A few nights ago we watched a documentary on public TV about food manufacturing—that’s right, manufacturing, not farming. I was so upset by the presentation that I decided to enter into one of my infrequent vegetarian periods. Most of us don’t think about cruelty to animals that are raised for us to so we can be sustained by their flesh. Even some five-year-olds make the connection between animals that are raised for food and become unhappy to the point of disavowing McDonalds for a few days.

What I saw in the film was deeply traumatizing, even to one who has considered tender, rare steak just about the tastiest thing to eat for dinner. Suddenly it mattered to me that chickens are raised without seeing the sun, packed into containers, force-fed until they can’t stand up, never mind move around. I mattered to me that cattle are like wise abused—yes, I think it’s abuse.

Agribusiness is just that. Unless we’re purchases our food from farmers, real farmers, who care about the integrity of their crops and animals, we are complicit in another corporate takeover, where fewer than a half dozen producers supply most of our food. My mother-in-law has never eaten lamb since I’ve known her. She suggested the other day that the way the animals are treated is part of her issue with eating lamb, specifically.

“There’s something about lamb, because of its connection with biblical history, ” she said, “that’s holy.”  Lamb is especially popular in the middle east, and often appears as a sacrifice, It is treated in the Bible with respect. Recall, too, the beautiful metaphors of sheep following Jesus: “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me (JN 10:27). On this Earth Day weekend, can we listen for direction? What is asked of us in our treatment of all God’s creatures? Brutality? Excessive violence? Complete lack of consideration for the care of creatures?

I’ll probably get over my abrupt decision to be a vegetarian, but I think I’ll look into locally-produced food. Do you have suggestions for my readers? 

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If you know anything about the Constitution of the United States of America, you might be appalled to hear Sarah Palin say the founding fathers never meant for Church and State to be separated.(See Greg Sargent’s article in The Plum Line.)  Considering how a letter writer to the Star was wailing about the separation of religion from the public education system as three Catholic schools become secular charter schools in Indianapolis, I suppose it would be fine with her if they continued to share their previous Catholic identity.

The schools can’t continue to finance themselves as parish schools, but fortunately the teachers will continue in their positions. Religious education will not be part of the regular school day. That was the sacrifice the administrators were forced to make.

And then there’s the other news that mingles the Constitution and flawed perceptions. Now our citizens are flaunting guns in national parks because they can. It’s legal. Am I supposed to feel more comfortable knowing some extremists are packing heat in places where I should be able to have fun and feel secure romping in the outdoors?

Oh my, I really must use this as motivation to write another book before more madness takes over. I wrote Preaching Prophetically When the News Disturbs: Interpreting the Media for my clergy colleagues (Chalice Press, 2009), but I think all of us who breathe need to be able to sift the truth from all the spoken and written words that bombard us. Encourage me. We’ll all learn a lot.

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So many important elements for the disciples to consider in this story: A net full of fish, the humor of Simon Peter’s embarrassment at being naked, breakfast on the beach with Jesus, and the promise to serve elicited by the risen Lord. What gospel passage could be more entertaining or meaningful to Jesus’ followers and to all the descendants of the Jesus movement?

In this post-Easter episode, we are moving toward the time when it will be necessary for the disciples to do the work of Jesus on their own. They will need to remember everything he told them and organize themselves to give the teaching to the world. This is liminal time, spacious, thoughtful time, when all of us may consider what the Easter message has meant to us previously and what it means today. Hopefully we’re able to envision Jesus’ earnestness as he appeals to Simon Peter to feed his sheep.

Jesus points to the future and how not only Simon Peter, but all of us will be vulnerable to all those features of life that we’d prefer to ignore—aging, illness, war, deprivation, and catastrophes of every kind. Can we believe that we will be led and cared for when times are grim?

Some of us will testify freely that Jesus’ message has touched many people in our lives, helping us to get through the difficult times. That’s the great mystery within liminal space, where Jesus becomes the cosmic Christ whose spirit remains and challenges us all to live in his image.

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I’m a real sucker for spring flowers. Last year the bunnies lopped off ALL of my daffodils. While there aren’t very many daffodils this year, I giddily report that the bunnies looked elsewhere for nourishment and allowed me to enjoy my five beautiful blossoms. Happily, a large crop of red and purple tulips are ready to open next as the daffodils give their all.

Central Indiana has exploded with gorgeous trees in bud. The pear trees have never seemed so lush. Of course the downside of this is that many of us are sneezing as the pollens distribute themselves everywhere carried by the breeze. That’s the price we pay for beauty!

We are planning, actually, to pay something for additional beauty. We’ve had a “builder’s model” tree in our yard that we expected would die naturally over teach of our five winters here. It has a crooked trunk and less than graceful branches. Mike wants to replace it with a fir tree and have fun decorating it at Christmas time. However, no bunnies or deer, for that matter, have shown any interest in that tree. Though crooked and less attractive than many trees, it’s leafing out like the others. I think we’ll have to move it to the back forty and wish it well!

I’m not going to try to extract anything more from this than is there. But the obvious has something to do with persistence and quiet strength, doesn’t it?

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   The discourse surrounding health care legislation degenerated last week beyond emotional outbursts by Congress people and media personalities to verbal threats and violence. It occurred to me that the educational and communication deficits of our citizenry have contributed to the sorry state of how some people are receiving messages and expressing themselves.

   To some people, it may be obvious when they hear politicians use metaphors to describe their displeasure at government actions. And I want to believe that Mrs. Palin’s phrase “Don’t Retreat, Instead – RELOAD!” doesn’t really mean that she wants people to use force to get their way. But there are many among us who haven’t achieved a level of accomplishment in spoken and written language, i.e. a mastery reading and writing skills, to think beyond a literal understanding of words. 

   This generally occurs during adolescence as part of the growing maturity of the young person. But a lot of our people haven’t had enough study to discern literal from metaphorical language. That’s even more reason for us to put more emphasis on education. More educated voters will learn to read between the lines, understand the history of political grudges and separate metaphors from literal language constructions.

 

 

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   Has it occurred to you that the major social programs of the twentieth century were born out of much political struggle? President Ronald Reagan hated the idea of Medicare and President Lynden Johnson was vilifies for his commitment to improving civil rights. We have such a short memory regarding landmark changes that we insist on using the same strategies to prevent those changes from becoming part of our country’s ethos.

   Particularly distressing to me are the toxic lies perpetuated by politicians, broadcasters and people who listen and internalize all the negative things they say. President Obama agrees to change language that will keep federal funds from being used for abortions under the new health care reforms, yet a congressman calls the bill a baby killer. Never mind that the bill provides care for infants with preexisting conditions who, under the old scheme, would be removed from the rolls of their previous health plan and unable to find insurance to pay for costly procedures.

   What media can do is allow truth to prevail by making a commitment to educating our public to the provisions in the bill that will move us along the path to decent health insurance reform. Today our governor added more fear that our poorest won’t be served in the future because of something he got out of the bill as it may apply in Indiana. Someone else refuted that. We all need to read and listen for truth and not be seduced by those who make a living out of smearing honest politicians and the risky stands they take to improves life for all Americans. I won’t even list their names.   

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It’s been nearly fifteen years since I received a gift of a painting from the mother of one of my students shortly after our son Nick died.  She echoed the prophet’s words so beautifully, especially the verses that encourage us not to fear, because we belong to God.

This week’s text comes a little later in Chapter 43, where God encourages us to envision the new thing that God is about to do. In the midst of our lives, we are constantly experiencing personal and communal dilemmas and crises. It’s not easy to give ourselves over to the prospect that God is always doing a new thing and will bring us through the rough waters. Understandably, we fear the outcomes that we cannot control. Tonight I am hopeful that we will have health care reform. I am also hopeful that my health status will continue to be encouraging. It’s never productive for us to go through our days in fear. God asks us to live well and watch for the newness of life that will come from disappointment and even catastrophe.

With that in mind, we pray for all who have been discouraged by losses in Haiti and Chile, as well as those who are suffering closer to home. In praise of the newness and glory of spring we will give thanks for the prospect of healing as we  trust in God’s new thing.    

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Anticipating this fourth Sunday in Lent with the familiar gospel story of the “Prodigal Son,” I located a sermon I delivered in 2004 that I  based on Henri Nouwen’s inspiring book called The Return of the Prodigal Son. Nouwen sat for days in front of the famous Rembrandt painting that hangs in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia. The insightful priest and spiritual writer gave us a slender volume of  reflections which suggest that we are all capable of acting as the main characters of the story—the Father, the younger son, and the elder son.

 

Nouwen first saw the painting on a poster in a colleague’s office, and his curiosity led him to seek out the original, which is eight feet high and six feet wide, One hundred thirty-nine pages of his reflection on the gospel passage and its artistic rendering by Rembrandt made their way into Nouwen’s book. We can imagine Nouwen’s disciplined scripture reading, meditation, prayer and contemplation, that quiet resting in God’s presence.

 

Nouwen essentially dipped into the traditional Benedictine spiritual practice of Holy Reading or “Lectio Divina.” This is a way of praying with scripture, beginning with reading and reflection and moving to prayer and finally, silence. It’s an uncomplicated pathway, available to any of us who feels inclined to try it

 

The teaching stories found in all of the gospels can help us understand our gifts and limitations. Some of us gain understanding when we combine words and visuals The huge canvas reveals additional possibilities that might not be observed at first by reading the text. For example, Nouwen saw himself first as the younger son. He felt he had distanced himself from his family and others.

 

But a friend suggested that he really was more like the elder son because he harbored resentments and needed to have everything orderly and control everything the way he wanted it. Then one of his colleagues told him “Whether you are the younger son or the elder son, you have to realize that you are called to become the father.”  Eventually Nouwen came to understand that he’d already lived as the younger son and the elder son, and now was the time to grow into the compassionate father.  

 

The nuances of the painting reveal a great deal about Rembrandt’s concept of the story. On the left half of the painting, the younger son is kneeling, hair shorn and straggly, leaning in to his father. The son’s clothes are torn, one sandal is off, the other is obviously worn through.

 

The elderly father wears a red cape, and leans over to enfold the son, one hand on his shoulder with muscles firm, the other relaxed and gentle on his son’s back. Nouwen sees this as a balance between the paternal and maternal attributes of God. The elder son stands aloof, straight up and unyielding near the edge of the right side of the painting looking on, but not participating in the welcome. 

 

The younger son has typically been our focus. “Prodigal” in churchy terms, has referred to the younger son who left home, misused his freedom, wasted his money and finally hit bottom when he came home asking for forgiveness.

 

I was surprised to discover that in defining the word prodigal we can form a snapshot of each character in the parable because “prodigal” has several meanings, and none has anything to do with returning and asking forgiveness.

 

The word evolved from the Middle English “prodigere” and meant “to drive away, or to get rid of.”

The first modern definition of a prodigal is “one given to extravagant expenditures, expending money or other things without necessity, exceedingly or recklessly wasteful, not frugal or economical.”

 

At the time of Jesus, the family would have written off the memory or “gotten rid of” the younger son, who violated the cultural and tribal family rules, both by asking for his inheritance and by intentionally severing ties with his relations. This was not done in the culture and would have been terribly offensive. It is an extreme case of leaving the fold.

 

The younger son basically excommunicates himself from the family by turning his back on them. Most families would have denied his existence from then on. So the Middle English derivation works here, as well as the more modern definition of extravagance and wastefulness.

 

The second meaning “profuse, extremely abundant, as the prodigal foliage of the jungle.” The elder son who stayed home, was obedient and he produced abundantly for his father. He worked so hard to gain his position through his efforts at being the good son. He fits this second meaning to a “T.”

 

The third meaning, quite opposite to the first, is “extremely generous, lavish.” (Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary) It’s the father who exemplifies the third meaning through his lavish generosity of love and material things, the clothes and feast when his younger son returns.

 

In light of the different meanings of “prodigal,” it’s understandable that some of the commentators suggest that we stop referring to this passage as “The Prodigal Son,” but rather by Jesus’ first words: “There was a man who had two sons.”  Henri Nouwen suggested that we call it the “Parable of the Father’s Love.”

 

In the parable’s historical context, Jesus is responding to the criticism that he keeps company and eats with sinners. He is trying to help us understand that we should model our behavior on the father. Our dilemma is that we tend to get stuck in the behaviors of the sons.

 

We resemble the younger son to a degree as we spend a portion of our lives trying to find ourselves, intensely focused on our needs and expending our energy into satisfying them while blind to the needs of others.

 

After all, life should be fun and we’re going to have fun. At the same time we may leave a wake of broken relationships and disappointed people who hope that we’ll find value in kindness and service to others.

 

The Father loves both of his sons unconditionally. The father heaps love and generosity on them both as he reclaims his younger son and invites the elder to take part in the joyous homecoming. The human father has had to overcome his hurt over the past and forgive his younger son. He has to be bigger than the temptations to hold grudges and build walls that discourage the repair of relationships.

 

 

 

 However, spiritual maturity is marked by the values exhibited by the father as the God who loves us unconditionally before we know how to love. The God of love replaces the concept of the God of fear. The divine father in this parable places love above everything and doesn’t keep score.

 

The father is merciful and compassionate. Just as Henri Nouwen was called to own up to his call to be the father, we too are invited to become vulnerable to God’s love, open to the possibility that we can learn to love as God loves.

 

The story of the prodigal has a particular place in the readings for Lent. Now that I’ve misplaced my book, I’ll continue to be glad for Nouwen’s inspiration that fortunately is unforgettable.

 

On the surface the elder son is doing his job, fulfilling his expected role, but his world is turned upside down when his little brother gets so much attention on his return. The elder brother resists the father’s equal love for his younger brother. He can’t enter into the joy because of his jealousy and resentment.  

 

 

 

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   I hope you agree with me that we really have to stop talking in order to hear what the other person is saying. As I try to make sense out of partisan arguments regarding health care insurance reform, it seems that people of differing political views want to improve health care, but they have different ways of expressing how to reach the goal. In other words, people just talk past each other, with the result that we don’t hear enough to come together as partners. It even comes as a surprise that President Obama included a “Republican” idea as part of his strategy.

   Following  following my last post for IN Touch, I received a number of emails in support of my comments. The maddening inability to move ahead with change is experienced deeply in real-life situations.  A conversation with friends just a few days ago bears this out. I’d been contacted by the hospital where I had surgery last fall to call the insurance company to obtain the information the insurance company needed to pay the hospital bill. The hospital said I was the only one who could get the information.. After I dutifully phoned, offering up my twenty minutes of impatient waiting while the clerk checked with her supervisor, we discovered that the insurer had sent two letters asking the hospital for very specific medical information that I would not be able to provide. Who dropped the ball here?

    Then a friend at the table wondered why his free annual check up now had cost-added items for everything besides his few minutes with the doctor. Regular tests, previously included, are now charged out separately, stretching the idea that this annual exam is “free”. A third colleague weighed in on the back-and-forth issue of what doctor is “in” and who is not considered “in” the insurance network. Not cut-and-dried, as I remember it was a few years ago, her doctor seemed to be on a moveable list. Of course, the patient pays ten per cent more for the services of a doctor who has opted to be outside the negotiating network because of all the red tape.

    I haven’t heard anyone say that the system is working well. But the push back is so significant from those who are persuaded by the media advertising. We must respond to those who continue to lather on the fear tactics. What will you do? I need to start writing that second book about helping people understand how those with the means, both politically and financially, manipulate us by making sure their opinions are reinforced in all forms of media. The first book was for my colleague preachers, but the subject affects everybody. Your thoughts?    

 

 

 

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Lent can be a time to fine tune good spiritual habits. One of the most difficult to master is the ability to shine as a good listener. Listening is a difficult skill to learn and a challenge to practice consistently. Experienced on-air specialists in communication talk over each other and past each other. They don’t appear to be  interested in gaining insights or information from their partners in conversation. Instead, they just want to make sure their points are heard.

The current political process encourages  us to make decisions about health care reform and education based on money instead of sound arguments about what is in the best interest of our citizens. Corporate and legislative representatives keep stoking the fires of fear, causing those whose better judgment would normally make sure the needs of others are taken care of, to turn against that higher calling to make sure their needs won’t be compromised.

For example, many policy makers and pundits tend to agree that the very complex systems that are in place to accommodate the increasing cost of procedures, as well as the great numbers of uninsured citizens must be revised. But what is accomplished when  people in power try to confuse us by restating over and over how older citizens will lose important elements of their coverage because the government will cut them from the Medicare budget? Sad, but true, we have many uninformed and frightened citizens who believe all the negative rhetoric, both spoken and written, including Sarah Palin’s comments about death panels, a fictitious creation about government overseers deciding who lives and who dies.  

It’s taken decades to legislate some social programs that we think now as completely acceptable, but there has always been resistance.  Health care reform requires our participation calmly and with all the facts. We must listen with rational minds and compassionate hearts and participate in discussion focused on the needs of our people. A healthy American society will be a productive society. I believe we must include the forty million people in the discussion who are currently excluded. If we refuse to listen deeply to the circumstances our flawed system places many of us now, our pockets will just get deeper. My co-pay for office visits has now doubled since January 1^st of this year. We are paying increased costs for excellent coverage, but where will it stop?

Could we consider the discussion begun at the  February 25^th summit as the beginning of a period of listening? Listening is the first step. Despite the thick documents with thousands of drafted words, the words will have no meaning until we make sure everyone is cared for.

The ancient monks made listening a priority for their functioning in community. We rightly separate specific religious values from our legislative work, but “listening” carefully to the people in our world and to their concerns is simply a civilized way of governance, whether we serve a small cloistered body or a country in which millions of people require careful decision-making from people who have their best interests at heart.

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Audrey Borschel enjoys combining her life as an ordained minister with music and writing. More >

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Preaching Prophetically When the News Disturbs: Interpreting the Media
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Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. 1 Cor. 16: 13-14