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

Thanksgiving!

So I haven't posted in quite a while, so I thought I would write a little something about Thanksgiving. This was always a nice holiday when I would get a day off of school and get to eat too much food. It was a great day. I don't ever remember being very reflective about what I was thankful for though. So with that in mind I thought it seemed fitting to write some words of thanks.

I am thankful for having a wonderful family that supports me through the craziness that is life.

I am thankful for living in the city, despite the high crime rate and old abandoned buildings it really is a nice place to live.

I'm thankful for the being able to express myself using my voice and written words, but I'm sad that so many people are not given this opportunity.

I'm thankful for the idea of church, and a little annoyed at how it is practiced in real life.

I'm thankful for the ideas of those who came before me that make the world a better place and make for some really interesting things to read.

I'm thankful for getting in touch with old friends, and sad that I'm bad about staying in touch with them.

I'm thankful for a triune God who is our perfect example of community.

I'm thankful for farmers, who make my life easier (I don't have a green thumb, thanks mom).

And last but definitely not least, I'm thankful for marrying a wonder woman, and that she love despite all of my shortcomings!

That's all I have for now. What are you thankful for? I hope that you all have a lot to be thankful for.

Shalom,

Mark

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 as paraphrased by the Bristol Hill Youth

Love tried to be tolerant, Love tries to be nice.
Love doesn't show off.
It's not jealous, It's not cocky.
Love in not a jerk.
It's not pushy; it's not hateful or snotty.
It doesn't celebrate mess ups but celebrates honesty.
It puts up with your crap, trusts in you, wants good for you, goes through your crap with you.
Love is always there!

There is only one thing that I would change in this paraphrase, and that is the word tries. Love doesn't try, but love is the embodiment of toleration and niceness. Other than that I think that my youth did an excellent job with this passage. I kind of wish I would have used this in my wedding. Anyhoo, I just thought I would share that with everyone.
Cheers,
mark

Artificial Boundaries!

Yesterday in class the professor Claire Smith said something to the extent of who gives anyone the right to create boundaries. She was talking in a global way about boundaries between countries. This has made me think about other boundaries that are made as well. For instance, we make boundaries between you and me in a number of ways. We can not be honest with each other. We could lash out at each other, or any other defense mechanism can create this boundary. We also create boundaries along gender, class and ethnic lines. We assume that because we are different that the other can never really understand. There might be some truth to that. We really can't completely understand another person until we "walk two moons in their moccasins" (Sharon Creech, "Walk Two Moons" its a book check it out). But I do think that we need to let other people into our world by having a dialogue with them. We need to sit down with someone different from ourselves and talk out what goes on it that person's daily life. Honest sharing and empathetic listening will really go a long way in breaking down these artificial barriers. There is a line in a Less Than Jake song that goes, "Everyone here, hates everyone here for doing the same thing that they do." I wonder if in those dialogues we would find this line to be true.

I also want to talk about another kind of boundary line that is drawn in theology that seems completely artificial. This line is between the doctrines. We have all of these fancy names for the doctrines like eschatology (end times), ecclesiology (church), Theological Anthropology (humanity), Soteriology (salvation), Christology (Jesus), and the list goes on and on. Well, I think that these divisions between the doctrines cannot be understood in Christian thought without understanding the others. Systematic Theologians throughout history have tried to take these doctrines and put them into a neat system. I don't see how that can be done. I don't think that this system would be neat at all. The divisions themselves are not neat. Where does who Jesus the Christ is end and salvation begin? How do we understand humanity without understanding both Jesus and God? The lines between these doctrine are too fuzzy to even really call them separate things. Theology has tried to put God in a box to dissect God, but separating all of these doctrines from each other only serves to weaken God. Theology is really about the organic flow that happens between the doctrines. We can separate all we want but there is an equilibrium that is found it doctrinal theology that is not stagnant at all. Equilibrium occurs by a continuous movement of particles in and out of the system, therefore theology is more about the fuzzy lines between the doctrines then it is about the doctrines themselves. We only have doctrines so that we can organize our thoughts easier, but I feel that this organization is keeping people from understand our God, who is an untamed, wild lion of a God (just ask C.S. Lewis in the Narnia books).

There you go something practical and abstract for your reading please.

Peace,
Mark

A Person's a person no matter how legal!

Although the title of this blog may be copyright infringement, I'm going to do it anyway. For those of you who don't know this is a play off of the moral of "Horton Hears a Who" by Dr. Seuss. If you don't know the book go out and read it today, it's amazing.

I just got out of a chapel service that was about multicultural experiences. It was a pretty good chapel service although I struggled to sing some of the hymns because musically they were beyond me. Really the services centered around a couple of words: Do Not Be Afraid. The hot button issue obviously is immigration. Our sermon was really more of a poem with a great performance by Andy Bryan. This poem was pretty abstract in that it was a series of words more than anything else followed by I don't know. That was followed by do not be afraid. Then, he listed a new series of words and the pattern was continued. I don't think I explained it well, but it was thought provoking.

There were a couple of words that Andy said that made me really think. One of those words was naturalization. Obviously, this means the process of becoming a "naturalized" citizen of the US. I don't think I like that word very much. It is like saying that it is unnatural to be a non-citizen of the United States. I'm sure that is not the intent of the word, but that's what I think of. To me the word means to make natural, who the hell are we to make something or someone natural. Doesn't that fall more into the God realm of creation, not the human realm of creation.

He also listed the words personhood and neighbor more than once. If we are naturalizing people then wouldn't that mean that we are making them a person more fully. We are helping them to be what they are meant be because before that they were not natural. But according to Horton a person is person no matter how small. A person is a neighbor no matter how far. A person is a person no matter how legal. A person is a person no matter how religious. A person is a person no matter how tall. A person is a person no matter how short. A person is a person no matter how black. A person is a person no matter how white. A person is a person no matter how brown. A person is a person no matter how Asian. A person is a person no matter how mean. A person is a person not matter how nice. A person is a person!

I know that that last one is a very cheap definition of personhood, but coupled with all of the rest of my statements I think it makes sense. A person is a neighbor no matter how far. We are called to love our neighbor at least Christians and Jews are. I can't really speak for many other religions. A person is to be loved no matter how legal. Love is about getting to know people and embracing them no matter how different their views are from ours. I know that I struggle with this but as many angels have said throughout our canon of scripture DO NOT BE AFRAID. Do not be afraid to reach out to your neighbor (no matter how far away), and get to know them. What the worst that will happen? They will not reach back to you, and you are left with an ackward conversation. Maybe it could get worse, but that shouldn't keep you from loving them.

I feel like this is getting a little too long, and way too preachy for me. But I wanted to share with all two of my readers what this service made me think about. I hope that it makes you think as well.

Peace
mark

Dreams

It was pointed out to me that it has been more than a month since I had posted on here. So at the request of Ron here is a new post.

Last night I had dream that wasn't at all life changing, but still made me realize something. This dream (it's rare that I remember these things) was basically about me buy a car without even consulting my wife. I don't think that the car was a real model or anything, but I really enjoyed test driving it so I bought it. My wife on the other hand was no where to be found it this dream. Suddenly in the dream I realized what I had done. I woke from the dream trying to figure out how to tell Christie, who controls the finances in the house, that I had indeed bought a new car.

The thing that I realized is that my wife and I are coming increasingly closer to needing to buy a new car. My 1996 Grand Caravan is in bad shape, and I don't know if it is going to hold up much longer. This is nothing surprising or new. But we can't afford to do this anytime soon, yet I am feeling the impending doom of the lovely "Green Bean." That's all I have to say about my literal dream from last night.

I do have another dream that I would like to make public to all of you who might not know yet (I'm not sure that anyone that actually reads this blog doesn't know this already). I would really like to get a Ph.D and teach at a Seminary. I have been toying with this idea for quite awhile now, but recently I have felt less attracted to the local parish and more attracted to abstract thought and expression. This really came about because I read "The Courage to Be" by Paul Tillich this summer, and thought about how much I would like to teach this. My dream is to write and teach something that can make a difference to many people in ministry and people who are interested in Theology. I would really like to make a difference, not by doing ministry in the local church, but by doing ministry with the people who are called to lead the local church.

This is my dream. What's yours? Please be as fanciful as you want.

peace
mark

Waiting

Well, it hasn't been a full month yet, but I thought I would blog while I wait. Wait for what I hear you ask. Well, I'm waiting for first of all Christie to finish reading the newest installment of Harry Potter, so that I can dig into it. I'm trying to be patient, but I have never been great at that. So while I wait, I thought I would write a little something.

My sister sent me an email that was stressing how hard it is to lose weight that was supposed to be funny. I found it both sad and alarming all at once. The email painted a picture of God creating health food, and Satan repeatedly out smarting God with junk food. In the end God creates bypass surgery, and Satan makes HMO's. God is thwarted again.

This email was sad to me because it made sound hopeless that anyone could stay fit because of junk food, sugar, white flour, TV, and crappy insurace. The only thing in that I might say is remotely satanic is insurance (maybe TV, I really hate TV). It is sad to me to think that people might concede whether jokingly or not that being healthy and fit is hopeless. I mean if Satan is outsmarting God then man it must really be hopeless. It is not hopeless people, and I don't think that Satan and God are battling over salad and chocolate. Don't put this problem into another realm of existence. The problem is that we choose to watch TV, and over indulge in the food we like. I'm just as guilty of it as anyone is. Most of this stuff is okay in moderation. Eat a little chocolate with dessert, cut down on the portions you eat, have a piece of fruit for God's sake. I know it is hard to change eating habits, but don't even jokingly try to push this off on a higher power. You have the ability to eat healthier, watch less TV, and get off of your ass and do something.

Now that was the sad part. I was alarmed by the Theology in it. I know that it was a joke but I think this is actually a common problem people have. God and Satan are the subject of the email. In the email, I noticed that God and Satan seemed to be on equal footing. To me it sounded like two dieties, one good, one bad. This is not the teaching of Christianity. No no no. God created Satan remember. God created everything, which means that God is bigger stronger and the only diety, thusly called God. Satan is actually a word that means adversary. It doesn't mean the epitome of evil. "Satan" is anyone who does work against God. I'm trying to disprove the whole Satan thing. I'm just trying to let you guys know what I think. I think that we too often associate things that are our responsibility with Satan. We choose to do that good things and the bad things that we do. This is my belief. Whether God and/or Satan is acting trying to influence us doesn't matter because we are making the choice. And trust me we all choose poorly from time to time. Please whatever you do, DO NOT make Satan another God!

I know this is an over-reaction to this email, but still I feel that these were things that some people really needed to hear. I'm sure that hardly anyone who reads this need to hear it but I thought it worked for a quick rant.

Mark

It's been a Month

Staying true to my pattern, I decided to post. I don't really have a lot to blog about, so I guess I will just update you on this summer thus far. As I said before i am working at the camp part time and church the other part of my time. Both are going pretty well. When we have camps going on I get to take the campers underground in complete darkness, while we climb through tight places. It's great fun. In case you don't understand I get to take the campers caving, which believe it or not I really enjoy. And I having lost a camper yet.

Anyhoozlebee, Summer is going great. I have read some pretty good books (many at the suggestion of my wife). I'm really into Greek mythology right now because of a series of books that Christie had me read called Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It's awesome because Percy finds out that he is the son of a Greek god, which made me want to remember the Greek mythology I learned in High School. Since it is a little fuzzy, I'm reading the Ilyad and the Oddesy to catch up on it.

To end this, I thought I would let the world know my laptop is no more. It died in a tragic cereal accident. It is a little sad, but it was only a computer. It's nothing important just a thing, but it was really convenient to have around. Umm...I guess that's all for me.

Peace, Love and eat your veggies,
Mark

Summering It Up!

 Apparently, I spend something like a month away from blogging then I post like three posts.  Then, I'm gone for another week.  There may be some kind of cycle to this.  If anyone can find a pattern to this, or can make an algorithm out of it then I will be quite impressed.  Maybe this is too complex of a system for that. 

So I finished the semester a few weeks ago, and I am totally summering it up.  That's right, I'm summering it up.   It's a real thing.  This summer I am working as a general laborer at Little Grassy United Methodist Camp, and I'm still working as the youth director at Grace UMC in Carbondale.  The camp is kicking my bottom because I am quite out of shape, and I have to do very physical work out there.  Mostly I weed-eat, or weed-whack (I don't know which way is more accurate, I guess weed-whack).  Youth stuff is still youth stuff.

So really summering it up for me means working.  Hopefully I can squeeze in a round of golf sometime, or something.  Also, I'm playing softball once a week with my Church.  Church league softball is awesome because we claim to be non-competitive, but we totally are.  We just can't take a short stop out to break up a double play (sadness).  I really don't know how else to play, but I'm trying to play without hurting myself or other people. 

One more thing, if anyone would like to buy me a present then go onto amazon.com and look through my wishlist I set up there.  I think you can search for me by name or something.  Well cats, I gotta fly.  I hope ya'll have fun summering it up. 

Peace