Not So Simple

Flipping through the channels the other night, I landed on a PBS documentary that caught my attention.

The first scene I saw was of a preacher from Wyoming (stereotypical boots, hat, wranglers and all) shouting at a line of protesters and holding a sign declaring (what he presumed to be) the eternal destiny of all homosexuals (use your imagination, you'll probably get it right).

I cringed.

The next shot was of a priest (from the same community in Wyoming, but dressed in more traditional clergy attire) holding up a communion chalice and declaring to his congregation that Jesus excluded no one, but welcomed all at his table freely and openly.

I cringed again.

Those two scenes reminded me of why some Christians find it so difficult to engage in a meaningful conversation about homosexuality (or for that matter, any issue of morality/sin) in our culture.* Generally speaking, Americans are not people who appreciate nuance (and yes, I realize the irony in that sentence). We live in a culture that prefers to see things in black and white, either/or terms (think of the way issues are discussed on political talk shows). The obvious case in point is the PBS documentary: either you are a hate-filled, homophobic, hayseed or you are a loving, open, and tolerant. There is little (no?) room for middle ground.

But those of us with gay friends/family/co-workers know it's not that simple. We realize that there is a messiness here that may not make for good (or easy) television but is a very real part of life. So what does this messiness look like? If PBS were to come film us, what would they catch on tape? What does it mean to hold on tight to grace and truth?


* Self included--I hesitate to even publish this post for fear of being misunderstood.

** If you want to read about the messiness of our denominations' position on this particular issue, click here.

Prayer and Poetry

A month or so ago, I heard the poet Billy Collins reading a few of his recent works on "A Prairie Home Companion." I got a kick out of this one, and hope you do too.

"Oh, My God!"

not only in church
and nightly
by their bedsides
do young girls pray
these days
wherever they go
prayer is woven
into their talk
like a bright thread of awe
even in the pedestrian mall
outbursts of praise
spring unbidden
from their glossy lips.

Sabbath

This past week, Jill and I (along with my parents, sister, and her family) spent a week relaxing (hiking, biking, reading, game playing) in the mountains. It was good. The week away reminded me of the wisdom of stepping away from our labors and practicing regular sabbath rest. Here's a few quotes Eugene Peterson's book, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, that clarify why:

• “Sabbath is a workshop for the practice of eternity.” (110)
• “Sabbath is a deliberate act of interference, an interruption of our work each week, a decree of no-work so that we are able to notice, to attend, to listen, to assimilate this comprehensive and majestic work of God, to orient our work in the work of God” (110)
• “Un-sabbathed, our work becomes the entire context in which we define our lives. We lose God-consciousness, God-awareness, sightings of resurrection. We lose the capacity to sing “This is my Father’s world” and end up chirping little self-centered ditties about what we are doing and feeling.” (117)
• “Sabbath keeping is a publicly enacted sign of our trust that God keeps the world, therefore we do not have to. God welcomes our labors, but our contributions to the world have their limits. If even God trusted creation enough to be confident that the world would continue while God rested, so should we.” (Quoting William Willimon, p. 129)

Saying Goodbye

Today was a day of mixed emotions. We're all a little relieved (even if we won't admit it) that we don't have to get up and work in the heat and humidity tomorrow. But we're also disappointed--disappointed that we don't get to finish that last project, disappointed that we don't get to spend another day with new friends from First Church, and especially disappointed that we don't get to spend a little more time with the families that have worked their way into our hearts this week. So yes, we're excited to go back home to Denver. But it's going to be hard (perhaps unexpectedly so) to leave. A few great moments today might explain why (and you'll undoubtedly hear of many others from me and from others in the coming weeks and months):

• Several members of our group have been working on the home of a woman named Roxie. Roxie is around seventy years old, but apparently a little shy--the crew working on her home has talked to her a total of (maybe) five minutes. So, naturally, they wondered what impact--if any--they were making on Roxie's life (beyond the new roof on her carport). Well tonight, Ken (the DRS/CRWRC supervisor who is our point person here) mentioned that he talked with Roxie this afternoon. She told him how impressed she was with her crew--they worked harder then the men she'd paid to do the same job! (These people apparently quit the job well before it was completed, but took Roxie's money anyway). But then she made this comment: "I've been praying for months and months that God would fix my house. And then one day, you suddenly appeared and two days later my roof was fixed!" Reflecting on this, Ken said: "You thought you were just putting in a new roof, but you made a much bigger difference than that. You renewed Roxie's faith in prayer..."
• One of the members of our group asked the owners of the house where we worked to pose for a picture with her (they are pictured below). When they asked why, she explained that she wanted to send a picture with the thank you cards she intended to send to the people who had helped pay for the trip so they knew who they helped and who they were praying for. The couple looked rather astounded by this and asked her to clarify. She then had to explain that her family, friends, and church members had helped pay for the trip, and that they had also committed to praying for her and the people she worked with. The couple happily posed, but for the next half an hour, we heard them muttering back and forth to each other: "There's people praying for us there. For us. Imagine that! And there church paid to send them here!"
• Today was the sixteenth birthday of Johnny, one of two boys in the house I and many others have been working on this week. We decided to to throw him a little birthday party--got a cake from Dairy Queen and all signed a card. To tell you the truth, I didn't think anything of the card. But the I saw Johnny, who is very quiet and rarely seems to smile (until you get to know him a bit) reading the card. Each and every comment. Twice.

Looking over these snippets, it seems that one of the big lessons I've been reminded of this week is that our small efforts often go much further than we would dare to hope. But then again, maybe that shouldn't be such a surprise. It shouldn't be a surprise because the God we serve is big and strong and powerful--even when we are not. And it shouldn't be a surprise because Jesus himself said that the Kingdom of God is like yeast that a woman worked through a big batch of dough. It starts out small, but grows big.

I hope God uses all our little efforts we made this week that way--that each comment written in a card, each piece of drywall and stroke of the paintbrush, each casual conversation becomes one of his little packets of yeast sprinkled throughout this big batch of dough, slowly but surely--and by God's grace--spreading the Kingdom.

Talktalktalk

Apologies for those of you who have been checking for daily updates--I was too busy playing cards (Euchre anyone?) and chatting to post. But what's not so good for you (or at least, a little inconvenient if you were really, really hoping for a picture of your loved one last night)has been good for me. Because really, conversing with fellow group members has been wonderful.

Getting to know more about the members of our group has been one great part of the conversations we've had over ice cream sundaes and painting a wall. (I'd give a few specifics, but I don't want to embarrass anyone. Just trust me on this one--you get to know folks in a different way on these trips then you do, say, talking over a cup of coffee Sunday mornings). But the other neat thing I've noticed about the conversations we've had this week is the way the content of our conversations has changed.

At the beginning of the week (four long days ago!), many of our conversations revolved around the work we were doing. How much drywall we had put up that day, what task we were going to tackle after lunch, what projects we'd like to take on if we had our way. Workworkwork. But last night, during our team meeting (and afterward), I noticed that we'd become less focused on what we were doing and more focused on who we were doing it for. The moments that made people's eyes light up were when they said: "I was painting with Jonny and found out he likes the Raiders! But I also found out he wants to go to LSU and got him to smile...", or "Mr. Mullens was talking today about how he met his wife today...." or "Mrs. Miller took in all kinds of family members after the storm, and her brother still lives with her. He was watching TV today and the funniest thing happened..." or "I finally got to talk with Roxie this morning. She told me how..." and so on and so forth.

Its been a great change, in my opinion. Not only has it been a lot of fun to get to know these people (if only a little bit), but it has added a richness--a human face--to our experience that we'll (hopefully) never forget.

Now for the pictures...

Tour de Gulfport

Roland B. was kind enough to give us a guided tour of Gulfport this evening. Pictured here* are a few of the highlights:

• A massive oak tree that is 520 years old (goes back to 1487). Yes, that's before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. It's amazing how these oaks survived the storm (they're all over the ocean front area--gnarled, but standing.)
• What's left of Southern Mississippi University (located just off the beach), and Milt in the gang scheming on how we could fit its repair into our schedule.
• Sunset with the McDonald's arches in the foreground--notice that there is no McDonald's (its dark, but trust me--its just a slab of cement) and that the sign was ripped apart and only a shell remains.
• Devotions (prayer and song) on the beach.
• Dave and Rachel S. dancing on the beach (at least Rachel's dancing. I'm not sure if what Dave is doing qualifies :-) )

I missed a few important points of interest, however (today and in the last few days). Among them are:

• First Presbyterian Church: If I have the story right, the building (located on the water) was condemned after the storm and won't be rebuilt since the insurance payment would use up the entire church budget (near a quarter of a million, if I heard correctly). The congregation will now relocate 8 miles inland.
• The Dole banana plant--apparently they all come in through Gulfport.
• Dairy Queen--not that significant, we've just enjoyed going there the last two nights.
• "The Wall"--a wall (part of which still stands) that literally divided black and white Gulfport. This was still in use in the last half of the last century. Amazing.

*Press play if the slide show doesn't start automatically. Refresh the page if no pictures show up.

Love Your Neighbor

 


I wasn't sure if I wanted to include this photo (which is a shot of the backyard of the house where we worked today) in tonight's entry. I could have just left it at the pictures of our beaming volunteers and called it a good enough(see below if that's what you came for). And that may have been a good idea. After all, you (nor I) know the people who own this house, or why they choose to decorate their yard in such a fashion. And I'd hate to have you make judgments about the people we're working with down here based on one picture.

Then again, that fear probably says a lot more about me than it does about you.

During our team meeting tonight, I confessed to the group that I think I have a long way to go before I'm loving these people we're serving in the way that Christ calls me to love. Sure, I am delighted to work on their home. I enjoy chatting it up with them too. But then, I might look at some silly thing like a cluttered back yard and allow the seed of my own prejudices and pride to grow and swell like an out of control zucchini plant.

I want my love for these image-bearers of God to be about more than new drywall and a fresh coat of paint. I want it to be about respect. I want to see more than the condition of a home or a yard. I want to see people who are temples of the Holy Spirit. I want my love go beyond conditions,to be something more than a commodity. I want to love freely and unconditionally. I want my heart to be cleared of the junk that so easily piles up there. I want to love like Jesus.

WorkWorkWork

A few shots of our first day of work (from 1 of 3 sites)...prepping for dry-wall, removing carpet, mudding, contemplating and more contemplating, resting...

Number Our Day

We took a quick day away to Ship Island after church today (see below). I'm wiped from battling the waves all afternoon, so a quick recap of the day in numbers.*





1: Number of hours it took to ride the ferry to the island.


0: Number of shark bits, nibbles, or attacks.


3: Number of beach umbrellas our group tried to crowd under.


1.46: Number of gallons (approximately) swallowed by yours truly while attempting to boogie board.

0:Number of serious sunburns in our group thus far.

5: Number of miles across Ship Island, point to point.

50,000: Weight of the canon barrel on top of fort.

450: Weight of canon balls that were shot from said canon.


4: Number of songs we sang during our evening worship/devotions time.

2: Number of water melon slices the average** Project Server ate tonight.

*Sorry I forgot to take more pictures. You should all brace yourselves, however. Apparently Dave S. got some "good" shots of me "riding the waves" on the boogie board and has big plans to highlight them in our church presentation.

**Estimate based on survey of 1 project serve participant.

Sunday Morning

Click play...see below for explanation

Communion of the Saints

The above video (click "play"--sorry about the heads, I was trying to be discrete) is a brief clip from the worship service we attended this morning. As you can tell, the flavor was a little different then what we may be used to at First. The team liked it, however, and thought that maybe we could take a few ideas back to Denver with us. Here's a list of possibilities:

• In order to spur all of us on to good stewardship/giving, have the entire congregation bring their offerings up front (instead of having the deacons bring the plates to the congregation), where the plates sit under the watchful eye of the Pastor and church leadership.
• Encourage your preacher. This would probably be the roll of the elders who could stand up front with me (it gets so lonely up there!). Phrases like: "Preach on, son!" "Communicate!'' "Work it out Preacher." Or just a good, ol' fashion "Amen!" would serve as a good start. Where words fail, a good pat on the back, clapping, or a whoop will do just fine. I'll talk to John B. about this when we get home and pass on any further tips.
• Have your pastor sing the conclusion of his sermon (what you see above).
• Have the organist punctuate important points in the sermon/communal prayer with a few blues/jazz riffs. Looks like I'll have to talk to Barb, too.
• A Sunday School pageant. Can any of our kids name Jobs friends?

In all seriousness, it was a good service, we were warmly welcomed, and it was good to be reminded of the diversity that is the Body of Christ.

Just Like TV ...sort of

Driving from New Orleans to Gulfport today, I couldn't help but think that when I watch news reports on TV about tragedies in far away places, its easy to blur the line between fact and fiction. In other words: somehow, when I saw the reports about Katrina on TV, I tucked what I saw I saw in my brain's sitcom/drama/fiction file, rather than my reality/non-fiction file. The devastation I saw on TV and heard about in the news and read about on the Internet seemed too immense and awful and mind-boggling to be real. But today, I (and the rest of the team) received a powerful reminder that for thousands, even millions, of people, the reports reflected reality all too well. Because what we saw outside the windows of our vans was just like TV.

Only it was real.

We saw: Houses tagged with spray paint--the secret code of rescue teams that came in after the storm looking for survivors. "Neighborhoods" with nothing left but a few front steps. FEMA trailers. Trees bent, stripped, and shattered. More FEMA trailers. A semi trailer that apparently landed on top of a car during the storm. Empty parking lots (but no buildings to accompany them). Piles of trash in the streets. Crumpled houses.

Here are a few pictures to get a taste (sorry I didn't take more--I guess I was too overwhelmed!)

A FEMA trailer park...

We stopped for a quick bite of ice cream. The shop owner told us that after the storm, the water was above the ceiling at this place.

Other random bits of information I picked up today about Hurricane Katrina that I think are true (but can't be certain):

• There are 92,000 FEMA trailers in Mississippi alone. These are residential trailers and are occupied primarily by families. That's a lot of people living in trailers!
• In order to clean up New Orleans, an average of one 40 ft. dumpster's worth of garbage needs to be removed for each resident.
• The population of New Orleans has decreased by 250,000 since Katrina.
• Garbage trucks in Gulfport still run every day in order to remove Katrina junk.