The Lord is my shift manager.
He makes me take breaks
He leads me to unlimited Diet Coke
He refreshes my soul.
He guides me in standard procedures for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the busiest lunch hours, I will fear no evil
For you are with me
Your headset and stock list, they comfort me.
You prepare a table for me
In the presence of cranky customers.
You anoint me with paychecks.
My debt does not run over.
Surely your watchful eye will follow me
From front counter to drink station to back booth
And I will dwell with you on crew-- unless I tell you to take this job and shove it--
Forever.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Saturday, June 22, 2013
The Waking
"The Waking"
Theodore Roethke
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Of those so close behind me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk slowly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.
Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.
This is a beautiful, trembling, momentous poem. It speaks elegantly of the life of the spirit, of the strange stumbling dance between sleeping and waking, despair and hope. It sort of fits where I am right now in my struggle to discern my vocation. For better, for worse, I am waking up and falling asleep and somehow learning as I am going. But in my best moments, I do feel my fate in what I cannot fear: my fate is to belong, body and soul, to God.
Theodore Roethke
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Of those so close behind me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk slowly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.
Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.
This is a beautiful, trembling, momentous poem. It speaks elegantly of the life of the spirit, of the strange stumbling dance between sleeping and waking, despair and hope. It sort of fits where I am right now in my struggle to discern my vocation. For better, for worse, I am waking up and falling asleep and somehow learning as I am going. But in my best moments, I do feel my fate in what I cannot fear: my fate is to belong, body and soul, to God.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Joshua Fought The Battle of Jericho: Why The Book of Joshua Is Not About Genocide
It's been a while, sadly, since I have gotten the chance to blog. I have been writing a book. Yes, you read that correctly. In a bizarre twist of fate-- or more accurately, God's annoying sense of humor-- I am ghostwriting a guide to the Bible for new Christians. A group in Taiwan is paying me. I am grateful, I guess, for the chance to share my biblical knowledge. Understanding the Bible takes a lifetime of study, but I do know some things and I have a sort of hybrid, scholar-pastor-anxious layperson perspective. Last night, I finished writing my guide to the book of Joshua.
Joshua is the anglicized version of the Hebrew name Yeshua, meaning "YHWH saves." Jesus is the Greek version. Joshua is also my brother's name. Jesus and my brother are both pretty cool guys. But the book of Joshua is straight up scary at first. The book is about Israel's conquest of Canaan, their extermination of the people occupying the Promised Land. If you think about this story, it begins to sound oddly like the European settlers' systematic killing and driving out of the Native Americans, thinking America was "promised" by the Judeo-Christian God to them. What's the difference?
Reading Joshua again last night for the first time in years, I now see there is an enormous difference. The Israelite mission is not to kill the Canaanite people. In fact, these people had already heard of this God, who led his people out of Egypt with many signs and wonders. The book of Joshua repeats this multiple times. For six days they march around Jericho, the first city Joshua conquers. The people had ample opportunity to work out a deal, to worship God, like Rahab does. But they refuse, and God gives the Israelites victory. The Gibeonite tribes hear of God's glory and decide they want to make peace with the Israelites, but tell an elaborate lie about their actually living far away from Canaan. Even though they lied, God still spares the Gibeonites.
One might argue that not every Canaanite had a chance to strike a deal-- what of the innocent children or poor whom were killed? Perhaps Joshua also teaches evil always leads to collateral damage, always affects more people than anyone imagined. But a mature reading of the Bible makes clear that God does not punish people for lack of knowledge. We are judged by our response to the grace we have received. John 15:24 says that the Pharisees would not be guilty if Jesus had not done his works of power among them.
In the book of Joshua, the Israelites are acting as God's tool of judgment against evil. In that time, society, and place in salvation history, they did so by killing unrepentant peoples according to God's specific leading. In our secular society, in the "last days" during which we await Jesus' return, this makes no sense. Is there, then, a redeeming message in the book of Joshua? Can we say Joshua is the word of God?
Yes and yes. Joshua teaches many messages. Among them-- God wins. With God on their side, the Israelites squash the enemies like bugs, even though they are outnumbered. Lest we convert this into an obscene prosperity gospel or a blanket promise any act consistent with God's will must succeed... Joshua will not let us. The people do not finish conquering Canaan by the end of the book. They live in the already/not yet tension of God's kingdom. Already we live in the promised land, but not yet-- we are not fully there.
Joshua also illustrates the workings of divine-human cooperation. God does not just plunk the people down in the middle of the promised land and say, "Here ya go, kids." They have to work for it, together with God. Any act of ministry, any work of God, is God's doing through us. We have this treasure in clay jars.
I connect with the book of Joshua in ways that go beyond words. I love the military metaphor, and I crinkle my nose at naive liberals who crow about pacifism. They do not read the Bible properly; they understand neither Jesus' injunction to love their enemies nor Paul's cry to put on the gospel armor. Evil is real, and like Joshua we are called to fight it in the name of the Lord. Whether we wipe out the enemy like Joshua, or lose the fight like Stephen, we win with God on our side. The first readers of Joshua, living as conquered people in the Babylonian exile, understood this ultimate, perfect truth. Like Joshua, we must fight the battle of Jericho, fight as Christian soldiers, fight the good fight wherever the Great General calls us to go, knowing in the end he leads us always to victory.
Joshua is the anglicized version of the Hebrew name Yeshua, meaning "YHWH saves." Jesus is the Greek version. Joshua is also my brother's name. Jesus and my brother are both pretty cool guys. But the book of Joshua is straight up scary at first. The book is about Israel's conquest of Canaan, their extermination of the people occupying the Promised Land. If you think about this story, it begins to sound oddly like the European settlers' systematic killing and driving out of the Native Americans, thinking America was "promised" by the Judeo-Christian God to them. What's the difference?
Reading Joshua again last night for the first time in years, I now see there is an enormous difference. The Israelite mission is not to kill the Canaanite people. In fact, these people had already heard of this God, who led his people out of Egypt with many signs and wonders. The book of Joshua repeats this multiple times. For six days they march around Jericho, the first city Joshua conquers. The people had ample opportunity to work out a deal, to worship God, like Rahab does. But they refuse, and God gives the Israelites victory. The Gibeonite tribes hear of God's glory and decide they want to make peace with the Israelites, but tell an elaborate lie about their actually living far away from Canaan. Even though they lied, God still spares the Gibeonites.
One might argue that not every Canaanite had a chance to strike a deal-- what of the innocent children or poor whom were killed? Perhaps Joshua also teaches evil always leads to collateral damage, always affects more people than anyone imagined. But a mature reading of the Bible makes clear that God does not punish people for lack of knowledge. We are judged by our response to the grace we have received. John 15:24 says that the Pharisees would not be guilty if Jesus had not done his works of power among them.
In the book of Joshua, the Israelites are acting as God's tool of judgment against evil. In that time, society, and place in salvation history, they did so by killing unrepentant peoples according to God's specific leading. In our secular society, in the "last days" during which we await Jesus' return, this makes no sense. Is there, then, a redeeming message in the book of Joshua? Can we say Joshua is the word of God?
Yes and yes. Joshua teaches many messages. Among them-- God wins. With God on their side, the Israelites squash the enemies like bugs, even though they are outnumbered. Lest we convert this into an obscene prosperity gospel or a blanket promise any act consistent with God's will must succeed... Joshua will not let us. The people do not finish conquering Canaan by the end of the book. They live in the already/not yet tension of God's kingdom. Already we live in the promised land, but not yet-- we are not fully there.
Joshua also illustrates the workings of divine-human cooperation. God does not just plunk the people down in the middle of the promised land and say, "Here ya go, kids." They have to work for it, together with God. Any act of ministry, any work of God, is God's doing through us. We have this treasure in clay jars.
I connect with the book of Joshua in ways that go beyond words. I love the military metaphor, and I crinkle my nose at naive liberals who crow about pacifism. They do not read the Bible properly; they understand neither Jesus' injunction to love their enemies nor Paul's cry to put on the gospel armor. Evil is real, and like Joshua we are called to fight it in the name of the Lord. Whether we wipe out the enemy like Joshua, or lose the fight like Stephen, we win with God on our side. The first readers of Joshua, living as conquered people in the Babylonian exile, understood this ultimate, perfect truth. Like Joshua, we must fight the battle of Jericho, fight as Christian soldiers, fight the good fight wherever the Great General calls us to go, knowing in the end he leads us always to victory.