Thursday, July 17, 2008
But What If . . .
Every one who is against the use of violence has been asked this question, "What if someone was attacking your family/friend/wife/husband/church/etc.? What would you do?" I'd like to rework it a bit and ask it this way, What if your child was attacking your wife? What would you do? Would you resort to violence ? Would you kill him? Or would you think of some other way to stop the attack?
Looking for Stevie Wonder
Every year around the fourth of July Chicago has an event called "The Taste of Chicago". There is basically food and music. Usually I avoid it because I hate crowds (no, really I HATE crowds), but this year Stevie Wonder was playing. Stevie Wonder! For free! For that I would endure traffic and crowds.
My mother was visiting so she, my baby, and I loaded into the mini-van and headed for Chicago. The traffic and crowds were as expected, but we plowed our way through to the concert area. It took us about half an hour to walk three blocks, but we persevered. We were even early. Unfortunately, we were also at the wrong place. By the time we got to the right place the concert was in full swing and it was packed. Disappointing, yes, but I thought, we can still enjoy it.
So we set about to find someplace to enjoy the concert. All we could see of Stevie was the top of his head displayed on a big screen up front. That wasn't too bad, what was bad is that we couldn't hear him. The music was not loud enough and people were talking. Talking instead of listening to Stevie! Why, I thought, do people come to a concert and talk? If you want to talk, stay home or go to some other part of the taste. After a while we gave up and left. Faint traces of, "Don't you worry 'bout a thing . . ." teasing us as we walked away.
That Sunday I was at church. The music in my church is always loud enough, or more accurately, "Ouch! My ears are bleeding, please turn it down!" And I could see the people on stage clearly on our screens. The problem is, the music is not what I came to hear. The people on stage are not who I came to see. I came to hear God, to meet with Jesus. I found myself thinking about the Stevie Wonder concert and how frustrated I was that I couldn't hear him because of the other noises around. I felt the same frustrations as I stood in the church. I wanted everyone to just stop talking and singing and playing for just a little while so I could hear the one I came to hear.
Why have we become so afraid of silence? We can't even seem to endure ten minutes of no one talking or singing during worship. I think we are missing something by our constant need for noise. How can we expect people to grow and mature if we do not allow them time to learn how to hear God? Maybe once or twice a month we should do church like the early Quakers did and just sit still and be quiet until God moves.
My mother was visiting so she, my baby, and I loaded into the mini-van and headed for Chicago. The traffic and crowds were as expected, but we plowed our way through to the concert area. It took us about half an hour to walk three blocks, but we persevered. We were even early. Unfortunately, we were also at the wrong place. By the time we got to the right place the concert was in full swing and it was packed. Disappointing, yes, but I thought, we can still enjoy it.
So we set about to find someplace to enjoy the concert. All we could see of Stevie was the top of his head displayed on a big screen up front. That wasn't too bad, what was bad is that we couldn't hear him. The music was not loud enough and people were talking. Talking instead of listening to Stevie! Why, I thought, do people come to a concert and talk? If you want to talk, stay home or go to some other part of the taste. After a while we gave up and left. Faint traces of, "Don't you worry 'bout a thing . . ." teasing us as we walked away.
That Sunday I was at church. The music in my church is always loud enough, or more accurately, "Ouch! My ears are bleeding, please turn it down!" And I could see the people on stage clearly on our screens. The problem is, the music is not what I came to hear. The people on stage are not who I came to see. I came to hear God, to meet with Jesus. I found myself thinking about the Stevie Wonder concert and how frustrated I was that I couldn't hear him because of the other noises around. I felt the same frustrations as I stood in the church. I wanted everyone to just stop talking and singing and playing for just a little while so I could hear the one I came to hear.
Why have we become so afraid of silence? We can't even seem to endure ten minutes of no one talking or singing during worship. I think we are missing something by our constant need for noise. How can we expect people to grow and mature if we do not allow them time to learn how to hear God? Maybe once or twice a month we should do church like the early Quakers did and just sit still and be quiet until God moves.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Jesus for President and Abortion
I was recently reading the book Jesus for President and was startled to see the authors make a statement I often hear from abortion supporters. The statement is basically, "If you are not willing to adopt, you shouldn't speak out against abortion." I think I understand their intent in making this statement. We who are pro-life should be compassionate toward women in difficult situations, and we should be part of the solution. If this is what is meant by the statement, I agree. However, I find the statement itself to be rather, well . . . stupid.
I mean no disrespect to the authors, who seem very intelligent, or to anyone else who has uttered this phrase. But having a lack of people willing to adopt newborn children is not a problem. So, even if a pro-lifer is unwilling to adopt, it is likely they know someone who is willing.
But there is a greater problem with this statement than just not knowing the current U.S. adoption scene. This statement also also seeks to silence those who can't adopt either because of age or for financial or for other reasons. Inability to solve, or help solve a problem shouldn't preclude one from speaking out about it. Everyone should be free to speak out about injustice, whether five or fifty, whether rich or poor.
And finally, the statement does nothing to address the real problems of abortion, for the unborn child, or for the mother.
I mean no disrespect to the authors, who seem very intelligent, or to anyone else who has uttered this phrase. But having a lack of people willing to adopt newborn children is not a problem. So, even if a pro-lifer is unwilling to adopt, it is likely they know someone who is willing.
But there is a greater problem with this statement than just not knowing the current U.S. adoption scene. This statement also also seeks to silence those who can't adopt either because of age or for financial or for other reasons. Inability to solve, or help solve a problem shouldn't preclude one from speaking out about it. Everyone should be free to speak out about injustice, whether five or fifty, whether rich or poor.
And finally, the statement does nothing to address the real problems of abortion, for the unborn child, or for the mother.
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