Good News
Collective intelligence means that “all of us together are smarter than any one of us alone.” Social Media tools have given us a way to share our knowledge and ideas, to enhance our conversations and to build networks of people with common interests. The internet has given us the opportunity to share information instantaneously. I have been hesitant to fully engage in social media because what one publishes on the web is often permanent and can easily be misconstrued. However, through this class, I have become convinced of the benefits of social media. We determine the footprint that we leave on the internet by what we choose to engage in. Instead of using social media in self promoting ways, or to report mundane matters in life, we can use social media to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.”
While the internet cannot replace our need for face to face communication and relationship, it can enhance our ability to care for others. It can even bridge incredibly long geographic distances. The internet can be a useful tool in our mission to be the church and to offer Good News.
As I reflect one more time on what the Gospel is, though I am a confessing type, I would like to try to simplify my response. The Gospel is an invitation to new and abundant life in Christ. God knows us, even in our shortcomings, and loves and forgives us anyway. Nothing that we do can separate us from God’s limitless love. When we realize that we are saved by God’s grace through the gift of faith, we are set free to offer that same grace to others. We continually make the choice to die to ourselves and live as followers of Christ, as servants to others, as advocates for the least of these, as promoters of peace, and proponents of social justice. As followers of Christ, we are called to continue Christ’s Mission. When we answer God’s call, we are lead toward wholeness, and the fullness of eternal life, even now. That is Good News!
Fair Use and Creative Commons April 25, 2013
We studied policies regarding copyrights, fair use, and creative commons licenses. Starting in 2001 you could apply for a Creative Commons license which allows other people to use your copyrighted materials. I can say that it is now as clear as mud! Under fair use laws, it seems that exceptions to copyrights can be made for educational purposes. I am reminded that it is very important to cite references and to give credit to the originator of a work. That being said, this issue has raised some other concerns for me regarding privacy. I went on a Vision Trip to Zambia in 2010. I haven’t publicly posted my photos or videos from that trip. I have wondered about respecting the privacy of the people who were so kind to allow me into their world. Many of these people were children who have no parents. They do not appreciate being identified as orphans. I am going to use some photos and video footage from my trip for my final project in this class. I hope that the people in Zambia know how much I care for them, especially the beautiful children who are without parents. May God’s blessings be upon you.
Mass Incarceration in the United States April 19, 2013
This week we have focused our attention on the War on Drugs and mass incarceration in the United States. It is hard to believe how many problems are presented because of our system of imprisonment.
Here is a link to the Charlie Rose interview discussing this topic.
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12677
The United States has the highest percentage of people incarcerated in comparison to every other county in the world! This is leading to both personal and social harm. In addition to the obvious issue of racism, I can’t believe how little I have understood about the privatization of for profit prisons. The information is very unsettling.
While it is easy to do nothing, to be paralyzed by the complexity of the issues, the ELCA has responded by developing a Social Statement. In just a few months the ELCA Churchwide Assembly will vote upon adopting the Social Statement, The Church and Criminal Justice: Hearing the Cries. While there is a lot of useful information in this social statement, as a church body we need to do more than just “Hear the Cries.” First, we need to educate and communicate the problem and secondly, we need to decide what we are going to do as the body of Christ to STOP the cries. The document lists four initial responses to this problem:
- Listening with compassion.
- Offering hospitality to welcome the stranger.
- Accompaniment, walking together in mutuality.
- Becoming Advocates to those who are suffering.
This is a system than needs to be changed in order to bring about social justice, equality, and God’s peace to all. Together, let us STOP the cries.
The Digital Divide April 9, 2013
I’m feeling a bit crabby about the readings this week. I mean, how very American of us to complain that we are getting gouged because our internet and phone service is too slow and too expensive. One part of me wonders why in the world we are concerned about the digital divide, people who do and do not have internet access, when we haven’t figured out the food divide. Even in America we have 50 million people who don’t have adequate food on a daily basis. If we look at developing countries, the number jumps to over 1 billion.
But then I saw this:
And I started to ponder that maybe this is a “chicken or the egg” scenario? People could use digital resources to unite regarding hunger and other social issues. We could try to change the way that food is distributed or should I say, not distributed, fairly.
I believe that the great equalizer is education. Having access to the internet, gives access to a wealth of information and free classes. Social networks can be developed and utilized globally. People otherwise without a voice can use the internet to actively participate in the discussion. No longer will the haves be speaking for the have nots. Having internet access is important. This is a social justice issue that the church should be concerned about. “Humans are humans because we use communication to organize collective action. Social media can amplify collective action.” (Rheingold Net Smart p. 205) Maybe the internet can give us access to the social networks needed to more quickly bring about equality and food availability?
Holy God, May your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, and let us share our daily bread so that no one goes hungry. Help us to serve as a useful bridge, making social connections that matter to society. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
April 4, 2013
After consulting with my group, this is attempt #2 to answer a very broad question – From a Lutheran perspective, what is the Gospel, or Good News?
The Gospel is the story of Jesus Christ. Simultaneously saints and sinners, we are justified by grace alone, by faith alone, through Christ alone. Our God humbly decided to enter into the messiness and suffering of humanity in the incarnate form of Jesus Christ to save us all from sin, death, and evil. God chooses to completely forgive us through the saving work of His Son, even though we have done nothing to deserve it. Grace is God’s choice to save us, love us, and accept us when we have done nothing to earn it. “By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God — not the result of works, so that no one may boast. “ Ephesians 2:8-9 Our sins are forgiven and we are reconciled to God through Christ. We are loved by God unconditionally. We are children of God and nothing can separate us from God’s limitless love.
But the Gospel is more than words on a page, it is an experience with the living God.
Where might we encounter God? We find God in unexpected places, not in power but in suffering. We continually make the choice to die to ourselves and live as followers of Christ, as servants to others, as advocates for the least of these, as promoters of peace, and proponents of social justice. We rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
In Luke chapter 4, Jesus proclaimed, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” As followers of Christ, we are called to continue Christ’s Mission. When we answer God’s call we are lead toward wholeness, and the fullness of eternal life, even now. That is Good News!
That is how I have experienced the Gospel in my life. How have you experienced the Gospel in yours?
On Prayer March 26, 2013
Prayer is a favorite topic of mine. I love to read books about prayer. Do you have a favorite book on prayer? One of my favorite books is Richard Foster’s book entitled Prayer – Finding the Hearts True Home. “If we truly love people we will desire for them far more than it is within our power to give them and this will lead us to prayer,” says Foster. I know how much the words, “I’m praying for you,” mean to me. I have seen the expressions on faces when I tell people that I am praying for them. Some of the most sacred moments of my life have been spent in prayer with patients and families during Clinical Pastoral Education.
Technology has afforded us the opportunity to be with people in their time of deepest need. As soon as someone receives a diagnosis, a pastor is able to send a note or text a prayer to them right away. Technology also allows us to receive prayer requests from people that we don’t even know. Our prayer community can grow wide, very quickly. Technology also affords me the assurance that I am being held in prayer by friends in Zambia who are half way around the world from me.
As I think about my role as a public pray-er, I can only believe that it is best to pray in an inclusive manner, and in a way that is authentically me. May the Holy Spirit and God’s grace help us to keep prayer at the center of our lives.
Romans 12:12 “Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.”
Networks of Caring March 20, 2013
This week we spent time thinking about the Caring Bridge site. I enjoyed hearing the perspective of someone who has used it throughout her illness. While I often think about how much I appreciate receiving updates from someone on Caring Bridge, I often forget that Caring Bridge is a two-way street. The patient and their family are able to receive words of tenderness and care in a non-obtrusive way. They can be assured that they are being prayed for by many people, even those they don’t know. As pastors, I think that the site can be a helpful tool in pastoral care. We can get information about test results, and how people are feeling before we even walk into the hospital room. It is still important to walk into the hospital room.
I know a pastor who is sick right now. She is no longer able to preach at her church. Her words on Caring Bridge are often sermon-like and she wrestles with theological questions. She is using this site in a beautiful way. I’m grateful to the not-for-profit creators of Caring Bridge for using technology in such a helpful way.
To Testify March 13, 2013
“The practice of testimony requires a person to commit voice and body to the telling of the truth,” says Hoyt in our reading this week. As Lutherans, our theology states that God’s salvation is meant for all people. So, in the digital age, the traces I leave behind, the things I like, dislike, and affiliate with on the Internet should support my belief in a God who is for us and loves us.
The Internet is a tool that can connect people across great distance. It can empower us collectively to have a voice, to insist on real change. As, I travel this week on a college search adventure with my own daughter, I’m pondering the thought that the Internet could level the playing field in access to education.
Could a little girl at New Horizons Orphanage be taught by wonderful professors from top institutions in America? If that is too big of a dream, could she be taught by me or you???
Of course, that would mean that she could somehow gain access to a computer. Not Yet.
The Good News March 7, 2013
As a seminarian you would think that it would be easy to answer the question posed to us this week, WHAT IS THE GOSPEL? Over time, I’m pretty sure that my answer will evolve. One thing that I have learned in seminary is that I don’t have all the answers, and it is ok not to. Even if we think we have the answers, we don’t. This is an attempt to answer a very broad question – What is the Gospel, or Good News.
Though we are simultaneously saints and sinners, we are justified by grace alone, by faith alone, through Christ alone. As humans, we are all sinners. Sin is a condition marked by a lack of fear, love and trust in God. God gave us the Ten Commandments to show us how to live rightly. By our own power, we are unable to keep God’s commandments. Our God humbly decided to enter into human life in the incarnate form of Jesus Christ to save us all from sin, death, and evil. God chooses to completely forgive us through the saving work of His Son, even though we have done nothing to deserve it. Grace is God’s choice to save us, love us, and accept us when we have done nothing to earn it. We hear these words, what God has done for us, and it is hard to understand or accept. Faith, also a gift, comes through hearing. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we realize that we are declared right with God for the sake of Christ alone. Our sins are forgiven and we are reconciled to God through Christ. We are loved by God unconditionally.
What is our response to the gift of grace? Should we go on sinning so we can get more grace, by no means says St. Paul. Some people might think that as people, who are saved by grace, we can do anything we want or we can choose to do nothing at all. That would be what Lutheran Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls “cheap grace.”
When we realize that our relationship with God, our salvation, is secure because we are saved by grace, something happens to us. We are transformed. We come to a place of deep peace and we are freed to do the good works that God has commanded and prepared us to do. These good works naturally flow out from a person of faith. They aren’t necessary for our salvation, but they are done in a spirit of joy out of response for what Christ has done for us. These good works, which God prepared for us to do, are in the form of serving others, loving your neighbor as yourself. St. Augustine said in the 4th century, “Grace is given not because we have done good works, but in order that we may be able to do them.” We become changed by grace and then we change those around us by offering them grace.
When we are changed by God’s grace, our heart of stone is replaced by a heart of flesh and we are free to take some risks (Ezekiel 36:26). When we are changed by God’s grace, we can risk being associated with the least of these, the outsiders, the sick, and the unclean. We can risk offering forgiveness to someone who doesn’t deserve it.
In Luke chapter 4, Jesus proclaimed,”The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” As followers of Christ, we are called to continue Christ’s Mission. We continually make the choice to die to ourselves and live as followers of Christ, as servants to others, as advocates for the least of these, as promoters of peace, and proponents of social justice. When we answer God’s call we are lead toward wholeness, and the fullness of eternal life, even now. That is Good News!
That is how I have experienced the Gospel in my life. How have you experienced the Gospel in yours?
Now and Not Yet 