What Would Walter Say?

If the Christian faith does anything, it should help us overcome the fear that is so prevalent in the world.

My hope is that for all the youth, and people of all ages for that matter, that I have ministered with during my time in vocational ministry . . . I hope I have been able to help instill a faith built upon hope and not fear. So many ministers and ministries these days are built upon scaring people into heaven . . . or out of hell. If we can just get them to say the sinner's prayer, it will all be okay is their line of thinking, without any regard for how that happens. The ends, in other words, justify the means.

It's easy to think that it's a sign of the times. But a guy named Walter shows us that is not so. Here is what he has to say:

"In the Old Testament we have a number of accounts describing how men of the highest type of God-consciousness made their fundamental experience of God and received their prophetic mission. In none of those cases did the prophet struggle for his personal salvation as later Christian saints have done. His woe did not come through fear of personal damnation, but through his sense of solidarity with his people and through social feeling: his hope and comfort was not for himself alone but for his nation. This form of religious experience is more distinctively Christian than any form which is caused by fear and which thinks only of self. It contains larger possibilities of personal growth and religious power."

Walter Rauschenbusch wrote these words 95 years ago in his book, A Theology for the Social Gospel (p. 20). It's amazing how much his words are similar to what many authors are saying these days, particularly in those in the Emergent Church and in similar circles. The reality, though, is the opposite. Rauschenbusch is not getting his due credit. People today are saying what he said years ago. But no one is noting it.

I have purposely not checked my Facebook News Feed for a while now. Things were starting to get ugly with the election on the horizon. People were beginning to make me angry; and I was beginning to think less of them. I can only imagine how ridiculous the posts were Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning.

The blame is on them. But it's also on people and figures that they follow and listen to, particularly preachers. Preachers have created a fear among people in the pews about elections. They have made people think that the world is going to end if a particular candidate does not wind up in the White House, congress, etc. They have worked off of fear. And it worked. Or at least it worked to create fear in others.

But as Rauschenbusch shows us, the Christian experience is not caused by or grounded in fear. The Christian experience is grounded in hope. Hope not only for self; but hope for us all, together.

The Little Girl Crying on YouTube

We laugh when we see this video because we feel the same way. But why do you think she feels this way?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIhy1zbrb9M

The video is funny. But she feels this way because of the adults in her life. The adults in her life are behaving in a way that causes this girl to cry. And they, the adults, blame the election for their actions.

As Dennis Green would say, they are who we thought they were.

Romney and Obama are who we think they are. They are going to fight and squabble because that is the system we have right now. We are going to see countless commercials between now and Tuesday because that's just the way it is. Same goes for all the state and local races around the country. It is what it is.

We can blame the political system all we want. But we are the ones who allow it to happen.

We pass on to the next generation(s) the way they are going to live their lives. Our negativity and our mistakes can do great harm. But our positivity and our goodness can do much good.

Rather than beating the candidates and the system up . . . I wonder how things would be if we started praising the people out there who are doing it right. What if we complemented and talked well of what we see going right out there? What if we discussed the good parts of our country with our children? What if the young people in our lives heard us talking about the reasons we are thankful to live in our great country . . . rather than the things that stink about our land?

Something tells me we would have less children feeling the way the little girl in the video does.

A Prayer for Those in Sandy's Path

O God,

We lift up to you those who are hurting this morning.
This storm has caused destruction, pain, and for some, even death.
For those who have been affected by this terrible thing,
We pray for help, for healing, for your presence among them.

It is easy for those of us thousands of miles away
To become apathetic about this destruction.
If destruction does not directly affect us,
We can easily become unconcerned about our fellow human's struggles.

But may catastrophes like this remind us all of times that
We have hurt, we have been in pain, we have needed dire help.
And may those reminders cause us to do
Whatever we can to help others.

And in that way, may we be an answer to prayers all around us.

In the name of the One who calls us to pray unceasingly, we pray,
Amen.

Winning and Losing Gracefully

Seems to me that we do not have the ability to win or lose, gracefully.

A lot of the political problems that we have had for the past decade or so deal directly with people who won or lost elections not being able to deal with reality. If you won, okay. If you lost, okay. Deal with it. If the other party has or doesn't have the majority, deal with it. That's life. Sticking your head in the sand and not dealing with reality not only does not help our country. It teaches our children that if you do not get what you want, you can just scream really loudly until you do get what you want or something like it.

The idea of compromise is completely lost on us today, politically and otherwise. I truly believe this bleeds over into all spheres of life. It happens on Capital Hill. It affects the way people drive and treat traffic like a game, myself included. And it teaches our youngsters that it's okay to bully your way through life. Just look at the news stories. I'm not necessarily saying that bullying is happening in greater proportions in school these days. Bullying has always been around (and it happens with people of all ages). But the affects of bullying are becoming ridiculous, particularly in our schools.

Adults, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We can blame the kiddos. We can blame the school systems and administrators. But they are learning this stuff from us.

And our inability to deal with winning and losing is what it's all about.

So next Tuesday, when plenty of people win and plenty of people lose political races, my prayer is that they deal with those results gracefully. And that we, as the public, gracefully deal with the wins and the loses, as well.

Where Are Dwight's Parents?

Seriously, where are they?

The Schrutes are a interesting bunch: beet farmers, shunning their children for years, a seemingly Amish-style of living. That's the description we get from Dwight. Yet the only other Shrute we ever meet is Dwight's cousin, Mose.

Now I must admit that if Dwight's parents surfaced in the last year or two, I wouldn't know. I have tuned out watching new episodes of The Office. Once Michael Scott left, I got bored with it. It's like The Cosby Show without Heathcliff, King of the Hill without Hank, or Seinfeld without Kramer. It just doesn't work for me.

But where are Dwight's parents? He regularly refers to them and their seemingly backwards ways. But we never meet them. Did they pass away? A tragic accident? Did they and all of their other family members suddenly uproot and leave their family farm?

I think we need some answers.

From Kings to Mediocrity: DFW Professional Sports

A little less than a year ago, it seemed that the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex was about to become the center of sports, the mecca of professional sports teams.

The Dallas Mavericks were fresh off a NBA championship, in somewhat improbable fashion, having taken the NBA playoff calendar by storm.

The Dallas Cowboys were by no means front-runners. But they weren't too shabby, either. There was much football to be played. But the playoffs were most definitely within the realm of possibility, perhaps even a run into the playoffs. And when a team gets hot, we all know what could happen: Lombardi Trophy (see the NY Giants' recent run of playoff success).

And the Rangers were right there, about to become World Series Champs, a phrase that no die-hard Rangers fan could have ever imagined would be uttered about his/her team. Once that phrase was christened with a Game 6 victory, who knows what sort of momentum could ensue. A DFW Sports Triple Crown (NBA, MLB, NFL)? Very possible. Sports mania in DFW-land hitting an all-time high? You betcha. A run of consecutive World Series titles? Why not.

But then Game 6 happened. Then Holland gave up the eighth inning home run. Then Feliz's nerves got the best of him and he forgot how to paint the outside of the strike zone. And yes, then Nellie decided to turn ballerina in right field for fear of contact with the wall.

We now sit at the complete opposite end of where we were a year ago.

The Rangers? Whoa. This year's late-season collapse was epic. The stuff that people will talk about for, well, maybe forever. That coupled with the Game 6 collapse will have people wondering if they will ever be able to win the big game. Curse of the . . . Ballerina?

The Mavs? I really do not follow their day-to-day stories much. I have to admit that. But Dirk's knee issues seem like they could be pretty bad. I wonder if from here on out, he is a shell of what he used to be. Without Dirk, what is the team? Really? A team built around a superstar without said superstar. Things do not look good in Mark Cuban-land, at least for this NBA season.

And the Cowboys? They are taking things to new lows. Sure, Jerry Jones is a curse upon this franchise. Ever since their last Super Bowl title, some almost twenty years ago, Jones has really jacked this team up. With him as GM, we have no chance. But we still have done some things right, even in spite of him, e.g. the rise of Romo from an undrafted free agent. But their ability to lose games this year is taking things to a new level.

Yep, we really have done a complete 180 from the morning of October 26, 2011.

Failed Attempts at Using the Apostrophe . . . Part I

Apostrophe usage is not good.

All you have to do is pretty much look up to see apostrophes being used incorrectly. It's too bad. But there's got to be some sort of apostrophe police out there, helping or at least notifying people that apostrophes are not being used correctly.

That's where I come in.

I really do see it as sort of a tragedy. We're all taught, from a very young age, how to use apostrophes. Then we grow up, do things, and butcher them. They're butchered on billboards, signs, everywhere. It's a sub-set, really, of bad grammar. Grammar across our fair land is not good. We're all taught how to do grammar. Then somewhere along the way we disregard it . . . or just flat out don't care.

Either way, it's not good.

This, for instance, is not good:

This one is pretty bad. I mean these apostrophes are really, really, really mis-used, to the point that I'm not even sure what the point of the apostrophes are. I think, or at least I hope, "Policies" became "Police's." Whoa.

Come on, America, we can do better than this.

Who Ya Rootin' For? Baseball.

Finding someone to root for in the LCS round is difficult.

Giants? Nope. Cardinals? Heck no. Tigers? Neh. Yanks? Well . . . no.

But to be honest, I'm kind of warming a little to the Yanks. As sacreligious as that sounds, I have been a little impressed by them this year. Girardi gained a lot of cred, with me (I'm sure he's concerned about that) by pinch-hitting and then benching A-Rod this past week. Wash could learn a lot from that. And I've been able to listen on in some Yanks games this year, via MLB Nework. Their broadcasters are great. Pretty unbiased and seem like all-around great people. Now, I'm no Yanks fan. And if you ever see me wearing any of their gear, please immediately pull me aside and beat me senseless.

But I really have no one to pull for in the ALCS or NLCS. And I think that's okay. I look forward to watching baseball just to enjoy it . . . to, in a sense, pull for baseball. My past two Octobers have been so emotionally-charged that a break from being so invested in any particular teams is something that I kinda look forward to (though having the Rangers in the mix would be much, much, much, much, much better than this).

It will be an interesting experiment: watching sports just to watch it, not to pull for anyone or any one team. I think I just might like it.

Where's the Line?

Being a follower, a participant to a certain religion is a difficult thing.

There are people on all sides, on both extremes of religions saying all sort of things . . . many of which are trying to proclaim that they are saying the definitive view of their particular religion.

For example, there are lots of different Christians who say lots of different things, based upon their religion and religious beliefs. Last night's vice-presidential debate was a great case-in-point. Both candidates talked about abortion based upon their religious beliefs. They came to different conclusions.

One of my personal struggles is maintaining, for myself, Christian unity with people who are on different ends of the spectrum on a wide array of issues: social, political, theological, and otherwise. There are completely different things being said, as reported by the media, by followers of Christ, on both extremes, on all sides. It's just plain hard to affirm the similar faith we share and, at the same time, allow people the latitude to say things with which we completely disagree. It's a struggle I have. And I think we all probably, to a degree, have.

So . . . where's the line? At what point is our disagreements too much?

There is one area that I feel pretty safe saying, "No. That's wrong." That has to do with people being oppressed. When someone with whom I share a faith in Christ says something or does something that causes someone else or a group of people to be oppressed, that's the line.

Such as:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/15611617-505/arkansas-rep-calls-slavery-blessing-in-disguise.html

Now what those representatives are saying is wrong. I share, I think, a faith in Christ with them. But I cannot give them the latitude to say things like that. That's wrong. It's not right. That is not what followers of Christ should be saying. That goes against Christ.

I have heard it said that God sides with those who are being oppressed, at all times, in all places. How insightful. I can (and should) allow fellow Christians the freedom to have differing, even opposing, views with me on a whole list of issues. But when people who call themselves followers of Christ say and do things that oppress other people . . .

No. That's not right. That crosses the line.

"Sometimes I'm Silent"

While working with some students at an after-school program yesterday, one young man looked at me and said, "Sometimes, I'm silent."

I thought it was an interesting line and probably one that he wouldn't share with just anyone. I have to remember, though, that a few moments later, he also said, "I live close to the mountains." The closest mountains to Huntsville are . . . well, I have no idea, because there are no mountains close by. I have no idea what he was talking about. And, it caused me to immediately question my having suddenly given him Boy Genius status.

But I engaged him further with the "Sometimes, I'm silent" line because it stood in rather stark contrast to the screaming and yelling most of the other kids around us were doing at that time.

He went on to say that sometimes he just feels like being silent. I encouraged him that such feelings are okay. I, too, am sometimes silent, often when others around me are being talkative, particularly in larger groups. Society has had a way of making me feel wrong, or at the least awkward, particularly as a youngster, for not always wanting to be extremely extroverted and talkative in larger groups. I sometimes thrive in smaller settings. And I wanted him to know that it's okay if he feels that way at times, too.

I have a feeling that's what he was trying to say. And I have a feeling that my words of encouragement were just that: positive words that re-assured him that who he is okay and good.

I am thankful for whatever factors are present in this young man's life that cause him to feel okay and good for being who he is, not who others want him to be. I hope that is what the after-school program that he is a part of does for him. That is what I have always hoped the youth ministries that I have been in charge of over the years are for the youth that have been a part of them. In the face of so many things telling young people who and what they need to be, they need to be told and have instilled in them the reality that who they are is who they were created to be. And that is good.

We are all unique. And if that were not the case, the world would be very boring. So if sometimes, we are talkative and maybe even loud, that's cool. And if we are sometimes silent, that's all right, too.