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My brother is standing next to me. He wants me to say something “awesome” about him.
It’s funny that I’m trying to do daily blog post and I’ve spent the last few Sunday posts saying go spend time with friends and family, but, well, maybe that’s a good idea. We are going to go watch my sister play some Ultimate Frisbee. Family is awesome. Go spend some time with them. Or call them. But let them know they are loved.
They finally got copies of Jesus For President at the public library, and I was one of the first on the hold list. Surprisingly, in all of Minneapolis, there where only three holds on the book. I wonder if that is at all telling of the type of people that are interested in the book (like, they don’t use the library? or something). Anyways, having been keeping up on Shane, The Simple Way and the sort of movement of interest, I definitely wanted to check out the book, and I was not disappointed.
A large portion of the book is a biblical and theological look from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) through the new, and keeping in mind and at the forefront a “political” mindset. I had previously read Walter Wink’s book, The Powers That Be (which I highly recommend and own a copy so you can borrow it), and had since read through the Bible keeping in mind this power structure idea (Which Greg Boyd describes as Power Over vs. Power Under), but I’d never really learned about and read through with a “political” perspective. I’ve read The Politics of Jesus too (also a great book, and also referenced a lot in Jesus for President), but I think I missed a lot because of the Academic language. Anyways, back to the book at hand. If you’ve never read your Bible with politics in mind I’d highly recommend the first sections as they lend at the very least great insight into thinking about what and how the Biblical narrative might speak to the politics of today.
I should also mention that the book is not laid out in plain traditional format, but is in color and creatively designed by SharpSeven, Ryan Sharp (who I had the pleasure of chatting with at a campfire at PapaFest 2006) and his wife. It is really neat, and the artistic design and layout definitely adds something to the reading experience.
And the books final sections give ideas and being politically creative in our times. It’s great to hear the stories and begin stirring our political imaginations. It was also encouraging to me to find that I had already heard or been aware of a number of the stories, makes me feel like maybe I’m not alone in my interest after all.
Anyways, that’s it for my summary, there are other bloggers who’ve written far more in depth and thought provoking summaries, but this is just my attempt to stay on my goal of a book a week.
Think back to the last time you saw a scary movie, or heard about or witnessed something that kept you up at night and that cluttered your thoughts throughout the day. Imagine experiencing the effects of that only 10 or 100 fold for the rest of your life, that’s only a glimpse of what it might be like to experience Combat Trauma, or PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) which the vast majority of our countries war veterans experience after their tours of duty.
Currently there are thousands of veterans returning from duty in Iraq having experienced horrific situations that have left them struggling to maintain and begin normal life here in the states. Charles Thomas, 43, served as a platoon sergeant. “He had been in firefights. He had fished bloated bodies out of the Tigris River. He had removed equipment from military vehicles stained and reeking from the blown-out brains of his soldiers who had been killed…When he came home from war and retired from the military, however, he couldn’t sit in a crowded room. He was still scanning overpasses for bombs and snipers, even as he was driving to work in Phoenix, especially on a stretch of Loop 202 that reminded him of Iraq. And he went into a panic in a traffic jam.” As much as 42% of those returning from duty are requiring mental health treatment. There is no question, whether for or against the war, there is a huge need to “support our troops” in dealing with the trauma upon their return.
In addition to those recently returning there is a large percentage of veterans from the Vietnam war and other armed conflicts, who are still today struggling to lead healthy lives here in the states. According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans there are nearly 200,000 veterans without a home on any given night and nearly 400,000 experience homelessness in a given year. A conservative estimate says that one in every three men you see standing on the corner, sleeping on a bench or under a bridge has done a tour of duty for this country. There are a wide range of reasons one can point to as to why a person might currently be experiencing homelessness, but there is a stark reality that thousands of men, fit mentally and physically to serve our country in military service, have come back and find themselves struggling with substance abuse, unable to hold jobs, chronically ill, mentally incapable of normal day to day functioning, and many unable to provide the means to keep a roof over their heads.
What is the Christians roll in all this? Where family, government services, friends and non-profits have failed them, the church has an opportunity to love their combat traumatized and homeless veterans as themselves. Providing support, understanding and a welcome environment for these men and women is important to them and the community at large. Jesus tells the story of a man who is robbed and left for dead on the side of the road. It is a Samaritan, from the ‘other side of the tracks’, who comes and cares for the man, and Jesus then tells us to “Go and do likewise.” How clearly this parable speaks to the need to care for war veterans, our fellow countrymen (and women), who have been more or less, “left for dead” by our society. They need much more then your money or occasional charity project, they need loving caring communities to welcome and embrace them and walk with them on their journey to wholeness, for weeks, months, years, maybe even for life.
What you can do (from the NCHV website):
Resources:
It’s that time again, looks like this worked pretty well last week. I read some interesting articles about immigration and race, a Brennan Manning Video and some thoughts from McClaren on simplicity. Pretty interesting, but I’d like to hear more.
I figured maybe I’d do a themed one this time. If you’ve come across a well written or challenging blog post or new article or something on the topic of Race recently I’d love to see it. Just post it (and your name or the name of the article) below…
Daniels post from last week was great and I’d love to see your feedback on it too so go visit.
It occurred (or was pointed out) to me that I haven’t really posted anything just about me recently, and because there seems to have been an influx of new readers, it might be wise to say a little something, so you have an idea of who I am. I’ll be brief, but here’s a rambling random insight…
I’m 25, if you want to bother keeping track still (October 7th), but I married up; in age, style, looks, intelligence, charm, she’s way out of my league…which is why my kid is so stinking cute (and smart). I’ve been married almost five years, yeah I know, it’s nuts. Graduated high school in 2000, went to YWAM, cause, well, I didn’t want to go to college, but I wanted to change the world or something. The whole thing left we with far more questions and doubts then I came with, but I did meet my wife there. Had I been planning it I would have met her 6 years later, backpacking Europe or something, but I wasn’t in charge; which is a good thing.
Went to Wheaton College, don’t ask me how I got in or how I paid for it (starts with “m” ends with “afia”), but I did. Got bored (or antsy) after 2 years, so I got married, and we went and hung out in Atlanta for a year, doing after school programs with AmeriCorps. My wife fell in love with the city, which was good, because we were starting to think that’s where we’d be hanging out for a while. Went back to Wheaton to finish out senior year there, and then headed South to Nashville so my brilliant and beautiful (and did I mention charming) wife could become a Family Nurse Practitioner. Met, worked with, and lived with some amazing people for two years there before making a trek to our now permanent (I think) home in North Minneapolis. Oh, yeah and along the way we had a baby, she’s 9 1/2 months and stupendously incredible.
Any Questions?
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