The culture of war: a late Israel/Palestine reflection

I'd been meaning to blog about my Middle East trip for a while, but unfortunately, never got around to it!  With recent events in Gaza, I have felt moved to share my thoughts and personal experiences.  As a pastor-in-training, perhaps I may be getting too controversial in taking sides on this issue.  But please know what I am writing on comes out of my personal experiences with the area and my deep convictions in my faith.  In times like these, we must sometimes, as John Lewis put, "get in the way" or "in good trouble."

For those of you who did not know, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Egypt, Jordan, and Israel/Palestine for a 3-week maymester with my seminary, Union-PSCE.  The journey was one I will never forget.  I learned a great deal about the ancient Biblical world through archeology and a great deal about modern day conflicts in all 3 countries.  The latter is what I will write about in this post.

We have been dealing with news of struggles in the middle east for close to 60 years now.  Over this time period, we have almost become numb to news from Israel/Palestine, just thinking its the "same old stuff." Unfortunately, it is basically the same pattern of cyclical violence. However, we have become numb to the cumulative effect of violence and war on the cultures over there.  

Several things stood out to me about the culture of Israel/Palestine during my visit:

1. The wall, or Israeli West Bank barrier:  Under construction since the 90's, this wall separates Palestinian territories from Israeli territories.  The wall is often 50 meters in length, consisting of barbed wire, trenches, and huge concrete barrier walls with electronic surveillance.  We learned of how detrimental this project has been to Palestinian farmers who have had their lands cut off from them.  Also, the bitter racism leads to brutal border guards who regularly harass Palestinians entering and leaving these borders.  Beyond this, Palestinians are often blocked off from essential resources on the other side of the wall.  For example, out of the 6 major water wells in the area, only ONE is located within Palestinian territory.

2. Guns in public.  One of the more shocking things to see was the off-duty army kids carrying rifles on their backs wherever they went.  They are expected to have guns on them at all times in case violence breaks out.  It's not uncommon to see young guys and girls out at bars and other scenes with these guns on their backs.  This is what younger kids look up to - being able to tote guns around in public.

3. The war-marketing.  T-shirt stands are very popular in the touristy areas of Jerusalem.  Often times these shirts have traditional designs and pictures of Jerusalem.  However, there are also many shirts that brag on the military might of Israel.  Many other shirts also brag on the relations with the United states, with slogans such as "jerUSAlem" and "don't worry America, Israel's got your back!" The shirt I bought was VERY rare.  It says PEACE in English, Hebrew, and Arabic.  Beyond t-shirts, the general advertising environment did not shy away from showing off guns and masculine, militaristic, lifestyles.  

4. The only English speaking news on TV over there?  coughfoxnewscough....  I mean you're not THAT surprised are you?

What am I getting at here?  We are failing to see what Israel has become behind the scenes.  The culture of war and brutal superiority over Palestinians, who are forced to live behind physical and metaphorical walls, has built a sense of arrogance and racism among many Israelis.  They fail to see the many humanitarian issues facing Palestinians.  Issues that drive many to terrorism, as it is the only way they see a path to freedom!  I am not justifying their acts of violence in any way.  Rather, I am trying to express the importance of understanding their situation, as this is something we hardly ever receive from our news sources.

The escalated war in Gaza is only proof of this.  The rocket attacks from Gaza, horrible and wrong as they may be, did not deserve the extent of war brought on by Israel.  With 800 deaths and counting, many being civilians, I hope the plight of the Palestinians may be realized.

From what I witnessed and heard, the patience of the Palestinians is incredible.  For what many face, the reality of violent resistance is relatively small.  However, this is no excuse for not making a push to deal with things more humanely.  

As Christians, I hope and pray we can learn to look at this situation objectively.  There is pain and death on both sides.  There are fellow Christians on both sides.  Both sides are populated with children of God who deserve equal treatment and love.  Both sides contain children who are growing up learning to hate the Arab/Jew instead of learning to coexist.  As Christians, I also hope we can pray for peace and justice more often.  Yes, there are many many many issues in this world, but let us not forget one just because it has been around longer.

I know this situation is much more complex than any of us can understand, and a resolution is probably not anywhere in the near future, unfortunately.  However, it is my hope that the world can view Palestinians as people, children of God, who are struggling to get by, not as a haven of terrorists.  

Peace, Shalom, and Shalaam,

Mike

p.s. I've attached some pictures of graffiti on the wall, check 'em out!

p.p.s. TIME recently put out a GREAT article about the conflict and recent escalation

p.p.p.s. There's 

a documentary out there about the wall...slightly boring but highly insightful.  It's called "the wall." 

My inner liberal unleashed!

So a brief biography of my life:

I spend 18 years of my life growing up under a blanket of conservatism.  I learn how to be a good Republican.  During an intense 4 years of college , I discover my identity and realize my inner liberal/Democrat.  Thanks to a great deal of energy out of the "Obama effect," I am finally compelled to take action and speak out.  Well, naturally, friends from my conservative past have finally come out to question my beliefs.  They are good friends and I don't see that ever changing.  I'm encouraged and honored that I am reaching a point in my life with these old friends where we can confront issues we never talked about back in the day.  I have distanced myself from home over the past 5 years, but I must recognize it is something that will never go away.

I recently wrote a long response to one of these friends who questioned how I could vote for Obama as a Christian, largely due to his support of pro-choice policy.  In writing my response, I realized I hadn't written out much of a summary of why I am supporting Obama.  The following is an excerpt from my response:

I'm voting for Obama because I believe he is a quality candidate. He's a genuine character with a natural ability to truly bring people together to find solutions. He will drastically improve our nation's standing in this world as he is greatly looked up to. He has ignited young people all across the world to start caring about politics that influence the way we live, and has become a role model for all people - but especially at-risk young african-american youth who desperately need a role model. He's a cool character who handles pressure very well, and is backed by a well-seasoned VP who would be a much more efficient president than Palin (God forbid that situation).

Abortion is a very touchy subject. However, I strongly feel that we must consider ALL issues facing the Presidency. Especially when we speak of how our faith influences them. In fact, I feel more in tuned with Obama's religious views than McCain. Christ's message of "love God and love your neighbor as yourself" seems to have been lost somewhere in the McCain agenda. Obama understands that Christ stood up for helping those in need, for treating all people as children of God. Economic policies and social programs should provide all people with dignity and freedoms that we truly deserve. I feel like Obama's platform is more in line with this. Beyond this, a war, which I believe is truly unjust and impractical, speaks out against the pacifism that christ promotes. Finally, Obama's message preaches hope to all people in a tone that empowers people out of love. McCain has been running a campaign of fear, grasping at straws to hopefully scare voters into voting for him. This upsets me.

There's no easy answer to the abortion issue. Like I told someone else recently, the more we get caught up in arguing legality, the more we fail to tackle the more pressing issues of better sex education, rape/incest prevention, and providing better homes for children. Until we do this, give women the options and treatment they deserve for having to deal with such a difficult situation, we only make situations worse by forcing them to face issues that can utterly destroy their own lives. We must fight abortion with better options from the ground up, not try to quash it from the top down.

Again, abortion is a tough issue and rightfully so, hurts everyone's heart. However, if we want to talk deaths, we've got all sorts of issues in this world where our country has not taken sufficient action (darfur, etc.). If we're fighting for sanctity of life, there's a lot more we must confront, and I believe Obama is more apt to handling this.

The Church is emerging...whether you want it to or not!

I can't help but think that an answer to the 'young adult' problem of our church lies within the Emerging Church discussion.

I'm currently at the Church Unbound Conference in Montreat, surrounded and humbled by a leadership I like to call the "Presbyterian all-stars." Plenary, worship, and discussions have centered around talking about the future of the church.  This hope-filled talk is very encouraging and fulfilling, though also very confusing and vague.  However, we keep going back to the beauty of being amidst the 'chaos' of the world in which we find ourselves and the church at-large.  Somehow, these moments of chaos are the times in which we can really find ourselves.

So what is emerging?  Generation X and Y are taking hold of this world more and more.  They are angry at systems of this world that have lied to them and held them to systems which are now dying out.  The traditional suburban church, as we all know, is losing its appeal among these youth and young adults.  If we take a surface look, we see kids bored to tears with church and unmotivated in their faith who go to college and are lost and gone forever.  The deeper level is that these generations DO want a church.  However, the church must meet them where they are.  THIS is what is emerging.  These generations are leading the way in taking a post-modern approach to what we have known about the traditional church.  They want honesty, open-mindedness, authentic community, dedication to service, life in deep relationship with one another.

And honestly...they do NOT often find this in the churches they grew up in.  

So where will they find it?

thus begins the conversation amidst the chaos...

In Cairo

Our group of 38 students, spouses, and faculty from Union-PSCE arrived safely in Cairo, Egypt yesterday afternoon. We had a nice dose of culture shock in the bustling city. I personally can't help but draw comparisons to Istanbul, where I have spent a great deal of time. The Muslim culture is clearly evident in mosques and women wearing scarves. However, European influence is also clearly evident in the way people dress. Cafe's and hookah bars are all over the place too. The Nile is a real significant part of this city and is bustling with activity up both sides. Our hotel has a great view of it too. Today we begin our journey to hotels and historical sites to begin to get a sense of where this world came from and where it is going today.

shalaam,
mike

peace in the middle east!

Hello friends. Tomorrow, I take off on a journey to the middle east with my seminary: union-psce! We're flying into Cairo, will spend some time in Egypt, then make our way up the coast to Jordan and Israel. I'll be gone for about 3 weeks. I hope to have some internet use over there, so look out for updates on by blog here about our travels!

We will also have our own blog for our group while travelling:

http://landsoffaithandhistory.blogspot.com/

Thanks

Mike

The Gunman's Letter: A modern day lament

Shivati is how you pronounce "cry out for help" in Hebrew. We find this word all over the Old Testament; in laments, poems, prophetic oracles, etc.. This prevalence tells us that lamenting is a normal, human response. Trusting that the Lord will bring good amidst this horrible terror filled world we live in is extremely difficult!

I was really blown away reading this "church gunman's" letter. Instead of giving a well-thought out manifesto of why these Christians must die, Matthew Murray spent a page and half lamenting before going out to shoot some church members and then commit suicide. The parallels to the Old Testament just jump out at you:

"Why didn't you ever answer my cries for help? Why do I have to be hurt by so many Christians?"

"Why couldn't you write your damn book more clearly?"

"Am I too lost to be saved? My soul cries for deliverance. I'm dieing (sp), praying, bleeding and screaming. Will I be denied???"

What we see in this letter is simply a loss of faith. This is the pain and torment we see when the light of hope gets extinguished in someone's life. When you desperately need answers, yet none arrive, what's left but death?

What do we do with this letter? Was he right? Is there no way we will ever get answers to the questions we seek? Is God causing us pain and anguish? Are all Christians hypocritical to the point of driving people to these extremes? To quote the letter, "WHAT IS THE TRUTH?!"

The shocking reality of Christianity is that it is not based on objective truths. I am of the opinion that the Bible is not a completely literal and infallible truth. We can't throw Matthew a Bible verse, tell him this is truth, and all will be ok. We MUST let our faith be the focal point of our lives. God grants us faith and through this faith we can interpret Scripture and how God is working in this world.

Thus, based in this faith, I would say we have ultimate Christian ideals that should be guiding our every action. These ideals are rooted in love and lived out in our relationships. Christianity is not a rulebook by which we can tell people what they should and shouldn't do. Christianity is a living relationship through which we enact our grateful lives of loving obedience.

Therein lies our problem in America. Our Christianity is teaching people to do certain things and they will get certain results. Its the consumerism Christianity. I am afraid that Matthew was a victim of this consumerism Christianity. What happens to those people whom we tell will get rewards for doing good things? When these rewards and answers don't come they begin to question if they are really living right. Questions turn into blame. Blame turns into hate. It's an ugly thing.

Prophetically, I read this news article about Matthew's letter as I was writing a Hebrew exegesis paper on Micah 6:3-8. I found the parallels to be shocking. Here's my translation:

3 My people, what have I done to you and how have I made you weary ? Testify against me ! 4 For I have brought you up from the land of Egypt and the house of slavery . I have ransomed you and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 5 My people, please remember what advised Balak, King of Moab, what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and your passage from Shittim unto Gilgal, in order that you would know the righteous acts of the LORD . 6 With what shall I come in front of the Lord? Shall I bow myself to God on high ? Shall I come in front of him with burnt offerings or with calves a year old ? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams; with ten thousand streams of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgressions; the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has declared to you, oh mortal, what is good and what the LORD demands of you; only to do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.

The last verse, the most common one, is the kicker. The author of this passage, speaking for a humanity that was losing hope in God, begs God to give him truth and answers to how to live right. Matthew Murray was in this position: weary with God and begging for truth...

God's answer is one that stands beyond and above time. The answer is one that all humans everywhere ascribe to in some form or another. The answer is not a list of 'do this and get that.' Despite the authors attempts in verses 6 and 7, there is no hint of consumerist Christianity in this answer. The answer is prefaced by the word that God loves and saves his children - we have no room or place to question God's sovereign plan.

The answer is threefold: do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with your God. Justice means fighting for the life and dignity of all people. Kindness (hesed in Hebrew) refers to the essence of living in loving relationships with other humans. Walking humbly is self explanatory. Going back to what faith means, we must simply trust in God's will and that he loves us no matter what. Martin Luther struggled to attain answers and favor from God and it nearly drove him crazy. He came to a similar conclusion, that there is nothing but faith and grace alone to save us.

God does not wish this pain on Matthew, I am certain of that. The world as it is now, painful and seemingly hopeless, can bring down the best of us. We have no response but what we know as humans and profess as Christians.

We must preach this love and embody this relational God instead of this consumer God that is destroying the essence of our faith. I truly with Matthew could have experienced this relational God more fully. I wish he could have kept faith and hope in God's unfailing love.

A Lenten sermon from last year

This is a sermon I gave last year about this time during the Lenten season. I share it not out of any ego, but just because these lenten themes have been on my mind, specifically how we can move from legalism into more simple joy. Anyway, here's the sermon in its entirety:
___________________
Sermon at Presbyterian College, April 10, 2007
John 9: 1-34
What does a blind man see the moment he is healed? This miracle would make a good movie trailer: Seth the blind beggar played by Brad Pitt was just a normal boy growing up in the streets of Jerusalem except for one thing, he was blind from birth. Little did he know one day everything would change forever. Jack Bauer plays as Jesus in this amazing story of a miraculous healing. What does Jonny see and do the moment he is healed? Find out this summer when the “Passion II: The Pharisees Strike Back” hits theaters. OK...yeah maybe not.
The moment of realization is both surprising and powerful. A man who has been blind from birth suddenly gains the ability to see. What was it like? Was he overwhelmed by light or did blackness slowly fade into vision. Did he see in color or black and white? Was he scared and overwhelmed as if he was watching Jim Henson’s Muppet Vision 3D at Disney world? One thing is certain: His life was changed. He was left speechless after this miracle. As the Pharisees continue to inquire about this man who violated the laws of the sabbath, the blind man simply knows one thing: “he is a prophet.” He also exclaims the phrase we know from “Amazing Grace”: “that though I was blind, now I see”. The blind beggar is in utter awe and knows nothing more but to express the wonderful life changing power of Christ. He can now see things he couldn’t see before, well in his case this meant everything. Unfortunately for him the Pharisees would hear nothing of it as they were still so outraged at Jesus’ action. The blind beggar is like your friend who just returned from studying abroad and won’t SHUT UP about their trip. JACK, enough about New Zealand already. DREW Ok whatever you went to Africa, thats great! TINA, I’m sick and tired of all of your stories from the border! I don’t care about anyone’s life changing experiences. I’m perfectly content with how life revolves around my comfortable life down here in rural South Carolina and nothing you all say can move me. Somehow we tend to play the role of the Pharisees, missing all that God is teaching us. We remain blinded and hard hearted to how God is trying to move us and move others.
Being a senior, I am constantly on the lookout for my moment of realization. We as seniors are constantly asking the question, “what am I doing with my life?” We all eagerly wish for a moment when suddenly we are able to see into the crystal ball of our future. Could it be that sometimes we are so caught up in the mess of everyday life that we are blinded to what God is showing us? Perhaps we need a new perspective?
We are nearing the end of the lenten season and into Holy Week when we celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ. Most of us are probably about ready to get back to drinking Coke again, using facebook again, or eating sweets after midnight again. Many of us have probably cheated somewhere along the way and felt guilty for not practicing self-discipline during the lenten season. I can’t believe I just ate that M&M from Dr. Hobbie’s office!! Others of us are probably extremely proud of the fact that we are able to give up something we love doing for forty days. Have we gotten too legalistic? Perhaps Lent has become more about doing something right for 40 days rather than eagerly anticipating the celebration of Easter with eyes that have been opened by God to see his miracles all around us. The Lenten season is for preparing the way for Holy Week through prayer, fasting, and spiritual preparation. I want to encourage that we take to this season as the man who was just healed of his blindness rather than as the legalistic Pharisees. Let us with new eyes be continually open to how God is working miracles in our lives. Let us with new eyes look forward to the celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection. Let us with new eyes treat every new day like the moment of realization had by the blind beggar, so excited that God is working in our lives that we are not held down by legalism.
There is a popular song out now by the band Snow Patrol called “hands open.” This song is about a guy knowing how much he loves a girl and wishes she would just let down her walls to let him in. The theme of opening ourselves to love and be loved emerges in this song. The chorus of the song says: Hands open and my eyes open / I just keep hoping / that your heart opens. I get the image here of God standing there with his arms outstretched, OPENED eyes looking at us in loving anticipation that our eyes, our hearts will also open up. The song finishes with the words: It's not as easy as willing it all to be right / Gotta be more than hoping it's right / I wanna hear you laugh like you really mean it / Collapse into me, tired with joy . Again I hear this as God’s words to us, wishing us to open up to him with a deep desire, not held back by the rules and little details. He is calling us to collapse into him, TIRED with JOY. As soon as the blind beggar is healed he reacts in utter awe, trusting God completely and wholeheartedly. In a similar manner God is working through us that we might confidently desire his will. May our eyes be opened so that we may approach God as the blind man did, Tired with Joy.

I'm an aspiring idealist

This was an email response I had sent to someone a few days ago. I realized a lot of these things have been weighing heavily on me the past few years of my life and writing this email finally gave me a chance to make those thoughts more concrete. So here are some of my views regarding the relationship between faith and politics:

*****

I continue to read and delve into the world of religion and politics. In Old Testament II we are studying how prophets were calling judgements on Israel and Judah for their treatment of the poor (more than any other issue). I have read books by Jim Wallis and Shane Claiborne, prophets in our own day for how religion should relate to politics. Believe me, I have been torn on this issue the past few years of my life. And I must say, I find it harder and harder to separate the worlds of religion and politics.

We are Christians first. This means our values as Christians should shape how we live our lives in this world. We have the unique ability as Christians to not only show how God has impacted our lives through actions of love, but to actively work to promote this love in the world we live in. How in the hell can we see injustice and things that are blatantly against the rule of Christian love and not say/do anything. Obviously there are no concrete answers to these issues, but still we live as Christians in the coming kingdom of God, and thus our actions should always reflect what Christ would have us do.

I am not saying our religion should stand behind a specific candidate, subscribing to all that they stand for. Rather, our politics should stand behind our religious beliefs, which shape every aspect of our lives. George Bush did this, although I would disagree with a lot of his theology. Evangelicals radically stand behind Bush and other candidates for promoting religious pro-life and anti-gay agendas. This is fundamentally wrong. However, supporting a candidate because their policies are most in line with your personal views regarding the truly inclusive love of God is a different issue altogether.

As Christians, if we see children of God being oppressed or subdued by the governing authority, we have every right to make a statement, as it is not only affecting the world we live in, but our religious system of beliefs. The prophets of the Old Testament spoke out in the same way at the oppression going on in their day. Read some Amos.

There are no concrete answers to what our religion says about how we should live in this world, but that doesn't mean we should remain silent. We should be actively discussing these matters.

For example, I believe that war is an extremely unfortunate and inevitable part of life. But instinctively militarily invading a country in order to oust a dictator, no matter how bad he was, and for reasons unclear, is simply not the Christian action to do. Hell, if we were following Christ literally, what ever happened to turning the other cheek? Denying two males the right to visit each other in the hospital or get tax breaks due to their love for each other, based on religious reasons, is simply discrimination. Giving tax breaks to the most wealthy of Americans, continuing to spend millions on the military, and ignoring the plights of poverty and education in our country are frightening examples of what the prophets were speaking out against in their day. How can we be active Christians to stand up and say these things are simply not how Christ calls us to be?

I'll also be honest to say that my faith was losing energy through college. I was sick of this comfort Christianity. Christianity that is socially active is not only completely Biblical, but extremely important for our "faith with action." I have found a REFRESHING new way to energize and use my faith.

I am not calling people to be democrat. I am not calling people to be republican. As a minister, I will call people to search for injustice in the world and learn to speak out against it as a Christian. I fully recognize the importance of NEVER alienating your congregation. And don't worry, a gift of mine is bringing people together (like obama!). I fully believe I can love people and develop relationships with them, despite my beliefs. The ministry should not be about constantly walking around on eggshells that would "close minds to Christianity." You honestly can not please everyone, and I recognize this. But if you are forced to minister to a congregation in fear of being yourself, of having to constantly appease without challenging anyone, then what's the point?! There is a loving approach to this issue and it resides in loving conversation without coersion towards a specific platform.

Yeah so maybe I'm just a crazy idealist now. But hey, wasn't Christ?

I recognize boundaries of being a minister. Boundaries that mean we should not promote any political agenda in order to not aleinate or turn off parishoners. But for now, as I am still a student, I have no shame in encouraging my close friends and family to make any decision I feel is most in line with my religious faith and political activism.

Hope has a voice...YOU

After a week out of the conference and plenty of time to reflect on the experience, I have decided to write a reflection.

The 2008 College Conference at Montreat was held January 3-6. This is the second year the conference has been this weekend instead of late May. And not only has it grown in number, but the energy and enthusiasm has grown tremendously as well. My first and second years attending, they struggled to get 100 students to attend. Last year there were 500 students, largely due to the date change, Donald Miller as a speaker, and much more promotion. This year, 800 students plus some of the most amazing worship/speaker experiences possible made for a life-changing and groundbreaking experience for young adults involved with the Presbyterian Church and beyond.

The theme was "Hope has a voice," and I couldn't help but continually think about how in itself, this weekend was in itself, hope. It was hope for individuals who came looking for answers and peace to troubles in their own lives. It was hope for a church complaining about young adults leaving the church and begging for answers to where they are going. It was hope for the world, desperately in need of people who truly love and care for one another. Finally it was hope for the future.

The weekend began with worship led by Virginia Tech students and pastor Alex Evans, who was deeply involved with the shooting back in April. The students were very honest and open to talking about the day of the shooting, and the horrors they experienced. However, all of them couldn't finish speaking without mentioning the hope they found in their situations. One of the girls had been shot in the leg 3 times, an incident that would crush the hopes of most people. However, her stories of recovery and one in particular of a war veteran tearing up as he related with her pain, gave a true sense of the hope we can give one another. What made this night truly special was that we 800 college students were listening to about 9 other college students tell heartwrenching, seemingly hopeless stories which many of us could hardly realte to, and turn them into powerful messages of hope that we could relate to.

Friday's keynoter was Shane Claiborne, author of The Irrisistible Revolution. Shane could be described as a neo-hippie. I'm sure many describe him as crazy for giving up all he does. However, I, like many were blown away by his humble depiction of what a Christ-like life should truly entail. One of the most powerful quotes I remember was one Shane quoted his friend on, "That Jesus guy, he'll mess you up!" Shane quoted this to speak of the radical work of Jesus, standing up for and living with the poor. Shane told stories of his own, of the community he helped start in Philadelphia, where people pool their resources to live together and pay for each other's needs. He spoke of his travels to Iraq, where amidst bombs going off, he was able to experience the joy of an Iraqi child's birthday. He spoke of how he, and many others, were arrested and taken to court for sleeping publicly in one of the few places available for he and his friends. Upon hearing one of the homeless men speak for the group in court about how wrong the laws were, the judge freed them of all charges, agreeing with what he said. In his stories, Shane presented raw humanity and a raw gospel that has us embrace one another despite what laws and ruling authorities have in place. I think this was really expressed when Shane described how during one of the times he was arrested, they took his Bible away, telling him with a smirk, "it's a dangerous weapon." Shane showed us the hope in the gospel of Christ, how Christ gave and continues to give hope to all of humanity. Hope for a better world where we can love each other more.

Saturday's speaker was Ishmael Beah, author of Long Way Gone. Ishmael grew up in Sierra Leone during the war, and was drafted as a child soldier. His book tells his story, of loss, of chaos and utter destruction, and finally of redemption. It was strange watching a 27 year old speak, the whole while realizing that he had done numerous drugs and killed numerous people as a child soldier. One would think that his experience would destroy his hope in humanity and make him vengeful for all he had experienced. But no, Ishmael was the complete opposite. Ishmael gave us the greatest example of hope by saying all humans have the capacity for good, no matter how far away they have gone. He spoke of his personal experience of finding his humanity again, during the long process of recovery from being brainwashed as a child soldier. As much as he would fight and resist their aid, they would just continue to treat him, care for him, and love him. They would continue to tell him, "it's not your fault." It was these radical actions that helped him to believe that no human can be completely lost. We all have the capacity for good if we just make the effort. Hearing Ishmael say these things, and then plead that we avoid all sorts of violence was incredible. There was no way we could relate with his story, but somehow his story of redemption drew us in and made us consider how we live out our humanity.

One of the most powerful experiences for me personally was my small group. My group of around 25 students had some extremely lively, deep, and personal times of sharing. All were deeply attuned to the messages of hope being expressed. This all came out in the last session as we began to share our own messages of hope. I realized that college students, and young adults in general, carry a LOT of baggage with them, all the time. One of the best things we can give one another is a listening ear to one another's stories. I won't share details of the discussions in my group, but suffice it to say that people were extremely passionate about their times of desperation when they did or didn't find hope. It went both ways. But however, the community of our group, plus the community of the 800 students gathered at the conference was evidence that we were there for one another. Multiply this by a lot and this feeling of hope within the community can be spread to our homes, our churches, the nation, and the entire world. This is not an impossible task. Every time I go to Montreat, I bask in relationships. Being able to communicate with good friends I haven't seen in a long time truly warms my heart and gives me hope. This is the epitomy of the Christian faith and the message of Christ. The fact that 800 college students understood this, or were at least attempting to, was the voice of hope.

And I truly hope the church and the world can start listening.

The Golden Compass

Greetings. I'm sure we've all been hit by the forwarded email before about The Golden Compass movie coming out soon. I've blogged my thoughts, please enjoy:

The Email
>> Do not see the movie, "The Golden Compass."
>>
>> The movie "The Golden Compass" starring Nicole Kidman is coming to
>> theaters December 7th. It is based on the trilogy of books by atheist
>> Phillip Pullman, of England , and is geared towards kids. He wants
>> kids to denounce God and Heaven but he does it in a very subtle way
>> that parents may not pick up on what his true intentions are. In a
>> 2003 interview, Pullman said, "My books are about killing God."
>>
>> Please don't take your kids to see this movie!! Send this to EVERYONE
>> you know!!! We need to get the word out about this movie and make sure
>> that no one supports it!!!
>>
>> This link gives more information about the movie and Pullman .
>> http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp You'll be
>> shocked, I'm sure.
>>
>> His beliefs are "dumbed-down" in such a way that even adults might not
>> realize the deception before them. Pullman has said that he wrote his
>> trilogy as an antithesis to C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia."
>> Pullman has been called the most dangerous author in Britain .
>>
>> Please give this email wide distribution.
>>

My response:

ARE WE SERIOUS HERE?!?

I've seen this "protest bandwagon" all over the place and frankly I think it is ridiculous.

1. We are so quick to jump on anything promoting Christianity in the media according to our beliefs in freedom of speech. Yet when an author attempts to express his opposing views in an artistic manner, we are just as quick to jump to attack him, as if freedom of speech did not exist for him. That's pretty hypocritical if you ask me. Have we become a Theocracy? Did I miss something?

2. Have we lost our hope in humanity?

"His beliefs are "dumbed-down" in such a way that even adults might not realize the deception before them."

are you serious here? So in a sense, we should treat this movie like the parental block features on cable televisions. Because it might corrupt us we should avoid it at all costs. If we actually had any faith in humanity at all we would be able to trust that people would have the basic knowledge to understand and decide for themselves!

The same goes for kids! Have we lost our trust in parents to teach their kids what is out there and help them understand what this book series/movie is trying to say? I get the feeling this guy isn't out there to destroy homes and destroy religion and churches as we know it. Like any artist/author, he is presenting his work as it is his objective truth, and he hopes that we will read/watch with our MINDS. He's not trying to brainwash anyone, I guarantee it.

3. This source, are you kidding me? "Urban Legend Reference Pages?" Our valid sources have become Urband Legend websites?!? Question the source my friends. Find the truth yourself.

4. Think of all the people that will actually read these books or watch the movie, then decide what they believe regarding it. Does this not make them stronger? Why is our first instinct to run from things that are controversial? Heck, I'm a seminary student here and I'm actually kind of intrigued by this movie and think it'll be worth watching!

If anything, this movie, like many before it (DaVinci Code, Dogma, The Last Temptation of Christ) has gotten us talking about important issues. Therefore I praise Pullman for getting us out of our comfort zones to talk about these things.

God is dead

*this is cross-posted in www.ruachretreat.com, a blog between a few of us PC friends*

While preparing for teaching high school sunday school using the revered "Christian Doctrine" book by Shirley Guthrie, I stumbled across a section reminding me of our 'God is Dead' discussions. This quote is on pages 97-98 for those of you who have the book, in the section about the attributes of God. We talked about the world after God dies in the novel we read (God is dead by Ron Currie, Jr.) and how there are still small instances of hope and love in the broken world. Perhaps one could go along with Guthrie's view that perhaps God didn't die, but rather, our misled human conceptions of God died.

He states, "The church may talk about a God who is at work in our individual lives and in the world around us. But many people experience only the distance, silence, and absence of God--like Jesus himself who cried, 'My God my God, why have you forsaken me?' Why does God seem so far away, even dead, in our time? Is it because we live in a scientific and technological age that no longer needs 'God' to explain everything--or anything--that happens to us? It is because God seems to do nothing about all the misery, suffering, and injustice in the world? Perhaps these are partial explanations. But could it be that instead of blaming science or God, we ought to ask if the fault is not in ourselves? Could it be that we have some wrong ideas about who God is and that they must die if we are to know and experience the reality of God in our lives? Could it be that we ought to welcome the announcement that 'God' is dead, because only as our false conceptions of God die can we learn to know what the living and true God is really like?" (97-98)

Again I know this might be a stretch from the book, but it seems for the most part, was it not these general perceptions of God that "died" in this book? More than likely it may have been the opposite. Perhaps the "loving and preserving" picture of God died in this book, giving way for people to live like they are described in this book.

Although I keep coming back to one of the middle chapters, "Grace," when a drunk pastor is found with a sign saying, "God is alive." This must be a significant point.

I'll conclude with more from Guthrie:
"Which god is dead? All the gods that were really nothing but a projection of our own fears, wishes, insecurity, greed, or speculation. All the gods made in our own image. If talk about the death of God in our own time exposes our idols and their inadequacy, we may welcome it. The quicker we bury and forget the gods we make for ourselves, the quicker we can learn who God really is." (98)

Regardless of if this fits with the God is dead book or not, I still really liked this quote. Especially after hearing more news about Fred Phelps

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/31/funeral.protest/index.html?iref=newssearch

the video interviews they have with him are purely frightening. I think this truly speaks to a conception of God we make that must "die." The man who won the lawsuit said it best at one point when he described how the God he knows is a loving God. In the message Phelps and company are promoting, there is nothing "good" about it. It is completely a message of hate. I know there's a lot more to this story regarding freedom of speech and the fact that we're just giving him the attention he wants, but I think this is what we need to do to "kill" these bad misconceptions of God!

Ok went on a rant there.

back to planning for sunday school.

Feel free to comment!
-Mike Watson

Tables and Chairs

ok, I've been wanting to include THIS SONG for a while now. And tonight I believe was my moment to include it. The song is "Tables and Chairs" by Andrew Bird. Please check out the lyrics via the link above. I saw him in concert a week ago and he BLEW MY MIND. The man is a one person Orchestra plus whistling and a drummer who throws down some crazy drum beats. Their timing is impeccable and the wall of sound they produce takes you to another world. This song was the closer, and was quite fitting for the night. The song has overtones of a "new heaven and a new earth" where we are all feasting and living together in peace. Here are the last few lines to put things into context:

"i know we're going to meet some day
in the crumbled financial institutions of this land
there will be tables and chairs
there'll be pony rides and dancing bears
there'll even be a band
cause listen, after the fall there will be no more countries
no currencies at all, we're gonna live on our wits
we're gonna throw away survival kits,
trade butterfly-knives for adderal
and that's not all
ooh-ooh, there will be snacks there will
there will be snacks, there will be snacks."

Tables and chairs, no more countries or currencies, there will be snacks. This beautiful imagery paints quite a picture in your mind.

For some reason this came to my mind after having dinner tonight. I was invited to a "birthday dinner" with a Korean student here who goes by "Yoon." Our dinner entourage included 3 Ghanaians (Wilberforce, Gabriel, Eric), a student from India (Sani), and a student from Myanmar/Burma (Victor). And by Yoon's request, we dined at the fine international cuisine known as Golden Corral! We had a great time. And that's just it, we ate, laughed, shared. We have all been living together for a little over a month, yet we had yet to do something where we all just sit, chat, and eat! I really felt this to be a powerful moment of what the universal church is.

Amongst the stress of the looming Old Testament midterm, and basically upon realizing that all I really do around here is read, I had been recently thinking about/missing my opportunities for spending a year in travel and world experience. Yet, tonight I realized that not only will this time come, but I can have it here among the students around me!

Ok back to studying for the midterm on an extremely full belly.

Free Burma (click the picture)

Dig

I was frightened today. By an old woman asking me for money. Does that sound ridiculous? Should it sound ridiculous?

I've got a long way to go to get out of my naivety.

I realize more and more every day how sheltered of a life I've come from. I also realize some who read this will either think of how they agree, or smirk realizing they are quite used to being around homeless and people begging for money. Many of us who have not spent a considerable amount of time among the poor and homeless really only encounter the occasional homeless beggar. Union-PSCE may seem like it's a safe theological haven, and in many cases it is. However, we border one of the roughest neighborhoods in Richmond and thus are somewhat engaged, or at least should be somewhat engaged, in the life right nearby.

Well today, with my lunch in hand I just grabbed from the dining hall, I hopped in my car and upon looking up from fastening my seatbelt I saw an old woman standing at my passenger window signaling me to put down my window. The surprise value of the situation had me a little shocked. I complied and she pretty much leaned in my window and said "I'm hungry can I have some money?" My philosophy in these situations is to counter their question by asking them what they need and if I can get that for them instead of just giving money. I realize there are those who disagree, but after spending a few days in a rescue mission in downtown Boston, I realized how horrible feeding a possible addiction can be, as well as how much these type of people actually need. SO, I initially offered taking her to the cafeteria to get her some food. She declined, so I then offered the plate of food I had sitting there in my passenger seat. Again she declined saying she wanted money to buy a hamburger. I told her I really couldn't giver her any cash, despite her requests for me to keep looking in my car for some. Finally she gave up and we said our goodbyes.

What a disheartening experience. Again, I know we all encounter these situations all the time, and I'd be interested to know how you all usually react. I know giving money can sometimes be used for good and they will actually go through with buying something they need. However, just the thought of supporting a possible life-destroying habit really inclines me to search for other means of dealing with these situations.

Regardless of all of this, I want to encourage everyone to one blatantly obvious fact, which I believe every one of us forgets: they are human, they are 100% just like us human. They have their good days and their bad days. I bring this up because as soon as I drove off today, the radio started playing "Dig" by Incubus. Now I'm guilty of doing the cheesy act of making a particular song heard at a particular time a significant moment. Deal with it. This song today reminded me of this fact of human nature, and despite our flaws, our lies, our ego, our "sicknesses", the thing that "digs" at us, we have each other. We must learn to "Dig" at one another. Which I believe goes to say that through deepening relationships with one another we can truly know one another. I should not have been frightened by this woman approaching my window today. I should have seen a person in need and felt a knee jerk feeling of compassion rather than fear.

lyrics for "Dig" by Incubus

Indeed this is what Christ would call us to. Deep authentic relationships, no matter what. It's pretty obvious actually. I like to think I'm preaching to the choir on this one.

been a while...

Well hello blog world. Mike Watson is back after about 3 months of silence! Being how everyone's supporting me in seminary and the like, I figure I might as well get back to blogging as if I have something to say. Well I do have a thing or two to say and in today's world this is the best way to get it out there. More details to come soon but just so everyone knows what I'm up to:

I have just begun my first year of seminary at Union-PSCE in Richmond, VA. I finished up a thrilling 6.5 weeks of Hebrew School July-August. Currently I'm taking Old Testament I, Theology I, The Teaching Ministry of the Church, and Spiritual Formation. So far so good too! I absolutely love the process of exegesis, which is basically taking a part of scripture and learning ALL you can about it. For example, translating every word into all possible Hebrew/Greek meanings, the origin of the text, literary and historical context, etc. I am also working at Second Presbyterian Church in Richmond, VA as Youth Director. They are such an amazing group of youth! I think they'll teach me a thing or two over the next few years.

So basically I stay extremely busy. All the time. When I'm not reading or in class I'm doing something regarding my youth director job. Or I'm at a concert (we've got some good ones up here this year!). I think this is good for me. I need to stay busy doing things I love and reading things I love. Speaking of, I know there's a lot of hype about Shane Claiborne speaking at Collegiate Montreat. Seriously, read his book the Irrisitible Revolution. It'll change your life. Go buy it right now. I'll help you out: CLICK HERE! I'll discuss it on a blog at a later time. For now I must sleep, school tomorrow!

oh yeah, and please if you can give me some love in the form of comments. I'll do my best to do the same to your blog, I promise!

To close, here's the opening convocation speech given by our new president, Brian Blount. He's a phenomenal person and will do wonders for this school and the ministers that are being trained. He's brought a lot of energy to this campus and his preaching is incredible.

alright.
peace.

Camp Buc Week 2: all things go, all things go

Adventure and excitement seems to follow me!

If you happened to read my post from week 1, camp has been very hectic and busy so far! Last week I had 3 very difficult campers to deal with, keeping me occupied constantly. Coming into week 2 I was seriously hoping for a break. Well I got one...sorta...

My kids we're COMPLETE opposites from last week. I had 5 boys, once again ages 12-14, who were extremely laid-back. Day 1 went by swimmingly. There were no serious problems and everyone got along. Things actually went so well that I assumed my campers could handle "the loop," which is the seldom used extended version of our usual mountain hike to "rockface." I would soon come to realize that my campers could handle the loop fine...it would be me that would have the problems!

First off, you know how when a guy is looking for a location he is often so consumed by finding it that he tends to just shrug off all suggestions no matter how useful they may be? "Maybe you should turn here?" "Why don't we stop and ask for directions!" You get the point. Basically that was me on this trip. I was in complete control and I was completely responsible.

Up we hike to Rockface, leg 1 of the journey. Things go fine, we have lunch and then proceed on to the loop trail. After about an hour of hiking, I get to a point where I'm not exactly sure which way the trail goes. I make a guess, once again acting like I am in complete control. What starts as us making our way through a somewhat cleared area of woods soon becomes thick forest with no trail in sight. I get the idea that if we keep going straight we will eventually meet up with the trail that cuts to the left. We must have trudged through thick forest, steep hills, and thorny bushes for an hour with nothing in sight. My campers are exhausted and worried. We reach a point where climbing down would be extremely dangerous, yet its our only way forward. Instinct leads me on but my reason finally gets the better of me and finally I break. My confidence is gone and everyone realizes we are extremely lost...in comes Daniel.

Let me tell you about Daniel real quick. Daniel is a Chaplain up here at Camp Buc with us. He is 50 years old. He has lived in Ghana his entire life. He just graduated from Princeton Seminary, his only 3 years in the United States. Daniel is amazing. Ok back to the story...

At my point of breakdown Daniel says, "Mike I think I saw a trail going off to our right before we had descended down this path. Maybe we should backtrack and give it a try!" This sounds like the best idea I have ever heard, and my first instinct is of course to think "why didn't you say that EARLIER!" In comes the "guy" thing. I realized that even if he mentioned it earlier, there's a good chance I wouldn't have even listened to him. We start backtracking, and when we are almost back to where we split off I just drop down and sit. Everyone else follow suit and soon we're just sitting there in silence. I begin to realize the drop in morale of the group and ask Daniel to pray for us. He compares our journey to that of the Israelites in the wilderness and their need to trust God. Daniel's prayer is like spinach to Popeye, and we all hop up and head back to where I initially led us astray. Sure enough, the trail had taken a sharp right turn! We were back on track! Smooth sailing down the mountain right?...Maybe?...

After a little ways down the trail we stop at the Cliffs landmark - a beautiful view. About a minute after our arrival there we all witness a lightning bolt strike down in the valley followed by the shriek of all the campers. "LET'S GO!" I scream, being a little fearful of thunderstorms myself. We take off down the trail as a thunderstorm brews up right over us. Daniel, calm and composed, is leading the campers quickly down the path. I am doing my best to make sure everyone is on their way safely, all the while freaking out that we're at a high elevation, surrounded by trees, during a thunderstorm. The fact that we constantly run across trees previously split by lightning doesn't help either. At one point I look back to see that my co-counselor and her camper are nowhere in sight. Freaking out again I start running up the mountain SCREAMING their names. Finally I run across a crying camper with a hurt ankle and a counselor doing her best to help her down the mountain. I have the camper hop on my back and with all the strength left in my body, run her down the trail. This entire strategy seems to work well as we make great progress down the mountain. I finally get a chance to look around me as the thunderstorm clears up, only to see sun streaking through the trees, light rain keeping us cool, and even a rainbow at one point! Immediately all my fears, my anxiety, my worry, is gone.

My campers, my co-counselor, and Daniel, taught me so much that day. My quiet, laid-back campers had helped each other down that mountain, and wouldn't have made it without each other. Daniel had quietly taught me how a leader should act, by praying with and comforting all of my campers as soon as he noticed they were scared or exhausted. My co-counselor had quietly, humbly, and cheerfully held up the back of the line with an injured camper throughout the entire ordeal. Finally, our whole group remarked on how, despite all of this, they loved the experience of getting "lost in the wilderness."

I've got a lot to learn.

So...despite that how was the rest of the week? Oh, you know, know big deal.

1. The night of our mountain adventure our traumatized campers got caught in another huge thunderstorm while camping out
2. The next night we were hit with another huge thunderstorm during vespers and had to run to the dining hall
3. The next day our lifeguard cut her ear, needing stitches, during our hike to Trinity waterfall

Yet, my campers still had one of the greatest weeks of their lives.
amazing.

you came to take us
all things go, all things go
to recreate us
all things grow, all things grow
we had our mindset
all things know, all things know
you had to find it
all things go, all things go

Camp Buc Week 1: everyone is a burning sun

It was said once that Philosophy begins and ends in awe and wonder...

Every time I drive up to the lake and mountains of Camp Buc, I get this feeling of awe and wonder of stark beauty. This feeling can be easily forgotten during a stressful week with those campers that drive you to your breaking point. However, somehow when Friday rolls around, you just can't stop the tears of pure joy from a life-changing week.

My first week of camp: June 1-6th was easily the most challenging week I have ever had as a camp counselor. I had lost my voice completely from yelling at my 12-14 year old kids all week. One in particular (to go by "x" in this journal to protect his identity) was the source of all of the stress. From day 1 I vowed he would be too much to handle and thought about trying to send him home. What I learned was that X had Aspergers Syndrome, a milder form of Autism. This means he is a very bright kid, yet he struggles with his attention span and with social interaction. These symptoms were only made worse by his 2 cousins, my other 2 campers, who constantly picked fights with him and vocalized their dislike. This worked its way out in the worst possible way. I was with X constantly..."don't hit people with sticks!" "stop shining your flashlight in people's eyes!" "stop fighting!" I hit rock bottom Thursday night after returning from a rafting trip and having to settle my boys down. I needed a day long break...

How did I survive? Spending all this time with X made me realize that he was a good kid with a lot of talent and creativity. Tuesday, while at a waterfall near our camp, I sat and watched him build an entire city out of mud, sticks, and rocks. He told me that people tell him that he should be an artchitect someday. Later that day he asked me for a pencil because he is writing a book! I have no idea what it is about, yet this was such an amazing venture for a 13 year old. Wednesday night after having to sit with him at campfire to keep him toned down I watched him help carry a hurt friend all the way up to the dining hall for snack time. That day he had also asked if he could borrow my Bible. I found out later that he had actually been reading a few random pages. Another moment was when I accidentaly watched him writing a "warm fuzzy" to a girl (warm fuzzies are nice notes we leave for each other, campers and counselors alike, throughout the week). He complemented her in the nicest way possible. Thursday night while we had our final nightly devotion on the dock with our family group, I broke down in tears. I asked if someone wanted to pray and he volunteered, to my great suprise. What followed was probably the most beautiful prayer I have ever heard. I was so blown away I don't remember much beyond something about asking God to light up the hearts of people of the world like the stars we were looking up at.

Awe. Wonder.

When camp was finished and the kids were gone, I looked in my warm fuzzy bag to find a note from X. The note said "I hope you don't think I am mean, I am just aggrivated sometimes." As weird as this sounded, I found this to be the most meaningful and revealing thing he could have said to me. Right then I realized what it must be like to be X. He constantly struggles with his Aspergers Syndrome and can hardly express this to people. When people meet him they assume he is a bad kid that needs constant punishment and reform. His peers can't accept him because they immediately label him as rude and immature. For X, however, he wants nothing more than what every other kid wants: love and acceptance. This is what all kids want and need at all times. This is ultimately the goal of Christian camp.

X taught me how all of the creativity and talent kids possess must never go wasted. He taught me how much some kids need love and acceptance.

everyone is a burning sun.