The Daily Show

When you leave on a spiritual pilgrimage to serve, learn and grow it is pretty natural to think about God, faith and theology.  The problem is that when you have all these thoughts in your head and you go to write a post online you forget to talk about the practical, day-to-day happenings.

So here it is, back by popular demand, the daily life of Eric and Kent:

Eric and I made into Washington, D.C. last Thursday and this is the first day that it has not rained.  The locals say that this is a blessing.  They believe they need the rain to help water their plants.  We are not so sure.  The rain has followed us everywhere we have been.  It has felt much more like a curse than a blessing.

We are staying with a beautiful woman, 78 years young.  She is a spitfire; full of wise adages and liberal leanings. 

We stay in her basement which is much like a basic apartment.  The only difficulty is that we only have a stove to cook with.  This makes us feel like we are primitive pioneers—living by the ways of nature; cooking our food like our ancestors.  The only difference is we still buy our coffee at Starbucks.

We have begun work at the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan DC.  Our job is to help promote their upcoming 9/11 Unity Walk and Madeline Albright Lecture to colleges within the area.  It only seems natural.  Just when we thought we were getting a break from college, we have been pulled back in.  It is not so bad though.  Thus far we have not had a single test or quiz.

The 9/11 Unity Walk looks like it is shaping up to be an exciting event.  This Sunday members of Islam, Hindu, Judaism, Christianity and other faith traditions will gather together to promote pluralism, demonstrate harmony and stand for social justice.  Together, students, workers and faith leaders alike will march downtown Washington, DC singing, praying and visiting Temples, Mosques, Gurdwaras, Synagogues and Churches.  And if that was not enough, the day will also include Sister Sledge singing “We Are Family” at the National Cathedral!

Well, that is all the basic happenings for now.  We will try to be more regular about what is going on.  And we thank you all for your support, e-mails and prayers.  We feel blessed everyday.

 -Kent-

Ps.  For those of you who are wondering, Eric and I have not killed each other.  In fact we are getting along great.  I know it is a strange concept, but believe it or not we are actually friends who don’t get tired of each other.   

Left or Right?

Left or Right? 

I feel like this is a Michael Jackson song.  But it is a question I have had to ask myself lately.  What am I?  When it comes to theology am I a liberal leftie or conservative rightie?

The problem is I don’t fit into either party.  Sure, when I was at Pepperdine, I appeared to be apart of the loosie goosy left.  But let’s face it this is not hard when you are comparing yourself to a denomination that frowns upon clapping. 

Last Friday, however, my world was turned upside down. Eric and I went to an event that was supposed to honor a group of individuals from Phoenix who had walked across the country to proclaim the new direction of the American Church. But this celebration service ended up being essentially a freedom rally for the Left.  It was awful.  It was suppose to be a service of praise but the only words spoken were terms of hatred toward the Right.

What does this accomplish?  How will the issue of abortion, homosexuality, or whatever the controversial topic is be solved by comparing The Bible Belt to the slave owning South?

The answer is that it doesn’t.  Just like telling individuals that they are no longer welcome within the Church is not an effective strategy to helping someone find Christ.

I’ve decided that I am done with the Left… and the Right.  It is time to go independent.  Eric and I are starting to work out a plan.  It is still in the rough stages–mainly just sloppy scribbling of an upside down pyramid on the back of a map.  But I fully believe that God has called us to help initiate change.

Maybe it is naïve to think that we can change the world.  But we are going to try.   Left or Right?–no longer.  It is time to move to Higher Ground. 

-Kent-    

Ps. Please keep checking the blogs as Eric and I will surely be explaining these ideas soon in more detail!

An Issue Orientated Christian

I have realized that I am an issue orientated Christian.  This wasn’t an epiphany I awoke with but rather a realization that came after much discussion.  Think a bit like pulling teeth.  Kent and I were talking about what questions we felt were paramount in building relationships with others.  Was it important to ask if they were a member of a faith community?  Or more specifically, how much does someone saying they are a Christian really tell you?

I found that when it came down to it I wasn’t as interested in whether someone was a Christian as I was in their lens through which they interpreted the Bible.  We have become so fragmented within the faith that if someone were to say they were a Christian I would not automatically assume we held much in common.  Rather, if they shared my lens of interpretation I would know that we stood on common ground.  If a person didn’t share my lens well, I assumed we probably didn’t see eye to eye on much.

To sit back and hear myself articulating these feelings was stunning.  I know I’m not the only person at this place.  In fact, I believe there are many of us on the right and the left (to use broad terms) who are issue Christians.  A few issues are really so important to us that we lose sight of the wider Christian mission.  By focusing on specific issues, many of which today seem more political than spiritual, we not only create further division in the Christian body but I also feel I’ve lost a part of myself.

What Kent and I are now trying to envision (along with a whole host of other voices such as Tony Campollo, Brian McLaren etc.) is how to live out our faith in a way that transcends the current fragmentation.  How do we rise about the issues of the left and right and return to something that again looks like Christian community?  It is an intriguing question, one that I pray God will keep in front of us and that people along our journey will help us answer. 

God’s Peace, Eric :p