Thanks be to God (2)

Two stories of God's blessed providence today.

I called my friend Joe for some insignificant reason, and I happened to mention that our dormitory no longer carries cleaning supplies for us to clean our bathrooms with. This was on my mind, since I thought I was going to have to go to the store to get some later. Instead, Joe kindly offered to loan me some of his. Thank you, Lord.

Later today, on my way to church, I was attempting to pump air into my tires. I don't think I was having much success. A friend from school, a different Joe, stopped by and said hi. I explained to him that I was trying to figure out how much air to put in my tires, and he explained to me that this info. should be on the tires themselves. He then succeeded in helping me put inflate all my tires to an acceptable level. Without him, I wouldn't have had any hope of success. Also, when I filled up my tank, it came to $20.00 exactly.

Thanks be to God.

Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for: all the people in my life who love me. those who hate me, or at least don't like me. God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Creation. agriculture. wind amidst silence. squash. women. well-written, melodic music. beards. long hair on women. the Christian hope of resurrection, of the life of the world to come. church. holy scripture. baptism and communion. prophets, like Wendell Berry, Shane Claiborne, Mother Teresa, St. Francis of Assisi, Isaiah, Jesus, Ghandi, John Howard Yoder, John Wesley, Adam Thada. good theology. ratatouille. good friends. good listeners. the insights of modern psychology. medicine. female vocalists. education. saints, real people (now and then) who imitate Jesus Christ, especially his love. any human source of truth. all my friends who are doing things that I am not yet doing, but want desperately to do. peacemakers. farmers. technology. those who serve and live with the poor (I want to join you). humor and laughter. the government, when they serve the common good. tomatoes, onions and peppers. cabbage. beans. things that keep us warm. bicycles. feet. public transportation. libraries. learning other languages. locks. open doors. common trust. generosity. answered prayers. unanswered prayers. colors. artists. poetry. words expressing previously unspoken realities. martyrs. beds, couches, chairs, mats and cushions. simplicity. self-denial. order. flowers. pineapple, strawberry, banana, grape. rain. quiet. peace. struggle. emergency services. water.

at the hands of soldiers

Jesus my savior was patient, suffered and died at the hands of soldiers doing their duty. And he forgave them and prayed for them.

Terrorism

Last night ABC news published a story about Europeans training with al-Qaeda. This raised particular concern because it posed a new kind of terrorist threat: caucasian terrorists. The new concern, of course, is that it will be more difficult to detect terrorists in airports among the throngs of people, as they will no longer be able to "racially profile" who is more likely to be a terrorist. If my understanding of "this new kind of threat" is wrong, please forgive me. My understanding of the nuts and bolts of "this new threat" illustrated several points for me, and raised several serious issues in my mind.

- If racial profiling is wrong, nevertheless this has been one of our tactics all along in attempting to detect airline terrorists. Otherwise white terrorists would pose no new threat. They would just be other violently-intentioned humans whom we cannot easily detect. However, if we have been expecting terrorists to be from the Middle-east, this means we have been prejudiced against persons of this origin.

- Prejudice against persons of Middle-eastern origin has led to a general and national fear of and racism against them. This can be detected in unintelligent conversations where you hear something like, "People from that ancient culture are prone to violence, and they don't understand how to settle a conflict." We label them as barbaric and think we are superior to them, more 'cultured.' This notion is preposterous. What hypocrites we are! Who would label them barbaric when our response to the September 11th tragedy has been just the same if not worse in its reasoning, execution and outcome? What is not terrible about the war in Afghanistan and Iraq? Is our war any better just because we don't call it jihad? Is our war not terrorism because we have called it "shock and awe"? Lord, have mercy on us for our sins! We irresponsibly let September 11th incite us to fear, anger, and then violent retaliation, instead of grief over the violence as well as the deaths, and to prayer. God, Iraq and Afghanistan, please forgive us for the wars we have made.

When I heard about this story, I was grieved that Europeans were joining al-Qaeda. This led me to ask, 'Why am I not grieved by the fact that a few Muslims comprise their ranks? Why does the majority number of al-Qaeda not grieve me just as much as Europeans joining them?' Because I have been racist. I have presumed that 'we can expect extreme behavior from those people.' I beg all people from the Middle-east, and all Muslims to forgive me for such thoughts. +We ought to be grieved when anyone trains for war or violence against their fellow humans.+

Pithy thought by yours truly #3

"When all you see is made by man,
it is hard to believe in God."

Of Worry

"Cease from an inordinate desire of knowing,
for therein is found much distraction and deceit."
-Thomas a Kempis

+++

I have to laugh

at you, worry;--

who are you

but a demon

I have listened to?

Of things unfinished,

undone,

unbegun;

Of incompletes,

thoughts just conceived;

Of inconceivables

and things unseen;

Unknown,

unshown,

unowned;

Not been

nor shall ever

be for me.



I hate you both:

not mine this time, and

no peace in pining.



And so I hope.

+++

"May those who say to me, 'Aha! Aha!'
turn back because of their shame."
-Psalm 70:3

" . . . but my ears you have opened;" Psalm 40:6

Shhh . . .

. . . listen.

Shut the mouth,
open the ear,
be attentive,
and believe.

Trust.

Then love
and obey.


Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

Psalm 141:3
Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD;
keep watch over the door of my lips.

Proverbs 10:19
When words are many, sin is not absent,
but he who holds his tongue is wise.

Proverbs 18:13
He who answers before listening—
that is his folly and his shame.

Proverbs 19:20
Listen to advice and accept instruction,
and in the end you will be wise.

Proverbs 19:27
Stop listening to instruction, my son,
and you will stray from the words of knowledge.

Psalm 95:7b-11
Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the desert,

where your fathers tested and tried me,
though they had seen what I did.

For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways."

So I declared on oath in my anger,
"They shall never enter my rest."

Matthew 12:33-37
"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

James 1:19-27
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

+New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society+

An Open Letter to My Favorite Poets and Musicians

Dear Away With Vega, Rodeo Ruby Love, Owlsburg, Frank Schweikhardt, Austin Givens, mewithoutYou, Anathallo, Switchfoot, Chris Tomlin, RelientK, and Delirious?,

This past week I boldly sang your songs and quoted your lyrics to people whose situations related to them. And they loved them. So much. I was dumbfounded, but I should not have been.

So, to you, for you, because of you, at you: wow. You are amazing. Thank you for writing beautiful music and honest lyrics from your hearts. You are changing me, changing others, or at least poetically communicating what we ourselves cannot say, will not say, refuse to say, or want so desperately to say, either ignorantly or knowingly. Thank you.

In Jesus' love and peace,
your brother Scott H.

Thanks be to God (1)

Last night, as my roommate and I were delighting ourselves in the Lord, he gave us the desire of our heart.

We were in our room, lights out, ready to sleep, praying. One of our suite-mates was whistling and carrying on a conversation outside in the living area. Mid-prayer, my roommate asked, ". . . and quite honestly, Lord, that whoever's making noise out there would shut up." To the surprise and delight of our ears, just moments after we prayed that, the whistling stopped and they went into their room and closed the door. We thanked the Lord then and there.

I don't know how likely it is that our suite-mate could have heard my room-mate say "shut up." Our doors are made of heavy, solid wood, we were more moaning than speaking, but my roommate did emphasize those words with more volume. It doesn't matter--whether he heard us or not, our prayer was answered, and for that we were thankful.

Be like God . . .

. . . quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.

Pithy quote by Yours truly #2

"Fluorescent light does not deserve the time of day."

PRAY.

"Midnight Station" (a haiku)

Hair, stand on end o'er
chilled flesh in fluorescent plight,
awaiting nigh flight.

(Copyright Scott Hendricks 2006)

Powerlessness and Pedestrianism

This summer while at home in Kalamazoo, MI, I tried to avoid driving a car as often as possible. For me this meant that I rode my bike quite a bit, and walked on several occasions. Why?

There are several advantages to walking or biking:
1) You don't pollute your local air with exhaust from an automobile that runs on gasoline.
2) The exercise is excellent overall for your health.
3) You are more in touch with your surroundings. You take better notice of whatever you pass and get a sense that "this is your town," instead of just the insignificant route to your destination.
4) You breathe fresh (well, sometimes) air.
5) You realize that your legs are good for something, and very useful!

One excursion this summer, however, proved to be very enlightening for me.

I had an eye appointment 2.4 miles from my house, and I decided to take the bus. It was necessary to walk a short distance from my house to the bus stop at which I boarded, and from the bus stop at which I got off to the eye doctor's office. The majority of my route was along the busiest, most commercial road in Kalamazoo and Portage (Westnedge Avenue). Thus, I walked beside 4 lanes of 35mph traffic - the first reminder of my powerlessness. Almost everybody else on the road was going 31mph faster than I, so they would get to their destinations sooner than I. If one of them for any reason had turned the wheel a bit too far in my direction, I would have been toast; they had more momentum than I.

The bus stop was farther from my house than I had imagined, so once I realized this I hussled to make it their on time. Second reminder of my powerlessness - I could miss the bus, and (if there were not a drivable vehicle in my nearby driveway) easily be late for my appointment.

As I neared my destination, and especially as I got off the bus, it occured to me how far away I was from home (in terms of both distance and time). [Okay, in reality 2.4 miles is not that far; but I didn't know the distance at the time (it felt like 4 miles), and the scenery (commercial highway) was very different from that of my neighborhood.] What if something bad happened to me? What if (for some reason) I "needed" to get home immediately? My third reminder of powerlessness - there was no "immediately." I could not drive myself anywhere quickly if desired or necessary. Since I had a cell phone with me, I suppose I could have called home if I had to. But what if I were without a phone? I would just have to wait for the bus to come, or start walking homeward.

As I rode the bus, I recognized none of my fellow passengers, and tried to delight in watching them interact with one another. But a twisted voice within me asked, "Why are you riding the bus? You don't have to. You can afford to drive a car; you deserve to." I tried to reason against this voice: "No, I cannot afford to drive a car, and driving a car does not make me a better human being. As an asset it only gets me places farther and faster, carrying more, making my life easier and more comfortable. But it does not make my life any richer. As a liability it only costs me bundles of money, puts me at a greater risk of participation in an auto accident, increases my contribution to local pollution, and fosters a false sense of power, self-confidence, wealth and freedom." And so in a fourth and final sense I realized that my current inability to afford a car of my own gave me a sense of powerlessness.

My point is this: I wonder if always driving an automobile to get to our destinations does not give us unnecessary power, and rob us of a humble sense of our own humanity. When we walk, we cannot traverse great distances in a short amount of time; we cannot move lots of people or weight at the press of a pedal and at the cost of clean air; we cannot keep ourselves insulated from the world around us to be ignored. Rather, when we walk we are reminded of what it is to be without power and advantage; we are reminded of one way in which most humans are alike - that God has given us two legs with which to walk, to go only so fast, and to take up only so much space on this earth for so little time.

I don't hate automobiles - to a certain extent they are necessary and helpful. But as Americans we will consume oil until it runs out, and we have filled our atmosphere with more carbon dioxide than ever before. We can get to more places faster, but we have forgotten how to enjoy the outdoors, our communities, a walk around the neighborhood, and our neighbors.

As for me, I'm waiting to be convinced that I need an automobile. As for you and me, let's be human and go for a walk.

Any thoughts?
- Have you ever felt powerless without an automobile or some other modern convenience?
- How does technology influence your life for good or bad?
- When was the last time you were reminded of your humanness?

It's raining today . . .

So avoid stepping on earthworms.

If I get a job with the university food services . . .

. . . I feel I am really going to love wiping off tables, picking up trash, and keeping the food court tidy - chairs, tables and . . . well, I guess that's all there is: chairs and tables; although there are also living trees with falling leaves, so maybe I'll be gathering those up too.

I'm serious.

. . . or maybe I'll just like it.

I'll keep you posted.

In My Residence Hall . . .

In my dorm, Scripture Hall (named after two individuals with that peculiar last name) . . .

There are several areas designated for study. These rooms have tables and chairs, and some of them even have plush armchairs. One of them on the third floor even has a big-screen television. The furniture in these rooms brings to my attention that STUDY LOUNGE is an oxymoron.

In the East Stairwell there lives a cricket. I know this because on occasion I hear it chirp. When I hear this fellow creature rub its fragile legs together, it brings delight to my heart, nearly as well as David's harp did for King Saul. I want all to know that I support the habitation of this cricket in our stair. It's not that I have any moral judgment - negative or positive - about zoos; nor that I wish this cricket would multiply and infest our building. I just enjoy to hear it 'sing' in my building. It's out of place, ironic, humorous and delightful to me. End of story.

Hauerwas on the pitfalls of a liberal democracy

In his essay "The Church and Liberal Democracy: The Moral Limits of a Secular Polity" published in his book A Community of Character (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame, 1981), Stanley Hauerwas sheds some light for us on the question we asked in an earlier post: Why are our neighbors viewed as strangers or even enemies?

On page 81:

. . . liberal polity is the attempt to show that societal cooperation is possible under the conditions of distrust. The very genius of our society is to forge a political and social existence that does not have to depend on trusting others in matters important for our survival. . . .

Of course the more it becomes unthinkable to trust a stranger, the more we must depend on more exaggerated forms of protection. But the human costs of distrust are perhaps the most destructive. For we are increasingly forced to view one another as strangers rather than as friends, and as a result we become all the more lonely. We have learned to call our loneliness "autonomy" and/or freedom, but the freer we become the more desperate our search for forms of "community" or "interpersonal relationship" that offer some contact with our fellows. Even the family is not immune from this development, since we now assume that children should have "rights" against the parents, as if the family itself were but a contractual society.

So, the light Hauerwas sheds on our inquiry is this: Our American society is based on the principle that our competing interests can be served in a land where we are free to pursue them, under a government whose primary task is to preserve the liberty of citizens who have little to do with each other.* But Hauerwas says in this essay that our society's refusal to sponsor anything but freedom and the protection of the rights of individuals** has resulted in a real incapacity for our society to encourage any virtue beyond self-interest (which, from a Christian standpoint, is a poor basis for moral decisions; if it may be called a virtue at all).

. . . our society offers no ready alternatives to liberalism. We are all liberals. In fact for us in America, liberalism, a position dedicated to ending our captivity to nature, custom, and coercion, ironically has become our fate. The great self-deception is in thinking that the tradition of liberalism gives us the means to recognize that it is indeed a tradition. Instead it continues to promise us new tomorrows of infinite creation. (Hauerwas 83)

If anyone doubts "We are all liberals": remember we are not speaking per se of leftist vs. so-called conservative politics. We are talking of "ending our captivity to nature, custom, and coercion." This concept pervades our society. For example, most children are told at a young age that they will have the liberty to choose their own vocation or occupation; we would look down upon a father who insisted his son take up his profession without question. It is the same way in our culture with marriage. Arranged marriage is so far off our moral map that it would be seen as perverse in our society to make someone marry a person they did not love. This liberalist individualism is also epitomized in the American Christian sphere by Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life: what on earth am I here for? (Note how the confusion of the subtitle presupposes a person who has not been given a purpose in life; more specifically, has not received any tradition to hand on to future generations.)

So unless an American is raised in a community that actually encourages moral virtue of some sort, it is very likely that self-interest will domineer the moral decision-making process for any given American. Rather than suggest that Christians attempt to advocate and enact some change to our government, Hauerwas urges that the church do its best at being itself, part of which is certainly teaching, encouraging and exemplifying virtue. We must be the people and family of God, the light of the world:

My call is for Christians to exhibit confidence in the lordship of Yahweh as the truth of our existence and in particular of our community. If we are so confident, we cannot help but serve our polity [i.e. the church], for such confidence creates a society capable of engendering persons of virtue and trust. A people so formed are particularly important for the continued existence of a society like ours, as they can provide the experience and skills necessary for me to recognize the difference of my neighbor not as a threat but as essential for my very life. (Hauerwas 86)

*Note also our economy is free market capitalism.
**This is also primarily what our justice system is based on; rather than really upon any more substantial moral story.
_______________________

What do you think?

In what ways does our liberal democracy stifle our society's ability to be/do something together as a whole?

How does it limit our communities and relationships, especially to our neighbors?

And what good news does the church have to proclaim in such an atmosphere?

Strange Holiness

The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it (Psalm 24:1).

The church and its members are holy to the Lord, especially through the Holy Spirit, who dwells within them (1 Corinthians 3:16).

A husband is holy to his wife, and vice versa (1 Corinthians 7:3-4).

In many places, automobiles are holy to the road, in which pedestrians are unclean. If a pedestrian transgresses (i.e., crosses the boundary) into the road, then he or she is likely to be cut off from the people. While most vehicles will brake for invading pedestrians, the fatal risk of jay-walking is punishment enough to obviate policing of this crime. Sane adults rarely "struggle" to keep this commandment of the state, but are always reminding and watching their own children as they walk along the way, trying to train them to walk in safe holiness.

All life is holy to the Lord, but death a necessary part of the curse because of Adam and Eve's first sin (Genesis 2:17 and 3:19). In the Old Testament Law dead bodies were unclean, but Jesus sanctified death on his cross and defeated it when God raised him from death back to life. Death then is perhaps not "unclean" per se. For many Christian martyrs have followed Jesus to his loving death in their confession of his kingship of all the world (not only "of the Jews"). But it is a necessary evil.

All death, that is. So while firearms are only holy to animal game as food for humans, this was not the case originally, and should not ultimately be so in the age to come. This leads some (such as my good friend Matt) to be vegan. [Please note: there are other reasons to be vegetarian and/or vegan besides opposing violence to animals. For example, read athada.]

Can anyone else think of strange examples of holiness, like some of the examples above?

Oops . . . duh

I got my first parking ticket a few days ago.

The meter only took quarters, and I only had two of them. It was an unexpected stop, so I hadn't planned on bringing any loose change.

*50 cents = 20 minutes*

After about 34 minutes, I thought to myself: Maybe "METERS ENFORCED BETWEEN [certain hours of day and week]" means that the meters are enforced!

When I returned to my parked vehicle, I discovered a little white slip of paper tucked beneath my right windshield. I was charged $10 for an EXPIRED METER, which I promptly mailed to the 'governing authorities' of the university whose parking tax I had foolishly put to the test.

Life lesson: Don't put "the law" to the test. And keep many quarters in your car.