Panorama from Lake Chatuge Dam

This is from a Chapter in Paul Tillich’s New Being that has been posted online. Tillich writes after returning from Germany where he witnessed much brokenness:

But we read that in this nation almost 40 per cent of all those young men who are rejected by the Armed Services are unacceptable because of mental disturbances and maladjustments. And we hear that of all illnesses mental illness is by far the most widespread in this country. What does this mean? It is a symptom of serious danger for our health. There may be something in the structure of our institutions which produces illness in more and more people. It may, for instance, be that the unlimited, ruthless competition which deprives everybody of a feeling of security, makes many in our healthy nation sick; not only those who are unsuccessful in competition, but also those who are most successful. And so something surprising occurs: We have fought victoriously against many forms of bodily sickness. We have discovered drugs with an almost miraculous power. The average length of our lives has been stretched beyond any former expectation. But many in our nation cannot stand this health. They want sickness as a refuge into which they can escape from the harshness of an insecure life. And since the medical care has made it more difficult to escape into bodily illness, they choose mental illness. But does not everybody dislike sickness, the pain, the discomfort and the danger connected with it? Of course, we dislike our sickness with some parts of our souls; but we like it with some other parts, mostly unconsciously, sometimes even consciously. But nobody can be healed especially of mental disorders and diseases who does not want it with his whole heart. And this is why they have become almost an epidemic in this country. People are fleeing into a situation where others must take care of them, where they exercise power through weakness or where they create an imaginary world in which it is nice to live as long as real life does not touch them. Don’t underestimate this temptation. The basic insecurity of human existence and the driving anxiety connected with it are felt everywhere and by everyone. It is human heritage and it is increased immensely by our present world, even in this country full of vigor and health. (http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=375&C=18)

Tillich wrote these words druing the Cold War in 1955. I dare say the forces in our country that foster mental illness as an escape from reality are even greater today. I need just cite the partisan political discord that is shredding our society before our very eyes. Continue reading →

Jesus does it again. His direct action campaign, as Ched Myers describes it, now focuses on the Pharisees and table fellowship. According to the puritanical Pharisees, table fellowship was restricted. As John Dominic Crossan teaches us commensality—all are welcome at the table— was a key plank in Jesus’ Gospel platform. The story of Levi illustrates that Jesus welcomed all to the table. He dined with outcasts, sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes and was often condemned for so doing. He welcomes lepers and poor people who had lost their land to the rich and powerful.

Dining and eating is a social function that carries great significance in all societies. I was intrigued when I read that the development of table manners was a purposeful design to limit who could come to the table. I, for one, still do not know what to do with all the forks, knives, and spoons that accompany a formal banquet. Work from the outside in is advice that has helped me save social face on more than one occasion.

Who comes to the table? Who is welcome at the table? Jesus welcomed all but some of the churches that claim loyalty to Jesus do not practice open table fellowship. We might get a better idea if we ask, “Who is not welcome at the table?” In many fundamentalist churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, gays and lesbians are often not welcome. Pastors who have tried to follow Jesus’ example by welcoming them  have been disciplined and even removed from their posts. Divorced people are shunned. Politicians who support a woman’s right to choice are denied communion at the table. Some Catholic pastors are quick to remind non-Catholics at funerals that the church does not welcome all to the table. Continue reading →

The Dump

As I read the story about Eli teaching Samuel how to listen to the voice of the Living God, I could not help but think of a story that is playing out in our church community. A lady parishioner went to the Clay County, NC  dump for yet another seemingly common unloading of trash. At the dump, she noticed that someone had placed a framed needlepoint profile of Jesus in prayer on the side up against a retaining wall. The former owner, while no longer wanted the needlepoint with a well-worn frame, had placed it against a retaining wall probably hoping someone might want it. As our friend started to leave the dump, she heard, “Are you going to leave me in the dump?” A bit startled, she hesitated and then retrieved the picture and placed it in the back seat of her car. When she got home, she hung the picture in the bedroom. As she was leaving the bedroom, she heard the voice again, “Are you going to leave me hidden back here?” She hesitated, turned around, retrieved the picture and placed it in a prominent place in the living room. The pastor brought the picture to church and framed a Sunday sermon (just could not resist the pun!) around the events just described. The picture never got back to the home of the lady who found it in the dump. It is now making its way around our parish with an accompanying diary. It will go from house to house, from family to family, and be a symbol of Christ’s real presence to the faithful who welcome him into their families and homes. Is this not how Samuel welcomed the Living God after Eli taught him to listen for God’s voice? Continue reading →

The Light

[This is an expanded version of my soaking prayer meditation for Tuesday night, January 3.]

I recently saw the movie, The Way, staring Martin Sheen and directed by his son, Emilio Estavez. It is the story of Tom, an affluent dentist from California, whose son, Daniel, abandoned graduate school and set out to walk the 500 mile El Camino de Santiago across Northern Spain. The end point of the pilgrimage is the cathedral of St. James, the Apostle. Having gone to France to identify and claim the remains of his son, the father decides to walk El Camino and scatter his son’s ashes as he goes. For Sheen “It is also the tale of a literal journey that leads to a spiritual, personal transformation, and that is territory that Sheen — survivor of both addiction and heart disease, parent of a wayward son, devout Catholic — knows well.” He wants to go it alone; however, he attracts three erstwhile companions along the way. It is a story of pilgrimage that soon becomes, as do all pilgrimages, an interior journey into self. “Along the way to Santiago, [Tom] meets a trio of pilgrims — Sarah, an angry divorcee from Canada (Deborah Kara Unger); Jack, a frustrated writer from Ireland (James Nesbitt); and Joost, a hilarious gastronome from Holland (Yorick van Wageningen) — and comes to know himself, through them.” (http://www.aarp.org/entertainment/movies-for-grownups/info-10-2011/the-way-movie-review.html) Continue reading →