Me First!

Thinking today about the Olympics and the US's demand of its athletes to finish first. We are gold medal crazy, aren't we?! It saddens me every Olympics to see the hype about gold medals and finishing first - rather than enjoying the competition and hoping that the better person/team wins. The interviews and the personal vignettes are at times so maudlin as to be a farce. This demeans the athletes, their families and support systems, the sport they compete in, their competitors and ultimately the games themselves. Games are to be played for the enjoyment, not for the competition and the winning. I know, I know...it's old fashioned to think this way and a bit naive. If we go back to the Olympic motto and rationale for holding the games in the first place, it was all about the training, preparation and performance. It was never supposed to be about country pride or anything beyond an individual's level. It's now been blown up into the identity of a people. Wow, it's enough pressure to just work hard and long enough to be an Olympian. What does it do to the athlete to have to believe that they carry the expectation of a nation as well?! When we don't have a good and healthy self-concept, we will fill that void with anything. What does it say about oour national self-concept that we put so much into how many medals our athletes get (and how many gold medals)? G-d exists for us to live full lives - to know that life itself is enough. When we don't honor that need to find G-d, we will fill our emptiness with idols - in this case the idol of winning. The thing about idols is they're never satisfied...the thing about G-d is that G-d is always enough. Somehting to consider as you watch and cheer. Peace for the journey, Dan

It's a Virtual Life

Stimulated by my ongoing disagreement with my 18+ year old child, I've wandered into this idea that we've a whole generation (probably more) that are missing out on life. Plugged in to technology and the "World Wide Wasteland" or busying themselves in front of an ever more inane set of television "reality" and other shows, the days pass blissfully by. Will they one day wake up and find that the mind control they've been under has led them to old age without ever having lived. What does that say about the life lessons that are never to be learned and thus never to be converted to wisdom? What will they pass on to the generation after them? Will they pass on a spiritual tradition or just another performance? Virtual living - I see it not just in my own child, but in his generation. I mentioned before how colleges are teaching students how to interact verbally. How to ask each other on dates and how to develop relationships. The saddest piece of all of this is that with the growing on-line university movement, even that part of connecting may soon be a thing of the past (like the Do-do and the Passenger Pigeon). Why am I so worried about this? Primarily because for the previous 10,000 years of human existence we have been depedent on each other for survivial. Working together we have solved (and then created new) problems. The art of compromise was what carried us along and helped to eveolve and transform us. Now what will we do. If I even have a virtual assistant (aka Siri) do I actually even have to communicate with a living human? All religions are focused on helping us create and maintain right relationships with G-d and with each other. The traditions and texts reinforce our interdependence and our inability to be everything to everybody. Without this we will be lost and alone and we will cease to exist. There will be no one looking out for another and one-by-one (or in great gobs in the next world war) we will be eliminated or subjegated - probably both. Technology is wonderful but not as a replacement for G-d and for other people. Time to call our dependence on technology what it is...idol worship. If you don't know what to do about that, come to any faith community and ask. Peace for the journey, Dan

Have You Not Heard?

This week's sermon is based on Isaiah 40, a truly wonderful chapter in an inspired book. There is great wisdom and pathos in the exhilic literature. Unfortunately, it is often overlooked or "cherry picked" for the verses that are comfortable and uplifting. The text asks a number of times, "Do you not know, have you not heard?", calling us to confront the information that we already have about YHWH and G-d's place in our lives. We are really no different from those believers long ago who had forgotten G-d and had gone on to worship other god's. This lead to the ruin of Jerusalem and the exile of the leadership to Babylon for two generations as a punishment. What is it in this day and age that we are ignoring? Are we already in exile for our worship of idols of our own making? The amount of information that we have is staggering, but we make little use of it, nor do we see the knowledge going to wisdom in any meaningful manner. We have forgotten the active role of YHWH in our lives, and all of the good that happens through YHWH's grace. The writer(s) of Isaiah ask us to consider how we're caring for the widow and orphan and stranger. We know that we are supposed to do this (we would want it done for ourselves) yet we spend our time and money on things instead of investing in people and relationships. Do you not know, have you not heard? It's not that we don't know, nor is it that we haven't (in large measure) heard what it is that we are supposed to do. YHWH gave us free will and we use it for our own advancement and comfort. thus we move farther away from YHWH and further into exile. This week, listen to what YHWH might be saying to you. Jehovah is active in the world and in your life. It's time to tune in to the messages and to act accordingly. If we all do this, then the world becomes more peaceable and welcoming - it becomes more like heaven. Peace for the journey, Dan

Just the Facts

Those of you who are of an age (or who get TV Land) will be familiar with Sgt. Joe Friday of the television series "Dragnet". His famous one liner was, "Just the facts..." He always wanted to cut through the bull and get away from opinion and hyperbole. I was reminded of this over the weekend as I was bombarded with political campaign ads which protrayed both presidential candidates in unflattering ways. I'm fed up with the campaign, even though the process in choosing candidates was less onerous that usual this year. I am wondering, however, where can I go to get "just the facts"? I did what most people do in this age of Google, I did a search and here's what I found. Knowing a bit about healthcare as I do, I knew that the attacks on the ACA (aka "ObamaCare") were spurious, but I wanted to know what else was amiss on both sides. I went to www.factcheck.org which runs out of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. This is a well respected, non-partisan group dedicated to sorting myth and hyperbole from fact. Turns out that both sides (as usual) are playing fast and loose with everything from political records to tax burdens. The Obama camp has increased the negative rhetoric in the last few weeks against Mr. Romney, and both have used surrogates on "talking head" shows to move their agendas. The bottom line is that the facts and the truth are what's taken a beating. Making truly informed decisions is key to moving our nation forward. Groups like FactCheck.org are helping us to make those types of decisions. In order to have a democracy and to truly make the best decision we can in November's election, I urge you to get the facts. It is our moral, ethical and responsible mandate - and one that we need to take seriously. Peace for the journey, Dan

Who Cares?

New report out that 30% of adults in the U.S. are caregivers. That's a staggering number of people who, in addition to everything else they are doing, provide care to needy members of their family. Granted, in times past when multiple generations lived together, this was commonplace. In fact, if we went back 100 years, I'm sure that the number of families caring for elders or infirmed members was close to 90%. This is the "modern" age however, where there are nursing homes, assisted living and multi-level living situations - and where family members live far from one another. The amount of time, money, energy and love spent to perform this caregiving is phenomenal -and it is largely unknown. Who trains these caregivers, who supports them, who provides needed respite, etc? The answer is nobody - not the government, not friends or neighbors, sometimes other family members, but it is usually an island unto itself. It has been described that there is an impending crisis of physically and mentally challenged persons who are being cared for by aging parents/siblings. When these caregivers die, who will care for the persons in question? Where are the facilities that could provide the love and comfort that a person's family provided? In the nursing home community a new endeavor known as the "Greenhouse Project" has created home-like environs for elders. Maybe a similar program could be inaugurated to care for others in need who are not elderly. We still need to train a lot of people to give appropriate levels and quality of care, but this might be an approach that could work. For my money, faith communities are a place to begin to provide the caring presence. Here you can leverage a group of people who are predisposed to love each other and to love others mmore than themselves. They are hungry for missional outreach and would love to care for their own. Elders and others who have been members of faith communities would be comfortable with people they know providing care. Hospitals, nursing homes, social service and public health agencies could provide necessary training and oversight. The time is now to see what is coming and create a more caring environment for all. This week, take a look around your circle of friends and see who is providing care to family members. reach out and ask what it is you might do to support them. It will help you every bit as much as it helps them. Peace for the journey, Dan

A Piece of G-d?

Well, so scientists have possibly found the essence of a sub-atomic particle that the popular press has dubbed the "G-d Particle". Mind you, they haven't actually found the particle yet, but they have found the particles produced from the short-lived boson (possibly a Higgs boson). In the world of subatomic physics, this is a big deal as evidenced by the gathering of scinetists and their announcement yesterday. Quite a big deal in that sector of the scientific community, but how big a deal is it for all of us "regular" people? Given the history of scientific discovery, it is quite likely that the finding of this particle will lead to more questions than answers. Many in the scientific community do not like the moniker "G-d Particle". Understandably so, because if we can explain G-d scientifically then (as in the words of many theologians) it is not G-d that we are explaining. It is also quite a bit of human hubris to even suggest that the Creator of the Universe could be so reduced. However, time and again in the spiritual journey, we are called on to become more simple, to put off more esoteric and worldly things and get down to the foundational principles. Loving YHWH with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and neighbor as self. So, could it be that this discovery could hold clues to continue our scientific search for the Creator? Science and religion/spirituality are really not set against each other. Both are engaged in the search for understanding. The problem becomes what we are worshipping. If we worship the scientific model to the exclusion of all other things, then it becomes an idol and we can not find YHWH. If on the other hand the scientific search for the Originator continues to be informed by a healthy faith and belief in something greater than ourselves, then we can celebrate scientific discoveries as YHWH given and blessed. This week, keep searching for that link to the Creator in your own life. Study the Word and spend time with people who are like-minded. Continue to keep an open mind about the balance between Science and Religion. Remember, neither is totally right nor totally wrong. Peace for the journey, Dan

Nothing is Impossible

We stand on the cusp of another birthday celebration for our Country. Another year older - but is it any better? The political rhetoric machine is pumping out messages from all sides. Messages of woe and travail, of pomp and victory - messages devoid of truth and reality. It seems nigh impossible to make any sort of progress in this time. Kind of like the army of King Saul as it was arrayed against the Philistines (1 Sam 17). For forty days the giant Goliath had come out and mocked the army - calling out for one brave Israelite to fight him for all the marbles. It wasn't until a shepherd boy, the son of Jesse (David), heard the giant's remarks while visiting his brothers at the front line, that anything got done. Impossible...nothing is impossible when we have the right orientation and utilize our resources to accomplish the tasks put before us. The problem right now is that we are approaching the Goliath-sized obstacles of our own creation with the same individualistic and egocentric thinking that caused them in the first place. The Israelites couldn't defeat Goliath and the Philistines using their own power - neither can we defeat the enormous problems of our day using our power. Goliath was defeated by a small boy who believed in something else. David believed in the power of things unseen and unnameable. The power of belief and faith is what carried the day. So it is with us. We need to look again at the great gifts we have been given (our assets). We need to use the what we know and truly leverage our data to give us the best information and practices. We need to get together in real-time and in real ways in real places to engage in changing our reality. Our shared effort and sacrifice over time will be what changes things for the better. We need to remember how we are connected and the power that a shared vision can have. After all, a shared vision is what created and sustained the Country over these 200+ years. Together, we can defeat all our Goliaths - it is something to get to work on today. Nothing is impossible with faith. Peace for the journey, Dan