my head down at night and take a time of Examen to consider the day, I can only take credit or blame for myself.

Is it hard?
Damn straight it is!

Can I go to a church where I know that I will be triggered with anxiety?
No. I know my limitations.
Can I see Jesus in people who DO go to those churches?
I hope that I can.
I pray that I can.
And, I try to enact that love and acceptance as best I can.

That’s all we can do.

It is a more excellent way.

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1 Corinthians_Unity pt. 2

Published by mhelbert on June 23, 2020

The last time I shared I wrote that the answer to my reader’s question about whether we should strive for unity with people whose faith is in opposition to ours. How can we achieve unity with people who are simply so far afield from us?

That leads us to what the real question is:
Are those others even Real True Christians?

If we answer in the negative, we are essentially off the hook. “They aren’t part of the Church, so I don’t need to strive for unity with them. Hell, I don’t even need to talk to them!”

When we try to do this we commit the logical fallacy known as the “No True Scotsman” fallacy.
This tack seems to let us proclaim that our brand of (fill in the blank) is what a true (same fill in the blank) looks like. Therefore, any deviation from what we think is (blank again) cannot be a True (fill in the blank).

This reader could then say, “Christians love others. That person doesn’t love everyone. Therefore, that person is not a Real True Christian.”

The argument is a fallacy because one changes the subject without any logical reason to do so. There is no, as some say, a falsifiable fact involved. It’s simply a subjective statement to try and create a false dichotomy.

The fact is, Falwell Jr., Franklin Graham, Bob Jeffress, et al are IN FACT CHRISTIANS!!
We don’t get to make judgments about their faith any more than they get to do that about us.
In fact, these people would come out and say that All Progressive Christians are NOT Real True Christians.

So, what do we do about the seeming disparity in what we believe about God and Jesus?
It appears that the chasm is great and there is no way to bridge it.

Taking Jesus as our Exemplar once again, perhaps we can begin to see a way forward.

Those of us who have read the stories about Jesus, the Gospels, understand that Jesus was not a simple, monochrome person. He was solid as a rock about some things. A little more colorful or even ambivalent about others.
One of the things that he was solid about was that many people who claimed to be leaders of Israel were behaving in ways that God simply was opposed to.
Many of these people tried to confront Jesus and trip him up.
One time when Jesus was eating with so-called “tax collectors and sinners,” those people questioned his judgment about the company he kept.
Jesus said, “It’s the sick who need a physician.”
In the 23rd chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus pronounce ‘8 Woes’ upon those same people. He called out their hypocrisy, hate, and bigotry. His language was hard as he pointed out how they erred from the Way of God.
Jesus used Judgment language to denounce cities where the people did not accept the miracles he performed as proof of God’s Presence among them.
These were powerful and hard words.

Yet, at no time did Jesus say that they were not Real True Israelites.

In fact, I think that he was able to use that kind of language with them precisely because they were family.

Jesus example provides us with a way to engage others with whom we disagree. It’s not to point fingers at them and pronounce them “Unclean!”
But, we may engage them and try to show them that there is another way to walk in Faith.
We don’t need to be exclusive and build walls to keep out the “Other.”
In fact, it’s closer to our job description to be demolition experts who tear down walls!

What if those others refuse to listen and rebuff us?
Can we wipe the dust off of our sandals and walk away?

I really wish that I could say, “Yes!!! Just walk away!!!”

I’m not sure that I can say that, though.

Because, I think that there may be a “still more excellent way.”

But, that will need to wait til next time.

For now, perhaps we can reflect on what it means to be members of a dysfunctional family. We have no control over who our siblings are or what they will do.
But, in the end, we ARE still Sisters and Brothers.

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1 Corinthians_Unity pt. 1

Published by mhelbert on June 18, 2020

Yesterday I wrote a response to a reader’s questions.
At issue is whether or not seeking unity is possible when there are others who hold such diametrically opposed positions on faith, belief, and praxis.
In fact, it would seem that some of the differences that we see in today’s American culture are insurmountable. We would be better off simply not engaging with those folks. It would be better for our own sanity and peace.
We could always cite texts within the Bible that state things like, “what does darkness have to do with light? Therefore, don’t associate with darkness.”
Makes sense. Right?

Of course it does.

That may be the crux of the issue.

I wrote a few days ago, Here, about how evolution may play a role in how we view “Others.”
In order to protect our tribe so that we can flourish, reproduce, and live our lives, we construct barriers that insulate ourselves against those others.
Those barriers include ideas and beliefs. Even if we find ourselves in physical closeness with one another, say for commerce or other concerns, we still keep the barriers up. In this way we can clearly see any potential danger from outside influences.
I highlight Influences because that is precisely what it seems that we do when when we listen to the voices of our own echo chambers.
Whether those voices are conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican, Muslim or Jew,
working class or ivory tower Elite, we naturally gravitate toward the voices that resonate with our tribe.
As I wrote then, I think that this kind of thinking is at the heart of many of the issues that we deal with in our society today.
It’s all Us or Them.
And, nary the twain shall meet.
Period.

This was part of the problem that St. Paul saw in the fledgling church at Corinth. They had divided up into factions that ‘Liked’ one personality over another. Paul came right out and called these schisms. These schisms threatened to derail all of the work that Paul and friends had done with this church. The Koinonia, or Fellowship, that Paul saw as foundational to the Gospel that he proclaimed was in danger of fracturing.
And, Paul was not having any of that nonsense.
For, to him, it was nonsense.
Over the course of this letter he will lay out what he sees, why it makes no sense, and what he expects the followers of Jesus in this community to do about it.
So, we’ll touch on some of that later.

What I want to address now is the idea of Unity that Paul calls for.
Does Unity really mean Unity?
I mean, I can achieve some level of unity with folks who think like I do.
But, what about everyone else?
Do I need to strive for Unity with “Them”?

The short answer is ‘Yes,’ we do.
Neither Paul nor Jesus leave us a way out of that.

Jesus told his followers:

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
[The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Mt 5:43–48). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.]

Pretty clear. Jesus felt pretty strongly about the idea of loving the “Other.”

Even in some of our own traditions the words of our Baptismal Covenant ask us,
“Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?”
“Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?”
(Taken from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer.)

I realize that all of this sounds difficult, if not counter productive to our own aspirations to work for peace and justice in society. We are simply going to have to admit that we will be up against stiff opposition from other tribes who are trying to maintain their own boundaries and integrity. Just like we are.
So, let’s fight and press our position, our Rights, until we defeat those other folks.
After all, we ARE right!
Right?

Well, definitely, maybe.

While unity and respect, if not outright Love, are what’s called for, simple acquiescence to what those other folks think is NOT.

That’s a topic for another post.
For now, take the time to think about your own positions on the pressing issues that face us today.
Then, take a moment to place yourself in the position of someone who may not agree with you.
Can we empathize with them at all?
Or, are they so far off of the rails that only a crane will help right them on the tracks?

Because, looking intently at the “Other” and discerning the flicker of Divine Light, that Imago Dei, that may still dwell within them is what Jesus did.
For those of us who claim to follow Jesus, he is our Exemplar in these things.
He treated both friend and opposition this way.
Perhaps, we should learn how He did that and follow.

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1 Corinthians_A Digression

Published by mhelbert on June 17, 2020

Yesterday I wrote a little about what I think was St. Paul’s over-arching concern for the churches that had contact with.
That concern was for unity. As he wrote, he desired that the folks in the fellowship of believers at Corinth would “be like minded and of the same consent.”
So, it’s no surprise that one of my reader would pose the following questions:

“So is it possible to apply this call to unity as you understand it to the Fundamental/Evangelical portion of the church? What does that unity look like? Must unity be reciprocated or can it be only one way? Do I have a responsibility to pursue unity even if others don’t want to have unity with me? If you believe a group within what we would consider the Body of Christ holds hurtful, or even evil doctrines regarding women, gays, minorities, immigrants, etc. must we attempt to live in peace and unity with them? Can we express unity over spiritual matters but go to war with one another over political positions?”

Some of you reading may not understand the questions. They seem to be a way of dodging the responsibilities that Paul appeared to lay upon the folks at Corinth.
“Of course! Unity is unity! We should strive for it with all people.”

And, for those of you who may ask that question I have a reply that may explain where such questioning may originate.

If you were never a part of a conservative, evangelical church you really have no idea how questions like those asked of my reader are important.
Many of us came to follow Jesus at a time when there was a lot of social and political unrest in the U.S. We were part of the so-called “Jesus Movement” of the early 70s. We built our faith and identity on our understanding of the Church as it was described in the first few chapters of the Book of Acts. We willing gave away our belongings and identity in order to “follow Jesus just like the first Church!” Hallelujah!
Part of our concept of how to do this was to become “Disciples.”
We understood that the term Disciple shared an etymological root with the word Discipline. So, we instituted a church government that we believed mirrored that which Paul and Peter and the rest established in the first century.
We had elders who held absolute authority over the church. We took the words that folks should not cause the elders any grief because they worked for God and not themselves.
We believed that such elders or even so-called apostolic ministry was ordained by God for the building up of the Body of Christ so that we could live counter-culturally and witness to the Good News that the Bible taught us.
As our churches grew, we got older. We began to see cultural issues as battlegrounds where our faith was tested. Abortion became a rallying cry for us. Secularization in government and wanton corruption in entertainment caused our leaders to decry how our culture had fallen from its original mandate to establish a City on a Hill that would beckon those seeking religious freedom to our cause.
As you can see, our church culture was ripe for authoritarian abuse. Those elders and leaders we had entrusted our faith to led us into culture wars where we soon saw ourselves as a persecuted minority.
Those of us who did not hold positions of authority were expected to do as we were told.
We met when we were told to meet. We raised our children according to the ways prescribed by our leaders. We had marriage retreats where husbands were told that they were neglecting their duty as the “Authority and covering” for their wives and children. In some case we were told how to spend our free time and how to vote.
The church was our life.
We were instructed by people like second-rate psychologist and theologian wannab James Dobson on how to raise children.
He was wrong on so many levels. But, we didn’t realize it at the time.
We were becoming disciplined disciples who disciplined their children in a disciple-making manner.
Many of us still suffer from the dysfunction that lingers to this day.
Our elders controlled how wives should submit to their husbands in all things including sex.
Wives, we were told, didn’t have control over their bodies, their husbands did. And, husbands were told that we were simply sexually driven animals who really didn’t have any control over their bodies either.
This led to abuses, adulteries, slut shaming, and a purity culture that shamed girls and women.

Many of us, myself included, suffer today from some form of what is termed
“Church PTSD.” Walking into an evangelical church for me is a triggering event that causes anxiety and anger associated with our natural ‘fight or flight’ reaction to perceived danger.
I know people who absolutely cannot walk into ANY church because of the abuses they incurred.
I’m not talking about physical abuse in my case.
Emotional and Spiritual abuse, however, have left me and my family scarred.

So, for those of us who escaped from that milieu, we react viscerally when someone suggests that we should strive for unity with those we feel abused us.
This is what leads us to ask the kinds of question my reader posed.

How can we seek unity with our abusers?
Is there any common ground that we can find with the haters and bigots who were spawned by this fundalelical movement?
Can we sit with the likes of Franklin Graham or christian nationalists like Robert Jeffress, pseudo-historian David Barton, or the Liar Tony Perkins?

From my description of these folks you may assume that I don’t see a way.

That may not be entirely accurate.
I do take the Bible seriously. I take my trust in the Faithfulness of God seriously, also.
So, what to do with our personal histories and beliefs?
I think that we’ll continue this discussion for a while.
We may even find some hope in Paul’s letter to that troublesome church at Corinth.

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What Did Paul Really Say?

Published by mhelbert on June 16, 2020

As many of you know, (by many, I mean all 3 of you!), I have been helping out at St. Barnabas by facilitating a Bible study for the last year or so. We have followed the texts that were selected for each week in the Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer. It has been a good time to take a closer look at the texts that were read during worship every week.
But, now I have decided to change things up a bit.
I have wanted to look closely at Paul’s letter to the Church at Corinth for about 6 months. In my own reading and devotional time I recognized similarities between the folks living in that ancient place and our own post-modern Western culture.
Granted that social constructs and cultural mores and practices were vastly different and foreign to anything we know today. But, as I continue studying these ancient texts and read the work of sociologists and anthropologists who write about those times, the more I realize that “people is people is people” regardless of time and place.

So, this past Sunday we began at the beginning of 1 Corinthians.

The first thing that we had to realize is that we were truly reading someone else’s mail. Contrary to what many may think about this text, it was not written to us. It was written by Paul for a specific group of people for a specific reason. Understanding that fact goes a long way to getting even a small handle on the text’s purpose and meaning.
What this means in practical terms for interpretation is that we CANNOT take the words Paul wrote out of their contexts and simply plop them down into 21st century U.S. and apply them like some kind of rulebook or users’ manual.
Note that I wrote “contexts,” plural. There is the obvious context of the letter itself. All of the words written in this particular missive. However, there are cultural and social contexts that bear on ALL of the words written. These contexts are foreign to us. They must be considered along with the text itself if we have any hope of understanding Paul’s purpose in writing.
Too many in Fundagelical circles do just that and completely miss what the text is really attempting to say.

With that in mind we look for hints that can provide us with a better understanding of what an inspired Paul may have been attempting to communicate. Once we discover that, then, perhaps, we can glean something that can help guide us in our own pilgrimage through this life together.

As we began the study we saw that Paul was very much a product of his era. The form and content of the letter conform nicely to the epistolary forms of the day. He began with a greeting that introduced himself, his credentials, and the person who was with him, presumable as a helper.
After the greeting he offered a Thanksgiving for those to whom he wrote. In typical Graeco-Roman style, the Thanksgiving hints at issues or topics that will be addressed at length later in the letter. He praised the Corinthians for their wisdom and spiritual awareness. Nothing unusual at all about this. For, in fact, these are issues that Paul will deal with quite forcefully later in the letter.

Then, Paul wrote what many believe was his Thesis. The over-arching concern that will drive the letter forward.
He wrote,

“Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.”
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (1 Co 1:10). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Apparently, there were, in fact, divisions within the young Church at Corinth. Paul will go on to speak to these divisions. And, he will condemn them.
In fact, I’ll go out on a limb here and say that in ALL of Paul’s writings his main concern is for the Unity of the Faithful in their communities.
He doesn’t advocate for ‘sameness,’ as some people tend to think. But, his goal and primary concern is for Unity in Diversity.

This takes work…Hard. Work.

In the above quote the words translated, “United in the same mind and the same purpose,” could be better translated, “United in the same Mindset and the same Consent.”
Paul desired for the folks at Corinth to be focused on the same goal as followers of Jesus. As he continues through the letter we see that the people in the nascent Church really didn’t understand the power of their calling. They seemed more enamored by the Cult of Personality that they could attach themselves to. “I belong to Paul! I am on Team Apollos!
No, Cephas is the Best! Yeah, you’re all wrong, I belong to Christ!”
Just like today, people are hooking their wagons to personalities and causes that do nothing more than stir up strife, mistrust, and hatred.
“MAGA!” “I follow Joe!” “My heart is in Dixie!”

However, the second part of that clause states that Paul desired the Corinthians to have the same “consent.”
The wording may seem strange to us. But, the gist of it is clear.
While we affirm the diversity that exists, we must also Consent to live within the Unity of who we are as people.
That requires me laying aside some of my ideas and prejudices for the sake of Unity.
If I am going to truly Love Others, I cannot demand all of my own rights and privileges at their expense.
It’s hard work.
No one ever said that living together is easy. I mean, for those of us who have been married, we get that.

Paul began this letter with a call for Unity in the fledgling Community of Faith at Corinth.

Paul’s words beckon us still toward that goal.

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The Third Option

Published by mhelbert on June 15, 2020

I hope you all had a great weekend!
It’s Monday and time to get back at it.

Today I’m going to add a final piece to my thoughts on “Third Options” as regards the current political activity surrounding Black Lives Matter.
To be clear, I fully support this movement. For, a movement it is. People from all walks of life have seen enough injustice and pain. Those of us who have retained remnants of the Civil Rights Movement and other movements led by activists seeking systemic change to our culture are happy to be a part of this.
But, alas, we are also saddened and frustrated that these issues still need to be addressed.
Baby steps, I guess.

Last week a wrote about how our culture tends to view all issues of morality, culture, politics, and society through binary lenses. Our worldview sees everything in black/white; right/wrong; us/them.
This is not only counter productive to a healthy culture, it is simply wrong.
Our entire universe and existence is made up of not only black and white. But, it contains all of the millions and millions of colors that live between those extremes.
Our reality is not either/or. But, in almost all cases it is both/and.
Please understand that.
We exist in a paradox.
Even if our tiny gray cells can’t seem to grasp that entirely, it is the truth.

So, what does that have to do with so-called ‘Third Options’?

I recently saw an interview with a guy named Miles McPherson. He is the pastor of a large church in San Diego as well as a motivational speaker.
He published a book in 2018 entitled, “The Third Option: Hope for a Racially Divided Nation.”
I have not read the book, but here is a link to a YouTube presentation in which McPherson discusses its contents.
What struck me was how he changed the idea of having ‘Conversations’ about race to having ‘Race Consultations.’ This may seem like splitting semantic hairs, but there is something new about the approach.
And, it is an approach that I think is inherently aligned with what should be the position of anyone who claims to follow Christ.

Let me explain.

I usually don’t go in for wide generalizations, but bear with me for a minute as I muse about a couple things.

I wrote last week that I have spent most of my adult life informally studying religion. I am by no means expert on the subject. But, there are a couple observations that I would like to make. Please don’t hesitate to call me out in the comments if something I write is glaringly inaccurate! You won’t hurt my feelings. And, I might even learn something new!

Form where I stand, I see most of the world’s great religions focused on what the practice can do for me.
For instance, Buddhism was developed by a guy named Siddartha Gautama after he witnessed human suffering. He desired to help people move beyond suffering toward a higher, (better?), existence in the world. It is primarily a way for people to live peacefully in this life. The hope that is eventually, the individual will be caught up into a universal nirvana where individuality merges with the Cosmos.
Other religions also look to enabling adherents to reap some kind of eternal reward for following certain rules or principles.
Even many indigenous religions seek to perform rituals in order to please the spirits of ancestors or deities that can help with crops and weather and fertility. All of these are in one way or another, self-seeking.
Not self-seeking in a selfish way. But, the deity or spirits or disciplines are sought and practiced for ‘My Benefit’ in this life or the next.

I know that I’m painting with a really broad brush here. But, this is, after all, only a blog post and not a doctoral dissertation.

I want to preface this next part by saying that I am aware that people who claim to follow Jesus are fallible humans who, by and large, get it wrong. As I wrote in earlier posts, we are programmed by evolution to watch out for ourselves and our tribes. That is why what I am going to write is so counter-intuitive, yet so bloody important to understand.

As I read and study the Christian Bible, particularly the Gospels, I am struck by something that seems unusual.
The person, Jesus, doesn’t seem to behave like a normal person. The words he speaks and the actions that he performs all tend toward the ‘Other.’
He “sees” lepers. He “looks intently” into the eyes of those who are possessed by evil spirits. He has compassion and weeps over someone else’s loss.
In Jesus I see empathy in action.
Jesus modeled what McPherson might call “Consultation with the Other.”

Now, please don’t get me wrong. I am in No Way saying that someone must believe in or follow Jesus in order to live a life that looks outward. That’s just not true. There are many people of various beliefs or no belief who live this type of virtuous life.
What I am trying, however successfully or not, to say is that religion is a major factor that mitigates or controls(?) the actions of people. Not saying that’s good or bad. It’s just a fact.
So, if there is a religious example that may be helpful as we move forward toward what I hope is a brighter and more inclusive future, Jesus is not the worst example that we can have.

I don’t think that I can overstate the importance of empathy in our lives together. We absolutely must learn, not just to live together harmoniously, but to look deeply into the eyes of others and see the spark of common humanity that resides there. Then, use what ever means we can to flame that spark into a fire that consumes the hatred, fear, and distrust that lives and festers within.

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Still More Options

Published by mhelbert on June 12, 2020

A couple of days ago I wrote about options. Choices that we as Sisters and Brothers within our Human family may make that may help us along the path to Conciliation with our other Sisters and Brothers who look, talk, or live differently than we.
These are the People whom evolution has trained us over millennia to distrust because of the possible danger of anything, or anyone, who is “Other.” These fears are deeply ingrained into the very fabric of our being.
And, they are not easily removed so that healing can take place.
I also wrote that not only are the Oppressed victims of these fears. Oppressors, too, suffer lasting hurt. We cannot do things to others without searing our own consciences and minds.
We cannot, like Christopher Columbus, feed children to dogs or amputate limbs from helpless, indigenous people and NOT do lasting damage to ourselves.
Healing is something that we all must work for.
Healing is also something that I cannot do for myself.
Just as we engage in horrific practices of “Othering” within a specific group of people, so must we heal within groups of others.
I cannot simply sit in my office and turn off generations of implicit and explicit biases alone. These biases were developed by the communities that I have been a part of.
They have been reinforced through social and cultural conditioning to the point that I am unable to see how they live and affect me. I NEED Others to walk alongside me and support me and help me see the blind spots that are there. And, I need these Others to be Other than I am. For if I only look to my own clan, we will collectively remain blind.

I have debated whether or not to take this discussion in the direction that I will. Especially, since in my previous post I lumped religion, myth,and philosophy together and cited them as being ineffective. And, in fact, when looked at through the lens of history, they have in many ways not only been ineffective, but have aided in the cultures of abuse and hatred that we are now seeing the fruit of.
But, I am a religious person. I’ve spent much of my adult life studying and reflecting on religion and its effects on people. I have found very little that can have as profound or lasting effects on people and communities, for good or ill, than religion. We need only look to the shootings at churches, mosques, and synagogues in our own country. Not to mention female, genital mutilation and honor killings in many Muslim cultures.
But, then, there are those who risk their lives to care for that sick and hungry. In the Middle Ages it was the religious who went into the homes of plague victims to comfort the dying.
Religion has the ability to bring out the very best and the very worst in humanity.
Can we focus that influence to specifically Good outcomes?

Ever since the first hominins gathered together into communities religion has been a part of life. Flashes of lightning and crashing thunder made them look to the heavens and ascribe personality to these phenomena. Great beasts were endowed with supernatural power and divinity. Rituals to appease these great powers developed. If only we can produce the correct offerings given in the correct ways, perhaps the Powers will bring the rain when we need it and keep destruction away.
Proto-religion was born.
The priests and others who became the spokespeople for both Divinity and humanity were granted authority to make sure that all was done properly. Of course, this authority was itself rife with abuse.

The reason that I share this at all is because I believe, (you certainly don’t need to), that there is a part of us that feels a disconnect from a spiritual Reality. We attempt to reconnect to that using all sorts of different means and methods. Some sources take the word ‘religion’ and see in it the root religare, “to bind fast.” Similar to our word ligament as something that binds one thing to another. In this case humanity binds itself with a deity or power through various practices and rituals.

So, I look around. I try to see what religion does in and through people.

Unfortunately, I see very little good. Besides the violence and abuses that any religious fundamentalism brings, there are dogmas and rules that are used to control how people think and behave. People cite holy books and writings for justification to seize power. In the 14th and 15th centuries Papal Bulls were issued that resulted in the enslavement and deaths of countless African and Indigenous people. All justified by god’s representatives on earth.
“I was just following god’s will!” they cry.

No. Sorry. You were not.
You were following your own appetites and desire for riches and powers.
You corrupted something that was good. Something that we used in order to ‘re-connect’ and ‘hold fast’ to God you used for your own corrupt and damnable aims.

Ok, so why the lesson on religion?

Simply stated, as I mentioned above, religion is a powerful motivator. It can motivate us to good or ill.
I also alluded to that part of each person that seeks connection with something greater than itself. A deity or power or whatever. There is a longing for that.
For myself, I believe that there is actually a Divine with Whom we may connect.

And, I believe that this Divine is inherently Good.

By looking at the many abuses that followers of the Divine inflict on others in the Name of God, I can see that may be a difficult argument to uphold.
But, I think it can.

Like I last wrote, now is not a time when we should be looking outward in order to see what Others are doing. We only do that in order to judge them. Don’t do that.
Instead, look within.
Let us see what is living within our own hearts.
Shine a light into the dark corners of our hearts to expose the beasties that may hide there.
Or, to show the emptiness that is there. Both are real possibilities.

This is a place to begin.
Self-reflection.
Self-criticism.

I don’t think that self-improvement is an option.
There are, however, options that we may take together.
At least, I hope so.
More about that later.

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Options

Published by mhelbert on June 10, 2020

Recently there has been a lot of talk about things like “Systemic Racism” and “White Privilege.” Truthfully, I don’t think most folks know what these terms mean, or even care.
I’m not going to try and explain these. There are myriad others who have taken on that task to various degrees of success. Y’all are smart enough and can Google those terms and educate yourselves.

I’m not sure that those terms are even appropriate. They too conveniently separate things that are, I think, truly inseparable.
When we point our fingers at “This” or “That” and pontificate that “THIS IS THE PROBLEM!” we oversimplify and misname what is a very complex matrix of culture, mores, and most importantly, Identity.

What we call Systemic Racism isn’t something that can be fixed. It’s not a true System. Yes, there are many moving parts to racism. There’s overt racism like we see at Liberty University. There were also Jim Crow and Redlining. There’s over-policing in the neighborhoods that were established through unjust housing practices. Health care; education; social support. These and many other things make up what many are calling a “System.”

I think it’s much deeper than that.
I think it’s much wider than that.
I think it’s an issue that reaches to the core of who we are as human beings.
Racism; anti-LGBTQ+; anti-Women; anti-immigrant; anti-Islamic; anti-(you fill in the blank).
These are all part of the very soil from which our many cultures dig their roots into and receive sustenance. We suck up these nutrients and they flow through our cultures and spread out into the branches. They fill the fruit that is born on these branches and become part of the very fabric of the cultures themselves.
No, “system” doesn’t quite get the whole picture.
And, perhaps more concerning, “system” gives the false picture of an object that can be reworked into something that in fact does works.

If this is the case, then the so-called “Two Options” that people are talking about today are moot.
These options are:
1) Racism is a corrupt system embedded into the foundation of the U.S. Therefore, we must rework the system in order to root it out and create a more equitable system.
I think that I already showed that this a losing endeavor.
2) Racism is a hoax. If African Americans would only pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and accept their own personal responsibility to good citizenship then all of these troubles would take care of themselves.
To this I have only one thing to say…Bullshit.

There are some out there that are trying articulate “Third Options.”
I have to give them kudos for looking outside of the obvious.
These include:
1) Those in the majority taking time to listen to African Americans and to their concerns.
2) White Americans using whatever privilege they have in order to uplift and empower African Americans.

These and others sound virtuous. No! They really do!
In our minds we can visualize the problem and develop action plans to do something.
Then, while we’re doing something, we can pat ourselves on the backs and say, “Look at us! We’re Doing Something! Yippee! Yay! Yahoo!”

I think that you can tell that I don’t put much stock in any of that, either.

There is something else that no one seems to be talking about except a man named Mark Charles. Mark is an indigenous Navajo man who writes about racial “conciliation.” Not reconciliation since that word intimates that there was at one time a good relationship that has gone sour. Mark has noted that minorities, or any group that has been labeled as “Other” aren’t the only victims of racial inequality. Those in the majority cannot possibly perform the acts of oppression and violence they have and not be affected deeply themselves. In his thinking, not only do we need to work toward the healing of the oppressed, we must also try to help heal the oppressor as well.
Of course, oppressors are usually neither willing nor able to see their own illness.

All of this leads me to a place where I have to stop and contemplate. As I’ve alluded, there is more, much, much more, to the issue we face today, (and have faced, um, forever?), than the simple fact that racism is evil. Of course it is! But, so is xenophobia, and sexism, and hatred of LGBTQ+ people, and…and…and…

The issues that we face today are as old as the first humans. Perhaps, evolution has conditioned us to be wary of any person or group who we view as “Other.” A natural means of protection and self-preservation. If that is true, then we have a lot of work to do. Human nature doesn’t just change because we want it to.
We’ve tried this approach for aeons. Religion; myth; philosophy; self-help gurus. We’ve tried all of those and then some.

As I gaze about I do see some patterns, though.
Now, remember, I’m not a very smart man. There are many of you out there far better equipped than me. And, Lord knows that there have been many who have come before who have struggled with these very questions and come up empty.
No, I just offer a couple of observations.
Observations that may help us to see a tad more clearly through the haze of our inherited character and maybe see through to a viable Third Option. (Maybe 4th or 5th?)

I will write about some of these in another post.
Today it’s sufficient to simply begin to think.
Think about where each of us fits within our little corner of humanity. Self-reflect on where we’ve been, what has influenced us,
and, maybe, where we would like to see ourselves going.

I know that I am oversimplifying very complex social and cultural issues. But, most of us aren’t going to pursue Ph. D.’s in these studies. We just want to be able to live simply and peacefully with one another.
If you have ideas or concerns, please use the “Comments” to share them.s

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I’m So Tired

Published by mhelbert on June 9, 2020

I’ve struggled with writing this post.
The reason for the difficulty is that
I’m tired.
I’m tired of listening to the news day in and day out
about how the Left hates America and the Right hates everyone.
I’m tired of hearing that Covid-19 is a hoax and that the
murder of innocent children and educators at Sandy Hook was staged.
Right now the streets of the country are filled with righteously indignant people protesting yet another act of Street Justice Capital Punishment inflicted on an African American man.

ANOTHER ONE!!!

How. Freaking. More. Lives. Must. Be. Lost?
I’m really tired because we’ve been through this all before.
Apparently, to no avail.
So I guess I can add frustrated to tired.
I’m tired and I’m frustrated.
And, I’m losing hope.
I was a kid in the early 1960s. I didn’t watch the news. I was only interested in Superman and Roy Rogers. But, by the time ‘65 and ‘66 rolled around I was beginning to see scenes of people marching with signs and police officers and soldiers trying to stop them.
My father, whom I loved dearly, grew up in small town America. He had no use for these people with the signs. And, he was fairly vocal about it.
1967, “The Summer of Love,” came around and, again, the news was flooded with images of people dressed rather unconventionally dancing and getting high. Rock-n-Roll was definitely here to stay.
The images of people being killed in some far-away jungles were also appearing on the nightly news. In all honesty, I had no clue what that was all about. I was a 12 year old aspiring rock-n-roller who spent most of his time with a guitar in his hands. Oh, and chasing 12 year old girls. Yeah, that was important, too.
In 1968 I sat in front of the TV and witnessed the murders of MLK and Bobby Kennedy. Soon, the nation was burning and people were getting their heads caved in on the streets of Chicago.
More people marching with more signs.
More police and soldiers standing in their way.
And, you know what?
Some things actually changed.
In the mid-60s the Voting Rights Act was passed.
People began to talk to one another.
Flower Children planted flowers in M-16s.
By the time I graduated from high school in 1973, we began to
have hope that the Times, They Were A-Changin’.

Then, something changed.

In the words of Steppenwolf, I think we “grew fat and got lazy.”
We thought that the Monster was dead. But, it had just slunk into its hole somewhere to lick its wounds.
We grew up. We started families and gained responsibilities: bills to pay; jobs to work; soccer practice…
Reagan promised us prosperity and we believed him.

Now, here we are.
Again.
Throwing rocks and tear gas at each other.
Shooting unarmed Black men and wearing body armor.
Squeezing every cent out of poor people who can’t afford to be squeezed. Watching the poorest bear the brunt of a global pandemic while politicians squabble about pennies.

I really hate some cliches, but it seems to be a truism that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

And, I’m tired of it.
I’m too fucking old to keep seeing this play out the same damned way time after time after time after God. Damned. Time!

Is there hope?

No. Not if we try to deal with society and culture the same way we did 50 years ago. If we simply throw money at it the Monster will simply sate its appetite and demand more.

Perhaps, there is a way to slay the beast. Or, at least one tactic in the battle.
I’ll muse about that in another post.

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