What is community? This is the question that is on my mind as we plan Journey Place, a community of spiritual seekers on a journey to personal growth and community. Growing up I lived in what we might call "mid-America". For the most part I grew up in what we might imagine a town to be. There were homes of every size. The homes and the yards were carefully attended. Not much was out of place. The roofs were replaced when they needed to be. If the house needed painting, this was done too. The yards were not chemically treated in those days, but the folks kept the grass cut, the limbs picked up and the gardens were given the attention they needed to fit the picture of "mid-America." Not far from the residential area, there was the community park, the local Post Office, the corner store, the stone church that came to life every Sunday morning, and the sacred halls of the school that educated the town. Everything looked neat and tidy. Everyone interacted in apparent harmony, helping where needed and everyone played their roles with perfection. Is this community? Perhaps.
Growing up, I was known as the Preacher's Kid (PK). Although I saw myself as just another kid in the community, struggling through awkward childhood, playing crack the whip or red light, green light with my neighborhood buds, I was still treated differently by the community because I was the Preacher's Kid. This was particularly apparent when in the sixth grade, I rolled pieces of paper to make cigarettes and would pretend to smoke them. I remember this incident because my teacher embarrassed me in front of my class. She said, "Daniel, that is inappropriate for the son of a preacher. What would your father say?" I hung my head, realizing for the first time that being a PK required a different set of community expectations.
As a PK, I had my share of awkward moments, there was something charming about my life. You see, no matter where in "mid-America" my father moved, I knew what my role would be in the new community in which my father served. When I entered the new congregation my father was called to lead, I had an instant community, an instant family. I had more siblings than I could imagine, so many grandpas and grandmas and neat opportunities I wouldn't have experienced had I not been the son of a preacher. Could this be community? Is this the kind of community for Journey Place? Perhaps.
In his book, Life Together, Bonhoeffer reflects upon another notion of community -- one that is not so easily embraced. Bonhoeffer writes, "Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive." Bonhoeffer seems to suggest in this context that "community" based upon human emotions and imagination is not a Christ-centered community. It would seem that my notion of community and what I know of community does not reflect God's notion of community. The houses, the parks, the public school, the community green are ideas formulated by human imagination. How we structure the social order, the family unit may not be of God. It would seem that genuine community seeks to understand God's truth above all other truths; It seeks to walk in the light of Jesus Christ and to live only to serve one another. This kind of love is called agape love -- love that sacrifices not just for family or friends, but a love that sacrifices for one another because our motivation is above all else is love and serve one another. This is a Christ-centered community.
This is a different notion of community that calls upon us to ask the hard questions of life, why am I here? What is my purpose? Why should Journey Place exist? All of these questions may find its answer in the journey to be the community that lives for a far greater calling to be a different kind of community where agape love is the value of the day. And so, I babel on -- not to find answers, but to explore the questions of life and perhaps find it in Journey Place, a different kind of community.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Interfaith Leaders call for affordable and accessible health care for All Americans
Throughout the course of human history, there are times when a nation and its people must speak to moral imperatives -- to speak clearly to what is faithful to our American ideals, what is compassionate toward our people, and what is right for our country. As spiritual leaders of diverse religious background and with one voice, we the undersigned appeal to our Senators, our Congressmen, our President, and the State of Indiana to provide affordable and accessible health care for all Americans.
In our infancy as a nation we experienced the heavy hand of an oppressive government and the struggle for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The founding fathers and mothers of our young nation probably didn't imagine accessible health care as a right in the way we may perceive health care as a right today, but they did advocate for life as a right of all Americans. The dictionary defines life "... as the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction, and the power of adaptation to environment through changes originating internally." The use of phrases such as "growth through metabolism", "growth through reproduction" and "adaption through changes originating internally" are words and phrases that are associated with accessible health care for all.
In addition to our struggle for life, our founding mothers and fathers also perceived that the citizens of this new nation would have the freedom and the right to pursue some level or form of happiness. Not unrelated to our happiness is affordable health care. Among the dreams of the generations is that our children will be happy and healthy. In part, we have associated the pursuit of happiness with healthy children. In order for our children to be healthy and happy for generations not yet born, we have a moral responsibility to provide affordable and accessible health care for all. As spiritual leaders we believe that affordable and accessible health care is faithful to our American ideals.
As spiritual leaders we are convicted by our various traditions to be people of compassion. Compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering of the other. Although our various traditions differ in our rules, our doctrines, or our forms of spiritual discipline, we remain united in compassion for God's people. In some form or another each of our traditions honor, the Golden Rule -- never do to others what you would not like them to do to you." Whether we find our direction in the Qu'ran, the Torah, the Gospels of Jesus Christ, or in the spiritual disciplines of Buddha or guidance from the Hindu Holy Scripture, Vedas, compassion is the common thread that each of our traditions and our beliefs hold near and dear to our faith. Therefore, we believe that health care for all is a matter of compassion, it is a matter of social conscious, and it is consistent with the Golden Rule that defines our various expressions of faith. As spiritual leaders, we believe that accessible and affordable health care for all Americans is compassionate and it embodies our best religious intentions.
As spiritual leaders we seek to do what is right for the citizens of the United States. We know it to be true that the average life expectancy in the world is 82 years from birth. The average life expectancy within the United States is 77.85 years from birth, ranking the the United States the 47th in life expectancy in the world. In a Satisfaction Survey done in 2001 with fifteen European Countries, the U.S. and Canada by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States ranked 14 out out of 17 of citizens satisfied with their health care. The citizens of Italy, Greece and Portugal rated their satisfaction lower than the citizens of the U.S. The infant mortality rate ranks the U.S. 22nd in the world with 7 deaths per 1000 babies born, placing the U.S. behind New Zealand and Canada. Where the U.S. unquestionably leads in health care, it is on what our nation spends on it. Japan, whose population is considerably older than the U.S. spends $3000.00 per person on while in the U.S., we spend $7000.00 per person on health care. In addition 46 million Americans are currently uninsured with many more under-insured.
Such statistics betray our fundamental human values, offend our religious sensibilities, and dishonor the American people and the ideals of our founding fathers and mothers who believed in an undying loyalty to our right for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Therefore, we believe that accessible and affordable health care for all Americans is right for our country, it is faithful to the American ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it is compassionate and faithful to our religious practices. It is in this context that we affirm our unity and request that our political leaders and public servants in our nation and in the State of Indiana, urgently address health care reform for all Americans.
In our infancy as a nation we experienced the heavy hand of an oppressive government and the struggle for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The founding fathers and mothers of our young nation probably didn't imagine accessible health care as a right in the way we may perceive health care as a right today, but they did advocate for life as a right of all Americans. The dictionary defines life "... as the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction, and the power of adaptation to environment through changes originating internally." The use of phrases such as "growth through metabolism", "growth through reproduction" and "adaption through changes originating internally" are words and phrases that are associated with accessible health care for all.
In addition to our struggle for life, our founding mothers and fathers also perceived that the citizens of this new nation would have the freedom and the right to pursue some level or form of happiness. Not unrelated to our happiness is affordable health care. Among the dreams of the generations is that our children will be happy and healthy. In part, we have associated the pursuit of happiness with healthy children. In order for our children to be healthy and happy for generations not yet born, we have a moral responsibility to provide affordable and accessible health care for all. As spiritual leaders we believe that affordable and accessible health care is faithful to our American ideals.
As spiritual leaders we are convicted by our various traditions to be people of compassion. Compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering of the other. Although our various traditions differ in our rules, our doctrines, or our forms of spiritual discipline, we remain united in compassion for God's people. In some form or another each of our traditions honor, the Golden Rule -- never do to others what you would not like them to do to you." Whether we find our direction in the Qu'ran, the Torah, the Gospels of Jesus Christ, or in the spiritual disciplines of Buddha or guidance from the Hindu Holy Scripture, Vedas, compassion is the common thread that each of our traditions and our beliefs hold near and dear to our faith. Therefore, we believe that health care for all is a matter of compassion, it is a matter of social conscious, and it is consistent with the Golden Rule that defines our various expressions of faith. As spiritual leaders, we believe that accessible and affordable health care for all Americans is compassionate and it embodies our best religious intentions.
As spiritual leaders we seek to do what is right for the citizens of the United States. We know it to be true that the average life expectancy in the world is 82 years from birth. The average life expectancy within the United States is 77.85 years from birth, ranking the the United States the 47th in life expectancy in the world. In a Satisfaction Survey done in 2001 with fifteen European Countries, the U.S. and Canada by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States ranked 14 out out of 17 of citizens satisfied with their health care. The citizens of Italy, Greece and Portugal rated their satisfaction lower than the citizens of the U.S. The infant mortality rate ranks the U.S. 22nd in the world with 7 deaths per 1000 babies born, placing the U.S. behind New Zealand and Canada. Where the U.S. unquestionably leads in health care, it is on what our nation spends on it. Japan, whose population is considerably older than the U.S. spends $3000.00 per person on while in the U.S., we spend $7000.00 per person on health care. In addition 46 million Americans are currently uninsured with many more under-insured.
Such statistics betray our fundamental human values, offend our religious sensibilities, and dishonor the American people and the ideals of our founding fathers and mothers who believed in an undying loyalty to our right for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Therefore, we believe that accessible and affordable health care for all Americans is right for our country, it is faithful to the American ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it is compassionate and faithful to our religious practices. It is in this context that we affirm our unity and request that our political leaders and public servants in our nation and in the State of Indiana, urgently address health care reform for all Americans.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thoughts from a son in the Autumn of the year
It's All Saints Day this Sunday -- that hallowed day that follows the frightening night of the souls of saints known and unknown who can laugh in the "face of death" and ask, "O death, where is thy sting?" On All Saints day, I'm leaving for Eden Seminary where my late father received his Master of Divinity. There will be a special service that day -- that day when my father and others will be remembered for their faithful service within the Church of Jesus Christ.
Eden is that mythological garden of new beginnings -- how fitting that I should return to this place of new beginnings. I was born in that garden -- that place of new beginnings. It was there that my father held me as a newborn -- where the arms of my mother received me on my birthing day. And now, I return to this place of beginnings to remember my father. When he held me in the dormitory all those years ago, I can't imagine that he thought about his dying day. As I celebrated my first birthday in mythical garden of Eden, was he thinking about the day he would die? It was January of his Senior year when my younger sister was born in this garden of new beginnings. On that day was he thinking about the day he would leave this earthly garden to his heavenly home? This place of new beginnings -- to where I am returning -- is where I go to remember an ending -- or is it a new beginning?
It's late October now and as I look into the beauty of Autumn, I am reminded of the cycle of the natural world. In this garden -- this place called earth, the leaves are floating gently to the ground, finding their rest upon the forest floor -- leaf upon leaf. The beautiful gold, yellow, red and orange leaves find their resting place and there they wait -- wait until the cold and damp of winter settles upon their once spirited and beautiful journey -- a place they never imagined they would be just 6 months earlier. But even in winter's blustery cold, the leaves that were floating by just minutes ago, will soon find their peace upon the forest floor and there they will remain. Is it an ending or a beginning?
In the mythological garden of new beginnings, there are many trees. The trees are beautiful, they are full, they are healthy, and they have grown. This is true because of the golden leaves now lying on the forest floor that have fed and nurtured, protected and loved the trunks and branches so that might live to praise their creator. Leaves, once green and filled with life, lay lifeless on the ground, yet their memory nurtures the roots that will birth new life in this mythological garden of new beginnings.
The trees that lie dormant through a season have the life they have because of the leaves that have fallen on this Autumn day. I am going to Eden to remember my father, the one who has given me life. The leaves that have fallen become fertile soil for new life in the spring. Likewise, a father's love, a father's memory never dies. It keeps on giving and, in an end, is a new beginning. And so, I babble on -- remembering with gratitude all the Saints who give us life.
Eden is that mythological garden of new beginnings -- how fitting that I should return to this place of new beginnings. I was born in that garden -- that place of new beginnings. It was there that my father held me as a newborn -- where the arms of my mother received me on my birthing day. And now, I return to this place of beginnings to remember my father. When he held me in the dormitory all those years ago, I can't imagine that he thought about his dying day. As I celebrated my first birthday in mythical garden of Eden, was he thinking about the day he would die? It was January of his Senior year when my younger sister was born in this garden of new beginnings. On that day was he thinking about the day he would leave this earthly garden to his heavenly home? This place of new beginnings -- to where I am returning -- is where I go to remember an ending -- or is it a new beginning?
It's late October now and as I look into the beauty of Autumn, I am reminded of the cycle of the natural world. In this garden -- this place called earth, the leaves are floating gently to the ground, finding their rest upon the forest floor -- leaf upon leaf. The beautiful gold, yellow, red and orange leaves find their resting place and there they wait -- wait until the cold and damp of winter settles upon their once spirited and beautiful journey -- a place they never imagined they would be just 6 months earlier. But even in winter's blustery cold, the leaves that were floating by just minutes ago, will soon find their peace upon the forest floor and there they will remain. Is it an ending or a beginning?
In the mythological garden of new beginnings, there are many trees. The trees are beautiful, they are full, they are healthy, and they have grown. This is true because of the golden leaves now lying on the forest floor that have fed and nurtured, protected and loved the trunks and branches so that might live to praise their creator. Leaves, once green and filled with life, lay lifeless on the ground, yet their memory nurtures the roots that will birth new life in this mythological garden of new beginnings.
The trees that lie dormant through a season have the life they have because of the leaves that have fallen on this Autumn day. I am going to Eden to remember my father, the one who has given me life. The leaves that have fallen become fertile soil for new life in the spring. Likewise, a father's love, a father's memory never dies. It keeps on giving and, in an end, is a new beginning. And so, I babble on -- remembering with gratitude all the Saints who give us life.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Spirit God changing the faces of faith
The conference of Christianity 21 has ended and now I return to my community with an experience that others will not fully understand. Twenty-one speakers, each speaking for 21 minutes on topics ranging from the meaning of confession to embracing pluralism, from religious struggles with evangelical passion to an openness to diversity, from easy answers to complex arguments of the history and future of "church", organized religion or how God's Spirit continues to do a new thing in the midst of the church's history that range from the ordinary to the extraordinary, from the ancient to the new, and everything in between.
What can be said? I am loyal to "denominationalism" especially the United Church of Christ. I have not had negative experiences with churches and denominations that many of the speakers identified as their reasons for finding their way into this Holy Spirit experiment we now call "emergence". Could it be that I am fortunate? Privileged? Naive or lucky? Or could it be that the Christians that shaped my faith allowed me to discover my own path? Perhaps it is all of these things and a healthy dose of God's spirit working in my life and the life of those who touched me in ways that shaped my loyalty, my faith, and my unyielding identity as a child of God.
Although some may have had a more traumatic faith journey than I, and although some may be more skeptical and more cynical of religion and/or organized Christian faith than I am. I will leave this weekend with an affirmation and a deeper understanding that God will achieve God's end no matter what and that is the eternal quest of God -- to use whatever human structures, human beings, or creative energy God can use to continue to close the mythological schism between God and God's beloved creation. As Dorthy Bulter Bass said, "The God who is, is the God who exists beyond all time and the God of history will be the God of our present and our future" and in the "in-between" time, Spirit God will never cease to change the face of faith. Maybe this is the hope for tomorrow's generation of believers. And so the cycle of faith continues, God does not rest and today's experience will become tomorrow's history and so for now, I'll rest in this peace, but tomorrow I'll babble on.
What can be said? I am loyal to "denominationalism" especially the United Church of Christ. I have not had negative experiences with churches and denominations that many of the speakers identified as their reasons for finding their way into this Holy Spirit experiment we now call "emergence". Could it be that I am fortunate? Privileged? Naive or lucky? Or could it be that the Christians that shaped my faith allowed me to discover my own path? Perhaps it is all of these things and a healthy dose of God's spirit working in my life and the life of those who touched me in ways that shaped my loyalty, my faith, and my unyielding identity as a child of God.
Although some may have had a more traumatic faith journey than I, and although some may be more skeptical and more cynical of religion and/or organized Christian faith than I am. I will leave this weekend with an affirmation and a deeper understanding that God will achieve God's end no matter what and that is the eternal quest of God -- to use whatever human structures, human beings, or creative energy God can use to continue to close the mythological schism between God and God's beloved creation. As Dorthy Bulter Bass said, "The God who is, is the God who exists beyond all time and the God of history will be the God of our present and our future" and in the "in-between" time, Spirit God will never cease to change the face of faith. Maybe this is the hope for tomorrow's generation of believers. And so the cycle of faith continues, God does not rest and today's experience will become tomorrow's history and so for now, I'll rest in this peace, but tomorrow I'll babble on.
Friday, October 9, 2009
An honor and a challenge
I was puzzled, yet thrilled at the news that President Barak Obama was selected for the Nobel Peace Prize. Probably no one was more surprised than our President. After celebrating this surprising announcement with Carly, I began to think of the context in which this prize was given.
I certainly believe there were many more people who certainly were worthy of such an honor as the Nobel Prize and knew that many would criticize, belittle and judge the Nobel Prize Committee as short-sighted and perhaps being political. Although maybe one could argue that this could be true, I think this is a time not to question the committee or private rejoicing, but it is a time to rejoice for the world and for America.
Their reasons for selecting Barak Obama may elude us, but for now we need to view this as a means for rejoicing and a challenge to keep the course of peace and justice for all and accept the challenge as shared by Barak Obama when he spoke to our nation about his surprising win. He said, " This award -- and the call to action that comes with it -- does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.
Thrilled yes! Challenged? Yes! So let us who follow the course of peace and justice. This, I believe is the message we need to hear today in light of the surprising and thrilling selection of President Barak Obama as the 2009 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. And so I babble on until next time.
I certainly believe there were many more people who certainly were worthy of such an honor as the Nobel Prize and knew that many would criticize, belittle and judge the Nobel Prize Committee as short-sighted and perhaps being political. Although maybe one could argue that this could be true, I think this is a time not to question the committee or private rejoicing, but it is a time to rejoice for the world and for America.
Their reasons for selecting Barak Obama may elude us, but for now we need to view this as a means for rejoicing and a challenge to keep the course of peace and justice for all and accept the challenge as shared by Barak Obama when he spoke to our nation about his surprising win. He said, " This award -- and the call to action that comes with it -- does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.
Thrilled yes! Challenged? Yes! So let us who follow the course of peace and justice. This, I believe is the message we need to hear today in light of the surprising and thrilling selection of President Barak Obama as the 2009 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. And so I babble on until next time.
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