A Prayer for the homeless April 19, 2010
Posted by Richard in : Religion, Blogging , add a commentAs I get to work each morning, I enter the Post-Dispatch and take the stairs on the south-side of the building. The stairwell includes large windows that look out towards the St. Patrick Center and Interco Plaza. The St. Patrick Center is a provider of services for the homeless and some of these homeless had taken to camping in this little plaza right outside the center.
One day last fall I stopped on the second floor window to peer out onto this sight and say a quick prayer for the people living on the plaza. As is typical of my prayers, I didn’t include any specifics, just that they would know God and see that He loves them.
Imagine my surprise when, the next morning I walked up the same steps to find that the little plaza was swept clean. It looked like no one had ever “lived” there.
“Whoa,” I thought, “…God, what did you do?”
A bit later it in the day I realized that it was all the talk on the local radio waves. Turns out, some rather insensitive park rangers had orders to move the residents out of the park and had simply thrown away all the belongings of these homeless individuals. The homeless folks were even there while the rangers tossed everything in the compacting trash truck. Well, needless to say, there was outrage across the board, including the Mayor’s office. I felt sure the outrage would turn into something positive for these people and felt confident that God was looking out for them.
From today’s Post:
ST. LOUIS — The two men once bounced from one downtown park to another, sleeping in tents or under cardboard in relative anonymity.Then last fall, Tremayne Gates and Clint Smith briefly became the center of a debate over how the city should treat its homeless and their possessions. …read the rest of the story -
Good Friday April 3, 2010
Posted by Richard in : Religion, Church , add a commentLater, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
“I am thirsty.” Our Lord, the creator of the universe, was thirsty. I don’t even pretend to understand the fullest meaning of that.
I do know what it’s like to be thirsty; I was thinking though, have I ever been really thirsty? I think profound thirst would be an entirely different experience than most of us have ever imagined.
But here, beaten and crucified some of Jesus’ last words were “I am thirsty?” Are those words out of place? I mean, isn’t the physical pain He’s enduring just off the charts? Well, if we could imagine some of our weakest moments, maybe some acute sickness or pain, I think any of us could see ourselves uttering what otherwise might be considered irrational statements.
But, even here, in this very human moment, in the very same sentence the Scriptures tell us there’s more. “…so that the Scripture would be fulfilled…” So, now I’m imagining Jesus rationally thinking, “Ok, now before I die, I have to remember to say ‘I’m thirsty’ so the Scriptures will be fulfilled.”
No.
Now I realize that He isn’t fulfilling the scriptures, He is the fulfillment. His actions don’t fulfill God’s plan, He is God’s plan. He didn’t carry around a checklist: “OK, let’s see, suffering servant, check, read from Isaiah in the synagogue, check, ride a donkey into Jerusalem, check. Mutter ‘I’m thirsty’ right before I die, check!”
No, Jesus is, as philosophers like to say, “The thing itself.”
So, He was really thirsty, and He was the fulfillment of the Scriptures; both at the same time. That just says it all; human and divine.
Do I know what that means? No, I don’t. But, I know that these things exist. I know that humans exist and I know that the divine exists. And I know that they were not created apart from each other.
It is me that has driven a wedge between the two. It is my sin that keeps them apart. And, it is my sin that drove Jesus to this moment of agonizing thirst.
Jesus is thirsty and I can’t save him. He is up there because of me. Lord, forgive me; I wish it was just a matter of giving you some sour wine to drink. But you’re asking so much more. Tonight, I can scarcely take it in. Seeing you up there, thirsty, crying…I just want it to be over.
Dinner with my 13-year-old self March 23, 2010
Posted by Richard in : Childhood, Religion, Science, Autobiography , add a commentI had the good fortune of having a nice talk with my 13-year-old self. We met at an abandoned restaurant; the food and the service were terrible.
My young-self ordered pizza, of course; but some kind of strange…pizza…I guess. Cilantro? Provolone? I don’t know what that is. My older, fatter self assured me it would be fine. And, it would have been…had the restaurant not sucked! The mature-me ordered some Black Bean Dip with Tortillas. They were just bad. How do you serve bad tortilla chips?
Anyway, we wanted to talk about church and religion and stuff. Mini-me was really wondering why I should belong to the church. Or, any church for that matter. After all, I mean, you know, evolution, science, not to mention the horrible boredom! The boredom! Save me from the boredom! Big-me didn’t blame him. It can be boring.
So, I had to remember that I did feel that way at one one time and yet here I am now spending all my time and energy on this church. And, I’m asking him to belong? Why? Am I just being selfish? I “need” him to join, so there’ll be a future? No, it’s much more than that; but how to put it into words? Words for the 13-year-old.
Well, the first item was the inevitable: evolution. I guess it can’t be helped. The Theory of Evolution as taught in our schools seems to contradict the story of Creation in Genesis. When young-me said, in response to my general question as to what problems he has with Christianity with, “you know, like evolution…” - well, I smiled a gigantic smile on the inside. I felt like Michael Jordan must feel with 2 seconds on the buzzer and the ball is passed to him.
“I got this.”
I told him of my love for science and evolution in particular. How that love hasn’t waned since I was his age. How, at first, it seemed like a stumbling block to faith in Christ, but turned out not to be. I told him of the story when I prayed that God would “give me the answer.” That’s right, I wanted an answer.
I got one. An answer, however, that mini-me might not appreciate just yet. I felt it sufficient for now that he trusted that I loved both science and Jesus.
The little guy’s brain moved fast. Enough of this evolution stuff, what about Satan and Hell? Yeah, what about that?
“My Mom thinks everyone goes to Heaven,” he said.
“I know,” said I. She’s a good person.
I wanted so bad to tell him that goodness like that is very hard to find out in the world. I knew no better when I was his age. I thought everybody was good. Why not? Why shouldn’t they be? I felt sad. But, I’m sorry, at thirteen, he’s still got some kid years left and I’m not going to despoil them.
Instead I wondered aloud if he’d ever read the Book of Job. He laughed, “Job?” pronouncing it j-o-b, like going to work job. What do kids care about old names? No one is named Job. Anyway, I told him to get a paraphrase Bible and read Job, he’d like it.
He deduced on his own that if there’s no Hell, then Hitler’s in Heaven. He didn’t like that. I don’t either. See, the crack? We can handle, or prefer, that there be no Hell, but not that there’s no Heaven either. Why, that would be atheistic.
After that came the obligatory Buddhist/reincarnation/nirvana/new-age/i’m not really sure what I saying stuff. I know, I know, I get it…God I’m bored with that stuff.
I think I’ll stick with art. He says he likes art. Why did the artists of yesteryear paint people in such “primitive” ways? Well, that’s how they saw the world. Why did we used to think that the sun rose in the east? Because that’s exactly what it looks like. Why did the writers of Genesis write such a primitive story?
I’ll keep you posted….
If Jesus could do it April 12, 2009
Posted by Richard in : Religion, Blogging, History , add a commentI figure if Jesus could get up after three days in a tomb, I could maybe write a blog post.
I had my usual Holy Week schedule this past week: Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. For me, the usual combination of playing guitar and cooking. It’s what I do.
Saturday morning I was watching the History Detectives on PBS and one of the stories got me thinking about mythology and religion. The story starts like this:
George Washington’s cherry tree, Betsy Ross’ flag, Paul Revere’s ride…now Muhlenberg’s Robe may be added to the list of debatable Revolutionary War legends.
The story goes that in January 1776, Lutheran Reverend Peter Muhlenberg turned his pulpit into a recruiting station for revolutionary fighters. During a fiery sermon, he tore his robe from his shoulders to reveal a uniform, and at once rallied 300 able-bodied congregants to the patriotic cause.
So, off go the history detectives to discover that a.) Though the robe is made of the right material and is of the right age to be the robe, there’s no way to prove whether it really is or not and b.) Rev. Muhlenberg most certainly did not tear it off during the sermon to reveal the uniform and likely did not rally the 300 right there on the spot. The story is probably a concoction derived seventy-plus years later when German immigrants needed to feel special about their role in the war up there in Pennsylvania.
But here’s my beef: we all too often ignore the plain obvious facts right in front of our face. 1.) Rev. Muhlenberg was a Lutheran Minister who lived and preached during the birth of our nation 2.) He gave up (took off?) his robe to wear the uniform of revolution and 3.) he convinced many of his congregants to fight against the British.
So, you see how the “myth” compacts and teaches us the story? The real story. The myth is good. Leave it alone.
On another note, I felt obliged to defend the Methodists a bit during this story. As the story goes, the “American Anglicans” (aka Methodists) would not fight the king. This is true enough. One must look inside John Wesley’s head a bit for the answer though.
I won’t bore with all the details, but we could safely say the Wesley simply did not like our founding fathers. He thought them buffoonish hypocrites. His main moral contention was, of course, their ownership of slaves. They demanded “freedom?” …right. The Wesleyan movement had already played a role in abolishing slavery in England years before.
Anyway, sometimes it’s healthy to read about people that our history books tell us are heroes, saints practically; to read Wesley just cut them down and insult them…well, it’s good for you sometimes.
Alleluia! March 22, 2008
Posted by Richard in : Religion, Church, Blogging , add a commentChrist the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!
Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!
Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where’s thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!
Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!
Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia!
King of glory, soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!
A Story About Workers February 3, 2007
Posted by Richard in : Religion, Blogging , 6commentsGod’s kingdom is like an manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his warehouse. They agreed on a normal day’s wage, and went to work. Later, about 9:00 am, the manager saw some others hanging around. He told them to go to work in his warehouse and he would pay them a fair wage. They went.
He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o’clock. At five o’clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, “Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?”
They said, “Because no one hired us.”
He told them to go to work in his warehouse.
When the day’s work was over, the manager instructed his foreman, “Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.”
Those hired at five o’clock came up and were each given a day’s wage. When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one day’s wage. Taking the money, they groused angrily to the manager, “These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.”
He replied to the one speaking for the rest, “Friend, I haven’t been unfair. We agreed on the wage, didn’t we? So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. Can’t I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?”
Again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.
December Blogging December 8, 2006
Posted by Richard in : Religion, Blogging , 3commentsAs I’ve said many times, my life is repetitive. As I sit here thinking about writing a “slice of life,” well, I already did that. Last year, or the year before. I’m working on the exact same things as I was at this time last year. Christmas songs, of course. What key to play them in? Too high, I can’t lead the group, too low, folks can’t sing along. Make a decision and move on.
Early December makes me remember Pearl Harbor, of course and also John Lennon’s death. I’ve written a bit on both previously so I won’t again tonight.
Reading my post about John from two years ago though, I was reminded that I wanted to write more on the nature of sin.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism was (and is) belittled by some theologians for his concept of “Christian Perfection.” It basically states that there’s nothing physically stopping you from obeying God and not sinning. The reason theologians would argue against this is because it goes against the idea of “Original Sin.” That is, that we’re born with sin, inheriting it from Adam and it is a part of our make-up. I believe that Original Sin speaks not to something that is inherited like a genetic disease, but more to the idea that Free Will is a part of our make-up and that, in turn, provides the ever-ripe opportunities for doing wrong. Wesley further argued that, logically, (methodically?) if Christ “finished” the work of atonement, which can hardly be argued, then what is in your way? What stands between you and a sinless life? God himself has provided the work for at-one-ment, so what gives?
Well, something gives, right? This world is a wreck. And, I don’t mean this “modern world.” I mean this whole world is and has been a swirling mess of sin, lust, greed etc. Wesley’s point and the hope of most of us is that it doesn’t have to be like this. Imagine the best person you’ve ever known. A real person, I mean. You know they’re not perfect, but they’re better than most. They’re honest, loving, giving etc. All the things that we all know make up a good person. Now imagine that everyone in the world was like that. Is this not meta-physically possible? Wesley says it is.
Someone else will sing your song January 8, 2006
Posted by Richard in : Religion , add a commentWhat does it mean to say that God is punishing someone for something? I see this in two different ways. The first is what I might call the naturalist’s view; you know, things your mother probably told you: If you don’t take care of yourself, you’ll get sick. If you spend your time disobeying the rules, you’ll die. To the naturalist, these are simply the laws of the universe, like gravity. To a religious person, since God created the natural world, these are God’s laws.
The second sort of punishment is personal. By this I don’t mean personally directed at you, though it might be, I mean personally communicated to you by God. So, if you say something like, “God is punishing that person for doing that thing,” then I assume that God told you that. If He didn’t tell you that and you say that He did, you’d be guilty of a rather profane act and could find yourself on the receiving end of some punishment of your own. A more subtle version of this is when someone says, “I believe God is punishing that person for doing that thing.” They’re not claiming the God talked to them, they’re just offering a personal opinion. For example, I sometimes think that the Civil War in the US was God’s punishment for the sin of slavery. I don’t know this to be true as God has not contacted me on this matter. I’ll let you know if He does. How do I come to this conclusion? It’s just a general idea shared by some folks who read Lincoln’s thoughts. It’s just an opinion of mine, I would never say that I know it to be true.
But sometimes, especially when it involves something personal, you know God is communicating to you. One of things that God is particularly sensitive to is when we “covet” something or someone. God warns us that only He is good and we are to worship no other. In a general way, we could say that this is the root of many ills. For example, a drug addict is coveting or worshiping something that is against the rules. It could be the drug itself, or a any one of a host of other things. Social ills are many indeed, but the God-shaped hole inside us all is at the root of all of them.
You might think that a fine upstanding Christian guy like myself would have all this down. You’d be wrong. God has a song that he wants you to sing. If you can’t or won’t sing it, someone else will.
Intelligently Designed Discussion September 24, 2005
Posted by Richard in : Religion, Science , add a commentI see “Intelligent Design” theory has been in the news lately. (If you don’t know what that is, here’s a quick link for you.) A school teacher in my Sunday-school class asked my opinion as she was upset by all the hooplah. You see, she’s a Christian, yet she believes evolution to be true and that it should be taught in biology class. I told her that I didn’t personally take much stock in Intelligent Design theory, and that I didn’t define it as science. It’s a fine philosophy, one that I don’t need a scientist to explain to me. I see intelligent design every time I open my eyes, but, that’s just me. I do, however, support the dialogue that has ensued in the public arena. That’s because, for too long, (and as I’ve stated before) the anti-religious people have gotten their way. I came across an article that, for the most part, says it the way I see it; except the author is an agnostic and I’m a Christian. But, we both believe there’s a middle ground to be had and for that, I commend him.
In the ongoing struggle between evolution and creationism, says philosopher
of science Michael Ruse, Darwinians may be their own worst enemy…read more
We really mean it this time July 16, 2005
Posted by Richard in : Religion, Dover Place , add a commentOK, now we’re really moved out of Dover Place. It’s a big event. We’re really moved into our new place now. Of course, there’s a new pile of boxes to deal with too. Our entire 2nd bedroom is filled with boxes of stuff that we didn’t take the first time. Stuff we could probably live without. But, one of the boxes contains journals of mine that date back many years. Well back into my childhood. Back when my mind was sharp. After we get things situated here, I think I’ll post some of them on the blog. I was reading through a bit of it the other night before we packed it up, and I was struck with the fact that everything was, of course, written long-hand in ink. Not unusual at all for that time, but strange now to look back on. I am also struck with how, even before converting to Christianity, I was interested in the spiritual side of existence. I wrote about it all the time, using ideas and concepts that are common place for me now, but then, I had no vernacular to use.
I guess it comes down to this: I always assumed that there was a spiritual side of this existence. And, since my early Christian learning did not supply me with answers (methods, vernacular), I never thought orthodox Christian teachings had any value. I had to come about it the long way ’round. More on that some other time. And, aside from just learning about it, I’ve learned that I really enjoy talking and writing about it. I love to debate, argue and lecture any chance I get. That’s why I enjoy teaching adult Sunday School on Sunday morning and that’s why I’m going to go bed now. Goodnight.