BSA and bad Churches

The Boy Scouts of America ruled a while ago that they can allow gay scouts as long as they are under 18.  It was something that I thought was interesting, but the ruling didn't catch my attention until I learned that some churches were kicking out scout troops because of this. I've only heard about two churches so far, but the idea that a church could refuse to associate with the organization because of this decision makes my blood boil.
I understand that some churches really do think that homosexuality is a sin and they try to remove homosexuals that refuse to repent for their "sin" from their congregations. I always thought this was horrible, but now there are churches going to new heights to remove gay people from their churches.  They won't even allow an organization which accepts gay youth meet in their buildings.
Think of what they are saying to young gay boy scouts.  They are not "loving the sinner but hating the sin", they are saying that these boy scouts are so repulsive that they can no longer come into their buildings.  They are punishing their entire troop for allowing them to still be scouts.  This is horrific.  In my opinion these churches are crossing the line.  I can sigh and leave churches who believe homosexuality is a sin alone, because I have hope that God is still doing good through them despite them being wrong on this issue. But when they start openly doing hateful things to hurt people who are trying to support gay people, I start having issues.  They are setting aside the greatest commandment, given by Jesus that states, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and Love Your Neighbor As Yourself." How can you love your neighbor if you refuse to let them into your buildings? If you take away your support just because they don't kick gay youth out of their organization? I don't think that's what Christ would do, and as Christians, aren't we supposed to follow his lead?
Part of me wants to yell at these churches, to organize people to tell them how wrong they are to do this.  I want them to lose membership, to die out.  I want their buildings to become vacant. I don't see how Christ can redeem people who do such an un-Christian thing.
But God is God, and Christ is Christ, and that means that there is still hope.  These churches could still turn around.  There can still be repentance from these congregations. In ten years, the congregants could look at the time they kicked out the BSA for allowing gay youth and blush with embarrassment.  I hope and pray that God redeems these situations.  I pray that the decisions these churches have made do not leave lasting wounds on the youth they reject.  I pray and hope because I know that the Christ who still proclaimed love after being brutally murdered is the Christ who refuses to let evil have the last say. 

A Late Post About The End of the First Year

My first year of seminary ended weeks ago, but I haven't said anything about it yet.  I think that's because I'm not sure how to sum it all up. So many things changed, I'm not sure where to begin. From my legal name to my relationship status, from my denominational affiliation to my prayer practices, nothing has stayed the same.  And I'm grateful for that.  I am blessed beyond measure. And maybe that's how I'll sum it all up.  It was a school year of blessings. It was a school year of wonderful changes.  Being here has shaped me in ways I never knew were possible.
I don't want to look at it through rose colored glasses though.  There were things that sucked, that really really sucked.  There were classes I disliked, there were projects I thought were ill planned. There were times when I was frustrated and angry.  Life still had it's ups and downs.
But it was a good year and I'm grateful for it.  I look forward to next school year.

Reclaiming the Bible

We had a discussion in my Hebrew class yesterday about newer Bible editions.  We looked at the fad of Biblezines and some newer study Bibles.  The problem that my professor pointed out was not the flash or even the fact that there were random notes and nonbiblical quizzes in these Bible editions. The problem is that the Biblical text gets lost in the notes, and people turn to the notes instead of the text.  This is because we have this modern notion that the Bible is supposed to be clear and easy to understand, that it's a like an owner's guide for human life. People get frustrated when they discover that the Bible isn't that, so they turn to the notes in new study Bibles that tell them how these texts apply to their lives.   Meanwhile Bible literacy rates in the United States continue to decline, to the point that many Christians can't even name the first book of the Bible.  We are losing our scripture to Zondervan's "Life Application" notes. 

This made think about how the Episcopal Church uses Biblical texts.  Part of the reason why I became Episcopalian is because services are steeped in scripture.  There are at least three readings at every service, along with a sung Psalm.  Morning prayer and compline are scripture and printed prayers.  Everything is steeped in the Bible.  Yet I wonder how some of the Biblical passages are recieved.  The Old Testament is rarely the topic of the sermon, and often I think we lose how the readings connect.  Preaching from the Gospel is beautiful, but wouldn't it be powerful if we could find ways to connect it to the OT and Epistle readings as well?  I fear that parishoners, while hearing all these parts of scripture read or sung, can't comprehend what is going on with them.  The scripture is heard, but the meaning is lost.  

If nothing else, we as Christians need to seriously consider what is being taught in our parishes. We need to ask "How Bible literate are our congregants?" Maybe we need basic Bible instruction courses, maybe we need to spend some time on basic Bible concepts in sermons. We need to help people understand that despite the billboard slogan, the Bible is not "Basic Instructions Before you Leave the Earth", it is a library of stories about struggle, about asking, "Where is God? And what is God up to?"  It's not an instruction manual for individuals trying to improve their faith, it's a library of texts centered around a communal story of struggle and endurance, of joy and sorrow, of exodus and homecoming; it's a story that is deeply steeped in the mystery and wonder of God.  We can only step into the mystery if we stop trying to find answers for our individual lives within the text and instead seek to find God within them.  

It's time to reclaim the Bible as God's Word, not as the word of God specifically concerning living our human lives, but as God's mystery revealed through text. 

  

Deconstruction and Lent

There's deconstruction going on at school. The old school of theology building is being torn down and an addition to the new one will be added.  I get to watch this all happen between classes.  Workers pound to get the old window frames out, others take tiles off the roof.  Everything that once made the building is being stripped away.  It is becoming a husk, a shell of what it used to be.  Soon it will disappear and something new will take its place.
As I watch this slow, steady process, I can't help but think about how appropriate this is for lent. Lent is about going inward and contemplating where you really are in life.  As you go inward, you start first with your complete self, the building before demolition.  It looks nice, but there's usually something lurking under the surface that needs to get fixed.  So you go in deeper, you explore every nook and cranny, you decompartamentalize yourself, deconstructing the bits that just won't do. You tear away the old windows, you get down to the bare husk of yourself.  Of course, in the case of the building, the whole thing will be torn down.  Lent isn't about getting demolished, it's more about renovation, but the construction sight still provides good imagery.
Of course, this is a difficult process and can't really be fully accomplished in 40 days, but we work on little bits every spring.  For example, this lenten season I'm looking into the parts of me that are judgmental, I'm examining why I feel threatened or insulted by certain ideas.  It could be that they are legitimately wrong and harmful, but mostly it's because I have different view points and simply can't understand where others are coming from.  I'm deconstructing the part of myself that holds strong beliefs, I'm looking at it, putting the majority of the bits back in their place, but modifying others as I find necessary. This is not done on my own of course, I have to delve into conversation with the divine.  For without the divine, how can I know what to keep and what to modify?  So I pray, and slowly I find the places that need some help.  Together, God and I are doing something. And if I walk away from lent this season with no significant differences in my views, at least I looked at them.
I ask that you take some time to think about deconstruction, to ponder what it means to your own lenten journey.  Where does it push you? What do you need to deconstruct in your life? Just ponder and reflect. Then turn to God and just simply be with God. Read the word, pray, do what you love to do with the divine.  See where you are called to go, what you are to do.  Take out the pieces of your life that hurt and examine them together.  If it hurts too hard, find resources to help you.  But I encourage you to reflect.
God's Peace be with you.

Biblical Prophets

We've been reading the books of the prophets in class, and it's a puzzling collection of oracles, both of condemnation and hope.
Often the condemnation is for the same problems.
The people have turned away and worshipped other gods.  That's the part that we seem to like to emphasize, and it's an important part of the prophecies found in scripture. Sometimes we even use that bit to get introspective and ask ourselves what gods we are following that are leading us away from the one true God.  That is important, but we can't stay there.
 The people have not cared for the widow, the orphan, the oppressed.  This gets emphasized in our churches a little less, mainly because it makes us feel like we aren't doing enough.  I can't tell you how often I've heard these prophetic words and felt condemned.  No, I haven't cared for all these people like I should. I haven't stepped it up and gone the extra mile. I'm sorry, but I just can't give to everybody. I don't have the money to give to multiple charities, and I don't have the time or choose not to use a lot of my time to help everybody else out.  I feel like I'm almost a failure as a person of faith.
Of course we could help this situation by realizing that this is the condemnation of a nation as a whole, not every single citizen.  Yes, we as citizens of the family of God are called to help out, but we as individuals don't have to take it all on. We are called to specific areas of concern that take on special meaning to us. As a collective, we can cover all the bases.
I think what we fail to truly emphasize within the prophetic works is the mixture of condemnation and hope.  We either take the hopeful words or the condemning words and separate them from the words that surround them.  But even within the chapters of condemnation, there are glimmers of hope.  There is an oscillation between the two, a balance that is often lost within the church setting.  We never seem to mix them  But what if we did? People are condemned because of their actions, yet God still cares, still loves the people.  God mourns when the people turn astray and God awaits the day when people turn back.  It's hard to think of God's condemning of the people, it seems harsh and inconsiderate, leading many in popular piety to think of that punishment as coming from the God of the Old Testament.  But even when the people are being cast into exile, God still speaks of hope, of a future.  There will be a time when the mourning will be no more.  This is not a spiteful God.  It's not a warm, cuddly, lovable Jesus, but it's not a demon either.  There's a balance.
And maybe when we take the prophecies as a balance between condemnation and hope, we can see the balance that was present within Jesus' ministry.  Maybe we'll have a more balanced Christ.  After all, if we believe God spoke through the prophets, then Jesus, being fully human and fully divine, should have a similar voice, right?

If you look like a monk...

Last week I was hanging out with my friend, Br. K. I told him that I'd like to read the books on the postulancy reading list for his monastic order over the summer, and he asked me again if I was interested in joining the order. I told him I didn't think I was called to monk-hood, and he said something that stuck with me, "You know, if you look like a monk, and act like a monk, you might just be a monk."
Now I'm not making any plans to become a monk, but it's made me wonder what is it that makes someone a monk?  What is it that defines the monastic life? The priesthood and other religious leadership roles seem so clearly defined, but monastics aren't.  They aren't marked by vows of celibacy, because some monks aren't celibate.  They aren't marked by communal living, because some don't live in community.  What is it that marks these lives?
It seems to me that what ultimately marks a monastic life is a commitment to living in right relationship with God, a devotion to a simple lifestyle without a materialistic focus, a lot of prayer, a lot of sharing life together in an honest way, and a shared calling to a collective mission.  Maybe that is too simple of a definition of a monastic life. I don't know. But if that is the definition of a monastic life then Br. K was right.  I might just be a monk.
 Am I going to join an order? I would never say never, but not in the foreseeable future.  I currently do not feel called to take on the robes and the label, but I do enjoy sharing life with others and strive to commit more of my life to prayer.  I think I'll just live as someone who is monastically inclined.

My Epiphany Resolution

I made an Epiphany resolution this year, something I hope will bring me closer to my fellow sojourners and closer to Christ.  My resolution? Learn to forgive and seek to understand the conservatives of this nation. I'm talking the Republican Party.  I grew up liberal, and I mostly agree with the politics of the Democrats. However, I have begun to pay attention to how this two party idealism affects our relationships with our fellow Americans.  That deep divide between parties that we see in DC didn't just appear out of nowhere, it's in our communities, our friendships, and our families. It affects how we communicate with others, and not just our political discussions. For example: on Election Day, two friends played a trick on a mutual friend.  While watching the election results, they pretended that one of them was a Republican, and their mutual friend is a strong Democrat.  The mutual friend almost had issues sitting in the same room as a "Republican" and even almost left to go into another room to watch the results. She was quite relieved when she learned he was also a Democrat. While this was a joke, think about how often this is the case with people of differing political parties.  We have problems interacting with one another because of politics.  I've begun to pay attention to these patterns within myself and I am just as bad as anybody else.  I'll drive through an area with conservative signs and begin to judge the people in that area. They obviously have "bad politics". I refuse to listen to what the Republicans in the House and  Senate are saying because they are "just defending their party line". I've begun to realize how unChrist-like these behaviors are. Every time I turn on my blinders and refuse to pay attention to someone, I'm devaluing them. They aren't as important as other people, they are Republican and therefore not as good as the Democrats.  Now I'm not saying that I have to agree with their politics, I just want to become able to listen to them without getting mad at them.  I want to learn to recognize that politicians are politicians, and there isn't something that makes a Democrat politician any better or nobler than a Republican politician.  This is hard, and even as I type this I want to cite examples of unjust things Republicans have said. I want to point out the flaws in some of these politicians' characters to make the whole party seem worse, but that's not Christ-like either, and that continues to devalue and divide.
 Ultimately, politics are not about which party is better or worse.  This isn't some great battle between Democrats and Republicans, a showdown to see who will win out in the end.  It has become that way in the media, and all that warring has led to a divided nation. Politics are about trying to figure out ways to keep a nation going as best as possible while respecting the civil liberties given to each citizen.  Right now, this party war is stalling that.  So if I can learn to forgive and gain an understanding of conservatives, not only can I break a cycle of devaluing others which is unChrist-like and destructive, maybe I can help bridge the political divide between others.  And if just a few of us begin to refuse to play in this party war and instead insist on working together, maybe we can build a better country.  That's my hope and my Epiphany Resolution.