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September 5, 2004 - Year C - Pentecost +14
Wesley White
September 5, 2004
Jeremiah 18:1-11 or Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 or Psalm 1
Philemon 1-21
Luke 14:25-33
Life is malleable. There are choices to be made and remade. Who we are and who we might become become places of searching out meaning upon meaning. We ask and ask again about freedom and constraint and how one impacts the other that there might be freedom present in every constraint and choices freely made bring with them constraints upon next steps.
It is not just a matter of "making disciples of Jesus Christ" but of aiding folks to reevaluate what is important and what isn't - what will be built and where. This is a week to put down some of the speculating we do and to clarify the decisions before us and respond to them.
Wesley White
Luke 14:25-33
This section is not much different than what is reported about cultic behavior in general - a narrowing of perception to see only the chosen one. There is no cost too large to pay to be a disciple. Folks are put in the position of suing for peace from a larger, controlling ruler.
I know that discipleship is a huge issue in the history of the church and still today when folks call for solidarity in faith or patriotism or whatever.
I do wonder, however, as the Republican Convention convenes (not that it is any different in kind, perhaps only in degree, of any other cultic behavior) and congregations continue, whether or not it would make a difference for us to be disciples together rather than disciples of one mediator or another.
What would it cost to move out of the discipleship mode and into spiritual maturation mode. There seem to be some built-in measuring rods for disciples. You either measure up to some authorized rule that sets a limit on behavior or not. Maturing in the faith measures folks against their past, leaving an open future for growth.
Here we might be encouraged to claim all our gifts rather than turn them over to a particular end. My hunch is that the vitality of Christianity being called to ever greater acts of mercy and healing than Jesus did is better served in a maturational model opening a new way than the discipleship model that tends to set limits on what is or is not acceptable for a disciple.
What is the choice that appears to be present in the passage for you?
Wesley White
Philemon 1-21
The New Interpreter's Study Bible notes: "The traditional interpretation of this letter is that is is an intercession that Paul wrote to an irate slave master on behalf of his repentant runaway slave. Nowhere, however, does the letter suggest that Onesimus 'belongs to' Philemon. Nowhere does Paul refer to Philemon as a 'lord' or a 'master.' The weight of the identification of Onesimus as a slave falls to v. 16a: 'Receive him no longer as a slave, but more than a slave.' the key word in this verse, however, is not 'slave' but 'as,' which indicates a virtual and not an actual state of affairs. Paul uses the word with precisely this sense in the next verse when he exhorts Philemon to receive Onesimus 'as [you would receive] me.'"
It all depends on what you mean by "as."
As we come to Labor Day we may well ask about those virtual slaves known as laborers (white and blue collar) in today's economy. Note that our lives are not our lives but simply resources for the larger, impersonal, invisible hand of the economy molding our expectations and enforcing our limits.
Paul does write about the principalities and powers to which we are enslaved and so we might want to chat some more about how easily we make up stories, anecdotes about individuals in order to avoid looking at the real "lord and master" of our time - the economy. May this personal letter help us better question what is really going on in people's lives.
Wesley White
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 or Psalm 1
Conventions have a way of bringing out the least in people. It is as though folks think that they are opaque to the Holy that searches and knows them through and through. This is true in terms of political conventions or any convention. Whether political or not, "an established technique, practice, or device" stands between ourselves and the complexity of realities around us. It is a way in which we can avoid questions and appeal to the lowest common denominator - that which everyone knows and thus no one knows.
So what conventions do these psalms bring to us. There is the convention of an all-knowing God who sees through us and rewards with water to prosper us for getting in line with God's never-changing way and penalizes us with an ill-wind for being out of line with same.
What conventions are you propagating; what conventions are you rebutting? Here is one of the better wrestlings with cliches, even though there are some grammaticals in its transcription.
May we all do better in our wrestling with the conventions around us that hem us in and keep us from recognizing larger choices to be made.
Wesley White
Jeremiah 18:1-11 or Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Choose life. Throw that pot again.
Fire the pot and create an idol.
Between these two poles we find the choice of life that are approached rather humbly because their results can never be predicted.
Keep reworking the clay and never get to the investment of life that brings life.
A thing of beauty is a joy forever and closer than beauty we cannot get to GOD.
So, do your best to make some progress. It will be enough to choose as well as you can based on learning from your past and amending your current ways to better move toward wholeness tomorrow. In so doing we assist GOD in changing course. Mysteriously, it is GOD who assist us in so doing.
Wesley White
Jeremiah 18:1-11 or Deuteronomy 30:15-20
When the United Methodist Church looks in the mirror, it ain't pretty!
We see the age spots of regressive theology,
And the wrinkles of deteriorating hope.
We see the scars of division,
And the unsightly bags of tired, sagging disputes.
We see the hunched shoulders of endless exclusions,
And the warts of legalism.
Oh my, the church is in need of an
Extreme Makeover!
Join the CoMotion and let God get under your skin.
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Kairos CoMotion 2005
Extreme Makeover Conference: A New Look for Ourselves, the Church and God
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Lake Street United Methodist Church
337 Lake Street
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
We have invited Rita Nakashima Brock to help with our transformation.
Using Dr. Brock's book, Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us we will put a new face on the Christian doctrine of the Atonement.
= = = = = = =
We do hope to see many of you at our one day, regional events. You can go to our Kairos CoMotion website for more information.
Here is a paragraph from our textbook for this event that has connections with this pericope:
"Love is neither transcendence nor undifferentiated union. Love is the wisdom of life that knows when connection can heal and when separation will make life flourish. Love is the capacity to use the powers of holding on and letting go in the service of life. Love is capable of detachment as well as empathy, differentiation as well as union, hierarchy as well as mutuality. Love the guardian of powers. Love directs the use of specific powers, in response to particular circumstances, for the sake of creating, sustaining, or healing life. In every situation, love asks, 'What will serve life?' This means human love comes from a growing wisdom about life itself. If one wants to love, it is life that one must seek to fully know. To love is to choose life."
Wesley White
Philemon 1-21
We can not only read this letter as one sent to Philemon, but to Apphia, Archippus, and those whole house church as well. How does this letter sound when heard from the position of congregational disturbance and people leaving, as did Onesimus, for whatever reason.
This is not so much an issue of forgiveness or everyone coming to the same position. It is about the issue of community and how the various gifts do need to live together to be effective. The loss of one is a loss for all. We might also raise this same question now that the political conventions are over and the parties and individuals are not willing to forgive or be on the same page - how might we continue together with all the rough edges without cutting one another or our own spiteful nose?
We so easily leave one another behind as heretics and traitors. This letter calls us to welcome one another. One might say this is the political advice of Paul to a family where one has taken off for a far country. How do we welcome folks home without automatically consigning them to a second-class citizenship or embarrassing them or saying, "I told you so"?
When we are not ready to become a prodigal parent how can we expect another prodigal to healthily come into our presence? Thank you Paul for simply reminding us of our "duty" that we are partners, one with another and with GOD and when we sue to dissolve such a partnership or run away we harm ourselves and all. [Note: this is not an appeal to remain in an abusive situation. It is an attempt to look beyond our current realities to transform all aspects of our relationships.]
Wesley White
Luke 14:25-33
A website worth checking is Spirituality and Health (also subscribing to their magazine). Eventually they will have the October 2004 issue up with the column by Thomas Moore, A Fresh Look at Jesus: When faith and belief wrestle with Zen spirit, everybody wins .
In the column, Thomas looks at the last word of verse 33 in the greek (transliterated as "mathete") and translates it as "student" instead of the traditional "disciple."
He goes on to say, "To become a student of Jesus, for me, is to open a way for him to become more, not less, important in my life" and to raise a question based on the definition of "disciple" that turns it into "believer", "What happens when I see myself as a student rather than a believer?"
He goes on to suggest that the "disciple" language leads us to Christendom and Christianity while the "student" approach focuses on the life and teachings of Jesus in our lives.
Are we willing to count the cost of being a student of Jesus in a culture that focuses overmuch on being a disciple. In the latter case our devotion to discipleship attaches itself to a master, repeating the model ad infinitum. In the former case we are able to learn the more of greater things than Jesus, as per his instruction. And, having counted the cost are we willing pay it?
September 12, 2004 - Year C - Pentecost +15
Wesley White
September 12, 2004
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 or Exodus 32:7-14
Psalm 14 or Psalm 51:1-10
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Luke 15:1-10
What are we going to do with the losers in life? How about only half-losers? Those who only intermittently stumble? The practically perfect?
Teachers falter, students fail. Doctors misdiagnose, artists betray their own medium. Politicians are beholden, broadcasters lie.
Do we consign them to the consequences of their own behavior? Do we yet see who they may become? Do we chase them down or cut bait?
What opportunities will this week bring to show mercy and how will we respond to them?
Wesley White
Luke 15:1-10
There is an old question about whether or not there is enough evidence to convict us as a student of Jesus? That is not always a helpful way to find out if we are continuing to grow in faith, hope, and love as much of life is unmeasurable. However it does give a jumping off place to have us listen in about what grumbling is going on regarding our living.
In this passage the issue is Jesus' associating with those convicted by the community as sinners.
In your life the issue is your participation in __________.
Does that change day by day and so you can't identify anything? Is there a repeating pattern that helps you see where your gift of prophecy is being applied? Clarity about this matter is important as it points us in the direction of our call or use of our gifts.
Thank you grumblers against me. You have aided my journey. I can be more diligent in searching for that which brings joy in another (sheep/sinner) and for myself (poor/sinner).
Having given thanks, it is back to the search - the journey.
Wesley White
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Paul claims he received mercy because he didn't know what he was doing (of course he "knew," in fact he was the initiator of the plan he was carrying out). It seems he didn't know the unintended consequences or a larger picture in which to put his experience. Violence seemed the surest way to his desired end and so he followed it. (Yes, there are probably recent repeats of this with the terrorism of strategic and tactical uses of violence within and against communities. You can begin counting the ways.)
The reason for pushing this a little is that we tend to want to give a justification, at least to ourselves, for why someone received mercy, when, if it were left to us, they would still be without it.
What are we going to do with an intentional violator rather than an ingnorant one? Are they still worth mercy or being sought after? Are we going to claim the neediness of some is so great that there is not enough grace to fill them to overflowing and thus to a new way of living?
I suspect there is not really all that much difference between being grateful for a smidgeon of mercy or a passel of grace. Even though we want to play the schmaltz game and claim that the bigger the grace the bigger the thanks, it may simply be that maturing a little at a time or in a big jump is of relatively little consequence or that thanks is simply thanks whether now or later or big or small.
It may be sufficient to simply know that mercy and grace have occurred and can yet occur. With this awareness we are able to speed our acceptance of them and respond with increased wisdom.
Wesley White
Psalm 14 or Psalm 51:1-10
Let's see, God is with the company of the righteous 99 and not with the wandering corrupt 1.
The wandering corrupt 1 calls out for mercy that would find their heart cleansed from the past and brought back to a place where the future can still be enjoyed.
Will that bleat for mercy make it through the hubbub of praiseful adorers?
As partners with GOD, how will we hear the moan of 1 while patting one another on the back for being part of the chosen who tie GOD to ourselves? How deliberate can we be in listening for the whimpers and mutters of invisible folk who at best might be in the gutters? Won't that intention stain and strain the company of the righteous? And, yet, remembering our own lives, how might we offer a mercy we have received to any and all others?
Wesley White
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 or Exodus 32:7-14
Jeremiah (v28) "I have spoken, I have purposed; I have not relented nor will I turn back."
Exodus (v14) "And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people."
What is your sense about today. Is there a "Moses" around (might it be a reluctant and yet forthright "you") that will put our losing actions in a larger context? Are things going to play out the way they are going to play out, "Moses" or no "Moses", "you" or no "you"?
Can a vote and participation in a democratic process be seen as an appeal to avoid utter disaster? Was Dick Chaney accurate that a vote for anyone other than himself and his party is a vote for guaranteed disaster and thus playing the role of the Lord in the passage from Jeremiah?
Can speaking to folks and writing letters to the editor bring a new perspective on how our decisions and behaviors will be seen by the "Egyptians" (or the "enemy" of the day)?
The way we envision the movement of history, able to change or immutable, shapes our responses to the opportunities we have. If we claim to be in the presence of a living and loving (therefore, changing?) GOD this will guide our responses in a way different from the opposite claim of an unchanging God (who "lives" and "loves" attending only to their own prior and internal determinations).
So, which GOD would you want to find you or your loved one when you have strayed? Which would you want to find an enemy of yours? Are they the same GOD? Does this explain our reluctance to repent or urge to revenge?
Wesley White
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Did the lost sheep enter into the joy of the shepherd? Did the lost coin enter into the joy of the woman? When mercy is present, is joy present for both the giver and the receiver of mercy?
Was the sheep worth the effort? Joy says, "Yes". Was the coin worth the effort? Joy says, "Yes". Was Paul worth the effort? Joy says, "Yes". Are you worth the effort? Joy says, "Yes".
Did each of these need to be deeply and densely lost in the woods before the joy kicked in? Why does it seem that the more difficult the finding, the more abundant the joy?
What is the interrelationship between finder and lost? Is it focused on the third-party angels with the finder and lost simply being players upon their stage?
I'm sure (though often wrong in that surety) that we do not have to abase ourselves further to make the finding of ourselves all the more significant. To this end, how might a doxology look from the 21st century that does not posit a far off God lording it over us, to whom we must be grateful serfs?
I'm stuck in the task of updating a doxology and would be glad to hear of some models.
Wesley White
Luke 15:1-10
When we wander
This link looks at how far different groups of lost people wander from their last known point. We might try applying that model to the work of the church trying to locate the lost. What criteria do you think would be important for tracking folks down?
Supposing that we might develop a model for finding lost folks (whether or not they are already church members and regularly attending worship), this article suggests that this kind of probability setting works half the time (in a quarter of instances folks wander farther than expected and another quarter don't get that far).
Still this holds out hope that we might do a better job of finding folks (and thus being more joyful, more of the time).
We would still need to figure out what to do with folks after they are found and how to go about a search the next time they are lost (this is a life-long process of periodically being lost from others and from ourselves).
There is another old saw that suggests that if you find yourself lost, just sit tight so a patterned search can find you. There may indeed be lots of lost folks just sitting around waiting to be found, but my suspicion is that a dynamic net will do better with what I take to be more the case - active lost folks looking for their own way out. How do we better travel together so the last time we looked and noticed someone missing doesn't get to be such a long time and their distance from us not exponentially increase over time?
These issues are are important in an easily fractured world where the religious "let's go back" folks and the religious "let's go on" folks seem to draw further apart from one another. How do we find our common joy of finding and being found? How do we find our common joy? period.
Wesley White
It is probably worth noting, in the previous article, that there are times we go searching for a lost person and it turns out they are not lost.
We probably need to do some significant work on our definition of "lost." We may be barking up the wrong tree in this and many other instances. Being sure is not a substitute for being real.
Phil Hardy
"Things" get lost. It is the nature of life. Relationships, hopes, possibilities, passion for living. In the church arena where we are prone to speak of lost "souls" it is instead the "soul" of the church which may be in danger of getting lost in the clutter of small thinking, narrow proclamations of the Kingdom and an unhealthy obsession with protecting ourselves.
We might do well to announce in our Calls to Worship an invitation to re-encounter that which has been lost in each of us.
Wesley White
Phil -
Great idea. I'd appreciate seeing a model for this. I was currently tracking down the start of Sunday School as a focus for an invitation to our gathering.
My first thought is to recognize we gather as folks who are less than we might be as we have lost parts of ourselves. We rub parts away from one another with our expectations and we ignore parts of ourselves to please others. And yet we gather in expectation that we might recognize and reclaim our loss.
This leads me to questions about whether this is an announcement, a common report said in unison, a call and response, or a drama. Each of these would call for different language and structure. My own questions stymie me and so a model will really be helpful.
September 19, 2004 - Year C - Pentecost +16
Wesley White
September 19, 2004
Jeremiah 8:18 - 9:1 or Amos 8:4-7
Psalm 79:1-9 or Psalm 113
1 Timothy 2:1-7
Luke 16:1-13
There are some old illustrations about what we pray with our mouth and what we mean in our hearts. I don't have any of them at hand and would appreciate any references to them. The way we split prayer as an art form and prayer as a lived experience is telling. How do get real about this.
One longish example of this is Mark Twain's War Prayer.
A good exercise would be to turn each of these pericopes into a two-fold prayer (first: what we can say in a public setting and second: what really needs to be said).
Wesley White
Luke 16:1-13
O God, I am hard pressed to make a living. Pressure from this side, pressure from that. I've been put in difficult situations and my attempts to satisfy everyone, including myself, have come to naught. I've been trapped and done my best to strike deals with everyone that I might continue to live in the manner to which I have become accustomed. What deal do I need to make with you?
Can I bring a ten-dollar bill to your offering time and agree to throw in an extra buck?
Can I commit to only making one questionable deal this next week instead of my usual three?
Can I take a swing at the big time and show how well I can turn things around in 1,000 member congregation when we can't seem to do it with only 100?
Can I arrange to serve you three-quarter time instead of just half-time as I taper off of Mammon?
Surely you would like to look good in front of my friends and so your cutting a good deal on all this would be to your advantage as well as mine.
I think we can still do business on this, God. What do you say?
Wesley White
1 Timothy 2:1-7
We pray that President Bush will be elected so we can live these next four years in security. There is no higher calling than that of quiet times. If it takes the breaking of a few bad eggs in a far off place or among people we don't ever associate with anyway, so be it. If the President has to strike first instead of turning the other cheek or calling out for help to you and other nations, its OK with us. Just don't require us to think that what we think will make a difference in anyone's lives.
We pray that if Senator Kerry is elected that we can live these next four years in security. Whatever it takes to keep things quiet is in accord with a static, never-changing, all-powerful and all-knowing God we appreciate. We appreciate that there is such a small difference of style of implementation of these security matters between these two leaders.
No matter who has to be sacrificed, by whomever is in power, this is a message we approve of.
Since we only want quiet and both will get there, we trust your angels to push the right bits and bytes around in those tamperable machines so the election will fully comply with your demands. Then, knowing we are on your side, we can lie back with nary a worry.
Wesley White
Psalm 79:1-9 or Psalm 113
O God, surely we are not the worst. After all, you chose us. We're on your side. So we make a few errors -- you don't bench your star players or fine them for a few mistakes. If we weren't so tired from practice and got to play in more meaningful games, surely we would focus better. Perhaps this is a management issue, not a player one.
For the sake of a better master/servant relationship, we implore you to get mad at the real culprits - the press that magnifies our every flaw and those bums of fans who turn so quickly when championships are not automatically ours.
If only you'd get the right villains, and get them good, then we'd be better able to laud you to the heavens (at least three or four of them). Come on, God, you got the best seat in the universe, way up there somewhere, so use that privileged position to get a better perspective and you'll see we're not as bad as them.
Wesley White
Jeremiah 8:18 - 9:1 or Amos 8:4-7
O God, security plans are in place, preemption is the operating principle of the day, and we are not saved. We used to talk about all this in pastoral terms of harvests and summers, but we are urban now and just because some tomato pickers are unhappy with their pay and benefits doesn't mean you have to take their side against those of us who have acted in the same way you modeled for us - judgment and wrath first; questions second.
Yes, it's too bad they have to suffer, but suffering is redemptive, don't forget that. If we're going to have a souffle life a few eggs are going to have to be broken.
Life is hard enough to enjoy without you jumping all up and down about selling a bushel of flour a couple of cups short and being sure the minimum wage doesn't impact the ideal corporation's personal due.
You've overlook so much evil along the way and so many people have gotten hurt without your intervening on their behalf, it just doesn't make any sense for you to get so bent out of shape about a lousy pair of sandals for some peasants.
You're killing us here, God, get a grip, let's get real and if you'll just look away one more time, we'll get you a nice temple for us to have Thanksgiving turkey together.
Wesley White
1 Timothy 2:1-7
Hey, God, you desire everyone to be saved. Well, who are we, chopped liver? The leaders of this people have been doing a pretty darn good job at keeping everyone in their place. Remember that Saulee Paulee is praying for us to keep everything peaceable. If that isn't best met by keeping everyone placeable, we don't know what is.
You've never seen security and scariness so well done before. It's time we got our due. They used to have to tell big lies, now size doesn't matter. A little lie, deliberately kept on message is as good as a big one. We just have to show good photo-ops and say whatever we want. The folks have prayed for just such an outcome for a long time now, and they are reaping the rewards - they just don't get the connection is all.
So keep those prayers blind to the consequences of their prayers for quiet lives. You do that and there will be more than enough power to go around. Your press hasn't been too great lately, but we think you can see where this is headed and you're going to be right at the top again, like in the Holy Roman Empire.
Keep those folks focusing on Jesus' ransom so they don't get any bright ideas that life is for abundant living.
Wesley White
Luke 16:1-13
It's me again, God. Have I got a deal for you!
Let me get away with one more ___(your excuse here)___ and I'll be at the right place to bring you more thanks than you've seen in a hundred generations. We are right on the edge of new spiritual technology that will clone those who give thanks. We'll be able to get you so much praise it'll be coming out your ears.
It may just look like I'm squandering your resources, but my past investments have all had you in mind and we are now so close we can both taste it.
For the first time in history, well, maybe the second or a few more, we are going to so connect wealth with God that folks won't be able to say one without saying the other. This is going to have a great outcome for you God, so let's hold off on your threat to ship my position overseas. I'm sure that within the fortnight you'll get what you've always wanted - constant praise. Enough of this meaningful living stuff, let's get back to the basics that you can't have too much adulation.
Thanks. I know you won't regret it. A big Amen.
September 26, 2004 - Year C - Pentecost +17
Wesley White
September 26, 2004
Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 or Amos 6:1a, 4-7
Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 or Psalm 146
1 Timothy 6:6-19
Luke 16:19-31
Let's pay attention to ends and means this week. Is there anything that comes out better because dishonesty is part of the game? Whether we talk economics or politics or relationships it is important to figure out what gain is worth dissembling.
At least one of the choices before us is that of choosing to see that life is all about the getting and keeping of riches -- whatever aids us toward that end is good -- as differentiated from trusting the integrity of creation that tends toward justice, freedom, openness, encouragement, and hospitality.
To attempt both is to run into the generalized rule regarding an oily God and a watery Mammon.
Wesley White
Luke 16:19-31
It is easy to express what might be called "compassion" with those we are particularly fond of in the moment or with those behind us or ahead of us in time. This might better be called "being sorry for", as in pity, commiseration, condolence or sympathy.
"Compassion" is one of of the big universals and if it is not pulling us into a larger frame then it is probably not compassion. To have compassion for one's sisters or brothers and in regard to a danger they will someday face if they don't face up to that danger now is a good and worthy endeavor. If, however, it ends with one's brothers without pulling us toward others who are in the same situation it quickly becomes a mere special interest.
It is easy compassion to care about American deaths in Iraq without extending that care to the many more Iraqi deaths. It is easy compassion to care about those caught in what we have come to call the holocaust without caring about those caught in present discriminations that are more narrowly cast. It is easy compassion to care for those grandchildren to come whom we project will face ecological devastation without caring about those who are already caught in it by their bodies allergic reactions todays.
Compassion is defined online by Merriam-Webster as: "sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it." My sense is that compassion is more active and universal than this. A distinction can be drawn between a willingness or desire to bear a "cross" and the actual bearing of it. Another distinction is between alleviating an injustice for an individual or group or alleviating an injustive for all.
Where is compassion leading you in regard to people's lives?
The following article was forwarded to me and I thought it might lead you to pursuing the active compassion question in your own current life-situation:
Dawn McMullan: Scouts give me common cause with Log Cabin Republicans
The Log Cabin Republicans are to politics what the Jews for Jesus are to religion. Their very existence is defined by a deal breaker in my opinion.
As a straight Democrat, I wouldn't have thought I had much in common with this national group of gay and lesbian Republicans. But when they recently decided not to endorse George W. Bush, I suddenly felt like dancing a round of Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" with the entire group.
They are taking a stand against discrimination. And so am I -- starting with the group of harmless Boy Scouts who meet regularly at my small, liberal Methodist church in the M streets.
Although we have a good number of gay and lesbian members -- and most of the congregation is certainly gay friendly -- the Scouts' meeting there on a weekly basis never seems to bother anyone. Would our congregation be so apathetic if this were a group that discriminated against African-Americans, women or Jews? I think not.
So over lunch recently, I asked a gay friend from our congregation if he was bothered by the church opening its doors to the Scouts -- a group that comes outright and says it will not allow leaders or members to be openly gay.
Craig just shook his head at the question: "And if I'm not bothered by it," he said, "I doubt you'll find anyone else at the church who is."
Well, I am. And this isn't my first run-in with those boys in brown. Last year, my sons were starting a new school. At the very first parent meeting, another first-grade mom asked me and my husband if Noah, our then 6-year-old, would like to join their Tiger Cub Scout troop. I was bothered by two things:
1) I was going to have to make a political and social stand in the first three minutes of our family's journey with this school. I have no problem taking such stances, but I usually prefer to learn someone's last name before I do so.
2) I was sad that my son was going to miss out on this fun opportunity that would help him make friends at his new school. And, worse, that I might have to explain why.
The encounter -- along with the recent discussion with my friend over lunch -- makes me wonder: Does anyone take a stance on issues at the street level anymore? Kerry. Bush. Vietnam. Iraq. Gay marriage. Abortion. These are the biggies we argue about at the dinner table and on the nightly news.
Boy Scouts don't even hit the radar by comparison these days. Are we just quietly saying we don't care?
My kids are as clueless as George Michael in his straight years that gay prejudice even exists. Once when Craig was out of town and his partner Monty was coming for dinner, my 4-year-old asked, "Who's Monty?" to which Noah explained, "Craig's husband."
Of course, there was a time when Noah thought Monty and Craig were brothers, so maybe he's even more open-minded than I am. When they got married in Canada this summer and were coming over one afternoon so we could give them their wedding present, my 4-year-old said, "They're both boys," as if he were pointing out that Scooby Doo was, in fact, a dog. He didn't care, but did want to make sure we knew.
My boycott of the Boy Scouts is definitely a baby-and-the-bath-water situation. But you can't micromanage discrimination. What affects an entire group of people you may disagree with affects my friend Craig. And Monty. And Laura. And Cabrina. And Paula. And Cindy. And John.
So this is where the Log Cabins and I find common ground. They will be Republicans. I will still go to my church, which is working on its own issues at the administrative levels when it comes to accepting gays. They will not endorse Mr. Bush. And I will not endorse a group -- be it by signing up my son to be a member or quietly watching them gather in my church -- that, as a policy, discriminates against gays.
To me, that's a deal breaker.
Dawn McMullan is a free-lance writer based in Dallas. Her e-mail address is dmcmullan@sbcglobal.net. This article can be found on the Dallas Morning News
Wesley White
1 Timothy 6:6-19
If we posit that we bring nothing into this world, then it is a gift to us. To attempt to control this gift by "wanting to be rich" begins us down a path that claims we can become the creator and whomp up, by our own bootstraps, if necessary, something beyond nothing.
Eventually the call comes to those who are content with this gift to become the gift -- "to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share" that, again, out of nothing will come another gift.
This paradigm seems like it should end with a treasure of a good foundation for all, but here it says it is for those who accept the gift of their life as a gift. I suspect that we have here a part of a larger story. In the same way that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, so as we store up treasure for ourselves we are also storing it up for our neighbor with whom we will generously share what they never could understand was already theirs.
This really is a means game, not an ends game. We join GOD in meaning that all gifts will be greatly received. Even if delayed, we will look for the generous act that can be built upon.
Wesley White
Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 or Psalm 146
Happy Birthday to me! These Psalms remind me of an important vision in my own life the summer between High School and College. This was a time of very loose ends (and for someone who is constitutionally drawn to loose ends as a good thing it was even more than I could handle). Suffice it here to say this was a time of confusion, uncertainty, fear, depression, and at wit's end.
Into the midst of all this and more came a visit by a presence I then identified as Roy, director of a camp where I had just been a counsellor. This avatar brought a clear message that cut through all the rest of the junk of my life - "You will always be cared for."
These six words bring back to me the assurance of these Psalms. These six words have carried me through more difficulties and allowed me to take more risks than I then could even begin to imagine. May these Psalms bring back to you those moments of assurance that have seen you through. In remembering, may you, too, have a new birth through your own Assurance Day. (can't you just imagine what Hallmark would do to this holiday!)
Wesley White
Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 or Amos 6:1a, 4-7
An Ownership Society can be a political illusion setting people against their own best self-interest. How we deal with economic imagery is important as it goes to the heart of most people's everyday experience.
Jeremiah uses guerilla theater to dramatize the steadfastness of GOD. In a time of great upheaval when it appears that real estate is not going to be a growth industry or a viable investment because all titles are about to go down the drain, Jeremiah sets out to draw attention away from property of the moment to promises to be fulfilled.
Amos takes another tack by urging us to run as far and as fast as possible from the usual temptations of getting stuck in the process of getting more. Who doesn't have dreams of more? What won't we do to get more? In that more we get lost and lose the sense of promise in the morass of property.
So how would you deal with taxes these days -- voluntarily pay extra as a sign of hope or cut them that we might now have more?
Wesley White
1 Timothy 6:6-19
Find a play on words and you have opened up a lovely playground of the mind. "As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment."
Richie Rich might help us in this. It has been said that "More issues and stories have been published about Richie Rich than any other character, possibly in the entire history of comics books, with over 2000 issues to his credit." ( source )
What happens when we are the special, only child of such enormous wealth? What are the responsibilities and opportunities of Christians who claim that for Jesus and for themself? Will we be haughty and uncertain (a not untypical situation)? Will we be certain of our foundation, now and ever, and freed to live life that really is abundant?
Wesley White
Luke 16:19-31
Trying to convince your brothers who have an "affluent angst" (sensing a conspiracy that keeps them from having more) to reduce their desires on behalf of a common good has a long history of failure. They simply will not see they are setting themselves up for the decay of the very infrastructure that supports them and eventually leads to their downfall and the downfall of many.
Another term for this is "short-termitis". It keeps us glued to the micro-movement of dollars and immunizes us against any long-term planning based on an honest appraisal of the effects of our decisions.
Take a look at the U.S. deficit and see if there is any turning away from the political necessity to cut taxes without cutting services. What warning will cut through greed?
If folks refuse to see this as a moral issue of how we leave the world for our grandchildren, they won't listen to any prophet, including Jesus, or recognize any sign in their midst.
It takes a huge sense of being loved anyway to risk any experience but mine or to rethink in terms other than what benefits me right now. This story is pertinent to our current political situation and applies to both major parties.
Who will give heed to Lazarus now? Will we simply employ more sore-licking dogs as a supposed humane response to institutionalized poverty?
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