It’s always interesting to encounter someone whose name somehow relates to his or her vocation.  There are numerous physicians in the world named Dr. Payne.  Clergy whose last name is Lord, Divine, or even Christ have climbed into pulpits.  You, no doubt, have your own examples.   Butler, Miller, Driver, Friend, Smith, Moody, and so many others are descriptive names, and one wonders about their origins.  We give nicknames to people, also as a way of expressing characteristics or qualities discerned in their appearance, personalities or behavior:  Hoss, Slim, Lefty, Grumpy, etc.

One time, a co-worker and I tried to assist a couple of ladies experiencing car trouble as they left the garage behind our building.  We really didn’t know enough to get them on their way, and they finally called for a tow truck.  The fellow who showed up had a nameplate on his shirt.  Rather than “Tom” or “Skip,” it read, “Donkeyman.”   I thought that was pretty funny.  I nudged my co-worker, he saw it, and we both laughed.

Donkeyman said, “Are you guys laughing at my name?”  I replied, “Sorry, man, but I never saw anything like that before.”  He really didn’t seem all that upset.  Unfortunately, it was one of those times when once you start laughing everything compounds it until you lose all control.

Donkeyman decided that the other guy and I should push the car out of the garage into the alley, with him steering, so we could get the car in place for an attempt at jump-starting the battery.  So, that’s what we did -- as we laughed and made silly comments.  The two ladies seemed confused as to why we were enjoying this so much.

Finally, we had the car backed into the alley, but Donkeyman felt he still needed a better angle in order to connect the cables.  So, he got back into the car.  We resumed pushing, this time from the rear, but couldn’t budge the car.  I yelled, “Hey, Donkeyman!  What gives?  You got your foot on the brake or somethin’?”  We were doubled over with laughter.  He said, “Oh, sorry! I put it in park instead of neutral.”  We were hysterical by then, and, gasping for breath, I said to the other guy, “Hence, the name.”

Biblical names, of people and places, often describe an encounter with God or a call to God’s purpose.  In Exodus 17, there is a story of one of the struggles of God’s people as they moved through the wilderness on their forty-year journey to the Promised Land.  They were short of water and patience – with Moses and God.  Read the story to find out what happened.  Moses “called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’”  (NRSV)  According to footnotes, those two names mean “test” and “quarrel.”

Abram, Sarai, Jacob, Simon, Saul and others underwent name changes as God or Jesus called them to particular purposes.  Some of the adherents of the beliefs and approaches of Alexander Campbell, the shining light among my denomination’s forbears, were referred to as “Campbellites.”

What does it mean when we adopt the name “Christian” for ourselves?

Is it a name we bear in the presence of all, or just a select few?

Seeing a quote from Marion Barry, where he said, “It’s good to have a good God, a good lawyer and a good judge,” reminded me again how complex human beings can be.  The quote was in response to a favorable court ruling regarding tax troubles of the former mayor of Washington, DC.

Another quote, which I won’t repeat here, will forever be linked to Barry.  It was uttered when he secretly was videotaped in a hotel room with a woman not his wife, indulging in drug abuse.  That sealed his fate as fodder for outraged commentators and late night television comedians.  It was a sad period for Barry and the residents of the nation’s capital.

I remember Marion Barry from his college days in Tennessee and his involvement in the civil rights movement.  I watched his political ascent as a city council member and as mayor.  It was disheartening to many, many people when his personal demons became public knowledge.  I don’t know how many times he was re-elected mayor of D.C., even despite his legal and moral struggles.  The City Paper, a local Washington publication, sarcastically dubbed Barry “Mayor for Life,” and that is how they referred to him in articles.

On the other hand, though, at least part of Marion Barry’s ability to survive politically despite his difficulties and misdeeds was that he took care of the people.  The people on the street knew that Mayor Barry cared for them, as expressed in various programs he initiated to meet their needs.   I once had a fairly close encounter with this aspect of this complex human being.

During one of Barry’s terms as mayor, I appealed to him for his help, and he came through.  I was the Executive Director of William Penn House, a Quaker seminar center located on Capitol Hill.  From my second day on the job, the organization was embroiled in a complicated city zoning matter.  After many meetings and conversations with inspectors, lawyers, architects, city zoning people and who knows who else, the whole process ground to a halt. 

Two of the offices involved in zoning issues could not agree with each other about the zoning classification and code requirements for William Penn House.  I saw the guidebook of all the city’s zoning classifications, and it must have been four or five inches thick. William Penn House didn’t fit any of them.  Meanwhile, I was watching our program and bank account slip away, since we were closed down by the city.

Finally, I wrote a letter to Marion Barry, explaining the situation, and asking for his assistance in motivating his people to come up with a solution.   Within just a few days of my sending the letter, action resumed on our case.  Lo, and behold, the disagreeing parties resolved their differences.  Mayor Barry took care of the people, and in this case, we were part of “the people.”  Eventually, we were back in business.

We often dismiss, denigrate, judge, ridicule or condemn others based on aspects of their behavior or personality.  Just as often, there is another side to them we overlook or fail to acknowledge.

It really gets complicated sometimes, but the love and example of Christ caution us not to oversimplify.

A bridge collapses in Minnesota during rush hour.  Floods ravage numerous communities across the globe. Miners are trapped underground in Utah. Teenagers about to begin college are gunned down execution style in Newark.  GI’s are killed in Iraq.  Suicide bombers claim dozens of victims.  Wars we never hear about here destroy people and societies. On it goes, the daily dose of tragedy, destruction, terror, suffering and death.

Thanks to the never-ending flow of news reports, photos and transmitted video, one might have the impression the world is going to hell in a hand basket.   My personal opinion is that for the most part, there is no more trouble, conflict, or disaster throughout the world than during other periods of history.  We just hear about it faster and in more detail than ever before.  In my mind, the exception would be the violence and devastation of war.  Humanity has become more “advanced” and “sophisticated” in our ability to tear our world apart.  Please do not miss the irony of the words in quotation marks.

Sometimes, when we despair at the fear-inducing input of newspapers, television news reports and the internet, we are tempted to wonder, “Where is God?  Why doesn’t God DO something about the terrible things going on in our world?”  Surely, by now most of us realize that God does not manipulate events and people like a Grand Puppet Master, pulling the strings and controlling the movements of people and nature.   God’s love values human freedom more than that.  If and when God chooses to intervene specifically in someone’s life or in unfolding human dramas, that is entirely up to God’s discretion and wisdom.

But, I do believe God is present and active in other ways and at all times.

The other side of the effects of our 24-hour news cycle is that proportionally we rarely hear of good things that are being done to enhance lives, to strengthen communities, and to promote peace.  My belief is that this is the norm rather than the exception. 

Every minute of every day, healing occurs because someone cared enough about other people to study medicine.  Whenever there is an emergency, be it a flood, an earthquake, a tsunami, or a hurricane, there are people who respond selflessly to aid in rescue, recovery, and rebuilding.  Countless others are committed to helping those less fortunate than they, both near and far.  Some folks even take the time to prepare Sunday school lessons to facilitate spiritual growth and encourage faithfulness as disciples of Jesus Christ.  It is impossible to tally up the positive interactions and acts of kindness performed 24/7 by people whose names never make headlines.

I see the hand of God at work in these and other life-giving efforts.  Not all who do good are religious, church/synagogue/mosque attending folks, but as creatures made in the image of God, they/we bear the imprint of the One who creates and promises abundant and eternal life.  We can give thanks to God for each and every one.

To me, this is cause for hope.

While I was attending the General Assembly, I heard that a preacher who substituted for one of my colleagues that Sunday, because she also was at the assembly, preached a memorable sermon.  It wasn’t the kind of sermon appropriate to that or any other occasion.

He was a retired pastor known for his very conservative views.  The congregation at which he was a guest for the day is working through issues related to homosexuality among the church folk.  At least one of their elders is gay, and others in the church have gay or lesbian family members.  In his “sermon,” my esteemed retired colleague, who knew all of this, said something to the effect of “I know what is right and I know what is wrong.  Homosexuality is wrong according to God.”

Upon hearing that, a member of the congregation stood up and said, “I know what is right and what is wrong, too.”  And he walked out.  I’m told five other members walked out in solidarity.

So much for worship. 

The pastor soon heard what happened in her absence.  She was livid.  Her regional minister was livid.   I can only imagine the distress within the congregation.

Their journey on this issue has not been without bumps along the way.  Some folks decided they couldn’t continue in the fellowship, and that’s their prerogative, but my sense is some spiritual growth has occurred in the midst of the anxiety.

May that growth continue, in spite of the disruptive behavior of a misguided and out of touch preacher.  The pastor told me that maybe some good will come of this, after all.  She thought the folks were united in their resistance to the failed attempt at judgment of ones they love.

I’m not a beer drinker, but over the years I have enjoyed some of the commercials advertising beer on television.  Currently, Miller High Life has some ads that I find amusing.  Big guys from the distributorship show up at places where they feel the privilege of selling “the High Life” has been abused.  They raid the refrigerators and shelves, retrieve cases of the beer and load them back on the truck.   All the while, one of the men grumbles and complains about the misuse of the High Life.

The facetious message is there is an obligation attached to being a retailer of this special brand of beer, and no pretense will be tolerated.  I know a lot of people take their beer seriously!

The furor over Barry Bonds and his pursuit of the baseball home run record shows the passion of many people for a sport and its heroes.  It’s entertaining to me to read the responses posted along with online articles about this and related topics.

In the current presidential election campaign the candidates and the voting public will articulate loyalties, beliefs, and priorities.  We’ll discover people’s commitments and how far they will go in backing them up.

What are the obligations of beer sellers, baseball players and their fans, political candidates and voters?  What is the role of passion in these and other pursuits?

When we ask the same questions of Christians we may find that a consensus is difficult to reach.  The expression of obligations and passions sometimes are difficult to read among people of faith, especially pertaining to worship attendance, the practice of spiritual disciplines, biblical literacy, and the distinctive quality of a Christian approach to life. 

Maybe we need the guys from the High Life to visit a few churches and check this out!

Enjoy the videos!

Video 1       Video 2

As a follow-up to yesterday’s blog entry, I wanted to share with you something I read about on the DisciplesWorld website.  It pertains to citizens taking action to bring about structural change.

Second-graders in Las Vegas were dissatisfied with the food on their school lunch plates, especially the green beans.  Apparently, frozen green beans sometimes were re-heated and served a second time after the original thawing.  One doesn’t have to tax the imagination to envision the distasteful experience of eating them. 

School lunches have a reputation of sometimes being less-than-palatable.  I can recall a few of the uncomplimentary descriptions my peers and I applied to some of the meals placed before us in school cafeterias, on a rotating, predictable basis.  The school “pizza” was especially ridiculed.

 The children in Las Vegas chose a constructive approach in lodging their protest.  They wrote letters expressing their dissatisfaction, but were careful to be polite in how they stated their views.  ``A little boy said, `Anything, anything, I'll even eat broccoli,''' said Connie Duits, the lunch lady. ``So that one touched my heart.''  Other letter-writers complimented the overall menu, but suggested that the green beans must go.

The class was inspired to undertake their campaign after reading a book in which the main character sought to arrange a boycott of the school cafeteria.  Their teacher led them through a discussion of the approaches and attitudes portrayed in the story.

The county schools’ food service administration took seriously the protest by the second-graders and visited the school to meet with them and discuss alternatives to the green beans:  “With a handful of reporters watching, two dozen students sat down Monday to a veritable salad bar of cooked, frozen and canned vegetables, from baby corn to cherry tomatoes, and filled out a survey.”  Carrots and corn were popular choices among the students.

When asked about other menu suggestions for the school meals, various ideas were shared.  One boy requested “chicken cordon blue” and “chocolate filled panda cookies.”  My favorite was offered by a girl named Viviann, who asked for future menus to include “stake.”

Officials assured the children that the menu at their school would be “tweaked.”

Power to the people!  Stake for everyone!

Somewhere along the timeline of my experience and work as a minister, I was invited to engage in a debate at a local community college.  The topic was “Faith and Politics,” so, even though I no longer recall, I’m guessing it likely was an election year.

During that period of time I was active in the community on a variety of issues considered by some as political.  Most of my efforts were in conjunction with other people of faith from a variety of traditions and largely dealt with a broad array of economic justice concerns.  We held workshops, staged press conferences, submitted to interviews on television and radio, wrote newspaper columns, and met with elected officials on local, state, and national levels.  My involvement in these efforts led to the debate invitation.

My “opponent” in the debate was a lawyer, and as I heard his opening remarks I knew I had the advantage.  He focused his comments on the issue of the separation of church and state, and became bogged down in mentioning court cases and precedents.  My approach was to describe how faith informed one’s concern with justice issues, including what the Friends refer to as “speaking truth to power,” i.e., dealing with elected leaders, and I mentioned some biblical examples.  It was clear from the reaction of the audience they preferred my approach to that of my attorney friend.  This is not to gloat, but to point out that many people look for relevance to life in our society and in the world in their faith and beliefs.

Over the last generation or so, though, I think many have become skittish in giving expression to their faith in the political arena because of the antics of the Religious Right.

The Christian Century has two thought-provoking articles about this.  Jan Linn, a friend and Disciples colleague, wrote about the recent forum sponsored by Sojourners/Call to Renewal, televised on CNN, in which Democratic candidates for president were questioned about their faith values and commitments.   He worried that the candidates fell into a trap of presenting popular religious views in order to round up votes.  Jim Wallis, Editor-in-Chief of Sojourners magazine, and leader of Call to Renewal responded to Jan’s concerns. 

They both are well worth reading.

After some vacation time, and attendance at the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), I have returned home, and will resume entries to the blog.

The General Assembly was held in Ft. Worth, Texas, and some 6,000 folks showed up.  I felt it was a very good assembly, and I was glad I went.  In addition to catching up with friends and acquaintances from across the country, I thoroughly enjoyed the music, led by choirmaster Bill Thomas of Van Nuys, California, and also appreciated the daily worship services.

My favorite preacher of the assembly was Rev. William Lee, pastor of Loudon Avenue Christian Church, Roanoke, Virginia, who also did a splendid job as moderator of the assembly.  He was patient, wise, welcoming, and loving as he shepherded the assembled church through our business sessions.  His sermon was based on the Road to Emmaus story in the New Testament.

Other highlights included the “State of the Church” presentation by General Minister and President Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins.  She lifted up the new congregations of our fellowship and, using the Feeding of the Five Thousand story, challenged Disciples to “Choose Life” in all aspects of our church and individual lives.   She continues to give fine leadership in a period of transition and transformation.  The staff members in her office wear “No Complaining” wrist bracelets as a reminder to maintain a positive attitude and approach to their work.  The bracelets should be standard-issue for all church members!

Jim Wallis of Sojourners preached on the final night of the assembly, calling on Christians of all ideologies and theologies to make transformation a personal journey, using his wit and prophetic presence to bring an inspirational conclusion to the assembly.

Two years from now, we Disciples will gather again – in Indianapolis, Indiana.

There’s a quote from the late Rev. William Sloane Coffin that sums things up in his typical fashion:  “I love the recklessness of faith.  First you leap, then you grow wings.”                                                                                               

The Letter to the Hebrews puts it this way in chapter 11:  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.  (NRSV)

Through faith, we know, but we don’t know.  Our heart is convinced, even when our head is not so sure.  When we want everything quantified, measured, and verifiable, we’re seeking control.  When we approach life with faith, God is in control.  Personally, I would prefer that God held the reins.

This is especially true for the life of the church.  Recently, the pope declared that the Roman Catholic Church was the only “true church.”  This comes as news to the rest of the world, not under his thumb.  Just because we’re beyond his control doesn’t relegate other Christians to “less than” status.

God’s heart is much larger, of course, and I’m not picking on the pope.  Others have made similar claims, based on the “purity” of their doctrine or practice, again trying to exert control.  Who wants to let such people be in charge?

To leap first and grow wings later means we trust that God’s call to love our neighbor, to seek justice, and to be generous and hospitable, is the proper response to the people around us, even when we’re not sure how it all will turn out.   It means we’re free to dream big, even when we can’t necessarily see how those dreams will be fulfilled.  It means that life is for living, confident of the abundance of God’s blessings.

Rather than narrow everything down to a manageable size, faith liberates our hearts and our minds, revealing a wide-open, unlimited future into which God bids us, all the while promising to bless us in ways we cannot imagine – or control.

A funeral home in a town where I was the pastor of a Disciples congregation usually sent to local clergy a huge gift basket at Christmas.  It was nice to receive, but I admit I wondered about the reason it was sent.  Was the owner, Bob, appreciative of pastors in general?  Was it an inducement to recommend his services to grieving families?   Was it a deductible business expense that gave him a desired tax break?  I don’t know.  I just remember being surprised the first year I received his gift. 

I also was surprised to learn from Bob a year or two later that when he changed his approach and instead made donations to a charitable organization in the names of the pastors, who were notified by the charity, he received negative feedback from some of my colleagues.  Bob seemed truly perplexed as he told me about it.  He thought he was honoring us by supporting a worthy cause.  I guess some of the ministers really wanted that basket of goodies. 

The next year, they got it. 

Gift giving can be a tricky business.  Meanings are attached to and derived from what is given, how it is given, its value, and the reciprocal expectations it may carry.  Many gifts are really tokens, items with no real function or use other than to let the recipient know they were remembered on their special occasion.  Sometimes it’s just easier to write a check than to put actual thought into what might be offered as a gift.   

Those who receive the gift may or may not express gratitude or appreciation, and the writing of thank you notes is becoming virtually a lost practice.  We have to admit, that although a gift honors the other person, our willingness to repeat the act in the future is tempered by the response we do or do not receive.  Human dynamics get complicated sometimes. 

Each day really is a gift from God:  the air we breathe, the sunshine or rain, food, laughter, opportunities, everything that comes our way.  It’s fortunate for us, really, that our level of gratitude, as expressed through our prayers or simply through the ways we use our time and interact with others, doesn’t determine whether there will be a tomorrow. 

God’s love is characterized by lots of patience, it seems to me.