Fun and Games at the Asheville Tea Party

They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind" (Hosea 8:7)

Just when you think you’ve heard everything, the Asheville, North Carolina, Citizen-Times informs us that their local Tea Party is hosting a “Machine Gun Social” at an indoor arms range as a fundraiser Saturday, September 29.

For a mere $25, you get to shoot a 30-round clip from a 9mm submachine gun, $35 pays for use of an M16 and for $50 you can play with an AK-47. Pizza and drinks (non-alcoholic, thank goodness) are included.

The money raised is for Tea Party endorsed candidates and to oppose the election of anyone who might support un-American policies like tighter controls on the availability of guns designed primarily for killing people.

To me, this is wrong at so many levels. 

First, political parties should be about ballots, not bullets. A part of being a sane, civilized democracy is being able to oust people from office by peaceful means, not to associate elections with brandishing firearms.

Second, it plays into an interpretation of the second amendment as being less about guns for hunting or even self-protection as for purposes of overthrowing the government by force. During Nevada's 2010 Senate election, for example, Tea Party candidate Sharron Angle suggested "Second Amendment remedies" when "government becomes out of control." 

Finally, in light of all of the recent fatal shootings engaged in by crazed psycho-terrorists, do we really want to promote the use of killing machines as a form of entertainment? I know some feel lives could have been saved if enough people had been well armed in cases like the shootings in Aurora, Colorado, but can you imagine the chaos of people being caught in the resulting crossfire in a dimly lit theater? 

What’s our future in this increasingly polarized and overly armed country? To become another Mexico or Syria?

I pray not.

P. S. You might also be interested in other posts on this topic.

photo by Asheville Citizen-Times

A Sage and a Scholar

                                              Paul Peachey 1918-2012

I felt a special sadness when I saw Paul Peachey’s death notice in the Daily-News Record last week. Paul was 93 and in declining health, so this shouldn’t have come as a shock, but I experienced another one of those times I wished I had acted on my good intentions and visited someone once more before he died.

I had always admired Paul as a thoughtful writer and scholar but never gotten to know him personally until about a year ago when he invited me to his apartment at the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community to talk. I then came by to see him one additional time at VMRC’s Crestwood assisted living facility after his beloved Ellen passed away.

One of our common interests was the state of marriage and the family, both in the church and in society as a whole. I was especially interested in one of his most recent books, “Leaving and Clinging, the Human Significance of the Conjugal Union”. Here he makes the case that we humans are created to experience marital bonds that are even stronger than our blood family ties. Because of the universal taboo against incestuous relationships, we leave our parents and “cleave” to our spouse in order to form a united pair--for purposes of perpetuating the race and passing on our values and way of life.

I was especially intrigued by how this sign of divine wisdom results in each generation developing new ties with others, creating a network of societal bonds that would never happen if families procreated with their immediate kin. This means makes forming strong marital bonds extremely important for nurturing stable families. We can’t have the latter without stable forms of the former. *

What impressed me even more than Paul’s sharp mind and keen insights was the warmth and affirmation I felt from this man twenty years older than myself and who was far more educated and experienced than I. Paul had all the characteristics of an ideal mentor, and I could have benefited so much from learning to know him better. So I’m regretting how easily good opportunities like this are neglected in the busyness with which we find ourselves.

At Paul’s memorial service at Park View Mennonite Sunday afternoon his sons, daughters and grandchildren sang his praises and affirmed his positive influence on them. Pastor Phil Kniss reflected on Paul’s life as a “benediction,” a lived out expression of grace and blessing demonstrated throughout his long career as an international peace promoter for the Mennonite Central Committee, as a professor at The Catholic University of America, and finally as a founding member of the Rolling Ridge Retreat Community near Charles Town, West Virginia. He and his wife Ellen lived and worked at Rolling Ridge for 14 years prior to their moving back to Harrisonburg to retire.

May his good benedictions live long and well in all of us.

____________________________________________________

* "Childhood is a covenanted apprenticeship under two biologically unrelated strangers, bound by a deliberate covenant. When these strangers, the parents, separate, the apprenticeship aborts. As a result, the child limps maimed into the covenanting stage of the life course. The traumatic impact of parental divorce now becomes understandable."                      (p. 94, Leaving and Clinging)

Latest House Church Newsletter

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House-to-House
Family of Hope House Church                                 September 2012 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feasting on Wisdom                        

Wisdom... has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;
    she has also set her table.
She has sent out her servants, and she calls...,
    “Come, eat my food
    and drink the wine I have mixed.
Leave your immature ways and you will live;
    walk in the way of insight.”       
                                         (from Proverbs 9 lectionary reading for 8/19/12)

At our Sunday Bible studies, it’s always a challenge to connect the day’s lectionary texts together in a meaningful way. We choose to use these readings to give us a common focus for our weekly gathering, and to help keep us from simply dwelling on each of our own favorite texts. So we trust each service can offer a buffet of some of the rich and varied Biblical fare for which we need to come prepared with a good appetite and an eagerness to feast on God’s wisdom.

     Wisdom is one of the most praised virtues in the Bible, since it forever blesses us and helps us live in ways we will never regret. By contrast, foolishness represents the kind of living that bring us no end of remorse.   

     As Christians, we see Jesus as the embodiment of God’s wisdom, the one who invites us to eat and drink of himself in a life-giving feast we call the Lord’s Supper. Here he is both host and heart changing meal.

     In a counter story in the book Genesis, our first human ancestors were surrounded by a veritable feast of good foods, but were also warned against eating from one certain tree God had forbidden them to taste. But to them its fruit not only looked especially delicious but as something that could make them extraordinarily “wise.” You know the story. Choosing the forbidden fruit turned out to represent the most foolish and fatal choice of all time.

     Our weekly carry-in meals viscerally remind us of God’s best of all feasts, in which we take in the very life and wisdom of Jesus himself, the bread and wine that daily sustains and energizes us.
                                                                                                   -Harvey Yoder
 
Notes, prayers and praises

* THE 46TH ANNUAL VIRGINIA MENNONITE RELIEF SALE will be held at the Rockingham Fairgrounds October 5-6.
* PRAY FOR THOSE ATTENDING the Mennonite Women of Virginia Fall Retreat Sept. 21-23 at Eagle Eyrie Baptist Conference Center.
* SEPTEMBER ANNIVERSARY BLESSINGS to Billy and Karla May 9/3!
* GUY AND MARGIE VLASITS plan to leave for Texas September 20 to  
   spend two weeks with their son and family.
* GET FOH UPDATES at http://familyofhopehousechurch.blogspot.com/

September lectionary readings

2   Song of Solomon 2:8-13 Psalm 72 James 1:17-27 Mark 7:1-23
9   Proverbs 22:1-23 Psalm 125 James 2:1-17 Mark 7:24-37
16 Proverbs 1:20-33 Psalm 19  James 3:1-12 Mark 8:27-38
23 Proverbs 31:10-31 Psalm 1 James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a  Mark 9:30-37
30 Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22 Psalm 124 James 5:13-20 Mark 9:38-50

September services  worship at 4 pm, meal at 6

2 Location: James & Ruth Stauffer 1250 Parkway Dr 22802  
Worship and Sharing: James Stauffer
Bible Study: Paul Swarr                                                      Carry-in Meal           
9 Location: Rachel Stoltzfus 1359 Two Penny Drive               
Worship and Sharing: Harvey Yoder
Bible Study: Dick Dumas                                                     Carry-in Meal
16 Location: Guy & Margie Vlasits 3448 Caverns Dr K’town 
Worship and Sharing: Guy & Margie Vlasits
Bible Study:                                                                          Carry-in Meal
23 Location: Family Life Resource Center 273 Newman Ave   
Worship and Sharing: Women's Retreat participants
Bible Study: Harvey Yoder                         Carry-in Finger Food Meal                 
30 Location: Susan Campbell 1361 Lincolnshire Dr 22802      
Worship and Sharing: Susan Campbell
Bible Study: James Stauffer                                             Carry-in Meal                 

Passing On Blessings

A number of years ago I started a new ritual, one I wish I had established much earlier in my life. I began sending each of our three adult children a weekly email blessing, sometimes in the form of a prayer or other inspirational piece.

A recent example is this blessing, author unknown:

May you be true to your strong foundation
of a simple people
in love with life
in love with God
in love with the earth
the good green earth

May your spirit cradle
a multitude of stars
that carry you
around   
and in   
and through
every possibility   
every hope   
every dream
a journey never ending
always new

May you be filled
with peace and beauty
with wisdom and hope
with love and friendship

And may you be blessed
in all times
and for all times.

I’m sure we’ve unwittingly discouraged our two sons and a daughter many times in the past. So in our final years we’d like to do a lot more blessing and encouraging.

Someone once told me, “I’ll never forget all the times my father, in a fit of anger over some mistake I made, would yell at me, calling me lazy and stupid, saying I would never amount to anything. Words like that made such an awful impression that I took them as some kind of curse on my life. I’m sure he was just repeating things his father had told him as a child, but I still hear them over and over again in my head. And as much as I’ve worked all my life to prove my Dad wrong, I still live with the feeling that I’m never good enough for him, or can ever please him.”

Without thinking, we can pass on similar “curses” from one generation to the next. We do it through predictions about how terribly they will turn out, through our blame and accusations, through all kinds of words that hurt and discourage.

Blessings and affirmations, on the other hand, energize others, encourage and motivate them to do their best. “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,” one Bible proverb says. “Do not say, ‘Go and come back and tomorrow I will give it,’ when it is in your power to give it now.”

In other words, now is the time to bless. Of course we should also, on a daily basis, teach good values to our children, and correct them when they need it. But let’s not pass up any opportunity to pass on a good blessing.

John Trent and Gary Smalley, in their book, "The Gift of the Blessing", describe a memorable experience in an Orthodox Jewish home John once visited. The grandfather, patriarch of the family, placed his hand on the head of each grandchild, asking God to bless him or her with the qualities of some worthy character in the Bible.

We need to find similar ways to inspire our children to live noble and good lives.

Here's an ancient Irish blessing for you and your loved ones. Pass it on.

With the first light of sun  
 God bless you.
When the day is done   
God bless you.
In your smiles and in your tears  
God bless you.
Through each day of your years   
God bless you.

Paying Heed to Plural Pronouns

Columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. is fond of pointing out that the preamble to the US Constitution begins with the word “we,” as in “We the people,” not “We the persons or the individuals.” He says that in our increased individualism in this country, we have lost our sense of community and are in danger of becoming more and more isolated from each other.

This is an important point to keep in mind when reading Bible as well, which is mostly addressed to whole communities of people, and not intended primarily as a book to be used just for one’s personal meditation, as helpful and important as that is.

One of the ways the Authorized (King James) version of the Bible is helpful here is that it distinguishes between what is addressed to a personal “you” from what is a plural “you” (as in the good Southern “You all”).  According to the English language of the time, when “you” refers to an individual, the pronouns “thee,” “thou” and “thine” are used. When the “you” is plural we find the words “ye,” “you” and “yours”. Unfortunately, our modern English no longer makes those distinctions.

As an example from the KJV, when Jesus offers his teaching on prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, we can see that his so-called “Lord’s Prayer” is meant to be a communal prayer, introduced with “When ye pray...” Note the plural pronouns "we," “our” and “us” used here rather than our praying “My Father who art in heaven,” and “give me my daily bread.” Rather, we are praying to our one God (note the use of the singular “Thy” and “Thine”) that all of the hungry everywhere be fed. Even the prayer for forgiveness of our debts (or trespasses), while certainly including each us as individuals, is for all of God’s people to be forgiven--as we in turn forgive others.

But later in Matthew 5, Jesus gives instructions for personal prayer, introduced with “When thou prayest.” Here we are told to do our individual prayers privately, avoiding any outward display of piety for the purpose of gaining others' admiration or approval. There is no mention of keeping those prayer brief. Alone with God, we can pray with as many words as we wish.

It was something of a light bulb moment for me when I began reading the Bible through the lens, of it being addressed primarily to congregations of people, or to the leaders of such congregations, and not just to us as individuals. It becomes personal, yes, but is not just for our private interpretation or edification.

In short, the Good Book is about one God, singular, for all of the people of God, plural.

The Line Between Good and Evil--Wisdom From The Gulag

Alexander Solzhenitsyn

In the middle of all of the mudslinging and polarizing debate going on everywhere, I have to remind myself frequently of this insight by Christian writer and philosopher Alexander Solzhenitsyn, something that came to him during his long imprisonment in the Soviet Gulag:

…. It was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart, and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. Even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained; and even in the best of all hearts, there remains a small corner of evil.

…. If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”

Could We Make This Dream Come True?

At noon today local pastor Cindy Carr, EMU counseling professor Cheree Hammond, pastor and jail chaplain Ben Risser, Rockingham Cooperative General Manager Norman Wenger and I met with Community Services Board Director Lacy Whitmore to discuss ways of improving mental health services at the local jail.

Currently the CSB has a contract to provide only 2 1/2 hours of psychiatric services each week for a very crowded inmate population of approximately 340. Due to a lack of staff and other resources suicidally depressed persons may still spend hours confined to either a restraint chair or the padded isolation cell, the latter with the inmate having only a paper gown to wear and with their only amenity being a hole in the floor for a commode.

By way of contrast, Cindy Carr talked about the recent experience of having their adult daughter successfully complete a well staffed five-week drug rehabilitation program, one which has completely revolutionized her life. The cost was considerable of course, but still less than the $26,000 tax payer cost of a year of incarceration that provides for virtually no rehabilitation.

We realize a jail can never be like a rehab center, but the dream that emerged today was whether we could generate the support needed (perhaps in collaboration with the CSB) to hire a full or part time therapist for the jail, one who could also coordinate a program of volunteer professionals to help meet some of the mental health and reentry needs of inmates. Safety and liability issues were raised, but state regulations do allow for outside personnel to visit inmates at the discretion of the sheriff or other jail administrator, as follows:

Code section 53:1-127 "... the sheriff, jail administrator or other person in charge of the facility shall prescribe the time and conditions under which attorneys and other persons may enter the local correctional facility for which he is responsible."

Here are some of the questions I had prepared for Mr. Whitmore prior to our meeting:

Is the current contract with the jail (to provide 2 1/2 hours a week of psychiatric care) adequate for the needs of over 300 inmates?

Answer: No official CSB position on whether this is adequate or inadequate.

What benefits, if any, would there be in some kind of partnership with other concerned professionals in expanding or improving mental health services at the local jail? What form of partnership might be most helpful?

Answer: May be desirable, but difficult to implement.

Does the CSB have any position or recommendation regarding the current use of the restraint chair and/or the isolated padded cell for suicidally depressed inmates? Or the segregated cell, where inmates may be held for weeks at a time with no reading material (except the Bible)?

Lacked sufficient time to discuss this.

Would the CSB welcome having other health care professional, including volunteers and counselor interns, be available for close monitoring of suicidal inmates and/or other counseling services if permission could be granted by the Sheriff?

Answer: Not sure. It’s hard to picture that happening in the current situation.

Does the CSB share the jail administration's fears about liability and safety if there were greater access granted for additional professional mental health services to inmates?

Lacked sufficient time to discuss this.

If you could have your own wishes granted, what would be your dream program for mental health services for inmates at our regional jail?

Spent some time brainstorming time this.

Overall, this was a good session, for which we sincerely thank Mr. Whitmore, and I hope we can keep this conversation going. Maybe the dream of having the jail become more of a place for growth and rehabilitation can still come true. Stay posted.

You may also want to read this recent post.