Monday, October 20, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Update
We have been SO busy lately! School is in full swing for both of us, so we spend a lot of time at the table reading. =)
David is trying to fit two 12-hour shifts into his school schedule, which is proving harder than we thought. He tried working two night shifts during the week, but going to school, going to work, going to school and THEN coming home to sleep wasn't working very well. Now he's trying one night shift and Sundays. It stinks he can't come to church with me, but it means we have Saturday together.
I started a second job last week working for the Rocky Mountain Conference in the Peace With Justice office. They have a Social Justice Center in the basement of a nearby UMC so I help with mailings and educational pieces. It's mostly administrative work, but I enjoy being connected with peace and justice--if even in a small way!
I preached last Sunday in Nebraska and think it went really well! David was sweet and he and the dogs made the 4 hour trek with me to North Platte. We stayed in Greta's parsonage and the dogs enjoyed running around her yard. =) I didn't post my sermon, but I felt pretty good about it. The really scary part was that I actually loved preaching. Yikes.
David is trying to fit two 12-hour shifts into his school schedule, which is proving harder than we thought. He tried working two night shifts during the week, but going to school, going to work, going to school and THEN coming home to sleep wasn't working very well. Now he's trying one night shift and Sundays. It stinks he can't come to church with me, but it means we have Saturday together.
I started a second job last week working for the Rocky Mountain Conference in the Peace With Justice office. They have a Social Justice Center in the basement of a nearby UMC so I help with mailings and educational pieces. It's mostly administrative work, but I enjoy being connected with peace and justice--if even in a small way!
I preached last Sunday in Nebraska and think it went really well! David was sweet and he and the dogs made the 4 hour trek with me to North Platte. We stayed in Greta's parsonage and the dogs enjoyed running around her yard. =) I didn't post my sermon, but I felt pretty good about it. The really scary part was that I actually loved preaching. Yikes.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Chris & Kerry
David's friend, Chris, and his girlfriend, Kerry, came to visit us last weekend. We had a great time! =)
I'm going to preach!
My friend, Greta, asked me to come preach at her church on October 12th for Children's Sabbath. I agreed! YIKES!!!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The Bakers
Steve and Patty came to Denver and we had a great visit! They finished the drive early Sunday morning and made it to Trinity in time for my Borderlands presentation, which was VERY thoughtful. Monday we went to Silver Plume and rode the Georgetown Loop on the train. We had lunch in Golden and then toured the Coors Brewery. We also did a lot of "hanging out" and visiting, which was nice. =)
Friday, September 19, 2008
It's Time For the Pulpit to Speak
Here is a recent statement by Jim Wallis, Editor-in-Chief at Sojourners, regarding the economy:
Everyone has heard the famous phrase, attributed to James Carville, which supposedly won the 1992 presidential election for Bill Clinton: "It’s the economy, stupid!" It’s still good advice, especially as the shocking collapse of the financial markets has turned the election campaign into a much more serious and somber discussion than lipstick on pigs.
But the issue is deeper than just the economy. I would now rephrase Carville and say, "It’s the morality, sinner!" And I would direct it to the people who have been making the decisions about the direction of this economy from Wall Street to Washington. Here is the morality play:
Aggressive lending to potential home-buyers using subprime and adjustable rate mortgages led to "mortgage-backed securities" being sold to investors at high returns. As housing prices dropped and interest rates rose, homeowners got caught, fell behind on payments, and millions of foreclosures followed. That resulted in the mortgage-backed assets losing value with banks unable to sell the securities. So the subprime lenders began to fail. Asset declines then spread to investment banks. We have now seen the sale of Bear Stearns brokered by the government, and last week the government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as mortgage defaults threatened them. Then Lehman Brothers fell into bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch was sold. Now another bailout, this time of AIG, the largest insurance company in the country -- whose potential demise threatened the whole financial system even further.
During the height of the lending frenzy, many people got very rich, as they did during the previous technology bubble. Now with the collapse, experts say the most likely result will be further tightening of credit and lending standards for consumers and businesses. Home, retail, and business loans will become more expensive and harder to secure. And the consequences of that will spread to most of America.
In the accounts and interpretation of these events, a word is slowly entering the discussion and analysis — greed. It’s an old concept, and one with deep moral roots. Even venerable establishment economists such as Robert Samuelson now say, "Greed and fear, which routinely govern financial markets, have seeded this global crisis ... short-term rewards blinded them to the long-term dangers."
The people on top of the American economy get rich whether they make good or bad decisions, while workers and consumers are the ones who suffer from all their bad ones. Prudent investment has been replaced with reckless financial gambling in what some have called a "casino economy." And the benefits accruing to top CEOs and financial managers, especially as compared to the declining wages of average workers, has become one of the greatest moral travesties of our time.
In the search for blame, some say greed and some say deregulation. Both are right. The financial collapse of Wall Street is the fiscal consequence of the economic philosophy that now governs America — that markets are always good and government is always bad. But it is also the moral consequence of greed, where private profit prevails over the concept of the common good. The American economy is often rooted in unbridled materialism, a culture that continues to extol greed, a false standard of values that puts short-term profits over societal health, and a distorted calculus that measures human worth by personal income instead of character, integrity, and generosity.
Americans have a love-hate relationship with government and business. The climate seems to shift between an "anything goes" mentality and stricter government regulation. The excesses of the 1920s, leading to the Great Depression, were followed by the reforms of Franklin Roosevelt.
The entrepreneurial spirit and social innovation fostered by a market economy has benefited many and should not be overly encumbered by unnecessary or stifling regulations. But left to its own devices and human weakness (let’s call it sin), the market too often disintegrates into greed and corruption, as the Wall Street financial collapse painfully reveals. Capitalism needs rules, or it easily becomes destructive. A healthy, balanced relationship between free enterprise on the one hand, and public accountability and regulation, on the other, is morally and practically essential. Government should encourage innovation, but it must also limit greed.
The behavior of too many on Wall Street is a violation of biblical ethics. The teachings of Christianity, Judaism, and other faiths condemn the greed, selfishness, and cheating that have been revealed in corporate behavior over decades now, and denounce their callous mistreatment of employees. Read your Bible.
The strongest critics of the Wall Street gamblers call it putting self-interest above the public interest; the Bible would call it a sin. I don’t know about the church- or synagogue-going habits of the nation’s top financial managers, but if they do attend services, I wonder if they ever hear a religious word about the practices of arranging huge personal bonuses and escape hatches while destroying the lives of people who work for them. We now need wisdom from the economists, prudence from the business community, and renewal courses on the common good from the nation’s religious leaders. It’s time for the pulpit to speak — for the religious community to bring the Word of God to bear on the moral issues of the American economy. The Bible speaks of such things from beginning to end, so why not our pastors and preachers?
Everyone has heard the famous phrase, attributed to James Carville, which supposedly won the 1992 presidential election for Bill Clinton: "It’s the economy, stupid!" It’s still good advice, especially as the shocking collapse of the financial markets has turned the election campaign into a much more serious and somber discussion than lipstick on pigs.
But the issue is deeper than just the economy. I would now rephrase Carville and say, "It’s the morality, sinner!" And I would direct it to the people who have been making the decisions about the direction of this economy from Wall Street to Washington. Here is the morality play:
Aggressive lending to potential home-buyers using subprime and adjustable rate mortgages led to "mortgage-backed securities" being sold to investors at high returns. As housing prices dropped and interest rates rose, homeowners got caught, fell behind on payments, and millions of foreclosures followed. That resulted in the mortgage-backed assets losing value with banks unable to sell the securities. So the subprime lenders began to fail. Asset declines then spread to investment banks. We have now seen the sale of Bear Stearns brokered by the government, and last week the government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as mortgage defaults threatened them. Then Lehman Brothers fell into bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch was sold. Now another bailout, this time of AIG, the largest insurance company in the country -- whose potential demise threatened the whole financial system even further.
During the height of the lending frenzy, many people got very rich, as they did during the previous technology bubble. Now with the collapse, experts say the most likely result will be further tightening of credit and lending standards for consumers and businesses. Home, retail, and business loans will become more expensive and harder to secure. And the consequences of that will spread to most of America.
In the accounts and interpretation of these events, a word is slowly entering the discussion and analysis — greed. It’s an old concept, and one with deep moral roots. Even venerable establishment economists such as Robert Samuelson now say, "Greed and fear, which routinely govern financial markets, have seeded this global crisis ... short-term rewards blinded them to the long-term dangers."
The people on top of the American economy get rich whether they make good or bad decisions, while workers and consumers are the ones who suffer from all their bad ones. Prudent investment has been replaced with reckless financial gambling in what some have called a "casino economy." And the benefits accruing to top CEOs and financial managers, especially as compared to the declining wages of average workers, has become one of the greatest moral travesties of our time.
In the search for blame, some say greed and some say deregulation. Both are right. The financial collapse of Wall Street is the fiscal consequence of the economic philosophy that now governs America — that markets are always good and government is always bad. But it is also the moral consequence of greed, where private profit prevails over the concept of the common good. The American economy is often rooted in unbridled materialism, a culture that continues to extol greed, a false standard of values that puts short-term profits over societal health, and a distorted calculus that measures human worth by personal income instead of character, integrity, and generosity.
Americans have a love-hate relationship with government and business. The climate seems to shift between an "anything goes" mentality and stricter government regulation. The excesses of the 1920s, leading to the Great Depression, were followed by the reforms of Franklin Roosevelt.
The entrepreneurial spirit and social innovation fostered by a market economy has benefited many and should not be overly encumbered by unnecessary or stifling regulations. But left to its own devices and human weakness (let’s call it sin), the market too often disintegrates into greed and corruption, as the Wall Street financial collapse painfully reveals. Capitalism needs rules, or it easily becomes destructive. A healthy, balanced relationship between free enterprise on the one hand, and public accountability and regulation, on the other, is morally and practically essential. Government should encourage innovation, but it must also limit greed.
The behavior of too many on Wall Street is a violation of biblical ethics. The teachings of Christianity, Judaism, and other faiths condemn the greed, selfishness, and cheating that have been revealed in corporate behavior over decades now, and denounce their callous mistreatment of employees. Read your Bible.
The strongest critics of the Wall Street gamblers call it putting self-interest above the public interest; the Bible would call it a sin. I don’t know about the church- or synagogue-going habits of the nation’s top financial managers, but if they do attend services, I wonder if they ever hear a religious word about the practices of arranging huge personal bonuses and escape hatches while destroying the lives of people who work for them. We now need wisdom from the economists, prudence from the business community, and renewal courses on the common good from the nation’s religious leaders. It’s time for the pulpit to speak — for the religious community to bring the Word of God to bear on the moral issues of the American economy. The Bible speaks of such things from beginning to end, so why not our pastors and preachers?
Update
Yesterday David took his Pharm final and is OFFICIALLY done with his first quarter of nursing school! I am SO proud of him!!! He's waiting to hear about his grades, but he is confident that he passed all his classes. (You have to have better than a 74 to pass and if you fail ONE class, you're held behind and get off track) He is working today, but will have the next two weeks off before starting a new quarter October 6th.
I finished week 2 of classes yesterday, which in quarter world, means I'm already 1/5 done! On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have "Christianity in the Modern World" and "Reformation to Enlightenment." On Wednesdays I have my Advanced Field Education group and "Exodus." Yes folks, in seminary you can spend 10 weeks on Exodus! =) I am really liking my classes so far and doing pretty well keeping up with the reading. I am also co-leading Disciple Bible Study at Trinity on Thursday nights.
Last weekend my mom came to visit and we had a great time. She entertained me while David studied for finals! =) We are looking forward to Steve and Patty's visit in a couple of days.
I finished week 2 of classes yesterday, which in quarter world, means I'm already 1/5 done! On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have "Christianity in the Modern World" and "Reformation to Enlightenment." On Wednesdays I have my Advanced Field Education group and "Exodus." Yes folks, in seminary you can spend 10 weeks on Exodus! =) I am really liking my classes so far and doing pretty well keeping up with the reading. I am also co-leading Disciple Bible Study at Trinity on Thursday nights.
Last weekend my mom came to visit and we had a great time. She entertained me while David studied for finals! =) We are looking forward to Steve and Patty's visit in a couple of days.
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