between

From Martha Beck's Expecting Adam... Martha has been reading philosophers and is talking to a friend on the phone:

Martha: "None of those philosophers get the point."
Judy: "Oh?"
Martha: "No, Because they were always focusing on what happens to people. The meaning of life is not what happens to people."
Judy: "It's not?"
Martha: "No, it's not. The meaning of life is what happens between people."

My comment: I think Martha's statement has profundity. One of my mentor's used to say, The truth is not in you or me; it's between us.
It seems to me that life's meaning is found in relationships.
Life is for communion.
My relationship to God and to other people--and even to non-human parts of the creation--is where meaning is found.
Isn't that why Jesus said the Big 2 are: Love God and love others.
It's love that brings meaning to us.
That love was incarnate in Jesus.
But it's not confined to Jesus.
It's in the 'between-ness' where the Spirit works.
One of the functions of the Spirit in the New Testament is to
create new relationships.
The whole Book of Acts is a history of the Spirit breaking through
barriers to real relationships.
It's no accident that Paul calls the church the Body of Christ.
A body will not work or live unless the many parts/members are
rightly related.
The organic nature of the church--and life itself--is part of the truth
of abundant life.
This is another reason I think dialogue is so important.
Dialogue enables the 'between-ness' to come about.
The idea that I have the truth or you have the truth
is more of a philosophical idea than a Biblical principle.
Jesus said, "I am the truth," because in him right relationship with God
and others was manifest.
As the mediator between God and humanity, Jesus is the
authentic 'between-ness' that brings life.

I suppose you could say that Jesus is the Dialogue between God and humans.
Christians call Jesus the Communication of God (well, we say he is the Word of God
made flesh).
As the Mediator--or Between-ness--Jesus connects God and humans.
He sneaks in between us and sets up a connection--a communion--that gives life.

Even non-Christians seem to experience this divine Betweenness.
You don't have to know how electricity works in order to flip the switch and get light.
Nor do you have to know who Jesus is in order to be connected with God.

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Adam

I few weeks ago I read an excellent book, Expecting Adam (Berkley Books). The author, Martha Beck, is sort of a liberal mystic (she has out-of-body experiences and hears angels talking to her). The book is written in a hilarious style--lots of humor, sarcasm and irony. Yet, it's about a very serious subject. Martha and her husband have a Down syndrome baby. They chose to have the baby even after knowing in advance about their son's disability. His name is Adam.

A funny, serious, well-written memoir that examines spirituality, the meaning of life, the challenges of parenting a special child--this is a book I would recommend for anyone.

Martha and her husband are Harvard graduates. Her descriptions of the elitist hypocrisies of her fellow students and professors during her pregnancy and after Adam was born are truly enlightening and provoked enormous laughter from this reader.

Martha became a career counselor several years after Adam was born, and here is what she said: "I'm always surprised by the way my clients react to the suggestion that they structure their lives around richness of experience rather than security. These are educated people, I think to myself. During their many years of training, hasn't anyone ever told them that life is pretty much a crapshoot but one full of unexpected wonders? Hasn't anyone given them permission to live for their hearts' desires?"

This is a great story of faith, love, nausea and courage.

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preaching politics

It's a dilemma for every thoughtful preacher: how to deal with politics from the pulpit (and other official church settings).
The law is: a pastor cannot legally support any political candidate from the pulpit because of church's tax status.
I believe it's a reasonable law.
Nor do I want to go to jail.

Personally, I don't think it's my 'job' to tell church members how to vote--that is, which person to vote for.
Obviously every preacher talks about moral and ethical matters; that's part of the purpose of the church (to be the salt and light).

And I am not (like some pastors) a one-issue or two-issue preacher.
I almost never agree completely with any politician.
Are some issues more important to me than others? Yes, of course.
But I try not to be moralistic about politics.
In the world of international relationships and legislative sausage-making I want my representative or leader to be a little crafty.
I wouldn't trust a pacifist for a President.

My job as preacher is to declare and interpret Scripture to the best of my ability;
to help people grasp general Biblical principles of decision-making; and to trust that the
Holy Spirit is somehow moving and guiding individuals who are trying to be faithful to Christ.
(Of course everyone who claims to believe in Christ also claims to be guided by the Spirit, which on the surface is hard to believe.)

So, I hope no one expects me to tell them how to vote.
Reasonable people--and people of faith--can and do disagree about politics.
And about theology.
That's the way it is.
I think it has something to do with total depravity.

[I took the photograph in front of the Masonic Temple in Dayton]




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ground water

As I read the book Cleaving, I got interested in the art of drilling wells. So I've just read the book The Hidden Sea: Ground Water, Springs, and Wells (National Ground Water Association, 2000) by Francis Chapelle, a research hydrogeologist with the the U.S. Geological Survey in Columbia, S.C. I learned a great deal about wells and springs and aquifers. There was also much that I didn't grasp.

Chapelle writes not only about current issues of contamination and conservation, but also about ancient myths and religious beliefs in regard to wells, springs, etc.The Romans gave offerings to the gods at lakes and rivers. In Scotland in the 19th century there was the "Cheese Well." People dropped pieces of cheese into it for good luck.

I was interested in the author's explanation of the Biblical Abraham's power and wealth that came as the result of Abraham's skill at digging wells. Genesis 21 and 26 are particularly about power struggles over wells involving Abraham, Abimelech, Isaac, and the Philistines.

Water is certainly a major theme and metaphor in the Bible.

I didn't know that 98% of the water in the U.S. is underground.

I didn't know that Martin Luther in 1518 condemned the use of the 'divining rods' to find water as a violation of the First Commandment.

So, I immersed myself in some new knowledge, though some of it was over my head.

I do know the Scripture says that "baptism now saves you" (1 Peter 3.21).

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Cleaving

I finished reading a book entitled Cleaving, with chapters written alternately by a husband-wife team: Dennis and Vicky Covington (North Point Press, 1999). It's a strange book because it is so painfully truthful.


I had never thought about the fact that the word "cleave" has opposite meanings. To "cleave" can mean to cling to. It can also mean to split. In Genesis two it says, "A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." As any marriage counselor will tell you, "You have to leave before you can cleave." Yet the 'leaving' itself is a 'cleaving' (splitting apart).


I wonder if there are other words in the English language that have opposite meanings at once?


Anyway, the whole story of the Bible can be summed up in that one word: Cleaving. Genesis one shows us the cleaving of God and humanity (communion…oneness). In Genesis 3 a cleavage takes place—a split in the communion because of the sin of humans. The gospels tell the story of the re-union made possible through Jesus the Messiah—the restoration of the original cleaving.


We are now living in that ambiguous period of overlap between the old Age and the new Age. The Kingdom has come in Jesus; but it will not be complete until he comes again. Our communion with God through Christ is real, but not complete. We live in the midst of cleaving (clinging) and cleaving (separateness). This is the 'amazing gray' of life. As Paul said: "To live is Christ; to die is gain."


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River

There are two ways to live life.
One way is like pushing the river.
The other way is like letting the river flow.

Every day I wake up and promise myself
that today I am not going to try to push the river.
But I don't always keep my promise to myself.
Oh well.

Pig skin

After worship on Sunday, Pat and I hopped into our Saturn Ion and sped to LVL. My mother had invited us down to celebrate Pat's birthday (which was Saturday). Mom fixed a chocolate pie for Pat. (A friend had already made a huge chocolate cake.) We had a wonderful dinner Sunday evening, then went to my mother's church for an evening of fellowship and singing of Old Songs--followed by desserts made by each choir member. I stuffed myself. No self-control. We stayed overnight. We're now back home. It's hard to decide what to do when you have both chocolate cake and chocolate pie in the house at the same time.

While we were in LVL, there was a rivalry going on: the UK and UL football teams were playing each other. My family is largely made up of UK fans. But since I have a degree from UL, I tend to lean that way. But UL got crushed.

Our daughter and son-in-law were watching the Alabama/Clemson game. Surprisingly Alabama won, and won big. But coach Nick Saban played down the win.

I have a UK-fan-cousin who lives in Ohio, who went to the OSU game. Tickets are $62. A bottle of water cost $4; and a hot dog was $4. I guess when you're OSU you can ask people to shell out. (And I can hear some of those folks being offended when their church asks them to give $50 for a special offering.)

I'm really not a big college football fan. I watch Pro ball. I'm still rootin' for the Bengals, but not holding my breath. I really didn't understand what my hero Brett Favre was trying to prove in pre-season. But I guess he can do pretty much what he wants to.

The "controlled violence" of football is good violence. Athletic competition is hard on the body (and the mind). Non-violent purists live with their heads in the clouds. Life contains violence. That doesn't mean we have to create unnecessary violence. But life at all levels is a violent struggle. Animals eat other animals. It's part of God's plan. So is football.

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Is the pastor the quarterback of the church, or the coach?

**

On the way to Louisville I saw a bumper sticker that said: "Jesus loves you, and I'm trying real hard."

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