Church in Bethesda Blog
Guest Bloggers
Nuclear Advent, a guest blog by Greg M.
I was born in 1966 and came of age during the Cold War. One of the distinct memories I have of my childhood is waking in the middle of the night scared silly with a nightmare of a nuclear bomb. Debates over nuclear weapons dominated the news in those days and these discussions were formative for me as a teenager trying to figure out the world around me.
Today, thank God, the fears of nuclear annihilation are considerably less. I view the comparatively peaceful end of the Cold War as one of the great acts of Providence in our history. I mention all of this as context to an experience I had this week. I continue to follow foreign policy news and while I was driving around I heard on the radio and television discussion of the START Treaty concerning nuclear weapons. During that debate a Republican senator from Alabama, Jeff Sessions, rose to speak against the treaty. Now, my purpose in this post is not to convince you that he was right in his opinion or wrong, but rather to draw your attention to the way in which he made his argument and the context in which his argument was made.
Senator Sessions spoke during the third week of Advent, just days removed from Hanukah and days away from Christmas. The “Christmas Wars” were being fought over the airways Fox News and the Bible Belt was being provoked over the “Happy Holidays” greeting replacing “Merry Christmas” at different events. In fact, Senator Sessions’ good friend and senate colleague John Kyl, (R) of Nevada, was himself carrying on over the idea of senators and their staffs and families having to possibly endure work during the week between Christmas and New Years. Kyl said plans for work at that time was “disrespectful” of Christians and Senator DeMint, (R) of South Carolina, went so far as to deem it “sacrilegious”. Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe had made news when he refused to participate in a Tulsa parade because it was being called a “holiday parade” rather than a “Christmas parade.” Perhaps most significant to the context of Sessions’ speech is the fact that in the weeks proceeding the speech millions of Americans had been hearing sacred texts read to them from the Jewish Prophet Isaiah. For many people, Jews and Christians alike, these texts are holy, sacred texts worthy of deep respect. Isaiah’s words are probably the most well known in America of all the prophets because of their presence in Advent readings and songs, particularly Handel’s Messiah.
While it is impossible to rank the importance of different verses, it is without controversy to say that of all Isaiah’s writings, his words in chapter 11 are among the most evocative and endearing to all who are familiar with the Bible. It is in that chapter that Isaiah casts forth a vision of a day in which, as the King James Bible puts it, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together”. It is a picture of peace that has inspired untold numbers of rabbis, priests, activists, artists and writers to call our country to a better way. It is a passage of Scripture that to this day carries power within the psyche of our country.
But on this day Senator Sessions saw fit to use this passage as a way to mock his political opponents generally, and proponents of START in President Obama’s administration specifically. If you watch his speech you will see how he quotes this passage as if it were words from a 60s hippy naively dreaming of a time of sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. The antipathy in his voice when he spits out the phrase “lion lying down with the lamb” make it clear that he considers these words nonsense, liberal hogwash, sanctimonious babble belonging to a cultural movement he disdains.
Senator Sessions is entitled to his opinion of START, and he is certainly welcome to speak about the ways in which the Hebrew Scriptures inform his public policy, but I hope that the irony of his opinion is not lost on him. At a time when his culture war comrades are invoking the importance of Christianity to our nation’s heritage and his fellow Republican senators are worrying over the profaning of Christmas due to working the week after the holiday, Senator Sessions has revealed either a gross ignorance of a primary Christmas text, or his utter disdain for its message. He is either unaware of the quote’s place in our civilization’s development or he is an opponent of the vision of dignity and harmony that quote has inspired. He has either cheapened and demeaned religious language by using it as a line in a political attack, or he has revealed his own ignorance of the profound place that text holds in the two religions that Senator Sessions otherwise professes to respect. Either way, Senator Sessions said a lot more about himself and the reasons he has for opposing a nuclear arms treaty than he might have intended.
After hearing his words I called Senator Sessions office to express my dismay at his words and to voice my disagreement with his perspective. In the weeks to come I plan to mobilize others to voice their concern over his speech and to publicize his line of thinking for all to see.
Happy Holidays, Senator Sessions
Comments (27)
Deb's Blog on Gifts from Romans 12!
Hey!
Deb wrote a great entry on her perosnal blog on her musing over gifts and gift testing... check it out!
http://unfinsymphony.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/gift-exchange/
Peace, Todd
Comments (3)
On "Shaping" Tunisia... Guest Blog by Greg M.
ON “SHAPING” TUNISIA
A truism of American foreign policy in the post Cold War world is that America has the power and duty to “shape history”. The belief in America’s shaping power has been the driving force behind policy in the Arab world from the time of the first Persian Gulf War until now. The “clay” of this region has proven resistant to American shaping, yet the firm conviction in America’s power to mold the region has stood.
Through these years, as American blood and treasure has been directed towards the end of shaping the Arab world in our image, many outside the Beltway have thought these efforts folly. We have pointed out the basic truth, rooted in America’s own revolutionary history, that the key to change in any country is in the citizens of those countries, citizens whose views are shaped by a multitude of factors beyond the will of American foreign policy elites. The extraordinary events in Tunisia are a significant example of this basic truth. The actions taken on the streets of Tunisia are having a transformative effect throughout the broader Arab world. With each passing hour the news of the power of ordinary citizens to effect change in Arab regimes spreads via Twitter, Facebook and reform media outlets around the Arab world. Some of these Arab reformers are going so far as to compare this to the beginnings of Solidarity in Poland during the height of the Cold War.
It is worth noting that the most significant contributions of America’s foreign policy establishment to this defining event are American diplomatic cables made public by Wikileaks. In other words, an event that America’s foreign policy elite have described as “high tech terrorism” has been America’s chief form of aid to what might prove to be the years most significant act in shaping Arab democracy. This gives lie to the notion that those of us who have led the critique of American militarism and adventurism were somehow committed to the status quo in the Arab world. It demonstrates the indispensability not of American power, but of the human spirit, a spirit that blows unshaped by American folly.
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A Response to the 9/11 Anniversary
Hey family,
Greg Metzger has a thoughtful blog post on his site in response to something in Christianity Today reflecting on the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 1991 terrorist attacks.
You might check it out both articles as you're making your own reflections on Sunday.
Peace, Todd
Comments (39)
Growing In The Spiritual Life
Hey, CiB folks! We have a beautiful guest blog from our own Shannon Shea! Enjoy!
Growing in the Spiritual Life
As the harvest season comes to an end and I prepare my garden for next spring, agricultural metaphors come easily to mind, especially for the spiritual life. As it turns out, cultivating a garden that bears food isn't all that different from cultivating one's heart to produce fruits of the Spirit.
Of course, I'm not the first to think this – the Bible is full of agricultural comparisons. One of the most well-known is Matthew 13:5, the Parable of the Sower. In this story, Jesus says that while some seed falls on the path, some on rocky places, and some among thorns, the seed that falls on good soil produces a crop of “hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.” Unlike many of his other parables, Jesus even provides an explanation. He says that the seed is the good news, and while others have their faith never start or be quickly destroyed by discouragement or greed, the person with “good soil” understands the word and acts on it.
But I believe that understanding nature's patterns can reveal even more about this story. In particular, ecology can shed some further light on the “seed falling among the thorns,” or the Word being choked out by sin.
Although some people say that weeds are just “flowers where you don't want them,” that's not entirely true. Most (albeit not all) weeds belong to a specific category of plant: those that thrive on disturbance. They thrive in locations that have undergone significant physical disruption, whether it is fire, flood, or windstorm. When the disturbance occurs naturally, these plants are essential for restarting the ecological cycle, breaking up the soil or fire-burnt ground so that less hearty plants can establish themselves.
But this affinity for disturbance works against humans when we ourselves cause it. When we turn over soil or pave the ground, we create an ideal environment for weeds to invade. Being given the opportunity, they grow where they aren't supposed to and can block out the seeds we dutifully sow. Even if they do not germinate right away, their seeds can survive for years, waiting until the circumstances are right to emerge.
Although not a perfect metaphor, sin has many similarities to ecological weeds. Often, sin is an innocuous or even useful emotion or action that is misplaced, taking on far too much significance in a person's life. It takes root in a way that it shouldn't, overwhelming the good elements and choking them out. This could be as simple as elevating righteousness into destructive pride or as devastating as the place of alcohol in an addict's life. Similarly, often sin finds us at our most vulnerable, rooting itself in times of trauma and painful change. Anger, jealousy, and self-protective lashing out sprout most readily when we are under stress. Negative behavioral patterns or coping mechanisms can lay dormant for years, emerging unexpectedly when circumstances are the worst.
As change is inevitable and even positive, we should not avoid it. And yet we do not want to give sin that foothold. But here too, we can take a cue from nature. When I garden, I focus not on growing plants, but on building the soil. Rather than turning it, I pile organic matter up, to mimic the rhythms of the forest. I then plant my seeds straight into this mixture, with the top layer of leaves protecting the soil from the weed seeds.
We too can build the soil in our own lives by focusing on building up our community rather than ourselves. By serving those around us in need, from our friends and family to those we hardly know, we build personal resiliency. When we see the hungry and feed them or the thirsty and provide a drink, we reinforce the foundations of our faith family and society. So when change comes and we have done this, we have spiritual and emotional networks to draw on, just as healthy plants have a wealth of nutrients. Disturbances may shake us, but our roots will hold strong in our relationships with God and our neighbors. We will be able to resist sin, to turn away from anger, greed, or pride, towards love. And even in the most difficult of times, the fruits of the spirit will blossom naturally.
Shannon blogs at willbikeforchange.wordpress.
Comments (2)
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