-Loren Mead, Transforming Congregations for the Future, p. 41
The students of this university are the beneficiaries of centuries of selfless scholarship. You are supposed to spearhead progress and to carry on the torch of humanity. Speaking for myself there is practically nothing that you could do in a mood of rebellion against our impoverished way of life for which I should not feel some degree of sympathy. But how infinitely sad, how macabre that the form of your rebellion should be a demand for drugs, for the most tenth-rate sort of self indulgence ever known in history. All is prepared for a release of new life. We await great works of art, the spirit of adventure and courage, and what do we get from you? Self-centered folly. You are on a crazy ... slope. For myself, I always come back to the King, to Jesus, to the Christian notion that all our efforts to make ourselves happy will fail, but that sacrifice for others will never fail. A man must become a new man, or he is no man. Or so at least, I have concluded, having failed to find in past experience and present dilemmas any alternative proposition. As far as I am concerned, it is Christ or nothing. Goodbye and God bless you.
With that he walked off the stage. And the students silently filed out with these words of judgment ringing in their ears.
"Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Heaven is not a place name. Heaven is
wherever God’s will is being done. When, occasionally, it is done on earth, then there is
heaven. It is the most difficult thing in the world for most of us to give up directing our
own story and turn to the Author. This has to be done over and over again every day.
Time and again I know exactly how a certain situation should be handled, and in no
uncertain terms I tell God how to handle it. Then I stop, stock-still, and (sometimes with
reluctance) end by saying, “However, God, do it your way. Not my way, your way.
Please.”
Madeleine L’Engle, Glimpses of Grace
At this camp the kids get to do amazing things:
- Do a twelve mile hike to ocean.
- Arts and Crafts
- Campfires
- Canoeing
- Archer
You should know I've been at this camp chaplain thing for some time now...not all at St. Dorothy's but in various parts of the state as well as at place like Kanuga (one of the premier Episcopal camps in our church). And while most of my work has been with children, much, very much has also been spent with young adults and adults.
Being a chaplain has been a blessing for me and not because it's my first love for ministry. Rather, serving as a chaplain has given me the opportunity to tell the gospel story in ways most uncommon to my life as Rector of a congregation. Every now and again I get to see glimmers of the fruit that is produced from serving this way. One of those "glimmers" is this photo, created by a young man named Carter. A little background is needed here.
Carter is boy who has not had much experience in the church. During arts and crafts, he decided to create this magnificent picture. At the top of the cross is Carter himself. On the left and the right, he's drawn a picture of his parents. At the bottom is his brother and the campers at St. Dorothy's Rest. We campers are surrounded by the trees that make St. Dorothy's as beautiful as it is. You may be thinking: "So, the kid has drawn a picture of the cross, his family, and the campers. Big deal!" Here's where it gets better. When asked, "So what are the little crosses on the sides?" Carter exclaimed "Well, you have to have balance!" Then he was asked "So what about the diamond with all the dots?" Carter then answered in a jiffy: "Oh, that's easy. That's power!" All this from a kid who really has never experienced church.
There is much to be said here not only about the spiritual life of children, but about what the church has to offer this world. I am deeply convinced that the church's best days are ahead of it and not behind it. Mainline congregations, in my bias, the Episcopal Church, has much to say to young hearts like Carter's and other hearts that hunger for the mysteries found in the life of God. Our church will live so long as we continue to share that mystery with the rather large number of people who hunger for the deep spiritual life found in God and one another. Carter pointed that out to me, and what good news that is for him and for us.
Yours for the reign of God,
Ron
Well, I’ve done a little research, and what I’ve discovered should make anyone think twice:
• More than 98 percent of convicted felons are bread users.
• Fully half of all children who grow up in bread-consuming households score below average on standardized tests.
• In the 18th century, when virtually all bread was baked in the home, the average life expectancy was less than 50 years; infant mortality rates were unacceptably high; many women died in childbirth; and diseases such as typhoid, yellow fever and influenza ravaged whole nations.
• More than 90 percent of violent crimes are committed within 24 hours of eating bread.
• Bread is made from a substance called “dough.” It has been proven that as little as one pound of dough can be used to suffocate a mouse. The average American eats more bread than that in one month!
• Primitive tribal societies that have no bread exhibit a low incidence of cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease and osteoporosis.
• Bread has been proven to be addictive. Subjects deprived of bread and given only water to eat begged for bread after as little as two days.
• Bread is often a “gateway” food item, leading the user to “harder” items such as butter, jelly, peanut butter and even cold cuts.
• Bread has been proven to absorb water. Because the human body is more than 90 percent water, it follows that eating bread could lead to your body being taken over by this absorptive food product, turning you into a soggy, gooey bread-pudding person.
• Newborn babies can choke on bread.
• Bread is baked at temperatures as high as 400 degrees Fahrenheit! That kind of heat can kill an adult in less than one minute.
• Most American bread-eaters are utterly unable to distinguish between significant scientific fact and meaningless statistical babbling.
In light of these frightening statistics, we propose the following bread restrictions:
1. No sale of bread to minors.
2. A nationwide “Just Say No to Toast” campaign, complete with celebrity TV spots and bumper stickers.
3. A 300 percent federal tax on all bread to pay for all the societal ills we might associate with bread.
4. No animal or human images, nor any primary colors (which may appeal to children) may be used to promote bread usage.
5. The establishment of “bread-free” zones around schools.
Please Remember: Think idiotically, act globally.
—Various Internet sources.
In the film Super Size Me (2004), Morgan Spurlock does an experiment to see what would happen to his health if he ate three meals a day for one solid month at McDonald’s. Thirty days later, he was 24 pounds heavier, and his cholesterol had shot up 65 points. Here’s some of what Spurlock learned from his experience:
“Over the course of my McDiet, I consumed 30 pounds of sugar from their food. That’s a pound a day. On top of that, I also took in 12 pounds of fat. Now, I know what you’re saying. You’re saying nobody’s supposed to eat this food three times a day. No wonder all this stuff happened to you. But the scary part is: There are people who eat this food regularly. Some people even eat it every day. So, while my experiment may have been a little extreme, it’s not that crazy. But here is a crazy idea: Why not do away with your super-size options? Who needs 42 ounces of Coke? A half pound of fries? And why not give me a choice besides french fries or french fries? That would be a great start. But why should these companies want to change? Their loyalty isn’t to you, it’s to the stockholders. The bottom line: They’re a business, no matter what they say. And by selling you unhealthy food, they make millions. And no company wants to stop doing that. If this ever-growing paradigm is going to shift, it’s up to you. But if you decide to keep living this way, go ahead. Over time, you may find yourself getting as sick as I did. And you may wind up here [in an emergency room] or here [in a cemetery].”
I cringe when I read this! Currently I find myself reading David Kessler's book "The End of Overeating." The author says with eloquence that the food industry is killing us for our money. And, he goes on to say that the levels of fat, salt, sugar, and more are as addictive as hard-core drugs.
Now, I'm not sure what scares me more, the food industry, or the church's incredible lack of silence on the matter. We have championed an awful lot of causes and yet this one is not even on our radar. While it is true that in the Episcopal Church, the CREDO movement was started to help clergy and laity move the church forward through healthy individuals, the fact is that the kind of thinking found in these two books isn't anywhere near what we need to be thinking about or making a public response. This is more than a justice issue: it is a moral outrage.
However, I believe that not only can the church raise it's voice on this matter, but that the change lay squarely on the shoulders of the masses. Normally I'd like otherwise, however, having read how the people of Vancouver, B.C. have changed the way the food industry behaves in their city, I am convinced that we can do the same.
And let it be known that this is more than just pointing the finger at everyone else...I begin with myself. The change must begin within me first. And, I'm afraid I have been a part of the problem. But such is this way of transformation: it begins in self-awareness and a determination to enter into the process of change. About damn time.
Yours for the reign of God,
Ron
