Washington birthday column

If I live to 77, we will celebrate the 300th Washington’s Birthday. George Washington has been called the indispensible man. His image is on our money, but the person has receded into mere image. His birthday has been merged into Presidents’ Day, where we do little political reflection but discover an excuse for sales featuring people dressed up in powdered wigs and Continental uniforms. As a public person, he was cognizant that his actions and words would be used as precedent. In our time, Washington is enlisted as an exemplar in our disputes about religion in the political arena.

I’ve been captivated by a new book on the Salem trials, A Storm of Witchcraft. Those were tried only 40 years before Washington was born. He was an exemplar of the generation that could write the First Amendment that seeks to protect free exercise of religion and at the same time create a safe space between religious institutions and governmental action.

On Ash Wednesday, many churches read from the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus says to practice piety away from public scrutiny (Mt. 6: 1-6). In many ways, George Washington followed this example in private and public life. I have no patience for those who try to enlist him into current squabbles about being devout. He was a member of the Episcopalian church board (vestry), but he seemed to attend church, at a variety of services, more when he travelled, than at home. Some sort of dispute with the church or a sermon led him to not receive Communion with any frequency.

Washington does exemplify the standards of the First Amendment establishment clause. He feared that religion can divide a polity as well as unify it. In a letter written during his first term as president he wrote: “Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by a difference of sentiments in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought to be deprecated. I was in hopes that the enlightened and liberal policy, which has marked the present age, would at least have reconciled Christians of every denomination so far that we should never again see the religious disputes carried to such a pitch as to endanger the peace of society.”

At the same time, he saw religion as a vital support to the democratic experiment.  In his Farewell Address he certainly saw religion as linked to the morality necessary for a republic to function. That should not be read as government support of particular religious institutions. He supported a chaplaincy in the military for its aid to military discipline, but feared that it could be a tool of religious discrimination as well.

He certainly did not subscribe to the notion of being a Christian nation. In a letter to a synagogue in Rhode Island: “For happily the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens…”

Instead of emphasizing a “personal relationship” with the divine, Washington used the word, Providence, for God’s active involvement in human affairs, even as we struggled mightily to work with it or against it. I should not be surprised that he believed in providence in that he led a revolution against a most powerful foe, escaped death a number of times, and went on to become the first president of that new nation. How did we produce such a crop of remarkable statesman in the Founding Era? I look at the current crop of political leaders and wonder where is Providence directing us now?

Devotions for Week of Feb. 22

Sunday-Ps.25 asks the omniscient God to forget. The one praying does not s wish to be forgotten, but hopes that God forgets sins (v. 7) .At v. 10, the move is toward asserting that all the ways of God are  loving and faithful, so I suppose that would include the overweening mercy desired in v. 7.

Monday-Hope is alive in us. It is not a flashy hope, it is a hope that is present in the little things we do that eventually make a difference. Do not get frustrated because hope does not look like what you expected. Value the little that you do in Christ, because it ultimately makes a big difference.(James Blay) Apply this,please, to your own life this one day, or maybe this week.

Tuesday-"Hell is truth seen too late." (William Sloane Coffin) I like this quote but wonder about it as well. What would be your changed definition of Hell? I recall Woody Allen’s comment that it was eternity with a life insurance salesman.

Wednesday-“The beauty that emerges from woundedness is a beauty infused with feeling; a beauty different from the beauty of landscape and the cold perfect form. This is a beauty that has suffered its way through the ache of desolation until the words or music emerged to equal the hunger and desperation at its heart. It must also be said that not all woundedness succeeds in finding its way through to beauty of form. Most woundedness remains hidden, lost inside forgotten silence. Indeed, in every life there is some wound that continues to weep secretly, even after years of attempted healing. Where woundedness can be refined into beauty a wonderful transfiguration takes place.” ― John O'Donohue

Thursday-“We can see the Divine in each speck of dust, but that doesn't stop us from wiping it away with a wet sponge. The Divine doesn't disappear; it's transformed into the clean surface.” ― Paulo Coelho Work with this a bit. what do you suppose he is getting at? When have you seen the divine transform your perspective of reality?

Friday-"A man ... agitated by evil is troubled with ... suspicions; he is never at peace with himself, nor does permit others to live in peace."  From Imitation of Christ. Now turn this quote around and see its deep promise.

Saturday-Love makes us similar, it creates equality, it breaks down walls and eliminates distances. God did this with us. Indeed, Jesus “worked with human hands, thought with a human mind, acted by human choice and loved with a human heart.Pope Francis

Sermon notes on I Peter 3:18-22, Gen. 9:8-17

Feb.22, Gen. 9:8-17, I Peter 3:18-22

Lent is the longest period of sustained spiritual reflection on our church year. While our reading from Mark is short, the other passages open up a world of spiritual reflection. Noah receives a promise for his little band of survivors and is the representative not only of them but the promise of life for all of the inhabitants of the ark.This is as expansive word about the enironment of life in the entire bible.It also signals that God commits to a fallen diffiuclt world. God makes a promise, an abiding commitment to us without us doing a thing. God comes to grips with change.the rainbow is a constant reminder to god of this promise, of the continuing vitality of this promise.This piece of the Noah story seems to have God turning back from another catastrophe. for christians, jesus Christ is God’s holding on to that drastic change of healing, working with, working from within, not annihilation.

I had a member in Indiana who would not recite the line in the creed that Christ descended into Hell because it was a bad word and he feared that it could mean that punishment was not eternal. Hell is clearly an abode of the dead here. On the other hand, It is fully possible that Jesus could enter into the abode of everlasting punsihment, or everlasting separation of god and split it wide open.by Peter seen less as terrible cleansing event or even a new start but protected within the ark of the church. God notices even a small group. God continues to open a new future.Our ceiling is thought by some to try to give a sense of being in the hold of a ship, not the hold of a ship as slaves but yeas as servants of god, or better immigrants to a new land here and toward Bunyan’s celestial City. the ancient phrase for this passage and allied traditions is the harrowing of hell. Jesus continue sot lead a procession out of the ultimate Hell of fire or non-existence after death Jesus empties out Hell and leaves it to die, a mere husk. It cannot bind the lives of those who have died.and the hells we daily encounter.

Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise.  I order you, O sleeper, to awake.  I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell.  Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead.  Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image.  Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.

Baptism and repentance/ metanoia-turn around in knowledge/mind/way of living-turn back to our best self-allied with Christ against forces seen and unseen-the baptismal pleas is also calling us to the promises and pledged heard and made in baptism-hear them again-in part baptism is a rite of exorcism of dismissing the evil within us and our world-let’s look at repent-from what to what?

.Harrowing of hell means that God does not give up on us-In the last century Protestants loved otargue if god would save usfrom the torments of Hell.Is God’s love stronger than death. is God’s love stronger than our no to God?In the earliest meaning, Lent had to do with spring in English. Even when the ground is cold, we can plant seeds like lettuce and see them spring into new life. Even in the coldest of souls,God continues to work, to bring life to us, even beyond death itself.

thoughts on Gen. 9:8-17

Presbyterians have long held fast to covenant. Here is a critical one. I find the academic insistence that we read it in light of near eastern treaties to be unfruitful. I do find Terence Fretheim's approach to it as a deep commitment to god's relationship to us to be much more engaging. (see along with God in Creation, his working preacher piece on this text)

The weapon of the gods, the rainbow, here is transformed into a symbol of peace.

Still, it is a symbol for peace after a cosmic catastrophe, the deluge of the waters thought to surround the precious earth.

If one is looking for a great text to pursue Lent and the environment, what could be better?

On the other hand, one may wish to go another route and face fully the catastrophe of this flood account.

Why do you think  flood was present in other Near Easter accounts?

Did you notice that only God speaks here?

God certainly says never again a lot here. Why? What does that show of divine character?

Valentine's column on Gottman Approach

So often, it seems that the church has been so concerned about saying no to sexual intimacy that we have failed in working with relationships that can build toward romantic intimacy. Some time ago, I was stunned to hear that Dr. John Gottman, in analyzing tapes of couples and their interactions, could predict with great accuracy if the relationship would last or not. On this Valentine’s weekend, I thought that I could offer just a hint from his institute’s work to help us bolster relationships. I would encourage folks to get his material from the library, or to work with local therapists familiar with their methods and approach. Maybe churches could offer some workshops for building relationship beyond the good work we often offer in pre-marital preparation.

Valentine’s Day seems to have differing expectations of presents to be purchased by men or women. Too often we have been content to notice differences in male and female patterns of relating, but have given neither gender much help in how to work on or with their patterns to make them more inviting or healthier for the relationship. We went to the Wildey Theater this weekend to see the play, defending the Caveman by Rob Becker. It has had such a long run as it is an affectionate and humorous look at the differences between men and women that links to our origins as gatherers or hunters.

The core of the Gottman approach is quite basic: taking care to be kind and respectful of each other. Gottman notices that we fall into patterns that can be healthy or destructive. For a religious person, I like his description of traits in a relationship as the Four Horsemen. Diane Sawyer relates that she was told that a criticism is a poor substitute for making a request. Relationships grow toxic when criticism becomes a basic mode of communication. After a while, it curdles into contempt or derision for the person whom we love. After a while, we get completely out of balance and give no credit to a partner for positive words and deeds but only subtract for negative words and deeds, until we are in such deep debt that it is extremely difficult to get back to level, let alone positive affect.

All of us have a rough map in our mind of a destination in life, what occupies space in it, and routes to get there. Part of that life map is going it alone or sharing that life. Part of the negotiation of that map is not only figuring out the details of one’s own hopes but learning of the hopes, expectations, or dreams of the partner. Early in the infatuation stage, we rush to get all sorts of information, and we marvel that we both like Heinz ketchup. As time passes, we don’t pay attention to new information or how the map may be changing, or what to do when a dream is fulfilled. The point is that working together helps to cement the relationship and help it to weather the inevitable tough times that mark any period of time together. Partners “make bids” for attention and how we respond to that is a “sliding door” that can be open or closed

The Adam and Eve story shows that human beings are made for relationship. On a Valentine’s weekend, it is my prayer that we prize romantic relationships. May we take the time in prayer to thank God for their presence in our lives. May those who crave a partner find someone to share life together. God is present in the connections a couple creates. God is present where a couple learns to be together, as they respect and act kindly toward one another.

Devotional Pts. Week of Feb. 15

Sunday-Ps.50  fits Transfiguration Sunday.as God shines forth,perfect in beauty. What acts of yours shine forth in such a manner? What attitudes shine forth? What prayers shine forth? in beauty?

Monday- Many of us prefer to be more measured and sedate in our approach to the gospel. Yet here is a hymn that calls forth a response of praise over and over again—twelve times in fact, even if you only sing it through once! This outburst of praise is consistent with what the writer of Psalm 147 observed. Implied in the swirl of praise is the realization that God has created us and all that exists. God Pause Luther Seminary

Tuesday-Auden closes "For the Time Being" with the following beautiful and hopeful lines (please excuse Auden's lack of gender sensitivity):He is the Way.Follow Him through the Land of Unlikeness;You will see rare beasts, and have unique adventures.He is the Truth.Seek Him in the Kingdom of Anxiety;You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years.He is the Life.Love Him in the Word of the Flesh;And at your marriage all its occasions shall dance for joy.

Wednesday-from a poem by Christian Wiman-”even now,my prayer is that a mind blurred by anxiety or despair might find here a trace of peace..

Thursday-We slog through life too much feeling unrecognized and underappreciated. Know that God values us. God respects us. Every time you go to worship you are open to the deep sense of God knowing you, respecting you, cherishing you.

Friday In Gottman therapy, people “make bids” for attention and connection. sometimes we open the door to them, and sometimes we close them. Every day, God makes bids for our attention. Prayer is the open door to that bid.

Saturday-When did we become so quick to take offense? At the same time when did we become so heedless of other people’s feelings? Being polite tries to cast our interactions in a safe zone. On the other hand, we can be free and candid with God.

Transfiguration Notes 2015

Transfiguration 2015 Mk. 9, 2  Kings 2, 2 Cor, 4

I have been near sighted since childhood. I vividly recall being shocked that trees had visible individual leaves when I got glasses at 6. My spiritual insight continues to require much help.

The disciples have an epiphany of the reality of Jesus Christ on that mountain. As Edwin Muir wrote-did they see the unseeable? Indeed did they hear the h unhearable when they heard the voice of the Father.(Here O My Lord)they saw a bit of the very light of god (NYT book on light) and glass)we see beyond sight all the time. We see with sound waves to see the life in the womb. Union with Christ/participating in Christ, the indwelling christ and spirit

Mark makes certain we are crossing boundaries here.  -staying on the mountain of course Peter wants to stay in the presence of this vision-to live in this new way-to experience this all of the time. they carry this vision with them in everyday life in the valley.

out of the cloud comes a voice-it makes clearer the content of  the vision Clouds obscure, just like veils

In this transition-we are still in the midst of the tension between change and continuity in the very person and work of Jesus.Calvin famously spoke of the spectacles of Scripture.let’s go one step further back.Jesus transfigures our sight. Jesus changes our sight. Christ is where we see God in a way we grasp. In our time we can look with the Hubble telescope and see light from the dawn of creation that has travelled light years to reach us, so we peer into the distant past.

veil-blinded by the light-revelation can obscure?  Even with our vaunted technology-how well do we see ourselves? How well do we see others. Who can truly peer into the human heart and soul.As children we are afraid of the dark. “As adults we are afraid of the light. We are afraid of what we see and what we identify.” Carol Howard Merritt

In the Wednesday morning class, we have been going through the gospel of John very slowly. We worked with chapter 7 with its setting on his great feast. shekinah/shakan and the feast of tabernacles and light Not only did they dwell in the wilderness but god resided with them in the tabernacle. building booths  could well be a religious act by Peter, For these early Christians, where was God without the destroyed temple? God is in Christ. As the old hymn sings, veiled in flesh, the Godhead see.

Sunday is a day of transfiguration, as it includes all of these things. this sanctuary has a view of sacred space, of trying to create a new world out of the one we encounter every day. Transfiguration allows us to see our lives with different eyes. I would go so far as to say that we can look at each other through stained-glass lenses, or even begin to see each other as God sees us. Communion is a sacrament of transformation of simple elements into bearing the presence of the living ?christ, as the Spirit carries us into the presence of Christ. How can we possibly see each other the same way when we grab some coffee after church when we have been lifted into the presence of the living Christ this morning? We may even begin to see each other as bearing the life of Jesus Christ, the light of Jesus Christ. This is a view, a vista  from the mountaintop. This is a taste of a better world to come. Once again, heaven breaks open. hear this voice again, This is my beloved in whom I am well-pleased.

For Transfiguration-some Pts on 2 Kings 2.

I find transfiguration Sunday increasingly difficult to preach, almost as difficult as the baptism of Jesus. First, I want to post some thoughts on the OT passage, I 2 Kings 2.

The transformation theme could be placed on the changes wrought by leadership. Why does Elisha want a double share of charismatic gifts? To what degree should the church ape business models of leadership? To what extent can we be transactional or transformational leaders?

Why a chariot fire? It appears to be part of the arsenal of the heavenly host, but this time it is for life and not death. (messengers?) Picture of a god traversing the heavens in a chariot/sun disc image. The defeater of Baal’s prophet is brought to god’s abode in Baal’s vehicle is possible. it could be a way of connecting his new dimension with the circuit of the sun, often pictured as moving as a heavenly chariot.

One could go with the transformations of grief. The slow steady beat of saying goodbye marks the narrative here, as does the cry of Elisha at the end.

The assumption into heaven of Elijah could be a way to speculate on the transformation of heaven for us. I recall a lady in the nursing home saying that we needed to speak of heaven at times other than funerals as she was too upset to hear a that time.

Devotional Pts for Week of Feb. 8

Sunday-Ps.147- links the overweening power of the Creator with the tender capacity to help the brokenhearted and with the specific knowledge of “naming” the individual stars. God then sees the forest and the trees. How has your broken heart be healed? When have you felt God sustaining you?

Monday-"My Life Flows On in Endless Song,"  My life flows on in endless song;above earth's lamentation,I catch the sweet, though far-off hymn that hails a new creation.Refrain:No storm can shake my inmost calm/while to that Rock I'm clinging./Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,how can I keep from singing?Through all the tumult and the strife,/I hear that music ringing./It finds an echo in my soul./How can I keep from singing?  Refrain/What though my joys and comforts die?/The Lord my Savior liveth./What though the darkness gather round?/Songs in the night he giveth.  Refrain/The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,/a fountain ever springing!/All things are mine since I am his!/How can I keep from singing?  Martin Luther wrote, "Next to the word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. It controls our hearts and minds and spirits." In this season of the church year,what are we going to do? We are going to sing: sometimes beautifully, sometimes poorly, sometimes happily and sometimes sadly, but we will sing. Silence is contrary to all that we know and feel. From God Pause

Tuesday-"Do not depend on the hope of results...you may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself...gradually you struggle less and less for an idea and more and more for specific people...In the end, it is the reality of personal relationships that saves everything." (Thomas Merton)

Wednesday-You might simplify the "examen" of Ignatius of Loyola, a gentle practice of noticing:A gift of the day that is past, struggle of the day that is past,invitation for the day ahead...I say of spiritual practices: "never obligation--only invitation." Kent ira  Groff

Thursday- Is. 40”21-31-In the Small Catechism we confess: "I believe God has created me together with all that exists ... " Read Isaiah's questions aloud and ponder your creator and the creation. Have you not known? O God, we affirm that you have given us our bodies and souls, our senses, reason and all our mental faculties. May we use them to serve your people and to preserve your good creation. Amen.Robert Brusic

Friday- I am interested in relationship advice from the Gottman Institute-here are some tips on building togetherness: Ask “How are you?” in a way that shows that you really want to know-Listen to stories and jokes, even when you’ve heard them before-Say thank you for favors, invitations to go Invite out for coffee, dinner, a movie -Offer compliments-Let them off the hook when they say “I can’t do it, I’m exhausted” Ask for help Let them help you- Collaborate on projects Celebrate each other’s successes

Saturday-The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution no to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them.— Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island

sermon notes Feb. 8, Is. 40, Mk. 1 healing and weariness

Feb. 8 Is. 40:21-31, Mk. 1:29-31, I Cor. 9:16-23

You are making some progress with a project: the doorbell rings and it’s a JW, or the cell phone beeps or the computer beeps. You try to get a moment’s peace and the clamor starts: where did I put my socks, where are my keys? We get a sense of needs clamoring for the attention of Jesus. He responds to the situation decisively. Like Paul suggests, he will do what it takes for the cause, no matter how it looks to others.He will adapt to the situation. he sounds a bit like Proteus, as flexible as the need requires..

Jesus healed. Faced with all of that crying need, jesus does not blame victims for their plight; he does not tell them to develop a positive attitude; he does not tell them to find meaning and purpose in their suffering; he does not tell them to overcome it; he heals them.I always feel a bit for Simon’s mother-in-law. That is healing in itself to have sympathy for a mother in law, perhaps. What does she do when she is healed-pray-rest- receive visitors, no she starts serving folks-I think of Edith Bunker running to serve her family in the dining area

To be bold, healing seems to affect Jesus. Maybe it was the sheer crush of crying human need.To heal, to be resotred, Jesus goes to a solitary place and prays. Jesus needed to find sabbath rest beyond the sabbath itself. he needed to create sabbath time for himself. Jesus faced the possibility of burnout right away in his work and took steps to keep a balanced life. Hear this with care. We call being alive being hectic, moving from task to task, feeling pressured and burdened. All the time, people say that they are busier in retirement than at work, as if that is a good thing.

Jesus connected perhaps to the words we just read from Isaiah.We are getting tired of winter, but the end is not yet in sight.Isaiah starts with God as Creator and then moves to it as fully capable of a new start, a new creation, if you will. A dispirited people receives the promise of a surge of energy.I have always loved its lyrical ending. Isaiah notes not only the power of God, but god;’s attention to detail. not only does god construct the universe, but god pays attention to the smallest detail, God  names and numbers the stars as President George W. Bush once quoted in an important speech on the space shuttle Columbia tragedy. Reliance on that Creator can offer energy,powers renewal that move us past our normal way of reckoning. Irt envisions flying over trouble; it imagines being better than young again for both the long haul and a crisis moment. Here that well, while even the young will grow weary, God provides strength to those who have grown weak, in faith, in body, in spirit.I think of a minister whom I admired who was stricken with cancer at least three times and he would say he could feel a certain of prayer around him when he was too exhausted to move but found the strength to face the morning.

Who doesn’t grow weary sometimes?Who doesn’t get too tired to move another inch? No, no our way is not hiddens from God, God does not disregard us. God has stamina to stay with us. God continues to be at work with us and through and beyond our best imaginings. Yes, it applies to each one of us. yes,it applies to a graying congregation seeking new vitality. God heals. God restores.

New bldg at WTC site.

Column on Lincoln religion, fatalism

 When I was a boy, we noted Lincoln’s birthday on the 12^th. We still use the words of the great man to try to buttress our beliefs. Lincoln would be amused at his being proclaimed as an orthodox religious believer. We seem determined to recruit a great person in the service of our beliefs.

Abraham Lincoln never formally joined a church. He did attend Presbyterian churches both in Springfield and in Washington, DC. He was accused of being anti-religious publically in the 1840s. In response, he wrote a carefully parsed notice. While admitting he did not join a church, he stood against holding religion in contempt. At the same time, he could not grasp how religious adherents could have the temerity to be certain of a belief that could not be proven. In other words, Lincoln was humble about the limitations of human power. He was even more humble in our capacity to try to grasp the workings of what he sometimes termed as providence.

While most Americans unthinkingly genuflect at the altar of the doctrine of free will. Lincoln seemed to have substituted the notion of a personal god for an impersonal force, along the lines of a determinism or fatalism. For instance, he thought that prayer was unavailing as nothing could change God’s working in divine necessity for events. The world is far too complex and inter-connected to assume that we are utterly free to make decision as if many forces do not impinge on our decisions. He was unwilling to speak of some sort of pure moral sensibility, as reflecting his Calvinist-Baptist upbringing in Indiana; our decisions are always involved in our own self-interest and prejudices.

When Lincoln quoted Scripture in the great second inaugural address, he echoed words spoken at the funeral of his son Willie by the Rev. Dr. Gurley of New York Ave. Presbyterian church. There the pastor spoke of terrible tragedy as within the hand of a god whose purposes we cannot fathom. “His kingdom ruleth over all. All those events which in anywise affect our condition and happiness are in his hands, and at his disposal. Disease and death are his messengers; they go forth at his bidding, and their fearful work is limited or .extended, according to the good pleasure of His will.” At Lincoln’s funeral again notice the language “ it is our Father in heaven… who permits us to be so suddenly and sorely smitten; and we know that His judgments are right, and that in faithfulness He has afflicted us. In the midst of our rejoicings we needed this stroke, this dealing, this discipline; and therefore He has sent it... Through and beyond all second causes let us look, and see the sovereign permissive agency of the great First Cause. It is His prerogative to bring light out of darkness and good out of evil. …in the light of a clearer day we may yet see that the wrath which planned and perpetuated the death of the President, was overruled by Him whose judgements are unsearchable, and His ways are past finding out.”

Still, Lincoln also saw us as instruments of some sort of divine purpose, and in that role, we apparently have some real power, albeit limited. Having lost two sons and seeing the deaths of thousands upon thousands of people, he seems to have relied on God, as he grasped God, to help assuage the relentless pressures on his heart and mind, his conscience. In some ways, Lincoln could be the patron saint of the spiritual but not religious set, but he clearly struggled long and hard over fundamental issues of ethics, even as he disdained inquiry about matters catechetical. With the theologian Paul Tillich, he exemplified the interplay of faith and probing its depth and edges.  Many of us prefer to be more measured and sedate in our approach to the gospel. Yet here is a hymn that calls forth a response of praise over and over again—twelve times in fact, even if you only sing it through once!

This outburst of praise is consistent with what the writer of Psalm 147 observed. Implied in the swirl of praise is the realization that God has created us and all that exists. 

I Cor 8-Paul on response to judging others to aid community cohesion-sermon notes

Feb. 1 I Cor. 8

Judging others is one of those areas where we say the words but the church does not give nearly enough help in how to do it.In I Corinthians Paul is dealing with a church that seems capable of fighting about almost anything, in other words, they were a typical congregation. All of us feel being in the cross hairs of criticizing and judging.  An offshoot from judging is in the word scrutinize/poke around inside/discern.The Spirit of God gives us insight into spiritual matters. With this special insight, we grasp the patterns of the world.. Earlier, I would see him saying that we scarcely understand ourselves, but claim to know God?

Paul's words on judging center on an intra-religious dispute in the new communities about eating meat that had been used in pagan rites at temples. I realize that it is hard for us to grasp the extent of the difficulty inherent in the controversy over eating some meat, but it is a hot button issue.  We do have a tendency to make matters of principle out of fairly trivial matters. . Kosher food was and is an identity marker in Jewish communities, along with sabbath observance and circumcision. In our time, people make ethical statements as vegans, or in slow foods, or in locally grown foods, foods organically produced, or food without chemical additives, on not eating veal or animals raised in confinement.  This was a trigger/valence issue since it deals directly with the issue of boundary, who is in and who is out.  As the Jewish/Christian sect started to draw more Gentiles, this issue became contentious.  People did not want to give tacit approval or credence to pagan worship by consuming meat offered in their rituals/rites. To what degree would this community, rooted in Judaism, relax its boundaries with the influx of Gentile believers? After all, we consistently raise up matters of personal preference and raise them to the matter of principle. Think of the seemingly trivial reasons people decide to leave their congregation or their broader denomination.

Paul begins by stipulating that some of the arguments are indeed correct. Yes, God is one. Yes, we pay no heed to idols. Paul knows full well the weight of biblical tradition against honoring an idol. Paul makes his concern the formation and maintenance of Christian community. Paul is looking for ties of cohesion instead of the splintering nature of dissent. Unlike our time, he is less concerned with exit strategies and protest resignations and spinning off new groups. All Christians have knowledge, not just the in-group. A sense of superior knowledge causes arrogance, but love upbuilds. Yet, they live in a culture filled with idols and the gods whom they represent. What's the problem, they know better than to ascribe importance to mere idols. Let the weak ones get built up. No, love builds up, not puffs up, no matter who we are.. So, should love take on a mantle of being supercilious toward those with whom we disagree?  Can we look down on anyone when we are gazing through the eyes of love? Love extended to the weak ones should be the norm. For Americans, to say that it's my right tends to stop any discussion. Does failing to assert a right make one too passive?  At 8:11-13, look at how Paul uses family language to get at basic equality and respect. As Bruce Springsteen sings, "we take care of our own."  Paul goes to the point of saying that he would forgo meat, period, if it caused one person to stumble. At this point, he is becoming an example of foregoing his personal liberty and knowledge to accommodate the perceived needs of others in the community who are more easily swayed and "scandalized" than is he.

Quotes and Pts. to Ponder

Sunday-Ps. 111 is an acrostic, so lines start with letters of the alphabet(in Hebrew). Mostly it links god’s actions with the description of God’s character from Ex. 34.At the end, it oculd just as well read, the reverenc eof the Lord is th ebeginning of wisdom. How do you interpret that? Notice that it is the start of the journey toward wisdom, not its conclusion.

Monday-we learn that we must balance our Christian freedom against the needs of those we serve: that's part of being in community. The rule of love is not intended to inhibit us. It is intended to enrich and enhance human life for each of us and for those around us. From God Pause

Tuesday-A consideration of the old hymn Jesus Calls Us-”When we sing Isaiah's words, "bind up the broken hearted ones and comfort those who mourn," we are reminded that a new light has arrived for those who have no imagination for such a far reaching God, one who willingly connects with the hell and pain of grief and loss. We sing of the prophet's vision—God's light comes with the power to unlock prison doors of the innocent, to transcend tragedy and the systems of oppression that so often confine us and dash our hopes and dreams..Matthew A. Maas

Wednesday-"The more conception of God, the more self; the more self, the more conception of God," Søren Kierkegaard wrote in Sickness Unto Death. Notice some areas of your own self-awareness that lead you to a deepening awareness of God. Example: If you're a risk-taker, how does that thrust you on God's love? If you play it safe, how does that lead you to need God to challenge you?

Wednesday-A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love."– St. Basil the Great.

Thursday-Rabbis have said the miracle was not the burning bush--but rather that Moses turned aside to look!(Exodus 3:3-3).Mindfulness. In the poem below, for us "plucking blackberries" might mean checking our electronic Blackberries or Smart Phones instead of paying attention to a sunset or another person's countenance!  

Friday- We all belong together. That is the way God made us...Our sin is only and always to pull asunder what God has joined together.” W. S. Coffin

Saturday-If we could read the secret history of those we would like to punish,we would find in each life a suffering and a sorrow enough to disarm all of our hostility. -Longfellow

thoughts on American Sniper

Jesus was a pacifist. So the church has struggled with war for centuries. The movie American Sniper has become a point of contention. It seems to permit more than a bit of a projection for those who supported the war in Iraq and those who opposed it. We read a lot into it based on our preconceptions about the war.  Second, it continues the issue of looking at private and public life. Third, it continues our difficulty with the post modern blurring of fact and fiction. I frankly don’t grasp those who expect a movie to be a documentary.

This is perhaps the best-made film by a director in his eighties. Some of the scenes are shown from Kyle’s point of view, and that tends to build identification with his character. One feels the deadly strain of close quarter’s urban combat. Lots of cross cutting and editing build momentum in the combat scenes, and the scenes move at a crawl when he is struggling to make a decision to fire. It highlights the limitations placed on troops in a situation such as Iraq with no clear objectives or tactics for one to declare victory. In other words, the film shows savagery on all sides.

I frankly don’t grasp the complaint that movies should be documentaries. It seems we now go into the theater with the expectation that our opinions need to be confirmed to make them affirmed. Some think it glamorizes war with its sniper hero. For me, the movie depicts the terrors and horrors of war and its aftermath. Rita Nakashima Brock runs a program in Texas dealing with the “moral injury” of those in war who continue to find their ethical compass disoriented. Kyle is shown making decisions about killing a woman or a child if they pose a threat to American soldiers. We want a match between public and private behavior and motives. That is not the case frequently. Pure heroes are rare beings. At any rate, we enter some murky waters trying to isolate his actual viewpoints and those presented in the movie. It may be based on his book, but any movie takes dramatic license to present its story. For that mater, maybe many new outlets should place the statement, “based on actual events” before their broadcasts.

It renewed my fury at those who seem so willing to send young men and women to die but want to pinch pennies for their acclimation to civilian life upon returning. Part of this is our steadfast refusal to see mental and emotional injury fully. We continue to want to blame the victim for lack of will power or strength. When Kyle’s therapist tells him that the VA had lots of people who needed saving, he pointed to a huge number of people wounded in body, mind, and spirit. The very capacity to \wall off emotions in wartime can come back to haunt the returning vet. Yet, the movie shows the obvious pain and despair of many of the returning vets, including the seeming super-human Kyle himself. The all-volunteer force has tamped down protest, as the military does not represent a fuller cross-section of the country.

I thought it showed the immense strain that deployments, especially multiple deployments, take on a family. The stress of joining one’s comrades in arms collides with the guilt of leaving family. The family resents the deployment, even as they honor the obvious risk and sacrifice made in our relatively new volunteer armed forces. It is a fearsome existence to dread every phone call, every knock on the door.

At their best, movies open eyes to new perspectives. American Sniper takes aim at the welter of responses to the long war in Iraq and the longer battle for restoring the lives of those who have borne the weight of war.