Next Stop - Turkey!

As I continue this refreshing and stimulating sabbatical journey, I'm really excited about the trip Brenda and I begin tomorrow. (We could do without the long travel time, though.) We're headed to Turkey and then will have a few days in New York on our return--a place we've always wanted to visit, but never have.

Why Turkey? East meets West there. Ancient cultures. Places important in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. History has been made there. History is still being made there. And we get to get a taste of it!

Watch for reports and reflections to follow...

Yes, God Does Good Work!

     More than once I've heard my colleague, Pastor Michael TeKrony, when awed by something beautiful in creation, "God does good work!"

     I agree.  I agree wholeheartedly!

     One of the blessings of this summer, in addition to the new learnings I've received, has been the opportunity to see some of that good work in my home state of Wisconsin.  The Washington Island Forum was an enriching and stimulating professional experience.  And the setting was absolutely gorgeous--and oh-so-peaceful by the water!  Washington Island is located off the tip of Door County, Wisconsin--the thumb-like peninsula that juts out into the waters of Green Bay to the west and Lake Michigan to the east.  Washington Island is where those two large bodies of water meet.

     The only way to reach the island is by a ferry that carries both passengers and cars--like this one.  (And look at that deep blue water and bright blue, nearly cloudless sky--some of God's good work!

      On the island, Brenda and I stayed at the pleasant Cottage-on-the-Bay, and were treated graciously by our amiable hosts, Lew & Debbie Wuellner-Clarke.  And we had the special joy of having my sister Cindy and husband Jeff Schave share most of the time with us.  We have always been blessed by their company, and this time was no exception!  When I was not attending the Forum, we played games, ate (too much!), explored the island, and laughed and ate and sat by the campfire and ate.  And every evening God gave us a treat like this...

or like this...

or this...

To see those sunsets, we had to stroll 50 yards (unfortunately, we did have to fight off mosquitoes!) from the deck of the cottage to the shore--here's a view by day to give you some perspective...(That's my beloved enjoying the peaceful vista by the water.)

     Oh, and before going to the Island, we had the pleasure of visiting again, after several years, with our dear friends Pastor Nick & Judy Johannes at their lovely home on the Peshtigo River near Crivitz, WI. In addition to treating us to their warm hospitality and catching up with each others lives and ministries, they treated us to a pontoon ride on the river, where we had the joy of getting up close and personal with another of God's good pieces of work--this friendly loon:

 

     During our time on the Island, we also enjoyed seeing some of God's good work coupled with the good work of some of God's people.  The congregation of Trinity Lutheran Church on the Island has built, as a labor of love and in honor of the Scandinavian heritage of many islanders, a replica of a Norwegian stave church.  It's an inviting building in a beautiful setting, offered to the public as a site for weddings and special services as well as personal prayer and meditation.

 

 

     Well, I think you get the idea that God does good work--and some of that good work is certainly exhibited in the beauty of my home state of Wisconsin!

     And next time you're out in the beauty of creation, why not notice for yourself some of the good and beautiful work done by our loving and creative God!

 

Why I Like Diana Butler Bass

I have become a fan of Diana Butler Bass—if one can have “fans” in the world of theology and church life.  My appreciation for her work began when I first read her book, Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith, as part of a reading assignment Bishop Allan Bjornberg gave to the pastors and leaders of our synod almost two years ago.  (I have to confess that I haven’t completed the assignment, which included two other books—though I have purchased one of them!)

      I was so taken by Bass’ book that I decided to lead a study of it at Holy Shepherd.  So, together with about 20 others, I read Christianity for the Rest of Us again this past spring—and my respect for Diana’s work grew some more.  As we read and discussed together, I was both challenged and encouraged—challenged to be the best possible pastor for the best possible church we can be, and encouraged that the church can--contrary to popular assumptions about the mainline church--actually grow and flourish in the 21st century.  We had a stimulating and uplifting time together in that Sunday-morning study—and also were only able to scratch the surface.

     As serendipity (or God) would have it, Bishop Bjornberg had invited Diana to be one of the keynote speakers at our Rocky Mountain Synod assembly in late May—shortly after our group completed our study.  Hearing and seeing her in person only increased my appreciation for what she is offering the church.  There I picked up another of her books, The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Church, and read it early in my sabbatical.

     Meanwhile, another opportunity presented itself.  I saw an ad in The Christian Century periodical for the annual Washington Island (Wisconsin) Forum, with Diana Butler Bass as the featured presenter.  I couldn’t pass it up!  In addition to hearing Diana once more, I would also be able to visit family and friends in my home state of Wisconsin, enjoy some down time on beautiful Washington Island with Brenda, and attend the wedding of the daughter of long-time friends—all in one trip.  No, I couldn’t pass it up.

     And, once again, Diana Butler Bass delivered! This time, she presented material from her forthcoming book (in 2009), which has the working title, A People’s History of Christianity. This time she took us on a quick tour of the major eras of Christian history, drew lessons from each for the church today, and imagined with us what the faithful and thriving church might look like in the 21st century.    I continue to find her stimulating, engaging, learned, and hope-giving!

     It’s been a long time—25+ years, when I heard theological giants Walter Brueggemann and Douglas John Hall lecture back in Iowa—since I’ve been so taken with the work of a particular theologian and scholar.  So I’ve been asking myself why.  And here’s a list of some of the reasons "Why I Like Diana Butler Bass":

• She clearly loves God and loves God’s church—warts and all!
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• She tells good stories.  She makes church history come alive and seem relevant!
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• She is a thorough and careful scholar.
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• She is not content to keep presenting the same material.  In everything I’ve heard her say and everything I’ve read, I’ve never failed to receive something fresh and new.  She’s not a “one-hit wonder” in the world of theology, who has one idea or one program that she’s beating to death and milking for all it’s worth.  Diana is a person of depth, with wide-ranging interests.
• She doesn’t expect the church to be what it’s not.  Specifically, she doesn’t think the mainline traditional denominations like ours, who are generally struggling to remain relevant in our current culture, need to mimic the non-denominational mega-churches in order to thrive.
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• She takes issue with any who want to insist that “our best days (as the church) are behind us”.  She is convicted and convincing when she declares, “The church’s best days are ahead of us!”
• 
  She proposes that thriving as the church is not a matter of buying into a particular program or formula but, rather, faithfully an intentionally practicing the ancient and time-tested disciplines of Christianity.  It’s not rocket science!  Congregations who want to follow God’s call need to practice the following: Hospitality, Discernment, Healing, Contemplation, Testimony, Diversity, Justice, (Relevant) Worship, Reflection, and Beauty (use of the arts).  In fact, she claims (and the extensive research she’s done supports this conclusion) that churches flourish when they intentionally practice three of these disciplines.
•  
• She agrees with me in my conviction that the mainline church has done a good job of training church members, but needs to do much better at training disciples of Jesus Christ.
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• In short, Diana Butler Bass gives me hope—hope that the mainline church can be a faithful, effective witness to God’s love and justice in 21st century America!

     Do you agree?  Do you agree that the church can live into the future with hope?

     If you want to learn a little more about Diana for yourself, visit her website.

     Well, thanks for taking the time to read these reflections.  Now, I’ve gotta go.  You see, I’ve got some reading to do--I bought another of Diana Butler Bass’ books at the Washington Island Forum, and I’m eager to discover what else she has to offer!

Writing History

Maybe it’s because I’m considerably older now than I was then, so I have lived more of it. I’m talking about history. In my student years–high school, college, seminary--I had no use for history and was baffled by those who loved it. But in recent years, that has changed.

When not reading theology or fiction, I can sometimes be found reading history or biography, as I strive to gain a deeper appreciation for the past. The past, after all, shapes the present–and our choices now will shape the future. And if we learn from history, perhaps our choices will be wiser.

One of the things I’ve noticed as I pay closer attention to history is the question of "who"–who writes it? And, usually, the answer is, "History is written by the winners"–those who triumph in war, those who succeed financially, those who are revered and respected by many. The "losers’" story is seldom told in the history books or the media. We have to look especially hard to find it.

I saw two examples of history written from the perspective of the "losers" in Mexico, both of them in Mexico City.

The first was near the park I mentioned in my previous post–the park where men stood and waited, sometimes all day, for someone to hire them as a day laborer. Just outside the park, on the side of a building, there was a plaque. It had names engraved on it. The names were Irish, but the text was in Spanish. What was the plaque? It was a memorial to a company of soldiers who had changed sides during the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. Apparently upset that their country (the U.S.) was fighting against a Roman Catholic country (Mexico), this group of 70-some Irish-American soldiers–aptly memorialized as "The St. Patrick’s Brigade"-- vanished in the night, and fought with the Mexican army the following day. Unfortunately for them, their new comrades lost the battle. The St. Patrick’s Brigade was captured by the U.S. Army, court-martialed, and, to a man, executed for treason against the U.S. The plaque honored those soldiers for their bravery in fighting, at the cost of their lives, in a justified war defending Mexico against U.S. aggression. (That’s the way the war was described on the plaque.) I never learned that when I studied history in my younger years–because history is usually written by the winners. But the losers found a way to tell their story.

Another example: In 1519, Hernan Cortez (the one with the Sea, also known as the Gulf of California, named after him) led an invasion of Mexico from Cuba, where he was a government official, on behalf of Spain. Two years later, he had conquered the mighty Aztec Empire. In 1523, Spain began building the massive buildings pictured here. On the left you see the National Cathedral of Mexico, and on the right the National Palace. In front is the plaza known as The Zocalo. Pretty impressive! But did you know what you would find beneath the plaza and the buildings symbolizing Spanish power? The ruins of the Aztec capital, destroyed by Cortez, which formerly existed on that very site. Oh, and on the walls of the National Palace are the spectacular, panoramic murals of Diego Rivera, depicting Mexican history up until the mid-20th Century. One of his panels notes the presence and military might of Cortez. But, in that panel, Cortez has a green face and swollen knees, clear signs of ill health. The Spanish thought they were bringing Mexico a better way of life–offered at the point of a sword–but, at least for Rivera, all that Cortez brought was disease that damaged and destroyed Mexican lives. Two different–very different--ways of writing history!

History is written from the perspective of the winners, but the losers seem to find a way to tell their version of the story as well!

Now, as Christians, we are winners. In Romans 8:37, St. Paul describes us as "more than conquerers through him who loved us"–superconquerors, I once saw it translated. We are winners not by political might (though we sometimes have claimed it, like the Spaniards in Mexico), but by virtue of the victory of Christ over the powers of sin, death, and Satan. And if we are the winners, what history will we write? What history are we writing by our choices and actions today?

The Bible seems to suggest–in fact, from cover to cover it makes this point emphatically–that the history of those who are winners in Christ is written by our actions toward and on behalf of those whom history would call the "losers". Again and again, in Old Testament and New, the people of God are called upon to give special care to the sojourner–the one passing through the land–and to the widows and orphans. Those were the most vulnerable in biblical times, people with no one to look after them.

And who are the "losers" in our day? After all, as "winners" in Christ, we are called to care for the "losers".

And that makes me wonder. That makes me wonder: what history are we writing, by our choices and our actions today?

New Insight from an Old Story

Jesus, as we know, told a lot of stories. "Parables," they’re called. And many of them are puzzling. They turn conventional wisdom on its head: a Samaritan who is good, stopping, at great personal cost, to aid a badly-beaten Jew–his arch-enemy; a conniving steward who is commended for saving his own skin, at his boss’ expense, when he’s about to lose his job; a shepherd who leaves unprotected 99 sheep to search for 1 which has wandered away; a father who rejoices when his son returns home after demanding his inheritance before Dad has died, leaves home, and comes home broke and desperate. All those stories, and others–memorable, and puzzling.


And one that ranks right up there on the scale of "puzzling" is the story of the workers in the vineyard. You probably know how it goes; if you want to find it in your Bible, it’s in Matthew 20:1-16. A vineyard owner (representing God?) has an abundant harvest to bring in. Early in the morning, the vineyard owner goes down to the day labor site, and hires a number of workers for the day, promising to pay them the standard daily wage. Several times throughout the day, he returns to hire more workers–the harvest is the most enormous he’s ever experienced!–and promises to pay them what’s right. They go–including a group hired to work just the last hour. When it’s time to settle up at the end of the day, the laborers are paid from last to first. And they all receive the usual daily wage! Understandably, the ones who’ve worked all day–all day--in the fierce Palestinian sun are furious with their employer for paying all the workers the same wage. The story ends with the owner asking, "Can’t I do what I want with what is mine? Do you begrudge my generosity?"


The answer, of course, is that the owner (God?) can do whatever the owner wishes with what belongs to the owner. If the owner (God?) wishes to be generous, who has a right to stand in the way of that intention?


Now, we might ask a question about this story. It’s a question I never considered, until Pastor Kim Erno asked it during one of our group sessions at the Lutheran Center in Mexico City. ‘What’s more difficult–to work all day, or stand around waiting all day, hoping against hope to be hired?" Hmmmm...interesting question, isn’t it! Which would you rather do?


On a walking tour of the Lutheran Center neighborhood, our group was led into a pleasant park near a small plaza. The park was filled with people at about 2:00 in the afternoon. There were lots of women, children, and older people, as one might expect to find in a park in the middle of the day. There were also lots of men, lined up, leaning against a wall, with unhappy looks on their faces. What were they doing there? Well, they were waiting to be hired as day laborers. They’d been there all day. Some other men had been hired for the day, but these men–I’d guess there were 25-30 of them–had not. And, at that time of the day, it looked like their chances of putting a little food on the family table that evening were pretty slim. I couldn’t help but wonder how many children of those men would go to bed hungry that night–and how often that happened in their lives.


What would be more difficult, we might wonder: to be hired from that park early in the morning, and be paid for one’s work, even if it was hard work in a hot sun–or to stand all day, waiting, hoping against hope, for a day job unlikely to become a reality, knowing your family will be hungry again that night?


That’s the reality for all too many Mexican families. Unemployment nationwide approaches 50%. Small farmers are being forced off the land because they can’t produce corn cheaper than it can be brought to the Mexican market by giant transnational corporations, as a result of NAFTA. How ironic, especially since corn (maize) was first domesticated in Mexico 7,000 years ago. It’s no wonder the Mexican peasants say, "sin maiz - no pais"–"without corn, there is no nation". So what are those peasants doing when they can no longer live off the land? Flocking to the cities, in hopes of finding work there. And some of them do–as street vendors or in other segments of Mexico’s expansive "informal economy". These jobs, however, are not adequate to support a worker and the worker’s family.


Why, if I were in that situation, if I were that desperate, I might even consider crossing the border illegally, taking the risk of being detained, or being acosted by Minutemen, or dying in the desert, or of having no other option but to work in a sweat-shop near the border. If I were in that situation, I think I’d be desperate enough to do whatever it takes to feed my family.


Now, I have one more question. I’ll leave you to ponder it. If God is as generous as the owner of the vineyard in the parable–and we have ample evidence in the Bible of God’s generosity!–and if God favors the last and the least, then what do you suppose God is up to in Mexico?

Personas son personas son personas (or People are people are people)

Two of my many memorable experiences in Mexico involved visits to homes of ordinary people. These visits took place during our time in Cuernavaca, a "small" city of only a million or so people about 1-1/2 hours south of Ciudad de Mexico.

One morning we made our way to "La Estacion" (The Station)–a squatter community established nearly 50 years ago, but with ownership still disputed–by railroad workers who wanted to live where they worked. The train station is no longer there, not even the railroad tracks–but the homes still are. There is also an effective community outreach center, established by Franciscan nuns, empowering the mothers of the community (many of the fathers are working in the U.S.) to support themselves and their childrens’ education and teaching moms and children about their value as persons and about nutrition. This photo is of a beautiful altar hanging, hand-crocheted by one of the women of "La Estacion," which I purchased for less than $20.

Our groups divided into two segments, and each of us went to one of the homes in the community. Some homes, we noticed, were little more than corrugated cardboard shanties. The home we visited, headed by a dignified widow nick-named Dona Tasha, was sturdier than some, 200 meters square, and also housed Tasha’s youngest children and several grandchildren. "La Estacion" is located on potentially prime commercial real estate, so developers are eager to move the people out of the community. Tasha hopes that the government will allow her to purchase the home she has lived in for 20 years, and said she would be able to pay the price that had been suggested. If they are not allowed to stay, Tasha does not know where else who would live; she would probably have to move into the already-crowded home of one of her adult children. But Tasha lives with hope. She is proud of her children and grandchildren, and has encouraged them to pursue their educations–which they are doing. Not to be outdone, Tasha, who has completed the equivalent of 3rd grade, has two more exams to study for and pass and then will have earned her G.E.D.–at the age of nearly 60. What a courageous woman! I asked her what gives her hope, and she said, "My faith in God." A short message–but a powerful one, authenticated by the way she lives her life.

A couple days later, our group, this time divided into four segments, traveled to another neighborhood–this one obviously of a little higher economic class. We had seen no cars in "La Estacion," but here we saw many cars. Later, we learned it was probably a lower middle-class neighborhood, one that had improved itself over the years due, in large part, to the past work of the Catholic Church in the neighborhood, called "Santa Fe" (Holy Faith). The church had organized Christian Base Communities, small groups of laity who shared their experience with poverty and oppression, reflected on it in the light of Scripture, and found in the Word and in community the courage to claim their human rights and dignity.

Each of our four groups was to spend 24 hours in the home of a family in the neighborhood. We were both eager for and anxious about this experience. We knew it would be a valuable cross-cultural experience, and we had no doubt we would be shown generous hospitality–which we were!–but we were anxious about whether we would like the food and whether we would be able to communicate across the language barrier. In our group of 4 American guests, the Spanish was quite limited–but, fortunately, the family’s 15-year-old daughter spoke fluent, un-accented English. (They had lived in the U.S. for 11 years.) It turned out to be a wonderful experience! Not only was the language barrier overcome (and some of us got to stretch our limited Spanish a bit), but the food from Yolanda’s kitchen was absolutely delicious! The photo is of the Delgado family at their dining room table.

While there, we watched a DVD of Cynthia’s quincenera celebration (an elaborate religious and social rite of passage ceremony, including a special Mass and a party, for 15-year-old females). I had heard about the quincenera, but had not fully understood it until now. Then we went with Cynthia, her friend Nicole, and her father Jesus to watch him play soccer (or, in Mexico, "futbol"; our version of football is called there "futbol americano"). Jesus scored 3 goals and led his team to a 5-3 victory. It was fun!

We spent the evening sharing pictures and stories about our families (the Delgados have 3 children and 6 granchildren in the U.S., including one son in the Navy), talking about what it means to be a Lutheran with this typical Mexican Catholic family, viewing fireworks from a nearby neighborhood’s festival, and showing the family our church websites on their computer. As a bonus, we had the opportunity to send an email note back home.

In the morning, we had our third excellent meal, then gathered with the other host families and guests for a time of sharing and conversation. The whole overnight experience was exquisite! Here's a photo of our group of four with our Mexican hosts:

Among the things we learned from the Delgados was this interesting fact: when in America, Jesus once worked in construction for $40/hour, while now in Mexico he occasionally is able to work as a cab driver for $30/day. Yet, when he fills the gas tank of his small pickup truck, it costs him the equivalent of $40–not much different from the price we pay.

I don’t believe I’ll ever forget how the Delgados touched our lives and how gracious their hospitality was, even though we are much, much better off financially than they are.

From both these experiences visiting with people of Mexico, I was reminded again of a reality that I have long believed to be true in my head. But now I saw it with my eyes and experienced it with my heart: "personas son personas son personas"–people are people are people. Because, as different as we were from both the Delgados and Dona Tacha–different in economic status, different in ethnicity, culture and language, and different in nationality– this struck me as true: rich or poor, of whatever country or color, whatever our language, we all have in our hearts one strong and common longing. And this makes us much more alike than different: we want our children and grandchildren to have a good education, live in safety, enjoy adequate food and shelter, and have an opportunity to pursue their goals and better their lives, and we will make significant sacrifices to help make that happen. I was reminded of the old hymn, based on a saying of Jesus: "In Christ there is no east or west, in him no south or north, but one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth."

What a blessing it was to experience that truth, first-hand, through encounter with Dona Tacha and the Delgados!

HOME FROM MEXICO

After traveling for much of June, including a trip to my home state of Wisconsin less than two days after returning from Mexico, I’ve now been home for a few days recovering, catching up on the home front (and yard work), resuming my Spanish study, and doing a bit of reading. And, finally, I have some time to reflect intentionally on my Mexican experience. And what an experience it was! Rich, challenging, stimulating, provocative—and possibly even life-changing!

Early—very early!—on the morning of June 10, I joined two others from Denver on the first leg of our travel, flying to Houston for our connecting flight to Mexico City. There we met two others, a mother and daughter from Oklahoma, who joined us on our second flight.

Did you know that the Houston airport must have the cleanest rest rooms of any airport in the world? (This observation, of course, is not based on any actual scientific study.) When we arrived there, looking for a rest room after our flight, we found one almost immediately—and it was closed for cleaning. We were told there was another one nearby, and made a beeline to find it. Success! As we had a long layover, we then took time for lunch (Texas barbecue), followed by another trip to the rest room before our flight. And guess what—it was closed! Finally, though, it reopened, and we were soon in the air again—well, not quite "soon," as we had to wait on the plane for 45 minutes while a radar component was repaired. And, while we waited, a thunderstorm passed through Houston and resulted in another 45 minutes on board due to weather delays.

Approaching Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City) from the air gave us a unique perspective on how enormous the world’s most populous city is! It fills a large mountain valley, at an elevation of about 7,500 feet. This photo, taken from a helicopter (I found it on the Internet), gives a glimpse of both the size of the city, and one of its many challenges--keeping the air clean. One estimate is that it would take a minimum of 3 hours to drive from one edge of the city to another; of course, as we quickly learned, travel time to anywhere in Mexico City is always "depending on traffic"—which is overwhelming. (More than once, our group was glad someone else was doing the driving, as it seemed that there were traffic suggestions rather than laws.) Only about 30% of the city’s 26 million residents can afford to own a car—otherwise traffic would be at a constant standstill! (There is inexpensive public transit, but not enough of it.) After arriving at the airport, we obeyed our instructions (good Lutherans that we are) to wait in a specific place—and stood there for two hours! (We were being met by staff of the Lutheran Center, who had incorrect information about our arrival time.)

Eventually, we connected with Pastor Heidi Torgerson—a college and seminary classmate of one member of our group, Pastor Jay McDivitt of Good Shepherd Lutheran in Denver. Along with Pastor Kim Erno, Heidi is an ELCA pastor serving in global mission at the Lutheran Center in Mexico City. Finally, after maneuvering through rush-hour traffic, we arrived at the Center, joining others in our group of 11 who had arrived earlier. We were assigned rooms, and sat down to the first of many delicious authentic Mexican meals. Almost every meal included the staples of the Mexican diet--beans, rice, and fresh, home-made corn tortillas. (After eating them, the store-bought flour tortillas I usually eat are pretty darn bland!)

So, we were in Mexico, and preparing for an adventure. Although we didn’t know exactly what to expect, we did expect to have a profound experience. The group was outstanding—congenial, fun-loving, open to and eager for the experience, and willing to trust that our leaders in Mexico had planned an experience that would be invaluable, while they also cared for our safety.
And so it began—an eight-day immersion that simultaneously passed quickly and seemed to last a long time because of the newness and richness of it all!

Upcoming blog posts will focus more specifically on my learnings and reflections on the experience. So, please, stay tuned for more!