Today is the easiest time to make a difference
FAITH MATTERS
By Nathan Day Wilson
Columnist
Recently my daughter reminded me of a phrase I used in a sermon a few years ago:”Four things you cannot recover in life: the stone after it is thrown; the word after it is said; the occasion after it is missed; the time after it is gone.”
I don’t know who wrote or spoke that idea originally. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t me. And by this point, it’s more likely paraphrase than quote.
I like it, though, partly because it can have many different life applications. For instance, the saying reminds me that we should make the most of our fragile lives.
We all know that life is fragile. No matter how careful we are, how closely we watch what we eat, how faithfully we exercise or how regularly we use our seat belts, life is still fragile. Loved ones die. Jobs end. Illnesses strike. Marriages dissolve. Wars kill.
A well-known teacher reminded his followers that life is fragile when he said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
I’m glad Jesus, with those words from Matthew 6, didn’t only remind us that life is fragile. I’m glad he suggests that we have opportunities to use our ephemeral lives for something that will endure, something that will make a difference.
Isn’t that what we want? No one really expects to live forever, no matter how careful we are, but we want our lives to matter.
We can’t stand the thought that we are just taking up space on the planet, and we cannot even settle for a quiet comfortable life. We want our lives to count and to have impact. We want to have done a good job with life. We want to make a difference.
There’s one more line in that passage above from Matthew 6. In it, Jesus says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
In other words, think about what you are doing with your money. Money indicates how we invest our hearts, and thus how we choose to make a difference with our lives.
Want to know how you can tell where your heart is? Look at the ledger of your checkbook or the statement of your credit cards. They will tell you where your treasure is going and thus how you are investing your heart.
Want to know the values of a family, or a business, or a religious organization, or a country? Don’t ask what it values, just look at where it spends its money. Those are the actual values.
None of us can say, “Look, such and such has a big piece of my heart, but my money has to go other things right now. The future is uncertain. I had better hang onto as much as possible.”
Don’t you see? There is never going to be an easy time to make a difference. There is today.
Wilson pastors First Christian Church, 118 W. Washington St., blogs at www.nathandaywilson.blogspot.com and reads e-mail sent to revnathan@fccshelby.org.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Vote for Lake Orion football team
Cast your vote for Utica Eisenhower (10-1) vs. Lake Orion (10-1) to be the WDIV Game of the week !! They are currently in 2nd place.
“Vote for Team of the Week” box is on the right side of this page:
http://www.clickondetroit.com/4frenzy/index.html
“Vote for Team of the Week” box is on the right side of this page:
http://www.clickondetroit.com/4frenzy/index.html
Saturday, November 06, 2010
CROP Hunger Walk
Column: Help the hungry with community
FAITH MATTERS
NATHAN DAY WILSON
Let me tell you a story about a man. I’ll call him Thomas, only since that is his name.
Thomas was a child of the Great Depression. He recalls what his father did after the Depression to help keep his family nourished, including spending many long hours in lines for construction jobs and planting a garden with tomatoes, corn and potatoes.
Thomas graduated from high school and received a scholarship to an Indiana college. He earned a degree in marketing. Only a few years into his first job, his father unexpectedly died and his mother grew ill. Thomas returned home to help care for her.
With no marketing jobs available, Thomas began working in construction. It was difficult to balance construction with caring for his mother, so Thomas sought a different job. He worked for a company cleaning offices and homes.
Even after many years of in this line of work, it was necessary for Thomas to utilize our area food pantries, including the Matthew 25:35 Community Food Pantry and The Salvation Army. Thomas depends on our food pantries and other support to have enough food to survive.
Unfortunately, his story is not rare; some 2.7 million seniors in the United States depend on food panties for food security.At the other end of the age spectrum are the 13 million children under the age of 18, 3 million of them young children, who depend on food pantries to survive.
For that reason, dozens of Shelby County residents will lace up shoes and slip on sweatshirts this Sunday to participate in the Shelby County CROP (“Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty”) Hunger Walk. Registration for the walk begins at 1:30 p.m. at Intelliplex Park.
Those participating will join approximately 2 million people will take part in a CROP Hunger Walk this fall. Collectively the efforts are expected to raise an estimated $16 million to end hunger and poverty.
A colleague who ministers in Michigan has been involved in CROP Hunger Walks for years. In an e-mail, she wrote, “I love our CROP Walk. It brings people together. It gives us a way to meet practical needs. It helps us focus on our community.”
“Sometimes I pray for our community silently while I’m walking,” she wrote. “I pray for the day when we won’t need the CROP Walk anymore because everyone will have enough to eat.”
That’s part of my prayer, too: A day when everyone will have enough to eat. Until then, participating in things such as CROP Hunger Walks is worthwhile.
Wilson pastors First Christian Church, 118 W. Washington St., Shelbyville, blogs at www.nathandaywilson.blogspot.com, and reads e-mail sent to revnathan@fccshelby.org.
FAITH MATTERS
NATHAN DAY WILSON
Let me tell you a story about a man. I’ll call him Thomas, only since that is his name.
Thomas was a child of the Great Depression. He recalls what his father did after the Depression to help keep his family nourished, including spending many long hours in lines for construction jobs and planting a garden with tomatoes, corn and potatoes.
Thomas graduated from high school and received a scholarship to an Indiana college. He earned a degree in marketing. Only a few years into his first job, his father unexpectedly died and his mother grew ill. Thomas returned home to help care for her.
With no marketing jobs available, Thomas began working in construction. It was difficult to balance construction with caring for his mother, so Thomas sought a different job. He worked for a company cleaning offices and homes.
Even after many years of in this line of work, it was necessary for Thomas to utilize our area food pantries, including the Matthew 25:35 Community Food Pantry and The Salvation Army. Thomas depends on our food pantries and other support to have enough food to survive.
Unfortunately, his story is not rare; some 2.7 million seniors in the United States depend on food panties for food security.At the other end of the age spectrum are the 13 million children under the age of 18, 3 million of them young children, who depend on food pantries to survive.
For that reason, dozens of Shelby County residents will lace up shoes and slip on sweatshirts this Sunday to participate in the Shelby County CROP (“Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty”) Hunger Walk. Registration for the walk begins at 1:30 p.m. at Intelliplex Park.
Those participating will join approximately 2 million people will take part in a CROP Hunger Walk this fall. Collectively the efforts are expected to raise an estimated $16 million to end hunger and poverty.
A colleague who ministers in Michigan has been involved in CROP Hunger Walks for years. In an e-mail, she wrote, “I love our CROP Walk. It brings people together. It gives us a way to meet practical needs. It helps us focus on our community.”
“Sometimes I pray for our community silently while I’m walking,” she wrote. “I pray for the day when we won’t need the CROP Walk anymore because everyone will have enough to eat.”
That’s part of my prayer, too: A day when everyone will have enough to eat. Until then, participating in things such as CROP Hunger Walks is worthwhile.
Wilson pastors First Christian Church, 118 W. Washington St., Shelbyville, blogs at www.nathandaywilson.blogspot.com, and reads e-mail sent to revnathan@fccshelby.org.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Vote Values this Tuesday
Voting biblical values into office
FAITH MATTERS
BY NATHAN DAY WILSON
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s going to be an election Tuesday. Yes, I know that you are impressed with my observational skills.
While that shocking news is settling in, let me ask a question: What priorities or values will inform how you vote? I mean surely you, like I, look deeper than what letter is beside the candidate’s name — a D, R or I — when choosing which candidates to support. Surely there is something else, something more that informs us when we step into that booth and cast our votes, right?
Below are five priorities that will influence my votes:First, I believe every human is made in God’s image and that the Bible clearly supports choosing life. Thirty-thousand children dying globally each day of preventable hunger and disease, health care, war, genocides, abortion — all of these are life issues. The candidates I plan to support are those who, according to the realistic functions of their desired office, propose to address all the threats to life and dignity. Along the same lines, I will support the candidates who are most likely to protect human rights and human dignity. With sexual and economic slavery increasing around the world, an end to human trafficking must become a top priority. The immigration system needs comprehensive reform, but it must be changed in ways that are consistent with the biblical command to “welcome the stranger.”
Second, as one who values the Bible, which contains more than 2,000 verses about money and sharing God’s resources, I will examine the promises and proposed policies of the candidates about overcoming extreme global poverty and unnecessary domestic poverty in the world’s richest nation. For me, such a central biblical theme cannot be ignored at election time, as too many Christians have done for years. Any solution to the economic crisis that bails out the rich, and even me in the middle class, but ignores those at the bottom is entirely unacceptable.
Third, from the prophets to Jesus, there is the hope of beating our swords into instruments of peace. I will support the candidates who seem to best understand that our security depends upon other people’s security more than upon how high we can build walls or stockpile weapons. I do not expect a pacifist president, now or ever, but I do want one who views military force as a last resort and never as a preferred response to conflict.Fifth, God’s creation is clearly under assault. I will support the candidates who will likely be most faithful in caring for God’s delicate creation. Energy resource dependence, job creation, national security are all unmistakably interconnected.
Finally for now, I am concerned about the values our leaders model. Am I looking for a Pastor in Chief? No, but I will support the candidates that best exemplify and articulate strong family values, using the White House and other offices as bully pulpits to speak of sexual restraint and integrity, marital fidelity and healthy families of all different shapes and formations.
So, there you have it — a portion, at least, of the priorities that will influence my voting this year.
How about you? What are your priorities?Whatever they are, please be sure to exercise the privilege and responsibility of voting!
Wilson pastors First Christian Church, 118 W. Washington St., Shelbyville, blogs at www.nathandaywilson.blogspot.com, and reads e-mail sent to revnathan@fccshelby.org.
FAITH MATTERS
BY NATHAN DAY WILSON
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s going to be an election Tuesday. Yes, I know that you are impressed with my observational skills.
While that shocking news is settling in, let me ask a question: What priorities or values will inform how you vote? I mean surely you, like I, look deeper than what letter is beside the candidate’s name — a D, R or I — when choosing which candidates to support. Surely there is something else, something more that informs us when we step into that booth and cast our votes, right?
Below are five priorities that will influence my votes:First, I believe every human is made in God’s image and that the Bible clearly supports choosing life. Thirty-thousand children dying globally each day of preventable hunger and disease, health care, war, genocides, abortion — all of these are life issues. The candidates I plan to support are those who, according to the realistic functions of their desired office, propose to address all the threats to life and dignity. Along the same lines, I will support the candidates who are most likely to protect human rights and human dignity. With sexual and economic slavery increasing around the world, an end to human trafficking must become a top priority. The immigration system needs comprehensive reform, but it must be changed in ways that are consistent with the biblical command to “welcome the stranger.”
Second, as one who values the Bible, which contains more than 2,000 verses about money and sharing God’s resources, I will examine the promises and proposed policies of the candidates about overcoming extreme global poverty and unnecessary domestic poverty in the world’s richest nation. For me, such a central biblical theme cannot be ignored at election time, as too many Christians have done for years. Any solution to the economic crisis that bails out the rich, and even me in the middle class, but ignores those at the bottom is entirely unacceptable.
Third, from the prophets to Jesus, there is the hope of beating our swords into instruments of peace. I will support the candidates who seem to best understand that our security depends upon other people’s security more than upon how high we can build walls or stockpile weapons. I do not expect a pacifist president, now or ever, but I do want one who views military force as a last resort and never as a preferred response to conflict.Fifth, God’s creation is clearly under assault. I will support the candidates who will likely be most faithful in caring for God’s delicate creation. Energy resource dependence, job creation, national security are all unmistakably interconnected.
Finally for now, I am concerned about the values our leaders model. Am I looking for a Pastor in Chief? No, but I will support the candidates that best exemplify and articulate strong family values, using the White House and other offices as bully pulpits to speak of sexual restraint and integrity, marital fidelity and healthy families of all different shapes and formations.
So, there you have it — a portion, at least, of the priorities that will influence my voting this year.
How about you? What are your priorities?Whatever they are, please be sure to exercise the privilege and responsibility of voting!
Wilson pastors First Christian Church, 118 W. Washington St., Shelbyville, blogs at www.nathandaywilson.blogspot.com, and reads e-mail sent to revnathan@fccshelby.org.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Read about important Swaziland HIV and AIDS work
DISCIPLES TAKE UNFORGETTABLE MISSION TRIP TO SWAZILAND
Disciples from Indiana and Kentucky have powerful memories of a mission trip that took them to Swaziland, whose population has the world's highest infection rate of HIV and AIDS in the world. The 11 Disciples, who were mostly from First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Shelbyville, Ind., spent two weeks in the southeast African nation caring for children and building a relationship with the Global Ministries partner church there, the Kukhany'okusha Zion Church (KZC).
Janice Wilson, who led the mission trip and is married to First Christian's pastor, Nathan D. Wilson, has developed a love for the people of the country and a lasting friendship with the leader of the KZC partner church in Swaziland, Bishop Samuel Mkhonta. Janice Wilson first went to Swaziland in 2004 and has been back three times since, including this summer's trip. For more, go to: www.disciples.org/tabid/58/itemid/689/Indiana-Kentucky-Disciples-Touched-by-Trip.aspx
Disciples from Indiana and Kentucky have powerful memories of a mission trip that took them to Swaziland, whose population has the world's highest infection rate of HIV and AIDS in the world. The 11 Disciples, who were mostly from First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Shelbyville, Ind., spent two weeks in the southeast African nation caring for children and building a relationship with the Global Ministries partner church there, the Kukhany'okusha Zion Church (KZC).
Janice Wilson, who led the mission trip and is married to First Christian's pastor, Nathan D. Wilson, has developed a love for the people of the country and a lasting friendship with the leader of the KZC partner church in Swaziland, Bishop Samuel Mkhonta. Janice Wilson first went to Swaziland in 2004 and has been back three times since, including this summer's trip. For more, go to: www.disciples.org/tabid/58/itemid/689/Indiana-Kentucky-Disciples-Touched-by-Trip.aspx
Monday, August 23, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Environmental concerns challenge us all
Environmental concerns are not only for scientists, lawyers and policy-makers. They are for all of us, not least since we all have moral responsibility for future generations.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
PEN Award finalists announced
From today's Washington Post, written by Marissa Newhall:
Books by Sherman Alexie, Barbara Kingsolver, Lorraine M. López, Lorrie Moore and Colson Whitehead are finalists for the 2010 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the PEN/Faulkner Foundation announced Tuesday.
Alexie's short-story collection "War Dances" and Kingsolver's historical novel "The Lacuna" are in contention for the $15,000 prize along with López's "Homicide Survivors Picnic and Other Stories," Moore's "A Gate at the Stairs" and Whitehead's "Sag Harbor."
The winner of the award, the country's largest peer-juried prize for fiction, will be named March 23.
Judges considered nearly 350 entries -- all novels and short-story collections by American authors published in 2009.
Last year's winner, "Netherland" by Joseph O'Neill, was rushed into paperback after President Obama mentioned it in a newspaper interview. Having tired of briefing books, Obama said, he had taken respite in O'Neill's tale of cricket and friendship in post-9/11 New York City.
As each year's winner is thought of as "first among equals," all five finalists will be honored May 8 at an award ceremony at the Folger Shakespeare Library. Each runner-up will receive $5,000.
Books by Sherman Alexie, Barbara Kingsolver, Lorraine M. López, Lorrie Moore and Colson Whitehead are finalists for the 2010 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the PEN/Faulkner Foundation announced Tuesday.
Alexie's short-story collection "War Dances" and Kingsolver's historical novel "The Lacuna" are in contention for the $15,000 prize along with López's "Homicide Survivors Picnic and Other Stories," Moore's "A Gate at the Stairs" and Whitehead's "Sag Harbor."
The winner of the award, the country's largest peer-juried prize for fiction, will be named March 23.
Judges considered nearly 350 entries -- all novels and short-story collections by American authors published in 2009.
Last year's winner, "Netherland" by Joseph O'Neill, was rushed into paperback after President Obama mentioned it in a newspaper interview. Having tired of briefing books, Obama said, he had taken respite in O'Neill's tale of cricket and friendship in post-9/11 New York City.
As each year's winner is thought of as "first among equals," all five finalists will be honored May 8 at an award ceremony at the Folger Shakespeare Library. Each runner-up will receive $5,000.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Wrestle with life, then grow and learn
Wrestle with life, then grow and learn
Published: Friday, February 19, 2010 9:11 AM US/eastern
By NATHAN DAY WILSON
Wrestling with life, while always difficult and sometimes traumatic, is both unavoidable and, more importantly, necessary because wrestling with life helps us develop vision in life as well as expectations. Wrestling with life gives us insight as well as experience. We grow in compassion and in character. Wrestling with life — difficult and scarring though it is — transforms us and enables us to transform.
Wrestling with life is of the essence of life. In the process, we learn things about ourselves and we come to understand some things about God as well. God gives life, and in the giving allows us to be co-creators, full participants with the chance to make decisions, and part of making decisions is taking charge of our lives.
Wrestling with life drives us to find God within us and God in the darkness that surrounds us. Think about that for a moment. Some of us hesitate to say that God is within us, maybe because we think it sounds like we are puffing ourselves up, elevating ourselves above others, showing off and so on. Others hesitate to say that God is in the darkness that surrounds us, as though the darkness is only the absence of God.
But instead, a lesson from the story of Jacob wrestling in the dark, a lesson I think God would have us know is that wrestling with life helps us find God within and God in the darkness that surrounds us.
Here’s how Rumi, a 12th-century poet, put it:
I saw Grief drinking a cup of sorrow and called out, “It tastes sweet, does it not?”
“You've caught me, and now you've ruined my business," said Grief. "How can I sell sorrow when you know it's a blessing?”
There is beauty in the dark valleys of life. We call it hope. We call it spiritual growth -- grounded in the ability to remember a difficult past, either our own or someone else’s, that became new life more than we could ever imagine. Our difficult pasts — our times of scuffling and scrapping, rumbling and wrestling with life — prove to us that whatever it was that we ever before thought would crush us, would trample us, would completely paralyze us has been survived.
And if that is true, then we can survive and grow through whatever we are wrestling with now.
Published: Friday, February 19, 2010 9:11 AM US/eastern
By NATHAN DAY WILSON
Wrestling with life, while always difficult and sometimes traumatic, is both unavoidable and, more importantly, necessary because wrestling with life helps us develop vision in life as well as expectations. Wrestling with life gives us insight as well as experience. We grow in compassion and in character. Wrestling with life — difficult and scarring though it is — transforms us and enables us to transform.
Wrestling with life is of the essence of life. In the process, we learn things about ourselves and we come to understand some things about God as well. God gives life, and in the giving allows us to be co-creators, full participants with the chance to make decisions, and part of making decisions is taking charge of our lives.
Wrestling with life drives us to find God within us and God in the darkness that surrounds us. Think about that for a moment. Some of us hesitate to say that God is within us, maybe because we think it sounds like we are puffing ourselves up, elevating ourselves above others, showing off and so on. Others hesitate to say that God is in the darkness that surrounds us, as though the darkness is only the absence of God.
But instead, a lesson from the story of Jacob wrestling in the dark, a lesson I think God would have us know is that wrestling with life helps us find God within and God in the darkness that surrounds us.
Here’s how Rumi, a 12th-century poet, put it:
I saw Grief drinking a cup of sorrow and called out, “It tastes sweet, does it not?”
“You've caught me, and now you've ruined my business," said Grief. "How can I sell sorrow when you know it's a blessing?”
There is beauty in the dark valleys of life. We call it hope. We call it spiritual growth -- grounded in the ability to remember a difficult past, either our own or someone else’s, that became new life more than we could ever imagine. Our difficult pasts — our times of scuffling and scrapping, rumbling and wrestling with life — prove to us that whatever it was that we ever before thought would crush us, would trample us, would completely paralyze us has been survived.
And if that is true, then we can survive and grow through whatever we are wrestling with now.
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Journaling
Feeling emotional? Write it down
By Nathan Day Wilson
Published: Friday, February 5, 2010 9:11 AM US/eastern
I love the ability of writing to change lives. My life, your life, our lives as a community — writing has the capacity to change them all, and change them for the better.
One of the ways our individual lives can be changed through writing is by keeping a journal. Psychologists have found that writing about your feelings can help the brain overcome emotional upsets and leave you feeling happier.
In particular, brain scans on volunteers showed that putting feelings down on paper reduces activity in a part of the brain called the amygdala, which is responsible for controlling the intensity of our emotions. They’re calling this the “Bridget Jones effect.” Kind of lame shorthand if you ask me, but nobody did. And my wife likes those movies, so don’t tell her I said that.
Here’s the skinny: Whether you elaborate on your feelings in a diary, pen lines of poetry or jot down song lyrics to express negative emotions, there appears to be positive healthy effects. UCLA psychologist Matthew Lieberman said the effect differs from catharsis, which usually involves coming to terms with an emotional problem by seeing it in a different light. Lieberman said, “Writing seems to help the brain regulate emotion unintentionally. Whether it’s writing things down in a diary, writing bad poetry or making up song lyrics that should never be played on the radio, it seems to help people emotionally.”
I think Lieberman was talking about me when he said that about bad song lyrics, but I’ll try not to be offended. Too much. I’ll deal with it in my journal.
The psychologists investigated the effect by inviting people to visit the lab for a brain scan before asking them to write for 20 minutes a day for four consecutive days. Half of the participants wrote about a recent emotional experience, while the other half wrote about a neutral experience. Those who wrote about an emotional experience showed more activity in the prefrontal cortex, which in turn decreased neural activity linked to strong emotional feelings.
Two parts of this study surprised me: Men benefited from writing about their feelings more than women, and writing by hand had a bigger effect than typing.
A quote from Lieberman made sense: “The reason (that men tend to show greater benefits) might be that women more freely put their feelings into words, so this is less of a novel experience for them.” Living in a house of all women, I can witness to the brother’s comments about women freely verbalizing their feelings!
Anyhow, the point of this column, if there is one, is that writing about your emotions can help. It can help you recover from emotional distress, process situations, release tension and more.
So get out those pens and write!
Wilson is pastor of First Christian Church, 118 W. Washington St. His book, “Waging Peace Amidst Raging War: The Impact of Religious Peacemaking Institutions” is to be published in the fall. His e-mail is nathan@fccshelby.org.
By Nathan Day Wilson
Published: Friday, February 5, 2010 9:11 AM US/eastern
I love the ability of writing to change lives. My life, your life, our lives as a community — writing has the capacity to change them all, and change them for the better.
One of the ways our individual lives can be changed through writing is by keeping a journal. Psychologists have found that writing about your feelings can help the brain overcome emotional upsets and leave you feeling happier.
In particular, brain scans on volunteers showed that putting feelings down on paper reduces activity in a part of the brain called the amygdala, which is responsible for controlling the intensity of our emotions. They’re calling this the “Bridget Jones effect.” Kind of lame shorthand if you ask me, but nobody did. And my wife likes those movies, so don’t tell her I said that.
Here’s the skinny: Whether you elaborate on your feelings in a diary, pen lines of poetry or jot down song lyrics to express negative emotions, there appears to be positive healthy effects. UCLA psychologist Matthew Lieberman said the effect differs from catharsis, which usually involves coming to terms with an emotional problem by seeing it in a different light. Lieberman said, “Writing seems to help the brain regulate emotion unintentionally. Whether it’s writing things down in a diary, writing bad poetry or making up song lyrics that should never be played on the radio, it seems to help people emotionally.”
I think Lieberman was talking about me when he said that about bad song lyrics, but I’ll try not to be offended. Too much. I’ll deal with it in my journal.
The psychologists investigated the effect by inviting people to visit the lab for a brain scan before asking them to write for 20 minutes a day for four consecutive days. Half of the participants wrote about a recent emotional experience, while the other half wrote about a neutral experience. Those who wrote about an emotional experience showed more activity in the prefrontal cortex, which in turn decreased neural activity linked to strong emotional feelings.
Two parts of this study surprised me: Men benefited from writing about their feelings more than women, and writing by hand had a bigger effect than typing.
A quote from Lieberman made sense: “The reason (that men tend to show greater benefits) might be that women more freely put their feelings into words, so this is less of a novel experience for them.” Living in a house of all women, I can witness to the brother’s comments about women freely verbalizing their feelings!
Anyhow, the point of this column, if there is one, is that writing about your emotions can help. It can help you recover from emotional distress, process situations, release tension and more.
So get out those pens and write!
Wilson is pastor of First Christian Church, 118 W. Washington St. His book, “Waging Peace Amidst Raging War: The Impact of Religious Peacemaking Institutions” is to be published in the fall. His e-mail is nathan@fccshelby.org.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Delta's Customer Disservice
It's hard to know whether Delta or Northwest has worse customer service. With their merger, I suspect the two employ a scorekeeper to mark which representatives have not helped the most customers. Today my guess is that Delta is in the lead.
Monday, November 02, 2009
Dónde está el amor?
“Dónde está el amor?” This was the question posed by a priest in mass today outside Chiapas, Mexico. “Where’s the love?” he asked us – when some control so much and manipulate those who have so little; when some limit education to the wealthy only; when some restrict the flow of natural resources, such as water, to others.
Where’s the love?
Where’s the love?
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Now I’ve read some boring books in my life. Of that, there is no doubt. But at least I can say that most, perhaps all, of my boring reads were assigned, not selected.
Not so for my neighbor on a flight today. He, by choice, was reading Robert’s Rules of Order: All You Need to Know. “Why?” I inquired, secretly hoping he was the new board chair of some worthwhile nonprofit or needed a quick refresher before leading an influential meeting.
After a brief pregnant pause came the reply: “Just wanted to see what it said.”
We had no more conversation.
Not so for my neighbor on a flight today. He, by choice, was reading Robert’s Rules of Order: All You Need to Know. “Why?” I inquired, secretly hoping he was the new board chair of some worthwhile nonprofit or needed a quick refresher before leading an influential meeting.
After a brief pregnant pause came the reply: “Just wanted to see what it said.”
We had no more conversation.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Who will do God’s will?
Imagine the following scene. In a hurry, as usual, familiar words rush from your mouth: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on Earth as it is heaven.”
Suddenly, abruptly, almost curtly, a voice responds: “Are you sure?”
Shocked, you reply, “Sure of what?"
The voice continues: “Sure that you want my will to be done, my desires to be made actual.”
You: “Well, yeah, we could always use a little more heaven on Earth!”
The voice: “My will: No more children dying of hunger. No more extreme poverty. No more allowing the greed of a few to trump the need of many. Peace among nations, even religions. People truly loving me and each other. These are my desires. This is my will. Is this what you want?”
You: “Yes, sure. Absolutely. All of that sounds exactly right. It sounds very good, in fact.”
The voice: “Then what are you doing to make these things happen?”
Wondering how to finish this now uncomfortable dialogue, you mumble: “Em. Well. Me? What am I doing, you ask?”
The voice, in a calm yet firm tone: “Yes, you. If not you, who? Who else would do my will?”
The dialogue ends.
Wow. Try to catch your breath. If that dialogue happened to you, what would you think, feel and do? Would you ever dare to pray those words again?
After all, the voice — which we assume to be God’s voice — has called you out. You claimed to want God’s will on earth. And the voice met your claim and raised you one: What are you doing to make that claim become reality?
That’s a tough one. In fact, it is so tough that I think we ought to back up and blame it on Jesus. After all, he’s the one who used this phrase in his model prayer.
It’s true. Jesus was big on kingdom of God talk. Line up 100 New Testament scholars and ask what is most central to the message of Jesus, and I bet nearly 100 will say it is this idea that the kingdom of God can transform earthly kingdoms.
Or if you don’t like scholars, just open the Bible. Kingdom of God talk is all over the place, especially in the first three Gospels.In Mark, which is the oldest Gospel, Jesus uses the phrase in his inaugural address: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe this Gospel.” (Mark 1:15) Matthew and Luke both include kingdom talk in their beatitudes and many parables.
So, what did this phrase mean for Jesus? For Jesus, God’s kingdom had a present and a future meaning at the same time.
In the present, right now, you can claim the presence of God within you and among you within community. The future meaning aspect for the kingdom of God envisions a transformed world where relationships are deeper and the Earth and its fullness are rightly recognized as belonging to God. (Psalm 24)
There is more to say about this, but not today. After all, today I am thinking about your prayer to want things ordered the way they would be if God were king and other rulers were not.
It’s a big claim. Are you sure we want that?
Suddenly, abruptly, almost curtly, a voice responds: “Are you sure?”
Shocked, you reply, “Sure of what?"
The voice continues: “Sure that you want my will to be done, my desires to be made actual.”
You: “Well, yeah, we could always use a little more heaven on Earth!”
The voice: “My will: No more children dying of hunger. No more extreme poverty. No more allowing the greed of a few to trump the need of many. Peace among nations, even religions. People truly loving me and each other. These are my desires. This is my will. Is this what you want?”
You: “Yes, sure. Absolutely. All of that sounds exactly right. It sounds very good, in fact.”
The voice: “Then what are you doing to make these things happen?”
Wondering how to finish this now uncomfortable dialogue, you mumble: “Em. Well. Me? What am I doing, you ask?”
The voice, in a calm yet firm tone: “Yes, you. If not you, who? Who else would do my will?”
The dialogue ends.
Wow. Try to catch your breath. If that dialogue happened to you, what would you think, feel and do? Would you ever dare to pray those words again?
After all, the voice — which we assume to be God’s voice — has called you out. You claimed to want God’s will on earth. And the voice met your claim and raised you one: What are you doing to make that claim become reality?
That’s a tough one. In fact, it is so tough that I think we ought to back up and blame it on Jesus. After all, he’s the one who used this phrase in his model prayer.
It’s true. Jesus was big on kingdom of God talk. Line up 100 New Testament scholars and ask what is most central to the message of Jesus, and I bet nearly 100 will say it is this idea that the kingdom of God can transform earthly kingdoms.
Or if you don’t like scholars, just open the Bible. Kingdom of God talk is all over the place, especially in the first three Gospels.In Mark, which is the oldest Gospel, Jesus uses the phrase in his inaugural address: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe this Gospel.” (Mark 1:15) Matthew and Luke both include kingdom talk in their beatitudes and many parables.
So, what did this phrase mean for Jesus? For Jesus, God’s kingdom had a present and a future meaning at the same time.
In the present, right now, you can claim the presence of God within you and among you within community. The future meaning aspect for the kingdom of God envisions a transformed world where relationships are deeper and the Earth and its fullness are rightly recognized as belonging to God. (Psalm 24)
There is more to say about this, but not today. After all, today I am thinking about your prayer to want things ordered the way they would be if God were king and other rulers were not.
It’s a big claim. Are you sure we want that?
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Questioning the prayer
Questioning the prayer
By Nathan Day Wilson
How many times have you said The Lord’s Prayer? A few hundred times? Many thousands? Never at all?
The prayer is a work of beauty, especially Matthew’s version with its pleasant cadences and well balanced couplets. Try reading this aloud so you can feel the pulse: “Our father in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done.”
Did you feel it? Whether it means anything to your faith or not, you have to admit there’s wonderful rhythm to the prayer, smooth and melodic.
For me, the prayer evokes many memories. I’ve prayed it with close friends and with complete strangers. Those words have celebrated new lives and consoled recent deaths. In rooms where all spoke the same language, and in rooms where languages were as numerous as people, I’ve claimed and clamored this prayer that Jesus taught his followers.
Yet for a prayer so beautiful, so evocative and so central to whom and whose I am, rarely have I thought about what each phrase in the prayer means or why Jesus decided to include it. So I asked myself some questions.
For example, I asked myself, “Self, why did the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray? After all, prayer was a pillar of Jewish piety. Public prayer, spoken aloud in the morning, afternoon and evening was common.”Then I thought, “Hmmm, Self, that is a good question.”
Then I considered rewarding my good question with some mint chocolate chip ice cream, but decided I should ask more questions instead.
What do you think? Why did the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray? Or what’s your answer to these questions: Why did Jesus organize the prayer the way he did? After the beginning invocation, is there anything significant about the order of his six requests? How was the prayer radical at the time when Jesus taught it?
And the big one: Does this prayer have relevance for you; or, do you just say the prayer now because that’s what others have always done?
Not to be rude, but if you’re not going to speak up with some answers, I’m going to ask one more question: Of all the images or ways that Jesus could have addressed God at the beginning of the prayer, why did he start by saying “Our Father?”
After all, Jesus could have said something like, “Holy One who loves us more than there is water in the deepest sea.” It would have been true, and poetic if I may say so. God does love us, and all creation, more than there is water in the deepest sea — or even all the seas combined.
Or Jesus could have addressed God as “Ground of all our existence.” Or even, “One whose strength surpasses the strongest boulder.” Both are true statements; both are apt descriptions.
But Jesus did not start the prayer with any of those. Instead, he started with the Aramaic word, “Abba.” Why?
Those are the sorts of questions I’ve been asking myself. The good and exciting news for me is that this weekend I’ll be sharing some answers to the questions. The congregation I get to serve, First Christian Church, is beginning a worship series about The Lord’s Prayer this Sunday at 10 a.m.
One of the most requested worship topics, I think and pray it’ll be a good series. I guess I’m not the only one interested in deeply experiencing this much loved prayer.
By Nathan Day Wilson
How many times have you said The Lord’s Prayer? A few hundred times? Many thousands? Never at all?
The prayer is a work of beauty, especially Matthew’s version with its pleasant cadences and well balanced couplets. Try reading this aloud so you can feel the pulse: “Our father in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done.”
Did you feel it? Whether it means anything to your faith or not, you have to admit there’s wonderful rhythm to the prayer, smooth and melodic.
For me, the prayer evokes many memories. I’ve prayed it with close friends and with complete strangers. Those words have celebrated new lives and consoled recent deaths. In rooms where all spoke the same language, and in rooms where languages were as numerous as people, I’ve claimed and clamored this prayer that Jesus taught his followers.
Yet for a prayer so beautiful, so evocative and so central to whom and whose I am, rarely have I thought about what each phrase in the prayer means or why Jesus decided to include it. So I asked myself some questions.
For example, I asked myself, “Self, why did the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray? After all, prayer was a pillar of Jewish piety. Public prayer, spoken aloud in the morning, afternoon and evening was common.”Then I thought, “Hmmm, Self, that is a good question.”
Then I considered rewarding my good question with some mint chocolate chip ice cream, but decided I should ask more questions instead.
What do you think? Why did the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray? Or what’s your answer to these questions: Why did Jesus organize the prayer the way he did? After the beginning invocation, is there anything significant about the order of his six requests? How was the prayer radical at the time when Jesus taught it?
And the big one: Does this prayer have relevance for you; or, do you just say the prayer now because that’s what others have always done?
Not to be rude, but if you’re not going to speak up with some answers, I’m going to ask one more question: Of all the images or ways that Jesus could have addressed God at the beginning of the prayer, why did he start by saying “Our Father?”
After all, Jesus could have said something like, “Holy One who loves us more than there is water in the deepest sea.” It would have been true, and poetic if I may say so. God does love us, and all creation, more than there is water in the deepest sea — or even all the seas combined.
Or Jesus could have addressed God as “Ground of all our existence.” Or even, “One whose strength surpasses the strongest boulder.” Both are true statements; both are apt descriptions.
But Jesus did not start the prayer with any of those. Instead, he started with the Aramaic word, “Abba.” Why?
Those are the sorts of questions I’ve been asking myself. The good and exciting news for me is that this weekend I’ll be sharing some answers to the questions. The congregation I get to serve, First Christian Church, is beginning a worship series about The Lord’s Prayer this Sunday at 10 a.m.
One of the most requested worship topics, I think and pray it’ll be a good series. I guess I’m not the only one interested in deeply experiencing this much loved prayer.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Light of truth in healthcare
The Shelbyville News
Light of truth in healthcare
By Nathan Day Wilson
First of all, thank you for the many emailed, telephoned and in person compliments on last week’s column. And, thank you for the complaint: a good reminder of the difficulty of writing hyperbole. I appreciate them all.
It was a fun column to write.
This week’s column, I’m afraid, is every bit as important but not as much fun. In fact, this week I write with a sad and heavy heart.
Here’s why: The past couple weeks have been very difficult for the soul of all Americans. In the midst of discussing important healthcare issues that will affect your family and mine for generations, too many of our fellow citizens have decided to resort to lies and uncivil behavior.
Whether they support reform or the status quo, their misinformation and divisive tactics sadden me, embarrass me and concern me for the well-being of our country.
You may have received some of their emails. Usually without the names of authors or supporting citations, the emails claim such ludicrous lies as healthcare reform would force families to receive care ordered by a government panel instead of qualified, trained doctors and their staff.
Another popular email claims that elderly would be left to die if healthcare reform passed. This is also untrue, and sickening that anyone would even write such a lie.
Why are some people doing this? I’m not sure, and I pray they stop. My guess is they benefit from the system as it is – a system that delivers the best health care to the wealthiest and leaves 46 million fellow Americans with no health insurance at all.
My guess for why people circulate intentionally untrue emails and act in violent ways is that they want us to be afraid. I never appreciated bullies, and I still don’t.
I think it should stop. For those of us who are Christians or belong to other faith groups, it should stop. For all of us who embrace the Golden Rule, it should stop. For us who seek justice and fairness, it should stop. If for no other reason than just our common identity as Americans, it should stop!
Let’s ask for, even demand, a healthcare discussion that is factual. Let’s demand one worthy of your family and my family; a discussion that brings our communities together instead of fragmenting us further.
Proverbs 12 says that “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.” Well, special interests, your moment is up. Now we want real healthcare discussion, not misinformation. We want the light of truth, not the heat of your fear-mongering.
--
Wilson is senior pastor of First Christian on West Washington St, which this week will celebrate all students, teachers, administration, staff and school board members at the 10:00 worship.
Light of truth in healthcare
By Nathan Day Wilson
First of all, thank you for the many emailed, telephoned and in person compliments on last week’s column. And, thank you for the complaint: a good reminder of the difficulty of writing hyperbole. I appreciate them all.
It was a fun column to write.
This week’s column, I’m afraid, is every bit as important but not as much fun. In fact, this week I write with a sad and heavy heart.
Here’s why: The past couple weeks have been very difficult for the soul of all Americans. In the midst of discussing important healthcare issues that will affect your family and mine for generations, too many of our fellow citizens have decided to resort to lies and uncivil behavior.
Whether they support reform or the status quo, their misinformation and divisive tactics sadden me, embarrass me and concern me for the well-being of our country.
You may have received some of their emails. Usually without the names of authors or supporting citations, the emails claim such ludicrous lies as healthcare reform would force families to receive care ordered by a government panel instead of qualified, trained doctors and their staff.
Another popular email claims that elderly would be left to die if healthcare reform passed. This is also untrue, and sickening that anyone would even write such a lie.
Why are some people doing this? I’m not sure, and I pray they stop. My guess is they benefit from the system as it is – a system that delivers the best health care to the wealthiest and leaves 46 million fellow Americans with no health insurance at all.
My guess for why people circulate intentionally untrue emails and act in violent ways is that they want us to be afraid. I never appreciated bullies, and I still don’t.
I think it should stop. For those of us who are Christians or belong to other faith groups, it should stop. For all of us who embrace the Golden Rule, it should stop. For us who seek justice and fairness, it should stop. If for no other reason than just our common identity as Americans, it should stop!
Let’s ask for, even demand, a healthcare discussion that is factual. Let’s demand one worthy of your family and my family; a discussion that brings our communities together instead of fragmenting us further.
Proverbs 12 says that “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.” Well, special interests, your moment is up. Now we want real healthcare discussion, not misinformation. We want the light of truth, not the heat of your fear-mongering.
--
Wilson is senior pastor of First Christian on West Washington St, which this week will celebrate all students, teachers, administration, staff and school board members at the 10:00 worship.
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