Our Breakup Song

As I thought more about my love song that defines my relationship with the Church, I have now thought of the break-up song that keeps playing in my heart! I know it's not the original version, but still...Hall and Oats is still cool even though the 80's is almost over....right?

This is also inspired by this blog post that I've been monitoring where the Christians on there responding seem to not care about loving others...IDK? you decide
seriously though, look at the words (they're on the screen), and think about it!



ps. check out the awsome black rickenbacker guitar!!! me want!

sooo....anyone else's heart break when they heard this song?

Addendum to last post!

Another satire cartoon from jon birch to add to my last posted ones! enjoy.
(best viewed and thought about while singing the JAWS theme song to yourself)

In Repair (pt.4): It's Funny Because It's True

Below is some artistic commentary about the Church that I have personally experienced in most churches i've worked in and grew up in. I'll let them speak for themselves. What are your thoughts?

This last one ESPECIALLY Speaks to my experience working in my last church. (see "in Repair Saga)

Art by Jon Birch

Blog Shout-Out

I want to draw attention to my friend, Tripp's, Blog, from which I seem to be borrowing regularly! So instead of me stealing his video, I encourage people to check it out in his Citizenship with God and Country Post (click here)!

It really goes well as an addendum to my Patriotism (Reimagined) post.

Thoughts?

Reading The Bible Again (for the first time)- A Review

It's no secret that I really like Marcus Borg and his writings. I think that he is one of the best bridge writers from the world of academia to the world of the everyday faith-being. A Scholar who can write in a language that anyone can grasp and not get bogged down in is truly a rare thing!

In His Book, Reading the Bible Again For the First Time: Taking The Bible Seriously but not Literally, Borg tries to get the reader to reimagine the Bible, not from a new LIBERAL view (as much people accuse him of), but from a new ANCIENT view.

That may not seem to make much sense in wording, but in exploring his book and thoughts it begins to make perfect sense! What he calls a "historical/metaphorical" interpretation (as apposed to the literal (what you see is what you get, and how it's written is EXACTLY what and how it happened) approach), may seem new to us, who are grounded in a modern/scientific/factual mindset, but is a reclamation of how the scriptures (and the oral stories before they were recorded) probably would have been interpreted and taught in their contemporary time periods. This recaptures the mystery and mythology (take that word in it's purest meaning, not out contemporary connotation) that is God and the stories that expressed how the Israelites, Disciples, and early Church experienced the divine!

The "historical" part of the interpretation comes from the branch of biblical study called "historical criticism". We cannot completely understand what a passage means until we understand what it meant! understanding the historical context is key to beginning to understanding the scripture. The "metaphorical" portion is understanding the scripture metaphorically over literally. Getting the overall feeling/meaning of the passage. But Borg argues that we can't have one without the other. The scriptures must be understood in both a "historical" and "metaphorical" approach as to balance each other out as well as to help it translate to our lives today!

He goes through a survey of the Bible and uses this approach in broad strokes as both examples and explanation. This approach brings FREEDOM back into the scriptures! Instead of the straight-lined literal view, with it's cut and past "cannon within a cannon" (Michael D. Coogan-"The Great Gulf Between Scholars and the Pew" (article)), the historical/metaphorical approach allows ALL the passages and stories to speak, rather than the proof-texting approach of the literalistic tradition. It, more importantly, allows the Holy Spirit the FREEDOM to work in new and exciting ways (which is a paradox since it is actually reuniting it with how it would have worked in the ancient interpretive view) in our lives. Freedom is the name of this book. Once again, the voices of our spiritual relatives can speak freely to us from the past. Their experience of God, limited by their own language and knowledge barriers, can intertwine with our own stories and experiences (limited by OUR own language and knowledge barriers).

This is a book I've now read twice, once in undergrad, and even more thoroughly now! It was a blessing of refreshment to revisit this book! I encourage everyone to pick it up and give it a try. It will challenge most people, but challenging doesn't necessarily=bad/wrong. You don't have to agree with Borg on everything, but i encourage everyone to open their mind and at least LISTEN to him.

A Moment for Reflection

This was posted by a good friend, TM, on his blog ( a great blog if you haven't checked it out).
Again, no commentary from me on this post (perhaps in conversation in the comments section), but to allow it to speak for itself. my admiration to whoever put this together, very well done.




Your Thoughts? Reactions? Agreements? Disagreements? SPEAK UP!

Bullet in the Blue Sky

So, since I've been back on my U2 Kick (thanks Tyler for your influence), I was listening to Joshua Tree and reading "U2 Into the Heart:The Story Behind Every Song". Since my last post, and my hatred of war-like language when talking about faith, "bullet in the blue sky" caught my attention. So I read the story behind it and found something interesting. Just something to ponder that was said. Not my words, and no commentary...take it for what you will! Please note the context was Bono's trip to Central America during the 80's when US foreign policy was impoverishing parts Central America, making the area very unstable, as well as supporting civil wars in some of the countries. (sound familiar?)



"'I still believe in Americans' Bono added, 'I think they're a very open people. It's their openness which leads them to trust a man as dangerous as Ronald Reagan. They want to believe he's a good guy. They want to believe he's in the calvary, coming to rescue America's reputation after the 70's. But he was only an actor. It was only a movie. I think the picture's ended now and Americans are leaving the cinema a little down in the mouth.' 'Bullet in the Blue Sky' made one other connection, linking the disastrous US foreign policy under Reagan to his own religious fundamentalism and that of the Christian tele-evengelists who had flourished in his version of America. U2 recognized that imperialism is fuelled by a righteousness that denies others their OWN right to believe, and to express those beliefs.

"'I would say that none of my fundamental beliefs have changed,' The Edge said during 1986, 'but they've broadened and matured and been tempered with a wider experience of a) what's good about the rest of the world and b) what's bad about religion everywhere. I basically assume that every single religious group, or community, has a problem, is in some way screwed up. I don't believe that there is one, single, perfect spiritual way and, in realizing that, obviously you become a lot more open.'"

"The mention of the [former] preacher Jerry Falwell inspired anger, bordering on contempt. 'He preaches that God dresses in a three-piece polyester suit, is white, speaks in a southern accent, is from an Anglo-Saxon background and has a wife and children. And then you say, how does that relate to a Chinese peasant? And you realize it doesn't at all.

"or a southern black? The song contrasts the burning crosses of the [KKK] with the liberating sound of john Coletrane's saxophone breathing into the New york Night. America: the land of paradoxes. Everything that's great about the world, and everything that's repulsive about it. rolled into one. That's what 'Bullet in the Blue Sky' is about"

"Truth Wars" declares yoga a battlefield!

Surfing through my friend's blogs, I noted that Tripp had found this news clip:



Yoga? Really? oh modern mindsetted/literalist people, is there no area that you can't declare a warzone? Before you correct me, yes I know that yoga has it's roots in hinduism, but unlike Christianity, has allowed it to be secularized. Yes we protect our "sacred cows" from things like the postmodern worldview (what Doug Pagitt is representing)....but wait, hindu's are the ones that believe cows to be sacred?!!?! i'm confused...enlighten me master Macarther!

I'm really getting tired of Macarthur and his "War on Error" as he calls it (see his book "Truth Wars". Like evangelical "crusades" the language is far from culturally sensitive, and simply shows how callous some of these people can be towards the feelings of others. CHISTIANITY IS NOT A WAR PEOPLE!!!

Interesting how this is a one-sided war! It is either them or..... well no, postmodern Christianity allows and respects their viewpoints. Is that declaring war on innocent civillians? Wait....Macarther (and his like) are not commencing in war as much as they are deliberatly attempting genocide! They want to stamp out all who believe differently and are seeing the world and their faith through a new set of lenses, so that only those who hold to their version of "Truth" are the only ones left calling themselves "Christian"! Interesting huh?

Read Tripps blog to get his take....and thanks to Tripp for letting me repost this!

You Can Tell Everybody, This is Your Song...

I admit that it's been a while since I've been a part of the dating scene, but as I remember correctly, every relationship has to have an, "our song". This is supposed to be a theme song that captures the essence of that particular relationship. For a long time, I think this has been, and remains to be the theme song for my long romance (marriage?) with the Christian Church.



With Or Without You-U2
See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side
I wait for you

Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait without you

With or without you
With or without you

Through the storm we reach the shore
You give it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for you

With or without you
With or without you
I cant live
With or without you

And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give
And you give
And you give yourself away

My hands are tied
My body bruised,
shes got me with
Nothing to win andNothing left to lose

And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give
And you give
And you give yourself away
With or without you
With or without you
I cant live
With or without you
With or without you
With or without

President Bono Bush

Who knew that Pres. Bush likes to sing U2 to congress?

In Repair (pt. 3)- Vaticinium ex eventu

Vaticinium ex eventu (Prophecy after the event)! Why Can't these things forwarn you rather than narrate your life?


Photo by Justin Bowman...fortunes are mass produced!
*sigh

In Repair:
Click for part 1
Click for part 2

Blindsided

So I was on my way back from grabbing lunch today when I bore witness to one of those things that you never expect to see in your life. PLEASE NOTE! IN NO WAY AM I MAKING LIGHT OF THIS EVENT! In fact, the event and the individual involved have been on my mind all day.

Near the intersection where I turn off of HW55 to go home, I happened to see a deer sprinting to get across the road about 120 yards in front of me, past the intersection. Traffic was heavy but slow, and the deer was going fast! Somehow it missed EVERYTHING in the first lane of traffic (I counted 3 SUV's and 2 Pickups that he could have hit in that lane depending on his timing). However, unfortunately, he was not so lucky getting across the second lane of traffic going the opposite way. The deer was not hit, rather, he did the hitting. Again out of all the possible reinforced cars, trucks and SUV's he could have collided with, he hit the worst possible target of choice: a man on a motorcycle!

Having just passed through the heavy traffic intersection the man wasn't going very fast, The deer however, was scared and running full speed! The poor gent never saw it coming. The deer hit him hard in the side, so hard that neither the man nor the deer got back up after the encounter. The man was flung from his bike and eventually found grass off the curb. He seemed ok (relative to the deer and the other possible outcomes), but I am sure will suffer some broken bones, bruises, and stitches. The poor guy was blindsided completely and never saw it coming!
____________________________
Now this may sound at first insensitive to use this as a correlation moment, but wait on it. (I really have been worried about the man that was hit!)

I've been working on a worship service about our spiritual journeys, and in particular remembering and encountering my own spiritual journey. Somehow I've fooled myself into thinking that along the many years of my life I have had some say in where my journey has led me. I mean, I know that there are times in each person's life that are out of their control (death of a loved one, tragic life-altering experience), but I never realized how we think we can take credit for the many other things that influence our journey. We may pick some things (what school to go to, what to major in, who to marry, where to live, when to have kids, etc...) But if we are honest with ourselves even those things are really outside of our control!

We can't determine when we are going to meet our future spouse. I don't personally think we can choose who we fall in love with. We can pick our school and major, but what happens once we get there is mostly up to chance (or divine providence if you prefer). Where we live is often determined by outside circumstances like our job, or for me, the fact that my wife has always lived in Apex and thus opportunities have kept us here up until this date.

So in looking at my journey, more specifically the forks in my road where the path branched off, I see that I've made choices, yes, but they all seem to be in reaction to whatever that fork was! This may not seem enlightening to anyone else, but I see 2 options that help explain where and who I am today!
1) we can chose to follow the path of uncertainty willingly, where God seems to break you further and further away from the "accepted" view of Christianity!
or
2) we can chose the path of false certainty where we decide not to change no matter what caused the fork, even if that means believing something in total contradiction to whatever experience caused the fork!

Whichever path one chooses, just like the experience that causes it, the only certainty is that, just like the man on the motorcycle who was out for a nice Sat. ride, sooner or later something in life is going to blindside you and once again you will be faced with the same choice! path 1 or path 2? The only problem with path 2 is that each time someone chooses it, it seems to separate them further and further from reality!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to go and see if the local news reports on the motorcyclist's condition, and praying that he's going to be ok!

A Budding Paradox

Flower in the crannied wall

Flower in the crannied wall,

I pluck you out of the crannies,

I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,

Little flower--but if i could understand

What you aare, root and all, and all in all,

I should know what God and Man is.

--Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

Always more questions than there are answers... that's living my life in the gray.

Patriotism (Reimagined)

It is amazing how something that you read many years back can be read again today and mean something completely different. Today this spoke to me!

I think this is where I am today:

PATRIOTISM

"If patriots are people who stand by their country right or wrong, Germans who stood by Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich should be adequate proof that we've had enough of them.

"If Patriots are people who believe not only that anything they consider unpatriotic is wrong, but that anything they consider wrong is unpatriotic, the late Senator Joseph McCarthy and his backers should be enough to want to make us avoid them like the plague.

"If patriots are people who believer things like, 'Better Dead Than Red,' they should be shown films of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, and then be taken off to the funny farm.

"The only patriots worth their salt are the ones who lover their country enough to see that in a nuclear age it is not going to survive unless the world survives. True patriots are no longer champions of any one country in particular, but champions of the human race. It is not the homeland that they feel called on to defend at any cost, but the planet earth as home. If in the interest of making sure we don't blow ourselves off the map once and for all, we end up relinquishing a measure of national sovereignty to some international body, so much the worse for national sovereignty.

There is only one sovereignty that matters ultimately, and it is of another sort altogether."

-Frederick Buechner "Beyond Words" (p299-300)


I'm sick of being called "unpatriotic" by this administration because I care enough to ask the tough questions and challenge my government. Perhaps my patriotism is not what should be in question as I exercise my rights as "we the people..." Perhaps my patriotism has been re-imagined!