Grace. The word is used for the prayers we say before a meal. It is used to describe something beautiful and flowing, something with a certain elegance. In traditional Christian theology, grace is often translated as “unmerited favor,” and is something that God extends to humankind. God loves us even though we do not merit that love. That is adequate, as far as it goes. One can make a powerful case that God extending love to a humanity that kills and maims one another in war, that finds the most creative ways to exclude and diminish others, that pollutes the very environment which sustains its life and all life, that uses the earth’s resources with insufficient attention to the rate at which they are being depleted is unmerited, undeserved. Of course, that picture of humankind is decidedly one-sided – the same human community has found ways to cooperate to feed millions, has formed community out of disparate peoples, has created tremendous beauty, has been ingenious in its inventiveness, has loved. Does it seem odd to you to say that God’s love extended to someone like Mother Teresa was undeserved and unmerited? Perhaps at an abstract theological level it does, but at some point the language of merit and deserving seems strained.

In the past couple of years, I have come to a different understanding of the theology of grace. I have come to think of grace as primarily that which transcends the language of merit and deserving. There is a full moon over Lake Superior on a clear autumn night. Its beauty is astonishing, and I witness it. Do I deserve to see this? About two years ago, a couple in my church had a baby, whom they named Grace. It was their first child, and they were tremendously excited. They wanted me to come and see the baby in its first few days – and I did. Did I deserve to be a part of that miracle of new life? What had this couple done to deserve a beautiful baby girl they named Grace? The questions don’t seem to make sense. Grace is primarily that beauty, wonder, joy, mystery, love that touches our lives in ways that go beyond the language of merit and deserving. Grace happens, and in my Christian theology of grace I understand that all grace has its source in God.

Quick cut to my upcoming weekend. I have been thinking about grace again because this weekend my wife and other family members will be in Stevens Point Wisconsin to attend my oldest daughter Beth’s graduation. Beth is a remarkable young woman, and is one of our three remarkable children. Our son David will turn 25 this summer and has already graduated from college. He is working with developmentally disabled adults at a group home and is considering his future options. He is a bright, witty young man who wants to make a difference in the world – and he will. Our youngest child, Sarah, is sixteen, and tonight before we leave for the graduation, we will see her perform in a high school play – Much Ado About Nothing. Sarah is smart and determined. When we moved to Duluth three years ago, Sarah found some things difficult. It has been challenging for her to break into long-standing friendship groups, but this spring she decided she wanted to be a part of this play, and while her role is rather small, she is enjoying it to the fullest.

Back to Beth. When she was eleven, Beth broke her hip in a skiing accident. It was a significant break and it has marked her life ever since. She has had surgeries to keep her leg length similar, but they have only been partially successful. So this summer she is anticipating a surgery that will take part of the bone from one leg so the discrepancy in leg length is diminished. After she broke her hip, Beth was told she should probably not play basketball or volleyball. She discovered swimming, and was a good high school swimmer, one of the better ones on her team in Alexandria, Minnesota. In college she continued to swim and in 2006 and 2007 she participated in the National NCAA Division III swimming meet. She is multiple All-American athlete. She is graduating from college with degrees in biology and English. She has a straight-A grade point average and she has been accepted into medical school for next fall. She has talked about serving underserved populations in the United State or perhaps doing medical mission work overseas.

So what did I do to deserve such great children? And what did I do to merit their mother, my wife, Julie, who has been such a great mom and such a wonderful and supportive life partner? The language of deserving and merit does not seem applicable here. Of course I did not deserve my family, though I hope I contributed positively to making our family what it is. On the other hand, don’t people deserve love? Again, the language gets stretched beyond its capacity. Better here is the language of grace – beauty, wonder, joy, mystery, love that touches our lives beyond the language of merit and deserving. My family is grace to me, and the appropriate response to grace is gratitude and a graciousness in living that seeks to touch the world with grace.

So sitting at graduation Sunday morning I will bask in grace – filled with gratitude for the goodness of life, especially the goodness of my family. I will be filled with gratitude to God, whose very nature is gracious love and I will pray that in my life I can be as gracious as the God who gives life and grace.



With Faith and With Feathers,

David

It is now about ten days, two sermons and one confirmation service since The United Methodist General Conference. I feel a little more rested, and feel back in my regular routine. Like being gone to summer camp, it takes some time to re-enter one’s former life after one has been at General Conference.

I want to share some final impressions (final for this moment, anyway). I make no pretense of comprehensiveness here. For a more complete report on General Conference, see the United Methodist New Service report, which can be found at:

United Methodist New Service: General Conference

I would like to share my reflections under three simple rubrics. Bishop Rueben Job has recently published a brief book on the Christian spiritual life within the United Methodist stream of Christian faith – Three Simple Rules. There are three simple rules that have the power to change the world…. We live in such a fast-paced, frenzied, and complex world that it is easy to believe we are all trapped into being someone we do not wish to be and living a life we do not desire to live…. I believe we have reached a place where, as people of faith, we are ready to give serious consideration to another way, a more faithful way of living as disciples of Jesus Christ. Here are the three simple rules Job proposes:
1. Do no harm
2. Do good
3. Stay in love with God

The book, which was a gift at General Conference, is next on my reading list. But today I want to consider General Conference under these rubrics.

Did we do harm? Certainly General Conference again left gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people feeling left on the margins of the church. The witness to that pain the day after we took most of our votes on issues related to human sexuality was powerful, testifying to the depth of that pain. Out of pain and hurt, there came anger, and some of that anger was expressed in words that probably left others hurt. “We defy bigotry and ignorance, that the anti-gay policies and practices of The United Methodist Church are wrong.” The witness also spoke of “the church cruelly scape goating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people on the altar of so-called unity.” Difficult words, words born in pain, words spoken in anger and with tears. Hard words, but perhaps necessary words. Words that wounded some, even as they flowed from wounds. We cannot claim that we did not create hurt and pain, harm is a somewhat different issue. Harm is something other than hurt, though it often overlaps. Harm thwarts the genuine interests of the other, and one way to consider the debate around human sexuality in mainline churches is to think about whether our current prohibitions really harm LGBT people, or whether they serve their best interests, helping them into a healthier life. Those who stand by language that says the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching believe they are acting in the best interest of people trapped in unhealthy and unholy living, and so to maintain our current denomination position, while it hurts is not causing harm. Others of us disagree. The conversation will continue. In one way we did do some harm on this issue. Our Social Principles will be without some helpful language about the complexity of human sexuality even as it continues to say that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.

In other ways, I think we left Fort Worth without doing significant harm. Most of our conversations were genuinely civil. People were really trying. We were cautious in changing policies around ordination. We opened up the church to possibilities that we may be different as a world-wide church in the future.

Did we do good? Good was done in Fort Worth. In our time together, with help from the Gates Foundation, over $400,000 was raised for Nothing But Nets, a program that purchases insecticide treated mosquito netting for people living in countries where malaria continues to be a scourge. We gave the youth and young adults of our church an opportunity to share their hopes and dreams with us and their presentation was one of the highlights of General Conference. Thanks. Their energy bodes well for our church now and in the future. We were fiscally responsible. We focused on four areas much of the time – working with the poor, working to improve world-wide health by fighting preventable diseases, developing principled leaders, establishing new congregations and revitalizing others. We heard some wonderful stories of creative and redemptive United Methodist ministries from around the world. Of course, the greatest good done by churches is at the local church level. Maybe the best General Conference can do is help these local ministries, or at least not hinder them. I think we did o.k. Personally, I experienced a great deal of good as I connected with old friends and made new ones. Four years ago in Pittsburgh, I made good friends with people from Fort Worth and enjoyed dinner with some of them on a couple of occasions. I met some great people from North Carolina. Jorge from New York was a pleasure to get to know, and the list could go on – thanks to all. I got to know Adam Hamilton, pastor of one of the largest United Methodist Churches in the United States, and that was a joy. I reconnected with Liz, who had been in my Dallas youth group. I had not seen her for fourteen years, and we had dinner together one evening. Seeing United Methodist friends is one of the true goods of General Conference for me.

Did we do things to help people stay in love with God? For me the answer is an unequivocal “YES!” Worship is wonderful. Another friend, Mark Miller, was one of the General Conference worship coordinators, and he is awesome at what he does. One of my favorite new songs is a song Mark co-wrote called “Welcome.” Thanks, Mark. I deeply appreciated the way the Episcopal report was woven together with the language of our Eucharistic liturgy. Two moments from sermons were especially memorable for me. Bishop Mark Hanson from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America preached to celebrate our approval of a full communion agreement with the ELCA. One of his lines was powerful (paraphrase): “It is not a matter of inviting Jesus into our hearts, but of dying and rising with Christ and going with him into the world.” Bishop Hee Soo Jung of Northern Illinois, on the morning he preached shared with us the story of his faith journey, of how as a new Christian from Korea he held to his faith arrogantly. When his father died, he refused to participate in some of the traditional funeral rituals, including a pilgrimage to the mountains. He saw these as unchristian. Later, as he grew in his faith, he was home in Korea and took the pilgrimage. Bishop Jung also put a helpful frame on some of our disagreements within The United Methodist Church. He spoke of the tension we live between hospitality and holiness. How do we welcome all, but live lives where there are limits, where we acknowledge that in God’s love not everything goes? How do we balance holiness and hospitality? Of what does holiness consist? These are some of our pressing questions.

It is good to write about and reflect on my experience of General Conference. I expect that a number of things will simmer in my heart, soul and mind for quite some time. One other thing, I left Fort Worth still believing in a future with hope.

With Faith and With Feathers,

David

Here is a brief update from General Conference.

Today has been a difficult day for those of us who would like to see The United Methodist Church offer some softening of its language on homosexuality. For another four years, clergy in our church will be prohibited from performing same-sex unions. Our official Social Principles will retain the language that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” “Self-avowed practicing homosexuals” will not be ordained. On the last matter, I had worked with a few people to offer some compromise language for our Book of Discipline that while it would not have changed the ordination standards, it would have admitted that we disagree about homosexuality as a barrier to ordination and that we will continue to work and pray and think together. I was able to get the motion on the floor, but it was defeated soundly – both a liberal and conservative speech were made against it. I was saddened by that.

At the same time, the church was at its best again. In my last column, I related the story of the African-American who had seemingly been discriminated against at a local restaurant. The entire General Conference heard his story today, and the President of the restaurant chain is receiving a letter from The United Methodist Church. The church is at its best when it can offer compassion and when it can work for justice. Both are needed. Both are necessary. Many churches seem to do better focusing on one or the other, but we need both – and we need the church to help us care for our inner lives, too.

This is not a new insight. This week, the official mission of The United Methodist Church became – “making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” Believe it or not, many spoke against this change. They wanted the statement to focus on making disciples as the saving of souls. Yes, the church cares about our inner life and the way we meet God there. Yes, the church seeks to bring people into relationship with Jesus Christ – but we do so in order that the world will be different. Both are needed – social focus and inner spirituality. Both are needed – justice and compassion.

After 2000 years, we are still learning what it means to be the church.

With Faith and With Feathers,

David

Live from Fort Worth Texas… IT’S GENERAL CONFERENCE

I have now been in Fort Worth for the General Conference of The United Methodist Church since last Wednesday. This is my third trip to General Conference (which meets every four years) as a delegate. As with other years, my favorite experiences are worship and connecting with people (old friends and new). I recognize many people from prior years, and that has been a joy. Two General Conference friends from Fort Worth and I had a wonderful dinner on Friday night. We ate on a fourth floor deck on a beautiful evening – when it was snowing in Minnesota! I have already spoken twice at the Conference session, about as many times as the other two years combined. I have had these opportunities because I am on the rules of order committee and we made some changes in the rules this year that needed a little ironing out.

Two more profound events/insights have come to me since arriving. One evening, within the Faith and Order Legislative Committee, one committee member shared his experience at a local restaurant. This person is from New York state, but his roots are Afro-Caribbean. He speaks with a marvelous accent (and I have been reminded that we all have accents when others hear us!). Anyway, this man had gone to dinner with others from his delegation, and they ordered food. He ordered the same thing as another person, but his food did not arrive. For forty-five minutes, his food did not arrive. When he finally asked about it, he received a polite apology, but it still took some time to get his food. The others from his delegation who were served more promptly were white. It felt like a racial slap in the face, and the man wept as he sat down after sharing his story. In the midst of our work, we gathered around this person to pray for him – all of us, with our different ideas and experiences, with our different backgrounds – came together to pray for a hurting friend. That’s the church at its best.

The second insight I’ve gained is this. I am on a committee which has debated one petition dealing with homosexuality, specifically a petition which would delete language in our Book of Discipline that prohibits “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from being ordained. As I was thinking about this petition, and the kinds of arguments I anticipated hearing about it, something struck me. Within my committee are people who speak French, Portuguese, Swahili, Russian, and various dialects of English. As we have at times struggled to make sure that we were understanding all that was going on, I was again stuck by the beautiful complexity of language. The meaning of words can be shaded this way and that, sometimes simply by their sound. And the words Paul used to discuss human sexuality were difficult words. Scholars debate just what Paul was trying to say when he seemingly condemned homosexuality. Did the words he used mean what we mean today by homosexuality? Certainly Paul was upset by some of the sexual expression of his time, but what upset him? In at least one instance during the debate on this petition, Scripture was used a bit like a weapon, wounding many in its path. The person doing so did not mean to injure anyone, but we would all be helped by a deeper consideration of the mystery, beauty and complexity of language, especially as we talk about the Bible.

The petition to change our standards on ordination with regard to homosexuality was defeated in committee and will be reported to the plenary session next week. For certain, it is tiring, and I need to get some sleep.

With Faith and With Feathers,

David

This week I head to Fort Worth Texas for the United Methodist General Conference. General Conference is the every four year gathering of United Methodists from around the world to make decisions for the church. We revise the denomination’s Book of Discipline and pass resolutions on current issues. We worship together, talk together, pray together and get to know others from around the world. The difficult and controversial conversations make the news. Most of the other decisions don’t. Each Annual Conference elects delegates based on a formula. Minnesota elected eight delegates – four clergy and four lay people and I was honored to be one of the elected clergy. This will be the third time I have been a delegate to General Conference.

One needs to pack well for this gathering, and among the necessities, I think, are humor and hope. The following video links contain each.

For a little humor:

Lyle Lovett, "That's Right (You're Not From Texas)"

“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul” (Emily Dickinson) - - - it also perches in this song by Garth Brooks:

"We Shall Be Free"

Pray for us and with us – and enjoy the music.

With Faith and With Feathers,

David

Thursday, April 10, 2008. I drove from Duluth to the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul if any are reading from outside Minnesota) for a denominational committee meeting. A blizzard warning had been posted for Duluth beginning at 7 p.m. that evening and the storm was supposed to be coming from the south, so there was a bit of foreboding in the air. I knew I would be back in Duluth well before 7 p.m. and was not terribly concerned about the pending storm. Forgive my skepticism, but forecasters are mistaken often enough about the weather to make me take each prognostication with a grain of salt.

Driving to the Twin Cities, I engaged in some typical activities. I spent some time in prayer. When I was a district superintendent in Northwest Minnesota, driving 35,000 miles a year, my car became a great vehicle for prayer (poor pun intended!). I listened to Minnesota Public Radio, our state’s version of National Public Radio, and a very good one. Again, when I was a district superintendent, I knew just when I had to change from one MPR station outlet to the next – from St. Cloud, to Bemidji, to Fargo, and I knew the station location. My children thought that was a sad commentary on my life at the time. Listening to the world and praying are two vital activities for my life and faith. I listened to a cycle of the news on “Morning Edition”. Then I popped a CD into the player – Led Zeppelin IV. It is one of the great rock and roll records of all time. It’s been a long time since I rock and rolled…Been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time. You can hear hard-driving blues, melodic rock, and the hauntingly beautiful “Stairway to Heaven.” By then I was in the metro area and tuned into the local jazz and traffic station.



As my meeting ended, rain was falling, and the winds were blowing with tremendous gusts – but no snow. I turned the radio on and listened again to MPR/NPR, this time to “All Things Considered.” I drove out of the rain, and as the cycle of stories began again on the radio, I put in another CD – Count Basie and His Orchestra, April in Paris. This probably isn’t a classic jazz record in the way that Led Zeppelin IV is a classic rock album, but I enjoy this record a lot. It starts with the cover art – the cool Count Basie, beret fashionably tilted on his head handing an older Parisian woman a bright red bouquet of flowers. “Flower power” a dozen years before it caught on in other quarters! The music itself is thoroughly enjoyable. It lifts the spirits and brings a smile. At the end of the title track, “April in Paris,” Count Basie encourages the band – “One more time,” and when that isn’t quite enough, he calls out – “one more once.” This is the kind of record I could listen to one more once.



When I arrived back in Duluth, there was not a snow flake in sight, though the winds were continuing to howl. If and when the snow falls it will blow fiercely. I stopped by my office and checked mail and e-mail for the day and went home to share dinner with my family. I always enjoy this, though it is too infrequent given our respective schedules.

In the evening, I spent some time reading the Bible and working on my blogging through the New Testament. I am on the last leg of a journey to read the New Testament with my congregation, five chapters a week for a year. Along the way, I have been blogging about the passages for the week.

The Twins game was cancelled for the day due to poor weather in Chicago. As evening turned to night, I turned to baseball in a book. I read Roger Angell’s essay on the 1965 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Minnesota Twins from his book The Summer Game.






At 10 p.m. the snow still had not fallen, though many institutions were closing for the following day, given the forecast. The snow finally arrived hours later than predicted, and it turned into quite a spring blizzard.

But this day before the blizzard was pleasant, enjoyable and symbolic of some of the important elements in my life – family, faith and prayer, concern for the world, music from Led Zeppelin to Count Basie, a little reading, a little baseball.

With Faith and With Feathers,

David

MLK and Inner Voices

This past weekend, our nation recalled the fortieth anniversary of the killing of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. – April 4, 1968 in Memphis. The life of one of this nation’s great citizens and of Christian faith’s great prophets ended tragically when he was only 39.

For me, King’s voice is one I carry in my head and my heart. As I think about what it means to be a Christian, an American, a human being, I hear his voice echo in my mind and heart and soul. I was only 8 when Dr. King was assassinated, but I have heard his words and they echo inside of me. I treasure the records and cassette tapes I have of his voice, and the books I have that record his words. Those who have heard the speech he made April 3, the night before he was killed, will never forget how haunting are the words, and how relevant they remain.

Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; its nonviolence or nonexistence.

We aren’t engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying that we are God’s children. And that we don’t have to live like we are forced to live.

Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we as a people will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

In two and a half weeks, I head for the United Methodist General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. I will carry with me Martin’s voice. As I think about what it means to be the church in our day and time, his words will echo in my heart. As I think about poverty and racism and the church, my soul will be stirred by his example.

I will also carry with me the voice of another killed in that same year – Bobby Kennedy. The words he spoke the night Dr. King was killed are elegant and eloquent, and they stir the soul and inspire the spirit.

Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it's perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black -- considering the evidence evidently is that there were white people who were responsible -- you can be filled with bitterness, and with hatred, and a desire for revenge.
We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization -- black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand, and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion, and love.
For those of you who are black and are tempted to fill with -- be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.
But we have to make an effort in the United States. We have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond, or go beyond these rather difficult times.
My favorite poem, my -- my favorite poet was Aeschylus. And he once wrote:

Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
falls drop by drop upon the heart,
until, in our own despair,
against our will,
comes wisdom
through the awful grace of God.

What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.

I am grateful for the voices that echo in my heart and mind and soul. And this week, another voice was added. This is not the voice of a great speaker, a famous person, an elegant elocutionist. It is the voice of a woman I know, a grandmother, a member of a church I once served – a small church in a small, quiet community in Northern Minnesota. This week she wrote me a letter as a delegate to General Conference.

I’m sure that there will be many very important issues coming up with decisions to be made. We are grandparents to a very loving grandson… who is gay. While I don’t know if I support gay marriage – I really want to encourage a partnership where one could make decisions for each other like a husband and wife. Also, I would like gays and lesbians to be encouraged to become members of The United Methodist Church. [Our grandson] has said he’d never wish for this, but, he was born this way, and, he, like all of us, should embrace his being a child of our most High God. As for those who judge others – there is only one Judge. I hope this is okay for me to express to you – while I’ve never looked down on gays – I find myself trying to speak up now.

I know some African-Americans who bristle at the suggestion that the civil rights struggle led by Martin Luther King, Jr. has anything to do with the struggle of gays and lesbians for inclusion in the church and in the society. I make no correlation here, respecting their point of view (though perhaps not agreeing with it). I am simply sharing that among the voices I carry with me as a Christian, as a human being, as a delegate to General Conference, are voices famous and eloquent, and voices quiet but also eloquent in their own way.

With Faith and With Feathers,
David