Blog Post Gets Published

My thanks to The Town Talk for publishing a recent blog post of mine, "17 More Months?". You can find it on their site here, "Vote Now, Vote Often".

On Will Campbell

The Town Talk published an article on Will Campbell in today's paper written by Robin Miller. As a history minor in college with mostly Southern history under my belt, the name Will Campbell rang a bell. As I kept reading, I was awestruck. I love the gritty side of the South and have no greater fondness in my heart than I do for rebels, outlaws, and mystics. I share just a few lines from the article that described my experience in the church and my departure from pastoral ministry and hope they'll entice you to read the article yourself.

Will, who after having pastored one Southern Baptist Church, gave it up forever -- pastoring, not ministering.
"I resolved to be a Baptist minister of the South until the day I die, though never again a Southern Baptist preacher," he has said. "For the first time, I knew there
was a difference. And what it was."

Still, meeting Will isn't meeting a preacher at all. And he's not what you'd call a writer of religion or Christian literature, but simply a writer.

"Beliefs are what people are hung up on," he'll say, "not ethics or morals.If you don't believe a certain way, then the people in that religion will clean you out... A lot of those people will claim to be conservative. But they're not. They're just mean."

Amen. It's refreshing to find people to identify with and who share a common journey. I've already put a couple of his books on hold at the library and can't wait to read them. Here's to you, Will!

I am glad today

I am glad today.
I am glad for the day.

The night was not so long
nor dreams so few.
Hope gave birth to Promise.

The sun woke me with a kiss,
embraced me with joy.
Sweet mercies new once more.

I stand upon the precipice of not yet
and lean into the wind.

Blow! Harder still...

I am not afraid.
I am loved.

Hope

I feel the sand slipping between my fingers
the tide is rolling in
my castle will soon be gone
I watch the sun dipping slowly

Will you come again in the morning?

I wonder.
I hope.
I believe.

The moon hangs softly above
stars twinkle in twilight

Run your course. Shine. Shine brightly.
I will watch for the morning

Words Less Spoken

Several months later it seems prudent to explain the title of my blog for those who haven't already figured it out. "Words Less Spoken" is an adaptation of the closing line of Robert Frost's well known poem "The Road Not Taken,"

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

In 1972 NBC news correspondent Carl Stern interviewed Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel two weeks before he died. In that interview Stern asked him what message he would have for young people. Rabbi Heschel responded, “Let them be sure that every little deed counts, that every word has power, and that we do our share to redeem the world.” I hope that my words will not further clutter the atmosphere of ideas but may add something of substance to this dialogue that is community. May the words less spoken be words worth speaking.

The Underground Seminary

I'd like to express my appreciation to my friends at Sling n' Stone for giving me the opportunity to be a contributor to the new Underground Seminary. They are creating a unique online resource for emerging/missional/postmodern communities and fellowships to pool resources and ideas to share with others on the journey. I strongly encourage you to visit their site and "unlearn what you have learned." If you have articles/info that you'd like to share, please contact one of the team members. We'd love to learn from you!

Thank You

A special thanks to our local paper, The Town Talk, for choosing to share my recent article, Speaking the Same Language, with their readers as a guest spot in the op-ed section on Christmas Day.

Speaking the Same Language

A recent article in our local newspaper caught my attention and made me laugh. It is a syndicated op-ed piece by Leonard Peikoff of the Ayn Rand Institute called "Why Christmas should be more commercial." It gives a brief history of the secular origin of Christmas and its transition into a religious holiday. The premise of the article is that "It is time to take the Christ out of Christmas, and turn the holiday into a guiltlessly egoistic, pro-reason, this-worldly, commercial celebration." While I disagree that the religious aspects of the holiday should be removed, I think the article puts a spotlight on the culture war in America between religious fundamentalists and secular humanists. I can only imagine many Christians that I know in our little notch of the Bible belt crying out "blasphemy" as they read the article. Most people have little knowledge of history, let alone church history, but rather have assumptions and interpretations that have little or no basis in fact. Many would be surprised to know that Jesus' birthday is not 12/25/0.

Peikoff uses historical record to show the secular origins of Christmas which predated the Christian celebration. After failed attempts to steer the faithful away from such pagan celebrations, he says, "the Christians came to a decision: if you can't stop 'em, join 'em. They claimed (contrary to known fact) that the date was Jesus' birthday, and usurped the solstice holiday for their Church." I would like to think the adoption of the secular celebration as the Christmas holiday was not a concession of defeat by the church but rather a bold effort to reach the culture that followed a Biblical model.

This kind of theological hijacking is no new phenomenon in church history. King David and the prophets borrowed Canaanite tradition and imagery and adapted it to form a new Zionist tradition that would rally the Israelites as a people and bind them to Jerusalem and the land of Israel. This kind of borrowing and improvising occurred numerous times in the Old Testament, especially in Creation accounts and the flood narrative. Jesus Himself adapted known images and stories from His culture to communicate a new message that people could both understand and long remember.

For example, in Luke 13:1-9 Jesus told a parable about a landowner who threatened to chop down a barren tree if it did not bear fruit. Jesus' illustration reflects an interesting folk tale that had been already told for centuries. A father once said to his son, "My son, you are like a tree which yielded no fruit. Although it stood by the water, its owner was forced to cut it down. But the tree said to him, 'Transplant me, and if even then I bear no fruit, cut me down.' But its owner said to it, 'When you stood by the water you bore no fruit, how then will you bear fruit if you stand in another place?'" There was also an Arabic tale about how to cure a barren palm tree. A man would take a friend with him to the barren tree. He would tell his friend how disappointed he is with the tree and how it must be cut down. He would then tap the trunk of the tree three times with the backside of his ax, and his friend would stop him saying, "Give it one more year to bear fruit."

In the first folk tale the tree had no excuses for being barren. The verdict was final. In the second tale the tree was given one more year to bear fruit or be chopped down. How striking then that Jesus changes these familiar stories, and has the gardener intervene personally saying, "Leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it," (13:8). In Jesus' version the gardener uses his relationship with the owner to intercede for the tree, and it is that twist in the story that would be most memorable to those who heard it.

Jesus always started where people were. He spoke in a language they could understand, speaking not only their dialect but in stories and images that even children could grasp. Jesus also did not speak in vague religious abstracts but actually demonstrated in His life and actions the message that He preached. Perhaps, instead of decrying that "they want to take Christ out of Christmas" and "we should remember the real reason for the season," true believers should strive even harder to be more Christ-like during this time of the year and stop relying on the media, the government, and the marketplace to do it for them.

An Exercise in Sanity

The last thing it would seem the world needs is yet another website. I'm not even sure how many sites I have floating aimlessly in cyberspace from time past. Yet here I am to add another. As a student of history and voyeur of culture I have an opinion to offer, which admittedly makes no difference in the grand scheme of things, but this outlet may serve as a much cheaper alternative to therapy.

I resonate the humble but proud declaration of Brennan Manning, "I am the one Jesus loves." My life is a pursuit to grasp His love for me and work out its implications in every area of my life. This blog picks up late in my journey of faith near the end of my detox from the mainstream church and will no doubt chronicle my revolution, as well as musings on all things sacred and absurd. Among the heavier subjects pondered, you can also expect lighter offerings on food, wine, music, books, aviation, news, geneology, or anything else that inspires me to write "Words Less Spoken."