Monarch Butterflies, Paramecium, and the Mystery of Christmas

This time of year, we all beat each other about losing the true spirit of Christmas. I can't argue against our collective guilt. Awash in a world of decisions between where to shop, what to buy, and how to wrap the gifts. School vacations plan. Trees to light up. Meals to make. Friends to visit. Family to love and argue with...

It's hard hard to keep track of anything, much less the divinity of a baby born in in Israel over two thousand years ago. We can beat ourselves up over consumerism and loss of faith, but we should also be honest that it's hard to keep the focus on something beyond what our human brains to truly understand.

I can easily picture Mary and Joseph in a stable with Baby Jesus in a manger. Same thing with wise men following a really big star. Angels in the heavens are a little more difficult, but possible if  I mentally graft on some white wings.

That level of clarity doesn't extend to all the details. According to the Christian faith, Jesus fundamentally changed the relationship between God and humanity. As described in John 1:14, "[T]he Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the gory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth." That concept is a lot more slippery. 

How can we grasp the nature of that massive spiritual inflection in human history when we can't figure out how to stop the cold virus or predict the weather with a higher degree of accuracy?

That doesn't mean we enough to form a connection with the Divine reality of Jesus; to sense and react to something deep, powerful and earth-changing. A Monarch Butterfly summering in southern Canada cannot perceive all of the details of its 2,500 mile migration to winter in Mexico, but it successfully makes the journey.

A paramecium doesn't need to understand everything about its environment to know that it needs to move towards warmth.

The physics of the Divinity of that child born in Bethlehem will always elude me, but there is something in my soul that knows that the son of God prophesy of Isaiah 7:14 was realized when Jesus was born to Mary. Matthew 1:18-25. It is the same voice that has spoken to other souls for over 2,000 years. In the same way that something in the Monarch Butterfly tells them it is time to begin flapping those little wings south and within the structure of the paramecium telling them to push and spin towards warmth.

That does not mean that Christmas is wrapped up in too much mystery to be celebrated and loved. There is a very basic concept that we can latch onto and treasure. The purpose of that child born in Israel was to help us each overcome our own personal battle between right and wrong.

Nothing is more obvious than the fact we cannot find the path to good on our own. We start out with the best of intentions and eventually slide off course. There is something incredibly good in us that knows that we can and should do better, but somehow we don't. Whether the fault lies on belief systems, brain functioning, or simply the human condition is up for debate; but the reality that we cannot find redemption on our own is self evident

In response, the Lord sent a child. I cannot understand exactly why, but I am eternally thankful that He did.

If you haven't heard it before, please take a few minutes to listen to Steve Earle's haunting Christmas song, "Nothing But a Child."

Merry Christmas.

1990's Magic Eye Posters and the Illusion of Ownership

Note: This post is dedicated to Joe Day. Joe was a regular at the NAMI Montana office before passing away this week. Joe courageously battled serious bipolar disorder and poverty. Despite these challenges, he really enjoyed life and helped make all of us better - even when we didn't want to.


Magic Eye hidden 3-D image posters were really popular when I was a teenager. Swirls of dots and shapes - an optical illusion that revealed itself to the trained eye. I'd helplessly stare at them on my friends' walls.

"Put your nose right on the poster, then slowly move back"

I followed their orders, but didn't see the hidden image.

"Relax your eyes."

Still nothing.

"Don't you see the ship?"

More nothing.

"Keep trying, eventually you'll see it."

I never did.


In my unqualified opinion, the greatest spiritual works are similar to those Magic Eye posters. There's more to them than you initially see. It might take multiple readings or even years of multiple readings for your mind to grasp the secondary meaning. Those strokes of insight are precious.

I recently grasped a deeper meaning in the Parable of the Tenants that I'd never seen before.The Parable of the Tenants is one of Jesus' teaching that he gave in Jerusalem under the fierce questioning of the chief priests, the scribes, and elders. Mark 12:1-12, Matthew 21: 33-46, Luke 20: 9-19.

Jesus described a landowner who built a vineyard on his land and then leased it to tenant farmers while he was away on a journey. The landowner later sent servants to collect some of the proceeds of the vineyard, but the farmers beat them and sent them away. Then the landlord sent his only son. The farmers killed him in hopes of having the vineyard for themselves.

Jesus finishes the parable with a quotation of Psalm 118 ("The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.") This powerful combination of ancient prophesy and a prophesy of Jesus's crucifixion delivers a powerful message on Jesus's divinity. That's the message that hits the Sunday sermons.

But, the secondary message is also valuable. The foundation of this parable is that human beings are the tenants of Creation. That is more than just a setup for the story.

We are tenant farmers of all that God has created. Everything that we've been entrusted with bears the expectation of that we will use it to serve the God of Love. The implications of this lesson are broad:

• Our talents, interest and abilities belong to God.
• Our property and resources belong to God.
• Our family members belong to God.
• The natural world and all of Creation belong to God.

This secondary meaning is so important that Jesus also describes it in the Parable of the Talents when God is described as a master who gives his servants gold coins in expectation that they will invest them and gain him a return. Matthew 25: 14-30. 

We are expected to care for and use the tools that we have been given to serve the Creator to the best of our ability, just like any tenant farmer would for the owner of the land. But, we must remember that they are not ours.

A river of personal suffering stems from misunderstanding this fundamental rule of Divine ownership. We cling to and try to dominate what was never ours to begin with and then blame God for taking it away.

As described by Dalai Lama, "Attachment is the origin, the root of suffering; hence it is the cause of suffering."

NOTE: This brings up the followup question of what does God expect us to put our time, efforts and resources towards. There are a lot of places to look for answers for that question, but Matthew 25: 31-46 which describes the process of Divine Judgment and the judgment of the Seven Churches in Revelation 2-3 is a great place to start.

*** Please use this link to book your hotel and airline tickets.  You get Expedia's great prices and they'll donate a portion of the sale to Uganda Rural Fund's critical services in the heart of Africa.  Thank you!***

Beyond the Spectacle: "Nothing But A Child"

The glory and grandeur of Christmas has passed us by. The wrapping paper is in garbage bins. The more-boring toys lay almost forgotten. Industrious children are already working out the basics to next year's letters to Santa.

People worry about losing the spirit of Christmas to marketers and politicians. I also fear losing the spirit of Christmas to religious spectacle. The aura and the grandeur of the universal Church celebrating the birth of God' son is overwhelming. It can be hard to remember the concrete reality that this is all the birth of a single man born 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem.

Forget the Star. Forget the Choruses of Angels. Forget the Wise Men. Forget the impending wrath of Herod.

The Son of God took on one of the most powerless form's in the Universe- a human baby. His mother pulled him in close to her breast to shelter her baby boy from the challenges of the world.

Most of us have held a newborn baby in our arms. Whether father, mother, family, or friends: we've cradled them in our arms. Felt their breath against our skin. Told them that we loved them and promised them that everything is going to be alright.

That's the concrete reality that I worry about losing. That a baby was born that was unlike any other baby, before or since. But also, completely like every other baby before or since.  As Steve Earle sang, "[T]he miracle they prized was nothing but a child."

That birth would be followed by a life, crucifixion, and then a glorious resurrection. A small religion on the outskirts of the Roman Empire would expand across the world. In the grandeur of all that came after, we cannot lose the incredible beauty of that humble beginning.

The Son of God could have came down from Heaven to announce himself in a chariot of fire, but he chose to give up all of his power for the shelter of his mother's arms.


               
From Father Hans Kung's On Being Christian:

                 Christian does not mean everything that is true, good beautiful, human. 
                 Who could deny that truth, goodness, beauty and humanity exist also 
                 outside Christianity? But everything can be called Christian which in 
                 theory and practice has an explicit, positive reference to Jesus.

                  A Christian is not just any human being with genuine conviction, sincere
                  faith and good will. No one can fail to see that genuine conviction, sincere
                  faith and good will also exist outside of Christianity. But all those can be
                  called Christian for whom life and death in Jesus Christ is ultimately decisive.

                  Christian Church does not mean just any meditation and action group, any
                  any community of committed human beings who try to lead a decent life in
                  order to gain salvation. It could never be disputed that commitment, action
                  meditation, a decent life and salvation can exist also in other groups outside 
                  the Church. But any human community, great or small, for whom Jesus Christ
                  is ultimately decisive can be called a Christian Church.

                  Christianity does not exist wherever inhumanity is opposed and humanity 
                  realized. It is a simple truth that inhumanity is opposed and humanity realized
                  also outside of Christianity - among Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists,
                  among post-Christian humanists and outspoken atheists. But Christianity
                  exists only where the memory of Jesus Christ is activated in theory and practice.


NOTE: If you can, please take a second and sign this petition to President Obama to make improving the system of diagnosing serious mental illnesses a national priority. We cannot prevent all tragedies, but I believe God wants us to do our best to try. Suffering will always be with us, but we must do our best to relieve it.

A Humble Foundation

May 19, 2011

I had lunch yesterday with my friend Matthew Fischer.  While Matthew and I disagree on some things, he's been a great spiritual mentor for me.  Particularly, helping me put specifics that I'd seen or experienced into the bigger context.

It one of our typical rambling conversations that ranged from fun to sad topics then back again.  But Matthew always leaves me with a something to think about, even if it is just a single sentence to a bigger story.

This time the sentence was "God's power works through weakness and humility."  Matthew continued his explanation saying that the ego was great for building human strength and work ethic.  Tapping into divine power required the exact opposite approach.

I mulled his point around for the rest of the day.  I thought of the five most obvious times the Divine had acted in my life: to save a falling coworker, prevent my suicide, to campaign for better care for veterans, and to stop my family's financial collapse.  With the exception of blocking the coworkers fall, each of those incidents had occurred after I'd failed.  The fight was already lost before victory claimed the day.

I didn't get any help until I gave up my illusions that I could resolve the situation.  I had to admit personal failure in order for my requests for help to be answered.  The admission of my own position of weakness was critical.  As long as I tried to maintain control over the situation, that control was left up to me and I would have walked down a path of failure or tragedy.

It's hard to pull a broader lesson out of this realization.  How do we give ourselves up completely in a world where we are still required to be in control?  What is the proper balance between maintaining personal responsibility and asking for divine help? 

I can't sit on my couch waiting for God to feed my kids.  I can't stand in front of the computer screen all day waiting for zeroes to get added to my bank account.  Yet on the other hand, I can't labor under the illusion that I have all of the answers and brains to solve my family's daily problems.  The world is full of pitfalls deeper than any ladder I possess.  It doesn't make sense for me not to ask to use a better ladder.

I struggled to pull some type of lesson from this paradox.  Then I remembered that Matthew hadn't just said God's power worked through "weakness."  He'd said, "weakness and humility."

Humility might be the answer to the question of how can we balance our own personal responsibility on one hand and a belief system that says Divine help is a possibility on the other.

Humility allows us to be honest about our status in the world and our ability to affect our own situation.  It allows for a strong sense of personal responsiblity, yet removes any internal barriers hat the ego can create to keep out Divine help.
Jesus was clear on the relationship between humility and Divine support when he said, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted." Matthew 23:12.  Similarly, "The greatest among you must be your servant."  Matthew 23:11.

The words of the Dalai Lama take us further.  "Humility is an essential ingredient in our pursuit of transformation, although this may seem at odds with our need for confidence. But just as there is clearly a distinction between valid confidence, in the sense of self-esteem, and conceit, so it is important to distinguish between genuine humility, which is a kind of modesty, and lack of confidence."

It's a powerful realization in a modern world that finds humility as a weakness instead of a virtue.  That realization challenges us to protect our own humility which is under constant attack whenever we are fortunate enough to find success in or approval from the world.






 

Jesus and the Death Penalty

Note: The passages quoted below are from the New American Bible.  Similar passages can be found in the New International Bible in Matthew 15: 1-20 and John: 8:1-11

I spent this morning in Montana’s Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on a bill to abolish the death penalty.  I was testifying if favor of the bill on behalf of NAMI Montana’s members who live with serious mental illnesses and their family.

The Catholic Churches, the Assembly of God, and the Montana Association of Churches also spoke up in favor of the bill.  It’s always nice to be on the same side as your congregation and fortunately with this job I usually am.

When the opponents got up to testify, two preachers stated point blank that anyone who was against the death penalty was not a Christian.  One of the preachers pulled out his Bible to demonstrate evidence for his point.

The preacher cited Jesus’s statement in Matthew 15:4, “‘Whoever curses father or mother shall die’” as proof that Jesus was for the death penalty.  In that passage, Jesus is restating the Mosaic Law described in Leviticus 20:9, “And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.”

The preacher waved his Bible and made it very clear that professed Christians who did not follow Jesus’s will on the death penalty were hypocrites.  It was a powerful allegation, if true; but if it was true then why would the preacher use that passage of the Bible to illustrate his point? 

In that passage, Jesus described this absurd law from Levitucus and that fact that no one followed it in order to defend from the Pharisees’ ridicule of Jesus’s followers for not washing their hands when they eat a meal. Matthew 15:2.  If the passage was actually a defense of putting people to death, why would Jesus conclude it with the simple statement that “to eat with unwashed hands does not defile”? Matthew 15:20. 

If someone reading the Bible wanted to interpret Jesus’s attitude toward the death penalty, couldn’t they just go directly to John: 8:3-11 where Jesus was asked to sentence a woman for death for adultery?  In this instance, there was no doubt that the woman was guilty or that Mosaic Law required her to be put to death by stoning.

If Jesus was a firm believer in the death penalty, He would have been the first one to throw a stone.  This action would have been recorded in the Bible and made it very clear to His followers throughout history that there was no doubt that Jesus stood on the side of capital punishment.

Jesus reached down to the ground, but he did not grab a stone.  Instead, Jesus took his finger and began drawing in the dirt.

The scribes and the Pharisees who originally dragged the woman before Jesus continued to call for his judgment against her.

Jesus “straightened up and said to them, ‘Let the one among you who is without sin be the first one to throw a stone at her.’” After saying this, He bent down and began writing on the ground again.

Eventually all of the woman’s accusers left leaving just her and Jesus.  “Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“She replied, ‘No one, sir.’”

“Then Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go [and] from now on do not sin any more.”

There are some strong arguments in favor of the death penalty.  No one with a heart who listened to victims’ testimonies could deny that.  But the argument that “our government should put criminals to death because Jesus wants us to” is thoroughly debunked by John: 8:3-11.