The Pastor's Ponderables

Here is another bible story for you.  It truly is my escape from the world of current events.  Mind you, bible stories are full of their own strum und drang, but at least I know how the stories are goin to end! Back in the days, the old days long ago-a There once was a man who the people called Noah Old Noah was good, you would like him - you might! And he listened to God every day and at night One day when he listened, God told him some stuff, Bad news for the world, things were going to get rough There soon would be rain, lots of rain everywhere So much rain that the rains would start flooding down there So God said to Noah, you need a big boat  A boat that is big and is strong and will float We’ll call it an ark, but whatever you do Be sure to put animals in two by two Bring all sorts of animals, the big and the small The creepers and jumpers and those that can crawl No need to make room for the ones that can swim Eve...

I’ve decided to change the title from “Secret Identities” to “Suppressed Identities.” Here's why. Originally, I was thinking about how Jesus told the disciples not to tell anyone he was the Messiah.  Like Batman or Superman - it's obvious to us who he is but for some reason, nobody in the story can figure out that he's the superhero. And Moses?  He even has this cool origin story where, as a baby, he’s set adrift in a basket only to be rescued from a terrible fate  by a princess - and while she raises him as her own, everyone knows he’s different . I kind of liked the whole “superhero” secret identity thing - hidden in plain sight, they’re mild mannered carpenters or - well, Moses might have been more of a Bruce Wayne since he was raised as a prince.  But anyway, when the cry for help came, they would spring into action, raising the dead or bringing people out of slavery. I really wanted to go there, but I think maybe it was wishful thinking.  Becaus...

Tired of Confederate statues? While there's still much to learn and discuss about them and their functions good and bad (just learned neat stuff today) ... sometimes you need a break. So, for something completely different, here is a children's creation story I've been working on.  In the course of my duties at St. James' Nursery School, I read  A LOT of bible stories to the children.  Sometimes, I get tired of them.  The selection is not always the most age appropriate (my way of thinking), and often they way they're told leaves me uninspired.  Frankly, what I would prefer is if  Dr. Seuss had made a children's bible.  He didn't, and I'm not him, but after years of reading out loud to the kids, I decided to take inspiration from him and start re-writing bible stories to read to the kids. Here, then, is the first, the Creation. THE BIG, THE FANTASTIC,  THE WORLD THAT GOD MADE Welcome my friend  to the world all around you ...

Yet another post with the infamous statues at its heart.  But there is a twist.  The twist begins with me admitting that I never really gave them much if any thought before.  The only statues in my home town were Abraham Lincoln.  The only statues I know in my current town are busts of FDR (this is his home town, after all) and Winston Churchill.  Oh and one of FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt sitting on a bench.   But in the hoopla, name calling, and serious dialogue over the statues of Confederate officers, there are other considerations.  First, as Andrew Young (yes, the iconic civil rights leader, mayor, congressman, and ambassador) noted, focusing on these symbols of antebellum pride takes away attention from other crucial jobs before us - like reducing the industrial prison complex that traps so many of our young black citizens.  Or reducing the income gap, which disproportionately affects African Americans in the negative.  Or housing dis...

The argument about statues - which has many possible and positive outcomes - always comes down to the reasons for the war.  If true history really is the objective of the defenders of the statues, then they will also want to do away with the “states rights” defense of the rebellion.  Primary sources, i.e. The articles of secession by the very states give a different rationale.  So does a speech by the Vice President of the Confederacy. .  By the way, many southern states DID oppose state's rights when norther states tried to ban southern bounty hunters from hunting escaped slaves (and failing that, kidnapping convenient free African Americans who fit the bill).  Anyway, this is just a sampling, but read through any and all of the declarations: "We hold as undeniable truths that the governments of the various States, and of the confederacy itself, were established exclusively by the white race, for themselves and their posterity; that the African race had ...

A friend of mine from high school - who stands pretty far to the right of me politically - sent me an article about a case of statue vandalism, not of a Confederate general but of a Catholic saint.  Apparently, in the two years since the pope elevated Junipero Serra to sainthood, statues of him have been vandalized four times.  Why the attacks?  Because many Native Americans and others claim that he took part in and supported the destruction of Native American culture in California.  It’s important to note that the Roman Catholic Church asserts that he protected Native Americans from those who wanted to harm them. I have no idea which story is true.   But I can discuss in general two issues this raises. One, what about those statues?  They just won’t go away, huh? Two, what is the argument against Junipero, and by extension the church? First the statues.  Again.  And probably not for the last time.  [NOTE: Just to be clear, I am...

What a week it’s been, huh?  Just last Sunday, I was preaching to you about the Neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, Virginia that ended so tragically in murder and countless fights. Throughout the week, the tensions mounted with questions of what should be said about it and what constitutes free speech, and are Nazis really such bad guys anyway?   Then, yesterday, in Boston, the white supremacists were to have another rally in Boston.  If the Boston Globe is to be believed, they counted about fifty white supremacists and roughly 40,000 counter-protesters - just to show what this country really thinks of them. The bad guys - and it is fair to say from the pulpit that there is nothing good in Nazi or white supremacist ideology - were sent packing.  So, that takes care of that, right?  All’s well that ends well, right? Um… I think you know the answer to that.   If you don’t, maybe our scriptures can help.  Let's look at Joseph in Genesis. ...

When I began this sermon several days ago, I had a sermon about the fear Joseph must have felt when his brothers grabbed him with the intention of murder.  I had a sermon about the fear of the disciples when they saw the impossibility of Jesus walking on water. Now I have a sermon that makes me afraid. It makes me afraid because speaking about social issues always irritates people  - because whenever I speak about uncomfortable things, somebody gets angry at me.  At least I can comfort myself that it’s just a sermon among people I know who are not likely threaten me.  The most you’re likely to do is fume a little. And that also makes me afraid - afraid that the Gospel today will have no impact on anyone - change no hearts, move no minds closer to the will of God.  Or that I’m just preaching to the choir. What makes me afraid, of course, is speaking about the events in Charlottesville, Virginia at the University of Virginia and surrounding area.  ...