James 24:7

There's nothing that can make you more aware than being smacked across the face with a wet mackerel.

Flannery O'Connor, the great Georgia writer (hat's off please), was the master of showing how that mackrel across the face could do wonders for helping a person wake up.

She called the mackerel "grace."

After I posted earlier, I was thinking about her story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and how in the end of that story the old self-righteous grandma, as she faced The Misfit and his smoking pistol, suddenly saw him as someone whom she might even love.

After he shot her, if I remember correctly, the Misfit said: "She'd have been a good woman if she'd had somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."

I paraphrase.

I told this story yesterday:  one time my wife and I stopped off to visit Carl Sandburg's house in Hendersonville, North Carolina.  We toured the house, played with the goats out in the barnyard and then headed up the mountain path to visit a place of bare rock where Sandburg often sat and composed his poems.  (Here's some pictures.  They are not of us but pretend they are.)

Well, as we sauntered along I noticed a black water hose by the right side of the trail and wondered what in the world that was doing out there in the middle of nowhere.

About that time that hose's tail began to shake and I realized it was a SNAKE!  (Yeah, read that as a scream...)  Of course, I jumped to other side of the trail and dragged my wife with me.  I then looked to my left and saw another hose..er..SNAKE! 

We had apparently walked smack into a SNAKE! crossing.   Everywhere we looked left or right, we saw another SNAKE!

Fortunately, they were just good old black snakes.  (Yep, they shake their tale feathers like rattle snakes.  I think it's their way of saying, "Hey, if you have a bat and feel the need to pummel me, then have at this while the rest of me excuses myself.")

Now until we came to SNAKE! city we had been sort of drifting along in that fog William James wrote about.  But after seeing those SNAKES! and several more like them on up the trail, we became aware of every little bit of our surroundings: the birds, the trees, the rustling in the leaves. 

The misplaced garden hose tossed tither and yon.... 

When Jesus was at the table with folks, he often did/said things that woke people up, that made people uncomfortable, that made them aware.

Just thought I'd add that little story to clarify a bit more (and sit down here and cool off after cutting the grass.)

I've just completed a summer sermon series called "Dining with Jesus."  During that series we explored those times in scripture when Jesus went home with people and/or sat down and ate with them.

During the series I limited the study to actual "eating meetings", although I did fudge a bit (no pun) when I included the story of Zacchaeus.  The text doesn't say he actually ate with him but that he intended to go home with him. ( I also preached one that involved the criticism made of Jesus that he welcomed sinnners and ate with them. )

Yesterday, I looked back on those sermons and made some observations that I think are relevant to the discussion of the "life well-lived."

This week I will write about some of those observations.

One question that intrigued me throughout this series of sermons is the question of why it was important for the writers of scripture to tell us so many stories about Jesus eating with people.

I suggest that part of the reason may have been in the fact that the whole practice of eating together is a highly patternized, regulated and predictable affair.  (Unless you have 3 children under the age of 8!)

We know how to select our chair, where to sit, when to sit, how to ask for food, how to pass it, which fork to use and when, what to say, and what not to say.   (You can find some pretty interesting things when you "Google" the phrase "Table Manners.")

As far as I know, all cultures see the practice of eating together as a regulated, socially patterned, rule-governed affair.

I like to think that Jesus breached those rule-governed affairs as a way to open some space to teach.  (Whether that's what he was aiming to do or not, that was often what happened when folks sat down to eat with Jesus)

Here's Jesus going home with tax collectors and eating with them.   Here's Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath at the table while dining with Pharisees.  Here's Jesus allowing a woman of ill-repute to wash his feet with her tears while he reclined at the table.  Here's Jesus calling out the scribes and the Pharisees at the table.

In almost every instance Jesus breaks the rules, disrupts the patterns, and creates these wonderful "teachable moments."

Now, this is just me thinking about these matters.  However, it seems to me that what happens whenever our mind-numbing social patterns are broken we become intensely aware.

Perhaps Jesus did the things he did and said the things he said to create these moments of supreme awareness. 

Maybe one thing we can learn from Jesus about the "life well-lived" is that we must become aware. We must wake up. We must see.  We must hear. We must smell. We must feel.

Here's a quick and dirty take on how the great American psychologist William James understood awareness:  James believed that we all go through life on automatic pilot- that we sort of drift along on cruise control, unaware, barely consious, operating on habit, our minds drifting in la-la land.

Then some surprising event happens and we wake up, we become conscious, we become aware.  (Now, that's a quick take on a more complicated theory.)

Remember the days following 9/11?  Remember how conscious we became?  Remember how we suddenly noticed our neighbors and even found ourselves caring about them?  Remember how American we suddenly became?

The day before, if I remember correctly, we yawned as we watched the news about shark attacks on the coast of Florida.  Then on 9/11, the towers fell and we all became "aware."   (I later saw a cartoon: a family is dozing on the couch in front of the TV.  Then the 9/11 event is broadcast and their faces show terror and their hair stands straight up.  Then after 9/11 they sit there with the same terrified looks and their hair standing straight up but napping again.)

When Jesus did or said what he did or said at the table people suddenly became aware.  Perhaps they felt uncomfortable, perhaps they felt offended, perhaps they were elated.

What they were not was asleep!

In the presence of Jesus- this sometimes shocking Jesus- folks became aware.

I would suggest that part of "the life well-lived" is to live in conscious awareness: to look at what you are doing, to see who is crossing your path, to observe the looks in eyes and the down-turned corners of mouths.

Do this: decide that one day this week you are going to be aware.  You are going to see what (or who) is there in front of you.  You are going to notice them.

Ah, make it even simpler.  Go to the supermarket and this time actually look at the cashier.  Make a note of his or her name. Call her by name.   Note what you might surmise by the look in his eye.  See him.  Take her in. 

When you sit down at a restaurant actually look up at the waiter when he says, "Hi, I'm Bob. I'll be your server."  Maybe even speak to him and say, "Hi Bob.  I'm (insert name) and this is my (wife, husband, friend) (insert name).  It is nice to meet you."

These are just little things.  But then maybe the "life well-lived" consists of a million little things.

After all, before Jesus could call Matthew the Tax Collector he had to see him.  Before he could go home with the wee man, Zacchaeus, he had to lift his eyes toward the sycamore tree.  Before he could teach the Pharisees about how to invite people to a party, he had to notice all the wealth and power that grappled for the best seat at the table.

To become whole, to live the "life well-lived" we must become conscious. 

We must become aware.

First, a thought or two about "meaning."  It seems to me that objects or actions are meaningful only when located in some sort of context.  Or, at least I could say it the other way around...context determines meaning.

A lonely rock in my yard may mean something.  However, that same rock thrown through my window by an angry neighbor means something else.

An action- say the action of holding my hands up in the air- will mean different things depending upon whether I'm riding a roller coaster, being held up by a robber, or standing in an elevator.  In the first case I am "embracing the thrill".  In the second, I am doing "as I am told."  In the third, I am "acting nutty."

(Incidentally, humor can be generated by misnaming what seems obvious by an action in a particular context.  I remember once when I was at Six Flags Over Georgia with a friend and he pointed out the folks on the roller coaster and said: "Hey look... Pentecostals are riding the Scream Machine!")

To be meaningful, an action must be seen in the context that gives that action its meaning.  For example, a Christian who forgives is doing something that derives its rich meaning from the story of God as demonstrated and taught in the life of Jesus. 

A gang member who forgives may be seen as weak or even being a traitor.  (I saw a third baseman walk off the field in the middle of a game once because the pitcher would not hit the batter with a pitch in retaliation for a similar action by the opposing pitcher in the previous inning. Apparently, the willingness to retaliate was supposed to be evidence of loyalty or some such.)

As a Christian, I take the example and teaching of Jesus Christ to be fundamental to understanding what ideas and actions are fundamental to living well or to becoming whole as a human being.

I understand Jesus Christ to be the example par excellence of human wholeness.  I accept Jesus- his teaching and his life- as pointing to and exemplifying what a life well-lived looks like.

I am stating that out front for several reasons.

First, I think it is harmful to Christian teaching to simply lift practices out of the context of the Christian story and hold them up as good practices without regard to that larger story.  (e.g. some folks say you should forgive because it's a good thing to do for yourself.  What I'm saying is that it's a good thing to forgive whether it pays off for you or not.  It's good because it points beyond itself to the character and action of God.  Otherwise, forgiveness becomes simply a matter of pragmatic self-protection.)

Second, I want to be open about where I'm coming from in making the claims I am making.   I believe Jesus shows and tells us a way to live that leads to human wholeness.  I believe if you want to know how to be fully human, if you want to know the "life well-lived" then you can do no better than to look to Jesus Christ as example and teacher.

What does a "life well-lived" mean?

I do this to myself: I announce to the world that I am going to write about something.  I sit down to write.  Then, I realize I have no idea what to say!

Well..maybe that's not exactly true.  After all, I already live a certain kind of life and because I live it I must think it is better than other options. 

Perhaps the life I live is not exactly the "life well-lived".  However, it is a closer approximation to what that might mean to alternative lives I might live.

I think my suburban, middle class life is better than the thug life I read about in the papers.  I may not be living the "life well-lived" but at least I'm not dodging bullets or running from the police or always looking over my shoulder to see if a drug lord is on my tail wanting to collect his money.

Maybe the "life well-lived" is like quality.  I know what it ain't.  I know it when I see it  I'm just not sure I know how to describe it.

Part of the challenge of defining anything is related to the times we live in.  If I want to say "this is 'the life well-lived'" there will always be someone who asks, "How do you know?"

Here's a story about baseball umpire Bill Klem. The pitch was thrown, the ball whizzed past the batter and into the catcher's mitt.  Everyone waited for Klem to call the pitch.  The batter turned and asked: "Well, was it a strike or a ball?"   And Klem replied: "It ain't nothin' 'til I call it."

Is a strike or a ball a fact in the world (i.e. does it correspond to some predetermined standard that is seen as "THE TRUTH"?) or is a strike or a ball only because someone says it's a strike or a ball?

What is a "life well-lived"?  Does it correspond to some standard or is just whatever one wants it to be or what some community wants it to be?

All of this may seem like so much prattle.  (Is it prattle because it corresponds to some absolute as to what makes up 'prattle' or is it 'prattle' because you, dear reader, don't care or don't like it or because it is giving you a headache?  See the problem?)

However, isn't it the case that we are constantly shown competing images of what makes up a "life well-lived"?    Isn't that what much of the fight is about?

Is it the lifestyle of the rich and famous?  Is it the hip-hop life?  Is it country or urban living? 

What is the "life well-lived?"

Lately it seems that the critics of religion generally and Christianity specifically have increased.   I won't deny that there is plenty of room for criticism.  With the increase in religiously based terrorism, the political power-mongering of the so-called Christian right, the invisibility of the Christian left,  the self-absorption of the consumer-driven church, and the tackiness of many TV preachers, I can see plenty of room for parody and criticism. (Sometimes it's hard to tell where serious ends and the parody begins! As in this.....)

The other night I was watching Bill Maher on Larry King Live and he announced that he is in the midst of a film project that is critical of religion.  He added that it would hopefully be released next Easter.  Cynical, I know, but it's Bill Maher...

And then there is Christopher Hitchens, whom I actually enjoy at times, banging his latest drum that God is Not Great and that most of the world's hatred, bigotry, violence and oppression can be laid at the feet of monotheistic religion.  (As here with none other than Bill Maher....)

So all religion and especially monotheistic religion has come under great criticism of late.

Having said that, I must admit that I don't enjoy these kinds of debates.  I don't like getting into it.  I fear I am less like Martin Luther King..."Stand up for righteousness" and more like Rodney King..."Can't we all just get along?"

However, even with these critics, I hear very few criticisms of Jesus.  I hear critiques of the Bible, of the church, and certainly of 'religion' but few criticisms of Jesus or the teaching of Jesus.  Even Bill Maher, jokingly, listed Jesus as one of the people he'd like to have dinner with...(I think Larry King and Ghandi made the list too)

At any rate, what I'd like to do for a while is to ask the simple question: "Does Jesus teach us how to live well?  Does Jesus teach us a way of life that will lead us toward human wholeness?"

Now, at the outset, I confess to being a Christian.  I hope I am a disciple of Jesus.  I know I'm at least a fan.  I hope I am not just the typical Southerner like the ones Flannery O'Connor described as being a part of a Christ-haunted landscape.  In other words, I hope Jesus is more to me than a ghost who rattles my cage.

So for the foreseeable future, I'm going to blog little essays on what Jesus teaches us with regard to how to become whole...how to live well.

Stay tuned....And thanks for reading. 

Had to add this, especially since I've been rediscovering the bass guitar when I rejoined the worship team at North River.  I quit playing 30 years ago but have enjoyed my "come back."

Prez candidate (and Arkansas Governor) Mike Huckabee is at least a brother bass player.

Bass playing geezers unite!  You've nothing to lose but your Deep-ends...uh...Depends!

Check out the gov here on this video that is a take off on the old VH1 pop up videos...

Several years ago I spoke at a singles retreat for the East 91st Christian Church Indianapolis.  While there I met a young woman named Darcy Keith who had suffered a severe traumatic brain injury in a car/freight truck accident. 

Since then Darcy and I have kept in touch off and on and I've done my little bit to encourage her pursuit of a career as a professional public speaker who also advocates for people with traumatic brain injury.  (Over a million folks in America!)

TBI has become a major focus in health care because so many soldiers are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with such injuries.  The ABC news anchor, Bob Woodruff, has brought attention to the matter because of his own injury in Iraq.  Many soldiers suffer TBI not because of direct hits per se but because of percussive injuries from various kinds of explosives.

Darcy spends countless hours speaking about and educating about TBI.   Recently, she submitted a video to the Republican debates in Iowa.  In that video she raises questions to candidates about the issue.

She succeeded at that!  Now, she's going after the Democrats in their debate on August 19th.  

Please go to Darcy's video, watch it and then vote for it (just hit the button "rate it" under the video and click on the number of stars...) so it can be presented to the Democratic candidates.   Give it 5 stars and give Darcy a hand in keeping this significant issue before our elected officials!

Then, go on over to Darcy's web site and drop her a note of encouragement!

I'm a Johnny-Come-Lately on the pope's recent comments regarding the defectiveness of non-Roman Catholic churches.  Since I haven't been able to find the actual document that the pope issued last week, I'll have to go on what I've read in several papers.  I think I get the drift.

The 16 page document was written to clarify an earlier document that was written by this same man before he hit the big time.  (That document caused an uproar back then too.)  The point of the new document was to clarify for Catholics how they should think of Catholic and non-Catholic churches.

He apparently didn't say that folks outside of Roman Catholicism were going to hell in a handbasket.  Instead he acknowledged that the Spirit can work for people's salvation in non-Catholic "churches" (but implied, I guess, that it's an uphill battle for the Holy Spirit.)

He suggested that Protestant churches are wounded and defective because they are outside the line of papal succession, that they cannot be real churches (or at least churches in the best sense of the term) and that, since they fall outside the bounds of the CHURCH that their ministers cannot really administer the sacraments.

The only reason I care about this is because the pope has so much influence around the world.  At best, his comments are potentially divisive, if not downright offensive.

The only reason I'm bringing it up is to share a story with you.   Four of the women from my church went on a little retreat together.  While there, one, during her time of prayer, fell under the conviction that she needed to be immersed.  (She had been sprinkled into the "real" church when she was an infant.)  No one pressured her or even suggested such a thing to her.  It was a matter of conscience; something that came to her during prayer; something she attributed to the Spirit of God.

The other three women went with her out into the nearby lake and immersed her because..silly girls...it seemed the appropriate thing to do given the circumstances.

Then, the other night one of the women called to tell me that she was going to visit one of the guys in our church who is recovering from by-pass surgery.  She wanted to pray with him and partake of communion with him since he's been out of the worship/fellowship loop for a few weeks.  Don't know whether she's done that yet or not but have every confidence she will and should.

Hmmm..those women are not "ordained" and they are (gasp!) w-o-m-e-n.

I'm not sure the pope would dig that but, hey..."what are you going to do?"

When folks are open to the Spirit of God and attentive to what the Word says and doesn't say...well all kinds of things can happen!

Papa....the mule is out of the barn.

For those of you in the Atlanta area (and those of you who are willing to travel!)...

Two-time Grammy and multiple Dove award winner, Ashley Cleveland will be in concert on October 13th at 8 p.m at North River Community Church.  (Go here for directions)

I am a huge fan of Ashley's music.  To me, she fills a gap in much contemporary Christian music with her soulful performance of hymns and other music that speaks from a heart that's "been there" to hearts that "are there."

She's fabulous and we are so excited to welcome her to North River!

You can visit Ashley's site here.

North River Community Church where I preach is beginning a new ministry we are calling "4:4 No More!"  The 4:4 reference is to Lamentations 4:4.

The ministry, which is a part of our larger missions outreach, will focus on reaching out to the poor of Latin America and the Caribbean with the gospel of Jesus and helping to provide food and fresh water wells to the "powerless destitute" in those regions. 

For a fuller expression of our mission you can go to this site, which we will keep updated with developments.