Life goes full circle!

This sent to me by my friend and fellow blogger Allen Galbraith. A timely reminder for some of us who are driving faster than our angels can fly into an uncertain future and seeing life as a blur in our side windows.

The Fisherman's Parable

An American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied only a little while. The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish?
The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.
The American then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time?
The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life, senor."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat, with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution.
You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But senor, how long will this all take?"
To which the American replied, "15-20 years."
"But what then, senor?"
The American laughed and said "That's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."
"Millions, senor? Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

All Politics is Local.....Barack Obama for Moneygall!

I have never been subject to an embargo before – but now as I write at a minute past midnight on 3^rd May the embargo has passed and I can share the news! What news? I hear you ask….Well it seems that the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is a parishioner of mine! Ok – that’s a bit of an exaggeration but certainly his Great Great Great Grandparents and indeed his Great Great Great Great Grandparents on his mother’s side were – or would have been if I had been around at the time. Somewhat tenuous I know :-)

It all started before Easter when I got a phone call from a researcher in Salt Lake City Utah who asked me to do a few searches in our parochial records which go back to 1799. We are lucky in this respect as many parishes have lost earlier records and a huge amount of data was lost in the Four Courts fire of 1922. The enquiry was about a Joseph and Phoebe Kearney and their son Fulmouth/Falmouth who emigrated to America in 1850. I have to confess that I get a lot of these requests and it was only after the nature of the possible link with Senator Obama was revealed that I fully engaged with the search. The particular records had been in the safe hands of my former parish treasurer who sadly died a few months ago and so I was not overly familiar with them. Thankfully an index had been compiled about 20 years previously which made the task a little easier.

Searching through these records I found Joseph & Phoebe in the context of baptisms of Fulmouth’s siblings and these entries also provided the occupation of Fulmouth’s father, a shoemaker from Moneygall, Co. Offaly which is within my parish boundaries. I sent all this data along with digital images of the records back to the researcher and other members of the team from Ancestry.com / Ancestry.co.uk who made the initial discovery of Obama’s Irish links back in March.

As if all this were not strange enough; on the day I collected the records in question from my late treasurer’s son I had an unannounced visit from a charming couple from Tasmania who were …. You guessed it….looking for their roots! Sometimes these visits come at a time when I am too busy or on my way out, and so I often ask visitors to make an appointment to come back. However there was something about this couple that made me want to help them and despite the fact I was a bit pressed I invited them in and gave them access to the very registers that I had just collected. I went to my study to catch up on the dreaded admin which is an ever increasing part of parochial ministry. Oh for a secretary….if I was organised enough to delegate….alas probably not!

After a while I returned to see how my visitors were getting on, only to find the lady in tears of joy having found a record she had been trying to trace for 30 years! WOW! Telling my new acquaintance in Salt Lake City about this he commented that such ‘SERENDEPITY’ was remarkably common in genealogy research. I can see how people get hooked on this. I think I may be a late convert! :-)

Anyway back to Obama. Today was the day for interviews and I reckon I have done about 15 at this stage including prelims for RTE and BBC in the morning. The highlight was a photoshoot with the Irish Indo in the garden this afternoon dressed in my black suit in the sweltering sunshine striking various poses as directed. Not quite Page 3 but equally embarrassing with the neighbours looking over their fences :-)

Following RTE TV running the story tonight I got a phone call from one of my parish secretaries (1 have 4! One for each church) who had some very interesting information about the Kearney family including documents signed by Barack Obama’s direct ancestors! Not only that but he was able to tell me where the family holding was and where the shoemakers shop was probably located. Can’t beat local knowledge.

So what will all this mean for our little parish? – A senatorial or a presidential visit? Time will tell. Either way I am sure we will be delighted to welcome Senator Obama to these parts and show him some good Irish hospitality. I am particularly happy (no relieved) that he is a Democrat, and not just a Democrat but a politician who seems to have an integrity and independence that will not be easily manipulated by the inevitable temptations and opportunities for abuse that all power wields.

Mind you Obama is not the only presidential link our parish can boast - Borrisokane parish which is also part of my responsibility frequently enjoys visits from Martin Sheen (aka President Josiah Bartlet of the West Wing) who traces his own family roots to Borrisokane! It's a funny old world!

Dead & Alive in Dublin!

This from today's Irish Times newspaper:
Mater to investigate case of man wrongly declared dead
A man who was declared dead by staff at the Mater hospital in Dublin earlier this month was subsequently found to be alive when mortuary personnel came to collect his body from his hospital bed, [writes] Eithne Donnellan, Health Correspondent. By that time, however, the man's family had already been informed of his death and were grieving their loss. However, they were informed by the Mater hospital some time later that there had been a terrible mistake. Fortunately, the man was still actually alive. The man, who has a disability, is in his 30s. It is understood that he has since been discharged from the hospital and has gone home. The events occurred in the hospital on Easter Sunday.
The Mater has established an inquiry to examine all the circumstances surrounding the incident. When contacted by The Irish Times, a hospital spokesman confirmed the incident had taken place and said that an internal investigation was under way. One source close to the hospital said: "This man certainly was pronounced dead and, some time later, I understand he was very much alive." Another source said: "Relatives were informed that this man had died, and when a guy from the morgue came up to collect his body he said he wasn't dead at all."
He added: "Needless to say, the hospital is very perturbed at what happened."
© 2007 The Irish Times

One sentence stands out: "The events occurred in the hospital on Easter Sunday."

Hmmm........I wonder.................????

Supermarket shopping: An experience of Grace!

Before you say it! I know! - Not the most flattering outfit ;-) This was me at one of our local supermarkets last week, taking part in our parish school fundraising efforts for a much needed extension. I approached the task with a certain trepedation. I find grocery shopping a stressful experience at the best of times and I know how impatient I can be on occassion when well meaning charity bag-packers mix the petfood with fresh meat! Now it was my turn and I hoped that I would experience a little mercy, perhaps more than I have shown on occassion! I do not consider myself a bad packer but when the conveyer belt is turning for three hours solid it all becomes a bit of a blur!

Well in three hours I have to say not one bad experience....a couple of fairly neuteral ones but not one obnoxious customer or member of staff. A lot of very stressed people mind you - It's amazing how much you can read in the face of a person as they watch the subtotal climbing on the till and the items piling into the trolley - the same items that will have to be unpacked at the far end!

But what I could not get over was how people wanted to talk to me - how friendly they were - how much they seemed to want to make contact with a stranger. We are constantly told how insular and private our world is becoming - how distracted and removed we are becoming from each other. Well that was not my experience! The human need for contact and relationship is not something that can easily be quenched. Despite rumours to the contrary it is alive and well. It was a revelation to me and a powerful reminder that sometimes we need to get out a bit and experience the everyday mundanity to realize just how much potential for good and Grace there is in this world.
After 3 hours my feet were sore, my stomach was rumbling but my heart felt good. It's not a bad old world after all.

Jesus 2.0

I used this video (from the film:Dogma) at an introductory Confirmation class this week. I was attempting to illustrate how we are inclined to treat Christianity and specifically Jesus as a product rather than a WAY of life. Judging by the response from the class I think it got the point across. It is humerous and probably blasphemous, but then the intention is to show how not to 'do' Christianity! Judge for yourselves.

A sermon illustration for Easter 2?

Velvet Elvis & the Rehabilitation of Doubting Thomas

I have just finished reading ‘Velvet Elvis’ by Rob Bell, founder of Mars Hill Church in Grandville Michigan. It is a wonderful read and as good a tool as you will find to rehabilitate the contemporary Church or indeed the contemporary and often disillusioned Christian. The subtitle of the book, “Repainting the Christian Faith” gives only a hint at the radical journey of discovery and re-discovery that Rob Bell has embarked on himself and which he invites the reader to experience first hand. This is not a cosy academic read but a compelling call to action!

While reading the book I was also wrestling with my sermon for tomorrow (Easter 2) and the Gospel of the day, John 20: 19-31 which tells the story of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearance to the disciples in the house where they met with the doors locked. Thomas was of course missing when Jesus first appeared to them and while Jesus is of course the centre of this event we tend to focus on the figure of Thomas or ‘Doubting Thomas’ as he is almost universally characterised.

I have often preached on this Gospel and tried to express the importance of doubt in our Christian journey; of the need for a questioning and searching faith and the greater depths that this doubt and questioning bring to our experience of God. But somehow I have never felt that I have done Thomas justice – I am not sure I have fully convinced either myself or others that Thomas is a good role model for faith.

And then I read “Velvet Elvis” and in it I found the articulation of what it was I felt in my heart about Thomas but never managed to express effectively. Bell tells how in Mars Hill they host a ‘Doubt Night’ where people are encouraged to write down their questions or doubts about God and Jesus and the Bible and Faith and Church. He gives some examples of the kinds of questions that arise:

• Why does God let people die ….so young?
• Why do mean people get the most money?
• Why does the killer go free and the honest man die of cancer
• Is God really present in starving Africa?
• If we can ask God for forgiveness at our last breath why bother living a Godly life in the present?
• Either God is in control of everything and so all the crap we see is part of his plan (which I don’t want to accept) or its all out of control (which sucks too). What’s up?

Nothing terribly new or radical in those doubts and questions but it is how Bell deals with them in his own pastoral ministry that is particularly refreshing . Firstly he says that there are no easy answers – most of the time he ends up simply helping people see their need for each other – to help one another carry their burdens. He discerns that people are not necessarily looking for a textbook answer but rather loving community with other people on the journey. Most powerful of all is the freedom to express these deep things that are so often hidden in our hearts…..It’s not so much about information as being free to tell our story in a supporting and loving environment.

So Bell goes on to argue that questioning and doubt are central to our faith: It’s a vital part of our faith heritage which we have lost in this world of religious and scientific fundamentalism and the illusion in both traditions of apprehending the fullness of Truth! And what we have lost is something that was basic to the world in which Jesus lived and particularly in the Rabinnic tradition where so much time was spent debating the meaning of the Scriptures and where a question would invariably be answered by another one. Doubt and questioning were not the dirty words they are today in certain circles. Bell cites how Jesus responded to questions – He would answer with another question! Jesus didn’t give pat answers – He drew people into the mystery of life and encouraged them to wrestle with these questions for themselves.

That is not easy for the modern mind to comprehend because as Bell observes, our education model is one of transmitting information or data. That was not what Jesus was about? He was hugely radical in his own interpretation to the Scriptures – he was no literalist fundamentalist: Again and again with reference to the Scriptures we hear this phrase: “You have heard it said…….but I say to you….” He wasn’t afraid to ask the difficult questions or to doubt the wisdom of some of the tradition in which he was reared.

This really got me thinking about how we present our faith – how we foolishly attempt to pass it on as a package of static truths. But this faith of ours is not a passive thing – it is about acknowledging that we are a part of the greatest story ever told and that story has not ended and that we have a part to play in it. And if we have a part to play then we need to discover our lines, what it is we are called to contribute. Try and do that without asking a few questions?!

Back to Rob Bell and the importance of this questioning faith. Let me share a few passages in which he brings key insights to this whole theme of doubt and questioning:

“Questions, no matter how shocking or blasphemous or arrogant or ignorant or raw, are rooted in humility. A humility that understands that I am not God. And there is more to know.

Questions bring freedom. Freedom that I don’t have to be God and I don’t have to pretend that I have it all figured out. I can let God be God…

What are some of Jesus’ final words? “My God,my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus on the Cross, questioning God…

[Questioning] allows us to have moments when we come to the end of our ability to comprehend. Moments when silence is enough…

The Christian faith is mysterious to the core. It is about things and beings that ultimately can’t be put into words. Language fails. And if we do definitively put God into words, we have at that very moment made God something God is not…

True mystery, the kind of mystery rooted in the infinite nature of God, gives us answers that actually plunge us into even more questions…

One of the great “theologians” of our time, Sean Penn, put it this way: “When everything gets answered, its fake. The mystery is the truth”…

Being a Christian then is more about celebrating mystery than conquering it”

And finally, one of the most helpful concepts I found in reading the book was how Bell portrays two very different approaches to the Christian life. One he calls ‘brickworld’, where our faith is built like a wall of various teachings or truths which we have to individually assent to. If one brick or element of our faith is questioned or comprimised then the wall crumbles and our faith is shattered. He concludes that if that’s all it takes to shatter our faith then it wasn’t very real in the first place.

The other model is faith as jumping up and down on a trampoline – It only works if you take your feet off the firm stable ground and jump into the air and let the trampoline propel you upwards. Of course key to the operation of the trampoline is the springs but you don’t need to know anything about the springs to pursue living “the way” We can quite literally take the leap of faith and jump for Joy!

All of this shed new light on tomorrow’s Gospel. It’s about living in the mystery of faith and not merely assenting to its truth. It’s there in the final verses:

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”

It couldn’t be more clear could it! Believing is not an end in itself – It is the road to life - to become a part of God’s story – or perhaps to recognise that we are already a part of the story! - To become a part of his plan for his people - to get onto the trampoline and jump! Thomas gives us a helping hand to enter into the story by telling us that this story is open to all of us – including those of us and perhaps especially those who doubt and ask the awkward questions. I think I may finally be able to do Thomas justice and even more importantly, to perhaps do justice to what Bell describes as ‘honest’, ‘vulnerable’ and ‘raw’ questioning which arises “out of the awe that comes from engaging the living God”