Help getting a helping hand -- from Hamburger. . .

Getting the word out about a good cause.

I'm the chaplain of the First Aid Squad of Peapack-Gladstone. The squad really needs some new cots for the ambulances. The cots are basically the beds inside the ambulances that patients ride on. The cots we currently have are at the end of their lifespan -- literally. The batteries in them go dead without any rhyme or reason and they often leave EMTs in the lurch holding patients up in the air trying to get them in the ambulance. That's not good for the patient or the EMT.

The problem is that we simply don't have the money to buy new cots. They are actually pretty complicated pieces of machinery that are really expensive. The folks at Hamburger Helper are giving out grants to help local communities, and we have put up a proposal for enough money to replace the cot.

If you guys can take just a couple minutes of your time, go to http://www.myhometownhelper.com/ViewProject.aspx?tell=1&id=31140 and leave a comment about how we should love and support our EMTs that give up so much of their time and energy to help ensure the health and safety of the town. Even if you don't live in the area, if you could just leave a comment about how it's a good idea I know all the folks here at the squad would appreciate it. We're an all volunteer squad independent of the townso we have to do stuff like this to get by and every comment makes it that much more of a chance to get some money and help us out.

So What if it Means I have to Burn?

It's been ages. I'm sure my whole 1 or 2 fans out there have been in an uproar. The angry letters demanding more witticisms have been cluttering up my imagination. They really pile up in there. It has just been a while since I have had anything to really say beyond the normal prattle -- then I got a song stuck in my head and it got me thinking.

It's not a whole lot of praise music that I enjoy in my spare time outside of an actual worship service. There is one band that I really enjoy and they just came out with a new CD. One of the songs that is on said CD is about The Daniel Gang (aka Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego). The song brings up the element of that story that seems the most remarkable to me, but is often looked over. It is not the fact that the three men refused to bow down to the golden statue out of their service to God. This is an admirable act, but an act that is duplicated all over Scripture. It is not the miraculous way the Lord preserved them in the furnace they were thrown into. Again, awesome, but all over the Bible. It was one line, if you would allow me to paraphrase, that the men said. "We know that God can save us from this. However, even if he doesn't, that doesn't make him any less capable or any less the God that we worship." I always thought that was the greatest part of the story.

It is easy to follow God when he's doing everything you want him to, when he provides everything that you ask him to, or brings about the miraculous. What about the times when he doesn't? Is the fact that God doesn't bring something together the way you want it to make him any less God? Does the fact that he didn't orchestrate everything to come out great or the fact that he allowed something to happen that, to use the vernacular, just straight up sucked mean that he suddenly lost the ability to stop it?

What if, at times, we are supposed to burn? It is the hardest thing I could ever think about really. It does not leave the realm of the understandable, it's just hard because I do not want to think about it. If we burn, hell if I burn, I want to be able to sit back and understand that it still is all part of his sovereign will. I may not do so with a smile on my face, but I hope and pray to God that I do it anyway.

Let them laugh one last time

This is a random one.

So I'm just sitting here enjoying myself this evening. I have spent most of the day in a sort of daze. I preached this morning, and it usually takes a chunk out of me to do so. I've been tired, but not enough to actually go to sleep. In this state I find myself watching movies on cable because TV just disappoints me lately. I find myself watching Elizabethtown, a movie I find surprisingly entertaining. Anyway, at one point in the movie there's a funeral. When the widow walks up to say something at the funeral, she tells a story about her neighbor and while I won't go into the joke, it's hilarious and inappropriate and everybody ends up eventually laughing.

So why do I bring it up? I just find myself thinking about how that is how I hope to be remembered. If something strange and bizarre took me out and there were people gathering to remember me -- I would want there to be laughter. I would want there to be somebody telling stories about cringing when I was a participant in the infamous DTS christmas caroling incident. I want stories about the time I sang "You Lost that Lovin' Feeling" to a random friend of mine in the cafeteria in college complete with microphone and doo-wop back up singers, Dunkin' Donut runs, Wee-ing down Old Chester, and going to our least favorite diner just to mess with people. I want to hear about stories that haven't happened yet but I'm sure will be so funny that I'll be embarassed, but will always tell the tales for the rest of my days. I want people to know that other than a past of rocky roads, personality quirks and downright stupidity, I have enjoyed this life immensely, and it's only getting better from here. I want people laughing and telling stories about how they'd see me sitting with Christ making silly faces and doing the now infamous hamster voice.

In short, there will always be times for quiet contemplation -- for feeling bad that someone or something has left and won't be back. Those times have the ability to pile up on you if you let them, but you let those slip while you hold on to the good stuff. There just comes a time when we all need to sit down together and share our good stuff with each other.

Why is it?

Why is it that the vocal minority are considered the typical even though it never matches reality?

Why is it that people find themselves having to defend themselves from outrageous accusations simply because one or more folks claiming the same words acted in a foolish or cruel manner?

Why is it that we so often slam people as idiots and fools for doing or thinking something because it doesn't seem to fit, but think it is wrong when people do it to us?

Why is it that having an opinion that someone is wrong is equated to hate?

Why is it that people are terrified by learning in an open forum just for the sake of learning?

Why is it that questions really only come up with more questions before they come up with real answers?

The Passing

I let a couple days pass by from when I heard of Jerry Falwell's death. I did this because I have very few positive things to say about this man. That's right. The conservative Christian gentleman never really had any penchant towards liking Jerry Falwell, but this is not a hate blog. It is not my desire nor my place to spout a tirade about the man. What I do say, however, is that his death reminds me of some things.

I had to acnknowledge something about Falwell in his death. See, in life he was an enigma. He was a guy I could point to and say, "That's the image you know, but that's not who I am." He was the stigma that I had, and continue to have, to fight against. It is the notion that Christian faith, practice, and religion are about hating those who do not do and think like we do. That we who are leaders amongst the faithful spout rhetoric, while the sheep of the congregation blindly follow. It seems like Falwell's name came up more often than it did not concerning what's wrong with the church in modern day America. His death, however, reminded me that he is just as much a believer as I am. Right now he is with the Father in heaven, and there is little in what I know of the man that would point me to anything different. I had this image, when I found out he died, of Christ welcoming him at the gates. I could see Him put His arm around the man and whisper, "Jerry, we need to have a talk about what it's really all about." I could sense the ambivalence in his face when he realized that he was right. The God he served is a God of justice and righteousness, but also realizing that he was so wrong. That every time he spoke out with the voice of God saying horrible things about condemnation he was missing a very important part of what God was doing in the world. I believe at the core of the man was a good and decent man, passionate about serving the Lord. I just think his passion was misdirected. I had to admit to myself that this man whose quotes I laugh at and mock as idiocy when I am trying to be kind was in the same boat as I am. Would that I could disassociate myself with what he said, but I cannot. He is part of the community of faith, and we all must take responsibility for what others do, even and especially when we do not want to.

I also had to remember that I am not the end all and be all of theology, philosophy, or anything else for that matter. No matter how much time, energy, and work I put into mastering something, there will always be that which is not understood, and even when I think I understand it, I may one day find out that everything I thought was true isn't particularly right. You see, the greatest tragedy of thought is to think that you can never be wrong. Once you establish your thought as perfect you disallow for any and all error, and you establish yourself as God. Not only is that wrong, you deny yourself the ability to grow when you do so.

I once came up with a mock theology. I called it the Theology of the Great Big Duh. It was my way of saying that there will be a moment when you enter into the presence of God, fully glorified, and God says to you, "Alright, now I will let you know what it is really all about, because now you can actually kinda understand what I was doing." It is only when we are no longer tainted by sin and we hear the voice of God saying how it truly is that we'll be able to respond with a smack on the forehead, like we should have known it all along but did not get it until that moment. Anyone who thinks they will not be surprised when that moment comes as things they thought were right end up being wrong or incomplete, well, they need to evaluate how well they can know something, and what might happen if someone ever proved something else were true.

Me? I am thankful that a man who loved the Lord enough to fight for Him got to meet him. I am thankful that a voice that did a lot of damage for the cause of Christ was silenced. I am waiting for a time when God will tell me what I got right, what I got wrong, and what I cannot get 'til glory. I am waiting for the great big duh.

If You are Looking to Buy Me Something Pretty . . .

I never thought I would ever type this -- in fact, I feel a little dirty as I prepare to do so -- So I was on myspace.com earlier and found an amazing and thought-provoking book that I would love to own.

::give me a moment. I just used myspace, thought-provoking, and book all in the same sentence. My world needs to settle after being thrown on its ear.:::

The name of the book is Blasphemy: Art That Offends by S. Brent Plate. When I first heard the title I could already identify a handful of the pieces that would be mentioned. The "Piss Christ," a crucifix in a jar full of urine, the cartoons of Muhammad from the dutch newspapers that led to multi-national discussions of freedom of the press, and even a number of older, more classical works. However, this coffee table book of controversial artworks is not simply a slide-show of all that ruffles feathers. The author combines images of many works of art that angered people on political, religious, and personal levels, with commentary regarding how much artistic license is to be balanced with common decency and personal responsibility.

This issue has always been an interesting one for me. It is particularly poignant when I wrestle with one side or the other as the devil's advocate for the opposing side. I try to explain that there is a place for artistic nudes in the grander world of art that does not go to pornographic lengths or how art is supposed to make people think and feel truth, which is not always appealing to people in conservative Christian circles. I try to say to the most liberal and open minded folks that just because you CAN do something does not mean that it should be done or that just because someone tags something as art does not mean that he has the ability to do whatever he wants. It is hard not to have these sorts of discussions without looking at ALL the angles. I was able to skim through this book in a local Borders the other day and I have to say it provides interesting commentary about the interplay between religion, politics, artistic expression, freedom of speech, and social responsibility.

In short, I recommend that you check it out. Don't let the big price tag get in the way.

A Speech You Simply Need to Hear

I find myself to be rather political, yet I have never been happy with a political party because I've never found one that encompassed all angles of my life and my values. On paper and in practice I am an independent. One thing that has always been an issue with me is how the candidates handle their faith. Do not translate this into a "Brother gotta go to church" demand for the person to share my faith. Faith and religious practice just seems to be the way that folks manipulate people in their candidacy. When I see a lily white candidate who does not have faith in God stand before an African-American southern baptist church and proclaim that he is one of them and he fights the good fight with them -- I'm sorry, but my skepticism takes a grip on that.

In short, I've rarely heard a candidate speak on religion, faith, and politics and have it not bring up a well of skepticism if not plain contempt because they are manipulating the faith of those they are speaking to and anyone who might see it later. Yup, that includes Republicans. Few people can use church to manipulate a vote like a republican conservative. This is why I was so shocked when I heard about a speech made by democratic candidate Barack Obama. On his web page there is a video of this speech. I was riveted to his words and heard many of my own statements and values in his words.

I'm not sure if I'd vote for him yet, as I'm still researching all the candidates. I still hope against hope that he beats Hilary Clinton if anything else. But whether I vote for him, you vote for him, or he doesn't even make it out of the primaries, everybody should hear this speech:

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/faith/

It's 40 minutes long, so carve out some time, but it is a great understanding of how folks like me who are conservative, yet have views that often get them labeled as liberal. After I heard this speech, I may not vote for this guy, but I certainly like him.