Bends Toward Justice

One of my most favorite quotes comes from Martin Luther King who used the following phrase in several of his speeches and sermons. The phrase: The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Something I found on the net said this about the phrase, "In 1961, Dr. King used these words when he explained his principles of nonviolence. On March 31, 1968, only four days before his assassination, he used these same words in the National Cathedral when he gave what would be his last sermon. He employed this phrase many times, before many audiences."

This phrase gave hope to so many during the years of the Civil Rights Movement. This phrase gives me hope. It gives me hope personally, and in how I view the world. Namely, in the balance of good and evil in the world.

An interesting note, and what I wrote for a paper in the Theology and Ethics of Martin Luther King, Jr. class I took years ago, MLK did not come up with this phrase. This phrase was originally penned by abolitionist preacher Theodore Parker in 1853. Parker, who was a Unitarian minister, said this, " "I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice."

Interestingly, from the article I found, Parker secretly raised money for John Brown's assault on Harper's Ferry, as well as give shelter to runaway slaves. The article said that he was noted to write his sermons with a loaded pistol at his side in order to protect those in his care.

The arc of the moral universe is long, but bends toward justice. God always bends God's own hand toward justice. That's the hope of believing in Christ.

Sunday's Prayers

I usually put my sermon on my blog on the Sunday I preach it. But this time, here's a couple of the prayers I'm using tomorrow. They are mostly adapted from the Book of Common Worship. I'm not that good (wink ;)

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Almighty and merciful God,
from whom comes all that is good,
we praise you for your mercies,
for your goodness that has created us,
your grace that has sustained us,
your discipline that has corrected us,
your patience that has borne with us,
and the love that has redeemed us.

Help us to love you,
and to be thankful for all your gifts
by serving you and delighting to sit at your feet; listening and serving
O’ God, you are a God of mercy and compassion,
your Son gives rest to those weary with heavy burdens.
Heal the sick in body, mind and spirit.
Lift up the depressed.
Befriend those who grieve.
Comfort the anxious.
Stand with all victims of abuse and other crime.
Awaken those who damage themselves and others
through the use of any drug.
Fill all people with your Holy Spirit
and they may bear each other’s burdens
and fulfill the law of Christ.

God of Mercy, hear our prayers.
Be with us in our concerns and worries, and in our hopes and inspiration.
Lord God, Give us assurance that you’re beside us and hear, know and understand
the special intentions of each of our hearts. Remind us of your care and your love. Hold us close. Each day is a new; give us faith for today; help us find the courage to follow our hearts, to look at things differently, and to listen for your voice. Into your hands, O God, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your mercy through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.....And so, we affirm our faith as we pray together in the words Jesus Christ taught his disciples, by saying, “Our Father, who art in heaven...

Charge/Blessing/Benediction
Eternal God,
you draw near to us in Christ
and make yourself our guest.
Amid the cares of our daily lives,
make us attentive to your voice
and alert to your presence,
that we may treasure listening to you, and being in joint community with one another.

Through the grace of Jesus, our beloved redeemer, teacher and friend
the love of God, our creator; and in
the Communion of the Holy Spirit, our transformer;
Let us go forth in the bond of peace to listen, to be attentive and to love~

Davis & White perform their Indian OD

Ice Skating was always a childhood favorite passion to watch. One of my earliest memories was watching the Peggy Fleming specials from Sun Valley. This past Winter Olympics in Vancouver, I really enjoyed both the silver and gold medalists in Ice Dancing. This video of Meryl Davis and Charlie White performing their Original Dance always makes me smile :-).

The term "Christian"...a non definition and two Blogs

From Frederick Buechner's Wishful Thinking, a Seeker's ABC,

"Some think of a Christian as one who necessarily believes certain things. That Jesus was the son of God, say. Or that Mary was a virgin. Or that the Pope is infallible. Or that all other religions are all wrong.

Some think of a Christian as one who necessarily does certain things. Such as going to church. Getting baptized. Giving up liquor and tobacco. Reading the Bible. Doing a good deed a day.

Some think of a Christian as just a Nice Guy.

Jesus said, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me' (John 14:6). He didn't say that any particular ethic, doctrine, or religion was the way, the truth, and the life. He said that he was. He didn't say that it was by believing or doing anything in particular that you could come to the Father. He said that it was only by him-by living, participating in, being caught up by the way of life that he embodied, that was his way.

Thus it is possible to be on Christ's way and with his mark upon you without ever having heard of Christ, and for that reason to be on your way to God though maybe you don't even believe in God.

A Christian is one who is on the way, though not necessarily very far along it, and who has at least some dim and half-baked idea of who to thank. A Christian isn't necessarily nicer than anybody else. Just better informed."

I like that last statement by Buechner. By the way, Buechner was the one who wrote the famous line, "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." He also said, "You do not solve the mystery; you live the mystery." These quotes for me define being a "Christian" Living the mystery all the while leaning into the tension of ambiguity is what being a Christian is all about to me. It's not about being "nice" (Buechner's ending), Jesus was not necessarily nice but he was thoroughly and profoundly loving. Sidebar: I once came across a retired pastor and he said "Nice" people in churches were snakes simmering in honey. I always liked that. :-). Sidebar finished. :-).

Being a Christian is acknowledging who you belong to, and who you're accountable to...It's also about respecting the Story. The ugly and the beautiful. You might not like it or understand it, but you need to find a way to put it in a healthy perspective without blame and judgment.

Christian denominations are really faith seeking understanding (Anselm). It becomes a problem when that understanding starts pointing the finger at another, and sitting around and elaborating how one is better than another because they have one interpretation of faith different than the other. Faith is not a competition.

Or sometimes people are mired in the hurt caused by people in the name of religion. Not excusing or diminishing the hurt, but one of the most profound things I've learned in the last year is that when someone is deeply enraged at a certain religion, the inner struggle is really within themselves to heal from that hurt, or even an unrelated hurt. Complicated and messy....but I'm not sure it's an avenue to go down that ends up on the road to Apostasy.

Being a Christian is a Pilgrimage. It's allowing oneself to be seized by love, all the while falling down with plenty of scrapes, bruises and near misses. It's standing in humility, not succumbing to what's around or the falls, but grateful for the continuous redemption of grace.

I could go on and on; but I have two blogs to mention. One is a friend who wrestles with the term "Christian" in his most recent post. He writes, "For me, I was the Christian that turned me off. I was the one that “hurt” me. I was the hypocrite. And I did not want to be that anymore.

Of course, I feel that I was not really hypocritical in the typical sense. I was sincere in my faith, and I honestly tried hard to be genuine in the way I lived out my faith (I still do). But the word hypocrite comes from the Greek plays during which the actors wore masks to portray their characters. I look back and see that I was playing a role, (method acting maybe, because I was deeply sincere), and when it came to certain things, I was not being true to myself. And that ended up causing me serious internal, existential conflict.

And I can say that relieving myself of the burden of belief freed me to really pursue God in deep honesty. Today I feel that I am true to myself and true to that “still, small voice” inside me more so than when I was living the life of a model Christian. And while some areas of my life are definitely not easier, today I am more content and peaceful than I have ever been.

For more of the post, go to The Agnostic Pentecostal, the link is on the right as well. Another blog on my blogroll, very different than my friend above, is put together by several young women wanting to become leaders within the Christian faith. They are fellow classmates of mine at seminary. They struggle with some of the same issues in the arena of terms, expectations and definitions. What does it mean to be a Christian? What does it mean to follow Christ? What does it mean for a woman to enter the pulpit, let alone the ministry? Their blog is called, The Prebyristas. From one of their recent posts by my friend Kelly, she writes, "
So in Carrie Bradshaw fashion, I can’t help but wonder, what does John 3:16 really mean? It’s like the Christian motto, a verse so well known that just its numbers will suffice as a reference. Is this verse truly what it’s all about? And should it be? The 4th grade Bible camper in me still equates John 3:16 with “the magic prayer”, a prayer consisting of three special lines that would reserve your spot in eternal paradise. It became a very complex equation:

3:16=belief in Christ=magic prayer=getting saved=no hell

Or the shorter version, 3:16= Fire Insurance

(Can I get on my soapbox for a moment? Christianity is not about fire insurance. Ok, stepping off now.)"

Often said for today...

Read my friend Julie's Medium Raw challenge essay: Getting Over Ourselves

Bonus Post...My friend Julie entered this contest by one of her favorite personalities, Anthony Bourdain. Check it out. It's great essay submission for Anthony Bourdain's writing contest about why we should "eat well". It's worth your time to check it out . It will take just a second to read it. In the contest, she is 98th out of more than 800. So, please VOTE FOR HER! The link's below. Thanks~

Read my Medium Raw challenge essay: Getting Over Ourselves

Correction: She's now 96th out of 809 entries.

Not a long post...but better late than not :-).

A few days ago, one of my blogs I frequent, had a contest to give away The Berry Bible cookbook. One of the questions she asked visitors to comment on in order to enter her drawing was this: "Before the summer slips away, I'm definitely going to ___________." I said canning or making preserves. I was looking for a few good recipes and some ideas since answering....I want to do this but have no idea how. I did find one recipe for Bread & Butter Pickles. That seems easy to start with. But the search will go on :-). It can't be that hard I tell myself.

So, another recipe blog to check out...Ezra Pound Cake....enjoy and bon appetite!

You find the darnest things on other people's blogs

I was looking at my friend Elizabeth's blog, Save for Later on the right. She had a link on one of her posts (2nd post from top) to a cooking blog, called Smitten Kitchen. I now have a link to the right. It's one of the better cooking blogs I've come across. Great pictures and recipe ideas. Thinking about these cookies for Christmas presents perhaps. :-).

And now something for the road, in terms of food,...I came across Frederick Buechner's book, Wishful Thinking: a Seekers ABC's. . This is the definition Buechner gives for the meaning of Bread.
"Man does not live on bread alone, but he also does not live long without it. To eat is to acknowledge our dependence - both on food and on each other. It also reminds us of other kinds of emptiness that not even the Blue Plate Special can touch."

Does God smell?

In Hebrew the word for breath, wind or spirit is a female noun, Ruach (resh, shureq, het...if I could make Hebrew letters I would). As with English, this word can have different connotations depending upon how the word is used in the sentence. Often the connotation can be simply breath through the nostrils, the sign and symbol of life, or God's presence. As in English, there are close relatives to certain words; as well as, nouns that change meaning when they turn into verbs. When I was in my exegesis class in Amos last fall, I noticed this was the case with the word ruach. Close neighbor, Ruwach (resh, yod, het) means scent or odor. In the verb tense hiphil, Ruwach can denote delight, which is transcendent. Think of it like this: You walk into an house, and a smell a sweet smell, like cinnamon and cloves permeating the air, it takes you back to grandma's and a sense of love and safety. Does that make sense? It's associated with a memory. A smell that brings you delight and takes you back to a memory. Can God be represented by a smell? Something to think about.

By the way, you can still enter the cookie drawing by leaving a comment~

A Challenge, a Discipline, and a Contest

I raise my hand when asked, do any of you struggle with spiritual disciples. Last fall term, I needed to adopt a spiritual disciple for my Christian Ed. class, find a group of people to join me on a specific one, and then set out to explore that discipline. I and two good friends chose Forgiveness. I led our research. I talked about why Forgiveness was hard. We watched a film on forgiveness. We told our stories of getting to a place of forgiveness at different times in our lives, and we even cried. When it came time for the final and I was supposed to report how I practiced my discipline. I really couldn't do it. I wrote about biblical and historical examples. I reported how my group was conducted and our activities; but, could not authenticate my own place of practicing Forgiveness as a discpline. Clarification: A heart practice, not just a cognitive exercise done from time to time.

In my last ordination meeting, my pastor tasked the ordination pilgrims with the challenge of sticking to a spiritual discipline whatever that may be.
Sidebar: the purpose of a spiritual discipline (per my friend Kaye) is one that does the following: Stills us; Helps us Endure; Keeps us Connect; Nurtures our Growth; and, Expresses our love for God.

So, forgiveness might need to be on hold for now, but I thought of a couple of different things. I chose writing. I've been writing every day on this blog for the last two weeks. So far, so good. (Thank you to all have encouraged me to stick to it.) To start to get the "word" out of what I'm doing, I would like to have a contest. Many of my friends have contests to give-away a book, or make something. I'm thinking...something I could give away with joy...I came up with baking cookies. Leave a comment on my blog and I will have a drawing, and send you out cookies of your choice. Leave a comment...thank you for reading, and until tomorrow...wishing you many blessings of grace~

A Sunday Prayer

My school seminary produces a publication called Windows three times a year. A year ago the central topic of the 2009 summer issue was Prayer. Many of the professors, and graduating DMin. students, contributed a favorite prayer. My adviser, Dave contributed this prayer by Augustine, which was found at the conclusion of Augustine's theological treatise "The Trinity"

O Lord, my God, my one hope,
listen to me lest out of
weariness I should stop
wanting to seek you, but let me
seek your face always, and with
ardor. Do you yourself give me
the strength to seek, having
caused yourself to be found
and having given me the hope
of finding you more and more.
Before you lies my strength and
my weakness; preserve the one,
heal the other. Before you lies
my knowledge and my
ignorance; where you have
opened to me, receive me as I
come in; where you have shut
to me, open to me as I knock.
Let me remember you, let me
understand you, let me love
you. Increase these things in
me until you refashion
me entirely.

In Dave's explanation of why he chose this prayer, he wrote that Augustine's prayer deals with the importance of knowledge and love, always genuine and growing when it comes directly from God. In class, Dave always would say something to the effect that yes many of the great theologians are old and dead, and some are older and deader than others, but they still have something great to teach us.

Video Saturday

I've always loved this song by Jewel. It reminds me of how we not only each have an impact on others, but how valued we're by God. Our small efforts can have huge results. God works through the use of our hands, even if physically small (and I laugh because I have unusually small hands), to touch others. We also have a tremendous amount of strength that we often ignore. We can make a difference to act out of kindness through God's grace. Enjoy the video, lyrics attached :-).