For the life of me I can't understand some people. I try and try, but still don't have a clue. Take for example a man who said of the newest incident of air terrorism that we should just profile people. Yes, that is what he said, profile people. If you have an Islamic last name and come from a country that is known for Islamic extremism, then you will have to go through a lot more security than say an elderly woman from Fargo.
I understand his outrage at an elderly woman from Fargo going through so much security to go visit her grandchildren in Minneapolis, but how do we tell every Muslim that they will have to go through more trouble at airports than a white Scandinavian from the upper Midwest? How do we say, "sorry, you will have to be detained for several hours while we look up your history, but Mrs. Svenningson you can just walk on through?"
Our problem is that everything we do is reactionary. We don't do anything to stop the hatred that some people feel toward our country. We continue to drop bombs thinking that will solve all our problems. We continue to set up governments that are not only illegal, but also corrupt. We continue to not see the problem is not other people, it is in ALL people, including us.
We still think that violence will answer all our problems when Jesus said non violent love is the answer. We still think that the country with the most expensive military toys and the biggest budget for their military will be the winner, but fail to see that in the end, that country loses. It loses in the eyes of other countries who have no money even for food. It looses in the eyes of its own citizens being thought of as materialist devils. It looses in the eyes of God who cries when we spend $5000 for a hammer or $1,ooo,000 for a missile when 20,000 children die every day from starvation related illnesses.
For the life of me, I don't understand our priorities.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Christmas
Have you ever wondered about why so many people go to church on Christmas? I used to be cynical about it thinking that people just needed their annual dose of God on Christmas, but my mind has been wandering lately. I ate lunch with my good friend this past week and we talked about it. His comments opened my eyes a little deeper to the mystery that is Christmas.
Do you realize that all people sing the same hymns on Christmas? Whether a person is a radical right wing conservative, a socialist left wing progressive, or a ordinary, run of the mill middle of the road Lutheran, we all sing the same hymns during the season of Christmas. That is the key stone to why so many people come to church and worship on Christmas.
The one thing that all of us celebrate without a lot of fighting and controversy is the birth of Jesus. Conservatives, Liberals, middle of the roaders all worship the same thing on that one day. A baby was born and changed the world. God became human in Jesus and we celebrate that day together. It is not like Easter where people can debate and argue about what the resurrection was, Christmas is not argued about. Jesus was born. Period.
Sure wish it was like Christmas more often in the church, don't you?
Do you realize that all people sing the same hymns on Christmas? Whether a person is a radical right wing conservative, a socialist left wing progressive, or a ordinary, run of the mill middle of the road Lutheran, we all sing the same hymns during the season of Christmas. That is the key stone to why so many people come to church and worship on Christmas.
The one thing that all of us celebrate without a lot of fighting and controversy is the birth of Jesus. Conservatives, Liberals, middle of the roaders all worship the same thing on that one day. A baby was born and changed the world. God became human in Jesus and we celebrate that day together. It is not like Easter where people can debate and argue about what the resurrection was, Christmas is not argued about. Jesus was born. Period.
Sure wish it was like Christmas more often in the church, don't you?
Friday, December 4, 2009
Peace, Love, and Ceasar or Jesus
I am a curious type. I often get myself in trouble because I probe and probe things until I anger people with the unending questioning! But I think life is nothing but one big question. Life is not about finding answers but figuring out how to live with the questions.
With that, I am also fascinated with Saint Paul--how he lived, what he said, the Gospel he preached. There is a new book out written by John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg about the Real Paul. They talk about how the real Paul has been neutered by the church throughout the ages, especially when people first wrote in his name in some of the letters included in the Bible. In their words, Paul, and for that matter, Jesus was radical, and I tend to believe them.
One of the concepts that I found fascinating included the contrast I found between the peace of Caesar or the peace of Jesus. This is something that hit me. I am not sure if the book puts this concept forward as I am, but if they did, I credit them. If it is just my constant questioning, then please forgive me.
What Paul and Jesus did was help people see the difference between the peace that is offered by Rome and that which is offered by God in Jesus. Do we follow and believe in the Lord and the justice and the righteousness found in the world view of Rome, which is achieved through violence and war, or is there another, better Lord? Can the world be a better place if justice and righteousness came from radical, egalitarian, non-violent, and wasteful love given in Jesus?
Paul would say that humanity has missed the mark, sinned, by thinking humans can ever achieve peace through war and violence. We still have this dichotomy. Do we believe in the peace that comes after armed conflict, through the dropping of bombs or the shelling of neighborhoods, which is only short lived, or can we find another, saner, holier way?
With that, I am also fascinated with Saint Paul--how he lived, what he said, the Gospel he preached. There is a new book out written by John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg about the Real Paul. They talk about how the real Paul has been neutered by the church throughout the ages, especially when people first wrote in his name in some of the letters included in the Bible. In their words, Paul, and for that matter, Jesus was radical, and I tend to believe them.
One of the concepts that I found fascinating included the contrast I found between the peace of Caesar or the peace of Jesus. This is something that hit me. I am not sure if the book puts this concept forward as I am, but if they did, I credit them. If it is just my constant questioning, then please forgive me.
What Paul and Jesus did was help people see the difference between the peace that is offered by Rome and that which is offered by God in Jesus. Do we follow and believe in the Lord and the justice and the righteousness found in the world view of Rome, which is achieved through violence and war, or is there another, better Lord? Can the world be a better place if justice and righteousness came from radical, egalitarian, non-violent, and wasteful love given in Jesus?
Paul would say that humanity has missed the mark, sinned, by thinking humans can ever achieve peace through war and violence. We still have this dichotomy. Do we believe in the peace that comes after armed conflict, through the dropping of bombs or the shelling of neighborhoods, which is only short lived, or can we find another, saner, holier way?
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Food For Thought
I love working in a rural area. The rhythms of the year, the smell of the harvest, and the look of the fields as they grow touch my inner need for earth! I try to grow things in my garden, but often all I can get are weeds and tomatoes. If you cannot grow tomatoes, then there is something really wrong with you!
Farming is the base of existence. If we did not have grain and corn and beans and well, you know, there would be no people. The people I serve are the proverbial salt of the earth. One young person I know is so eager to become a farmer he even wears his farming gear to school. He is the coolest little kid I have ever known!
But here is the thing, we are losing farmers every day. The corporate farm is becoming the norm here on the plains. Now some people will say that a corporate farm is one that farms more than a 1000 acres, but here in the Northern Great Plains, a family farm is not less than a 1000 acres. A family needs that to survive even with other work off the farm! Even with that, family farms are almost a bygone and this is hurting our nation and our way of life. Every year since the mid 1900's more and more farmers pack it in and give up, and the farms keep getting bigger,the population of farmers keeps getting smaller, and large corporations take over more and more land. These formers tillers of the earth move to the densely populated urban area and become factory workers or greeters at Wal-Mart or contract laborers in the housing industry or something else, never to return to the land that is their root of existence.
These urban areas are getting larger and larger with all kinds of ethnicities grouping themselves together--the proverbial Melting Pot of America. The Latinos on one street, the Norwegians on another cul-de-sac, the Italians down this road, the Filipinos in this housing project, and on and on with no end in sight. The problem for our country is this is not new. It has happened before. The Roman Empire had the same thing happen right before it collapsed. The farms got larger with former keepers of the land moving to urban ghettos of similar ethnicities with strife and death and murder the norm.
Will we become another bygone empire? Or do we as a people of God have another choice? Food for thought.
Farming is the base of existence. If we did not have grain and corn and beans and well, you know, there would be no people. The people I serve are the proverbial salt of the earth. One young person I know is so eager to become a farmer he even wears his farming gear to school. He is the coolest little kid I have ever known!
But here is the thing, we are losing farmers every day. The corporate farm is becoming the norm here on the plains. Now some people will say that a corporate farm is one that farms more than a 1000 acres, but here in the Northern Great Plains, a family farm is not less than a 1000 acres. A family needs that to survive even with other work off the farm! Even with that, family farms are almost a bygone and this is hurting our nation and our way of life. Every year since the mid 1900's more and more farmers pack it in and give up, and the farms keep getting bigger,the population of farmers keeps getting smaller, and large corporations take over more and more land. These formers tillers of the earth move to the densely populated urban area and become factory workers or greeters at Wal-Mart or contract laborers in the housing industry or something else, never to return to the land that is their root of existence.
These urban areas are getting larger and larger with all kinds of ethnicities grouping themselves together--the proverbial Melting Pot of America. The Latinos on one street, the Norwegians on another cul-de-sac, the Italians down this road, the Filipinos in this housing project, and on and on with no end in sight. The problem for our country is this is not new. It has happened before. The Roman Empire had the same thing happen right before it collapsed. The farms got larger with former keepers of the land moving to urban ghettos of similar ethnicities with strife and death and murder the norm.
Will we become another bygone empire? Or do we as a people of God have another choice? Food for thought.
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