Seeking to Understand the Mystery January 25, 2010
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Colossians 3 What to “Wear” to Church December 27, 2009
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A Concert Review November 30, 2009
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The Royal Society, England’s oldest and coolest Academic society by a British mile, is placing papers and articles online from its journal, “Philosophical Transcations”. It’s the oldest academic journal printed in the English language. I found this concert review, written by an English doctor, of an up and coming muscian quite interesting.
A Russian Noir Short Story (Part 1) opus 128 November 28, 2009
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A Russian Noir Short Story (Part 1)
Salinger P. Wildeman loved to travel but couldn’t stand going anywhere. It was the people, the smelly mass of unruly and unreasonable peasants who seemed to populate the airports of the former Iron Curtain who bothered him the most. He had lived through one hostage crisis and more than his share of delays, near misses, almost crashes, and bad salmon while flying around the world. Those things were nothing compared to being stuck with angry babushkas who can’t believe that Aeroflot is going to delay their yearly vacation to Siberia.
He hated leaving Nick in charge. Nick was his butler, chauffeur, sometime comedic sidekick, and general partner in crime. Even after years of working together, Salinger cringed every time Nick dropped him off at the airport and drove off in Salinger’s priceless 1956 Volga-a car once owned by Nikita Khrushchev’s cousin. Though he was well versed in the religious traditions of the world and their admonitions against materialism, he still loved that car more than most other things in his world.
It wasn’t like he was traveling far this morning. Had he put more thought into his planning, he’d left the previous night on the Red Arrow Express. The Red Arrow is the luxury train linking Moscow and St. Petersburg. In cars restored to their glory days before the Communists decided that rail travel was becoming too bourgeois, you can ride the eight hours in relative comfort and style. For now he was sitting on a stone bench in a cold Moscow airport waiting for the 8 am Aeroflot Shuttle to Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport. He could have been having a cup of fresh coffee in a warm sleeper car. Now he was sipping day old tea on a cold floor. Maybe the Tupolev-154 had a working heat system. Maybe the elevator in his apartment building would start to work again. Maybe but he doubted it.
Some people like to travel to certain cities at certain times of the year. For many, the image of “April in Paris” conjures up images of romance and love in the city of light. Salinger doubted if anybody preferred to travel to “St. Petersburg in September”. September is when the weather really starts to turn cold in Russia. Fall comes in fast and no where quicker than on the shores of the Baltic and on the banks of the Neva River.
It wouldn’t have been his choice to go to St. Petersburg. He had plenty of work in Moscow. Russia’s newfound wealth made for a lucrative business for someone in his line of work. The oligarchs, the new business and political elite, were flush with petrodollars. With that money, they bought fast cars, big houses, and expensive trophy wives. Eventually, as they always do, trophy wives begin to tarnish and fade. The wives, now aware of the intricacies of Russia’s new divorce laws, many were anxious to retain substantial pieces of their husbands’ Siberian petroleum wealth. That’s where he came in, Salinger P. Wildeman, the only English speaking Private Investigator working east of Warsaw and west of Vladivostok.
Two days earlier, Wildeman was working late. His office was in a former day care center that had recently been renovated in south Moscow. Next door, a Korean lawyer he only knew as “Kim” was seeing his fortieth client of the day. Kim didn’t speak much English. Salinger had tried to be friendly for no other reason than it might lead to new cases. Didn’t Russian speaking Koreans need American private investigators working in Moscow?
Moscow had been on edge for the past 12 hours. The previous night, the deputy director of the Russian Central Bank was gunned down while coming out of an intramural soccer game. Found in the parking lot of a stadium on the north side of town, this man had armed body guards and a bullet proof Mercedes. Now the body guards were dead, the Mercedes riddled with holes and he was found lying face down in the parking lot. The banker had been trying to crack down on corruption and money laundering in the Russian financial system.
As Wildeman read the latest updates in the afternoon edition of Pravda, he realized that that Putin still had a long way to go to clean up the mess that Yeltsin left behind. Though not as bad as it used to be, Moscow still had the feel of Chicago in the 1930’s. Most of the gangsters had been legitimized and driven above ground. Instead of the smoky back rooms of Moscow’s casinos they were now found in corporate board rooms and stockholders meetings. New suits, super cars, and seats on the stock exchange couldn’t change the fact that most of these men were still gangsters.
The fallout from the shooting wouldn’t be pretty. This made Vladimir look bad. Vladimir Putin didn’t like to look bad. He and his former KGB pals running the country would want to wrap this thing up as quickly as possible. Salinger only wanted to make sure that he was no where near the package when the paper was being applied.
That’s why, when the chance came to get out town for a few days with a job in St. Petersburg, he jumped at the opportunity to put some distance between himself and Moscow’s mean streets.
About the time Nick usually left, he heard a knock on outer door. When he heard the same sound five minutes later, he guessed that Nick had already left for the day. Wildeman turned on the one working hall light and made his way to the door.
The American woman facing him looked as if she’d been awake for the better part of 24 hours. Her passport gave her name as Maria O’Donnell. Other than a stamp indicating she once traveled to the Bahamas the only other information was the Russian visa issued four days prior. She had arrived in Moscow a few hours earlier on the overnight flight from New York. Before that, she had flown from Las Vegas to Chicago before connecting on her flight to JFK. That kind of distance takes its toll.
It turned out that Las Vegas would be the starting point for her story. Between intermittent tears and anger, she claimed to be a waitress in one of the larger casinos on the Vegas strip. Only two weeks earlier, the Bellagio had hosted an international convention of Elvis impersonators and scholars. Elvis’s from as far away as Tokyo (and it would later turn out St. Petersburg) had made the trip to Vegas for this yearly international competition and convention.
During one of the afternoon seminars she met Yuri, the handsome young Elvis impersonator from St. Petersburg. Yuri had a day job as an instructor at St. Petersburg State University. She couldn’t remember if he taught film theory, cultural criticism, or oceanography. She did know that he looked like Elvis. Yuri or “Elvisivitch” as he liked to be called had just delivered a paper on the environmental and ecological messages found in Elvis’ film “Clam Bake”.
Between concerts, symposia, and side trips to the slot machines a whirlwind romance ensued. As the end of the convention approached, both Yuri and Maria faced critical decisions. Was this the real thing? Should she follow him back to Russia? Or would he stay in Las Vegas with her? Maybe it was the alcohol, the moment or just the excitement of something beyond Las Vegas’ baking desert sands. Either way, she said yes.
Later that night they were married by a justice of the peace in a nearby wedding chapel. Early the next morning when Yuri was on his way to Russia, Maria made a fateful discovery that would eventually lead her to my office in Moscow. Yuri wasn’t all he had claimed to be.
End of Part 1
November 9th, 2008 Sermon: Covenant Decision Making November 10, 2008
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Minding the Gap November 10, 2008
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Minding the Gap Leviticus 19
Bridging the Gap Between Today and Tomorrow
Sermon Preached November 2nd, 2008
Hell. Hand-basket. World. Going. To. In. November 11, 2008
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Like so many of our patriotic holidays, the US Americans have forgotten from whence they came. Veterans Day, or Armistice Day, as it was once known (and Remembrance Day as it is still called in Great Britain) marks the moment 90 years ago when on the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month hostilities ceased in what had been the most violent conflict in the history of western civilization. A week earlier Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks had seized control in St. Petersburg. It was a bad time. The headlines should have read: Hell. Hand-basket. World. Going. To. In.
Perhaps we in the United States have changed this day to Veterans Day because it is still, 90 years after the fact, too painful to remember the bloody carnage of the Western Front and the assumptions about progress and civilization that were forever shattered in the gas attacks and strategic stupidity. The calendar may say “Veterans Day” but this day does mark something else. This is the day most of the western world realized they weren’t the people they thought they were and that social or industrial progress wouldn’t save them. As we look down the barrel of another economic depression and social meltdown, I’m afraid that in our effort to remember the veterans and rightly recall the sacrifice of those who have served and died, we’ve forgotten the real lessons of November 11th – all as we’re slowly stumbling toward repeating those mistakes all over again.
Further Thoughts Arising from November 11th November 15, 2008
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Why can we not look the calamity of World War One in the eye? Why do we have trouble looking at any catastrophe head on? It seems we are more likely to change the subject. It’s not about our foreign policy, it’s about our freedom-remember? I’m not certain. I am reminded of this, however. It takes me back to the cross. For me, as a Christian, I try to look at the world through the lens of the cross. What does it mean to look at the world through the lens of the cross? It means that we always begin with the catastrophic. The greatest catastrophe in human history for Christians was the cross on Calvary. Yet, within that catastrophe, there is nothing more beautiful and sublime than witnessing the power of unarmed truth and open love that is embodied and incarnated in Jesus on the cross.
When Jesus tells us to pick up our cross, we are being told to begin with the catastrophic and the monstrous, to see everything through that prism. Christian faith begins with seeing the world through the eyes of the cross. It is much easier to look away. It is far more comfortable to cloak ourselves in the robes of righteous indignation and glorious anger; to pick up the rose-tinted spectacles of narcissistic admiration and remind ourselves once again that we are a city on a hill, than it is to look at the cross on the hill of Calvary. Staring directly into the eyes of suffering runs against the grain of what it means to be an American in the 21st century but it is exactly what it has always meant to be a Christian. Instead, it is a catastrophe that our right to ungodly riches may be compromised. It is a calamity that we may be asked to do without. It is called socialism when people are asked to consider sharing of our abundance. We have forgotten the words of Luke, who tells us that in the early church, “no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.”
My God, what have we done? Who have we become? What are we reaping?
The Apostle’s Prayer – Sermon Preached November 23rd, 2008 November 23, 2008
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Ephesians 1: 15-23
Waiting and Preparing – Sermon Preached November 30th 2008 November 30, 2008
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It’s a pleasant surprise December 15, 2008
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to read a review of a new 500 page biography of Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. in the New York Times. This sonnet seems to say it all:
Why do sinners’ ways prosper? and why must
Disappointment all I endeavor end?
Wert thou my enemy, O thou my friend,
How wouldst thou worse, I wonder, than thou dost
Defeat, thwart me? . . .
Mine, O thou lord of life, send my roots rain.
An Open Christmas Letter to the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI from From Rev. Richard Bryant December 17, 2008
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Marshallberg
xviii XII MMVIII
Summi Pontificis Benedictus PP XVI:
Gratia tibi at pax, quae exsuperat omnem sensum et ab Angelo nuntiata est Bethlehem.
Proximae sunt celebritates Natalis Jesu Christi et ego, hic sedens coram Crucifixo, recogito amicos, quos divina Providentia invenire me fecit.
Gratias et dona tibi invoco a Puero Jesu in hac sacra sollemnitate Natalis; omnia quae cor tuum optat concedat tibi Deus omnipotens de sua miseratione. Et tuis omnibus det pacem et salutem, gaudium de corde puro atque perfecto, amorem et dilectionem sui.
Infans Jesu, repositus in praesepio, mihi videtur oculis ac manibus adhuc parvulis dicere hominibus omnibus: “ Venite ad me, omnes; volo ut omnes unum sint…”
Oremus ad invicem, ut desiderium Christi adimpleatur quam primum; et omnes de christiana familia adlaboremus ut fratres “habitent in unum”; omnes in novitiate vitae ambulemus, ita ut ceteros omnes, qui vel ob neglegentiam vel praejedicatasque opiniones aberrarunt, praelucenti exemplo vitae attrahamus ad ovile Christi, ad bonam frugem.
Haec animo meo recogito, haec vota mea, quae etiam tua sunt.
Vale et pro me Deum exora.
Richard Bryant
No Room in the Inn: Sermon Preached December 24th, 2008 December 25, 2008
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Bus Based Caroling-A New Approach To Singing December 25, 2008
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“We’re going to ride in what?” I asked. I was certain I heard her say the word “bus”.
“Yep, we’re taking the bus.”
I’d never gone Christmas caroling in a bus. A bus by any other name would not smell as sweet. Did Shakespeare or Marlowe write that? Yes, it was a bus, in the most basic sense of the word. It was a four wheeled vehicle that had once been a school bus, though not one of the long yellow variety. This was one of the shorter ones, normally intended to transport special needs children. Would people be able to tell the difference between the caroling Methodists and a group of special needs carolers who had simply gotten lost? I wasn’t certain. Clearly, I still had my own issues about riding the short bus.
Despite its history as a school bus, the current owners had worked hard to give the beast an eclectic feel. On most Sunday Mornings, when I would stand by the church door and see the bus parked across the way in the post office parking lot, I would start to ask serious questions like: “Could that bus be the spark that brings back the 1970’s era Jesus people movement?”, and “What would it take to form a family singing group and tour the country, all in the back of a 15 passenger school bus?” In those fleeting moments, the possibilities for relational evangelism to the non-religious, the nominally religious, and those stuck in the 1970’s seemed limitless. That was on beautiful Sunday afternoons. This was on a cold, windy Monday evening. I would have to cross the No-man’s land that divided the trenches where the armies of theory and reality were locked in a bloody stalemate. No more would I be able to look at the bus from a distance. The open door and flickering lights were calling my name.
Here is where I should probably tell you that the bus was equipped with a loud speaker. Some of you will see where this going. Some of you are probably already there. With a loud speaker, one need never leave your vehicle to sing to your neighbors. Depending on the quality of your sound system and how much volume you can actually send out, it is possible pull up outside someone’s house, hold up a microphone, and ask 27 people to sing. Conversely, you can sing and drive at the same time, ensuring everyone, and I do mean everyone in your community gets “caroled”. If you want to make sure someone is home, simply use your loud speaker to ask, “ARE YOU HOME?” If the intended beneficiary of your Christmas cheer doesn’t respond, you’re bound to get an answer from one of their neighbors. Using this method of caroling, getting out and trundling up to someone’s door is completely optional. Who wants to trundle when you can huddle around a microphone? Innovations like this are redefining the traditional notions of caroling. I call it “contemporary-relevant-relational-generational-emergent caroling.” A companion DVD series, praise choruses praising the virtues of bus caroling, and invitations to a leadership conference “GET ON THE BUS 09” will be released in early January 2009.
There are drawbacks to this innovation. If you’ve made the vocal commitment to sing to a larger audience via a public address system, it is crucial to ensure you really do know that second verse to “Frosty the Snowman” and what happens when he encounters the traffic cop. If not, the mobile caroling extravaganza might be confused with the nightly rounds of a mobile feline extermination team. “Cats, cats, bring out your cats!”
In order to avoid traumatizing cat lovers and young children under the age of three, I recommend using song sheets printed with the lyrics of the carols. That is until we can get the Karaoke televisions installed in the front. Maybe next year, we can always hope.
Why Your New Year’s Resolutions Always Fail – Sermon Preached January 4th 2009 January 4, 2009
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Off The Facebook January 24, 2009
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Recently, I took myself off the Facebook. I realize this is not a major news event, especially when compared with the events of the past week. However, I still think it holds signifcance in the ongoing war against chosen isolation and virtual relationships being waged from my forgotten corner of Middle Earth.
Don’t That Beat All You’ve Ever Seen – Sermon Preached February 22, 2009 Mark 2:1-12 February 23, 2009
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The Temptations – Matthew 4:1-12 Sermon Preached March 1, 2009 March 2, 2009
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An Anniversary April 3, 2009
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Today is the day. I put on my John Paul II t-shirt this morning. It’s hard to believe that he’s been dead for four years today. So much of why I’m doing what I’m doing actually goes back to the life and work of this humble Polish priest. Whether it is in Russia or Marshallberg, he’s been an influence and inspiration to my work in the church. There was many a day that I pondered how did this man who survived the Nazis also survive Stalinist Poland. I thought about this often as I walked the streets surrounding the notorious Lubyanka Prision (former headquarters of the KGB). I wondered whether the plot to assassinate him had been hatched there, in the mind of Yuri Andropov or in the Kremlin, from the fading Leonid Brezhnev. To have made it through the purges and then nearly miss an assassins bullet, it didn’t seem fair or right. If you believe as I do, a divine intervention insured so that injustice didn’t occur.
I do want to call him John Paul the Great. It is impossible to over emphasize his importance in ensuring eastern Europe’s transition from Soviet socialism to social democracy. He made it real. He stared down the guns, the threats, the informants, and all the tools of Soviet repression. When others caved and became informants, he did not. He stood as a living witness that it was possible to be a practicing Christian despite the most direct persecution in human history. The cultural warriors in America would do well to note his witness. There were others not quite so famous but who still stood firm. There was Jerzy Popiełuszko, a young priest whose pro-Solidarity sermons led to his murder in 1984. I remember him today. I remember how the pope once known as Karol dedicated Russia to the Virgin Mary when Andropov still sat in the Kremlin. He knew that it mattered. From where I sit, miles away, I think it still matters today.
Rest in peace, dear brother in Christ.
Some Pre-Palm Sunday Reflections April 4, 2009
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Palm Sunday Sermon April 5, 2009
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My Goat and I-Maundy Thursday April 10, 2009
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Explaining the Scapegoat in Leviticus 16
Easter Sunday 2009 April 12, 2009
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This Guy Made Plenty of Sense-Worth Listening To April 15, 2009
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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103119140″>A banking analyst’s diffferent take on the financial crisis. You wouldn’t hear this on many other places other than NPR.
If I Had Only Known It Was This Easy April 15, 2009
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If I Had Only Known It Was This Easy
New Bible Study on Parables (Large File-Allow Time for Download to Begin) April 17, 2009
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Acts 2 Sermon (Yes, I Know My Head is Cut Off) April 19, 2009
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The Ten Commandments (or 2 Really) April 26, 2009
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File This Under the “Things I Need to Read Next” Section April 29, 2009
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Terry Eagleton on the God Debate. He’s probably one of the best for taking on both a Richard Dawkins or a Christropher Hitchens.
File This Under the “Things I’m Reading Now” Department April 29, 2009
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Sometimes I have to read Zizek’s sentences four times to make sure I get what he’s saying but it is always worth it in the end.
Test Your Vocabulary April 30, 2009
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A vocabulary test from the BBC.
Strange and Scary-Another Day with A Target on Our Backs? As if worrying about H1N1 wasn’t enough? May 1, 2009
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I don’t know what I find stranger, that there is an organization of stressed and abused clergy (aren’t we all stressed-abused in some settings, I know) or scarier that they have reached this result:
“About 90 percent of pastors currently serving in churches are not expected to remain long enough to reach retirement,” he says. “Why? Abusive and relentless congregational conflict aimed at the pastor.”
Can You Be That Stupid? Or do we just chalk another one up to not so latent European anti-semitism? May 1, 2009
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A British airline flying to Israel, displays all of its maps in Arabic and leaves Israel off the map entirely.
Study Finds Relationship: The More You Go To Church the More Likely You Are to Support Torture… May 1, 2009
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I’m not quite sure what to make of this study. On one hand, it doesn’t surprise me. I’m pleased that the mainliners like United Methodists faired better than others in the questions asked. However, it is troubling to see that a correlation of any kind exists between how supportive someone is of torture and how often someone goes to church.
These Books Are Re-Defining How I Think About Preaching May 3, 2009
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Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft® Office PowerPoint® 2007 to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspire by Cliff Atkinson. This is one of the best books currently available on making compelling presentations. If you use PowerPoint (or Keynote, for that matter), this is must reading. You will never look at PowerPoint the same way again. If you want to make a great presentation, again, even though you may not be using slides, this book will help you organize your ideas and thoughts.
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. This is a “must read” for anyone involved in communication. It provides the tools to make ideas “sticky,” i.e., unforgettable. It is extremely insightful and practical. I have read it at least three times now. If we are so concerned about having people remember what we say on Sunday mornings beyond the first course of fried chicken on Sunday afternoon, you must read this book. Isn’t retention the key to changing lives? I can’t recommend this book enough. Being succint and compelling, how novel is that?
Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (Voices That Matter) by Garr Reynolds. I first came across Garr Reynolds when watching one of Professor Lawrence Lessig’s presentations. He’s got an excellent authors at Google talk on You Tube that is also worth watching. In this presentation, he walks through many of the main ideas of the book. You might also want to check out his website, Presentation Zen. This is the book that first taught me that when it comes to presentations, less is more. You should read this book before you make another presentation or use powerpoint in a sermon or presentation.
2nd Chronicles 20:1-12 Admitting Your Powerlessness: A Special Sermon for the Pig Flu May 3, 2009
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There was a slight camera malfunction this morning. Nothing too serious but for at least a week, you’ll have to be content to hearing the sermon. Hopefully, the video will return next week. You didn’t miss much. I was sweating like crazy. You would have been most likely blinded by the glare of the lights on my bald head.
For some reason, if your computer won’t play or download the audio above, try this one, it should work fine.
2nd Chronicles MP3 version
The Whole Point May 4, 2009
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Amazon’s going to launch a new bigger Kindle in the next few days. This doesn’t mean bigger in terms of memory, simply size. Doesn’t that defeat the point. It seems they want to make reading newspapers and magazines easier and closer to the real thing. I’m perfectly happy with the one I’ve got. Keep it small.
Hittite King-History You May Sometime Be Able To Use in a Game of Trivial Pursuit May 4, 2009
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This guy has the best name of any king in the ancient world, with the posisble exception of Ashurburnipal. Suppiluliuma, King of the Hittites. Throw an “h” after the S and go with it like it sounds. Impress your friends and neighbors with your accurate pronunciation of Hittite monarchs. I guarantee you’ll be the only person you know with this knowledge.
Communism on the Rise May 4, 2009
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The BBC has an interesting article about Communism’s growing popularity in recession ravaged Japan. Have Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri been translated into Japanese?
Two Guinea Sermons May 4, 2009
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The great English dictionary don, Samuel Johnson, would often supplement his meager income by writing sermons for a mere two guinea fee. In a note to a friend concerned about his newly ordained son’s coming need to write more sermons, Dr. Johnson wrote:
“The composition of sermons is not very difficult. Invent first and then embellish … Set down diligently your thoughts as they rise in the first words that occur … I have begun a sermon after dinner and sent it off by the post that night.”
Japanese Zen Scholar on Communication-Do Most Preachers Do This? May 5, 2009
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Bible Study on Luke’s Dinner and Hospitality Parables May 6, 2009
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New Studies Available May 6, 2009
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I am posting two new studies from our ongoing series on Luke. They are a little larger than the sermon files, so please be patient and allow a moment for the download to begin.
Bible Study on Luke’s Version of the Lord’s Prayer May 6, 2009
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Angels and Demons May 7, 2009
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I’m going to see the new film. I admit it. In fact, I’m looking forward to seeing it. I read Angels and Demons a full 18 months before anyone had ever heard the words “Da Vinci Code”. At one level, I enjoyed Angels and Demons much more than I did the Da Vinci Code. It’s a better book. The writing and story hold together (as a work of fiction) far better than its successor. That being said, with the release of the new film, we will begin to hear the polarizing arguments on either side that dominated debate about the Da Vinci Code. Here’s what’s going to happen. Catholics will attack the film. Others will defend the film. oooh, big shocker, heh? I was expecting Benedict to be at the opening sitting right there between Tom, Ron, and Dan. What a disappointment!
Opie, excuse me, I mean Ron Howard’s and Dan Brown’s depicition of Roman Catholicism is one sided. We know this. No need to stop the presses. Once again, Hollywood is feeding the myth that when they think of the word “church”, they mean Roman Catholicism. There are no other churches in their limited worldview. Protestants, if we are portrayed, are all illiterate Bible thumping fundamentalists. (Have you ever seen a mainline clergyperson portrayed anywhere, other than maybe on the TV show 7th Heaven?) That’s what gets me. I know their depiction of Catholicism is way off base. Most reasonsable people are not going to come away thinking that the church is as evil as it is made out to be. Those who do, probably thought so in the first place and didn’t need Dan Brown to push them over the egde.
See where I’m going with this? What frustrates me (and remember I’ll still go see it because I can distinguish between fiction and reality-I read books other than Dan Brown on occasion to allow me to make the distinction) is this idea that Christians are one monolithic group and no difference exists between Christian groups, if there are any other Christian groups which actually exist. I’m convinced, in Dan’s world, there are no Methodists, Baptists, or Presbyterians. We are all science hating, manipulative Roman Catholics. There might be a handful of Episcopalians as Dan Brown counts himself among their dwindling numbers. For fun, go back and re-watch the Da Vinci Code and count how many times the say “the church”, not Roman, not Catholic, simply “the church”. Hint, it’s a bunch. I did it once. I suspect that this one will be much the same.
Maybe Dan and Ron should read Ian Linden’s new book on Global Catholicism. In it he states that the Roman Catholic church is the largest single supplier of health care and education on planet Earth. Yep, that’s some more kind of conspiracy alright. Sounds like a pretty good fusion of science and religion to me, doesn’t it?
Enjoy the movie.
Richie Havens May 8, 2009
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The great Richie Havens is playing live, outside tomorrow night in Beaufort. It is going to be hard to miss a chance to hear someone out of the original Greenwich Village folk scene in the early 1960’s that produced Arlo, Bob, Joan, and many others who are no longer with us. He was also the first performer to take the stage on the first day at Woodstock. Originally booked to play a 40 minute set, he ended up on stage for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Not bad for what was basically a one man band! I still think his version of “Here Comes the Sun” is one of the best ever produced.
Prodigal Son Bible Study (Luke’s Parables Series) May 15, 2009
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Sermon John 15: I Have Called You Friends May 17, 2009
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Sri Lankan Rebel Leader Killed May 18, 2009
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The leader of the separatist Tamil Tigers has been killed in Sri Lanka. His name was Velupillai Prabhakaran. I’m wondering, was his inability to overthrown the legitimate government of Sri Lanka related to the number of consonants in his name? Aren’t the most succesful insurgents those with the shortest names? Che, anyone?
In Full Theo-Geek Mode on Easter Sunday Morning May 19, 2009
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It Is Interesting to Note May 20, 2009
Posted by moscowdiaries in General.Tags: Expenses, Gordon Brown, House of Commons, John Trevor, Member of Parliament, Michael Martin, Prime Minister, Speaker, Westminster
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It was a momentous day in British politics. The Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin, announced his intention to resign on June 21st. What’s the big deal? Another politician leaving office in disgrace? What’s so novel about that? This is the first time an English Commons speaker has been forced from office since 1695. That’s over 300 years. The last speaker to resign was Sir John Trevor, convicted of “high crimes and misdemeanors” for accepting a bribe of 1000 guineas. Trevor was not only removed from his post as speaker but expelled from the Commons altogether. It appears that Martin will retain his seat as MP for Glasgow North East. Considering the vast scope of English political history, it is amazing that such time has passed between what we think of as such an ordinary occurence.
Unlike our country, the post of Commons Speaker is a “neutral position”. Though nominated from the majority party in parliament, the speaker does not actively lobby for or press the agenda of the government in power. I like that system. It seems more civil and by all accounts, it has worked for over 300 years without a major problem. Maybe in this era of excessive political polarization, we need to think about a more neutral role for the Speaker of the House of Representatives. What are the odds that both of the speakers of the lower houses in both Britain and America find themselves facing questions to step down?
Martin will also resign his seat, prompting a by-election in his Glasgow constituency. While MP’s of all parties are tainted by this scandal, this just might be the straw that breaks the back of the Labour Government.
Longfellow’s House May 23, 2009
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I’m in Cambridge, Mass over this Memorial Day weekend. I managed to do a little walking around yesterday and take a few pictures. George Washington also used this house as his headquarters from 1775-1776.
Things I Like: Moleskine Notebooks May 28, 2009
Posted by moscowdiaries in General.Tags: Chatwin, Coffee Houses, Computers, Hemingway, Moleskine, Moleskines, Notebook, Picasso, writing
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There are lots of things that I like. Many of the things I enjoy aren’t the kind of things that appeal to most of the people I know. This socio-cultural pressure has never stopped me in the past. Some people like large fancy boats. I like notebooks. Big deal. So here we go, a new series on stuff I like.
Moleskine notebooks. I’m sitting very near a couple at the moment. It was exciting over the weekend to be in a variety of bookstores and stationery type places that all carried Moleskine notebooks. As their advertising propaganda will tell you, these notebooks were incredibly popular in the olden days. (I’ve banned the phrase “back in the day” from this blog and my vocabularly in general. I haven’t quite made up my mind on “old school”. ) Hemingway, Picasso, and Bruce Chatwin all used these little black covered beauties to record their thoughts and images. Let me describe the notebooks. These sheets of blank paper (some lined, some graphed, some blank, some calendar-depending on the kind you buy) are bound in a black moleskine cover. Yes, I’ve paid money for blank paper wrapped in a moleskine wrapper. You mean there might be another way of writing on paper? Apparently so. I do enjoy working in coffee shops. Starbucks can be ok but I prefer the smaller, independent types. When enjoying a cup of coffee, I am usually at a smaller table, surrounded by a few large religious tomes, a small netbook computer, a kindle, and a moleskine notebook. Why, on Earth, would I need both a moleskine (or two) and carry a netbook computer? Wouldn’t the instrinsic coolness of one simply cancel out the coolness of the other? I can see some logic behind that argument. Please, allow me to explain. Most days, it helps my thought process to start by taking notes and outlining in the moleskine. If I like what I’m writing, I’ll then transfer it to the computer, but that’s only if I like what I wrote. Somewhere, the Holy Spirit works somewhere in the transmission of ideas between the notebook and the netbook.
One of the most satisfying aspects of moleskine ownership comes when you actually fill up your first one (from cover to cover) and have to go back to the shop and purchase a second one. When that happens, I believe you evolve into another level of creativity. However, you must be careful when approaching “two moleksine” people. If you’re in one of those coffee shops and you see someone with two notebooks, if the oldest one isn’t full and stained with coffee cup marks on the cover, and covered with a sticker from a brothel in Uzbekistan, then you’re probably looking at a poser. Steer clear! Order your redeye, move to the side of the room, find a Robert Ludlum novel, settle into the comfy chair and start mubling softly about the meta narrative of the Jason Bourne saga. You will be left alone.
Things I Like: Gustav Mahler May 28, 2009
Posted by moscowdiaries in General.Tags: 8th Symphony, 9th Symphony, Austrian, Beethoven, German, Mahler, Music, Vienna
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Gustav Mahler wasn’t comfortable working within the existing limitations of music. Far from wanting to destroy and create atonal garbage, he was really about trying to enhance and deepen the styles and traditions that preceded him. (Could ministers and church leaders take a cue from this?) I think that’s why I like Mahler. Sure, he falls clearly at the end of the late Romantic period and moved between composing German folk style melodies to full scale symphonies. Was this a sign of his lack of focus? I don’t think so. As he once told Sebelius, “the symphony should be like the world, it should embrace everything.” He’s like a well-trained musical vaccuum cleaner, gleaning from the best traditions of Germanic symphonic composing and attempting to write new music which embraced the changing socio-political environment of late 19th and early 20th century Europe. 
Mahler stands in the middle between two shadows. Over one shoulder, stands the shadow of Napoleon and his impact on the European psyche. Over the other shoulder is another cloud, the coming shadow of war and destruction of World War I-a war he wouldn’t see. How can the crises of the past and the impending calamities of the future be embraced in music? He would ultimately choose the symphony. But the symphony would not constrain him, he could make the most use out of this existing form as possible. That’s what I mean by “no limitations”. The world, in all of its complexities could be addressed within the evolving (what were then nonconventional) forms pioneered by Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, and others.
Mahler saw himself as an heir to the tradition of Beethoven and Wagner, maybe even as “the” heir (Wagner was also obsessed with Beethoven.). This obsession drove the creative process underlying his later works and may have helped to contribute to his early demise. Mahler was the origin of the idea called, “the curse of the ninth”. He may have been on to something. What is it about the ninth symphonies of the great composers? The idea goes something like this: if you’re a great Germanic composer, if you’ve written eight symphonies, make plans to complete your will before you start the ninth. Great composers like Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Mahler, Antonin Dvorak, and Anton Bruckner all died shortly after completing their ninth symphonies. Mahler didn’t want to write anything approaching a symphony with a nine in the title. Maybe this is the reason he went over the top with his eighth symphony. His Eighth Symphony is divided into two parts and is based on and adapted from some ancient Germanic church music and the transfiguration scene from Goethe’s Faust. If you’re going to do it right, it takes around one thousand performers, including eight vocal soloists, adult and children’s choirs, quadruple wind sections, two harps, an extremely large percussion section, and one organ. Can you imagine those rehearsals?
The Moscow Diaries Available on Kindle May 29, 2009
Posted by moscowdiaries in General.Tags: Communist, Diaries, Leningrad, Methodist, Missionary, Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, St. Petersburg
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If you’re one of the few, the proud, the geeky, you can now download my book, “The Moscow Diaries” to your Amazon Kindle. It’s only $3.99!
Things I Like: Old Glasses (I’m Really Thinking About Those From Moscot’s in New York City) May 29, 2009
Posted by moscowdiaries in General.Tags: Adam McKay, Eyewear, Franklin Roosevelt, Glasses, James Dean, Moscot, Opticians, Retro, Truman Capote
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I know that’s a broad category. Given the standardization in the American eyewear industry (long and narrow-thank you Scandanavia!), what is there to like about eyeglasses? How does one get emotionally involved or attached to a pair of frames? (Very easily, in my case.) To the shortsighted cynics, I proclaim there is much to like, especially if you broaden your horizon and narrow your focus to glasses that are older or designed to look older. This is really one of those instances where you can honestly say without sounding overly crumudgeon like and with a degree of veracity, “they don’t make them like the used to”. No they don’t. In my youth, such glasses would have been referred to as “geeky” or “nerd” glasses. They are still geeky and perhaps even a bit nerdy but they’ve also regained their original cache among certain creative types (writers, directors, artists, architects, and United Methodist clergy). The sturdy plastic frames worn by the likes of Franklin Roosevelt, James Dean, Truman Capote, Ian Fleming, IM Pei, Adam McKay, and Andy Warhol (an eclectic mix, no?) all spoke of an internal creativity expressed through a simple external means. Unlike the mind numbing, uniformly similar options on sale today, these glasses themselves became cultural icons of the post-war era. For some reason, I don’t see the long, thin narrow variations on a theme frames dominating the walls of most opticians becoming cultural icons in their own right. I could be wrong.
To find these glasses, it takes some effort. Though it is not too hard. Luckily, the internet has made that task much easier. (In fact, I can’t imagine how people did things like this before the internet. My best guess is that they would raid the Lion’s Club bins at the local Winn Dixie supermarket or go to lots of flea markets. I’m betting more of the latter. Though I’m sure there are places in Bangladesh where people do have pretty hip frames.) It is possible to locate people who are looting old optical shops, bins for donated glasses, and those making new frames in older styles by only sitting down at your keyboard. If you order a pair of these frames and end up taking them to your local optician to make the lenses, be prepared for strange looks and weird comments. They young people working behind the display counter will want to know why you’ve chosen a frame that, “even their grandmother wouldn’t wear”. Someone will invariably say, “I didn’t know they still made such things.” All the while the underlying implication is that you are some kind of ocular idiot for daring to look beyond the long, thin, and narrow frames being offered by the frame facists. Don’t let them dissuade you. Hand over those frames! Demand your lenses! Embrace you inner geek proudly!
Things I Like: The Moleskine Saga Continues-To Pocket or Not May 30, 2009
Posted by moscowdiaries in General.Tags: Diary, Fountain Pens, Ink, Moleskines, Paper, Pockets, writing
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I’ve had another thought about my moleskine. Yes, I can bond with the paper as I watch it absorb the ink from my Waterman fountain pen. In moments of desperation, I can place one or two on a small book shelf and pretend I’m shopping in a bookstore and suddenly come across these wonderful black covered tablets with an elastic band-all hoping to recreate the magic of our very first encounter. At other times, I may decide to go clothes shopping bearing at least two moleskines. How will I know which pants can most securely hold a notebook if the moleskines are not with me in the dressing room? I tell you now, I cannot. Yet despite all of these wondrful moments of moleskine fueled intimacy, I’m not sure if I’ve ever made the most effective use of the pocket inside the back cover. For some reason, the thought of placing the receipts documenting the daily spending habits of my mundane existence inside the pocket seems highly inappropriate. Surely, the same notebook that serves as the respository of my creative juices shouldn’t be defiled with gas, grocery, and dry cleaning receipts. Doesn’t it deserve better? Should that space be left empty, functioning much like a distant mountain peak beckoning me to go beyond my current creative capacities? Wouldn’t such trivial items of daily life invariably devalue the inherent worth of the material contained within the notebook, regardless of the flawless penmanship, quality ink, and superb paper?
The Purpose of Pentecost May 31, 2009
Posted by moscowdiaries in General.Tags: Acts 2, Pentecost, Peter, sermon
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Real Men Know How to Go Baroque (and do Counterpoint) June 3, 2009
Posted by moscowdiaries in General.Tags: Admiral Horatio Nelson, Boccherini, Jack Aubrey, Master and Commander, Napoleonic Wars, Patrick O'Brien, Paul Bettany, Russell Crowe, Stephen Maturin
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Things I Like: Saint Ephrem the Syrian June 3, 2009
Posted by moscowdiaries in General.Tags: Ephrem the Syrian, John Wesley, Methodism, Syrian Orthodox
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The Syrian Orthodox mystical tradition, represented by theologians like Saints Issac and Ephrem are a part of a branch Orthodox Christianity unknown to most western Protestants and United Methodists. This is a shame. These 5th century Syrian writings on the incarnation were influential in shaping the theology of John Wesley and the hymns of Charles Wesley. As John Wesley noted in an address to the clergy in 1756:
“Can any who spend several years in those seats of learning (the universities) be excused if they do not add to that of the languages and the sciences, the knowledge of the fathers – the most authentic commentators on Scripture as being both nearest the fountain and eminently endued with that Spirit by whom “all Scripture was given” [2 Timothy 3:16]…… I speak chiefly of those who wrote before the Council of Nicea. But who would not likewise desire to have some acquaintance with those that followed then – with St. Chrysostom, Basil, Jerome, Austin (sic), and, above all the man of a broken heart, Ephraim Syrus?”
And above all, he writes, of the Syriac theologian Ephrem. How many United Methodist seminaries even mention his name when teaching classes on Wesley, Methodist theology, or offer classes on Patristic fathers beyond the most obvious options?
In writing on the importance of the church fathers to a correspondent in Cambridge, Wesley would also add, “I mean particularly Clemens Romanus, Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Origen, Clemens Alexandrinus, Cyprian, to whom I would add Macarius and Ephraim Syrus”. For both Wesleys, the early patristic age of the church was that time where “burning and shining lights shone in a dark place in a world full of darkness and benighted habitations.”
Things I Like: The Dave Brubek Quartet Playing Take Five Live in 1961 June 6, 2009
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The Dangers of Only Knowing One Verse June 7, 2009
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Seen at Wal-Mart June 7, 2009
Posted by moscowdiaries in General.Tags: Funny Pictures, Hats, July 4th, Patriotic, Slice of Life Humor, Unbeatable Prices, Uncle Sam, Wal-Mart
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Pinatas in the shape of Uncle Sam hats. Pinatas under a sign that says “Unbeatable”. Pinatas in the shape of American patriotic icons. What kind of message does this send? Beat the Unbeatable? Beat the Symbolism of American Holidays? I don’t know. Perhaps we should ask Wal-Mart.
Worth Reading. June 15, 2009
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Saw This on Seth Godin’s Blog. Not Too Sugary, just about right.
When you love the work you do and the people you do it with, you matter.
When you are so gracious and generous and aware that you think of other people before yourself, you matter.
When you leave the world a better place than you found it, you matter.
When you continue to raise the bar on what you do and how you do it, you matter.
When you teach and forgive and teach more before you rush to judge and demean, you matter.
When you touch the people in your life through your actions (and your words), you matter.
When kids grow up wanting to be you, you matter.
When you see the world as it is, but insist on making it more like it could be, you matter.
When you inspire a Nobel prize winner or a slum dweller, you matter.
When the room brightens when you walk in, you matter.
And when the legacy you leave behind lasts for hours, days or a lifetime, you matter.
The Last Sermon-Dr. Loves Strange Things, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Lord June 21, 2009
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The Sermonizing Process-From Start to Finish-As Depicted in Artistic Renderings of Drawings July 2, 2009
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I am the bald person wearing black round glasses with elf like feet and flipper like hands depicted in the artistic renderings of drawings.
Jesus Becomes Concerned About His Clothes Luke 8:43-48 From the Series: Jesus the Reality Show July 5, 2009
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Jesus Sends His Disciples Out on a Camping Trip Mark 6-6-12 July 12, 2009
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Jesus Goes To a Family Reunion Mark 6:1-6 July 26, 2009
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Teología de la liberación August 11, 2009
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Yes, I can define it.
But I also know it when I see it. This is it. It makes a much larger impact when you can see it in action. You want to see it. It doesn’t get any clearer than this. This is what it is supposed to look like.
Jesus Goes to Vacation Bible School August 16, 2009
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Adventures in Making the Point August 24, 2009
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Click on this Link to Download and MP3 of yesterday’s sermon.
This is Just Cool August 30, 2009
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Watch Frank at about fifty seconds, and then the rest of the performance.
Adventures in Missing the Point with Moses (Part 2) August 31, 2009
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Adventures in Missing the Point with Moses
No video this week.
The Death Panel Sermon September 13, 2009
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You may need to turn up the volume a bit but other than that it should be fine. I tried to borrow some phrases from the current debate to illuminate this week’s lectionary passage.
Enemies: A Love Story Sermon September 20th 2009 September 20, 2009
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Download and Listen to the Sermon Here:
Enemies: A Love Story
Sermon for World Communion Sunday: Who Do You Want To Be? October 4, 2009
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Getting Camels Through Needles and Rich People Into Heaven October 12, 2009
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Pouring Out Your Soul November 15, 2009
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My sermons are now on iTunes. If you want to download either the audio or video through iTunes, you may by clicking this link. There is a deluxe audio version of the sermon available. I will come to your house and read it to you in person. If you would like that option, click here.
In the Midst November 22, 2009
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In my current “phase”, I find myself going from thing to thing quickly. In other words I go through ideas very quickly. Here is a list of some of the things I’ve been listening to and reading over the past few days. I have been covering a fair bit of ground. I’ve been reading things about the musicians in addition to playing the works of some the musicians (as performer and listener). If you don’t listen to any of these but one, listen to Brother James Cleveland. His version of “Jesus is the Best That Ever Happened to Me” is a classic. Cleveland was a true prophet. Don’t forget to scroll down and catch the Chopin.
Soren Kierkegaard
Franz Kafka
Curtis Mayfield
The Temptations
Stephen Sondheim
Leonard Bernstein
Sarah Vaughan
James Cleveland
Aretha Franklin
James Brown
Aretha Franklin
B.B. King
Ma Rainey
Bessie Smith
Bruce Springsteen
Bob Dylan
Janis Joplin
Anton Chekhov
John Coltrane
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Johann Sebastian Bach
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Fryderyk Chopin
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Eudora Welty
A Classic Powdermilk Biscuits Break November 23, 2009
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No Wonder November 28, 2009
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I play an Italian cello, with a German bow, German strings, play an American piano, I’m driving a German Car, wear a Swiss Watch on weekdays, a Russian watch on weekends, and I lost most of my hair in England. No wonder I’m confused.
Something I Like: Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A Minor, Opus 129 November 28, 2009
Posted by moscowdiaries in General.Tags: A Minor, Cello, Concerto, I, Like, Mini-Sermon, Opus 129, Robert Schumann, Things
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Robert Schumann’s 129th composition, the Cello Concerto in A minor was completed in only two weeks, a daunting task in any day and time. He never heard it performed publically in his own lifetime. So often a composer’s best work is performed in the years immediately following their death. At twenty five minutes in length, it’s one of the best pieces for solo cello written in the 19th century, until Dvorak comes along (which I may write about soon). What I also like about this piece is the direction for tempo, given in German (not Italian interestingly enough), at the beginning of the cello score. I think it serves as an appropriate metaphor for going through life-sort of a mini sermon: Nicht zu schnell. Not too fast.
