The Lutheran Zephyr

Four Months Down, Five To Go

Chaplaincy, that is.  I'm a resident chaplain at a teaching hospital, part of my uniquely contorted march towards ordination in the Lutheran church (a post unto itself).  And after four months of this resident chaplain program, I can confidently say that (drum roll please . . . ) chaplaincy is not my calling.

This is not to say that I do not like what I'm doing, but it is to say that I am not sufficiently fulfilled by the work.  After four months of meeting hundreds of patients, praying with many, and watching a few die, and I am tired.  But it is not the extremes that are weighing on me.  Death, dismemberment, deadly disease, debilitating disfiguration - these are horrible conditions that send patients, families and even the chaplain into varying levels of despair.  The extremes suck, and they may represent the worst part of these people's lives, but they're not the worst part of chaplaincy.

No, for me the worst part of chaplaincy is the incessant introductions.  "Hello, I'm Joe, one of the chaplains in the hospital.  How are you . . ."  Several times per day, several days per week I make this introduction to patients and family members.  Why?  Because for every ten patients I introduce myself to, only one or two are really interested in talking at any depth with a chaplain (that fact itself is the stuff for a future blog post).  With most patients I am simply a friendly "hello," a casual drop-in that lasts no longer than the exchange of polite pleasantries.  And even with those patients with whom I have meaningful encounters and meaty conversations, after a few days or (in a few circumstances) weeks they are out of the hospital (likely without a chance to say goodbye), and I'm back knocking at the same hospital room door, waiting to meet yet another new patient.  "Hello, I'm Joe, one of the chaplains in the hospital.  How are you . . ."

I yearn for relationships that last longer than a three-day hospital stay.  I want to know people in the everyday mundane, not just the life-and-death extreme.  I want to be with people before, during and after their extremes, not just in their deepest depths.

And I want to do more than just provide pastoral care.  I want to teach and preach, to coordinate and facilitate, to lead and follow, to walk with, learn from, and accompany.  Right now my ministry is narrow in focus and fairly undirected in practice (don't confuse undirected with unskilled - yet another topic for another post).  I would like to do more in ministry, and to do it intentionally and unabashedly from a (Lutheran) Christian perspective.

Four months down, five to go.  I will still learn lots in this residency, and part of me looks forward to continued learning.  But if I'm honest with myself, part of me also looks forward to the end of these five months when I'm that much closer to my goal and calling of becoming a Lutheran pastor.

-----
Note to self - topics for future posts:

• my contorted march towards ordination;
• the fact that most people in the hospital are not interested in talking with a chaplain;
• the pros and cons of undirected pastoral care.

Saddam Hussein, 1937-2006

Saddam Hussein died an hour or two ago by hanging.  I'm not sure what this means, exactly.  And even though the guy was a murderous dictator, I still don't like capital punishment.  God have mercy on him.

New Pic

For a long time a picture of Bobby Abreu, the former Phillies right fielder traded to the New York Yankees hours before my daughter was born, donned my blog.  Despite his lack of hustle he was my favorite ballplayer.  Months later I am finally getting over the trade and can remove his image from my blog (though I still own several Bobby Abreu jerseys and autographs).

I have replaced him with Andy Bell, the lead singer for Erasure (whose best album was undoubtedly Chorus, despite the popularity of The Innocents' singles "A Little Respect" and "Chains of Love").  The picture comes from the 1990 Wild! tour.  For those of you for whom a pic of Andy Bell in an angel outfit is a bit much, worry not.  By Spring Training a new picture, probably of Ryan Howard, Chase Utley or the Phillie Phanatic, will don this blog.

Enjoy!

I believe in Jesus Christ

Yes, I believe in Jesus Christ. 

But which one?  After reading a recent Christian Century article by Amy-Jill Levine of Vanderbilt and blogging about it semi-coherently and perhaps heretically here, I got to wondering who this Jesus is that I profess to believe in.  Specifically, I was wondering whether I believe in the man Jesus who lived 2000 years ago, or in the Jesus that the Christian tradition has professed and preached for 2000 years (assuming that there is at least some distinction).

I really like how Derek articulates the issue.  In response to my post, Derek wrote:

I guess where it really comes down for me is this: are we looking for information about a historical figure in the past--or are we learning about a relationship with a living, dynamic being, who swoops up on us and shocks us with his love? Fundamentally, are we asking about the dead or the Living? If we believe that Christ is strongly and powerfully alive, then it changes the whole framework for how we shape the questions. As I see it, an undeniable part of what t means to be Christian is learning about how the relationship unfolded with our spiritual ancestors. If we really believe that the Church is the Body of Christ in more than just a metaphorical sense, then we must learn our history as part of learning about who he his. We must look for his face in the faces of the saints--then and now.

I believe in the Jesus that was preached to me and taught to me, a Jesus that the Christian community has come to understand not just from three years of itinerent ministry 2000 years ago in Galilee, but from the ongoing presence of Christ in the body of believers and the guiding of the Holy Spirit for 2000 years since the cross.  That's why I wrote in my previous post:

Do we believe in the Jesus of history, or in the Jesus of tradition? For better or worse, we believe not in a Jesus of historical account, but in a Jesus that we've learned about via a biased, faith-filled tradition.  I need to take seriously the faith of those who wrote the books of the New Testament and those who assembled it nearly 300 years later.  I need to take seriously the Roman Catholic and Reformation traditions also, as they have been stewards of the faith and witnesses to me. Faith is a living, breathing, morphing and evolving beast.  To reduce belief and practice to an analysis of a few ancient texts is to lose the riches and depth of the tradition, and deny the work of the Body of Christ and the Holy Spirit over nearly 2000 years.

This is not to say that the history, culture and religion of the man Jesus is not relevant - not at all - but they are only part of what we know about Jesus.  The Jesus of the martyrs, the Church Fathers, the creeds and councils, the mystics, the saints, the reformers, the workers for justice of every age - this multi-faceted, multi-layered, constantly self-revealing Jesus - these too, along with the Jesus of history and the Gospels, are Jesus, the Jesus in whom I believe, trust and hope.

Blessings to Muslims on Hajj

Muslims today begin the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.  God bless all who who are making this pilgrimage.  Grant, O God, that it be filled with peace.

Christmas Eve with the kids

This evening, during the singing of Hark the Herald Angels Sing at my church's 5pm family service, while holding my infant in one arm and my 3 year-old in the other, I looked up toward the front of the church to see my wife, vested and leading worship.  She looked back and smiled.  My eyes began to water.

This is likely the last Christmas Eve that we will be together as a family for what might be a long while.  Truth be told, my wife was up front, leading worship this year and last and not in the pew with us, but we were still together, celebrating together, at the same church, on more or less the same schedule.  And even though we left Mommy at church to lead three more worship services, we were together on Christmas Eve, and it was special. 

It was also a unique time for me and my girls to be and play together, to leave milk and cookies for Santa, and to celebrate the forth consecutive day of our three year-old's successful potty use.  Just like our Sunday morning routine, when my wife is at church for 6 hours, this Christmas Eve was a special time for me to be Daddy with my girls.

Next year I will be on internship, serving full-time in a congregation at least 30 minutes away from home.  My wife will be at her church, and thus we will be in different houses of worship every Sunday and on those highest of holy days.  Our girls will see even less of their parents on these days, and likely the milk-and-cookie rituals of Christmas Eve will be celebrated with grandparents or family friends.  This breaks my heart.

I have loved, loved, loved taking my three year-old to church since shortly after she was born.  I have insisted that she be in worship, to be surrounded by the sights and sounds of Christian worship.  How else will she learn to worship?  Bringing the children to worship has been more difficult since the birth of our second daughter, in large part because this birth took place after my wife was ordained and spending the good part of her Sundays behind the altar or in the pulpit rather than in the pew.  So what was once a two parent vs. one child match-up in the church pew has turned into a two children vs. one parent match-up.  This is a little more difficult to manage, particularly in a large congregation with a deeply traditional approach to worship. 

But in recent weeks I've been doing it, sometimes with the help of the nursery or a church mother to keep an eye on one of the kids . . . And this brings me immense joy, knowing that we can worship together as a family and that my children can be surrounded by and participate in the Word of God proclaimed in word, song and ritual.

Next year will be a challenge.  We'll have to figure out a regular baby sitter on Sundays for the children, and a way for us to worship together at times (perhaps at one of the local church's Saturday services).  And we'll also have to be intentional about having family time on other days of the week, to compensate for the disrupted family schedule on Sundays.  And we'll also have to be careful about tending to our family holiday celebrations, setting apart time on these days to be with each other, to create our sacred family time and space.  Even though Christmas, Easter and every Sunday are work days for clergy, we will have to remember that they are also family days, times set aside for rest, times set aside to be with each other.

God grant us a blessed Christmas and guide us in our uncertain future.

A blessed Christmas to you all.

More on Religious Prejudice and Politics

Blog from the Capital highlights that, despite the White House's stated position in support of freedom of religion, the Bush Administration has not yet condemned the anti-Muslim letter written by Republican Representative Virgil Goode of Virginia (permalink to post "White House Silence on Goode and Prager").  Though I think this this post misses the mark and veers off topic in regards to Syria, Iran and Iraq, it shows that President Bush is indeed willing to tolerate religious prejudice (a position that would seem to contradict the spirit of ending faith-based discrimination that led in part to the creation his fledgling Faith-Based Initiatives - see page 4 of this .pdf document from the White House entitled Protecting the Civil Rights and Religious Liberty of Faith Based Organizations).

And from the Huffington Post, Cenk Uygur edits part of Representative Goode's letter to replace all references to Muslims with references to Jews:

"If American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Jews elected to office ... I fear that in the next century we will have many more Jews in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America."

Of course, Goode's letter was about Muslims, not Jews.  If Representative Goode wrote this letter about Jews (or Catholics, or most any other group), he would have been rightfully forced to resign his office by an overwhelming tidal wave of indignant outrage.  But since he was writing about Muslims, our nation and political establishment yawns and shrugs its shoulders.  How about that for institutionalized prejudice?

Red & (Eagles) Green for Christmas

Today's Philadelphia Inquirer covers one of the largest holiday controversies to hit the city since Eagles fans pelted Santa Claus with snowballs in 1968 - whether to watch the Eagles vs. Cowboys game at 5pm on Christmas Day, or have the traditional Christmas Dinner with your in-laws.  Hmmm . . . . (Click here for the article, Hold the goose; this Christmas, it's the Birds).

Sure, the NBA has had Christmas Day games for years.  These annual basketball games, always between large-market teams with megastars, marks the league's first major marketing push of the season, an effort to get casual fans to notice that indeed the NBA season has begun.  With the exception of the Kobe vs. Shaq matchup a few yeas ago, these games really do not create too much a stir except in the households of diehard hoops fans.

But this Eagles-Cowboys game is different.  Most importantly, we're talking about football, the nation's most popular sport.  It's the second-to-last game of the season, and both teams have playoff hopes on the line.  Even without playoff aspirations, this rivalry is one of the best in sports.  Add to that tradition Terrel Owens, the former badboy Eagle wide receiver turned badboy Cowboy wide receiver, and you get a game that is full of meaning for fans in Philadelphia, Dallas, and across the country.  And with the national audience on a holiday, this game figures to get near Super Bowl type ratings.

In my household we will have an eye to the television.  We are sports fans, and we enjoy watching a good Eagles game.  It helps that our "fancier" extended family Christmas celebrations - with brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents - are taking place on other days during the holiday week (a low-key Christmas Day allows my Reverend Wife to recover from a crazy day of Sunday morning and Christmas Eve services).  And even though we'll be traveling down the road to my in-laws on Christmas Day evening, they're bigger sports fans than my wife and I are.  Surely the Christmas dinner can wait until after the final seconds tick off the fourth quarter clock - after all, it's not like Christmas dinner is a sacrament.

Truly, I would have difficulty with this decision if the Eagles game were on the night of Christmas Eve.  I don't go to or watch Phillies games that take place on Holy Thursday, Good Friday or Easter Sunday.  But those days are holier than Christmas, and those games usually coincide with the worship services and family gatherings that mark Jesus' death and resurrection.  On the other hand, a 5pm Eagles game on Christmas Day neither interferes with worship nor with the family traditions we are beginning to shape in our 4-year old marriage.  With that in mind, this game seems like a pretty good Christmas gift, eh?

Merry Christmas, folks.  And at the risk of being irreverent (not too hard for me!), let us pray:

Lord, as your angels flew over Bethlehem heralding the birth of your Son Jesus, so too grant that our Eagles might fly on the road to victory, score a touchdown one, two, three.  Empower them to hit 'em low, hit 'em high, so that we may watch our Eagles fly, fly on the road to victory!  E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!  In the name of your Holy Son, Jesus the Christ, who won the victory for us all, we pray.  Amen.

(prayer inspired by Eagles fight song, detailed here)

Anti-Muslim Politician

Many politicians and many Americans are prejudiced against Muslims.  Representative Goode of Virginia is just more blatant and public about his disdain for people of that faith.  In a letter to constituents, Representative Goode wrote that unless immigration policy were changed more Muslims would come to America, and more Muslims would be elected to public office (article from CNN here).  Such an outcome would be, in his mind, highly undesirable.  And despite the disrespectful and blatantly prejudiced tone of his letter, he has refused to apologize.  (Would such a letter about Jews, Catholics or any other group be tolerated?  Of course not.)

Not only is Representative Goode prejudiced, he is also stupid.  In the letter Goode wrote,

"When I raise my hand to take the oath on Swearing In Day, I will have the Bible in my other hand. I do not subscribe to using the Quran in any way.

"The Muslim representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Quran."

The thing is this: the Bible is not used in swearing in members of the House of Representatives.  There is an oath of office that is taken en masse simultaneously by every member of the House, and this oath does not include any reference to the Bible.  None.  If you see a picture of your local representative being individually "sworn in" (a picture complete with a hand on Bible and the other hand raised, and the representative is surrounded by loving wife and children), please know that you are looking at a staged photo.  Representatives often request photo-op swearing-in ceremonies which make great fodder for the local news cameras and contribute to the politician's image as an honorable, God-fearing servant.  But such ceremonies are a bunch of political hooey.  (For more on the swearing-in tradition in the House of Representatives, listen to this story from National Public Radio.)

Representative Goode is a fear-mongering, despicable man.  His hubris is exceeded only by his ignorance.  He is an embarrassment to our country, to Christians, and to the otherwise honorable men and women who serve in Congress.  I hope and pray that he repents of this disgraceful sin . . . and that he gets his ass voted out of office in the next election (is it 2008 yet?).

Rose endorses McGwire for Hall

Pete Rose, upon being honored by - but not inducted into - the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, said yesterday that Mark McGwire should be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame (article in today's Philadelphia Inquirer here).  That's kinda like getting a political endorsement from Richard Nixon.

I would not vote for Mark McGwire if I had a vote for the Hall.  Sportswriters are polarized and wringing their hands over this decision.  But voting for the Hall is not an objective exercise - no clear criteria exists for what constitutes a Hall of Fame player.  McGwire only led the league in home runs twice, never won the MVP award, hit only .217 in the post season (.188 in World Series games) (some stats via Baseball Hall of Fame website here).  He had more strikeouts than RBI.  He was a one-dimensional player.

But that one dimension is what most baseball fans crave - home runs.  Of course, winning teams do more than just hit home runs.  Note that McGwire's 1998 Cardinals finished 19 games out of first place, despite his 70 home runs.  True, those 70 home runs did much to bring Major League Baseball out of its post-strike slump.  That is notable, but not Hall-worthy.

And of course there are the steroids.  Surely there are many cheaters in the Hall of Fame, and perhaps the cloud of steroid suspicion surrounding McGwire will keep him out of the Hall.  I do not think that his (indisputable) use of steroids should be the primary reason that he gets locked out of the Hall, but it should be the deciding reason.  He was a good, but not great, baseball player.  He hit home runs, but did not do much else.  He broke the single-season home run record.  Very notable.  Very commendable.  For me, his stats and career achievements teeter on the border of Hall-worthiness.  The steroids push him off that border and keep him out of the Hall.  Without the steroids, maybe he gets in.  With the steroids, he's out.

The only way McGwire gets into the Hall of Fame is with a $14.50 admission ticket, just like you and me.