Thoughts on a revolution.

I have been to Egypt a few times, but this time was a bit different. We spent a lot of time on foot, in cars and saw the countryside in an up close and personal way. It’s a land of great importance, not only as an ally to the United States, but in the part that it plays in the history of our faith. It was Mary and Joseph who fled to Egypt to save their very lives. It was the exodus out of Egypt that is remembered in our Judeo-Christian past by the Passover. When the children of Israel wandered for forty years, it was in the desert of Sinai. When Moses received the Ten Commandments, he does so on Mt. Sinai. Even today there is a strong Christian presence in Egypt known as the Coptic Church. In Luxor we actually encountered the wonderful hospitality of the Coptic Church and were privy to a wedding.

We were just traveling through for a few days to see the wonders of this country. It is the land of the pyramids and pharaohs. It is the land of that famous river called “the Nile”, where the baby Moses was discovered by the Egyptian princess. It is a nation of tombs, mummies, sarcophagus’ and graves, with such places as the tomb of King Tutankhamen and the Valley of the Kings.

Egypt may be a land of history filled with dead mummies and monuments to the dead, but it is very much alive today. As you travel you can feel the weight of history all around you, but you can also see enormous congestion, horrific traffic, smog you can taste because it is so thick. Rivers look polluted and have become dumping grounds. The streets are full of garbage and cars are driving wildly in every direction, never staying within the lanes. It is a modern day “Dodge City. ”You are dealing with enormous poverty with people living in shacks. The salary that most people are living on is under $2000.00 per year. The government is subsidizing bread, which is the basic food of life for the ordinary Egyptian.

I found it unique and different, but at the same time, depressing. It’s a country that has been dominated for decades by dictators. It is a country with massive corruption, which leaves its people victimized and caught in a cycle of never ending poverty. It’s not an old country for 60% of the people are under thirty years old. There are lots of young people who are educated, but have no jobs and no future. The wealthy always put their foot on the necks of those who are pressed. Now the people are speaking and it’s a message being heard around the world. It’s a message of frustration and anger that is calling for Hosni Mubarak to step down and end this toxic rule that is choking the life out of Egypt’s people.

The people I met in Egypt were friendly. And despite how poor they were, they maintained a smile, a hospitable attitude and a willingness to help those who come as a tourist to enjoy their country. Now it’s their time to get a break, to have democracy and to have freedom.

"Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done” - Reflections on Sargent Shriver - Part II

Memory is a powerful thing. Sometimes people say I can forgive but never forget. At other times, things seem to slip away and much of our past gets forgotten. Memories can bring a smile to you or they can cause you to weep. If you are from my generation, you can remember the day Kennedy was assinated and what you were doing at the time. You can probably still see in your mind, that young man in his early forties saying “ask not what the country can do for you, but what you can do for the country.” To test your memory even more, can you remember whom the presidential candidate was that Sargent Shriver ran with for the Vice Presidential nomination? For those who don’t know, it was George McGovern.

Shriver did many things from the Peace Corps to the Special Olympics. It all centered around a world of action, not cheap talk or empty promises. I always remember his smile, the enthusiasm in his voice that made him a motivational force. In later years and most recently, I have seen him as an old man. He still has some remains of his good looks, if you can look great at 96.

I am told he died of Alzheimer’s, unable to identify even his own children. Alzheimer’s is a devastating disease which sends chills up my own spine. How you can lose your memory and forget people in your life like your own wife or children makes me sad. I can only imagine how tough it is on family members. But if you are Sargent Shriver and can’t remember the tremendous life of public service, I can only say it’s tragic.

I grew up in a very conservative, Lutheran environment. Every day in school we had to recite from memory, versus of the bible. I chaffed under these assignments. Never the less, I can still recite passages from memory and of course recognize a lot more because of all of those memory work assignments.

In the end, when Sargent Shriver couldn’t remember his family or close friends or even his life, he could still say the Lord’s Prayer word for word. Perhaps when our time is up in old age and we have been divested of most of our dignity, surrounded by caregivers, we can hold on to the words of the only prayer that Jesus taught his disciples.

An invitation to break mirrors - Thoughts on the life of Sargent Shriver – Part I

Growing up in the 60’s was an adventure, especially in San Francisco. I can always remember the days of Camelot with names like the Kennedy’s, Martin Luther King and others. One name that comes at me out of the past is that of Sargent Shriver. He was lesser known to most because the Kennedy clan was so large and charismatic, but in his own right he was an enormous person. His good looks, his charismatic style, his deep faith and his boundless energy made him an astonishing leader. Even in the shadow of the Kennedy legacy he was a giant of his times.

He was known most for starting the Peace Corps in which he sent thousands of young Americans around the world to get involved in the lives of people of other nations. It still goes on today. He is also responsible for the “War on Poverty” under the Johnson administration. His involvement stretched far and wide into a world of action. He just didn’t talk about things he made them happen.

I was struck by something that I learned in the recent days since his death. A New York Times article reported that he told graduating students at Yale in 1994 to “break mirrors”. “Yes, indeed, “ he said, “Shatter the glass. In our society that is so self-absorbed, begin to look less at yourself and more at each other. Learn more about the face of your neighbor and less about your own.” I thought to myself, that’s good advice. Too often in our preoccupied self-absorbed universe we don’t have time to notice others. In some ways it echoes Jesus’ words, “lose your life to discover what life is all about.” Matthew 16:25

Today on January 20th, we observe the 50th Anniversary of John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s famous inaugural address where he notes that the torch has been passed to a new generation. That same torch of selfless service, giving and caring beyond one’s own life, still rings true to this and every generation. Perhaps it’s time to break a few mirrors again.

“And What Have You Done” - Reflections on A New Year

You know how you get a song trapped in your brain and you keep repeating it over and over again? That is what has been happening to me. I’ve got that John Lennon tune “Happy Christmas” stuck in my head. Actually, it’s sort of appropriate and goes like this:

“So this is Christmas

And what have you done

Another year over

And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas

I hope you have fun

The near and the dear one

The old and the young”

It’s the question that is so right on as we approach the end of another year. “And what have you done?” Now that is an interesting question, especially for those of us who are “acheiver types.” If you look back with that question in mind, you may get some interesting answers. You may even say to yourself, “thank God I get another chance in 2011 because I couldn’t get it all done in 2010.” I’m not sure what 2010 meant to you, but as we begin to come against 2011, I can’t help but think of the past and an opportunity to do something more with my life next year.

It’s interesting that the lessons for New Year’s Day are from Ecclesiastes 3: 1-13. That well known passage that Pete Seeger made famous in 1959. It speaks about there being time for everything and that our life is marked by time. There is a time to be born, a time to die and you know how it goes. The interesting thing about time is that you can’t get it back. Bobby Darin knowing that he had a bad heart and probably wouldn’t live to a ripe old age used to always use the poker term “let’s double down.” This meant of course to increase your bet or in his case the intensity to which he needed to live his life.

I often feel the same way. I don’t like to let time slip away without using it in a proper way. Sometimes it just slips through our fingers and before you know it, you’re looking back with regret about what you have missed or what might have been. New Year’s is an interesting time and people always make fun of those who make resolutions that they never seem to keep. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep trying. There is nothing worse than being appathetic or cynical about the gift of life that we have been given. And make no mistake about it, it is a gift.

I did run across a quote recently attributed to Malcolm Muggeridge who was an atheist much of his life, but late in the game became a rather devout Christian. In his spiritual autobiography he talked about his late in life conversion to Christ. He entitled his autobiography “Chronicles of Wasted Time.” There is a sense in which, until God shows up in our time, all of our time tends to be wasted time. It is an interesting thought and I’m not sure how I would respond to it, however even with the good fortune of having faith, I still find myself wasting time or at least not using it in positive and productive ways.

At the end of every year, I have to reiterate what is in our confession - “Lord forgive me for the things that I have done and for the things that I have left undone.” I’m not sure which phrases hit me harder but I am not a person who likes to live with regret, especially the regret of not doing something I should have done or missing out on something I could have experienced. I suppose it is all part of the game we call “life”, but my prayer this year is that 2011 will be a great year filled with opportunities. May you grab on to as many as you can.

HAPPY 2011 !!!

MEH

“No Country for Old Men” - Reflections on Advent

Advent is a season of hope. It is a time when Christians with a candle mark off the weeks before Christmas, using that time for preparation and for waiting. It is symbolized by light in the middle of darkness. Christ is that light, which makes Advent a season of anticipation. Yet to some, it is looked at as a bit foolish and even pollyanna like. Isn’t it naive to talk of hope amidst all of the rather dark news that we hear about on a daily basis. The congress doesn’t get along, the deficit is enormous, spending is out of control, unemployment is at record heights and China holds our country’s debt. We could talk about Ireland and Greece needing a bailout, we could look at the absolute mess that is happening in Haiti with earthquakes, floods and a cholera epidemic in the wings. On top of all this, we have over 100,000 troops on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq who are in harms way every day. Actually it’s an interesting picture of darkness.

One of the interesting American authors of recent years is Cormac McCarthy. His novels about the loss of the old west as it changes into what we now know is a chronicle of a lost frontier and way of life. He has written numerous novels but one that stands out is “No country for old men”. Perhaps you saw the movie which was very well done. It left me at the edge of my seat, however it is a dark tale. In fact you could call it a tragedy. One of the leading figures in history is Tom Bell, an aging Texas county sheriff investigating a deal that has gone wrong. However, on the very last page of the novel Bell, now retired from his job speaks of a memory. What he remembers is an old house he once saw with a water trough, hewn with solid rock which was 100 years old by his estimate. He thinks about the man who chiseled it from stone. It would have taken hours and hours to do, yet he feels that it is something solid that would be around for 1000 years, long after even the house. He wonders why someone would do that. He says “I have to say that the only thing that I can think was that there was some sort of promise in his heart...I would only like to be able to make that kind of promise.”

Advent is about a story with a promise. It is about a world of despair with a promise of hope. It is about a light that is lit in the midst of darkness. It is about a community of people who gather around the hope of Christmas, the hope of a child whose message is Emanuel/God with us.

This brings me to another piece of this movie which we could safely call an American tragedy. Bell remembers two dreams he has about his deceased father who was a sheriff like him with an old fashioned, unbending integrity that was a part of his being. His dream goes like this, he remembers that it goes back to older times when they were on horseback in the night going through the mountains. It was even cold and there was snow on the ground. There was this rider who was his father who rode past him in the darkness and the cold. He just kept on going, he never said anything. He just rode on past with a blanket round him, his head down as he carried fire in a horn the way people used to do in another time distant in our memories. You could see the fire glowing inside like the color of the moon. All he knew is that he was going ahead and he was fixing to make a fire somewhere in the dark and in the cold. Bell thought that however far he got he knew that he would be there and then he woke up.

Christians live with Advent hope. They live with the assurance that we are not alone in this Universe. We live with the knowledge that no matter where we end up there will be this light that will greet us. A light out ahead of us, a light that shines in the darkness that will bring warmth and comfort.

Recently I have been hit with the prospect of doing several funerals in a row. I remarked to someone that it doesn’t feel like Advent, it feels more like Lent. All of this death and sadness can gang up on you in this world. Yet at the same time, I had this feeling that these experiences were just mirroring what the world is about. There’s no running from death, it’s the great equalizer. Whether you’re rich or poor, famous or anonymous, honest or a scoundrel, the old man with the scythe is coming to get you.

Yet amidst all of the tears and darkness, there is this light the bible says that the darkness cannot overcome. It is the light of Christ, the light of the Christmas message, the light of a mother and child in a manger. *

May you take advantage of the Advent season and make it an opportunity to connect with the light of the world - Our Lord Jesus.

--MEH

*I’m indebted to the writing of Tom Long and William Willimon for this article.

Thanksgiving.

Dear Friends,

I am writing you because we are approaching the national holiday of Thanksgiving. For many years I sort of ignored this holiday, only observing it when we sat down to eat my mother’s great Thanksgiving dinner. It was something that I didn’t pay much attention to because Christmas was coming. Now I have a different attitude about this day and I am pleased that our Nation observes it as a national holiday even though we live in a world that takes thankfulness for granted. Thanksgiving reminds me of the beautiful movie “Babette’s Feast” which takes place in a very small and obscure village in Scandinavia. Two major figures in the movie are elderly and pious Christian sisters, Martine (named after Martin Luther) and Philippa (named after Luther’s friend, Philip Melanchthon). They live with other white haired rural residents that are becoming a dwindling brood. They are daughters of a Pastor who has long since died.

Into this world comes a beautiful and charming opera singer named Babette Hersant. She has fallen on hard times and comes recommended as a housekeeper for these two old maids. One day she wins the lottery of 10.000 francs, which would allow her to return to France and her former lifestyle, but instead she chooses the occasion of the Pastor’s 100th birthday to prepare a feast. She sends for never before seen ingredients to prepare this meal. The menu has turtle soup, caviar, special French sauces with foie gras and truffle sauce, chesses of all types, figs, grapes, pineapples, expensive wine and champagne. In addition, Babette purchases the finest china, flatware, crystal and linen to ensure this luxurious meal is eaten in fine style. After the meal, the sisters assume that Babette will return to Paris but she tells them that all of her money is gone. They are aghast because they couldn’t believe that dinner for twelve at “Café Anglais” has a price of 10,000 francs. This is what Babette paid for the ingredients that she cooked for the old people of this village. They tell her “now you will be poor for the rest of your life”, Babette replies,” an artist is never poor”.

When I first saw this film in the 80’s, I was moved to tears. There is something wonderful about extravagant generosity where people enjoy giving and where giving comes from a thankful heart. There have been times in my life when I have not had a lot of money, but I’ve never felt poor, in fact most of the time, I felt privileged. Thanksgiving time is a time to slow down and reflect upon how much we do have and how gracious God has been. No matter if it has been a difficult and challenging year where tears have often appeared on your cheeks, there are still occasions to be grateful, generous and forgiving.

I hope to see you all on Thanksgiving Eve at our altar with thankful hearts.

“IMAGINE” - Reflections on All Saint’s Day and John Lennon’s 70th

A number of years ago, I was giving a tour of Manhattan to visitors and the evening was getting late. I was driving up Central Park West and saw the Dakota. I stopped the car and said “do you guys want to see Strawberry Fields?” It is as you know a memorial to John Lennon. So as we left the car and headed into the darkness of Central Park, I was hoping that I hadn’t forgotten where it was. I was soon reminded by the fact that I could hear someone singing on a guitar, a Beatle’s tune. So as we turned the corner and arrived at the “Imagine Memorial”, there was quite a little crowd gathered in the dark with lots of candles on the ground and a few people singing. We were reminded by this coincidence that it was John Lennon’s birthday. How incredible to end up there by chance on his birthday. I’m reminded again of his birthday because on October 9th he would have turned 70. Is that possible? I guess it is because a lot of time has passed since this group of long haired singers from Liverpool came over and sang on the Ed Sullivan show along with touring America.

Of course we all blamed Yoko Ono for the end of the Beatles. But perhaps you can’t just stay in one place your whole life, you have to move on and reinvent yourself by doing new things. John did that by not only starting another band, singing solo, but also for a number of years became a house husband. In addition to being a house husband, he was a peace activist and had a social conscious that included helping the poor of New York City.

He was always interesting whether it was with the Beatles, raising his second son or taking some rather far out pictures of himself with wife, Yoko. He did manage to offend a number of Christians when he said “the Beatles were more popular than Jesus.” He tried to explain what he meant, but it’s all been forgotten now. I do remember looking at this monument and thinking about what could have happened had he not been murdered. But, like George Gershwin, Jimmy Hendrix and JFK, we’ll never know what might have happened and what they might have done, had they lived.

Death is the great equalizer. It is the one event that everyone in the world moves towards, whether you like it or not. Philosopher Martin Heidegger once wrote that all philosophy is about “every human being’s journey to death.” It is a reality that I as a minister face often when I stand at gravesites and speak words about someone who is being put in the ground. My words as a pastor are always words of hope because that’s what I believe. Death is not the end, but a door into a more mysterious and deeper world.

There are graves that I’ve made a point of visiting. I’ve been to Eva Perrone’s grave in Buenos Aires with a herd of cats at my feet, Jim Morrison’s in Paris at Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise with beer cans, cigarette butts and old hippies hanging out lighting candles. I guess no matter how large the monument or grave, the person is still dead.

So, as we all deal with loss and the reality of death, I’m reminded of the words that “we do not grieve as if we have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13) As we approach All Saint’s Sunday, we’re reminded once again of those people who have touched our lives in huge ways. I’m not just thinking about those famous saints of old, but I’m thinking of those who have led quiet and wonderful examples of faith and goodness that have lifted our lives to new levels and inspired us to be better people and believers.

John Lennon had a song entitled “Imagine”. And in that song, he imagined a new world and a new world order and if you think deeply enough, he could be imagining heaven. After all, I’ve always agreed with Karl Barth who said “Christianity is not a religion, it is a faith.” Yes, Christianity is a faith that is about hope and that does not give up on people. It imagines a world where people aren’t struggling for possessions, at war with each other, a place where there’s no hunger, and where love has the final word. Lennon’s song has a self depreciating tone to it when he says “I know you think I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” Well, as I see it, all those who became saints were dreamers of a better world, of a powerful message that we call the “Gospel” and of a different way of looking at how people need to treat each other.

As I think about sainthood, I’m always reminded of Luther’s famous phrase, “simul iustus et peccator” - same time sinner, same time saint. Most of the time I’m aware that I’m not a saint and don’t need to be reminded much that I’m a sinner. In the book, “Mother Teresa: Come be my Light”, Mother Teresa’s correspondence discusses her 50 year struggle with darkness and doubt and with the absence of God’s presence “If I ever become a saint, “ she wrote, “I will surely be one of darkness. I will continually be absent from heaven - to light the light of those in darkness on earth.”

You may call me a dreamer along with

John Lennon, but I find myself believing

in the dreamer who told us to be a light

in the darkness of this world.

MEH