· Earlier this week the US House of Representatives officially apologized for the "fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow." It took some time - 140 years - but better late than never. Apologies are always important & the House resolution obviously recognizes that. Here's part of the way they described it:

Whereas a genuine apology is an important and necessary first step in the process of racial reconciliation;

Whereas an apology for centuries of brutal dehumanization and injustices cannot erase the past, but confession of the wrongs committed can speed racial healing and reconciliation and help Americans confront the ghosts of their past;

Whereas it is important for this country, which legally recognized slavery through its Constitution and its laws, to make a formal apology for slavery and for its successor, Jim Crow, so that it can move forward and seek reconciliation, justice, and harmony for all of its citizens: Now, therefore, be it

(1) acknowledges that slavery is incompatible with the basic founding principles recognized in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal;

(2) acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow;

(3) apologizes to African Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow; and

(4) expresses its commitment to rectify the lingering consequences of the misdeeds committed against African Americans under slavery and Jim Crow and to stop the occurrence of human rights violations in the future.

· You may remember the immigration raids
in Postville, Iowa. The Agriprocessors plant there was run by an Orthodox Jewish family and supplied 60% of the nation's kosher beef & 40% of the kosher poultry. It's been interesting to hear some of the stories coming out of Postville in the weeks after the raid. Exploitation, horrible working conditions, underage workers. The obvious lessons relate to: 1) the huge need to reform our immigration system (for starters the law & order principle can't just be about raids, businesses have to be held accountable as well) and 2) the huge need to rethink our attitudes toward work and wages in this country - are there really some jobs that Americans just won't do? (it seems that way given the fact that unemployment is spiking while the meatpacking & other food processing plants are employing a huge number of immigrants - at Postville it was close to half their workers if not more)

But what about the less than obvious lessons - especially for people of faith? Like whether or not we're really paying attention to where the products we consume come from. Or whether we have any understanding of the way the people who prepare those products are treated. We might want to begin paying some attention to how our Jewish brothers & sisters are dealing with the issue in light of the Postville raid. Rabbi Morris Allen is worth following. He's spearheading an alternative certification philosophy offers a lot to think about regardless of your thoughts on keeping kosher. There's a significant debate going on about what it means to be faithful as it relates to the Jewish food laws.

As Christians we no longer adhere to those food laws; but that doesn't seem to be what this is all about in my mind. We may or may not have ever purchased a product processed at the Postville plant. But do we really know anything about where all our food comes from? Have we ever thought much about how we might spend our dollars in order to support businesses that treat their employees with dignity? Isn't this about justice in the workplace regardless of whether or not you have the proper documentation to be here? Shouldn't Christ followers have something to say about that?

· Finally, the whole Randy Pausch Last Lecture thing on YouTube. It's worth the time to watch it. There's also info on Wikipedia, an interview on ABC, and a book The Last Lecture on Amazon. Not to mention Randy's own blog/update site - heart-wrenching as you'd expect, but it's got its funny moments as well. All this just points out how badly we need to talk about dying & how we do it. Or should I say, how we do it well.

Great post Kim, although I feel we slide too easily into abstract argument. It seems clear that in Scripture God called Israel and other entire people groups to repentance for such corporate acts as acts of torture in warfare, neglect of the poor, and mistreatment of migrants.

So this brings to my mind a couple of questions I would like to pose and see what answers are offered.

1) What are the people groups today? Is this limited to nation-states? In an increasingly globalized world where cultures are constantly mixing with others, who are the people groups to stand in corporate faithfulness or repentance?

2) What are we to repent of? As a Anglo male, there is simply too much that comes to mind (continued benefits from a racist, classist, sexist society; complicity to unnecessary war, participation in a society that thrives on a hegemonic belief that peace comes through relating with others militaristically such as the practice of torture, building walls on the southern border, and a national budget that has ballooned through military spending).

I cannot help but wonder if our overly individualistic understanding of Scripture and our hyper-spiritualistic expressions of faith are partly a result of not allowing ourselves to deal with all of the sin we engage in, are complicit to, and benefit from. To truly be aware of it and not just give some kind of Sunday school answer to get rid of the guilt seems crushing at times, doesn't it?

Yikes - the bar for a response is pretty high. But the conversation's worth having so here's what I'm thinking about the comment:

1.      When I wrote the original blog I didn't have specific people groups in mind - although that's just below the surface in much of my thinking. Actually, I was thinking more of the church itself - particularly in the West - as the people group. Particularly in Jesus' message about turning away from our idea of what it means to be the people of God & trusting him for his. So as far as the need for corporate faithfulness & repentance goes, I was thinking more in terms of the church & its behavior & witness. For instance - our history & continued expressions of racism, colonialism, imperialism, etc.

2.      That leads directly to the question of what we're to repent from. 19^th Century Evangelical was right to point out that for Anglo males the list is pretty long. But I dare say that the same list (give or take an item here or there) could apply to the Western Christian Church as a whole, so Anglo women like myself & even non-Anglos to a certain extent, shouldn't fool themselves into thinking they get a pass. Christians in the West have a lot to account for no matter how you cut it.

There's no doubt that the guilt for all this can seem overwhelming. But I don't believe we have to be crushed. Again, I think 19^th CE is on track about the link between our individualistic understanding of Scripture & hyper-spiritualistic expressions of faith & not allowing ourselves to deal with all of the sin we engage in, are complicit to & benefit from. As far as my ministry is concerned, I believe the church as a whole will always need reminding about Jesus' way of being the people of God, in contrast to our way of being the people of God. As far as my personal faith journey is concerned, I will always need reminding about that communal repentance list so that I don't keep sliding into a hyper-spiritualized, individualistic understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. So that I'm actually moved to leave my safe, individual spiritual enclave & live in a more faithful communal way. Ironically, for me, that more faithful communal way seems to begin when I take a hard look at my own individual behavior.

Frankly, this is still pretty abstract & 19^th CE mentioned that it's all too easy to slip into abstract argument. But hey - I'm a doctoral student & we're all about the abstract. But if we're going to keep it real - which is what I titled this blog - we're going to have to figure out what all this really looks like. What does it mean to corporately repent? What does it mean to be faithful in a communal way? Of course, that brings us right back to 19^th CE's questions. Any thoughts?

A really thought provoking comment was posted on the May 14^th blog which deserves some good attention. In the time it takes me to gather my own thoughts, I encourage you to read both the blog & the comments & see what you think. Seeds of a very fruitful conversation…

General Conference was a remarkable blend of celebration & struggle with the struggle redeemed in large part by tremendously meaningful worship experiences, powerful preaching & the blessing of new relationships. Our bishops focused a great amount of attention on Wesley's three simple rules - do no harm, do good, love God. That focus provided a profound foundation for a conference whose primary theme was hope, specifically A Future with Hope. It was easy to rejoice in the ability of the UMC to make a difference for God's kingdom - easy because we really are making a difference - a huge difference. It was also easy to catch the excitement of moving forward & continuing that kingdom work in a more focused way. UM global health initiatives to address the killer diseases of poverty (with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), our continued Nothing But Nets program (which has broken records for giving & is such a simple & effective way to address a deadly problem), & the strength of the UM church in Africa (where the growth is so fast you can hardly keep track of it) are some of the many signs of the missional momentum that's taken hold of the UMC.

Sadly, in the midst of that exciting momentum is the giant elephant sitting quietly in the room - our continued struggle over the issue of homosexuality. That's a struggle that's made that much more poignant by the same three simple rules that do so much to energize us - do no harm, do good, stay in love with God. Even as delegates sought to remain true to our existing teaching, and by doing so follow the second rule, others perceived that very commitment to be a complete violation the first. What a painful dilemma - that a person trying to do good might be perceived by another to be doing harm.

It's in the midst of that dilemma - that struggle - that I continue to affirm that our God is a God who acts in powerfully transformative ways. Yet, also in the midst of that struggle, I realize that we've been debating this issue for 25+ years with little change in the end result. For both sides the question seems to be the same, why has God not acted to transform the heart of the other? Why do we remain divided in such a painful & counterproductive way?

The reality of our struggle & the questions that accompany it might imply that God is unable to transform hearts and minds. But I don't think so. That answer's just a bit too easy. I think the reality points to a very different truth - a truth that's probably pretty difficult for us to bear regardless of where we stand on the issue: that, for reasons unknown to us, God has chosen not to act to transform the thinking of either side. Those on the "left" remain on the "left;" those on the "right" remain on the "right." It's a difficult truth to ponder, not because it raises the issue of God's power to act, not even because it raises the issue of the rightness of our commitment one way or the other. It's difficult because it raises the issue of how we relate to one another in the time until God acts.

General Conference is over. Our quadrennial time of ritualized argument has once again come to a close and our doctrine remains intact. But what of this time that stretches before us - this time in which God has yet to act? What of the relationships within this expression of the Body of Christ known as the United Methodist Church? How will we live together? How will we live out those three simple rules? How will we do no harm, do good & stay in love with God - together?

Basically, I hit the ground running & that's been the pace ever since. There was an orientation session for women delegates prior to the opening of the conference & that was interesting. Not surprisingly, the various petitions that were of interest to women were described & highlighted. That was helpful for sure. But the politics of the church was immediately on display - a little disheartening so soon after my arrival - but that's the nature of the game I suppose.

I didn't realize how deep the division had become, how much painful baggage people were carrying, until I was scanning the summary list of petitions & came across one that struck me as simple & straight forward. The brief description stated that the petition proposed changing the responsibilities of the Women's Division to add "to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to their local communities." Aha! I thought - at least one petition that won't be controversial. The mission of the UMC is "make disciples of Jesus Christ," this should be a no brainer. But then I scanned the comments section of the summary list which read: Women's Division does not support. What? The Women's Division of the United Methodist Church doesn't support a petition that emphasizes the responsibility of Christ following women to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to their local communities? I asked someone at my table what was up. Her response was interesting. Oh, she said, there must be an agenda behind that - sometimes it's not what the petitions says that matters - it's who submits it.

But then came opening worship. I wish I'd been able to experience this first. A powerful message. A tremendous spirit. The church at its best. And that was followed up on Thursday morning by another wondrous worship experience - a celebration of ministry flowing from & imbedded in the Eucharist. Again - the church at its best. And then again on Friday morning. And then again this morning. Powerful preaching, tremendous spirit. The church at it's best.

The Legislative group sessions have started. That's the smaller groups that meet to work on petitions & resolutions, either dealing with them completely themselves or working on them to send to the entire body of the conference. My group is called Faith & Order. It deals with all the doctrinal issues that face the church. I expected the politics to begin anew. And they have to a certain extent. And I imagine it will get more intense as time moves on - at least that's what people keep saying. But somehow there's a spirit here that's surprised me & it's infected me so I feel prepared - in mind & spirit. That picture of the church at its best is vivid in my mind. The evidence of the powerful things that God's Holy Spirit is doing through the United Methodist Church - sometimes with our help & sometimes despite us - continues to give me confidence that the church really can live at its best.

But now I've got to get back to my Legislative group - the nitty gritty of politics is about to begin in earnest. The part where who submitted the petition is more important that what the petition says - even if all it says is that we need to live as expressions of the good news of Jesus Christ. So I'm keeping that image of the church at its best firmly in my mind - just in case it isn't at its best for the next several days.

Update #2: Phd work continues - the pursuit of usable words. Crunch time is approaching for that too. Only a week after GC I leave for another set of consultations in Durham with the assumption that I will have produced another riveting stack of documents. Notice I used the word assumption & we all know happens when we assume. If you're lucky enough to hear from me during GC, I'm not sure your luck will hold through this trip but we'll see.

Update #3: Some of you may have noticed that several of my blogs have disappeared. That's due to a pastoral decision which most of you will probably understand. I'd appreciate continued prayers for my family & if anyone has pressing comments about the topics I covered, feel free to email me.

Signing off for now - packing awaits me & it looks like I'm going to need a separate suitcase for all the printed material I'm expected to bring. YIKES.

We're a sports family so March madness is always a favorite time of year for us. That, coupled with the fact that soccer is being played somewhere in the world at all times & the magic of digital cable brings it right into our living room means that there is never a shortage of sporting events to watch in our house. So part of my great weekend was spent watching both soccer & basketball - curled up in a blanket on the couch in our basement. At some point I decided to close my eyes - just for few minutes - which led to another part of my great weekend - a nice nap. The only downside was that when I woke up the game was over. I'd missed it.

Have you ever noticed that when you fall asleep the game doesn’t stop for you? The game will always go on even if you're sleeping right through.

I suppose there are worse things than sleeping through a ball game. That's what came to my mind when I realized I'd slept right through. It seems to me that there’s an even more costly kind of sleep - spiritual sleep - it's like we go to sleep on the inside & become oblivious to that God-part of us.

When I was napping, I was oblivious to what was going on around me. Spiritual sleep is kind of like that only instead of losing physical consciousness, we lose spiritual consciousness. We sleep right through all the wonderful things God's doing around us & we're not aware of God's presence or able to sense God’s direction in our life.

When my kids were growing up I would always check on them before I went to bed. Just go in & look at them, maybe give them a soft kiss if I could get away with it. I still do it to Hannah & she's 16 - once a mother, always a mother I suppose. But my middle daughter, Maggie was always very aware of this habit & it meant a lot to her because sometimes she would wake up & accuse me of not checking on her. And every time I'd have to say, “Yes, Maggie, I did check on you. I just didn’t wake you up.”

Even though I was really there – in her room, right next to her bed, she was oblivious to my presence. When we're spiritually asleep, even though God is intimately involved, right there with us, present with us, even speaking to us - we’re oblivious & unaware.

Now I'm not talking about being comatose. There are always going to be times when we're jolted into consciousness. Maybe something intense happens in our life - either intensely good or intensely bad - & that intensity is enough to wake us up. But it usually takes something pretty major.

When I think about the resurrection that's kind of what I think of. This huge God-jolt that's big enough, intense enough to wake us up. It's so powerful you don't have to be right with Jesus to experience the miracle - even 2000 years later we're still feeling the reverberations of that God energy released through the resurrection. That's the way it is with miracles of God really. God never draws a circle around miracles & say's "ok, we'll do it right here."

Sometimes I wonder as Christ followers whether or not we're asleep - & if we are whether we actually like it that way. We can ask other people who won the game, find out what God was doing, but still stay safely oblivious. The problem with that is that God doesn’t stop the game just because we're asleep. God actually doesn't even wait for us to wake up. God just keeps on playing, keeps on doing God's thing regardless of whether we sleep right through.

When I think about my own life though, & how it felt to suddenly "wake up," it makes me sad that people might be sleeping right through the amazing things God's doing. It's like you're in some kind of dream state, thinking you understand who you are & then all of a sudden you wake up & discover a part of you you never realized was there - this whole new self in there that you never knew about.

Apart from marking one of the most world transforming phenomena in history, Easter is about experiencing the present reverberations of that mind-blowing event 2000 years ago. It's about being jolted awake. In the resurrection God wakes up the sleeping part of your heart, the part that’s been asleep to God. God wakes up those dreams God's placed in your heart that have always been there but that you were only vaguely aware of. Suddenly you realize that there's this incredibly exciting game going on & it's unfolding right in front of you. And you don’t have to sleep through it but can actually be a part of it. That's a pretty powerful jolt. That's why it's important to keep talking about it. That kind of God energy can't be contained in a one day, once a year celebration.

If you know me you know I'm not a big morning person. So when the alarm goes off I don't just hop out of bed. There's always that choice to hit snooze & roll over for a few more minutes. And that's the way it is on our spiritual journeys as well - we can either get up or hit snooze. But no matter what we choose, the game's going to go on - with or without us. And here's the deal with the whole alarm clock thing - the wake part is God’s work - & God did a pretty good job of it in releasing all that God energy into the world 2000 years ago. But now's it the get up part. So are we going to hit snooze & sleep right through?

The statistics really are interesting. Especially the unique visits. Hits may be impressive on the surface because the number's always huge. But hits are pretty random; it's the unique visits that are key. That's the number that represents how many different computers are deliberately accessing your site & staying there long enough to actually explore. Every time I check it I'm encouraged because the numbers keep growing. It's amazing how many of you are out there! And from so many different places!

Checking the statistics is always a kind of mind blowing thing for me - because the whole blogging process is a bit isolated. I sit in my study & write - alone. And you guys are just out there somewhere in cyberspace. So it's easy to forget that you really are reading; that you're actually interested in what I write & that week after week you're waiting for me to get my act together & get another blog posted. That amazes me. And it honors me.

 

Here's an example of how not to become
engaged.

John Hagee recently endorsed John McCain for president. This is probably not the endorsement McCain was dying to get, but that's the way it goes in American politics. When you're campaigning for votes it's risky business to tell someone you don't want theirs.

At any rate, McCain clearly isn't all that interested in Hagee's endorsement although he wouldn't come right out & say it. At first he just said he doesn't always agree with the people who endorse him. But finally on Friday he had to come out & reject the endorsement all together. He had to reject it because Hagee happens to be an exceedingly divisive voice on the extreme right of the Christian political spectrum. His website indicates that he tends toward a literalist perspective on the Bible; although given his income (1.25 million in 2001) & Jesus' instructions to the rich man (sell all you have, give it all to the poor & come follow me), I assume he's somewhat selective in what he applies to himself.

How we politic isn't about who we endorse (although we should all be pretty cautious about endorsements given the tricky nature of the non-profit rules these days), it's about what we proclaim. For example, when we proclaim a message that how we treat strangers is important & that what we do for the least of those around us is important, we can be pretty confident that we're on the right track as far as the "how" of politicking goes. But when we start using phrases like "the great whore" to describe the faith tradition of other Christ followers, or when we assert that anti-Semitism & all the persecution & suffering experienced by Jews throughout history is their own fault because of their disobedience, or declare that Hurricane Katrina was God's way of punishing New Orleans for a "level of sin that was offensive to God" then I think we're on shaky ground indeed.

Folks like Hagee can be pretty frightening when you're trying to figure out the best way to bring the Jesus way to bear on the issues that face us today. But that fear ought not to shut us up. Remember, what goes on in the world matters greatly to God; therefore it needs to matter greatly to us. Involvement in the life of the world - including politics isn't up for debate. So even if folks like Hagee scare us, or intimidate us, or more to the point embarrass us, they ought to also make us that much more determined.

I've got cabin fever these days. Just when I thought we might be done with all the snow & that spring might just start it's painfully slow Midwestern approach, we get dumped on again. Of course I was grousing about this to myself yesterday morning while making my pot of tea when I happen to look out my kitchen window. It was absolutely lovely - as a fresh snow always seems to be, even when you're sick of it. I admonished myself for complaining, thanked God for the beauty & once again prayed earnestly for daffodils & sunshine. Ah well, such is the contradicted spiritual journey of late February in Indiana.

I read an interesting set of editorials yesterday in my local paper. The first was by David Kuo, whose writing I've appreciated over the years. He writes for the Washington Post  & has a regular blog called J-Walking on Beliefnet. The article actually ran on Sunday in the Post under the title "It's Not Your Father's Religious Right."  The second article, which also ran in the Post on Sunday, under the title "How Would Jesus Vote? I'm an Evangelical & a Liberal…Really" was by Amy Sullivan, a contributing editor for Washington Monthly.

As an aside, I always find it interesting that my local paper chooses to edit most of the op-ed pieces they get from other sources. I understand the potential space limitations that are probably involved, but what I find interesting is the way they exercise that editorial power. Most of the time I find what they cut to be extremely interesting & important to the article; and often their editorial cuts subtly or not so subtly change the entire tone of the commentary.

But maybe I'm just in a bad mood because of the snow.

Anyway, these two articles were quite interesting, particularly since they ran side by side. I resonated with both of them. One of the things that struck me was while Kuo (the more "conservative") talked about evangelicals pulling back from politics, Sullivan (the more "liberal") talked about evangelicals becoming more engaged - waking from slumber is I think how she phrased it. As different as they may be, I think both reactions stem from the same source - experiencing the political activity of the "religious right" during the last 20 years.

That some Christ followers might actually be waking from their slumber during this election year is definitely a good thing; but that others might begin to believe that they should avoid politics altogether isn't. Retreating from the world - which, whether we like it or not, involves politics - is never an option for Christ followers. That being said, David Kuo is on target when he highlights a clear spiritual reality in our current culture: the fusion between Bush and Jesus has been tremendously damaging to the perception of what it means to follow in the Jesus way. Sadly, I have to agree with 20% of evangelicals who believe that adopting a "conservative Christian political agenda" has been massively destructive to the image of Jesus Christ.

But as I said, retreating from the world is never an option for Christ followers. The Jesus way is rooted in a world view that proclaims that God is active in the world; not some disinterested deity watching from afar, but one actively engaged in the things of the world, in the stuff of history. And the stuff of history includes politics & governments, policies & legislation, issues & elections. In fact, as distressing as these last 20 years of influence from a hierarchical group of self-anointed political representatives of Jesus has been, it pales in comparison to the other extreme - passivity while the drama of history unfolds with horrific scenes of holocausts, gulags & genocide.

The Christian worldview is one that proclaims that the things of this world matter deeply to God & therefore should matter deeply to any person who claims to follow Jesus Christ. So the question isn't "to politic or not to politic?" The question is how to politic. And while the details involved in answering that question may vary, one aspect is crystal clear: there simply are more than two important issues in our world today. Even though the religious right tried to convince us otherwise, it never was & can never be only about homosexuality & abortion. That means that at least part of the answer to the question of how to politic is that we do it by no longer focusing on those two issues at the expense of tackling other challenges such as alleviating poverty, attending to the crisis of HIV/AIDS & addressing other world health issues, promoting human rights, protecting the environment, improving education & stopping torture, to mention just a few.

As much as it excites me that Christ followers are waking from their political slumber, it saddens me that pastors would ever tell their congregations (as mega-church pastor Greg Boyd of Minnesota did) that the radical life of a Christ follower doesn't include politics. As Christ followers, our lives are to be about participating in God's work to renew all of creation. We're to be salt & light in our neighborhoods, communities, states & nations. We all know that means we can never retreat to our sanctuaries. But it also means that we can't retreat to the familiar territory of missions, no matter how important & meaningful that territory is. Feeding the hungry while sharing the good news of Jesus Christ is crucial, but we mustn't fool ourselves into thinking that we can simply feed the hungry & never address the underlying reasons why they're hungry in the first place. And that, whether we like it or not, involves politics.