on a lighter note

I've been saying this for years! Too bad I'm not some biological scientist-type that could have published the idea with some kind of authoritative supporting material.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The egg!

Oh well, at least I can say a philosophical, evolutionary geneticist agrees with me...
;)

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend! May the weather be agreeable, memories be shared with family, and those that served the world in an effort to maintain peace and prevent oppression be honored.

modern day pharisees

As a quick disclaimer, those who read regularly will probably know this already, but I pull no punches in this post. Read at your own risk, and possible discomfort.

Philosopher, poet, and critic, George Santayana, once wrote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." It is a saying that has become cliche, often repeated (or misstated) and often glazed over. Sadly, today we could re-work that saying to perhaps be stated as, those who obsess on the past are blinded to the parallels that can be drawn with the present. By thoroughly understanding something in its true historical context, we can often inadvertently place it solely in the past and avoid confronting similar circumstances in our own lives. Let's think about this for a moment.

Have Christians come full circle? Are many of us now the modern incarnation of the Pharisees? What about Zealots? Or Herodians and Sadducees?

Don't be too hasty in forming your answer, think about it, a casual dismissal of the idea could be just as telling. Let's look at the Pharisees first: highly righteous, adhered to strict laws of purity, abhorred sinners and would not associate with sinners except to publicly show their benevolence, and they believed that God would send the Messiah only once everyone stopped sinning. How different is that from people today? Of any group out there, who are most often labeled as having "holier than thou" attitudes? Why exactly is it that some people feel that people seeking faith have to check their sins and worldly ways at the door of the church, often before even being baptized?

You want to know how I could possibly think Zealots relate to today? How popular is that Left Behind book series, and what are they about? Oh, yeah something about Jesus coming back to resurrect the faithful, judge and persecute the unfaithful, establish an earthly kingdom, and lead a final battle to defeat evil. Sound like the Zealots to you, with their hope for a violent overthrowing of their enemies and establishment of a righteous political entity?

Herodians and Sadducees should be fairly obvious by now, right? Let's see, Herodians and Sadducees were both collaborators with the Roman occupiers, essentially playing nice with the powers that be in order to gain influence to maintain their status quo. The Sadducees went even a few steps further and were even more elitist and righteous than the Pharisees, as they rejected many of the newer teachings of the day (resurrection, afterlife, spirits, etc). To me, that smacks of the stereotypical fundamental/conservative/right-wing Christian political lobbyist groups that are in the news more and more frequently.

I told you I wasn't going to pull any punches here, and it's not because I think I am somehow better than anyone else. I'd be the first in line to pronounce that I am not perfect, I don't have all the answers, and I struggle with sin and Jesus' way of life. However, I find it troubling to think that we have come so far, only to find ourselves right back where we started. I often wonder if Jesus were to come back again today, would he try to come to the various Christian groups first, only to find our reaction to him reminiscent of how the Jews responded two thousand years ago? Makes you wonder...

secrets of joy and despair

After what seemed like an interminably long wait (but I was probably more impatient than anything), I received my replacement copy of Brian McLaren's The Secret Message of Jesus. I debated about going back and re-reading the entire book, but I chose instead to back up one chapter to get back into the book. Since I am by no means a professional book reviewer, my review is simple. It is a great book that I would recommend to everyone who wants to get up close and personal with the message that Jesus shared with us. By up close and personal, I mean by examining all the aspects - historical, political, religious, etc - and then seeing how Jesus' teachings in scripture speak to us. As with many of McLaren's previous books, for me this was another page turner that I rarely wanted to put down (but often did so as not to shirk other duties and people). Since I don't read every book out there by Christian authors, and I rarely find myself interested in reading a lot of heavy theology and history, The Secret Message of Jesus offers a satisfying, simple, and short introduction to the meaning of the message and how powerful it truly was when Jesus first delivered it. I say this is an introduction, because quite aptly the final appendix chapter begins with a bit of what I felt when I finished reading the book.

"I hope this book has not satisfied your curiosity about the secret message of Jesus. Instead, I hope it has stoked the flame of your curiosity as never before. I hope, as a result, that you'll want to continue exploring the message and its meaning for your life and for our world."

In other words, this is not an answer book, though it does provide some suggestions for further growth and exploration. I guess this would be the mixed emotion portion for me, often as I read these books, they expose me to different ways that Jesus' message impacts our lives. From this I feel an inner joy and longing, which often leads to a bit of personal despair. The joy comes from knowing and reaffirming my belief in a better way and the God who loves us, but I despair at my feeling of disorientation and confusion -- perhaps best summed up as feeling a bit lost. My head swirls with possibilities, callings, ideas, revelations, connections, desires, and a heavy dose of doubt. Could it be that I am being called to speak, teach, and shepherd? I doubt it; who do I think I am, why should they listen, and to whom would I speak to anyway? There is certainly more to me than blogging, since my ideas span far and wide, but who would be willing to follow them or take a chance on them besides me? Where is the place for someone who is tired of being taught the same thing year after year, but not in a position to teach even if they were not hesitant to do so? Certainly, I could continue to be a one man think-tank, with a limited audience to which his words are broadcast. I could for months on end continue to produce writings that might inspire people, provide food for thought, nourish the spirit, perhaps entertain or merely be tolerated. But what is the point? There is little community in that, there is no advancement of Jesus' revolutionary message, there is barely any living of the revolutionary message in that. I do appreciate those of you who read, and hearing that something I wrote helped someone makes it worthwhile, but isn't there - shouldn't there - be something more?

I stand in a clearing, with a note in my hand. I have been invited to a celebration thrown by the most loving, generous, and gracious host of all, I need only follow the path laid before me to get there -- in fact the invitation has informed me that "the more the merrier". Only there are many paths in front of me, each one different, and I am frozen in place by my inability to find my way. A few have passed me in their comings and goings; they have shared wonderful stories of the celebration and they have offered words of encouragement and advice. But their path is not necessarily my path, so there I stand pondering my situation. There is nothing left to do it seems, but step onto a path and pray I keep my footing along the way...

I have read the message, I have heard the message, but can I live it??

[Note: much of this is a meandering, rhetorical question - a public yet personal prayer if you will.]

mclaren on the code

Excellent interview over at Sojourners today. They interviewed Brian McLaren to get his thoughts about Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, in light of the upcoming movie release.

Check it out -- Brian McLaren on The Da Vinvi Code

sacred space prayer

This weekend as I quickly reviewed my frequently visited blogs, I saved one in particular for revisiting today (I tend to spend very little time on the computer on weekends when possible). Matt Ritchie posted a link to the Sacred Space website, a prayer site produced by the Irish Jesuits, and mentioned how he found it was a great way to dedicate about 10 minutes to prayer and meditation with God everyday. The simplest and most direct way I can describe it is, it works. And as my more recent deeply spiritual experiences have shown me, it works extremely well. This morning alone, sitting down and going through the guided prayer and meditation helped me find an answer to a question I didn't even ask, gave me a feeling of lightness and refreshment, and probably imparted a bit of what I might call emotional cleansing.

Prayer is powerful, sometimes we forget that and sometimes we forget how much it helps to lean on that power. Check it out -- Sacred Space Prayer for Today

Peace be with you...

open letter from a fan

For my regular readers, I hope you'll pardon the somewhat out of the ordinary subject. For anyone else new, welcome!

An open letter to Johnny Damon

Johnny,

I watched Monday night's game, which brought about a number of momentous events: the return of Doug Mirabelli to the Red Sox, just in time to catch for Tim Wakefield once again; and your return to Fenway Park, in the uniform of the archrival. These events sparked a polar opposite set of feelings for me, joy at the return of a valuable player, and a bittersweet reminder that a valuable player is truly gone.

I must confess, while I understand the overwhelming majority reaction you did get, baseball being a competitive spectator sport at times, I felt you were given an undeserved hard time. From what I understand in following the off season reports, it's not like you left because you didn't want to be part of the Red Sox anymore. You were the unfortunate casualty of the business of baseball. With the mission to rebuild a championship team based on defense, speed, and long term staying power (i.e. young, fresh players), your desire for a long term contract that reflected your continual contributions to the team didn't fit the mission unfortunately. You continue to be one of the best lead-off hitters in the game, you have the speed to be a threat to steal, and you can cover a lot of ground in center field. However, I can understand from a business side of things the concerns with a long term contract: you are not getting any younger and last season saw you battling shoulder issues.

That being said, I want to thank you. Thank you for hustling every day and giving the Red Sox everything you had on the field. Thank you for your endurance and ability to play through the pain. Thank you for your constant smile and love of the game. You have been one of my favorite players these past few years, and if I actually still collected baseball cards I might even consider adding your 2006 card to the mix. I wish you luck in this season and continued success. However, I hope you understand if that luck and success is only extended when you are NOT playing against the Red Sox, in which case I'd rather you not be a factor in the game. I wouldn't want you to play horribly or be useless at the plate, but I also wouldn't want you to be the one driving in the winning runs - which turns bittersweet to sour.

Thank you Johnny, you are missed.

Sincerely,
A life-long Red Sox fan