EfM mentor moonlighting as taxi driver?

If you've been around Charlottesville awhile you know that the taxi drivers in this town have an odd sense of humor and they like to display it on the trunks of their cabs.

And, if you've been around the Episcopal Church awhile you know that we love our metaphors and we love to say "The Lord be with you" on any occasion. And spinning metaphors is the foundation of the popular Education for Ministry program.

So imagine my delight at seeing this all mixed up on the back of a C'ville cab.

I was caught in traffic the other day behind this taxi, and took a photo with my iPhone when we were stopped at a light. I am wondering if the cabbie is an out-of-work EfM leader or just a very inspired EfM graduate. Maybe someone will see him again and ask.

Part II: Original sin, arguing with God, forgiveness, healing and a few other Big Hairy topics

Yesterday I wrote about my difficulty with the concept of “original sin” as an explanation for the brokenness of our world. If you haven’t read that, you might want to skip below before reading the rest of this.

Recently, I’ve taken a new look at “original sin” and I’ve begun to see it differently. I’d like to take you on my journey of reflection.

This is going to be a round about path, as much of theological reflection always seems to be. To get there, we need to travel deep beneath the biblical text, and go to a biblical story that is a tough read for most of us. We also need to let go of our modern obsession with literal facts.

First, I need to back up to give credit where it is due. For many years, Lori and I have been involved in leading small groups through the Education for Ministry (EfM) program, which has at its heart the sharing theological reflections.

One of our EfM groups recently wrestled with the story of Abraham nearly killing his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God in Genesis 22:1-24. No one likes the story; it portrays God as homicidal and seems to celebrate Abraham for nearly murdering his son.

In the story, Abraham is told by God to kill his son, Isaac. At the last second, just before he commits the deed, a lamb appears, and Abraham slaughters the lamb, and Isaac is spared.

Why on earth would this hideous story be in the Bible at all?

The story is often preached by Christians as a moral tale of obedience to God: do exactly as God commands no matter what and God will pull it out in the end. If God doesn't, then you did something wrong (sin) to deserve it.

The story is also heard as foreshadowing Jesus being sacrificed on the Cross, opening up all sorts of troubling theological implications about a God who needs a blood sacrifice of his own son.

Yet there is another way to hear the Abraham-Isaac story, and it might bring us to another way of viewing Jesus and the Cross, and I would submit, another way of viewing "original sin."

This reading of the story, known as the Akedah, or the “Binding of Isaac,” comes from an interpretation in Judaism. Rather than seeing Abraham as the obedient servant of God, Abraham is seen as the prideful father who should have been questioning God and not acting in blind obedience. An angel saves Abraham from slaughtering his son, and only at the last second.

Forever after, God stops speaking to Abraham. And that may be the message. In this interpretation, Abraham’s sin was his silence.

Abraham's sin was his blindly disconnecting from God without asking the question: “Why should I kill my son?”

The silence of Abraham was out of character; previously, Abraham constantly questioned God, bargained with God, and kept talking no matter what. He did all sorts of dumb things, but always stayed connected to God. This time, Abraham stayed silent, and he nearly murdered his son.

A disappointed God provides an animal for the slaughter, and then God never talks to Abraham again. God’s silence speaks volumes about God’s disappointment with Abraham.

Disconnection from God is the sin. And that gives a big hint about the "original" sin and the nature of sin.

The test was whether Abraham would question God, and this time he didn't. The test was whether he would engage with God and he flunked.

My friend Ilana DeBare pointed me to a poem on her blog by rabbinical student Rachel Barenblat that captures this interpretation:

The angels say
Avraham failed the test.
For Sodom and Gomorrah he argued
but when it came to his son
no protest crossed his lips.
God was mute with horror.
Avraham, smasher of idols
and digger of wells
was meant to talk back.
Sarah would have been wiser
but Avraham avoided her tent,
didn’t lay his head in her lap
to unburden his secret heart.
In stricken silence God watched
as Avraham saddled his ass
and took Yitzchak on their last hike
to the place God would show him.
The angel had to call him twice.
Avraham’s eyes were red, his voice hoarse
he wept like a man pardoned
but God never spoke to him again.

Someone in our EfM group recently pointed out something else in the story I hadn’t noticed before, and it leads me back into this question of "original sin." Although Isaac is saved from calamity, and Abraham is saved from himself, all of the characters end up isolated. We don’t hear much about Sarah again; Abraham wallows in his loneliness, never hearing from God again; Isaac is thereafter portrayed as a hapless man manipulated by his wife and sons. Redemption for this family is fractured.

And that got me thinking about other Bible stories, beginning with Adam and Eve. Biblical stories tend to have cycles of sin, calamity, judgment and redemption.

It is the redemption part of the stories that got my attention this time around. Each of the redemption stories is left incomplete, fractured. Life is renewed, but still broken in some way, and that leads to the next cycle of sin and calamity. The seed of sin -- the disconnection with God -- is dwelling within the redemption.

Nothing in these stories is ever left finished, not since the Garden of Eden. And that got me thinking about human life itself. Nothing is ever finished since the time each of us was in our mother’s womb.

The “original sin” is really the original brokenness from God that begins with our own birth, and the fracture continues as we grow up and learn how to live in this world. We don't get to stay in our mother's womb, the Garden of Eden. We "fall" into the world, and we need to learn quickly how to function -- "good and evil" -- if we are to survive.

The classic definition of sin is to be disconnected from God, and we start life disconnected. That means sin is not about sexual relations. It’s about being born human into an imperfect and incomplete world. To be born human is to be disconnected from God in a profound and unremitting way.

And that leads me to the Cross and the story of Jesus. I will say more about that tomorrow in Part III.

An unexpected gift from an unexpected corner

I received a gift earlier this week. I've been looking for the words to explain this. A little background first:

Last Sunday, Lori and I went to the Diocese of Virginia Roslyn retreat center in Richmond for annual training to lead our Education for Ministry (EfM) groups. This was my 14th EfM training, and Lori has been to at least that many.

This may sound like an excessive number of trainings, but we enjoy going every summer. EfM offers the best small group training there is.

I always learn something, and I enjoy meeting others who are involved leading EfM groups. And with EfM, I have long since learned to expect the unexpected.

So it was that the unexpected hit me in the first 10 minutes when an elderly gentleman walked into the room to join our training group. I didn’t pay this gentleman much notice at first; I didn’t notice his name badge until Lori nudged me and whispered “that’s Jerry Warren.”

I did a double take. Years ago I had once worked for a Jerry Warren – yes that Jerry Warren.

Gerald L. Warren had been the editor-in-chief of The San Diego Union in the 1980s when I was a reporter there. I knew Jerry then as an affable guy with a dry sense of humor, but like all editors-in-chief I worked for, not someone I would call close. True, I had brought him cigars from Havana after having chased a story to Cuba for his newspaper. But mostly reporters and senior editors don’t travel in the same circles, at least I didn’t. He had a glass office, I had metal desk in a newsroom.

Besides, we had very different backgrounds. Before he was editor-in-chief at The Union, Jerry Warren had been the chief spokesman for President Richard Nixon in his final months at the White House. My resume was more modest. I had been an executive intern in the Nixon administration in 1973, but someone must have checked my voter registration and they had put me as far from the West Wing as possible: assigning me to the home office of the Peace Corps.

I had not seen Jerry Warren in 25 years. And now here he was in my EfM training group.
We are not supposed to break confidentiality from EfM training groups, and I won’t here. But I mention all this because sometimes years do make a difference, and life’s journeys can be filled with unexpected turns that bring us back into the same room again. I was privileged for the next three days to share our life stories, read Scripture together, and pray with my old editor, and I feel enormously blessed and enriched by the experience.

Jerry, who now lives in Northern Virginia, gave me a great gift of insight this past week. This insight may seem obvious to you, but it hit me over the head like a ton of bricks. The insight is this: It is worth it, very worth it, to keep up with the circle of people who mean the most to you in life.

We may move from place to place (I never thought I’d be in Virginia, after all), but we are so much richer by going the extra mile to be with those people who mean the most to us. Our experiences together don’t end just because we are thousands of miles apart.

Since moving to Virginia Lori and I have made many new and wonderful friends here, people I pray will be with us for many years to come. Yet, as many of you know, we have devoted considerable time and expense to periodically go back to California to be with family and friends there.

This past week, I know better why that is worth it to do. It took seeing someone I hadn’t seen in 25 years to get it. Our stories continue to shape each other no matter where we live. We are still supported and transformed by our communities even when those communities are spread across time and space. I left Sacramento two years ago, the community of journalists 13 years ago. I've worked for three newspapers in my career, and since leaving San Diego 25 years ago, I’ve been in six church communities; all three papers and all six churches, and the people in them, remain deeply imbedded in me.*

No one is left behind.

The people who have been the most important to me are still important to me now. It is crucial to be with them from time to time; to share a meal, swap stories, go to a high school graduation, catch up and go fishing. Home is where the heart is, and my heart is with many, many wonderful loving people who I will treasure always. Friends matter. Even old editors.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:34).

Art by Sandra Braznell.

*Since you asked: The Riverside Press-Enterprise (twice); The San Diego Union; and The Sacramento Bee. Churches: St. Timothy's, Danville CA; Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento CA; Faith Church, Cameron Park, CA; St. Luke's, Auburn, CA; All Souls Parish, Berkeley, CA; St. Paul's Memorial Church, Charlottesville, VA.

Sad news about a treasured friend and member of St. Paul's

I have some very sad news. Joseph "Pepe" Humphrey died early Monday morning of cancer. For followers of this blog, last week we featured a deeply moving reflection he wrote, My Room, about his spiritual walk through many adversities. You can read his writing by scrolling down, or clicking HERE.

I got to know Pepe soon after we arrived in Charlottesville. Pepe and his wife, Sally, had been members of All Souls Parish in Berkeley, my last church before this one.

Pepe was part of our daytime Education for Ministry group, and he had opened his heart and his home to the group. Until recently, our regular meeting place was his living room. Today our EfM group read the Litany at the Time of Death. There were a good many tears in the room.

Pepe's memorial service will be March 27 at 11 am at St. Paul's.

Pepe was an accomplished scientist and a major presence on the faculty at the University of Virginia. Here is what the University's website has to say about him:

Joseph (Pepe) Humphrey joined the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of the University of Virginia in the summer of 2000. He is the Wade Professor of Engineering and Applied Science and was Department Chairman from 08/00 through 12/05. He has earned degrees in chemistry (Ingeniero Quimico Diplomado, Barcelona, Spain, 1970), chemical engineering (M. A. Sc., University of Toronto, Canada, 1973), mechanical engineering - fluid mechanics (Ph.D., Imperial College, London, U.K., 1977) and received the D. Sc. Eng, degree from London University in 1997. Between 1978 and 1995, Dr. Humphrey rose through the faculty ranks at the University of California at Berkeley. Subsequently he was Head of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Arizona and Dean of Engineering at Bucknell University.

Dr. Humphrey's research and teaching interests revolve around experimental, theoretical and numerical investigations of flow, heat and mass transfer phenomena, especially in relation to biomedical and biological systems. These include: application of particle image and laser-Doppler velocimetry, and other flow visualization techniques; computational fluid mechanics; turbulence modeling; buoyancy-, curvature-, and rotation-driven instabilities and transition to turbulence; two-phase flow and erosive wear; rotating and strongly curved flows; buoyancy driven flows in open cavities and enclosures; flows past bluff bodies and flow-structure interactions; development and application of interactive computational-experimental methodologies based on adaptive/learning strategies for thermofluids research; sensors and sensing in biology and engineering; biomedical catheters for cardiovascular and neurological applications. He has over 135 journal papers and 100 refereed conference papers in these areas, and is active in various professional societies including the American Society for Mechanical Engineers of which he is a Fellow. Dr. Humphrey is the founder of the biennial International Symposia on Sensors and Sensing in Biology and Engineering and a co-founder of the biennial International Symposia on Turbulence and Shear Flow Phenomena.

On the mountain: Sewanee

SEWANEE, Tennessee -- We've made it through our first full day of "mentor" training for Education for Ministry (please see yesterday's blog entry for explanation of EfM). 

There are three groups training at once, and Lori and I are in different groups. The training begins early in the morning and ends at 9 pm. One more day to go after today, though we should get done after lunch Saturday and then we will head back to Charlottesville.

For those who have not been here before, the University of the South (Sewanee) sits on a mountain top in a lovely village. The university was built in the 19th century to look like Oxford and Cambridge, and the professors and honors students still wear black academic gowns to class. (Bishop Shannon Johnston graduate).

Sewanee is also an Episcopal seminary, and the staff of EfM is in a small building behind the School of Theology. It is worth seeing if you can make the trek.

Education for Ministry: An incredible adventure

Today Lori and I are at the University of the South, Sewanee, getting our certification up to speed so that we can lead an Education for Ministry (EfM) group in the fall.

Please let me tell you a little about EfM.

 The program is a four-year small group experience that explores the Bible, church history and theology -- and much, much more. As the name implies, EfM is about equipping each of us for the ministry God has called us to do in our work, in our homes and in the world. EfM groups are intense and require a commitment to study, prayer, sharing, listening, trusting and being together. Also required are open hearts and open minds.

We've been involved in EfM since the early 1990s. This will be our fifth EfM group; we've experienced many joys, a few tragedies, and much inspiration in our groups. My first group was led by two living saints: Grant Carey and Winnie Gaines. Lori's first group was led by a seminarian we had at our church: Katharine Jefferts Schori. Lori and her friend Jean took over leadership of the group when Katharine graduated.

If you are at St. Paul's, we hope you might consider joining our new EfM group. We will meet on Monday evenings at 7 pm, and we will usually meet for 2 1/2 hours, and there is a fee for registering in the group. Yes, it is a big commitment, but as EfM graduates will tell you, EfM is one of the most rewarding experiences of their life. Please contact me if you are interested.