The Power of a Smile

I am big. Six feet one inch isn't that tall. My son is six feet five. Standing next to him makes me feel small. I have to reach up to hug him. Yes I am over two hundred pounds, but that isn't that heavy now a day s either, and yes I have to lose a few pounds. On average I am not that big, but put me in a room with two year olds and I am huge. I am a Goliath to their David. And for some just as intimidating particularly when I am wielding a guitar. Friday mornings I sing to the two year olds at Trinity Treasures, our Trinity's wonderful day care. Some of the twos are used to Pastor Joe invading their space, but not all. The look of terror shows up on their faces and some start crying before I even sing a song. She did not quite cry this morning, but her lips quivered and fear filled her eyes. She backed away slowly as I sat down in the chair putting the guitar across my lap. I am big remember. So I did the only thing I could do, smile. I smiled at her from ear to ear while looking into her eyes. Then it happened. A crease appeared across her lips, her eyes lit up, and her body relaxed. Her world was safe again. This giant sitting in front of her was rendered harmless by a smile.

Descriptive vs Prescriptive

I recently returned from the Emergence Christianity Conference or EC13 subtitled a salute to Phyllis Tickle. Phyllis could be described as a ball of energy. She opened her mouth and facts, figures, names, dates, and places poured out of her nonstop for an hour without notes. Most of us preacher types who labor for hours over a manuscript listened with amazement. According to Phyllis, Brian Mclaren is the theologian of Emergence Christianity, which would make Phyllis its historian. At the conference Phyllis, was more descriptive than prescriptive of Emergence Christianity. She does see Emergence Christianity historically as a part of the Great Emergence that is occurring globally. She also sees it as a movement. Then there are the subsets or labels of the groups within Emergence Christianity-such as Emergent, Emerging, Neo-monastics, House churches, Missionals, and the Hyphenated; such as Presby-mergent. Nothing like swimming in a bunch of labels with many folks who resist labeling period. In her recent book and in the lectures Phyllis sees the necessity to label because these group are not all birds of the same feather. Some of the distinctions between Emerging and Emergent have the look and feel of the Berlin Wall. Most of those present for the conference were of the Emergent, Neo-Monastic, Hyphenated, Missional type. The fact that Brian Mclaren was present was probably enough to keep some Emerging folks away. According to Phyllis' labels I find myself a sort of Hyphenated, Emergent, Missional, type in sympathy with Emerging folks. How about that for being ambiguous. What I do find is that over the past 10 years or so, my paradigm of the Christian faith and the church has shifted, and once the shift hits the fan, there is no going back. Sadly some folks do not acknowledge any shift or fan. In hanging around with other like minded folks I felt encouraged to keep finding fresh expressions of the faith and practices of Christianity. What exactly those will be, I do not know, only time will tell.

The Inexplicable

"I've been crying all weekend," was one of the phrases I heard from one of our church's older members this past Sunday. What took place on Friday in Newton, Connecticut was a tragedy of epic proportions. Talk about the death of innocents; children mowed down by bullets fired by some stranger armed to the teeth; a young man who had no personal connection to any of the victims other than his mother taught at the school. But like most events of this nature the media feels obligated to invade sensitive private space and wring some kind of statement from the survivors and the families who have suffered the loss of their children, as if we really need to know what they are thinking and feeling. That they choose to say anything is a feat in and of itself. Such a loss as this renders even the most verbal among us, speechless. As if to make matters worse, others are using this incident to promote some other agenda, and I don't mean gun control. Some are seeing this as one more example of how far our country has fallen in its moral values. One politician went to far as to blame this tragedy as the result of the efforts to get God out of our schools, as if reading from the Bible that morning and saying prayers might have stopped a mentally ill person from entering the school intent to do his worst. This thinking is so theologically wrong on so many points it is not worth elaboration. Statements like these continue to give non-Christians a good excuse not to consider following Jesus. NO doubt over the next month or so a few brave souls may try to honestly make sense out of this incident. Someone will earnestly try to explain it or give some reason for it. Perhaps adequate treatment for the mentally ill will finds its way back into the public discourse. Perhaps the discussion of gun control particularly automatic weapons will be reopened. Years from now perhaps we will be able to look back and see that something good has come from this. However, we have no guarantees. We can't automatically assume that something good will come from something done for evil. So what is a good person of faith to say or do in the face of this tragedy? Nothing. Now is not the time to say something, our silence is the best compassion we can give. If we are called to do anything is is simply to join with God and weep with those who weep.

Is Hallmark Ruining Christmas?

Is Hallmark Ruining Christmas? "When you care enough to send the very best." Is the slogan for Hallmark Greeting Cards. The very best it wants us to send is a message that somehow tells us what to do, what to feel, how to act , what to say, and what to think about Christmas. At the center of it all is the home. Say it with me: There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays! The cards promote the expectations we should have for the holidays. Clark Griswald is a possible victim of the Hallmark Christmas mentality. We have the expectation that Christmas will be shared with loved ones, especially close loved ones--mom, dad, son, daughter, spouse, sisters and brothers. But for many of us, especially those who have lost loved ones this year, the reality will be painfully different. Christmas will not bring additional memories to cherish, only the renewed sense of loss. Seeing those Hallmark images only serve as sharp reminders of the loved ones who are not here any longer. Then there are those picture perfect Hallmark families, which say that our families too should that perfect. So like Clark,we have the expectation Christmas will be shared what that perfect family, a mom and a dad, 2.5 children, uncles and aunts, grandpas and grandmas. The reality is that divorce and strained relationships, long distances and cultural divides shatter the "perfect" family. The group with whom many gather will be smaller than the "ideal" and composed differently than expected. And when ours isn't the "perfect" family, we wondered whether we will have Christmas at all. Whether our family looks the part of a "perfect" family or not, we expect we will at least get along for one day. But as Clark painfully discovered, Eddie shows up. We all too often we do not act the idealized parts. We bring the pain of strained relationships home; we renew old conflicts; we play out old fights. Years ago all of my brothers of which there are three, got together for Christmas gathered around my mother who had been diagnosed which pancreatic cancer. After three days I began to realize why we all live in different parts of the country. Both unrealized and unrealistic expectations during this season can rob us of the joy that is available. Our families may not be the perfect size, or composition. Relationship may be strained, and old conflicts unresolved. But that does not have to spoil our Christmas. We can be grateful for the family we have left. We can take steps towards reconciliation, we can seek and we can offer forgiveness where ever and when ever possible. After all, Jesus was God's gift of love to the world we might want to gift a gift like that for Christmas.

Where Do Good Stories Start?

Good Stories Start Here. Those were the words spread across a billboard that got my attention the other day. I am always up for a good story, and I long for my story to be one of those good ones. So I was intrigued by that phrase Good Stories Start Here...perhaps if I know the beginning of a good story, where it starts, then I might have a clue as to the how and where it will end. Good stories are not always predictable. What makes them entertaining is the uncertainty of knowing what will happen next. If the main character's actions become too predictable, then the story is boring. If too unpredictable, the story becomes unbelievable. And of course a good story is about the development of the character of its characters. Sort of an action adventure motif of movement towards maturity, at least that's what you would like to see and hear in a good story. Where do good stories start? According to the billboard ad, good stories start in a bottle of liquor, the brand not necessary name. Personally I don't know too many good stories that start with a bottle of liquor. Usually tragic stories begin here. With movies such as The Hangover, a liquor start to a story can be entertaining, but laughing at the misfortune of others isn't necessarily commendable. There is a secret wish throughout the movie that things will turn out well in the end in spite of this comedy of errors. Realistically, we know things usually go from bad to worse with no guarantee of improvement. Where do good stories really start? In the Gospel of Luke a "young man comes up to Jesus and asks, Good Teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life." And Jesus answered, Why do you call me Good, there is none good but God." It seems to me that good stories start with God and the tale God is trying to tell. That story begins well and ends well, but it is not too predictable nor always enjoyable in the middle. Our story connected with God's story, can be disappointing and painful. It can also be fruitful and positive. The one thing it doesn't have to be is boring. Hear any good stories lately?

Burning Bibles

Nothing incites masses more than burning sacred books. Burn some Bibles or even worse burn some copies of the Quran and you are likely to have a riot on your hands. As true believers we try to be mature and not make the Bible, God, or the Quran, God. Though the printed page reveals God to us we do not worship the book, but the one whom the book is about. To use the telescope analogy, the telescope helps us to see the stars, it is not a star. It is a means to an end. John Scotus Eriugena taught that God speaks to us through two books, one is the little book, the book of scripture, physically little. The other is the big book, the book of creation, vast as the universe. If God speaks to us through both texts, the words of scripture and the elements of creation, and we get upset when scripture is burned, then why do we not get upset when creation is destroyed? Think of the words of God that are lost when hazardous chemicals are poured into a river, or pollutants pumped into the sky? How many opportunities to hear God's voice are missed when a species disappears? I know Reformed Theology tends to dismiss general revelation in favor of special revelation. However, it is general revelation that is quoted first to prove the existence of God. Creation is the something that exists rather than nothing, and God we say, is the reason why. It is through creation that we get our first glimpse of wonder, and sense of awe and Majesty. What would happened if we venerated the book of creation as much as the the book of scripture?

Theology Matters?

I get a publication almost every month called Theology Matters. It is a well thought out and well written publication. But does Theology matter? Having two advanced degrees my knee jerk response is OF COURSE THEOLOGY MATTERS. How and what we think about God shapes our lives, or at least that's the dominant thinking. What often troubles me is the disconnect between right thinking about God and right living, coupled with the tendency to twist and turn what we think about God to justify what we are already doing. Then there's the whole disconnect between what we think about God and reality. Theodicy is just one of those issues. How many times have we writhed under the Good God, good people, bad stuff question? How many times have we thrown out words like permitted, allowed, but not first cause. We even had a book called The Shack that creatively wrestled with the question. I know it is a real question, because I have a person in a study group I lead that asks the question regarding God's goodness, and sovereignty in the accidental death of his daughter. Theology might matter if it were able to answer that question adequately, but alas it hasn't, at least adequately. Some of the answers it gives, reduces God into some uncaring cruel person, or a powerless deity. Neither one of those is a viable option to me or to most people. Would I deal better with those kinds of losses if I had a better answer- theologically speaking? The sad part is probably not. The pain would be just as real and deep. The why question if answered in those type of situations rarely gets heard. There is always an accusing finger pointed God's way regardless- either as the direct cause- "it must have been God's will," or indirectly by inaction- the old could have done something to stop it it, but didn't response. No matter how you roll it, it keeps coming up - at least emotionally as God's fault. This is a God sins by commission and omission argument... On a more positive note, it seems theology does not matter that much to God. We think right theology is necessary for a person to enter into a relationship with God, and for God to enter into a relationship with them. The truth is that a whole lot of people have entered into and enjoy a relationship with God regardless of how right or wrong their theology is. God seems to love people and God allows himself to be loved by people regardless of the correctness or incorrectness of their theology. If this is indeed true of God, it should if nothing else, get us to turn down the volume in theology discussions and enable us to live better together. Theology does matter, but not nearly as much as we may think it does.