Messin' with Tradition

This is the seventh in a series of personal reflections on Christmas posted during the 12 days of Christmas.

Pop Quiz:
1. According to Scripture, what animal did Mary ride as she and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem?
2. In the Gospel of Luke, what does the Innkeeper say to Mary and Joseph?
3. How many wise men from the east came searching for the one born 'King of the Jews'?

Answers: 
1. If you said "donkey" you wold be incorrect. Scripture doesn't indicate how Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem. It just says they went. It is possible that Mary rode a donkey but it is just as likely that she walked.

2. There is no Innkeeper mentioned in either of the Gospel accounts of Jesus' birth. Luke simply says, "there was no room at the inn." The Innkeeper was probably first introduced to the story in a children's reenactment of the Christmas story to provide another speaking part to a story with few characters.

3. Again, the Bible doesn't indicate how many wise men came. Originally it was thought that there were 12 since that number has significance (12 tribes of Israel, 12 disciples). Over time it has been whittled down to 3 wise men, one for each gift mentioned in the birth accounts of Jesus. Oh, and they didn't show up until Jesus was approximately 2 years old, assuming that the star that guided them first appeared at his birth and not before.

What do I make of this? Well, first of all, we are a lot more liberal with the "facts" that we take from scripture than we like to think. Much of what we "know" about the Bible as adults comes from the stories that we learned as children. And since we have no problem embellishing the stories for children we often end up with fictionalized accounts of what is recorded in scripture.

The Christmas story that we celebrate today is a mash-up of the two birth narratives recorded in the gospels of Luke and Matthew with the Epiphany story of the wise men thrown in. (Mark & John don't record a birth story.) It is what we do with most scripture. We mash-up the two creation stories in Genesis 1 & 2. We mash-up the two Ark stories in Genesis 7. In short, we create narratives to make sense of what we are given. In fact, creating narratives that provide meaning to life really is what humans are best at.

And that's okay. Does it really matter how Mary traveled to Bethlehem or how many wise men came in search of the child? Not really. Contrary to popular religious belief, salvation is not found in the details of the story. Salvation is received with the meaning of the story.

Family at Christmas

This is the sixth in a series of 12 personal reflections posted during the 12 Days of Christmas

I just returned home from what was basically a 5-day trip to see family during the Christmas holiday. On the 26th of December we put 100 miles on the car to spend the afternoon and evening with everyone on my side of the family. Then on the 27th we drove 8 hours to visit my wife's side of the family for two days before making the 8-hour trip home. No complaints. We had a good time visiting with people we enjoy spending time with.

It's great to reconnect with parents, siblings, in-laws and cousins. But why do we do it at Christmas? In North America it is the worst time of the year to travel (weather-wise) and we have already crammed so much activity into the season that staying home and relaxing seems like a more logical alternative.

What is it about Christmas and family? Why the compulsion to gather together for a meal and an elaborately orchestrated gift exchange? Fun? Yes. I know that I am lucky in that regard but we could just as easily do it some other time of the year. Tradition? Social Custom? No doubt these play into it as well.

I have a sneaking suspicion that, as a culture, we are trying to hang on to something here that is slipping away. For the past 500 years or so the nuclear family has been regarded as the basic societal unit. (For more on how it has only been that way for the past 500 years see Phylis Tickle's The Great Emergence.)  The family as the basic unit of society is currently being replaced by the individual. As we move evermore into a culture where the individual is the basic unit of society, we cling to the past, reluctant to let go of what is so familiar.

But more importantly, I remember the great fun I had and the things I learned about family and life at Christmas. I have fond memories of time spent with cousins while the adults laughed about things that happened in the past. I want my kids to have that experience. This year there were some pretty funny things shared at the family gatherings.We carved an ice sculpture out of the ice from the creek. We were amazed at the dancing ability of the kids. We discovered that grandma has special powers.We also welcomed the first spouse into the next generation (my niece's new husband) and were bluntly reminded that time doesn't stand still.

I'm wonder what Christmas will be like 30 years from now. Will my kids drag their families through the snow and ice to have a meal, open some gifts and laugh over things that happened on our Christmas vacation in 2010?

Well, I hope they will.

Alternate Gifts

This is the fifth in a series of 12 personal reflections on Christmas posted during the Twelve Days of Christmas.

I gave up my Christmas gifts & 16 people received clean water

A year ago at Thanksgiving my brother-in-law, who had drawn my name for the annual gift exchange, asked me what I would like for Christmas. I told him that I had decided to share my Christmas with those who have very little and that I was asking people to make a donation to charity: water or another charity of their choice. He immediately responded, "But I want to give you something to fill up your storage room in your basement."

The truth of that statement was a bit unnerving. Even if I use the gifts I receive at Christmas, it usually means that something else gets moved down to the storage room to be forgotten about. The small pile of gifts that I receive every year are truly things that I want, not things that I need.

When it was all said and done, over $450 was given to various charities that provided water or animals to people around the world who needed them to live a better life.

And I didn't miss a thing.

There was no pile of gifts to put away when the tree came down. Later in the year I didn't find myself wishing that I would have received something. My quality of life didn't suffer at all. The people who wanted to honor me with a gift were able to do so in a way that made the world a better place. (In a tax-deductible way no less.) And to be honest, there were none of the awkward moments when you open that gift that isn't quite what you wanted but you have to act excited and thankful anyway.

This year I made a list of things that I wanted. Those were the things I found under the tree and inside the brightly wrapped boxes. People were more than generous and I am thankful for what I received. I really like my gifts.

The difference between this year and last year is the sense of peace and joy. Last year at the end of Christmas I had this deep feeling of peace and contentment that just isn't here this year.

I'm not sure what I will do next year. Maybe I can up the ante by giving alternate gifts as well as asking for them.

What are your experiences with alternate gift giving or receiving?

The Genius of the Grinch

This is the fourth in a series of 12 personal reflections on Christmas posted during the 12 Days of Christmas.

Last night I watched a video of two of my nieces, Rachel and Allison, in a production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I was reminded of just how great that story is. The Grinch has been a part of my own holiday tradition for years. At least the animated Christmas special directed by the venerable Chuck Jones.

The version we watched last night was performed by the elementary and middle school children at the private, faith-based school my nieces attend. I wondered how this non-religious story could work its way into the normally scripture-insistent culture of this private school.

Then it dawned on me that the genius of How the Grinch Stole Christmas is that it tells us what Christmas is not but then never tells us what Christmas is. The obvious lesson is that "Christmas doesn't come from a store. Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more." But Dr. Seuss never says what Christmas is. He leaves it up to the audience's interpretation. And, at least in the animated version, there are several possible interpretations.

For the religious person, the star that shines above the Whos as they sing is an apparent allusion to the star that is said to shine over the manger in Bethlehem at the birth of Jesus. The singing is a form of worship. Someone with a Christian background would obviously interpret this to mean that Christmas is about celebrating the  birth of Jesus.

For those who aren't thinking in that vein, Christmas can be interpreted to mean time spent with family and loved ones connecting and reconnecting in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the season. The Whos come out of their homes on Christmas day and clasp hands to join in singing a song that has no overt religious connotations.

Or someone could easily interpret Christmas to mean observance of the traditions around Christmas. Christmas is about the preparations, the anticipation and the quiet reflection that is completely separate from the abject consumerism.

Ironically, Dr. Seuss's critique of a consumer culture was written in 1957 and the animated show was produced in 1966. So do we really agree with this critique or is it just fashionable to say what Christmas isn't without ever looking more deeply at what it is?

Skipping Christmas

This is the third in a series of twelve personal reflections on Christmas to be posted during the 12 Days of Christmas.

Last spring a friend gave me John Grisham's book Skipping Christmas. I started reading it in July but it just didn't feel right so I picked it up again a couple weeks ago.

It is a humorous story about a couple who decide to go on a winter cruise instead of celebrating Christmas when their daughter moves to Peru for a year as a volunteer. Most of the story revolves around the awkward social moments when people find out the couple aren't participating in any of the Christmas traditions. In the end their daughter makes a surprise return and the couple tries to cram in an entire month's worth of preparation in one day and are forced to rely on their friends and neighbors who have been offended at the couple's anti-social behavior to this point.

It is a telling story of what Christmas means in our culture. In this story Christmas is all about the elaborate production (lights, food, parties, decorations etc...) that is undertaken to satisfy some deep seated yearning for tradition.

At first I was upset about this. I don't want Christmas to be about a big production. In fact, I want it to be less of a production. But then I thought about Christmas Eve worship attendance. It is the worship day with the largest attendance of the year. People who don't worship the rest of the year make time to come on Christmas Eve. I know they come for a variety of reasons but doesn't it make sense that many come because it is part of the tradition? Dinner with the family, church and opening presents: It's what we do on Christmas Eve.

I'm not complaining. Maybe that's what people need. There is so much change in our world right now that we need these kinds of traditions. We long for them. We want to know that things are going to be okay and traditions have the power to do that.

Ultimately, isn't that what Christmas is all about? The message that everything is going to be okay? That we are going to be okay because God is okay with us?

Is the War on Christmas Over Yet?

This is the second in a series of personal reflections on Christmas that I hope to post during the twelve days of Christmas.

Okay. I know that the War and Christmas is pretty much a media hype thing but people are starting to take it way too seriously. A pastor in Texas started a website called GrinchAlert.com which encourages people to list and support stores that say Merry Christmas and boycott stores and businesses that refuse to say "Christmas" but instead use "Happy Holidays."

Parody news sight XIANITY has been highlighting the extremity of this fake war in their tweets:

Make Christmas more Christian, tonight, along with cookies and milk, leave Santa a gospel tract.


Make Christmas more Christian, when someone wishes you "Happy Holidays", condescendingly respond "Merry CHRISTmas"


Make Xmas more Xian, let a homeless family sleep in your life-size nativity, as long as they dress like shepherds.

When did Christians become so self-serving? When did Christians lose sight of the fact that Christianity means being at odds with the dominant culture? Why on earth do Christians believe that the rest of the world is here to serve us and make our life and our faith more readily accessible?

Shouldn't we Christians be going out of our way to share the grace and love that we believe God shared with us in the birth of the Christ child? Shouldn't we be the ones who understand that it is hard to make a living working retail and we understand that not all of your customers are Christian? Shouldn't we be the ones who are forgiving and kind to others?

I think Stephen Colbert nailed it when he spoke recently about the way so many who want to live in a Christian nation have forgotten what Christ is all about.

With a Peace of the Spirit

Christmas Pomp & Circumstance

2010 Papal Christmas Address

This is the first in a series of 12 personal reflections on Christmas that I hope to post during the 12 Days of Christmas. 


On this first day of Christmas, while drinking coffee and waiting for my teenage children to wake up, I came across the following tweet from author Donald Miller: Watching the pomp of Christmas around the world. It's like we want to give Christ the entry He deserved but did not orchestrate for Himself.

I didn't watch the pomp of Christmas last night. I took part in it. The church I serve held three Christmas Eve worship services. We hosted over 800 people who came in their Christmas finery, excited to squeeze the service of Lessons & Carols into their traditional family celebrations.As one pastor I know recently said, "Singing Silent Night by candlelight is the highlight of the worship year."

The question I have is this: If Christ did not feel that it was necessary to come into the world amidst all pomp and aplomb, then why do we insist on celebrating his presence among us this way?

It's as if God appeared and said to humanity, "Look over here. Look at the poor family with no place to stay if you want to see me. Look over here at the miraculous ordinariness of a baby's birth if you want to know where I am. Be among the people who are being persecuted if you want to know my glory. Stand with the social outcasts if you want to see angels herald my arrival."

And we respond, "That's pretty cool God. You really are sneaky but we see you now. We prefer to make a big deal out of this because we don't want you sneaking up on us again." We stand in churches around the world and point at the manger as if we had just found Waldo.

But Christ left the manger a long time ago. Christ is spending this Christmas with the homeless. Christ is spending this Christmas with the forgotten veterans who gave their life and are still alive. Christ is having Christmas dinner with families that are so dysfunctional that they can hardly be in each other's presence for the entire evening. Christ is handing out gifts of strength and peace to widows and widowers, orphans and the recently divorced who struggle to make it through the holidays. Christ is spending this day with those who are receiving the news of a suicide or the sudden death of a family member or friend.

If you experience the Peace and wholeness of God in the pomp of Christmas that's great. I don't mean to belittle that experience. But next year instead of giving Christ the entry we think he deserves maybe we should be joining him in the places in this world that he has already quietly entered.

With a Peace of the Spirit
Kevin

Getting Ready for Christmas Day

I've been singing this song by Paul Simon all day since I downloaded it from iTunes. I heard it performed on the Colbert Report last week. Lyrics are below. I want to sing this next year for Advent in church.

The words in the background are from a recorded sermon preached sometime years ago. I get the feeling that  for the preacher, Christmas Day isn't just about December 25, but about a day when we will stand fully in the presence of God. The song masterfully captures the mix of anxiety and anticipation around Christmas.

From early in November to the last week of December
I got money matters weighing me down
Well the music may be merry but it’s only temporary
I know Santa Claus is coming to town

In the days I work my day job
In the nights I work my night
But it all comes down to working man's pay
Getting ready I’m getting ready ready for Christmas day

I got a nephew in Iraq
It’s his third time back
But it's ending up the way it began
With the luck of a beginner
He’ll be eating turkey dinner
On some mountain top in Pakistan

Getting ready oh we’re getting ready
For the power and the glory and the story
Of Christmas day (repeats)

If I could tell my mom and dad
That the things we never had
Never mattered we were always ok
Getting ready ready ready for Christmas day

Ready getting ready
For the power and the glory and the story
Of Christmas day

A Tale of Two Days

This is a tale of relearning a lesson that I know to be true and yet seem to forget with regularity.

Monday evening I made the decision to show up at work early Tuesday morning and get at the myriad tasks I was responsible for before spending the afternoon in a more meditative state. I had an appointment with my spiritual director scheduled for early afternoon and thought it would be good to use the whole afternoon to do some writing and reflecting. This was a change from the routine that I was trying to get established; namely that I would spend an hour writing and reflecting in the morning before going to the office. 

So Tuesday morning I was up and out of the house extra early. But on the brief drive to the office I admitted to myself that I was avoiding. I realized that I had come to a place in my writing that I didn't want to face and putting it off until the afternoon was simply a form of procrastination. So I sat down and started to write. At the end of the hour I put my writing away with smug satisfaction that I had tackled a difficult task. Which was exactly the problem. I was in task mode as I wrote, not reflection mode. And when I was done writing I moved right on to the other tasks on my list.

It wasn't long before frustration set in. One after another, little hurdles appeared. Nothing major, just a steady stream of interruptions and annoyances. Tasks that should have taken 20 minutes were now taking 90. I spent 45 minutes chasing down an unannounced change in my internet browser settings (thank you Google) that affected one of the tasks that needed to be completed. I got further behind. I left for lunch 20 minutes late and with several tasks unfinished. That meant that I would be arriving at my spiritual direction appointment with no time to spare in a frazzled state of mind. 

The time with my spiritual director was good. It calmed me down and helped me realize everything that had happened in the morning was simply annoying, nothing else. But as I left that time of reflection, the rest of the day became filled once again with the unfinished tasks of the morning and was topped off by an evening council meeting. I went to bed feeling like I had been tossed around in clothes dryer.

Wednesday was a different story. Wednesday has come to be known in my life as Never Ending Wednesday. It is a day that I often get to the office by 7:30 am. and leave somewhere around 9:30 pm. It is a day that is normally a jumble of tasks, meetings, worship, teaching and preps for all that is going on that day. 

But on this particular Wednesday I didn't go in early. I spent time writing and reflecting first. By the time I looked at the clock I had just enough time to shower and dress and still swing by the coffee shop to pick up some quality brew to carry me through our staff meeting. At the coffee shop I ran into members of the congregation and even though I knew I didn't have time, I decided that I could be late for our staff meeting (something I usually deplore) and visit a few minutes with this couple. Since I was late to the meeting I left my laptop in my bag and went to the meeting with pen and paper which meant that I wouldn't be slyly working on other tasks . When the meeting was done I spent time with individual staff members (in the meeting after the meeting which is where the real work gets done) and then walked out of the office to go take my dog for a walk.

It was a great walk. I found a trail where she could run and I could walk and think and pray. By the time I got back to the office and finally sat down to the tasks on my to-do list, over half of the day had gone by. But with a clear, undistracted mind I began to tick off the tasks one at a time. I didn't procrastinate. My mind didn't wander. I didn't find extra websites to browse. I was focused and was able to deal with distractions. I simply worked around the kinds of things that had annoyed me on Tuesday. I went to bed tired after such a long day but much calmer than the night before.

I sit here today and wonder how many times I am going to have to learn this lesson. When I put tasks and work first those are the only things that ever get done. The idea that I can get my work done and out of the way so that I can have time for other things later is a lie. Work is never done. If I ever get today's tasks done I eagerly start on tomorrow's tasks, telling myself that I will have more free time the day after that. But it doesn't happen that way. The free time doesn't come. There is always another task, and another until we break down and our free time is taken up with getting healthy. 

In some strange way (that probably isn't as strange as it seems) when I make reflection, meditation and prayer first on my priority list all those tasks end up getting completed anyway. Additionally, I end up having reserves of energy and patience for use in personal relationships. I don't know why I keep forgetting this lesson that seems so intuitive every time I relearn it. I hope that some day the lesson sticks.

When Life isn't about Me It's a Gift

I presided at a funeral on Friday for a woman whose family couldn't stop telling me what a gift her life was. It felt genuine as they shared memories of their time together and they recounted her simple ways sharing the joy of life and making them feel loved.

When I die I want people to be able to have those kinds of memories of my life. To make that happen my life needs to be a gift to them. The things I do need to bless others. The things I say need to be life affirming. The problem, however, is that a lot of what I say and do is not a gift to others. Much of what my life is about is making sure I am taken care of.

I suppose this happens because I think that life is about me. When I live as though life is all about me I take everything personally. I say something that I think is important and people don't respond the way I hope they will and I wonder what I did wrong. Someone is critical of something I say or believe and I write them off as uneducated or unable to see the truth.

I try to strike a balance between the negatives and positives but it just isn't possible.

When I live as though life is not about me, that's when my life becomes a gift to others. When my thoughts and ideas are given as a gift without regard to how they will be accepted it doesn't matter if they are rejected because I chose to give them. When people don't respond to something I did the way I imagined they might I don't have to be offended if I my actions were a gift.

If something is a true gift we give it for the joy of giving. Anything we give expecting a certain response is not a true gift.

Life is a gift. Give it away.

When Life isn't about Me It's a Gift

A Broken Church

The Church is broken.

(Which isn't a bad thing. It's just not broken in the right way.)

I am amazed at how hard the institution of the Church fights to remain whole and viable. "Unity" is the rallying cry as thousands of years of divisions within the church are officially healed, by legal sounding documents. Synod leadership rushes around to put out the smoldering fires in disgruntled congregations. Congregations face the shame and embarrassment of shrinking membership and the worry of unmet budgets. They begin to make decisions based not on who can be served but who can serve them in their attempt to stay open.

To be sure, there are many good things happening in the church and we can spend out time showing and telling what marvelous things God is doing through us. But you can also focus on the various pieces of a broken tea cup without mentioning that it is broken. You can talk about how well designed and useful the handle is and how it is secured to the cup. You can describe the way the base sits flat and true and how we designed that base together. You can keep your attention on the smooth porcelain finish and make a case that none of us could afford a tea cup this good by ourselves. But if you never step back and look at the condition of the whole tea cup you might never understand that it is broken.

I ran across this video clip by CNN about a Christian congregation in Texas that put up a billboard proclaiming that they (Christians) were a bunch of jerks. What I find interesting is the commentary by guest Gabe Lyons about the way the Christian church is perceived in our culture and how people are working to change it.

I'm sorry I can't embed the video in the blog. Restrictions of a free service I suppose.
or you can watch the video in the right column for a time.

Truth be told, the Church is supposed to be broken. In communion we actually celebrate that the body of Christ is "broken for you." In the Gospel of John, when the resurrected Jesus appeared to the disciples in a locked room and showed them his wounds; his broken body. They could even put their finger inside the mark of the nails. If the Church is the Body of Christ as Paul suggests in this letters (and as the entirety of scripture points to) then the Church is supposed to be broken.

The problem is that the Church is not broken "for you." It's broken exactly because it is no longer "for you." The church has become a place that is "for me." Divisions happen when people feel that the church no longer agrees with their opinions. When I can't be comfortable in my own pew (every pun intended) I find something to fault and build a theological case around it. The God that created everything is never given the chance to do anything new but is restricted to literal interpretations of past actions.

For the Church to be whole and at peace (shalom) again it needs to be broken. The Church needs to die so that it can be raised as a new creation. We need to sacrifice those Church things that give us the most comfort: Sunday mornings, low-commitment serving opportunities, drop-in visits with the pastor, soft seats and spacious fellowship areas, favorite musical genres and "the way we've always done it."

When the Church quits trying to be a church and becomes the Body of Christ it will be broken. But that is the way it is supposed to be.

Waters of Life, Waters of Death

Holy God, holy and merciful, holy and mighty,

    you are the river of life,

    you are the everlasting wellspring,

    you are the fire of rebirth.

Glory to you for oceans and lakes, for rivers and creeks.

Honor to you for cloud and rain, for dew and snow.

Your waters are below us, around us, above us:

    our life is born in you.

You are the fountain of resurrection.

At this font, holy God, we pray:

Breathe your Spirit into this water,

    and into all who come here to find new life.

Illumine our days.

Enliven our bones.

Dry our tears.

Wash away the sin within us,

    and drown the evil around us.

Satisfy all our thirst with your eternal fountain,

    and bring to birth the body of Christ,

    who lives with you and the Holy Spirit,

    one God, now and forever.  Amen

Several years ago I found this prayer online when the ELCA was developing the new Evangelical Lutheran Worship hymnal. We use this prayer when someone is baptized. I think the images capture the breadth of what water means to those who live on this planet. We are surrounded by water. We are made of water. Water is Life. It should not be surprising that New Life is found in the water-rich sacrament of baptism.

I have lived a majority of my life in the upper-Midwest where water is abundant. I know the two faces of water well. I've played in the clear, cold waves of the Great Lakes and have heard the stories of winter-storm waves that swallow large ships. I've stood on the banks of the Mississippi peacefully flowing by and I've watched it overflow and wash away farms and homes. I've fished the crystal-clean spring-fed lakes of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota in summer and have seen the rusted remains of vehicles that fell through the winter ice. I been in blizzards and then gazed in wonder the next day at the beauty and stillness of a winter-white landscape. I've been pelted by hail and run for cover only to emerge as the storm passes to stand in the soft rain and see a rainbow color the sky.

Water brings life. Water brings death. 

We will never change this fact. But we can change the fact that so many people get sick and/or die because of the lack of clean water. Here are some things that I have done in the past year to help conserve clean water and to help others find it:

1. At Christmas I asked people to make a donation to a water charity in place of giving me a gift. Almost $400 was given and I didn't miss a thing.
2. I received a reusable, thermal water bottle and I fill it with filtered tap water from home. I have reduced my consumption of bottled water to less than 24 (compared to the 200 bottles/year for the average American)
3. I reduced the water I use when I shower by turning off the water when I lather up and then turn it back on when I rinse. This is way easier in the summer than in the winter.
4. My wife and I are installing a 50 gallon rain barrel to collect rainwater from the roof to be used to water the flower beds. We might make it 2.
5. I joined the high school youth in leading the congregation to provide over $10,000 to charity: water; a non-profit organization. This money will make it possible for water wells to be drilled in 2 villages where the people do not have access to clean drinking water. We also used the time to raise awareness of water issues locally and around the world.

When I think about it, this isn't very much and I've hardly noticed a difference in my life at all. But if each of us did 5 small things to make a difference it would have a huge impact. 

Are you willing to do something to tip the scales in favor of water that brings life?


For more blogs on the issue of water go to the Blog Action Day Website.

Signs of a Decaying System

I reported for jury duty yesterday morning at the district courthouse. This is the second time that I have been asked to serve as a potential jurist. The first time I was called I served on a jury in a criminal trial which went to verdict. This time, I was selected as part of the 20 member panel questioned for selection in a civil case but, in the end, was not chosen as one of the eight jury members.

I'm glad I wasn't chosen. We were told that presentation of the testimony and evidence was expected to last four days. That would have been a major inconvenience but I don't mind being inconvenienced if I am doing something worthwhile. I'm glad that I wasn't chosen because I started to see signs of a decaying justice system sitting in the courtroom in front of me.

As part of the jury selection system, each party gets to have their lawyer ask questions of the jury to ensure that people who can follow the letter of the law and not let their presuppositions or personal opinions get in the way. This practice is admirable and, if taken in a vacuum where everything else is equal, would be ideal. But it isn't. Sitting in a room with 40-50 strangers and being asked to answer philosophical questions about the legal system with no time for reflection is a daunting task. It's way easier to say, "I don't have an opinion," or "I'm okay with that," rather than try to articulate what you might really think.

Do I think that a citizen is entitled to sue someone for damages if they have been wronged?

How do I answer that question? A simple, "Yes," or "No," doesn't come close to the nuance that is needed in a system as complex as the legal system in the US. Yes, I believe that a citizen should have the rights and the protections to sue someone who has caused harm through negligence or willfulness. Being compensated for medical costs and lost wages seems fair.

But accidents happen. In hind-sight it is easy to say, "You could have been more careful." But that is not negligence.The protection we need is from those who show a pattern of negligence, which is a criminal issue in my mind, not a civil issue.

As I sat through the questioning I also discovered that I have some real issues with awarding  punitive damages or compensation for pain and suffering. Money will not bring healing or wholeness to the person who is hurt. I've met happy people who are rich and happy people who are poor. I've met unhappy people who are rich and unhappy people who are poor. Money has nothing to do with happiness. We just think it does. Asking for more than what you have legitimately lost is simple greed and shows that you don't care about the other party. I understand this feeling of revenge but I don't think it has any place in our courtroom.

Awarding someone hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars as compensation for their suffering doesn't help the victim it only punishes the defendant. If the defendant is guilty of wrongdoing, that is a criminal case. If they are guilty of wrongdoing but not breaking the law, that is a legislative issue, not a justice issue.

In the end I was not chosen to be on the jury. I was relieved that I wouldn't have to wrestle with these beliefs in a courtroom where the law says that it is okay for these things to happen. The fact that the justice system ends up doing the job of the legislative system tells me that both systems are mucked up. When prospective jurists have to be vetted as to whether or not their belief in the law will get in the way of being fair to all parties tells me the people inside the system know the system is breaking down.

Perhaps we do have the best legal system in the world, and the most fair. But that shouldn't stop us from working to make it even better.

The Real Cultural War

For a couple of years now I have been hearing the phrase "Culture Wars" in the media. As far as I could tell it was used to describe the friction that exists between people with different visions for the way society should be shaped. More specifically it was used in reference to politics in the United States and was used primarily by conservative news pundits and politicians to raise the anxiety of voters. (Which isn't to say that liberal/progressive news pundits and politicians don't the same sort of  thing. I just don't recall them using the term Culture War.)

What I find most interesting is that when we think about different cultures we most often think about people of different lands and traditions. So I am not surprised when I hear about clashes between Muslims and Christians. There is nothing new here. People of different lands, ethnicities and religions have been fighting since before there was a way to record the events.

But the Culture War that is raging today has little to do with borders, ethnic backgrounds or faith. The Culture War that is going on today is about the difference between a technologically based culture (in some places called postmodern culture) and the industrial based culture that began almost 500 years ago (currently called the modern culture). In this borderless war we people of the same nation, same religion and the same ethnic background at odds with each other. We also see people of different nations, backgrounds and faiths fighting for what basically amounts to be the same thing.

The Tea Party movement currently getting attention in the United States has highlighted the depths of emotion and concern of many people who feel that society is no longer being shaped by their values. These values are sometimes called "family values" or "faith values." They want laws, politicians and even judges to reflect these values. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) recently defended his 2004 claims that if someone is openly homosexual or an unmarried woman who is sleeping with her boyfriend, they should not be school teachers since they obviously don't share the same values as his voters do. He said people "don't want government purging their rights and their freedom to religion.” In his understanding, a person's freedom [of] religion is not just a freedom to worship but goes so far as to include creating laws and moral codes based on their religious values.

This is basically the same thing that conservative Muslims are concerned with.  Certain groups within the Islamic community want laws in every place to reflect their personal values. Sharia law is based on these conservative values of Islamic faith. Those in the Tea Party movement and fundamentalist Muslims both want the same thing: A society based on their particular values. To be sure, there would be significant differences between a society based on Tea Party values and one based on conservative Muslim values but the general desire is the same.

What both groups are really fighting are the cultural changes that are taking place as a new culture emerges. This new, technologically based culture makes us more aware of the diversity of our world. It requires us to be tolerant of a much greater range of people and ideas. It is a culture that has to make room for multiple value sets and calls on us to be more knowledgeable of many faith customs. And currently it is a culture that has not taken full form yet.

It is, perhaps, the ambiguity and the lack of clarity that is causing the most anxiety. But this is a one sided war. The emerging culture is not fighting back directly but is steadily moving forward. In the long run it will win and in many ways has already won. Both the Tea Party and conservative Muslim movements use and depend on the very technology that is undermining their deepest desires.

We Begin Here?

It's hard to think that this is where I begin since I have been reflecting and writing about faith and life for over 17 years as a pastor. If you add in the years of seminary, or time when I was merely reflecting without doing much writing, it really doesn't feel like a beginning at all.

This combination of reflective writing has taken shape in sermons, teachings, devotional material and a monthly column in church newsletters. Each of these avenues for writing and sharing my thoughts comes with certain restrictions. Sermons and devotions usually start with a prescribed reading from the Bible and they are generally a one-way communication. Teachings can begin with a Bible passage or a topic of interest that I design in such a way as to draw people into a dialog. What I have found though, is that many people have been trained to defer to clergy in matters of faith so most of the dialog is cautious and tends to stay at the surface of faith exploration. With newsletter columns I have the freedom to choose any topic I want but limited column space and four weeks between installments I find I can't get deep into a topic.

What I hope for A Peace of the Spirit is that serve as an avenue for sharing my reflections with a lot fewer restrictions. You may find poems, song lyrics or original art work scattered among the prose. What is more, I can post pictures for you to see and links that will take you to videos, websites and information so that you can see for yourself what has triggered and shaped my thoughts.

What I am most excited about is the opportunity for you to share your own thoughts either in the comment box or by linking to your own blog. I don't think it is the best way to dialog but maybe this format will help us explore more deeply the idea that God is with us and is going out ahead of us into whatever kind of world and society we are evolving towards.

My goal here is to explore; to raise ideas and questions. I will try to show you what I see while being aware that I am not seeing all of it. The thoughts and ideas are my own and may not always agree with official church teaching or policy. After 17 years in ordained ministry I am finding that to be okay.