Invisible

Who is invisible?

Pastor Anne told the story of a pastor who worked with his upper-middle class congretaion in a Pennsylvania city.  The neighborhood had changed from upper middle class to mostly blue-collar, Hispanic folks.  He and the congregation had worked to simply befriend, get acquainted, participate in the community. 

Some of the community who did landscaping, gardening and yard work wanted to express their appreciation and offered to spiff up the church grounds for Easter, on Easter.  The pastor was delighted and said, "I don't know anything about landscaping, and can hardly work a shovel, but I want to help."  They agreed.

On Easter morning they were all working as people came to the Easter service.  No one recognized the pastor among the workers.  They were all invisible.  (Did I forget to mention that the pastor was from a country in Central America and "looked" just like the other workers?)  They were all invisible in their work clothes and hoodies to the congregation until the pastor began saying, "Hi" to some of them. 

No need to get on our high horse about the eyesight (vision) of the members of that church.  The real faith question for century 2 is this:  "Who is invisible to me?  to you?  Who is it you don't even know you can't see, don't see, and possibly do not want to see?

What do you think?  Leave a comment and share your thinking with the rest of us.

Welfare and God

The label “entitlement” is being used by conservative Christians for Medicare and Social Security.  “Entitlement” is usually used as a label of nastiness.  It seems one step removed from “welfare”.  We know about “welfare moms” [sneer, sneer], and how lazy people on welfare are.  They want someone else to pay their bills.  How awful.  They want others to do for them what they should be able to do for themselves.

And yet these conservative Christians pray.  They ask God, or Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, to do  things for them.  

• “Heal my child.”  
• “Help me get the job I want/need.”  
• “Watch over Aunt Madge.”  
• “Fill me, Lord.”
• This list seems endless.

Sounds like hypocrisy to me.  They want welfare.  They want someone else (God) to do things for them, to provide things for them, that they should provide for themselves.  

Amazing.  Even more amazingis this.  God invites us to pray.  Jesus commanded his followers to pray.  He taught people to seek welfare.

Could this conservative sneer be a sign of selfishness and disobedience.  We really don’t want to be like God, and like God wants us to be? 
Oh.  Medicare?  Social Security.  We who receive their benefits paid into them for years.  Often that Social Security deduction really, really hurt.  Of course we are entitled!


What do you think?  Leave your comment and let us know. 

Biblical Discipleship in 2012 - Part Two

Did you read the Gosepl of Mark straight through, between ten and 24 times?  I hope so.  Here are some questions to ponder if you have done so. If you haven't done the reading, turn away from your screen, grab a modern English version of the New Testament and do the reading.  Good News for Modern Man, New International Version, The Message -- all are worthy translations for this project.

Questions worth pondering:

• What are the followers of Jesus like?  (skilled?  have all the answers?  compliant?  wise?  etc.)
• What leadership style does Jesus use?
• How important is it to "be right"?
• If your boss in 2012 managed you like Jesus manages the disciples, how would you probably feel?

I find it helpful to

1. write down answers and impressions when I think about questions like these
2. talk with at least one other person about what I am thinking and learning

Try it.  This could be an important route to faith in century 21, year 2012.

What do you think?  What has been your experience?  Leave a comment and let us know. 

Biblical Discipleship in 2012

I recommend people read the Gospel of Mark.  Read it between ten and 24 times without reading any other passages of the Bible.  Read the Gospel of Mark in one sitting, beginning to end.  (It's short -- don't turn it into "verses" but read it as the story it was written to be.)
Think about it.  Don't think about verses.  Think about the story, like you would think about a movie story, or a story like "Sarah's Key".  Think, then reflect, then wonder.

• What about this story "grabs" you?  
• What about this story "bothers" you?
• What about this story seems "contradictory" to you?

O.K.  You are thinking, wondering, pondering -- the whole story.  That's good.  More tomorrow.
 
What do you think?  What has been your experience?  Leave a comment and let us know. 

Faith and the Real World

As I have gotten back into attending church, I ponder the connections and disconnects between my faith and the "real world".  E.g., especially the institution of the church (it could be mosque, synagogue, temple, cathedral, etc.)

I am tempted to slide into thinking I don't need the gritty stuff of the world, and can live by by pure faith, whatever that might be.  Instead I push myself back to the realization that I learned enough to have faith by reading the Bible (flawed), listening to church school teachers (very flawed, usually superstitious), and attending worship experiences in church buildings, by campfires, and on retreats (often manipulative, usually less than intellectually honest).  The same is true for people of other faiths.  No rabbi, no monk, no mosque, and no imam is free from prejudice, partial understanding and limits on what he or she knows. 

the Real World -- it's all we have, even in century 21.  Without it, our faith couldn't exist except as vague, amorphous wishful dreaming.  But reconciling our yearning for a growing, deepening faith with the flaws in the real world can be difficult, if not impossible. 


What do you think?  What has been your experience?  Leave a comment and let us know. 

Should People of Faith Hate Perversion?

I keep running into right wing folks -- Christian, Jews, Muslims -- who hate perverts.  They can tell me explicitly what and who a pervert it.  Usually it has something to do with the way one handles her or his sexuality.  And, by golly, it turns out that we should HATE perverts.  Keep them out.  Expunge them.  Destroy them.  Deny them any rights of citizenship or humanity.
So, I got to wondering.  Is it the duty of a person of faith to hate perverts?
If it is, must we expand or narrow our explicit description of a "pervert"?
For instance, if a person professes to be a loyal follower of Jesus, and hates a 'pervert', is that person a pervert?  After all, Jesus said we should. . .

• love our neighbors
• love our brothers and sisters
• love our enemies.

So, hating, backbiting, gossiping about, shunning, excluding up to murdering another human who might be a neighbor, brother, sister or enemy is a perversion of our profession of loyalty to Jesus.
Muslim folks tell me that the way of Islam is the way of Peace.  I guess you see where I am going here.  If a follower of Islam is not a person of peace, is that "follower" a pervert?
Jewish folks also talk about people people of "Shalom", or peace.  Same question.
Or are perverts only people whose sexuality we happen to despise?