MORGAN'S MOMENT...
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“I know it’s not fashionable,”
she said,
"but when I pray to God
I say, Father.”
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I tried not to show my surprise…
not her word for God
but for that fact she prayed at all.
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More people pray than admit it…
and most don’t do it formally
or publicly.
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I thought of my writings about God…
whether I had ever objected
to calling God “Father.”
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My God language has a bias
toward the non-anthropomorphic
if I name God or not.
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God-naming is overdone I think…
making too common
the mystery beyond naming.
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I absolved her with a reminder
that Jesus called out to “Abba”
which is “daddy” not father.
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Yet something in us
hungers for personal connection
to the mystery beyond knowing.
– Art Morgan
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BOOK CORNER
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Add “The Evolution of God” by
Robert Wright to my list of books read and
written up this summer. A formidable book, informative and understandable
about a subject often difficult to read. Though the author claims no faith
in God, he offers a refreshing approach when compared with books on atheism
by people like Harris and Dawkins. A very good book for people who talk about
God as well as for people who want to explore their thinking. If the size
seems daunting, read the section on Christianity. My guess is that you will
be hooked and want to read the rest.
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Another is David Guterson’s novel,
“The Other.” It’s full of contact points from my growing up places
in and around Seattle, including my high school. An interesting read.
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ON REPRESENTATION - #2
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One day long ago in my ancient history
as pastor of a city church with a real pipe organ and glorious stained glass
windows and even an elevator, the church secretary buzzed me about a lady
wanting to speak for a few minutes. I was reminded of her by my last column
on Representation.
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When last we spoke I was ruminating
(a lazy sort of un-researched thinking) about the question of whom or what
elected Representatives are representing. It’s such a trite question I hate
to bother it further.
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As a quasi-representative myself in
the faith business my long time suspicion is that people like me are at least
as faithless as those whose business is in politics.
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The petite lady escorted into my office
came across the Alameda train tracks from Watts. I suspected she may have
walked. She carried a Bible. I welcomed her and offered a chair.
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She told me that the Lord had put a
burden in her heart to come and read some scripture to me. Past experience
made me expect to be hit up for a donation.
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Instead she opened her well-marked Bible
and began reading from Ezekiel. She spoke forcefully as if she were the prophet:
“The word of the Lord came to me…prophesy
against the shepherds of Israel…’Ho, shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding
yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you
clothe yourselves with wool…but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have
not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the crippled you have not
bound up…’…”
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You can read the rest of what she read
to me that day in Ezekiel 34. I could not imagine what it must have
taken for this very humble lady to enter what was in that day a “white man’s”
city where fair housing laws had not yet been passed, where no persons of
color worked in any of the businesses in the whole city, although some homes
employed housekeepers and nannies from across the tracks. She came to my
door to remind me who I represented.
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Clergy are not alone in needing to be
reminded of the duty of representatives, of course. Public servants lose
focus. The affluent have power and often don’t use it any more honorably
than failed shepherds.
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I forget how our conversation ended.
But I’ll never forget the little lady from Watts who sat down with a city
preacher in the midst of the civil rights struggles to speak the word about
the duty to represent those who are least represented among us. I do remember
that she didn’t ask for a donation.
– Art Morgan, August 22, 2009
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