What's Your Boat?

My Bible study class began its look at John Ortberg's If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get out of the Boat yesterday, and I promised to continue our conversation in this forum so more people can participate. Ortberg's book develops from the story of Simon Peter (one of Christ's disciples) walking on water with Christ on the sea of Galilee.

And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid." Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." Matthew 14:25-32

Ortberg uses Peter's story to "stand as an invitation to everyone who, like him, wants to step out in faith, who wants to experience something more of the power and presence of God" (9). While eleven of the disciples clung to the boat in fear (it had been crazy stormy all night long and they were sure they were going to be sunk). Only Peter recognized the opportunity -- if Jesus is Lord, and Jesus could walk on the stormy sea, Jesus could empower Peter to do what Peter couldn't do on his own. So he asked Jesus to command him to leave the relative safety of the boat and walk on the water toward his Lord.

Only by possessing that courage (Simon Peter is known for having been a gutsy one, if not always stalwart), the recognition that Jesus was connected to God, and the trust in Jesus to protect him, was Peter able to serve God to his fullest potential. Courage, conviction, and trust -- this is what distinguished Peter from the other eleven disciples on that night.

Before we can get out of the boat, however, we have to know what our boat is. According to Ortberg, "Your boat is whatever represents safety and security to you apart from God himself" (17). Once we've identified our 'boats' we can start to take risks that move us out of them in service to God. We can trust that God will protect us when we're far from our boat (another metaphor would be our 'safety net'), we can hold the conviction that God can do things through us that we can't do if we cling to the side of our boat, and we can be emboldened by that fact to leave our boats behind because we recognize the good that can come from it (who would really choose a safety net over the chance to help others?)

My boat is self-sufficiency. I'm a pretty smart girl (apart from acting like a complete idiot over the weekend. I was helping a friend navigate in the car and as soon as we had taken a right I checked the map and said, "I think we went the wrong way. We wanted to turn right back there, not left." To which my friend very charitably replied, "We did turn right back there." One in a string of bubble-headed moments I had in that 48-hour period.).

But I know I can rely on myself to know what to do in most situations (or I know how to find out the answer), I know I'll never go hungry, I'll always be employable, my body and mind are strong--I can take care of myself. By always relying on myself, it's easy to keep others at arm's length. What's more, it denies the foundation of true service -- that there is no real distinction between the person who serves and the one who is served. If I only let myself 'serve' (by 'taking care of others') I experience only half of life and I choke off the people I'm in relationship as well.

Not trying to be confessional -- just trying to illustrate what Ortberg's talking about. If you're interested in reading Ortberg with us (or following along in this abridged version), I invite you to do the following over the next week:

1. Take a few minutes and identify your 'boat'. I bet we all have a few -- the idea's not to find an objective right answer to this; the point is to locate an area in your life that substitutes for God (money, status, stability, family, etc.);
2. Commit to taking one action that lets you practice replacing your 'boat' with trust in God. I'm going to not worry about getting everything 'right' this week (that translates into my budgeting the amount of time I spend getting ready for my lectures). I'll be fine anyway, and I can use that time to be less frantic when I'm with the people I care about.

So if you see me, let me know if I sound frantic!

Love you,

Becky

Why I Love Kanye

Okay, so I guess I can't be quiet. There's a story that's floating around right now about the new cover of Rolling Stone that features Kanye West, one of the biggest hip hop artists of the moment, sporting a crown of thorns. Some people have argued they find the picture offensive; others say they find it exploitive.

Part of it might come from the fact the Kanye's pretty flashy and apparently has a larger-than-average ego (and thinner-than-average skin: he can get pretty cranky about people who dislike his music and style), so people interpret the cover as his presenting himself as Christ -- someone better than the rest of us who is persecuted for his exceptionalism.

But here's the thing: both of Kanye's two albums College Dropout and Late Registration have sold millions of copies, and millions of people listen to his music. He's one of the few voices in hip hop (or music generally) who let's his belief in God infuse his music. He does a cover of "I'll Fly Away" on one of his albums, sings about the conflict diamonds and how our consumerism effects the poor in war-torn parts of Africa. He has spoken out againt homophobia (probably the only hip hop artist to state clearly that that form of bigotry is unacceptable), and he struggles with how to live in this world as a Christian. He confesses the difficulties he has living as a star and a child of God. I don't know about you, but I think that's a pretty important message for all of us, and a crucial message for young black men who see him as a role model. Better him than Nelly.

Here are the lyrics for one of his best-known songs, Jesus Walks:

{Intro}I need to recruit all the soldiers
All of God's soldiers
We at war
We at war with terrorism, racism, and most of all we at war with ourselves
(Jesus Walks)
God show me the way because the Devil try to break me down
(Jesus Walks with me with me with me with me) [Fades]

{Verse 1}You know what the Midwest is?
Young & Restless
Where restless Niggas might snatch your necklace
And next these Niggas might jack your Lexus
Somebody tell these Niggas who Kanye West is
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death is
Top floor of the view alone will leave you breathless
*Gasping for air*Try to catch it*Gasping for air*
It's kinda hard Gettin' choked by detectives yeah yeah now check the method
They be asking us questions, harass and arrest us
Saying "we eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast."
Huh? Yall eat pieces of shit what's the basis?
We ain't goin' nowhere but got suits and cases
A trunk full of coke rental car from Avis
My momma used to say only Jesus can save us
Well momma I know I act a fool
But I'll be gone till November I got packs to move I Hope

{Chorus}(Jesus Walks)
God show me the way because the Devil try to break me down
(Jesus Walks with me)
The only thing that I pray is that my feet don't fail me now
(Jesus Walks)
And I don't think there’s nothing I can do to right my wrong
(Jesus Walks with me)
I wanna talk to God but I'm afraid cause we ain't spoke in so long
(Jesus Walks)
God show me the way because the Devil try to break me down
(Jesus Walks with me)
The only thing that I pray is that my feet don't fail me now
(Jesus Walks)
And I don't think there’s nothing I can do to right my wrong
(Jesus Walks)
I wanna to talk to God but I'm afraid cause we ain't spoke in so long
(Jesus Walks with me with me with me) [Fades]

{Verse 2}To the hustlers, killers, murderers, drug dealers even the strippers
(Jesus walks with them)
To the victims of welfare feel we living in hell here, hell yea
(Jesus walks with them)
Now hear Ye hear Ye wanna see Thee more clearly
I know He hear me when my feet get weary
Cause we’re the almost nearly extinct
We rappers are role models we rap we don't think
I ain't here to argue about his facial features
Or here to convert atheists into believers
I'm just tryin to say the way school need teachers
The way Kathy Lee needed Regis that's the way I need Jesus
So here go my single dawg radio needs this
They said you can rap about anything except for Jesus
That means guns, sex, lies, video tape
But if I talk about God my record won't get played huh
Well if this take away my from spins
Which will probably take away from my ends
Then I hope it take away from sins
And bring the day that I’m dreamin about
Next time I'm in the club everybody screamin out

{Chorus 2}(Jesus Walks)
God show me the way because the devil try to break me down
(Jesus Walks with me)
The only thing that I pray is that my feet don't fail me now
(Jesus Walks)
And I don’t think there’s nothing I can do to right my wrong
(Jesus Walks with me with me with me with me) [Fades]

I wanna talk to God but I’m afraid cause we ain’t spoke in so long .....

So I say we leave the man alone. With so many people in this world walking around mute (or worse, sounding trite) about the real issues we face and how God is there to guide us, Kanye's got my admiration. I wish we were all a little more like him.

Love,

Becky

Gearing Up. . .

Hey you guys,

Just posting a quick message to say that I'm here, just not feeling anything to write for some reason. I feel it coming, but I don't want to post just to post, so I might be quiet for a little bit longer. I do want to announce two things:

1. My Bible Study at church is starting to read John Ortberg's, If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get out of the Boat. It's about being open to taking risks spiritually and living our lives fearlessly. We're starting with chapter one this Sunday (1/29/06). So if you're interested and you live in the DC area, we'll be in room L5 at Mount Olivet UMC (1500 N Glebe Rd) from 5:30-6:45pm. If you live anywhere else in the country and would like to discuss the book virtually, I think I'll post my thoughts on Mondays and maybe we can get a real conversation going on this thing!
2. One of my main motivations behind starting this blog was to stimulate our conversation about the relationship between faith and public policy -- how do we live as Christians in a complicated, political world? Well, next Tuesday night the President delivers the State of the Union Address, and I will definitely be writing about that next Wednesday! (I guess it looks like I'm not going to be quiet for very long after all!). Sojourners, a Christian ministry committed to reconciling public policy priorities with those of the gospel (charity, justice, love, self-sacrifice, etc.) is hosting a series of Union Watch parties across the country so people of faith can watch the State of the Union together and discuss how well the president's message resonates with what we know to be God's call for people living in relation with one another. I encourage you to find one near you and attend.

See you soon!

Love,

Becky

Hard as Crucible Steel...

After a very long hiatus for winter break I'm easing my way back into writing. Today, though, I thought I'd post my favorite speech by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, in honor of his birthday. King delivered this eulogy at the funeral of the three girls who were killed in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham in 1963. I took the text from Stanford's collection of speeches by Dr. King.


"This afternoon we gather in the quiet of this sanctuary to pay our last tribute of respect to these beautiful children of God. They entered the stage of history just a few years ago, and in the brief years that they were privileged to act on this mortal stage, they played their parts exceedingly well. Now the curtain falls; they move through the exit; the drama of their earthly life comes to a close. They are now committed back to that eternity from which they came.

These children—unoffending, innocent, and beautiful—were the victims of one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity.

And yet they died nobly. They are the martyred heroines of a holy crusade for freedom and human dignity. And so this afternoon in a real sense they have something to say to each of us in their death. They have something to say to every minister of the gospel who has remained silent behind the safe security of stained-glass windows. They have something to say to every politician [Audience:] (Yeah) who has fed his constituents with the stale bread of hatred and the spoiled meat of racism. They have something to say to a federal government that has compromised with the undemocratic practices of southern Dixiecrats (Yeah) and the blatant hypocrisy of right-wing northern Republicans. (Speak) They have something to say to every Negro (Yeah) who has passively accepted the evil system of segregation and who has stood on the sidelines in a mighty struggle for justice. They say to each of us, black and white alike, that we must substitute courage for caution. They say to us that we must be concerned not merely about who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers. Their death says to us that we must work passionately and unrelentingly for the realization of the American dream.

And so my friends, they did not die in vain. (Yeah) God still has a way of wringing good out of evil. (Oh yes) And history has proven over and over again that unmerited suffering is redemptive. The innocent blood of these little girls may well serve as a redemptive force (Yeah) that will bring new light to this dark city. (Yeah) The holy Scripture says, "A little child shall lead them." (Oh yeah) The death of these little children may lead our whole Southland (Yeah) from the low road of man's inhumanity to man to the high road of peace and brotherhood. (Yeah, Yes) These tragic deaths may lead our nation to substitute an aristocracy of character for an aristocracy of color. The spilled blood of these innocent girls may cause the whole citizenry of Birmingham (Yeah) to transform the negative extremes of a dark past into the positive extremes of a bright future. Indeed this tragic event may cause the white South to come to terms with its conscience. (Yeah)

And so I stand here to say this afternoon to all assembled here, that in spite of the darkness of this hour (Yeah Well), we must not despair. (Yeah, Well) We must not become bitter (Yeah, That’s right), nor must we harbor the desire to retaliate with violence. No, we must not lose faith in our white brothers. (Yeah, Yes) Somehow we must believe that the most misguided among them can learn to respect the dignity and the worth of all human personality.

May I now say a word to you, the members of the bereaved families? It is almost impossible to say anything that can console you at this difficult hour and remove the deep clouds of disappointment which are floating in your mental skies. But I hope you can find a little consolation from the universality of this experience. Death comes to every individual. There is an amazing democracy about death. It is not aristocracy for some of the people, but a democracy for all of the people. Kings die and beggars die; rich men and poor men die; old people die and young people die. Death comes to the innocent and it comes to the guilty. Death is the irreducible common denominator of all men.

I hope you can find some consolation from Christianity's affirmation that death is not the end. Death is not a period that ends the great sentence of life, but a comma that punctuates it to more lofty significance. Death is not a blind alley that leads the human race into a state of nothingness, but an open door which leads man into life eternal. Let this daring faith, this great invincible surmise, be your sustaining power during these trying days.

Now I say to you in conclusion, life is hard, at times as hard as crucible steel. It has its bleak and difficult moments. Like the ever-flowing waters of the river, life has its moments of drought and its moments of flood. (Yeah, Yes) Like the ever-changing cycle of the seasons, life has the soothing warmth of its summers and the piercing chill of its winters. (Yeah) And if one will hold on, he will discover that God walks with him (Yeah, Well), and that God is able (Yeah, Yes) to lift you from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope, and transform dark and desolate valleys into sunlit paths of inner peace.

And so today, you do not walk alone. You gave to this world wonderful children. [moans] They didn’t live long lives, but they lived meaningful lives. (Well) Their lives were distressingly small in quantity, but glowingly large in quality. (Yeah) And no greater tribute can be paid to you as parents, and no greater epitaph can come to them as children, than where they died and what they were doing when they died. (Yeah) They did not die in the dives and dens of Birmingham (Yeah, Well), nor did they die discussing and listening to filthy jokes. (Yeah) They died between the sacred walls of the church of God (Yeah, Yes), and they were discussing the eternal meaning (Yes) of love. This stands out as a beautiful, beautiful thing for all generations. (Yes)

Shakespeare had Horatio to say some beautiful words as he stood over the dead body of Hamlet. And today, as I stand over the remains of these beautiful, darling girls, I paraphrase the words of Shakespeare: (Yeah, Well): Good night, sweet princesses. Good night, those who symbolize a new day. (Yeah, Yes) And may the flight of angels (That’s right) take thee to thy eternal rest. God bless you."