Longing or Gratitude

The other night I watched TV for the first time in a long time.  No anti-boob-tube righteousness in that hiatus . . . I've been busy.  But I did get a break the other night, and I tuned in MythBusters, and . . .

I was amazed at all commercials for food!  It seemed as though food were being shoved in my face over and over again with a break only to tell me about how there was more food in another room somewhere.  I was reminded of an experience I'd had at a wedding reception -- after half an hour or so of eating at the most splendiferous buffet you could ever imagine, it was announced that the appetizers were finished and it was time for us to go in to dinner!

For anyone who's not been following this blog, yesterday was Day 30 of a fresh vegetable and fruit juice fast.  (See the movie Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead to get an idea of what and why.)  And today is 36 days since processed foods, fast foods, sugar, or the like have passed my lips.  So maybe you can imagine the reaction I was having to this visual smorgasbord.

Or maybe you can't.  Maybe you'd imagine that after a month of eating (drinking?) really healthfully all of this excess would have been unpleasant.  If so, you'd be wrong.  A Double Quarter Pounder from McDs?  Heaven.  A pepperoni pizza which cheese sticks for a crust?  Seventh Heaven!  I watched each and every image of food-like product that was being flashed before my eyes and I coveted it!

And what made this longing even worse was the fact that I know the changes I am making in the way I eat are permanent.  I am not juice fasting so that I can return to eating poisonous food facsimiles.  I am trying to heal my body and save my life.  So I intend to finish this fast and switch to a nutrient-dense, whole-food, plant-based diet.  As of this moment I think I'll be following the kind of diet advocated by Dr. Joel Furhman (among others), author of such books as Eat to Live and which he describes in great detail at his website.

But this means no more ribs.  Ever.  No more KFC.  Ever.  I will never taste the fabled deliciousness of Pizza Hut's Royal Crown Pizza.  Even if it ever gets to the United States.

I love popcorn shrimp.  (Heck, I like any kind of shrimp!)  I love the aroma of barbecuing meat.  And I could look at the changes I'm trying to make from a perspective of deprivation:  I could focus on all of the things that I love to eat that I will never eat again.

Or, I could look at this from a perspective of opportunity:  there is a world  of amazing tastes out there just waiting to be discovered!  Vegan food; raw food; unbelievably tasty things that I've never eaten because instead I've been filling up on fast food.

How do you look at your life?  Do you focus on the things you don't have, on your longings?  Or do you celebrate the things you do have, your gratitude?  This choice makes all the difference.

In Gassho,

RevWik

Open Source Church, continued . . .

Back in the summer and early fall I wrote about the concept of "the open source church."  This is a phrase to describe a new model of thinking about and "doing" church that seeks to take the best of the new ways of interrelating that have been developing in this Internet Age and apply them to the venerable institution of The Church.  It's pretty exciting stuff, I think.  Challenging, but exciting.

My own Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations is conducting what I see to be an experiment in this direction during our upcoming General Assembly in Phoenix, Arizona.  General Assembly is our annual business meeting and conclave -- Unitarian Universalists from all over the country, and the world, gather in one place for about a week of meetings, worship, workshops, reunions, and introductions.  A friend of mine likes to call it "the eight-day coffee hour," but I've always really loved going.

But here's the rub.  Those who attend GA are a rather self-selecting group.  There are a core of folks who attend General Assembly year after year after year -- GA Junkies we are called.  Then there are the folks who attend because this year GA is located geographically close to where they live and worship (and they've always wanted to be able to go).  One thing these two groups have in common is that they can afford to go -- the commitment of money and time is considerable.

Which puts the UUAofC into an interesting predicament.  On the one hand, we are committed to democratic principles.  In fact, it's one of the principles enshrined in the UUA's bylaws as one of the seven principles all Unitarian Universalist congregations covenant with one another to affirm and promote:  "The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large."

And yet, at the same time, the venue through which we can use the democratic process at our Associational level is itself only questionably democratic.  Many of our congregations have no representation at all because no one from these communities is able to attend.  And, so, our larger and more affluent congregations -- and the relatively more affluent members of these affluent congregations -- are generally the people who decide the Association's business.

But last year the General Assembly began an experiment, allowing some folks who could not physically attend the event to do so virtually.  Last year, as a couple of thousand of UUs descended on Charlotte, North Carolina, others went to their computer screens in their homes or congregations.  They watched live feeds of all of the plenary meetings; they were able to participate in discussions and debates; and they were able to vote.  Last year the experiment was aimed at shaking out the bugs -- last year's off-site delegates could vote but the votes weren't counted.  This year, though, we're doing it for real.

This year's General Assembly is June 20-24 in Phoenix, Arizona.  It is promised to be a GA like no other in our history, one in which we engage issues of social justice on the ground -- this is the land of SB1070, after all.  If you'd like to attend -- on-site or in-person -- you should probably do that soon.  (Details are at the UUA's website.) 

And if you're one of the folks from the congregation I serve -- Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church - Unitarian Universalist in Charlottesville, VA -- and are interested in being a delegate (again, on- or off-site) you can apply for delegate status by contacting the TJMC Board Executive Committee or sending a letter to the Board President  as soon as possible!

And if you're interested in learning more about being an off-site delegate, click here.  Plans are underway to have a location  at  TJMC for off-site delegates to view the proceedings, along with technical support.  Contact Bev Thierwechter  for details and BEFORE registering. Off-site delegate registration fee is $ 100; the deadline is June 8th.  If you require financial support for the off-site delegate registration fee, please contact the me.

It will be interesting to see where this experiment takes us.  What seems clear is that it will open up our process . . . and that seems to me an exciting thing.

In Gassho,

RevWik

Helicopter God

There is a relatively new term making the rounds in parenting circles (and discussions):  helicopter parent.  This describes a mom or dad who hovers around their child, always watching, whether needed or not, and who swoops in to rescue their child at the first sign of trouble.

While this is apparently a growing phenomena, it is also one that's being (rightly, I believe) criticized.  Firstly, if a parent hovers too closely to their child that child is constantly recieving the message that they aren't to be trusted.  This isn't the intent, of course, but it is the result.  "You need me to be watching over you," is the message that the behavior itself is sending.  "You're not safe/strong/smart/something enough to handle the world on your own."  This is not, as you can imagine, the kind of message we want to be giving our children if we want them to grow up as strong, independent adults.

The second problem with this parental approach is like unto the first -- if the parent always swoops in to save the day whenever there's the slightest problem, the child has no opportunity to learn problem solving skills for her or himself.  They'll always be looking for someone else to do things for them, waiting to be saved from every predicament.

This morning one of my children asked me to help him do something.  Actually, to be more accurate, he asked me to "help" him by doing it for him.  I told him that he could do it himself and made sure that he really did understand how.  And then I let him do it.  When he asked me why I didn't help him I told him that I had, and that now he'd not only done it but also knew he could do it himself and didn't need to wait on me to do it in the future.  This doesn't mean that I never "help" him by doing things for him; I just want to make sure that he learns how much he's capable of doing on his own.

It strikes me that a lot of so-called "religious" folks have the idea of a helicopter God.  This "God" they imagine is always hovering around, always watching, and ready to swoop in at a moment's notice.  Of course, this isn't what people actually experience most of the time, but it's what they seem to expect.  Let's unpack that last line a little bit.

When, as the saying goes, bad things happen to good people lots of folks turn their faces skyward and shout, "Why?!?!?!?"  They wonder why God isn't "answering their prayers" -- by which they mean "fixing this problem in the way I want it to be fixed."  Essentially, people are asking their "God" why God isn't helping them, by which they mean  "doing it for them." 

This is what turns a lot of people off from the very idea of "God," that their experience of living suggests that if there is such a thing as a "God" she/he/it is doing a really lousy job.  Why is there so much suffering in the world?  Why aren't my prayers being answered?

But what if God were more like a parent than we'd like to admit?  This, of course, is all metaphor and analogy because whatever God might be God isn't really like anything we can conceive of.  The inconceivable is just that -- inconceivable.  But still, throughout time and across cultures people have imagined the divine as parent . . . and what if that metaphor has some real truth to it?

Well, then, wouldn't a helicopter God be just as bad as a helicopter parent?  Wouldn't God's children be receiving the message that they aren't to be trusted?  And wouldn't they have a hard time learning how to fix their own problems and clean up their own messes? 

In the Gospel of Luke Jesus is remembered as saying, "Which of you [parents], if your child asks for a fish will give a snake instead?  Or if you're asked for an egg, would give a scorpion?  If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will God do for you?"

If God "is" a parent, then God is the greatest, most perfect parent possible.  And a helicopter parent is just not an example of perfect parenting.

In Gassho,

RevWik

Hunger

The Vietnamese Buddhist teacher, poet, and peace activist has said that the United States is a land of "hungry ghosts." These are mythic creatures who have huge bellys and pinhole mouths; they can never satisfy their desires.  Their cravings.  Their hunger.

Today is Day 13 of my first long-term all-juice fast.  (And it's 18 days since I last had fast food, soda, processed foods, red meat, sugar, and wheat!)  I'm learning something about hunger.  About craving.

As I cook dinner for my family I suddenly realize that whatever it is that I'm cooking -- last night it was rotissery chicken, alfredo noodles, and salad -- is my all-time favorite food in the world and that without a little taste of it I will dissolve into nothingness like the Wicked Witch when faced with water.

And when I'm getting ready to leave a nighttime meeting at church I become accutely aware of how delicious the Quarter Pound Big Bite hot dogs taste at the 7-11 I pass on the way home.  There is no finer cuisine on the planet, and my body is telling me that I desperately need something from the oversized, overprocessed meat-like food group in order to maintain optimum health.

One of the things I keep trying to teach my kids -- now 10 and 8 -- is the difference between "needs" and "wants."  "I need a new beyblade," one will say.  "No," I'll reply, "you want a new beyblade.  You need food, clothing, shelter, and love."  I think it's part of my parental duty to pass on such important information.

And yet I am discovering anew just how much I need to take my own life lessons to heart.  In this immediate instance it's food -- I need some crackers!  I need something to chew on!  But it's becoming clear to me (again) how often I make the same mistake my kids do.

• I need more financial security.
 
• I need this or that person's respect.
 
• I need to attain this or that level of professional achievement.
 
• I need . . .

Through the process of this juice fast I am learning to differentiate between my food needs and my food wants.  And when I'm able to do this I'm also able to see that I actually want to be healthy more than I want the taste of a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese.  Needs must be attended to; wants can be weighted against other wants and decisions can be made.  We have at least some measure of control over our wants.

This is one of the great gifts of fasting -- whether it be a food fast, a media fast, a fast from negative-thoughts.  It can help us remember the difference between wants and needs, and help us (re)gain control of our living.

In Gassho,

RevWik

More Lessons

 

I haven't yet watched this film myself, but it's definitely going on my list. Should it be on yours?

In Gassho,

RevWik

PS -- two nights ago I finally watched Supersize Me.  If you've ever eaten at McD's . . . a lot . . . you should watch it too.

Seemingly As If . . .

Here's another reflection prompted by my Lenten reading:

Folks on the so-called Religious Right claim that the United States was founded by Christians on Christian principles. They say that it was in intent -- and is now in it's history -- a "Christian Nation." They say that our country should be governed with Biblical values.

The wonderful Steven Colbert named the conundrum quite clearly a while back:

 “If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it.” 

 That seems pretty straightforward to me.  And seems to pretty much sum up the options.  Yet in case a modern comedian isn't convincing enough, how about the words of God (as declared by the prophet Isaiah)?

¹ “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
   Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
   and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
² For day after day they seek me out;
   they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
   and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
   and seem eager for God to come near them.
³ ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
   ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
   and you have not noticed?’
   “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
   and exploit all your workers.
⁴ Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
   and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
   and expect your voice to be heard on high.
⁵ Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
   only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
   and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
   a day acceptable to the LORD?
 ⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
   and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
   and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
   and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
   and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
   and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness^[a] will go before you,
   and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
   you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
   “If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
   with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
   and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
   and your night will become like the noonday.
¹¹ The LORD will guide you always;
   he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
   and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
   like a spring whose waters never fail.
¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
   and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
   Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
 ¹³ “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
   and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
   and the LORD’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
   and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
¹⁴ then you will find your joy in the LORD,
   and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
   and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
            For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Seems pretty straightforward too.  (That's Isaiah 58, by the way.)

Day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God.  They . . . seem eager for God to come near them.  [Yet] is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 

Is anybody on the Religious Right reading this stuff?

In Gassho,

RevWik

Learning Something Every Day

About a month ago my doctor suggested that I watch a movie.  It was called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead and it may well have been the catalyst for changing my life.  (I am currently on day seven of what I hope to be a thirty day "fast" of only freshly made vegetable and fruit juice.)

As part of my regimen to keep me inspired I've been watching other movies as well:

• Forks Over Knives
• Food Matters
• Food, Inc.

Each of these films has its own strengths and weaknesses.  I am sure that people who know more about nutrition and molecular science can quibble about various specific aspects.  (I have a feeling that that'd be especially true in Food Matters.)  Yet all of them together confirm what seems to me to be a very important message --

The food we eat today is literally different from the food we ate 50 or 100 years ago.  And I don't just mean the kinds of foods, I mean that the foods themselves have changed.  The nutritional quality has changed.  In some cases the molecular make up has changed.  And these changes have not been for the better.  The food we eat today is not as healthy for us -- and in many cases is now seriously unhealthy.  At the most extreme, the food we eat today is poisoning us.

And, so, all four of these films calls us to a different way of eating -- a whole foods, plant based diet.  The science is pretty convincing, so why aren't more people responding?


In Gassho,


RevWik

Why has it gotten so complicated?

Maybe you've seen the bumper sticker -- "God bless everybody. No exceptions." 

It seems to me that that's more or less the same sentiment that's being expressed in this recent find on FaceBook.  (I just love the FB group The Christian Left.)

How did things get so complicated? 

During my recent Lenten Bible studies I came across this passage (Mark 6:12) --

"So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God."

I was struck by its simplicity.  Apparently Jesus didn't instruct his disciples -- his first ministers -- to tell people anything about how he was of one substance with the Father.  Nor, it seems, did he want them to say anything about how he, himself, was the one and only way to God.  In fact, it appears from this rather clear passage that the original message of the very first "Christian" missionaries -- and Jesus' closest companions -- had nothing  to do with Jesus at all.  "Repent of your sins and turn to God."

Why did things get so complicated?

I know the socio-political and pyschological reasons, of course.  I'm really just asking a rhetorical question here.  Still, it does give me pause to consider how simple it seems the message of Jesus and his earliest followers really was.

In Gassho,

RevWik