Pray Without Ceasing

“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and those who dwell therein.” “Get out of my state.” Juxtapose Psalm 24’s first verse against the sentiments behind Alabama’s harsh new anti-immigration law, HB 56, and it’s easy to see that hate, not love, is ruling the day.  Although a federal judge in Montgomery just blocked enforcement of the law’s provision which prevents immigrants from renewing required permits on manufactured homes – which could have forced illegals to abandon their homes starting next week -- passage of the law in June was a major victory for the Federation for American Immigration Reform ; its legal arm, the Immigration Reform Law Institute , whose legal counsel, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, authored the bill; and the Center for Immigration Studies , which provided research to support the legislation. These entities can sugar-coat the truth in any way they like, but there is no escaping the reality that the purpose of HB 56 is to ...

  The news media has been humming the last couple of days with reactions to what appears to be a historic Supreme Court case about whether a religious institution can be held accountable by civil discrimination laws for firing of an employee.  The case of former teacher Cheryl Perich vs. Hosanna-Tabor Lutheran Church and School (the school, affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, now functions under another name) turns on whether the “ministerial exemption” -- a decades-year-old doctrine that precludes courts from interfering in matters concerning a religious institution and its ministerial employees – can be applied. If a person is called to work in a ministerial function, is that person exempted from civil rights laws that we now accept as standard in all other walks of life?   The justices seemed stymied by the case for the time being and will not render a decision until the spring. But one section of the proceedings caught my eye: “Justice Stephen B...

 They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; everything they do shall prosper.                                   (Psalm 1:3) What exquisite imagery the psalmist brings to us on behalf of those happy ones who "have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful!"  This provides the faithful with such a simple, clear prescription for how to live. We need only ask of whatever we do, say or undertake, "Is this rooted and grounded in love" (Ephesians 3:17) -- the love of God, which has been "poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Romans 5:5)? Does it draw its inspiration and nourishment from these deep waters of the living God? If so -- and we will always know the answer if we observe honest self-e...

  The political quarrel these past few days about the jobs speech President Obama wants to give before Congress offers yet another example of unseemly behavior by our nation's leaders. Both "sides" are equally responsible and the outcome is unfortunate. Who wants to give up the NFL's first game of the season for a policy speech, especially when the Green Bay Packers are involved? (Of course, video recorders render this comment obsolete but still there is the thrill of being there, live, with something that is as important as the football season's first kickoff.) The controversy reminds us of the importance of what can be called holy listening. For those on the spiritual path, the best way to discern a course of action is not through aggression or confrontation but by sitting quietly and and simply being with God, in an open yet alert mind. This involves completely clearing one's mind of all chatter. We may use our aural sense to accomplish this, since it...

The newsletter from the new North American Lutheran Church reporting on its recent convocation here in Ohio appeared in my mailbox this morning. I subscribe because it is important to know the full breadth of any conversation. Reading the lengthy reports, I was once again chilled by the negativity that runs like an angry torrent through everything the NALC writes about itself. This denomination is not for something as against something - specifically, the 2009 vote of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to open the ministry of the church to gay and lesbian pastors and other professional workers living in committed relationships. This single issue constitutes the rock upon which the NALC is attempting to build its church (see Sunday's Gospel reading, Matthew 16:13-20). The conversation the NALC has been having since its official founding a year ago is that the ELCA is wrong on this issue - not just wrong, but dead wrong. Can one ever hope to have a genuine Christian con...

The foundation of the Roman Catholic Church's ban on the ordination of women and married priests continues to show signs of stress. Today's New York Times carries the account of a body of US priests who signed a statement supporting a fellow cleric who participated in an ordination ceremony led by Roman Catholic Womanpriests, whose 120-plus ordinands the Vatican has declared to be excommunicated. The move follows two similar expressions of support within the worldwide Catholic church for overturning the historic ban. Last month 300 Austrian clerics stunned church authorities with a seven-point pledge that includes actively promoting priesthood for women and married men. And in Australia the National Council of Priests vigorously defended the bishop of Toowoomba, who had issued a pastoral letter saying that, facing a severe priest shortage, he would ordain women and married men “if Rome would allow it.” The Vatican's response was to force the bishop's resignation....

If you worship in a community which uses the Revised Common Lectionary, perhaps you've noticed something unusual about the first reading during the season of Easter. Whatever happened to the Old Testament? It’s been replaced by Acts ever since the Sunday after Easter, so that we can live more fully into the life of the early Christian community immediately following the Resurrection. We will continue to explore that book through Pentecost on June 12, before we go back to the Hebrew Bible for our first reading – all the way back to Genesis I, in fact, on Trinity Sunday (June 19). This arrangement of the lectionary not only allows us to have the great Pentecost reading for the first lesson on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-21) but also invites us into the spirit of the lives of the earliest Christians through one of my favorite passages in the Bible. We heard this on the Fourth Sunday of Easter (Acts 2:42-47):  They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, ...