the swimming story

This is something I shared in chapel a few years ago.
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you."
The young boy sat anxiously on the bus as it drove south on Highway One towards Washington. It was hot, all the windows were open and the rushing wind took the words away as the kids talked about how this was the year they would jump off the diving board.
The bus was taking kids from Kalona to their annual summer swimming lessons. The boy promised himself this was the year he would finally learn to swim. When they got to the pool they were lined up and placed in groups. Young kids went to the Beginners class, slightly older ones to Advanced Beginners, Intermediates and so forth. The boy went to his group- intermediates where the expectation was that he could float on his stomach and back, do a few strokes and tread water to keep himself from drowning.
The boy failed miserably. He wished he had heeded his wise grandmothers advice, "Don't go in the water until you know how to swim," but he hadn't and here he was. Unable to float, nervous and embarrassed he was demoted to the Beginners class, certainly the oldest in the group and by all appearances the most frightened.
The next week another lesson came and with it a stomach ache and complaints of not feeling well. His parents said, "we've paid for these lessons, you're going," and they put him on the bus. He sat quietly inspecting the hairs on his arm or counting the passing fence posts. Anything to take his mind off the upcoming torture of the swimming lesson. "Just relax," everybody said, but in the pool it wasn't possible. He couldn't relax and have fun and not worry. He couldn't let go.
"Save me O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters..."
One night his parents talked, trying to console and encourage the boy. Maybe its because of what happened when you were three. The boy didn't remember so they told the story.
As he lay drifting to sleep he tried to remember being in a small pool in a mountainside home with water heated by a natural spring. Playing and splashing on the side he slipped into the water until he lay unnoticed on the bottom of the pool where all was warm and peaceful. Then he imagined strong arms grabbing him from the water that had taken his breath and made him frantic for air and life.
Was this why the boy could not do the dead mans float? Summers came and every year it was the same tortuous ordeal. A swimming school failure unable to overcome his fear, to relax, and to float. While others talked of jumping off the high dive he secretly hoped only to float or to move to a place where no one swam. A place like Ethiopia where if you swam you got schistomasaisis and went blind, or the Amazon where piranhas would eat you if you dared go in the river.
Then one summer the boy and his family moved to a town where the school had its own swimming pool and the father said, "the pools open in the afternoons, to keep you out of your mothers hair you are going," and so he went with his brothers to face the fears once more.
"At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me. With you faithful help rescue me from sinking...draw me, redeem me, set me free."
And then it happened. Playing in the pool (of course at the shallow end) he slipped and before he hit bottom he felt himself float. It was as if God himself had reached down into that swimming pool and held him up and to that boy it was a miracle. A smile erupted on his face as he shouted, "I floated," and even though everyone looked and said, "big deal" he was ecstatic. He floated. He floated from one side of the pool to the other and soon he was actually swimming. The boy begged to take lessons where he quickly advanced. He joined the swim team and learned the backstroke, the freestyle, the butterfly, but with his short legs he never quite mastered the breaststroke. Oh those were glorious days, to slide through the water pretending to be an otter or a dolphin.
One day he traveled with his team to Washington, to that very pool where after four years of lessons he had never learned to swim, and he competed in races and won ribbons. But best of all, during some free time he climbed the diving board, and savoring each moment, he strolled to the end of the board, and smiling he jumped.
"But God who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved and raised up with him....For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God..."

The Best and Brightest

I finished reading The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam a month or so ago and kept thinking I would write something but never got around too it. Then today I saw a story saying President Obama would be making his decision about sending up to 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan within the next week.
In The Best and the Brightest, Halberstam tries to explain how JFK and then Johnson got the nation involved in Vietnam, especially when some of their advisers, particularly Robert McNamara, McGeorge and William Bunday, among others were widely regarded as some of the smartest people to work in government. If I understood Halberstam, their own belief that they were so smart was a large part of the problem. JFK was able to hold back on their requests to send more troops to Vietnam. Johnson on the other hand, was unwilling to stand up to them, even when he thought they might be wrong. Halberstam attributes that to LBJ's insecurities.
I don't know what it is about presidents from Texas and insecurities about their manliness but the following quote seems to describe a more recent president in addition to LBJ.
"He had always been haunted by the idea that he would be judges as being insufficiently manly for the job, that he would lack courage at a crucial moment. More than a little insecure himself, he very much wanted to be seen as a man; it was a conscious thing....and at a moment like this he wanted the respect of men who were tough, real men, and they would turn out to be the hawks."
As Obama makes his decision, I hope this is one of the books that he read, or has at least had summarized for him. Halberstam describes how the military, primarily the Joint Chiefs, deliberately mislead civilians, asked for only a small contingent of troops, knowing that they would be attacked, and that then they could increase their troop requests to even higher levels, arguing that " more troops were needed in order to keep bases and other troops safe." The idea of just bringing them home never seemed to occur to anyone in the government, and if they did, they were afraid to mention it for fear of being seen as weak.
Throw in a strong dose of American arrogance and sense of superiority and these guys figured there is no way they could lose to the North Vietnamese. It was all a recipe for disaster, one I hope our current President does not repeat.

cross country

I spent a couple of hours serving as a spotter for the conference cross country meet held at IMS this afternoon. Over the years I watched my kid run or drove the team to meets it seemed that cross country fans generally show a lot of sportsmanship during the course of the event. Parents and fans will encourage their kid, but you usually hear lots of affirmation for the other kids as well. Some fans make a point of staying till the last runners finish even though they may be several minutes behind just to give them a word of encouragement.

I haven't been at as many meets this fall so maybe it changed earlier, or perhaps it was the chilly, miserable weather, but tonight I think I heard more yelling at a cross country meet than I've heard before. It started with a mix-up in the Junior High race. Because of the mix-up the junior high boys all ended up running about 600 extra yards. Based on how they were running I doubt the results changed but the way one parent yelled you would have thought we had committed treason. He tried to yell at me, actually he did, but I gave him my grumpy look and he quit. There wasn't anything I could do about it anyway. He decided to leave me alone and "take it up with the race officials."

The Junior High race was followed by the varsity girls race. I was stationed near the first corner after the start so I am supposed to make sure fans don't get in the way and that the runners follow the right line. After the start I move over a few yards to make sure people leave a clear lane along the woods. As the girls came up the hill it was interesting to hear the mothers (i assume they were mothers) yell "words of encouragement" to their daughters. "How could you let that big girl get ahead of you?" "Go faster, go faster" they screamed as loud as they could. What was humorous was when the moms who were at least 100 lbs overweight tried to run along side their kid hollering, "run, run..." Usually after taking five steps, or nearly falling up the hill, they stopped, and either expressed their satisfaction or disgust with their daughter's increased effort, or seeming inability to try harder. I was hoping I wouldn't have to do cpr on any of them. Thinking about it, maybe it was more of a mother-daughter thing, since the races for the boys seemed much calmer. The fathers were just more inclined to shake their heads if their kid wasn't doing as well as expected.

U.S. Men's soccer

Last night I watched the US play El Salvador in a World Cup qualifier. The US won 2-1 plus they had a goal called back after an extremely puzzling call by the official so it could have been 3-1. Unfortunately, the score could have just as easily been 2-2 or 2-3.

When Donavon, Altidore, Davies and others are passing and making good runs they can be an exciting team. But for the most part I find them to be extremely frustrating to watch. In the first half the US midfield and back line would give Salvador too much space in the midfield. In one sequence the Salvadoran player dribbled 30 plus yards down the middle of the field before anybody decided it might be good to challenge him. When a defender finally challenged him the guy made a good pass putting even more pressure on the defense. Fortunately from the US perspective, the guy who received the pass didn't have the best touch on the ball and a US defender cleared the ball off the eighteen.

The extremely frustrating part of the game to watch was the second half when the US seemed content to piddle around and "protect" their lead. Instead of possessing the ball and pushing forward they seemed perfectly happy to make two or three passes in the midfield before one of the players would make either a bad pass or lose possession. Dempsey played around with ball, drew defenders, and would then lose possession. Instead of working to get the ball back he would act like he was fouled and then whine when the official didn't make the call (because there was no call to make) El Salvador got off at least two good shots after picking up a loose balls in the midfield.

I tell my players, especially the forwards and midfielders that nothing frustrates me more than a player who loses possession in the midfield and then stands there watching the action, or worse yet, acts like he got fouled. I can live with losing possession because it happens, even to the best of players. But if you lose the ball, you better bust your butt to at least make an attempt to pressure the ball. I've seen way too many goals scored because a forward lost possession, the other team counters, and the guy who lost the ball does nothing. Those are the goals you can see coming. The forward loses the ball, the midfielder is slow to get back, and the defender is caught out of position. The goalie, who has been left hanging, is forced to make a great save to keep the ball out of the net.

I will continue to watch, but if the team is going to qualify for the World Cup and move out of pool play they are going to have to improve their midfield play significantly and tighten up the defense.

So much for my humble analysis.

Vietnam Memorial and a WWII vet

School is underway and I survived the senior class trip to Washington D.C. Being from a place like Iowa, there seems to be a strange compulsion to speak to other people you think may also be from Iowa. One evening we dropped the students off at the Lincoln Memorial with a map which showed the locations of the other memorials. They were to meet the bus in two hours at the Jefferson Memorial. It is somewhat surprising how many get lost between the two locations but we did manage to collect all of them before heading back to the hotel.

I was curious to see how the kids reacted to seeing the Vietnam Memorial, plus I was tired, so I sat on a bench where I could see them as they walked towards the giant tombstone. Most of the kids seemed to be sobered by the site and walked slowly by the names.

In the meantime there were quite a few old guys going by. Some were in wheel chairs, many had canes, but they were all wearing yellow t-shirts which said something about being WWII vets. Most had name tags which indicated they were from Iowa. One of the old guys sat at the other end of the bench I was on and asked if I was from DC. I told him I was from Iowa with a group of school kids. I asked where he was from and he said Altoona, in central Iowa. I told him I was from the Kalona area and he said he remembered playing them in basketball when he was in high school. He remembered there were three Gingerich's on the Kalona team, and three Kemp's on the Conesville team he played for. I asked where he served in WWII and he rattled off the names of several islands including Okinawa. I mentioned that from what I had read, Okinawa experienced some major battles. His response was "it was ugly, there was nothing good about it." He was part of group of Iowa veterans, Hy-Vee took to DC for a day to see the WWII monument (before they die).

After WWII he made a career out of the Marines. He served in Korea and then trained men going through basic training on their way to Vietnam. He said he hated reading Leatherneck magazine every month because they listed all the Marines killed the previous month and "it tore me up when I saw a kid I had trained."

He had three names he wanted to find on the wall, one he had named his son after, the other he described as his best friend. He knew which panels to look for but was having a little trouble, so I tagged along and helped him find the names. He kept repeating, "its a shame these men died." When we found the names he cried and after the last one, his best friend, he walked away.

I've been reading David Halberstam's "The Best and the Brightest" and didn't have the heart to tell the old guy that he was right - it was a shame 70,000 US men had to die in Vietnam, let alone the 2 million plus Vietnamese thought to have been killed. Halberstam describes what happens when men who think they are smarter than everyone else, and have no sense of humility or history, try to run a war. It is sad story full of misperceptions, mistakes, arrogance and foolishness. In my understanding McNamara's book confirms much of Halberstam's analysis. It was a war which didn't need to happen and shouldn't have happened.

When I walked back, I noticed the old guy was sitting on the bench so I stopped and thanked him for letting me tag along. He wished me well, and said, "tell those kids you're teaching, that this isn't worth it. I wish they'd never have to build another one of these." Its too bad we are probably well on our way to doing so. And its tragic that so many people still look at war as a glorious thing.

sweet corn

It is sweet corn season here in the middle of the cornfields. These are two ears of the corn brought to us by a family at the church where my wife was the pastor. They picked the corn at 9 or 10 in the morning and I ate these two for supper around 6 pm. Covered with butter and salt, I'm not sure there is anything much better tasting.

Folks who aren't from around here are sometimes surprised to find out that most of the corn grown in Iowa is not meant for human consumption. It finds its way into pigs, turkeys, cattle and other livestock. A lot is turned into sweeteners and used for such things as pop, or soda, and therefore gets blamed for adding to the obesity problems faced by many Americans. Some is turned into ethanol and added to gasoline to help fuel our cars.

But as far as I know sweet corn is grown to be eaten by humans. We gave up trying to grow it in our backyard garden because it never seemed to do well, it took up lots of garden space, and the one year it did do well we had a lot of raccoons visit. Not only did they help themselves to the corn, they also ate the other vegetables and tried to take up residence in our shed.

Eating sweetcorn is not something you necessarily want to see other people do. Some people munch through a whole row without stopping, some spin the ear of corn as they eat, some try to be dainty and neat but at least at our house that never seems to work. Having a beard allows me to taste the mixture of corn, butter and salt for some time afterward, as the melting butter tends to drip into my beard as I eat. A good face washing is required to clean my face as a napkin doesn't clean the mess well at all.

Some people freeze corn, or can some, but we are content to have enough to eat for several meals. We also like to let two or three ears dry. After the kernels are dry you can add them to the popcorn popper with some popcorn. The kernels get crunchy and add to the popcorn eating experience.

So here's to sweet corn. A little bit of golden delight in the middle of an Iowa summer.

lessons from Vietnam

The other week Robert S. McNamara, "the architect of the Vietnam War" died. A couple NPR programs played excerpts of interviews he did after he wrote In Retrospect:The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam. The local library had a copy so I checked it out. It was interesting thought-provoking book. At the end McNamara offered eleven "Lessons of Vietnam" which I thought were helpful reminders. Needless to say I don't think President Bush or V-P Cheney read the book, and I wish President Obama would read it before he sends more troops to Afghanistan.

The lessons
1. "We misjudged then-as we have since-the geopolitical intentions of our adversaries...and we exaggerated the dangers to the United States of their actions." [Does Saddam Hussein and his supposed weapons of mass destruction come to mind?]

2. "We viewed the people and leaders of South Vietnam in terms of our own experience....We totally misjudged the political forces within the country?"

3. "We underestimated the power of nationalism to motivate a people...to fight and die for their beliefs and values-and we continue to do so today in many parts of the world."

4. "Our misjudgments of friend and foe alike reflected our profound ignorance of the history, culture, and politics of the people in the area, and the personalities and habits of their leaders." McNamara explains how at the time there were numerous US officials with a strong understanding of the Soviet Union but there were no senior officials with expertise in Southeast Asia. I think the same could be said of the middle east. [In a Washington Post article from October 16, 2005 there were only eight people in the U.S. diplomatic corps "fluent at the highest levels" of Arabic. http:www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/15/AR2005101500104.html)
Another interesting article which comments on Bush's ignorance of the middle east (what is the difference between a Sunni and a Shi'a?) is at http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080602/bazzi.

5. "We failed then-as we have since-to recognize the limitations of modern, high-technology military equipment, forces and doctrine in confronting unconventional, highly motivated people's movements. We failed as well to adapt our military tactics to the task of winning the hearts and minds of people from a totally different culture." [I've watched enough documentaries and film clips of the military in action to understand that while some of the soldiers may be doing good things, getting forced off the road or shot at by a U.S. military convoy, doesn't do much to win "hearts and minds." [Throughout his book, McNamara relates the heavy reliance on bombing Vietnam, even after in his analysis it was no longer effective. Instead, they kept bombing to avoid the appearance of being weak.]

6. " We failed to draw Congress and the American people into a full and frank discussion and debate of the pros and cons of a large scale U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia before we initiated the action." [Instead we were told to trust our leaders, that to question policy was to raise questions about one's patriotism, and in any case, the people of Iraq would welcome us as liberators, and it would all be over in six months.]

7. " After action got under way and unanticipated events forced us off our planned course, we failed to retain popular support in part because we did not explain fully what was happening and why we were doing what we did...." [see above- instead value secrecy, raise questions about critics loyalty or otherwise discredit critics.]

8. " We did not recognize that neither our people nor our leaders are omniscient.... We do not have the God-given right to shape every nation in our own image or as we choose. [We just had a leader who claimed God told him what to do.]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/oct/07/iraq.usa

9. "We did not hold to the principle that U.S. military action-other than in response to direct threats to our own security- should be carried out only conjunction with multinational forces supported fully (and not merely cosmetically) by the international community."

10. "We failed to recognize that in international affairs, as in other aspects of life, there may be problems for which there are no immediate solutions."

11. McNamara argues that the administrations he served did not organize structurally in a way to deal effectively deal with Vietnam over the long term.

There is one more which too many people forget, "Wars generate their own momentum and follow the law of unanticipated consequences." (p. 174)

A couple of other things which seemed evident as I read the book. There was little to no diversity among the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. The advisers were all white males, most of whom graduated from Harvard. McNamara discusses their common experiences of growing up during the Depression, involvement in World War II, and of course their education. My guess is that thinking outside of the box wasn't highly valued, even if any of them were capable of doing so. McNamara and the others seemed trapped by their worldview where every world event was seen through the lens of the Cold War. In the end, if you want to understand the Vietnam war from the perspective of a man who helped plan much of it, this would be a good book to read.

ain't this country grand

This past month new neighbors moved into the two trailers across the street. The guy who owns them lives nearby and given the condition they appear to be in it shouldn't be a surprise that we have seen quite a few people move in and then out a few months later. Some we have gotten to know, but most seem content to be inside most of the time so we don't get to know them. The other day when I got home I noticed both trailers had flags displayed which isn't all that unusual in Wellman, particularly from Memorial Day through July 4th.

I wasn't in Boy Scouts long, (which is another story) but I did make it through the section on flag etiquette before nearly everyone in our Boy Scout troop was asked to leave. I also had to remember during our ten years in Philadelphia that the only time we usually saw a lot of flags was when we went to Center City. You might see an occasional flag in our old neighborhood but not often. When you drove to wealthier neighborhoods like Chestnut Hill or out on the Main Line, you weren't likely to see many on display.

So there is part of me which wonders why people living in what most people would describe as "not the greatest housing," would be so moved that they would hang flags off their decks. Have they fulfilled the American Dream by having a place of their own in which to live? If you look closely the one picture shows the fishing boat parked nearby, and a Blazer type vehicle. What is missing is the large pickup with a hole somewhere in the exhaust system. Based on my experience with our little S-10 the hole is in the catalytic converter.

At the same time this week the press carried stories about Bernard Madhoff being sentenced and his wife being "allowed to keep 2.5 million" for her living expenses. Michael Jackson died and while some reports are saying he was 400 million in debt, his assets will be worth much more, especially now that he has died. Given this countries values which say all men are created equal, why do some of us end up living in New York penthouses, private estates, or a rented trailer. I know the arguments about "equality of opportunity" and all the rags to riches stories, and the "pull yourself up by the bootstrap" advice, but in reality the vast majority of Americans end up in the same financial or social status as their parents, or perhaps a bit better or worse. Yet we all buy into the patriotism.

So on the 4th we will go watch the parade and celebrate what a great country we live in- a country where millions can't afford health care, where the unemployment rate is climbing, where college kids graduate with huge debts and face limited employment opportunities- we will hear talk about living in the home of the free and the brave and I wonder.

This past week a well known Iowa high school football coach was shot and killed by a former player. What I found interesting was a quote in the local paper which said, "God always has a reason," as if God was somehow at fault. Nobody seems to suggest that perhaps guns are too readily available. Nobody seems to suggest that the young man who was arrested and who had a history of substance abuse and mental illness either did not or could not receive treatment for his addictions. Nobody suggested that it is entirely too easy for people with mental illness to get access to a gun. I don't want this to be seen as defending the young man's shooting of the coach because it is indefensible. What I wonder about is why people feel the need to suggest that God is somehow to blame since "God always has a reason." For what reason would God want this coach killed?

What I would suggest is that if people want to make sense of this tragedy they look at our societies obsession with guns, or they look at why people with mental illnesses or addiction issues can't get help outside of being arrested and getting involved in the criminal justice system. And more than likely any help obtained through the justice system is limited.

On the other side of this, in today's Gazette there was an article titled "Pastor invites churchgoers to bring guns to celebration." According to the article more than 200 people attended the service at a church in Kentucky to celebrate their second amendment rights. Another article said that New Jersey passed a law limiting a person to one gun purchase a month. So, is it any wonder gun deaths continue to increase in our country. In the meantime we can speculate about what reasons God might have for this tragedy and celebrate our second amendment rights all at the same time.

4th and 5th grade camp

Back from a week at Crooked Creek Christian Camp where I was the "camp pastor" for the 4th and 5th grade camp. In spite of the heat, the bugs, and the storms the kids had a good time and seemed to enjoy themselves. Thought I would share a couple of happenings which I found interesting.

The theme for the week had to do with "reaching the promised land" so I told some stories from the Exodus. One morning I said something about reading other stories from the Old Testament
One young boy who seemed to take my little talks rather seriously, came to me that afternoon and said he had read the story of Noah and the ark. I asked what he thought and he said it was interesting and wondered what it would have been like to be on the ark. Then he added, "I read the part where Noah planted a vineyard, and then he got drunk, and then it got sort of gross cause it said he was naked." He started to ask a question, but I discovered this age group is easily distracted and he ran off to participate in the next activity. Frankly there are a lot of stories in the Bible which people find embarassing, though I guess it is helpful for moralistic Republicans who have "fallen into sin" to compare themselves to King David.

There was one young African-American boy at the camp which I imagine would be hard and so it was probably no surprise that he was homesick much of the week. He stuck it out and as the week went on he seemed to be enjoying himself. For the last evening meal of the week, the camp had a "mystery meal" where the counselors served the campers. The kids sat with their cabin mates and were supposed to have dressed up a bit. For most of the boys this meant clipping a tie onto their sweaty t-shirts. What I found interesting is that as I walked into the room, a table of boys invited me to sit at their table "so I could sit and eat with the President." I asked who was the President and they all pointed to the head of the table where the lone black young man was sitting with a big smile. I asked the rest of the boys, all white, who they were. They announced in unison, "we're his bodyguards." They decided I was someone important from some other country who was visiting for the evening. As we ate I wondered if something like this would have happened a year ago.

It just so happened I have been reading Barack Obama's book, Dreams of my Father, where he spends a lot of time talking about finding his place in society. It is an interesting book. As I read it I realized it is nice to have a President who can write so well and who has spent a lot of time thinking and reflecting about who he is, about society, and the problems much of US society faces. It will be interesting to see how former President Bush's book compares and to realize he will have at least one other person actually doing the writing.

I don't know what the boys in the camp thought about their place in society or matters of race. During the week they were more concerned about swimming times, which cabin would get to go first to lunch, and if their cabin would "win" even if there wasn't a competition at the moment. Perhaps that is a good sign for the future.

catching up

Nearly two months since I've sat down and added anything to this. Soccer season, the son's graduation from college, the end of the school year along with graduation are the primary culprits. The season ended with a 13-3 record and a loss in the substate game to the team which went on to win the championship. Graduation went well. I did foil a prank which was both sort of fun, but also frustrating since it made extra work for me. Plus I had warned some of the soccer players to not do anything stupid but the yahoo's chose to ignore that advice.

Yesterday I rode the train from Chicago to Mt. Pleasant. Though we were about an hour late I found it to be a rather pleasant way to travel. The seats were comfortable, there was plenty of leg room, and with the gentle rocking of the train it was easy to fall asleep. There is some talk of opening a line from Chicago to Des Moines with a stop in Iowa City. Rather than to continue to add lanes to Interstate 80, it would seem to make sense to improve the rail line so people could travel with out their cars. With gas prices on the rise again it makes even more sense.

If anybody from afar misses Wellman I discovered you can go to Google Maps, type in Wellman, Iowa, then if you click on "street scene" you can "drive through town" on highway 22. You can also take a look at houses along the way meaning you can see portions of our back yard. When I did this I realized how depressing Wellman probably looks to people who are driving through for the first time.

church issues

This morning during the church service (I don't think I can call it worship) the pastor did his standard introductory sermon to his regular sermon. He shared two lists which I found sort of interesting. He talked about hearing college age students talk about issues they are concerned with. He apparently asked them what issues their churches discuss and talk about. I don't know who these young people were, but this was the first list he shared. He titled it "Issues churches deal with according to young people." These were free will v predestination, which version of the Bible to use, style of music, length of the church service and sermon, and how often to have communion.

The next list was titled "Life issues of College Age Students." These included racism, the environment, energy conservation, war and gun violence, world hunger and population, alcohol and drug use, parent's divorce, finding and job and paying for college, finding a sense of community and the impacts of the latest technology.

As you can see there aren't many similarities between the two lists which leads to questions about if the church should be addressing these issues and if so, how should they be addressed. Unfortunately, one of the problems is that if the issues above are mentioned, you will generally get tagged with the "liberal" label, which here in the cornfields, isn't generally seen as a good thing. Trust me on that. The other problem is that at least one of the issues above can not be talked about honestly and that is the use of alcohol. The "official" line is that alcohol is bad and shouldn't be touched. There is an old joke that if you don't want a Mennonite to drink all your beer, make sure you invite at least two, then you will have it all to yourself.

The other interesting observation is to note what issues did not make the second list. Notably absent are issues of sexuality (including homosexuality) and abortion, issues which older people assume younger ones should care about but apparently don't.

From this introduction the pastor went into his main sermon based on Jesus calling the disciples. The focus was on the "call" and "making a decision to respond to the call." Yesterday was a long day, and I have to admit I think I dozed off a bit.

As I thought about church, I have to say I don't hear much discussion about issues on the first list which I suppose is a good thing. Still I think there is "an understanding" that good Christians read from the NIV, listen to Christian radio, have read the Left Behind series, and are content to sit through long sermons.

Sadly, I don't hear much discussion at church about the second list either, though at least once a month we hear something about the evils of alcohol. Issues I have heard discussed to some degree are - evolution (bad), six-day creation, 6,000 year old earth (good), dinosaurs on the ark (just plain sad), gun control (ain't nobody gonna take my shotgun away), taxes (bad), ethanol (good if you raise corn, not so good if you don't), Cubs or Cardinals (there is a real divide in the congregation), Hawkeye sports (Ferentz- good, Licklitter-give him another year) and the weather. In reality there don't seem to be good places at church where issues on the second list can be discussed. There seems to be a tendency to avoid bringing up issues which may cause conflict so it is easier to assume everyone agrees and the issue doesn't need to be mentioned. Or if someone does bring something up people won't respond directly to the person involved.
For example, there were those who didn't appreciate the trip I took to the West Bank with a Christian Peacemaker Team, but I didn't find this out till later, and then only indirectly. They apparently didn't want to hurt my feelings.

So why do I keep going back? I have to admit that it isn't for the Sunday morning service. If anything it is because of the people in the Sunday School class I attend, along with some of the other people at church. The class is a place where lots of issues are discussed and to use a phrase from the second list, I "find a sense of community."

To bring this to an end, it may be one reason some students are eager to discuss these issues at school. It just gets tricky when after a discussion, a student asks me directly, "what do you think?" Sometimes I'm saved by the bell, sometimes I respond with more questions for them, orsometimes a story. Occasionally I say what I think and then wonder how many calls or emails I will receive.

Gay marriage in Iowa

A couple of weeks ago the Iowa Supreme Court overturned a state law which banned marriage between two men or two women. I planned to write something about this earlier, closer to the April 3 date the ruling was made but soccer games started and there were other things to do. In the meantime I read the Supreme Court decision, something I would recommend that everyone do, regardless of their position on the issue. You can find it at:
http://www.judicial.state.ia.us/Supreme_Court/Recent_Opinions/20090403/07-1499.pdf

The reactions have been interesting. Some folks I know are appalled, embarrassed to be from Iowa, and certain that marriages in Iowa will be damaged by the change in the law. Friends from our days in Germantown think it is wonderful. In their view, Iowa went from being a backwards place they flew over on their way to California, to a progressive place at the forefront of social change.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. The first day county recorders can issue marriage licenses to gay couples is April 24, meaning the first weddings would be April 27. Those opposed to the ruling have shifted from trying to get the state legislature to vote on the issue while they are still in session to trying to encourage county recorders to break the law and not issue licenses. In the first week after the ruling, we got several auto calls encouraging us to contact our state legislator to encourage him to allow a vote on the issue. Those calls ended when my wife answered the phone, a live person, instead of a tape, started in with the message, my wife interrupted and told them to quit calling. It had been a stressful week at our house.

I found the reaction of my students to be interesting as well. I figured most of them would think it was wrong, which a number of them did. But the prevailing opinion could be summed up with the phrase, "who cares," or maybe, "what's the big deal?" I don't think this attitude was just a manifestation of the general apathy high school students can sometimes exhibit. Instead most don't seem to find homosexuality to be that big of deal.

One of the other things I have found interesting are those people who are arguing that the Iowa Supreme Court has somehow overstepped its duties and roles. The court was asked to determine if the Iowa statute passed a couple of years ago banning gay marriage violated the clause in the Iowa Constitution which says that all people are equal and deserve the equal protection" of the law. Letters to the Editor are filled with complaints that the court overturned a law passed by the legislature, because "no one voted on it." If the folks complaining had been paying attention in government class, they would know that is exactly what the Supreme Court is there for, to overturn laws passed by the legislature which are deemed to violate the Constitution. There seems to be this sense that if something is popular enough, it doesn't matter if it is unconstitutional. Fortunately for those in minority groups or minority positions, constitutionality is not determined by popularity, it is determined by a careful analysis of the law in question and its relationship to the Constitution.

Markham and Community Mennonite Church

I left the cornfields of Iowa to spend a few days on interterm, a time when teachers take small groups of students for a week of nontraditional classes in nontraditional settings. Because I can drive the bus, four years ago I was given the assignment of taking a group to Chicago. One group went to north Chicago to a place called Jesus People, while I took a group to Markham, a southern suburb of Chicago.

We stayed and worked at the Community Mennonite Church located on Kedzie Ave. This year the new co-pastor, Cyneatha Millsaps spent quite a bit of time talking with the students trying to help them understand poverty and something of the Markham neighborhood. She did an excellent job of answering their questions and providing some valuable insights about what it means to be an African-American living in a poor neighborhood. The students spent one day working at a nearby daycare which was a highlight for most, and one day cleaning, painting, and staining. The kids worked hard and seemed to have a good time.

It was interesting to read some of their comments when I had them fill out an evaluation form. Some wrote about "no longer being as afraid of Black people," a couple said they enjoyed being in a larger, more diverse area, one wrote about her initial fear of interacting with some of the youth from the church, but then realizing they weren't that much different. It was helpful for me to read these since I sometimes wonder about the value of taking kids into places like Markham. Some of that stems from my days in Philadelphia when I was on the receiving end of "service groups" which wanted to help. It often seemed as if such groups created more work for me, without making much of an impact on the kids.

Visiting Markham generally makes me a bit nostalgic for the years we lived in Philadelphia. The last part of our time there we were the only white folks living on East Pastorius St. in a neighborhood which definately struggled with poverty. It was easy to see many problems and not difficult to find ways to try to address some of the needs which were evident.

Returning to the cornfields does not mean a return to an idylic setting. There is poverty, certainly less than a place like Markham, but still it is poverty, along with a variety of social problems in the area. It is much less visible and people are reluctant to admit they need help, but there is need. Maybe if I have time this weekend I will try and find some stats to back up this assertion- or maybe I will need to change the assertion.

In any case the trip to Markham and Community Mennonite Church seemed to be time well spent, at least for the group of ten kids who went with me this year.

the death penalty?

Yesterday, Iowa Senator Charles Grassley suggested the executives of AIG who drove the company into near bankruptcy and the need for government bailouts, should "take a deep bow, apologize, and then either resign or commit suicide.

Last week a student asked what I thought should happen to Bernard Madoff who ran a Ponzi scheme which defrauded investors of 60 to 70 billion dollars, helping to create, or at least add to the current economic crisis. Honestly I don't know what should happen to him. He is 70 years old, so sentencing him to 150 years in prison doesn't seem all that helpful. But the question got me to thinking.

There is an old Pete Seeger, or maybe it is a Woody Guthrie, song where he says if you are going to rob a bank it is better to do it with a fountain pen then a gun. People who embezzle from banks usually steal a lot more money than your typical bank robber, and they generally do less prison time when they are caught. Bernard Madhoff is a theif who stole peoples money, a lot of money, with a "fountain pen," not a gun.

I believe the death penalty is wrong, but since our country uses it, why not use it on someone like Madoff. Take him to Wall Street and have a firing squad put a bullet or two in his head. If people who support the death penalty are correct that it is a deterrant, what better way to clean up the economic shennanigans on Wall Street then executing Madoff, a couple of AIG executives, along with someone from Bear Sterns, Merril Lynch, and Wachovia. When I suggested this to one class, one which includes several kids who believe the death penalty is a good thing, they argued that Madoff and the others "didn't hurt anyone." I asked what about those folks who lost all their investment or retirement funds, and the answer was, "he didn't take it by force," taking us back to the fountain pen approach to theivery. The kids seemed quite all right putting someone to death who used force to hurt someone, or someone who did something "really perverted." But, as they said, Madoff "only took people's moneyand he didn't threaten them."

So the old folk song is still valid. Steal money, lots of it, without using force and you do some time in jail. Use a gun or force, and spend the rest of your life in jail.

economics and Zacchaeuss

Back from driving the girls basketball team to their last game of their regular season. It was a fairly miserable game due in large part to this being the girls fourth game in five nights and the hour and a half bus ride to Danville. Since I was there anyway I was recruited to "keep the book." Each team has an official bookkeeper to keep track of the scores, fouls, timeouts - all the stuff which comes with a sport which in my opinion is over coached. The highlight of the evening for some of the girls was stopping at Pizza Hut in Mt. Pleasant rather than McDonalds after the game. The "highlight" for me was having my temporary bridge crack and fall off. Fortunately I found all the pieces before I swallowed.

What I had intended to write about was based on something I read this morning (actually Saturday morning as it is now early into Sunday morning) For Christmas my wife gave me a book titled "Take our Moments and Our Days: An Anabaptist Prayerbook" I have been trying to use it at least once a day since then. It is written to be used twice a day, but I just go in order and don't pay much attention to the day listed in the reading. What I read this morning focused on the beatitude, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." For the New Testament scripture it used the story of Zacchaeuss. What struck me was the response of Zacchaeuss. "look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much."

This past week students have asked if we are in a Depression, why is the economy so bad, and occasionaly, what do I think should be tried to fix the economy. A year or so ago the media began to write about banks failing, mortgage companies failing and insurance companies going broke. We also began to hear about bad loans, "creative financial instruments" the bundling and marketing of loans and mortgages, along with lavish salaries and bonuses. Even after the bailout, the executives of some of the bankrupt companies were being paid huge bonuses.

After reading the Zacchaeus story I got to wondering what would happen if Jesus showed up at the home of a Wall St. executive. I doubt the guy would say, "half my possessons Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone I will pay back four times as much." From what I read and hear, the Wall Street guy would tell Jesus, "You know I made a lot of money for my company, besides I worked hard for my income, bonus, and stock options. There just aren't that many Harvard and Yale graduates who understand the sophisticated financial and marketing tools I created and was using." I deserve my bonus, and if you dare to cap my salary at 500,000, I'll call you a socialist and a communist. Then I will find work for a company which truley appreciates my unique talents and won't be afraid to pay me at least one million per year plus the bonuses I deserve."
"Zacchaeuss said, if I defrauded anyone I will pay him back four times as much."

The Wall St guy- "That is socialism, pure and simple. The story incites class warfare, besides, the wealthy have worked hard for their money. It wouldn't be fair to expect us to to give away half our possesions, or to pay back 4 x what we had taken. "

It is late and it is hard for me to feel creative. Needless to say, I don't think Zacchaess's response to Jesus would go over well in the corporate world these days in spite of some of the religious platitudes about wealth being a blessing from God, that rich people like to spew.

As I read the latest financial news, especially the parts about how the intellectuals at Harvard and Yale, have messed things up, and how some hope to stimulate the economy I will try to keep that image of Zacchaeus in my mind. And I will hear him say, "half my possessions I will give to the poor and if I have defrauded anyone I will pay them back four times what they owed. When I hear one of the Wall St types, or one of the politicians say something similar to what Zaccheaus said, maybe then we have a person we can trust.

mlk day, obama and sharing at Iowa Mennonite

I was asked to share briefly in chapel today to provide some context for the excitement surrounding President Obama's inauguration. Here is what I shared, with a few minor changes.

"America is a dream,
The poet says it was promises.
The people say it is promises-that will come true.
The people do not always say things out loud,
Nor write them down on paper.
The people often hold
Great thoughts in their deepest hearts
And sometimes only blunderingly express them,
Haltingly and stumblinly say them,
And faultily put them into practice.
The people do not always understand each other.
But there is, somewhere there,
Always the trying to understand,
And the trying to say,
'You are a man. Together we our building our land.'"
from Freedoms Plow by Langston Hughes

As I watched several news programs yesterday it became clear that this year MLK day is linked with the inauguration of Barack Obama as our nations forty-fourth President. The reasons for this are probably obvious to most. Today, we have seen and heard some of Dr. King's words. For you young people I want to provide just a bit of context for why the two events are linked. Why yesterday it was not unusual to see a tear in the eyes of reporters or to hear a catch in the voice of commentators as they tried to describe the significance of this weeks events.

Our country was born of contradictions. Lofty ideals of freedom, equality and justice were not evident in the treatment of African Americans, indigineous peoples, and women. 230 some years ago the Declaration of Independence held forth this bold principle, "that all men are created equal." Yet the man who wrote those words owned slaves. Eighty years later, when the Civil War began there were some 4 million people living in slavery in the United States. At the wars end, they were freed, but most faced overt racism, discrimination and lives of poverty. A black man could be lynched, as hundreds were, for no good reason. In his poem, "Let America Be America again," Langston Hughes points out this contradiction when he writes,

"O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")
Hughes

In his 1963 speech given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King shared his dream, "deeply rooted in the American dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of tis creed-we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

In his poem, Harlem, Hughes, asks, "What happens to a dream deferred?" Kings dream that "little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers," was deferred, left to rot and fester. In much of the United States, black children still could not go to school with white children, hotels and restaurants hung signs which said "whites only," blacks were prevented from voting and faced discrimination throughout society.

Though attacked by his detractors as a trouble maker, a communist and unpatriotic, throughout his writings, King called the United States to live up to the ideals it had expressed in its founding documents. His writings can exhibit a patriotic fervor which at times makes this Mennonite a bit nervous. King also invited all peoples to participate in his efforts to promote the spread of human dignity and freedom, much as I think Obama has done. In this they are similar to the best of our leaders and politicians who have inspired us to accomplish tasks we felt were impossible to achieve.

"O, let America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again."
Hughes

In calling the nation to live up to its ideals, King and Obama draw from a long tradition within the African-American community that has been able to see in ways that most of us have not, that America has not lived up to its ideals, and in doing this they have called us to be a better place.

"Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again!"
Hughes

So today and tomorrow, whether you like President Obama or not, realize that it is a historic occasion. An African American family will be living in the White House. The same White House that was built by slaves, the White House where Teddy Roosevelt was rebuked for inviting Booker T Washington to dinner, the same White House where for much of our nations history, it meant that if you were black and in the White House, you were probably a butler, a cook or a cleaner.

Realize that for those who confronted the evils of racism, those who faced the fire hoses, attack dogs and billy clubs wielded by the white establishment; realize that for those who suffered daily from racism and discrimination, realize that tomorrow is a symbol that the dream is no longer being deferred. The dream is no longer festering or threatening to explode.

If I were asked to write something for the inauguration speech I would want to refer to the end of Langston Hughes poem, "Freedoms Plow."

"A long time ago,
An enslaved people heading toward freedom
Made up a song:
Keep Your Hand On the Plow! Hold On!
The plow plowed a new furrow
Across the field of history,
Into that furrow the freedom seed was dropped.
From that seed a tree grew, is growing, will ever grow.
That tree is for everybody,
For all America, for all the world.
May its branches spread and shelter grow
Until all races and peoples know its shade.
KEEP YOUR HAND ON THE PLOW! HOLD ON!
Hughes

May the words, the work and the dreams of King inspire us to keep our hands on the plow and to hold on.

marcus

Bill Moyer's on Israel and Gaza

A cousin pointed out this video to me from Bill Moyer's Journal. I missed it Friday night because I was asked to fill in to drive the bus. The commentary along with the images are powerful and I wish more people would see what he has to say. Unfortunately Moyer is not one of those television pundits who will yell, berate or humiliate his guests, or go for the easy joke. Anyway, I hope I enclosed the link correctly. I didn't do it right the first time - I'll try again. I'm not figuring this out and I need to do some other things. Here is a link where you can see the segment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1Zunx_goz4

Gaza

A couple of folks have asked what I think about what is going on in Gaza. So, this is my opinion coming as it does, from the middle of a cornfield.

Gaza is the small strip of land towards the southern end of Israel. It is home to approximately 1.5 million Palestinians. From what I read in news accounts, access to Gaza is controlled primarily by Israel though there is one border crossing under Egyptian control. Israel controls the electricity, gas and many of the other items considered to be essential by most people. I have heard the area described as a large prison though perhaps "reservation" might be a more appropriate term. In the past year I have met Palestinians in Iowa City who cannot return home to visit their families in Gaza because they are certain one of two things would happen. Either Israel would not let them enter Gaza and they might be detained, or they would be allowed into Gaza, but would never receive permission to leave to return to Iowa City to continue their studies.

The area has been controlled by Hamas since they won elections held in 2006. Hamas is generally described by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization. When I visited the West Bank, we learned that Hamas has also worked to provide basic social services to Palestinians, one of the reasons they have been able to create and maintain political support. We were also told many times that most Palestinians did not want to hold elections in 2006, but did so at the insistence of the Bush administration. When Hamas won, seemingly surprising Bush and Condeleeza Rice, the U.S. government refused to recognize Hamas, making the U.S. look like hypocrites in the eyes of many Palestinians. "You force us to have elections, then refuse to accept who we choose and you call this democracy?" ( I didn't have the heart to explain the 2000 election, the electoral college, or the supreme courts intervention)

So you have a situation where 1.5 million Palestinians are kept as virtual prisoners and where according to Time magazine unemployment in Gaza is 49%. Is it any wonder there is frustration, bitterness, and the desire to strike at those who keep you oppressed? Since 2004 Hamas has chosen to launch homemade rockets into nearby Israeli settlements, killing 23 Israeli citizens. Just in case any one might be confused, I do not condone violence, or in this case shooting missiles, especially at civilians, but I think I can understand why some Palestinians might want to shoot off rockets hoping to hit Israeli's.

Unfortunately when a group resorts to violence, a violent action often results. Last week Israel began bombing sites in Gaza and today they sent in ground troops. The death toll quickly mounted as Palestinians died in the bombings. Today the number of Palestinian deaths over the last week reached the 500 mark. Four Israeli's have died this week as a result of rockets fired by Palestinians.

It is frustrating to hear President Bush lay the blame for this weeks actions squarely on Hamas. Today the U.S. made it even worse, rejecting a UN vote/plan to encourage a ceasefire. It seems odd to me that the Palestinians, the weakest of the groups in this conflict are blamed for causing the violence. It is like blaming African-Americans for causing trouble during the Civil Rights movement, or criticizing Native Americans for the violence which resulted in their deaths or forced removal to reservations.

It is frustrating to know that planes and helicopters produced in the U.S. and paid for with U.S. tax dollars are being used to drop bombs or to fire rockets into Gaza.
It is frustrating to read the celebratory articles proclaiming the death of an Hamas leader in big headlines, and then to read, in small print that the bomb killed eighteen others including his young daughters.

It also brings to mind another question people often asked me after my CPT trip. Are there any Palestinians who are pacifists? The answer is yes, there are many Palestinians who practice nonviolence every day, but like most humans, the vast majority see violence as quick, efficient, and the only way to deal with problems. The U.S. certainly has no business talking to Palestinians about nonviolence. The US has already claimed control of the hypocritical high ground.

Still, I wonder what would happen if a Palestinian leader could lead a mass nonviolent movement similar to the way Gandhi did in India. Even though the rockets fired by Hamas are inaccurate and rarely deadly, they are violent and the Palestinians lose the moral high ground they might otherwise easily claim. If Palestinian protests in Gaza had been completely nonviolent I think it would have been difficult, if not impossible for Israel to respond militarily. In fact, I think they would struggle with how to respond to a mass nonviolent movement. The British struggled during the Indian independence movement. State and local governments throughout the south weren't sure how to respond when African-Americans held nonviolent protests and actions.

It would be nice to see the U.S take the lead to bring about a peaceful resolution to the situation, however I don't see that happening any time soon. President Bush is in "coasting mode" and he has yet to say no to anything Israel wants or does and I don't expect him to change now. It would be nice to hear something from Obama but then there isn't much he can do until after inauguration. Even then, my guess is that he has other issues he would prefer to focus on first as he begins his presidential term.