Musings of an Anxious Patriot

This weekend is the annual celebration of the day the American colonists' Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence—July 4, 1776.

We’ll fly our flag proudly at home. Actually, we’ll fly three flags: one will fly on a staff over our curbside mailbox, and two smaller ones will be on display in the flower beds. We’ll grill hot dogs and possibly watch the movie version of the Broadway show, “1776.” We missed the show last year, but it’s become something of a 4^th of July tradition at our house since we first watched it with part of our extended family when we were vacationing in Fairbanks, Alaska eight years ago.

I am a veteran. I’m no hero. I was in the Marine Band at Quantico, Virginia until August, 1967, when I left for Vietnam. Before the Tet Operation in early 1968 I was primarily a trombone player in the 3^rd Marine Division Band in Phu Bai (about 14 miles south of the ancient citadel of Hue). When the Tet Operation erupted, the division moved to Quang Tri (just south of the DMZ), where we put our instruments away and served in various combat operations until I rotated out and came home. We rarely engaged the enemy.

I stand for the National Anthem. I place my right hand over my heart and frequently get misty; although, I bear no disrespect or ill will toward those who exercise their first amendment rights to kneel in protest of injustices that scarcely can be denied.

Occasionally I go online and watch a video of some Marine band on parade, and I get teary-eyed and experience a thrill when they hit those opening notes of the Marine Hymn.

I vote in every election, and frequently contact the legislators who represent my area. And I have served in public office.

So, I consider myself a patriot, and will celebrate the birth of our nation on Saturday.

But on Sunday, I will be in church to worship God and to give thanks for God’s grace. And in God’s sanctuary my patriotism will not express itself in celebration, but in repentance and prayers for forgiveness and healing. As the hymn says, “America! America! God mend thine every flaw.” And flaws abound. Nothing positive or constructive ever has emerged in the history of humanity from any mixture of patriotism and religion.

On Sunday I will pray that God will forgive the divisive, intolerant hatred that has infected the country I am proud to have served, and I will pray that God will heal our land. And no matter how passionately it is denied, hatred—some directed at specific people and some just ambiguous and generalized—is the root sin of our nation. It manifests itself most destructively in what has been called religious nationalism.

So, I’ll fly the flag on Saturday, and celebrate the nation that was “…conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”[1] I’ll celebrate the great vision that propelled our forebears: the vision articulated on our Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

But on Sunday I’ll pray for forgiveness for what America instead has become and for the people destroyed in process of becoming what we are. And I will pray for reconciliation among the diverse peoples still at enmity within our borders, so that the vision in which America was conceived actually might be realized someday.

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NRSV)

That’s the way it looks through the Flawed Glass that is my world view.

Together in the Walk,

Jim

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[1] From Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

Making Room

Today I attended our community Lenten Lunch, and was blessed by the brief message shared by a colleague. He told a story from Henri Nouwen about a man who went for counsel from a spiritual director. The spiritual director began pouring a cup of tea for his visitor, and when the cup was full, he continued to pour. The cup overflowed, making a tremendous mess; but, the spiritual director continued to pour.

Finally, the visitor shouted, “Stop! You’re making a mess!”

The spiritual director replied, “Like the cup, our lives become so full of our own opinions and judgments and dogmas that there’s no room for new understandings and growth.”

My colleague summed up the metaphor as an act of “making room for the Holy Spirit.”

I guess the application of the metaphor depends upon whether one believes he or she already has all truth, and that his or her understanding of truth is flawless. I don't buy it.

I worship and attempt to serve a God who is “always making all things new (Revelation 21:5);” thus, truth is never static. Truth is a living entity, always on the move, breathing, growing; and it is relational and responsive, adapting to circumstances emerging from God’s gift to humanity of free moral choice. I do not have the mental or spiritual capacity to comprehend truth absolutely; indeed, my understanding of the One who is the truth is, at best, incomplete.

Jesus said to Nicodemus, “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8 NRSV).

I need constantly to be letting go of some things to make room for the Holy Spirit's correctives to the errors nurtured by both my free choice and my incomplete comprehension.

My colleague does that by swimming laps. Before he gets into the pool, he gives that time to God; then, as he swims, he feels his spirit and his mind releasing the clutter that needs to go. In a very real sense, his swimming becomes a form of meditation.

I hope it’s obvious that times of prayer and meditation not only become direct channels of release, but also prepare one’s spirit so other activities can help clear the attic to make room for new understanding. I've not been a lap-swimmer; but I’ve experienced that release when I’m jogging, hiking, fishing or practicing guitar.

I think this whole idea of “making room” is what Lent is all about. I was blessed by the new perspective, as I hope you are. How do you "make room?"

That’s the way I see it through the Flawed Glass that is my world view.

Together in the Walk

Jim

My 2016 Lenten Journey--Day 14

February 23, 2016 ~ Day 14

My 2016 Lenten Journey: Exploring the Gospels to discover what following Jesus and becoming more like him would look like? ‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32 NRSV).

On day 13 I noted how Jesus connected piety with almsgiving. It was the first time I had noted that connection, and the new insight broadened and deepened my understanding of piety. If my spirit is in synch with the spirit of God (which is the purpose of piety), then one way my piety will find expression is in almsgiving.

Today’s text Is much easier to link with piety. Matthew 6:5-15 contains a teaching about prayer, and the primary message is almost identical to the teaching about almsgiving: don’t do it for show. Do your almsgiving “in secret;” do your praying in your room with the door shut.

In his disapproval of ostentatious prayer, Jesus seems to refer specifically to public prayer. On the other hand, I can’t help jumping to Luke’s Gospel and remembering Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, both of whom prayed in public. But, the one who was “justified” was the one whose posture and demeanor was bowed and humble.

We associate prayer with kneeling and bowing our heads, which are physical postures of humility. Prayer from virtually any perspective is an expression of humility in which we subordinate ourselves before God, expressing praise, thanksgiving or petitions. Prayer and begging are not altogether different.

Think of times when you’ve observed people praying in public venues other than organized worship (e.g., in a public restaurant). What did their posture seem to communicate?

Have you ever prayed in public venues other than organized worship? What do you think your posture communicated to those who observed you?

It gives me pause. Can praying in public be counterproductive to our Christian witness? While we have to take into account the attitude of the observer, which we can’t control, this text, along with Luke’s parable, suggests it depends upon our posture, which always is in our control.

Whoever has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9 NRSV)

‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32 NRSV).

That's the way it looks through the flawed glass that is my world view.

Together in the Walk,

Jim

My 2016 Lenten Journey--Day 11

February 20, 2016 ~ Day 11

My 2016 Lenten Journey: Exploring the Gospels to discover what following Jesus and becoming more like him would look like? ‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32 NRSV).

Matthew 5:27-37 ~ in these ten verses, Jesus’ teachings about adultery, divorce and oaths can be summed up quickly: “your behavior is but a reflection of what’s in your heart.” Pure thoughts and intentions virtually never produce sinful behavior. Theologian, Paul Tillich, says that sin always is a state (of mind—a condition of the soul) before it is an action.

At my age takes consistent effort to sustain any degree of physical fitness, and If I slack off from regular exercise for as little as a week, the aches and stiffness are back. My mind and my awareness, on the other hand, seem always to be in hyper drive! It seems as though I’m always the disciplinarian: over my body to keep it going, and over my mind to keep it from running away!

In the early days of personal computers, there was a phrase, “garbage in, garbage out” (sometimes in the form of the acronym, “GIGO”). A computer can’t output anything that isn’t first input. The human mind is not altogether different, although it’s more a matter of degree, because the human mind is always in “input” mode—even when we sleep.

Cut to the chase: the way to manage my behavior is to discipline my mind and my awareness. While my mind is always on “input mode”, and I don’t always have control over what goes in, I do have control over what I access. That’s why, if I am to follow Jesus, it’s so important to make time daily for intentional input: reading and study (in addition to sermon preparation), and prayer.

My primary hope in prayer is to align my will with God’s will. It’s a daunting task, and sometimes I actually make a connection. Still, there is value in the effort, even when the connection is not made. Life is more about the journey – and about whom I follow. If I follow Jesus, I don’t need to worry about the destination—or about my behavior.

Whoever has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9 NRSV)

‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32 NRSV).

That's the way it looks through the flawed glass that is my world view.

Together in the Walk,

Jim