Heal thyself

Luke 4:23-27 NIV

Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’ ”     “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.  I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land.  Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.  And there were many in Israel with leprosy  in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

I heard this verse tonight, and I considered an application I hadn't considered before. The message of Jesus. The Truth of His Grace, is one that those of us responsible for spreading it so often forget to apply to ourselves. We can tell others that "those who are lost can now be found," but we so often forget to think of ourselves as both "lost" and also "found."

Jesus, at His core, is about forgiveness. Or rather, about a peace in knowing who we really are. We are flawed, we are imperfect, but we are also God's. He made us in His image. Granted, we have flawed the original design, but in the end, He still calls us home.

I am not only so far from perfect, I'm often far from even being "good."  I have hurt so many over people over the years. I have disappointed those who cared about me. I have lied, I have cheated, I have stolen. Worse yet, I have taken some for granted. I have placed my own desires and pleasures above others. I have disrespected those who most deserved respect, and I have failed to keep the faith if friendship.

What's more, I cannot claim these all to be in the past. I cannot say, "Oh, what a woeful sinner was I," because I am a sinner still. I am in many ways still broken. I will fail someone tomorrow. I will disappoint someone next week. I will have to beg someone's forgiveness, and I will most assuredly not deserve it.

And yet, I am chosen. I am loved. I am one for whom Christ died, and I am one in whom He is working to build a new creation still. I will not be "good," tomorrow. In fact, I will revel in my "un-goodness." I will be weak, because He is strong, I will boast about my failings because He will give me successes. I will grow. I will develop. And it will be solely because of Him. He is my rest and my Redeemer, because goodness knows I need one

"Ten" albums

In the same spirit as a recent post about my favorite books, I thought it'd be fun to do a similar listing of my favore albums of all time.

1. “Random Access Memories” by Daft Punk- this is probably the most recent on the list, but definitely a favorite. I've probably relistened to this album a few hundred times since getting it when released. The best way I can describe this is that it's Daft Punk's love letter to seventies funk. It's got a great vibe, and definitely carries the period flavor, helped by their collaboration with icons like Giorgia Morodor, Paul Williams, and Nile Rogers, along with more contemporary talent like Pharrell Williams and Julian Casablancas. This album is pure genuine fun in a bottle, and is what took me from passively liking Daft Punk to considering them one of my all time favorite acts. I can't wait to see what they do next.

2. “Alive 2007” by Daft Punk- If RAM is what made me take a second and deeper look at Daft Punk, "Alive" was what made me realize what I'd been missing all along. Again, it's a ton of fun and retools some of their more classic hits in a new way. Great album for driving down the highway to late at night.

3. “Pet Sounds” by The Beach Boys- I'd have to say this was my first "grown up" album experience. I'll never forget listening to Pet Sounds on my 8 track stereo in my bed room(yes, I really was that cool, it was a hand me down gift from a friend of my mother's) The different tonalities, the flow of the lyrics, it was amazing. I remember many long nights in high school spent sitting in the dark listening to this. I lived too far out in the country to have access to emo, and I just couldn't get into Hank Williams, yet, so this was my album of teenaged angst.

4. “The White Album” by the Beatles- I honestly struggled with which Beatles album to put on here, and I could have easily filled the list with their stuff. While Sergent Pepper is generally the go-to for great Beatles albums, there was something fundamentally different about the White Album, both emotionally and technically.  Worth hours of listening.

5. “The Jesus Record” by Rich Mullins- I can say with absolutely no embellishment that this album changed my life. I found this album at a tremendous time of change in my life, when I was going through a period of stress and depression. It spoke to my difficulties and had an honest and bare addressing of the faith that hasn't been equaled in any book for me. It has emotional ups and downs much like life itself, and it echoed in my soul in a really unique way. Made all the more powerful by the fact that this album is the last recorded by Mullins, done using a tape deck just a few days before he died, there is an emotional weight to the worship contained there in, like an ancient vessel, preserved in clay, we can join in the very visceral and raw exposed prayers that make up the fabric of this album.

6. and 7. “Dwell” and “Refiner’s Fire” by Vineyard Music- sometimes, what makes an album last for us isn’t just the quality of the music, but also the time and place in which we first heard it. Such is the case with these two albums, which I’m grouping together. “Refiner’s Fire” is the Vineyard Music album that was released just before my first “Summer of Service” conference at the Vineyard Church in Cincinnati. That conference was when I first experienced the joy that came from not only spending dedicated time with God in worship and prayer, but also from sharing his word. I was surrounded by awesome people, some of whom made such lasting impressions that they’ve remained fixed points in my life now literally over a decade later. Similarly, “Dwell” was the album released by Vineyard Music years later when my life had come full circle. In the intervening time, I’d moved to Cincinnati to pursue a career in ministry, attended Bible college, worked as an associate pastor in Indiana, then left ministry due to heart break and financial struggles so that I could pursue a career in food service management. After two years of working in the food service industry, I again made the decision to quit my job and go back to school, this time through the Vineyard Leadership Institute, while also again working in staff position at a local church. The “Dwell” album became the sound track of my personal redevotion, as a sense of energy and place was infused in my life again. As is so often the case, a few years later, I found myself going back into a dry place as repeated layoffs and the struggles of trying to start a family set in, but the refreshing worship I experienced at the time made sure I didn't forget the foundation that had been set, and made it that much easier to make sure I not only didn't drift too far away, but that I could all the more easily find my way back again when the time came. (ok, this entry got a little long, but it was two albums, so it's allowed)

 8. “Greatest Hits” by John Denver- This is a total cheat entry, but it was a greatest hits album that first introduced me to the music of John Denver. There's something about the poetry of his music that I can't pass up. It's infused with a deep love of place that's quite frankly enchanting. As someone who grew up in the country, but the moved to the city for my adult life, these songs not only lift me up but also remind me of the wide open spaces I grew up in, when the highway traffic and the noise of air traffic overhead(I live five minutes from an international airport these days) Even my hometown is far less "country" than it was when I was growing up, so these songs and my dreams are just about the only way to ever really go "home again."

9. “My Mother’s Hymn Book” by Johnny Cash- What can I really say about Johnny Cash that hasn't been said already?  The man was a consummate musician, from a very different time in pop music. Over the course of his career, he reinvented himself many times, with several "comeback tours." This album though, lies at the end of all of that. The one of last albums recorded before his death, "My Mother's Hymn Book" is about as bare as Johnny got. It consisted of him sitting in his private studio with his guitar and literally his mother's hymn book, singing songs that he'd carried with him his whole life. There's something bare and well aged in this, like a glass of high quality american whiskey served neat. It's Johnny's talent and devotion, his heart laid out beating for you to share in.You feel his age and his weariness, along with his secure knowledge that he's about to head home. When you feel lost and beaten, give this a listen and at the very least know you're not the only one there.

10. and 11. “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby and “Christmas Together” by John Denver and the Muppets - I could have easily done this list as "albums I listened to on my Dad's record player" and kept about half the list. Growing up my father had this big old stereo with ancient bose speakers and a turn table. I wasn't supposed to touch it without him around, and I couldn't have been very old when I first started breaking that rule with utter impunity. I adored the thing. It was my first real access to a wide selection of music(my dad had worked briefly in radio and at a music store before I came along, and even played in some bands in his early days, so he had quite the collection) While summer afternoons spent alone in the living room listening to the Beatles, Beach Boys, and Queen are by far some of my favorite memories growing up, it was the Christmas season that really let loose. My mother is probably one of the biggest fans of Christmas you'll ever meet, and she'd gladly have decorations up in October if she could, but as it is the Friday after thanksgiving inevitably was an all day decoration fest around the house, and Christmas filled the place for the rest of the calendar year. A deep and abiding part of that was the music, and my dad had plenty to offer, Nat King Cole, the Andrews sisters, Elvis, Beach Boys, they all had their parts to play, but these two albums are by far my favorite. It isn't Christmas until I've heard Bing sing "Christmas in Kilarney"("White Christmas" may be the classic, but the Irish tune stole my heart) and "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was belted out by the entire Muppet crew, lead by John Denver. There's plenty of joy in these albums and lots of memories. As an additional note, the "Christmas Together" also represented the first time I heard "The River Meets the Sea," from Emmit Otter's Jug Band Christmas, which probably remains one of my all time favorite tunes, which gets a listen on pretty much any night I feel alone or depressed. 

Flipping Tables

I was catching up on clips from "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" and I was watching an interview he did with Pepe Julian Onziema talking about the current state of homosexuality laws in Uganda.

Now, if you're not aware, it is currently illegal in the country of Uganda to be gay, with punishments up to and including life in prison for "aggravated homosexuality." (note, the law with this last punishment provision has been struck down this past August as unconstitutional by the high court in Uganda)What's more, the culture that's encouraged by these laws often leads to ongoing near government sanctioned harassment of individuals who are suspected or who have acknowledged being gay, including activists who have been beaten to death outside of their homes.

I'm going to say, for the record, I don't consider this a "gay right" or even "LGBT Rights" issue. It's a human rights issue. People should not have to fear being beaten to death outside of their homes, period. I have a lot I could say on this issue, but it's not the one I'm going to address directly at the moment.

In the story before the interview, John Oliver reviewed some of the history leading up to the current state of the homosexuality laws in Uganda. Unfortunately, many of these laws are carried over from the days when Uganda was under British rule. What's more, the escalation of both the laws and the public harassment of homosexuals in the country recently have been in large part due to the activities of American Christian missionaries. People who went to Uganda supposing to present the Gospel, and have largely spread a message of how "evil" homosexuals were. Even going so far as to state that homosexuals were in fact the originators of the Nazi regime (they neglect to explain how this lines up with Nazis including homosexuals in their concentration camps, isolating, imprisoning, and murdering them alongside of Jews, gypsies, and other groups deigned worthy of inhuman treatment) It seems that the message being brought by these individuals is almost exclusively centered on targeting homosexuals as the cause of most of society's ills. What's more, they have the ear of the government there. Scott Lively, one of the most public faces of this movement, has met repeatedly with Ugandan public officials, and led a conference attended by police officers, teachers, and national politicians. Lively has actually had suits brought against him, both here in the United States and in Uganda for his actions in this movement. In a US court he is being sued, charged with "inciting persecution against gays and lesbians," In response, Lively has stated " I've never done anything in Uganda except preach the Gospel and speak my opinion about the homosexual issue."

No. I'm sorry, but no.

Regardless of your feelings on how Scripture may teach on homosexuality, the Gospel does not focus on one sin. The Gospel's focus is not on hate. The Gospel's focus is not on pointing out enemies and trying to chase them away, though either legislation, public ridicule, or violent harassment. The Gospel is about the Salvation brought by Jesus Christ, the Love that God has for us as humanity, and the fact that ALL have sinned, regardless of race, creed, color, or nationality. We are all broken and imperfect, but we are also all made in the image of our Creator. There is no such thing as a sin that should be highlighted as the supposedly "primary evil"(though an argument could be made for greed). Spreading a message of hate is the last thing that the Gospel is meant to be about.

This brings me to the truly sad part. At one point in the interview, Onziema specifically refers to the Bible as a factor that has been used to drive people apart in Uganda. That the Bible has been a factor essentially trying to hold Africa as a whole back. It's clear that the image that Onziema and others like him in Uganda have of the Bible is that it is a stick to be used to attempt to beat this minority group into submission. That it is a tool of hate, not of love. On the same continent that gave us some of the greatest leaders of the early Christian faith, Clement, Origen, and Turtullian, we have a situation where the Bible and the message of Jesus Christ is seen as a foreign tool of persecution and discrimination. The same Jesus that flipped the tables of the money lenders, who were blocking off the one section of the Temple where Gentiles could come to worship, what would He do in Africa? What would He say to Scott Lively?

the Human Image

So I was struck by an interesting thought yesterday when I was reading about the Ray Rice story. Before I share it though, a few things.

First, I don’t follow sports. Really at all. So I don’t know anything about Ray Rice before this story broke out beyond what’s listed on his Wikipedia entry page, which I read glancingly this morning. Given that I don’t follow sports, I pretty much don’t understand most of what it says about him other than “he’s good at sports stuff.”

Also, let’s just get this out of the way. Hitting people is bad. Hitting women is bad and honestly, hitting men is bad too. Don’t hit people. They teach this in kindergarten. For someone to hit their wife(then fiancé) is also very bad. This conclusion shouldn’t really be up for discussion and really shouldn’t need to be said, but I need to get that out of the way to be sure you all understand where I’m coming from.  Spousal abuse is a terrible terrible thing, but I’m not looking at that specifically at the moment. I read a terrific blog by Steve fuller this morning over on the Rebel Storytellers site that covers this very well, and I recommend that you read it. http://rebelstorytellers.com/domestic-violence/

What I’m struck by in this is the nature of morality in regards to visibility. I used to have a roommate who would say all the time, “it’s not wrong unless you get caught” and he lived by it. This situation seems to be a great example of how this type of worldview writ large impacts inter-human interaction. The fact is, Ray Rice’s actions were not taken seriously back when they were simply reported, but not seen. After the abuse was reported, he was briefly suspended, but beyond that, no further action was taken. When he returned to the practice field, there were even fans who cheered for his return. Now, with video showing the act released, Ray Rice suddenly finds himself released from his team, and the center of a firestorm of media commentary.

But why? It was known well before that he had hit his wife. It was general knowledge to those following the sport, and well reported in the news. We just didn’t see it. In the fictional series, The Dresden Files, the stories follow a modern day wizard working in Chicago, and he’s asked why no one would believe in things like magic and trolls running around in the modern day. The response that he gives is that it’s largely because of walls. Humans don’t believe things they don’t see. We can be told about it, and we may even accept it on an intellectual basis, but we don’t truly believe it until we see it. (it’s interesting, he actually uses spousal abuse as an example to explain this phenomenon, so I can’t claim originality by tying the two together)

It got me thinking of other items I’ve been seeing in the news repeatedly. Immigration is always a hot topic, and it certainly has been gaining more attention as of late. I’ve seen repeatedly posts from my Christian friends, many of whom lean more to a conservative political stance, regarding the topic. Images attached are often of border security guards, or of the President, talking about wanting to prevent legislation that would offer “amnesty” to illegal immigrants. However, what I don’t see are images of the children being put in holding cells at the border, or those families that are starving in their home countries before they decide to make the arduous trek to come to the United States. We don’t see images of the complicated and often very expensive process of trying to become a citizen legally. (though, admittedly, this might make less of a powerful one-shot picture or even a 30 second video)

Why does an evil need to be seen for us to know it’s evil? More importantly, why do we need these images to remind us of the human element behind these stories? It seems so much easier to pretend that when we read about a football player hitting his wife, or about people being held in a detention area at the border, or of someone abused by a police officer, they’re not a “real person.” We can overlay our own ideologies and political tendencies, instead of recognizing the human element behind the issue.

It can be so easy to see these individuals as “other” when we’re reading in the paper or following on cable news, but Jesus commanded us to see all as our neighbor. The one who served the man at the side of the road wasn’t a fellow Jew, but a Samaritan, someone from another people group, another community, and in many ways, another religion. Our responsibility as Christians is to look past these barriers that the world would say are causes for hate, and seek the opportunity to love, serve, and welcome those who are different than us. The only image we should care about is the fact that they are made in the image of God. We shouldn’t need the video to slam it in our faces. 

Ten Books

So there was a Facebook "challenge" that I had issued to me in which I had to list ten of my favorite books. I considered this to be an impossible task, and I was right. What I have is a list of twelve "books," many of which are series or representative titles to show a genre or franchise that I enjoy. I've added a few notes to each explaining my selection.

11.       The Bible- this should come as no surprise to most of you who know me, but this is the book I genuinely try to live my life by. I struggle at it, and by no means do I claim to understand it all, but as I read and reread this book, it daily has new things to apply to my walk, giving meaning and life in the words it contains.

22.       The Middle Earth books by J.R.R. Tolkein, namely The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings/the Silmarillion-this series has spoken to my imagination more than any other. There’s something about the world it creates that echoes. When I feel tired and worn out, reading these books is just about one of most refreshing experiences I could ask for from a work of fiction.

33.       The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy- I cannot read these books and not smile. This was my first real exposure to “British” humor, and I shudder to think of what effect this had on my mental development from the point I started reading the books in the sixth grade.

44.       The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein – This book is what science fiction is supposed to be. It uses the different world it creates as a way of examining our own. Puts you in a place where artificial intelligence and mining ice on the moon distract you from the fact that it’s asking questions about the way we see our own government and how we interact with it. I have tried in recent years to restrict myself more on what I say politically, to give greater voice to those things that truly do matter to me, but I will freely admit that much of my own political viewpoints have been influenced by this book.

55.       The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning-  I have been truly privileged to have grown up in a loving Christian family, and to grow up deeply invested in the church as a child. As an adult, however, I struggled with finding my identity in the faith on my own terms. This book came in the midst of that struggle, and played a pivotal part in how I view the Lord and the purpose of Christianity as a Faith, a worldview, and a way of life.

66.       Bake and Be Blessed by Father Dominic Garramone- this book was my first real introduction to the practice of the Spiritual Disciplines, and also played a huge part in how I learned to see other points of view as valuable to my faith, not just those from my own familiar traditions. In a wonderful way, Father Dom speaks life into practices that are centuries, and even millennia, making them fresh and new for today. The fact that he explains these through the lense of baking makes it all the more personally applicable to me. I should also mention, he has regular blog updates that are fascinating reads, and is someone who I certainly hope to someday meet and share time with.

77.       The Collected Short Stories of H.P. Lovecraft- Ok, you might consider this cheating, but I couldn’t pick just one of his short stories, and I do indeed have a book that is a collection of his short stories, so I say it counts. Much like the Middle Earth books of Tolkein, Lovecraft’s work has long opened new doors of my imagination, and has the unique ability to transport me to a world that is uncertain, dangerous, and can leave you in awe of just how small you are in the grand scope of existence. In other words, our own.

88.       I Just Came Here for the Food by Alton Brown- My favorite cookbook of all time. I have a signed copy. After growing up cooking around the house with my family, and then spending a few years working in professional kitchen’s, it has been the following years of watching Alton Brown’s shows and reading his books that has allowed me to fine tune the craft. He does not just give you recipes, he explains how those recipes work, how the ingredients interact with each other to provide the desired result, allowing you to create new recipes of your own.

99.       Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare by Isaac Asimov- I picked this book up in the high school library when I was in a phase of my life when all I read was science fiction. I decided to give this a read, written by one of the great Grandmasters of science fiction and quite frankly one of the most intelligent writers of the last 100 years. In this book, I had the world of Shakespeare opened up to me in a way that I hadn’t been able to discover sitting in a classroom. Asimov explained both the language and the world it was set in in a way that allowed the beauty of the prose to come fully into being in my mind. Looking back, I now realize that it could be said that this was the first “Bible commentary” I’d ever read, because the same manner that Asimov took to approaching Shakespeare, I’ve since learned is to be appreciated when studying the Word of God, respecting the original document and the world it is written in, deriving meaning from the context, not a pre given bias.

110.   The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov- this was the first “hard core” science fiction story I ever read, and as a consequence, will always remain my favorite. Again, Asimov is a master of his craft, using a truly alien world to examine topics ranging from gender roles to the environment, all while telling a story that in anyone else’s hands would have come across as an absolute mess. Thrilling and yet deeply intelligent, a fantastic read.

111.   Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams- I discovered this book after having finished the Hitchhiker’s series and looking for something else to read. This book awakened me to the concept of the environment, and my place in its stewardship. I learned a new appreciation for nature and the world around me. I will read this book to my children, and I’m saddened at the thought that many of the species described in this book will now be extinct. I can only hope this will underscore the lesson for them.

112.   The Star Trek Encyclopedia by Michael and Denise Okuda – Honestly, I couldn’t figure out the best book to put in this slot, but I needed a title to represent my early and enduring love for pulp sci fi, and especially for Star Trek as a whole. Star Trek was what got me interested in science as a child, Star Trek novels were my first “real” books I ever read. I’ll never forget the reaction I got in the sixth grade when I told my teacher I was ordering Unification through the scholastic booksale (It was a full length novelization of the Star Trek the Next Generation episode featuring Spock.) I could list any of those novelizations here, but the hours I spent combing through and reading the various entries of the encyclopedia more perfectly define my interactions with the Star Trek universe. While the stories were great, I was far more interested in letting my imagination create whole new ones as I got to know the various worlds and people that made up the fabric behind the episodes and movies.

Again, I’m sure I could go on and on with this list, but I’m trying to restrict myself to the first ones to come to mind. There are certainly many more authors that have touched my life over the years, and stories that have comforted me in the hardest times, but hopefully this has given you at least a few titles that you can look at.(that’s really the whole point, anyways.)