Shuck and Jive

Transition Culture

2009-11-24T12:19:00.006-05:00

Got 16 minutes?

Check out this video. It is a presentation by Rob Hopkins at a TED conference. He talks about appreciating what cheap oil has done for us, and rather than clinging to it, letting it go so we can transition to a post-carbon future.

It is hopeful as he points out the creativity of transition communities all around the world. He is founder of the transition movement. Bookmark his website and check back often.

Rob Hopkins reminds us that the oil our world depends on is steadily running out. He proposes a unique solution to this problem -- the Transition response, where we prepare ourselves for life without oil and sacrifice our luxuries to build systems and communities that are completely independent of fossil fuels.

The Don Quixote Declaration

2009-11-23T12:14:00.007-05:00

The busybodies are tripping over themselves to endorse the latest "declaration." Ostentatiously called the Manhattan Declaration, it is yet another attempt by the superstitious right wing to fight at windmills. Fundamentalists of various sects including a few Presbyterian notables such as Carmen "The Millstone" Fowler of the LayMAN have endorsed it.

What are they endorsing? What is this courageous Satan-smiting witness to the glory of the Triune God? What are those things that Jesus talked about most and cared about most? What are the key challenges we are facing in our nation and around our world?

I think you know.

These faithful heroes who "care about the future of the Christian witness in the public discourse of our nation"

are standing firm, bearing the standard, cupping the grail of holiness, and bravely waving their lances at the gravest threat we have yet to address...

...Gays getting marriage licenses.

Oh, and uppity women who insist on making their own informed decisions regarding their own reproduction.

And they call what they are doing protecting religious freedom.

OK.

This should keep them busy for a few weeks. Then it will go the same way all their other self-important declarations have gone (remember the Confessing Church Movement, anyone?)

Meanwhile other actual challenges to our nation's welfare like healthcare, the increasing gap between the wealthy and the poor, militarism, and energy and ecology, are still there.

The Army of the Lord

2009-11-22T14:14:00.000-05:00

Blame Bill:

A man was in front of me coming out of church one day, and the preacher was standing at the door as he always is to shake hands.

He grabbed the man by the hand and pulled him aside.

The Pastor said to him, "You need to join the Army of the Lord!"

The man replied, "I'm already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor."

Pastor questioned, "How come I don't see you except at Christmas and Easter?"

He whispered back, "I'm in the secret service."

Not Of This World: A Sermon

2009-11-22T12:53:00.004-05:00

Not Of This World
John Shuck

First Presbyterian Church
Elizabethton, Tennessee

November 22nd, 2009
Cosmic Christ Sunday

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
John 18:33-37
The Great Turning

If I were the king of the world
Tell you what I'd do
I'd throw away the cars and the bars and the war
Make sweet love to you
Sing it now...
--Hoyt Axton

Today is the final Sunday in the church year. Next Sunday is the beginning of the new church year. Next Sunday will be the First Sunday of Advent. Advent means coming. Advent anticipates the birth of Christ. I think of the birth of Christ or Christmas as symbolizing the Divinity within all of creation. Words for Christmas are birth, creativity, incarnation, the light in the darkness. Advent is a season that proclaims this light is coming and coming soon! The axe is at the root of the tree. It is a season pregnant with promise.

That is how we begin the year. We begin that story next week, in the dark. It is in the darkness, in the via negativa, that the light of creativity will shine.

Christmas is not about the birth of Jesus, the historical person. No one knows anything about that. Christians adopted December 25th for the birth of Christ. At the Winter solstice when in the northern hemisphere the days are short and the nights are long, Christ is born. It is all properly mythological. We aren’t celebrating the birth of an historical person as much as the birth of Christ consciousness. The Cosmic Christ born in us.

I am getting ahead of myself. I’ll talk more about that during Advent and Christmas.

Today is the last Sunday of the year. This is the end of the story. This is the climax, the conclusion, the happy ending. Of course the end doesn’t mean there is nothing left to say. We start again. On this final Sunday of the church year, Christians proclaim that Christ is King.

Let’s mix it up. Christ is Queen. Christ the Goddess is King and Queen. We have to shake all that sexism out of us.

Today is a day to honor the royalty. Today is a via positiva day in the midst of a via negativa season. It is Cosmic Christ Sunday!

What is Christ the King? What or who is this Cosmic Christ? Perhaps what we should ask is, what does the Cosmic Christ do? The Cosmic Christ inspires us to treat one another like royalty. That is who we are. So none of that, “I’m such a miserable sinner,” stuff. Each of us is a royal being. We honor the Cosmic Christ in each of us.

The Cosmic Christ is known by many names.

I should say a few words about that. When we hear Christ the King we might hear male-dominated Christian extremism.

Our religion is right and yours is wrong. Our god is macho king and yours isn’t.

Let’s put that to rest.

As I see it, to say Christ is King or Jesus is Lord is an ancient Christian way of honoring the highest good, the sweetest song, and the beauty of the universe. It is a way of aligning my own life with the highest values I know and of those I don’t know. I give my life to justice, love, peace, hope, joy, mystery, life, and good tunes. To say Christ is King or Jesus is Lord is to say I want the blessedness of creation to live in me and I open myself to that.

While my default name, my home name for the Royalty of the Universe is Christ or the Cosmic Christ, and that the traditions surrounding Jesus point to and give content to that, I honor other names. Krishna, Buddha, Allah, Great Spirit, and on and on and on are other ways and names for the Mystery in which we all live and move and have our being.

In other words, if the religious symbol, the Cosmic Christ, meant my religion alone is true, then I wouldn’t use the symbol. I don’t think that is what it means.

There is a higher consciousness at work in the universe than my individual ego. I call that consciousness the Christ consciousness or the Cosmic Christ. It is a symbol that is rich with stories, narratives, hymns, practices, liturgy, and art. This symbol points me to a higher level of awareness. The Cosmic Christ invites me to become more aware, more conscious, to embody the higher values, to become a human being.

I want to experience a little bit more than I do normally that mystical union we call love. I want to love creation, my neighbor, and myself a little bit more. So Cosmic Christ can you help out on that score? That is what it means, as I see it, to confess Jesus is Lord. It expresses the desire to be more loving and Christ-like and to let go of my need to control how that will come about.

In the Gospel reading for today, Jesus is before Pilate and he says:

‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’

What does this mean?

Does it mean Jesus’ kingdom is in heaven on some other plane of existence as opposed to the world of trees, forests, oceans, animals, and people? Is he speaking of a spiritual disembodied world that we only get to after we die?

I heard a sermon the other day in which the minister said that we are only in the presence of God after we are dead. In this view the real world is the world that exists when we are free of these physical husks that entrap us.

I am agnostic about that.

I don’t think that is what the author of the Gospel of John is talking about here. In the Gospel of John, the word world appears 78 times. In Greek the word translated world is kosmos. Depending on the context it can mean different things. It can mean the physical existence of Earth. Mostly it means what we might translate as “system.”

More precisely, the Domination System. This is the embodiment of the values of the powers, seen and unseen, conscious and unconscious, that run things. Here is how Walter Wink defines it in his important book, The Human Being:

Domination System: a world-encompassing system characterized by unjust economic relations, oppressive political relations, patriarchal gender relations, prejudiced racial or ethnic relations, hierarchical power relations, and the use of violence in order to maintain them; in short, “civilization.” P. 270

Let’s try this sentence from the Gospel of John and change world to civilization.

‘My kingdom is not from this civilization. If my kingdom were from this civilization, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’

Now it actually makes more sense. This isn’t a question of a physical earth vs. a spiritual heaven, this is about a contest of values on Earth. It is about how we will live and by what values will we live. Here is how the passage continues, again substituting civilization for world:

Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the civilization, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’

John’s Jesus is the Cosmic Christ who has come to tell the truth about our civilization which from John’s perspective isn’t going so well. How do we know it isn’t going so well? Well, it killed Jesus. And he was a good guy. It is unjust, violent, oppressive, and unsustainable.

The Gospel of John has nothing to do with other heavenly realms. It had to do with changing the world--changing the system—changing the civilization--to make it more just. Here is how Walter Wink puts it:

The Gospel of John does not disclose heavenly secrets. For John, the gospel reveals “this world” (kosmos) as the Domination System. The gospel inaugurates an alternate reality, the Reign of God. John likes to call it “eternal life”—life in a new dimension, which begins the moment one encounters the son of the man. To “believe in the Human Being” is to affirm that this new reality that Jesus incarnates and reveals is from God. To “believe” is to join the struggle against the authorities and powers that seek to extinguish this new revelation. P. 203

To say Jesus is Lord,
to say Christ is King,
to worship the king O glorious above,

is to “join the struggle against the authorities and powers” that deny our humanity.

For John, civilization or world is not a bad thing. It is not a hopeless thing. It is not a thing that is to be destroyed or abandoned. It is to be transformed. Listen to this familiar passage with new ears.

‘For God so loved civilization that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into civilization to condemn civilization, but in order that civilization might be saved through him.’

Let’s try it again with new eyes for the familiar words believe and eternal life.

For God so loved civilization that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who affirms and joins the struggle on behalf of the new reality Jesus incarnates may not perish but may have life in a new dimension.

It is a bit wordy and not as poetic as the King James, but we get a very different sense of what is being said. Jesus came to transform our Earthly lives, not provide escape from them.

We might think of civilization as the human project. It is a good thing. I know some have said that the world would be better without human beings. I disagree. We are inheritors of a theology that says human beings are totally depraved. Again, I disagree.

Human beings are the consciousness of the universe. We are the eyes, ears, the thought, the Word, to use a metaphor from John’s Gospel. The universe becomes conscious of itself through us. Civilization is the unique gift that human beings bring to the universe. It is the way we participate with one another and with Earth.

But it is also broken. Unjust, oppressive, violent, and unsustainable.

When 1 percent of humanity controls 40 percent of the wealth that is unjust.
When we use the gifts of Earth in such a way that our descendants will be paying for our debts, we are not living sustainably. We are not living justly.
When we uphold these economic disparities by having standing armies all over the globe, we are not living as human beings.

We cannot survive long like that. We will perish.

John’s Jesus is the archetypal human being. The one who testifies to the truth. This is why he tells Pilate:

My kingdom is not of this civilization. If it were my people would be coming down on you violently, just like you are doing to me. But that isn’t the way I roll. The kingdom I am testifying to is non-violent. It doesn’t need violence because it is just. It is about harmony and peace.

My interpretation of Jesus is that he as the Cosmic Christ symbolizes the consciousness and the conscience of humanity. We are human beings for crying out loud, not consumers, not slaves, not products, not market demos, not mercenaries, not statistics, not abusers of Earth and of one another, not exploiters, not exploited.

We are the consciousness, the Word of God, the Royalty of the Universe, the blessing of creation. So be it. Why settle for less?

For the record I am in favor of civilization continuing. Returning to hunter/gatherer status and eating nuts and berries may sound romantic, but it is not likely to work for six billion people.

If there is a message for people of conscience, for which the Cosmic Christ is a symbol, it is to be a transforming presence. For the human project--that is for civilization--to continue, it will necessarily become sustainable which is another word for just.

What is exciting is that creativity is exploding all over. There is no more exciting time to be alive than now. Frightening? Absolutely.

In the midst of all of this, we might ask what can I do?

I suggest two things:

The first is to discover your passion. Discover your vocation. Spend some time and energy doing that which gives you joy.

Frederick Buechner defined vocation as the place where our deep joy and the world's deep hunger meet.

I receive emails everyday from groups of people, some organized some semi-organized, right here in the Tri-Cities who are following their passion. Whether it is healthcare reform, creation care, cooperation between religions, building bike trails, working to stop sexual violence, you name it, creativity is exploding. Do your joy.

The second thing is to trust. To honor the Cosmic Christ is to trust that something in the universe is larger than I and in control where I am not. It is trust that the creativity of the universe is beyond our consciousness.

It is a trust in the goodness and creativity that is unseen. We see only the tip of an iceberg. 90 percent is under the water. 90 percent of our awareness is unconscious. Even as we cannot see we trust that we will find what we need when we need it.

We live our joy and we trust and in so doing we become human.

That is all that is required.

The Great Turning

2009-11-21T15:49:00.006-05:00

I am going to use this piece tonight for our United Religions Initiative Interfaith Thanksgiving Dinner.

I found this a few years ago on Joanna Macy's website.

It is written by Christine Fry:

THE GREAT TURNING

You've asked me to tell you of the Great Turning
Of how we saved the world from disaster.
The answer is both simple and complex.
We turned.

For hundreds of years we had turned away
as life on earth grew more precarious
We turned away from the homeless men on the streets,
the stench from the river,
The children orphaned in Iraq,
the mothers dying of AIDS in Africa

We turned away because that was what we had been taught.
To turn away, from our pain, from the hurt in another's eyes,
From the drunken father, from the friend betrayed.

Always we were told, in actions louder than words,
to turn away, turn away.
And so we became a lonely people caught up in a world
Moving too quickly, too mindlessly toward its own demise.

Until it seemed as if there was no safe space to turn.
No place, inside or out, that did not remind us of fear or terror,
despair and loss, anger and grief.

Yet, on one of those days, someone did turn.

Turned to face the pain.
Turned to face the stranger.
Turned to look at the smouldering world
and the hatred seething in too many eyes.
Turned to face himself, herself.

And then another turned.
And another. And another.
And as they wept, they took each other's hands.

Until whole groups of people were turning.
Young and old, gay and straight.
People of all colours, all nations, all religions.
Turning not only to the pain and hurt
but to beauty, gratitude and love.
Turning to one another with forgiveness
and a longing for peace in their hearts.

At first, the turning made people dizzy, even silly.
There were people standing to the side,
gawking, criticizing, trying to knock the turners down.
But the people turning kept getting up,
kept helping one another to their feet.
Their laughter and kindness brought others
into the turning circle
Until even the nay-sayers began to smile and sway.

As the people turned, they began to spin
Reweaving the web of life, mending the shocking tears,
Knitting it back together with the colours of the earth,
Sewing on tiny mirrors so the beauty of each person,
each creature, each plant, each life
Might be seen and respected.

And as the people turned,
as they spun like the earth through the universe,
The web wrapped around them like a soft baby blanket
Making it clear all were loved, nothing separate.

As this love reached into every crack and crevice,
the people began to wake and wonder,
To breath and give thanks,
To celebrate together.

And so the world was saved,
but only as long as you, too, sweet one, remember to turn.

Power of Two

2009-11-20T17:20:00.003-05:00

Exciting news this week is that a Presbyterian minister got married.

Laurie A. McNeill, pastor of Central Church in Montclair, N.J., informed her session on Oct. 13 and also mailed a letter to members of her congregation that day, and was married on Cape Cod on Oct. 17, her grandmother’s birthday.

And she told the good news to her presbytery:

On Nov. 14, McNeill stood during the announcements time of a meeting of Newark Presbytery and informed her colleagues in ministry that she had recently married. “Rejoice with me, for I have found a companion with whom to share my life!”

The happy couple met a couple of years ago:

About two years ago, McNeill met Lisa Gollihue, a trial attorney, through an online dating service. Much to her surprise, because McNeill had been skeptical about such things, “it really was love at the beginning. There was a powerful connection that was just ridiculous.”

Wait. Huh? What was that? Laurie married Lisa?

McNeill said she told the session that she was getting married “and there will be no groom at the wedding. There was sort of this look — `You are gay. You are gay!’ ”

Cheese and crackers! What did her session do?

Later during that meeting, she said, the session voted unanimously to support McNeill in her decision and to affirm her ministry at Central Church.

How about that!

McNeill and Gollihue were married on Oct. 17 at Christ Church Cathedral in Harwich Port, Mass., on Cape Cod. Earlier, they had approached the governing board of that congregation and asked for permission to marry there, which the vestry did grant.

What will the busybodies say?

In marrying someone of the same gender, “you’re doing something that’s in direct violation of the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which you took a vow to uphold,” Leggett said. And marriage vows are “serious vows. Those vows are contradictory. I don’t know where that leaves her.”

Ho hum. They are so predictable. They will probably try to cause a stink.

As for McNeill, she is not sure what will come next.

What she does know is that, at age 49, she has married for the first time, and is thrilled.

All of us at Shuck and Jive are thrilled for you! Congratulations Laurie and Lisa!

Men As Allies to Address Sexual Violence

2009-11-19T13:04:00.003-05:00

It was good to see this in today's East Tennessean (ETSU's student newspaper):

ETSU's Men As Allies program was launched this year as part of the Counseling Center's OASIS programming. Men As Allies is part of a series of programs for both men and women on campus to address rape, sexual violence and relationship violence and to promote healthy sexuality.

The program encourages males to take ownership of sexual violence against women as a men's issue.

"It is a men's issue because 95 percent of sexual violence is conducted by men," explained Rebecca Alexander, OASIS program coordinator of the ETSU Counseling Center. "Men are in relationships with women who are either in danger of rape, sexual violence or relationship violence, or they are in relationships with women who have experienced it."

She goes on to say

"Although men are responsible for 95 percent of sexual and relationship violence and rape, only one quarter of all men are actually committing this violence," she said. "That means 75 percent of men out there are choosing to be safe and responsible."

Students who complete Men As Allies training can sign a Pledge to Ending Relationship Violence. The pledge states that the signee acknowledges relationship violence as a problem and is committed to action over passivity. Men As Allies workshops are offered to classrooms, residence halls, fraternities and athletic groups. To schedule a workshop, students can contact Alexander at 423-439-4841 or
alexanrl [at] etsu [dot] edu. (read more)

This is a great idea.

IPMN is Doing Its Job

2009-11-18T10:07:00.004-05:00

The Israel/Palestine Mission Network (IPMN) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has recently posted a video on its blog. The six minute film tells the side of Israel's history from the perspective of the Palestinian people.

IPMN was established by the 2004 General Assembly of the PCUSA. This is from their web page:

Established by action of the 2004 General Assembly, the Israel/Palestine Mission Network encourages congregations and presbytery mission committees, task groups and other entities toward specific mission goals that will create currents of wider and deeper involvement with Israel/Palestine. We seek to demonstrate solidarity, educate about the facts on the ground, and change the conditions that erode the humanity of both Israelis and Palestinians, especially those who are living in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza. This network works in close cooperation with ecumenical partners and with the Office for the Middle East, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, the Presbyterian Washington Office, the Presbyterian UN Office and with other appropriate entities of the General Assembly and General Assembly Council.

The Israel/Palestine Mission Network is an opportunity for Presbyterians throughout the country and at all levels of the church to coordinate ongoing efforts and discover new ones. Ultimately, we aim to support our church partners in Palestine to:
Strengthen Christian social institutions
Create jobs and promote economic development
Maintain schools and hospitals
Enable affordable and safe housing for Palestine
We unite our efforts through this Network, praying for the Holy Spirit's bold guidance in our work for peace and justice. Please continue to view our web site, learn more about our activities, and how you might get involved.

They do important work.

Their work is not without controversy. Viola Larson has spent a few blog posts criticizing the film and advocating its removal from the IPMN's website.

Providing criticism is a good thing. We should engage in it. There are legitimate criticisms of this film. There are legitimate grievances voiced in this film as well.

Ms. Larson is not satisfied with voicing her opinion. She wants censorship. She has decided what everyone should be able to watch and not to watch. She has been busily writing emails trying to get traction for her cause.

I decided to post the film here. I appreciate the IPMN allowing this voice to be heard. Controversy is a sign that the IPMN is doing its job. One of the statements in our most recent confession reads:

In a broken and fearful world
the Spirit gives us courage
to pray without ceasing,
to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior,
to unmask idolatries in Church and culture,
to hear the voices of peoples long silenced,
and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.

This is what was posted on the youtube page regarding this video:

I am Israel. Written by Hashem Said on Feb.25.2002 . Video made by Jihane Al Quds on Sept.4.2009. Hashem Said is an officer in the UW Palestinian student group Hayaat.

Embracing Change: A Sermon

2009-11-15T12:27:00.005-05:00

Embracing Change
John Shuck

First Presbyterian Church
Elizabethton, Tennessee

November 15th, 2009

Daniel 12:1-3
Mark 13:1-8

Was Jesus apocalyptic?

That is one of the questions bantered about between scholars in the historical Jesus debate.

The debate is whether or not Jesus believed that the end of human history was coming and that God would bring it with supernatural fury.

The task of the debate is how to interpret Mark 13 and other passages in the gospels that look apocalyptic. Scholars call Mark 13 “the little apocalypse.”

Before you tune out on me by thinking this is just another exercise in speculation over archaic texts, I am going to suggest that this exercise is contemporary. How we see Jesus reflects how we see ourselves.

We need to define what we mean by apocalypse.

Apocalypse means literally revelation. The last book in the Bible is called “The Revelation to John” or “The Apocalypse to John.” The meaning of that is that some guy named John received a revelation or an apocalypse from heaven. Apocalypse is special divine insight.

In popular parlance, apocalypse means a violent or a cataclysmic future. This is a future that tends to be fixed, predicted, even fated. The most popular expression in Christian extremism is found in the Left Behind novels. This is pulp fiction for the Christian extremist crowd. It reflects religious escapism. The basic plot is this: God is going to wipe out the world. Get on the Jesus train so you can get raptured before he trashes the place.

This view is as common as dirt. We see it in Christian extremist TV preachers. We see it in Muslim extremists. We see it also in the New Age Mayan calendar predictions, (ie. 2012), Nostradamus predictions and so forth. The packages may be different but the product is the same.

This is the product: There is a plan and a timetable that has been supernaturally decided and revealed to those who have special insight.

1) The view is pessimistic. Humanity or even life on Earth is not going to make it.
2) It is escapist. Only the true believers will escape and live forever in some other realm.
3) And it shirks responsibility. There is no reason to address the problems of Earth or contemplate its future because the “Supernatural” will fix it.

That is common definition and the one I am going to use for apocalyptic.

As you can tell by my tone, I don’t believe it. I think it is a dangerous and destructive view. Unfortunately, it is a popular view. As humanity faces more challenges and changes, we might expect apocalypticism to become more popular.

Was Jesus apocalyptic?

From reading Mark 13, it certainly seems like it. Listen to his language:

“Wars…earthquakes…famines…the end is still to come…the sun will be darkened…the stars will be falling from heaven…they will see the son of man coming in the clouds…heaven and earth will pass away…keep awake!”

What was he talking about? Was he talking about the end of the world? Was he talking about a local political event? Was he wrong? Was he exaggerating? Was he strange? Was he a product of his time? Was it really Jesus?

Here is how I learned it in seminary. Mark was written sometime during the Jewish-Roman War in 66-70 CE. The temple was destroyed and Jerusalem was burned. The western wall of the temple stands today. It is called the wailing wall. It has never been rebuilt. On the site of the temple is a Muslim mosque called the Dome of the Rock. For the Jews it was the end of their world.

First century historian, Josephus, recounted the horrors of this time in his work The War of the Jews. Many of the things we find predicted in Mark 13, Josephus described in his account of events including false messiahs, war, hunger, fleeing to the mountains, etc.

The view I learned in seminary and embraced is that Mark 13 was a creation by the author of Mark. The historical person of Jesus never said any of this. It was a creation by the gospel author. That would also be the view of liberal scholars such as Marcus Borg, Dominic Crossan, and other Fellows of the Jesus Seminar.

In their picture, the historical Jesus was a wisdom sage and poet. He was a critic of Empire but the kingdom would come not dramatically by supernatural intervention or apocalypse but by gradual moral improvement. “The kingdom of God is within you,” Jesus is reported to have said. The kingdom of God is like a seed that grows and produces fruit. He was against Herod’s and the Roman Empire’s economic policies, was critical of the temple, got on the wrong side of the authorities, and was executed as a troublemaker. His vision lived on in his disciples. They were mystically connected with him through this mystery they described as resurrection.

However, the other view is that yes Jesus was apocalyptic. This view is also held by liberal scholars such as Bart Ehrman, Paula Frederickson, and James Tabor among others. They follow in the tradition of the great historical Jesus scholar, Albert Schweitzer. He wrote his book, The Quest of the Historical Jesus in 1906. It provided a critique of 19th century liberals who thought Jesus was a prophet of moral progress. See how things come around again and again.

Schweitzer’s view was that Jesus felt the end was near and that God was about to do some big thing and that he was part of this big thing. He went to Jerusalem thinking he was going to start things in motion. He succeeded in getting himself killed. For Schweitzer, Jesus’ story is a tragic story. He was a product of his time. We, however, said Schweitzer don’t live in that time. This is how Schweitzer put it:

That Jesus expected the final consummation to be realized supernaturally whereas we can understand it only in terms of the result of moral effort, is merely the result of the change in fundamental thought-forms. … All that is required is that we think of realizing the kingdom by moral effort with the same passion as that with which he expected it to be realized by divine intervention, and that we know among ourselves that we must be prepared to sacrifice everything for it. P. 484

Schweitzer’s apocalyptic Jesus was not the Jesus of Christian orthodoxy and certainly not Christian fundamentalism. Jesus was mistaken, but his passion for the kingdom is to be admired and emulated.

After writing this book he went on to study medicine. He received the Nobel prize for his humanitarian work. His philosophy of a “reverence for life” was embodied in his life of service, particularly the hospital he started in Africa.

My views of Jesus are starting to change. I think that Mark 13 isn’t completely separate from the historical Jesus. I think he did have the destruction of the temple on the horizon of his vision. He could see events shaping up for a clash of civilizations between the Jewish people and Rome. He likely used vivid metaphorical language of the prophets to describe what he saw. I think he used the language and thought forms of his time. He probably did think in terms of divine intervention like the Hebrew prophets before him.

I don’t want to strip away the rough edges away from Jesus. I don’t want to tame him to where he fits in my world view. I will let him be a first century God-infused prophet with a passion for justice.

Our world view has changed a great deal since the time of Jesus. He obviously couldn’t have envisioned the universe we see today or the depth of time of natural history. Apocalypticism is nonsensical for us today.

That said, I do think that Jesus can be an important figure. I do like what Schweitzer says about the mystical relationship between ourselves and Jesus. He wrote:

Our relationship to Jesus is ultimately of a mystical kind….We can achieve a relation to such a personality only when we become united with him in the knowledge of a shared aspiration, when we feel that our will is clarified, enriched and enlivened by his will and when we rediscover ourselves through him. P. 486

How we face our future and our present is a matter of will. Do we have the will as individuals and as a country and as a human race to face reality and act appropriately?

In our text today, we find the disciples behaving like yokels visiting the big city.

One of the disciples looked up at the temple and said, “Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”

I think this saying did go back to Jesus. He saw what was coming. He had the will to face reality and to name it. It wasn’t a magical, superstitious prediction. It wasn’t fatalism. It was a realistic assessment of the conflict that was brewing between Rome and Jerusalem. It was an invitation to his disciples to wake up. I think the author of Mark embellished much of the 13th chapter of Mark, although I am not sure how much. But I think Jesus did see an end of an era, an end of an age, an end of a world.

Most importantly, he was telling his disciples that the end of this era was not the end of everything. In fact, it was a new beginning. This end while painful and destructive was the beginning of something new. Whether it was Jesus or Mark, they blur, nevertheless, it was encouragement to hope in the most frightening time.

The prophets of today are like Jesus in that they are speaking to the yokel within us who says, “Look at my new cell phone! Isn’t our technology incredible?” The prophets are saying in return: “There will come a time when our technology is going to crumble.” Whatever the medium, these prophets are showing us through film, music, fiction, non-fiction, and so forth that we are not living sustainably with our planet and that this age, this era, this world is coming to an end.

In a sense, this song from the musical group, The Talking Heads, is a modern version of Mark 13. Here are the lyrics of the song, “Nothing but Flowers:”

Here we stand
Like an Adam and an Eve
Waterfalls
The Garden of Eden
Two fools in love
So beautiful and strong
The birds in the trees
Are smiling upon them
From the age of the dinosaurs
Cars have run on gasoline
Where, where have they gone?
Now, it's nothing but flowers

There was a factory
Now there are mountains and rivers

We caught a rattlesnake
Now we got something for dinner

There was a shopping mall
Now it's all covered with flowers

If this is paradise
I wish I had a lawnmower

Years ago
I was an angry young man
I'd pretend
That I was a billboard
Standing tall
By the side of the road
I fell in love
With a beautiful highway
This used to be real estate
Now it's only fields and trees
Where, where is the town
Now, it's nothing but flowers
The highways and cars
Were sacrificed for agriculture
I thought that we'd start over
But I guess I was wrong

Once there were parking lots
Now it's a peaceful oasis

This was a Pizza Hut
Now it's all covered with daisies

I miss the honky tonks,
Dairy Queens, and 7-Elevens

And as things fell apart
Nobody paid much attention

I dream of cherry pies,
Candy bars, and chocolate chip cookies

We used to microwave
Now we just eat nuts and berries

This was a discount store,
Now it's turned into a cornfield

Don't leave me stranded here
I can't get used to this lifestyle

Modern day prophets are also telling us about hope. What is hope?

Hope is not escapism. Nor is hope denial.

Believing in superstition is not hope.
Denying reality is not hope.

Hope is a matter of character. It is a belief, a conviction, a confidence that we have what it takes to deal with whatever comes when it comes.

Margaret Atwood, author of The Year of the Flood, which is of the genre speculative fiction, was asked this question in an interview:

I just finished the book "The Year of the Flood." I thought it was amazing and left me feeling hopeful and hopeless about the human race at the same time. How do you have hope? What do you find hopeful about human beings?

She answered:

I think hope is part of the human toolkit, like music. It comes with, for the simple reason that those who did not have it - in the deep past - are not our ancestors.

Dianne Dumanoski, the author of The End of the Long Summer: Why We Must Remake Our Civilization to Survive a Volatile Earth, a book we are going to read next for our Thursday reading group, concludes her book with a chapter entitled “Honest Hope.”

She says that blind hope kills. “I fear blind hope as much as despair,” she writes. She says we must avoid a despair on one hand that says “it’s too late” or a sunny optimism that says “we’ll figure out something, because science always does.” Then she writes about real hope:

I discovered that one finds strength when one has to and simply endures what seemed beforehand terrifying and impossible….Such moments of great trial are not only the worst of times, but for many they can also be the very best, because one often experiences life at its most precious, intense, and meaningful.

….Looking ahead, it is natural to focus on the dangers, but those who will be making their way in this uncertain future will also have unusual opportunities, although these may not be of the kind that one would have chosen wittingly. In the struggle to continue the human journey, they may live lies enlarged by a shared sense of great purpose, leavened by imagination, and enriched by the creativity that survival has always required. P. 252.

Was Jesus apocalyptic? No. Not in the sense that we use that word. Jesus was realistic and hopeful. That is why we still tell his story. He showed us—and in that mystical sense that Schweitzer speaks of, when our wills our enriched and clarified by his will—Jesus still shows us how to do the most important thing human beings have ever done or have ever had to do.

He shows us how to embrace change.

We can do that.

It Is Never Time for a Millstone

2009-11-13T14:08:00.005-05:00

I am preparing a blog post regarding my thoughts on the Covenant Network Conference I attended in Cleveland last week. I hope to complete it next week. I am enjoying reading the reports by Leslie Scanlon of the Presbyterian Outlook and by Edward Terry, reporter for the Layman. Both attended the conference and both have reported accurate summations of some of the addresses that were given.

So far Edward Terry has reported on Mark Achtemeier's address and just today, Kenda Creasy Dean's address. Mr. Terry's reporting has been fair and accurate without scare quotes or loaded phrasing that is often typical with the Layman. I hope he keeps his job.

I say that because his editor, is, well, a bit unhinged.

Carmen Fowler on her latest blog post has found a passage in the Bible that she thinks applies to Dr. Achtemeier. She writes:

He has publically exchanged the truth about God for lies. He has publically renounced the truth of the Word of the Lord by subordinating that Word to his own sincerely held and heartfelt desires. He has become the kind of teacher about whom we are warned in II Timothy 4:3-4: “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

Jesus has something to say about false teachers: “Jesus said to His disciples: ‘Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin’” (Luke 17:1-2). Harsh words? Yes, but they are not my own.

No, Carmen, they are your words.

When you find a passage in the Bible and apply it to someone it becomes your interpretation, your application, your words.

Notice the violent image she chose to apply to Dr. Achtemeier.

It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.

The title of her blogpost is Time for a Millstone?

What exactly does that mean? Who is going to be the one to tie the millstone to Dr. Achtemeier? Will she do it herself or count on someone she will stir up with her rhetoric?

I am confident that is not her intent. But there are enough unstable people in the world who do take that type of rhetoric seriously enough to do violence in God's name.

I am not one in favor of censoring anyone's speech, but a little responsibility and sensitivity from an editor of a Christian publication is in order.

High School Musical

2009-11-13T10:14:00.003-05:00

The drama and chorus departments at Dobyns-Bennett are putting on "Guys and Dolls" this weekend. My lovely is the chorus director at D-B and is directing the music. Here is the article in the Kingsport Times-News.

Dobyns-Bennett High School is staging its own high school musical — and it has nothing to do with the East High Wildcats, Troy Bolton or basketball.

Instead, students and teachers from D-B’s chorus and drama departments have teamed up to tackle the intricate story of “Guys and Dolls” — a musical comedy originally described in its program as a “fable of Broadway.”

The Performing Arts Departments present “Guys and Dolls” at 7 p.m., Nov. 13; 2 and 7 p.m., Nov. 14; and 2 p.m., Nov. 15 in the school’s Nancy Necessary Pridemore Little Theatre.

Tickets for the show are $10 each, and will be sold at the door.
“There are approximately 30 students involved in the production,” said D-B drama instructor Debbie Coram.

“We have a musical theatre class this year that our chorus teacher teaches. It was an audition class, and then my forensics’ team, the Dramahawks, are involved in it also.”
....“This is a pretty mature cast,” Coram said. “We have some newcomers [to D-B productions], but they’re not necessarily new to the stage so we’re really excited about the performances coming up this weekend." (Read More)

If you are in the Tri-Cities check it out!

Lisa Larges and Her Scruple

2009-11-12T09:05:00.003-05:00

If you have a few moments, you should read Lisa Larges' statement of faith, her journey, and her statement of departure (scruple) regarding G-6.0106b.

This was all printed in the agenda (pdf) for the meeting at which she was approved for ordination by the presbytery of San Francisco.

This whole process gives you a sense of what it takes to be ordained, "the trials of ordination," and how subjective the whole business is. Of course, anyone perceived different from the mainstream in any way is especially "noted."

This is from her scruple regarding G-6.0106b. She demonstrates--one bullet point after another--why G-6.0106busybody is bad news for the church:

The text of G-6.0106b continues by singling out one particular derived standard from the historic confessional standards, namely, “the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness.” By my conscience, faith and theology I cannot and will not accept the terms of this standard.
It deliberately and intentionally denies the dignity and lived experience of same gender loving people.
In so doing it raises one category of persons, heterosexual persons, above all others and thereby makes an idol of heterosexuality.
Its formulation is based on a certain interpretation of Scripture to the exclusion of other interpretations, which are as sound, held by faithful Christians within our church.
It imposes a false and impossible choice upon same gender loving persons by not recognizing faithful covenanted relationships between two persons of the same gender.
It puts the church and its officers in an untenable position by failing to acknowledge the expanded definition of legal marriage as a “contract between two persons,” as held at this writing, in the jurisdictions of six U.S. states.
By elevating this standard above any others it has caused our church to be mired in inappropriate and scandalous inquiries into the sexual acts of persons seeking Ordained office.
It removes sex from the context of intimacy and covenantal relationship and denies the fullness and richness of committed loving relationships between persons of the same gender.
It denies the full humanity of lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender persons by focusing solely and exclusively on one part of their lives.
It distracts the church from seeking a deeper understanding of sexual ethics, so that sexual misconduct by officers of this church continues at an alarming rate.
It puts upon the door of the church an “Unwelcome” sign for all gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons and their families.
It props up and provides religious cover for acts of violence committed against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons.
It has caused schism within our church by driving out gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons who cannot fellowship within a church which regards them categorically as inferior.
It is a scandal to the Gospel and destroys the peace, unity and purity of the church.
In my own life, while I affirm the moral values of fidelity and chastity, I will not and can not claim chastity in singleness unless and until fidelity between two persons of the same gender within a covenantal relationship is recognized.

I will not submit in any way to a reduction of who I am as a Lesbian to language about “practice,” nor will I participate in perpetrating such a false and demeaning dichotomy upon any other member of this church.

Declaring a "scruple" is not enough. We need to remove this blight on the church.

Sick Around the World

2009-11-12T07:47:00.005-05:00

For those in the Tri-Cities area be sure to catch a screening of the film, Sick Around the World: Five Capitalist Democracies and How They Did It, Monday, November 16th from 7-9 p.m. at Munsey Methodist Church in Johnson City.

What did they do? They deliver health care to all their citizens. After the film is a panel discussion.

Munsey United Methodist Church is on the corner of Roan and Market Street in Johnson City.

Hope to see you there!

Busybodies Strike Back At Lisa Larges

2009-11-11T16:35:00.003-05:00

We are celebrating the vote in San Francisco presbytery. The presbytery approved the ordination of Lisa Larges. But she hasn't been ordained yet. Ever watchful for gay cooties, busybodies in San Francisco signed a "Stay of Enforcement." High priestess of the busybodies, Rev. Mary Holder Naegeli, sent a news release that was posted by town crier of the busybodies, Presbyweb:

Enough signatures were collected at the close of the meeting to secure a Stay of Enforcement while a remedial complaint is filed with the Synod of the Pacific Permanent Judicial Commission. Ms. Larges’ ordination cannot take place unless all legal hurdles are overcome, which could take another eighteen months.

Proving that making life difficult for others is what gives their lives meaning.

Lisa Larges Approved for Ordination!

2009-11-11T09:18:00.012-05:00

San Francisco Presbytery was all a twitter last night as Lisa Larges was approved for ordination by a vote of 156 to 138. That All May Freely Serve (TAMFS) was also approved as a validated ministry of the presbytery. That vote was 157 to 147.

In a polarized presbytery in a polarized denomination, Lisa Larges completed another chapter in her 23 year quest to serve the church as an ordained minister of word and sacrament.

Her last statement before the vote on her ordination:

"My call is to follow Jesus Christ and live my life with integrity."

Indeed. Thank you, Lisa, for your witness.

I have posted on her journey previously. In reverse order (pretty much):

Larges and Capetz Ordinations to Go Forward
Doug Oldenburg on Amendment B
Lisa Larges in the Advocate
A Silver Lining for Lisa Larges?
Lisa Larges Responds
Lisa Larges Decision
Lisa Larges on Trial
Lisa Larges Approved!
Lisa Larges in LA Times
More Links Regarding Lisa Larges
Lisa Larges' Statement of Conscience
Church Has Opportunity to do the Right Thing

United Religions Initiative Gratitude Dinner

2009-11-10T13:32:00.004-05:00

Here is something different for East Tennessee. You are all invited to a dinner to celebrate Thanksgiving with people from many different religions. No, not just Baptist and Church of Christ, but Buddhist and Wiccan, too!

Right here in the Bible belt.

We are more diverse than you might think. Here are the details:

Saturday November 21, 2009
6:00-8:30 p.m.
Johnson City Senior Center:
607 W. Myrtle Ave.

The Northeast Tennessee Co-operation Circle of United Religions Initiative is having their seventh annual interfaith potluck dinner of gratitude. A special effort is being made to attract people from diverse cultures and religions with the hope of creating a supportive and active interfaith community in the Tri-Cities area.

Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Wiccan, Native American, Buddhist and Unitarian Universalist religious leaders and congregants will share blessings and prayers for peace. The evening will be closed by folk Dances of Universal Peace led by Rebecca Nunley.

The public is invited to bring a dish and share in this interfaith opportunity to get to know our neighbors. Turkey and beverages will be provided. (Bringing a dish of one’s culture or ethnicity is encouraged, but any dish is welcome.)

RSVP Contact: Rev. Jacqueline Luck, revluck [at] hvuuc [dot] org or leave a message: 423-477-7661

Hope to see you!

Start Spreading the News...

2009-11-10T12:00:00.002-05:00

The action is in New York State today. According to the New York Observer, over 700 hundred clergy are going to melt away their little town blues and be a part of it:

ALBANY—With tomorrow's expected vote on same-sex marriage, advocates of the legislation say they're busing in 700 clergy members from around the state.

"This list represents a diverse group of faith traditions and congregations from all corners of our state. The leaders of these religious institutions understand the spiritual value of respecting all members of their community, including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender," said Alan Van Capelle, executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda.

Come on, come through...

New York!

Ten Thousand Villages Sale

2009-11-10T11:09:00.007-05:00

One of the big events near our mountain is the Ten Thousand Villages Sale. Each year we raise around five to six thousand dollars.

Shoppers enjoy purchasing some high quality gifts! All the proceeds go to artisans in the two-thirds world. It is coming up this weekend. Here is the press release:

(Elizabethton, Tenn) – Since the early 1990’s, volunteers at First Presbyterian Church have been supporting fair trade by hosting a Ten Thousand Villages Sale. On November 14th and 15th you can make fast work of your holiday shopping and purchase unique and useful hand-crafted items from all over the world by making one quick trip to Elizabethton. Favorite items include carved wooden bowls, hand-woven baskets, gorgeous jewelry and children’s toys.

As always, 100% of what we sell goes back to the 10,000 Villages organization which “provides vital, fair income to artisans in Africa, Asia and Latin America who would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed. This income helps pay for food, education, health care or housing. Ten Thousand Villages is a non-profit organization that has been working with people around the world since 1946.”

The public is invited to attend this unique and enjoyable sale Saturday November 14th, 8 am – 3 pm, and Sunday the 15th from 1–3 pm at the First Presbyterian Church on “F” Street in Elizabethton. Cash and checks are accepted.

Check the photo gallery on our web page for pictures from last year's sale. Check out other events of note at east Tennessee's progressive hideout, fpcelizabethton! Hope to see you!

Turning the Tables on the Bigots

2009-11-10T06:42:00.004-05:00

Here is an interesting approach. Ronald Goetz, a "Proud PFLAG Dad" is proposing a lawsuit on behalf of clergy and churches whose rights are being violated because they cannot perform marriages for same-gender couples. This is a turn the tables approach on those Christians who argue that marriage equality somehow violates their freedom of religion. What do you think? Mr. Goetz is looking for advice and input.

"Proposed Class-Action Lawsuit on Behalf of Churches and Ordained Clergy Because of the Violation of their First Amendment Right to Free Exercise of Religion"

There are many denominations that are on record as supporting Marriage Equality and want to marry same-sex couples as a matter of religious faith.

There are thousands of Open and Affirming congregations nationwide that support Marriage Equality and want to marry same-sex couples as a matter of religious faith.

There are additional thousands of ordained clergy who want to marry same-sex couples because of their religious faith.

The first amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Congress includes state and local jurisdictions, which cannot violate your civil rights either.

Thousands of churches and ordained clergy are being denied the free exercise of their religion in violation of their first amendment right.

I urge that this violation of the constitution be resisted through a class-action lawsuit, or some other appropriate vehicle. We are also guaranteed the right to petition the government for redress of grievances.

I would like responsible parties (clergy, denominational officials, attorneys) and enthusiastic supporters to contact me. I need input, encouragement, and pro bono advice.

Please contact me at kings.lgbt [at] hotmail [dot] com and let me know what you think. Thanks!

And please forward this to anyone you think might be interested.

Ronald Goetz
Proud PFLAG Dad

Renaissance or the Road to Hell?

2009-11-09T11:40:00.012-05:00

The East Tennessean (ETSU's student paper) reported on a student demonstration for a carbon neutral campus, Students Rally for Renewable Energy:

At 11:35 a.m. Thursday, students across campus participated in a "walkout," leaving class early to attend a rally for renewable energy.

"As an institution of higher learning, we feel that we should be spearheading the sustainability movement," said Initiative for Clean Energy president Lance Lewis as students, faculty and staff were assembling in Borchuck Plaza for the rally. "We should be leading the way, but instead we're still burning coal and natural gas, polluting our air and wrecking our vital ecosystems in the Appalachian mountains, and that's got to end."

The students want university president Paul Stanton to sign on to the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). According to the website, signatories "are pledging to eliminate their campuses’ greenhouse gas emissions over time." This includes:

Completing an emissions inventory
Within two years, setting a target date and interim milestones for becoming climate neutral.
Taking immediate steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by choosing from a list of short-term actions.
Integrating sustainability into the curriculum and making it part of the educational experience.
Making the action plan, inventory and progress reports publicly available.

My friend, activist Ash-Lee Henderson (who hangs out with us Presbys on occasion) had this to say:

"This basically means that we would be consuming enough sustainable energy that it would balance the amount of pollution that we're putting out," said Ash-Lee Henderson. "The rally was inspiring and it moved people to get active in the movement to stop our direct purchasing of coal."

Good work Lance, Ash-Lee and the students of ETSU! If you would like to contact President Paul Stanton and encourage him to get green, here is his contact information:

Office of the President
East Tennessee State University
PO Box 70734
206 Dossett Hall Lake Street
423-439-4211
e-mail

Meanwhile, The Oil Drum reported that 2/3 of the geologists at the Petroleum Geologists Conference in London voted following a debate on peak oil, that, yes, peak oil is a concern.

Jeremy Leggett, geologist and author of Half Gone: Oil, Gas, Hot Air and the Global Energy Crisis, arguing that peak oil is a concern responded to this question regarding the debate:

Q: What do you think the result means?
The result seems to suggest that the rank-and-file practitioners hold a very different view of peak oil from the BP/Shell/Exxon etc. top tables.

He also said:

Q: How do you think the peak oil drama is going to play out?

We will find out who is right about peak oil before the decade is out – earlier, rather than later. The discontinuities will be seismic. My preferred scenario is this one. Within just a couple of decades, the world will be floating on a sea of cleantech energy technologies, and enjoying a renaissance built around the many social value-adders inherent in those technologies. Oil shocks, oil wars, and all the other dismal paraphernalia of the hydrocarbon age will seem so very ….twentieth century. I elaborate in my books “Half Gone”, and “The Solar Century.” Of course, there are other scenarios.

Q: You're known as a climate-change campaigner as much as a peak-oil whistleblower. How do you think these two issues are related?

Peak panic will prompt a race to mobilise oil-replacement technologies. If cleantech wins out, we win, and renaissance beckons. If coal-to-liquids and tar sands win out, we lose, and we are on a road to hell. We start destroying wealth faster than we create it well before the mid point of the century. Again, I elaborate in my books, and keep the drama updated on my Triple Crunch Log website, www.jeremyleggett.net.

Here is a quick clip regarding "the solar century."

I finished a critically important book by Richard Heinberg, Blackout: Coal, Climate, and the Last Energy Crisis. This book provides an analysis of the available coal around the world (not nearly as much as we think). His final chapter provides scenarios of what we can do. In this final chapter he responds to why he subtitled his book, "last energy crisis."

If, as our scenario exercise suggests, there are really only two basic paths ahead--on one hand, the attempt to maintain maximum economic growth using fossil fuels of declining quality (with or without carbon capture or storage); or on the other, a scaling back of consumption, population, and economic growth so that all needs can be provided from renewable energy sources--then the end of coal means the last energy crisis in either a positive or negative sense.

In the negative sense: Once world coal production peaks, unless nations are already well on the way toward a renewable energy economy, they won't have a high net energy source available to keep the lights on and fund a further transition that only begins at that time. The peak of world oil production in 2010 will impact the world economy profoundly. Without a coherent effort to proactively reduce energy consumption further while developing renewable sources, the decline of energy from coal toward the middle of the century will deliver a coup de grace to industrial civilization, making the maintenance of electrical grids problematic to impossible. We will then have come to the end of the road, having used nature's endowment of cheap, energy-dense fuels without having built a bridge to the future. What follows is the final Blackout.

If we do develop a renewable energy infrastructure and a steady-state economy based on a recognition of ecological limits, the period of coal's decline will constitute the last energy crisis in a positive sense: once we have adopted a no-growth economic paradigm and are relying on resources that are continually replenished, we may never again have to worry about energy supplies.

The choice before us could hardly be starker. Pp. 166-7

Here is an article that later became a chapter in his book, Coal in the United States.

The US currently produces over a billion tons of coal per year, with quantities increasing annually. This is well over double the amount produced in 1960. However, due to a decline in the average amount of energy contained in each ton of coal produced (i.e., declining resource quality), the total amount of energy flowing into the US economy from coal is now falling, having peaked in 1998. This decline in energy content per unit of weight (also known as "heating value") amounts to more than 30 percent since 1955. It can partly be explained by the depletion of anthracite reserves and the nation’s increasing reliance on sub-bituminous coal and even lignite, a trend that began in the 1970s. But resource quality is declining even within each coal class.

Finally, you need to watch Home. A few of us watched it at the church last night. A powerful, sobering film with astounding photography and accurate information about our global condition regarding energy, our demands upon it, and the human impact on the environment. It also includes a fantastic natural history of Earth.

You can watch it on your computer on Youtube.

According to the film, we have about ten years to radically change the way we live or we are in the words of Jeremy Leggett, "on a road to hell."

Living easy, living free
Season ticket on a one-way ride
Asking nothing, leave me be
Taking everything in my stride
Don't need reason, don't need rhyme
Ain't nothing I would rather do
Going down, party time
My friends are gonna be there too
I'm on the highway to hell
No stop signs, speed limit
Nobody's gonna slow me down
Like a wheel, gonna spin it
Nobody's gonna mess me round
Hey Satan, payed my dues
Playing in a rocking band
Hey Momma, look at me
I'm on my way to the promised land
I'm on the highway to hell
(Don't stop me)
And I'm going down, all the way down
I'm on the highway to hell

Desperation and Hope: A Sermon

2009-11-08T13:09:00.006-05:00

Desperation and Hope
John Shuck

First Presbyterian Church
Elizabethton, Tennessee

November 8th, 2009
Stewardship Sunday

1 Kings 17-8-16
Mark 12:38-44

As he taught, he said, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, 39and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets! 40They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.’

41 He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’

Today is Stewardship Commitment Sunday. This Sunday finishes our pledge drive. Later in the service we will have the opportunity to engage in a ritual of stewardship. I want to say as clearly as possible that this community is a great place in which to give. I think we do important work here. Participating in a community like this helps us raise our consciousness, connects us with others, inspires us develop a sense of meaning and well-being, and challenges us to live more authentically and more sustainably. It is good to participate in something larger than ourselves that brings us and the world joy. This congregation does that. It is a blessing. As we are a voluntary organization we operate based on gifts from our members, thank you for being part of it and for supporting it with your time, talent, and treasure.

Now I am in a bit of a pickle.

I have decided to follow the lectionary readings for the Fall. The text for today is about the widow and her mite. One would think that text would be a natural for stewardship Sunday. She is the inspiration for giving, right? Be like the widow. Give it all! Here is a poem I found on the internet:

She came for Temple worship
And from her penury
Cast her gift, the widow's mite,
Into the treasury.

Another came that Sabbath day,
Rich and finely dressed,
And from abundance gave his gift
Much greater than the rest.

But God who weighs the human heart
And gifts both great and small,
Chose to praise the widow's mite...
"This woman hath given all!
-Linda Wright

As the faithful and pious widow gave her all to the temple, so ought we be humbled and inspired by her commitment. We should not therefore complain when the stewardship committee comes calling.

John Calvin, the 16th century Protestant Reformer had this to say about this passage:

This reply of Christ contains a highly useful doctrine that whatever men offer to God ought to be estimated not by its apparent value, but only by the feeling of the heart, and that the holy affection of him who according to his small means, offers to God the little that he has, is more worthy of esteem than that of him who offers a hundred times more out of his abundance. In two ways this doctrine is useful, for the poor who appear not to have the power of doing good, are encouraged by our Lord not to hesitate to express their affection cheerfully out of their slender means; for if they consecrate themselves, their offering, which appears to be mean and worthless, will not be less valuable than if they had presented all the treasures of Crœsus.

On the other hand, those who possess greater abundance, and who have received from God larger communications, are reminded that it is not enough if in the amount of their beneficence they greatly surpass the poor and common people; because it is of less value in the sight of God that a rich man, out of a vast heap, should bestow a moderate sum, than that a poor man, by giving very little, should exhaust his store. This widow must have been a person of no ordinary piety, who, rather than come empty into the presence of God, chose to part with her own living. And our Lord applauds this sincerity, because, forgetting herself, she wished to testify that she and all that she possessed belonged to God. In like manner, the chief sacrifice which God requires from us is self-denial.

A great deal of interpretive weight has celebrated this passage and this figure, the impoverished widow who gives her all, as a model for giving to the institutional church. This common reading has equated the Temple with the church.

That is our first mistake.

It could be that the institutional church is similar in some ways to Herod’s Temple. But if so, that is no compliment. Throughout the Gospel of Mark, Jesus has nothing but contempt for the Temple.

His first act with the temple is an act of spectacle in order to raise consciousness. In a demonstration he turns over the tables in the temple. This is not because he objects to the selling of pastries in the foyer. He turns the tables then explains what he is doing by quoting the prophet Jeremiah, “You have made the house of prayer a den of robbers.”

A robbers’ den is where robbers hide out after they do their robbing. The temple has become cover—a hiding place—for those who have exploited the people. The temple is religious legitimation for exploitation. That is the first encounter Jesus has with the Temple in Mark’s gospel. That should be a clue that the mission of the temple and the mission of Jesus are not the same.

Later, the disciples are marveling at the temple. They are Galilean peasants on a field trip to the big city. One of them says to Jesus: “Look, teacher at what large stones and what large buildings.” Then Jesus asked him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’

Later, Jesus' accusers say that Jesus declared that he will destroy the temple made with hands and build another not made with hands. Whether or not Jesus said that, we can't know but neither the Temple nor its keepers receive good marks from Mark who interprets Jesus' ministry and mission as anti-temple.

Why? What is the problem with the Temple? For starters, Herod built it. That isn’t of itself so bad. But it should give us pause. The temple was one of several ambitious building projects by Herod.

These included military fortresses at Masada, Antonia, and Herodium and the port city of Caesarea which included a hippodrome for chariot races, an amphitheater, an artificial port, a huge temple dedicated to the emperor, and numerous bath houses.

The Temple that Herod built for the Jewish people was massive and gaudy. First century historian, Josephus, writes:

Viewed from without, the Sanctuary had everything that could amaze either mind or eyes. Overlaid all round with stout plates of gold, the first rays of the sun it reflected so fierce a blaze of fire that those who endeavored to look at it were forced to turn away as if they had looked straight at the sun. To strangers as they approached it seemed in the distance like a mountain covered with snow; for any part not covered with gold was dazzling white...

Herod then appointed his own high priest to run the thing.

Herod built and built. How did he afford all of this? Olive oil was one way. Rather than have subsistence farmers living off their own little plot of land, he turned Judea into Herod-Mart. Now you had landless people working as day laborers for absentee landlords to produce cash crops. He taxed the people heavily, crushingly.

In the passage before the one in which our pious widow gives her last mite to the Lord, we find:

38 As he taught, he said, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, 39and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets! 40They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.’

In Michael Moore’s new film, Capitalism: A Love Story, Moore shows a clip of George W. Bush at a town hall meeting of some sort. In the clip a woman says that she is working three jobs. The president grins and says:

“That’s great!”

The president praises her for her piety and hard work. What a good American to work three jobs. It doesn’t dawn on the president that having a woman work three jobs in order to barely get by is not a sign of prosperity. What kind of economic system do we have that requires this?

When Jesus is watching people throw their money (notice the word is throw not give) into the temple treasury, he is not praising the widow. He isn’t saying to her,

“That’s great! Don’t worry about food for yourself or your family. Give your last penny to keep this gold plaited holy of holies in operation!”

Jesus is offering a scathing, damning critique of Herod’s economic system and the religious legitimation of it.

Jesus gathers his disciples to show them this. Here is a teaching moment. Look at these two people coming to the treasury. Giving a good chunk of change doesn’t hurt the rich. They can pay the temple tax and have money left over. The problem is that the temple is funded on the backs of widows who have lost everything. These building projects including this Temple which supposedly is the symbol of God’s presence, have devoured the poor, like this widow.

Yes, the widow is our teacher.

The popular reading regards the widow as a teacher because of her piety. The teaching is that we are to follow her example.

A more accurate reading regards the widow as teacher because of her condition. The teaching is a critique of our economics.

We don't know why the widow gave her last money to the temple treasury. Was she forced to do so like a tax? Was it a last act of desperation like buying a lottery ticket with her last dollar? Was she hoping for the miracle that oil would not run out as in the story of the widow and Elijah?

We don't know. We do know that Jesus did not approve. He did not approve of a temple that either by force or desperation devours widows' incomes after it devours their houses.

It would have been more just for the widow rather than give her last penny to the temple, to instead take some out.

It would have been more just if the rich man who gave a large amount to the temple to have given it to the widow, or perhaps given her her house back so she could make her own living.

It would have been more just for the temple to have been prophetic and spoken on behalf of the economics of God or the economics of the good rather than the economics of exploitation.

I think the Bible, the whole of it, and Jesus’ message in particular, is about how we live our lives in relation to one another and to Earth. It is about economics. The kingdom of God which Jesus talked about more than anything else, is both an economic and a political term. The kingdom of Herod or the kingdom of Caesar is in opposition to the economics of the good.

It is what is fair, just and sustainable versus what is unjust and exploitative.

So this widow’s story can be a story for stewardship. It is a tragic story to be sure. It is a story of desperation. It is a story of what goes wrong when we allow ambition and greed take over reason and compassion.

It is also a story of hope. The gospel story is a good news story. It is only good news when it speaks to reality such as the reality of widows whose houses are devoured. The temple with its religious legitimation of exploitation fell. As Jesus said, not one stone was left upon another. Out of its ruins something new emerged. That is our hope.

Stewardship means to care for life and all that life puts before us, especially those who are most vulnerable. Part of stewardship is to be a voice of conscience. We are given the opportunity to be that voice today. Perhaps more than anything the church is a voice.

We are to give voice to the widows.
We are to give voice to the exploited.
We are to give voice to Earth.
We are to give voice to the injustices so that we can also give voice to justice and to hope.

I am grateful to each of you and to this community as a whole for being that voice.

But we Love them...

2009-11-05T08:37:00.004-05:00

Can anyone possibly believe that those who are against equality for gays and lesbians are not motivated by homophobia? I mean really. This is in Thursday's USA Today:

"Every time Americans vote on marriage, traditional marriage wins," said Wendy Wright, president of the conservative group Concerned Women for America. "As people become aware of the true homosexual agenda — that it is not about equality but indoctrinating children and discriminating against Christians — they shore up protections against it."

The homosexual agenda is about "indoctrinating children and discriminating against Christians."

Uh huh.

Homophobes, a bit of advice:

When you tell lies about people it is hard to believe it when you claim that you love them.

Meanwhile, some Presbyterians think we should remove the word homophobia from our vocabulary as it makes some who are against equal rights feel bad when they are called on it.

I think we'll keep this word for a while.

Larges and Capetz Ordinations to Go Forward

2009-11-04T22:55:00.002-05:00

The General Assembly PJC (GAPJC) has ruled regarding Lisa Larges and Paul Capetz regarding their ordination status. These two saints have put in play ye olde scruple rule. Witherspoon has the story from the Presbyterian News Service.

The rulings effectively allow San Francisco Presbytery to proceed to examine Larges for possible ordination and the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area to restore Capetz to ordained ministry in the PC(USA).

So good news! Congrats Lisa and Paul! Lisa will be examined by San Francisco presbytery on Tuesday.

Crummy news from Maine.

Voters rejected a state law Tuesday that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed. The repeal comes just six months after the measure was passed by the Maine legislature and signed by the Democratic Gov. John Baldacci.
Maine would have been the sixth state in the country to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry, but instead becomes the 31st state to oppose the unions in a popular vote.

Sunshine and rain.

Meanwhile, I am in Cleveland for the Covenant Network conference that starts tomorrow afternoon. I have to check out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame first.

Cleveland rocks.

Embracing Our Tears: A Sermon

2009-11-01T14:38:00.003-05:00

Embracing Our Tears
John Shuck

First Presbyterian Church
Elizabethton, Tennessee

November 1st, 2009
All Saints’ Day

Isaiah 25:6-9
John 11:32-44

Today is All Saints’ Day.

We will take some time today in community, among friends, to remember and honor those who have fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith.

Remembering those who are not with us brings tears.

This is the season of Autumn. The changing and falling leaves remind us that life is as precious and short as a season. The via negativa or the way of letting go is the spiritual path of being conscious of change.

There is a prayer written in our Book of Common Worship that I almost always read whenever I am asked to lead a funeral or memorial service. I had the honor of officiating at the memorial service for Nancy Odendhal this past week, so this prayer is fresh in my mind. The words are traditional, haunting, and honest.

Eternal God,
We acknowledge the uncertainty of our life on earth.
We are given a mere handful of days,
and our span of life seems nothing in your sight.
All flesh is as grass:
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers the flower fades,
but your word will stand forever;
in this is our hope, for you are our God.
Even in the valley of the shadow of death,
you are with us.

Oh Lord, let us know our end,
and the number of our days,
that we may learn how fleeting life is.
Turn your ear to our cry, and hear our prayers.
Do not be silent at our tears,
for we live as strangers before you,
wandering pilgrims as all our ancestors were.
But you are the same,
and your years shall have no end.
Amen

I am not as sure as I thought I once was about who “God” is in that prayer. I have no idea what it might mean to “have no end.” It is not likely that a supernatural divine being is moving in and out of our lives, pulling strings here and there.

Yet I do resonate with the lonely plea to whoever might listen: “Do not be silent at our tears.”
And I recognize that the beauty of life will fade like a summer flower.
Like grass that withers, so withers all of our presumption.

It is beautiful poetry. It is the poetry of letting go and acknowledging our limits.
It is the poetry of loss.
It is the poetry of tears.

The ancestors or the saints (in the Protestant tradition everyone gets to be a saint, even the sinners) are always telling us: “Listen: one day you are going to end up just like us.” The job of the dead is to remind the living that even though we do not know the number of our days, they are numbered.

The job of the living is to honor the dead by not allowing one beautiful flower to go unnoticed.
We honor the dead by not letting life slip by.
We honor the dead through peals of laughter.
We honor the dead by embracing our tears and one another’s tears.
We honor the dead by fighting for what is beautiful.

The gospels catch Jesus crying twice. Once when he weeps over Jerusalem and once when he weeps for his friend Lazarus. These glimpses of Jesus’ tears are the gospels’ way of telling us that tears are sacred. Weeping is a holy act. We are called to be men and women of sorrow, warriors of sorrow, like Jesus was.

Matthew Fox in his important book, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine writes about the warrior metaphor. We need to call forth the inner warrior. We aren’t talking about soldiers and we certainly aren’t talking about mercenaries. We aren’t talking about violence at all. We are talking about strength shaped by sorrow.

We need to find the inner warrior that was manifest in Sojourner Truth and Rosa Parks, warrior women twice oppressed by gender and race, but whose sorrows strengthened them in the fight for equality. The warrior was manifest in Harvey Milk, who at the time he was city supervisor in San Francisco, had achieved the highest public office for an openly gay man.

“You gotta give ‘em hope!” was his cry.

He was assassinated while in office. But even in his death he gave us hope.

Sometimes that is what happens to warriors.

Sister Dorothy Stang was a defender of the Amazonian rainforest and of the local people who were persecuted by illegal loggers and landowners. She was assassinated in Brazil in 2005 because of her faithful resistance to the exploitation of people and land.

They are saints, warriors and heroes. We honor them today.

Matthew Fox writes of warriors:

Often, to be a warrior, we must let go of our privileged status in life, no matter how hard-won. Putting aside the cloaks of accomplishment, one strips to what Howard Thurman called “the literal substance of oneself before God,” and one goes into darkness quite alone and vulnerable. That too is part of the way of the warrior. There are no guarantees that at the other end one will emerge as the same person or fit to play the same role in society ever again. One becomes the Via Negativa. Friends and relationships, achievements and titles, salaries and retirement plans, may all be left aside. We may be asked to live out the principle that, as Eckhart said, “all we have in life is on loan.” Life itself is on loan and all our relationships in it. A loan is temporary. The warrior knows about death, does not deny mortality but carries it like a shield, a guard by which to defend self and others. Knowing one’s mortality urges one to live fully now and defend what is beautiful now, not tomorrow. The warrior does not wait to live, does not put off living and loving and defending and creating for another day. The loan will come due, so make your opportunity today. P. 94.

In the reading from Isaiah, our ancestors confidently repeat the promise that one day God will wipe away tears. This is the ancient way of saying that sadness doesn’t have the last word. The Via Negativa is not sadism or nihilism or the glorification of pain and suffering. We embrace the tears and the darkness so we can move through them and discover the creativity we need for transformation.

Grief if not tended becomes depression. But if we can embrace it, feel it, be honest with it and weep through it, it can become compassion. And that is what a warrior is made of. We need warriors who can feel the pain of polluted streams, of blown up mountains, and burned out habitats. We need warriors who can weep over Earth as Jesus wept over Jerusalem and as he wept with Mary and Martha over Lazarus.

Then as the prophet Isaiah writes, God wipes away the tears, fills our emptied, cried out, ripped out, burned out, blown up vessels of our souls with the light of creativity.

Like Jesus who calls the dead Lazarus to come forth, we are to call out to a humanity that has been deadened, numbed, wrapped in plastic and laid in a tomb. We, warriors, need to call out to humanity to come alive.

Come forth! Unbind yourself! Go! Let us make a sustainable and just life for our children and for our grandchildren.

This is not someone else’s calling. It is ours. This isn’t our job tomorrow. It is today.

I read this poem at Nancy Odendhal’s service. Nancy was a warrior by the way. She was a warrior for Earth and a warrior for her friends.

This is Mary Oliver, “When Death Comes:”

When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse

to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measle-pox;

when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,

I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,

and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth
tending as all music does, toward silence,

and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.

When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it is over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

The ancestors, the saints, the dead, the cloud of witnesses, our loved ones who we miss dearly are rooting for us.

They are reminding us that our days are numbered.

No matter where we are on life’s time-line, if we have breath, there is something we yet can do:

One more flower to smell,
One more story to tell,
One more cheer to yell,
One more polluter to give hell,

There is time and a way to take the world into our arms.
Amen.

Happy Halloween from Our Dysfunctional Family To Yours

2009-10-31T09:57:00.000-04:00

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