Because of the Tender Mercy

Aren't I a Cute Cowgirl for Halloween 2008?

2008-11-01T09:53:00.001-04:00

How lovely is Your Dwelling Place, O LORD of hosts!

2007-10-13T16:51:00.000-04:00

Our dear sister, Deborah Ann Smith (Loving Deb Smith) is dancing in the fields of Grace with Jesus and all the saints. She passed away early on October 12, 2007. Elsewhere on this blog are details about her brief and intensely courageous and loving battle with a ferocious cancer that came from nowhere less than one year ago. The Loving Deb Smith blog tells the rest of this incredible story, including her life, her Love for Jesus, her family, the enormous love and kindness she has received from hundreds of friends in the last few months of her life, etc. Read the blog with several boxes of tissues handy.

This Scripture, from Psalm 84 is a constant source of comfort at this time:

1 How lovely is Your dwelling place,
O LORD of hosts!

2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.

3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at Your altars,
O LORD of hosts,
my King and my God.

4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house,
ever singing your praise!
Selah

(Psalm 84:1-4 (ESV)

Loving Deb Smith

2007-06-15T08:17:00.000-04:00

"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted, saves those whose spirit is crushed. Many are the troubles of the just, but the LORD delivers from them all. God watches over all their bones; not a one shall be broken." Ps 34

You may have already seen this information. If so, please pass it along to others in your life who know and love Tom & Deb Smith of Ashely, IL and Cincinnati, OH, and would want to know about their situation.

Deb Smith was just in the last several weeks diagnosed with cancer. The cancer is already very advanced and is in her bones, lungs and lymphatic system. The doctors initially gave her 6 to 18 months, depending on treatment and so forth. I think it has been much more aggressive, though, than even they foresaw, and she is now (just in the last few days) hospitalized and in a lot of pain, which they are trying to control with a morphine drip. She also has difficulty swallowing, presumably due to the radiation treatments. The doctors say they expect her to stay hospitalized. She is in Creve Couer (God is close to the broken hearted), and Tom drives 200 miles round trip to be with her. Insurance is covering some, but not nearly all, of their expenses. The expensive medicines and the travel are especially taking their toll on their finances. A number of Tom and Deb's friends are calling on those who know and love them and suggesting ways we can all get involved to help. And quickly. Here are some ways.

PRAYER. God still heals, and Deb needs healing. Her daughter Charity said that we should pray for healing, for hope, and for freedom from pain.

MONEY. Tom's sister Darla is taking charge of processing contributions to help them. Checks should be made out to "Grace Community Church" and sent to:

Darla Wexstten
16738 N. Tolle Lane
Mount Vernon, IL 62864

CARDS. Deb receives great encouragement from the cards and notes she receives from friends. Calls, visits, and e-mails are out. She has very little stamina right now. So an encouraging note or card to remind her of the many ways she has blessed you over the years both personally and through support of Tom and the church could help brighten her day. Here's her address at the hospital:

c/o St. John's Mercy Medical
615 South New Ballas Rd.
Creve Coeur, MO 63141

Tom could use encouragement too. Here is his contact information:

pastortomsmith@yahoo.com
Tom and Deb Smith
10517 N. Panzier Lane
Ashley, IL 62864

There may be an opportunity for an informal fund-raising get-together of some kind in Cincinnati in the very near future, so that the local folks here could meet, maybe get some musicians among them to ply their talents, gather picnic-style, pass the hat, and pray. We'll see what comes of that, and let you know.

STAY INFORMED. Read this blog for updates. Also, in you wish to be added to the e-mail update list, send a message to me or Barb Hine.

GET THE WORD OUT. If you have the e-mail addresses of others who need to know about this, that would be most helpful if you could let us know or spread the word yourself, even using this note as a start.

You may receive this note from other folks who love you and Deb and Tom. If you do, it just shows the unity of the Body of Christ, the truth of John 13-17. Might be a good idea if you could also send this note to folks in your life who might want to know this information or be able to help Deb and Tom Smith in some way in this time of great need. Please ask them pass along to their networks as well.

Hope and prayer that all is well with you and yours.

Thanks.

Mercy and Consolation in Virginia

2007-04-20T23:17:00.000-04:00

Over on Brave Heart, a long time friend, Gary Sweeten, posted this week several times about the impact of the Virginia Tech shooting tragedy. His post prompted me to reflect as follows:

Hello, Gary.

Well, I was waiting for your response to the tragic events in Blacksburg. Somehow, I knew you would write (probably more than once over the next few days and weeks, eh?). Glad you did.

There will be political-jockeying, name-calling, or finger-pointing, blame-laying, etc., over the next few months about this incident. Such is the nature of a free society, and thankfully so. All that aside, objectively, IMHO, it should be noted that GWB's comments at the VT convocation yesterday afternoon were among the most grown-up utterings from any public or private figure on any subject currently in the public discourse. No malice of forethought, no direct playing to special groups whose understanding of Truth starts with the self, no attempt to cover for irresponsible acts. Just compassion! How refreshing.

What can be known about this situation for sure, is that God is Merciful. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

"3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement,
4 who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God.
5 For as Christ's sufferings overflow to us, so through Christ does our encouragement also overflow.
6 If we are afflicted, it is for your encouragement and salvation; if we are encouraged, it is for your encouragement, which enables you to endure the same sufferings that we suffer.
7 Our hope for you is firm, for we know that as you share in the sufferings, you also share in the encouragement,
8 ... we were utterly weighed down beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life.
9 ... we ... trust not in ourselves but in God who raises the dead." (2Cor 1:3-9)

As I reflected on the events so far at VT, I was reminded also of this simple exposition on the "human condition by Cisterian monk Thomas Keating:

"At every moment of our lives, God is asking 'Where are you? Why are you hiding?' All the questions that are fundamental to human happiness arise when we ask ourselves this excruciating question: Where am I? Where am I in relation to God, to myself, and to others? These are the basic questions of human life."

And further, "happiness is intimacy with God, the experience of God's loving presence. Without that experience, nothing else quite works; with it, almost anything works."

"This is the human condition - to be without the true source of happiness, which is the experience of the presence of God, and to have lost the key to happiness, which is the contemplative dimension to life, the path to the increasing assimilation and enjoyment of God's presence."

(The Human Condition: Contemplation and Transformation by Thomas Keating, ISBN-13: 978-0809105083)

There will likely be communal and deeply personal despair, much unimaginable pain and suffering among those personally effected by the VT shooting tragedy. There will also likely by forgiveness (consider the response of the Amish community in Pennsylvania who lost many young children at the hands of a desperate man last year). The suffering and the forgiveness are both gifts from a Merciful God, Who is Love, Who is Truth. A Personal God Who Suffered and Forgave!

----------

Also glad you related the stories about Sawyer Hall (I lived there in 1971). 'Cause I have had something on my mind regarding your UC era posts of the last month. All these years, though we have not known each other deeply, I had no idea how personal and scary that time was for you. Reading your posts has compelled me to examine my own reactions from that period, and to wonder about the truth of a quip a friend of mine repeats often, "You are where you were when."

Let the little children come to me!

2005-05-20T20:56:00.000-04:00

Gospel Reading for 5/21/2005

People were bringing little children to him, for him to touch them. The disciples turned them away, but when Jesus saw this he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. I tell you solemnly, anyone who does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ Then he put his arms round them, laid his hands on them and gave them his blessing.
(Mark 10:13-16)

For me, this scripture capped a evening of truly enjoyable fellowship with some friends. Dinner and a birthday celebration for this family's mom. After reading this Gospel Scripture this morning, I thought of my friends' beautiful young children. They are full of life and fun. Their parents do everything they can to encourage them to be happy and developmentally appropriate for their ages. And, their parents truly enjoy them. It struck me the at these two young children also really enjoy their parents, and want to always be with them, asking them questions, relying on them in a knowing way -- as if to say, mom and dad, you are for me!

This is how God enjoys His children, and does everything possible to allow us to be happy (blessed). And Jesus tells us, the Father calls us to welcome the Kingdom of God in us like a child. You know, those two little kids and their parents were today's Gospel for me.

Vespers for December 1, 2004

2004-12-01T23:46:00.000-05:00

Among my daily reads is Alan Creech's blog, where today, he posted a very thoughtful piece about the Central Thing we should get down in the Christian Life -- that we are God's beloved children. It is the foundation of all else God's wants to do in us, because of His Tender Mercy and Boundless Love for us. Alan notes: "If you never get that he IS your Father, your Dad, and that you belong with Him, in His House, then you will never be able to step into the Life that is a part of that Family." Thank you, Alan, for the reminder.

In fact, it brought to mind the words of the Psalmist from today's (12/1/2004) Vespers over at Unversalis. In the first Psalm (27), David expresses his one desire:

"One thing I ask of the Lord;
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the
Lord all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord
and contemplate His temple."

after he declares, as did Alan, in other words:

"The Lord is my light and my help: whom should I fear?
The Lord protects my
life: what could terrify me?
When they come to do me harm, to consume my
flesh,
my enemies and my persecutors, it is they who stumble and fall.
...
For he will shelter me in his tent in the time of evils.
He will
hide me in the hidden parts of the tabernacle; then raise me up on a rock..."

and, then, knowing God will hear him, David asks what only one who knows his true place in God's Heart can ask:

Show me your ways, Lord, and guide me along the right path ..."

The NT canticle for tonight (Col 1:12-20) drives home this point, that we are God's Beloved Children, for whom Jesus endured the Cross, that we might be in the Family. What Joy!

Dorothy Day on Advent Waiting (from the Daily Dig)

2004-12-01T06:25:00.000-05:00

In this brief quote, Dorothy Day captures perfectly the longing for Life to be born. And the wisdom of Silence. Read the whole piece. Use it for Lectio. Remember it while you are waiting for Christ fully to be born in you, again.

Here is a link to a brief biography of Dorothy Day.

Paradoxes of Salvation

2004-11-28T13:24:00.000-05:00

After reading Steve Bush's piece on What is Salvation?, I did some checking around for some other stuff, and found this bit by Thomas Merton, in No Man is an Island.

This matter of "salvation" is, when seen intuitively, a very simple thing. But when we analyze it, it turns into a complex tangle of paradoxes. We become ourselves by dying to ourselves. We gain only what we give up, and if we give up everything we gain everything. We cannot find ourselves within ourselves, but only in others; yet at the same time, before we can go out to others we must first find ourselves. We must forget ourselves in order to become truly conscious of who we are. The best way to love ourselves is to love others; yet we cannot love others unless we love ourselves, since it is written, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." But if we love ourselves in the wrong way, we become incapable of loving anybody else. And indeed when we love ourselves wrongly, we hate ourselves; if we hate ourselves we cannot help hating others. Yet there is a sense in which we must hate others and leave them in order to find God... As for this finding of God, we cannot even look for Him unless we have already found Him, and we cannot find Him unless He has first found us. We cannot begin to seek Him without a special gift of His grace; yet if we wait for grace to move us before beginning to seek Him, we will probably never begin. ...
Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island

What a relief!!

About Stability

2004-11-27T21:41:00.000-05:00

At this entry, Aaron Klinefelter reflects that

"One of my observations of many conversations around 'emerging' things (culture, church, etc...) is the pervasive feeling of liminality. The 'in-between-ness' ... always in transition... never settled.... 'open-ended-ness'....
"Maybe what a watching world that yearns for home and feels the constant pressure of 'the next big thing', really needs is to see a People who make their home in a foreign land. A People who choose for stability in the face of tension and tenuousness."

It got me thinking about stability myself. In the past 5 months, on our small street of 10 houses/homes, 5 have been for sale or have new owners . In the past 2 years, another house traded hands. In half the cases, the former owners had been there only briefly themselves. And we are thinking of moving, too, even though we have already been here nearly 25 years.

So, I read Aaron's reflection, then did some googling myself about stability. One article that leapt out at me was this paper, presented at a Bluffton College conference on"Anabaptism & Postmodernity," (August 6-8, 1998) by Gerald Schlabach, an associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. Among Schlabach's relevant comments was this:

It is no use rediscovering any of our church's roots, nor discerning innovative ways to be faithful to our church's calling, if we won't slow down, stay longer even if we can't stay put indefinitely, and take something like a vow of stability. Slow down -- because postmodernism may really
be hypermodernism. Stay longer -- because there is no way to discern God's will together without commitment to sit long together in the first place. A vow of stability -- because it is no use discerning appropriate ways to be Christian disciples in our age if we do not embody them through time, testing, and the patience with one another that our good ideas and great ideals need, in order to prove their worth as communal practices.
As one Mennonite church leader remarked to me concerning the impact of constant mobility on our congregations: "It's getting so the Abrahamic thing to do is to stay put."3

Postmodernism, however, seems to thrive on the problem of instability, not confront it. If there's any such thing."

Instability, and pursuit of the next best thing? Of course, these are quite related in our culture and in our time, and as these others point out, can get in the way of catching the Grace and Spirit of God as it moves among us, animates us, and moves each and all toward Christ. But, again, the Psalmist has a word of contemplative wisdom:

In God alone there is rest for my soul,
from him comes my safety;
He alone is my rock, my safety, my stronghold so that I stand
unshaken.
Psalm 62: 1-2

Prayers for Alan

2004-11-27T15:24:00.000-05:00

Alan Creech has developed a nagging upper respiratory thingie. Prayers for him from here, etc.

Happy Thanksgiving from the DailyDig

2004-11-25T17:34:00.000-05:00

Life is a Banquet
Dorothy Day
We cannot love God unless we love each other. We know him in the breaking of bread, and we know each other in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone anymore. Heaven is a banquet, and life is a banquet too - even with a crust - where there is companionship. We have all known loneliness, and we have learned that the only solution is love, and that love comes with community.
Dorothy Day: "The Long Loneliness"

THEOOZE - The faith of a blind man

2004-11-24T13:03:00.000-05:00

This is something I need this week. Thank you, God.

The faith of a blind man, of a beggar, and thief,
Is all that I ask from your hand,
That mustard seed grows to the greatest of trees
And gives rest to the sparrows you feed.

You clothe me in lilies, and pour oil on my head
My wounds you have gently caressed,
When I look at my self in the mirror of life
I see nothing but weak fallen flesh.

How can you love me, pursue me like this?
You know I am not what I seem,
But you formed me, and knew me, in all of my weakness,
And have chosen to be Father to me…

You shatter the mountains by the word of your mouth,
With your nostrils you parted the sea,
You raised your dead Son from the grave unto Life,
And you offer His Spirit to me.

The faith of a blindman, of a beggar, and thief,
Is all that I ask from your hand…
by James Schmidt

Community and the Fruit of the Spirit

2004-11-23T13:31:00.000-05:00

This probing piece by Aaron Klinefelter took my breath away. Which is to say, I got all exercised and had to sit down to comment.

My comments:
The possibility of and desire for Community, as I see it, even among "pre-Christians" (Sjorgren) is animated by the Trinitarian nature of all creation. It's not just the desparately needed response to our current "American funk." It is the cry deep within all creation, that only God can satisfy, and embodies His mysterious plan (Col. 1., Eph. 1-3, etc.). The Psalmist, ever the truth teller, proclaims, "How good it is, how pleasant, where the people dwell as one!" (Psalm 133:1 NAB). The western evangelical call for personal salvation mitigates, in some troubling ways, against the formation of Trinitarian relationships (See Steve Bush's essay at What is Salvation). In our brokenness, as Aaron points out, we fall short of allowing God, in His Mercy, to bear the Fruits of of Spirit (Gal. 5:22) in us.

The Fruits of the Spirit transcend culture; they are not Eastern or Western or Occidental or African, or Aboriginal, or even "American", etc. They are universal, and God will grow them anywhere His creation recognizes its utter dependence on God's Grace for its being and purpose, and willfully surrenders to His Love. He grows them in us that we might be fully our true selves, full of Christ, each and all. To the extent a culture convinces itself that the Fruits are its alone, or that the Fruit of the Spirit are primarily for individual growth in the Spirit, it is, again, broken. Why would God grow this Fruit in us if not to nourish us, each and all together, as we grow in likeness to Jesus?

Kevin Rains's Reflection on Luke 19:29-38

2004-11-19T10:13:00.000-05:00

Kevin's recent posts are so "it" for me, since I have been there, thanks to longstanding spinal column issues. Unable to walk, unable to do for oneself. God's Grace/Cleveland Clinic/Neurosurgery, now I can walk. Kevin is so right in this latest Lectio reflection, "The Lord needs it". Kevin writes:

"What a vulnerable king we have. A voluntary vulnerability to identify with us in our weakness.A king that needs to borrow a donkey. A king helped onto the donkey by his friends. "The Lord needs it." A Lord with needs. ... It is harder to receive than it is to give. ... I've been a receiver. I've been a dependant. ... I have an acute sense of what it means to be in need. It feels vulnerable. I feel like a burden."

Of course, the big lie the world wants us to believe is that we are not weak, that we shouldn't need anything or anybody, that we are kings and queens of all we survey, and that the whole creation is ours to command. The Big Truth is that our true self, Christ in us, alive in us, is poor and vulnerable, crucifiable, and in need. In his reflection, Kevin canonizes his wife because she is lovingly responding to his current involuntary dependence on her. He also notes that it feels vulnerable and like he is a burden. My guess is that Jesus felt vulnerable, too, that he had to rely on His friends to get up on a borrowed donkey, that they wouldn't get it (no kidding), and that He would be alone. But He was vulnerable in the context of living in the Boundless Love of the Trinity. I am reminded of this little piece, one of my favorite passages of the New Testament, in 1 Cor 1:18-31:

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the learning of the learned I will set aside. "Where is the wise one? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish? For since in the wisdom of God the world did not come to know God through wisdom, it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those who have faith. For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast 11 before God. It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord."

Prayers, unceasingly, for Kevin and his household of faith.

The Real Debate (Thanks Jim Wallis)

2004-11-17T17:52:00.000-05:00

Jim Wallis almost always calls a spade a spade, and deception deception. This excerpt from today's SojoMail speaks prophetically, in my view, to what's behind the fog of the ongoing political/moral/religious war at hand in the US.

A flawed exit poll question has sparked an enormous and important political debate in America, and one that will be with us far beyond this election. Voters were asked to name the most important issue that influenced their vote and almost 22% chose "moral values," just edging out terrorism and the economy. That poll result has sparked a firestorm in the media and in Washington's political circles about who gets or doesn't get the "moral values issue." Conventional wisdom holds that the Republicans do get it and the Democrats don't, and the "moral values" answer on the survey simply indicated voters who are against abortion and gay marriage.

But of course a Christian who cares deeply about peace likely would have checked the war in Iraq (one of the choices) instead of moral values, and a Catholic coordinator of a food pantry likely would have checked the closest thing to poverty, which would have been the economy or health care. The single "moral values" question was a whole different kind of choice to the rest of the "issues," ignoring the moral values inherent in those other concerns.

A post-election poll conducted by Zogby International a few days later confirmed that when a list of specific issues was asked, the results were quite different. When asked which "moral issue most influenced your vote," 42% chose war in Iraq while 13% said abortion and 9% said same-sex marriage. The "most urgent moral problem in American culture" resulted in 33% selecting "greed and materialism," 31% "poverty and economic justice," 16% abortion, and 12% same-sex marriage. The "greatest threat to marriage" was identified as "infidelity" by 31%, "rising financial burdens" by 25%, and "same-sex marriage" by 22%.

...

It's time to spark a real debate in this country over what the most important "religious issues" and "moral values" in politics are - and how broadly and deeply they are understood. Religion doesn't fall neatly into right and left categories. If there were ever candidates running with a strong set of personal moral values and a commitment to be pro-poor and pro-peace, it could
build many bridges to the other side. Personal and social responsibility are both at the heart of religion, and the two together could make a very powerful and compelling political vision for the future of our bitterly divided nation.

Did the exit poll takers coopt any meaningful responses to the question of influence by separating war, poverty, terrorisn and the economy from the moral sphere? If I were asked these questions, I would have refused to answer, based on the conviction that these are all moral issues. What I would also have said is that the ultimate "moral" issue for me is truth telling, and there was not much of that going around. All sides in this most recent political season have rotten fruit growing on their trees. If you eat enough of it, you are bound to get sick. If you eat just the right apple, you might think you know it all (see Genesis). The symptoms seem to be a rejection of Jesus's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) in all public discourse. Especially regarding love of enemies and preferential option for the poor.

Widening our circle of compassion

2004-11-17T09:20:00.000-05:00

A human being is a part of the whole that we call the universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical illusion of his consciousness. This illusion is a prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for only the few people nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living beings and all of nature.
Albert Einstein

From 11/17/04 DailyDig. Thank you, Albert, for this reminder. Brings to mind this from Col 1: 15-20:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he himself might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things for him, making peace by the blood of his cross (through him), whether those on earth or those in heaven.

Simple Graces of Humility and Love

2004-11-13T10:28:00.000-05:00

This bit of wisdom from Chris Marshall rocks:

Ordinary Community: "The answer is not to bash Michael Moore and the rest of hollywood. The answer is not to play pop-philosophy with elementary logic about truth. The answer is not to preach to the choir about how right you are. The answer is the Incarnation. The answer is to enter in, not to declare that your right, but to love. Truth does not need to be defended, it shows itself to be true. Students need people who care enough to give them a reason to encounter Truth. When oh when are we going to learn? Its not a battle over ideas, its a spiritual battle for hearts. We don't need anymore 'us vs. them' dichotomies, we need to embrace all those outside of the Kingdom of God as his missing children. We are as pompous and prideful as the Pharisees, we lack the simple graces of humility and love. I am beginning to really embrace being an influencer as a teacher, but I share little in common with this propaganda of a culture war. I am not interested in cultural issues, I'm interested in the heart, for that is where our external behaviors come from. We don't love because we memorize long Bible passages about love. We love because the Spirit of the Scriptures is within us and compels us to be like Christ as revealed in the Bible. Postmodernism is not a threat. Relgious minded arrogance is the threat I'm concerned with. "

About Scary Conversations

2004-11-11T09:08:00.000-05:00

Aaron Klinefelter has started a scary conversation about folks who do ministry being paid for their efforts. Wonderful read, including the copious comments he has already had. Here are my reflections on the matter. Admittedly, I don't really know what I am talking about, but, I thought I would give it a try anyway.

Bringing together some of the thoughts already expressed, here is a thought, which probably counts for nothing...

So, what you perhaps end up with is the communitarian expression lived out by the Anabaptists in this country. Or, maybe, its the expression practiced by the Brothers and Sisters of Charity, at the Little Portion Hermitage, in Arkansas. Or maybe its V&B or VC in Cincinnati. Or, maybe, it's the parish church. In any case, the idea is that we draw strength for the journey from the experience of God's Grace and Mercy enfleshed in real life together. For married people and children, this should be something they experience first in the family (see Ephesians 5). For singles and committed celibates, lots of options, huh. But, in my opinion, whatever the expression, the focus should be on relying on the Grace and Mercy of God to end up with really transformed lives -- true selves, to use Mertonesque language.

And this is what Paul was up to, as Alan Creech already stated in his comments. Paul was going around planting, starting, encouraging, proclaiming. And not really of his own account, really. He had commissions, both from the Lord and from the other apostles, no. IMHO, he saw himself as no lone ranger, but as part of the larger group of believers, etc. So, in that sense, 1 Cor 9 can be seen as an admonition that the believers should see him as one of them, and extend the same interdependence to him as to one another and to folks in other local groups of believers who were in need. This isn't coming out to clearly, but I hope you get my meaning.
Now for the problems/challenges ...

Insularity
Self-righteousness
Our Brokenness because of the Fall
Mission

Holy Fools

2004-11-06T13:06:00.000-05:00

Ushers of the next generation in the church.
by Richard Rohr, O.F.M.

This article by Richard Rohr was orginally published in Sojourners magazine. Read the whole article for a very insightful view of the future of the church. It came to my attention, oddly enought, during the recent US General Election. For starters, I am reminded that the whole body of Christ is very broken right now over the re-election of GWB as president. It is an especially sinister violence against the Broken One. Time for mercy, repentence, and forgiveness by each and all.

"Was Jesus playing the holy fool or just being a curmudgeon when he quoted Hosea to well-informed and well-intentioned believers: "What I want is mercy and not your heroic sacrifices!" (Matthew 9:13, 12:7, 23:23)? The holy fool knows that there is an agenda that is beyond efficiency, rightness, and being in control of outcomes. The mystics call it "union with God." Meister Eckhart put it best of all: "If the soul could have known God without the world, the world would never have been created." In the realm of the Spirit, although not in the realm of logic, everything belongs. This horrible time, this broken church, no less than the murdering of Christ, is good teacher and savior. Romano Guardini, a fervent Italian monsignor, said in the 1950s that "the church has always been the cross that Christ is crucified on." The tomb of Christ and the resurrection of Christ, I would add."

Richard Rohr, O.F.M., founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and author of Radical Grace (St. Anthony Messenger, 1993), was a Sojourners contributing editor when this article appeared.

Even If You Stand in Battle

2004-11-06T10:16:00.000-05:00

From 11/06/04 Burderhof Daily Dig

...Have the patience and courage to begin again each day, and believe that God's mercy is new every morning. Then you will understand that life is always a matter of becoming or growing, and that you can always look forward to greater things. Even though you stand in battle with dark powers, the victory will be yours, since in Christ every evil is overcome. You will always remain at the beginning, because the task continually grows, yet in faith you will find the fulfillment of all your longing...
Eberhard Arnold

Yeses and Nos

2004-10-29T18:01:00.000-04:00

So, I promised myself I would not join the fray of the "Bush/Cheney, who's more Christian " discussion going on all over the web and the blogs I frequent. But...the most recent barrage of reminder phone calls from both campaigns autodialers has changed my mind. So here goes.

It seems that every recorded message I have received over the past week reminds me of all the votes or non-votes or changed votes or "while he was Governor"s or "it's all his fault"s that likely voters are supposed to weigh in the scales before deciding who makes the least evil choice for US President over the next four years. Unfortunately, not one message I have received from either side has bothered to tell the simple truth about any of the accusations. It's as if likely voters in this country haven't the intelligence to handle the simple truth. The simple truth on both sides is likely much less pure than the campaigners would have us believe.

All four of the major federal candidates profess to be practicing Christians. Unfortunately, it seems that the conduct of their campaigns and mountains of their rhetoric in such a way as to deliberately turn their backs on the Sermon on the Mount. The logic seems to be that since God forgives sinners who repent, they'll get around to the repenting after they falsely accuse, covet power, make false promises, and hopefully get elected.

For example, Jesus said:

"Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.' But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil one."
(Matt. 5:33-37)

The author of the letter of James to believers makes the same admonition:

Do not complain, brothers, about one another, that you may not be judged. Behold, the Judge is standing before the gates. Take as an example of hardship and patience, brothers, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Indeed we call blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, because "the Lord is compassionate and merciful." But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your "Yes" mean "Yes" and your "No" mean "No," that you may not incur condemnation.(James 5:9+)

Jesus doesn't seem to allow here for mental reservations or spinning. And neither should the candidates for any elected office. Time to confess, fellas.

This should get you thinking; it did me. And praying, lots, for forgiveness and wisdom, for myself as well as the nation ...

2004-10-28T07:21:00.000-04:00

Here is today's Daily Dig from the Bruderhof. It is a quote from Emanuel Charles McCarthy about Abortion and War Your Daily Dig from Bruderhof.com . The Bruderhof web site (http://www.bruderhof.com/articles/Abortion-and-War.htm) includes an expanded piece on the same subject. Here is another quote from Fr. McCarthy, on the subject of Just War:

The most curious thing about this myth and its acceptance is that nonviolence, which is the one political philosophy today that appeals directly to the gospel, should be regarded as unchristian while reliance on force and cooperation with massive programs of violence is sometimes seen as an obvious and elementary Christian duty.
(from http://www.geocities.com/lgbwmas/PracticalFaith.html)

What strikes me after a brief prayerful reflection on both readings is the searing truth of St. Paul's basic treatise on the human condition, which is:

But if our wickedness provides proof of God's righteousness, what can we say? Is God unjust, humanly speaking, to inflict his wrath? Of course not! For how else is God to judge the world? But if God's truth redounds to his glory through my falsehood, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not say--as we are accused and as some claim we say--that we should do evil that good may come of it? Their penalty is what they deserve. Well, then, are we better off? Not entirely, for we have already brought the charge against Jews and Greeks alike that they are all
under the domination of sin, as it is written: "There is no one just, not one, there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. All have gone astray; all alike are worthless; there is not one who does good, (there is not) even one. Their throats are open graves; they deceive with their tongues; the venom of asps is on their lips; their mouths are full of bitter cursing. Their feet are quick to shed blood; ruin and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they know not. There is no fear of God before their eyes." Now we know that what the law says is
addressed to those under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the
whole world stand accountable to God, since no human being will be justified in his sight by observing the law; for through the law comes consciousness of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, though testified to by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins previously committed, through the forbearance of God--to prove his righteousness in the present time, that he might be righteous and justify the one who has faith in Jesus. What occasion is there then for boasting? It is ruled out. On what principle, that of works? No, rather on the principle of faith. For we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from
works of the law.
(Paul's Letter to the Community at Rome 3:5-28)

Thomas Merton: the danger arising from the fact that some of the most belligerent people in this country are Christians

2004-10-24T23:12:00.000-04:00

Here are some eerily appropriate thoughts from Thomas Merton --> Bruderhof Peacemakers Guide - Thomas Merton. All the more surprising, considering his own journey to the Lord.

Why You Must Vote (Benjamin Wiker in "Crisis Magazine", October 6, 2004)

2004-10-24T15:10:00.000-04:00

Because of His Tender Mercy

2004-10-24T09:35:00.000-04:00

For me, Life is the Tender mercy of God in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of God. In fact, this Truth is simply All there is. Everything else in all creation, it seems to me, is ordered from this simple Truth. The Christian Apostle Paul kind of sums this all up in his inspired hymn to Christ and His Work in his letter to the believers in Collosae (Col. 1:15-20):

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together ... He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he himself might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things for him, making peace by the blood of his cross (through him), whether those on earth or those in heaven.
(NAB, Copyright © by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)