Unaccountable Rulers

The Washington Post reports:

The State Department's annual survey of human rights practices around the world calls Sudan's record "horrific" and notes that countries where power is in the hands of unaccountable rulers are the most systematic violators of human rights standards.

I wonder if that applies to American rulers only Africans...

On Food and Hunger

This Lenten season, I have come to appreciate hunger. I feel it more often and more constantly. It affects my moods and my productivity. I recognize every impulse to grab a snack and realize how lucky I am. It has made me particularly sensitive to the plight of the impoverished, here and abroad, and though I can not shed my privileged status--for I will always have the option of grabbing a snack or charging a quick meal--I can focus some of my energies to enable and empower others.

I have been attempting to maintain vegetarian eating for months now with success for the most part. There is a lot of explaining that comes with the territory. Why would you do that? Humans need to eat meat! That's just a fad. Are you sure you know what you doing, it's easy to get swept up.

There is no need to apologize for not eating meat. To quote a recent New York Times article:

Though some 800 million people on the planet now suffer from hunger or malnutrition, the majority of corn and soy grown in the world feeds cattle, pigs and chickens. This despite the inherent inefficiencies: about two to five times more grain is required to produce the same amount of calories through livestock as through direct grain consumption, according to Rosamond Naylor, an associate professor of economics at Stanford University.

Many vegetarians have thought-out, well-reasoned rationale for making their decisions. And they often have little to do with fad-diets or touchy-feely notions of animal humanity, they have to do with the hard facts of science and the very real consequences of our actions.

Lenten Reflections

Apologies for my protracted absence; though, this is not the first time so I wouldn't be surprised if the 5 people who read this are rolling their eyes thinking "This is old hat!" Lent is a journey that I could not have imagined and I am immensely grateful for it. Marble Collegiate Church makes their Wednesday Worship (WeWo) sermons available via iTunes podcast ... if you have a spare 20 minutes on any given day, check out any one (or all!) of the sermons in the "Jesus Asks..." series.

I have been keeping a journal during Lent and have mulled over whether not post excerpts from it here. I'm still undecided but this morning's entry is still haunting me so I'm going to share it:

Was it not necessary that the Messiah should
suffer these things and then inter into his glory?

--Luke 24:26

Luke 24 tells a surreal story. It gets at the heart of Christianity: regardless of what the Gospels say Jesus did or what his followers did after his death, did Jesus rise from the dead? Did he have a body of flesh and bones in which he could eat fish? And yet, could he prevent people from recognizing him, even as they spoke to him? How would that work?

Eventually, he leads the disciples out for a blessing and is taken up into heaven. Did he levitate, got out in a puff of smoke, or dissolve as though he was in an old-sci flick? Where did he go? And if he indeed had a physical body, what became of it? Is he (and his body) in some physical realm currently? If not, when did his body disappear? Once he was out of sight? When he left the atmosphere? And then...

Does any of that matter? What is the nature of a "gospel"? Is it an account of "factual" history or merely stories and theological statements. If Jesus did not appear in bodily form, what "really" happened and why do the Gospels seem to tell a different story? Does it matter if his body did not walk out of the grave? Where is it now?

Do I follow Jesus because his message resonates with my soul or because I believe he was sent from God and thus want good favor?
What motivates me?
Is it even possible to do (or believe) anything without the grace and ower of God?

Lent is a time of prayer and reflection. Sister Perry was right when she said the answers might be more questions.

I Feel Sick

I've had this post started for weeks now, unable to bring myself to finish it but given another push in the form of NG's highlighting of Ellen's powerful video:



I think the reaction is being felt around the country, maybe around the world: a very real feeling of nausea, that I might actually be ill. And even more frustrating is that I can't determine just why. Is it because somehow, violence still seems like an acceptable course of action in America? Is it because I'm not even surprised? Or is it because I feel absolutely helpless to stop it? That despite dedicating two months to Equality Ride, despite visiting with politicians, despite organizing communities, despite speaking at universities, people are still dying.

I do not understand where the outrage is when pastors say things such as “If ... some [gay or effeminate] guy opened the door for me, I’d rip his arm off and beat him with the wet end.” or why no one is taking crimes against queer people seriously. A young boy was executed in California and it doesn't blip on most of the nation's radar. I don't have much to add that hasn't been said before. I just need to stew.