The View from the West Mesa

When I first heard the reports that the White House had not watched and didn’t plan to watch the Planned Parenthood videos, I was somewhat amazed. I mean, who hadn’t watched the videos or read the transcripts? Seemed somewhat far-fetched to me. Then I thought that maybe this was the Administration’s way of buying time and deflecting any need for initiative. Maybe, I thought, this was another of those, “the President first heard of [fill in your favorite crisis] when he turned on the news,” or some such. They probably only watch CNN and that network didn’t exactly trumpet the contents of the videos, so maybe the whole thing just slipped passed them between the latest Trump joke and blaming Bush for ISIS. Could be. Then I realized that it must be somewhat hard to explain to those two girls that their parents nor the federal government considered them real people before they left the hospital. I wonder how that realization comes about – that you were entirely optional to them; no...

Perhaps one of the most unsettling realizations for disciples is that being a disciple does not require much of the trappings we have come to associate with being a disciple. Structure and objective, concrete rules provide psychological safety and their stripping away causes confusion and anxiety. And so we cling to them and assign them value and gravity for their own sake, crafting intricate explanations for their existence and the critical places they fill in our personal and common lives. We come to believe that these are constituent parts of being a disciple and so perpetuate their existence and necessity, defending them against detractors of all sorts. If we could let go of them without going crazy, we could see and live the true simplicity of being a disciple. We could learn and experience life as a disciple, coming to realize that discipling is about life; real life lived day by day.

I wonder what it was like for a 19 year old, or a young father of 23, or maybe even a grandfather crowded into a landing craft with no roof, wearing thirty pounds of gear, being tossed up and then sideways by the water, hearing but not being able to see the explosions, the machine guns, smelling the diesel and the salt, and hearing the muffled prayers and Hail Mary's around you in the close quarters. And then to hear and feel the craft's bottom scrape against and stop atop some hidden sand, stopping with a surge of bodies trying to stay themselves inside this now very small topless box. To hear but not quite see the ramp of a door that has been in front of you the last several minutes, disappear in front of you, exposing a view of several meters of water and then a narrow ribbon of beach. To hear "let's go!" and be part of the collective push out into the now exposed air, to step off the ramp and sink ankle, knee, neck, or deeper into the water, struggli...

A day to remember. To remember smiles, laughter, and loves; To remember sacrifice. Lives given for us. A day to remember. Young men, mature men, and older men; Sons, and dads, and granddads; And women. Daughters, and moms, and grandmoms; Husbands and wives; And lovers. Lives given for us. A day to remember. Flags, and flowers, and salutes; Bagpipes and bugles; And Taps. Tears, and hugs, and crepe; Deep breaths and sighs; And sobs. Lives given for us. To remember lives given to us. A day to remember. To hold, to cherish, to love; To release, to let go, to lose. For something greater, something deeper; For me, for you, for all of us. Lives given for us. To remember sacrifice. To remember smiles, laughter, and loves. A day to remember. A day to honor. Lives given for us.

In the Western Christian tradition, Pentecost marks the reception of the Spirit by Jesus' disciples following His ascension. He had told them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, which would include power. Jesus had told them that He would go to the Father but that He would not leave them as orphans. Rather when He had gone, He would send the Spirit who would remind them, empower them, and give them words to say when they needed them. Once they had received the Spirit, they were to be His witnesses and messengers to the entire world. This then is often considered the beginning of he church, but it isn't really. He church, or the called out people of God, had been in existence for sometime. Rather, this day is the empowering of the disciples to now fully and boldly proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God to all comers, and to take the message to all peoples. Part of the church's mission is to tell the world of the Life God wants for them, secured and ex...

Jeremiah 30-31 provides the hope – the promise that YHWH will come to claim Israel as His; He will call them and collect them from the far ends of the earth. Here, in this book of doom and certain destruction and exile – which Israel have to endure – are these chapters full of promises of redemption. In these two chapters it is clear that YHWH, despite bringing judgment on her, has every intention of gathering her back together. Why? Because He has promised to be God, and He will be. He is steadfast in an eternal sense, never losing sight of her no matter what. If you’ve ever raised kids, you know this place. Sometimes the frustration and disappointment is such that in the moment you’re ready for the cops to come get this kid. But even then, underneath, and certainly after the smoke has settled, it’s OK. Having the kid with you is more important than focusing on the poor behavior. Good parents don’t give up on their kids, even when it might see...

This Sunday's sermon text was the short story of the firey serpents in the wilderness. This is another in the long litany of Israel's failure to fully trust her God and her God-given leaders, in this case Moses. Again. Prior to this chapter we have had the story of Moses getting fed up with the whining and in turn whining to YHWH about the whiners. Moses wants to know why God has saddled him with these people. He argues that he didn't ask for this, he didn't birth these people, so why in the world is he being expected to be responsible for them?! God's response is a rather benign, "OK, pick yourself some helpers and let them help." Later, YHWH will Himself become fed up. So much so that he says to Moses, "Tell you what, how 'bout I wipe these folks out and start over with you as the Father of the Nation?" Moses is being offered Abraham's place! We might think that Moses would jump at the chance, given his previous complainin...