Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Thy Sovereign Word of Peace

there is so much to write and think about right now.  there is the ongoing debate about russian meddling in this year's election, the divided democratic party and the primary contests between the representatives of the factions within the party, the policies of the current administration, the harm that an arrogant and untruthful president is doing to our nation.  i'm not going to write about any of that today, though.  instead i want to write about misgivings i'm having with an activity that my wife and i have begun.

at our church, we've met several couples who are around our age and, after repeated invitations from several of them, have begun attending a sunday school class that meets after church.  we've both resisted participating in sunday school for a number of reasons, the most important of which is the experiences both of us had as children and teenagers growing up in the church, when well-intended teachers with little training fed us the "party line" of our churches' official position on theology.  now as adults we reject much of what we were taught in those sunday morning classes and don't want to participate in the grown-up version of our childhood indoctrination sessions.

one of the things that we've discovered in the few classes we've attended is that there is a wide variety of viewpoints in this class and the participants seem to feel that they can speak freely in voicing their opinions.  we are studying the old testament and its influence on the teachings of jesus, and we're not far enough into the study for me to get a sense of what the author's position on the origins of the books of the old testament are and his position on the idea of biblical inerrancy.  the study's unfailing preference for referring to god with masculine pronouns suggests that the author has a conservative theological perspective, but perhaps that is a stylistic choice that will be explained as we go along.

i don't know if my own beliefs about the old testament will be radical or widely held among the others in the class, never having had conversations of any length with any of them before.  i find that the tendency among most christians, even those in our liberal-leaning church, is to accept basic orthodox positions without much thought about its implications.  there have been several mentions about the off-putting effect of the violence in much of the old testament but so far no explanations of what are the implications of this propensity for mass killing with regards to our understanding of the nature of god or the teachings of jesus.

too, there has been no opinion offered about the literal truth of what we read in the old testament or if the author believes that the first books of the old testament were actually written by moses.  so far, there have been no words about the many writings about the old testament that are part of the jewish religious tradition or of the apocryphal books.  it was telling to me that the beginning of the study grouped the books of the jewish bible into the categories of history, poetry, prophecy, and wisdom literature, but there was no mention of the song of solomon and its place in these categories, though all the other books in the "wisdom" and "poetry" categories were mentioned.  i look forward to learning the author's position on what solomon's song means and how he thinks we should approach it.

as the study progresses, i look forward to hearing  not only the author's opinions but those of the other members of the class.  i'll mostly listen and refrain from offering my own opinions until i see in what direction the study and comments on it moves.  from what i've seen so far, i'm not fearful of recriminations if my own point of view deviates from the orthodox, but i don't want to offend anyone's religious sensibilities if i can help it and still be true to myself.  if i find i can't speak honestly then i'll withdraw from the class, but i don't think that will be necessary.  the members of the class are people that i feel an affinity for.  they have been sincere in welcoming us, assuring us that they have fun together in their studies.  that appears to be the case in what we've seen so far.

may we approach others looking for the best in them.  may we not be wary of forming new friendships or rekindling old ones.  may we be tolerant of the beliefs of others, never condemning them because we don't agree with them.  may we speak our own minds with truthfulness and gentleness.  may we love without condition, even if the object of our love is unlovely.  shalom.

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Thy Compassions, They Fail Not

last fall, a meditation group was started at our church, so i joined it.  i've never been part of a group that meditates together before and didn't know quite what to expect.  one of the things i discovered is that the experience of meditation in a group is somewhat difference from that of sitting alone.  each of us came to the group for different reasons, are from disparate backgrounds, and have had varying levels of meditation experience, so the leader has had to find guided meditations that speak to the wide range of personalities and needs within the group and has had to teach the essentials of meditation in a way that does not bore or insult the more experienced practitioners among us.

when we returned to sitting together after a break during the christmas season, the leader of our group asked each of us to consider leading the group at least once during the course of this season of meetings.  since i have a longer experience with meditation that most of the others, i volunteered to lead this week.  as i went through various guided meditations that have been helpful to me, i wondered which might be most helpful to the group.  i finally decided on "mountain meditation" by andy hobson because i thought it would be beneficial to both experienced and inexperienced meditators as it touches on some of the issues that brought the members to the group together.

i have approached this new role within the group with some misgivings.  i don't want to have the responsibility of leading, and i fear i will be inadequate to the task.  yet, the person who has done a great job leading the group deserves to have that duty lifted from her from time to time.  she is a busy working mother who has little time to prepare for each meeting.  if some of the rest of us will take on the job of leading occasionally, then she can come to the meeting and participate without having to take time from her hectic life to plan what she will bring to us.  it is for her that i've offered to do this, not because i think i have any special insights to offer that she cannot.

as i think about my fears and my reasons for taking on this task, i think, too, of how often we can relieve the burdens of another, not because we can do what they do better, but because they need a chance to relax and recharge.  no one can shoulder their responsibilities constantly without help from others, but so often we expect them to do so.  i think of my mother and father who seldom got away from their daily work and the job of caring for me and my brother and sister.  they never went away together, just the two of them.  they never took a day off work just to stay home and do nothing.  we children expected them to support and care for us.  we never thanked them for their sacrifices, and they did it every day, never uttering any complaint in our presence.  i think of the many others who work without our gratitude doing jobs that help us, and i wonder if they ever have the chance to put aside their burdens and recover.  there is so much we can do to show our thanks and to relieve those who carry heavy loads for our sakes.   just as i am fearful as i approach leading our group, we often fail to show compassion for others, not because we lack compassion, but because we are afraid that we are inadequate to the task.

may we summon the courage to demonstrate our compassion for others in concrete ways that make their lives easier.  may our compassion be greater than our insecurities.  may we remember the examples of all those who have labored for our sake and do the same for others.  may we never say, "i would help but i'm not good enough."  shalom.

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Bind All Our Lives Together

the impeachment proceedings are over for all intents and purposes, the foregone conclusion, a formality.  of my acquaintances, those who followed the trial most closely with eyes glued to fox news for its non-stop coverage are ardent admirers of donald trump.  i've watched the nbc evening news each day and read a few articles online as the senate went through the motions, but i couldn't watch the live newsfeed.  i'm not sure what was accomplished by this exercise in futility.  trump's actions needed to be exposed as much as possible, and his perfidy had to be called to account.  in that sense, i believe impeaching him was necessary.  too, the slavish loyalty of elected republican representatives and senators was revealed for what it is:  a willingness to absolve trump of any wrongdoing, no matter how damaging to our democracy and no matter how solid the evidence against him.  this devotion to the bully in the white house will come back to haunt many of them in the next election.

the great danger of trump's acquittal is that he has been given carte blanche to do as he will in the future.  he will use the senate's failure to convict him as exoneration of his violation of the law and abuse of his power to proclaim his innocence to the nation and will gloat over this victory as he does further harm to our constitution and uses his now all-but-unlimited power to do whatever he pleases.  the political divisions in the country are so hardened that those who are loyal to trump cannot be convinced that he is a grave menace to all that the country is supposed to stand for, and those who are opposed to him can see no good in those who are his supporters.  gridlock in washington is the result of our inability to find common ground, and nothing will be accomplished as our people become more and more disgusted with the impotence of our elected officials.  while the legislative branch argues, trump has a free hand to impose his will on the country.  the increasing conservative bent of the judicial system will allow this to happen as it becomes more subservient to the executive branch.  unless the electorate takes action in this year's election, we are witnessing the effective end of our grand experiment.

as i write this, i look inside me for the glimmer of love that i so often write about.  it is so difficult to love trump and his minions.  yet, my beliefs teach me that there is the divine in them, as well.  it is my responsibility to find a way to see the possibility of love in these who are my enemies.  they are, after all, human beings.  they surely think that their actions are the right ones for the country and, despite their willingness to use means that are at best abuses of their powers, they want what they are convinced is good for themselves and those whom they love.  in that sense, they are like me.  i struggle to find a way to oppose them without hating them, to love them in spite of their unloveliness.

may we look for the humanity in every person.  may we love no matter what.  may we never give up our hope for compassion, justice, and mercy to prevail over the long term.  may we oppose wrong without hating the wrongdoer.  shalom.