I saw God

Her name was Ginger and she died on Friday and her funeral was Tuesday. She struggled in her last days to breathe and remain comfortable. Jerry asked me to assist with the funeral and I was honored to do so.

Upon arrival I saw Ginger’s husband sitting on the front row. He is over 80 years old and in this moment he was weeping in a way that hit me. There is something about watching an old man cry that moves me for some reason. You could tell he loved his wife and was not only morning her death but also his broken heart. My eyes became watery.

At the end of the funeral, he stood up and took strides like an infant, small and with assistance. There was more movement from side to side than there was forward in his walk. As he moved closer his weeping became louder and upon reaching his beloved, he kissed her lips and touched her hand.

My emotions took me over and I could not look at him in his moment. Not because I was embarrassed. I was not ashamed of my tears. And it was not inappropriate for emotions to move in ministers. Rather, these moments between a husband and wife were too sacred.

Like Moses encountering God, I could not look at the face of such sacredness, such holiness, such love.

Have you ever had to turn away because it was just to sacred?

Men and Golf

Not much of a golfer, in fact I have only been 4 times. However, last weekend I went golfing and realized how much golf fits the stereotypes of what it means to be a man.

Self reliance
Everything is about "shooting"
"Hunting" for your ball
Beer consumption
Cussing when 'your clubs fail you'
Driving miniature cars over miniature mountains
Bragging rights go to the person not who can putt or chip but who can hit the ball the farthest
Being able to judge distances well
Moving in a pack

All it lacks is slapping one another on the butt and golf seems to fit every male stereotype I can consider.

You cannot say you do not like working with children...

You cannot say you do not like working with children in the church. I said that I do not really like working with children because I do not have the skill set for kids, and I was scolded.

"How can you not like children!"
"You cannot say that, you are a minister!"
"Where is your soul?!"
"Children are precious and I just do not know how you could say that!"

A few days later I was in a conversation with several people and the topic turned to how horrible youth are in the church.

"They make a mess."
"They are loud in church."
"They do not respect their elders."
"They feel entitled."
"They don't contribute to the life of the church."

So I guess I am curious to know how these descriptors are any different from children? I would submit they do not. The only difference is it is okay to say "I do not like to work with youth" and it is not okay to say "I do not like to work with children."

So if you are a child, you are wonderful.
If you are a youth, you are not.
If you are an adult, you must love children and leave working with youth to the "younger hired hands."

This makes my head hurt.

More Godspell thoughts

During the only performance of Godspell I have seen there was applause from the audience when Jesus was brought back on stage after his death wearing all white. Applause? I thought this was interesting because it was not as though the people did not know Jesus comes back, but could the applauding be an expression of our cultures embedded theology? That is to say we American Christians really like the Resurrection.

For example there was no clapping during the parables of Jesus, or his baptism, or his Crucifixion, or his touching the unclean. (Although there was clapping when Jesus did the robot!) Although these events are remarkable in their own right. In fact the Resurrection would not be possible without the Crucifixion.

Why did we not clap when Jesus told the story of the prodigal son? This is a beloved story of resurrection. Why was there no clapping when the younger son came back to his home? Or when his father hugged him?

I guess that is part of the reason we go to church on Easter more than any other day (Christmas might be a close rival). We really like the resurrection. But the question remains:

For all that we like about the resurrection do we even know what it means? Do we just think it means that we too will get to be resurrected?

If we understood the political dynamics of the resurrection (that is God saying yes to the politics of Jesus and no to the politics of empire) then would we American Christians clap at the resurrection?

I guess it makes a different if we are Americans or Christians.

Godspell, Jesus, and XKCD

Saw Godspell the other day for the first time in my life. It was a fine production and this post is not a critique of the performance, rather it is what moved through my mind as I saw this show that piqued my interest.



Godspell is an interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew done with 'contemporary' setting and costumes but retains a 'Bible' sounding language (I bet it is New Revised Standard but I do not know). There is dancing and singing. Jesus has a Afro and looked like "Mork" from "Mork and Mindy". It is a weird show.



It got me thinking, "What if there was a disaster and the only remnant connection to the life of Jesus we had was Godspell? What would that Jesus look like? How would the future generations look at Jesus if they only saw an interpretation (Godspell) of an interpretation (Revised Standard Version of the Bible) of an interpretation (Gospel of Matthew) Jesus?"



Then my brother showed me this XKCD comic strip and I thought it was fitting to my Godspell experience.: