DaddyRoBlog

The Pastor and Me

Eugene Peterson is probably best known for translating a paraphrase of the Bible called “The Message.” What is perhaps not as well known is that he pastored a church for 29 years, and that he has now written a memoir titled The Pastor.

Here’s a passage that occurs early on that I found rather provocative: 

Men and women who are pastors in America today find that they have entered into a way of life that is in ruins. The vocation of pastor has been replaced by the strategies of religious entrepreneurs with business plans. Any kind of continuity with pastors in times past is virtually nonexistent.

As increasingly large numbers of church goers attend increasingly large churches, I guess I see a lot of truth in that. Great public speakers, yes. Dynamic leaders, yes. Shrewd businessman and marketing geniuses who know how to package product and build increasingly large empires, yes. But pastors… not so much.

And if it is true that the “traditional pastor” (my words) is now “virtually nonexistent” (Peterson’s words), this creates a huge challenge for those of us who still feel that a pastor is what we are called to be: How do we stay true to our calling without being cranky, bitter, or disparaging towards those who  are doing church in this new way? How do we cling to the value of what we are doing without being given to sour grapes?

Joel O' Steen (who I  really like, BTW) has the largest church in American right now, with some 40,000 people in attendance each week.  While many churches may not agree with Osteen’s message, they do agree with his metrics. While they might not agree with Osteen’s larger theology, the do agree with the single most visible part of it—what the church is supposed to do on Sunday mornings. And that in turn has shaped what more and more people expect  of a church-- and the people who run them.

So just where, exactly, does leave the person who would genuinely prefer to "pastor" a congregation of 400 rather than  "lead" a church of 40,000?

I should probably be clear I'm not feeling sorry for myself or looking for people to tell me I'm great. I'm just wondering, as I often do, in a general sort of way about life, God, the intersection of the two, and our place in it.

Worth the Wait

Since we hit the gourds pretty heavy this morning (I hope everyone had as much fun as I did), I thought I'd switch it up tonight and go with dahlias.  This one is called Cheyenne.  It was a very late bloomer, and so didn't produce anywhere near as many flowers as the other dahlias did.  But just take a look at this flower--even one would be enough, I think!

It's Happening

I've been up for a few hours now.  It's always so peaceful early in the morning, and this morning was especially so.  Along with the metrical sounds of  typing, the was also the rhythmic pitter- patter of rain on the roof (and the  regular rumble  of the cat purring on my lap). 

But around about dawn, the rain went silent.    Not only that, but shortly thereafter the world began its change from black to white.

In related news, I suppose its time to turn on the heat in the house...

Last 'Mater

Since we now have a Winter Storm Watch (really?!) with  the "potential for significant accumulation", I figured we should probably harvest what's left out in the garden.   So after work, Linda and I furiously  picked vegetables, cut flowers, harvested gourds, and even snipped catnip right up until dark. 

As I was picking peppers, I found this beautiful tomato hidden away, tucked up under the foilage.  It was a nice surprise.

 

 

As for the snow, as usual, I'll believe it when I see it...

Classic Rock at Its Very Best

My Dad hated the music but he still took the video. The year is 1976.  The city is good ol' Pittsburgh, PA.

The 70s were a great time for Rock 'n' Roll.  There were bands  like Alice Cooper and Led Zepplin, Boston and Queen, David Bowie (who apparently was a character on... Spong Bob Square Pants...!)  and ...  Paradox.   

No, the music in this video is NOT what we were playing.  And  yes, that is yours truly playing the drums.

Oh, and thanks Dad!

The Trick

The trick in a garden is to keep seeing it.  It is to be able to have each time you saunter through it be like the first time, marveling anew at the beauty before you.  It is to be fully blessed by being full aware.

This dahlia is called "Wheels", and I highly recommend it.  The flowers are about 4 inches across.   The plant itself is probably about five feet tall and several feet wide, and it has been loaded with beautiful flowers like these for months.  Each flower is a little different (some of them now are pure butter yellow), and each is an invitation to approach it with a heart wide open to Life's goodness.

It's The Real Thing

Sex, Money, and Power

A final thought on legislating change.

Some will no doubt remember the “family values” push of the eighties, and will remember it quite negatively as an attempt by a narrow portion of our population to legislate morality. But that was then and this is now, and it seems to me that the “right” has fallen out of favor and the “left” is in (I hate those terms, as I think labels are mostly as an excuse to stop thinking. But they do serve some usefulness in providing commonly understood reference points). Now it is a different set of values that another portion of the population is seeking to legislate, but I find myself wondering if it isn’t just the flip side of the same coin.

In other words, though the immediate issues might look very different –it was primarily sex then and its primarily money now—the underlying issue is very much the same: power. It is the issue of who will wield power and thereby be able to force others to bend to their will. And of course, righteousness is always on the side of those who think they should be in charge, and it is righteousness which justifies their course and their actions and their rhetoric.

My point in this is not to choose a side—frankly, I think both “sides” have their merits and their weaknesses. And I think it is important for both “sides” to be able to speak freely, and to be able to go so far as to protest—whether it is on Wall Street or in front of an abortion clinic.

But most important of all, I think it is important to remember that the other “side” is not a side at all, but PEOPLE. And that when it comes right down to it, they are not that different than you or I. They like ice cream and donuts; they take their kids fishing or to baseball or dance; and none of us believe it is a good thing that people are starving or illiterate or being ravaged by disease.  All of our hearts have been broken somewhere along the line, and many of our hearts are breaking still.  We all know what it is to be able to do nothing but sit alone and weep.

It is perhaps in our nature to see things differently, and perhaps that is actually a gift that has contributed to our ability as a species to survive. Perhaps it all those differing perspectives, none of which are the Truth, that yet somehow move us closer to the Truth—if only we’ll let them.

If only we’d all remember that we are all people--brothers and sisters in fact.  There is but one human family, and we are all in this together on this lonely planet we call Earth.  Perhaps if we'd all remember this, we'd do a better job of treating one another—even our “enemies” --with love and courtesy, kindness and respect, and a vast, vast abundance of grace.

I think there was a man who lived 2000 years ago who said just that. Very few people listened to him then. Is it really any different now?

2011 A Gourd Odyssey

As many of you know, I remain something of a child when it comes to gourds. I have never outgrown my fascination with them or the delight I take in them.  A couple years ago, for instance, I grew gourds over the roof of my two story home. I'm not sure how good that actually was for the roof, however, so it is not an exercise in gardening I've felt a need to repeat.

To make up for the lack of gourds on the roof, last year I got a little carried away and grew gourds pretty much everywhere else.  They took over the berry patch.  Whole sections of the lawn died because the grass wasn't getting any sun under the dense foilage of the vines.  There wasn't room for the normal crops of vegetables and flowers.  The stink bugs loved it, but my wife didn't.  She missed those vegetables and flowers. 

So this year, I don't think I actually planted any gourds at all.  But they came back anyhow, and I've actually ended up with a fair number of them once again (there were also plenty of berries, flowers, and vegetables too.  Still are, in fact).  And that, of course, brings us to Gourd Sunday. 

On Gourd Sunday, I gather up a bunch of gourds, bring them to church, and in some way, shape or form, build a sermon around them.  Here's one such sermon from a few year's ago, for example.  I have a lot of fun with this, and I think the congregation does too.

All of which is to say that this Sunday is Gourd Sunday, and as usual, I'm PRETTY DARN EXCITED about it.  So if you are able, I hope you'll come and join us.  You can even take a gourd home at the end!

An Honest Question

What is corporate greed?

My first reaction is to say, "Well, it's obvious, isn't it?"  But when I stop and actually think about it, I'm not so sure it is.  At least, I'm not so sure there is anything that makes greed "corporate"  as opposed to "personal".  In other words, when I really think about this question, I find myself drawing the conclusion that greed is greed whenever and wherever it is found, whether it's in the heart of a pastor in Sterling, VA or the CEO of massive multinational corporation.

I am not the first to point out that my relationship to a CEO drawing a bazillion dollar salary is in principle no different than the relationship to the starving child in Haiti to me.   Both the CEO and I have more than we need.  "But he has A LOT more!!!" one might say.  But surely that is all a matter of perspective, isn't it?

Now don't get me wrong.  I believe there are structural inequities in our governing business and compensation models, and those inequities are of grave concern to me.  But I also think there are structural inequites present in society as a whole, and I'm a willing participant in them.  I'm guessing you are too.

It is the nature of the greed that we see it quite readily in others while it is invisible within ourselves.  That is how, I think, that  despite our very best intentions greed continues to thrive in the world today.