Monday, January 29, 2024

Ordination Anniversary - 54th

 This day, January 27,1970, at First Presbyterian Church of Holland, MI, the Rev. Bill Burd and others laid hands upon me in the rite of ordination. 


A lot of water under the bridge, or over the dam, but the weight of those hands remain ... 


I look back, mostly with gratitude, some regrets, memories of pain, and countless discoveries, books read, committee meetings, long days, pastoral calling, sermons preached, love given and received.


And the heart of it all, God's grace, with a giant share of that grace embodied in Donna M. Geurkink Eggebeen, who's put up with much, forgiven even more, and walked with me, and talked with me, all along the way.


With a family who made the journey with me - my dear children, and now a granddaughter ... all of whom are making the world a better place.


Would I change anything? 


Why?


Because here I am ... now retired, living at Monte Vista Grove Homes and still working, of all places, Pasadena, CA - fulfilling, as best as I can, the promises I made, and honoring the trust bequeathed to me in the weight of those good hands, 54 years ago.

Monday, December 4, 2023

Middle East ...

 



Concerns Re the Middle East

~ The Rev. Dr. Tom Eggebeen ~


In the midst of all the “news,” from one perspective or the other, it’s difficult, at best, to appreciate the complexities of the conflict. With this essay, I give expression to my understanding of the issues involved, and I hope it helps you, the reader, to better understand and think about the challenges of peace in the Middle East. I’m grateful to my friend and colleague, the Rev. Dr. Gary Sattler, whose comments, corrections, and additions have made this piece ever so much the better! 




None is righteous, no, not one!

So notes the Apostle Paul!

In all such things, wherein folks, or nations, or any other entity, try to claim the high moral ground, Paul’s sweeping generalization helps to set the record straight and put us on the right footing.

With the cease fire in effect, as I write, we have a chance to clear our own thinking and come to grips with the reality of the struggle since 1948, the founding of the State of Israel - in a land that had been under the jurisdiction of the Assyrian Empire (721 bce), the Babylonian Empire, Alexander the Great, the Roman Empire, then the Byzantine Empire, until 634 CE, when the area was taken by Muslim armies from Arabia and then, finally, the Ottoman Empire; after WW1 and the defeat of the Ottomans (who had sided with the Austro-Hungarian and German nations), Palestine fell under British rule mandated by the Allies. With the inception of State of Israel, 1948, upwards of 300,000 Palestinians lost their land and their homes.

Meanwhile, across Christian lands, anti-semitism grew (it’s a long and horrible story) - Jews were labeled “Christ Killers” … and subject to repeated, sporadic, and sometimes horrendous pogroms - culminating in the Holocaust. Throughout Nazi-dominated Europe, plenty of Christians and their governments cooperated in the effort to eradicate the Jew. 

As early as the late 1800s, some Jews began to dream of a homeland, a place of safety, where they and their children could live without fear, and live their faith and culture. 

The British Balfour Declaration of 1917, during WW1, announced British support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people in Palestine,” while expressing concern for the rights of Palestinian Arabs.

 During WW2, nation after nation eventually closed their doors to Jews fleeing Germany; the United States turned away a ship of refugees, ultimately forcing the ship to return to Europe, and most everyone on board, to their death at the hands of the Nazis. More and more, Jews gave up hope of living with their Christian neighbors, and pushed all the more for a homeland. The Western Nations, with their own deep inbred anti-semitism, were more than happy to create a nation for the Jews.

With the inception of State of Israel, 1948, upwards of 300,000 Palestinians lost their land and their homes.

To make a long story short, bloodshed has been a tragic element of life in that part of the world for a very long time, and has remained a recurring event on both sides, since 1948.  It is our fervent hope that there is a solution to this dreadful situation.

Whatever that solution may finally be, it’s imperative, I believe, to support the State of Israel, while at the same time challenging the extremists who push for an expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and the further expulsion of Palestinians; it’s equally important, I believe, to seek a two-state solution for the Palestinians, and to condemn the Hamas violence and its stated purpose: the destruction of Israel.

A carte blanche approval of everything the State of Israel does helps no one, not even its own citizens, any more than does a carte blanche approval of Hamas or other such groups. 

The question of the ongoing expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank has to be considered as part of the problem, even as is the failure of the Palestinians to face the reality of Israel’s existence.

For some conservative Christians groups in the US, the suggestion, as I read a few days ago, that this a godly struggle against a godless people is not at all helpful. A conservative pastor wrote: ”As Christians, we know that what’s happening in Israel is not a human struggle; it is a spiritual struggle against the forces of darkness.” 

The problem is this: such thinking violates the truth noted by Paul, and spiritualizes a very human, flesh-and-blood struggle that has gone on, and goes on, on every continent.  This world is not easily divided up between the good and the bad, and such thinking only adds to the problem, and blocks communication.

Israel must be protected, but so must the claims of the Palestinians (not to be confused with Hamas, the warlords of Palestine). Everyone has to be made to feel safe; everyone has to be protected, only then will people be able to speak and to listen.

Many years ago, I visited Israel, and had a Sunday afternoon chat with a Palestinian shopkeeper in Jerusalem, who served me delicious tea, for there were no customers at hand. I’ll never forget what he said, “We all just want to make a living, and there are crazies on both sides.”

Let us pray for the peace process, the continuation of the cease fire, and the delivery of aid. Let us pray that the moderate leaders on both sides will be given a chance to work for justice and peace.

It’s a complex situation, for which there are really no perfect answers, certainly no easy ones, but there are, I believe, answers that can be good enough, and just might work. We cannot guarantee success, but by trying nothing we can guarantee failure.  Let us continue to pray for Shalom, Salaam, Peace!


Wednesday, June 7, 2023

"The Word Made Fresh" by George A. Mason - a Review ...


I had a hard time making it through this book!

I kept stoping, every few paragraphs … to underline, to make a note, just to think, to wonder, and then to read the footnotes, and jump to my computer, to check out the websites and sources sited.

From the moment I started, the book grabbed my attention. It was clear - I was reading the work of a determined and devoted minister, one who takes seriously the essential elements of the Christian life: the Scriptures and the church’s story … theology and history … people and their times, their trials, and triumphs … and the words with which we’re blessed, and the words with which we’re burdened … the words spread before us, inviting us to choose wisely, to assembly phrases carefully, because of the Incarnate Word of God.

In other words, words count - because of their power - the power to call forth light or to bring down damnation, to heal a broken soul, a broken body, or send the hungry away with a dismissive word of judgment and “othering.”

George Mason is a preacher of great skill, lifting up the central concepts of the Christian Faith, for the people who strive to live this faith every day of their lives: the saints and the sinners (mostly one and the same), with hopes and dreams common to all, and faults and failings, all too common.

Dr. Mason is a sculptor - with hammer and chisel, taking the marble of words and shaping them with care … here’s a man who’s worked very hard at language … bringing out its delight with word play and creativity.

If he were a chef, we’d celebrate the careful manner in which he knows how to flavor the hearty stew of faith with just the right amount of humor and self-deprecating honesty. He is not a preacher who happens to be human, but a human who happens to be a preacher. I see in the sermons a real human being who has been called by God to step into the pulpit. A daunting task for anyone who dares to think about it, and Dr. Mason has clearly thought about it a great deal.

The man is a thoroughgoing Christian, which makes him an ecumenical Christian. To use another image, he paints a brilliant canvass of many colors, with layers of paint, applied in brush strokes, wide and furious, and dabbed and daubed in the smallest of details. He pays attention to the larger world of religion and philosophy - he has no need to diminish what others believe in order to bolster his own faith. Rather, he welcomes what others offer, and in dialogue with the world, he lifts up the Cross of Christ for all to see, without a hint of superiority, and suffused by the humble realization that God is at work all over the world, and if we listen with care, we can hear God’s love pulsing in every voice.

Struggle is evident … the struggle of a preacher who can see the glory of God, but is defied, as we all are, by the enormity of God’s love and master; the struggle to touch and embrace that which cannot be contained by words, but only hinted at, week-by-week … in song and prayer, and the discipline to keep on trying, bringing to bear on the lectionary the best insights the preacher can muster, not only from the deeps of her or his own soul, but from the daily effort to read the newspapers, books, and wade through the torrents of social media - to find all the possible material to highlight, underscore, illumine, and tease out the ideas, the images, and the invitations flowing from love of God.

Yes, pain is evident, too … as the nation grew more and more polarized, I could feel his struggle to highlight the issues, clarify the claims made by various politicians and preachers, and then to compare and contrast various ideas with the gospel he understands and loves, while honoring the congregation with its diverse opinions and cares. Dr. Mason knows, full well, in a polarized moment, decisions have to be made - knowing all too well that a decision to not decide is, in fact, a decision likely favorable to the wrong side of history.

A good preacher walks a balance beam … I’m not talking here about neutrality, relying on the simple nostrums of sweet Jesus and all is well with my soul, but a beam, a highway, or maybe a twisting pathway, heading toward the gospel.

On just such a beam, walking with care, as to not lose one’s head or heart in frustration and bitterness, and, at the same time, chomping at the bit, convicted by and conformed to the gospel, to the power of love, and not the love of power … eschewing the easy violence of harsh rhetoric and pointing to the strange and tragic love of guns found in too much of American Christianity, challenging such ideas because they are contrary to the Cross of Christ.

George Mason knows the church universal and what it can be, and what it must be. His years of love and work at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas were clearly driven by two marvelous elements: the love God, and a congregation ready to hear the fullness of the story, ready to get into “good trouble” for the sake of Christ, for the sake of the neighbor. Not all was easy sailing; that’s clear. But the fundamental nature of Wilshire Baptist Church provided a place where Dr. Mason, this scholar/pastor/preacher could fulfill God’s calling.

George Mason pays faithful tribute to his pulpit predecessors, and to the members who have walked the walk with him and his family. As he he notes, when first called as young man to church, a leader saying: I am not worried about whether he is up to the challenge, because I know we are. Great pastors do not make great churches; great churches make great pastors.

I was pleased to see illustrations used sparingly … like salt, to enhance and not overwhelm. Nor is he given to simplistic illustrations, full of miracles and transformations that all too often leave the honest hearer wanting, or worse, despairing for want of such victory.

A lot quotable quotes here … a lot to think about … a reader of this book will never be done with it.

The book works well - compiled by friends and colleagues, with guidance from Dr. Mason, it’s topical, chronological, and liturgical - guided by the Common Lectionary. Each writer introduces the section with analysis of the sermons selected and the man they know. It’s a brilliant way of moving the material along, helping the reader see the development, the shifts, the twists and the turns of the times, and the theological search for meaning, a search that never really ends.

Dr. Mason writes: This is a book I would not have created on my own initiative, partly because of the work involved in producing it, partly because of the presumption it would entail of whether my preaching is worthy of reproduction.

But after thirty-three years of faithful preaching and work in the community, and all around the world, friends and colleagues knew that one of Dr. Mason’s legacies, of which there are many, is the sermons he so carefully crafted over the years. Crafted with a great love for God and for the gospel, and a passion for what’s faithfully needed in the times of any moment.

The book is a tribute to Dr. Mason, like a festschrift, a giant thank you to the man and to Wilshire Baptist Church for their ceaseless efforts to build bridges, welcome every body, seek the counsel of God, face the hard questions, probe the Scriptures with care and creativity, ponder what love requires, and then finding the ways and means of nudging the world toward the kingdom of God.

This is a book for the shelf-at-hand, by the desk, for quick reference … these sermons can be read again and again and should be read again and again - they’re both pointed and timely, and wonderfully timeless in their depth and their reach …

The footnotes point to sources for further work and study are invaluable … with illustrations to fine-tune the thoughts … and an exhaustive index of all the lectionary texts he’s used.

A book for both the preacher in the pulpit and the people of the pews. A book for personal study, of course, and group study, too.

The reader will learn a great deal about the heart and soul of a serious preacher, and they’ll be encouraged to listen well, to take seriously, what the sermon offers, to know that while some sermons shine brightly with the gold of God’s love, and some not quite so brightly, every sermon is an effort of soul and mind, conjoined with prayer and praise, and the vast dreams of a world made new, to offer to the world the goodness and power of God’s love.

The preacher reading this will be moved to deepen the discipline of continued learning and writing … writing again and again … to hone the focus and sharpen the word, yet not too sharp, because softened with kindness, kindness enough that any soul anywhere can welcome and embrace the Word Proclaimed, the Word Made Fresh.

Saturday, November 19, 2022

Aging!

Let's talk about aging ... I see myself in the mirror and ask, "Who the heck are you, and what did you do with that young man I once knew?"

Aging, the tick of the tock, the tock of the tick, or whatever ... but time moves on ... there's no return ticket on this one.

So, what does a consumer culture do?


It obsessives about aging ... what an industry ... creams and surgery, supplements and yoga, gyms and diets, pills and psychology.

Sure, let's look our best, but something is amok here - aging has become a sin. Yup, that's right, a sin. Something one shouldn't do. And looking old is a shame.


Ok, comb your hair, wear some makeup, wash regularly, and dress well ... but America's obsession with aging is over the top. 


Which reminds me, as to why historic Protestant Churches aren't fairing as well as they once did ... sure, we can blame ourselves for being a bit stodgy, times change, and all that, but on the other hand, our culture, with its obsessions on aging, has grown afraid of some basic truths about life - one is that we age, the other is that we die.


Historic Protestant Churches mostly faced all of this with a degree of honesty, admitting to and accepting of reality. The Bible pushes us hard on this point.


A culture that's increasingly scared to death of death is not likely to seek out reality, a reality that admits to death and at the same time reaches for eternity, as a source of hope, a source of energy for the here and now, even as the here and now is deeply connected to eternity.


So the next time you see an add touting the latest treatments to fight aging, ask yourself some serious questions about time, and how you see it, and what you're afraid of.


Afraid?


Yes, we all are ... period!



It's what it means to be human, to be cognizant of our own own demise, knowing that we're on a plane headed off to the horizons and there's no return ticket in our pocket; it's one way. 


I'm grateful to be a part of an historic Protestant Church tradition. We've failed plenty along the way, but we've also done well. In fact, I'd say, the good outweighs the wrong. Not that we should forget the wrong, or fail to rectify it, but that we have something worth celebrating, and I call it REALITY.


Being real ... with regards to time and life … and in such reality, there is something of the divine. God inhabits our years … each stage of the way … from our first breath to the last.


Aging?


It's a good thing ... look your best, but time will win out - and maybe we can recover what some other cultures still possess - a deep respect for the Elders - those who've seen it all, and done it all, and their accumulated wisdom, peace, courage, and hope.


And, in the end, be able to say, “Here I am LORD. Here I am!”

Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Must I Continue?

Must I continue to argue that a woman’s body is her own?

That a woman has all the rights and dignity pertaining to her humanity, a full and complete humanity, standing on its own in the sunlight of God’s creation and God’s purpose?


Must I continue to argue that men in their pride, men in their ignorance, have no right whatsoever to dictate to the woman the course of her health, her pregnancy, her dignity, her purpose in life?


Must I continue to argue that a woman’s purpose is fully her own? That her purpose in life is to be fully herself, as God’s purpose and God’s love unfolds that purpose for her?


Must I continue to challenge those men, and those women, who claim that a woman’s personhood, her life and purpose, her being, her humanity, is determined solely and singularly by her biology? That a woman, then, needs men around her, above her, to make those decisions that pertain to her biology, that of a being capable of becoming pregnant, and bearing a child? That this element of her being is the only element worthy of her being? Worthy of a man’s determining desire?


Must I continue to challenge the sin of white male christian supremacy? In all of its horrid manifestations and hypocritical posturing? With its Bible in hand, lofty prayers and praise songs, exulting the goodness of God and the joys of heavenly reward?


Must I continue to defend the majesty and sacredness of a woman’s body, her body, her life, her being, her soul, her destiny, as that of her own will and purpose, as she sees fit, as she measures her being, if so inclined, in the light of God’s purpose and being, seems redundant. 


For the independence of being has been thoroughly determined for that of the male species, in theology and philosophy, song and poetry, literature and art. 


So, must I conclude that those men and women who clearly affirm that a woman’s being is determined by her biology, and yet understand the independent nature of the male species, have determined that the female species is less a human being? Less qualified to enjoy the rights and dignity accorded to the male?


While some might say, “only a different human being”? 


I then ask, how different? 


How different is a short man from a tall man; a man who can sing and dance and a man who can’t; a man who loves to paint and another who grows a flower; a man who walks a thousand miles to find a home, and a man who sits by his window dreaming great ideas.


How different we all are … but differences aside, no man would suggest that any of the men so described above would be less than human, less than deserving of the full rights and liberties and responsibilities of the human race.


To deny this for women requires a mental breakdown, a failure of nerve and intelligence, a complete misconstrual of reality, and likely a meanness of spirit, a foulness of soul, a willingness to condemn some to a lesser status of being, because of their “difference.”


Must I continue to engage in this struggle?


Yes, I must … and I will … for those who would take away the rights and dignity of a woman remain determined and full of self-righteousness, a heady mess of bad theology and twisted instincts.


Yes, and so I will … and to anyone reading this note, I encourage you to stand fast, to resist the cult of white male christian supremacy, to resist it for what it is, a script from hell, a deadly idea suitable to preserving the power of some at the expense of many.


If you’re a Christian, I’ll say it, loudly and clearly: white male christian supremacy is NOT the way of Christ … but rather the Tempter in the Wilderness, who offered to Christ the easy way out, appealing to easy answers, and all of them completely wrong.


Finally, whatever your faith may be, your stance on life, the same conclusions are clear in every soul. Those who resist the rights of a woman know they’re wrong, and thus continue their murderous ways by increasing levels of vehemence and vitriol, to cover up the cries of their own soul.


Keep up the good work, dear friends, and do not relent.


We must continue!

Thursday, April 21, 2022

Michigan state Senator Mallory McMorrow - April 19, 2022

 Thank you, Mr. President. 

I didn’t expect to wake up yesterday to the news that the senator from the 22nd district [state Senator Lana Theis] had overnight accused me by name of grooming and sexualizing children in an email fundraising for herself. So I sat on it for a while wondering why me.

Then I realized [it’s] because I am the biggest threat to your [Theis’s] hollow hateful scheme, because you can’t claim that you are targeting marginalized kids in the name of quote parental rights if another parent is standing up to say no. 

So then what?

Then you dehumanize and marginalize me. You say that I’m one of them. You say, “She’s a groomer. She supports pedophilia. She wants children to believe that they were responsible for slavery. And to feel bad about themselves because they’re white.” 

Well, here’s a little bit of background about who I really am. 

Growing up, my family was very active in our church. I sang in the choir. My mom taught CCD. One day our priest called a meeting with my mom and told her that she was not living up to the church’s expectations and that she was disappointing. 

My mom asked why. Among other reasons, she was told it was because she was divorced. And because the priest didn’t see her at Mass every Sunday. So where was my mom on Sundays? 

She was at the soup kitchen with me. 

My mom taught me at a very young age that Christianity and faith was about being part of a community, about recognizing our privilege and blessings and doing what we can to be of service to others, especially people who are marginalized, targeted and who had less often unfairly.

I learned this service was far more important than performative nonsense like being seen in the same pew every Sunday, or writing “Christian” in your Twitter bio, and using that as a shield to target and marginalize already marginalized people. 

I also stand on the shoulders of people like Father Ted Hesburgh, the longtime president of the University of Notre Dame, who was active in the civil rights movement, who recognized his power and privilege as a white man, a faith leader and the head of an influential and well-respected institution, and who saw black people in this country being targeted and discriminated against and beaten and [Hesburgh] reached out to lock arms with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he was alive when he was unpopular. And marching alongside them to say, “We’ve got you,” to offer protection and service and allyship to try to right the wrongs and fix injustice in the world. 

So who am I? 

I am a straight, white, Christian, married, suburban mom, who knows that the very notion that learning about slavery or redlining or systemic racism somehow means that children are being taught to feel bad or hate themselves because they are white is absolute nonsense.

No child alive today is responsible for slavery. 

No one in this room is responsible for slavery. 

But each and every single one of us bears responsibility for writing the next chapter of history. Each and every single one of us decides what happens next and how we respond to history and the world around us. 

We are not responsible for the past. 

We also cannot change the past. 

We can’t pretend that it didn’t happen or deny people their very right to exist. 

I am a straight, white, Christian, married, suburban mom. I want my daughters to know that she is loved, supported and seen for whoever she comes. I want her to be curious, empathetic, and kind. 

People who are different are not the reason that our roads are in bad shape after decades of disinvestment or that health care costs are too high or the teachers are leaving the profession. 

I want every child in this state to feel seen, heard and supported, not marginalized and targeted because they are not straight, white and Christian

We cannot let hateful people tell you otherwise to scapegoat and deflect from the fact that they are not doing anything to fix the real issues that impact people’s lives. 

And I know that hate will only win if people like me stand by and let it happen

So I want to be very clear right now. Call me whatever you want. 

I hope you brought in a few dollars. I hope it made you sleep good last night. 

I know who I am. I know what faith and service means and what it calls for in this moment. 

We will not let hate win.

* * * * *

You can watch Senator McMorrow’s speech here