I love Legos...

I just had to share this. You can make anything with Legos. It's a LegObama!

Transitions, Triumph, and Tribulation

Jesus said, "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand."

The above is from today's Gospel according to the Daily Office lectionary. I can think of no more fitting passage to mark the transition from the presidency of George W. Bush to that of Barack Obama. I was in seminary at Virginia Theological Seminary (just across the river from Washington D.C.) for the inauguration of former President Bill Clinton in 1992 and I am now, as I was then, amazed that in a world in which transitions of power are often accompanied by at least strife and wrangling and at worst war and bloodshed, our transition of power simply involves one man gracefully stepping down and another gracefully stepping up.



It is my fervent hope that we have turned the page on one of the most divisive chapters in our nation's history. President Obama has repeatedly called for unity, for disagreement without being disagreeable, for finding common ground in the midst of the daunting challenges that face us. He has also repeatedly invoked Abraham Lincoln, a president who presided over literally the most divided chapter in our nation's history. I remember well that now former president George W. Bush stated that he was "a uniter, not a divider." While that may have been his initial intention, he and Karl Rove presided over a presidency that was a poster child for a divide and conquer strategy. Perhaps history will judge him less harshly then his outgoing approval ratings, but I devoutly hope that we have seen the last of divide and conquer politics and instead have a "unite and overcome" politics.

As has been said many times, this day hardly marks the end of the movement for equal rights for African-Americans, much less other minorities. It is, instead, a new beginning in what I and millions of others hope and, yes, earnestly pray, will be a time of both sacrifice and solidarity in the midst of war and economic uncertainties. The church, too, is in a state in which we desperately need to hear and heed Jesus' words that a house divided cannot stand. May both church and state be united within themselves for common purpose and healing.

Welcome to the White House, President Obama and family!

The Warren Consternation

The church and the nation are abuzz with reactions to the announcement that President-elect Barack Obama has asked Pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at Obama's inaguration. The bulk of the reaction is negative, which is understandable given Warren's support for California's Proposition 8 and his (in my opinion) unwise statements regarding whether the United States should "take out" foreign leaders. However, Geoffrey Garrin makes a progressive case for Rick Warren in his recent Washington Post article.

I'm personally conflicted over Obama's choice of Pastor Warren. On the one hand, he has said many things with which I vehemently disagree--his support of Proposition 8 and likening gay marriage to pedophilia and polygamy (after saying that divorce was a far greater threat to the institution of marriage)--is one glaring example. Another is his backing of assassination of foreign leaders. Both positions bear a striking resemblance to the more extreme positions of the extreme religious right. I don't think either align with Jesus teachings. I also happen to know several gay couples who I believe are indeed examples of fidelity and holiness and who are likely at the very least hurt, and at the most grievously wounded over the fact that PRop 8 passed, with Warren's support.

On the other hand, there seems to be a large number of people equating Obama's invitation of Warren with a betrayal of gay rights or some sort of wholesale endorsement of Warren's views. It seems like the symbolism has completely overshadowed the potential reality. President-elect Obama hasn't even taken the oath of office yet and there are already people feeling supremely disappointed and somehow betrayed that he has made this choice. While I would likely feel differently if I were gay, our culture's obsession with symbolism over substance in general seems a disturbing trend.

A month from today, the new President Obama will take office. How about we let him make some policy decisions and then we can criticize them? Until then, give the guy a break.

A Postmodern President

As I write this, the pundits and commentators are waxing eloquent about the historical significance of Barack Obama's election as the forty-forth President of the United States. What struck me most, however, was President-elect Obama's call for healing and unity in a very difficult and trying time and Senator McCain's promise to work with him to address the problems that confront us. Tom Brokaw called Obama the "first post-modern President."

To my mind what that means is that I and many of my fellow GenXers long to move beyond the conflicts of the past four decades and into a time in which we move beyond them and forge a unity that depends on the strength of our relationships rather than on the number of issues on which we agree. As I see Obama moving in that direction, I hope that the Episcopal Church can also move beyond our divisions and forge a similar unity through personal relationships.

Obama Reaches Albany

This won't be long, but I did want to note that presidential candidate Barack Obama stopped off in my little town of Albany, Oregon today and I was fortunate to be one of 2,500 people in a town-hall style meeting at the Linn County Fairgrounds. I was also fortunate to be one of the many to shake his hand as he entered the speaker's area. I didn't hear too much that was new, but it was a thrill to be there and to be in contact, literally, with someone who has an excellent chance of becoming President of the United States.

This man can speak!

Having come home from a day of interviewing Superintendent candidates for our school district and then, on the way home, briefly checking in at the church, I arrived and flipped on the TV to hear that there was a great amount of reaction to a speech given today by Presidential candidate Barack Obama on race and politics. I was not able to watch the speech when it was given. I didn't even know he was giving it. However, after returning from Evening Prayer at my church, I sat down and watched it on the Obama web site via a YouTube video, specifically this one:



I am a preacher, someone who has grown up as a white heterosexual man, and have just completed anti-racism training where so much of the history and so many of the problems Obama addressed were highlighted. I served a (largely white) church just outside of Philadelphia when I was a Curate just out of seminary. I just spent today interviewing two finalists for a Superintendent position, a white woman and a black woman, who both spoke of issues of diversity in mostly (90%) white Albany, Oregon. With all those experiences, and as a member of Obama's generation, Generation X, I was more than impressed by his speech, I was stunned and struck speechless.

All I could think of when I finished listening to the speech was "Wow. I wish there was a bishop in our church who could speak as clearly to the legacy of colonialism in the Anglican Communion, the fears and frustrations of GLBT people in our church, the despair of an increasingly marginalized mainline church, and the hopes, dreams, and experiences of liberal and conservative alike, in such a way that the polarization of the church that so much mirrors the polarization in the political arena could begin to be healed." What most impressed me about Barack Obama's speech, was that he talked about the fact that "perfecting our union" was not a zero-sum game where one person's dreams come at the expense of another person's dreams, but a way of binding ourselves together in a common purpose that allows everyone to work against the injustices, inequities, and systemic problems in the world. I'm flat out impressed.

I don't really know what else to say, so I won't say anything else, but I'm already thinking of sermon material...