I wanted to post something about how thankful I am for my children being the beneficiaries of so much generosity. One perk of being a minister (there are many) is that folks within the congregation sometimes give you clothing for your children and even to you. Maybe there's a mixed message of "Hey we think you dress poorly-here put on this pair of slacks instead." But I doubt it.
Maybe it is a more common practice (clothes sharing) than I know. Maybe it happens to anyone who has friends with kids just a bit older than yours. It is sure something for which I am thankful.
The clothes are often second hand, but they always have a good deal of wear in them and at least for now my daughters love it and don't complain. Maybe when they're teens this will change-but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
I can count the number of times we've gone to buy clothes other than shoes for our girls on one hand. As I implied a few sentences ago we've been blessed to know some families that have girls just a bit older than ours and they've shared with us. I can't help but think that this practice would not have been as useful had we had two sons. A boy walking around in a pair of jellies and a summer dress would've raised more than a few eyebrows.
Another good thing about clothes sharing is that sometimes you find money hidden in the pockets of the clothes-like this one time we found $10,000 in unmarked bills in a pair of jeans stuffed into the pocket in a neat stack of hundreds. Of course we did the right thing...tithed on it and promptly paid off our car. That never happened-but it COULD right?
Often I take it for granted-and I want to say thank you publicly (if you can call a blog read by on average one person a week public).
There are other perks of being a preacher:
1) Get out of hell free card.
2) People sometimes think you have influence over the weather. Often when we have a sunny day on the day of a church picnic-the people say "Thank you for praying that we would have good weather and thank God for providing it." More often when we have rain or inclement weather they say "Can't you do something about this?" I wish I had power over the weather-I'd make it warmer than -5 outside and it would rain gumdrops and s'mores every third Tuesday.
3)People often feed you-even if you don't want to be fed this can be abused. But people are thoughtful of you in this way and its cool sometimes. Sometimes people send home LOTS of food for you and your family-one just has to be careful not to balloon up too much so you don't float away in the baptismal font.
Of course being a Presbyterian our fonts are about the size of a large salad bowl so if you could float in that you likely have problems bigger than a weight issue-like you've been struck by a nefarious shrink ray or something. Of course that's more rare these days than it used to be-but it certainly happened in a Disney movie from the nineties.
4) People like to tell you how good your sermon was-even if it wasn't they often tell you it was. It's a good self esteem boost to receive compliments even when they're not due. It's too bad my wife hasn't picked up on this trait. (insert rim shot here) My favorite is when you see the person sleep throughout the entire worship service and they brag on you profusely at the door. I can't blame them. Some of the most restful sleep I've ever gotten has been in the library and during church (on days when I was younger and not preaching).
I'm sure there are many more to list-but that's all for now. In short I'm thankful to God and to God's people for demonstrating their love for us in these ways. It's a gift.
Much Grace to you and yours,
Dwight
Monday, January 19, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Nothing funny
Some concepts I use during my standup-the somewhat darker humor that creeps in on "bad days."
It's hard being a minister because people don't expect a minister to be a pessimist. I catch myself saying things like "Ministry would be so much easier if it weren't for all of the people I have to talk to." and "You know I really understand why God flooded the earth-it's too bad God promised not to do it again." It just doesn't work to talk that way.
It's weird being Christian and having to give out the forgiveness we've been given because we'd much rather see vengeance. In fact that's why I'm advocating that we bring back smiting. I've come up with an invention that's a smite button you can carry around with you. You can set it to any one of the plagues of Egypt in the book of Exodus.
When someone cuts you off in traffic-just break out your smite button and set it to "BOILS" and drive up beside the person and watch the fun begin!
Or if you happen to be from one of the denominations that doesn't approve of drinking and you find yourself at the liquor store and see someone from church and you'd rather avoid that confrontation-pull out your smite button and set it to "GNATS"-press the button and PRESTO! You've got a good distraction to make your getaway unseen into the parking lot.
Finally when you have a smart alec preacher who makes light of faith and sometimes looks at the negative in life-set your smite button to the "ANGEL OF DEATH" and see if he doesn't change his tune.
Is that too dark? It seems a bit dark. Well God loves us through the darkness and brings us the light of laughter-as Scripture reminds us that to God "even the dark is as bright as the noon day." I hope that knowing that makes you grin even if you're not into my thematic humor known as sacred macabre.
Laugh often and pray even more often so we can laugh more.
Grace to you and yours,
Dwight
It's hard being a minister because people don't expect a minister to be a pessimist. I catch myself saying things like "Ministry would be so much easier if it weren't for all of the people I have to talk to." and "You know I really understand why God flooded the earth-it's too bad God promised not to do it again." It just doesn't work to talk that way.
It's weird being Christian and having to give out the forgiveness we've been given because we'd much rather see vengeance. In fact that's why I'm advocating that we bring back smiting. I've come up with an invention that's a smite button you can carry around with you. You can set it to any one of the plagues of Egypt in the book of Exodus.
When someone cuts you off in traffic-just break out your smite button and set it to "BOILS" and drive up beside the person and watch the fun begin!
Or if you happen to be from one of the denominations that doesn't approve of drinking and you find yourself at the liquor store and see someone from church and you'd rather avoid that confrontation-pull out your smite button and set it to "GNATS"-press the button and PRESTO! You've got a good distraction to make your getaway unseen into the parking lot.
Finally when you have a smart alec preacher who makes light of faith and sometimes looks at the negative in life-set your smite button to the "ANGEL OF DEATH" and see if he doesn't change his tune.
Is that too dark? It seems a bit dark. Well God loves us through the darkness and brings us the light of laughter-as Scripture reminds us that to God "even the dark is as bright as the noon day." I hope that knowing that makes you grin even if you're not into my thematic humor known as sacred macabre.
Laugh often and pray even more often so we can laugh more.
Grace to you and yours,
Dwight
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Race Matters
There's a book by Cornell West by that same title. It's about racism and how it is still prevalent in our culture. It plays on the statement that people often say (particularly white people) "I don't see what the big deal is about the color of someone's skin-I consider myself color blind". Or something similar.
The book and I along with it though indicate that being color blind is not the solution to the complex problem of racism. Noting differences and learning about them as well as from them is a significant part of coming to terms with one's own racism. It is also a beginning for understanding some of the systems within our culture and our own thinking that promote racism.
For whites many of us believe that racism has ended-Obama's in the White House (you know there's something racist about it being called the white house right?) But just because the Civil Rights movement began in the sixties and got us integrated that it is enough and Obama won the presidency it doesn't mean we are in a "post racist" society. If you believe that then I invite you to reconsider.
Obama's election is definitely a stride towards progress. But just as we've come a long way, we've got a long way yet to go. It is amazing to have elected a mixed race person as President of the United States. However it is not by any means the end of racism.
It's the beginning of further struggle and growth. Whites in general (me included) often don't recognize the privilege we enjoy just by being white. Because we've owned nearly everything (by force and by oppression according to history) for so long-we begin to feel as though blacks or other minorities gaining "special" treatment through quotas, affirmative action, or any other form of program designed to help us along is an unfair practice.
Our worldview is skewed by the lack of awareness and honesty about how privileged we are and have been throughout the history of America. So much so that we may even get upset at the suggestion that more progress has to be made. One might here someone who is white say "Well they've got a black history month, they've got the White House, what else do they want?" Note the "they". What "they" want is what all of humanity wants-to be viewed as part of the "us" as well as valued for the differences we enjoy. Equal access, honest dialogue, and commitment to ongoing repentance of the sin of racism is a good start for all of us.
In fact the definition of racism incorporates the distribution of wealth. If whites own more corporations, more businesses, more companies hence more wealth overall then that puts us as a race in a position of power. Those who own have the power to oppress consciously or unconsciously. This context then offers me privilege not enjoyed by those not in power. That privilege and the structures that promote it are the definition of racism-one race having the ownership and power of wealth over other races.
So by virtue of being white-I am racist because of the power my race holds over other races. If you feel offended by that statement then it is an indication of the type of racism that I'm talking about that needs to change. We are often unable even to acknowledge the privilege we enjoy-even entertain the idea of that being white offers unequal access to goods, services, and power not enjoyed by others. So if we are unable even to THINK about the issue then there may be some place for us to grow and learn. God knows I need to keep learning and facing that within me that would remain silent and inactive in this struggle.
So I pray God gives us Grace to own up to our own racism and that we are able to take the insight we're given and use it to shape the future.
Grace to you and peace in this new year 2009.
Dwight
The book and I along with it though indicate that being color blind is not the solution to the complex problem of racism. Noting differences and learning about them as well as from them is a significant part of coming to terms with one's own racism. It is also a beginning for understanding some of the systems within our culture and our own thinking that promote racism.
For whites many of us believe that racism has ended-Obama's in the White House (you know there's something racist about it being called the white house right?) But just because the Civil Rights movement began in the sixties and got us integrated that it is enough and Obama won the presidency it doesn't mean we are in a "post racist" society. If you believe that then I invite you to reconsider.
Obama's election is definitely a stride towards progress. But just as we've come a long way, we've got a long way yet to go. It is amazing to have elected a mixed race person as President of the United States. However it is not by any means the end of racism.
It's the beginning of further struggle and growth. Whites in general (me included) often don't recognize the privilege we enjoy just by being white. Because we've owned nearly everything (by force and by oppression according to history) for so long-we begin to feel as though blacks or other minorities gaining "special" treatment through quotas, affirmative action, or any other form of program designed to help us along is an unfair practice.
Our worldview is skewed by the lack of awareness and honesty about how privileged we are and have been throughout the history of America. So much so that we may even get upset at the suggestion that more progress has to be made. One might here someone who is white say "Well they've got a black history month, they've got the White House, what else do they want?" Note the "they". What "they" want is what all of humanity wants-to be viewed as part of the "us" as well as valued for the differences we enjoy. Equal access, honest dialogue, and commitment to ongoing repentance of the sin of racism is a good start for all of us.
In fact the definition of racism incorporates the distribution of wealth. If whites own more corporations, more businesses, more companies hence more wealth overall then that puts us as a race in a position of power. Those who own have the power to oppress consciously or unconsciously. This context then offers me privilege not enjoyed by those not in power. That privilege and the structures that promote it are the definition of racism-one race having the ownership and power of wealth over other races.
So by virtue of being white-I am racist because of the power my race holds over other races. If you feel offended by that statement then it is an indication of the type of racism that I'm talking about that needs to change. We are often unable even to acknowledge the privilege we enjoy-even entertain the idea of that being white offers unequal access to goods, services, and power not enjoyed by others. So if we are unable even to THINK about the issue then there may be some place for us to grow and learn. God knows I need to keep learning and facing that within me that would remain silent and inactive in this struggle.
So I pray God gives us Grace to own up to our own racism and that we are able to take the insight we're given and use it to shape the future.
Grace to you and peace in this new year 2009.
Dwight
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