Ramblin' Rant: Prayers and Questions

I've written several versions of a prayer this week - a prayer pleading for grace, peace and understanding following the violence at Virginia Tech, which so many other bloggers have written about so eloquently. One of the versions was the opening prayer for my class on Christian Ethics this past week. In that version, I linked the news voice I heard saying "32 dead, and the gunman" to the consideration of personhood (the topic of the week was the church and people with disabilities).

Apparently, this is one of those cases where what I heard was not exactly what was said - but it provoked much thought for me. What I thought I was hearing was the student who did the shooting referred to as "not a person."

A friend who read one of the prayers I wrote commented (I'm paraphrasing) that she felt much depression springs from how cold and mean and disconnected this world seems. She also wrote "Seeing this young man as something less than human will allow the world to avoid taking a long, hard, and deep look at our world and ourselves, and what we need to do to make real change."

I think she's right, but I can't begin to think how to effect such change that it will make a difference. There are so many factors that fed into this person taking two guns and killing so many people - how can we know what was the crucial piece that caused him to actually do this? How do we grieve so terribly for people who die here, and let the reports of deaths from roadside bombs leave us so unaffected? I grew up with the daily body count from Viet Nam on the evening news. How did we live through that, and become this nation of people who yawn over the news from yet another undeclared "war?"

It would be easy to blame the disaffected youth, violent video games, and the rise of religious fundamentalism - and that would be only part of the answer. The other part is you and me.

M* asked me recently why I hadn't blogged about the death of one of her camp friends, JF, who was murdered in his apartment about a month ago. Part of the answer is that I didn't see a lot of my daughter's reaction to his death, though I now know it affected her deeply. Another part is that I didn't know him - so I didn't feel as affected. Excuses, excuses, really - this 19-year-old mattered as much as all the people who died in Virginia, and as much as all the people killed by roadside/suicide bombs in Iraq last week, and as much as those who perished in the World Trade Center and Pentagon over 5 years ago.

In church on this Earth Day we heard again the words of Chief Seattle: "Everything is connected." I agree - I preach interbeing, Thich Nhat Hanh's version of interdependence, every chance I get. But I don't know how we go from being a nation - a world - that is so disconnected to a beloved community. All I know to do is to put one foot in front of the other, listen to each other, and do my best to remember John Donne's line about no person being an island. Maybe if we all do - it will be good enough.

Thinking...

Ms. Kitty, at Ms. Kitty's Saloon and Roadshow, nominated me for a Thinking Blog Award - a meme started over at The Thinking Blog. I thank Ms. Kitty for the honor - some of what I do here could be called thinking, but a lot of it is old-fashioned wrestling. Wrestling with ideas, or being dragged into new situations kicking and screaming all the way, or trying to make sense of what is happening in my life.

The rules are that I now need to nominate (tag) 5 blogs that I read regularly that I consider thinking blogs. It's hard to narrow this down, folks - especially since so many of the ones I want to nominate have already been tagged. There are also a couple blogs I read that are very private and can't be tagged. I would nominate Ms. Kitty herself, but then she'd have to come up with 5 more blogs and would be in the same predicament I find myself. Here goes (in no particular order - and with the usual disclaimer that on another day I might have named 5 completely different blogs.):

1. Bridget Jones Goes to Seminary : If you've been reading my blog, you may have seen several posts titled Dialog with a Christian. This is the blog written by Meg, who has been my dialog partner in a stimulating discussion of ideas that started with a "help wanted" post on her blog. She writes interesting stuff - a lot of which goes over my head because I'm not as current with Christian thinkers as she is, but I appreciate "listening" and learning.

2. Jess's Journal : Jess is thoughtful, fun and highly opinionated - and I mean that in a good way. We've had some spirited exchanges over some of her posts, and she makes me "legitimate my claims" as my current ethics professor would say.

3. PeaceBang : The blog most likely to be found on another UU blogroll, as far as I can tell. Her writing often makes me laugh out loud, and equally as often challenges my own perceptions and assumptions about our shared faith.

4. Free and Responsible Search : A hat tip to CUUMBAYA, who blogged about a post on UUs and the working class, which reminded me about Free and Responsible's thoughtful and provocative writing. Posts aren't frequent on this blog, but worth waiting for.

5. Faithfully Liberal : I just have to mention this blog, written (mostly) by two seminary acquaintances. Interesting thinking from two bright guys at a liberal Christian seminary. One is a classmate of mine.

Thank you all for providing me lots of food for thought, and more reasons to procrastinate!

Little Blue Penguins? Who Knew?!?!?

Ms. Kitty's recent post got me thinking about the information reported by sitemeter – and, having a paper to write, I was in the mood to procrastinate. (When am I not in the mood to procrastinate? Hmm… I’ll get back to you on that…)

I started by looking at where the visitors to this blog are located. Not too helpful, since I think I know the folks who visit from certain cities. The visitor from China has to be lost, eh? But what about the occasional hits from exotic places like Queensbery Fife, Singapore, and New South Wales? Could be robots, the dh says.

So then I looked at what search strings bring people here. This is not an exhaustive list, just the most interesting:

UU prayers
Interdependence of little blue penguins (huh???)
Pastoral prayers
Spirit guides night in armour (another huh?)
Armor helmets (OK, this has to lead to the armor of god pajamas post…)
I want to see spirit of my father (Me, too. Sigh.)
Celebration of non-belief
Symbiotic relationship with penguins (OK, no more penguin posts, I guess)
“Love will guide us…” lyrics
Prayers to help earthbound spirits

Fascinating! I haven’t checked them all out to see which specific posts they link to, but I think it’s hilarious that ‘Interdependence of little blue penguins’ brings up TWO links to my little blog when you enter it into google. I had to look them up - they really exist, and are also known as fairy penguins! And, for someone who doesn't like to pray much, I sure seem to write them - or write about them - frequently enough.

As for the others… I don’t have a particular interest in armor or helmets, or prayers to help earthbound spirits (which are – according to one definition – spirits unable to “cross over” to the other realm after death).

However, if anyone out there has prayers to offer for my success at writing the paper on Aquinas and Luther I need to finish today…

(Image of a little blue penguin - who knew?! - found via Google Image search, it's copyrighted by Linda Chambers, and can be found at www.bom.gov.au)

Chaplain's Log: Emergency Call

The pager reads:
“Chaplain,
Please call the
Emergency Dept.”

We never know what’s waiting for us when we receive this page:

An accident victim, whose family needs to be contacted and comforted?

The family and friends of one who has died, requesting prayer and ritual?

Ambulances bringing the wounded from an industrial accident?

Friends of a gang member, closely watched by police?

An attempted suicide’s family, who need to be handled carefully?

A delusional homeless person asking to speak to a priest?

A child being stitched up after a playground mishap – or her hysterical parents?

A woman in the midst of laboring to bring forth an already dead fetus?

Whoever is lying on the gurney or sitting in the waiting room…

We encounter ourselves,
our own tender places,
our own growing edges,
our own fears,
our own insecurities,
our own beliefs,
our own knowledge of the divine
and how it manifests through us.

They see us as the face of God.
We try to be the hands of the holy,
Helping to shape meaning and order from chaos.

What terrible responsibility.
What holy work.

Dialog with a Christian, Part IV: Justice

As for justice, does this have to include retribution – that is, someone "paying a price?" Why is it justice if someone dies because they killed someone? Why is it justice if God sends perpetrators of heinous evil to hell, but gathers all the victims to heaven? And, my big question: why must there be an "in" crowd and an "out" crowd? Isn't there room enough for everyone in heaven?

This is from the last “Dialog” installment. I separated this from the general issue of Universalism, because I think it deserves a little spotlight of its own – though we may wend our way back to Universalism in the end, or not...

This is something I’ve thought about a lot – this issue of paying or retribution and justice. I understand that the Hebrew scriptures are full of sacrifices – payments for sins – the priests offer birds and animals on the altar, Abraham nearly sacrifices his own son, etc. For some Christians, that’s exactly what Jesus’s suffering and death by crucifixion was all about – paying by sacrifice for the sins of humanity. That’s a huge burden to place on the life of one human being – even if you believe he was God’s son (or God, or both, depending). If I understand everything I’ve read so far correctly, it’s the basis of the Universalist viewpoint: one person chosen by the divine (by whatever means) to restore the balance destroyed by the first humans in the garden (I’m not getting into who sinned first, NOT going there).

But, here’s the thing: If Jesus did die for all humanity, then why does divine justice still require punishment (or eternal damnation)?

Meg’s views were interesting to me, here is some of her original text which addresses these specific questions.

In order for forgiveness to really take place, the wrong must first be named, honestly confessed. In a way, this is the justice component. So, working at a domestic violence shelter, I see this a lot when women tell me that they've forgiven their assailant and they are going back to him. That is, in Bonhoefferian parlance, cheap forgiveness because it has never honestly accounted for the wrong that has been done. My concern with universalism is that it doesn't hold people accountable for the way they've lived their lives. Justice requires an honest recounting of wrongs committed. Without that, neither justice or forgiveness are possible.

I already addressed the unaccountability problem Meg raises in the previous post. And I do understand Bonhoeffer’s cheap forgiveness. From my point of view, though, forgiveness is really more for the benefit of the one wronged, not the wrong doer – forgiveness allows the one wronged to move on. The very human ideas of confession and payment are tempting – we want to be able to blame someone for bad things that happen, and seek cheap retribution by demanding “an eye for an eye.” I can even buy into the “paying one’s debt to society” notion of justice – except that human justice is notoriously weighted in favor of the privileged. In addition, I oppose capital punishment, for example, and I believe very strongly in the concept and practice of mercy, as well as the possibility of redemption.

So, what kind of atonement is required? I kind of like the moral inventory popular with 12-step programs, and making amends directly with those one has wronged. That has a nice sort of Hebrew Scriptures flavor about it, without the stink of fire and brimstone. This is the message I think most Christians miss when they read, or preach on, the book of Jonah – the whole point is forgiveness, not punishment. Okay – the Ninevites acknowledge wrongdoing, but it’s Jonah who demands further retribution! In the text, Jonah doesn’t seem to get the point that punishment is not necessary; and most Christians I know miss it too preferring to focus on the message of obedience to God.

Interestingly, I’ve been told that Jonah is one of the texts read for Yom Kippur services, Yom Kippur being the Day of Atonement. The dh and I used to live in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, and when we did he also had a number of Jewish co-workers. Many practiced a form of that moral inventory every year in the days leading up to Yom Kippur, recalling disputes and arguments of the past year and approaching people individually to ask forgiveness. This sort of atonement, to me, opens the way for real healing of both parties as well as the very real earthly grace of compassion and forgiveness – far more than paying a fine, serving a sentence, or an eternity in hell.

I think that’s about all for now. Happy Easter (or other spring holiday).

(Image found through Google at eurowarrant.net)