Bruce Cockburn, of all people, changed my spiritual imagination. It happened in a concert hall in New York City in the mid-80s, when Cockburn joined a drummer, a bassist, and a (I’m not making this up) very attractive blonde who played the conch shell, to offer a three-hour artistic feast. His music was ineffable, a sophisticated blend of rock, folk and religion expressed through original poetry. I can still quote the lyrics of his first song:
All the diamonds in this world
That mean anything to me
Are conjured up by wind and sunlight
Sparkling on the sea.
I ran aground in a harbor town
Lost the taste for being free.
Thank God he sent some gull-chase ship
To carry me to sea.
Two thousand years and half a world away.
Dying trees will still grow greener when we pray.
Ship comes shining like a crystal swan in a sky of suns,
Ship comes shining.
Silver scales flash bright and fade
In reeds among the shore.
Like a pearl in a sea of liquid jade
His ship comes shining.
Like a crystal swan
In a sky of suns
His ship comes shining
His ship comes shining.
With no explicit reference to faith, Cockburn captured my spiritual sensibilities better than any ‘Christian’ artist I had encountered.
In recent years, artists who reference spiritual truths obliquely have become quite popular . Not long after the 9/11 attacks, Bruce Springsteen offered nothing less than a testimony to hope and redemption with his single, “My City of Ruins,” which became a best-seller:
There is a blood red circle
On the cold dark ground
And the rain is falling down
The church door's thrown open
I can hear the organ's song
But the congregation's gone
My city of ruins
My city of ruins
Now the sweet bells of mercy
Drift through the evening trees
Young men on the corner
Like scattered leaves,
The boarded up windows,
The empty streets
While my brother's down on his knees
My city of ruins
My city of ruins
Come on, rise up! Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up! Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up! Come on, rise up!
It was exactly what our nation needed.
Now a British folk/rock band is taking the baton. I first heard Mumford and Sons live in Asheville, N.C., (where I was the youngest person on the floor, thank you) and upon leaving said to my 19 year old daughter, “I promise you one of them was raised in a minister’s family.” At first she doubted, then she Googled, and afterward she stared at her father wondering how he could know.
How could we not know? With lyrics such as “It’s not the long walk home that will change this heart, but the welcome I receive from a re-start.” Hadn’t she been raised on the parable of the prodigal son? Or these from “Thistle and Weeds,”
Spare me your judgments and spare me your dreams
Cause recently mine have been tearing my seams
I sit alone in this winter clarity which clouds my mind
Alone in the wind and the rain you left me
It's getting dark darling, too dark to see
And I'm on my knees, and your faith in shreds, it seems.
But I will hold on
I will hold on hope.
What’s more biblical than that?
Still, some wonder whether these references are specific enough, Christian enough, and even pressure the artists to clarify their particular convictions. When asked if his band was "Christian," Marcus Mumford responded rather helpfully: “I think faith is something beautiful, and something real, and something universal, or it can be.”
Yes it can, especially if we’ll let the artists lead us.
That’s one reason we’ll hear from Marcus Mumford in our contemporary service on Easter Sunday, because on Easter we proclaim something beautiful, something real and something universal.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
I've been largely heartened by the personal responses I've received to this morning's article in the Charlotte Observer. Though any mention of guns typically evokes vigorous debate, I'm thankful for a congregation and a context in which we can seriously consider the implications of Christian faith for public life. It is Presbyterianism at its very best.
I'm also grateful to John Cleghorn, former member of Covenant now Pastor at Caldwell, for initiating this dialogue, and especially for transcending the argument of Second Amendment rights, that tired cul-de-sac where all good ideas circle to their death. We worked hard to capture the strength of our tradition, claim our specific faith for an important issue facing public life, and speak an honest word.
With gratitude and humility,
Bob
I'm also grateful to John Cleghorn, former member of Covenant now Pastor at Caldwell, for initiating this dialogue, and especially for transcending the argument of Second Amendment rights, that tired cul-de-sac where all good ideas circle to their death. We worked hard to capture the strength of our tradition, claim our specific faith for an important issue facing public life, and speak an honest word.
With gratitude and humility,
Bob
A faithful response to gun violence
This article first appeared in the Charlotte Observer on March 17, 2013, and was submitted with John Cleghorn, pastor of Caldwell Presbyterian Church in Charlotte.
On Jan. 25, America's scourge of gun-related violence descended on our congregations.
Early that morning, Caldwell Presbyterian member Mike Middleton was shot and killed in his driveway. A dedicated mentor and friend to hundreds, Mike had once served as his assailant's Narcotics Anonymous sponsor.
Hours later, a thief burst into the college apartment of Covenant Presbyterian member Robby McNeil, firing a shot that caused significant brain damage. Robby, 19, has begun his long road of recovery.
Faced with these tragedies, our congregations are now searching for a faithful response to America's epidemic of gun violence. As their pastors, we take our place in a confession that we, as a society, did not do enough to protect Mike and Robby. At the same time, our faith requires that we recommit to the passage of common sense public policy that makes ours a safer and more peaceful nation.
We stand with virtually all major world religions, which share an ethic that parallels what Christians call the "Great Commandment" to love neighbor as self. Our Old Testament tells of a people whom God commanded to live in a just covenant community, elevating the common good over individual rights. The prophet Isaiah envisioned "new heavens and a new earth ... where the wolf and the lamb shall feed together." We hold fast to that vision, not as a soft, idealist sentiment but as a sacred duty we must pursue, even in the face of failure and tragedy.
The Gospel in particular envisions a radical reorientation away from self and personal piety and toward God and neighbor. Love of God without love of neighbor amounts only to selfish spirituality, vacuous in content and insipid in application. Leave out love of neighbor and religion becomes exclusive, self-righteous, and oftentimes dangerous. Our nation's love affair with guns has moved well into the dangerous phase.
As Presbyterians, we are particularly mindful that our Reformed tradition emphasizes a responsibility beyond a private faith to the larger ordering of a peaceful society in which each human life is valued equally.
To that end, we endorse a coalition of nearly 50 denominations and faith-based organizations observing a Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath this weekend. It is a time to reflect, unite and act on the issue of gun violence. We do so aware of the potential for disagreement but confident that this world needs more than peace-talkers; it needs peace-makers.
We urge a call on federal and state lawmakers to:
Reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004. Assault weapons are weapons of war and have no place in the hands common citizens.
Require universal background checks when purchasing any firearm. Guns only belong in the hands of those who know how to handle them with correct intention.
Make gun trafficking a federal crime and require all guns to be registered with the state and insured by their owners, as we do automobiles.
We also suggest a hard look at taxing the sale of bullets - as we do cigarettes and alcohol. This could offset the public costs that bullets help create, estimated to be $12 billion a year in court proceedings, insurance costs and hospitalizations paid for by government health programs, according to a recent study.
As Americans, we are grateful for the freedoms we enjoy in our country. As Christians, we also remember the Apostle Paul's teaching, "For you were called to freedom... only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love serve one another."
In this Christian season of Lent, we reflect on our belief that God came into the world in Jesus Christ "not to be served but to serve and to give his life." Surely, that sacrifice is for something greater than the violence we experience today in our neighborhoods and in our congregations.
Lent is also a time to turn in a new direction. As a nation, let us turn away from our violent ways, for Mike Middleton, Robby McNeil and all others whose lives have been changed forever by our loving guns too much and God not enough.
On Jan. 25, America's scourge of gun-related violence descended on our congregations.
Early that morning, Caldwell Presbyterian member Mike Middleton was shot and killed in his driveway. A dedicated mentor and friend to hundreds, Mike had once served as his assailant's Narcotics Anonymous sponsor.
Hours later, a thief burst into the college apartment of Covenant Presbyterian member Robby McNeil, firing a shot that caused significant brain damage. Robby, 19, has begun his long road of recovery.
Faced with these tragedies, our congregations are now searching for a faithful response to America's epidemic of gun violence. As their pastors, we take our place in a confession that we, as a society, did not do enough to protect Mike and Robby. At the same time, our faith requires that we recommit to the passage of common sense public policy that makes ours a safer and more peaceful nation.
We stand with virtually all major world religions, which share an ethic that parallels what Christians call the "Great Commandment" to love neighbor as self. Our Old Testament tells of a people whom God commanded to live in a just covenant community, elevating the common good over individual rights. The prophet Isaiah envisioned "new heavens and a new earth ... where the wolf and the lamb shall feed together." We hold fast to that vision, not as a soft, idealist sentiment but as a sacred duty we must pursue, even in the face of failure and tragedy.
The Gospel in particular envisions a radical reorientation away from self and personal piety and toward God and neighbor. Love of God without love of neighbor amounts only to selfish spirituality, vacuous in content and insipid in application. Leave out love of neighbor and religion becomes exclusive, self-righteous, and oftentimes dangerous. Our nation's love affair with guns has moved well into the dangerous phase.
As Presbyterians, we are particularly mindful that our Reformed tradition emphasizes a responsibility beyond a private faith to the larger ordering of a peaceful society in which each human life is valued equally.
To that end, we endorse a coalition of nearly 50 denominations and faith-based organizations observing a Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath this weekend. It is a time to reflect, unite and act on the issue of gun violence. We do so aware of the potential for disagreement but confident that this world needs more than peace-talkers; it needs peace-makers.
We urge a call on federal and state lawmakers to:
Reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004. Assault weapons are weapons of war and have no place in the hands common citizens.
Require universal background checks when purchasing any firearm. Guns only belong in the hands of those who know how to handle them with correct intention.
Make gun trafficking a federal crime and require all guns to be registered with the state and insured by their owners, as we do automobiles.
We also suggest a hard look at taxing the sale of bullets - as we do cigarettes and alcohol. This could offset the public costs that bullets help create, estimated to be $12 billion a year in court proceedings, insurance costs and hospitalizations paid for by government health programs, according to a recent study.
As Americans, we are grateful for the freedoms we enjoy in our country. As Christians, we also remember the Apostle Paul's teaching, "For you were called to freedom... only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love serve one another."
In this Christian season of Lent, we reflect on our belief that God came into the world in Jesus Christ "not to be served but to serve and to give his life." Surely, that sacrifice is for something greater than the violence we experience today in our neighborhoods and in our congregations.
Lent is also a time to turn in a new direction. As a nation, let us turn away from our violent ways, for Mike Middleton, Robby McNeil and all others whose lives have been changed forever by our loving guns too much and God not enough.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)