Bill's Faith Matters blog

Speaking openly of death: 5-31/6-1-14

After speaking to an adult group at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Kansas City the other evening about leaving a spiritual will and spiritual legacy, I was happy to see this piece in The Kansas City Star last weekend about "The Death Cafe."

The cafe idea is one more in a series of badly needed efforts to get Americans to quit being death deniers and to start to integrate the reality of death into the reality of life.

Another way we move the conversation about death and dying into the public square is to hold events in that square. That's what Kansas City Hospice and Palliative Care does each year when it sponsors the "Circle of Lights" event next to the Nichols fountain on the Country Club Plaza.

That recent event (pictured here) offers people the opportunity to put the name of a deceased loved on on a luminaria. Those luminarias then line the sidewalk in the park and form the backdrop for a relatively brief service of remembrance.

It's quite a lovely event and hundreds of people attend each year -- some fresh from having just lost someone. My friend Bob Hill, pastor of Community Christian Church across the street from the park, leads the service and always has helpful words to say to people in mourning.

Faith communities should be taking the lead in bringing the subject of death out of the closet. Some do, but too many don't challenge their members to confront the inevitability of death and to weave that inevitability into a life with deeper meaning.

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A TRAVELIN' MAN

I'm on the road this week so until Monday you won't find the usual second item here on the blog. But you can always get updates of religious news from Religion News Service here.

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P.S.: Do you have my new book yet? It's Woodstock: A Story of Middle Americans, and I think you'll find it engaging. You can read about it here. If you want an autographed copy, e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll tell you how we can make that happen.

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ANOTHER P.S.: It's time to sign up for the workshop I'm offering about getting from pain to hope through writing the week of Aug. 11 at Ghost Ranch in northern New Mexico. For details of that class, click here. Come join us.

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For hospice nurse, wife's death was one too many

When the church gets it right: 5-30-14

Sometimes the Christian church is brave. Sometimes it uses its prophetic voice well. Sometimes it speaks truth to power. Not often enough, but sometimes.

And today is the 80th anniversary of one of the days when some in the church were brave, used their prophetic voice and spoke truth to power.

On this date in 1934, the two-day Synod of Barmen ended in Germany. This was the gathering that signed and affirmed the Theological Declaration of Barmen, written primarily by the great 20th Century theologian Karl Barth.

The Barmen declaration in effect stood against Hitler and his regime, which at the time was growing more and more murderous and rapacious, though it wouldn't begin what became known as the Holocaust for several more years.

The Barmen declaration, which is part of the Presbyterian Book of Confessions, has long been one of my favorite confessions of faith -- and largely because it confidently stood against an evil that eventually co-opted much of the Christian church in Germany.

The document says, among other things, as it criticizes the part of the church that was falling in behind Hitler: "We reiect the false doctrine, as though there were areas of our life in which we would not belong to Jesus Christ, but to other lords. . ."

Other lords? That means Hitler, of course.

The long history of anti-Judaism in Christianity bears a large part of the responsibility for the possibility of the creation of modern antisemitism, without which the Holocaust is simply inconceivable. But not all Christians in Hitler's Germany got everything wrong, as the Barmen declaration shows. (For my essay on anti-Judaism in Christian history, click here.)

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A TRAVELIN' MAN

I'm on the road this week so until next Monday you won't find the usual second item here on the blog. But you can always get updates of religious news from Religion News Service here.

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P.S.: Do you have my new book yet? It's Woodstock: A Story of Middle Americans, and I think you'll find it engaging. You can read about it here. If you want an autographed copy, e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll tell you how we can make that happen.

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ANOTHER P.S.: It's time to sign up for the workshop I'm offering about getting from pain to hope through writing the week of Aug. 11 at Ghost Ranch in northern New Mexico. For details of that class, click here. Come join us.

Eight places of religious hell: 5-29-14

Both the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issue annual reports about the state of religious freedom in countries around the world.

Some Americans sometimes suggest that their own religious liberty is being curtailed by this or that government policy or program. And no doubt there's room for debate about that -- or, anyway, some of that.

But when we compare the long tradition of religious freedom enjoyed by Americans and protected by our Constitution to the dire situations in some other countries, there really isn't much of a comparison. In places like Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Burma and China, religious liberty often exists only as a pipedream.

Recently Daniel Burke, the CNN belief blog editor, compiled what he called a list of the eight worst places in the world to live if you're religious.

Oh, my. Read it and weep, as they say.

Or, better yet, read it and ask your members of Congress and others to speak out against these outrages and do what they can to stop them. And speak out yourself in various ways. Like sharing this blog entry on Facebook and Twitter.

You, after all, are not powerless in the face of this kind of evil.

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A TRAVELIN' MAN

I'm on the road this week so until next Monday you won't find the usual second item here on the blog. But you can always get updates of religious news from Religion News Service here.

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P.S.: Do you have my new book yet? It's Woodstock: A Story of Middle Americans, and I think you'll find it engaging. You can read about it here. If you want an autographed copy, e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll tell you how we can make that happen.

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ANOTHER P.S.: It's time to sign up for the workshop I'm offering about getting from pain to hope through writing the week of Aug. 11 at Ghost Ranch in northern New Mexico. For details of that class, click here. Come join us.

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A FINAL P.S.: My latest National Catholic Reporter column now is online here.

Lessons from Swedish faith: 5-28-14

Because my maternal grandparents came from Sweden and my mother's first language was Swedish, I have somewhat more than a passing interest in that beautiful, if often-cold land, which I got to visit on my 13th birthday years ago.

In terms of religion, Sweden tends to be even more secular than Europe as a whole. In fact, a 2009 poll showed that only 18 percent of Swedes professed a belief in God. The U.S. figure is regularly above 90 percent, by contrast.

And yet the picture on the ground can be quite complex when it comes to faith among the Swedes.

This interesting piece, for instance, describes how Sweden is not as secular as many people assume.

Here's a passage from the piece, by a writer who visited an ecumenical monastic community there run by Pentecostals: "Overwhelmed by it all, I announce that whereas American Christianity is a mile wide and an inch deep, Swedish Christianity is an inch wide and a mile deep. Never have I seen ecumenical cooperation as I have here."

The mandate of modern times for people of faith in Sweden and elsewhere is to be both deep and wide -- deeply committed to one's tradition but able to appreciate and understand the perspective and traditions of a wide variety of others.

As others have noted, however, the people who tend to be more afraid of the future than they are excited by it tend to be people who would describe themselves as most deeply religious.

Maybe we can learn a few things from the broad ecumenicity evidenced in Sweden.

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A TRAVELIN' MAN

I'm on the road this week so until next Monday you won't find the usual second item here on the blog. But you can always get updates of religious news from Religion News Service here.

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MY NCR COLUMN

My latest National Catholic Reporter column is now online. To read it, click here.

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P.S.: Do you have my new book yet? It's Woodstock: A Story of Middle Americans, and I think you'll find it engaging. You can read about it here. If you want an autographed copy, e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll tell you how we can make that happen.

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ANOTHER P.S.: It's time to sign up for the workshop I'm offering about getting from pain to hope through writing the week of Aug. 11 at Ghost Ranch in northern New Mexico. For details of that class, click here. Come join us.

Related articles

All but three percent of Swedes lead 'happy' lives

Discerning the sacred in life: 5-27-14

A few days ago here on the blog, I offered you brief descriptions of a pile of new books, some of which you might want to consider putting on your summer reading stack.

But I held one out of the stack because I wanted to give it separate attention -- and not just because the co-authors are friends of mine but because it has a message that deserves separate attention.

Everyday Wonder: From Kansas to Kenya, From Ecuador to Ethiopia, by Priscilla H. Wilson and Kaze Gadway, speaks to us of being sensitive to the sacred in everyday things and events.

Kaze and Priscilla, both of whom have participated in at least one writing class I've taught at Ghost Ranch (I'll teach there again in August), have known each other a long time -- since the 1960s. And together they've been involved in various kinds of church work and ministries.

The book is a recounting of some of that with special attention given to the idea of being mindful and noticing the presence of the divine.

Priscilla's words about the unexpected death of her husband Rodney and Kaze's words about her ministry to Native American women who have been physically and emotionally abused by members of their families are especially moving.

There are heavy moments of sorrow and angst in this book as well as light moments that help to provide perspective. In the latter category I especially liked Priscilla's short tale about seeing a mother mallard with a dozen offspring crossing a busy road in traffic where Priscilla lived and Priscilla's efforts to get them all safely to a creek a few blocks away.

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying this: "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

Priscilla and Kaze tend to be in the latter camp, and this book is their testimony to what they've have seen.

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A TRAVELIN' MAN

I'm on the road this week so until next Monday you won't find the usual second item here on the blog. But you can always get updates of religious news from Religion News Service here.

* * *

P.S.: Do you have my new book yet? It's Woodstock: A Story of Middle Americans, and I think you'll find it engaging. You can read about it here. If you want an autographed copy, e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll tell you how we can make that happen.

* * *

ANOTHER P.S.: It's time to sign up for the workshop I'm offering about getting from pain to hope through writing the week of Aug. 11 at Ghost Ranch in northern New Mexico. For details of that class, click here. Come join us.

A Memorial Day salute to HST: 5-26-14

On this Memorial Day, I want to honor the memory of our 33rd president, the Man from Independence, Harry S. Truman, a World War I veteran and commander in chief for part of World War II and much of the Korean War.

The other day I paid another visit to the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in Independence. I took along my visiting sister and her husband -- and the three of us reminded ourselves of Truman's remarkable story.

One of the talks I give here and there is about the Harry and Bess Truman love story. It's really a remarkable tale of persistence on his part in pursuit of the woman he almost literally worshiped.

Harry was a Baptist, Bess an Episcopalian, but they wound up meeting at Presbyterian Sunday School in Independence when Harry was about six years old.

And from that time on he was -- as the youth leader at our church recently said of herself and our former church organist, whom she is marrying soon -- "stupid in love."

As I was in the courtyard of the library and museum (pictured above), I visited the gravesites of Bess and Harry and I was surprised for the first time to notice that my birth date was inscribed on Harry's grave stone. It had nothing to do with me, of course. Rather, Jan. 18, 1945, was Harry's last day of service as a U.S. senator from Missouri. Two days later he was sworn in as vice president.

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CATHOLIC-ORTHODOX PROGRESS

Pope Francis and Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew just finished their meeting in Jerusalem, where they signed a joint declaration you can read here. It promises to continue on a " journey towards the unity to which only the Holy Spirit can lead us, that of communion in legitimate diversity." Nice term, legitimate diversity, though it raises the question of what illegitmate diversity might be. Not sure I'd want to try to unpack that one.

Related articles

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Harry S. Truman's memory lives in his hometown

The tide of gay history: 5-24/25-14

Over the last decade or two, we have seen a stunningly swift change in attitudes about homosexuality in the United States.

The move to allow same-sex marriage now seems almost unstoppable. There's room now for openly gay members of the military and hurtful gay bashing seems less and less prevalent. Beyond that, the latest Gallup poll shows support for same-sex marriage is at a record high.

And various religious communities, including my own Presbyterian Church (USA), finally have approved rules that allow for the ordination of otherwise-qualified members of the LGBT community.

These communities have come to understand that the Bible should not be used as a weapon in this matter because it knows nothing of what today we are seeing as long-term, committed homosexual relationships, just as it knows nothing of what we're starting to understand as homosexual orientation. What writers (including the Apostle Paul) of certain passages of the Bible seems mostly to be against when they mention homosexual behavior is pederasty and temple prostitution -- practices that should, of course, be opposed. For my essay on what the Bible really says about homosexuality, click here.

One place that has seen a remarkable turn-around in the way it treats homosexuals, this report says, is Wall Street (where the bulls and the bears fight it out, a depicted in this photo) and the whole banking industry. I frankly didn't know that things were as bad as the piece describes them to have been in this sector of the economy 15 or 20 years ago.

Still, despite lots of good progress, some folks continue to hold to the misguided idea that they are opposing sin when they oppose homosexuality. And they use some cherry-picked Bible verses out of context to defend their positions. They know that the tide of history is turning against them, but they hold on, nonetheless, as this Christian Post piece makes clear and as this Huffington Post piece confirms.

So for a time there will continue to be faith-based opposition to full inclusion of LGBT folks in all areas of life, but that attitude is doomed in the long run. And the sooner people realize it and make accommodations, the less pain they will cause others.

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NOT IN GOD'S NAME

For a video as part of a campaign by Muslims to denounce violence by religious extremists in Nigeria, including the kidnapping of school girls, click here. The campaign is called "Not in God's Name." #NotInGodsName.

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P.S.: Do you have my new book yet? It's Woodstock: A Story of Middle Americans, and I think you'll find it engaging. You can read about it here. If you want an autographed copy, e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll tell you how we can make that happen.

WWI as a religious war: 5-23-14

Religion gets blamed for lots of wars, and, indeed, it must plead guilty in various instances. But I've never thought of World War I as anything like a religion-based conflict or a "holy war."

But that's now what historian Philip Jenkins says WWI was. In a fascinating interview with Interfaith Voices, he unwraps his thesis.

Jenkins has written a new book about this, The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade. (A book I haven't had a chance to read yet.)

As a press release from Baylor University (where Jenkins teaches) says about Jenkins' theory, "During World War I, which began on July 28, 1914, Germany saw itself as a religious force on a 'messianic mission,' while Russia saw itself not just as 'a' Christian state, but as 'the' Christian state. Those seeing the war as a religious crusade were 'not just elite thinkers or a few crazy bishops and pastors . . . Religion dominated propaganda messages and the way people thought about the war, wrote about the war, made films about the war,' Jenkins said. 'Religion was part of the air they breathed . . . The enemy was an evil satanic foe.'"

In some ways Jenkins' theory is a reminder that it's really difficult to find any news story that doesn't have some thread of religion running through it. That's why we need journalists who understand religion and can interpret its meaning to others. I wish more editors understood that.

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A DIFFERENT RELIGION?

Israel is putting some people identified as "Jewish extremists" under house arrest for Pope Francis' upcoming visit to the country. It's one more reminder that there are fanatics attached to almost every religious tradition. In fact, in some ways extremism itself may constitute a religion.

These are the jokes, folks: 5-22-14

The other day my pastor told me that "I had tears rolling down my face" several times at our Sunday worship service. But they weren't tears of angst, sadness or anger. They were tears of laughter.

As my congregation celebrated our associate pastor's last sermon with us before his retirement, we had a rollicking good time.

Which raises the question of whether and how religion and humor mix.

That's exactly the question this piece raises in the context of Orthodox Judaism.

". . .comedy," it suggests, "is fundamentally irreverent, isn’t it? How can one square that with religion?"

Well, irreverent doesn't mean blasphemous. Rather, it means not taking everything so seriously that we miss the humor and often the point. Heck, as various authors have noted, the Bible is full of humor, though often that doesn't translate very well into King James English.

So enjoy the piece about Jewish humor and don't forget to send me your funniest religious jokes for the times that I occasionally just do a post here full of jokes -- on the theory that laughter has divine origins.

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MORE ATHEIST ACCEPTANCE

The antipathy of American voters toward atheists seems to be declining, it's reported. It would be harder to rail against those "godless communists" if the one complaining were our atheist president.

Related articles

Faith can be funny, too: 1-15-13

Laughter as a spiritual tool: 8-17-12

Misusing religious labels: 5-21-14

One of the dangers of religious labels can be seen in the current discussion and debate about just what constitutes Hindu nationalism.

It is a many-headed thing, as is Christian conservatism, Jewish progressivism or Islamic fundamentalism (all of which are so varied in their makeup that the terms may mean nothing at all).

The Economist offers this piece to help us understand what, if anything, Hindu nationalism means in light of the recent election of a new prime minister there who identifies himself as a Hindu nationalist.

The article describes Hindu nationalism as " a political ideology that is expressed differently by a variety of groups which share little more than a family resemblance."

Life often is fuzzy when we want it to be clear.

But if we insist on such clarity when we talk about religion and its many expressions, we drift further away from reality and the truth.

Although I lived in India for two years of my boyhood and although I try to stay reasonably up to date on the news from India, I am no expert on Hindu nationalism or the internal politics of that fascinating country.

But I do know that we have to be careful about labeling people this or that because labels usually hide much more than they reveal. Yes, I'm a Presbyterian, but there are all kinds of Presbyterians, some of whom have precious little in common with me in terms of theology.

So let's go easy on labels -- especially all you Hindu nationalists out there.

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UNTIL DEATH DO US IN

Here comes one more black mark on Missouri -- another execution. And the man being executed has been worried that it will be botched like the recent one in Oklahoma. Can't we stop this uncivilized terror?

Related articles

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