Morning: May 8^th: Tuesday

 Eighteen a day, eighteen a day.

 Eighteen veterans who returned from Iran and Afghanistan commit suicide every day. Eighteen lives every day, lost to suicide. They are victims, uncounted victims of war. As Memorial Day approaches, flags will be waved and talk of heroes and sacrifice will fill the air. Is there courage in our country to face the reality that war costs us as a people on a spiritual, soul level?

 Judith Broder MD, founder, The Soldiers Project, group of volunteer licensed mental health professionals that provide free counseling and support to military service members recently spoke on the Larry Mantel show (KPCC/NPR) about the ruling of the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeal. That ruling, while it can’t change the mechanics of how mental health services are provided to veterans, it does shine a light on a situation that desperately needs attention.

 The sad reality is that there isn’t the capacity inside the VA (Veterans Administration) or outside the VA around the country to meet the need. Access to mental health professionals in the entire country is very limited and it is even more so in the VA, according to Tom Tarantino, Deputy Policy Director, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. “Mental health care system is old and passive, doesn’t meet the needs of its patients.” he said. “It’s not a shortage of money…Congress has delivered record funding for the VA.”

 Evidence of that lack of access is in the hundreds of thousands of veterans who had to wait an average of four years to fully receive the mental health benefits owed them. 19% of returning veterans are identified with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among the veterans seen in VA facilities.

 Eighteen a day….who will remember these ones lost to war? More veterans have died at home than in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. (The Soldiers Project)

 Evening: May 8^th: Tuesday

 Wendell Berry is one of my favorite spiritual writers. As the day came to a close, I was reading an essay he wrote called, “The Failure of War”. The wisdom of God comes through his voice.

 “If you know even as little history as I do, it is hard not to doubt the efficacy of modern war as a solution to any problem except that of retribution – the “justice’ of exchanging one damage for another.”

 “National defense through war always involves some degree of national defeat.” (18 a day)

 “In a modern war, neither side can limit to “the enemy” the damage that it does. These wars damage the world…it is impossible to damage your enemy without damaging yourself.”

“by diplomacy we mean invariably ultimatums for peace backed by the threat of war.”

 “To achieve peace by peaceable means is not yet our goal. We cling to the hopeless paradox of making peace by making war….we cling in our public life to a brutal hypocrisy.”

 Wendell Berry’s words force the conversation beyond even providing the needed help for people returning from war. His words force us to take note of the spiritual/soul damage that results from violence, particularly from war. Some soldiers return missing limbs; that is visible. Many soldiers return missing pieces of their soul; that is not so visible but in some ways a deeper, more lasting injury. It is damage that is taken into all the relationships that person holds.

 When fear grips an entire nation, it is difficult to stand up to that fear with cautionary words. It is my hope and prayer that the next time fear grips our nation, the Christian community will collectively speak from our deepest values. It is my hope and prayer that the next time fear grips our nation we will count all the costs before we react.

 “Love your enemies, do good to those that hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you…Do to others as you would have them do to you.” – Jesus as remembered in Luke’s Gospel

Some of you know what I mean by “the conversation.” It is the conversation parents who are NOT Caucasion have with their children, especially their make children about what to do, specific behaviors to avid and engage when stopped by the police. African American and Latino parents typically have this conversation with boys as they enter adolescence, 11-13.

While at the Quadrennial planning meeting last week, a friend and colleague reflected and lamented on how her Latina friend in Los Angeles posted on Facebook that she felt that she needed to have “the conversation” with her 8 year old son.

I have never had to wonder if my son will be stopped or shot by police. I have
never had to say goodbye in the morning, send him off to school and pray that
if for some reason he gets stopped by police he is not at risk to be arrested,
beaten or worse. I am learning that this is not true for mothers whose skin
color I do not share, but whose love and protective instinct for their children
I do. The police are steeped in a culture of racism, just like the rest of us.  All of us need to be held accountable for our collusion in it, however enlightened we may think we are.

Compassion is the capacity to walk in someone else’s shoes, to try as best as I can to understand the world through their eyes, their heart and yes, their skin. Jesus lived and taught this kind of compassion. When I think of Trayvon Martin’s family, it aches. When I think of his brother who has never seen Trayvon behave in a manner described by the shooter and is bewildered by his description of the event, I am angry. Who gets to tell the story of the incident? The one left living. Had a black man held the gun, shot and killed a boy claiming self-defense with no witnesses to back it up, he would have been in jail within hours of the incident. That I believe.

An antidote to racism is the development of compassion. This requires us to listen to people whose stories are different from our own. This requires us to listen differently. I am helped by the prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assiss:
grant that I might so much seek to be understood as to understand. Will you join me in the living of this prayer?

It is no secret or surprise that sleep deprivation is bad for us. Still, people put on the badge of martyr, order another shot of espresso and shoulder on through fatigue. Fatigue is a badge of honor in our society of over worked, over programmed people. The down-sizing and right sizing of business has simply meant that less people do more work. After school enrichment activities for children translate into more weekend obligations.

About 75 million of us in the US don’t get enough sleep. That’s about one-quarter of the population who drives, operates machinery, makes decisions that effects people’s daily lives, teaches our children, performs surgery; you get the drift. Twenty five percent of us are sleep deprived. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn us that this can lead to a number of chronic illnesses and conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and depression. (LA Times, 3-13-12, B1)

What is crazy to me is that even though we know all this, our society as a whole continues to buy the snake oil that more hours equals greater productivity. Study after study debunks this myth. A recent Harvard Medical School study demonstrated that our nation loses more than $63 BILLLION a year due to lack of sleep among workers. (Ibid.) People are seen as widgets and cogs in the machinery we call the economy, but we are more than a piece of the machinery. Our faith teaches us this.  

This is National Sleep Awareness Month. I’d like to claim it as National Sabbath Rest Awareness Month. Busier lifestyles, a 24 hour news and entertainment culture, the lie that doing more work makes us more productive and the ubiquitous presence of technology, from TV to iPad all contribute to our sleepless, restless culture.

Even in the church, there is a tendency to program, program, program. There is this itch we scratch; if we are to be “successful” that means we have a children’s program, a single’s program, a music program, etc. Our society has idolized work and productivity to the point we can’t even recognize what real re-creation is or feels like. What if we were instead the counter cultural presence of do nothing, be still and know that God is God?

Jesus was counter cultural. He honored the Sabbath but didn’t let that keep him from helping someone. Jesus reminded his followers that the Sabbath was made for people, not the other way around. So it is with the economy. The economy exists to serve the welfare of people, not people serve the welfare of the economy.

Do you think you could sit still for 5 minutes without thinking of something you should or could be doing? Could you sit quietly and simply listen for 5 minutes to your heart beating and your body breathing without imagining what is right and wrong with it? Could you stop for just 5 minutes and rest in God, in God’s grace and complete love for you?

The Sabbath was made for us, to remind us that we are not our own. We do not have to struggle and strive every waking minute. We do not have to distract ourselves with mindless entertainment when we are bored. We are made for communion with and care from God, but we have to stop and focus long enough to receive what God has to offer.

I hope you will join me in stopping for at least 5 minutes each day to receive from God. I also hope you will join me in challenging the culture that idolizes the economy over the welfare of the people who it should serve.

In his book, Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey observes life in what was then Arches National Monument. He uncovers the immense spiritual matter that is revealed in the material life of the desert. Here is a description of the prickly pear flower and its irresistible attraction for the honey bee.

            I have yet to look into one and not find a honeybee or bumblebee wallowing drunkenly inside, powdered with pollen, glutting itself on what must be a marvelous nectar. You can’t get them out of there – they won’t go home. I’ve done my best to annoy them, poking and prodding with a stem of grass, but a bee in a cactus bloom will not be provoked. (Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey)

 The honeybee in the cactus flower is the position in which God wants us: to be so completely covered and infused with the love of God, to be so completely cradled and secure in God’s Spirit that we cannot be provoked, we cannot be annoyed.

 The work of prayer, of worship, of meditation is like that of the honeybee filling up on the nectar of God. When we fill up enough and frequently enough, we can be sustained through the poking and prodding of life’s varied circumstances. We will have the vigor to sustain our spirits through difficulty and trials.

I invite you to participate in one or more of the opportunities during the season of Lent to fill yourself up with the Spirit of God.

The picture below is full size. Please move the horizontal cursor to see a close up of the bees in the prickly pear flower and notice how they are covered in pollen.

Warning: written while hot under the collar.

Wanting spirituality without the trappings of church is like wanting democracy without the trappings of representative government. It’s like wanting an education without the trappings of a school or university. It’s like wanting the love and community of family without having to clean the toilet or take out the trash.

I understand that there are countless people who are turned off by “the church” for countless good reasons. What I don’t understand is how people can blithely believe they are providing the so-called spirituality people seek without any trappings. Recently I read on Disciples News Service a story about a couple, a minister and his wife, starting such a venture. He left a Disciple congregation feeling a call to a new kind of ministry. It’s called Pneu Project. Pneu is a Greek word for life, spirit and breath.

The main tenants of the project are:

• We exist to share Jesus with people who don’t go to church.
• We believe God deserves better. (followed by something about becoming the most creative, caring and effective organization….which means INFRASTRUCTURE; more about that later.)
• We believe everyone is included. . . No restrictions, no politics, period. (Okay, that is REALLY political. Everyone means gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgendered, etc. Everyone means Libertarian, Democrat, Republican.)

 Infrastructure: Without infrastructure, the trappings of church:

1. There would be no seminary where the pastor got his theological education
2. There would be no Committee on Ministry to insure he was “safe” to do ministry.
3. There would be no Pension Fund for him to have a secure retirement.
4. There would be no legal protection for him if ever accused of unethical/illegal actions.
5. There would be no accountability to be related to the whole body of Christ beyond the one circle of community.
6. There would be no accountability to actually be the body of Christ in a hurting world which does require Christians get up off our butts and do something about the poverty and hunger in the world. It’s not enough to feed the hungry; one must also ask WHY people are hungry. That, my friends is a political question. We cannot get off that hook so easily as to say, “Well, we’re just not going to be political.”

 I’m weary of the way criticisms are launched from catapults of casual arrogance with ammunition of vague generalities like, “trappings of church”. Yes, congregations have allowed committee structures to supersede ministry. There are also congregations whose committees are DOING ministry, getting things done for the sake of building the kingdom of God.

Yesterday I was reminded by the words of a colleague that one important part of infrastructure that helped our congregations stay in tune with Global Ministries has weakened over the years: Disciples Women. Congregations and the Global Ministries relied on this part of the body to keep the connection strong between missionaries and church partners around the world and the people in local congregations in the U.S. and Canada. Our collective effort to be a presence in the world is weaker because this “trapping of the church” no longer functions in more and more congregations. And nothing else is filling the vacuum in these congregations, ours included.

Other words for trappings include: accessories, trimmings, frills. I don’t know precisely what Pneu Project will look like, but I hope it will include the accessories of lay Elders and Diaconate, the trimmings of valued musicians who are paid for their time and creative efforts, the frills of a group of committed, visionary lay leaders with gifts of administration (yes, that’s a spiritual gift!) who will spend time meeting together to manage the often unexciting but necessary bits and pieces of community life.

We finished the second act of “When the Levees Broke” by Spike Lee; we’re half way through this United States  tragedy. Why revisit old wounds? Why recount the tragedy? Why remember the shamefully lethargic response of the rest of our government? Because the wounds are still fresh and unhealed. (Ask Cristina Kurtek who was there last year on a mission trip.) The tragedy lingers in the classicism and racism that pervade our country. And we the people, whose government it is, must demand that even “the least of these” deserve “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Happiness was impossible to pursue for over 50,000 people told to evacuate and then given no means to do it.

FEMA came late and left early, but the presence that persists is the presence of the faith community. Our church, our denomination continues to send volunteers, money and other resources to the communities still trying to heal after Hurricane Katrina. Entire neighborhoods are still left abandoned with debris piled on the sidewalks, but people of faith continue to face the daunting task and do what they can to help clean up.

Week of Compassion made it possible for you and I to be present with resources from the moment recovery began. This offering provides emergency relief and development resources throughout the whole world. God has the whole world in God’s hands and we take to heart our call to care for all, not just for some.

Every February, the Week of Compassion offering is emphasized. Fortunately for the places where people are hurting, Week of Compassion lasts more than a week and more than a month. Week of Compassion makes it possible for us to provide a presence of healing and hope all year long to people in places we can’t otherwise reach.

The link below will take you to the list of places Week of Compassion has helped us have presence in the year 2011. I encourage you to click the link and simply scroll down. It is impressive and encouraging. It makes me grateful to be part of a company of disciples of Jesus, committed to bring God’s healing to the world, ready to respond to tragedy as it is happening. Jesus met people in their need; we are privileged to stand in his place.

http://www.weekofcompassion.org/2011-responses/

I asked the Board members to answer this question. “How do you practice the Christian faith?” All of the answers had to do with doing something outwardly. Practicing the Christian faith in the context of one’s work, one’s vocation helped bring a sense of purpose and patience. Practicing the Christian faith by being kind, generous and loving gave a sense of meaning and hope. 

Practicing the Christian faith is indeed an outward expression of an inward reality, so how about that inward reality? Tending to the inward reality is also practicing the Christian faith. I am all for the outward expression, the actions that make Christ’s love more apparent in the world. I am also aware that a sporadic connection to the inward reality of our spirit and God’s Spirit leaves us more susceptible to the strains of doing.

Practicing the Christian faith includes tending your spirit. I continue to contend that quiet listening with God is critical to practicing our Christian faith. Being still to know God must precede all the doing, inform all the doing and even be part of the doing. Sometimes the most productive action we can take is to stop and do nothing. How can God inform and inspire us when we won’t stop long enough to be still and listen, just listen?

I dare you to stop what you are doing right now and listen for one minute. Say to God, “God, I’m listening.” and listen for a full minute. Go on now.

There was an 18^th century rabbi who is looking at people rushing to and fro in the town square and he wonders why they’re running so frenetically and he stops one and says, “Why are you running?”

 The man answered, “I’m running to make a living.”

And the rabbi says to him, “How come you’re so sure that the living is in front of you and you have to run to catch it up. Maybe it’s behind you and you’ve got to stop and let it catch up with you.”

 I heard this story told by the chief rabbi of Great Britain, Lord Jonathan Sacks who went on to say, “Which bits of contemporary culture do we stop and let our blessings catch up with us? That is called the Sabbath which we all share: when we celebrate the things that are important, but not urgent.”

 Many of us live according to the tyranny of the urgent, whether it’s a deadline at work or an important appointment with a doctor. Regardless of our age or life circumstance all of us deal with the tyranny of the urgent. Our Sabbath is Sunday; a time to reflect on what is important in our life, individually and collectively in a way that doesn’t give in to what can be the oppressive tyranny of the urgent. Worship is our window of opportunity to breathe in the Spirit of God, to breathe with the Spirit of God, recalibrating our internal pace.

 Go ahead, breathe, anticipate Sabbath rest and let its blessing catch up with you.

Recently, I read this about conviction:

            Conviction is not belief, but rather a profound inner knowing that supports us through times of challenge, a compassionate knowing that is steady and deep without being rigid or positional. The process of developing conviction is gradual and developmental. It happens invisibly as we practice consistently over time, and we cannot fast track it.

Christmas approaches and we may or we may not believe in actual angels and a virgin birth. What we SHARE is the conviction, the confidence that God’s eternity intersect our own time, repeatedly. What we SHARE is the conviction, the confidence that the Christ comes into the world over and over again, like the tidal forces of the ocean that cannot be stopped.

Deep down, we know that God is with us. We don’t need to be rigid about it or defend our position. Our position, our location is with God, in the fullness of time. We come to this position and fullness gradually over years of stretching our imagination into the imagination of God.

We are imagined by God as the image of God: imago Dei. We are God made flesh in our time so that Christ is born again and again in every generation, like tidal forces of the ocean that cannot be held back.

The love of God flows through your life and you are swept up in the great ocean current of God’s love made flesh with power. We SHARE this conviction, this confidence that we are invited by Christ to be the substance of God’s tidal forces of love and hope, peace and joy and we cannot be stopped.

The first week of the Advent Bible Study is complete. We heard Mike preach about Zechariah and I got to lead and listen to 30 of you reflect together on this passage. The story about Zechariah in Luke 1:5-25 is full of references to
occurrences in the history of Israel:

• Casting of lots – See Esther 3:7
• Vision in the temple – Samuel is called by God in the temple
• Heavenly messenger – Jacob wrestles with an angel, heavenly visitors come to Abraham and Sarah
• A promise from God – to Abraham and Sarah that their descendants would outnumber the stars, to Noah that God would not destroy the earth again
• A sign – the rainbow
• A childless old couple – Abraham and Sarah

These are parts of the Zechariah story too, but now it’s about something new that is happening. That something new stands on the foundations of what already is, namely the nation of Israel and Judaism. God is at work from within the institution of the Temple, from within the rituals and practices of Judaism, transforming the world.

God is at work within the institution of our church, our congregation, transforming the world. We are also part of God’s salvation history on the corner of Park and Artesia.

We asked ourselves these three questions:

1. What do we really need to tend and care for inside our institutions?Over and over the answers resonated with the word “relationship”. One response I found particularly provocative. It employs a verb we don’t usually associate with church community: pursue. “We need to pursue our relationship with Christ and our relationship with each other. If we are not pursuing relationships with each other we are not building the body of Christ.” To pursue requires each of us to be in an active role, not a passive role. Another person recognized how hard it is for people to give themselves to another person.
2. What rituals and practices of our faith will help usher in the new?     Over and over the answers began with the Table. It is the centralizing point of community. Appreciation was expressed for the open table, that there is no litmus test of faith or age requirement to participate in the Lord’s Supper. Bible study and prayer were named and so was mission. “Who we are, our identity is something we need to keep at the fore. Our mission is what brings us together and galvanizes us to act together.” I wonder, though, how each of us might define that mission.
3. What is new?                                                                                                          You said, the teachings of Jesus. You said, new people. Whatever is new is likely still unknown.

Matthew’s gospel wants to eliminate the old for the sake of the new: old wineskins can’t hold new wine. Luke has a different perspective. He proclaims the new can’t come into being without the support of what has come before. In some ways they are both right. Sometimes we have to let go of ways of doing things that no longer support the work of the church. And sometimes we have to tend and care for the ways that have served the work of the church. Our work is carefully discerning the difference.

I hope you are provoked as I am by the word pursue and will pursue your
relationship with Christ this Advent season and pursue one another to build the body of Christ that gathers at the corner of Park and Artesia.