Yo no quiero Taco Bell
Here in NJ, we are experiencing an E. coli outbreak related to Taco Bell restaurants. Three restaurants in NJ are listed due to multiple patients, and there is some indication of a similar problem on Long Island, NY.
The night before Thanksgiving (within the timeframe for this outbreak) I picked up takeout Taco Bell at for my wife and I. The next day, I experienced unexplained cramping and diarrhea. I’m now wondering if that was the Taco Bell (though I had just had the colonoscopy 5 days previously).
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I guess I’ll avoid them for now.
Is It Time for the PCUSA to Split?
As regular readers know, the PC(USA) denomination is in turmoil. There is a growing divide between conservatives (who call themselves “evangelical” or “Biblically faithful”) and liberals (who call themselves “progressive”). It looks like the fight is over homosexuality, but it’s really over a combination of social ideology (today’s hot-button issues like homosexuality, abortion, and oddly enough property rights) and Biblical inerrancy.
When it comes right down to it, the divide is based on one question: “Do I believe that I have the only True Christian Faith?”
If you answer yes, then the world is divided into two groups: people who believe and behave like you and who are to be applauded, and people who do not yet match your beliefs or behavior and who are to be at best converted/assisted to return to the Truth and at worst vilified.
If you answer no, the the world is divided into many groups. One of the groups believes and behaves the way you do and feels like family. Other groups don’t believe or behave the way you do, but they meet some lesser standard of “do no harm to others” and are to be applauded as finding a “different path to God”. Still other groups are seen as taking a path where their beliefs or lack thereof lead them to do harm to others; these groups are vilified.
The definitions of harm are different between conservatives and liberals as well – conservatives tend to define harm as physical or “leading people away from the True Faith” while liberals tend to define harm as physical, mental, economic, or discrimination based on a number of attributes.
From where I sit, it seems like the pew-sitters in the PC(USA) fall into 3 groups: 20% activist conservative, 70% non-activist, and 10% activist liberal. The officers (elders and deacons) and clergy skew more to the liberal.
The PC(USA) is posed on the brink of a split. One of three things can happen. The denomination could pursue a graceful split, dividing property and churches using principles similar to those used by “still friendly” divorcing couples. The denomination could go through a painful split, with ecclesiastical and civil court cases, lots of name-calling, and heavy losses of membership as people get disgusted and leave. Or, the non-activist middle could rise up and tell the activist conservatives and activist liberals to sit down, shut up, and stop hurting the community.
I favor the “middle rising up” scenario. However, it seems like we are pursuing the “painful split” scenario now.
When I was in high school, I was involved in the Tech Crew. This is usually called “Stage Crew” elsewhere, though we also did lighting and sound for school events that didn’t happen in the auditorium. By the time I was a junior, I had risen to be Lighting Director. We also had a position called Technical Director held by a friend of mine. The two positions were considered co-presidents of the group.
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In senior year, disaster struck. Both of us developed romantic notions for another member of the group. To this day I’m not even sure whether or not she shared romantic feelings for either of us. Throughout the fall of senior year there were a number of ugly incidents (none physical – more passive-aggressive) and the Tech Crew started to show signs of a similar split. There were the 3 of us, a few friends of those 3, and the rest formed the “knock it off” middle. We managed to get things done, but it was clear that the situation was hurting the group.
So, I chose to leave the group for the good of the group. This also ended the friendships with the Technical Director and our lady friend all the way around. Some felt that I took the coward’s way and avoided conflict. Some felt that I should have just let it go and stepped aside of any relationship that they may have had. Others were sad to see me go but understood my decision (the adults involved fell into that group). I do know that I no longer had to experience the immediate pain of the disagreements, though I did feel the pain of the loss of part of my life. The group ended up having further problems and while it didn’t split it never regained the level of fun that we’d experienced before the love triangle formed. The knowledge transfer that usually happens as the group ages and a new guard comes in was interrupted, resulting in some permanent loss of knowledge. At least one person had to take over a role that they weren’t prepared to handle.
Does that sound familiar? Replace me with the role of “conservative church leaving the denomination”.
The key question is “Does staying together do more harm than splitting?” More harm to each of us, more harm to the whole. It’s clear that as we spend time fighting amongst ourselves, we are not advancing the Kingdom of God. If anything, we are fragmenting it. And we are losing people to disinterest and disgust.
It’s time for some project management skills. We need to pick a few options and evaluate the upsides and downsides of each. This is the same decision-making process that I use every day in my IT job. It’s the same decision-making process used by doctors when they have a sick patient.
Let’s look at the upsides and downsides of a split. Let’s look at the upsides and downsides of staying together. Let’s look at the upsides and downsides of letting people go peacefully. Let’s pray over all of it, and pick the option that will help us all move forward in the best way for the greatest number – separate or apart.
Most of all, let’s leave the emotions at home. Let’s think and pray, but stop fighting.
An interesting side note: I found the Technical Director mentioned above on the web. From what little is on his website, he has a similar DVD collection, similar interests (indicated by links) and his cats look like mine. Freaky. I’m glad for him that he’s apparently happy.
Osmoprep and Colonoscopy
In looking through my traffic, I’ve discovered a number of people reading this blog with a search string like “osmoprep how long to work”.
I’m not a doctor or pharmacist. I’ve just used it once. However, I found that it took longer to work than I expected and I confess that I actually went on the Internet to ask the same question during the prep. So here’s my experience.
I did the prep version with 5 doses of 4 pills separated by 15 minutes each in the evening, and 3 doses of 4 pills 15 minutes apart four hours before my procedure. I found to my surprise that I didn’t experience any bowel movements until minutes after the last evening dose. I had spent an hour on the toilet waiting for the quick reaction that I remembered from other preps, but it just took a long time. In fact, I had to log off the Internet and climb on the toilet when it started. After that, the bowel movements were rather frequent and liquid for almost 2 hours, with a few more before bedtime.
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In the morning, the movements didn’t start until the 3rd morning dose, and lasted about an hour and a half. I felt like I could have more all the way up to the colonoscopy itself, though there were only a few after the hour and a half.
I hope that this provides a service to those who are using the prep, and I apologize to regular readers for the semi-disgusting post.
Reconnecting with Faith retreat update
We’ve finally determined the cost for the Reconnecting with Faith – Finding Your Home retreat January 26-28, 2007.
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The Bigots are Coming
US Army Specialist Eric Rivera was recently killed in the line of duty in Iraq. His funeral is scheduled for this coming Friday, December 2 in Atlantic City, NJ.
The Westboro Baptist Church (mainly composed of the family of Rev. Fred Phelps) of Topeka, Kansas has announced their intention to protest at Rivera’s funeral to show that Rivera died because the United States supports fags. (No, I didn’t make that up.) Apparently, they believe that 9/11 happened to the US because of gays, and that our soldiers are fighting to support a gay america.
This group is the group responsible for many states writing laws restricting protests at funerals (or at least at military funerals). NJ is one of those states, and NJ law prohibits any protest within 500 feet of a funeral or funeral procession for one hour before, during and one hour after a funeral. Also included is a clause banning the obstruction of entry into a funeral or related building or procession. The penalty is up to 6 months in jail.
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I hope that a number of my fellow citizens will show up and give them the treatment that they deserve.
UPDATE: Within 24 hours of posting this, I have received 8 hits from cox.net in Topeka, Kansas. Interesting.
Reception of New Members
Today the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church received me (and 15 others) as new members of the church.
All of us were asked to sit up front in the church along with our families. Carolyn joined me this weekend (taking a break from the Catholic thing) and sat with me in the first pew. I think I like it better towards the back. The building looked full – just enough room for everybody to be comfortable rather than crammed in.
The bulletin included a legal size page with our pictures and self-written bios on both sides.
Just after the Children’s Message, we were called up by name to be recognized as new members. One of us, Kate – a student at Princeton Seminary – needed to be baptized. We were all asked the traditional baptism questions as our formal profession of faith, and then Kate was baptized in what has to be the wettest baptism I’ve ever seen in a Presbyterian church (water was actually running down her back). Then the congregation read the Words of Welcome from the Book of Common Worship, and sang a hymn “Blest Be the Tie That Binds” and the congregation was then invited to pass the peace (moved from the beginning of the service). The Peace was as chaotic as usual with the crowd of us tripping over each other. Then we all sat down and the service continued.
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At the end of the service, the group of new members left at the beginning of the last hymn to form a receiving line in Fellowship Hall. I managed to get Carolyn to stand next to me – after all she is part of the family now, too. We then met a huge crowd of people, most of whom who told me their name and few that I remember, and then we had the cake that was specially made for us. We chatted with all sorts of folks and then headed home.
This is the end of the journey that began in August 2005 when another volunteer at Camp Johnsonburg asked me “What church do you belong to?” and I had no answer. It went on to include the Reconnecting with Faith – Finding Your Home retreat at camp and my church search.
While this is the end of the journey back home, it is certainly NOT the end of my spiritual journey. I hope to bring you news as time goes on. I look forward to this church finding a way to pull me into greater involvement – I’m eager to get started but I need help to find that first thing to volunteer for. And I also look forward to telling the story of this successful journey at the new Reconnecting with Faith retreat next January.
Thank God that’s over … and OK
I had a colonoscopy done yesterday.
If you know my age, you realize that I’m a bit young for this. I have some personal history (some nasty flareups in college and about 5 years ago) and family history of colon cancer. After the last flare-up my doctor has put me on the “every few years” plan for the rest of my life.
The good news – nothing is wrong. No sign of cancer, polyps, anything unusual. My diverticulosis (a mild case) is about the same as last time. The doctor took some biopsies, and will let me know in two weeks if they are clean. If so, I get 4-5 years before the next one.
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A few tips if you’re headed this way. If you have a choice and can swallow big salty pills, use the pill prep (Visicol or Osmoprep). They are much less painful and less bad tasting than the alternatives. Also, if given the opporunity to be sedated and/or completely knocked-out, DO IT. I’ve had 3 of these now with a greater degree of unconsciousness every time. Sleep through it if you can.
I missed work on Friday for this, but I’m just as happy. The prep left me feeling a bit depressed (at the loss of control involved) and a little weak from the all clear liquid diet. The anaesthesia left me only 80% there for 4-5 hours afterward which I slept off at home.
I am a Presbyterian, again
Last night, the session of the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville, NJ voted to receive me as a member by Reaffirmation of Faith. This ends my nearly 20 year departure from the church (and at least a few years off the rolls anywhere).
I wasn’t alone – there were 15 others joining at this time. Three by Profession of Faith, Six by Reaffirmation of Faith and 7 by Letter of Transfer. As I’ve said before, this was a very diverse group on everything but age. The new members live as far away from Lawrenceville as Lahaska, PA and Bensalem, PA. There are two first-year students at Princeton Seminary. The ages run from early 20’s to “I don’t want to even guess” retired. When you add the non-member spouses (like mine) and young children, the group ends up being more like 25 people.
In fact, we outnumbered the elder members of the session. Because the group was so large, the session had to start their meeting in the chapel and move to their usual spot after the new member portion was complete.
We got started about 7pm with new members and session members filtering into the room. The chairs were arranged in a big circle that just barely fit in the room, and the new members and session members were interspersed throughout the circle.
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After that, the session voted to receive us into membership and to authorize the baptism of one of us. We then said a common prayer and passed the peace. The session then left the room to continue their meeting (being 1/2 hour behind schedule due to our group’s size) and the rest of us headed home.
On Sunday, we will be recognized during the service and one of us will be baptized. We’ve been instructed to sit up front in the reserved pews (along with family) and that we will be called to stand in front of the congregation at some point. During the final hymn we will be escorted out to form a receiving line in Fellowship Hall.
The one funny point of the evening came when one of the new members talked about the music program and choir being part of his reason for choosing Lawrenceville. An elder who is in choir (and who was still jet-lagged from the mission trip to Israel) leaned over and told him when the choir meets. He then informed her that he’s been in the choir for six months! Apparently short women in the soprano section up front can’t see the big guys in the baritone section in back.
Why Lawrenceville?
Tonight, I go before the session of the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church (NJ) to be received by Reaffirmation of Faith as a new member. There are about 15-20 of us (I think) being received by various methods. To that number you can add 6-10 kids.
A while back, I wrote about my return to the church after an absence of almost 20 years. What I didn’t really put into that post was why I chose this particular church. Apparently, I’m going to be asked that question tonight, so here’s my summary of why (in no particular order).
1. It feels like the church that I grew up in.
That could have been a bad thing (since I had some issues with my original church that were minor contributors to my departure), but I checked on the issues that I had with the church that I grew up in and reportedly they are not a problem here. The way in which Lawrenceville feels like the church that I grew up in are: size (number of members and attendees, size of sanctuary/buildings), service format and content (basically a traditional service with the old standard hymns and a format that I’m used to), music program (wow! can this congregation sing!) and an active youth group.
2. The church has a policy of tolerance for all viewpoints.
A church can either be somewhere along the “conservative” to “liberal” axis, choose to work for tolerance of all viewpoints (within reason), or choose to avoid controversial issues. Based on what I was told (and have seen since), this church shows an unusual tolerance for a wide range of opinion. One story that I was told was about a table at a men’s meeting where a discussion of a controversial issue erupted. Two people staked out the opposite positions, but everybody contributed with opinions all the way across the spectrum on that issue. None of it was heated. That’s what I want – nice respectful academic discussion. Having said that, the church averages out to someplace center to progressive in theology. This is truly a “big tent” within the Presbyterian mold.
3. This church is a thinking church.
There is a big emphasis on adult education and study. Not just “let’s all study the Bible together” but discussions on applying faith to issues.
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4. The church has lots of volunteer opportunities.
There are a lot of things going on. The church wants to have as many people involved as possible – but at the same time doesn’t want to push anybody beyond what they want to do.
5. Church leadership is open and involves lots of people
Unlike other churches that I know (or grew up in), this church rotates a lot of people through it’s leadership roles. At the ordination/installation service that I attended they asked anybody who had ever been an elder or minister to get up and lay hands on the new officers. 1/3 of the congregation got up – a HUGE ratio.
That list was written back in August when I chose this church. Since then, I have also come to realize that there is a warmth to this congregation that might not be apparent to a casual visitor (or a summer visitor, for that matter). Put simply – people care at this church. About each other, about people in the local community, about justice, about evangelism. There is a level of warm commitment – not just words or slogans but actual one-to-one action.
Feels good to me.
Tomorrow, you should be reading a post about tonight’s meeting.
Catholics, Birth Control and Eucharist
Today’s votes by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops affecting birth control and Eucharist hit my family personally.
While I am Presbyterian (joining a new church tomorrow evening), my wife is a practicing Catholic. (What the heck is “practicing” about? I think after about 40 years she’d be good at it!) We have chosen not to have children. We are not using the rhythm method – my wife is an engineer and would never settle for a single point of failure. You are welcome to draw your own conclusions on what all that means with respect to birth control.
The bishops issued two documents today that are relevant:
- Married Love and the Gift of Life
- Happy Are Those Who Are Called to His Supper: On Preparing to Receive Christ Worthily in the Eucharist
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The first document talks about marriage and the Roman Catholic church’s teachings. In reality, only the first page of the 12 page document talks about marriage – the rest talks about contraception, repeating Catholic doctrine stating that the Rhythm method is the only one allowed (though they call it “Natural Family Planning”) in any circumstance.
The second one talks about preparation for Holy Communion. Among other things it states that intentionally ignoring church teachings is sufficiently serious that the lay person should avoid Communion. It also repeats teaching about Confession, mortal sins, and the fact that Catholics should only take Communion in a Catholic or related Byzantine church. Also that non-Catholics should not take Communion.
Put the two together and you reach the conclusion (verified by Catholic priests in a newspaper article that I read) that any Catholic using contraception should not take Holy Communion. The newspaper article that I saw this morning cited a survey statistic that 96% of married Catholics used contraception. One activist in the Catholic church on sexual issues was quoted as saying “This should save them some money on wafers”, but I don’t expect much to change. I suspect that this new guideline on taking Communion will be ignored just as the teaching on contraception is ignored. After all, the church spokespriest was quoted as saying that priests will not be refusing anyone at the rail on this issue.
So what does that mean for us? For me – nothing. Nobody changed the rules that I live by today. For Carolyn …. well, I can’t speak for her. I assume that if you ignore the teaching about contraception, you might as well ignore this teaching as well – and I suspect that 95% of married Catholics will continue doing so.
What I do know is that the Presbyterian Church will always allow her to take Communion in one of our churches irrespective of what her church teaches about doing so. I also know that the Presbyterian Church will be happy to take her in should she get sufficiently frustrated by the differences between the Mother Church’s teachings and her beliefs. And I know (and she’s been told) that the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville always welcomes her.
It’s probably easier to live in a one-church household. We’ve done fine for all these years in a two-church household. We talk, and exercise freedom of conscience on religious issues. We support each other’s personal faith. We’re also generally on the same page on theological issues and issues of applying faith to life. That might not be the same page as the Roman Catholic church, but it’s OUR page.
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