MEMORIES THAT BOTH HAUNT AND INSPIRE

October 25, 2002. I was at the YMCA and in the middle of a noon "pick-up" basketball game when one of the guys entered the gymasium and announced, "Paul Wellstone was just killed in a plane crash."

I was struck as if by a lightning bolt. I walked away in the middle of a game that day, feeling as though my world had been altered. Little did I know how much!

I rode my bike over to Williams Arena at the U. of M. where a nationally televised memorial service was taking place. That I stood in line for over an hour was perfect, for I was led into the arena, pointed up the stairs to the highest balcony, and shown to my highly-coveted seat.

The value I placed on being present at the Paul Wellstone Memorial was soon replaced by a sinking, dark feeling. Television monitors close by showed the faces of dignitaries entering the arena, and celebrities being led to their seats. Senator Trent Lott was roundly booed and hissed. So were other Republicans. My political leanings notwithstanding, I felt horrified that this was taking place at a memorial service. Governor Jesse and (wife) Terri Ventura soon stomped out in appropriate disgust.

As the service quickly turned into a political rally for Walter Mondale, (who had recently agreed to run for Paul Wellstone's vacated Senate seat on Nov. 7), and for the Democrats in general, the two strangers sitting next to me in the balcony, (both of whom up to that point had been applauding for the Democrats), now apprehended each other with a look I will never forget -- one which betrayed their own feeling that the service had "gone to pot" and, more importanly, the world was about to undergo a solemn facelift.

The memorial service left a sour taste in our nation's mouth. Walter Mondale, the "favorite son" of the bereaved Wellstone family, was soon after defeated. Paul Wellstone's recent vote against the Iraq initiative fell on deaf ears. Within a few short months America was entrenched in a war which would lead to administrative cronyism, mud-prints on the U.S. Constitution, collective scorn for the U.S. and widespread suspicion of our policies, and a painful domestic "cultural divide" which caused anguish for Americans on both extremes of and in the middle of the political spectrum. Never in my lifetime do I remember feeling such ambiguity and discomfort over "what it means to be an American."

Paul Wellstone would have known how to speak to us in the midst of such ambiguity and division. How desperately I have missed him! How desperately we all miss him, (whether we wish to admit it or not). How desperately the world has missed him!

Paul Wellstone knew. Liberal that he was, he cherished America and her values. As strongly
opinionated as he was, he reached across party-lines with a genuineness that resulted in deep friendships between even the most liberal and conservative members of the U.S. Senate.

Paul Wellstone knew. Ever faithful to his Jewish upbringing, Paul Wellstone knew that the line between faith and politics was thin, indeed. Ever a champion of the separation of church and state, he nevertheless succeeded in the challenge of living out his faith in the political arena where so many extremists had so utterly failed. Liberal as I am, I learned from the memorial service how wrong it is (and how much of an affront it is to the memory of Paul Wellstone) to hate, and to cause divisions whenever and wherever opportunities for dialogue present themselves. How ironic that Paul Wellstone's memorial service turned into a waste of one of those opportunites...

And from the perspective of a "card-carrying Christian," I happen to believe that Paul Wellstone lived his life with such wisdom, compassion, and courage that he is best compared to another passionate Jew who died long before his time, whose divine example I can only dream to measure up to, and whose residing place is in my heart.

Sermon Prep., Amanda-style

I am laughing so hard my eyes are watering.

This coming Sunday the "Basics of the Christian Faith" series looks at the Bible. Of course I am doing my research. This guy is making some really good observations, and I'm still on the first month of his adventure. He's finding that the way he thinks is changing, for the better.

But what is it that made me laugh? In trying to obey Proverbs 22:15 (I'll leave it to you to look up) he buys a super soft Nerf bat. After stealing a handful of nickels, and chucking them across the room he has to swat his son. Even this spongy, harmless act crushes him inside. His son, meanwhile, thinks this is great and begins clobbering his dad with a much harder whiffle bat.

He writes about his lesson. "So I'm basically sanctioning violence here. The rod is a fiasco. But here's the thing: I agree with the gist of Proverbs. I need to discipline my son more . . . or risk having him turn into a three-foot-tall monster." (40-41)

I'm certainly not condoning corporal punishment. I feel guilty when I tighten the harness on Katja's car seat and she complains. But this section first made me laugh and then made me think, and then made me think some more. Stay tuned for Sunday's sermon!

I suppose this means someday I'll be taking one of our church's parenting classes!

emergingumc Conference

The United Methodist News service has put together a couple of articles about the conference I attended last week in Tennessee. The conference was on the emergent church in the wider United Methodist Church. Not all churches who are emergent are primarily focused on worship-- most put mission or small groups as a higher priority than corporate worship.

This article describes the conference overall.

This article describes a specific emergent church, Th3 Waters, led by a new friend of mine, D. G. Hollums. Their primary weekly encounter is community-based small groups, not large group worship.

What might this mean for Christ Church? In the immediate, it was affirming of what we are doing-- we are reaching new people and cultivating spiritual vitality. Having worship that uses the gifts of the people (one example was an out of tune accordion) reaches people where they are. Allowing people to use whatever gifts they have is really, really important. Last Sunday we used rocks collected by a three year old!

There was also helpful words from the people who have been doing emergent worship longer than 5 weeks. I was cautioned against using emergent worship as a "marketing tool." This as happened in other communities and is ultimately unsustainable. I was cautioned against using numbers as the sole indicator of success. I was warned that planning or coordinating emergent worship is exhausting and as the coordinator I was reminded I need to take breaks.

Resource for Sunday

This coming Sunday both Pastor John and I will preach on "Saved from What?" We met this morning to discuss the surprisingly different directions our sermons will take. Perhaps you want to attend two services, 8 or 9 and 11:15 to see how they complement each other.

At 8 and 9 John will use the lectionary text from Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 and the Gospel Lesson, Luke 17:11-19. He's going to preach on salvation as an exile.

At 11:15 I will use the lectionary text from 2 Timothy 2:11-15 and the same Gospel lesson. I will preach on salvation as a journey, rather than a definitive, one-time event.

One resource I've been looking at and have found very interesting is a document by John Wesley called "The Character of a Methodist." I think it's been modernized to have more familiar word patterns as it is quite easy to read.

See you Sunday--we look forward to your response to "Saved from What?" (Please reply in the comments of this message, if you are so moved!)

Watching TV

I am a huge fan of fun television -not that I get a lot of chances to watch it. I am grateful for TV on DVD and being able to watch shows online because it gives me power over the schedules of Hollywood. My last sermon at my church in Kansas was "Lessons I learned Watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer." (I did wait until my last Sunday there to pull that one out!)

This morning I was reading a commentary from the United Methodist News Service on the new show "Kid Nation." In this show a bunch of kids ages 8-15 are left in a ghost town to have a go at making the town live. There are adults present, but very much behind the scenes. The show is now facing lawsuits stemming from labor issues.

In the commentary the author makes a good argument as to why, despite some concerns he has about content, he is watching this show with his kids. I remember having the same conversation with my mom nearly two decades ago regarding Beverly Hills 90210. These were kids from Beverly Hills who were making choices I would not make. Rather than pulling me into gray areas, the show gave my family something to talk about. Kid Nation was doing the same thing for the commentary author.

You can read that commentary here.

I think all of us benefit from consuming popular culture. You'll see your pastors at the movies, even "R" rated ones. Not every film or TV show is for everybody. But, as with Harry Potter, I believe we can be informed consumers of culture. In so doing, we'll have fun and even grow in who we are.

Just in case you are wondering, here's what I make a point to watch:
Heroes and Grey's Anatomy. We are watching "Planet Earth" from the BBC (it was also on the Discovery Channel) on DVD. For that one, I personally get really upset by the predators-- not enough to go straight vegetarian, but enough to feel guilty about my place in the food chain.

Happy viewing!