The other, is a slam poetry performance by Anis Mojgani. I think I may have shared this on my Facebook feed a long time ago, but I’m going to post it again anyway.  I’m reading his book of poetry, Over the Anvil we Stretch, and lot of it goes over my head, but I’m trying to read more poetry, so I keep going.  I have a line from this poem on my facebook profile page because I find it beautiful and challenging and true – all marks of good peotry, huh?    Warning: his poetry can be a bit “raw” at times.  Enjoy.

(here’s another one from Mojgani that I love)

“Can anything be stupider than that a man has the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of a river and his ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have no quarrele with him?”

Blaise Pascal

I’ve always been fascinated by architecture.  I see architecture as the blending of right brain and left brain capabilities – lots of math and problem-solving, but with a strong sense of ascetics as well.  It seems like a job that I would love.

I’m especially fascinated with church architecture.  And not just European church architecture, but also modern church architecture.  It raises all kinds of questions for me…

• the obvious question is the relationship between form & function…
• equally obvious, at least to me, is the relationship between form & cost…especially in church architecture.
• but I also am curious about contemporary church architecture… it seems that we’ve mostly tipped to function over form.
• i don’t like much contemporary church architecture… but I have in my head a category that I call “classical, postmodern, contemporary church architecture.”
• i like what this church has to say about their building architecture.

(the cathedral in the picture is the Cathedral is Sevilla, Spain.  I visited it in September of 2002.)

It made me think about how little we know.  I think every age has thought that they stood at the pinnacle of knowledge – that because of modern technology, we are the generation that has figured everything out and can finally answer every question about the universe we live in.  But when I hear talks like this, it reminds me that the universe created for us by God is much deeper/complex than we even know – and I’m doubtful that we’ll ever have a final answer to anything.

What I guess I’m getting after is that talks like these lead me to a deeper humility about what I think I know – and a deeper awe about the universe we inhabit.  And I think that’s a good thing.

Never accept and be content with unanalyzed assumptions, assumptions about the work, about the people, about the church or Christianity.  Never be afraid to ask questions about the work we have inherited or the work we are doing.  There is no question that should not be asked or that is outlawed.  The day we are completely satisfied with what we have been doing; the day we have found the perfect, unchangeable system of work, the perfect answer, never in need of being corrected again, on that day we will know that we are wrong, that we have made the greatest mistake of all.

Vincent J. Donovan

I blame the end of civility in our culture on what I will call “the culture of celebrity.”

It seems everyone is trying to make a name for themselves – to get themselves distinguished from the herd.  There are legitimate ways to do so: be excellent at what you do, offer intelligent/thoughtful/provocative ideas to discourse, do something truly remarkable, etc.  And then there are some shortcut ways that are made even easier by the 24-hour news cycle and reporters always willing to make headlines out of the sensational.  Three examples from the religious world:

• Calling Avatar the “most Satanic film I’ve ever seen“  I understand that some religious leaders might be concerned about the naturalism and naturalistic spirituality presented in the film.  It’s probably worthy of some deep discussion.  And yet, how is this movie different from almost anything else in the Sci-Fi genre?  Most Satanic?  Really?  Or is this just a blatant (and successful) grab for headlines?
• How about calling for the euthanasia of that killer whale at Sea World?  And even going so far as to hint that the trainer got what she deserved.  Of course, they’re quoting laws from Exodus 21 – but lets not exegete a little and ask what that might mean in our context, or what the implications are when trainers dress in black wet suits that make them look remarkable like a tasty seal to a killer whale.
• Telling listeners to leave your church if they talk about the “social gospel.” Forget that Jesus identified his mission on earth with many of those things that make up the social gospel.

I can’t tell you how frustrated I get by this stuff.  It doesn’t help civility.  It doesn’t help us have respectful conversations.  Sometimes I wish I could filter the news for people.  (but I think that would make me a totalitarian, wouldn’t it?)

What’s wrong, or at least interesting, is why some of us expected so much more from a new gadget. I suspect this is because for some people, myself included, technology has become a kind of religion. We may not believe in God anymore, but we still need mystery and wonder. We need the magic act. Five centuries ago Spanish missionaries put shiny mirrors in churches to dazzle the Incas and draw them to Christianity. We, too, want to be dazzled by shiny new objects. Our iPhones not only play music and make phone calls, but they also have become totemic objects, imbued with techno-voodoo. Maybe that sounds nuts, but before the iPad was announced, people were calling it the “Jesus tablet.”

That line about the shiny mirrors?  That makes me think about the church & technology.  And if a church markets itself by it’s “tech-savvyness,” how is that different than shiny mirrors?

On a personal level… I want one.  I’ve been thinking hard about a Kindle for some time, but that’s out the window now!

Maybe it’s the conversation I had last night with my friends…

Maybe it’s the extra-early start to my Monday morning…

Maybe it’s the knowledge that LENT is coming, and I’m getting prepared…

Whatever it is, I’ve been plagued recently by my ideals about the kind of pastor/husband/father/friend I should be and the reality of who I actually am.  Most of the time, it feels like there is such a disconnect and I feeling like a failure at all of them.  I’m thankful that LENT is coming.  I could use some introspection & discipline.

This morning, I was driving to an early breakfast, and I had NPR’s Morning Edition on the radio.  I was thinking about the Haiti situation and I had this thought:

I wonder when some Christian “celebrity/pastor” type will make some asinine statement about this, and appearing condescending & judgmental, as if they know the mind of God.

My very next thought, in an attempt to stop being such a critical jerk most of the time was this:

Charlie, quit being so cynical about church leaders.

SIGH.  Pat Robertson Strikes Again!

I know that Jesus calls us to love everyone…but in this moment I’m filled with anger – I hope it’s righteous.  I feel like Jesus’ name is getting drug through the mud by someone who professes to love him.

Between men and women there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship.

I’m curious… what do you think?  I’m not so sure.

And if you have an opinion, why?