Inaugural Pray-ers

It's hard to miss the dustup about Pastor Rick Warren's inaugural invocation. There is much critiquing going on in blogs and listservs across the land; most of it coming from folks who were disturbed by the lack of "inclusivity," especially when he concluded by leading into the Lord's prayer.

To be honest, I don't see what the fuss is about.

I would not be offended if a Muslim cleric prayed as a Muslim; I would expect nothing less than a spiritual leader being true to the tenets of his/her faith. If one invites somebody to pray, one probably ought to expect that person to speak to God the way s/he knows best. Why then be offended if a Christian prays as a Christian?

(If the organizers were trying to be visibly "inclusive," they might have invited pray-ers from different traditions. But I digress.)

Yes, I was startled by Warren's lead into the Lord's prayer. I had not expected it. But then I thought about it-- really thought about the words and their meanings, what it says as well as what it represents. Truthfully, it is a specifically Christian prayer only because it is contained (in slightly different versions in Matthew and Luke) in the New Testament. We as Christians believe that Jesus first taught it, so most Christians know it (though we have our variations as well). But the words, taken at face value... I hear nothing that would be off-putting to anyone coming from most faith traditions-- the monotheistic ones, at least. Perhaps, in teaching his (Jewish) disciples to pray, that's why Jesus started there?

Rick Warren is not my pastor, nor do he and I agree on some significant issues. However, given his theological bent, I thought his prayer authentic, gently reaching out to God and in God's name the best way he knows how. Seems to me that we who do not share the same doctrinal leanings might take a deep breath and back up.

If I am to live in the light of the universal (as in, offered to all) invitation of the Gospel that I say I believe, then, as the saying goes, I need to put up or shut up. Goodness-- if Melissa Etheridge can work to find common ground with him, how can I as a fellow disciple do less?

Yes, we can. Pray that we will!

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.

Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet it."

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words; with hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come; let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Care and feeding of a teenage boy

I was on the phone with my husband this afternoon as he and the boy-- just the two of them, mind you, over in Billings running errands-- drove up to place an order at a local Burger Doodle. I hear:

"I'd like five Whopper Jrs, two orders of fries-- one regular, one king size-- and two drinks, please."

Lord, have mercy

Of all the news coming out of the middle east at the moment, the most heartbreaking is this:

At least 300 children are among the more than 1,000 Palestinians who have died since Israel began to bombard the Gaza Strip on December 27.

Julian of Norwich noted that "Our high God, the sovereign wisdom of all, arrayed himself in this low place and made himself entirely ready in our poor flesh in order to do the service and the office of motherhood himself in all things." I cannot imagine anything but a mother's heart breaking, as God's beloved children slaughter children in the name of protecting children. Hamas is wrong. Israel is wrong. How can anyone call this horror in any way justifiable?

Let's be clear about this

When I shop for "Feasting on the Word," I am specifically considering a subscription to a well-regarded preaching reference by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor.

I am NOT registering for a set of overpriced dinnerware. Not even if it comes with a set of Dead Sea Scroll Steak Knives.

RevGal Friday Five: New Year's Reflections

First list five things that you remember/ treasure from 2008:

• Beloved family and friends who support, encourage, challenge and inspire me. The list is far longer than I could ever reasonably expect or deserve.
  

• Related to the above: gatherings of extended, scattered family. Once in July, at my brother's place in Minnesota, and then again this week in Indiana. We also saw several of Bruce's siblings this trip as well.

• The progress of our children: a daughter who is, as she puts it, "getting a life," and a son who is, step by step, learning to handle challenge and difference. Their roads are not without curves and potholes, but they keep traveling, and I'm proud of them.

• My first stint as a chaplain at our diocesan summer camp. I've done camp for years, but not at Camp Marshall; so in many ways I was very much the rookie. I'm still learning, but it was great fun!

• Speaking of learning-- the Hooks & Needles crew and their practical help with my very own homemade socks!
  

Then list five things that you are looking forward to in 2009.

• Adding plants and happy growing things to the new beds around the house.

• Attending a wedding in June.
  

• Camp Chaplain II: the sequel

• This isn't confirmed, but it's a hope. I'd like to take a vacation west of here-- Oregon, or maybe Washington. I've never spent time in either state, and I'd love to see some of what's over there.

• More socks... and perhaps the next step: a sweater!

2009

... to EVERYONE!