church and state

as a citizen of a country where social systems are largely ineffective and as member of a Christian community which seeks to meet basic human needs on a large scale in the local arena, here's an interesting Pew Research Center article on the church and the state. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4631001

...so who's supposed to meet basic human needs, the church or the state?? and is it possible to synthesize both socialism and capitalism, with social systems regulated more intensively the government (though not necessarily run by government) and the economy left more or less to the principles of supply-and-demand??? i should do a 5th-grade book report on sweden and norway and perhaps some others which seem to be succeeding in this...more to come...

the intellect and the Christian faith

intro
i'm thinking along the lines of something akin to shell silverstein's 'where the sidewalk ends.' except here i'm thinking about my brain, your brain, the intellect in general. ray stedman (1917 - 1992), who graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary and pastored short-term at Lincoln Avenue Presbyterian Church of Pasadena, CA -- in which i will soon arrive(!!) -- spoke on the intellect and faith in his sermon 'God's Nonsense' (April 2, 1978). ...he begins in I Corinthians:

Scripture

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart.' Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisom of hte world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe (RSV). ~I Corinthians 1.17-21~

not anti-knowledge/anti-intellect

...Stedman first provides a disclaimer, assuring us that he is not anti-intellectual: 'Knowledge is the discovery of truth, and God always encourages it. He gave us minds to use. There is nothing anti-intellectual in the Scriptures. I want to make that very clear. God has set man on a search to unravel and discover the millinos of secrets he has midden in the universe, many of the greatest, I am sure, yet undiscovered. Man is given the gift of reaon to search these out. To investigate into any realm of knowledge is perfectly right and proper. To give yourself to a discovery of the laws of physics(!!) and what is behind matter is perfectly right. To give yourself to investigation of the wonders of the human body, of medicine and pathology, is perfectly right. To set yourself to discover the secrets of the stars, or the secrets of the workings fo the human mind and the psyche in psychology -- these are all perfectly right. But that is knowledge, the discovery of truth.

wisdom

'Wisdom is the use of truth. ...Scripture says there is something faulted about human wisdom -- it does not know how to use truth. All truth discovered through human knowledge is misused, abused, twisted, distorted, and, therefore, we end up worse off than we were before. Now, I think this needs to be said today in a university community such as we have right here. It needs to be especially emphasized because so many Christians begin to worship human wisdom and to feel that secular writers know more about some of these matters applying to the use of knowledge than Christians do. And there is no question that many secular writers do know a great deal more about the discovery of truth than do many Christians. But what we must clearly understand, and what this great passage will help us understand, is that when it comes to the applications of truth, secular minds are juvenile, for the most part. They are twisted; they do not know what to do with their knowldge, and so are a lot of Christians who follow along these same paths and who have not approached the use of truth from the revelation and the wisdom of the Word of God.'

Stedman quotes Winston Churchill

Certain it is that while men are gathering knowledge and power with ever-increasing speed, their virtues and their wisdom have not shown any notable improvement as the centuries have rolled. Under sufficient stress, starvation, terror, warlike passion, or even cold, intellectual frenzy, the modern man we know so well will do the most terrible deeds....

the rest of that Corinthians passage

...it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified.... For the follishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. ~I Corinthains 1.21-25

STEDMAN'S POINT:

'...Recently in the newspaper [there were] reports of the discovery of a shroud, marked with the image of a man, that is supposedly the burial shroud of Jesus. It immediatly evoked tremendous popular attention. Why? Because something about us wants to demand that God perform a miracle or else we will not believe. We are right back to where the citizens of Nazareth were when Jesus came among them. They asked him to do a sign, but he would not do it because of their unbelief. To the proud men who demand miracles and to the foolish intellectuals who insist on explanation or else they will not believe, God gives the same answer -- the story of a crucified Messiah is held out to them as their only hope for deliverance. It is preached by the same kind of men and women as they themselves are, not brilliant people, not great, trained inds, not deep-thinking philosophers, but common, ordinary citizens, housewives, slaves, artisans, craftsmen, whoever, anybody can preach the story of a crucified Messiah. And yet that story, believed in, effectively accomplisheds what the wisdom of man and the power of man connot do -- salvation; people are actually delivered from themselves.

my point:

and this is the definition of Christianity: deliverance from self. it seems this is what distinguishes Christianity from Islam or Hinduism which are still anthropomorphic. Buddhism comes the closest to relief from self, but -- in my very humble opinion - Buddhism offers very little...since it in fact offers only nothing and leaves its adherants with no real answer to the basic human quest for meaning.

...personal postscript: and perhaps i am being delivered from myself as i experience a sense of loss of control to a dgree i've never yet known. i don't have control over finding a job. i don't have control over relationships. i don't have control over my trip's success at fuller (i'm leaving tomorrow to visit Fuller Seminary in SoCal and am hoping this visit will clarify my future). i can't predict the various outcomes of staying in the house i'm at or moving to a cheaper but less ideal location... nor the acceptance or declination of an americorps i was awarded. i don't even have satisfactory control over my own beliefs as life rattles them with my everyday confrontations with very different cultural norms, spanning from the most conservative of Christian cultures to the most secular of cultures... and it confuses me because -- though all is permissible, as Paul says -- not all is acceptable, so i'm finding my situation difficult to normalize in and adapt to. ...today i officially came to the end of myself. and somehow i think this is a good thing.

making a difference

i just came across a yellow legal pad from my days as a Volunteer Coordinator at Mars Hill, and i have a note scrawled at the bottom of a page that says this:

Volunteers will do a lot when they know they're making a difference.

~Norma B.~

(Norma serves at Love INC , an EXCELLENT basic needs ministry located in Hudsonville, MI.)

...and too...

We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean.

But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.

~mother theresa~

the island of pitcairn

i've never heard of the island of pitcairn, have you? ...according to the BBC, Mayor Steve Christian of this South Pacific island of less than 50 inhabitants was recently convicted along with three others for the rape of underage girls. these four men appealed their case, claiming they didn't know British law applied on their island.

The island was settled by mutineers on board HMS Bounty in 1789. Steve Christian is a descendent of Fletcher Christian, one of the mutineers.

...to live on an island with less than 50 people your entire life...now there's an experiement in human social behavior!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4574287.stm

BBC's 'Day in Pictures'

Here is today's editions of the BBC's 'Day in Pictures.' ...seven pix covering seven stories from around the world...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4575409.stm

physics and philosophy

i just love this quote. polkinghorne himself wears a t-shirt which his wife had made and which bears this slogan:

'epistemology models ontology.'
~john polkinghorne~

Jewish tradition and its dealings with suffering

this year i participated in a Seder meal -- the traditional Jewish meal of Passover. There are many variations of how the meal is to proceed, but the general idea is that the group is gathered around a table and goes through a series of readings and songs during the course of the meal which provide sanctification before God, a remembrance of the work of God in the lives of his people throughout history, a re-commitment to work against the injustice and slavery in the world to bring justice and peace, and an acknowledgement of hope. ...a second-grade child read this portion of the Seder meal:

'On Passover, we eat theology and drink ethics. The bitter herbs [here we chewed on horseradish root] may not be swallowed. They must be chewed and tasted. It is not enough to talk abstractly 'about' oppression, to analyze the causes which led to slavery, to read 'about' the forced labor camps. To the best of our ability we are to expereience the lives embittered by totalitarian punishment. To taste the bitter herbs is part of the process of feeling the affliction of body and spirit which a subjugated people sufffers.

'Yet, when the bitter herb is eaten, it is mixed with the cinnamoned charoset [a thick, sweet creamed paste eaten on unleavened bread], perhaps to teach us that memory cannot be immersed only in darkness and despair. The sweet mixture is not the dominant taste as the bitter herb is dipped in the charoset. The charoset is not meant to eradicate the bitter, only to remind us that there is goodness in the world, however small, nad hope in the future, however slight. Without the charoset, the only lasting memory would be that of torture and shame.'

the character of poverty

~Julio Santa Ana~ Uruguayan theologian, philosopher and sociologist

'the suffering of the poor is not only limited to material needs (scarcity of goods, lack of basic health care services, no real job opportunities, inadequate school facilities and curriculum, absence of basic social systems, etc.). this life is also characterized by dependency and oppression. they have very little opportunity for their own decision-making to shape their lives.

'what and when they eat, where and when they work, what wages they should receive and what price they should pay, where and how they should live, how many children they should have and how to bring them up, what they say and how they shoulds say it, even when they should laugh and when they should cry and how -- all these things and many other aspects of life are determined or conditioned by the economic system, political power and religious sanctions controlled by the rich, the powerful and the influential.'

perpetuation of poverty

~art beals~ in 'beyond hunger: a biblical mandate for social resonsibility'

'injustice springs from powerlessness, peoiple living wihtout the power to control their lives. justice is empowering the poor, granting the means whereby they can gain control over their own destinies. with no power to control their lives, the poor will perpetuate the impoverishment and oppression of those social structures into which they were born. once a culture of poverty comes into existence, it tends to perpetuate itself from one generation to the next because of its devastateing impact upon the children of that culture.

'the book la vida: a puerto rican family in the culture of pverty -- san juan and new york underlines this point: 'by the time slum children are age six or seven they have usually absorbed the basic values and attitudes of their subculture and are not psychologically geared to take full advantage of changing conditions or increased opportunities which may occur in their lifetime.' cultural impoverishment renders them powerless over their environment.'

statistics on poverty

we no longer respond to statistics. numbers can be so bloodless.... here is link to a collection of poems and personal accounts of poverty:
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTPOVERTY/EXTPA/0,,contentMDK:20158015~menuPK:435040~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:430367,00.html
my fav was "Lullaby of the Onion" by Miguel Hernandez. Here's an intro to the poem:
Born into a peasant family in Spain in 1910, Miguel Hernandez had little formal education but succeeded in publishing his first book of poems by age 23. Arrested several times for opposing Franco, he died at 31 of tuberculosis contracted in prison. In "Lullaby of the Onion," he reflects on the present condition of and future prospects for his baby son. The poem was written after he received a letter from his wife stating that she had only bread and onions to eat.

tuesday afternoon update

it's 4.07 pm on tuesday afternoon. i worked this morning at the sports bar (great management, a mixture of high-quality and really bitchy waitresses with proportions erring on the latter end of this spectrum, slow business but we just opened and things should pick up soon, so they say...). yesterday we were so slow for lunch that i didn't have even a single table!! i was totally frustrated, grrrrr. i've had the worst of luck with jobs...this one we've been super slow, my other food service job (blah) hasn't been able to give me as many hours as i need...but it's been good because i'm being exposed to crowds of people i haven't otherwise been exposed to during my 22-years being in or in very close proximity to one Christian bubble or another. i'm still not always sure what role to play because i don't want to be stereotyped as 'Christian' = 'someone who will judge me' but i also don't want to be like, 'oh, yeah! i moved in with my boyfriend this weekend, but really the only reason i like him is because he's got a big....' yeah, i can't relate. so Christians in secular cultures seem to be trapped between two equally displeasing options... and so the question of how the 'salt' in the Sermon on the Mount is effective. i mean, not enough salt is gross or flavorless and food rots in its absence, but too much salt is overpowering and even unhealthy! it feels like a balancing act... or perhaps an art. yes, an art. art transcends the need for the balancing act...artists are free to move in 3 or 4 dimensions instead of typical two-dimensional paradigms.

which brings up the interesting topic of the state of the global Christian church. i recently realized that most of the North (the States, Canada, Europe, Russia(?), China...) is more or less secular and the South (Africa, Central and South America, the Middle East, India...) is highly religious (Christian, Muslim or otherwise). and i realized that for the entirety of my life, i have been on the defensive against the growing secularization in the States. ...so what does this mean for the Christian church? it seems that too many of our Christian leaders have chosen to remain here in the States but most of the basic human needs are found elsewhere -- like in Sudan and Rwanda where genocide has slipped its way yet again into our history books with little or no opposition.... and as a future Christian leader, would i do best to develop a practical skill to serve in Third World areas (internationally and in Third World/urban America) or to develop my mind and teaching skills to help renew the Western church? both perhaps?? ...and what is it all for? civilations rise and fall with Left and Right parties fighting during the civilization's height of power...but will we ever escape the cycle of Left and Right, secular and religious, grassroots and institutionalized, cat and dog, even and odd, happy and sad?? will transcendence ever remain here on earth? or will we simply be caught in the cycle of this rising and falling? ...what will the relief in the end look like? the textbook Christian answer would state that 'the second coming of Christ' will bring relief and the reign of heaven...but what are the stipulations for the return of Yeshua? we will ourselves eventually destroy the earth by fire, the literalists might say; we will create heaven on earth, utopian-minded thinkers would argue; and agnostics and disenchanteds will likely put forth that we'll wait passively for the random reappearance of a mystery-shrouded religious figure. what is the direction of history??? i should go into eschatology....

well, all these thoughts on a tuesday afternoon. i now need to go to cater an event at my second place of employment. perhaps while i'm serving chardonnay chicken and pouring cheapish wines i will solve the mystery of the meaning of the universe. you never know what people might be thinking as they pass by in silence...

...more to come...

morality as a secondary question for Christianity??

i'm always saying that discussions on moral issues are secondary compared with the primary discussion on/action toward meeting basic human needs. of course, i would typically rework this statement and affirm the importance of morality, but not as the primary question Christians must invest in. it's interesting, then, that i have of late been so engrossed and moved by a text called 'sins of omission: a primer on moral indifference' by s. dennis ford, an ethicist. somehow, ford has managed to synthesize the discussions of ethics/morality with that ofsocial responsibility (discussions typically found on opposing ends of the political spectrum, might i add). it's beautiful. absolutely beautiful. an excerpt from the final chapter:

Concerning the phenomenon of moral indifference, ...ethicists face a rhetorical problem. Persons are indifferent, in part, because moral questions are asked or presented in the wrong way. Persons are indifferent because they are not persuaded that the questions addressed to them by ethicists are genuinely [pressing]. The failure of ethics in America is a failure of moral practice, but it is also a failure in the rhetorical strategy of ethicists. Overcoming indifference requries a rhetorical strategy for convincing people that moral options are indeed genuine. //Consider for the moment the currently popular phrase 'option for the poor.' At first glance, how genuine is that option for the middle class? ...Is the voluntary abandonment of the middle class's privileged position a real possibility on which people are willing to act? How many people can actually or realistically consider sacrificing the education or nuturion of their own children in order to support the children of the homeless? ...//Overcoming indifference toward the option for the poor requires persuading people that the question is a genuine option. Voluntarily accepting a lower standard of living for myself and my children may be beyond the realm of what I would be willing to do, but I may nevertheless be challenged by other options on which I would be willing to act. I may not be willing to reduce my standard of living, but I may be convinced to work one night a week in a family shelter. ...If I can be persuaded that my fate and the fate of the poor are connected, then I will finally have to realize that if I am not part of the solution then I am part of the problem.

and now for the punchline:

...Why are people uninterested? In contrast to those who would presume an interested audience, the ethicists...begins with a moral apologetic (118-120).

yes, instead of beginning with a disclaimer on why morality is important, those arguing for the importance of social responsibility would do well to assume the 'interested audience' and in so doing draw out of each listener the genuine interest and warmheartedness that already exists (though i may have been chilled by a variety of factors...factors which must be dealt with using hte utmost care and concern). ...i've been described as persuasive, and this is certainly the key to any persuasive success i may claim...reaching through the layers of rotting stench and protective insulation to the core of the heart where goodness can often be discovered. it is then that people are actually willing to change their lifestyles for the sake of a principle which may or may not bring them immediate gratification.

dammit

ahhh. today has been a terribly awful day. to start it off, it's cold and cloudy and drizzling something nasty from the sky; i can't seem to get warm. and more: i talked with my church today about mozambique and they didn't like the way this opportunity sprang up so quickly without space for appropriate timing nor did they feel comfortable with the lack of thorough investment on the part of World Relief in evaluating candidates (am i underqualified on paper, yeah...could i do a professional and excellent job, yeah...). overall, the situation wasn't up to their standards, which i completely understand -- i would have the same reservations if i were in their shoes! -- but in part the cold is settled deep into my marrow because, beyond the timing of the mozambican situation, one of the church's additional reservations was that this opportunity isn't appropriate/strategic for where i'm at. in other words, they'd rather have me be a professional filmmaker or a professional this-or-that, or an experienced something-or-other...but not a bundle of passionate potential who is seeking experience in the world! and i'm thinking, 'dammit, i have to start SOMEWHERE!! someone just needs to give me a chance!' but everyone wants someone with experience. and so i'm left with no starting point. none whatsoever. ...and so what i need is someone who sees my potential and is willing to make me an apprentice and bring me up in the ways of a particular vocation. or maybe i could be described as young talent waiting to be discovered, in need of an agent who can properly market me. ...i'm being diligent, i'm being thorough, i'm networking...where will my break come?!?!? i guess you could say i'm coming to terms with my lack of marketable skills, with the fact that i thought i planned on going to seminary, but then realized that the career options coming out of this particular brand of education are not appealing to me (weddings, funerals, preaching, cousneling, organizational management...); in addition, i have a b.s. in physics, but i'm not interested in following the single physics career track which requires grad school and leads to university-level teaching and research. ...so what the hell am i left with? and i dont' know. i mean, i know i want to work in a non-profit, particularly one affiliated with the Christian church...but how to get there and what to do once i'm there...i don't know. and i know i want further education, but in what?? i suppose i don't have to know this yet, as all i'm asking right now is a year or more of experience before returning to school. (i realize this time off from the academic world is absolutely necessary for both professional excellence and -- more so -- for personal formation...) ...but i'd like an excellent opportunity for the present. perhaps Americorps will offer this, but i'm afraid i will not receive the position...

God, i'm sick of not being a real contributing member of society and i realize that you approve of me even when i'm floundering in the unknown. haven't i yet learned my lessons?? what use can you make of me as i serve tables at a sports bar?!?! i'm made for so much more. i want to coordinate people and communities and organizations that need connecting, i want to restructure organziations to make them the best they can be, i want to travel the world to encounter truth beyond that which i know and similarly to support the global church, i want to make films, i want to learn many different languages and converse to the point of resonance with someone the other side of the world in her native tongue, i want to learn the jewish context of my Christian faith and help renew the irrelevant paradigms of the western church, i want the Spirit to use my latex-ed hands to surgically remove from their eyes the layers of cataracts -- be they the baggage of family problems or upbringing, destructive habits, poorly-paced weekly rhythms...whatever they may be -- until they can see the fine details of the way the light dances between shadows...and then for Her to accompany my feeble voice to sing the truth that this light they see and call beautiful is the same glorious light that scintillates within their own souls...and then for Her wisdom to distribute through me the necessary tools which empower them to live in sustained freedom and hope and with love.

i also found out that my brother is thinking of transferring to michigan state next year because of his grades. i checked out a house directly across the street from the house he's supposed to be living in next year and it's terrible to think that he might not be here in town; i want him around!!! and for his own sake, he's thriving here and the people he's with are excellent. ...he shouldn't leave, i don't think, and i ache that he's having to consider leaving for pragmatic reasons.

and this guy i dated for over a year a while back emailed me today and said he was having a hard time handling our communicaitons (we've been emailing a few times a month and talking onthe phone very occasionally)...he thinks he needs to take some time...ahhhhh, i thought it was safe for us to interact because he lives far away...but apparently even with miles in between old emotions can be stirred. i hope, hope, hope that i haven't hurt him further.

i guess that's all the bad stuff i can think of for now. i am thankful though for the very supportive community i have around me. ...not sure what i'd do without them.

on and on and on ...

so i was at work on friday night and early in the evening i received a voicemail on my mobile announcing that i was selected by an organization called World Relief (www.wr.org) to go to mozambique for two months of this summer to create an informational/promotional film on the healthcare work the organization is doing there. (check out the internship description here: http://wr.org/jobs/view.asp?id=50000195). yeah, so i applied for that position a while ago, but i more or less forgot about it because i was thinking of other plans for my summer. right, so i was telling some friends about this crazy voicemail i received and how i didn't know if it would work out for me to go and they were like, 'ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!?! GOOOOOOOO!!!!' right, so i got a clue and am currently trying to work out the details. i feel a bit underqualified, but i very much would like to go and so far everything is working out. ...and on and on and on go events which catch a girl by surprise and offer a world not yet known...mom, i swear i won't ride any wildabeasts bareback or try swim the shark-filled channel between mozambique and madagascar. i may, however, try to bring back a baby hippo for michelle :o) ...more to come...