Prophetic words: Reviving for the heart of our democracy

You may not agree with everything mentioned here.  There may be an issue or two you'd like to discuss or debate.  But, here is thoughtful theology--theology that moves to action by definition. 

Here we encounter the message and the values of the faith inspired by the prophetic movement of God. Here we see the strong, undeniable connection between the heart of God and the pain of the world, largely the product of the injustice we encounter at work all around us today.

When was the last time you heard anything like this in church?

Dr. King and now

The Ultimate Measure

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others.

Martin Luther King Jr.
Source: Strength to Love

Add your thoughts at inward/outward

Throwing different kinds of parties. . .

Luke 14:12-14

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

12 He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

1.  Who do we normally invite to our parties?  Why so? 

2.  What happens when we do?  Any surprises?  

3.  What might happen if we threw different kinds of parties with different "guest lists"?  What would that be like?  What would be uncomfortable?  Why?  What would be positive?  Why?

4.  Where does "repayment" take place in the work of compassion and justice?

Gandhi

Seven Deadly Social Sins

• Politics without principle

• Wealth without work

• Commerce without morality

• Pleasure without conscience

• Education without character

• Science without humanity

• Worship without sacrifice

Mahatma Gandhi

Defined as a problem. . .

A couple of years ago my colleague, Gerald Britt made a statement that set me back.  Actually, the impact of his words virtually knocked me down.  I can't remember what we were discussing, but I do recall that we had been together at a conference where we both spoke about our work and about the challenges facing inner city communities in  America. 

At one point Gerald said, "Larry, its really hard when you realize that you are regarded as 'a problem' by lots of people. It affects your self-understanding."  

Gerald spoke to the immediate and extended affect of racism and racist judgements on the lives of millions of our fellow Americans.  To have one's life classified as basically "a problem" is a devastating reality that I would never have thought of had he not been so honest a friend. 

It took me a full day to come back to him.  I told him that while my opinion didn't really matter and that I had no claim to comment on his life or his experience, I did want him to know that at no time did I ever consider him to be "a problem."  In saying that I realized it was hollow and insignificant when placed alongside the brutal, unrelenting reality he attempted to describe to me. 

What a burden to carry and to unload.

On Thursday as I sat out on the steps at "the porch" talking to homeless persons who strolled by, I met a very quiet, reserved and observant gentleman.  He passed by several times, finally stopping to pick up a bottle of ice water that I had available. 

As he drank his water, he finally spoke, asking me what I was up to.  I told him about the project we were building across the street and of my desire to simply listen to people.  I explained that we didn't want to "invade" the community and make stupid mistakes.  We wanted to hear folks regarding the neighborhood, our project and what the people who lived nearby hoped to see developed. 

As we talked, he said something that pulled me back to Gerald's comments. 

"You know," he began quietly, "people think its dangerous here, that we're dangerous.  But, we're not.  We're just like everyone else,  just working through issues, just trying to get on with life.  We're not dangerous."

What if your life was regarded by most people as a dangerous life, a person to be avoided? 

Something to think about as we continue to dismantle stereotypes that plague our perspectives and continue to injure others.

Gutierrez on Christmas

The Irruption of God

By Gustavo Gutierrez on 12-29-2010

It is often said at Christmas that Jesus is born into every family and every heart. But these "births" must not make us forget the primordial, massive fact that Jesus was born of Mary among a people that at the time were dominated by the greatest empire of the age. If we forget that fact, the birth of Jesus becomes an abstraction, a symbol, a cipher. Apart from its historical coordinates the event loses its meaning. To the eyes of Christians the incarnation is the irruption of God into human history: an incarnation into littleness and service in the midst of overbearing power exercised by the mighty of this world; an irruption that smells of the stable.

Source: The God of Life

Taking Lazarus to heart

My good friend, John Siburt sent me the link to this story from The Huffington Post.  What do you think?

What Would Jesus Spend His Money On?

First Posted: 05/25/11 09:10 PM ET Updated: 05/26/11 12:16 PM ET

BEVERLY, Mass. (RNS) No sooner had 29-year-old Graham Messier joined a small group at his church earlier this year than he found himself breaking an American taboo: talking about how much he earns, and where it all goes.

Others in the group did likewise as they kicked off an eight-week program aimed at reconciling personal finances with Christian rhetoric about economic justice.

It's countercultural, they said, but it works.

By the eighth meeting, Messier's group had raised $1,800 for three non-profits simply by cutting back on gourmet coffees, dining out and other non-essentials.

Talking about household budgets isn't "the most comfortable thing in the world," Messier said. "But talking as Christians about the reality of our money situations should be more of a focus than it is generally if we're going to be real about loving, giving to the poor and taking care of our fellow man."

Since inception in 2006, the Lazarus at the Gate curriculum has guided some 400 people in more than 30 groups to give away a total of $200,000. Using the biblical story of poor Lazarus seeking help at a rich man's gate, most participants learn that ordinary Americans rank among the world's richest 5 percent -- and that a few dollars go a lot farther in the developing world than they do at their local Starbucks.

What began as a Boston-based pilot has grown into an open-source curriculum. The ecumenical Boston Faith and Justice Network (BFJN) shares Lazarus materials upon request with college student groups and churches in other regions and countries.

Read the entire article here.

A flood of justice, not a show

"to make a way out of no way. . ."

Remembering Dr. King. . .

"When our days become dreary with low hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."

- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

A very different child. . .thoughts for Christmas Eve 2009

When written, these words meant something very important to the communities of faith that received them. These words carry a radical message and present an amazing vision of the work of the child described. Curiously, the power of these words seems largely lost on contemporary followers of the child.

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

And Mary said:
"My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers."

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
(Luke 1:29-56}

So, what's to be in my back yard?

Now, here's an interesting alternative to the oft-heard, "NIMBY"--not in my back yard!

Any neighborhood, true believers out there???

Justice Revival coming to Dallas--November 10-12, 2009

Take a look at this video description of the Columbus, Ohio version of the Justice Revival.

Mark it down: the Justice Revival comes to Dallas November 10-12, 2009!

Check out the event website at: http://www.justicerevival.org/

One Tin Soldier

Minding the Soul

Did you see Bono's Op-Ed essay in The New York Times on Saturday (April 18, 2009)? Worth reading.

Here's the start of it:

It’s 2009. Do You Know Where Your Soul Is?

By BONO
Published: April 18, 2009

I AM in Midtown Manhattan, where drivers still play their car horns as if they were musical instruments and shouting in restaurants is sport.

I am a long way from the warm breeze of voices I heard a week ago on Easter Sunday.

“Glorify your name,” the island women sang, as they swayed in a cut sandstone church. I was overwhelmed by a riot of color, an emotional swell that carried me to sea.

Christianity it turns out, has a rhythm — and it crescendos this time of year. The rumba of Carnival gives way to the slow march of Lent, then to the staccato hymnals of the Easter parade. From revelry to reverie. After 40 days in the desert, sort of ... Carnival — rock stars are good at that.

“Carne” is flesh; “Carne-val,” its goodbye party. I’ve been to many. Brazilians say they’ve done it longest; they certainly do it best. You can’t help but contract the fever. You’ve got no choice but to join the ravers as they swell up the streets bursting like the banks of a river in a flood of fun set to rhythm. This is a Joy that cannot be conjured. This is life force. This is the heart full and spilling over with gratitude. The choice is yours ...

It’s Lent I’ve always had issues with. I gave it up ... self-denial is where I come a cropper. My idea of discipline is simple — hard work — but of course that’s another indulgence.

Then comes the dying and the living that is Easter.

It’s a transcendent moment for me — a rebirth I always seem to need. Never more so than a few years ago, when my father died. I recall the embarrassment and relief of hot tears as I knelt in a chapel in a village in France and repented my prodigal nature — repented for fighting my father for so many years and wasting so many opportunities to know him better. I remember the feeling of “a peace that passes understanding” as a load lifted. Of all the Christian festivals, it is the Easter parade that demands the most faith — pushing you past reverence for creation, through bewilderment at the idea of a virgin birth, and into the far-fetched and far-reaching idea that death is not the end. The cross as crossroads. Whatever your religious or nonreligious views, the chance to begin again is a compelling idea.

Last Sunday, the choirmaster was jumping out of his skin ... stormy then still, playful then tender, on the most upright of pianos and melodies. He sang his invocations in a beautiful oaken tenor with a freckle-faced boy at his side playing conga and tambourine as if it was a full drum kit. The parish sang to the rafters songs of praise to a God that apparently surrendered His voice to ours.

I come to lowly church halls and lofty cathedrals for what purpose? I search the Scriptures to what end? To check my head? My heart? No, my soul. For me these meditations are like a plumb line dropped by a master builder — to see if the walls are straight or crooked. I check my emotional life with music, my intellectual life with writing, but religion is where I soul-search.

Read the entire essay here.

Resource for seeking justice out of faith

Groups or individuals looking for a useful tool for a biblical study of faith and justice need to check out this great resource from Sojourners.

Hungry for Justice provides a 6-week, day-by-day plan for investigating the importance of justice from a spiritual perspective. Groups can adopt the resource as the basis for weekly meetings.

Order a copy today.

Invite others to join you in the study!

A wish list for 2009

By this time next year I wish. . .

. . .that the U. S. Congress will have enacted comprehensive immigration reform that would provide for the documentation of the millions of Mexican and Central American immigrants who currently work hard to keep things going in our nation without the protection and benefit of legal status. In this regard, I hope that early in 2009 the Congress will send the D. R. E. A. M. Act to President Obama for his signature. The children of undocumented immigrants, like many of my young friends whom I've written about here so often, need protection and legal status so they can remain in the United States as they pursue higher education, military service or both.

. . .that a major part of any economic stimulus package passed by the new Congress and signed into law by the new President will include significant provisions for expanded workforce training programs that are accessible in every major urban center in the nation and that are designed to assist low-income citizens to gain the skills needed to obtain and hold a living wage job.

. . .that the federal government, in cooperation with states and local urban municipalities, will provide significant tax rebates and subsidies to encourage the pursuit of green energy production by business, private and public sectors in an aggressive manner that encourages and achieves scale as quickly as possible. Note: due to differing tax structures, a state-by-state policy approach will be required. Time for new thinking.

. . .that the federal government will create partnerships with local community-based organizations with proven track records in workforce training to create "green job corps" whose members will be enabled to lead the way in turning urban communities green while creating millions of new, livable wage jobs.

. . .that the City of Dallas will see the wisdom of providing increased funding for affordable housing development, including scalable permanent supportive housing for the homeless, out of its general revenue budget over and above what outside sources of revenue currently generate.

. . .that local leaders will make a compelling case for using some of the promised economic stimulus funds to expand and "fast forward" plans for DART, our light rail public transportation system, to the end that the system is built out more aggressively across more of our community with special attention given to connecting neglected areas of the city to the whole.

. . .that faith communities of every variety would embrace a renewed concern for the poor that translates into effective action in terms of both meaningful service and unifed aggitation for systemic public policy reform.

. . .that everyone in Dallas would come together to make sure the Dallas Independent School District would work in an optimal way for every student.

. . .that the State of Texas would reform the Department of Health and Human Services so that it would get back to actually providing needed care, intervention and support for the poor, our children and our most vulnerable citizens.

Ambitious, you say?

Sure.

Hope does that to a soul!

What's on your list?

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Living on the move

"The crops failed, and there was no food anywhere in the land. So Abram and his wife Sarai went to live in Egypt for a while." Genesis 12:10 + Hebrew Bible

All the factors line up here, don't they?

Disaster hits the economy. The crops fail.

Conditions grow so severe that no food can be found. . .anywhere--talk about depression!

The father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam starts out broke and on the move, a stranger, an immigrant.

He and his wife journey to Egypt looking for options.

You know, work, opportunity, a way to survive, to do better, to find and build a life.

Immigrants.

Abram and Sarai were immigrants.

Sort of like another Jewish couple a few thousand years later who fled to Egypt as immigrants fleeing political terror and seeking to preserve the life of their young son and possibly their own lives.

When times grow hard and options evaporate, people tend to live on the move.

Immigrants.

If the Egyptians had known who Abram and Sarai were and were to become, had they known who Jesus was and was to become, how might they have treated them? How might the reception have been different?

Immigrants.

I'm surrounded by immigrants here in East Dallas, people living on the move, most without "papers."

Wonder who they are and who they will become?

.

Cleaning off my desk before a couple of days off. . .

Think you'd like to have a copy of "Food For Thought: The 1st Annual Central Dallas Ministries Family Cookbook"?

I've got a free copy of this great collection of recipes to the first person who emails me asking for it at ljames@CentralDallasMinistries.org. Be sure and provide your complete mailing address and I'll be sure to get it out to you right after the first of the year.

___________________________________

Speaking of recipes. Here's one for the Dallas Cowboys:

Step 1: Sign former PittsburghSteelers coach Bill Cowher to a long-term contract as Head Coach and General Manager.

Step 2: Sit back and prepare for some real fun!

____________________________________

One more New Year's Give-a-way: I also find that I have an extra copy of the new Poverty and Justice Bible on my desk.

Same deal: first email requesting that I send it to you will receive it early in 2009. Don't forget your snail-mail address!

____________________________________

A question prompted by my crazy desk: If you were limited to reading just one magazine, journal or periodical during 2009 (not including daily newspapers), what would it be? Help me here!

____________________________________

Getting ready for a Happy New Year in 2009 and wishing you and yours the very same!

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Voter' Guide for People of Faith

Sojourners magazine includes an "issues guide" for Christian voters in the November issue.

"Principles and Policies for Christian Voters" (Voting All Your Values) can be downloaded here.

I think you'll find it surprisingly comprehensive.

As always, I'd love your reactions.

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Sunday Reflection: Micah

"With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with fervent prayer,
with prayer upon prayer, day after day upon tired knees?

Will the Lord be pleased with
thousands of songs in gatherings of worship,
with lifted hands and ten thousands of hymns of praise and celebration?
Shall I push forward to religious service and mission
my children for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"

He has showed you, what
is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:6-8 [modern interpretation for church folks]

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