Open Minds

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When I was last at Cokesbury I discovered something disturbing. The number of books in certain categories has changed. I had trouble finding my favorite areas – History and Culture was tucked away in a back corner; Bible Study was on the back side wall and worst of all Theology has shrunk to a mere three shelves. Instead the store was full of Devotion, Inspiration, Christian Living and Christian Fiction was cascading out of a full bookcase. What’s going on, don’t people want to think any more?

I have read Christian Fiction all of my life: Dostoevsky, Graham Greene, Endo Shusaku just to name a few. Oddly, I’m not sure these authors would be placed in the “Christian Fiction” section. This category has a kind of formula, and touches our minds and hearts in the same way as praise music -it has its place but it lacks gravitas. I confess I am somewhat distrustful of “Inspiration.” After looking at some of the books in this category it seems a lot like Christian Self-He lp.

Is this a part of the general dumbing down of America? We all know the stories: when we invaded Iraq most Americans didn’t know where Iraq is, much less about the differences between Sunni and Shiite, only 10% of Americans can name the number of justices on the Supreme Court, and a good many surveyed thought that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife! The Bible is the most popular book never read, and if it is read it is read literally rather than seriously, that is using our minds.

I worry about education today. It seems as though one can graduate from college and not learn critical thinking. What IS education if it doens’t involve cxritical thinking? Training?

When we United Methodists claim Open Minds in our denominationl slogan we mean more than being open to tolerating differecnes – we are for that too. But it also means that we believe thinking is a part of faith. In confirmation I hope to teach the youth not what to believe but how to think about thier faith – how to formulate the best questions.

So if you are looking for a place where you can have faith and think, come and join us. but be careful, the other part of the the Church’s slogan is Open Hearts.

Elegant Aggression?!

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While watching commercials my children and I play a game to overcme the tedium – what is this advertising? Sometimes it is clear from the start, advertisments for detergents tend not to mess around, but often one doesn’t know what is being hawked until the end. It’s a contest of course, and when I have absoltuely no idea I usually guess ‘cars’. More than most products, cars sell image more than content; style more than engineering

Recently I saw an ad for an Acura during a sporting event. it started with a football player undressing and then redressing into a suit. A voice then said, “we can do it with people, why not with cars?” which even now makes little sense to me. Then came the line that has troubled me. “The new Acura, aggression at its most elegant.”

What is that? What is elegant about aggression? Is that punching someone but with good form? Tearing into someone but with style? Waterboarding with Perrier? Advertisers don’t casually come up with this stuff. People are paid much more than I am to weedle out such amazing combinations of words. The audience is men and you know that some big bucks reasearch went into discerning that men are filled with latent aggression, so why not capitalize on it. Do you see why this troubles me?

I remember in the novel Catch-22 by Joseph Heller when the crews went up over Italy to bomb the Nazis; the Major didn’t care about what was destroyed – the actual success of the mission – he just wanted to see a good and even bomb pattern becasue that’s what his superiors wanted. Now I have a name for that – elegant aggression. I am also reminded of smart bombs and drones.

There is nothing elegant about aggression and violence. It hurts people. The last thing we need our young men hearing subliminally is that aggression is cool if you can do it with style.

One of the tasks of the church with young people is to offer a different vision of the world and what it can be. In order to do that we have to be very discerning about what the wrong message is – to point it out and rage against it. If we aren’t doing this, who will? Pastor Jim

Occupy the Church

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I sympathize with the “Occupy” movment, at least about the disparity of wealth in America today. I feel particular concern for young people who graduate from college with tens of thousands of dollars of debt into a job market that is depressed. I recently heard on NPR that older people are now 47 times wealthier than young people – it is always the case that older people are wealthier, but this number represents a new record.

There is plenty of biblical precedence for the message of the equal distribution of wealth, not the least of which is the Old Testament concept of Jubilee – every 50 years all resources are thrown back into the pot and handed out again equally. Jesus had plenty to say about the economy, usually addressing the injustice of some having much and the majority having very little; it’s not as if this message isn’t clear. We can disagree as Christians on how this is to be done but not about the fact that it needs to be done.

There is a deep and abiding spiritual foundation for much of what the issues the occupiers are raising. So, why not “occupy the church?” I believe that this kind of dialogue and witness is not only appropriate to being the church in our world, but also vital to it. What do you all think? Pastor Jim

New to the Blogosphere

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Welcome to the pastor’s blog. Thank you Matt Cruz for all your hard work building our new website.

This is a new frontier in technology for me. When I started in ministry over 20 years ago computers had yet to make it into churches. It was in my second church that I learned the wonders of WORD and email. In my third church it was the Net and Facebook. Now a blog. I wonder what this will mean?

I have an abiding interest in technology as it affects us. I am not at all tech savvy, but I wonder about how certain innovations affect how we think, live, relate. I am convinced that the automobile has encouraged our independence, our sense of being self contained and maybe even our communication as we gesture fellow drivers – does it encourage rage? One other example is the remote control. Once again I feel old as I say that when I was young there were 13 channels and one had to get up to change the channel – not only that, but in my case I would usually engage in an argument with my brother over what we would watch since there was only one TV in the house. Now I find that I enjoy sitting in front of the TV with the remote scanning channels, often over and over again. While there is no argument with this, it pretty much necessitates my being alone. (Have you ever sat next to someone who is roaming the channels?!) When I was young we watched TV together more than we did alone. I venture to guess that today more people are watching alone.

Not only that, but I wonder what happens in our brians when we are swtiching channels all the time? What happens when we train ourselves to look forward to the next thing, and feel that we can bring it into being with the push of our thumb? In fact, I think it is a characteristic of our day for us to always be thinking of the next thing. Pretty soon life is a succession of often disconnected next things and then we wonder why we feel anxious.

One final affect wrought by the remote. Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and you are tired of listening and reflexively image having a remote so you could mute them? Maybe I’m confessing here but I bet this is pretty common.

I believe there is a lag between technology and both our psychology and spirituality. Inovations come so fast we don’t have time to think about how they affect us – so in some sense we are out of control. Again, is it any wonder we feel anxious? I also believe it is part of the mission of the church to interpret changes in lifestyle including technological changes; to incorporate all of these changes into some sense of meaning.

So as I type this first blog I can’t help but wonder, how will this change me? In any case, I’m sure it will be an adventure.

Come and join us on Sunday mornings! Pastor Jim

The Spirt of Cedar Cross

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You first experience The Spirit of Cedar Cross as you come upon the church building sheltered under the tall evergreen trees on the church’s wooded campus that sets it apart from the bustle of the nearby highway. Here the reassuring words “open hearts, open minds and open doors” are etched in the bricks as you walk to the church doors.

The Spirit of Cedar Cross is our church renewing itself and moving forward. We are a diverse congregation and everyone is welcome. We cherish the 250-year-old liturgy of the Methodist Church and the sacrament of Holy Communion, yet our services are inclusive of our worship prayers for this present time. Our Cedar Cross pastor leads us in inspirational worship and he ministers to the congregation and to our faith community.

The Spirit of Cedar Cross is our children’s Sunday school, vacation bible school; middle and high school youth programs. We are fortunate to have talented, committed leadership to guide and challenge our youth. We also have our spirited Sunday morning adult bible study group.

The Spirit of Cedar Cross is our music ministries with chancel choir voices raised in song to the Glory of God and the ringing bells of BellCanto! At our early service, a dynamic Praise Band brings new music and a new dimension within our regular form of worship.

The Spirit of Cedar Cross is our ministry to the needs of all others in our faith community and around the world, including children, teen, women and homeless programs.

The Spirit of Cedar Cross is our Cedar Cross Cooperative Preschool. The shrieks of preschool children playing in the Centrum or running through the wooded church grounds are comforting sounds for our future. In their classes, the children are lovingly taught by dedicated teachers.

The Spirit of Cedar Cross is the activities at our church throughout the week: the busy hands of women quilting blankets for needy persons and organizations; the United Methodist Women; the middle school youth club; potlucks; bake sales; committees working to enhance our church programs; and the Boy Scout troop charted to Cedar Cross.

The Spirit is everywhere around us at Cedar Cross.

I believe…

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I believe God has a sense of humor
I believe we have an obligation to leave the world better than we found it
I believe you can tell a person’s morals by the way they play golf
I believe it’s good to question
I believe none of us is qualified to judge the lives of others
I believe too much television is bad for our children
I believe when you truly embrace diversity, you embrace God

I believe music has the power to change lives
I believe God talks to us every day, if we listen

I believe my life is supposed to add up to something
I believe in taking the Bible seriously, but not literally
I believe if a homeless person asks for five dollars you should give him ten
I believe God created the earth and we ought to take care of it
I believe we should play nicely together
I believe we make life harder than it’s supposed to be
I believe that we are all God’s works of art
I believe no one who asks for help should be turned away
I believe that grace is more important than anything

I believe in the sanctity of all of life
I believe a church isn’t a building
I believe that ‘belief’ is about more than dogma
I believe in original blessing before original sin
I believe in including everyone
I believe love is the bottom line
I believe Christian life takes practice
I believe all things live in relationship
I believe Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life
I believe the greatest we can be is a servant

I believe Jesus became one of us… just a slob like one of us.

We may not all believe the same thing, but the people of the Cedar Cross United Methodist Church believe in God and in each other.
If you’re searching for something to believe in, our Hearts, Our Minds and Our Doors are always Open.