Musings

We Are All Stuck With This Poem

 

This poem is holding all of us hostage.

Over 400 parts per million of it

Are infused into the air you are breathing.

The only way to rid ourselves of this poem

Is to do what it demands.

So we might as well take a deep draft of it

And go with its flow.

 

This poem roars out of the tailpipe

Of your gasoline-powered automobile.

It billows out of the stacks

Looming above the gas-fired power plant

That generates the electricity

Illuminating my computer screen.

This poem farts out of the cows

Languishing in the feedlot

From which they are sent to be rendered

Into your dinner. 

This poem is being composed

By unclean coal

Burning ore into steel

That holds up my kitchen table.

 

This poem will melt Alaska

Till Texas freezes over,

And blast derechos across Iowa

Till palm trees grow in Oregon.

It will flood Nebraska

Till San Diego’s golf courses turn brown.

 

This poem isn’t going to go away by itself.

Upon reading, it insinuates into the brain

A prion of carbon driving us to madness

Or change.

 

But if we go where it leads,

This poem will install solar panels,

Windmills, wave-power generators.

This poem will demand payment for carbon emissions

Until they are ended.

It will divest from the fossil fuel industry.

It will press for a plant-based diet.

It will restore the health of the soil;

It will plant billions of trees.

This poem will put capitalism in its place,

Subsidiary to protection of the ecosystem

And provision for the common good.

 

This poem is insidious.

This poem is not debatable.

This poem out-foxes Fox.

It fries the liars

And drowns out its deniers.

We are all stuck with this poem

Until we finish it:

Not with more words,

But with decisive actions.

The Spiritual Discipline of Skepticism

 

"Trust the science."

It's a phrase on many lips these days, as the United States recovers from a presidency notorious for basing public policy and pandemic strategy on lies and hearsay.  It is a huge relief to have national leadership that takes science seriously again.  The health of Americans, of humanity as a whole, and of the planet depends on it.

The problem with the phrase is that science is not about trusting science.  On the contrary.

Science is the disciplined distrust of science. 

Theories arise to explain phenomena, based on evidence.  Scientists question the theories and the evidence, perhaps posing alternative theories.  Over time, in this process of organized skepticism, a scientific consensus often emerges - a theory that works, at least for the time being - providing a scaffold for further scientific inquiry and progress.  That progress may result in new evidence and insights that could undermine the consensus and lead to a new theory that accounts for a broader base of evidence, around which a new consensus can form. 

In contrast to this process, disorganized skepticism of science is a mounting threat.  Anti-vaxxers cling to disconnected shreds of evidence and discredited theories that confirm their convictions.  The same applies to climate-change deniers.  And to 6-day-creationists and "intelligent design" advocates. 

These are literally unhealthy forms of skepticism.  The healthy version is called science. 

There are many questions that mainstream science can't answer, at least at the moment.  Ethical and moral questions, such as: who should get the Covid vaccine first?  And how can such a prioritization be made understandable and acceptable to the public?  Science provides data upon which such judgments can be made, but ultimately we can't trust science itself to sort them out.  The scientific consensus is overwhelming that humans are causing catastrophic climate change with CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions.  But scientists can't tell us exactly what to do about this reality.  Ethical and political calculations must be made that will rely on information from scientists, but are beyond their purview to decide. 

In this fuzzier realm of ethics and values and public decision-making, skepticism has its place as well.  In politics, questioning authority should not just be allowed, but required.  Democracy at its best is disciplined, organized skepticism.  Does this policy really distribute resources effectively and ethically?  Or is another one better?  Transparency is essential in government, in order to facilitate this kind of questioning. 

And disciplined skepticism is necessary in religion, too.  Not only to keep churches and their leaders honest, but to refine and deepen faith itself, examining doctrines and re-interpreting or releasing them if they no longer rise to the standard of Jesus' simple law of love.  Progressive Christianity is a form of the faith that never stops asking questions about the Christian tradition, because questioning is integral to our faith.

God is "agape" - unconditional love.  And unconditional love is open, opinion-free attention.  And open, opinion-free attention leads to questions.  Kind but unabashed and unfettered questions.  When we love others with such questions, we move deeper and deeper into the truth of each other's hearts.  This kind of love leads to transparency:  "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we shall see face to face..." (Paul, 1 Cor 13:12)  All is revealed: our crowning glories, our failings, our frustrations, our hopes, our emotions -- our highest yearnings, our greatest regrets.  Like science, love is an endless process that leaves no stone unturned, no assumption unquestioned.  Love is a disciplined, compassionate, gentle form of skepticism that always wants to see and know more.  Love may reveal painful things, but it also assuages that pain.  Thus love leads to spiritual and personal progress. 

So may this kind of healthy skepticism flourish -- in the realms of science and spirituality alike. 

JIM BURKLO

Blog: MUSINGS

Senior Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life, University of Southern California

 

 

"Trust the science."

It's a phrase on many lips these days, as the United States recovers from a presidency notorious for basing public policy and pandemic strategy on lies and hearsay.  It is a huge relief to have national leadership that takes science seriously again.  The health of Americans, of humanity as a whole, and of the planet depends on it.

The problem with the phrase is that science is not about trusting science.  On the contrary.

Science is the disciplined distrust of science. 

Theories arise to explain phenomena, based on evidence.  Scientists question the theories and the evidence, perhaps posing alternative theories.  Over time, in this process of organized skepticism, a scientific consensus often emerges - a theory that works, at least for the time being - providing a scaffold for further scientific inquiry and progress.  That progress may result in new evidence and insights that could undermine the consensus and lead to a new theory that accounts for a broader base of evidence, around which a new consensus can form. 

In contrast to this process, disorganized skepticism of science is a mounting threat.  Anti-vaxxers cling to disconnected shreds of evidence and discredited theories that confirm their convictions.  The same applies to climate-change deniers.  And to 6-day-creationists and "intelligent design" advocates. 

These are literally unhealthy forms of skepticism.  The healthy version is called science. 

There are many questions that mainstream science can't answer, at least at the moment.  Ethical and moral questions, such as: who should get the Covid vaccine first?  And how can such a prioritization be made understandable and acceptable to the public?  Science provides data upon which such judgments can be made, but ultimately we can't trust science itself to sort them out.  The scientific consensus is overwhelming that humans are causing catastrophic climate change with CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions.  But scientists can't tell us exactly what to do about this reality.  Ethical and political calculations must be made that will rely on information from scientists, but are beyond their purview to decide. 

In this fuzzier realm of ethics and values and public decision-making, skepticism has its place as well.  In politics, questioning authority should not just be allowed, but required.  Democracy at its best is disciplined, organized skepticism.  Does this policy really distribute resources effectively and ethically?  Or is another one better?  Transparency is essential in government, in order to facilitate this kind of questioning. 

And disciplined skepticism is necessary in religion, too.  Not only to keep churches and their leaders honest, but to refine and deepen faith itself, examining doctrines and re-interpreting or releasing them if they no longer rise to the standard of Jesus' simple law of love.  Progressive Christianity is a form of the faith that never stops asking questions about the Christian tradition, because questioning is integral to our faith.

God is "agape" - unconditional love.  And unconditional love is open, opinion-free attention.  And open, opinion-free attention leads to questions.  Kind but unabashed and unfettered questions.  When we love others with such questions, we move deeper and deeper into the truth of each other's hearts.  This kind of love leads to transparency:  "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we shall see face to face..." (Paul, 1 Cor 13:12)  All is revealed: our crowning glories, our failings, our frustrations, our hopes, our emotions -- our highest yearnings, our greatest regrets.  Like science, love is an endless process that leaves no stone unturned, no assumption unquestioned.  Love is a disciplined, compassionate, gentle form of skepticism that always wants to see and know more.  Love may reveal painful things, but it also assuages that pain.  Thus love leads to spiritual and personal progress. 

So may this kind of healthy skepticism flourish -- in the realms of science and spirituality alike. 

Blog: MUSINGS

Senior Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life, University of Southern California

What Is Salvation?

 

Are we "saved" together, or "saved" separately?

It is certainly a living question for Christians to ponder, but it is worth asking in the context of other religions - or in that of no religion at all.  Are we "all in the same boat", or not? 

If there is any lesson to draw from the Covid pandemic, it is this:  there's no such thing as private health.  There is only public health.  I wear a mask in public to protect you.  You wear a mask in public to protect me.  The virus makes no distinction between my nasal passages and yours, between my breath and yours.  It's a public disease, and public health measures must be taken to defeat it.  And the same is true for most other health conditions. 

And Covid is but one illustration of the wider fact of our inter-relatedness with each other and the condition of the planet.  The air we breathe is public.  The water we drink is public.  There are very public consequences of private suffering:  just walk down the streets of any big city and you will find yourself walking over and around the tents and belongings of homeless people.  You'll have a private experience of public smells and sounds. 

The venerable process theologian, John Cobb, has just published a book entitled "Salvation".  In it he writes:  "...Jesus' message of salvation was about the basilea theou [kingdom of God or heaven]. For Jesus, the good news was that the basilea theou was at hand... the [Lord's] prayer is emphatically not about one's personal needs.  One does not pray to one's personal Abba.  One does not pray for one's individual food or forgiveness. We pray to Abba, and we ask for our bread and our forgiveness.  We might think that "we" are only believers, but the prayer is about global transformation.  We address the Abba of all."

Years ago, I had a conversation with a young friend who had just spent her summer working at the Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts, an ongoing re-enactment of life in the 1620's Pilgrim colony.  Her job was to play the part of the preacher's daughter.  She found herself frustrated in this role, because evangelical Christian tourists constantly asked her if she had accepted Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior.  Her scripted answer had to be this:  "Of whatever do you speak?  We are the elect of God."  The first Protestants to people America's shores had no concept of "personal salvation".  They did not ask each other the "evangelical question".  They believed in a collective, communal salvation that they, as a faith community, had been predestined to receive by the grace of God.  Evangelical visitors to Plymouth Plantation could not grasp the fact that their religion was not the same as that of their Pilgrim forebearers.

Of course, each of us as individuals must take responsibility for our own lives, make our own choices, and deal forthrightly with our circumstances - whether or not those circumstances were self-inflicted. But indivisible from personal responsibility is social responsibility.  I have a personal responsibility to engage in public life, to strive for social and economic justice and peace and for preserving the planet.  Likewise, maintaining a discipline of spiritual practice is my personal responsibility - in the service of my social responsibility.

Right now, the United States is recovering from the hangover that followed our long binge of privatizing the consequences of public policy failure.  A long "personal responsibility crusade", promoted by right-wing propaganda, crippled our ability to address problems that can only be rectified by collective action.  Climate change, health care, poverty, extreme income inequality, and weakened democratic institutions cannot be fixed by individuals acting on their own.  As in our prayers we address the Abba of all, so we must all work together in order for "thy kingdom" to come. 

"I won't be full till all are fed."  This line in my communion song, Deeper Love, expresses a theology of communal salvation through collective action.  Jesus' kingdom of heaven is not going to drop from the sky, nor are we going to be "raptured" upwards into it.  Salvation will come because, filled with the Spirit of divine Love, we will build a beloved community on earth - a sustainable, equitable way of life that integrates humanity with nature. 

Stations of the Cross: Climate Change

 

Confronting and Contemplating

Catastrophic Climate Change

A spiritual practice for Lent

You can “walk” these stations by practicing one station per day, from March 20 through Good Friday, April 2 – or at any other time or manner during Lent (Ash Wednesday, February 17, until Easter Sunday, April 4).  These Stations and the accompanying graphic can be used by churches to set up a Stations walk, facing the public – posted on outside-facing windows or walls.  Churches are urged to be creative – do your own versions of these Stations!  Please send images of your Stations to me, to spread to the progressive Christian network.  And of course post them on your social media, as well.

 
Lent is a time to see, pray, and act.
 
Lent is a time to see the cross of Christ – in its very real forms today.  To see the ways that we crucify, and are crucified.  To see the harm we to the planet and to others by our actions and by our inaction.  Lent is a time to face the cross.  Because the only way beyond it is through it.
 
Lent is a time to pray… to bring what we see before God.  God is divine, unconditional agape love.  And we practice that agape love by paying attention so deeply that our prejudices and assumptions about what we see are stripped away, so we can see what is as it is, in itself.  So that we can see others as they really are, in themselves.  “Do you have eyes, and fail to see?” asked Jesus.  Prayer opens our eyes wider, and opens our hearts more fully to receive what we see.
 
Lent is a time to act.  Having seen, having prayed, we know what needs to be done and we have the heart to do it.  We are spiritually prepared to be agents of resurrection and reconciliation for peace, justice, and human and environmental flourishing in the real world around us.
 
The Stations of the Cross

The practice of contemplating the Stations of the Cross, depicting the final hours of Jesus’ life, is a very old one. To this day, many churches have gardens or sanctuaries in which the stations are situated.  Each of the 14 stations marks a point along the way to Jesus’ death.

The crucifixion of our time is catastrophic human-caused climate change.  This depiction of the Stations confronts us with the ways we have nailed our planet to this cross, and the choices we can make to turn away from this destruction. 

By squarely facing what we have done, we begin to experience the life on the other side of the cross.

Because the cross is suffering, and also its cure.

“…as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up…” (John 3: 14)

The Romans used the cross as a symbol of their power to torture their subjects into submission, but their brutality contributed to the moral decay and eventual collapse of their Empire.  The early Christians turned the empire’s intended meaning of the cross upside down and inside out, and made it a sign of liberation into life.
 
In the gospel of John (3:14), the cross is described as the homeopathic remedy for the human condition. 
 
In ancient times, homeopathy – the principle that “a dose of that which ails you is the cure” – was the dominant form of medicine. The cross is the central symbol of the Christian religion; it confronts its viewers with suffering, and it is through this homeopathic encounter that suffering is transcended.  Buddha’s first step on his path to enlightenment, known as the First Noble Truth, is that life is suffering.  Only by facing this truth can one begin to relieve it.  The first and most deeply paradoxical of the Twelve Steps toward recovery in Alcoholics Anonymous is to admit that one is powerless over alcohol.  It is by facing what crucifies us that we begin the process of resurrection toward healing, recovery, forgiveness, reconciliation, repentance, and renewal.
 
The passage from John refers to a passage from the Hebrew Scriptures (Numbers 21:9): “ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”  The people of Israel, wandering in their desert exodus, began to despair and were then punished for their complaints with a plague of snakes that bit them and killed some of them.  Moses cried out to God for help, and God told him to put up a bronze serpent on a pole and have the people gaze at it, and thus be healed of the snakebites. The gospel of John says that as the serpent was lifted on the pole to save the people of Israel, so would Jesus have to be lifted up in order to save humanity.  The image of serpents on a pole, the caduceus, is the symbol of medicine.

The bronze serpent was spiritual homeopathy for snakebites.
The cross is spiritual homeopathy for the ways we bring suffering on ourselves and others.
To get to the other side of the cross, we are called to see, pray, and act – to reverse catastrophic human-caused climate change.

1.  Jesus is condemned to death

SEE:  Climate Change - THE BIG PICTURE
The world’s scientists confirmed in the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that at the current rate, the world could cross 1.5˚C hotter as soon as 2030. That’s only a decade from now, well within the lifespan of most people alive today.
Earth has always had natural cycles of warming and cooling, but not like we’re seeing now. The top five hottest years on record are 2016, 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2014.
Human beings are causing climate change, largely by burning fossil fuels.
Rising temperatures correlate almost exactly with the release of greenhouse gases.
Before the 18^th century, when humans in the industrial west began to burn coal, oil and gas, our atmosphere typically contained about 280 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Those are the conditions “on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted.”
Now, as the use of fossil fuels spreads through the world, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere is skyrocketing — we’re now well over 415 parts per million of CO₂ in the atmosphere. 
At the same time, the rapid growth in demand for animal-based agriculture by wealthier countries has seen other greenhouse gasses like methane and nitrous oxide rapidly rise. The contribution of agriculture causes about 15% of global emissions. Burning fossil fuels remains by far the biggest single contributor to the problem: in 2017, close to 70% of annual emissions came from fossil fuel use and other industrial processes. This is compounded by the fact that carbon dioxide stays active in the atmosphere much longer than methane and other greenhouse gasses.
In 2019, CO2 concentrations crossed 415 ppm in the atmosphere for the first time in at least 2.5 million years.
An overwhelming 97% of scientists agree that climate change is being caused by human greenhouse gas emissions. There is no meaningful debate about the basic science of climate change.
1˚C of warming has already resulted in devastating impacts across the planet.
Global grain yields have declined by 10% from heatwaves and floods connected to climate change, unleashing hunger and displacement. Over 1 million people living near coasts have been forced from their homes due to rising seas and stronger storms, and millions more are expected to flee in the coming years.
The IPCC states the difference between 1.5˚C and 2˚C of global temperature rise could mean well over 10 million more migrants from sea-level rise.
Climate change science leaves no room for doubt. The 2018 IPCC report has confirmed what we’ve known for decades: increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events is a result of climate change.
(Source: 350.org)

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):  The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
    the world, and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas,
    and established it on the rivers.  (Psalm 24: 1-2)
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Join the global movement to reverse climate change through 350.org

 

2.  The cross is laid upon him

SEE:  Climate Change and RACISM
Climate change has a disproportionately negative effect on people of color. 

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39)
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Join the movement to end environmental racism through the Poor People’s Campaign 

 

3.  His first fall

SEE:  Climate Change and POVERTY
Climate change has a disproportionately negative effect on poor people.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18-19)
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Join the movement for economic justice through the Poor People’s Campaign

 

4.  He meets his mother Mary

SEE:  Climate Change and SPECIES EXTINCTION
More and more of Mother Earth’s creatures are endangered with climate change-caused extinction.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):  “ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” (Jesus, Luke 12:27)
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Reduce your consumption of meat, because animal agriculture is a major source of methane emissions which contribute to global warming.

 

5. Simon of Cyrene is made to bear the cross

SEE:  Climate Change and MIGRATION
Refugees from drought and flooding caused by climate change are increasingly the cause of mass migration within and across borders.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):  “The strangers who sojourn with you shall be to you as the natives among you, and you shall love them as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Leviticus 19:33-34).
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Join the movement for immigrant justice through the Interfaith Immigration Coalition.  Press your elected representatives to pass comprehensive, humane immigration reform.
 

6. Jesus’ face is wiped by Veronica

SEE:  Climate Change and DISEASE
Climate change leads directly and indirectly to the spread of infectious diseases and risks to health.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’  (Matthew 25: 34-36)
Mediatio :  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio :  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Press your elected representatives to preserve and extend legislation to assure that all people have access to health care regardless of their income.

 

7.  His second fall

SEE:  Climate Change and HUNGER
Climate change, on the whole, will damage the key crops upon which our food supply depends.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   ^“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”  (Matthew 5:6)
Mediatio :  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio :  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Sign a letter to your congressional representative about food security today- through
Bread for the World – and donate to your local Food Bank.
 

 

8. He meets the women of Jerusalem

SEE:  Climate Change and CONFLICT
Climate change is a major indirect cause of violent upheavals and wars, as people are displaced and lose their livelihoods.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):  He shall judge between the nations,
    and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
    neither shall they learn war any more.  (Isaiah 2:4)
Mediatio :  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio :  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Join the global peace movement through American Friends Service Committee.

 

9. His third fall

SEE:  Climate Change and the OCEANS
Global climate change results in loss of habitat and death of sea life.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” ⁶ He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.  (John 21: 5-6)
Mediatio :  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio :  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.

ACT:  Turn down your heater setting and turn up your cooling system setting to reduce energy consumption in your home.


10. He is stripped of his garments

SEE:  Climate Change and EXTREME HEAT
Greenhouse gases emitted by human activity are causing catastrophic heat waves resulting in unprecedented wildfires and threats to health.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   As a deer longs for flowing streams,
    so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God,
   for the living God. (Psalm 42: 1-2)
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Press your elected officials at the local, state, and federal level to legislate against fossil fuels and replace them with renewable energy sources.


11.  He is crucified

SEE:  Climate Change and STORMS
The frequency and intensity of devastating storms is increasing due to human-caused climate change.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.  But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.  (Mark 4: 37-39)
Mediatio :  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio :  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Consolidate errands so that you make fewer trips in your car, to reduce CO2 emissions.


12.  He dies on the cross

SEE:  Climate Change and SEA LEVEL RISE
Huge areas of the world, many of them heavily populated, are being inundated as sea levels rise due to human-caused climate change.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   The waters swelled so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered;  the waters swelled above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.  And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all human beings; everything on dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.  (Genesis 7: 19-22)
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Do an energy audit of your home to find ways to reduce energy consumption.


13.  His body is taken down from the cross

SEE:  Climate Change and INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
Indigenous populations are disproportionately threatened by human-caused climate change.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people;
    help me when you deliver them;
that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
    that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
    that I may glory in your heritage.  (Psalm 106: 4-5)
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Plant trees appropriate for your local ecosystem in your neighborhood, to absorb CO2.  


14.  His body is laid in the tomb

SEE:  Climate Change and the EARTH
Our actions have put the Earth’s natural processes out of balance, with catastrophic results for all life on the planet.  It is up to us to restore the balance.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):  Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.  Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him;  they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.  And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.  (Revelation 22: 1-5)
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times) “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Invite your friends, family, and community to join you in the movement to reverse climate change.

MORE at ProgressiveChristiansUniting.org . 

JIM BURKLO

Blog: MUSINGS

Senior Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life, University of Southern California

 

 

 

You can “walk” these stations by practicing one station per day, from March 20 through Good Friday, April 2 – or at any other time or manner during Lent (Ash Wednesday, February 17, until Easter Sunday, April 4).  These Stations and the accompanying graphic can be used by churches to set up a Stations walk, facing the public – posted on outside-facing windows or walls.  Churches are urged to be creative – do your own versions of these Stations!  Please send images of your Stations to me, to spread to the progressive Christian network.  And of course post them on your social media, as well.

 
Lent is a time to see, pray, and act.
 
Lent is a time to see the cross of Christ – in its very real forms today.  To see the ways that we crucify, and are crucified.  To see the harm we to the planet and to others by our actions and by our inaction.  Lent is a time to face the cross.  Because the only way beyond it is through it.
 
Lent is a time to pray… to bring what we see before God.  God is divine, unconditional agape love.  And we practice that agape love by paying attention so deeply that our prejudices and assumptions about what we see are stripped away, so we can see what is as it is, in itself.  So that we can see others as they really are, in themselves.  “Do you have eyes, and fail to see?” asked Jesus.  Prayer opens our eyes wider, and opens our hearts more fully to receive what we see.
 
Lent is a time to act.  Having seen, having prayed, we know what needs to be done and we have the heart to do it.  We are spiritually prepared to be agents of resurrection and reconciliation for peace, justice, and human and environmental flourishing in the real world around us.
 
The Stations of the Cross

The practice of contemplating the Stations of the Cross, depicting the final hours of Jesus’ life, is a very old one. To this day, many churches have gardens or sanctuaries in which the stations are situated.  Each of the 14 stations marks a point along the way to Jesus’ death.

The crucifixion of our time is catastrophic human-caused climate change.  This depiction of the Stations confronts us with the ways we have nailed our planet to this cross, and the choices we can make to turn away from this destruction. 

By squarely facing what we have done, we begin to experience the life on the other side of the cross.

Because the cross is suffering, and also its cure.

“…as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up…” (John 3: 14)

The Romans used the cross as a symbol of their power to torture their subjects into submission, but their brutality contributed to the moral decay and eventual collapse of their Empire.  The early Christians turned the empire’s intended meaning of the cross upside down and inside out, and made it a sign of liberation into life.
 
In the gospel of John (3:14), the cross is described as the homeopathic remedy for the human condition. 
 
In ancient times, homeopathy – the principle that “a dose of that which ails you is the cure” – was the dominant form of medicine. The cross is the central symbol of the Christian religion; it confronts its viewers with suffering, and it is through this homeopathic encounter that suffering is transcended.  Buddha’s first step on his path to enlightenment, known as the First Noble Truth, is that life is suffering.  Only by facing this truth can one begin to relieve it.  The first and most deeply paradoxical of the Twelve Steps toward recovery in Alcoholics Anonymous is to admit that one is powerless over alcohol.  It is by facing what crucifies us that we begin the process of resurrection toward healing, recovery, forgiveness, reconciliation, repentance, and renewal.
 
The passage from John refers to a passage from the Hebrew Scriptures (Numbers 21:9): “ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”  The people of Israel, wandering in their desert exodus, began to despair and were then punished for their complaints with a plague of snakes that bit them and killed some of them.  Moses cried out to God for help, and God told him to put up a bronze serpent on a pole and have the people gaze at it, and thus be healed of the snakebites. The gospel of John says that as the serpent was lifted on the pole to save the people of Israel, so would Jesus have to be lifted up in order to save humanity.  The image of serpents on a pole, the caduceus, is the symbol of medicine.

The bronze serpent was spiritual homeopathy for snakebites.
The cross is spiritual homeopathy for the ways we bring suffering on ourselves and others.
To get to the other side of the cross, we are called to see, pray, and act – to reverse catastrophic human-caused climate change.

1.  Jesus is condemned to death

SEE:  Climate Change - THE BIG PICTURE
The world’s scientists confirmed in the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that at the current rate, the world could cross 1.5˚C hotter as soon as 2030. That’s only a decade from now, well within the lifespan of most people alive today.
Earth has always had natural cycles of warming and cooling, but not like we’re seeing now. The top five hottest years on record are 2016, 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2014.
Human beings are causing climate change, largely by burning fossil fuels.
Rising temperatures correlate almost exactly with the release of greenhouse gases.
Before the 18^th century, when humans in the industrial west began to burn coal, oil and gas, our atmosphere typically contained about 280 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Those are the conditions “on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted.”
Now, as the use of fossil fuels spreads through the world, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere is skyrocketing — we’re now well over 415 parts per million of CO₂ in the atmosphere. 
At the same time, the rapid growth in demand for animal-based agriculture by wealthier countries has seen other greenhouse gasses like methane and nitrous oxide rapidly rise. The contribution of agriculture causes about 15% of global emissions. Burning fossil fuels remains by far the biggest single contributor to the problem: in 2017, close to 70% of annual emissions came from fossil fuel use and other industrial processes. This is compounded by the fact that carbon dioxide stays active in the atmosphere much longer than methane and other greenhouse gasses.
In 2019, CO2 concentrations crossed 415 ppm in the atmosphere for the first time in at least 2.5 million years.
An overwhelming 97% of scientists agree that climate change is being caused by human greenhouse gas emissions. There is no meaningful debate about the basic science of climate change.
1˚C of warming has already resulted in devastating impacts across the planet.
Global grain yields have declined by 10% from heatwaves and floods connected to climate change, unleashing hunger and displacement. Over 1 million people living near coasts have been forced from their homes due to rising seas and stronger storms, and millions more are expected to flee in the coming years.
The IPCC states the difference between 1.5˚C and 2˚C of global temperature rise could mean well over 10 million more migrants from sea-level rise.
Climate change science leaves no room for doubt. The 2018 IPCC report has confirmed what we’ve known for decades: increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events is a result of climate change.
(Source: 350.org)

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):  The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
    the world, and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas,
    and established it on the rivers.  (Psalm 24: 1-2)
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Join the global movement to reverse climate change through 350.org

 

2.  The cross is laid upon him

SEE:  Climate Change and RACISM
Climate change has a disproportionately negative effect on people of color. 

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39)
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Join the movement to end environmental racism through the Poor People’s Campaign 

 

3.  His first fall

SEE:  Climate Change and POVERTY
Climate change has a disproportionately negative effect on poor people.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18-19)
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Join the movement for economic justice through the Poor People’s Campaign

 

4.  He meets his mother Mary

SEE:  Climate Change and SPECIES EXTINCTION
More and more of Mother Earth’s creatures are endangered with climate change-caused extinction.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):  “ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” (Jesus, Luke 12:27)
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Reduce your consumption of meat, because animal agriculture is a major source of methane emissions which contribute to global warming.

 

5. Simon of Cyrene is made to bear the cross

SEE:  Climate Change and MIGRATION
Refugees from drought and flooding caused by climate change are increasingly the cause of mass migration within and across borders.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):  “The strangers who sojourn with you shall be to you as the natives among you, and you shall love them as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Leviticus 19:33-34).
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Join the movement for immigrant justice through the Interfaith Immigration Coalition.  Press your elected representatives to pass comprehensive, humane immigration reform.
 

6. Jesus’ face is wiped by Veronica

SEE:  Climate Change and DISEASE
Climate change leads directly and indirectly to the spread of infectious diseases and risks to health.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’  (Matthew 25: 34-36)
Mediatio :  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio :  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Press your elected representatives to preserve and extend legislation to assure that all people have access to health care regardless of their income.

 

7.  His second fall

SEE:  Climate Change and HUNGER
Climate change, on the whole, will damage the key crops upon which our food supply depends.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   ^“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”  (Matthew 5:6)
Mediatio :  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio :  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Sign a letter to your congressional representative about food security today- through
Bread for the World – and donate to your local Food Bank.
 

 

8. He meets the women of Jerusalem

SEE:  Climate Change and CONFLICT
Climate change is a major indirect cause of violent upheavals and wars, as people are displaced and lose their livelihoods.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):  He shall judge between the nations,
    and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
    neither shall they learn war any more.  (Isaiah 2:4)
Mediatio :  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio :  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Join the global peace movement through American Friends Service Committee.

 

9. His third fall

SEE:  Climate Change and the OCEANS
Global climate change results in loss of habitat and death of sea life.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” ⁶ He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.  (John 21: 5-6)
Mediatio :  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio :  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.

ACT:  Turn down your heater setting and turn up your cooling system setting to reduce energy consumption in your home.


10. He is stripped of his garments

SEE:  Climate Change and EXTREME HEAT
Greenhouse gases emitted by human activity are causing catastrophic heat waves resulting in unprecedented wildfires and threats to health.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   As a deer longs for flowing streams,
    so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God,
   for the living God. (Psalm 42: 1-2)
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Press your elected officials at the local, state, and federal level to legislate against fossil fuels and replace them with renewable energy sources.


11.  He is crucified

SEE:  Climate Change and STORMS
The frequency and intensity of devastating storms is increasing due to human-caused climate change.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.  But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.  (Mark 4: 37-39)
Mediatio :  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio :  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Consolidate errands so that you make fewer trips in your car, to reduce CO2 emissions.


12.  He dies on the cross

SEE:  Climate Change and SEA LEVEL RISE
Huge areas of the world, many of them heavily populated, are being inundated as sea levels rise due to human-caused climate change.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   The waters swelled so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered;  the waters swelled above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.  And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all human beings; everything on dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.  (Genesis 7: 19-22)
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Do an energy audit of your home to find ways to reduce energy consumption.


13.  His body is taken down from the cross

SEE:  Climate Change and INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
Indigenous populations are disproportionately threatened by human-caused climate change.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):   Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people;
    help me when you deliver them;
that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
    that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
    that I may glory in your heritage.  (Psalm 106: 4-5)
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times)  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Plant trees appropriate for your local ecosystem in your neighborhood, to absorb CO2.  


14.  His body is laid in the tomb

SEE:  Climate Change and the EARTH
Our actions have put the Earth’s natural processes out of balance, with catastrophic results for all life on the planet.  It is up to us to restore the balance.

PRAY:  Lectio Divina
Lectio (read aloud):  Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.  Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him;  they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.  And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.  (Revelation 22: 1-5)
Mediatio:  In silence, receive the scripture into your heart, letting go of any preconceptions or assumptions about its meaning.  Let the scripture “sink in” to your soul.
Oratio (chant the Prayer of Jesus aloud, four times) “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me…”
Contemplatio:  In silence, pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, urges, and sensations that arise out of your time of meditatio.  Center yourself in the divine love of God and wait faithfully for the energy and inspiration to act.
 
ACT:  Invite your friends, family, and community to join you in the movement to reverse climate change.

MORE at ProgressiveChristiansUniting.org . 

Blog: MUSINGS

Senior Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life, University of Southern California

Showing Up - at Epiphany

 

At least half of what’s good in life is the result of just showing up.

Which is what the three wise men did in Bethlehem

According to an old non-biblical Christian tradition, the names of the three wise men who visited the Holy Family were Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, each representing a different part of the world far beyond Israel.

Christmas is the myth of the birth of the Christ to the people of Israel. 

Epiphany is the myth of the birth of the Christ to the rest of the world.

Starting with the three wise men who showed up after Jesus’ birth.  Better late than never!  The “twelve days of Christmas” end at Epiphany, in order to keep them in the nativity picture.

Maybe just in the frame of the picture.  But the frame is still essential to the picture.

Which may be one of the reasons that Christians for hundreds of years have marked their door frames with the letters “CMB” and the number of the new year, interspersed with crosses:  20+C+M+B+21. 

Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar.  Liminal figures in the faith – literally.  But what would Christmas be without them?  It’s worth pondering their place in the story.  And what that place represents for the wider Christian story.  Especially now, in a culturally and religiously globalized world. 

Did they become Christians when they showed up at the manger?  Did they recite the formula of American evangelical Christianity:  “I accept Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior”?  Did they ever recite the Apostle’s Creed?  Does it matter?  We don’t know. 

What matters is that they showed up.  And paid attention.  And gave their gifts. 

Do you show up?  Do you pay attention?  Do you give your gifts? 

These deeds matter far more than believing the right creeds. 

It didn’t matter then, it doesn’t matter now, whether or not the three wise men ever became “official” Christians.  Because they showed up, they became “virtual” Christians.  And let’s face it: some “virtual” Christians act more Christian than “official” Christians.

The Christ is God - divine Love - among us.  If you show up for this love, if you practice this love, you belong.  Whether or not you say the right religious words, believe the right religious beliefs, join the right religious club.  In the kingdom of heaven on earth, if you show up, you’re in, no matter where you came from in the wide world. 

And that’s the epiphany we celebrate at Epiphany.

 

JIM BURKLO

Blog: MUSINGS

Senior Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life, University of Southern California

Just Looking - At Christmas

Our granddaughter Rumi and I have a Christmas tradition of doing arty projects together.  Among them are making Christmas crèches out of wood and tin.  We put them on the fireplace mantel at Advent.

Mary, Joseph, shepherds, angels, and wise men gaze at the baby Jesus in the manger.   You could hardly call them “action figures”.  You could call them “looking figures”.

Not just “looking”, but “just looking”.

My daily contemplative prayer practice aims at this experience.

Most of the time, if I’m looking at all, I’m looking for something. Looking up something. Looking into something. Most of my looking has agendas, preconditions, prejudices, assumptions. There’s something I want, and I’m using my senses to find it.

Looking without preconditions, looking without the intention of seeing any particular thing in a certain way, looking only for the sake of looking –  now, that’s a very different experience.

Every day I take a long walk up a hill, with the intention of being as mindful as possible, aiming to take a God’s-eye-view of all that is present within and around me.  I love rocks, fossils, native plants, grand vistas. I find myself looking for these things along the trail. And that quest has its own charms and satisfactions. But far greater and deeper is the satisfaction of looking at this impulse to “look for”, letting it go, and then practicing “just looking”. Looking without any purpose or goal or aim. Just observing what is, as it is, in the moment that it is, then moving on and just looking at what is next, as it is, in the moment that it is. Without naming or describing or presuming anything about what is. And then being aware that the One Who Just Is is doing the looking.  And that One is beyond observation, time, judgment, opinion, evaluation, or description.

This kind of looking leads to awe and wonder and discovery.  It is the wellspring of creativity.  It makes it possible to see the needs of other people that might otherwise escape attention. After a while of practicing this divine way of looking, I begin to appreciate what I am seeing on its own terms, not just my own.

Such is the looking at the figures in the crèche scene at the birth of Jesus. The crèche is a window into the eternal quality of the now, an icon of the divine point of view. It is the slack-jawed, timeless, aimless, free, worshipful Awe that is Love that is God.

Maybe the wise men came to Bethlehem looking for the newborn King. But when they got there, and laid down their gifts, I like to think that they ended that quest and just looked at a little baby lying in the hay. Without believing anything about him, without assuming anything about him, without defining him. Just looking with full attention, total presence, and pure love.

So, too, the shepherds looked. They had been “keeping watch” over their sheep. Then they were “keeping watch” over Jesus. Just looking.

So it was with the angels in the myth of Christmas. The biblical Greek word for angel means “messenger”. Somebody who reports on what is, as it is. Not on what is supposed to be. Not on what we wish it was. Angels “watch over”: they just look, and then report what they see. The Greek word for “gospel” is related: “euangelion” or “good message“. The gospel is not just a set of writings in the New Testament.  It is the way of seeing the world that was born at Christmas.  It is what we see when we just look at what is, as it is, when and where it is, without filters or interpretations or preconceptions.  Abba Bessarion, one of the early Christian “desert fathers” who spent their lives in contemplative prayer in the wilderness, offered up this admonition on his deathbed:  “The monk should be all eye, like the cherubim and seraphim.”

The  Cloud of Unknowing is a profound text of Christian contemplative mysticism by from the 14^th century.  Its anonymous author wrote that unlike humans, angels “are unable to waste time.”  I aspire to this quality of angelic nature.  When angels are doing nothing but hovering close and watching, they are doing something purposeful, useful, and priceless.  In the depths of our souls, each of us wants to be known and seen as we really are.  Sometimes just staying close and watching silently, with an open heart and mind, is the greatest gift we can offer another person – more precious than any tangible gift that can be wrapped and laid under a tree.

It’s an epiphany – the biblical Greek word for a sudden appearance or manifestation – to discover the difference between “looking for” and “just looking”. When I’m “just looking”, I can see divine incarnations that I might miss when I’m “looking for”.  And that kind is the seeing that we celebrate at Christmas.

I imagine one of the wise men, while “just looking” at the newborn Christ, meditating this way:

What wisdom I have
Awakens me to my blindness.
I cannot see light itself:
What I know of light
Is only an alluring shadow
Of what it is and does.

From billions of years away in space-time,
Through darkness intervening,
At its inconceivable speed
The light of an exploding star passes
Through the dark seas of my eyes,
Illuminating the dark curves of their retinas.
But I cannot see the glow of their cells:
I can only perceive the messages they send
To my brain, and from there to my soul.

Thus Hope passes,
Unseen and undetected,
Through this dark world.
What retina receives and translates it
Into Joy and Wonder?

An eye comes into the world:
A retina I cannot perceive
That will see for me,
Beyond my dark despair.

A star in the East!
This eye tells me
To follow it
All the way to the Source
Of the truer Wisdom
That is Love.

~ Rev. Jim Burklo

Begging Your Pardon: A musing on mercy

 

Our outgoing president is handing out pardons to the denizens of the very “swamp” that he swore to empty in Washington.  The list is a rogue’s gallery worth studying: it will erase any lingering doubt about the spectacular venality of this administration. 
 
But it’s worth pondering for a more enduring reason.  It begs the question:  what is the place of mercy in a system of justice?
 
The Christian tradition has much to contribute to this conversation.
 
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!”  Matthew 23:23-24
 
Not just justice, but mercy and faith also were matters of the law for Jesus.  His view was echoed by the prophet:
 
“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you;
    therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
    blessed are all those who wait for him.”  Isaiah 30:18
 
One way to summarize the entire Christian Bible is this:  it is a series of mythical stories about how people violated the laws and commands of God, over and over again, and suffered his enforcement of justice - but over and over again, God showed mercy.  God punished Adam and Eve for eating the forbidden fruit by casting them out of the garden, but God still dropped rain on their hard-tilled soil.  God punished humanity for all manner of prideful sins by flooding the earth, but held back from complete annihilation by ordering Noah to build the ark.  And God had his son die on a cross as the final sacrifice, to pardon us all of our sins.  Divine justice included divine mercy, for the sake of the survival and ultimate well-being of people. 
 
Justice without mercy is just a soul-less machine that crushes people without consideration for circumstances and consequences for individuals and society.  That is why the Constitution allows the President to issue pardons for federal crimes.  And governors for state crimes.  That is why, at least in some cases, judges have discretion in the length and nature of sentences for convicts.      
 
Mercy’s place in justice is humane and divine.  To keep the social fabric intact, the law must be honored, and its violation must have consequences.  But merciful exceptions and adjustments must sometimes be made in the conduct of justice, or else the law becomes an instrument of cruelty - the enemy of the people and not its protector.
 
At the end of the Vietnam War, President Gerald Ford gave amnesty, and later President Carter gave pardons, to young men who had resisted or refused the draft.  Whether the men should have been drafted to fight in Vietnam at all was a fraught political question.  But maintaining the integrity of the draft law during the war was perceived by most people to serve the national interest.  So the men who were prosecuted for the crime were sentenced accordingly. 
 
But after the war ended, the situation reversed.  To keep people in jail for refusing to fight in an unpopular war that was over would have further threatened respect for the draft law itself, as well as exacerbating social unrest.  
 
For the sake not only of the young men caught in the conundrum of obeying the law or their consciences, for the sake of encouraging respect for the law, and for the sake of healing the nation after an unpopular war, the two presidents wisely showed mercy with their power of the pardon. Ford said “reconciliation calls for an act of mercy to bind the nation’s wounds and to heal the scars of divisiveness.”
 
Turn Gerald Ford’s intentions upside down to see what the current president is doing.  He is pardoning people who lack conscience, eroding respect for the laws they blatantly violated, and outraging the people of the country in the process.
 
Mercy benefits the people, but these pardons do not.  Roger Stone is not a better person because he got away with witness tampering.  The people of the country were not served in any way by the pardon he received. 
 
It appears that when the current president leaves office, he may be tried and convicted for any of a number of crimes himself.  He probably does not deserve mercy.  The nature and circumstances of his crimes, and the need to maintain the integrity of the laws he broke, suggest that imprisonment may be appropriate.  Pardoning him due to his personal circumstances would be wrong.  But to show mercy on the American people, who are suffering from a period of painful contention, the power of the pardon may be rightly exercised by President Biden or Governor Cuomo.  Putting a former president behind bars, for any reason, is a sorry spectacle that does not serve the well-being of a democracy.  Tens of millions of people voted for him.  The current president’s campaign rallying cry against Hillary Clinton, “lock her up”, was outrageously offensive for exactly this reason.
 
So as this nightmarish era in American politics comes to an end, let us get spiritually prepared to temper justice with mercy – for the sake of the Love who is God, for the sake of democracy, and for the sake of us all.
 

JIM BURKLO

Blog: MUSINGS

Senior Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life, University of Southern California

 

 

Our outgoing president is handing out pardons to the denizens of the very “swamp” that he swore to empty in Washington.  The list is a rogue’s gallery worth studying: it will erase any lingering doubt about the spectacular venality of this administration. 
 
But it’s worth pondering for a more enduring reason.  It begs the question:  what is the place of mercy in a system of justice?
 
The Christian tradition has much to contribute to this conversation.
 
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!”  Matthew 23:23-24
 
Not just justice, but mercy and faith also were matters of the law for Jesus.  His view was echoed by the prophet:
 
“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you;
    therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
    blessed are all those who wait for him.”  Isaiah 30:18
 
One way to summarize the entire Christian Bible is this:  it is a series of mythical stories about how people violated the laws and commands of God, over and over again, and suffered his enforcement of justice - but over and over again, God showed mercy.  God punished Adam and Eve for eating the forbidden fruit by casting them out of the garden, but God still dropped rain on their hard-tilled soil.  God punished humanity for all manner of prideful sins by flooding the earth, but held back from complete annihilation by ordering Noah to build the ark.  And God had his son die on a cross as the final sacrifice, to pardon us all of our sins.  Divine justice included divine mercy, for the sake of the survival and ultimate well-being of people. 
 
Justice without mercy is just a soul-less machine that crushes people without consideration for circumstances and consequences for individuals and society.  That is why the Constitution allows the President to issue pardons for federal crimes.  And governors for state crimes.  That is why, at least in some cases, judges have discretion in the length and nature of sentences for convicts.      
 
Mercy’s place in justice is humane and divine.  To keep the social fabric intact, the law must be honored, and its violation must have consequences.  But merciful exceptions and adjustments must sometimes be made in the conduct of justice, or else the law becomes an instrument of cruelty - the enemy of the people and not its protector.
 
At the end of the Vietnam War, President Gerald Ford gave amnesty, and later President Carter gave pardons, to young men who had resisted or refused the draft.  Whether the men should have been drafted to fight in Vietnam at all was a fraught political question.  But maintaining the integrity of the draft law during the war was perceived by most people to serve the national interest.  So the men who were prosecuted for the crime were sentenced accordingly. 
 
But after the war ended, the situation reversed.  To keep people in jail for refusing to fight in an unpopular war that was over would have further threatened respect for the draft law itself, as well as exacerbating social unrest.  
 
For the sake not only of the young men caught in the conundrum of obeying the law or their consciences, for the sake of encouraging respect for the law, and for the sake of healing the nation after an unpopular war, the two presidents wisely showed mercy with their power of the pardon. Ford said “reconciliation calls for an act of mercy to bind the nation’s wounds and to heal the scars of divisiveness.”
 
Turn Gerald Ford’s intentions upside down to see what the current president is doing.  He is pardoning people who lack conscience, eroding respect for the laws they blatantly violated, and outraging the people of the country in the process.
 
Mercy benefits the people, but these pardons do not.  Roger Stone is not a better person because he got away with witness tampering.  The people of the country were not served in any way by the pardon he received. 
 
It appears that when the current president leaves office, he may be tried and convicted for any of a number of crimes himself.  He probably does not deserve mercy.  The nature and circumstances of his crimes, and the need to maintain the integrity of the laws he broke, suggest that imprisonment may be appropriate.  Pardoning him due to his personal circumstances would be wrong.  But to show mercy on the American people, who are suffering from a period of painful contention, the power of the pardon may be rightly exercised by President Biden or Governor Cuomo.  Putting a former president behind bars, for any reason, is a sorry spectacle that does not serve the well-being of a democracy.  Tens of millions of people voted for him.  The current president’s campaign rallying cry against Hillary Clinton, “lock her up”, was outrageously offensive for exactly this reason.
 
So as this nightmarish era in American politics comes to an end, let us get spiritually prepared to temper justice with mercy – for the sake of the Love who is God, for the sake of democracy, and for the sake of us all.
 

Blog: MUSINGS

Senior Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life, University of Southern California

Getting Our Myths Straight - at Christmas

 

Knock on wood, but it appears that democracy in the United States has survived one of its worst threats in its history.  With the Electoral College vote, Donald Trump’s farcical coup attempt is all but ended. 

It’s appropriate for us to breathe out a sigh of relief.

But then immediately re-oxygenate ourselves for an uphill effort to restore our democracy after all the damage it has suffered.   The next would-be demagogue will be much more cunning than the current one.  And the Republicans have made the erosion of democratic institutions part of their unwritten platform.  Surely they will devise many more voter-suppression schemes in the states they control, through gerrymandering, reduced access to vote-by-mail, etc - all in the name of preventing the “voter fraud” they have cynically confabulated.  It is frightful to see a political party, once worthy of respect if not allegiance, fall into such depravity.

January 20^th will be a big day, but only the first in a long haul.

What can progressive Christians contribute to the cause of resurrecting democratic values in America?  I hope this question stirs in us this season. 

Because it has to do with Christmas.

To save democracy, surely we must get the facts straight.  We must help our fellow citizens sort out which sources of information are reliable and which are not.  The ubiquity of misinformation has proven disastrous, as abundantly revealed in this election cycle and its aftermath.  (Perhaps our progressive churches should start 12-step groups for people recovering from addiction to Fox and OneAmerica and NewsMax.)  There ought to be lively debates in a healthy democracy about how to stop and reverse the factual reality of human-caused catastrophic climate change.  There is plenty of room for disagreement about how to solve the problem.  But to deny that the problem exists is to replace facts with bad myths.  And that’s what the Republicans have done. 

So to save democracy, surely we must get our myths as straight as the facts.  Because a good myth can move our hearts to create and sustain a beloved community.

Christmas is a myth.  And a mighty fine one.  I would argue that it is foundational for democracy.   

It is the potent story of a king, the Prince of Peace, born not in a palace but outdoors in a rude manger.  Not a normal dictator who rules by force, but a completely different kind of leader whose only power is the attractive pull of divine Love.  

There is no tyranny in the power of Jesus.  It’s up to you – it’s up to me – it’s up to "we the people" – whether or not to walk his path of unconditional compassion.  Thus the myth of Christmas lowers heaven to earth and raises the human to the divine.  The Messiah was born to humble peasants in a stable, reflecting the fact that you and I are endowed with the shared capacity to assume the temporal throne.

And that means choosing our leaders by majority vote.  There’s no other way to reflect our will as a people.  No other way to collectively legitimize our individual authority. 

The King of kings lies in a manger of straw outside of Bethlehem.  In a crib in a tract home in the suburbs of Des Moines.  On a sofa in a mobile home in Florida.  In a cardboard box in a tent on Skid Row. 

Not in a down-padded crèche in a suite in Mar-a-Lago. 

The myth of the Republicans is that the leader is a big shot who dominates others, and that you as an individual ought to aspire to be and do the same.  It is not about democracy.  It is an Amway pyramid scheme. 

The myth of Christmas is that the leader of the people is one of the people who organizes the people to build a divine kin-dom of kindness.  The myth of Christmas is that together, we the people can create and sustain the common good.

The Republican version of Christianity is the “prosperity gospel” of a super-powerful, supernatural God who bestows favor on those who go with his program, who then bestow favor on those who go with their program. 

The Christmas version of Christianity is the gospel of the humbled God of the manger and the cross.  A God of unconditional love by all, for all, regardless of pomp, pretense, or the lack thereof.  A God incarnate in each human soul – each created equal, endowed with unalienable rights. 

If Christmas is the humble myth we live by, then we’ll be humble enough to submit to the facts of our world, however challenging and inconvenient they may be.  We’ll vote for leaders who take pandemic science seriously, and we’ll wear our masks and keep our distance until the vaccines are widely distributed. 

And most critically, we’ll rise up to perfect and defend our democratic institutions.  We’ll amend the Constitution to eliminate the loophole-ridden Electoral College so we can have direct national-level voting by the majority for the presidency.  We’ll end gerrymandering, in which entrenched politicians choose their voters: we’ve had quite enough of minority rule in this country.  We’ll make voting easy and accessible to all.  We’ll pay for principled journalism by subscribing to reputable media outlets.  We’ll gently but firmly guide our friends and relatives away from consumption of propaganda and conspiracy theories.  We’ll choose our myths carefully and seek the facts continually.  We’ll make sure our children get educated in the principles and systems of democracy.

The massive turnout at the election, and its 7,000,000-vote margin, should give us hope for the future of our democracy.  Let it be the star that guides us as we move forward - driven by sacred myth, finding our way by facing facts.

JIM BURKLO

Blog: MUSINGS

Senior Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life, University of Southern California

 

Knock on wood, but it appears that democracy in the United States has survived one of its worst threats in its history.  With the Electoral College vote, Donald Trump’s farcical coup attempt is all but ended. 

It’s appropriate for us to breathe out a sigh of relief.

But then immediately re-oxygenate ourselves for an uphill effort to restore our democracy after all the damage it has suffered.   The next would-be demagogue will be much more cunning than the current one.  And the Republicans have made the erosion of democratic institutions part of their unwritten platform.  Surely they will devise many more voter-suppression schemes in the states they control, through gerrymandering, reduced access to vote-by-mail, etc - all in the name of preventing the “voter fraud” they have cynically confabulated.  It is frightful to see a political party, once worthy of respect if not allegiance, fall into such depravity.

January 20^th will be a big day, but only the first in a long haul.

What can progressive Christians contribute to the cause of resurrecting democratic values in America?  I hope this question stirs in us this season. 

Because it has to do with Christmas.

To save democracy, surely we must get the facts straight.  We must help our fellow citizens sort out which sources of information are reliable and which are not.  The ubiquity of misinformation has proven disastrous, as abundantly revealed in this election cycle and its aftermath.  (Perhaps our progressive churches should start 12-step groups for people recovering from addiction to Fox and OneAmerica and NewsMax.)  There ought to be lively debates in a healthy democracy about how to stop and reverse the factual reality of human-caused catastrophic climate change.  There is plenty of room for disagreement about how to solve the problem.  But to deny that the problem exists is to replace facts with bad myths.  And that’s what the Republicans have done. 

So to save democracy, surely we must get our myths as straight as the facts.  Because a good myth can move our hearts to create and sustain a beloved community.

Christmas is a myth.  And a mighty fine one.  I would argue that it is foundational for democracy.   

It is the potent story of a king, the Prince of Peace, born not in a palace but outdoors in a rude manger.  Not a normal dictator who rules by force, but a completely different kind of leader whose only power is the attractive pull of divine Love.  

There is no tyranny in the power of Jesus.  It’s up to you – it’s up to me – it’s up to "we the people" – whether or not to walk his path of unconditional compassion.  Thus the myth of Christmas lowers heaven to earth and raises the human to the divine.  The Messiah was born to humble peasants in a stable, reflecting the fact that you and I are endowed with the shared capacity to assume the temporal throne.

And that means choosing our leaders by majority vote.  There’s no other way to reflect our will as a people.  No other way to collectively legitimize our individual authority. 

The King of kings lies in a manger of straw outside of Bethlehem.  In a crib in a tract home in the suburbs of Des Moines.  On a sofa in a mobile home in Florida.  In a cardboard box in a tent on Skid Row. 

Not in a down-padded crèche in a suite in Mar-a-Lago. 

The myth of the Republicans is that the leader is a big shot who dominates others, and that you as an individual ought to aspire to be and do the same.  It is not about democracy.  It is an Amway pyramid scheme. 

The myth of Christmas is that the leader of the people is one of the people who organizes the people to build a divine kin-dom of kindness.  The myth of Christmas is that together, we the people can create and sustain the common good.

The Republican version of Christianity is the “prosperity gospel” of a super-powerful, supernatural God who bestows favor on those who go with his program, who then bestow favor on those who go with their program. 

The Christmas version of Christianity is the gospel of the humbled God of the manger and the cross.  A God of unconditional love by all, for all, regardless of pomp, pretense, or the lack thereof.  A God incarnate in each human soul – each created equal, endowed with unalienable rights. 

If Christmas is the humble myth we live by, then we’ll be humble enough to submit to the facts of our world, however challenging and inconvenient they may be.  We’ll vote for leaders who take pandemic science seriously, and we’ll wear our masks and keep our distance until the vaccines are widely distributed. 

And most critically, we’ll rise up to perfect and defend our democratic institutions.  We’ll amend the Constitution to eliminate the loophole-ridden Electoral College so we can have direct national-level voting by the majority for the presidency.  We’ll end gerrymandering, in which entrenched politicians choose their voters: we’ve had quite enough of minority rule in this country.  We’ll make voting easy and accessible to all.  We’ll pay for principled journalism by subscribing to reputable media outlets.  We’ll gently but firmly guide our friends and relatives away from consumption of propaganda and conspiracy theories.  We’ll choose our myths carefully and seek the facts continually.  We’ll make sure our children get educated in the principles and systems of democracy.

The massive turnout at the election, and its 7,000,000-vote margin, should give us hope for the future of our democracy.  Let it be the star that guides us as we move forward - driven by sacred myth, finding our way by facing facts.

Blog: MUSINGS

Senior Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life, University of Southern California

Christmas is....

(Our friends Gumaro and Sharda and their baby, Adela, in front of the barn they just finished building for us in Ojai...)

 

A mythic story of a true turning point
In the natural history of consciousness,
Celebrating the birth of unconditional compassion.

The turn away from an eye for an eye,
The passing of supernatural, superpower God;
The rising of God with no power but love.

A story of hope for the peaceable kin-dom,
Activation for the foundation
Of a heavenly city on earth.

Poor shepherds and rich wise men
Brought to their knees in holy awe
Made equals in eyes of divine love.

Seeing the universe in a grain of sand,
Finding the cosmos in a baby’s hand,
Straining to listen to the angel band…

In the Bleak Pandemic

In this bleak pandemic, lonely and afraid

City streets are empty, gatherings delayed

Snow has fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,

Oh this bleak pandemic, how long will it stay?

 

Once there was a stable, in a distant land

Oppressed by foreign rulers with a brutal hand

There a peasant woman birthed upon the hay

The healer of the planet on the manger lay.

 

Sky illuminated by a star so bright

Wise men on their camels came to see the sight

Angels sang in chorus, shepherds gathered round

Mary sat alongside, uttered not a sound

 

Oh this bleak pandemic, how long will it last?

Locked inside our houses, waiting till it's passed -

Let's tell ourselves the story, old and dear

Of that holy night when heaven came near.


(Tune: Cranham - Original words: Christina Rossetti)