I do not like the fact that Christmas music has already started on the radio. I do not like the fact that every single pop and R&B artist has to come out with a new Christmas album every year. I prefer the English hymns and folk instrumentals of the same.
But I found a new favorite Christmas song and it comes "from a heathen and a pagan." I'll highlight my favorite lyrics and a video is below.
___________________________
The Rebel Jesus by Jackson Browne
All the streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants' windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
While the sky darkens and freezes
Will be gathering around the hearths and tables
Giving thanks for God's graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus
Well they call him by 'the Prince of Peace'
And they call him by 'the Savior'
And they pray to him upon the seas
And in every bold endeavor
And they fill his churches with their pride and gold
As their faith in him increases
But they've turned the nature that I worship in
From a temple to a robber's den
In the words of the rebel Jesus
Well we guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why there are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus
Now pardon me if I have seemed
To take the tone of judgment
For I've no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In a life of hardship and of earthly toil
There's a need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus
It begs the question as to whether Christians really follow who we say we do and what we are actually remembering. It also reminds me that sometimes those on the outside of the faith get us better than we get ourselves. I'll point this song out next time I hear someone say that non-Christians have no morals...
Saturday, November 22, 2008
So, my priest, Gil, had to go out of town to preside over a funeral and he left a friend of mine, Chad, to perform our service tonight. Gil suggested that I offer my assistance to Chad, and I did. He asked if I would take the sermon portion of the service and I agreed.
My quick (and first) sermon...the text the Matt. 25:31-46. You are getting a skeleton of text that I filled in as I spoke.
____________________________________
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O lord, My strength and redeemer." Psalm 19:14
My quick (and first) sermon...the text the Matt. 25:31-46. You are getting a skeleton of text that I filled in as I spoke.
____________________________________
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O lord, My strength and redeemer." Psalm 19:14
My rector in Mobile was recently asked why he talks about the poor so much. Matthew 25 is the answer to the question.
This passage, with Jesus saying that favor is bestowed upon those who feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, or visit the sick or imprisoned is our essential mandate.
More radically, this isn’t just a Christian or a Jewish mandate. The translation is “nations” in plural. Jesus is explicitly saying that this is not just the Jews he is talking about, but also the Gentiles…a Universal Church as opposed to simply the nation of Israel…
To take it a step further, a suggested better translation for "nations" is “all of the people of the world” which I think brings the focus from large groups to the individual. You, me, all of us. I think this is where the focus belongs.
And there is enough work for all of us. There is a website called Globalrichlist.com that tells you what your global standing in terms of wealth is. Laura and I live paycheck to paycheck but we are in the top 10% of the wealthiest people in the world. An annual income of $5,000 is still in the top 15%. There is so much to be done, and that has been left undone, that Jesus’ mandate seems daunting.
I was once in a meeting where some in a congregation were resistant to the idea of helping on a global scale. “Can we really make a difference” was the mood. In the face of such global and local poverty and injustice, it seems that fear turns churches and denominations inwards. I read schism and internal bickering, whatever the denomination, as saying that “we can have no effect outside of our walls, so we will only police within them.”
Fear paralyzes in a time when we are called do our work, our duty.
Some in the congregation in question went so far as to say that they earned their possessions, and so, is this type of thing really their responsibility (?). My answer is “absolutely, yes.”
Jesus’ phrase that “what you do for the least of these, you do to me” may be rhetorical but I see it as recognizing the inherent spark of the divine in everyone else. Especially if we believe that we exist in the image of God (Imago Dei).
I’m then personally left with the weight of the mandate. I’ve come to the realization that I can’t do everything I would like to do but I’m also left with the knowledge that these duties, to feed, to clothe, to visit, to provide, are nonnegotiable. There is always more I can do, and I welcome the guilt that comes with that because it forces me to be mindful of my never-finished duty (this is the appropriate word).
Last week we started brainstorming concrete ways to better the larger community, the people outside of our walls. I can’t wait to continue the conversation.
Reconnecting to a Catholic Root
I've talked about the fact that I was raised in a Southern Baptist congregation. What I haven't mentioned is what is even further back in my family history in regards to religion. My mother's side of my family, at least to my knowledge, is uniformly Baptist; my father's family, however, was mainly Roman Catholic. It is through my family connection to a more Catholic form of worship that I find continuity of faith and, frankly, an expression of faith that makes me more mindful of the Trinity.
When my Grandfather died in March and my aunt was dividing up his belongings, I received his rosary and wall crucifix. Here is a picture of his rosary.
When I received it I felt honored; I think it had once been mentioned that I should get it when he passed away and rosaries tend to mean a lot to people. I decided that since I now had one perhaps I should learn how to pray it.
I then started to wonder if the Episcopal/Anglican church uses rosaries, especially since the two Churches are so similar. It turns out that they do and I now have an Anglican rosary.
The structure is different from the traditional Catholic rosary. There is the cross and then 33 beads in all (four sets of 7 "week" beads, 4 cruciform beads, and an invitatory bead). A full explanation of the symbolism is here. I don't focus on Marian devotion so much (neither do all Catholics for that matter, there are other Catholic rosary forms). There are no set prayers with the Anglican rosary but rather suggestions that can be mix and matched. I'm changing my prayers to reflect the liturgical seasons though...tomorrow starts Advent. In any case, I find using a rosary to be helpful in ordering my prayers.
In my "Sex and Gender in American Religion" seminar, we have spent some time talking and reading about Catholic convents and the Protestant detestation of them. It was then that I remembered that there was a nun in my family. And so I went looking for Sister Caroline’s information because of my class readings and because I recently decided to join a local New Monastic community through a local Episcopal Church. She was a member of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Hamden, Connecticut. She entered religious life in 1941 and died, still in the Order, in 1995. It's heartening to know that I'm treading a path that has already been traveled in my family.
So, heirlooms and history help me connect to a style of worship that feels more familiar and meaningful to me.
And recently I have been thinking about what Protestantism lost in the effort to separate itself from a Catholic style of worship. My reflections on this comes from my experience in the Baptist church I attended.
1) The liturgical calendar. In the Baptist Church, there was Christmas and Easter. We seemed focused on Jesus' birth and death but the rest was not as important.
2) the Lectionary. The pastors I grew up listening to, well, there never seemed to be a method to the madness. With the lectionary, there is a system of readings from the Bible and, in most cases, priests use sermons to elaborate on these readings. It is more holistic than the preacher who picks a verse or five and connects them without regard to context. The lectionary system also helps me remember the content of the sermon. I fankly do not remember much of what my old preacher said. I remember him (or another Baptist preacher) talk about sins of commisssion and ommission, that the Palestinians should read the Bible and realize the the land belongs to the Israelis, and that celebrating Halloween will send me to Hell. That's it; I don't remember much else.
3) Good works vs. Faith. Southern Baptists follow sola fide with a passion, to the point at which they said that Catholics would go to Hell because they only cared about works. I agree that faith is important (correct doctrine is fuzzier) but there must also be works. We are called to works (Matthew 25:31-46) and I think the focus on Jesus' death obscures that for the Baptists.
_____
Correction: Tomorrow is Christ the King; Next Sunday starts Advent.
When my Grandfather died in March and my aunt was dividing up his belongings, I received his rosary and wall crucifix. Here is a picture of his rosary.
When I received it I felt honored; I think it had once been mentioned that I should get it when he passed away and rosaries tend to mean a lot to people. I decided that since I now had one perhaps I should learn how to pray it.
I then started to wonder if the Episcopal/Anglican church uses rosaries, especially since the two Churches are so similar. It turns out that they do and I now have an Anglican rosary.
The structure is different from the traditional Catholic rosary. There is the cross and then 33 beads in all (four sets of 7 "week" beads, 4 cruciform beads, and an invitatory bead). A full explanation of the symbolism is here. I don't focus on Marian devotion so much (neither do all Catholics for that matter, there are other Catholic rosary forms). There are no set prayers with the Anglican rosary but rather suggestions that can be mix and matched. I'm changing my prayers to reflect the liturgical seasons though...tomorrow starts Advent. In any case, I find using a rosary to be helpful in ordering my prayers.
In my "Sex and Gender in American Religion" seminar, we have spent some time talking and reading about Catholic convents and the Protestant detestation of them. It was then that I remembered that there was a nun in my family. And so I went looking for Sister Caroline’s information because of my class readings and because I recently decided to join a local New Monastic community through a local Episcopal Church. She was a member of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Hamden, Connecticut. She entered religious life in 1941 and died, still in the Order, in 1995. It's heartening to know that I'm treading a path that has already been traveled in my family.
So, heirlooms and history help me connect to a style of worship that feels more familiar and meaningful to me.
And recently I have been thinking about what Protestantism lost in the effort to separate itself from a Catholic style of worship. My reflections on this comes from my experience in the Baptist church I attended.
1) The liturgical calendar. In the Baptist Church, there was Christmas and Easter. We seemed focused on Jesus' birth and death but the rest was not as important.
2) the Lectionary. The pastors I grew up listening to, well, there never seemed to be a method to the madness. With the lectionary, there is a system of readings from the Bible and, in most cases, priests use sermons to elaborate on these readings. It is more holistic than the preacher who picks a verse or five and connects them without regard to context. The lectionary system also helps me remember the content of the sermon. I fankly do not remember much of what my old preacher said. I remember him (or another Baptist preacher) talk about sins of commisssion and ommission, that the Palestinians should read the Bible and realize the the land belongs to the Israelis, and that celebrating Halloween will send me to Hell. That's it; I don't remember much else.
3) Good works vs. Faith. Southern Baptists follow sola fide with a passion, to the point at which they said that Catholics would go to Hell because they only cared about works. I agree that faith is important (correct doctrine is fuzzier) but there must also be works. We are called to works (Matthew 25:31-46) and I think the focus on Jesus' death obscures that for the Baptists.
_____
Correction: Tomorrow is Christ the King; Next Sunday starts Advent.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
The LDS came to visit today
I was outside on my porch reading materials for my Monday class and the newest Newsweek when two missionaries rolled up on their bicycles. I had been waiting for this moment, actually. Not in a I-can't-wait-to-challenge-them-or-ridicule-them sort of way, but I now live in an area where the LDS population is high so the encounter was statistically inevitable.
I could have challenged them about the marriage propositions in Arzona and California, and the money their denomination sunk into them, but I didn't. One of them saw the cover of my Newsweek and basically said, "Oh Obama won?" It was either making small talk or genuinely not knowing; I left politics alone either way.
I learned a trick when I was talking to military recruiters in 2002: they always inevitably asked if I knew what I would do after graduation and were mostly thrown off when I could rattle off a five-year plan. They are trained to jump on uncertainty, so I denied them that point of attack (and it also helped that I was able to say that I was going into ROTC and planning to commission). I assume missionaries of any faith are also trained to look for uncertainty or the people that seem more receptive. There are very good reasons for missionaries to go out by twos, such as safety, but it is also undeniable that if the two people approach one (me in this case), it is an uneven exchange and there is a power dynamic in play. I wasn't in the mood to be converted but I wanted some conversation. I was proactive.
"So where are you two from?" Olympia, WA and Cartersville, GA. "Cool, I lived in Dahlonega for a while! What ward or church are you attached to while you are here?" I can see its steeple from my porch and they are responsible for three, well, "beats."
"Look guys, I have an LDS King James Version and a Book of Mormon already and I'm a grad student in Religious Studies, but I'd like to hear your story." This deflates the build-up to the pitch. The Georgian gave his abbreviated conversion story, focusing on the marvelous feeling of purpose and direction that the Faith brings.
"I completely understand that feeling..." And I do; see my earlier posts. So I think at this point I had established us three as equal believers which gave us the ability to talk without the encumbrance of an underlying agenda for the talk (except now I was perhaps wasting their time). We chatted about my work on just war tradiation and they gave me some warfare verses from the BoM, which could be handy. I wonder how the LDS determined the propriety of certain wars? A few other things came up, LDS history and the like, but I stayed away from theology or "what the Bible actually says." Missionaries from all denominations know their texts (particularly the proof-texts) and I wouldn't dare go against someone who trained from an early age to do just this type of missionary work, especially since I rarely touched a Bible from '96-'06. I'm now reading the Daily Lectionary but I'm not memorizing verses.
That being said, I have to tip my hat to the LDS. If you take the average pew-sitter in many other denominations and a Mormon to a memorized verse contest, my money is on the Mormon. They typically have more scriptural knowledge than many other Christians. What I remain curious about is if they know the history of English transations of the Bible or the fact that we do not even have copies of the copies of the copies of the original Gospels. I have problems with the KJV as a result of these histories.
As we were finishing up and possibly to call my bluff, the guy from Washington wanted to clarify that I had the BoM. "Sure, hold on." I went inside and returned within a few seconds with both the LDS KJV and a stand-alone BoM. "Yeah, I keep it next to my standard KJV, Trinity Catholic Bible, New Oxford (RSV) Bible, BCP, Tanakh, Qur'an, and Tao Te Ching."
They very warmly invited me to join them on Sunday mornings and I thanked them for their time. It was a pleasant exchange all in all... much better than last night. There was a church group around 8 p.m. at an intersection yelling "the Word" into a bullhorn at the cars passing by. If those were my only two experiences with Christianity, guess which church I would think actually wanted me to join and was considerate of a sense of common humanity?
The churches that are willing to get personal with the community deserve the blessings they get...and even more so if they act out the Gospels regardless of the chances of gaining converts.
I could have challenged them about the marriage propositions in Arzona and California, and the money their denomination sunk into them, but I didn't. One of them saw the cover of my Newsweek and basically said, "Oh Obama won?" It was either making small talk or genuinely not knowing; I left politics alone either way.
I learned a trick when I was talking to military recruiters in 2002: they always inevitably asked if I knew what I would do after graduation and were mostly thrown off when I could rattle off a five-year plan. They are trained to jump on uncertainty, so I denied them that point of attack (and it also helped that I was able to say that I was going into ROTC and planning to commission). I assume missionaries of any faith are also trained to look for uncertainty or the people that seem more receptive. There are very good reasons for missionaries to go out by twos, such as safety, but it is also undeniable that if the two people approach one (me in this case), it is an uneven exchange and there is a power dynamic in play. I wasn't in the mood to be converted but I wanted some conversation. I was proactive.
"So where are you two from?" Olympia, WA and Cartersville, GA. "Cool, I lived in Dahlonega for a while! What ward or church are you attached to while you are here?" I can see its steeple from my porch and they are responsible for three, well, "beats."
"Look guys, I have an LDS King James Version and a Book of Mormon already and I'm a grad student in Religious Studies, but I'd like to hear your story." This deflates the build-up to the pitch. The Georgian gave his abbreviated conversion story, focusing on the marvelous feeling of purpose and direction that the Faith brings.
"I completely understand that feeling..." And I do; see my earlier posts. So I think at this point I had established us three as equal believers which gave us the ability to talk without the encumbrance of an underlying agenda for the talk (except now I was perhaps wasting their time). We chatted about my work on just war tradiation and they gave me some warfare verses from the BoM, which could be handy. I wonder how the LDS determined the propriety of certain wars? A few other things came up, LDS history and the like, but I stayed away from theology or "what the Bible actually says." Missionaries from all denominations know their texts (particularly the proof-texts) and I wouldn't dare go against someone who trained from an early age to do just this type of missionary work, especially since I rarely touched a Bible from '96-'06. I'm now reading the Daily Lectionary but I'm not memorizing verses.
That being said, I have to tip my hat to the LDS. If you take the average pew-sitter in many other denominations and a Mormon to a memorized verse contest, my money is on the Mormon. They typically have more scriptural knowledge than many other Christians. What I remain curious about is if they know the history of English transations of the Bible or the fact that we do not even have copies of the copies of the copies of the original Gospels. I have problems with the KJV as a result of these histories.
As we were finishing up and possibly to call my bluff, the guy from Washington wanted to clarify that I had the BoM. "Sure, hold on." I went inside and returned within a few seconds with both the LDS KJV and a stand-alone BoM. "Yeah, I keep it next to my standard KJV, Trinity Catholic Bible, New Oxford (RSV) Bible, BCP, Tanakh, Qur'an, and Tao Te Ching."
They very warmly invited me to join them on Sunday mornings and I thanked them for their time. It was a pleasant exchange all in all... much better than last night. There was a church group around 8 p.m. at an intersection yelling "the Word" into a bullhorn at the cars passing by. If those were my only two experiences with Christianity, guess which church I would think actually wanted me to join and was considerate of a sense of common humanity?
The churches that are willing to get personal with the community deserve the blessings they get...and even more so if they act out the Gospels regardless of the chances of gaining converts.
Monday, November 3, 2008
A conversation with myself
You are serious about a Christian commitment to nonviolence are ya?
I think so. The Gospel is pretty clear in its examples.
What are you going to do about the gun in your bedroom?
...What?
The 9mm Beretta you have in your bedroom. You remember? You lobbied your father for it since, what, 10th grade?
Oh yeah...8th grade.
Well, there's a problem. I am running up against to discrepant religious duties. While I have a commitment to nonviolence, I also have a duty to protect my wife. She is a pretty nonviolent person, but I said I'd do the job.
That leaves you in a tough position.
It does, so what are my options? If I were to ever be in a bad situation, do I fight long enough to let Laura run and then become nonviolent when she is safe? That is halfway in line with St. Augustine (of Hippo) before his formulations on just war.
Do you need the gun though?
I suppose not. I will get it back to Mobile at the first opportunity and give it to Dad. He certainly wouldn't want it sold since it was his service pistol.
<<>>
Okay, I need to call Mom and ask if Dad would think I'm giving up a heirloom.
<<>>
Dad'll take it back. He understands a gun technically isn't the tool of a priest since I'm serious about that option.
<<>>
Well, even with the discrepant roles of living a commitment to nonviolence and protection of those in your charge, you should choose to protect life and this may compromise your ideal.
I'll have to live with that option if it occurs; I can't say for sure what will happen. I'll ask absolution if I am ever presented with that choice.
Do you need the gun, though?
No, I don't feel that kind of fear anymore. I'll get it back to Mobile at my first opportunity.
I think so. The Gospel is pretty clear in its examples.
What are you going to do about the gun in your bedroom?
...What?
The 9mm Beretta you have in your bedroom. You remember? You lobbied your father for it since, what, 10th grade?
Oh yeah...8th grade.
Well, there's a problem. I am running up against to discrepant religious duties. While I have a commitment to nonviolence, I also have a duty to protect my wife. She is a pretty nonviolent person, but I said I'd do the job.
That leaves you in a tough position.
It does, so what are my options? If I were to ever be in a bad situation, do I fight long enough to let Laura run and then become nonviolent when she is safe? That is halfway in line with St. Augustine (of Hippo) before his formulations on just war.
Do you need the gun though?
I suppose not. I will get it back to Mobile at the first opportunity and give it to Dad. He certainly wouldn't want it sold since it was his service pistol.
<<
Okay, I need to call Mom and ask if Dad would think I'm giving up a heirloom.
<<
Dad'll take it back. He understands a gun technically isn't the tool of a priest since I'm serious about that option.
<<
Well, even with the discrepant roles of living a commitment to nonviolence and protection of those in your charge, you should choose to protect life and this may compromise your ideal.
I'll have to live with that option if it occurs; I can't say for sure what will happen. I'll ask absolution if I am ever presented with that choice.
Do you need the gun, though?
No, I don't feel that kind of fear anymore. I'll get it back to Mobile at my first opportunity.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
All Saints' Day
Liturgically, today was the one year anniversary of my confirmation in the Episcopal Church. It is handy when anniversaries fall on easily remembered days, such as feast days. All Saints' Day is meant to celebrate those who have acheived the beatific vision, and appropriately the liturgy for today contains probably one of the most famous speeches of Jesus, the Beatitudes.
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:One could do much worse for a mission in life than trying to live out these precepts. Since I was confirmed on this day, the verses leave that much more of an impression upon me.
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
My day of confirmation was interesting for a few reasons. First, my parents had not been to an Episcopal Church before. I had been attending the church for about nine months being nurished and caught up in the liturgy. The invitation had always been extended for my parents to come see what it was like. Barry had come with me once and started a "WTF!?" list, on which he wrote down questions about what was going on. But this was their first time to visit.
The day started with a meeting with the bishop for all that were being confirmed and their family as well as the children that were being baptized and their family; 10 confirmands and 2 babies for baptism in all. We went around the room doing introductions; the confirmands, if they were new to the church, were asked by the bishop what they remembered of their baptism and seemed interested that I had been baptized by full immersion. The question seems to me now to come from the trend that many come from other traditions into the Episcopal church. He was also impressing upon us the seriousness of the obligation we were undertaking. My mother was uncomfortable in the session, something that wasn't helped when the bishop asked who in the room had been baptized in a creek ("crik"). My mother was the only one. There was some discomfort at this point, my mother had put herself out there as being from a congregation that some Episcopalians looked down upon as "primitive." I've never heard this thought uttered and it wasn't said that day; the heirarchy in denominations is still alive and well in some people's minds though. The bishop was quick to validate her experience although I'm not certain that she remembers it that way. The lesson I took from the bishop was the ideal of the unity of the body of Christ through baptism.
What normally happens at confirmation is this: the confirmand is called forward by the bishop, who kneels before the bishop. He puts his hands on the confirmand and asks Gods blessing. At this point, people who the confirmand wants to "stand with" him or her come forward and put their hands on the confirmand as a sign of community. I had asked my parents to stand with me; my Dad agreed and my Mom demurred. So, when I felt more than two sets of hands on me (my eyes were closed) I almost lost it. The beauty of the liturgy and the meaning that some of the smallest thing convey had me on the verge of tears for most of the service.
November 4th, 2007 is a day I will not forget.
May God, who has given us, in the lives of God's saints, patterns of holy living and victorious dying, strengthen your faith and devotion, and enable you to bear witness to the truth against all adversity. Amen.
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