The Journey Continues

The Journey Continues

My Sabbatical journey continues and I am visiting my third (of three) monasteries. I am currently at St. Mary’s Abbey in Morristown, New Jersey.

St. Mary’s is the home of Delbarton High School and the Abbey is tucked away off Route 24 between Morristown and Mendham. I flew into Newark last night and ventured over here today. I took a ‘tour’ however, and saw where Janet used to live and where I used to live. It evoked many memories of my younger days. I stopped at the Chester Diner in Chester, New Jersey and had matzo ball soup and a Taylor ham, egg, and cheese sandwich on a hard roll. If you are not from New Jersey I cannot even begin to explain it. It was wonderful. I’m not sure if it was wonderful because it tasted good (it did) but because it was a meal of great memory.

The guest house here has only two guest rooms so they don’t have tons of overnight guests. One is not ignored here but greeted warmly and well. The man who runs the guest house and the monks have all been wonderful. Praying with them and dining with them was a rich and excellent experience. It helped, of course, that I attended seminary with one of the monks many years ago so it was like being with an old friend.

My one piece of wisdom for today is this. God is good.

The Failure of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev

April 15^th was a great day in Boston until two bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. There was death and destruction and chaos. There were also some amazing things that transpired.

The first was the amazing heroism of first responders. While so many people were fleeing the bomb blasts it was also painfully obvious that many people had been badly wounded. In the midst of the smoke, the chaos, and debris, first responders were running toward the spot of the blast. They didn’t know if there were going to be more bombs or shooters, or whatever. They ran toward the spot of the blast.

These were police officers, paramedics, fire department folks, a whole slew of people ran toward the bomb blasts. So often we overlook these people and there they were, serving and protecting the population. Civilians did also and lives were saved by the heroic efforts on the part of the people who defied logic and ran toward the danger rather than away. They were heroes of the day.

Secondly, personnel at the hospitals did an amazing job. They were facing a large number of grievously wounded people. Their heroic and skilled efforts kept the loss of life far lower than anyone could have imagined.

Thirdly, the investigative ability of law enforcement was amazing. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev went home and went about their business. Dzhokhar tweeted about the bombings like any other citizen, went to his dorm room, went to class, and went to parties. It really appears as if Dzhokhar and Tamerlan believed they had gotten away with it. They didn’t realize that law enforcement was busily putting pieces of the crime together----and then when they did realize it, the two brothers went into panic mode. A man was robbed of money from his ATM, a 7/11 was robbed, a police officer lost his life, as did Tamerlan. Dzhokhar was arrested, badly wounded, hiding out in a boat in Watertown. Excellent police work prevailed.

Fourth, the leaders of that region shut the city down. They were looking for Dzhokhar but they also believed they needed to keep people safe. Too many had already lost their lives and they did everything they could to protect everyone else, and they were successful.

Were there flaws? Of course. Initially, many news reports were inaccurate. It seems in the age of ‘instant news’ getting the story first is more important than getting the story right. There was a great deal of misinformation broadcast. Thankfully the networks acknowledged their errors and corrected themselves.

For the most part, even politicians behaved. Most had the good sense and decency to remain quiet and acknowledge there was nothing constructive they could add to the national conversation other than to offer prayers and support. A small number of them decided to announce that Dzhokhar, an American citizen, should be treated as an enemy combatant. They have already received too much attention for this bizarre idea and hopefully their words will be quickly put to rest. Thankfully, however, most people in public office have remained respectful and quiet. For this we can be ever thankful.

Something struck me over these past couple of weeks. I’ve was away and striving to grow spiritually and purposely looking for that which is good in the world around us. I have grown very cynical over the years and I’m working diligently to move beyond that. In my travels I had to fly.

Flying requires patience. Going through the TSA lines means emptying one’s pockets, removing the belt off of pants, (risking pants falling down), going through a scanner, and dealing with TSA officials who are often vilified. I found them to be polite and courteous. I saw no one being rude to these officials and I saw no rudeness on the part of any of the officials. When I was asked something I was asked politely and I responded in kind. I saw my behavior as not atypical. It was going on around me. I also realized, while in the plane, if anyone behaved badly, people would no longer ignore the person. Other passengers would rise up to protect themselves, one another, and the plane.

We have, as a nation, adjusted. Our world has changed and it is a more dangerous place. We can bemoan that fact and grouse about it, or we can recognize this as something beyond our control and live our lives. We seem to have adjusted. There are isolated incidents of people behaving badly, but they are isolated.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev killed and wounded many people. I’m only guessing, but somehow they decided they were going to devastate Boston and mortally wound a nation. Boston has proven to be stronger than the two brothers ever imagined and the nation goes on. Tamerlan is dead and Dzhokhar is in custody and in a hospital bed, badly wounded. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev failed to bring a city to its knees. And to me, that is the ultimate piece of good news in all this.

My Monastery Experience in New Mexico

I’ve been debating about posting this.  I journaled while at the Monastery of Christ in the Desert in New Mexico.  This may be a little crude to read and is really not proof-read in any way.  I decided, however, to share my journey.

Day 1

I’m not even sure where to begin with my experience today.  Last night I stayed at the Abiquiu Inn nd drove to Christ in the Desert.  It was about 15 miles from Abiquiu and then down a dirt road, another 13 miles.  The dirt road probably took me about half an hour.  I rented a 4 wheel drive vehicle; which was a good move.

Abiquiu is amazingly remote.  I had no cell signal approaching the town and none at the hotel.  I was able to access Internet at the hotel.  I am fairly certain I will be able to do so in the guest breakfast room as well.  The monastery is amazingly remote and rustic.  My room is tiny with no electricity.  I guess you can say it’s cozy.  I do have a heater in it and a battery operated lantern.  I also brought a flashlight; a good move.

Honestly, my initial reaction was to be freaked out.  Seriously so.  This place is in a magnificent canyon and the region is as remote as I have ever been.  I remember when we saw Merom, our Church Camp in Indiana, as ‘remote.’  This place makes Merom look like downtown someplace.  I believe I was on the verge of a panic attack.  I was able to catch my breath and now I am calmer.  I prayed in the chapel and read for a while and had a chance to get my bearings.  I’ll be fine.  I realize I can leave if I desire but I don’t want to do so.  This place is a challenge and I feel I need to spend my time here for the next few days.

Christ in the Desert is a place I learned about 10 years ago and have always wanted to come.  It was always a remote dream and my sabbatical and the subsequent grant, made what I thought to be impossible, possible.

Prayer time was good and lunch was quite interesting.  Unlike Saint Meinrad with the comparatively plush guest house and guest dining areas, at Christ in the Desert, guests eat with the monks.  The meal is silent with a reader reading spiritual reading.  Then some of the monks serve everyone.  The 1pm meal is the main meal of the day and it was abundant and quite good. 

It is silent here.  Very silent.  I believe I might enjoy the quiet joy of this place.  If I can endure.

Day 2

I had to sleep without by bipap machine last night and will have to do so for four more nights.  I was concerned I would not be able to sleep.  Thankfully, I slept decently.  I was only up once in the middle of the night.

Okay, in terms of too much information, here it goes.  I had to use the restroom in the middle of the night.  I’m in my late 50's and so this is no huge surprise.  Most people middle aged or older get up several times during the night.  The difference here is that the rest room is down the walk way, three rooms.  It is brisk out and so it was chilly, but the other thing is that night here is pitch black.  My room was pitch black and the outdoors was pitch black.  I have a feeble battery operated lantern they give guests and my flashlight.  Thankfully, the flashlight was very helpful.  I pride myself on having the ability to navigate in the dark, but the darkness here is overwhelming.  It is amazing to be surrounded by total darkness and silence. 

My ‘work detail’ today was putting labels and preparing batteries for solar powered lamps for the rooms.  The feeble lanterns are, I’m guessing, no more.  I doubt they will be missed very much.

Last night my wind down time was reading a novel.  Thankfully, I have a Kindle Fire which illuminates quite nicely. Reading a regular book in the dark would be impossible.  I will need to bring that to the guest breakfast room to charge later today.

Today I cut myself a bit of a break and didn’t go to Lauds or Mass.  I really do not get into Mass very much as Holy Communion is not available for we Protestant heathens.  If I could leave after the homily, I’d be thrilled.  I prayed Lauds later in the morning right before Terce.  Tomorrow, I will be there at 5:45AM for Lauds and Mass, however.  They have Vigil at 4:00AM and I think I will pass on that.

Christ in the Desert is a Benedictine monastery and it reminds me more of a Trappist monastery.  Saint Meinrad has a very active outside ministry where as Christ in the Desert does not.  They pretty much stay on premises and pray the Liturgy of the Hours seven times, which is the same as the Trappists.  They also do all 150 Psalms each week.

Saint Meinrad has their own unique chant where as Christ in the Desert uses classic Gregorian Chant.  Whereas Saint Meinrad has a large, magnificent church, the church here is actually very tiny.  Behind the altar is a clear window that has a magnificent view of a cliff.  The stark simplicity of the church blends well with the landscape.

Yesterday I was unsure of my ability to stay here.  I’m soft and this place is for hearty people.  Between the thin air, being overweight, and having bad knees, the hill from the guesthouse to the common area and church was just not doable.  I’ve taken to driving it and while I feel badly about that, it’s making my stay here a ton easier.  Staying here is roughing it no matter how one chooses to slice it.  I’ve gotten myself into a good spot.  I got the gas heater to adjust to my comfort level.  Last night I went from really cold to really hot and then finally found the happy medium.  My Kindle helped me read at night and my cell phone worked fine as an alarm clock.  I had purchased a battery operated clock but the ticking was making me crazy.  I found I can e-mail Janet once a day and so I’m pretty much settled in.  I’ve been here for 24 hours and I’m allowing the adventure of each day to handle itself.  This is, however, extremely difficult.  I’m surrounded by dirt everywhere I go and the feeling of isolation is very present.

Kathleen Norris read once that Americans are a society of optimism and denial.  We think, we hope, we even pray for the best, but do not accept it when it is not what we had hoped and prayed for.  She says this in reference to the Psalms which are always real; even painfully real.

This really struck me as true.

While doing Lectio this morning I was contemplating the Lord’s Prayer and God as Father.  Does God get annoyed with us?  Sure.  Does God even not love us or forgive us?  I thought about my daughters and wondered what it would take for me to not love them.  Do I get annoyed with them?  Yes, of course.  But not love them?  I can’t imagine that.  It reminds me that God loves us simply because we are His children.

Day 3

Today, finally, the sun is out.  It’s still a bit chilly, but the sun is out.  The gloominess of the weather, and the cold of the outdoor’s was really annoying yesterday.

Last night I slept as  well as I can without my bipap machine.  I only had to get up once during the night which was good on one hand, but not good on the other.  The altitude means that you need to drink more water.  The water from the tap is full of sulfa and smells awful.  I may have to break down and purchase the bottled water they are selling in the gift shop.  I’m guessing they sell the water because guests can’t hand the tap water.  Ugh.

I was, again, astounded by how dark it gets at night.  After I turned everything off I put my hand in front of my face, probably just a few inches, to see if I could see it.  I couldn’t.  When I opened the door to use the restroom last night, I was again reminded of how amazingly dark it is here.

Last night I was sleeping and awakened by a terrifying sound.  It was a coyote howling.  Then other coyotes began to howl.  One coyote was amazingly close.  I was happy that I have a door to my room (which opens to the outside) and that it was shut and locked.  The building is adobe style and there is an adobe wall around us.  In fact there is a wall and gates around the entire guest house compound.  I’m thinking I have a better understanding as to why there is a wall.  I did, however, when I used the rest room, use my flashlight to have a good look around for beady eyes looking to pounce on me.

Today as I was driving back to my room from the common area I had to stop and wait for some cattle to cross the road.  They obviously belong to a rancher as they all had tags on their ears. 

By the way, for those who are wondering, the cattle crossed the road to get to the other side.

I’ve spent a significant amount of time in the chapel praying and reading.  I was struck, looking out the window at the side of the cliff, that there are evergreen trees growing in the cliff.  They are scattered and many of them look surprisingly hearty.  I find it amazing that these trees can grow on the side of a cliff.

The vegetation here is sage brush and evergreens, as well as many things I’ve never seen.  The region here is obviously very mountainous and rocky and amazingly dry. 

This monastery is very small.  The monks are not very friendly and will talk, seemingly grudgingly  in small doses to guests.  I asked one of them how many there are and he said that when everyone is home, there are 25 of them.  Meals are a very unique experience.  Breakfast is available for the guests in a separate room, in silence.  They have a variety of things to choose from; the only complaint I have is that it’s all instant coffee.  I’ve adjusted a bit.

Lunch is served at 1pm and is the main meal of the day.  The monastic superiors sit at a table in front, the monks sit at a long table facing the center of the room to the superiors’ right, and the guests sit, again facing the center of the room, to the superior’s left.  There is a prayer ritual to start the meal and then everyone is seated.  A reader reads from a short section of the Bible, and then begins to read another book.  Then a group of monks serve everyone.  They bring a surprising array of dishes around to everyone and offer each serving to us.  It’s very humbling as they come and bow before you.  They eat no meat from four legged animals and it’s been pretty much southwestern food.  My first meal was chicken enchilada’s and yesterday was some sort of southwestern chicken sausage with potatoes and peppers.  Rice is served at every meal as there are many Asian monks.  Red beans are served at every meal as this is, of course, the Southwest.

At the end of the meal, a reading comes from the Book of Martyrs, there is a closing prayer, and the monks process into the monastery.  We go off and do our thing.

Supper is a buffet and is generally made up of leftovers from lunch.  If you didn’t like lunch, you won’t like supper.  Everyone does their own thing and music is played in the background and everyone eats in silence.

It is light enough to shave and shower and then in an hour I’m going on a brewery tour.  The monks make beer, Monk’s Ale, ‘made with care and prayer.’

I went on the tour.  It was a long walk up and down hills in this canyon and they have a tiny brewing set up.  I believe they have another one in Santa Fe they use as well.  Brother Christian gave us the tour and gave us samples of Monks’ Ale and Monks’ Wit.  Both were good, but I enjoyed the ‘Wit’ better.  There were two other ‘select’ brews as well.  They are growing their own hops right here in the canyon.  It was a bit early for beer but I think I had all of about 4 ounces so I’ll get over it.  The walk exhausted me.  Being very out of shape in thin air.....  Yikes!

There is a monk who seems to be something of a hermit.  He works outdoors all day and has been hard at work in the hop field.  I’ve never seen him in chapel or at any of the meals.  He comes in, sees if anyone wants to dig holes (Not me!), and goes out and works.  One of the guests asked him if he is aware of the headlines.  He said simply, “Nope, but I did hear we have a new Pope.”

Without making any sort of judgment on his choice I was thinking about myself.  Would I be happy not knowing what is going on in the world?  Right now, hear at the Abbey, I am on the Internet about 10 minutes and I’m using all the time to read e-mail from Janet and to send her an e-mail as well.  I know the U of L men won and the U of L women lost, but that is about all.  I suspect the monks do not watch much, if any television.  They do have a satellite dish, but that may just be for the Internet and phone.  Cable does not run here.

Their entire power supply comes from solar.  They have solar panels set up to collect sunlight and convert it into electricity.  This place is 13 miles off the highway and the highway isn’t near very much as well.

I’m going to have to take my laptop up to the common area and breakfast room to plug it in and get it charged again.  My delightful travelogue has been a joy to write, but I’m soon running out of juice.

I’m amazed at reliance on basic technology.  Electricity is something we use each and every day and really do not think about.  My cell phone goes on at night and it’s simply as an alarm clock.  I have it in ‘airplane’ mode so it doesn’t seek a non-existent signal.  How many times a day do I check or use my cell?  Countless.  Reading e-mail once a day is also a change.  Not watching or reading the news?

Sometimes I wish I didn’t know what was going on in the world.  It is often seriously depressing or exasperating.  I’m also aware, however, that my ministry very much involves interacting with and engaging the world around me.  The monks here do not do that.  They set themselves apart and pray for a world they know very little about.  To them, that knowledge appears to make little difference.  Perhaps they are right.  It really doesn’t matter, however, what my opinion is.  I do know that when they prayed in thanksgiving for the safe arrival of their guest, that guest being made, it felt good to know they prayed for me and cared.  Maybe that is all that really matter is that people care enough to pray for us and with us.

Sitting in the chapel, chanting Psalms is a unique experience.  The Psalms are a section of the Bible people do not really engage a great deal.  We all know and love Psalm 23 and maybe Psalm 150 with all the praising of God.  When we feel rotten about ourselves, Psalm 51 comes in handy, but we often don’t think of the Psalms a great deal.

On monasteries they chant Psalms every day and they chant every single Psalms.  At Christ in the Desert they chant all 150 Psalms every week.  Even if you are here for only a part of the week, and only at some of the prayer times, one gets a full dose of Psalms.

Some of the Psalms are not a lot of fun.  In Psalms 135 and 136 which we just chanted, we ‘celebrate’ God destroying Sihon King of the Amorites and Og the King of Bashan.  Psalm 137 ends with the hopeful anticipation of crushing the skulls of Babylonian babies against the rocks.  Hard to celebrate stuff like that, but that seems to be part of what the Psalms are about.

Something I admire about monks is that they pray the rough parts of the Bible that I really don’t like to look at.  My faith journey often revolves around goodness and kindness and being ‘nice’ to other people.  Crushing the skulls of babies and celebrating the death of rulers is not something I generally applaud.  I keep thinking how horrible some people have been, but we generally don’t write hymns about killing Bin Laden...

The Psalms remind us that sometimes life is ugly and that the Bible actually reflects life, good, bad, and ugly.

I was put off today by some rudeness from one of the monks first toward a guest and then toward another monk.  Seriously?

Now a big surprise.  Tomorrow is some sort of ‘desert day.’  There is basically nothing happening at all.   Pretty much all the guests have gone.  Meals are ‘optional’ for Friday.

I can’t say I’m feeling good here.  I’ve been to Saint Meinrad multiple times and have loved it.  I went to the Abbey of Gethsemani, a Trappist monastery, and loved it.  I am not loving it here.  It’s not the silence that is a problem it’s the incessant dirt around me and the isolation and a lack of a place to sit, read, and pray.  There are so few spots to be able to do this.  And, on one hand, while the monks serve people, and they really do serve the guests, they also seem very disengaged.  It’s strange because I don’t even have a sense of their engagement to one another. I’ve never experienced this before.

Day Four

Last night was a night of incredible discouragement.  Not being able to call home, being 13 miles away from a road, and seemingly cut off from the universe got to me.  It was also the lack of fitful sleep.  I use a bipap machine at night for breathing as I have sleep apnea.  Not having power has meant I have not been able to use the machine and, frankly, it’s getting to me.  I’ve been able to sleep in one to two hour intervals and I’m exhausted.

I found myself struggling to pray.  The dirt, the isolation, the disconnection just became overwhelming.  I decided to leave and head to Santa Fe.

I got up, packed, and left at 7am.  I simply did not feel I could leave before it was light enough to see the road that winds, in spots, on the side of a cliff.  It is breathtakingly beautiful, but an unpaved road without guardrails makes a mistake potentially fatal.  It took me 45 minutes to make the trip down the road.  Hitting paved road was amazing.  In 15 miles was Abiquiu and a gas station/general store.  The breakfast sandwiches all were various breakfast combinations with green chili and so I bought a muffin.  I also bought a large cup of REAL coffee.  Heaven.

About 30 minutes later I had a cell phone signal and called Janet and told her, “I escaped!!!”  She was happy.  She was very concerned about me and could sense my sense of isolation.  We were able to talk and catch up and I began to feel good.

I drove to Santa Fe.  I had hotel reservations for Sunday and Monday and I checked to see if I could get a room earlier.  I did and it felt great.  I needed a shower and I needed to shave.  I felt dirty.

I did some sight seeing in Old Santa Fe. I visited their Cathedral and the Loretto Chapel and it’s amazing stairway up to the choir loft.  I walked around a bit and went back to the hotel.  I prayed, read, and did laundry.

I decided to eat at a small Mexican restaurant next door to my hotel.  I always stay at Hampton Inn and they hardly ever have restaurants.  In any case, I checked out restaurants on my phone using YELP.  The two closest were a little Mexican place that people said was very genuine and Olive Garden.  Why would I go to Olive Garden in Santa Fe?  I went to the Mexican place.

For a long time I was the only non-Hispanic person in there.  I ordered something simple.  Frankly, even though I eat at Mexican restaurants a good bit, I didn’t know what half the things on the menu were.  I was asked if I wanted my enchiladas covered with red chili or green chili.

I’ve heard about New Mexican green chilis.  It is the state dish of sorts and restaurants live and die on their ability to create great green chili sauce.  I wanted to try this, but, in all honesty, I was scared.  The salsa on the chips was their mildest and I was using it sparingly and gingerly.  Their definition of ‘mild’ and mine were way off. I asked about the green and red chilis, with both the server and I mixing it up with her bad English and my bad Spanish.  We finally settled on a bowl of green and red on the side.  She told me the green was hotter.

The red was very hot and the green was very hot. I used them sparingly.  They were good, but they were, as I said, hot.

I talked to Janet via Skype so we were actually able to see one another.

My goal is to read and sleep with my bipap on.  I’m starting to breathe again.  Christ in the Desert and I were not a match made in Heaven.  Staying there three nights was one of the most difficult things I have ever done.

Day Five

I don’t think I moved for 10 ½ hours last night.  I never woke up.  (This is not all good.  The altitude of Santa Fe is 7000 feet and I need to drink more.)

This morning I went down and enjoyed breakfast and relished in real coffee.  It was awesome.

I spoke to Janet and changed and went down to the pool and did morning prayers and read one of my sabbatical books on hospitality.  I swam some, sat in the hot tub a while and felt good.  I did some more reading after a shower and getting dressed and then out.

I explored Santa Fe a bit and went to the Zia Diner, which was once on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives.  It was good, a bit pricey, but good.  It may call itself a diner, but it is really a very nice restaurant.  I enjoyed it.

I did some more exploring, more reading, and more praying.  I spoke to Janet again.  Slow, easy day.  I’m starting to feel at peace again.  I’m excited about tomorrow morning as I’m going to attend The United Church of Santa Fe at 11:00AM.  It is great to have a congregation of the United Church of Christ close at hand. I feel a great need to Worship with my own denominational family tomorrow.

Day Six
I visited the United Church of Santa Fe and had a wonderful experience.  Worship was excellent and the sermon was spot on.  The Associate Pastor preached and he spoke of mission as something that is best not something ‘one and done,’ but developing long term relationships with people we serve.  Perfect!

The greeters of the church did an outstanding job.  My visit to a United Church of Christ congregation in New Mexico was A+!

Tim’s Place

 

I go home tomorrow from my great western adventure. I have been in Denver, Abiqui, the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque. Tomorrow morning I get on a plane bright and early in the morning and fly home. I am very much looking forward to being home; even though it’s not all that long before I begin the next leg of my journey to New Jersey. New Jersey, however, is easy. I’m from there so the state is not a huge mystery.

Dining has been an interesting adventure for me. There are state birds, state mottos, state plants, etc., but New Mexico has a state question: “Red or green?” The ‘red or green’ refers to the chili you want on top of your main dish. For my money, the red is really hot and the green makes the red look mild. I’ve learned to answer the question with the phrase, “on the side, please.”

While in Santa Fe I went to Zia Diner, made famous on “Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives.” It was good. It’s a very nice place, actually pretty upscale, and the food was good. I can’t say it was amazing, but it was good. No complaints. I made my way through a variety of modestly priced places and enjoyed it.

Today, in Albuquerque, there was one place I had to try. It is Tim’s Place.

I learned about Tim’s Place watching the news one night. NBC News had a final, ‘feel good’ story about a young man in Albuquerque named Tim Harris. Tim is 27 years old and a graduate of Eastern New Mexico University where he majored in Food Service, Office Skills, and Restaurant Hosting. He has also one dozens of gold medals in the Special Olympics. Tim has Down’s Syndrome and he had a dream. He wanted to own a restaurant.

With his parent’s help he opened a restaurant in 2010.

Tim is not the manager of the restaurant or the cook. Tim is the host. And his hosting is part of the reason the idea of him actually owning a restaurant took place. Tim worked as a host at a Red Robin restaurant in Albuquerque and his hosting ability had a dramatic impact on the business. Tim was an excellent host.

When you enter Tim’s Place the first person you encounter is Tim. He greets you with a warm handshake or hug and welcomes you and gets you seated. He periodically comes by to assure all is well. Whenever anyone comes to the front door, however, Tim makes a beeline to the door. NOTHING distracts him from welcoming people to Tim’s Place. The first person you meet is Tim and the last person you talk to is Tim. Tim is the gracious host.

In a journey of hospitality I’ve encountered monks, a United Church of Christ congregation, a variety of restaurants and hotels, and Tim stands out as something and someone very, very special.

Tim’s Place has good food, but they have a great host in Tim.

Sabbatical Journey

The ‘journey’ portion of my Sabbatical is in full throttle.  I flew into Denver on Friday.  I connected with Alyson Spiess and her little boy Baraka.  I taught Alyson in high school in the early 1980’s and haven’t seen her in 30 years. It was great catching up.  She gave me a whirlwind tour of Denver on Saturday and today we went up into the mountains.  She and her son went skiing and I hung out at the lodge and did some major reading and then spent time in a heated pool that was both inside and out.  This was at the base of a skiing mountain so one could be in the pool, outdoors, and watch the skiers right in front of you.

The picture I posted is  the view from the pool.

The Rocky Mountains are amazing.  No pictures can capture how incredible they are.  Just being there was a spiritual experience, in and of itself.

One thing I learned, and wow, it is a hard lesson not to learn.  The air is thin and it makes a difference.  Denver is ‘mile high’ and it is easy to get winded.  Heck, it’s easy for me to get winded ordinarily.  Going up into the mountains, and Alyson said we were up 10,000 feet, the air is amazingly thin.  I shall sleep well tonight.

The above photo is one of Alyson and me in front of Mile High Stadium in Denver.  It is the home of the Denver Broncos who were crushed by the New York Giants in the 1986 Super Bowl by a score of 39-20.  It is really just next to the downtown and is very different from what I expected.

Tomorrow I begin the trek to Abiquiu, New Mexico.  After a night at the Abiquiu Inn I shall be spending 5 days at Christ in the Desert Monastery.  I suspect, though I’ll probably journal, there  won’t be much information from there.  I’m skeptical on Internet access.  But who knows?

Inflicting Others

I wonder why it is that human beings feel a need to inflict pain on other people. We are often bewildered by predator animals that kill for food. They do not, however, kill or maim or inflict harm for fun. They do it merely to survive.

I find myself vexed by the Coach Rice at Rutgers. Once the videos of him swearing vulgarities, gay slurs, and throwing the ball and hitting players, one had to know his days as a coach were numbered. His team was not very good. He either recruited badly or coached badly, or did something that fell short of having a good team. I have no clue, however, as to why he had to inflict pain on others.

More stories have come out about Adam Lanza the killer at Newtown. He was troubled, to be sure. His mother has been critiqued as being in denial or out of touch with the reality of his mental illness. He was, however, in the midst of all this, loved. His mom tried. Before we are overly critical of her we also need to recognize that she was also his first victim. It is not like she got out of this scott free or with no consequences. Despite her efforts to raise her son and in the midst of failures which I am sure she felt, she was murdered in her bed. The rest was a horror story of brutality.

James Holmes, the killer in Aurora, Colorado asked to plead guilty to be spared the death penalty. While he is probably the poster child for the death penalty, which I happen to think, is immoral but that is a whole different story, his request was denied. Now there will be a long trial and he sit on death row for many years through countless appeals. I wish they’d have accepted the plea deal and let him sit in jail for the rest of his life. His death will bring no resolution of grief and will not provide the closure so many people are longing for. People who have lost loved ones to violence no there really is no closure to this.

Now North Korea is breathing threats of violence and the rest of the world is poised to answer these threats of violence with more violence. In the Middle East the region is filled, as it often is, with regime changes and violence. So many people die every day.

It is all sad and heartbreaking. It truly is.

In this Easter Season we embrace the resurrected Christ in our midst. We do so at least for a day. On Easter Sunday churches were packed and filled with excitement. This coming Sunday many churches will be, again, half full as Easter is over.

Easter is a reminder to us of something. Often we think of Easter and Jesus and think of our seeking God. Perhaps the Easter story is less a story of us seeking God, and more a story of God seeking us and providing us an example of incredible love. That love is something sorely lacking in a society so ready and willing to inflict pain and suffering on others.

Sabbatical Journey Day 9

I don’t have that much to report.  I’ve been home several days now and getting into the rhythm of being home.  Nothing much exciting to say, but I do have some random thoughts.

First, not watching television and most especially ‘the news’ was such a blessing.  If you ever had a doubt that our political process is insane and irresponsible, take a few days off from it and see it with new eyes.  The House passed a budget that has no chance of becoming the budget.  The Senate passed a budget that has no chance of becoming a budget.  Both sides have buried their positions on concrete.  It’s like a double siege; two armies sitting in forts waiting for the other side to come out of their fort and neither side actually doing anything to the other to actually make them want to come out of their fort.  Everyone is well fed, plenty of to drink and there is no danger….except to the nation that has been hung out to dry.  Thanks leaders!

The two Popes met for lunch today.  Interesting meeting, I would imagine.  They both knelt to pray and the only thing I could think of was who was going to say ‘all done’ first?  I wonder if it became a ‘holiness competition.’

I was reading the other day about becoming great at humility.  It sounds rather oxymoronic to be ‘great’ at humility.

NBC seems to be sending Jay Leno out to pasture.  I was thinking that they did the same thing with Ann Curry and that worked out so well for them.  They seem to have an inability to deal gracefully with personnel transitions.

Meanwhile, some show interviewed Joan Rivers about Leno.  Joan Rivers has made a career of being nasty to people and saying nasty things about people.  She also hates Leno.  This gave her an opportunity to say venomous things about Jay Leno.  I hate when people feel a need to share venom; and even worse, for networks to encourage it.

In hearing about how poorly our veterans are being, and I use the phrase carefully, ‘cared for,’ after two wars, is a disgrace.  Politicians LOVE to send young people to war, regardless of the cost to those young people, and then show no willingness to care for those who were so grievously damaged by the way.  They do, however, LOVE to wear American flag lapel pins to show how patriotic they are, however…

And, let’s see. Lindsey Lohan was in court again today and Tiger Woods is dating Lindsey Vonn.  Why did we need to know this?

Sabbatical Journey Day 5

 

I have been mulling something since Sunday. I went to Mass at the Abbey and the homily was excellent. Of course, the Table was closed. The Table of the Lord was not open to those people who are not Roman Catholic.

In the midst of great hospitality, which I have received, and the spirit of most monasteries, there would seem to have a desire to fulfill the hearts and minds and spirits of all people who come in the door. When one has a feast and one invites people to the feast, it is presumed that all those invited will be welcome at the table. In this case, ‘sorry Charlie….”

People who are not Roman Catholic are always invited to come forward and when they get to the priest, cross their arms and instead of giving the person Holy Communion, the priest then gives the person a blessing. To me this is like, “Hey, glad you are here at the feast and I won’t feed, you, but I sure will greet you well!” I stayed in my seat. Frankly, it seems pretty patronizing to me.

Truthfully, the Roman Catholic Church has a different teaching on Holy Communion than Protestant churches do. This is certainly true, but does access to the Table of the Lord demand absolute adherence to a church’s theological perspective? Did I miss when theological perspectives over took faith? Did I miss in Jesus’ commissioning of eating his body and blood had the addition of a theological litmus test? I wonder what Jesus’ answer would have been at the Last Supper if someone had queried him about transubstantiation…

Did I miss, perhaps most of all, when the Table of the Lord morphed into the table of the church? When did it happen that this was no longer God’s Table, but now belonged to a church which had the right to pick and choose who came to dine?

I am a minister of the United Church of Christ for a variety of reasons. One is this. When we say the words, “No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey,” we mean them. When we invite you to the feast, you are always welcome at the Table of the Lord. After all, it’s only hospitable to do so.

Sabbatical Journey Day 4

 

This is my 4^th day at the monastery. Needless to say, I’ve spent a lot of time alone. I’ve had spiritual direction for an hour each day and today was the last day for that. Prayer time has been alone or in the church with the monks, but largely alone. I am working my way into a pattern.

One of the things I have been doing is reading and reflecting on the Rule of St. Benedict. His rule was written in the 6^th century and so it’s been around a while. His rule is interesting and, in many ways, is a classic rule on how people can live with one another and grow as people and as Christians.

Benedict sweated out details because he is looking to make life disciplined for people, but not so difficult that it becomes impossible to live.

These is part of Chapter 39,

We think it sufficient for the daily dinner,
whether at the sixth or the ninth hour,
that every table have two cooked dishes
on account of individual infirmities,
so that he who for some reason cannot eat of the one
may make his meal of the other
Therefore let two cooked dishes suffice for all the brethren;
and if any fruit or fresh vegetables are available,
let a third dish be added.

Let a good pound weight of bread suffice for the day,
whether there be only one meal or both dinner and supper.
If they are to have supper,
the cellarer shall reserve a third of that pound,
to be given them at supper.

But if it happens that the work was heavier,
it shall lie within the Abbot's discretion and power,
should it be expedient,
to add something to the fare.

Benedict wants people to have options because he knows that people can be picky. He also does not tell people that they must starve themselves to be monks. While he does, later on, have an admonition about heating meat from animals with four legs, he really isn’t interested in people fasting themselves miserably.

But that’s not really the point that has struck me as so fascination. Look at the last words:

But if it happens that the work was heavier,
it shall lie within the Abbot's discretion and power,
should it be expedient,
to add something to the fare.

There are always exceptions to the rule. He goes into great detail in the Rule to explain how the Psalms should be ordered and prayed. Then he ends it with, unless someone has a better idea, than use the better idea.

It reminds me of Jesus indicating that the Sabbath is for people, not people for the Sabbath. Rules, and the Rule is a guideline made for people and there are always exceptions to the rule. Whether one is a monk or a person of faith, no matter which faith one belongs to, the ‘rules’ are not there for their own sake, but to help us have guidelines for our growth. Everyone needs to live in some parameters, but the parameters need to be flexible.

Benedict remembered that he was a person with faults writing for people with faults. It’s a good lesson we all need to accept about ourselves.

Sabbatical Journey Day 3

One of the early Priors of the Carthusian Order, Dom Guigo wrote: Reading seeks, meditation finds, prayer asks, contemplation feels.

There are times when I get the impression that God is trying to tell me something. I was listening to a DVD by Tobias Colgan, one of the monks at Saint Meinrad and he cited this from Guigo. Last night, while reading the book A Litany of Little Hours again, the quote, Reading seeks, meditation finds, prayer asks, contemplation feels.

There is much to ponder.

Reading does seek. Sometimes we seek entertainment and we read books that may entertain us. Often, we read to learn things. We seek to learn and we seek to understand, and so we learn from reading. Often when we need to know an answer to something we seek it; and we often seek it by reading.

In the spiritual life, however, reading is not really adequate. If we read Scripture for example and we read it to ‘seek’ that is all well and good. However, if one approaches the Bible with any sense of humility and even reality, there is one thing evident about reading the Bible. The Bible often asks more questions than it answers. I have, over the years, listened to numerous sermons preached on the Parable of the Prodigal Son and am amazed at all the different takes people have on one story. I actually disagree with most people on how this story ought to be interpreted and so it always strikes me that so many people can disagree on what is, at face level, a simple story.

But meditation is that which finds. When we read we seek, but we really do not begin to find what we are looking for until we take the time to be still and reflect. When we meditate we begin to reflect on the words we have read and begin to understand how those words impact us. Those of us who preach often read the Scripture for the following Sunday, and read about it, but, at least in my case, it takes me a few days before I actually write something. A lot of time is spent meditating and pondering what those words mean. That is learning to find what we are looking for.

Then there is prayer. Prayer asks. Please God, help me….. Fill in the blanks. Please God, forgive me…. Please God, can you do something about the weather? There are all kinds of prayer, thanksgiving, praise, and petition. We often petition God. We ask. We may not always ask for ourselves and we may pray for others, but we usually always ask God. This is a good thing, by the way. I suspect if we are always asking for a new car it may not be all that great, but asking for God with open hearts and minds is a good thing.

Then there is contemplation feels…..

Contemplation is often using a breath prayer, or mantra, or focusing on an image and being completely still and empty before God. According to Guigo, this is the one way we actually feel the presence of God.

I have a lot of ponder…

The Loving Kindness and Mercy of Jesus Not Being Present

The last few days I have been at a monastery on retreat. In praying and reading I have been encountering and embracing the loving goodness, mercy, and kindness of God. Today I listened to a brilliant sermon about how Jesus was the only person who looked at the woman caught in adultery as a person. To others she was objectified as either a dirty sinner, an object lesson, or, in actuality, bait for Jesus to make a false move.

I’ve watched little news. One of the biggest news stories has been the election of Pope Francis who has been a remarkable witness to the loving goodness, mercy, and kindness of Jesus. His thoughtful humility has been refreshing. My hope and prayer is that his message of grace and charity is one that permeates large amounts of discussion.

Several things in the world of politics were noteworthy, I would imagine.

One was Rob Portman changing his mind about gay marriage. He said the other day:

"I'm announcing today a change of heart on an issue that a lot of people feel strongly about that has to do with gay couples' opportunity to marry. I've come to the conclusion that for me, personally, I think this is something that we should allow people to do, to get married, and to have the joy and stability of marriage that I've had for over 26 years. That I want all of my children to have, including our son, who is gay. "

This was not a political statement, this was totally personal. His son is gay and he loves his son and wants everything in life for his son. He changed his position on the subject.

The response to him has been, in part, something very troubling brings me to the other observation. CPAC met this week. This is not a Republican group as much as it is a ‘conservative group’ within the party. I’m not sure it should be called CPAC as much as MPAC, with M being mean.

Many people responded to Portman telling him is he ungodly and unchristian and going to hell. There was not much of the loving goodness, mercy, and kindness of Jesus in many messages and responses to Portman.

At CPAC the loving goodness, mercy, and kindness of Jesus was not in session. Mean was in session. Some people spoke of their concern over some of the issues of the day. Whether one agrees with them or not is really not my concern. Many said it was ‘red meat,’ but I greatly disagree. It was a lot of mean spirited rhetoric. Jeb Bush, to his credit, did not fall into this trip when he said, "We're associated with being anti-everything . Way too many people believe that Republicans are anti-immigrant, anti-woman, anti-science, anti-gay, anti-worker. Many voters are simply unwilling to choose our candidates because those voters feel unloved, unwanted, and unwelcome in our party.”

He didn’t get nearly the applause lines that other people received. Many of those other people mocked and barbed people they did not agree with. It wasn’t so much political, it was personal. In many of the speeches, ‘Christian values’ were raised, minus the loving goodness, mercy, and kindness of Jesus.

There is no justice without mercy and there is no Gospel without the love, the mercy, and the kindness of Jesus at the center.

Over the years I have been mean to others and have used some amazingly cutting barbs, mostly written, at others. I’ve shared them on Facebook and probably on here. I regret that. The more I ponder being a person of faith the more aware I am that unless we embrace and live the loving kindness and mercy of Jesus, we are missing the mark.

Sabbatical Journey, Day 2

Some thoughts in terms of reflection and spiritual direction.

One connection that was made for me yesterday, and is resonating with me is the connection between the word ‘disciple’ and the word ‘discipline.’  I believe myself to be, and I strive to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  I am also, however, an incredibly undisciplined person.  To be a disciple of Christ requires a certain amount of discipline and that is something I greatly lack.  It is, obviously something I will be working on.

A second thought, something I have always felt, but never really put into words is seeing all people we encounter in a Christocentric way. This is a fancy way of saying that we see Christ in all people; and we treat people the way we would treat Christ.  There are, of course, lots of implications with this.

The third thought comes from reading the Rule of St. Benedict.  Benedict believed in moderation.  In my reading it is likened to the Talmud whereas if a person moves too far into the cold, one will freeze to death. If a person moves to far into the heat, the person will be burned to death.  The wise path is to walk in the center.

In our day and age of extreme polarities, it would seem that the center is the wisest place to be.

Sabbatical Journey, Day 1

I put this down as day 1 but I am not going to necessarily update this every day.  But today begins the journey.

I have been off for close to two weeks. I took two weeks of my vacation as a time to decompress before beginning this journey in earnest.  I have, however, been reading and reflecting a good bit.

I have done some odd reading, to be sure.  I read Mary Johnson’s An Unquenchable Thirst, which is the story of her 20 years as a Missionary of Charity.  This is the religious order of nuns founded by Mother Teresa.  Johnson’s journey was difficult and she left after 20 years for a whole host of reasons.  She does not view Mother Teresa in an unkind light by any stretch of the imagination.  There were times Johnson was frustrated, but she’s pretty honest that this is her frustration more than anything else.  Still in all, the book sadly concludes with her pretty much losing her faith.  It reminded me of Through the Narrow Gate by Karen Armstrong. Armstrong began a long journey away from faith and has found herself a believer, again.  Interesting book, to say the least.

I am currently reading Joan Chittister’s book, The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century which is very much a part of my Sabbatical plan.  I’m also reading the book entitled, An Infinity of Little Hours:  Five Young Men and Their Trial of Faith in the Western World’s Most Austere Monastic Order.  This book was written by Nancy Klein Maguire and is the journey of give young monks in a Carthusian Charterhouse (a type of monastery) in England in the early 1960’s.  A Charterhouse type of monastery is a monastery that is really a collection of hermitages.  Carthusian monks are hermits who live in their own cells, but all under one roof.  They speak very, very little and their lives are austere.  Under my spiritual director here, I have watched the first half of a very fascinating movie, Into Great Silence.  The movie is set at the Charterhouse in France and is fascinating.  I haven’t seen the entire movie as of yet, but it is essentially a slice of life with the Carthusians.  It is visually amazing, but it’s a documentary and has virtually no speaking.

I am not a monk and will never been a monk so one might ask why this fascination with all things monastic.  The answer is very simple.  I am on a journey of grounding myself to my faith in some new and significant ways.  Being raised Roman Catholic and educated in Roman Catholic seminaries, I find myself spiritually nurtured by much the Roman Catholic Church has to offer in terms of prayer.  I live the Liturgy of the Hours.  I was never big into Marian devotion and so I do not venture there.  As for the Mass, again, that’s not something that really appeals to me.  Frankly, if it is a banquet that I’m invited to attend, but not invited to partake in the meal, I have little interest in that.

I realized this the other day.  I went to the Noon Mass at a church in Louisville staffed by Dominican priests.  I came close to joining the Dominicans many years ago and have always appreciated their intellect and their preaching.  I went to Mass in the  hopes of hearing a good sermon.   I had never heard a bad Dominican sermon before.  On Wednesday, however, that streak was broken.  His theology was, at least in my mind, shallow and the sermon was really a bunch of pious platitudes.  Furthermore, the blissful silence I was enjoying was broken by the rosary recited by the whole congregation.  I’m not Roman Catholic and haven’t been for a long time.  It had been years since I attended a Mass and the experience was not all that wonderful.  Oh, and the responses that were changed.  Ugh.  What a mess.

I am a United Church of Christ minister and I love my denomination a great deal.  The older I get, the more I appreciate the family of faith I have chosen to be a part of.  This journey is reminding my and nurturing part of where I am from; and affirming where I am now.

Random Musings for a Monday

I’m starting week 2 of  being off. On Friday I begin my Sabbatical journey in earnest by heading to Saint Meinrad.  I will be having a five day retreat with some intense spiritual direction, reading, and prayer.  I’m really excited about that.

My time off has been stepping away and decompressing.  It felt odd to not be out the door yesterday leading Worship and preaching.  But a good kind of odd, to say the least!

Lots of things going on in the world.

North Korea has tested a nuke and is working in missiles and making increasingly bellicose sounds.  They, just today, said, again, that the 1953 treaty between the two Koreas was invalid.  They seem to be wanting war.  I find this painful and, frankly counter-intuitive and evil.  The people of North Korea live their lives under really dreadful conditions.  There is not enough food and the regime is brutal.  Instead of trying to make the lives of the people better, they seem hell bent in trying to create a war and make the lives of their own people, as well as other people, a living hell.  Why?  I have no clue.  It is painfully tragic.

The President took twelve Republican Senators to dinner last week and they seemed to have a good time and everyone said nice things about one another. I sense that no one really likes the sequester, and no one has the willingness to bend to end it.  I keep thinking they should all read “Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten,” and learn some of the lessons.  It make help them move forward.

In other news, Valerie Harper was diagnosed with untreatable brain cancer.  She has been the epitome of class in her response to that and has been an inspiration to everyone.  Justin Bieber has been a petulant child.  It is not that any of this is news, per se.  Valerie Harper has always been graceful and class and Justin Bieber has always been a petulant child.

Meanwhile, in Rome, the Cardinals are going to enter the Conclave to choose the next Pope. I love press speculation on what is going to happen; like anyone from the press has a clue as to what is going to happen.  I suspect there has been a lot of discussion amongst the Cardinals already-----but one never knows what is taking place.  I have no clue as to why someone would want that job.  Seriously.  Whoever becomes the Pope inherits a difficult scenario and if that person takes it seriously, it will be an almost impossible job.

So It Begins

My Sabbatical has begun!  I have deactivated Facebook until June.  I shall keep my blog up to date, however!

Lent Begins Today

 

Lent begins today. Today is a day of ashes, of reflection, of Holy Communion. Ash Wednesday. Lent begins today.

This will be an odd season of Lent for me. I’m only going to be at my church for the first three Sundays of Lent, and then I am off for my Sabbatical. In 30 years I have never missed Easter Sunday at Worship as the pastor of the church. This year I will be visiting my daughter in North Carolina and sitting in a pew celebrating the resurrection of Christ.

I’ve never quite figured Lent out. We give things up, but that never seems to really be impactful. It’s a great idea, especially if it’s something we really ought to give up, but I wonder if it’s really the point of Lent.

A friend of mine wrote on Facebook to not give up butter; if we give up butter we give up the churning. I like that image. It is a season of churning. Things within us are turned upside down and we church with new and interesting things and we churn in new and fascinating ways. I do appreciate the imagery of that.

Funny thing about today, however, is that our church is abuzz with activity. We are having our second night, ever, of Logos, and in the next few minutes a bunch of kids will be here and having fun. We will pray, play, eat, sing, and Worship together. There will be a lot of laughing and joking and fun for everyone. It seems so very unlike Lent----but on the other hand, maybe it really is what Lent is all about. People of faith coming together, being together, growing together, and nurturing one another.

Sermon Audio February 10, 2013

Being Astounded by the Greatness of God

Luke 9:28-43

Rev.Dr. John E. Manzo

February 10, 2013

 

Audio Sermon February 3, 2013

Loving One Another

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

February 3, 2013

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

Legal, Ethical, and Wise. Ethical?

I’m troubled.

“These strikes are legal, they are ethical and they are wise. The US government takes great care in deciding to pursue an Al Qaeda terrorist, to ensure precision and to avoid loss of innocent life.” Thus were the words of White House Press Secretary Jay Carney during a briefing in Washington. The response was about using the drone technology in the war on terror.

I am not an attorney or know enough about the law to have some sort of idea if this is legal or not. As for wise, maybe, maybe not. I’m thinking it is logically wiser to kill people remotely without putting American troops in harm’s way, but I’m also thinking that we are not going to be the only nation able to kill others by way of drones. Maybe I am naïve in thinking this, but it seems to me that we are inviting others to participate in this process.

President Obama is on the receiving end of a great deal of rhetoric about being weak in terror and unwilling or unable to be a good Commander in Chief because he is so weak. He was, after all, opposed to invading Iraq. Wise? I don’t know, but that’s not my topic of discussion.

Jay Carney, when you remove the other verbiage is saying that drone strikes are ethical. The United States, he is saying, has an ethical right to track down people we perceive to be dangerous to us. That ethical bearing comes on foreign lands, and people of any race or nationality. It is ethical for us to unilaterally kill people we perceive to be our enemies.

Is it ethical? I have my doubts. To be honest, I’m being mild when I say I have my doubts. I think Carney and the President are flat out wrong. Sadly, this is not the first time we have seen the word ‘ethics’ thrown around flippantly.

I’ve always thought Thomas Aquinas’ Just War Theory is a good foundational document as it does require serious reflection before making war. It went something like this:

Just cause

The reason for going to war needs to be just and cannot therefore be solely for recapturing things taken or punishing people who have done wrong; innocent life must be in imminent danger and intervention must be to protect life.

Comparative justice

While there may be rights and wrongs on all sides of a conflict, to overcome the presumption against the use of force, the injustice suffered by one party must significantly outweigh that suffered by the other.

Competent authority

Only duly constituted public authorities may wage war. "A just war must be initiated by a political authority within a political system that allows distinctions of justice.

Right intention

Force may be used only in a truly just cause and solely for that purpose—correcting a suffered wrong is considered a right intention, while material gain or maintaining economies is not.

Probability of success

Arms may not be used in a futile cause or in a case where disproportionate measures are required to achieve success;

Last resort

Force may be used only after all peaceful and viable alternatives have been seriously tried and exhausted or are clearly not practical. It may be clear that the other side is using negotiations as a delaying tactic and will not make meaningful concessions.

Proportionality

The anticipated benefits of waging a war must be proportionate to its expected evils or harms.

In modern terms, just war is waged in terms of self-defense, or in defense of another (with sufficient evidence).

According to the American Constitution the Congress has the right to ‘declare war.’ The last declared war the United States has actually fought in was World War II. It seems to me that we have given virtually every American President the right to wage war as he sees fit, since the last time Congress actually declared a war. Everyone has claimed it to be ethical.

Our most recent wars have been in Afghanistan and Iraq. One can make a coherent and ethical argument for our original endeavor into Afghanistan. I believe the argument gets diluted in time and our continued efforts in that region have, at least in my mind, less than ethical. The war in Iraq, the second war, seems, from any ethical premise, to have been very much unethical. That is not a defense of Hussein, he was horrible. I just do not believe we had a right to unilaterally invade a nation under what proved to be false premises. Additionally, the United Nations inspectors were demonized for finding nothing----and they were proven to be right. They found nothing as there was nothing to find.

And now we have drone attacks.

At face value, there is something good about these. American troops are not in harm’s way. The drones are controlled from places far, far away from the action. This is even safer than high flying aircrafts or missiles fired from ships. Those have to be somewhat in the region----but the drones are controlled from far away.

In seeing how the drones work, I was struck by how much it seemed like a video game. There were pictures on a screen, a comfortable seat, a control stick, and then you shoot. The difference is, however, that in a video game one gets points. In a drone attack people die. The ‘killer’ never sees the faces of the victims, never sees the blood. He or she simply goes home and eats dinner, watches television. Another day at the office is completed.

These attacks are on people deemed to be threats to the United States. What happens if the intelligence is wrong? How are we different from the terrorists? I truly grapple with this.

It may be legal. It may or may not be wise. Decreeing something to be ethical does not make it so.

Ethics seems to have morphed into an election of sorts. Majority rules. If the majority of people say something is ethical, then it is ethical. Or, if a person in power decrees something to be ethical, it is ethical. Or, if a church decrees something to be ethical or unethical, then that church is right and that church’s opinion should be respected over everyone else. And, if one church is bigger than another church that disagrees, the bigger church is right.

This kind of logic consistently gets us in trouble. Ethical behavior is not about majority rule; it’s about finding and living with time honored principles. And, yes, sometimes those time honored principles are inconvenient or disagree with our political perspectives.

But if we want to call ourselves an ethical people, we should live it even when it is amazingly inconvenient.

Reflections on Mea Maxima Culpa---the documentary

 

The other night on HBO I watched the devastating documentary, Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God. The story focused on St. John’s School for the Deaf in Milwaukee, and Rev. Lawrence Murphy who abused a number of boys at the school. The scandal of this and the inaction of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and the further lack of action from the Vatican made this into a legendary scandal.

The documentary also delved into the story of Rev. Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ and a personal friend and favorite of Pope John Paul II. Maciel abused a significant number of young people and fathered children. His notoriety was legendary and ignored by the Pope. It was not until after John Paul’s death that Pope Benedictine XVI finally took action against him.

It would be easy to dismiss this documentary has a hack job against the Roman Catholic Church. When the director of the movie, Alex Gibney, appeared on Bill Maher, Maher’s classically snarky comments were very hack oriented. I regret that Gibney appeared on the show----but it was probably more a promotion piece than anything else, as both Maher’s show and the documentary are on HBO. It also gave Maher plenty of ammunition for his anti-religion crusade.

Gibney, however, had a couple of people who were very, very credible on the show. Richard Sipe, a former monk and psychotherapist is probably the leading expert on the subject, and Rev. Thomas Doyle, a Dominican priest, is the foremost Canon Lawyer on the subject. Add Patrick Wall, another former monk and expert on the subject, and you have a formidable group grappling with a dreadful subject.

The story of abuse is an ugly one. At first it was seen as an American problem and the media was being blamed for making it a bigger story than it really was. As it turned out, the media merely scratched the surface of a very deep, very tragic, very ugly chain of events. It then began to be obvious that it was not an American problem and not a media issue. Molestation is worldwide and, while present in all walks of life, it has been more common in the Roman Catholic Church than in any other denomination at this point.

Jesuit priest, later Cardinal, Avery Dulles wrote a landmark book, Models of the Church, and one of the models he listed was “The Church as Institution.” In many ways, that model proved to be the most dangerous of the models. It is often the prevailing model of not only the Roman Catholic Church, but many churches and institutions.

The dilemma is, when things go horribly wrong, to protect the institution first and foremost. Penn State University did this. Joe Paterno did this. They looked first to protect the University and the football program and overlooked the kids Jerry Sandusky molested. It did not end well for anyone. The children were victimized first by Sandusky, but then again by the institution protecting itself.

Sadly, I think this is part of the dilemma within Roman Catholicism. There was (and is) a reaction to first protect the institution from the scandal. The tragedy was there were victims of the priests who were devastated.

Additionally, my heart goes out to many of the priests who molested children. I went to school with a lot of these guys. We drank beer, ate pizza, discussed philosophy and theology and ministry. We all went on and lived our lives and in later years I read of absolutely horrible stories of my friends and classmates molesting children. What they did was monstrous. They were, not, however, in the days of our youth, monsters. They were ill, they were disturbed, and often their cries went unheard and their illness went undiagnosed and untreated. They were repeatedly placed back in positions of power to victimize others.

The real tragedy took place in the hierarchy. They sought first to protect the institution and did not take care of the victims, the victimizers, and were often the obstacles for justice and healing. And it was ugly and, frankly, downright evil. Bernard Law, the Archbishop of Boston was one of the worst defenders of the institution and chances were good that he was going to be arrested for obstruction of justice. He should have been. Instead, Law was REWARDED and brought to Rome by John Paul II where Law also was given diplomatic immunity. Maciel victimized so many people and John Paul ignored all the evidence and did nothing to stop it.

Some Bishops did well. Some stepped in and addressed problems and were as open and transparent as they were allowed to be. Rome, however, consistently blocked any hopes of healing. The institution had to be protected at all costs.

To his credit, Benedict XVI addressed the Maciel issue and seminaries are now beginning to deal with this in the education of priests. Accusations are taken seriously now, with priests being removed upon the accusation. It is actually probably unfair now, as priests are left in incredibly vulnerable spots. The Bishops, however, for their part, have excluded themselves from accusations and protect the institution at all cost. Benedict has dealt with his predecessor’s cold indifference to molestation by fast-tracking John Paul’s canonization. The horror of this is, in my opinion, unfathomable.

I do find great hope in the words of Rev. Thomas Doyle. He has been the Canon Lawyer for many, many victims and prosecuted dioceses. He has often been a witness against the institution. Yet, he states that he is never against the church, but always for it. In searching for truth and healing, he sees himself as doing the ministry of Jesus Christ.

I keep reminding myself that the church of Jesus Christ was never meant to be an institution, but a living, breathing movement of God’s people gathered in faith. The Head of the church is always Jesus Christ, always Jesus Christ, always Jesus Christ. When we fail to serve Jesus, when we seek to feed the institution first and foremost, we forget to do the ministry of Christ.