Rosa Parks, another look

I want to pass along a wonderful op-ed piece from the New York Times this morning that takes a little deeper into the person of Rosa Parks than our text-books tend to go.

The Long History of a Bus Ride

blessings on your week,

will

More reading... not so deep this time

As I wrote in a post earlier this week, I am trying to get in the habit of writing something about the books I read. Just so you know that not all the books I read are thick tomes of systematic theology or insightful proposals to end poverty, I just finished The Broker by John Grisham.

I used to read all of Grisham's stuff but I fell out of the habit in seminary. (I had enough to read.) I like his books because, for me, they are one step away from watching a movie. They don't overly tax my brain, they just give me a chance to escape for a bit into another world. I have to do something just for fun once in a while, right?

The one warning I will give you about this book, is that it may make you want to visit Italy or at least drink more espresso.

peace and happy reading,

will

Good News for UMCOR and victims

Check out this article from the New York Times about a federal grant it will be using to help storm victims.

U.S. to Use Religious Charity to Run Storm Relief Project

peace,

will

A Good Time for a Greek Lesson

Many of your know that when the National Hurricane Center runs out of storm names (Wilma was the last this year) they move on to name storms after the letters of the Greek alphabet. Since I had to learn Greek in seminary, this is a wonderful time for us all to review.

It seems that tropical storm Alpha has already dispersed, and we are already on to tropical storm Beta.

Let's hope we don't get too proficient in Greek this year.

peace,

will

The End of Poverty

One of the things I always mean to do on this blog is write about the books I read. Unfortunately, I seem to finish one book and pick up another and totally forget about writing. But I am still trying.

I have just finished The End of Poverty, Economic Possibilities for our Time, by Jeffrey D. Sachs. If you read Time Magazine, you may have seen an excerpt in their March 14^th edition.

Sachs lays out not only how bad the problem of poverty and disease is in third world countries (eight million people die each year worldwide simply because they are too poor for the basic necessities of life[1]) he also lays out a plan to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015 and basically eliminate it by 2025.

What is fascinating about Sachs is that he is not just a pie in the sky dreamer. He is a world renowned economist who had looked into the clinical economics of poverty and determined what is needed to get the poorest countries out of the poverty trap and onto the first rung of economic development.

If you have heard about or read about the ONE Campaign (there is a link on the right side of this weblog) you may have heard about the Millennium Development Goals that Sachs supports. I know that there are some who disagree with this particular plan to end poverty, but it is really hard to ignore the catastrophic problem of extreme poverty when there is something that can be done.

I really recommend this book. Even is Sachs doesnÂ’t convince you of his plan, you will learn a lot about the economic of poverty.

peace,

will

---

[1] Jeffrey Sachs, The End of Poverty, Economic Possibilities for our Time, (New York: The Penguin Press, 2005) 1

Sometimes I don't know how Texans do it.

One of the hardest things for me to get used to as a transplanted New Yorker is how relative driving distance is. People from this giant state of Texas seem to think it is no big deal to drive 3 hours for a meeting and then drive back. Where I am from you can get into three states in that kind of time.

I have been traveling a few too many miles for my taste lately. Last week Alisha and I drove to San Antonio to fly to North Carolina. Yesterday we drove up to Austin for a meeting I had to attend and Thursday we are headed back to San Antonio for another meeting. I am starting to wish 37 had some different scenery.

It all comes with the territory. At least that is what the natives say.

peace,

will

Wilma

(Click on picture for a larger image)

We live in an amazing time. It is only a brief piece of the history of humankind that we can see storms like this from space and even begin to understand the forces at work in them. Hurricanes are frightening all by themselves. Can you imagine a time when we had no idea they were coming, how long they would last or what caused such terror to come unannounced?

Not that any of that brings any peace to those in Wilma's path. We may have figured out the what and how, but only God truly gets the why.

peace,

will

Make a Joyful Noise!

What a joy it was this morning to worship with so many from our family of faith. It was a wonderful blessing to have everyone together in one service. I look forward to more chances to do that in the future.

I am so thankful for our musicians and our witnesses that shared their gifts and their stories this morning. Wonderful things are happening at Grace.

peace,

will

Trying to get back up to speed

Click on the photo for a larger view of the sunset in North Carolina as taken by Alisha.

It always takes me a couple of days to get back up to speed after some rest and relaxation. But there is no time for slacking! This is a busy weekend at Grace. The Harvest Fair takes place tomorrow with lots of vendors in the fellowship hall, UMW baked goods in the glassway, a sneak preview of the thrift shop next door and of course, pumpkins!

Sunday is "Make a Joyful Noise" Sunday. We will have one big worship service, with gathering music at 9:30 and worship beginning at 10 in the fellowship hall. It will be a great chance to gather as one big family and worship together.

peace,

will

It's a rough life here...

in North Carolina

A Little R&R

I am posting today from Emerald Isle, North Carolina. Alisha and I are spending a little time at the beach with her family. I will upload some pictures in the next couple days.

I hope all is well back on the Texas coast!

peace,

will

Pumpkins Pumpkins Pumpkins

The pumpkins are here! Grace's annual pumpkin patch us underway. After a slight delay, the arrived in the rain on Tuesday afternoon and we had a ton of eager volunteers to unload over 2000 pumpkins!

I hope you get a chance to stop by and stroll through the pumpkins. I hope you find the perfect one for your home. Remember, all the proceeds go to mission through the United Methodist Church.

I am certainly glad they arrived because it brought a taste of autumn back into my world. Growing up in Western New York, October was definitely fall. I remember trick-or-treating in my snow boots. I don't miss harsh winters, but I will always miss cool autumn days, falling leaves and that smell that you only get when it is truly fall. At least the pumpkins and a hint of cool weather have reminded me of home.

peace,

will

Harmful Rumors

I have become very interested over the last few years in rumors and urban legends and how we sometimes base our opinions and actions on information that is totally false. It seems that the victims of Katrina may have been victims of not just storms, but bad information.

This story from The Washington Post has a lot to say on that issue:

News of Pandemonium May Have Slowed Aid
(notice - this link may be invalid 14 days after this post)

I have actually been pretty shocked by the Katrina rumor mill. My inbox has been flooded with e-mails related to Katrina relief. Most of them have been stories of hope and heroism or pleas for help and support. However, some have been pretty revolting (and totally untrue) tales of rude or criminal behavior of evacuees. Whenever I receive questionable e-mails, I check them out at a website called snopes.com. They are a clearing house of urban legends.

Here is an example at snopes:

Utah Evacuees

In case you don't have a chance to read it, it is a review of an e-mail reporting on absolutely horrible behavior of evacuees taken to Utah. It also alleges that most of these evacuees were criminals, gang members and drug users. What is interesting is that none of this checks out. None of it appears to be true.

Even if there are accounts of bad behavior or even criminal behavior among evacuees, why is that so interesting? There seems to be quite a bit of bad behavior among people who haven't lost everything. A look at recent headlines points me to quite a bit of bad and criminal behavior among the wealthy and powerful.

Barbara Mikkelson, a staffer at Snopes.com had this thought.

Such characterization tends to fit more neatly into what people need to believe if they are to feel good about scaling back on the relief efforts underway — by convincing themselves recipients of their largesse are both unworthy and ungrateful, they will find it less painful to disassociate themselves than if the victims of Katrina remained in their minds sweet-faced little children, befuddled but lovable grandfathers, and struggling families who lost it all and now have nothing. [1]

I guess the point of this, one of my longest posts ever is this: Read news and especially e-mails critically. Think of the story Jesus told about the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Had a reporter been walking down that road, would they have stopped to help or would they have written a story about how the man shouldn't have been there in the first place. I think most would stop to help. Watch out for the one who writes the story.

peace,

will

[1] Barbara Mikkelson, "Rest Stop", Snopes.com, http://www.snopes.com/katrina/personal/reststop.asp, accessed 11, October, 2005, internet;

The latest on a few things

I have been a little surprised at the limited media attention given to the earthquake in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. I thought I would pass along a fairly comprehensive article from Reuters News Service.

Blocked roads, hail hamper Pakistan relief effort

I also want to pass along an update from The United Methodist Committee on Relief on efforts to assist in the area.

UMCOR - Pakistan Earthquake

Also, in the wake of Katrina and in the shadow of this latest disaster, not much attention is being given to our brothers and sisters here in Texas after Rita. I want to pass along a letter from the bishop of the Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church, Bishop Janice Riggle Huie.

October 3, 2005 - extravagant generosity

I think the reason there is not a lot of talk about the earthquake or the effects of Rita is that people are worn out. I understand that. In fact, I am not sure that constant media attention is always the most helpful thing. What we need is compassion and generosity. Natural disasters bring human suffering front and center. The reality is that people suffer needlessly every day. Perhaps it is best we not get hung up watching scenes of destruction and CNN and grieving. Instead perhaps we should be thinking about what we can do to help those who suffer from both the latest disaster and the daily disasters of poverty, homelessness, inadequate medical care, genocide, war, and needless violence that plague our planet every day.

Just a thought.

peace,

will

In case you missed it... this week's sermon

You can read it here.

Feel free to come back to this post and leave thoughts and comments.

peace,

will

Sunday Preview

Scripture: Mark 10:17-21

Sermon Title: “Thanks for Nothing!”

I am preaching this week on one of the most colorful narratives in the New Testament. It is one that gets ignored a lot because it brings up issues that make some preachers uncomfortable. (Jesus does that a lot.)

When things get difficult in my life, I like to go camping. So, faced with a difficult piece of scripture, I am going to talk about going camping. On Sunday I will share some of my experience (and a couple of photos) of my time in the Colorado backcountry last summer.

See you Sunday!

peace,

will

Young Adults This Week (Tonight)

If you are 18 to 30ish come on by the parsonage tonight at 7:30. If you are not 18 to 30ish, tell someone who is!

This week, we will be talking about garbage! Did you know, on average, each American throws away 7.5 pounds of garbage a day? In the U.S., each year, we use enough aluminum cans to make 6,000 DC-10 airplanes. We consume lots of stuff and we throw a lot away. Don't worry though, this isn't going to be a lecture on how you should reduce, reuse and recycle. Instead, we will look biblically at how we think about stuff and what we do with it.

If you need more info or directions, e-mail me.

peace,

will

Off it goes!

Thank you all again for putting together flood buckets and health kits for the United Methodist Committee on Relief's Hurricane Relief. The truck picked them all up this morning and after stops to pick up more in San Antonio and Austin, they will be off to Baldwin, Louisiana and the Sager-Brown Depot. (By the way, between Grace, Mathis UMC and Beeville, we sent 288 health kits and 43 flood buckets!) From there the will be sent out to Hurricane relief efforts in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. They will also help replenish the stock to UMCOR has supplies on hand if they should be needed in the future.

It is also important to remember that UMCOR works all around the world. The health kits and other supplies go to places like Afghanistan and the Congo. They are used to bring relief to displaced people and also to teach people about hygiene and basic health care.

peace,

will

A word about prayer

I came across these wonderful words about prayer this morning at the prayer website run by the Irish Jesuits. I have mentioned the site before on this weblog. You can find it at www.sacredspace.ie.

The catechism definition of prayer is useful: the raising of the heart and mind to God. Not that we need a definition. Prayer is something we do in our own way. We breathe, smile and metabolize food, without defining the operations; so too with prayer. But we can consciously put ourselves in the way of prayer. Quiet the body. One traditional method is to sit with the backbone straight, from your bottom to the top of your head, the eyes half-closed, the breathing slow and easy, the hands on your lap with the palms facing upwards in openness to GodÂ’s gifts. Then we aim to become present to God as he is always present to us. He has ears to listen to what our heart is saying.

Blessings on your week!

will

hummingbirds

(click on the photo for a larger view)
I couldn't think of a more creative post title today. Alisha and I have been really amazed by the swarms of hummingbirds who come to the feeders in the yard. Some people who have lived in Corpus for a while think this is perfectly normal, but we are still amazed.

It took Alisha a while of experimenting to get this shot. It takes a pretty fast shutter speed and the ability to manually focus. They are amazing to watch.

peace,

will