Taylor Hill, retired Presbyterian pastor, stopped by our house on his way from Baja California to Florida... long enough for good discussions about the church in troubled times. We agree that "instant fix" religion won't satisfy spiritual hunger. Together we wondered what it is people want and expect when they go to church... and we wondered what the church tells them they can get by coming to church.
Who has time for selfless equanimity!
I WANT IT ALL; I WANT IT NOW!
INSTANT EVERYTHING, especially GRATIFICATION...
---------------
The Burger King chain of fast-food restaurants assures you that you can “HAVE IT YOUR WAY.” The company’s WEB site says, “At BK, you don’t just order a meal. You create it. Select an item to begin building the meal of your stomach’s dreams.”
----------------
At McDonalds, Excuse me... McCafe, you can get "latte, iced latte, mocha, iced mocha, coffee, iced coffe... AND...McDonald’s is proud to offer you wide variety of high-quality, great tasting menu options. You can choose well-balanced and delicious meals from McDonald’s menu by mixing and matching choices each and very time you visit. Our downloadable menu, will provide you with a list of our national food and beverage items. Would you like your double quarter-pounder with cheese supersized?" Enjoy! (...from McDonald's WEB site)
-----------------
I’m Thinking Arby’s... "New $5.01 French Dip & Swiss Toasted Sub Combo. What’s the extra penny for? One bite and you’ll know. We start with a toasted ciabatta roll then pile on oven roasted, freshly sliced beef and melted Swiss cheese. Dip it in our generous portion of hot, savory au jus and you’re digging into one delicious deal. Includes our signature curly fries and small drink for a combo that’s Worth Every Penny." (...from Arby's WEB site)
-----------------
"First United Methodist Church of San Diego offers five worship services every week and each one is unique. From the traditional to the contemporary, from the intimate to the grand, worship in an atmosphere you find most appealing. Whether the sermon is delivered among the people or from a pulpit, whether music is delivered by piano, live band, choir, or magnificent organ you can find the service at First Church that appeals to you and allows you the opportunity for prayer, meditation, singing, participation and hearing God’s word for you." (...from the church's WEB site)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not just picking on fast-food chains and churches here. If honest confession is good for the soul, I should come away from this writing at least a little purer. I confess that I never sit down to a meal in a restaurant without eating absolutely everything that is set in front of me... and I finish it off much too quickly. When the combination plate I order at my favorite Mexican restaurant includes my favorite chili relleno stuffed with shrimp AND large portions of refried beans and rice, I eat all of it; and in the short time I wait after the server takes my order, I eat the basket of tortilla chips and at least a couple of containers of salsa.
And how about those ads for everything from clothes to cars; verision wireless to viagra. You want that five-hundred-dollar handbag? Charge it. And if you want to lose weight quickly, don’t bother with the long wait involved in cutting calories; use diet pills or get plastic surgery. You want a new car. Why wait? The car dealer of your choice will help you make arrangements with your bank.
Several friends and I are reading Karen Armstrong’s The Case for God. We meet each week and discuss what we have read and what and why we are thinking as we do about Armstrong’s ideas. I am particularly interested in her description of the practice of traditional Eastern yoga (not the aerobic yoga that is taught in Western gyms). She says, “But yoga also had an ethical dimension. A beginner was not allowed to perform a single yogic exercise until he had completed an intensive moral program. Top of the list of its requirements was ashima, “nonviolence.” A yogin must not swat a mosquito, make an irritable gesture, or speak unkindly to others but should maintain constant affability to all, even to the most annoying monk in the community. Until his guru was satisfied that this had become second nature, a yogin could not even sit in the yogic position. A great deal of the aggression, frustration, hostility, and rage that mars our peace of mind is the result of thwarted egotism, but when the aspiring yogin became proficient in this selfless equanimity, the texts tell us that he would experience “indescribable joy.”
4 comments:
Jerral, I apologized to a congregation who is doing nothing to reach out to a community in crisis immediately outside their front doors. I said that previous pastors must have instructed them that to sit in a pew and contribute $ was all they needed to do to fulfill their baptismal vows. I told them that with absolute certainty I could tell them if that's what they believe they should not consider themselves Christian, and certainly not disciples of Jesus who's ministry was all about getting outside the synagogue and into the troubled lives of people on the streets. It is so very frustrating to meet again and again people who's righteousness is all self-centered and who's piety is egotistical. Getting into heaven while sending the rest of the world to Hell seems to be the popular wisdom of The church. It's why we have the ugly debates around healthcare...who really cares? Check out Christianity Today and its editorial response to the healthcare debate. It's why we continue to persecute people who are gay, lesbian, trans gender, etc. I still can't understand why we do it. It's why we still blame poverty on the poor. It's why we build mega-mansions, spend exorbinate amounts of money on ourselves, waste natural resouces, deplete creation for creature comforts. Yadayadayada... OK...I've got a Black Summit meeting all day tomorrow. We still divide the church by race! It will never end. Peace, Bob
Bob,
Do you think it is likely that the church will rescue itself from the inside out... or will a great leader come along from outside and lead (or push) the church back to whatever it was intended by First Century Christians to be? Or will it simply, crash and burn... die and disappear, hopefully to rise like the phoenix from the ashes?
Jerral
How similar is a pastor and a headmaster? They have a pedagogy and theology, service, stewardship, committees, the traditions, and the future. How important is the name of the school/church and the archtecture/setting in establishing the identity. Sometimes creativity is rewarded. Sometimes it is punished. What holds the schools and the churches together. Sounds like you had an interesting conversation. rorkeb at yahoo dot com
Dear anonymous,
Very good question: How does the head of school job compare with that of head of church? We retired people quickly become arm-chair quarterbacks after we leave pressure of our old jobs, often thinking and saying glibly what we would or would not do. Honesty compels me to confess that I now seem to see clearly what should be done in my old job; but I can remember that there once people in my life whom I had to please: trustees, teachers and other staff, parents and students. I find myself wondering how many times in my long career I decided to do what made life easier for me rather than what should have been done. I'll ask Taylor if he is willing to respond to the question.
Jerral
Post a Comment