Mercy and Justice

our friend (and missionary hero in India), Kate Pocklington sent us this quote.

Mercy is like the ambulance at the bottom of a cliff, ready to help those who fall.
Justice builds a fence at the top of the cliff to protect them from falling in the first place.
Mercy wipes the tears from the eyes. Justice asks, “Why are you crying?”
Mercy welcomes the hungry to gather around G_d’s banqueting table.
Justice addresses why some are under the table aching of hunger while others are sitting on top of the table aching from gluttony.
Mercy seeks and saves those lost in the darkness.
Justice asks, “Why is it dark? Who is keeping it dark? Who is benefiting from this darkness? Is it I, Lord?”
Can You Hear Me? – Brad Jersa

grocery downtown?

this was in today's local paper....
"Grocers might return to downtown"

would be a nice thing for those of us living in the city. here's hoping...

is god green?

i wanted to pass on this information (from an email we recieived) about a show tonight...Sherry and I were actually contacted by the producer of this show some time back and it looks like an interesting program.

I wanted to let you know – and ask you to spread the word – about an important PBS special that airs this week and prominently features the role of faith in the fight against mountaintop removal coal mining.

In “Is God Green?” – which airs this Wednesday, October 11 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check your local listings) -- Bill Moyers examines the changing views towards the environment among evangelical Christians.The documentary features Allen Johnson, co-founder of Christians for the Mountains. As one review puts it:
The program explores the real-world consequences of mountaintop mining and its toxic by-products on the local water supply, profiling residents forced to live with drinking water allegedly contaminated by harmful chemicals and their fight against a subsidiary of the region’s largest coal company, Massey Energy. Allen’s group is working to recruit local churches to explore the pollution problem as a theological and Biblical issue, and to join their fight. Today, after 12 years, the local government is building the infrastructure that eventually will bring clean water to the effected communities.

Here at Appalachian Voices, we know that people of faith have a critical role to play in the effort to end mountaintop removal mining. Five major religious denominations have already passed resolutions against mountaintop removal mining.You can learn more about the intersection of religion and the fight against mountaintop removal mining by clicking on this link:http://www.ilovemountains.org/prayers

And if you haven’t yet done so, please add your voice to the more than 2,000 Americans who have already pledged to help end mountaintop removal mining by visiting the

ILoveMountains.org website:http://www.ilovemountains.org/take_action/Please forward this email to your friends and family, and invite a friend over on Wednesday to watch “Is God Green?” Getting the word out about the real consequences of mountaintop removal mining is critical to our efforts to end this destructive practice. Thank you for taking action.

more words for community living

"as long as we are on earth, the love that unites us will bring us suffering by our very contact with one another, because this love is the resetting of a Body of broken bones. even saints cannot live with saints on this earth without some anguish, without some pain at the differences that come between them. there are two things that men can do about the pain of disunion with other men. they can love or they can hate. hatred recoils from the sacrifice and the sorrow that are the price of this resetting of bones. it refuses the pain of reunion."

thomas merton

lord, help us to love.

Global Warming: Local Practices, Global Effects

“An Inconvenient Truth” with panel-led discussion
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 at 5:30 PM
"Global Warming: Local Practices, Global Effects"Presented by TERRA, the Transylvania Environmental Rights & Responsibilities Alliance

Kentucky Theatre
5:30 -- Free showing of "An Inconvenient Truth"
7:15 -- Panel Discussion with
Congressman Ben Chandler;
Deputy Secretary of the EPPC, John Clay;
Dr. James Wagner, Professor of Biology, Transylvania University;
and Dr. Alan Bartley, Professor of Economics, Transylvania University

A Sign and a Psalm

Last week I walked behind the old court house on my way somewhere. I noticed a historical marker that I hadn't seen before. It noted that on this square, in the shadow of the courthouse, humans were once sold. White people would buy and trade black people here. The marker noted that children were often separated from their parents. This was also the site of a whipping post where slaves were beaten if they were out in town past curfew. Here was the market, an open air, free market, and the law enforcement, that sustained slavery here in our town, in Lexington. When I turned away from this sign, I saw that I had missed the light at the crosswalk. I felt a bit disoriented as I waited on this corner with my thoughts. I could be down the street had I not read this sign. It is a sort of burden to consider our history on a sunny morning; it does not lend itself to efficiency. It is not terribly easy to get on with a morning after such a lesson (though, to be fair, it is probably easier than it should be.) I am not sure how the Psalmist does it. Psalm 90 begins with a reflection that God has been our dwelling place for all generations, that God has been "from everlasting to everlasting." God has been present throughout our histories, observing, participating, allowing some pepole to buy and trade, and others to be bound. Somehow, the Psalmist is not paralyzed by history. How can this be? How are we to journey with this God who has been present for our sins and those of our fathers? How can I ask that God establish the work of my hands when they tremble so?

(not) crocodile tears

i was really sad when i heard about that crocodile bloke from Australia, Steve Irwin. i was quite surprised how sad i felt and i'm still not sure why - perhaps it's because i'm australian and a long way from 'home', perhaps it was Steve's love for nature that enlivens me, perhaps i'm just soft. anyway, the other day my dad sent me a link to this article by Brian Mclaren and it caused tears to flow as a lament and in gratitude - a proper grieving. it managed to touch me where my sadness lay and i'm very grateful for Brian's writing. here's a snippet from the piece and here's the link to read the whole article.

I don’t recall Steve speaking of God much. But every time he said, “Isn’t that a little beauty!” I think he was speaking for God, the One who notices and loves the smallest goodness of every created thing. The look on his face when he sat with an orangutan or swam with a green sea turtle or let a lizard perch on his finger – that look in itself was a sign and a wonder. Sure, some people think he was over the top, but with millions of other fans, I miss him, and with them, I’m inspired to live life a little – no, a lot - louder and freer because of him … playing my own unique part in the sacred mission of saving love. Rest in peace, Steve-o. Well done.

Question

The following question came as a result of some discussions following Theta Phi lectures in chapel (at Asbury) last week. It's pretty broad but I'd love to know your thoughts.

Did Jesus expect his teachings to become national policies?

take comfort

"The church is never far from the insignificance of Jesus and his band of unimpressive followers. It is always setting out from the particular in the direction of God's incalculable gift of everything." (p.18)

from this book.

discerning vocation

I came across some good help this week in a book called, “The scope of our art: the vocation of the theological teacher” edited by L. Gregory Jones and Stephanie Paulsell. In a chapter written by Jones (Negotiating the Tensions, pp.209-224) he pulls together four quotes that, he says, helps one navigate one’s vocational choices. For your enlightenment, here they are….

“Something’s your vocation if it keeps making more of you.”
Gail Godwin, Evensong

“When Christ calls [someone], He bids him come and die.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

"The place God calls you is the place where you deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC

“Do you want to make God laugh? Tell God your plans.”
Familiar Saying in Divinity School

America's smartest cities

Lexington made the top ten in this CNN brainiest cities list. education is no guarantee for wisdom but it's nice to see our home town ranked with the likes of 'real' (sexy?) cities such as Seattle, DC, and Boston.

myles horton quote

a few years ago a dear friend introduced me to a man named myles horton - not in person, just through american history.

anyway, mr horton has become a hero for me and this brilliant quote came to me via sojomail ( www.sojo.net )this morning.

If people have a position on something and you try to argue them into changing it, you're going to strengthen that position. If you want to change people's ideas, you shouldn't try to convince them intellectually. What you need to do is get them into a situation where they'll have to act on ideas, not argue about them.
- Myles Horton

serve god save the planet

Sherry just read this book. perhaps she will write a review sometime soon. i dipped into it (as i am want to do) and it looks fantastic. a voice from the heart of american evangelicalism speaking to issues of environmental (and other) justice. i have it on good authority that the author actually just moved to central Kentucky so i hope we can hear more from dr. sleeth.

check out the website (www.servegodsavetheplanet.org) and click on resources for some great ways to put legs on living justly. 

distant clarity

i took this picture out the car window as we rolled along an obscure country road. i moved the camera with the car as i opened the shutter to get the "out of focus (foreground)/in focus (background) effect." kentucky is looking more and more beautiful to these foreign eyes. i like this picture because it makes me think about the eschaton - that place in the distance that we are headed toward, that place where the Kingdom comes in fullness, that place more clearly seen (at times) than the things right in front of us.

in need of a mission fix?

The Missio Dei Conference in Nashville looks like a brilliant event. not sure if we can make it down though...anyone interested in car pooling from Lex?

also...

The next GOCN conference might be a worthwhile event....better still, the "Mission and Biblical Interpretation: Toward a Missional Hermeneutic" experiment at the SBL conference looks fantastic.