I am so excited these days as my book "God is Plural: Sermons for an Emerging Church" arrived in my hands two days ago. The experience of holding my book in my hands for the first time, was as thrilling as holding my first child in my hands seventeen years ago. I had promised to myself that I will not write a book, until I had something unique to say, because I refused to add to the destruction of trees. Those who listened to my sermons urged me to put them in writing and after having have done that,I feel really good.
Today was my first outing with the book in hand to attend a palliative care seminar at Broward General Medical Center. I sat next to a registered nurse by the name of "Donna". I had a book in my folder which was transparent. She saw the cover - God is Plural - and was curious."I have never heard that expression before," she said. I urged her to peruse the book and in minutes, she wanted to buy a copy. I was thrilled.
Donna told me that she was especially touched by one line inside the book that said: "No child is born a sinner." She thought that was a "liberating message." All through her life, she had heard from preachers and teachers that we are born in sin.
How could any one look at an innocent baby and call him or her sinner? Original sin is a Christian dogma concocted by St.Augustine based on the fact that children are the products of sexual acts which he considered 'dirty and sinful.' Augustine who led a life of sexual promiscuity and fathered an illegitimate child prior to his conversion,must have been expressing his guilt in formulating the theory of original sin. I don't think that we have to be bound by Augustine's thought as a paradigm to determine our lives today. I belive that, we come into this world, with an original blessing. The fact that he enters a sinful world, does not make the child a sinner.
Attaching the sinner label to an innocent child on the day of her entrance into the world is an insult and injustice to that child. Let us say that we come into this world as a blessing and the purpose and goal of our life is to be a blessing for others.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
What Happened to Character?
Last week 20/20 aired a one hour program interviewing Andrew Young, a trusted Aide to former North Carolina Senator and presidential candidate, John Edwards.It was a sad example of betrayal of trust I have seen on TV recently. The fact that it was not fantasy but reality TV, frightens me.
John Edwards is a flawed man, no question about it. He had an affair with a woman on his staff, Rielle Hunter and fathered her child. He was hormone driven and stupid when he did that, but he was a coward when he tried to hide it from his ailing wife, Elizabeth and the public. He went out of his way to orchestrate an elaborate hoax to hide the affair and the pregnancy from the public.
Enter Andrew Young and his wife. Andrew Young was star-struck by the young Senator that he went to work for him and became his most trusted aide. He was Edwards' alter ego for many years. He knew everything about John Edwards. That information was gathered in the context of a trusted relationship. To turn around and share that information with the public, both in print and on TV is just disgusting. If Andrew Young had any sliver of character left in him, he would not have dished dirty secrets about his boss to the public.
Andrew Young and his wife co-operated with John Edwards and his minions to perpetuate a lie on the public. He took money from them for that favor. Mr. Young and his wife lived in style in exotic locations carrying the 'baggage' of Edwards' sin for nine months. And when things did not work out for him the way he expected, he turned on his boss.
I am not excusing John Edwards for his lying and his cowardice, but I am chastising Andrew Young for his betrayal and hypocrisy.
Character is defined as "behaving in accordance with one's values, regardless of the circumstances." Andrew Young showed no character when he wrote the book about John Edwards and dished the dirt in public.
I don't see any redeeming value in sharing this information with the public at this time, except financial gain for Andrew Young. There is a Zen principle that before we speak, we should ask three questions: Is it true, is it necessary and is it kind?
What Andrew Young is saying may be true, but it is neither necessary nor kind.
John Edwards is a flawed man, no question about it. He had an affair with a woman on his staff, Rielle Hunter and fathered her child. He was hormone driven and stupid when he did that, but he was a coward when he tried to hide it from his ailing wife, Elizabeth and the public. He went out of his way to orchestrate an elaborate hoax to hide the affair and the pregnancy from the public.
Enter Andrew Young and his wife. Andrew Young was star-struck by the young Senator that he went to work for him and became his most trusted aide. He was Edwards' alter ego for many years. He knew everything about John Edwards. That information was gathered in the context of a trusted relationship. To turn around and share that information with the public, both in print and on TV is just disgusting. If Andrew Young had any sliver of character left in him, he would not have dished dirty secrets about his boss to the public.
Andrew Young and his wife co-operated with John Edwards and his minions to perpetuate a lie on the public. He took money from them for that favor. Mr. Young and his wife lived in style in exotic locations carrying the 'baggage' of Edwards' sin for nine months. And when things did not work out for him the way he expected, he turned on his boss.
I am not excusing John Edwards for his lying and his cowardice, but I am chastising Andrew Young for his betrayal and hypocrisy.
Character is defined as "behaving in accordance with one's values, regardless of the circumstances." Andrew Young showed no character when he wrote the book about John Edwards and dished the dirt in public.
I don't see any redeeming value in sharing this information with the public at this time, except financial gain for Andrew Young. There is a Zen principle that before we speak, we should ask three questions: Is it true, is it necessary and is it kind?
What Andrew Young is saying may be true, but it is neither necessary nor kind.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Bible Verses on Guns: Perversion of Christianity
Few nights ago, ABC news reported that a weapons manufacturer in Michigan, Trijicon was encoding references to Bible verses in high profile rifles. Some of the verses are, 2Cor: 4:6 where Jesus is described as light in darkness and John 8: 12 where Jesus is called the Light of the World. The founder of Trijicon,Glyn Bindon, was reportedly a Christian. The pentagon has a multi-year contract with Trijicon for years. Apparently the Pentagon was unaware of this practice of inscribing rifles with Bible verses.
This is wrong on many levels. First of all, it is a breach of the separation of church and state. These rifles used in Iraq and Afghanistan can only help inflame anti-Christian and anti-American feelings. But more importantly, it is a perversion of Christianity. This is done in the name of the Prince of Peace!It is totally contradictory to the message of Jesus who died on the cross.
In an opinion column in the Miami Herald on 1/24/10, Leonard Pitts expressed this perversion so powerfully: "We specialize in cheesy expressions of faith here in God's favorite country. Indeed, you could build a tower unto heaven itself out of all the roadside Jesuses, prayer cloths, Ten Commandments rocks, and other trinkets of a cheap,disposable faith that says nothing, costs nothing, does nothing, risks nothing, that speaks not of God, external and eternal but only of the grubby, temporal perspectives and fears of ground bound women and men.
"Mother Theresa's faith drove her to foreswear material riches and spend half a century working to uplift the wretched poor of Calcutta. Martin Luthter King's faith drove him to gamble his very life in a dangerous campaign to win human and civil rights for African American people. And then there is Glyn Bindon, whose faith led him to inscribe coded Bible verses on his gun sights.
And how sad that is!
This is wrong on many levels. First of all, it is a breach of the separation of church and state. These rifles used in Iraq and Afghanistan can only help inflame anti-Christian and anti-American feelings. But more importantly, it is a perversion of Christianity. This is done in the name of the Prince of Peace!It is totally contradictory to the message of Jesus who died on the cross.
In an opinion column in the Miami Herald on 1/24/10, Leonard Pitts expressed this perversion so powerfully: "We specialize in cheesy expressions of faith here in God's favorite country. Indeed, you could build a tower unto heaven itself out of all the roadside Jesuses, prayer cloths, Ten Commandments rocks, and other trinkets of a cheap,disposable faith that says nothing, costs nothing, does nothing, risks nothing, that speaks not of God, external and eternal but only of the grubby, temporal perspectives and fears of ground bound women and men.
"Mother Theresa's faith drove her to foreswear material riches and spend half a century working to uplift the wretched poor of Calcutta. Martin Luthter King's faith drove him to gamble his very life in a dangerous campaign to win human and civil rights for African American people. And then there is Glyn Bindon, whose faith led him to inscribe coded Bible verses on his gun sights.
And how sad that is!
Friday, January 15, 2010
GOD AND HAITI
The earthquake in Haiti has once again brought God-talk into the fray. During my hospice round, on the day after the quak, I met with several natives of Haiti who are health care workers. My heart broke for them and most of the time words were so inadequate to express my feelings of empathy and compassion for them. But surprisingly, I found them to be calm and collected, with no sense of anger or anxiety. All of them had family members in Haiti and none of them had heard from them. But I detected no anxiety in them. Their trust in God was palpable. They believed that the earthquake was the will of God. They believed that these are signs of the end of times predicted in the Bible. They believed that they would meet their loved ones who may have perished in the quake in heaven.
Even though I did not agree with their interpretation of the Bible or their concept of God, I could not disagree with their faith. I don't believe that this earthquake or any natural disaster for that matter, is a punishment from God. I don't believe in a punishing God. If it is a punishment, there are several other areas of the planet that really deserves it more than poor Haiti.
Why such a disaster happened in Haiti. I don't know. And if anyone gives an answer to that question, I will run so far and fast away from that person. The fact of the matter is, no one knows. Every person who comes up with an answer is just speculating or trying to make sense of the mysterious and the riddle.
The answer is I don't know. What I know for sure is that the God I experience will help the people of Haiti and me to get through this terribly sad time.That God will mobilize the hearts of God's people to bring comfort, and solace to God's people.
In the meantime,I stand in awe before the mystery and unpredictability of life itself.
Even though I did not agree with their interpretation of the Bible or their concept of God, I could not disagree with their faith. I don't believe that this earthquake or any natural disaster for that matter, is a punishment from God. I don't believe in a punishing God. If it is a punishment, there are several other areas of the planet that really deserves it more than poor Haiti.
Why such a disaster happened in Haiti. I don't know. And if anyone gives an answer to that question, I will run so far and fast away from that person. The fact of the matter is, no one knows. Every person who comes up with an answer is just speculating or trying to make sense of the mysterious and the riddle.
The answer is I don't know. What I know for sure is that the God I experience will help the people of Haiti and me to get through this terribly sad time.That God will mobilize the hearts of God's people to bring comfort, and solace to God's people.
In the meantime,I stand in awe before the mystery and unpredictability of life itself.
Friday, January 1, 2010
All in a day's work
After few days of vacation, I returned to work today, the first day of the year. My first visit was to a patient named Bertha who was 100 years old today: She was born on 1/1/1910! She was a lovely lady, still with some of her faculties intact, and we had a nice visit. At the end, I took her fragile hands in mine and told her that she had a graceful face radiating peace and had eyes full of life and light. She was joyfully pleased and thanked me for the good words and told me that all my dreams for 2010 will come true. That was the first blessing of the day.
Then I moved on to my next patient who is 102. He too has his faculties. Morris told me that he stayed up until midnight to watch the ball drop in Time Square, NY,but missed it, because he did not realize that he was watching public television until the "whole thing was over." Poor guy, what do you expect when you are 102 years old.
My next assignment was an excubation, (removing of life support). Abe had a fall two weeks ago, and his brain was without oxygen for 15 minutes. He had pipes and tubes attached all over him. Abe was not conscious or able to respond. I sat down with his sister and our Nurse explaining the process, but his sister was very nervous. She did not want "to kill him." She wanted him to live. She was totally unrealistic about the prognosis, yet she did not have the courage to make that decision. She had to ask her therapist who was on vacation till Tuesday and wanted to do as the therapist suggested. I said to myself: "Why do people mortgage their brains to other people?" Why do they listen to opinions of others who have no stake in the case and consider that more important than their ow opinion? After nearly two hours of talking and and discussion the woman decided to wait.
she thought that both myself and our Nurse had an "aura" because we work in hospice. We told her that it was not about aura but about being realistic about life and embracing death as part of life. Those who fight death have not really understood the meaning of life.
Who said being hospice chaplain is a job? No, it is a vocation, a ministry that I am privileged to have. I thank God for the opportunity to be part of people's life at the end. It is a gift and a privilege indeed.
Then I moved on to my next patient who is 102. He too has his faculties. Morris told me that he stayed up until midnight to watch the ball drop in Time Square, NY,but missed it, because he did not realize that he was watching public television until the "whole thing was over." Poor guy, what do you expect when you are 102 years old.
My next assignment was an excubation, (removing of life support). Abe had a fall two weeks ago, and his brain was without oxygen for 15 minutes. He had pipes and tubes attached all over him. Abe was not conscious or able to respond. I sat down with his sister and our Nurse explaining the process, but his sister was very nervous. She did not want "to kill him." She wanted him to live. She was totally unrealistic about the prognosis, yet she did not have the courage to make that decision. She had to ask her therapist who was on vacation till Tuesday and wanted to do as the therapist suggested. I said to myself: "Why do people mortgage their brains to other people?" Why do they listen to opinions of others who have no stake in the case and consider that more important than their ow opinion? After nearly two hours of talking and and discussion the woman decided to wait.
she thought that both myself and our Nurse had an "aura" because we work in hospice. We told her that it was not about aura but about being realistic about life and embracing death as part of life. Those who fight death have not really understood the meaning of life.
Who said being hospice chaplain is a job? No, it is a vocation, a ministry that I am privileged to have. I thank God for the opportunity to be part of people's life at the end. It is a gift and a privilege indeed.
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