Obama Elitist: Refuses Use of Thesaurus
The controversy continues to threaten to boil over in Pennsylvania in response to Sen. Barack Obama's description of small town residents here as “bitter,” an atrocious political gaffe that jeopardizes his very candidacy.
“It's outrageous,” said Joe Mocalotz of Pottsville, who was laid off when a local textile mill moved operations to China. “Sure, I had my home foreclosed, lost my health insurance and can't feed my hungry children. I'm angry...even disillusioned. But bitter? Obama is out of touch with small town America.”
Leanne Johnston of East Brady agrees.
“My husband lost both legs on his third tour of duty in a war we shouldn't be fighting.” Johnston offers. “It took us forever to get any benefits. We had to move in with my mother, and I can't find anything that pays above minimum wage. We can't afford to heat the house and have gone through all our savings. We feel betrayed, forgotten, frustrated... not bitter! He should know better. oh, what an ugly word!”
It's a sentiment that is echoed throughout this depressed, rust-belt state. As more and more factories and small businesses fold under the pressure of spiralling fuel costs and unfair trade and labor practices, leaving families clinging desperately to whatever slim reason for hope they can find, how one parses one's speech has become understandably crucial. The groundswell of disenchantment with Obama has eclipsed once-critical issues like Senator Clinton's use of a yellow pantsuit and Senator McCain's infamous “I like to barbeque” remark.
“Bitter?” asked bankrupt businessman Tom Cosack of Allentown, with barely contained contempt. “Not me. I'm disenchanted, disenfranchised, dispeptic and distraught. Honestly, if Senator Obama thinks he's too good for a simple thesaurus, how can he possibly have any idea what I'm going through?”
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Beijing, Berlin and the Olympic Torch
I saw this morning that they are considering eliminating the rest of the run of the Olympic torch because of the disruptions and safety concerns brought about by protesters along the way.
I'm a sports fan and an avid follower of the Olympic Games, and all I have to say is:
GOOD.
As to those who say "don't politicize the Olympic Games," which are about the spirit of human achievement and fair play, I was among you, but I've had a serious change of heart.
I still believe the Olympics should go on, but with the international community using the games to take every opportunity to crack the isolationism, piracy and brutality of China's ruling Communist Party. I say boycott the opening ceremony, too. Insult our Chinese hosts. Then step in and participate in the games, exposing the Chinese people to international ideas, and the international community to China's human rights, commerce and ecological crimes. Why? Ironically, because we can't allow the Olympics to be used as a political pawn.
China is attempting to leverage the Olympic Games to raise their strategic profile and image in the world. They want to hide the shame of their legacy of bureaucratic corruption, murder and repression behind the Olympic flag. Why else would they spend billions on this international competition?
But the torch, Corey. The torch! Why mess with that beautiful, hopeful symbol of all to which humanity might aspire?
Read this from the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7330949.stm
The modern running of the Olympic torch was developed by the Nazis in 1936 as political theatre at its most cynical and darkly macabre. Kinda freaky, isn't it? I had no clue. I'm not big on the whole pure Aryan race thing, are you? Thank God at least Jesse Owens went to Berlin to repeatedly stick a finger in der fuhrer's eye throughout the games.
We can do the same in China through how our teams carry themselves, tourist interaction with the few regular folks allowed within fifty miles of the Olympic venues, and pressure from our own political leaders. After all, isn't that the main reason the International Olympic Committee infers to justify bringing the Games to China?
Leave politics out of the Olympics?!? As if that's ever been done!! Go ahead and play the games, but recognize whose games you are playing.
I'm a sports fan and an avid follower of the Olympic Games, and all I have to say is:
GOOD.
As to those who say "don't politicize the Olympic Games," which are about the spirit of human achievement and fair play, I was among you, but I've had a serious change of heart.
I still believe the Olympics should go on, but with the international community using the games to take every opportunity to crack the isolationism, piracy and brutality of China's ruling Communist Party. I say boycott the opening ceremony, too. Insult our Chinese hosts. Then step in and participate in the games, exposing the Chinese people to international ideas, and the international community to China's human rights, commerce and ecological crimes. Why? Ironically, because we can't allow the Olympics to be used as a political pawn.
China is attempting to leverage the Olympic Games to raise their strategic profile and image in the world. They want to hide the shame of their legacy of bureaucratic corruption, murder and repression behind the Olympic flag. Why else would they spend billions on this international competition?
But the torch, Corey. The torch! Why mess with that beautiful, hopeful symbol of all to which humanity might aspire?
Read this from the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7330949.stm
The modern running of the Olympic torch was developed by the Nazis in 1936 as political theatre at its most cynical and darkly macabre. Kinda freaky, isn't it? I had no clue. I'm not big on the whole pure Aryan race thing, are you? Thank God at least Jesse Owens went to Berlin to repeatedly stick a finger in der fuhrer's eye throughout the games.
We can do the same in China through how our teams carry themselves, tourist interaction with the few regular folks allowed within fifty miles of the Olympic venues, and pressure from our own political leaders. After all, isn't that the main reason the International Olympic Committee infers to justify bringing the Games to China?
Leave politics out of the Olympics?!? As if that's ever been done!! Go ahead and play the games, but recognize whose games you are playing.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Four Steps with Dr. King
I've been thinking about Dr. King a lot lately; especially with last Friday's 40th anniversary of his cowardly, evil murder.
It seems to me a great deal can be gleaned regarding our progress as a nation by looking at the silly reaction to Rev. Jeremiah Wright's preaching. If you have never had the privilege of sitting (and jumping up to sing your lungs out and/or shout) at a church steeped in the Black Church tradition, you might be shocked by the 10-second video bits shown by Fox News and others.
I am a proud graduate of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, whose Black Church studies program is the oldest in the nation; the origins of which go back to April 5, 1968. At CRCDS, when I attended in the early- to mid-90s, we had chapel every day, with the different faith traditions rotating leadership. By far my favorite services were those led in the Black Church tradition. They tore you down and built you back up stronger, cleaner. They welcomed in everybody, even this dorky little white boy. The singing, the Spirit, the prophetic Word launched from the pulpit were stunning, inspiring. We'd leave the chapel ten feet off the ground and ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead.
Much of what I heard rocked me to my core. I wasn't used to such strong talk coming from the pulpit. Of course I wasn't in total agreement with every single thing said (and if you are in your church, you'd best ask yourself if you are really hearing the Word of God), but, man, was it prophetic.
My point is, you've got to hear a sermon in any tradition in its entirety. I often make statements in my sermons that, taken out of the greater context, would be easily misunderstood. But, in my experience, this is somehow even more true in the Black Church tradition.
Rev. Wright is a brilliant preacher who has brought thousands to Christ. He speaks cold, hard reality to all who will listen. But you need to hear his sermons in their entirety to appreciate the scope of repentance and positive change he calls for in the listener's heart, the neighborhood, the nation and the world. The post-9-11 "America's chickens are coming home to roost" comment, for example, is part of a longer sermon available on YouTube in which he speaks prophetically of some Americans' tendency to want to lash out at anybody for revenge, regardless of how many innocents are crushed in the process. This was preached in 2001, well before the Iraq invasion.
But Rev. Wright preaches on, relating that when he asked God how to respond to the evil horror of the 9-11 attacks, God told him to first purify himself. If we respond to evil with evil in our own hearts, we risk slipping quickly out of the will and protection of God.
This point reminded me of Dr. King's words in one of the greatest documents ever produced in our nation, his Letter from Birmingham Jail: "In any non-violent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts..., negotiation, self-purification, and direct action." Rev. Wright echoed these principles, suggesting we must first get our facts right, speak with our allies and opposition, and check our own motivation before we lash out or invade anybody. I believe we'd be in better shape today if Rev. Wright had had the ear of the American people, Congress and the White House when he preached that sermon six and a half years ago.
Many of my colleagues in the UCC felt the need to come to the public defense of our fellow UCC pastor. One of them wrote an excellent piece published in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. When published, it was noted that 11 other area UCC clergy supported the letter. Well, some enterprising reader saw this, did some sort of search to find e-mail addresses for local UCC clergy, and sent me the following:
From: olbuddy
To: revkeyes
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 11:05 AM
Subject: Rev. Jeremiah Wright aka (Hate monger)
You should be ashamed of your self for supporting the Rev.Wright what is wrong with you. If the Rev. Wright or any other Rev from the GVA ASSOC. want's to GOD DAM AMERICA maby you should get the next plane out of the US OF KKKA.
L** G*** H****n NY USA
And here was my response, written after a great deal of time spent in Dr. King's and Rev. Wright's self-purification mode:
Well, that's an interesting way to start a dialogue, olbuddy.
Why are you so angry? What's got you so scared? Seriously, Mr. G***, the land of the free and the home of the brave means exactly that: free enough to speak out, brave enough to listen to what others have to say. In that spirit, I'd like to hear what you have to say. I can deal with the anger, but please refrain from profanity and racial slurs, if you don't mind. I'll afford you the respect you deserve. Just return the favor and respect me as well. That would be the American way.
And there is no way I'm leaving my country. I love it enough to want only the best for it. Just as I love my children enough to have very high expectations for their behaviors and actions, I love America enough to criticize, question and suggest corrections to make it the best it can be. I believe that makes me a patriot.
I wish you peace and the blessings of Christ,
Rev. Corey Keyes, West Bloomfield, NY
It seems to me a great deal can be gleaned regarding our progress as a nation by looking at the silly reaction to Rev. Jeremiah Wright's preaching. If you have never had the privilege of sitting (and jumping up to sing your lungs out and/or shout) at a church steeped in the Black Church tradition, you might be shocked by the 10-second video bits shown by Fox News and others.
I am a proud graduate of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, whose Black Church studies program is the oldest in the nation; the origins of which go back to April 5, 1968. At CRCDS, when I attended in the early- to mid-90s, we had chapel every day, with the different faith traditions rotating leadership. By far my favorite services were those led in the Black Church tradition. They tore you down and built you back up stronger, cleaner. They welcomed in everybody, even this dorky little white boy. The singing, the Spirit, the prophetic Word launched from the pulpit were stunning, inspiring. We'd leave the chapel ten feet off the ground and ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead.
Much of what I heard rocked me to my core. I wasn't used to such strong talk coming from the pulpit. Of course I wasn't in total agreement with every single thing said (and if you are in your church, you'd best ask yourself if you are really hearing the Word of God), but, man, was it prophetic.
My point is, you've got to hear a sermon in any tradition in its entirety. I often make statements in my sermons that, taken out of the greater context, would be easily misunderstood. But, in my experience, this is somehow even more true in the Black Church tradition.
Rev. Wright is a brilliant preacher who has brought thousands to Christ. He speaks cold, hard reality to all who will listen. But you need to hear his sermons in their entirety to appreciate the scope of repentance and positive change he calls for in the listener's heart, the neighborhood, the nation and the world. The post-9-11 "America's chickens are coming home to roost" comment, for example, is part of a longer sermon available on YouTube in which he speaks prophetically of some Americans' tendency to want to lash out at anybody for revenge, regardless of how many innocents are crushed in the process. This was preached in 2001, well before the Iraq invasion.
But Rev. Wright preaches on, relating that when he asked God how to respond to the evil horror of the 9-11 attacks, God told him to first purify himself. If we respond to evil with evil in our own hearts, we risk slipping quickly out of the will and protection of God.
This point reminded me of Dr. King's words in one of the greatest documents ever produced in our nation, his Letter from Birmingham Jail: "In any non-violent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts..., negotiation, self-purification, and direct action." Rev. Wright echoed these principles, suggesting we must first get our facts right, speak with our allies and opposition, and check our own motivation before we lash out or invade anybody. I believe we'd be in better shape today if Rev. Wright had had the ear of the American people, Congress and the White House when he preached that sermon six and a half years ago.
Many of my colleagues in the UCC felt the need to come to the public defense of our fellow UCC pastor. One of them wrote an excellent piece published in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. When published, it was noted that 11 other area UCC clergy supported the letter. Well, some enterprising reader saw this, did some sort of search to find e-mail addresses for local UCC clergy, and sent me the following:
From: olbuddy
To: revkeyes
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 11:05 AM
Subject: Rev. Jeremiah Wright aka (Hate monger)
You should be ashamed of your self for supporting the Rev.Wright what is wrong with you. If the Rev. Wright or any other Rev from the GVA ASSOC. want's to GOD DAM AMERICA maby you should get the next plane out of the US OF KKKA.
L** G*** H****n NY USA
And here was my response, written after a great deal of time spent in Dr. King's and Rev. Wright's self-purification mode:
Well, that's an interesting way to start a dialogue, olbuddy.
Why are you so angry? What's got you so scared? Seriously, Mr. G***, the land of the free and the home of the brave means exactly that: free enough to speak out, brave enough to listen to what others have to say. In that spirit, I'd like to hear what you have to say. I can deal with the anger, but please refrain from profanity and racial slurs, if you don't mind. I'll afford you the respect you deserve. Just return the favor and respect me as well. That would be the American way.
And there is no way I'm leaving my country. I love it enough to want only the best for it. Just as I love my children enough to have very high expectations for their behaviors and actions, I love America enough to criticize, question and suggest corrections to make it the best it can be. I believe that makes me a patriot.
I wish you peace and the blessings of Christ,
Rev. Corey Keyes, West Bloomfield, NY
Thus far I have received no response from "olbuddy." It would suggest he was interested only in diatribe, not dialogue. I find that is often the case with Americans dwelling at either political extreme. We become so addicted to the power of arrogance. We relish being contradicted; even go searching for it. But then we don't listen to what our opposition is saying. We simply scream our slogans, slap on a new bumper sticker and march down the road to ruin of our choosing, marvelously self-affirmed in our obstinacy.
It seems to me America is again waking up, hungover, from this very human tendency toward radical ignorance. We are finally collecting facts. I pray we follow Dr. King's steps from here: moving methodically, faithfully through negotiation and self-purification, so our next direct action might be constructive.
And Olbuddy, if you're still out there, I anxiously await the chance to start this process with you, brother.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Reaching for Joy
Our Easter services Sunday were packed and mind-blowing. It was a wonderful day. One moment in particular keeps ringing in my brainbox. It was when my dear friend Claudia shared a deep, enlightening reflection on joy.
Claudia was standing alone at the microphone in front of hundreds of people on the second anniversary of her husband's terribly premature passing, and she observed that anxieties, anger, jealousy and all the other fear-based mindsets and emotions will jump in and demand to be heard, but joy sits quietly on the shelf, not demanding our attention at all, but always waiting for us to turn and reach for it.
Brilliant. So true. We can easily pass up joy in our lives. It happens all the time. Joy is a chosen response, not an automatic reaction, in most cases.
Me, personally...I plan on reaching for it a lot more. There is so much in my world I can respond to with joy, and I have begun to be more mindful as a result of Claudia's words. The sky was blue and the air wonderfully crisp as I walked to work this morning. So what if I was walking because I had blown the engine in my car? There was joy to be reached for and quietly encountered right there on the street I normally zip down at 45 mph.
Life is 10% stimulus and 90% response. Most days I collect grievances and stack mishaps, building walls of resentment that shut out potentially extraordinary insight. I forget: Stimulus sets the agenda, but response shapes the day.
Like the car that won’t move one cold Spring morning, aren’t most of the aggravations of a given day really just the sudden, temporary absence of some ordinary blessing between points A and B? Let us pause in the sacred space between from and to, where much that is good appears 364/365ths of the time. Let us recognize that joy is almost always an option. Why wouldn't we choose to reach for it?
Claudia was standing alone at the microphone in front of hundreds of people on the second anniversary of her husband's terribly premature passing, and she observed that anxieties, anger, jealousy and all the other fear-based mindsets and emotions will jump in and demand to be heard, but joy sits quietly on the shelf, not demanding our attention at all, but always waiting for us to turn and reach for it.
Brilliant. So true. We can easily pass up joy in our lives. It happens all the time. Joy is a chosen response, not an automatic reaction, in most cases.
Me, personally...I plan on reaching for it a lot more. There is so much in my world I can respond to with joy, and I have begun to be more mindful as a result of Claudia's words. The sky was blue and the air wonderfully crisp as I walked to work this morning. So what if I was walking because I had blown the engine in my car? There was joy to be reached for and quietly encountered right there on the street I normally zip down at 45 mph.
Life is 10% stimulus and 90% response. Most days I collect grievances and stack mishaps, building walls of resentment that shut out potentially extraordinary insight. I forget: Stimulus sets the agenda, but response shapes the day.
Like the car that won’t move one cold Spring morning, aren’t most of the aggravations of a given day really just the sudden, temporary absence of some ordinary blessing between points A and B? Let us pause in the sacred space between from and to, where much that is good appears 364/365ths of the time. Let us recognize that joy is almost always an option. Why wouldn't we choose to reach for it?
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Holy Week: Reality Check
He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” -- Mark 8:29-33
Knowing there is a God is not the same as knowing God, is it? Acknowledging the initial fact is only the first step on a precipitous, arduous path that most of us choose not to take.
When Peter correctly identifies Jesus as Messiah, he does so with stars in his eyes. He has seen incredible miracles. He has heard astounding sermons. He has stood with Jesus before enormous, adoring crowds. He feels the power and the glory, but he doesn’t know the half of it.
You see, Peter and his fellow followers had always looked to the horizon for a great, conquering Messiah on a charging war-horse, come to set everything right and redeem at last the chosen people in one fell swoop, whisking them off to glory and honor while the other folks were knocked down and left behind. Jesus has to repeatedly, firmly, unequivocally correct this misguided notion. The profane always resist the profound. The gentle are bruised by the harsh. Story time is over, Peter. Wake up to reality.
It is a risky business pointing these things out, but to this day, the would-be followers of Christ regularly require the cold, hard slap of reality. Get behind me, Satan, the truth is the cancer sometimes comes back. Get behind me, Satan, the speeding car doesn’t always stop in time. Get behind me, Satan, starting our third “War to End All Wars” won’t result in Christ coming on the clouds any quicker than did numbers I and II. Prosperity Gospel?!?!?!? Get thee behind me, Satan, God doesn’t intend to be my Santa Claus. God intends for me to be someone else’s Jesus.
“Love God with everything you’ve got, and consider everyone else’s well being to be as vital as your own,” Christ said, summing up the message of all the prophets and scripture from A to Z. Now you and I both know that neither one of us is all that successful in carrying out these two simple requirements. They run counter to what it takes to make our way in this world. Ah, but if we are followers of Christ, the way we are supposed to make in the world isn’t our own, is it?
If I am following Christ to be somehow richly blessed in this world, I might want to turn around now and go back to square one. If I am following Christ to somehow richly bless this world -- yes, here is the path to peace, enlightenment and the kingdom of God.
“For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”—Mark 8:35
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” -- Mark 8:29-33
Knowing there is a God is not the same as knowing God, is it? Acknowledging the initial fact is only the first step on a precipitous, arduous path that most of us choose not to take.
When Peter correctly identifies Jesus as Messiah, he does so with stars in his eyes. He has seen incredible miracles. He has heard astounding sermons. He has stood with Jesus before enormous, adoring crowds. He feels the power and the glory, but he doesn’t know the half of it.
You see, Peter and his fellow followers had always looked to the horizon for a great, conquering Messiah on a charging war-horse, come to set everything right and redeem at last the chosen people in one fell swoop, whisking them off to glory and honor while the other folks were knocked down and left behind. Jesus has to repeatedly, firmly, unequivocally correct this misguided notion. The profane always resist the profound. The gentle are bruised by the harsh. Story time is over, Peter. Wake up to reality.
It is a risky business pointing these things out, but to this day, the would-be followers of Christ regularly require the cold, hard slap of reality. Get behind me, Satan, the truth is the cancer sometimes comes back. Get behind me, Satan, the speeding car doesn’t always stop in time. Get behind me, Satan, starting our third “War to End All Wars” won’t result in Christ coming on the clouds any quicker than did numbers I and II. Prosperity Gospel?!?!?!? Get thee behind me, Satan, God doesn’t intend to be my Santa Claus. God intends for me to be someone else’s Jesus.
“Love God with everything you’ve got, and consider everyone else’s well being to be as vital as your own,” Christ said, summing up the message of all the prophets and scripture from A to Z. Now you and I both know that neither one of us is all that successful in carrying out these two simple requirements. They run counter to what it takes to make our way in this world. Ah, but if we are followers of Christ, the way we are supposed to make in the world isn’t our own, is it?
If I am following Christ to be somehow richly blessed in this world, I might want to turn around now and go back to square one. If I am following Christ to somehow richly bless this world -- yes, here is the path to peace, enlightenment and the kingdom of God.
“For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”—Mark 8:35
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Corruption is a Slippery Fish
Aren't the headlines painful? New York's governor, Eliot Spitzer, implicated in a prostitution ring. The man who rode a reform agenda into office with a 70% approval rating...the guy who took on the corporate thieves...the guy with the happy family and everything to gain, at this writing, is about to lose it all.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
How excruciating is his fall? Even his political nemesis, that scoundrel Joe Bruno, has thus far refused to pile on. The damage is just too horrific on its own. To toss in more criticism would be like throwing a match on an already raging house fire.
Don't put your trust in the princes of men the psalmist tells us. We are flawed creatures, we humans. It is not a morose downer to acknowledge a universal sinning nature. It is, rather, a more realistic assessment of life together. We're human. We sometimes miss the mark. Enlightened thinkers will admit this truth into life's equation.
To me, the greater crime in prostitution is committed by the pimp and the john. I assume at the prices they were charging, these particular women were not impoverished financially. But, typically, the pimp and john are in a predatory relationship with the prostitute. It is the rich stealing from the poor. It is the strong stepping on the weak. It is the comfortable abusing the desperate.
I had a friend in South Carolina who was a newspaper reporter and something of a deep thinker. During a similar scandal involving a university president and his "assistants," I asked him how this could happen to people with so much power and privilege. He answered by asking me if I had any flaws with which I sometimes struggled. When I acknowledged that I did, he said something that has stuck with me to this day:
"Now, Corey," he said. "Imagine you with your fatal flaw becoming evermore powerful. With power come resources to get whatever you want whenever you want it. But with power come isolation, fatigue, even loneliness. Power does not corrupt. Rather, power makes it all the harder to control the corruption we ourselves carried in with us."
I pray for Gov. Spitzer, his wife and children. I pray for New York. Albany is broken, that is true. But so are the rest of us.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
How excruciating is his fall? Even his political nemesis, that scoundrel Joe Bruno, has thus far refused to pile on. The damage is just too horrific on its own. To toss in more criticism would be like throwing a match on an already raging house fire.
Don't put your trust in the princes of men the psalmist tells us. We are flawed creatures, we humans. It is not a morose downer to acknowledge a universal sinning nature. It is, rather, a more realistic assessment of life together. We're human. We sometimes miss the mark. Enlightened thinkers will admit this truth into life's equation.
To me, the greater crime in prostitution is committed by the pimp and the john. I assume at the prices they were charging, these particular women were not impoverished financially. But, typically, the pimp and john are in a predatory relationship with the prostitute. It is the rich stealing from the poor. It is the strong stepping on the weak. It is the comfortable abusing the desperate.
I had a friend in South Carolina who was a newspaper reporter and something of a deep thinker. During a similar scandal involving a university president and his "assistants," I asked him how this could happen to people with so much power and privilege. He answered by asking me if I had any flaws with which I sometimes struggled. When I acknowledged that I did, he said something that has stuck with me to this day:
"Now, Corey," he said. "Imagine you with your fatal flaw becoming evermore powerful. With power come resources to get whatever you want whenever you want it. But with power come isolation, fatigue, even loneliness. Power does not corrupt. Rather, power makes it all the harder to control the corruption we ourselves carried in with us."
I pray for Gov. Spitzer, his wife and children. I pray for New York. Albany is broken, that is true. But so are the rest of us.
Monday, March 10, 2008
A Whereness of God
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built! – 1 Kings 8:27
So Solomon begins his dedication of the massive temple he built in Jerusalem, the first of its kind for a God that had first been encountered by humanity somewhere around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (we think), and who had led men, women and children to wander across borders of far-flung nations, in and out of slavery, self-rule and exile for millennia.
This is the God who compelled Abram to pull up stakes in Ur and travel all the way to Canaan. Who led Joseph and his brothers down into Egypt…Moses and his followers back out. This was a God of nomadic herdsman, itinerant workers, strangers in strange lands and vagabonds. Now Solomon would push a pin into the infinite map of the universe and say “this is where we will meet to encounter God.”
Solomon, in his wisdom, immediately recognizes the irony of the moment: How could the God who created the heavens and the earth, whom our ancestors met everywhere they turned, be contained in this one spot? Nonsense! Solomon’s Temple was not built to narrow the scope of God, but to focus the vision of God’s people.
A church is not built to corral God, but to corral us: God’s wandering, ADHD followers. If we simply stated that we would meet Sunday morning where we most encounter God, some of us would be up in the hills or down by the lake, others in an inner-city soup kitchen, a maternity ward or a Habitat for Humanity construction site. A couple of us would meet at the church, and a few of us wouldn’t even leave our homes.
We are followers of a God who supplies to us no name beyond Yahweh -- I Am. Christ’s given name, Jehoshua, literally means Through God I am Free. Christ sends to us the Spirit whose name means wind (ruah).
But sometimes for us finite, mortal beings, AWARENESS of God requires A WHERENESS of God; a specific place we set apart as communally holy, where we can come together, share our experiences and turn to our God as one to offer praise and worship. Building and maintaining a church are profound acts of worship: a reaching out for God, a humbling of our human intentions. Attending a church is an expression of love to God, an act of faith and sacrifice. From the moment you turn to begin your trip to a house of worship, you have begun a holy pilgrimage, not because you are moving from where God isn’t to where God is, but because you have set your mind and the coming hour on Christ, and are journeying with others to turn together to our God who is everywhere. It is the beginning of our offering before we put anything in the collection plate!
May your church always provide A WHERENESS of God. And, wherever you go outside the church, may you recognize your brother, Christ, in the freedom of will you enjoy, and take in the Holy Spirit in the very air you breath.
So Solomon begins his dedication of the massive temple he built in Jerusalem, the first of its kind for a God that had first been encountered by humanity somewhere around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (we think), and who had led men, women and children to wander across borders of far-flung nations, in and out of slavery, self-rule and exile for millennia.
This is the God who compelled Abram to pull up stakes in Ur and travel all the way to Canaan. Who led Joseph and his brothers down into Egypt…Moses and his followers back out. This was a God of nomadic herdsman, itinerant workers, strangers in strange lands and vagabonds. Now Solomon would push a pin into the infinite map of the universe and say “this is where we will meet to encounter God.”
Solomon, in his wisdom, immediately recognizes the irony of the moment: How could the God who created the heavens and the earth, whom our ancestors met everywhere they turned, be contained in this one spot? Nonsense! Solomon’s Temple was not built to narrow the scope of God, but to focus the vision of God’s people.
A church is not built to corral God, but to corral us: God’s wandering, ADHD followers. If we simply stated that we would meet Sunday morning where we most encounter God, some of us would be up in the hills or down by the lake, others in an inner-city soup kitchen, a maternity ward or a Habitat for Humanity construction site. A couple of us would meet at the church, and a few of us wouldn’t even leave our homes.
We are followers of a God who supplies to us no name beyond Yahweh -- I Am. Christ’s given name, Jehoshua, literally means Through God I am Free. Christ sends to us the Spirit whose name means wind (ruah).
But sometimes for us finite, mortal beings, AWARENESS of God requires A WHERENESS of God; a specific place we set apart as communally holy, where we can come together, share our experiences and turn to our God as one to offer praise and worship. Building and maintaining a church are profound acts of worship: a reaching out for God, a humbling of our human intentions. Attending a church is an expression of love to God, an act of faith and sacrifice. From the moment you turn to begin your trip to a house of worship, you have begun a holy pilgrimage, not because you are moving from where God isn’t to where God is, but because you have set your mind and the coming hour on Christ, and are journeying with others to turn together to our God who is everywhere. It is the beginning of our offering before we put anything in the collection plate!
May your church always provide A WHERENESS of God. And, wherever you go outside the church, may you recognize your brother, Christ, in the freedom of will you enjoy, and take in the Holy Spirit in the very air you breath.
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