Questions #3 and 4...

These two are closely related and so get double billing.

Question 3:  Are you a good person?
Question 4: What do you need to do to become a good person?

Most of us like to think we are good people.  And most of us get offended if others consider us not good.  I remember a friend telling me that a church in her community put her on their prayer list because they were concerned about her "goodness."  Ouch.  None of us like that.

And, who are we to decide other people aren't good?  Are only Christians good?  Who decides?  On what basis?  What happens to "bad" people?  Do we want to go there?

Begin with the definition of terms.  If we are talking theological understandings of who God is and who we are--and we need to understand that if we are the people of God--then we are talking the theological definition of "good."  It has to do with sin and sinlessness,  not whether we are nice people.  Most of the people I know are nice.  Most of us try not to be offensive and to play well with others.  After all, we learned that in Kindergarten.  A friend of a friend posted her kindergartener's learnings in his first two weeks.  Week one:  Don't cut yourself with scissors.  Week two:  Don't cut other people with scissors.  That about says it all.  That's what it means to be nice...but even total restraint from scissor-cutting does not make us good.  

When Jesus is asked by the rich, young man what it takes to be good, Jesus says "only God is good."  (Matthew 19) This young man worked hard at doing the right things, at following the laws--which probably made him a pretty nice person.  In his own estimation, he was a pretty darn good Jew...not an easy accomplishment.  But he didn't even get a pat on the back from Jesus...only this worthy-of-a-politician-statement that "only God is good."

What makes us good?  Well, frankly, being nice to each other ought to go a long way!  The nice young man thought he had dedicated his life to eliminating sin by following the law.  Why would that not make him good?  Well, the young man challenges, which commands am I supposed to be keeping?  Jesus summarizes.  The young man insists, "I have kept all these."  (SCORE!)  And Jesus says, "If you wish to be perfect (also translated merciful or compassionate), sell your possessions and give the money to the poor...then come and follow me."  Oops.

The very nice, rich, young man is not, after all, good.  You could list his reasons for not selling his possessions.  He earned them.  He can do more good if he keeps them.  Those people will just waste the resources.  He doesn't want to be a burden on someone else.  It's not fair.  Whatever.  But the bottom line is Jesus knew that the money was his real focus.  Keeping the commandments was easy for him.  Being poor was hard.  He wanted to be a nice, rich person, not a good poor person.

And the bottom line for each of us is that there is always something that will keep us from being good because we are not God.  And there is the answer to question 4...what can we do to make ourselves good?  Nothing. If we as individuals could, maybe, possibly, be good by following law, being completely unselfish, living in full relationship with God as Jesus did...even if we might, possibly, could...we live in a world so deep in sin that we really can't escape it.  Does an oppressed worker anywhere make an article of clothing or morsel of food that we consume?  Do any of our actions result in oppression, whether we know it or not?  as a racial group?  a political group?  a nationality?  And lest we think that perhaps living alone as a hermit as many early Christians did to escape sin, is the avoidance of relationship not another sinful behavior?  Well, we will just hang out with other good people--which leads to judgment--and we're back to sin.

What's a nice person to do?  and where do we go from here...

Next.

Answer # 2

Question #2 is "How many good things should you do to make up for your sin?"

Answer:  None.  You can't make up for your sins by doing good things.  Not to say that doing good things is not a good idea.  But if you think about it, you really can't "make up for your sins."  For one thing, how do you decide what makes up for what sin?  Some churches have developed elaborate calculations to accomplish this.  But if we are in the business of determining what makes up for our sins, and then assigning or accomplishing it, haven't we made ourselves God?

Or, going down a different road...if you are "doing something" to make up for a sin, are you really doing it in the mind-set or with the heart you need to do it sincerely?  When we fought as kids, my mom made us "kiss and make up" instead of fight.  Believe me, I did what she said, but what I really wanted to do was continue fighting with my sister.  I had not yet straightened her out so she could enthusiastically adopt my position!  I still had work to do, for Pete's sake!!!!

When we said "I'm sorry," that made everything all better?  Whether our sin is a tiny infraction or a major, horrible act, how on earth can we "make up" for what we have done?

Addiction programs teach us to make amends for the wrongs we have committed.  That's a good thing. We need to make amends, probably more often than we would like to admit.  But making amends is not "making up for" our wrongdoing.

One more thought...if it is possible to make up for our sins, and if we are responsible for so doing, we spend (or should spend) a great deal of time and energy figuring out what we should do, trying to do it to the best of our ability, then constantly evaluating and second-guessing whether or not we achieved "making up." If the point of making up for our sins is to put us back into relationship with God and with each other, have we actually done that?  Or have we become incessantly and obsessively focused on the sin and the punishment instead of the relationships we were trying to mend?  Where has God gone in the equation?  And what if the person refuses to accept our "make up" efforts?  What then?

We simply can't make up for our sins by doing good things.  So what do we do?  We answer question #3.

Answer # 1...

I know why we don't have these conversations often...they are difficult and go deep into struggling with who God is and who we are.  It's much more convenient, and easier, to decide what "we" think based on our experience and who we think God should be.  Truth is, that's not always who God reveals Godself to be.  What is revealed about God very often calls us to a humility that is most uncomfortable and a life that is most challenging...which leads us right back to a humility that is most uncomfortable.

I have to say, though, that exploring this deeply and really struggling with the issues this semester, I find myself (for the first time, yes...) willing to fully accept my utter sinfulness and that has put me in a most interesting place of peace and confidence.  I invite your feedback and conversation with these questions.

One caveat.  I am still learning the language.  You know how when you learn a new skill or get a new insight that you feel it more completely than you can say it?  The saying is taking some practice, but I've decided that if we wait until I am completely practiced in saying it, it might be well past the point I am able to blog!

So question #1 is:
How many sins does it take to be a sinner?

Answer:  1

This is certainly the easiest question (all the more reason to start there!).  Every one of us who took the test got this one.  How many sins does it take to be a sinner?  One.  How many have you committed?  ummmmmm......

But my question, then, is the question of original sin.  Are we born sinful?  or good in God's image?  And I believe we are born good, however, we are born into a thick, inescapable mire of sinful society.  (Think politics on steroids...)  And we cannot escape it on our own, no matter how hard we try.

In fact, the very irony of trying becomes our undoing.  We decide we are not going to commit our pet sin...insert yours here.  We have to try hard not to commit that sin...after all, it is our favorite.  And we really do want to be good people...so we try even harder not to commit that sin.  And immediately, as we are focused on our sin, we have forgotten our God.  We are so focused on the law that we forget the lawgiver.  And that, is itself, a sin.  Darn...hear that sucking sound?  That's our "goodness" circling the drain...

I had this picture of a newborn, loving family, determined to do everything in their power to nurture this child...to preserve the "goodness" with which the child was born.  And bringing the child home from the hospital, dressed in a precious little outfit...the kind that makes intelligent people speak in high-pitched, sugary, cooing sounds...the shoes that come with that little outfit are made in a sweat shop in a third world country, or perhaps sold in a small business that can't hire full-time people because they can't afford benefits, or perhaps sold in a mega-big-box-store whose deliberate business practice builds profits on the backs of underpaid workers.  I don' t think wearing the shoes makes this newborn an immediate sinner, but the sucking sound never goes away...it's just a matter of time.

So, how many sins does it take to be a sinner?  One.  And how many have you committed?  And with that recognition, we immediately need answers to the next questions...coming soon...

Biblical Marriage Laws...

Deep in a drawer in the church office, my colleague finds what looks to be a newspaper clipping titled "Ask Mr. Bible."  It may have been part of a curriculum or a study...no idea really but the author, exploring the biblical texts to codify the definition of marriage for a proposed constitutional amendment says "here show marriage will look if the U.S. Constitution is amended to fully embrace the original "Biblical principles" based on readings of the Holy Bible:

1. Marriage in the United States shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen. 29:17-28, II Samuel 3:2-5)
2. Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (II Samuel 5:13, I Kings 11:3, II Chronicles 11:21)
3. A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin.  If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deuteronomy 22:13-21)
4. Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Genesis 24:3, Numbers 25:1-9, Ezra 9:12, Nehemiah 10:30)
5. Since marriage is for life, no federal or state Constitution nor law, call be construed to permit divorce. (Deuteronomy 22:19, Mark 10:9)
6. If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow.  If he refuses to marry his brother's widow or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe. (Genesis 38:6-190, Deuteronomy 25:5-10)

Anyone want to pass this along to their legislators?  

A test for you all...the youth will be checking on your answers when we get home.

1. How many sins does it take to make you a sinner?
2. How many good things should you do to make up for your sins?
3. Are you a good person?
4. What do you need to do to become a good person?
5. What can you do to live more like God would want?

In one of our communion liturgies we speak a phrase:

Lord God, as we come to share the richness of your table, we cannot forget the rawness of the earth.

Oh, but we can...and we do.  I fully intended to blog on the mission trip week, but they completely exhausted us with the heat and the schedule...but mostly the "rawness of the earth" with which we were expected to interact.  When we finally did get home, fix supper and clean up, "collapse" was the only verb we could remember or use.  Gratitude was the noun.  For our accommodations, which would have sent the Travelocity Gnome into hyper-drive, were kingly compared to our brothers and sisters on the streets with no respite from the hunger or the heat.

The layers of issues surrounding hunger and homelessness can certainly create hopelessness.  Addiction is a problem.  Poor choices abound.  But...or should I say BUT...we have forgotten to address the people in our rush to talk about/condemn the issues.  We met a man who became homeless at 51.  Having been addicted to crack cocaine for a very long time, our assumption might be that it was bound to happen...that he deserved what he got because of his choices...that those of us making good/right/smart choices shouldn't be expected to pick up his pieces.

Except.  Except we cannot forget the rawness of the earth.  This gentleman...this gentle man...grew up in a middle class home, in a middle class neighborhood.  His father left the family when he was a child.  His mother, assuming that the middle class lifestyle was the "right thing" for her three children, worked two full time jobs in order to keep their house and feed her children.  What our gentle friend missed was "parenting."  When he graduated from high school in 1972, he got a great job in construction, made good money, and was able to care for himself.

Except.  Except we cannot forget the rawness of the earth.  He had no life skills.  He had no idea how to save money, invest, or budget.  He had little moral center; like most young adults, the primary motivating factor in his life was "fun."  His greatest strength, what he describes as "softness," what I would describe as empathy, was judged by his peers a weakness and he learned to fight instead. The community he so craved as a child, having to wait until he was 13 and could cross the street to reach the group of teens that hung out there, was the community that introduced him to pot.  That community, another group of kids who had little supervision, the "fun" community of his young adulthood, brought the cocaine into his life.  "It's great.  Try it.  It'll be fun."

We cannot forget the rawness of the earth.  What makes this man different from the Kennedy kids that used drugs?  from the kids in my church and my neighborhood?  from my own child?  Because we, mostly, have connections, resources, guidance.  We had the financial means to have good insurance for rehab, for education, for lawyers, and for second chances.  We have communities that hang in there with us even when we are hanging ourselves.

We cannot forget the rawness of the earth...except when we are at the richness of the table.  Our tables are indeed rich.  Think yours is not?  Where are you looking?  If I look at Mitt Romney's life, then my Ikea table looks pretty plain indeed.  If I look at the life of the homeless, my table is exquisite.  Even our communion tables are rich for those of us at the table.  Are we set apart in our own minds or in our tradition as special, saved, redeemed?  God certainly loves us, of that we are certain.  God could love those homeless as well if they could get their act together and come into the church and share the table with us.  Maybe some day.  In the meantime, we congratulate ourselves on our hard work and achievement, on our luck and deserving rewards.  In the meantime, we can sit back and judge ourselves worthy and others scandalously "lazy" or "troubled" or any other adjective that describes their underserving selves.

Except.  Except...as the people of God, gifted with grace and redemption through none of our own doing or deserving...

Except...as the people of God, called to participate with God in the bringing of God's kingdom into the here and now...and God's kingdom doesn't include homeless or hungry for any reason...

Except...as the people of God seated at the richness of God's table, we cannot forget the rawness of the earth...having been fed, we must do something.

In an interesting NPR piece on "the American Dream" this morning, we heard the story of a young man who managed to escape the poverty and disadvantage into which he was born.  A professor brought up the idea of living "the American Dream" in a study of Death of a Salesman.  The dream was defined as "You can come from the bottom, and with hard work and dedication, you'll get a nice house, a nice car and enough money for your kids to go to school."

I won't even rant about living wage, or the devastating effects of unexpected chronic illness, or any number of other possible discussions.

My thought was pretty simple this morning.  Is "a nice house, a nice car, and enough money for your kids to go to school" really our best American dream--especially all those of us who celebrate living in a "Christian" nation?  

So Jesus sits on the Mount of Olives and teaches the crowds.  "The Kingdom of God is 'a nice house, a nice car, and enough money for your kids to go to school.'"

"Your old men will see visions and your young men will dream dreams" (the Pentecost story in Acts). Some dream we have here...a nice house, a nice car, and enough money for your kids to go to school.  
Yeah, that'll preach.

Apologies...

I fully intended, after I apologized for the unintentional sabbatical from blogging, to take an intentional sabbatical until August.  Despite the fact that it looks like when my friend Frank "followed" the blog, I stopped writing, I just have struggled with time and inspiration.  I would think of something to blog, and by the time I got to the computer, I couldn't remember what I thought about, or it didn't seem important any more.

I just preached a sermon on Jesus in the wilderness...there are all kinds of wilderness journeys we take as people of faith.  I suppose "failure to blog" might be one of them.

Now that I'm here, I am bit more inspired and a bit less overwhelmed.  Guess the journey out of wilderness starts one step at a time.  If I can't maintain something weekly, I promise I'll let you know and come back in August.

May grace and peace envelop us on our journey...

Happy Easter...

Be warned.  This is not you typical Easter blog.  (If you are easily offended, I apologize in advance and suggest you read something else today.)

I was looking for an image for our website page and just had a moment of understanding about why those who are not heavily active in the church think we are crazy.

So, there's the resurrected Jesus with a stick (to keep away flies?  disciples?  sinners?  or is it just the most fashionable accessory of the day?) who shows the divine ability to tie the most perfect sash...while, or course, keeping his manhood perfectly represented.

We may also have just the first hint of the greatness of disco, carried on by the white-suited,  finger-pointing, staying-alive interpretation of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.  The only thing they got wrong was the day of the week.

 Or, there's the blondish man (I can only assume blue eyes as well) who truly shows the resurrection power as a poor dark-skinned and eyed, first-century Jewish peasant becomes the white European savior everyone can respect.

(What he's expecting from the woman is up for discussion.)  I particularly like the southern style pink azaleas, the lovely framing of the door of the tomb, and the perfectly honed eternity circle of the stone.  Do I hear Architectural Digest anyone?

There's a whole series of Jesus the Friendly Ghost pictures.  Floating in and around graves, weirdly lighted, assisted by angels in some, transparent...our imaginations run wild.  Not very biblical, however, for not many show the "this isn't a ghost" aspect of the conversation.  

Resurrection as Hallmark slogan...

Resurrection as volcanic activity...

Resurrection as video game...

It's no wonder the phrase I hear most often from non-churched friends is Zombie Sunday.  We really need to 1) figure this out and 2) be able to articulate it and live it effectively...

Solutions to the puzzle of Easter will be accepted through the Easter season...or failing that, other really bad pictures that are fun may be posted...

SIn...

Happy title, huh.

I've been thinking a good bit about sin.  It is, after all, Lent.  It is also political season--and the two things go together in my head.  There seems no better way to illustrate the pervasiveness of sin than to follow political campaigns.  Either the politicians are pointing out the sins of the "other," or their own shortcomings just keep glaring through.  

I read a great column by Frank Bruni about a college friend, deeply Catholic, and his journey through his own real life and faith journey, ending ultimately in not believing in God (who allows misery and suffering), but who today lives a rather remarkable life of Christian discipleship (even while holding to his atheism).

In this man's experience as a person and eventually a doctor, abortions have historically been a step women take--with or without legal approval.  There are times in a woman's life that having a child is unthinkable.  So this former Catholic, with deep contemplation on the scripture and life, performs abortions at a clinic every week as a service to women.  To do so, he contends with all the "stuff" you would expect--protesters, violence, etc.  

He tells a story at the end of the article about a woman always at the protests.  She scaled a ladder so she could be seen above the rest.  She was passionate and unmoveable in her belief that abortion was wrong in every circumstance.  She judged all who entered as the same "loose, unprincipled" people--shouting "murderer" at the doctors and "whore" at the women.  

The doc continues the story of the day the woman wasn't on her ladder.  He noticed her absence.  What he didn't expect was to find her in his examination room, awaiting an abortion.  She "didn't have the money for a baby right now," and "her relationship wasn't where it should be."  She received what she requested without judgment and with compassion.  And I quote the article, "A week later, she was back on her ladder."

I am struck again and again in so many places and in so many ways at the human inability to recognize sinful behavior in ourselves.  It's a bit hard to understand why we can't see it in ourselves.  We are utterly expert in seeing it in others.  The biblical text reminds us that even when no sin is there (healing people on the Sabbath, for example) we create it.  When sin dwells in us, we deflect it.  When sin overwhelms, we ask God why it hasn't been taken care of.  

For a long time, pastors and theologians swung so far to the "sin" side that we forgot our "created good" side.  I think the pendulum is swinging back to the opposite side of the arc.  We have so remembered our "good" side that only God could be "bad" and only the "other" could be sinful.  We are created good, in the image of the God who loves us more than we can imagine and who chooses to partner with us to change the world.  But until we can see our own shortcomings realistically and see others's shortcomings compassionately, we're just going to crawl back up on our ladders and nothing will be accomplished.  

Tribal Peoples...

It's easy to let the head shake back and forth and the mind assume that we, who live is such a "civilized" place are so much better than those fighting tribal wars in Afganistan or Sudan.  Tongues click and lips purse as we watch their silly wars, wondering when or if just a few might "grow up" and choose to treat each other as real people with the same basic needs--regardless of tribal affiliation.

And then we are reminded, most recently (like, Sunday morning) by Jonathan Haidt, that we function out of the same tribal craziness...we just have resisted picking up guns and directly killing each other.  (We are doing it more slowly...coming at it from less angles that aren't as clear, but are every bit as destructive.)

The tribal craziness in Afganistan creates populations who act against their own self-interest, not to mention the interest of others (a tenet that this Christian nation has all but forgotten, and one that most other religions here also practice, including Islam and Judaism).  We can see it in others, but in ourselves, we have a blind spot that obliterates all but our preferred television newscaster.  We gravitate to positions that agree with our own.  We avoid all perspectives that disagree with us.  Or, we listen to them, but only through those who will tear them down, ridicule the positions and all those who hold them.

Where does faith play in this story?  Surely God's story is not one one side or the other.  If we insist on placing God on a side...it is probably the bottom side of all the issues.  God always sides with the poor and the outcast.  Is there a way to live into God's ideal and together grow up and treat each other as real people with real needs, regardless of our tribal affiliations?  I guess we have to admit affiliations first.  Then grow up.  Good thing we get to live into God's hope here.  Otherwise, it might feel pretty hopeless.

Goodbye Friends...

I loved the leaving from Mexico.  The departure was late, no surprise.  The weather was windy...inevitably bumpy for take-off.  The hour was early.  But...these three guys who were shepherding the plane into take-off position, they did their work with their orange light-sabres...and then they just stood there.  We are sitting on the tarmac waiting to "go" and they are standing there looking at the plane.  A couple of them are chatting; the third is just standing, looking at the plane.  

It was curious.  I wondered if they didn't have better things to do.  But there they stood.

And then when the engines revved and the plane began to move, they gave us a little salute and waved good-bye.  How cool is that?

Workable Compromise...

Quoting Annie Dillard:  "there seems to be only one business at hand--that of finding workable compromise between the sublimity of our ideas and the absurdity of the fact of us." (Teaching a Stone to Talk)

Outwardly, this visit to Mexico yields a culture focused more on relationships than things, a slower, more connected culture.  Inwardly...watch people in large groups with each other, or in meetings that revolve around money and/or power and we are all the same.  No matter the nationality, no matter the priorities, no matter the issue, I think Dillard hits the nail on the head.

..."there seems to be only one business at hand--that of finding workable compromise between the sublimity of our ideas and the absurdity of the fact of us."

Lord, have mercy...

Life and Death...

The entertainment at noon was the slaughter of three bulls.  Actually, two cows and a bull, but who's being picky.  The event tomorrow--the dedication of a clinic to serve the Tzeltal people of Ocosingo, Mexico--is a three bull event.  That means 2500 paper plates and napkins, a boatload of rice and beans, and women making tortillas literally all day today.

Two of the bovines were killed before we got to our perch on the upstairs porch of our "apartment" (another story).  The third was being dragged/coaxed/beaten out of the field and into the shade for slaughter.  Every time the cow moved, the men would whoop and whistle and she/he would stop and dig in his/her hooves or simply lay down.  Kept thinking "what would Temple Grandin say?"

Two bovines were artfully skinned and cut into pieces.  The meat was taken to the outdoor kitchen where women from local churches will prepare it for tomorrow's feast.  The third portion of tomorrow's feast was tied tightly, laid on his/her side, and prepared for a slit throat...a necessary way to kill when you don' t have something to hang the meat on for the blood to drain out.  Everyone working on carcasses paused when time came for the kill.  My son got the honors...probably more to be laughed at, but he was willing and excited.  FYI, cow hide is very tough.  It takes muscle to break skin.  (His Facebook comment, "I know I can't stab through a belt, but for some reason I thought when it was on the cow it would be like butter.")

After the initial laughter over Adam's surprise at cow skin, work stopped; people grew quiet and still.  It could only be described as a respectful wait while the life drained out of the animal.  The Bible school choir was practicing elsewhere on campus, so we have this still life: cloudless blue skies, gentle wind, human statues, strains of Hallelujah, Hallelujah drifting over the rooftops.  We watched.  A tired helium balloon floated about three feet off the ground, weaving in and out of the bystanders.  Bienvenidos it read.  Welcome.  It floated through and off into the trees.  No one reached for it, not even the children, who studied it, but didn't touch.

Vultures circled and sat on fence posts.  Dogs begged to be invited to the feast, but the birds drove them away.  They were the clean up crew, though not much was left.  Someone from the village arrived and took the hides.   In about sixty minutes, the smell of cooking beef and the promise of community feasting was all that was left.

Not exactly the memory I expected from the week.

Bond, Bombs, and Bumbling...

I think we watch too much TV.

This week, a plethora of reports on a series of bombings in Bangkok.  They were all botched in some way, the best--or, perhaps, the worst--being the guy who failed to eliminate his target but blew off both his legs.  I think we watch too much TV.

We think we are all James Bond.  We think that we can slip on a tuxedo, or other appropriate suspense-building attire, and become invincible.  We get to decide who lives and dies.  We know what is worthy of life and death.  And we are sure we will accomplish our goals.  And we throw our bomb and smile...waiting for the orchestral celebration that will signal our success.

And then the bomb we so deftly threw bounces off the car we didn't notice was approaching fast and lands at our feet and...we. are. headlines.

We just watch too much TV.  Our opinion is the only one.  Our agenda the best.  Our way of doing things is certainly God's way.  Our religion, our political stance, our preference for sugar or sweetener, our vegetarianism, our way is clearly the best, the only, the ultimate.  We. are. Bond.

Except, we blow our legs off.  We can't agree on health care, on budget balancing, on eliminating graft from congress, on worshipping.  And we just flop around wondering why we failed when we know we should succeed.

Really, we need to remember that James Bond isn't James Bond.  He's just wishful thinking in a tux.  And we really need to live real lives and stop trying to play God or be something we cannot possibly be.

I wonder if real life wouldn't be pretty fun...talking and listening to each other...letting God be God...knowing we value our legs over destroying someone else...turning off the TV and all the mistaken assumptions it brings into our world.

(But leave the computer on...everything you read here is true and real...)

Balloons...

We led worship at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond this week.  Part of the end of worship is a powerful enactment of God's love written by a college friend of mine, Steve Phillips.  After an entire service focused on living out God's love, the end of the service is interrupted by an obvious stranger.  The question is, is the stranger in God's house shown God's love.  The end of the dramatic piece is an influx of colorful balloons that represent the love of God, a different, demanding love that transforms ordinary of human life into the compelling, accepting, transforming, relational life that allows God to bring God's Kingdom to the here and now.

One of the Richmond students from Ghana read the scripture for the service.  After the service was over, we chatted at lunch.  He was holding his helium balloon and asked what kind of balloon was it that would float in the air.  It took us a minute to figure out what he was asking.  He thought it was the skin of the balloon that made the difference...that you could buy the special balloon, then blow it up and the rubber skin would make it float.

We explained that it was the gas inside that made it float, that any skin worked if it had the helium inside.  And I kept thinking...that'll preach.  Because it not our color or shape or gender preference that reveals God's love inside us...that makes us compelling and different.  It is the inside component that makes us behave differently from all the other balloons in the world.  And we can be shaped or colored like "religious" people, but if we are not filled with God's transforming love, we just lie on the floor with the rest of the balloons inflated with human breath.

Perhaps I am stretching the metaphor, but we seem to be so mired in the muck of lapel pins and labels, political and social stances, individual rights and collective propaganda that we just bounce around on the floor.  Perhaps we need to let God's spirit move us in a different direction...where it is not our outside, but our inside that unites us.  And it is the unity, I believe, that indicates whether or not we are filled with the right stuff.  If we are not coming together in spite of our humanness, we are not walking in the footsteps Jesus left for us.

For sure, I am looking at helium balloons in a different light.  I am going to try and look at life and love and Kingdom in that light as well.

Life Coach...

Reading is a dangerous thing.  Having a little lunch, reading a little New York Times.  Click on an article under "most e-mailed" titled Should a Life Coach Have a Life First?  Still trying to breathe.  Can't decide whether I need to change careers or just sit in a corner praying, "Come, Lord Jesus."

You can become certified in "life coaching."  Some courses are on-line, some connected with a school.  Like every other job training in our culture, sounds like some are good and others are worthless.  I still have days that I wonder why on earth I am going to school for five years to become an ordained minister when all I really have to do is fill out a form online and send in my money.  And a number of these "life coaches" are between 25 and 30.

Though my first response is "really....25, huh?  and you think you can life coach me...hummmm,"  I realize that I probably should be more open minded and less ageist.  Moving past that one, my second response is "really....25, huh?  and you think you can life coach me...hummmm."  My third and final answer is "what on earth is going on in our culture that we need life coaches?"

Are we so bereft of community that we have to pay people to listen to us bounce ideas or help us problem solve?  Have we slipped so far into the incessant wanting of consumerism that we have to pay even for our own ideas to be fed back to us?--like somehow what we think is valueless unless someone else values it (and we write the check defining its value...).  Or, are we just crazy?

I'm torn.  I think I'd be a pretty good life coach.  I've been around awhile.  I've had lots of experiences, good and bad.  I love to boss people around.  I could definitely cash checks for what I do in my head anyway.  I could probably take plastic as well, if I hired a life coach to teach me how.

I'm shutting down the New York Times for the day.  Too insane.  Think I'll depend on politics to ground me.  And if that doesn't work, maybe I'll hire a life coach.

Dear Mr. Perry...

A miracle happened last week.  I agreed with a Republican presidential candidate.  Well not so much Republican, but surprisingly, Rick Perry.

Redemption is part of my faith, Mr. Perry says.  Me too.  But alas, we still differ.  Because, Mr. Perry, redemption is for the criminals you put to death in Texas, for the poor who need our help to get out of poverty, for the children who are uninsured, yes, even for the Democrats who disagree with you.

Redemption is not just for the rich, white, morally challenged co-candidate that might choose you as VP if he gets the nomination.  Redemption is also for all those we think are undeserving or unaware or unlikable.

Dear Mr. Perry...keep trying.  I will too.

Hate Religion/Love Jesus...

I finally watched this video about hating religion and loving Jesus...my kids insisted.  Whoever this kid is, he has articulated the its-all-about-me position of why religion is bad and Jesus is good.  Of course, I have a few things to say.

Jesus was a Jew.  From beginning to end, a practicing Jew, quoting Jewish scripture, following Jewish traditional religious practice.  He was a reforming Jew, but I do not think you can make the argument that he was a-religious or anti-religious.

Jesus was not concerned with his own salvation.  He wanted to change the world--aligning it with God's purposes.  He did so in community, not alone.  After his death, his followers did the same...bringing Jesus' work into different places and forming different communities to do God's work.

If you are going to speak in quasi-rap, or rhyme...make it good.

The end.

Reality...

I put my oldest daughter on a plane for Israel.  Actually, I put her on a sidewalk, trusting that she could get herself to the gate because one can no longer be in the airport as a spectator.  Somehow that last good-bye on a sidewalk with the car running and security staring to be sure you don't stay one minute longer than necessary just is not the same.  But I digress...

She was reading me her itinerary.  Tel Aviv, Galilee, Nazareth, Mt. of Olives, Dead Sea, Qumran, Bethlehem.  The experience was a bit surreal.  Suddently, I am thinking these places are real...like really real.  Now that shouldn't surprise me.  I know the places are real.  I know Jesus was real.  I see the reality in the lives of the characters in the biblical story.  But I forget the place is real.

It's not just biblical.  Every time you visit a new place, the "real-ness" of the people and situations permeate your psyche and suddenly they are friends and not "those people."  Those "worthless" D.C. homeless people became flesh and blood and we understood the extraordinary difficulty of their circumstances and how close we were to being in the same situation.  Elderly folks living on Social Security after having worked their entire lives were losing the houses they paid $19K for...houses now worth half a million dollars swallowing most of their income to pay property taxes.

I think it is pretty cool that my daughter will have a perspective on scripture that her mom has never had. It will be "real" in a way that cannot be argued.  God exists...always has.  But this "realness" in Jesus brings us to a new place, a new way of relating, a new understanding of what God wants from and with us.

Being Christian is not an abstract endeavor, though I think we sometimes like it there because abstract thought is never as demanding as real life and real relationship.  I'm going to try and remember that...

Maybe Someday...

Aren't you worried?  You will be all alone in that house while Carl is gone...WIll you be lonely?

Ask me later.  RIght now I am in the middle of three dogs, two kids, two games of Words with Friends, three major projects...where's my partridge in a pear tree...