So, I found something fun on the internet that may entertain me for hours. Or may provide the perfect comeback to the congregant that is driving me crazy. It's the Bible Curse Generator.
I probably won't get to use this on my congregants -- not soon anyhow. Apparently, a young woman who I had dinner last week ran into some church members and they got to talking about me. Gulp. These church members told said new friend that they were really excited that I am here at this church. They are eager for change and hope that I will bring it. Gulp gulp. This information was relayed to me tonight through another friend.
The problem is: I don't know who these church members were. And my bigger concern is that we are shifting toward a non-pastor centered governance model. So the change can't be me. It will be all of the people in the pews. I will be the cheerleader. Perhaps a pushy, opinionated cheerleader, but a cheerleader nonetheless. Sigh.
5.05.2007
The Misuse of Darwin
The New York Times proposes an interesting question today: "Does Darwinian theory undermine conservative notions of religion and morality or does it actually support conservative philosophy?"
The article appears to be a little biased, like here: "For some conservatives, accepting Darwin undercuts religious faith and produces an amoral, materialistic worldview that easily embraces abortion, embryonic stem cell research and other practices they abhor. As an alternative to Darwin, many advocate intelligent design, which holds that life is so intricately organized that only an intelligent power could have created it." But, I'm not so uncomfortable with this bias. I don't really understand the basic understanding of the world that doesn't include science, so this statement makes sense to me. And yet, I still wonder about this initial question posed by my hometown paper.
The fact that the theories of Darwin could be used to support idealogical values doesn't exactly add up for me. Then again, it's been a long time that I've really read up on Darwin. And my limited memory of "survival of the fittest" doesn't fit with what I want to understand about the political divides that currently exist in our country.
I don't know. I think I need more coffee.
The article appears to be a little biased, like here: "For some conservatives, accepting Darwin undercuts religious faith and produces an amoral, materialistic worldview that easily embraces abortion, embryonic stem cell research and other practices they abhor. As an alternative to Darwin, many advocate intelligent design, which holds that life is so intricately organized that only an intelligent power could have created it." But, I'm not so uncomfortable with this bias. I don't really understand the basic understanding of the world that doesn't include science, so this statement makes sense to me. And yet, I still wonder about this initial question posed by my hometown paper.
The fact that the theories of Darwin could be used to support idealogical values doesn't exactly add up for me. Then again, it's been a long time that I've really read up on Darwin. And my limited memory of "survival of the fittest" doesn't fit with what I want to understand about the political divides that currently exist in our country.
I don't know. I think I need more coffee.
5.04.2007
Poem for the Day
I'm looking for a poem for my installation at the church in a few weeks. And though I will not use this as it doesn't fit with any sort of thematic or liturgical movement called for an installation in my beloved denomination, I really like this poem so I'm going to share it with you.
Wage Peace
By Judyth Hill
Wage peace with your breath.
Breathe in firemen and rubble,
breathe out whole buildings
and flocks of redwing blackbirds.
Breathe in terrorists and breathe out sleeping children
and freshly mown fields.
Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees.
Breathe in the fallen
and breathe out lifelong friendships intact.
Wage peace with your listening:
hearing sirens, pray loud.
Remember your tools:
flower seeds, clothes pins, clean rivers.
Make soup.
Play music, learn the word for thank you in three languages.
Learn to knit, and make a hat.
Think of chaos as dancing raspberries,
imagine grief as the outbreath of beauty
or the gesture of fish.
Swim for the other side.
Wage peace.
Never has the world seemed so fresh and precious.
have a cup of tea and rejoice.
Act as if armistice has already arrived.
Celebrate today.
Wage Peace
By Judyth Hill
Wage peace with your breath.
Breathe in firemen and rubble,
breathe out whole buildings
and flocks of redwing blackbirds.
Breathe in terrorists and breathe out sleeping children
and freshly mown fields.
Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees.
Breathe in the fallen
and breathe out lifelong friendships intact.
Wage peace with your listening:
hearing sirens, pray loud.
Remember your tools:
flower seeds, clothes pins, clean rivers.
Make soup.
Play music, learn the word for thank you in three languages.
Learn to knit, and make a hat.
Think of chaos as dancing raspberries,
imagine grief as the outbreath of beauty
or the gesture of fish.
Swim for the other side.
Wage peace.
Never has the world seemed so fresh and precious.
have a cup of tea and rejoice.
Act as if armistice has already arrived.
Celebrate today.
5.03.2007
The Will of God
Our last gathering with the spirited and opinionated senior high youth at church was right after Virginia Tech. It was also right after we had experienced a storm and many had lost power, among other things. It was the worst storm since 1998. So, our conversation on this afternoon with youth was about disaster. The conversation took some interesting turns that surprised me (and delighted me). I wish I could remember the details to share them with you now. But, my brain remembers the looks on the kids faces, not as much the words out of their mouths. Curses! It's one problem of being a visual learner and rarely taking notes.
This week, we will be talking about the will of God because that was where our conversation lead. One of my faithful youth quoted that famous prayer, "thy will be done." I hate when these words are used in this way. Perhaps I am too much of a control freak. Or perhaps I believe too strongly that we co-create with God. Or perhaps I'm just really, really stubborn. It remains to be seen.
I think I will start our conversation (which never starts with the Bible because they resist it) with the Letter to the Romans. I'm a Scripture kinda gal. I need it. So, we're going to start here. And one of my charming friends pushed me into the scary and uncertain territory of the Pauline epistles. So, here we go with Romans 9.14: "What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means!"
But, I can't decide. Does it not matter about human will or exertion, as much as the mercy of God? Is it that we are more concerned about what we SHOULD do rather than our actual actions? Will is separate from our own actions -- from what we actually do. These are actually more the words of my charming friend that pushed Paul upon me. I am the clay arguing with the potter right now.
I wish that I could actually finish these details on Thursday so that I might have two days off. But, no, I will ponder this all weekend. Any ideas?
This week, we will be talking about the will of God because that was where our conversation lead. One of my faithful youth quoted that famous prayer, "thy will be done." I hate when these words are used in this way. Perhaps I am too much of a control freak. Or perhaps I believe too strongly that we co-create with God. Or perhaps I'm just really, really stubborn. It remains to be seen.
I think I will start our conversation (which never starts with the Bible because they resist it) with the Letter to the Romans. I'm a Scripture kinda gal. I need it. So, we're going to start here. And one of my charming friends pushed me into the scary and uncertain territory of the Pauline epistles. So, here we go with Romans 9.14: "What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means!"
But, I can't decide. Does it not matter about human will or exertion, as much as the mercy of God? Is it that we are more concerned about what we SHOULD do rather than our actual actions? Will is separate from our own actions -- from what we actually do. These are actually more the words of my charming friend that pushed Paul upon me. I am the clay arguing with the potter right now.
I wish that I could actually finish these details on Thursday so that I might have two days off. But, no, I will ponder this all weekend. Any ideas?
5.02.2007
Testimony
Eventually, I will become a techie wiz and know how to embed this image into my sidebar. But, I'm still a just clueless one that wants to get the word out so it will have to reside in a post for now.
I am going -- and you should too (if you are under 35)!
See, it took an entire remodeling of my blog for it to happen, and I still can't get the darn thing to actually shrink to fit the box over there. Thanks Songbird!
I am going -- and you should too (if you are under 35)!
See, it took an entire remodeling of my blog for it to happen, and I still can't get the darn thing to actually shrink to fit the box over there. Thanks Songbird!
Father Knows Best
Or men do. Somehow, men seem to get to make the final decisions. There are some women -- of various ages -- that even defer to the wisdom of men. And there are men that assert their own opinions over others. Thank you, Mr. President.
Our men in power seem to be making destructive decisions -- decisions that will alter and perhaps erase history. So it is with the history of Roe v. Wade at least. I offer the words of another Nation article, this editorial penned by Katha Pollitt:
"Beyond all this, it's flatly outrageous that five men--five devout Catholic men, 56 percent of the court--can impose their will on women's bodies, talking about "anatomical landmarks" as if a woman's reproductive system were some kind of national park. None of them will ever be pregnant or want or need an abortion. That should have made them humble. I wonder if anyone reading this will live to see a Supreme Court in which a five-woman majority rules on an issue in which the reproductive lives of men, and only men, are at stake. Right now, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is all alone up there, watching her legacy go up in smoke."
Father might know best, but I've always been listening for Mother. Even when she wasn't around to offer her insight. Even when I could hear her -- because I knew that her legacy mattered as much as my own. What legacy will we leave?
Our men in power seem to be making destructive decisions -- decisions that will alter and perhaps erase history. So it is with the history of Roe v. Wade at least. I offer the words of another Nation article, this editorial penned by Katha Pollitt:
"Beyond all this, it's flatly outrageous that five men--five devout Catholic men, 56 percent of the court--can impose their will on women's bodies, talking about "anatomical landmarks" as if a woman's reproductive system were some kind of national park. None of them will ever be pregnant or want or need an abortion. That should have made them humble. I wonder if anyone reading this will live to see a Supreme Court in which a five-woman majority rules on an issue in which the reproductive lives of men, and only men, are at stake. Right now, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is all alone up there, watching her legacy go up in smoke."
Father might know best, but I've always been listening for Mother. Even when she wasn't around to offer her insight. Even when I could hear her -- because I knew that her legacy mattered as much as my own. What legacy will we leave?
5.01.2007
How Can We Mourn?
At my Clergy Support Group today (which is really a support group for one individual where the rest of us appear to have no issues whatsoever), our moderator initiated a conversation about systems. I was so excited. As my congregation is about to go through a dramatic shift in our governance structure, I have been thinking a lot about systems. I thought this might be a wonderful opportunity to vent and discuss. Nope. SPLAT! The conversation fell flat. Needless to say, I was disappointed.
While on the treadmill tonight, I tried to multi-task. I'm not very good at reading and running. But, I have been terrible about reading The Nation and I really wanted to catch up. So, I brought this week's copy along. I actually squealed with delight (to the dismay of my fellow gym goers) when I read Bruce Shapiro's article. He names exactly what I have stuggled to articulate since the Virginia Tech tragedy. Don't worry. I will share. He concludes and I quote,
"The point is not to excoriate an individual university president or police officer or judge but to ask: Why didn't any of you connect the dots? That is an issue of social ethics as much as of specific policies; it is what unites the failure of gun laws and the failure of the mental health system. It reflects an ideology divorced from consequence as surely as the Iraq War or the betrayal of New Orleans. The demand the Virginia Tech massacre places on the school, on Virginia, on all of us, is simple: Only connect."
It's brilliant, isn't it?
It's why I don't think we can really mourn the tragedy in Virginia (or Katrina or 9/11...). Because when we don't understand what happened. We know the results, but we don't really understand what lead to the end results.
It's what I have learned in my own grief. I need to know the gory details of how she died, not only for my own health. But because without those details, I can't grieve. That knowledge was kept from me as a child. I was just told that mommy died. I wasn't offered any information beyond that and it wasn't until later in life when I could put together the peices that I was able to finally begin mourning the loss of my mother.
And this, dear friends, is why we must understand what happened. We must talk about those things that make us uncomfortable in order to heal. We must talk about these systems so that we can figure out how in the world we might change them.
Only then can there be a new heaven and a new earth. Then, we will pave the streets with gold. Oh! I can't wait.
While on the treadmill tonight, I tried to multi-task. I'm not very good at reading and running. But, I have been terrible about reading The Nation and I really wanted to catch up. So, I brought this week's copy along. I actually squealed with delight (to the dismay of my fellow gym goers) when I read Bruce Shapiro's article. He names exactly what I have stuggled to articulate since the Virginia Tech tragedy. Don't worry. I will share. He concludes and I quote,
"The point is not to excoriate an individual university president or police officer or judge but to ask: Why didn't any of you connect the dots? That is an issue of social ethics as much as of specific policies; it is what unites the failure of gun laws and the failure of the mental health system. It reflects an ideology divorced from consequence as surely as the Iraq War or the betrayal of New Orleans. The demand the Virginia Tech massacre places on the school, on Virginia, on all of us, is simple: Only connect."
It's brilliant, isn't it?
It's why I don't think we can really mourn the tragedy in Virginia (or Katrina or 9/11...). Because when we don't understand what happened. We know the results, but we don't really understand what lead to the end results.
It's what I have learned in my own grief. I need to know the gory details of how she died, not only for my own health. But because without those details, I can't grieve. That knowledge was kept from me as a child. I was just told that mommy died. I wasn't offered any information beyond that and it wasn't until later in life when I could put together the peices that I was able to finally begin mourning the loss of my mother.
And this, dear friends, is why we must understand what happened. We must talk about those things that make us uncomfortable in order to heal. We must talk about these systems so that we can figure out how in the world we might change them.
Only then can there be a new heaven and a new earth. Then, we will pave the streets with gold. Oh! I can't wait.
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