Here is a link to today’s activities.

Here is a link to my former posts.

Though I have only been aware of and engaged with this case over the last few years, there really is too much doubt.

Pray for Troy, Pray for the State, Pray for Justice.

Joshua

On September 11 as I was driving to HIEC I passed one of those famous church signs. It simply read: “There will come a judgment!” If I’m honest I was a little annoyed by the fact that on 9/11 the last thing that people need to be concerned with, or thinking about, is the kind of divine judgment that may be around the corner. After all, like most tragedies that become memorialized, many people who have lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks or in the wars since still ask why God would let such things happen to their loved ones, their communities, and America.

While the Lectionary readings on Sunday did not offer an answer to the question of why, they did suggest a posture of living in the face of tragedy and evil that is hard for anyone; namely, the posture of forgiveness. If there is anything that is hard for those who have experienced loss or hurt at the hands of others to do, it very often to forgive. But Jesus’ teachings on forgiveness are not easy nor simple. That one should forgive is an often overstated part Christianity. What is more difficult is to allow the act of forgiveness to transform the memory of the event into something that fundamentally changes one’s character. That is, that forgiveness (even 77 times as the Gospel reading suggests) is not simply a matter of giving up one’s right to hold someone a culpable, but rather a matter of allowing the event to redefine how one might live in relationship to that person, persons, or others.

In this regard, it wasn’t just the Lectionary readings for Sunday that gave shape to my experience of that church sign on 9/11; rather, it was also the weekly readings from Acts 15. After all, these stories about the inclusion and welcome of Cornelius’ family on the testimony of the Spirit of God are extremely important when considering how the church should go about its use of personal experience in the process of discernment and inclusion in the community. In these few chapters, according to Luke Timothy Johnson, Scripture itself canonizes a way of decision-making that ought to influence the way the church thinks on a whole host of issues.

By my read, these two sets of readings, those about forgiveness and those about the church’s process of decision-making, raise fundamental questions about how the church in practice should embrace the call of active dialogue with “the other” down the street. In the case of 9/11, the “other” that most commonly comes to mind are those who worship in the mosques down the street. But if I’m honest, I’m challenged by the readings just as much in my own life to learn how to forgive and be transformed by my forgiving of those whose ideological renderings of Christianity fly in the face of what I believe it to be all about.

In this sense, maybe one of the real challenges for those of us committed to living interfaith lives isn’t just learning how to respect, honor, and welcome the beliefs of Muslims, Jews, and Baha’i in our neighborhoods; but rather, applying this same sense of forgiveness and radical hospitality to those who believe different than us within our own religious groups. Truly, maybe like the challenge of living in a family marked by difference of opinion, this is one of the real challenges of forgiveness and inclusion today.

Walk on-

Joshua C

As I stood along side my wife and in the community of my friends a couple of things occurred to me that I had not thought about in a while. In fact, I hadn’t really thought about them since the last time I saw U2 in concert.

Check it:

There is something about the experience of entering into a community of strangers that is messy and profound all at the same time. Indeed, from our seats, we could see all kinds experience: people screaming out every word to every song, dads with small kids bouncing on their shoulders, and cling-ons who had somehow  managed to find their way into the crowd with others they knew. In many ways, we were all strangers, but in others, we were all the same: a community gathered by the expectation of an experience that was greater than ourselves. Now, while I’m sure that for some, Avett left out their favorite song, for me, the experience of being caught up in the delight of much larger community was not only powerful, but energizing!

Next, there is something about music that is lyrically confession that not only allows for power of lamentation, but is transforming and inspiring. There is no shortage of songs among the repertoire of AB that doesn’t call you to confess or own up to something. Be it shame, inner guilt, longing for new beginnings, relationships that didn’t make it (and then did), the tragedy and challenge of being in a family (of family or friends) or the desire to find oneself. Time and time again as I watched and listened and sang, I could see people smiling, crying, lamenting, yearning, and hoping for things to be different, and new, and alive. In many ways, AB last night was more than just a good show, it was an authentic experience of confession and renewal that many had been awaiting and longing for sometime. (If you are not familiar with the Avett Brothers, please, do yourself a favor and go check them out!)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m there are loads of people who thought last night was just a good show, but my hunch is, no my intuition tells me, that what really drew people to a “free show” with a community of strangers, what something of the power and experience of life in all of its mess and aspiration. Indeed, my sense is, if more communities, neighborhood associations, churches, and civil groups could approach their mission with the same energy, art and honesty, people my be drawn more fully into them, and the world might just be a much better place.

At the end of the day, if nothing else, I’m better today because of last night.

Let it be so…

Joshua

I’m on my way now to a full and right recovery on the writing, v/blogging and podcasting front. After graduating Candler/Emory and running golf camps full-time all summer, the re-emergence of thought life in this genre is about to happen. In the next few weeks I may recycle some of my seminary thinking; that is, post some of my shorter assignments for quick fodder. Yet, don’t be fooled, I’ll be editing it for content and present thought (to some degree).

So, here I come. Just get ready…

Joshua

Recently it occurred to me: the reason why people text and drive is because they don’t take seriously enough how their technology participates in their personal demonstration of power.

If people of faith understood that both the phone and the car were extensions of themselves, maybe they would see that to text while driving is to abuse the power of their position.

In driving one has already chosen to extend one’s self powerfully in the world. To dare to text while driving is suggest that one’s personal right to the unlimited extension of the self is greater than the responsibility for the other that comes with the use of power (with car).

Yes, as people of faith, to say no to texting while driving is not merely a matter of obeying local laws, but a prophetic statement about how we understand power and how seriously we take our responsibility to the other in our world.

Thoughts?

JC

I think you may know the tune…

Open the eyes of my ipad,
Open the eyes of my phone,
I want to see you,
I want to see you.
(repeat)
See you tweeted and retweeted,
Ustreamed live in all of your glory.
App out your power and love,
And we’ll tell facebook your whole story!

Let me know if you use it! I’ve got gifts if you can prove it;)

Joshua

JC

Sent from my iPhone