Canceling “The Interview”

Proverbs 26: 12a “Do you see persons wise in their own eyes?”

They should have let it be.

They believe they were “successful”.  After hacking into Sony Studios and threatening the lives of movie goers, the terrorist-hackers have gotten “The Interview” pulled before release.  It has been shelved, “permanently”.

Do they not know who they are dealing with?

In light of Pearl Harbor Day not long passed, do they not realize how dangerous it is to poke a sleeping bear?  I am not saying that we are headed to war, but retribution will be swift and humorous.

Despite what he has done, Bill Cosby epitomized what will come next.  He read a letter on a television special from a Representative to the Dental Industry, protesting how he makes fun of dentists.  He read the letter solemnly, with dignity, before pulling out all the stops, the lesson being: “Lighten up.”

The sleeping bear of the American Entertainment-Industrial Complex has been awaked!!  In the land where Jon Stewart is the most popular ‘news anchor’ since Walter Cronkite, where all the worst excesses of consumerism come out of Hollywood, do they truly believe there will be no response?

They should have let it lie, endured it, let it get panned at Cannes, ignored at the Academy Awards.  When Randy Moore released “Escape From Tomorrow”, filmed surreptitiously at the Disney theme parks, Disney did not react or retaliate.  When Al Franken wrote “Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot”, Rush Limbaugh ignored its existence.  Each had its  time and we moved on.  Had either target reacted, we would see the true definition of something ‘going viral’.

They should have let it be.

One Thing I Love About Christmas Is the Music…

            Christmas music can be divided into three broad categories.  One is faith-based, two come out of the popular culture.  In church, we sing Christmas Carols, they are the music of our worship services for the Season of Advent and Christmas.

            In the popular culture, Christmas music falls into two broad categories.  There are the “Santa tunes” and the “Experiential tunes”.  The Santa tunes run from the obvious, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”, to Christmas specials including “Frosty the Snowman”, where Santa makes an appearance. 

            The Experiential tunes fall into two groups.  The first group of songs celebrates the Meteorological experience of the Season, “White Christmas” or “Let It Snow”.  The second group of songs celebrates an experience of Personal Transformation brought about by the Season.  My personal favorite in this group is the song about Snoopy and the Red Baron, when, at Christmas, the Red Baron chooses not to shoot down Snoopy, but wishes him a Merry Christmas.

            The thing about Christmas music is that there is very little of it that does not make me happy during this Season-except when it gets played early, pre-Thanksgiving.  I do not think there is any popular Christmas song that I do not like-although I do have my favorite versions.   Most others versions, I do not care for.  

            What is the place of the ‘cultural’ Christmas songs in the life of a Christian?  I believe they should be enjoyed, we should let them make us feel good.  Because they point to a reality bigger than themselves.  The joy of the snow, the transformation that happens within us, even the celebration of Santa Claus, these songs make us aspire to goodness beyond ourselves. 

            These songs find their root in the Christmas Carols, which in turn are rooted in the message of the birth of Jesus.  At Christmas, when the magic of faith is working, the world is a little better, the weather is a little more invigorating,  people are a little nicer.

            Are they all believers?  No.  But the faith of the Season, the joy of the birth of the Christ child, is enough to change everything it touches for the better.

 

Merry Christmas! 

Ferguson

I tried to start this post as a prayer, something of noble faith to bring peace and calm and justice to what happened in Ferguson, Missouri.  I guess I don't pray that well.  Or maybe I simply need to process things, to discern the spirits, to see what prayers really need to be said.


Because there are two great truths that have been confused in Ferguson.  And if we can sort them out, maybe we can truly make some progress.


Here is the first truth.  It is very possible that Darren Wilson's shooting of Michael Brown was justified.  Nobody wants to hear that, and I know I am going to lose readers right now because I am entertaining that possibility.  From all the reports of all the evidence that I have read about what was given to the Grand Jury, it looks to support the officer's story.  I am not a judge, I am not on any jury, I am simply trying to follow the facts as they have been presented.


From my experience and preparation as a law enforcement Chaplain, I begin to understand and appreciate the unique pressures of that vocation.  As a society, we have entrusted to our police officers the power of life and death, but in very specific circumstances, the protection of life.  And every time an officer must exercise that power, we must scrutinize the circumstances with the greatest care, for the sake of the community and for the sake of the officer.


Here is the second truth.  Racism exists in America.  From where I sit today, the most cynical thing written in the documents that establish the foundation for this nation is the phrase in the Declaration of Independence that there is this self-evident truth that all men are created equal.  Set aside gender issues for a moment to truly consider how cynical that statement is in light of the United States Constitution.  In the Constitution, we set aside a whole group of people, defined them by the color of their skin and their economic circumstances, and we called them slaves.


Yes, I am judging the circumstances of the 1700's and the 1800's by 21st century standards.  But those guys all went to church and they all must have heard what Paul had to say about being in Christ, that there is neither male nor female, Jew or Gentile, SLAVE OR FREE!!! 


In the 21st century, we don't have slavery, we fought the Civil War over that, and other issues.  We don't have Jim Crow laws and segregation because of the Civil Rights movement.  But economic divisions, racial stereotypes, urban and suburban "ghettos", all of these still exist.  And there is a deep and abiding anger in the soul of America about this. 


And we should be protesting, because this should NOT be happening in this nation.  I think the words of Martin Luther King Jr. should be the battle cry.  Let every person be judged on the content of their character.  From Civil War to Civil Rights to Civil Potential!  Let every American, regardless of color, creed, gender, or ethnic origin be given equal opportunity to develop to their fullest potential.  Economics and education would be the foundations of the new protest.  


What makes me so very angry about Ferguson is the confusion of these truths.  I am very angry at all the comments about how everyone was certain Darren Wilson would not be indicted, not because he was innocent, but because the 'system' would conspire to get him off.  I am very angry at what happened after the shooting, when Michael Brown's body was out in the middle of the street, in plain sight, for hours.  It looked to me like the authorities didn't care. 


I am very angry that we live in a country with widening divides between the rich and the poor, between people of all different racial backgrounds, not just black and white, that our response to the tensions has been one of arrest and incarceration instead of engagement and meaningful social change. 


So, I guess my prayer would be this: God, change our hearts and our minds.  Amen.

Ebola: The Spirit Best Minister, Because I am Useless...

I went to a County training yesterday in putting on the Personal Protective Equipment that would be used by Health Department personnel in case of an Ebola outbreak in Middlesex County.  My God, what a humbling experience.


Everything that I equip myself with for the role and office of pastor is sealed up under plastic and packing tape.


Ebola is carried in human liquids, thus to prevent its transmission, one must be self-contained against spills, sprays, splashes, and spittings, especially to the eyes, nose, and mouth, or to an open wound.  So, there are surgical gloves underneath and kitchen-scrubbing gloves over top, duct-taped to the Tyvek outfit.  There are my glasses, a breathing mask, a hood, and a face shield on top of that.  Even my shoes were covered.  And eleven to fourteen steps just to put them on correctly.  And this is just to go in and see someone.


When you emerge, expect to be hosed down with a bleach mixture against any liquids that found there way onto your person.  And pray the plastic and packing tape didn't rip!


You got nothing but the Spirit in that moment.  There is no way to carry in a bible or prayer book.   Crosses and jewelry are forbidden because they might tear the suit.  There is barely even the ministry of presence available.


There is NO skin to skin contact, there is layered eye contact, there is no facial expression or physical expression of love or hope to offer under that armor.  Even my voice is muffled under the hot and smelly mask.  I had nothing.  


All the patient has is the sure and certain knowledge that even God's henchman comes in outfitted like every other anonymous Health Worker.  What we have done, with our marvelous modern technology, is kept the patient confined to a box in quarantine.  Is this more humane, a better way to preserve their dignity and the 'public good'  than allowing them to walk abroad while crying out "UNCLEAN" to every normal person they meet?


I am not enough of a fool for Christ to think God would keep me from getting infected (and that would defy the whole 'thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God section), that I could defy the plastic and packing tape and go in human to human.  Because, besides that patient, I have my family, my co-workers, my parishioners, the public to think about and consider. 


So I have to assume that if I am ever called upon to suit up and stand like a human-esque form in plastic and packing tape, that the Spirit will still bring the power of the faith, even when I am not sure I do.

Are You In The Image of God?

The thesis of the next set of sermons in my church goes something like "the more the Holy Spirit is active in our lives, the more in the Image of God we are."  The premise of the thesis ties together the 6th day of creation, where God says we are created in His image and the '2nd' creation story where it talks about how we were created, out of dust and breathed in with the breath of life directly from God. 


It would have been nice to find a Hebrew 'code word' to explain this process, because the breath of life is expressed-at least in the English translations-as being there for the animals as well as humanity.  A good specifically defined term in the Hebrew would have been nice. 


But this is some rambling about the first couple chapters of Genesis.  What's in it for the rest of us?  Well, unraveling what it means to be in the image of God would answer a challenge that has faced the Christian community for its entire history.  It might also be a part of Rabbinic interpretation of the Old Testament, but that isn't my area of expertise.


Why were we created in the image of God?  Why was this different from the rest of creation?  Because we were given dominion over the creation.  We were put in charge on God's behalf.  I have to admit I don't like the soft pedaling I have heard of us being 'stewards' of the creation, sort of like a community Denethor to God's being Aragorn.  I guess that is part of it, but we were put in charge, and we have used that authority to exploit, destroy, and rip apart whatever we want to make a profit from the Earth.


We have a lot to be held accountable as those but in charge of the creation.  We have a lot to work at to enter into the image of God to do better.  Can't do it on our own.

Does Anyone Really Know How Tough Peace Is?

In Hebrew, it is Shalom.  In Arabic, it is Salaam.  It is a word, a concept, a dream, an ideal, and more hard work than all the wars in history combined!  Destruction has always been easier than construction.  The nearest we've come to equalizing those two was the Genesis Project portrayed in Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan, and Star Trek III: Search for Spock.  Even then, we came to find out that they used protomatter in the matrix that made the whole thing unstable...




We need to turn to science fiction to get close to an answer.  My daughter and I share an affinity for dystopian teenage angst fantasy and in those circumstances, peace is found in conformity.  That is not a new concept, I grew up reading "1984" and watching Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" (which I think carries the spirit of George Orwell's fearful vision to its most effective portrayal on the screen).




I sign off on much of my correspondence, electronic or otherwise, with the word "Peace".  It sounds pastoral and something Jesus would do if he sent emails.  But I can't ever do so without feeling a twinge.  The word is so easy to say, so easy to define, but so very hard to live.  We fill our country with "Peace Officers" who in turn fill our prisons with more people per capita than the entire world except for the Seychelles (with a population of 90,000 as opposed to 330 million plus in the US.


Jesus came to bring Peace and they killed him for it.  Gandhi came to bring Peace and they killed him for it.  Martin Luther King Jr. came to bring Peace and they killed him for it.  Malcolm X started in the War Camp but found Peace as his Mission on the Hajj and they killed him for it.  I am blessed as a Christian to follow the one on this list that God brought back.


We don't achieve Peace very often.  We talk about eras like the Pax Romana or the Pax Britannica, times of relative Peace in the world which happened because we had powerful nations big enough to stomp out any opposition. 


I guess it might be helpful to define "Peace".  It is NOT the absence of war, that is called "Ceasefire", like what we've had with North Korea since 1953.  It is not the Exhaustion from war, which existed in the Arab Israeli relations after 1948, after 1956, after 1967-70, after 1973...get the picture?   It sure is not Cold War (as opposed to Hot War) which had two generations in our nation fearing a Soviet nuclear attack.  It is NOT conquest, which existed behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War.


The Peacemakers who died, what did they seek?  Jesus sought love, Gandhi sought liberation, King sought equality, X sought advancement, all of which go into peace.  And their movements did bring about real steps towards achieving peace.  But we've never really gotten there. 


Consider Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X as a test case in our country, seeking to bring peace between 'blacks' and 'whites'.  In the 1860's we fought a war on that issue.  In the 1960's it was a peaceful protest made around that issue.  Now, in the 20-teens, we pay lip service to the 'equality; won, but by the 2060's, will lasting peace have been achieved in this one issue? 


And peace will NOT be won by whites and blacks coming together to keep the next ethnic group (Latinos?) at bay.


I do not consider myself to be naïve.  "War no more" is a pipedream.  The only way that truly leads to peace is when EVERYBODY signs on.  One side giving up war invites conquest by the other side.  We are a violent and bloody race.  War is never good, war is not the answer, but all too often war is what there is.  And sometimes going to war is better than the alternative, appeasement or capitulation, as in against Hitler or against Tojo. 


Salaam, Shalom, Peace, a worthy state of being.  Worth the costs.  But do we really know what those costs will be?

A Revisit to Harry Potter...

A fellow blogger who shall remain anonymous...okay, Mark Sandlin at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/thegodarticle/2014/09/the-harry-potter-re-write-christian-style-is-everything-thats-wrong-with-christianity/ made me go look.  I read the first posting for "Hogwarts School of Prayer and Miracles" and cringed.  I think I would prefer to read some of the Chinese knockoffs translated into English, where, among other things, Gandalf was written in as Harry's grandfather (if memory serves). 


Over the past year, I have been revisiting Hogwarts and my old friends.  We did a marathon of the movies over the summer and I wanted to come back to the real thing.  (I am a snob when it comes to that, books versus movies).


But something was tickling at my mind about how a Christian could respond to the world of Harry Potter in a way other than this...fan fiction.  I would recommend Connie Neal's "The Gospel According to Harry Potter".  I read it back in June 2003 on the recommendation of my wife.  It takes us through the first four books, but with a remarkable degree of subtlety and balance.  She has since released an updated version taking us through all seven books (I am putting THAT on my Amazon Wish List!)


Stack Harry Potter alongside Lord of the Rings (professing a Nordic-esque pantheism), Star Trek (professing a humanist progressiveness), Dungeons and Dragons (where do we even start?), or The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (did God tell the computer the answer was 42?), and we have the makings of systematically undermining the Christian faith through the ages or we have voices of God's creation that, like the Bible, must be taken thoughtfully, deliberately, and, with proper perspective, can deepen and delight our hearts and imaginations.


Re-writing fiction to "Christianize" it is about as effective as trying to rewrite history to "Christianize" it.  It makes everything all nice and neat and denies the truly messy, dangerous, and deadly world in which we live.