Some Pictures from Galveston

Steve Cearley has been taking pictures of our youth down here in Galveston. You can see his pictures here: pics.

Arrived!

All 46 youth and 9 adults are safe and sound in Galveston, TX! Thanks for your prayers! More soon.

MISSION TRIP

We Leave this Saturday, June 11th for the Youth Mission Trip to Galveston, TX for hurricane relief work. We'll be partnering with One Mission Galveston to help families whose homes and lives were torn apart by Hurricane Ike.

I'll post on this blog when we arrive on Sunday and again on Friday to let all you parents know our return ETA. Cell phone numbers for me and a few other leaders are in your inboxes. If there is an emergency, contact one of us. No youth should have a cell phone with them. Thank you!

It’s not in the Bible

Demitri Martin has said that “sort of” is a harmless phrase. Although sometimes it can mean everything. Like after certain phrases… “I love you…” “You’re going to live…” “It’s a boy!”

This is true of the phrase, “It’s not in the Bible.” There are variations of course. “Jesus never mentioned it.” "Paul never wrote about it." 'Moses never told a joke about it." Now sometimes this is a really helpful point. Other times, it’s quite misleading.

Does the Bible ever use the words “nuclear bombs” or “chemical weapons" or even "asassination?” No. Does the Bible have things to say about how we treat our neighbors and our enemies? You betcha!

Does Jesus ever discuss cocaine or huffing? Not in my version of the NT. Does Jesus talk about all of us being God’s children, about our bodies as temples and a gift from God? Does he tell us to love ourselves that we might love others? You better believe it.

When thinking about these topics, it would seem like saying “It’s not in the Bible” or “Jesus never talked about it,” could always be dangerous. However, when followed up with… “But the Bible does say….” Or “Jesus did teach…” it can be a useful tool for studying scripture.

“The Bible doesn’t use the phrase ‘premarital sex.’” True, but it does talk an awful lot about the power and consequences of sex, including a heck of a lot of illustrative cautionary tales. It does talk a lot about the special gift from God. It does have a lot to say about loving others as you love yourselves and not ever taking advantage of other people and has a lot to say about relying on God to resist temptations. And just as importantly, it has a lot to say about making mistakes and the overabundance of God’s forgiveness and expectation that we do the same.

“Jesus never utters a word about homosexuality.” True. And he does have tons to say about loving one another, seeking God’s will as found in the holy texts and words of the prophets. And Jesus has a whole lot to say about loving others, feeding the poor, visiting the sick and imprisoned, sheltering the homeless and standing up for the downtrodden. How we doing on that?

Now, admittedly, as a Presbyterian, born and raised, my first instinct to a moral or social quandary is maybe not to say to their friends, “I wonder what the Bible says.” (I'm working on this, thanks to some non-Presbyterian friends) But the next time someone says, “that’s not even addressed in the Bible,” I challenge you to say, “are you sure that’s entirely true?”

Guest Post: Why [mere] Tolerance is not a Christian response

Guest Post from Shawn Smucker, with permission. You can find him here.

Why Tolerance is not a Christian Response

“You have heard that the law of Moses says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, TOLERATE your enemies!” Matthew 5:43 – 44

“Honor your father and mother. TOLERATE your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 19:19

“I command you to TOLERATE each other in the same way that I TOLERATE you.” John 15:12

* * * * *

I have four children, ages seven, six, three and one. Having them around the house is a hoot. Even this morning as I write, the two youngest have managed to climb over the sofa and wedge themselves between the wall, the sofa and the coffee table. And now they’re stuck.

My kids love each other. Don’t get me wrong – they fight and scratch and claw like any other kids. They have their selfish moments, their irrational outbursts. But at heart they are great friends and enjoy each other’s company.

They love each other. I do everything in my power to keep it that way, because they’re my kids and I want them to love each other as much as I love them. Experiencing moments where they genuinely care for one another can be some of the most moving times of my life.

Would I ever want them to get to a place where they were only tolerant of each other? No way.

* * * * *

In case you didn’t realize it, I altered the verses above, substituting the word “love” with the world “tolerate.”

We are not called to tolerate people, although in the current world system tolerance has become a virtue of sorts. See, tolerance is a superficial action that has little power to bring about actual change. When we tolerate people, our goal is strictly modifying our external behavior. I can tolerate someone in public and still talk about them when they’re not around. I can tolerate someone and still end up perpetuating stereotypes.

Love is so different from this.

I think turning to tolerance is a natural response in the face of conflict or injustice. I can understand why we call for tolerance, when so many people treat each other with such incredible hate. While tolerance might be part of a process, it can never be our end goal.

Perhaps at some point tolerance can be helpful in bringing two people into the same room, but it is not a long term solution for conflict, inequality or misunderstanding. Tolerance alone cannot change societies or transform hearts. Tolerance cannot keep the peace for an extended period of time.

Only love can do that.

Green Day

The US Postal Service is Going Green!

The Go Green (Forever®) stamps have cartoon depictions of simple things everyone can do to make a difference.

Recycling just one aluminum can reduces waste and saves enough energy to run a computer for three hours. Imagine the effect, if everyone in your neighborhood did that. Simple insulation like caulking or weatherstripping pays for itself in reduced utility bills in under a year. Properly inflating your car tires improves gas mileage by up to 3%.

It is Well with my Soul

Shalom! Mah-Shlom-chah?

This is how almost every conversation starts in our Hebrew class. It’s a wonderful group of people and a lovely elderly couple who teach it. We look forward to going each week and as we’ve moved from Hebrew 1 to 2 over the last few months, we’ve become rather invested in one another.

Shalom is a pretty standard greeting, “Peace.” And the question that follows is one we typically understand as, “How are you?” As we have come to care how each of us is doing each week by that evening, we usually answer pretty honestly with how we’re feeling or how the day has been. Answers like Yah-feh (tired) and Rah-ev (hungry) are common (a few of the students are pregnant).

However, Moshe, our professor, explained some new grammar to us this week and in doing so taught us something culturally significant. The question is not quite, “How are you?” but closer to “How is it with your being?” In other words, not how are you this moment, but how are things with you or how are things with your being, your soul? This is an entirely different question, not just because it’s deeper or broader in its inquiry, but because the responsibility for answering it is also greater.

When we ask someone how they’re doing in the United States, we really mean how they’re doing recently, typically in this very moment. And we answer accordingly. Maybe we’ve had a good week, month, year or even lifetime on the whole, but we answer for the moment. “I’m doing horribly! I had a bad morning at the DMV followed by a parking ticket.”

Ask the same person how it is with their being, how it is with their soul? Their answer may have to put that lousy morning into perspective with a bigger picture. “I’m doing ok really. Lousy morning, but doing well, you?”

We live in a culture now where our every emotion, stray thought, insult or commentary on every person, action, political position or event can be broadcast instantaneously. Why ask how someone is doing? Follow their Facebook status updates or Twitter feed. You’ll have a blow by blow of their emotional status and mental analysis of everything they’ve encountered recently.

The problem then is that you are possibly well-informed about the general status of their being, but none of us has had the opportunity to reflect each time on our being as a whole, how our soul is doing. Our reflection is shallow, our analysis narrow. Twitter doesn’t ask you how you’ve been or how your life is going. Facebook doesn’t ask you how content your soul is or how your being is. They ask how you are this moment, what you’re thinking. And so do we.

I think the importance in the question, “Mah-shlom-chah?” is not merely to be a more deeply concerned friend or family member, but that answering it requires reflection and perspective. So in case I’m the only person to ask you this today, “Mah-shlom-chah?”

The Power of Words

Not long ago, I blogged on the power of words. I reflected mostly on their power to do harm. However, just as importantly, they can do good. Here Morgan Freeman introduces a great video that reminds us what GOOD words can do...

God's Children

...and as the Israelites watched, the waters of the Red Sea came crashing together, drowning Pharoa's army. The Israelites danced and cheered and rejoiced. And God said to Moses, "Why do you rejoice?"

"Our evil opressors who have kept us slaves to them and to fear all these years have been slain!" Responded Moses.

"Yes," said God. "And they are my children too."

That story has been told to me at least twice and is supposedly from the Talmud, the body of non-canonical Jewish stories that help to explain and illustrate moral lessons of the Hebrew Bible. It is the first thing that came to mind last night as I saw people celebrating the death of bin Laden.

Now, I recall that tragic day ten years ago very well. I was a senior in high school. I recall how poorly our school handled the news and its dissemination. I recall the national uproar when my university chose Approaching the Qu'ran as our summer reading. I recall the serious talk about a military draft being reinstated the following year and that I was of age to be among the first in line for that, those turning twenty that year.

I recall not only the events, but those emotions. And I am a man who has always had a deep sense of justice and a need to see it brought about. I deeply believe that my God is a God of justice and as in the story, I believe God moves in our world to help bring justice. I do not believe God is always happy to do so. And I do not believe our God calls us to be either.

I do not wish to say it is wrong to rejoice when evil men are brought to a just end. In fact, we should be a people who are resolutely dedicated to justice and grateful for leaders and soldiers who seek it and bring it about. We should, however, be careful never to rejoice in the death of one of God's children, lest we believe or suggest to others that we believe that God does not love a single one of them or that we have not loved our enemies and prayed for those who have persecuted us.

CHAT - What It's All About

I spoke about my job with CHAT (Church Hill Activities and Tutoring) in Richmond, VA during my Maundy Thursday homily. This news story just ran recently there. Percy was my mentor during that summer and largely responsible for the interpretation I shared from the John passage...

Green Day

Sharing is caring, or so they say. Community bikes are nothing new. Many large cities in Europe and Asia have had them for years. It's a relatively new concept in the States and DC's program is really catching on. With over 1,000 bikes currently and expected to expand to 1,300 soon, this program is working out for a lot of commuters who are eco and health-conscious. The following video is on Capital Bike Share's main website...

The Lost Cause

Last night was Maundy Thursday. Our scripture was John 13:1-20. This is the homily I preached... (You may be able to hear it here)

The Lost Cause

The Gospel of Luke has been called the Gospel of the Lost. It contains parables about lost sheep, lost coins and lost people. In Luke, Jesus says his mission is to seek and save the lost. However, I think it could just as easily be said that the Gospel of John… is the Gospel of the Lost Cause.

The Bible is full of tales of bad men and women, evil deeds and awful circumstances. Cruelty and betrayal are common themes. Perhaps one of the greatest examples is Judas. At this time of the year, we are pretty tough on Judas. We’re pretty tough on Peter too. And yet we find when we read the Easter story… Jesus… is not. Judas betrays Jesus. Peter denies Jesus. Jesus knows they are both going to let him down tremendously. In Chapter 13, we learn Jesus knows Judas will betray him. He knows Peter will deny him. He knows they will all abandon him.

And yet, does Jesus spend his last night lecturing his disciples, his merry band of screw ups and cowards? Does he spend it begging them not abandon and betray him? No. As the writer of John tells us, he loves them till the end. Jesus spends this time sharing a meal and washing their feet. Jesus spends this time serving them. He spends this time loving them.

After leaving seminary, I worked as a summer school teacher for an inner city ministry in Richmond, teaching Math and English. This neighborhood, Church Hill is one of the ten most dangerous neighborhoods in America, having improved in recent years from number four to number eight on that list. The ministry with which I worked had two main goals: to educate and encourage the kids and families in Church Hill, helping in any way possible… and to work toward racial reconciliation. The kids in the school and tutoring programs and camp are kids who would otherwise fall through the cracks, most of whom would never complete high school, let alone attend college, and many of whom would fall victim to drug and gang violence. There was a murder every day for our first two weeks in the neighborhood that summer.

With so much need and so few resources in time, money and manpower, it was tempting to feel overwhelmed. It was tempting to affect a sort of emotional triage. It was tempting to do what so many before us had done, to focus on the kids with the best chance or even those with the worst chance and devote our time and energy to those few. It was tempting to identify the Lost Cause and to steel ourselves for the inevitable failure, the countless let downs, the ongoing disappointment.

That was the temptation. The reality, most days, was that the people in this ministry knew we’d never make any progress, if we succumbed to that mindset. Our example is Jesus, and triage was a foreign concept to him. He loved them to the end. Jesus didn’t suspect that Peter would deny him. He knew it. Jesus didn’t suspect that Judas was a Lost Cause. He knew he was. And yet… Jesus washed each disciples’ feet… even… Peter… and Judas.

In that ministry in the heart of Church Hill, they knew that example didn’t let them off the hook. The example Christ gave us in knowing what he knew and loving them till the very end is our example in every moment of our lives. Because the real hook is this… Jesus knew who was a Lost Cause… and he served them just the same. No more, no less, with no exasperation, with no defeat or surrender. And brothers and sisters, as wise as we may believe ourselves to be, we do not know who the Lost Causes are. And we cannot. And Jesus shows us that even if we did, we are to serve them… to love them… in spite of this.

My mother, a lifelong school teacher, has always told me that, “you cannot reach someone you don’t love.” And it’s far too difficult to love someone you believe is a Lost Cause. And yet, this is precisely what Jesus does. Our Lord, our teacher and our example doesn’t abandon or vilify those who will betray him. We completely vilify Judas. And if we didn’t read all the way to the end of our Gospel, we’d string Peter right up alongside Judas. How dare he?! But Peter, Lost Cause number two… he becomes the rock upon whom Jesus builds his church.

How different is Peter from the convict who sits on death row or the college dropout heavy into drugs or the unwed pregnant teen or any one of us in our darkest hours? He isn’t. The Peter of our Gospel accounts between this night, Maundy Thursday, and Sunday morning is a story whose ending has not been written, whose hope is not in this day, but in the Jesus who comes looking for him, the Jesus who comes to seek and save the lost. What are we, each of us, if not lost? Who are you? Who am I, if not a Lost Cause who Jesus has refused to give up on, no matter the outcome? And who are we, if not a people called to go and do the same?

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Benediction:
As you go forth in silence tonight from the Chapel, go forth in the knowledge that no one you meet is a Lost Cause, not one. God has only granted one person the knowledge of who is a Lost Cause, and his example to you is that this knowledge is irrelevant. Go forth loving and serving, knowing that no one’s story is finished yet.

Green Day (Special Edition)

I'm aware it's 4/20. So if you're gonna grow something in a pot and go green this April 20th, try a Solar Plant. The Solar Plant is a little electrical potted plant that looks little and cute in your window sill and can charge your portable electronic devices. The eco-friendly energy produced by the Solar plant can be used to charge your gadgets whenever and wherever you want. Just don't water it.

Green Day

On Palm Sunday this year, Wellshire will dedicate its new Solar Panels. We're very excited about this. These panels will reduce our dependence on the grid, though not fully power all of Wellshire's energy needs. It is one of many steps Wellshire is taking toward better stewardship of our earth and the resources of God's world.

In honor of this, for the next several weeks, we will take a look at the latest inventions that are helping to move us away from such extravagant energy consumption and toward better stewardship. This week... the amazing new nearly-waterless washing machine!

Researchers at Leeds University have designed and tested a washing machine that uses only one cup of water for a load of laundry. That's 90% less water than a typical washing machine. How is this possible? A technology by Xeros uses nylon polymer beads to attract dirt and lock it up, reducing the need for water. If that's not exciting for you, think about reducing your water bill by 90% every time you do a load of laundry. For now, this in production for commercial use, but with the hope of following it with domestic shortly. Stay tuned.

A video of the latest prototype could not be embeded, but a link can be added. Go see the prototype here.

Quality of Life

A friend and colleague of mine from seminary is an assistant professor of medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine at VCU Medical Center and neuro surgeon who specializes in those with various forms of dimentia. He has also worked on a Sunday school for curriculum that teaches young children about how to interact with grandparents with dimentia.

He recently wrote a piece for the Richmond Times Dispatch in VA and I'm providing the link here for those of you who would like to read it. It outlines some of the natural prejudice we all have about quality of life and who should determine it.