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. 

Picking Up the Pieces

 

Most everyone knows that the Head Ball Coach Steve Spurrier resigned as head coach.  You do know he resigned and didn’t retire, right?  I am not sure that mattered to anyone other than the HBC but sometimes wording and “spin” are important in making a point.  I will miss him.  He did more for the University of SC than many former coaches combined times ten.

Coach Shawn Elliott was named interim coach.  I thought he did a great job.  I followed him on Twitter and noticed that his wife tweeted a “thank you” note to him for a great job of “picking up the pieces” of the team after the HBC resigned.  I agree with Mrs. Elliott.  Well said mam and well deserved for Shawn.  Coach Elliott really did pick up the pieces and served the Gamecocks in admirable fashion as they moved on “Spurrier-less.”  Changes have a way of deconstructing the established structures and after 10 years of leadership that is a lot of structure that can come undone.  Yet Coach Elliott worked to bring the team together and to help them revision and remission their goal as a team.

Sometimes we have to pick up the pieces in our lives.  That can mean job changes, coping with the death of beloved pets, moving to a new state, becoming an “empty nester,” retirement, divorce, relationship changes, and even changing faith communities.  Loss is always around and a woven piece of fabric in our daily lives.  No one is immune to loss.

We are not without hope though.  We can build love, faith, hope, joy, and beauty into our lives and these spiritual values can help us create resiliency for the current loss and resiliency for losses that await us in the future.  I have had my fair share of losses.  I have done my fair share of weight lifting and exercise (not so much lately) and I know that today’s workout will help me with tomorrow’s workout.  Exercise and workout today leads to greater strength and resiliency for tomorrow.  As we pick up the pieces, may we grow stronger, wiser, and even savvier with the hope of achieving the good goals of peace, happiness, and having a new purpose and new mission in life.