Browsed by
Month: February 2019

So help me, God

So help me, God

Comments 0 Comment

Robert Kraft, George Pell, Donald Trump. Three men at the height of their powers, having reached the pinnacle of their professions. The owner of one of the most storied sports franchises, the third highest official of the Roman Catholic Church, the president of the United States. Three men called to represent the best of the worlds of business and government and the church. And three men in the last few days all credibly accused, and in one case convicted, of sexual exploitation of vulnerable persons.

It is alarming. We expect better from those who should, by all rights, command our deepest honor and respect. I am a Patriots fan, a fan of the team the Robert Kraft has built, a fan of the way this team wins, by utilizing every player, by motivating every player from one to fifty-three to fulfill their particular role. The reports of Kraft’s solicitation of sexual favors from likely victims of human trafficking are embarrassing, shameful, baffling, disgusting.

George Pell is supposed to represent Jesus, my Jesus, the protector of the poor and vulnerable, the bearer of mercy and grace, but instead he is the newest face of the deepest failures of the church of Jesus Christ. He makes gospel a lie by his actions. May God have mercy on us, on all those whom he has hurt and all those whose faith he has undermined. And may God have mercy on him.

The news of a campaign worker’s accusations of an unwanted kiss from Donald Trump doesn’t command much attention, because that’s the kind of behavior we have come to expect of him. He has bragged of his power to take what he wants from whomever he wants whenever he wants. And we hardly bat an eye …

It makes me tremble. I tremble at the frailty of the human condition. Exploitation, deceit, hypocrisy, selfishness, callousness are rampant. And, if we are honest, the seeds of all of these things, if not the fruit, are in all of us.

It brings me grief, great grief, because there seem so few who can honestly command our honor and respect, so few among who should be the archetypes of human accomplishment who genuinely model fidelity or integrity or selflessness or righteousness, which is simply to say, doing the right thing because it is the right thing.

We cannot expect our icons to be perfect. We are all equally human, all of us equally fragile in heart and will, in our ability to choose always what is best, to do always what is right. Which is why the most essential of human virtues for any of us, president or school teacher, entrepreneur or soldier, priest or convenience store clerk, is humility.

Humility means knowing what and who we are, acknowledging and admitting our frailty, acknowledging and admitting that we need help, that each of us need help, in being and becoming who we are meant to be as human beings, help from each other and help from God. “So help me, God” is not an oath, but a plea, a heartfelt plea for God to guide and strengthen, and, when we fall short, to forgive.

a biblical mandate

a biblical mandate

Comments 5 comments

In case you missed it … Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez quotes the Bible.

Last month White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders condescendingly dismissed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ Green New Deal saying:

I don’t think we’re going to listen to her on much of anything, particularly not on matters that we’re going to leave in to the hands of a much, much higher authority … [The country should leave the fate of the planet in] the hands of something and someone much more powerful than any of us.

Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in reply:

She’s right. Taking care of this planet is our human responsibility, our delegated responsibility, from the One in whose image we are made. Like the One who made us, we possess the power to build up or tear down, to protect or to destroy, to care … or not.

How can we claim to love God and not love (care for) this earth that God has created? How can we claim to love our neighbors and not care for the home which sustains their life and all life?

Christian environmentalist is not an oxymoron. Environmentalism is an essential and necessary part of our Christian identity!

Film Review: “First Reformed”

Film Review: “First Reformed”

Comments 1 comment

I watched “First Reformed” last evening, the 2017 film written and directed by Paul Schrader.  Actually I only watched about an hour of the movie, then turned it off and returned it to its Netflix envelope. So I don’t know what becomes of Rev. Toller or what transpires at the celebration of the 250th anniversary of First Reformed, but I can guess.

I turned it off because the film disturbed me, and not in a good way. I like movies that disturb me, in a good way, movies that provoke a struggle of thought and emotion, movies that challenge or reframe my way of thinking about the world and myself.

I was eager to see “First Reformed” because I expected it to be that kind of movie. I expected to see a nuanced portrait of a minister in crisis, struggling with the relevance and efficacy and authenticity of the faith, of the God, to which and to whom he was called to witness.

But there was no nuance here, no faith, and no God. Rev. Toller is an empty man, empty of any meaningful relationships, empty of meaning in his ministry, and empty of faith. He does not pray, but journals, substituting that as a kind of prayer, since he cannot pray. But his journaling is narrow in scope, little more than a diary, focussed entirely on himself. He does not invite God in or open his life up for examination as another soul searching for the place of God in this world did: “Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way.”

But what disturbed me most about the film, as a minister, was its caricatured portrayal of ministry. At every point, the possibility of the presence of authentic faith, of genuine seeking after God, was undercut. The teenaged singer rehearsing a praise song with the Abundant Life choir tries to “feel up” the girl standing in front of him. The female director has slept with Rev. Toller and now is crazy to have him. The pastor of the “big box” Abundant Life church jokes that Martin Luther wrote “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” while pooping. And his televised devotional is canned, cliched, overproduced.

Ministry itself is assumed to be inauthentic, self-serving, a sham, a scam. Nobody really believes in what they are doing. That is not to say that much of what pretends to be ministry today is not inauthentic, self-serving, a sham, a scam, because much is. But it can only be shown as such in contrast to a kind of ministry that is authentic, humble, sincere in its desire to help and to serve … and to be faithful and accountable to God.

But here there is no contrast.  Ministry itself is no more than showmanship and the church either a soundstage (Abundant Life) or a museum (First Reformed). And the only way to find meaning is to escape (or destroy) the church and to abandon even any attempt at faith.

I can imagine a film beginning in the same place with the same people in the same circumstances as this film and telling an entirely different story.  I wish “First Reformed” had been that film …

Pray for Haiti

Pray for Haiti

Comments 0 Comment

Please pray for the people of Haiti!

I have not seen it in the news, but I received this email today from the executive director of Fonkoze, an organization I support. Fonkoze supports Haitians, primarily females, in raising themselves and their families out of poverty by providing microcredit loans and banking services. Here is the email …

Dear Timothy,

As you may have heard, the socio-political crisis in Haiti has in recent weeks become increasingly worse. Massive numbers of protestors are taking to the streets to voice their demands for justice and accountability from President Jovenel Moise.

In some areas, the demonstrations have unfortunately been accompanied by looting and violence. Police forces are doing their best to manage the situation, but the shortage of personnel is making this difficult. Many of the roads are blocked by barricades, rocks and/or burning tires. And as a result, businesses in these cities are not able to operate. Thankfully, so far none of Fonkoze’s staff have been victims of violence.

The staff at Fonkoze Financial Services are doing everything they can to keep as many branches open as possible. Logistically, this is a challenge, but our brave colleagues are determined to serve our clients as best they can even in situations as these. Enforcing its internal crisis communication and action plans, Fonkoze is working to ensure its staff and clients are well equipped to handle the challenges this crisis is presenting each day.

We hope the political leaders of Haiti will be able to find a solution to this crisis as soon as possible – one that will restore hope and set the country on a path to better governance and improved economic conditions for the majority of the population who are suffering terribly from rising food prices and lack of jobs.

We will keep you informed about the situation as it evolves.

With hope in solidarity,

Mabel Valdivia
Executive Director
Fonkoze USA

The rules of the game

The rules of the game

Comments 0 Comment

Yesterday, in response to Elizabeth Warren’s announcement of her candidacy for president, President Trump tweeted:

Today Elizabeth Warren, sometimes referred to by me as Pocahontas, joined the race for President. Will she run as our first Native American presidential candidate, or has she decided that after 32 years, this is not playing so well anymore? See you on the campaign TRAIL, Liz!

“See you on the TRAIL, Liz?” Those words, that tone, that uninvited familiarity, that disturbing reference to a most terrible moment in American history coming from the head of state of the land of “liberty and justice for all?” Hardly presidential.  But isn’t that the point? Is it not Mr. Trump’s selling point that he is not like other politicians and presidents, that he will not be PC, that he doesn’t do “official-speak,” but tells it like it is?

But “See you on the TRAIL, Liz?” This is not telling it like it is.  This is petulant, petty, demeaning, cruel, not different in kind or intent from the taunts of any elementary school bully. This is not refreshingly candid. This is childish and despicable.

As I compose these words, I find my face flushing and my teeth clenching … and there is the problem, not Mr. Trump’s problem, but mine.  I am angry, bitterly angry, incensed at this man’s barbarity. And I want to lash out, put him down, put him in his place, defame him! But then, I am just like him.

There is nothing wrong with being angry, but I must not let the anger change me, change my way of being, change my commitment to love — to love God, always, and to prove my love for God by loving my neighbor, each neighbor. 

Hateful rhetoric hurts, hurts people in tangible ways, but it can wreak even more damage by changing the game, getting its targets to play by its rules. Hate wins when it elicits hate in return.

Hate must not win.  And so I pray.  I pray for Mr. Trump, for a change of heart, for a softening of heart, for eyes to hear and ears to hear the people, all the people, for whom he acts and on whose behalf he leads. I pray that he would be inclined to justice, moved by compassion, that he would be humbled — not humiliated, but humbled, by the enormity of his responsibility and the utter insignificance of his own person.

And I watch my language. I will be angry and I will call this president out, but I pray that I will not be petty, that I will not be cruel, that I will not demean, that I will never play by his rules, but by Jesus’ rules …