I have recently been reading a story about what has been termed, "The Jena 6", who are six African-American youths and I say youths, not because they are under sixteen, but because they are teenagers, who have been charged with an assault against a white teen in Jena, Louisiana. The reason that the African-American teens assaulted the white teens is due to he and his friends hanging three "nooses" on a tree; a tree which has an unspoken rule that it is only for "Whites". One of the black teenagers asked the Principle if he could sit under this tree, whereby the Principle stated that he could sit anywhere he wanted to sit it is "free country". The African-American youth sat under the tree and the rest is history.
It seems to me that the Principle has a responsibility to be aware of what is taking place at his high school. Was the Principle aware of this "rule", was he aware of the racial tensions? We have such an individualized culture that when these African-American youths reacted with rage and anger, (which I am not condoning), at three "nooses" being hung from the tree, after the African-American youth sat there, we can not understand his reaction. We in white suburban America say, "He should have contacted the Principle, he should have contacted the police." The Principle is the one who told him to sit there. Did the Principle set him up, knowing what would happen? Is that too far fetched? It is so difficult for people to understand how human beings function from a physiological perspective (adrenaline, tunnel vision) and from a historical perspective (slavery, dominant white culture), that when these situations do take place, we think it seems so "inhumane".
In our higher education institutions, i.e. Academic Universities and Colleges, there are numerous professors who will teach classes aimed at understanding the African-American experience, Western Culture, and Religion, yet in high schools, these classes are definitely lacking. We are not cultivating humans to develop a language in order to express grief, doubt, fear, anxiety, of which were all feelings associated with this situation, on both sides. Our culture has created humans to react with anger, rage, contempt, and violence, then when they do, we wag our fingers at them and act with disdain that they reacted violently. The U.S. reacted extremely violently after 9/11, this situation is NO DIFFERENT!!!! We expect individuals to react differently than this Nation, but in reality God believes forgiveness is for individuals and for Nations. The hanging of the "nooses" IS a violent crime, because violence does not have to be something which is actualized, it can be something which only creates a violent reaction in another. (Uh-Oh, that means that the white students "need" to be prosecuted in this case).
The goal of reconciliation to remember rightly, and remembering rightly surely needs to be done in this case. We need to remember that the Principle told him to sit under the tree, that at other points in the African-American students' lives they had been ridiculed, insulted, and possibly suffered assaulting themselves. In order to remember rightly we also need to know the story of Jesus Christ. Dr. Ray Anderson of Fuller Theological Seminary has said that the fullness of Jesus' humanity and Deity was found when he cried out on the Cross, "Eli, Eli, Lama Sabacthani?", "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Why are we as Christians not developing this language in other humans? Probably because we don't have this language ourselves. The Civil Rights Movement with Martin Luther King, Jr. was exactly that, to form a language which had not been know before. It is in the heart of God for humans to finally speak about what is in them, it frees us from bondage.
Jesus forgave because it is in the heart of God to forgive and offer this gift of forgiveness to all humans, all nations, the entire cosmos. Through this offer of forgiveness, we are then brought to a position of stability, forming our identity in the one who has deeply loved and given himself for us, therefore calling Jesus followers to do the same for others. Reconciliation is part of the world to come, when God will "set right", the injustices done against humans, why not do it now?
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
"Remember" to Reconcile
This is the longest time between two posts, since I started blogging. I have been writing a paper on Forgiveness and Reconciliation, but in the midst of writing the paper, I took a break and watched The Bourne Identity. There were so many aspects to this movie which I missed the first time I saw it. I never truly understood that the reason Jason Bourne could not remember anything in the movie was that he had to forget his life in order to be able to function. I have been thinking about remembering, since I also read a book entitled, The End of Memory, by Miroslav Volf, who talks about how and why we need to remember rightly in order to be healed and reconciled. I have known through my own experiences that this is true, because without proper remembering, the past recreates itself in my present, dictating what my future will look like. I also sent an e-mail to Miroslav Volf at Yale and he responded within one day, so I gained more respect for him than I had before, which was difficult, because I have much respect for him and his writing.
When I became a follower of Jesus, after about the first six months, I started to look at my past, and realized that I wanted to reconcile with people to whom I had offended. Jesus had removed the shame from my life, so that I was able to look at my past and understand that not everything which I had done was my fault. I myself had been a victim of oppression, anger, and violence, which robbed me of my innocence to violence, and created me in the image of violence.
When God appeared in the midst of the depression which encompassed me, he freed me from the power that evil held over my life. It was through this encounter with Jesus that enabled me to feel again and at times I was overwhelmed by the emotion that forgiveness brought.
At some point though, my faith became institutionalized and I no longer had to remember rightly, forgive, or reconcile, because following Jesus became only about attaining a 'spiritual' perfection, i.e. "living rightly".
Forgiveness needs to be social, if for nothing else, because when forgiveness is received by another human to whom we have offended, and we are reconciled, it gives me the ability to see clearly that I am truly forgiven by God. Unless we have reconciliation with other humans, forgiveness with God will always be questioned.
When I became a follower of Jesus, after about the first six months, I started to look at my past, and realized that I wanted to reconcile with people to whom I had offended. Jesus had removed the shame from my life, so that I was able to look at my past and understand that not everything which I had done was my fault. I myself had been a victim of oppression, anger, and violence, which robbed me of my innocence to violence, and created me in the image of violence.
When God appeared in the midst of the depression which encompassed me, he freed me from the power that evil held over my life. It was through this encounter with Jesus that enabled me to feel again and at times I was overwhelmed by the emotion that forgiveness brought.
At some point though, my faith became institutionalized and I no longer had to remember rightly, forgive, or reconcile, because following Jesus became only about attaining a 'spiritual' perfection, i.e. "living rightly".
Forgiveness needs to be social, if for nothing else, because when forgiveness is received by another human to whom we have offended, and we are reconciled, it gives me the ability to see clearly that I am truly forgiven by God. Unless we have reconciliation with other humans, forgiveness with God will always be questioned.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Connecticut Connection
Kelly and I just returned from a too short trip to CT. As we were in CT, it brought back so many memories from having worked there from 1995-2005, before venturing to Pasadena for Fuller Seminary. When I was back in CT, I had many conversations, but I started to think after riding with my former partner in police work, "Who will embrace the message of the gospel?" I talked with many of the police officers and came to the realization that it is very difficult to truly follow Jesus and work within the system of the state. It made me think who the gospel, i.e. 'the good news' of God's kingdom proclamation is proclaimed to. The ones who have no hope in this world, God is giving hope to. There is so much turmoil though in the lives of humans, it sometimes makes me think, "Where is God?" I think that the stories of Jesus need to become real in the lives of Christians, first on the personal level, then in the corporate level of the church.
Kelly and I had lunch with my mom and her mom in downtown Hartford. Hartford, CT last year was rated as the seventh most violent city in the U.S.. Not a good statistic for a city. There is a huge amount of New Urbanism going on in Hartford, with the design of the downtown area, being built for the sake of foot traffic, where people can walk around in the city, interacting with the cultural milieu of Hartford.
Many of the quandaries we face within the structure and system of the church I believe have less to do with "spiritual" issues, or inner dynamics of church life, but have to do with the structure of suburban life. The suburbs do not produce an environment of interaction or engagement with the culture at large. I could probably open my garage door, drive my car to my work, leave work, drive my car back home, close my garage door, and never interact with another person, other than my family members.
There is a new Community College in Hartford, we toured called Capital Community College. The ethnicity of the college is representative of the ethnicity of Hartford. I was excited to see this College, developed in the middle of downtown Hartford, and I could feel the excitement of the students at this new college. It is always exciting to see students who are contributing to the development of the city in which they live.
"Freely you have received, now freely give." (Matthew 10:8) I have thought that this verse meant only 'spiritual' gifts, but it means whatever we 'possess', we 'possess' it from God, who has liberally extended all things to us, now we should liberally extend all to anyone who has need.
Kelly and I had lunch with my mom and her mom in downtown Hartford. Hartford, CT last year was rated as the seventh most violent city in the U.S.. Not a good statistic for a city. There is a huge amount of New Urbanism going on in Hartford, with the design of the downtown area, being built for the sake of foot traffic, where people can walk around in the city, interacting with the cultural milieu of Hartford.
Many of the quandaries we face within the structure and system of the church I believe have less to do with "spiritual" issues, or inner dynamics of church life, but have to do with the structure of suburban life. The suburbs do not produce an environment of interaction or engagement with the culture at large. I could probably open my garage door, drive my car to my work, leave work, drive my car back home, close my garage door, and never interact with another person, other than my family members.
There is a new Community College in Hartford, we toured called Capital Community College. The ethnicity of the college is representative of the ethnicity of Hartford. I was excited to see this College, developed in the middle of downtown Hartford, and I could feel the excitement of the students at this new college. It is always exciting to see students who are contributing to the development of the city in which they live.
"Freely you have received, now freely give." (Matthew 10:8) I have thought that this verse meant only 'spiritual' gifts, but it means whatever we 'possess', we 'possess' it from God, who has liberally extended all things to us, now we should liberally extend all to anyone who has need.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Preseason College Football: Rutgers #16
Last season, Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey, made its first football Bowl appearance in 137 years, playing Kansas State in the 2006 Texas Bowl to an impressive 37-10 win. Although Rutgers last year was in the competition for the BCS, with an 11-2 overall record, after beating sixth ranked Louisville, they eventually lost to West Virginia, knocking them out of contention. Rutgers has returning running back Ray Rice who adds an incredible speed dimension to Rutgers' overall program. Head coach Greg Schiano had previously said that he wanted to make Rutgers football better by recruiting from within the state of New Jersey, because New Jersey (in my words) is a "hotbed of athletic talent". Of course I am saying that because I went to high school in New Jersey, and the level of competition is phenomenal.Rutgers opens the season on August 30th against Buffalo. While the competitive level of the teams Rutgers plays in the Big East is definitely lacking, if they continue to win, they will be able to move into either a tougher conference or play better teams.
For the entire season to honor Rutgers Football, I have changed the border font to the closest color to Scarlet, since Rutgers are the Scarlet Knights.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
prophet to Prophet...dust to Rain
The book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Scriptures has absolutely transformed so much of what I think about Jesus. As I read Jeremiah, chapter 2 always grips me and I end up never reading much past it. I did an in-depth exegetical study of Jeremiah last summer, where I understood Jeremiah from the perspective of the historical context of which it was written.
So much of our Old Testament study within the Western Church is done through allegory, or spiritualizing what O.T. scriptures are saying, but I do not believe that justice is done unless the historical significance is thoroughly discussed. What is Jeremiah the prophet saying in our day, because the word spoken is not that different from what Jesus spoke. As James Sanders has said, "The false prophet never speaks of love for the enemies of God," which is true of the false prophets in the book of Jeremiah.
We read Jeremiah sometimes from such a "personal" narrative that it loses the overall effect that it was written to an entire kingdom, i.e. the southern kingdom of Judah. At the time Jeremiah was narrated by Jeremiah to Baruch the scribe, Israel was the northern kingdom and Judah the southern kingdom. Approximately one hundred years earlier in 722 B.C., the northern kingdom of Israel has been lay ed waste by Assyria and the capital city, Shiloh has been destroyed. Important to note, because when Jeremiah starts to bring a prophetic word in approx. 627 B.C., the word is that Judah is worse off, because she has seen the destruction brought upon her sister Israel, and yet fails to turn from following after other gods.
The main sin of Judah was that she placed hope in Ba'al, the god of fertility rather that Yhwh. Ba'al is the 'god of rain', which in a Middle Eastern climate is important.
That is why I can never get by chapter 2, because Yhwh is crying out in his heart that he loved Israel/Judah when she was in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. In a place where they cried out to Yhwh, "Do not let us die and he continually provided." The wilderness is not a spiritual place where we go to dwell, such as Monasticism, but it is where we live continuously with Christ. It is a place where our every breath, and sustenance is provided by Yhwh. When Israel developed the kingdoms, she no longer had need for Yhwh, until she realized that Ba'al was in all actuality not actually a god, because it could not bring rain. Fear caused Israel to want a king in the first place, but the heart of Yhwh was that they be 'wilderness' dwelling people. The kings by their very nature kill in order to maintain their land and way of life. The translation today would be "Sojourners and pilgrims". Anyways, if you get a chance also read Jeremiah 30-31, renewal of creation themes, as well as Climax of Covenant themes. Jesus started a "wilderness movement", or else why would the gospel have been proclaimed to "all" nations? In many ways, the Church over the past 2000 years has done what Israel did in wanting a "kingdom" where they no longer cry out to Yhwh, but kill in order to sustain what it has.
The life of Jesus completely embodies what Jeremiah is saying, which would make sense since it is the "Word" of God, i.e. the Logos.
Word! Peace!
So much of our Old Testament study within the Western Church is done through allegory, or spiritualizing what O.T. scriptures are saying, but I do not believe that justice is done unless the historical significance is thoroughly discussed. What is Jeremiah the prophet saying in our day, because the word spoken is not that different from what Jesus spoke. As James Sanders has said, "The false prophet never speaks of love for the enemies of God," which is true of the false prophets in the book of Jeremiah.
We read Jeremiah sometimes from such a "personal" narrative that it loses the overall effect that it was written to an entire kingdom, i.e. the southern kingdom of Judah. At the time Jeremiah was narrated by Jeremiah to Baruch the scribe, Israel was the northern kingdom and Judah the southern kingdom. Approximately one hundred years earlier in 722 B.C., the northern kingdom of Israel has been lay ed waste by Assyria and the capital city, Shiloh has been destroyed. Important to note, because when Jeremiah starts to bring a prophetic word in approx. 627 B.C., the word is that Judah is worse off, because she has seen the destruction brought upon her sister Israel, and yet fails to turn from following after other gods.
The main sin of Judah was that she placed hope in Ba'al, the god of fertility rather that Yhwh. Ba'al is the 'god of rain', which in a Middle Eastern climate is important.
That is why I can never get by chapter 2, because Yhwh is crying out in his heart that he loved Israel/Judah when she was in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. In a place where they cried out to Yhwh, "Do not let us die and he continually provided." The wilderness is not a spiritual place where we go to dwell, such as Monasticism, but it is where we live continuously with Christ. It is a place where our every breath, and sustenance is provided by Yhwh. When Israel developed the kingdoms, she no longer had need for Yhwh, until she realized that Ba'al was in all actuality not actually a god, because it could not bring rain. Fear caused Israel to want a king in the first place, but the heart of Yhwh was that they be 'wilderness' dwelling people. The kings by their very nature kill in order to maintain their land and way of life. The translation today would be "Sojourners and pilgrims". Anyways, if you get a chance also read Jeremiah 30-31, renewal of creation themes, as well as Climax of Covenant themes. Jesus started a "wilderness movement", or else why would the gospel have been proclaimed to "all" nations? In many ways, the Church over the past 2000 years has done what Israel did in wanting a "kingdom" where they no longer cry out to Yhwh, but kill in order to sustain what it has.
The life of Jesus completely embodies what Jeremiah is saying, which would make sense since it is the "Word" of God, i.e. the Logos.
Word! Peace!
Thursday, August 9, 2007
WOW, it's cold!
What's the temp. tonight? Oh, about two degrees. Good thing that I wore my thermals under my uniform. The apartment complex was unlit, but the suspects car was parked in the numbered spot for the complex. Do you think he is still here, I asked my partner? Ya, I know he is here. The apartment complex is leased to his girlfriend, but he is inside. How many warrants does he have? Three. He always runs; always, my partner stated.
I walked around the back of the complex, alone, in complete darkness, with my thoughts and the mist from my breath. Time was 11:00 p.m., and I should be off right now, instead of working this overtime. I could hear my partner knock, announce, "Police!" and begin a half hour conversation with the suspects girlfriend, as I stood freezing, watching the back door, in case the suspect decided to run. He has run every time we looked for him, but maybe the extreme cold kept him inside.
Finally, reluctantly the girlfriend let us inside, after denying for a half hour that he was in the house. As we searched her home, I could feel the sense of intrusion which we brought into her life. She was staring coldly at us, wishing we would drop dead.
As I walked into her bedroom, there was an eery sense that I was not alone. The other officer was checking another room. I slowly unlatched the button on my holster and drew my handgun, with a flashlight in my left hand a gun in my right hand. I walked over to the closet and I could hear the slightest sound of breathing behind the doors to the closet. I yelled, "Don't move!!" I opened the closet door and found the suspect crouching in sheer fear for his life. He was actually shaking, like a scared child, who was separated from his parents.
I did not let down my guard until I ordered him out of the closet and handcuffed him, but I truly and deeply felt sorrow for him, because his life was racked with fear, anxiety, and pain. This same person six months earlier during the summer had engaged me in a car chase, endangered my life, as well as countless others, to avoid arrest. Yet, all that faded into the past for me at this moment, because when I saw him shaking, every ounce of my being, identified with his fear.
As soon as he was caught, he immediately started to cry, because it was a time of release for him. I sometimes had to not look at him to avoid crying myself and all he could do was apologize to us, as if he was sorry for our inconvenience. He no longer had to hide, he no longer had to lie, he no longer had to fear. Although he was arrested, he was met with compassion and mercy, for I do not believe that God sees us as differently from one another as we see our situations.
As I study the life of Jesus, I realize that Jesus almost never brings Israel's past into the picture, except to show that the kingdom of God has dawned. Jesus is incorporating the past, to show that mercy is now extended to all, that the poor have entered into the "good news" of the kingdom, and that forgiveness is here. Jesus has an incredible way of integrating Israel's entire narrative into the culmination of his own life, I absolutely love this about God. God bless.
I walked around the back of the complex, alone, in complete darkness, with my thoughts and the mist from my breath. Time was 11:00 p.m., and I should be off right now, instead of working this overtime. I could hear my partner knock, announce, "Police!" and begin a half hour conversation with the suspects girlfriend, as I stood freezing, watching the back door, in case the suspect decided to run. He has run every time we looked for him, but maybe the extreme cold kept him inside.
Finally, reluctantly the girlfriend let us inside, after denying for a half hour that he was in the house. As we searched her home, I could feel the sense of intrusion which we brought into her life. She was staring coldly at us, wishing we would drop dead.
As I walked into her bedroom, there was an eery sense that I was not alone. The other officer was checking another room. I slowly unlatched the button on my holster and drew my handgun, with a flashlight in my left hand a gun in my right hand. I walked over to the closet and I could hear the slightest sound of breathing behind the doors to the closet. I yelled, "Don't move!!" I opened the closet door and found the suspect crouching in sheer fear for his life. He was actually shaking, like a scared child, who was separated from his parents.
I did not let down my guard until I ordered him out of the closet and handcuffed him, but I truly and deeply felt sorrow for him, because his life was racked with fear, anxiety, and pain. This same person six months earlier during the summer had engaged me in a car chase, endangered my life, as well as countless others, to avoid arrest. Yet, all that faded into the past for me at this moment, because when I saw him shaking, every ounce of my being, identified with his fear.
As soon as he was caught, he immediately started to cry, because it was a time of release for him. I sometimes had to not look at him to avoid crying myself and all he could do was apologize to us, as if he was sorry for our inconvenience. He no longer had to hide, he no longer had to lie, he no longer had to fear. Although he was arrested, he was met with compassion and mercy, for I do not believe that God sees us as differently from one another as we see our situations.
As I study the life of Jesus, I realize that Jesus almost never brings Israel's past into the picture, except to show that the kingdom of God has dawned. Jesus is incorporating the past, to show that mercy is now extended to all, that the poor have entered into the "good news" of the kingdom, and that forgiveness is here. Jesus has an incredible way of integrating Israel's entire narrative into the culmination of his own life, I absolutely love this about God. God bless.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Personal doesn't always mean me
This is a personal update. I like to usually keep my posts close to my heart, which are not personal stories, per se, but a testimony towards the proclamation of the gospel, lived and embodied in the universal church of Jesus Christ. Amen.
With that said, I simply want to say that being at Fuller has transformed not just my thinking, but the expression of what I think. We don't usually have to tell people they need to live out what they preach or think, because we do it so naturally. If we live in fear, then we will act in fear. If we live in love, then we will act in love, it is the natural outworking of either the Spirit of God or as Jesus said, "Being of this world".
Fear is the antithesis of faith, and is probably the greatest contributing factor of why I blog. I believe that fear drives people to do horrendously evil things. I am guilty of evil and have lived in much fear for most of my adult life. I see a lot of the reasons are because I believed that Christianity is only an inner war, raging in my own heart, pulling me one way, when I deeply want to go another. As if God were neurotic like humans. We then say, "Well, it is all grace anyways", as if grace somehow enables humans to sin, when in all actuality grace enables humans NOT to sin.
I am reading another Miroslav Volf book called, The End of Memory and I will incorporate his three books; Free of Charge, Exclusion and Embrace, and this book into a paper that I will be writing entitled; Forgiveness as an Ethical, Social Movement. Volf writes that in order to forgive we must remember rightly, which means that we must allow the perpetrators of violence to speak, because only through their words, may we understand that they too are/were victims of violence. Forgiveness can also then bring redemption and healing to their lives, because one day we as Christians do believe God is going to set the world right, which means violence, will be truly known for what it is, and we do not want to be on the side of violence.
Volf says that we can live "active peacemaking" in this life, because we believe that God is a God of justice and vengeance, which is why God is a God of love. God sees things for what they truly are, we see things one dimensionally. This is why as Volf says, "we seek the truth, but do not possess the truth", because Jesus himself is the truth. I hope everyone has a chance to read Volf, it is truly life changing.
With that said, I simply want to say that being at Fuller has transformed not just my thinking, but the expression of what I think. We don't usually have to tell people they need to live out what they preach or think, because we do it so naturally. If we live in fear, then we will act in fear. If we live in love, then we will act in love, it is the natural outworking of either the Spirit of God or as Jesus said, "Being of this world".
Fear is the antithesis of faith, and is probably the greatest contributing factor of why I blog. I believe that fear drives people to do horrendously evil things. I am guilty of evil and have lived in much fear for most of my adult life. I see a lot of the reasons are because I believed that Christianity is only an inner war, raging in my own heart, pulling me one way, when I deeply want to go another. As if God were neurotic like humans. We then say, "Well, it is all grace anyways", as if grace somehow enables humans to sin, when in all actuality grace enables humans NOT to sin.
I am reading another Miroslav Volf book called, The End of Memory and I will incorporate his three books; Free of Charge, Exclusion and Embrace, and this book into a paper that I will be writing entitled; Forgiveness as an Ethical, Social Movement. Volf writes that in order to forgive we must remember rightly, which means that we must allow the perpetrators of violence to speak, because only through their words, may we understand that they too are/were victims of violence. Forgiveness can also then bring redemption and healing to their lives, because one day we as Christians do believe God is going to set the world right, which means violence, will be truly known for what it is, and we do not want to be on the side of violence.
Volf says that we can live "active peacemaking" in this life, because we believe that God is a God of justice and vengeance, which is why God is a God of love. God sees things for what they truly are, we see things one dimensionally. This is why as Volf says, "we seek the truth, but do not possess the truth", because Jesus himself is the truth. I hope everyone has a chance to read Volf, it is truly life changing.
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