Jeremiah 2010!

New Years Eve. The world needs hope. We need Jeremiah 2010! Some commentators are calling the first decade of this millenium one of the worst in American history. I would add this past year has been filled with more disappointment than expected.

First the worst. 1) A stolen election in 2000 and the inappropriate intervention of the U.S. Supreme Court which should have turned the process back to the Florida Supreme Court; 2) The invasion of Iraq, based upon a blind will to war and doctored intelligence; 3) Tax refunds of surplus funds and tax cuts which benefitted the upper upper classes the most and punished the middle and lower classes; 4) The failure to capture Bin Laden and premature pull-out in Afghanistan, both which led to the present surge into this "Graveyard of Empires"; 5) Inadequate regulatory efforts leading to the recession; 6) Greedy and risky bank mortgage loan practices; 7) Abuse of the Constitution, twisting its intention to justify torture and invasion of privacy; 8) The rich getting super rich and the middle and lower classes getting poorer; 9) Lack of prosecution of those who violated the Constitution; 10) There must be more! Let us count the ways!

Disappointments. 1) In too many instances, Obama's action failing to match his soaring rhetoric, particularly relating to his backing off from the public option and making a sell-out deal with the pharmaceutical companies which will cost the taxpayer more out of pocket expense; 2) Bailing out banks without getting them to sign-on to tough loan practices and adhering to restrictions on certain high risk transactions; 3) Favoring Wall Street over Main Street. There should have been funding for both; 4) Weak response to creating jobs and funding infrastructure projects; 5) Hiring Summers and Geithner to guide the economic recovery when their past actions helped create the problems we are sinking into; 6) Inadequate legal guarantees for detainees. Each needs to be given the right to habaeus corpus rights and prompt trials; 7) Inadequate regulatory reform actions, giving the banks and Wall Street too much freedom to engage in the practices that created this economic mess in the first place; 8) No significant help for people losing their homes due to mortgage defaults; 9) Inadequate jobs creation efforts; 10) Inadequate reigning in of corporate bonuses and salaries; 11) Lack of political courage to adopt a progressive environmental policy; 12) Troop surge in Afghanistan and seeming failure to make strict expectations of the Karzai government, with a tougher exit policy; 13) Timidity in getting into the health care fray, not insisting on a more progressive bill (he needs to be more Bush and LBJ like); 14) Failure to close Gitmo; 15) Democratic majorities buckling under corporate pressures, leading to a disjointed response to solutions; 16) The unjust power of corporations buying influence which hurts the American people. The increasing rise of an oligarchy; 17) The rise of Sarah Palin as a potential "answer" to all of our problems. Scary thought!; 18) Failure to adequately address GLBT issues; 19) Could there be more?

Hopes. The disappointments are corrected.

In fairness to President Obama, he inherited a huge banquet of problems, but he is the main man responsible for the solutions. Also,he inherited a convoluted system which needs straightening. Furthermore, to his credit, he has begun to address many issues, and working with such a polarized Congress makes dramatic change difficult. I commend him for seeking to expand the scope of health care.

President Obama and the entire Washington leadership need our prayers, letters, phone calls, emails, and presence to demand righteousness for all. Especially we within the Colorado Confession, because I think we understand these issues enough to faithfully and intelligently address some aspects of the problems and posit solutions. We can take heart in Jeremiah's words in Chapter 31:7-14, when he speaks words of grace to a people in exile: "I will gather them [from exile],....I will let them walk by brooks of water,....I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow".

Hope abounds! Hopeful New Year!

Peace!
Ron

Why Was Jesus Christ Necessary?

It's Christmas. We celebrate God becoming flesh. Why? Or the larger question: Why was Jesus Christ necessary? I would submit that God wanted to remind us what it means to be a human being; what it means to be created in the Image of God. Humanity had forgotten its humanity. Instead of living in God's Image, we chose to live in our own. A favorite professor of mine put it this way: "Glory to Man in the highest, the maker and master of things"! Or, as George Bernard Shaw explains: "We were created in the Image of God, and then we decided to return the favor".

Why was Jesus Christ necessary? Ask Elie Wiesel. Standing with another thousand or so of his fellow prisoners in Auschwitz, they were forced to watch the execution of a 13 year old boy, being hung from a steel railroad track. An inmate asked "Where is God now?" Elie replied: "He is there, hanging on the gallows". We didn't kill God. Instead, we forgot that we are created in God's Image. God's Image is the true character of our humanity. We are called to reflect God's Image through our humanity.

A couple of stories, one true and the other perhaps not, but the point is true. In Bulgaria, 1943, Jews were being rounded up for shipment to their doom. Sensing the urgency of the time, Metropolitan Kiril, dressed in full official ecclesiastical authoritative regalia, marched into the compound, brushing aside the rifles, laughing and talking with his Jewish brothers and sisters, and repeated the words of Ruth: "Where you go, I will go. Where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God". The outcome of the story of the Bulgarian Jews is that NONE of them ended up in the furnaces of Auschwitz. I'm sure there were many other forces at work to prevent their holocaust, but the theological point is made: the Metropolitan reflected the Image of God through his humanity, and his humanity contributed to the Jews salvation. He reflected the humanity of Jesus.

The other story is about a young boy, standing shoeless in front of a store window on a cold December day. A woman noticed him, walked up to him and asked, "What are you looking at?" The boy responded, "I am praying for a pair of shoes". The woman took his hand and they entered the store. The woman asked the clerk for a bowl of water, a towel, and some socks. She washed the boy's feet and put on the new socks. She then asked for some shoes, and after trying on some pairs, the boy made his choice. Walking out of the store together, the boy looked up and asked, "Are you Mrs. God"? Okay, a bit schmultzy, call it a parable or metaphor. But the woman reflected the Image of God through her humanity.

Why was Jesus Christ necessary? Because we forgot what it means to be created in the Image of God, and to reflect the humanity of Jesus through our humanity. To my knowledge, Jesus never killed anyone, never told his disciples to kill or abuse anyone, never beat his mother, never threatened his father, never.... But I did read about truth telling, reconciliation, forgiveness, repentance, justice, righteous anger, and that stickler, love. I did read about him lifting the status of women and children. I did not read about him condemning GLBT folks. I did remember him telling about the birds of the air and lilies of the field, riding the waves with his disciples, eating and drinking with the outsiders, and then sharing himself with us in the Lord's Supper. I did read about him sacrificing himself for us, making himself a bloodbath for us, becoming a holocaust for us.

I'll confess. It has been hard watching the Rachel Maddow Show, Hardball, Keith Olbermann, Dylan Ratigan, Morning Joe, the U.S. Senate and House, President Obama, the "sausage making" of the Health Care Bill, the influence of the lobbyists and the religious "Family", the increased war funding, and.... I ask: "Can't we do better?" There are evidently an abundance of Christians in leadership positions. How about reflecting the Image of God through their humanity? Christ's humanity has been bastardized on the cross of influence and profit.

Why was Jesus Christ necessary? Because we forgot what it means to be created in the Image of God, and to reflect the humanity of Jesus through our humanity. Yes, in our humanity we will fail everyday, but the divine humanity of Jesus puts us together again, so we can reclaim our humanity and reflect Christ, not as we ought, but as we are able, again and again and again.

"And the Word became flesh...."

Blessed Christmas and Peace!
Ron

Democracy is Messy!

Democracy is messy! Following the health care debate, waiting patiently for President Obama's decision on Afghanistan and Pakistan, hoping for positive recommendations for job restoration, are an exercise in muddling through, give and take, ebb and flow, excitement and depression, Good Fridays and Easters, stirred with a mix of blah, boredom, and calm. I am reminded of what President Bush once said in a news conference, something like "It would be easier being a dictator, as long as I am the dictator". Democracy is messy.

Ideological rigidity helps create this messiness. It is disappointing to see such unwillingness to consider even some of the merits of the other side, for the sake of the common good. Gracious! Isn't there a maturity factor that says no one gets everything they want? The politics of destruction is alive and well. Too often we see and hear our leadership acting like spoiled children. Democracy is messy.

We have created a system where the corporate wealthy pull most of the strings of power, and exert unbalanced influence on our representatives, to both of their benefits. The rest of us are out there, living day to day, becoming more vulnerable to the whims of the powerful. Elizabeth Warren has caught on to the plight of the middle class in her article on "America Without a Middle Class". Scary stuff. The rich get richer, and then there are the rest of us. Democracy is messy.

Someone once said: "Democracy is the finest form of government around, if you can keep it". Churchill echoed the sentiment. At its best, democracy nurtures debate, openness of mind, engagement of opposites, all towards thoughtful decision making for the greater good, the common good. The rub comes when amidst the debate the heart and mind are closed to listening and learning; when there is no humility, when civility takes a hike, when profit trumps justice, when greed silences compassion, when survival crushes the common good, when blaming negates oneness, when might becomes right, all in the name of democracy. Democracy is messy.

This is where the mission of the Church steps into the fray. The Church is also messy. We, too, are diverse and divisive. Niebuhr reminds us of the power of sin, and our history provides ample examples of how the Church has "fallen short of the glory of God". Yet, there is also confession-forgiveness-repentance which recall our being created in the Image of God. Our core is not ideological, might makes right, profit over compassion, prejudice over oneness. Our core is Christ. Christ the healer, Christ the just, Christ the compassionate, Christ the truth teller, Christ the teacher and preacher, Christ the one who is not from this world, Christ the challenger of the status quo, Christ the transformer of persons, Christ the reconciler, Christ the One who enters our messiness and blends us into a complementary stew for the common good, with no one tastier or less necessary than the other, a stew where each ingredient maintains its taste yet allows itself to influence the other tastes while also being influenced by the other tastes, giving and receiving our common tastes for the fuller taste. In the words of Jim Carrey: "Tasty!"

Democracy is messy. The Church is messy. Democracy needs the messiness of the Church. Christ is the Master Chef who mixes democracy and Church so we can make real a "messy" Reign of God. This gives me hope. This is Advent!

Blessed Advent Hope to all!

Ron

Are We Worth It?

Last Wednesday, 11 November, I attended the local Veteran's Day celebration at the high school. It was stirring! The choirs from grade school to high school performed new melodic patriotic arrangements. There were youth doing a flag routine similar to flag wavers at half time of a football game. The high school band performed well. The colors were presented and retired in a precise manner. Veterans of each service branch were asked to stand and be recognized. The names of those who had died the past year were read aloud with a red rose placed on a chair draped in black in their honor. The local representatives for Boys and Girls State spoke of patriotism and government. The speaker was the local Presbyterian pastor who is married to a former Army Ranger. We wll sang the "Star Spangled Banner" and placed our hands over our hearts as we pledged allegiance to the flag. Yes, I actively participated. The event was timely, well done, and respectful of the occasion.

That afternoon I officiated at the funeral of a former US Army vet. At the gravesite the local American Legion Post gave the 24 gun salute with real M-1 Garrands, and taps were provided electronically by a wonderful commander who placed the trumpet to his lips and pressed a button which activated a mechanism the shape of a trumpet mute which sounded a perfect "Taps", all digitally pure. The commander then presented an American flag to the family "On behalf of the President of the United States and a grateful nation". The empty cartridges were given to a family member to be distributed amongst the family. All respectfully done, with a solemn dignity.

What struck me was the physical appearance of nearly all of the veterans. All were average looking guys, mostly overweight, most tired in appearance. No John Wayne types here. Yet, they were all appreciative of the honor of the day. There was a pride of service, and the community was glad to say "Thank you", which they have been doing for over 25 years.

My brother served in the USAF for 28 years, becoming a Lt. Colonel. My uncle served in the US Navy during WWII. My cousin was shot down by the Russians off the coast of Vladivostok in 1952 because the RB-50 he was a crew member on was supposedly violating Soviet air space. We never heard from him again although there were reports he was prisoner in a Soviet gulag for years following. He is remembered in an empty grave and a granite headstone.

I have no trouble saying war is counter to the will of God. Nor do I doubt that Jesus would be an active pacifist. I have said many times that we were not created to kill each other. I would say that Constantine was the worst thing that happened to the Christian church, although I have no doubt someone else would have come along (and they did) who would have twisted the cross of Jesus into a national cross of iron. I also believe that a Christian can serve in the military.

Likewise, I am well aware of the cost of service. I have heard too many stories to buy into the glories of war. Indeed, I am coming to believe that what is happening within our nation is the natural outcome of being obsessed with the curse of empire. Soldiers returning home with emotional, physical, and moral scars that have torn out a chunk of their humanity, leading many to live on the streets, abuse their family members, assault strangers, or put a gun to their heads and.... Meanwhile the private contractors get rich, the arms dealers make a profit, weapons makers hawk their tools of death to the highest bidder, we send soldiers off to foreign lands to die for oil and hunt for an elusive Osama, and to fight, be maimed, and die for a corrupt government. And meanwhile our nation is broke, health care for all is being scuttled by the for profit insurance oligarchy and pay-offs to our elected leaders, banks are not lending, Wall Street is living off tax payer dollars, unemployment is growing, Obama is trying, and Sarah Palin is laying the groundwork for running for president in 2012.

This scenario leads me to the following conclusions: 1) Thank God for Jesus! It is a comfort knowing that His grace does not depend upon us making the correct decisions or knowing how to live together peacefully; 2) Thank God for Jesus! His call to discipleship and witness through the Sermon on the Mount remind us of purposeful living and what we are created to be; 3) Thank God for Jesus! In Christ is Spirit, and the energetic freedom to transform the home, neighborhood, nation and world, not as we ought but as we are able; 4) Thank God for Jesus! It is Jesus who can remake broken lives, and release us from a past that shatters love; 5) Thank God for Jesus! Our actions will be judged daily and at the end of time. We will be held accountable for our refusal to reflect the Image of God. We will be asked why we neglected justice and bastardized peace in the name of greed and national pride.

I think of the veterans. Most would say they served to keep us free. I am grateful for their service and sacrifice. The question I have is: Are we worth it? Or, are they just paying the price for our national folly?

Peace!
Ron

Ratchetting Up!

I have recently begun serving as Lead Interim Minister at a large congregation in rural Minnesota. The people and leadership I have met are truly wonderful servants of Jesus. Their hearts are large with love, their concrete acts of compassion are numerous, and they are willing to do more. Furthermore, the organization, design, and care of the building are the best I have seen in a congregation. This is a testimony to the high level of responsibility within the people. A major fire over two years ago allowed them to rethink the building design and overall architectural configuration. The challenge before the congregation now is how to use this facility and considerable generosity to move ahead with new ideas for ministry/mission. The church is a blessing to this rural community and is loaded with professional and city leaders.

Does this sound familiar? How many of us belong to similar congregations, filled with good folks with a loving sense of Jesus and generous hearts, supporting compassion efforts? These actions need to be celebrated and encouraged. And built upon.

The building efforts seem to be in two directions: 1) Explore the community areas of need and design response strategies; 2) Begin teaching about the difference between charity and justice.

My efforts at addressing the above two points are beginning to focus on the following efforts:
1) Sponsoring open houses in the parsonage called "Firesides" (because there is a wonderful fireplace in the living room), to include singing, eating, drinking (coffee, no alcohol), prayer, a hang loose feeling, and a book study on Shane Claiborn's Irresistible Revolution. Great book! It is his story of his movement from the establishment church to his present vocation of being part of the "Simple Way" alternative church community. This turn away from the boredom of the institutional church to this alternative, counter-cultural expression is the story of his radicalism. He is not anti-institution, but more "let's do more"; 2) Work with the Church in Society Board to look beyond the walls of the congregation; 3) To invite community leaders to address the congregation about community realities. To me, the ultimate challenge is to encourage the mainline congregations to "do more" given the resources at their disposal. It seems to me that many congregations are not challenged enough to reach higher, to elevate their thinking and concretize more action. Indeed, it may well be that we "lefties" bail too soon on our established congregations, and not spend enough time nurturing the people to move beyond the status quo. Yes, there are risks, like being asked to leave, or just being politely "shunned". And there are limits to the rejection that each of us can endure. But I cannot help but feel it is worth a shot to try, and to keep on trying. And if we are beaten down, we have each other! And Jesus!

Although I have great criticism of the Far Right Christian "Crazies" and their congregations, I admire their passion for addressing life and political issues with an uncommon fervor, albeit narrow sighted and often prejudicial and bigoted. The challenge for us folks, and the reason for the Colorado Confession, was to challenge the mainline church to "ratchet up" its social justice and peace ministries, armed with a more thoughtful Biblical understanding and healthier personnas. I think our congregations are up to being challenged to a higher level of faithfulness. I read a comment by Cornell West: "We Christians have taken the blood of Jesus at the foot of the cross and changed it into kool aid". It is irresponsible to simply allow our congregations to retreat into courageless comfort. The People of God are worth our sacrifice to encourage greater encounter with justice and peace issues. We cannot bail. Our congregations need us.

Peace!
Ron

The Big Tent

The Church is a Big Tent. We are diverse. We are complicated. We are redeemed. We are broken. We are in Christ. We are in ourselves. We are thoughtful. We are (to quote Robin Williams in another context) "One taco short of a combination plate".

Most of the time I can celebrate this Big Tent. It is consistent with what Paul describes as the Body of Christ. I appreciate what diverse denominations bring to the Table of God. I sometimes describe Lutherans as "Inside every Lutheran is a Baptist trying to get out!", meaning we want be more expressive about our faith but culturally we are a bit repressed. I also describe my faith as Lutheran by confession, but a Mennonite at heart. The peace witness of the Mennonites and Quakers, the commitment to social justice of the Methodists and the new evangelicals, and the high liturgy of the Anglicans and Roman Catholics are inspiring, at least to me. And so we go.

I had the occasion recently to communicate with a friend who had been led by God and chosen to leave the ELCA, and he and his congregation have chosen to realign with the LCMC, or as he says, "the ELCA has significantly shifted". I respect the actions of his faithful conscience. In reflecting on his decision, I responded:

As I have ministered in the Church, I have always been intrigued by the question: What does it mean to be the Church? One of the conclusions for me has been that the Church is a Big Tent! Diversity is a great gift as it allows for various expression to co-exist, yet it also presents challenges of conscience and ethics. Then you throw in the "crazies" who hate in the name of Jesus, and, my 0 my, the mix can be contentious!

This reality leads me to ask: Where is our common ground in Christ? So we have differences. Can we love Christ enough to love each other enough to love the world enough, together? This is the great opportunity and challenge of the Church Universal. We must give common witness to Christ in the world in the Spirit of Christ's love. I like what Dorothy Day says: "Love is the measure". The greatest challenges and joys in my ministry have been making that love happen amidst the diversity of opinion, culture, and confession. I also like what John Howard Yoder says: "The alternative community [of the church] discharges a modeling mission. The Church is called to be now what the world is called to be ultimately". Or Gandhi: "You must be the change you want to see in the world".

What kind of church are we? Are we a church that allows for the Spirit of Christ to guide our interpreation of the Word, or do we have a Wahabbi-like literal constriction of God's Truth? Are we a church that weds Word and world, that understands our task as being an alternative community, that envisions a "new order" (Jim Wallis), posits an "upside-down kingdom" (Donald Kraybill), or is "in a state of permanent revolution" (Jacques Ellul)?

Our common ground in Christ is to reflect the transforming nature of the Reign of God. When we do this inspite of our diversity, and because of it, we are doing God's work. When we allow our diversity to spew hatred, to divide for the sake of pride, we are doing the work of the Devil, prostituting the reality of Christ, watering the ground of hypocracy, and giving credence to an unholy cynicism. I hear echoes of Bonhoeffer: "There is no salvation outside of the Confessing Church".

The Church is a Big Tent. Now, what is our color? Our character? Our witness?

Peace!
Ron

The Highest Respect

Our interpretation of Scripture informs our values and directs our actions. Or, is it the other way around: our actions and values focuses our interpretation of Scripture. Or, do we use Scripture to justify our values and actions? In any case, how we interpret Scripture is directly related to the character of our actions and values. Interpretation deserves our highest respect.

I have been reading Matt Taibbi's The Great Derangement. Matt is a contributing editor for Rolling Stone and winner of the 2007 National Magazine Award for Columns and Commentary. He calls himself an athiest. He writes of "deranged" aspects of American culture, whether in politics, religion, or social movements. In short, he is dismayed by the prevalence of cynical, unthinking hatred in each of these areas.

What I find most interesting is his journey into a fundamentalist congregation, even to the point of joining it so he could better understand what was happening. In this expose' he traveled to San Antonio, Texas to join Cornerstone Church, pastored by John Hagee. Remember that John McCain claimed Hagee as a spiritual advisor. Cornerstone has a membership of about 18,000 people. At Cornerstone he was surrounded by Left Behind followers, anti-gay, anti-anyone critical of the USA, anti-environmentalists, anti anything that was anti-Republican, pro-corporation, pro-capitalism, strongly pro-Israel, and definitely pro-personal salvation. Anything that was not of God was demonic. Going on a church retreat, Taibbi was showered with lessons on the demon of lust, the demon of handwriting analysis, the demon of philosophy, the demon of cancer, the demon of anal fissures, the demon of the intellect, the demon of pornography, the demon of disconnect. Taibbi's response to this demon talk is: "...asking these people to be objective about anything is just absurd". About fundamentalism, he writes: "...this kind of Christian is mainly wrapped up in a tireless study of various do's and don'ts-how to get through the day and interact with other human beings without slipping and inviting a demon into one's home or into one's abdomen". In all of this expression, Scripture was literally interpreted, with a major focus on the Old Testament, and the ethics of Jesus almost non-existant. The Bible was essentially a law book of rewards and punishments.

Recently, I had an exchange with a pastor of a congregation that has to deal with the recent ELCA sexuality votes. He commented that people need to address how scripture is interpreted. What this means is that how we interpret scripture informs the character of our values, of our approach to sexuality, of our actions. Likewise, the church Linda and I attend is sponsoring a series on understanding Islam. The conversation led to the content of the Koran. I asked about the truth of martyrs being given the gift of having sex with 70 virgins upon their death. He said this is not in the Koran. And finally, a group is promoting The Conservative Bible Project, which seeks to take the text back to its supposed right-wing roots. They say the Bible is too progressive: There is a "Lack of precision in the original language...lack of precision in modern language, and [there is a] translation bias in converting the original language to the modern one". Their solution to this problem is to propose a Wikipedia-like group editing project, focusing on avoiding unisex, emasculation of language, utilizing powerful conservative terms, expressing free-market parables, excluding liberal passages, and more.

Interpretation shapes our values. Respect for the integrity of the text, for what is there and what is not, is crucial to our values and ethics. We must let the text shape us first, allowing the Spirit of Christ to address the contexts of our lives. We will often be surprised by the creativity within the text. This creativity will have as its base the freedom to love, the freedom to do justice, the freedom to be merciful, the freedom to forgive, the freedom to make for peace, the freedom to welcome the stranger, the freedom to believe, the freedom to bring our contexts to the text trusting that the text will inform our actions, and the freedom to acknowledge Christ as the Center of life.

Interpretation deserves our highest respect, our sharpest intellect, our depth of heart, our humility of faith, our surrender to the grace of God. When this happens, Truth may arise to the glory of God and the greater realization of the Reign of God.

Peace!
Ron

Leadership: Top Ten

Hurray for leadership! It seems that leaders are flourishing! The 24/7 news cycle, the blogosphere, the internet, MSNBC, Fox, Air America, and.... The voices and pundits of leadership abound! But as the saying goes, "There are leaders and there are leaders". It sounds a bit like a "Yogi-ism": "When you come to a fork in the road, take it". Well, for what it is worth, in David Letterman fashion, I will list my Top Ten Leaders, or groupings, divided into constructive and destructive, with the understanding that all ten exhibit shades of the other, and that in Biblical fashion, "none is righteous, no not one". But there might be a tilt one way or the other!

CONSTRUCTIVE

President Barack Obama: He has accepted the challenge of trying to provide health care for all Americans. He has engaged the Muslim world in a spirit of partnership. He has opened America to equal partnership with the rest of the world, putting to rest a bully type attitude. He is more sensitive to the challenges posed by global warming and there are bills moving through congress seeking to address these concerns. He is working to close Guantanamo, to exit our troops from Iraq, is re-evaluating our Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy, and is engaging Iran with a greater sincerity and intelligence than before. The stimulus plan is working-somewhat with the economy slowly rebounding. Yes, in every effort listed there are short-comings, and the end results are not yet in sight, nor are the strategies as focused as many would like, but at least on balance he is addressing the issues in a constructive manner, with an ear to justice and peace.

Congressman Winer and Senator Waymer: I hope I got their names right! Congressman Winer truly understands the stakes in the health care debate. He is for a single payer system and understands how the insurance companies are gouging the American taxpayer and harming people in need of health insurance. Likewise, Senator Wayner and his "free choice" amendment to the health care bill. He wants all Americans to have a true choice in selecting their health insurance, just like members of congress have choice. It must also be an affordable choice.

Senators Rockefeller and Schumer: Both sit on the Senate Finance Committee and have proposed "public option" plans. Both were defeated, but because of their efforts, the public option is on the table. One of the best ways to win is to "not go away", and the losses were close.

Arianna Huffington: Arianna is editor of the on-line Huffington Post. The HP holds all people accountable, all political parties, all persuasions. Her standards are justice for all, earth care for all, equality for all. She has great compassion as well as a passion for what makes for peace.

The Comedy Central Team, Rachel Maddow and Keith Oberman: Satire and truth-telling to keep us focused. They expose the under-belly of the political landscape and jibe its hypocracy.

DESTRUCTIVE

Glenn Beck, Fox News, Lou Dobbs: Excellent at twisting facts, blindly nationalistic, overtly and covertly racist and nativist, depressingly uncivil, examples of the decline of thoughtful discource, good at name-calling, seed-bed of the "birthers" and "deathers".

Senator Max Baucus of Montana: In the pocket of the insurance companies, against a single payer system from the beginning, and against the public option. Captive to blind bi-partisanship and the need for 60 votes at the cost of true health reform. Spineless. The worst person at the most important moment in history to chair this most crucial Senate Committee.

Sarah Palin: Absolutely in love with herself! There isn't a camera she doesn't love! An ad agency which is responsible for booking her for speeches says her marketability has declined significantly, especially in the high priced circles. Why? Because "she's a blithering idiot"! Yes, she has a seven figure book deal, she will continue "blithering" to her minions, and she will probably wind up on Fox with a TV show. And yes, she believes she is presidential material. She is certainly a "legend in her own mind". Deliver us! Political eye candy! If we are not careful she will be the next Republican Presidential Nominee! And president???!!!

Right Wing Militias: Again on the rise. These malcontents are scary. Playing war games on weekends in the name of Jesus and the Constitution. If you don't have an AK-47 in your home you are not patriotic! The wonderful work of the Southern Poverty Law Center has got these folks pegged right: American Brownshirts and budding SS Stormtroopers.

Us: Our silence. Our acceptance of powerlessness.

Peace!

Ron

Sexuality and Bound Consciences

The ELCA voted yes on three major resolutions relating to gays and lesbians living together in committed relationships being able to serve as ordained pastors or as professional church workers. The first vote approved a broad statement on human sexuality, 676-338, exactly the two-thirds majority needed. The second vote, 559-451, mandated the ELCA to find ways to allow congregations "to recognize, support, and hold publicly accountable lifelong, monogamous, same gender relationships". The third vote, 771-230, was a resolution to respect the "bound consciences" or moral convictions of members and churches that continue to object to the changes.

Following the votes, Emily Eastwood, Executive Director of Lutheran Concerned/North America, a gay rights advocate group, said, "Today I am proud to be a Lutheran". On the other side, members of Lutheran CORE, a conservative coalition, is meeting this week in Indianapolis to pray and contemplate their future relationship with the ELCA, perhaps leading some to drop their affiliation with the ELCA or decrease or redirect their financial support for the ELCA churchwide. We shall see.

How did the church come to these decisions? You could say that the "culture of the times" pushed and cajoled the faithful, and there would be truth in that statement. OK, but then the church, if it is sensitive to life outside the walls of the building, needs to respond. Now, the process is critical to fostering faithful, creative conversation.

It began in earnest about nine years ago with the formation of a study commission. Lutherans like to study! Papers were produced, changed, opinions from clergy and lay were sought, more studies, more papers, more conversation. A major effort was made to produce enough documents for study in all the nearly 11,000 congregations. More study, prayer, and conversation. Additions and corrections. More public meetings to listen and debate. Central to the conversation was the question of how we interpret scripture? Literally? What is the literal truth? Critically? Consider the historical context of the various books of the Bible? Word study? Linguistic sensitivity? As Bishop Allan Bjornberg of the Rocky Mountain Synod says, "We are good at doing 'head stuff,' but sexuality conversations have to get at the 'heart stuff'". So the human dimension became part of the process. People began telling their stories, gay and straight. If I would have been present, I would have told of hiring gay and lesbian staff, and the quality of ministry they demonstrated, and that I re-hired them. More stories. More tears from those who felt excluded even though they were faithful to Christ and committed to the integrity of the ministry of the church. The human side blended with the head side to provide a fuller expression of how do we interpret scripture. We are both brain and heart.

I was at a gathering last evening and spent some time talking with a friend/colleague about "the votes". The congregation he serves is very progressive and he was pleased with the decisions. As we talked of how we interpret scripture, I made the comment that when I first met him back in college, I knew him to be a conservative fundy. He laughed and said "You're right". I asked him, "What changed you"? He responded "I took classes from Professors Lloyd Svendsby and Paul Sponheim. Svendsby opened me to Biblical criticism and Sponheim introduced me to process theology. Then after college I went to Claremont Divinity School to study under John Cobb, a leader in process theology". Then he said, paraphrased, "I have learned that when you shut-down the mind, limit your critical inquiry, and resort to making rules and laws and move to the right, you end up devouring each other". At the same gathering, I introduced himself to a man who in turn pointed out his partner. Both were leaders in the church. The head and heart coming together.

It must be said that all who were in attendance at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly were faithful and committed Lutherans. Cast no stones. Now comes the future. It is my hope and prayer that diversity be honored, that love abound, and that we can eat lutefisk and lefse together, allowing for meatballs, potatoes and gravy, plus jello and coffee (inside Lutheran diet!). I like to think of Lutherans as having a big tent, that our "bound consciences" will bind each other together in Christ, that we may be one as the Body of Christ, worshipping, praying, serving together, and "keeping the conversation going" as we eat and drink, together. I pray. I hope.

Or, perhaps this will be a time similar to the division between the German Church and the Confessing Church in Germany in the 1930s and 40s. As a bishop friend once told me: "There are times when you just have to let the chips fall where they fall". After all, we all have "bound consciences".

Peace!
Ron Letnes

Jesus Did an Adrian!

Adrian Peterson. The greatest back in the NFL. Those of us who witnessed his 65 yard run last Sunday against the Cleveland Browns can only be silenced into affirmation. He broke through the line of scrimmage, veered left and right, slowed down, accelerated, and then when confronted by a defensive back, literally threw him aside to the ground like he was a rag doll, perhaps muttering internally, "Get out of my way", and then outracing more defenders to the end zone. He was focused on the task and the goal. "Get out of my way!" Nothing will stop his train!

This is the practical focus I hope is alive and well among enough Senators and Congress people to vote a revolutionary health care bill. The proposals President Obama outlined in his stump speeches are right and fair: Insurance companies cannot drop coverage because of pre-existing conditions, there is no cap on what insurance companies must pay for medical services, insurance companies cannot drop you because you develop certain conditions during your life time, you can keep the insurance and the doctors you already have, there will be an insurance exchange in which people can choose their own insurance, just like the Washington leadership. Then there were some words about a public option being the preferred policy in order to keep the insurance companies honest and provide competition. This makes me think of fast food places. There is a reason why most of these grease paddies have $1 menues! Competition!

It is this last proposal and the iffyness of a public option that has got me concerned. Yes, it is off the table coming out of Senator Baucas' Senate Finance Committee. Why? In great measure because over the years he has accepted $3 million in campaign funds from the health care industry. Never bite the hand that feeds you. Who are the losers in this vote buying, in your pocket, selfish sell-out? The American people.

It is time for leaders to search their patriotic souls (if there is any left!), and do an Adrian "Get out of my way" move! Opposition to the public option needs to be thrown aside, with love, for the sake of the greater good. It is time to say GOMW to the special interests. It is time to say GOMW to the faux capitalists who believe corporate control is in the best interests of America. It is time to say GOMW to the congressional leaders who have been wined and dined, bought-off for the sake of greed. It is time to say GOMW to the "deathers", the "birthers", the "tenthers", the Limbaughs, the Becks, the Bachmans, the Savages, the Hannitys, the Wilsons, the Enzis, the keepers of the status quo, the destroyers of democracy, the prostitutes of capitalism. "Get out of my way!" We are going to cross the goal line of justice, the goal line of compassion, the goal line of being brothers and sisters, the goal line of human rights, the goal line of civility, the goal line of equality, the goal line of "our better angels", the goal line of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness", the goal line of "We" instead of "Me"!

And President Obama needs to say "Get out of my way" to those who would deny the public option. He has tried to work across the isle. He has given the ball to the congress, and for the most part, the congress has responded with justice and willingness to support a public option. He speaks with passion. Now, he must act with conviction, put the squeeze on, and use his moral muscle to tell all obstructionists to "Get out of my way"! Or else! The well being of America is at stake. The ability of our government to act with justice for all is at stake. The character of our nation is at stake! We must back away from being "the best government money can buy". Go for the goal, Mr President! Zig and zag and thrown any aside who get in the way! "Get out of my way!"

And Jesus said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan"! Peter was trying to talk Jesus out of going to Jerusalem to be crucified. Peter was saying it has been such a joyful ride, the crowds have been large, you're a celebrity! Eat, drink, and be merry! We have got a good thing going! But Jesus said he must do the difficult thing, the faithful thing, the courageous thing for the sake of the world. So, "Get out of my way, Peter"! Jesus did an Adrian!

Get out of my way! Let us write or call our senators and congress people and urge them to shove aside any and all who would try to subvert this health care effort. Now is the time! Seize the day! Yes, let us be civil; but let us also be committed! GOMW!!!!!

Peace!
Ron

Praying for a Great speech!

I'm praying for a great speech!

I have been reading Speeches That Changed the World, compiled by Owen Collins. Since President Obama is giving a major speech on health care this Wednesday, I thought it timely to read some speeches that had "gravitas" because it is my hope and prayer that the President delivers a great speech that changes the world, or at least our nation.

Reading these speeches and realizing the events that followed their delivery, it is easy to conclude that great speeches do have an effect. Great speeches set a tone, establish a moral focus, give direction, provide personal leadership, and inspire courage.

Some examples. Martin Luther at Worms: "Unless I am convicted by scripture or by right reason (for I trust neither in popes nor in councils, since they have often erred and contradicted themselves)- unless I am thus convinced, I am bound by the texts of the Bible, my conscience is captive to the Word of God, I neither can nor will recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to act against conscience. Here I stand. God help me. Amen". Thus began the Protestant Reformation. Sojourner Truth, speaking on 28 May, 1851: "Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could lead me! And aint I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man-when I could get it-and bear the lash as well! And aint I a woman?" Sojourner fired one of the first salvos towards women's rights and equality. It took some time, but today women are on that train and the train keeps building power! Lincoln in his Second Inaugural Address: "With malice towards none; with charity towards all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive...to bind up the nations wounds; to care for him who shall have born the battle, and for his widow and for his orphan...." Reconstruction and a slow but steady healing. RFK, speaking to a crowd in Detroit following the assassination of MLK, Jr., quoting the Greek poet Aeschuylus: "Let us tame the savageness of Man, and make gentle life in the world". There were no riots in Detroit that night. Gandhi, 23 March 1922: "Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good". Mother Teresa: "Human life is a gift of immeasurable worth, and that it deserves, always and everywhere, to be treated with the utmost respect and dignity". The sanctity of life is upheld. Churchill: "We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France and on the seas and oceans; we shall fight with growing confidence....We shall never surrender". Victory! Then there are Jesus, MLK, Jr., Susan B. Anthony, Chief Joseph, Frederick Douglas, Barbara Jordan, and....

Speeches that changed the world!

I'm ready for another great speech tomorrow night. A speech that can change health care for future generations; a speech of such moral persuasion that what is right for ALL people is enacted. I do not care if all people agree with it, if the right-wing crazies like it, if the "deathers, birthers, and wackos" sign on, if it silences Rush and Glenn, if the "bluedogs" nod in agreement on all aspects. I am hoping and praying for a speech that is proper for justice for all, so that ALL people can receive health care that is their right, that compassion can become a national conviction, that love and politics can work together, that what is justly humane be passionately announced, that mercy stand-up and step-up in unquestioned, non-nuanced language, that there be fire in Barack's eyes, that our leaders be challenged to exercise courage for generosity, for the sake of those beautiful words, "We the people".

I'm praying for a great speech! I'm praying for a national transformation to the good!

Peace!
Ron Letnes

Stop Being Religious!

Religion is alive and well in the United States and world. Christianity, however, is on life support. Religion justifies our prejudices. Religion sanctifies our actions. Religion tells us who is in and who is out. Religion draws lines in the sand. Religion says you're a sinner and I am not. Religion justifies hatred. Religion is ideologically blind. Religion foments violence. In his documentary, "Religulous", a name blending religion and rediculous, comedian Bill Maher sets out the case for how commitment to a religion, stirs the fires of war.

Christianity, on the otherhand, waters the flowers of peace. Christianity lifts the grace of reconciliation. Christianity opens us to forgivness and repentance. Christianity inspires atonement. Christianity causes love. Christianity calls forth justice.

Leadership in Washington is being too religious in the health care debate. There are too many lines in the sand, too much "we're in and you're out', too much corporate prejudice. What they need is a commitment to being Christian. It is time call out the leadership to lend integrity to their Christian beliefs. I say this believing that most of our Washington leadership are active in some Christian church. I may be wrong, but I am trying to be generous and assuming the best! Is this a stretch?

Jesus addresses the issues of religiosity and Christianity in his criticism of the Scribes and Pharisees in Mark 7. The religious are hypocrites. Now, their holy veneer is shredded by the presence of the Christ. Mark quotes Jesus as saying words from Isaiah: "You honor me with your lips, but your heart is far from me". The S and P knew the rules and were good at saying who was in and who was out. But Jesus was about a new point of view and had come to change the game. Religion out, Jesus in. Washington leadership is like the Scribes and Pharisees.

Bonhoeffer addressed the same issue. The German Church was that of the Scribes and Pharisees. The German Church had become "religious" and not Christian. The Confessing Church, however, was the Christian expression of faithfulness. Bonhoeffer wrote: "There is salvation only in the Confessing Church". Bonhoeffer noticed the difference and called out the German faithful to be faithful. He also spoke of a "religionless Christianity", a phrase that meant, "Be Christian"!

What does it mean to be Christian? The Letter of James shows us the way. First of all, "Be quick to listen, slow to anger, slow to speak". What a lesson for those attending the Town Hall meetings! Be respectful of each other. Be civil. Be Christian! Then, show concern for the orphans and widows because they are the most vulnerable. Indeed, Jesus spent most of his life taking on the holy powerful and showing compassion for the most vulnerable. The Kingdom of God was announced through the loving actions of the Christ. Jim Wallis says that "Authentic faith is revealed in action". Jesus was the personification of authentic faith in action. James says, "Be doers of the Word".

Considering health care, into the breech we go! For me, the health care issue needs a competitive public option. Better yet, universal, single payer care! We also need to bargain for lower drug costs. I hope this apparent deal with the pharmaceutical companies is a mirage. It is important to lessen malpractice insurance costs. Community health clinics can be established to work with patients on preventive care. And to get this all done, having the Senate commit to "reconciliation" (what a misnomer! It is time for power politics!) and 51 votes. Go for it. Obama needs to call in the blue dogs and all leadership folks on the Hill and state clearly his intention for the public option because it is the moral thing to do, with all people being served and costs being lowered. It may well be necessary to raise taxes. So be it. We need to remember that in the European countries and Canada, taxes are higher to pay for health care. Health care is not free over there, but it is for all, and ALL is the goal. The government needs to be the Grand Bargainer for lower costs because the private companies are too obsessed with profit taking to adequately serve the common good. Nobody is talking about shutting private companies down, but only to make competition fair and affordable for ALL.

It is time for Obama to lead like a Christian. I sense he is being too "religious" in his leadership. He has drawn too many lines in the sand to be effective. It is time for him to do the Jesus thing of confronting the corporate powerful, calling them hypocrites, and calling them out to be bold for justice! It is time to care for the most vulnerable. The fat cats are so obese with power and wealth they revel in self protection, blindly believing they are serving all people when in truth they only fatten themselves.

Stop being religious, Mr. President! Be Christian!

Peace!
Ron

Inglorious Nation

The movie "Inglorious Bastards" won at the weekend box office, taking in over $30 million. The bloody plot is all about killing nazis in creative, telegenic ways. Quentin Tarantino, the director, seems to be in old form stirring up this gory spectacle. Brad Pitt earned a healthy sum as star, and his character lived up to Brad's recent declaration that he doesn't believe in God. Not believing in God/Jesus frees us to simply believe in the righteousness of ourselves, our actions, our motives. Certainly this is a picture of our original sin.

Violence is America's apple pie, with ice cream. The American people have over 200 million guns in their homes. Over 30,000 people die of gun shots each year, more than nearly all other nations combined, perhaps all. We have our military presence in over 130 countries, as well as fighting two wars of choice in Iraq and Afghanistan/Pakistan. We can count on some crazy shooting up a workplace, a home, or a school a few times each year. Put it on your calendar. MSNBC has a ratings bonanza with its "Lock-Up" weekenders. People are showing up at President Obama's town halls with sidearms and assault rifles. Fox news speaks of "amped up" Americans who are "taking the extra step and getting the gun out". Then there are the holocaust murderer and the killer of "Tiller the Baby Killer". Problem solving run amok! I must admit to celebrating when I heard the host of "Hardball", Chris Matthews, as he interviewed the gun-totting sign holder, ask him, (paraphrase), "Don't you know the history of our nation and people bringing a god-d----gun into the presence of the President of the United States?"

The June 29 issue of The New Yorker carried an article by Lauren Collins called "Over There-Blam". She wrote of the marriage of military, music, and violence. Specifically, she cited a recent book "Sound Targets: American soldiers and Music in the Iraq War", "...which examines the role of music in military recruiting, combat, interrogations, and morale...." One soldier, Colby Buzzell, an M240 Bravo machine gunner says, "I'd listen to Slayer to get all into it". Another, from the Fourth Infantry Division, says "LilJon's 'I don't Give a F---' was an anthem-soldiers called it their 'getting cranked' song, and they would chant its refrain until they were ready to leave the base". Eminen provided another crank song, "Die, motherf----, die".

And now there is violence over health care! Health care! What ought to be the domain of compassionate, gentle civility, has become a battleground for venting frustrations over you name it! Hatred! Fear! If ever there was a time for the Church to step up its witness, it is now.

The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 15:

O Lord, who may abide in your tent?

Who may dwell on your holy hill?

Those who walk blamelessley, and do what is right.

and speak the truth from their heart;

who do not slander with their tongue,

and do no evil to their friends,

nor take up reproach against their neighbors;....

We are given the Sermon on the Mount, and the grace to love the enemy. Our liturgies sing of the mercy of God and each of us being expressions of God's mercy. A truly great song, "The Canticle of the Turning" by Rory Cooney, based on the "Magnificat", shouts: "My heart shall sing of the day you bring. Let the fires of your justice burn. Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near, and the world is about to turn." To the ramparts! Sing a different song! Fight with weapons of the Spirit!

Peace!

Ron

Something's Happening Here!

The song begins: "Something's happening here....Stop, what's that sound, everybody look what's going down". Echoes of the 60's: civil rights, Vietnam, women's liberation, sexual freedom, and.... Recently, Frank Rich, columnist for the New York Times, commented that he is seeing parallels between now and the early 1960s. People rising up to support or protest social change, and the increasingly violent temper of the nation.

Looking and listening to the raucus screaming at town hall meetings, many people not even wanting dialog, but only to shut down the conversation. People bringing automatic rifles and small arms to Obama events. Shouts of Nazi, Hitler, and the infamous T-4 euthanasia program of the SS, the increasing number of hate groups as reported by the Southern Poverty Law Center ("Hate Groups Reach Record 926"), and the general breakdown of civility in our national character, bi-partisanship existing in name only, and some crazy wearing a T-shirt using a Thomas Jefferson quote about the need to "water the tree of liberty with the blood of patriots and tyrants", makes "Something's happening here" a reason to pay attention, real quick! I must confess to waking up most days and wondering if President Obama is still alive. The crazies are hunting.

The reasons are many: Obama and family are Black, unemployment and underemployment, huge national debt, two wars of choice, lack of consumer confidence, no health insurance or inadequate insurance, and energy needs. There is national "dis-ease". Does this sound like the Colorado Confession?

I am reminded of the creation in Genesis. Creation happened to quell the chaos in the universe. Creation brought order and purpose into being. Likewise, Good Friday led to Easter, the cross to glory. It seems evil needs to be lanced, and there is no easy way through. It is like a national C.P.E. session (Clinical Pastoral Education), when healing happens through the unearthing of the pain. Or, the age of the prophets is stirring the cauldron of justice. It is interesting that the OT prophets had their day amidst the need for national cleansing. The status quo needed to be rattled because there was "something rotten in [America]". Remember "Sounds of Silence": "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls, within the sounds of silence". Today, the words of the prophets are being written in hospital emergency wards, insurance company meeting rooms, idle hands in foreclosed homes, and citadels of power where politics and ideology trump compassion and justice.

The stirrings are necessary for us to engage the issues of the future. The stirrings are the rising aches of souls and the confessions of truth layed bare. For there to be light we need to live the naked darkness. It is time to listen well, to feel the hell, and ring the bell of justice.

Peace!
Ron

Assault Upon Christ!

In true Barthian fashion, I am preparing a sermon with the Bible in one hand and the internet (newspaper) in the other. Bonhoeffer echoes Barth in saying: "I cannot experience the reality of the world without the reality of God; nor the reality of God without the reality of the world". So, here goes my feeble attempts to reflect these sages.

The other night, Jonathan Alter, senior writer for NEWSWEEK, crystallized the moral issue behind the health care debate. To paraphrase his insight: "This is a civil rights issue. To deny adequate, affordable health care to those who are ill or unemployed is discriminatory". Let me hear an "amen"! Isn't there something in the Constitution about equal protection under the law?

Yet, for many, including the "birthers", "deathers", and "screamers", the issue is not discrimination, but protecting what is mine. They say, equal access has little to do with health care. Fear has become the armor for my self protection. My survival is paramont to equality, and trumps justice for all. The "birthers" use the argument of illigitamacy in its rant against President Obama. We cannot support this plan because it is being pushed by a person who is not rightly our president. What they won't say is because he is an African American. Racism is alive and well in the hearts of many. But they won't admit it.

The "deathers" (to use the name coined by Rachel Maddow), and the simple minded Sarah Palin, shout the canard that the evil, faceless, cold government is openning the door to euthanasia through this health care plan. To show how far out this group is from reality, they are comparing Obama to Hitler's program of euthanasia for "those less than life", intimating that the government will begin establishing portable Hadamars to cleanse our nation of the unfit. Fear and desparation live!

The "screamers" are those who care not for debate but for stifling conversation. Finding common ground is not sought, only domination and maintaining the status quo. I've got mine, and if you get yours I will be denied. It is all about me. Indeed, we have become a nation of narcissists.

Fueling this fight are fear, denial, ignorance, and profit: fear that I will lose my health care, denial to others as a necessity for my well being, ignorance of the facts (remember Daniel Patrick Moynahan's pithy words: "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts"), and profit to maintain a system of bankruping the nation and the survival of a company.

In the end, what is called for is a commitment to justice. As a nation with significant Christian roots, it would be well to listen to Holy Scripture as we debate health care. The lectionary lesson for 30 August, lifts up James 1:17-27. "...let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God's righteousness....Religion that is pure and undefiled before God...is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained from the world". Orphans and widows are consistently mentioned in scripture because they were considered the most vulnerable.

To care for means to insist upon justice for all. Health care for all. Let us listen and speak. Let us be civil in our discourse. How about Christians reflecting Christ instead of evil?

Frank Schaefer, a one time "far right crazy", now repentant, has written a book entitled CRAZY FOR GOD, in which he reveals how those professing to follow Christ are actually prostituting the Word of God for their own survival's sake. In commenting on this sad state of affairs, he quotes Bart Simpson: "The election broke their brains". I would also say, "broke their souls". Yes, we all sin. And we are all called to repentance. The ways of Christ are being assaulted. Justice is being assaulted. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." "Let justice roll...."

Peace!
Ron

Health Insurance: Get It Done Right

Health insurance for ALL is worth going to the wall. Just read Jonathan Alter's satire on keeping health care as it is in the Huffington Post and you will understand the gaping holes in our present system. Give me Canada, France, UK, and toss in the Scandinavian countries as well. Our present system hinders and prevents full coverage for all people, and its cost is driving us further into debt, as well as ringing alarm bells about the future viability of Medicare and Medicaid. So what ought we do? I would propose the following:

1. Insist on a public option. This will stimulate competition with the private insurance companies which will in turn lower costs. The public option is similar to Medicare and Medicaid, and is no more "socialistic" than them. Indeed, the cry of socialism is a canard to scare folks into keeping the present system.
2. Learn to control costs by learning from the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota public health strategies, the Cleveland Clinic, and the state of Utah. Each tends to focus on preventive care.
3. Explore the value of community clinics which bring health care to the people and are better equipped to offer early preventative and cheaper care. The Twin Cities and San Francisco offer such care with a significant cost savings
4. Emphasize fee for health rather than fee for procedure. Keeping people healthy is cheaper than curing their ills. Besides, it is more fun being healthy!
5. Insist on employer-employee health coverage which will include the public option, again lessening costs. Insist that all people must have health insurance.
6. Insist that pre-conditions will not prevent one from getting health insurance coverage.
7. Insist that contracting an illness will not force you off of your health insurance.
8. Significantly lower the cost of malpractice insurance. Paying for MI significantly increases the costs doctors charge to patients.
9. Consider putting doctors on salary as I believe is done at the Cleveland Clinic.
10. Insist on no cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. Costs for these services can be significantly lessened by instituting the above suggestions.
11. Insist that it is time to insure ALL people. It is not moral to leave 47 million people out of the health care system.
12. Consider a tax increase to help pay for the services. We need to evaluate our financial priorities. We cannot have everything we want. We need to focus on what we need. Health care is not free, and it is central to our quality of life.

Bi-partisanship may well be impossible in getting quality health care reform. So be it! It is time to get it done right. In the end, the single payer systems are superior to our system, and the closer we move towards this type of care the better. It is important that we contact our Senators and Representatives during this time to voice our preferences. Indeed, President Obama needs to hear our voices, because his cooperative, bi-partisan leadership style may prevent necessary change. He needs to put his moral muscle behind true reform. The greatest sadness would be a watered down reform. Furthermore, it is important for us to go public whenever possible to counter the forces against reform. We need to attend public meetings, write letters to the editor, call talk radio, and ....

72% of the American people want health care reform. The forces of fear, disinformation campaigns, and the greed of many corporations will fight against change. Now is the time to stand up. I recall a wonderful hymn: "O Christ, the Healer, We Have Come". We are Christ's healers in this time and place.

Peace!
Ron

Sexuality: Fork in the Road

The ordination and calling of homosexual couples living in a loving, faithful, committed relationship is the human rights issue of this historical moment. As I recall living through the 60's with the call for civil rights and racial equality, the influence of Vatican II on liberation theology, the passion for peace in Vietnam, the sexual revolution of Haight-Asbury, the ordination of women in the Lutheran Church, and on and on. As those were historical moments when "forks in the road" became real, so now this time presents us with another "fork".

As a Christian, I believe that the reading and study of Holy Scripture is a major piece in our decision-making on this Christian-human rights issue. My previous column explained the texts that guide my decision-making. And there is more. In his column in THE LUTHERAN, Craig L. Nessan, Academic Dean and Professor of Contextual Theology at Wartburg Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, wrote:

The Reformers were confident that God's Word would

guide the church to truth. Martin Luther argued for the

priority of the literal sense of Scripture. "...we must look

and see to whom it has been spoken, whether it fits us."

....Where the meaning of Scripture is confusing or ambiguous,

Luther employed another important principle: "Scripture

interprets itself". Because the Bible is its own highest authority,

one searches the rest of Scripture to shed light on obscure texts.

These observations are helpful because they allow Scripture to address issues of the present, throughout the centuries. They remind us of the importantce of context. All of Scripture was written within various historical contexts, speaking to diverse historical situations. It is good to remember that the Holy Spirit "blows where it wills" and makes the Word of God fresh at each moment of life. The function of the Holy Spirit is in part to make the Truth of Scripture real in the present. Indeed, without the Holy Spirit we could not know God/Jesus. The Holy Spirit contextualizes Holy Scripture and makes God/Jesus relevant for today as it focuses the Word of God as Light for today's issues.

Luther's wisdom also reminds us that it is improper to simply take all the supposedly anti-gay verses, string them together, and come out with a truthful position against gays and those living in a committed relationship. Luther says look at the whole of Scripture! Remember, there are 66 books in the Holy Bible! This means it is dangerous and dishonest to simply use a verse here and there as proof texts to justify our biases. Look at the big picture of the Word!

Bishop Herb Chilstrom, former Bishop of the ELCA, recently wrote a letter in support of the ordination of gays living in a committed relationship. He spoke of the truth of "scripture within scripture". This means, look to Jesus, the Spirit of the Christ, as we also look at the literalness of Scripture. Looking to Jesus gives us a worldview of Scripture, broadening our understanding of the Word along with the reality of context and culture.

Chilstrom also speaks of the value of experience in discernment. Our life experiences influence our understanding of Scripture. I recall being a Bible camp counselor at Park River Bible Camp in northern North Dakota, spending a week with Pastor Nelson Trout, the first African American pastor in the ALC. Working with him was my first experience partnering with a "Negro". It was a refreshing eye-opener! Attending Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, allowed me to make friends with two African Americans, and have them as part of Linda's and my wedding party. I was also part of a student government project to begin a student exchange program between Concordia and Virginia Union University, a primarily Black university in the East. Doing ministry in Milwaukee allowed me the opportunity to work with Black ministers and community leaders. Outdoor ministry opened me to working with our Native American friends, and to also hire and work with gay staff. These experience informed my understandings of Scripture. Word and world are wedded realities. "For God so loved the world...." Experience is hard wired into our Christian identities.

All in all, Holy Scripture opens us to the other, to our committed gay brothers and sisters in Christ. In this historical moment, it is time to open our church, to open our hearts, to open our faith to a bright new time.

Peace!

Ron

Sexuality: Grace Makes the Difference!

Come August, the ELCA will gather in assembly to address whether two lesbian or homosexual people, living in a committed, loving relationship, having completed all of the theological education requirements, having demonstrated a solid confessional commitment to Jesus and love for the church and people, will be able to serve as pastors to a congregation.

Since 2001, the ELCA has been disciplined in its study of this question. There has been theological, psychological, sociological, and medical conversation at the highest levels. It is now time to decide.

If I were a delegate to the Assembly, I would vote to allow their service to Christ and the Church. Why? Because there are many theological reasons.

1. WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH. Grace is for all. Grace liberates. Grace transforms. Grace refocuses us to the absolute essentials of the Christ life. Grace makes the heart, mind, and body new. Grace gives the gift of faith. Grace makes Christ alive in our person. Where Christ is, there is grace, there is faith. The homosexual and lesbian are given this same grace, this same faith as are all.

2. THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT SAYS: YOU SHALL LOVE GOD, LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR, AND LOVE YOURSELF. This love is for the sake of God, the other, as well as for yourself. Our self love is shaped by God's grace which makes complete each member only in light of love for the other. There is one love expressed in three expressions. ALL are called to love, no exceptions. As for all, the USE of the other for self gratification is not of God. We are to gratify each other out of love for each other.

3. MALE AND FEMALE WERE CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. God created our sexuality as an expression of God's gracious divinity wrapped in humanity.

4. IN CHRIST WE ARE RECONCILED TO GOD AND EACH OTHER. Christ unites all humanity that we may recognize the Image of God in each other, and recognize the presence of Christ through each other. Reconciliation means we are given the gifts of forgiveness and repentance. Forgiveness and repentance in Christ make all things new. In Christ we recognize our sexual uniqueness as a part of our personhood, to be respected, accepted, and affirmed, shaped and reshaped daily through renewal and reconciliation.

5. THERE IS NEITHER JEW NOR GREEK, SLAVE NOR FREE, MALE NOR FEMALE, FOR WE ALL ARE ONE IN JESUS CHRIST. Jesus has come to remove barriers to faith, to God, and to each other. In Christ, we are openned to see and honor the Image of God in the other. In Christ we are a new creation. In Christ, human sexuality is seen in its fulness, as reflected through the cross, rather than through cultural or personal bias.

6. GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES. We are all called to discipleship. No exceptions. Our sexuality is a part of our person to be used as part of all our spiritual, intellectual, and social gifts for the sake of making the Reign of God real today. The care and dignity with which we use our sexuality for the sake of Christ gives testimony to the presence of God's love.

I believe the above statements make for common ground for all our sexual and personal realities.

As I have read and studied the Biblical texts surrounding human sexuality, it occurs to me that in every text which addresses homosexuality, there is ABSOLUTELY NO consideration that the homosexual can have faith, love God or Jesus, care for the other, be passionate for justice, make for peace, or care for the earth. The homosexual is relegated to ONLY being a reprobate, a pagan, a sinner unworthy of social worth, whose word from God is only to CHANGE. Holy Scripture paints an incomplete and biased picture of homosexuality. My reading and experience have informed me that homosexuals, all GLBT, like all people, are daily in need of forgiveness and repentance for what we do and do not do; that some have faith and others do not, like all of us; that some have more social graces than others, like all of us; that some are more "well" than others, like all of us. We ALL struggle, make mistakes, sin most assuredly, kneel in need of forgiveness, win some and lose some, become beggars at various times, and hit home runs now and then. ALL share a common bond of faith and humanity.

I also find it interesting that lesbians are not mentioned in Holy Scripture. They may be saying: What a relief! Bi and trans-gendered people are not even close to being recognized. I suspect that this omission is an example of incomplete knowledge, and the male-centeredness and female-lessedness in Biblical history. What this reveals is the cultural influence of the times upon Biblical writing. It also reveals the lack of a deeper psychological and biological understanding of human sexuality. This is not to throw stones. Understanding evolves, the Holy Spirit continues to reveal God's Truth. As Paul reminds us, we see only dimly.

God's grace through Jesus Christ reshapes our understandings, opens our hearts, and raises the level of our responsibility to God, to each other, to the earth, and to ourselves. Grace makes the difference. Grace opens us. It is time to be openned.

Peace!
Ron Letnes

Health Care: More Than a Crap Shoot!

Following means following Jesus. Jesus means being a healer. Christianity and healing go hand in hand. Jesus is our example: healing the man with an unclean spirit (Luke 4:31-37), Jesus healing Simon's mother-in-law (Luke 4:38-41), Jesus cleansing the leper (Luke 5:12-16), and on and on.... So are we to imitate Christ, follow Christ.

The health care debate is about making Jesus' healing spirit a reality in the world. Do we want to follow Jesus? If so, we have a mandate: make it happen! And it must be a good bill which covers all the bases.

In the July 14 issue of The Christian Century, Gary Dorrien addresses the question of what need be part of a "good health care bill". I think he hits the nail on the head. Here is what he says:

A good public plan would be open to all individuals and

employers that want to join. It would allow members to choose

their own doctors. It would eliminate high deductibles. It would

allow members to negotiate reimbursement rates and drug

prices. The government would run it. And it would be

backed up by tough cost controls and a requirement that all

Americans have health coverage.

The profit motive has prevented our nation from providing universal health care. Profit is dependent upon people having the ability to purchase. I think it is fair to expect a fair profit, providing it is fair to ALL. Fortunately, most can afford health care. But many of those who can suffer in other ways by not being able to feed their families adequatly, or pay for their house, or provide for basic human needs. Then there is the deductible, which may bring financial ruin or lesser coverage than needed. But the reality is also that millions cannot afford coverage. They must make a choice: food and necessities, or coverage. Life becomes a throw of the dice. The government needs to be a check and balance on the pursuit of unbridled profits at the expense of the WHOLE. Life in America must be more than a crap shoot.

Following also means following the Constitution. I am sometimes brought to tears when I read our Constitution. The opening phrase: "We the people, in order to form a more perfect union...." The first words, "We the people....". America is about "We", not me first, not profit. Then comes "order". The nation must have order, structure, laws to keep us focused. Then "union". Again, America is about ALL of us, together. The Constitution speaks of "insuring domestic tranquility, and promoting the general welfare" of the people. The Constitution binds us together into a national family, committed to the well being of each other. Creating a self serving anarchy is not the purpose of the Constitution. The Constitution frees us all to pursue "life, liberty, and happiness", guaranteeing individual liberty while simultaneously binding us together for our common good. America is not about survival of the fittest. The Constitution gives us our freedom and our calling as citizens to "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity...." It is about "we".

This is where the government plays a vital role. Instead of the government being the big ogre, the nameless, faceless, cold, uncaring bureaucracy, dedicated only to its own preservation for its own sake, the government is mandated to be the voice and action of the people. Lincoln said it so well at Gettysburg: "government of the people, by the people, for the people". We the people need to let the govenment be the arbiter of fairness, because the government is us! Let's be fair for each other!

This health care bill must be well crafted. The time is ripe to close this gap in our compassion. The bill must be a good bill. Our nation needs it and we Christians must demand it!

One of my favorite hymns is: "O Christ, the Healer", ELW-610. One beautiful phrase states our call: "O Christ the healer, we have come to pray for health, to plead for friends..." We are Christ's healing advocates, Christ's hands, Christ's energy.

Peace!

Ron Letnes

No Time to Waste

When I was in college, I attended a speech by Supreme Court Justice, William O. Douglas, who had written a book entitled My Wilderness. I had purchased the book and brought it with me and he graciously autographed it following his talk on "Democracy Versus Communism in Asia". In writing of Mt. Adams in Washington state, he says: "The struggle of our time is to maintain an economy of plenty and yet keep [one's] freedom in tact....If our wilderness areas are preserved, every person will have a better chance to maintain [their] freedom by allowing their idiosyncracies to flower under the influence of the wonders of the wilderness".

Then in seminary, I read The Singing Wilderness by Sigurd Olson, sage of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Quetico Provincial Park of Canada. He writes, "The singing wilderness....is concerned with the simple joys, the timelessness and perspective found in a way of life that is close to the past."

I love the wilderness. I have hiked the Cascades of central Washington and the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, walked the rim walk in Canyonlands National Park in Utah, and canoed in the Quetico-Superior, most recently with our son, Steve, my brother-in-law, Erik, and his friend, Joe. In the wilderness are healing and wholeness. John Muir once wrote: "In God's wildness lies the hope of the world....The galling harness of civilization drops off, and the wounds heal ere we are aware".

In this week's New York Times, Thomas Friedman wrote an op-ed entitled "Can I Clean Your Clock?" It addresses the urgency of dealing with climate change and environmental issues. He says that unless the United States gets serious about inventing clean-power technologies, the Chinese will "clean our clocks" in leading the world in energy technologies. "You'll be buying your energy future from China" writes Friedman. Economically, this means fewer jobs for American workers, less money into our economy, and more dependence on an outside source to which we already owe a supertanker full of national debt.

I consider myself a global thinker. I support open markets and the sharing of resources. Recognizing and responding creatively and peacefully to the inter-dependency of cultures and economies is morally correct. Indeed, this action yields more justice and peace. Hence, the United States needs to do all we can to develop these critical resources for our sake and the sake of the world. We, as well as other nations, must take responsibility to do all that we can to care for the earth. We must challenge our creativity for the sake of the world. Our will for the sake of our nation and world must be loosed! As Bonhoeffer says: "We must take our share of responsibility for the shaping of the future". It is the Biblical call.

The internet magazine, Salon.com, carried an wrticle written by Arthur Max, entitled "Oxfam to G-8: Climate Change Will Spread Hunger". He says, "Chronic hunger may be 'the defining human tragedy of this century' as climate change causes growing seasons to shift, crops to fail, and storms and droughts to ravage fields...." Peter Sawtell of Eco-Ministries, in a recent commentary, shares a story told by Bill McKibben. Bill and others were invited to the White House for conversation on climate change. Members of the White House staff told the group: "Make us do it! Build the movement that gives us the room to do the things we want to do".

Wilderness. Energy technology. Hunger. A man named Thompson wrote: "You cannot disturb a flower without troubling a star". All things are connected. Time is short. Our will must be now. Write your congressperson, speak, act. Genesis says: "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion...." (Genesis 1:26a). To have dominion means to care for, to demonstrate justice, to create shalom. Let's do it!

Shalom!
Ron

Enough!

There comes a time when people say, "Enough". We think we have heard enough, thought enough, discussed enough, researched enough, experienced enough, to conclude the debate and press forward.

This is what has happened in Iran. Hundreds of thousands have said, "Enough". Enough of alledged election cheating, enough of suppression of speech, enough of denial of freedom for women, enough of being cut off from the rest of the world, enough of being prevented from assembly, enough of being denied many basic human rights. Enough!

Likewise, with health care. The people are saying enough to high premiums, enough to high deductables, enough to no insurance. Enough!

In Luke 22:38, Jesus is giving final instructions to his disciples for what they are to do when he is gone. In this context he tells them to buy swords. A disciple tells him, "We have two swords". Jesus responds, "It is enough". Indeed there is a strong dose of disgust in his response. If Jesus believed all of his disciples needed to be armed to protect themselves, he would have insisted on each having their Second Amendment right to bear arms! He did not. Don't be rediculous! There comes a time to end debate and move on to what is truly essential. Enough.

Within the health care debate, it is clear that the vast majority of people are demanding a public option. I support this demand. The public option will cause a lowering of health care prices because it will provide quality, affordable, and accessible options. Capitalism works in part by the market charging what the people will pay. If the people refuse to pay for a product because it is priced too high or doesn't meet their requirements, the people will refuse one or more products and buy the one that fits their needs. Yes, this means some businesses go out of business. But it also means that businesses must be sensitive to the needs and resources of the customer. In this way the people, the customer, are in charge of the resources. Those providing the resources are required to respond to the needs of the people. This usually levels the pricing and quality of the resources. This is healthy competition. Who can provide the best product for the most reasonable cost? This is consistent with what Frank Rich wrote recently in his NYT editorial, words to the effect of "health care is supposed to be about serving the medical needs of the people, and not about the profit of the corporation." (paraphrase). Enough!

I would agree that a national, single-payer system would be more efficient and less costly. I believe the public option would be an important step towards this end. It seems the public option could be a way to unite all insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, hospitals, and doctors in a comprehensive medical care program, with everyone making a fair profit. The winners would be everyone. The sacrifice would be less huge profit-taking and less huge salaries. But the people would be better served. It seems one of the major problems is weaning the powers away from the greed bucket, the desire to have more, the scourge of "excess". We are a bloated and overweight nation in so may ways. We need to get skinny! Enough!

Likewise with Iran. There is an excess of control over the people. Call it power greed, religious greed. This means that the focus is on maintaining a cultural-political-religious structure that is detrimental to the well-being of all the people. The "business" of the government, the Ayatolas has become insensitive to the expressed demands of the people. The people are marching and dying for a "public option". Their political and religious "health care" system is not working adequately anymore. They march to be heard. They march for change. They are saying, "Enough"!

As Jesus tells his disciples, "Enough", so is it time to say "Enough" to ways that are counter-people. Our "enoughs" must turn towards putting the legitimate, life giving needs of the people first. Then we will discover that there is "enough" for ALL!

Enough!
Ron

In This Troubled Time, Remember....

This Sunday, I will baptize our granddaughter, Milla (Meela). This holy event will be followed by a cook-out with family and friends. A gathering of love, of grace.

What does baptism say to us in this historical time? What can the sprinkling of water, the gathering among a congregation, the confession of faith, the anointing with oil, the symbolism of salt, and the lighting of a candle, mean today?

Like many, I have been following the drama of the Iranian election. Ghosts of U.S.A.-2000 appear. Corruption? People finally having enough of repression. A cry to be open to the West. Freedom for women to develop their lives more fully. Democracy. A progressive, 21st century Islam. What can Holy Baptism say to this yearning?

President Obama speaking before the AMA, calling on a reformed health care system. Pushback from the insurance companies. Bailed-out banks lending less. More people out of work. California broke. America living off foreign loans. Two wars draining borrowed resources. Gays demanding rights. Right wing malcontents killing the innocent. Corporate greed. Challenges to going green. What can Holy Baptism say in this environment?

We are brought to the font by family and friends. We are carried. We are loved. Family and friends have taken the time to present us to God, to tell us that the relationship with God is vital and central for living!

Come the sacrament. "God, who is rich in mercy and love, give us new birth into a living hope....By water and the Word God delivers us to new life in Jesus Christ,....and joined in God's mission for the life of the world." There is grace and call.

And there is more. In Holy Baptism we are graced to be responsible: To bring the baptized into the community of the Church, to bring them to worship and the Lord's Supper, to teach, to nurture in Christ, so that the baptized serve and work for peace and justice. We have a most holy purpose in life that does not require employment, but commitment and promise to faith and love.

And more. We stand and renounce the power of evil "and all the forces that defy God....the powers of this world that rebel against God....and the ways of sin that draw us from God". We are graced and called to stand up, step up, to face the winds of life. God gives us what is necessary for the task.

More. We are graced to confess our faith in God, in Jesus, in the Holy Spirit. It is a gift to confess faith in the One who creates, liberates, and enlightens. In Christ we can create, liberate others, enlighten each other to faith, hope, and love; towards justice and peace; towards reconciliation.

More. We are forgiven. We are welcomed into the Family of God, the community of the Holy Christian Church. We have a place of love, and people with whom to connect in love.

More. We are anointed to remind us that we are protected by God from the power of anything to keep us from the love of God. We are given a candle to remind us that Jesus is the Light of the world, and that we are now called to reflect Christ's Light. We are given grace and we are called to costly grace.

Bishop Wayne Weissenbuehler once told a story he heard on a trip to Africa. An African church leader told him: "The only way to be safe in an unsafe world is to be part of a large family". In Holy Baptism we become part of the huge Family of God! We are embraced, we are loved, we are nurtured for the sake of making real the Reign of God in the world!

In this troubled time, let us remember our Holy Baptism.

Peace!
Ron

Direction Home

I recall a line from Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone": "How does it feel, to be on your own, with no direction home, like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone?" One rock survey put this song as the number one R and R song in rock history. There must be something to its questions and message.

Regarding our nation, our world, are we headed home? Do we have direction that is hopeful? Are we as a nation, or as a world, acting like we are alone, whose only secutity is ourselves? Are we fast tracking towards the "dustbin" of history?

DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL: Obama needs to keep his promise of eliminating this test. I suspect he is holding back due to political considerations, particularly concerning the health care debate, fixing the economy, addressing the Israeli-Palestinian reality, Iraq and Afghanistan, the Supreme Court nomination process, and.... It is refreshing to see a president who believes he is not a dictator and that our democracy is just that, with checks and balances, and that we live in a country of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and.... So many "ands". Yet, he needs to put this practice to rest. Gays can and are serving honorably. Let them be honest.

ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN REALITY: His Cairo speech was masterful, balanced with a clear call for justice for all. It was right to use the word "intolerable" when speaking of the conditions within the Palestinian refugee camps. Some of these camps have been in existance since 1948! They look like the slums in "Slumdog". It is time for Israel to yield to and respect the 1967 border agreement and cease from building more settlements. Land for peace seems to be the direction home. The two state solution seems fair. There is positive movement within Palestinian leadership to respect Israel's right to exist. By all parties, Jerusalem needs to be recognized as an international city as much as possible. Indeed, Jerusalem has a uniqueness unlike any other city in then world, being the epicenter of three religions' historical roots. These histories need to be recognized for the sake of justice and peace.

ECONOMY: It is right to designate this summer as "Stimulus Summer". People need work. People will work. Spending for the sake of meaningful labor, on projects that will rebuild America and move us into an energy conscious future is money well spent. Money spent to line pockets for the sake of another yacht or lake home, at the expense of the common good, is waste. Stimulus money needs to be sent out, now. There are too many foreclosures, too many closed businesses, too many.... It is good that more banks are feeling more confidence in lending, but they too must loosen credit terms. Certainly, more regulation is necessary, and this appears to be forthcoming. It is heartening that Wall Street is recovering (and so is my pension account!). Yet, the big piece is JOBS, JOBS, JOBS. The most obvious areas of focus are infrastructure and energy conversion.

HEALTH CARE: There needs to be a public option. Over the decades, insurance companies have not shown good enough faith in providing coverage for all people. They have too often abused their power by refusing to cover the most needy, refusing to cover those with pre-conditions, and pricing their coverage beyond what is affordable. Too often, profit has supplanted compassion. There needs to be a major "tweaking" in health care coverage. A public option can help to keep private insurers honest and under cost control. The public option can also help keep costs for procedures and hospitals stays under control. Costs run out of control due to the choices made by the powerful within each care layer. They set the prices. A public option will provide a sane competitive marker to make health care affordable for all. The public option also ought to provide care on one's ability to pay. Health care is a right, not an option.

EDUCATION: There can be no short-changing education. As education goes, so goes the nation. Increase taxes to get this done! More teachers, more resources, more specialists, better facilities, better and fairer college loans, and more experimentation with what is a more effective education philosophy. I am impressed with the KIPP program which includes high quality teachers, school from 7:30-5:00, including extra-curriculars, plus two hours of homework, Saturday school twice a month, and some summer classes. 48 out of 48 seniors have been accepted into colleges!

EARTH CARE: It is important to focus on going green. Our future depends on the choices we make today. We cannot keep using and abusing the earth's resources as if they will last forever. We must think of leaving a legacy of environmental hope. More fuel efficient vehicles, clean energy, protection of wilderness areas, animal protection, rainforest protection, non-dumping of garbage into the oceans, continued recycling, but also reuse of what we have, and.... Let us not just keep creating more junk to fill landfills!

Are we headed home? Do we have direction? Are we just acting like we are the only nation in the world, accountable to only ourselves? Or do we see the United States as a light among lights, accountable to the world, committed to common efforts for the sake of peace and justice? This is the commitment that will lead us home. This commitment will give us direction towards a hopeful future for all. This commitment is honorably Biblical in scope. "For God so loved the WORLD...." "Blessed are the peacemakers...." "Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God."

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the

mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,

holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the

renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will

of God-what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2

Let's go home!

Peace!

Ron