On the health care speech last night …
Three things struck me about President Obama's speech on health care reform. First, I was struck by the speech's emphasis on morality. Caring for our poor neighbors - and even more so when they are sick - is indeed a moral concern. Second, I was impressed by the way the speech addressed economic concerns. Like a lot of people, I'm concerned about costs and deficits - and I thought the President wisely pointed out that the rising costs of doing nothing are unacceptably high. The fact that we pay significantly more for health care than other wealthy nations - and are not more healthy, but less - tells me we have a lot to learn from other countries, both in treating disease efficiently and in pre-empting it with healthier living. Finally, I was impressed by the mature and responsible character reflected in both the speech's content and delivery. Even when he was called a liar by a member of Congress from whom we would expect more adult, civil, and professional behavior, the President modeled the grace and restraint that signal maturity of character. And similarly, the speech rightly emphasized that health care is a matter of national character. It takes maturity to integrate diverse concerns that are both long-term and short-term, personal and corporate, economic and moral. It takes maturity to integrate our traditional values of individual self-reliance and of commitment to our neighbors. Our nation hasn't displayed a lot of that maturity of character in my lifetime, and now, both in what we do about health care and how we do it, we have a golden opportunity to learn and grow. - Brian McLaren, author/speaker (brianmclaren.net)
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response to yesterday’s post on hospitality …
A few weeks ago I shared a link to the story of Benjamin Ries ... a gifted young pastor who is also sharing in the Ramadan fast as a Christian guest.
Here's his response to yesterday's post on hospitality ...
Brian,
Thanks for your blog on hospitality. It's something I've been reflecting on over these last 18 days. (By the way, can you believe we're over halfway there? I've already found myself lamenting the end of this beautiful season.) Anyway, I've found that the thing I look forward to most each evening as I drive to share iftar with my Muslim friends is their hospitality. The authentic joy that I am greeted with (along with the genuine disappointment they share when I've missed an evening or two) has been surprisingly hopeful and life-giving for me. It has also heightened my awareness to the way the Christian faith has lost the art of hospitality. I'm not sure we value the presence of others outside of the chance they'll "place membership" and be a long-term "contributing" member. It is no longer enough to welcome the stranger simply because they are fellow human beings - beings whose very presence is a gift from God and not a product to acquire or a commodity to convert. It seems that the Muslim community I gather with is not so concerned with saying the right thing, giving off the right impression, or capitalizing on their one shot to get me coming back (which just happens to be the very things consuming most Christians these days). Rather, they seem to be a people who focus on gratitude, authenticity, and a radical trust that God does not need their gimmicks to fulfill his purpose and mission in the world.
I've just been thinking...What if the church's primary witness to the world was their gratitude, authenticity, and radical trust in the Father? That's not a ground-breaking question, I know, but my experience with a community of faith who embodies these characteristics has created a deep hunger and thirst for these things in my own community of faith.
peace,
ben
I know what Ben's talking about. In encountering the other - not through the eyes of judgment (Matthew 7:1-5), but as people of peace (Luke 10:5-9 - well worth reading in this context!) - we see ourselves more clearly and gain an opportunity to learn and grow.
By the way, I just heard my friend Samir Selmanovic's new book is out. The title is It's Really All About God: Reflections of a Muslim Atheist Jewish Christian. If you're open to encountering the other in a new way, I'm sure this book will help you. If you're not open, I hope this book might begin to change that.
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Ramadan 2009, Day 18: Hospitality …
One of the themes that has emerged for me so far in this month's fast is hospitality.
To begin with, there's the beautiful hospitality of the Peace Moms, Eboo Patel, and other Muslim friends who welcomed me - and several other Christians - to be part of their observance of Ramadan.
Then there's the kind hospitality of fellow Christians who didn't immediately react in judgment and fear, but made space to consider a new way of approaching "the other."
On another level, today I was reading the manuscript for an important, beautifully-written, and spiritually moving book called A Gentler God by Doug Frank.
(more after the jump)
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Diana Butler Bass gets it right.
"The fear-mongers have had their season," she says. You can read the rest here.
By the way, if you'd like a delightful overview of church history, check out Diana's most recent book, A People's History of Christianity.
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What an awe-inspiring universe!
NASA offers some amazing photos here ... Including this one, gaseous structures, superheated to 36,000 degrees, racing through space like a giant butterfly at 600,000 miles per hour.
The heavens declare the glory of God ... indeed! (Psalm 19)
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