Pastoral Staff Blog

Wow, I didn't realize our pastoral staff at BVBC had a blog, did you? Check it out.

Shoot The Moon

Man, this country love blowing stuff up.

Does this mark a departure in President Obama's foreign policy? Is this an unprovoked, preemptive, unilateral attack on the Martians?

And The Award Goes To . . .

President Obama. I was surprised to hear on the news this morning that he received the Nobel Peace Prize. Admittedly my initial reaction was "for what?" It is not as though he has brokered peace between Israel and the Palestinians, resolved Iran or North Korea's nuclear ambitions, ended the genocide in Darfur, improved the situation in Afghanistan or made any other obvious signs of tangible progress.

I think though there was a shrewd acknowledgment to the change in tone that can make for better peace in the future with this award. No, Obama hasn't brought lasting peace and a successful resolution to the Middle East. Neither have past presidents or Nobel peace prize winners. What Obama does bring is a willingness to engage first in diplomacy with enemies and cooperation with allies rather than a shoot first, ask questions later unilaterism that undermines a global rule of law and global efforts to resolve multinational conflicts, hopefully without military force.

I can already feel the seething anger bubbling up from many Republicans. Fox News already ridiculed the award, and one show host mockingly asked, "Isn't there cash involved with this too, like a million dollars?" as though the President were trying to attempt a different foreign policy tact for the sake of winning a prize and a million dollars. I mean, really, how incredibly ignorant is that statement? No doubt conservative pundits will also lament how the whole world is simply fawning over the charismatic leader and fallen under his spell. Yet over 20 years later Republicans still fawn over Reagan, "The Great Communicator" with nearly evangelical fervor so I don't understand the resentment; it seems more like jealousy to me.

Obviously only time will tell if Obama's strategy and efforts will prove to be successful. But personally, I am proud of my new president for winning this award, and the recognition from the global community that it imparts that we are not a closed minded, arrogant, bullying, war mongering nation. It gives us renewed credibility which in turns grants a certain amount of leverage in future efforts at dealing with those who would act violently against us or other members of the global community.

So congratulations Mr. President. May we all renew our prays for wisdom and strength for you and all of our leaders to work towards peace.

I Am My Beloved's

During my retreat, I was also reminded of the beautiful song "As I Am" by the Violet Burning.

Mary, she knows
In a world that's dark
Torn apart at the seams
She lifts up her eyes
Up to the skies
And sings

"I am my beloved's
And he loves me as I am"

Sometimes it's hard
Though patiently
You wait for the time to see

Whose are you?
(Tell me)
Whose are you?

I am my beloved's
And he loves me as I am

Light of the world
Please, come shine on me

Sometimes I cry
In a world that's dark
Torn apart at the seams
Sometimes I cry
For I am weak

Light of the world
Please, come shine on me

Reflecting on this some more, I was able to determine the following. Because I am my Beloved's:

• I will not fear mistakes at work or the rebuke and correction of my superiors, for his affection for me is secure.
• I will not be anxious at the deterioration of my wealth from the fluctuations of the economy, for he will grace me with contentment in poverty. Nor will I become greedy at the expansion of the same, for all is from him and belongs to him.
• I will not be grieved in loneliness, for his presence is with me as brother, friend, savior and king.
• While making all good efforts to maintain health, strength and vitality, I will not fear sickness, aging and death, for this veil and earthly tent must fall and I will share in his likeness in glory and resurrection.
• I will be charitable to my neighbor, whom he also loves, while at appropriate times and ways enjoying, rejoicing and giving thanks in his manifold blessings.
• I will continue to pursue the knowledge of and intimacy with Christ, the lover of my soul.
• I will continue to seek to be filled with and controlled by the Spirit, my help and comforter.
• I will continue to fear, honor, glorify and obey the Father, the giver of every good and perfect gift.
• I will not waste my time in idle pursuits, for I am responding to a higher calling worthy of my full attention and efforts.

Love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

The Abundant Life

My recent 7 Day Silent Guided Retreat at the Jesuit Center was a time of deep spiritual restoration for me. I went in feeling disillusioned, cynical, skeptical and generally fatigued and apathetic. I left feeling focused, confident and refreshed. One of my nagging questions going into the retreat was "What can I expect from God without risk of disappointment?" In a contemplation of John 10:10, it became more clear that what is promised is "life abundantly" not necessarily "abundance in life." We are not promised a prosperous, middle-class suburban American lifestyle with a spouse, 2.3 children, a dog, and a white picket fence. Rather we are offered peace in the midst of hardship, contentment in the midst of scarcity and poverty, acceptance in the midst of rejection, friendship in the midst of loneliness, righteousness in the midst of an evil world and life in the midst of death.

The Duration of Perfection

A most random and startling observation came across my mind this evening. Scripture does not indicate how long Adam and Eve were together before the fall. It could have been one year, one hundred years, one billion years. We simply don't know. Presumably, since there was no death there also was not aging. Although the earth rotated and revolved, it as though the reality of time had not yet become part of the human experience. Did monotony not fatigue them and dull their senses the way it does ours? Perhaps that is why there have not been more fictional stories written on life before the fall. Still, one could find room to speculate. Was Eve simply looking for some drama when she picked up the fruit? I mean, what do you talk about when the weather is always perfect, there are no neighbors or children and work is not a chore? Did they travel at all or stay within close confines of the garden? What do you do when all your days are spent in blissful perfection?

Bad Drivers

This video was also a topic of discussion at lunch on Friday.

Modern Life

Someone at work passed this along the other day. Quite funny.

Late Night with Conan O'Brien - Everything's Amazing, Nobody's Happy (10/2/08) - Video - NBC.com - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Courage

I started upon an interesting conversation tonight on the theme of courage. Many great people have said many great things on the subject and yet it is not something I hear much of today. This is something I want to investigate further.

A little something to whet the appetite:

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point. - C.S. Lewis

A nation which has forgotten the quality of courage which in the past has been brought to public life is not as likely to insist upon or regard that quality in its chosen leaders today - and in fact we have forgotten. - John F. Kennedy

Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. - Winston Churchill

When Is It Okay To Change Charities?

So I've had this sort of nagging dilemma in the back of my mind for awhile. What do you do when the charities you have been giving to for years are no longer at the core of the causes you are most passionate about? Nothing has materially changed in these ministries that makes them less worthy of support. Rather, it is being exposed to new needs and opportunities and changing interests that is driving the potential change. And, for the moment let's assume the constraint that additional amounts of new giving are not feasible, and let's also assume that all of the charities currently being given to are in need of more not less support. Do you make the change at all? If so, do you completely switch or hedge your bets and go half and half?

And, for the sake of discussion, let's add that "just pray about it" is not an acceptable answer to this post.