September Prayer

On the anniversary of 9/11, I offer this prayer I wrote four years ago, which seems once again to speak to our collective souls:

What can I give?
They want me to live
The way I did before.
But trivial and temporal
Are not what we weep for.
We have lost who we were before.

Turn off the TV. Turn off the lights.
Light a candle for peace tonight.
This is the end, where we begin
To fight the good fight.
Take someone's hand now, as we unite,
Say a prayer for grace tonight.
It's not the end.
We're in His hands,
Precious in His sight.

How much longer till we see
The full light of Your glory?
Proud men pierce the heart of peace;
But we trust You, King of Kings.

King of Kings, Prince of Peace,
God of Grace, show Your face!
We are weak, on our knees.
Save us from our enemies,
Jesus, please...

Disaster & Duty

Here I sit with React Now (CMT, MTV, VH1) playing on the television. Pearl Jam comes on and their front man announces to his audience that they are trying to raise money to help the hurricane victims. He says they feel that the government should be taking care of this, but sometimes you have to rise up and help each other out. I get the general impression that they’re not the only ones who feel that way.

How sad it is that so many Americans have such a low sense of duty and patriotism, such an absent sense of pride and responsibility that they truly believe in their deepest heart that helping those in need, most by doing little more than contributing cash or old clothes, is—indeed, should be—a last resort!

When, exactly, did it become the government’s job to live our lives for us? How can I even write a sentence like that in America! Let me explain… Are we not supposed to be a government of the people, by the people, for the people? Were not our elected officials supposed to be our representatives and not our replacements? Are we so far divorced from this idea that, in our minds, the government must now be either our number one public servant or, if not, public enemy number one?

I expect a lot from the government. I expect them to clean up and rebuild the infrastructure of the Gulf Coast. I expect them to protect and preserve as many lives as possible.

I expect more from my fellow citizens! I expect them to care and restore broken lives. I expect them to first mourn with those who mourn. Then, I expect them to sacrifice what they have for the sake of those who have not. I expect them to provide shelter for those who have no where else to go. I expect them to feed hungry stomachs with food and fill hungry hearts with faith.

Despite the photo opportunities of the last two weeks, the government cannot be there to hold hands and calm minds. There is a human element that transcends political intentions. But even when the government is at its best, there is too much to be done. There is a mountain of catastrophe that must be moved through prayer and practical assistance. More than anything, I expect The Salvation Army, Samaritan’s Purse, World Vision, denominations and local churches to be on the frontlines.

In September 2001, I wrote the following words:
“We have suffered much loss in America. The world has seen and felt our grief and stands together with us, even as we realize our own solidarity. The biggest tragedy is the enormous human loss. But this disaster also halted transportation, commerce, and entertainment at all levels. It took away (if only temporarily) all we thought we needed and wanted and for which we had worked so hard. It left us only with a realization of what is really important: the people around us--all people, every human life--and faith in the one true and loving God.”

Why MUST there be an enemy for us to unite? Have we turned against ourselves simply because there is no one for us to unite against? Is it that the rest of the country is not facing the imminent threat of disaster that we feel so much more vehement about criticism than compassion?

We know that the federal government, under pressure, has been reconsidering its disaster relief procedures. How many of our state and local officials have become introspective about their regional threats? What will happen to California when a major earthquake hits? Will Washington be able to withstand another major volcanic eruption? So many natural disasters loom over us (not to mention human threats).

In this world we will have tribulations. When they hit, are America’s citizens ready—willing—to help? I hope the ideal of civilian compassion is not limited to a Christian worldview.

Scrambled Age, Part 1

I found myself in the position of trying to explain postmodernism yesterday to various people at church. In my conversations I relied mainly on what I learned in researching the following thesis paper that I wrote in Summer 2002. I will present it on this blog in sections. If you’d like to read it in its entirety now click here.


Finding Truth in a Scrambled Age:
A Postmodern, Gen-Xer, Evangelical Perspective

I am a member of Generation X. I do not resent the label. I hardly know what it means. I suppose that is the point. About 10 years ago, everyone was so fascinated by our complacency and lack of identity. We were trying to find our place in the world. Like generations before us, we were trying to make our mark, but our mark was decidedly ambiguous. We were not particularly fond of the world we were born into. It seemed so fabricated and forced. Where our grandparents sacrificed our parents splurged. "He who dies with the most toys wins." That was the motto. Everyone was in the rat race trying to keep up, then trying to one-up their neighbors. At work, it was all about success. At home, it was all about image. We gagged at the thought. We became an "anti-" generation, nonconformists by creed. We just wanted to be ourselves, not become cookie-cutter cutouts of our parents. It became our moral struggle, to fight for the freedom to simply be. Now we are all grown up and starting families of our own. Reluctantly, tentatively, we have joined the "real world." But we do not see it the same way as our parents. Things have changed.

A new way of thinking has emerged and come to prominence in our time. Consistent with our cause of nonconformity, we decided that none of us should tell anyone else what the other should or should not do. We took "if it feels good, do it" to whole new levels and set a new moral standard: do whatever is right for you. This new morality may not have started with us, but we were the first to really own it, the first to just assume it and assert it without too much opposition. It resonates with the way we see the world. The thinking goes that since we do not want others telling us what to do we must refrain from telling others what they should do. Thus, we are free to decide for ourselves. It is a kind of golden rule. It allows us to do whatever we believe, think or feel is right. On the other hand, it also restricts our being able (read "allowed") to speak out about what is right or wrong because now all of that must necessarily be nothing more than opinion. According to our new morality we do not want others to force their morality on us. So, on such matters, the only acceptable moral voices are individual consciences. The Bible's "judge not lest you be judged," in this new context, is the supreme ethic.

This is but one perspective—my perspective—on what has happened in America in the last 20 years. The generation after me, born in the last two decades of the 20th century and called "millennials," are just graduating high school. They see it differently because they have grown up in this new ambiguous climate; it is all they know. But I have lived in two worlds. They may look the same, but the world we are in now is entirely new. We call it Postmodern.

next section