Reflections on Memorial Day

It’s amazing to me just how much of life is spent on automatic pilot; walking about heedless of the people we are with, the needs and opportunities of the day, and reacting to situations on the basis of long held habits that require no reflection or personal investment. They are deemed appropriate simply because we have conformed to them for so long. They ‘feel’ right, whether they are or not.

As we approach Memorial Day, it occurs to me that we approach holidays in this manner. We readily remember the pleasurable aspect of these special days – the picnics, recreation time, ball games, and often spirits of one sort or another – but so easily forget the reason these days were consecrated – or set apart from other days – in the first place.

I suggest that we make an effort to be fully present this Memorial Day; to remember and hold in honor those who gave their lives in our defense. This is, after all, what Memorial Day is about: reflecting on the nature of freedom and its price, and offering blessings for those who have served in our defense. In my estimation, one of the gravest mistakes of the Viet Nam era was blaming the troops for a war many abhorred. They were not to blame for the war, but were treated as if they were when they came home. I suggest we remember the difference between the individuals who serve and the ends to which their commitment is employed. Most serve out of love of country and family, and serve nobly. They need our blessing, they need our thanks, and they need our renewed efforts to resolve the strife they are forced to engage in a peaceful manner. This Memorial Day I will give thanks for those who have gone before us in defense of freedom; and I will pray for the day when their services are no longer needed.

An Act of Living

Psalm 103 begins with a well known encouragement to prayer and praise, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.” As I sat reflecting on this psalm during my Lenten prayer time, I was struck by that simple phrase – all that is within me – and couldn’t help but wonder if I have ever praised God in such an inclusive and exuberant manner. In fact, I can’t help but wonder if I know what the phrase means.

It might be understood to suggest giving it all I’ve got, or as so many are fond of saying, giving it 110%, whatever that means. In this case, such praise would involve an exuberance of emotion: singing with the loudest voice, generating the most energy and intensity, or even losing myself in the moment. To be honest, I find it hard to imagine that such all inclusive praise refers to the form, style, and manner of worship. At least I hope it doesn’t, because the praise to which I am drawn is not so much an act of worship as an act of living.

I have a sense that abandoning myself to God’s praise at its heart means honoring God in the way I live my life …all of my life. This begins with the clay vessel God has molded; my body. The flesh, to use Biblical language, is often thought of as incidental at best or evil at worst. Either it has no bearing on things spiritual, or it is a detriment to the spiritual life that must be overcome. But we are not living souls waiting to escape the earthen shells in which they have been imprisoned. Rather, we are living beings – body, mind, and soul molded as one – and as Barbara Brown Taylor has said, matter matters to God. More times than not, God is present to us through the physical – through sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch – and not despite it.

So if I really want to bless God with all that is within me, I should begin by reverencing my own body, which God cared enough to create, and the bodies of others as well. God cares for my health, and I should honor God by caring for the health of others as well as my own. God cares for my hunger, and I should honor God by caring for the hunger of others as well as my own. God cares for my personal well being, and I should honor God by caring for the personal well being of others as well as my own.

There are, of course, other aspects of blessing God with all that is within me; but if I can learn to honor and attend to life in the flesh, and attune myself to the presence of God in and through it; that might be a good start.

A Few Thoughts on Blogging

There is no question that blogging has captured the imagination of our computer savvy culture. A litany of links to related blogs is part and parcel of most popular web sites, and the fast track to cool seems to involve having a blog of one’s own. Thus, when the suggestion was made that I start my own blog I responded, “Sure, why not? I can do that.”

 

I can do that, but upon reflection I am not sure I want to continue blogging, at least not in its current form. As I read more and more blogs, I find a pattern emerging. There is a rush to respond to the political, religious, or cultural “fire” of the day, which results in the publication of many hasty interpretations and tenuous conclusions. And in place of a reasoned perspective, the author depends on her or his ideology to fill in any missing pieces.  Thus, in many instances blogging devolves into nothing more than ideological spin. 

 

This disturbs me. My study, training, and experience through the years have taught me to resist what I call the 3D’s: Dogma, Dilettantism, and Divisiveness.  In this formula, Divisiveness involves driving wedges into the heart of community through prejudice, bigotry, racism, and the like. Dogma, of course, represents the insistence that “I” am right; period… end of story. This, too, drives wedges that divide the world into right and wrong, black and white, worthy and beneath contempt; with nothing in between. A friend of mine claims that the following statement well illustrates a dogmatic attitude, “Don’t bother me with facts, my mind is made up.” This leaves Dilettantism; that is, dabbling in a topic, an endeavor, or an attitude; barely penetrating the surface of an issue and claiming, nevertheless, to be well versed; an authority qualified to render judgment.

 

In my estimation, blogging can easily become a platform for Dogma and Divisiveness, and is by nature susceptible to Dilettantism. So I, for one, will resist the tendency to pronounce hastily on issues of the day, lest my personal bias and naiveté surface unchecked in my thoughts. I will continue to blog; but only when I have a perspective worth sharing with others. Are these observations on blogging worth sharing? You be the judge.

Gaudete

When I was a child I had the reputation among family & friends of always being first to the tree at the break of dawn on Christmas morning.  It didn’t matter if I slept furthest from the bedroom door; at the first sound of stirring I was up – walking over beds, brothers, and anything else in my path – to see what awaited me under the tree.  At some point, as every child knows, there’s been enough waiting, and it’s time to get on with it! 

 

I feel that way now.  We are mid way through Advent, and despite making efforts to minimize my participation in the frenzy of the season, my time and energy have been leveraged, and I want nothing more than to leap ahead to Christmas.  But that would be a mistake. Precisely because I have been leveraged, I have loads of spiritual preparation to do before I’m ready to welcome the Christ child in a meaningful way.  I need time to pray, time to meditate, time to let the light of Christmas search out, illumine, and challenge the dark corners of my spirit. 

 

This, it occurs to me, is where Gaudete Sunday can help.  Gaudete, that traditional Sunday on which we focus on joy, pull out all the stops, and anticipate the angels’ chorus and the shepherds’ heart song.  Perhaps a pause in the frantic schedule to anticipate the joy of Christmas can inspire and empower me – and you – to take the time to prepare for Christmas.  It would certainly be worth the effort.  So I offer a prayer for Gaudete Sunday:

 

Like children on Christmas Eve we find it hard to contain our excitement; the anticipation of joyful things to come!  We peer around the corner of Advent to spy out what awaits us at the end of night; no mere babe wrapped in mother’s arms, but the very Light of day to enlighten our spirits and guide us on our way.  So on this day of Gaudete – joy upon joy – we adore you O God, Emmanuel.  Amen.

 

 

 

Grace & Gratitude

For some people, Thanksgiving is merely a place holder, the last obligatory holiday observance before Christmas.  Get it out of the way and it’s smooth sailing.  Do you feel this way?  I used to, because I loved Christmas so much I couldn’t wait to get started, and I knew I couldn’t really rev it up until after Thanksgiving.  In addition, I’ve never been much on civil religion, and Thanksgiving has long been called the principal holy day of American civil religion.  Don’t get me wrong; I’m grateful to be an American, and am appreciative of the bounty with which we have been blessed.  But I’m not sure civil religion – which in my estimation is a pale imitation of full bodied faith – is grateful for anything.  It seems to take many things for granted, and to spend much of its time expounding the virtues of the country rather than the God who watches over it.  It spends far too much time pointing out the worthiness of our country vis-à-vis all others, and claiming God’s sanction for its actions, however far they may stray from a path God might recognize.  As Abraham Lincoln might express it, civil religion seeks to make sure God is on its side, rather than making sure it is on God’s side. 

 

However that may be, I’ve changed my attitude toward Thanksgiving over the years, primarily because I’ve been able to relate it to my Christian faith in a satisfactory way.  And that link has to do with the relationship between grace and gratitude. 

 

They’re related, you know, grace and gratitude.  As words they are derived from the same root, and are equally close theologically as well.  According to Eugene Boring & Fred Craddock, for example, “…there can be no awareness of grace without gratitude,” and, “No gratitude without an awareness of grace.”  If this is true, the gratitude of Thanksgiving and the grace of Christmas are also linked; and if we want to taste the boundless grace that God offers us at Advent and Christmas, perhaps we should pause to express our gratitude. 

 

Gratitude for what? you ask.  Gratitude springs from awareness of having been gifted; of being on the receiving end of something good.  A gratitude inspired by God’s grace, therefore, will recognize that all we have, all we are, are the gifts of grace.  Each and every day is a gift to be cherished and lived fully; and as every child knows, gifts are to be shared with others.  So as we gather with family and friends on Thanksgiving, let’s take the time to thank God, and to share the gracious bounty God has provided.  In short, let’s be civil to everyone. 

November 4, 2008: Memo to Our Next President

It’s now almost 2:00 pm on Election Day, and I feel a sense of limbo.  The frantic pace of campaign ads and news has ceased, Americans in record numbers are voting even as I peck away at my computer keyboard, and now there is nothing to do … but wait.  I have my favorite, of course, and I really want him to win.  But regardless of the outcome of the election, I have hopes and dreams for our country; challenges that will face our next president, whoever he may be.

 

I hope and dream of an America without polarization; that great divide that has separated our people for too long, paralyzing our efforts to offer equality, justice, and opportunity for all.  Please recognize, Mr. soon-to-be President, that ultimately it is not issues that suffer from partisan politics, religious and philosophical ideology, and dogmatic intransigence. Rather, it is people, a large swath of our society, who suffer needlessly while waiting on us to make decisions that will seal their fates.  The New Testament Gospel writer Matthew liked to refer to these unfortunates as the least of these.  We argue endlessly about the nature and extent of their rights, all the while missing the essential message of Jesus of Nazareth; to wit, don’t ask what they deserve, but only what they need.  Will you do this, Mr. soon-to-be President?

 

I hope and dream as well of a truly post-racial culture that not only recognizes but celebrates the strengths of diversity and variety.  Many await the outcome of this election in fear that should the wrong man win, there will be a violent outcry from extremist groups who cling to the notion of racial (sic) superiority.  Others fear that should the wrong man win, minorities will sense their place in our society diminished, with equally violent results.  I fear that we will continue to see our society through ethnically divisive eyes – black, white, brown, or other – creating chasms from the accidents of nature ; identifying with “my people,” and my people only; limiting the reach of reason and compassion to the circle of those who look, think, and act “like me.”  Mr. soon-to-be President, you will not represent an ethnic majority or minority when you swear the oath of office; rather, you will represent “we the people” in all its brilliant diversity. Will you represent all of us, Mr. soon-to-be President?

 

I have hopes and dreams for our country, and tomorrow will not be too soon to breathe life into them.  We will look to you, Mr. soon-to-be President, to lead us toward such dreams.  Will you?

All Saints … All the Saints Together

Our faith community will observe All Saints Day on Sunday, November 2.  All Saints, of course, has been observed among Christians for centuries, and has been observed in so many forms that it can be confusing.  Thus, I would like to reflect on how we celebrate All Saints in our little corner of the Protestant world.

 

We have no process of canonization in our tradition, thus, All Saints is but loosely bound to the Catholic tradition of recognizing those individuals canonized by the Catholic Church.  The New Testament recognizes all believers as Saints, so we will recognize those who have gone before us, and on whose shoulders we stand.  All Saints, for us, is somewhat like a Christian Memorial Day, but with a twist.

 

All Saints is about community and unity; and on this day we try to recognize the unity that exists among all Christians, and to recognize that our practicing community includes far more than those individuals gathered for worship.  Those we have loved and lost, those who helped to mold our spiritual lives, those who have made sacrificial contributions to the body of Christ … all of these are recognized on All Saints day; recognized, remembered, honored, and loved. 

Faith and Partisan Politics

I continue to be surprised and concerned by voices coming from all over – print media, emails, blogs, word of mouth… you name it! – insisting that any true Christian will vote for ________ (fill in the blank) in the upcoming election. 

 

If this election is a litmus test of faith I have only one thing to say; count me out!  The faith I know through Jesus the Christ has no litmus tests, and certainly not the arrogance and audacity to insist that only those who think like me are truly Christian.  We need to come to an understanding of what humility and cooperation mean. We need to come to an understanding of what an election means …and what it doesn’t mean. 

 

“We the people” will decide the upcoming election without divine intervention or endorsement.  Jim Wallace got it right when he affirmed that God is neither a Republican nor a Democrat.  To that I would add that God is certainly not in the business of “fixing” elections or holding doom and gloom over our heads should we fail to anoint God’s “chosen candidate.”  As I said, “We the people” will decide the upcoming election, and because of the wonderful freedom we enjoy – freedom that stems directly from our Christian faith and tradition – each of us will be able to vote our conscience without fear of reprisal or rejection.  I encourage you to vote your conscience and not to let anyone (including me) dictate what your conscience says.