Mary's Word

"What business have we of reversing the priorities of Mary's Magnificat, filling the rich with good things and sending the poor empty away? There's nothing in any sacred scripture anywhere that says that the whims of the rick should best the rights of the poor. How, Sunday by Sunday, can Christians pray "forgive us our debts" and not think of third world countries, some of whom are spending three to five as much paying off foreign debts as they do on basic services to their own people?" ---William Sloane Coffin.

:A friend who had spent a sabbatical working with refugees in Southeasa Asia once sent me a homemade Christmas card...a black-and-white snapshot of a Cambodian mother holding her infant in her arms...In silence, the photgraph spoke powerfully about Mary as a presence in our world, a constant reminder that in the incarnation the omnipotent God chose to take on human vulnerability...a child born not to wealth and power but to an impoverished peasant woman and her uneasy husband in the rural backwater of a small, troubled, colonized country."---Kathleen Norris.

Today is Pearl Harbor Day and the end of U.S. global isolationism in the face of militant fascism. It was a surprise attack that alerted every American to the global threat overwhelming Europe and Asia---a threat that finally reached outr own shores. We could no longer stand by. We were compelled to act.
In my estimation Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 attacks tell us somethig about American life. Americans are not particularly watchful or vigilant. We don't know what hits us until it does. Nor are we particularly visionary in our estimation of global politics and economics. We don't know our place in the world, our collective responsibilities as members of the global national community. Why not? What is in our collective unconscious, our national story,that prevents us from being more aware? Why are we mind-numbingly slow to recognize our place in the scheme of things; and that our place of honor among the nations requires of us a great deal of humility and sacrifice?
Today we honor men and women who's lives were lost in the 1941 attack, and those whose lives were lost in the resultant war effort.

"Prince of peace, we pray for our enemies and those who have waged war against us. We pray for our fellow countrymen who have given their lives in battle. We pray for those who continue to follow orders to protect us from the ravages of war. But we also pray that you might awaken us to the poverty and pain around us. Alert us to the ways in which we cause global strife, warfare, and injustice. Make us attentive to the struggles of our neighbors and show us how to serve them. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Compassion's Money

What if the U.S. chose to spend the money we spend at war to rebuild war torn nations? What if we risked our own national security in order to actually serve the needs of the desperately poor around the world? Imagine using that money and our highly educated human resources to improve the lives of people suffering from AIDS in Africa or suffering from genocide and oppression in Israel/Palestine. President Bush had an opportunity five years ago to stand as a world leader who understood empathy and compassion, rather than retaliation and destruction. He could have called 9/11 a global tragedy, carried out by a few Saudi terrorists fueled by a radical interpretation of Islam and by the injustice perpetrated by American imperial dominance of the global financial market. American consumerism, entitlement, and faithlessness to the God of the Bible ignites that religious fuel. The God of the bible is clearly a God who defends the poor, the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, the refugee, the woman, the child, the castoffs, the cutoffs, the left outs, the persecuted and oppressed. God is a God of justice which is guidedn by compassion.

And yet, we cause daily, hourly, weekly, annual struggle. And we are numb to it. We are isolated from it. But look at your clothing. Where was it made? Who made it? How much were they paid to make your clothes? How much did you pay for them? Who benefited the most from the money yuo spent on your clothes? Was it the Chinese woman who stitched your shirt together or the businessman who sold them to JC Penneys? You thoughtless generation. No wonder we are at war and you are not changing your habits. In ten years, you will have spent a lot of money paying for a war effort you did not necessarily believe in. But since you are satisfied with your place in the global food chain, you don't see a reason to change. You don't know how to change it. What of the American Spirit that dsought independence from tyranny, not for freedom's sake alone, but in order to make a more just society where more people had opportunity to live good lives. Where is our boldness? Compassion is a bold political move because compassion requirs that you are not nub to the pain of others. It requirs that you embrace the pain of the other in an effort to accompany them, console them, offer them a communnity of hope. And our neighbors are dying from hunger. Nobody should live on less than $2.00 a day.
What are you going to do about it today?

Real Money

"By one estimate, the war in Iraq may eventually cost us $2 trillion! Which raises the question: how else could we have used this money? Acording to Nicholas Kristof (New York Times, October 24), it is four times the amount of money needed to stabilize social security for the next 75 years, and it is four times the amount needed to provide health care insurance for all uninsured Americans for the next decade. Every minute we stay in Iraq costs another $380,000." --Christian Century, November 28, 2006, p. 6.

My Father-in-law thinks we could avoid a full blown Iraqi civil war and actually stop car bombings all together by purchasing a new car for every Iraqi. It would have ot be the same vehicle, same make, model, color, etc...Maybe a Ford Focus. For less than the cost of the war effort, every Iraqi would receive the gift of a new car. Who wants to blow up a new car? And if all the cars are the same, there's no competition. Iraqi oil companies would thrive, auto mechanic schools would be full. Just an idea.

light of lights

"Light of Lights! All gloom dispelling, thou didst come to make thy dwelling here within our world of sight.
Lord, in pity and in power, thou didst in our darkest hour rend the clouds and show thy light.
Praise to thee in earth and heaven now and evermore be given, Christ, who art our sun and shield. Lord, for us thy life thou gavest, those who trust in thee thou savest, all thy mercy stands revealed." St. Thomas Aqinas.

moonlight

Moonlight

moonlight shining dimly in the dark, i see your dirty face, your dusty self,silently shrinking from fullness to newness;
strange how the new moon is invisible, as if all begins in darkness, letting light emerge carefully, slowly, night after night after night.

moonlight reflecting rays that are not your own, the greater light hidden behind global grandeur, or global danger. we turn away from the light of day only to catch her constancy in the dusty mirror of your face. the great light always illumines the earth, even in shadows, where you light the path through midnight depths.

Moonlight, we are like you. No more than dust, beholden to the earth's pull, her gravity, her allure---her worldliness we cannot escape. We shine, but not an inner light transcendent of ourselves. Our light is moonlight, mystery, madness---a dim reflection of the sun's pure light. And so too, we glow in the darkness, searching for the end of night, longing for the warmth of the sun, the light of day to dawn around us, exposing our soiled selves. we long for night to cease, to be forever comsumed by the gret light of GOD. To fade away as the sun rises, never to set, to fall, to darken day again.
Come great light, overpower our moonlight reflection with your brightness and turn our advent hopes into Christmas Joy.

a good wine

I enjoy a glass of wine with my wife. She's a semi-sweet girl--mostly White Zinfandel. I am not. Anybody have any suggestions for a good merlot?
I recently had a fairly decent Pinot Grigio by MonteVina, California.
I like semi-dry to dry wines. From chardonnay to cabernet.
Anyone drink Cabot,an Italian wine...?
Always searching for a decent dinner/after dinner wine.

javateas and the Spirit

its a quaint little coffee bar on the north side of town. i've been in there twice now; once for a mocha and once for lunch. I would like to host a gathering there for conversation about Jesus, God, life, stuff...maybe to review interesting books, movies, or discussion topics. I hope to stop by this week to find out if they're interested in providing hospitality. We'll see...I'd like to publicize it soon. I think they host some other activities already.

a new look

time for a change. here is the new look for my blog. what do you think? i hope the content of my blog continues to build a community. i'm open to suggestions...

anyone intersted?

I'm calling it "x's and why's: the quest to question God." I intend to get a small group of peers together for conversation. This is a little tricky because I am an institutional man---I dress like a church pastor a lot. I have an office, etc...But I believe that my peers are interested in meaningful relationships and meaningful experiences that will motivate and inspire their lives. They hunger and thirst for GOD, for the mystery in the madness, and for JESUS (although they may not even know HIM yet). They're searching for someone to make sense of what they experience in life. They know it can be found in many places and ways, but they are savvy shoppers and know what is a cheap knockoff and what is authentic. Authenticity is key. The church does not appear authentic to them. Why? The mega church is not gospel, its culture with an agenda. The mainline church is not gospel, its what remains after the church gets inculturated and politicized and rich---which will happen eventually to the mega churches, too. Authentic followers of JESUS will thrive under only a few conditions; one, they are a persecuted or rejected minority, not "the moral majority or the leaders of nations"; two, they are small, weak, dying, suffering servants willing to give all to rescue one more. three, they are deeply sacramental--needing the water of baptism and the bread and cup often. they are evangelical, needing to listen to JESUS. They are apostolic---sent out with a clear mission for the day to live life in the world for the world, the neighbor.