I remember as a kid on the 4th of July – I was maybe 7 or 8 years old – putting red, white and blue crepe paper through the spokes of my bike tires and attaching a playing card to the back wheel somehow through the spokes, that produced a rattling sound. Then I rode it in the parade in the small town I grew up in. I think that was my first brush with nationalism, hopefully not jingoism or extreme patriotism: My country is the greatest country on the face of the earth! But I do sometimes think about all the wonderful things that have happened in America just in my lifetime.
When I was 9, the Beatles came to America. At the time, I didn’t think that was such a big deal. But my older sisters sure did. Now I look back on it and think – Wow! – the Beatles didn’t just help make rock and roll amazingly popular in America, they also helped make Eastern thought and religion amazing popular in America.
When I was 9 and 10 years old, the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act passed. (Of course, I wasn’t aware of it at the time.) One, ended discrimination based on race; the other, gave all people of color the right to vote. Think about that for a moment. In my lifetime, blacks and other minorities got the right to vote and they could no longer be discriminated against.
When I was 14, man first walked on the moon. Wow! How cool was that? (Plus we got Tang out of the deal.)
Of course, also in my lifetime, the Vietnam War happened, President Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated, President Nixon resigned in disgrace. And many other awful things took place. It’s not always easy to remember the bad with the good. Reality is sometimes hard. Or as they say: Reality Bites, if we force ourselves to look at it.
Do some of us get a little too sentimental on holidays like the 4th of July? Do we look at America through rose-colored or red, white and blue colored glasses? Do we, if only for a day, feel like those old Vietnam-era bumper stickers? America: Love it or leave it.
Yakof Smirnoff is a Russian comedian. He became popular in America in the 80s. I saw an old video of his act from back then. He said, “I like it here in America, because here you have freedom of speech. You can go even to [President] Reagan and you can say, ‘I don’t like Reagan.’ We can do the same thing in Russia. We can go to [President] Brezhnev and we can say, ‘I don’t like Reagan.’” Yakov Smirnoff had a catch phrase that concluded many of his jokes. He would point out something silly about the United States, then he would say, “America – what a country!” America is quite a country, although it might not be as good as some people would like to believe.
Jesus tells his disciples, “As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.'” I don’t think Jesus was talking about himself. I used to think that Jesus was saying: I, Jesus, have come from heaven and now I have come near you, so the kingdom of heaven has come near. I don’t think that anymore. I think what Jesus was saying was: Heaven is all around us; we just have to see it. Now I imagine there are those who think America is heaven on earth, but that might be going a little too far. In America, we have poverty in the midst of plenty. In America, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. In America, we can always seem to find money to pay for war, but we can’t always seem to find money to pay for extending unemployment benefits. And of course America has an imperfect past too. 150 years ago we had slavery in this country.
In his first inaugural address in 1861, Abraham Lincoln appealed to, “…the better angels of our nature.” Those better angels did not prevail and Civil War broke out, primarily over slavery. The North eventually won, of course, the slaves were freed, but not before hundreds of thousands of Americans on both sides died.
In his second inaugural address four years later, President Lincoln concluded, “With malice toward none; with charity for all.” America did not achieve that goal then – with malice toward none; with charity for all – and we didn’t reach it a hundred years later either.
In 1961, President Kennedy concluded his one, and unfortunately only, inaugural address with these words, “…let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking [God’s] blessing and [God’s] help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.” I always like those words. They could be the benediction every Sunday in every church in America: “…let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking [God’s] blessing and [God’s] help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.”
Is America doing God’s work? Is America living up to its fullest potential? Is America living up to its ideals of freedom to assemble, freedom of religion, freedom of speech? In many ways I think the answer to those questions is yes, and I base that on personal experiences.
The other day a handful of us were marching for peace downtown, as we do every week. We stopped at a corner and held up our peace signs and people honked their horns at us in support. Now that might have something to do with the fact that our signs say, “Honk For Peace.” Well, a police car drove up and the sergeant told us that some people who live above a store nearby didn’t like the noise and could we stop. I asked if it would be okay if we moved a block away. He said, yeah that would be great. So we did. Sure, we had to move a block away, but the point is we march for peace every week in America. And the government doesn’t arrest us! And the government doesn’t shoot us! And the government doesn’t kidnap us! And we don’t have to get a permit to march! Our permit is the First Amendment! We have freedom of speech!
Every Sunday we meet here, to gather together and express our beliefs. (Or our non-beliefs.) And we can do that however we want. We don’t have to be a Christian church. We can be a Buddhist temple. We can be a Muslim mosque. Heck, we can even be an…Interfaith Congregation. (Oh my.) The point is the government doesn’t tell us how to worship! (America is not – yet – a theocracy.) We have freedom of religion! And we have freedom from religion! Can I get an Amen?!
Every now and then some of us write columns or letters to the newspaper. And in those columns or letters we can write whatever we want. We can attack or defend the administration. We can speak in favor of or in opposition to some religious policy. Heck we can even come out in support of gay rights. (Oh my.) Granted the newspaper might not always run what we write, but the point is the government doesn’t dictate what we can or can’t say. We have freedom of the press! (Or at least the newspaper does.)
Every Friday I do a local radio show called “Faith and Reason.” I can say on that show pretty much anything I want, as long as somehow it touches on religion. And since I believe everything touches on religion, I’m free to say just about anything I want, as long as I don’t swear. The point is the government doesn’t dictate what I can or can’t say! (Except for not swearing.) I have freedom of speech! (And, of course, people have the freedom to turn off the radio if they don’t like what I say.)
In 1963, in his “I Have A Dream” speech in Washington DC, Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed, “Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.” Does it do that? Does freedom ring everywhere in America on this Independence Day, 2010?
Our country has a legacy of liberty to pass on to future generations. Will it? Will freedom of speech prevail? Will freedom of religion prevail? Will freedom from religion prevail? Will our country continue to see educating all children as essential for a democracy? Will our country continue to strive to provide for the general welfare? Will our country respect the freedoms of people in other countries, including the freedom not to be taken over by an imperial power? Each one of us has a legacy of liberty to pass on to future generations. What will that legacy of liberty be? Will that legacy include the liberty to think for yourself? Will that legacy include the liberty to believe what you want to believe, without fear or favor? Will that legacy include the liberty to speak out for what is right and fair and just? Will that legacy include the liberty to act for equal rights for everyone, for justice for more than just us and for peace for our country and for the world? Some questions to ponder as I gladly say to you this morning: Happy 4th of July!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Addressing An Issue That Jesus Never Did
[The following is a column which appeared in the Holland Sentinel.]
During Holland’s Tulip Time Festival, while enjoying dinner from one of the food vendors (something healthy, like a bratwurst sandwich), a man asked me, “Are you Bill Freeman?” I hesitated answering because, as a chaplain, I sometimes take controversial stands on issues. For example, I support the rights of two adults to marry (even though, in every other way, they seem to be of sound mind), whether the two adults are named Adam and Eve or Adam and Steve.
After seeing that the man was not carrying a knife or a gun, I replied, “Yes, I am Bill Freeman.” Turns out that, years ago, in a previous life as a TV news reporter, I’d done a story about the man. (And, miracle of miracles, he’d liked it!)
Because of my stands on issues, I sometimes receive items in the mail (and frequently they’re not even ticking). Recently a letter arrived from a woman we’ll call Gertrude Van Smith. She begins, “It is hard for me to understand anyone who claims to be a pastor that doesn’t understand the Scriptures and God’s clear cut ruling that homosexuality is sin.” She quotes from the New Life Version of the Christian New Testament, 1 Corinthians 6:9, “…people who do sex sins with their own sex, will have no place in the holy nation of God.” She continues, “I would hate to be in your shoes when you stand before God.” She then informs me where I will end up after I die. (Care to guess?)
Here’s my reply.
Dear Ms. Van Smith,
While we might disagree on some things, we can both agree that Jesus was a great teacher. Matthew 12:10-12 says, “A man was there with a withered hand, and they asked Jesus, ‘Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath?’ so that they might accuse him. He said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’” What Jesus is saying goes against one of the Ten Commandments - not to do anything on the Sabbath.
Like Jesus, Christians don’t always take the Scriptures literally. For example, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:34, “Women should be silent in the churches.” And yet many churches today joyfully call women to be preachers.
Christians also don’t take the Bible literally when it supports slavery, as Paul seems to in Ephesians 6:5, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters.” Christians stopped owning slaves because of the Civil War, of course, but also perhaps because they heard Jesus’ words echoing across the centuries, “How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep!”
Today, since Jesus did not say one word about homosexuals or homosexuality, Christians face a dilemma: 1) take seven Bible passages literally that condemn homosexuals and/or homosexuality, or 2) support human beings who happen to be practicing homosexuals. That dilemma will be solved, as it was with women in ministry and owning slaves, when Christians increasingly hear Jesus’ still-echoing words: “How much more valuable is a human being!”
I hope my reply convinces Ms. Van Smith that, if I do end up where she thinks I will (and, God knows, there are many reasons why I should), it at least shouldn’t be because of an issue that Jesus never addressed.
During Holland’s Tulip Time Festival, while enjoying dinner from one of the food vendors (something healthy, like a bratwurst sandwich), a man asked me, “Are you Bill Freeman?” I hesitated answering because, as a chaplain, I sometimes take controversial stands on issues. For example, I support the rights of two adults to marry (even though, in every other way, they seem to be of sound mind), whether the two adults are named Adam and Eve or Adam and Steve.
After seeing that the man was not carrying a knife or a gun, I replied, “Yes, I am Bill Freeman.” Turns out that, years ago, in a previous life as a TV news reporter, I’d done a story about the man. (And, miracle of miracles, he’d liked it!)
Because of my stands on issues, I sometimes receive items in the mail (and frequently they’re not even ticking). Recently a letter arrived from a woman we’ll call Gertrude Van Smith. She begins, “It is hard for me to understand anyone who claims to be a pastor that doesn’t understand the Scriptures and God’s clear cut ruling that homosexuality is sin.” She quotes from the New Life Version of the Christian New Testament, 1 Corinthians 6:9, “…people who do sex sins with their own sex, will have no place in the holy nation of God.” She continues, “I would hate to be in your shoes when you stand before God.” She then informs me where I will end up after I die. (Care to guess?)
Here’s my reply.
Dear Ms. Van Smith,
While we might disagree on some things, we can both agree that Jesus was a great teacher. Matthew 12:10-12 says, “A man was there with a withered hand, and they asked Jesus, ‘Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath?’ so that they might accuse him. He said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’” What Jesus is saying goes against one of the Ten Commandments - not to do anything on the Sabbath.
Like Jesus, Christians don’t always take the Scriptures literally. For example, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:34, “Women should be silent in the churches.” And yet many churches today joyfully call women to be preachers.
Christians also don’t take the Bible literally when it supports slavery, as Paul seems to in Ephesians 6:5, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters.” Christians stopped owning slaves because of the Civil War, of course, but also perhaps because they heard Jesus’ words echoing across the centuries, “How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep!”
Today, since Jesus did not say one word about homosexuals or homosexuality, Christians face a dilemma: 1) take seven Bible passages literally that condemn homosexuals and/or homosexuality, or 2) support human beings who happen to be practicing homosexuals. That dilemma will be solved, as it was with women in ministry and owning slaves, when Christians increasingly hear Jesus’ still-echoing words: “How much more valuable is a human being!”
I hope my reply convinces Ms. Van Smith that, if I do end up where she thinks I will (and, God knows, there are many reasons why I should), it at least shouldn’t be because of an issue that Jesus never addressed.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Have You Hugged Your (Inner) Child Today?
I heard a standup comic once commenting on those “Baby On Board” signs. (I just saw one of those signs the other day.) The comic said, “What’s the purpose of those signs? If my car’s careening out of control and I see one of those signs on the car I’m about to crash into, am I supposed to say, “Oh, I can’t hit that car. I better smash into this van full of nuns!”
I always look upon those “Baby On Board” signs as something like a birth announcement: Hey everybody! I’ve just had a baby! And I’m so happy! I want you to share in my joy!
There used to be a bumper sticker that was very popular years ago: Have you hugged your child today?
My question is: Have you hugged your (inner) child today? Psychologists tell us that your inner child can mean one of two things. On the one hand, your inner child is your playful side. So hugging your inner child is embracing your child-like qualities. On the other hand, hugging your inner child is when you look back on the child you were many years ago and you hug that child, particularly if you had a traumatic childhood and that child needs to be hugged and healed.
I overheard a young teenage girl the other day at JP’s coffee house. She told her friends that her mom used to call her a brat, but now her mom refers to her as a different B-word, a B-word that rhymes with witch. My jaw dropped. Yikes!
Now, maybe her mom was just “kidding around” – we can only hope. But who says that about their own teenage daughter, even in jest? In 10 years, when that girl is walking on South Division in Grand Rapids, looking for “customers,” I wonder if mom will have “absolutely no idea” what made her daughter do that. (Hopefully, that’s not where that girl will end up.)
I read a book a few months ago called, “Severe Attachment Disorder in Childhood,” by Niels Peter Rygaard. According to the book, Severe Attachment Disorder, or SAD, affects perhaps 1 in 20 children. It’s seen in Russian children raised in orphanages, who aren’t touched much at all, but it’s also seen in children in America who lack a loving touch, appropriate affection and encouraging words from their parents. SAD can result in personality disorder, addiction, depression, suicide and other problems.
Hopefully, one day all parents will understand the importance of hugging their children. And all children will be hugged. Failing that, or in addition to that, perhaps we all have to take it upon ourselves to hug our own inner child, our own hurt side, but also our own playful side. Jesus seemed to understand something like that.
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ Jesus called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’”
In that passage, Matthew 18:1-3, I don’t think Jesus is talking just about heaven in the hereafter; I think Jesus is talking about heaven in the here-and-now. Jesus seems to be encouraging people to be more child-like: innocent, playful perhaps, full of wonder maybe. Jesus appears to be telling us not to take ourselves too seriously; to enjoy life; to have a little fun. That’s the way to reach heaven on earth. Now compare Jesus’ words with those of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:11.
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.”
What a contrast! Jesus is saying, “Become like children.” Paul is saying, “Put an end to childish ways.” (I think that, in a nutshell, is why I like Jesus a little more than I like Paul: Jesus is more playful; Paul is too serious.) Now, don’t get me wrong; many of Paul’s writings are profound. 1 Corinthians 13:1 is simply amazing. “If I speak in the tongues of humans and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” Paul understands love, but I’m not sure he understands children as much as Jesus did; or that Paul understands our own need or necessity to be playful, to be childlike, to not completely grow up. In a similar way, Jim Trelease understands that, too.
Jim Trelease wrote several books about the importance of reading aloud to children. Jim Trelease says, “The prime purpose of being four is to enjoy being four - of secondary importance is to prepare for being five.”
I would amend what Jim Trelease is saying just a little bit. I would say that the prime purpose of being any age is to enjoy being that age – whether you’re 4, 24, 44, 64, 84 or 104. What Jim Trelease is saying, though, is let children be children. Don’t look upon children as little adults. Let them enjoy childhood. Help them enjoy childhood. Who knows, maybe it will even help us to enjoy our (hopefully) never-ending childhood.
The other day I saw live TV coverage of Barack Obama giving the commencement address at the graduation ceremony of Kalamazoo Central High School students. It was an historic event. It’s the first time a president has ever given a commencement address at a high school. President Obama told the students, “Together as a community, you’ve embraced the motto of this school district: ‘Every child, every opportunity, every time,’ because you believe, like I do, that every child – regardless of what they look like, where they come from, or how much money their parents have – every child who walks through your schoolhouse doors deserves a quality education.“ I liked his speech, but I liked what happened after his speech even more.
I noticed that several students, after they received their diploma, when they got the opportunity to shake hands with the president, that many of them did, but some of them did not. Instead they gave him a hug. It was interesting to see how much closer a hug seemed to bring the president and the students than just a handshake. Touching someone is more meaningful to them. At least with most people.
Many years ago, I worked for Channel 8 news in Grand Rapids, the NBC affiliate. At that time, “St. Elsewhere” was a popular drama on NBC. One of the stars of that show was Howie Mandel. One day, Howie Mandel visited our station. One of our news producers shouted, “Howie Mandel is in our newsroom!” More recently, Howie Mandel was the host of “Deal or No Deal” and a judge on “America’s Got Talent.” I saw him a month ago being a judge on “Marriage Ref.” A couple of his fellow judges touched him, as a joke, because apparently he hates being touched.
Howie Mandel is what’s called a germaphobe. He doesn’t want to be touched for fear of coming into contact with germs. He hates it when people touch him. I had a seminary classmate like that.
She wasn’t a germaphobe, she just didn’t like being touched. In seminary, during chapel, she didn’t want to take part in the passing of the peace. She didn’t want to shake hands; she certainly didn’t want to be hugged. At least not back then.
At our recent 5-year reunion, she was there. I said “Hi” to her, but hesitated even shaking hands with her, because I knew she didn’t like to be touched. She chuckled and told me she’s been a pastor for 5 years (where shaking hands, hugging and being hugged is almost a job requirement), so now she said hugging is okay with her. So I joyfully hugged her.
I interned at a church once where the pastor told me that they don’t do a passing of the peace, because many of the people there didn’t want to even acknowledge the existence of the person sitting next to them, let alone shake hands with them or – God forbid – hug them.
I call churches like that Elliott Ness churches, because they’re filled with: The Untouchables. I never want Interfaith Congregation to become like that; that’s why we do a passing of the peace. I never thought of this before, but maybe we also do it because in these days of Facebook “friends,” where you communicate with many people, but rarely if ever come in contact with them, we’re in need of human touch. Maybe we don’t need to just hug our own inner child, maybe we need to hug the inner child of the people sitting next to us.
During this past school year, I read to my wife’s grandsons’ Kindergarten and 2nd Grade classes, or they read to me. I’m called Opa, which I think means grandpa in Dutch. A month or so ago, after school, we picked up her grandsons. As we were walking up to the school, all the students were outside. I kept hearing, “It’s Opa!” “There’s Opa!” “Hi Opa!” That was neat. On the last day that I visited their classes a couple weeks ago, I had all the kids give me a group hug, which turned into individual hugs. That was neat too.
I got to thinking. It seems to me that the job of parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, the job of schools, the job of churches and the job of each one of us is surprisingly similar. The job of parents, grandparents and great-grandparents is to nurture their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in body, mind and spirit. (If body, mind and spirit sounds a little too new-agey for you, then how about: physically, mentally and emotionally.) The job of schools is to nurture students in body, mind and spirit. The job of churches is to nurture people – inside and outside their walls, as much as possible - in body, mind and spirit. The job of each one of us is to nurture others (to the extent that we can) and to nurture ourselves in body, mind and spirit. Perhaps the easiest way to begin doing that (respecting people’s boundaries, of course) is by giving them - and ourselves – a hug. Have you hugged somebody today? Have you hugged your (inner) child today? If so, will you do it again tomorrow and the next day and the next?
I always look upon those “Baby On Board” signs as something like a birth announcement: Hey everybody! I’ve just had a baby! And I’m so happy! I want you to share in my joy!
There used to be a bumper sticker that was very popular years ago: Have you hugged your child today?
My question is: Have you hugged your (inner) child today? Psychologists tell us that your inner child can mean one of two things. On the one hand, your inner child is your playful side. So hugging your inner child is embracing your child-like qualities. On the other hand, hugging your inner child is when you look back on the child you were many years ago and you hug that child, particularly if you had a traumatic childhood and that child needs to be hugged and healed.
I overheard a young teenage girl the other day at JP’s coffee house. She told her friends that her mom used to call her a brat, but now her mom refers to her as a different B-word, a B-word that rhymes with witch. My jaw dropped. Yikes!
Now, maybe her mom was just “kidding around” – we can only hope. But who says that about their own teenage daughter, even in jest? In 10 years, when that girl is walking on South Division in Grand Rapids, looking for “customers,” I wonder if mom will have “absolutely no idea” what made her daughter do that. (Hopefully, that’s not where that girl will end up.)
I read a book a few months ago called, “Severe Attachment Disorder in Childhood,” by Niels Peter Rygaard. According to the book, Severe Attachment Disorder, or SAD, affects perhaps 1 in 20 children. It’s seen in Russian children raised in orphanages, who aren’t touched much at all, but it’s also seen in children in America who lack a loving touch, appropriate affection and encouraging words from their parents. SAD can result in personality disorder, addiction, depression, suicide and other problems.
Hopefully, one day all parents will understand the importance of hugging their children. And all children will be hugged. Failing that, or in addition to that, perhaps we all have to take it upon ourselves to hug our own inner child, our own hurt side, but also our own playful side. Jesus seemed to understand something like that.
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ Jesus called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’”
In that passage, Matthew 18:1-3, I don’t think Jesus is talking just about heaven in the hereafter; I think Jesus is talking about heaven in the here-and-now. Jesus seems to be encouraging people to be more child-like: innocent, playful perhaps, full of wonder maybe. Jesus appears to be telling us not to take ourselves too seriously; to enjoy life; to have a little fun. That’s the way to reach heaven on earth. Now compare Jesus’ words with those of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:11.
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.”
What a contrast! Jesus is saying, “Become like children.” Paul is saying, “Put an end to childish ways.” (I think that, in a nutshell, is why I like Jesus a little more than I like Paul: Jesus is more playful; Paul is too serious.) Now, don’t get me wrong; many of Paul’s writings are profound. 1 Corinthians 13:1 is simply amazing. “If I speak in the tongues of humans and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” Paul understands love, but I’m not sure he understands children as much as Jesus did; or that Paul understands our own need or necessity to be playful, to be childlike, to not completely grow up. In a similar way, Jim Trelease understands that, too.
Jim Trelease wrote several books about the importance of reading aloud to children. Jim Trelease says, “The prime purpose of being four is to enjoy being four - of secondary importance is to prepare for being five.”
I would amend what Jim Trelease is saying just a little bit. I would say that the prime purpose of being any age is to enjoy being that age – whether you’re 4, 24, 44, 64, 84 or 104. What Jim Trelease is saying, though, is let children be children. Don’t look upon children as little adults. Let them enjoy childhood. Help them enjoy childhood. Who knows, maybe it will even help us to enjoy our (hopefully) never-ending childhood.
The other day I saw live TV coverage of Barack Obama giving the commencement address at the graduation ceremony of Kalamazoo Central High School students. It was an historic event. It’s the first time a president has ever given a commencement address at a high school. President Obama told the students, “Together as a community, you’ve embraced the motto of this school district: ‘Every child, every opportunity, every time,’ because you believe, like I do, that every child – regardless of what they look like, where they come from, or how much money their parents have – every child who walks through your schoolhouse doors deserves a quality education.“ I liked his speech, but I liked what happened after his speech even more.
I noticed that several students, after they received their diploma, when they got the opportunity to shake hands with the president, that many of them did, but some of them did not. Instead they gave him a hug. It was interesting to see how much closer a hug seemed to bring the president and the students than just a handshake. Touching someone is more meaningful to them. At least with most people.
Many years ago, I worked for Channel 8 news in Grand Rapids, the NBC affiliate. At that time, “St. Elsewhere” was a popular drama on NBC. One of the stars of that show was Howie Mandel. One day, Howie Mandel visited our station. One of our news producers shouted, “Howie Mandel is in our newsroom!” More recently, Howie Mandel was the host of “Deal or No Deal” and a judge on “America’s Got Talent.” I saw him a month ago being a judge on “Marriage Ref.” A couple of his fellow judges touched him, as a joke, because apparently he hates being touched.
Howie Mandel is what’s called a germaphobe. He doesn’t want to be touched for fear of coming into contact with germs. He hates it when people touch him. I had a seminary classmate like that.
She wasn’t a germaphobe, she just didn’t like being touched. In seminary, during chapel, she didn’t want to take part in the passing of the peace. She didn’t want to shake hands; she certainly didn’t want to be hugged. At least not back then.
At our recent 5-year reunion, she was there. I said “Hi” to her, but hesitated even shaking hands with her, because I knew she didn’t like to be touched. She chuckled and told me she’s been a pastor for 5 years (where shaking hands, hugging and being hugged is almost a job requirement), so now she said hugging is okay with her. So I joyfully hugged her.
I interned at a church once where the pastor told me that they don’t do a passing of the peace, because many of the people there didn’t want to even acknowledge the existence of the person sitting next to them, let alone shake hands with them or – God forbid – hug them.
I call churches like that Elliott Ness churches, because they’re filled with: The Untouchables. I never want Interfaith Congregation to become like that; that’s why we do a passing of the peace. I never thought of this before, but maybe we also do it because in these days of Facebook “friends,” where you communicate with many people, but rarely if ever come in contact with them, we’re in need of human touch. Maybe we don’t need to just hug our own inner child, maybe we need to hug the inner child of the people sitting next to us.
During this past school year, I read to my wife’s grandsons’ Kindergarten and 2nd Grade classes, or they read to me. I’m called Opa, which I think means grandpa in Dutch. A month or so ago, after school, we picked up her grandsons. As we were walking up to the school, all the students were outside. I kept hearing, “It’s Opa!” “There’s Opa!” “Hi Opa!” That was neat. On the last day that I visited their classes a couple weeks ago, I had all the kids give me a group hug, which turned into individual hugs. That was neat too.
I got to thinking. It seems to me that the job of parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, the job of schools, the job of churches and the job of each one of us is surprisingly similar. The job of parents, grandparents and great-grandparents is to nurture their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in body, mind and spirit. (If body, mind and spirit sounds a little too new-agey for you, then how about: physically, mentally and emotionally.) The job of schools is to nurture students in body, mind and spirit. The job of churches is to nurture people – inside and outside their walls, as much as possible - in body, mind and spirit. The job of each one of us is to nurture others (to the extent that we can) and to nurture ourselves in body, mind and spirit. Perhaps the easiest way to begin doing that (respecting people’s boundaries, of course) is by giving them - and ourselves – a hug. Have you hugged somebody today? Have you hugged your (inner) child today? If so, will you do it again tomorrow and the next day and the next?
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Etc., Are Verbs
A couple of weeks ago I was at Skiles downtown, enjoying pizza with a friend and I noticed over his shoulder a TV screen. The sound was off, but the picture was there. They were showing a “sporting event.” I use that term loosely. I think it was called extreme fighting or ultimate fighting, something like that. It was basically just two guys kicking and hitting each other. They were whaling on each other. Until they ran out of energy and then they were just sort of flailing their arms and eventually one of them was declared the winner. When he was declared the winner, he pointed up to heaven and did a little dance, I’m assuming to thank God for his wonderful victory. Now I’m not sure what that guy’s concept of God is, heck I’m not even sure what my concept of God is, but at that moment my idea of God was: As that guy was pointing up to heaven, apparently giving God credit, God was looking down and saying, “Ummm, no thanks, buddy; I don’t want the credit for that.”
When I was in seminary a few years ago, I learned a new idea, well I learned several new ideas, but one in particular. It was the doctrine I’ll call “You don’t get the credit; you just get the blame.” It goes something like this: If you do something right, then that’s not really you doing that, that’s God working through you or the Spirit working through you or Jesus working through you or something; it’s not you. But, if you do something wrong, then that’s all you, buddy, that’s your fault. That didn’t make any sense to me. I can understand saying, “If you do something right, then that’s not really you, that’s God or the Spirit working through you.” I’ve had times, believe it or not, when I’ve done things, like write a sermon and I’d get to the end of it and read through it and think: my goodness, I didn’t have any idea that this was what this was going to end up as; it’s better than I could have imagined. It felt like it wasn’t me doing that, it was the Spirit or God, or the Source or whatever you want to call it, working through me. So I can go along with that. But why doesn’t it go the other way? If you do something wrong, why not say: that’s not your fault, that was the devil or the evil spirits or whatever working through you. But that’s not how the doctrine of “You get all the blame, but none of the credit” works. I just don’t think that’s right.
Also, when I first started going to Western Theological Seminary, apparently my reputation preceded me, because one of the professors that I met immediately called me the “high priest of heresy.” I think he meant it jokingly, but I thought, “I’m not that heretical, am I?” I’m in the mainstream of at least liberal theology. Come to think of it, that was probably why I was called the “high priest of heresy.” I wasn’t orthodox enough. Now “orthodoxy,” as you probably know, means “right belief,” believing the things the church or the religious tradition says to believe. “Orthopraxy” means “right action.” I think it means doing justice and loving kindness and acting compassionately.
I’m reading a book, “God Is Not One.” It’s by Stephen Prothero, who is a religion professor at Boston University. The basic premise of his book is that everybody says, “God is one” and “we’re all one big happy family” and all that, but how can that be if the major religions of the world are so different? How can you reconcile Buddhism, that doesn’t believe in a god and Hinduism that believes in many gods? In that book, he talks about orthodoxy and orthopraxy, but what he is talking about is “right belief,” the doctrine and dogma of religions and about the rituals and routines of religion, like lighting a candle during the service. He doesn’t talk much at all about what I consider orthopraxy, which is doing justice, loving kindness, acting compassionately. I think religion without justice is impotent.
Jesus goes to the temple, sits down and begins teaching, while the people gather around him. Up walk several men and they bring a woman with them. They tell Jesus that this woman has committed adultery. They caught her in the act of adultery. They say to Jesus. “What should we do? Because Moses says she should be stoned to death. What say you, Jesus?” They did this, according to the story in the Bible, to test him, to see if he would say, “Yes, Moses was correct, stone her.” But he writes on the ground, scribbling in the dirt, basically ignoring them. But they keep pestering him saying, “What should we do?” He looks up and says, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Then he goes back to writing in the dirt. He looks up again and they’ve all dispersed; all but the woman. He says to her, “What happened to them?” She says, “They left.” Jesus says, “Well they did not condemn you, neither do I; go and sin no more.”
Jesus, I think many Christians would assume, was the first Christian. Let’s go with that, probably all of us here know he was Jewish, but for this story let’s say Jesus was the first Christian. It seems to me that Jesus was a Christian who didn’t just believe things … he was not just a noun “Christian,” he was a verb “Christian.” He took action. He saved the life of this adulterous woman. He shamed the men who brought her to him.
Many of us probably know the story of Moses from the Hebrew scriptures or from Charlton Heston’s portrayal of him in the movie, “The Ten Commandments.” One of the stories of Moses is that he led the Jews out of Egypt. He went to Pharoah and said, “Let my people go!” And Pharoah eventually said, “Okay.” And so they went. Assuming that story is true, Moses was a Jew who believed things, but he also did things. He was a noun “Jew,” but he was also a verb “Jew.” He took action. He led the Jewish people out of slavery to freedom.
The Dalai Lama has written many books. I think my favorite book that the Dalai Lama has written is “The Four Noble Truths.” If you haven’t read that book and you get the chance, I would highly recommend it. It explains, I think very well, suffering, and talks about how it can be alleviated from others and ourselves by acting compassionately toward others and toward ourselves. The Dalai Lama is a Buddhist. He believes things, but he also does things. He’s not just a noun “Buddhist,” he’s a verb “Buddhist.” He takes action. He writes a book that some of us find helpful.
Varion Fry lived in France. He was a frail man, an intellectual, not religious. He was apparently a humanist. You might not expect that Varian Fry would have stood up to the Gestapo, but he did. He helped 1500 people escape from Nazi occupied France in 1940 and ‘41. Varian Fry was a humanist who did things, he didn’t just believe things (or not believe things). He was a noun “humanist,” but he was also a verb “humanist.” He took action. He helped 1500 people escape from Nazi occupied France.
At this point in the sermon, I was going to quote the beginning of the Hippocratic Oath, the oath that doctors take, that says, “First do no harm.” But I looked it up online and it’s a common misconception that the Hippocratic Oath begins, “First do no harm.” That’s not true. In spite of that, I would still say that religious people who want to be verb religious people and not just noun religious people, should first do no harm.
The first church I pastored was a small church in a small town. The first summer I was there, the only summer I was there, I put together a little flier, not unlike the flier we have on our back table. It was about what I saw that church as or what I wanted that church to be, I think. I knocked on a hundred doors in that little town, and handed out fliers to a hundred people, or stuck fliers between the door handle and the doorframe. A week or two later, no one had come to church as a result. Then one Sunday, I saw a new person sitting in church. She was about five rows back. So, about ten minutes into the service, during our passing of the peace, I walked up to her and I said, “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.” She said, “No, this is the first time I’ve come here.” I said, “Oh, great.” She said, “I came because of the flier you left at my door.” I said, “Oh, wonderful,” She said, “But I won’t be back.” What? She said, “I don’t feel welcome here.” How could that be? She walked maybe 5 steps into the building, up some stairs and then ten more steps into the sanctuary and sat down. She was there for 10 minutes. Yet she didn’t feel welcome. Now I know why she didn’t feel welcome. She wasn’t one of the family or friends of the powers that be. They made her feel unwelcome. Immediately. I look back on that and I think: That wasn’t really a church; that was a social club. That was a place that just cared about the people inside the four walls. They didn’t care about opening the doors of the church and welcoming new people in. But I opened the doors and welcomed new people in (or at least one new person in) and they didn’t like that at all, because that’s not who they were. Anytime a church only cares about the people inside the four walls, and doesn’t care about welcoming people in or helping people who don’t go there, it isn’t a church, it’s a social club.
If Interfaith Congregation is only about going to Denny’s after the service, or having a potluck on Wednesday night, or going bowling or playing miniature golf, then we wouldn’t be a church or a house of worship, we’d be a social club. We become a church or a religious institution or a house of worship when we feed the poor on Saturday morning, when a couple of us walk for peace in downtown Holland on Thursday afternoon, when some of us go to the city council and ask the council to pass an anti-discrimination ordinance in Holland to protect gays and lesbians and bisexual and transgender people. That’s when this place becomes a religious institution or a house of worship and not just a social club. If it were just a social club, I wouldn’t want to be here.
My daughter graduated from high school the other day. They had a wonderful graduation ceremony, held at Fountain Street Church in downtown Grand Rapids. The commencement speaker was a guy from Africa, about 30 years old, who when he was 13 was forced into the military; he was forced to kill or be killed. Thankfully he escaped from that and fled to the United States and now works for the United Nations. He told the students that they could overcome any obstacle, if he could escape from that situation. He concluded his remarks by reading the poem “Invictus,” by William Ernest Henley. The poem concludes with these two lines. “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” Each one of us, regardless of the faith tradition we come from, is responsible for our own actions, for doing justice and loving kindness and acting compassionately, because each and every one of us is the master of our fate, each and every one of us is the captain of our soul.
When I was in seminary a few years ago, I learned a new idea, well I learned several new ideas, but one in particular. It was the doctrine I’ll call “You don’t get the credit; you just get the blame.” It goes something like this: If you do something right, then that’s not really you doing that, that’s God working through you or the Spirit working through you or Jesus working through you or something; it’s not you. But, if you do something wrong, then that’s all you, buddy, that’s your fault. That didn’t make any sense to me. I can understand saying, “If you do something right, then that’s not really you, that’s God or the Spirit working through you.” I’ve had times, believe it or not, when I’ve done things, like write a sermon and I’d get to the end of it and read through it and think: my goodness, I didn’t have any idea that this was what this was going to end up as; it’s better than I could have imagined. It felt like it wasn’t me doing that, it was the Spirit or God, or the Source or whatever you want to call it, working through me. So I can go along with that. But why doesn’t it go the other way? If you do something wrong, why not say: that’s not your fault, that was the devil or the evil spirits or whatever working through you. But that’s not how the doctrine of “You get all the blame, but none of the credit” works. I just don’t think that’s right.
Also, when I first started going to Western Theological Seminary, apparently my reputation preceded me, because one of the professors that I met immediately called me the “high priest of heresy.” I think he meant it jokingly, but I thought, “I’m not that heretical, am I?” I’m in the mainstream of at least liberal theology. Come to think of it, that was probably why I was called the “high priest of heresy.” I wasn’t orthodox enough. Now “orthodoxy,” as you probably know, means “right belief,” believing the things the church or the religious tradition says to believe. “Orthopraxy” means “right action.” I think it means doing justice and loving kindness and acting compassionately.
I’m reading a book, “God Is Not One.” It’s by Stephen Prothero, who is a religion professor at Boston University. The basic premise of his book is that everybody says, “God is one” and “we’re all one big happy family” and all that, but how can that be if the major religions of the world are so different? How can you reconcile Buddhism, that doesn’t believe in a god and Hinduism that believes in many gods? In that book, he talks about orthodoxy and orthopraxy, but what he is talking about is “right belief,” the doctrine and dogma of religions and about the rituals and routines of religion, like lighting a candle during the service. He doesn’t talk much at all about what I consider orthopraxy, which is doing justice, loving kindness, acting compassionately. I think religion without justice is impotent.
Jesus goes to the temple, sits down and begins teaching, while the people gather around him. Up walk several men and they bring a woman with them. They tell Jesus that this woman has committed adultery. They caught her in the act of adultery. They say to Jesus. “What should we do? Because Moses says she should be stoned to death. What say you, Jesus?” They did this, according to the story in the Bible, to test him, to see if he would say, “Yes, Moses was correct, stone her.” But he writes on the ground, scribbling in the dirt, basically ignoring them. But they keep pestering him saying, “What should we do?” He looks up and says, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Then he goes back to writing in the dirt. He looks up again and they’ve all dispersed; all but the woman. He says to her, “What happened to them?” She says, “They left.” Jesus says, “Well they did not condemn you, neither do I; go and sin no more.”
Jesus, I think many Christians would assume, was the first Christian. Let’s go with that, probably all of us here know he was Jewish, but for this story let’s say Jesus was the first Christian. It seems to me that Jesus was a Christian who didn’t just believe things … he was not just a noun “Christian,” he was a verb “Christian.” He took action. He saved the life of this adulterous woman. He shamed the men who brought her to him.
Many of us probably know the story of Moses from the Hebrew scriptures or from Charlton Heston’s portrayal of him in the movie, “The Ten Commandments.” One of the stories of Moses is that he led the Jews out of Egypt. He went to Pharoah and said, “Let my people go!” And Pharoah eventually said, “Okay.” And so they went. Assuming that story is true, Moses was a Jew who believed things, but he also did things. He was a noun “Jew,” but he was also a verb “Jew.” He took action. He led the Jewish people out of slavery to freedom.
The Dalai Lama has written many books. I think my favorite book that the Dalai Lama has written is “The Four Noble Truths.” If you haven’t read that book and you get the chance, I would highly recommend it. It explains, I think very well, suffering, and talks about how it can be alleviated from others and ourselves by acting compassionately toward others and toward ourselves. The Dalai Lama is a Buddhist. He believes things, but he also does things. He’s not just a noun “Buddhist,” he’s a verb “Buddhist.” He takes action. He writes a book that some of us find helpful.
Varion Fry lived in France. He was a frail man, an intellectual, not religious. He was apparently a humanist. You might not expect that Varian Fry would have stood up to the Gestapo, but he did. He helped 1500 people escape from Nazi occupied France in 1940 and ‘41. Varian Fry was a humanist who did things, he didn’t just believe things (or not believe things). He was a noun “humanist,” but he was also a verb “humanist.” He took action. He helped 1500 people escape from Nazi occupied France.
At this point in the sermon, I was going to quote the beginning of the Hippocratic Oath, the oath that doctors take, that says, “First do no harm.” But I looked it up online and it’s a common misconception that the Hippocratic Oath begins, “First do no harm.” That’s not true. In spite of that, I would still say that religious people who want to be verb religious people and not just noun religious people, should first do no harm.
The first church I pastored was a small church in a small town. The first summer I was there, the only summer I was there, I put together a little flier, not unlike the flier we have on our back table. It was about what I saw that church as or what I wanted that church to be, I think. I knocked on a hundred doors in that little town, and handed out fliers to a hundred people, or stuck fliers between the door handle and the doorframe. A week or two later, no one had come to church as a result. Then one Sunday, I saw a new person sitting in church. She was about five rows back. So, about ten minutes into the service, during our passing of the peace, I walked up to her and I said, “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.” She said, “No, this is the first time I’ve come here.” I said, “Oh, great.” She said, “I came because of the flier you left at my door.” I said, “Oh, wonderful,” She said, “But I won’t be back.” What? She said, “I don’t feel welcome here.” How could that be? She walked maybe 5 steps into the building, up some stairs and then ten more steps into the sanctuary and sat down. She was there for 10 minutes. Yet she didn’t feel welcome. Now I know why she didn’t feel welcome. She wasn’t one of the family or friends of the powers that be. They made her feel unwelcome. Immediately. I look back on that and I think: That wasn’t really a church; that was a social club. That was a place that just cared about the people inside the four walls. They didn’t care about opening the doors of the church and welcoming new people in. But I opened the doors and welcomed new people in (or at least one new person in) and they didn’t like that at all, because that’s not who they were. Anytime a church only cares about the people inside the four walls, and doesn’t care about welcoming people in or helping people who don’t go there, it isn’t a church, it’s a social club.
If Interfaith Congregation is only about going to Denny’s after the service, or having a potluck on Wednesday night, or going bowling or playing miniature golf, then we wouldn’t be a church or a house of worship, we’d be a social club. We become a church or a religious institution or a house of worship when we feed the poor on Saturday morning, when a couple of us walk for peace in downtown Holland on Thursday afternoon, when some of us go to the city council and ask the council to pass an anti-discrimination ordinance in Holland to protect gays and lesbians and bisexual and transgender people. That’s when this place becomes a religious institution or a house of worship and not just a social club. If it were just a social club, I wouldn’t want to be here.
My daughter graduated from high school the other day. They had a wonderful graduation ceremony, held at Fountain Street Church in downtown Grand Rapids. The commencement speaker was a guy from Africa, about 30 years old, who when he was 13 was forced into the military; he was forced to kill or be killed. Thankfully he escaped from that and fled to the United States and now works for the United Nations. He told the students that they could overcome any obstacle, if he could escape from that situation. He concluded his remarks by reading the poem “Invictus,” by William Ernest Henley. The poem concludes with these two lines. “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” Each one of us, regardless of the faith tradition we come from, is responsible for our own actions, for doing justice and loving kindness and acting compassionately, because each and every one of us is the master of our fate, each and every one of us is the captain of our soul.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The Forgiveness Of Conan
Many years ago, I was a feature reporter for a local TV news program. One day I was doing a story about a guy who was repairing the ceiling of a big Catholic church. We’ll call him John Smith. John Smith was on this rickety old platform, several stories up, repairing the ceiling. I tell you that story to tell you this story. A couple weeks ago I was at the Holland Tulip Time Festival, eating dinner that I bought at one of the vendors; something healthy, like a big old bratwurst sandwich with all the trimmings. A guy comes up to me and says, “Are you Bill Freeman?” Now, I hesitated to answer that, because sometimes I take controversial stands, preach about controversial topics, so I took a quick glance at his hands. He wasn’t carrying a gun or a knife, so I slowly said, “Yes.” He said, “Well I’m John Smith. You did a story about me years ago, repairing the ceiling of a Catholic church.” He said, “You began the story by saying ‘John Smith gets high at work.’” I said, “I’m sorry.” He said, “No, that was fine; I loved it!” Still, I felt like I should seek forgiveness from the god of bad puns.
What does it mean to forgive? How often do we forgive? How often don’t we forgive? When do we or don’t we forgive? I want to talk with you about forgiveness. Human to human forgiveness; not divine forgiveness of humans (for being – what? – human?). I want to talk with you about forgiveness, of others and of ourselves.
On Friday mornings some of you may know I co-host a radio show with Fred Wooden from Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids. The program is called, “Faith and Reason.” It’s on from 10 till Noon. This past Friday, Fred was all upset. He was angry because Grand Rapids city workers had torn up the street in front of his house to work on some water pipes. Since the water to his house was shutoff, he couldn’t take a shower before he came to the radio station, which would be fine, but he had a funeral to do at 1 o’clock. So he had to leave the radio show early, to go home and take a shower before the funeral, and he was angry about that. He wasn’t sure who to be angry at. He thought the city workers, who put out signs the day before, saying, “No Parking,” could have put notes on people’s doors telling them there water would be shutoff. But he wasn’t sure who to be angry at. He was just angry.
I think the first step toward not forgiving is anger. I think unforgiveness takes three steps: anger and then hatred and then unforgiveness.
Tony Campolo is an evangelical Christian, a preacher, a retired sociology professor at Eastern University in Philadelphia. He spoke this past week in Holland at the Summit on Racism at Hope College. He told of a time years ago when he got two groups together, Buddhists and Christians. He divided them up into theologians and mystics. He put the Buddhist and Christian theologians in one group and the Buddhist and Christian mystics in another group, for four days. At the end of that time, the Christian and Buddhist theologians were arguing with each other, as they had the whole time they were together. “We believe this.” “You believe that! How could you believe that!?” They hated each other. The mystics, who prayed and meditated together for four days, loved each other. They hated to see each other go. Perhaps the moral of the story is that when two or more faith traditions get together, they shouldn’t talk about theology, they should just pray and meditate.
I think the Christian and Buddhist theological types went through the three stages of unforgiveness. There seemed to be some anger between the two groups; perhaps also some hatred; and finally, maybe they even reached the point of unforgiveness. That’s not a good thing. Conan O’Brian seems to know this.
Conan O’Brian was promoted to host The Tonight Show. Jay Leno was promoted to his own prime time program. But the ratings for The Jay Leno Show weren’t very good and the ratings for The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brian weren’t very good, so NBC came up with a compromise. They would pull Jay Leno off the prime time schedule and put him at 11:35 and they would put Conan O’Brian at 12:05. But Conan didn’t want to do The Tonight Show…tomorrow, so he left NBC and he was forbidden from talking about leaving until a couple of weeks ago when he was on 60 Minutes. He talked about his feelings towards Jay Leno and NBC. Surprisingly he said, “You’re going to think this is crazy, but I wish them well.” In other words he, in some form or fashion, forgave the folks at NBC. Now maybe the fact that he walked away with 32 million dollars helped his forgiveness. There is that possibility. But I think he also knew about the importance of forgiveness, something that religious leaders have preached about for millennia.
Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how many times must we forgive? Seven times?” Jesus said, “Seventy-seven times,” or depending on the translation, “Seventy times seven,” which, if my math is correct, is 490 times. Now who can blame Peter for asking the question of Jesus? You’ve got Jesus there. Perhaps you have somebody you have a hard time forgiving. So why not ask Jesus how many times you have to forgive this person? Perhaps he was thinking that Jesus would say, “Well, I said, ‘Turn the other cheek,’ but you only do that once, so you only have to forgive one time.” So maybe Peter thought he was being generous by suggesting seven times. Jesus instead said 490 times. Always and forever essentially, we must forgive. Maybe forgiving somebody is good for us.
The Dalai Lama says, “One’s enemy is the best teacher.” I think that’s true. Now, granted, I could have used fewer teachers over the years, but maybe the Dalai Lama has a point. At the very least, our enemy, if we do it right, will teach us to forgive, if we follow the precepts of Jesus, the Dalai Lama, and others.
Ram Dass, who used to be known as Richard Alpert, was a professor at Harvard, but then he got into Buddhism and Hinduism and became Ram Dass. Many years ago he wrote a book, “Be Here Now.” A very simple title, a very easy to understand point. How can you “be” anyplace other than right here, right now? And yet, when we refuse to forgive, we’re living in some previous time. When we’re not forgiving somebody, we’re living in the past, living in anger. The only way to “be here now” is to forgive back then.
Erich Segal wrote a very popular book a few years ago entitled, “Love Story.” The tag line from “Love Story,” the movie and the book, was, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” I don’t think that’s true. I think love means always having to say you’re sorry. At least, that’s what I have to do in my marriage. “Sorry, honey, I forgot to mow the lawn.” “Sorry, honey, I ate the rest of the chocolate ice cream.” I think love means always having to say you’re sorry, whenever you do something wrong and hope to be forgiven.
I remember two things from my tenth grade art class. One, our art teacher was rather pretty. Two, she had a painting on the wall of two people sinking in quicksand. You could see that there were some vines or something they could grab onto. Instead, they were each clutching clubs, and they were beating each other as they were sinking in the quicksand. How angry must we be with somebody, how much hatred must we have for somebody, how much unforgiveness must be in our heart, not to be able to save ourself at the very least? And to keep beating your opponent to death, literally, as he continues to beat you to death?
One of my favorite actors of all time is James Garner. I loved him when I was a kid and saw him in “Maverick,” I loved him as a young person, when he was in “The Rockford Files.” I loved him in, “The Americanization of Emily,” “Victor Victoria” and others. Many years ago James Garner was interviewed (in Playboy magazine, oh my). He was asked, since he was born in Norman, Oklahoma, whether he was prejudiced against people of color. He said, “No,” which you’d expect him to say. But he also said, “I can’t hate a group of people for any reason. But I can hate individuals real well.” I think I’m the same way.
I don’t want to burst anybody’s bubble if they think the chaplain of Interfaith Congregation should be perfectly pious and love everybody all the time. Sometimes, I admit, I don’t. I’m certainly better than I was years ago before I went into the ministry, but I haven’t yet reached perfection. (And I probably never will.) Sometimes the person I have the hardest time forgiving is myself.
Yesterday my daughter danced her last dance recital. She’s been dancing since she was three years old, for fourteen years. Yesterday watching her up onstage, doing a ballet, tears came to my eyes, because I pictured her at the age of three, when the teacher was off to the side, telling her what steps to take and what moves to make. Now here she was, fourteen years later, grace, beauty and, dare I say it as an “impartial” dad, perfection: Poetry in motion.
I got to thinking about her journey from three to seventeen and how back then she made all kinds of mistakes. But everybody laughed at them, just like we did yesterday when the three year olds were dancing, and it was no big deal. How similar is that to our own spiritual lives, when years ago we made mistakes, we committed what the religious call sins? Sin is just a word for missing the mark. Yet over the years we’ve stopped, hopefully, making those same mistakes. (Maybe we make new mistakes, but we’ve stopped making those same old mistakes.) Just like my daughter wouldn’t hold it against herself, and I certainly wouldn’t hold it against her -how she danced at the age of three, compared to how she danced at the age of seventeen - I don’t think we should hold it against ourselves, the way we were years ago in our spiritual life, compared to how we are now. We still aren't perfect, but hopefully we're better than we were.
The other day I was working on my sermon at JPs coffee shop. Somebody walked into JPs who I thought in the past had treated me unfairly. In a split second, I took those three steps: from anger to hatred to unforgiveness. I sat there thinking: What can I say or do to this person so that I’ll feel superior to him? Should I make some unkind remark? Should I make some nasty hand gesture? But then it dawned on me: I’M WRITING A SERMON ABOUT FORGIVENESS! So as he walked by, I said, “Hello.” Of course, an hour or two later I thought of all kinds of nicer things I could have also said, but maybe the first step on the road to forgiveness is sometimes simply saying, “Hello.”
What does it mean to forgive? How often do we forgive? How often don’t we forgive? When do we or don’t we forgive? I want to talk with you about forgiveness. Human to human forgiveness; not divine forgiveness of humans (for being – what? – human?). I want to talk with you about forgiveness, of others and of ourselves.
On Friday mornings some of you may know I co-host a radio show with Fred Wooden from Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids. The program is called, “Faith and Reason.” It’s on from 10 till Noon. This past Friday, Fred was all upset. He was angry because Grand Rapids city workers had torn up the street in front of his house to work on some water pipes. Since the water to his house was shutoff, he couldn’t take a shower before he came to the radio station, which would be fine, but he had a funeral to do at 1 o’clock. So he had to leave the radio show early, to go home and take a shower before the funeral, and he was angry about that. He wasn’t sure who to be angry at. He thought the city workers, who put out signs the day before, saying, “No Parking,” could have put notes on people’s doors telling them there water would be shutoff. But he wasn’t sure who to be angry at. He was just angry.
I think the first step toward not forgiving is anger. I think unforgiveness takes three steps: anger and then hatred and then unforgiveness.
Tony Campolo is an evangelical Christian, a preacher, a retired sociology professor at Eastern University in Philadelphia. He spoke this past week in Holland at the Summit on Racism at Hope College. He told of a time years ago when he got two groups together, Buddhists and Christians. He divided them up into theologians and mystics. He put the Buddhist and Christian theologians in one group and the Buddhist and Christian mystics in another group, for four days. At the end of that time, the Christian and Buddhist theologians were arguing with each other, as they had the whole time they were together. “We believe this.” “You believe that! How could you believe that!?” They hated each other. The mystics, who prayed and meditated together for four days, loved each other. They hated to see each other go. Perhaps the moral of the story is that when two or more faith traditions get together, they shouldn’t talk about theology, they should just pray and meditate.
I think the Christian and Buddhist theological types went through the three stages of unforgiveness. There seemed to be some anger between the two groups; perhaps also some hatred; and finally, maybe they even reached the point of unforgiveness. That’s not a good thing. Conan O’Brian seems to know this.
Conan O’Brian was promoted to host The Tonight Show. Jay Leno was promoted to his own prime time program. But the ratings for The Jay Leno Show weren’t very good and the ratings for The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brian weren’t very good, so NBC came up with a compromise. They would pull Jay Leno off the prime time schedule and put him at 11:35 and they would put Conan O’Brian at 12:05. But Conan didn’t want to do The Tonight Show…tomorrow, so he left NBC and he was forbidden from talking about leaving until a couple of weeks ago when he was on 60 Minutes. He talked about his feelings towards Jay Leno and NBC. Surprisingly he said, “You’re going to think this is crazy, but I wish them well.” In other words he, in some form or fashion, forgave the folks at NBC. Now maybe the fact that he walked away with 32 million dollars helped his forgiveness. There is that possibility. But I think he also knew about the importance of forgiveness, something that religious leaders have preached about for millennia.
Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how many times must we forgive? Seven times?” Jesus said, “Seventy-seven times,” or depending on the translation, “Seventy times seven,” which, if my math is correct, is 490 times. Now who can blame Peter for asking the question of Jesus? You’ve got Jesus there. Perhaps you have somebody you have a hard time forgiving. So why not ask Jesus how many times you have to forgive this person? Perhaps he was thinking that Jesus would say, “Well, I said, ‘Turn the other cheek,’ but you only do that once, so you only have to forgive one time.” So maybe Peter thought he was being generous by suggesting seven times. Jesus instead said 490 times. Always and forever essentially, we must forgive. Maybe forgiving somebody is good for us.
The Dalai Lama says, “One’s enemy is the best teacher.” I think that’s true. Now, granted, I could have used fewer teachers over the years, but maybe the Dalai Lama has a point. At the very least, our enemy, if we do it right, will teach us to forgive, if we follow the precepts of Jesus, the Dalai Lama, and others.
Ram Dass, who used to be known as Richard Alpert, was a professor at Harvard, but then he got into Buddhism and Hinduism and became Ram Dass. Many years ago he wrote a book, “Be Here Now.” A very simple title, a very easy to understand point. How can you “be” anyplace other than right here, right now? And yet, when we refuse to forgive, we’re living in some previous time. When we’re not forgiving somebody, we’re living in the past, living in anger. The only way to “be here now” is to forgive back then.
Erich Segal wrote a very popular book a few years ago entitled, “Love Story.” The tag line from “Love Story,” the movie and the book, was, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” I don’t think that’s true. I think love means always having to say you’re sorry. At least, that’s what I have to do in my marriage. “Sorry, honey, I forgot to mow the lawn.” “Sorry, honey, I ate the rest of the chocolate ice cream.” I think love means always having to say you’re sorry, whenever you do something wrong and hope to be forgiven.
I remember two things from my tenth grade art class. One, our art teacher was rather pretty. Two, she had a painting on the wall of two people sinking in quicksand. You could see that there were some vines or something they could grab onto. Instead, they were each clutching clubs, and they were beating each other as they were sinking in the quicksand. How angry must we be with somebody, how much hatred must we have for somebody, how much unforgiveness must be in our heart, not to be able to save ourself at the very least? And to keep beating your opponent to death, literally, as he continues to beat you to death?
One of my favorite actors of all time is James Garner. I loved him when I was a kid and saw him in “Maverick,” I loved him as a young person, when he was in “The Rockford Files.” I loved him in, “The Americanization of Emily,” “Victor Victoria” and others. Many years ago James Garner was interviewed (in Playboy magazine, oh my). He was asked, since he was born in Norman, Oklahoma, whether he was prejudiced against people of color. He said, “No,” which you’d expect him to say. But he also said, “I can’t hate a group of people for any reason. But I can hate individuals real well.” I think I’m the same way.
I don’t want to burst anybody’s bubble if they think the chaplain of Interfaith Congregation should be perfectly pious and love everybody all the time. Sometimes, I admit, I don’t. I’m certainly better than I was years ago before I went into the ministry, but I haven’t yet reached perfection. (And I probably never will.) Sometimes the person I have the hardest time forgiving is myself.
Yesterday my daughter danced her last dance recital. She’s been dancing since she was three years old, for fourteen years. Yesterday watching her up onstage, doing a ballet, tears came to my eyes, because I pictured her at the age of three, when the teacher was off to the side, telling her what steps to take and what moves to make. Now here she was, fourteen years later, grace, beauty and, dare I say it as an “impartial” dad, perfection: Poetry in motion.
I got to thinking about her journey from three to seventeen and how back then she made all kinds of mistakes. But everybody laughed at them, just like we did yesterday when the three year olds were dancing, and it was no big deal. How similar is that to our own spiritual lives, when years ago we made mistakes, we committed what the religious call sins? Sin is just a word for missing the mark. Yet over the years we’ve stopped, hopefully, making those same mistakes. (Maybe we make new mistakes, but we’ve stopped making those same old mistakes.) Just like my daughter wouldn’t hold it against herself, and I certainly wouldn’t hold it against her -how she danced at the age of three, compared to how she danced at the age of seventeen - I don’t think we should hold it against ourselves, the way we were years ago in our spiritual life, compared to how we are now. We still aren't perfect, but hopefully we're better than we were.
The other day I was working on my sermon at JPs coffee shop. Somebody walked into JPs who I thought in the past had treated me unfairly. In a split second, I took those three steps: from anger to hatred to unforgiveness. I sat there thinking: What can I say or do to this person so that I’ll feel superior to him? Should I make some unkind remark? Should I make some nasty hand gesture? But then it dawned on me: I’M WRITING A SERMON ABOUT FORGIVENESS! So as he walked by, I said, “Hello.” Of course, an hour or two later I thought of all kinds of nicer things I could have also said, but maybe the first step on the road to forgiveness is sometimes simply saying, “Hello.”
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Jesus And Other Noisy Leftists
Some of you may know that a few days ago I went before the Holland City Council. I asked the council to pass an ordinance barring discrimination of people because of sexual orientation or gender identity. And I was shocked by a couple of things that happened that night.
First I was shocked that the Holland City Council didn’t laugh me out of the room. Then I was shocked to walk out of the chambers and have a TV reporter, a radio reporter and two newspaper reporters all wanting to talk to me. Perhaps I was most shocked when several of our parishioners who were there that night - who heard me apologize to the council for not knowing exactly how to get an ordinance passed, because I’m a pastor not a politician – and those members of our congregation later were laughing at me for saying that. They said something along the lines of: You might be a pastor, but you’re also a politician. I was shocked, shocked.
Back in 2004 on election night I was at the Wealthy Street Theater in Grand Rapids, along with other Democrats, watching the election returns. I was there till about 2 in the morning and was devastated by the results. So I went home to my apartment, devastated. I got my mail and I opened up a letter. It was from the AARP congratulating me for being eligible to becoming a member of their organization. So it was a double devastation for me: not only did my candidate lose, but I was now old enough to join the AARP.
Okay, maybe I am a politician, but I would rather refer to myself more as a political animal. I love politics. I love watching Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews. I love watching President Obama give a speech. I love the fact that he graduated from Harvard Law School, that he taught constitutional law and that he’s the one who gets to nominate the next Supreme Court justice. So I love politics. I talk about politics on the radio show I do with Fred Wooden from Fountain Street Church. (By the way, the program is called “Faith and Reason” and it’s on Friday mornings from 10 till Noon on 1680-AM, 95.3-FM and online at publicrealityradio.org – a little plug!) Although, rather than say we talk about politics, I prefer to say we talk about justice. Some people might have seen politics in what happened a few weeks ago.
As you may know, Erik Prince was invited to speak at the Holland Tulip Time Festival luncheon. Many people were upset about that, because Erik Prince founded Blackwater, a mercenary army, accused of killing innocent men, women and children in Iraq. So I invited Jeremy Scahill, author of the book “Blackwater," to come to Holland to speak on the same day as Erik Prince. Jeremy accepted, didn’t charge a speaking fee and even paid for his own plane ticket – bless his heart.
In his speech, Erik Prince said he has three main enemies: al-Qaida, the Taliban and noisy leftists. Now I realize what Erik Prince was doing. He was trying to make a joke. Ha, ha, ha – it’s not just al-Qaida and the Taliban that are my enemies, it’s also those noisy leftists – ha, ha, ha! I imagine that Erik Prince would count Jeremy Scahill as one of those noisy leftists and perhaps even me. I’m not sure, though, if I’m a noisy leftist. On some issues, I’m a libertarian. On some issues, I’m a conservative. And on some issues, I’m a Republican.
When it comes to the issue of abortion, I’m a libertarian – I don’t think the government should be involved in a woman’s decision. When it comes to the issue of the environment, I’m a conservative – I want to conserve our streams and rivers and lakes and oceans and earth and air. When it comes to the issue of the budget, I’m a Republican – I believe the government should live within its means, and not just when a Democrat is in the White House, but also when a Republican is in the White House. So I guess on that issue I’m more Republican than some Republicans. But I suppose on most issues I am a noisy leftist. But I think I’m in pretty good company.
Jesus goes up to a mountain, sits down and begins to talk to his disciples and the thousands of people who gathered around. Jesus says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer.” Jesus says, "You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies.”
Blessed are the peacemakers? Do not resist an evildoer? Love your enemies? My goodness. Jesus sounds like a noisy leftist. I bet he’d be on Erik Prince’s enemies list. So would Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. King says, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” My goodness. Dr. King sounds like a noisy leftist. I bet he’d be on Erik Prince’s enemies list. So would Gandhi.
Gandhi says, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” My goodness. Gandhi sounds like a noisy leftist. I bet he’d be on Erik Prince’s enemies list.
Is it such a bad thing to be called a noisy leftist, to be on Erik Prince’s enemies list? Or is it a badge of honor? I wonder how many people in Holland would be considered noisy leftists. I wonder how many people in Holland would be on Erik Prince’s enemies list.
The other day I was channel surfing and came across a program on the History Channel. It was called The History of the Earth. The program said that for hundreds of millions of years, the earth has been shifting. Tectonic plates under the earth move. The program said that at one time all the continents of the earth were one. You can sort of see that when you look at how the continent of South America fits into the continent of Africa. The program said that all continents were like that, all continents fit together as one, hundreds of millions of years ago, but because of the shifting of the tectonic plates the continents separated. They say the continents shift like that whenever there is an earthquake or a volcano erupts. So when a volcano erupts in Iceland or an earthquake hits in Haiti, that’s not God expressing anger, that’s the earth shifting.
I got to thinking: Holland is shifting; Holland is becoming more progressive. Now you wouldn’t have known that a couple weeks ago, when the Board of Trustees at Hope College refused to rescind their rules condemning homosexuality. That would not be an example of Holland shifting. But there are several other examples of Holland shifting, of Holland becoming more progressive.
In 2008, Barack Obama won Holland by 200 votes. That’s the first time a Democratic presidential candidate won in Holland since 1964, when President Lyndon Johnson, who took office after the assassination of President Kennedy, won here, probably getting some sympathy votes. So, in 2008, for the first time in 44 years, a Democratic presidential candidate won in Holland. Holland is shifting. Holland is becoming more progressive.
I have an anecdotal example of that from a few months ago. One day I was grocery shopping at Meijer, just down the street. I got to the checkout aisle and saw the usual assortment of supermarket tabloids. One of the tabloids said something like: President Obama is gay. I was laughing. And, the guy in front of me was laughing, too. He said, “Yeah, who would have guessed it? Obama is gay.” I think that 10 or 20 years ago, the guy in front of me wouldn’t have been laughing, he would’ve been looking stern and saying, “Oh, you think homosexuality is funny, do you?” But in 2010, the guy in front of me was laughing. Holland is shifting. Holland is becoming more progressive.
A couple months ago, several of us visited a Buddhist temple, one of two Buddhist temples in the Holland area. Who would have thought that there would be two Buddhist temples in the Holland area? I hear tell that there’s even an Interfaith Congregation that meets in a theater in the Holland area. Holland is shifting. Holland is becoming more progressive.
I mentioned Jeremy Scahill. When he came to town, as you may know, we reserved a theater here at the Holland 7 that seats 175 people. He filled that theater and an overflow theater, because 322 people came here to hear Jeremy Scahill. Now some of those folks came from Chicago and Ann Arbor and Traverse City, but I think most of those people came from Holland and the Holland area. Holland is shifting. Holland is becoming more progressive.
A survey was released a couple months ago that said Holland is the second happiest city in the country. Now I know some people found that amusing, but I think it’s great. And I think maybe one of the reasons people are happy in Holland is because Holland is shifting, Holland is becoming more progressive.
Now, will the city council of Holland pass an ordinance banning discrimination of people because of sexual orientation or gender identity in housing, employment and education? I don’t know. Time will tell. I’ve been asked by a group called “Holland Is Ready” to meet with them and strategize about how to get such an ordinance passed. And, of course, I’ll be happy to do that. The group “Holland Is Ready” is another indication that Holland is shifting, Holland is becoming more progressive.
My apologies if this Talk has sounded pretty political. But I felt I should talk about Erik Prince’s enemies list and calling people like me, and maybe some of you, noisy leftists. Whether you consider yourself a noisy leftist or a mumbling moderate or a quiet conservative, that’s fine with me. I’ll love you no matter what. (And I hope the reverse is true.)
I was reading a book the other day and I came across a quote by a Spanish philosopher, Ibn Arabi. Ibn Arabi says, “Love alone is my religion.” I like that. “Love alone is my religion.” Let us not worship MSNBC or the Fox News Channel, let us make love alone our religion. Let us not worship the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, let us make love alone our religion. Let us not worship President Obama or Rush Limbaugh, let us make love alone our religion. If we do that, if we make love alone our religion, then Holland and Michigan and America and the World will all be the better for it.
First I was shocked that the Holland City Council didn’t laugh me out of the room. Then I was shocked to walk out of the chambers and have a TV reporter, a radio reporter and two newspaper reporters all wanting to talk to me. Perhaps I was most shocked when several of our parishioners who were there that night - who heard me apologize to the council for not knowing exactly how to get an ordinance passed, because I’m a pastor not a politician – and those members of our congregation later were laughing at me for saying that. They said something along the lines of: You might be a pastor, but you’re also a politician. I was shocked, shocked.
Back in 2004 on election night I was at the Wealthy Street Theater in Grand Rapids, along with other Democrats, watching the election returns. I was there till about 2 in the morning and was devastated by the results. So I went home to my apartment, devastated. I got my mail and I opened up a letter. It was from the AARP congratulating me for being eligible to becoming a member of their organization. So it was a double devastation for me: not only did my candidate lose, but I was now old enough to join the AARP.
Okay, maybe I am a politician, but I would rather refer to myself more as a political animal. I love politics. I love watching Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews. I love watching President Obama give a speech. I love the fact that he graduated from Harvard Law School, that he taught constitutional law and that he’s the one who gets to nominate the next Supreme Court justice. So I love politics. I talk about politics on the radio show I do with Fred Wooden from Fountain Street Church. (By the way, the program is called “Faith and Reason” and it’s on Friday mornings from 10 till Noon on 1680-AM, 95.3-FM and online at publicrealityradio.org – a little plug!) Although, rather than say we talk about politics, I prefer to say we talk about justice. Some people might have seen politics in what happened a few weeks ago.
As you may know, Erik Prince was invited to speak at the Holland Tulip Time Festival luncheon. Many people were upset about that, because Erik Prince founded Blackwater, a mercenary army, accused of killing innocent men, women and children in Iraq. So I invited Jeremy Scahill, author of the book “Blackwater," to come to Holland to speak on the same day as Erik Prince. Jeremy accepted, didn’t charge a speaking fee and even paid for his own plane ticket – bless his heart.
In his speech, Erik Prince said he has three main enemies: al-Qaida, the Taliban and noisy leftists. Now I realize what Erik Prince was doing. He was trying to make a joke. Ha, ha, ha – it’s not just al-Qaida and the Taliban that are my enemies, it’s also those noisy leftists – ha, ha, ha! I imagine that Erik Prince would count Jeremy Scahill as one of those noisy leftists and perhaps even me. I’m not sure, though, if I’m a noisy leftist. On some issues, I’m a libertarian. On some issues, I’m a conservative. And on some issues, I’m a Republican.
When it comes to the issue of abortion, I’m a libertarian – I don’t think the government should be involved in a woman’s decision. When it comes to the issue of the environment, I’m a conservative – I want to conserve our streams and rivers and lakes and oceans and earth and air. When it comes to the issue of the budget, I’m a Republican – I believe the government should live within its means, and not just when a Democrat is in the White House, but also when a Republican is in the White House. So I guess on that issue I’m more Republican than some Republicans. But I suppose on most issues I am a noisy leftist. But I think I’m in pretty good company.
Jesus goes up to a mountain, sits down and begins to talk to his disciples and the thousands of people who gathered around. Jesus says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer.” Jesus says, "You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies.”
Blessed are the peacemakers? Do not resist an evildoer? Love your enemies? My goodness. Jesus sounds like a noisy leftist. I bet he’d be on Erik Prince’s enemies list. So would Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. King says, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” My goodness. Dr. King sounds like a noisy leftist. I bet he’d be on Erik Prince’s enemies list. So would Gandhi.
Gandhi says, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” My goodness. Gandhi sounds like a noisy leftist. I bet he’d be on Erik Prince’s enemies list.
Is it such a bad thing to be called a noisy leftist, to be on Erik Prince’s enemies list? Or is it a badge of honor? I wonder how many people in Holland would be considered noisy leftists. I wonder how many people in Holland would be on Erik Prince’s enemies list.
The other day I was channel surfing and came across a program on the History Channel. It was called The History of the Earth. The program said that for hundreds of millions of years, the earth has been shifting. Tectonic plates under the earth move. The program said that at one time all the continents of the earth were one. You can sort of see that when you look at how the continent of South America fits into the continent of Africa. The program said that all continents were like that, all continents fit together as one, hundreds of millions of years ago, but because of the shifting of the tectonic plates the continents separated. They say the continents shift like that whenever there is an earthquake or a volcano erupts. So when a volcano erupts in Iceland or an earthquake hits in Haiti, that’s not God expressing anger, that’s the earth shifting.
I got to thinking: Holland is shifting; Holland is becoming more progressive. Now you wouldn’t have known that a couple weeks ago, when the Board of Trustees at Hope College refused to rescind their rules condemning homosexuality. That would not be an example of Holland shifting. But there are several other examples of Holland shifting, of Holland becoming more progressive.
In 2008, Barack Obama won Holland by 200 votes. That’s the first time a Democratic presidential candidate won in Holland since 1964, when President Lyndon Johnson, who took office after the assassination of President Kennedy, won here, probably getting some sympathy votes. So, in 2008, for the first time in 44 years, a Democratic presidential candidate won in Holland. Holland is shifting. Holland is becoming more progressive.
I have an anecdotal example of that from a few months ago. One day I was grocery shopping at Meijer, just down the street. I got to the checkout aisle and saw the usual assortment of supermarket tabloids. One of the tabloids said something like: President Obama is gay. I was laughing. And, the guy in front of me was laughing, too. He said, “Yeah, who would have guessed it? Obama is gay.” I think that 10 or 20 years ago, the guy in front of me wouldn’t have been laughing, he would’ve been looking stern and saying, “Oh, you think homosexuality is funny, do you?” But in 2010, the guy in front of me was laughing. Holland is shifting. Holland is becoming more progressive.
A couple months ago, several of us visited a Buddhist temple, one of two Buddhist temples in the Holland area. Who would have thought that there would be two Buddhist temples in the Holland area? I hear tell that there’s even an Interfaith Congregation that meets in a theater in the Holland area. Holland is shifting. Holland is becoming more progressive.
I mentioned Jeremy Scahill. When he came to town, as you may know, we reserved a theater here at the Holland 7 that seats 175 people. He filled that theater and an overflow theater, because 322 people came here to hear Jeremy Scahill. Now some of those folks came from Chicago and Ann Arbor and Traverse City, but I think most of those people came from Holland and the Holland area. Holland is shifting. Holland is becoming more progressive.
A survey was released a couple months ago that said Holland is the second happiest city in the country. Now I know some people found that amusing, but I think it’s great. And I think maybe one of the reasons people are happy in Holland is because Holland is shifting, Holland is becoming more progressive.
Now, will the city council of Holland pass an ordinance banning discrimination of people because of sexual orientation or gender identity in housing, employment and education? I don’t know. Time will tell. I’ve been asked by a group called “Holland Is Ready” to meet with them and strategize about how to get such an ordinance passed. And, of course, I’ll be happy to do that. The group “Holland Is Ready” is another indication that Holland is shifting, Holland is becoming more progressive.
My apologies if this Talk has sounded pretty political. But I felt I should talk about Erik Prince’s enemies list and calling people like me, and maybe some of you, noisy leftists. Whether you consider yourself a noisy leftist or a mumbling moderate or a quiet conservative, that’s fine with me. I’ll love you no matter what. (And I hope the reverse is true.)
I was reading a book the other day and I came across a quote by a Spanish philosopher, Ibn Arabi. Ibn Arabi says, “Love alone is my religion.” I like that. “Love alone is my religion.” Let us not worship MSNBC or the Fox News Channel, let us make love alone our religion. Let us not worship the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, let us make love alone our religion. Let us not worship President Obama or Rush Limbaugh, let us make love alone our religion. If we do that, if we make love alone our religion, then Holland and Michigan and America and the World will all be the better for it.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Love Is The Hokey Pokey Of Life
[The following was delivered at an Interfaith Civility Service we held on April 15.]
When I was a kid many years ago, I think in the basement of my childhood church, we learned the Hokey Pokey. Maybe you learned it as a kid too. You put your (I can never remember if you go right or left): “You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out, you put your right foot in and you shake it all about. You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around. That’s what it’s all about.” It’s too bad all of life isn’t as simple as the Hokey Pokey, isn’t it? My friend Fred Wooden from Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids has a t-shirt that says: What if the Hokey Pokey is what it’s all about? Unfortunately, we know it’s not.
Lately it seems like incivility – and worse - is what it’s all about. A Congressperson is spat upon. African American Congress people are called the N-word. A gay Congressperson is called the F-word. Those victims were all Democrats. But incivility, or worse, is not restricted to one political party. A Republican Congressperson has a bullet shot through a window of his office building. Threats upon the life of President Obama increased 300 percent compared to the number of threats made against President Bush. Barack Obama is a Democrat, of course. But again, that kind of thing is not restricted to one political party. We remember that an assassination attempt was made many years ago on the life of President Reagan, a Republican. Incivility – and worse – covers the political spectrum. Just as terrorism covers the religious spectrum.
9-11, which happened nearly 9 years ago, involved Muslim terrorists. The Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing, which happened 15 years ago next week, involved a Christian terrorist, Timothy McVeigh. So incivility and terrorism span the political and spiritual spectrum. Are incivility and terrorism what it’s all about?
Not according to many religious leaders down through the ages. 2,000 years ago Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.” More recently, the Dalai Lama, the leader of Tibetan Buddhism, said, “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” Every religion that I know of – Baha’i, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and more – everyone of them says, follow the Golden Rule. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
Incivility isn’t what it’s all about. Terrorism certainly isn’t what it’s all about. Love is what it’s all about. Love is the Hokey Pokey of life. Whether you go to your right or to your left, politically or spiritually. Love is the Hokey Pokey of life. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what it’s all about.
When I was a kid many years ago, I think in the basement of my childhood church, we learned the Hokey Pokey. Maybe you learned it as a kid too. You put your (I can never remember if you go right or left): “You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out, you put your right foot in and you shake it all about. You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around. That’s what it’s all about.” It’s too bad all of life isn’t as simple as the Hokey Pokey, isn’t it? My friend Fred Wooden from Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids has a t-shirt that says: What if the Hokey Pokey is what it’s all about? Unfortunately, we know it’s not.
Lately it seems like incivility – and worse - is what it’s all about. A Congressperson is spat upon. African American Congress people are called the N-word. A gay Congressperson is called the F-word. Those victims were all Democrats. But incivility, or worse, is not restricted to one political party. A Republican Congressperson has a bullet shot through a window of his office building. Threats upon the life of President Obama increased 300 percent compared to the number of threats made against President Bush. Barack Obama is a Democrat, of course. But again, that kind of thing is not restricted to one political party. We remember that an assassination attempt was made many years ago on the life of President Reagan, a Republican. Incivility – and worse – covers the political spectrum. Just as terrorism covers the religious spectrum.
9-11, which happened nearly 9 years ago, involved Muslim terrorists. The Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing, which happened 15 years ago next week, involved a Christian terrorist, Timothy McVeigh. So incivility and terrorism span the political and spiritual spectrum. Are incivility and terrorism what it’s all about?
Not according to many religious leaders down through the ages. 2,000 years ago Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.” More recently, the Dalai Lama, the leader of Tibetan Buddhism, said, “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” Every religion that I know of – Baha’i, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and more – everyone of them says, follow the Golden Rule. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
Incivility isn’t what it’s all about. Terrorism certainly isn’t what it’s all about. Love is what it’s all about. Love is the Hokey Pokey of life. Whether you go to your right or to your left, politically or spiritually. Love is the Hokey Pokey of life. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what it’s all about.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
What's The Essence Of Your Faith?
We’ve had some great weather lately. It’s funny how weather can often times determine our mood.
I remember walking to school one day when I was a kid. It was about this time of year. Winter was in the not-too-distant past, Spring was in the air and Summer was just around the corner. I was excited about all that, because as a kid I loved baseball. I would dream, think and talk about baseball all the time. I would play it whenever I could. (Not well, but I still had fun.) If you would have asked me back then what my religion was, what I worshiped, what the essence of my faith was, I’m sure I would have said, “Jesus.” But I didn’t dream, think and talk about Jesus all the time. Baseball was my religion, it’s what I worshiped, it was the essence of my faith, the way basketball is to some people.
Did you see the NCAA championship game between Duke and Butler? Some of us who didn’t have a dog in that fight were rooting for the underdog, Butler, to beat Duke. You probably know that Duke won, by 2 points. But Butler won the hearts of many Americans. It was probably fitting that the Final Four of March Madness (which now extends into April – it’s really mad!), was played in Indianapolis, because basketball is such a big deal in Indiana. If you asked many people in Indiana what’s their religion, what do they worship, what’s the essence of their faith, I’m sure they’d say, “Jesus,” even though many other people would suspect that basketball is the state religion in Indiana. Just like football seems to be the state religion in Texas.
To some people, sports is like a religion; they seemingly worship it; in many ways it’s the essence of their faith. They probably wouldn’t admit to that. They’d insist that Jesus was their Lord and Savior, or the Buddha or whoever but you’d sure get the impression that the World Series is their doctrine, the NBA finals is their dogma and the Super Bowl is their creed. Now don’t get me wrong. Sports can be a pleasant pastime, it’s just that some people seem to obsess about it. Of course, it could be worse.
Some people give the definite impression that their religion is money; they seemingly worship it; in many ways it’s the essence of their faith. Again, don’t get me wrong; we all need money to survive. But I’ve often gotten the impression that some people don’t even pretend that Jesus is their Lord and Savior or that they’re working on the Buddha within. Stocks are their doctrine, bonds are their dogma and greed is their creed.
What do you worship? What is your religion? What’s the essence of your faith?
My professional life has centered around politicians, who I used to cover; talk show hosts, since I used to be one; and religion, which hopefully I’m all about now. And I think I see a connection with all three of them. Maybe you see it too.
Some politicians, talk show hosts and religious leaders seem to specialize in fear. Fear is their stock in trade, or their shock in trade, if you will. Their message can basically be boiled down to: Be afraid! Be very afraid! Be scared half to death!
And yet, other politicians, talk show hosts and religious leaders specialize in the opposite of fear, which isn’t courage, but compassion. Their message can basically be boiled down to: Fear not! Be not afraid! The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!
Why the difference? Why do some politicians, talk show hosts and religious leaders preach fear, while others preach compassion? I think it has to do with theology. I think the politicians, talk show hosts and religious leaders who emphasize fear attract people who are afraid, people whose theology is based on fear, people who believe in a vengeful, hateful, hurtful God, a God to be feared, rather than loved.
I think the politicians, talk show hosts and religious leaders who emphasize compassion attract people who are concerned about compassion, people whose theology is based on compassion, people who believe in a compassionate, forgiving, understanding God, a God to be loved, rather than feared.
I don’t understand why people would choose politicians, talk show hosts and religious leaders who emphasize fear, rather than compassion. Although Jesus probably understood it very well; he must’ve understood that it’s a lot easier to get people to fear thy neighbor than to get them to love thy neighbor. It just seems to me that if you were looking for a meaningful point of view, the basis for your religion, the essence of your faith, love thy neighbor would be a better choice than fear thy neighbor. What’s the essence of your faith?
It’s often difficult to discern the essence of someone’s faith.
I went to a church once where they sang contemporary Christian songs for the first 20 minutes or so. Once the singing was over about a tenth of the crowd – about a hundred people - left before the preaching started. What was the essence of their faith? Maybe it was music; perhaps music lifted their spirits. And once the music was over, they left. (Or maybe they just wanted to avoid the sermon.)
What is the essence of people’s faith? I think there are at least 6 reasons people go to a house of worship (not counting: because their parents make them go). It seems to me that one or more of these would be the essence of someone’s faith. Spiritual. Communal. Ritual. Intellectual. Philosophical. Theological. Let me give you some examples.
To some people the essence of their faith is spiritual. They do go to church or temple or synagogue or mosque to meditate or to feel moved by the spirit.
To some people the essence of their faith is communal. They go to church or temple or synagogue or mosque to be with others, to see their friends.
To some people the essence of their faith is ritual. They go to church or temple or synagogue or mosque to receive communion or to dip their hands in holy water or to light a candle.
To some people the essence of their faith is intellectual. They go to church or temple or synagogue or mosque to hear a poem read or an idea explored.
To some people the essence of their faith is philosophical. They go to church or temple or synagogue or mosque to be reminded of a universal principle, like the Golden Rule, found in many faith traditions and Greek philosophy.
To some people the essence of their faith is theological. They go to church or temple or synagogue or mosque to be reminded of the tenets of their religion, to hear the sacred scripture read or to recite a creed.
Some people may find the essence of their faith in some or all of these qualities. What’s the essence of your faith?
One of the enjoyable things about being an interfaith chaplain is trying to determine what is the essence of other people’s faith. What are their beliefs and practices? Maybe you enjoy learning things like that, too.
We watched a documentary on the Buddha on PBS the other night. As you may know, the Buddha is said to have lived 25-hundred years ago. After that much time, it’s not always possible to separate fact from fiction, to determine what is truth and myth. The Buddha was born into a wealthy ruling family. He gave all that up to search for enlightenment. The Buddha became enlightened when he discovered that all people suffer and that the way to alleviate suffering is to let go of possessions, desires, ego, which is not always easy; that’s why so few people do it. That seems to be the essence of the Buddha’s faith.
What is the essence of other people’s faith? Do they worship God as fervently as they welcome the stranger, and vice versa?
What is the essence of other people’s faith? Do they believe in a God who forgives sins and do they therefore forgive the sins of others? Do they themselves also forgive their own sins?
What is the essence of other people’s faith? Do they ponder the present as much as they do the past?
I find it fascinating, seeing and knowing what others believe and whether and how they put it into practice. It’s like that great philosopher, Yogi Berra, once said, “You can observe a lot by watching.” What do you observe is the essence of other people’s faith? What is the essence of your own faith?
My thinking on this topic has evolved since I first started seriously pondering it. Not so long ago I would have dismissed what many people consider the essence of their faith. I’m not proud of that. I don’t do that anymore.
I remember one time in seminary; a group of students led one of our daily chapel services. Now our chapel services were pretty laid back, especially the student-led ones. Students wore jeans and sweatshirts, sneakers. But on this particular day, the students entered the chapel in fancy robes and hats, they carried candles and the Bible above their heads. It was quite elaborate. I said some smart-aleck remark to one of the professors after chapel. I said, “I’m not sure I was worthy enough to be at this service.” He said, “Yeah, pretty highfalutin wasn’t it?” Now, I look back on that worship service with fresh eyes and a reverential attitude. That kind of service was part of the essence of my classmates’ faith. Now, I understand and respect that.
Before, if people had told me that part of the essence of their faith was the stained glass windows in their church, I probably would have wondered: How could that be part of the essence of their faith? Now, I understand and respect that.
Before, if people had told me that part of the essence of their faith was coming to their house of worship just so they could hang out with friends, I probably would have wondered: How could that be part of the essence of their faith? Now, I understand and respect that.
Before, if people had told me that part of the essence of their faith was reciting a creed that was hundreds of years old and was now called by many scholars theologically out-of-date, I probably would have wondered: How could that be part of the essence of their faith? Now, I understand and respect that.
As a chaplain, especially as an interfaith chaplain, I understand that my role is not to decide for other people what is the essence of their faith or to pass judgment on what they have decided is the essence of their faith. My role is to help other people decide for themselves what is the essence of their faith. So, what’s the essence of your faith?
I remember walking to school one day when I was a kid. It was about this time of year. Winter was in the not-too-distant past, Spring was in the air and Summer was just around the corner. I was excited about all that, because as a kid I loved baseball. I would dream, think and talk about baseball all the time. I would play it whenever I could. (Not well, but I still had fun.) If you would have asked me back then what my religion was, what I worshiped, what the essence of my faith was, I’m sure I would have said, “Jesus.” But I didn’t dream, think and talk about Jesus all the time. Baseball was my religion, it’s what I worshiped, it was the essence of my faith, the way basketball is to some people.
Did you see the NCAA championship game between Duke and Butler? Some of us who didn’t have a dog in that fight were rooting for the underdog, Butler, to beat Duke. You probably know that Duke won, by 2 points. But Butler won the hearts of many Americans. It was probably fitting that the Final Four of March Madness (which now extends into April – it’s really mad!), was played in Indianapolis, because basketball is such a big deal in Indiana. If you asked many people in Indiana what’s their religion, what do they worship, what’s the essence of their faith, I’m sure they’d say, “Jesus,” even though many other people would suspect that basketball is the state religion in Indiana. Just like football seems to be the state religion in Texas.
To some people, sports is like a religion; they seemingly worship it; in many ways it’s the essence of their faith. They probably wouldn’t admit to that. They’d insist that Jesus was their Lord and Savior, or the Buddha or whoever but you’d sure get the impression that the World Series is their doctrine, the NBA finals is their dogma and the Super Bowl is their creed. Now don’t get me wrong. Sports can be a pleasant pastime, it’s just that some people seem to obsess about it. Of course, it could be worse.
Some people give the definite impression that their religion is money; they seemingly worship it; in many ways it’s the essence of their faith. Again, don’t get me wrong; we all need money to survive. But I’ve often gotten the impression that some people don’t even pretend that Jesus is their Lord and Savior or that they’re working on the Buddha within. Stocks are their doctrine, bonds are their dogma and greed is their creed.
What do you worship? What is your religion? What’s the essence of your faith?
My professional life has centered around politicians, who I used to cover; talk show hosts, since I used to be one; and religion, which hopefully I’m all about now. And I think I see a connection with all three of them. Maybe you see it too.
Some politicians, talk show hosts and religious leaders seem to specialize in fear. Fear is their stock in trade, or their shock in trade, if you will. Their message can basically be boiled down to: Be afraid! Be very afraid! Be scared half to death!
And yet, other politicians, talk show hosts and religious leaders specialize in the opposite of fear, which isn’t courage, but compassion. Their message can basically be boiled down to: Fear not! Be not afraid! The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!
Why the difference? Why do some politicians, talk show hosts and religious leaders preach fear, while others preach compassion? I think it has to do with theology. I think the politicians, talk show hosts and religious leaders who emphasize fear attract people who are afraid, people whose theology is based on fear, people who believe in a vengeful, hateful, hurtful God, a God to be feared, rather than loved.
I think the politicians, talk show hosts and religious leaders who emphasize compassion attract people who are concerned about compassion, people whose theology is based on compassion, people who believe in a compassionate, forgiving, understanding God, a God to be loved, rather than feared.
I don’t understand why people would choose politicians, talk show hosts and religious leaders who emphasize fear, rather than compassion. Although Jesus probably understood it very well; he must’ve understood that it’s a lot easier to get people to fear thy neighbor than to get them to love thy neighbor. It just seems to me that if you were looking for a meaningful point of view, the basis for your religion, the essence of your faith, love thy neighbor would be a better choice than fear thy neighbor. What’s the essence of your faith?
It’s often difficult to discern the essence of someone’s faith.
I went to a church once where they sang contemporary Christian songs for the first 20 minutes or so. Once the singing was over about a tenth of the crowd – about a hundred people - left before the preaching started. What was the essence of their faith? Maybe it was music; perhaps music lifted their spirits. And once the music was over, they left. (Or maybe they just wanted to avoid the sermon.)
What is the essence of people’s faith? I think there are at least 6 reasons people go to a house of worship (not counting: because their parents make them go). It seems to me that one or more of these would be the essence of someone’s faith. Spiritual. Communal. Ritual. Intellectual. Philosophical. Theological. Let me give you some examples.
To some people the essence of their faith is spiritual. They do go to church or temple or synagogue or mosque to meditate or to feel moved by the spirit.
To some people the essence of their faith is communal. They go to church or temple or synagogue or mosque to be with others, to see their friends.
To some people the essence of their faith is ritual. They go to church or temple or synagogue or mosque to receive communion or to dip their hands in holy water or to light a candle.
To some people the essence of their faith is intellectual. They go to church or temple or synagogue or mosque to hear a poem read or an idea explored.
To some people the essence of their faith is philosophical. They go to church or temple or synagogue or mosque to be reminded of a universal principle, like the Golden Rule, found in many faith traditions and Greek philosophy.
To some people the essence of their faith is theological. They go to church or temple or synagogue or mosque to be reminded of the tenets of their religion, to hear the sacred scripture read or to recite a creed.
Some people may find the essence of their faith in some or all of these qualities. What’s the essence of your faith?
One of the enjoyable things about being an interfaith chaplain is trying to determine what is the essence of other people’s faith. What are their beliefs and practices? Maybe you enjoy learning things like that, too.
We watched a documentary on the Buddha on PBS the other night. As you may know, the Buddha is said to have lived 25-hundred years ago. After that much time, it’s not always possible to separate fact from fiction, to determine what is truth and myth. The Buddha was born into a wealthy ruling family. He gave all that up to search for enlightenment. The Buddha became enlightened when he discovered that all people suffer and that the way to alleviate suffering is to let go of possessions, desires, ego, which is not always easy; that’s why so few people do it. That seems to be the essence of the Buddha’s faith.
What is the essence of other people’s faith? Do they worship God as fervently as they welcome the stranger, and vice versa?
What is the essence of other people’s faith? Do they believe in a God who forgives sins and do they therefore forgive the sins of others? Do they themselves also forgive their own sins?
What is the essence of other people’s faith? Do they ponder the present as much as they do the past?
I find it fascinating, seeing and knowing what others believe and whether and how they put it into practice. It’s like that great philosopher, Yogi Berra, once said, “You can observe a lot by watching.” What do you observe is the essence of other people’s faith? What is the essence of your own faith?
My thinking on this topic has evolved since I first started seriously pondering it. Not so long ago I would have dismissed what many people consider the essence of their faith. I’m not proud of that. I don’t do that anymore.
I remember one time in seminary; a group of students led one of our daily chapel services. Now our chapel services were pretty laid back, especially the student-led ones. Students wore jeans and sweatshirts, sneakers. But on this particular day, the students entered the chapel in fancy robes and hats, they carried candles and the Bible above their heads. It was quite elaborate. I said some smart-aleck remark to one of the professors after chapel. I said, “I’m not sure I was worthy enough to be at this service.” He said, “Yeah, pretty highfalutin wasn’t it?” Now, I look back on that worship service with fresh eyes and a reverential attitude. That kind of service was part of the essence of my classmates’ faith. Now, I understand and respect that.
Before, if people had told me that part of the essence of their faith was the stained glass windows in their church, I probably would have wondered: How could that be part of the essence of their faith? Now, I understand and respect that.
Before, if people had told me that part of the essence of their faith was coming to their house of worship just so they could hang out with friends, I probably would have wondered: How could that be part of the essence of their faith? Now, I understand and respect that.
Before, if people had told me that part of the essence of their faith was reciting a creed that was hundreds of years old and was now called by many scholars theologically out-of-date, I probably would have wondered: How could that be part of the essence of their faith? Now, I understand and respect that.
As a chaplain, especially as an interfaith chaplain, I understand that my role is not to decide for other people what is the essence of their faith or to pass judgment on what they have decided is the essence of their faith. My role is to help other people decide for themselves what is the essence of their faith. So, what’s the essence of your faith?
Sunday, April 4, 2010
You Are Resurrected Everyday
Daniel Roebuck is a character actor. You’d recognize him if you saw him. He was in movies like “The Fugitive” and “U.S. Marshals” (which was really the same movie). He’s been on “Matlock” dozens of times as Andy Griffith’s assistant. I heard him on the radio the other day. He says he idolizes Andy Griffith. He says a hundred years from now people will still be watching the old Andy Griffith show, because of its timeless wisdom and values.
I remember watching “The Andy Griffith Show” when I was a kid. I think I watched it because Barney Fife, Don Knotts, was so funny. And it did have timeless wisdom and values. It treated people with dignity and respect. How many times did Andy go out of his way to avoid embarrassing Barney or to make Barney feel good about himself? When you watch old shows like that, you just might find yourself yearning for what seemed like a better time in America.
If you wanted to, you could pretend that the last 50 years or so never happened. You can go on Amazon.com and buy the first season of “The Andy Griffith Show,” from 1960, for about 16 dollars. You can go online and for about 20,000 dollars, you can buy a 1964 Mustang, the first year they were built. And for only about 25 dollars, you can buy a Nehru jacket from the ‘60s. Then you could make-believe that you’re living a half-century ago or so.
Some people want things to never change. They hate change. They want the world to always stay the same, the way it was back in “the good old days.” They themselves want to stay the same and never change, too. Usually they’re pretty successful at it. They believe the same things they did 50 years ago. They have the same friends (and the same enemies). They’re like the guy who goes to his 25th high school reunion and is proud of the fact that he acts the same now as he did then. “A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life,” says Muhammad Ali, a Muslim.
I wonder if the nine Christian militia members in Michigan (all white), who were arrested the other day for allegedly plotting terrorism, just really hate change. I wonder if they yearn for “the good old days,” when Presidents of the United States of America were white and Speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives were men and immigrants weren’t illegal because they weren’t people of color.
I wonder if the Tea Party protesters feel pretty much the same way. (Is it a coincidence that they’re all white, too?) They say they hate the deficit, but they can’t really hate the deficit, because they were silent when it was ballooning during the Bush years. They say they hate socialized medicine, but they can’t really hate socialized medicine, because many of them seem to be old enough to be on Medicare – socialized medicine. Or do they just hate socialized medicine for everybody else? Or do they just hate change? (Especially change from a Republican president to a Democratic one.)
Today, Christians celebrate what they consider to be the biggest change ever. Christians believe that 2,000 years ago Jesus went from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, from death to life, from burial to resurrection. It’s a miracle. Christians believe it had never happened before and it hasn’t happened again since. Nobody else has ever gone from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. Nobody else has ever died and come back to life. Nobody else has ever been buried and then been resurrected. I’m not here to confirm or deny the claim that Jesus was resurrected. I’m just here to wonder if people aren’t resurrected all the time, at least metaphorically.
Saul was a Jew who hated the teachings of Jesus, even though Jesus was a fellow Jew. Saul didn’t like the emerging Christian movement, even before it was called the emerging Christian movement. We don’t know whether Saul was one of the people at Jesus’ inquisition yelling, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” I think you could make a logical case that he would have been there. We do know that Saul stood by and watched one of Jesus’ followers, Stephen, get stoned to death. So he was at least an accomplice in Stephen’s murder and martyrdom. The early Christians, people of the Way, saw Saul as an evil man, at least before he traveled on the road to Damascus.
You probably know this story. Saul is walking along, on his way to persecute more followers of Jesus, when all of a sudden he is blinded by a light! Then he hears a voice! It’s Jesus! “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Eventually Saul regains his sight and changes his ways and his name. He becomes a follower of Jesus known as the Apostle Paul. Some say he was the most significant Christian ever, planting many churches and converting many to Christianity.
What happened to Paul on the road to Damascus? I would like to suggest that he went from Good Friday to Easter Sunday; that he died and came back to life; that he was buried and then was resurrected. Could that kind of thing happen to you and me? Could we go from Good Friday to Easter Sunday? Could we die and come back to life? Could we be buried and then be resurrected?
Nelson Mandela was an anti-apartheid leader in South Africa. Although he was an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi, who was all about peaceful civil disobedience, Nelson Mandela fought against the white supremacist government of South Africa, sometimes with violence. The U.S. government called him a terrorist. He was arrested, tried and convicted of sabotage and treason. He spent 27 years in prison. He got out in 1990.
When he got out of prison, Nelson Mandela did not go back to violence. He led South Africa through a peaceful transition, from white rule to multiracial democracy, from violence to reconciliation. He became the first president of South Africa to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. He served from 1994 to 1999. In 1993 he won the Nobel Peace Prize.
What happened to Nelson Mandela over the years? I would like to suggest that he went from Good Friday to Easter Sunday; that he died and came back to life; that he was buried and then was resurrected. Could that kind of thing happen to you and me? Could we go from Good Friday to Easter Sunday? Could we die and come back to life? Could we be buried and then be resurrected?
“Amish Grace” is a movie that aired on the Lifetime channel this past week. It was excellent. It was about the mass murders-suicide that happened at an Amish school in Pennsylvania a few years ago. The world took notice of that tragedy, because immediately afterwards, the Amish parents of the children killed went to the widow of the murderer and offered forgiveness and support. The world was flabbergasted that a group of religious people actually practiced what they preached, or heard preached. The story focused on Ida, played by Kimberly Williams-Paisley, the mother of one of the victims. In the story, she was unwilling to forgive, at least for a while.
Then one of the survivors of the shootings told Ida that her daughter said to the gunman that she would pray for him, which she did, just before he killed her. Ida broke down. She then offered forgiveness and support to the murderer’s widow, figuring she had to follow her late daughter’s lead.
What happened to Ida over the course of the movie? I would like to suggest that she went from Good Friday to Easter Sunday; that she died and came back to life; that she was buried and then was resurrected. Could that kind of thing happen to you and me? Could we go from Good Friday to Easter Sunday? Could we die and come back to life? Could we be buried and then be resurrected?
They say you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. Perhaps in a similar way you can lead a human being to truth, but you can’t make him think. I think of religious people who say they believe that the universe is only 10,000 years old; even though scientists tell us it’s billions of years old. The religious people don’t want to go against the timetable they see in the Bible. I used to be concerned about those religious people, but I’m not concerned about them anymore. It dawned on me that hundreds of years ago religious people believed that the sun revolved around the earth. They saw that in the Bible. Then Copernicus came along and said that the earth revolves around the sun. Religious people back then said that idea went against the Bible, so they rejected it, at least for a while. (I like to imagine that on the behinds of their horses those religious people had “rumper” stickers that proclaimed, “The Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it.”) But I don’t know of any religious people today who still believe the sun revolves around the earth. So eventually the truth was accepted by everybody, just as I think it will be – eventually – with religious people who believe in a “young earth.”
A human being can change. A human being can be renewed. A human being can be reborn. A human being can be resurrected. Sometimes it’s altering your perspective. Sometimes it’s altering your attitude. Sometimes it’s altering your actions. If you believe you’re ignorant about something, you could go to sleep tonight determined to change and wake up tomorrow filled with a quest for truth. And after you’ve discovered truth, you could try to share it with others. If others don’t share your quest for truth, that’s okay. There’s nothing you can do about them. You can’t change them. You can only change you. And you have. You’ve changed. You’ve been renewed. You’ve been reborn. You’ve been resurrected. You’ve been resurrected from the dead; the dead state of ignorance, to a new life of truth.
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. But you can teach an old human being new tricks. And a human being can change. A human being can be renewed. A human being can be reborn. A human being can be resurrected. Sometimes it’s altering your perspective. Sometimes it’s altering your attitude. Sometimes it’s altering your actions. If you hate someone, you could go to sleep tonight determined to change and wake up tomorrow filled with love for that person. The next time you see that person, you could simply say to yourself, “I love that person.” Even if that person hates you; that’s okay. There’s nothing you can do about them. You can’t change them. You can only change you. And you have. You’ve changed. You’ve been renewed. You’ve been reborn. You’ve been resurrected. You’ve been resurrected from the dead; from the dead state of hate, to a new life of love.
They say a leopard can’t change its spots. But a human being can change. A human being can be renewed. A human being can be reborn. A human being can be resurrected. Sometimes it’s altering your perspective. Sometimes it’s altering your attitude. Sometimes it’s altering your actions. If you seek revenge against someone, you could go to sleep tonight determined to change and wake up tomorrow filled with forgiveness for that person. The next time you see that person, you could simply say, “Hello.” Perhaps that person will be taken aback. Perhaps that person will say, “Hello” back. Perhaps that person will ignore you completely. Or worse. There’s nothing you can do about them. You can’t change them. You can only change you. And you have. You’ve changed. You’ve been renewed. You’ve been reborn. You’ve been resurrected. You’ve been resurrected from the dead; from the dead state of revenge, to a new life of forgiveness.
When you go from ignorance to truth, when you go from hate to love, when you go from revenge to forgiveness, you’ve been renewed; you’ve been reborn; you’ve been resurrected. It’s a miracle. Happy Easter!
I remember watching “The Andy Griffith Show” when I was a kid. I think I watched it because Barney Fife, Don Knotts, was so funny. And it did have timeless wisdom and values. It treated people with dignity and respect. How many times did Andy go out of his way to avoid embarrassing Barney or to make Barney feel good about himself? When you watch old shows like that, you just might find yourself yearning for what seemed like a better time in America.
If you wanted to, you could pretend that the last 50 years or so never happened. You can go on Amazon.com and buy the first season of “The Andy Griffith Show,” from 1960, for about 16 dollars. You can go online and for about 20,000 dollars, you can buy a 1964 Mustang, the first year they were built. And for only about 25 dollars, you can buy a Nehru jacket from the ‘60s. Then you could make-believe that you’re living a half-century ago or so.
Some people want things to never change. They hate change. They want the world to always stay the same, the way it was back in “the good old days.” They themselves want to stay the same and never change, too. Usually they’re pretty successful at it. They believe the same things they did 50 years ago. They have the same friends (and the same enemies). They’re like the guy who goes to his 25th high school reunion and is proud of the fact that he acts the same now as he did then. “A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life,” says Muhammad Ali, a Muslim.
I wonder if the nine Christian militia members in Michigan (all white), who were arrested the other day for allegedly plotting terrorism, just really hate change. I wonder if they yearn for “the good old days,” when Presidents of the United States of America were white and Speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives were men and immigrants weren’t illegal because they weren’t people of color.
I wonder if the Tea Party protesters feel pretty much the same way. (Is it a coincidence that they’re all white, too?) They say they hate the deficit, but they can’t really hate the deficit, because they were silent when it was ballooning during the Bush years. They say they hate socialized medicine, but they can’t really hate socialized medicine, because many of them seem to be old enough to be on Medicare – socialized medicine. Or do they just hate socialized medicine for everybody else? Or do they just hate change? (Especially change from a Republican president to a Democratic one.)
Today, Christians celebrate what they consider to be the biggest change ever. Christians believe that 2,000 years ago Jesus went from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, from death to life, from burial to resurrection. It’s a miracle. Christians believe it had never happened before and it hasn’t happened again since. Nobody else has ever gone from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. Nobody else has ever died and come back to life. Nobody else has ever been buried and then been resurrected. I’m not here to confirm or deny the claim that Jesus was resurrected. I’m just here to wonder if people aren’t resurrected all the time, at least metaphorically.
Saul was a Jew who hated the teachings of Jesus, even though Jesus was a fellow Jew. Saul didn’t like the emerging Christian movement, even before it was called the emerging Christian movement. We don’t know whether Saul was one of the people at Jesus’ inquisition yelling, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” I think you could make a logical case that he would have been there. We do know that Saul stood by and watched one of Jesus’ followers, Stephen, get stoned to death. So he was at least an accomplice in Stephen’s murder and martyrdom. The early Christians, people of the Way, saw Saul as an evil man, at least before he traveled on the road to Damascus.
You probably know this story. Saul is walking along, on his way to persecute more followers of Jesus, when all of a sudden he is blinded by a light! Then he hears a voice! It’s Jesus! “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Eventually Saul regains his sight and changes his ways and his name. He becomes a follower of Jesus known as the Apostle Paul. Some say he was the most significant Christian ever, planting many churches and converting many to Christianity.
What happened to Paul on the road to Damascus? I would like to suggest that he went from Good Friday to Easter Sunday; that he died and came back to life; that he was buried and then was resurrected. Could that kind of thing happen to you and me? Could we go from Good Friday to Easter Sunday? Could we die and come back to life? Could we be buried and then be resurrected?
Nelson Mandela was an anti-apartheid leader in South Africa. Although he was an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi, who was all about peaceful civil disobedience, Nelson Mandela fought against the white supremacist government of South Africa, sometimes with violence. The U.S. government called him a terrorist. He was arrested, tried and convicted of sabotage and treason. He spent 27 years in prison. He got out in 1990.
When he got out of prison, Nelson Mandela did not go back to violence. He led South Africa through a peaceful transition, from white rule to multiracial democracy, from violence to reconciliation. He became the first president of South Africa to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. He served from 1994 to 1999. In 1993 he won the Nobel Peace Prize.
What happened to Nelson Mandela over the years? I would like to suggest that he went from Good Friday to Easter Sunday; that he died and came back to life; that he was buried and then was resurrected. Could that kind of thing happen to you and me? Could we go from Good Friday to Easter Sunday? Could we die and come back to life? Could we be buried and then be resurrected?
“Amish Grace” is a movie that aired on the Lifetime channel this past week. It was excellent. It was about the mass murders-suicide that happened at an Amish school in Pennsylvania a few years ago. The world took notice of that tragedy, because immediately afterwards, the Amish parents of the children killed went to the widow of the murderer and offered forgiveness and support. The world was flabbergasted that a group of religious people actually practiced what they preached, or heard preached. The story focused on Ida, played by Kimberly Williams-Paisley, the mother of one of the victims. In the story, she was unwilling to forgive, at least for a while.
Then one of the survivors of the shootings told Ida that her daughter said to the gunman that she would pray for him, which she did, just before he killed her. Ida broke down. She then offered forgiveness and support to the murderer’s widow, figuring she had to follow her late daughter’s lead.
What happened to Ida over the course of the movie? I would like to suggest that she went from Good Friday to Easter Sunday; that she died and came back to life; that she was buried and then was resurrected. Could that kind of thing happen to you and me? Could we go from Good Friday to Easter Sunday? Could we die and come back to life? Could we be buried and then be resurrected?
They say you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. Perhaps in a similar way you can lead a human being to truth, but you can’t make him think. I think of religious people who say they believe that the universe is only 10,000 years old; even though scientists tell us it’s billions of years old. The religious people don’t want to go against the timetable they see in the Bible. I used to be concerned about those religious people, but I’m not concerned about them anymore. It dawned on me that hundreds of years ago religious people believed that the sun revolved around the earth. They saw that in the Bible. Then Copernicus came along and said that the earth revolves around the sun. Religious people back then said that idea went against the Bible, so they rejected it, at least for a while. (I like to imagine that on the behinds of their horses those religious people had “rumper” stickers that proclaimed, “The Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it.”) But I don’t know of any religious people today who still believe the sun revolves around the earth. So eventually the truth was accepted by everybody, just as I think it will be – eventually – with religious people who believe in a “young earth.”
A human being can change. A human being can be renewed. A human being can be reborn. A human being can be resurrected. Sometimes it’s altering your perspective. Sometimes it’s altering your attitude. Sometimes it’s altering your actions. If you believe you’re ignorant about something, you could go to sleep tonight determined to change and wake up tomorrow filled with a quest for truth. And after you’ve discovered truth, you could try to share it with others. If others don’t share your quest for truth, that’s okay. There’s nothing you can do about them. You can’t change them. You can only change you. And you have. You’ve changed. You’ve been renewed. You’ve been reborn. You’ve been resurrected. You’ve been resurrected from the dead; the dead state of ignorance, to a new life of truth.
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. But you can teach an old human being new tricks. And a human being can change. A human being can be renewed. A human being can be reborn. A human being can be resurrected. Sometimes it’s altering your perspective. Sometimes it’s altering your attitude. Sometimes it’s altering your actions. If you hate someone, you could go to sleep tonight determined to change and wake up tomorrow filled with love for that person. The next time you see that person, you could simply say to yourself, “I love that person.” Even if that person hates you; that’s okay. There’s nothing you can do about them. You can’t change them. You can only change you. And you have. You’ve changed. You’ve been renewed. You’ve been reborn. You’ve been resurrected. You’ve been resurrected from the dead; from the dead state of hate, to a new life of love.
They say a leopard can’t change its spots. But a human being can change. A human being can be renewed. A human being can be reborn. A human being can be resurrected. Sometimes it’s altering your perspective. Sometimes it’s altering your attitude. Sometimes it’s altering your actions. If you seek revenge against someone, you could go to sleep tonight determined to change and wake up tomorrow filled with forgiveness for that person. The next time you see that person, you could simply say, “Hello.” Perhaps that person will be taken aback. Perhaps that person will say, “Hello” back. Perhaps that person will ignore you completely. Or worse. There’s nothing you can do about them. You can’t change them. You can only change you. And you have. You’ve changed. You’ve been renewed. You’ve been reborn. You’ve been resurrected. You’ve been resurrected from the dead; from the dead state of revenge, to a new life of forgiveness.
When you go from ignorance to truth, when you go from hate to love, when you go from revenge to forgiveness, you’ve been renewed; you’ve been reborn; you’ve been resurrected. It’s a miracle. Happy Easter!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Healthcare: Justice For More Than Just Us
I sometimes like to begin a Talk with a joke: Some flight of fancy; some whimsical bit of humor that someone has fashioned out of whole cloth. A fictional piece of prose that might make you laugh. Today though, the truth is funny enough.
Alanis Morissette sings a song in which she asks, “Isn’t it ironic?” Unfortunately, she uses as examples things that aren’t ironic at all. She sings, “It’s like rain on your wedding day.” “Isn’t it ironic?” No, it’s not. The only time rain on your wedding day would be ironic is if you were a TV meteorologist and you had forecast sunny skies on your wedding day and instead it rained - that would be ironic. If Alanis Morissette is searching for ironic stories to sing about, please allow me to suggest three possibilities.
As you probably know, Rush Limbaugh opposes a government healthcare plan. He said this past week that if Congress passes a government healthcare plan, he’ll move to Costa Rica. Rush Limbaugh has now given Democrats a huge incentive to pass a government healthcare plan. And come to find out, Costa Rica already has a government healthcare plan. Isn’t it ironic?
As you probably know, Glenn Beck opposes a government healthcare plan. He said last week that he opposes a government healthcare plan because he says any government-run program is socialism. Glenn Beck said he knows about socialism because he read about it in a book. He said he got the book from the public library, which is, of course, a government-run program. Isn’t it ironic?
As you probably know, Sarah Palin opposes a government healthcare plan. She said this past week that when she was a kid and her family needed healthcare, they would get free government healthcare. Sarah Palin’s family would get free government healthcare by crossing the border into Canada, which, of course, has a government healthcare plan. Isn’t it ironic?
There you go Alanis. Use any or all of those three stories and you can truly sing, “Isn’t it ironic?”
If you listen to my radio show (called “Faith and Reason,” Friday mornings from 10 till noon on WPRR – a little plug) you might find this hard to believe: I don’t like to talk about politics. Really. In fact, I never do talk about politics. Let me explain.
A parishioner said to me once that she doesn’t like to hear politics mixed with religion. I don’t blame her. Neither do I. And I don’t like to mix politics with religion. (I especially don’t like church politics, but that’s a whole nother story.) I just wish that that parishioner had lived 2,000 years ago. Then she could’ve told Jesus himself that she doesn’t like to hear politics mixed with religion. I wonder what Jesus would’ve said to her.
Maybe you remember that Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Now to me that sure sounds an awful lot like an anti-war, political statement. And Jesus said it in a sermon! I wonder if that parishioner would’ve said to Jesus 2,000 years ago: I don’t like to hear politics mixed with religion. I wonder what Jesus would have said to her.
Maybe you remember that Jesus said, in what’s called the Sermon on the Plain, “Blessed are you who are poor…but woe to you who are rich.” Now to me that sure sounds an awful lot like an anti-capitalist, maybe even a pro-communist political statement. And Jesus said it in a sermon! I wonder if that parishioner would’ve said to Jesus 2,000 years ago: I don’t like to hear politics mixed with religion. I wonder what Jesus would have said to her.
Maybe you remember that Jesus said, when asked about paying taxes, “Render therefore unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.” Now to me that sure sounds an awful lot like a pro-tax, pro-government political statement. I wonder if that parishioner would’ve said to Jesus 2,000 years ago: I don’t like to hear politics mixed with religion. I wonder what Jesus would have said to her.
I think Jesus would have said to her: I don’t talk about politics mixed with religion; I talk about justice. (And that’s what I say too on the radio: I never talk about politics mixed with religion; I talk about justice.)
Of course, the difficulty of me trying to talk about justice the way Jesus did is: I’m not Jesus. And I’m not one of the many prophets who’ve spoken about justice over the years, either.
I’m not the Hebrew prophet Amos, who said, “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” I’m not the Tibetan prophet The Dalai Lama, who said, “I believe in justice and truth, without which there would be no basis for human hope.” I’m not the American prophet Martin Luther King Jr., who said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Believe me, I know I can’t talk about justice the way they can. So what should I do?
Naturally, if I wanted to avoid talking about justice, I could just talk about what happened 2,000 years ago; what the religious leaders and the government rulers did and said back then. Some clergy have made a career of doing that.
Naturally, if I wanted to avoid talking about justice, I could just talk about how God wants you to be rich: drive a bigger car, steer a bigger boat, own a bigger house. Some clergy have made a career of doing that.
Naturally, if I wanted to avoid talking about justice, I could talk about nothing at all; speak soothing sounds of sanctimonious swill to people who like to check their brains at the door, along with their coats. Some clergy have made a career of doing that.
But: I don’t think you came here today to hear me give you an irrelevant history lesson, I don’t think you came here today to hear me tell you how to fatten your wallet, I don’t think you came here today to hear me say some sweet-sounding sentences signifying nothing. I hope you came here today to hear about justice.
Some of the words I’m about to say may be difficult for some people to hear. I’m thinking of people who believe America is the greatest country on earth. I’m thinking of people who believe America can do no wrong. I’m thinking of people who believe America has the best healthcare system in the world.
A study conducted by Harvard Medical School and the Cambridge Health Alliance and published late last year by the American Journal of Public Health found that nearly 45,000 people die annually in America for lack of health insurance. You’ve probably heard about this. 45,000 Americans die each year because they don’t have health insurance and they can’t afford to go to the doctor or they can’t afford the medications that will keep them alive or both. 45,000. Americans. Dead.
Where’s the outrage? Where’s the outrage from Right To Life? Where’s the outrage from Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak? Where’s the outrage from the tea-baggers? We’re not talking about some abstract numbers in a budget. We’re talking about 45,000 Americans who die each year because they don’t have health insurance.
America does have the best healthcare system in the world, but it’s the best healthcare system - money can buy. And if Americans can’t afford to buy into it, the attitude of many lobbyist-loving lawmakers in Washington is: too bad. Too bad.
Thank God that apparently most House and Senate members support the healthcare bill making it’s way through Congress. Hopefully it will be signed into law by President Obama in a few weeks. It’s not perfect. Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio opposes it because it’s not a single-payer, Medicare for all bill. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont also wishes it were a single-payer, Medicare for all bill, but supports it because it will mean 30 million Americans who don’t have health insurance now will have it under this bill.
I hope people like Dennis Kucinich – whom I admire – won’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We saw that in 2000, when Ralph Nader said there was no difference between Al Gore and George W. Bush. Really? Do you think he still believes that, one war of choice and tens of thousands of deaths later? I hope people like Dennis Kucinich learn from Ralph Nader; for the sake of those 30 million people without health insurance. And I hope people like Dennis Kucinich remember those 45,000 Americans who die every year for lack of health insurance.
I sometimes like to conclude my Talks with a moving piece of poetry or the touching lyrics of a song. Today, I’m going to end with a television commercial. (Please forgive me.)
I saw an interesting ad the other day. The sad thing is, the ad has been running for about four years - and I just now saw it? Oy! Anyway, the ad shows one person helping someone and somebody else notices that and then later that person helps someone and somebody else notices that and then later that person helps someone and so on and so on and so on. Maybe you’ve seen the ad. The tag line is: “When it’s people who do the right thing, they call it being responsible. When it’s an insurance company, they call it Liberty Mutual. Responsibility. What’s your policy?” It’s a delightful ad. Liberty Mutual received many emails supporting it. Their business increased dramatically. The company has started The Responsibility Project, continuing to encourage people to be responsible. I think it raises some interesting questions about responsibility regarding healthcare and justice.
If we ourselves already have health insurance, do we have a responsibility to make sure other people have health insurance too? If so, how do we go about doing that? If House and Senate members themselves already have health insurance (and they do have really good health insurance), do they have a responsibility to make sure other people have health insurance too? If our House and Senate members vote against making sure other people have health insurance, do we have a responsibility to vote against them and for their opponent in the next election?
I find it fascinating that countries where they say Christian churches are relatively empty on Sunday, like England and France, respond to people’s healthcare needs in the most Christ-like way, by caring for the sick, as Jesus said to; while America, which some people claim is a Christian nation, responds in the least Christ-like way, by telling the sick and the poor they’re on their own – something Jesus never said to sick and poor people. (Oh, and by the way, Liberty Mutual is an insurance company, but it’s not a health insurance company: too bad. Too bad.)
Alanis Morissette sings a song in which she asks, “Isn’t it ironic?” Unfortunately, she uses as examples things that aren’t ironic at all. She sings, “It’s like rain on your wedding day.” “Isn’t it ironic?” No, it’s not. The only time rain on your wedding day would be ironic is if you were a TV meteorologist and you had forecast sunny skies on your wedding day and instead it rained - that would be ironic. If Alanis Morissette is searching for ironic stories to sing about, please allow me to suggest three possibilities.
As you probably know, Rush Limbaugh opposes a government healthcare plan. He said this past week that if Congress passes a government healthcare plan, he’ll move to Costa Rica. Rush Limbaugh has now given Democrats a huge incentive to pass a government healthcare plan. And come to find out, Costa Rica already has a government healthcare plan. Isn’t it ironic?
As you probably know, Glenn Beck opposes a government healthcare plan. He said last week that he opposes a government healthcare plan because he says any government-run program is socialism. Glenn Beck said he knows about socialism because he read about it in a book. He said he got the book from the public library, which is, of course, a government-run program. Isn’t it ironic?
As you probably know, Sarah Palin opposes a government healthcare plan. She said this past week that when she was a kid and her family needed healthcare, they would get free government healthcare. Sarah Palin’s family would get free government healthcare by crossing the border into Canada, which, of course, has a government healthcare plan. Isn’t it ironic?
There you go Alanis. Use any or all of those three stories and you can truly sing, “Isn’t it ironic?”
If you listen to my radio show (called “Faith and Reason,” Friday mornings from 10 till noon on WPRR – a little plug) you might find this hard to believe: I don’t like to talk about politics. Really. In fact, I never do talk about politics. Let me explain.
A parishioner said to me once that she doesn’t like to hear politics mixed with religion. I don’t blame her. Neither do I. And I don’t like to mix politics with religion. (I especially don’t like church politics, but that’s a whole nother story.) I just wish that that parishioner had lived 2,000 years ago. Then she could’ve told Jesus himself that she doesn’t like to hear politics mixed with religion. I wonder what Jesus would’ve said to her.
Maybe you remember that Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Now to me that sure sounds an awful lot like an anti-war, political statement. And Jesus said it in a sermon! I wonder if that parishioner would’ve said to Jesus 2,000 years ago: I don’t like to hear politics mixed with religion. I wonder what Jesus would have said to her.
Maybe you remember that Jesus said, in what’s called the Sermon on the Plain, “Blessed are you who are poor…but woe to you who are rich.” Now to me that sure sounds an awful lot like an anti-capitalist, maybe even a pro-communist political statement. And Jesus said it in a sermon! I wonder if that parishioner would’ve said to Jesus 2,000 years ago: I don’t like to hear politics mixed with religion. I wonder what Jesus would have said to her.
Maybe you remember that Jesus said, when asked about paying taxes, “Render therefore unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.” Now to me that sure sounds an awful lot like a pro-tax, pro-government political statement. I wonder if that parishioner would’ve said to Jesus 2,000 years ago: I don’t like to hear politics mixed with religion. I wonder what Jesus would have said to her.
I think Jesus would have said to her: I don’t talk about politics mixed with religion; I talk about justice. (And that’s what I say too on the radio: I never talk about politics mixed with religion; I talk about justice.)
Of course, the difficulty of me trying to talk about justice the way Jesus did is: I’m not Jesus. And I’m not one of the many prophets who’ve spoken about justice over the years, either.
I’m not the Hebrew prophet Amos, who said, “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” I’m not the Tibetan prophet The Dalai Lama, who said, “I believe in justice and truth, without which there would be no basis for human hope.” I’m not the American prophet Martin Luther King Jr., who said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Believe me, I know I can’t talk about justice the way they can. So what should I do?
Naturally, if I wanted to avoid talking about justice, I could just talk about what happened 2,000 years ago; what the religious leaders and the government rulers did and said back then. Some clergy have made a career of doing that.
Naturally, if I wanted to avoid talking about justice, I could just talk about how God wants you to be rich: drive a bigger car, steer a bigger boat, own a bigger house. Some clergy have made a career of doing that.
Naturally, if I wanted to avoid talking about justice, I could talk about nothing at all; speak soothing sounds of sanctimonious swill to people who like to check their brains at the door, along with their coats. Some clergy have made a career of doing that.
But: I don’t think you came here today to hear me give you an irrelevant history lesson, I don’t think you came here today to hear me tell you how to fatten your wallet, I don’t think you came here today to hear me say some sweet-sounding sentences signifying nothing. I hope you came here today to hear about justice.
Some of the words I’m about to say may be difficult for some people to hear. I’m thinking of people who believe America is the greatest country on earth. I’m thinking of people who believe America can do no wrong. I’m thinking of people who believe America has the best healthcare system in the world.
A study conducted by Harvard Medical School and the Cambridge Health Alliance and published late last year by the American Journal of Public Health found that nearly 45,000 people die annually in America for lack of health insurance. You’ve probably heard about this. 45,000 Americans die each year because they don’t have health insurance and they can’t afford to go to the doctor or they can’t afford the medications that will keep them alive or both. 45,000. Americans. Dead.
Where’s the outrage? Where’s the outrage from Right To Life? Where’s the outrage from Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak? Where’s the outrage from the tea-baggers? We’re not talking about some abstract numbers in a budget. We’re talking about 45,000 Americans who die each year because they don’t have health insurance.
America does have the best healthcare system in the world, but it’s the best healthcare system - money can buy. And if Americans can’t afford to buy into it, the attitude of many lobbyist-loving lawmakers in Washington is: too bad. Too bad.
Thank God that apparently most House and Senate members support the healthcare bill making it’s way through Congress. Hopefully it will be signed into law by President Obama in a few weeks. It’s not perfect. Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio opposes it because it’s not a single-payer, Medicare for all bill. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont also wishes it were a single-payer, Medicare for all bill, but supports it because it will mean 30 million Americans who don’t have health insurance now will have it under this bill.
I hope people like Dennis Kucinich – whom I admire – won’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We saw that in 2000, when Ralph Nader said there was no difference between Al Gore and George W. Bush. Really? Do you think he still believes that, one war of choice and tens of thousands of deaths later? I hope people like Dennis Kucinich learn from Ralph Nader; for the sake of those 30 million people without health insurance. And I hope people like Dennis Kucinich remember those 45,000 Americans who die every year for lack of health insurance.
I sometimes like to conclude my Talks with a moving piece of poetry or the touching lyrics of a song. Today, I’m going to end with a television commercial. (Please forgive me.)
I saw an interesting ad the other day. The sad thing is, the ad has been running for about four years - and I just now saw it? Oy! Anyway, the ad shows one person helping someone and somebody else notices that and then later that person helps someone and somebody else notices that and then later that person helps someone and so on and so on and so on. Maybe you’ve seen the ad. The tag line is: “When it’s people who do the right thing, they call it being responsible. When it’s an insurance company, they call it Liberty Mutual. Responsibility. What’s your policy?” It’s a delightful ad. Liberty Mutual received many emails supporting it. Their business increased dramatically. The company has started The Responsibility Project, continuing to encourage people to be responsible. I think it raises some interesting questions about responsibility regarding healthcare and justice.
If we ourselves already have health insurance, do we have a responsibility to make sure other people have health insurance too? If so, how do we go about doing that? If House and Senate members themselves already have health insurance (and they do have really good health insurance), do they have a responsibility to make sure other people have health insurance too? If our House and Senate members vote against making sure other people have health insurance, do we have a responsibility to vote against them and for their opponent in the next election?
I find it fascinating that countries where they say Christian churches are relatively empty on Sunday, like England and France, respond to people’s healthcare needs in the most Christ-like way, by caring for the sick, as Jesus said to; while America, which some people claim is a Christian nation, responds in the least Christ-like way, by telling the sick and the poor they’re on their own – something Jesus never said to sick and poor people. (Oh, and by the way, Liberty Mutual is an insurance company, but it’s not a health insurance company: too bad. Too bad.)
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Don't Worry, Be Happy...In Holland?
Last Sunday I gave a talk at a church in Grand Rapids. My wife was in the congregation. She told me later that she was trying to get my attention. She was smiling at me, in hopes of getting me to smile. I guess I wasn’t smiling enough. I told her I wasn’t thinking about smiling, I was thinking about what I was saying. But she has a point: I should smile more when I speak. (:-)
You’d think I would smile more, because I’ve lived in Holland now for a year and a half and Holland is said to be the second happiest city in America. You’ve no doubt heard about this. Holland was just behind Boulder, Colorado and just ahead of Honolulu, Hawaii in a Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. They scored each city on health and well-being, what they called happiness. The results are based on more than 350,000 telephone surveys across the country. I mean no disrespect, but I know several people who got a chuckle out of Holland being a happier place than Honolulu. Holland? A happier place than Honolulu? Huh?
After the story about Holland came out, I saw a bumper sticker on a car outside an area restaurant. It said, “I wish Hillary Clinton had married O.J.” Yikes! Well, that’s not a very a happy thought. Hopefully, that’s not a true reflection of Holland.
I Googled “Holland Happy” the other day and it came back, inviting me to “Holland Happy Hour” in May. I’m thinking: During Tulip Time? Really? “Enjoy drinks and food with us,” the website said. In Holland? Then I noticed it was talking about Holland the country. Of course, in Holland, Michigan within the last year or so voters did approve the sale of beer and wine on Sundays. Hey, I’ll bet that made many people happy.
Perhaps some people were surprised that Holland is considered a happy place, because of the history of Dutch immigrants coming to America, to places like Holland. Many people came to America from Europe a couple hundred years ago, to escape religious restrictions, seeking spiritual freedom. In contrast, many Dutch people came to America from Europe a couple hundred years ago, for just the opposite reason: they were escaping spiritual freedom, seeking religious restrictions. Now that may be a little exaggerated, but not much. Europe was too religiously loosey goosey for them, and too liberal in other ways also. (Politically. Sexually.)
You’ve probably heard the old story about Holland from many years ago. A Catholic guy moves to town. One Sunday afternoon, the Catholic guy is out mowing his lawn. His Dutch Reformed neighbor comes over and asks him not to do that because, “We don’t work on Sunday.” The Catholic guy says, “Gee, I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” He stops mowing his lawn. That Friday, the Dutch Reformed guy is out grilling hamburgers. His Catholic neighbor comes over and asks him not to do that because, “We don’t eat meat on Friday.” Religious wars have probably been started over less. I would suggest that story describes how Holland used to be, not how it is today (although my wife doesn’t want me to mow our lawn on Sunday; she’s afraid our neighbors won’t like it).
I was listening to NPR the other day. The Diane Rehm show. I caught it in the middle. A professor was talking about the choices we make. She said people choose Coca-Cola because it makes them happy. Scientists have proven this. They’ve hooked people up to MRI machines and found that Coke causes the happy part of people’s brains to light up. She said it’s due to marketing. Maybe you remember the happy ad from years ago, where people are singing on a hillside, “I’d like to buy the world a Coke.” Many, many years ago, Coke had an ad campaign that portrayed Santa Claus the way many of us think of old St. Nick today, as a jolly old fat man in a red suit, the same color red as a can of Coke. What makes you happy? Coke? What do we mean by happiness? Is it walking around all day with a goofy grin on our face?
Many years ago, people got a kick out of the Bobby McFerrin song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Bobby McFerrin sang, “Here’s a little song I wrote, you might want to sing it note for note, don’t worry, be happy. In every life we have some trouble, but when you worry you make it double. Don’t worry, be happy. Don’t worry, be happy now.” How do we go about not worrying and being happy?
Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence. “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” What Jefferson meant by “Happiness,” what philosophers mean by happiness, isn’t what many of us mean by happiness. It isn’t about walking around in a state of bliss. It’s about a life well lived. But what’s a life well lived?
Buddhism teaches that we all want to avoid suffering and we all want to achieve happiness. I think what Buddhism is talking about, avoiding suffering and achieving happiness, is getting to the point of having peace of mind, the peace that passes understanding, inner peace. In other words, don’t get bogged down in petty problems.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, a Unitarian, said, “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” I think Ralph Waldo Emerson is talking about having peace of mind, the peace that passes understanding, inner peace.
In the Christian New Testament, in Philippians, we read, “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” It seems to me if we, “think about these things” – whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, any excellence, anything worthy of praise - we’ll be on our way to having peace of mind, the peace that passes understanding, inner peace. In a word, happiness.
I have to admit, I never in a million years thought I’d live in Holland. I thought of Holland as a small town, suspended in time, in about 1950. But what I’ve come to know about Holland in a year-and-a-half of living here, is that Holland is a small town, sure, but one that is alive with activity, with many friendly people, who care about others, including the less fortunate. A serene, peaceful place. One might even call it happy.
If you’re wondering what you can do in Holland to be happy, and maybe even achieve inner peace, might I make a few suggestions? How about a trip to the Holland Area Arts Council, the Holland Museum or Holland’s soon-to-be-open African American Museum? (Yes, Holland is going to have an African American museum.) For outdoor lovers, how about walking on the beach, seeing a sunset over Lake Michigan or enjoying one of the city’s many parks? For food lovers, how about a hash brown omelet at the Windmill Restaurant, an ice cream cone at Kilwin’s or a pizza with everything but (anchovies) at Fricano’s? (For those who are seeking inner peace and inner pizza.)
When the story about Holland being a happy place came out, ABC News arrived in town, with a great deal of skepticism. Basically, they couldn’t believe that people in Holland are happy. They talked about the city's double-digit unemployment rate. They showed somebody stumbling in a snowstorm. But the ABC news story said that there are more than 170 churches here and that many people in Holland care a great deal about their loved ones. They concluded that maybe those two things, faith and family, make Holland a happy place to live. And those are the kinds of things – faith and family - that make even a serious-looking minister smile. (;-)
You’d think I would smile more, because I’ve lived in Holland now for a year and a half and Holland is said to be the second happiest city in America. You’ve no doubt heard about this. Holland was just behind Boulder, Colorado and just ahead of Honolulu, Hawaii in a Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. They scored each city on health and well-being, what they called happiness. The results are based on more than 350,000 telephone surveys across the country. I mean no disrespect, but I know several people who got a chuckle out of Holland being a happier place than Honolulu. Holland? A happier place than Honolulu? Huh?
After the story about Holland came out, I saw a bumper sticker on a car outside an area restaurant. It said, “I wish Hillary Clinton had married O.J.” Yikes! Well, that’s not a very a happy thought. Hopefully, that’s not a true reflection of Holland.
I Googled “Holland Happy” the other day and it came back, inviting me to “Holland Happy Hour” in May. I’m thinking: During Tulip Time? Really? “Enjoy drinks and food with us,” the website said. In Holland? Then I noticed it was talking about Holland the country. Of course, in Holland, Michigan within the last year or so voters did approve the sale of beer and wine on Sundays. Hey, I’ll bet that made many people happy.
Perhaps some people were surprised that Holland is considered a happy place, because of the history of Dutch immigrants coming to America, to places like Holland. Many people came to America from Europe a couple hundred years ago, to escape religious restrictions, seeking spiritual freedom. In contrast, many Dutch people came to America from Europe a couple hundred years ago, for just the opposite reason: they were escaping spiritual freedom, seeking religious restrictions. Now that may be a little exaggerated, but not much. Europe was too religiously loosey goosey for them, and too liberal in other ways also. (Politically. Sexually.)
You’ve probably heard the old story about Holland from many years ago. A Catholic guy moves to town. One Sunday afternoon, the Catholic guy is out mowing his lawn. His Dutch Reformed neighbor comes over and asks him not to do that because, “We don’t work on Sunday.” The Catholic guy says, “Gee, I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” He stops mowing his lawn. That Friday, the Dutch Reformed guy is out grilling hamburgers. His Catholic neighbor comes over and asks him not to do that because, “We don’t eat meat on Friday.” Religious wars have probably been started over less. I would suggest that story describes how Holland used to be, not how it is today (although my wife doesn’t want me to mow our lawn on Sunday; she’s afraid our neighbors won’t like it).
I was listening to NPR the other day. The Diane Rehm show. I caught it in the middle. A professor was talking about the choices we make. She said people choose Coca-Cola because it makes them happy. Scientists have proven this. They’ve hooked people up to MRI machines and found that Coke causes the happy part of people’s brains to light up. She said it’s due to marketing. Maybe you remember the happy ad from years ago, where people are singing on a hillside, “I’d like to buy the world a Coke.” Many, many years ago, Coke had an ad campaign that portrayed Santa Claus the way many of us think of old St. Nick today, as a jolly old fat man in a red suit, the same color red as a can of Coke. What makes you happy? Coke? What do we mean by happiness? Is it walking around all day with a goofy grin on our face?
Many years ago, people got a kick out of the Bobby McFerrin song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Bobby McFerrin sang, “Here’s a little song I wrote, you might want to sing it note for note, don’t worry, be happy. In every life we have some trouble, but when you worry you make it double. Don’t worry, be happy. Don’t worry, be happy now.” How do we go about not worrying and being happy?
Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence. “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” What Jefferson meant by “Happiness,” what philosophers mean by happiness, isn’t what many of us mean by happiness. It isn’t about walking around in a state of bliss. It’s about a life well lived. But what’s a life well lived?
Buddhism teaches that we all want to avoid suffering and we all want to achieve happiness. I think what Buddhism is talking about, avoiding suffering and achieving happiness, is getting to the point of having peace of mind, the peace that passes understanding, inner peace. In other words, don’t get bogged down in petty problems.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, a Unitarian, said, “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” I think Ralph Waldo Emerson is talking about having peace of mind, the peace that passes understanding, inner peace.
In the Christian New Testament, in Philippians, we read, “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” It seems to me if we, “think about these things” – whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, any excellence, anything worthy of praise - we’ll be on our way to having peace of mind, the peace that passes understanding, inner peace. In a word, happiness.
I have to admit, I never in a million years thought I’d live in Holland. I thought of Holland as a small town, suspended in time, in about 1950. But what I’ve come to know about Holland in a year-and-a-half of living here, is that Holland is a small town, sure, but one that is alive with activity, with many friendly people, who care about others, including the less fortunate. A serene, peaceful place. One might even call it happy.
If you’re wondering what you can do in Holland to be happy, and maybe even achieve inner peace, might I make a few suggestions? How about a trip to the Holland Area Arts Council, the Holland Museum or Holland’s soon-to-be-open African American Museum? (Yes, Holland is going to have an African American museum.) For outdoor lovers, how about walking on the beach, seeing a sunset over Lake Michigan or enjoying one of the city’s many parks? For food lovers, how about a hash brown omelet at the Windmill Restaurant, an ice cream cone at Kilwin’s or a pizza with everything but (anchovies) at Fricano’s? (For those who are seeking inner peace and inner pizza.)
When the story about Holland being a happy place came out, ABC News arrived in town, with a great deal of skepticism. Basically, they couldn’t believe that people in Holland are happy. They talked about the city's double-digit unemployment rate. They showed somebody stumbling in a snowstorm. But the ABC news story said that there are more than 170 churches here and that many people in Holland care a great deal about their loved ones. They concluded that maybe those two things, faith and family, make Holland a happy place to live. And those are the kinds of things – faith and family - that make even a serious-looking minister smile. (;-)
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Live Your Life Fully Alive
[Delivered at Unity Church of Practical Christianity in Grand Rapids.]
Before I begin I want to thank Marty Lovse for asking me to speak here today. And I especially want to thank you all for showing up (and not sleeping in). I have an affinity for Unity churches. My theology and yours is pretty much the same, I think. We like a lot of the same people. Jesus, of course. And also Marianne Williamson, Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Neal Donald Walsch, Eckhart Tolle. So I’m honored to speak to you today.
I heard a guest minister preach one time. Before she began she told the congregation: Let us agree on one thing, when I am through speaking today, you will not applaud. What? I thought: Well that’s kind of presumptuous, isn’t it? I would like to change what she said just slightly. Let us agree on one thing, when I am through speaking today, you will not boo (you know, unless you absolutely have to).
I’ve never preached a sermon at the suggestion of a parishioner. Not because I don’t value and listen to what parishioners want me to say, but because no one has ever asked me to preach a sermon on a particular topic. Until recently. I concluded a sermon a couple months ago basically by quoting St. Irenaeus, who said that “the glory of God is a human being fully alive.” I said that you are to live your life fully alive. That was pretty much the end of the sermon. Then afterwards a couple of people said, “What do you mean: live your life fully alive? Why don’t you preach a sermon about that?” OK. So, that’s what this is today. I think there are seven steps to take to live your life fully alive. Awareness. Gratitude. Truth. Compassion. Justice. Joy. Peace. Let me explain.
When I was seven years old or so, I remember being in my front yard all by myself, but then all of a sudden not feeling alone. I looked around, but there was nobody or nothing that I could see; just me and our tree in our front yard. What was that I felt? Was it the presence of God? Was it the presence of Jesus? Was it the presence of the Holy Spirit? I don’t know. Maybe it was that for the first time in my life I was conscious – I was aware of my self, of being a part of creation. I think the first step to take to live your life fully alive is to seek awareness. We can seek awareness in many different ways. The easiest way I’ve heard of to seek awareness is to simply breathe. When people say, “Take a breath,” I think what they mean is: be conscious, be aware of who you are and what you’re saying and what you’re doing. Simply breathe. Another way they say to seek awareness is to meditate. I try to meditate everyday. I don’t always do it, but I try, usually just to clear my mind of all thoughts and just be. Another way they say to seek awareness is to exercise or go for a walk in nature. I try to do that everyday. I don’t always make it, but I try. I don’t think you can live you’re your life fully alive without taking the first step: seek awareness.
Meister Eckhardt, a 13th century Christian mystic, said, “If the only prayer you ever say is ‘Thank you,’ that is enough.” I think the second step to take to live your life fully alive is to express gratitude. I think it goes hand in hand with being aware. Once you’re aware, of yourself and the world, you’ll want to express gratitude – for life, for creation. Now I know there are people who like to think they’re a “self-made man” or a “self-made woman,” that everything that they have, they got from their own effort. But we didn’t create ourselves. We didn’t create the ground we walk on. We didn’t create the air that we breathe. We at least should express gratitude for those. To God, to the universe, to whatever your belief system tells you. I don’t think you can live your life fully alive without taking the second step: express gratitude.
Gandhi is one of my spiritual heroes. Gandhi says, “God is truth.” I think the third step to take to live your life fully alive is to pursue truth. Now I realize that there are some religious people, many Christians unfortunately, who are afraid of the truth. They’re afraid of what the truth will do to their belief system. They don’t want to see the truth in evolution because they’re afraid that that means they’re calling God or the Bible a liar in the story of creation. They can’t wrap their minds around the possibility that God created evolution. It’s like the Jack Nicholson character says in “A Few Good Men,” “You can’t handle the truth.” They can’t handle the truth, so they pretend that the world is 10,000 years old, rather than billions of years old, which scientists say it is. I don’t think that you can live your life fully alive without taking the third step: pursue truth.
The Dalai Lama says, “Love and compassion are not luxuries, they are necessities. Without them humankind cannot survive.” I think the fourth step to take to live your life fully alive is to act compassionately. Love and compassion are synonymous, at least the way I use them and the way the Dalai Lama uses them. Compassion, unconditional love, is the feeling we have for our loved ones, and it’s also the feeling some people have for complete strangers. That’s why they feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the naked. We all ought to feel that way. I don’t think you can live your life fully alive without taking the fourth step: act compassionately.
The Hebrew prophet Amos said, “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” I think the fifth step to take to live your life fully alive is to do justice. When we act compassionately, we help the poor. When we do justice, we try to eliminate poverty. Archbishop Dom Helder Camarra of Brazil said once, “When I fed the poor, they called me a saint. When I asked, ‘Why are there poor?’ they called me a communist.” It’s asking, “Why are there poor?” that justice demands. It’s picketing for peace in the world. It’s demanding healthcare for the 30 or 40 million Americans who don’t have it. I don’t think you can live your life fully alive without taking the fifth step: do justice.
One of my favorite Christmas carols is, “Joy To The World.” “Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her King.” Ironically, one of my favorite songs is also entitled, “Joy To The World,” by Three Dog Night. “Joy to the world, all the boys and girls now, joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, joy to you and me.” I think the sixth step to take to live your life fully alive is to experience joy. Whatever it is that brings you joy - being with loved ones, playing cards with friends, climbing Mount Everest - do that. If your job doesn’t bring you joy, find a job that does. Or, if that’s not possible, find some creative endeavor – painting, sculpting, writing – that does bring you joy. I don’t think you can live your life fully alive without taking the sixth step: experience joy.
One of my favorite verses in the Christian New Testament is found in Luke chapter 2, verse 14. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward all.” I think the seventh and final step to take to live your life fully alive is to achieve peace. The peace I’m talking about here is inner peace, the peace that passes understanding, at least as much as we can achieve that kind of peace this side of the rainbow. And I think that we achieve peace when we achieve those other six steps - seek awareness, express gratitude, pursue truth, act compassionately, do justice and experience joy – I think that’s when we can achieve peace, at least as much as is humanly possible. I don’t think you can live your life fully alive without taking the seventh step: achieve peace.
Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” I think Jesus was all about teaching people to: live your life fully alive. He liked a good party. He liked to eat and drink with friends, so much so that they called him a “glutton and a drunkard.” I don’t think he was a glutton and a drunkard, I just think he liked a good wedding reception. He liked a good glass of wine every now and then. Now I know there are people who can’t drink a glass of wine because they’re alcoholics or can’t eat what they’d like because of cholesterol or they refuse some food or drink for spiritual reasons. That’s fine. But I hope that people who can eat and drink, do so. I think to live your life fully alive is to make the most of life whenever you can: eat, drink and be merry – in moderation.
Baha’u’llah, who founded the Baha’i faith, says that, “we should live in the rose garden of the spirit.” I hope that I’ve made it clear (if I haven’t, let me do so now) that when I say: live your life fully alive, I’m talking about life in the spirit; that we are more spiritual beings with bodies than we are bodily beings with spirits. By spiritual (and I don’t always like that word, because it’s so nebulous) but by spiritual I mean whatever it is you do to: live your life fully alive, living out of your whole brain, your left brain and your right brain, your intellectual side and your emotional side, thinking and feeling at the same time. That’s how I think you live your life fully alive.
Who would you say lives their life fully alive? At the risk of stating the obvious, I think that one person who lives their life fully alive is…OPRAH WINFREY! Not because she’s worth a billion dollars or more. Not because she has a talk show every day. Not because she publishes a monthly magazine. Not because she’s produced plays and movies and won an Academy Award for the first movie she ever acted in. I think she lives her life fully alive because she seems to me to be spiritually grounded. I think she is full of the spirit and that helps her to live her life fully alive. I think that’s how she can do all the things she does. So I think Oprah Winfrey would be a person who shows how to: live your life fully alive.
I was reading a story a week or two ago about a popular African American Gospel singer: Tone’x (toe-nay) I think is how you pronounce it. He’s 34 years old. He was married for four years. He had all kinds of singing engagements lined up at churches and religious conventions. Then, I think to live his life fully alive, to live in truth, he came out of the closet. He admitted, in so many words, that he’s gay. Immediately, all his singing engagements, at churches and religious conventions, cancelled. Not everyone wants everybody else to live their life fully alive. Some people want other people to live their life in the closet, to live a lie, to live their life half-dead. But that’s no way to live. Tone’x, the gospel singer, finally realized that. I hope you realize that too. To live your life fully alive you have to be who you truly are.
I was listening to the radio recently and I came across Dave Ramsey, the financial guru. He tells people to live life debt-free. He tells people to “Live like no one else so that some day you can live like no one else.” He was addressing people’s fear about the future of the economy. He says, “I’m not afraid of the future. My house is paid for, my car is paid for, I have some money in the bank (I suspect he has millions in the bank.), so I’m not afraid and I don’t think we should live in fear. We should live in abundance.” He said, “Wouldn’t it be great to go out to dinner and leave the waitress a $100 tip? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to go to coffee and put a $50 bill under your coffee cup for the waitress?” (I imagine that every waitress in the country listens to Dave Ramsey.) Dave Ramsey is talking about how to live your life fully alive, which I think we’re meant to do. I think we can do that - by seeking awareness, expressing gratitude, pursuing truth, acting compassionately, doing justice, experiencing joy and achieving peace. If you do all that, I think you will: live your life fully alive.
Before I begin I want to thank Marty Lovse for asking me to speak here today. And I especially want to thank you all for showing up (and not sleeping in). I have an affinity for Unity churches. My theology and yours is pretty much the same, I think. We like a lot of the same people. Jesus, of course. And also Marianne Williamson, Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Neal Donald Walsch, Eckhart Tolle. So I’m honored to speak to you today.
I heard a guest minister preach one time. Before she began she told the congregation: Let us agree on one thing, when I am through speaking today, you will not applaud. What? I thought: Well that’s kind of presumptuous, isn’t it? I would like to change what she said just slightly. Let us agree on one thing, when I am through speaking today, you will not boo (you know, unless you absolutely have to).
I’ve never preached a sermon at the suggestion of a parishioner. Not because I don’t value and listen to what parishioners want me to say, but because no one has ever asked me to preach a sermon on a particular topic. Until recently. I concluded a sermon a couple months ago basically by quoting St. Irenaeus, who said that “the glory of God is a human being fully alive.” I said that you are to live your life fully alive. That was pretty much the end of the sermon. Then afterwards a couple of people said, “What do you mean: live your life fully alive? Why don’t you preach a sermon about that?” OK. So, that’s what this is today. I think there are seven steps to take to live your life fully alive. Awareness. Gratitude. Truth. Compassion. Justice. Joy. Peace. Let me explain.
When I was seven years old or so, I remember being in my front yard all by myself, but then all of a sudden not feeling alone. I looked around, but there was nobody or nothing that I could see; just me and our tree in our front yard. What was that I felt? Was it the presence of God? Was it the presence of Jesus? Was it the presence of the Holy Spirit? I don’t know. Maybe it was that for the first time in my life I was conscious – I was aware of my self, of being a part of creation. I think the first step to take to live your life fully alive is to seek awareness. We can seek awareness in many different ways. The easiest way I’ve heard of to seek awareness is to simply breathe. When people say, “Take a breath,” I think what they mean is: be conscious, be aware of who you are and what you’re saying and what you’re doing. Simply breathe. Another way they say to seek awareness is to meditate. I try to meditate everyday. I don’t always do it, but I try, usually just to clear my mind of all thoughts and just be. Another way they say to seek awareness is to exercise or go for a walk in nature. I try to do that everyday. I don’t always make it, but I try. I don’t think you can live you’re your life fully alive without taking the first step: seek awareness.
Meister Eckhardt, a 13th century Christian mystic, said, “If the only prayer you ever say is ‘Thank you,’ that is enough.” I think the second step to take to live your life fully alive is to express gratitude. I think it goes hand in hand with being aware. Once you’re aware, of yourself and the world, you’ll want to express gratitude – for life, for creation. Now I know there are people who like to think they’re a “self-made man” or a “self-made woman,” that everything that they have, they got from their own effort. But we didn’t create ourselves. We didn’t create the ground we walk on. We didn’t create the air that we breathe. We at least should express gratitude for those. To God, to the universe, to whatever your belief system tells you. I don’t think you can live your life fully alive without taking the second step: express gratitude.
Gandhi is one of my spiritual heroes. Gandhi says, “God is truth.” I think the third step to take to live your life fully alive is to pursue truth. Now I realize that there are some religious people, many Christians unfortunately, who are afraid of the truth. They’re afraid of what the truth will do to their belief system. They don’t want to see the truth in evolution because they’re afraid that that means they’re calling God or the Bible a liar in the story of creation. They can’t wrap their minds around the possibility that God created evolution. It’s like the Jack Nicholson character says in “A Few Good Men,” “You can’t handle the truth.” They can’t handle the truth, so they pretend that the world is 10,000 years old, rather than billions of years old, which scientists say it is. I don’t think that you can live your life fully alive without taking the third step: pursue truth.
The Dalai Lama says, “Love and compassion are not luxuries, they are necessities. Without them humankind cannot survive.” I think the fourth step to take to live your life fully alive is to act compassionately. Love and compassion are synonymous, at least the way I use them and the way the Dalai Lama uses them. Compassion, unconditional love, is the feeling we have for our loved ones, and it’s also the feeling some people have for complete strangers. That’s why they feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the naked. We all ought to feel that way. I don’t think you can live your life fully alive without taking the fourth step: act compassionately.
The Hebrew prophet Amos said, “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” I think the fifth step to take to live your life fully alive is to do justice. When we act compassionately, we help the poor. When we do justice, we try to eliminate poverty. Archbishop Dom Helder Camarra of Brazil said once, “When I fed the poor, they called me a saint. When I asked, ‘Why are there poor?’ they called me a communist.” It’s asking, “Why are there poor?” that justice demands. It’s picketing for peace in the world. It’s demanding healthcare for the 30 or 40 million Americans who don’t have it. I don’t think you can live your life fully alive without taking the fifth step: do justice.
One of my favorite Christmas carols is, “Joy To The World.” “Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her King.” Ironically, one of my favorite songs is also entitled, “Joy To The World,” by Three Dog Night. “Joy to the world, all the boys and girls now, joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, joy to you and me.” I think the sixth step to take to live your life fully alive is to experience joy. Whatever it is that brings you joy - being with loved ones, playing cards with friends, climbing Mount Everest - do that. If your job doesn’t bring you joy, find a job that does. Or, if that’s not possible, find some creative endeavor – painting, sculpting, writing – that does bring you joy. I don’t think you can live your life fully alive without taking the sixth step: experience joy.
One of my favorite verses in the Christian New Testament is found in Luke chapter 2, verse 14. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward all.” I think the seventh and final step to take to live your life fully alive is to achieve peace. The peace I’m talking about here is inner peace, the peace that passes understanding, at least as much as we can achieve that kind of peace this side of the rainbow. And I think that we achieve peace when we achieve those other six steps - seek awareness, express gratitude, pursue truth, act compassionately, do justice and experience joy – I think that’s when we can achieve peace, at least as much as is humanly possible. I don’t think you can live your life fully alive without taking the seventh step: achieve peace.
Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” I think Jesus was all about teaching people to: live your life fully alive. He liked a good party. He liked to eat and drink with friends, so much so that they called him a “glutton and a drunkard.” I don’t think he was a glutton and a drunkard, I just think he liked a good wedding reception. He liked a good glass of wine every now and then. Now I know there are people who can’t drink a glass of wine because they’re alcoholics or can’t eat what they’d like because of cholesterol or they refuse some food or drink for spiritual reasons. That’s fine. But I hope that people who can eat and drink, do so. I think to live your life fully alive is to make the most of life whenever you can: eat, drink and be merry – in moderation.
Baha’u’llah, who founded the Baha’i faith, says that, “we should live in the rose garden of the spirit.” I hope that I’ve made it clear (if I haven’t, let me do so now) that when I say: live your life fully alive, I’m talking about life in the spirit; that we are more spiritual beings with bodies than we are bodily beings with spirits. By spiritual (and I don’t always like that word, because it’s so nebulous) but by spiritual I mean whatever it is you do to: live your life fully alive, living out of your whole brain, your left brain and your right brain, your intellectual side and your emotional side, thinking and feeling at the same time. That’s how I think you live your life fully alive.
Who would you say lives their life fully alive? At the risk of stating the obvious, I think that one person who lives their life fully alive is…OPRAH WINFREY! Not because she’s worth a billion dollars or more. Not because she has a talk show every day. Not because she publishes a monthly magazine. Not because she’s produced plays and movies and won an Academy Award for the first movie she ever acted in. I think she lives her life fully alive because she seems to me to be spiritually grounded. I think she is full of the spirit and that helps her to live her life fully alive. I think that’s how she can do all the things she does. So I think Oprah Winfrey would be a person who shows how to: live your life fully alive.
I was reading a story a week or two ago about a popular African American Gospel singer: Tone’x (toe-nay) I think is how you pronounce it. He’s 34 years old. He was married for four years. He had all kinds of singing engagements lined up at churches and religious conventions. Then, I think to live his life fully alive, to live in truth, he came out of the closet. He admitted, in so many words, that he’s gay. Immediately, all his singing engagements, at churches and religious conventions, cancelled. Not everyone wants everybody else to live their life fully alive. Some people want other people to live their life in the closet, to live a lie, to live their life half-dead. But that’s no way to live. Tone’x, the gospel singer, finally realized that. I hope you realize that too. To live your life fully alive you have to be who you truly are.
I was listening to the radio recently and I came across Dave Ramsey, the financial guru. He tells people to live life debt-free. He tells people to “Live like no one else so that some day you can live like no one else.” He was addressing people’s fear about the future of the economy. He says, “I’m not afraid of the future. My house is paid for, my car is paid for, I have some money in the bank (I suspect he has millions in the bank.), so I’m not afraid and I don’t think we should live in fear. We should live in abundance.” He said, “Wouldn’t it be great to go out to dinner and leave the waitress a $100 tip? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to go to coffee and put a $50 bill under your coffee cup for the waitress?” (I imagine that every waitress in the country listens to Dave Ramsey.) Dave Ramsey is talking about how to live your life fully alive, which I think we’re meant to do. I think we can do that - by seeking awareness, expressing gratitude, pursuing truth, acting compassionately, doing justice, experiencing joy and achieving peace. If you do all that, I think you will: live your life fully alive.
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