HAITIANS RESILENT, HOPEFUL SOULS RESURRECTED

Not the headline I'd give it, but this is my Letter to the Editor published today in the Indianapolis Star

The perspective conveyed in The Star ("Frustrations grow in Haiti," Feb. 3) belies a larger picture of what is occurring in Port-au-Prince. In spite of frustrations with relief distributed by international aid organizations and a decapitated government, I witnessed gracious and hopeful acts among Haitians.

I just returned from a week in Port-au-Prince where I served with a relief and response team of the Free Methodist Church. We delivered water filters, established a well-drilling team and assessed damages at 16 schools supported by International Child Care Ministries. We also moved forward the excavation of a collapsed building where Indianapolis missionary Rev. Jeanne Acheson-Munos was killed in the Jan. 12 quake. 

I have seen people swinging sledgehammers at mountains of concrete, steel and rebar. I have seen residents sweeping away the debris. I have seen neighbors share the little food they have with one another. I have seen outdoor markets bustling with exchange of goods. I have witnessed Haitians, still shocked and fear-filled, walk into buildings, sit down at desks and work.

On Sunday, I watched hundreds of Haitians walking through rubble to gather for public worship -- an expression of unshakable faith in a completely shakable world. The earthquake may well have revealed and resurrected the resilient and hopeful soul of Haiti's people.

John Hay Jr.

Indianapolis

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INDY WINTER WONDERLAND

Friday's snow brings a dawn of deep powder across Central Indiana

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A DIVINE CONNECTION

A prayer of grateful recognition of God's daily presence

O God,

I have a desire to be connected to you,
not in merely official or superficial ways.
And as long as I have been praying,
attempting to converse with you
and living in relationship to you,
I have felt or sensed that connection.
I have never felt denied or ignored,
or perceived my efforts were illusory.

That I am conscious of you,
and that this consciousness is both
comforting and agitating,
deepening and transcending,
knowing and mysterious,
is, to me, reason enough to
continue to pray and live
in light of your grace.

That I recognize and am graced by this connection
does not mean I grasp or understand it,
or that I begin to comprehend you.
But because you are there,
and because I sense you are with me,
I approach life as a sacred journey
on which I am being graciously led,
in which I have much to learn,
and perhaps as much to share.

Amen.

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A FEW GLIMPSES OF THE HAITI I SAW

These few photos don't tell the whole story, but something of what I observed in Port-au-Prince last week

Haitians are taking sledge hammers to mountains of concrete, steel and rebar.  They are picking up and sweeping away the debris.  Aid organizations are employing many in the relief and recovery effort.

At their request, I trained ICCM staff to assemble Sawyer water filters.  Using 5-gallon buckets, the filters clean 5-gallons of water in 20 minutes--enough for a family for a day.  We delivered 200 filters ($50 per) and have 1000 more to send.  The ICCM staff is sharing these in the refugee camps, where clean water is a critical issue.

Indianapolis missionary the Rev. Jeanne Acheson-Munos perished in the collapse of the Friends Of Haiti Organization building where she and her husband, Jack Munos, lived. Her body remains there until the building can be excavated.  Jeanne was beloved to the neighborhood.  Someone paid tribute with this graffiti in Creole:  "Farewell, Pastor Jeanne. May you rest in peace.  We will never forget you."

 

The Santo ICCM School in Port-au-Prince had a brand-new second and third floor in 2008. It was a model facility.  But it was no match for the 7.0 quake on January 12.  Three students died and more were injured in this collapse.

The amazing thing to me is that these boys can smile 17 days after the quake crumbled their world.  The mood is changing in Port-au-Prince. Shock and bewilderment is yielding to acceptance and readiness to rebuild out of the brokenness.

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HAITI AT ITS WORST...AND BEST?

I was not around for its previous worsts, but I what I see today holds promise for its best yet

I have seen Haiti at its worst--at least in this century.

I was not around when this island’s original inhabitants were slaughtered by sword and died of European-borne diseases against which their bodies were defenseless.

I was not around when this land became a major port of slave trading—a point of bargain, exchange, and auction of human beings shipped like cattle from Africa. 

I was not around for those many generations when European capitalists oppressed, exploited and dehumanized this African-heritage people.

I was not around when the first independent African-heritage nation’s leaders squandered its initial promise and reduced its people to subsistence living.

But I am around to see the worst today.  I have seen a nation’s structures toppled--from its presidential palace to a thousand rural homes.  I have seen its people living in refugee camps in the shadow of what were their homes.  I have smelled death emanating from the rubble of pancaked buildings.  I have seen its people standing in long lines for a little food.

I believe I have also seen Haiti at its best.

I have seen people swinging sledge hammers at mountains of rock-hard concrete.  I have seen residents sweeping away debris.  I have seen neighbors share the little food they have with one another.  I have witnessed Haitians, still fear-filled, walk into buildings, sit down at desks and working.  I have listened to heart-cries of grief mixed with voiced hopes for a new Haiti.

If the earthquake devastated an already-distressed people, it may well have revealed and resurrected something of its resilient and hopeful soul.

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NOW, ONLY THE SKY CAN FALL

January 30, 2010

Leogane, Haiti

Today, we visited Leogane.  The 7.0 earthquake that brought down 30% of the homes and buildings in Port-au-Prince on January 12, 2010 was centered near Leogane, about 30 miles west of the port.  Leogane did not fare nearly as well as Port-au-Prince.  Here, 90% or more of all structures collapsed.  Driving through the town on National Road 2, I am reminded of pictures of bombed-out towns at the end of World War II.

Buildings with more than one story are pancaked.  Walls of single-story structures are toppled inward or outward.  Around each collapsed building rubble piles high.  Steel beams, aluminum strips and rebar protrude upward in every direction.  A team of explosive experts could not have done a more thorough job.

In front of and beside crumbled houses--surreally--new structures have been erected.  This post-modern architecture features hastily-cut wood-pole frames covered with a patchwork of tarp and canvass.  These huts mix in with a smattering of manufactured tents—Coleman, Timberline, Wal-Mart.  They form groups of four or five, or ten or fifteen, or 200 or 250 on open spaces along the roadway through whole stretch of town.

As with every other area near Port-au-Prince since the temblor, it seems like everyone is outside.  No one here trusts a roof.  No one believes in the power of a concrete city anymore.

It was buildings that fell on so many of their loved ones and neighbors and injured or killed them.  It was concrete enclaves—so sturdy to withstand hurricane after hurricane—that trapped them alive.  It was these structures with wrought-iron grating on every window and door, surrounded by high walls topped with razor ribbon and locked gates that utterly failed to secure.  A roof over one’s head—every person’s basic symbol of safety and security—became the crusher of life.

Now, at least for now, the only safe place is outside the buildings that remain.  Now, only the sky can fall.

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INTERNATIONAL CHILD CARE MINISTRIES IN HAITI

40% of ICCM's international investment is in the children of Haiti

International Child Care Ministries, the initiative I’m working with, advocates for the spiritual, educational, physical and social development of children by partnering with friends globally.  Our primary strategies are sponsorships, scholarships, and creative initiatives on behalf of children in partnership with friends around the world.

We currently work with more than 21,000 sponsored children in 29 world areas. $21-a-month sponsorships help with education, food and supportive care that foster hopeful futures for kids.  ICCM's affiliation with Free Methodist church workers at local levels worldwide offers high levels of accountability and spiritual support.  ICCM-sponsored children are connected to a caring community of faith in whatever city, town or village they live in.

In Haiti, in particular, we have over 8,900 children under sponsorship.  These children attend 53 ICCM schools.  In the Port-au-Prince area—the area most affected by the January 12^th earthquake—we have 16 schools and 1,867 sponsored children.  Thus far, we have had sparse specific information about these children.  Like most residents of Port-au-Prince, many will be living on the streets in makeshift shelters.  Some may have perished in the January 12 quake.  More than a few may have become orphans.

ICCM is not a relief organization, though representatives from International Child Care Ministries have been on the ground in Haiti delivering water, food, water filters, and medical supplies.  We respond to crises, but our primary focus is to invest in the future of children through education, nutrition and spiritual care.

We know that many of our schools in Haiti have been damaged by the quake.  A damage assessment team is in Haiti at this time to visit our schools and make recommendations.  Some schools will need repair.  Others will need to be rebuilt.  All will need some equipment replaced.

Our sense is that the sooner education can be reestablished, the sooner this aspect of children’s disrupted lives can be restored and normalized, the better off they will be.  Our primary investment after the earthquake is in these schools and the education and well-being of children in Haiti.

ICCM is responding to the Haiti earthquake through our Special Projects Fund.  While sponsorship funds are directed to education costs, uniforms, and food for students, our Special Projects Fund invests in new schools, school repairs, and initiatives that complement the primary focus of education in these precious lives.  100% of contributions to our Special Projects Fund go to the intended purpose; we do not subtract any processing or support fees from this fund or contributions made to our food funds.

You can donate and explore International Child Care Ministries at www.childcareministries.org.  You can also see how the Free Methodist Church, with which we are affiliated, is responding to the Haiti earthquake at www.helphaitiheal.org.

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RESCUED AFTER 10 DAYS

This has got to be the best picture...ever.  This child was rescued 10 days after the January 12th earthquake in Port-au-Prince

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A WEEK OF HAITI EARTHQUAKE RESPONSES

I've been busy trying to learn and convey information on behalf of ICCM and 8,900 sponsored children in Haiti

This news clip on Indianapolis FOX affiliate TV 59 reflects just one of the challenge we've been grappling with since last Tuesday afternoon.

 

It's been a non-stop week for me and for many since learning of the devastating earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti last Tuesday afternoon.  Really, I just want to be in Haiti right now.  As much as I can do on these sidelines, in my heart I'd rather be on the streets with the suffering.  I'll just bullet-point some of the things I've been doing or involved in:

I've made a monetary contribution. I encourage you to do that right now. It's what's needed most by rescue and relief efforts at the moment.  Give through organizations you've come to count on, in whom you have confidence.

I'm praying.  Specific prayers?  Sometimes.  Mostly a vigilant presence of mind and heart.  I want my heart to continue to be broken and positively and wisely responsive to this natural disaster and humanitarian response.

Each day, I've gathered information and posted updates for the sponsors of ICCM.  We have 8,900 children who are sponsored in Haiti, 1867 of whom are in the Port-au-Prince area, along with staff.  The latest ICCM Bulletin can be accessed at this link.

I've met with ICCM and Free Methodist World Mission staff on effective responses and been on the phone much more than usual in response strategies and efforts.

I've met several times with the parents and a brother of Jeanne Acheson-Munos, who was buried and unable to be rescued of a Free Methodist building in Port-au-Prince.

I've conducted three TV interviews and several phone interviews with local media outlets regarding the loss of Jeanne, a woman who grew up and was based in Indianapolis.

I've monitored news outlets almost constantly, trying to keep up with breaking information and scanning for any news of our kids or leaders.  We know now that most of our ICCM and Free Methodist leaders are alive, though most have lost everything and are living in temporary shelter.

I have been working to share information and converse with people about the situation on Facebook and via Twitter.  Still very fascinated with these social networking media.

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THINKING OF HAITI, REMEMBERING JOB

The Beatitudes and Elie Wiesel speak to my soul in the wake of the Haitian catastrophe

In the wake of the devastating earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Tuesday, I went looking for some counsel.

I have significantly greater care for that island nation today than I did six months ago. International Child Care Ministries, with which I now serve, has 8,900 Haitian kids under sponsorship with 53 schools and a robust Haitian staff--none of which we have heard from yet.

Where does one go in the face of such loss of life and incomprehensible level of natural disaster? Don't even try to foist off pat and easy answers on me.

Still numb, I found myself turning to the Scriptures and to a Jewish holocaust survivor for counsel today.

I found help in the Beatitudes. Reading them as the primary message of Jesus reminds me that Jesus is not the success guru we sometimes try to make him out to be. Blessed are those who mourn; they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek; they'll inherit the earth. Blessed are the merciful; they'll be shown mercy. This is a very different message than an accusation of Haitians being cursed for making some pact with the devil that Christian TV evangelist Pat Robertson declared.

Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy.

And, I happened onto an observation on the Scriptures by Elie Wiesel, that eloquent, truth-telling, gut-wrenching holocaust survivor who has for a generation helped the world not only "never forget" but to remember well and choose to live differently. Here is Wiesel's statement from his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech:

"We must remember the suffering of my people, as we must remember that of the Ethiopians, the Cambodians, the boat people, the Palestinians, the Mesquite Indians, the Argentinian desaparedicos--the list seems endless.

"Let us remember Job, who, having lost everything--his children, his friends, his possessions, and even his argument with God--still found the strength to begin again, to rebuild his life. Job was determined not to repudiate the creation, however imperfect, that God had entrusted to him."

Let us mourn with those who mourn. Perhaps we together shall be comforted. And together build again.

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

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QUOTING B. T. ROBERTS

The founder of the Free Methodist Church reflected a perspective I can lean into

B. T. ROBERTS.  Benjamin Titus Roberts helped organize the Free Methodist Church as a fledgling denomination in 1860 after he and other Methodist ministers were put out of their mother church even as they tried to return it to the priorities, teachings and practices of John Wesley and original Methodism.

FREE AT LAST. Among the issues the Free Methodists contended for was a priority on proclaiming the doctrine of entire sanctification (freedom from sin), abolition of slavery and ordination of women (freedom of persons), abolishing church “pew rentals” that effectively shut the poor out of churches (free seats), a turn away from formalism (free worship), and simplicity in lifestyle (freedom from worldliness).

HOWARD A. SNYDER.  The following B.T. Roberts quotes come from an online paper by Howard A. Snyder (“’TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR’: MISSIONAL SELF-UNDERSTANDING IN EARLY FREE METHODISM, 1860-90”).  Snyder, who has already given us insightful books like The Radical Wesley, The Community of the King, Decoding the Church, and The Problem with Old Wineskins, authored an authoritative biography of B.T. Roberts titled Populist Saints.

THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.  “My special mission is to preach the gospel to the poor.  I believe that churches should be as free as the grace we preach.  The Lord allowed me to be thrust out as I was, because He saw that in this manner this work could be carried on to the best advantage.  The work is progress­ing and I expect to live to see FREE churches all over the land-especially in the cities where the poor are congregated.  This is a blessed work! (B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, January 1865)”

THE ILLS OF LIFE.  “The wealth of the world is in the hands of a few.  In every country the poor abound....  Sin has diffused itself every where, often causing poverty and suffering.  God assured his ancient people, favored above all others with precautions against want, that ‘the poor shall never cease out of the land.’  These are the ones upon whom the ills of life fall with crushing weight.  Extortion wrings from them their scanty pittance.  The law may endeavor to protect them; but they are without the means to obtain redress at her courts.  If famine visits the land, she comes unbidden to their table, and remains their guest until they are consumed.”

PROVISION FOR ALL.  “The provisions of the gospel are for all.  The ‘glad tidings’ must be proclaimed to every individual of the human race.  God sends THE TRUE LIGHT to illuminate and melt every heart.  It visits the palace and the dungeon, saluting the king and the captive…To civilized and savage, bond and free, black and white, the ignorant and the learned, is freely offered the great salvation.”

IN SPECIAL MANNER FOR THE MOST DESTITUTE.  “In her regard for the poor, Christianity asserts her superiority to all systems of human origin.  Human pride regards most the mere accidents of humanity; but God passes by these, and looks at that which is alone essential and imperishable.  In his sight, position, power, and wealth, are the merest trifles.  They do not add to the value or dignity of the possessor.  God has magnified man by making him free and immortal.  Like a good father, he provides for all his family, but in a special manner for the largest number, and the most destitute.  He takes the most pains with those who by others are most neglected.”

LAYING UP TREASURES.  “Jesus forbids his disciples to amass wealth.  His language is plain.  It requires a great deal of ingenuity to pervert it…  Must we take our choice between laying up treasures on earth or treasures in heaven?  To do both is impossible.  Deliberately take your choice.  Not to choose is inevitably to drift into the current of worldliness.  To choose the world is to choose sorrow, and trouble, and eternal death.”

TO SAVE THE RICH, AS WELL AS THE POOR.  “If you resolve to lay up treasures in Heaven, begin at once.  Give yourself to God to do good to the utmost of your ability to your fellow-men.  Adopt the motto of Wesley, ‘Gain all you can, save all you can, and give all you can….’  Plain, free churches are everywhere needed, quite as much to save the rich as to reach the masses and carry the Gospel to the poor.”

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BENEDICERE

I read this blessing  in Sojomail from Sojourners. In Latin Benedicere means “to bless."  It’s by Ken Sehested, a North Carolina pastor and stonemason.  Written on New Year’s Day 2005, it launches with a traditional Irish blessing.

May your home always be too
small to hold all your friends.

May your heart remain ever supple,
fearless in the face of threat,
jubilant in the grip of grace.

May your hands remain open,
caressing, never clinched,
save to pound the doors
of all who barter justice
to the highest bidder.

May your heroes be earthy,
dusty-shoed and rumpled,
hallowed but unhaloed,
guiding you through seasons
of tremor and travail, apprenticed
to the godly art of giggling
amid haggard news and
portentous circumstance.

May your hankering be
in rhythm with heaven's,
whose covenant vows a dusty
intersection with our own:
when creation's hope and history rhyme.

May hosannas lilt from your lungs:
God is not done;
God is not yet done.

All flesh, I am told, will behold;
will surely behold.

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HERE AND NOW

his reflection by Paul Tillich is one of my favorites, particularly at the New Year

PRESENT POSSIBILITIES.  "The goal of humankind is not progress toward a final stage of perfection; it is the creation of what is possible for us in each particular state of history; and it is the struggle against the forces of evil, old ones and new ones, which arise in each period in a different way.

KINGDOM COMING.  "There will be victories as well as defeats in these struggles.  There will be progress and regressions.  But every victory, every particular progress from injustice to more justice, from suffering to more happiness, from hostility to more peace, from separation to more unity anywhere among us, is a manifestation of the eternal in time and space.  It is, in the language of the writers of the Old and New Testaments, the coming of the Kingdom of God.  For the Kingdom of God does not come in one dramatic event sometime in the future.  It is coming here and now in every act of love, in every manifestation of truth, in every moment of joy, in every experience of the holy.

PRESENT STRUGGLE.  "The hope of the Kingdom of God is not the expectation of a perfect stage at the end of history, in which only a few, in comparison with innumerable generations, would participate, and the unimaginable amount of misery of all past generations would not be compensated.  And it might even be that those who would live in it, as 'blessed animals,' would long for the struggles, the victories and the defeats of the past.  No!  The hope of humankind lies in the here and now, whenever the eternal appeals in time and history.  This hope is justified; for there is always a presence and a beginning of what is seriously hoped for."

(Quoted in Prayers for the Common Good, edited by A. Jean Lesher, 1998, Pilgrim Press.  Paul Tillich, one of the 20^th century's outstanding Christian theologians, preached these words in 1965.)

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THREE SNOW POEMS

A celebration of snow in the heart of winter

I love snow.  I’ve been praying for snow in Indiana--enough snow to sled and cross-country ski in Eagle Creek Park, enough to change gray winter days into heart-jogging experiences of delight.  Here are three snow poems.  The first is mine.  The second two are by some two-bit New England poet by the name of Robert Frost (hey, even his last name points to his love for flakes!).

HOPING FOR SNOW

I’m waiting on the snow
A hope to fulfill;
I’ll prepare my skis,
Anticipate the thrill.

A Midwestern winter
With its bleak, dark days
Needs a good snow storm
To hearten the soul’s way.

Mere cold stiffens the heart
And drives us inside,
But warmth and four walls
Alone cannot abide.

I’m like a child praying
The snow will be deep
Enough for sledding,
And, tired from it, to sleep.

STOPPING BY THE WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

DUST OF SNOW

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

 

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LAST TO ARRIVE

We take our place at the continuing gathering ‘round the Babe of Bethlehem

At the end of the Christmas season and as Epiphany (January 6) dawns, I think about the continuing, unusual draw of unlikely people to an unlikely place—Bethlehem—and I pull together the makings of a poem:

First, census-responding throngs

swell the local populace,

burgeoning homes and hostels

with not-so-welcome guests.

Then, a man and pregnant young woman

arrive, seeking vainly for a room.

Bedding down in a stable,

their boy is born among livestock.

Later in the night, gnarled shepherds

traipse in, finding their way

to the mangered newborn,

just as an angel had told them.

How much later we do not know, Magi

come with gracious gifts,

following a star that draws them

from beyond any traceable map.

And later still, from the four corners

of earth and time, we make our trek.

Are we the last to arrive

at the gathering in Bethlehem?

Years from now, until the end of ages,

more will be drawn and find the One

whose birth angels once proclaimed

and so shall forevermore.

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BEATITUDES FOR THE NEW YEAR

I had an odd juxtaposition of thoughts: thinking about New Year's resolutions, I somehow leaped to the Beatitudes, that list of eight striking "blessings" or "attitudes"--or whatever they are--that Jesus shared (Matthew 5:1-12). I guess I was mulling over whether or not the Beatitudes qualify as resolutions.  I don't think they do, per se, but the New Year certainly offers an opportunity to consider embracing their challenges as an invitation to radical living today.

Here are the Beatitudes:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

A few reflections as I think about the Beatitudes in light of New Year's resolutions:

1. They go to the heart of what Jesus said and lived.

2. A Beatitude is likely to be perceived as a "blessing" only when we have lived through the tough circumstances to which it is a gracious response.  When we respond in Beatitude responses, we will know we have embraced them.

3. The Beatitudes are radical.  They go to the heart of our deepest passions and life circumstances.  They point to gut-wrenching realities of life: poverty and emptiness, loss and grieving, powerlessness and social contempt, spiritual hunger and yearning for right to prevail, seeing needy persons being treated unjustly and neglected, bitter division and violence, religious persecution, insults, gossip, and false accusations.  It seems to me that only heaven-borne grace can conceive of and make possible the radical outlook and actions described in the Beatitudes.

4. It is one thing to learn the Beatitudes, to have memorized them and to be able to quote them.  This is often as far as it goes in Christian catechism or Sunday School.  But, like the Ten Commandments or the Lord’s Prayer, familiarity does not mean we understand them or joyfully cultivate them as a heart and life orientation beyond a merely formal and legal application.  Compliant and eager to be an ideal Christian as I was as a child, I remember inwardly revolting at most of the Beatitudes.  It was easier to just recite them and keep them as stained glass phrases.  As I have continued to revisit them, my understanding and appreciation has increased, but they are no less challenging forty years later. 

5. The Beatitudes run counter to American machismo and status quo.  They unsettle the presumptions of consumer Christianity.  On the surface the Beatitudes seem to be a se-up for certain failure in society that apparently rewards rugged individualism, conformity to sameness, upward mobility, the appearance of mental or physical toughness, and a thoroughly materialistic and self-indulging orientation to value and action.  Dig deeper in the Beatitudes and it gets increasingly difficult to straddle kingdoms.  What emerges is that Jesus actually declares people blessed whom Western civilization has over the millennia come to despise or disparage.  The rest of Jesus’ ministry is one way or another verification that his is an upside down kingdom, an invitation to downward mobility, and an lifting up of all who sorrow, who are relegated to the margins.

6. Above all, the Beatitudes call for what Brennan Manning calls “ruthless trust.”  Because the blessedness or results described in the Beatitudes seem so far-fetched or distant, they call for ruthless trust in the invitation, worldview, Kingdom order, and certain future Jesus describes.  As Manning puts it: “Faith in the person of Jesus and hope in his promise means that his voice, echoing and alive in the Gospels, has supreme and sovereign authority over our lives.”  Does it get any more radical than that?

7. It is appropriate to consider the Beatitudes on the first day of the New Year.  And in this case, on the first day of a new decade.  So while we wish each other a Happy New Year, we might do better by offering each other a prayer for Beatitude grace.  And may we also receive the ruthless trust to see them come to fruition in our hearts, lives, and world.

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LOOKING BACK: FORGIVENESS & GRATITUDE

A few things come to mind as reflect briefly on the last twelve months.  I'm thinking in terms of forgiveness and gratitude.  Some things and people I forgive--including myself.  Some things I am particularly grateful for at this moment.

I recognize that I let small things and small-minded people really get to me in 2009. I permitted these to seriously unsettle me. I regret that. Forgiving them. Forgiving myself. Learning lessons.

Forgiveness, also...

• for missed opportunities for reconciliation or investing time in someone's future;
• for lowering my expectations of myself and others;
• for all who are truly either incompetent or aggressively reckless drivers on the highways (including me, sometimes);
• for all "Christians" who sent me hate-e-mail in my advocacy for health care reform;
• for those who mistreated my kids and spouse;
• for mean people;
• for thinking or saying "mean people suck";
• for not seeking to understand

Regarding gratitude...

I continue to be grateful for a solid sense of place in this city. I found myself expressing my love for Indianapolis in a conversation just this morning. So many people, aspects and relationships make this, for me, an endearing, challenging, and hopeful milieu of living and forward-looking.

Also, I followed through on my promise to advocate vociferously for health care reform on behalf of the many uninsured neighbors I've personally encountered since I said/did nothing the last time access to affordable health care for all was on the national table. Not pleased with what the Senate has done to the legislation, but grateful that near-universal access and reform are moving forward.

More later...

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MILES OF SMILES

An International Child Care Ministries representative in India sent this photo of sponsored boys at ICCM's Bethel Children's Home in Umri, India this week.  I've visited the facility and met the children.  This is on the same campus of Umri Christian Hospital for which I rode 2,000 miles through India to raise funds for its rebuilding.  I love the expressions on the kids' faces.  Miles of smiles.

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SALVATION-READY PEOPLE

7 qualities are reflected in the people who populate the birth narratives of Jesus

ORDINARY PEOPLE.  It is not just quaint that ordinary people like Mary and Joseph find a central place in the story of salvation.  I think it’s because they are ordinary that they can perceive both the need for salvation and live in hope of it.  Along with Zechariah, the shepherds, the Magi, Simeon, and Anna, Mary and Joseph convey qualities that make them salvation-ready.

SEVEN ASPECTS OF READINESS.  The kind of people who populate the birth and early life narratives of Jesus are not perfect people.  Not well-bred people.  Not influential people.  Not highly-educated people.  The following seven aspects do not “qualify” them--or us--for salvation.  They are, however, qualities prominent in the people who fill the Christmas story.  I wonder to what extent today our readiness to enter into salvation history hinges on the same?

1. People who can bear the shame of scandal without giving up.

2. People who are willing to accept simple, humbling instructions…and follow through.

3. People who are acquainted with suffering and know the limits of self-righteousness and self-effortfulness.

4. People who are earnestly curious about the ways of God. They are sincere seekers.

5. People who don’t have things figured out so much as they steadfastly trust God will make a difference.

6. People who are willing to be led and to lead out based on clear, if incomplete, commands.

7. People who fear but who refuse to become--or be defined by--their fears.

THE ARC OF HUMAN LIFE.  Salvation, as I refer to it here, is not a mere spiritual transaction.  It’s not some kind of individual mental assent and emotional consent to a gospel syllogism, the result of which promises to secure one's personal soul for eternity.  Salvation does have profound personal dimensions and makes intimate claims on each of us.  But the salvation described in the stories of the birth and life of Jesus of Nazareth has just as much to do with salvaging, reshaping and redirecting the arc of human life and history away from destruction and despair and toward ultimate meaning and purpose.  Salvation is transformational at both personal and systemic levels, both for today and was we move--day by day, decision by decision--into the future God’s Christ has opened before us.

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THIS CHRISTMAS

This is a unique Christmas for several reasons and it seems to be calling me to flex gracefully

For all that endures and is constant with the celebration of Christmas, this Christmas was different from all others I've experienced.  These differences seem to be inviting me to be gracious in flexing as once-permanent traditions and practices continue change over time.

This was the first Christmas in my 50 years that I haven't been with my parents and sister.  Typically, mom and dad drive or fly up from Florida.  My dad, now 75, is convinced that spending a few days in December over the last three years has left him sick for weeks upon returning to Florida, so he decided not to come north this year. As much as mom seemed to want to be in Indiana for Christmas, she wasn't about to leave dad behind in Florida for the holiday.

So, instead of Christmas Eve with a houseful of Hays, we had relatively quiet Christmas Eve.  I actually got in a nice bike ride through Eagle Creek Park.  In the pm, we opened gifts sent by relatives, participated in Christmas Eve communion at Trader's Point Church, and welcomed our daughter's in-laws, Steve and Deana Butler, into our home for the holiday.  Christmas morning gift-giving was shared with the Butlers in our home--another first.

I introduced a new aspect of Christmas morning with "Santa's grab bag."  I dumped a bunch of $1 items from Dollar Tree, along with old, unused CDs, DVDs, cassette tapes, records, etc. into a yard leaf bag.  Each person could reach into the bag, without looking, an pick out one gift.  The next person could either take their gift or reach into the bag for another.  It would continue this way until the bag was empty.  Our daughter Abby called it "getting rid of dad's junk." Hey, work with me here...

This was the first Christmas in many years that I have not prepared for and led a Christmas Eve service as a pastor. That felt weird.  I have lots of energy for planning and facilitating and preaching in worship.  I'm still dealing with being in a different role and rhythm of work at this point.  I'm still transitioning.

I seem to have moved through these and other changes unique to this Christmas without too much apparent stress.  Changing my notions about "the way things should be" and giving "the way things might be" a chance is helping.  I can't change the things that have led other people to disruptively impact my sense of tradition, place, and permanence.  I can either be upset and frustrated or let go of the old and give something new a chance to be born--even shape it's beginning and trajectory, to some extent.  That's an encouraging thought.  I'll work with that as I move deeper into the heart of the Christmas season.

In the spirit of dialog, I welcome comments and/or questions. Click on "responses" below to post. They're moderated only to reduce incivility.