Reflecting on the Greatest Generation

 

Tom Brokaw named the World War II generation The Greatest Generation, and there is still much discussion about this.  I’ve been reading a bit on the subject and have some thoughts.

On one hand, I am reticent in calling any generation ‘greatest’ as all generations have their virtues and vices.  This particular generation, however, may, in fact, be worthy of the title.

They had flaws.  It was in this generation that we were subjected to likes of Joe McCarthy, racism, and sexism.  The world, however, has changed and, I suspect, those changes became possible because the World War II generation set the table for them.

This was the generation that survived the Great Depression.  They were the generation that fought World War II.  World War II saw the world change faster than any other time in history.

When the war began it began with two great military super powers, Germany and Japan.  The Soviet Union, in 1939 had a large miliary but it was very poorly trained and poorly equipped.  Western European powers were not as strong as they would have liked to believe and the United States was not a super power.  When Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 the United States Army was small and not that well equipped.  The Navy had a minimal force, as did the Marines.  The Air Force was a part of the Army and had some excellent bomber technology but very obsolete fighter planes. 

When World War II began, many nations still were using biplanes.  Many were using horses to carry soldiers and equipment.  When Germany invaded Poland with tanks, the Poles gallantly attacked the tanks on horse back with long spears.  The slaughter was awful.

By the end of the war, jets were in the sky, guided missiles were flying, and the nuclear age began.  People became proficient at killing and the results were dreadful.

Within the United States many went to war and many others went to build weapons for the war.  No new automobiles were built.  Gasoline was scarce and rationed.  Chocolate was strictly used to feed soldiers as a specially fortified battlefield food.  Fresh meat, fresh fruit, and fresh vegetables were not available unless you raised it or grew it yourself.  People sacrificed.

The war was expensive and people purchased war bonds to help fund the war.

But this generation did something very unusual.  After the war, they saw the wisdom in rebuilding the nations of Germany and Japan.  The wisdom of this remains to this day when we see Germany and Japan as allies, trading partners, and friends.  This is a generation that developed Medicare, transitioned and supported civil rights, and took care of one another.  They were and remain a generation of people who believed in duty, personal responsibility, responsibility for the care of others, honor, and faith.  This generation built schools, hospitals, churches, and the Interstate High way system under President Eisenhower.  When President Kennedy said those immortal words, “Ask not what your country and do for you, but what you can do for your country,” he was saying words not of a political party, but as a person of this generation.  This was a generation that saw personal sacrifice and generosity as virtues, not vices.  The American government was different with these people.  In foxholes in Europe and the Pacific soldiers shared everything they had with people they didn’t agree with because they knew their comrades in arms were not their enemy, but fellow citizens.  Washington DC was led by people who cared for country over party, other over self.

What is remarkable is that they did so humbly.  No one extolled his or her virtues; over-flamboyance and braggadocio were not part of the equation.

They were a generation that came from hardship and overcame it and nurtured so many of us.  Their character should not be forgotten or ignored.

Finding Gratitude

 

Sometimes we have a difficult time finding gratitude. There is often much to gripe about.

The recent elections left some people filled with gratitude and others were distressed at the outcome. There was a lot of gloating by some (too much by too many) and a great deal of gloom by some (too much by too many) and the nation reflected that. In reality, if people look closely, there is probably room for everyone to be happy about some things and distressed about other things. Unless we vote for every winner, no one gets everything he or she wants.

This is true of life. No one gets everything they want. Health can be better for many; jobs can be better; family life can be better; the weather can be better. The list goes on and on. No one’s life is perfect.

Something dawned on me a few weeks ago. I couldn’t find anything I wanted to watch on television and I muttered to myself, “There’s nothing on.”

I have DirectTV and I love it. I have hundreds of channels. I can pretty much watch anything on any topic I want. This includes the free period of a large number of premium channels. I also have a wealth of On Demand shows that I can watch. I even have a queue of shows I have recorded, waiting to be seen. And I sat there and said, “There’s nothing on.”

When I was growing up I was in New Jersey and we had a lot more channels than most of the nation. We had 2,4, and 7, the major networks. There were also 5, 9, and 11, which were local New York stations, and PBS on 13. In the 1960’ have seven stations was unheard of in most of the country. We’d complain there was ‘nothing on’ then, and, at least the lineup was a lot smaller.

But now, who the heck am I to complain about there being ‘nothing on.’ Talk about nonsense!

We whine a lot as a society. We truly do. If things are not perfect, we whine. If things don’t go the way we want them to go, we whine. It’s not because we are bad people and it’s not because of the sinfulness of people, it’s more in the fact that we are spoiled. Life is actually easier and better than it used to be. People often talk about how amazing doctors were in the 1950’s and 1960’s and often how above reproach they were. In reality, physicians are so much better now and can do so much more. Look at the life expectancy of people!

Yet, we are often so ungrateful. Again, if it’s not perfect….

At Thanksgiving I often think of the Pilgrims. Perhaps that sounds corny, but I do think of them. The first ‘feast’ was not what we will be eating on Thursday. If they had turkey, it was a small, tough bird. There was probably other wild game. There was probably venison and clams and lobsters. Alas, there was also no butter…

There was probably something that could best be described as an ‘innards pie.’ This would have been a pie with cooked organs of animals. In those days nothing on the animal ever went to waste. And before you say you wouldn’t have eaten the ‘innards pie,’ people did not pass the mashed potatoes in those days. The ‘passing’ of food around the table was a custom that came into effect much later. The ‘best’ food was placed near the most important people. If you had no status, were a child, or a woman, you were eating the innards.

There was something else missing from the meal. They had no sugar. If they ate pumpkins or cranberries, there was no sugar to make dessert. They would have used honey or dried fruit to sweeten things. Sugar didn’t come to much later.

Yet, they were filled with gratitude for what little they had. When you have very little to share, there is always much to go around; and a great deal of gratitude for what little there is.

Enjoy Thanksgiving this year----and don’t complain. Delight in what we really have and be grateful for the abundance we do have.

Monday Football Observations.

The Patriots lost Ron Gronkowski, their all-world Tight End on the extra-point, getting their 59^th point of the game. They played classlessly, running up the score and are now going to pay for it.

The Broncos are the best team in the AFC. They have the best defense and Peyton Manning. They are going to roll through the rest of the season and be a major force in the play offs.

Andrew Luck had a bad game on Sunday but has played really well for the Colts. I have only one

suggestion for him, however. Shave. You look ridiculous. Or grow a full beard. Whatever you are doing right now does not work.

The Giants were fortunate on Sunday. They simply had no way of losing. They had their bye. Of late, the way Eli Manning has been pass, he couldn’t hit the water if he fell out of the boat.

The issue with the Jets and players bashing Tim Tebow. This is the result of a poor coach who has lost control of his locker room and his players. Rex Ryan is too impressed with Rex Ryan and not good at making a team a team.

Andy Reid’s tenure in Philadelphia is about over. The Eagles are an arch-rival to the Giants and I do not like them, but Andy Reid is one of the best coaches in the NFL. This was a team that was assembled with a lot of talent and, sadly, little ability for the egos of the players to play well together. Someone else will sign Reid and he’ll be a great coach.

RG3. Wow.

The Saints are playing very, very well. Drew Brees is an outstanding quarterback and their defense is starting to play well. It took the defensive players a while to understand the schemes of Steve Spagnuolo, but he’s one of the best defensive coaches in the NFL. Gregg Williams taught thuggery to the players; Spags is teaching them to play the game properly.

Has anyone else noted that the commercial with Papa John and Peyton Manning makes Papa John look cheap and petty? Or is it just me? As an aside, I’m not going to get one of the free 2 million pizzas he is giving away. It’s not a political statement on my part; Papa John’s pizza is actually pretty lousy.

Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, is probably going to miss at least three more weeks. He’s tough but he really got hurt.

Speaking of the Steelers, as an aside, your jailbreak uniforms are amazingly ugly. Match that with Andrew Luck’s neck beard and this is not a good year for fashion in the NFL…

Pew Forum Results are Troubling

Not long ago the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life did a Religious Knowledge Survey with 32 questions. The average number of correct answers across all groups was an average of 16 of those 32 questions answered accurately.

The numbers are fascinating. Each number represents the number of questions answered accurately from that group:

Jewish 20.5

Mormon 20.3

Atheists/Agnostics 20.0

White Evan. Protestant 17.6

White Roman Catholic 16.0

White Main Protestant 15.8

Nothing in part 15.2

Black Protestant 13.4

Hispanic Roman Catholic 11.6

In terms of religious knowledge, the people who are the most knowledgeable about religion, and considering that most of the Pew Forum questions were about Christianity, the most knowledgeable about traditional Christianity, were the people who are Jewish, Mormon, or Atheist/Agnostic.

These are an interesting top three. People who are Jewish are, of course, not Christians. The core of Christianity is that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and Judaism rejects this. Atheists and Agnostics do not believe or seriously question any sort of divine being.

Mormons are part of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints. Mormons do believe in the divinity of Christ and very much consider themselves to be Christians. Without attempting to be controversial or affirm or repudiate their beliefs, much of Christianity is affirmed by the people within it and if Mormons consider themselves to be a part of Christianity, it is not for anyone to say otherwise. It would be fair to say, however, and again, this is not criticism, many of their beliefs are pretty different from much of Christianity.

One thing is for sure, the people who are not mainstreamed within Christianity, know more about Christianity than those who are in the mainstream.

It can be contended that, as Christianity has shrunk dramatically over the years, that a lack of knowledge has played a role in this. People simply do not know much about their faith. There are, I believe, some reasons for this.

First, I suspect many Christians live in something of a bubble in terms of their own faith tradition. They are aware what their church teaches, but are not very curious as to what other churches teach. They often are unaware of what other traditions teach and do, and presume they do know.

I have lived in the Roman Catholic bubble and the Mainline Protestant bubble. I have learned that the Protestant perspective of Roman Catholicism, and Roman Catholicism are very different. I’ve also learned that the Roman Catholic perspective of Protestant is different from the Protestant perspective.

I recently read an article from a Roman Catholic blogger who was writing about the failure of the Protestant Reformation. He knew a great deal of the Roman Catholic perspective of Protestantism, but didn’t really understand the tradition. He THOUGHT he did, but he didn’t. One thing he grossly failed at what recognizing that there is not one Protestant perspective on things. His being trapped in the Bible caught him.

It works the other way around as well. The average person within Protestantism does not understand the Roman Catholic perspective on Sacramental Theology and Holy Communion. Ironically, part of that lack of understanding comes from not knowing they do not understand.

Bubbles can trap us.

A second thing is that we often lack the curiosity to neither learn nor take the time to learn. I know many churches from all traditions work hard to educate everyone. I have never known a pastor who was unwilling to lead a class when asked. Yet, that is rarely asked of clergy. It should be.

A third thing is often clergy. If people fail to do continuing education, read, and grow in their own knowledge, they fail as leaders of knowledge.

People need, in my humble opinion, to take the time to learn what their faith teaches, but also have open hearts and minds to learn what other people believe and teach. We will all find we are a lot closer to one another than we often thought.

Einstein was Right!

Enjoying time at the coffee shop

 

Enjoying Dinner with friends

 

Enjoying a day at the art museum

 

Enjoying lunch with a friend

Enjoying a beautiful day at the beach

Having fun at a basketball game

Enjoying a romantic date

 

In the car with friends

 

Albert Einstein:
"I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction, the world will have a generation of IDIOTS."

Sermon Audio November 11, 2012

 

Delighting in Reaching Within to Grow in Discipleship

Text:  Mark 12:38-44

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

November 11, 2012

 

 

Stewardship Moment Amy Schneidau

 

Secession is Better Than Working Together?

There are some interesting developments taking place. Petitions have been filed for Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas and these petitions are to secede from the United States. If a petition receives at least 25,000 in a 30 day period, it must be met with an official response from the White House.

A North Carolina Tea Party group is promoting the idea of secession as a solution to the “tyranny of national government.” This idea is being actively promoted on the website ‘teaparty.org.’ One can only guess they do not like the results of the election. There have been mixed reports, but many of these petitions seem to have at least some Tea Party support and there is information on how to send these petitions on Tea Party websites, but, as of yet, the Tea Party has not officially endorsed this idea.  There seems to be an idea that secession is better than working together.  I think people need to rethink this idea.

The original ‘tea’ action took place in 1773 in response to the British “Tea Act,” and took place when 30-40 Bostonians dressed as Mohawk Indians, and boarded an English vessel and destroyed the shipment of tea. It was referred to as the tea destruction until the "Boston Tea Party,” became its moniker in 1834. To us in 2012 these original Bostonians are called patriots; to the legal authorities in 1773 they were terrorists or thugs. There was, of course, an escalation of rebellion, the Battle of Concord in 1775 that began the war, the American Revolution. The war waged in until 1783.

The American Revolution was not the war many people perceive it to be. It was not a grand and glorious crusade. It was long and bitter. The British actually won most of the battles. There were some amazing Colonial victories and the war became untenable for England. It proved to be too long, too expensive, and too risky for them when France got involved. It was a war of attrition and the distance, expense, and stretching out of forces was untenable. This ended up being a secession that worked.

In 1861 there was a new revolt, a new American Revolution. We call it the Civil War, but, not unlike the original secession a group of people rebelled and this time the original nation prevailed. This war was incredibly savage and, like the original rebellion of 1775 it was a war of attrition. This time the dominant force, however, had a large number of people and did not have to depend on shipments from across the ocean. The northern part of the country had the industry and larger population base and the end was inevitable once the military leadership problems of the Union Army were resolved.

As I look at the current state of our nation, it is impossible for me to view the current Tea Party people as even remotely being ‘patriots.’ They like to call themselves patriots, but co-opting a name does not make something so. The original people of the Boston Tea Party put themselves in legal risk and were, legally, beginning the process of treason. They put themselves, knowingly, in serious risk of being captured and hanged. They became, through the lens of history, patriots. Putting a hat on your head and covering with tea bags does not make one a patriot.

The original people in the Boston Tea Party were not bemoaning the fact that they had lost an election. They did not have the ability to vote for their leaders. The King of England was not an elected position and the Colonies did not have representation in Parliament. The United States still has elections! Sometimes the people we support win those elections; sometimes they lose. The American Way, if there is such a thing, is to respect and abide by election results. It is not taking one’s toys home and leaving.

There is also an issue of pragmatism.

Do the states that leave now pay the American government for the Interstate highway systems running through their nations?

Airports are under Federal protection. States are under the protection of the Secret Service for their money; the FBI for numerous crimes; the United States Military for protection. All these are lost. Corporations that have been entirely national to this point now have to become international. People within the newly independent states now lose Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. People in nursing homes will be forced out of the nursing homes because of the collapse of Medicaid. Many people do not realize it but 50% of Medicaid is covering people staying in nursing homes.

There are times I get infuriated at our nation. I am sure everyone does. But we are all in this great experiment together. Secession because one does not like the direction the nation is taking, a direction voted on by the majority of people, does not give one a right to carve the nation into pieces. That is not patriotism.

Many of the people behind the American Revolution were the finest minds this nation has ever assembled in the same place at the same time. They became the architects of a democracy. They were not sore losers wearing tea bags on their heads, decreeing they were patriots. These people WERE patriots. These were people who had prices on their heads; these were people who were willing to die for their beliefs.

I’m tired of the whining. Our nation has issues. Instead of whining that a person you don’t like won the election learn to accept that we don’t always get our own way, and make the best of it. Better yet, do something constructive to assure the United States is a great nation.

A Surprisingly Stunned Concession Speech and Why Gil Grissom is Always Right

 

As I write this I want to make something clear.  This is not a partisan post stating who was the better candidate and why the election was one or lost.  There was a significant piece of this election, however, that seems to have gone unnoticed.

On Tuesday night Governor Mitt Romney gave a stunned concession speech.  He had stated earlier in the day that the only speech he had written was an acceptance speech.  This was not bravado.  He truly believed that he was going to win the election.  He and Paul Ryan had worked hard and many of the people they had surrounded themselves with had assured both of them they were going to win the election.

They were highly confidence.  They even had a rally in Pennsylvania because they had been told that state was teetering toward them and all it needed was a little nudge.  Dick Morris said it was going to be a landslide, going toward them.  Talk radio hosts were brimming with confidence, even bravado.  The people around the Romney and Ryan Campaign were assuring the two candidates that they had this one in the bag.

It all was, to use an old cliche, a lot of happy talk. 

The problem was that the people around the Romney and Ryan Campaign were looking at a lot of hypotheses and ideological perspectives and were seeing the results that they wanted to see.  They had become so adept at this, however, they missed something.  The numbers indicated otherwise.

Nate Silver is a statistician, an expert in sabermetrics which is  is the specialized analysis of baseball through objective evidence, especially baseball statistics that measure in-game activity, and practicioner of psephology which is a branch of political science which deals with the study and scientific analysis of elections.  In short, Silver deals extensively with the obscure practice of the most finite methods if probability and statistics.  Silver predicted on the weekend before the election that there was better than a 90% chance that President Obama was going to win the election.  Silver predicted the states that would be blue and the states that would be red, and his predictions were made well in advance of the election.

Silver blogs on the New York Times website, or is at least hosted by them.  Silver was dismissed because the Times hosted his blog and the presumption was that Silver’s predictions were politically biased.  They weren’t.

Silver never looked at the issues and never made any predictions based on what he felt about each candidate.  In fact no one knows who he was planning on voting for or if he even voted.  Silver has had nothing to say about the issues or the policies of either party or either candidate.  He based everything on a deep, deep analysis of the polls.

In short, Silver made a prediction on facts.  Probability is a science based on what will probably happen as opposed to what was certain.  Silver was very clear on that.  There are always uncertainties, last minute changes, voter turn out projections that are wrong.  But these uncertainties are often not a big factor and so Silver made a prediction based entirely on the evidence placed before him.

Which brings me to Gil Grissom.  Gil Grissom was the head CSI on the television show CSI.  Grissom, like Silver, is a nerd.  Grissom would always drive the other people crazy because he didn’t go after who he projected the criminal was, he had one mantra, ‘follow the evidence.’  Grissom was a fiend about assuring they followed the facts rather than gut instincts.  The gut, he would tell people, leads people where they want to go as opposed to where the evidence will lead them.  Grissom, at least in the world of television, was always right.  The evidence always leads us to the right answer.

Silver is a modern day Gil Grissom.  He predicted 2008 perfectly.  He also predicted 2010 perfectly.  His predictions on which states would be blue and which would be red were 100% accurate.

People who read Silver’s blog had a strong conviction the election was going to fall the way it did.  The people around the Romney and Ryan Campaign kept assuring the candidate that Silver was a crazy liberal who was way wrong.  Reality is, no one knows what Silver believes----it doesn’t matter.  He follows only facts.

This led to a surprising concession speech.  Mr. Romney believed, down deep, he was going to win this election and making this speech, a very, very gracious speech, was probably the most difficult thing he had ever done.

It may be a reminder to us that the Gil Grissoms and the Nate Silvers in this world, these scientific nerd types, are worth listening to as they provide us with information that is real as opposed to happy talk.

Reality is sometimes painful, but it is always real.  To his credit, Mr. Romney recognized reality in the end, conceded the election, and very graciously congratulated the winner and very generously offered his prayers.  It was, for him, a moment of humility and irony; a life long numbers man lost an election because of the numbers.  Gil Grissom is always right.  The evidence always tells us what is real.

Election Observations

I’m still thinking this election was The Seinfeld Show of elections.  It was, at its core, an election about nothing.  The larger issues of our day were not addressed by either party or either candidate.  There are some things I did observe.

First, Nate Silver of the New York Times had the most insight into the election of anyone.  Silver used polling data that he viewed as reliable and was a fearless numbers cruncher.  He based his conclusions on facts as opposed to ideology and he was right.  So many pundits were off because they were seeing what they wanted to see as opposed to what was really there.  Silver followed the rule of Grissom, “Follow the evidence.”

Mitt Romney, but even more especially, Ann Romney looked defeated and exhausted Tuesday night.  An election makes a person move at 100 MPH for months and at the end it’s an even faster and more frantic pace.  People run on pure adrenalin for a long time, but when it’s over, it’s over.   And when you lose, it’s really over and positively crushing.

A staggering number of people still do not believe President Obama was born in the United States and that he is a Muslim.  He was, and he’s not.  To believe otherwise is simply ignorant.  Seriously, it is ignorant.  You may disagree with the man all you want, but don’t be a fool.

An obscene amount of money was spent on this election.  It was spent in different ways.  One campaign used much of it on commercials and the other used it on what the media calls, the ground game.  It turned out that the ground game was the better option----that an social media and direct marketing on the Internet.  Karl Rove who was so clever in running elections in the past was amazingly ineffective this time with his Super PAC.  Much has been made of Karl Rover’s ‘meltdown’ on Fox News.  It was a $300,000,000.00 breakdown and very much a reality that many people who invested in him will no longer do so.

The country is badly divided.  It has been badly divided for a long time and things have only gotten worse.  The divides are very much present between the rich and the poor; the urban and the rural; small town and suburbs; men and women; young and old; and, of course, racially.  We cannot overlook the racial divide in the country.  Stating this does not mean that I am even remotely suggesting that voting against President Obama was a racist thing to do.  Not even close.  There are, of course, people who voted racially on both sides, but racism is not the bigger factor here.  The bigger factor is very much evident in the remarks of a Republican strategist who said that the Republicans are viewing the nation of Mad Men and the Democrats are viewing the world of Modern Family. 

Here’s another thing.  The American population voted who they wanted in office.  This means that people chose, very deliberately, to have Barack Obama as the President and not Mitt Romney.  They chose the people they wanted in the Senate over the people they didn’t want; keeping it in the hands of the Democrats.  People also chose a majority of Republicans in the House.  We can say what we want about redistricting, etc., but these are the people who have been voted into office.  I also believe that people voted they way they did because they want a counterbalance between the two parties.  No one group owns the sandbox.  Everyone HAS to play together----which means the two parties HAVE to work together.  There are serious issues that have to be addressed and nothing can or will be solved with one party dictating to the other how it is going to be done.  We have to pray our leaders understand this and respect the will of the American people.

Finally, this.  Patriotism is not an idea of the Republicans or the Democrats.  It is an American ideal.

Pondering “Revolution”

 

My wife and I have been watching the television show, “Revolution.”

I am not sure how I feel about this show.  At its premise it is about some sort of weapon that was created that would neutralize all the electrical power in the world.  Somehow it worked and the world has been going on for many years without electricity.  The United State government fell and regions are ruled by militias that are battling the populace and one another for national, if not world domination.

In many ways, the world has been turned upside down.  We all remember the bullies in high school, those who were bigger and stronger and who ruled the roost.  If one was a nerd, one was a loser in high school.  However, real life tended to neutralize things.  The nerds went to college, became professionals and suddenly the tables turned.  In “Revolution,” the tables have turned back.  In a wild, untamed society, intellectual know how isn’t as strong a commodity as brute force and violence.

The show is violent.  The heros are a small band of people.  The former militia leader, his niece who is the daughter of the man who created the device that eliminated electricity.  There is also the classic nerd buy with them who has a pendant that holds the secret of power, and another young woman who is a rebel fighter and bomb making expert.

There are others.  There is the head of the militia, the son of the man who created the device, his Mom, and the ongoing saga of the formerly nerdy insurance adjustor turned macho man interrogator and bad guy. 

One thing I like about the show is that it is a reminder of how much we are slaves to the technology of our world and how it all depends on electricity.  If the electricity goes out, we are in serious trouble.  As the electricity in the show is completely out, cars can no longer run (they have batteries) and transportation is brought to a standstill.  Steam trains, steam boats, and horses and carriages are the modes of transportation.  And walking.

Communication is changed forever.  There is no more Internet, no more radio, no television, no telephone communication.  One’s smart phone can be used as a doorstop and little more.  Chaos ensues and the show very clearly demonstrates this.

Whenever we see catastrophes in our nation, we recently have observed Hurricane Sandy, we realize just how important our electrical grid is and how fragile it is.

The underlying story of the militias is also interesting.  They came to be as no one was safe and the militias began to give people safety; they were the only means of law enforcement.  Of course, as they became more powerful they became corrupt and savage to the population they had sworn to protect.

There are lessons in the show about power: electrical power and human power.  The tragedy is, as it so often is, that people’s failure to love one another begins to dictate how life is carried out.

When there is chaos people turn to brute force and violence and hatred begins to fill the day.

What disappoints me about the show is that the heros are not very likeable and have become every bit as violent as they people they oppose.  They lack trust and they seem to have the inability to love and trust one another.  Often, even at their best moments, they do not look to transform hearts to goodness, charity, and love, but to more violence.

I worry about us when we see violence as the solution to the problem.  Perhaps we need to learn that violence is not a solution as much as it is a furthering of the problems of our world.  I am reminded we have a long way to go, and a long way to fully embrace Jesus’ command of loving one another.

Not a Noble Election

 

In 1860 perhaps the most important election in the history of the United States took place.  It was between Abraham Lincoln ,Stephen Douglas, John Bell, and John Breckenridge.  Lincoln and Douglas were the two major party nominees and their debates were legendary.  Douglas, however, only won one state and while Lincoln swept the north, Bell and Breckenridge swept through the south.

There was one very large looming issue.  Did human beings have the right to own other human beings?    One can argue that the Southern way of life was at stake and the Southern economy was at stake, and Southern liberty was at stake until we turn purple.  It was all based on the right of some human beings owning other human beings.    Lincoln won and we know the results of the issues that were at hand.

The election if 1860 was easily the most important election in the history of the United States.  We would not be the nation we are today had it not been for that election.  That election changed the future and culture of our nation.  It was, in many ways, a time when a noble idea went forward.  Many of called it the most important and, in many ways, the most noble of all American Presidential elections.

The year 2012 will not be a year of nobility.

An obscene amount of money was spent on this election.

People, corporations, and special interest groups flooded us with paid advertisements to elect the candidate of their choice.  In a time of economic difficulty that is graver than any time apart from the Great Depression, billions of dollars were spent on an election.  In a time when people needed jobs, money that could pay salaries was poured into television advertisement.  In a time when we have record numbers of people homeless, jobless, and hungry, billions of dollars was spent on paid advertisements.  This year’s election was so incredibly obscene in terms of money spent. 

Ironically, this election was, in so many ways, a reflection of The Seinfeld Show.  It was, amazingly, an election about not very much....

There are a lot of significant issues that were not addressed:

We sent into two separate wars and cut taxes.  As a result with the cost of the wars (on VISA), and all the government programs, we are awash in debt.  The discussions on taxation and benefits was heated, but no one ever discussed the debt accrued by two unfunded wars.

Hurricane Sandy exposed a couple of things not discussed.  The storm patterns were unprecedented.   These storms have historically gone up the east coast and drifted east.  This storm made a dramatic turn west.  This was abnormal-----but we need to get used to it.  Scientists have told us that climate change has melted large sections of the polar ice cap north of Greenland and changed the jet stream and currents.  The path of this storm was the direct result of the change in climate.  It also exposed the fact that the infrastructure of the United States, especially in older regions like the Northeast, are very, very inadequate.

Climate change is a reality that we should not be ignoring any longer.  Huge economic opportunities are present for people moving us into a new age, and yet, this was not an issue, and never mentioned.  Infrastructure?  Again, not an issue in this election.

Healthcare?  A lot of verbiage on the Affordable Health Care Act, Obamacare, and whether it’s good or not.  No discussion that the world’s richest nation ranks #37 on the World Health Organization's ranking of the world's health systems.  We are just below Costa Rica and just above Slovenia.  France and Italy not only have some of the world’s finest food, but they rank #1 and #2 in world health systems.  There was no discussion of France and Italy’s healthcare systems and why they work so well.

In many ways, this election was made very clear in a couple of instances.

Martha Raddatz asked Joe Biden and Paul Ryan about their Roman Catholic faith and how it impacted their views on abortion.  She took a very, very broad question about the faith and turned it into one issue.  Instead of asking them how their Roman Catholic faith impacted their world views and their role in the government, she made it a single topic question.  Both men gave very articulate answers I might add, but she had such a magnificent opportunity to ask a very good question, and didn’t.

In the Presidential debates, President Obama, very much a product of mainline Protestantism, and Governor Romney, very much a product of Mormonism, were never asked how their faith impacted their world views and their role in government.  It was a great question, never asked.

But perhaps above all, a young man asked a question about graduating from college and looking for a job.  Both President Obama and Governor Romney gave very patronizing answers.  They both helped to paint the lad as a victim of the times, the other party, etc. 

What neither man did was tell the young man the truth.  The way people come out of college and get jobs is they work very hard at it.  No one is going to drop a job on your lap; you have to apply, have a good resume, and excellent grades, and interview well.  There is a lot of hard work in getting a job out of college.  Smart parents tell their children that and good leaders tell citizens that.  In that moment, both men failed miserably in leadership.

I have no idea what the election of 1860 cost, but it wasn’t close to what this one will cost.  It was, however, the most important, and in many ways, most noble of American elections.  The election of 2012, no matter who wins, was not a battle of high ideals and noble causes, it was a battle of money and a dodging of the big issues of our day.

Audio Sermon 11-4-12

 

Delighting in Reaching Beyond Ourselves in Mission

Text:  James 2:14-18

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

Stewardship Moment Joy Knopfmeier

 

Stewardship Moment Rev. Dr. Earl Miller

 

Sermon in Multiple Parts

This week’s sermon is going to require a small bit of effort, but I hope worth it.

Parts 1 and 2  are narrative portions with a video in the middle.  I broke the sermon up into the two parts to make this easy.    To follow the progression of the sermon listen to Part 1, watch the video, and then listen to Part 2.

 

Sermon Title:  Finding Delight in Reaching Out in Evangelism.

 

Sermon Audio 10-21-12

Delight in Reaching Up to Worship God

Hebrews 5:1-10

October 21, 2012

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

Audio Sermon 10-14-12

Spiritual Surgery

Hebrews 4:12-16

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

Audio Sermon 10-7-2012

Peace in the Kin-dom of God

Text:  John 14-7-21

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

Audio Sermon 9-30-12

Soul Food

Text:  James 5:13-20

September 30, 2012

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

Audio Sermon September 23rd: Rev. Merideth Sprigler

The Light of God’s Love

Text:  John 1:1-14

Head Slap Moments

People who are NFL fans are in a tizzy. The replacement officials have been spotty. Some good calls, some bad calls. This past weekend was a debacle. The final game of the weekend ended on an obviously blown call. The call was so bad that there wasn’t one thing wrong with it, there were multiple things wrong with it.

It was not the fault of the officials. They blew the call, but they were not people who should have

never been in the position they were in. These were low level officials who had no aspiration or skill to officiate on the professional level. This has been an opportunity to make some good money quickly and live out lifelong dreams of officiating on such a big stage.

Professional football is different from other levels of football. People who like football like different ‘types’ of the game and they all have great things going for them----if you like football. Pro football is played before large crowds with large television audiences, with professional commentators who know the game, and it is shot from multiple angles. The players are uniformly big and fast. The game is faster than on other levels and the stakes are incredibly high.

NFL officials are often yelled at but often usually correct. The replacement refs, not so much.

The NFL reviewed the play and said that the officials missed offensive pass interference (duh!) but made the correct call on the catch. This decision made, despite the very clear evidence that the defender was the person who caught the ball. Talk about nonsense. Talk about a head slap moment!!!

The most interesting comment on all of this, however, was a Facebook friend who said that it would be good if we were concerned as to the behavior and decisions or our elected officials as we are NFL officials. He was totally correct. Sometimes I look at how decisions are made by elected officials and I feel a need to give myself a major head slap. Duh!!!!

Such seems the state of our world right now.

Why is Worship Attendance Down Nationally

It is interesting to read a wide variety of opinions as to the ‘why’s’ of things.

In most religious circles there is a piece of information that is well known. Worship attendance is on the decline. Less people attend worship than 10 years ago; and 10 years ago it was less than 20 years ago. The decline has been steady and often steep.

Additionally, the next piece of information is also well known. The average age of people in a typical Worship Service is older. Older people are more inclined to get up on Sunday morning than younger people are. The decline actually started with the Baby Boom generation and as that generation is aging, the decline has become even more pronounced.

As time has progressed, when people are asked about their religious beliefs, the single largest group has become ‘spiritual but not religious.’ This often means that a person has some sort of belief in a higher power, but that higher power may or may not be defined and the person does not Worship in any faith community.

I recently read an article from a Roman Catholic Bishop who I’ve decided not to identify, but I think he has part of the story backward. His reasoning is that he sees a serious attempt to marginalize religion from the public forum and to limit religious freedom to the freedom of worship. Most clergy who are even marginally honest know there is no attempt by anyone to limit religious freedom and freedom to Worship as people so chose unless they happen to belong to a tradition that limits that freedom. Clergy know, within the parameters of our own traditions, there is total freedom of Worship and practice of religion. Many of those complaining about limitations on religious freedom are upset that they cannot impose their values on others who do not embrace them.

As for the public forum, again, I do not see this. There are people like Bill Maher who makes fun of religious people, but he is a comedian. Much of what he makes fun of is actually often deserving of the humor it receives. Some aspects of religious life have been dismissed by many, but it is not so much society’s fault as it is the fault of those of us within religious circles.

I suspect part of the reason there has been a decline in Worship attendance has been the fault of the religious community. In fact, I suspect it is the major reason.

Why?

For one, people have learned that clergy are seriously flawed….and we are. No exceptions. We fail, we often fail grievously, and as we learned with the child abuse scandal many of failed criminally with the most vulnerable in our midst. As has often been the case, innocent people were not protected by faith communities and people abandoned those faith communities. People lose faith in churches when this happens.

Secondly, churches have been too front and center in politics. There has been a log of rendering unto Caesar by the religious community.

Third, a science advances often there is little desire for many theological ideas to advance either. When I hear people saying that God expects us to believe the universe is 6000 years old I find myself wondering why anyone is willing to come to Worship any longer.

Fourth, groups like the Westboro Baptist Church and the “pastor” in Florida who is virulently anti-Islam have given people the impression that Christianity is one large hate group. When I see how many churches treat people who are gay, I see how people get this impression.

Fifth, gender is a hormonal ‘accident.’ Presuming people have to have different roles in church because of gender is, to me, insane. The rest of society has grown up. Why haven’t churches?

Perhaps the problem of Worship attendance is that we are not looking in the mirror enough.

Of course, there are other reasons….reasons I would probably not like to wish upon myself.  I know I have flaws and my church has flaws.  This is a huge challenge for those of us in religious circles.

My Words of Wisdom to Presidential Candidates

 

No one asked me but I decided to share my words of wisdom to the Presidential candidates. These can apply to the nominees of the two major parties, but in my humble opinion, these adages are good advice for everyone.

First, be aware that everything you say in public, even when ‘public’ is a ‘private’ event, has someone there who doesn’t like you and someone who can very possibly record everything you say. In short, mind your p’s and q’s because anything you say can and will be used.

Secondly, when you mess up, apologize. There seems to be this aversion to apologizing these days and that is a very, very bad development. Voters all mess up themselves and are usually very forgiving. Simple, quick, and sincere apologies change the playing field almost instantly. They are also good for the soul. The prodigal son ate a fatted calf at his Dad’s dinner table instead of feeding pigs because of one sincere apology. People who tell you apologies are bad are fools.

Thirdly, recognize that one of the nominees will be the President of the United States when all of this is over. Respect your opponents even if you don’t like them or don’t agree with them. If that opponent becomes the President, you need to assure they are not marginalized to the point that they cannot govern. At the end of the day, people are political opponents, not mortal enemies. Remember that!

Fourth, do not watch the news, do not listen to the radio, and avoid reading politics in the newspaper. You may begin to pay attention to what they have to say and become immobilized by criticism or advice.

Fifth, listen to average people. Get yourself in position to listen to average people without someone filtering what is being said. Your political advisors will try and ‘protect’ you from the average person. Don’t allow that.

Sixth, go on the network that likes your opponent better than you. Allow someone who is somewhat adversarial to you to interview you and give them a chance to ask tough questions----but questions that are fair. They should respect the office you are seeking and act accordingly if given the opportunity. Even if they don’t vote for you, they may respect you more if you allow them the opportunity to talk with you.

Seventh, keep it clean. You’ll sleep better.

Last, your closest friends and spouse need to have the opportunity to be totally honest with you. Allow them that and listen to them.

Audio Sermon, Sunday September 16,

“Jesus”

Mark 8:27-38

Audio Sermon 9/9/12 Commissioning One Another----Rejoicing in the Power of the Holy Spirit Text: John 20:19-22

 

Audio Sermon 9/2/12 Commissioning One Another: Love and Serve the Lord Deuteronomy 6:1-5

 

St. Paul

Something I have learned over the years is that many people struggle with St. Paul. In progressive mainline Protestant churches he is often a lightning rod for things people do not like about Christianity. His letters have often been cited by some to exclude women in leadership positions in the church and to establish hierarchies within families. Paul is seen by many to be harsh and judgmental. He is also often something of a dualist in his approach to humanity. Additionally, his letters often appear to be rather abstract and difficult to comprehend.

Yet, here I am, a progressive mainline Protestant who loves St. Paul. I really do and I preach from the Epistles of Paul a good deal. Often, at least in my opinion, the problems people have with St. Paul can be addressed.

First, the role of women is a sticking point for many. I do not believe Paul was a misogynist. Misogyny is a hatred of women and girls. Paul did not, in my mind, even come close to this. He was, however, a person of his time.

Jesus was not a person of his time. Jesus appeared to women first. In many ways, the primal message of the Gospels is that Jesus was raised from the dead. The first Christian preachers, the first people to share the good news of the resurrection of Christ were women. Jesus was not a person of his time and, frankly, neither was God very interested in the human constructs of the day. It can be argued that the Incarnation, the Word becoming flesh, was a primal message. Again, the receiver of that message was a woman. Women, in the Gospels, took a second seat to no one.

Paul was a person of his time. Women had no rights. Women did not speak in the synagogue. Women were the property of men. Often missed in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians about women submitting to husbands was the command for husbands to love their wives. It was more than romantic love. It was an outright statement of responsibility the husband was being given to take care of and be responsible for his wife’s well-being. His words are, however, in the context of the world he was living in. Paul was slightly ahead of his time by our standards, radically by the era’s standards.

The issue of women speaking in church was not unlike this. Paul came from a tradition where women were separated and silenced in the synagogue. In early Christianity, as some women stepped forward, this was met with great hesitation by people. One concern Paul had was that the women might lead the men astray as the women did not have the same background of information as the men. I wish he had given more say to the women having the ability and privilege of receiving more information, but he didn’t. Sadly. However, Paul was not atypical of his era.

Several things people seem to miss about St. Paul.

His writings were letters to churches addressing specific issues within those churches. The early Christian Church put those letters in the Bible, but Paul was not, in his mind, writing the New Testament. He was merely writing letters to address issues. His responses were and are brilliant. The problem is, however, that we do not have the letters TO Paul that contain the questions he was being asked. We attempt to ascertain those questions with his answers, but we might not always be correct. As a result, those letters may appear to us, to fall short.

Secondly, Paul was brilliant. He studied to be a rabbi under the premier Rabbi Gamaliel, who, in rabbinic terms, would have been the “Harvard or Yale” of his era. Paul was also fluent in Greek and his writings demonstrate a clear understanding of the writings of the Greek philosopher Plato. Paul uses the language of Plato to often explain, to the Gentile world, Jesus’ theology. This was no easy feat and it is often difficult to truly get a grasp on Paul without a working knowledge of Plato’s philosophy. His writings are sophisticated and often elegant and deftly put together.

Third, there is culture. People are products of their time and place. It’s important not to bind them to our time and place and judge them according to our own eras.

Lastly, the writings of Paul evolve. St. Paul, often not noticed by people, changed many perceptions. He became kinder and gentler as he got older. He grew in his faith. I admire that, and love that about him.

This blog today may seem random. Just a reminder to us, however, to not gloss over and dismiss this amazing man and his writings.

The Unnecessary War Between Science and Beliefs

Science and much of people’s beliefs appear to be at war. The war, however, is mostly one-sided. Science just does its thing and people’s beliefs seem to be attacking science’s ‘thing.’

Congressman’s Akin was actually being honest the other day. What he said was, in fact, his opinion. It is often said that when politicians have this kind of ‘slip of the tongue’ it occurs when they are actually telling the truth----or their opinion of the truth. He was simply guilty of listening to, as S. E. Cupp so aptly pronounced, junk science. He was not the first and he will not be the last. His statement was simply being honest at the wrong place in the wrong time.

The National Right to Life organization has been around for years. They have been historically opposed to abortion and euthanasia. Personally, I will never call anyone pro-life unless they also include capital punishment. To me, if one takes the life issue seriously, one need to include this as well. But that’s my opinion. Having said that, if a people tell me they are ‘pro-life’ the first question I will ask will be about capital punishment. If they do not want to include it, I won’t call them pro-life. I’m rather obstinate about that.

Abortion is an ugly subject. I wrestle with the subject of when life begins; I also wrestle with the subject of when human life begins. There is the very real question of determining if this is, in fact, a separate life if it cannot exist outside the mother’s womb. Science doesn’t really make ethical judgments on this at all. It merely tells us what is there. What we do with that information is very much up to us to determine philosophically and theologically.

I would, in a perfect world, like to be totally opposed to abortion. It is not, however, a perfect world. I am also not a woman and I cannot, in good conscience, ever tell a woman what she can and cannot do or have done to her own body. It would be simply inappropriate. Frankly, I really do not believe anyone can tell any other person what they can and cannot do in this regard. Additionally, rape, incest, molestation, health and well-being of the mother all come into play. Abortion is an ugly subject and it often gets even uglier when there are circumstances behind it.

In the 1970’s I did join the Right to Life organization. I was in the seminary and I read the literature RTL put out and I believed it. One piece of that literature was the scientific ‘fact’ that women did not get pregnant from rape. I did more research and learned that was not true. In a rape, when the rapist is wearing no protection, and the sexual act is completed inside the woman, the woman has a 5% chance of becoming pregnant. It is exactly the same percentage as any other kind of unprotected sex. That is the factual science. Saying that the woman’s body ‘protects’ her from becoming pregnant is junk science.

Interestingly enough, S. E. Cupp, who is very conservative and states she is very pro-life (I don’t know if she really is in terms of capital punishment), said that this kind of junk science is inexcusable and does more harm than good in terms of discussions about abortion.

She is correct. When junk science gets exposed and people begin bringing this nonsense to the public forum, they get discredited. Serious discussions on abortion are short-changed into saying that people are lying or are uninformed fools.

It’s an unnecessary war and it’s a foolish war to be having. Abortion is a painful and ugly subject; at least give the topic the dignity of dealing with real science and not junk science. And, please politicians, before you speak on such topics, learn the subject and the difference between real and junk science.

Random Musings for Today

 

I really need to get back to blogging…

Strange thing to lead off with, but Phyliss Diller was always one of my favorites. Instead of mocking others, she made fun of herself. She will be remembered, interestingly enough when one considers her humor, as a kind and amazing beautiful person who brought laughter to so many people. The world was a richer place because of her. Her passing at the age of 95 very much ends an era.

The horrible topic of rape is in the news. We have been exposed to such phrases as ‘legitimate rape’ and ‘forcible rape.’ It strikes me that there is no such thing as ‘legitimate’ rape and that all rape is forcible. It seems we need education on the fact that rape is a violent crime that is devastating to victims. I hope these statements are merely mis-statements and not an attempt to impugn the victims.

Doctors, are saying, by the way, that 5% of instances of unprotected sex result in a pregnancy and 5% of rapes with intercourse to completion end up in pregnancy. Those are the facts. Whatever one chooses to do or surmise from these facts is ripe for opinions, but not stating facts correctly is simply wrong.

On a fact finding trip to Israel, there seems to have been a party and several drinks were shared. People ended up swimming in the Sea of Galilee. One person, Kevin Yoder of Kansas jumped in the sea naked. Now there is great controversy. My thought on this is simple. People need to grow up. That this is even a news story is mind boggling to me.

The Princeton Review named the 377 Best Colleges in the United States. They have some interesting categories. The ‘best party school,’ is West Virginia University. The ‘most stone cold sober school’ is Brigham Young University. Brigham Young, a Mormon school, does not allow alcohol, tobacco, or caffeine on campus and they attribute the overall sobriety to the Mormon faith. When asked why West Virginis was the best party school, none of the WVU students were able to remember…

I change my mind every day as to who I am voting for in the next election. All the political ‘ads’ people put on Facebook are influencing me greatly… Not.

I watched a wonderful story on the Today Show about a family leaving $500.00 tips to honor the memory of a son/brother. People are donating money to them and they are leaving these large tips as a ‘pay it forward’ tribute. It’s also a great reminder that servers work hard for their money and a generous tip is good for them and good for the tipper’s soul. Generosity is a wonderful thing and need to be practice.

Someday check out the NBC News website, CNN website, and Fox News website, and you’ll wonder if we all live in the same country.

Sermon Audio August 19, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commissioning One Another: Honor All People

Text: Romans 12:9-21

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

August 19, 2012

Sermon Audio August 12, 2012

 

Commissioning One Another---Help the Afflicted

Text: Luke 10:25-37

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

August 12, 2012

 

 

Audio Sermon 8-4-12

 

Strengthen the Fainthearted; Support the Weak

Text: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

August 5, 2012

 

Sermon Audio July 29, 2012

 

Commissioning One Another---Do Not Render Evil for Evil

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

July 29, 2012

 

 

Audio Sermon July 22, 2012

 

Commissioning One Another: Hold Fast to that which is Good

July 23, 2012

1 Thessalonians 5:16-23

Commissioning One Another: Be of Good Courage

Audio Sermon, July 15, 2012

Text is from 2 Corinthians 11:16-33

 

Monday’s Ponderings

Rodney King was not a hero.  He  was, in fact, a troubled guy.  He had the misfortune to be beaten by police with cameras rolling.  The aftershock of that video,  the ‘you are not seeing what you are seeing,’ trials, OJ Simpson, riots, etc., reminded us  that we still have racial issues in our country.  His words, “Can’t we all just get along,’ still ring true.  He died famous or infamous, whatever you want to call him.

Microsoft is coming out  with a new tablet to potentially compete with Apple’s Ipad.  We’ll see if it does.  It actually may.  Apple is worrying greatly about Google’s phones and tablets, that they may not be keeping their eye on the Microsoft ball.  The best selling Android tablet is the Kindle Fire which is much less expensive and not marketed as an Ipad.  I love my Kindle Fire and I don’t really want or need to spend the dollars on an Ipad.  I’m thinking Apple may be  worried about the wrong competition.

Jesus was a pacifist.  When ‘Christian’ politicians speak about going to war, I keep  reminding myself that Jesus was a pacifist.  I wonder what part of pacifism includes going to war…

This past weekend there were many Pride rallies.  Gay people are  gathered and receive a lot of criticism.  They may, however, be the only ‘group’ of people who seem to have another whole group of people seeming to hate them.  This ‘we love them….but’ that we so often hear doesn’t cut it.  It reminds me of a previous statement, “Separate but equal.’  The word ‘but’ does not follow love…

Paul McCartney is 70.  Yikes.

Say what you will about the French.  Election campaigns, by law, are six weeks long and there are no television commercials allowed.  They also have very fine cheese, bread, and wine.  But six weeks and no television commercials are awesome.  I’m tired of this election cycle already.

I can’t say I’m excited about the Olympics.  There is no pretense now that it is an amateur event.  If I’m going to watch professional sports, I’d prefer football.

One has to love the summer around here.  Hot.  Humid. Rainless.  Did I mention it’s hot and humid?

Rielle Hunter, in her book about her affair  with John Edwards lambasts Elizabeth Edwards.  To be perfectly honest, I don’t know what kind of a person Elizabeth Edwards was.  She is, however, now deceased and I don’t see any need to tarnish her further in order to sell books.

I am not an activist of any sort.  I respect people who are, most especially those who are willing to be arrested for their convictions.  They have courage, that is for sure.

Commissioning One Another: Going Forth Into the World (Audio sermon)

 

Giving Thanks Unto God (Audio Sermon)

Based on Psalm 138

Audio Sermon June 3, 2012

 

A Bit More Complicated Than a Sign

John 3:1-17

Heroes

This past weekend, Memorial Day weekend, Chris Hayes on MSNBC said this:

“Why do I feel so uncomfortable about the word ‘hero’?” Hayes said. “I feel uncomfortable about the word hero because it seems to me that it is so rhetorically proximate to justifications for more war. Um, and, I don’t want to obviously desecrate or disrespect memory of anyone that’s fallen, and obviously there are individual circumstances in which there is genuine, tremendous heroism, you know, hail of gunfire, rescuing fellow soldiers and things like that. But it seems to me that we marshal this word in a way that is problematic. But maybe I’m wrong about that.”

He rightly has received a ton of criticism for his comments about those who have lost their lives in defense of our nation.

The other day I was watching a segment from the movie The Longest Day, which is, perhaps, the definitely movie on the D-Day invasion.  There were numerous soldiers that, day, like most days in most wars, who lost their lives in the midst of combat.  Others, however, were blown up in airplanes before jumping out for action or who lost their lives on landing craft or in the water, before actually ever firing their gone.  There were others who lost their lives in the middle of doing amazing things.  They are all buried together and they are all heroes.  They all lost their lives serving their country.  We honored all of them on Memorial Day weekend.  They were there.  They showed up and the details of how they died are much less important than the plain and simple fact they died serving their nation.  And us.

Often, at least to me, the honoring of those who have died in the service of our nation is right and good.  I struggle with Caesar limelight of the day, however.  I struggle A LOT with many of them.  Politicians are the people who send people to war and, sadly, are often the first to take the credit for being heroes themselves for sending people to war.  The heroes were the ones on the battlefields putting themselves as risk.

Over the centuries many people in the role of ‘Caesar,’ send folks off to war in an attempt to further the agenda of Caesar.  How many young lives have been lost attempting to gain more living space for Caesar, or defending one’s own living space because some other nation’s ‘Caesar’ wanted your land. I’d like to say that never has an American President in the role of Caesar sent people to war for assistance in the polls, but I daresay, that would be untrue.  War is often great for politics.  It is, however, brutal because so many heroes lose their lives.

Chris Hayes greatly misspoke.   Greatly.  Those who have lost their lives in defense of our nation were, are, and will always be heroes.  Caesar, however, is a different story.

Be Careful! Sermon for Pentecost Sunday, 2012

Acts 2:1-8

Non-Partisan Political Ranting

I am, for one, happy the primaries are done in Kentucky and Indiana.  I was really getting sick of all the commercials.  They were, at least, pretty positive, but overdone.

Speaking of overdone, the one Mike Pence’s wife did over and over again about their first date was putting me into sugar shock.  I mean, it’s nice that it wasn’t a standard mean-spirited ad, but it was a bit much for me.

I have been, I am, and I will continue to be highly offended by the bogus ‘religious persecution’ tales we keep hearing.  This is why people are giving up on churches; they are tired of listening to nonsense from their leaders and from the pulpits.  It is shameful.

I think the larger national political issue is this.  People want the social services of the government and people do not want to actually pay for the social services of the government.  My phrase for this is that people what Democratic services at Republican prices.  People do not want THEIR retirement age raised, THEIR benefits to go down, etc.  They don’t really care if this happens to other people, but they don’t want it to happen to them.  At some point, we are either going to have to greatly revised benefits, eliminate benefits, or actually pay for the benefits.  Putting them on VISA, like we’ve been doing for the last 30 plus years, is not working.

I suspect Congress, both House and Senate, will be working on a lot of silly bills to get people to vote for or against nonsense all in trying to ambush one another for the upcoming elections.  Both parties do this and I do not understand why we pay people to write and push for bills that will not be passed.  I mean, seriously?

I have an observation about jury trials.  My prediction is that we are going to see an increasing number of hung juries.  In a society where ‘no compromise on anything’ is the new mantra, getting 100% is going to be almost impossible.  When there are people unwilling to ever give an inch on anything, society is in trouble.

I find it annoying when people use terms like “Socialist” or “Nazi,” as they are way over-blown and usually applied superficially.  What really drives me crazy is then people call someone a Socialist and a Nazi, considering they are to opposite ends of the political spectrum.  I’m wondering when they dropped Social Studies from schools?

A further thought:  Before anyone says someone is like Hitler or Stalin (in American politics) I think the person actually needs to do some studying of these two barbarians to see how incredibly evil they were and the breadth they went to be oppressive.  There is no one even remotely close to either of them on the political scene right now in American politics.

I have been reading some fundamentalist websites.  I should note that fundamentalism is often labeled as ‘conservative’ and it is anything but conservative.  If conservatism is holding treasured things of old and maintaining the tradition of things, fundamentalism is often the opposite.  The absolute literalism is not even remotely close to how the Bible was written or ever interpreted until more recent times.  It is not conservative.

But having said this, reading fundamentalist websites, there are more and more stories about Mormonism and they are not even remotely friendly toward the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints.  Actually, truth be told, they are down-right hostile.  I suspect they will push for either another candidate (3rd Party) in the general election or choose to not vote.  I do not believe they will vote for either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama.  Honestly, I believe Sarah Palin will run as an independent.  I think, philosophically, most of these folks are more aligned with Mr. Romney than they are Mr. Obama, but I suspect they will not be willing to vote for a Mormon.  A large number of people boycotted him at Liberty University’s graduation for his religious faith and I suspect they will for this as well.  Frankly, it’s very said that he is being singled out for his religious beliefs.

Lastly, it’s Memorial Day weekend when we remember those who have died in the service of our nation.  Let us pray for peace so the number of those who have died in the service of our nation can stop growing; and let us pray for the families of those who have lost loved ones.

10 Annoyances

10.People who are crossing busy street and walking slowly, on an angle.  I understand that very often people cannot walk fast, but there is no reason why they have to walk on an angle and take twice as long!

9.People who go to the drive through window and order Thanksgiving Dinner.  Ugh.

8.Situation comedies that aren’t even remotely funny.

7.Restaurants that serve margarine and call it butter.

6.People who slow down at green lights in case they turn yellow.

5.Endlessly inane ‘Pac’ commercials.

4.The Mike Pence commercial.  It is painful and corny and doesn’t remind me even remotely of the guy who spoke at the Hanover commencement four years ago.

3.Polls that indicate who is going to win the election in November pretending that, right now, they matter.

2.NFL speculation on how great teams look while jogging around in pads.  I mean, really?

1.All the whining of the Facebook IPO.  People are upset that they didn’t become rich over night.  Seriously?

10 Tech Things I’ve Learned

I’ve learned some tech things over the years.  Some of them are even valuable.

1.If you put a lot of apps on your Droid phone it sucks up memory and makes the phone more difficult to use.  I found myself deleting a lot of fancier apps and going with the native ones.  The phone works better.  Who’d have thunk it?

2.Blogspot changed its look a bit and I was having difficulty finding how to put a new post on there.  Then I discovered Windows Live Writer on my computers and found it works really well.  Who knew?

3.Microsoft Word isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.  Maybe I’m mellowing or maybe Word Perfect had too many bugs of late, but I’m not unhappy with Word.  Actually, me saying this might be a prediction of end times.

4.Windows XP was good.  Windows Vista was a disaster.  I don’t know if I’m excited about Windows 8.  To be honest, I’m tired of upgrading.

5.I just got Nuance PDF Editor 8.0 and it is the first one that switches into a word processing mode allowing you to edit PDF documents a lot easier.  Adobe Acrobat isn’t as easy to use and, wow, it is expensive.  Nuance PDF Editor is $99 and a bargain.

6.  All the fuss about the Facebook IPO.  Facebook has grown a lot and there was a lot of hype.  My sense is that it might be a good stock to buy and keep for a few years.  Everyone is upset because they aren’t overnight millionaires.  Well, Mark made out okay….

7. A program Swift-To-Do-List is, I think a shareware kind of program and it works really well.  The cost is reasonable.

8.I have found a lot of good programs come via shareware.  They work well, don’t have a lot of junk on them, and are inexpensive.  I actually do not object to purchasing these as the creators of these programs deserve to make a living.

9.I am convinced the federal government will, at some point, crack down and put limits on the Internet.  The Republicans are currently leading this charge, but I’m not sure the Democrats are going to prove to be any better.  A lot of money is coming into Congress from ‘regulators.’ 

10.  I still think Firefox is the best browser.

Spiritual But Not Religious : Part II

Yesterday I spoke about cynicism and some things wrong with organized religion.  Perhaps, better said, my opinion as to some things that may be wrong.  I am not going to attest to being an expert on people’s thoughts or feelings.

There are things that are right, however.  Many things.

For one, in most churches most of the time there is a serious intent on preach and teach  the Gospel with great seriousness and commitment.  We may not always agree with one another as to the truth of the Gospel, but most everyone is committed to being faithful to their faith, their traditions, and the Bible.  I have never met anyone who has ever stood before a congregation with the fervent hope of lying through one’s teeth about the Bible or God.  Most everyone tries to preach and teach with a sense of integrity.

This means that most every church has something to offer most people.  There may be a great deal we do not believe or fathom or even believe.  However, there are usually kernels of truth and goodness being offered. 

Secondly, prayer takes place.

I sometimes think we forget the importance of prayer.  When people gather for Worship and pray, there is something amazing and good that takes place.  The Bible teaches us that where two or three are gathered, God is with them. There is great power and great truth to this.  God being Worshiped and prayed to is potent and good.

Churches are incredibly fallible----each and everyone one of them.  But they do offer something good and worthwhile.  Sometimes it takes a while to find one where we may ‘fit,’ but, chances are, there is one!

Spiritual but not Religious: First in a Series of Observations

I have decided I want to make some observations on the largest growing ‘faith’ movement in the United States.  It is the group of people who call themselves ‘spiritual but not religious.’

Much has been written on this subject pro and con.  My observations are meant, hopefully, to be neutral enough for everyone to read, with the caveat that I have a bias.  I am the pastor of a church and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.  I happen to appreciate by denominational family and support it, so, I am biased.  Having said that, however, I like to believe that I have an open enough mind and heart to listen to people who have varying perspectives.

My first observation today is really an attempt to understand why people are giving up on religion.  I think one of the reasons is because of cynicism.  There is a great deal to be cynical about in organized religion.

One of the most commonly watched videos on You Tube right now is a segment of a sermon preached by Pastor Charles L. Worley, the pastor of Providence Road Baptist Church in Maiden, North Carolina.  A segment of it can be viewed here:

Sermon Portion

I find his words to be revolting, as I suspect the majority of people who watch this do as well. 

Does he speak for all Christians?  No.

Does he speak for most Christians?  No, I don’t believe so.  I cannot fathom most people believing that any group of people should be herded behind electrified fences because of sexual orientation.

The problem is that he does speak for some Christians.  People in his church were saying “AMEN!” while he was preaching.  Westboro Baptist Church pickets  funerals of service people killed in combat proclaiming the deceased soldier is going to hell.  Their website is entitled, “Godhatesfags,’ and they do exist. 

People get disgusted with this kind of behavior from ‘Christians’ and presume the worst, so they stay away.

In recent years the Roman Catholic Bishops have gone down new roads and are rapidly emptying the pews of their churches.  The road they are going down has as much to do about God as do burgers and fries, but they are busily on the road to somewhere, I’m not sure where.

They have become overtly political and seem to have made contraception a leading issue in the upcoming election.  Their claims of religious persecution, as real as three dollar bills, ring hollow to many.  Recent attacks on nuns and the Girl Scouts are, if nothing else, bizarre.  Additionally, like the Southern Baptist Convention, they have purged seminaries of even remotely progressive thinkers and many of their best and brightest are gone.

On the left, the background is different, but has comparable results.

There are many good things about social justice and a sense of welcoming has been amazing and good.  People who feel unwelcomed at many churches, when they even look, has been good.  However, the one big missing piece is often a devotional piece.  Often Worship and spirituality are so carefully done to not offend that they end up being incredibly bland and unexciting.  Often simple things like prayer and Bible Study are overlooked for other things.  It is easier to get people to serve at Soup Kitchen than it often is to get them to Sunday School of Bible Study.

Finally, there is the political component.  Politicians love to tell us how much God is on their side.  Ugh.

I suspect many people are finding themselves spiritual but not religious because religion is falling short in some ways.

Faith Statements, Confirmation Class, 2012 at St. Marks

These are the Faith Statements shared at Worship on May 20, 2012 at St. Marks United Church of Christ.

The speakers are:

Bailey Schneidau

Callie Oakes

Chance Miller

Josie Myers

Monday Musings

In the past few days two major music legends have died.  Robin Gibb, who with his brothers, made up the Bee Gees, and Donna Summer. Both of them died far too young from cancer.  They both left indelible marks on the world of music and will be missed.

I watched a report today on the Staples Center in Los Angeles.  The two NBA teams and one NHL team all share the Staples Center and all are currently in the playoffs.  This means they need to change from one basketball court, to an ice rink, back to another basketball court and it’s all a time crunch.  Plus, of course, cleaning the place, providing food for patrons, and traffic.  An amazing job is being done by so many people.

I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that our society is incredibly cruel.  The woman who tans herself in New Jersey, for many people’s perception too much, has become a subject of ridicule and even abuse.  She is constant fodder for news media and late night talk show hosts.  Whatever one feels about her, leave her alone.  She has a family she loves and people who love her  and no one needs to be the subject of such ridicule.

I had fun on National Pun Day.  I feel punned out at the moment, but I am sure I will get over it.

I am having an increasingly difficult time watching the news and politics.  It seems like most of the news is about trivial nonsense and since so much of the news is about covering politics, it is a sad reminder that much of our political process is about trivial nonsense.  I’m at a point of choosing to purchase seasons of television shows I have not watched and watching them, and movies, instead of commercial television.  The news and the endlessly awful political ads are a constant source of annoyance to me. 

Madden 13 is going to include Tim Tebow “Tebowing,” which is cool.  I wonder if they will include having the Chargers go 1-3 in their first four games, Rex Ryan getting in trouble with the press, and the Giants playing badly until Tom Coughlin is on the hot seat.  I wish they still made the Madden series for PC.  I love playing John Madden Football.

I discovered Windows Live Writer for my blogging.  I do not know how I have missed this, but it’s great. 

Speaking of Windows and Microsoft, I have been increasingly using Microsoft products, most especially MS Word after years of dedication to WordPerfect.  I’m liking it fine and it does work well, but I do wish the world had chosen WordPerfect over Word.  When I find something really difficult and cannot figure out how to do it  in Word, I go back to WP and do it and save it as a Word document.  Old habits die hard.

Tom Cruise is coming out as a rock star in a movie.  Could anything be more painful?  I mean, seriously.  Cruise is one of those performers who always plays himself.  That is not a criticism.  Clint Eastwood always plays himself.  John Wayne always played himself.  Clint Eastwood never played himself as a rock star.  He did sing, early in his career, in “Paint Your Wagon,” but he never grew long hair and played himself as a rock star.  No one could ever possibly fathom the Duke growing his hair long and being “John Wayne, Rock Star.”  I actually have enjoyed all these performers.  Seeing him in the coming attractions, however, is painful.

I do want to see “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.”  It looks like fun.

The television season is mostly over.  To me, the best new show this year is “Person of Interest.”  I find that show increasingly complex and interesting.  Speaking of shows, “Mad Men,” has been really, really dull this year.  The highlight of the year was Lane beating up Pete, but that is about it.

I am finding myself, when having to take a poll or purchasing something that asks for my age, being higher and higher on the ‘old’ ladder.  I’m trying to figure out when this happened…

The Next Generation

A few years ago I went to a lecture about generation cycles.  One of the premises was that the World War II generation really was the Greatest Generation.  I’d be hard pressed to say they weren’t.

Generations seem to go in cycles with different types of generations.  We now have a generation of young adults and young people and this person said that this group will be the next great  generation.  I am inclined to agree.

 

I am a Baby Boomer born pretty much right in the middle of the Baby Boom.  There are things I can say pro and con about my generation and other generations as well.  I am inclined to think there is good in every one of them but there is something special about this coming generation.

Every year I sit and listen to Faith Statements in church from these folks.  They are far, far ahead of where I was when I was in the 8th Grade.  They have levels of faith, and even more so, compassion than I did, perhaps still have.  They are much wiser than I was in the 8th grade and, I suspect, will be better adults.

They are loving in ways I never was and my generation wasn’t.  I do not say this flippantly or implying they are sexual.  Most of them are incredible modest,  fine people whose love encompasses other people.  My generation was grappling with racial issues this generation has never dealt with.  They see everyone as equal and there is no question about that.  In terms of acceptance of others, they embrace and accept others with a far greater ease than I did.  Much of who I am now was learned far later in life than them.

They also have a lower tolerance for nonsense and meaninglessness.  I am, of course, a big believer in organized religion and see much that is good within it.  At its best, of course, it serves God and not the institution.  For many, this is a struggle.  This generation not so much.  They do not get sucked into feeding institutions.  They simply don’t.  They remind us we are going to have to work harder.

A third thing is they value relationships greatly.  They see themselves humbly, as part of something bigger, and connection is important.

The lecturer, I believe was right.  Admire these young ones in our midst.  They may, in fact, be the next greatest generation.

The Tragedy of Depression

I have been reading about the suicide death of Mary Richardson Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert Kennedy, Jr.  It is a very sad story.

There are, of course stories about him and stories about her use of alcohol and drugs.  She had difficulties and a couple of arrests.  She also had lost every day custody of the children, from what I have read.  But underlying everything there seems to be another story, an explanation if you will, that is driving everything.  Mary Kennedy seems to have been suffering from severe and long term depression.

Several things about this whole story disturb me.

For one, there seems to be an almost fervent desire to make this story into a scandal.  There are stories of the Kennedy family tragedies, possible infidelity, as well as the stories of the drug use and alcohol usage.  Often lost in this, however, is the very sad reality that Mary Kennedy appears to have been suffering from depression for many years.  It is that illness that may have been behind marital problems, drug and alcohol issues, as well as her death.

Depression is a serious illness in our culture and it’s often an illness that people do not want to discuss.  People often perceive being depressed as a sign of personal weakness, or weakness of will, or a failure to be spiritual.  It is none of these things any more than any other disease comes from personal weakness or, poor will, or even spirituality.  Depression is a disease that afflicts many people and, unlike so many other diseases, people often choose not to be treated for depression.

People who get infections are usually perfectly willing to receive antibiotic treatments.  People who are diabetic are willing to be medicated, and high blood pressure is readily treated with medication.  People do not see their illnesses as a perception they are bad people in any way.  Everyone gets sick from something at some point.

But depression is often different.  People often believe that antidepressants are ‘happy pills’ that mask problems.  They are not.  They are effective medication to make depressed people feel normal.  No more and no less.  There ought not be any stigma attached to folks who are depressed or on medication for depression.

People like Mary Kennedy are people who were or are ill in our midst.  Her death ought not be sensationalized into some sense of scandal, but mourned.  She left behind four beautiful children and her family grieves for her loss.  She was a good person who suffered at the hands of a sinister and even deadly disease.

Ugh!

I was reading that there is a movement afoot to tie Barack Obama with Jeremiah Wright.  Whether you like Wright  or not, he was a very successful and excellent pastor in the United Church of Christ for a long time.  Flawed?  Of course, but every pastor is.  Evil?  Not at all, but in his last years he was perceived as becoming increasingly angry and increasingly ‘radical.’  It was, in so many ways, very sad to see his sort of self-destruct.

Having said all this, we will have one candidate who is Mormon and one candidate who went to a church many people didn’t approve of.  I’d really like to see this campaign not be about their religious faith.  Surely there are other issues to grapple with!!!