God and Guns

What does God think about guns?

            As a Christian, I am trying to sort through the passions that people have in this country about the “right to bear arms.”  I said that, as a Christian I am thinking about and praying through the matter—not as an American.  I am a disciple of Christ who happens to be an American.  I have no problem with guns per se.  Weapons are neutral goods.  The Bible says a lot about them, and they are used quite often for good and for ill.  Spears, arrows, even a little stone in a sling have been used by God’s people for good ends and for selfish desires, for blessing and for power.

How do I grapple with this issue?  I have the Bible in one hand, and the American Constitution in the other.  I am also mindful of people who treat them equally.  As a faithful person, I have to look at the Constitution through biblical lenses, just as our ancestors did who wrote the Constitution.

What does the Second Amendment say?  “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”  We can become legal experts here and slice through each word or phrase to try to define meaning to suit our own opinion.  It strikes me, for example, that “a well-regulated militia” is quite different than an individual, but a group.  Being “well-regulated” means that there is an authority responsible for the discipline and oversight of that group.  There are commanders and divisions.  If the authors of the Constitution had meant that individuals have the right to bear arms, they would have used that language.

In 21^st century America, the arguments for or against gun control do not reveal what really is at stake from a Christian perspective.  Guns in our culture reveal more than anything else the need for power and control over one’s life—a “right” that is quite different than what our ancestors understood.  With rights come responsibility and accountability to the larger community.  Spiritually speaking, we are in a dilemma.  We do not possess guns.  Guns possess their owners.  Guns have become gods.

Until we can have a spiritual discussion about what guns mean, then any other discussion or agenda will make no sense.  And Christ will not be in the discussion. 

Imagine That II

How interesting it is that the news media cannot come to grips with the Manti Te’o story.  Reporters and anchors on CNN and major networks all seem to be scratching their heads asking, “How can this have happened?  Why did this young man fall for a hoax?”

            My response:  think about what media professionals do for a living.  Newscasts resent stories in which professional “spin doctors” (especially in political situations) or international incidents (with interpreters) may have some truth and a lot of, shall we say, slant.  So-called “reality television” creates a set of characters who are creating a reality, not living in it.  Movies and television episodes tell stories that take ingredients of daily life and add large doses of fantasy.

            So how is this different from what Manti Te’o has to answer for now?

            Then, at today’s inauguration, the story has come forth that the singer Beyonce simply moved her lips to her pre-recorded voice singing the national anthem.  The orchestra made motions to appear as if the instruments were being played.  The spin—which has some truth—is that voices and musical instruments do not do well in colder weather.  On a side note, that makes me wonder about all of those college marching bands I’ve seen on television over the years at different bowl games….  

            The moral challenge versus the pragmatism of the producers’ decisions about the orchestra and Beyonce is another discussion for another day.  The interesting issue to me is whether we trusted too much in the reality of what we saw.  Did we use our imaginations without our permission?  That’s the line of reality and imagination.

            And there’s an important spiritual lesson here, for a core understanding of evil is that we are led to believe something that is not real.  Demonic forces lead those unaware souls into falsehoods.  Satan is the “father of lies.”

            We must be careful and prudent in the use of the mental capabilities that God has given us through the Holy Spirit.  We must pray for the power to discern what indeed is real, what is virtual, and what is false.  The line can be hard to see.  In Christ, we can find truth and know the Truth.  “Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’ (John 8:31-32)  The challenge of the virtual and the imagined and the perceived, as can be seen, is nothing new.  The Good News is that we do not have an imaginary or virtual Jesus.

            In Christ there is no lip sync or virtual reality.  And we don’t have to imagine that.

Imagine That!

In the headlines and lead stories, we hear yet another tale of life in the cyber age.  Manti Te’o, a linebacker on Notre Dame University’s championship football team, faces humiliating scrutiny for his fake love affair that came to a tearful end—except that it actually was all a hoax.   

            Manti Te’o’s love affair happened on-line.  He never met the young woman in person.  Te’o was not living a fantasy.  The emotions were real, the love genuine, and the communication passionate.  The electronic woman ended the virtual romance at the time when the football team made its way to the great confrontation with the Crimson Tide of Alabama.  His tearful story became the highlight of heroic sportsmanship.  He lived with his brokenness and put all of his energy into teamwork.

            Now this young man faces the humiliation of the hoax.  His story tells us a lot about the power of human imagination, and the sinful human will that now has an electronic reach.  Te’o definitely is not the first person to deal with the sinful side of “virtual reality” and demonic forces that are happy to use these means for global impact.

            The story reminds me of a movie that made an impact on me as an early sign of the dark side of technology.  Back in 2002, the movie Simone (or S1mOne) foretold the dangers of electronic imagination.  A movie producer (played by Al Pacino) is nearing financial ruin after his top star and temperamental diva (played by Winona Ryder) walks off the set. But the project has to be finished and released.  The producer has learned something about digital technology—and creates a hologram actress, Simone.  The movie is released to global acclaim—and the producer has a problem.  Simone is not real.  She is a product of technology.  No problem—she does interviews from her digital location.  She becomes a global rock star and does virtual concerts before thousands of fans.  And the whole project gets out of control.

            The movie comes to a good end, of course.  Yet it was a prophecy and a warning about how our imaginations can be manipulated.  It’s just another means of blessing—and of sin.  Manti Te’o just happens to be the latest to yield to a virtual relationship.

            This young man has given us a warning about our digital age.  Imagine that!

The Water's Fine

On this Sunday, the Baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan, a baby was baptized at the church.  The Eucharist was festive, the family lovely, and the little boy cute.  The priest spoke quite appropriately of the welcoming of the child into Christian community.  Adults made the baptismal promises.  Each of us renewed our baptismal covenant.

            I imagine that the baptismal water was at least at room temperature (one of the lessons a first-year priest learns from the rector).  The baby was well-behaved, which may be a danger sign.  Years ago, I concluded that if the baby cries, a good life ahead lies; if the baby is quiet, no doubt he’ll incite a riot.  If we remain a church with a sense of personal spiritual commitment, then this child will chose to be confirmed by a bishop.

            There needs to be a warning, however, when a child or adult is baptized.  Not only are we baptizing into new life and Christian community.  First, we are being baptized into Christ’s suffering and death.  As Thomas Merton so aptly says in No Man Is an Island, baptism is an embracing of the divine  promise in the midst of a broken world.  As we are baptized into Christ, we are clothed first with his death on the Cross as well as his resurrection.

            In other times and traditions, a person desiring to be baptized was immersed in the natural waters of a lake or river or ocean.  The one baptizing immersed the person three times, in the name of the Father, then the Son, and finally, the Holy Spirit.  The experience was, so to speak, death-defying.  But the experience also could bring one, in a symbolic way, near to death.

            The baptismal font is a symbol of the true baptism into death and new life.  In any case, any of us, all of us, needs to know that sometimes the water is fine; sometimes it is rough.  Sometimes the water is calm; sometimes the rip tides threaten to take us under.  At any baptism, each of us must remember that Christ will lead us through these times, all times, if we allow Christ to surround us with grace and mercy in any circumstance.

            Come on in!  The water’s fine.  Christ always stills the waters and calms the seas in life.  That’s a promise.

Weather Forecast

This coming weekend promises to be a warm one here, even for a coastal winter.  On the other hand, temperatures out West promise to be much colder than normal. 

News programs headline each hour with video clips of ice in farm fields in California and people in shorts and tee shirts in Atlanta. The video voice-overs have menacing yet exciting tones:  “Wild weather covers the country!  Is this an omen of global warming?”  There was horrified glee in the headline this past week that 2012 was the hottest summer on record.  Raging fires and disastrous heat are tormenting Australia!  At the same time, children are playing in the snow in Jerusalem!    The more headlines we hear, the more exclamation points there are about the weather!!!!!

On the last headline—snow in Jerusalem—at least one reporter had the sanity to say that this snow was the first one in twenty years.  I can remember the previous reports about snow there.  Even the psalms say something about that kind of weather in the region.  The Psalmist says, as a part of praise for God’s creative gory, “He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down hail like crumbs—who can stand before his cold?” (Ps. 147:16-17)  Children must have been throwing snowballs back then.

In the United States, we’ve been keeping weather records since the 1870s.  We can gather only from journals and reports about the weather conditions back in the early 19^th century, or from battlefield journals of the American Revolution (where it appears that winters were quite severe).  During the summer of 1980, when I was living in England, I was humbled by the weather report that stated that the temperatures were the coldest in over 300 years.

Extreme weather is a matter of perspective.  As we all grow older, the weather conditions were hotter and colder, snowier and stormier than anyone would know today.  Hey, even I can say that I remember warm January temperatures as a child in Chicago—followed by record-setting blizzards.  Nearly twenty years ago, Illinois had its coldest temperature on record, -36F degrees. Yet, around 1970, I remember riding my bicycle on Labor Day in 102 degree heat.  Oh, no—I am starting to sound like my grandparents, who, when it came to weather, often reproved me and said, “When I was your age, we had to (fill in the blank)—and we made it.”

I’m no weather forecaster, but I can attest to two things about the conditions.  First, weather is so much more dramatic now with instant communication, which requires so much hype so that people pay attention.  Also, weather is humbling, because we have no control over what will happen.  Nature has a mind of her own.  We can and do influence the weather.  There definitely is a global warming trend that must be addressed.    In the end, though, the weather reminds us that we are beholden to what today or tomorrow will bring.

So how do I live with the weather?  I have clean tee shirts in the drawer, and clean coats in the closet.  And some days I wear both….

Blue Birthdays

A little headline in today’s news is that it’s Elvis Presley’s birthday.  Alas, Elvis died in 1977, so birthdays don’t count for anything now in that timeless place where Elvis is.  In earthly terms, he would have been 78 years old (or young) were he still with us.

            At Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, his undying fans gathered and enjoyed birthday cake as Elvis impersonators serenaded the crowd.  Graceland is like the Temple in Jerusalem to those who love rock ‘n roll. 

            Elvis is indeed an icon, not only in American culture, but throughout the Western world and beyond.  Elvis broke the rules of culture and musical taste.  His voice sang for so many after World War II who began to rebel against the norms of the time.  I’m in the second generation of rock ‘n roll.  The popular music I listened to as a young person was shadowed by what Elvis did—and what the radio did.  Alongside Motown, the Philadelphia Sound, the Memphis Blues and other musical expressions spoke for the young person on the street, or in the car.

            Elvis is the icon also for other cultural rebels of his time—in motion pictures, James Dean; in literature, Jack Kerouac; in poetry, Allen Ginsberg; in folk music, Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.   All broke boundaries and shaped new expressions of the popular soul.  The one who profited the most, however, was Elvis.

            Now, I can take Elvis in small doses.  I can watch one of his movies once in a while.  I even can enjoy an Elvis impersonator.  I did, draw the line, however, in worship.  I did not want Elvis to sing in the liturgy.  Can you imagine what he would have sounded like in a choral Eucharist?  (Please, don’t imagine….)  Even at funerals of non-parishioners, I have asked for Elvis not to be in the service.  Not once did someone break this rule.  A family member was going to sing a karaoke of a popular song the deceased was said to love.  She was overcome with an anxiety attack.  So the panicked CD-player operator popped in Elvis singing “Amazin’ Grace.”  I will not speculate here whether composer John Newton would have approved.  But the people at the funeral sure were touched—they were moved to Elvis tears.

            Elvis’ birthday just goes to show that there are some people who never die.  Their bodies may depart this world, but their legacies never do.  Neither you nor I may be Elvis.  But each of us leaves a legacy.  What is the song that you want people to sing about you?

Star Gazing

Many years ago, I had the opportunity to serve for two weeks as the priest at St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church on the island of St. Barts in the Windward Islands of the Caribbean.  In so many ways, I felt unplugged from the world.  I also felt connected to the natural order in ways never before nor since.

At night, the island was gently lit by street lamps and headlights.  I walked with great care to a beach just down the street from the church and rectory so that I could take in the clear night sky.  In the midst of a new moon, I saw the symphony of stars in the inky-black night sky.  I beheld the universe before me, and my face was fixed towards heaven as my heart sang praise to God.  Scanning the heavens, I saw the various constellations spoken of by those of ancient times.

At that moment, I had some idea of what the Magi experienced as they studied the stars in the heavens and saw one that stood out, one with a message from heaven saying, “Come and see.”  And so they made the arduous journey from what today is Iran to what today is Palestine.

It can be said that the Magi followed the true “north star.”

That is what I saw for the first time on the beach that night—the North Star, the fixed point in the heavens by which all seafarers navigate safely through the journey.  That is the star that always is to be followed.  Did the Magi see brilliance in the heavens as then never seen?  Was it the North Star lit amazingly well?  We will never know.  What we do know is that they followed that star to the place where Jesus lay.  And they worshiped him.  

The Magi were able to see the North Star in part because there was no distracting light in the nighttime darkness they knew.  Practically speaking, we can’t be star-gazers because there is so much ambient light surrounding us.  Human light makes stars invisible to the human eye.

That’s true spiritually as well.  God provides the North Star in every life.  His name is Jesus the Christ.  He is the one who guides us and gives us direction for our lives.  In order to receive him, we need to shut out all the ambient light and human stars that distract us from that focus and clarity.

Just as the Magi followed the star, trusting in its Good News, let’s pray that the North Star will become clear in every life as well, and to follow that star in every part of the journey of this life.

Out With the Old

Happy New Year!  It’s a day of new beginnings.  And, as a newscaster no doubt has observed, this day is an annual event.  Um, like yeah….

As the same newscaster will tell you, this day also is about new beginnings,  There are firm  resolutions about getting in better physical shape, losing weight, saving more money, and getting more sleep.  Those resolutions all take, well, resolve.  There are goals to meet, attitudes to adjust, behaviors to change, and support systems to build or to find.

These resolutions deal with changes in the outer person.  There are inner, spiritual matters to handle, too.   Behaviors and attitudes reveal a lot about the inner person.  We have experiences, self-image, a set of personal values and mental models of family patterns that can help or hinder us.  Over the years, people have told me about their history of behavior change or value shift.  There always have been struggles to be the new person that a resolution may demand.  I ask people, “Did you pray about these resolutions?  Did you pray through the changes?”  Often, people don’t have answers to these kinds of questions.  After all, these are perceived as personal battles, not spiritual battles—which they indeed are.

Along those lines, over the years I have known very few people who made spiritual resolutions to keep in the new year.  Few have said, “I am resolving to pray more often, and more intently.”  Very few have promised to read the Bible more regularly, asking for recommendations about study aids.  No one has ever said to me, “I resolve to attend church more regularly” (which probably was good not to promise to the priest).

Yet the resolutions to strengthen spiritual life actually can help a person to deal then with practical issues day to day.  Spiritual strength can give us the ability to say “yes” to the good patterns and choices, and “no” to the choices that will set us back.  More than that, we have the power of the Holy Spirit to draw us closer to Christ and to the strength that comes only from God.

As we all turn the page into a new year, may God help us to move to a new stage in our walk in these divine paths.  May all of us resolve to pray more, work more, and give more to spread the dominion of God.