Silent Retreat

Tonight's a chance for something different, a silent retreat.
Most of the time long stretches of silence (besides sleeping and running) aren't part my days; but tonight's different. A few years ago, before marriage to my beloved and kids, taking silent retreat made no sense. Going home at the end of the day and opening the door could lead to a place and time of silence; but now our home is rarely silent.

As the first to arrive at our church's spring Mission service project the whole church basement where our group will be staying this week is home for just one tonight. We'll be working this week on flood recovery in Filmore County, Minnesota. Most of the group will arrive tomorrow at 8 am; but one is here early.

The silence starts tonight with Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, sometimes reading Chambers bothers this Lutheran. But tonight Chambers offers a challenge to a common way of prayer that makes sense. Chambers question seems to be, is prayer offering God a list of instructions or is it opening ones self up to the mind of God. Worshiping God, Chambers instructs, isn't about telling God what do do in another persons life, but listening to and being open to the will of God.

This spring my congregation enters a time of transition. The last couple weeks its been clear that there's no road map for what comes next; instead there's this one prayer that keeps repeating: thy will be done. Luther wrote,

The good and gracious will of God is surely done without our prayer, but we ask in this prayer that it may be done also among us.

The gift of prayer isn't that it changes God; but that it opens us up to God most often meaning that we will be changed.

Dog's, kids, and food...

Some of you may know that we are the proud owners of an American Water Spaniel called Teddy Roosevelt. For most of the last year I've adjusted to having my first ever dog. Our girls love him and have bonded much more than I expected to this sweet pile of curly brown fur. Originally I wanted to have a small but hearty hunting dog and the AWS fit the bill. Now I'm glad that we got a pet who's very good with the kids and seems to just fit in as part of the family. Everyone (except the cat) is most delighted that Teddy lives with us.

I am an active owner. I get the pup out every morning for at least 30 minutes on the run. Its been good for my health and his. I am a few pounds lighter and the pup and I have really bonded over exercise. On the whole Teddy is pretty adventurous. He's brought in a few pheasants and has really taken to the whole retrieving regimen that happens at noon time 5 or 6 times a week. Teddy gets out 3 times a week for long runs off leash in a nearby park that's great for cross country skiing and running. He just seems to love being out in the open

The one challenge right now is that Teddy moves in fast to sneak a snack from our table. He's sneaky and he's fast. We'll often catch him in the corner of our eyes just as his floppy spaniel ears are gliding back across our table in search of a seemingly ignored piece of bread or scrap of meat. When I'm eating alone at the table this is never an issue, but with kids who get up and down over and over each meal he has plenty of chances to sneak up and grab fast for a little extra grub.

In our house the most logical room for our puppy was the kitchen/dining room. It has a nice easy to clean hard (but not wood) floor. It has easy access to the front and back door and gives the puppy a place for his toys, water, and food bowl. The one illogical thing about having a dog in the kitchen is his access to the food.

Its tempting to exclude the dog, banishing him to run in the living room during meals; but Teddy's very social and our family is more likely to be together at the table 2 or 3 times a day than in any other space in the house.

When Teddy does jump up on the table he either gets a strong talking to while I'm holding his snout, or, as happened tonight, he gets trotted quickly into the kennel which sits conveniently next to our table.

Run on a Bank, does anybody remember 1933

This sign was up late one night last week so I took a picture early one morning when I was out running with the dog.

The news about Bear Stearns being bailed out by JP Morgan and the Federal Reserve is stunning. One of the nation's largest banks has effectively no assets at this time.

Some of this situation is reminiscent of runs on the banks that happened from 1929-1933. People are panicky and fear is rampant. The difference is that in the depression both the Federal Reserve and the Hoover Administration stood on the sidelines. The current Fed seems ready to engage; but monetary policy isn't enough. It's time to see what really going on in our nations financial services sector.

It's time for a bank holiday or rather, because of the complex nature of our deregulated financial services industry its time for a bank, credit-card, mortgage brokerage, mortgage backed securities, and investment bank holiday.

Most conventional banks wouldn't need to shut down at all. They were shut down and only allowed to open by FDR in 1933 after thorough audits. The regulations started in March 1933 led to the current FDIC set up in which we, as tax payers, insure our own banks against fiduciary negligence.

The hard part today is that many other less conventional but very key parts of the economy need to be audited and in some way insured. Bear Stearns, as a commercial bank, has no FDIC protection. In March 1933 the Congress acted in concert with the President. Can that happen in 2008 or will we have to wait until 2009.

understanding the recession and the election

My old roommate Habbs has a post about his dissatisfaction, as a conservative with the Republican Party. He's even got a manifesto as a conservative. It got me thinking. I'm not much for political parties but I am a fan of politicians with the will to govern and look out for the middle class and the underclasses in the process.

So now I'd like to lay out what I'm after in the next president and congress.

I'd say the best thing we could have right now is the return of FDR. But I'm a Christian, so I'm waiting for Jesus to come instead, so I'll settle for somebody who gets 2 things
1) that there's a bill of rights (including the first, second, and fifth amendments)
2) that we've got a pretty shaky economy because of greed...

• the finance industry benefited from the lax attitude towards consumer/borrower protection that was encouraged by Reagan, Bush 1 & 2 and Clinton, and the neo-conservative's acolytes in the leadership of the now defunct Republican Congress.
  
• oil/gas profiteers have decided now (during a war) is the time to squeeze consumers for every last drop of profit before consumers drop them in favor of other sources of energy.
• Many consumers added to this mess through their own greed borrowing until they had no means to pay back their creditors.

We have a growing recession based on broad consumer greed and the greed of profit taking by a very few in the energy and finance sectors of the economy during a time of war.

Neither party seems to get this complex situation because they are both being bought and sold every two years as they run candidates for election and re-election. What I care about is finding somebody to vote for who gets that we need real solutions to the recession.
the equation I see at work right now is

mortgage & credit-card debt
+
stagflation trigger by high oil & gas costs
=
a greed induced recession

I'm convinced that the solutions that work might be more radical than we've seen discussed thus far. If you are a dyed in the wool conservative it might be time to reread your US History books about the period between 1928 and 1940.

For a little background (in case you didn't take a class that included 20th century history) this current recession isn't our nations worst economic crisis. What Hoover did ignoring the depression from the crash of October 1929 until he left office in March of 1933 is the worst example of presidential economic negligence known.

In 1933 Roosevelt was called a socialist. But what he did saved the US for future capitalism. Bush's recession is mild in comparison to Hoover's, so far. Scary thing is some of the same underlying elements are creeping in

• steep drop in property values,
• displacement of workers,
• negative saving rate, and
• shrinking domestic industrial production.

FDR shut every bank in the country for fear that the whole economic system was about to crumble. He let none reopen until audited and subsequently insured by the FDIC. Most people alive today have never seen a run on a bank. Find a guy in his 90's to talk with and you might hear a story or two about Roosevelt's bank holiday.

Most conservatives don't like to talk about the New Deal; but ask any old timer who worked in the CCC about the dignity of having a job and he might tell you just how much the government can do, if well led, to benefit the most in this nation.

Looking for Signs of the Resurrection

Last November I attended a presentation by Dr. Craig Satterlee who teaching homiletics at some Lutheran school of theology in Chicago. In his two day 3 part presentation, made to preachers (about preaching during times of change and transition in the church), he encouraged us to make a journal in preparation for Easter listing all the signs of the resurrection that we've seen in the past year.

Getting ready for a tough funeral tomorrow has been enough to make me want to remember all the signs again. And I thought, for maybe somebody else sake I'd share this one tonight.

One sign of resurrection just sticks out from the past year. Its a most powerful sign of God's grace. Brenda, a member of our church (who's daughter goes to daycare with our girls), sister, Shelby, was shot in the head last year. Her husband who subsequently committed suicide that same day. Shelby's been in our prayers every week for over a year. It didn't look good at first. But then not all at once but little by little the situation started to change for Shelby. She opened her eyes. She walking again and talking again and even is volunteering a few days a week. It's just amazing. A TV station prepared a report about her. It's amazing and if I didn't know Brenda I probably would think it too good to be true, but its not.

Resurrection seems to good to be true; but if you look hard enough you'll find it's true.

pax
Unlikely

Response to Bishop Mark Hansen

Mark Hansen, Presiding Bishop of the ELCA released a challenging message to ELCA pastors last week. I read it and sent him this response. See what you think.

Brother Mark (et al. who work in the office of the Bishop),
thanks for the note.

I'm 34 and this is the first time as an ELCA pastor (8.5 years in ministry and still going) that I have seen such a clear understanding, in the ELCA's home office, of the #1 issue that we need to face as a church: mission, right here and right now, in our own families and communities.

In 8.5 years I've seen the ELCA splinter over adiophora topics like bishops and worship. I've grown tired of constant debates over complex social issues like sexuality that creep up every 2 years at assemblies but will really take 2 generations to finish.

Thanks for your efforts to steer the church-wide dialog in the right direction. It was greatly encouraging to hear you speak at Zumbro Lutheran Church in Rochester in February and to hear that you understand that we've got bigger issues at stake than ecumenical relations or debates about sexuality. Thanks for acknowledging the elephant in the room: our call to share the Good News not only with those who come to us but with those who don't.

pax,
unlikely