Category: Uncategorized

Two Types of Voters: Don’t Push Me! and Full Speed Ahead!

Published by mhelbert on November 1, 2022

I don’t know about you, but I’m just about done with the political world. It seems that for the last several months we’ve been barraged with ads for this candidate or that one; this party or that other one.

And, they ALL LIE!

They lie about each other’s stance on the economy, immigration, election monitoring, redistricting, blah, blah, blah.

WILL IT NEVER END!!!!

AARRGGGHHH!!!!

Whew! Ok. I’m back.

People want to be heard. Yeah, I get it. Me too.
So, they take to social media to find like-minded folks to reinforce their own ideas and opinions until they think theirs is the only opinion worth considering. We call that being in a ‘silo’ or an ‘echo chamber.’ You only really hear the sound of your own voice reverberating all around you.
This is endemic to any and all political ideals. I don’t care if you call yourself conservative or liberal; Republican or Democrat. People want to be heard. More than that, they want to feel that they are RIGHT. So, as I spend all my time in the silo of my choice, my opinion is heard and amplified by all of the voices that sound just like mine.

That’s a problem.

When we become so entrenched in our “Side” we forget that there are other “Sides” out there. We forget that ours is NOT the only voice. In fact, there are more voices in the world than we can possibly imagine. Society, and surely not politics, is a black/white; either/or proposition. Like everything in life there are myriad voices and ideas out there. We can never, ever assume our own superiority in the field of ideas.

That requires something that is hard to find. Especially, in our special brand of Western culture in the U.S.
That something is Humility.

Yep. There, I said the “H” word

Humility.

Before you all have a conniption, let me explain just a wee bit.
First, humility is not allowing anyone to walk all over you. You are not being humble when you consider yourself a worm. That’s something that might require some counselling to help out.
Neither is humility remaining silent while everyone else talks over you. No, your opinion is important and necessary in any conversations we have about our World.

Humility in this case is simply listening.
Not listening like, “Yeah, I here a noise.” But, listening with the intention to really Hear what each other has to say. Nor, is it simply listening while forming a rebuttal to whatever the other person is saying.
We all want someone to:
PLEASE HEAR ME!!!

All of us want that.

When I think about the divide that the media seems to want to describe, I think not in terms of Right/Left; Conservative/Liberal.
Hell, I don’t even know what those terms truly mean.
I think rather of Conservatives as people who don’t want to be pushed. I can visualize them as rank upon rank of people marching slowly toward some unknown, yet desired, future. They are working hard in their lives to keep things from moving too fast. Fast and Change are not good words for them. Yet, change will come. Eventually. Hopefully, on our terms.
On the other hand, I find Liberal to also be a misnomer. These are folks who are like a river flowing to that still unknown, yet desired future. They meander and rush over rapids and over falls. They pick up a lot of stuff along the way and carry it with them. They don’t always see beyond the next bend. But, ‘Hell, Yeah!’ we’re going there!

Both want to move forward.
Both want to be seen and heard.
Both want peace.

I’m writing all of this for the simple reason that for me this is therapeutic. I need to get these thoughts out of my head so my head doesn’t explode. No one wants that. It would be a hell of a mess to clean up.
Plus, I don’t think that I’m alone in these thoughts.
Feel free to comment with your own ideas.
After all, your thoughts are important for all of us.

Leave a Comment

The Last Month: Feeling Tired And Worn Out

Published by mhelbert on September 11, 2022

Last week I wrote a bit about how I am encouraged by how things at St. Barnabas have been going. Activity is active; Attendees are attending; Spirit is Descending.

All Good.

While my life is not as wrapped up in church life as it was in the days of the evangelical grist mill. I still work hard and smile when it appears that God is smiling, too.

This past week has seen a different part of life here at the Old Homestead in the Suburbs. Life has been tossing the proverbial lemons. But, they’ve been rotten. No lemonade here.

I don’t recall spending much time on this here Blog-thingy writing about personal events. Yeah, there have been the milestones of seminary graduation and birthdays and holidays. But, in general I choose to keep my personal life personal. I mean, I don’t want to be off-putting. But, my life in general is no one’s business but mine.

However, sometimes what we experience may be something that resonates with others. How we deal with these experiences could just be the tonic that someone else needs. Or, it could just state the obvious that we’re really not alone and our experiences aren’t so weird. Others experience the same kind of stuff. So, what I experience might encourage someone else.

Over the last six weeks we’ve been dealing with health issues that have been as frustrating as they are serious.

(No, I’m not the one with the issues this time.
But, that doesn’t lessen them.)

There have been 4 trips to the ER, 2 inpatient stays in hospital, several rounds of tests and scopes and such, and multiple doctor appointments.
There has been a lot of pain and discomfort.
And, like I wrote above…
FRUSTRATION.
We now have a handle on most of it and there is in fact a positive end in sight.
While that is encouraging, it doesn’t cover for the sheer exhaustion, both physical, mental, and emotional that this has taken.
We are well and truly Tired!

On top of that we recently lost two members of my extended family to domestic violence.
It’s a situation that sux horribly.
A young mother and son gone in a senseless act of madness that should never have been allowed to happen.
Yet, it was.
We have gathered around our family member to support and protect as best we can.
But, the pain lingers and the anger burns.

We humans are a resilient species.
We have to be.
We are a very breakable creature that must be cared for carefully.
Yet, even in our fragility we have developed the ability to heal and bounce back.
Sometimes, (most times?), stronger and more capable than before.
I am sure that all of us will walk or crawl through the adversity that we find ourselves in.
I am equally sure that our relationships with one another will grow strong and be more than able to support the weak, infirm, and hurting.

Yeah, life’s hard.
But, we can, we must, live it as it is.

Leave a Comment

Stop The Presses! Breaking News!

Published by mhelbert on August 18, 2020

I am currently in the process of updating my Blog Site.
It’s fun experimenting with new themes and appearances.

I am also adding a new page.
It is specific to Bible Stuff. (Hence the name of the page!)
That page will contain some of the things that I’m learning for the St. Barnabas Bible study.
It will also contain my own personal study points and opinions.

Should be Fun!

The Blog, itself, will continue to deal with faith and culture issues.

Let me know what you think of the New Look and Content as I start to roll it out over the next week or so!

1 Comment

On A Positive Note…

Published by mhelbert on April 16, 2020

I have spent a lot of time over the years trying to expose the negative side of the Church.
The abuses of authority; the harmful theology; the elevation of ME above all else.
These criticisms are well deserved. People have been harmed by the Church. And, it really doesn’t matter what flavor Church. Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox are all culpable in the abuses.
The public results of these abuses, besides lives ruined, includes the loss of any claim to the so-called Moral High Ground.
In other words, the Church has destroyed her ability to be a Blessing to the Cosmos.

So, what should things look like?
Honestly, no one can say for certain what God has planned for it.
But, we can sketch a few things.
Things that, rather than tearing down, may reveal a way forward in Love and Faithfulness.

So, let’s start.
In the beginning….

The writers of Holy Scripture were people just like us. They lived in a particular time, place, and culture that colored the words that they wrote. So, for them such things as a cosmos that was created Ex Nihilo was just the way things were.
These writers presented their readers with a problem. The problem was, God created the Heavens and the Earth. In God’s abundant Love humans were made for the expressed purpose of caring for the Earth as God’s Special Envoys. The intent was for humanity to embody God’s glory as Eikons of God. They would rule jointly with God over the creation.
But, there was a problem. Humanity could not live up to God’s calling. They were, after all, made of the same stuff that the cosmos was…dust.
Soon the problem came to a head when humanity took it upon themselves to listen to and embrace other creatures. Idolatry and the corruption that comes with that began to mar the Very Good Cosmos that God had made.
But, God was still convinced that humanity MUST be a part of God’s plan for guiding and caring for the World.
So, God ‘elected’ a family.
For those who know a little about the story of Israel, you will have heard of a guy named Abraham. God chose Abraham and his descendants to become the agents of God’s blessing for the Cosmos. The story continues through Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, to the selection of a community, Israel.
Israel’s history was checkered at best.
But, God had made a covenant with Abraham that, because of Abraham’s faithfulness to God’s promises, stated that the entire Cosmos would be blessed.
God took that Covenant seriously and was faithful to it in spite of Israel’s inability to live up to its calling.
In time, God, who had chosen Israel as the people through whom the blessing would come, raised up One Person from Israel.
This One Person became God’s own Image-bearer. An image-bearer who would do what the original humans, nor Israel, could.
Through the death of Jesus the problem of humanity’s inability to live up to God’s Glorious Calling at the beginning was solved. The resurrection of Jesus from the grave proved God’s faithfulness to set things right.

Ok, nice story.
But, so what?

God had done something that no one expected.
Because of the faithfulness of Jesus, all of humanity had the opportunity to share in Jesus’ faithfulness. We, in fact, have been joined together into the family of God’s Promise to Abraham. We are benefactors of God’s Covenant with Abraham.
God, in God’s own love and Being, put us into a Community.
A living Community where God’s own Spirit lives and brings life.
We are not a bunch of individuals going about our own personal business. Living in our own personal salvation.
No.
We are, as Peter wrote, ‘A royal priesthood and a Holy Nation.’

We. Belong. Together.

Together we are to be a blessing to the whole Cosmos.
Together we reflect the Glory of God to each other, to God, and to the World.
Together!
Together!

That is our hope and our calling.
And, that’s a good thing.

Leave a Comment

Wednesday Morning Musings

Published by mhelbert on November 13, 2019

They say the History repeats itself.
They also say that if we don’t learn from History
Then we are doomed to repeat it.

Which is it?
Will History repeat whether we learn from It or not?

And, who are “They”?
Who installed “They” as the be all and end all of knowing?

If History does repeat, is It like a scratch on an old vinyl record?
“tch, Play me again. tch, Play me again. tch, Play me again. tch, Play me again.
Perhaps it’s like selecting Repeat on my digital device.
Then, I can hear my favorites over and over until they, too, become cliché.

I’m still waiting for History to repeat a Love Story.
You know the one! That one where the Author of “The Greatest Story Ever Told”
Loves us to Death?
Then, Loves us back to Life.

Yeah.

I would kinda like to see that History repeat.

2 Comments

Change is in the Air

Published by mhelbert on January 17, 2019

Hey, gang! Yes, I’m talking to all 4 of you!

There are some changes coming to this site in the near future.

I hope to continue with topics that we’ve all grown to know and love. However, I’m planning to focus more of my time and energy writing and publishing in 2019. Eventually, I plan to use this site to share and promote my prose and poetry.

To you who have been faithfully following my ramblings, THANK YOU!!!! I really appreciate you more than you can know. I hope that you’ll stick around through the coming changes.

Leave a Comment

Is There Truly Only “One Way”?

Published by mhelbert on December 10, 2018

If you have known me long enough, then you know that I question pretty much everything. Yesterday at church the Priest stated that he was a “good little rule follower.” As I sat in the pew I thought, “Oh, you poor, poor man.” You see, I’ve never met a rule that didn’t really, really want someone to come along and push against it. I know, it’s a tough job. But, someone’s gotta do it.

So, it’s know surprise when I push back against theologies that claim to be “the only, true way.” To be honest, most religious sects do make those claims. But, I’m only really familiar with neo-Calvinism. I was well-steeped in a theology that made/makes truth claims that, well, simply cannot be sustained. There are other ways to look at “Truth.” I have provided a link to a podcast with Pete Enns. Pete is a kindred spirit and someone whom I respect as a scholar. Pete’s guest in this episode is someone who came out o neo-Calvinism and landed in Eastern Orthodoxy. I’d encourage you to take 42 minutes to give this a listen.

Here is the link to “The Bible and Orthodox Faith”

Again, please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. And, click on ‘Subscribe’ in the sidebar if you would like to receive notifications from this blog.

Leave a Comment

It Is Finished. Or, Maybe, It Has Just Begun

Published by mhelbert on December 9, 2018

Well, folks, I pulled the trigger. I have deleted my Facebook, Twitter, and tumbler accounts. I do need to tell you that it wasn’t easy. Even as I sat with my finger hovering over the‘Enter’ key, I was considering ways that I would be able to maintain some presence. Facebook offers partial canceling. I thought, that might work ok. I can use that. Then, when I find myself in the throes of Social Media Withdrawal I can simply log in and say, “JK!”

Both Facebook and Twitter have a 30 day wait period before they actually begin to delete stuff. So, I do have that time to reconsider. And, like I wrote in my last post, I don’t have any idea if or when I’ll be back traversing the InterWebs. However, having escaped it, I’m afraid that venturing back along the strands of the web may put me in peril like Ynyr in the 80s fantasy movie, “Krull.” I don’t think that I would be able to escape unscathed. Even if I could get my hands on some of the sand from the enchanted hourglass.

Anyway, it’s done.

Now what?

I plan to spend more time here. I hope to continue posting material that you all have found so riveting. All, what, 5 of you?

I’m going to try to use this platform for sharing, also. So, I may create more posts that are shorter. But, they will have links to other sources that I may comment on.

Like this:

Yesterday I read a blog post written by Carl McColman. In it he shared a common problem associated with social media.It does not lend itself to well-developed discussion. Like any remote communications, e-mail, social media, even writing letters, we aren’t able to communicate our true thoughts and feelings. There is lacking the physical presence and ‘body language’ that helps others to really “get” what we try to say. That problem seems to be more pronounced, however, when we simply react to something that someone writes or shares. There have been many times when I’ve had to come back and explain something that I shared that someone else misinterpreted. Those are awkward and can be damaging to relationships.

Relationships? Can people even have and develop those through social media? I don’t think so. It’s too easy to fall into the sin of “assumed familiarity.” We connect with someone online. We read what they share. And, we begin to think that we actually know that person. However, our understanding is far from the reality of things. I recently experienced this. I ‘assumed’ that I was a friend with someone. In fact, we even know each other away from the internet. But, I apparently misunderstood the depth of that relationship and feelings were hurt all around.

See? Short and sweet with a link to boot! We’ll see how this type of posting goes. I can always tweek it depending on how it is received.

I also hope to use this platform to share things that I write. I may share some poetry or excerpts from some other piece that I work on. Perhaps, eventually, I may be able to offer completed works to followers who are interested.

I don’t know where this will ultimately go. Since I began it several years ago I have experimented with different things. I would expect that changes will continue to be made. Nothing is etched in stone. This is, after all, only a bunch of 1s and 0s gathered together in a specific order.

So, I hope to see you here. Bring friends! We’ll have a party! (You will have to supply your own libation of choice.)

Be sure to ‘Follow’ the blog if you want to receive updates. Also, leave a comment!

2 Comments

Next Steps

Published by mhelbert on December 7, 2018

Hey, All!

It’s been a little while since I last visited here. There has been a lot happening. So, I want to take a minute to share a bit of it with you.

November was National Novel Writing Month. I decided that it was past time for me to write something. My dear old, gray haired Daddy used to say to me, “Son, you need to shit or get off the pot.” So, I shit. Or, rather, I took the opportunity to focus my energy on writing a novel. The goal of NaNoWriMo was to write 50,000 words over the course of one month. And, I’m happy to say that I DID IT!!!! Yay!!! While I met the goal of the challenge, it wasn’t until today that I actually finished the story. And, truth be told, it’s not great. In fact, it’s pretty bad. But, that’s not the point. The point is that I DID IT!!!! Yay!!! I created a lump of word clay that, hopefully, I’ll be able to mold and fashion into something worthwhile. That’s the aim of a first draft. Get words out there where they can be worked with. Now that I’ve done that, I’m going to put the story away to ferment for a couple weeks. I hope to start the editing process after the holidays.

Ah, yes…the Holidays. All I can say about that is Bah! Humbug! This is not the most wonderful time of the year for me. And, I know it’s not for a lot of other people as well. There are lots of reasons why people who grew up immersed in our Western winter holidays feel as I do. But, I’m not going to write a list. You know who you are and why you feel like you do. Hopefully, we’ll all get to January ready to pick up our lives in the New Year.

In recent months I’ve taken some time to re-evaluate some things. I was kind of forced into this by recent political events. I first noticed my anxiety and stress levels climbing during the Brett Kavanaugh debacle. I’m pretty sure that a more unqualified jurist could not be found. It was also clear that the will of the majority of citizens was that the Senate should have stopped the confirmation process and sent the nomination back to the White House for a new choice. Now, I know that some reading this may disagree with me. They may think that a majority of citizens did not feel this way. That’s ok. I really can’t concern myself with that. But, I will point to the recent mid-term elections as evidence for my case.

That brings me to another event that has been chasing peace away…the mid-terms. The divide in this nation, and I might add, around the world, is real, people. It seems that it’s far more important to win than to be right. Lies trump the truth. (See what I did there?) Partisanship takes precedent over the common good or the will of the people. I mean, look at what the GOP in Wisconsin just did to the incoming Dem. Governor and Attorney General. Don’t’know? Google it.

It seems that everywhere I turn I am faced with divisiveness and hatred. Xenophobia, homophobia, Islamophobia…it’s all fear, folks. Fear triggers the fight or flight reaction that has allowed us as a species to grow and thrive through a million years of evolution. But, if it is sustained, it causes real damage to one’s mind and body. Our Western culture, particularly in the U.S., has been running on high adrenaline for way too long.

It’s come to the point that I need to step back from things for my own health. I think ,also, in order to fulfill my own calling.

I have spent a lot of time reading,studying, and following news and events online and on television. Now, these things are not inherently bad. In fact, they are all beneficial in their own ways. And, I hope to continue them. However, there is a text recorded by one of the writers of the Gospels referring to folks who gave a tithe to the Jerusalem temple without fail. Yet, they neglected to do the good and right things when it came to justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Jesus told them that they should have not just focused on their giving. But, they should have done the one without neglecting the other. Well, in a way, I have done just that. I have been so focused on studying and sharing my thoughts and opinions that I have neglected the interior work that must be done by any person who would call him or herself a follower of Jesus. That interior work involves contemplation,meditation, and prayer. These practices helped to open my eyes many years ago to how wrong it is for people to get caught up in following a set of rules and calling that ‘christianity.’ It was in the quietness of ‘waiting on the Lord’ that God’s grace became my reality. So, I have begun to take the time I would have given to study in order to offer it to God in stillness. I trust that God will not reject that.

And, finally, I am going to make some changes regarding my online presence. This Sunday I intend to walk away from social media for a while. How long? I have no idea. Until God presses me to go back, I guess. What this will mean is that I will delete and deactivate every social media account I now have. Facebook, twitter, tumblr, Instagram…all of them.

“But,wait! How will we communicate with you? How will you share all of those priceless nuggets of wisdom that we’ve grown to know and love?”

Yeah, I hear ya. But, not to worry. I will continue to write and share here. My WordPress blog will be my primary avenue for online communication. You can follow it by selecting below. That way, you’ll get a notification whenever something new is posted. You can also use the comments to share your own thoughts and feelings with me. Note, I said ‘with me.’ That doesn’t mean that what you share will automatically be broadcast to anyone else. We can share it publicly if we want. Or, it can remain just between us.

You can share your e-mail address and we can communicate electronically. That way we can continue to stay in touch.

A better way, I think, would be to share postal addresses. Yes, I mean snail mail. Why? Well, it’s a far more personal and thoughtful way to communicate. It’s way too easy to give into the tyranny of the expedient with sound bytes and emojis doing our talking for us. Taking time to think about words and how they may impact another person is too important. Yet, daily we toss our responsibility away with our shallow interactions. As important as the electronic communities are for many, it’s important to remember that They Are Not Real! They exist in the ether of the World Wide Web. And, while that location is not a real place, it is a web. It can be as sticky as any spider’s. And, just as deadly.

So, what do you think? Have I lost it? Am I succumbing to that malady called ‘old age’? No, I don’t think so. But, somethings are becoming more important to me. Recently, I found a cache of old letters that one of my great-aunts had sent to my parents. As I read through these notes I was struck by how these words had transcended the years. I held, in my hands, thoughts that had been created in the mind of another human. She had taken the time to formulate specific ideas and articulate them on paper for one specific purpose. That purpose was not to gain followers or so that her brilliance could ‘go viral.’ No, she simply desired to touch another person’s heart with hers.

We have gained a hell of a lot with the technological advances that have been made. This is both good and wonderful.

But, perhaps we should not neglect the one at the expense of the other.

Leave a Comment

In The Beginning….

Published by mhelbert on August 16, 2018

Blazing Bubble Bursts!

White hot atoms form!

Escape!

Where shall we build it?

Everywhere! Anywhere! Go!

Now!

And, so it was formed.

Every color and form.

Look!

Singularity.

All has arisen!

Behold!

And, it was all Good!

It was Very Good!

As I’ve struggled with trying to discover an answer to my question, “Who Are You God…Really?” I was drawn to the initial spark that became the Cosmos. Who is God in relation to all that we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch? And, what does that have to do with me getting up every day and driving into the city to work? Or, returning home to family and responsibilities and, well, just “Life” stuff.

The short verse I wrote is built with 2 lines of 5 syllables followed by an exclamation.

Except for the end where the last 2 lines leave off into space where all sorts of possibilities live.

Leave a Comment