“You’ve Got Hope!” April 2008
Let Us Pray
As I began to write this e-letter about prayer and before the first word appeared on my computer screen, Procol Harem began to play the opening bars of A Whiter Shade of Pale on my tape player. I stopped to think about the lyrics, music, and thoughts I have associated with the song over the years. Did you know that it was Paul and Linda McCartney’s favorite song? Malcolm Craig was my business partner in the Philippines and the Procol Harem hit was also his favorite. He used to play the organ with the national touring company of Jesus Christ Superstar in Australia, but every time he sat in front of an organ keyboard, the first song he would play was… you guessed it; A Whiter Shade of Pale. McCartney lost the love of his life after thirty years of marriage when Linda died of cancer in Arizona. Malcolm died in a Manila hotel room with a plastic laundry bag tied over his head; a bottle of barbiturates in his hand; and a half empty bottle of Russian vodka on the floor beside his bed.
I have no idea what those very weird lyrics mean but I do know every time I hear them I am moved to consider their meaning once more and maybe; just maybe, I can understand what the writer meant when he penned “…and so it was that later as the miller told his tale that her face, at first just ghostly, turned a whiter shade of pale.” (Pause; wait for it!) Nope! Not a clue! Maybe I am looking for meaning when there really is none; and with that thought, I came screeching back to my premise of prayer and discovered an immediate corollary. Much of the time when we pray for stuff or listen to the prayers of others praying for their wants and wishes, it doesn’t make any sense either!
We get ourselves into some pretty deep holes only to rely on the passion of our prayers to extract us from messes we had no business getting involved in. Filled with a burning patriotism and an immediate need for vengeance, our government rushed to a war against an unknown enemy in the Middle East and now as the body bags continue coming home we pray for God’s mercy on our sons and daughters serving in harm’s way halfway around the world. Perhaps what we ought to be praying for as well is the wisdom to awaken from our own savagery against co-passengers on Planet Earth.
My good friend Merrill jokingly said to me, “I just feel grateful that God hasn’t killed me outright after just twenty seconds of witnessing my lack of humanity and common sense.” Merrill is correct; if we got what we really deserved, God would smash us like a bug. Just consider the depth and breadth of man’s inhumanity toward his brothers and sisters. We have made hatred for others an art form! Mimicking a 1965 protest song written by Barry McGuire, our world is caught in a revolving door of violence. “The Eastern World it is exploding; violence flaring, bullets loading. You’re old enough to kill but not for voting; you don’t believe in war, what’s that gun you’re toting; and even the Jordan River has got bodies floating but you tell me over and over and over again, my friend; ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction!” Can you remember when the Kingston Trio sang, “The whole world is festering with unhappy souls, the French hate the Germans; the Germans hate the Poles.” The last verse included the lyric, “They are rioting in Africa, there is strife in Iran and what nature doesn’t do to us; will be done by our fellow man!” Abraham Lincoln once said, “If destruction be our (fate), then we ourselves must be the authors and finishers of it!”
So, we continually swim in cesspools filled with hatred and violence. When the stench overcomes us and we are unable to extract ourselves using our own bootstraps, we pray as if God were a giant piñata filled with all the good things we think we want or think we need; and we begin whacking away with the prayer stick. We really need to guard against making our prayers sound like a letter to Santa Claus; gimmee this, gimmee that, gimmee something more! God knows our needs before we even are mindful of them; but yes, there is also a scriptural reference to us continuing to “bug God” until we ultimately get what we want. Sadly what we want is often a quantum leap from what we need.
I once wrote a book (unpublished.) about my failure as a parish pastor entitled, Sixty Days in the Life of a Falling Priest. It was my personal reflections during a two month period of my life in 1970. It offered insight into the anguish of choosing and rejecting and was the amplification of my inner voice. In it I wrote “The pastoral prayer was not a prayer at all. It was really a sermon. He wasn’t praying; he was preaching. I knew it; and I think others knew it. I sat there with my eyes closed, my head bowed, and I began to search for something that would make more sense then what I was hearing from the man in the black robe. I remembered a letter I had received from a young girl in my parish. She asked, ‘Why do we close our eyes when we pray? Wouldn’t it be better to look up at God in heaven?’ I responded with the arrogance of ignorance that it all depends on where you think God lives. I told her I personally look inward rather than up. What a load of crap that was! When I prayed I wasn’t looking anywhere; and that day if I looked up I would see the ceiling. If I looked down, I would see the floor; and if I looked into my soul, I would see the ugliness of my sins for what they really were; an attack against my family, myself, and my spirituality. So I decided to close my eyes and think of other things.”
I have no doubt God intercedes for us and that is a very good thing because I often want things I don’t need and I don’t want things I really do need. The Apostle Paul once said, I do the things I don’t want to do and I don’t do the things I know that I should. It is a continuing conflict and the way of our lives. We need a daily relationship with the God of our understanding or we are doomed to repeat the futile acts of aimlessness.
I wish I could just be content to pray as a child, asking for God’s blessings and giving thanks for his mercy. Lately I have been praying that should God grant me another day on this Earth that I might awaken in the morning determined to be a better husband, a better father, and a better son. I know my life has been a patchwork quilt of times when I was none of the three; but if I have the capacity to be ignorant about the things that are truly important in my life, I also have the capacity to understand the things which are priceless.
May God bless us everyone. pcreed
Thanks for being a friend of Saint James Community e-Church. This ministry without walls is currently reaching hundreds of people on four continents and after more than 40 years as a pastor, this is the work I choose to do as a statement of my commitment to Christ and His church.
Unlike many charismatic clergy who make themselves the central figure in the church, SJCC pastors see themselves as Bodhisattvas (teachers-learners). SJCC pastors are not big on buildings, membership rules, or conventional worship services. We think everyone needs to have a personal relationship with the God of their understanding; a faithful commitment to do no harm, and to be worthy stewards of God’s generous gifts to us. We believe our behavior paints the true image of our values and attitudes and we know it isn’t what you say or pray that endears you to the Everlasting God but rather the things you do during our brief journey through this world.
We are certain God loves joy and laughter far more than anger and sorrow and must be devastated at the current state of worldwide religion. Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ wrote the following words to the believers in Ephesus. “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32)
The churches teaching worshippers to be accusatory toward their brothers and sisters are just too mean spirited to be true faith. Church members who assemble and denigrate the last rites of mothers; fathers; sisters and brothers; heroes and hobos; saints and sinners; straights and gays; or whomever else they choose to demean as a proof of their religious fervor and self righteousness are committing the worst of sins against the ministry of the Lamb of God.
Members of a Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas protest at the funerals of slain soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the crowd of protesters recently were small children holding signs that read, “Thank God for dead soldiers”; “Semper Fi Fags”; and “Thank God for I.E.D.s”(the improvised explosive devices that have killed and maimed so many in roadside bombings during the war). The protesters also came to Ohio to shout slogans and hold signs reading, “God hates your tears” at the funeral services for a mother and four of her children ranging in age from 10 years to two months old. This family was killed by a drunk driver going the wrong way on an interstate highway and their deaths (according to the pastor from Topeka) represent “God’s retribution against humanity for allowing an eleven million dollar lawsuit to be filed” against him and his church.
These religious fanatics planned protests at the funeral services for the students murdered at Virginia Tech; victims killed when the I-35 bridge collapsed in Minneapolis; and at the simple funeral of the Amish children shot to death in their schoolhouse in rural Pennsylvania. When asked on talk radio why they would be so heartless and judgmental against the children, the pastor's daughter said the deaths were the result of God’s hatred and vengeance against America! The deepest horror was her accusation that the Amish children deserved to die because of the nature of their faith.
The church members from Topeka participating in these demonstrations feel their actions are not unreasonable and in fact, are the work and will of God. But they are misguided by their pastor and acting out of a twisted and perverted view of God’s intentions. They reek of the same stench that drove the devotees of Charlie Manson to slaughter and kill random victims to fulfill a convoluted apocalypse that never materialized. The great irony and the link between the Topeka church and Charlie Manson is this; the activists following Manson also believed and continue to suggest that their actions were both necessary and desirable. I ask you, how can any organization, so calloused by hate and loathing, consider itself righteous? Religions promising life after death rewards for zealots willing to commit ghastly atrocities against innocents are not worthy to be considered as religions at all.
Consider one more time Paul’s words to the Ephesians. “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32)
SJCC is far more concerned with individuals than with a large congregation. If you return once again to the four key tenets of our path you will immediately recognize the need for your action as a person and not our actions as a congregation. There is an old gospel hymn with the lyric, “You must walk this lonesome valley. You have to walk it by yourself. Nobody else can walk it for you."
You must make your own decisions about so many things in life. What will you become as you grow up? How will you earn a living for you and your family? What will you teach your children? What will be your commitment to the institutions of your life? Where will you seek happiness? However, the most important question is “What sort of person will you be?” These are the truths you must discover.
SJCC has no money for church programming or for member support; but then again, we will not ask for nor accept donations. We do provide all of the usual and customary sacraments at no charge for people needing those services. So basically, the six of us who pastor for SJCC are indeed itinerant clergy working at secular jobs to support our commitment to ministry.
Again, I thank you for reading the epistles we send and if you know others who would willingly receive the quarterly e-letter from us, just send me their e-mail address. We are always reaching out to others who, like us, feel a sense of disenfranchisement by friends, families, churches, or governments in singularity or in a variety of combinations. God bless us, everyone!
Pastor Paul Reed
We are pleased to offer this message that speaks to an unexpected level of spirituality which can be found in the secular Christmas icon, Santa Claus; vilified by many as the representation of the rampant commercialism associated with Christmas. The author of the Rules of Santa-ism is P. Bradley Reed. He is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator for the academic program entitled "Internet Technologies" at Edison State College and was recognized in 2007 as Teacher of the Year; an award given by the Ohio Association of Two-Year Colleges. Mr. Reed is a long time school board member of the public school system in his hometown. Once he taught an advanced technical writing course at Edison in which both his daughter and his father were enrolled as students. His message entitled Solstice can also be found on this site and was run in December of 2006.
The Rules of Santa-ism
Some of you know that for the past several years I have had the pleasure of being Santa for the young children of my hometown.
At the Historical Society Museum, elementary and preschool children decorate trees with handmade ornaments, and then on the first Sunday in December, they (mostly the younger ones) come in with their parents and grandparents to see the ornaments and talk to Santa while getting the iconic photo without standing in long lines at the mall. I understand for many I'm a prop for the photo; but I'm not Santa because of the parents.
Notice earlier, I said "being Santa," not "playing Santa." One does not play Santa - one becomes Santa. This is one of the rules of Santa-ism that I have figured out over my years in the red suit. I'd like to share a few of these Rules of Santa-ism with you today.
Rule #1: BE Santa. A transformation happens when you pull on the baggy red pants and the big red jacket trimmed with white. You become the embodiment - the incarnation, if you will - of all the myth, tradition and beliefs associated with Santa Claus; and that leads to the first Answer to Hard Questions: "Are you the real Santa?" The answer is, ALL Santas are the real Santa. To be clear, though, kids almost never ask this question. They see Santa in every mall, every store, on every street corner, everywhere. They understand it's just better not to ask.
Rule #2: Santa never appears unless in full uniform. Appearing in public (which to Santa means "anywhere that children might see you") requires the full uniform: red suit, boots, beard and hat. Anything less betrays that you are NOT Santa, and are just wearing Santa's stuff, and that causes confusion and doubt. Santa does not cause confusion and doubt.
Rule #3: Santa waves at everybody. Santa's main form of communication is the wave. This is partly because the itchy, synthetic beard typically worn obscures so much of the face that a smile is not really effective. It is also an acknowledgment that Santa sees you and knows you as a
good person. Also true - children tend to stare in wonder, and offer very tentative waves. Most adults wave enthusiastically and smile, even when not in the presence of children. SOME adults do NOT wave, and pretend not to see Santa which is ridiculous, because he is a big guy wearing a bright red suit standing on the sidewalk. You have to work really hard to not see Santa.
Rule #4: Santa always refers to himself in the third person. "Would you like to talk to Santa?" The first person "I" or "me" places the individual above the mythology, and claims ownership of that which can only be shared. "Santa knows you've been a good boy" is a winking nod to the general goodness of children; "I know you've been a good boy" is a voyeuristic and somewhat creepy invasion of privacy.
Rule #5: Santa never promises. Santa approves. Santa nods; Santa chuckles; Santa expresses surprise at the items on the list, but Santa never promises! Children get used to disappointments; it's part of growing up to learn we don't always get what we want. But how do you forgive a broken promise, especially when you are five years old?
Rule #6: Some kids are afraid of Santa. Having been Santa for essentially the same population of children for a number of years, I have been able to conduct something of a longitudinal study.
My results show that there is no way to predict a child's reaction to Santa. Infants are terrified, uninterested, or fascinated. Toddlers are terrified, uninterested, or fascinated. Pre-school children are terrified, uninterested, or fascinated. I have seen some children who react the same way every year, and some who one year are fine, and the next year, hysterically screaming. Human children (and adults) have a range of behaviors both instinctive and learned. Fear and awe are very similar emotions. What Santa knows is this; forcing a fearful child into Santa's lap is NOT a good idea, either for the child or for Santa.
Rule #7: Santa is magical. Not all of Santa's secrets can be explained or should be explained. It is enough to believe, or at least allow the possibility, that Santa does have some unusual qualities. When Santa greets a shy child with the words, "Hello, Kyle! How nice of you to come see me!" Kyle's eyes open wide and he thinks, "Santa knows my name!" It is not necessary to point out to Kyle that his name is embroidered on his jacket, and that for the last five minutes his Mom has been saying over and over, "Which ornament is yours, Kyle?" What Kyle knows is that Santa knows his name. Santa's magic is always for the benefit of the children. As explained in Rule #6, sometimes children will freeze up and forget what they were going to ask from Santa. Some parents don't help, saying things like, "If you don't tell Santa, you won't get what you want!" Santa rescues the children thusly: A number of years ago this particular Santa stopped giving away candy canes and chocolates, which tended to attract the cynical and candy-grubbing older kids, in favor of jingle bell ornaments. When a child freezes up, Santa hands them a bell and says gently, but loudly enough for the parents to hear, "Later you'll think of what you wanted to tell Santa. You ring this bell, and Santa will hear you." Whew!
Rule #8: Santa can be surprised. As by the seven-year-old whose Christmas list was socks and apple juice; as by the shy, apple-cheeked eight-year-old whose response to Santa's question "What would you like this year?" was "I want everyone to have a Merry Christmas." And when asked "What would make Christmas special for you?" answered "Flying around the world delivering toys to everybody."
Santa was most surprised a couple of Christmases back. A girl, maybe 11-12 (older than most of the children who come to see Santa,) came in alone, which is also unusual. Santa recognized her as a girl who had experienced a tough autumn; a new school; parents divorcing; and she had gotten into some minor trouble. She stood there, at some distance, waiting for an invitation to sit and talk to Santa. She didn't ask for anything, but Santa recognized a look in her eyes. "You're a good girl. It will be okay." and with that, she smiled faintly and walked away. She had gotten what she came for, and she never came to see Santa again.
What Can I Wish For You?
As we enter the seasonal battleground between the politically moronic and the scripturally demonic, many of us want to forget the rhetoric and just enjoy the magic associated with this time of the year. The political moronic continues to chastise us to eliminate “politically incorrect” phrases like Christmas trees; Merry Christmas; Christmas vacation; Christmas presents; Christmas pageants and use the more politically correct winter holiday tree; winter holiday presents, and the ever popular winter break pageant.
On the other hand the scripturally demonic would have us blow away the gifts, the secular Christmas songs, and burn the tree. Lord, Lord, what a mess!
Why don’t we take a minute to discuss the most logical spiritual response for the holiday and follow our hearts on what we want our family celebrations to be? Let’s worry a lot less about what next door neighbors choose to believe. If you are offended by my Christmas tree; don’t look at it. If you are offended by neighbors who are lighting their menorahs, don’t go to their party; and Kwanzaa offends you, how? Would you be less offended if I spoke in Croatian and said, “Sretan Bozic” instead of “Merry Christmas” or “Have a Cool Yule, Fool?”
The older I get, the less patience I have for all the scrooges who seem determined to urinate on someone else’s holiday festivities. I refuse to engage in another fruitless, senseless argument about how shopkeepers and advertisers are “Taking Christ out of Christmas!” If you resent the commercialism, stop engaging in it; but must we pass laws to deny others participation in what they see as the joy of giving?
When I was a young father, I remember my mother-in-law buying tons of gifts for my kids. We would walk into her house on Christmas morning and it looked like a substation of Santa’s workshop. Toys piled nearly to the ceiling and the occasional socks and underwear ending up in piles of wrapping paper and ribbon. I would complain about the gifts being obscene to my wife. I felt we were missing the whole point of Christmas and I wasn’t shy about saying so (but never to my mother-in-law.) Looking back, I now realize it was the jealousy in my heart that criticized her Christmas spirit. She had the resources to buy for her grandchildren; while I, their father had limited resources and could afford to buy very little for them. Each year it seemed the gifts I bought were overwhelmed by the excess from Grandma Margaret. Perhaps, only in the past two decades have I discovered that her Christmas spirit really wasn’t about the gifts. It was about feeling good and wanting the best Christmas ever for those she loved.
In 1959 The McGuire Sisters had a song reach number 11 on the Billboard charts. It goes like this, May you always walk in sunshine; slumber warm when night winds blow. May you always live with laughter for a smile becomes you so. May good fortune find your doorway; may the bluebird sing your song. May no troubles travel you way; may no worry stay too long. May your heartaches be forgotten; may no tears be spilled. May old acquaintances be remembered; and your cup of kindness filled.
I always thought this was a wonder message to wish for people until just this week when my wife Kate asked if I had anything in mind for the holiday e-message. I lied and said I had a couple of ideas; but as always, Kate can see right though my words into my heart and she knew I had nothing, nothing! She handed me an article that I want to share with you. It is entitled, “I Wish You Enough” and was written by a friend of Brenda Humfleet, President of the Hospice of Dayton Foundation.
A mother and a daughter in their parting moments at the airport hugged one another and while still embracing the mother whispered, “I love you and I wish you enough.” The adult daughter replied, “Mom, our life together has been more than enough; I wish you enough too.” They kissed and the daughter boarded the plane.
The mother saw me watching her and asked, “Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?” “Yes, I have,” I replied, “And forgive me for asking, but why was this a forever good-bye?” “I am old and my daughter lives far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is …her next trip back will be for my funeral.”
I said, “When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough.’ May I ask what you meant by that?” She smiled and said, “When we said, “I wish you enough, we want each other to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them.” She then concluded her talk with me by sharing this wish whose author is unknown. “I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright, no matter how gray the day. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun when it shines once again. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting. I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may be appreciated. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your want. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I wish you enough love to get you through the final good-bye.”
Humfleet then concludes by saying, to all of you who are facing your own challenges, I wish you enough.
We are so contentious and we define ourselves by our differences rather than by our similarities.
We are so judgmental that we choke on a gnat and swallow a camel. We want to remove the speck from someone else’s eye while ignoring the log fixed in our own. Until we ultimately come to realize that we have no power over any other than ourselves, we will continue to insist on running roughshod over those who don’t look as we do, speak as we speak, think as we think, worship as we worship, hate as we hate, or love as we love. We must begin turning the corner if we are ever to fulfill the promise of true faith and good will to all.
Kate and I wish you enough and offer you this additional Irish blessing, “May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind always be at your back, May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly upon your gardens or fields and until we meet again, may you rest lovingly in the palm of God’s hand.”
Pastor Paul Reed
November 2007
by Merrill H. Mellott, Presiding
Elder
Whenever any form of government becomes destructive …it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it.”
- Huey Newton, Founder, Black Panther
Party
Let every person be subject
to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except God,
and those authorities, which exist have been instituted by God. Therefore,
whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those
who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not terror to good conduct,
but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of authority? Then do what is
good, and you will receive its approval; for it is God’s servant for
your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the
authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God
to execute wrath on the wrong doer. Therefore one must be subject, not
only because of wrath, but also because of conscience. For the same
reason you must pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants,
busy with this very thing. Pay to all what is due them; taxes to whom
taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect
is due, honor to whom honor is due.”
It amazes me that seven verses
in one chapter of one book of the Bible can elicit so much debate, acrimony,
frustration, misunderstanding, diverse and down right stupid interpretation.
Most of the problems people have with scriptural reference arise from
a failure to understand what Biblical scholars call contextual issues
and the attempt on the part of the casual reader practicing eisegesis
as opposed to exegesis. Eisegesis means the reading of one’s preconceived
opinions into the text and exegesis is drawing the meaning from
the text by critical examination and interpretation.
What is the context in which
this sacred document was written? Allow me to point out that Paul’s
epistle to the Church at Rome is just that. The Book of Romans is the
singular opus of Christian Theology. Paul was writing this document
t as a summation of his previous writings to a well established “Community
of the Way” in the city of Rome. This doctrinal correspondence was
never intended for the world. It is not a universal treatise. Paul is
transcribing this missal from Corinth in late 57 AD (CE). The entire
church was under death threatening persecution and conflict from within
and without. Remember Jesus equals God, a dead man comes back to life,
man is saved by the execution of a convicted criminal, and that act
is the means of man’s eternal salvation which resulting in God’s
grace, is taken into the life of the believer by faith. This is a rather
large and difficult pill to swallow, let alone defend. This is particularly
true if you are one of those “fools for Christ” standing in the
arena facing a hungry lion. Lions love to eat scapegoats.
Paul was writing as a Pharisaic
educated Jew, a Roman citizen and a Greek scholar. He had bet his life
on this Galilean pilgrim who had confronted him on the road to Damascus
where he was headed to conduct his own blood-letting of the early Christians.
In the minds of most New Testament scholars, Paul was a wise and brilliant
choice. Who else had the ability to draw together the prophetic teachings
of the Old Testament (Tinacha) and the witness of the early Apostles
who had lived and walked with Jesus? He had a lot of help from Luke,
Barnabas, and Mark. No one had a more clear understanding of the perils
of dealing with “iffy” governmental authorities of the Roman world
and the attacks from the recalcitrant Jewish religious authorities than
Paul.
Remember that Moses confronted
the authority of Pharaoh. The first Hebrew king, Saul, was a paranoid
schizophrenic. David was responsible for the murder of the husband of
his pregnant main squeeze Bathsheba and the death of his older son Absalom.
Solomon, the man who wished for wisdom subsequently acquired 700 wives.
(Now that was really wise.) With rare exception, the rest of Israeli
and Judean kings were a corrupt, mean, nasty, and self-indulgent group
of fools always violating their covenant with Yahweh and their responsibility
to their subjects (people.) The early life of Jesus was fraught with
death threatening intentions and brutal violence. Joseph, Mary, and
the Baby Jesus had to sneak out of Bethlehem and hide in Egypt to avoid
the slaughter of the innocents by King Herod. John the Baptist had his
head lopped off like a Thanksgiving turkey all because he condemned
Herod for killing his own brother so he could shack up with his brother’s
wife (widow.) Stephen was stoned to death by angry Jewish religious
leaders and Roman government officials. All of the Apostles and many
of the followers of the “Way” ultimately faced brutal deaths at
the hands of the authorities. Oh yes, there was also a little thing
called the Crucifixion.
Out of all the above, Paul
still writes, “Let all persons (Christians) be subject to the governmental
authorities…” Why? It is because we are of another kingdom. “Give
unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s.” Matthew 22:21 NRSV Before we complete this
treatise, here are a few observations about governmental authority from
“a worldly point of view.” Consider these thoughts before we blindly
acquiesce to any identified tyranny of authority.
Beyond obedience to governmental
authority and man’s laws; first and foremost, our (people of God)
obedience is to God. We are to live by God’s Law, the Shema, the first
four of the Ten Commandments, the active loving of neighbors, the poor,
orphans and widows. The bottom line is that Christians are to glorify
God, Serve God, and show kindness to others. This is the first doctrine
of all the major Catechisms of the Church.
It is most difficult to live
in the two worlds of the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the material
and secular world. One stands for and encourages harmony, balance, and
unity and the later calls us to, well, US. Governments are usually formed
to defend our belief systems. They are the power to destroy or detach
from other belief systems such as Communism, Socialism, Fascism, Eccoism,
Islam, KKK, Secular Humanism, etc. Government is man’s substitute
for community and dissipates our responsibility to neighbor. Christ
was never at odds with Rome but Rome was a nasty curse on the Jews and
Jesus was just another pesky, flea-lie Jew. This is why Jews and Christian
better stick together. In the history of civilized mankind, government
has always been the problem rather than the solution. Government and
governmental authority has forever been an imposition to the people.
But we continue dragging some new revised governing system to solve
problems that have been created by and for the “solvers.” It seems
that nothing ever really get resolved.
Chapters 12-16 of Romans are
instruction on how Christians are to live in these two opposing worlds
with faith and hope; having harmony, balance, and unity with God and
each other. Above all Paul is teaching in these five chapters that Christians
are to remain responsible contributing citizens and be true to God’s
call at the same time. Chapter 13, verses 1 through 7 are instructions
on how Christians are to respond to government.
With reference to the opening
quote of Huey Newton, at any time and in any place when the ruling authority
and its quislings transgress the Laws of God, Christians are required
to rebel. Rebelling against tyranny is the first cousin of Faith.
There is an ultimate “Screw
you Rome!”
Pilate says to Jesus, “Where
do you come from?” Jesus offered no answer, remaining silent. “Do
you refuse to speak to me,” Pilate asked? “Don’t you realize I
have the power either to free you or have your crucified?” Jesus answered,
“You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from
above…” John
9:9b-11 NRSV “But
strive (Seek) first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all
these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33
I rest my case.
Bring it on!!!!
Love God and pray for a gentle
and kinder IRS.
September 2007
Once when Jesus had been praying, he called his disciples to him and asked, “Who do people say I am?” “Some say John the Baptist,” they said. “Others think you are either Elijah or Jeremiah.” What about you,” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon answered him by saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!” SJV Matthew 16:13b-16 Keep in mind there are gazillions of people in the world who do not believe that Jesus was a Messiah or the Son of God. We are a worldwide society filled with diverse cultures and religious thought. Not everyone believes as you do. Many believe something quite different and it is both impossible and irresponsible to hold them to the same standard of faith behavior you have if you profess to be a Christian.
This is the crux of many problems in the world today. As Rodney King said after being beaten nearly to death on the mean streets of Los Angeles, “Why can’t we all just get along?” We are so self-centered we ignore common ground with others within our own culture; and there is enough hatred and distrust just among Christians to have created more than two thousand years of constant conflict. Stir in all the other religions; and you’ve got Armageddon in the making.
Did you ever see the sci-fi classic movie, The Day the Earth Stood Still? A flying saucer arrives in the early fifties carrying one humanoid passenger named Klaatu and one big honking robot possessing devastating destructive power. They have come to Earth for the sole purpose of warning us to learn the practice of peace on earth before we reach for the stars. After approximately 92 minutes of fictional logic, the spaceman leaves with a warning to all of us; change our war-like ways or they will be sending the robot back to kick our butts!
So Mr. Rodney King; lets discuss why even with the onerous warning from Klaatu; we just can’t get it all together! Fundamentalists, home and abroad, tend to profess a belief in the adage, “An eye for an eye; and a tooth for a tooth!” Gandhi, who was not a Christian, once said “An eye for an eye; and soon the whole world is blind!” Jesus said (and you might want to make note of this since so few of us accept it as being Gospel), “You have heard it said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But now I tell you; do not take revenge on those who wrong you. If someone were to assault you, don’t retaliate.” Jesus goes on to say in later verses, “For God makes his sun shine on bad people as well as good ones, and He sends rain to those who do right and those who do wrong,” SJV Matthew 5: 38-45 God gives life to the merciful and the merciless alike. He brings laughter and good times to both good people and evil ones. Our friends and our enemies all look at the same stars and the same moon. God gave us dominion over all the world; and we have been fighting over it ever since. 2000 years ago God sent Jesus; and Jesus brought us the hope of being something more than gluttons, liars, and heartless beasts.
So, is it hopeless? Yes, if your faith is based on rules of law! But if laws won’t save us, what should we believe? Should we believe Jesus spoke for God some of the time but not all of the time? That makes no sense at all; how could we ever decide what truth is and what is not?
I believe we first need to acknowledge there is a Living God and that God is not us. I believe we need to have a daily encounter with the God of our understanding. It does not always have to be in prayer; but it certainly could be. Find time every day to acknowledge the God who gives us life. I also believe we should be careful to do no harm. Can we not evolve to the point in our lives where we look before leaping; and ask the question, “How will this decision I am about to make affect the lives of others around me?”
I believe we should embrace an evangelism in which we express our faith through our actions. The United States ought to be filled with social outrage. We are wealthy enough to spend over 500 billion dollars on a war in Iraq; but cannot find the resources to address the national shame of our health care. When senior citizens must make a choice to either take their medication or eat proper meals, we American Christians have missed the whole point of a relationship with God.
I believe we should practice random acts of kindness and serve each other far more than we serve ourselves. I believe it is obscene to live in opulence while poor and homeless people are living in cardboard boxes and eating food scraps found in dumpsters. Where is our shame? Can you not feel the eyes of Jesus looking at us imploringly to feed his sheep?
There is a powerful bond existing between God and us; and the glue cementing the relationship comes from the realization we mortals are in charge of very little in this world; but those things while small, are critical. National Public Radio discusses the panic and frenzy of the stock market. Heroes trying to save others trapped in a coal mine in Utah, paid for that honor with their own lives. I listened to a meteorologist talk about how badly we need rain while people die in flash floods in Oklahoma. I read a report about the 3700 American men and woman who have sacrificed their lives in a war most of us don’t want. Many mornings I wished I could jump back into bed and cover my head with a pillow. Then I look at the clock on the dresser and I know it is time to begin my commute to work. I have a job to do. It’s nothing big; nothing critically important; but it pays the mortgage and keeps us fed; and for that alone, I am thankful to God. As I pulled out of my driveway the other morning, I said to myself, I am not in charge of making it rain; I do not control the sunrise; and I can’t stop a mountain mineshaft from collapsing. So I need to take care of those things for which I am responsible; and it all begins with my ability to make wise choices. I can be kind or I can be a prick! I can be helpful to others; or I can be indifferent to their needs. I can be a worker worthy of my wages; or I can just do what it takes to get by. I can be grateful for what I have or I can be envious of those who have more. When I realize I cannot do everything but I have an obligation to do those things I can; I am in a good place with the God of my understanding. That’s what I believe.
But as we conclude this e-Letter, doesn’t it make more sense for you to consider the basis of your faith? What is it you really believe? Ignore the inner voices of your mind filling you with the poison of what others say you should or ought to think and do. Examine your motives.
What description do you give for the God of your understanding? Don’t tell me; tell your heart.
Do you believe in a specific religion or do you believe in the overall power of spirituality? Don’t tell me; tell your soul. Do you believe there are some things you really could do better that would make the world around you a better place? Don’t tell me; show us all; then maybe, just maybe, Klaatu might be listening; and the big, honking Robot will stand down.
Peace, Pastor Paul Reed
June 2007
My dad is always asking me Bible questions that I cannot answer. If it weren’t for Google, I would be a disaster as a Biblical resource for him. Recently, we went through an episode about the King James translation of the Bible versus the Douay translation. This is easy for bible scholars but to a simple country preacher like me, it was hard. I rarely use the KJV unless I want to capitalize on the beauty of its language and I have never used the Douay translation as a source for study or for quoting scripture. So I Googled up a couple of websites and demonstrated a remarkable capacity for plagiarism.
Having handled this challenge deftly (if not with honor,) I thought I was over the hump; but the ink wasn’t dry on the report before Pop asked, “Who was Adam’s wife before Eve?” (Yikes; is this a trick question?) So I went back to Google and this is what I found; clear, concise and directly to the point. “There are un-Biblical legends that Adam had a wife before Eve who was named Lilith. The legends vary significantly, but they all essentially agree that Lilith left Adam because she did not want to submit to him. According to the legends, Lilith was an evil, wicked woman who committed adultery with Satan and produced a race of evil creatures. None of this is fact based. There is no Biblical basis whatsoever for these concepts. There is no one in the Bible named Lilith.” So, just when I thought I was quite brilliant, Pop asked me to name the Four Famous Rivers of the Bible. I have to get the man refocused on the spirituality found in a daily relationship with the God of his understanding; and extract him from a budding career as a writer for Jeopardy.
“I’ll take the Bible for $200, Alex.”
Alex says, “The answer is, Tigris, Euphrates, Jordan, and the Nile.” I buzz in and reply, “What are the four most famous rivers of the Old Testament?” Then I say, “Let’s stick with the Bible for $400, Alex.”
He says, “The answer is, Euphrates, Pison, Gihon, and the Hiddekel.”
I buzz in again and say, “What are the Four Rivers of Eden?”
I’ve managed to earn $600 bucks on Jeopardy but haven’t done a thing for spiritual growth or understanding. Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians, “I may have all kinds of knowledge and even understand the secrets of the universe; I may even have all the faith necessary to move mountains - but if I don’t love and care for others; I am nothing!”
I Corinthians 13:2b SJV
There are many who literally worship the Bible more passionately than they worship God. They quote chapter and verse for anything with a particular emphasis on the biblical sound bites that strengthen or justify their religious points of view.
They use brief and disjointed references in the Book of Leviticus to condemn gays and lesbians for all time. Talk about being judgmental; keep in mind the Levites were the religion police of their day. These are the same guys who forbade us to eat a meal of meat and dairy products. They were the ones who said eating bacon offends God. You can also forget about pork tenderloin or the phenomenal smell of a baked ham during the holidays. I believe the Levites were the role models for the boys in Rome who declared with a straight face that it was “a mortal sin to eat meat on Fridays.” Fundamentalists jump all over the homosexual item; the dietary rules and warnings; not so much.
We really need to think hard about the Bible thumping we do to prove a point we believe. It has been written that “All Scripture is the Inspired Word of God.” If you are staking your soul on that sentence, then you must follow ALL the rules and not just the convenient ones. I would like to know how you stand on the following lesser known biblical mandates.
1. “There can be no steps leading up to an altar in the place of worship.” (We have lots of big churches; and lots of steps.)(Leviticus)
2. “You shall not wrong or abuse any resident alien.” (Our country has millions of Hispanic people who have come seeking hope for a better life. Don’t most conservative movements want to punish the illegal aliens while opposing amnesty?)(Leviticus)
3. “If you lend money to the poor among you, you shall not ask for interest from them.” (Predatory lending practices are threatening our economy. Preying on the poor, the old, the widows and the orphans is a national past-time; and bigger than baseball in our country.)(Leviticus)
4. “No man who has crushed testicles shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.” (Ouch! And who’s gonna check?)(Leviticus)
5. “As in all the churches of God’s people, the women should keep quiet in the church meetings. They are not allowed to speak; they must not be in charge. If they want to know something, they should ask their husbands at home. It is a disgraceful thing for a woman to speak in a church meeting.” (Say what?)(I Corinthians)
I do not accept the writings, the oral histories, the Epistles, the Gospels, or the near endless translations, as infallible. I would like to think learning new and important things about ourselves and our world does not disqualify us from the grace and love of God. What mental moron (just the other day in a pre-presidential debate) responded, “The jury is still out on evolution as a scientific fact!” It doesn’t make any sense to argue about the origin of the wives of the sons of Adam because the creation story is an oral history passed down over countless generations. Do you think Davy Crockett really killed himself a b’ar when he was only three? The seven days of creation is a weak rationale for believing in the awesome power of the living God. Jesus had monumental struggles with the Levites and the bible thumpers of his day; and he had the wisdom of God the Father in his heart and his soul. Are you going to tell me that you are buying the religious hard line that Jesus Himself rejected on His way to the cross?
My dear Theophilus; where shall we look concerning our faith and commitment to a Living God? I would suggest we look into our own hearts. Do you practice kindness and mercy? Are you tolerant and non-judgmental? Do you really love others as much as you love yourself? Do you have the deeds that prove you walk the walk as well as you talk the talk? What have you done today to enrich the life of another human being? Are you trying to “pay it forward” or are you only interested in repaying in return for gifts received? We have the power to make things better; but it will require real commitment. You and I have the power; now all we need is the resolve!
Peace. Pastor Paul Reed
Recently I performed a wedding ceremony for my son and his wife. At the reception I was talking to the friends and family who were in attendance, when a fellow came up to me and said. “So tell me about St James Community e-Church. How can you have a church without a church?” I told him that Jesus never had a church, neither did Peter, Paul, or Mary for that matter. I also suggested that he was confusing the church with a church building. There are gazillions of church buildings that are little more than white-washed tombs. They are more like shopping malls and concert halls than a sanctuary for the worship of God the Father and the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ.
The really popular “Churches of What’s Happening Now” are mega-monsters with a pulpit platform large enough to accommodate a Harlem Globetrotters basketball game. They come fully loaded with sound systems that would make any hard rock band drool with delight and enough video technology to create Gone with the Wind or Lord of the Rings. The audience spills into a never ending ocean of comfortable seats. The worship service is a combination of theater and lecture with the featured performance being the pastor’s power point presentation on a topic that is thinly veiled as something spiritual. It might be about how to live a driven life; lose weight and feel better for Christ; to dress for flash without spending too much cash; or learn a systematic strategy for electing the politicians who will be sympathetic to the church’s views on social issues. There will always be the usual plea for financial support.
The everyday attacks on “wrong kinds of people” are promoted by these fundamentalist leaders and they break my heart. How can we open the eyes of the blind or the ears of the deaf to the misguided messages they teach? How much venom do we have to experience before we realize we are dealing with the worst kind of poisonous snakes?
Jesus spoke of these demagogues as being white washed tombs when He cried out, “Impostors! You lock the door to the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You take advantage of women and children by robbing them, all the while offering long and meaningless prayers about something you neither understand nor believe. You reach across continents to win a convert and then make him or her twice as deserving of hell as you are. You ceremoniously clean the outside of your body; while the inside of it is full of things you have gotten through violence and selfishness. How terrible it will be for you impostors who teach and preach faithlessly. You are like white washed tombs, looking fine on the outside; but filled with dead people’s bones on the inside. Yes, you appear to everybody as good, but inside you are full of lies and sin! Matthew 23:13-28 SJV
Jesus went on to say, “Listen to me and try to understand for this is very important. It is not what we put into our mouths that make us unclean or unacceptable; it is the hate, venom, and lies that spew out of them that prove us unworthy in the eyes of God.” Matthew 15:10-11 SJV
To paraphrase the late John Belushi (portraying a Killer Bee in a long ago episode of Saturday Night Live), “Buildings? We don’t need no stinking buildings!” People don’t need a church if they are willing to be the church! We don’t need a coming together place to worship God if we come together with the God of our understanding every day. We don’t need a television evangelist telling us to send money to him or her to do good things for us if we ourselves are willing to make personal commitments to the challenges that rage around us.
People often ask me what they can do to make a difference in the world when there are so many things needing our attention. I recall the words of John Denver when asked about what we can do to make the world a better place for everyone; Denver said, “We need to understand that we cannot do everything, but we certainly have the power within us to do something.” Discover your passion and stop worrying about everything; but to make a difference, you must step up and do something.
Father Leo O’Donovan, president of Georgetown University said, “The biggest challenge is prioritizing and trying to give your best effort to the most important things.” We Americans tend to disregard the important stuff and dive right into the cesspool in which people with too much time and money allocate excessive amounts of both to “shit projects”. The federal government spent millions of dollars on a grant to discover why children fall off of tricycles; but this same benevolent entity cannot fund health care for children living in poverty throughout the USA. We have hundreds of billions of dollars to flush down the toilet of the industrial-military complex for weapons of war that will be obsolete 15 minutes after they are shipped to Timbuktu; but our senior citizens take half doses of the medications they need because they can’t pay the rip-off prices that pour obscene profits into the bigger and bigger barns being built by the pharmaceutical companies.
Some egotists spend more than $500,000 on a wedding ceremony. Others spend a million bucks on a birthday party. We build bigger and bigger houses that we cannot afford to impress people we loathe. We are like the farmer in the New Testament who declared he had such a rich harvest that he needed to build bigger barns to accommodate his wealth; but listen to the disapproval he received from God, “You selfish fool, this very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all the profits you have kept for yourself?” Luke 12:16-20 SJV
So, what can we do to make a difference? Find a charity that touches your heart strings and open your purse strings; but for God’s sake; don’t send your money to some demagogue sitting in front of a television camera, decked out in a $2,000 suit and a $400 haircut; offering you a free book in exchange for your donation to his or her cause. St James doesn’t want your money. If this ministry has value, God will help our ministers find work in the secular marketplace. Paul was tent maker. Jesus was a carpenter, and Peter was a fisherman. Try to commit random acts of kindness; but remember they cannot be planned in advance. If you try to plan for them, they are no longer random.
Strother Martin (playing the part of the warden of a southern prison in the movie Cool Hand Luke) said to Luke (Paul Newman), “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” What we do, speaks louder than what we say. Set a time to pray everyday. If you have difficulty finding free time for prayer, do it in the car during your commute; pray during your daily exercise program; do it while you brush your teeth. You can find the time and you must make it a habit. If you want to be the church, establish a daily encounter with the God of your understanding. Every day ask God to help you be a better person. Ask and believe that this request is being fulfilled in you, and you will find yourself trying harder; not because you must; but because you want to be a better person.
I want to end this e-message with a wonderful prayer from one of those anonymous sources on the internet. This one touches my life as dramatically as any prayer I have ever prayed and I thank God for the person who sent it to me.
Heavenly Father; help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night may be a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry, and spend a few precious moments with her children.
Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day may be a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.
Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress may be savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year they'll go shopping together.
Remind us each day that of all the gifts you give us, the greatest is Love; but it is not enough to share that Love with only those we hold as precious. Open your hearts to ALL HUMANITY (this is the tough part). Let us be slow to judge others (yikes, this is me vs. the tele-preachers) and quick to forgive; let us be patient; and encourage us to learn that life isn’t always about what we want and when we want it.
Peace and Amen Pastor Paul Reed
I love this time of year - with the lights, and gifts, and food, the popular and sacred music, and especially the gatherings...
It is fascinating that this season holds such power, that so many holidays and sacred and secular observances down through the ages and across so many cultures cluster around the winter solstice.
Reach back with me, deep into the past, to the beginnings of humanity. A thousand centuries ago, humans just like us were spreading northward out of Africa, along the coasts eastward into Europe and westward into India and Asia. None had yet found their way to the Americas, but an ice age was coming, and the submerged lands separating Asia from North America would dry out, and the game animals would lead us eastward. We had some simple tools, and language, and we were smart, and we were pattern-seekers - and these things enabled us to survive.
As early humans moved farther and farther from our equatorial East African origins, we began to experience the seasons. Some must have noticed the sun getting weaker in the sky, and the nights getting longer, and food becoming harder to find. The pattern-seeking part of our brains would see the life-giving sun dying away, and we would feel fear and loss and loneliness.
As the days grew colder and the nights longer, small family groups would seek each other, and band together for protection from the night and the cold and the hunger. I can imagine them calling from hilltop to hilltop in a language long forgotten "We are here! Is anyone there?" And they may have called in long rises and falls, like wolves, or great whales, and might we not call that singing?
Small bands came together, and there would be exchanges of food, or tools, or fetishes that symbolize food and animals, or places we have been, or people we have known. These exchanges strengthened the group's tenuous bonds, and distributed scarce resources, and the groups survived.
In the long nights, our ancient ancestors could not hunt, nor safely walk any distances, so they would huddle together against the cold and look at the sky, and the thousands of stars so close they could almost reach them. What are they? What do they mean? Our pattern-seeking brains would connect the dots, see representations of food and animals, or places they had been, or people they had known. We would recognize the sameness of the stars from night to night, and notice that a few of them changed or moved. We would become astronomers.
Days passed, the sun weakening and the nights lengthening, until - and it was not immediately apparent, because they had no timekeeping devices other than their own biological rhythms, but still there was no mistake - something important had changed. The sun was recovering its strength, and the nights stopped getting longer! Fear and loss and loneliness gave way to a new emotion - hope!
I think it is no coincidence that the holidays on and around the winter solstice - these sacred days and nights of pagan rites and Christmas lights - are celebrated with themes established at the dawn of humanity: we gather with family and friends, we share food and exchange gifts, we sing together to hold back the night. But mostly, we celebrate hope.
People of the Arctic who see entire days that pass without sunlight tell of the Raven who stole the light of the world and of the Eagle who chased Raven with the ball of light into the sky and over the mountains.
Pre-Christian Rome had its bawdy Saturnalia, with feasting and gift-giving and decorating with greenery and candles.
The Anglo-Saxon holiday Yule - meaning wheel or cycle - lights the solstice night with fire.
Jews celebrate Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, and recount the miracle of the sacred oil that burned for eight days.
Christians celebrate the birth of a savior, with hope of deliverance from poverty and oppression and ultimately from death itself.
Even our secular celebrations harken back to our ancient origins - we light the night with candles, and decorate with little twinkling lights that recall the actual stars not much changed from the skies of 1000 centuries ago. We hang on our Christmas trees small fetishes of food and animals, and places we have been, and people we have known.
We sing sacred songs about the darkness and the stars - Silent night, Holy night, All is calm, All is bright; It came upon a midnight clear; Star of wonder, star of night! Star of royal beauty bright.
We look up at the night sky, the cold bright stars appearing so close we can almost reach them, and see that the heavens and the earth are one, and we are of them, and we sing of hope.
I'd like to close with a brief meditation:
Please bow our heads in a moment of silence for those gone from us yet fondly remembered; for those in struggles at home and abroad, against hardship and oppression; and for those seeking but not yet finding hope and peace.
"As we seek inward to discover that which makes us each unique, may we discover the commonalities that bind us together as human. And as we seek outward for meaning and understanding of the universe and our place in it, may we also seek to understand ourselves."