My heart goes out to the victims of Katrina. The numbers get larger and larger by the hour. I heard on BBC just a while ago that the dead are estimated in the thousands.

As we watch these events unfolding I grow more and more concerned over the humanitarian catastrophe we are facing. I heard on Pacifica that their are over 1,000,000 persons displaced, out of work and soon to be in truly desperate straits. These people need shelter, food and security and that's just the beginning. They need to rebuild their lives, find work, permanent lodging and more. This could very well prove to be the defining moment for a generation of Americans.

Prayers can work miracles, this I know to be true. But, with a tragedy like we are now facing prayers are not enough. Maybe it is time for a rebirth of the Social Gospel, with a new agenda for the 21st century. It could serve as an ecumenical beacon through which people of faith could face the ills of the modern world in an interfaith fashion. The New Social Gospel would need a spokesperson such as Rauschenbush was for his movement. I don't know who this might be. There are probably a number of qualified folks from the Liberation Theology crowd, but would the have the gravitas to move the Protestant masses? I would love to see someone like Marcus Borg or Shelby Spong step up to the plate but maybe they would prove to controversial.

Jesus said "What you do for the least of these you do for me." And it tells us in the Epistles that "Faith without works is dead". I don't know if the Social Gospel will be reborn and I don't know if this event will prove to be the catalyst of such rebirth. But, I believe that people of faith need to do a whole heck of a lot more than mouthing a few prayers and tossing a few shekels. And, the rebirth of the Social Gospel would be one way to face the problems of the world and do our part for our less advantaged brothers and sisters. The situation for the average person on this world is rough to say the least. The genocide in Darfur, the millions dying of HIV AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, the plight of the innocent Iraqi civilians trapped in a war zone. There is a vast litany of abominations that I could enumerate if time permit ed and you know them as well or better than I.

If not the Social Gospel then what? If not now then when?

Motives

The fact that people motives were varied and diverse is apparent. Some people wanted to truly help the pre-Columbian inhabitants. Admittedly they wanted to do this by converting them to Christianity but some missionaries used the carrot and some used the stick. The French missionary communities referenced in the Hackett text sound downright Utopian when compare to the Sword & Cross mentality we see elsewhere. Theses prospective Christians could see the difference as well, thus their labeling some Europeans from “the good white tribe” and others from “the bad white tribe”.

Ferdinand and Isabella…well, I’m a little cynical about their motives. From my perspective they were after gold, spices and the wealth that they felt opening up an alternate trade route to the “Indies” would bring them. They had just fought a costly war in the Reconquesta and had destabilized their economic infrastructure through their persecution of non-Catholics, particularly the Iberian peninsulas ancient Jewish population. There may have been some genuine missionary zeal in Isabella, at least more than in her husband, but I am not yet ready to concede that as a primary motivating factor.

Columbus was little more than a vainglorious and pompous opportunist. One can see by the titles he coveted…..Admiral of the Ocean Sea, Royal Viceroy, Governor of the Indies, he wanted secular power, wealth and prestige. I think he wanted nothing more than to see himself as an equal of the noblemen of his time. True, he puts himself forward as a warrior of the faith bringing the light to the unenlightened, but his covetous behaviors are the best proof of his true beliefs and desires.

God and naural disaster

I do not believe God has any direct role in natural events.  The universe has been created and set into motion and there is little if anything the Divine can do or is willing to do to prevent the calamities and blessings the natural world has to offer.  The planet we live on is still cooling, still going through its natural evolutionary process.  When earthquakes strike, perhaps bringing with them tsunami waves or hurricanes wreak havoc and destruction it is just the nature of the universe.

I understand why ancient peoples had to look outside this world to understand what was happening; I can even sympathize with them.  The forces of nature are awe inspiring in their power and these people desired…no, they needed to be able to understand and explain the catastrophic effects they witnessed.  But, we now know what causes tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes and more.  They are just part of the geological and meteorological conditions of our world, no more no less.

When I hear reports of divine judgment resulting in dome natural disaster wielded like a divine weapon I am appalled. It always seems to be a fanatical fundamentalist Christian, Muslim or Jew that makes these ignorant and hateful claims.   It makes me ashamed to be a “child of the book”. I don’t think anyone is to blame, but if anyone is, it is all of us.  Humanity may well have done this to itself through global warming and climate change.  

Enoch and long life spans in Genesis

Enoch was of interest to many people of days past for the same reasons that he has peaked your interest.  A number of pseudographical works were attributed to him.  I even read somewhere that someone was proposing the idea that Enoch was taken away by space aliens in a UFO.  I don’t know how much, if any, of this I buy into but it certainly makes for interesting speculation.  I have oftentimes wondered if he ever really existed and if so, what really happened to him.

Whenever I see the extremely long life spans attributed to the folks in Genesis recall the Sumerian King Lists.  There are such strong ties with Judaism and the civilizations of Mesopotamia I speculate that it may have been a literary devise, attributing immense age to characters from the story which was meant give authority and lend familiarity to the finished texts.  Perhaps it was just part of the ritual of storytelling from the time, much like we sometimes start a storey with “once upon a time”.  

I don’t have the figures handy but I wonder if both the Sumerian and Hebrew texts ascribe greater life spans to the antediluvian characters than to the postdiluvian ones?
And, if so does this means anything?

Pilgrims and Puritan

Pilgrims and Puritans are often seen as one in the same by the average Jane and Joe of today.  But, in reality they were two separate and distinct traditions even though some of these distinctions seem to have lost there clarity over the passage of time.  

The first and foremost thing that comes to mind is that the Puritans remained members of the established Anglican church.  They desired to purify (reform) the Church of England from within the church itself.  They felt that the official church had strayed from important Christian principles as they were perceived from the Calvinistic viewpoint of the Puritans.  They felt that the only way they could reform the Anglican Church from within the Anglican Church was to leave England and establish “city upon a hill” This led to their colonization of North America and the establishment of the Mass. Bay Colony.

The Pilgrims were outsiders in relation to the Anglican Church.  They had elected to not seek reformation from within but, to separate themselves entirely from it.  In furtherance of this goal they sought to remove themselves from the abuse of their countrymen and traveled to the Netherlands where they might be free practice a religion of their own devising.  This served their purposes well for some time but, they eventually became desirous of a land to call their own.  This led to their exodus to North America aboard the famous Mayflower and the establishment of the Plymouth Colony.

There are differences to be sure.  But I believe that that Christianity as represented by either the Puritans of the Pilgrims was of the most reprehensible sort.  The intolerance, arrogance, sexism, and downright lunacy of it is abhorrent to me.  The case Salem witch trials are just one example of this proto-fundamentalism run amok.  When we look back at them with romantic eyes we only see what we want to see, not the scary stuff.

Chicken Little

I have more than a little of the Chicken Little in me.  Sometimes I am prone to worry about what could be and fail to focus on the reality of the moment.  

I am not a classical worrywart as such, but I do tend to fret over what could happen.  I play though in my mind various potentialities that could come to pass from any given action and more often than not I find myself dwelling on what could be the least desirable outcome of the lot.  When this happens I find myself playing the part of Chicken Little.  

My Chicken Little personae differs somewhat from the classic version in that I do not let out any sort of hue and cry over some sort of perceived doom that appears to be looming over me.  But, rather I adopt a more pessimistic attitude in preparation of the potential disappointment I may have to face if the choice I make, or the action I take proves incorrect.

I am certain that this behavior can be traced to my paternal grandmother’s influence.  She always told me to prepare for the worst, and if it fails to materialize…well, so much the better.  She told me never be overly optimistic about anything because you are only setting yourself up for disappointment.  If you face life as a pessimist you are always prepared for whatever disappointment comes your way.  And, your life will be filled with pleasant surprises whenever things turn out for the best.

I am aware of this pattern in me and do my best take it into account when I examine any situation, especially when I have an important decision to make for myself.  Grandma Haines was a font of depression era wisdom but I endeavor not to let the specter of her teachings sway me in an overly negative way.  I have learned to take this possible weakness and make it into one of my strengths.  Thanks to her influence I am more likely to thoroughly examine any path I may be considering, and if the desired results fail to materialize I am in a better position to deal with the disappointment.

Me

The most important person(s) in my spiritual development has certainly been my parents. They both had such influence on who I have become it is difficult to ascertain who had primacy over the other.

My mother and father both agreed that children must have a solid spiritual foundation. And, because of this belief I was raised in a nominally Christian home. I attended the local United Methodist church every Sunday where I sang in the children,s choir and was quite active in the Sunday school program.

Both of my parents encouraged me to explore other faith traditions as I grew. I would attend Synagogue on Friday nights with a Jewish playmate and mid-week mass with a Catholic friend. I even attended meetings of the Humanist Society with a quirky uncle. They taught me tolerance, acceptance, and helped lay the foundation of the Universalist that I was later to become.

I can see pieces of the spirituality that I embody in all of the faith traditions that make up the path I have walked. Methodist, Episcopalian, Unitarian Universalist, UCC, and especially Unprogramed Friends make up the largest portion of my being. But, I can discern Catholicism, Judaism and even Bahai’ism in myself if I look for it.

I am greatly indebted to both my parents for teaching me that there are many pathways that lead to God. My father used to tell me when I was a wee little boy that God was like the sun shining through the windows of our house. The light shone through each window and lit up a different portion of the house in a different way, but all the light was really the same light and stemmed from the same source. From him I learned that all truth is God’s truth.

No religion has a monopoly on truth. We are who we are and believe what we believe more due to the circumstances birth, the time and place in which we came into being , and the culture in which we were raised, than to any spiritual insight or divine handiwork. If I were born in the mid east it is likely I would be Muslim. If I were born upon the sub-continent I would probably be a Hindi. Were I to have been born in the Far East I would perhaps be a Confucian, Taoist, Buddhist, Shinto or even a Jain.

My parents taught me to accept the validity of many faith traditions. I was encouraged to explore them as I grew up and adapt what seemed best to me into my personal faith. I have faithfully held to their advice and hope someday to have the opportunity to impart what I have been taught to children of my own.