After the "Arab Spring"

Some people in the West have cheered the revolutions in Egypt, Libya, and more recently in Syria (among other places).The "Arab Spring" has come to the Middle East and North Africa. I am no fan of dictators who have been overthrown, but we should not be naive about who or what will replace the tyranny.
       When I was in North Africa I was speaking with one of the imams about the political and social unrest in that part of the world. His country of Algeria has been spared the violence over the past year, unlike neighboring Tunisia and Libya. The imam reminded me that we "choose our poison," either living with the current regime or rolling the dice with future leaders (most of whom have been repressed and oppressed over the past 30 years or more).
     We live at a dangerous, critical, and hopeful time in the world, and especially in the Islamic nations. Certainly there is cause for concern about countries installing Sharia Law similar to Iran, and this week's riots in Egypt illustrate how volatile the situation is in places. And yet concern must not be replaced by fear, which triggers some people to demonize others and to seek their destruction.
       During the Cold War we used to talk about "Nuclear Winter." The other day I heard a Christian leader warn of an "Islam Winter" in which Muslims will overrun the Christian West.
       I beg to differ with this leader, on all sorts of levels. Most importantly, I see the possibility of a "Kingdom Summer" more than an "Islam Winter." I suppose it's all about perspective. Secondly, Jesus was very clear that His Kingdom would prevail, not any human system. Third, I have serious questions about whether the West is very Christian at all.
       We should be burdened by what is happening in Egypt, where Christians and Muslims are warring. And in Syria where a repressive regime is killing its own people. This is the place of the body of Christ, to pray and have compassion and to be givers of God's grace to people in need.

Men @ Peace this coming weekend

This coming weekend I will be with some of the most wonderful guys I know and in one of the most beautiful places on earth. I will be teaching at the men's retreat of Grace Christian Fellowship of Cortland (my home church).
       Each year the church holds their men's retreat at Raquette Lake in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, at Huntington Camp which is owned by SUNY Cortland.
       This year I am especially excited about the topic of my talks, entitled, "Men@Peace." I am doing this in anticipation of the men at Grace Fellowship beginning Men's Fraternity after the retreat. Men's Frat is a great process to help men in their walk with Christ.

Sunrise and fog at Raquette Lake

Upcoming Schedule: October-November

A friend reminded me the other day that I am traveling an awful lot these days. That is really true. Hopefully it is not too much.
       For those of you who read this blog, here is where I will be in the coming month in case you are in the same place.
* October 13-16: Raquette Lake, New York (teaching at men's retreat)
* October 17-18: Indianapolis (with Crescent Project)
* October 28-31: Cortland (Cortland State Alumni Association)
* November 2-6: Washington D.C. (Oasis Conference, check it out here)
* November 7-9: Indianapolis (with Crescent Project)
* November 11:  Denver (Friday Sabbath Celebration with community)

New Pottery from Susy

This is a piece of pottery that Susy made for me for my birthday - in a word, AWESOME! 

Taking Good Advice - Have a Bagel!

Today is my 49th birthday. It's a bit of an anti-climactic event actually. Next year is the big 5-0; 49 is just eh!

       My friend Rita (wonderful person that she is) wrote on my Facebook wall that I should go get a bagel with lox on it to start my birthday. I thought, "What a great idea!" So off I went early this morning to New York Bagel (yes, that is the real name of the closest bagel shop to my house), with my Denver Post newspaper in tow. And I sat at the bagel shop and had my bagel and lox and read the Post. A great start to the day.
       This year on my birthday I am struck by the words of Steve Jobs at the Stanford graduation in 2005. By now you have probably read or heard the words many times since Jobs' death earlier this week. "Your time is limited. So don't waste it living someone else's life."
       I don't want to waste a day of my life wondering what could have been or should have been. For the past year or more I have had a growing vision about what I have called "The Isaac-Ishmael Initiative." Some people have thought it's been a mid-life crisis, or that I am just wandering around after finishing up a pastoral position last year.
       The questions have been many - what is our theology around this hot-button issue of Jews and Muslims; what do I think about the nation of Israel and the Palestinians; why don't I move to Israel or Lebanon; why don't I go back to pastoring a church and/or developing leaders since dealing with the Jewish and Muslims issues is so thorny!
       Well, I am choosing to live amongst and between the Isaacs and Ishmaels of the world! There's a small band of us (Lebanese, French, Scottish, American, Dutch) who believe there is something "wild and crazy" that God wants to do in the Kingdom with Isaac and Ishmael, and how the Church relates to both.
       So in my 50th year of life that is what I am giving myself to - 100%. And if it seems foolish or absurd then perhaps I am right in the place God wants me to be!

I Can't Wait to Read This Book!

Brennan Manning's memoir, "All is Grace" was published today. I cannot wait to read Manning's personal remembrances and reflections on his life.
Here is one of my favorite statements by Manning:
“The Christ within who is our hope of glory is not a matter of theological debate or philosophical speculation. He is not a hobby, a part-time project, a good theme for a book, or a last resort when all human effort fails. He is our life, the most real fact about us. He is the power and wisdom of God dwelling within us.” ~ The Ragamuffin Gospel     

Safety, Security, and what I take for granted

One of the most fundamental human needs is to be safe from harm (bodily, emotional, etc.). Many westerners (myself included) take this SO for granted. It's easy to do when you are safe just about all the time, or at least we FEEL safe.
       I spent a week among the Saharawi people of Western Sahara in refugee camps between the borders of Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania. If you have to go to Google Earth to figure out where I am talking about feel free to do so! it's not exactly on the way to anything.
       The place is desolate, a desert wasteland which now houses somewhere between 165,000 and 200,000 people from Western Sahara with no natural water source, no sanitation, and no natural vegetation.
       People live in mud huts and army tents. They also demarcate "their" property by building fences made of various things - tires, other car parts, cardboard. Somehow the human condition leads us to seek safety and security; we build fences even when they functionally do no good at keeping out intruders. But these make-shift fences give the refugees some sense of order and safety in the midst of one of the most unsafe places on earth.

A Couple of First Thoughts from North Africa

I was in North Africa for a week for a three-day dialog with imams from the country. The "American Delegation" as we were called was made up of 7 people, most of whom have been doing this for six years now.
       There were 16 imams in attendance - they are mostly from Algiers.
       The last evening of the dialog we had a feast together. That's the photo to the right. It was a wonderful evening. I sat next to a young imam, Youcef, and we shared deeply about our lives.
       A few initial reflections come specifically from this meal together:
* First, this gathering was probably the most important of all the meetings we had. It was also the least formal. When we were in the formal dialog and there were other people observing, it felt like a chess match. Over dinner it felt like friendships.
* Second, there are striking similarities and agreement between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. AND there are equally great, great differences which divide us. There is little middle ground here.
* Third, most of us in the West have images and impressions of Muslims and Islamic clerics which are only partially true. Or at the very least it is unfair to make sweeping generalizations about "all imams" or "all Muslims." I think we do that sometimes to justify our prejudice against a group of people.
       I have a lot more to process, and as I am able I will do so on this blog. I cannot process everything because some things are confidential. But many things in the dialogs were very public in Algeria and so can be public elsewhere.

Where I Was the past week

I spent the past week in part of the western Sahara, near Tindouf in Algeria. I did not even know it existed a month ago.
I was in a series of refugee camps...
with some others who were speaking with a group of Muslim clerics.
Really.
I'm not kidding.
And this picture is NOT photoshopped.

Love and Fear

"I would prefer a thousand mistakes

in extravagance of love

to any paralysis

in wariness of fear."

~ Gerald May

Inside the Box, Outside the Kingdom

It has struck me the past couple of days that the more I live "in the box" of my culture and particular worldview the more likely I am to be living outside the Kingdom of God.

       I spent several hours in a major airport yesterday in which I was one of only a few non-Muslims. I felt distinctly "other," as an outsider looking into a unique context and culture.
       My cultural "box" was being torn apart at the moment and I desperately wanted to be among people just like me. I wanted "sameness" and homogeneity, I wanted to be with people who believe like I do.
       Isn't this EXACTLY what we do every day? We cocoon, we create our own "ghettos" so that we can feel safe in a community. Religious people - Jews, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus - all do this. Most religious people have justification for cocooning with people like themselves. Christian have no justification, because the Kingdom of God is for the "other." The Kingdom of God is ALL about diversity; people from all people groups coming to God through Jesus.
       More and more I am convinced that followers of Jesus are called to be minorities, to live in the midst of diversity rather than dispelling it. Growth comes in the stretching of our boxes, or perhaps asking God to redraw the box.

The Passport

This is my somewhat water-logged passport which showed up at my house 24 hours before I needed it to head out of the country. It had gotten lost in a Fedex facility in Maryland due to the recent hurricane there.
       I was told on Monday morning by a sweet Fedex rep that the package has "vanished" and that it would not be recovered. It just disappeared.
       For about 2 hours I did emotional gymnastics to come to term with not going on a trip which I felt was really important, and that God had led me to. I griped at God, denied, resisted, and then came to some level of acceptance.
       Then a guy at the Fedex warehouse in Maryland called me and said he had found an envelope with my passport in it. It had water damage but was useable. The guy was a janitor who had just started his shift.
       I asked him to bring the package to his supervisor which he was in the process of doing. 15 minutes later I got a call from Fedex customer support saying that the passport would be delivered to my house within 24 hours, which it was. It arrived at 10am yesterday - a full 26 hours before I had to get on a plane.
       So now I AM going on this much anticipated trip after all. Quite the rollercoaster trip it has been. Yes I am going, not I'm not. Yes, I am going. Whew, talk about an adrenaline rush!
       I am probably offline for the next week, so no blog entries. I'll give an update as I can when I am back.

A Great Spoof on We New Yorkers!

Should churches show video of the twin towers?

While in Indianapolis this week I had a conversation with a guy who said that last Sunday the pastor of his church showed a clip of the planes flying into the Twin Towers 10 years ago. It was an illustration about the depravity of man and how Jesus is the only hope for the world.
       This is not the first time I heard someone say that a video of the Sept. 11th tragedy was shown during a worship service this past weekend. At first I was just puzzled by this. But after hearing three different people voice strong emotions toward this I got thinking further, and wondered why this does not seem right.
       I am most distraught about this video being shown in churches because:
* The event was so traumatizing to so many people, and watching the video again and again only re-traumatizes;
* I suppose that a preacher can move from those scenes of destruction to the grace of God in a sermon, but it is a LONG way to travel;
* One person said they thought the preacher was trying to be "cutting edge" or "outside the box." Considering that a whole bunch of preachers did the same thing last Sunday I sort of doubt it was outside the box too far;
* I think you can verbalize about depravity and sin without showing the video and people will formulate images from their own memory. Basically the clips are not necessary.
       I am a preacher too. I have had good days and bad days preaching sermons. Sometimes I have thought sermons are way more important and spiritually forming than I believe they are (that's another blog post).
       I am sure of this: We can do better than showing planes flying into towers as illustrations of depravity. God is certainly better than that.

Some Thoughts on Community on Sept. 11th

Last night we had 30 or 35 people over to our house for a BBQ/potluck along with a brief "Shalom Remembrance" in light of 9/11. For me it was a relaxed, comfortable evening with friends. Mostly we just hung out and visited, and ate some great food that people brought along.
       We held a short liturgy shaped after part of a Sabbath service in a synagogue.
* Lighting the candles (Susy did that)
* Reciting the Shema
* Responsive reading (Lizzy did that)
* Blessing the children
* The Mourner's Kaddish/Prayer
* Singing (Dan led that)
* Aaronic Blessing
       Pretty straightforward really. It was good to "shabbat" together  to rest. And to seek Shalom in Jesus. The evening provided some solace for me, it helped me live in the midst of great sadness and great hope that God gives. I find it a lot easier to live in this space in community rather than trying to do it on my own.
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Postlude: A few of us "stragglers" had a bit of an after-party around the firepit. (see photo) The hardcore party-ers I call them!