White Bean & Ham Soup

I told myself I was going to blog more in Lent.  Not ranting but deep profound spiritual stuff.  I did pretty well on Ash Wednesday.  Then that was kind of the end of that.  I am writing Lenten Devotions for a Facebook Group on Fridays so that's something anyway.

So here's a recipe anyway.  

1 bag of dried white navy beans
1 sweet yellow onion, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
4 or 5 carrots, chopped
1 clove garlic, sliced
4 slices of bacon
1/4 Cup white wine
2 Tbl (or so) Balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper
1 Ham shank

Cover the beans with water.  Bring to a boil.  Let them soak for an hour or so.
Fry the bacon in a big ol cast iron pot.  Take the bacon out and use it for broccoli salad.  Saute the onions, 1/2 the peppers and garlic in the leftover bacon fat.  You might have to use a little olive oil if it's not enough fat.  When the onion is translucent, add the vinegar and wine and simmer that for a few minutes.

Add the beans in the same water they've been soaking in,  and the ham shank.  Add more water to make sure the beans are covered.  Bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down to a low simmer, cover and let it do it's thing for a few hours.  You can also add it to the crock pot if you want to go out and don't want to leave the stove on. 

After the beans are soft most recipes will tell you to blend half the beans and put them back in.  Well, I don't like the consistency of beans so I put an immersion blender in the pot and mush them all up.  Then I add the rest of the peppers and the carrots and keep simmering for another hour or so.  

When it's done, the ham should be fall off the bone.  Take it out, cut the ham up and put it back in the soup.  Really nice for a snow day.  Serve with corn bread.

Remember You are Dust

I am in my 50s now and very aware that I probably have fewer years left than I have lived.   I pay attention to how old people are when I hear of their deaths and compare that to my own age.

Remember that you are dust and to dust, you shall return.

There are many pastors who want to add something to those words like “Remember that God loves you and forgives you”.  

Well yes, God does love you,  but this body is still going to return to dust.  It is only because of God’s love and forgiveness that I have a chance of something beyond this dusty life, but dust is where I am destined.

Christianity today is very influenced by ancient Greek philosophy which said we are all immortal souls trapped in bodies on earth.  “I am just a stranger here, heaven is my home”

Well, the bible says something a little different.  

Heaven is not our home, earth is our home.  

God created us out of the earth and placed on the earth.  Our bodies are designed to live on earth, not in heaven.   We do not become angels when we die; we go to the dust when we die.

Of course like most other Christians, I long for something more than this broken, lost and often unkind world.  

But rather than a promise of an escape from this earth, the great biblical Christian hope is a redeemed world, not an escape from the world.  

We hope for resurrected bodies, not escape from our bodies.

I am made from and for this world and yet this world will not be like this forever.

I try to let this truth give me perspective.   

So that I enjoy and care for and give thanks for all the worldly blessings I have.  So that I do what God has given me to do so that others benefit more in this world from this world. 

But that I don’t cling to the things of this world so tightly that I lose trust in God to bring me to something better.

And so when those ashes are rubbed on my forehead, I need no other words to give me both humility and hope –

 “Remember you are dust and dust you shall return.

Most Popular Post Ever

My post on the Legend of the Snowdrop back in 2010 has the most views.  Still gets views almost every day.  Go figure.

When a Pastor's Bad Behavior in Public becomes Public

Very interesting story making the rounds on social media. 

First an Applebees server posted a picture of a pastor's rather snotty note on a receipt "I give 10% to God why do you get 18%?" and identifies themselves as a pastor.

So that alone sets off a firestorm on social media.  And reveals the dirty little secret that I learned from working as a waitress at Bob's Big Boy on Van Nuys Blvd (yes the very same street cruised in American Graffiti)  - Servers always dread the Sunday after church crowd.  They are the most demanding and the worst tippers.  This is apparently still as true as it was back in the late 70s when I was schlepping food.  And it brought about discussion among Christians about how if are going to publicly identify ourselves as Christians we darn well better do as we say because if we don't people notice, and nowadays they put it Reddit or YouTube.

It also stimulated a discussion about justice and how unfair it is that wait staff are usually paid less than minimum wage and how if you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to eat out.  

Oh it got worse.  The pastor identified on the receipt called Applebees and demanded everybody involved including the manager be fired.  The server (who was not the one who served the pastor) who put the receipt online was fired. 

Then the pastor was identified and it turned out the grumpy old white man most of us were imagining was actually an African American woman.  Which is only relevant in that we imagined something different.  Anyway apparently her reputation was ruined -
Pastor Who Left Sanctimonious Tip Gets Waitress Fired from Applebee’s, Claims Her Reputation Was Ruined

 I know, we are all weeping profusely for her in mock sympathy. 

It's a brave new world we are in. On the one hand, publishing her name on a a receipt was a violation of privacy.  On the other hand, when you write a note and identify yourself as a pastor, it would be fair to assume that you stand by your note and feel justified in doing what you are doing and should not be "humiliated" by other people knowing what you did.   When you put on the collar, you kind of let go of your right to privacy.  On another hand, people can really be vicious when judging others--especially when anonymous online. We don't know anything about this pastor other than she resented having to pay a mandated 18 percent gratuity that is added to group bills.

It also points how easily servers can be fired based on the complaint of customers.  It might give us all pause before we decide to complain about bad service.  Was it really so bad that it is worth someone losing their job over? 

It behooves all of us to remember that what we do in public may end up being even more public than you think.  This may end up being a good thing, maybe we will regain a good sense of shame that will make behave better if we know everyone is watching.  But whether or not it is good thing is moot, it is the world we live in now.  For better or worse. 
 

Spoilers and Social Media

Back in the 90s I followed and discussed figure skating with other fans on Usenet (who remembers that?).  And people would go to live competitions and post the results.  Since it wouldn't be broadcast till days later (at least in those days they did broadcast most of the competitions) it was etiquette to post SPOILER in the header so people could skip the post pretend like the TV broadcast was live and experience the suspense.  But of course, especially during the Olympics people would get all excited and post TARA WON! and then everyone would excoriate them for "ruining" the Olympics for them.  Or they would cry because they went on the internet and there was a headline about the results.  Even then I was like, dude, it's news, stay home and turn everything off if you don't want to know.

Now it's Downton Abbey.  Seems like everyone is watching it.  Some didn't catch on right away and are trying to catch up on previous seasons on DVD or Itunes.  And some people think the rest of us are not supposed to talk about the latest episode.  Or "warn" them with spoilers.  I'm sorry I think that's really really unrealistic.  This is social media.  The fun part of social media is talking about stuff AS IT HAPPENS.  

It's not that I'm unsympathetic.  The people in the UK are ahead of us and I found out something that is going to happen that I wish I didn't.  But I never let that spoil the show  for me.  See, reason why we are all hooked on Downton Abbey is that it is a soap opera.  Some people who never watched soaps before are just discovering just how addicting that kind of entertainment can be. It's well acted and well written, but it's a soap.  Which means you can pretty much predict what is going to happen.  I knew Edith was going to be left at the altar before the wedding and as soon as they started arguing about taking Sybil to the hospital I knew she was going to die.  And I STILL cried.  

For that matter I knew Fantine was going to cut her hair, have her teeth pulled out, become a prostitute and die and I STILL cried.

So if you are friends with me on facebook and follow me on twitter - be warned.  I'm going to talk about Downton Abbey next Sunday.

This is Why Nothing is Going to Change

You must indulge me in a fit of despairing cynicism that despite the grief and hand wringing and vows that "We can do better!", nothing is going to change.

I had some hope.  At first I thought maybe we could begin to look a little at how easy it is to get guns in this country.  But with talk of laws, I realize that no law is going to change this country's odd love affair with fire arms.  In fact I am beginning to fear that banning guns would no more make people give up their guns than Prohibition made people give up their booze.  And I shudder to think of an even bigger gun black market business.

Well maybe we can do something about the abysmal access in this country to mental health services.  I know something about this but I have NO INTENTION of talking about my experience because of what I see happening to Liza Long who wrote the much shared I am Adam Lanz's Mother .  She wrote a heart wrenching, painfully honest post on what it was like to have a violent mentally ill son.  Everyone I knew was sharing it all over the place.

Then the backlash.  You can read the gory details here.  Okay she's not a nominee for Mother of the Year.   She says some disturbing things in a blog she thought was anonymous.  Seriously - YOU  never felt like throttling your kid?  Disfunction, divorce, abuse, mental illness.  It's messy.  What - are we only supposed to have compassion for perfect families that struggle? 

I also think people are piling on her because she is messing with their agenda.  The gun control people don't want her issues diverting people from their agenda.  Advocates for the mentally ill don't want people to think they are potential mass murderers.  But here's the deal.  Sorry but sometimes mentally ill people ARE violent.  Especially if they aren't treated.  That truth makes people squeamish about the mentally ill, but the answer is not to pretend it's not true.

Anyway the lesson seems to be, unless your life is spotless and blameless, don't write about your struggles and expect any compassion.  Oh wait.  Perfect people don't have struggles.  Or need compassion.

When Jesus heard this, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’ 

Mark 2:17

Anyway it sounds like business as usual.  Everyone has an agenda.  If your experience doesn't fit my agenda, then just shut up.   I feel like all those babies died in vain and it will happen again only next time it won't be quite as traumatic. 

Kyrie, eleison

Ambrose was a Lutheran

I will glory not because I am righteous but because I am redeemed; I will glory not because I am free from sins but because my sins are forgiven me. I will not glory because I have done good nor because someone has done good to me but because Christ is my advocate with the Father and because the blood of Christ has been shed for me.

 (De Jacob et vita beata, ch. 6, as quoted in Examination of the Council of Trent, Part I, p. 507)

A Disturbing Contrast

St. Nicholas and the Schoolboys" by Gerard David (c. 1460 - 1523)

Once I figured out what pinterest was all about I became a very enthusiastic pinner.  I pin everything from food to fashion to saints to bible stories to cute kitties. 

 So of course I have a St. Nicolas' board. And while looking for artwork illustrating the various legends and tales about the saint I came across this painting by Gerard David.  I found it very disturbing.

Well the story it illustrates is pretty disturbing.  A wicked butcher who had no meat to sell lures three school boys into his shop, murders them, chops them up and pickles them.  Fortunately Nicolas is on the case and brings them back to life.  Your typical fairytale horror tale that is supposed to help children deal with the dark side of life.

But what I saw in this painting was not a kindly man protecting children.  I saw three naked boys with a bishop.  I think you can guess what images THAT brought up.  The boys are naked in all the art connected with this story but there is something about the innocence David captures in this, and the way the bishop towers over them.  Creepy creepy creepy.

To me this painting brings out the stark contrast of what the church is supposed to do, protect children.  And what it often has not done.  Kind of a sour note for a fun day but there it is. 

 

No this is not about Law/Gospel

My apologies to Mark who left this comment on the post below and instead of approving it I deleted it.  Which is too bad because I want to address it.

I think you are both teetering on the edge here. Gospel and law. Law and gospel. Like the song about love & marriage: "can't have one . . ."

Me:  No you can't get away with just saying "Law and Gospel"   Someone else tried to pull this out on this same topic.  That somehow Law/Gospel applies here.  This is what I say:  Yes Law and Gospel  - NO NO  NO to turning Gospel into Law which what this Cheap Grace stuff does.  

NO NO NO to trying to pull Law into salvation talk to make people behave.  Doesn't work. "The Law says 'do this' and it is never done.  Grace says 'Believe this' and everything is done"  
 In the Law/Gospel dynamic the Law has one purpose and one purpose only - to drive us to the grace of God.

And no, I do not believe in the third use. So don't even go there with me.  

Anybody else wanna try?

Apologies to Bonhoeffer but There is NO SUCH THING as Cheap Grace

“Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”   

                                      The Cost of Discipleship

There's the quote.  I hate it.  

I hate it because it is used to try to drag out law to make people behave. 

I used to think I hated the quote because it was used out of context, and believe me it is.  But now I think the problem isn't just that this has been misused.  

I believe the problem is that Dietrich Bonhoeffer was wrong. 

There I said it.  Nobody is supposed to say that.  His writing has taken on the status of scripture in some places.  Bonhoeffer said it, that settles it.  

Every time anybody gets nervous about someone getting something from God they don't deserve, this quote gets trotted out.  "CHEAP GRACE!  CHEAP GRACE!"

And so I ask "and who, pray tell, is paying too cheap a price for grace?  Who is selling grace for too cheap a price?"


And then I am patronizingly told that I should read the "Cost of Discipleship"  As though I haven't read it several times.  Because, you know, nobody ever read Bonhoeffer and actually said "I don't agree with that" 

I have been wanting to take another look at Cost of Discipleship and dispute it in a more scholarly fashion.  Well maybe when I retire I'll write a book.  For now, these are my thoughts shooting from the hip.

Right off the bat this part of the quote rubs me the wrong way "Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance" 

Forgiveness does NOT depend upon repentance. 

Because that would make it about me and my repentance and then it would not be grace.  Cheap or costly, it would not grace.  Grace does not depend upon me.  I do not have the power to cheapen it.   

Either grace is free and undeserved and unearned or it is something else.  

Grace without the Cross?  That's not cheap grace.  That's not grace.  It's excusing, it's enabling, it's looking the other way, but it's not grace and it is not freeing.  

Grace is not cheap.  

It's free.  It cost God a lot, but it costs us nothing.  It is free but it ain't easy.  We fight it like crazy and I think Bonhoeffer was having his own struggles with it.  And if he had lived through the struggle, I think he'd say it differently. 

This is where some more scholarly work needs to be done but I suspect that Bonhoeffer was influenced by the Baptists in Harlem he hung out with.  

And let me just come out and say it - Baptists are semi-pelagians. Pelagianism can be very compelling.  Especially when people are behaving badly.  Especially when Christians are behaving badly.  

Bonhoeffer was dealing with some very badly behaving Christians and he just overstated the case trying to get them back in line.  That's what I think anyway.

So the way I see it...

The latest scandal all started because some FBI guy couldn't impress an army groupy with a picture of his chest, so he tried to prove he was a big shot in the FBI.

And I feel the press needs a little vocabulary education:

1)  A "mistress" is a woman who is woman who is financially supported by a married lover.  Paula Broadwell is nobody's mistress.  It's an outdated concept and no self-respecting journalist should be using the term.

2)  Losing your home in Hurricane Sandy is  tragedy.  Losing your job because you had an affair while in a job that you knew such behavior would cost you your job (not to mention your FAMILY) is not a tragedy.

That's all.

Presidential Election Memories

My father was a union organizer.  I feel like that's all I have to say to explain why I have always voted a straight Democratic Party ticket.   He was crazy liberal.  Hated Nixon.  Broke my heart that he died before he could see him have to resign. 

I voted in my first election when I was 19 and I voted for Jimmy Carter in 1976.  Yea go ahead and do the math to figure out how old I am.  I don't care.  Pretty sure I voted for Teddy Kennedy in the primary.  I rarely vote for the winner in a primary.  In fact, I don't think I ever have.  

Four years later everyone was pretty disappointed in Carter, including me, but really REAGAN???  I do not understand all this love and remembrance of him as this great president.  I think he was a disaster for the country and those of us who lived in California remembered him as such as a governor.  Much of the problems with the homeless mentally ill can be credited with his dumping of them on the streets when he was governor.  So I registered as a Republican in order vote for John Anderson.  I don't remember much about him other than he was not Carter or Reagan.  Then he went independent and to me, a vote for him would be just as good as a vote for Reagan.

So a cool evening in San Francisco, those of us waiting outside in line after work to vote got the word that Carter had already conceded.  I was so pissed off.  We all knew he was going to lose and we were still going to vote for him and the least he freaking could have done was waited until the polls closed.

I am pretty sure that the outcry from that (many people on the west coast just decided not to vote and that was very bad for local elections) is the reason why news outlets cannot call races at least until polls close.

For some reason, I remember being even more devastated when Reagan one again in 1984.  I really thought people would realize how horrible he was for the country.  But that was really the last time I was crushed at not having an election go my way.  Life goes on.

I did not vote for Bill Clinton in the primary.  Too conservative for my taste.  Seems like I was always voting for Jerry Brown or Jesse Jackson in those days.  And he was a dog.  But he's grown on me.  Like Carter, like him a lot more as an ex-president.

I went to see Bill Clinton in Waterloo Iowa last week.  Sharp as a tack.  Knew exactly what the issues are in Iowa.  Considering how many states he's been to stumping for Obama and how he is probably just on point there, he's really amazing.  If he could run again, I'd vote for him.

I remember going to bed thinking Al Gore had wrapped it up and waking up thinking "Oh crap".  I went to a rally for John Kerry but geesh! he was boring and I knew he never had a chance.

And then there was Hillary.  I'm sorry but I still think Hillary should have been president.  I never was seduced by the great speeches of Obama.  Too inexperienced, and I did not think he would be able to forge the necessary relationships with the congress to accomplish all he was promising.  I believe I was right about that and I still believe Hillary would have done a better job.  But she's a damn good secretary of state.  And Obama surrounded himself with good people to advise him.  And he got a lot of people not usually excited about politics involved and that is always a good thing.  And its nice to have a young couple and children in the White House. 

So here we wait.  I'd like Obama to win because I'm a straight party girl, and it would be sad to have the first African-American president only be one term.  And Romney is well, who knows what he would do.  Does he even know?

The country survives.  It will never be as liberal as I'd like so I've learned not to cry in my beer.   History ebbs and flows.  Things get better, things get worse.  People love, live, get married, have children.  And the God is here. 

PLEASE Do not preach a Stewardship Sermon Next Sunday

"Widow's Mite", James Tissot

The story of the "widow's mite" in Mark 12 is NOT a stewardship text.  It is not about how wonderful it was that she was willing to give everything she had and so therefore, no matter how poor you are, you have no excuse not to give.  

Pay attention to what Jesus says in Mark 12:38

"Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces,  and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets!  They devour widows' houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation."

Jesus is not pointing to the widow as an example of giving.  He's pointing to the religious leaders as an example NOT to follow.  Don’t be like these people who go around acting holy, and saying all the right things and making a show of being generous when in fact they are ignoring the real needs of people and are even taking advantage of the vulnerable.  Instead of taking this woman's money, they should be taking care of HER.

Now you pastor types who have been hearing and giving widow's mites sermons for all of your career are going to resist this and try to argue with me.  You maybe already have your stewardship drive planned based on this precious theme.  Too bad.  It's wrong.  And it misses the real challenge Jesus is giving.

Jesus is not saying it is a good thing this poor women is giving her last dime to support the temple.  Jesus has already condemned the system by driving out the money changers out of the temple and predicted its destruction.   If the religious leaders had been doing their job, she never would have been destitute to begin with.  Preach THAT if you want a stewardship sermon. 
 

Just Vote

 
Lord God, you call your people to honor those in authority. Help us elect trustworthy leaders, participate in wise decisions for our common life, and serve our neighbors in local communities. Bless the leaders of our land, that we may be at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

“I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them, 1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy: 2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against: And, 3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.”                             –John Wesley, October  6, 1774

Sure I'd like you to vote for my guy.  But just vote.  And know that it won't be the end of the world if your guy doesn't win.  We are a country of checks and balances.  And ultimately, God is in charge.  In the words of Julian of Norwich

All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well"

So just go vote and get on with your life.