Andrew Sullivan....

Here is a recent post from Andrew Sullivan over at The Daily Dish....he puts more words to why I voted for Obama...

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/the-real-mcca-1.html

The Debate

I watched the second presidential debate last night and I thought that it showed more of what the candidates were made of. At first McCain seemed tepid and unsure but he gained his footing as the debate progressed. Obama was cool and calm as usual; though he stuttered quite abit-not doubt evidence that he is not used to Town-Hall meetings.

Overall I liked what Obama had to say. I thought he was more civil than McCain because McCain kept referring to him as "That One". McCain still seems too much like a war-hawk to me and that scares me. McCain compared himself to TR last night and I don't see much of a connection. Roosevelt was a tough individualist with a deep well of creative ideas, I just don't see that in McCain.

I understand there are many reasons not to like Obama but I believe his framing story is fundamentally different than that of McCains. Brian Mclaren puts it well,

"centers in the narrative I believe he frames his life and work by, in contrast to the narrative John McCain frames his life and work by. To me, this issue of narrative means far more in a president than whether he claims to be liberal or conservative, religious or nonreligious, Christian or otherwise, Democrat or Republican.
Does anyone doubt that Senator McCain lives by a warrior narrative? This is the most consistent theme in his campaign. For him the world is clearly divided into us and them.
We are good; they are evil. We are right; they are wrong. We are about safety; they are about danger..."

..."Senator Obama certainly believes in a strong national defense. But I believe he leans toward a profoundly different narrative. It is a reconciliation narrative, a peace-building narrative, a collaboration narrative. He made it clear when he said he would change President Bush’s policy of not talking to our enemies. McCain and others tried to portray this alternative approach as cowardice and appeasement, but they were wrong. Instead of dividing the world into “us” and “them,” Obama’s narrative seeks to bring people together in a expanding us. While McCain’s narrative only offers enemies surrender and defeat, Obama’s offers them the possibility of reconciliation."

Here is an interesting article by Ron Sider the director of Evangelicals for Social Action:

http://www.esa-online.org/Images/mmDocument/PRISM%20Archive/Ron%20Sider%20Column/SeptOct08RonSider.pdf

Late Night Poetry

Making a Fist

by Naomi Shihab Nye

For the first time, on the road north of Tampico,
I felt the life sliding out of me,
a drum in the desert, harder and harder to hear.
I was seven, I lay in the car
watching palm trees swirl a sickening pattern past the glass.
My stomach was a melon split wide inside my skin.

"How do you know if you are going to die?"
I begged my mother.
We had been traveling for days.
With strange confidence she answered,
"When you can no longer make a fist."

Years later I smile to think of that journey,
the borders we must cross separately,
stamped with our unanswerable woes.
I who did not die, who am still living,
still lying in the backseat behind all my questions,
clenching and opening one small hand.

The Blue Parakeet: Chapter 2

Chapter two of Scot McKnight's wonderful new book The Blue Parakeet begins with a story about bird watching. I could relate well to this opening narrative because I myself enjoy birdwatching. Scot tells how he discovered a blue Parakeet-a house pet- eating and squawking amongst sparrows. The blue Parakeet freaked the other birds out at first but eventually they become accustomed to the birds presence. Scot tells us that reading the bible is similar to this experience. He tells us that, " chance encounters sometimes lead us deeper into thought". When reading the Bible we come across elements of the narrative that shock, inspire, confuse and frustrate us; and that's OK. I have found this to be true in my own faith. There are parts of the Old Testament that disturb me and other parts that bring me to my knees. Through my frustration with parts of the Bible I have sought God deeper and more fully.

Scot continues by outlining three ways in which many people read the Bible. The three are: Reading to Retrieve (literalistic), Those Days, Those ways (picking and choosing) and Reading Through Tradition (classic, historical reading). Which one are you?

Highlights:

" What we've got in the pages of the New Testament are first-century expressions of the gospel and church life, no permanent, timeless expressions. They are timely expressions; they are Spirit-inspired expressions; but they were and remain first-century expressions." (26-27)

"God spoke in David's days in David's ways, and God spoke in Solomon's days in Solomon's ways...and we are called to carry on that pattern in our world today.

Chapter 3 to come...

The Blue Parakeet: Chapter 1

Scot McKnight's forthcoming book The Blue Parakeet begins with several critical questions for how we are to approach the Bible today. He begins with the birth of his love for reading and how it led him through a maze of questions and discoveries. His style is gracious and probing; the first chapter has set a tone of loving concern for the faith today. The question that McKnight proposes-the questions that informs the remainder of the book- is How, then, are we to live out the Bible today? (11). Scot explains that the most common question of: How can we apply the Bible to our lives? is too technical and doesn't address the gravity of the current situation surrounding the Bible today.

Scot goes on to talk about how many Christians today pick and choose-or adopt and adapt- what they want to read and believe about the Bible. He takes the reader through several pressing issues the Bible speaks of and shows how many of us do not follow the commands given. The chapter ends with an explanation of why it is important to address how the bible is to be lived out today.

Highlights:

1. Admitting that I pick and choose when reading the Bible is difficult. I haven't really thought much about it. This book will challenge many of my long help opinions and assumptions about the message of Jesus and how I approach the Bible.

2. I had no idea what I was getting into when I asked God's spirit to fill me. (10) This statement shook me. There have been times I have asked God for direction and I am terrified of the answer. It takes great faith to jump into the God-life experience.

Chapter 2 tomorrow....

The Blue Parakeet by Scot Mcknight

My advanced copy of The Blue Parakeet came in today. Chapter 1 discussion will be coming soon....can't wait!

Community, Hope, and America's Future

By community I mean the commonwealth and common interests, commonly understood, of people living together in a place and wishing to continue to do so. To put it another way, community is a locally understood interdependence of local people, local culture, local economy, and local nature. (Community, of course, is an idea that can extend itself beyond the local, but it does so only metaphorically. The idea of a national or global community is meaningless apart from the realization of local communities)...
- Wendell Berry, Sex, Economy, freedom & Community

I watched and listened to Barrack Obama's acceptance speech last night and was moved. I then listened and read commentary, hatred, and condemnation for everything the man said. To say the least, the negativity and hatred saddened me. The quote above is from a book of essays by Wendell Berry. Berry truly does transcend the liberal/conservative divide.; he opposes big government and big business- (though some call 'transcendence' elitism, I believe that is a naive critique). I believe that there are commonly held values by Americans. The pro-life/pro-choice debate is bogged down in divisive and thwarting rhetoric. Global trade has been reduced to a morality based on monetary gain; what value is their in gaining the whole world yet forfeiting your soul? The environment has been reduced to extreme radicals (Gore/Evangelicals). Most Americans want unwanted/teen pregnancies reduced. Many Americans long for monetary, cultural, and social equity. Many Americans and people of faith (Christian, Muslim, Jewish) long for responsible stewardship of the good earth, even if its not profitable.

Community is the only third party interest that can truly transcend the liberal/conservative divide. America has many problems: lack of self-restraint, indifference to the environment, consumerism, racism and acceptance of the myth of redemptive violence. Local people, cultures, economies, and stewardship of the earth will bring about the change that this nation needs. I am not speaking of some conservative limited government/free market utopia; neither am I speaking of some liberal government program solution. I am talking about local people, citizens of neighborhoods, members of churches and lions clubs taking a stand for their commonly held values and passions.

As I thought about the many view points presented after Obama's speech I thought about my own involvement in my local community. After long hours of meditation, I was saddened. I do not participate as I should in the local economy. I do not promote peace in every aspect of my life. I do not strive to do the best I can (pragmatically) to be a good steward of the good earth, created by our loving creator. In other words, I realized I was a hypocrite. What then are we/I to do?

I believe that as a nation we must realize the importance of local economies, cultures and environments. Our military receives more funding than our endangered species protection agencies. If we are going to continue down this road I would appreciate it if the people who claim we are a 'christian' nation rip out Psalms, Isaiah, and Job. Cherishing and supporting our local economies, cultures, and environments is our only hope of achieving a sustainable, spiritually sound, and responsible solution to our nations ailments. The global/industrial economy deals in abstractions, not humanity and the common good.

Gandhi said, "You must be the change you want to see in the world". I agree. It must begin with me. Obama has been creating many realities with the use of his inspiring language but, without action it is meaningless. Through language Dr. King made possible the reality of equity among peoples of differing cultures. Through creative action he gave the empiricists something tangible to grasp; the idealist something to hope for; the cynics something to ponder. If Obama desires the highest office in the land, he will need to find concrete solutions, rooted in local communities, that will build a bridge between tradition and progress. Speeches are inspiring, action is world shaking.

Come on Obama, give us something to hold on to.

As above, so here on earth.