CCBlogs thinking critically, living faithfully

I am going to post something everyday that I am grateful for. Will you join me?

James McGrath, whose new book The Burial of Jesus I anticipate with every visit of the postman, reflected on the PBS film, The Bible's Buried Secrets. James points out that these "buried secrets" have been carefully concealed in books you can find in a good library. Students of the Bible (including seminary-trained ministers) have been aware of this stuff for a century or more. James writes that the issue is flow of information from pulpit to pew: A key issue is that pastors are in many denominations the "employees" of their congregation, and so although in theory some congregations would say they value challenging sermons from their pastor, if a pastor challenged them with, say, the Documentary Hypothesis, he might find himself needing to seek alternative employment. There, I think, lies a key issue. We can teach pastors about the Bible, but they are then employed by congregations who will fire them for telling them the truth about it.Pastors aren't really sure what to do with the Documentary Hypothesis or whatever else from the pulpit. How do you preach the Bible when the Bible is wrong? I think preaching against the Bible is a spiritual act. If we have any hope of getting congregations beyond thinking of the Bible as a book of magic spells then preachers need to get out of that mode themselves.

Some pastors of course with a high view of the authority of the Bible use that myth to give authority for their own drivel. Think of all the nonsense that is preached because what is said is supposedly biblical? When someone tells me that they have a high view of the authority of scripture, I get suspicious. My suspicion is that they have a lot of opinions as to how you should live your life and no evidence to back it up. "The Bible says" say they. Hoo Haw.

I award James two stars today. One for blogging. The other for writing books about the Bible that people can read. Unless you are fortunate, your preacher likely won't give you information about how scholars approach the Bible (excepting the apologists). Thanks to James and others for this service. Support him in this, buy his book!

Of course, the best cure for biblicism is to read the thing. Advertisement: like our congregation is doing this year. Let the Bible be what it is. Before evaluating whether it is right or wrong, good or bad, we might allow it to be a collection of writings by humans for humans about their views of things from their time and place. Then we can decide for ourselves regarding the merits.

I should add: I think the Bible "says" a lot. It has a lot to say to us. In order to hear it we need to smash the idol of biblicism.

I also award a star to those congregations who don't fire their preachers for introducing scholarship and who encourage, support, and challenge their ministers to be honest about the texts and the tradition.

These stories are not directly related. Then again, maybe they are.

For Many CEOs, private jets the only way to fly

Some in Congress pounced this week on what they view as the hypocrisy of auto executives flying on corporate jets to Washington to ask for public help. Corporations insist riding on private planes is not a lavish perk, but rather a necessary security requirement for top officials that also helps them be more efficient.

Maybe the CEOs of America’s Big Three automakers should have driven to Washington to ask for $25 billion in public money.


Compare and Contrast:

Haiti Children Victim of Food Crisis

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The 5-year-old teetered on broomstick legs — he weighed less than 20 pounds, even after days of drinking enriched milk. Nearby, a 4-year-old girl hung from a strap attached to a scale, her wide eyes lifeless, her emaciated arms dangling weakly.

In pockets of Haiti accessible only by donkey or foot, children are dying of malnutrition — their already meager food supply cut by a series of devastating storms that destroyed crops, wiped out livestock and sent food prices spiraling.

This is the world in which we live.

Perhaps the great reversal that Jesus spoke of is about to happen:

Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
‘Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
‘Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh....

‘But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
25‘Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
‘Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.

Busy week. So busy, in fact, that I’ve been meeting myself coming and going, as they say.

Diane, our church secretary, gave notice a couple of weeks ago – early retirement – and, as of this week, is no longer on the job. We’re muddling through with the help of Dottie, our part-time secretary, who’s graciously agreed to give us a few extra hours. Last week, we ran an ad in the classifieds for our modestly-compensated, 30-hour-a-week position. Bam! In no time at all, there was a stack of over 120 resumes spilling off my desktop. (That compares to about 25, the last time we ran a similar ad in response to a secretarial vacancy.)

I’d originally booked the classified ad to run for 10 days. I called the newspaper up and canceled it after 4.

It’s a comment on the state of the economy – not only the sheer number of applicants, but also who they were. Real-estate agents. Legal secretaries. College graduates. Even two or three people with MBAs.

It’s also a comment on the state of health care in America – because, even though our pay scale is barely competitive with for-profit businesses, we do offer excellent health-care benefits: Blue Cross/Blue Shield, through the Presbyterian Pension Plan, for the employee AND family. I think that’s what sent them flocking to our door (or, I should say, to our e-mail address and fax machine). Decent, employer-funded medical insurance with a 30-hour-a-week position is pretty uncommon, it would seem.

But, I digress. I started commenting on how crazy-busy I’ve been, as a prelude to talking about an annoying little medical problem I’ve developed. It may or may not have been exacerbated by lack of sleep.

I’ve got a mouth ulcer, inside my cheek opposite my gums, that’s getting more and more painful. My cheek’s even starting to get a little swollen. Time to see the dentist, I guess. I wouldn’t want to think it’s some kind of abscess, though I suppose it could be – even though there’s no pain coming from any of the nearby teeth.

I have to confess, though, that one of my first thoughts was, “What if it’s cancer?” My rational mind says it couldn’t really be lymphoma, because I’m not aware of any lymph nodes in that part of the face (I checked a couple of anatomy diagrams on the web, just to be sure). The very fact that this thought came to mind, though, is a side-effect of my cancer survivorship.

The thought of recurrence is never far away – even more so for someone like me, whose cancer has already recurred, though it’s been advancing at a snail’s pace.

Most likely, it’s a minor dental problem of some sort – although it’s hard to keep my mind from jumping to the worst possible alternative.

I suppose my mind will always play such tricks on me. Goes with the territory, I suppose.

I know it’s not even Thanksgiving yet and I’m one of those who wish the stores could wait just one more week before putting out the decorations and I’ve been thinking about Mary preparing herself to give birth, even though we aren’t quite done with the Pilgrims just yet. I think what set me to thinking about it was a note from my friend, Heather, saying her water had broken and she would be giving birth some time between now and tomorrow morning. Thinking of her also reminded me of why I like to read Luke 2 just the way Linus quoted it: from the King James version. No other version gives you language like this (trust me, I’ve looked):
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.She was great with child. The words are full of illustration, animation, and metaphor. I love the image of this young, poor, humble, and pregnant girl being (read this in your best Tony the Tiger voice) grrreat, as though she was both things. You know: great, with child. She apparently must have been a pretty good mother, so as Jesus grew (in wisdom and stature), perhaps they said in a different way that she was great with (her) child. Of course, if someone feels the need to point out great has to do with girth, then some of us have to come to terms with being great without child, but that’s another post.

The verses hold a companion phrase that also speaks to me: the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. (I picture the translators in a room somewhere coming up with that phrase and saying to one another, “That’s smashing, old boy. Jolly good show.”)

I’m captured by the verbs: accomplished and delivered.

Even as I prepare to spend the weekend getting ready to feed those who will gather with us for Thanksgiving, and that this is one of those years when Advent doesn’t begin the Sunday after the turkey, I find the animals in the stable of my heart getting restless, waiting for the days to be accomplished, or whatever needs to be accomplished, so we can gather around the manger. Tonight, as I wait for word that Heather has welcomed her new son, I give thanks for them and for the KJV guys and Linus and all those who sweep the barn clean so the baby can be born and we can all be delivered.

Peace,
Milton

P.S. -- There's a new recipe.

Last year I wrote a piece for Next-Wave on the theme of Advent. We talked a lot about Advent themes last year as I completed my book, That You Might Believe: Praying Advent with the Gospel of John. I’m not sure yet if there are any synchroblogs planned for Advent this year, but I thought I would start taking up the topic a little eary so it doesn’t catch me off-guard like it so often does. Usually the season sneaks up on me before I know it, but this year I’m trying to think ahead. Unless you’re celebrating by the Celtic calendar, of course. In this vein, I thought I’d reprint last year’s Next-Wave article.

There’s a lot of talk this year about Advent. I might think it’s not so much more than usual, except that I keep finding people who are new to the observance of Advent. One of the primary reasons has to do, I believe, with the growing hunger in the evangelical (and post-evangelical) church to rediscover some or her lost habits and practices. Liturgical traditions have long carried on in many of these practices, but some of the traditions that have previously eschewed such “rigidity” are now discovering what has been to them a depth and wisdom unsuspected. In short, they are part of the rhythms and patterns that contribute to our spiritual formation. They are part, as Eugene Peterson put it so beautifully, of A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.

Advent is one of these. My own experience of Advent is admittedly not a lengthy one, but I’ve been making an effort to allow it to become a deep one. In college as Christmas approached, I used to light Advent candles in my dorm room and sit and read in front of the electric fireplace I had scrounged from somewhere-or-other. It wasn’t a deep commitment to an Advent tradition so much as it was an expression of hunger — which is fitting to the season, actually. I have been much more intentional about engaging with the Advent season over the past few years, stepping into it together with my family as we explored.

Another tradition that is much more recent for us as a family is the praying together of the daily office. We began this fall using the Northumbria Community’s Celtic Daily Office, praying it together twice daily as a family. Overall it’s been a rich experience for us and has led to some irreplaceable family teaching-moments as we talk about the prayers and some of the theology inherent in them.

Perhaps it was only natural to merge these newly-rediscovered traditions with my longstanding love of John’s Gospel, but the result was a new book of Advent prayers That You Might Believe: Praying Advent with the Gospel of John, and an Advent-long synchroblog project to go with it. When I was asked if I had an excerpt for the December Next-Wave ‘zine, I wasn’t quite sure what to say… one favorite prayer? As the first week of Advent draws to a close, I think about our use of the prayers thus far. Maybe I have a favorite moment… like when my six-year-old daughter asked me if we could do the “night-time” office (compline) together at bedtime. We’d already done the morning and evening ones that day. She’s waiting for Christmas break so she’ll be home to “try” some of the mid-day prayers as well.

This first week of Advent we prayed morning and evening blessings from Luther’s Catechism, but I particularly like the opening prayer from the morning office this week:

This I call to mind,
     and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
     his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
     great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
     “therefore I will hope in him.”
The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
     to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
     for the salvation of the Lord.

A lot of the prayers are adapted from scriptures, like this one from Lamentations 3:21-26 (ESV). We recited the first part of the Nicene Creed together as an affirmation of faith. We prayed from Psalms, Hebrews, and Matthew as well, and as I finished the compline with my youngest daughter one evening, we prayed a Celtic together:

Spirit, give me of Thine abundance,
Father, give me of Thy wisdom,
Son, give me in my need,
Jesus beneath the shelter of Thy shield.

I lie down to-night,
With the Triune of my strength,
With the Father, with Jesus,
With the Spirit of might.

As I look ahead to the coming week, we will use a blessing from Romans 15:

As Isaiah foretold,
     “The root of Jesse will come,
          even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
     in him will the Gentiles hope.”
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

We’ll also be praying from Psalm 131, from Isaiah, and from Thomas A Kempis, and from St. Augustine. Perhaps I’ll pray with my daughters at bedtime,

In name of the Lord Jesus
And of the Spirit of healing balm,
In name of the Father of Israel,
     I lay me down to rest.

If there be evil threat or quirk,
Or covert act intent on me,
God free me and encompass me,
     And drive from me mine enemy.

In name of the Father precious,
And of the Spirit of healing balm,
In name of the Lord Jesus,
     I lay me down to rest.

Part of the reason we do this is to insert a deliberate pause — a countercultural pause — in the rhythms of our lives before Christmas. Now at the beginning of the year in the church calendar, we have to fight to create space for reflection, space in which to pause. Jamie Howison, priest at the local Anglican church to which we’ve loosely attached ourselves, warns strongly against filling the season with business that crashes headlong into Christmas. By engaging fully in the Advent season of waiting, watching, and preparing, we ready our hearts for the coming of our Messiah. Celebration is for Christmas, and there are twelve whole days set aside for feasting and celebrating… but for now we resist diving in too early. The anticipation is building, and for the coming week: Peace.

advent, books, christmas, daily office, prayer You can show appreciation for this post by buying me a can of soup...

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Gradye Parsons, who is from my mountain, Holston Presbytery, and now is stated clerk of the PC(USA), finally had enough the LayMAN's bluster and error and sent a letter to all the stated clerks refuting the fear-mongering of a letter the LayMAN had previously sent to all 10,000 plus congregations. Parsons writes:
The [LayMAN's] letter suggests that presbyteries have taken aggressive actions to deprive congregations of their pastors and property via ecclesiastical processes and the secular courts. The letter misrepresents the actions of presbyteries and misinterprets recent General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission cases.

Virtually all actions by presbyteries are reactions to aggressive schismatic behavior by individual congregations and sessions. Of the thirty-nine cases in civil courts, thirty-six have been filed for local sessions. The three filed by presbyteries have sought only that sessions and congregations be required to follow the processes provided by the Book of Order. When sessions/congregations have followed those processes, they have usually been dismissed to the reformed denomination of their choice.Good for Gradye.

Meanwhile, John Knox Presbytery, voted to approve Scott Anderson, to candidacy for ordination.
DUBUQUE, IA — The John Knox Presbytery voted here Nov. 18 to enroll Scott Anderson, a partnered gay man, as a candidate for the ministry of the Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A).

This action of the presbytery advances Anderson to the last stage of the ordination process in preparation for a final decision on his entry into the ministry.Read Scott's excellent Affirmation of Conscience. Thank you John Knox Presbytery and especially thank you Scott!

Finally, in yet another response to Barbara Wheeler's "no action" recommendation, elder Brian Wells responded:
Many of us felt kicked in the teeth by allies before, but luckily my people are known for our resilience...No action. That very phrase is an indictment of the church.

Torture? No action.
Iraq War? No action.
Climate change? No action.
And now, basic dignity for human beings? No action.

Take action on all of these issues including the new amendment B.

Today must be music video day... oh well...

Please watch it and pass it on. :-)

Everything from justin pae on Vimeo.

Tags: Vimeo, God

Tonight's Live From Lincoln Center featured violinist Gil Shaham offering a wonderful performance of some of the better and less well known works by Pablo de Sarasate. Among them my favorite was his arrangement of music from Ambroise Thomas' opera Mignon, known to all Suzuki violinists for the Gavotte, which is featured (in a much fancier and more impressive form) in Sarasate's arrangement.
At the end of the program, Shaham was surprised with the 2008 Avery Fisher Award, which I understand is the highest honor given in the United States to a solo instrumentalist.
Congratulations, Gil Shaham! And those readers who have never heard him play are encouraged to have a listen. Why not start with his his recording of Korngold's and Barber's Violin Concertos, two of my all-time favorite pieces of music?

I wish I could have seen this in person...

The Killers performing live at the European Music Awards.

ht: Collide

Tags: Killers, Human, EMA 2008

Mary Magdalene, in Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Jesus Christ Superstar, sings a plaintive song as she struggles to understand her relationship with Jesus. So many hopes. So many dreams. So many promises. And now, the trial and forthcoming crucifixion.
That song has been running through my head repeatedly since the election November 4th of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America. There seems to be a never-ending barrage of charges and counter-charges, complaints and concerns about just about everything associated with the transition. Even the choice of a dog for his daughters gets to be grist for the “mill” of the 24 hour cable news channels.
Neither the left nor the right “know how to love him, What to do, how to move him.” Can he really run faster than a speeding bullet? Leap tall buildings? Is he really a man who seeks rapprochement with his foes [e.g. Lieberman] or is he a wuss? Is he going to bring “change” to the way our Nation operates or is he selecting too many “who’ve been there” to fill major posts? Will some Nations seek strong ties with us because Obama is President or will some distance themselves because he is an unknown?
We don’t know! This past election process was so significantly different from anything before that, like Mary Magdalene in the song, “I’ve been changed, yes really changed.” Changed because, I think, regardless of whether we voted for McCain or Obama this whole process changed us. Both candidates firmly declared that life could not continue as is. That we needed to discover a new paradigm for doing business as the “last Empire” in the world.
As we struggle through these next 9+ weeks, keep in mind the wisdom of Mary Magdalene – he’s just a man! Democracy – this Republic of 50 States – will not prosper if we return to our non-participatory role and “Let President Obama” do it. We need to do it. We need to continue our involvement. We need to communicate to our elected officials [remember what happened the first time they voted on the bailout bill?]
There is no doubt in my mind that to bring care to those who are sick without insurance; to create jobs that enable a family to prosper; to feed those who are hungry; house the homeless; etc. – those cannot be accomplished without a cost to me! Sure, I’m retired. Yes, the stock market in the past few months has wiped out 30+% of our retirement resources.
But even that being true, I [and all of you reading this] are so much wealthier than most of the world’s population. Do I/we really believe what Jesus taught?
These next months are crunch time.
He is just a man.
He is a man with a vision and an ability to invite people to join him.
What to do?

From a 2005 series of photos I took on summer jobs.

Michael Dillon May 1, 1915 - May 15, 1962
The first recorded transman to undergo phalloplasty.



He was an athlete and an Oxford Man; an author (Self: A Study in Endocrinology and Ethics) and sailor; a doctor and a Buddhist Monk.

His death is a mystery.

His biography, The First Man-Made Man, was written by Pagan Kennedy (Bloomsbury 2007)

Who want to see the ISS (International Space Station), it is going to be particularly visible tonight -- for 4 minutes, from 6:13 EST to 6:17 EST, traveling across the sky to an elevation of 85 degrees from 34 degress above SW to 12 degrees above NE.

Immoral economic enticement is at least one cause of the economic debacle we now find ourselves in.  What do I mean by immoral economic enticement?  Today’s mail brought a solicitation from Capital One informing me that I have been pre-screened and approved for a $10,000 loan at 7% APR – just sign here and send back in our handy self addressed stamped envelop and the cash is yours.  I didn’t ask for it.  I have no immediate need for it.  Capital One is not the place I would go for a loan if I did need one, but gee whiz, for only $198 a month for 60 months why not?  I’m sure I could find something to spend it on.  Right?

This is not all that different than the drug pusher hanging around outside the school giving away free samples, and discounts on future purchases with referrals.  It is immoral!

Capital One – Shame on you!

If you take the vast sweep of Christian history into account, far fewer people have read the Bible than have heard it read. When the New Testament was still just a collection of letters and a few strange things called “Gospel” (say from about 50 to 325 CE), specially trained performers recited entire letters and books from memory during worship. In the middle ages, the majority of people never heard scripture read in a language they could understand and probably wouldn’t have recognized a book if it fell on them from a scriptorium window. Even as the Reformation gained steam and the printing press made vernacular versions of the Bible available, most people heard scripture, but never read it. The “family Bible” didn’t become fashionable until the 18th century, and even today churchgoers hear more scripture than they read (no matter the ubiquity of the Bible online and on store shelves).

What’s this have to do with biblical interpretation? I’m glad you asked. The texts that make up the Bible were always meant to be read aloud. Acts 8 makes this quite clear: Philip approaches the Ethiopian eunuch and knows he’s reading the prophet Isaiah because he is reading out loud. To himself. Follow the eunuch’s example (no, not that example). Read your passage out loud. I know you are reading a translation, but the beauty and rhetorical power of the biblical text do not necessarily suffer in an English treatment. When you read aloud, you will notice oratorical patterns and cadences that the Biblical writers employed to make recitation easier and listening more captivating.

Try this one on for size: say the following two verses in your mind and then say them out loud. “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30).

Notice the oratorical power in the repetitive cadence. This is called a “step argument”: each phrase builds on the previous one until the sentence climaxes on the word “glorified.” Paul obviously wrote this sentence to be spoken rather than read. So there’s no point in studying these verses as “written.”

Besides appreciating the oratorical flair of Biblical writers, reading aloud gives you the opportunity to engage the drama of the Bible. A good chunk of the text is narrative and a good chunk of the narrative is dialogue. Now, we have no audiovisual documentation of the conversations recorded in the narrative, so it falls to us to interpret how the dialogue sounds.

Let’s take Pilate’s response to Jesus as an example: “Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’ Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’ ” (John 18:37-38). How does Pilate say, “What is truth?” Is he angry? Is he skeptical? Is he desperate? Each of these readings offers a different insight into the mind of the Roman governor. If you take reading aloud serious, the dialogue will force you to make interpretive choices of tone, emotion, and motive. I’m not going to lie. Practicing a text for performance is an awesome way to enter into an interpretive mindset.*

A trained musician may be able to “hear the music” when she looks at a score, but most of us cannot comprehend music’s beauty and power without hearing it played. Similarly, the Biblical text soars when it is read aloud. In Genesis, God speaks creation into being. When we read the Bible aloud, we access that creative voice within ourselves and use the breath and the bodies that God created.

So, read the Bible, yes. But don’t just read it. Speak it. And don’t just speak the Bible. Proclaim it.

Footnotes

* The next few posts on this blog will expand this discussion of exploring dialogue in the Bible by presenting a three part Midrash on Pilate’s statement “What is truth?” Stay tuned.

      

by Meg E. Cox Recently, I was delighted when someone asked whether I still had instructions for an educational version of Monopoly I developed over a decade ago to illustrate various responses to poverty. I hadn't realized that the game...

I mentioned in my last post that I am uncomfortable with the anti-globalization streams of social justice. These streams are so prevalent that many assume that unless one is ultra-pro-free-market capitalism, then one is by default anti-globalization. I personally think both extremes are flawed and fail to promote a compassionate worldview (not like most economists care about that anyway…). So to give a really short rationale for a really complex issue…

The anti-globalization argument generally points to the horrors in our global economy - sweatshops, slavery, environmental destruction - and proposes that if we just didn’t have a global economy then they would just all go away. Under the guise of “stop shopping” or “buy local” or “make something,” the mantra becomes - “boycott China, buy American.” Now I’m all for buying local and supporting small businesses. There are distinct benefits to doing so - like reducing fuel usage in shipping. But all too often these tendencies reveal a self-centered stance that places American interests before the interests of others.

I don’t see the solution to problems in the global economy as just doing away with the global economy. Like it or not we live in a global economy and that can never be undone. Organizations like the world Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund have pushed industry onto developing countries around the world. These countries can’t go back to their pre-industrial days nor do they have the option of organic development. They have been exploited through colonialism, pushed into industrial systems not of their making, and forced to abandon ancient practices. There is no going back. So to naively promote the idea of abandoning global industry in favor of only buying American is to wish a death sentence onto these countries. Abandoning them in the midst of a chaos of our making would destroy them. (apologizing and atoning for our sins is another issue entirely). In the business world national borders are losing significance quickly. To be so pro-America that our jobs and our economy matters more than every other person on this globe is inexcusable selfishness.

When faced with difficult issues, greedy businesses, and exploited people the solution is never to abandon the victims so that they get hurt more. All too often though this is the path that’s taken. A major company gets found out for using sweatshops so they respond by shutting the sweatshop down. Or someone hears about sweatshops, thinks such problems can never be solved and refuses to participate in the economic system altogether. Both approaches deny the reality of globalization and ignore the needs of the people. The point isn’t to take jobs away from people, but to improve the jobs they have. There are options besides exploiting/oppressing people and getting rid of their job. It may take some creativity and sacrifice (on our part), but reform is possible.

So I am really sick of the “let’s subvert the global economy” when that just means pretending it doesn’t exist and screwing the poor even further. As Christians we are called to love others and to care for the poor. We can’t settle for the popular options of letting them remain in hardship or causing them more hardship. Globalization exists and we have to deal with it. Preferably in ways that honor God and not just ourselves.

The success on November 4th of ballot initiatives preventing same-sex marriage in California, Arizona, and Florida has left most gay people feeling angry, and some are directing their anger at black voters, 60% to 70% of whom voted to keep marriage only between heterosexuals. Gay people say it’s a civil rights issue and why don’t blacks, who have been through so much discrimination, help gays fight the discrimination directed at them?
Many blacks voted against same-sex marriage because their pastors, as well as the Mormon Church, encouraged them to. This encouragement was often couched in terms of the need to “save” marriage. Gays often respond that their marriages didn’t threaten heterosexual marriage, so there is no need to “save” marriage from legal same-sex marriage. This, I think, is to miss a major concern of the black community about the health of marriage in that community: Same-sex marriage between black men could make the shortage of eligible bachelors in the black community even more severe than it is now. Whether this concern is well founded is open to question, but, by many measures, the pool of marriageable black men in the US is smaller proportionally than the pool of marriageable white men. American white racism, although it also oppresses black women, comes down particularly hard on black males and makes it harder for them to be the strong providers often envisioned for traditional heterosexual marriage. For example, compared with the general population, they have less education. Only 52 percent of public high school students in the fifty largest US cities (where many blacks live) graduate after four years; the national average is 70 percent. (http://www.inteldaily.com/?c=144&a=5861). Black men are more likely to be unemployed than the general population. For example, unemployment in August, 2008, was higher among blacks (10.6%) than in the country overall (6.1%), and unemployment among black men was 11.2%. (http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_econindicators_jobspict_20080905 and http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_econindicators_jobspict_20080905b)
And black men are more likely to be in prison (4,789 per 100,000 residents) than white men (736 per 100,000). (http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/64).
But there is another concern in the black community that makes the discussion of same-sex marriage even more difficult. It is life on “the down low.” “The down low” refers to black men who have sex with men, and it is a term often used by black men who are sexually active with men, but who don’t consider themselves gay. I first learned about the down low from an article in the August 3, 2003 “New York Times” magazine by Benoit Denizet-Lewis called “Double Lives On The Down Low.” (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9F0CE0D61E3FF930A3575BC0A9659C8B63&scp=1&sq=Double%20Lives%20On%20The%20Down%20Low.%94&st=cse)
The article’s title tells the story. As Denizet-Lewis writes: “Rejecting a gay culture they perceive as white and effeminate, many black men have settled on a new identity, with its own vocabulary and customs and its own name: Down Low. There have always been men -- black and white -- who have had secret sexual lives with men. But the creation of an organized, underground subculture largely made up of black men who otherwise live straight lives is a phenomenon of the last decade.”
Further on, he continues: “...the black church -- like many in white America -- is careful not to condone homosexual behavior. 'Some gays want a flat-out, standing-on-the-tower affirmation from the church that the gay lifestyle, or the lifestyle of whoring around with men, is acceptable,' says Kelvin Berry, the director of the (Cleveland Antioch Baptist Church AIDS) program. ''And that's not going to happen.'” And in fact, the black churches are fighting the legalization of same-sex marriage, because they see the down low as dishonest and dangerous to black women and the black community.
And who can disagree? So, gays like me who support same-sex marriage need to step back and understand better the concerns of the black community on this issue. We need to understand that same-sex marriage can seem to pose a threat to traditional marriage in the black community and in society at large, because of many men’s duplicitous behavior. Living a lie – in the closet, on the down low – is not a good life, however sexy and attractive. Coming out of the closet, out of the down low, is the better course however difficult.

Local community is often seen as synonymous with the local church, and the local church is often seen as synonymous with "that church over there on the hill."  For liturgy to truly be meaningful in a local community I think pastors, lay persons, and congregations need to begin to think of the local church as all the churches in a local community.  In other words, the local church is the grouping of the handful (maybe dozens) of churches that are down the road from each other, down the block from each other, or even next door to each other.  The church plant I attend meets inside of another church---talk about the proximity of churches in a locality.  When the local church is thought of as the collective of churches in a community, then liturgy is seen in a fresher, and I would add truer, light.

Liturgy is "the public work," and the local church presents itself to the community through its worship, both inside the church and outside the church in the local community.  The local church is present at the deli when a member of First Baptist Church is buying some lunch meat the same way the local church is present in the community when a parishioner of St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church is talking to someone at the local Post Office.  The local church is present in the local community seven days a week.

This re-orientation from the local church as a single church to a collective of churches points the Christians of the local community towards each other in conversation and dialogue.  As the Body of Christ doing the public work through worship, discipleship, stewardship, and fellowship we are all working to see the Kingdom of God come to the shared local community.  We might work in different ways, we might not agree with each others theology, we might not approve of each others techniques (or lack there of), but we must see that we are working together.  We must see each other as an ecumenical movement of the Kingdom in a particular place.  And we must see the collective that is the local church in the local community as being the presence of Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace and mercy of the Father. 

The community my church, The Plant is centered in, Allendale, NJ, has a public Stations of the Cross each year that all the churches in the local community participate in on Good Friday.  The pilgrims of Christ go throughout the town to different stations and participate in public worship.  This is a perfect example of  how the liturgy can and should function in the local community: the local church getting together, worshiping together as the public work, and presenting themselves as the presence of Christ inside the local community.

Please read the three previous posts in this series:

Liturgy In the Local Community

Liturgy In the Local Community: The Recovery of Historical Theology

Liturgy In the Local Community:  The Foundation of Your Tradition