becoming smaller so that...

When it comes to the realm of false equivalencies, while 45 is a master, he is not alone. Context, experience and living from the heart trump so-called objectivity every time. Every person is unique, every soul is both wounded and beautiful. Applying a one-size-fits-all solution upon any one is arrogant, foolish and often unintentionally mean-spirited. A volume I purchased while away in Quebec, Experiencing Spirituality: Finding Meaning through Storytelling, makes this point precisely. It is the follow-up to A Spirituality of Imperfection by Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham first published in 1992. I cherished that book - and 22 years later they were ready to add their unique life experiences for our consideration. The story that spoke to me involves the mystical fool of Islam, Nasrudin:

Hussein told the Mullah, "I have terrible pain in my eye. What do you advise?" Nasrudin though for a moment and then said, "Pull it out." With shock and bewilderment, Hussein said, "You can't be serious." To which the Mullah replied, "Well, last month my tooth hurt horribly for weeks, until I couldn't bear the pain anymore. So I had the tooth pulled ouot - and then I felt much better. So, if it worked for my tooth, it should work for your eye, too, right?"

I've been there and done that - maybe you have, too?  Assuming my experience entitles me to share what amounts to wisdom without context, I've offered up solutions, commentary and even moral judgment when listening carefully and quiet reflection was in order. Robert Bly and others have suggested that men tend to do this more than women - given our mono-minded nature and a socialization geared toward problem-solving - we often hear people in general (and women in particular) asking us for an answer. In a bottom-line culture, addicted to market place metaphors, we're all too willing to share what we think will "fix" things before moving on to something else. Truth be told, however, most of the time what another needs from us is not answers, but space to be heard. Listening, I continue to learn, is far more precious than commentary without context. 

This past week, returning from a week away in quiet reflection and rest, I became aware once again of all the different ways my full-time colleagues are engaged in ministry. In broken times such as these, there is so much to be done. And they are responding powerfully with creativity, compassion and verve. Not so for me given my part-time context: there is only so much I can accomplish in 20 hours.  I can listen. I can be present and prayerful in hard times. I can celebrate Eucharist and teach the faithful about the time-tested tools of contemplation and spiritual commitment. I can write (on my own time) and even use social media to connect people to public acts of justice. But long term programming?  Not so much any more.

Candidly, there is some grieving for me as I practice accepting this new reality. It goes with the territory.  And I suspect that it means at least these two truths:

+First, with age and change, I am being called to practice what John the Baptist once said in the gospel according to St. John.  When Jesus came upon the scene, the man of the desert confessed, "I must be less so that he can become more." It is time for others to be bold and engaged in social transformation. I have had 35 years of ordained ministry and nearly 40 years of service to the church given my internships at seminary. They were all full-time. They were all action oriented. They were all a combination of grace and feet of clay. Now, as my old way of serving comes to a close, letting go is my charism. I can be supportive. I can be collaborative. I can even listen carefully and, if asked, share my experiences. But now is the season where I am to become less so that others can become greater.

+ Second, this change in pastoral leadership necessitates a profound shift in the way our congregation works, too.  Will it be as complicated for them as it is for me? I don't know. We'll see. My hunch is that learning to be a community of collaboration and solidarity rather than a fount of leadership will likely be a real challenge for our community.  For over 250 years we have been first - and now we're not.  Such a change makes sense for us. It is modeled on Christ's call to live as loving servants in a downward trajectory. And suggests finding new ways to partner with others as allies in supporting the beloved community. Without full-time pastoral leadership, this more humble path is a necessity - and none of us are well-practiced in it. And I can't offer a whole lot of insight about how to do this as a congregation because my grieving and practices as a retiring pastor are different from their world as a church engaged in the world.  I am becoming less but they remain a vibrant albeit different community of faith in a small community.     

These next few months leading up to Advent/Christmas will be fascinating. As Jesus says to Peter after the Resurrection:  "When you were young, you went where you wanted and did what you desired. But now that you are older, you must let another lead you and gird your waist as you are led into those places where you do not want to go."  And so the journey continues and away we go...

a barmen declaration for white christians in 21st century america...

On September 6, 2017 a "Theological Declaration on Christian Faith and

White Supremacy" was released in the United States for circulation, conversation and conversion born of repentance. Taking their lead from the Barmen Declaration of 1934 (read this @ http://www.sacred-texts.com/ chr/barmen.htm) during the early days of Germany's descent into Nazi ideology and violence, the current declaration "represents an unprecedented gathering of Christian faith leaders from across the U.S. calling for a return to the liberating work of the Gospel and a rejection of racism and colonization." (read the full text @ https://www.redletterchristians.org/theological-declaration-on-christian-faith-white-supremacy/.) Two thoughts come to me upon critical reflection on this important public witness:

+ First, there is always a place in the public life of Christ's Body, the Church, for theological clarity. To be sure, few contemporary Christians will ever know about this document - and fewer still will read it. Nevertheless, it stands as an insightful call to repentance at a moment in time that aches for light in the darkness. Not many in Germany knew about or read Barmen either and it became a rallying cry for the faithful throughout the world. Writings such as these focus our moral attention; give voice to the Christian convictions we share beyond aesthetic, liturgical, and historical differences; and awaken both courage and conscience when fear dominates our culture. I am grateful for the hard work my sisters and brothers in faith have given in drafting this document and urge your support. 

+ Second, the creation of such a document challenges believers to leave the safety of abstract commitments so that the Word of God's love can become flesh in our era. At a fundamental level, this declaration invites repentance - metanoia - an inward change of heart resulting in an outward change of ethical direction. Repentance moves us towards justice and away from self-centered habits born of privilege and power. In our era, one manifestation of a new life in Christ for White people of faith involves bringing white supremacy to the Cross so that it dies. The paradox of crucifixion and the promise of the Paschal Mystery where God's grace brings renewal beyond death are not disembodied theological doctrines. They are entering the way of the Lord through the narrow gate of trust. 

The following words come directly from the declaration and underscore what the ethics of Jesus mean for so many of us at this moment in time.

+ Jesus “is the head of the body, the church,” in whom “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” (Colossians 1:18-19) Our faith is rooted in the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and his teachings claim authority in life and in death.We reject as false doctrine any other claim on our lives—whether contrived of state or reason—that violates Jesus’ ethic of the equal and inestimable dignity of all people, each created in the very image of God and as such equally created with the divine call and capacity to sustain, protect, and serve the world.

+ “For ‘In God we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’” (Acts 17:28)
Our identity as the beloved of God belongs equally to one as to all—to deny or privilege the uniqueness of any person is to malign the image of God in the whole. We reject as false doctrine any hierarchy of human being that declares in word or deed the supremacy of any person or people group over and against other people or people groups. In this current context, we renounce white nationalism, white separatism, white supremacy, neo-Nazism, and any and all other movements that abide by the logics of domination and colonization.

+ “But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.” (Ephesians 4:15-16) Our responsibility is to encourage and strengthen one another in love to the full work and witness of Jesus who loved, esteemed, healed and served all. This is what it means to be the global Church in God’s world. We reject the false doctrine that the work of Jesus is malleable to the political constructs of dominance and colonization; and therefore we actively, meaningfully, and tangibly resist any and all governing policies that fail to serve the basic needs, protect the inherent dignity, and cultivate the capacity of all to sustain, protect, and serve the world.

+ “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant.” (Matthew 20: 25-26) Our human call is always to sustain, protect, and serve—not to dominate. To seek power and glory is contrary to the call of the shalom/Kingdom/kin-dom of God. If we have moved about this world oblivious to or ignoring the pain of those subjugated under narratives of domination from which we have benefited, we repent of our sin and complicity. We confess that we have demonstrated allegiance to the colonizing systems of this world, rather than to the ways of Jesus. We acknowledge those who have suffered under oppression and exploitation, however subtle or overt, and continue to be wounded by the wrongful use of power in governance as a result of our sins of omission and commission. We reject as false doctrine any teaching that the human vocation is to exploit land, people groups, or other nations for the amassing of wealth. We also reject as false doctrine the belief that the Church has the call or right to confer upon any persons or people group unique title, favor, or powers to dominate others, as if from God.

+ “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28) Our allegiance to the way of Jesus requires that all external constructs contrived by human efforts that seek supremacy are anathema to the shalom Kingdom/kin-dom of God. We are all equal members of one Lord, one faith, one baptism—and yet, as citizens, we are subject to the governance and structures that often oppress, subjugate, and exclude. We reject as false doctrine active support for or passive complicity with any effort to subjugate, exploit, disenfranchise, disadvantage, or purge any image of God in or from our society.

+ “From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. All this is from God, who reconciled us through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to God’s self, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.” (2 Corinthians 5:16-19) Our faith dictates that the work of Jesus is the reconciliation of all of creation back to God and each other. This divine work disrupts and dismantles all human ideologies and structures of subjugation and oppression, in the world and in the Church, which has often been a primary force of social control, oppression and exploitation. We reject as false doctrine any political, social or religious teaching that esteems any person as greater or less than any other who is equally full and created in the image of God, endowed by their Creator with sacred, inviolable dignity; worthy of full protection of the law and full capacity to flourish.

The declaration closes with a vow, born of baptism and shaped by incarnation, that is unambiguous. It has been simmering since the rise of the Tea Party and their overtly racist actions against President Obama and many people of color. It is informed by Charlottesville, of course, but also by the witness of Black Lives Matter. It deserves our embodied commitment.

In full recognition of these convictions and in full rejection of these errors, we resist and renounce all efforts to purge, subjugate, exploit, and disenfranchise those created in the very image of God. Any attempt to do so is a violation of God in creation, fully revealed in Jesus the Christ. We invite all who will to accept this declaration of sacred worth to remember and uphold these abiding truths in all matters of church, civic engagement, and in the larger body politic. We implore all who read and hear these words to acknowledge your place in the history of oppression and take tangible action to return to the unity of all Creation, bound together in faith, hope, and love incarnated in Jesus Christ.

fear of the Lord (and the forest) is the beginning of all wisdom: creation sunday one

This Sunday we're entering into the new/old liturgical Season of Creation. It is, of course, much older than the Church, or any of the organized religions, having been observed by creation in all its forms since the beginning of time. It has roots in our heritage in ancient Judaism, too whether that is the lunar festivals or feasts and fasts built around the harvest cycle. The Celtic and Norse earth-based holidays have a home in the Season of Creation as do the wisdom traditions of Australia. In this, it is a very old practice.

In Christianity, however, the Season of Creation began when the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I of Constantinople declared September 1 to be Creation Day. The European Christian Environmental Network "chose the four Sundays of September to be an appropriate time to celebration creation and to come to terms with the current environmental crisis." (The Season of Creation Preaching Commentary, p. 7) The Catholic Bishops of the Philippines joined ranks in 2003 and the Episcopal Church began to explore participation, too. Our small faith community joined the festival four years ago - and I cherish the chance it gives us to move beyond anthropomorphism and all its subtle lies.

This week we are listening to the wisdom and gift of the forest in creation. One of the appointed texts is the start of the second creation narrative in Genesis 2. Two of the insights that have come to me in trusting the forest to be a font of holy wisdom include:

+ First, how the very enormity of our ancient, old growth forests teach me never to sentimentalize the heart of the Lord.  Encountering the forest in all its wild darkness is akin to Rudolf Otto's writing about the numinous as the mysterium tremendum et fascinans—a mystery before which we both tremble in awe and find ourselves fascinated by – a living reality of power outside of ourselves that both attracts and repels us. This mystery is simultaneously beautiful and terrifying. It is enormous and beyond our ability to comprehend.  And as the Psalmist and wisdom master of Proverbs reminds us, such fear is the beginning of all wisdom. Yirat Adonai, in Hebrew, is not a cringing or cowering fear, it is a respectful awareness of a power greater than our comprehension. Yirah – translated as fear – is much more about sacred devotion before the mystery of the holy. The Jewish sage, Maimonides, taught that “yirat was more a fear of greatness, analogous to respect for an exalted person, who would do us no harm. He categorized the fear of God as a positive commandment, as the feeling of human insignificance deriving from contemplation of God's "great and wonderful actions and creations.” I love entering the head of a forest but the rest terrifies me - with good reason - as the forest teaches us to take fear seriously.

+ Second, the forest and its trees are part of the Genesis 2 creation myth.  Most of the time when we read this story, the concentration is on Adam and Eve and sin. Some Biblical scholars, however, suggest that this is too self-absorbed. There is a larger story being told about the creation of the entire world. And what really grabbed me this week is where the story says that God made us all of the same substance to be part of the same family of care and awe. When God creates human beings it is not in isolation: no plants had yet been formed and no other life existed SO… God created humans from Earth’s fertile soil – from the same arable land that the plants will soon grow within – to nurture one another. Human beings, in this ancient creation story, are not only connected to plants by their nature and substance – humans from the hummus – but we have a shared vocation. 

 “The first mission God gives to humans, before the command to love the Lord or our neighbors, is to care for the plants. We are to till the garden, care for it, keep it and protect it."  How do we put it in the Ash Wednesday and funeral liturgy: ashes to ashes, dust to dust? Note that the dust from which we came and to dust we shall return in Hebrew is aphar or top soil. Now, if our first calling it is to care for creation’s plants, our second is to do so in a way that advances the image of God. Theodore Hiebert puts it like this: Our English words farm and till the ground again are incomplete. "The ancient Hebrew avad literally means to serve rendering caring for creation as a unique and compassionate partner." To live as a servant is the very core of Christian formation. Jesus is not subtle when he makes a connection between ripening in faith and servanthood. When asked by his disciples at the Last Supper, what then shall we do? Jesus replied: you will love one another as I have loved you. And the context for this command was the Maundy Thursday foot-washing.

While hiking in the woods - not the forest, mind you, but the woods - in Quebec recently, I came upon this:  a green man. It was on the way to a hidden water fall. The next day I came upon another.  Clearly, the time is now for me to honor with holy awe the way of the Lord as revealed in God's first word of creation.

 

jean d'arc and the sound of angels...

So I'm a grandpa for the second time. I used to think my own grandfathers were SOOO old back in the day. Not so much any more. My precious granddaughter decided to arrive early - seven weeks early - so we were all caught unawares. Isn't life grand? It is filled with reminders that we are not in control. Tonight I return thanks to God that all are well.

After a week in the hills of Quebec's Eastern Townships, sitting each morning in the late summer sun reading Scripture and letting it soak into my old heart, I feel rested. Dare I say focused, too?  Without Internet or smart phones, beyond any distractions but my own monkey mind, I found myself reading and re-reading these words from Jean Vanier:

God has given L’Arche as a gift to this particular time in history. Today, so much emphasis is put on technology, on scientific knowledge and on individual success that people, forgetting the importance of the heart and of faithful relationship, sink into depression and despair. Society often seeks to eliminate people who are weak, before their birth or through euthanasia, arguing that they are a nuisance and cost too much. Through L’Arche, God reminds us of the essential purpose of human life: out of love, we have been created to love. We are called to use all our energies and gifts to create a more just and loving society, where each person, whatever their culture, religion, abilities or disabilities, has a place. 

In an interview with Krista Tippett, Vanier noted that the best way of doing this consistently involves practicing the ten foot rule.  We can only really impact and touch those who are closest to us. Anxiety, fretting, fuming, and fussing about the wider world is not only a waste of time, but a bad use of the love God asks us to share with those we can really touch. We might pray and grieve for others, but then it is time get back to work and grow where we're planted. Clearly, that is one of the insights I am being asked to practice as this fall dawns. Vanier, in another essay, wrote:

Jesus invites his disciples not to seek importance or power, even for the sake of doing good to others, but rather to take the lowest place, to serve others like a slave. ‘God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly,’ says Mary in her Magnificat.

After Antonia's birth - and my time away in the sacred solitude - I started to sense that this will be a year where I am pushed towards owning more of this holy albeit hard humility.  For decades Leonard Cohen's song, "Joan of Arc" has reduced me to a pool of tears or ashes - now more so than ever before. And when Judy Collins renders this song - especially the lines "She said, I'm tired of the war, I want the kind of work I had before, A wedding dress or something white to wear upon my swollen appetite. Well, I'm glad to hear you talk this way, You know I've watched you riding every day. And something in me yearns to win such a cold and lonesome heroine. And who are you? she sternly spoke to the one beneath the smoke. Why, I'm fire, he replied, and I love your solitude, and I love your pride" - my heart almost stops beating. It is perfection. It breathes an invitation to surrender. Call it acquiescence or acceptance, if you like, but letting go to a greater mystery nonetheless is the request. 

I, too, am tired of the war - the inner war of striving - the outer war that must push and organize, cajole and encourage. It is clear that this has now become my season not simply to rest, but rather to be. To be real. To be loving. To be quiet. To be tender. To be present and engaged with those 10 feet around me. 

The first time I heard Judy Collins and her early 70's entourage add their unique chorus to Cohen's agonizing account of Jean d'Arc's surrender to the cruelty of the world, I heard the sound of angels breaking through the madness for a moment. They gave expression to the the holy promise of grace - and it was enough. It still is and captures exactly what my heart feels as I move ever downward.

Now the flames they followed Joan of arc
As she came riding through the dark;
No moon to keep her armor bright,
No man to get her through this very smoky night.
She said, I'm tired of the war,
I want the kind of work I had before,
A wedding dress or something white
To wear upon my swollen appetite.

Well, I'm glad to hear you talk this way,
You know I've watched you riding every day
And something in me yearns to win
Such a cold and lonesome heroine.
And who are you? she sternly spoke
To the one beneath the smoke.
Why, I'm fire, he replied,
And I love your solitude, and I love your pride.

Then fire, make your body cold,
I'm going to give you mine to hold,
Saying this she climbed inside
To be his one, to be his only bride.
And deep into his fiery heart
He took the dust of joan of arc,
And high above the wedding guests
He hung the ashes of her wedding dress.

It was deep into his fiery heart
He took the dust of Joan of arc,
And then she clearly understood
If he was fire, oh then she must be wood.
I saw her wince, I saw her cry,
I saw the glory in her eye.
Myself I long for love and light,
But must it come so cruel, and oh so bright?

I chose the one less traveled...

While in the Eastern Townships of Quebec on a recent vacation, a place I cherish, I visited Lac Brom (aka Knowlton), home of author Louise Penny. If you know her work, it involves Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, a Quebecois police officer, who solves mysteries in this unique neck of the words by listening carefully to all the clues and evidence, taking in the advice of all the necessary experts and then following the wisdom of his heart. In the local book store, I purchased a volume that began with a poem by Robert Frost. It expresses how I feel as I pause to hear the Holy Spirit speaking through the wisdom of my heart.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Two thoughts are at work in my heart tonight as this wee vacation comes to a close. First, I have some pastoral and artistic work here that needs closure. There are still people I have been called to love and accompany through grief and celebration. There are still some songs to sing and calluses to cultivate, too. Second, right around the corner, there is a new world of grand-parenting, writing, going with the bass groove to new places and connecting with the L'Arche community that is calling me towards the road less traveled. This year alone my precious Louie came too close to crossing over to question the sacred NOW. Anna, too. I must honor the beautiful, tender and sacred soul she is yet to become while I still have health and vigor to do so. This will be a full month of discernment to be sure.

thanksgiving eve...

After Bible study is done - and prayer is shared - there are still week's

when I wonder what should be shared on Sunday morning. The appointed texts are among my favorites - Isaiah 51, Romans 12 and Matthew 16 - and I have come to this conclusion: there is a clear but overlooked connection between being a living sacrifice (Romans) and becoming the rock upon which a new way of being is made flesh (Matthew.)

On THIS rock we build a community that embraces one another, cares for one another, refuses to let another drift into needless anguish or alienation. And what is this rock?  It is life shared from within the heart of our living God. This is the narrow gate that takes practice, time and commitment to embody. It is the way of being that celebrates, creates and treasures life rather than death. Some Biblical scholars are clear that the rock (petras) Jesus refers to in Matthew 16 is not Peter (Petros.) Petras is feminine and petros is masculine. On this we differ profoundly from our Roman Catholic sisters and brothers noting that Jesus was not claiming Peter to be the rock, but rather the community of faith (ekklesia) a word that is, indeed, feminine. It is the new community, inspired and filled with God's Spirit, that makes the life, love, compassion, justice and ethics of Jesus visible and flesh in the world not the Pope (no matter how much I cherish Francis.)

All week long I have pondered what musical expression best summarizes this truth?  After waking this morning at 5:30 am, it hit me: it has to be Bob Franke's Thanksgiving Eve.  And so it is.



NOTE:  We're off to the Eastern Townships in the morning and without Internet.  See you after Labor Day.

Cantons de l'Est, nous venons ici...

Sometimes you just can't help yourself:  as I'm starting to pack for the Eastern Townships, I'm searching madly for the CD "Paris Magnifique." You see, I'm a sucker pour les chanteuses françaises. In the small town of Austin, home base for the next 10 days, 87% of the 1,700 people are francophone. Small wonder that while I'm gathering up my jeans, I need to hear Mademoiselle Keren Ann offer up "Jardin d'Hiver."



There's something vaguely provocative about the way these women play with these songs. Nothing over the top, most of the time, and never crass. They're just evocative of love, broken hearts and a glass of great red wine. Julie Delpy's banjo grunge, "Je T'Aime Tant" is in a league all by itself. Not everyone's cup of tea, to be sure, but I am knocked out. 



As the packing continues, so do the songs: Cantons de l'Est, nous venons ici.

lies and truth in phoenix...

From time to time I refocus my reflections here to address the state of the union or a particularly encouraging or troubling event in our common life. With precious little ethical commentary taking place in the mainstream - and the current regime cranking out truly fake news and lies faster than even social media can cover it - I believe it is essential to periodically offer moral interpretations of the news. That is part of the charge given to "the people of the Book" as the Abrahamic traditions are sometimes called. Other faith traditions have comparable moral principles to evaluate politics, culture and economics, too and their insights are equally important in this age of social amnesia.

Last night's Presidential rant in Phoenix was particularly troubling both because of the ugly and unhinged nature of the speaker's spontaneous comments, and, because of his manipulation of truth. True to form, 45 plays to his base who despise and distrust what they call the "cosmopolitan cultural elite." He growls and struts, he taunts and insults, he lies and then calls his dishonesty the truth. Time and again last night, the President quoted himself in a highly edited form to augment his case that the elites are against him. And after lying repeatedly, he then attacked the media's credibility as well as their love of America. BBC News put it like this:

Spot the difference: Donald Trump has been talking about Charlottesville again... but is he leaving something out? http://www. bbc.com/news/av/world-us-ca

Dan Rather made this observation::

But why does he attack the press, as "bad people" who "don't like our country?" "Sick people?" Why does he say "the only people giving a platform to these hate groups is the media and the fake news?" CNN, the New York Times, and the Washington Post is the enemy. Fox News and Sean Hannity are the good guys.  his bombast is because the press is a check on power. The press is performing its constitutional responsibilities. The investigative reporting has drawn blood. 

The forces of political gravity that have tethered his agenda to reality

went unstated. So he attacks sanctuary cities. He touts a wall that is apparently being built, and over which he is willing to apparently shut down the government. He hinted at a pardon for the controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio. "Sheriff Joe can feel good." He keeps fighting the battle over health care, unable to let go of a stinging defeat. Over and over he said "one vote away..." fully conscious that one of those key votes that doomed his health care effort was the senior senator from Arizona, John McCain. "I won't mention any names. Very presidential." And then he attacked the junior senator from Arizona, Republican and Trump critic Jeff Flake, without mentioning his name either. But the tenor was clear. Mr. Trump was ready to attack any GOP senator who has the temerity to go against him. 

This was Trump as candidate, uncaged, unscripted, unabashed, and frankly unhinged. The crowd got to chant "lock her up" to the name of Hillary Clinton and cheer a president who claims that he has accomplished more than any president at this point in a term (never mind reality). He was playing to the home crowd. But there is a much bigger world out there, no matter the picture Mr. Trump may wish to paint.  

Clearly you can fool all of the people some of the time. But with only a 33% approval rating, the demagoguery of our befuddled and deceitful Commander in Chief continues to unravel.  Thousands of opponents have taken to the streets in peaceful protest.  My colleague in the local NAACP noted that the true take away from last Saturday's counter demonstration in Boston was:  Black people peacefully lead 40,000 people through the city to chase white supremacists out of public space! (check it out @ https:// www.facebook. com/NAACPBerkshires/posts/1423868604375428)

I see the presence of the Living God taking shape and form in those who call out Neo-Nazis and the Klan. As Americans, they have the right to hold unholy opinions but not the right to impose them upon others. And certainly never the right to have their prejudices go unchallenged. I give thanks to the Lord for my friends, family and colleagues who were in Charlottesville, Boston and Phoenix. Sounds like Amos 5 in spades!

O you that turn justice to wormwood,
and bring righteousness to the ground!
Seek good and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,
just as you have said.
Hate evil and love good,
and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 

Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
I will not look upon.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

eastern townships are coming into view...

The countdown towards time away in the Eastern Townships of Canada starts... NOW!  Louise Penny holds a book signing in Lac Brome, QC on Saturday so that means vacation part two is about to commence. (I will be leading worship one more Sunday this month so this event will be missed this year; but NEXT year in... well, not Jerusalem, but you get the drift.) The cottage in Austin is "rustic." All the necessary ingredients - running water, electricity, showers and potable water - but no Internet or phone. Not a bad way to spend 10 days at the end of the summer.

+ The better part of one day will surely be given over to Lac Brome Books. Check it out here @ https://bookmanager.com/1178946/

+ Another is likely to include l’Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac. Check it out @ http://abbaye.ca/index.php/fr/

+ And who could miss the Three Pines Inspirational Road Trip @http://

www.easterntownships.org/touristRoute/12/three-pines-inspirations-map-louise-penny

Right now the search is on for doggie Prosac. The vet provided a scrip, but none of the local pharmacies carry sedatives for pets. As some may recall, dear Lucie is a grand friend and gentle companion, but a total worry wort when in the car. Or in public. Or with strangers. Or with men. Or with children. Or when it rains. Or when it thunders. Or when music is played on the piano. The search is ON for a way to help this four legged travel with greater comfort. And for me, as this work week comes to a close, the clock is now officially ticking.

we create a cleavage when we want to do good things for people...

This simple quote from Jean Vanier of L'Arche has been my constant companion in meditation for the past week:

Can we accept people with disabilities as they are? When we want to change people, we have power. We have generosity. We have goodness. But we create a cleavage when we want to do good things for people.

 

More than any other writer - Nouwen, Rohr, Buechner or Norris combined - this quote captures the essence of living into the upside-down kingdom of God as expressed and celebrated by Jesus. It is the KEY to living into the "unforced rhythms of grace." It is HOW I can experience the "peace that passes all understanding." And it is the WAY to live with energy and verve - even in my brokenness - rather than the exhaustion that has so often haunted my life of faith. For almost 20 years, Peterson's reworking of Matthew 11:28-30 has spoken to me:

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.

Two years ago on sabbatical, I discovered how tired I was. Exhausted. Some have even suggested burned out. I slept and slept and slept. At first, I blamed the ministry, but that was only partially true. Then I took aim at the church, but the Body of Christ was not the real culprit. No, I was raised on a gospel of doing: if I wasn't actively trying to fix something - or help someone - or solve some social issue, I was wasting my time and God's love. Yes, there is a call to sabbath rest. Of course, I knew all about quiet time and the Psalmist's song to "be still and know that I am God." But apparently, I didn't believe it. That is, trust it. So, I had to run out of gas in every conceivable way before I was open to hearing what Jesus was actually teaching - and why it is the fount of every blessing.

Vanier cuts to the chase: not only do we create a cleavage by all our striving, but we wear ourselves out, too.  This past week as we spent time caring for our beloved grandson, my only job was to love this little soul. Not fix him when he was hurting. Not try to replace his momma or poppa when he was missing them. And certainly not try to change anything about this precious boy who is bright, compassionate, witty and oh so loving. No, my gift from God was just to love him. Be present with him. Cherish him as he is - and it was glorious. Full, demanding and sacred - and glorious.

So so it is with living into the wisdom of Christ: be real - be present - and do it from your heart. "All of us," Vanier writes, "have a secret desire to be seen as saints, heroes, martyrs. We are afraid to be children, to be ourselves.” The way of striving is exhausting. Love is so much easier - and so much better.

returning thanks...

We are in Brooklyn tonight to be supportive of our loved ones about a month early. Seems our granddaughter knew best and arrived five weeks early. Momma and baby are doing well and resting.  Poppa and Louie are starting to grasp how the world has shifted.More news at it unfolds over the next few days. For the time being, we get to love them all, care for Louie when poppa is busy, and hold them all in our loving prayers. 

Tonight I give thanks to God, great doctors, loving children and precious grandchildren. How do my Jewish colleagues put it?  Dayenu?  Indeed...