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Fifty years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. A life that was taken too soon, that is clear. What is also clear is that people like me have not done their jobs. Now, you might ask, what do you mean “people like me”? I am a professor at a historically black college. It is my job and people like me, to raise up a new Dr. King. We have not done so. We have not captured our students’ minds enough to instill in them the deep need to do what is right.

Dr. King was not just a civil rights leader. He was deeply spiritual and a minister. He studied more than his Bible, he also understood and respected Gandhi. He was open to other forms of spirituality, especially ones that went beyond the walls of the local churches. He was not loved by all of his own African American community. It has been said that those other ministers helped to plot the assassination. That is quite likely true. The power of the human ego to ignore human need is powerful.

Today is a day of great sadness because we are fifty years later and the ugly head of racism, segregation, discrimination and just pure hate has raised itself again. Now, more than ever, we need another Dr. King. And here is why I write this today: if we claim the title Christian, then how can we allow these things to happen? Why is it that each of us as Christians can turn our heads and ignore what is going on?

Being a Christian is hard work. We must give up our ego, our picture of who we think we are and who we think we should be and take on the image of Christ. It is not easy to give up those ideas of who we think we are supposed to be. Some of them given to us by our parents and some, sadly, given to us by our religion. Churches have become great places to learn “shouldhood” but not to discover our True Self. It is time for each of us to be who we are called to be: the Living image of a Loving God. Let us all be Dr. Kings in our world and put an end to what we know is wrong!

TMM

I can be insufferable when I fix something or make something. There is just a great satisfaction in looking at your own handiwork and seeing it complete. I have long worked in areas where I never really know if what I have done matters. I mean, how do I really know my college students have learned anything? And for all of the clients I have ever had over these forty years, I have never really been sure if what I did helped them all that much.

This is why I have always loved gardening, mowing the lawn, fixing things and making things. I know when I have finished that it mattered. For a few days, I can look out across that lawn and see it looks just right. That is not true when the object of your work is other human beings. So what I have learned is that the accomplishment is doing a good job. Doing the job well has to be enough because I don’t get to see further than that.

Isn’t that the way of the Gospel? We live a life that expresses that Gospel, that Good News, but we never really know who sees us and who notices and who changes because of it. And, I think that is the way it is supposed to be. We live such a life because we are loved into it. Sound silly? Well, Easter was just a couple of days ago and that is our celebration of living again. Christ/God does not ask us to do anything but love. There are no other expectations from God but for us to live and love, just as we are.

I get it, that sounds simplistic. Aren’t we supposed to follow all the rules? No! Aren’t we all sinners and fall short? Yes and No!. Yes, we all have that propensity to go our own way. It is always a choice we make. The Devil doesn’t make us do it, we go our own way because we think we know what we are supposed to do. As of that first Easter, I no longer fall short. On the cross, Jesus said “tetelestai”, it is finished. And it is, finished. We no longer have to try to be good enough. We don’t even have to try, we just are good enough.

I know, it seems like we should do something to earn this, but that is simply not the Gospel. It is already accomplished in us, for us, by the Creator of all. The resurrection restored us to who we can be. And it is total empowerment, we get to choose each day. You see, it is enabling if we have to meet a set of standards to be called Christian. It is empowering when we realize God chose us because of our free will. So, let’s accept the accomplishment, believe that we are good enough, and bask in love.

TMM

I did not grow up knowing about Lent in any sort of personal way. I only knew my Catholic friends in my neighborhood gave up the best stuff, usually food, that I really liked when they would share. It just didn’t make sense to this Baptist kid as I was growing up. It was also in the days before and during Vatican II, when much changed about the Catholic church.

So, what is Lent? I have grown up a whole lot since those days back in my hometown. As I have grown and moved from Baptist to Presbyterian and on to Methodist, my awareness of Lent has grown. Even then, the idea of Lent and celebrating the seasons of the Christian calendar have taken some practice to get used to. I can now see Lent as the time of introspection and longing for the Easter morning and the resurrection.

This season of the church, this time of rebirth, is tied to the natural world we live in. At Advent, we experience the darkness with only a flicker of light in the world. By Lent, our expectation grows and we arrive at our new birth.  So, why give things up? That is the issue, being able to give things up signifies what exactly? I get it, the 40 day fast in the wilderness that led to Jesus becoming very aware of his Messiahship.

And that is the purpose of Lent. We are the only God the world can ever know. Jesus came to bring light, he left that light with us. Lent is our 40-day reminder of who we are and who we are called to be. You and I, we are the hope of the world and that is powerful. We must realize that each day, we go through the whole cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth. When we learn to live as if each day was the only day, we become the living God we are called to be.

A recent cartoon of Charlie Brown and Snoopy, a Zen idea is expressed with Charlie Brown saying, “You know, Snoopy, we will die one day.” Snoopy answers, “Yes, but we will live all of the others.” That is powerful as you think about it. We know where it will end and since we do, we should joyously live all of the other days. As we head toward Easter, perhaps it is time to be reborn into the world of living every day.

TMM

As a youth, growing up in the Southern Baptist tradition, we had vacation Bible school. And we took our show on the road and held the same several times over the course of a summer. Always, there was one song to sing with the kids, “This little light of mine…”. Come on, you have heard it. It has multiple verses of “won’t let Satan blow it out” and “won’t hide it under a bushel no!”  and more after that. And, you held up your finger as the flame and did the requisite hand motions as well.

It was fun and it taught a great Biblical truth but I doubt that those kids or perhaps you ever really understood what that light was and is to you and in this world. The mystic, Thomas Merton saw it, on the corner of 4th and Walnut in Louisville, Kentucky many years ago. It changed him. So much so that today you will find a historical marker on that site explaining the event. He saw all of the people walking by as “shining with light” and they do not know it. Merton became more and more inclusive after that day.

Franciscan theology is one that unites the individual with all of nature. Duns Scotus was a writer and mystic from the middle ages who commented on St. Francis. Strikingly, he made a point that matters: we are not the clear glass that lets the light shine through. We are, instead, lighted from within; we are the light. That is a big difference and it changes how you see people. Looking for a Light that is shining through people is not the same as recognizing the light that is that person, or that thing, or that part of creation. Merton saw it. I want to see it too.

So, those kids (or you and most certainly me) did not have to put their finger in the air to represent the light. They (and you and me) ARE the light. All of creation is aglow with the presences of the Sacred Creator of all. What would our days look like if we, like Merton, saw every person, every animal, every thing glowing with the Light that lights the world? I am filled with joy at the thought. Why not give it a try?

TMM

I am a prideful person. Now, before those who know me start with the comments of “tell us something we don’t know”, let me explain. I am proud of my teaching. I am proud of the many years I have spent as a therapist. I am proud of my family and proud to be part of their love and caring. I am most certainly proud of my garden and yard. And, I am very proud when I fix something around the house. I have a wife who might say I am insufferable when I actually fix something.

My wife would be right, I am very proud when I make things work right again. Faucets, toilets, floors are no match for my skills. Well, okay I am exaggerating, but only a little bit. What I am most proud of in my life are not achievements in academia or sports or even in the yard. The things that I am most proud of have in common my best effort. Teaching, therapy, and parenting.

When one of my students suddenly “gets it” that is joyous. When a client has ever gotten better and moved on in their life, that is joyous. And, on this occasion, when a child achieves something very special, again joyous. I have this one daughter who was a sweet but rather serious kid. She was (still is in some ways) a perfectionist. She went to college, studied her dad’s profession of social work, then went to seminary. She is the minister I thought I was called to be.

And now, that kid is the new pastor of a very old Baptist church. She has worked hard to become all that God would have her to be. She has a giant heart, a deep love of ministry, and a natural ability to minister. I am biased, but I do not think that new church knows the gem they are getting. My baby girl, yes always my baby girl, has gone from a kid to a wonderful pastor. That is a source of great pride for me. No, not because I raised her (which of course I did not do alone), but because I see what she will accomplish, the lives she will impact.

So, this proud dad has a question for you. What are you proud of in your life? The accomplishments? The things you have worked so hard for? The house you live in? The car you drive? You know all of those things won’t last right? Learn to be proud of what others have accomplished that you might have had a small part in. If you are a boss, how about being proud of what each of your staff is doing, and letting them know that. If you are a parent, let your kids know that you are proud of them just because they are themselves.

Pride can interfere with your life, make you arrogant and ruin you. Or, pride can lead you to a deep appreciation of the life you have been given and the life you have shared with the world. If that is your approach, you will be taking pride in exactly what God takes pride in you and all of creation. God “saw that it was good”.

TMM

I am a professor, so of course, when I take roll I expect my students to be present in the classroom. Studies have regularly shown that being in the classroom increases learning and improves grades. That seems like a true no-brainer, but it really isn’t. My college students think they can just read the book or get the notes from someone. That just doesn’t work in my classes because the subjects I teach are, in part, experiential. That is to say you “just had to be there”.

Why is it that we Christians often think that we can just read the text or “get the notes” from someone? We really don’t have to be present, we just have to believe. We even do that to the Sacred, we just believe and just accept what the Scriptures say and move on. We are never actually present with the Great Presence of all of life. There is a wonderful and short book by Brother Lawrence entitled Practicing the Presence of God.

This book sounds so holy, so spiritual. Read it and you will find the beauty of Brother Lawrence lies in the simplicity. You see Brother Lawrence was not a priest or holy man but a simple monk who loved to bake bread for God. Lawrence found God in every moment, in the process of baking, in the process of living a very simple life.  This book should be required reading for every Christian everywhere.

Presence. That word is powerful. When the Creator of all of the Universe calls the roll, are we in class? Are we taking note? The classroom is your very life and the entirety of nature all around you. To be present in each moment does not require knowledge or even belief, it just requires us all to be present to God in all of God’s forms. Birds, animals, trees, stones, rivers…..well you get the idea.

Today, on the way to work, in the face of your child or spouse, at the birdbath, in the face of your co-workers see the face of the living God. Bask in the presence of that Presence. As we move toward Spring, toward Easter in the Christian realm, be open the rebirth that is all around you. You don’t have to believe in anything or study anything, just enjoy. Just answer the Roll with “I am present!”

TMM

Have you ever looked for something, over and over again, only to become frustrated and annoyed? Well, I am a man, so I know where everything is, always…not! I know, I know, it is just how men are and I own up to it. I have heard these words a few times in my life, “well, if you just move something you would find it”. It isn’t always fair, some things, like my car keys, the tool I need, or my wallet love to play hide-and-seek and they win more often than I do.

In reading a morning devotional by Richard Rohr, I was captured by these words: “We are to seek the hidden God in our world by seeking the hidden God in our lives—living Christ by doing Christ.” A few thoughts struck me regarding this notion. First, we often feel like God is playing hide-and-seek with us. At the moment we most want to find God, God does not seem to be there. Second, the words of Jesus come to mind. When he was asked where he was staying, most often he would say “come and see”.

Consider the words again. We are to seek God by seeking the hidden God in our own lives. Isn’t that the same invitation that Jesus has always given? Come and see. Except, we have looked everywhere…..except inside. God is where God has always been, right there inside of us. The question is, for us, where have we been looking? Perhaps, if we find God in the world, we will find the God hidden within. And, where is God in the world? Look at all of creation, God’s face is always visible, though perhaps most visible in the face of a smiling child.

The second thought matters too, the invitation always to come and see. If you are like me, the most fearsome part of “come and see” is having to look within. I have come to know that the “hidden God” within is usually hidden behind my own shortcomings, my own fears, my own guilt, and my own shame. The game of hide-and-seek is my own invention, not God’s. I am exactly as Adam and Eve when God came to the garden. Every day, I think, God asks me (and perhaps you as well) why are you hiding? Who told you that you are naked?

I think God could have asked another question: “Why are you ashamed?” But we know the answer to that one, don’t we? We are ashamed because we know that we have messed up, sinned, and we cannot stand to face the One who loves us the most. That is not good theology and it is not good for our heart. We need only look inside, to look past ourselves, to see the Risen Christ standing for us and inviting us over and over again to “come and see”.

My keys are always in the last place I looked. Well, really in the last place I expected to find them. Isn’t that us in the presences of the hidden God? Isn’t God always in the place we never expect to find God?

TMM

I am the youngest. My brother was 8 years older than me and he rarely let me forget that as we were growing up. He was so mean to me, he teased me, ran away when I was trying to follow him and taught me how to play 52 pick-up. Come on, you know that game: you ask your little brother (or sister) if they want to play 52 pick-up, when they say yes because they would do just about anything for you, you take a deck of cards and throw them all over the room. You leave while the little brother or sister is picking up the cards.

But you know what? My brother loved me fiercely, ask the neighborhood bully who got caught picking on me. My brother made very sure I was never bullied again. And, in truth, he included me so much more than I had any right to expect. He taught me to play baseball when I was about 3 years old, chess when I was about 4, and set the example of reading at every chance. And I am a better person for it all. I have passed the reading and writing traditions on to my own daughter, who loved her uncle desperately.

My daughter got married a year or so ago. She would not tell me the song she chose for us to walk down the aisle to. My brother loved the Beach Boys and he and my daughter had several afternoons of just the two of them “cruising” in my brother’s truck and listening to the Beach Boys. How he loved my daughter. So, we walked the aisle to “God only knows what I would be without you” and yep, cried like a baby. But my brother was truly at the wedding!

This reminiscence is not an accident, today my brother would have been 71. He has been gone, a victim of cancer, for 14 years. I have missed him a bit each day and can, on occasion, hear his voice.  He had a giant heart and, after 22 years as a Marine, his best claim to fame was that he was an expert on Dr. Seuss and read to school kids often. Each time, kids checked out more books from the library. Big tough Marine, giant heart, easy touch when it came to children. It is why I have a tattoo of the Dr. Seuss red and white top hat, that is how I honor and remember him each day.

So, do you have a brother or a sister? Younger or older? Whichever it is, never forget that they helped forge the path you are on and you helped to forge theirs. Please don’t forget.  Celebrate it with them today! Because it truly is too late when they are gone. And, if you are an only child, that is okay, you have what we call “fictive” kin that you can celebrate, those who have been like a brother or sister.

Come to think of it, if you are a Christian (or any religion really), you have a life full of brothers and sisters, your spiritual family. How about today, you say a long prayer for them and the next time you see them, treat them like they really are family.

TMM

It is interesting that we live in a world, or at least a society, that demands that each person make it on their own. Personal responsibility is the usual label. It is the bane of American society that we refuse to be our brother’s keeper (sister too!). How did we get to this point, where we care only for ourselves?

The seeds were sown hundreds of years ago, I believe when the Reformation so accented the concept of the “priesthood of the believer” that people began to ignore the need for community. I firmly believe that I do not need anyone to represent me before the Sacred. I get that, it had to change so that we would not feel disconnected from the Lover of our souls. However, the temptation to go our own way is often too strong for us and ego can lead us to the conclusion that we do not need anyone but God.

This dear friend is foolish and it is not what is found in scripture. Any reading of the Psalms clearly points to being in harmony with all of creation. Genesis begins with the idea that it is not good that humankind should be alone. The Trinity is a community, it is the first community. But human nature, being what it is, leads us to believe that we don’t need anyone or anything else.  That is not the meaning of “God Alone”.

Instead, that phrase points us,  yes all of us, to where our loyalty lies, to God Alone. We cannot receive the fullness of God’s grace if we are not living in community with God’s creation. Without the mirror of others, living in a community, we cannot understand ourselves. We cannot see ourselves as we truly are.

And that is the fallacy, that we can somehow get through this world alone. I need you and you need me. We often hate to admit that we need someone but that is the reality. It is not a sign of weakness. It takes great courage to risk letting others into our lives. It takes great courage to ask for help. But, until we can ask for help, we cannot understand the meaning of grace. Until we understand that we need the Other, we cannot know salvation. Oneness is our calling. One with the Creator. One with all of our brothers and sisters that are humankind. One with all of creation. That is the call of the one who loves our soul. Perfect union with God.

TMM

 

Politics has become a “bad” word these days. I get that, when we talk about politics, it always touches on something that we really don’t want to deal with or that makes us angry or sad. This is especially true when we think of religion and politics together.

At family gatherings, the rule is we don’t talk politics and religion. The idea is we don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or make anyone mad. I know that is a big deal at Christmas and Thanksgiving. We would rather argue about which pro football team is the best. We would rather gossip about the family member or members who are not there that year. Let’s think about that for a minute: we don’t want to argue about political or religious ideas but we are willing to put down our own family members?

I write to express my heart and to, maybe, touch on some things about the living God that we are all thinking. It is important to me that I write what is in my heart. Today, what is in my heart is that I (and every Christian) is called to be political. We are called to stand for those who cannot stand for themselves. We are called by Christ to stand against oppression, against discrimination, and against wrong. It does not matter who does it, that is the call to each of us.

Why don’t we speak about the “unspeakable” when we are together with family? It is painful to recognize that there are things in the world that make us sad, angry, and/or emotional. Isn’t that what we are supposed to be? Isn’t that what makes us alive? The theologian John Howard Yoder wrote a book called the Politics of Jesus.  And, Jesus most certainly was political. He stood for us all against the organized church of his day, that had gone astray with rules instead of preaching about love.  And they killed him for it!

This Christian life is not always or even often easy. We are called to serve the “least of these his brothers and sisters”. That is political in and of itself when we live in a society that marginalizes anyone who is seen as unworthy of assistance. We help those we call the “deserving poor”. Those are people who we see as trying to do or be better. They aren’t lazy or looking for a handout. When are we going to see that Jesus came for those who aren’t trying, to those who don’t get better, those who want a handout? That describes each of us.

The harsh truth is none of us deserve grace. None of us deserve to be loved by the Creator of all. None of us is good enough and we all want a handout. We want God to be convenient to us, to be there every time we pray. And God is there, every time we pray and every time we don’t.  And yet, we cannot be there for those who ask for help because we don’t want to be political? We don’t want to ruffle some feathers? Dear ones, we are called to do just that, ruffle feathers, even the feathers of those we call family or friend.

TMM