NIMBY

I was scared and angry last Sunday, two emotions that are more closely connected in our psyche than most would want to acknowledge. I woke up and got the newspaper and a cup of coffee. The dog followed me out and went for her morning romp. Most days she barks at the back door in a few minutes after smelling all the smells in the area and making sure all is as it should be. This morning however her return was delayed. I called and called to no avail. My wife stepped outside and heard a dog yelping and I went to investigate. Our back yard is undeveloped woods and borders on a gravel section of Huffman road. It was along that section that I pinpointed the intermittent yelping and found our dog. She was standing in a torn bag of garbage and fish guts with the plastic pull strap around her neck pinning her to the ground. She was scared and stinky and when I released her she ran in a panic to the house. The day before we had a black bear in our yard, I now knew what attracted it. We left for a trip right after church and it was Wednesday morning before I could dawn rubber gloves and clean up the mess, by then there were four additional smelly garbage bags to dispose of.

I was scared at what might have happened to our dog and how sick she might have become. I was scared at how close she came to strangling herself. I was angry that someone would throw garbage in our back yard and then to assure that it was no accident, to later heap more bags on the same site. Many facets of the incident have been rolling around in my head ever since.

In Genesis 4 we hear the story of the first brothers, Cain and Abel. After Cain killed Abel the Lord came and said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"

First it is interesting to note that the first homicide in the Bible is a fratricide. Which begs the question, Biblically speaking is not all killing, from the darkness of the back alleys to antiseptic chambers set aside for lethal injection, the same? Even in Cain’s answer, there is a distancing of the self. Am I my brother’s keeper, whether answered in the affirmative or in the negative, denotes a separation that our quest for rugged individuality perpetuates. Am I my brother’s keeper? The answer is more than a simple “no, you are not your brother’s keeper.” The answer is “No, you are not your brother’s keeper; you are your brother’s Brother, your sister’s Sister.”

In my lifetime there has been a significant shift from “we” to “me.” It is manifest in our housing as we have moved from a walkway to the front porch, to a driveway and a back deck, from getting a hammer and board to fix that hole you stepped in on your neighbor’s porch to going to court to sue for damages. Theologically, Jesus has been changed from the risen Christ who brought salvation to all to my personal savior that I have made a decision to follow thus proving the serpent’s rightness all along that “I” could be a god in charge of my own salvation. Equal rights in Anchorage is only a concern for someone else’s children and the garbage only becomes a problem when it, and the bear it draws in, are in my back yard.

Carl Marx rightly pointed out the flaw of Christian charity. The real Christian task should not be that of just helping the poor with charity; rather it is to ensure for the poor the exercise of those rights whereby they can cease to be poor. The generosity of our giving in this, and many other churches in Anchorage is exemplar, but to acknowledge one another as brother or sister is to see in each act of charity the systemic injustice that perpetuates the need. Without confronting the injustice, the simple act of charity alone is the acknowledgement of the correctness of Carl Marx’s judgment that the perpetuation of that injustice then becomes the permanent fount through which our generosity assuages our guilt.

Rather than condemning the NIMBY’s (Not In My Back Yard) of the world, scripture points to the correctness of that approach and then, as if confronting the expert in the law in each one of us, Jesus points to a definition of neighbor that is beyond our limited geographical understanding (Luke 10). Christ’s understanding of NIMBY acknowledges the bag of fish guts that might have killed my dog as well as well as the poison that is pumped into the air to provide cheep goods for my consumption, the waste from our nuclear plants safely stored away for our children’s children to deal with. Christ’s NIMBY means it is not enough to relish the joy of your daughter’s marriage without allowing others the same joy at the marriage of their child who may love differently than your own. Christ’s NIMBY is to recognize that great health care is not great when it is beyond the affordable reach of some.

So rather than turning my anger outward only, to confront the demon who despoiled my space, I am called by the love of God to confront also the injustice the despoils the lives of the many to whom Jesus points to and says, they too are your neighbor, your brother and your sister. To the victims of injustice, inaction differs little from wrong action. So stand up and say, Not In My Back Yard, then look to the horizon and begin to grasp just how expansive that back yard really is and how many brothers and sisters live therein.

John 6:24-35

9th Sunday after Pentecost

Our bellies are full
We are refreshed
Our minds are no longer dulled
By that gnawing ache of hunger
And yet
We long
There was more that took place on that day
Than just the loaves
------------and fishes
what happened was god
--in the way creation was pronounced good
and yet
--we hunger for more
not just the food
that eased our hunger
but there was power in the words that were spoken
power that opened our minds
power that challenged us
and made us see
--a hunger
we had not known
--(Jesus Said)
a hunger from deep within
which now that it has become loosed
will not be bound again
until it is feed
--(I am)
and nourished
as only God
--(the Bread)
as the Creator of all
--(of life)
can do

fill that emptiness in our souls

Sunday August 2nd, Psalm 78: He split the Sea and they walked right through it; he piled the waters to the right and the left. He led them by day with a cloud, led them all the night long with a fiery torch. He split rocks in the wilderness, gave them all they could drink from underground springs; He made creeks flow out from sheer rock, and water pour out like a river. All they did was sin even more, rebel in the desert against the High God. Children will be children and the children of God are no exception. As an empty nester I find that it’s nice when the children get older and they begin to take care of themselves. Mark Twain marveled, tongue in cheek, at how smart his father had become as he got older. I’m still waiting on my children to reach that maturity, but someday maybe. God had that same trouble with the children of God during the Exodus, when are we going to get there, I’m hungry, Johnny looked at me, can I smite him? God still has that same trouble with us, them gays love different than us, we can’t provide healthcare for my brother, he is lazy and hasn’t made as much money in the market as I have, when can I start a war and smite someone? We all want a bit more because we feel a bit empty inside. God has not only given us more than we can imagine, but also through Christ, something to fill that emptiness in our soul. If we stopped playing around with the war machine we might notice that.

raining grace

Monday August 3rd, Psalm 78: It was clear they didn't believe God, had no intention of trusting in his help. But God helped them anyway, commanded the clouds and gave orders that opened the gates of heaven. He rained down showers of manna to eat, he gave them the Bread of Heaven. It is the same today, though all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God, Jesus came into the world to save the world and bring salvation to all. Now it is our turn to share the gracious gifts we have been given and in the process, participate in the graciousness of God. It is in giving that we receive. In hording we find a smell in the depth of our souls; it is all that manna, down there hidden in the cracks, rotting. God rains down blessings on us all and a Christian is no better than anyone else, no more or less loved than anyone else, a Christian is simply someone who once in a while has some half baked idea who to thank.

time to grow up

Tuesday August 4th, Exodus 16: 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death." Have you ever take a trip with young children? Remember the continued questions and complaints, “When will we be there?” “How much longer?” “I have to go to the bathroom?” “S/He touched/looked at me” and on and on and on? Things haven’t changed much have they? We are all quite capable of being bought off by the comforts of life to the point where we resist and resent a spiritual journey. When was the last time you went to a Bible Study or Worship, even if you didn’t feel like it that day? In spite of it all, God loved them. In spite of it all, God loves you. We are all in this life together, the butcher the baker and from half way around the world, the candlestick maker. Forget the bottom line and all your justified ways of using your brother to make a profit and enjoy the journey together.

singing in your soul

Wednesday August 5th, Exodus 16: 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days." God provides for everyone’s need, not everyone’s greed. What the people found out was that if they gathered more than a day’s worth, it rotted, it stank. On the sixth day they could get enough for two days so they could rest on the Sabbath. When we horde, it also rots, and rotting still stinks. It rots away in our garages and houses, true, but mostly it rots away in our hearts and souls, and that is where the stink comes from. Can’t come to church, I have a boat; I have to go fishing again. And just who do you think gave you the ability to get the boat in the first place? A little thank you would be nice. Do we live in a world of “Mine” or a world of “thanks?” Mine leaves an empty feeling in your gut, thanks leaves singing in your soul.

First Feed them

Thursday August 6th, John 6: 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" 26 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. If you give someone who is starving a lecture on how Jesus loves them and how salvation is theirs, complete with the gift of eternal life, they will not hear a word, they are hungry and first they need food. Here is a lesson for all world leaders, food draws people in, bombs, guns and prison drive them away. Once they are in, you can work on the Jesus and justice thing. All too often we work on the fear and Jesus thing, which is only Jesus in name, not in essence. Jesus worked on the food and justice thing, and that is where they, and you and I, find Jesus.

who is in charge?

Friday August 7th, John 6: 28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" 29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." People are funny, even in the midst of their searching; they want to be in charge. It’s the old Garden of Eden thing all over again. When I get something for doing something, then ultimately I, not the giver, am the one in charge. Jesus has done it, your job is to say “Wow, thanks!!!” and then live like you mean it. Born again, Personal lord and savior, holy prayer warrior, are all ways of telling Christ to buzz off, I will take the prize….. on my terms. Living a life of wow, thanks, is a way of saying God is in charge, and Christ has shown you that way.

gluttony

Saturday August 8th, John 6: 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34 "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread." 35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. Gluttony is raiding the refrigerator because of a case of spiritual hunger. That which makes life comes from God, and no blue plate special can ever truly fill that hunger. Until you fill that hunger, all the hording, holding and hounding only brings more hunger. God has given you more than enough good things, what they learned on that mountain, and what we still have trouble hearing today, is that in sharing there is life. Life that comes from God, life that flows through us, life given to others, and once we tap into that life, the hunger goes away, and so does the gluttony.

8th Sunday after Pentecost

John 6:1-21

It seems like so little to go around
With the people of this world
Starving
Mothers holding children in their arms
Gifts of life from God
Only to be taken from them
By priorities
Not their own
Priorities
That must be set by someone
I scream
As I watch the swollen bellies of starvation
Eat away at yet another
Someone else’s child
There must be someone
Who is doing this to these children of God
These sisters and brothers of mine
in the family of God
these to whom I claim my oneness
through Christ
as I take the bread and wine
but “who” is the cry that keeps the bowls empty
and the water filled
with yet another messenger of death
(so they gathered up)
“Who” is a finger pointed out there
aimed at some
unnamed
and unchangeable
villain
out there
as the children continue to die
(twelve baskets)
I turn off the TV
Turn down the thermostat
And turned off the lights
To get a good nights sleep in the comfort
And security
Of this home I have made for myself
And hope I do not have to hear
The pleas
For the children
On the car radio as I drive
To work
Tomorrow
(with fragments)
I can’t stand to hear
Of the pain
Until
That one is found
(from the five loaves)
who is responsible
and that one
out there
is made to correct this injustice
(left by those)
that is bringing starvation
to those
(who had eaten)
sisters and brothers of mine

Our Best and the Brightest Led us to the Moon and Now We're Leaving Them Behind

by Thom Hartmann

It is not surprising that it would take Forbes, the magazine that, for years, had as its slogan "Capitalist Tool," to point out that the way money is spent in the field of education is truly bizarre. In their November 21, 1994 issue, an article by Peter Brimelow asks the question: "Would any management worth a damn put most of its dollars into its weakest divisions and starve the promising ones of capital?"

The next sentence answers the question: "Not and live for long."

Yet, as the article goes on to show in eloquent detail, that is exactly what is happening with funding for our brightest and most gifted children in the US educational system. According to the Department of Education, state and local spending on gifted and talented children is less than two cents per hundred dollars spent. And federal funding is never more than one tenth of one percent.

According to the Department of Education, federal spending on education in 1993 was allocated:

49.8% to "Disadvantaged" ($6.9 billion)
0.13% to "Other" including bilingual, vocational, & impact aid ($4.1 billion)
20.0% to "Handicapped" ($2.8 billion)
00.07% to "Gifted" ($.0096 billion)

It was our gifted kids, grownup, who put men on the moon and who were the men on the moon. Yet total federal funding for gifted children from 1973 to 1990 was less than the cost of one B-2 bomber...and has declined since then.

personal note: this is not a call to cut spending on the programs for disadvantaged, or the handicaped or to cut bilingual education, but perhaps, just perhaps, if we properly funded education, we would not need as many bombers.
pd

irragation systems

Sunday July 26th, Psalm 145: The LORD helps the fallen and lifts up those bent beneath their loads. All eyes look to you for help; you give them their food as they need it. The Lord does indeed give food as it is needed, the trouble is that we humans have managed to disrupt the distribution system. I love Coffin’s saying, It is one thing to call with the prophets of old to let Justice roll down like an ever flowing stream, it is quite another to design the irrigation system. Often in the design of the irrigation system, there are those who wish to siphon off more than they need without regard for those downstream. We now have a multi-billion dollar industry in producing diet foods and diet plans in some parts of the world and children starving to death in other parts of the world. Perhaps if we were to love justice and show mercy (Micah 6:7-8) we could see to it to spend one tenth of our military budget on mercy and justice. That would be enough to provide adequate food, housing, clothing, and medical care for everyone in the world that does not currently have such. We can cry to let justice roll down like an ever flowing stream, what we need to work on is the irrigation system that distributes to all the children of God. When Paul talked about not discerning the Body is eating and drinking damnation onto ourselves, he was saying more or less the same thing.

hoarding brings rot

Monday July 27th, Psalm 145: All eyes look to you for help; you give them their food as they need it. When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing. God created the world and looked upon it and called it good. For God, there is no us and them, for all are the children of God. That which you do, or fail to do, onto the least of these, you do or fail to do onto God. Society is judged not on how it creates wealth, but on how it cares for the least, lost and lonely. God has given the gift, we are only asked to share. Health care for all or high profits for a few, the fight is on, and in the midst of it God calls us to adhere to Kindergarten rules, clean up after yourself, share, be kind and remember there is enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed. God had provided for all, the fact that some are walking with Golden parachutes while others are struggling to survive is an example of what happens when we eat and drink damnation to ourselves. The hoarding tends to bring rot not only to our piles of stuff, but also to our lives, the smell comes from within.

real security measures

Tuesday July 28th, 2 Kings 4: 42 A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. "Give it to the people to eat," Elisha said. 43 "How can I set this before a hundred men?" his servant asked. But Elisha answered, "Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the LORD says: 'They will eat and have some left over.' " 44 Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the LORD. Forty years ago we put a man on the moon. When the idea was proposed by Kennedy, the response from the scientific community was disbelief, and cries that it couldn’t be done. Once the idea was accepted that it could be done and the focus was put on how it could be done, things began to happen. This is similar to hunger in the world. We are still focused on whether it can be done, not on how it can be done. We have however found lots of money to build an impressive military machine, which many feel we need. When all people eat and have some left over, terrorism can gain no foothold. It is far less expensive to feed, clothe, educate and provide healthcare than it is to protect, kill and defend our status quo. We should be throwing our nation’s wealth behind fighting terrorism in a way that works rather than just testing weapons systems that don’t.

doing and praying

Wednesday July 29th, Ephesians 3: 14-19 My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. Jesus summed up all the law and prophets as follows; love God, love others. In loving God, we are strengthened from within by the Holy Spirit, in loving others, that strength is nurtured. To love God as our personal Lord and Savior is to choose to be an empty vessel, the kind Jesus pointed to and noted the shinny outside and the mold on the inside. To work for the betterment of others in the world, thought noble, leads more often to agendas and egos and only activism which without the God connection can easily be seduced into pressure tactics and manipulation, of which we already have too much. When we follow Jesus’ command to love God and love others, in word and deed, we find that the doing informs the reflection which informs the doing, round and round, ever closer to God’s calling. To do one without the other is to kill both.

make room to recieve

Thursday July 30th, Ephesians 3: 19 And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. Learning to share with others from the abundance of our blessing does not lessen our blessing, it increases and enhances out blessing. One trouble is that we often see our blessing in material terms only, and yes, materially speaking, more for others who do not have enough, may, at times, mean less for us. In the long run however, more for others will mean more for everyone. We live in a world that does not trust God and God’s plan. Not trusting, we hoard. We have trouble trusting the fact that the more we give, the more we receive. We keep thinking in terms of a glass of water, pour some off for others and there is less in the glass. In God’s world, it is only when we pour off for others that the glass begins to fill with God’s blessings. Sometimes we have to make room in our lives to receive.

satiated

Friday July 31st, John 6: 10 Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. Part of the miracle is the blessing of Christ, the thankful blessing for what has been given. All we have is a gift from God for which we should forever be thankful. Additionally, part of the blessing we receive is the ability to share with one another, for what we are about to receive and the ability to share from this bounty, we thank you O Lord. If we focus only on the receiving, we still remain famished; bellies full maybe, but famished none the less. When we look at everything we have as a blessing from God and receive it in true thankfulness, for that is what it is, and in that thankfulness, share, we find that we are not only full, but satiated.

heal broken pieces of our lives

Saturday August 1st. John 6: 12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. The second part of the miracle is the blessing of the hearts that takes place as those sitting on the ground reach into their own private hidden stash, and share. It is then that the abundance of the blessing is manifest in the physical world as well as in the spiritual world. When we reach into our own private, hoarded, protected stash that really is a gift from God all along, we too begin to see the true blessings in our lives. Our calling is not a God and me thing, where I am blessed because I have decided to follow Jesus in the right way and in the right church. It is a God and us think, where we are blessed as we gather together, brothers and sisters in Christ, around the body broken, and in the process, heal some of the broken pieces of our lives as we help one another

7.25.09 James, Apostle

Mark 10:35-45

With each crashing wave along the shore
The water swirls
Around the outcropping of rock
Slowly eating away at its structure
Until
It consist only of the sand
Moving
And reshaping itself again
With the help of the waves
Along the beach
Smooth and gentle to walk on
Each grain
Once a part of a great structure
Now toppled by time
So too with the great structures
Of this world
Once powerful protectors of separation
Supported on the fears
Of those it is intended to serve
Only to end up
In time
A pinnacle
Surrounded by the sands
Until it too topples by its own weight.
In Christ there are no pinnacles
No outcroppings that stand above all others
Only the sands
Washing upon the shore
Supporting one another.

7.22.09 St. Mary Magdalene

John 20:1-2, 11-18

Why are you crying?
The morning air seemed crisp and sharp
but all was a blur
the hope
the love
buried and taken
Why are your crying?
at the empty tomb
fresh in the morning light
with the stench of death
gone
go tell
Mary
beloved of Jesus
tell the others
what you do not see
and what is there
the tomb empty
and the Son of God
free from the bounds that held him
Go and tell
as the first to announce to the world
life
death conquered
and the gift
life
given

7th Sunday after Pentecost

Mark 6:30-34

I hunger Lord
For the words that come from you
Words
That bring life
In the hearts of all
Words
That bring change
In a world so often
Caught
In a track that serves only a few
I hunger Lord
(words)
and cannot rest in the things I have made
I cannot rest knowing you are there
And not seeking you out
(words)
knowing that without you
I am lost
Caught
In a track that serves only a few
Perhaps I am one
Perhaps not
But it matters little
Without
Your word
(love)

Fear is the great motivational tool of tyrants

Sunday July 19th, Psalm 23: He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod; your staff, they comfort me. Fear is the great motivational tool of tyrants, be they political, religious or gang related. In Anchorage right now Pastor Prevo of the ABT is pushing fear to fight against equal rights. In doing so, he is able to use scripture to justify and promote and incite violence toward others and in the process help maintain some of his perceived power. It is not just the LGBT community that are the victims, it is also his parishioners and the people of Anchorage that find their lives stained by this vitriol. Lest we feel content simply to point the finger at Prevo however, let us first look to self. If we look just below the surface, most will find someone or some group that falls on the spectrum somewhere between dislike and fear. Dislike we can usually deal with. Fear however can easily turn into hostility such as we have in many parts of the world, including our own back yard. Before any military conflict, and sometimes before any election, there is a heightened sense of fear, it is what allows basically good people to justify killing of others or vote against their own self interest. God comes along with, “fear not.” Even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, even thought I may have had a good hand in helping to create this valley, even though evil, real or perceived is all around me, even though I go through the darkest deepest places in life, I will fear no evil for God is with me. God does not shield us from the evils of life, but when faceing them, standing up to them, overcoming them, we are never alone. I will fear no evil, for God is by my side.

prayer ends enemies

Monday July 20th, Psalm 23: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. The best way to avoid conflict is fervent prayer for your enemies. I don’t mean praying that they will fall and break their neck, but truly praying that the fear that is driving them will cease, truly praying for their well being and happiness, truly praying that you will understand them. When you begin to pray for them, you find that you also begin to get into their world; you begin to see things from their perspective. This doesn’t mean you agree with their perspective, but at least you begin in some small way to understand their perspective. In this way, two miracles can happen, not only do you open the door for their heart begin to soften, but your heart can begin to understand and also soften. It does not mean that you will become best friends; it does mean that you can once again start to see one another as brothers or sisters in Christ.

No more fratricide

Tuesday July 21st, Ephesians 2: 14-15The Messiah has made things up between us so that we're now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in it and said it was good. After the creation of humanity, we wanted to get into the act and started building things. Mostly what we built were walls. Cain and Able were the first, and we have been at it ever sense, there is a reason the first murder in the Bible is a fratricide. What Christ did is tear down the walls we have created and remind us once again that we are brothers and sisters. We still see the walls, we still believe they are there, but they are just in our imagination and our fear. God called creation good; Christ brought forgiveness, all the distrust is simply humanities fantasy trip. Part of our original sin is that we tend to put asunder that which God has joined together.

New Covenant

Wednesday July 22nd, Ephesians 2: 15 Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody. This is the New Covenant in my Blood, shed for All people. God’s intention is that all of creation see one another as brothers and sisters and learn to care for one another. Most of humanity is still caught up with a “Mom, he looked at me” attitude. What takes effort is living in that fresh start, we like the old systems. We are more comfortable with the devil we know than with the God we don’t know. Christ came to bring peace through forgiveness and fresh starts. It is not a matter of starting conflicts and claiming that God is on your side, it is a matter of recognizing that Christ brought peace, that we are brothers and sisters, and asking if we are on Christ’s side.

bump in the road

Thursday July 23rd, Ephesians 2: 16-18 Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father. Christ brought the end of hostility and brought peace to the insiders and the outsiders by letting them know there was no such thing as insiders and outsiders. How often we pick up our cross and instead of following Christ, grab it by the other end and pretend it is a sword? How often do we use our scriptures to beat someone over the head instead of soothing their soul? Christ brought peace, are you in, or are you out? If you are out, it is by your choice, not God’s. God’s future is that all will live together as brothers and sisters, lions and lambs together. This is the future that will be, end the end we all know that God will prevail. Will you be a companion on the journey or a bump in the road?

Kindergarten stuff

Friday July 24th, Mark 6: 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. What did he teach them? Simple things mainly, Kindergarten stuff; be nice to one another, everyone help one another, the ones at the bottom need a little extra help, there is more than enough for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed so you need to share, you are loved and so is the other person and the one over there also, clean up you mess when you are done, God created you in love and still loves you, when this life is over you get to spend timelessness with God so live like you were with God now, stuff like that. Jesus took one of the little ones into his arms and said that if you don’t enter like one of these little, trusting, wide-eyed, loving ones, you have a hard row to hoe. Are you wide-eyed with anticipation and excitement or are you looking for your hoe?

mattresses

Saturday July 25th, Mark 6: 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed. What were they healed from? Deep things mainly, meaningful stuff; hatred, self obsession, greed, selfishness, separation, all those wall building things. The real power of God is tearing down the walls we build with our hearts, not our hands. In the process we find our hearts begin to heal, our lives begin to heal, our world begins to heal. Pick up your mattress filled with hatred, hopelessness and fear and run after Jesus today.

A mixture of random thoughts and readings from vacation.

It takes time to relax. When I first moved into my cabin in Willow, we lived without electricity for several months. We would use a Coleman lantern as well as kerosene lanterns for light in the dark hours of early spring. In the evening, getting ready for bed, we would turn off the Coleman lantern. I never noticed the noise until it stopped. Slowly I could feel the hair on the back of my neck start to lie down. The first few days of vacation at the lake were like that. The noise of life was still ringing in my ears and the brain was still going, not accomplishing mind you, just running. It took time to come around to the quiet and calm, to notice the ripples on the lake, the Sandhill Cranes strutting on the shore, the life that moved with or without my notice. It takes time to get into the word also. To open to a passage, breathe deeply and slowly, read it, think about it, read it again and then just listen to your breathing for a few minutes. Scientists tell us it is good for our heart, spiritual leaders will tell you the same thing.

Maybe an individual is measured in relationship to society, but a person is defined in relationship to God. In God’s sight every one of us is precious. For every one of us, She has a place, a purpose, a calling, a ministry.

There was a large party over the 4th weekend at the neighbor’s house. As usual, the call was for Pastor Dan to bring the blessing as if my blessing means more than the heartfelt words of anyone else attending. It is too bad we reserve grace for meals alone. How about saying grace before opening a great novel, or before a concert, standing before the stream with the fish running, an evening glass of wine, or perhaps even a good game, “For what we are about to receive Lord, make us truly thankful.”

Our neighbor had many children visiting with family coming from all parts of the country. How do you occupy a wide range of children for a period of time and give them memories. How about a parade, a Fourth of July parade! The word went out and preparations begun. There was grandma’s cane beating against the wash tub for a drum. There were children in hats and any red, white and blue combinations of clothing that could be found. There were whistles and noise makers and a 93 year old great grandma riding in a child’s rickshaw decorated with sand dollars and blue tape, throwing out candy that was old enough to harm teeth. It only went about two blocks, down a gravel road with three spectators, of which I was glad to be one, and four photographers. It will win no awards on TV and never make the news, but the story will live for generations. It is less important to create wonder than to awaken the sense of wonder within us each and every day.

The fourth of July filled the lake with seado’s. Each one it seems trying to outdo the others in a game of testosterone fueled stupidity. In the evening there were the fireworks, not organized, just random beach displays. With each explosion our old dog would shake and quiver some more. Finally in the wee hours of the morning she allowed us to sleep as she dove under the bed and the anxiety induced quakes, shivers and panting subsided. None of the rocket launching crowd was aware of her plight, and I doubt if they were it would have made a difference. Often it is easier to just not see, or regard the victims of our actions. Next fourth of July as we celebrate with the rockets’ red glare and bombs bursting in air, let us not forget how the headlong plunge into war these traditions glorify, as the solution to problems perceived, has left many with cupboards that are bare. Let us turn once again to the dreams of our forefathers who conceived a nation founded in liberty and freedom where the pursuit of happiness meant something different than abundance for some and a dim reality for others. Let us commit ourselves as a nation to strive for the pursuit of peace which cannot happen in the midst of ever increasing spending for war and profiteers who only want more.

sorry

just returned from vaction and therefore am late posting and just discovered I have no poem for this text. I will try to have one up in the next day or two

justice or justifacation

Sunday July 12th, Psalm 85: I will listen to what God the Lord will say. For He will speak peace to His people, to those who are right with Him. But do not let them turn again to foolish things. The word of the Lord is a word of peace. True peace can only come about through justice, never at the edge of a sword. This is God preferred vision for the world and this is what will be. Our choice in life is where we are going to be on the side of God, working for peace and justice or whether we are going to shrink into the pygmy world of private piety. There are many voices out there claiming to be the word of God, many voices that claim their own self-righteousness to be the righteousness of God. Most often these claims wrap themselves in the flag of their country of origin and are instead of justice, used as a justification of war, and war is big business if you are properly connected and death business if you are not. God’s voice on the other hand does not tear down or destroy; it builds up and brings peace. Listen to the voice of God, it is right there in the book, it is the voice of peace, then decide today, and tomorrow, if you will live your life heading toward God’s Grand future, or your futile fortress.

level and true

Monday July 13th, Amos 7: "Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them; 9 the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword." The plumb line was used in building to make sure things were on the level and even and true. The word of Amos is that God is holding a plumb line to the world we have built to see how far out of line we are. The verdict? The high places need to be brought down and the low places need to be brought up and things evened out a bit. In our world with bailed out golden parachutes and lost jobs, we too could use a little plumb line action. God’s plan for the world will be, of that there is no doubt. The question is whether you and your life as well as the collective life we build as communities, will be part of the problem that needs to be leveled, or part of Gods plan that holds the plumb line and levels the field. Salvation is easy; it is a gift from God, being a Christian, living it not only on Sunday singing the psalms, but on Wednesday digging the ditches is work. It is also the best job you will ever have.

dance with the devil

Tuesday July 14th, Amos 7: 14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, "I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. 15 But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.' It doesn’t take a rock scientist to tell when something stinks but if we squint our eyes just right and scrunch out nose and try real hard, we can pretend all is ok. It is easy for each of us to get caught up in our own dance with the devil and forget who is playing our song, but in the end, the next morning in the light of day, it is not a pretty sight. We have all been given not only the task, but the ability to do it in such a way that makes this world, that still belongs to God, just a little bit better, a little bit closer to God’s plan of manna and mercy for all. Amos was a lowly hired farm hand. Through the voice of God he was also a voice of justice for his nation and all nations since. Just imagine what God can do through you if you let him? It’s kind of scary isn’t it?

Hear this.....

Wednesday July 15th, Amos 7: 4 Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, 5 saying, "When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?"— skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, 6 buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. 7 The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: "I will never forget anything they have done. Hear this you who trade jobs overseas and start wars for oil profits, hear this you who take your golden parachutes while driving the company into the ground and in the process destroy the livelihood of the workers who had them, hear this you who sing the tune of the big medical insurance and pharmaceutical companies while fighting against good single payer health care for all, here this you who honor yourselves with libraries and place in it the gun of the only tyrant equal to yourself you managed to kill for oil, hear this… the Lord will never forget anything you have done. It seems odd, we come into this world with nothing, we leave with nothing and we spend most of our time trying to get something, and in the process destroying the very things that do mean something, our relationships with others. Many make the mistake of focusing more on the profit than on the prophet. In doing so, what we gain is more than offset by what we lose. What we gain is a bigger number in the bank account, what we lose is our soul. It is possible to live well, seek justice and love mercy. What it takes is simply to focus your life on Jesus words; love the Lord with all that is in you and love your neighbor as yourself.

prophets in the way of profits

Thursday July 16th, Mark 6: 17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." Oooh! Those prophets, they are always getting in the way of profits and alliances and speaking truth to power. Herod was strangely drawn to John, there was something about the words he spoke that while they stung, they also rung true. Herod may have been trying to silence the voice of God by putting John in prison, then maybe he just wanted to keep him around to hear more when he was finished with the prattle of his guests. Perhaps he even liked to sneak off in the middle of the night to the bowels of the dungeon for a little late night soul searching. Those who misuse power often try to silence anyone holding up a mirror that shows them what they are doing and at the same time, be drawn to it. God asks us to be mirror holders. Through thick and thin, abuse and praise, hold up that mirror and let people see themselves, and one another, as the child of God, created in God’s image, to do the work of God. Most of us learn over time however that setting down the mirror and keeping our mouths shut is the way to get the promotion. Bishop Tutu once said, “if an elephant has it’s foot on the tail of a mouse and you say you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” When we speak the word of God, expect to raise a bit of anger as well as interest in return. Mirrors have a nasty way of showing flaws in addition to beauty.

the mourning after

Friday July 17th, Mark 6: 21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you." 23 And he promised her with an oath, "Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom." The old rock and a hard place. Herod had a bit of a concept of justice in his heart, not much, but a bit. Perhaps those late night conversations down in the dungeon when his conscience wouldn’t let him sleep were beginning to make their mark. But Satan wants it all. At any time along a long road we are given the opportunity to speak up and do the right thing. Most of us, like Herod would rather save face and be silent. In the process the young and innocent pay the price as well as the old and guilty. The daughter danced not knowing she too was a pawn in this musical of death until it was too late. Hell is truth seen too late. You must be careful when you save face, it is often just another way of losing your soul.

hell is truth seen too late

Saturday July 18th, Mark 6: 26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, 28 and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. Herod is not the only one to discover that when the next morning came and sobriety returned, somewhere between the fog of what happened and the reality of the end result, the someone who was in control was not you. Once again, hell is truth seen too late.