a prayer about the earth …
The poignant prayer of confession was written by my friend Ted Durr ... It was inspired by Psalm 78
Dear God,
You, who have done so much, please receive this confession from us, who honor [what you have done] so poorly.
On Monday we breathe air you give us. We remember not to keep it clean.
On Tuesday we fill soil with nitrogen, minerals, and trace of salt. We call this enrichment. We remember not how it poisons earth.
On Wednesday we spew out carbon and refuse. We remember not how You made Earth To Be One living, breathing Whole.
On Thursday we dam up a stream and remember not the creatures who live there.
On Friday we fly away to ‘quaint places’, and remember not the balance of land, people, and ancestors who go back to beginnings.
On Saturday we celebrate consuming ways and call it blessing; we drive over paved acres, and call it progress; we dirt-bike on forest trails, and litter Nature; we watch flickering pixels and think they are real. We remember little, because we care too little.
On Sunday we sing, praise, listen, and pray, and call it ‘worship’. Today we ask: Dear God, having lived the past week with us: What do You call it? What do You remember? Dare we ask?
Please hear us, forgive us, and help us to get it better. Amen.
(A prayer of confession suggested by Psalm 78, written by Rev. Ted Durr)
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A Theology of Guantanamo Bay
I had a fascinating dinner with my friend Ziya Meral last night. A human rights activist, he has written a provocative theological reflection on Guantanamo Bay. You can read it here.
A powerful quote:
If Jesus were caught living the vicious subversive Gospel today, he would not be on a wooden cross, since the wooden cross no longer symbolizes what it did then: the dishonouring and dehumanization of the individual in the presence of the entire city as a punishment. He would be wearing an orange jumper, living in a cage, dishonoured and dehumanized, in the presence of the entire world who behold all this on the TV screen.
Another powerful quote:
I believe that the Western church has one final chance to offer an alternative to an increasingly polarizing world. If we miss this opportunity too, I am afraid the modern church will lose all of its moral standing, or whatever is left of it.
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Shiba Inu
Some folks have heard me tell a story about my daughter's runaway cheese-loving Shiba Inu. Here's a live-cam that shows a group of Shiba Inu pups 24/7. They're pretty darn cute.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/shiba-inu-puppy-cam
Good for a short mental vacation!
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Latin American update
I have many good friends in the LATF ... here's their latest press release:
CONSULTATION AND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE FRATERNIDAD TEOLOGICA LATINOAMERICANA (FTL-LATF)
La Paz, Bolivia – October 25-28, 2008
Thirty-eight years ago, the LATF (the Fraternidad Teológica Latinoamericana – now known in English as the Latin American Theological Fellowship) was born in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The 1970 gathering included 25 theologians, pastors, seminary professors and evangelists. Today the LATF is spread throughout the Americas and Spain, and it is comprised of evangelical Christians committed to the life and mission of God’s people in Latin America and beyond. The LATF, as a part of the church, facilitates friendly spaces for dialogue and biblical-theological reflection from Latin America. Today, just like back in the 1970s, we continue yearning for a Latin American church that, transformed by the Word and the Spirit into an agent of the Kingdom of God and God’s justice, ministers in every area of society.
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