Well, what I knew to be true intuitively before - that we are a very interconnected bunch on this planet - I've seen with my own two eyes on Face Book. I've not been a My Space or Face Book devotee up to this point. To tell you the truth I didn't get it at all. However, I joined Face Book this week so that I could demonstrate it on the new Blackberry Storm, and what was immediately apparent is how connected humans are to one another.
Friend lists grow exponentially and it's easy to see how one person can be connected to another they've never seen or heard of by just one or two degrees. Face Book even tells you that you may know so and so, who knows so and so, who you know. It's amazing.
If you've ever wondered if your life affects others - for good or bad - here is evidence that it does. We are like a giant tapestry with threads intertwined this way and that. Each thread is an integral part of the whole - whether adding to the beauty or detracting. I don't know about you, but I want to add to the beauty.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Drinking the Koolaid
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the tragedy at Jonestown where 900+ people died from cyanide laced grape Koolaid. I watched some videos this morning from that time, and discovered that my kids (ages 15 & 14) had never heard about it.
I had just turned 16 when Jonestown happened and remember it well. I'd say that most of us (of a certain age) remember watching with horror as images from Guyana were aired. How could something like that have happened? What were those people thinking?
Well, it turns out that many of them were not thinking that they wanted to end their lives. From what I learned today, many were injected with cyanide against their will and many others under intense psychological pressure were "led" to the buckets for a drink.
In watching interviews of folks who survived Jonestown, it's clear that many (including Jim Jones' son) who disagreed with much of what went on there. Jones' son still believed he could accomplish something good with the people he loved in spite of his father's abuse and madness. He told reporters that those people were the only folks he'd known his entire life. How could he leave them?
If you're around my age you probably grew up drinking Koolaid. Who didn't? Koolaid, like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches was a kid staple. Drinking Koolaid was a good thing - a normal thing. Ironically, it's probably someone around my age who coined the phrase "drinking the Koolaid" to mean something bad - something not normal - and a clear reference to Jonestown. Funny, how things can get turned around...
With that in mind, maybe there's no more appropriate phrase than "drinking the Koolaid." Jim Jone's church began as a good thing. Jones had a vision for racial equality. He wanted to found an authentic, loving community of people. But things went wrong, got out of hand. Jones forgot who he was and who the people were - and to whom they really belonged - and the result was tragic and frightening. It's still frightening, because it's a common story. Everyone (given the proper set of circumstances) is vulnerable to this kind of thing happening. There are warnings in today's Lectionary for leaders:
Luke 17: 1Jesus said to his disciples, "Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! 2It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3Be on your guard!
James 3:1-10: 1Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. 3If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. 4Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.
How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! 6And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8but no one can tame the tongue?a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. 10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.
Enough said.
I had just turned 16 when Jonestown happened and remember it well. I'd say that most of us (of a certain age) remember watching with horror as images from Guyana were aired. How could something like that have happened? What were those people thinking?
Well, it turns out that many of them were not thinking that they wanted to end their lives. From what I learned today, many were injected with cyanide against their will and many others under intense psychological pressure were "led" to the buckets for a drink.
In watching interviews of folks who survived Jonestown, it's clear that many (including Jim Jones' son) who disagreed with much of what went on there. Jones' son still believed he could accomplish something good with the people he loved in spite of his father's abuse and madness. He told reporters that those people were the only folks he'd known his entire life. How could he leave them?
If you're around my age you probably grew up drinking Koolaid. Who didn't? Koolaid, like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches was a kid staple. Drinking Koolaid was a good thing - a normal thing. Ironically, it's probably someone around my age who coined the phrase "drinking the Koolaid" to mean something bad - something not normal - and a clear reference to Jonestown. Funny, how things can get turned around...
With that in mind, maybe there's no more appropriate phrase than "drinking the Koolaid." Jim Jone's church began as a good thing. Jones had a vision for racial equality. He wanted to found an authentic, loving community of people. But things went wrong, got out of hand. Jones forgot who he was and who the people were - and to whom they really belonged - and the result was tragic and frightening. It's still frightening, because it's a common story. Everyone (given the proper set of circumstances) is vulnerable to this kind of thing happening. There are warnings in today's Lectionary for leaders:
Luke 17: 1Jesus said to his disciples, "Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! 2It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3Be on your guard!
James 3:1-10: 1Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. 3If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. 4Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.
How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! 6And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8but no one can tame the tongue?a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. 10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.
Enough said.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Having Answers
"The vocation of pastor does not permit trafficking in either miracles or answers. Pastors are in the awkward position of refusing to give what a great many people assume it is our assigned job to give… We are asked to pray for an appropriate miracle, we are called upon to declare an authoritative answer. But our calling equips us for neither. In fact, it forbids us to engage in either the miracle business or the answer business." -Eugene Peterson
The longer I live the less equipped I feel to do certain things. I am not equipped to give answers to the big questions others have about specific things in their lives. I am not often equipped to pray for certain outcomes because life teaches that God's will may encompass an outcome very different (and infinitely better) than what we think or imagine.
Even when I think of my own life and walk with God, there is so much more that I don't know than that I do know. I don't mean Theological issues. I mean life issues. I do not fully understand the trajectory of my life. I think I understand some things, but would not be surprised to learn when I get to heaven that I was completely wrong. If and when that happens I expect to laugh about it.
What I do know is that God is good. He is fully in control. His plan is perfect. His intentions are loving. He is completely trustworthy. So...although I am less and less equipped to give one kind of answer, I am more and more equipped to give (and receive) answers of another kind.
The longer I live the less equipped I feel to do certain things. I am not equipped to give answers to the big questions others have about specific things in their lives. I am not often equipped to pray for certain outcomes because life teaches that God's will may encompass an outcome very different (and infinitely better) than what we think or imagine.
Even when I think of my own life and walk with God, there is so much more that I don't know than that I do know. I don't mean Theological issues. I mean life issues. I do not fully understand the trajectory of my life. I think I understand some things, but would not be surprised to learn when I get to heaven that I was completely wrong. If and when that happens I expect to laugh about it.
What I do know is that God is good. He is fully in control. His plan is perfect. His intentions are loving. He is completely trustworthy. So...although I am less and less equipped to give one kind of answer, I am more and more equipped to give (and receive) answers of another kind.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
You Know It When You See It
Here in South Central Virginia we are enjoying the peak of Autumn. Over the last few weeks I've looked around and wondered, "So, are the leaves at their peak?" Sometimes I'd think yes and sometimes no, but I was never sure. Now that the leaves are actually at their peak colors, there is no doubt in my mind at all. I can say with certainty that we're seeing the peak.
It's funny. This is not my first Autumn, and it's not the first time I've found myself wondering if the leaves were yet at their peak only to discover later that once they are, it is very obvious. There's no wondering involved - only the glorious obviousness of the beauty. You definitely know it when you see it.
Hearing God's voice seems to be the same for me. There are times when I wonder if God is saying something to me. I ponder and wonder and muse. But then God actually does speak, and there is no doubt at all. God has a way of making his voice very obvious so that there's no doubt, no wondering - only certainty.
Interesting how, just as I wonder about the leaves after experiencing many Autumns, I wonder about hearing God speak after walking with Him for so long and knowing His voice.
It's funny. This is not my first Autumn, and it's not the first time I've found myself wondering if the leaves were yet at their peak only to discover later that once they are, it is very obvious. There's no wondering involved - only the glorious obviousness of the beauty. You definitely know it when you see it.
Hearing God's voice seems to be the same for me. There are times when I wonder if God is saying something to me. I ponder and wonder and muse. But then God actually does speak, and there is no doubt at all. God has a way of making his voice very obvious so that there's no doubt, no wondering - only certainty.
Interesting how, just as I wonder about the leaves after experiencing many Autumns, I wonder about hearing God speak after walking with Him for so long and knowing His voice.
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