Being Prepared...

Its just about time for Santa to do his thing again this year. Several years ago my daughter told "the man with all the toys" (to quote a Beach Boys' lyric) what she would like him to bring her for Christmas. And we prepared for an expected Christmas-Eve visit. We did our part to make Santa feel welcome when he brought those items that had been requested. We set out hot chocolate and home-made sugar cookies. And, my daughter wrote Santa a note. The note said "Thank you" for the gifts that would be placed under the tree and it also asked this question: "Are you right-handed or left-handed?" I'm not sure why that was important to my daughter, but that was the question. You would want to know that Santa answered that question to my daughter's satisfaction.

In the church, over the past four Sundays, we have been preparing for Christmas 2010. We have invited ourselves to look forward to the annual arrival of the incarnation of Love, and Joy, and Hope, and Peace. It occurs to me that a note could be left at the church after the 11:00 p.m. Christmas Eve worship service that might offer a "Thank you" to God for the Gift and the gifts we know God has and will bring our way. Maybe we could also ask God to answer a question...not which-handed God is, but maybe something like "Why would you do this wonderful thing for us every year?" Or, maybe "Is there something you would like us to do in return for all you have done for us?"

That could prove interesting.

I have heard (and seen in print) several folks lament that they hear "Happy Holidays" more than they hear "Merry Christmas" at this time of year. Some are vowing not to shop at stores who advertise their goods with "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." The complaints go on.
And so, I wonder...I wonder because I do not know for sure...although I do suspect.
-I wonder what persons of other faith traditions in our neighborhoods think about being expected to wish folks, or have themselves wished with, "Merry Christmas."
-I wonder why some folks think that how the holiday season is advertised defines the holiday season.
-I wonder if some who are really upset with the lack of enough "Merry Christmas" wishes and advertisements will nonetheless consider Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus, or even the Grinch as suitable Merry Christmas symbols.
-I wonder if behind some of the complaints about the shortage of "Merry Christmas" greetings is really a nostalgia for wonderful Christmas holidays gone bye...for returning things to the way it used to be in an imagined better time of life.
-I wonder how central the Christ of "Merry Christmas" is to our lives the remainder of the year; and what greetings are exchanged that might display that.

Me? Are you sure?

Ever get the feeling that you had been asked (called, prevailed upon, singled out, required) to do something you (1) didn't feel adequate to do, and/or (2) thought somebody else could do better? Yeah, me too.
Maybe, though, I am up to the task. Maybe I should get past that first-blush objection. Maybe I really do have the skill, the energy, the tenacity, the deep-down ability to do this thing! There are other things I have done that are something like what I'm being asked to do now...maybe I can recall how I accomplished those jobs and make some application here.
And, I have friends! Maybe I could call in a few or many of them to consult with me on what looms ahead. Maybe one or more of them could actually offer expert instruction. Or, maybe one of them could give me a really inspiring pep-talk about how I can do this thing...and do it well, in fact!
Maybe, come to find out, I am the only person who can do what is being asked of me. Maybe the work is so personal that I alone can accomplish it. Maybe God, or the Fates, or my family, or my community sees in me something worthy of this calling that has been foisted upon me.
Maybe its just you-n-me, God. Maybe its best if I just stop thinking about it, worrying about it, stalling around...and get to it! If I don't get to it now, who knows, lightning may not strike here again!

The Bible? What?

Interesting question from a webinar a friend participated in recently (question posed by Brian McLaren): "What do we mean when we say the Bible is authoritative?"
Yeah, what do we mean? First, I think it would be near impossible to get too many people to agree on a satisfactory answer to that question. Second, now we can probably tackle the question.
Does every word in the Bible have authority over my life? No way! Argue all you want about how the Hebrew Scriptures are to be considered relevant for today, but I'm not gonna stone anybody! I have no idea what to make of the stories about God actually killing or ordering the killing of human beings! Even though its forbidden, I am going to get the hair on my temples cut at Great Clips today! You get the point...there are some major chunks of the Bible that I do not consider authoritative in any way, shape, or form.
There are portions of the New Testament I do not consider relevant to life in my world today, either.
So, Brian McLaren, here is my answer to your really good question: I consider the best of the Bible to be authoritative. And for me, the best of the Bible is the life and teaching of Jesus.
I am a big fan of Jesus' graceful way of living and his sobering challenges to our thinking and acting. For me, the Bible gets us to Jesus and then leaves us alone to encounter him for the rest of our lives.

Probably many...certainly many, ideas that seemed good at the time have proven not to be good ideas for all times. We could compile a long list of such ideas. We would all be able to add to the list because we have all been the victims or the perpetrators of such ideas.

One such idea is this: that one religious format fits all people, in all places, and in all times. Cookie-cutter religion is sometimes laughable. It is sometimes dangerous. It is sometimes hurtful. My experience of Creator and Redeemer can never be your experience of Creator and Redeemer. And even if our experiences of Creator and Redeemer are similar, they cannot be expected to be every one's experiences.

It might seem like a good idea to reduce faith to a short list of simple rules but I would suggest that this does not allow for the personal experience of God (as Creator and Redeemer)by each man, woman, and child.

I hope that in my preaching and in my living I am leaving room for individual experiences of God that are similar to mine and different than mine. Probably, I do not do as good a job at this as I could. So it would be a good idea if I were to be more intentional about it.

That seems like a good idea.

In the Prime of Life

I'm not sure when the prime of my life was...or if it hasn't already been, then I'm not sure when it will be. I don't think I'm in it right now. I am in possession of a Medicare Card. I am not all that many years away from mandatory retirement. I cannot yet come close to shooting my age in golf. I recently suffered my first broken bone. That bone was broken in my first motorcycle accident in the 45 years that I have been riding. (It wasn't a bad accident at all, and I am going to recover just fine...and fully.)
I wonder when "the prime of life" comes for each of us. I wonder what it looks like. What it feels like. I wonder if I will know it when it arrives. Will my outlook on life be more positive when I'm in my prime? Will I be a better father? Will my faith deepen and maybe make a bit more sense? Will those closest to me be able to detect my prime and advise me of its arrival?
Maybe I will be in the prime of my life when I have more answers than I have questions. Could that be true, do you think?

College Football is Back!

I am a Notre Dame college sport fan. Doesn't matter the sport, I pull for the Irish to win. But football comes first...basketball second. Having grown up in a town just seven miles from South Bend I come by this ND-thing easily.
This Saturday the Irish will open the 2010 football season againt the Boilermakers. Neither team distinguished itself last year and neither is ranked among the top teams nationally this year. Its a home game for ND, so perhaps we will have a slight advantage...but nobody really knows much of anything about how good or how not-so-good either of these teams will be this year.
In some ways, it doesn't matter who wins because the fact is COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS BACK! (But that previous statement isn't my real sentiment: LET'S GO IRISH!!!)

Still a Wonderment...

In Iowa a billboard had been designed that pictured US President Obama, Germany's Hitler, and Russia's Lenin. The three were listed as equals: equals in the evil of socialism. Its shocking to see pictures of that billboard, evidently even so for some members of the Tea Party group that paid for the ad.
It brings up the question once again about our commitment in this country to freedom of speech, freedom of expression. I am strongly in favor of that right...even though sometimes it is a wonderment to me what some folks are willing to "speak" and "express." Perhaps they feel the same about some of my speech or expression.
I write these observations about the billboard in the past tense because even as I began to blog about this matter, I was made aware that the billboard had been taken down. I like that those behind the billboard responded to what must have been considerable pressure to remove it from the side of the highway. But their message did get out, and I have little doubt their beliefs are still held.
I wonder what test to my commitment to our right to free speech and expression will come along next.

Last night a big league pitcher's perfect game was rendered imperfect by an umpire's bad call on a play at first base. Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers had retired 26 Cleveland Indians' batters in a row and the 27th batter should have been called "out" by first-base umpire Jim Joyce. On a play that wasn't all that close (as evidenced by those who saw it live...as I did...and the replay video) the ump blew the call. The batter was ruled "safe" at first base and it became necessary for Galarraga to pitch to the 28th batter in the game and thus record the 27th out but not a perfect game.
Jim Joyce recognized his mistake and apologized in person to Galarraga and the Tigers in their locker room immediately following the game. For his part, Galarraga never appeared angry at the ump...at least visibly so.
Joyce and Galarraga will now have to live with what might have been. Joyce will suffer the most because fans and critics will not let him forget this one blown call that has had such an impact on Galarraga's career and the record-keeping of the game's history. By all accounts, Jim Joyce is an excellent and well-respect umpire.
It is too bad...too very bad...that a perfect game wasn't to be had even though it should have been. But the classy way in which the two gentlemen directly involved conducted themselves is quite remarkable, and may just be the take-away from this game: Real life is bigger than a game!

They've decided to go down a really scary and who-knows-where-it-will-lead path in Texas. The state has adopted new "facts" for its social studies text books. "Facts" which will go light on slavery, the civil-rights movement and the separation of church and state. The US will not be known as a Democratic Republic but rather a Constitutional Republic. And there is more, of course.
We all share a history in this country and in this world. What we do not all share are opinions about what that history means and how it was reported down through the ages. To teach our children and even delude ourselves into believing that opinion is history is, it seems to me, a very dangerous path to start down.
The path looks so scary that I do not want to travel it with those who are starting down it.

I live in central Indiana. It is spring time. There are thunder and lightning storms. Those three facts fit together, naturally. Really, I mean it, nature in the form of these kind of spring storms is something that is natural...if you were raised and/or live where I live.
The storms can be beautiful and terrifying. They can produce big buckets of rain or damaging downpours of hail. They scare my daughter's pet Guinea Pig every time. We have to leave a light on so that Smorz (the pet's name) won't be quite so hyper during all the nature-displays of noise and light.
My airplane-pilot son, while studying meteorology at Purdue University, home on break, said to me (some years ago) as we sat watching TV during a quite noisy and brilliant storm(and I was going over notes for a Good Friday sermon), "Dad, those storms are caused by the warm air that is pushing into the area doing battle with the cold air that has been here all winter...kinda like the forces above (hot air) battling the forces below (cold air) and something pretty violent has got to give." Pretty good theology, I thought. (His observation made it into the sermon.)
However, what bugs me about those storms nowadays is that the electricity gets cut off all too often. And all the digital clocks in the house start flashing 00:00! Resetting those things (we have 4) gets to be a pain...especially trying to get them all to sync-up. With analogue clocks "close" was good enough, but with digital clocks "precise" is what is expected.
Its almost as frustrating as trying to "reset" my life every once in awhile. You know, when the power source gets cut off and you have to deal with everything that has gotten out of whack and needs to be reset.
Yeah, like that.

Friday of Holy Week. Much time is set aside during this one week each year...at the church I serve we will observe Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday...each with a special worship experience. The week will begin with shouting and joy and a parade, center in on Jesus' intimate relationship with his closest followers, devolve into extreme cruelty and miscarriage of justice, and finally result in the incredible surprise of an empty tomb and the challenge of following Jesus Christ beyond even the darkest of life's experiences.
For pastors, and maybe for some parishioners, as well, the week can be tiring. It calls upon clergy to find several different ways to express the events of this week in our faith's history.
For several years, back in the day, I and three clergy friends would take the Monday following Easter Sunday off to go to a wooded area to play laser-tag. It was refreshing...it got us away from the responsibilities we had just exercised to lead several worship services the week prior.
This year I will most likely take some time to refresh in ways more fitting a man in his middle sixties. Whatever choice I make, it will be on this side of Easter...a reason for doing something special if ever there was one!

So much of what I hear and see on the 24-7 news outlets is negative, mean-spirited, even hateful. Now, I admit that I watch "my" 24-7 news channel, just as I am sure that others watch "their" 24-7 news channel. CNN seems to occupy what might pass as the middle ground among the 24-7 news channels; MSNBC holds down the left; FOX News claims the right.
No matter when you tune in to these channels, within a short span of time, it seems that someone is railing against someone or something. There is much in our country and our world that needs to be improved upon, of course, and heaven knows we ought to complain about what needs to change. But, I would like to hear less whining. Less bashing. Less name-calling. Less fear mongering. Less hate spewing.
Could we have a little more actual "news" and less "opinion." please. That's my request. It will likely go unheard.

Time Is On My Side

All around the big, big world (see the cow above for a picture of our big, big world) we all experience life differently. Young and old, male and female, haves and have-nots, northerners and southerners, easterners and westerners, me and you.
And one thing we all experience differently is time. We all have sixty minutes in every hour, and twenty-four hours in every day, and three hundred sixty-five (and 1/4 or in that leap year thing three hundred sixty-six) days in every year. But how we experience time is so very different.
And how we make use of time is so very different. I want to make the best use of my time, probably you do, too. However, I don't want to be a slave to time, probably you don't, either.
Here's a little contemplative routine that might help us work at making the way we experience time a bit more pleasant and productive. These questions are part of the spiritual discipline known as "Examen" as practiced by the Jesuits.
In a place of solitude and silence, ask yourself:
1) For what moment today am I most grateful?
2) For what moment today am I least grateful?
3) In what moments did I sense God's presence around me and in me?
4) In what moments did I fail to love?
Here's to a better use of the time that we have been given.

Silence, PLEASE!

The incredible tragedy that is the earthquake in Haiti, the poorest country in our hemisphere, deserves some awe, some horror, some human compassion, some financial and human-power assistance. So many lives lost. So much physical destruction. So many loved ones as yet unheard from. Might God help all involved and touched by this tragedy. Might the rest of us be prayerful and supportive and helpful.
And that goes for Rev. Pat Robertson, who blames this event on "a pact with the devil" he says Haiti made hundreds of years ago. He even recounted the actual conversation between those ancient Haitians and the devil!
And it also goes for Mr. Rush Limbaugh, who suggests that this tragedy will allow President Obama to look good because the President loves to serve those in misery.
Silence, PLEASE!

Its the first snow day for my daughter's school this winter. She is thrilled! I am happy she is thrilled...mostly because I started to remember the snow days (very, very infrequent) I experienced growing up in northwest Indiana...where the first words a child learns are "lake effect snow!"
I think I remember being happy that school was closed on a day it was supposed to be in session because it meant something out of the ordinary. Now that is an adult reflection on a childhood experience, but I believe it to be true. My daughter will be forced to go to the office for a few hours with me today, she won't see all of her friends, and my guess is that by midday or early afternoon I will hear her say something like "I don't know why we didn't have school today."
But the routine has been shaken up! That's the joy of a day like today if you are in the fifth grade.
Makes me wonder why I don't shake up my routine once in a while.