Faith Matters

Something New

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 22:00:00 +0000

So I've been working on a web page for the past few weeks and finally just decided to launch it and add stuff as I developed it. I had been trying to transfer my blog but for the most part that was unsuccessful. So come see me there and check the continuation of the blog. The site is at www.baldpreacher.net.

Remembering My Grandmother Marie

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 19:18:00 +0000

As many already know, my grandmother, Marie, died on Monday after a brief battle with cancer. My dad called on Saturday before I left for the young adult work trip to tell me that she had just been diagnosed with lung cancer. He told me that they were still looking at options and that he'd keep me posted while I was away. He called on Tuesday to tell me she had been admitted to the hospital and on Friday to say that she had entered hospice care.

While I was on the mission trip, I chose not to process all that I was feeling. For good or bad, I'm not really sure why I did that but I did. When I returned home on Saturday afternoon, I jumped in my car and drove to Taylorsville, Kentucky, to my grandmother's home. I am thankful to have had that opportunity. She was not really responsive and I could tell that even after a fresh dose of morphine her pain was still significant. But I got to say goodbye and thank you and to tell her that I loved her.

One of my earliest childhood memories comes from about age 4. I stood up in wagon, convinced my brother Kevin to pull it along the sidewalk and then promptly went out the back and cracked my head open. I cut an artery in my head as my mother tells the story. My mother didn't drive at the time, my father was not at home and my grandmother came to the house on an International tractor, probably with a bushhog (sp?) attached, to watch my brothers as my mother and I went to the hospital in the local ambulance - a hearse that did double duty. Then there was the time I went through a storm door back before they were made of plexi-glass. I had little cuts all over my chest and back. She covered them in tincture of iodine or something like that. Wow, did that ever sting! I got my taste for sweet tea from the week-long summer visits as well as my love of gravy and biscuits that I remember having every morning. Traci commented after the funeral service yesterday that she hadn't realized how central to our early childhood our time there had been for my brothers and I. They are wonderful memories that I hold in my heart.

As I drove home Saturday evening after my quick visit, I began processing the grief that I had kept away during the mission trip. In the midst of the silence, I began opening up and seeing what was there. It was in the midst of that exercise that I discovered God was reaching in and touching that pain and sense of loss and helping me to see that it would be okay for my grandmother's pain to end.

WRapping Up the Week

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 09:59:00 +0000

That's Kyle H. at the end of the roof ridge as he nails in the final cap nails on the tar paper and helps Matt, our new friend, finish off covering the new porch. Friday was a great day on the weather front- the weather was wonderful with temps in the low 80s, low humidity, and a few sprinkles at just the right moments. It was a great day work wise as well. We finished putting down the roof decking, put on the ice guard strip along the edges of the roof, and put down tar paper. I think I can speak for the group in saying that we are very pleased with what we physically accomplished this week.

We concluded our time at the work site with a short worship service. We shared our hopes for the family that will move into this house - decent housing, safety, joy, happiness, an understanding of generosity, a home. We closed by sharing communion using the elements that sustained us through the week, a sandwich bun and Gatorade.

We plan to leave in a couple of hours after loading up the van and breakfast. We're all ready to come home but we also celebrate and give thanks for this week together.

Moving Along

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 10:19:00 +0000

I have no pictures to post because about 2:30 yesterday the sky opened up and it rained, and it rained, and then it rained some more. We spent the morning rearranging storage at the Habitat office and then headed out to the work site. We put another course of roof decking on, set the trusses on the porch, and put up the overhang boxes on the front of the house. We got a lot done on Thursday and the rain turned out to be a nice point to stop for the day. It was hot and humid and we were all spent. On Wednesday we went into Pittsburgh and visited a water park for our day off. A good time was had by all.

On Wednesday evening, we began a conversation with the young adults about leadership and how they can take on roles of leadership. Specifically, we were speaking of this mission trip but the implications are more far reaching. As we talked, some of them started counting how many mission trips they had participated in - 7, 5, 12,... These folks know how to do this. So we talked about them beginning to take over the leadership of this trip - how to do that, how to encourage others to participate, coordinating sites, as well as many other aspects of the trip.

We finished the night off continuing our game of chicken foot. We picked it up again last night during the rain. Christian A. came out on top after edging ahead of Robin H. with 3 rounds to go.

In a little while we'll head to the work site and hopefully finish putting on the roof decking. I look forward to seeing the progress that far along.

Lots of Progress

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 11:09:00 +0000

We awoke to 96% humidity here in Washington, PA. Isn't at 100% that it is raining? We quickly adapted though and started getting trusses up. By lunch we had the trusses up and after lunch we started putting down the roof decking. You can see in the picture the 2 courses of sheeting we put down. It is challenging to get the OSB up onto the roof because of the slope of the hill and the "moat" around the foundation of the house. But we managed to do so without any incidents.

We accomplished a lot and our bodies felt the amount of work that we did. After a hearty meal and a spirited game of chicken foot, we were feeling better. Today, we have the day off and plan to head towards Pittsburgh and a water park. The young adults have all worked hard and have been a delight to get to know at even deeper levels.

First Day of Work

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 23:53:00 +0000

We started our day off with a visit to the Habitat office but we were quickly moving off to our first work site. Matt, the volunteer construction coordinator, took us to a completed house to complete a couple of punch-list items - forming a sidewalk and putting down a gravel bed in another sidewalk form and the removal of a stump. Flashbacks to Puente Azul. It was the pickax, shovel and wheelbarrow for the next couple of hours. Robin H. quickly observed that someone should have recognized that that stump would need to go sooner. They could have just quickly have removed it when they were digging the footers. Great point Robin. So often we don't look just a little further and consider what else we could do to make tomorrow a little better. Nevertheless, we tackled it and we were quickly soaked through with sweat. The next stop was a similar situation that called for us to form two more sidewalks including digging out the path for each.

By mid-afternoon, we were on site of a house and began to carry in the trusses. We got the two end trusses up and several others ready to put in place first thing in the morning. Here are some pictures of the new construction site.

Just Found Some Pictures from LA

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 10:24:00 +0000

I found these pictures this morning as I was preparing for the day on the Habitat site. This is the nature of what we saw in Louisiana of the damage caused by Hurricane Rita.

Now, I'm in Washington, PA

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:53:00 +0000

The last time I posted, I was with a group of Chi Rho youth (junior high) in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and we were doing hurricane recovery work. The opportunity to get online at that work site was difficult and the only reason I was able to do so then was because Becky's Blackberry let me access the internet. Take care of necessities like laundry, groceries, and sermon prep, I've had little time to do other writing. I have traveled many miles since then - church camp, a quick trip to Tennessee, and General Assembly in Fort Worth. I arrived last night in Washington, Pennsylvania, along with 7 other faithful travelers to participate in a Habitat for Humanity project.

I have to say that I was not looking forward to getting back in the car or the van for that matter. But it was a relatively easy drive and the company was good. We drove all afternoon in the mist and fog, arrived, got our bellies full, and stocked up for Monday's meals. We concluded the day with a short time of worship using Lectio Divina and 1 Kings 19:11-13 - Elijah's encounter with God in the utter, sheer silence. We explored our expectations for the week, our thoughts about where we might encounter God, and why we were here.

I'm here because I think such experiences open us up more fully to the possibility of God's transforming work. Elijah was running from the prophets of Baal as well as the wrath of Jezebel and Ahab. He went into the wilderness to hide and encountered God. I'm here because it is holy and sacred time and space and company. God will move among us this week in unexpected ways and will come to us in unexpected places. We sometimes get trapped in the day-to-day mundaneness in which we let our calendars and our to-do lists close us off from God. Those are stripped away here and we are reminded that God is moving in the world and even in the midst of the mundane.

I've got access here so I'll post as I'm able and will include pictures if I can.

In Lake Charles

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 22:46:00 +0000

It is Wednesday and we just finished our third day of work. Internet access is limited here at the mission station so this is just a quick update to say that I'll post some stuff after I get home. But I do want to offer a little bit of an update.

We've made great progress at our work site. We've demolished a room, closed in the opening, painted ceilings and a couple of rooms with 2 more to go. We're kind of puny today. Two of the kids are sick with a stomach flu that is making its way around Lake Charles. We'll be back up to full strength tomorrow we hope.

It has been a great trip and has included a lot of interesting stories, sites, and experiences. More to come later.

I have posted in the last month because of the schedule at home and church. I've got more on that later too.

Getting on the road

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 07:19:00 +0000

We leave in a few minutes for Lake Charles, Louisiana, and our Chi Rho Mission Trip. It has been a busy summer so far with no opportunity to update the blog. If I have the opportunity, I'll post some pictures and commentary from Lake Charles. We are going as a part of the Disciples Hurricane Recovery Initiative.

Decisions, Decisions...

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Wed, 30 May 2007 14:07:00 +0000

I've been thinking about discernment and decision making lately, as an individual and as a group process. Sometimes such reflection is local and sometimes it is global. Right now, I'm still at the global stage. In my reading today, I came across this comment from Luke Timothy Johnson in his book, Scripture & Discernment: Decision Making in the Church,

Groups have a fragile hold on their existence. They depend on the commitment of their members to the way things are done, and the reasons for so doing them (14)

Here, "group" means church.

I am struck by this assessment of group integrity. It suggests that we spin on 2 poles, both necessary for group cohesion. I would have to think that the latter of Johnson's poles is the start of group existence but the former is the more tenacious of the two. I wonder what happens when we forget how things are done? What happens when we change how things are done? Do we know the reasons we do the things we do? What does it mean to keep doing these things if we have forgotten why we do them?

A number of assessments of today's church suggest that we (the church universal, or at least the western version) have forgotten the reasons for doing what we do. But we keep doing them the way they always have been done. If they are right, then we hang on to doing things the way we have always done them because we have lost one of the poles that balances group integrity. That leaves us teetering on a dangerous precipice.

So how do we step away from the precipice? Or better yet, how do we discover again the poles upon which we can balance our life together?

words

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Wed, 23 May 2007 14:26:00 +0000

The words we use describe and in turn define the reality in which we live.

They can build or destroy. They can take apart and put back together. How we use words matters. Perhaps for me as a part of the Judeo-Christian tradition, such an idea comes with the territory. The book of words we call sacred in this tradition begins with God creating using nothing more than words - a call to come into being. All of the rest of the words may be heard as a continuation of that initial call. God speaks and Abram and Sarai take off for a new land; Moses hears words coming from a burning bush; Isaiah sings a song of the wolf laying down with the lamb; a wild man speaks of a messiah coming; Paul argues there is no longer Jew or Greek.

Words keep circling within me, trying to come together, to make sense, to describe what I see, make sense and define the reality in which I live...

Coming Alive

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Fri, 18 May 2007 22:30:00 +0000

The shadows are brisk from the giant trees that temper the sunlight. Throughout them the ground is coming alive. Some of the life grows beyond itself it seems, lapping up the dampness of the air and the earth. Other comes more timidly, hiding one under the other. It is easily overlooked. I missed it the first time through. Maybe that is just what happens when we are swirling from all of the clutter that fills us up. Or maybe it wasn't there.

Ah, but the time after... it leapt out at me, begging my focus to turn its way, inviting me to see life springing forth in ever new ways. It is difficult at times to take everything in and to see all that is coming alive around me. It looked fragile peeking out from under the life around it.

That's how it is with life springing forth in us. It grows up out of the cracks in us, behind other parts of life, sometimes going unnoticed. But when we do, oh how it grows and spreads.

The Value of Silence

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Tue, 15 May 2007 15:34:00 +0000

Fr. Thomas Keating says something to the effect that centering prayer is a means of evacuating the psyche just as the intestines are the means of evacuating the body. In practicing centering prayer, we enter into silence so that we can begin to listen. It is my experience at that point the evacuation of the psyche begins.

My daughter suggests this is no "pretty picture" of silence and that I should find another way to describe this form of prayer to others. She's right about the nature of the picture that can follow upon the silence; it isn't always a pretty picture. There can be much in our psyches that is ugly, painful, or difficult to face. But the alternative is even less of a "pretty picture" because the longer we keep the mess locked up deep inside us the more messy it gets. But when the silence comes, then we can process the mess and see more clearly the path that leads deeper into the Holy.

Sinking Into Life

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Thu, 10 May 2007 17:21:00 +0000

I walked among ancient rocks and aged trees. The information signs said that this place was as it was when the last ice age ended. The place itself formed by the creeping glacier, reshaping the ground and dumping remains of other places in its wake.

It was cool in this crevice of the earth - like a cool cloth placed on a fevered forehead. The green was alive to me as if I had never seen such life before. I just wanted to stay and sink down into its life. Lichens now reshape this place - perhaps as slowly as the glaciers. Water too, running slowly over the rocks taking imperceptible boulders along with it. Other times, colder moments when the water is present but cannot move, the water will move a mountain or at least it will break off a piece of mountain. Changes come slowly to our perception.

Sinking into such a place is like sinking into God and the changes that come with a life lived in God.

The Heart of the Matter - More from My Retreat

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Wed, 09 May 2007 18:59:00 +0000

As I walked into the stillness of creation, I came upon the heart of God pouring itself out to quench the thirst of a dry and parched creature.

It was such a striking image in the midst of this retreat. I wish I had actually had something besides 800 speed film for my SLR camera. Only by accident did I even have it with me.

Searching for Stillness

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Tue, 08 May 2007 18:24:00 +0000

Last week there was nothing posted here because I took a 48-hour silent retreat. What follows is a reflection penned on Friday morning.

The noise interrupts the silence like fingernails on a blackboard. You jump as when hearing the screeching tires and squealing brakes of someone desperately trying to stop before colliding with another car. It is not so much absolute silence that it interrupts as it is stillness disturbed.

The birds call to another lusting for a mate or announcing some unknown but important news. The air gently caresses the leaves and then your face and finally breezes past your ears making an ever so faint sound. Leaves rustle as chipmunks and squirrels scurry along looking for food or whatever it is they do in the spring of the year. These all are noise - but noise that constitutes stillness --just now the gentle sound of water sprinkling on leaves. In this stillness I begin again to hear what is deep within creation. It begins with the sound of the rising and falling of my own chest as new air finds my lungs as if I hadn't known how to breathe until that moment. I slow down, I hear the torrent sound of thoughts flooding my mind. I try to just let them pass. Sometimes they do...

The cacophonous sound comes from others entering this space for what they and I say we long for - quiet, peace, rest, and renewal. Perhaps that is not what they want or we just define those words differently. The four of them play first one game and then another. The two men offering all they are in order to conquer the other. I wonder if they have a volume control? Are they longing to impress their wives or just prove their prowess to one another? What would it take to receive what you say you want, the quiet? There are groans intermingled with shouts of joy. After they have conquered the stillness, and one another, they turn to conversation saying not so much anything but saying really nothing about one topic and then the next - there's so much blood in Iraq... I wonder why they speak Iraqi and others speak Afghani? ...they've been fighting there for centuries, they'll just keep fighting... you know when we liberated the concentration camps, the Jews needed a homeland... they were right. the sun never did really set on the British empire... MacArthur didn't listen to Truman... Patton was seriously anti-Semitic... WHY DO THEY SPEAK IRAQI ANYWAY?

When one pair finally departs, the other tires to analyze the first. It turns out the conversation was about winning as well. I wondered if I had made a mistake or if I should have just removed myself from the racket? I tried that and it seemed to work. I walked into a stretch of stillness, which added a rhythmic melody of trickling water. I found a spot absent of any blackboard. Then I heard the faint sounds returning, moving ever closer. Should I move on again? No, these simply were passing through and stillness remained.

The sounds of the earlier encounter though returned to my mind. It turns out they had left a mark - a wound really. The four are not wholly accountable in the sense they didn't know they were cutting so deep. Perhaps they didn't know as well how to find what it was they said they were looking for? But, they represent the wound our culture leaves upon each of us. We are driven to win, to come out on top, to shout our acclamations over the top of others' groans.

I need stillness to heal such a wound. For stillness is a balm that brings life when all else seeks to take it. In the stillness, I can hear again what is deep within creation - the breath of God.

Thinking about Grief

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 18:49:00 +0000

I'm posting my newsletter contribution this week, mostly because I wanted to open it up to comment. I was mostly thinking aloud on paper for this contribution and would appreciate your thoughts and comments about grief and the process of grieving and anything else that you'd like to add:

The air from near and far in recent days has been filled with words of tragedy and deep sadness. The images whether received as a live feed from a news service or still photographs published in the black and white of a newspaper cause us to pause and wonder what in the world is going on and how in the world can things like this happen – again and again – as they do.

Every form of media seems to be locked in on the tragic shooting on the campus of Virginia Tech as well as any and all potential threads of related stories. All of it is there for our watching and absorption. Krista Tippett, host of National Public Radio program "Speaking of Faith", comments on our watching these news reports unfold, “As perpetually horrified as we are of terror and violence, we are riveted by them and we let them define our take on reality. The communications miracles of the 21st century make wondrous connections possible, and yet they also bring us images of horror with an immediacy and vividness that are debilitating. Violent images seem altogether more solid and substantial, more decisive and telling, somehow, than kindness, goodness, and lived peace. It is easy to bow down before these images and give in to the despair they preach (“Wrenching Light Out of the Darkness,” Speaking of Faith Newsletter, April 19, 2007. speakingoffaith.publicradio.org).

Maybe Tippett is correct in suggesting that the images are just more solid and substantial and that is why we are so hooked by them. Or perhaps, she gets only half of it correct. Her response doesn’t account for what’s behind our desire for such solid and substantial images. Please note that I am not suggesting anything about the motivations of the news reporters and media outlets but rather am wondering about what hooks others and us into watching endless hours of stories in and around this tragedy as well as others like it.

As I think about why we’re hooked, I wonder if the encounter with such events doesn’t stir some of our own grief from other parts of our lives. I know that has been part of my own response to the shootings at Virginia Tech. I served as an interim minister with a congregation in Metropolis, Illinois, not too long after the shootings at the high school in Paducah, Kentucky. Metropolis is just across the Ohio River from Paducah. Not even that great flow of water could separate these communities and the aftermath of that shooting.

In response to personal loss or communal tragedy, we may often hear or even say, “Everything will be okay.” That’s not the case nor is it the natural flow of grief and maybe not even a helpful way to grieve. Grief is our response to loss of any kind and includes an emotional dimension as well as physical, cognitive, social, behavioral, and theological dimensions. Moving through the grief process is not a return to normalcy or to a place where everything is okay. Rather it is the process of acknowledging and coming to terms with the loss and moving towards a new way of being or living in the face of loss. This process is sometimes enumerated in terms of stages including a stage of initial shock and even denial or the loss. This point is when the pain of loss first touches us and may include a response or feeling of un-realness. This first stage is followed by the second that maybe characterized by anger, frustration, a sense of helplessness, and other emotions. It as well maybe characterized not only by feelings but action or behavior rooted in those emotions. The anger and frustration can be difficult to acknowledge and it may make others around us feel uncomfortable to the point of them suggesting that we shouldn’t be angry. It is not wrong to be angry. Instead, what we have to understand and seek to make sense of is why we are angry and frustrated and examine how that anger and frustration are finding expression. Sometimes our anger and frustration about one issue come out in relation to another unrelated issue. Being aware of our feelings and their connections can help us process the anger in constructive ways while discouraging our expression of it aimed at unrelated and undeserving issues. From this stage, we often move into a period when we feel the full weight of the loss, which may stir feelings of great pain and despair. Here may wish the pain of loss would just go away. But it will not and ultimately it cannot if we are to move towards finding a new way of living in the face of our loss, which is the last of the stages of grief. In this last stage we re-organize life by assimilating the loss into our lives and redefining our lives and the meaning of life without the person or other thing lost.

Grief is the natural response to loss in our lives. These losses may come as the death of another or the loss of a relationship or the loss of a career or job. In other words, grief is the natural response to change. For whenever there is change, something is lost and we must find a way to reorganize life. Therefore, we grieve. We may or may not be aware of stages of grief that psychiatry and pastoral theology enumerate to describe the process but they can be helpful for understanding our own losses and our own grief. Understanding and processing our grief in turn helps us step into life – to step into the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Fragility of Life

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 15:43:00 +0000

We have been reminded this week of the fragility of life. The news hounds have been rushing around to get the "back story," trying to get information about why it happened, why someone didn't intervene in this young man's life sooner, as well as the human interest elements focused on the stories of the victims. It is an effort to make sense of the tragedy, to express the anger and frustration about it, and to deal with the fear that it has stirred. This is not a critique but rather an assessment or description of what I've seen the news reporters doing. I have not watched endless hours of the reports but just enough to keep up with what is happening in and around this tragedy.

The governor of Virginia has called for Friday to be a day of remembrance and I know that pastors of various traditions will work diligently to lead memorial services and vigils that faithfully witness to God's presence in the midst of such pain.

I also include below a letter from NAPAD (North American Asian/Pacific Disciples) leader Dr. Geunhee Yu sent out by Disciples Home Missions via email earlier today.

From Dr. Yu:
We at North American Pacific/Asian Disciples (NAPAD) are deeply shocked and profoundly saddened by the massacre at Virginia Tech on April 16. On behalf of the community of NAPAD and the Korean Disciples Convocation (KDC), I sincerely offer my condolences to the families and friends of the victims, as well as all who have been adversely affected. It is indeed my most heartfelt prayer that our gracious God sends comfort and healing. I also steadfastly and tearfully pray for the souls of the victims.

It is horrifying that a Korean-American student is at the center of these heinous acts. It is my sincere hope, however, that we make great efforts to not allow racial overtones to further darken this tragedy. Simply put, he committed a brutal crime--a deranged madman sinned against all humanity. Allowing this to drive an ethnic wedge between us would do nothing but make a bad situation worse. I hope you agree.

All of the NAPAD churches have been in prayer vigils for the victims and their families--as well as for our entire nation. I urge all of our fellow Disciples to join us in prayer and mourning.

May God comfort the victims and heal our nation.

Rev. Geunhee Yu 
Executive Pastor 
North American Pacific/Asian Disciples (NAPAD)

The Shadow of Easter

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 14:59:00 +0000

It is a cold, rainy day here in central Indiana. I've gotten soaked twice today and my umbrella now catches rain instead of shielding others from it. It feels more like November than April. Maybe that's why Easter has a new patina. Or...maybe that just always happens. We celebrate in that moment but as we move away its shadow is all we can really see as it grows longer and longer the further we move away from it.

Perhaps such a feeling is only from the perspective of a clergy person. We are so busy in Lent, then comes Holy Week and we rush to get everything ready. Then Easter morn arrives and there is all of this great activity - the special programs, the confirmations and baptisms (- which I'm still really excited about. They all went well and I hope serve as a significant moment in the faith journeys of those who participated.), the crowds, and the gatherings after worship. We get through all of this and I'm wiped out, ready for a break, just trying to catch my breath.

But I'm still haunted by the question from Luke's gospel, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" Through my preparation for last Sunday's sermon, I decided that another way to ask that question or one that brings it home to us, or at least me, is, "Will you now rise and do - be - live life differently?" The resurrection finds meaning I think when we see it in our own lives.

We reach a point in relation to most shadows when they can no longer be seen. The light casting the shadow goes away; we move too far away from the light such that the shadow becomes imperceptible; or something blocks our view. Not so with the Easter shadow. It continues to be there where we can see it and inviting us back towards the light that casts it. Even darkness cannot eclipse it.

A Different Kind of Baptism?

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 13:55:00 +0000

We'll celebrate 2 confirmations and 4 baptisms on Easter Sunday. It is special day in the life of the congregation that we can be a part of these lives. I don't anticipate this kind of splash but thought it was hilarious. Thanks for this video goes to the parishioner that shared it with me.

Chocolate Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:30:00 +0000

Have you heard about the fight over the "Chocolate Jesus?"

"My Sweet Lord" is a 6' milk chocolate sculpture of Jesus on the cross by Cosimo Cavallaro and was to be displayed this week at the Lab Gallery in Manhattan. However, there was such outrage last week that the hotel that houses the gallery closed the show before it ever opened.

It is interesting that such a sculpture would create so much vituperation. I think though that it is probably an indication of the emotions related to the ongoing discussions about who Jesus is or was and what Jesus means for the church in all of its manifestations today. We see that argument usually carried out in books and articles from all perspectives.

I wonder though why no one gets so upset about a chocolate cross? A couple of weeks ago, I stopped in one of those super-sized arts and crafts stores and happened upon a display of chocolate crosses. I suppose they will sell countless numbers of those for folks to add to their children's Easter baskets. Why doesn't anyone get all up in arms about chocolate crosses? This symbol of torture, capital punishment, and gruesome death is acceptable for Easter baskets but we can't display a milk chocolate Jesus without a public outcry? What's the deal?

Here's my take on "My Sweet Lord." I think the artist makes an interesting statement about how we have misunderstood Jesus and his message. We've turned him into a piece of candy that can sooth us in our moments of anxiety and that can satisfy our momentary hankering for something sweet. This artist challenges us to reassess our relationship with Jesus and to ask ourselves if we understand who he is and if we want to follow him wherever he leads. It's too bad that the show won't go on.

The Personal Journal of Maximillus - 5 Days Later

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:04:00 +0000

Pilate kept his word; he took the rebel who rode into the city on the donkey. Last evening, he sent the temple guard to take him. It was not difficult to arrange the capture. One of the Galilean’s own sold him out. It is my understanding that he led the guard right to the rebel. But it all nearly ended right there. One of the Galilean’s followers struck a soldier and cut off his ear but then this Jesus healed him – nothing more than a magician’s trick. After the temple guard took him to the Jewish council, he was handed over to Pilate. The governor had orchestrated it all without anyone being the wiser.

The charges brought against this Jesus were his claim to be the “king of the Jews” and that he had forbid people from paying taxes to Caesar. It is said that when he was asked about this that he said, “give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s."

Didn’t he know what he was saying? Doesn’t he realize that “the emperor [manifests] the sovereignty, presence, will, and blessings of the gods among human beings[?]” Everything belongs to Caesar; giving to God is giving to Caesar.

Then Pilate cunningly sent this Jesus to see Herod, tetrarch of the region of Galilee. Pilate said it was a courtesy, but I believe he did it for political reasons. He wanted Herod as a political ally. And Herod played along. He and his companions spent several hours humiliating this “king of the Jews.” When Herod returned him to Pilate, he had even dressed him mockingly in a royal robe.

Then I was privileged to witness the craftiest political move I can imagine. Pilate offered to release Jesus. He manipulated the entire series of events, all leading up to their demand for him to take action. He riled them to the point of frenzy and they could ask for nothing less. In so doing, he took care of the insurrectionist, Jesus, and he increased his approval ratings simultaneously. So, the sentence was set; it would be crucifixion just like for all the other insurrectionists who dared to challenge Mother Rome.

We carried it out like we have the dozens of times before. We led him along with 2 others, all 3 criminals carrying their transverse beams out to a hill on the main road so that everyone could see them. “Whenever we crucify the guilty, the most crowded roads are chosen, where the most people can see and be moved by this fear. For penalties relate not so much to retribution as to their exemplary effect” (Quintillian, Decl. 274). It is amazing to me that this punishment doesn’t deter more people than it does. You would think they would give up and settle for the stability of Pax Romana. But they just cannot take it.

We were out there for several hours. Nothing out of the ordinary. When it was all over and we were headed home, I noticed some of those that I had seen with the rebel several days ago. They stood some distance away, I guess hoping that they would not be next. I don’t know why Pilate didn’t just arrest them all. It has been such an effective deterrent in other places. I believe it can be here. I suppose it is because they denied knowing him that they escaped trial themselves.

This is our routine as we occupy this land. The end to another who would be king. I will continue to develop my relationship with Pilate. Perhaps he will be the one to bring stability to this land and that will mean that he will advance in the government and I believe that I will be able to follow along. But there will need to be more crucifixions like the one today if we are to rule this land.

Some New Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 14:52:00 +0000

It has taken me a couple of months to get caught up enough to post again. I wouldn't say that I'm completely caught up, just enough to add something else to the mix. As we approach Holy Week, I thought of this reflection that I wrote a few years ago. It is longer so I'm going to post the first part today and the next part tomorrow.

The Personal Journal of Maximillus
Centurion of the 3rd Legion

The first day of the fourth month in the 16th year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius

We returned today from patrolling the province. I tire of Idumea, or as the people of this land call it, Judea. In other places, the occupation has gone easier. (Why is it that I could not have received such an assignment?) In other lands, the people adopted our ways. They welcomed the stability that we brought – mainly because of the wealth that comes with it. They adapt to our religion and readily offer sacrifices to Caesar as a god.

But here – here there seems to be constant unrest, especially around their holy days. The Jews will only offer sacrifices to their God in honor of Caesar. They still dream of independence and believe their God will send a king as their savior from our rule.

The situation is especially tense now, perhaps it is best described as a tinderbox, as they prepare for another of their festivals – Passover is what I believe they call it. It is a celebration of their liberation from Egypt. It is only a dream that they could escape Caesar’s rule. Someone though is always ready to bring that dream to fruition.

As we returned to Jerusalem today, I witnessed such a group proclaiming that the savior of the Jews has come. There was a group of 50 – 75 people coming from Mt. Olivet following a man riding a donkey. They threw their cloaks on the road before him and as they drew closer I could hear them shout, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” I couldn’t believe what was before my eyes. Even when some of those called Pharisees saw us and tried to stop the other’s shouts of acclamation, they continued. “Blessed is the king…” He hardly looked the part of a king, dirty, dressed in little more than rags, riding a donkey across a carpet of more rags. He just looked silly on top of that donkey. I wonder if he was trying to mock the emperor’s triumphal entry into Rome?

When I was a boy, I watched as Caesar Tiberius triumphantly rode into Rome. There were thousands filling the streets and watching as he rode that great, black stallion into the city. And it was not across any dirty cloaks but on a carpet of blood red silk, edged in gold.

The small rag, tag bunch I witnessed today did not know how sad they looked. Nor did they know how sad they will be after Pilate is finished with them. I reported their treasonous act as soon as I reached the garrison house in the Antonia.

Pilate assured me that they would not go unpunished. I wonder if it will be decapitation, burning, or crucifixion?

A shrewd politician is that Pilate. I had understood Pilate to be “a man of very inflexible disposition, and very merciless as well as very obstinate” (Philo, Embassy). Crafty is the word that I would use. I must keep my eye on him for he seems to be going places.

Working to Get Back

noreply@blogger.com (baldpreacher) — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:07:00 +0000

Well it has taken 4 weeks but I'm back online. It is official; my laptop has hardware problems - the logic board is bad. So late last week, I got a new machine. I'm busy putting everything back together now. Luckily I had my stuff backed up and can put it into the new laptop. But that takes some time and so it will take a few more days before I'm posting here again. I just wanted to pass along an update and let you know what's going on - if anyone is interested or still reading this page.