Late-Nite Halloween Music: Alice Cooper’s “Along Came a Spider”

Who else would you want rockin’ out on Halloween but Alice?  It also looks and sounds like Slash is in top form helping out on this one.

I Just Got Back From A Wonderful Interfaith Dinner

I just returned from the most wonderful event, the Multicultural Mosaic Foundation Friendship Dinner, held in Broomfield, Colorado, and I’m still so psyched that I thought I’d share some of the outstanding highlights while they are still somewhat fresh in my mind.  It was an event that emphasized friendship among different people who were gathered together at a common table.  Given the good stuff he once did with people gathered together for meals, I think Jesus would approve.

I was sitting at table with a young woman who was a Buddhist seminary student from Boulder; an older husband and wife from a large, United Methodist Church in Denver; a young,Islamic post-graduate engineering student that had driven down from the University of Wyoming in Laramie; three Turkish fellows now living and working in Boulder and members of the Mosaic Foundation; and my right hand man at my church, who is always game for adventures like this.  The Multicultural Mosaic Foundation was begun a few years ago by Muslims living in our area as a way to begin building bridges of understanding between people of different faiths in the post-9/11 world.

The evening began with a very nice dinner–this was a free gift Mosaic offered to their guests, reminding me along with others that such generous hospitality is at the core of our faiths and also at the core of our best behaviors as humans.

Then came the program, which featured speeches by the Boulder Sheriff, Joe Pelle (the funniest speaker and the one who spoke most cleanly and succinctly from the heart), Dr. Paul Alexander of Regis University, Rev. Paul Kottke, the pastor of the Methodist couple we broke bread with; and Rev. Anne Roth, of the United Religions Initiative.

Sheriff Pelle spoke of his own upbringing and his own journey through fear and suspicion as he talked about his first contact with the Multicultural Mosaic folks, contact they initiated, by the way.

Next up was Paul Alexander, who brought a bit of Jesuit theology into his remarks.  The one that sticks with me is the one that connected to my own experience.  He talked about his involvement with the Snowmass religious dialogues involving Father Thomas Keating with leaders of other faiths, including Buddhism and Hinduism.  He said that the experience of being part of an open, even challenging discussion by people of very different faiths, actually allowed him to deepen his own Christian faith while simultaneously gaining tremendous respect and admiration for the sacred brought forth by someone from a very different faith tradition.
Absolutely!!!!

Paul Kottke then spoke about his journey to Turkey and the overwhelming hospitality he received from his Muslim hosts there.  He quoted a couple of poems from a 14th century Islamic prophet, the last one truly resonating with me and others at our table.
The dominant lines repeated in the poem go (please, memory, don’t fail me now!):

“Christ’s breath enters me like a hole in a flute,
Listen to my music.”

Anne Roth spoke about her experiences in the formative stages of the United Religions Initiative.  Her two best stories involved a Jewish woman and a Cambodian Monk.  The Jewish woman arrived at a URI conference on a Saturday.  When asked to register by writing down her information, she told the registrars with some anxiety, “I’m a Jew.  This is my Sabbath.  I cannot write.”  Anne then volunteered to become her secretary for the registration process and a lasting friendship was formed.  The second story involved a Cambodian Monk she met, a funny looking little fellow, she said, until she discovered that he had played an active, dangerous part in a nonviolent protest during the “Killing Fields” period of Cambodian history.  He would lead his monks directly into the line of fire against civilians, stopping the firing.  As he did he would admonish the shooters that they shouldn’t be shooting their own brothers.

Following the speakers, they brought an expert artist in Persian calligraphy up to demonstrate that beautiful art, and then offered us each a surprise.  The calligrapher had drawn each of our names on commemorative gift cards.  Again, the hospitality was fantastically generous!

I share this story with you here because in some ways, I think these are the events that can help lead us back from the global tilt toward massive genocide.  And the emergence of these events points to something that seems to be stirring in our world, something Paul Kottke called a New Reformation which seeks to bring all of our separate particularities together in a new sense of global common good.

I’m reminded that our varied faith traditions are at their best when they provide places of mutual encouragement and hospitality, and are also welcoming and supportive places for all faiths–even (perhaps especially) for those who wrestle with or reject faith.

I’m also reminded of the healing and renewing power of hospitality.  And that hospitality is a core value for Christians of all stripes, Jews, Buddhists, Wiccans,  Atheists, Secular Humanists, Zoroastrians–it doesn’t matter.  All are called to welcome and to be welcomed.  I hope the people who attended this Interfaith Friendship Dinner can continue building on the event by sharing and experiencing these things I experienced tonight: compassion, understanding, tolerance, friendship, acceptance, diversity, community, and love.

Again, I look to my own faith tradition, which I feel even more deeply rooted within after this experience, and I see Jesus promoting much of the same sorts of things at his dinner events.  I think Jesus would approve.

New McCain Campaign Theme Song for the Stretch Run

I feel the need to help the high-strung folks at the McCain campaign.  These poor people are already acting like the ship has hit the iceberg and are arguing about who is to blame and who should rightly get a spot on the limited number of lifeboats.

People, people, people!  It does you no good to bare your teeth and turn on your bright, shining star, the governor of Alaska, the way you have.  Saying that she’s “going rogue” just because she speaks her mind instead of the scripted platitudes you provide her–that’s no reason to go off the deep end.  Wait a minute, your choosing her as VP nominee might have been the deep end moment.  I’m too late!!!

Well, it’s not too late–that’s what you say, isn’t it, that it’s not too late–to pump up the campaign with a bright, toe-tapping anthem that reflects the ideas, values and world-view that both McCain and Palin passionately promote in their latest stump speeches. Who knows? This peppy tune might just be the tonic needed to push the ticket over the top.  Like it hasn’t gone over the top already.  I know.  But trust me, this is a feel-good song that will have everybody clapping as they go to the polls.

In the Giving Credit Where it’s Due Dept.–thanks to Blue Gal, posting on Crooks and Liars.

Olbermann: The Socialist’s Last Name Begins with “P,” not “O”–Updated

The clip should play now.

The Beatitudes Part 2: An Orthodox View

Blogging the Beatitudes

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

3 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely* on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. –Matthew 5:1-11

Some stream of consciousness reflections:
In Robert Funk’s “The Complete Gospels,” the words “Blessed are” are translated instead as “Congratulations! You who are….” The reason being that for centuries now we’ve been exposed to readings and interpretations of the Beatitudes to the degree that we’ve become numb to the shock value of what Jesus says. To be blessed in the Bible is to receive a significant gift. There is the blessing demanded by Jacob of the mysterious wrestling opponent in Genesis. The blessing of God upon Abraham and Sarah in their old age, a gift significant enough that they bore children and received the geography of Caanan as an inheritance to be passed on to their descendants. That, folks is the Old Testament equivalent of winning a gigantic lottery! Blessings are dramatic events in the Bible, but over time we’ve softened and sweetened them up to be as palatable as a nice dish of rice pudding.
Congratulations! You who are spiritually impoverished, heavenly power and life are yours! Now, wait just a minute! Don’t I have to build up my spiritual wealth through all manner of spiritual disciplines and personal piety?

Congratulations! You wailing, sorrowful people are in just the right place!

Congratulations to you gentle people who always seem to get walked over by the high and mighty! You’re going to receive this great chunk of real estate called the earth. Really?
In the words of Sam Elliot playing his usually tough western character in a film whose title I forget,
“In my experience, the meek don’t inherit anything west of Chicago.”

Are we sufficiently jarred yet by these pronouncements of “Congratulations,” or Blessedness?

Mark Alan Powell sees the Beatitudes as being broken down into 2 main sections. The first section deals with people whose unfortunate circumstances are surprisingly rewarded.
The second section deals with people whose righteous actions receive righteous rewards.

There are some who say that the Beatitudes are eschatalogical, that is, the blessings are more pie-in-the-sky, by-and-by outcomes.

But…..look at how Jesus references “the kingdom of heaven” before he uses this phrase in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matt. 4:17, he proclaims, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” The historical Jesus folks would say this is Jesus walking in John the Baptist’s footsteps, and also in the tradition of the Qumran community in proclaiming a message of impending end-times. But…maybe there is another meaning. Jesus is the embodiment of the rule of heaven, the incarnation of God’s righteousness, and he has in fact come near. Not only that, but he has come especially for the spiritually impoverished, the gentle, the grieving, the ones starving for justice in an unjust world.
These are the people he calls to be around him in this new, alternative community he came to found. The community that bears witness to God’s rule as offered through Christ, where the force of violence is met with the force of love, and a true freedom from slavery is found in serving others. The community that shows by its membership and its behavior that God’s value system doesn’t square with the way society values people.
Later in Matthew 11, Jesus issues another invitation to join his alternative community when he says, “Come to me, all you who are weighed down with heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”  Again, this isn’t pie-in-the-sky language, but a call to discipleship in the here and now.  Come learn from me how to live today and tomorrow and you will live with less burden and find peace for your soul.  Starting now.

Much, much more has been written about the Beatitudes, and I’ll be writing more myself as I get ready for Sunday.  But in my study of them, I’ve learned to reject the classic Lutheran understanding of them to be some sort of Law from Christ that is impossible to abide by.  Also, there is the very strong sense, an overarching sense in them of a call to people to come live in an alternative community, still in the world, but not always playing by the world’s rules, and even mirroring an opposite vision of the world’s value system.

This is the part of the Beatitudes that I believe has maintained its power over two millennia.  Not in some monastic sense of community, though monasticism has made huge social contributions and is even now drawing people who feel spiritually impoverished.  But in the sense of values that show up in countless ways on a daily basis, as people act and give and love in ways that are surprising, if not downright shocking.

Let me know what you think, will you?

The Surge is Working

The Colorado Independent notes that Barack Obama’s Colorado rallies continue to grow in size; this comes along with the news that once-red Colorado is now turning a rather pretty, light shade of blue.

In February, Obama’s appearance at Denver University drew 19,000.  In August his acceptance speech at Invesco Field drew 84,000.  Yesterday, with about a week left until Election Day, about 100,000 people attended Obama’s rally at Civic Center Park, and 45,000 turned out for a later appearance in Ft. Collins, pushing his one day rally total to nearly 150,000 people.

Also over the weekend, a certain blogger and erstwhile Obama campaign volunteer dropped his completed mail-in ballot in the mailbox with two first class stamps and plenty of time to spare in advance of the Saturday 2:15 p.m. mail pickup.

Meanwhile, the Colorado Springs Gazette reports that Barack Obama raised more money than John McCain in Colorado Springs! And yes, that is the same Springs that boasts twice as many registered Republicans as registered Democrats, and the same Springs that is the proud home of Focus on the Family, the Navigators and other fundamentalist, arch-conservative Christian groups.

Sunday Late-Nite Music: Coldplay’s “In My Place”

One of the perks of being the parent of a teenager is occasionally hearing some music coming from the kid’s stereo that sounds pretty good.  Such a thing happed a while back, with this music seeping through her door that grabbed my attention and wouldn’t let go.  Since then, I’ve become a huge Coldplay fan–their album, “A Rush of Blood to the Head,” is still my favorite, with songs that combine powerful yet simple music with insightful and incisive lyrics.  The overall effect can be a brain-tingling, soul-touching song like “In My Place.”  The explosive drumming, combined with the haunting guitar lick, add power and poignancy to already-powerful lyrics.  These guys rock in an artistic, even intellectual way that grabs you with what seems like a nice pop hook, but then draws, even drags you into a much more authentic place, where the music and lyrics strike some powerful chord you might not have even thought was in you.

Tina Fey On How She Does Sarah Palin

Tina Fey went on Letterman and talked about her wildly successful Sarah Palin impersonation. Enjoy!

McCain Campaign Caught with Hand in Race-Baiting Cookie Jar

TPM reports that while Pittsburgh police were refusing to release details to the media regarding the alleged attack on the young, female volunteer campaign worker, McCain’s Pennsylvania Communications Director, Peter Feldman, was busy releasing a salacious and incendiary account of the attack to the media.  Now we know the disturbing truth, that the event was a fictional creation of a rather disturbed young campaign worker.  Yet Feldman was only too happy to push the story of a large, black man assaulting a young white woman, supplying all the details necessary to link the attack to Barack Obama.

The Pittsburgh police held a press conference yesterday to officially announce the hoax and also to point out that this fictional, spinned crime that the McCain camp released to the media was incendiary enough to create a national incident or incidents.

Feldman and most of the media outlets to which he leaked this race-baiting fiction are now busy backtracking and doing their best to pretend that it never really happened and that all the blame should be placed at the feet of this disturbed young College Republican volunteer.

KDKA Pittsburgh News Director John Verrilli confirmed to TPM that it was the McCain campaign that provided KDKA with the details of the story, some of which has been scrubbed from their website.  Here are three paragraphs captured and preserved by TPM that confirm what McCain’s PA staff are now hotly denying:

Lies.  All lies–except for the police not talking.  Good for them, and for the news outlets who chose not to go with the story–like CNN (who would have thought?!)

And for the dwindling numbers of McCain supporters who see him as the choice that best reflects their values, well, they might want to have a values checkup.  Incendiary race-baiting through out-and-out lying only appeals to the worst in us.  And the worst of us.