clair090

Driving into work the other day the voice over the radio proclaimed the urgency of suicide rates up some 24% in the state of Tennessee (where I reside).  Some states have seen the rise go even higher -- 30% increase or more!  Of course, the suicides of several rather public figures (Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdaine) has brought this back into the news.  We will see how long it lasts.  45,000 Americans murdered themselves in 2016; among some age groups and genders suicide is a top cause of death for that group. The great temptation is to write all of this off to mental illness or unique circumstances in the lives of those who try or succeed at taking their own lives.  At the same time we view this as a problem, we are in the process of normalizing suicide as the reasoned choice of those who believe they have physical or mental burdens of pain or illness too great to bear.  Indeed, we want this to happen in a medical setting with a professional either overse...

Catching up on some reading, I saw the August edition of The Living Lutheran (I question the title) had a story on Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in San Francisco.  Apparently, this congregation sends single serving consecrated communion packets to worshipers who request them.  They are using this to include those who watch the livestreamed services at home.  They found that many of those watching were also injured by faith communities and therefore unwilling to attend local congregations.  They were LGBTQ (big surprise in San Francisco) or more progressive than the preaching at local congregations.  Hmmmmm..... that should say something. They chose to use grape juice in solidarity with those trying to remain sober and because some of them could not drink wine with the medications they drink (and probably because the single serving packets are readily available from nearly every Baptist or evangelical supplier).  They mail them as far as Hawaii, Wash...

In the news. . .word is out that the Southern Poverty Law Center, the self appointed watch dogs of hate speech whose mission is apparently to classify any defenders of religious liberty (example: the Alliance Defending Freedom) as “extremists” and the purveyors of hate speech which dare not be tolerated, now has about a half-billion dollars in its coin purse to finance its mission.  Let me say that again.  $500M!  Money to keep the press releases going and keep paying for those who fight for the cause of free speech only to prevent it from those who might disagree with them. In other news. . . the Human Rights Campaign, another group policing speech and rights against those who might have the nerve to affirm marriage as the lifelong union of one man and one woman, took in some $42 million last year to finance its pursuit of bigots who shall not be allowed to exist. I could keep up the count with a hundred other organizations who are not struggling with money problems in...

Sermon for Pentecost 14, Proper 16B, preached on Sunday, August 26, 2018, by the Rev. Daniel M. Ulrich. “It’s what’s on the inside that counts.”   Have you ever heard this before?   Of course you have, we all have.   This goes right along with “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”   These two well-known clichés speak to the idea that what’s seen isn’t what’s always true.   What’s true comes from the inside.   What’s true comes from the heart.   This can be said about our worship.   True worship comes from a faithful heart.   This is in essence what Jesus said to the Pharisees as He rebuked them in our Gospel reading.               The Pharisees were concerned with what could be seen, with visible action, with visible worship.   And what they saw was Jesus’ disciples not washing their hands.   Of course we know washing our hands before we eat is a healthy practice, but th...

Apparently, the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology has applied to the American Board of Medical Specialties for authorization for a medical specialty in late term abortions -- those who are without doubt viable.  In other words, this medical specialty will be in the efficient and safe killing of babies who are fairly near term.  Of course, no one would say that.  And to ensure that no one would say that, this specialty will include the training to mask what is being done and to create vague language that softens the reality and hides it from public view and comment, say, with a name like “Complex Family Planning.”  Oops.  Out of the bag. From Briana Heldt : “Although contraception and abortion services for healthy women may be safely provided by general OB GYN clinicians,” the application reads, “subspecialists with special knowledge and skills are necessary for advanced gestations.” What does that special knowledge include, one might ask? Accor...

In case you have not heard: The Minnesota Conference of the United Methodist Church has removed the term, ‘Father,’ from the Apostle’s Creed in an attempt to be more gender inclusive to God. The ancient creed of the Christian Church reads: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. However, United Methodists in the Minnesota Conference decided that referring to God as “Father” wasn’t inclusive enough for the 21st century United Methodist Church. At the conference, held May 30 through June 1, conference organizers omitted reference to God the Father. Instead, they changed the phrase “God the Father Almighty” to “God the Creator Almighty.” The creed passed out to attendees also removed the phrase, “Jesus Christ, His only Son” to “Jesus Christ, God...

The world may call him Pope but that is neither his name or his title.  His name is Jorge.  He is Francis, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Metropolitan Archbishop of the Province of Rome, Sovereign of the Vatican City State, Servant of the Servants of God... But, hey, you can call me Frank. . . There are some who delight in creating an image of casual ease about things definitely not casual.  This Pope is certainly one.  He answers questions off the cuff on the airplane, whispers into the ears of children, calls up reporters and columnists in the dead of night to gab, and eschews much of the ordinary ceremony, vesture, and pomp once used to emphasize the titles and give visual form and shape to them. There are pastors who do the same.  They like to wear ordinary clothes all the time so that nobody thinks of them as being pastors.  They prefer to be...

The problems of trying to sit down with Kim Jong Un of North Korea or whoever is the real power behind Iran's theocratic system of government pale in comparison to the tension between the Church and the world and some imagined truce.  As history has witnesses, both North Korea and Iran have skillfully negotiated their cause and confounded those who have sought to remove the nuclear threat from either country.  Carrots have not enticed and threats of not cowered these into submission.  Perhaps President Trump knows what he is doing and will figure a way through the mess or he will end up having tried and failed as have most of his predecessors.  In any case, the stakes in this nuclear game of chess are not nearly as high as the stakes faced between the Church and the world. One of the most common avenues of detente (remember that word) has been the attempt to make for some sort of rapprochement in which the thought is that if the Church gives up some of the things tha...

There are some who suggest that the danger of ceremony, vestments, chanting, and other things loosely labeled high church is that it draws those who like this stuff into the sphere of the Roman Catholic Church.  It has also drawn some criticism and some association with homosexuality.  Let me begin by saying that there are those who harbor Roman sympathies who also have a personal preference for higher ceremony but the ceremonies are not the things that draw someone to Rome.  It is theology pure and simple -- theological questions that flow out of the frustration of a Lutheranism that is all over the page theologically, without a stomach for discipline, insistent upon absolute congregational autonomy and independence, and who abhor their own theological (and liturgical) tradition.  The issue is not the ceremonial but the structure, the discipline, and the consistency of a church that remains theologically and liturgically stable.  Now, let me say on the onset...

From the esteemed pen of the Rev'd Dr. Richard Stuckwisch : The form and adornment of the Liturgy have developed in various ways throughout the Church's history, but its basic integrity must always be guarded and maintained. That is to say, the preaching of the Holy Scriptures of the Prophets and Apostles as fulfilled in Christ Jesus, and the administration of His Holy Supper with His Word in accordance with His institution, are ever and always to be the central, controlling, decisive, and definitive factors. The preaching of Christ is always leading to the celebration of His Holy Sacrament, and the administration of His Sacrament always includes the faithful preaching of His Word unto repentance and faith. The Liturgy is the Ministry of the Gospel of Christ. It is what He does and gives and carries out through His servants for His Church, according to His Word and promises. It is what constitutes the very Life of the Church as the Body of Christ. It therefore als...

Fr. Hunwicke, always a good read, once noted that the modern attitude toward history sees the past as simply the present dressed up old clothes.   Wow.  What a quote!  I wish I has said that.  But as pithy as his observation, even more is the truth in it all. The sad truth of it all is that we don't want to hear the past speak.  We treat history as if it is the child to be seen (really tolerated) but not heard.  We want a past that supports our present but even then we are unwilling to go past the most shallow reading of history.  We refuse to admit that the past was anything of truth, certainly not the truths we affirm as modern people.  If we see the past as prejudice, we honor history only by pointing out all of its foibles and faults -- measuring it against the enlightened view of things in the present.  If we see the past as error, we presume that we are above error and that our view of the subject at hand is correct, right, and the only...