Christian-Muslim relations

One issue that I haven't seen (which isn't saying much since I am embarrassingly ignorant of current events) addressed in the mainstream media is the effect that the war in Iraq has on the Christians of that region. I recently listened to a podcast (posted on April 25th) that speaks to this potentially volatile subject and seems to deal with it in a mature fashion that avoids demonization.

I have a friend who has addressed the issue of engagement with those who are regularly outside the boundaries of our daily comfortable existence, particularly in areas partially related to this issue. This podcast offers several concrete examples of what such an incarnational engagement might "look like" which I found to be helpful.

Surprised by Christ

Our very own parish priest recently had his life memoir published. After hearing excerpts read to us during our catechism, I am looking forward to reading the book.

Fr. James has lived a full life; he was raised in Orthodox Judaism in Queens by parents who had their faith undermined by the Holocaust, converted to Christianity only to be disowned by his parents (they held a living funeral for him), helped found Jews for Jesus, moved to Berkeley where he was one of the "Jesus People" in every sense of the word (check out the book's pictures!) before his immersion in Scripture and Church history led him to Orthodox Christianity.

The book is available from Conciliar Press and Amazon.

"Surprised by Christ is an autobiography, an intellectual history, and a conversion story, and more than these, conveys a spiritual and theological vision in a message that touches people from many different backgrounds. That vision is of the Living God revealed in Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant, the life of the Faithful, the hope of the despairing, and the motivation for those who strive to preach the Gospel in all its integrity."

-- Hieromonk Jonah, Abbot of St. John of San Francisco Monastery in Manton, California (from the foreword to the book)

The Art of Protest

Sometimes I wonder if we live in a country full of protesters. Every time I turn around it seems like someone is protesting something and maybe it's getting a bit out of hand. Some make protests for the environment. Some protest against gay people. Some others protest against the war in Iraq. When the Dalai Lama came to Seattle a few weeks ago, people decided to protest against him. Some people even protest Starbucks. I think that entire religious movements in this country could be understood in the context of protest.

This is not to say that I am opposed to everything that could be perceived as a "protest." A lot of godly work is done to help the poor and those who are marginalized in our society. St. James writes that pure and faultless religion is taking care of orphans and widows in their distress. One of my favorite descriptions of Christianity is by G.K. Chesterton, who described it as "a rebellion against rebellion."

In my own life, I have wondered how pure my motives often are when it comes to activities that could be considered a protest. I wonder if even my "selfless acts" are nothing more than a deceptive way to exert my own ego. It makes me feel good to help someone else in need. Furthermore, I have wondered if in reality I am truly protesting against who/what I think I am? Perhaps when I hand out sandwiches to the homeless in reality I am protesting against what I perceive to be the absence of God?

On a slightly lighter note, I ran across two videos, one from the writers of the Daily Show and the other from the Daily Show itself, that illustrate in part what I'm saying. The first is a sort of parody of protests and the second is an example of one of the most ridiculous protests I have ever seen.

Keep your eyes peeled

This past Saturday was a typical gray, spring Seattle day; Olivia had a baby shower to go to and so I had some free time on my hands. After working exclusively from home the last two weeks (normally I work from the office twice a week), I knew that I needed to get out of the house. So, I did a few chores around the house and then headed out on the town. I got some coffee, went to a few record stores and looked around. While driving between my stops I listened to the Mariners game on the radio.

I don't know if I had the "blahs" or what, but between the gray day outside and another Mariners defeat, I found myself sitting in my car in the Golden Oldies parking lot, listening to AM radio and vacantly looking outside at the world around me. At this point, I happened to look out across 45th and catch the sight of what appeared to be a squadron of Stormtroopers.

Now, of all the sights that I might have expected or even anticipated to see on this day, Stormtroopers would be pretty low on my list. For a fraction of a second, my mind snapped out of its doldrums and raced with various questions. Is there a movie being shot? Did I somehow happen into an alternate dimension? Are we under attack? Has it been discovered that I am indeed a Jedi? My dreams vanished fairly quickly when it dawned on me that the Stormtroopers were assembled outside of a Comic book store, waving as the many passersby honked at the spectacle.

Someone in movies once said that life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. I would have to agree with him. Keep your eyes peeled.

Snow

Request to the local Seattle media: when there is a forecast for snow or if it does indeed snow an entire inch or so (perish the thought), could you please not report the event as if the fifth horseman of the apocalypse has arrived? Please? I'm sure it is ratings driven but the fear-mongering is getting out of hand.

You've been Rick-rolled

In our cynical and apathetic world, it is rare when true beauty breaks through the weathered and worn cracks of our banal existence. True beauty brings a welcome shower that quenches our thirst and cleanses us from the dirt on our hands. The world looks different to us in light of this beauty. Instead of walking through life staring at our shoes, we have a new spring in our step. Instead of being bent over under our heavy labor, we are able to stand tall, come what may. The sun seems to be shining that much brighter. The birds are chirping. Even the dirt on which we stand is a miracle!

We live life expecting so much and hoping for so little. Having a glimpse of true beauty changes all that. May we all be changed.

The means never justifies the end

"You have gone far wrong. Thirst was made for water; inquiry for truth. What you now call the free play of inquiry has neither more nor less to do with which the ends of intelligence was given you than masturbation has to do with marriage."
--C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

Growing up, there was a parsonage next door to the church where my Dad was pastor. In front of this parsonage was a wooden staircase leading up to a second-story entrance to the home. One day my brother and I, in a fit of pre-teen mischievousness, thought it would be fun to peel back some of the shingles that we could reach on the parsonage roof from that second-story entrance and fling them as far as we could into the parking lot below.

As I reflected on this memory, the immediate question I had was, "What were we thinking!?" We knew what we were doing was a) wrong and b) would get us into trouble shortly. Yet, we still did it and thought it was pretty fun as well. I can only speculate now what our immature motivations were at the time but undoubtedly the thrill of doing something risque factored into our behavior. In our clouded minds it felt good on some level to peel back the shingles and see how far we could throw it. We were also at the age where we were trying to push at established boundaries to see what we could get away with. Would we really get into trouble?

I have made these evaluations of the pre-teen me from a distance, looking back at my childhood memory with disapproval and disdain. Obviously I've come a long way since then. But have I? Sometimes I wonder how much I have really grown up, if at all. Maybe I just do a better job of hiding my true motivations now. How often I am faced with a decision or situation that requires personal effort on my part (helping my wife when I'm tired, the list goes on and on), and knowing how I should respond (yes! objectively knowing!) I instead passively choose what is easy and comfortable for me (usually to my own detriment I might add).

I read the above quote (passed on to me from a friend who had said it had haunted him for years) in a similar context. "Questions" are certainly a buzz word in Chrisitianity these days. Questions are good in the sense that they are a means to an end. However, as Lewis points out, questions lose their value when they become an end in and of themselves. "Questions" can easily spiral beyond their useful purpose and instead become feelble and immature attempts to justify myself before God. Questions should not be asked if one has no intention of finding an answer. Instead they become a convenient excuse for my own laziness or indecision and I use the same naive rationalization process I used to justify tearing perfectly good shingles off a roof and throwing them down to the ground.