an interesting thought on Taxes

I am a member of Renovare
In the most recent Perspective newsletter Lon Fendall, Director of the Center for Global Studies and the Center for Peace and Justice, as well as the former Legislative Director and Campaign Manager for US Senator Mark Hatfield, was interviewed. He said this:

Generosity. For some, April 15 is a day of mourning, as if paying taxes were the greatest imaginable burden for being Americans. The Bible teaches us that we are to give cheerfully to the Lord's work, even with reckless abandon. It seems reasonable the we would rejoice on "Tax Day" as well, as we think about cheerfully giving a portion of our earnings to those in need.

Wow!
Of course, there is still the issue of whether our tax dollars are actually helping those in need, which is much of current political debate. However, the point is well taken. If many Americans, myself included, would get our thoughts off from our own comfort, even for a little while, taxes would not be such a burden. Our tax dollars support the common good; roads, law enforcement, national parks and forests, national defense, support for children whose homes are unlivable, etc...

I think that this idea could revolutionize the face of the "Religious Right". If we begin to see ourselves as agents of change, people whose job it is to bring freedom, justice, hope, and succor to the week, needy, sick and imprisoned (as Jesus commanded us), our ideas regarding taxes, social economics, and so on would all be changed. Our political choices might range beyond the topics of tax cuts and abortion. There is more at stake, and a grateful, cheerful attitude should be the first step toward changing our nation for the good.

Vote all Your Values

Holy Feet - originally penned in 2003

Holy Feet

I wish I could have washed them
(dust covered and sandaled), but
I never realized the need,
the honor

when they walked desert roads,
the desserted wilderness.

I was in awe when they stepped upon the waves.
I was in fear when the walked the Roman stairs.
I was foolish
until they were crushed
with nails--bloodied and dead

like my hopes upon that cross.
All my good intentions went to hell
when he stopped breathing,
cried out!

I cried out--cried myself out,
buried my tears behind that massive stone.
I was stoic

for three days,
dead
as long as he was in my unbelief.

Until, once more, my tears unleashed
when the dead stone moved alone,
moved by an unseen Power,
made alive once more.

This is why you find me on the floor
face down at his feet,

Holy feet, I worship
kissing God without sandals.

There is nothing more between us.

my online indulgences

I've realized that several of my recent posts are a bit less than ... well, they're not particularly good reading. In fact, they're bad. I apologize. Hopefully, I'll be able to write some stuff of real quality over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, here are a few diversions:

homestarrunner.com
you've gotta love Strongbad emails
hattrick.org
online fantasy soccer, yay!
megatokyo
goofy online comic about some fanboys. i dig it.

my political rant

I am not typically inclined to desire a meeting with celebrities; however, I would jump at the opportunity to meet George W. Bush in a personal setting. He seems like a real man, with real faith, and real flaws. I’ve seen him succumb to party politics, and the evil of mud-slinging in this election, but all in all, he seems like a genuine guy. He believes what he says, and he says what he believes—it’s beautiful.

Yet, I disdain the idea of endorsing his politics. He is convinced of the ridiculous idea that America is God’s nation in the world today; the peace-keeper, the law-maker, the bearer of the “white man’s burden”: democracy, capitalism, and Christianity to everyone, everywhere. This mindset has embroiled us in a disgusting war in Iraq, while we do nothing in the land of Sudan where Saddam Hussein looks like a non-threat, and Saudi Arabia where most terrorists come from and are funded from. Of course, we can’t get in Saudi’s face, they’re our oil friends…

Ok, I’m getting ranty, already. It boils down to this: Bush has bad foreign policy (you can’t force democracy on a nation, that’s tyranny), Bush has bad economic policy (you can’t fund a government by increasing spending and decreasing income; and the rich of America need no more incentives to continue oppressing the poor and sending work over-seas), Bush has a skewed view of America (we must be held accountable by someone, even if that someone [UN] is a bit tacky).

But, Kerry….eie, what’s the difference? First, I can’t vote for a guy whose unofficial campaign slogan is, “Bush sucks, vote for me!” Second, his official slogan, “Building a Better America,” or whatever it is, is just as much a joke. The guy runs his mouth on and on about how he was not in favor of the war in Iraq, the way it happened…who, the heck, cares?! We’re in it, now, and it’s got to be solved. As far as his plan to medicate the whole nation…umm, we can’t even afford Social Security as it stands, how are we going to fund a $1.5 trillion a year program without totally ransacking the whole country’s economy? He has no answers, because there are no answers. Our nation is not ready for this kind of a plan, and I’m not so sure it would be a good thing, even if we could fund it.

Otherwise, Kerry is pretty much in line with Bush. His view of America in the world is slightly less arrogant, but only in a “it’s cool to be against the war” kind of way. He shows no more concern, maybe less actually, regarding areas of the world where real nasty stuff is happening. He’s just the other side of the same old political system coin. The coin lands heads up or tails up, it still crushes everyone underneath it.

It’s time for something new. The political scene in America is polarized beyond salvation. I’m voting third party, and I’m sticking with Badnarik, the Libertarian. The Green Party is too socially “secular”. They want to mandate funding for abortion in America and around the world. They want to remove all vestiges of faith of any kind from the public square…. They’re a bit scary with their insistence on secular, naturalism. Humanity is a faith-based organism, you can’t remove faith from its inner or outer workings, and expect it to survive long.

The Libertarians would deregulate everything, but without the anti-faith design. Power would break down to local levels, and real solutions to social problems could be advanced. A Libertarian America would be anarchy. A Libertarian Federal Government could be the freedom our nation needs to get itself back together.

Regardless, it’s time to do my part in the “third party revolution”. I’m not voting against Bush or Kerry. I think voting against a candidate is stupid. If you can’t vote for someone, then it’s time to vote against the system that denies us real choice. I’m voting against the current political system!

Let the earth tremble and shake at my ballot!

Intersections: Bumper Sticker Theology : a post about the importance of faith.

I've been thinking so much about recovering a Jesus-centered understanding of love the past couple of years, that I've left off a clear understanding of faith, to some extent. It seems that faith needs some redefinition these days, as well. Life in Christ is about three things: faith, hope, and love. To belittle or to be ignorant of any of these three is a mark of a shallow Christian spirituality.

Check out this article. It briefly makes a powerful point.

Intersections: Bumper Sticker Theology

Let it Blow

I pulled out my old poetry notebooks today, and was pleasantly surprised. Either I've lost my eye for good poetry, or I actually did write some half-way decent stuff. You can tell me, eh?

Anyway, this piece is one of my best, I think (written July 02).

She was looking for Jesus in fine clothes,
flowing robe, colorful tunic, and shining hair--
a glowing halo-face would complete her picture.

That's when she met a nice man with shocking eyes
and beard and shabby, worn out shoes.

He was dancing with a faded cap near his feet,
loose change in the bottom, a dollar blowing out
in the breeze from his excited twirling.

She stopped to grab the dollar. He said,
"Let it blow, it will go where it's needed."

So she stood up hesitantly with diverted eyes--
he had stopped swirling, and was loving her
with his eyes, so aflame with the music in his head.

Then the melody rangout from his chest, resonating
within her heart and lungs and spine.

He offered his hands to her as he began to move again.
The dollar flipped into the street, into the wind;
she turned to save it, mumbling, "I don't understand."

current thoughts

I emailed president W, my Rep, and Senators tonight, regarding the funding of AIDS relief for the world. You can do the same at www.seekjustice.org
I still hope to put a call in to the White House regarding this issue. I've never called about something, and I'm certain that taking the effort to call communicates more to politicians than a simple email.

In the meantime, I read a Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren last week. I was challenged in one particluar area:

I follow McLaren's idea of a generous orthodoxy in many areas. I believe this train of idealogy is in the path of Jesus, the way of love, and is gracious toward the world and all who live in it, yet faithful to the Truth. McLaren challenged me in the area of generosity toward other Christians, even the majority church of America. I have journeyed a good distance from the idea of Christianity that I came up in, and have ventured away from Foundationalist thinking in some areas. However, I still struggle with "right" and "wrong". It's so natural for me to think that God has led me away from what is "wrong" in the majority church and into what is "right". Of course, this is a seriously exclusivist thought. It's arrogant and repugnant.

I have wondered and wandered around Christianity because of arrogance and exlusivism, and in my reactions, have become reactionary to a certain extent. I readily admit that I do not have it all put together. I still have much to learn from brothers and sisters of the more Fundementalist strains of Jesus's followers, but more often feel that I have something to teach them.

Granted, some of my angst grows from feeling excluded myself. If some people knew my views on politics, theology, and the art of doing church--how I wander from the standard Evangelical/Fundementalist/Religious-Right idealogy--I would be excluded, judged, etc... I often feel like less of a citizen of Christ's Body just listening to some folks talk, and knowing that I cannot express my heart, as it would blow up into a huge controversy. But, this is no excuse for the self-righteousness I have found lurking in my heart.

I do not know if God will be leading me back toward my roots, or continue leading me in "new" directions (yes, I still think God has been a major part of my journey), but I know the Spirit is convicting me of sin, and looking to lead me deeper into the way of love.

Lord Jesus, Son of David, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Save the Millennium Challenge! - DATA, Debt AIDS Trade Africa

Save the Millennium Challenge! - DATA, Debt AIDS Trade Africa

A way to get involved ... YES!!!

I will be calling on Monday. Do it.

some thoughts

I was commenting on another blog, and ended up typing this. I want to share it.

I am convinced that following Jesus is more about living a life of active love and spontaneous compassion than it is about anything less miraculous. It's in the midst of this complete revolution of the entire world system that the Spirit shows up does the fireworks (visible miracle-type things) to celebrate the advance of God's Kingdom in our hearts and in the world.
Of course, this isn't a box, by any means. Spirit is Sovereign, and acts outside of my pre and subscriptions. However, I find this way of living to be the most sure way of finding God in the midst of the ever pressing apathy and despair of our world.

more evil and my meandering thoughts

International News Article | Reuters.com

Ok, more tragedy. More prayer. I'm going to be active somehow, despite the helpless feelings, as BAB commented.

I read about this in today's USA Today. The article makes this note regarding tension in Israel, as the targets of these bombings were Israeli tourists in Egypt:
Israeli forces have killed 84 Palestinians in Gaza in the past eight days in response to Palestinian rocket attacks that killed two Israeli toddlers...

Is it just me, or is there something wrong here? The typical American, and especially Christian American thinking is a blind support of all things Israel. I think this amounts to racism: "84 of you are worth 2 of us." This is wrong.

I'm thinking about voting for Kerry.

more on that soon, i hope.

evil is alive and well

This is not even new news anymore--I read about it Friday, but prayer is still needed.

Militants in Iraq blew up three cars in Baghdad, killing dozens of people; about three dozen children, in the midst of a celebration of some sort. There is something seriously wrong in our world, and only something, someone divine can fix it.

Let us weep.
Let us mourn.
Let us pray.

Reimagining Spiritual Formation

I did not plan to purchase Reimagining Spiritual Formation. It was offered in a package deal on Amazon.com with A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren (my first ever McLaren book), and after the discount and the free-shipping incentive, RSF came into my possession quite cheaply, and I figured that if it turned out to be cheesecake, I could at least recoup my money on half.com, or even make a dollar or two, so I gave it a try.

It hooked me quickly by its communal composition—including six individuals’ thoughts and experiences through excerpts of their journals, which make up a good portion of the book. So, I continued reading.

I found in the book a solid board of ideas that I could butt up against, think through, and accept, tweak, or leave on the page. It did not read like church growth hum-bug, nor re-dressed Christian consumerism—like Emerging Church/Emerging Worship, wherein Dan Kimball seeks to avoid that trap, but seems to fall in, to some extent, nonetheless. The book presents what it intends to, a re-imagining of spiritual formation, and it does so without presenting itself as the right or true understanding, but as an attempt to step into God’s story with the whole person in the context of an open, sincere community.

Pagitt and company differ from the likes of Kimball in that reading this book does not lead me to the thought that I need to institute any particular practice into the community I am attempting to lead, but helps me redefine the context of that community. Granted, much of what was said was not new to me, but the individual experiences recounted, and the experimental steps taken by Solomon’s Porch (the community the authors belong to) really helped sharpen and focus some thinking, and challenged my reticence towards some ideas that have been floating around in my head, or the heads of others I have become acquainted with.

Finally, reading Eldredge’s Epic earlier in the same month had me very much ready for this book—a book about entering into God’s story, as opposed to believing a set of propositions about God. I love this.

words and readings

Books I read/finished in Septemeber (more on these later this week)

<>Epic John Eldredge
The Essential Rumi Rumi/Coleman Barks
Reimagining Spiritual Formation Doug Pagitt

Some Words I wrote last week:

I want to read the sky,
as if there might be words there;
etched in a silent hue above,

beneath an ocean of stars,
a single wave.

A single wave or a stroke of some pen,
it might be true
it might shine inside/against the blue,

or in the twilight, a sign,
an open book to teach the Sun.

The moon waves good-bye
but never speaks-
"Where are the words?"

As if there might be words there.
I want to read the sky.

---and, indulge my words, one more time---

Drawn into a world of cycles,
undulating in and under--
me--I am awash with circles,
spinning under, always under.

But I see or perceive or wish into being
a Rock that becomes or Was, yes Was, and Is
more real than me--above and free;
a forward motion unforgettable.

This is learning and formation--
a million billion years under pressure,
but still spinning, spinning, spinning--
No, it must be forward, I can see that way.

I can see the motion,
I can believe a quickening rhythm,
and a consummation.
God makes love to the world.

A Son dies and rises, the cycle
is undone--no more pedals,
no more power. No spinning.
The downward spiral is cliche and over.