February 28, 2007
girls and precepts
One of the Girls has landed a few gigs for the St Patrick's Day festivities here in Chicago. Go here for the details. We are working up one for the 15th or 16th as well. I'll let you know as soon as I do.
Now, about those precepts...
Megan posted: Show up. Pull your weight.
Cristopher posted: God is. God loves.
I have been thinking about mine a bit...It has been a struggle getting away from the creeds. Ha. But I wanted to get away from overtly religious language for a moment. I think I failed. Well, that's something to know. Here are two to "catch up" with Megan and Cristopher.
Be compassionate. I know of very few people who are actually bad. I know many people who have done bad things. I am one of them. Most everyone I know of is trying to live by the Golden Rule or some approximation. To assume otherwise is to cheapen what God has made, namely the person who receives God's compassionate grace every day. If I do not offer compassion, I am attempting to thwart God's grace. Or, more simply, life is a pain in the ass. Why make it worse? Instead, try to lighten the burden of one another a bit as we all muddle through. Give us each room to be human...or enough rope to hang ourselves. Heh.
The ballance to this is...
I don't know a damn thing. This encourages an open mind. If I walk in to a new relationship or new situation assuming I know anything, those assumptions often cloud reality and do not allow me to hear someone else's story, or to experience something new. As a hospital chaplain I explained this as allowing people to tell me what they believe, to tell me their own story, to tell me how to best care for them. Then, and only then, would I be able to apply what knowledge or wisdom I have to their situation. But first I had to empty myself. The same is the case in congregational ministry, but it's much less intense and fast paced. Call it "welcoming the stranger" with the foregone conclusion that everyone is a stranger...someone I know nothing about. Finally, in day-to-day life, almost all of the relational mistakes I have made have been based on my assumptions about the other person, culture, or situation. If I am patient and assume I know nothing walking in, I am less likely to confuse my understanding of the truth for the truth that is being handed to me. God is a mystery, no? Well, since we are created in God's image, we too have something of the mysterious about us. I am trying to make room for that.
Okay, these are pretty slipshod, but it's what I have. They stem from the great comandment...Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and body...And love your neighbor as yourself. The first kind of love always brings about humility for me. When I love God, I encounter God. And that encounter is humbling. And in my humility, I discover compassion. And I pray that I will learn to love my neighbor more.
I repeat daily the Agnus Dei...Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on me...because in the face of such love, I see my own loss, my own sins. I am not a bad person. Not at all. But a reality check such as this is ultimately hopeful.
Well, that's a muddle.
Posted by tripp at February 28, 2007 06:21 AMSlipshod? I don't know Tripp. These sound pretty good to me.
-J
Posted by: Jorge Sanchez at February 28, 2007 09:39 AMI think there is some really scary stuff with some of the things you are saying. Not for you, but for others. I believe that we tend to project what is going on in our lives onto others. If things are going basically well with me, then all is well with the world. If things aren't going well with me, then I may not see such a bright world. Examples: Job talks about how there are people who are very successful but are ripping others off and are cruel. Whereas
David in his palace is praising God.
There have been many men and women who have stayed in abusive relationships or such because they are suppose to "Love thy neighbor."
They feel like if they were getting Christianity love "right" then the abusive person would change. (whether it be in a relationship, a co-worker at work, a third world country, etc.)
And then there is the Holocaust. The Jews privileges kept being taken away, but some were
saying, "Oh, this will pass. We just have a bad leader right now." I can tell you -- if a law
comes out that I have to wear a yellow star on my shirt because I am Episcopal -- I am out of here!
I do not believe that all people are good.
In Dueteronomy, I can't remember the verse, but it talks about choosing life or death.
We all have choices. WE, not God, create who we become. There are those who choose life and there are those who choose death.
Life as in the fruits of the Spirit and death
as those who choose hatred, strife, envy, greed,
stealing, etc.
The rector at our church spoke one service that
God is the same God of the person who has basically had a good life as well as the God of the one who is beaten every day, starving in a poor country begging for God's mercy all the days of their life.
Why are people so complacent to "accept" and
ignore the real strife going on in this world?
I believe that our ways are not God's ways.
Our thoughts are not even close to his.
We have got a heck of a long way to go.
I do believe people have the capability to become restored or reconciliation, as the Prodigal Son. But remember, the Prodigal Son
came back! He didn't stay in his self destructive ways.
ALSO, people who are, and I will be "polite," and
say "not nice"-- very much so take advantage of
that phrase "Love thy neighbor." I have encountered several manipulative humans who
bait others with, "Well, if you had a good heart, you would just forgive me." ALSO, if
you are simply compassionate with them, they
take it to mean that you have come to your senses
and realize that they were right all along.
NOT GOOD.
In I Corinthians 13 it says that Love goes for what is right. Right after that, it says, "Love bears all things." That is perfect!
Sometimes when you stand up for what is right --
like perhaps someone in your office is smearing somebody else's reputation out of jealous, etc. -- and you speak up and say, No, that is not true --you will have to BEAR ALL THINGS. You may be picked on, laughed at, etc. for saying and doing the right thing.
Look at Jesus' life. To me it is so blatantly obvious. The guy spoke up, gave rebuttals,
RAN, escaped out of town when they were after him -- where is the gentility in that?
I LOVE Jesus because he was no fool.
He had the good common sense God gave him, to
know that having a sound mind and heart as well as peace is to use your head as well as your heart.
In yoga, there is a pose called the Warrior pose.
You are to be strong but gentle at the same time. My yoga instructor compared it to
the verse about being as clever as snakes and as gentle as a dove.
There are also several instances when Paul or another disciple says that you need to confront someone who is not on the level.
In psychology, that is called an intervention.
I said all of the above to say this:
BE CAREFUL.
Yes we are to love others as ourself. But do you allow yourself to be cheated, lied to and say, "Oh that's okay!"
That is called co-dependency. I do not for a second believe that forgiveness and compassion
= codependency.
I live in a city that is so full of BS of people getting away with things just for money or status that I know better. The things I have seen here and what people get away with, it has made me stronger. Stronger in my faith. Not bitter.
Stronger in my faith that I know God is so much better than all of this.
I also know how much it takes to love.
It is more than just a soft reply.
My Buddhist friend, Hsing, just got back from a trip to Thailand, Nepal, Tibet, and India.
She had been looking most forward to visiting India. When she came back to NYC, the place she told me she liked the least was India.
The beggars were literally crawling all over them, pushing each other and toppling over each other to beg for food and money. They would not stop.
Like I said, we have a long, long way to go.
"Love thy neighbor as thyself" is much more than a nice sentiment.
Living in NYC, I have had the opportunity to go to several UN functions. The bravery and persistence these people go through to get laws passed in Africa and elsewhere such as Rape Acts and women and children to be treated properly,
is amazing.
Here is where I am cynical. I do not believe we have any more Ghandi's or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s in the US. People are too comfortable with
making sure they win a Popularity contest instead of just doing what needs to be done to
truly help others.
In some ways, I felt your statements would win you an election if you were running for office.
The public always wants to hear what good people we are.
I love the statement some president made:
Do not ask what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.
What REALLY can we do to truly love our neighbors as ourself.
Address the tough issues. Stop skirting them.
One other example. After Bush was elected president, the arts community here knew that we could probably count on getting less funding for the arts.
What did the arts community do? Did they pout and sulk and blast Bush? NO!
They started a forum that divided into sub-committees and met for years and MADE things happen. Even with the Bush regime, NYC has way more rehearsal space for better prices because of grants, there are way more and better performing venues -- and I believe it is all because the artists got together and said --
We'll just have to do it ourselves.
And it paid off.
Sentiment is nice, but it doesn't move mountains.
A shovel, optimism, and service does.
And sometimes compassion is saying NO!
One more story:
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was in jail.
His daughter asked him why he was in jail all the time. She wanted to go to Funkytown. (an amusement park)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said he was in jail so that she could one day go to Funkytown.
(blacks could not go to Funkytown)
His daughter replied, "Dad, you stay in jail until I can go to Funkytown."
What courage. That is compassion.