Keeping God on the Bus  Friday, March 19, 2010

Darn! Just when you think you’re getting something figured out, and well down the road, some new voice comes into your brain and causes mental whiplash. Almost.

I picked up an article today that bears directly on our core values discussion. In fact, it echoes questions a few people have been asking. In one way or another, they ask, “Don’t we already know our values? Don’t our values come from God and the Bible?”

They should, of course. The trouble is that God is not a complex human institution, constrained by multiple competing interests. God, we teach, is not limited by anything; the church is. Too often, though, one of the limits is that we forget about God in our analysis and planning. We need both.

I refer you to two bits of writing on this: one from Jim Collins, in whose work I discovered the core values terminology and concept, at http://www.jimcollins.com/books/g2g-ss.htm ; and the other by Mike Bonem in Leadership Journal for Winter 2010 from Christianity Today, “Good to Great to Godly,” unfortunately not in their online version yet.

WHERE DO THE FLAGS BELONG?  Thursday, March 4, 2010

Recently we’ve had questions from a visitor about the placement of our sanctuary flags. This is a complicated subject that this congregation apparently has considered at length, before my time. The issue is whether the U.S. and Christian flags should trade sides. Part of my response is below. You can check the references in the U.S. Code at http://www.usflag.org/uscode36.html

The reason for the placement we use is apparently twofold, and, I note, somewhat contradictory with itself if both reasons are used. First, U.S. Code Section 175 is concerned with the position of the U.S. flag in relation to flags of other political entities. Paragraph (c) makes an exception to allow a church “pennant” to be flown above the national flag during church services conducted by naval chaplains at sea. It is curious that only the Navy should be named in this exception; there may be something about that which I do not understand. In any case, that exception has been interpreted by many churches to mean that in a place of worship, the flag representing the superior entity, i.e. God, should have the place of prominence, paragraph (k) notwithstanding.

Which brings us to the other, potentially conflicting understanding: paragraph (k) refers to flags displayed on the speaker’s platform, where the position of prominence is to the right of the speaker facing the audience. As in many other churches, our flags are not on the speaker’s level, but on the congregation’s level. Although the Code does not explicitly specify this, the understanding gained from all other instructions about placement is that the flag always be placed to the right of the main direction of viewing or approach, so that when flags stand on the same level as the audience rather than the speaker, the U.S. flag is properly positioned to the right of the audience. If this is a correct interpretation, then I note again that it is rather at odds with the reasoning given above.

Another approach, adopted by a significant number of congregations, is not to display the national flag at all, in order not to imply that God favors any one nation over any other.
 

CORE VALUES - Monday, February 22nd. 

We are moving ahead in our discussion of the core values of this congregation, so that we can better align our activities with what really motivates us. The areas of interest seem pretty well agreed upon. The following are a draft summary, not final, of where we seem to be. I welcome your comments about whether these five really reflect the core identity of First Presbyterian.

1. To welcome people of every description into the community of faith, and build up the community through lifelong care and nurture (education, training, encouragement).
2. To nurture the human spirit and strengthen community with music and worship that honors God while encouraging (and challenging) people to further growth.
3. To reach out in love in tangible ways to the community and the world.
4. To continue to teach the sovereignty (authority and freedom) and endless love of God while always being open to challenges and new knowledge and ways of understanding.
5. To manage our building, investments, and all other assets to support our other values, rather than as ends in themselves.

Does this reflect your understanding of what keeps FPC-Wausau moving? I’d like to hear about it.
 

Friday, February 5 Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
Today is a wind down, pack up and get ready to leave day. Some people did go to Donnatar to install some water barrels to make it possible to water their garden, while others went to do a teaching project. Later this afternoon we have been invited to the home of St. Omer, one of our St. Lucian Good News members. At 5:30 PM we will go to Coburil, the retreat center and hotel high on a hill overlooking the city and the harbor. There we will have our traditional pizza and wine dinner. Then it will be home to bed for an early departure tomorrow morning. Most of us will leave on an 8:20 AM flight while others will be transported to Vieux Fort on the southern end of the island for an afternoon departure. The Weavers will leave Sunday and spend a few days in Puerto Rico on the way home.
Our time here has flown by quickly once again. I believe all of us have had a rewarding experience and will take many good memories back home with us.

Thursday, February 4 Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
Today is a shorter work day because of the house blessing and the farewell party for the St. Lucians in the evening. A large group went to the Boys Training Center, a facility for teenagers who have gotten into trouble. It is similar to the Lincoln Hills facility we have north of Wausau. Bob Weaver and I and several of our women went to the St. Lucy Home, a nursing home. Bob and I completed a couple of smaller building projects (stair railing and cabinet doors), while the ladies sang songs and played bingo with the residents. Mary Henry took another group on her island tour.
We had a late lunch and then went to bless our last house. The recipient is a lady who lost her house and many of her possessions in a fire. Her grand daughter is living with her. The house is located on a level lot so it was easier to build on than many of the others we have had. While we were at the house blessing, the lady living next door got our attention. She had a baseball cap from the 2510 Restaurant in Wausau and a business card from Pat Baumer, the owner. Apparently Pat was here many years ago (maybe 25) and had given her the cap and card.
After the blessing a few went swimming while others got in some last minute shopping. We went down to the lower level of the facility for our farewell party with all of the St. Lucians we have worked with over the past two weeks. We had a good turnout, well over 100 people in total counting the 25 of us. A short prayer service was held followed by a game show. The audience was divided into two teams who competed to answer questions, most of which had to do with facts about St. Lucia and Good News. Everyone seemed to enjoy it with the "Green" team winning over the "Red" by a few points. Then it was ice cream time for everyone. Two large containers of ice cream were devoured in record time. Later after our guests had departed we enjoyed a pasta salad, popcorn and wine which ended a very busy day.

Wednesday, February 3 Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
A large group went to the prison. Other groups went to Donnatar and Monche School. Monche is where our family sponsored a house on the school grounds several years ago which is used as a counseling center. Marsha and I went to Monche with two other ladies. We did a story and craft project with three groups of second graders. They were very well behaved and polite. The counseling center now is being used primarily as a base of operations for the special needs teacher since the sister who is the counselor is busy putting together a parenting class. The building itself looks to be in pretty good shape yet after five years of use. The principal provided us with a wish list of things for the 2011 shipment. The school will celebrate 50 years of operation on January 1, 2011.
At Donnatar and the St. Lucy home several small work projects were identified. At Donnatar they have a nice garden. To help with the water needs, some rain gutters will be installed to allow the collection of rainwater. Some repair projects were identified at St. Lucy.

Tuesday, February 2 Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
Several groups went out again today to St. Joseph's, the Marion Home (including the pre-school and nursery), Upton Gardens and the Missionaries of Charity. I chose to go the pre-school and nursery. At the pre-school we did a story and craft project with three year olds, and then again with four year olds. The nursery only had six babies, most of whom were sleeping. After lunch we walked up to Upton Gardens where we did a drum circle, using dowels we had cut and sanded, and various things we could beat on to make different kinds of sounds. A couple of the girls were not interested, while others picked it up enthusiastically.
The builders continued work on House 6. They have the roof on and we are on schedule to bless it on Thursday afternoon.
The police, according to reports on the internet, have arrested someone who has confessed to the murder that happened on January 19th. When arrested he had the victim's camera in his possession.
The swimmers got to the beach although we had some showers in the late PM. After dinner a group went to the Windjammer Resort to see the Fire Dancers. St. Lucian Donna is a very good limbo dancer!!

Monday, February 1 Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
Tim came and hauled all of the materials to House 6, our last house. The site is fairly level, a rarity here, but the foundation supports (corner pillars) were not properly located so adjustments were necessary. Much progress was made despite this problem. All of the walls were erected so we are well on the way to completion. The dedication is planned for Thursday afternoon.
Other groups went to the Marshon School, the Marion Home, Upton Gardens, Missionaries of Charity and the Children's Home. At the Children's Home Bob and I completed our remaining tasks and actually were able to load up the remaining materials and come back early. The other groups got back at 3:45, and some of the people got to the beach for a swim.
After dinner and our nightly meeting, Sam and Linda Scaffidi treated us to some music that was composed and sung by their daughter who is a singer/songwrite in Nashville. We then went to the "Stress Off" bar which is owned by Herman ("Humdog"), another St. Lucian who we have known for several years. He also runs a tour service for groups on the island. At the "Stress Off" we were treated to live music played by a couple of St. Lucians who Terry had heard earlier at the Eastwinds Resort. She asked them to come and play for all of us. Most of their music was American songs that we could sing along with. One of the St. Lucians, St. Omer, is quite a dancer so several of the ladies got to dance with him. In a brief conversation with Herman he told me that he now has two tour buses and is busy taking people on tours from the cruise ships and the hotels. He also has two apartments that he rents to visitors. He asked that we send his greetings to the Kirbys in La Crosse who have had a long time relationship with him.
At our meeting the people who went to Marshon School reported that at an afternoon assembly the students and teachers thanked them for everything Good News had done for them. They presented the people with some gifts as well as certificates of appreciation.
Some of the ladies heard on the radio today that a tourist (29 year old female) was killed at Pigeon Point on January 19th. We do not know any details, apparently the authorities are not talking a lot about it as they search for the killer. Something like this is quite rare. We have never had any concern as we move about during the day to various places. Hopefully in the coming days we will learn more about what actually transpired.

Sunday, January 31 Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
Today was the sailboat (catamaran) ride down the west coast to a very fancy resort where we get to spend time swimming, snorkeling, sunbathing or just relaxing. They also have good ice cream!! The trip to and from on the boat is always fun with lots of food, drink, music and conversation with members of the group and the St. Lucians who come with us. A rather cool day with some rain going and coming but otherwise very pleasant for us. The St. Lucians thought it was cold!!
The day ended with a light supper and our nightly meeting to get things organized for the coming week. Some of the people opted to go out for pizza.

Saturday, January 30 Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
A day of rest, but also a chance to do something different. A large group went on the shopping and safari ride. They saw and went under a waterfall, did not go in the hot sulfer spring, got rained on, had an excellent lunch and drove all the way to Soufriere. They did not return until nearly 5 PM. Another group went out on their own to shop and see the sights, while a handful decided to stay in and just chill out.
After dinner, we went to mass in Gros Islet which is not far from the hotel we were at last evening. The church has excellent music (band and choir). The colored glass window in the church was painted by one of our Good News members on a previous trip (Shirley Gajewski from Merrill). Several people there inquired about Peggy and Chuck.

Friday, January 29 Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
Today brought the completion of the shelving project at the Children's Home and the completion of House 5.
Later in the afternoon House 4 and 5 were both blessed. "Paba" (Father Anthony) lead us through the litany. The recipent of House 4 (a very pleasant lady with three children) was very appreciative and completely overwhelmed by the gift. She could not thank us enough with many hugs and lots of tears. She gave us a gift of fruit and bananas in return. House 4 was sponsored by Judy Cherwinka from Wausau who is a long time supporter of Good News. The recipent of house 5 was quite reserved and stoic (the complete opposite) but did offer us a very sincere "thank you".
After dinner twenty of us went to hear the steel band play at the hotel. On the way we stopped for delicious ice cream at "Elena's". Hiliary's brother is a member of the band and is quite animated when he really gets going. Many Europeans and Canadians vacation in St. Lucia and some of them were there is to see the band perform.

Thursday, January 28 Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
Today brought more progress at House 5 which is relatively close to where we are staying. The recipient is a man with a wife and three children. He works here but his family is some distance away, so he has to ride the bus to work. His employer has given him permission to have the house put up on land right across the street from his workplace. He will move his family here and be able to walk to work, saving him much time and money.
His employer, as part of his business, runs safari tours. He is so pleased with Good News and the work being done to build the house for his employee, that he has offered to take any Good News member who wants to go on a shopping and safari tour on Saturday at no cost to us, a very generous offer indeed.
At the Children's Home we (St. Lucians Hiliary and Bois, Bob Weaver and I) started a project involving the installation of shelving in the building where they store most of their non-perishable food supplies and other items. It was quite a mess with no organization of the items thus making it difficult to find anything very easily. The building materials we needed were transported there by Tim, a St. Lucian with a large truck. He is a very reliable person who we use to transport all of the materials to our building sites. We took everything out of the storage building and then began building shelves. The staff went through the items and got them organized. They stayed until 8 PM working on that. We got shelves done on two sides and they started putting stuff back in an organized way. We will finish the project tomorrow.
Another group of people went with Mary Henry, a St. Lucian nurse, who runs her own nursing service business. We have know her for a long time. She took the group to many places and they saw many things. Her tours are always very educational and informative.
Another group went back to the Monshan School. Things there were better organized and less chaotic than on the previous visit.
One of the people in the group is a counselor. She has established a relationship at the St. Joseph's Girls school and is going back with others to offer individual counseling to the girls. This seems to be something that is needed since there is only one counselor on staff for some 200 girls.

Wednesday, January 27 Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
I should tell you some more about the facility we are saying at. The Archdiocesan Pastoral Center (APC) has several buildings as part of the complex. In past years we have stayed on the lower part in two different housing arrangements (the "Hilton" and the "Super 8"). This year, for several reasons, we are staying in the upper part which used to be a seminary. It is a great place with more space including some rooms with private bathrooms and would you believe, AC units. There is plenty of storage space and an outside area to do the wood cutting and painting.
Our group leaders, Terry and Ruth Van Zeeland (mother and daughter) are doing a great job. Originally Terry was to return home after spending two weeks with group one and one week with group two helping Peggy MacCarthy run the show. However, because of Peggy's need to return home early she agreed to stay on another week. Ruth spent two weeks on St. Vincent as the group leader there, and then agreed to come over to St. Lucia to spend another week helping her mother.
The efforts they put in daily to arrange all of the visits and transportation can be overwhelming sometimes and most times is not visible nor appreciated. But their upbeat attitudes, sincerity and devotion to the organization allows them to perform all of the details in a very competent way. Ruth will be going home on Saturday.
Wednesday was more building and more visits. Several us went to house #4 to finish up last minute details and to paint the inside. Several people went to the prison to visit both male and female prisoners. The men started with three decks of cards (one disappeared in about five minutes). During the visit, apparently because of some difficulties between different groups of inmates, the first group was locked down and replaced by a smaller group of older men. At the end all of the decks of cards were left with them, they are very valuable to them obviously. Another group went to Montchard (sp?) School to be with the three lowest grades (K, 1, 2). This school is in a very poor area near downtown Castries. Rather a chaotic situation apparently, but they are going back again tomorrow to be with three upper grades.
We had our nightly meeting early so we could go to the Beach Facility for our traditional fish or chicken dinner with all of the trimmings (including American french fries which were very popular). There was time for a walk on the beach and then most everyone came back early (we are definitely getting older!!).
Internet was down most of the day but came back up after we reported the problem to people at APC.

Tuesday, January 26 Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
Another day with multiple activities going on. House #4 is nearly complete with only some last minute details to complete. All of the wood for house #5 has been cut and painted and is ready for transport tomorrow to the building site. A group went to St. Joseph school where they were able to do some worthwhile projects. St. Joseph's is a rather elite girls school where the better students go. Another group went to Donnatar, an institution for mentally challenged people of many ages. Bob Weaver, Hiliary and I went to the Children's Home where Bob redid the second shower. We also checked out our next project which will involve redoing the inside of their storage building with shelving to allow a better use of the available space. We already have most of the necessary materials. We plan to start the project on Thursday.
Finally, the best news of the day arrived via a phone call from second son Jordan telling us that our third grandchild, a girl, had been born in Columbia, MO. She came in at eight pounds three ounces and twenty and one half inches. Mother Julie and daughter, Brooklyn Bowen, are both doing fine. What a great way to end the day!!

Monday, January 25 Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
The first St. Lucia group finished their three houses, plus were able to get all of the wood cut for the fourth house (our first). Bob and Ethel Brown (who have a home here) were then able to get the pieces all painted before we arrived. This made it possible for the builders to haul everything out to the site this morning and begin assembling it. Another group stayed here and cut and painted everything for our second house. Other groups went to the Upton Girls Home, the Marion Home (nursing home), the Sisters of Charity (Mother Teresa's order) and the Children's Home. At the Children's Home Bob Weaver (a plumber by trade from Merrill) and I discovered that both of their showers were not working properly. There are two building that comprise the facility and these two showers are in the new building which was erected in 2000-2001. So they have had a lot of use.
We found a store that fortunately had all of the plumbing things we needed. Bob was able to replace all of the fittings (after cutting a hole in the shower enclosure) and we got it operational just before the kids returned from school. Tomorrow we will need to do the same to the second one.
After dinner we had our meeting to plan everything for tomorrow. Could not get on the internet until later in the evening when I was able to find out that the Badgers beat Penn State in overtime.
We have several St. Lucians working with us again including St. Omer, Bernard, Hiliary and Marcia plus Delphia and Donna who just joined the group. Good News built Donna's mother a house thireen years ago. Two others who are helping are Bois (who is the wood carver several people have bought from), and Regi.
A lady from Toronto, Canada joined us today at the Children's Home for a bit. She apparently has a condo over the hill from us at the East Winds resort.

Sunday, January 24 Guest Entry--Gary and Marsha Alexander reporting from St. Lucia
After breakfast and some unpacking, we headed out for the Cathedral in downtown Castries for Mass. The place was absolutely packed. Father Anthony (Paba), who is also in charge of the facility we stay at, conducted the service. Lots of school children who were involved in parts of the service. Good News was recognized and given an ovation by the congregation. We had an opportunity to meet up with Noella, the local St. Lucian Good News coordinator and her daughter Sydney.
After the service we returned for lunch and an initial organizational meeting. We have several veterans members in the group, but also several people for whom this is their initial trip to St. Lucia. The remainder of the day was spent doing various tasks, resting, swimming and finally watching the NFL playoff games. Not a lot of interest in the first game, but of course intense interest in the second one involving the Vikings and New Orleans. It was somewhat of a mixed group in that there were some Favre fans, but also a few who felt otherwise.
Most of us were tired from the long travel and went to bed before the game was finished.
 

ONE WEEK LEFT September 21, 2009

A week to go before sabbatical ends, and I will be ready to be back at work. I have not accomplished nearly as much as I had hoped, but that actually is part of the purpose. The word sabbatical after all is from the same root as sabbath, the point of which is to rest and enjoy what is. I have done this. I have also discovered and used about a dozen new recipes, mostly for barbequed stuff, which was part of the plan, and I've got my garage workshop pretty well ready for some serious projects later in the fall.

I also have a new guitar teacher, Bill Gironda, and a new acoustic guitar, a sweet (and economical!) Jay Turser instrument you can see on my Facebook page.

In terms of brain stuff: I've written about 65 pages of a book about figuring out what you really believe when the old answers don't work anymore, and I have momentum to carry that project through this week and back into my office days. Along the way, I've read or re-read a bunch of books (Discipleship Project coordinator, are you counting?)--A History of God by Karen Armstrong; God: a Biography, by Jack Miles; John Calvin: Reformer for the 21st Century by William Stacy Johnson; Nothing to Be Frightened Of, by Julian Barnes; parts of God's Problem, by Bart Ehrman; big parts of The Religious Experience of Mankind, by Ninian Smart (2nd edition, and I've ordered the most recent 5th edition which no longer has "Mankind" in the title and has new and revised sections--an excellent reference that our library should have!); part of The Complete Book of Witchcraft by Raymond Buckland; the first part of Naming the Whirlwind, an old classic by Langdon Gilkey; the last two books in the Harry Potter series, and now the novel Driftless (by Rhodes?) set in Words, Wisconsin. As always, I've still got other things lined up on my shelves, and just today I ordered new commentaries on Mark, which is the lectionary gospel until Advent and the curriculum for the middle school class at church.

See you next week, if I don't get back to writing here before then.

THE PHYSICAL SABBATICAL September 12, 2009

I've been thinking about the sabbatical experience. Because I needed surgery on a torn meniscus in my left knee right in the middle of this time, (right knee was last year), I have played far less golf than I hoped, and less even than in a normal summer--a grand total of six holes! In the next two weeks, I might get more in during the next two weeks, but now I am very focused on writing. Knee recovery is going great, by the way--walking at least three miles every day with very little pain.

Relaxing news: I have worn shorts most or all of the day on all but a few days, and that's been good; not a single tie has left my closet; and I've worn socks fewer than 3/4 of the days, and then only to keep from getting blisters from walking or working on the woodpile. Yesterday and today I spent much time working in the garage, reorganizing to build shelves for better wood and supply storage, and that's good, because the next big project coming up (after sabbatical) is expanding our deck for choir picnics and our son Dylan's wedding next June.

WORTHWHILE WORSHIP? September 9, 2009

During the first nine weeks of my sabbatical, I've attended worship about 10 times in about a half dozen different settings. I'm sorry to say I'm disappointed in what I've found, although not altogether surprised. I like to believe we do better at FPCW. Worship content in general has been between fair and pretty good, although sometimes the attempt to make things fit thematically ventured into music and liturgy that was trite and forced. Preaching has shown a wide range, not quite half of it being pretty good, and some being a complete waste of effort. The trouble is that you wouldn't necessarily notice unless you were really thinking about it, but here's what happens: cute stories and memorable illustrations in sermons often take the place of clever gags in television commercials, which leave you remembering the commercial but not the product. Ironically, a high proportion of this pabulum seems to float up to larger congregations. I was in one not long ago that had a noticeably good crowd for a late summer weekend, with lots of young couples and families, pastors roaming the sanctuary and shaking hands before worship, obviously popular; and what everyone will remember from the day, if they remember anything, are three things--a baptism; a children's message that inadvertently and thoughtlessly shamed the listening patterns of children and their parents with stereotyped responses; and leaders pronouncing an Aramaic word from Scripture at least four different ways, so that what they were trying to explain ended up lost in the confusion of their failure to say well what they wanted others to listen to. And yet, this is one of the faster growing congregations in the area. What's the message? As long as you're friendly, and pull funny stuff, the church will do well? I hope that's not what we think or try to do. For my part, I'll sure be listening harder as one who has sat in the pews for a few weeks in a row.

ABOUT LIVING  August 26, 2009

A couple of months ago, as I was preparing for this sabbatical time, our executive presbyter Dr. Lucy Rupe suggested that for many people, such time ends up being focused primarily on what living is about: food, family, rest, and all the other things BESIDES earning a living that have to do with just living well. I imagine it's like retirement, in a way--there is still much to do, much that is very important. The latest is a wedding to plan for my oldest son and his fiancee, scheduled tentatively for next June. We do communicate about other things, but that subject takes up a bigger and bigger percentage of the communication space. Nothing wrong with that, by the way!

FINDING A RHYTHM  August 25, 2009

Halfway through sabbatical a week ago today, and with a knee seriously on the mend from meniscus surgery almost two weeks ago, I'm finally finding a rhythm. There has been no golf, though I actually hope that might happen next week, with a cart. But I have helped get an old car shaped up for our second son to take off to college--mostly Bondo, painting, and miscellaneous fix-ups; I've got a workbench ready to do some minor creative projects, not as much as I had hoped, but still some; and I've done LOTS of reading, though again, of course, not as much as I had hoped. A couple of things have been on my shelf for years, and have proved worthy reads at last: Karen Armstrong's A History of God and Langdon Gilkey's Naming the Whirlwind among them. Others I am revisiting, and no doubt understanding and valuing more deeply than on those first frantic academic readings, getting ready for exams and papers--the current one is Ninian Smart's The Religious Experience of Mankind, an excellent and comprehensive anthropological and historical analysis stretching back (speculatively) to prehistory and covering major expressions on every continent from their beginnings. Smart and Armstrong both stress the reality more recently noted by Phyllis Tickle in The Great Emergence that the so-called "Axial Age" from about 800-300 B.C.E. was hugely important, as it saw the real formulated beginning of three major religious strands still prominent today: Judaism, which led to Christianity and Islam, Buddhism in India, which has traveled far in many forms and influenced many, and the school of Confucius in China. The full story is much more complicated, but it starts there. The rest of this week, and beyond, I hope to be focused on some serious writing.

HOLDEN CHRONICLE Day 6-July 31-departure

Up to finish packing before breakfast, and swap linens from the laundry—S.O.P. for leaving Holden Village, to help staff ready for next guests. We all met at breakfast with oatmeal, toast, and fresh apricots. After breakfast, I hauled my suitcase down to the luggage dock before heading to Julia’s last session on Philippians. Steve was there too, while Larry wandered around taking last pictures, including documentation of how main street area especially looks now, before the mine remediation project.

The rest of the morning was spent reading, resting, musing, more picture taking, and generally just hanging out. Lunch was quinoa minestrone soup, spinach and tomato salad, cornbread, and of course fresh fruit! Afterward, I spent more time on the Ark, just sitting and talking, and helped a Unitarian teenager making copper jewelry figure out a faster and safer way to strip insulation off leftover electrical wire for her projects.

The bus ride down to the dock was faster than the ride up by a bit. It certainly felt less labored! Also much cooler today than ride up on Monday. The Lady of the Lake II was right on time. With the upper deck crowded, we found a table on the lower level, so of course played a few hands of hearts. Steve is now leading by a substantial margin; barely half the points Larry has for the week, and I’m closer to Larry than to Steve.

En route, we made a rapid 90 degree turn to port, because the pilot saw someone ashore signaling him. A small boat had a dead battery, and LL II was not equipped to jump it, but we went downlake to the next neighbors to ask for help. They had no cables, but were going to tow the other boat out to where someone else could help. Next stop was to pull in and lower the bow ramp to take on passengers, and that cabin did have a boat with cables, and happy to go back and help. Interesting community.

The wind started picking up about halfway down, then far downlake, it suddenly warmed up noticeably, about the same time that we started picking up jet skis and a few larger boats playing in the wake. We arrived at the dock right on time, aired out the car for cooling off, and got on the way to Seattle.


HOLDEN CHRONICLE Day 5-July 30

After a pleasant, steady rain through much of the night, the morning arrived cloudy and cool—perfect for Larry and Steve to hike to Holden Lake starting at about 7:20 after breakfast of some kind of hot grain cereal and fruit. Pretty good. I risked the gentle walk past the miners’ village to the labyrinth, listening to the increasing thunder and watching dark clouds all the way, hoping our hikers wouldn’t get trapped in bad weather. Then I sat in today’s installment of Bible study on Philippians. After that, I got some writing done before breakfast.

Lunch was “hunger awareness” with only baked potatoes and various spices for toppings, plus fruit, but that was actually just right for me today. It would probably be right many days. The peaches and apricots have ripened nicely from yesterday.

After lunch I did more writing, with ice on the knee, and a break to wave the bus off. About three pages today—yay! Plus some reading outdoors. After Steve and Larry got back, we had our last conversation with Dorothy, talking among other things about the long-term sustainability of practices, and how practice differs from discipline. This meshed nicely with Julia’s presentation of Philippians 3 this morning, talking about how repeated behaviors and attitudes that Paul advocates continue to transform character.

Right now it’s a little down time, with a bit more ice, until jambalaya and cornbread supper. Then vespers, a presentation on plans for remediation for the copper mine, then time for reflection.

After vespers we actually headed to a presentation on plans for the copper mine remediation project. I had to leave before it started, because of a severe pain flare-up. I got more ice and alternated between that and getting my knee in the Jacuzzi, where I encountered the three teenagers who had been announced as not back from hiking yet at vespers. Turned out they were only about half an hour late, an accomplishment since they had gone past trail’s end and climbed almost to the top of one of the crests on Copper Peak. I caught the end of the mine presentation, and Steve and Larry who heard the whole thing were really impressed. New mining company wants to cooperate with Holden to do a spectacular fix, including new hydro, wastewater treatment, paving Main Street, and other infrastructure. Win-win-win situation.


HOLDEN CHRONICLE Day 4-July 29

Morning feels like a long time ago. I first woke around 5 a.m., then got back to sleep until after 6.

The three of us met at 7:15 to hear Dorothy’s short “eye-opener” presentation about how technology shapes us. It’s not a new subject, but important to think about because technology of all kinds (not only computers—heating, transportation and other things, too) continues to develop rapidly. We continued our conversation with her over breakfast, delving more into how communities are shaped, embodied intelligence, and other things. Menu was lovely thick oatmeal with craisins and walnuts. There were rumors of forest fires, not too close, from lightning last evening.

After breakfast, we heard Julia Fogg on Philippians again. She might be wrong about thinking that some of Paul’s letters as we have them have always been this way, not collated from multiples. Besides that, though, she is painting a picture of Paul as radically inclusive and communitarian.

Later in the morning, we headed up Ten Mile Creek Falls trail, with Larry and Steve planning to go on to Monkey Bear Falls. It was a gentle trail to the first falls, about a mile round trip, which I thought I handled pretty easily at a leisurely pace, almost on hour including photo and rest stops. They did go on, and I turned back. Larry and Steve are planning a much longer hike tomorrow morning, up to Holden Lake, and I am not.

Late afternoon we all went to hear Krentzmann’s next installment, this time about welcoming others into community. I had to leave because of the heat, but Larry and Steve heard an amazing story of inclusion in Cincinnati. Clouds and a very light sprinkle cooled things down nicely. Dinner was outdoor grilled brats and hotdogs with fried onions, sauerkraut, purple cabbage coleslaw, and local peaches. Unfortunately the peaches were a day or two from ripe, but still had good flavor. Thunder started during dinner.

After supper: hearts. Steve continues to trail. Then vespers led as usual on Wednesday by the musicians, led this week by Bob Stolch from St. Olaf. Pretty good. Rain for awhile during vespers, enough to make everything wet, at least. Then ice cream—mine was boysenberry sorbet. Thick clouds came down especially on the mountain to the north, and filled the valley in front of it impressively. Now this, and bed. Light rain, continuing thunder.


HOLDEN CHRONICLE Day 3-Tuesday July 28

Well, the stars were great, even with security lights here and there. Milky Way was clearly visible, a couple of satellites and high-flying planes, too. But I was too tired to wait for Northern Lights. Might try tonight.

Started this morning with reading on The Ark before breakfast. 7:30 a.m. daily wake up chimes, played live, started today with “Morning Has Broken” followed immediately by the theme from Harry Potter. Nice conjunction. At breaklfast, over blueberry pancakes, I met soon-to-be 8 Emily from Seattle, who wondered how long I had liked blueberries. Since I can’t remember not liking blueberries, she suggested that maybe that is why my eyes are blue—that, along with a lot of other chatter. Her mom confirmed that she has no trouble making friends.

Bible study on Philippians with Julia Fogg, Presbyterian New Testament professor from California Lutheran Seminary, took the first part of the morning. The second half of the morning, the 3 of us scattered to different pursuits—Larry to a class on Britten’s Requiem, Steve to walk, and me to see if someone would teach me to throw a pot—but that turns out to be too complicated to learn in one session, so that will wait for home. Instead I bought a water bottle (hydration!), took a short walk by the river and covered bridge, and took pictures of a doe and fawn with black tips on their tails (mule deer) grazing right by the road just at the edge of the main compound.

Lunch was leftovers: eggplant parmesan, cheese pizza, good salad, soup. Then meeting Dorothy for walking pilgrimage around the grounds. That was tough on my knee and I had to skip a couple of stops, use extra ice and rest later in the day. But worthwhile. The heat doesn’t help, either. Then the three of us talked more with her over ice cream and the present and future state of church and churches. Next came Jody Kretzmann talking about community organizing principles; then we scattered for some reading for me and Steve and walking for Larry. I finished the Barnes book. Dinner was outdoors, yummy spinach lasagna and heirloom garden tomatoes.

After dinner, vespers, then a discussion led by Kretzmer about Obama’s performance so far. Reviews from the group were pretty positive, though some worried that pragmatism might compromise away the essential vision. That went long, then ice cream, brief thunderstorm, hearts, and off to this and bed. Or maybe finish Order of the Phoenix.

HOLDEN CHRONICLE Day 2-Monday July 27-arriving

We all slept well indeed. I started waking about 5 a.m., but continued to rest until close to 6:00, when I showered to get out of the way of others. Then I read Barnes on the porch until coffee was ready at 7:00. Nice breakfast of pancakes and fruit prepared by the Holden staff.

By 9:00, we were on the way to the ferry, Lady of the Lake II, on board and underway by 9:50. 100’ twin diesel steel vessel built early in the 60s, right at the lake, to replace earlier wooden ones. She’s designed with a bow with a long reach and a front end gangplank, to get right up close to certain landing points without docking facilities. That’s helped by the fact that the lake is very deep—1486’—with sides that fall off rapidly. If you count all the way to the lake bottom, 386’ below sea level, it’s the deepest gorge in North America, with a range of 8,000’ mountains flanking either side. Beautiful lake, beautiful weather, nice trip, some reading but mostly standing on nice breezy deck. This was followed by a half hour school bus ride to cover 11 miles climbing 2100’, most of that in the first 2 miles. Then, Holden Village. A wonderful facility, surrounded closely by 8,000 footers, with snow still visible up top in large patches. I don’t think these are the glaciers, but those are close, too.

After lunch of soup and salad, we had orientation, then our first conversation with Dorothy Bass, talking about what we’re going to talk about. More with her tomorrow, along with plenty of other opportunities. Then I went and iced my knee while S and L listened to a talk about nanoscience.

Before dinner, I was able to make a half hour walk with them on an easy, beautiful trail, with a bit of hill but not bad, and very level. The heat was worse than the climb, 90 or more. Dinner was a very acceptable veggie stir fry with some egg for protein.

Sometime today we heard Joe Bock try to lead a discussion on the difference between Christian and Muslim fundamentalism. We got so bogged down in terminology that it was unfortunately forgettable. In fact, I didn’t add this paragraph until Friday, and we can’t ever remember for sure what time this presentation was.

Worship with the whole community was led by Presbyterian preacher Julia Fogg, a Biblical studies instructor at Pacific Lutheran. Interesting reflection about treasure in cracked pots, major illustration of the marble-faced Beneke manuscript museum in New Haven. A little overdrawn, perhaps, but interesting and appropriate. I also have found compelling the presence of large baptismal basins by the main entries to the two primary worship spaces. Reading Rowling, they put me in mind of Dumbledore’s pensieve, as well as making me think about just soaking my head for Christian reasons. Once baptized, always baptized, right?

Hopeful about Northern Lights tonight, with the incredibly clear sky.


HOLDEN CHRONICLE Day 1-Sunday July 26 2009-travel

The whole adventure is affected by the fact that I have been diagnosed with a torn medial meniscus, this time in the left knee, with surgery scheduled for August 12.

Awake at 4:15 a.m. Central Daylight Time to catch a 6:10 a.m. flight out of Central Wisconsin Airport. Flying on United, both flight segments were on time and uneventful. A wheelchair was waiting for me at the gate at O’Hare, to get me actually a fairly short distance to the 757 bound for Seattle. That one encountered just a little turbulence along the way. I read in both Julian Barnes’ Nothing to Be Afraid of and Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Also watched part of the inflight movie Monsters vs. Aliens which I want to watch in full with the rest of the family. After landing, I hobbled off to the airport tram, which took me quite close to the rental car counters to meet Larry and Steve, my fellow travelers.

Off to downtown Seattle and the Public Market. They left me at the entrance to the parking ramp to save some steps, and I started hobbling in the direction of the restaurant I thought was our destination. Three cell phone calls from Larry later, we determined that I was half a block the wrong direction, and that at most intersections near the Seattle waterfront, it is possible to walk downhill in two directions. Fairly pedestrian friendly, but not for people with knee pain. I survived the hobble to the Pike Place Pub and Grill, for a smoked salmon sandwich. Crabcakes for Steve and Larry. Tough decision right next to the Sound! Then we toured the pedestrian Public Market for awhile, picking up Mt. Rainier cherries, and sampling 18 yr old balsamic vinegar and chocolate linguine. The linguine might be the basis for a dessert pasta with raspberry and cream sauce.

Left town about 2:30 to head up through the Cascade Range, through Cle Elum, along the Columbia River including a stretch of US-2 near Wenatchee, and on to the Holden Village B & B near Fields Point on Lake Chelan. Lots of apple, pear and other orchards along the way; Wenatchee is fruit country. And lots of discussion about the forms of faith or the lack of it, and definitions of God and sin.

17 miles into Lake Chelan for dinner—sort of a western Charlevoix—for riverview dining with a fettuccini with a spicy Cajun chicken sauce. Good, but the sauce was too runny from too much cream!

Back at the B & B, as dark fell, Steve and I were very ready for sleep. At 10 p.m. PDT, he had been awake for 22 hours, after a short night’s sleep, and I for 20. So we turned in, and expected to sleep well.

AWAY FROM IT ALL

It's an interesting experience these days to be completely out of cell phone range for almost a week, and without convenient internet connections for even longer. And, I might add, not a bad experience! But I promised to keep in touch some, so here is the saga of the fourth week of my sabbatical, posted in installments over the next few days. Stay tuned. To get the whole picture, I suggest you get out an atlas or search on the internet for Lake Chelan or Chelan Falls, Washington, then follow the lake northwest to a place called Lucerne, about 2/3 of the way up on the western side. Holden Village is 11 miles just about due west from there, at an elevation of 3200', surrounded by mountains from well over 8000' to over 9000.' Very dramatic, beautiful, and remote, and a good experience. I liked it better than travelling by airline these days.

WEEK 2 REVIEW   July 20, 2009

I had great hopes of posting at least every other day about my sabbatical, but sabbatical is about rest, among other things. And two and a half weeks in, I am learning why retired folks say they are as busy as they ever were! Of course, an aching knee does not help--appointment with orthopedist is coming up this week. But in the meantime, I have read parts of Jack Miles' God: a Biography, bought a table saw, attempted to outsmart the raccoons who like to empty my birdfeeders, and went to worship in Stevens Point.

Imagining Calvin  July 14, 2009

The book I read last week, for life abundant, ed. Bass and Dykstra, discussed the concepts of pastoral imagination and ecclesial imagination, along with pastoral and ecclesial trust. The last Sunday before reading the book, and the last before sabbatical, also was the Sunday before the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth—so two staff members had conspired to produce a whole bunch of cardboard Calvin masks. After the Gospel reading, just before the sermon, several dozen worshippers silently held these up in front of their faces. I couldn’t help noticing, and of course had to make a few comments about the occasion we had not really planned to celebrate. Nothing against it, just hadn’t done it. Then we got on with the sermon. But reading the book, it occurred to me that this little incident suggested a great deal of imagination as well as a great deal of trust, on both sides of the pulpit. The worshippers trusted me to take it in good humor, and deal with it appropriately; and that could only happen because of the level of trust I’ve shown for congregation and staff, even while not always agreeing. That trust is what allows imagination to develop all around the room. Calvin would be happy!
 

SABBATICAL STARTS   July 9, 2009

Sabbatical is underway, and I hope to provide some updates here as part of my own discipline of thinking about how my time apart is renewing me for my vocation. Check back now and then; I don’t think we’re set up for RSS yet.

The first thing I did Monday morning was take my church keys off my regular key ring. They’re close by, but no since carrying for three months something I won’t often be using.

Today I finished reading my first book, For Life Abundant, edited by Dorothy Bass and Craig Dykstra. Church leaders I think would appreciate especially the first two chapters and chapter 15, which focuses on intentionally forming congregations as communities of faith. I’ve also been rereading the Harry Potter series, which I had started earlier in the summer—right now we’re moving painfully toward the Yule Ball in Book 4. There are some interesting conjunctions between the Life Abundant book and the conflict between Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic about how learning should take place.

And I’ve been puttering in the garage, clearing and rearranging my bench space to get some woodworking projects started. Along the way, I’m on the lookout for new recipes. That feels like a lot for a week, especially as I continue to struggle with a knee that’s now been referred for orthopedic assessment. Oh, well. Stay tuned.

TUESDAY AT GA  June 25, 2008

I spent most of today on a tour of interfaith sites: Sikh, Muslim and Buddhist. Ted and Mary Sperduto also made that trip.

We were treated to excellent hospitality, interesting food, and hosts who wanted to stress the high spiritual and ethical standards of their faith. It was amazing! In some ways the Sikhs and Muslims especially are more book-bound than we are, but not without a dynamic understanding of how to apply their scriptures. The Buddhists have such a vast range of scriptures that it would be hard even to pretend to be literalists or fundamentalists, although some do. Check my newspaper blog “spirit sense” at the link above for a little more about one of these visits.

So, the things that we know happened today in committees moved toward the progressive/liberal sentiments of the church. The full Assembly will decide on Wednesday whether to approve committee actions and send them out to presbyteries for approval, but at this point, committees are recommending an alternate translation of the Heidelberg Catechism; study of the Belhar Confession for possible inclusion; approval of a study guide for the statement on the Trinity approved two years ago; and the deletion of G-6.0106b, the paragraph excluding lesbians and gays from ordination, from the Book of Order. The committee on the Form of Government revision has moved to refer nearly all of its business to other entities below the level of the full Assembly, so if the Assembly occurs in plenary meetings starting on Wednesday, action on the revisions will essentially be deferred for at least two years, which is what many groups wanted.

COMMITTEES ON THE MOVE  June 24, 2008

So, today, most of the official work is underway. While new Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow toured luncheons and committee meetings in an open collar shirt, no tie, no jacket (most unusual!) and his earring (probably a first for a male Presbyterian GA Moderator—I can’t remember about Rick Ufford-Chase two times ago-) attendees stood and applauded as a sign of respect as he entered the room, which is customary; and in the style of sports fans, some in the luncheon I attended chanted “Bruce! Bruce! Bruce!” while others held it out: “Bruuuuuuuuuuuce!” I guess we just like to be able to make that sound. I am sure that is also unprecedented in Moderatorial history.

The business today included preliminaries for some serious wrangling over constitutional and confessional issues, including a possible different translation of the Heidelberg Catechism to get rid of some translators’ liberties in our current version, most notably the inclusion of the word “homosexual” in English, which clearly added a concept not included in the centuries-old German original. They are also setting up sides on the vastly revised, streamlined and more flexible proposed Form of Government, which many parties of all stripes fear others might abuse.

The wildfires in the news are throwing enough smoke into the air to cut visibility here to less than ten miles, but I can still see some of the closer mountain ranges.

GA Moderator  June 23, 2008
The themes were clear. What did the candidates mean by mission, and what did they think about keeping lesbians and gays ineligible for ordination? Bruce Reyes-Chow and Carl Mazza in particular were passionate in their opinions that uniting in mission would move us past this question toward full inclusion; Roger Shoemaker and Bill Teng made nods in this direction, although Teng seemed more guarded. This might have surprised some of Shoemaker’s early supporters.
In response to questions about mission, it’s clear that Reyes-Chow, Mazza and Teng will push the church perhaps even more than Marge Carpenter did; Shoemaker was less passionate about this.
So, on the first night, the elephant in the room was named. It will be interesting from here on.
In the end, the Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, 38, pastor of San Francisco’s Mission Bay Community Church and a leader in the “emergent church” movement, was elected moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s 218th General Assembly.
An ordained Presbyterian minister since 1995, Reyes-Chow is a graduate of San Francisco State University and San Francisco Theological Seminary. He is the grandson of Chinese and Filipino immigrants and was raised in Sacramento and Stockton, Calif., and he was the first choice of many “progressive” parties in the church.
 

GENERAL ASSEMBLY 218  June 23, 2008
General Assembly starts on Saturday, with a lot of the issues that are with us every year. Unusual aspects this year are a proposal to revise our Form of Government drastically, making it more streamlined, flexible, and “missional.” That’s generating some controversy, partly because of questions about whether it will work, partly because of trust issues—is it so flexible that some parts of the church will “get away with things” that others don’t like? The other unusual aspect is that four bona fide candidates are standing for Stated Clerk, one the nominee of the GA Nominating Committee who has been an associate stated clerk, the other three from at large around the country. I’ll be posting some of the unfolding news here; you can also follow it at http://www.pcusa.org/ga218

Thanks  May 14, 2008

It’s been a long time since I last posted anything here. Many of you know that I had minor knee surgery a month ago, and that’s the reason I’ve neglected this page. It was an arthroscopic procedure to remove part of a torn meniscus, so on the scale of procedures, it was nothing big. Still, even with recovery being fairly quick and uneventful, there has been some pain and fatigue along the way, and that means ordinary tasks get prioritized and some get left undone.

So the main purpose for this post is to say thanks. Thanks to all who have said prayers, or helped in small ways; thanks to church staff and members who have tolerated me being out of the building so I could prop my leg up with ice while writing sermons and planning worship at home; and thanks to everyone who helped me understand that it is not only okay, but actually quite important, to treat a minor surgical procedure with the seriousness it needs in order to heal well.

With all of that done, I hope to see some of you on the golf course!

A KNEE AND HUMILITY April 17, 2008

Members of the congregation at WFPC have been watching me hobble around on crutches and cane and prop my foot up for over a month now. Coming home from a continuing education event, I was hurrying through an airport when I didn’t need to, took a funny step, and tore the medial meniscus in my right knee. I’m not trying to make a show of my injury—there are certainly people who have far worse pain than I do, lasting years, and I know some of them very closely—but it hurts a lot anyway, and when your job is to be up front, you make arrangements to do your job as best you can, and people notice the crutches, canes, stools, and slow steps.

I have been humbled by learning in a very direct way that a simple step on a dry sidewalk can lead to this much misery. Several times since the injury, I’ve been reminded that trying to “tough it out” and push through will sit me down in pain again. It gives me even better understanding of what some people experience day after day, just trying to get along in life that might never be without pain again. My agony is (I hope) temporary. For others, it is permanent.

I had surgery yesterday, very successful. Yesterday afternoon was great. Little did I understand that my pain-free evening probably had much to do with residual effects of extra anesthetic around the surgical site, so that last night and this morning I did more than I should have. Today I’ve been paying for it, up around 7 or 8 on that famous 0-10 pain scale. It’s all right. I’ll live, move, and work soon. In the meantime, I have greater sympathy for those who will not shake their pains, and I thank everyone who understands and has expressed prayers, cards and words of prayer for me.
 

WHAT’S UP BETWEEN CATHOLICISM AND ISLAM? April 9, 2008

That’s a tricky title, because it has to do more with official Catholicism as represented by Pope Benedict XVI, and perhaps not so much to do with in-the-pew Catholics, or the decentralized doctrinal and authority structure of Muslims. In advance of the pope’s visit to the U.S. next week, Martin Marty has posted a probing and thought-provoking piece called “Careful, Catholics and Muslims! We Quake!” at the Washington Post/Newsweek blogsite On Faith. Rather than trying to summarize, I simply recommend this link. One very interesting bit of Marty’s article is that the Vatican has recently announced that the growth of Islam makes Catholicism now the second largest religion in the world. This is interesting because all Christians counted together comprise a larger group than Muslims; however, for a variety of reasons, official Catholicism is choosing to count itself separately from most of the rest of the Christian world.
 

THE PREACHER’S JOB April 3, 2008

I’ve been thinking lately about what a preacher’s job actually is. Underlying the identifiable activities—preaching, teaching, planning programs, visiting hospitals and all the rest—what is the purpose or goal of what I actually do?
My answer, I think, is that my job is to help people discover the meaning and purpose of their own lives. Some would answer differently, focusing more on proclaiming the way of Jesus and bringing people into relationship with Him. That isn’t wrong, but I think it needs to be framed in a larger context. What drives people to spiritual discovery is the desire to understand and make sense of their connection with everything around them. In other words, “What is the meaning of my life?” and “What is my purpose?”
So, instead of providing ready answers, as some do, I see my role in large measure as giving people vocabulary, images and concepts to help them turn latent spiritual longing (the quiet yearning to connect with the larger reality around us) into questions that can shape a search. The second part of my task is to point them to ideas and images that might help them answer that question. Very often, but not always, those building blocks for answers are linked to a particular religious or spiritual tradition. The might be the Bible or the teachings and practices of various branches of the Christian church; but they might also be Buddhist practices, or reading in the scriptures of other faiths, as well as practices and teachings that are not specifically religious.
It is also my job as a Christian preacher to show why I think the Christian story is a very good resource, if not the very best, for providing that framework of meaning. What it shows is that God loves us in spite of our many failings, and wants to transform us into the best beings possible. Jesus Christ is the human incarnation of that great love, and his example both inspires us to respond in love and shows us how.
 

THE USED CROSS March 31, 2008

There are so many ways to think about the meaning of the Cross! The most common contrast might be between those Christians who think of it as an empty instrument of execution, which could not finally hold Jesus in death, and therefore a sign of glory; and on the other hand those who commonly portray Christ on the cross in the midst of His suffering. Both portrayals convey important dimensions of meaning.

I want to suggest another possibility, that combines some of these elements. What if we saw the Cross as an empty, useless, and rotting instrument that did its work once, and never again can have the same power? Think of it this way: the Cross is divine judgment against the ways of coercion and division. It is as if God drove the base of the Cross into the ground like an arrow piercing the heart of wickedness. Bullseye. God wins. Death has killed Jesus, and can do nothing more. The Roman soldier at the scene makes the pronouncement: truly, this man was the Son of God.

That image comes between the empty cross and the Jesus-bearing one, I think. The suffering Jesus is important, because we certainly remember that. The empty cross is also important, because death was not the end of the story. Rather, the cross ends death’s arrogant claims. But it ends them by being modest, rather than boasting of its own triumph. So maybe what we need is a tipped-over cross—rotting at the base until it falls on its side. What if our churches used that image: take the cross off the wall, and certainly off the wires suspending it in mid-air, and slide it off to the corner of the chancel, leaning against the wall. We could do the same thing with jewelry: necklaces could attach the chain to the cross near the middle, instead of at the top, so it would hang diagonally.

I’m not entirely sure about this kind of symbolism, but that’s another thing about the Cross: we never understand it completely, we don’t control it, and we don’t get the last word.
 

DISAGREEING WITH A PASTOR March 19, 2008

You’ve heard the news: Barack Obama’s now-retired pastor Jeremiah Wright has been in the news lately for some pretty provocative comments in past sermons. You probably have heard clips of some of those comments. Chances are you’ve also heard part of Obama’s response. Without making any judgment about Obama’s larger campaign, I think he made a good answer, much like most of us would—or should—give.

It starts with the recognition that the controversial sound bites should be heard in the larger context of the full sermons surrounding them, and even more, the tradition in which those sermons were preached. That does not mean that even in context the comments were appropriate, but placing them in their full cultural and religious setting helps answer the question, “Why on earth would a Christian minister say those things?”

There is a larger recognition that every preacher has said things—probably lots of things—with which even the most faithful and loyal members and friends disagree, both socially and theologically. Some of that is just difference of opinion, and some comes about because of different perspectives and insights related to different training and education. There is also another factor: part of the work of preaching is to push people out of their comfort zones at least a little bit, toward an authentic encounter with the Holy and what God wants us to do with our lives. One of the ways to do that is with statements that some will find offensive, especially if not clearly connected to the context. It’s not that preachers are all called to serve as religious “shock jocks,” but faithful Christian preaching spends a lot of time working to open up new ways of thinking about the world.

Obama’s relationship with his former pastor and his church sounds pretty normal, and I am glad he talked about it publicly. Presbyterians certainly are not strangers to the experience of hearing controversial things from the pulpit or denominational offices. Obama’s congregation, in the United Church of Christ, would be used to hearing the same kind of content, in addition to the kind of emphases being a socially active African-American congregation would bring. But hearing things we don’t like or with which we disagree doesn’t mean we disavow either the congregation or the preacher. Church connections are much more complicated than that—they include weddings, baptisms, funerals, and a whole lot of good work together along the way. That’s a picture of the kingdom of God: when we come together in spite of our differences, it’s good for everybody. That’s what God wants.


THE WORDS THAT AREN’T THERE March 18, 2008

So, I keep learning things. I hope you do, too. The official Easter gospel reading for this year is Matthew 28:1-10, Sunday morning at the empty tomb. To understand it fully, you have to back up a few verses, into chapter 27. In the late verses there, Roman governor Pontius Pilate tells some Jewish leaders and his own Roman soldiers to go to the tomb of Jesus and make it “as secure as you can.” A more literal translation from the original Greek of the New Testament would be to make it “as secure as you know how.”

This is in response to a reminder from the Pharisees and chief priests that Jesus had predicted not only His own death, but rising on the third day. They come saying that they want to prevent a great deception, should the disciples try to steal the body and say Jesus had risen. Pilate’s command in response suggests that maybe he wondered if something beyond them all was at work here. He could have said, “Go and make it secure,” and left it at that—done and done. Instead, he left the door open to the possibility that a bigger power than all of them was at work: “Go and make it as secure as you know how” suggests that his crack Imperial soldiers, the superpower army of the day, might not have what it takes to stop a reality that none of them really understood.

Not that we have Easter all sorted out—we certainly don’t! Pilate’s mysterious extra words might remind us that the reality of God is far different than what we expect. For Pilate, the possible new life of Jesus was beyond understanding, but he seemed to sense that its most important expression would be right here, on the earth we share before our death, and that it would be a mighty force for change.

ATONEMENT IN ORDER  25 February 2008

Western Christians have been taught for several centuries that redemption and salvation come through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. While there is some Biblical support for a view something like that, the sacrificial view is rooted in Israel’s own misunderstanding and misuse of sacrifice, and advanced by the medieval culture of feudal and monarchical legal systems. We need another model.

Consider the possibility that atonement and redemption actually happen with incarnation, when the power of God becomes human in the person of Jesus. This person brings true holiness into human experience in a way beyond what anyone has experienced before. When the Gospel of John says that the eternal Logos “lived among us” (John 1:14, NRSV), the new English is thin—older, richer translations said “dwelt among us,” which is a little better. The sense—and a possible translation—is that the Word in Jesus “pitched his tent” in the middle of our lives and stayed there, and is still there. I envision something like the magic tent where Harry Potter and friends camp for the World Quidditch Cup—from the outside it looks entirely ordinary, but inside is a completely new reality where there is room for all who would come.

Atonement, therefore, happens when the power of God appears in our midst, and changes the way we relate with each other and the rest of the world. This is why the Gospels bother to report the life of Jesus prior to Holy Week—the way he lived, and the way we live, matters enormously. It matters not with an eye toward future salvation, but because people who are already redeemed care profoundly about the current experience of others. In this model, the crucifixion is a consequence of atonement, rather than the enabling cause: it shows that God shares our entire human experience, including suffering at the hands of evil.

Careful, though! In Jesus the power of God shares in our suffering, but suffering in itself is not redemptive. The suffering of Jesus does not save us. Suffering is the result of being deeply at odds with the systems and expectations of the world. These do not tolerate the kind of deep commitment to others in community that Jesus represents, because profound community lowers the seats of the powerful. The powers of the world conspire to kill Jesus, and he must eventually submit, because to do otherwise is to capitulate to and cooperate in their community-dividing evil. Giving Pontius Pilate some kind of answer that might have led to freedom would be to surrender to the sway of evil. Staying on course toward execution is ultimately a slap in the face of all evil threats—once they have killed Jesus, they can do nothing more.

This does not mean that followers should intentionally seek suffering, or tolerate conditions that perpetuate it. In particular we must never encourage or instruct others to endure suffering in hope that doing so will redeem the situation around them. Jesus himself did none of these things. Instead, if suffering comes as part of the effort to build stronger and stronger community—not civic community, but human community, which is a more profound reality—then we suffer together, rather than risking division. Thus again, in the incarnation of community, atonement and reconciliation become real, and lift us beyond suffering as an ultimate or final experience.
 

THEOLOGY ON PURPOSE February 21, 2008

Not that anybody should be doing this—but anyone who happens to be tracking my career could mark down 2008 as the year that I intentionally claimed my calling as a theologian. As a matter of fact, it happened today, February 21, one day after the twenty-fifth anniversary of my ordination.

It wasn’t a decision that I had been pondering, at least not in this specific form. Instead, in between study groups, on my way back to church after a quick trip home to let my dogs out, it hit me: in the last couple of weeks, I have talked about theology in more depth more publicly than I have in a long time—perhaps more than ever—and I realized that this is what I need to be doing. The response from my discussion partners has been engaged and enthusiastic—this is what they need most from me, I think. This is what I need to do to stay sane professionally as well as personally. Therefore, while my personal theological journey of late has had much to do with questioning how we can rightly describe God and even what the nature of God’s reality actually is, it seems right to say that I am most in harmony with that Reality when engaging others in serious theological and spiritual discovery and learning.

You might wonder why this seems like such a big step for a preacher. Good question. After all, we talk out loud and in public about God at least fifteen or twenty minutes a week, in the middle of working our hour on Sunday! It is an important recognition for me because for all my professional life, at least, I have been pulled in so many directions by so many activities and expectations that can be part of a pastor’s job that I have not allowed the specific work of serious theology to emerge—in fact, sometimes, I have intentionally suppressed it, feeling that it would hinder other parts of my work. These recent conversations and my own inner discovery tell me that I was generally wrong about that, but it is also true that I am far from the only pastor ever to act in that way.

But now, my “inner theologian” is released for public view. And now that I’ve figured out what I’m actually doing, it might be part of the reason that we’ve been running out of pre-printed sermon copies after worship, and why people are asking questions about arcane but important subjects like atonement and universal salvation.

A lot of people have pushed me toward this new self-understanding, some close by, some in books. It’s been a very interesting journey that surely is not finished. For now, though, it feels pretty good.
 

UNBELIEVABLY BIG LOVE February 14 2008

Here’s a little more about connecting to God through Jesus. I affirm that Christ is the universal saving agent, much in the same way that I believe that whatever people worship as their ultimate spiritual power is what Christians, Jews and Muslims all call God. When Jesus says in John 10:16 that "I have other sheep who are not of this fold," I think this is exactly what he is talking about. God (and Jesus) is more loving, gracious and inclusive than we can begin to imagine. Think of the story--Jesus came into the world because our spiritual ancestors couldn't figure it out any other way. But I surely believe that there are fine people outside the Christian tradition whom God eagerly includes in eternal fellowship, whatever exact form that fellowship takes.
If you can make room in your understanding of God to allow grace and love to get that big, I don't see that as diluting Christian faith in any way. Instead, you are letting your faith in God's goodness and power get even larger.
In fact, I believe that God even makes room for people who are generally labeled as atheists, first of all because everyone believes in some kind of ultimate reality, whether they really think it through or not, and that's what God is--ultimate reality that is finally beyond all our description; and secondly, because God is in the end impossible to comprehend fully and completely, I don't think we can expect that God (or Jesus) requires everyone to believe or approach in the same way we do. If this way works for us, that's great; but Christians make up only a little over a third of this planet's population, and with all I've been taught all my life about God's love for everybody, I just can't stick with the idea that the only way for people to be eternally close to God is by coming through a Christian church or in some other way becoming acquainted with Jesus in the way we think of him.
 

THE ONLY WAY TO GOD? February 12, 2008

I had a question this morning from a person on a theological journey. The person wanted to know whether Presbyterians think that “Jesus is the only way to God.” That’s a question a lot of people share; I hear it actually discussed out loud in various ways. Let me offer this short response: while there are Presbyterians who believe that Jesus is the only way, far more are willing to allow God to work in whatever way God chooses. Officially we teach that ultimately Jesus is Lord and Savior of all, but the way most Presbyterians understand that and the way I think it is intended is that Jesus functions as a sort of "cosmic overseer," monitoring the process and gathering up the results of all the ways people find to relate to the Ultimate, whether directly through Jesus, or as Jews, Muslims, Hindus, or by some other path.

As always, I’d love to hear what others are thinking. E-mail me, or call or visit.

A FULLER CIRCLE February 11 2008

Lately I discover that I’ve been coming around to where I started. I’m not sure why my journey has turned this way at this time, but what I mean is that more and more, the themes and ideas that were important to me when I first started studying religion, way back in college and even before that in confirmation class, are important again. They keep coming up in what I think, preach and teach.

I plan to write about these ideas over the next few days, but to start the conversation, here is a short list: faith as a community exercise, with community as its purpose (see Jeremiah 31:31-34 and a whole lot of Jesus’ teaching); the need for deep humility and modesty when talking about the idea of God; and understanding foundational elements of the faith story such as miracles, supernatural events, and virgin birth and resurrection as dynamic symbols that express truth beyond literal history instead of facts to prove or use as tests of true faith.

It’s okay to keep thinking about theology. Not to do so means we’ve stopped thinking about our connection with the biggest spiritual power there is, and that’s not good. It’s also okay to change what we think—at least our thinking should get deeper and more mature. When I say I’ve circled back, it’s also true that my understanding of these concepts is much more complex than it was thirty-five years ago. Everyone should be open to such a journey. I’d love to hear about yours.
 

GUARDS AT CHURCH? December 11, 2007

Please understand: I am happy that the death toll was not higher at that church in Colorado over the weekend. I am really troubled, though, by the idea that there was an armed security guard on duty, apparently licensed to use lethal force. In a church? I’m not sure how to sort out the meaning of this.

We want worshippers to be safe, certainly. We have fire drills and tornado procedures, and trained medical responders. But armed guards? We have a hard time every fall figuring out the balance between safety of staff and members on the one hand, and the need the homeless have for shelter on the other. We have had some unpleasant confrontations. Since the Virginia Tech shootings especially, we have tentatively and quietly been discussing lock-down procedures for the sanctuary, child care areas, and the rest of the building. We have people assigned to circulate through the building during services, monitoring activity.

But armed security guards? I hope there’s another way.
 

CHRISTMAS VOCABULARY December 3, 2007

There’s a gritchy video out on the web called “Merry Tossmas.” Sorry, but I think it's a loser.

First, the guy annoys me, because he looks and sounds a lot like somebody I actually know, with whom I usually disagree, and who would be happy to appear in this bit.

But more important and to the point, this is yet another example of Christians making a fuss about something we can't control that ultimately doesn't matter much. If we restrict ourselves to retailers who use our vocabulary for the Nativity celebration, we’ll have slim pickings. We'd better be prepared to give everybody gift certificates to my car mechanic friend for auto service. His whole shop is happy to say “Merry Christmas,” and everybody needs service and repairs sooner or later, but still, it might not be quite the right gift.

We might also have to throw out the Christmas tree and change the date of the holiday, because in fact both of those derive from pagan culture and celebrations.

If Christians spent as much time fussing about poverty, tolerance and other important things as we do about stuff like this, we might be able to accomplish something and, for example, eventually be able to discontinue food pantries. Or stop AIDS. Or something.

We COULD buy less, which we should anyway.

And most important, when someone says Happy Holidays, smile and say, "Merry Christmas!"
 

THE GOLDEN COMPASS CONTROVERSY November 28, 2007

Once again, the holiday film season has conservative Christians agitated about something they misunderstand. This time, it is the movie The Golden Compass and the books on which it is based. This is another case of Christians getting way more excited about specific cultural issues than is merited. It would be far better to spend all this energy fighting poverty and ending AIDS.

Having said that, I went to one of several fact checker sites I keep book marked. Here is one useful link: http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/g/golden-compass.htm  Be sure to read all the way through to the end of the lead article, including Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams’ reaction that what the film attacks is not Christian faith, but religious oppression.

I don't know the books in this series myself, but my kids have all read them as part of the juvenile fantasy genre, and say that they're not offensive, but not all that good. They're not interested in seeing the movie. We saw trailers for it earlier this year.

Mainly I think that a lot of Christians need to learn how to read better. Fiction is fiction! This is the same sort of problem we had with The DaVinci Code. There was actually no new idea in that--for centuries, some have promulgated the Jesus-marries-Mary-after-a- fake-resurrection-theory--and the Church has consistently invalidated this as heretical teaching.

Again, without having read the books or seen the movie myself, if it is true that at the end Adam and Eve kill God, the best Christian response is that this is not part of the real Christian story, but a perversion of it; and beyond that, the recognition that most moderate to progressive Christians, which is a lot of us, don't believe that Adam and Eve were literal, historical beings anyway--so even if humans could kill God, which is a rather preposterous notion, this story simply isn't possible. It is symbolic and metaphorical. The best thing for concerned parents to do is perhaps watch it themselves first, then watch it with their kids, and ask their faith leaders appropriate questions.
 

IN-BETWEEN TIME November 26 2007

The liturgical calendar as it now exists poses an interesting question. What happens between the last Sunday of the church year, and the first of the next one? In 1925, the Catholic Church established Christ the King Sunday to help stem the rising tide of secularism. At first, it was celebrated on the last Sunday of October. In 1962, it was moved to the Sunday before Advent. Here is the irony: because Christ the King is a one-day celebration, instead of a season, the last six days of the year are what the church calls Ordinary Time. So, starting with Advent, we trace the whole cycle of expectation, birth, ministry, death and resurrection, then growth in the spirit until finally all creation recognizes Christ as its King—and then, we have six days left over until we start again, six days of ordinary time. Does this strike anybody else as ironic?

So, for our weekday morning prayer times at church this week, I’ve written a pair of short prayers to frame this time. They are over on the Liturgical Resources page. Click here to have a look.

Beyond the normal   November 20, 2007

This afternoon, I’m thinking ahead—specifically, I’m doing some serious planning for our worship service on December 2, the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is the time when Christians anticipate Christ coming into our midst. Originally it focused on His return to earth when He would be recognized by all. In those ancient days, celebrations included bonfires on hills and extra Christian discipline in study, prayer, fasting and worship, though never as strict as in Lent. Sometime in the 4th or 5th century—it isn’t really clear—the celebration started to focus more on remembering and preparing for Christ’s first coming, at Christmas. That’s because Christmas wasn’t a big deal for Christians at first, at least partly because nobody in the Mediterranean world paid much attention to birthdays in that era.

Planning worship for Advent is a challenge, because times have changed a lot. There are only two specific Advent decorations I know of: the Moravian Star and the Advent wreath in its many forms. No one I know sends Advent cards, and if pastors and musicians insist on singing Advent carols instead of Christmas carols, woe to them.

I think we need to pay more attention to Advent. Waiting is good. The trouble is that we have a whole culture of consumerism to undo. Ironically, the original Advent themes of Christ coming to reclaim the world have much to do with judging the commercial gluttony that drives us toward Christmas now. Part of the trouble is that churches often don’t start emphasizing this until Christmas decorations are already being marked down, and then it’s too late for people to do anything but rush out and buy last-minute gifts. If you’ve taken time to read this far, think about a different way. Think about a hand-lettered card, like you used to make for your mother. Give something else you make or bake. Give a gift to charity in honor of your recipients. Give them a certificate with a promise to spend time together, then do it.

Do you have ideas about how to do this Advent thing better? I’d love to hear them. I’m actually thinking about writing a grant proposal to help this congregation find ways to renew and enrich Advent worship for next year, and I’d love to have collaborators. E-mail me at the link above.
 

ONE Way to Fight Poverty November 13, 2007

I've just signed a petition to the 2008 presidential candidates asking them to go on the record and tell us exactly where they stand on fighting extreme poverty and global disease. There is a movement called ONE which recognizes the vast number of the world’s people living in extreme poverty, on less than one dollar a day; it also recognizes that one person can make a difference, and millions together can do more.
ONE members are stepping up our game by launching a petition urging all the presidential candidates to go "On The Record" by submitting, in writing and on video to ONE, their plans on the following five issues:
* Eradicating malaria;
* Improving child and maternal health;
* Reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis;
* Achieving universal primary education; and
* Providing access to food and clean water for all.
ONE will then build an online tool so that everyone can compare the candidates' answers before heading out to vote in the primaries. If you want to sign the petition, you can find it at http://www.one.org/ontherecord . You can learn more about this non-partisan organization and its efforts at http://www.one.org . As they say, in the struggle against poverty, there is only one side.
 

WORLD WIDE November 10, 2007

I’ve been learning how to use the “analytics” behind this website. There are programs that track the number of site users over time, that also show how long they stay on the site and which pages they visit. Our program also shows in which domains and countries the connections originate. Among the details I have discovered is that for the last six months, and average of 58 people a day visited this site, and they were most interested in the newsletter, sermons, and this blog. Several of the visitors are international, including people on every continent except Antarctica. Countries include Finland, Sweden, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, Lithuania, China, Japan, and more. One sticks out: over these six months, there has been one hit per week from Seychelles, an island group in the Indian Ocean north of Madagascar. I don’t know how to tell whether that is the same person week after week, but that seems very likely. Someone half a world away checks in once a week, probably to read the latest sermon. That’s fascinating! But how did that connection get started?

The point is that because of technology, we are connected far beyond our Sunday morning walls, and far beyond our local community. The ministry of this church is quite literally world wide, and that’s good news.

If you are one of those distant readers, we would love to know your story. If you would, please send a short note explaining who you are, how you found this site, and what continues to connect you to this faith community in Wausau, Wisconsin. Share as much information as you want. I’ll keep it private unless you give specific information to share farther. We’d especially like to hear from Seychelles, because it is starting to snow up here, and we are pretty sure that you do NOT share that experience in your location!

TROUBLE WITH TIME November 1, 2007

Yesterday I asked one of our members why he doesn’t come to church with his wife more often. He is something of an organizational and leadership guru, and we had been talking about strategies for the church—very helpfully, I want to add—so I made clear that I was asking not to get him feeling guilty, but in order to understand. “Thanks,” he said, “Thank you for asking.” Then he looked wistful, and said that he isn’t sure what the answer is, but he does know that our whole society races around like crazy. We don’t take time out anymore. It was obvious I had touched something deep, and that he will be thinking hard and probably talking with his spouse about my question. He’s right about time—we abuse it terribly by overusing it. So it was sort of ironic that this exchange was after an hour-and-a-half conversation about our church, in which he was both unhurried and enthusiastic about the subject. It was helping him think about his own work, too, so there was value in that, but still—half an hour longer than we normally spend in worship!

So maybe the church needs to spend more of its time in the world, talking quietly and calmly with people about how we can all walk together. Maybe we need to ask people what they know more often. And maybe we just need to ask how they are. That conversation can be very spiritual time.


CHANGES October 31, 2007

The weather is taking a serious turn toward winter right now, dropping from about 58 degrees toward the mid-40s, with light rain and big wind. Summer is over. Yesterday afternoon I played hooky for a bit to try to get on the golf course for possibly the last time this season; I didn’t get to play, because everybody in the county seemed to have the same idea.

So, what about the same sense of urgency for our church lives? Jesus scolded his opponents about reading the weather, but not reading other signs of the times. Lots of people ask me about the condition of the church, and the future of the church, because they sense a coming change. They hope that out of the decline across much of the mainline church, something new and good can come. My response is that if we are willing to engage the situation actively, we can help that new and good future take root in our local congregations. We can tell the time is here—let’s play hooky for awhile from all those other concerns that usually occupy us, and get out ahead of the crowd.

Text messaging  October 18, 2007

I’ve been on the road a lot the last week. I don’t know about you, but road time is thinking time, especially when I’m alone. Some of my thoughts were about the conversation on a morning radio show, where the DJs and callers were on and on about text messaging. It was amazing to hear three people with very different approaches to technology discussing this communication form. They ranged from “why don’t people just answer the phone?” to “I never write paper notes anymore.” I learned that like it or not, some people are best reached by phone, some by e-mail, some by instant messaging, and some by texting. And some people still leave paper notes. It reminds me of when e-mail became common not so long ago—there aren’t many anymore who don’t have it, and those who do get annoyed. I’m old enough to remember the same thing with answering machines—I was among those who hated the idea, but now rely on them. The message is that culture and personal habits evolve together. They shape our world, whether we like it or not. The challenge for the church and for individuals is to be sure to use these tools to build up community in an authentic way. One of the callers made exactly this point: that texting adds one more way she can communicate with her husband, and it adds instead of taking away. I’m still working on this particular technological form, but like all things, I think it has the potential for good. I’m interested in your ideas about how the church can use text messaging and other modern comm modes to spread the word and help people. But don’t text me on this one, please—e-mail me!
 

VELVET ELVIS October 9, 2007

I’m reading an amazing book that could change the way many people think about being Christian. If you are sure about everything you believe, think all (or most) of the answers are settled, and that there are automatic Christian positions on nearly every issue, you will probably hate this book. If you are not so sure, and resent being marginalized by loud church conservatives over the last couple of decades, this book may help you recover your faith. Rob Bell is pastor of Mars Hill Church in Grandville, Michigan. In the book Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith, he writes: “I don’t follow Jesus because I think Christianity is the best religion. I follow Jesus because he leads me into ultimate reality. He teaches me to live in tune with how reality is. When Jesus said, ‘No one comes to the Father except through me’, he was saying that his way, his words, his life is our connection to how things truly are at the deepest levels of existence.’” If you are frustrated by the state of the church, or confused about whether your way of believing and serving is really “Christian,” I encourage you to have a look at this book. If you like it, get in touch with me. We ought to talk.