Citizenship

Soul Searching: What Makes a Person and a Country Great?

Leave a Comment / Citizenship, Current Events, Evangelicals and Politics, It All Started in the Garden, Leadership and Spirituality / By /

Part 6 (last) in a series of reflections on the Capitol insurrection and Christians’ participation People must make choices every day about what they will do and how they will act. This is a fact of life ever since Adam and Eve left Eden and became time bound and subject to physical death. We are limited in our capacity and limited in our potential, despite what we may have been taught by affirming parents and teachers. But the truth is, every one has only so much energy and the same amount of time to work with. Perhaps I feel this […]

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Soul Searching: I Follow a Leader, but Not That One

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Part 5 in a series of reflections on the Capitol insurrection and Christians’ participation In the waning days of Mr. Trump’s presidency, I am waiting to see what kind of strings he is going to attach to the Republican Party and his supporters around the country. The author of The Art of the Deal is a transactionalist, very pragmatic in his relationships, expecting to get something from anyone who hopes to gain a favor from him. My curiosity extends to two areas, pardons and a possible 2024 candidacy. If he pardons family members or associates this week, I will be

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Soul Searching: We Are the Church, but Not a Mob

1 Comment / Church, Citizenship, Current Events, Evangelicals and Politics / By /

Part 4 in a series of reflections on the Capitol insurrection and Christians’ participation Christians congregate in worshiping communities called churches. Some churches are small (in fact, most are) and some are large. Their purpose is to practice the sort of fellowship in which people worship God, learn the content of their faith, grow in love for one another, and pool their resources for ministry in the “mission field” around them. The Church (capital C) is the collective fellowship of all such groups and denominations of believers around the world and over time. The Church exists to embody Jesus to

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Soul Searching: I Am a Citizen with a Dual Passport [The Inherent Conflict between Subjection to Civil Authorities and Obedience to God]

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Part 3 in a series of reflections on the Capitol insurrection and Christians’ participation A biblical foundation for understanding the Christian’s proper relationship to governing authorities and politics will give us strength to hold to positions that may be unpopular with the current version of evangelical Christianity in America. In my previous two posts, I cited Old Testament historical moments and a simple observation from the New Testament (NT) gospel to start the conversation. Today, let’s look at a few more NT data points that will enable us to bring the mess to order and figure out how we should

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You Who Have Ears to Hear, Please Listen!

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I’ve had a weird week dealing with a plugged ear. At first, I thought wax had accumulated, so I started the drops and flushing routine for a few days, but heard no improvement. We’re talking totally blocked hearing in my right ear. My efforts now focus on reducing nasal congestion, and a strong decongestant seems to be breaking it up a little. I’m told it could be up to two weeks before it resolves! Meanwhile, I have experienced some of the oddities and embarrassments that hard-of-hearing folks have told me about in my pastoral travels. “Talk into my good ear—don’t

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Colossians 3:1-4: We Get to Choose the Focus of Our Thoughts

2 Comments / Church, Citizenship, Colossians, Current Events, Death & Dying, PCUSA, People, Personal / By /

Last Saturday, my covenant group friend Steve Hayner died in the Lord. As his wife Sharol put it, his life was swallowed up in LIFE. I along with thousands of readers of his CaringBridge site, colleagues there at Columbia Seminary, and family and friends whose lives he touched in decades’ time, were aware that his homegoing was imminent. He was sick only about ten months, from diagnosis of his pancreatic cancer to the end of his life on earth. Occasionally he would share what was on his heart and mind as this process took its turns and twists. We all

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Is It Big Brother or God Who Is Watching?

2 Comments / Citizenship, Current Events, It All Started in the Garden, Spiritual Disciplines / By /

The multi-layered tragedy of Ferguson, Missouri, has caused some soul-searching in America. It is not the first such debacle to do so, nor will it, sadly, be the last. We seem to be a particularly blind and stiff-necked people when it comes to facing our racial history, cultural misunderstandings, and impoverished view of humanity. My prayer is that compassion and understanding would overtake anger, frustration, injustice, and violence. It will take a transforming act of God to help us become much better listeners, more patient citizens, and seekers of truth and justice. The soul-searching that is necessary, however, must get

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Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

4 Comments / Citizenship, Death & Dying, Lung Cancer, Naegeli's Laws, Personal / By /

As I dig down in earnest to write a book about my lung cancer experience of the past year, the dreaded “book proposal” has me delving into stuff I have studiously avoided so far: statistics. As part of my research, I attended last night’s Shine a Light on Lung Cancer presentation in my area. The sponsoring organization, Lung Cancer Alliance,  is an advocacy group raising awareness about its prevalence, promoting screening, and lobbying for more funds to go into research of its causes. Almost 200 Shine a Light events took place yesterday, as part of Lung Cancer Awareness Month. The

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Disillusionment of American Citizens

1 Comment / Citizenship, Current Events, History / By /

In the realm of American citizenship, a few things have tweaked my “blog spot” this week. The jury duty issue remains unresolved, and won’t be cleared up until at least next Tuesday. But as I have been thinking about my role as a citizen, and a Christian one at that, I have uncovered some reasons for disillusionment with our constitutional democracy. Don’t get all excited reading that statement: I am not critical of our system of government in theory, but disillusionment overshadows my optimism in practice. Some specific indicators: Many citizens show amazing enthusiasm for the privileges of American life,

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Can a Christian Be a Fair and Impartial Juror?

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My husband and I have been hugely entertained and encouraged by the messages received in response to yesterday’s non-rhetorical question: What if a trial attorney were to ask you, “Pastor, would you be willing to put aside your Christian faith in order to be a fair and impartial juror?” My blog today could quote them all and fill this page, and I may still before the day is over. But the question itself deserves and requires some consideration simply for what it says about our culture. Part 1: Would I be willing to put aside my Christian faith? I first

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