When Compromise is Compromised

How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! 
It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes. 
It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the Lord ordained his blessing, life for evermore. -- Psalm 133


I've been sitting for a few days on an e-mail chain letter sent to me by a beloved relative. The thing is dripping with muddled thinking, wild diatribe, and delusion. But I've sat on it. Maybe this relative reads my blog. I don't know. Not sure what to do, so I'll follow my usual mantra in such confounding, hair-triggering moments: "Don't just DO something, STAND THERE." Pause. Breathe deeply. Think it through.


I am deeply concerned for my country. This liberal-conservative wrestling match is refereed, broadcast and performed much like a WWE match: the two sides pound their chests and scream death and destruction down on the "evil" other side and will stoop ever lower to gouge, thump and kick their way to victory; the "journalists" are little more than hucksters promoting the fight with breathless credulity and fire-breathing graphics; and the referees conveniently have their heads turned as the rules are broken... if they agree to enforce any rules at all. Is there even a rule book anymore?!?


Worse, I've come to believe the bulk of our electorate is addicted to this match-play mindset, with our no-fall, 20-minute time limit attention span. 


Little or nothing constructive can be accomplished in such a circus environment. Thoughtful analysis and careful consideration are drowned out by the carnival barkers whose sole task is to grab attention and keep the money flowing from every passing suckers' pocket into their tills.


If we ever stop the three active wars we are currently waging overseas, we'll find that the real battle is an uncivil war of such magnitude and ferocity that it has swallowed up our political system, most of our media and the daily head-space of almost every voting American. 


I was happy to hear these words from President Obama at yesterday's press conference:



"My experience with John Boehner has been good. I think he's a good man who wants to do right by the country.  I think that it's a -- as Chip alluded to, the politics that swept him into the speakership were good for a midterm election; they're tough for governing.  And part of what the Republican caucus generally needs to recognize is that American democracy works when people listen to each other, we're willing to give each other the benefit of the doubt, we assume the patriotism and good intentions of the other side, and we're willing to make some sensible compromises to solve big problems.  And I think that there are members of that caucus who haven't fully arrived at that realization yet."
GEORGE CONDON:    So your confidence in him wasn't shaken by him walking away from the big deal he said he wanted?
THE PRESIDENT: "These things are a tough process.  And, look, in fairness, a big deal would require a lot of work on the part of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and myself to bring Democrats along.  But the point is, is if everybody gets in the boat at the same time, it doesn't tip over.  I think that was Bob Dole's famous comment after striking a deal with the President and Mr. Gingrich back in the '90s.  And that is always the case when it comes to difficult but important tasks like this."


With everyone addicted to incendiaries and head-slams into turnbuckles, what can compromise possibly bring? We first need to ratchet down the bloodsport, ratchet up the level of discourse, and gain a clear grasp of what exactly is going on. THEN we find our path of action. The first step to reasonable compromise is REASON, which is so lacking at the moment. Without it, our ability to compromise is compromised.

Of Androids, the Good Shepherd and the 4th of July

MATTHEW 11:  Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities.

 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’

 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
   who will prepare your way before you.” 
Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came; and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. Let anyone with ears listen!

 ‘But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another, 
“We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
   we wailed, and you did not mourn.” 
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.’

 Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent. ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, on the day of judgement it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum,
will you be exalted to heaven?
   No, you will be brought down to Hades.
For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that on the day of judgement it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.’

 At that time Jesus said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

 ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

(Forgive me for including an entire chapter of Matthew for this post. It is just that there is so much here, and it is all too vital – especially in these conflicted times – to leave anything out.)

I just finished watching again for the first time in years the Ridley Scott 1982 cult classic Blade Runner, based on the novel Of Androids and Electric Sheep. It is an amazing movie. I assume most of you know it, but I’ll recap for the uninitiated:

Harrison Ford is a former cop and “blade runner” in 2019. His job is to terminate renegade android slaves. He is pulled back in to hunt down a group of particularly nasty ”replicants.” These creatures were implanted with a lifetime of false memories, but were programmed to wear out (that is, "die") after only four years. The renegade replicants have returned to find their maker and to ask to be modified to live longer. By midway through the movie, you realize the androids feel as much or more than the humans, and the climactic scene – the final conflict between the chief android (played by Rutger Hauer) and Harrison Ford’s bounty hunter – blurs the lines between US and THEM so completely as to leave the viewer befuddled as to the desired outcome. So strong is the gradually built identification with OTHER, and the recognition of the innate drive to survive, love and thrive.

 

It seems to me that much of the spirit of this movie could have been lifted directly from the 11^th chapter of Matthew. No, seriously:

·       Jesus comes to a broken, violent and confusing world and teaches all who would listen to value life above all else, and to define more loosely and think and see more broadly in welcome of the other.

·       John the Baptist, in prison and soon to be executed, has a moment of doubt about his cousin and asks through an intermediary if Jesus truly is the messiah or if they should wait for another.

·       Jesus’ proof of his messiah-ship is the degree to which he has reached out and healed and helped the OTHER in Judea…the blind, lame, leprous, deaf, dead and poor – that is, everyone society would crush or try to forget.

·       Jesus goes on to challenge all who would hear: “What are you looking at? What are you looking for? The key to the Kingdom is so obvious and so simple that a child can grasp it. Indeed, only those who can open themselves unselfishly (like a child) will come to the great humble, gentle key to life abundant. The burden of liberty in me is sooooo light!”*

When questioned by John as to his legitimacy, Jesus offers as evidence all he has done for the other: the outcast, down-trodden, ailing and persecuted. He further challenges all who are protectors of the status quo that they are in serious danger of missing the kingdom of heaven.

The ministry and path of Jesus are all about a brash, fearless, even RADICAL openness and love for (indeed, IDENTIFICATION WITH) the other, aren't they? Our faiths and religions should necessarily follow that lead. But we don’t always do that particularly well, do we? Often, our religions and political actions rally around what we aren’t and who we won’t accept. We end up choosing "long-standing tradition" or "strategic interests" over that which represents love and self-determination. In other words, we one day wake up and find that we are on the wrong side of some important event.

July 4^th is the perfect time to bring this up. When we reflect on the promise of the great human experiment in self-governance, it behooves us to realize that our nation is founded on the very Christ-like principle of a far-flung, wildly varied us-tent, not an us and not them fence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that ALL* men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Doesn’t this foundational document clearly state how radically wide open and welcoming America and Americans are supposed to be?

But the most important part of all is not that famous quote from the second paragraph, but the last sentence of the document:

“…with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”

That’s right, every participant in the American experiment has thrown his/her lot in with the rest. We each pledge our lives, resources and sacred honor to the happiness, liberty and well being of every other American!!

Neither Christianity nor democracy are exclusionary, but EXUBERANT. Neither Christianity nor democracy are museum-grade pure, but five-second-rule PICNIC. We all want more life, and life abundant. We should all help each other get there, regardless.

May our lines of demarcation be evermore blurred. May our political leanings be ever harder to pin down. May we learn to pity piety and go wild with wideness. Wouldn’t that be marvelously human, gloriously American, and wonderfully Christian of us?

Rugged Communalists Unite!

So, if they say to you, “Look! He is in the wilderness”, do not go out. If they say, “Look! He is in the inner rooms”, do not believe it. -- Matthew 24:26


Call it a preview of Sunday's sermon, I'm focusing a lot these days on the tension between individual and communal impulses in our world and, especially, our religions.

It all started with NPR, of course. The world would be a much better place if we all spent half an hour or so every day digging through their various reports and wild hairs. Here's what got me started:

NPR: Is the end nigh? We'll know soon enough.

This is Harold Camping, an 89 year-old preacher who – since the world didn’t end on September 6, 1994, as he originally predicted – has come to the irrefutable conclusion that a series of devastating earthquakes will spell rapture and the end of the world on May 21 at 6 p.m… That’s right, one week from Saturday, as I write this. Be sure and make it an early dinner that night.

Harold has ambled along in this belief for some time, broadcasting it on his Family Radio program. It has led a handful of folks to quit their jobs, cash in their 401(k)s, get divorced from sceptical spouses (ya think?!?), and take to the streets to hand out tracts and preach the rapture to all who would hear.

You and I know there have been plenty of doomsday-ers through the millennia. Fervent crackpots, we consider them. Some are harmless, others much worse. But each of them must be at least somewhat aware of the poor track record of End-of-the-World types (even Jesus is quoted as saying HE hadn’t a clue when it would happen – and that’s the Gospel truth).

But here’s the thing: At some point in the next million years or so, one of these guys and gals is going to trip into perfect timing: the asteroid will hit, the sun will go szzztz, the earth will crack like an egg, or some other random or human-instigated calamity will send us off our orbit, and, just before our vital organs and/or bionic/android parts are vaporized in the cold, dark vacuum of space, that individual may have just enough time to cap human history with the mother of all I-told-you-so’s. Apparently this dark cosmic lottery is an attractive possibility for would-be prophets of destruction. They’re willing to go waaaay out on that limb by themselves and then call a few gullible fools out there with them, each of whom also burns with a need to be right in some spectacular way nobody else can match. This story brought alternating chuckles and groans. I just pray Mr. Camping isn’t next to me saying “I told you so” a week from Saturday just before I go szzztz in the yawning vacuum of space.

So then I check the NPR sidebar and find this story:

the loneliest plant in the world

The story is all about a plant found in Africa in 1895, a male cutting of which was carried to London, where it sat inside for 98 years, only to wake up and find it had been out of circulation for so long, there were no female plants left to date. They believe this one male plant, which dutifully produces pollen and frequents singles’ garden happy hours, is all that is left of E. Woodii. It can be cloned, but only to produce more males, and no female counterpart has been found (and, yes, the article does mention the Ents’ dilemma from Lord of the Rings, so let’s not breathe another Tolkienian word about it… as I am trying to maintain the illusion that I am only a partial dork.)

You can’t help but feel sorry for this guy. He’s out there all alone, with little to no hope of ever settling down with a little Mrs. E. Woodii.  Truly, nobody wants to be that isolated, that special.

I believe it was God – talking to only-God-knows-Who – who said “it is not good that man should be alone.” And who would know better, as we were dreamed up by the Holy One as a solution to Her own solitary non-confinement? We are meant to come together, not break apart.

We are built of the stuff just laying around, fed starlight in one form or another, taught to embrace and apply all the best thoughts thought up so far, and basically tool about the planet that claims us as one of its many little 80-year migratory pimples. The thought of any of us being an individual is rather jaw-dropping, when framed in such a manner.

So, from now on I am going to strive to be a Rugged Communalist. I want to recognize more clearly that I am the product of so much borrowed heat and light. I don’t want to distance myself from the competition, a la Harold Camping. Heck, I don’t want to experience competition in such things. I’d rather just throw it all in the God box, hang on to my wife/kids/friends/job/community/world/semi-sanity, strive to DO right over BE right, and pray never to become the faith equivalent of E. Woodii.

Pausing Bears Fruit...

So I took six weeks off from Facebook and this blog. It was Lent, and I thought it was a good idea to turn my face from the screen for some reflection and growth. It was time well spent.

I love the new reality of online communities, but, for me, it was eating into my personal time and face-to-face relationships. Sure enough, my time away was warmed by the fire of two great Lenten discussion groups at my church, and an explosion of creativity in preparation for my band's 3rd CD. I also had time to see and feel my life in ways I had neglected for some time.

As a pastor, I am profoundly blessed to be invited into many other people's sacred moments. I wonder if my pastor-colleagues have found what I have found -- that many ministerial experiences leave a definite residue which sticks to the mind, heart and soul, and must be processed. These can accumulate over time, and lead to a certain opaqueness in our own lives (blindness, even, if we let things go too long).

For me, one of these was the motorcycle-accident death of a high school classmate, Jeff Broadwell. It is not that Jeff and I were particularly close, but he was an amazing guy, living his life large and out loud. I had last seen him at our 20th reunion, and he was just as full of life and adventure as ever. It pleased me to see that he had grown up, but not old. He had kept the covenants of his youth, expanding on them and finding new thrills and wonders just a few steps beyond where the rest of us stopped and turned around.

At any rate, I found myself writing a song that seemed to pour out of me from somewhere, and afterward I realized it was really about Jeff. I will be posting a demo version of the song on my band's Facebook page pretty soon, and I'm hoping dbdb will soon be performing it. Here are the words, which tell me that Jeff has left something of great value in me, given me an insight I might not otherwise have. I will be asking his parents for permission to dedicate the song to him on the CD.

The Boy Who Wouldn't Come In

It's wild beyond the window,

wide open past the door.

There's so much out inside of me,

and summer’s here once more...

I will not heed your call tonight,

not with summer here again.

I'm eyes to skies and foot to flight,

(call me) the boy who wouldn't come in.

Your distant, pleading siren song

I hear it hasten down the wind

It no longer pulls so strong

Not on the boy who wouldn't come in.

It's summer forever.

It's wild beyond the window,

wide open past the door.

There's so much out inside of me,

and summer’s here once more...

In just one stride I lost the how

of ruler, clock and pen.

Halls and walls mean nothing now

Not to the boy who wouldn't come in.

It’s summer forever.

I hold coyote secrets tight

I dance with ancient kin.

I wave with rye and drink moonlight.

I'm the boy...

I run with untamed mysteries.

I hold no faith in fact.

I'm well past hours or inches now,

and I'm never coming back...

forever.

© 2011 Corey Keyes

I guess I'm just saying to take time to listen to your inner life... I mean right now take a moment. Take a breath. Feel it.

We can get so caught up in surface activities that we forget to occasionally dive deeper... live deeper. 

It's good to be back. Peace to you all.

Rev. Corey Keyes' Big Announcement

Thank you all for coming. I have a brief announcement, then I will field your questions.

I have decided against seeking the nomination to run for President of the United States in 2012. I repeat: I will not seek the presidency in 2012.

Several months of exploration, day after day of fervent prayer, and a six-pack of Labatt’s Blue all went into this decision, which is final. Here are my solemn vowels… the reasons I will not run:

America needs a strong leader, now more than ever: an individual of singular vision, steel-spined determination and bold action.

That ain’t me. It is not uncommon for me to spend ten minutes in the cereal aisle debating the pros and cons of Post versus store brand.  Any “Special Interest” lobbyist, corporate multi-nationalist or international terrorist appearing at the Oval Office door with a cute l’il abandon kitten  would get whatever they want from me, especially if the international terrorist was three feet tall, wore pigtails and spoke with a slight lithp.

Elitism has run rampant in the Oval Office.

And THAT is a very good thing. In the 222 year history of the U.S. Presidency, only 44 men have held the post. The President of the United States is the single most powerful human being on planet earth. Elite is a given. Please, let him/her hold a degree from a university that wouldn’t accept my application for a parking pass. Let him/her speak four languages. May he/she have no idea who Snooki is. Let him/her be smarter, more successful and far more erudite than I could ever hope to be.

Elite I am not, and elite the president must be.

Informed individuals only need apply.

As ashamed as I am to admit it, I get most of my news from NPR, PBS and the BBC, so I spent my morning watching the Network news shows this a.m., just to see how out-of-touch with the American people I have allowed myself to become.

Did you know that someone named Justin Bieber got a haircut?!? People are, like,  all “OH MY GAWD!” He lost 80,000 Twitter followers over it!

And not only that, Charlie Sheen is now dating a mystery blonde with a history in graphic…design?!? And, like, Kate and Prince William are really going just cuh-razy planning their wedding, while perfectly adorable and notoriously mischievous Prince Harry is planning the Bachelor Party?!? And Sarah Palin is all, like, “whateverrrr…” over this book her former BFF is writing about how absolutely SKANK she really is?

I didn’t know these matters of greatest importance to the American people, as NPR, PBS and BBC fritter away my precious time with distracting reports of two American-led wars, revolutionary meltdowns in Northern Africa and the Middle East, national and international economic crises,  renewed labor struggles funded by the Koch brothers, and the role of new media in the spread of democratic ideals, perhaps reducing the influence of Islamic extremism. (Honestly, how ironic that the only way to miss all the coverage of the royal wedding is to watch the BRITISH Broadcasting Corporation?!?)

I’m just too  poorly informed and out of touch with the American people, I guess.

Overactive bladder  Um... 'nuff said? 


Underdog 9 a.m. every Friday morning on the Cartoon Network. Cabinet meetings  and tense, eleventh hour negotiations would have to wait until I knew Sweet Polly Purebread was absolutely safe.

So there you have it in a nutshell. I will not seek the nomination, and, if nominated, I will not run, and, if I run, I will not win, and, if I win, I will not serve, and if I serve, I will not… I think you get the picture.

All this to say, I think I’d make a really poor president. What kind of president would you be? Huh?

Stand Up, Stand Out

Standing Up, Standing Out

…to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice. -- Sirach 15:15

I just watched the most astounding movie. Temple Grandin is a stunning portrayal (by the incredible Claire Danes) of a real person; her genius and her autism. We will be showing this movie at our church this Saturday evening at 7 p.m. in our Christian Ed wing. Please come. The showing will be part of a weekend devoted to a central concept we carry with us in our ministry at West Bloomfield UCC:

Community, not conformity.

We will continue with this concept in worship Sunday at 10 a.m., and with a give-and-take information session for those considering joining our church at 11 a.m.

I believe religious movements often go awry in the insistence that everyone think, believe and do the exact same thing.  Narrow conformity is stilting, anti-creative and paralyzing, and is nothing like what Jesus meant when he spoke of “the narrow gate and hard road that leads to life,” (Matthew 7:13 – smack dab in the middle of the sermon in which he begins with “judge not, lest ye be judged,” moves on to the Golden Rule, and ends with an admonition not to simply say ‘Lord, Lord’ and go about casting out what we perceive as other people’s ‘demons,’ as if that is what he asks of us. No, clearly from the context of the full pericope, Jesus is calling us through the narrow gate that strips off our pride, self-promotion and grandiose self-perceptions. The gate is narrow, preventing us from carrying our own extraneous baggage through it, making us better traveling companions on the hard road beyond!).

If we are, indeed, pilgrims on a journey, how much better the trip if we accept, encourage and celebrate each other and ourselves. The movie documents how Temple met resistance at every turn, but also had a handful of people in her life who encouraged her, helped open new doors for her, and saw beyond the quirks and awkward manners to the brilliance of her strange ideas. To do this with the Temple Grandins in our own lives is not without risk, heart-ache and frustration. Things don’t always work according to plan when we open ourselves to other. But Christ tells us over and over again to risk it anyway. Life is far richer for such openness.

I am very proud of this faith community I pastor. We are a loose amalgamation of outlooks and beliefs. We are not like-minded in the traditional sense, but we are LIKE-minded in the sense that our first impulse is to LIKE each other (not regardless of difference, but, rather, with a high regard for difference).  Every stranger we welcome in adds to the beauty of the community, carrying experiences and perceptions that are unique and uniquely compelling.

A building is a box, but a church is a community:

We come with beautiful secrets

We come with purposes written on our hearts, written on our souls

We come to every new morning

With possibilities only we can hold, that only we can hold

Redemption comes in strange place, small spaces

Calling out the best of who we are

And I want to add to the beauty

To tell a better story

I want to shine with the light

That's burning up inside

It comes in small inspirations

It brings redemption to life and work

To our lives and our work

It comes in loving community

It comes in helping a soul find it's worth

Redemption comes in strange places, small spaces

Calling out the best of who we are

And I want to add to the beauty

To tell a better story

I want to shine with the light

That's burning up inside

This is grace, an invitation to be beautiful

This is grace, an invitation

Redemption comes in strange places, small spaces

Calling out our best

And I want to add to the beauty

To tell a better story

I want to shine with the light

That's burning up inside

Sara Groves, Add to the Beauty, © 2005 INO Records LLC

Waging Peace - A Perspective

A friend and colleague, Rev. Rodney Noel Saunders, writes this regular letter that I am privileged to receive. I have received permission to reprint his most recent missive in its entirety:

FARESPITHE THOUGHTS ON BUILDING SCHOOLS, NOT USING BOMBS AND BULLETS

(FARESPITHE stands for faith, religion, spirituality, theology:  “fare” like fair; “spithe” like with)

     With serious, even violent, ongoing protests in Egypt, and even some, though not as widespread as yet, in Jordan, Israel must be exceedingly on-edge worried, which likely means all its military, and the US Fleet in the Mediterranean, have been placed on high alert.  When I saw what was happening in Egypt I immediately thought, “If this spreads to Jordan this could really be a terrible mess.”  Those two countries have peace treaties with Israel, yet also have the longest borders with Israel.  Egypt also has the Suez Canal and if that were threatened the western world’s oil supply could become very limited and very expensive.  Both countries function as allies of the US.  Yet if either government collapses and is replaced by those thought to be radicals strongly opposed to Israel and the US, then I suspect Israel, under the aggressively conservative leadership of Prime Minister Netanyahu, would not hesitate even minutes before launching a preemptive strike if they felt seriously threatened.  That this threat could easily be supported by many other regimes in the area, like Syria, Lebanon, Iran, and even fundamentalists from within Saudi Arabia, is not unthinkable.  Then the US would almost certainly become involved in a military conflict on the side of Israel.  While some would ask why the US would become involved, many know that the political realities are that no US president could not help our strongest and longest ally in the Middle East.  To even pause while the possibility existed that the Jewish nation could be annihilated is simply not possible for any American president.  Because I intensely do not want to see such a war, I intensely do not like the developing situation.  I think it is the worst-case scenario, but it is very possible, as I see it. 

     Now there are some who would immediately think—“Armageddon”.  I am not one of those because this is not about that ancient prophecy which only reflected the fact that the Plain of Armageddon/Megiddo just happens to sit at the conjunction of three continents—Europe, Africa, and Asia, and in the ancient world of huge land armies marching toward each other to do battle, it made sense to that prophecy writer to think that huge plain was the most likely site for the last battle of good versus evil.  With missiles, air forces, and even, most frighteningly  destructive and deadly, nuclear weapons, that plain will not be the site of any final battle of any kind.  While we all know nuclear weapons could indeed cause an end to the world as we know it—it still wouldn’t be a battle between good and evil as in that ancient prophecy—it would be a battle between bad and bad, as any nation deciding it’s existence is more important than not to use nuclear weapons is as bad as those they use them on, from any moral or ethical position I can consider worthy of the meaning of those words—because nuclear weapons are immoral and unethical by any definition that is true, authentic, and real.  While the result would certainly be demonic, it would not be of the devil’s making, but of human!  But there is a so much better way, and we all know it—and that way is the way of peace!  I will illustrate how it can happen.

     Three Cups of Tea tells the story of Greg Mortenson, the American who got lost on his descent of K-2, the second highest mountain in the world, and ended up in a high mountain village in Pakistan, where he was nursed back to good health by the people of that village. When he was ready to leave he told the village elder that he would build him a school, and he came home, raised the money, went back and did build that school.  That was in 1993.  Through the Central Asia Institute he founded he has now built, with the local people in each village, 155 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and every one of them teaches girls, and not one of them has ever been attacked by the Taliban, or any other radical or fundamentalist Muslim group.  I heard him speak last Monday night at TCU.  One of the last schools he built was in a very isolated part of Afghanistan that is inhabited by fierce mujahadeen fighters.  It is so isolated and fierce that few westerners have ever been there, and he wasn’t even sure he should go there when invited by the village, and he said it was a place he would not have advised anyone else to visit.  After the visit he invited them to visit one of the schools he had built so that they could see with what  they were getting involved.  The men came heavily armed with their AK-47 Kalashnikov rifles and bullet bandoliers across their chests.  When they saw the playground of the school they dropped their weapons and got into the swings and started to swing (he showed us the pictures).  They proceeded to swing for over an hour.  One of the men later told Greg that they had always been warriors, always fighting somebody—the Russians, then the Taliban, so that they had never been allowed to be children, and when they saw that swing set they were finally free to be children for awhile.  They told him they wanted him to build their village a school and that it had to have a playground like the one they had just used.  Greg said he hoped the children got to use the swings as well.  Greg Mortenson has shined the light of truth, understanding, knowledge, and compassion into dark places and had more good effect and created more good will for Americans than all the thousands of bombs and millions of bullets we have used there ever could.  His book is now required reading by all the commanding officers and Special Forces sent to Afghanistan.  He became like a child wanting to go to school and built schools for children, so that even hardened warriors could become like children!

     I told this story in a sermon and a woman said to me afterward, “Why can’t we learn that lesson that schools are better than bombs, and apply it?”  I said, “Well, we are, at least somewhat.  Mortenson told us another story.”  The US military, under the leadership of General McChrystal, was planning a major offensive in a wide swath of Afghanistan, to drive out as many of the Taliban as they possibly could.  When he was removed due to his insubordination, General Petraeus took command and was going to proceed with the operation since it was already planned and ready to be implemented, but first he asked Mortenson to set up a meeting with tribal and village elders.  After that meeting, where those elders asked the general not to kill civilians, Petraeus cancelled the entire operation.  He knew it would not be what would be best in the long term for the people of Afghanistan, nor for US soldiers and the mission in Afghanistan.  The builder of schools had such connection to the people there that they trusted him enough that they went to that meeting, and because of that trust, a US general realized that listening to people, respecting them, and building schools, as Mortenson has done, could be a better option than mere military might!

     There is now a song, “Three Cups of Tea”, with words and music by Jake Fleming, though all the words convey the truth of Greg Mortenson’s words and experiences.

A-ssa-la-m  A-lai-ku-m  A-ssa-la-m  A-lai-ku-m  [the traditional Muslim greeting that means

A-ssa-la-m  A-lai-ku-m  A-ssa-la-m  A-lai-ku-m    “Peace be with you.”]

I see a hero.  A child of the times.

A girl who lives with joy.  Who’s not afraid to speak her mind

and thinks the world is divine.

I see a young boy etching letters in the sand.

In this land of ancient scars a promise still remains;

When darkness comes you can see the stars.

    

     Three cups of tea.  First cup, you’re a stranger.

     Three cups of tea.  Second cup, a friend.

     Three cups of tea.  By the third you’re family.

How long to trust a stranger?  How long to share three cups of tea?

A-ssa-la-m  A-lai-ku-m  A-ssa-la-m  A-lai-ku-m

A-ssa-la-m  A-lai-ku-m  A-ssa-la-m  A-lai-ku-m

A light burns bright across the ocean

A light shines warm before the sun.

I’ve got to find a way to build a bridge, join us to them, and be the change I wish to see.

If I give a penny for a pencil,

My hero writes a word.

Her words become great tools, his stories make wise the fools,

and I believe it’s just three cups of tea away.

    

     Three cups of tea.  First cup, you’re a stranger.

     Three cups of tea.  Second cup, a friend.

     Three cups of tea.  By the third, you’re family.

How long to trust a stranger?  How long to share?

I will call you friend, sit with you

Here to build a bridge, share the dream in this circle of friends.

    

     Three cups of tea.  First cup, you’re a stranger.

     Three cups of tea.  Second cup, a friend.

     Three cups of tea.  By the third you’re family.

A-ssa-la-m  A-lai-ku-m  A-ssa-la-m  A-lai-ku-m

A-ssa-la-m  A-lai-ku-m  A-ssa-la-m  A-lai-ku-m

    

     Yes, “Peace be with you”, peace be with us all, indeed!  For, yes, there is a tremendously better way than violence and military action—and we all know it!  It is the way of peace that builds schools that builds a bridge between them and us.  While I am sure that US officials are working feverishly to accomplish their best possible diplomatic solutions to the unrest in Egypt and Jordan, they also need to work just as feverishly on the ways that make for peace, for the good of all the people in that part of the world, and for the good of every part of the world that could be drawn into that conflict.  It should have been our policy for decades, but it must be our policy now—for the good of us all!  We need the kind of efforts and actions that allows hardened warriors to be children for awhile as they swing on playgrounds!  May it indeed be accomplished again and again as Greg Mortenson has demonstrated convincingly it already has!

Love, grace, hope, joy, compassion, peace,

Rodney Noel Saunders                                                                                              January 30, 2011