Spiritual Elevation for the Anxious Generation

 

I borrowed Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation from our excellent library because I saw a review somewhere praising the book. The title intrigued me and so did the subtitle: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. Haidt explores how the over-protectiveness of parents in this generation is robbing kids of the opportunity to learn by doing. He maintains that a degree of risk is essential to development. This trend is coupled with the recent phenomenon of teens less likely to interact socially in person because they are so in thrall to their devices and the on-line world. We have moved rapidly from a discovery mode to a defend mode. Please take note that this is my six-sentence summation of numerous chapters.

I had not expected that there would be a full chapter titled Spiritual Elevation and Degradation in which he maintains that our phone-based life produces spiritual degradation in all of us.Even though Haidt is an atheist he offers a thorough exploration of the religious sensibilities and communities whose purpose is to elevate or lift us up. He looks at this through the lens of different religions traditions and spiritual practices, including:

Shared Sacredness 

Embodiment 

Stillness, Silence, and Focus 

Transcending the Self 

Be Slow to Anger, Quick to Forgive

I can't do justice to Haidt's development of these categories here, but they are all important from my perspective of a Christian who was in congregational ministry for nearly four decades. All of these were essential to life as the community of Jesus, despite the drawbacks and crazy-making churchianity, and they still are now that I'm a "civilian" Christian. 

Haidt also speaks about appreciating the "grandeur of nature" as a spiritual response, a subject dear to my heart as a Groundling, an aged child of the Creator. 

The book would be worthwhile without this chapter but it is strengthen by its inclusion and I'm grateful for the insights and affirmations it offers. 

The Scourge of AIDS in Africa Persists

 

The innermost panels of 

"The Keiskamma Altarpiece" mix photography with embroidery. 

Anthea Pokroy/Keiskamma Trust

The other day I was jolted by an article in the Toronto Star about AIDS/HIV in Africa. Nearly two decades ago ago we heard regularly about the high mortality rate in a number of African nations, leaving tens of thousands of children as orphans. These children often ended up in the care of grandmothers who were already dealing with the catastrophic loss of multiple loved ones. 

Elementary school children in rural Eswatini in a Canadian built classroom. One in four Swazi children has lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS. Danielle Burton photo

The Star article was about the tiny nation of Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, where AIDS is still a scourge, with children and teens regularly infected by sexual assaults from predatory men who are themselves are infected. 

Eswatini has attacked the virus vigorously. The country of 1.2 million has exceeded targets on HIV-treatment coverage and prevention of mother-to-child transmission, according to United Nations monitoring. Internationally funded clinics offer free access to testing and to antiretroviral medications that can keep people infected with HIV healthy for decades.

But the country still has the highest prevalence rate of HIV in the world. Almost one in three Swazi adults are living with the virus compared to one in five adults in the next most afflicted countries: Lesotho, Botswana and South Africa.

We know that organizations such as the Gates Foundation have committed billions of dollars to addressing AIDS/HIV in Africa yet the disease persists.

More than 100 of those African grandmothers created a huge mural of commemoration called the Keiskamma Altarpiece. It toured North America in 2006 and we went to see it when it was at St. James Anglican Cathedral in Toronto as part of the international AIDS conference. As we viewed it a group of those women brought to Canada by Anglican grandmothers arrived and broke into tears and wailing and prayer. Their lament was visceral and moving -- unforgettable. 

While our interest and awareness may have waned over time but it is important to keep this terrible reality in our prayers. 

Girls play in a preschool in Malkerns, Eswatini with toys donated by Canadian visitors. Young women are three times more likely to contract HIV/AIDS as young men. 

Women Disciples Overshadowed by the Twelve?

 

Some Women Accompany Jesus 

 Soon afterward he went on through one town and village after another, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. 

The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to them out of their own resources.

                     Luke 8:1-3 NRSVue

During the past year I've led two study groups on the subject of women in the bible and early church. One was based on the thought-provoking and illuminating Finding Phoebe: What New Testament Women Were Really Like by Susan Hylen. Our group conversations were really worthwhile.

Recently another book about women of the early church came to my attention, Women Who Do: Female Disciples in the Gospels, by Holly J. Carey. The Christian Century review title was Overshadowed by the Twelve, referring to the twelve men Jesus called as disciples. They have long considered the definitive group of "real" disciples, often to justify the exclusion of women from roles of leadership. 

In her review Nijay K. Gupta offers:

Thankfully, Women Who Do has opened my eyes to see women everywhere in the gospels. They believe in Jesus, serve Jesus, obey Jesus, and share about Jesus with others. All the while, the infamous Twelve often appear to be confused, worried, absent, and even dismissive of Jesus.

It’s true that the four evangelists don’t explicitly refer to any women as disciples (in Greek, mathētēs). It’s also true that the Twelve are all men. And yet, Carey points out that Jesus’ circle of students is much larger than 12

Women Who Do turns up the brightness on the gospels, so we can see their many women more vividly. Carey goes through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, chapter by chapter, as well as the book of Acts. She shows that each gospel handles the presence, lives, faith, and action of women differently while testifying to women who believe, serve, and obey Jesus—the core elements of discipleship.

While I probably won't venture into his subject for a third time in a study, at least for a while, I had to purchase the book and look forward to reading it. I'm really grateful to the women researchers and scholars who have opened up this field in recent years. 

Rolling the Dice on Sunday Scripture Readings

 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, "Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus -- for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry."

So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us--one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection."

So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

                                              Acts 1 NRSVue 

Not many congregations that follow the ecumenical lectionary, the common schedule of Sunday scripture lessons, read them all each week. A Hebrew scripture reading, a psalm, an epistle passage, and a Gospel lesson makes for a lot of bible in the service.

I was curious about what we didn't hear this morning and found the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the Easter season replacement for a reading from one of the epistles/letters.

It was from Acts 1 and tells how Peter and the other post-resurrection followers of Jesus chose a replacement for Judas. He was the disciple who colluded with the authorities to arrest Jesus, an apprehension which led to his trial and execution on the cross. 

Points if you were aware that after Judas' mysterious death the apostles cast lots to replace him and bonus points if you knew that Matthias prevailed over Justus. 

There is so much to ponder in these few verses. Why did they figure they needed to choose another disciple/apostle when there were a growing number of believers? Why did Peter feel that it was necessary to rehash Judas' death in gory detail? (that part was conveniently left out of the reading). Why did they resort to a game of chance for such a seemingly important decision? And why did these two guys become candidates for the role, only to disappear from the record afterward?

In some respects this story is baffling and yet intriguing. Acts tells us a lot of stuff about the early church that seems somewhat mundane while also giving us the yowza events such as the story of Pentecost, to be told next Sunday morning. Of course, life is messy and there is a lot that happens along the way which isn't exactly eye-popping. Maybe there is a greater sense of authenticity when we hear about the everyday moments, along with the epic events. 

Pastors don't roll the dice on what we will hear on Sunday mornings, but it can be worthwhile to snoop around with the passages that don't make the cut!

A Season of Greening & of Fire

 We got out far a kayak paddle on the Bay of Quinte this morning, managing to do so before a light rain began. April in Southern Ontario was wet and our Spring world is lush and green. The trees are coming into leaf and we saw lots of creatures, including turtles and water snakes and ospreys. We regularly thank the Creator for the beauty we experience when we are rambling about in retirement. 

Before we headed out,CBC radio shared the unsettling news that parts of Northern British Columbia and  Alberta are under evacuation watches because of spreading wildfires. Fires are causing widespread telecom outages in Yukon and the Northwest Territories and it's only early May. 

We live in an ominously changing Canada when it comes to the weather, with large areas of our vast country under threat because of what would have been considered unusually dry circumstances not all that long ago. Some of the fires were never extinguished from last year. This is rapidly becoming the norm. 

You may be aware that John Vaillant's vividly written book, Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast, has been winning accolades and and awards, including a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. While it tells the story of the Alberta wildfires that caused the evacuation of tens of thousands from Fort McMurray in 2016 it is also about this new, widespread reality created by the climate emergency. Vaillaint's book has also been published under the title Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World. Vaillant describes a computer program used to model a wild fire and its spread. It is named Prometheus, the Greek god of fire, and a trickster. 

My desire is to give thanks to the biblical God who has brought all things into being, not the mythical god who was supposedly a champion of humanity yet in our context is a destroyer. This should be the greening season, a time of abundant new life, not a season of conflagration. God help us all. 

May the Fourth/Force be With Those Who Create Grotesques!

 

                                         Darth Vader Grotesque, National Cathedral, Washington DC. 

Last Saturday thousands of people donned Star Wars costumes in the annual "May the Fourth be with you" celebration. This a goofy play on the seriously intoned "may the force be with you" from the George Lucas series of films that began in 1977. 

During this week someone shared a photo of a carved figure on the National Cathedral in Washington DC, and yes, it is Darth Vader, the villain from Star Wars. This may seem improbable, perhaps an AI invention, but it is real. There are many grotesques, as they are called that are part of the cathedral's rain control system. The grotesques deflect rainwater by bouncing it off the tops of their heads and away from the stone walls.

Why a grotesque rather than a gargoyle? I had not realized that gargoyles are actually rain spouts such as the ones found on Notre Dame Cathedral. Can there be a grotesque gargoyle? This is well beyond my expertise. Most of them are barely visible from the ground, so they are sly, often ribald jokes by the craftsmen who created them

                                                              Notre Dame Cathedral Gargoyles 

Some critics don't appreciate the pop culture grotesques on the National Cathedral but carvers have been naughty and silly for centuries, so why not today? And there have been naysayers for the better part of a thousand years. The medieval French abbot St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who lived from 1090-1153, once wrote, with reference to grotesques:"What are these fantastic monsters doing in the cloisters under the very eyes of the brothers as they read?…To what purpose are here placed these creatures, half beast, half man?...Surely if we do not blush for such absurdities we should at least regret what we have spent on them."

I figure we should delight in the grotesques and gargoyles of every age, even if they bum some people out.  

                                              Grotesque from York Cathedral, Great Britain 

Can There Be a Good Funeral?

 

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 

a time to be born, and a time to die; 

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; 

a time to break down, and a time to build up; 

a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance...

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-4 NRSVue

This evening will be our third and final session on grief at Trenton United Church. The series title is Finding Our Way in Grief and the first two conversations were about how we navigate the messiness of grief individually and collectively. We realize that grief impacts us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Loss isn't experienced in a linear fashion, despite the once popular notion that there are stages, leading to the peaceful conclusion of acceptance. Rather, grief is more akin to snakes and ladders, forward and backward, in ways that are often bewildering. Our senses of loss can last a lifetime. 

We've invited two local funeral directors to participate in a question and answer session (I've already provided the questions) to consider the changing realities of grief rituals, including funeral, memorials, and other forms of leave-taking. Funeral directors are not particularly respected or liked in our society but I've worked with quite a few through the decades and most have been decent people who fulfil an important role. Some have been members of my congregations or others, and some consider their work a calling. 

In preparation I've gone back to a wise and thoughtful book called The Good Funeral: Death, Grief, and the Community of Care. The authors, Thomas Long and Thomas Lynch, are a seminary professor and a third-generation funeral director. While a lot has changed in the decade since the book was published -- Medical Assistance in Dying , the pandemic, DIY funerals -- I appreciate so much of what they have to say. 

Last week there were 18 of us, a reminder that grief is real and needs to be explored openly and honestly. It will be interesting to see who shows up today. Maybe say a prayer for our discussion?