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| Liam-6 mos. |
Monday, May 31, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
The Shivering Girl
Last August, my friend Meg took me to the Getty Art Museum in L.A. I found myself strangely captivated by a statue entitled, "Winter: The Shivering Girl" by Jean-Antoine Houdon. In his piece, Houdon portrays the season of winter as a young woman clinging to a shawl that only covers her upper-body...leaving her exposed in a way that is profound, painful, saddening.
Staring at her vulnerability in the museum, I had the urge to find her cover. (Note: Art connoisseurs do not respond well to crazy girls, "Sir? Do you happen to have a spare pair of pants for this naked statue? She looks cold.")
The image of 'The Shivering Girl' has been on my mind since my visit to the Getty. The statue reminds me of struggling friends... and of myself. There's a tragedy to her exposure. Though she clings to cover, she can't control her vulnerability.
I'm reminded of my home church and the man next to his wife suffering from MS, or the middle aged couple raising their grandchild, or the wife who sat alone in worship...while the whole congregation knew her husband sat at home. And they can't control their vulnerability. The rest of us blindly have pity on them--denying our own nakedness.
Yet, 'The Shivering Girl' is the rest of us...
who think we've fooled people with our empty smiles and strained greetings...
who try to hide our pain and brokenness with a small shawl.
I think John understood how destructive it is to cling to covering and deny our nakedness. There's healing when brokenness comes to the light:
"God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Racism is Fishy...er...anti-fishy.
In my post yesterday, I started by saying I feel silly posting about racism. But after writing my last post, I started thinking of other examples of how racism shows up in the church...
And also examples of how scripture teaches us to fight racism.
Last December, my church decided to call a full-time Spanish-speaking pastor to start a Hispanic ministry in our community.
There seemed to be a lot of excitement surrounding the decision but also some fear. I had a sincere conversation with one of our elders who felt hesitation over how the church would respond to potential new members who were in the States without required documentation. A few months later, I heard about another member of the congregation who leaves the sanctuary when our worship director begins leading us in Spanish praises.
I primarily default to the following question: Of which kingdom am I a citizen? The kingdom of America? Or the Kingdom of Heaven?
When church authorities asked Jesus about paying taxes he responded in wisdom, "Render Caesar what is Caesar's." Then he moved on.
After the triumphal entry, Jesus grieved those who thought he had come for political revolution.
The same political revolution that Luke purposefully denies in his gospel and the book of Acts.
On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit moves the disciples to speak in numerous tongues--allowing the gospel to be understood by those whose earthly citizenship spanned the Middle East.
First Century Rome seems like a pretty ideal setting for Jesus to make a nationalistic statement...a final vindication for the Jews.
But he doesn't. Instead he makes this statement, "The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish."
And also examples of how scripture teaches us to fight racism.
Last December, my church decided to call a full-time Spanish-speaking pastor to start a Hispanic ministry in our community.
There seemed to be a lot of excitement surrounding the decision but also some fear. I had a sincere conversation with one of our elders who felt hesitation over how the church would respond to potential new members who were in the States without required documentation. A few months later, I heard about another member of the congregation who leaves the sanctuary when our worship director begins leading us in Spanish praises.
I primarily default to the following question: Of which kingdom am I a citizen? The kingdom of America? Or the Kingdom of Heaven?
When church authorities asked Jesus about paying taxes he responded in wisdom, "Render Caesar what is Caesar's." Then he moved on.
After the triumphal entry, Jesus grieved those who thought he had come for political revolution.
The same political revolution that Luke purposefully denies in his gospel and the book of Acts.
On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit moves the disciples to speak in numerous tongues--allowing the gospel to be understood by those whose earthly citizenship spanned the Middle East.
First Century Rome seems like a pretty ideal setting for Jesus to make a nationalistic statement...a final vindication for the Jews.
But he doesn't. Instead he makes this statement, "The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish."
Monday, May 10, 2010
Mocking the Germans
I feel silly writing a post against racism. In the back of my mind, I hear a voice saying..."I think that ceased to be a problem in the 1970's."
Or did it?
A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting with the 5/6th graders at my church. I find working with kids fascinating becuase you get a front seat into the messages they are hearing from adults at home and school.
I asked the girls to imagine 'the most evil people in the whole world' filling the sanctuary that we sat in. "Who are some of those people?" Responses: Obama (this IS Nebraska), and People from Pakistan.
Stop.
Does this disturb you? It does me. Instead of thinking about injustices like rape, abuse, exploitation...or heck even terrorism (which is evil). They responded by identifying an ENTIRE cultural group.
About a week after 9/11, my dad was grabbing a drink in Lincoln. If you've seen my dad, the next part of the story won't surprise you. He has naturally deep-toned skin (darkened by days in the field), his hair is black and his eyes nearly match. As he finished his drink a couple of guys at a table nearby started yelling at him and making racist remarks...assuming he was from the Middle East.
The irony of the situation is that my dad is one of the rare people in the American mixing pot with a pure heritage--but he's German. All eight of my dad's great-grandparents immigrated to America from Germany.
Which makes the group at the bar seem pretty foolish. And assumptions about the character or values of an individual based completely on their cultural identity (or apparent cultural identity) are pretty foolish.
And they are wrong.
Jesus made this point when he told the disciples the story of the Good Samaritan. He knew that racism and cultural self-righteousness was prevalent in the Jewish nation. So he told the story of a man from the "wrong" cultural group displaying greater compassion/righteousness than the most pure of the "right" cultural group.
And Jesus asked, "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' {hands}?" And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."
Or did it?
A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting with the 5/6th graders at my church. I find working with kids fascinating becuase you get a front seat into the messages they are hearing from adults at home and school.
I asked the girls to imagine 'the most evil people in the whole world' filling the sanctuary that we sat in. "Who are some of those people?" Responses: Obama (this IS Nebraska), and People from Pakistan.
Stop.
Does this disturb you? It does me. Instead of thinking about injustices like rape, abuse, exploitation...or heck even terrorism (which is evil). They responded by identifying an ENTIRE cultural group.
About a week after 9/11, my dad was grabbing a drink in Lincoln. If you've seen my dad, the next part of the story won't surprise you. He has naturally deep-toned skin (darkened by days in the field), his hair is black and his eyes nearly match. As he finished his drink a couple of guys at a table nearby started yelling at him and making racist remarks...assuming he was from the Middle East.
The irony of the situation is that my dad is one of the rare people in the American mixing pot with a pure heritage--but he's German. All eight of my dad's great-grandparents immigrated to America from Germany.
Which makes the group at the bar seem pretty foolish. And assumptions about the character or values of an individual based completely on their cultural identity (or apparent cultural identity) are pretty foolish.
And they are wrong.
Jesus made this point when he told the disciples the story of the Good Samaritan. He knew that racism and cultural self-righteousness was prevalent in the Jewish nation. So he told the story of a man from the "wrong" cultural group displaying greater compassion/righteousness than the most pure of the "right" cultural group.
And Jesus asked, "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' {hands}?" And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
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