Category Archives: Lay Speaking

What Is Your Favorite Bible Verse?

Posted on by
Reply

Submitted for publication

I start with the note that the following are my thoughts and my conclusions.  I will also note that I made no use of any AI technology in the creation of this manuscript. (I offered some thoughts on the use of AI technology in “The Questions We Ask AI – The Questions AI Answers”)

While I am presently working on some ideas related to science and faith topics and a need to address the future, I thought I would present something a little less serious but still of importance.

What is your favorite Bible verse?  Was it a verse you learned many years ago in Sunday School or Vacation Bible School?  Was it one that inspired you?  Perhaps it was one that comforted you?  Was it one that offered guidance when you were faced with a problem?

Now, I will be the first to admit that I am not a big fan of memorization.  I suppose this is because of the amount of chemical related information I must know.  I have memorized some of that information, but I also know how to find the information I need as well.

As you will see in the following paragraphs, many of my favorite verses come from encounters in life.

Many years ago, I was watching a football game involving the University of Tennessee Volunteers.  The Vols had lost six straight games, and the alumni and fans were not too happy.  During the game, one individual held up a placard that said, “Luke 23: 34”.  I have no idea how many people turned to their Bible that day but when they did, they read, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

I began singing in the church choir when I was a sophomore in college and this would lead me to singing in an off campus “coffee house”.  It was there I learned “Turn, Turn, Turn”. 

It was when I was teaching in Missouri and helping build a computer network, that I discovered the relationship between the song and Ecclesiastes 3: 1- 10.  It would be much later that I learned that Pete Seeger wrote the music and adapted the verses of this unique passage from the Bible.

When I first heard the group Jefferson Airplane sing “Good Shepherd”, I heard the words “O Good Shepherd, feed my sheep.” I marveled at these words and how they seemed to echo words from the Gospel of John (John 21: 1 – 19). 

In looking at the history of the piece, I discovered that the rock and roll piece that I heard evolved from a mid-20th century blues-based folk song.  And that folk song had evolved from a 19th century Gospel hymn with roots in an early 1800s hymn written by John Adam Grande, a Methodist preacher from Tennessee (Some of this was first written in “For What It’s Worth”)

The lyrics for the rock and roll songs “Along the Watchtower”, written by Bob Dylan and “Crossroads” by Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Jack Bruce (aka Cream) also have roots in Biblical phrases.

In one of Tom Clancy’s novels is a note that the motto for the Central Intelligence Agency comes from John 8: 32 – “Seek the truth and the truth shall set you free.” It is perhaps a fitting verse to know when one is involved in education.

We must be careful though when we speak of our favorite verses.  Many will quote “that money is the root of all evil.”  But the actual verse is “the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 2: 10)”.  Removing the first three words changes the meaning of that verse rather dramatically.

As I noted in “What Is in Your Heart?”, some will say that “God helps those who help themselves” is one of their favorites, not knowing that it is not found in the Bible but rather Ben Franklin’s “Poor Richard’s Almanac”.

Others will quote verses or parts of verses that justify hatred, exclusion or justification for their actions and behavior towards others.  But such verses reflect more the mindset of the speaker rather than the actual words of the Bible.

While many of the verses that I have come to consider my favorite ones have come from music and literature, there have been times when others have come to me because of time and place.

A few years ago, I traveled to the Detroit area for a job interview.  As I was driving across the plains of central Kentucky back to my home in Whitesburg, KY, I saw the Appalachian Mountains rising before me.  I was reminded of the worlds of Psalm 121: 1 – 2.

I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from the mountains?

No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.

Those words, with the mountains rising before me, led me to turn down the job offer in Detroit and continue with the job I had in Whitesburg.  Shortly after that I received the invitation to serve the small United Methodist Church in Neon, KY, and begin my service as a lay minister.

There are verses which bring us joy; there are verses which bring us comfort; there are verses of celebration, and there are verses that offer hope and guidance.

What are the verses that echo in your mind and heart?  What are the verses that give you joy, comfort, and wisdom?  I would invite you to spend a few moments and think about those verses, then put them down on paper and send them to the church to share in a future newsletter.

What Will You Do?

Posted on by
Reply

This will appear in the upcoming issue of the Fishkill UMC newsletter.

In one of my first messages as a lay speaker, I stated that I saw Jesus as a revolutionary and a radical.  Paul Schuessler, my cousin and patriarch of the Schuessler family (my grandmother’s family) was visiting my church that Sunday.  Paul was also one of the many Lutheran ministers in the lineage of the Schuessler family.  Afterwards, Paul chided me for being so bold in my pronouncements about our Savior.  Yet, a year later, he would state that Jesus was a revolutionary and a radical.  When I asked him about this change, he just commented that such a change is possible with Christ.

As I have written before, I grew up in the South during the 50’s and 60’s so the schools that I went to were segregated.  Even in high school in Memphis, TN, from 1966 – 1968, I, along with my classmates, experienced the effects of segregation.  I doubt that my classmates truly understood that because it was the system they grew up in.  However, because of the moves my family had made, it was a bit easier for me to see and feel those effects.

And those effects, while not as obvious, were still present when I went to college.  In 1969, the Black Students Association of NE Missouri State College (now Truman State University) organized a sit-in of the administration building in protest to the lack of off-campus housing for black students.  Because I knew those who were involved in the protest, I was inside the administration building in support of their efforts.  It should be noted that I was the only white student inside the building.  The campus ministers, including the Wesley Foundation minister, were busy helping negotiate a safe conclusion to the standoff between the students inside the administration and the administration officials and police outside.  Most white students were on the outside but not in support of their fellow students. (note 1). 

I went into the administration building that evening because the people inside were my friends, and one needs to stand by their friends at times of need. 

Later that same spring, I would come to understand that my acceptance of Christ as my Savior allowed me to receive God’s grace. And this meant that my life could never be the same again. As Methodists, we understand that our lives can never quite reach the level of perfection of Christ; but that doesn’t mean that we stop trying.

I work for justice, freedom, and good not because it will get me into heaven but because it is what is expected of me because I am a citizen of the New Kingdom (Note 2).

What did you do when you sat in the synagogue and heard Jesus tell the people of Nazareth that he come to preach the Good News to the poor, to pardon the prisoners, give sight to the blind and set the burdened and battered free?

What did you do when Jesus fed the multitudes, not once but twice?

What did you do when the people sought out Jesus to heal them, their family, and their friends?  Did you help the four friends who found a way to lower their friend through the roof so that Jesus could help their friend walk again?

What did you do when the people gathered outside Jerusalem and pooled their resources so that all could share?

What did you do when Jesus turned no one away?  What did you do when Paul suggested that the message Christ gave was for all and not just a few?

What did you do when the early Methodists created the first credit union so that people could pay their bills instead of being thrown into debtors’ prison?

What did you do when the early Methodists created the first health care clinics to provide health care to the many people who did not have access to health care?

What did you do when the early Methodists created the first schools so that children could learn to read and write?

What did you do when the early Methodists opposed the sale and trafficking of human beings?

Because the early Methodists sought to change society and help those that society considered unworthy, they were considered threats to the organized/established church.  Our spiritual ancestors were considered outsiders and troublemakers because they sought to bring the message of the Gospel to the people!

Why was there no bloody revolution in England when there was one in France at the same time?  Some historians believe that because of the efforts of the Wesleyan Revival, England did not experience a bloody revolution like the French revolution of the same period (note 3).

Some years ago, I used the phrase “vision with action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world” in a message.  (from “What’s The Next Step?”)

Now, as it happened, eight months later I was at that same church and I used a phrase that Willie Nelson said, “one person cannot change the world but one person with a message could.” As I recall, he pointed out that Jesus and the message he carried on the back roads of the Galilee was one prime example. (from “What Does Your Church Look Like?”)

Two thousand years ago, we were given a vision for the future.  Some two hundred and fifty years, a mission was begun to make that vision possible.

John Wesley first expressed the vision of the church and its need to minister to the community in this interchange with Joseph Butler, Bishop of Bristol:

Butler – “You have no business here. You are not commissioned to preach in this diocese. Therefore, I advise you to go hence.”

Wesley – “My lord, my business on earth is do what good I can. Wherever therefore I think I can do the most good, there must I stay so long as I think so. At present I think I can do the most good here. Therefore, here I stay.” (Frank Baker, “John Wesley and Bishop Butler: A Fragment of John Wesley’s Manuscript Journal)

And when the church becomes a part of the community, its impact is wide. Bishop Earl Hunt, who served as President of the United Methodist Council of Bishops spoke of the impact of the church in a community.

“. . . whenever the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is turned loose in a community to help human beings and meet their needs and lift up the name of Jesus Christ, that church becomes indispensable in the community.”  (Pages 173 – 174, New Life For Dying Churches! Rose Sims) (note 4)

We, the people of the United Methodist Church in the 21st century, see a world that is not unlike the world of Israel two thousand years ago or England some two hundred and fifty years ago. 

We see poverty and the widening gap between the classes; we are beginning to see health care denied because people cannot afford it; we are seeing the oppression of many simply because they seek freedom, or they are somehow different.

What will you do?  Will you stand aside?

Or will you remember what those who came before you did, and do the same?

Notes

Note 1        see Side By Side | Thoughts From The Heart On The Left (https://heartontheleft.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/side-by-side-2/) for information about this protest

Note 2       from “The Changing of Seasons” | Thoughts From The Heart On The Left (https://heartontheleft.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/the-changing-of-seasons/)

Note 3       Notes on the Methodist Revival and the non-English Revoltuion are in Generations | Thoughts From The Heart On The Left (https://heartontheleft.wordpress.com/2018/06/23/generations/)

Note 4       from The Family Business | Thoughts From The Heart On The Left (https://heartontheleft.wordpress.com/2011/05/27/the-family-business/)

What Will Be Our Faith Legacy?

Posted on by
Reply

I am a little bit behind in my writing. This was my contribution to the Fishkill UMC December newsletter. Some of this appeared in earlier posts.

Back in 2024, I wrote about the legacy of the wise men and how science and faith were linked in our lives today by the journey of wisemen to Bethlehem two thousand years ago (1).

Our faith journey comes from many different sources.  Some found their faith in the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Islam, or Christianity, others found their faith in the non-Abrahamic faiths of the East; other found their faith in non-traditional forms.

Others may have never accepted a path of faith, choosing to seek their own path.  And others may have rejected the faith of their past or are still seeking to find their faith (2).

I choose to walk with Jesus Christ as my personal savior.  As I have written before, my mother laid the foundation for my journey with Christ by insisting that my siblings and I be in church every Sunday, no matter where we were.  And one Sunday in 1962, I began to think about walking with Christ.  It was this contemplation that led to my earning the God and Country award in 1965.

The legacy of my faith is through the Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB)and its predecessors and the efforts of Jacob Albright, Martin Boehm, and Phillip Otterbein.  I am a member of the United Methodist Church (UMC) because of the merger of the Methodist Church and the EUB church in 1968. These denominations merged because each shared the beliefs of John Wesley.

The Wesleyan approach was open, inclusive, and a practical theological vision of the Christian life as opposed to the restrictive, exclusive, dogmatic approach to matters of faith and practice seen in traditional churches.

Our legacy was and still is to preach outside the normal boundaries of a church. Methodism began as a spiritual movement to renew a decaying institutional church and serve the outcast, the marginalized, and the poor, those that traditional Christians called the “unwashed rabble”.

The early Methodist movement was everything the traditional church wasn’t.  It was often messy or unregulated.  It was based on small groups, it empowered women, gave enslaved persons a sense of freedom, and created a vision of justice and liberation.

In 18th century America, Methodism was a “volatile, alienated, defiant, and charismatic” movement that empowered “those who were demeaned and degraded” with a revolutionary sense of God’s liberating loved (“Religion in the Old South”, Don Matthews, University of Chicago Press, 1977).  Methodism was seen as a threat to the establishment of the time because it was revolutionary, inclusive, heart-centered, and Jesus-fired (3).

Early Methodists found ways to feed the hungry and established free health care clinics to provide medical care.  Because people were denied basic financial services and put into jail because they could not pay their bills, the early Methodists created the first credit unions.  Because children worked in the mines and factories six days a week, the early Methodists created Sunday schools to educate them and their parents.  Because of the efforts of the Wesleyan Revival, some historians think this is the reason England did not experience a bloody revolution like the French revolution of the same period (4).

But where are those efforts today?  How do we respond to the questions Dr. Tony Campolo asked?

What do we do about the poor?

  • What do we do about education or the environment?
  • What do we do when the system that is in place ignores the little children of this country in favor of big business and greedy corporate interests?
  • What do we do when other Christians tell the parents of gays and lesbians that their children’s sexuality is their fault, that they somehow have lived a sinful and wrongful life?
  • How is it that we have allowed Christianity to become so judgmental when our own Savior never judged anyone? (5)

We have seen Christianity coopted by the secular realm.  People who claim to be Christians act as if they were the religious and political authorities who opposed Jesus two thousand years ago.

Evangelical pastor Russell Moore told NPR in an interview that multiple pastors had told him they would quote the Sermon on the Mount, specifically the part that says to “turn the other cheek,” when preaching. Someone would come up after the service and ask, “Where did you get those liberal talking points?”

“What was alarming to me is that in most of these scenarios, when the pastor would say, ‘I’m literally quoting Jesus Christ,’ the response would not be, ‘I apologize.’ The response would be, ‘Yes, but that doesn’t work anymore. That’s weak,’” Moore said. “When we get to the point where the teachings of Jesus himself are seen as subversive to us, then we’re in a crisis.” (6)

What will those who proclaim the legacy of Christ but see his teachings as subversive say when they read in the Book of Acts where those who came before us pooled their resources so that all would have enough?

As we enter the season of Advent and begin preparing for the coming of Christ, I ask you consider your legacy.  Why did you begin your journey with Christ?  What will be the legacy you leave for those who follow you?

Will our legacy be one of hatred and ignorance?  Will it be one of exclusion?  Will we forget that we were once immigrants, strangers in a strange land?

Or will it be one of hope and promise, of redemption and acceptance, of liberation and freedom for all, no matter what path they walk?

Notes

  1. The Legacy of the Wise Men | Thoughts From The Heart On The Left – https://heartontheleft.wordpress.com/2020/01/01/the-legacy-of-the-wise-men/
  2. Seeing the future | Thoughts from The Heart On The Left -https://heartontheleft.wordpress.com/2023/12/02/seeing-the-future-3/
  3. Generations | Thoughts From The Heart On The Left – https://heartontheleft.wordpress.com/2018/06/23/generations/
  4. Evangelism and the United Methodist Church | Thoughts From The Heart On The Left – https://heartontheleft.wordpress.com/2024/06/07/evangelism-and-the-united-methodist-church/
  5. Generations | Thoughts From The Heart On The Left – https://heartontheleft.wordpress.com/2018/06/23/generations/ and references within.
  6. From an interview with Tony Campolo posted on Beliefnet.com on 12 November 2004) – Evangelism and the United Methodist Church | Thoughts From The Heart On The Left – https://heartontheleft.wordpress.com/2024/06/07/evangelism-and-the-united-methodist-church/
  7. Christianity Today Editor: Evangelicals Call Jesus “Liberal” and “Weak” | The New Republic – https://newrepublic.com/post/174950/christianity-today-editor-evangelicals-call-jesus-liberal-weak

What Is Wisdom?

Posted on by
Reply

This is my contribution to the August issue of the Fishkill UMC newsletter.

Reinhold Niebuhr is credited with a variation of the following:

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

When he became king, Solomon asked God to give him the wisdom needed to make the proper decisions.

The compilers of the Old Testament thought enough of wisdom to include five books (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs) devoted to the topic of wisdom.  The wisdom books in the Old Testament offer shift from the historical books that preceeded them and focus on existential questions about God, humanity, Creation, and the nature of evil and suffering.  It focuses on daily human experiences: how is life to be lived?

The wisdom literature of the Old Testament is comparable to other ancient Near Eastern compositions from Mesopotamia and Egypt that reflected on the problems of everyday life.

But this raises the question, “What exactly is wisdom?

Wisdom is the ability to use your knowledge and experience to make good decisions and judgments.  Wisdom involves an integration of knowledge, experience, and deep understanding, as well as a tolerance for the uncertainties of life. There’s an awareness of how things play out over time, and it confers a sense of balance.

Wisdom is an art.  How do we deal with various situations and achieve a good life?  It is by teaching; the lessons gained from experience and transmitted at various levels, from education at home all the way through traditional education processes.

The task of wisdom is often to ask, “What is the best path to walk?”

But wisdom is not something that one automatically gains.  It requires everyone to act.  You must ask questions.

And therein lies the problem.  We have stopped asking questions.  We have allowed others to tell us the answers without stating the questions.

As I have written before, we have become very good at answering the questions when the answer is in the back of the book.  But what will happen when the question asked comes from a book that hasn’t been written yet.

I see in the discussion of “forever chemicals” the results of being unable to answer such questions.  These chemicals have some value for society, but they do not break down over time and remain in the environment forever.  It would seem that when these chemicals were made, the focus was on what the chemicals could do and not what would happen after they were used.

The discussion of climate change is another topic that demands we, the people, ask questions.  There is, in my mind, no doubt as to what is happening to the climate of this planet but too many people are not willing to ask the questions needed to slow down and perhaps, if it is not too late, reverse the changes humankind has made to this world.

Some people would rather we not ask questions.  They will say that asking questions, especially about one’s faith, will lead to a diminished faith.  But asking questions should help one understand their faith.  Go back and read the Book of Job again.  It is a dialogue between Job, Job’s friends, and God that teaches and enlightens everyone, including each of us.

Many years ago, our ancestors were gathered around a fire, perhaps looking at the stars above or perhaps preparing for the next day.  No doubt, some of the children asked the elders, “Where did we come from?”  And the lesson began when one of the elders, answered, “In the beginning . . .”

Some may be satisfied with that answer, but we are curious and want to do more.  And each question that we answer generates two more questions.  And from this our wisdom grows. 

As we grow in wisdom, we find that God values and responds to our questions and wisdom.

Evangelism and the United Methodist Church

Posted on by
1

Editorial note – The ideas expressed in this piece are mine and are based on materials and ideas that I have written and presented in the past.

This was first published in the June 2024 issue of the Fishkill UMC Newsletter.

I was baptized in the Evangelical Reformed Church, and I was confirmed in the Evangelical United Brethren Church.  Thought my heritage, through my words, through my thoughts, and through my deeds I consider myself to be an evangelical Christian. 

But the term “evangelical Christian” has taken on a rather negative connotation, in part because of the actions of many who use the term as a means of identification.

Today, many proclaim themselves to be a “evangelical Christian” but their actions suggest that they neither understand what evangelism is or what it means to be a Christian. 

Theirs is a view defined in black and white, and you must accept it.  It is their view that the Bible is the source of all knowledge, even when the early Christian church did not hold that view.  They loudly profess to have been saved from sin but you and I have not, and, as a result, we are going to live the rest of our lives in Sheol.

That, to me, is not evangelism and, to be honest, it is the very attitude that almost drove me from the church, and which is probably driving many people away today.

But I didn’t leave because there were those who showed me that the church could be a force for good, a force for justice, and that it was possible to be a representative of Christ on Earth. It would be very difficult for me to leave today just as it is very difficult for me to watch others tell the world that the Gospel is about the rich and the powerful, the mighty and privileged.

Contemporary evangelists see the “Great Commission”, Go out into the world, and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28: 19 – The Message), as a commandment to get other people to become Christian.

If we read Clarence Jordan’s Cotton Patch Gospel translation of the “Great Commission”, we read,

As you travel, then, make students of all races and initiate them into the family of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to live by all that I outlined for you.”

I think that because Dr. Jordan was working with the original Greek version of Matthew, this is more reasonable interpretation of the original work and speaks to what we, as evangelists, are to do in today’s world, teach the people.  Instead of forcing or requiring people to become Christians, we need to teach people to live in the manner that Jesus taught the Twelve.  As Dr. Francis Collins noted in his book, “The Language of God”, each person must make their own decisions concerning the existence of God and what one believes.  By teaching people, we give them the opportunity to find Christ on their own.

Tony Campolo, noted evangelist, Baptist minister, and conservative Christian, feels that the concept of evangelism has been hijacked by the political motives of the “religious right”. He feels that the Gospel message, of reaching out to the poor, the sick, the homeless, and the oppressed, has somehow been lost in the politics of the times.

Dr. Campolo asked,

What do we do about the poor?

What do we do about education or the environment?

What do we do when the system that is in place ignores the little children of this country in favor of big business and greedy corporate interests?

What do we do when other Christians tell the parents of gays and lesbians that their children’s sexuality is their fault, that they somehow have lived a sinful and wrongful life?

How is it that we have allowed Christianity to become so judgmental when our own Savior never judged anyone? (From an interview with Tony Campolo posted on Beliefnet.com on 12 November 2004)

What Is Evangelism?                                                                   

Evangelism can be defined as declaring the good news about all that God is doing in the world; but it is much more than simply challenging individuals to yield to Jesus, letting Jesus into their lives, and allowing the power of the Holy Spirit to transform them into new creations.  It is also about proclaiming what God is doing in society right now to bring about justice, liberation, and economic well-being for the oppressed. (From Tony Campolo’s forward to Clarence Jordan’s Cotton Patch Gospel: Luke and Acts)

An evangelical Christian is one who presents the Gospel message of hope, justice, and freedom from oppression to the world. If that means taking action to relieve poverty, heal the sick, feed the hungry, house the homeless, give aid to the needy, and free the oppressed, so be it.

Henri J. M. Nouwen wrote,

Only when we have come into touch with our own life experiences and have learned to listen to our inner cravings for liberation and new life can we realize that Jesus did not just speak, but that he reached out to us in our most personal needs. The Gospel doesn’t just contain ideas worth remembering. It is a message responding to our individual human condition. The Church is not an institution forcing us to follow its rules. It is a community of people inviting us to still our hunger and thirst at its tables. Doctrines are not alien formulations, which we must adhere to, but the documentation of the most profound human experiences which, transcending time and place, are handed over from generation to generation as a light in our darkness. (From Reaching Out by Henri J. M. Nouwen)

Senator Cory Booker stated,

Don’t speak to me about your religion; first show it to me in how you treat other people. Don’t tell me how much you love your God; show me in how much you love all her children. Don’t preach to me your passion for your faith; teach me through your compassion for your neighbors. In the end, I’m not as interested in what you have to tell or sell as in how you choose to live and give.

Many churches today give people exactly what they want.

They give them a sense of “being filled with the Spirit”; they give them a sense that their sins have been cleansed. And they certainly give them messages that bring purpose to their lives without making them feel guilty about what they have done. They hear that the poverty of this world, the death and desolation that come to this world are only signs of God’s return, of Christ’s Second Coming. They find in these new churches comfort and sanctuary.

The Gospel Message                                                                     

But this is not the Gospel message! The Gospel message is not meant to make you feel good; it is meant for you to hear and then act.

“Christianity stands or falls with its revolutionary protest against violence, arbitrariness, and pride of power and with its defense for the weak… Christianity has adjusted itself much too easily to the worship of power. It should give much more offense, more shock to the world than it is doing. Christianity should take a much more definite stand for the weak than to consider the potential right of the strong.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Barbara Wendland, a United Methodist layperson in Texas, pointed out that many of the things that make us comfortable in church often make us less effective as a church.

Patriotism is effective if it reminds us of our nation’s commitment to justice for all people, yet flags and martial hymns in worship tend to glorify war rather than remind us that we have been called to be peacemakers. We may find that tradition provides a sense of continuity, but it can also make it difficult to bring about change.

Emotion can inspire us to do God’s work in the world, but wrapping oneself in a blanket of emotions can often block critical reasoning. The church can only be effective if it keeps reminding us how far we must go before God’s will is done on this earth. An effective sermon on poverty and disease in our own community should leave us feeling rightly uneasy about not doing more to help and it should inspire us to do that little bit extra. (From Connections, April 2005)

The Gospel message cannot be pared down to something that fits on a bumper sticker. The Gospel is meant to transform us, not protect us. Unfortunately, this is not the message of many of these big churches. Without the cross, without reason, the message presented is sugar coated and self-serving. People come to these services because they are not required to do much more than that.

The Gospel message is to be shared, not hoarded, and we must work to find ways to share it. This is something we are often unwilling to do. We hesitate to respond as Jesus would have us respond because it is so radical a notion. We would much rather focus on a quiet, private, personal relationship with the Lord rather than follow the teachings that call for a public, prophetic witness. We like being on the mountain, we do not want to come down and must work in the valley. We can live with reports of poverty, sickness, and oppression; we just would rather not have to deal with it.

Our heritage                                                                               

Today, the United Methodist Church is considered a traditional and mainline denomination, not an evangelical one. Yet, evangelism was the hallmark of the early Methodist movement; our growth in America came during the major revival periods of this country’s history, driven in part by the evangelical fervor of Methodists. But we are no longer considered an evangelical church.

Methodism began as a spiritual movement to renew a decaying institutional church and serve the outcast, the marginalized, and the poor.

John Wesley did not start a church. He wanted to renew a church that had become narrow, moralistic, cold. He wanted to renew it through new hearts, a courageous spirit, community that included the least & the unwanted, and passion for Jesus.

John Wesley understood that it was the primary purpose of the church to present the message of Salvation through Jesus Christ but a church blind to the needs of its members or the community that it was in could not do its work. You cannot preach the power of the Saving Grace of Jesus Christ when people are hungry, homeless, or suppressed by an indifferent society. John Wesley also understood and preached that it was the responsibility of everyone having accepted Jesus Christ as his own personal Savior, had to go out into the community.

John Wesley understood the need for the church to present a message the people understood. A church blind to the needs of its members or its community cannot do its work. You cannot preach of the power of the Saving Grace of Jesus Christ when people are hungry, homeless, or suppressed by an indifferent society. John Wesley also understood that an individual, having accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior, had the responsibility to show that he had done so. This meant helping the community.

Our unique and combined heritage is more than simply meeting in a church somewhere on a Sunday; it is a heritage of being in the field, of being involved with the people, of being God’s representative here on earth at this time and place. As United Methodists we believe that we are saved by grace alone through faith, and we are saved so that we can do good works. All that we do follows as a response to the radical grace of God.

Let us remember that we are the inheritors of a movement that gathered in the homes of believers and invited not just believers but non-believers to be a part of their community. Let us also remember that we are also the inheritors of a movement that faced intense opposition and persecution, and I am not necessarily speaking of the early, post-Easter Christians.

Methodism here in America was often marked by the clergy of other denominations denouncing Methodist preachers for “preaching delusions,” “working to deceive others,” spouting heretical doctrines,” and “promoting wild singularities”. These “wild singularities” included dramatic preaching, exuberant worship, and weekly class meetings where members shared their inner most selves.

Ours is a heritage of evangelism, not the evangelism of today which seeks to control the human spirit and tell others the right and wrong way to do things. Ours is an evangelism based on what Jesus did and what John Wesley did. Ours is the evangelism that brings the Good News to the people so that they can find Jesus for themselves.

Our theological heritage was and still is to preach outside the normal boundaries of a church. Methodism began as a spiritual movement to renew a decaying institutional church and serve the outcast, the marginalized, and the poor, those traditional Christians called the “unwashed rabble”.

The early Methodist movement was everything the traditional church wasn’t.  It was often messy or unregulated.  It was based on small groups, it empowered women, gave enslaved persons a sense of freedom, and created a vision of justice and liberation.

In 18th century America, Methodism was a “volatile, alienated, defiant, and charismatic” movement that empowered “those who were demeaned and degraded” with a revolutionary sense of God’s liberating loved (“Religion in the Old South”, Don Matthews, University of Chicago Press, 1977).  Methodism was seen as a threat to the establishment of the time because it was revolutionary, inclusive, heart-centered, and Jesus-fired.

What Will tomorrow bring?                                                             

The United Methodist Church has been lost in the wilderness for the last thirty years.  It has struggled to find itself amidst the turmoil and change of society.  Against the turmoil and change of 18th century society, the Methodist revival begun by John Wesley sought to bring hope and renewal to the people.

That mission does not change over time.

Perhaps we, the people of the United Methodist Church, having found our way out of the wilderness should remember who we were and become those people once again.  Let us remember from where we came and once again bring hope and promise to the people.

The Questions We Ask AI – The Questions AI Answers

Posted on by
2

This is my contribution to the April 2024 Fishkill UMC newsletter; it appears in the Fall 2024 issue of God & Nature.

I am a chemist because of a question I was asked in 1966.  Some questions that I was asked in 1974 and could not answer caused me to evaluate my career path.  (It should be noted that I know the answers to those questions today).  I earned a Ph.D. in science education with an emphasis on chemical education because of some questions I was asking about how students learned chemistry.

I became a lay speaker/servant in the United Methodist Church because, in 1990, I asked myself what the best way was to fulfill the commitment I made in 1965 when I earned the God & Country award.

The path I have walked over these past years was determined, in part, because of the questions I was asked and how I answered them. 

It is perhaps an axiom of research that the answer to one question leads to the development of two new questions.

When chemists were still known as alchemists, they asked the question, “Is there a substance that dissolves everything?”

Can there be a substance that dissolves everything?  If there was, what would you put it in?  Obviously, if this substance dissolves everything, it would dissolve the container you put it in.  It would also dissolve everything which it contacted, creating havoc and destruction.  This leads to two questions.

First, how could we study such a “super solvent’?

Could we use AI systems?  We could provide the AI system with information concerning the nature of solvents, the nature of solutions, information about the nature of materials that make up containers, as well as a discussion of bonding and why containers normally do not react with the materials that are put in them.

AI systems have already been used to “solve” other chemistry questions.  One research group already used an AI system to reconstruct the periodic table from existing data.  However, it was not clear if the results included the noble gases (Stanford AI recreates chemistry’s periodic table of elements | Chemistry – https://chemistry.stanford.edu/news/stanford-ai-recreates-chemistrys-periodic-table-elements).

AI-systems can achieve results that humans may not achieve.  We can set up an AI-system to analyze a series of digital images (such as X-rays, MRI, and CAT scans) to detect the presence of cancer cells at a resolution beyond the capabilities of the human eye.  But to do this, someone must supply the images that have cancer cells so that the system can “learn” what to look for.  If the system does not have this information, it cannot determine what is a cancer cell and what is not.

At the present time, AI systems are not intelligent.  They do not create new information, only copy current information.  It still takes a human to create new information.

While some may use AI systems to write reports, all the system is doing is gathering all the information that can be found on the web that is related to the topic and putting it together in a readable format.  But this system has not created any new information, and, in my opinion, the ability to create new information is one hallmark of intelligence.

Joshua Conrad Jackson, a professor and lead researcher at Chicago Booth, conducted a study about the ability of an AI-system to produce a sermon.  He concluded,

“Our research arrives at a point where automation is pervading every job industry, and it suggests that some professions may not be automated so easily.  Robots may struggle in professions like priests or monks, that require high levels of creativity.” 

see Researchers tried out AI preachers — and it didn’t go so well (zmescience.com)– https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/researchers-tried-out-ai-preachers-and-it-didnt-go-so-well/

For all the benefits we might gain, the study of a “super solvent” generates two new questions:

“Why would you want to synthesize such a substance?”

“What value would there be in even designing a substance that might destroy the world?”

AI systems can gather large amounts of data, but it is becoming clear that this process cannot differentiate between good and bad data.  Reports created from this approach contain serious errors, so the veracity of any reports generated may have to be questioned.  A chemistry teacher reported on a Facebook group that their students were using AI-systems to gather information about various chemistry topics, but they were not checking the validity of the information.

AI systems are also being shown to be discriminatory.  Not everyone gains from the use of such systems.  The use of AI systems may only widen the digital divide we see developing today.  In addition, the approach used by AI systems seems to ignore standard privacy protections (granted that even we humans often have this same problem). 

What is to stop AI-systems from being used to develop potentially hazardous materials?

In the end, do the benefits gained from the use of AI systems outweigh the negative values?  Can AI systems be taught to differentiate between good and bad data?  Can AI systems understand the nature of privacy protection and other laws related to the use of personal information?

Notes on AI

I am not opposed to the development of new technologies, such as AI systems, if it will make my work easier to accomplish.  While I tend to prepare the initial drafts of my manuscripts with pen and paper, I do use current technology (personal computer, the Internet, online correspondence, etc.) to share the results of my work.  But the systems that I use only aid in what I do, not do it for me.

In the Star Trek movie “Resurrection”, Sojef, one of the Ba’ku leaders, says to Jean Luc Picard why his group rejected technology.

“We believe that when you create a machine to do the work of a man, you take something away from the man.”

Perhaps the ultimate question that must be asked is “what will the future be?”  Will the future be human driven or technologically driven?  Will it be progressive and positive but will our reliance and possibly subservience lead to the destruction of mankind?

As we move to an even more technologically oriented society, we must not be blinded by the movement.  There must be an active effort to keep humans in the equation and in control, not just part of the solution.

Notes

AI and humanity – Lutheran Alliance for Faith, Science and Technology (luthscitech.org)

What Is Artificial Intelligence? How Does It Work? – Sinai and Synapses

A Path of Science and Faith

Posted on by
1

This is my contribution to the 2024 Religion and Science weekend, sponsored by the Clergy Letter Project, and Boy Scout Sunday. It will also appear in the upcoming February issue of the Fishkill United Methodist Church newsletter.

——————————————————————————————–

I had no idea when I began my journey with Christ back in 1965 where it would lead or what I would do.  It wasn’t until I drove across the plains of north Missouri back in the 1990s that I was reminded that I had entered a covenant with God and that I needed to fulfill my part of the covenant.  I then began exploring ways to become a lay speaker/servant and ultimately a lay minister (A Reminder | Thoughts From The Heart On The Left (wordpress.com) – https://heartontheleft.wordpress.com/2018/02/09/a-reminder/).

Similarly, when I choose to become a chemistry major in 1966, I had no idea what I would do with the degree.  To be honest, on the day I graduated from Truman State University, I thought that I would be going to graduate school at the University of Memphis.  But I received a phone call from a local school district shortly after graduation and, a few hours later, sign a provisional contract to teach chemistry and physical science.  This diversion from graduate school to teaching would provide the impetus for my later graduate studies and the completion of my doctoral studies at the University of Iowa.

In one of my classes at Iowa, we discussed the issues of creationism and intelligent design and the impact these issues would have on science education.  This was not the first time I encountered these issues.   

In 1980, the Missouri state legislature was preparing to pass a bill that would have told biology teachers how to teach biology, by including creationism in the discussion of evolution.  I suppose I could have ignored this because I only taught chemistry, but one must be careful when individuals who do not have any knowledge of the processes of science (“The Processes of Science”) try to tell science teachers what to teach and how to teach it.  I was prepared to resign if the law passed and was surprised to find that my department chairman, a devout Southern Baptist layman and biologist, was also going to resign (No one told me: Thoughts on the relationship of science and faith | Thoughts From The Heart On The Left (wordpress.com) – https://heartontheleft.wordpress.com/2021/07/23/no-one-told-me/). 

I don’t believe that I have ever had a conflict with my faith and my science background.  I accepted the idea that God created the earth and the heavens, but I never accepted the idea that it was done in six days.  And the more I studied things, the more I began to see the hand of God present in creation.

And as my studies and work in the areas of faith and science began to converge (“The Confluence Between Religion and Science” | Thoughts From The Heart On The Left (wordpress.com) – https://heartontheleft.wordpress.com/2019/02/06/the-confluence-between-religion-and-science/) I began to discover two things.

First, those who argue for a science only or faith only approach to life do so only for their own power.  Each group seeks to impose its view on the people as the only acceptable view.

The second thing I discovered was that many of the individuals that I studied in chemistry and physics were men of God as well as men of science (A Dialogue of Science and Faith | Thoughts From The Heart On The Left (wordpress.com) – https://heartontheleft.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/a-dialogue-of-science-and-faith/).

It is entirely possible that I could or would have come to Christ without having been a Boy Scout but that is clearly a question for another time and place. Besides finding a path to God through the God and Country award, I also began to develop an appreciation for the world around us. I cannot call myself an environmentalist but clearly, having seen the beauty of the Rocky Mountains when camping with my troop and seeing the physical wonders of this country and then seeing the awesome view of galaxies far away, I know that there is a Creator out there. And if there is not a Creator, then how was this all done?  (“Removing the Veil” | Thoughts From The Heart On The Left (wordpress.com) – https://heartontheleft.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/removing-the-veil/)

I did not need to know that Boyle and Priestley were men of God to understand their work and what it meant to me as a chemist.  But knowing that their work helped them better understand how God works is also true for me.

Can I use the skills that God gave me (allowing me to use other words from Genesis that state that you and I were created in His image) and begin to work out the mysteries of the universe, from the moment of the Big Bang to the present day and perhaps far into the future?

The author and activist Stephen Mattson wrote.

Some people mistakenly believe that trusting in God requires them to distrust science, history, art, philosophy, and other forms of education, information, and truth.

But intelligence is a friend of faith, and ignorance is its enemy.  God loves knowledge and truth, and any faith that objects to either is terribly misguided.

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote,

Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge that is power; religion gives man wisdom that is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals. They are complementary.

In a world that is fast dividing, it is the joint study of faith and science that will be one means of bringing people together.  For as science brings us knowledge of the physical world, faith brings us an understanding of the spiritual world and together we can bring the world together.

Seeing the future

Posted on by
3

This is my contribution to the Fishkill UMC December newsletter.

When I was at Tompkins Corners UMC, one of the members let me know that they were leaving the Methodist Church and the Christian faith and becoming a Muslim.  I had not had much contact with this individual before that but others in the church told me that they always seemed to be changing their denomination.  I cannot speak to why this person left the Christian faith except to speculate that they were seeking to find out who they were.

If that were the case, I would have understood their decision.  I have seen others leave the faith of their birth behind because they were searching for answers they felt were not being answered by Christianity. 

When I was in high school, I became interested in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) or Mormons.  I wasn’t thinking of leaving the Methodist church (because I had only been a member for two years) but there was something about this uniquely American faith that I found interesting, and I wanted to know more.  My own faith journey would cross the paths of the Mormons later when I was living in Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa.

Similarly, I was interested in the faith that we called the Shakers.  In this case, it was the music of the faith that I found interesting and challenging (our hymn, “Lord of the Dance” is based on the Shaker tune, “Simple Gifts”).  And I am constantly amazed that Shaker furniture, based on simplicity, can bring six figures in price at auction.

And while the Mormon faith has continued to grow, the Shaker faith has almost disappeared from the faith landscape.  No doubt, you have met one or two Mormon missionaries who are interested in bringing news of their faith to your doorstep.  But the Shakers did not have such an active plan to bring new members into the fold and it was the need for a constant influx of new members that was necessary if their faith was to survive.  Despite the uniqueness of the faith, or perhaps because of its uniqueness, the Shaker faith died, remembered only by its music and its furniture.

It is that view of the future that best defines faith.  Is there a future and does it apply to me?

In our faith tradition, Christ is born during the darkest time of the year, a time that speaks of no future.  And yet that is what the birth of Christ represents, a future.

Some have no need for such a vision.  They feel that their position in society and their wealth assures them of a fixed future.  They had no need for the vision of the future that Christ’s birth heralded.

The first to hear of Christ’s birth were the shepherds, the lowliest of society.  Treated as outcasts and with suspicion, the shepherds saw no future.  Christ’s birth and His mission would change that vision.

Those in power saw a future that was fixed and unchanging.  The Magi understood that the future was determined by a search for knowledge and wisdom.  They sought Christ to better understand the future.

In 1966 I was just beginning my faith and professional journeys and my future was cloudy and defined by others.  But others in the faith and academic communities helped me to define my future.

Each of us has had a similar experience.  We begin our journey of faith and vocation with only a vague sense of what lies before us and what we know is very much defined by others.

Had the shepherds not come down from the hills when they heard the angels singing of Christ’s birth, their lives would have never changed.  Had the Magi ignored the signs in the skies, they would have never left Baghdad and discovered a new world.

The Birth of Christ changed the world.  Today, we are the angels whose voices tell others of the Birth of Christ.  Today, we are the Magi who seek new worlds, both physical and virtual.  We are the ones whose lives were changed when Christ became a part of our life.  We are the ones who will help other see the future because Christ is born.

What Shall We Do?

Posted on by
Reply

Here is my contribution to the November 2023 issue of the Fishkill United Methodist Church newsletter.

In view of certain world events and with Veterans’ Day this month, I want to offer some comments about what we, as Christians, can do concerning war.

My grandfather, Colonel Walter Lee Mitchell, Sr., kept a diary of his time while serving in the Army from 1918 to 1944.  The first part of the diary deals with his time in France as part of the American Expeditionary Force during World War I; the second part deals with his Army service and travels with his family following the war.

While in France he served as the adjutant for the 34th Infantry Regiment, which was part of the 7th Division.  While the Division did not see combat as a unit, parts of the division, including the 34th Regiment did.  Based on information I gathered from other sources, it appears that my grandfather used his diary to draft his notes for the official reports.

As such, his thoughts about the nature of war are rather limited.  On October 11, 1918, he noted that a member of Company C was killed.  In his diary entry for October 4, 1918, he wrote “We are no longer strangers to gas”, referring to the use of chemical weapons by the Germans.  He also noted when American forces used gas as a weapon.

Perhaps the one thing that was a constant was his acknowledgment that he was far from home and his wife, my grandmother.  They were married in January 1918, approximately three months before he left for France.  He longed to receive her letters and noted the days that he received them.

On Christmas Day, 1918, Colonel Mitchell wrote the following in the diary,

December 25, 1918 – CHRISTMAS DAY in a foreign land 5,000 miles from home.  Nothing much to do, it is hell.

Perhaps Colonel Mitchell was channeling William Tecumseh Sherman who on several occasions said that war “is a terrible thing”, “is cruelty and you cannot refine it” as well as “war is hell.”).

He would return home in 1919 and serve until 1944, retiring as a Colonel.  My grandfather was one of the fortunate ones.  He came home from two wars to live in St. Louis with his wife and experience the birth of three grandsons.  He would die at home in 1955 during a period of relative peace. 

My father was commissioned as an officer in the Army Air Corps in 1943, following his graduation from Cornell University.  He served in the Southwest Pacific theater of operation with the 5th Air Force.  While he served in combat zones, I do not believe that he saw actual combat. 

With one exception, he never discussed his experiences during World War II.  The only time he volunteered any information was to confirm the briefing he had received just prior to the proposed invasion of the Japanese mainland.  It was estimated that Allied casualties would be over a million; it was this information that convinced President Truman to use the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

My father served as an officer in the United States Air Force for just over twenty years, often stationed at bases that were prime targets for Soviet missiles.  My father would also die at home in 1995 in a period of relative peace. 

My mother was a secretary in the War Department (now the Defense Department) when she traveled to post-war Germany.  To the best of my knowledge, she never discussed the devastation and destruction she saw there.

What I do know is that while my parents disapproved of my anti-war activities, my father was visibly relieved when I failed my draft physical in 1971 and my mother told Petra Mitchell (her granddaughter and my niece) that she was glad that neither my two brothers nor I were drafted.

Other families were and are not so lucky.  Their fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters are sent off to war, even if it is not called a war.  Some die in faraway lands; others return home, some with visible wounds, many with invisible wounds.

They understood what the Greek philosopher Herodotus wrote,

Nobody is stupid enough to prefer war to peace.  Because in times of peace children bury their parents, whereas, on the contrary, in times of war parents bury their children.

I shall not presume to know what either of my parents or my grandfather thought about war.  My grandfather most certainly experienced the effects of combat.  Some of the pictures that Colonel Mitchell collected show the devastation and destruction of property and human life, but he very seldom wrote about those horrors.

Neither my father, who saw the destruction and devastation of Japan when he was stationed there after the war, nor my mother, who saw similar devastation and destruction when she was in Germany after the war, said anything about what they saw or experienced. 

We find that our parents, our siblings, and our friends are not willing to talk about their time in combat or combat zones.  Perhaps there is something about war that takes away the glamour.

Following the Battle of Fredericksburg, General Robert E. Lee wrote to his wife and said, “It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it.” (Letter dated 13 December 1862).

But I am afraid that some 160 years later, we have grown fond of war as we see it as the solution to our problems, never realizing that war only creates conditions for future wars.

War is certainly not glamourous, and it is perhaps the one activity that does not discriminate between the old and the young, the rich and the poor, sinners and the righteous.  War feeds on our fears and our anger.

When a parent loses a child, do you not think that they would like to see another parent lose their children?  And how must children feel when they lose a parent, sibling, or friend?  Do you think that they will not want to find some way for another child to lose their parents, siblings, or friends?  And thus, each generation continues the process of war.

And when we oppress people, because of their economic status, their race, their gender, or their lifestyle, does this not allow the conditions for war to fester and grow?

The patch worn by members of the 34th Infantry Regiment shows the Cross of Lorraine (the part of France where they were stationed).  The area of Alsace-Lorraine lies between France and Germany and has been the target of wars between the two countries.  How many other areas of land on the planet are the focus of conflict between groups of people?

We have turned war into a reason; we say that we must fight to ensure our security. Yet, not too many people think we are safer or more secure today as compared to a few years ago. We see terrorists around every corner; we have bought into the argument that we must give up our rights and freedoms so that we can control terrorism.

Yet terrorism grows in the presence of fear. Terrorism grows in the slums of the world, where those without the necessities of life are taught to hate those who have them. And we do nothing to remove that cycle of violence and hate. 

In his speech to United Nations on 25 September 1961, President John Kennedy said, “Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind.” 

So, what do we, as Christians, do?  The answer was given to us in the Nazareth synagogue some two thousand years ago.

On that day some 2000 years ago, in the Nazareth synagogue, When Jesus stood before his family, friends, and neighbors and began his ministry, he noted that He had come to heal the sick, bring sight to the blind, and free the oppressed.  Are those not the same conditions that bring war?

We need to find ways to bring equitable healthcare to all people, not just a select few, not just to those who side with us.

We need to educate all the people of the world so that we are not blind to the problems of the world and are able to solve them.  And again, we must do this for all, not just for a few or those who side with us.

We need to set the prisoners free, free from the hatred that fuels war, free from conditions that allow people to seek violent solutions, free from the prison walls of economic status, race, gender, and lifestyle.

While there are some who call themselves Christian, they do not show the love that has been shown to them.  As children we memorized John 3:16, “for God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten son.”  Are we not to show that same love to all the people of this world, even those who may hate us and seek our destruction?

The challenge is before may seem impossible and we may see it as beyond our capabilities.  In his commencement address at American University on10 June 1963, he said, “ Our problems are manmade–therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man’s reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable–and we believe they can do it again.

It is our time to show God’s love to all the people of the world; it is our time to fulfill the goals that Jesus laid out before us some 2000 years ago.  It is time.

We Are Destroying Our Future.

Posted on by
1

For those who do not know, I am the son of an Air Force officer and the grandson of an Army officer.  I spent most of my pre-college days living on or near Air Force Bases, many of which were prime targets for Soviet missiles (if there was to be a third World War). 

A friend of mine who was married to an Air Force officer told me once that she had been briefed that, in the event of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union, the western portion of Missouri (where she lived at the time) would be dead within a few moments (because of the Titan II missiles and SAC bomber bases nearby) and the remainder of Missouri would probably be dead from the radioactive fallout within the week.

After a briefing at the beginning of his presidential term, President John Kennedy was told that our response to a Soviet attack would be a full and complete response with all our nuclear weapons, resulting  in the deaths of countless millions.  As he left the briefing, President Kennedy is supposed to have said to Secretary of State Dean Rusk, “and we call ourselves a civilized nation.”

The only thing that kept the Soviet Union and the United States from going to war during the 60s was the doctrine of mutually assured destruction (appropriately named MAD).  Fortunately, for our generation and the ones that followed, this doctrine kept the world at peace, albeit an uneasy one.

Today, while the destruction of the world using nuclear weapons may not be as real as it seemed in the 1960s, it is still a possibility.

We still see violence as the answer to violence.  But violence begats violence. 

From the beginning of humanity, we have sent our children off to war.  If our children are killed on the battlefield, who will be the future?  Remember what the Greek philosopher Herodotus once wrote,

Nobody is stupid enough to prefer war to peace.  Because in times of peace children bury their parents, whereas, on the contrary, in times of war parents bury their children.

And yet, that is what we do.  How can there be a future when there is no one to live in it?

And what of those who come home wounded, sometime physically, sometimes mentally?  It seems, based on our budget priorities, that we tell those who return from the battlefield to take care of themselves for we, as a society, often do not.

We have a budget where we spend more on the military-industrial complex than we do on education and development.  When you spend more on destruction than construction, there will come a time when we will not be able to rebuild this country. 

There is a feeling in this country that the budget for the military-industrial complex cannot be touched or questioned.  Funding the military-industrial complex is a way for legislators to tout their patriotism and ensure their own power and position.  Are not greed and the seeking of power other ways of destroying the future?

When the Apollo 11 mission was launched, there were those who wanted the money spent on the Apollo program to be spent on other social programs.  But this was at a time when the Viet Nam War was stripping our financial and personnel reserves at a much faster rate.  And when it came down to dollars, the Apollo program was cut because the war was becoming too expensive.

And this continues today – we fund the military-industrial complex and cut the funding for social programs.

It is not just the countless and seemingly endless wars that continue to destroy our future.  A greater threat may be our own ignorance. 

We are neglecting this world in which we live, ignoring the damage we have done to the environment, ignoring the sides of change.

We have ignored the health of this planet, this world in which we live, for too long.  Despite the claims of some, climate change is real and, if we do not act immediately, it will not be nuclear war that destroys our future, but our own ignorance.

In a world where more is spent on destruction than construction, where will get the individuals who will rebuild our country?  Where will the spark of creativity come from when monies for creativity and construction are the first to be cut.

It is my opinion that the rise in pseudo-science, climate change deniers, and anti-vaccination proponents can be attributed to a decrease in the funding for schools.

We are neglecting our youth when it comes to their education.  Our schools no longer focus on creativity and free thought, choosing to or being forced to teach the “answers in the back of the book” and not even considering how to solve problems that have not been discovered.

Perhaps because they fear the future, there are those who would prefer that our children and youth not find out who they are but rather conform to a particular set of rules.  But each person is unique, and we have seen what happens when we try to make people conform to one single set of rules.  Those who push for conformity in society do so to hold onto their power and position.

Conformity to a single set of rules ignores and increases the inequalities of society.  For there to be a future, we must be a society of equality, not inequality.

There is a moral factor involved in all of this.  The church today seems rather silent on the issue of war, education, and equality; in fact, many churches seem to want war, no education and inequality, again because it would increase their power and position.

The numbers tell us that people are moving away from the church because it tends to support the status quo.

But it must be the church which speaks out if we are to build the future, not destroy the future.

If we are to build our future, we must, individually and collectively, speak out against a society that places the military-industrial complex before the needs of the people. 

We must, individually and collectively, speak out against an educational system that does little to prepare our children and youth to solve the problems of the future, the problems that are not in the back of the book.

We must, individually and collectively, speak out against a religious system that moves us further from God’s Kingdom through the encouragement of repression and inequality.

The call to build the future is a call that must come from the church.