Jesus and the Noise of This Election Cycle

I read a lot of things written from the "left," and that is where you'll find me, and from the "right," a place and space where you once could have found me until I crossed over.

Some people write the most curious things about the "other party," and what "they" believe, and in my opinion, those opinions are often uninformed opinions. One of my curiosities is that what one party blasts the other for not believing is what they actually believe. Or, better said, what one stands for in opposition to the "other party" is what many in that other party believe.

We are not a very informed people. We oftentimes swallow what someone else has prepared and chewed for us.

And, we are not terribly reflective as to how we got where we are. Do we actually sit and ponder, "How have I come to believe what I believe about X, Y, or Z?" Or "what are the assumptions upon which I base my political, religious, or whatever opinions?"

I have actually been thinking about that for myself of late. Yes, that has been part of my own internal questions and answers. And, yes, we can actually have internal conversations or debates if we let our "internalized parts" have their say.

For several years now, I have been reading sacred texts most days that tell stories of Jesus of Nazareth. Some may find that a curious thing. Some spend much time in the Psalms, a noteworthy thing to do, or Proverbs, another noteworthy thing to do, or even in the books of history like Kings and Chronicles, another noteworthy thing to do. All of those texts, according to my theological tradition are informative of God's plan for His people, first for the Jews and then for the rest of us.

I linger in the sacred texts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and the stories they tell about Jesus of Nazareth. I study His encounters in particular. Who does He encounter while who and who and who listen in on the conversation? Who is hiding in the shadows watching and listening and learning from Him, or who is in the shadows watching and listening an plotting their strategy that will lead to His demise?

Not only do I want to read and deconstruct His encounters, but I want to gather themes of His encounters. I want to know how His encounters fit the dominant narratives of the Jewish religion of the day, and in what ways His encounters go against the grain, creating counter narratives to the dominant religion of the day.

He is found talking to a woman at a well in Samaria, a Samaritan woman, at noon. He accepts a gift of  anointing with nard just prior to His crucifixion from a woman. He notices and calls out the blind guy who has been annoyingly calling out to Him and heals him. The guy with leprosy that no one notices, that all avoid, He touches and heals him. The woman caught in the act of adultery He forgives and blesses when her accusers have vacated the premises. He invites the children who have been shunned by His disciples on two occasions, and holds them close as He blesses them with "of such is the Kingdom." He heals on the Sabbath, an uncool thing to do. He calls out what they, the religious leaders are thinking with parables, and while they do not grasp what He is saying, they know that He is saying something about them. And, it required money to fund His ministry and travels with His apostles, and women who had money supported Him out of their pocketbooks.

Therein lies my philosophy of doing life, doing justice work, doing church, and doing government policy. Some artificially ascribe church as a place where one thing is done, the individual world where another thing is done, and the government where other things are done. I get it when Jesus says to "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and to God that which is God's." Not a problem there.

When I vote in elections, I vote for people whose policies most closely mirror the paragraph above. What person and policies are going to touch the poor, the needy, women, children, those kicked to the curb by society? When a politician tells us what she or he is going to do, I listen. I listen to their words and I listen to their lives, the narratives that their lives have told prior to that specific election. When somebody tells us who they are the first time, believe them, says Maya Angelou. I resonate with her notion there.

If a guy has not solved problems with us during the last four years, he does not get another shot. He's had his shot. If someone in office stokes the fires of racism rather than attempting to engage all sides and mediate and lead to understanding and respect, he's had his chance. If he has false promises to farmers and then develops policies that leads to bankruptcies and suicides, he has had his chance. If someone in office does not have a clear civil rights policy, he'll never, ever get my vote. If he calls people names and insults women, the disabled, men, children, and others, he's had his chance for civility and failed. If he cozies up to foreign leaders who do not respect America and maligns our friends, he has had his chance, and he failed miserably. If he lies and lies and lies to us, he has had his chance, and he failed.

So, don't try to confuse me with that individually constructed set of lines between self, church, and government. I don't buy them. All of them involve people. All of them are going to be humane or inhumane.

There, I've said it. Jesus of Nazareth informs how I attempt to live my life and what I think is important in this society in which we live. Or, in the words of one of my best friends several years ago, "I will vote for whoever is best for my people." Jesus informs me as to how to treat people of all levels of society.

That is the line in the sand for me.

This I Believe.......

We live in an either/or world. Seems that we have to decide this or that, or that or this. Seems that saying both/and goes against the grain. I live in a both/and world, and maybe that's to my own demise, but it's the way I choose to live, and think, and feel, and behave in the midst of complex things.

Back in the days in the Academy when I had the privilege of teaching, mentoring, and supervising some of the brightest people on God's green earth, we pondered the things that I wrote in the first paragraph. They were people of faith and they were choosing to become clinicians. They believed in God and they believed in therapy. They lived in the world of both/and. I recall times when she or he would come into supervision feeling pumped about a session and how well it went and all. I watched some of those sessions, and I likewise marveled. I encouraged them to engage their God-given intuitive skills and their growing clinical skills with a spirit of humility, asking God for wisdom and guidance in sessions.

These days, I live in the both/and in terms of my health, social justice, racism, and all manner of things.  Yes, I believe in God and prayer, but wear the damn mask for goodness sake.  I pray and keep socially distanced. Faith in God does not mean checking wisdom and common sense at the door. I believe in prayer and all, and I believe that peaceful protests are a good thing and can be orchestrated for the common good of correcting historical wrongs.

One of those days that I am living in has to do with health. I meet with a world class surgeon who has publications a mile long and who can diagnose and treat my renal cell carcinoma easily because he's done them hundreds if not thousands of times before. When we share the good news of a report from Dr. Cadeddu at a follow-up, the sentiments are "praise God," "God pulled off another miracle," or "God has some things in mind for you," or "God is healing you."

I do not always say what I think, but if I did, it would be something along the lines of how I conversed with my students back in the day. It would sound like this, "Yes, God is good, and I have a world class physician who diagnosed and treated my condition. I have 3/4s of a kidney; otherwise, I'd not have one if we'd waited too long."

I got in trouble with a family member several years ago when I said, "Yes, the best of medicine and the best of God is a good thing," to which my kin said, "No! It's all about God." That may work for some but not for me.

You see, I live in a both/and space, and you know that if you know me well at all. I believe in God, I pray, I read the sacred texts, I journal, and I read other non-sacred materials to help me continue to learn and grow in faith and all, especially as we live in this crazy world.

On the other hand, I am a trained psychologist and marriage and family therapist, and these disciplines are what are called "soft sciences." They deal with patterns, statistics, common factors, and evidence-based practices. I believe in the world around us. I believe that it is knowable. I believe that medical folks are discovering things now that we never heard of. Try stem cell treatment for instance, or, go back 15 years and the MD would have taken out my entire kidney as opposed to now when via robotic surgery, only the cancerous portion has been removed.

I believe that "all truth is God's truth no matter where it is found." Some truth is revealed in God's word but not everything. Other truths are revealed in the lab or in surgery or in wherever God chooses to reveal it.

So, I'll continue to think, and sometimes say, "Yes, I believe God is faithful; and I have a world-class surgeon." Plain and simple. Yes, God is good and I am thankful that the pathway that happened, whether God orchestrated it or not, led to UT Southwestern. Yes, I believe in God's providence. I also believe in science and medicine.

Trust God and use common sense.  Trust God and trust science. Trust God and trust medicine.

So, until we can talk, wear the damn mask! It's a God-thing, a common sense thing, and a science thing. It's one of those both/and things.

Emotions They Rise and Fall: Reflections May 17, 2020

Emotions they rise and fall

When I take time to recall

The pain and the suffering

And the time I have spent buffering

Myself once more while I stall

Re-entering the world

Some say that it’s time

It fits all the rhythm and rhyme

And the seasons of life

And all things just right

To lay aside all fear

And to live just right here

I hear the roar of the waves

Pulling me under and no one to save

Me from the dread of it all

My story is one of the fall

And yet as I arise

I don’t want to be totally unwise

And go about those normal things

As if the past did not to me cling

Like poison ivy from the vine

Leaking into my soul

With those stories retold

Lest it come across like a whine

Which only bores

Those who’ve heard it before

And those who internalize the pain

Though there is nothing to gain

Other than identifying with me

Out of some amazing empathy

That is rare in this world

While I lay curled

Up like a child on my bed

Fighting hard to push away dread

Of the time I wished I was dead

Because the pain was more than in my head.

Is my fear way out of hand

Is there really nothing to this thing

Or is that thing in my ear I hear ring

The words I wear on my armband

Do not come here

It is you that I fear

That you are not safe

In my soul you do chafe

You come and go as you will

Not wearing a mask

Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill

No, I just think my task

Is to live

So I do not trust you

To have my best interests at heart

You are what you do

And so we’ll remain separated

Until this thing goes

Or until I am so exasperated

That I throw my hands and risk

The dangers that lurk within

The limits of a virus we do not know

Until that time I’ll not go

Out among the thick and the thin

Of people who care

Or those who don’t

I’ll be safe at home

My germs with no one to share.