If we are only broken, we slip into self-loathing; if we are only contrite, we become self-satisfied. Both are forms of self-absorption. The goal isn’t to think less of ourselves, it is to think of ourselves less.
Redeeming Your Commute? One of the pluses of the pandemic was replacing the drive downtown with a walk down the hall. As we start to make the drive again, it is worth asking: how can I best use that time? Silence? Listening to Scripture? An hour of ESPN? Though we are all anxious to get back, it would be a shame if we showed up unchanged.
Black Lives Matter: “Black lives matter” is both a great mantra and a theological truth. Furthermore, given the deaths of Floyd, Arbery, Taylor, et al., I am among those who think saying “all lives matter” or “blue lives matter” misses the point. (When the Boston Marathon was bombed, social media touted Boston Strong, not All Cities Strong). That said, I am not sure what the statement “Black Lives Matter” means when I see it on signs, in posts, covering face masks, or painted on basketball courts. Am I being asked to stand alongside black people? Yes! Am I being asked to say we can and must do better as a country? Yes! Yes! Am I being asked to endorse the agenda of the Black Lives Matter organization – aspects of which I find deeply troubling? No!
Genesis 1 vs. Genesis 3: Based on news reports, it’s clear that a lot of people expect Genesis 1. I long for it—that or Revelation 22. Alas, we live in a Genesis 3 world.
Perspective: According to World-O-Meter, so far this year 439,467 people have died from water-related diseases; 254,454 have died of seasonal flu; 22,196,048 have died from abortions; 877,289 have died of HIV/AIDS; 4,286,044 have died of cancer; 511,889 have died of malaria; 1,305,277 have died of/from alcoholism. And 550,000 from COVID-19.
The Church: The church is at once a cause, a community, and a corporation. These days when the community is not meeting much, and the cause is mostly being carried online, it seems like people like me spend their days in Zoom meetings discussing the corporation. Ugh. I consider the corporation an important part of the church and believe that when corporate things are done well the cause and community are more likely to flourish. But the next pastor I meet who went into ministry to focus on the corporation will be the first one I meet. Beam me up, Scotty.
Pastoring at the Moment: Since I started whining, let me continue. Some claim a pun is the lowest form of humor. A friend disagrees. He thinks “pastor humor” is painfully worse and suggests the only two reasons anyone ever laughs during a sermon is 1) out of sympathy or 2) because their expectations are so low that a bad joke seems stellar. Perhaps. But… this is different. This video is not technically pastor humor, just humor involving pastors. BTW, I’m quite sure it’s fake. And for what it’s worth, I don’t feel this way 24×7—only several times a week.
Democracy: Churchill famously declared that “a democracy is the worst form of government… except for all of the other forms of government.” In The Weight of Glory, C. S. Lewis suggests the reason to value democracy is not because people are wise and good and deserve a voice, but because “fallen men [are] so wicked that not one of them can be trusted with any irresponsible power over his fellows.”
After Further Review: Last week’s link to Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s WSJ editorial Even the Bible is Full of Flawed Characters drew two responses. Those who focused on the main point—i.e., that we are all desperately broken—loved it. Those who saw an implied endorsement of Confederate monuments did not. FYI, I linked it to affirm the first. My apologies to any offended by the suggestions of the second.
Closing Prayer: “Lord, let me love, though love may be the losing of every earthly treasure I possess. Lord, make your love the pattern of my choosing. And let your will dictate my happiness. I have no wish to wield the sword of power, and I want no man to leap at my command; nor let my critics feel constrained to cower for fear of some reprisal at my hand. Lord, let me love the lowly and the humble, forgetting not the mighty and the strong; and give me grace to love those who may stumble, nor let me seek to judge of right or wrong. Lord, let my parish be the world unbounded, let love of race and clan be at an end. Let every hateful doctrine be confounded that interdicts the love of friend for friend. Amen.” C. Eric Lincoln (1924 – 2000)