Philadelphia Folk Festival 2007

So I went to this folk festival a few weeks ago and I enjoyed myself probably much more than I should have. It's a gathering of about 4000 hippies and wiser (read: older) generations dancing and chilling to folk, bluegrass, and celtic music for three straight days. I had heard stories about this festival in the past, the legends of people just walking around completely naked, etc. However, it was a lot more low-key than I expected: which oddly enough was a little disappointing. Not that I wanted to see naked people but I do love to dance to bluegrass and folk music. And dance I did. There were about 200 of us in the back of the field just having a good 'ole time dancing to the fiddles and the banjo. This year I went by myself but next year I hope to recruit some friends, since I will definitely be back next year.

I was planning on making some 'spiritual insight' or 'illustration' out of this experience but there really is no need. Music, dance, and the like are all God's and it was a joy to participate. I had a great time which probably betrays my true inner hippie.

The Preacher & the Rabbi

One thing I noticed when I was at synagogue that has been rolling around the brain the past week: Their 'sermon' wasn't the climax of the Shabbat service. It wasn't like we often like to think about church, the music gets the heart softened and ready to hear "from God's word" and then all the drama, Scripture reading, etc. leads up to...the SERMON (dun dun dun). The sermon was there at Shabbat service, but it was just another part of the gathering. It wasn't long, only about 15-20 minutes out of the hour and a half service. As a result, it was a much more participatory service, where if you didn't engage, you felt left out.

On a similar note: the rabbi didn't present himself as "God's Man" as many preachers and pastors do today, and yet he is probably much more respected among his congregation than many preachers and pastors today. Maybe there's something to be learned there? It was very nice to have the rabbi identify the way he did with everyone else. He was there truly to shepherd and it showed.

Religious Understanding - Part 5 (Judaism)

I went to synagogue last Friday. I was giddy about it all day, like a kid on Christmas. I am absolutely fascinated by Judaism, which is why if ever I decide to get a Ph.D. it will certainly be in something relating to the Hebrew Scriptures. Well, needless to say, I absolutely loved it and would go every Shabbat if it were closer to my house. It was almost entirely composed of congregational chanting/singing in Hebrew (good practice for me). It was a Reformed synagogue (but not of the Luther stripe), meaning it wasn't crazy conservative (Orthodox) and neither was it crazy liberal (Reconstructionist)...it might be described as a Jewish PCA of sorts (of course 'crazy liberal/conservative' is quite relative I've learned coming from Liberty to Westminster). I really did love the tradition and the emphasis on "remembrance." Remember who you are in the Almighty, remember what it means to be God's people. They were all so sincere and so serious about their faith, something a lot of us could learn something about. It wasn't at all about 'knowing the right things,' it was about embodying this thing they called "Judaism."

For those who aren't familiar and with blatant oversimplification, Judaism accepts what Christians call the Old Testament and the coming of Messiah, but denies that Jesus of Nazareth was in fact that Messiah. Because of this, after the destruction of Temple in 70 CE, Judaism took on even more of a bibliocentric and communal nature. So, since 70 CE Judaism has really evolved.

Overall, I loved it, absolutely. They didn't wear their religion on their sleeve, you could tell they felt a part of the Judaic narrative, they were entrenched in the story, and I envied that.

Communal Sex Lives?

About a month ago I read an amazing book called Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity, and it was a real eye-opener. There are many things to admire about this non-traditional approach to sex, but one thing in particular has really caused me to question a lot of my assumptions about the community's role in our sex lives. There is even a chapter called Communal Sex: Or, Why Your Neighbor Has Any Business Asking You What You Did Last Night. Here is an exerpt from that chapter:

"...the Bible tells us to intrude - or rather, the Bible tells us that talking to one another about what is really going on in our lives is in fact not an intrusion at all, because what's going on in my life is already your concern; by dint of the baptism that made me your sister, my joys are your joys and my crises are your crises. We are called to speak to one another lovingly, to be sure, and with edifying, rather than gossipy or hurtful, goals. But we are called nonetheless to transform seemingly private matters into communal matters...[Sociologist Wendell] Berry claims that "the disintegration of community" began when we started treating marital sex as a wholly private matter, when we severed the connections that link marriages to households and neighborhoods and communities" (56-7).

It is curious the many things we take for granted and assume in the ways we think. For most of history, even up until the 20th century, marital sex wasn't just between a husband and wife. How could it be when the majority of the populations lived (and still do in 3rd world countries) in one-room houses or huts? Your kids knew when you had sex. Your kids heard when you had sex...Scary thought?

In any case, my point is that we are to live in community because we are the body of Christ. What affects one part of the body affects the whole, whether we confess it or not. And our sex life is just one of those areas that we should be able to share about if need be, it just happens to be one of the hardest. But in the end we are free. We are free to be open and free to share because our worth isn't based on what we can hide from people about our sin and our humanity, but is based on a love by a God who already knows it and loves us anyway. Yet sometimes I think we value people's opinion but not God's. It's okay if God knows, but not so and so. Hmmm, interesting. But, as always, I am open for correction, rebuke, wagging fingers, etc.

"The best thing that could ever happen to any one of us is that all our sins would be broadcast on the 5 o' clock news." - Derek Webb

A Prayer by Anne Bronte

Reflecting on the past few years here in the Philly area, I've realized how much my faith has grown. This is surprising considering how incredibly often I have been plagued by doubt here at seminary. I feel like I have survived the turbulent waters of 'being honest with the text' and 'letting the text be the text' and have passed to the serenity of a 2nd naivete. But as I reflected on that and praised God for his hand in all of it, I came across a poem that I have really become attached to in the past few days. It's by Anne Bronte, third of the famous Bronte sisters (Charlotte & Emily) and is found in an amazing book called A Sacrifice of Praise which is "an anthology of Christian poetry in English from Caedmon to the mid-twentieth century."

A Prayer

My God (oh, let me call Thee mine,
Weak, wretched sinner though I be),
My trembling soul would fain be Thine;
My feeble faith still clings to Thee.

Not only for the past I grieve,
The future fills me with dismay;
Unless Thou hasten to relieve,
Thy suppliant is a castaway.

I cannot say my faith is strong,
I dare not hope my love is great;
But strength and love to Thee belong:
Oh, do not leave me desolate!

I know I owe my all to Thee;
Oh, take the heart I cannot give;
Do Thou my Strength, my Savior be,
And make me to Thy glory live!

Religious Understanding - Part 4 (Unitarian Universalism)

I have to admit, the question of why Unitarian Universalists even have 'church', has always been a mystery to me. But I found the answer (as stated on the back of the program):

Statement of Purpose:
We gather as a community,
To support and sustain
each other and our larger communities,
To further individual freedom of
belief, to encourage the search for truth,
and seek mindful relations with
all living beings,
By striving for justice and promoting the democratic
process in human relations.

So there you have it. The service itself consisted of readings by Shel Silverstein, Mark Twain, and Robert Frost. There were also some hymns sung from the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook. They were typically about nature and various other vague notions of peace and harmony. In the back of the hymnal were readings from all different religions, including humanism. Over all, I wasn't terribly impressed. They seemed a little arrogant to me (not that I can base it on one service) with a major emphasis on enlightenment thinking and thinkers. Which might not be universal (no pun intended) since I did go to The Thomas Paine Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

The 'sermon' was by a member of the congregation on the connectedness of life based on the 7th principle of the UU Association:
7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

It was basically an extended discussion and possible argument for causal determinism, that we are all absolutely determined by our circumstances and temperment, both of which we have no control over.

One thing I was slightly disappointed in was that all of the rhetoric I heard and have read in the past about UU was how welcoming, tolerant, and loving they were but only 1 person talked to me the entire time I was there, and I even hung around for donuts afterwards for about 10 minutes just to see if anyone would come over to me. This is even more surprising considering that there were only about 45 people there. In any case, it wasn't too great of an experience, I still don't really understand the 'complete inclusivism' stance, it reminds me of the great conduit of wisdom Dash Parr from The Incredibles after his Mom remarks "Everyone's special Dash," he wisely responds: "Which is another way of saying no one is."

WTS Books & Blog Partnering

For those of you who are new to theological books, I'll be the first to let you in on a little secret. Westminster's bookstore is pretty much amazing. First all of they have the lowest prices, yes, even lower than Amazon. They carry pretty much any theological book worth reading and only charge 5$ for shipping on orders of any size. I get most of my books through them. But now they've added a blog partner program (for every 50 referrels they give you a 10$ gift certificate), which is even better. It's a great program, one which I'll be using, so definitely check them out!

http://www.wtsbooks.com/