Mass Peace

On a Sunday morning a few weeks ago, a member of our church handed me a flyer for the Mass Peace Gathering & Memorial Vigil to honor the three-year anniversary of the Iraq War. I hadn't heard of the event ahead of time, but decided to re-arrange my afternoon in order to make it.

Before we separate ourselves into self-righteous camps of one sort or another, let us agree that Christ teaches peace. From there, we understand that the best course of action in order to achieve peace is never entirely clear. Bubbles of real peace exist in a viscous context of history, culture, and power. Our own American experience of peace within our borders is remarkable and encouraging when viewed through the lens of history! While we acknowledge the stains of slavery and Euro-Americans' treatment of Native Americans, we make progress.

Presently in Iraq, the path towards peace is very murky. Our country's military presence is problematic, but leaving in the near-term carries its own set of difficulties. I don't have a solution to offer you, or even one to believe in for myself, but I am deeply distressed that our national conversation is at a standstill. We are hemmed in by the false, cartoonish dichotomy of "cut and run" vs. "stay the course," and we are unable to elect enough representatives who value problem-solving over power-holding.

I walked up to the JC Nichols fountain at 47th & Main under looming gray clouds, walking quietly among the memorial to the American soldiers and Iraqi people who have been killed in the war, the information tables and booths, the drum circle, and an eclectic gathering of every beautiful size, shape, and color Kansas Citian you can imagine. The Memorial Vigil included prayers for peace in Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Native American, and Buddhist religious traditions; at the end of each prayer, we each said out loud the name of a different person killed in the Iraq War, taken from the Memorial display.

My prayer was for Jonathan Cheatham, a US Army reservist from Camden, Arkansas. His convoy was attacked in Baghdad in July 2003; he was killed at the age of 19.

I didn't find a highway to peace at the Gathering last Sunday. But I found it in myself to take a step, publicly showing that I support peace in our hearts, our communities, and in Iraq. I hope we may constantly remind ourselves and each other of Christ's example in peace, and bend our every effort towards making it real.

-howie

Sunday's bulletin 3/26

I'll miss you all Sunday, but I'm not leaving you high and dry; check out his awesome majesty!




Come and worship with Nehushdor.


If you are confused, click here. -howie

John Barrow and a Fine-Tuned Universe?

The Templeton Prize is awarded annually; see the Washington Post's article about this year's winner, John Barrow. The New York Times' article is more descriptive (link here - but requires free registration);

"Continuing a recent trend in which the world's richest religion prize has gone to scientists, John D. Barrow, a British cosmologist whose work has explored the relationship between life and the laws of physics, was named the winner yesterday of the 2006 Templeton Prize for progress or research in spiritual matters.

"Dr. Barrow, 53, a mathematical sciences professor at the University of Cambridge, is best known for his work on the anthropic principle, which has been the subject of debate in physics circles in recent years. Life as we know it would be impossible, he and others have pointed out, if certain constants of nature — numbers denoting the relative strengths of fundamental forces and masses of elementary particles — had values much different from the ones they have, leading to the appearance that the universe was "well tuned for life," as Dr. Barrow put it.

"In a news release, the prize organizers said of Dr. Barrow's work: "It has also given theologians and philosophers inescapable questions to consider when examining the very essence of belief, the nature of the universe, and humanity's place in it."

Interestingly, five of the past six Templeton winners have been scientists. Among them are favorites of mine Ian Barbour, John Polkinghorne (physicist and priest!), and Arthur Peacocke.

You can read more about the Anthropic Principle and the idea of a "fine-tuned universe" on Wikipedia.org. It's a very interesting idea, especially for those with a prior (an a priori) faith-claim in a Creator. Any universe in which we exist is necessarily fine-tuned for our existence - the leap to finding God/purpose/meaning in the Anthropic Principle seems a faith-BOING!, not a step of logic or science. I hope Barrow's work, and that of others, will continue to shed light on these questions.

The Post link came from the blog of Bill Tammeus, from the KC Star. He also wrote, just in passing, a fantastic definition of "dialogue";

"I continue to believe that interfaith dialogue is essential for the future of peace in the world. I am not interested in dialogue in which people simply agree about things they would have agreed to if they never even got together. Rather, honest, forthright dialogue in which differences are aired and understood is what's called for. To know and to be known is the goal."

Encountering I AM

From Sunday's sermon and worship bulletin... an image of our hope in the future, in God's care.



Jody's message, "Everlasting Freedom," began with God's promise that we possess real, meaningful freedom and agenthood (from the covenant with Noah). Yet there is a vast Unknown, beyond our individual lives (which limit our exercise of freedom) and beyond the life of our very universe.

God promises Abraham that God will hold us in that Unknown. That's what I found in God's answer to Abraham's legitimate protests and incredulousness. Beyond the expectations we can hold within our universe ("But, I'm 99!"), God promises to Be, and be with us ("I AM, God Almighty").

-howie

Come Thou Fount / Feb. 26

UPDATE; On Saturday during rehearsal, Megan, Scott, Erin, and howie recorded Megan's arrangement of "Come Thou Fount..." at St. Peter's. Download the track below, and enjoy! Windows; right-click and "Save Target As" - Mac; ctrl+click and "Save As".

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing - Megan Blosser & Band

Insight! Events 2 & 3

The Fine Arts Committee invites you to join us at our next two Insight! Events...


Tuesday, March 28
KC Symphony String Quartet
7:00 pm, Regnier Hall Auditorium, KU - Cost: free.
Edwards Campus in Overland Park
12600 Quivira Road, Overland Park, KS
Conversation afterward at the Daily Dose on the relationship between artistic and religious experience and meaning, led by Howie Howard.


Sunday, April 9
"Jesus of Montreal" - a film by Denys Arcand
6:30 pm, Westport Presbyterian Church - Cost: free.
201 Westport Road, Kansas City, MO
Conversation afterward at the Westport Coffeehouse (topics will spontaneously emerge, given the rich story we will have seen!).
Movie information at - http://imdb.com/title/tt0097635/

Insight! Events are opportunities for spiritual, social, and intellectural growth in response to community concerts, readings, theater, and lectures.