Reflections on hearing His Holiness the Dalai Lama speak

I was privileged yesterday to get an opportunity to hear His Holiness the Dalai Lama speak at the University of Northern Iowa. I got a lot out of the experience and want to do some reflecting on it here.

One thing that has always struck me about His Holiness is that he exudes such joy and hope. In person this absolutely holds true. This is a man who has seen an awful lot in his life and has every reason to be less than optimistic about human nature, yet he is full of joy and optimism. His point of view is striking and lovely. He understands that we give violence power by having the perception that we live in a violent world when a vast majority of the 6 billion people on earth are not violent people. His view on violence does not come out of naivety, he knows first hand both the price of violence and non-violence. If this man who has seen the atrocity of China taking his country of Tibet can be committed to non-violence than we all can be.

His Holiness' respect for all people is a challenge to all of us. He points out that before anything else we are human, everything else is secondary. He is absolutely right that we go wrong when we lose that fact and let those secondary things keep us from being the human family.

I was impressed by his discussion on ethics and how ethics are essential to our world. Though religious ethics are great and where he himself gets his ethical ground, he makes the great point that one can be ethical without a religious background.

I'm spurred on by his commitment to interfaith dialogue. Not only does he speak of
interfaith dialogue but it is clear he lives it. I was greatly taken by the diversity of the group of people who came to see him speak. That says a lot about not only the man but about what he has to say.

When he speaks the things he says are not complicated but they are striking. It was a great experience to see him and that is something I have wanted to do for a long time. If you have never read any of his many books I highly recommend them. The Art of Happiness is very accessible and a good place to start.

The Importance of Science

I've been thinking about science a lot in the past week. It started when I discovered that www.symphonyofscience.com put up some new videos (if you have never seen their videos check them out). I've had a little more time on my hands so I have been watching a number of scientific documentaries. Lastly I had a friend mention on twitter that every child should be taught scientific method.

It was the last that got me thinking my friend made a great point we should be teaching all children scientific method. First I was surprised that this had to be said because in my upbringing I was taught about scientific method, but I have begun to realize that my experience is unique that there are a lot of kids who do not get the chance to see the beauty of the universe that exists around them.

I'm very disturbed by the anti-science strain that has taken root in some communities of faith. I think that it has lead to a very unhealthy view of the universe around us. I think that science not only can help us to understand the world we live in but it can also help us to rediscover the natural wonder and awe we have for that world. I think that this anti-science mentality has contributed to the environmental crisis we find ourselves in.

Science can also teach us important lessons about living in the questions. Scientists search for answers yes, but they also are excited by the search and comfortable with saying we don't know. This is important because the fact is that life is about the search.

Faith should not be taught in the science classroom. I would not be comfortable as a person of faith having my child be told about faith in school. Science needs to be taught as science, if people wish to tell their children something different it is their responsibility to do so not the school's. Science by definition is observable and faith is not. I certainly see my faith and science as compatible and value both very much, but faith is not scientific (because it is not observable). Science certainly informs my faith, and my faith colors how I see science but there is great value with me wrestling with the questions of the intersection of faith and science myself and I think that others should be given the opportunity to wrestle with these issues.

Do something scientific this week!!! See the wonder and awe science has to offer. I think you will find it exciting.

Saying Goodbye, Looking Back and Moving Forward

Life's transitions are always different and can be difficult. I'm in the middle of a transition currently. I'm finishing up my last couple of months here at Collegiate United Methodist Church and Wesley Foundation. Even though I still have a couple of months left here finals are finishing at ISU so I am finding myself saying goodbye to some of my students.

If I'm honest about it is not easy saying goodbye to this wonderful group of students I have worked with over the last two year. They have brought a lot of joy into my life. There are not words that could possibly express how great being a part of this faith community has been and how blessed I have been to be able to serve them. The things I have gained from them will last a life time. So I have to say I'm sad today as I say goodbye to some of them. I am lucky that I will get to work with some of them over the summer. But in the end it is a good thing that I am sad because that means that this experience has meant a lot to me.

I am excited about going to seminary and am very much looking forward to that experience but I will miss all the great thing I have been a part of here over the past two years. And I think it is as important to mourn the loss of the amazing experience. There will be a lot of time to be excited for all the wonderful things I will discover in the Bay Area but today is for looking back at how blessed I have been, to thank those students I have been so lucky to share my time with, to say goodbye to some of them and to recognize the sadness even as I am excited for the future.

Sustainability Sermon

When you look at the world around you what do you see? Over the years I can tell you that I have had many answers to that question, some better than others. As I have thought about what the biblical narrative has to say about sustainability, it has occurred to me that how we answer that question may be much more important that I had thought before.
The way we view the world around us is at the very heart of the issue of sustainability. How we view creation will determine how we interact with it. Our own view on what God’s creation is and how we fit in may determine the very essence of what our faith calls us to when is come to sustainability.
Theologian Mathew Fox has a great deal to say about the way we see the universe. He points out that after the industrial revolution we have begun to see the universe as if it were a machine. We see it as cold, lifeless. Somewhere along our journey as humankind we have lost our sense of connection to the life and creativity infused into the universe by God. The very life that God has gifted to us is represented in the world around us and that connection is not only important to us spiritually but practically as we learn more about the awful effects that we can cause to the world around us. It will be hard for us to become better stewards and to try to live in a sustainable manner if we do not reexamine our world view and take seriously the idea of God as creator and the universe as creative. We can not continue to see the universe as dead because if we do we will continue to treat it as if it is dead.
If we are to rediscover a world view of a lively universe it is wise for us to turn to the indigenous people, the first peoples who have traditionally seen the world around them as very much alive. As we heard Michael Jacobs tell the story of creation, we hear the focus repeated that God not only created sometime in the past but rather that God created, is creating and will create. Creation is a process, a dance that we are invited into. That sense of God at work all around us in the natural world helps us to view the natural world very differently. We begin to see creation as a part of us and us as a part of creation. By now you’ve probably noticed the music in the background. This is a ceremonial song of the Lakota people honoring creation. They believe that when they sing and dance to this music they are assisting the creator in creating. We must begin to view our creative efforts each day in the same way. God is calling us to be co-laborers in the creation process. This is why we are given the gift of creativity. Sustainability is going to take new ideas and creative solutions from all areas of life if we are to live in connection with the universe. It is important now more than ever that we have a world view that embraces that connection.
Science is beginning to show us just how truly connected to each other and to the universe we really are. (Youtube Clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGK84Poeynk&feature=player_embedded)
As I hear the words of the great scientists in the video I feel that we are not only connected to each other biologically, to the earth chemically, and the rest of the universe atomically, but if we are so deeply linked to the rest of creation what does that tell us about how deeply we are linked to the creator.
You see the very nature of God is creatively creating. God has put in the very universe itself the quality of creativity. All we have to do is to leave some carbon and hydrogen atoms alone long enough to see that they will become any number of things from stars to life. If the very atoms we are made of are infused with such creativity how much more do we have the responsibility to be creative.
By shifting our world view we join in the dance of creation. By rediscovering our connection to the universe around us we rediscover a much greater connection, a connection to wonder and awe, a connection to life itself and the source of that life.
Seeing the universe as creatively created by God to be infused by life that is connected, we begin to realize that sustainability is about much more than simple survival. Sustainability is about being in connection with God and in communion with the world around us. We are being called to much more than simply stopping the damage that currently is being done to the world around us, rather we are being asked to join the universe to creatively find solutions to the issues that face us environmentally.
As our world view changes we will begin to see God calling us to be co-workers in the business of life. God calls us to take an active roll in the world around us. This extends beyond even the natural world to each aspect of our life. As we take that active roll of creativity we will discover how creativity can be a spiritual act, a means of Grace.
If we continue to see the universe as nothing more than a machine than our only responsibility is to keep the machine running so that it can serve us. But if we begin to take serious the connection that we find in the universe then our very well being depends on the well being of the universe around us. We must rediscover our place in the universe instead of somehow seeing ourselves outside and separate from the rest of the natural world.
We must continue to heed God’s call to create. We must find new ways to live that respect the value and life of the universe around us. We can not continue simply to use that which is around us because as we have heard over the last couple of weeks, it is destroying us. God has given us the gift of connecting to all the life that is around us. Let us accept that gift, and protect it.
The God of wonder calls us, how will we respond? Our creative creator invites us to look at the world with new eyes, can we do it? My prayer is that we can look at our universe with new eyes, that we can connect with life accepting the great gift that life is, and that we can be co-workers with God as God continues to create around and within us. Let the God of all creativity inspire us to act creatively, to better connect to the joy and hope that already