How often have you heard lately that it's not about church, it's about the body. It's not the building, it's the people who love and serve God. You don't have to listen to a sermon every Sunday morning to be a good Christian, you have you live it out in your life.
We have built cathedrals and mega churches, tiny church buildings and cross-shaped momuments. We have lifted up in art and architecture the basic symbols of our faith and created not just a palce for corporate gatherings but a whole set of rules, expectations, social mores and ideologies to go with it. We have created beaureaucratic churches with councils and elders and secretaries and boards for every topic imaginable. We have shaped the church according to our culture, and that is to be expected. As long as we remember that the true church is not the building, the elders, the name on the sign or the docritnal regulations, it is the body of believers living together, loving the world, and serving God.
So why was the Temple so important to Ancient Israel? Why did it become so central to the Jews? The first ten books of the Bible don't have a temple in them at all. After the Exodus there was a tent and a place to keep the ark, which represented the presence of God, but not temple.
Isn't it funny that God never asked his people to build a temple? He didn't say a word about it. It was David who wanted to build a temple, but God said that wasn't to be his job. Solomon did it, with the resources David set aside. God blessed the temple and indicated that is presence was there, but did he really want it? Was the temple something God desired and looked forward to, or was it a concession he made, like giving Israel a king?
The temple is in some ways a political thing. It makes sense that there was no desire for a temple before there was a king. The king needed to show people that he was powerful and rich enough to build something like that. Building projects were expected of good rulers--they still are!! They are a symbol of the power and wealth of the people who build them. The temple also brought religion to the capital, the seat of politics. It brought the priests closer to the king. Once the twelve tribes were unified into one nation, they had to have something tangible to stay unified around. The answer--a temple.
The prophets warned over and over again that Jerusalem could not trust in the presence of the temple to protect them. God was perfectly willing to smash their symbol of power and unity, to smash the symbol of his presence among them (one that they had desired, designed and created). God has awalys been first and foremost about the heart, about right living, grace and justice.
Many prophets made a huge deal, after the return from exile, about rebuilding the temple. If they could restore this building their fortunes would be restored. But I wonder if that was the real message. People had to turn their hearts to God first, before they could care enough to lay aside the money and resources, to give up their time and energy to do the work, before the temple could be rebuilt. So does the temple really reflect the people's hearts? Should they have stopped worrying about the temple altogether and started building God-centered lives instead? Yet they felt they could not worship God without the temple. But Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did just that. They followed God and were blessed by him without a tabernacle or a temple.
So does God want temples, cathedrals, and churches? Or does he merely tolerate them, knowing that we need them?
August 31, 2011
August 22, 2011
Fuzzy Babies
It amazes me how many people have a 'baby.' Their baby is not a soft, pink infant wrapped up in blankets fresh from the hospital. It's not a drooling toddler wandering around the house and chewing on everything with two teeth. Their babies have fur and whiskers, or scales and fins.
I work with the elderly, and although many of them live alone, they have pets. Every single person over the age of sixty that I have met refers to their pet as their 'baby' their 'child' their 'boy' or 'girl.' They love that pet, small dog or cat usually, as much as they love children. They give it attention all day, they talk to it and believe that it talks back. They listen to every bark, growl, meow, hiss or whimper.
A bit over the top? Maybe, maybe not.
Some people are just animal crazy. They love their pets, sleep with their pets, eat with their pets, (I've seen people share cups and plates with their pets). There are even commercials on TV now that point to the fact that the family pet isn't just an animal, it's a member of the family just like any of the children. Some people definitely take it too far. I mean, I love my cat, but a cat is still just a cat.
Why do people lavish attention on their pets? Why do they become especially important as people age, their families die or stop visiting, they find themselves living alone. Of course the pet is company, a way to make the house feel less empty, someone to sit in your lap and pet and purr.
It's more than that, though.
We don't just need company. We don't just need a friendly purr machine, the knowledge that we are not alone. We, people, humanity, need to be useful. We need to be needed. We need to be able to take care of each other, to help each other, to feel beneficial. I think that, even more than companionship, this is why people who live alone often need pets, why they lavish them with such attention and care. They don't have enough other people in their life to receive that attention, and they need to give it. We need to be able to reach out and take care of someone, to give something of value to another.
One hard part of my job is not being able to take any gifts, tips, etc. I understand the reason for the rule, and it's a good reason. The people I work with can't afford to give much away. People that age can get senile and not remember they gave something away. It's a lawsuit waiting to happen. But nearly every client I see wants to offer me something, a small Christmas present or a bottle of pop on a hot day. I am there to serve them, but they want to get me a glass of water or a snack. I think that some of it goes beyond hospitality and general politeness. They want to give. They want to be useful. It is hard, so hard, to reach that point where you are dependent on everyone around you, and you can give nothing back, especially if you have spent your life unencumbered by disability, taking care of yourself and everyone else. It is a hard change to face, a hard reality to accept, and it can be thoroughly depressing.
We teach children to give. To help each other. To open doors for people and help Mom carry in the groceries. We are taught to help, to give, to serve from a very early age. What happens when we can't do that anymore? We can't remember the time before that when we were babies, when we had nothing to give and were completely dependent for everything.
I like to help people. I have always been taught to help people. But I have also been taught to be independent and take care of myself. Everyone in my family has a hard time accepting help. We don't want it, we don't want to appear weak, to be a burden. And yet we help others. We contradict ourselves with our actions. If we want to help, we need to let ourselves be helped. We need to accept it graciously and realize there is no embarrassment. But it is hard, so hard. There is pride in helping, in doing for others, but there is none in receiving it, only humility.
I wonder what I will do when I am on the other side?
I work with the elderly, and although many of them live alone, they have pets. Every single person over the age of sixty that I have met refers to their pet as their 'baby' their 'child' their 'boy' or 'girl.' They love that pet, small dog or cat usually, as much as they love children. They give it attention all day, they talk to it and believe that it talks back. They listen to every bark, growl, meow, hiss or whimper.
A bit over the top? Maybe, maybe not.
Some people are just animal crazy. They love their pets, sleep with their pets, eat with their pets, (I've seen people share cups and plates with their pets). There are even commercials on TV now that point to the fact that the family pet isn't just an animal, it's a member of the family just like any of the children. Some people definitely take it too far. I mean, I love my cat, but a cat is still just a cat.
Why do people lavish attention on their pets? Why do they become especially important as people age, their families die or stop visiting, they find themselves living alone. Of course the pet is company, a way to make the house feel less empty, someone to sit in your lap and pet and purr.
It's more than that, though.
We don't just need company. We don't just need a friendly purr machine, the knowledge that we are not alone. We, people, humanity, need to be useful. We need to be needed. We need to be able to take care of each other, to help each other, to feel beneficial. I think that, even more than companionship, this is why people who live alone often need pets, why they lavish them with such attention and care. They don't have enough other people in their life to receive that attention, and they need to give it. We need to be able to reach out and take care of someone, to give something of value to another.
One hard part of my job is not being able to take any gifts, tips, etc. I understand the reason for the rule, and it's a good reason. The people I work with can't afford to give much away. People that age can get senile and not remember they gave something away. It's a lawsuit waiting to happen. But nearly every client I see wants to offer me something, a small Christmas present or a bottle of pop on a hot day. I am there to serve them, but they want to get me a glass of water or a snack. I think that some of it goes beyond hospitality and general politeness. They want to give. They want to be useful. It is hard, so hard, to reach that point where you are dependent on everyone around you, and you can give nothing back, especially if you have spent your life unencumbered by disability, taking care of yourself and everyone else. It is a hard change to face, a hard reality to accept, and it can be thoroughly depressing.
We teach children to give. To help each other. To open doors for people and help Mom carry in the groceries. We are taught to help, to give, to serve from a very early age. What happens when we can't do that anymore? We can't remember the time before that when we were babies, when we had nothing to give and were completely dependent for everything.
I like to help people. I have always been taught to help people. But I have also been taught to be independent and take care of myself. Everyone in my family has a hard time accepting help. We don't want it, we don't want to appear weak, to be a burden. And yet we help others. We contradict ourselves with our actions. If we want to help, we need to let ourselves be helped. We need to accept it graciously and realize there is no embarrassment. But it is hard, so hard. There is pride in helping, in doing for others, but there is none in receiving it, only humility.
I wonder what I will do when I am on the other side?
August 13, 2011
Handshakes and Name Tags
Okay, you know why I hate church and am ready to give up on the institution all together. Here are two big reasons why I feel the church is so empty. Both are examples of ways the church formally tries to connect people and build community, yet they all fall flat on their faces and leave me feeling more abandoned and alone than before.
First, handshakes. Just about every church has a time during the worship when they say to go around and greet everyone. You smile, shake hands, and say Hi to a bunch of people whose names you don't know and who don't expect any other response to 'how are you?" than 'Fine.' Granted, I've always hated that question because no one ever really wants to know the answer. But people at church ought to. If they ask 'how are you' they ought to have half an hour set aside to talk about how things aren't fine, or why they are so wonderfully fine for once.
Instead, people shake hands. Some people try to shake as many as possible, nod, smile, and mumble a greeting you can barely understand because they're moving on the to next before you can say Hi back. I know the faces of the people who sit around my normal space in the pew, but I don't know half of their names, I don't know what anyone does for a living, and I don't have any idea if they are actually 'fine' or not. They shake my hand and move on, and I am left wondering if anyone would ever take even an extra five minutes to talk to me. Because they all rush for the door when service is over, and I don't get a chance to follow up the handshake with an introduction later.
I hate handshakes. I'd rather have a conversation. Skip the meet and greet time, that's what the half-hour donuts (ew! please bring something besides donuts. I can't even stand the smell) and coffee (also ick) session between services is for. When people can sit around at their usual tables with their usual cliques and ignore the rest of the church around them.
Second, I hate name tags. I suppose this is trying to remedy part of the handshake problem. Every once in a while churches will get a bunch of name tags and ask everyone to wear one. Some like to plaster name tags on visitors, just to mark them for extra handshaking and empty how-are-yous.
I am from the non-name tag generation. No one my age ever wears one on the shirt, next to the face. I goes on the shirt hem or my thigh. If I even put one on. There is a problem with name tags, a huge one.
Knowing my name doesn't mean you know me. Memorizing the symbols that make up your name tell me nothing about who you are. There are hundreds, even thousands of people with the same name. A name means nothing. I couldn't care less if you know my name. The entire name tag thing merely generates a fake sense of community. Oh them, yeah the people I shook hands with last week, I know their names now, but I still don't know squat about them.
Take time to get to know me. Have a conversation. Learn what I like and dislike, why I am at church and what I need. Learn what makes me laugh and cry. Spend some time with me and look for the edges of the Spirit shinning through my human flesh. I'll do the same for you. I want to know what makes you tick, what brings you peace, what made you cry during worship last week. I might not be able to remember your name, but I know your face and the soul that goes along with it. The name will follow, if we get to know each other.
I'm not just another line in the church address book. I don't care what you call me. I care that you bother to call me at all, after church, during the week, to see how I am and talk about something that matters.
I hate name tags. They serve no purpose in church. High school reunions, sure. Church, no. Because if you need a name tag to learn my name, you've missed out on me, and you've missed the point.
First, handshakes. Just about every church has a time during the worship when they say to go around and greet everyone. You smile, shake hands, and say Hi to a bunch of people whose names you don't know and who don't expect any other response to 'how are you?" than 'Fine.' Granted, I've always hated that question because no one ever really wants to know the answer. But people at church ought to. If they ask 'how are you' they ought to have half an hour set aside to talk about how things aren't fine, or why they are so wonderfully fine for once.
Instead, people shake hands. Some people try to shake as many as possible, nod, smile, and mumble a greeting you can barely understand because they're moving on the to next before you can say Hi back. I know the faces of the people who sit around my normal space in the pew, but I don't know half of their names, I don't know what anyone does for a living, and I don't have any idea if they are actually 'fine' or not. They shake my hand and move on, and I am left wondering if anyone would ever take even an extra five minutes to talk to me. Because they all rush for the door when service is over, and I don't get a chance to follow up the handshake with an introduction later.
I hate handshakes. I'd rather have a conversation. Skip the meet and greet time, that's what the half-hour donuts (ew! please bring something besides donuts. I can't even stand the smell) and coffee (also ick) session between services is for. When people can sit around at their usual tables with their usual cliques and ignore the rest of the church around them.
Second, I hate name tags. I suppose this is trying to remedy part of the handshake problem. Every once in a while churches will get a bunch of name tags and ask everyone to wear one. Some like to plaster name tags on visitors, just to mark them for extra handshaking and empty how-are-yous.
I am from the non-name tag generation. No one my age ever wears one on the shirt, next to the face. I goes on the shirt hem or my thigh. If I even put one on. There is a problem with name tags, a huge one.
Knowing my name doesn't mean you know me. Memorizing the symbols that make up your name tell me nothing about who you are. There are hundreds, even thousands of people with the same name. A name means nothing. I couldn't care less if you know my name. The entire name tag thing merely generates a fake sense of community. Oh them, yeah the people I shook hands with last week, I know their names now, but I still don't know squat about them.
Take time to get to know me. Have a conversation. Learn what I like and dislike, why I am at church and what I need. Learn what makes me laugh and cry. Spend some time with me and look for the edges of the Spirit shinning through my human flesh. I'll do the same for you. I want to know what makes you tick, what brings you peace, what made you cry during worship last week. I might not be able to remember your name, but I know your face and the soul that goes along with it. The name will follow, if we get to know each other.
I'm not just another line in the church address book. I don't care what you call me. I care that you bother to call me at all, after church, during the week, to see how I am and talk about something that matters.
I hate name tags. They serve no purpose in church. High school reunions, sure. Church, no. Because if you need a name tag to learn my name, you've missed out on me, and you've missed the point.
August 2, 2011
Nature, Humankind, and God
“Oh God my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds they hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.”
Some of my favorite hymns are about nature. They describe the beauty of the world as a window to God. The splendor of the mountains, the fury of a thunderstorm, the beauty of a flower, are all a reflection of God, his power and glory. We can see the Lord through his creation.
Yet isn’t humankind the best part of that creation? We are made in God’s image, according to Genesis. We bear the fingerprint of God within our very being. Not nature, us. We were made last, on the sixth day, to rule the earth and take care of it. Shouldn’t we be able to see the power, majesty and beauty of God within humanity?
There are so many songs about the natural world that help point us in worship toward God. But there aren’t many that seek for the essence of God within humankind. One of my favorite paintings is a series of faces which all merge, like an optical illusion, into one face, Jesus’ face. We see Jesus, we find God, in ourselves and in every good gift that God gave humanity.
I love songs about nature and I think that a bright summer day, a beautiful flower, a mighty mountain can really put his glory in perspective. These are indeed windows to God and I would never say otherwise. But I would like to see a few songs about the good things in humans. About compassion and love, grace and mercy, lived through people, as powerful images that point to God, as powerful as purple mountains‘ majesty.
So look around you, at the blue sky and green grass, at the rainbow that shines after the storm. Then look at the person next to you, the people you work with, your circle of friends and the role models you admire from afar.
Oh God my God, when I in humble wonder,
Consider all the souls thy hands have made,
I see their hearts, I hear the sound of laughter,
Thy power throughout the lives of friends displayed.”
Consider all the worlds they hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.”
Some of my favorite hymns are about nature. They describe the beauty of the world as a window to God. The splendor of the mountains, the fury of a thunderstorm, the beauty of a flower, are all a reflection of God, his power and glory. We can see the Lord through his creation.
Yet isn’t humankind the best part of that creation? We are made in God’s image, according to Genesis. We bear the fingerprint of God within our very being. Not nature, us. We were made last, on the sixth day, to rule the earth and take care of it. Shouldn’t we be able to see the power, majesty and beauty of God within humanity?
There are so many songs about the natural world that help point us in worship toward God. But there aren’t many that seek for the essence of God within humankind. One of my favorite paintings is a series of faces which all merge, like an optical illusion, into one face, Jesus’ face. We see Jesus, we find God, in ourselves and in every good gift that God gave humanity.
I love songs about nature and I think that a bright summer day, a beautiful flower, a mighty mountain can really put his glory in perspective. These are indeed windows to God and I would never say otherwise. But I would like to see a few songs about the good things in humans. About compassion and love, grace and mercy, lived through people, as powerful images that point to God, as powerful as purple mountains‘ majesty.
So look around you, at the blue sky and green grass, at the rainbow that shines after the storm. Then look at the person next to you, the people you work with, your circle of friends and the role models you admire from afar.
Oh God my God, when I in humble wonder,
Consider all the souls thy hands have made,
I see their hearts, I hear the sound of laughter,
Thy power throughout the lives of friends displayed.”
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