Spirit Stirrer

On a recent road trip I was scanning the radio stations when I landed on a local talk show. They were speaking about politics, specifically about the partisanship that seems to paralyze any movement towards progress. As a response to a caller’s insistence that what was needed was more transformative leadership the host responded saying “transformative leaders require transformative people.”

I think this understanding speaks deeply not just about politics but also about the church. We are in the beginnings of a season of preparation, reflection and transformation. In many of our churches there is constant talk of decline, shrinking budgets, growing needs, and survival. Most of the conversation in my own local church turns on leadership, the lack thereof, the amount of time required, and the bad leadership of the past. Yet little if any time is spent considering how each of us as people of God can become transformative people.

I find this ironic given the fact that we proclaim a transformative faith. Our central story is the primordial example of transformation – death becoming life. Since when have we been about maintenance and ourselves? And when did we stop looking at ourselves as the source of the church’s decline?

Maybe we no longer take this primordial story seriously, we tell ourselves that new life is wanted:

• as long as it does not mean that I need to be reborn.
• as long as it looks like the one I’m living now.
• as long as we do not have to die to self and be about the other.
• as long as we do not have to see the way that God sees!

How long can we continue to ignore this? As a nation we continue to blame other people. Politicians and the so called “Washington establishment” receive most of the blame. In the church it is always the “judicatory,” or “bishops,” or “leaders.” If it wasn’t for these people we would be heading in the right direction, right?

When are we going to recognize that there is really only “us?” That we together are being called to make a difference. That sometimes what we see as important for us is not what is best for the common good. That our call is to love, give, and serve. Somehow in these actions transformation happens.

I guess I’m a little tired. As one of those leaders attempting to be transformational I’m worn out of attempting and not having any followers. I know I sound a little naïve but I’m one who thinks that transformation is possible – that even life from death can happen. No matter how strong, passionate, and how much resolve one has at some point one gets tired of being a transformative agent in the midst of a people that want no such thing.

Change is not easy for anyone and change for change sake is not what we are called to. We are called to a constant re-evaluation of the values that guide our walk as people of God and as members of this society. This constant re-evaluation is at the heart of the Lenten journey. Like the gritty ashes on Ash Wednesday, the process of transformation is edgy, coarse, and at times dry.

May God guide us to recognize our need to be re-reborn. No longer quick to point the fingers and place blame we need to commit ourselves to be agents of the change needed so that God’s kingdom can continue to be evident in the world. May we all become transformational followers of the most transformational leader that ever lived!

Here it is again . . . it sneaks up on us year after year. After the fanfare and feasting of Mardi Gras comes a season of simplicity and reflection. A season that begins with a mark that makes visible the intention to begin anew.

It comes at the best time, when we have begun to settle in the new year. When the rhythm of life seems to be returning. When nothing seems able to stop us, our hearts are asked to be broken and our masks removed. In some ways we are called to the essence of what it means to be human: life & death, God and each other!

We are also asked to turn from our ways. To stop being so self centered. To cease from our constant need to impress – believing the self deceptive thought that we have arrived. These ways of being cause a rift between us and the world, between the world and its creator. Turning around (repentance), takes an acknowledgement of our brokenness (sin).

It should not surprise us that we are asked to consider our death. Morbose as it might seem, it’s something that all of us need to face. Mortality forces us to recognize our need for something beyond ourselves, beyond this life. Even more important, facing mortality makes us want to live better with more purpose and in communion with each other.

The mark on our foreheads is the mark of acknowledged humanity. We come recognizing ourselves as God’s created people who are given the opportunity to begin again the journey of relationship, the journey of genuine humanness. This journey comes with its own set of relational practices. Prayer, fasting, and giving to the poor are the cornerstones of the Christian vocation. We are called to engage them as we were told to do at our baptism. As we practice them our lives our re-centered on the one who made us and gave us life.

The truth is that we are just beginning once again by recognizing our mortality. Our failure has been our neglect of the life that God promised us and the world. This life is one centered on the restoration of all of creation to the life of God. In this way we become participants of God’s work of making all things holy.

This new beginning allows us to start with a clean slate. It helps us to refocus and give priority to those things that make us the good creation that God made. It also allows us to consider the example of Jesus and his constant call for humanity to be bearers of God’s kingdom here on earth. Our clean slate begins to get filled with the tools needed for redemption. The practices that we take on become the instruments of growing awareness of God’s presence in us and in the world. The stories heard become part of who we are and turn us into story tellers of good news for the world!

Marked we are sent out, the mark cannot be ignored. We are beginning the journey of re-claiming God’s story as our own, for the life of the world.

This has been an exciting week for the people of Louisiana. The state gathered in front of our televisions Sunday night to watch one of the most exciting things that has happened in the state in a long time. There was a “buzz” all day as commentators spoke time and time again of this unlikely team that had never won much who now found itself  in such a large stage.

Images of four years ago lit the screen. Water everywhere, people on rooftops, the Superdome in shambles. All seemed hopeless . . .

Little by little a team, a city, and a whole state began to rebuild. Now the team had the opportunity to prove how far from the wreckage it had come.

And they won!!!!

Even casual fans, such as myself, could not help but be proud for what this team had accomplished. The last four years have been years of rebuilding not just a team, but a city and a state. The site of people on rooftops fleeing the rising waters now became the site of celebration and joy.

Newspapers all around the state carried headlines of “answered prayers,” “hallelujah,” and “believe dat.” All carried stories of the way that this team provided hope, healing, and inspiration. The headlines spoke in Christian terms and the stories described Christian action. The team had provided much needed good news to the people that they served! They had invested in the city: lived there, set up foundations, helped schools, and became ambassadors for the rebuilding effort. Their “faith” in what their team could do and what each of them could do was put into action.

In the midst of all the celebration and the pride I wondered about the church, had we failed to provide what the city needed most? What the state needed most?

This is not a tirade against a football team. As an adopted son of this state I am proud of this important accomplishment. I was there with all other Louisianians cheering for our team, wearing black and gold, wanting them to win. I believe that sports are important ways of entertainment and competition. They also provide much needed economic impact in the communities they serve.

I guess my real tirade is against the church. We have failed time and time again to inspire, to capture the imagination, to lift up a city and a state from the rubble of destruction and chaos. We have not taken chances: on leadership with passion, on communities of service, on important adjustments at “half time.” In other words we continue to play it safe!

In the meantime people continue to gather. They gather to celebrate a victory, their victory. They also gather to feast and as they feast the hope for the future continues to build, the possibilities seem endless, the embarrassments of the past are put aside. Many were saying that they “believed again.”

I also believe again . . . I believe that the church can live again, serve again, be present again! I believe that we can come out of our apathy, self-centeredness, and lukewarmness to become the people who provide hope, healing, and inspiration to the communities that we serve. People want to believe, they want to be inspired, they want to be part of something that makes a difference. Maybe if we live in such passionate ways, the good news of Jesus that we proclaim will move people who hear it, to “believe again!”

Belief and action opens up the floodgates of renewal, rebuilding, and hope. This is what the church came to proclaim to a broken world. Let the feasting begin!

God will bring us through this. -One of the Americans jailed in Haiti

I’ve watched with interest the story of the imprisoned Americans in Haiti. Little by little the story gets clearer and cloudier. In the midst of all the other chaos now we have a prosecution. Those detained claimed that they were “trying to do the right thing,” they wanted most of all to “help the children.” Making it clear that they are not “child traffickers.” It reminds me of the saying that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

We might never know the true intentions of these people. In other words I do believe that they had good intentions, that they wanted to do the “right” thing. So many times we want to do the right thing but go about it the wrong way. Other times we are so convinced of our sincerity that it clouds our decision making process. In this case it was the lack of needed legal documents, but there are so many other examples of people trying to do the right thing in the wrong way, at the wrong time, with the wrong outcome.

For so long Christians have been participants in this kind of naive doing of God’s work. Jesus himself told us to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16) So many times the history of the American church in the Caribbean and Latin America has been filled with this kind of mentality. With the intention of doing good, many denominations have done much harm and as I said in my last article have perpetuated the pattern of colonialism in the region.

Meaning well does not mean that one is doing well. If you want to help the children of Haiti, collect money, send health kits, make connections with your denominational relief work or with the many international relief organizations that are doing work there. Make sure that you know the language or have a translator. Make sure that you are following the laws of the land that you are serving.

In the end this kind of issue poses another distraction and stresses the already crumbled system. Now the Haitian government has to keep up with prisoners, find a way to set up some kind of investigation, prosecution and trial. In the meantime the eyes of the world are momentarily lifted from the devastation towards a different, and less important, direction.

Well meaning people can end up victimizing those who have been victimized already. False promises, false hope, false salvation has been at times the essence of the gospel for many who claim the name Christian. They have meant well but have not done the deep reflection on how their actions communicate and illustrate the good news of Jesus Christ. In their desperation many of these people have believed the promises made and have seen these “strangers” as the way out of their desperate situation.

As people of God we have a responsibility to live out our discipleship to the highest standard. When we engage in the work of Jesus in the world we must do our homework, prepare, and connect. We are not alone so we must carefully learn the sociocultural situation of those that we are attempting to help. Good intentions can many times lead to a bad witness of the good news to those who are observing.

We continue to pray for the people of Haiti. We also continue to call our own to accountability in the way that we help. As we continue to hear the call may we remember that the gospel calls us to best action not only to best intention!

This post originally appeared on Day1.org

Today we celebrate the birth of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It is appropriate that we lift up Dr. King’s life and work today, especially after the devastation suffered in Haiti. The relief work has begun, some are being rescued, many are dead. Help is outpouring from all corners of the world. The difficult task of relief will soon become the epic task of rebuilding. We must begin to ask ourselves what role are we going to play as the church and as American people in helping the nation of Haiti not just rebuild but re-imagine, not just buildings, but future.

Dr. King, in “I See the Promised Land,” refers to the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37 saying:

And so the first question that the Levite asked was, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”

For too long we have asked the wrong question!

For the last week we have seen many document the long struggles of the Haitian people. Newsweek magazine’s Karen Fragala Smith documents in “Haiti: A Historical Perspective” some of the influences that partly explain the long Haitian struggle. Among those “influences” is the history of occupation by France and the United States.

As a child of a colonized country, Puerto Rico, I can speak of the difficulties of such presence in a people. Colonialism is always sold by the colonist as opportunity but it always causes havoc on the colonized. Those robbed of self-determination begin to develop an identity crisis that in the end leaves scars of dependence, objectification, and exile.

Time and time again the U.S has only taken into consideration its own good. It has only asked: What is there for me? Along the way many of these colonized nations have lost their identity, have grown culturally suspicious, and have felt internationally alienated.

As people of faith we must call ourselves to repentance. We must call our own nation to task for the ways that it has used and abused its power in the subjugation of other peoples. We must also call for an end to colonialism in whatever form it presents itself. Repentance means that we as people of faith begin to have new conversations that help reverse the question and through our missional work empower those nations to self-determination, to re-discover their identity, and to re-claim the richness of their culture.

To do anything less is to continue the patterns of oppression and injustice that victimize both the colonizer and the colonized. I would argue that if we are to be the bearers of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness we must begin by engaging all nations with their interest as the primary thrust of engagement.

Rebuilding, with all its opportunity and challenge, provides us with a second chance to build a more just and fair society here and abroad. In the church it provides an opportunity to stop the patterns of religious empire building that have been so prevalent in the Americas, in its place we will take on the task spoken by Archbishop Romero, of “mak[ing] each country’s individual history a history of salvation.”

Being “makers” of salvation means that we live Dr. King’s vision of justice, peace, and equality, spreading its influence on behalf of those that needed most.

There is much work to be done in our own country, there are many who are living the experience of the colonized in our own backyard. Engaging in these conversations and actions will raise awareness, making the question, “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?” the primary inclination of God’s people in our nation and the world.

The scars of colonialism do not easily heal. It takes a new generation willing to re-claim its true history and rejecting the forces of paternalism. A generation willing to call its own community to task for the patterns of being that continue our victimization and leave us dependent, bound, and lost. I commit myself to the rebuilding of my own colonized community but I also call on my Christian brothers and sisters to join forces in proclaiming the kind of good news that helps rebuild a people.

We are once again staring at total destruction and human suffering. The images make you stop and wonder why? We are overwhelmed, saddened, and lost. We feel powerless and wonder what we can do?

The “talking heads” have begun chanting their analysis and solutions. The world just watches as people like us face the terrorizing reality that has become their life. Those of us who claim to be bearers of good news have much to reflect upon and must be careful guardians of the gospel words. Making sure that these words are communicated in ways that are constructive, hope filled and life giving.

Much of the conversation in religious circles has turned to the nature of suffering. In a recent New York Times Op/Ed, Pooja Bhatia, asks “Why, then, turn to a God who seems to be absent at best and vindictive at worst?”

In one sentence Bhatia asks the question that many are asking. If God is the one responsible, as some so called Christian leaders have already suggested, then we are indeed in deep trouble. If God is absent, somehow oblivious to the situation at hand then we too have much damage control to do.

Jon Sobrino, Latin American theologian & priest, understands this dilemma in the Christian faith. Like many others before him he reminds us that God is present in suffering, he tells us that “God is the God of the victims.” He then focuses our attention on the biggest tragedy in such situations,

The greatest tragedy – in an earthquake or any other situation – is not the material damages it causes, but the destruction of what is human. The greatest solidarity is to help rebuild that humanity. The greatest hope is to keep walking, doing justice, and loving with kindness.

- Jon Sobrino in Where is God?: Earthquake, Terrorism, Barbarity, and Hope

The good news of Jesus, is not going to save us from the struggles and tragedies of life! We as people living in a troubled world will be victims of brokenness, strife, and injustice. Some, like the people of Haiti, have found themselves victimized time and time again by forces outside their control. This is not God’s doing instead it reflects the brokenness of all of life, the brokenness that God came to redeem.

The images return: the rubble of buildings, bodies scattered, loved ones carrying their dead, beloved children of God walking in the destruction: lost, hungry, nowhere to go . . . there is God! Grieving, holding, walking, broken . . . It is because of suffering, pain, and destruction that God came in Jesus.

The challenge is how we as God’s people will respond and how we will show solidarity with these sisters and brothers so far away? How are we going to make the good news of hope, restoration and humanity incarnate to the people that needed most? How are we going to make sure that what we build is not the infrastructure of empire but the infrastructure of communal life?

We will respond by being loving, generous, attentive. We will love those who are unlike us and yet struggle like we would. We will give generously of what we have, reflecting the way that God gives all of God-self for the life of the world. But we will also become more attentive – we will shine the light of oppression, injustice, and alienation – we will become bearers of what is human for those who have experienced its destruction.

Through our imperfect prayers, relief efforts, and dispersed presence we will become the incarnate presence of God to those who this day needed most. Through our offering we show the world that God is indeed present, caring, comforting, guiding and opening the way for new life!

Tonight countless children in Latin American countries will eagerly await the arrival of “los Reyes,” the wise men. They will go outside and collect grass for the camels, place it next to their bed and will wake up to presents left by these mysterious visitors from long ago. I am reminded of my own childhood: the anticipation, the preparation, the excitement of gifts laying next to my bed. This is an exciting time!

While in most American homes the “holiday” has come and gone we have continued counting the days, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the wise men. The story of Jesus’ birth has been told time and time again. We have read Matthew, Luke, and even the Gospel of John. The children have reminded us each day what day of Christmas it is, Epiphany is coming!

I look forward to Epiphany every year. It has become a way to continue telling the story of Jesus’ birth as others have moved on. It has also become a way to pass on my cultural heritage to our children. There is something about marking our time in this way that helps me stay grounded as a follower of Jesus. In a real incarnate way the celebration is the continual manifestation of God’s work in us and in the world.

As I ponder this Epiphany there is also something else. These strangers were out there looking at the sky and recognized a star that promised a savior. Creation itself letting the world know that God had heard its plea. The ones that were not chosen were now part of God’s vision of salvation for the world. They came with gifts for royalty, came bowing down paying homage, and “were overwhelmed with joy.” This is a perfect story for the many who are looking for a sign – that things will get better, that someone cares, that they are not alone.

We need Epiphany, a story that reminds us of God’s universal plan of salvation, redemption, and renewal. Strangers looking at the stars who go on a journey to welcome a savior in the world. Foreigners who recognize what the powerful and the learned do not. They bring the best that they have and leave it at the feet of Jesus. Sensitive to God’s voice, they go another way so that the child and his family have time to flee.

On a recent exchange on Facebook a person took issue with the continuation of Christmas beyond December 25, “the Holidays are over, move on” this person said. It reminded me that by the time that the wise men came, the manger, the shepherds, the angels, were distant memories. The “everyday” had set in and the reality of this child could have been forgotten. Then come these exotic visitors who followed a star. They come and their visit brings about a scary and dangerous period in the story of Jesus. The powers of the day would not accept another way. In similar ways our celebration should remind us that the proclaiming and living of this gospel is truly dangerous, it changes things, it pushes the boundaries, its universality is a threat to those in power and control.

Tonight I’ll gather our children, tell the story, and continue the tradition. We will go outside, gather some grass, and look at the sky knowing that we are now the star that guides people to the savior. The gift giving is secondary to the story of a God that calls us to such universal, life giving work in the world. We too are called to become the signs of God’s presence in the world. We too bring the best we have and offer it at the feet of Jesus. The promise is to us also, the promise is to the whole world!

Feliz Dia de los Reyes!

During a recent stop at a coffee shop I decided to reflect on the passing year and the year to come. There were some important milestones this year, our oldest entering kindergarten, our third child being born, surviving the first year in a solo pastorate. There were also some difficult times, our oldest entering kindergarten, our third child being born, entering the second year in a solo pastorate . . . I’m sure by now you get my drift, many of the things we could celebrate can also be looked at as difficult and challenging circumstances.

This is the time of the year when many people make new year “resolutions.” These are ways in which one is determined to change something, do something, or take on something that was neglected in the previous year. Getting out of debt, loosing weight, & spending more time with family are some of the most common resolutions for the new year.

The problem with resolutions is that they are easily forgotten. Most people could probably not name what their “resolutions” where by the end of January. Others try really hard but quickly get discouraged when the debt does not go down, the weight is not taken off, or the demands of work continually interfere with family.

I believe that the reason why most of us are not successful in keeping these “resolutions” is that we have not properly reflected on why we have not been successful at these important things in the past. In other words, we have not learned from past mistakes, we have not become good students of our own story.

In the Christian tradition we have a name for this process of reflection that leads to real change, it’s called repentance. In repentance we acknowledge our own wrong doing, the ways that we have ignored the way, while promising to turn around and begin to walk towards God once more. This new beginning is essential to our Christian faith and is one that we return to time and time again. The catalyst of repentance is the awareness of God’s presence in our lives, this awareness needs to be fostered by practices that open our souls to God’s gracious action.

There is a practice in Ignatian spirituality called the daily examen. The examen is a tool for self reflection at the end of the day. This practice forces us to pay attention to God’s presence in our day and awakens our spirit to our actions throughout the day. The examen helps us to let go, find forgiveness, and look towards a new day, and a new way.

I’ve decided that this year, before making any “resolutions,” I would make a yearly examen. I’ll take inventory of God’s presence in me throughout the year and the ways in which I lived out of that presence. I will also take note of the times when I did not live out of God’s presence, choosing instead my own way.

As I began writing in my journal about these things I realized how many times I called out for God in this closing year. I could name them, one by one, I could go back in my journal and see the prayers and sense my own need once again. I could also remember the many times that I did not even think about, worry about, or call on God.

In the end, the practice of a yearly examen opened the door to God’s invitation in my life for the new year. The invitation, become a more faithful disciple, was simple – the living it out extremely difficult! This is not just another resolution but a commitment to more faithfully align all of my life to God’s vision of justice, peace, & love for all of creation.

Have a Blessed New Year!

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
³You have multiplied the nation,
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.
⁴For the yoke of their burden,
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
⁵For all the boots of the tramping warriors
and all the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
⁶For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onwards and for evermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Isaiah 9:2-7

Alleluia, Alleluia,  Alleluia!

Today salvation has come to the world!

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!