Pastor Dave’s Blog

I had a lot of questions on January 11th. We did have a girl. Her name is Josephine and she’s great! Big brown eyes and now a beautiful little smile.

And to wrap up that particular conversation… I’m not too worried about her anymore. She’s fine for right now and if she wasn’t, it’d probably be out of my control anyway. In the aftermath of having a son or a daughter we all get to relearn the Serenity Prayer:

• God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

All I can add to that is an “AMEN!”

We’re used to seeing Bumper Stickers. Recently I’ve seen quite a few Bumper Signs. Not content with an ordinary sticker, some folks have taken to either making their own signs of protest or having signs professionally. A couple of examples that I’ve seen in the Colorado Springs area:

• Pearl Harbor
• Twin Towers
• OBAMA!!!

Then there was this one:

• How’s All That Hope and Change Working for Ya Bunky? You Can’t Fix Stupid But You Can Vote Them Out!!!

Well, comparing President Obama to the two largest acts of violent terror that have occurred on U.S. soil in the last 70 years seems just ridiculous, to be honest. I would have said it was offensive but the train of thought is so illogical that I couldn’t work up the effort to feel offended. With regard to the second sign…I know what the author’s driving at, but implicit in his words are that “hope and change” are “stupid.” Those with the megaphones aren’t always the folks leading the charge for empathy, compassion, or logic.

Buried in the nonsense surrounding the healthcare debate there seems to be a couple of important factors that some folks are largely ignoring: A) The current system doesn’t work as well as it should. B) President Obama wants it to work better. A yields B. This appears to me to make sense.

There are also a number of things that need to be addressed by the President and the Congress that I think they are missing with all of the proposed changes amidst the healthcare debate. I know President Obama is trying hard to help us. Whether he is missing the mark depends a lot on where you stand right now. For example, if you have individual insurance (like me) you’re highly motivated to see a “public option” on the table. If you’re healthy, insured through a group policy, and have a good experience with that group insurance, you may feel like the status quo works. If you have no insurance and make slightly more than enough to receive government insurace, the status quo obviously does not work for you. Here are 5 things I don’t hear enough about in the current debate that I think folks should take into account for a more just and sensible dialogue:

1. Medical School should not be insanely expensive for those qualified to attend. Physicians, as a matter of routine, enter residency with a six-figure debt hanging over their heads. It makes sense that this fosters a “I’ve got to get mine while I can” attitude among many physicians. A lot of physicians do not enter their prime earning years until they are 35-38 years old. Even for those entering the medical field who want to simply help others, the temptation to focus primarily on earning power would be a difficult one to ignore. State or Federal government programs that subsidize the cost of medical school would suggest that we, as a society, are interested in having physicians that want to practice medicine as a vocation rather than as an enterprise. There are far too many physicians in America that busy themselves with entrepreneurial pursuits (in which they have essentially no training) rather than focusing on their patients. Not only is this a shame, it means that you and I necessarily receive poorer treatment than we otherise could.
2. Physicians Offices act offended when you ask them what the price is for a certain treatment over the phone. Why? Can you imagine calling a lube shop and asking for the price of an oil change only to be told, “we don’t discuss prices over the phone!” PPO-prices versus non-PPO prices are another racket that has to stop. This is simply a good way for insurance companies to make good money at the expense of the uninsured (which ultimately becomes our problem anyway because when the uninsured can’t pay the cost is spread among everybody else). The notion that posting fair and equal prices for all is “beneath” a physician suggests a level of arrogance that only comes from others being willing to put “healthcare” on a pedestal. Most of us empower such arrogance by rarely questioning bills. After all, if the government or private insurance is footing the bill, then why would we care what the charges are? That is, until your insurance company decides you have a pre-existing condition (major insurance companies spend, on average, 16% of their budgets fighting their own clients over such things) or you don’t have any insurance to begin with. Enough already. Congress, tell physicians to start posting their prices like any other business. The best physcians will still be able to charge more because people will always be willing to pay more for better treatment. Afraid to post your prices? Is that because you’d have a hard time looking a patient in the eye and telling them that you’re about to charge them more than $100 for a two minute checkup?
3. Conservative Americans should stop being dishonest about how great their healthcare plans are… Unless you’re very wealthy or you have group insurance through your employer. However, if you belong to the second category you should ask yourself how much money you lose from your paycheck because you belong to the company plan. Simply because you don’t ever “see” that money that doesn’t make it less real. Are you seriously suggesting that the $5,000 that your company takes from you each year makes your healthcare plan affordable?
4. Liberal Americans should stop being dishonest about how great healthcare is in places like Canada and Western Europe. Yes, it’s true that there are merits to the systems of places overseas. All I can tell you is that my Grandmother who lived in England received appalling treatment in the last stages of her life. She suffered from lymphoma and colon cancer and may well have come to her life’s end because of these two cancers. However, the whole process once she got sick was “hurry up and wait.” There was absolutely no way that she would have been treated as poorly in the United States. Similarly, there are numerous stories of people receiving superb treatment in Toronto and Vancouver for emergency procedures. Dig a little deeper and there are gaping flaws in the Canadian system too. Why? Something resembling an answer is under #5.
5. Sociologists are keenly aware that there is a “healthcare triangle.” I learned this in Sociology 101 14 years ago from Dr. Mike McQuaide. It’s stunning to see how few people openly wrestle with this:

    There are three points to a triangle, obviously. The points for the healthcare triangle are laid out in this way with no order of importance to each point:

1. Accessibility
2. Quality
3. Cost

All first world countries do well on 2 of the 3 points of the triangle. None do well on all three. In the UK, quality and cost are good, but wait times for surgery mean that accessibility is an issue. In the U.S costs are a problem while quality, overall, (another tactic of liberals is to suggest that the quality of care here is quite poor, which is a blatant lie) is very good. But you have to be able to afford it first!!! Nobody has mastered all three. No society ever has with the exception of a few communes and even then, accessibility is an issue for the majority. Few folks seem to want to talk about this triangle very much, which also suggests how little sociologists are called upon to offer their findings (another travesty). Some say healthcare in Europe is a joke. Some say it is excellent. But from which corner of the triangle are they arguing???

This is all simply to say one important thing: If President Obama and the Congress are trying to help us, they are to be commended for it. The suggestion that we do nothing and that the current system works is not logical. For me, as a minister who is interested in matters of justice, I find it deplorable that there is so much dishonesty regarding this matter in the public debate. I have no doubt that a bill will be passed that gets at the problems but doesn’t really fix them. Sigh! 

I think I’m going to put a bumper sign on my car. It will read:

• Obama: At least he’s trying.

This is a strange time in my life. One child here and one about to be. In the next two weeks my daughter (pretty sure it’s a girl…it’ll be a shock if she is a he) will be born. There are so many questions about what this experience will be like for my son, my wife, and myself. Will my son, upon meeting his sister, melt into a small ball of rage and envy? Will my wife manage to get through multiple night feedings again? Will I keep it all together as my own sleep is interrupted even as I return to Church in the Wildwood to do what I regularly do with my days? The questions go on and on and the answers lie in the fact that we’re not there yet. We’ll just have to go through it and see what happens.

And yet…

There is something that has been gnawing at me lately that really is an unanswerable question. Am I worried about this child because she is a girl?

Am I fretting over things or needing to protect her from certain things because we believe that she is a she? What do I want to protect her from? From the future boyfriends and dating? From men? From dangers unknown? Is this chauvanistic? Why do I not worry about my son in the same ways? What is it about having a daughter that turns an ordinarily unaggressive male into a person immediately suspicious of everybody elses intentions? (I can almost guarantee this will happen about 7 seconds after she is born.)

These questions bother me because I can’t figure it out. Is this some of the last vestiges of the old glass ceiling? Did I forget how protective I felt about my son now that a girl is almost here? Should I be worried about that? You just can’t think your way around or out of these questions. I suppose that’s why you have to live your life rather than plan for it. Gnawing questions and no answers.

When Joseph’s brothers found the money had been returned to their bags they too had plenty of questions and not many answers. They blamed God for their confusion. Redemption came though….Slowly, but it came. I typically bristle at hearing “God works in mysterious ways.” It’s certainly true, but I only like it when it suits me. 

Our church is considering hosting a blood drive within the next couple of months. Centura Health mailed me a binder full of information to prepare for such a drive. I’m not really sure why I looked through the list of medical conditions that prevent you from donating blood, but this time I did. I was surprised, no I take that back….shocked to read that if a person lived in the United Kingdom for more than 3 months between 1980 and 1996 said person cannot give blood.

 I am assuming that the reason for this is the “mad cow” scare that almost ruined the British beef industry in the 80s and 90s. I also know that if someone contracts “mad cow” (real name is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) it can take many years for symptoms to show. The chances of me actually having “mad cow”? Almost certainly less than one in a million. While I don’t intend this to be a rant about the policies of blood banks, it does seem strange to me that they would ban me- a person very willing to donate- but take your word for it that you don’t have an STD, are taking antibiotics, or haven’t had issues with a stomach ulcer within the last year.

My main point in all of this, is simply to say that there are lots of things that can prevent someone from giving blood. Apparently, my heritage is now one of them. But, each month Penrose-St.Francis, here in the Colorado Springs area, uses an average of 650 units of blood, 250 units of plasma, and 100 units of platelets. Some of us are ineligible to give but according to Penrose-St. Francis less than 5% of eligible donors actually ever give blood. That’s quite a sorry statistic. So, while I can’t give, I certainly hope this little post might get you to think about giving yourself. Like the title says, this may sound patronizing. I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’m pretty sure I’m not sorry.

Inspired by Genesis 44:18- 45:6…The story of Joseph, Jacob, Benjamin, Judah and Jacob’s other sons. This is the moment when Jospeh reveals himself to his brothers after an impassioned plea by Judah.

This I believe…
 

I believe that when we like to say “God doesn’t give us anymore than we can handle” we say that in order to believe in ourselves as much as to believe in God. It is a pick me up, a tonic for reminding ourselves that other people have walked lonely and desperate roads before us and still managed to hold onto faith in God. There are times when God feels distant and there are times when God feels close and both are worthwhile experiences. The times when God feels close have been experienced in good, bad, and indifferent moments. The times when God feels distant have been experienced in good, bad, and indifferent moments. But this I believe…that that’s up to me and not God. I believe that when we pray for the Spirit to move in our midst- that we are praying for the wrong thing. The prayer really ought to be “help me catch a hold of the Spirit’s coattails and then help me hang on for dear life.”
 

I believe that there is a point to life and a reason for many things, but maybe not a reason for every thing. At least not a reason that is satisfactory for me to live with in some moments. I believe though, that we’ll figure most of that out someday, but that that day is probably not going to be today. I believe that lack of faith is not necessarily a personal weakness, but I certainly don’t think it is a strength either. I believe that some folks have faith because it makes them feel better and I believe that some folks have faith so that they can make sure others feel better- either way it’s a good thing to have faith in something beyond yourself.  
 

I believe in the Bible, just not the way many folks tell me I ought to. I believe that it is inspired, but not faultless. I believe that it is the compass for my life, but sometimes I’m not sure which way magnetic north is. I believe that it is the one book that I own that has caused me to cry both tears of joy and tears of frustration. I believe that every thing and every one has an agenda and the Bible’s agenda is meant to fuel my faith and help me to understand God. Because both God and faith cannot be contained in just words I like to try to study and pray at the same time.
 

I believe that funerals can be more meaningful experiences than weddings. I believe that I’ve never been to a funeral when something redeeming can’t be said about the person that died. Sometimes it’s a little harder than others, but scratch the surface and you’re sure to find something that somebody did to make another life better. I believe that when a preacher gets up to preach at a funeral and only talks about Jesus and never about the person that died, Jesus gets irritable. I believe that funerals are both sad and joyous and the hard part for all of us is not letting one of those emotions get in front of the other. I believe then, that the last act we do for someone in remembering them is also the best reminder of what life is really like- good and fun but also trying and difficult.
 

I believe that Jesus liberates me from my sin as much as Jesus wants to save me from my sin. I believe that Christians should do a better job of looking at the cross and reminding themselves that violence usually leads us down the same path as the Romans and those who executed Jesus rather than the path of Jesus himself. I believe that the fall from grace is better personified in the story of Adam and Eve’s sons rather than Adam and Eve themselves. I believe in the symbolic telling and retelling of Cain killing Abel because that story is retold hundreds or thousands of times every day.
 

I believe that animals don’t go to heaven except when one of my own pets has died and then I’m pretty sure they do.
 

I believe in miracles and I believe that when my wife tells me she loves me and my parents tell me they love me unconditionally and when my son smiles when he sees me, I have encountered the miraculous. I believe that when the most popular kid in school befriends the loneliest kid in school, that two angels have just come face to face. I believe that grace abounds, but that sometimes I refuse to open my eyes to see it for myself.
 

I believe in hope and I believe that Fred Craddock said it best when he claimed that to steal hope from another person was the cruelest thing you could ever do to them. I hope in a better tomorrow even if I don’t really expect things to change in an instant. I believe that to live in hope is to live the way God wants us to. I believe that all of us could do a better job of being more hopeful. I believe that too many put their hope in trying to gain sympathy or even empathy by complaining. I believe that complaining to anybody but those closest to me doesn’t usually get me very far, but if I complain to God, I usually feel better afterward.
 

I believe it’s ok to be angry with God and I believe that it can be both justified and that God can take it. I think people have been complaining to God for at least the 20,000 years and so God has got a lot of practice in by the time we get to being angry.  I believe that anger is usually a secondary emotion and whatever the reason for it, I’m usually better off looking in the mirror and just double-checking that it’s not something going on with me first.
 

I believe in taking care of yourself as well as taking care of other people and that the two go hand in hand.
 

I believe that fast cars are cool, private jets are awesome, and that part of me wishes that I could have been competing at the British Open or the Tour de France today, and I wouldn’t trade any of what I have for any of those things.
 

I believe that most of us think that we’re funnier than we are. That’s partly because there are some angels out there who laugh at almost anything and they always help us to feel better.
 

I believe that the story for today tells us some immutable truths. I believe that Jacob is grieving, Judah is pleading, Joseph is yearning, Benjamin is suffering, the Nation of Israel is starving, and that God is working. I believe that the Bible tells us this story to give us hope when dire straits converge upon one another leaving room for God to offer redemption. I believe in this story being so perfect because it illustrates how badly all humans want full disclosure on what God is up to in the moment, but that God eventually grants it in God’s own time and way. I believe that there are few more powerful words in the Bible than “I am your brother Joseph whom you sold into slavery” because they tell us that even though Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers he still called himself their brother. I believe in round about ways and journeys to blessing and understanding. I believe that God never gives up on any of us or the situations we find ourselves in and that that this fact never absolves us from trying to do the right thing.
 

I believe that the church is usually a vehicle for more good than bad. I believe that when some folks say they go to church by playing golf or reading the paper, they are not wrong, just misinformed about the beauty of what church really is. I believe that the community part of church is the best part of church and that the bonds that form over a common desire to figure out what God is up to lead to an engagement of passions. I believe that too few of us are passionate in life or about life, but when we meet someone who is both passionate in life and about life, we have something to learn.
 

I believe in grace and mercy. I believe in love and I believe that this is not all that I believe. I believe in lots of things, many of which are not provable by anything or anyone other than myself. I believe I’m ok with that. I believe that there are no absolutes in life, but I often wish there were some absolutes in life. I believe in mystery, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead, I believe in the Holy Spirit, I believe in the power of transformation that comes from God, I believe that the old stories of our faith from Genesis still speak to us today, and I believe that our God is an awesome God…
 

This I believe…
 

“Child Abuse Spikes as US Economy Declines”

This was a headline on reuters.com that appeared on April 14th. It cited numerous hospitals reporting cases of shaken babies and young children who have been abused skyrocketing in the past 12 months. An array of interviewees at these hosptials claimed that often those children who had been treated came from families that are teetering on the edge of economic survival.

This is frightening for a number of reasons: Gimmers of hope in the economic situation appear likely to be shortlived. Economic depression may have adversely affected people in worse ways that we might have thought. Additionally, this kind of news story helps us understand just how much we rely on the economy for our own sense of identity.

We all know that we live in a narcissitic culture that helps us believe that new clothes, a new haircut, or a new car = a better self. Most of us also know deep down that this is just a lie. The reality is that what I wear today really has very little bearing upon who I am as a person or a child of God. For somebody to feel so down about their economic fortunes that they would hurt their own child (which I would argue is a cue that somebody has gone temporarily insane) signals that we do in fact, garner our sense of who we are from our bank account. This is sad.

For me, I want to question how it came to be that money has obscured our sense of who are as beloved children of God. When we can’t see that and hold onto God’s incredible gift of grace, we have, to use an english expression, lost the plot. Every day life becomes slightly easier if we know that we are both imperfect and loved. Does the acceptance of grace in our lives rely upon how close we are to foreclosure? Do the ways in which children learn how to be treated and to treat others really depend upon the S and P 500?

If only we could offer and live out Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer more often:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

A mildly humorous story caught my eye this week about a poor soul in Georgia that got caught breaking back INTO Jail! See link if you’re interested.

http://www.zeenews.com/life-style/out-of-line/2009-03-09/513632news.html

It did occur to me that this story has some nice Lenten parallels. Hopefully during the course of Lent many of us are trying to figure out the ways in which bad habits, rituals, addictions, or thought processes are trapping us in our own little jail cells. There’s usually something for each of us that prevents us from serving God as we might. Occassionally we’re even able to put our fingers on the source of our entrapment and start to wriggle free. But 40 days is a long time to journey with Jesus through Lent! Slowly, just like our New Year’s Resolutions, old practices start to get hold of us and we crawl right back to our cells again.

If you’re going to escape, then stay free! Maybe we’re a lot more like Harry Jackson than we first believed…What is it today that you can offer God in prayer that liberates you from your own little jail cell?

May you have a peaceful, reflective, and prayerful Lent.

Sadly, they’re at it again. Hamas fires rockets, Israel retaliates, little children are killed, and the madness continues.

One of the more bothersome issues at stake in the Israel/ Palestine conflict is the lack of empathy many Americans seem to have for the common citizen of the Gaza Strip. It’s not a wealthy place. Commonly those who have jobs have to work in Israel, are looked down upon all day long, earn a measly income working for Israelis in the service sector, and then return at night to their own delapidated neighborhoods. In the US, it is often Christians who appear to be most supportive of Israel and their fight against Hamas- something I find fairly nauseating. If you’re a Christian, shouldn’t you be rooting for peace for all of God’s children?

The recent outbreak of violence is another reminder that this conflict never seems to end. However, I think it’s fair to say that most people used to say that about the “troubles” in Northern Ireland as well. Not many gave Unionists and Loyalists much of a chance at power sharing and peace. But since the Good Friday Peace Agreement that was signed in 1999 there has been little to suggest that Ireland will slip back to its ugly past. What lesson can be learned from Ireland that our politicians could consider using in trying to broker a new peace agreement in the Middle East?

 Well, it IS about the economy. In 1989 unemployment was at 17% in Ireland and the per capita GDP stood at $8,900 in 1990. Yet, by 1998 (the year before the peace agreement was signed) unemployment had fallen to 7.5% and was declining rapidly (to 3.8% in 2001). The per capita GDP had risen to an astonishing $21,800 by 1998! In just eight years the Irish economy had gone from struggler to European powerhouse. Why? Well, it doesn’t take an economic genius (which I am clearly not) to understand that foreign investment directly impacts the health of a nation’s economy. Of course, when people perceive that they are doing better financially, they tend to become more moderate politically. If they become more moderate politically, they are much more likely to be willing to agree to disagree rather than take up arms. As the ecomony improved in Ireland, peace become much more attainable. This isn’t a hard concept to understand, right?

So, when Palestinians are dirt poor, perceive that they are continually opressed by Israelis, sneered at whenever they come into Israel (bigotry goes both ways as far as I know in the Middle East), and have significantly fewer water rights, there is always going to be violence. If however, the EU and the US decided that they would expend a certain amount of capital in the Palestinian economy (much more than are doing now) Israel and Palestine would both reap the benefits, Hamas would be severely undermined, and the people might actually be a little more willing to come to the center politically. Eventually they might even hash out a permanent peace process. With all the capital the US sends to Israel every year, wouldn’t it be prudent to invest in Palestine as well?

It sounds simple. Perhaps I’ve made this a simplistic argument. But is there really any other way that peace will be achieved in the Middle East?

One of the things that people seem interested in lately is questioning their consumerism at this time of year. Certainly many folks at Church in the Wildwood have expressed some desire to do what the Rev. Billy exhorted in What Would Jesus Buy? when he said, “spend half as much, give twice as much.”

My personal feeling is that this line of questioning is rooted in a need to get back to the “real” message of Christmas. Buying to the point of incurring massive amounts of debt is not just silly- there is a theological issue at hand. That is to say, many of us shop until we drop because we don’t actually want to hear what the “real” message of Christmas is. When we confront the story of Jesus’ life we are immediately struck by the failure of Jesus to give in to the ways in which his and our societies work; namely, that Jesus remained non-violent to the very end of his life.

Non-violence has fallen steadily out of favor with many including those who count themselves among the ranks of the church. Indeed, our children are becoming vastly more accustomed to witnessing violence at an early age (some estimates place the number of homicides a child has witnessed on television by the age of 12 in excess of 500). The message of non-violence or at this time of year, that Christmas is about peace, is getting harder and harder to hear. Except that I have a sneaky feeling that most folks DO know what the message of Christmas is all about and simply do not want to confront it. Therefore, enter the need to shop to fill that gaping hole in our soul that craves peace in the world.

On the other hand, I get the sense that those who really are questioning their consumer habits at this time of year are doing so, in part because they also want to try to get to the core of the “Christmas Message.” That may mean that as we dig a little deeper we may come to understand that when Jesus came to God’s creation it was to point us in a different direction. It was because (maybe) God understood that the best way to get our attention would be to have God’s Son not give in to the systemic violence that rules our world and controls our politics. Indeed, Jesus came to preach a very radical politics that is simply not rooted in our nation’s ethos.

The good news this time of year though, is that when we question our consumerism we may also question the point of the whole season of Christmas. That can only be good for people whether or not they count themselves as Christian, churchgoers, secularists, or members of other religious faiths. I am very thankful for the ways in which Jesus grabs our attention this time of year even if it is difficult to see him in the shadow of the snake oil salesman that wants us to go up to our eyeballs in debt.

I can tell that my message is working already, by the way- when Benjamin sat on Santa’s lap this year he simply stuck out his lower lip and scowled at the crazy guy in the red suit….’atta boy! 

Merry Christmas to you all! 

If you have a few moments, this video is well worth watching…

YouTube - 2008 Latest Edition - Did You Know 3.0 - From Meeting in Rome this Year