Often when I speak, there are people in the audience who want or need to do a little inquisition in the Q & A sessions ... I certainly appreciate respectful disagreement and dialogue, but when people feel the need to mock or drop the "H-bomb" (heretic) or create some kind of win-lose scenario, it does get draining. After a recent talk at a Christian college where a bit of this went on, I had several people come up and say, "Please don't let those comments get you down. If it hadn't been for your books, I would have left the faith..." I just received this note along similar lines ...
I was in the audience tonight ..., and just wanted to be one of the ones who sent a thank you your way for your kind, humble, yet firm responses. As faculty here ... [we] often experience isolation because we don't hold views similar to some of the more oppositional ones voiced tonight. I am very grateful your willingness to speak in love in places that aren't always receptive to your message.Being on the ground here, we hear frequently from students who feel they don't fit into the 'accepted system' and, like you said tonight, are on the way out the door. Thanks for speaking to them tonight. They hear you, and breathe sighs of relief to be introduced to your perspectives.
I was especially disappointed by some of the responses, because I was talking about ...
A few weeks ago there was a lot of talk about old Chuck D, around the time of his birthday. I thought Ken Wilson had one of the most poignant and beautiful commentaries of all ... really worth reading here. As I've said elsewhere, apologizing for the thousands of stupid and harmful things we Christians have done is an important part of apologetics. Why should anyone believe our message if we never admit when we've been ... wrong? (You'll find lots of other great stuff at Ken's site too.)
Spencer Burke and I chatted in San Diego a few weeks back about the upcoming conference in Albuquerque, March 20-22 ...
I heard today that around 600 have registered already. There's still room for some more if you'd like to join us! Information here ..
I'm happy to be back home for a couple days during an intense season of travel.
Just about everyone has probably heard the news about James Dobson here ... I am one of millions who were encouraged to be a better father and husband through Dobson's ministry (although now, looking back, there is some of his advice I sincerely wish I hadn't followed). Although I profoundly differ from him on many matters, I think he's spot on when he says:
"One of the common errors of founder-presidents is to hold to the reins of leadership too long, thereby preventing the next generation from being prepared for executive authority," Dobson said in a statement. "... Though letting go is difficult after three decades of intensive labor, it is the wise thing to do."
Regarding the economic recovery, Chris Martenson talks about the key issues in moving forward. I continue to be impressed by the resonances between his diagnoses and mine in Everything Must Change.
Paul Rauschenbusch addresses an important question for faith-based organizations here.
I'm in Florida, Michigan, and Indiana this week ... but wanted to share this thoughtful reply to my postings on economic recovery ...
Continue reading On the road this week ... thoughts on recovery ......
Sorry - I had a bad link to this earlier. Here's the kind of story that rekindles your faith in what's possible ...
Building on previous posts ...
9. The addiction to short-term gains over long-term ones, whether we're talking about the short-term gain of dollars (in the economic sector), victories (in the military sector), elections (in the government sector), or "butts in seats" (in the religious sector). When we think of how our elected leaders and business leaders were asleep at the wheel, failing to see the current crisis coming and failing to take evasive action if they did ... we know their range of foresight has been pretty small. When we think about how some religious leaders put winning the next short-term battle in their "culture war" over the long-term well-being of larger mission of the church, we see similar patterns. The issue, though, isn't simply to blame others: it's to face our own need for recovery, because we're all caught in this addiction cycle.
bob carlton offers beautiful reflections on the economic crisis here ... he captures what i've been trying to write about lately in my posts on two kinds of recovery he says ...
We are broke, something dawning through the breaks, a path forcing it way through the very cracks, new life breaking free.
I recently completed the "crash course" in economics I mentioned a few days ago. It resonated so strongly with my research for Everything Must Change ... and it also left me feeling pretty overwhelmed by the gravity of the problems we face in the "suicide machine" we've created.
Then my friend Shane Claiborne sent me this link Just under 3 minutes of brilliance and encouragement about what's possible if we avoid being ostriches (with our heads in the sand) or chicken-littles (running around in a panic). It's a contemporary example of turning swords into plowshares ... creating a farm in the inner city.
I have been in several important conversations lately with friends who agree that the time has come to plan and launch a world-wide, interfaith, abolition movement - to abolish nuclear weapons. Obviously, the moral reasons for such an abolition movement make tremendous sense, but now the political realities and economic logic are falling in line as well. Both Presidents Bush and President Clinton have been committed to reducing nuclear weapons, and abolition of nuclear weapons was a dream of Ronald Reagan as well. Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, former secretaries of state, along with William Perry, a former secretary of defense, and Sam Nunn, a former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee have all come forward in favor of a sane plan to make nuclear weapons history.
This is something I expect to be involved with in any ways I can in the years ahead. Here are some links if you're interested ...
An article from Faith and Public Life...
Faithfulsecurity.org ... people of faith addressing this issue ...
globalzero.org ... political will being mobilized on the issue ...
Psalm 20:7 says ... "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm."
I suggested in a recent posting that whenever you hear the words "economic recovery," you should think of two meanings:
Economic Recovery 1: Getting things back to the way they were before our current economic crisis
Economic Recovery 2: Facing our addictions and seeking to be restored to sanity.
Then I mentioned six specific addictions:
1. Our addiction to fossil fuels. If you want to get a feel for what this means, spend less than 8 minutes watching this:
And then check out the two subsequent videos for more info ...
2. Our addiction to weapons. Many of the people who worry about big government don't seem to worry about "big military," but consider these words from Republican President (and General) Dwight Eisenhower:
3. Our addiction to fear. Fear raises money and votes like nothing else ...
4. Our addiction to consumption (more stuff, never enough) ... living beyond our means. More on this here.
5. Our addiction to a single bottom line. More on this here.
6. Our addiction to easy answers. It's so nice when a complex world can be addressed - without thinking - by a few simple ideological slogans. After all, thinking is hard work and sometimes leads to uncomfortable discoveries.
I'd like to mention two more addictions that have come to mind.
7. Our addiction to debt. More here ...
8. Our addiction to bigger, more, faster ... This was a key theme of my book Everything Must Change
In an upcoming post, I'd like to imagine what a recovery program might look like for some or all of these addictions ...
We had another great time at the daily grind today - we'll do it again at 8:30 a.m. on March 24. "Behold how good and how pleasant it is when Southern Baptists, Lutherans, Jewish-Episcopalians, Eastern Orthodox, and others breakfast together in unity."
If you'd like to meet for a cup of coffee at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, 18 February - I'd love to connect for 90 minutes or so at the Daily Grind in Fulton.
One of the best and (as yet) most-undervalued Christian leaders in America, in my opinion, is Adam Hamilton. This piece on Gaza is a good introduction to his work, and to his excellent blog.
Also, this recent piece from CBS news tells an important part of the story too seldom heard.
My friend Jodi Mikalachki works among the Batwa people in Burundi - people for whom I have a special affection. She works at the Hope School, part of the "Christian Union for the Education and Development of the Underprivileged" in Burundi. She recently sent this beautiful story ... it has resonances (especially for people who know the politics of the region) with the Good Samaritan story.
More on the Batwa here ...
This note reflects a lot of the important issues I sense are "out there" - especially relating to the need for integral or holistic understandings of the gospel, church, Christian life, spiritual formation, etc. In this way, my three recent books - Secret Message of Jesus, Everything Must Change, and Finding Our Way Again - together seek to strike an important balance. This is shared (and edited for privacy) with permission:
Brian--
Hey there... just wanted to drop you a quick note of gratitude. I finished reading your book "Finding Our Way Again" last week, and have spent this week going back through it a chapter or two a day and writing out the most provocative, inspiring, and compelling thoughts. I try to read a lot to keep learning and growing, but it has been a long time since i have met God in such a deep way through a book. But that is what has happened through this work.
Continue reading encouraging note from a church planter ......
The current Atlantic Monthly has a characteristically insightful article on Rowan Williams. Reading the article reminded me of a moment at the Lambeth Conference last July.
Archbishop Williams began speaking at the first plenary session in Canterbury (after a private bishops' retreat elsewhere) and began with an apology, something to the effect of, "You've had to listen to me a number of times already on the bishops' retreat. I promise this will be the last time." For a few seconds, there was polite applause, as if to say, "No, you've been a pleasure to listen to so far, and we're glad to listen again." But then the applause didn't stop, and grew louder, and finally became an enthusiastic and sustained standing ovation. I remember thinking, "The center is holding," a sense I heard many affirm in the coming days.
I visited Floresta last week when I was in San Diego - one of my favorite non-profits. Staffer Doug Satre sent me this link on why food and farming will be key issues in the Obama years. Well-written and well worth reading.
I was just about to add a seventh addiction to the posting I wrote a few days back (Feb 9) ... this one about our addiction to debt ... Then I heard that the posting in question had elicited a response at The American Spectator.
So, I wrote a reply (below the jump) today ... and maybe I'll get to write more on debt-addiction in a few days.
Glad to be home in Maryland, where I saw and heard some signs of spring on my morning walk today ... and where it's been (unseasonably) warmer than (unseasonably cool) San Diego in recent days.
Rick B offers a humorous update on "other-mergents" here ...
which links to a parallel one here ...
Amy Sullivan describes disconcerting signs from the Religious Right here.
My most recent deepshift email (included below the jump) talks about the need for churches to engage with the financial crisis. Mustard Seed Associates is doing exactly this ... (Thanks, Christine!)
Also - check this out from Catalyst.
And Luke passed on this link to a crash course on the economy ... I haven't watched all of this crash course yet, but so far it looks like a worthwhile and needed resource ...
My friend Sivin Kit offers a wise perspective on Palestine from within the context of a Muslim-majority country. Read the interview here.
I just watched President Obama's Indiana speech and town hall meeting from my hotel room in San Diego. I was watching on MSNBC, with Chris Matthews hosting and Pat Buchanan commenting. Pat (predictably) panned the speech, saying that people in Elkhart make RV's, and Obama's speech failed to explain how we'd get Americans to buy RV's again. His comment, it seems to me, perfectly epitomizes an adventure in missing the point, and perfectly articulates two kinds of economic recovery.
For many people, economic recovery means "getting back to where we were a few months or years ago." That means recovering our consumptive, greedy, unrestrained, undisciplined, irresponsible, and ecologically and socially unsustainable way of life.
I'd like to suggest another kind of recovery ... drawing from the world of addiction. When an addict gets into recovery, he doesn't want to go back and recover the "high" he had before, or even to recover the conditions he had before he began using drugs and alcohol. Instead, he wants to move forward to a new way of life - a wiser way of life that takes into account his experience of addiction. He realizes that his addiction to drugs was a symptom of other deeper issues and diseases in his life ... unresolved pain or anger, the need to anesthetize painful emotions, lack of creativity in finding ways to feel happy and alive, unaddressed relational and spiritual deficits, lack of self-awareness, and so on.
Similarly, I'd like to suggest whenever we hear the word "recovery," we as a nation see it not as a call to get back our old addictive high, but rather as a call to face our corporate and personal addictions, including the following:
1. Our addiction to carbon. Fossil fuels are an addictive substance. They give us speed ... quick energy ... serving as a kind of cultural amphetamine. Meanwhile, they toxify our environment and throw the ecosystem in which we live into dangerous imbalance.
2. Our addiction to weapons. Weapons are one of the most addictive substances possible. They give us a feeling of well-being and security, removing our feeling of fear and anxiety, much like a barbiturate. But like a drug, they make us lazy and slow - lazy and slow in the much more important work of relationship-building, justice, and peace-making, lazy in seeking the common good. And they plunge us into an addictive cycle, because if everyone in the world is getting more and more weapons, we aren't safer ... especially when increasing numbers of those weapons are nuclear, biological, and chemical.
3. Our addiction to fear. Religious leaders, media leaders, and political leaders have all discovered that you can raise quick votes, dollars, and members through the hallucinogenic stimulant of fear. By making straights afraid of gays, conservatives afraid of progressives, Christians and Jews afraid of Muslims, citizens afraid of immigrants, and vice versa, these leaders get a quick organizational high - crack for their unity and morale. But the more fear you pump into your system, the more fear you have, and pretty soon, you go from being stimulated to paranoid, seeing things that aren't there and missing things that are. And soon after that, you move from paranoia to paralysis, leaving you in greater danger than ever.
4. Our addiction to stuff. Jesus said that a person's life doesn't consist in the abundance of her possessions. An economy that measures growth by the number of durable goods (resources) extracted from the environment and turned into non-durable goods that are bought, used, and then thrown away into a landfill ... that economy "succeeds" by turning goods into trash, and calling it success. That's not success. We need to imagine moving beyond an extractive, consumptive economy to a sustainable economy, and beyond a sustainable economy to a regenerative economy. I believe that in God's world, if billions can be made destroying the planet and exploiting people addictively, trillions can be made caring for the planet wisely and caring for people justly.
5. Our addiction to a single bottom line. During the President's town hall meeting, a man from Indiana told how he started a solar-powered attic fan company, and how he chose not to ship manufacturing overseas, but instead, to provide good employment for his neighbors. That meant, he said, that he had a little less cash in his pocket ... but wouldn't you agree that being a good neighbor has a value that can't be measured in dollars? The single bottom line of financial profit is addictive, and like an addiction, it destroys families and communities. We need to rediscover a triple bottom line - financial sustainability, social sustainability, and economic sustainability. So we need a recovery of family values, and we also need a recovery of community values, and neighborly values, and ethical business values.
6. Our addiction to easy answers. "Government is the problem." "Just throw money at the problem." We can't afford our addiction to these kinds of easy ideological slogans and facile reactive fantasies in a complex, real world. Ideology is, in many ways, a drug that substitutes the quick high of unthinking reaction for the hard work of acquiring wisdom.
So ... maybe we can sabotage our addictive tendencies by letting the word "recovery" have a meaning that wakes us up rather than drugs us into the comfortable, dreamy, half-awareness in which we have lived for too long. That's my hope and prayer. (For more on this, see my book Everything Must Change.)
I'm in San Diego, where it's POURING rain and chilly ... but have had great experiences at Point Loma Nazarene University, the Capps Center in Santa Barbara, and Missiongathering. On my youtube channel, I got this note this morning that I thought was worth passing on:
Hi I was just wondering if you have bean born again? What I mean is, have you ever gotten convicted of your sins, repented forgiven and did the Lord make you a new creacher?
It struck me that this person - who has great creative spelling abilities - was kind enough to phrase his/her concern as a question rather than a damnation. A step in the right direction!
This week I had the privilege of being part of the National Prayer Breakfast in DC. In addition to many valuable conversations with new and old friends, I was so impressed with speeches given by Tony Blair and President Obama. As I listened to them, I kept thinking about that special clarity that comes after a storm. I wondered if, after the storms of "culture wars" in which religion has so often been used as a weapon, we might be able to enter a time where faith motivates us to "justice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit," as the Apostle Paul described the kingdom of God in Romans 14.
I believe it was Tony Blair who quoted a Muslim Hadith that said, "None of you truly believes until he wishes for others what he wishes for himself." Obviously, these words resonate with Paul's, when he said that knowledge puffs up but love builds up, or John's when he spoke about our inability to love the invisible God when we don't love visible people, or James when he talked about faith without works being dead ... and most of all, with Jesus' life and teaching at every turn.
Last night I flew to San Diego, where I'll be speaking for a number of groups (see my schedule for details) including the National Pastors Conference. This is always a great gathering of people ... Maybe I'll see some of you in the next few days.
After posting on "christian hate mail" the other day, I got a lot of encouraging notes from friends. Several said they have also thought about the pain, insecurity, latent aggression, and inner turmoil that must be quietly seething in people who overflow with this kind of damnation rhetoric. Focusing on that condition of heart, these friends said, helps them feel compassion for critics instead of resentment. I agree.
I especially appreciated this note from a friend named Wayne:
Hey Brian, I hope all is well. I wanted to forward this message to you as an encouragement. It’s from an airline pilot named Roxanne. Since first reading Secret Message, I’ve turned hundreds onto it, and bought many dozens to give away, so you can trust that Roxanne’s message below is just one of many I’ve received just like it over the past few years. So keep on point Brian… and don’t forget how God is using you in exponential fashion. I’m grateful to be in that number....
This was the note he had received from Roxanne, someone with whom he had shared Secret Message of Jesus ...
...I read the Gospels, except Luke, which I haven't gotten to yet, over the last few days. I've read them so many times, studied them in bible study, heard them in church, blah, blah, blah. As I read them this time, the phrase that kept jumping out at me was "kingdom of God". What the heck does that mean? I intended to do some more research, online, you, etc. But the same as every other time I read them, I saw the same thing I had seen before and the words just didn't make sense other than some small insights that I could glean along the way. Last night I got home and "The Secret Message of Jesus" had arrived so I sat down and read it. I read until late last night and then spent the rest of the day today reading it. I have about 5 pages to go. I found myself crying thru much of it because I felt as though the lights had been turned on. FINALLY someone put the numbers on the puzzle so I could connect the dots. I have felt so much passion for God, but also felt like I had no outlet or "place" for it. I feel inspired, though I don't quite know what to do yet. I do know one thing. A few people in my life have expressed to me that the message they've heard just doesn't quite make sense, that the message they're hearing in church somehow doesn't ring true. I have a list of about 25 people so far that I want to read the book. What if we could make God's dream come true?
Then Roxanne emailed me and said ...
I received this email recently ...
I just finished reading “The Speech Not Given”. It seems that you wrote this piece before Obama came on the political scene. It would be hard to believe that he hasn’t taken large chunks of it to his own heart and articulated it to your nation and to the world.l Let us hope (Yes, we can!) that your words will be accomplished in his actions.
You can read the article he's referring to here ...
If you're an Evangelical Christian concerned about the environment - and especially if you're a Southern Baptist - please check out the upcoming Flourish Conference.
If you'd like to care about evangelism in a postmodern context, consider Beyond Evandalism with Peter Rollins and Ryan Bell ...
Estaba en Costa Rica la semana pasada ... fue un placer y honor estar con amigos y amigas alla. Habian muchos que me dijeron que mis libros estan ayudandoles en sus ministerios. Me gusta mucho oir esto.
Solamente dos de mis libros han sido traducido en espanol todavia ...
El Mensaje Secreto de Jesus (Nelson)
Mas Preparado de lo que Piensas (Kairos)
Tambien, hay unos de mis articulos que son disponibles ...
http://www.desarrollocristiano.com/site.asp?seccion=arti&articulo=1186
http://www.desarrollocristiano.com/site.asp?seccion=arti&articulo=1244
Disculpeme por los errores en la lengua ...