Church and Worship: An Eucharist Life

Over the past couple of weeks I have encountered thoughts about the church and worship. These are two things that I have found to be incredibly misunderstood among many people. I thought about making up a statistic there but it doesn't seem worth it. I thought I would share a few things that I have both experience and thought about concerning these two topics.

First, let's talk about the church. I just wrote a paper on a sacramental ecclesiology in process thought. I don't know if it was much of a paper, but it made me think a little bit. I typically have had a pretty low view of the church (btw ecclesiology=doctrine of the church). I felt like it was too much of an institution, which doesn't resonate well with me. So I have always discounted the church while participating in the sacraments of the church, typically seen as Communion and Baptism. A sacrament is a symbol that points us towards God and the work that God has done/is doing for us. Thus, communion is the symbol which reminds us Christ's action through the death and resurrection, which then spurs us to live more fully into God's call for our lives. The tendency is to look at it from an individual point of view. But this is not the true meaning of Holy Communion--that second work should be an indicator of something here.

As an institution the church has always preserved these sacraments of baptism and Eucharist (Holy Communion), and a whole host of others if you are Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox. What then is a sacramental church, I hear you ask? Well, here it is in a nutshell. A sacrament is a symbol, which points a deeper reality (which is how symbols work generally). That deeper reality is the work that God is doing for us. God does the work of life giving. Therefore, sacraments should be seen as anything that brings about a fuller life. He is the thing that makes the church a sacrament, at least it should, we can only have new and fuller life we participate communally in life. This means to use the words of Robert Martin, that we have to give, receive and share life. We have to pour out our lives to other, who do the same to us, which means that we come to share a common life in and through Christ. This is living a sacramental life, which is exactly what the church is called to do. The church is the body of Christ, which is supposed to embody or make manifest Christ to the world, thus becoming Eucharist for the world. Are we truly doing this in the Church?

Finally, I will write a little bit about worship. Worship has become empty ritual in many churches. I used to call this liturgy, but that is not the case at all. Liturgy is just the framework for worshiping. It is the physical expression of worship. It is the organizing principle of worship. In light of what the church is, you may be able to see where this is going. Worship should be the act by which we come to know God's life-giving love in communion with God and people (and perhaps the world). Therefore, in every action taking during worship each individual should allow his/her self to be swallow up in the communion of God and God's people. In the acts of worship the I should become a We. We move from the I-Thou dialogical relationship to a relationship where the church is a we in communion. There is still an I and Thou but our lives are so taken up within each other that it is impossible to separate them. I lives more fully when when sharing life with Thou, thus becoming a We.

That was probably really hard to follow, but the point is that in worship through liturgy each person needs to allow her/his self to be caught up in everyone else, mutually filling each other with life--a life lived in and through the Holy Trinity. Next time you worship let go of your fears and insecurities and live in and through God. Give up yourself and you will allow yourself to worship in a way that is life giving and fills you with life.

Peace

mark

P.S. I would like to cite a few people's thoughts that have contributed to this post. Robert Martin, Kallistos Ware, Andrew Blume and Leonardo Boff (of course there are others but those are some people who have recently influenced my thinking).

It's getting colder!

Hello everybody!

It is reading week at school, which means that we get a week of no classes. We're supposed to use the week to catch up on work that we need to do. I, so far, haven't been good about that, but I'm enjoying the week to relax. Now, it is time to get to work, so it will be okay!

More importantly it is October which means the weather cools off and we can enjoy the cool air and the changing leaves. I love it! There is something refreshing about walking outside and feeling the crisp in the air. The cool air fills my lungs and my soul feels refreshed. Besides a cup of coffee on a brisk morning is one of the most delightful things in the world. You know it is the simple things in life that make it so wonderful.

I just realized that I love the weather regardless of the season. I love it when it gets warmer in the spring. I love it when the summer heats up and there is so much we can do outside (plus a cold drink on a hot day is glorious). I love the winter and the prospect of snow. But I have to say that fall might be my favorite. Plus, my birthday is in the fall, my anniversary and my lovely wife's birthday is in the fall. The fall is an exciting time for me and my family. Oh, and Halloween is a fun time as well. It's fun to dress up and play pretend for a while. Adults should get this opportunity more often.

Enjoy the cooler weather, the warm drinks and sweaters and jackets!

Mark

Feeling Overwhelmed!

I'm not sure that anyone really reads my posts. If people read them, then they don't induce thoughts or comments but that's okay. Here is a post that is definitely not going to make a person think. I also don't want you to feel sorry or sympathetic towards me after reading it. It really isn't that bad. That's all for the disclaimer so here I go.

I feel completely overwhelmed by school work right now. Really there is only one assignment that is driving me crazy. I don't think I understand what I'm supposed to do, but I'm blindly doing it anyway. It involves research even though it seems that it shouldn't. I'm not sure that the professor really knows what he wants. Aw, the joys of school.

I also have to figure out my research projects for a couple of other classes and start researching. And I'm behind on weekly busy work in two classes. On top of all of this October is a really busy time at the church where I work. I don't want to short them on work, but I do want to do well in school.

It is really just a general feeling of not enough time, which I blame on myself for poor time management. But on a good note, I had a wonderful time this weekend with my in-laws an their puppy.

take it easy my friends,

mark

Becoming human or human becoming.

I read a book once (for real) but I can't remember the title, so sorry. It was written by Philip Hefner (I could have misspelled the first name). It turns out that this book has helped me a great deal in a class on Process Theology. It was about taking technology seriously in the process of life for humanity, or something like it. In it Hefner wrote something about like we are not human being but human becomings, which means that there is nothing stagnant about being a human. Our being is really made up of the succession of events in the past (in class and in a book by John Cobb, these are called energy-events), the possibilities that are unfolding in the present and the possibilities that are before us. Thus, in every moment we are changing in a dynamic and organic way and the hope is that we are growing into what God wants for us. Human becoming implies that we are less human now and growing into what it really means to be human. Is that different from becoming human? Does it matter what in order we say this? I don't really know.

We are forever changing and being called by God to grow to be truely human, meaning that we recognize and live out God in our being. It is growing in the image and likeness of God that we hear about in Genesis 1:26-27. Human becoming or becoming human means that ontologically (in our beings) we become more like God and grow in union with Christ. Christ is what it means to be truely human, and Christ was truely human and truely God (I learned a lot today from Dr. Chun). Thus, in order to be authentically or truely human we must be in union or one with our triune God.

I know that this is some pretty intense stuff, but I had to write it out in a place that wasn't going to be graded by a professor. I like looking at the world this way, but sometimes I can't grasp something until I write about it (of course that doesn't always help). Let me know what you think of all of this. It smells like Tillich, process theology and existential philosophy all rolled up together in a post that brings meaning to meaningless. Just kidding. I'm just unpacking after a couple of weeks of some intense study.

Peace,
mark

School is back in session.

School is back in session, so I thought I would list things that I am excited about and not so excited about:

I'm excited about:

1. Process Theology-it is a class that I'm taking and I love the idea of it. I'm behind a little but so far it fits my worldview very well.
2. Seeing friends on a regular basis.
3. Communion every week.
4. Trinity, Incarnation and ministry class is going to be awesome. So far anyway it is really good. And I respect Robert Martin as a professor.
   
5. Worshiping with people who are clergy.
6. It's Fall and I like the weather.
7. Playing tennis more often than I had before.
   

I'm not as excited about:

1. Atonement-it's a class. I think that Dr. Chun is awesome, but I don't like all the reading. Plus atonement theory pisses me off. It tends to be too violent.
2. Balancing work with youth, class and family life. I love all these things, but I need to get better at managing my time.
3. Not having Ron and Adam around at School this year. I miss you guys.
4. The market being in a recession when soon I will be looking for a job.

I seem to have more things I'm excited about then not so excited about, so that's a good thing.

Peace to you my friends and enemies,

mark

What I Did on my Summer Vaction.

Well, it is officially the last week of summer vacation, so I thought it was time to recap the summer a little bit. The very first thing that I did on my summer vaction (that's worth mentioning) was that I went on a mission trip. My youth group at Bristol and Shane's youth group at Indian Heights teamed up and went to Minneapolis, MN. We worked with an organization called "Families Moving Forward." They worked with families who are in homelessness by finding housing for them at different churches and synagogues each night, while helping them sort through the mountains of paper work that goes with trying to get out of homelessness and back into society. It was an awesome week. We had a lot of fun. The two groups gelled together as one group really well, and now Shane and I are looking into doing more events together. The only bad thing that happened during the trip was that I had to take one of my youth to the hospital. He is diabetic and wears an insulin pump, but he had a problem with the pump. He started to show flu like symptoms the first full day in Minneapolis. So we treated him for the flu. Eventually, he took his blood sugar and found that it was way too high. Between the high blood sugar and the all day vomiting he was extremely dehydrated. Thus, a trip to the ER. Everyone we met was extremely helpful and although it wasn't ideal, it actually wasn't as bad as it could be. We missed the first day of work, and the youth was released from the hospital around two in the afternoon. Despite that little set back, the trip was great.

The next big thing that I did on my summer vacation was to actually go on vacation thanks to my older brother Paul and his family. We went down to Gulf Shores, AL. Christie and I drove into the beach house around 3 in the afternoon in a pouring rain. We couldn't really see the road signs so that was a little tough. Otherwise, it was a great relaxing vacation on the beach. We spent the morning playing on the beach and the Gulf; the afternoons were spent relaxing inside and playing with my nephews Eli (3 years old) and Jakey (11 months old). They were incredibly fun. Really we didn't do much besides play in the water and enjoy each others company. Oh and of course we saw a lot of dolphins and went on a dolphin boat ride. On the last night of the trip though we had a really scary thing happen. Jakey was crawling around on the floor being his normal cute self, while Sarah (my sister-in-law), Paul and I are talking and cleaning up. Sarah's sister and Christie were in the other room with Eli, when Jakey starts to cough and cry. Only it wasn't a normal cry. There was a very sick kind of weeze in it. Jakey was choking only he was still able to breath a little. Paul after swearing a few time took him and tried to dislogue whatever Jakey was choking on. Paul being a doctor knew what he was doing but you could definitely see the panic in his eyes. It was a very rough situation. Paul used the phonebook and a map to find wear a hospital was and Paul and Sarah packed Jakey up in their van quickly. The rest of us waited incredibly impatiently for some kind of news to come. They didn't even make it to the hospital when Jakey did his best old man cough and became happy again. They called me and headed back to the beach house. He turned out to be alright, but it was the scariest thing I have ever been apart of. Jakey is still okay and if you look on my facebook page you will see him and I waiting to get on the dophin boat. To conclude this section, I have to say that going on vacation is awesome and we had a lot of fun. So Paul and Sarah if you are reading this: Thanks and I love you guys!!

Really the last thing that happened to me was that I was diagnosed with Basal Cell Carsanoma, which is the most common and least scary kind of skin cancer. As my brother put it to me, "No one in the history of modern medicine has died from it." Which was comforting to me but not to Christie. Two weeks ago I had it removed by surgery, which wasn't that bad. But financially, it would not have been possible without the help of my brother Sean. He came through for me and told that I don't have to pay him back until I start making more than $100,000, which of course in my line of work will be never. Although I don't think Sean reads this I would like to publish my thank you to Sean. Thanks Sean! I know that we haven't stayed in touch that much, but I know that you are always there for me and I love you. Also, quick note that my sister Judi and my mother, Jackie, helped to organize me being able to get the surgery. So to Judi and Mom thanks and I love you guys!!! The spot was on my hand and they got all of it. Tomorrow I get my stitches out and life can go completely back to normal.

My summer was pretty awesome. I know that there a lot of stories of hospital visits or near hospital visits in it, but honestly it made me appreciate the kindness of other people. I have had to rely on doctors I didn't know who treated us amazingly well. Brothers who let me have a vacation and helped me to become well. And doctors that I just met to perform surgery on my hand, although that was expensive and makes me question health care, I do feel that they did a great job. It's not completely their faults that health is an industry in the US. Grace was abounding this summer and I hope that you all could feel the love of strangers and families as well this summer.

Grace and Peace to you my friends and complete strangers,

Mark

I actually read a book!

So I read a book by John Dominic Crossan called, God and Empire. There is a little more to the title, but that is really all you need to know. For those of you who don't know Crossan was one of the people who worked on the Jesus Seminar, which was on a quest to find the historical Jesus. This of course implies that the Jesus in the Bible is not necessarily 100% accurate to who the real Jesus of Nazareth was. There is a lot of controversy surrounding this man and his work. Although many are intimidated by his work, it seems to me that he actually has a much deeper spiritual life because of his work with the historical Jesus. Also, just so you know he has also done work on the historical Paul and I believe the historical John of Patmos, although that may not have happened to the same degree that Jesus and Paul has been worked out.

The basic assertion of this book, and I would not call it meaningless, is that civilization has been a series of empires with violence as the normalcy and peace in this imperial world view is only achieved through victory. I think that we can see this worldview still at play today. Crossan believes that God is non-violent, despite many Biblical writings that disagree. He believes that Jesus was a voice for non-violent social change, and that he was constantly saying things that would upset the Roman emperor. For example, Ceasar Augustus was considered through his mythology as being the Son of God, so Jesus claiming that he is the son of God is a threat to the throne. Also, Jesus's main message was that the Kingdom of God, not Rome, was here today and it was a non-violent kingdom which promoted peace through justice, not victory. This is an entirely different worldview that is a major challenge to the work of empire.

One interesting point that Crossan brings out of all this is that God is non-violent and God's justice is not retributive like we often think of justice, but distributive. God's justice is about equality. The Biblical writers had to struggle with these two worldviews. The violent imperial one and the non-violent reign of God. The struggle between these two views can be seen from one book of the Bible to the next and sometimes we can see the struggle within one text. Many of the profits move back and forth from a God that punishes people violently to a vision of God cleaning up the world in such a way that lambs will lay with the wolves and no one is hurt. This is the work of humanity trying to interpret its world through two very different lenses. The normalcy of human civilization (violence and injustice) or the Reign of God which is non-violent and just.

I believe that these two worldviews are still very active in today's society. And the normalcy of civilization is still peace through victory, and our sense of justice is skewed to mean some kind retaliation, either by an individual or a state. We are still facing the same norms of civilization today. What we need to focus on then, is not what happens when we die, but rather how can we show God's reign in this world today? What can we do show God's love in non-violent, non apocalyptic way? How should we live and encourage others to live in the non-violent Kingdom of God? Jesus taught us that God's peaceful empire is here on Earth, the great divine cleanup (eschaton) is happening now. I don't believe that God is going to cause us to have a huge fight to clean up this world like at the end of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Instead, I believe that the eschaton is something that has been going and will continue to go into the future. It is brought about by the non-violent voices in the world, who want peace and distributive justice for all, not just Americans, Christians or Jews but everyone in the entire world. I think I have rambled enough on this one. Embody the reign of God and encourage other to do the same.

Shalom,

Mark

P.S. Here is a Woody Guthrie song about Jesus Christ that has some interesting assertions of its own.

Thanks Ron!

We all know that I'm not good about posting regularly on meaningless, but now Ron has called me out on it. He basically said that he has become me because it had been a month since his last post. It is true that I tend to post once a month, but come on man that's so public. Then he proceeded to give me some excuses for not posting, like a youth mission trip and other things. Well, that was only a week out of my life and school has been out for like a month, so thanks for the help but it all boils down to laziness. Anyway there are things that I can talk about here, so here I go.

I did go on a mission trip and it was overall a pretty good trip. I did have one youth that got sick and we had to spend the night in the hospital. That was really fun (note the sarcasm), but we made it through it. He is fine now, so no worries. We work at a place that helped families in homelessness doing the little things that their staff can't get to because of the enormous amount of paperwork they have to do with the families that they serve. It was really a cool organization.

Other than that the summer has been good. I will be working in the business office at Saint Paul, so I will be that guy behind the window sometimes. I start tomorrow so that's cool.

Christie and I have a new to us car to drive around now, which means that the green bean (my van) is no longer mine. It was a little sad but now I get to drive the cavalier which is fun to drive (and more economical).

Finally I want you guys to check something out. I heard this on NPR today on my way to Church it is from their series call "This I believe," and I thought that there are several people who could relate to this and agree with this man's outcome.

Paul Thorn

Peace and Love

Mark

Tornadoes

Early Friday morning, Christie and I were sleeping when suddenly there was a lot of wind coming through our house. We closed all the windows and then realized as we closed the last one that we should be heading for safety. We cowered in the bathroom for about 20 minutes. When all the loud noises stopped, we opened our windows and went back to bed. Then, someone outside said, "I had to pull an old woman out of her house." We immediately got up and investigated. There was flashing lights everywhere and trees down with major damage done to houses. We learned that night that no one died and no one was even seriously injured. The worst in my neighborhood was some stitches on an arm. In the morning, Christie went around looking at the damage and snapped some pictures. These pictures are below. We had just a little damage on our siding, but across the street there are entire apartments destroyed. We didn't have power until Saturday evening, and we still don't have our internet back on but we have a house. I ask prayers for those who have lost a place to live and those in other parts of the world who have been damaged by major storms.

Peace,
Mark

National Poetry Month

Since it is national poetry month, I thought I would share a crappy poem that I wrote yesterday in my Jeremiah class. Here it is.

Hope Comes

Is there hope in a world of suffering?
Is there good among all of the bad?
Where do I look for threads of hope?
In the brokenness can we fine hope?

Is hope found in religion?
Can hope be found in Government?
Does hope linger on the street corner?
Does it run through the farmland?

Hope can be found in religion,
But not in a religion of comfort.
Hope is found in a vibrant religion,
A religion that struggles with life.

Hope can be found in government,
But not a government of greed.
Hope is found in a government
That knows the people and loves them.

Hope lingers on the street corner
As a child smiles to a homeless man.
Hope runs through the fields
As the crops that feed many break through the soil.

There is hope in this world.
Even among the brokenness, hope can be found.
There is hope in the good choices
Despite all of the poor ones.

Hope comes because of discomfort.
Hope comes because of activity.
Hope comes because of knowing.
Hope comes because of loving.

Hope Comes!

Positive

So in response to Brad's post about being more positive about the United Church I have decided to try to be more positive on here until summer. Then, I'll let all my negativity out. So here at meaningless assertions expect to see some positive and uplifting things (Oh man I sound like a Contemporary Christian radio station). For something positive here is something pretty cool. I don't know if it is real or not, but I don't care it's pretty awesome.



I have no idea if that works. If this turns out to be weird crap on the screen, then just click here
Enjoy!

Staying Positive,

Mark

The Reality of Death in Life

I have been thinking a little about death and dying. I guess this is mostly due to the fact that I am in a Pastoral Care class right now, and much of care deals with death. I think that it is incredibly sad how much fear surrounds the concept of dying. Why are we so afraid to die? Is it because many Christians believe that dying happens because of sin? Thus, death is a punishment for eating some fruit on some tree in the "Garden of Eden." I don't really buy into this view of death. Death is not a punishment. I don't like thinking of death as a punishment or a reward for that matter. It is more helpful for me to think of death as a natural consequence of being alive. We live then we die that's how life works. What happens after that is a bit of mystery, but I think that makes dying that much more exciting.

This mystery is what I think many people fear about death. We don't know what's next. There is this view of heaven and hell, which in a lot of ways sets up an unhealthy dichotomy that makes people fear afterlife. What if I'm going to hell type of questions pop into people's minds. Justin has an awesome post about that check it out. I happen to agree with Justy on many of his points and I think that he says them better than I could, so I'll wait while you check it out.

Paul Tillich in The Courage to Be writes that we have to come to terms with these things by accepting the fact that you are going to die. You have to take this into your being, which in my estimation means understanding that you fear, letting fear be part of who you are while not letting it rule your life. You must take up the fact that you are going to die into your being which in turn will help you to live much fuller and richer lives. It has been a while since I read this book but this is basically how I remember it. I encourage you to read it too, if you found this insight helpful. Although be warned Tillich was a philosopher and theologian which means that sometimes his language is technical. Just remember that as you move through life towards death that this is a natural process that everyone has to do, and that if you can hold the fact that you are going to die and that you are not 100% certain what comes next, although the rest of eternity with God is promised in the Christian faith, you will be freed up to live life more fully.

No worries,

Mark

Yin and Yang

I don't really know what is going on the world, but every time that I read the newspaper, especially the two pages about world news, I get a little sad. Why is it that we mostly talk about the negative in world news? The other day I read that a Spanish political leader was assassinated, that the funerals were going on from the Seminary shooting in Jerusalem. None of that was very uplifting. We don't seem to report very often on the good things going on in the international community. I mean are there any countries that are getting along? I mean there has to be good things going along with the bad things in the world right. You know the yin and yang thing (I have no idea how that is spelled).

With this in mind, I feel that I tend to only really bring up the struggles that I am having with the church and/or society. Thus, now it is time for me to try to name the good things I see. One such good thing is that I have seen a lot of people step out of their comfort zones to help other people out. I did post once about Shane's, Meg's and my experience with feeding the homeless on Truman road. There are countless organizations that are working toward hunger relief, like Bread for the Word and Harvesters to name a couple. I think that a lot of Catholic Charities are wonderful. There is plenty of good going on in the world.

Personally, I have been blessed to have a loving and supportive family. I found a person who I love and who loves me through all of the mess that happens with life. I find that the time I spend with the youth of my church to be very valuable and spirit-filled even we don't talk about anything in particular. I have some great friends that I don't do a very good job of keeping in touch with.

So as you go through your day today (whatever day you may be reading this) keep in mind that there is plenty of good in this world, even if it is not reported as often. Look for those places where we see God and for those people that need to see God through us. Keep your chin up and keep smiling.

Peace, Love and eat your veggies

Mark

"Polishing the brass on the Titanic"

I was informed that I have not posted since Valentines Day. Well, that was good observation, Brad and Ron, thank you.

I'm sitting here in my office trying to think about how youth group should look in a church that is struggling. I made a commit to some people earlier that was a paraphrase from Fight Club (which I forgot to mention to them at the time). I asked them: "Do you ever feel like in your churches that you are polishing the brass on the Titanic?" This question got some laughs and got the answer yes.

I have had this basic conversation with a lot of people, and it is sad that we feel this way about our churches. Does this mean that the whole concept of the Church will be sinking to the deep with the Titanic? Has the church hit rock bottom? I mean there are still some churches that are doing well, but they seem like a minority.

In my church there has been a common question posed to me and just kind of in general a lot lately. How can we get young people in the church? The first answer I hear is a change of worship style. I guess that is way to go about it, and I think it might draw some more people in. I wonder though if style is less of an issue than actually worshiping when we come together. This isn't to say that every church is not worshiping, but I feel that most people don't really feel like anything has changed when they leave a worship service. I know I don't feel anything when I leave my church's worship.

I try to tell people that the young people in the world today value authenticity more than anything else. We want people to honestly say, I don't know. We want people to walk with us through questions without giving answers. You don't need to read Leonard Sweet or any other "post-modern" author to understand this. Just spend a few moments with a young person, and actually listen. We don't want answers. We don't want people to tell us what to do. We want people to walk with us and grow in an authentic relationship. We want to listen and talk, not just be talked to. Sermons don't work for most of us. We need time to discuss it or do something with it. We also want people to dress the way they always do, and not to be uptight when we show up in jeans to church. Authenticity works for dress as well as for relationships.

I know that changing things in a church is really hard to do, but it is also necessary. I also want everyone to realize that just because I'm saying that things should be different doesn't mean that I am comfortable with these changes. I grew up with worship looking a certain way. It is uncomfortable to change even for the young people. Those already in the church struggle with new things until they become more comfortable. This is how we work as humans. We are creatures of habit, and sometime we need to break those habits.

That's enough rambling for now!
Peace
mark

I read the news today, oh boy.

Alright, so today I opened my newspaper and there glaring at me on the front frickin' page is Roger Clemens. Why is this such a big deal? This is maybe front page of the sports section worthy. Yes, I think steroid use in baseball is bad, and that it sets a horrible example for the kids. But it seems ridicules that Roger Clemens is on the front page of the paper. Now, I didn't read the article because I'm sick of hearing about it. Who lied? Is Roger Clemens the greatest pitcher of this era? I don't care about either. Isn't there something more important for Congress to do than listening to two grown men fight over whether one of them cheated in a game or not? I mean the economy isn't great. We are at war. Poverty is still an issue in this country. People are struggling to eat in the US as well as all over the world. Many people are living on the streets. And the list goes on and on, but Congress is wasting time on a frickin' game. Congress is designed to move slowly in passing laws and stuff, so let's slow the system down further by worrying about baseball.

By the way, Roger Clemens was one of my favorite players growing up, and there is no denying that he was a good pitcher. And he looks wicked mean in the front page picture, which seems a little roid-rageish to me. But let's keep this in perspective, this is a man who got paid way too much money to throw a ball, then possibly cheated to continue to throw a ball for entirely too much money. Now, Congress is worried about a guy who threw a ball for a living when there are thousands of people who are doing some horrible things in our own country. Come on Congress there has to be something more important for you to do.

Notice that the title of this post is a line from "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles, if you don't know then go get Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and enjoy!

Peace, love and stay away from the Roids,

Mark

Hugging Homelessness

I know that I have really been slacking about blogging. It's not that I haven't had the time. I think that generally it's when I have the most time on my hands that I do the least. But as soon as I get busy again I try to cram as many things into my day as I can. Due to my lack of posting I'm sure that no body is going to read this, but nonetheless I'm going to write something here.

Thursday was a strange day for me. I woke up not really feeling like moving too much, which isn't uncommon for me. I was hoping to go to school, work out and study (that's right I'm working out again). The problem was I wanted to get to school around 8:00am, but didn't get motivated to go until somewhere around ten o'clock. Wasted my whole morning reading the paper and drinking coffee (actually it was a nice morning).

Then, I get to school finally and I call Shane, who is working out with me. We started working out no big deal, when Shane asked me if I wanted to take some left-over sandwiches he had from a church fund raiser and take them to some homeless people who live down the street from the school. I was completely blown away that Shane, who is extremely uncomfortable with homelessness, would ask me to do this. This was exciting. This is a way better way to use these sandwiches than us eating them.

After we ate lunch that consisted of sandwiches, not the left-over fund raiser sandwiches, we, being Meg, Shane and I, packed up about seven bags. Each bag had two sandwiches, a small bag of chips and a bag of cookies. This is a nice little meal that we hoped would mostly bring some hope to these people who are making the street their home.

With anticipation and a little uncertainty we set off for the overpass to find our objects of benevolence. Once we got there we found actually exactly the same number of people under the overpass as bags we had. The best part was that one person, named Charlie, made us serve everyone else before he would take some food. We went over there and Shane seemed pretty excited about this part. He made his way up the steep slope to where the people where sitting to hand out our little bag of goodies. There was a lady sitting at the bottom of this slope with whom Meg and I conversed for a little while. She said to us that within a couple of weeks that she would be going to jail. I asked her way in a concerned voice, which honestly really was concerned, and she kind of nonchalantly says that she had too much whiskey and got behind the wheel of a car. She said, "I didn't hurt nobody, but the cops stopped me and gave me a what you call it." She eventually came up with the three letters DUI. Then, she asked us to pray for her, so the three seminarian students gathered around her and started to pray. I was kind of elected to lead the prayer, but I didn't really know what to say. I'm not really sure what I prayed, but I think peace and safety crept into it. Then, she hugged each of us a couple of times. I have to say that was the first time I have ever been hugged by a homeless person.

This of course was only the beginning of our adventure. We finally gave the man that was shepherding us to the other people a bag of good. At this point the object of benevolence had become real, living, breathing people with stories to tell and struggles to talk about. Charlie stood next to us and talked with us for the next hour or so, I'm not sure on this because I don't wear a watch. He told us his story which was a little disconnected, but revolved around being in Viet Nam and struggles with his family. At one point in his story he told us that he keeps safe on the street, and to illustrate this point he pulls out a pocket knife opens it while staggering back look ready to fight. This was a little unnerving, but then he smiled and put the knife away. It was a just a prop in his story. The real ministry in all of this came when he said something to the extent that we were letting him get all of this off of his chest. This made it all worthwhile. The really eerie part for me was that Charlie had the same eyes as my dad, and some of his mannerisms were similar to my dad's as well.

This got me thinking about how this can happen to anyone. My dad actually got out of the Navy right before Viet Nam, and after Korea. But I wonder what would have happened to my dad had been in this conflicted. I would like to believe that he would come back and function the same way as he always did, but there is no guarantees of that. So of course, now I'm thinking about all of the people who are in war now. Are they going to be living on the streets by the time they are fifty? How much will these people change as they come back? I know that we have great counseling programs set up for veterans today.

I am not going to go into my more political pacifist rant about the evils of war because we all know that war sucks whether it is justified or not, and in my opinion more often not. I think that we need to be mindful of all of the people fighting in wars, or innocently living where there is war. This is more than Iraq and Afghanistan, but Kenya and others in more Civil Conflict. I urge all of you to pray for peace of mind for those who have seen the horrors of war. Let's love our neighbors and also love our enemies. I believe that this is precisely how we love God.

Peace,

Mark

This post sucks!

I've been away from doing this for so long that I have no idea what to write about. I just wanted everyone to know that I am still alive. I just haven't been thinking much lately, thus nothing to post.

Right now I am sitting in UM Polity, which is a class that I will use very little from since I am not going to be an ordained minister. It is an incredibly boring class that is almost impossible for me to pay attention. This is rough for me.

I don't think that there is much else going on for me. Christie is doing great, so I'm well. I hope everyone is doing amazingly well.

Peace

ma