<![CDATA[Crazy Liberals...and Conservatives

<![CDATA[Crazy Liberals...and Conservatives - Book Reviews]]>Wed, 22 May 2013 11:14:36 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Review: The Work of the Associate Pastor]]>Thu, 08 Nov 2012 22:08:03 GMThttp://www.libsandcons.com/2/post/2012/11/review-the-work-of-the-associate-pastor.html

"Rudnick provides a breath of fresh air, and opportunities for the congregation to grow in both depth and size. It is my hope that clergy and churches will pursue Rudnick's work, and examine The Work for guidance and wisdom."

The Work of the Associate Pastor
By Alan Rudnick
Judson Press. 160 pp. $14.99

As I think back upon the 96 hours I amassed for my M.Div., I do not recall one time we discussed the calling "Associate Pastor." Sure, many of us, in the back of our minds, thought that, in all likelihood, we would find ourselves in an associate position eventually. Though conversations occasionally popped up, there was not a concerted effort to examine, explore, and extrapolate theological learning in the context of an associate.

And the blame is not to be placed upon any divinity school for not doing so.

Alan Rudnick in The Work of the Associate Pastor reminds me that this aspect of ministry and church life does not receive the same care and attention other positions receive. To be sure, all of us, educators, churches, and clergy, do not necessarily give Associate positions the attention they deserve. Rudnick helps start the conversation for both clergy and congregations, inviting them to imagine the potential an Associate can provide. With Rudnick we can see the Associate beyond the next rung on the corporate clergy ladder, to a fulfilling, life-long vocation.

If someone, especially young clergy, find themselves seeking an associate position they should read The Work of the Associate Pastor—but so should churches seeking associate positions. Rudnick helps both churches and clergy gain a better grasp of what the other should seek. Whether the handy questionares and charts, or the graphs of triangulation, this concise, though insightful, book helps all gain a better understanding of where we might find ourselves throughout discernment.

As I read Rudnick (disclaimer: I know him personally), I do wonder where reclaiming the work of the Associate will take the church. What potential growth do many churches miss because they do not know exactly what they're seeking? How many clergy members have left the cloth behind because they haven't fully explored the work of the Associate? Too many, I would estimate.

As the church wanes in privilege socially, the church needs to find new room for growth within itself. That work begins with the Associate. Rudnick provides a breath of fresh air, and opportunities for the congregation to grow in both depth and size. It is my hope that clergy and churches will pursue Rudnick's work, and examine The Work for guidance and wisdom. Though I did not have a class entitled "The Work of the Associate," perhaps Rudnick's work will help fill in the gap, and encourage young (and old) clergy to reinvigorate an all too often forgotten field.

]]><![CDATA[Review: "The Twilight War"]]>Wed, 18 Jul 2012 17:58:17 GMThttp://www.libsandcons.com/2/post/2012/07/review-the-twilight-war.html

"David Crist reveals American ignorance, and challenges the reader to discover a deeper, more complex world. Every person voting this November should read The Twilight War...if we know the history, perhaps we will be better prepared
to engage the future."

The Twilight War:
The Secret History of America's Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran
by David Crist
Hardcover: 656 pages. The Penguin Press. $36.00

Before reading David Crist’s The Twilight War, suppose you’re a top US military official. Suppose that, for a moment, you have to make the decision to bomb Iran. Suppose Israel has just called to inform you that at that very moment they have coordinated a bombing run against Iran. Suppose.

Such a situation is not, necessarily, impossible.

Situations such as the one previously described are neither fantasies nor paranoid projections onto global events. As David Crist makes clear, the tensions, the secret war, between Iran and the United States have been, and remain high. For any politician or leader to engage Middle East policy without reading The Twilight War would be harmful, if not disastrous.

Granted, between an elected official’s busy fundraising schedule they would have to find a considerable amount of time to fully digest and read Crist’s megalith. The 656 pages are not for the faint of heart, and they are not for the impotent mind. Though an accessible read, it pushes the boundaries of how one understands engagement within the Middle East.

Crist fails to provide solutions for ending the thirty-year conflict with Iran. Though Crist is a historian, not a fortune teller, I would have assumed that a former colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve could provide some actionable thoughts. Then again, perhaps providing a history—one researched over twenty years—is action enough.

Any future with Iran, at least as described by Crist, might best be described as hopefully pessimistic. Even this year, as Crist reminds the reader, sanctions were levied against Iran. This endless, vicious cycle only emboldens Iranian resolve against the West. To put it simply, discovering peace between the two parties remains difficult, and difficult enough without Syrian civil war or Egyptian transition. The Twilight War pries open the American eyes to a world that needs innovative, creative solutions to globally manifested issues rooted in the Middle East.

David Crist reveals American ignorance, and challenges the reader to discover a deeper, more complex world. Every person voting this November should read The Twilight War, and Presidential candidates should be asked direct questions about Iran. If they know the history, if we know the history, perhaps we will be better prepared to engage the future.

This review was written for TLC Book Tours. TLC is a virtual book tour site. Find the entire The Twilight War review tour schedule here. Virtual book tours are a promotional tool for authors to connect with readers via well-read book blogs and specialty blogs.

]]><![CDATA[Review: "The Hour Between Dog and Wolf"]]>Tue, 26 Jun 2012 18:10:30 GMThttp://www.libsandcons.com/2/post/2012/06/review-the-hour-between-dog-and-wolf.html

"The Hour Between Dog and Wolf takes the fascinating flavors of economics and neurobiology, throws them into a postmodern martini shaker, and pours for the reader a delectable, mind-bending drink. Coates serves one up that will make you shake your head, and ask for more. That is, if you’re willing to risk it."

The Hour Between Dog and Wolf
Risk Taking, Gut Feelings, and the Biology of Boom and Bust
by John Coates
352 pages. The Penguin Press. $27.95.

I wonder if Bernie Madoff is going to read this book. John Coates, the former head of a Wall Street trading desk, delves deep into the neurobiology of risk. Bernie, I think, would stand to be a marvelous case study. Though the financial industry serves as the main example and case study for the biology of human risk taking, Coates’s work engages any sort of “risky business.” In the end, the reader is left wondering if investing is more evolutionary competition than the “smartest” investor.

In order to honestly engage Coates the reader needs to jettison the notion that the “mind” and “body” are separated. Dualism is nothing new to human history, but the Cartesian dualism has run rampant forcing us into the bizarre idealized mutant. Coates argues that we think with our body, and that our mental life is embodied. That is to say, when we make a decision, we are making a decision to do something. Movement, however it occurs, is deeply connected to the body. To remove our brain, is to cease the body’s movement.

So, what does all of this talk about dualism, brains, and Bernie Madoff have to do with anything? More than we might think. The field of neurobiology is growing rapidly, and will surely unearth new discoveries that help us understand, biologically, why we do what we do. But, for the here and now, for the facing of the economic redevelopment this means much. It means that our risk taking behaviors and activities are evolutionary developed.

John Coates

As I read The Hour I cannot help but wonder if the economy has become a global Coliseum in which all spectators are also warriors. The fight for survival continues, though with computers, “gut thinking,” and pricey education. Does this in any way dilute the current economic crisis? The Hour alerts us to our deep-seeded biology. Coates helps the reader to see that thinking we have somehow escaped our animalistic, biological roots ignores too much. We fail to see that investing and risk taking connect to our biology. By understanding this we can not only gain better insight, but also might understand how to capitalize (pun, intended) on the biology of risk taking.

Questions soon seep to the surface as to whether or not neurobiology erases the mystery of gut feelings. When reading The Hour one might soon begin to think that risk and hormones have more control than we might think. The larger point that might be too easily overlooked is Coates’s work with resilience. In what, I think, is one of the most important sections is the work around stress mitigation and social support.

In the end, Coates’s work deserves another volume. Coates communicates well, but his final section on resilience is entirely too brief. The Hour becomes a work that has created a more educated reader, but not necessarily a more stress-mitigating reader. Though certainly still worth the buy, know that you will more than likely finish The Hour wanting more.

The Hour Between Dog and Wolf takes the fascinating flavors of economics and neurobiology, throws them into a postmodern martini shaker, and pours for the reader a delectable, mind-bending drink. Coates serves one up that will make you shake your head, and ask for more. That is, if you’re willing to risk it.

This review was written for TLC Book Tours. TLC is a virtual book tour site. Find the entire The Hour Between Dog and Wolf review tour schedule here. Virtual book tours are a promotional tool for authors to connect with readers via well-read book blogs and specialty blogs.

]]><![CDATA[Review: "The American Bible"]]>Fri, 15 Jun 2012 12:25:05 GMThttp://www.libsandcons.com/2/post/2012/06/review-the-american-bible.html

"Those that dare engage Prothero’s words will find a calm, steady voice challenging Americans to reflect upon our current societal situation and our place within it."

The American Bible: How Our Words Unite, Divide, and Define a Nation
by Stephen Prothero
544 pages. HarperOne. $29.99

“Agreement cannot hold us together, because we do not agree.
Not even the Constitution itself can constitute America.”
—Stephen Prothero

Since Toqueville penned Democracy in America everyone in the world, including Americans themselves, have been trying to understand what constitutes America. Admittedly, Prothero compiles this literature not in an effort to provide the “canon” of America, but rather to provide a lens by which to read, see, and engage the American experience. To leave it at that, however, leaves too much to be desired and does no justice to Prothero’s work.

Stephen Prothero (click for website)

From the statehouse to the church house Americans have fought, sometimes literally, for the definition of America. Prothero asserts that the fabric of our American identity, the ability to disagree and wrestle with difficult questions, has waned considerably. Those that dare engage Prothero’s words will find a calm, steady voice challenging Americans to reflect upon our current societal situation and our place within it.

From the Constitution to Martin Luther King Jr. I found myself reflecting upon how and why we are who we are. Prothero’s work is far from nostalgic, but it signals that something fundamental has changed. An atmospheric shift has occurred in all sectors of American life. Prothero’s work, in my mind, implies a loss of American pragmatism—the ability to engage differing ideas and move forward for the common good.

All too often the word pragmatism remains seen as a foul, odorous word singeing our idealistic nose hair. Yet this spirit, the spirit of engage different ideas and hearing various opinions, constitutes American experience. As Prothero asserts how we participate in life constitutes who we are as Americans. We have lost the art of conversation and value in differing opinions.

Whether or not this identity crisis can be corrected remains to be seen. If it is to be corrected The American Bible will remain a vital and integral conversation piece. Scholars and students of religion, sociology, politics, or history will find this an invaluable resource. Yet so too will every American representing every creed and race. For future generations, for past travails and triumphs, and for our present maladies Prothero’s words are worth the read.

And his words, I’ll make the closing words: “American politics is broken. As the culture wars drag on and on, Americans have forgotten how to talk with one another.”

This review was written for TLC Book Tours. TLC is a virtual book tour site. Find the entire The American Bible review tour schedule here. Virtual book tours are a promotional tool for authors to connect with readers via well-read book blogs and specialty blogs.

]]><![CDATA[Review: "Leak"]]>Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:52:02 GMThttp://www.libsandcons.com/2/post/2012/06/review-leak.html

"...the story of how he leaked the information is as fascinating and captivating as the information leaked. In a sense, there are two stories of intrigue:
Nixon’s, and Felt’s."

Leak: Why Mark Felt Became Deep Throat
by Max Holland
304 pages. University Press of Kansas. $29.95.

I, like so many in my generation, first learned about “Deep Throat” and Watergate through film, not literature. As it turns out, All the President’s Men remains both a favorite book and film. The first time I was introduced to this story of intrigue, mystery, and corruption I was hooked. This story has haunted me, and Max Holland’s new book, Leak, will not calm my insatiable appetite for more Watergate.

Max Holland engages the mysterious figure we all came to know as “Deep Throat.” His name was actually Mark Felt, and the story of how he leaked the information is as fascinating and captivating as the information leaked. In a sense, there are two stories of intrigue: Nixon’s; and, Felt’s.

But why? Why would Mark Felt manipulate the media vis-à-vis the leaking of information? This one question has festered deep within both the mind of individuals, and the mind of a nation.

For me, Holland illuminates a man—one stripped away of the creepy parking garage persona. Holland’s work, however, illuminates something altogether different that, in all my reading about Watergate, I don’t think I have discovered: Mark Felt wasn’t anything new or novel, but rather played an incredibly vital role for democracy. That role we often times call, “the whistleblower.”

Our society will, one day, look back upon Felt and Watergate asking whether or not more “Watergates” are occurring. To be sure, when Watergate occurred the American citizenry lost faith in the great Presidency. Has that happened forever? It’s hard to say, but it will, at minimum, cause us to be suspicious of a corruption-free President.

In the end, however, my analysis could be completely wrong. It could be wrong like so many people that thought they knew who Deep Throat really was. It could be absolutely correct like many who publicly said they thought it was Mark Felt. In the end, both needed time, and I will too.

Leak paves the way for asking questions that go deeper than wondering who Deep Throat really is. Holland’s work will, by no means, end the conversation about Felt. But, Leak helps bring closure to one era of questioning as a new generation comes into positions of leadership and power.

This review was written for TLC Book Tours. TLC is a virtual book tour site. Find the entire Leak review tour schedule here. Virtual book tours are a promotional tool for authors to connect with readers via well-read book blogs and specialty blogs.

]]><![CDATA[Review: "The Riot Within" by Rodney King]]>Wed, 16 May 2012 17:06:25 GMThttp://www.libsandcons.com/2/post/2012/05/review-the-riot-within-by-rodney-king.html

"Though there was no way of predicting Trayvon Martin’s death, Rodney King’s narrative reminds us that injustice and bigotry are not new. What led to a shooting in Florida or a beating in California did not begin at those moments, but started generations before."

The Riot Within: My Journey From Rebellion to Redemption
by Rodney King with Lawrence J. Spagnola
256 pages. HarperOne. $25.99.

March 3, 1991 has publically defined Rodney King’s life. When someone says Rodney King our minds turn to that shaky video, and we are reminded of that dark and grim historical moment. The publication of The Riot Within could not have been timelier. Though there was no way of predicting Trayvon Martin’s death, Rodney King’s narrative reminds us that injustice and bigotry are not new. What led to a shooting in Florida or a beating in California did not begin at those moments, but started generations before.

King, in the wake of the beatings and riots, had become not a human with a story, a life, but a mere video clip. During one courtroom hearing he says, “Man, I was so sick of watching it. Over and over and over. Like it was the only moment of my life.” King’s journey wrestles with his life story, as well as the constant reminders that he is nothing more than a video clip.

His journey required facing an abusive, alcoholic father, his own alcoholism, and the need for forgiveness. He tells the story of the first time he realized that he was “different,” that he wasn’t white and what that meant. “Maybe every black kid can think back to the day when the whole world changed and they had to have who they were and why that was different explained to them. That was one sad day, and we need to dedicate ourselves to removing that day from every black kid’s calendar.” His own journey can serve to illuminate the reality that for white people, like myself, I don’t have one of those days on my calendar. Yet this illuminates a need for redemption as well—redemption with the larger human family.

Told are the stories of the past, present, and hopeful future. Chronicling his times in courtrooms, with Dr. Drew, or that March night a picture emerges of someone that, every day, stares down demons. Every day King faces the past hoping for a clear picture of the future to emerge. King wonders, “…when will I become a real person, a whole person?” This is the struggle he faces, the struggle he lives—when will fullness arrive?

Yet I do not know of one person in the entirety of humanity that has not faced this question at some point. I do not know one person that has not wondered how their future will congeal, when healing will finally arrive. We all may not have public, videotaped beatings, but we all suffer. Sometimes these sufferings occur in private, silent ways. Other times they are shared with the community. Either way, King’s words illuminate the anger, frustration, and the long, winding road to redemption.

King’s journey from rebellion to redemption is our collective nation’s story too, though King has made more progress than we have. He calls the day he realized he was not just a kid, but a black kid, the saddest day. He wants to remove that day from every black child’s life, but that will require more than one person, more than one community—it requires a nation. Removing that day begins by helping white people realize that they are, indeed, white, and with that comes privilege and power. Our nation will not find redemption until “Trayvons” and “Kings” no longer occur.

Redemption—such a beautiful word opening profound possibilities and unlocking dreams. Redemption, like so many realities, seems so far away. That is why, of course, that it remains a destination we push toward, hope for, and through our individual and collective brokenness find new life. King is getting there slowly. “The riot within me,” he says, “has not been purged, only controlled, minimized.” Here’s to hoping we can too—our nation and ourselves.

This review was written for TLC Book Tours. TLC is a virtual book tour site. Find the entire The Riot Within review tour schedule here. Virtual book tours are a promotional tool for authors to connect with readers via well-read book blogs and specialty blogs.

]]><![CDATA[Review: "Drift" by Rachel Maddow]]>Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:20:05 GMThttp://www.libsandcons.com/2/post/2012/04/review-drift-by-rachel-maddow.html

"IEDs, hellfire missiles, F-16s, secret armies, PTSD, nuclear weapons—words, words, but they hold the horror of the world."

Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power
by Rachel Maddow
288 pp. Crown. $15.00 (Amazon.com)

“Bombardment, barrage, curtain-fire, mines, gas, tanks,
machine-guns, hand-grenades—words, words, but they hold the horror of the world.”
―Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front
I must have been in middle school when I first read All Quiet on the Western Front. Before the new Millennium, before 9/11, I read Remarque and found myself forever changed. When troops stormed into the Middle East, once again, many friends would eventually suit up for Uncle Sam. Some would not return, and some that did soon returned back to the sandbox, while others returned living the “horror of the world.”

Rachel Maddow provides in Drift an in-depth glimpse into the history of America and war. Though we “know” the history, Maddow illustrates brilliantly the move from a volunteer army to what I would call a “career” army. Key to understanding the change in how we now operate in war is the Abrams Doctrine, which wanted to insure that the entire American people went to war—that we all would feel it. However, our involvement in the Middle East has demanded 1% of our population. Many of us continue living life as though it’s a distant war, removed from our day-to-day lives.

“The framers clogged up the works,” writes Maddow, “by making the decision to go to war a communal one” (23). Congress was supposed to have a say, and thereby the American people too. But, alas, the Executive branch has gained more power through policy changes and trickery. From secret funding to “for-hire” armies, loopholes are plentiful for the Executive branch’s seizure.

Beyond the economic, medical, and international problems our warring mentality has created, Maddow illuminates the deeper societal problems. We no longer feel war. We no longer recognize the 1% fighting as 100% of us at war. Maddow writes, “By 2001, the spirit of the Abrams Doctrine—that the disruption of civilian life is the price of admission for war—was pretty much kaput” (187).

And yet, while WWII and Vietnam disrupted civilian life explicitly, the wars waged since then have implicitly disrupted civilian life. Veterans now returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD and traumatic brain injuries, as well as physical injuries that they will forever carry with them. Our society has seen its international image forever changed. These, however, are not felt everyday—but they will and do affect the future.

When Remarque wrote All Quiet on the Western Front it reverberated throughout the West because it demonstrated the human face, the human suffering of the war. Maddow’s words are just that—words. But, as Remarque reminds us, “they hold the horror of the world.” Drift, though a powerfully engaging read, also reveals to us the nightmare of the war machine our society has sleepily ignored.

IEDs, hellfire missiles, F-16s, secret armies, PTSD, nuclear weapons—words, words, but they hold the horror of the world.

]]><![CDATA[Review: "Did Jesus Exist?"]]>Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:28:15 GMThttp://www.libsandcons.com/2/post/2012/04/review-did-jesus-exist.html

"It made me wonder about the type of Jesus we have today, and if most of us that answer “yes” to Ehrman’s question, in actuality, don’t have a clue of what we’re saying “yes” to."

Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth
by Bart D. Ehrman
368 pages. HarperCollins. $26.99.

Read Did Jesus Exist? during Lent––it will change the way you walk to place of the skull. And, no, that doesn’t mean one will walk more boldly (because many Christians walk boldly enough already, or so it seems), but perhaps with more awareness. Christians observing Lenten practice focus intently upon the life and, eventual, death of Jesus. Reading Did Jesus Exist? during Lent makes one more aware of the fact that the Jesus of today wasn’t the Jesus of yesterday.

Fundamentalists and Atheists, Agnostics, and Richard Dawkins should take note that, yes, Ehrman argues for the historical existence of Jesus. Yet he’s not doing it in proselytizing way, or even in an attempt to say that his life theologically means anything.

Rather, Ehrman answers and challenges the mythicist view which claims that no historical Jesus existed. Ehrman provides a survey of the varying views, and responds to their critiques. For many, this will be the first time they are able to hear about “M,” “Q,” “L,” and other sources for Biblical literature.

Bart D. Ehrman

I’ve studied religion and theology for several years now, and I don’t find any problems with Ehrman’s scholarship. For years I have heard the complaint that Ehrman panders to the public with his mass-market publication, and then writes a scholarly edition with all the footnotes. Yet Ehrman does what most scholars cannot do: say what needs to be said for the layperson in a way that’s capable of being understood. If Christians believe that their message possesses some power, or is worth sharing, then Ehrman’s work is worth engaging.

Did Jesus Exist? is no different. Ehrman says, “...the public has a right to know what scholars have discovered after spending countless hours, days, months, and years grappling with the hard issues…My popular books are meant for laypeople…” (69-70).

And this, in the middle of Lent and in a country shedding Christian privilege, is what makes this book so important: the public. Ehrman writes not to engage only the academy, but the larger public sphere. Page after page I flipped, discovering Ehrman, while explicitly answering mythicist claims and Jesus’s existence, engages implicitly those that have used Jesus as a battering ram against people or a fundraising tool.

“Yes!,” Ehrman seems to scream, “Jesus did exist, but the kind of Jesus you think existed is only a proof texted, self-interested, and wayward interpretation.” My words, not his.

When we look into the political sphere we find politicians readily use Jesus to garner votes. Rick Santorum has gained the support of conservative evangelicals because it appears that he has more “Jesus” than Mitt Romney.

Reading Ehrman’s work will open eyes to the ways of viewing Jesus, but also help us to see that the Jesus we have now, isn’t the Jesus that “was.” Ehrman answers affirmatively to the question of Jesus’s existence, and leaves it to the reader to figure out what that means. Whether a mythicist or fundamentalist, reading this will provide a deeper dimension of understanding to the significance of the question, “Did Jesus Exist?”

So, I read Did Jesus Exist? on my Lenten journey, and it made me walk differently. It didn’t increase my fervor for the one to die on the Cross, and didn’t make me stand on the rooftop declaring that, “See! Even the agnostic agrees!” It made me wonder about the type of Jesus we have today, and if most of us that answer “yes” to Ehrman’s question, in actuality, don’t have a clue of what we’re saying “yes” to.

This review was written for TLC Book Tours. TLC is a virtual book tour site. Find the entire Did Jesus Exist? review tour schedule here. Virtual book tours are a promotional tool for authors to connect with readers via well-read book blogs and specialty blogs.

Check out his personal webpage.

This is part of the blog-book tour. The other stops are….

Tuesday, March 20th: Shuck and Jive

Monday, March 26th: Broken Teepee

Tuesday, March 27th: Homebrewed Christian

Wednesday, March 28th: Jeff Keuss

Thursday, March 29th: Life is Short. Read Fast.

Tuesday, April 3rd: Crazy Liberals … and Conservatives

Wednesday, April 4th: The Liberal Spirit

Thursday, April 5th: Greg Laden’s Blog

Friday, April 6th: Butterflies and Wheels

Tuesday, April 10th: Fallen From Grace

Wednesday, April 11th: The Gods Are Bored

TBD: The X Blog

TBD: Richard Carrier Blogs

TBD: Exploring Our Matrix

]]><![CDATA[Review: "Take This Bread"]]>Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:18:52 GMThttp://www.libsandcons.com/2/post/2012/03/review-take-this-bread.html

Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion
Sara Miles
320 pp. Ballantine Books (2008)
$10.20 Amazon.com

Growing up along the banks of the Ohio River, my family attended church whenever the doors were open. We were fervent churchgoers, and I always enjoyed once-per-quarter Communion Sunday. Not only were sermons shorter—usually—but the mysterious Welch’s grape juice and tiny crackers were passed around. Deacons marched down the aisle to receive the crackers and juice, dispersed across the sanctuary, only to return to the altar. Some magical words were said, and after a moment of silence the click of plastic glasses as they were placed in the communion-shot-glass holders on the pews filled the sanctuary.

I’d be lying if I said that one reason I didn’t walk down the aisle to “accept Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior” was to get to be like grownups. I too wanted to get in on the magic. So, when I read that Sara Miles was an atheist, and then first participation in the Eucharist “utterly short-circuited my ability to do anything but cry” I knew what she was talking about.

Years after my own conversion and venture into college, I began to develop a deeper Eucharistic theology. For me, Eucharist is one of the few places I find connection and palpable presence with God. Like Miles, I find inspiration to work and pursue justice via the sustenance provided at the table. When I have not participated in the feast of the table for weeks, I find my entire life sags and wanes. The Eucharist centers me, and fuels me.

Sara Miles’s conversion was not “walking down the aisle” or a moment of inner conversion, but participation in ritual. Hers is not a story that speaks from on high, but from deep below—the pits of humanity. Miles would begin a feeding campaign, and throughout the book the talk of food continually returns.

Miles's memoir speaks to polarization currently felt within the American Christian experience. Whether theologically or politically, Christians build walls of conservative or liberal identity, and then refuse to engage what lives outside those walls. Communion, Eucharist, challenges those beliefs. Communion provides the space for all to be welcomed, and to remember that all belong in the body of Christ. Moreover, for the church-at-large, doing away with meaningful ritual must not occur. For Sara Miles the Eucharist began a life centered on the life and mission of Christ.

Miles tells the story early in her memoir of time spent working in Mexico. On the Church holiday Corpus Christi, plainclothes thugs armed with guns and batons supplied by the Mexican police descended upon marchers outside her residence. They killed at least 25 people. For her and others that day would become known as “Corpus Christi massacre,” the murder of the body of Christ.

We need the Eucharist to remind us of the love and compassion Jesus lived into. We need the Eucharist to remind us that whether we are conservative, liberal, or apathetic we comprise one body. The hate spewed from both sides slowly pricks and bludgeons the body of Christ.

Take This Bread reminds me that I don’t need to agree with every person. In fact, I don’t want to agree with every person. But, I want to be able to break bread with people and share in the moment of fellowship. For those that speak unbearably harsh words against humans because of their sexual identity or political affiliation, I find it hard to be loving and welcoming. Yet, the harder pill to swallow is the fact that we share in the same body of Christ, and yet hate remains the outcome of their actions.

In the words of the 7th century mystic Isaac of Nineveh, Miles recalls, “Did not our Lord share this table with tax collectors and harlots? So do not distinguish between worthy and unworthy. All must be equal for you to love and serve.”

May this be our prayer. May it be so.

]]><![CDATA[Review: "Thou, Dear God"]]>Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:00:26 GMThttp://www.libsandcons.com/2/post/2012/02/review-thou-dear-god.html

Thou Dear God: Prayers That Open Hearts and Spirits
The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Edited and Introduced by Lewis V. Baldwin
288 pp. Beacon Press
$13.18 Amazon.com

From the Lincoln Monument he proclaimed, “I have a dream!” From a pulpit in Memphis, Tennessee he proclaimed, “I’ve been to the mountaintop!” For all the speaking and marching we have looked past the prayer life of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. A spiritual leader and theologian par excellence, King’s prayer life was central to his mission.

Lewis V. Baldwin has collected and edited 68 prayers in Thou, Dear God. These prayers reflect the myriad of situations and subject matter King engaged. Though only 68 prayers, we are able to catch a glimpse into King’s spiritual bedrock.

In this globalized age some congregations are seeking to reclaim a prophetic voice. They are learning what it means to enact social justice. Along the way it remains easy to lose the prayer life. King’s prayers remind those that seek to do justice as empowered by faith not to lose the connection to the divine.

As I read this book I found myself challenged to reimagine what “prayer” means. For King it was not only petitioning God or interceding on behalf of the community, but an extension of the work of justice. Awakened, I was, to the power of short, simple prayer that challenges our structures and our daily living.

In January 1956 King delivered a prayer at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church after several homes and churches of civil rights activists had been bombed and destroyed by white bigots. His words are simple, yet prophetic. “Lord, I hope no one will have to die as a result of our struggle for freedom in Montgomery. Certainly I don’t want to die. But if anyone has to die, let it be me.”

Then there’s the prayer offered at the end of his “Palm Sunday Sermon on Mohandas K. Gandhi” on March 22, 1959. In it he says, “We call you different names: some call Thee Allah; some call you Elohim; some call you Jehovah; some call you Brahma…But we know that these are all names for one and the same God, and we know you are one.” King believed in ecumenism and interfaith work, for he knew justice flows most strongly when small streams unite into one river.

For religious leaders of all faiths, and even for Atheists, Thou, Dear God unlocks fresh ways to see our relationship with one another and the divine mystery. These 68 prayers, though only a snippet of King’s prayers, have embolden me to discover in what ways prayer can be an extension and embodiment of justice.

Perhaps King prays it best, “Lord teach me to unselfishly serve humanity.”

And to that, I think everyone can say, "Amen."

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