Birmingham Bowl Reflection: A Fast 40 Hours

*I don’t think the South Florida fans were feeling as optimistic when South Carolina scored a very late touchdown and then made the 2 point conversion. It got rather quiet on that side of the field. Of course, that changed when USF threw for 7 in overtime. I really thought Carolina had a chance to win in OT. Until then it was a very lopsided game.

*The rivalry between Bama and Auburn is real. Just seeing the license plate battle (who had which team on their plate) says it all.

*The light poles of The Old Grey Lady (the nickname of Legion Field) had to be at least 50 years old. They had weather worn rust and looked all of their age. Kind of like some of us fans.

*The So. Florida fans were unfortunate having the shady side of the field. Most of the time that is an advantage, especially in the south and summertime. Not so much on December 29 with a gusty cold front blowing through the night before the game.

*Birmingham is surrounded by the most southern end of the Appalachian mountain chain and that part of Appalachia is a striking feature of the city and area. I must say rather beautiful.

*Uptown Birmingham is nice, albeit a bit new by all appearances. It’s in the heart of downtown and had some nice restaurants and entertainment. It is a nice feature for Birmingham to showcase.

*I-20 through Atlanta reminded me of NASCAR--again. Everyone does 70 mph and above—easy.

*I am convinced that car turn signals are outlawed in Alabama. It seems that very, very few people used them. (See note on NASCAR and I-20 above…)

*You know you are in the south when you have the option of buying “Dreamland Barbeque” from one of those mobile van hitch and go restaurants.

*Sometimes the best part of traveling is turning down and getting some much needed sleep.

*The next best thing sometimes is the wake up free breakfast at the hotel. It’s never good to overeat, but…

*How is that 18 hour bowl game trips feel like 7 days after the fact??

*Having 2 bowl game travelers made some things less complicated. For example when people car pooled and traveled with 8 or more it can make choosing the place to eat a bit more complicated.

*Columbia SC feels more southern than Birmingham AL. It’s an intuitive thing. Hard to say why but it just feels that way.

*The Vulcan statue is an impressive sight as it oversees the city of Birmingham and gives a nod to metalworking and production of steel in the city.  

*You know you are in the southern Appalachians when the warm up street party has a band with an electric ukulele and an electric banjo.

*Hotel coffee is never as good as the stuff at home. Never.

*Mid-level bowl games are less expensive in all ways compared to the major bowls. Cheap is good sometimes.

*It’s ok to lose a bowl game. It is obvious that many mid-level bowls are very family friendly. I saw tons of younger fans. That’s a good thing. Again, cheaper is good especially with families with kids who went to the bowl.

*This was my second bowl game. First was the Liberty Bowl in 2006. Lots of fun. Highly recommend if one is willing to spend the money and time.

*Most of all, hanging out with my son, Austin, now that is priceless.  

*GO GAMECOCKS! Hoping to go bowling in 2017 in a bigger and better bowl.

Hello...

The world renowned musician Adele has one of the most powerful voices I have ever heard—ever.  It is deep, strong, and moves the listener to feel the music as much as hear it.  
 
Yet, the real strength in Adele’s music is the message sometimes.  Her song “Hello” is one which we need to hear more.  It is one that we need to act on too.  When is the last time you or I have said “Hello” to someone and sought to meet him or her and sought to know that person a more real, personal way?  Her song for me is a spiritually and emotionally moving invitation to connect with others and to open myself to the life of other human beings.   
 
Our lives are governed by the clock.  No one knows how much time he or she has on this earth.  Is there someone who you want to call, text, or email?  Maybe you will be the one who reaches out and makes the first step of communication.  Maybe your “hello” will be the start of something deeper.  
 
Working in a hospital has been a constant reminder to me that it is always dangerous to “read the book by judging the cover.”  Sometimes the content of the book is anything but what the cover is revealing or showing.  Instead, the cover is just that.  It’s a façade, a first impression, and superficial picture of what is deep down in the heart and soul of a person.    One of the most hurtful things that a person can experience are the bias and prejudgment based on looks, religion, race, ethnicity, gender and so on.  I would like to think that a simple “Hello...” can be the starting point of making deeper connection with others and with God.  I want to be a person who says “Hello” even more so now and I hope that it will lead to deep connections with new and old friends that touch on emotions, thinking, and spirituality.  
 
So, today, I share a heartfelt “HELLO” to you as you read this blog.  Feel free to say something back.  I am always interested knowing readers of this blog in a more deeper way.  Here’s a link to the song if you need it.
 
http://www.vevo.com/watch/adele/hello/GBH481500074

Where Spirituality and Illness Meet: The Middle Ground

Some people need to become more human.  Some people need to become more spiritual.  

Wholeness is found in the middle ground.  It’s the place where the coastal sea water from the Atlantic Ocean meets the black soil of the South Carolina coast.  It’s a rich and fertile place where marsh grass thrives, shrimp populate the grassy reeds, and redfish troll the high tides for dinner.  The meeting and convergence of water and land is much like the meeting of the physical and the spiritual.  It’s the place where one has to merge with the other and something magical and something important becomes reality. 

As a minister my growing edge is on the “becoming more human” side of the equation.  Just recently I read an excellent tweet from Twitter that was trying to “normalize” (eliminate shame) the fact that humans become physically ill, experience terrible disease processes, and eventually face difficult medical challenges.  For some that happens very early in life as a neonatal baby, and for others in their 20’s, and the much more fortunate, those in their the 50’s and 60’s when one has to carry more daily medications in his or her briefcase just to take care of themselves one more day.  Here’s the point of the tweet I mention and my point now:  Having illness is “normal” because it is reality and we have to find ways to talk about it more and to recognize our humanness, our fragile bodies that depend on equilibrium and homeostasis.  Yet, sometimes we are anything from feeling even-keeled or living in a good equilibrium.  A recent prescribed dose of antibiotics confirmed my disequilibrium as my stomach rumbled and tried to cope with the antibiotics.

Honoring our imperfect bodies is a way to honor our deep connection with God.  It means looking to God for grace so that one can “gracefully age.”  Sometimes prayers and reading and reflection can help one “accept one’s humanity which does eventually include illness.”   

I encourage you and me to find fellow strugglers who are able and want to live in the middle.  In my case, the goal is to accept my humanity, find true physical and spiritual wellness, and to live a balanced life.  Illness can send that balance out of orbit with one abnormal lab result for sure.    I think we need more ministers, more medical professionals, more people who can help others and themselves to “normalize” the experience of illness and give people space and time to make sense of it.  I venture that healing will happen as people balance medical challenges with an alive faith and in that find health and meaning and purpose for living. 

Finding Meaning in the Ordinary: A Spiritual Embrace of the Routine

Here are some ordinary tasks of life that you may enjoy, may moderately enjoy, may moderately dislike, or may find much too mundane. 

·         Getting gas for your car

·         Buying groceries

·         Attending church with the same people every week

·         Giving your pet dog a bath

·         Washing your car by hand or going through the drive through

·         Cutting the grass, trimming the hedges

·         Ironing clothes in preparation for work

·         Doing the laundry and washing dishes

·         Checking your email

·         Monitoring your finances online

·         Making a visit to someone who may or may not respect your time

·         Doing homework

·         Going for a six month dental cleaning

·         Moving the clock back one hour or ahead during “time change”

·         Working at the same job with the same people

Life can be so ordinary.  It’s sometimes tempting to look for the more glitzy and exciting parts of life instead of embracing the routine.  What if the State Fair or Coastal Carolina Fair happened every weekend of the year?  It would probably lose its special fanfare with the citizens.   Having the State Fair once a year for two weeks in the fall makes it distinctive.  Sometimes finding meaning in the mundane takes work.  For me it’s part of being human, and so is the work of maintaining my body, my car, my house appliances, and my soul. 

Moving into the ordinary tasks of life can be meaningful even if their completion is not very glamorous.  Tending to one’s soul is connected to the routine parts of life like shaving, bathing, exercising, sleeping, and eating.  In our routines we accept the world as it is and not as we wish it would be.  We embrace the basic, the simple, the routines as God’s world and our work.  We need the ordinary and we need the special.  Embracing both the distinctive and routine will let us fully accept our human condition, its struggle, and its demand to do the sometimes hard tasks of life.  For students that means studying and writing research papers on difficult topics which is never easy.  Yet, in the routine and mundane and daily tasks we accept our true humanity. 

The birds of air teach us so much.  I am amazed at how birds build a nest, one stick and one piece of weed at a time and one step at a time.  It’s the way of the animal world.  It’s our way too.  One task and one step we move closer to knowing ourselves and God our Creator.   Self-awareness and connection to God are both mundane and profound and probably ordinary and extraordinary at the same time.   Let us ponder the routine and ordinary and in them find our life.  Amen.  

Blessing Your City: Post "Hurricane Matthew"

Jeremiah 29:7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Hurricane Matthew just blew a path of destruction through Haiti, Cuba, and other Caribbean countries, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and eventually North Carolina.  All of us live in our own countries and our cities.   Through the years some cities become more near and dear to our hearts.  Some cities we are glad to leave watching them from one’s rear view car mirror.  Which city is closest to your heart?  Which city do your truly care about and work for its welfare?  I am challenged by the above scripture to work for the welfare of my own city.  Today that would be the cities of Columbia-Irmo.

Here is a list of cities where I have lived as a teenager and adult:

King of Prussia, PA
San Antonio, TX
San Angelo, TX
West Chester, PA
Fort Worth, TX
Summerville, SC
Dallas, NC
Columbia-Irmo, SC

Each of the above places, cities and population has been unique and special for me.  Most of them are large cities but Dallas and Summerville are the two smaller towns.  I have tried to put down roots in each place and I have worked to be helpful to the larger community.  In some cases it was obvious that the city was more of way station on my spiritual path to the next place.  For example, I lived in Fort Worth as a seminary student and never intended to stay there afterwards.

My daughter Heather went to college in Spartanburg, SC.  They call the city “Sparkle City” because it is so clean.  They also call it Hub City because of all the railroads that run through it.  Most importantly Heather has consistently talked, tweeted, texted, and posted on Face Book all of the ways she values the city and how she has helped make it better.  Even last week while working at USC-Upstate she helped college students and others get registered to vote for the 2016 general election.  She is also involved and supportive of urban gardens.  She is truly integrated into the work and social life of the city. She is committed to Spartanburg’s welfare and it is truly inspirational to me.  

"Becoming"

Old Man take a look at my life, I'm a lot like you. That's what Neil Young sang.


Jesus called us to follow him and to become like God. That's what Jesus said.
 
Yet becoming somewhat like dad or mom means I have become a little something that I never expected.
 
Becoming involves destiny and genes, culture and powerful stories, which all hide deep in my soul.

Becoming is a hidden work. It shows me my genetic history and my living story that are layered like the earth's crust.


Becoming a little like dad or mom is rather unexpected.  It's ok and I want to become who I am meant to be.


Like dad and mom, it was meant to be.  How could it not be?  It was set in the code even before I knew me.


Old man take a look at my life, I'm a lot like you. O God, take a look at my life, may I be more like you.

(9/6/2016)

Work Anniversaries: Staying, Growing, and Becoming

I just celebrated the 15^th anniversary at my current place of employment.  Staying and growing in one place has many benefits.  I would like to share a few:

Staying gives opportunity to build trusting relationships and to prove oneself to be helpful and supportive to others and the larger mission.  Yesterday’s successes don’t guarantee today’s success but it does make it more likely when strength is built upon strength.

Someone once said that the 30 year pastor has 30 years' experience.  Year one was the same as year 30.  Nothing changed much and the person and the organization benefited little.  Growth and adaptation are needed to ensure one is a contributing and helpful member of the larger work system.

There is always a new challenge and something new to achieve.  One has to seek out new opportunities and even ask for them.  I try to be open and flexible and ask for new ways to serve and grow.

Deep and lasting relationships are built and make the workplace enjoyable and rewarding.  Lifelong friendships are built.  Feedback is easier to give and receive when we have longevity and trust with work associates and colleagues. 

Finally, I try never to take my work for granted.  Milestones and work anniversaries help one to track progress and to plan new goals and help one to chart increased effectiveness and efficiency.    

Teamwork: How Losing 66 to -1 Won't Go Away

Winning is a team sport.  Losing is a team sport.  I prefer winning.

When we moved to Summerville from Fort Worth, Texas in 1993 I was pleasantly surprised and delighted to learn that our home was about 32 miles to Folly Beach and Summerville High School had a powerhouse football team and even had a wrestling team.  The wrestling team part was the biggest surprise since I had assumed that it was more of a northern sport with so many of the great wrestling states located up north and in the north central part of the USA.  Those states would include (very partial list) Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Iowa, and just for fun Oklahoma from the southwest part of the country.

Somewhere in the mid to late 1970’s I was a part of the Upper Merion recreational wrestling league.  It was more serious than recreational since many of us wrestled in the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) junior Olympics.  It was serious fun and serious work.  Just ask some of my buddies who wrestled with our very serious “win at all costs coach” Dale Irwin!  Anyway, one weekend our group traveled to Phillipsburg, NJ where our team lost 66 to -1!  I kid you not.  That score means that most of our team got pinned (not good) and then our coach was given a technical for acting up and henceforth the -1.  It was rather humiliating and Phillipsburg was just that good, extremely good.  I guess I should have added New Jersey to the list above. 

Team scoring in wrestling is a cumulative matter.  There are about 12 matches and every match produces a winner and a score.  I think a “pin” gets one team 6 points and then lesser for points for win or winning by a great amount.  For example winning 12-1 can get a team an extra point.  It’s cumulative and one’s own match and outcome ultimately affects the team.  Isn’t that true in life too?  It’s true for work, family, neighborhoods, cities and countries.  Small wins do matter.  Small wins lead to big wins and team wins.  Losing 66 to -1 was epic.  I can’t remember a personal sports event where my team lost so badly.   Losing like winning can be cumulative as well.  Our individual performances matter.  Winning and losing are team outcomes and determined by our individual performance.  I prefer winning and I imagine you do too.  Let us always remember that our individual performance does matter.  Winning is truly a team sport.  

Still Learning from a Missed Opportunity from 1989

I had the privilege of working with Dr. Paul Broyles who was a Baptist minister who was trained and schooled at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky during its days of academic height and stature in the middle to late 1960’s.  In 1988 he was the pastor of a new Baptist church plant, Southern Baptist, in the suburbs of Philadelphia (West Chester).  The church met at The New Century Club which was the Women’s Club that started the first free kindergarten in 1899 in West Chester.  The church, Emmanuel Baptist, would eventually be the place of my ordination to ministry and so it holds a special place in my heart.  

Dr. Broyles invited this young, 25 year old, new missionary and minister in training to learn the art and craft of interpreting scripture and writing and delivering a good sermon.  Paul was a thoughtful, moderate, very well educated Baptist minister but not even those credentials would push me over the edge to accept his invitation to learn from a proven preacher, a gifted minister, and a fine gentleman.  I was too interested in learning the crafts on my own--the hard way, trial and error.  I wish I would have taken him up on his offer to help me learn the craft.  I really missed a golden opportunity to learn from him but maybe I learned an even greater lesson than I first imagined.  I learned the lesson that learning from others is a give and take process.  It’s a matter of opening oneself and being willing to learn and grow.  That’s a hard lesson for 25 year old who is sold on the idea of “pulling himself up by his own bootstraps.”  

Looking back some 28 years, now, I can see that I was doing the best I could.  I was more interested in my own learning than learning from others.  Even today I have not forgotten that missed opportunity.  I still have fond thoughts of Dr. Broyles and his patient, kind, and gracious approach to Christian ministry.  Missed opportunities are sometimes life’s greatest lessons.  

A Shared Poem on Hope

"Hope" is the thing with feathers

Related Poem Content Details

BY EMILY DICKINSON

“Hope” is the thing with feathers - 

That perches in the soul - 

And sings the tune without the words - 

And never stops - at all - 

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - 

And sore must be the storm - 

That could abash the little Bird 

That kept so many warm - 

I’ve heard it in the chillest land - 

And on the strangest Sea - 

Yet - never - in Extremity, 

It asked a crumb - of me.

A Father's Love

A Father's Love -
In honor of Father's Day 2016

by George M Rossi
June 17, 2016

He puts God first.

He cares enough to want and expect the best of his kids.

He is soft-hearted and open to the tender moments of life.

He sets an example of working hard, earning his hire and wages.

He is well versed in the classics of economics, politics, religion, and civic duties and wants his kids to be and do the same.

He learns from the mistakes of his own father and works to do better; he expects his son to do better than he did if God allows him to be a father.

He lets his daughters know that they are highly loved, highly favored and worthy of the best care from others.

He knows how to enjoy life and recreate and he does that with his kids and family.

He knows that sacrifice is the calling of all fathers and much is required of those who have been given much.

He loves animals.

He is a warrior who can defend his family on a moment's notice and he can look evil in the eye and not flinch.

He believes in grace and mercy and tries to share those always.

He is not afraid to stop and help the stranded driver on the Interstate highway knowing that it could be him one day on that road.

He values tried and true traditions but he also moves with times.

He is a patriotic and knows that Freedom is never free and someone paid the price for his freedom which is cherished with reverence.

He shares his heart and wisdom with younger fathers who need guidance and help as they grow into fatherhood.

He knows the true Father:  The God of light and love who does not change and the One who is full of justice, love, grace and mercy.

Happy Father's Day Dad.
 

Religion, Politics, and Money: Maybe We Should Talk About Them

June 1, 2016

Taboo topics are learned.  Each of us learned from our families, parents, and communities which topics were off limits.  Growing up in suburban Philadelphia I was taught that the topics of religion, politics, and money were three topics to leave alone.  They were to be avoided so that one did not put his neighbor, co-worker, family member or friend in the bind of having to choose between “being right about one’s beliefs” and keeping a friendship intact.  It was a live a let live world in the 1970’s.

Today it is not as easy to avoid those subjects with Twitter, Facebook, and the cable 24/7 world giving so many of us the ability to share our values, opinions, and beliefs.  Yet, like most topics, good and civil conversation can always be enlightening and helpful.  It is the dose and amount that sometimes becomes unbearable.  Some people just have to “be right” or have the last word.  I have tried to move away from that approach to life and now work on defining my own beliefs and values so that I can grow and even change when needed.

So, as we continue forward into the 2016 election season that is steeped in an average economy and surrounded by many religions and spiritual beliefs let us move forward with the goal of having genuine heartfelt conversation.  If we do then the topics won’t be as “taboo” and maybe more people will engage the political, religious, and economic conversations of the day.

Finally, I want to say that I have decided to not let my friends and families political votes get in the way of me conversing with them and learning from them.    So, if you vote for Bernie, Hillary, Trump, or another yet unnamed person then more power to you.    I can only hope you will not judge me or let religion, politics, or money conversations be the only way we connect or not connect.  Surely, we are one great country and we all need each other more than we know or even admit.   We are one nation, indivisible and committed to the goal of liberty and justice to all, and “all” means “all people” regardless of their religious, political, and economic opinions.  May the conversations begin and continue!  

Music: Food for the Soul

Growing up in the 1970s was a great time for music.  Rock was king.  My musical ears were spoon-fed Genesis, Kansas, Yes, Led Zeppelin, Boston, Styx, Earth Wind and Fire, and Steely Dan to name just a few.  Music greatly influenced me then and continues to do so this day.  Since then I have become a Country Music fan, mostly the newer stuff that sounds like a blend of country, rock and pop.  Musicians like Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan and Rascal Flats are really good.  Their music touches the soul and lifts me up where I can be encouraged and even process the myriad of feelings that a hospital chaplain encounters on a daily basis.  Songs like “If I Die Young” by The Band Perry and “You Should Be Here” by Cole Swindell really give voice to feelings of sadness when death strikes or people go through hard times. 

June 12, 1981 was a great day.  I walked from the Upper Merion High School building in line right next to my twin brother Mark to the football field where the chairs were assembled for our high school graduation.  This year is our 35^th high school reunion which historically meets in the fall around Thanksgiving.  I don’t know if I am going to attend the reunion but I have not made one yet so time will tell.  I was reminiscing with some of my fellow 1981 graduates on Face Book about which songs would be our “1981 Theme Song.”  I proposed the following:  “All Good People” by Yes, “Carry On Wayward Son” by Kansas, “Ramble On” by Led Zeppelin, “Starship Trooper” by Yes, and “Solesbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel.  The post was well received and many enjoyed offering their song that would be their suggestion for “the Class song” for our 1981 class.  Talking about music from the past continues to be a very strong connection for the present and hopefully the future.  Feelings associated with past songs can find their way again into my life as I listen, with new and more aged ears, on You Tube. 

In 1977 I had a ticket in hand ready to see Led Zeppelin at 100 thousand seat JFK Stadium in Philadelphia.  That concert never happened when Robert Plant’s 5 year old daughter died unexpectedly from an illness.  I remember being very disappointed that the concert was cancelled but of course that was totally understandable given the tragic family event.  As it turned I never did see Zeppelin in concert.   Music has always been an important part of my life.  In my baccalaureate studies at Our Lady of the Lake I took a class with Dr. Sister Jule Adele who was a Ph.D. in music history from Indiana University.  The class was titled, “From Rock to Bach.”  I enjoyed it.  Yes, a music class with a Ph.D. nun as professor.    

Each Sunday I have the choice of attending the traditional worship service with hymns, anthems sung by the choir, and solos that are slower than the very contemporary 10 piece band that leads worship at 11:30am.  Both music programs in the service touch my heart.  Neither is better than the other.  Sometimes I just plain enjoy seeing the drummer in the 11:30am service. He can really play.  I find it inspirational for my soul and my emotions.  Both styles of music lead me to worship God.  That’s what music does for me.  It takes me back to God.  It allows me to feel and know emotions I may not know if the world was all spoken words without notes, guitar licks, drums beating, and electric keyboards harmonizing.  Music is truly food for my soul.   

Experiencing God's Presence: Creating Space for Others

Lately I have been spiritually and emotionally impacted by the fact that relationships with others and God are simple yet profound ways to grow spiritually.  Even more importantly I would venture that a deeper spiritual experience is sure to blossom as we converse, share thoughts and feelings, or even have a meal together.  Solitude and the inner journey have their place for sure, but so does the need for spiritual connectedness and that most easily happens when we create non-judgmental space for others and God to be with us and us with them.  Spiritual growth is an inner experience and an outer experience.  Today I am talking about the outer experience and the way in which others become catalysts and sparks for spiritual growth.  For example, just sitting and attending to another person allows me to know and to learn from others.  I need that.  I cherish the reality that another person’s presence and my interaction with them can be a point of trusting, spiritual connection.  In a mystical sense the whole (other, self, God) is greater than the sum of the parts.  God’s grace and essence are found in our midst as we create space for others.         

Doing Nothing

It all starts when I turn off my iPhone.  That right there is a feat unto itself, and it is almost life and death—not really but it feels that way since I am cutting off electronic input from the world outside of me.  I really am trying to learn how to "do nothing."  You all would not realize the difficulty of that specific spiritual practice for me.  It gets better.  I lay down, turn down the lights and just chill.  The darkness and quiet are my friends.  It is energizing, helpful and infuses my soul with quiet, peace, and calm, as the Spirit is at work.  It’s a good thing and there is so much progress that needs to be made.  Thankfully I am relearning that it is ok to do nothing.  Laying down and turning off the phone is acceptable to me.  I find rest and I find peace.  The stillness of the middle evening is welcomed as darkness, peace and calm become new friends again.   

Here Come the Baptists

I am convinced that there are inherent suppositions and presumptions that all of us make about religious groups.  No doubt you think of various ideas and images when I use the words Christian, Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal, Sikh, Muslim, and Buddhist to name a few.  I have a background that is rooted in two streams of Christian groups and thought:  Catholicism and Baptist.   Those two groups share a common love and appreciation for loving God and neighbor, Scripture as having authority, Trinitarian theology (God as distinctly one yet expressed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and commitment to live a life of faith and good works.

In seminary I read and immensely enjoyed Dr. Leon McBeth’s book titled, “The Baptist Heritage:  Four Centuries of the Baptist Witness.”  It was a wonderful book for this 29 year old upstart, Baptist minister in training.   I do realize that the word “Baptist” carries a lot baggage with it just like other religious traditions.  It goes with the turf. 

Here are a few of the more interesting Baptist heritage historical notes and a few of my Top 5 favorites

The Middle Colonies of PA, MD, NJ, and DE were full of Baptist churches and ministers.  Many of them migrated down from New England where they first arrived to America.  They were great proponents of religious liberty and believers in the First Amendment. 

The First Baptist Church in Charleston, SC was founded and started by Baptists from Kittery, Maine.

The American Baptist Churches of the USA is headquartered in my hometown King of Prussia, PA, which is just 15 miles west of Philadelphia. 

The oldest Baptist Association in the USA was started in 1707 in Philadelphia.

Baptists have been champions of the first amendment and proponents of the no establishment of religion clause by the Government, otherwise known as “separation of church and state.”  That is the history and something that needs constant attention and discussion so that clear boundary lines are kept.  I still think that faith can and should influence culture and the public square where values and ideals are hashed out in everyday life.

So, what does it mean to be Baptist?  I can only answer that for me.  When I arrive at home, at work, at church, at the grocery store my goal and hope is to be a caring Christian who is thoughtful, tolerant, and faithful to God.  I want to be someone who can appreciate and understand the Holy Scriptures and also be someone who can dialogue with other people from all faiths.  I value the priesthood of all believers, the authority of the local church, and the separation of church and state.   To be Baptist means someone who is freely in contact with God in Christ needing no other intermediary.  There is soul freedom but it is always couched in an ethic that calls me and other Baptists to love God with all my heart, soul, and mind and to love my neighbor as myself.  Of course the old joke says, “Put 5 Baptists in a room and you will get 6 opinions.”  That is probably true.  So I present to you what I consider the strengths of the Baptist faith and how it is so diverse.  Surely it is more complicated and more diverse than maybe first assumed and I know that is a humbling thought as I think about some other belief systems and faiths such as Sikh, Muslim, and Buddhist. There is much yet to learn for sure. 

We Are Meant to be Free

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  (2 Corinthians 3:17)

 

If I could give one gift to everyone in the world I would give freedom.  I would give freedom so that others would be able to freely work, worship, serve, lead, and administrate their lives.  Freedom is so important.  It makes people unbound, uncontrolled and set loose to do what people are meant to do.  Granted freedom in itself will not make us productive, loving or helpful but it is a certain starting point.  Without freedom we are not able to truly follow the Spirit (God) and we are unable to move and be who we are meant to be.  With freedom we can dream, we can change our minds and we can rethink solutions for problems.  With freedom there are less hindrances and ties to unhelpful anchors or stumbling blocks.  Freedom gives us the air under our wings to fly and to become. Freedom is like oxygen.  Without freedom we can lose breath and lose spirit and lose life. 

 

I believe that our spiritual journeys have built in struggles.  In those struggles and pain we can learn to grow and learn to be free.  We can use the St Francis saying (summarized), “accept the things that we can’t change and change the things we can.”  Change can bring freedom.  Freedom allows us to grow and to follow our heartfelt desires and goals. 

 

Are you free?  I hope so.  I am free.  I am free to live, to work, to worship and to love and help others.  Freedom gives me the ability to do these meaningful tasks of life.  I love being free.  It is a gift from God. May God grant all who struggle the freedom they need to become and do what they are meant to be and do.