Unthinking, unfeeling "Christians"

Once again, I'm reminded that there are those who claim to follow the Prince of Peace, by flaming the fires of hate, bigotry and war! Yes, I just read about a fundamentalist church planning to burn the Quran on their church property, no doubt claiming it is an act of free speech, totally oblivious to the harm they put US troops in, and probably without a thought to how outraged they would be if militant Muslim in another part of the world burned a Bible.

Seriously, how can one claim to be a disciple of Jesus and blatantly disregard the teachings of the Master? How can so called educated Westerners continue to act like backwater bumpkins whose only concern is how to make themselves look more foolish and stupid, no matter who will pay the price? Perhaps the members of said "church," and I use the word loosely, should be conscripted en mass and sent to the Taliban infested areas of Afghanistan to serve right along side the very troops they are willing to jeopardize to inflame anti-US and anti-Christian sentiment.

It is truly time for Christians to practice the teachings of the Master, not the genocidal rantings of a people bent on conquest and annihilation. I realize the Jewish people of any day are as varied as any other group, but their history through the biblical account is one of war, to conquer the Promised land by wiping out those who were there before them, or as other groups sought to conquer them. I've had very good and close friends who were Jewish that are as baffled as most of the rest of us about the continued settling of Palestinian lands even while the rhetoric of peace is bandied about in political circles.

God is God for all, where called Great Spirit, the Almighty, Allah, or some other name. God is bigger than our human tendencies to try to cramp the Creator into a box and label it ours and ours alone. No human camp of thought or belief holds a monopoly on God. It is time we grew up, recognized our similarities and use them to improve this planet we were given as a home, to be stewards of, caretakers, co-creators with God Almighty, sisters and brothers with the Prince of Peace.

Peace!

Dad: The Second Time of Saying Farewell

I'll try this again! I wrote this earlier and the computer somehow deleted it. Dad, are you channeling again?

We got home from work the day before our weekend began, and soon after my wife's sister called to say their father had died peacefully after a morning of good spirits and humorous interaction with the staff of his nursing home. We actually worked that night, and everyone was very supportive, with the store manager telling us we could have 3 days of bereavement leave if needed - and we took them up on it to follow our weekend.

We flew to Idaho on Thursday, offered our support and comfort to Mom, and I prepared to do the service - having learned from my beloved that my earlier offer to do the service, they refused because they thought it would be to difficult for me to do. I drew on my years of experience as a pastor, memories of my interactions with her Dad and how he helped me get through my seminary theology courses and gave insights while I was actively pastoring churches.

Our son, daughter-in-law, and grandson arrived very early Friday morning and we got some quality time with our grandson, Justin Lee. Our daughter and son-in-law arrived later Friday, and we got good time with them as well. Two of my wife's cousins came with their spouses and some good sharing happened with them as well.

The service was a mix of the serious and the humorous, using a couple of Dad's pet phrases - "Where have you been?" to start the service, "We're off like a dirty shirt." when the service was over. It caused some memories of my own father's funeral, and memories of my interactions with Mary's dad through the years.

One of the most amazing things about this man born in 1914 was his amazing openness to new insights and new science within his faith expression - open to the beginning of inclusive language shown in the beginning of table grace, "We thank thee, our Father, our Mother . . ." and his willingness to welcome persons traditionally shunned or persecuted by the church. If only more could learn to be more like Dad!

So, Dad, farewell, until we meet again! Because I have no doubt we will see one another again!

Peace!

Be Yourself

I've been a pastor for 31 years, I've been through several searches - the process of finding a church to serve - and have tried several times to read profiles of churches and find a way to be what they are looking for because they were an appealing to me. My track record? Not all that good from the point of view of how long I've been places. But from the point of view of what I was able to accomplish, well that's another story until the last two. The churches grew by about 30%, attendance increased, and new programs were added or dead programs revived. In the last two churches, well, perhaps the best way to look at it is that we - the church and I - failed to clearly communicate with one another about what our expectations and our willingness to change.

I firmly believe the Christian Church actually needs to change dramatically to continue to exist in any meaningful manner. The pattern of existence from half a century ago will not help the church live into the future, nor will it help the world to find a better path to living peacefully and justly. Part of that change is the need for members to connect once more with the early church pattern of each member finding their particular gift(s) and then actively using that gift(s) to help the community, which will then help the particular congregation grow. I've even heard of churches that have done this that actually intentionally, amiably separated to create additional congregations more closely connected with the communities from which they drew members. Some church growth experts speak of satellite congregations connected under a founding church where closed circuit television allows a single pastor to preach to a variety of congregations using different worship styles and focused on a slightly different manner of carrying out their mission.

I've recently video taped a sermon trying to fit what one church might have wanted. I sent them the disk and never heard back from them until the disk returned. I'm preparing to do another and have decided that I will do this one as I have become comfortable delivering the message. As a colleague from Iowa (now in Wisconsin) said, "I'm [sixty] years old! I don't have to apologize for what I know, or what I believe." I will continue to try to learn, to adapt, but I really don't need to be like the religious leaders of Jesus' time trying to fit into the political realities to the point of losing who I am from my faith perspective; rather I need to remain true to my faith, and seek to find ways that will help others understand my beliefs, as well as trying to understand theirs.

If persons of faith can learn to respectfully live with one another without declaring only one stated set of beliefs are true, I believe we can start learning that the Divine has come repeatedly to help us try to understand what we CAN be. We need to learn to see the person behind the beliefs, to see the child of the divine rather than an enemy to be conquered, subjugated, converted.

Perhaps by sharing, we can begin to learn from one another.

Peace!