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13 August 2015  •  No. 33

Invocation. Through the sorrow and the sadness, Stand by me. / Through the heartache and the madness, Stand by me. / Arms of mercy, sure surrounding, hearts protected, ne’er confounding / Joyful singing, grace astounding, Stand by me. (Continue reading Ken Sehested’s original lyrics to the Charles Albert Tindley hymn, “Stand by Me.” )

Diplomatic breakthrough. “It took three years, but all 193 member countries of the United Nations have signed on to a resolution to create new and stronger protections for the world’s wildlife. The resolution calls on countries to beef up courts and law enforcement to protect wildlife, and encourage communities to join the fight against poaching, trafficking, and selling illicit goods taken or made from threatened animals.” —Leigh Henry, of the World Wildlife Fund, told ABC News

World Elephant Day was yesterday, 12 August. “After the killing of Cecil the lion last month, wildlife conservation is back in the spotlight. Ivory trafficking and poaching kill 35,000 African elephants each year. The Wildlife Conservation Society launched the 96 Elephants campaign—the number of animals killed each day—to raise awareness of this issue. About 800,000 African elephants have been killed over the last three decades, according to WCS. Wildlife tracking is the fourth-largest illegal business in the world, according to the European Commission.  More than 60 tons of ivory were seized in 2014 and 44 tons were seized in 2013, according to Reuters. A shipment of ivory worth approximately $6 million was seized in Singapore in May. —Charles Poladian, IBT Pulse

“Baptism” by Ade Bethune, ©Ade Bethune Collection, St. Catherine University, St. Paul, MN.

Hymn of confession. “There’s blood on my hands / And my lips aren’t clean / Take me to your river / I wanna go / Take me to your river,” Leon Bridges, “River”

They have names. Unarmed black men killed by police since Michael Brown’s death on 9 August 2014. Ezel Ford, 25, Los Angeles, CA 8.11.14 • Akai Gurley, 28, Brooklyn, NY 11.20.14 • Tamir Rice, 12, Cleveland, OH 11.22.14 • Rumain Brisbon, 34, Phoenix, AZ 12.2.14 • Jerame Reid, 36, Bridgeton, NJ 12.30.14 • Artago Damon Howard, 36, Union County, AR 1.8.15 • Jeremy Lett, 28, Tallahassee, FL 2.4.15 • Lavall Hall, 25, Miami Gardens, FL 2.15.15 • Thomas Allen, 34, Wellston, MO 2.28.15 • Charly Leundeu Keunang, 43, Los Angeles, CA 3.1.15 • Maeschylus Vinzant, 37, Aurora, CO 3.6.15 • Tony Robinson, 19, Madison, WI 3.6.15 • Anthony Hill, 27, DeKalb County, GA 3.9.15 • Bobby Gross, 35, Washington, DC 3.12.15 • Brandon Jones, 18, Cleveland, OH 3.19.15 • Eric Harris, 44, Tulsa, OK 4.2.15 • Walter Scott, 50, North Charleston, SC 4.4.15 • Frank Shephard, 41, Houston, TX 4.15.15 • William Chapman, 18, Portsmouth, VA 4.22.15 • David Felix, 24, New York, NY 4.25.15 • Brendon Glenn, 29, Venice, CA 5.5.15 • Kris Jackson, 22, South Lake Tahoe, CA 6.15.15 • Spencer McCain, 41, Owings Milll, MD 6.25.15 • Victor Emanuel Larosa, 23, Jacksonville, FL 7.2.15 • Salvado Ellswood, 36, Plantation, FL 7.12.15 • Albert Joseph Davis, 23, Orlando, FL 7.17.15 • Darrius Stewart, 19, Memphis, TN 7.17.15 • Samuel DuBose, 43, Cincinnati, OH 7.19.15 • Christian Taylor, 19, Arlington, TX 8.7.15

Lawn laws. Recently an Ohio woman, Sarah Baker, refused to mow her lawn and is faced with a $1,000 fine. Here’s what she wrote: “My township calls my lawn ‘a nuisance.’ But I still refuse to mow it.”

Manicure fetish. “Lawns are a big part of contemporary American life. There are somewhere around 40 million acres of lawn in the lower 48, according to a 2005 NASA estimate derived from satellite imaging. ‘Turf grasses, occupying 1.9% of the surface of the continental United States, would be the single largest irrigated crop in the country,’ that study concludes.
        “Other folks are ditching their lawns because of the amount of water they soak up—nine billion gallons of it per day, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Think of the miracle that is the modern water supply—pristine water pumped hundreds of miles, passed through shiny state-of-the-art filtration systems—we then intentionally dump billions of gallons of that water out on the ground!” —Christopher Ingraham, “Lawns are a soul-crushing timesuck”

¶ “The grass lawn as a status symbol has its origins in European aristocracy. The very first lawns were grassy fields that surrounded English and French castles. Castle grounds had to be kept clear of trees so that the soldiers protecting them had a clear view of their surroundings. It wouldn’t do for enemies to be able to sneak up on the castle through the forest.” —Emily Upton, “Why we have grass lawns”

¶ “It doesn't need to be this way—there are plenty of low-maintenance alternatives” to high-maintenance grass lawns. —Owen Woodier, “Tired of Pursuing the Perfect Lawn? Consider These Alternatives”

Intercession.  “Down to the River to Pray,” Alison Krauss.

Water facts.
        •Globally, some 840,000 people (more than the population of San Francisco) die each year from a water-related disease. One in nine people in the world lack access to safe water.
        •Nearly 97% of the world’s water is salty or otherwise undrinkable. Another 2% is locked in ice caps and glaciers.
        •Every 20 seconds a child under five years of age dies from waterborne illnesses
        •Diarrhea killed more children in the last decade than all armed conflicts since the World War II.
        •By 2030, nearly half of the world’s population – the majority living in underdeveloped countries – will be living in areas of high water stress.
        •One-third what the world spends on bottled water in one year could pay for projects providing water to everyone in need.
        •85% of the world population lives in the driest half of the planet.
        •American use 5.7 billion gallons per day to flush toilets. If everyone in the US flushed the toilet just one less time per day, we could save a lake full of water about one mile long, one mile wide and four feet deep.
        •US residents use more water than people in other countries do—about 151 gallons per day on average for domestic and municipal purposes. In the United Kingdom, people live a more water-efficient lifestyle, consuming just 31 gallons per day. In Ethiopia, people have to make do with just 3 gallons per person per day.

Bottled water folly.

Left: A boy picks through trash on the Ciliwung River in Jakarta, Indonesia, collecting plastic straws that he can sell in the local plastics market. (Plastic Disclosure Project photo)

        •According to Peter Gleick, author of Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water, 45% of bottled water brands comes straight from the tap, including the two highest selling brands, Aquafina (from PepsiCo) and Dasani (from Coke).
        •Worldwide, bottled water consumption more than doubled between 1997 and 2005, with US residents tipping back the largest share—about 7.8 billion gallons total, or 26 gallons per person in 2005.
        •Some 1,500 plastic water bottles are dumped in land fills and the ocean every second.
        •Bottled water costs as much as $10 per gallon compared to less than a penny per gallon for tap water.
        •Worldwide, 2.7 million tons of plastic are used each year to make water bottles, but in the U.S., less than 20 percent of these bottles are recycled.
        •The total estimated energy needed to make, transport, and dispose of one bottle of water is equivalent to filling the same bottle one-quarter full of oil.

Cleansing flood. “Take Me to the Water,” Nina Simone.

Hydraulic fracturing. “The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation estimates each well, per frack, will require 2.4 to 7.8 million gallons of water. This translates into roughly 400 to 600 tanker truckloads of liquids to the well, and 200 to 300 tanker truckloads of liquid waste from the well. An eighteen-wheeler weighs up to 80,000 pounds. Day-in, day-out, these trucks destroy roads and bridges, leaving towns to clean up the mess.

Right: “The Next Weapon,” Al-Sharq al-Awsat, 2010

Water wars? “The world is at war over water. Goldman Sachs describes it as “the petroleum of the next century”. . . . It is often forgotten that the revolution against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad began this way, when youths of the southern Syrian town of Daraa, angry at the local governor’s corrupt allocation of scarce reservoir water, were caught spraying anti-establishment graffiti. Their arrest and torture was the final straw for the tribes from which the youths came.” —James Fergusson, “The World Will Soon be at War Over Water”

A 2012 study by the US director of national security summarized: “During the next 10 years, many countries important to the United States will experience water problems shortages, poor water quality, or floods that will risk instability and state failure, increase regional tensions, and distract them from working with the United States on important US policy objectives. Water problems will hinder the ability of key countries to produce food and generate energy, posing a risk to global food markets and hobbling economic growth.” —Global Water Security

¶ “Well, if I were in charge, they would know that waterboarding is how we baptize terrorists." —former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin

The Pacific Institute, which studies issues of water and global security, found a fourfold increase in violent confrontations over water over the last decade. —“Water and Conflict”

Preach it. Faith is “a habitual confidence given us by Another in whose hands we can relax. . . . It means that what causes us to belong is a pattern of desire produced in us by someone we cannot see who is giving us the strength to live in the midst of this world as though death were not. . . . It is the giving to us of this desire which we normally celebrate with that inverted religious rite called baptism.
        “In this rite, we agree to undergo death in advance, so as to live thereafter with death behind us. It is an inverted religious rite, since it is not the crowd which gathers to drown the victim, but the candidate, not frightened of becoming a victim, who walks through the waters of being drowned so as to emerge on the other side into the welcome of those who are already living with death behind them.” —James Alison, Broken Hearts & New Creations: Intimations of a Great Reversal

Lection for Sunday next. Putting on “the whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:10-20) and the martial character of faith. (See the poem at right by Walker Knight.)

¶ “Christianity is about water: ‘Everyone who thirsteth, come ye to the waters.’ It is about baptism, for God’s sake. It’s about full immersion, about falling into something elemental and wet. Most of what we do in worldly life is geared toward our staying dry, looking good, not going under. But in baptism, in lakes and rain and tanks and fonts, you agree to do something that’s a little sloppy because at the same time it’s also holy, and absurd. It’s about surrender, giving in to all those things we can’t control; it’s a willingness to let go of the balance and decorum and get drenched.” —Anne Lamott

Hymn of assurance. Another “Stand By Me” tune, performed by Bruce Springstein and friends. The hit song, first sung in 1961 by Ben E. King, was inspired by the spiritual “Lord Stand By Me” and contains lines drawn from Psalms 46:2-3.

Altar call. "Theologian Willie Jennings says that whiteness is not a skin color but a way of life, a way of seeing the world in which people of color are marginalized. Americans can discuss the structure of whiteness and seek to be instructed about its impact, and those discussions are needed. But the times call for actions that change it, and some of those actions are right at hand.” —The Christian Century editorial

Left: Art by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM

Benediction. May your days be fruitful, your nights restful, and the presence of the Spirit bountiful in all your comings-in and your goings-out but especially in the those times when faithful love, hopeful plans and joyful resolve are met with deceitful spite, painful despair and sorrowful grief. —Ken Sehested, note to a courageous peace activist in Africa

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Featured this week on prayer&politiks:

• “Water of Life: A baptismal prayer”

• “Come to the Waters: Litany of Confession and Pardon”

• “Baptism: ‘Infant’ or ‘believers’ style? One congregation’s story of attempting faithfulness to the truth in both historic traditions”

• “Wade in the Water: Baptism as political mandate”

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Language not otherwise indicated above is that of the editor. Don’t let the “copyright” notice keep you from circulating material you find here (and elsewhere in this site). Reprint permission is hereby granted in advance for noncommercial purposes.

Your comments are always welcomed. If you have news, views, notes or quotes to add to the list above, please do. If you like what you read, pass this along to your friends.

 

Baptism: “Infant” or “believer’s” style?

One congregation’s story of attempting faithfulness to the truth in both historic traditions

        When Circle of Mercy Congregation began in 2001, the founding pastors—Joyce Hollyday and Nancy & Ken Sehested—intended affiliation in both the Alliance of Baptists and in the United Church of Christ. This choice required making some kind of decision on the practice of baptism, since the Alliance is faithful to the Radical Reformation's tradition of “believers” baptism, the UCC to Reformed and Catholic tradition of “infant” baptism.

        To prepare for this part of the discussion leading toward the congregation’s bylaws, Ken Sehested wrote the reflection below. The congregation later approved specific language for its policy (posted below, following the initial “policy reflection”).

§ § §

Policy reflection on baptism

      It’s likely that the single-most divergent religious practice in our Circle is our respective confessional traditions’ theology and style of baptism.

      In the history of the church, the vast majority of Christian communities have practiced some form of baptism. (Our Quaker friends are among the exceptions.) It seems clear from the New Testament and from other early Christian documents that baptism was a common (probably required) rite of initiation into membership. The form was likely some kind of immersion in a fresh-water lake or stream; and the actual mechanics probably involved squatting in water, at least up to the chin—but there’s no scholarly consensus on this question.

      But the earliest known manual of church discipline indicated that, if running water was not available, pouring a pitcher of water over the baptismal candidate would be an acceptable substitute.

      Nowadays, most churches practice baptism by “sprinkling” water on the heard ("aspersion"), pouring water over the head or by immersion. Some groups stemming from the 16th-17th century Radical Reformation—generally referred to as the “Anabaptists”—practice baptism by affusion (pouring water over the head of the candidate). Many modern descendants of the Anabaptists (Mennonites, Amish, Brethren) still practice this form of baptism.

      More significantly, however, is the question of: Who is invited to the baptismal waters?

      Two traditions prevail: those who believe in baptizing the children (including infants) of baptized members, and those who hold to the “believer's baptism” tradition of baptizing only those who make personal affirmations of faith.

      We are proposing that the Circle of Mercy apply for membership in two denominational bodies, the Alliance of Baptists and the United Church of Christ, which have different baptismal policies. So what are we to do?

      I do not believe we should simply say: “Oh . . . whichever you prefer . . . doesn’t matter.” I have my bias, as a deeply-rooted baptist; and I also believe, on objective grounds, that baptism by immersion is a more powerful religious ritual. But I also believe COM should honor the various forms of baptism we represent (as well as the conscientious objection to this ritual); and that we should develop rhythms and rituals which allow both for “infant baptism” and “believers’ baptism” traditions.

      I think it can be done. My argument rests on an important theological premise.

      In its variant practices with regards to baptism—and in its best moments—the church has always attempted to say two important things about God’s redemptive work in the world.

      First, that the initiative of grace is God’s, not our own. We are not self-sufficient, nor are we self-generated. Those who argue for infant baptism have (in their best moments) emphasized this reality, along with the insistence that faith is communally-formed, that the spiritual formation of individuals involves being nurtured and cultivated in a community. And this cultivation begins with the first breath (if not before).

      This tradition of baptism—at its best—the responsibility of the entire believing community is emphasized.

      Second, for a relationship to thrive it must be mutual. The Radical Reformers’ “believers’ baptism” tradition began not as an argument over how much water was necessary. The argument centered around this controversial assertion: Membership in the State and membership in the Church are not the same thing. Being a citizen is not the same as being a Christian. They argued that, in the New Testament, the decision to “follow” Jesus very often involved a rupture of social life, even a conflict with ruling authorities.

      In this tradition of baptism—at its best—sought to emphasize the personal investment (and risk) in the decision to follow Jesus. Such decisions, they argued, could not be made until one reached an appropriate age of accountability, until one could intentionally and conscientiously make the decision.

      Interestingly enough, both traditions—at their best—also developed supplemental rites and habits to reflect their liturgical opponents’ position. Those practicing infant baptism developed various forms of “confirmation” or “rites of initiation” programs—usually a period of intensive education for children approaching puberty. And those upholding believers’ baptism practiced “baby dedications” as part of worship and developed intensive early childhood religious education programs.

      These variant practices tended to produce distinct institutional styles and patterns.

      Those practicing infant baptism tend to be more fluid and ambiguous about the precise moral content of membership requirements, more indulgent of the foibles of any particular member. (Picture: from the “Godfather” movie, the alternating scenes of mafia boss Michael Corlione, during the baptism of his child in a Roman Catholic Church, at the precise moment when members of his “family” were undertaking a bloody massacre of a rival group.)

      Those practicing believers’ baptism tend to be more disciplined, stricter about the shape of moral character among church members, less indulgent on questions of character. (“We don’t smoke and we don’t chew and we don’t go with the girls who do.”)

      I believe we should develop a baptismal policy—and a general culture which reflects this policy—combining the insights of both these traditions (and, hopefully, minimizing the blind spots of both); that we should allow for both infant and believers’ baptism (as well as for the possibility of conscientious objection to the ritual); and that we should develop a vision of spiritual formation that includes the relevance of communal nurture and the need for personal decision.

      (Here is one scene from my imagination for the coupling of these traditions. It involves doing baptism in the late spring or summer, when streams and lakes are warmer. When a person seeks baptism, or a child is presented for baptism by its family, the entire congregation adjourns for worship at a lake or stream. For a “believers’” style rite, the person and his/her family—biological or self-selected—would wade out in the water for the candidate’s immersion. For the baptism of an infant, the entire family—maybe the entire congregation—could wade out into the water together for the sprinkling rite.)

      Whatever practice/policy finally agree on, it will affect our understanding of membership requirements and communion. More comments for reflection on those matters in subsequent notes.

§ § §

Section 4 – Baptism
(from the Circle of Mercy Congregation's bylaws)

       Our congregation seeks to pioneer a new path in the practice of baptism. Our founding represents the merging of two ancient baptismal traditions within the Christian community: of what are commonly called the traditions of “infant baptism” and “believer’s baptism.” (See the “Reflections on Principles and Policies” document for a fuller discussion.)

        We believe that “loving enemies” was the central message of Jesus and thus the principal character of God. Paul wrote that “while we were still enemies” (Romans 5:10) God sent Jesus as a unilateral, transforming act of disarmament.

        We mirror this conviction in the presentation of children to the community of faith (signified by some as “infant baptism,” by others as “blessing” or “dedication”). In this act, the community enfolds the young, long before they are able to reciprocate. Then, once an age of accountability is reached, those same young ones are challenged to embrace the community of faith and its mission (signified by some in the “confirmation” process, by others as “believer’s baptism”).

        In the first act, the community embraces the child; in the second, the child—upon maturity—embraces the community.

        The awkward part for us is that the church has one dramatic ritual (baptism) but deep and competing biases as to when in a person’s spiritual journey this ritual is to be performed. There is no simple recommendation for our practice.

        The important thing is that we communicate the holistic vision of the paradox that we are both chosen by God and that we choose God: that God is the one who initiates the drama of reconciliation; that the awareness of being embraced by God is essential for the human capacity to embrace God and God’s purposes in creation and redemption; and that all are called to intentionally align themselves with “the God Movement” (Clarence Jordan).

        Therefore, we recognize the legitimacy of both forms. Those desiring to signify the initiation of the faith journey may, after discussion with the pastors, choose the form of their baptism. We urge the parents (or legal guardians) of all children to allow the congregation to baptize, or to bless, their young ones as an indicator of covenant responsibility for the community’s role in the forming of faith.

        While the pastors will serve as overseers, they may involve any others in leadership as seems appropriate.

# # #

News, views, notes, and quotes

6 August 2015  •  No. 32

Invocation. With haggard hearts each voice / imparts this plea for constancy. / Draw near, dispel confounding fear, / with Heaven’s clemency. / Each tongue, by supplicating lung, / invoke bright morning’s rise! / Through darkest night let love’s Delight / condole all mournful eyes. (Continue reading Ken Sehested’s “Draw Near.” )

Marvel in the stunning visual effect of reflective photography, like the one at right by Arty Ali. A search of “reflective photography” yields a number of sites. My favorite is “One Hundred Remarkable Examples of Reflection Photography.”

Call to worship. Watch James Taylor perform “Shed a Little Light” with the (South Carolina) Low Country Singers, to mark, mourn, transpose and transfigure the massacre at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.

The man who stopped the desert. “Yacouba Sawadogo is an exceptional man—he single-handedly managed to solve a crisis that even scientists and development organizations could not. The simple old farmer’s re-forestation and soil conservation techniques are so effective they’ve helped turn the tide in the fight against the desertification of the harsh lands in northern Burkina Faso.” —Sumitra, “Meet Yacouba Sawadogo—The Man Who Stopped the Desert”

Left, photo by Andrea Borgarello/TerrAfrica.

More remarkable news on the lgbt front. Last week the Boy Scouts of America ended its ban on openly gay adult leaders, though the new policy exempts church-sponsored local units, allowing them to maintain the restriction. The move was supported by 79% of the Scouts’ national executive board, composed of 71 civic, corporate and church leaders.
        •In related news: A New Jersey jury found a gay-to-straight conversion therapy organization guilty of consumer fraud in state Superior Court. Three gay men and two parents sued JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing), saying it made gross misrepresentations in the sale and advertisement of its program and that it constituted an unconscionable commercial practice.
        Also related news: The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued a groundbreaking ruling protecting gays and lesbians from employment discrimination.

Prayer of confession. “When I closed my eyes so I would not see, my Lord did trouble me. When I let things stand that should not be, my Lord did trouble me.” —Susan Werner. Listen to the full song, “Did Trouble Me.” This has become a favorite in our congregation's worship.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing: 70th anniversary. It’s hard to say precisely how many people died in atomic bombing of Hiroshima (6 August 1945) and Nagasaki (9 August 1945). Each city’s population was uncertain, and the bomb blasts and resulting fires incinerated scores of bodies. The figures most widely used are 60,000-80,000 immediate deaths in Hiroshima, with tens of thousands more dying in the months to follow as a result of serious injuries and radiation poisoning. In Nagasaki, at least 40,000 died instantly, another 10,000-20,000 dying from injuries in the following months. Long-term fatality estimates reach as high as a quarter million.

Keep in mind, though, that the earlier firebombing of Tokyo killed an estimated 100,000 people in one night, the deadliest single bombing raid of the war, including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

“‘My God, how many did we just kill?’ The day Hiroshima was obliterated 70 years ago, through the eyes of the bomber crew – and the few who survived,” an hour-by-hour account of 6 August 1945 of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, by Jonathan Mayo and Emma Craigie, Daily Mail.

Ranking American military and political leaders’ criticisms of the atomic bombings:
        • “[I]n being the first to use it, we . . . adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children.” —Admiral William D. Leahy, President Truman’s Chief of Staff
        • “The Japanese had, in fact, already sued for peace before the atomic age was announced to the world with the destruction of Hiroshima and before the Russian entry into the war.” —Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet
        • “The first atomic bomb was an unnecessary experiment. . . . It was a mistake to ever drop it. . . . [the scientists] had this toy and they wanted to try it out, so they dropped it.” —Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., Commander U.S. Third Fleet
        • The use of the atomic bomb "was not necessary to bring the war to a successful conclusion. . . ." Rear Admiral L. Lewis Strauss, special assistant to the Secretary of the Navy from 1944 to 1945 (and later chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission)
        •”[H]ad we been willing to wait, the effective naval blockade would, in the course of time, have starved the Japanese into submission through lack of oil, rice, medicines, and other essential materials.” —Ernest J. King, commander in chief of the U.S. Fleet and chief of Naval Operations
        • “General MacArthur definitely is appalled and depressed by this Frankenstein monster [speaking of the atomic bomb]. I had a long talk with him today, necessitated by the impending trip to Okinawa.” —Weldon E. Rhoades, General Douglas MacArthur’s pilot
        • “[W]e didn't need to do it, and we knew we didn't need to do it, and they knew that we knew we didn't need to do it, we used them as an experiment for two atomic bombs.” —Brigadier Gen. Carter W. Clarke, the officer in charge of preparing intercepted Japanese cable summaries in 1945
        • "[I]t wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing." —Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe

Post just-war theory. “There are no innocent civilians. It is their government and you are fighting a people, you are not trying to fight an armed force anymore. So it doesn't bother me so much to be killing the so-called innocent bystanders.” —US Air Force General Curtis LeMay, who designed and implemented the massive bombing campaign against cities in Japan.

“Thomas Merton and the Original Child Bomb” is one of a group of what Merton called “anti-poems,” this one spurred by news of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. This site has a link for a 27+ minute audio rendition, beginning with the original news broadcast of the bombing of Hiroshima by President Harry Truman, along with several pieces of music. A remarkable listening experience. Consider using it as a guided meditation.

Left: Atomic bomb-defaced angel sculpture at the Urakami (Roman Catholic) Cathedral, Nagasaki, Japan. The Cathedral, filled with worshipers at the time, was near ground zero.

Censoring film of atomic bomb’s effect. “In the weeks following the atomic attacks on Japan sixty-six years ago this week . . . the United States engaged in the airtight suppression of all film shot in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the bombings. . . . The public did not see any of the newsreel footage for twenty-five years.
        “’I always had the sense that people in the Atomic Energy Commission were sorry we had dropped the bomb,’ said  Lt. Col. (Ret.) Daniel A. McGovern, who directed the US military film-makers in 1946. ‘I was told by people in the Pentagon that they didn’t want those [film] images out. . . . They didn’t want the general public to know what their weapons had done—at a time they were planning on more bomb tests.’” —Greg Mitchell, “The Great Hiroshima Cover-up: How the US hid shocking footage for decades”

Make time for these four brief profiles by Dan Buttry on “Read the Spirit” site: On the Korean slave laborers who were killed in Hiroshima; Japeses painters Iri and Toshi Maruki, who created 15 wall-sized paintings of the Hiroshima aftermath; US Army Air Corps Chaplain George Zabelka, whose parishioners included the crews of Enola Gay and Bock’s Car, the B-29s that dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and Sadako Sasaki and the “peace crane” story

Right: "Sadaku and the Thousand Cranes" sculpture by Daryl Smith, Seattle, Washington.

The US has 18 Trident (“Ohio-class”) submarines. Each can launch nuclear missiles with the explosive equivalent 5,000 times the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. After the first sub’s missiles are unleashed, the next 17 simply bounce the rubble.

Other anniversaries:
        • Name that invasion. “A century ago, American troops invaded and occupied a foreign nation. They would stay there for almost two decades, install a client government, impose new laws and fight insurgents in bloody battles on difficult terrain. Thousands of residents perished during what turned out to be 19 years of de facto U.S. rule.” —Ishaan Tharoor, “100 years ago, the U.S. invaded and occupied this country. Can you name it?”
        • Voting rights. 6 August is the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, a piece of legislation that literally required the spilling of blood, most notorously on "Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama. The American Civil Liberties Union has a brief “Voting Rights Act” timeline, which concludes with recent state efforts to scale back accessibility to the polls. Significantly, this past Wednesday a federal appeals panel overturned a strict voter identification law in Texas, saying that it discriminated against black and Hispanic voters, violating the ’65 Voting Rights Act.
        • Last month marked the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre—declared a genocide by the International Court of Justice—when more than 8,000 Muslim Bosnians, mainly men and boys, were killed in and around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War.

Left: “Mothers of Srebrenica prayer” at the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial.

Lection for Sunday next. “Don’t let yourselves get taken in by religious smooth talk. God gets furious with people who are full of religious sales talk but want nothing to do with [the Beloved]. Don’t even hang around people like that.” —Ephesians 5:6-7, The Message

This is what worship is for. “It is not sufficient to discuss the present crisis on the informational level alone, or seek to arouse the public to action by delivering ever more terrifying facts and figures.  Information by itself can increase resistance, deepening the sense of apathy and powerlessness.  We need to help each other process this information on an affective level, if we are to digest it on the cognitive level.” —Joanna Macy, Despair and Empowerment in a Nuclear Age

My favorite piece of musical satire. “No one likes us—I don't know why / We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try / But all around, even our old friends put us down / Let's drop the big one and see what happens.” —Randy Newman, “Political Science”

Just for fun: Classical music with a comedic kick. The Salut Salon quartet.

Preach it. “We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. . . . Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.  We know more about war than know about peace, more about killing than we know about living.” —General Omar Bradley

Closing hymn. “And finally brethren after while, the battle will be over. For that day when we shall lay down our burdens, and study war no more.” —Moby, “Study War”

Benediction by Victor Hugo (at right).

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Featured this week on prayer&politiks:

• “The melody of restful hearts,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalms 46 and 130

• “Draw Near,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 130

• “Amnesty,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 130

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Language not otherwise indicated above is that of the editor. Don’t let the “copyright” notice keep you from circulating material you find here (and elsewhere in this site). Reprint permission is hereby granted in advance for noncommercial purposes.

Your comments are always welcomed. If you have news, views, notes or quotes to add to the list above, please do. If you like what you read, pass this along to your friends.

 

In praise of the undazed life

A personal recollection about my Dad, marking the anniversary of his birth in 1922

by Ken Sehested

“Why stand ye gazing . . . ?" (Acts 1:11)

       My Dad wasn’t the least bit athletic; nor were others in his family. So we’re not sure where my sporting interest and coordination came from. I played every kind of ball available, whether organized or sandlot ad hoc. (And, last I heard, I still own my high school’s record in the discus throw.

       Dad found a way to stay connected with my love of sport by volunteering as an assistant coach of my Little League baseball team. It required little experience—or skill, for that matter. Only attentiveness. (There’s a lesson in there for us all.) It certainly wasn’t for the glamour.

       The demands of his job meant he arrived late to practice—straight from work in his grease-smudged overalls, having wrestled large diesel engines all day. No one noticed his attire, though, since most of us came from blue-collar homes.

       Our practice field was a baked dirt lot on the edge of a Mexican American neighborhood in our small West Texas town. It would be a few years before African Americans were integrated into our schools and cultural institutions (like Little League baseball). But Chicanos were school-and-playmates from an early age. My earliest Spanish language tutoring involved schoolyard cuss words.

Right: Walking in Dad's boots, circa 1954.

       On the field, two-handed catches were stressed. Anyone failing to do so had to run to the railroad tracks in the distance, through patches of tumbleweed and prickly pear cactus. From time to time foul balls grazed passing autos. Cracked bats were heavily taped and reused.

       Local businesses sponsored different teams in the league, providing bats and balls and game uniforms—though I don’t recall them using our jerseys to advertise. The “Mad Men” ad culture hadn’t yet infected backcountry regions like ours. Moms repaired the occasional uniform tears. Our head coach bought us hotdogs and colas after every game, win or lose.

       We were taking infield practice one afternoon when, from the corner of my eye, I was startled to see Dad sprinting toward the road paralleling our field, yelling “Hey! Hey!” The rest of us stood gazing, frozen in shock—focusing now on a young boy rumpled on the pavement, having fallen from the back of a passing pickup truck. (Pickup bed passengers were a common sight in that era.)

       Whether it was Dad’s yelling, or other pickup passengers, I don’t know; but the driver quickly screeched to a halt.

       Luckily the boy suffered no serious injury, though the pavement took a layer of skin from parts of his face, arms and hands and knees. Likely some lingering frightful memories, too. The whole affair was over as quickly as it began. And we got back to play, nursing dreams of dramatic game-ending catches and big league walk off home runs.

       Even so, to this day when the memory arises, it plays in slow motion: Dad running. Yelling. The rest of us gazing like deer in a headlight daze.

       I want to live undazed like my Dad.

       More than any other, this is the injunction under which I live, sometimes joyfully, sometimes in complaint: drawn back, through and from beatific gaze, toward Jerusalem’s deceit; back toward skinned children; back toward the site of Heaven’s assault on Earth’s duress.

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©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org

 

News, views, notes, and quotes

23 July 2015   •   No. 31

Hark, here—aka "the Gerald Angel," in my role as prayer&politiks’ guardian angel.

The usual weekly “Signs of the Times” column will be abbreviated this week and next, to allow Ken to focus on other deadlines.

This week features a batch of new annotated book reviews in the “What are you reading and why?”  section of this site.

Also, this short story:

"In praise of the undazed life:
A personal recollection about my Dad, marking the anniversary of his birth in 1922."

“Why stand ye gazing . . . ?" (Acts 1:11)

My Dad wasn’t the least bit athletic; nor were others in his family. So we’re not sure where my sporting interest and coordination came from. I played every kind of ball available, whether organized or sandlot ad hoc. (And, last I heard, I still own my high school’s record in the discus throw.)

Dad found a way to stay connected with my love of sport by volunteering as an assistant coach of my Little League baseball team. It required little experience—or skill, for that matter. Only attentiveness. (There’s a lesson in there for us all.) It certainly wasn’t for the glamour.

The demands of his job meant he arrived late to practice—straight from work in his grease-smudged overalls, having wrestled large diesel engines all day. No one noticed his attire, though, since most of us came from blue-collar homes.

Our practice field was a baked dirt lot on the edge of a Mexican American neighborhood in our small West Texas town. It would be a few years before African Americans were integrated into our schools and cultural institutions (like Little League baseball). But Chicanos were school-and-playmates from an early age. My earliest Spanish language tutoring involved schoolyard cuss words.

On the field, two-handed catches were stressed. Anyone failing to do so had to run to the railroad tracks in the distance, through patches of tumbleweed and prickly pear cactus. From time to time foul balls grazed passing autos. Cracked bats were heavily taped and reused.

At right: Walking in Dad's steel-toed boots, circa 1954.

Local businesses sponsored different teams in the league, providing bats and balls and game uniforms—though I don’t recall them using our jerseys to advertise. The “Mad Men” ad culture hadn’t yet infected backcountry regions like ours. Moms repaired the occasional uniform tears. Our head coach bought us hotdogs and colas after every game, win or lose.

We were taking infield practice one afternoon when, from the corner of my eye, I was startled to see Dad sprinting toward the road paralleling our field, yelling “Hey! Hey!” The rest of us stood gazing, frozen in shock—focusing now on a young boy rumpled on the pavement, having fallen from the back of a passing pickup truck. (Pickup bed passengers were a common sight in that era.)

Whether it was Dad’s yelling, or other pickup passengers, I don’t know; but the driver quickly screeched to a halt.

Luckily the boy suffered no serious injury, though the pavement took a layer of skin from parts of his face, arms and hands and knees. Likely some lingering frightful memories, too. The whole affair was over as quickly as it began. And we got back to play, nursing dreams of dramatic game-ending catches and big league walk off home runs.

Even so, to this day when the memory arises, it plays in slow motion: Dad running. Yelling. The rest of us gazing like deer in a headlight daze.

I want to live undazed like my Dad.

More than any other, this is the injunction under which I live, sometimes joyfully, sometimes in complaint: drawn back, through and from beatific gaze, toward Jerusalem’s deceit; back toward skinned children; back toward the site of Heaven’s assault on Earth’s duress.

#  #  #

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org

Unveiling Empire: Reading Revelation Then and Now

by Wes Howard-Brook and Anthony Gwyther (1999), reviewed by Vern Ratzlaff

The book of Revelation in the Christian canon, interpreted literally, has resulted in bizarre scenarios and fanciful prediction tables.  Conventional interpretation saw it written when the early church was suffering great persecution.  But historical analyses find no evidence for a widespread persecution of Christians in first-century Asia.  “Evidence of both historical documents and the text of Revelation itself suggests that it was seduction by the Roman Empire from within a context of relative comfort that describes the original audience” (p. xxii).  “Revelation is a call to have faith in G-d rather than the empire . . . and is a call to how the disciples were to live in the midst of empire’ (p. xxiii).  “Revelation, like all the other biblical texts, was involved in a pitched battle over issues of spirit such as economics and politics” (p. xxiv).  “The empire itself stood in contradiction to the ways of G-d” (p xxvii).  “Revelation casts a critical eye on Rome’s economic exploitation, its politics of seduction, its violence and its arrogance” (p. 116).  “It was a reminder to the followers of Jesus of the commitment they had made at their baptism” (p. 117).  “The futurist preoccupation with Revelation ignores the verb tenses referring not to a sequential future but to the always co-present other reality in which G-d and the Lamb have already conquered empire” (p 124).  Heaven and earth have the same postal code but represent differing perspectives.  “When the lies and injustices of empire are given currency, there is earth.  Whenever the truth of G-d is believed and practiced, there is heaven” (p 128).

A powerful treatment of the early church’s faith in the face of empire, and a call to that same faith to us.

Vern Ratzlaff is a pastor and professor of historical theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Church and State: Lutheran Perspectives

by John Stumme and Robert Tuttle (eds.) (2014), reviewed by Vern Ratzlaff

        This collection of seven essays examines the nature of religious life in the context of religious pluralism and a post-Theodosian world [the Theodosian dynasty was the last of significance in the Roman Empire], as seen from perspectives of classical Lutheran confessions.  The final three chapters deal with “the legal contexts of church-state interaction,” with reference to issues of religious freedom, education and land use contexts, the latter an area frequently overlooked in issues of church and state relations.

        The first essay, “Lutheran thinking on Church-State Issues” summarizes the Lutheran perspective.  “Lutherans recognize government as one of the "masks" of G-d. Government is one of the divinely instituted orders or structures embedded in creation (p. 7).  (The other three “orders” are family, church and labour.)  “Each (order) is a place where the Christian can legitimately live out his or her vocation….  The gospel does not overthrow these orders but requires that they be kept” (p 8). Anabaptists are given short shrift; they “underestimated the presence of G-d in the world and thus failed to understand the nature and extent of G-d’s creation activity” (p 12).  Well!!

        A historical comment came to mind after reading “the Lutheran view of the state keeps the state within limits” (p 13); interesting that there is no mention of the Bethel and Barmen documents (of 1933 and 1934) and the disputation in Germany that did not keep “the state within its limits.”  While the issues of “religious freedom, education and land use” are key in today’s church-state dialogue, to make no mention of violence embedded in the state through bombing and drones and strategic assassinations is to ignore a crucial contemporary issue. 

        A good book that inexplicably remains silent on issues of peace and armaments. (The Lutheran Peace Fellowship could have been granted at least passing mention.)

Vern Ratzlaff is a pastor and professor of historical theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

 

Paul and Empire

by Richard Horsley (ed. 1997), reviewed by Vern Ratzlaff

“Christianity was product of empire. . . . Paul (established assemblies (ekkleisia) that were alternatives to official assemblies at cities such as Philippi and Corinth. . . . The principal social dimensions of this world that is passing away were overcome in these communities of the nascent alternative society. ‘There is no longer Jew or Greek . . . slave or free . . . male or female; all of you are one in Christ Jesus.’” (p. 1)  Contributors to Horsley’s anthology on the clash between Roman society and Christianity make their points clearly with reference to four major points of conflict between the imperial culture and upstart Christian religion.

The most pointed clashes/conflicts were on the issue of the gospel of imperial salvation, the cultural pattern of patronage, Paul’s counter imperial gospel, and building an alternative society (pp. 1-3).

One:  The imperial gospel (the emperor understood as being god, with shrines, temples and games sponsored in his honour) was countered by Paul’s contention that G-d had highly exalted Jesus Christ so that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil. 2:9-11).

Two: The patron social system embodied social relations of dependency.  “Such a hierarchical structure was dramatically opposed to the pattern of horizontal reciprocal social-economic relations” (p. 5).

Three: Paul’s theological formulations (gospel, salvation, cross, faith) stand over against Roman imperial theology (p. 6).  Paul’s message is not directed against Judaism but against “the rulers of this age”.  Paul’s gospel stands counter primarily to the roman imperial order (p. 7) not to the Jewish faith.

Four: Paul did not found a religion called Christianity that broke away from a religion called Judaism.  Paul’s emphasis was that his assemblies (ekkleisia) should be exclusive communities, recruiting from the wider imperial society.  Paul was building an international alternate society (the assembly, the “church”) based in local egalitarian communities (assemblies, “the church”) (p 8).

Each article in the anthology than develops one of these clashes/conflicts/themes.  E.g., the fourth clash clarifies Paul’s attempt at building an international alternative society.  (“I Corinthians: a Case Study of Paul’s Assembly as an Alternative Society”.)  Paul achieves this by avoiding the marketplace of religious competition for the more intensive intervention of small groups in peoples’ homes by encouraging the assemblies to conduct and monitor their own affairs (solving their own legal disagreements internally), withdrawing from some forms of social interaction (no participation in feasts from food offered to idols), behave in different economic patterns (not accepting economic support), and sharing money with the poor, unprecedented in antiquity.  “The network of assemblies had as international political economic dimensions diametrically opposed to the tributary political economics of the empire” (p. 251). 

A wonderful read of the tensions between Paul’s assemblies and Roman expectations.

Vern Ratzlaff is a pastor and professor of historical theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Jesus and the Spiral of Violence

by Richard Horsley (1993), reviewed by Vern Ratzlaff

Horsley summarizes the political and social times of Jesus and Jesus’ reactions to these, especially the role of violence in Palestine during Jesus’ time.  The reality of violence extends well beyond the direct, personal and physical; there is also psychological or spiritual violence, acts that impair other persons’ dignity or integrity. . . . To make (people) live on a subhuman level against their will, to constrain them in such a way that they have no hope of escaping their condition, is an unjust exercise of force (p. 21, 22).  Horsley quotes Dom Helder Camara (Brazilian bishop) ad his three stage ‘spiral of violence’:  injustice, revolt, force to preserve social order (p 23).  Horsley points out the spiral in Rome occupied Palestine as Jesus would have experienced it:  institutionalized injustice (the temple and priesthood), protest and resistance (generally non-violent), repression (use of terror, e.g., crucifixion), revolt (there were three instances of widespread revolt in this period:  4 BCE, 66-70 CE, 132-135 CE).  Key for Jesus to confront this spiral was the concept of the kingdom of G-d, the use of power to liberate, establish or protect the people in difficult historical circumstances (Egypt, Greek occupation)(p 168), focused on the needs and desires of people—the social-economic-political substance of human relations as willed by G-d… provided by G-d, in contrast to the emperor (p. 170).  Jesus emphasized G-d’s sovereignty, “excluding any other lordship and loyalty” (p. 312).  Jesus did not confine his activity to healing, preaching (telling cute little stories) and catalyzing renewal of local community life in rural Galilee (p. 285). The kingdom meant wholeness of life, and the audience was not just few charismatic villagers but the people generally.  For Jesus, pacifism was not a debating exercise or a tactic but the way to live together; he preached G-d’s liberation to a discouraged Jewish peasantry.  “Love your enemies” is not a cute bumper sticker slogan but a “social revolutionary principle, transforming local social-economic relations” (p. 326).

Vern Ratzlaff is a pastor and professor of historical theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

How to Read the Bible

by Harvey Cox (2015), reviewed by Vern Ratzlaff

Cox muses on his personal history of reading the Bible, identifying three stages in his life with the Bible.  The first stage saw the Bible primarily as stories (e.g., the Christmas pageant, daily readings in public schools).  The second stage was the historical-critical, where questions such as the multiple sources of the Pentateuch, or how many Pauline letters had actually been written by Paul, were raised.  The third stage was the spiritual, where Cox was involved with civil rights issues, and saw the bible as a living link in the long history of liberation movements.  The Bible “is an invitation, a living record of an open-ended history of which we can become a part.  It is a still unfinished story” (p. 8).  He quotes Krister Stendahl, who said that the two great questions about any biblical passage are, “What did it mean then?” and “What does it mean now?” (p. 10)  Interesting—this is the basic hermeneutical approach—peshar—of the Jewish community, especially of the Esssenes.  Cox adds a fourth step in biblical reading and interpretation, the “history of interpretation”, which brings in people who studied the Bible at different times and in different circumstances (p. 15).  (This reflects the Anabaptist emphasis on community-based and tested interpretation, and the prayer that the Ephesian congregation “may have the power to comprehend with all the saints” (Ephesians 3:18), what the Apostles’ Creed calls “the communion of saints”.)

Cox then applies these stages of enquiry to the major classifications of biblical material (the Pentateuch, the prophets, the gospels, the epistles, Revelation).

The book is a good read making for a better understanding of the essence of biblical literature.  “My hope,” Cox concludes, that in reading this book “you may come to know both G-d and yourself a little better, since in the end the two cannot be separated” (p. 231).

Vern Ratzlaff is a pastor and professor of historical theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.