This morning I was approached by a congregation member who wanted to invite me to join him for a gathering of the Methodist Laity Reform Movement. This is a group within our conference that wants to promote a more conservative reading of the social principles but also is looking for more grassroots reform of the whole conference system. There are some things in their agenda and principles I can agree with, but not everything - particularly the views on homosexuality. While I hate to say that is the only issue that would keep me away from it, the fact that half of their "issues" on the website were regarding whether gays and lesbians can be ordained or members or on Supreme Court rulings regarding homosexuality, I have to take a step back.
I have not yet stood up and shared my opinions/beliefs on the subject. I do have a Human Rights Coalition equality sticker in my office and a number of books in my marriage and relationship counseling section - if anyone is interested in looking that would announce where I stand on the issue.
I guess the question I have for other pastors is how do you start to broach the subject? Do you wait until asked specifically, or in the case of this group, should I have said up front that was the reason I wasn't interested? I did say that there are many reform movements and caucuses in our annual conference and that it wasn't one I was interested in participating in, but I left it at that.
I want to be true to myself, but I also want to be pastoral and help the congregation wrestle together with this issue. It relates to one of my last posts regarding truth and perception. I have a position on the issues that I can't impose as fact upon others. I need to listen to them, as much as they need to listen to me. And we all need to open up space for the Holy Spirit to guide us.
And it all has to do with understandings of scripture. Ironically, my mom called me just yesterday. She said that a co-worker knew that I was a pastor and so he came up to her and asked if I had read 1 Timothy 2. She didn't really know what he was referring to (and didn't stop to check), but passed along the information to me. One of the reasons that we (or many of us) don't take verses 11-15 seriously today is because 1) we have been revealed other truths by the Holy Spirit... ie: we have witnessed women's ability to lead and teach men and 2)we are able to contextualize that passage, look at where and why it was said and we also judge it against other scriptural passages.
So, i guess I'm just waiting to have this conversation and wondering if i should be the one to initiate it.
April 30, 2008
April 29, 2008
wow...
I am just awe-struck by this video! and I'm trying to think about the possibilities for worship.... trust in God? firm foundation? never being afraid to move forward? I'm kind of at a loss for how to use it, but I'll get there.
I'm especially floored by the way the person goes over those areas where there is no concrete floor. he just moves so cautiously yet surely and firmly over those single pipes - one foot in front of the other - and when he knows he has made it, he moves on and resumes his normal pace.
there is also something here about things that you and I may never experience but that we can hear about and learn about and see through the lives of others. maybe re: witnessing?
April 17, 2008
unfocused
oh and in other news - I've been really unfocused in my work and my schedule this week. I'm having trouble keeping on task. I think in many ways there are just so many things that are on my mind and I'm not sleeping very well. Prayers for focus and guidance are needed!
perception and judgment
I have been struggling with how we can stretch our minds and start to think of the bible from another perspective within the church. How, in a postmodern world, we can acknowledge the multiple lenses we use to read the bible, without somehow destroying the fact that this is a tradition and a heritage we want to hold on to. With all that thought about how we read and what we are trying to get out of it, I was directed to this New York Times article.
I was particularly intrigued by the title of a book referenced - and the idea of a "post-fact society." It think that it is a true (eek - can I say that?) description of our world! we live as though there were no set truth - only what is right and true for me. Truth - as in capital "T" Truth, is elusive, if not downright dismissed, ignored, denied, well - you get the picture.
I am more prone to acknowledge that truth is NOT something that we can grasp in and of ourselves. I would be willing to talk about truth being held between us - as a collective truth (which some people would say is just a larger idea of relativity). But it's also kind of Wesleyan - you know, that whole notion of christian conferencing and the spirit helping us discern the truth in our midst.
But if we are going to allow the Spirit to help us discern the truth - be it in the bible or in society, then we have to get out of the way and let the spirit work. We need to let go of our own presumptions. The article talks about getting in better "mental" shape - by reading thoughts and opinions that aren't our own and getting used to thinking critically. I agree. But I also think that prayer plays a role.
Op-Ed Columnist
Divided They Fall
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: April 17, 2008
Even
though the policy differences between the two Democratic candidates are minimal,
each camp is becoming increasingly aggravated at the other.
I was particularly intrigued by the title of a book referenced - and the idea of a "post-fact society." It think that it is a true (eek - can I say that?) description of our world! we live as though there were no set truth - only what is right and true for me. Truth - as in capital "T" Truth, is elusive, if not downright dismissed, ignored, denied, well - you get the picture.
I am more prone to acknowledge that truth is NOT something that we can grasp in and of ourselves. I would be willing to talk about truth being held between us - as a collective truth (which some people would say is just a larger idea of relativity). But it's also kind of Wesleyan - you know, that whole notion of christian conferencing and the spirit helping us discern the truth in our midst.
But if we are going to allow the Spirit to help us discern the truth - be it in the bible or in society, then we have to get out of the way and let the spirit work. We need to let go of our own presumptions. The article talks about getting in better "mental" shape - by reading thoughts and opinions that aren't our own and getting used to thinking critically. I agree. But I also think that prayer plays a role.
April 8, 2008
having it all: proverbs 31 after women's lib
so, i've been thinking a lot about this "having it all" thing. Can we have the family and the kids and the job and the happy husband and STILL be happy ourselves.
In one of the church small groups this morning, we talked about the woman from proverbs 31.
She is the ideal woman - and for many thousands of years has been this image of what women should strive for.
What amazed me during this study this morning is how much better I started feeling about this passage of scripture! I always thought it was some rediculously idealistic picture of womanhood that no one could possibly live up to and it had to have been written by a man... who wanted his wife to be everything for him. whatever. But as we talked about it this morning, we talked about how enterprising this woman was. She was the breadwinner while her husband sat on his ass (okay, sure he was an elder in the community and sat at the gates of the city solving people's problems...) But still, she was the one out making business transactions, she was not only making goods, but selling them, "she perceives that her merchandise is profitable. her lamp does not go out at night." - which either means that she is burning the candle at both ends... OR that she is making enough money to support the family that they don't have to worry about putting the candle out at night and feel free to use that extra oil.
And then you get to the later verses. "Strength and dignity are her clothing... she opens her mouth with wisdom... the teaching of kindness is on her tongue... she does not eat the bread of idleness" I think that these are totally virtues that we can apply to our "do it all" lives today. We can do what we are called to in our jobs and have families as long as we keep these things in mind. We can be strong, be wise, and be kind and compassionate. we may not have a lot of time left, but we will be filling our lives up with good things. and we just might even be satisfied.
The last verse i love: " give her a share in the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the city gates." - notice her gifts and the fruit of what she is doing. We don't have to do it all... we just have to do what we love, what we have been blessed with, take that and be fruitful with it. In today's world, I don't have to make clothes and buy vineyards and get up before sunrise to make food for my family. I DO need to be faithful and a good steward of the gifts that God has given me. I need to take this gift of ministry and do something with it.
Like the parable of the talents from Matthew 25:14-30. We need to fear (read: reverently awe) our God, by acknowledging the importance of what has been laid at our feet. And then we must do something with it! If this whole pastor thing is my calling... along with being a wife and someday a mother - then it's okay if I find the balance between those things... as long as we are being faithful. As long as we are not wasting our time with idle things.
The big trouble I have, in my own life, is with that idleness piece. I like to waste time. I like to procrastinate. I like to get on the grey's anatomy message boards and read what other people have to say about the show. I like to play wow with my husband. I like to watch top chef. and I am eating the bread of idleness.
more community. more support for one another. more deep and holy sabbath time (instead of wasted time). more done for God's glory.
In one of the church small groups this morning, we talked about the woman from proverbs 31.
Proverbs 31:10-31
10A capable wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
11The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
12She does him good, and not harm,a
ll the days of her life.
13She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
14She is like the ships of the merchant,
she brings her food from far away.
15She rises while it is still night
and provides food for her household
and tasks for her servant-girls.
16She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17She girds herself with strength,
and makes her arms strong.
18She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
19She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
20She opens her hand to the poor,
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
21She is not afraid for her household when it snows,
for all her household are clothed in crimson.
22She makes herself coverings;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23Her husband is known in the city gates,
taking his seat among the elders of the land.
24She makes linen garments and sells them;
she supplies the merchant with sashes.
25Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
26She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27She looks well to the ways of her household,
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28Her children rise up and call her happy;
her husband too, and he praises her:
29“Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.”
30Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31Give her a share in the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the city gates.
She is the ideal woman - and for many thousands of years has been this image of what women should strive for.
What amazed me during this study this morning is how much better I started feeling about this passage of scripture! I always thought it was some rediculously idealistic picture of womanhood that no one could possibly live up to and it had to have been written by a man... who wanted his wife to be everything for him. whatever. But as we talked about it this morning, we talked about how enterprising this woman was. She was the breadwinner while her husband sat on his ass (okay, sure he was an elder in the community and sat at the gates of the city solving people's problems...) But still, she was the one out making business transactions, she was not only making goods, but selling them, "she perceives that her merchandise is profitable. her lamp does not go out at night." - which either means that she is burning the candle at both ends... OR that she is making enough money to support the family that they don't have to worry about putting the candle out at night and feel free to use that extra oil.
And then you get to the later verses. "Strength and dignity are her clothing... she opens her mouth with wisdom... the teaching of kindness is on her tongue... she does not eat the bread of idleness" I think that these are totally virtues that we can apply to our "do it all" lives today. We can do what we are called to in our jobs and have families as long as we keep these things in mind. We can be strong, be wise, and be kind and compassionate. we may not have a lot of time left, but we will be filling our lives up with good things. and we just might even be satisfied.
The last verse i love: " give her a share in the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the city gates." - notice her gifts and the fruit of what she is doing. We don't have to do it all... we just have to do what we love, what we have been blessed with, take that and be fruitful with it. In today's world, I don't have to make clothes and buy vineyards and get up before sunrise to make food for my family. I DO need to be faithful and a good steward of the gifts that God has given me. I need to take this gift of ministry and do something with it.
Like the parable of the talents from Matthew 25:14-30. We need to fear (read: reverently awe) our God, by acknowledging the importance of what has been laid at our feet. And then we must do something with it! If this whole pastor thing is my calling... along with being a wife and someday a mother - then it's okay if I find the balance between those things... as long as we are being faithful. As long as we are not wasting our time with idle things.
The big trouble I have, in my own life, is with that idleness piece. I like to waste time. I like to procrastinate. I like to get on the grey's anatomy message boards and read what other people have to say about the show. I like to play wow with my husband. I like to watch top chef. and I am eating the bread of idleness.
more community. more support for one another. more deep and holy sabbath time (instead of wasted time). more done for God's glory.
April 5, 2008
telling our story
My friend Kari posted this link on her facebook site: Dith Pran - Last Word. It's about 6 minutes long, but it's the story of a man who survived the labor camps of Cambodia and has spent his whole life reminding people of his people's story. He worked with a NYT reporter and has been a photographer there for over 25 years.
His determination in telling his story got me to thinking about how often we claim our own story... and more than that, how often we share it with other people. Who we are is largely determined by where we have come from, the things we have been through, the hope and the drive that leads us into the future.
As people of faith, we talk about the Christian story, within the church, but we rarely share it with others. We also rarely see it as "our" story. It's history, it's the past, it's something to learn about, but not something that is a part of us.
The truth is, we have come from somewhere. And there have been so many steps on the journey since then. Often we pretend like the bible comes straight from the first century of the common era straight to our ears and eyes and lips. But it doesn't. There is a journey to be told.
And not all of that journey and story is something we should be proud of. But we need to remember our past. We need to remember our history. And we need to live towards the future with all of that in mind.
Dith Pran closes the last part of the feature by urging us not to repeat the past. That one time is too many. That one event like what happened in Cambodia is too much. We cannot prevent or stop genocides like those in Darfur or the struggles in other parts of the world if we do not remember what happened before. We can do nothing if we can't remember that others have taken this path before. And as Christians, as people who believe deeply in the power of love and reconciliation and the redemption of all things, we need to remember our own calling and be agents for change and healing in the world. We need to remember Pran's story and search out others who are currently experiencing what he has tried so hard to prevent.
His determination in telling his story got me to thinking about how often we claim our own story... and more than that, how often we share it with other people. Who we are is largely determined by where we have come from, the things we have been through, the hope and the drive that leads us into the future.
As people of faith, we talk about the Christian story, within the church, but we rarely share it with others. We also rarely see it as "our" story. It's history, it's the past, it's something to learn about, but not something that is a part of us.
The truth is, we have come from somewhere. And there have been so many steps on the journey since then. Often we pretend like the bible comes straight from the first century of the common era straight to our ears and eyes and lips. But it doesn't. There is a journey to be told.
And not all of that journey and story is something we should be proud of. But we need to remember our past. We need to remember our history. And we need to live towards the future with all of that in mind.
Dith Pran closes the last part of the feature by urging us not to repeat the past. That one time is too many. That one event like what happened in Cambodia is too much. We cannot prevent or stop genocides like those in Darfur or the struggles in other parts of the world if we do not remember what happened before. We can do nothing if we can't remember that others have taken this path before. And as Christians, as people who believe deeply in the power of love and reconciliation and the redemption of all things, we need to remember our own calling and be agents for change and healing in the world. We need to remember Pran's story and search out others who are currently experiencing what he has tried so hard to prevent.
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