People matter

This afternoon we had the 10th anniversary of JFON at our church (Justice For Our Neighbors). For 10 years immigrants have been able to get free, high-quality, legal assistance thru the ministry of JFON. Over the course of that time, over 2,000 people have been helped. We heard 2 stories today from immigrants who've benefitted from these services--they were incredible examples of how the Church meets needs, often behind the scenes. I have only been at this church for 10 mos., but I am damn proud of JFON! Their caring staff (which includes an attorney, an office staffperson, and a volunteer coordinator) make a difference in people's lives with hospitality, friendliness, compassion, and dignity. It is truly amazing to see how lives are transformed thru JFON.

Sadly, and sometimes in the eyes of the institution, these kinds of ministries sometimes do not matter because they do not bring in money to the church or they are not "one of us." This is an indictment of how the institution often gets in the way of ministry just by some aspects of its raison d'etre, i.e. to bring in more members and money (the 2 are usually closely, if not intricately, related). But after today, I know that what really matters in this stuff we call church is people. People matter. Seeing lives transformed matters. Building relationships matter. Hearing stories of people overcoming tremendous difficulties and getting their status or citizenship matters to each one of them. And it should matter to the church.

I continue to be cynical about the current state of affairs of the institutional church in which I am embedded. Days like today help me remain a "loyal oppositionist." I am loyal to remaining in the institution (often in spite of itself) but I am at the same time opposed to the ways the church continues to exclude, limit, categorize, or ignore.

Stanley Hauerwas once said, "God is killing the church and we goddamn well deserve it" (he responded to detractors to this statement with: "at least I used God's name twice!"). Today I witnessed the church alive and well but not in the ways that count. But everyone of these people--and countless others--matter, and matter greatly! So be it.

Stay-cation

I am finishing my first vacation week of 2009. It's been a stay-cation. I've rested, played, rested, read, and even did a little work (a big no-no, I know). Sabbath is not something we religious types do very well. As someone once said, it's likely the commandment we break the most often. As much as I know this, it is still difficult to slow down. I feel like the toddler who refuses to go to bed in fear of missing something. But the biblical notion of Sabbath is not just a day off; it is about being in tune with the rhythms of your body, the world, and your well-being. I think we were wired to take time off and not go full speed, 31 (that's another way of saying, 24-7; get it, 24 + 7=31; I know, I stole that from "Two and a Half Men"). We forget that the backdrop of the commandments was the exodus narrative that says slavery existed for the Hebrew people. The commandments reminded them that they were not commodities; they were created in God's image. In freedom, we are allowed to not be a part of the consumerism that is rampant. We are to keep certain things in perspective. Shalom is the concept of wholeness and not just the absence of conflict. As I conclude my vacation, I don't feel like I've rested enough. But I have one more day to sleep late. Then back to Sunday, a day of work. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Sabbath shalom!

The day after

Many of are not what sure to do the day after Easter. Some take the day off. Some work (like I did). Some do not even give it thought. The texts that follow Easter day tend to deal w/ the post-resurrection appearances and what that might mean for us. The text from the Gospel bearing John's name (whichever John it may've been; apparently there were many Johns in that part of the world) deals with doubt. Doubt is something I am familiar with since in my recent years I have ventured down what some might call the slippery slope of cynicism; I just call it growing up in my faith and realizing that the more I read, the more cynicism, more doubt, and more questions follow. At the same time, the more I know (or I think I know), the more I don't know. Ultimately, all this stuff is mystery to me. Not that I call my self a mystic, but I end up just realizing that I don't really know why I do what I do, or why I keep doing it, sometimes. I only know that what I experience is something that feeds me, equips me, and continues to call me (some would say this is the holy spirit; okay, I can see that). Whether I am cynical or even skeptical, I haven't thrown in the towel yet (it could happen tomorrow, but for today, not yet). Though I do not adhere to Anselm's atonement stuff, his famous dictum describes me well: Fides quaerens intellectum.

I believe; help my unbelief.

Rez . . what's it all about, alfie?.

I thought it fitting that I jump onto the blogosphere on the weekend we observe/celebrate resurrection (we xians, i.e.). I have admired from a distance many other bloggers and now I are one! I haven't the foggiest what the resurrection is all about, definitively. I do not think it is merely an actual, literal, historical event that xians have to hang our hat on or we are not xians. It is not one of the things on the list where we sign on the dotted line. I have come to understand this not from studying theology (though I've done that), not from a 'dark night of the soul' confirming experience, or not even from the holy spirit revealing this to me (whatever the hell that means!), but from officiating at funerals, from being w/ people when people they love die. That's right, I've come to understand this more clearly from learning more about death and what happens to people when someone checks out. I think resurrection is that which we do when we want someone (or something) to keep on living. How that is experienced is done in several ways: remembrance (anamnesis), love (indescribable, enduring love), items (photos, books, clothing), and laughter. In these ways--and countless other ways--someone or something has a life of its own and in some ways never really dies. I am continually trying to understand this, and help others understand, too, maybe. In the end, I'm just not really sure.

As my blog name suggests, I think that if in our lives we are not struggling, then in some ways we are not living. Maybe resurrection is yet another way we indeed keep on living in the very midst of that struggle we call life.