WWJDWTC: My Story: Part 4

It has been two weeks since the original post and I have made a few updates. I have enjoyed reading and seeing what others have been involved in and their strides. I am still trying to find my way through this process.

Let me give you some “progress” as I laid it out in my original post.

1. I am still going to be working with Meals on Wheels a few times a month and it looks like my wife and I may tag-team to do a route together. I have not done the route, yet. This past Friday was going to be my first day. However, I was over in Indy. My wife filled in for me in my absence and her serving in that area has prompted us talking about doing a route and covering it.

2. I went up to the clinic last week. I was in the room filing folders. It is not a tough job but a job that needs to be done. I enjoy the act of serving by placing folders into the correct med files and praying over each file as I put it away. NO, I DO NOT LOOK AT OR IN THE FILE. But, it is an act of prayer for me as I place it in the correct spot.

3. I spent sometime up at the Children Service Center this week. My heart really does break for all the kids who are in foster care. I also thank God for individuals who find it one their art to serve by doing foster care. While I was there, I talked and played (watch mostly) with a kid that is in a rough position. His case is backed up in the courts – soooo many cases. One of the cool things that we are going to be doing is “pen-palling” some of the kids in foster care.

4. The art of presence. In some ways, you would think that this would be the easiest one. But at times, it is the roughest. I am trying to be at events where the members of the church are and I am trying to “meet” people when I am out in the public. The one area where I wish I would do better would be outside the school when I am waiting for the boys. I have also taken up helping with Isaiah’s basketball team. He is happy that I am the Assistant Coach. But, he makes sure to remind that I am not the “real coach”. It was fun tonight cheering the boys on and encouraging them about their pass or shot (3&4 graders). We also as mentioned in the last post, hosted the dinner for 8 and we are hoping to invite and have more people over.

There are a couple of individuals that I need to be in touch with this week, so hopefully I will be able to practice the art of presence then.

Hospitality

Hospitality is a word that has been ringing in my heart and ears for awhile. I have been trying to figure out what is the best way in our present situation to offer hospitality. In numerous avenues, I have been touched by this concept. I want to share with you a paragraph+ that I read this past week. It comes from a booked called “Christianity for the Rest of us: How the Neighborhood Church Is Transforming the Faith”

An essential part of the early Christian teaching and fellowship was hospitality, a practice that awed even the roman opponents of Jesus’ first followers.

A few centuries later, as the Roman Empire broke down amid social chaos and violence, Saint Benedict charged monastic communities to “receive guests as Christ” and to embrace the poor, outcast, strangers, and pilgrims. The heart of Benedictine spirituality is hospitality: a Christian community is not a closed community but extends welcome and shelter to all, regardless of class, status or responsibility. Joan Chittister, a contemporary Cathloic writer says, “Hospitality means we take people into the space that is our minds and our hearts and our work and our efforts. Hospitality is the way we come out of ourselves.” Or, as two Roman Catholic writers put it, “Guests are crucial to the making of any heart.”

(the paragraph can be found on page 84)

Hospitality changes both the host and the guest. I have witnessed through stories a number of people who are doing great things as “host”. We, as a family, have not done much.

A few days ago though, we did “host” a dinner for a few people from the church. We are part of Dinner for 8. We enjoyed having individuals in our homes and having a meal. The cool thing about that was that they were individuals we did not know.

I am going to ponder how we, as a family, can be more open and how we can have a place at the table for others.

What are you doing in the area of hospitality ? What are ways we can extend ourselves to those around us in need ? Maybe, it does not even have to be someone in “need”. Maybe, for us, it is having a “set night”. We will set aside one night of the week, have a meal and invite a family to join us ….

I am not sure

*thinking*

Last words, they come from Nouwen: if there is any concept worth restoring to its original dept and evocative potential, it is the concept of hospitality. He then continues, hospitality is the creation of free space where strangers become friends.

Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place.

Trunk-Or-Treat

Tonight, we did Trunk-Or-Treat at church. This was the first year that Zion has done Trunk-Or-Treat. Anytime that you do something for the first time, it is always a little “spooky” on how it will turn out.

For those of you who do not know, we are a downtown church. We try to do activities and ministries for the individuals who live downtown. We thought that providing a place for the kids to trick-or-treat would be a nice thing. So, we asked the church to come and park their cars, open up their trunks and pass out candy to the children. We had a great response from the church.

On Saturday, we had individuals that came to the church building and we went around the neighborhood passing out door knob hangers advertizing the event. We also contacted the paper and had fliers out at the elementary school.

We had 25 individuals that brought their cars and set it up in the parking lot. We also had numerous individuals in our church that brought candy so there would be more candy for the kidios and individuals who brought cookies for a cookie table.

It was a NO AGENDA night. No adv for our church, no fliers passing out, no pamphlets on the evil of Halloween. It was just a place where kids/parents could circle the parking lot and get candy in a “safer” enviorment. We had a very good turnout. I have no idea how many kids/teenagers/parents came through. We did not worry about a count.

Here are a few photos below:

Nail it To The Door

The picture above is the door of the Schlosskirche (castle church) to which Luther is said to have nailed his 95 Theses. Today is the day that he did it. Well, not today but ON this day in 1517. We have no proof of that but we do have the 95 Theses and his book that explains the theses.

It was his words, not the hammer and nail, that sparked the Reformation. Luther wasn’t the first to criticize the church’s use of indulgences but he certainly is the best remembered.

On his “departure” …

Excommunication

On June 15, 1520, the Pope warned Luther with the papal bull (edict) Exsurge Domine that he risked excommunication unless he recanted 41 sentences drawn from his writings, including the 95 Theses, within 60 days.

That fall, Johann Eck proclaimed the bull in Meissen and other towns. Karl von Miltitz, a papal nuncio, attempted to broker a solution, but Luther, who had sent the Pope a copy of On the Freedom of a Christian in October, publicly set fire to the bull and decretals at Wittenberg on December 10, 1520, an act he defended in Why the Pope and his Recent Book are Burned and Assertions Concerning All Articles.

As a consequence, Luther was excommunicated by Leo X on January 3, 1521, in the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.

The theses critiqued the indulgences greatly. HOWEVER, his offer (alternative) was the most powerful. He states (theses 62): The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.

What can the theses do for us today ????

The lesson is the following: The Gospel of God’s free grace for sinners through faith in Christ is central. Christians are to live their lives in response to this great news.

One key to Lutheran Theology has been expressed in the three”alone” statements. Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Scripture Alone. The sees of these can be found in the 95 Theses.

The Golden Compass

I am sure that this is going to offend some of the individuals that frequent my blog. For that, I apologize. Below is a link to a new movie hitting the movie theaters very soon. Check out the video trailer and then my comments down below it.

The trailer makes it look very interesting and I want to see it. I have to admit that I did not know about the movie till this week. I also have to admit that I did not know about the book series.

From Wiki:

His Dark Materials is a trilogy of novels by the fantasy fiction author Philip Pullman, comprising Northern Lights (released as The Golden Compass in North America and published in 1995), The Subtle Knife (1997) and The Amber Spyglass (2000). The trilogy has also been published as a single-volume omnibus in the United Kingdom and North America, titled simply His Dark Materials.

The trilogy follows the coming of age of two main characters, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, as they wander through a multiverse of parallel universes and a backdrop of epic events. The story begins in Northern Lights with fantasy elements such as witches and armoured bears. As the trilogy progresses, it acquires allegorical layers of meaning, introducing a broad range of ideas from fields such as physics (quantum physics), philosophy (metaphysics, philosophy of religion and, arguably, a degree of hylopathism), and theology (biblical symbolism).

“My Rant”

The reason that I received word about this movie is that I have received quite a few emails and forwards from individuals warning me about the film and want me to help spread the news about “boycotting the film”. They also are warning about the dangers because the movie will capture young childrens minds and they will in return read the books that are “darker” and will lead to them “killing off of God”.

The movie is FANTASY FICTION. Even if it “destroys” and “bad-mouths” Christianity, we can use the avenue to watch the film and discuss the film and books. From what I am reading, Mr. Pullman DOES NOT like CS Lewis and this is his anti-spin. Sounds like me a great opportunity for us to have open discussion and dialogue.

I know that it can be a little scary when our childrens eyes our opened to “other things” but I also do not think that we should live in a Christian Bubble. It also points back to the ironic return of “boycotts”. It makes more people aware of what is happening and “increases” the interest of more people; especially of people where this might be off of the radar.

Thus, I probably will be looked down upon when I look forward to seeing the movie and wanting to know more about the trilogy.

Has anyone else received the emails ?

Has anyone read the books ?

Is anyone excited about the movie ?

Our of curiosity, I was bad, I showed the clip to my boys. The thought it looked intriguing. They also thought it “resembled” Chronicles of Narnia. Their comment on that is what “worries” the Christian community.

At the present time, I think it is a movie that is based on a fantasy book and could be a great watch with opportunities to share about what is occurring. Am I off my rocker ?

BadaBoomz Ale House & Grill

On Thursday night, I went to BadaBoomz. Before Thursday, i had never heard of the place. I went over there with 5 other individuals. We had a great night of conversation. A picture below is a picture that I googled. I did not have my camera, so I did not take a picture of the food. Of course, I didn’t have an idea that I would want to take a pic of my food. Of course some people might think that I would want to take a pic of the company that I was with ….

Anyways, we get to the food joint and Sarah says that I had to try the BadaBoomz Burger. Thus, I did. It is a bacon cheeseburger on a glazed donut. Yup, on a glazed donut. They cut the donut in half, put the bacon cheeseburger in between the donut and grill it up more.

It was sweet (donut) and tasty (the burger). There are a few other things that I would like to try from there; it looked good. I enjoyed the sandwich, however, I am not sure if I would eat it again at 10 pm at night.

Once again, this is a “stock” photo and does not give a great shot of the sandwich but it gives you somewhat of an idea. And no, I do not know and do not want to know the calories and fat grams of this one …

Parents & Tolerance

There has been a “competition” going on YouTube. I just found out about it today. I guess that I have really been “out-of-the-loop”. However, the premise of the competition was for individuals to submit videos that answered the following:

Take A Stand On An Issue

Individuals submitted videos in October. Voting is going on now and the winners will be announced on November 9th. I am going to watch a few of them and place the ones that I like or those that “resonate” with me.

I picked this video for two reasons. One, we need to have tolerance in our society and two; our voice and actions as parents are very powerful to our children.

Here is the Video

What are you teaching your child ?

Sex, Deceit, and Murder

No, those are not the three words that are going to be the storyline for next week’s tv series: Dirty Sexy Money TV Show Well, maybe it will be. However, that is not what this post is about.

There is a story of a very powerful man. His country was at war and he was commanding the war from the comfort of his palace ( no, this post is not about President Bush ). One day, he stepped outside of his palace and saw a very hot woman.

He decided to invite her over to his palace and they had sex. Not much later the woman contacted him and said, ” I am pregnant “. The man was a little distressed and he decided that he needed to cover up his mistake. Thus, the story turns into a plot of deceit. For you see, the young woman that got pregnant; she had a husband and he was off to war under the direction of the very powerful man.

Thus, the powerful man sent off for the lady’s husband. He wanted to give him a break from the war. He wanted him to have some R&R at his house and with his wife. The powerful man was stunned when he learned the young gent did not sleep with his wife but stayed outside. The young man thought it was unfair since the others did not have the opportunity. The powerful man then had to take it a step further. He got the young lad drunk and surely he would then be with his wife. Nope, it did not work.

The powerful man knew that he would have to take more drastic approach. So, he sent the young man back to the war and put him on the front line and made the army retreat so the young lad would get killed. The young lad did get killed. The young wife mourned.

After the mourning, the powerful man called her in and they got married and had their child.

Wow what a story. The story is from the bible. It is the story of David, Bathsheba, and Uriah

Today, in confirmation, we had this lesson. There was not 1 student who had heard the story. Our lesson was Do Not Commit Sexual Sins. We are going through the 10 Commandments. We, as Lutherans, take a look at the positive side. So, our take was that we need to have healthy relationships.

I have to admit, I was in shock that none of the 8 students had heard the story. Some of them even seemed to be in shock that I was reading such a story from the Bible.

WVU Pounds Rutgers

Rutgers’ wide receiver Tiquan Underwood (7) has the ball on his finger tips in the end zone just before West Virginia defensive back Ryan Mundy hits him and knocks the ball away for an incomplete pass during the second quarter at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, N.J. Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007.

- – - – - – - – - -

WVU looked good. They won 31-3. This is what they had to do and need to keep doing. Of course because they lost to USF; they will need help. They need teams above them to lose. I think that if White was healthy at USF; they would have won … but that is football.

Total Yards 398

Passing 144 (10-16)

Rushing 254

3rd down efficiency 11-18

Keep it up ….

Ubuntu

No, this is not about Linux-based operating system. This is about diversity, love, hospitality and caring for on another.

Definitions:

A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed (Archbishop Desmond Tutu )

A traveller through our country would stop at a village, and he didn’t have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but Ubuntu has various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to improve (Nelson Mandela) ?

Now, I know that there are individuals that are scared of Ubuntu. They point to the humanistic philosophy. However, let’s take a look at this an see how it can play out in our daily lives, the lives of our church and with the individuals that we come into contact with on a daily basis.

I remember hearing Tutu speak in 2000. Here were some of the words:

“Africans have this thing called UBUNTU.

It is about the essence of being human, it is part of the gift that Africa will give the world. It embraces hospitality, caring about others, being able to go the extra mile for the sake of others. We believe that a person is a person through another person, that my humanity is caught up, bound up, inextricably, with with yours.

When I dehumanise you, I inexorably dehumanise myself. The solitary human being is a contradiction in terms and therefore you seek to work for the common good because your humanity comes into its own in belonging”.

This (the bold) is what stands out to me. I think that we as humans throw each other under the vehichle and run them over. We demoralize people. We put them down for their thoughts and their beliefs.

Here is something a little more indepth:

Archbishop Desmond Tutu embraced ubuntu and shaped a theology around it in rebuttal to the Christian faith taught in his South African context of apartheid that said one’s skin color was an indicator of one’s value as a human being. Tutu pointed to the person of Jesus through whose ministry, death and resurrection God claimed all people as valuable in God’s sight. It is in and through this community of the claimed, that we find our identity and worth as humans.

In Tutu’s worldview, in order to understand yourself, you do it through someone else. This is difficult for Western Christians to grasp. We may even resist it. We have been socialized into and through a worldview where personhood centers on the lone individual whose essential characteristic is that of self-determination. Our very faith is often tied to this reverence of individuality.

Youth are especially aware of the pressures to achieve, stand out in the crowd, be unique, succeed, prosper and to make something of themselves. In contrast to this, the African view of a person comes through interdependence with others. For Tutu, the practice of ubuntu grows out of God’s relationship with us in Christ Jesus, who sets us free from sin, thereby making it possible to know each other. Our true human identity, he says, comes only through absolute dependence on God and neighbor, even when that neighbor is named enemy or stranger or uncool or old, or… (you fill in the blanks).

In baptism we are brought into a community that shapes who we are. It is in that community that we learn how to think, walk, speak, behave and how to be human together on this earth. The way we understand and view life and community is through the life of Jesus Christ whose sacrifice on the cross reconciled all people to God.

I read the words of Bruce reacently. He is part of the Redeemer church in Cincy and I think that this is fantastic and that each church should participate or create this type of enviorment:

We are mnot going to throw anyone out for their theological opinions. The church is “passionate” that the process of talking with each other, of being in community, is more important than a winning outcome. We believe that without all points of view, without different kinds of people, we can’t be the church we are called to be. By living into our diversity, we are making room for the kingdom of God.

We cannot survive or thrive without one another (Tutu)

We need to break down the walls that we have built up. We need to live without walls. I think that we need to embrace diversity; yet most do not. I am not sure we can really call ourselves Christians if we have walls up.