The Calm Between Storms

I’m breathing a sigh of relief, thankful for the silence and solitude.  For two days now there have been no robocalls attempting to scare, manipulate, intimidate, or influence me to vote one way or another.  The TV is back to showing innocuous commercials about cars, shampoo, and beer --- no voice of doom warning me what might happen if one or the other candidate gets elected.  The difference in my mood is measureable.  Ahhhh.

I know the rancor of politics is not over but I’m appreciating this momentary lull, where winners and losers are for the most part being conciliatory.  The storms will return, of course, as surely as hurricane season brings its parade of tropical depressions; some, like Sandy, do build up to pack a wallop.  I know there looms on the horizon the “fiscal cliff,” and there will definitely be political conflict about what to do about it --- this is the way democracy works.  God bless America.

I am a citizen of the United States, and glad of it.  But I was born in Brazil to missionary parents and so I am considered a citizen of Brazil, also.  I have two passports.  I am proud of my Brazilian connection but I pledge allegiance to the Red, White and Blue rather than the Blue, Yellow and Green.  Still, I often feel like a stranger, no matter where I happen to be. 

One of the reasons for my sense of strangeness is the fact that our family moved around every four years or so.  I have never had a place that I call home, and so I often feel like a resident alien in whatever town I happen to be living in at the moment.  I have often wondered what it would be like to have been in one place for decades.  For me it is hard to imagine that kind of longevity anywhere.

But there is another reason for my rootlessness.  I belong to yet another country.  I have only seen it in my spiritual imagination as I have reflected on the Biblical witness of Jesus and the prophets.  The parables Jesus tells about the kingdom, and the pictures painted by the prophetic voices have taken hold of me and made me long for the country where God reigns, and I am restless until and unless I reside there.  Sometimes I have felt myself already there, when I have received kindness from strangers, seen enemies embrace, or witnessed forgiveness enfleshed.  I felt myself to be in that country this week as I shared coffee, donuts and deep conversation with African-American pastors as we empathized with each other in our common desire for justice and reconciliation. 

But most of the time I sense that there is a better country than this one and God has put a longing in my heart that cannot be satisfied with things as they are.

Still, I’m not just passing through.  I make my home where I am, and I look for God’s country in every face I see, and in everything I try to do.  And right now, in this quiet space and time, it feels more like home than usual.  And until the next storm comes I think I’ll just enjoy it.  

Who're You Voting For?

I heard Will Willimon, always a provocative Christian voice, once say that he does not think voting is high on the list of Christian duties.  I was surprised because I had always considered good citizenship to be integral to Christian discipleship.  I think the point Dr. Willimon was making is that Christians need to be clear that their primary allegiance is to the kingdom of God and the reign of Christ, and that we sometimes confuse our allegiances between God and country, as if they are one and the same.

          Without getting into a long debate on whether or not our nation is a new Promised Land, as some people think, I would argue that our vote as Christians should matter.  However, I am a bit philosophical about the impact of the Christians in any election.  After all, those Christians who vote for President Obama and those who vote for Governor Romney both believe that their vote is representative of their Christian convictions.  Who’s right?  I guess only God knows for sure.

          We are flawed in our decision-making, and those we elect are flawed human beings, themselves.  Psalm 146 gives us a helpful perspective on the election of leaders . . . “Put not your trust in princes,” says the psalmist.  The psalmist gives a clear-eyed view of the limitations of those who lead us . . . “their plans perish with them.”

          Instead, the psalmist tells us that if we want a merciful, just and peaceful world we should place our hope in God.  The work of God is going on around us all the time as the hungry are fed in soup kitchens, as the homeless are given shelter, as the sick receive care, the stranger is welcomed, the prisoner is set free, the sinner is forgiven.  All these signs of God’s rule happen regardless of whom we elect. 

          So, vote for whomever your Christian conscience leads you to vote for, but don’t expect your candidate to bring the kingdom of God.  Christ and his followers are doing that right now without the help of “princes.”

Why Jesus? (Being Part of the Big Picture)

I know I just asked the above question a few blogs ago, but there are many answers to this question, so plenty of blog-fodder. 

I was thinking about my cousin, Mary Ann, presently on a short-term journey to the Central African Republic to conduct a Bible school (for adults) and to encourage the Christian community in the region of Zemio.  The Christians there can use all the support they can get as they have had to deal with the terror campaign of Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army. 

Mary Ann  and her husband, Les, served in Africa as missionaries for over 40 years and in retirement they keep going back for short-term projects and programs like the present one.  The question you may ask is, “Why would anyone do this?”  After all, when retirement comes don’t we all want to put  our work behind us, especially if it puts us in a place that could be a threat to life and limb?

Now, I admit that one of the motivations for travel is the fact that Les and Mary Ann have children still serving in that region, but that is not the only reason they return again and again. They return because they love the people there – after forty years one can’t help but establish a bond.  But they also return because God has called them to something beyond themselves, and they feel both compelled as well as exhilarated by that calling.

Which returns me to the question, “Why Jesus?”   Mary Ann and Les might articulate this differently,  but I think they would agree with me – Jesus calls us out of an unsatisfying life of self-absorption into a life that plays itself out on the grand stage of history.  Jesus proclaimed that the kingdom of God was  breaking in upon the world.  The apostle Paul picked up on the theme by declaring that through Jesus God was doing nothing less than restoring the fullness of creation.

So, maybe all you want out of life is a decent job, a happy relationship with your significant other, or time off for good behavior.  Maybe all you care about is beating your best score in World of Warcraft.  Maybe your biggest dream is to make the cheerleading squad.  Or maybe all you want to do is retire so you can play golf.  Go for it.  Sounds stimulating.

But if you want to be part of something bigger than yourself, if you want to be part of a movement that is changing history, indeed, transforming  creation itself, then that’s “Why Jesus?”  If you haven’t heard this grand vision in the words and life of Jesus, then I suggest you haven’t really been listening.