vitalwholeness

He shared that he would be coming alone with the children from now on because  the wife and mother had left.

One family asked if they could join us, even if their children were not like other children.

She  stood alone, holding faith in one hand and a different way of loving in the other. Am I accepted here, she asked.

And the ones who now have to sleep in their van brought the children in to worship anyway.

I am a witness to these things. To such belong the kingdom of heaven.

Hats off to a controversy story that has been poorly interpreted, exploited and wrongly used for centuries: Mark 12:13-7 (parallel Matthew 22:15-22 and Luke 20:20-26). It is the story of Pharisees and Herodians attempting to trap Jesus.

“Is it lawful (in the religious sense) to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”

People have used this question and its answer as a way to reinforce being a good taxpayer. Some have used it to talk about a separation of church and state. They all miss the mark.

Background to the text: Palestine is a Roman occupied territory and the Emperor levies taxes through his appointed vassals to fund the reach of the empire and reinforce submission. And so the 90% of the population that is peasantry funds the 10% that is empire and local aristocracy. And, no small thing, Caesar is seen as divinely appointed and endowed.

Do you pay the tax of Caesar – fund the occupying forces? If you say yes, you’re sleeping with the enemy. If you say no, well, we know what the powerful do with insurgents. Hence, the trap.

But the response of Jesus takes us way beyond the outlines of the trap. He directs people to a Roman coin and asks whose visage is found there. It is the Caesar. Well then, give to the Caesar what belongs to him. Now what would that be? What does rightfully belong to the Caesar? First hard question. But wait, he’s saved the punch line for last.

But give to God the things that belong to God. And what would those be? What rightfully belongs to God? And what’s more, in a world in which the Caesar is seen to be the divine benefactor, to whom a tribute is fitting, Jesus draws a distinction: The Emperor and God are two different things. There is an empire of this world, its powers and principalities, and then there is the empire of God. Our loyalty to each is distinct. And one always trumps the other. Our citizenship to one always serves as the measure of the other. Can you imagine which?

After that, his detractors  shut up. No wonder.

The taxes I pay as a part of my responsibility of being a citizen are never spent in exactly the way I would like them to be. Neither are yours. In a representative democracy spending priorities and practices result from a wild combination of political decision making on multiple levels. The only way to move toward different spending priorities is by participation in the political process. And I can’t whine about it unless I do.

Likewise, in any religious community, the body never places its spending priorities in such a way that all people are pleased by them or all of them. Even as a pastor, I’m never totally in agreement with the way the church spends its money – and I, as a leader of the community, more often than not end up defending the ways in which the church spends its money. I’m still never completely satisfied. But I still make an offering to God, even without total happiness, because I know that it’s about more than what I happen to think is important at the moment. There are other voices, perspectives and values at work. Maturity helps us accept this … to a degree.

There are those times when spending by government, church or our silly nephew, Arnold, who squanders the money we gave him, becomes so egregious, that we must protest. That’s understandable and at times necessary. But so is our willingness to live in community and accept the differences that exist among diverse people and perspectives.

God bless us as we figure it out. I’m still trying to.

Theologians and spiritual writers fall in and out of vogue; some become the darling of the day only to be forgotten soon after they peak while others have some kind of staying power, in season and out of season.

Paul Tillich is of the later sort, a voice that continues to speak through the years. After a recent conversation with a soul struggling through what life has given I thought of a portion of one of his chapters from The Shaking of the Foundations. As it spoke then, so it speaks now:

Do we know what it means to be struck by grace? It does not mean that we suddenly believe that God exists, or that Jesus is the Saviour, or that the Bible contains the truth. To believe that something is, is almost contrary to the meaning of grace. Furthermore, grace does not mean simply that we are making progress in our moral self-control, in our fight against special faults, and in our relationships to men and to society. Moral progress may be a fruit of grace; but it is not grace itself, and it can even prevent us from receiving grace. For there is too often a graceless acceptance of Christian doctrines and a graceless battle against the structures of evil in our personalities. Such a graceless relation to God may lead us by necessity either to arrogance or to despair. It would be better to refuse God and the Christ and the Bible than to accept them without grace. For if we accept without grace, we do so in the state of separation, and can only succeed in deepening the separation. We cannot transform our lives, unless we allow them to be transformed by that stroke of grace. It happens; or it does not happen. And certainly it does not happen if we try to force it upon ourselves, just as it shall not happen so long as we think, in our self-complacency, that we have no need of it. Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life. It strikes us when we feel that our separation is deeper than usual, because we have violated another life, a life which we loved, or from which we were estranged. It strikes us when our disgust for our own being, our indifference, our weakness, our hostility, and our lack of direction and composure have become intolerable to us. It strikes us when, year after year, the longed-for perfection of life does not appear, when the old compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage. Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: “You are accepted. You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know. Do not ask for the name now; perhaps you will find it later. Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted!” If that happens to us, we experience grace After such an experience we may not be better than before, and we may not believe more than before. But everything is transformed. In that moment, grace conquers sin, and reconciliation bridges the gulf of estrangement. And nothing is demanded of this experience, no religious or moral or intellectual presupposition, nothing but acceptance.

And so the French have decided that certain head coverings are not suitable for Muslim women. Soon enough they will be levying pricey fines for wearing something that smacks of their religious tradition. Montesquieu had lots to say about liberty, solidarity and fraternity, but it seems the French have forgotten the liberty part. They mistakenly believe that expunging religious difference is the path to true freedom, that denying religious uniqueness will transform their humanity into even greater freedom possessing creatures. But this requires, of course, denying freedoms to insure an ideal of freedom that is liberated from the chains of those silly old religious traditions. But let’s back up.

Anyone who knows a thimbleful of French history knows that the revolution included throwing off the shackles of religious influence. The liberators demonstrated this, in one way, by stacking a mountainous pile of wooden chairs in the nave of Notre Dame and setting it afire. There now. We’ve taken care of that old menace.

And clergy were prohibited from wearing symbols of their vocation – clerical garb, collars, etc – in public. Much like Muslim head coverings today.

Do I personally – philosophically speaking, theologically speaking – subscribe to this  position? Of course not. But it’s not my religious system, not my understanding. Do I think they should be enabled to figure it out for themselves, within Islam? You bet.

Now there’s libertad for you.  Wake up and smell the French Fries. Your freedom is no freedom at all. It’s an ideology, a secular religion imposed by the state.

There once was a lad from Missouri

who often  was in a big hurry

when April came by

he decided to fly

to a wedding where folks may not scurry

God – in – Everything

I have been blessed to officiate at a dear friend’s wedding this coming week. And since it is taking place in the native land of St. Francis of Assisi, I want to share one of his writings, penned over 800 years ago. It is his Canticle to the Sun.

Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord,
all praise is Yours, all glory, all honor and all blessings.
to you alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name.

Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
who is the day through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor,
of You Most High, he bears the likeness.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
in the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
and fair and stormy, all weather’s moods,
by which You cherish all that You have made.

Praised be You my Lord through Sister Water,
so useful, humble, precious and pure.

Praised be You my Lord through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You my Lord through our Sister,
Mother Earth who sustains and governs us,
producing varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Praised be You my Lord through those who grant pardon
for love of You and bear sickness and trial.
Blessed are those who endure in peace,
by You Most High, they will be crowned.

So the University of Missouri basketball coach of the last five seasons, Mike Anderson, is exchanging Tigers for Razorbacks. He goes to become head basketball coach of the University of Arkansas. We can all wish him well. He did, after all, have a good run at Mizzou, a fine record of wins and losses. Missouri fans are sad and the Arkansas ones are happy.

Some have made a big deal out of the fact that just a few weeks previously Mr. Anderson talked about retiring at Mizzou, so in love was he with the people, program and place. Gee, where is his loyalty, they pined.

There is a sub text in the whole story that is, I think, the real story.

After negotiating with the University of Missouri for a seven year deal of $2 million a year, the coach just couldn’t pass up the larger offer of Arkansas of $2.2 million a year, also over seven years. That $.2 million a year adds up over seven years. It could make you love wild boars and want to be near them.

But let’s not haggle over a measly $200,000 a year difference. Rather, let’s return to the basic idea that no one is talking about. Here is a man, not unusual among his peers in salary, that is making over $2 million a year. He’s coaching a basketball team. Let’s just hold that number in our minds for a moment, let it float there as we do a little comparison.

Now we’re thinking about the average teacher’s compensation. You remember, don’t you? These are the evil teachers who wanted to have some collective bargaining when it comes to their salary and benefits. Golly, some of them might make $50,000 a year. Imagine. What excess.

But pick your profession, something that really matters. Now hold up that position and its salary and let it dangle right beside the basketball coach’s $2 million a year. Can you see them both? Do you have them sitting right next to one another? Good. Now hold them there.

If the word obscene comes to mind it may emanate from the part of the brain or psyche or heart preoccupied with values, with what things mean, how fairness and justice is regarded. It’s the same place that gets all excited when you see the vast difference between the wages of corporate CEOs and others in the corporate food chain, the ones whose benefits need to be reduced as the execs, the ones who may have directly contributed to the recent economic melt down, are rewarded with more bonuses and stock and salary. Do you feel that little area right in the center of your forehead? No, you’re not imagining it. There is a tingling sensation that won’t go away. That, friend, is the tingle of outrage in the face of conspicuous unfairness.

I wish we could just pack that up and send it to Arkansas permanently. But we can’t, because it’s mobile, portable. It is a pan-American reality that trickled down from the pros after athletes became stars and television shaped everything we know about sport. Like Albert Pujols, the St. Louis Cardinal’s golden boy. Even his well-heeled team mates and church connected friends are starting to ask questions. Why isn’t a contract for $300 million enough? Even with a nice foundation that Pujols started, something to give a moral nerve to the excess, why aren’t those numbers high enough?

The answer is simple, though we don’t want to say the words, either on the professional or collegiate level of sports. We are just as afraid to call into question the vast gap between a CEO’s salary and benefits and those of a worker.

Here are the words you are searching for: It is immoral.

But we enable it – all of us – by what we continue to support, purchase, and protect, personally and politically.

You know that little place in the center of your forehead that’s buzzing? Listen to it. There is something it wants to tell you.

I usually don’t like strained attempts to go back a millennium and capture the life of anyone, much less a 12th century Benedictine mystic, but the creators of Vision: The life of Hildegard von Bingen did her right.

For a glimpse into the monastic spirituality of the time, and a spotlight on the bright light of Hildegard’s visions, do find a way to see it.

And for those hymnology buffs among us you’ll be interested to know that in our Chalice Hymnal there are no less than three quotes from Hildegard’s writings and one hymn that weaves many strands of her writing together in one place (251, O Holy Spirit, Root of Life).

Fire of the Spirit, life of the lives of creatures,

spiral of sanctity, bond of all natures,

goal of charity, lights of clarity,

taste of sweetness to sinners, be with us and hear us.

Composer of all things, light of all the risen,

key of salvation, release from the dark prison,

hope of all unions, scope of chastities,

joy in the glory, strong honor, be with us and hear us . (CH 52)

* * *

Holy Spirit

making life alive, moving in all things, root of all created being,

cleansing the cosmos of every impurity, effacing guilt, anointing wounds.

You are lustrous and praiseworthy life,

You waken and re-awaken everything that is. (CH 235)

* * *

Creator God, draw compassion from us.

Christ, draw compassion from us.

Spirit God, draw compassion from us. (CH 541)

I confess my ignorance. I have no idea why the U.S. military is intervening in Libya’s civil war. Of course, Gadhafi is no sweet guy; he is a totalitarian dictator. In the wave of Northern Africa protest movements bad guys are falling left and right and largely non-violent protests have taken the day. But Gadhafi is not going quietly. And the rebel movement is armed and there is open warfare.

So, do we normally intervene – other than in peace-making diplomacy – in every armed civil war taking place in other countries around the globe? We never thought of that kind of response in Egypt, even if it got nasty. Why snuggle up to the rebels in Libya? Is it our dear love of democracy? Neutralizing some terrorist network?

How jaded I’ve become. It actually occurred to me that all this just might have to do with the gigantic oil fields under that Libyan sand. And we might just be betting on the horse we believe win this struggle for power, the one left standing at the end of the day, our good friend flying his flag right over the oil fields.

Why else intervene? Can you think of one viable reason? Before you play the freedom card and say we’re just helping to liberate those poor Libyan people from the shackles of tyranny, you have to first scan the long list of all the other countries submerged in civil war where we did not intervene, every country that didn’t have one drop of oil to its name.

But, of course, I could be very, very wrong.

Why are we lobbing our cruise missiles their direction?