jail time

so one of my churches has a few people who visit the local jail every week. i started going my first week here, and i've only missed one or two tuesdays. i think it's vital work for a church to be doing, but i'm often confronted by so many different emotions. it saddens me that there just doesn't seem to be much energy at all in keeping people out of jail or keeping them from returning. the issue of race always slaps me in the face also. it's always a challenge to go and then a challenge to leave and expect things to be any better next week.

but last week, something quite amazing happened. there are other ladies from a larger church who rotate coming each week. there's usually some form of devotion time as well. one of the ladies last week opened her heart and confessed her own family's struggles. she mentioned a grandson in prison and another one in drug rehab. tears came to her eyes as she shared about the pain it caused her family and about the pain it caused her to see so many people hurt themselves and others through abusing drugs and committing crimes. it truly was powerful and, i believe, the work of God. because if you just saw this woman and these inmates in person or on paper you would think they shared nothing and could never even speak to one another in anything other than a superficial way. but they are deeply connected through a shared pain - though admittedly from different vantage points. i'm thankful she did that; she shared her deepest emotions and feelings rather than shaking a finger. rather than saying "be more like me," she said, "i'm more like you than you might realize."

this week a guy i met in jail mailed me a letter. he wants some help with stuff, wants me to contact some people for him. i had kinda decided to institute a policy (i'm really good with policies) that i wouldn't get involved like this. i decided i'd tell him i can't help with any "favors" while people are in jail, because i already serve three churches and if word got out that i helped him i'd have to help all 399 of his fellow inmates. but i also would tell him that i'm happy to help in any way i can once he gets out. he's free to visit one of my churches or write me and set up a meeting. i've written the reply letter, but haven't printed or mailed it yet. it smacks of something i don't want to be. part of me feels that i should do everything i can to help people in and out of jail, and he probably needs my help now more than ever. i've never liked the "i'm too busy" excuse. so i'm unsure what to do or say. what do you think? have you faced issues like this? how much is enough and where is the line between helping and enabling or developing a savior complex?

why "God bless america" is problematic

so i apparently have to get a new driver's license and license plate since i live in alabama. i think this is pretty stupid. i mean what is the point of having "united states" if they aren't united concerning things like licenses? it's a total hassle to change when you move, and it serves no useful purpose other than supplying jobs for people who might not ordinarily have jobs. yet, i will render to caesar what is caesar's.

but i was at city hall the other day trying to turn in the paper work (i waited for half an hour to be told i didn't have the right stuff), and i saw the new alabama license plate with the "God bless america" slogan and the american flag backdrop. i'll leave off issues of church and state in this post, but i would like to speak to the problems with this slogan which are myriad. for the most part, i'm going to assume that i'm writing to a Christian audience because it seems Christians are usually advocating for this sort of stuff to be more in the mainstream.

first, who are we to be telling God what to do? we are the creature, not the creator. we have messed it all up. look at our lives and the amount of stuff on a daily basis we screw up. do we really think we have any business giving orders to God. maybe we should read the last few chapters of Job a few more times. now i have heard people talk about how "God bless america" is a prayer - but it sure sounds like an order, a command to me - and i don't think we're in any position to make it.

second, it doesn't seem to me that nations are things God should bless or even really care about. God loves and blesses created things like plants and animals (humans belonging to the latter category). but nations are entities we (humans) made up just like time zones and couches. why should God bless the things we make up - so that one time zone will have the perfect balance of light and quality tv programming? it just doesn't make sense. of course, it does make sense for God to bless the things God created (which it seems has already happened in their being created and receiving life). so i think what people are really saying is "God bless americans," and again, that's a problem because why americans and not everyone (see bumper sticker that says "God bless everyone, no exceptions")?

finally, let's assume i'm wrong about everything i've written. let's assume that God loves americans more than other people - that God doesn't really care for belarussians or botswanans all that much. and let's assume that we have all the things we have not because we murdered the native americans who were living here before us and stole their land and kept wealth to ourselves rather than distributing it justly, but because God blessed us with the things we have. here's the rub: haven't we been blessed enough? if we really believe that all the stuff we have came from God, shouldn't we have an ounce of compassion and say "thank you" instead of "gimme some more!"? shouldn't we recognize the people truly impoverished and starving - most of them children - and ask God to bless them and be willing to bless them in ways we can?

there is nothing Christian about a life of abundance and prosperity. Christians are called to a life of simplicity and possibly suffering. we are called to gratitude whatever our lot in life. but we are certainly called to the realization that we have been richly blessed because we have life and a shot at eternal life that we do not deserve at all. that should be enough. stop asking for more.

foodstuffs update

in a previous post i complained about my favorite foodstuffs being located in geographically disadvantageous places. i particularly mentioned cheerwine and my favorite flavor of powerade being unavailable to me here in alabama. in the past week an amazing thing has happened. i have discovered both my powerade AND cheerwine are in the new auburn kroger. maybe God truly loves me. maybe everything will work out for my food enjoyment. maybe soon there will be a dunkin' donuts nearby. whooo hoooo

peru update

i've received some very good news from peru. the pastor we worked with, whose church was in chincha alta, and his family are safe. so far we have not heard from him that any of his church members have lost lives though many have lost everything else. i still haven't received word about my godson david and his family - they lived right on the coast. the campamento we worked on received some damage; we don't know the extent yet. still it sounds hopeful that so many people seem to have escaped death.

tragedies always seem to bring people together, but i have been amazed at some of my friends and some total strangers who have come together through a mass e-mail and started coordinating aid to our brothers and sisters in peru. everyone has been sharing information and plans to help. we each wait eagerly to hear the next word of news someone has received from a contact. i am hoping some of us will be able to coordinate a trip down to peru to help in any way we can. i'm certain quite a bit of money will be sent, and that is a blessing. but to me there's something about being present with people during times of disaster. we show those hurting that they are not alone and that they matter greatly to us. we show that what unites us is greater than what divides us. my good friend andrew noted the coordinated effort through e-mail and called it the work of the Holy Spirit. i think he's absolutely right. i've never believed God causes disasters, but i do believe God causes the outpouring of love that follows.

continue to pray for the people of peru, and please give as you are able.

in times like these

i know we're not supposed to worry about anything, but we're supposed to pray about everything. but for the past few days i've worried and i've prayed. while i was in college i did mission work in Peru. i went there twice - only for two weeks at a time, but it truly changed my life. it taught me more about what it means to live in a Christian community where your primary identity is baptism rather than skin color, language, or birthplace than i had ever learned before or since. being in Peru taught me about a staggering faithfulness - one not linked to possessions in any way. the people i came to know and love there didn't think the way i thought - that if things were going well God loved me, but if things were going bad, God must be mad at me for something. they knew without a doubt God loved them and everything from God is good. and now i struggle as i think some of them, maybe all of them could be dead.

we did most of our work in tambo de mora which is right on the coast. judging by what i've seen, i'm guessing tambo de mora was as close to the epicenter as possible. we went to chincha alta almost everyday. it was the closest big city. we went and ate there. we used the internet in computer cafes. we watched soccer with hundreds of people in the plaza de armas. i haven't seen the plaza on cnn yet - i'm wondering what still exists.

we went to ica and pisco as well. chincha, ica, and pisco all have buildings that could be destroyed. tambo de mora didn't have much that could be destroyed. i'm praying that because the homes there were so modest, maybe there was little damage and death. i've come to terms with the reality that the campamento we help build is probably no more. it's unreal to think that something which took one hundred years to build can be destroyed in seconds.

i pray most for the people. for pastor pedro and his church. for all the people we worked with and worshipped with. i pray especially for my godson david tantachuco burgos and his family - for his mother soledad and his sisters lisbeth and lizette. i don't lift them up in prayer nearly enough. often i think i've failed as a padrino. i pray for the chance to know they are safe and see them again.

God have mercy. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.

the only way i can get a photo on here

here's a picture of me and my dog nineveh. she just got a new fence today, so we're gonna go out and play as soon as it's not 100 degrees.

where's my slurpee?

i haven't lived in that many places, but i've lived in enough places to get mad that different places have different things. well, i guess it works both ways. like a place doesn't have good bbq, but it has a soft drink i like that other places don't have. i guess i just wish this country weren't so huge and then maybe we could have everything everywhere. but for now, here's a few words about favorite foodstuffs that seem to exist only in certain places.

i guess maybe the one that has come to be the biggest issue for me is bbq. i grew up an hour from memphis, and i truly feel that the tomato based sweet sauced pulled pork is the only way to go. so living in north carolina for a few years was tough because the bbq there was like the stuff you get when you clean out a pencil sharpener. it was dry and chopped and gross.

on the other hand, north carolina had cheerwine which is an amazing soft drink that seems to exist only there and in parts of east tennessee. it's hard for me to go long without that sweet nectar.

then there's stuff at the grocery store. this really should be everywhere, but it's not and that's so weird. frankenberry is my favorite cereal, but i couldn't get it in north carolina. they have it here in alabama. but they don't have my favorite kind of powerade. i don't know the name - i think it's "arctic" something. it's kinda white/clearish. pretty much the only certain place for that has been my hometown of jackson, tn.

jackson also has a dunkin donuts which is by far superior to krispy kreme. but they don't have 7-elevens there, so i can't get slurpees. chicago has both in abundance, and so often i really think i want to live there. but for now, chick-fil-a doesn't exist in the windy city, and i just don't think i could live there long without my favorite fast food.

perhaps someday the free trade of food will be limitless, but for now i'll keep traveling in search of my foodstuffs nirvana.