God?

I had the pleasure of having lunch with a close friend yesterday. We talked about God. She told me that what bothered her most were people who abdicate their responsibility and accountability in the name of God. She explained that when some of her friends accomplish something, they don't take credit but give it all to God - as a third party not truly integrated with them. When something fails, they also blame God. When they are less that who they can be, they blame God for not supporting them. When they are at their best, they credit God for leading them along the right path.

She also told me that when she is faced with a deep dilemma, she looks inside for guidance and answers. When she does so, she pictures her support network and thinks about the lessons they tried to give and the values they have transferred to her. She sees support from them as well as those who love her (her parents, her sister, cousins, special friends, etc.). She is happy to share the credit and blame with them, but she also says that she is ultimately responsible for the choices she makes and the decisions at which she arrives. She also talked about a scene from the last Harry Potter book where Harry calls upon his family, most of whom are dead, by using some special magic thing he has found. He calls upon them for help and guidance, for support and strength, for the loving energy he needs to accomplish a goal he has set for himself. She said that this was similar to how she looks inside herself to find answers.

I am so glad I listened more fully yesterday and was able to hear her. I shared that I still don't see what she related as being far from my understanding of God. Perhaps she limits this picture to her family and special friends, but I think of a wider sense of support. I think the first time someone shared the meaning of "Namaste" with me, it really clarified my developing understanding of God. The idea that "the divinity in me greets the divinity in you" helped me see God as an integral part of me that is there whether I recognize/acknowledge it or not. God is that divine energy in me that allows me, encourages me, sometimes even drives me to be the best I can be. God is the commonality among all those people my daughter pictures when she looks inside. It is when we are at our best that we provide the strength and guidance that she needs. It is God that helped us do that - not as a way for me to abdicate credit for this, but as a way to acknowledge that I am not alone in all of this. I love it and am proud of myself whenever I am able to accomplish my best. Thanking God is not a minimizing of this, but a celebration.

We also talked about how God and religion are not the same thing. Though religion is supposed to help us reconnect with the divinity that is part of us, it often falls short of that goal. When my friend told me about various incidents that distanced her continually from believing in God, she really related incidents of where religion failed to reconnect but actually increased the distance between her and a relationship with the divinity that is her. Most of these incidents were very hurtful - either to her or to someone for whom she cares deeply. She saw some of these as situations that COULD have been affirming and strengthening for friends, but wound up being situations where her friends became more dependent (or co-dependent) and less assertive.

How do we get the message out that God is not some third party judge that sits on a big marble throne in Washington DC and watches us and plays little games with us? I acknowledge that I once saw God this way. However, that was a long time ago. I would think it is time for us to grow up - even as children - to realize that this image of God might well have served a society that needed an external locus of control to get it to be accountable for everyone.

I want our society to grow up. I want us to realize that we have it within us to love and care for the entire creation and that we have the power to heal the earth, people, and all the rest of nature. For me, it is God that makes this all possible. Am I clear for anyone who reads this or is it still all completely fuzzy?

Happy National Grouch Day!

Can you believe that they have a day for grouches? Apparently, today is the day. Though I am really tired, I do not feel grouchy today.

I'm actually feeling the opposite. I voted on my way in to work today-I had to stop and see a friend in order to wait until 10:00 AM when the polls opened. It was wonderful to be able to spend a little time with my friends, and I exercised my democratic responsibility as well.

Voting is such a privilege! I am amazed at how many people do not see that this privilege is also a responsibility. Often, when I was teaching in schools, students would tell me that their parents never voted. I didn't usually believe them. Then I started asking parents of my students. "Your son tells me that you never vote. I told him that he probably just didn't know when it was that you voted." Then they would actually confirm what their child had said.

• "Oh, I never vote."
• "My vote would never matter. My husband and I would just cancel each other out."
• "All politicians are the same. One is just as bad as another."
• "How would my vote ever matter?"
  
• "Politicians are all a bunch of crooks anyway."
  

and other such incredible statements.

If we don't vote, then we should never complain about what governments do! Maybe that's why I always vote - I like to feel free to complain! I'm pretty sure that isn't the reason I vote. I vote because I want to influence what governments do. This year, I spent some time with one particular candidate to see what that person's thoughts and values were regarding issues that are important to me. That time helped me make a decision about my vote.

When the Bible tells us that God gave us dominion over the world that was created, I don't think that we are being told to dominate nature. I really believe that the Bible is promoting our responsibility to be active and accountable for what happens in our world. We need to try to influence every aspect of what occurs around us to try to make it as good as it can be. We have a responsibility to work together to try to make our part of the world as good as it can be. Some take this further and try to use their influence to make things better where there is obviously a need for something to change. I have a harder time doing that because I am never sure what that change should be. If I start in my own locale, I think I have a better chance of "getting it right."

Being the "best we can be" means that we to be engaged in the world. In becoming wine, I want to be aware of issues that are influenced by my voting. I want to act locally in order that I might influence the global nature of our world.

I just went back through my writing to find out where I explained this "Water to Wine" project that is on-going here at Knox. I can find lots about it, but no explanations. So.....

The Water to Wine Project of Huda Hakawi
On September 23rd, the readings and sermon regarded the Wedding Feast at Cana where the first of Jesus' "miracles" occurred. The wedding that was attended by Jesus, many of the disciples, and his mother Mary, was three days along. (I was amazed that weddings were that long. They apparently continued for over a week!) They ran out of wine. This was a big deal considering the wedding wasn't even half over.

So Mary (remember how your mother was always trying to get you to show off?) looks to her son and tells him that the wine is gone. His response? "So what? This is not MY problem!" Does Mary listen? Of course not. She just tells the servants to do whatever her son tells them to do.

In spite of his effort to try to ignore and not get involved, Jesus tells the servants to take some huge earthen pots over to the well and fill them with water. He then tells one of the servants to take a dipper-full of water over to the wine steward.

Does Jesus make any magic sign over the water? No.
Does he say any special magic words over the wine? No.
Does he even say a prayer, touch the wine, look at the dipper? Nope. Nothing at all.

However, by the time the dipper gets to the wine steward, it contains some of the best wine the steward has ever tasted.

Jesus just used what was lying around. He didn't use "special" jugs. No "Special Well." No magic dipper. Just water from the well. Filled large jugs that were already nearby.

What I have learned from my colleagues here at the church is that "water" is often an analogy (in the Bible) for people. Water signifies people who are going along in their day-to-day existence, not doing anything particularly spiritual or righteous or holy. "Wine" is also an metaphor for our existence when we are "filled with the spirit." (No wonder they call alcohol-based beverages "spirits".)

As the kids and I were discussing this, we were pretty amazed at the idea that water could become wine so rapidly. We wondered if we could go from water to wine is such a short period of time.

Rather than try to do anything in a rush, we decided that we would make some wine and use the time it takes us to make wine to change ourselves from the "water" metaphor to "wine." So we used a wine kit and began on the 30th of September. You can go back on this site of the blog to see what we've been doing to get to where we want to be by the end of the project.