Reflection for the weekend

In an interview published in http://newhumanist.org.uk/2085; Articles > Volume 124 Issue 4 July/August 2009, Laurie Taylor interviewed Terry Eagleton about his new book, Reason, Faith and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate.

In the interview is this exchange:

But is the emperor really as well dressed as such critics allow? I decided to press him further about his theology. "You say that God made the world simply for the love and delight of it. But you don't mean 'made' in the usual sense of the word as you've already insisted that God did not create the world."

"That's right. Aquinas is saying that the relationship between God and the world is about the fact that the world is in some ways His. Not in the sense that my shoes are mine because I manufactured them but because at the centre of the world lies his love and freedom. God didn't create the world. He loved it into being. Now what that means, God knows, but that's exactly what Aquinas was saying. The concept of God is what will not let you go. He will not let you slip through his fingers. It's that kind of unconditional love. If you like, that's impossible. We can only know conditional love, but if you are to have some kind of authentic idea of God that's the place from which you have to start, not seeing God as some kind of manufacturer."

That is both an amazing affirmation of God and of doubt and wonder. How do you respond to this?

Living in the current economic reality

Our son, Joshua, graduated from college last May. As is my wont, I picked up literature from the church where the Baccalaureate Service was held. Bethel College, Joshua's Alma Mater. has strong Mennonite ties, so the church, of course, was a Mennonite church.

The publication I picked up was the February 2009 issue of Beyond Ourselves . The editor, Stanley Green, wrote about an incident from his family's past from which 3 lessons for living, even in hard times, were learned.

1. Never stop being grateful for what you have (these, too, are the blessings of God).

2. Never be ashamed of what you have.

3. Always be willing to share, whether what you have is little or large.

These are indeed important lessons for all of us, even now.

Signs and portents of Michael

The media has been in a frenzy for the past few weeks covering all spects of the death of Michael Jackson. I will confess that I was never a big fan of his. I might listen to one of his songs if it came on the radio, but he just wasn't my cup of tea.

With that disclosure, I cannot comprehend the public response to his death - People spending thousands of dollars to fly to LA; hundreds of thousands trying to get a ticket to the Memorial Service in the Staples Center; people queing up for hours to sign a card. His death was a tragedy, but in the way that anyone's sudden and unexpected death is a tragedy. As John Donne wrote, the death of anyone diminishes me.

Thus, I was floored by last night's newscast in SLC. A couple in Stockton California has discovered an epiphany of Michael Jackson in the stump of a cut tree branch. The camera zoomed in on the light and dark image of the stump, and, like every one of these miraculous sightings, it was the very image of Michael Jackson if you believed it was.

There were two things about the story that made it even worse for me. The first was that people in the neighborhood were already making pilgrimages to see the blessed image. Second, one woman was quoted as saying something like, "Michael Jackson meant a lot to the people of Stockton, maybe more even than Jesus did for some of them."

This, I think, is proof positive that the cult of celebrity in America has gone too far. What do you think?

The Downside of Ministry

I was shocked by the news of the resignation of the newly installed minister at Riverside Church in New York. I had read there were criticisms of him, but there always are of a minister. Then I read Randall Balmer's piece on the situation. It can be accessed at: http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/oped/1606/by_the_way%3A_riverside_minister%E2%80%99s_abrupt_resignation_reveals_the_perils_of_the_pulpit/.

A portion of Balmer's piece resonated with me:

But for those who discern the call to preach the gospel, even for those of us who pursue ordination later in our careers, such concerns fade to insignificance. We approach our calling with energy, enthusiasm and idealism—and then run into the buzz saw of congregational infighting and politics.

Although the vast majority of churchgoers, in my experience, are decent and kind, parishioners less charitably disposed can find ingenious ways to make a minister’s life miserable: criticism of everything from comportment and grooming to sermons, salary and administrative style. If you’re decisive, you’re an autocrat; if you seek to build consensus, you’re a weak leader. Late in my father’s very successful ministerial career, the board of elders in a large and affluent congregation demanded that he personally reimburse the church for the photocopies he made for church business.

Some congregants, intent on disruption, can be more devious, striking by indirection. In my case (and, as I understand it, at Riverside), dissident members leveled criticisms at the minister’s wife and family. I’m inclined to follow the injunction of Jesus to “turn the other cheek” when criticisms are directed at me, especially when I’m confident that I’ve acted honorably. It’s a different matter, however, when the people I love come under attack.

Eventually, such sniping exacts a toll. I threw myself, heart and soul, into my parish, despite the fact that mine was carefully stipulated as a part-time appointment. No matter. The vestry (the governing body of the congregation) insisted on still more. Worse, by the actions of some in the congregation, I was asked, in effect, to choose between the parish and my marriage.

I requested that my contract not be renewed for a second year.

I am happy to say that I am moving into my second year in my church in Salt Lake City without experencing anything like what was described in the piece. Yet, even in the best of circumstances the demands and pressures of parish ministry take their toll. And, I have had such guerilla warfare criticism attack me and my family.

That may be why fewer younger people are going into ministry. That may be why the tenure of ministers is often measured in months. That may be why there is an epidemic of "forced resignations" in churches; not because of inappropriate acts by the minister, but because of the power game played by people in the congregation.

This reality is why I have been involved in the Ministry to Ministers organization for a number of years; currently, I serve as President of the Board. MTM helps ministers and families pick up the pieces of their lives after a forced termination, and that is a good and holy thing.