What To Do ...... Nothing

The summer edition of the American Scholar trumpets the value of doing nothing.

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The Dalai Lama has claimed that when someone harms you, the best thing to do is nothing.
Don’t call attention to it in order to shame the offender. Mark Edmundson says that much of the pain in the world comes when we pass on our own injuries, compensating for our belittlement by sticking it to somebody else.

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When I read that, I can feel a protest coming on. But surely the prophetic tradition demands that we protest when harm is done to any of God’s creatures.

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The rebuttal I suppose would be, yes but when we fall into a pattern of reacting to everyone who cuts us off in traffic or says something unpleasant to us, then we can become negative rather than positive forces in our relationships. So here’s to doing nothing for the sake of the gospel.

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Peter

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Tiananmen Square - 20 Years After

This summer there were a number of commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square tragedy. There may have been 100,000 peacefully protesting when the military crackdown occurred. Who knows how many died. Official reports say it was 200-300. Chinese Student Associations put the number at 2,000 to 3,000. Dozens remain in prison.

I only recently read about a group of Chinese Christians that gathered on June 4 to remember the event. Many of these had been student leaders in the pro-democracy movement. The group released a statement calling for repentance, truth and reconciliation. These eighty Christians said the events had not only rocked our souls, they had also awakened our sense of social justice. A search for meaning led these leaders to Christian faith.

As the Chinese economic miracle thunders ahead, let us remember those who struggle for basic human rights. They have seen no such leap ahead. But after what they have been through, it is unlikely they will be dissuaded.

Peter


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Rachel - A Mother In Need

The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival owns the title of the world’s largest Jewish film festival. This year it stirred up some folks by including in its list of films, Rachel. Rachel Corrie was a young American who was run over and killed by a bulldozer as she tried to block the path of the machine intent on tearing down a Palestinian home in Gaza.

The Israeli consul-general objected to the film and said that the Festival’s invitation to Rachel’s mother to speak, “becomes a kind of emotional grandstanding rather than the pursuit of a deeper insight.”

This morning’s scripture tells the story of a gentile woman crying out to Jesus on behalf of her daughter. How could a mother not bring emotion to the story of her daughter’s illness or in the case of Rachel, her death? And is emotion not a legitimate means of uncovering the truth?

Rachel will be on my list of films to watch for this year. Then I can judge for myself whose voice offers the deepest insight.

Peter

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Rules For Shameless Sex

I saw a Christian magazine cover this week (Sojourners) called, Rules for Shameless Sex. It sounded like a good sermon title. But it wasn’t my idea so I resisted. But shameless sex is a helpful in trying to understand an area of life that has such potential for good and evil.

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In the article by Keith Graber Miller, the author gives us an example of the church’s shame-filled history of dealing with human sexuality. Miller says that in our distant past the church prescribed 10 years of penance for coitus interuptus, lifelong penance for oral sex and only seven years of penance for premeditated murder.

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That shows the twisted understandings that lie in our institutional past. here a few of Miller’s rules or guidelines:

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1. We need to talk openly and directly about sexuality in our homes and churches

2. We need to recognize how embodied our lives are, and we need to embrace the fundamental goodness of that embodiment.

3. We need to become thoughtful critics of exploitative images in our culture.

4. We need to recognize that what we really yearn for in life is intimacy rather than the stimulation of genital nerve endings.

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It seems to me that this is a valuable contribution to a necessary and ongoing dialogue for us all.

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Peter

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A Mini Sabbatical

Are you actually relaxing on your holidays? What does that even mean?

Roman Catholic peace activist and poet, Rose Marie Berger, says work is getting in the way of our play time. While the recession is claiming jobs, for many others work hours are increasing which causes many people to check in on work during off hours and days off. One solution to growing debt is to add another part time job. Exhaustion levels are going up for children, teens, young families and we older ones.

Berger tells us that according to the latest neuroscience, play is hardwired into us. Neurons don’t function without it. We have a duty, a typically protestant choice of words, to give ourselves a break. On the seventh day, God rested, took a mini sabbatical, relaxed.

it’s not too late for us. Summer is not yet over.

And as soon as I get my basement cleaned up, I am going to slooowww dowwwnnwn...

Peter

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United Church and Israel

I have heard from folks outside our church, asking what the heck is going on in the United Church of Canada. Colleagues in this presbytery have received angry, harassing phone messages on their voice mail. These people have heard via the media that the United Church is turning its back on “the only democracy in the Middle East.”

From what I can gather, some of the criticism comes from those who defend Israel’s decisions regardless of the consequences for the Palestinian people. But some of the criticism comes from a misunderstanding of the United Church’s position over the years. For the sake of the average citizen who reads the newspaper editorials or listens to angry talk-radio, we need to do a better job of getting our views out there.

This year’s General Council is certainly doing its best to communicate the latest information from Kelowna. I have signed up for the daily updates and you can do that in less than a minute by going to the United Church website and clicking on “General Council.” If you prefer video, you can watch the daily video feed featuring Royal Orr. And if you have the time, you can watch livestreaming.

This means that any United church member with access to a computer can stay on top of the daily Council agenda. With the latest direct information, we all can participate in an informed discussion of the important issues that are being discussed this week. What an opportunity to let those around us know about the important issues that we care about as a faith community!

Peter


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Michael Jackson and God

Some years ago Beliefnet reported that when Michael Jackson was a child garnering attention in the Jackson Five, he longed for time to play. The Sabbath Day offered a respite from the pressures of the stage. Fellow members of the Jehovah Witness church treated him like the rest of the congregation despite his stardom.

Jackson wistfully mused, “I miss the sense of community that I felt there. I miss the friends and the people who treated me like I was simply one of them. Simply human. Sharing a day with God.”

When I think of Michael Jackson, I think of the odd character who was depicted as a freak by the media. It’s easy to forget that before all the attention and money allowed him to fulfill all his fantasies, he was a little boy running around with the other children after services, wanting to be like everyone else, sharing a day with God.

Peter

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