Necessary Reminders

This afternoon was the 17th Annual Celebration put on by the Alliance for African-American Music. Piedmont College and Covenant Congregational Church have been actively involved in this group for many years, so I am part of the Alliance and serve as Publicity Chair. The goal of the group is simple; using music, we work to create a muti-cultural, multi-racial, and inter-generational music program on an annual basis. Additionally, we collect an offering that funds a scholarship in music for a minority student at Piedmont College. Obviously, this is a fitting event for Black History Month.

The choir from the Shady Grove Baptist Church, an African-American congregation, closed the program, which was held at the Level Grove Baptist Church, a white SBC congregation. Bishop Burns, the pastor of Shady Grove, led the closing benediction. As he spoke in appreciation of the participants and worshippers at the event, he reminded us all that, at one time, his church would not have been welcome inside this year's host church.

Now, I am not a person of privilege. My family was not upper-class or even upper-middle class. Our home was in the "not as nice" part of town. I was the first in my immediate family group to graduate from college. Still, I know that, as a white male, I have enjoyed certain benefits just because I am a white male, even if they were not always immediately obvious to me.

Bishop Burn's comment and my reflections on my status put me in mind of an item in the latest issue of Christian Century. The item related a story from David Novak, a Jewish theologian, who was walking down the street in a southern town in 1963. The gutters of the street were filled with mud because of a heavy rain during the night. As Novak approached the synagogue where he would attend Yom Kippur services, an older black woman approached him. She stepped off the sidewalk, into the muddy gutter, to let him pass by on the sidewalk. According to the item, in remarking on the encounter, Novak said, '"So, on the holiest day of the year, when I was supposed to feel that I was being cleansed before God, I felt profoundly dirty, not for what I had done, but for what I represented" to this woman ...' I wonder how many people have figuratively 'stepped into the gutter' because of what I represented to them. I wonder how many have done so because of you?

A Matter of Scripture and Faith

This weekend was the inagural Piedmont College Conference on Religion and the Liberal Arts held at our Athens campus. As part of the planning group, I can safely say that the response to this was overwhelming. Originally, we thought it would be great if 75-80 folks were in attendance. I think there were more than 150 people in attendance.

Barbara Brown Taylor was the keynote speaker - with presentations on Friday night and Saturday morning - and preacher at the worship service on Saturday afternoon. Barbara selected the theme for the conference and used the Flannery O'Connor description of the South as "Christ-haunted."

My workshop, added within the last very few weeks due to the escalating registration, centered on the human qualities found within the sacred texts of other religious traditions. I think it went well. There were 29 in the morning session and 25 in the afternoon. I had a couple of participants who wanted me to deal with questions of salvation, which I avoided because that was not the subject of the workshop.

One of the participants defined truth in very Christological terms. Essentially, this person said that "truth" was a person, Jesus the Christ; therefore, this person does not think about the truth content in other religious traditions. That viewpoint raises many questions for me. Like, what does that say about the doctrinal and teaching content of religious traditions, including Christianity? And, how does one with this view have any productive and respectful interaction with an adherent of another faith? And, how does this deal with the same spiritual principles expressed in other religions before they were articulated in Christianity?

Ah well, as I expressed in the workshop, these are all questions that will take much honest dialogue to begin to resolve.

To hijab or not to hijab

Turkey is being rocked by a debate over whether to lift the ban on the use of the hijab by the women of the country. The hijab is the head covering used by the women to comply with the culture's understanding of appropriate female modesty in many Muslim countries. Compared to other forms of dress by Muslim women, the hijab is minimal. In more strict cultures, the women wear loose flowing clothes to hide the outline of the body or go so far as to wear a complete body covering, perhaps even wearing gloves to conceal the hands.

This is an issue because Turkish society has discouraged the use of the hijab from the very beginning of the country. When its constitution was written, Turkey chose to establish itself as a country based on secular law and not religious law. That is remarkable since Turkey is nearly 100% Muslim. Now, many people in Turkey want the ban on wearing the hijab lifted so that women, at all levels of society and in all circumstances, can wear it as they choose.

The issue of the hijab raises many questions that I am not qualified to address and will not attempt to do so. It does seem to me, though, that the debate highlights the issue of religious groups expecting the country's practices or laws to accommodate their own religious beliefs.

While it is easy to think this is an issue only with other people and other religions, it is just as much an issue in Western countries and in Christianity. For example, the abortion debate in America is largely framed by the conflict between religious law - it is against God's moral law to allow an abortion - and secular law - the laws of this country permit a woman to choose whether to continue a pregnancy.

But, it is not just in abortion where this comes into play. I think of those pharmacists who refuse to fill certain prescriptions because it violates their religious beliefs or those folks who want to dictate what is taught in science classes because of their religious views. There are some evangelical groups that try to influence American foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East, based on their reading of scripture. In a situation that has happened recently, a church-related school in Kansas refused to allow a certified and qualified female basketball referee call the game for its male team because they do not believe that God allows a woman to have authority over a man. I wonder how this group feels about female judges or city council members making decisions.

The hallmark of a modern society is how well it accommodates differing perspectives, but, when religion plays a part, it becomes much harder for differing perspectives to co-exist. How can someone compromise on an issue or allow opposing views when she or he believes it is the will of God for it to happen in just one particular way?

While I slid into this topic by referencing a debate in Turkey, it seems that we, too, citizens of America, struggle with the question, if not with the particular application. I worry whether even we will allow enough space for reasoned conversations and civil discourse to take place on the issues.

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

In a case of someone buying the wrong mailing list and contacting me, last Friday, I received an ad piece from “Quintess – The Leading Residences of the World.” This is a Time Share with a difference - a big difference from any I have ever seen before. When I was in seminary, Vicki and the boys and I went to hear a sales pitch in French Lick, Indiana. It was a standard package; two weeks in beautiful downtown French Lick in a hotel yet to be built with a bowling alley in it.

This company has properties in such places as London, Florence, Paris, Jackson Hole, Napa Valley, Los Cabos, and Maui. It claims that its properties are worth more than $4 million each. Further, the company provides 5-star service at each property.

Vicki and I popped the DVD that had been sent in and marveled. The screen was filled with images of white sandy beaches, massive and luxurious buildings, top flight chefs, expensive wine, and luxurious beds. In addition, this company has made arrangements with other companies near its properties so that the guests, for instance, could be given the keys to a top-end sports car to take a spin.

The DVD, of course, does not give any cost for such opulence. So, I went to the website. There were several “packages” available. The cheapest one required a $240,000 membership deposit - that is upfront, though it is refundable in the first year if you don't like it - with an annual fee of $18,750 - that is every year - to have 20 nights available at these fabulous places. For the top package, somebody would have to pay a membership fee of $850,000 and $66,500 per year. This would permit 75 nights in these great places.

Throughout each scene, the calm, persuasive voice talked about what a great value this is. It was a, "How can you put a price on such an opportunity to have pampered fun with your family and friends."

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!?! Besides the fact that I am way too frugal, or cheap, to pay this much if I had the money, I could not even pay the annual fee for the “cheap” package. I guess some people have ponied up the money; Quintess says they have a 6:1 member to property ratio, which would translate to around 200 members. But, why would these people expend this much in such a conspicuous consumption?

As I gathered the facts about this company and their offering, I wondered whether these people who are the privileged members of Quintess donate as much money to charitable groups that provide medicine to children in Africa to stop diarrhea or measles or provide food to the hungry or education to Afghan children as they do to enjoy the finest service at top shelf resorts.

I have to wonder, “What were they thinking?”

So, Kiss Me, Kate

Vicki and I spent last night at the Swanson Center, Piedmont's new Mass Com and Theater Building for the Opening Night of the Cole Porter musical, Kiss Me, Kate.

Porter used the "play within a play" device to tell the story of the triumph of true love. The storyline is simple. A theatrical group is performing a version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew in 1940's Baltimore. The male and female leads used to be married to each other. Now, each has found a new love. But, as is typical with a Porter production, while they go through rather comical mishaps and misunderstandings, they will eventually "find" each other again.

Many well known Porter standards are in the production, like, "Another Opening, Another Show," "So In Love," "Too Darn Hot," and "Wundebar."

Once again, this was an enjoyable evening, made more so by our contacts with the players in other settings.

Tragedy at Northern Illinois University

In a scene that has become all too familiar, a gunman entered a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University and opened fire. The last reports I saw indicated that 6 people, including the shooter, had died. This follows a number of other shootings - February 8 in Louisiana and February 11 in Memphis - that were mentioned in the national media and somehow seem to have vanished from the national consciousness.

I wish I understood why such violence has become so commonplace. I wish I knew why such things take place in America more than in other countries. I wish I knew how we, as a people, could guarantee such a tragedy would never happen again, but I fear that it will. I wish I understood how such tragedies can fade so quickly from our awareness. What does any of this say about us as a people?

Join with me, please, in offering prayers for the families of these who have died.

UPDATE - This morning's news reports said one more of the shooting victims died. Info about the shooter - a 27 year old graduate of NIU with no history of behavior that would indicate something like this - is coming out. Accounts of students inside the lecture hall indicate that the shooter reloaded.

With so many readily accessible public places in the US - malls, parks, schools, concert halls, theaters - that have no or little security, what are reasonable choices for gun control, plans for communication to alert people to such situations, and security that we, as a people, should consider?

ATTENTION Coffee Lovers

I started drinking coffee when I was in college. At that time, I was a Chemical Engineering student at the University of Tennessee Knoxville and was a co-op at the Champion Paper Company in Canton, North Carolina. In the lab where I worked, there were at least three coffee pots going at all times. In order to drink anything else, I had to walk through the plant - and anyone who has ever had to walk through a paper plant knows all that means - to find a soft drink machine or to get to the cafeteria.

I left the engineering program, but I never abandoned drinking coffee. Coffee was my companion through all the rest of my educational path - every degree - and at every job I have had since. Many people at churches I have served believe that my right hand is curved in a perpetual "cup holding" curve.

I give my bona fides because I want to alert anyone who loves really good coffee and wants to make a positive difference to something extraordinary. Last Summer, through the Sweetwater Coffee House in Sautee, Georgia, I discovered the Thanksgiving Coffee Company. This company was one of the first fair-trade companies operating in the United States. That means the company has pledged to pay a fair price to the farmers who actually grow the coffee.

Through Thanksgiving Coffee, I discovered Mirembe Kawomera coffee. This coffee is grown in Uganda by a co-operative of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim farmers. Thanksgiving Coffee has pledged to buy the entire crop produced. In addition to paying fair-trade prices ($1.61 per pound which is MANY times more than a farmer would get from the grocery store coffee brands), Thanksgiving Coffee gives back $1 to the co-operative for every pound of coffee it sells.

Let me encourage you to look at the web-site, http://www.mirembekawomera.com/, to get the full story. AND, let me encourage you to present information about this coffee to your community of faith, within your neighborhood, and with all of your friends who love coffee. THEN, ORDER COFFEE.

Covenant Congregational Church, which I serve as pastor, ordered coffee from Thanksgiving Coffee last Fall. I cannot say enough good things about the service we got and about the quality of the coffee. It is wonderful to know that we are making a difference in this part of the world just by drinking good coffee.

COFFEE LOVERS ARISE!!