Priorities

Happy Easter! Since we started the season of Easter last Sunday, signs of new life are everywhere. Grass is greening, birds are singing, warm breezes blowing. Good stuff! Important stuff!

Spring makes you think about priorities - what is important to you, here and now. How much time outside in the midst of God's wonderful creation did you spend today? Can you see sunlight from where you are sitting right now? Can you feel any fresh air? Can you see your bird feeder? (You do have a bird feeder, right?) Cori has a notebook in our kitchen, right next to the window from whence we look to see our bird feeder. In her book, we keep track of all the different kinds of birds that partake of the seed we are offering. We do this because it is important for us. It is our priority.

The United Methodist Church has some priorities, too. The General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) has a brochure that lists the top Legislative Priorities for 2005. In it, we find:
- End the War in Iraq
- Fight the Global AIDS Pandemic
- Preserve Social Security
- Oppose Internet Gambling
- Address the Global Climate Crisis
- Protect Social Safety Net
- Support Just Immigration Reform
These seven justice issues are on the front burner for our denomination. We will address them because they are important for us. They are our priorities.
I notice some of our perceived "hot button" issues are not there:
- "Protect the Institution of Marriage" is not there.
- "Spread Democracy in the World" is not there.
- "Ensure the Right to Life" is not there.
I notice what is important for the church, and I choose to focus my energy in those places. I am not saying these other things are not important at all, just not as important to the denomination as some other issues currently at hand. Each Christian makes her or his choices, and some even hold big expensive rallies in order to promote their priorities.
You make your choice, too. You might not agree with what the GBCS lists as top priorities for this year, and that is fine. But find something! Decide what your priority is, and pursue it with every ounce of your passion. Do it becaue it is important for you.
Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to take a walk in the park. Because it is important.
God is good - all the time!
Andy B.

Wrong Does Not Mean Unfaithful

I read this week about a forum held at the Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas. The forum featured two clergy, one who was there to claim homosexuality is a sin and one who was there to claim homosexuality is not a sin. Now, one of these men is wrong, and I cannot see how it could be otherwise. They were debating in an either/or format. But the one you or I personally think is wrong depends on our respective belief systems, our readings of scripture, the things we have been taught, our life experiences, our relationships with God.

Here is the thing: I hope that we do not take the next step and say that the one we think is wrong is somehow unfaithful. Each of the two pastors, with their oppositional beliefs about homosexuality, is struggling to live faithfully to God's call in his life. Each of the two pastors, who cannot both be "right" (for whatever that is worth) on this issue, is a beloved child of God and worthy of our love and respect. Being wrong does not mean being unfaithful.

Now, I will stand toe to toe with anyone in the world with my firm belief that homosexuality is not a "lifestyle," not a choice, and not a sin. I am equipped with a knowledge of the scripture, spiritual formation in a loving family and church, what I hope is a close relationship with God, and wonderful relationships with friends who are real live, "self-avowed, practicing," honest-to-goodness homosexuals. If ever given the chance, I will look Rev. Jerry Johnston right in the eye and work my hardest to convice him how wrong he is.

BUT - I also expect him to work equally as hard to convince me of my error. I believe what I believe - but I desire to be shown where my belief is inaccurate or weak. Let's not beat each other up with the Bible any more, okay? Let's admit that we might be wrong, okay? Let's start by affirming that what we know about God and people and the world and stuff is just limited, finite knowledge, and that none of us - NONE OF US - has exclusive privy to God's favor, okay? I might be wrong; you might be wrong; but neither one of us should be excluded from the availability of God's grace, okay?

Grace and Peace,
Andy B.

"The Glow of Distant Worlds"

Who else but an astro-physicist? What other person could display this depth of wonder and awe? Who in the world has a richer appreciation for creation than one who spends all day every day gazing at its beauty?

I read today about a team at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who has for the first time measured light from two big planets in orbit around distant stars. A member of the team said, ""It's an awesome experience to realize we are seeing the glow of distant worlds. When I first saw the data, I was ecstatic."

What self-respecting scientist uses phrases like "the glow of distant worlds?" That sounds like a line from a Fanny Crosby hymn! This man of science describes a state of ecstasy and awe that is often reserved for experiences of a religious nature. Which in a way, this was.

In the last ten years, over 130 extrasolar planets have been discovered by earth-bound scientists. They generally detect them by noting a small gravitational wobble in the observed star or a brief dimming in the star's light as the planet passes in front of it. But now we are actually able to "see" the infrared light that is emitted by the planets themselves, using technology like NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

Noticing more and more of the wonders of creation, being awed by the beauty of worlds beyond our own, just considering the infinite potential of the universe: these are religious experiences, whether you name them as such or not. Some may disagree, preferring to keep the "religious experiences" category limited to "Jesus experiences" or "God experiences" (or "my experiences"), and unwilling to even consider that scientific discovery can, and often does, draw us closer to the Creator.

But science and religion are not enemies, and they never have been. To separate them from one another is detrimental to both. It took science to allow humanity to gaze in ecstasy into "the glow of distant worlds."

"O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, thy power throughout the universe displayed,
then sings my soul, my saviour God, to thee, 'How great thou art! How great thou art!' "
(text: Stuart K. Hine, 1953)

Grace and Peace,
Andy B.

Eternal Life at Age 7

"Daddy, if you believe in Jesus you will never die. Right, Daddy?" said Cori at dinner last night.

Now, Cori is seven years old, and safe to say the sweetest seven year old you have ever spoken with. Her little voice is a lilting, melodious bird song, even when she is speaking the most ordinary words. So when she speaks extraordinary words such as the ones she uttered last night, it is all you do to keep your heart from splitting right down the middle. And when she said, "Right, Daddy?" she looked at me with her enormous, round, blue eyes and blinked a couple of times. What is a preacher-dad to do?

Thankfully, Mom took over.

"That's right, Cori." She was very sure of herself.

"What about Annie?" countered our daughter, "She died." (Annie was our dog, by the way. She died a couple of years ago.)

Cori paused and thought a second before grinning and asking, "Did Annie believe in Jesus?"

Cori is smart. She is, you could say, damn smart! She knew that we had told her, at the occasion of Annie's demise, that she was in heaven with God now. But here she was with the intriguing notion that one had to believe in Jesus in order to enter into eternal bliss in the arms of our Lord. Surely it is not within a dog's capacity to believe in Jesus, is it? Is it even in our capacity to believe in Jesus enough to be assured of entry into paradise? Isn't that the Question of questions here - the one that has divided Christians one from another for untold centuries?

But wouldn't you know, Cori has an answer. After she allowed my wife and I to fumble around with trite platitudes for a while, she simply said, "Prob'ly 'cause she was with us, and we believe in Jesus, that was enough."

Maybe the question is not what you believe but with whom you are in relationship? Yeah, that's prob'ly it. Thanks, Cori.

Grace and Peace,
Andy B.

Human / Nature?

Does nature itself have intrisic value, or is the natural world only valuable insofar as it serves human needs? The U.S. Senate has voted 51 to 49 in favor of the latter: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/11154895.htm

By setting the stage for oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge, our Senate has shown where their moral principles really are. God's good creation is to be valued if we can get something from it, but not otherwise. I actually heard a drilling proponent say that this coastal Alaska wildlife refuge was not his idea of a beautiful, pristine place to be preserved. Now, unless this guy was a talking polar bear, I am not surprised to hear him say so. Of course the north coast of Alaska is not a place one would want to build a nice beach house for vacations, but the ecosystem is home for a diverse array of life, created by God and therefore of sacred worth.

51 U.S. Senators have made it a matter of public record that their ethical concern does not extend to the intrinsic worth of God's creation. Not even, supposedly, with the knowledge that "God saw everything that had been made, and indeed, it was very good." (Genesis 1:31) Despite the efforts of environmentalists to protect nature from human violation, it seems we are bent on squeezing every drop of the earth's resources from our home planet, as if she was a giant sponge rather than a living, breathing organism.

So what do you think? Should our assessment of the value of the natural world be based upon what human beings can gain from it? Is there something sacred about nature that we humans might not fully understand, but ought to honor? How much of my suspicion that big oil companies have a lot to do with this is just cynicism, and how much is real? I'm looking forward to reading responses!

Grace and Peace,
Andy B.

Religious Tolerance Web Site

Please check out this website. Click on the title of this blog entry to go to it. This is great stuff. Go and read. Spend some time clicking around the various topics. Everything I have found there is honest, balanced, and insightful. Many sides of a variety of diverse issues are explored. It is a hopeful and helpful site where you could spend fifteen minutes or a couple of hours, depending on how much time you have.

The home page of this site says, "Religious tolerance means to extend religious freedom to people of all religions, even though you disagree with their beliefs and/or practices." This is a website for people who want to know God's creation as the wonderfully diverse place that it is, and to explore some of that diversity. It is not militant, but it has a clearly defined agenda (just like everyone, of course. Why has "agenda" become a dirty word?). The agenda of this website is tolerance. (Why has "tolerance" become a dirty word, too?)

I hope you have a chance to peruse it.
Grace and peace,
Andy B.

The Four-Year-Old's Faith

Last night, my son Wesley and I had a conversation about praying. Wes is four. (I have written about him before.) In his bed, after getting pj's on, brushing teeth, and having our bedtime stories, Wes and I kind of snuggled in together to talk. I told him a little story, just something silly I made up. Then, after a small quiet time, I asked, "Wes, you want to say a prayer?"

"No," was his immediate reply.

"Why not?"

"I don't know anything to say." (It sounded like "anyfing" when he said it.)

"Well, Wes, you don't have to say anything special, just listen for what God has to say to you." This was excellent theology, and I was sure that it would impact him deeply. After all, I had been to seminary and knew all about stuff like this.

"But I never heard God before." (It sounded like "heared.")

Okay, this was another issue, but I was equipped. "You might not listen with your ears, but you can listen with your heart."

Giving me a look that said, Yeah, yeah, I have heard that one before and I'm not buying it, Wesley said, "I never heared him with my heart, either."

(Long pause.)

What do you say to that? It is a four-year-old's first crisis of faith. How do you say something to a four-year-old in that moment that will make any kind of impression, some kind of difference in his relationship with God? I couldn't think of anything to say, so I hugged him.

Maybe that was enough.

Hugging him, I said "Wes, you know how you get up every morning and come downstairs all sleepy and stuff, and you climb up into Mommy's lap and snuggle with her for a little bit until you wake up all the way? You know how that feels? Maybe that is kind of like what God feels like."

Wesley didn't say anything. He was asleep.

Grace and Peace,
Andy B.

P.S. My friend Roger has a great story about something his daughter taught him about God. Check it out: http://seamhead86.blogspot.com/2005/03/mouths-of-babes.html

Calling it Splits

I have been out of town for a week, so I haven't had a chance to write. I was in Nashville at a big United Methodist shindig. Good stuff. But I'm back now, so look out! I have some catching up to do.

A newspaper article in the paper yesterday (the link in the title above should take you to the article) told of Christ Church Episcopal in Overland Park splitting away from the Kansas diocese of the Episcopal church. There is also a great letter about it at www.episcopal-ks.org. The issue at the center of the split is "human sexuality," which is a code word for our attitudes toward people who are homosexual. The congregation is leaving because the larger church has proven to be too tolerant in it's ordination the Bishop of New Hampshire.

The congregation's Rev. Ron McCrary calls the split a "win-win situation" because there was no bitterness or animosity in the split. They are just taking their congregation and leaving. They are saying: No hard feelings, huh? You aren't going to play by the rules WE make, so we'll just quit playing with you altogether. Forget about all that "Christian conversation" crap, that's just for show. Forget about all of that "Come, let us reason together" fluffy stuff (Isaiah 1:18). Too touchy-feely for me. Bottom line is - we don't agree, so I'm going to play with some kids who think like I do!

Win-win situation? Who exactly is winning what here? Who made this a contest? How did living together as the body of Christ get perverted into a situation where there are winners and/or not losers?

The article said that the congregation would assume the $1.7 MILLION mortgage and pay the diocese $1 MILLION for the right to leave. So what we have here is a church willing to shell out 2.7 MILLION DOLLARS rather than be a part of a denomination with a bishop who is gay. First of all, I'm thinking we should be shocked an apalled that there is a congregation with 2.7 MILLION DOLLARS on hand to spend! What else could they do with all that money? How many hungry people could eat for a year using their 2.7 MILLION DOLLARS? How many pairs of new shoes for how many poor children could we buy? How much medical insurance could honest, hard-working folks afford with that 2.7 MILLION DOLLARS? Makes you want to cuss, doesn't it?

Second of all, here is a group of people who is hard at work to ship food to people in Sudan (a wonderful and worthy endeavor), but cannot see the glaring disconnect between this mission and their stance with regard to people who are gay. Rev. McCrary says, "This church has a long history of reaching out to hurting people in our own city and foreign countries." Well, I just hope none of those Sudanese people receiving your food are homosexual, Christ Church Episcopal. We wouldn't want "those kind of people" to receive any grace now, would we?

The retreat into fundamentalism is well underway, faithful rainbow-dwellers! And in the Episcopal church in Overland Park, it is very, very real - you can see it happening.

Just want to leave you with this thought. I figured I would throw a little scripture in the mix, just to make things interesting! "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to one hope when you were called– one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." (Ephesians 4:1-6) I guess that pretty much says it all, doesn't it?

Grace and Peace (and today, maybe a dash of Hope - God knows we need it),
Andy B.

Wes - "Hello, Morning!"

Hello, Morning!

Today is bright and sunny in Kansas City. The sky is blue and the breeze is a gentle whisper. It is my job to get our kids assembled each morning and loaded into the car to be deposited at their schools. This morning, our four-year-old Wesley was standing in the garage with his coat and his Spiderman backpack on, ready to get in the car. I opened the garage door. As it slowly rolled up its tracks, Wes looked out, saw the sunshine and the blue sky and felt the breeze.

"Hellooooo, morning!" he said with a smile.

Nice!

Grace and Peace,
Andy B.

A Day in the Rainbow

Let me tell you about yesterday. Nothing fancy. Just another Monday in the church, really. There were four chapters.

Chapter 1 - I spent a lot the morning with the daughter and grand-daughter of a woman who recently died. We talked about her 94 years of life, we laughed at some warm memories, and we cried with the pain of her death. We talked together about a memorial service, and how to create a time of remembrance that she would have enjoyed herself. One thing, for example: I am most definitely not going to be wearing a robe and stole for this one; the lady did not particularly like ministers! A fact about which the three of us had a particularly good chuckle.

Chapter 2 - I talked for most of the afternoon with a friend who is struggling to find meaning in her relationships and purpose in her life. She wanted to talk about feeling valued. She wanted to talk about life's priorities. In short, she wanted to talk about the things that most of us want to talk about. Mostly, she just needed to talk. So we talked. Mostly, I guess, we just need people to talk with.

Chapter 3 - After dinner with my family, I went back to church for a little jam session with a couple of guys who are really awesome musicians and genuinely nice guys. Our little piano/guitar/bass combo is clicking along very well, if I do say so myself, and we are ready to debut in church this Sunday morning for the first time. But it is not really about making good music. It is about the three of us, for an hour and a half on Monday nights, joining together to create, to share together in the process of making music. When the music is out there in the space around us, everything else fades from view.

Chapter 4 - I spent the late evening talking with a young couple who is to be married in our church in April. We talked about love, and family, and compatibility. We talked about being a neat freak and remembering to put the toilet seat down and the pros and cons of eating two (2) family Thanksgiving dinners. We laughed at silly stories from their two-and-a-half years together, and we spent some time thinking about what everything might look like in ten years from now.

That was yesterday in the church. It was a long day. Nothing fancy, just some people trying to live their lives as best they know how. There was death, life, laughter, tears, music, hope, love, joy. No moral codes. No dogmatic diatribes. No relentless proselytizing. Just the church, alive and well, thank you very much. That's what the church is, I guess. Just a loose collection of regular people trying to live their lives as best they know how. And it is beautiful to behold.
Grace and Peace,
Andy B.

Modern Martyr - Click for full story

What makes someone decide to kill a 74 year old nun? What thought processes lead a person to consider that option, think it is a good idea, and then go through with it?

"The town of Anapu, on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, is most notable for the dust that clogs its streets and for the number of shops selling chain-saws. It is also the place that Sister Dorothy called home for more than 30 years and where she organised her efforts to try to protect the rainforest and its people from disastrous and often illegal exploitation by logging firms and ranchers. Now Anapu will be known as the place where Sister Dorothy is buried." (quoted from the story at the link above.)

Dorothy was from Ohio. She was a part of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Cincinnati. She decided to take a stand with the people of the Brazilian rain forest in their struggle to keep their land out of the hands of illegal loggers and ranchers. She knew that what she was doing was dangerous, but she did it because she was dedicated to God's rainbow. She kept at it because she believed in a Christ of liberation and love who brings God incarnate into the worst situations. Her persistence led to her murder.

"Sister Dorothy Stang lived among those who wanted her dead. When they finally came for her she read passages from the Bible to her killers. They listened for a moment, then fired. Her body was found face down in the mud, blood staining the back of her white blouse."

Sister Dorothy was a more faithful disciple of Jesus Christ than I will ever be. I have heard people say, "You don't have to change the world. Just change your own little part of it." In fact, I myself have said that exact thing from the pulpit. I'm not sure what that means after reading about Dorothy. I don't believe it as much as I used to.

Maybe God wants us to change the world. Maybe God wants us to bring the rainbow, even force it if we have to, into the world's darkest places. But bringing the rainbow into dark places can make people mad. The dark hides things. "...all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed." The dark is comfortable.
The rainbow is anti-dark, and I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable or hurt anyone's feelings, after all ... I don't do so well with conflict.

Have you ever done something in the service of Christ that someone would kill you for doing? "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."

Grace and Peace,
Andy B.

To Do Lists and My Grandfather

Yesterday, I wrote about something Nana taught me. Today, it is my grandfather's turn.
I call my grandfather Daddy Monk. He is a preacher.

Whenever Daddy Monk was going to come over to our house, we prepared for his arrival by writing a to-do list. We called it a "Monk-y Do" list, just to amuse ourselves. The list consisted of little jobs: hanging mini-blinds, fixing a leaky faucet, repairing a screen door, and the like. I would often tag along as Daddy Monk ticked off the jobs on the list, helping him whenever I could. We did one job at a time, from making sure we had the right tool for the job to replacing the tool in the box, before moving on to the next. I remember how satisfied he was at the completion of each job, and the sense of accomplishment that came with the completion of the list itself. We had a list for him each time he came; it seems that there is always work to do. He might have completed six or eight jobs in one visit, but there always seemed to be six or eight more the next time. Daddy Monk always accepted that. And he always did the jobs that needed doing.
Standing in the garage watching him wipe clean the blade of a saw we had just been using, he said to me, "Andy, the job's not done until the tools are cleaned and put away." In his own workshop at his home, his tools are hung carefully from pegboards that feature an outline of the tool drawn to indicate the proper placement for his hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, and other tools. Each tool is clean and in its place, ready to tackle the next Monky-do list.

Daddy Monk taught me that there is order amidst the chaos. There is an intricate choreography to life's dance. Electrons will always attract protons and repel other electrons. The 27 bones in each of our hands always tend to line up in a particular order. Each of Daddy Monk's tools has a place to hang and a job to do. The order is what makes the whole work.
He also taught me that there is a lot of work to do, so make a list. Don't get overwhelmed, just do one job at a time, make sure that you have the right tool for the job, and don't forget to take care of the tool for the next time you will need it.
That sounds like pretty good advice for the church, too!
Grace and Peace,
Andy B.

In My Grandmother's Eye

I called my Granmother Nana. She was a painter.

We were walking around the lake one evening when I was a boy, and we stopped to look at the sun going down behind the Smoky Mountains. Nana said, "What a beautiful sunset. Andy, tell me what colors you see."
"Orange," I said, "and red and yellow."
"Is that all?" Nana asked. "Don't you see the blue?"
I squinted west. I really, really wanted to see the blue. Nana said there was blue, and I believed her.
"You are working too hard," she smiled.
"I'm looking for the blue. I can't see it."
"Just relax. Don't look for the blue; just look at the sunset."
Oh, that makes a lot of sense, I thought to myself. My Nana asks me if I can see the blue, then tells me not to look for it.
Don't look for the blue - just look at the sunset.
So, since Nana told me to, I stopped squinting, stopped straining my eyes to pick that blue out of the sunset. I realized I had been hunched over at the shoulders looking so hard for that blue. I stood up straight again, and took a deep breath.
I looked at the sunset. My look turned into a gaze. My gaze kind of turned into a prayer.
You know, in the middle of the deepest red of a sunset sky, there is a dusting of purple. And at the edge of that dusting of purple is a whisper of blue. If you look for it, you will never see it. But when you gaze into the whole sunset, you notice.

Sometimes we are just looking to hard, squinting ourselves up to find the differences and distinctions between and among us. Maybe if we would just relax and look at the whole picture more often, we would be a little bit better off. I think that is what Nana was trying to teach me. The colors of a sunset in my granmother's eye can teach us a lot about living in the midst of God's wonderful world.
Grace and Peace,
Andy B.

Hope for the Future of the Church

The reason I haven't written in a while is that I was in Washington D.C. for three days last week, and then had to spend the rest of the week catching up on the stuff that I missed while I was gone. I probably should have done more prep before I went. Oh well.
The reason I was in Washington D.C. was to meet with a group of 60 young United Methodist clergy people from around the nation. We met at the General Board of Church and Society in the Methodist Building, on capitol hill. You can stand at the front door of the Methodist building and look across one street at the Supreme Court, across another street at the Capitol, and across another street at the Senate office buildings. Wow!
The Church and Society board speaks for the denomination in matters legislative. They are charged with the care and maintainance of the denomination's Social Principles. And they had called all of us young clergy from around the nation to meet together and talk about social justice.
All of that is background in order to say this:

I am incredibly hopeful about the future of the church!

Here's why: Clergy younger than 40 know how to disagree with each other without despising each other. We do not have a "win / lose" frame of mind. Too many older folks think about dialogue in terms of figuring out who is "right" or "wrong." That is not dialogue, that is a fight. The 60 young adults present in Washington last week know how to say, "I understand where you are coming from, and I completely disagree with your perspective. Now, let's go get a cup of coffee and talk about it."

Let me tell you about one of the young pastors in Washington: his name is Shalom. (What a great name for a pastor!) Shalom and I are on opposite sides of the table a lot. A LOT! I disagree with him about almost every hot-button issue there is. But Shalom and I were able to share a subway to the airport at the end of our time in Washington, sit down at a restaurant and have a snack while we waited for our respective planes, and you know what - we didn't kill each other! We even managed to share some laughs together! We sat at the same table and actually talked about stuff and managed to live together EVEN THOUGH WE DISAGREE.
Speaking in a broad generality, people younger than 40 are okay with that. People in their 50s and older are not. And that is why I am so incredibly hopeful about the future of the church. Because the reality is, faithful, honest, and truly good people are going to disagree about things, and it doesn't make anyone less faithful, honest, or good. We are all just trying to live our lives as best we know how. Splitting the church apart just because we disagree about things is the least faithful thing we could possibly do.
Life is a rainbow, enjoy the colors!
Grace and Peace,
Andy B.

More than Squarepants

I suppose I should write something about Spongebob. Everyone else is. Sigh.

I guess it started with the Smurfs. You remember those little blue creatures who lived in mushrooms (probably hallucinative), and of whom there was exactly one female in the entire village? You wanna talk immorality! One woman and all those men - tsk, tsk, tsk.
And how about the Scooby Doo show? You remember how Fred and Daphne always ended up going off "looking for the monster" together - just the two of them? Looking for the monster - I'll bet! Shameless.
I always was a little suspicious of Bert and Ernie, two grown muppets - both male! living together in a loft apartment the city, playing with their rubber duckies. Sounds a little funny to me.
Not to mention the nefarious Tinky-Winky of Telletubbies fame. Who does he think he is fooling with that purse of his? Little upside down triangle on top of his oh-so-cutsie-tootsie face! Gay, gay, gay! And the Noo-Noo always coming out of his closet. I smell an agenda!
(If you don't know what a Noo-Noo is, just never mind - it doesn't concern you.)
Now we learn about Mr. Spongebob Squarepants, the latest in a long line of cartoon characters whose hidden plan is to destroy your heterosexual marriage and turn all of your kids gay by flaunting immorality across the after school airwaves. This is big, people. We are through the looking glass on this one. What is up, doc!?

Sigh.

Look, here's the thing. Spongebob Squarepants is not a threat to your marriage. Nor to the "institution of marriage," whatever that is. The neo-fundamentalists who want you to think so are such a small minority of the real world, they are hardly worth mentioning. Being gay is not immoral, any more than being straight is. Being gay is being gay. Get used to it. 50 states could ratify constitutional amendments against same-sex marriage and it would not make gay people less gay. No matter what you think Spongebob wants you to think.

Grace and Peace,
Andy B.

What Does Church Look Like?

Yesterday two church members stopped by to talk with me in my study. "We have a question for you," one said. "My son knows a man at work who is really having a rough time. Trying to raise kids by himself, unable to work right now because of an injury, and basically at the end of his rope. Is there anything we can do for him?"
I asked, "What does he need?"
"Food," was her blunt reply.

Blessed are the hungry, for they shall be satisfied.
- But it is actually a spiritual hunger, and Jesus meant that if you yearn for a relationship with God, you will find it.
Ask, and it will be given to you.
- Well, God does answer prayer, but sometimes the answer is "No."
Whenever you saw someone who was hungry and fed them ... you did it to me.
- You know, so many people are just scamming the system, we can't just give food to anyone who comes by.

All of these things flashed through my mind in three seconds, which allowed the second church member to enter the conversation. She said, "You know, we have a whole bin full of food people have given for the Food Pantry out there in the lobby, and a lot of stuff down in the freezer. All of that food is going over to the Pantry eventually, anyway, and I thought we just might as well..." As she left the thought dangling in the air, I realized what I was seeing.
These two women were being the Church.

Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, I am there also.

And I realized that I really don't believe any of those rationalizations that flashed in my mind, the one about spiritual hunger and God answering No to our prayers and being extra careful about who gets food because so many people scam the system. I just don't believe them.
So we got the guy some food, and the church lives on.

Grace and Peace,
Andy B.

Dive In

One of my good friends read my last blog entry and sent me an email that said, “Way to stay low key right off the bat.” If you could type with a sarcastic tone of keyboard, she would have been doing it. Her point was, of course, that I had been anything but “low key” in my blog, and she was poking fun at me for diving into the pool with no thought whatsoever to dipping my toe in first to check the temperature.
I have never been a wader; I either take the plunge or don’t even bother putting on my trunks. (It’s funny, even when my family goes wading in a creek, my first objective is to get out into the deepest, fastest current, rather than stay close to shore and dabble around in the shallows.) What is at stake in the debate between rigid fundamentalism and vibrant diversity is nothing less than the life of the Church, so I really see no need to screw around. Call me selfish, but I love the Church, and it is being stolen away from me, and I want it back. So I’m selfish. I’m diving into the river (or perhaps we could say the rainbow).
I am encouraged that there are others out in the current with me, others who refuse to stay close to the nice, safe shoreline barely getting their ankles wet. Dr. King would sat that there are a lot of people wading in those shallows over there who would prefer a “negative peace,” or “the absence of tension” (the Pax Romana), to a “positive peace,” or “the presence of justice” (shalom). “See,” they cry out in self-satisfied arrogance, “I’m in the river.” Come on, pal, you haven’t even rolled up the cuffs of your jeans, yet!

The Retreat Into Fundamentalism

Dig this. In today's paper here in Kansas City, someone on the opinion page lamented the scientific exploration of one of Saturn's moons. It seems that, up on Titan, scientists are looking for a parallel to the origins of life on earth, and apparently, in order to discover said origins of life on earth, "all they have to do is turn to God's holy word, the Bible, and read Genesis." Well, that sure got me thinking.
The first, easy thought that came was (naturally) a smart aleck question, "Which story in Genesis should they read?" There happen to be two stories in Genesis about the origin of life on earth, and they are different from each other. But that, like I said, is the easy way out, a counter-productive smart aleck response, and besides when you enter the rainbow, things are never simply black or white - there is a whole spectum of color to consider.
My second, more difficult thought was this: the reaction against scientific discovery and the reation against cultural diversity are branches on the same vine. They both represent a retreat into fundamentalism based on a fear of what is so rapidly becoming known about the world. As humanity comes into contact with the intimate minutiae of the atom and the immeasurable breadth of outer space, we are astounded and amazed. Likewise, when humanity comes into contact with people with different cultural systems, different values, and different belief systems, we are nearly overwhelmed with the vastness of the variety. We then have basically two options in how to respond: deny it or embrace it.
Those who deny it will tend to retreat into the known, go "back to the basics," affirm the foundations of their own personal epistemology. Those who embrace it are the ones who know what it means to enter the rainbow. I choose to embrace it!
The problem with the denial of scientific discovery is that denying it doesn't make it go away. The problem with denying cultural differences is that denying them doesn't automatically make us all the same. You can choose not to enter the rainbow, but that doesn't make the rainbow disappear.
One last thought: Denying diversity by retreating into fundamentalism is killing the Church. Embrace diversity and you embrace God.
Peace - Andy B.
(By the way, I dare someone to tell me who Cain's (Adam and Eve's murderous son) mother-in-law was.)

Enter the Rainbow

I'm calling this blog "Enter the Rainbow." I owe the idea to a friend of mine who told me this story.

In a time of her life when she was experiencing a lot of anxiety, issues around her job, her family, her personal relationship with God, she drove into a rainbow, and everything changed. That is not a misprint - she drove into a rainbow. Most of the time when you see a rainbow in the distance, it stays in the distance. A physicist could probably explain that for us. However, this time as she drove, the rainbow in the distance did not recede; it stayed right where it was.

She drove closer and closer to the point at which the rainbow intersected the earth, and thoughts of leprechauns and pots of gold teased her mind. But as she got even closer, she saw that a drive right through the end of the rainbow was inevitable, and she began to feel uncertain. This had to be some kind of trick, right? This kind of thing just didn't happen to her. It sounded like some unbelievable, touchy-feely, Chicken Soup kind of a story. But it was most definitely real. It was happening. She drove into the rainbow.

There was light and there was warmth. A shimmering cascade seemed to surround her, penetrate her soul. Silent music drown out all other noise. There was, for a timeless instant, peace. She felt an embrace gently lift her up to where she could float, suspended in light and music. Then her car continued on doing what cars are built to do and carried her back into the world.

It was not so much a jolt back into reality as it was a sudden revving up. Sensation, noise, dull grey color seemed to rush back into her perception like a wave onto a beach. And she drove home. And you know what? She still had anxiety about her job, her family, and her personal relationship with God. None of that went away. But she had had that one moment in the rainbow, and somehow she would find a way to muddle through her life.

That's all any of us can really ever hope for, isn't it?

Grace and Peace,
Andy B.