The Music

I've been listening to a CD which I really like. It is a collection of songs by Peter, Paul and Mary. I like both their music and message. I can understand the words and the music isn't so fast or loud that I can't follow the story-line. The music seems to support and, not get in the way of the message. I also like their harmony. I think it is a real gift to sing with others and it sounds like it really belongs together. I wish more of us in the world could make harmony not just in music but, also, in theology, politics, etc. Evidently harmony doesn't mean that everyone sings the same note. It is our differences which are blended together in the same song and for a purpose more important than just my voice that makes beautiful harmony and music. I think their songs, many of which are about the events of the times, are prophetic. Their subtle and, sometimes not so subtle, challenge to the status-quo is refreshing. Of course, you will want to remember that I 'came of age' during the 60s and 70s when music spoke to the events of civil rights, war, poverty, etc. It is good to listen again to their music.

Choosing "All The Above"

There are a few times in life when we have the option of choosing all of our favorite things. Most of the time we have to choose one from several options but, occasionally we can have it all. Today is Labor Day. Everyone is sleeping late so I'm cooking breakfast. I have three favorite "dressings" for biscuits: Sorghum, lemon honey and black cherry jam. It is difficult to know which one is my favorite. So, on this holiday while everyone is sleeping, I've baked biscuits. I'm planning on eating three of them. One with each of my favorite dressings. Since someone has decreed that breakfast also involves some fruit, I'm eating some homemade apple sauce made by a colleague at the Center. This is a good beginning to a holiday. I like having the option of choosing "all the above." I'm also thinking about fixing some pancakes for supper. I've a friend who refers to pancakes as "wet bread." I think she doesn't know what good pancakes, real butter and honest Vermont maple syrup tastes like. Yes, I know about carbs, starches, etc. However, today is a holiday and I'll return to giving attention to a healthy diet tomorrow.

Why so angry?

Our present political culture is confusing and frustrating me. I don't like it. I don't understand all of the anger. I know that anger may arise from wanting something and not being able to get it. In our culture most of us have more than we need and that may be the issue. We have become a greedy people--wanting more than we need. I don't understand people who have plenty but don't want to share in order that others may have what they need. For example, I have wonderful health insurance. Therefore, why wouldn't I, especially as a Christian, be willing to share through taxes so that others could have health insurance. Good health care for everyone is a moral issue for me. It seems like some are saying that they want God to care for the poor and needy among us. Only they just don't want them to be cared for with their tax dollars or in their neighborhood. I also know that anger causes us to loose our perspective. Angry people idolize their supporters and demonize those who disagree with them. None of our leaders or potential leaders are perfect and none of them are evil. All of them have some wonderful ideas as well as some terrible ideas. They are human beings trying to do their best as they understand their task. Our best decisions come from honest and respectful dialogue. We've more than enough arrogance and arguing. We need some humility. I wish we could disagree without being so angry and disagreeable. I pray that God would help us stop thinking of those whose ideas are not just like mine as an enemy.

Wobbling along

I've been reading a wonderful book on prayer. Bro. Frederick, a monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani, put me on to Michael Casey. His book, Toward God, is full of wisdom about prayer. From reading Father Casey's book (he is a monk in the Tarrawarra monastery in Australia), I get the sense that he has been praying for many years and not just talking about it. He writes about the struggles that I have. We usually desire some kind of benchmark or standard so we can tell we are progressing in the spiritual life. Monk Casey writes, "We wobble along the journey, stumble off the path, find ourselves attracted in other directions, stand still, even regress. This is almost a universal experience. What is significant is the strength of the reflex that keeps us bouncing back. There is something we keep returning to: a vision, a dream, a hope. Something gives us the courage to get up after each fall and resume the journey. This is concrete evidence of the Spirit's work, far more potent than any spiritual euphoria." (page 122-123) This guy is one who really prays and not one who just talks about praying. He describes my spiritual and prayer journey. He's been where I've been repeatedly.

Oops!

During the summer, I'm a baseball fan. Granted I'm not as intense a fan as I am with college football or basketball, especially the OU football "Sooners." Nevertheless, baseball is a great summer pastime. I enjoy sitting on the front porch swing with a radio and listening to the Cincinnati Reds. Yes, I like the Cincinnati Reds, especially the coach, Dusty Baker. The Reds just finished playing a three game series with the St. Louis, Cardinals. The games were even played in Cincinnati. It was a series for the lead in the National League central division. The Reds entered the series in first place. Then, oops! They lost all three games. The series was even punctuated by a bench-clearing shoving episode. Whatever happened, the Reds lost all three games and are now chasing the Cardinals for the lead position. Sometimes things, friends, team members, family, etc. just don't work as expected. Hal Mumme coached the UK football team several years ago and he was reported to say after a messed up play, "Just play the next play." That's pretty good advise. Just go on and do what's next. When I spend a lot of time and energy wishing things had not happened or wishing they were different, I end up wasting a lot of time and energy. So, Cincinnati Reds, let's go on and play the next game. Could it be that Jesus meant something like this when he said to dust off the dirt of a city that wouldn't listen?

Mindfulness and Gratefulness

I like what the words "mindfulness" and "gratefulness" bring to my thoughts. Some of you may recognize that the word "mindfulness" is attributed primarily to the Buddhists. It probably didn't originate with them although I really don't know either the concept or word's origin. Nevertheless, I like the word and the concept it brings to my mind. It seems to me that mindfulness means that I cause my focus and attention to be full of whatever I'm doing at that moment. It is practicing the discipline of attentiveness. I googled "mindfulness" to see what I might learn. I discovered several web-sites where they wrote about how mindfulness helps you relax, do better work, etc. I suspect that is all true but, I like mindfulness just for itself. The mind is full of whatever is present at the moment.
I'm not very good at multi-tasking and I really don't want to attempt the development of it either. I've been in conversations where the other person seemed to be looking over my shoulder for the next person and conversation. I like conversations with people who look at me when we are talking.
Gratefulness, at least to me, means a similar thing as mindfulness. It means that I give attention so that my mind is full of thankfulness. I not only want to be fully focused on the present but, also, grateful for the moment. I've liked the web-site gratefulness.org for several years, especially the video.
Several years ago I remember being on an island bus from the airport to the hotel and overhearing a conversation between several tourists who were talking about the next time they come to the island. I recall thinking that it was a real loss that these excited folks weren't able to "be" at the island and grateful for it's beauty when they were already on the island and driving past beautiful scenery in delightful weather. I think they were not seeing or experiencing what they were looking and hoping for. I think mindfulness and gratefulness would be a helpful prescription for this malaise.

My, how things have changed!

This morning Judy and I will take a friend to the airport here in Lexington. She is traveling to Charlotte then Munich and finally to Moldova. She will be joining a group of other women on a "mission trip" to work among women who have been victims of human trafficking. Flying to Moldova doesn't seem unusual to me. I've flown to Europe or the middle East several times. However, I've begun to think about my parents and grandparents. If they were still living, flying to Moldova would sound like an impossibility. My how things have changed! I'm not even certain that my folks would understand what "human trafficking" really means. Not only this concept of flying across the ocean but I'm also developing an on-line class for the Lexington Theological Seminary which I will teach in January. I'm having fun learning this new technology and it isn't as difficult as I had imagined. However, my folks would not have never dreamed that someday a Professor could teach a class and the students not be physically present in the classroom. Yes, I know, neither could they have believed that the Professor could have been me but, that's another story or blog. My how things have changed.