It struck me this week that there seems to be one thing in this world that keeps people lost, angry or depressed. This item causes wars, breads sexism, racism and ultimately divides neighbor from neighbor, family member from family member. And if we sought this one thing, instead of fearing it, lives would change, communities would prosper and the Great Commission would be fulfilled. That one thing is: understanding.

One might think that wars accrue in a nation out of concerns over power and control, that marriages break down because of infidelity and growing apart. Many people believe that if we as a society could bring people around to our way of seeing the world, everything would be better.

This week I would like you to consider with me for a moment that war does not happen because a country hates their neighbor. Wars start and continue because a country does not seek to understand their neighbor.

Marriages end because one or both parties seek to be understood rather than understand the other. Our news, governments and even our houses of worship, teach people to fear their enemies. As though our lives would have peace if we sought to create people who are in our likeness.

I commend to you that when Jesus tells us to “love our enemy” or to “love our neighbor as ourselves,” he is really telling us to seek understanding. For real love, compassion, peace and wholeness is only possible when we seek to truly understand ourselves and others.

I truly believe when Gandhi tells states that “love is the force that can liberate” he is saying that understanding is the key to our freedom within ourselves and one another.

Almost weekly someone asks me what I believe is going to fix the “homeless issue” in Lakeland. And though I often give them a speech about setting boundaries and the need for more beds, what I wish I had time to say to each of them is understanding.

I get frustrated on all sides of the homeless concerns in Lakeland. Often liberal voices simply want to blame industry, laws and a lack of resources in the community. More conservative voices want to blame the homeless and individuals or as a collective for lazy choices and liberals for wanting to create a social state for entitled people to sponge off them.

But just as the community is split, so is that homeless population themselves. Some complain that the community has abandoned them in their most difficult moment — given there is a lack of jobs and medical insurance and rolling lay offs.

And then there are those small numbers of homeless and social welfare families who really do feel entitled and believe it is up to Lakeland as a community to tend to their needs.

At the end of the day, we all want the same thing. Tea Party men and women, chronic homeless, downtown shop owners, pastors, politicians alike want to be heard, respected for who we are.

We all want to know love and in the end, we all simply want to be understood as individuals and not as a collective.

Until we mindfully stop our blind acting and start listening, we as a society will always seek to control or shiver in fear around our enemies. I am ending as I began, “…’love our enemy’ is impossible, because the moment we love him, he is no longer our enemy.”

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index photo credit: the|G|™

Of course it’s difficult to sit and pray with a mourning family. Still, you see the soft tenderness of an old husband holding the hand of his lifetime bride or a family circled around their mother or father telling memories of life, hope or regrets.

Grieving is natural – a part of the circle of life. It is the band that connects people to family, community and the reality of the frailty of life. The words “from ashes to ashes” should not just be a reminder that we all eventually die, but that we should treasure those around us and love is special and impermanent.

However, the most difficult hospital rooms to walk into are the ones where no one has gathered. Where contacts were called and no one cared to come.

A few weeks ago I wrote about Danny Boy, the man barred from many places in Lakeland. A man whose incontinence kept most from getting close.

This week Danny Boy was found dead near Lake Morton.

Danny fell through the cracks of Lakeland. Not because he was invisible. Everyone downtown knew him. Danny Boy was found usually circling Kentucky and Main shuffling his feet; acting and smelling as a constant reminder of homeless issues in our community. Danny fell through the cracks because he was that reminder.

The saddest part of Danny’s death this week was not where he died. It was how he lived. Danny had been homeless, incontinent and alone in Lakeland for almost seven years.

After suffering from several strokes, Danny was left with very little mobility. He was left incontinent and unable to stay clean. After being banned from most businesses and shelters in the area, Danny was left without access to restrooms and showers. He was left without shelter. He was left alone.

His death ended his endless shuffle away from those who wanted him to move along. His death meant that Danny is finally at peace.

The tragedy of Danny’s death will come now to Lakeland. To our community, Danny was the image of God at our doorway.

“The poor will always be among us” was not a reminder that we have to always deal with those less fortunate. It was a lesson that God will constantly show His face. He looks to see if we are sharing the grace He has shown. If we are showing that face to those around us.

In a world and community like we are blessed to live in today, no one should die lost, forgotten and alone.

Last week Danny died — lost, forgotten and alone. With Danny died one opportunity to respond to God’s love.

What other faces of God are shuffling around us? How are we going to do better when we meet them?

photo credit: Zero1o1

Note: Due to a production error, this column originally misidentified the columnist as Chuck Welch. Chris Craig is correct.

Sitting down to write, I was drawn to so many different angles I thought I could have written from. The first was to try to write an explanation and letter to radical Muslims explaining the anger and freedoms which our American radical Christians enjoy. I would have tried to explain that though their fundamentalist outliers become angry flag and building burning terrorists, our fundamentalist Christians do not have to burn buildings to get attention. They have a whole FOX News network to drive their hate and fear.

See, right now America needs someone or something to blame for their economy. And truthfully isn’t it so much easier to blame a distant land or religion for our misfortune, misspending and self-indulgent lifestyle? Yet by responding with those types of words, I am only tempted into the same anger and fear which is driving those conservative voices.

Then I thought I could write the article advising Rev. Terry Jones and his Cologne congregation in Florida who desired to commemorate 9/11 by burning sacred scripture. Reminding them about the how their Lord asks them to treat their enemies.

44But I tell you: Love your enemies[a]and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt 5:44-48)

And reminding Americans of how we feel when we hear a country is burning our flag how would we act if they were burning our bible!

However, in the end, the article which I felt the most called to share was more of a critical reflection on myself. See, my first response when someone asked me as a soul-centered, religious minded Christian was to turn to meditative, mindful silence. And though there is certainly a time for just quiet being these many years since 9/11, my response (and I believe the response of religious minded grace centered believers) needs to be one of seeking reconciliation, peace and understanding.

For example the Bishop of a group gathered in Washington this last week drafted a letter of memoriam which sought understanding and yet acknowledged the loss of lives.

A statement from Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster, President of the Council of Bishops, and Bishop Neil L. Irons, Executive Secretary of the Council of Bishops, follows:

As we approach yet another September 11, we are reminded that the world we live in continues to be a fragile place where emotions and tensions run high. There are not many of us who will ever forget where we were on that September morning nine years ago. We should never forget those whose lives were taken away in the horror of just a few hours.

September 11 should be, for all of us, a day of prayer for peace in this world. It should be a day for quiet remembrance and reflection as we seek to find and live in the ways of peace. We think of Jesus pausing on his way into the holy city of Jerusalem on the day we call Palm Sunday. He wept over the city—not so much for what was about to happen to him, but because the people did not know the things that make for peace (Luke 19:41-42). We suspect he still weeps, looking out over the world we currently inhabit.

September 11 should be a day of prayer for rebuilding and restoring relationships, and for reaching out to find ways to work and live together in this world. It is not a day for burning the holy book of another faith tradition. Tragically one person has garnered headlines for advocating such a thing. There is nothing of Jesus in such an action. In fact, as we recall, there was a time when the disciples wanted to call down fire from heaven on the perceived enemies for refusing to receive Jesus. No, Jesus said; in fact he “rebuked” those who advocated such a means. (Luke 9:51-55). Such an action is not the way of Jesus, nor the way of peace and love.

From a meeting earlier this week in Washington, DC, of religious leaders of many faith communities:

“We are convinced that spiritual leaders representing the various faiths in the United States have a moral responsibility to stand together and to denounce categorically, derision, misinformation or outright bigotry directed against any religious group in this country. Silence is not an option. Only by taking this stand, can spiritual leaders fulfill the highest calling of our respective faiths, and thereby help to create a safer and stronger America for all of our people.” ** (Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster President, Council of Bishops)

I do believe we as Americans need to remember the losses of loved ones and certain freedoms which 9/11 left us. However, many years since the loss, I believe we also have a responsibility to learn from our misfortune and find ways to build dialogue, to seek areas where peace, hope and love can be shared. For if we only celebrate 9/11 each year with silence, anger and fear, we will never find the peace and forgiveness which are the gifts that are granted through, grace, hope and reconciliation.

photo credit: jmw_wilson

One might think after reading my last articles Oh Danny Boy or Speaking for my Constituents, that I was some flaming liberal who wanted to foster a social welfare state in the City of Lakeland. Some might think that I think that our public officials and community need to dismiss the needs of merchants and taxpaying citizens to tend to the homeless condition in Lakeland.

For the last several weeks some people apparently read into my articles that I believed for someone to be right in their faith, they needed to blindly give their money and resources to everyone who claims to be homeless and hungry in our city’s parks and streets.

Thus, I want to make a few of my Religion in The City opinions a bit more clear. First, I myself do not believe that blind faith or any other spirit-centered action should ever be done without prayerful consideration for the person, place or community. The parable of the Good Samaritan is not a story about a traveler who finds a beat up man on the road and in a sacred fashion decides to throw the man a couple of bucks so he doesn’t feel bad walking around him.

I am not advocating that either the City of Lakeland or individuals in it throw money or resources which would blindly allow camping, loitering and pan-handling in the City of Lakeland. What I want to awaken is a community of soul-centered citizens who do not want to walk around those who are beaten and broken. I desire to speak words of unity and oneness in our community. Blind giving can be just as sinful as cheap grace. Both are requests and expect answers with no intent of a relationship. For even though it appears we are tending to the poor, giving someone a dollar or handout just appeases one’s guilt. Giving just so that we don’t have to really encounter or address a person’s real needs. It has the potential to be as wrong as a blanket no-camping ordinance which has the potential to criminalize homelessness.

Once again, do not get me wrong. I am not against a Camping Ordinance which sets boundaries and fosters healthy opportunities for appropriate shelter and care for our neighbors who might be lost and struggling in our community.

For example, wouldn’t it be amazing if — before seeking to trespass homeless campers — our city police were instructed to give them the option to appear in front of a partner church or social service agency? An organization trained and funded to hear and address people’s individual homeless needs?

This still gives our police the tools needed to keep the peace and set boundaries. Yet, it also grants those with broken stories the opportunity to write a new healthy chapter to their life’s narrative.

Whether you seek your religious calling or voice from Moses, Mohamed, The Buddha or Jesus, your calling to your neighbor will never be one that asks you to blindly dismiss or dehumanize another’s brokenness. There is no easy black and white answer for why the “poor will always be among us”. But there will always be an individual life story in the midst of a person’s brokenness. Only when we are willing to join in people’s individual journeys will we be able to end homelessness.

An ill given or dismissive dollar won’t buy a cup of coffee, but a mindful dollar given with time and dignity can build community, grant hope and renew a life.

photo credit: Alejandro @horno

Though most police, non-profits and churches know him, Danny never asks anyone for anything. Danny cannot get a job because of his broken English and has incontinence from his numerous strokes. He doesn’t have medical insurance so hospitals treat him but will not hold him. After his last stroke, they tended to him for a week and then had a taxi drop him off on Kentucky Boulevard, barely able to stand or walk.

Danny has to keep moving though; he doesn’t want to stop anywhere too long down town, because of the smell of his clothing, even after it is washed. Because of his many strokes Danny has a very difficult time walking or really even expressing his needs. He cannot hold his bowels and he is trespassed from any restaurant restroom. His potent smell has him formally trespassed from almost every business and even a couple of church properties in Lakeland. Even the local non-profits are only willing to wash his clothes and deliver food trays to him outside.

If you were to ask Danny, he will tell you that since he has been here almost 12 years Lakeland is his home. He has no living relatives, so he has no other place he could go for peace. Danny is unfortunately a good example of Lakeland’s chronic homeless who have fallen through all the social service cracks.

He does not have enough mental illness to be Baker Acted. He’s not a veteran, so he doesn’t have any special medical or housing benefits. He would not be eligible for public housing. After being trespassed and arrested, he has several misdemeanors which would deny him housing benefits. If you run into him on the street or in the park, you might think that he is lost or confused because he seems to never just sit or stand in one place.

Because of all these many factors, Danny sleeps out of sight in the midst of high weeds in either the “Asian Jungle” on 92 or sheltered behind brush near the overpass and railroad tracks on the west side of town.

I share Danny’s description and plight with you for two reasons. First, because he is an example of someone who would be seriously affected by the “Camping Ordinance” Lakeland is trying to put in effect in September. An ordinance which would make Danny’s type of homelessness a crime.

Second, because I cannot think of a better example of Christ’s presence in our community. It is pleasant to think of Jesus as a robed, Caucasian hippy with long hair, bright teeth and a firm handshake. It is convenient to pray to a God at Church or Synagogue who looks like you do, one that may smell like sweet incense which a cantor spreads throughout a Mass or cooked turkey at a Thanksgiving meal. But this is not how God has said he will look, act or smell when he comes to our doors.

2All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34″Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37″Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40″The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ (Matt 25:32-40)

In your meditations and prayers this week, I would like you to consider what we in Lakeland are saying to God at our doors, with a blanket “Camping Ordinance?” And one step further than that question, looking at the scripture above, would we be the sheep or goats, the wheat or the chaff?

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photo illustration credit: Edward Allen L. Lim

I suppose this would make sense if we really are to think of a government official as a representative of the community they serve. However isn’t there an implicit agreement that our elected officials will collect information and act in good faith as a voice for the voiceless? I’m not sure if voting for constituents equates to voting for the best interests of a community.

Is not acting a certain way just for the support of the popular a little like handing out candy to the captains of the dodge ball team so you don’t get picked last? Now that I think of it, I do remember distantly throwing a pizza party my sophomore year of high school to convince the students in my class that I would be the best voice for their SADD president.

I remember thinking I was so smart when I realized that the community activist kids in my classes cared far more about the pizza than my heartfelt concern about Students Against Drunk Driving. All of this seems very funny and simple now, but I wonder how many of our local, state and federal elected officials learned these lessons when they were young?

To be fair about what expectations we have set up for our elected officials, the question could be asked: is my expectation in voting for someone that they will have the best interests of the community in mind, or my best interest in mind? Do we expect our officials to faithfully seek out what is loving and right for our communities? Do we have an expectation that they will be a clear voice for those with no voice or do we elect people who we believe will carry out our own agendas and needs?

Many years after my SADD election realization about how to win votes and influence people by doing what they want, I found myself sitting in a college class on ethics where the question was posed, “Do you feed the hungry because they are hungry or because God told you to?” That is an interesting question which we may need to be asking our elected officials. Are they people who say the right thing because it is true, right and fair or because they know what it is we want to hear?

This week, as you listen to your president or consider the actions of your governor and mayor, stop and ask yourself the question: who’s best interests are they acting in and what are they doing which is just right? The question of what your expectations are for your elected officials is certainly a question to meditate and prayerful consider this week.

photo credit: TheVerve

Maybe one of the best examples was the struggle between loving one’s neighbor could be characterized by the German Lutheran theologian and writer Dietrich Bonheoffer’s notion of “Large Heartedness”. Just when World War II was going through its ascendancy stage, German Lutheran Pastor Bonheoffer took exile in New York City’s Union Seminary in Harlem. There he attended an African American congregation struggling with civil rights issues. In the heat of being part of such a radical fight for liberation, Bonheoffer was called in a deep way to unite with his neighbor through “Large Heartedness,” for he was struggling with what it really meant for a community to strive to love his neighbors as self in the midst of persecution. People say that it was through the lesson that Bonheoffer learned in Harlem that he was able to established the courage to return to his home congregation in Germany and publicly speak out against Hitler. A decision, I would like to mention, which lead to his execution.

I think what lead to this week’s observance and study of the religious calling to relationship with neighbor, is because I have realized as of late that I really do not know my neighbors. As a child I was a bit of a TV kid who kept to myself and really did not bond with neighborhood children. In college I knew my dorm or campus mates but only really in a superficial way. Though I have attended, even assisted and taught in churches most of my life, I have kept a safe distance, not wanting to share too much personal information. Church in many ways has felt like work to me. I’m not sure if you can relate to this feeling, but sometimes I think church relationships can be some of the most masked relationships with one’s neighbor that people have. And even though I know how important it is to share the intimacy of Christ’s love with a loving community and Church. Some of the most important gifts of foundation and discernment come through a truthful vulnerability which is meant to unite one another in community.

Kristin Tippett in her book Speaking of Faith points out “The context of most religious virtue is relationship — practical love in families and communities, and care for the suffering and the stranger beyond the bounds of one’s own identity.” (p.3)

What I have come to realize is just how little I know about what the “friends” or neighbors who sit next to me in cafés, bars or even church, do. This last week I got a photo head shot done by a “friend” I sit next to and joke with at least three of four times a week in town. It turned out my “friend” Mookie is really Michael Wilson, an award winning photographer for the Ledger. In the same way my pal Rob who I see around town for coffee and conversation several times a week is really Dr. Tate who is the Vice President at Florida Southern University. Now in all honesty these are just two interesting examples of neighbors who I knew what they do, but up to recently have never really gotten to know the implication of what they do and who they are.

I believe one of the key issues which our society’s religious communities are not really addressing is people’s lack of knowledge about who their neighbor is. How are we supposed to be our brothers keeper or Love our neighbor as ourselves if so much of our religious life and spirituality is wrapped up in a our own heads and our personal relationship with our maker.

This week, in the midst of your prayers and mediations, I commend to you the person sitting in the café, bar, workplace and church sitting across from you –the one next to you. And leave you with the question, “How well do you know your neighbor?”

photo credit: Tom Hagerty for Metro I4 News

My guess is that many of you are here today listening to me speak simply because it is one of the mandatory activities in the program. But why did you pick this program for yourself and your children? Is it because you hope this program will provide you with the safe space and time you need to get a job and find a home; while at the same time providing care for your children? But other than stability, what other reason or purpose could getting a job and home have for you?

What makes a good job worth having or having a stable home any better than the transitory living of couch jumping? Could it possibly be that besides just the permanence of a good space or job, there is a personal satisfaction and fulfillment from it that makes you feel like you are living a good life?

I have heard it said that money and possessions are not worth having if you do not feel you have worked to feel you deserve them. I guess I have found the same to be true about hope and grace. Though I know grace is a free gift and I do not believe in works righteousness. There has always been a side of me that felt like I was more personally fulfilled and satisfied when I was attempting to live a good life.

I also have to confess as this group begins that there are times when I wake up and don’t like my job or can’t stand the place I live. It is in those moments when I realize that there has to be something more to living a “good life” than having a job and a stable place to live. This group is for asking and attempting to answer some of these core questions: What more is there to a good life? What should I do with my life? What sort of person do I want to be?

Later I thought Socrates’ might have asked it best some 2,500 years ago when he asked, “What would a life worth living look like?” I am constantly amazed when talking with people who are walking through hell in their lives, how so much of their anguish revolves around a felt incompleteness or lack of purpose.

Our work places, just like our social services, ask us to build and reach goals to create measurable successes. Yet how many friends, how many family members, neighbors or co-workers do you know could not even begin to imagine what a life worth living would have in it? Oh if you ask most people they can tell you that more money, the right woman or man, a bigger house or a better job would make them happy.

But how much money? What would the right relationship have to have? How many rooms, in what state, community or neighborhood would the bigger house have to have to be fulfilling? If they had the perfect job, what would it be, what difference would it have to make in the world or their family to really make them feel like they had a purpose?

The Cherokee use the word uyelvdvi, which can be interpreted as “real purpose”. Cherokee writer Joyce Sequiehie Hifler says that uyelvdvi comes from asking “who we are and what we believe”.

This week in your prayers and meditations I commend to you the old Socratic question: What would life worth living look like?

photo credit: Chuck Welch for Metro I4 News

The way I remember the exercise happening came out in the fact that I had been sweating profusely with a long sleeved shirt on. And at some point, without really thinking about it, I rolled up my sleeves to make a point. At that point it was not more than a couple of minutes before I could hear the little whispers about my tattoos which were now showing near my wrists. I’m not sure if it was the Holy Spirit or just a creative flash, but at that moment I put down the script of my speech and handed out white paper, crayons and markers out to all the tables. I asked each person to draw a picture or write one praise which could depict either their personality or a favorite moment –something that summed up who they are and who they have been.

When all the tables had time to share their pictures or phrases within their small groups I pulled everyone together and rolled my shirt sleeves the rest of the way up. After listening to each group present some of the stories, praises and pictures they shared, I asked them if any of them could imagine having to pick one of their life pictures or phrases to place on their body for the rest of their lives. With my sleeves rolled up I then shared the stories behind each of my tattoos. I told these grandmothers and grandfathers if they wanted to really hear the stories of their grandchildren and children’s lives, you should ask them to tell the stories of their tattoos.

I explained to the group that the youth and young adults in their church are living in a generation that shares their stories, their wounds, memories, joys and fears on their bodies. I explained to them that the easy way out was to look at the youth — with their pants hanging down, their lip rings and tattoos and assume that they are either ignorant, apathetic or worthless. I also assured them that as easy as it is for them to dismiss their children, it is just as easy for their children to dismiss them as –out of touch, unimaginative and stuck in the muds.

I think the message in our churches needs to be that the youth are just as much the church of today as tomorrow and the seniors of the church are just as relevant to the church today as they have been in the past. We are all the church of today –when we live mindfully in the moment with Christ!

This great tattoo moment jumped into my mind this week because of the article I read by Chuck Colson of The Christian Post. In the article Mr. Colson offers a strict warning to Christians who would consider getting Christ centered tattoos:

“Some believers argue that there’s nothing wrong with a Christian-themed tattoo, like the cross. And Christians who get them do so out of love of Christ. But believers ought to ask themselves which sort of mark God would prefer. Tattoos last a lifetime-unless they are painfully removed. But the spiritual marks of a Christian last through all eternity…many Christians reject tattoos…understanding of the higher and the lower, the superior and the inferior…[keeps] Christians from emulating what remains for that reason a pagan practice.”

I must confess to Mr. Colson that he is quite right, I am a Christian with a full sleeve of Christian tattoos and there are many times I wish I could just share the grace and peace of Jesus with just my verbal words because being a verbal Christian is so much easier then wearing the gospel message of hope on your physical heart and body. As a verbal Christian you have the opportunity to hide what you stand for so that you don’t offend certain audiences. I do have to confess to Mr. Colson and so many Pharasees like him, that sometimes when I am feeling weak I wish people could not look at my body and know that I am a Christian. See, when someone makes the faith leap to move deeper in their faith from just talking about God and moves to writing or drawing God’s word on their bodies and hearts to share and teach of God’s love for all humankind in the world— it is not a judgment. It simply means that some people are at a different place in their faith journey.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you today shall be written on your heart(TATTOOED!); you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deuteronomy 6:5-7)

In a past column I shared a particularly sobering moment when I was at a bar in Ybor City relaxing with friends. Totally out of the blue and certainly not from anything I had said a man seeing rushed over to me. Seeing the Serenity Prayer tattooed on my arm he stated that had been sober and in AA for quite sometime. Seeing the Serenity Prayer on my arm seemed like a reminder from God that that bar was not where he needed to be. I cannot tell you how many times a month I have experienced God using my tattoos to start a conversation with people about their faith walks. It is like wearing an invitation to talk about God where ever you go! Thus as I stated before, I must confess my life as a Christian would be so much easier if I was not called to acknowledge God’s love and allow Him to direct my path.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:3-6)

Now Mr. Colson do not worry, I am not saying you cannot or should not be a Christian without tattoos! Just as Paul shared with Gentiles that they did not have to be circumcised to receive Christ as the early Jewish Christians believed new converts should have to do.

It used to be that Christians could just follow blind laws such as Leviticus 19:28 “Do not… or put tattoo marks on yourselves.” Once again it is much easier for Christians to pick and choose from
Talmudic literature and decide what pieces of the law they want to judge people on and which ones they do not. Any Rabbi would tell you that the book of Leviticus needs to be interpreted within the historical context in which it was written. The Levital laws were health codes and moral codes which were laid out to build separation between the Pagans and chosen Jewish community which was to inhabit their holy land. If you are not Jewish and are reading this, I want to point out that these laws were set up to separate Jews from Pagans. If you are not Jewish, you would have been a pagan!

But I hear you saying, “But Christ changed all of that. Through the resurrection we are all saved–Jew and Gentile alike!” Well then why are you still clinging to old laws, laws that you have been told clearly you are no longer a slave from. Read these Levital laws and think for a moment what other pieces of these laws have fundamentalists abandoned because they would judge them rather than the people they feel should be judged?

‘When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden. [a] For three years you are to consider it forbidden [b] ; it must not be eaten.
24 In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, an offering of praise to the LORD.
25 But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way your harvest will be increased. I am the LORD your God.
26 ” ‘Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it.
” ‘Do not practice divination or sorcery.
27 ” ‘Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.
28 ” ‘Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.
29 ” ‘Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness.
30 ” ‘Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19)

I promise to all of you reading this, I am not trying to judge anyone for or for not having tattoos. What I am saying is that we are called to share our faith and our beliefs with our whole bodies, hearts and minds.

photo credit: Chris Craig for Metro I4 News

I share this because my life– and I wonder if your life –has felt a little like this commercial for the last couple of months. It just seems like there are so many superfluous items that take up my energy that the time I have to spend living out my goals, objectives and calling is only a shadow of what I feel like the rest of the world is expecting of me. After all, isn’t there supposed to be a time for everything under heaven?

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

This week my meditation questions are very simple. First, “Who is dictating where your time and energy is being spent?” And second, “When with all the good work you are doing for your community church, friends and family, will you have time to take a break, rest, be still and simply know God?”

My closing thought comes from Steve Jobs. The quote really spoke to my life. I hope it will speak to yours.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Editor’s Note: Before this column, we asked Chris Craig to slow down for the summer. For the next three months, Craig’s column will appear fortnightly.

photo credit: thekevinchang

photo credit: Lammasu

This week’s piece came out of a moment of frustration at work. I was assisting a middle-aged Hispanic woman in the rent and utilities assistance part of the non-profit I work for. The frustration was in her broken English and my lack of any knowledge of Spanish. I want to point out that my initial thought was frustration at her with her broken English. But that frustration was countered very quickly by a spiritual truth which reminded me that the real problem was my lack of any knowledge of Spanish.

It is not only we as Americans, but also we as religious or spiritual people, who often fall into the trap of believing if someone wants our help, they’d better be willing to hear our message in the language WE speak. The Catholic Church from almost their existence allowed their Masses to be delivered only in Latin. Jewish Temples still do all their reading from the Torah in Hebrew. And how many Protestant Churches do you know which simply assume a biblical understanding and a sense of theological terminology to be an active part of their congregations?

I often personally struggle to interpret for the homeless and for others seeking aid the language of social service. The rules and specifications around funding and grants are so specific these days that unless you know the right words and criteria, the social services will bog you down with such red tape that it takes months or years to receive the assistance one needs today. As anyone who has ever applied for disability, each and everyone of them will tell you a horror story about the number of times their case was denied before all the paperwork and court dates aligned to receive the help they so desperately needed.

I must tell you that it is wonderful when you meet a person you just click with, someone you speak the same language with, someone who gets you and feels heard and ministered to by you. However, I must confess those times are very rare. The Holy Spirit almost always calls us to leave what we know and enter into the language, culture and realities of other’s lives.

In the church calendar, the first festival is the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. The second is the Feast of Weeks which is now coined “Pentecost”. And the third is called the Feast of Tabernacles. In essence these feasts are a commemoration of when God by entering the brokenness of his people, offered them freedom from their captivity and gave them the promised land. If you want to do more reading about these festivals I commend to you Leviticus 23:15, 16.

Many Christians view Pentecost as the birthday of the Church. It is the day when the Disciples joined the Passover celebration of Shavuot where all the nations of Israel were gathered and with the image of fire tongues on their heads, began to speak and hear in all the languages that were present.

When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” (Acts 2:1-11)

What I want to point out here is that the Church is said to have been born when, one, the Jewish community had come together to celebrate their freedom in a new land; and two, when the Disciples of Jesus began to speak in the language and dialect of the audience to whom they were speaking. Their calling was not to wait and share good news with only people who knew their language and culture. They were called to enter into the lives and language of those they encountered.

We as a society can be that church or temple for those who are not like us, those who are lost and vulnerable who may or may not speak our language. Instead of becoming a community, country or church which seeks to racially profile and weed out those who are unlike us, we could join together in love building bridges rather than walls in our world.

Once convinced by the Holy Spirit that the Spanish I did not speak was my problem and not the woman I was trying to speak to, the afternoon took a shift. A co-worker and friend of mine, Jose, joined me in the conversation with the Hispanic woman. Every word I said, he shared in Spanish, and when she spoke he interpreted it in English. Together we shared the language not just of social service, but also with the image of fire over our heads celebrated a Pentecost and a Shavuot at the same time.

A church or temple is not the individuals that make it up, but the combined forces, gifts and love they have to share as one. I am not going to be able to speak every language, but by rejoicing in my community I can build bridges and alliances which will interpret the messages of hope which I feel called to share.

This week I would like you to meditate on what gifts and messages you have been called to share. And what audiences with the help of your community of faith could you join with to deliver that message? The Holy Land was called the Holy Land because God entered into people’s lives. We as a U.S. society need to stop thinking so much about building barriers to foster separateness and think more about ways to enter in and speak words of hope to all of God’s children.

photo credit: swanksalot

In the last couple weeks I have not so much been surprised, but appalled by both the media and our government’s response to the tragic oil spill in the gulf. The Republicans want to blame one company– BP, and the Democrats want to ride the coattails of the tragedy to try to say “I told you so” to the US’s blanket dependency on fossil fuels. The media from Fox to Rachel Maddow seem determined to lead Americans to –first and always– find someone or something to blame for the brokenness of our world, leading our society to point their fingers and throw their stones, naming someone to blame besides ourselves.

I do not know about you, but I would guess I am using just as much gas and energy now as I did two weeks ago. I must confess it would be much easier join with the –right–and find sole blame in BP . And I could certainly join with the –left–in blaming our government for its dependency on fuel. The idea is as long as I am told I can pick a side to blame, I do not have to take personal responsibility for my own expectations and dependencies.

The trap when searching first to find someone to –blame–is that it seeks to build separation rather than unity. The idea is “If we can find someone or something to blame for our brokenness, we would not have to take responsibility for our own mistakes.” When our media and government give us someone to blame, we get to spend our time judging them and we do not have to join with others to address our brokenness as a whole.”

The other problem with this type of–them and us–separation is that though it attempts to build safer borders, what it really breads is fear, powerlessness and loneliness.

When our government tells us that the “axis of evil” must be blamed and attacked, it does not lead our families, churches and society to try to seek understanding of other cultures; it simply creates a sense of fear and isolation. Even if we can figure out what piece broke on what ship and what oil company’s product creator we can blame for the current oil spill, it will not eliminate one drop of the oil which is spilling out.

Just as Jesus asked his followers “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matt 6:27) I also believe finding–blame–will not add a single hour to addressing the tribulation in either our own lives or the world.

This is not to in any way say that we as individuals, families, religious institutions or as a government should not seek justice or weed out institutions or individuals which seek to cause us harm. A rapist must be found and put behind bars, for the safety of all people. However, I sometimes wonder if the differences between a terrorist, a militia or freedom fighter, have a great deal to do with the side you’re fighting for and who you have been told you should blame for your own brokenness.

My question for you to prayerfully consider this week is twofold:

First, do you think we could address both our world and personal brokenness differently if we did not cling first to blame?
Second, how could we leave behind the fear and separation created out of blame and enter our personal and communal conflicts in a spirit of unity?

photo credit: Walt Jabsco

As Karen broke down for me the circumstances of the evening she confessed that she felt in many ways it was her fault she got hit; she knew he did not like her hanging out with her girlfriends. “He always told me they were a bad influence on me.”

Trying to keep the conversation light, I asked her how she had avoided getting hit before. Smiling, she said with a smirk, “I think sometimes love means knowing when to duck.”

Now I must tell you, Karen is not her real name, but the conversation is true and very indicative of a conversation that countless women are having with friends, family and counselors this very day. The Department of Justice estimates that a woman is battered every 9 seconds.

One of the primary mistakes of anyone who is counseling either a family member, friend or client who is in an abusive relationship is to try to focus all their conversation and energy on trying to build a hatred and anger for the abuser. It is easy from the outside to see a cycle of violence that someone is in and believe that if you could just build up enough hatred in the person being abused, for their abuser, they would find the strength to leave the person and situation for good.

Unfortunately the sad truth — that most counselors have come to learn the hard way — is that even with all the best exit strategies, battered women’s safety shelters and counseling, 80% of abused women will return to their abusers.

This last week I led a group on Circle of Violence, a counseling tool which maps a typical, cyclical pattern of power and control in an abusive relationship.

The scenario I painted for them was a fictitious example of the combined stories I have heard for years….

So lets say you’re a strong single mother, you had your child when you were young, believing that high school boyfriend really loved you. Now after many years as a struggling single mother, a man comes along out of the blue and shows a liking for you. Lets exaggerate that a little and say, a guy comes along and offers you the world.

Even if when you question his intentions at first, this is a guy that picks you up in the rain, grabs the extra groceries, is willing to help with the light bill and even helps clothe your children.

On the surface, Prince Charming, willing to love you no matter what! As a matter of fact, he loves you so much that you find that you don’t have to work, and after all, since he says he is going to take care of you, why would you need to go to school or get a job? Don’t the movies say a good man is one that will sweep you off your feet and take care of all your needs?

Next thing you know, you’re not paying rent or any other bills, you really don’t need a job or day care, and with all the love you both share, why would you ever need any other friends or family around? Hey, after all, isn’t it true that if he is paying all the bills, he deserves your respect? Just because he hit you that once, it was an accident. Besides, since that one time he has felt so sorry that he is much easier to live with and even uses the words love, forever and commitment.

When times are good, they are amazing. If you could just figure out the triggers, or the little things that piss him off, you could just avoid them and things would be perfect again. The third time’s the charm, right? After all, if he just hits me and never lays a hand on my child, I know he still respects me; I just need to listen better! I know what time he wants the dinner on the table –I did leave a mess in the sink– and he does work very long hours to provide for all me and my children’s needs.

Besides as he reminds you daily –if you did want to leave, where would you go? You don’t have any friends or family around you anymore, you abandoned them because they either got in the way of your real love or they didn’t get along with your boyfriend. At the end of the day, things always seem to blow over and isn’t real love for –better or worse?

I do not think I need to go much further with this depiction. You can see the pattern of power and control in the above relationship. A guy lures in a woman in need, offering her the world. At some point he isolates her from her friends and family and teaches her that she needs him and could not, should not live without him. The sex is often good at the beginning and the depiction of love often matches the type of love that either the abuser or abusee was raised with in the first place.

The question for the group and my question for you is, where do you break away from the cycle? The spiritual question here is –do you break the cycle with anger, hatred, hope or love?

I wonder if the secret of breaking the bonds of an abusive or “power and control” relationship is less in timing when to leave, and more with finding the inner need the relationship is attempting to fill.

We all want to be nurtured, to find uniting intimacy that will speak to the darkness or loneliness that most people live with. Just like anger often disguises it self as depression, I wonder if sometimes power and control masks its self as a controlled love?

If friends, family members, and counselors could take their minds off how many times someone is helped and returns to their abuser and refocus their attention on the actual needs that the abusive relationship is fulfilling, then the conversation from every direction becomes one of interpreting a need for lasting love. Just as Jesus said you forgive a man/woman “seven times seven times”. The Buddha put it like this in the writings of the Dhammapada (translated by Thomas Byron):

“Look how he abused me and beat me,
How he threw me down and robbed me.”
Live with such thoughts and you live in hate.

“Look how he abused me and beat me,
How he threw me down and robbed me.”
Abandon such thoughts, and live in love.

In this world
Hate never yet dispelled hate.
Only love dispels hate.
This is the law,
Ancient and inexhaustible.

You too shall pass away.
Knowing this, how can you quarrel?

Once again the question is, where do you break away from the cycles you are living in? The spiritual question here is “do you break the cycle of power with anger, hatred, hope or love?

photo credit: diice

I was raised in a middle class, ELCA Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In the Lutheran Church, at about the age of 13 or 14, you participate in a class on the articles of faith, learning the basics of the Bible and structure of the church. This one or two year class culminates in a Confirmation service where children recite a statement of belief and a chosen favorite verse of scripture. As I stated, this is not usually a life-altering moment for most kids who participate. However, the simple memorized scripture, creed and prayers which at that age were simply rote memorized ideas of faith, in many ways can often act as a foundation which sustains people’s lives in their darkest moments.

I remember debating in so many Sunday School and college classes on religion about how useless I felt it was to have children memorize verses and prayer that they did not really understand. How could a fifth grader or even a 14 year old ever grasp the meaning or depth of an Apostles Creed or transforming and renewing elements of the sacrament of Communion?

I suppose I believed this way until I started working as a chaplain and counselor with people of faith in crisis. Those little memorized Sunday School prayers and songs surfaced in the minds and souls of people as they walked through difficult times. I will never forget singing “Jesus Loves Me” with a family of adult children who began to sing at the bedside of a dying mother. After they sang, they all shared stories about their mother tucking them into bed and singing with them as they fell asleep as children.

Liturgical, rote prayers such as the Lord’s Prayer and the 23rd Psalm are said to sometimes be some of the last memories which dementia and altzheimers patients will remember as they move into their latent states of illness and memory loss.

In many ways I have come to believe that the rote prayers, scriptures and sacraments that our religious bodies instill in their young parishioners, even if not understood fully in the moment, are really okay. Those foundational pieces may be experienced first in the body as memorized poems or ideas, and yet later bear witness to the mind and soul.

This week I would like you to think back to the memorized scripture, songs and prayers that bring you peace.

photo credit: Mr.Tea

Now if the bookstore does not sound strange enough, other stores I love browsing through for inspiration are office supply stores. I think there is something about types of calendars, folders and the ways I could make myself more organized that just inspire me.

I think if you asked people who worked with me they would joke with you about the state of my office and desk. I of course assure them that I know what is in every pile on my desk. But I will be the first to admit to anyone who were to ask that notes, files and organization will always be a learning treat rather than something that comes natural.

I swear I could speak, teach groups of a thousand people, run groups and do counseling with almost any audience. If I was sitting in a church service and the pastor asked me to get up and speak on a topic, I could put something together in minutes. Those things come natural to me.

I share all of this because I want write this week about a tension I believe most people live in.

One of my favorite parts of an office supply store is the calendar and organizer section. I think I am always secretly searching for the perfect organizer which would systematize all the different aspects of the way I live my life. What I realized is that I am looking for an organizer that would break down the times I need to be places and see people. Providing space for daily, weekly and monthly “to do’s” — both program life’s areas and prioritize. And yet the perfect organizer would allow space for the Holy Spirit to lead me in new and inspired doors.

This is of course the tension I am speaking about. On one hand I feel I should be consistently organized and yet at the same time my spirit constantly thrives on the spontaneity of the immediate needs, crisis as well as the open and closed life doors that appear around me.

My educated, administrative, counselor side wants to live a calculated, planned out schedule which will allow to do lists to be started and finished each day, meetings, notes and files to all have their proper place and time. Conversely, the inspired, pastoral side of me consistently needs the momentary, mindful space and time to live by faith, a great deal of my life inspired and in the moment.

Living out this tension really speaks to an even greater theological question about how we perceive the relationship God is leading one to live. The unease is in whether or not we should understand our lives as a journey to live within a plan which God has laid out. Scripture like “not thy will but your will be done” (Mark 14:36) can guide us in that direction.

Or do we follow the word of Christ who calls people into creative direction by telling them “the one who believes in me will also do what I am doing. He will do even greater things than these”(John 14:12). That is to say, the loving, faithful plans and calling you create and organize day to day are a part of living out your part of God’s creative process. Just like the intercessions and direction of our prayers are heard, called and considered in God creation, likewise the plans we lay out for the way we organize and live out our own days must be considered faithfully as well.

Jesus had to live with the creative tension that he and the Father are one; while at the same time knowing that he had a plan that he needed to be lived out for humanity. We must likewise know that we will always live in a tension between the parts of our lives that can be organized and the aspects of our time and space which we must allow for the Holy Spirit to inspire our time management.

This week as you create and maintain your to do lists, offer yourself grace and forgiveness for items that get done and the items that are not addressed because of the momentary inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the living out of your daily life.

photo credit: nsobject