Answering An Old Question

You know that song Should I Stay or Should I Go by The Clash? Was it really The Clash that sang that? I had forgotten half of the lyrics were in Spanish. Or perhaps I'm too busy bopping on the dance floor that I don't pay attention. Oh well.

I have an interesting soundtrack echoing in my head right now as I settle down to bed before I wake up at 5:30 am to get ready to fly to Ohio. I hate early flights. And it's supposed to snow. Again. Anyhow, the soundtrack... After spending the past two days on the couch struggling with some unknown illness (that I assume to be exhaustion), I watched the movie Dreamgirls with a friend tonight. So now I have these two songs playing in my head. One of these songs is crooned by Effie in the middle of the movie as she asserts herself and well -- the lyrics are strange. Great song to belt out in frustration -- though I'm not sure that Effie really meant what she is singing here.

And I am telling you
Im not going
You're the best man I'll ever know
There's no way I can ever, ever go
No, no, no, no way
No, no, no, no way Im living without you
Oh, Im not living without you, not living without you
I dont wanna be free
Im staying, Im staying
And you, and you, and you
You're gonna love me

You're gonna love me, yes you are
Ooh ooh love me, ooh ooh ooh love me
Love me, love me, love me, love me

You're gonna love me

These lyrics seem to affirm the old question asked first (in my mind) by The Clash. Honey, you should go. Go. Go. Go.

Of course, as I watched this scene and marveled at the strange word choice, I pictured her as a pastor singing this to her congregation. Yeah. Not good. Go. And now, I shall go to sleep and away for a few days.

A Revolutionary Idea

I just saw Michael Moore's new movie. I'm sure you've already seen it. Or perhaps you dismissed Moore long ago. I admit that I kinda like him. I like the sensationalism. It's the stuff that I wish I could get away with in sermons. Then, maybe it would really stir people up. Because the gospel is supposed to stir you up.

This film wasn't so sensationalist. For better or worse, it wasn't quite so dramatic. But, I didn't expect the tour of other nations. I didn't expect to see how other nations approach healthcare. Moore points to France, Canada, England and even (gasp) Cuba for their excellent healthcare systems. And the point that he gleans is so simple -- though it seems to have just dawned on him. It's as simple as this: We are supposed to see the humanity in others -- and this humanity should move us toward looking out for each other.

With all of the mission trips I have been on and heard about, I have seen this reality dawn. I have seen children and adults tell the same story about mission trips that I didn't get to go on. But, rarely, so very, very rarely do I hear these kinds of stories on an everyday it-happened-down-the-street way. It happened here. In America. Instead, we have to go to other places to figure out how to make connections. We have to travel to distant lands to realize that we are human. Isn't that sad?

Words to Remember

It is not the concern of any one race. The victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown. They are, most important of all, human beings whom other human beings loved and needed. No one – no matter where he lives or what he does – can be certain who will suffer from some senseless act of bloodshed. And yet it goes on and on.

Why? What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No martyr’s cause has ever been stilled by his assassin’s bullet.

No wrongs have ever been righted by riots and civil disorders. A sniper is only a coward, not a hero; and an uncontrolled, uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness, not the voice of the people.

Whenever any American’s life is taken by another American unnecessarily – whether it is done in the name of the law or in the defiance of law, by one man or a gang, in cold blood or in passion, in an attack of violence or in response to violence – whenever we tear at the fabric of life which another man has painfully and clumsily woven for himself and his children, the whole nation is degraded.

These are the remarks of Senator Robert F. Kennedy to the Cleveland City Club in Cleveland on Ohio, April 5, 1968. You can read the whole speech -- and I hope you do -- here.

I heard them in the movie Bobby that I watched this hot June afternoon after leaving church to try to nurse myself to health. And yet again, I feel restless for what change I am not making in the heat of these days. And so, I lift up my simple prayer for peace -- that history might not repeat itself in utter tragedy as I fear it already has.

A Good Movie

History repeats itself. Who was it that said that? Something about time going in cycles so that events repeat. One would think that we would learn, but somehow we instead repeat things that have already been. I'm not sure this is something that we should scold ourselves about. After all, it's why we read sacred text. There is something about the stories that we tell -- and retell and tell again -- that speaks to our very experience as human beings. Perhaps because we repeat things that have already been. Or perhaps because we need companions along the way. Perhaps we need to be reminded that the divine is indeed in this too.

Like it was for William Wilburforce. He had his faith and maybe that's what helped him through the struggles of bringing about abolition in England. Maybe. Maybe it's a little preachy for having just seen the movie Amazing Grace. But, it's what ran through my head. And isn't it so? I wonder. In the midst of Wilburforce's courtship with Barbara Spooner, where he recounts his activity in this struggle, she remarks that the tides are changing. She says something to the effect of: "And they won't be afraid anymore. And when there is no fear, there will be compassion." I thought of our current struggles toward peace and recognizing the humanity of Iraqis, Afghanis, the tortured and too many more. History repeats itself.

The other moment that struck me was a blip upon the screen. But, I never really thought about it. The camera panned over a shop in London that prominently displayed a sign declaring: "The sugar sold here has been refined by free hands." Why can't we be as proud about fair trade coffee? I admit that's my current gripe. But, I know that there are others. Too many others that we sacrifice for the luxuries we enjoy. And so, I'm thinking about things that are unrelated to my sermon. But, it's a good movie. You should see it.