MORGAN'S MOMENT...
Every four years I do it…
    turn to the 9th Chapter of Isaiah
    to read of inauguration ecstasy.

The people who walked in great darkness
    on them has the light shined.

Words of hope for another time…
    and many times…
    and all times.

For to us a child is born
   to us a son is given
   the government shall be on his shoulder.

Even Christians borrowed this acclaim
    as one who would not fail the hope
    like every ruler in history.

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace…

   partisans believe and proclaim.

Of the increase of his government
   and of peace there will be no end…

   the people hope and pray.

 And every four years I remind us…
   that the hope is more
   than any man or woman can fulfill.

Yet I found myself emailing a friend…
   “I think that we have reason for hope.
    and I didn’t mean who was elected.

A nation that can rise above its history
    has given us a moment
    none of us expected to live to see.

I’ll sing the song with Isaiah
    who praises the Lord for
    this surprising moment of hope.

— Art Morgan 

BOOK CORNER
Tom Friedman lays out the agenda for the next administration(s) in a clear and sobering way. To understand the need, the opportunity, and the demands ahead of us, he gives us “Hot, Flat and Crowded.” I mention it again because it is so important. Other comments follow on the back page.

MOMENT MINISTRIES
– January 6, 2009 –
    A MOMENT MINISTRIES production – Art Morgan a-morgan@peak.org


THE INAUGURAL PRAYER

Obama has given Rick Warren the honor of recruiting God’s non-partisan support. Progressive Christians, who thought Obama was one of them as a member of the United Church of Christ (Congregational) denomination, are somewhat mystified that a Conservative Christian should pray at the inaugural.
He’s not going to fall in with the religious right crowd is he?
Not that the Rev Warren is beloved by all Evangelicals. He has shown interest in political and social issues that Evangelicals traditionally avoid.
My take on it is that Obama is his own person. He learned some things in that church in South Chicago that most Christians have yet to learn. Like a core idea from Jesus, “Love your enemies,”
Pray for your enemies,” “Make friends with your enemies,” “Pray for those who persecute you.” Little things like that.

Who would expect someone to actually practice those teachings? It confuses people when you start practicing such things in public. It was bad enough when he chose some Republicans for his cabinet. Almost as surprising as when he chose people to join his administration who ran and campaigned   against him Who knows what a person like that is likely to do?
It would not be cynical to suppose that the choice of someone to pray might be an olive branch offered in the direction of Evangelical Christians who had voted against him and were prepared to oppose him on every move. If that’s his strategy, he owes gays and others an olive branch as well.
As a preacher who has doubtlessly offended various parishioners and constituents, it would have warmed my heart to see Obama forgive Jeremiah Wright and renew their friendship. If he can surprise us by including a Rick Warren he might surprise us again by forgiving a Jeremiah Wright. Preachers need to be forgiven too.
Whatever you think, pray that he won’t pray too long.


THURSDAY NIGHT DATE FOR JANUARY

JANUARY 22, 2009



 
                                                                                     (back page)

A THEOLOGY OF SNOW

        Why ruin a pristine thing like snow by tacking on a theology? Then again, why not?
        I was a bit flippant about snow in a recent blue sheet, referring to the undependable Management not coming through according to predictions. No sooner do I get that printed, labeled and mailed than all snow breaks loose, not just back east where it always happens, but all over the northwest as well.
        I thought I needed to clarify my theology of snow.
        Actually, I had it pretty well figured out before I was 10 when I tried to get “dear God” to send down some snow. I thought I was speaking in behalf of the known universe which included my three brothers and six cousins as well as all my buddies in the neighborhood who all wanted a school snow holiday. “Dear God” very rarely gave us any snow and most of the time it was of inferior stuff that melted on arrival. “Dear God” proved not to be dependable with regard to weather.
        In spite of all of this early wisdom I confessed that I still had a childhood wish to see some snow falling before Christmas.
When all the recent snow began to fall and we saw people stuck in airports instead of back home for Christmas, cars stuck along the highways spinning wheels, cities closed down, small business shops that needed a good Christmas for survival struggling and even going out of business – when I thought about what snow really means – I hoped no one knew that there was a time when I actually prayed for snow.

        I had made some notes for this “theology of snow” piece, then began reading Tom Friedman’s “Hot, Flat and Crowded.” He recounts a conversation with Nate Lewis of CalTec talking about Katrina. Nate asked Tom, “Did we do that? Or did God do that?”  Was it, as the law sometimes decides, “an act of God?
        He reminds us that the ancient Greeks used to tie weather to Zeus as a response to human behavior. These Greeks debated and worried the question until they finally disconnected human behavior from acts of nature. So God doesn’t do snow and our good or bad behavior doesn’t make God do it. God’s not to blame, I’m not to blame. Washed whiter than the driven snow.
        Not so fast. The building evidence of human complicity in climate quality and glacier-melting global warming, casts doubt on the notion that humans don’t have influence over weather. No, we can’t control Zeus or “Dear God” by prayers or rain dances or any of the ancient rituals or snow mantras (such as Jean hangs around the house this time of year!). But there is an increasing body of evidence that human activity has done drastic damage to the tiny, fragile planet on which we dwell. Melting snow in the arctic and Antarctic and too much snow in Spokane may be our fault after all.
        A Hebrew scholar named Aaron Ezrahi says that the question needs to be asked in a new way:
Instead of asking; ‘can we control the gods and thus control the weather?’ we’re now asking, ‘can we control ourselves and thus control the weather?’” (p. 114)
        If I read the intentions of the Obama administration correctly, we as a people are going to asked precisely that question: “can we control ourselves and thus control the weather”? Control of ourselves has to do with some spiritual honesty about responsibility, some soul commitment to be willing to sacrifice and pay what it costs, and the political maturity to put survival of the planet above life style.
        If anyone is still praying for snow you should STOP IT! “Dear God” isn’t listening. Besides, you’d be screwing up the system. Some people have so much snow they’re sick of it: Some so little that the ice they live on is melting away. Besides, the snow you’d be getting us is dirty snow, polluted snow, poisoned snow. Stop praying a moment and listen to the “God” in the soul of every living thing on our precious planet – the prayer is God’s prayer to us – Get control of yourselves and save planet  earth!
        That’s my theology of snow. If you can do better, do it! Happy New Year!
─ Art Morgan, New Years, 2009