According to their website: Dallas' Theatre Three concluded their 2008-2009 Season " with the dramatic musical, Lost in the Stars by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson, based on Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country. Lost in the Stars is the captivating emotional journey of loss, grief, redemption, and the resultant peace that only forgiveness and reconciliation can bring." It was an almost archaic reminder at times of the now old issues of Apartheid and societally-enforced racial segregation. At the same time it offered a review of old human issues -- want, accident, forgiveness, reconcilliation. I particularly appreciated one interchange between the fathers of two sons -- one the Black accidental killer and the other the White victim. Referring to the necessity of the death sentence when a murder has been committed, even when it was an accident and the killer has repented and told the absolute truth, the Black father says,"Jesus did not say this." And the White victim's father responded, "But where there is government, it is true." Issues of life and death are so "life and death" and yet what about forgiveness, truth, justice in an unjust society?

7:30am Saturday -- Volunteers Head to Habitat for Humanity!

Yes, at 7:30 AM on a Saturday, I joined a handful of volunteers from First United Lutheran Church, who headed for South Plano and a Habitat for Humanity building project. The early morning cool soon gave way to a roasting heat, especially as three of us started on the roof (Tim Ellis, Jeff Harrington, and me). I had a shoe "blow out" and my red duct job kept the shoe together, but made it dangerous to return topside. Therefore, I joined Paula Ellis in various ground level jobs. Broken by a delicious hamburger and hot dog lunch, we helped with the roof, hanging sofit (how about those air-pressure nail guns), marking cut-outs for drywall, and generally being available. Our small group was happy to see a committed group, including frequent visitors Elisabeth and Heinz Schaefer, making great headway on this duplex. We hope to join in again soon!

Monday evening, I attended a reception for Bishop Tom Barnett of The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sierra Leone (ELCSL). His soft-spoken manner cloaked the mighty mission of that church body which seeks to serve a country recently emerged from civil war. Their amputee project helps their fellow Sierra Leoneans while they also support refugees from neighboring Liberia. Our family has long supported the young church and believe they are doing wonderful things. (We also think they are good stewards as the church continues to use a blue Plymouth Voyager our family donated about ten years ago!) The ELCSL is currently constructing the Jubilee Center in central Freetown as a visible witness of the church's commitment to serve this impoverished country in faithful witness to our Risen Lord Jesus!

Peace and Love

I recently attended a production of "Love" -- the Grammy-winning musical adaptation of Beatles' music with the intriguing staging of Cirque du Soleil. Though slow-starting (IMO), it eventually played frenetic homage to the Beatles and some events of the era when the music was composed. And there was a Volkswagen Beetle! (Always a good sign in my book.) Close to the end, as the musical approached a raucous crescendo with "Revolution," huge words appear on one wall -- "Peace and Love." Then the words fragment and various letters begin to cascade down like rain. Art.
The show was overall amazing and worth attending (IMO again). When I saw those words though, I thought of Jesus as a much earlier proclaimer of "Peace and Love," especially I guess because of the texts from the Gospel of John (not Lennon) that we have been reading during Holy Week and Easter: the Great Love Commandment (John 13: 34,35), Jesus' immediate post-Easter offering of Peace (John 20: 19ff.), and this Sunday's text "This is my commandment, that you love one another ...." (John 15:12).
The Beatles once famously/infamously claimed to be more popular than Jesus. I suppose their music is famous indeed, but the message of Peace and Love from God in Christ preceded and (IMO) will outlast those four lads from Liverpool, The Beatles.
But we can all share the hope that "Peace and Love" will rain down on our world.

Tuesday, April 21 -- a couple of hours prior to the last post

Tuesday, April 21 --
A couple of hours before I wrote the previous post, my son, Alex, broke his ankle while bicycling. After getting off from their pizza delivery jobs at like one in the morning, he and his roommate Nathan go cycling through the dark streets of Arlington and Grand Prairie. Mom and Dad wish for safer choices (like wear a helmet!). But in this case, no late night reveler hit him; there was no bicycle stunt gone bad. No, he just stepped off his cycle and something went wrong and he twisted his ankle and then lost his balance and snap! His foot was limp and off center by 90 degrees and the distal fibula cracked. He rode by ambulance to the Emergency Room and got his foot set the right direction, but they only splinted the break. Mom flew off to Laredo to speak to librarians. Dad went to teach class and take care of church stuff. Several hours later, Alex awoke in agony, informed me of the situation, and we began the process of chasing down doctors and referrals and dealing with insurance. The swelling subsided and just today the break was finally repaired -- screws and plates.
Thank God for modern medical care, for dedicated medical personnel at all levels that addressed his needs and are helping Alex to mend! He should be able to cycle again relatively soon (but wear a helmet!). We are not sure, if he will ever be able to waltz. (That would require extensive lessons, as he has never tried before.) (That was my sorry attempt at humor.)
I do thank God that we are "wonderfully and fearfully" made. It was amazing to see the intricate design of how the ankle snugs up into the leg bones with ligaments wrapped to secure it. We humans are an amazing creation.

Sackbut! Love, Pretty Women, Dogs, and Drinking

Sackbut! It was enough to make me snicker in Junior High School, especially when our trombone player spelled it using the variation of sagbutt. I am older now, so I went to the Sunday afternoon musical performance expecting antique music from sackbuts, lute, viols, harp, and more varieties of recorders than I had ever seen. The concert included a nice selection of popular music of the 15th and 16th century, as well as religious music by Martin Luther. We still sing many of the Luther hymns in church. The popular music seldom is heard, though the themes -- love, pretty women, dogs, and drinking -- are readily identified in country, rock, tejano, and other modern music. But do those moderns use the sackbut? And are they missing out, since Luther's hymns are sung 400 years later while the other compositions have faded?

Easter Sunrise 2009

"Christ Is Risen!"
"Christ Is Risen Indeed!"
That ancient response greets another year in the lives of the people of God. And we are invited to live into that proclamation. Yet, we, like Mary Magdalene, may be confused about the meaning at first. (She initially thought Jesus was a gardener, not a risen God, after all. John 20) But the Lord calls us by name to enter the promise -- the alternative answer to death and all the perceived finalities of existence. Our sights must rise to see God's great Easter news. Our sights can rise to newness in life!
No slacker to new meanings, Mary proclaimed, “I have seen the Lord.” That same Lord of newness calls us today and always to see the resurrection touch our world.

Good Friday

I was in seminary, carrying an old cassock supplied by a retired pastor. I was leaving my house to assist at a local church. The neighbor called out to me -- "where are you off to with that old black robe?" I explained that I was going to be a participant in a Good Friday service. Then she commented, "Good Friday? It wasn't very good for Jesus. He died." The quickest response I could find (since I was running late already) was "Well, it is good for us! He died for us!" Did that count as evangelism -- telling the Good News? Or was I just being flippant?
To this day, I love Good Friday. Maybe it is the emphasis in my seminary education on the Pauline theology of the cross. (A favorite of Martin Luther as well.) But whatever it is, how can you not immerse yourself in "Sacred Head, Now Wounded" or "Beneath the Cross of Jesus" as they are sung? Or how can your heart not melt when you read/hear the Passion account, pick your favorite Gospel. What a story. What a God. What a demonstration of God's love. What a Good Friday!

Maundy Thursday 2009: Feet, Love Command, Communion

The challenge for a preacher is to cram all these themes into one service, one sermon on the Thursday before Easter Sunday. Or, a pastor might delete one and focus on the other(s). But has the message then been lost or reduced? Even the original Four Gospel writers seem challenged. Only John places foot-washing and the giving of the Mandatum (Old English "maunde") -- "Love one another, just as I have loved you" -- in the context of the night Jesus was betrayed. And John's Communion service is reported in a completely different context (John 6). Matthew, Mark, and Luke all focus on the Holy Communion inauguration that critical night. So, I suppose one could focus on one, two, or three of the events and still be faithful to the diverse witness of the Gospels. Thank God, Jesus could keep them all together, even if we are not sure how!


The British painter, Ford Madox Brown, included most of the story in his work: Jesus Washing Peter's Feet at the Last Supper, circa 1865. But I am still not sure if "love" is there. The disciples look sad or confused to me. (Graphic from Tate Gallery, London)

For the third year, Dallas hosted an AFI film festival (www.afidallas.com). So far this year, I have only attended a movie called "Skin." The film set in apartheid-era (and after) South Africa relates the story of Sandra Laing, born of two "White" parents who is "Black" in appearance, when race was all important. Her parents had her legally declared "White" but the society judged by appearance. An engaging film, "Skin" journeys fully into sadness and disappointment with glimmers of joy and hope. It is worth seeing if it gets a US distributor.
I particularly appreciated the Q&A afterword where the actress playing the mother in the story, Alice Krige (a South African, perhaps better known as the Borg Queen of Star Trek), spoke about race relations in current day South Africa. She spoke about hope for the future of the whole nation, if only partially realized in the story of Sandra Laing. The hope was present because of the deep ability of the Africans to forgive the past, to accept the possibility of reconciliation. If that is possible for a nation, maybe we individuals can share it as well.