Embracing a Vocation: Graduation Time at Judson

A few weeks ago I realized that again no institution of higher (or lower) learning was calling to offer me an invitation to be a commencement speaker.  I thought by now, surely, my high school would have asked me.  Nope.  Commencement address, honoraray doctorate, having summers off, and personal assistant are all personal professional goals I have for my life.  Rather than wait for the commencement address invitation I decided to use the sermon time on the Sunday when the church recognized the graduating seniors to deliver my version of a commencement address. 

I think it went well.  I had the seniors come up to the platform and sit so they could face the congregation. 

Here is the video:
Judson Sermon 20140504 "Embracing a Vocation, Not Pursuing a Job" from Jacqueline Thureson on Vimeo.

And here is the text:

Embracing a Vocation, Not Pursuing a Job

Deuteronomy 8:1-10 & 2 Corinthians

text: “this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Cor. 4:7)

Recognition of Seniors – Second Sunday of Eastertide – May 4, 2014

Judson Memorial Baptist Church – Minneapolis, MN

The Rev’d G. Travis Norvell

            When I was in seminary, in the Fall of ’96, driving in Richmond, VA I heard a Johnny Cash song on the radio.  After the song I headed home, put all of my cds into a large cardboard box, went to Plan9 down in the Fan neighborhood, and traded them all in for the Johnny Cash box set and any other Johnny Cash cds they had.  I now pass onto you my essential Johnny Cash cd.  I know your parents meant well, but if you do not know these songs, well, ur, I just couldn’t bare the thought of someone knowing you were from Judson, that I was your pastor, and you didn’t know these songs. 

            Now for a few questions.

            How many of you switched your majors in college?

            How many of you switched professions more than once?

            More than twice, three times?

           

            The book of Deuteronomy subscribes to the conditional theory of life, if you do X then Y happens.  Deuteronomy, as you all know, is the second (duetero) telling of the law (nomos), from the Greek, the name coming from the Septuagint, the translation of the Hebrew, Tanak, into Greek.  The Biblical authors knew human beings have spotty memories, thus the second telling of the law – Exodus was not enough, I suppose.  Remember, remember the forty long years you wandered in the wilderness, remember, remember, remember.  There is also a tinge of fear in the voice of Moses.  Perhaps he was scared that since he would not be with them in the promised land the Israelites would forget their experiences with God.  Likewise, there is a bit of fear in this day.  We are scared, somewhat, that you too will forget all that happened in your years here at Judson.  Not really, but kind of . 

            Years ago your parents either here, or at another faith community, or in the privacy of their hearts made a promise with God to raise you in a way so that you too would develop a vibrant, life-giving, and liberating faith.  And I must say they, and Judson, have done a helluva job.  And now it is time for you to take what we’ve given you and expand, recreate, thicken, customize, and place your own creative/imaginative mark on it.  And yes, you can reject it as well.

            But what is it that we have given you?  A list.  Here is what we hope you take with you.   First, why a list:

When Roseanne Cash was 18 years old in 1973 she spent the summer on a tour bus with her, finally, clean and sober father, Johnny Cash.  As they were trundling through the South they started talking about songs.  She remembers the conversation this way, “he mentioned one, and I said I didn’t know that one.  And he mentioned another.  I said I don’t that one either, Dad, and he became very alarmed.”  In response that afternoon Johnny Cash compiled a list of 100 essential American songs for his daughter’s education.  I hope this short list sums up your formation of your time growing up at Judson.

1.      We hope we have given you a model of authenticity. 

I am sure you take this eccentric, idiosyncratic, bizarre grouping of individuals that make up Judson you take for granted.   Let me say they are living proof that there is a balm in Gilead.  We are living examples of folk trying their best to follow and make real the way of Jesus in this world, sometimes we do an amazing job and other times not so much.  We’re not seeking perfection, we are seeking wholeness. 

           

2.  We hope we have given you permission to fail. 

We hope you know it is okay (and you’re even expected) to fail.  The sooner you caress this idea the easier your life will be; better to fail now and realize it is not the end of the world then to let the fear of failure run (and ruin) your life.  Fail and know that God will be present; fall flat on your face and know it is not the end of the world, as C.S. Lewis wrote, “God can use even the wrong road to get you to the right place.”  Start reading Lewis, but first read your Parker Palmer book, then Unto Me by Walter Rauschenbusch

            One more thing about failure, specifically grades.  Here is a little secret the other tour guides wont tell you, “other schools are the only ones who care about grades.”  According to my calculations I graduated at the top of my class in divinity school.  The school even put a nice little gold foil stamp on my diploma that reads with distinction.  But guess what?  Not one search committee has ever asked me for my GPA.  When I go to see a doctor, or a dentist, or a lawyer I never ask them for their GPA or a copy of their transcripts.  When I read a novel it never crosses my mind to think, “I wonder if they were at the top of their class?” 

How many here have had a meaningful conversation about your grades in the last five years?

Once you graduate you, for the most part, will stop talking or even care about your grades.  Author Malcolm Gladwell has even suggested we put a moratorium on talking about our grades or where we went to school.   You’ll be surprised how far you can get in life with a little knowledge, some interpersonal skills, and passion for your vocation.  I’m not saying don’t do your best, but always remember you are more than your GPA.  We know it.  We hope you know it and we hope you make sure others know it. 

            If that wasn’t enough then always remember the wisdom shared by our 43^rd President at the 2001 commencement of Yale University.

            To those who received honors, awards, and distinctions, I say well done.  And to the C students I say, you, too, can be President of the United States.  A Yale degree is worth a lot, as I often remind Dick Cheney who studied here but left a little early.  So now we know: If you graduate from Yale, you become President; if you drop out, you get to be Vice President. 

           

3.  We hope we have give you a model of Christianity that focuses on human flourishing, that takes the bible seriously, not literally, that can stand caricatures, and that is overflowing with visions of peace & reconciliation & hope.  We hope you take your studies and integrate them with a social gospel fire.  If we could have be assured and gotten copies in time we would have also got you copies of Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century.  Your life has been shaped by a financial collapse and the awareness of the 1%, income inequality will touch every inch of your life.  You will have to do your part to make sure the world is a just and equitable world. 

            We hope this way of Judson has been as thoughtless as your next breath.  This is the Horace Bushnell model, the erudite antebellum & abolitionists Congregational pastor.  We are hoping osmosis works.  Speaking of osmosis, my Greek and Latin professor encouraged us to sleep with our readers under our pillows; he advocated academic osmosis.  When asked if it will work, he replied, “it cant hurt.” 

           

4.  Finally, we hope you embrace a vocation and not use your time over the next few years just pursuing a job.  Listen to your life, your choices, your loves, your passions they all are parts of the voice of God.  And I hope you too will consider the ministry.  Like I’ve told my kids, you can be anything you want to be as long as you are radical Baptist pastors.  When they roll their eyes, I reply, how else are we going to create a theological dynasty?  In all seriousness I hope you embrace a life in the service of others.  For 18 years of Sundays you have been surrounded by a community that has given of itself in the service for others. 

            How many of you are ordained?

            How many of you are married to someone who is ordained?

            How many of you went to seminary?

            How many of you have worked on a church staff?

            How many of you are counselors or social workers?

            How many of you are PKs or MKs?

            How many of you have passed on higher paying jobs to remain in a

meaningful vocation?

We have given you a fragile treasure in an earthen vessel, we trust it with you now. 

            In closing.  Because churches like Judson are few and far between you have our blessing to seek a non-American Baptist church, if you cannot find another Judson.  However, if we hear that you have either started attending an evangelical campus group and are going around declaring that you have found the truth and now see the Judson way as wicked & heretical or you are attending a Presbyterian church and loving it, I will form a posse and will arrange an intervention. 

The Lord Bless You and Keep You.  Amen & Amen. 

Blessing Those Who Bless You: Easter 2014

The Beginning 

Where to start...I suppose in divinity school when I learned if you didn't want communion you could be blessed by the priest. I suppose during a seminar discussion at Hinton on the need for blessing.  I suppose it had something to do with my Jazz Fest Prayers/Blessing station.  I suppose while reading Gilead.  I suppose on Ash Wednesday when I felt as a vessel of spiritual power (I have no way of communicating this other than I felt the power of God passing from me to those who came forward for the ashes).  I suppose during the "stations" on the 5th Sunday in Lent when I had this desire to go around and bless every congregant.  I suppose when I realized there was no communion bread.

What in the World Am I Talking About?

Leading up to Lent I had been on a streak of preaching for social justice.  I was saying things I had always believed but never spoken out loud.  Then Lent came and no matter how hard I tried to preach on social justice I couldn't, every sermon dealt with personal religion: loving what God loves. Only when we start loving what God loves (ourselves) can we begin to love our neighbor and enemy.  I was surprised by this turn but thought for sure I would be able to gather back by social justice momentum for Easter (especially with the proximity of Earth Day).  But that sermon never arrived.

The sermon that arrived was about blessing.  And that is what I am talking about.

Blessing

On Good Friday the question and comforting thought occurred to me, "I wonder if the woman who prepares the communion bread received word that there will be communion for Easter Sunday?  If not, no big deal I'll either make a loaf or pick one up this weekend."  Saturday evening I thought, "Be sure and start a loaf of bread before you go to bed."  But I forgot.  Then Saturday night my youngest child was up sick.  Easter morning, it was all I could do to get ready and peddle to church.  As I coasted down Lyndale Avenue and crossed 46th St. I knew for sure that there would be no communion on Easter.  Why?  I decided to bless everyone.

Major thanks needs to go to the Rev. Dr. Kirk B. Jones for encouraging all to adopt a more playful, spontaneous, and experimental aspects into pastoral ministry.  

The Ritual

I preached my sermon on blessing (which is my interpretation of Resurrection)
Judson Sermon 20140420 "The Unfinished Business of Easter" from Jacqueline Thureson on Vimeo.

After the sermon I invited those gathered to come forward and receive a blessing.  I made the sign of the cross on their foreheads, said their name, followed by the simple blessing: The Lord Bless You and Keep You.

While attending a MCC worship service ten years ago I cried when I heard the minister offer communion to all those who were gathered.  She voiced the invitation in such a tender and sweet way, nothing like the judgmental way I had experienced the call to the table.  Since that day I have advocated that on "high holy days" we offer communion because I am sure there are those present who have been turned away from the table.

On a practical note, by offering a blessing instead of communion we did not have to fret over gluten free or gluten full bread options.  We also bypassed the debate of the nature of communion.  As Baptists I like to think our theology of communion as the lowest common denominator, but not everyone agrees with me on this.  

The Reaction/Response

I thought maybe 20 people would come forward (there were 200+ in worship).  I believe almost every person in attendance came forward.  I should say before the service I approached a congregant and asked if she would help me bless people too (one of the many perks of having a bakers dozen ordained folk in the congregation).

People came forward crying (I cried too).  New people came forward and told me their name before I blessed them.  Kids that heretofore had not come forward came forward.  And to my surprise people blessed me back.  Some people put their arms on my shoulders, around my waist, or on my forehead.  It was an amazing moment.

Pondering

Marilynne Robinson is correct.  Perhaps the most meaningful act we, the ordained, can do is bless people.  But why do we not do it more often?

Here is a text of the sermon.

The Unfinished Work of Easter

Genesis 12:1-5 & Mark 16:-8

Resurrection Morn – April 20, 2014

Judson Memorial Baptist Church – Minneapolis, MN

The Rev’d G. Travis Norvell

I don’t know how & why chocolate became associated with the Resurrection of our Lord, but I’m glad it did.  And I’m glad three women went to the tomb early one morning with expectant bodies, minds, & souls.  Tuned with the ears of our hearts, may the expectancy continue this morning.

            Let us pray.  Rising, Living, & Courageous God

In this moment, place your love on our lives, blessing us, reminding us of your trust in us.  Take our eyes and see through them, take our hands and work through them, take our minds and think through them, and take our hearts and set them on fire.  Amen. 

Let us start off with a few questions?

How many of you were (or are) the favorite child of your parents?

How many wish they were (or are) the favorite child of your parents?

How many had a relative, a boss, a professor, a neighbor that you liked but they never really liked you? 

Do you have a favorite child, grandchild, or person in your life?

How many of you are living your days with an unmet need for a blessing? 

Or how many are withholding your blessing from someone?

T

he Old Testament, especially the book of Genesis, is full of cagey, sneaky, and conniving stories of folk trying to obtain a blessing.  Right from the get go the Torah reveals the journey of humanity as one seeking, being denied, and living with or without a blessing.  We are the heirs of that journey, seekers of that gift, always holding out the hope of Abraham to be blessed/to bless.  We spend our days doing amazing and surprising things trying to obtain a blessing.  I would say all of us here this morning are seeking a blessing, whether we acknowledge it or not. 

At the conclusion of Marilynne Robinson’s Pulitzer winning book Gilead, the elderly Rev. John Ames blessed his middle aged godson John (Jack) Ames Boughton.  After the blessing Rev. Ames reflected, “I told him it was an honor to bless him.  And that was absolutely true.  In fact I’d have gone through seminary and ordination and all the years intervening for that one moment.”  The act of blessing for all involved is a liminal and luminous moment, it is to be present in those “thin places” where the distance between heaven and earth is palpable. 

About 15 years ago I began the ordination process at my home church in West Virginia.  I knew at the start that it was a terrible idea, but I reckoned with some charm, good-old-boy-glad-handing, and smooth talking I could wiggle my way through slippery details of theological disagreement.  They saw right through me.  Before anyone could say no, I withdrew. I spent the next few years trying to come to grips with the situation, sleepless nights, bouts of melancholy, talks with chaplains and counselors, etc.  I knew the gulf between what I believed and what they believed was deep and wide, but they were the ones with whom I began my journey.  Looking back on it now, I didn’t expect us to agree, I hoped we could acknowledge the gifts of one another. 

One day while at a retreat I asked the spiritual director, without fully knowing what I was asking, if she would bless me.  She did.  We held hands, she prayed for me, and blessed me.  By blessing me she did what I desired/needed my home church to do.  This act did not solve all of my problems but it did untie the knots in my soul.  I felt like a new person, like I was reborn, I experienced Resurrection.

Technically, resurrection is the physically raising of a previously dead person into the bosom of God. 

Figuratively, it is the surprising pronouncement of discovering the imaginative acts of God:

where there is death, life;

  where there is war, peace;

    where there is hate, love ;

      where there is alienation, community ;

        where there inequality, justice;

          where there is enmity, reconciliation. 

Practically, it is announcing a blessing to the world in action, and in words, and with our bodies

that God has not given up on us,

  that God continues to put God’s trust in us,

     that God has us wrapped in a love that will not let us go. 

To be truly blessed by God –

  to feel in your bones, marrow deep,

    it is to know with every cell that you are loved by God,

      that you are good in the eyes of God,

        that you are one in whom God trusts. 

2

,000 years ago three women - not Peter, James, and John and definitely not Paul – began sharing the gift of blessing with the surprising good news of the Resurrection: he is risen.  We have their names: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome – that is all we have.  Take all the nouns to describe these women and add a few verbs and you can contain all we know about them in a few short sentences, that’s it. 

Yet what they did was so powerful and amazing the gospel authors made sure their names were kept for eternity by including their witness in the Easter story.  We read them each and every Easter keeping their witness alive and present. 

Although we do not hear or see any mention of these tree women until the middle of the 15^th chapter of Mark’s gospel we know they were with Jesus since the inception of his ministry in Galilee in chapter 1.  They were Jesus’ shadow, disciples with equals.  Therefore, it is only natural and right that they are the first evangelists of Easter – announcing the gift of God. 

            On the one hand you may view their act as a brave and courageous act, which it was.  Three women defied the authorities when they lingered around the cross, when they watched from afar while Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body to the tomb, when they bought spices to anoint Jesus’ body, and when they went to the tomb to prepare Jesus’ body for eternal rest.  All of their actions were commendable, copious, and courageous. If we only came to that conclusion all would be fine and good. 

But there is a subterranean movement missed if we stopped there.   

           

            On the other hand, their act was even more astonishing.  They bought spices to anoint Jesus, with no intention of using them.  They went to the tomb knowing full well they could not move the stone from Jesus’ tomb. And when they do not find Jesus in the tomb, drumroll please… they were scared, yes, but, but not disappointed. 

            They went to the tomb expecting resurrection.

Let us linger with their fear for a moment. 

Who wouldn’t have been scared? 

Have you ever held a new born baby?  The little thing all scrunched up & wriggling, covered with afterbirth, simultaneously you are overjoyed and terrified that you will drop it. 

Or have you held the hand of a loved one when they die.  That last breath, rising like wafting incense you are so thankful to be there but also deeply saddened that you will never feel the warmth of those hands anymore. 

            A better translation of the word fear would really be something like an ecstatic state.  They were on an emotional, spiritual, bodily high.  Their holy moment, it is what the bible refers to when it says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

To stand in awe of the holiness of life,

  to feel grace unfolding before your heart,

    to feel within your loins that your only response is

thank you. 

            In the moment of ecstasy the messenger of God shoos them away, now get you going, go and tell the world that Jesus is risen, he is not here.  The directive from the messenger echoes the conversation/deal between God and Abram eons ago, get you going, get busy sharing the gift of blessing with creation.  Get out of the empty tomb and get busy announcing to the world of Jesus’ resurrection, get busy sharing the gift, get busy blessing the world. 

             

I

 don’t know how much time you spend analyzing the scriptures each week, my hunch is not that much – no judgment here, just stating the obvious.  So maybe you do not know that the gospel of Mark that we read this morning has not one, not two, but three endings. 

            The most obvious ending, the longer ending of Mark, which ends at verse 20, then there is the shorter ending, which ends at verse 9.  Then there is the original ending which ends where our reading ended this morning, at verse 8.  Most of the ancient sources of Mark’s gospel end at the end of verse 8, but some in the early church found that ending too drastic because there was no appearance of the resurrected Jesus, just an empty tomb! 

            I wish they would have left the original ending at verse 8.  Because it places the onus on me and you to continue the work of Easter,

to announce,

  to bless,

    to do whatever it takes to affirm in others that God loves them,    

      that God has not given up on them,

        that they too are created in the image of God,

          that God trusts them to carry on the work of healing and

mending the world. 

            Mark’s original ending invites us to take up the unfinished & open-ended work of Easter – for there is a world in need of resurrection, in need of blessing, in need of being loved into a new existence.

I

n closing, the past few Easters I have taken advantage of this day to make bold announcements for justice, for healthy liberal theology, and calls for action.  This year when I took in account of the renewed vigor for social justice in this congregation I felt I needed to go as deep as possible on this day. 

Much will be required of us, we will have to offer the world bread not stone;

something deeper and truer than yelling;

  something deeper and truer than just being angry;

    something deeper and truer than just being against policies,

    practices, and people. 

We will not change the world by shaming others, by yelling, or always reacting. 

We will change the world with Easter as our guide:

loving with surprise,

  gracing with imagination,

    hoping with wonder,

      blessing with fascination,

        resurrecting with astonishment

          freely sharing/announcing the gifts of God. 

This morning I ask that you receive the gift of blessing, or resurrection, of new life, that you begin again, or anew, viewing your self as a creature created in the image of God. 

For if you can love what God loves, if you can love yourself, then you can love others, your neighbor, your enemies; if you can bless what God has blessed then you can bless others; and if you walk your days looking for resurrection, you’ll find it. 

Let us open the ears of our hearts to the open-ended and unfinished work of Easter. 

            The Lord bless thee,

and keep thee:

            The Lord make his face to shine upon thee,

            and be gracious to thee:

            The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee,

            and give thee peace,

            both now and forevermore.

Brothers and Sisters Happy Easter.  Amen & Amen. 

 

Blessing, Baptism & the Brief Joys of Ushering

For reasons beyond my understanding I picked up Gilead again the other day and read it again.  I love that book.  I tried to read it when it first came out, but that was during my "death period" family deaths and a string of deaths at church - I couldn't take anymore about death.

During my fictive sabbatical I picked up Gilead again and read it.  My memory from the first read was way off: I had John Ames's son as a daughter & the story wasn't even in Iowa.  Robinson's sentences were so sweet, thick, and soothing that I wanted to take it in as quickly as possible (for the record almost every work I read that year I read quick-like).  This time I took my time.  This time: I was right back, emotionally, at the place when I first tried to read it - my chest was heavy, I cried and cried, and found each sentence to be a balm.  The one sentence that stuck out dealt with baptism as blessing, how ministers (especially in free church traditions) overlook the power of blessing.

Last Sunday I baptized two youths, with the sentences of Marilynne Robinson lapping over almost every sentence of the day.  The baptism was a blessing.

As I baptized them I thought about baptizing my daughter last year, all the baptisms I have done thus far, and my own baptism.

Funny thing about baptisms within the Baptist tradition: the one thing that defines us we dont pay that much attention, liturgically speaking, to the act.  So I pour all of the attention I can into the day.  Oh how I wish someone would have talked to me more about baptism, given me a charge, given me a blessing.  So I did just that this year.  Here is a video of the charge, the blessing is part 2 if you want to see it also.

Judson Charge to the Baptized "Service With a Smile" 20140413 (1 of 2) from Jacqueline Thureson on Vimeo.

As I laid in bed the other evening, thinking of my own baptism, I remembered the forgotten joy of being an usher.  Shortly after I was baptized my grandmother and great aunt bought me a suit.  The suit was my ticket to becoming an usher.  One Sunday, after my baptism, a well dressed elderly man approached me and inquired if I wanted to be an usher.  Sure.

Being an usher meant that I got out of Sunday School early.  It also meant that I did not have to participate in the first 1/2 of the worship service.  Ushers sat people, opened and closed the doors, watched coats, passed out bulletins, took calls from the pastor (more about this in a moment), took up the offering, and (wait another moment for the last part).

The Phone: My home church was quite large, anywhere between 250-400 every Sunday.  Beside the chair where the pastor sat was a secret phone that connected to the the narthex where the ushers hung out.  Oh the fun the ushers had ignoring the calls from the pastor.  During an anthem or a hymn he would pick up the phone and call the ushers and they wouldn't answer (on purpose), and the pastor's face would get red and they would laugh and giggle, and the pastor would get even angrier, then finally they would pick up and make up some tale about not hearing the pastor's call.  And now here is the greatest part of ushering: the after offering gathering.

After we took up the offering we descended steps that took us under the sanctuary & into a special Sunday School room.  A Sunday School room that was filled with coffee, orange juice, and donuts.  It was amazing.  And now here is the best part: we ate donuts until the sermon was finished.  Each week someone would stay behind in the narthex then run down and tell us when the last hymn started. By the third verse began the entire army of ushers were standing ready to open doors, take bulletins, help with coats, and say goodbye to the exiting attendees.  This bliss lasted for about three months until the spouse of one of staff members caught wind of this bliss.  Apparently, she thought I had not suffered enough listening to below average sermons about hell and perdition.  She suggested that I not usher any longer.  

Who knows maybe what she did was a blessing?  Perhaps if she had not made me relinquish my donut bliss I would still be an unknowing conservative Baptist.  In fact, I would think that church was greatest church in the world, who wouldn't?  Donuts > Sermon.  She blessed me, only probably not in ways she imagined - but that is the nature of grace, untameable and unknowable.

The Cycling Clergyman Installment #6 or 7: You Can Do This Too!

First things first.  Now that the snow has melted, for the most part, from the roads you have no excuse not to ride to work, for errands, or pleasure.  I have been peddling for my pastoral duties now for nearly three months, with the aid of the bus and a few parishioners I've been able to fulfill all of my pastoral duties, picked up some much needed exercise, and gained some intimate knowledge about my community, especially the potholes.

So what are you waiting for.  April is 30 days of biking month here in Minnesota, why not take the challenge?  Here is a sharp little video to help you along.


Likewises

I have had to take a break from my 40 days of Lenten prayers for the earth.  Why?  I couldn't separate my anger from the prayers.  I am aware of anger and the psalms, but it's not that, in fact I am praying those psalms instead.  This will take some theological wrestling on my part (post-Easter).

Perhaps you recall when the new cathedral was built in Los Angeles.  They purposefully built it next to a highway, highways being the rivers of the 21st century.

I often think about that statement, roads as the rivers of transportation today.  I think it every day I ride over the I35Wbridge (35W, a transportation misnomer, for only North South routes are to be labeled in odd numbers, but in Minnesota I-35 splits one corridor to MPLS (35W) and one corridor to St Paul (35E).  I still bristle at this.  Nevertheless, every time I cross 35W (I live in Mpls) I envision the terrible river of traffic.  Terrible because it is a river that at times overflows, but most of the time barely trickles. 

Imagine in half the cars on the road were replaced by mass transit and bikes?  What if the hauling was primarily done via rail?  What if Americans were more intentional about the way we planned our days and managed our trips?  What would the river look like then?  

We'll never be a car free society.  We need autos get from A to B, because not every place is accessible via public transit (have you ever tried to get a week's worth of groceries on the bus, or a couch, or a few 2 x 4s?), and there are emergencies (like when a kid calls sick from school, a parishioner is about to die and wants/needs you there to pray with/for them, & etc), and what about state parks (can you imagine hauling a week's worth of camping supplies on the bus to a state park?  can you even get to a state park via public transit?)  Yet, if we could change our habits slightly we could make huge differences concerning the burning and usage of fossil fuels.  

Maybe Mpls could reclaim a few lanes of 35W, maybe "the river" could be covered with green, thereby linking the communities.  

Lenten Prayers for the Earth: BP, Royal Dutch Sheel, & ConocoPhillips

What can I say God, I needed to write a sermon Friday and be with my family on Saturday, Sundays dont count during Lent.  So accept my conglomerate makeup prayer for BP, Royal Dutch Shell, & ConocoPhillips. 

I confess it is hard to pray for this group, there is a lot of  personal pain surrounding them.   I can still smell the acrid air when the gulf was on fire, from the refining process, and the continued hypocrisy in the NYTimes ads.  So there is a temptation to only pray Psalms 39 & 88, but I will not.  I still believe in the possibility that you can turn my mourning into dancing. 

So God, come on now.  What is it going to take turn the corporate apparatus in such a way that promotes a sustainable and near zero carbon (I'm still a bit of a realist here) sources of energy and power?  What if every church had a solar panel?  I stand on the bridges over I35W, they are rivers of commerce and transportation - but what if we said, nope!  We will walk, ride bikes, take the bus, take the train.  Would that promote the change we need?  So should my prayers be redirected? 

No, no, no, they have a responsibility to the human family.  What if these companies led the way, what if they were a greater part of the solution providing proactive leadership rather than reactive?  Come on God, what's its going to take?  T

I'm waiting to be surprised...

Lenten Prayers for the Earth: ExxonMobil

Well God, I didnt see a rise or drop in gas prices or stocks last night.  Nor did I hear about a new solar initiative by ChevronTexaco but I am going to keep praying, keep pestering, and keep nagging you until I do.  On the one hand I do not see a way forward.  I do not see a way to change or bend the direction of the fossil fuel industry.  I have joined efforts and will continue.  I also do not see my demanding action by you as a passive or last ditch effort.  On the other hand I know you are a surprising God, I really do believe you can provide a crack of light that will be a new venture. 

So I ask how can I help love and usher this new reality into being? 

Today I am praying for ExxonMobil.  My first gas card was through Exxon, I liked the color combination.  They are a corporation of transformation, they have helped transform the Alaskan coast, the Gulf of Mexico, and the world.  I know they have the power to transform.  I am not buying if and when they cannot say, "We cannot change the way we do business, we are a gas and oil company; not a solar and wind company.  We drill and extract not harness and redirect."  But I know better. They are not lazy, they can change. 

God, give them the push they need.  Amen!

Lenten Prayers for Climate Change: ChevronTexaco

Living God,

It seems strange to offer my thoughts & love energies to a corporation who is listed as the top extractor of carbon based fuels.  Odd especially, that today I will smudge carbon on the foreheads of the willing for Ash Wednesday.  So on this day when I remember the new life contained in the realization of my own death, I pray for new life for ChevronTexaco too.  For their well-being and my well-being and the well-being of all are intricately tied together.

You know God, no doubt those who run, control, and direct ChevronTexaco are talented, smart, and strategic thinkers.  And I'm sure there are thousands of kind hearted, compassionate, and concerned employees who want a good and flourishing life.  But as a corporation their goal of profit by means of fossil fuels set in motion the change of life on this planet as we know it.

So God...I need you to be the Creator of Heaven and Earth.  I, need you to soften the heart of this corporation in such a manner that allows them to see the promise and flourishing of Creation and the well being of their corporation by switching from fossil fuels to renewable resources of solar and wind.  Create in them a desire to devise new ways to harness the never-ending powers of the sun and gravity that do not emit CO2 into the atmosphere or harmful agents into the soil and water.

Surprise us God.  Show us that you care about human and creation flourishing because I feel defeated when it comes to changing the ways and doings of multinational corporations who pollute and harm the home of all.  God if you are asleep, wake up!  We need you.

Amen & Amen.

40 Days of Prayers for the Earth

I am an environmentalists.  I am a Christian pastor (a Baptists at that).  I have participated in marches, conducted covert research on coal mining practices, written prayers for the Earth, delivered sermons on the Christian imperative to take care of the earth, and given to environmental causes.  But I need to do more, I invite you to join with me to do more too!  And it will take you less than 10 minutes, and you wont have to go anywhere or hardly do anything!!!

I invite Christians and anyone else involved in the struggle for eco-justice to direct your prayers towards the top 40 carbon polluters of this world, which are also publicly traded corporations.  Each day during Lent I will write a prayer directed at one of the corporations, a prayer for repentance/change/turn; a prayer for a small crack develop in their hardened hearts to create the room for a radical departure from their path of environmental degradation towards human and Creation flourishing.

I will post a different prayer each day here on this blog.  Look for #prayliketheprophets on twitter.

Keep marching, keep giving, keep preaching, keep protesting, keep divesting, and pray like you've never prayed before!

Ash Wednesday How-to Tutorial

Nothing is worse than an untrained free churcher waiting till the last minute to do an Ash Wednesday service.  Here is your less than 10 minutes tutorial.

Clycling Clergyman The Sixth Installment: Faster than a Bus

This week I did my first expanded visitation on my bicycle.  I took some time as I planned my route via the bus system.  My initial plan was to put the bike on the bus part of the way, then ride the rest.  As I studied the bus route I noticed how easy it would be "cut the corner" on my bike and bypass the bus altogether. 

What happened?  An hour and twenty minute bus ride took only 30 minutes (I bet even less if the roads had been clear). 

I arrived at the assisted facility center and noticed one glaring missing item: a bike rack.  I suppose either the planners of the facility did not anticipate the residents to ride bikes or visitors.  I searched and found a light post and locked up the bike. 

I am curious now how many assisted living facilities for well-seasoned human beings contain bike racks?