A royal wedding and ethnic cleansing

Two completely different thoughts I'd like to share today:

One ... A lot has been said about Bishop Curry's sermon at the Royal Wedding. I was even more engaged by the bride's African American mom, Doria Ragland. 37 years ago she was pregnant, watching the wedding of Harry's parents, never imagining that the baby she was carrying would one day marry a prince from the same family. And now, here she is, a divorced black woman who has been marginalized most of her life, sitting directly across the aisle from the Queen of England. The contrast was stunning. 

Two ... violence in Gaza. Many of you have read my comments about Israel and Palestine, rooted in what I worry is the ethnic cleansing of Christian Palestinians. The situation in Gaza is maddening on so many levels, but it's also very complicated. If you're interested in what I think is a balanced explanation of what's going on, here's a good link to follow https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/05/18/611940486/deep-contradictions-remain-at-the-core-of-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict. If you're interested in the Lutheran church's efforts to provide humanitarian relief and medical service to those affected by the violence, click here. The Augusta Victoria Hospital -- a ministry of the Lutheran World Federation -- is doing amazing work, but they, too, face growing pressure from a government that's not keenly interested in their presence and ministry. Let's hold their work in prayer.

Blessings to you this week. Thanks for your good work in God's garden!

Wearing red for teachers

I'm wearing red today in honor of our teachers.

I know this has become a politically charged issue -- especially today, as teachers march on Raleigh, each of them wearing red -- but I'm not trying to make a political statement. It just seems to me to be an appropriate starting place.

Outside of parents, teachers have the most influence on a child's life. Because of some home situations, the teacher is even more influential than a parent. There's no doubt, then, that the future of our community is dependent upon good teaching from well-qualified teachers, just as the future of our community's health is dependent upon well-qualified health professionals.

With that in mind, surely we can agree that a well-trained, motivated, highly-engaged, intelligent, appropriately-paid core of teachers is critical for our students' success and necessary for our community's future.

So let's begin there, by honoring the teaching profession for what it is: a committed, professional core of men and women who have dedicated their lives to the future of our students and community.

I've heard legislators make a lot of critical comments about teachers these last few days. That's not a very good way to begin a conversation. I'd rather see these same legislators walk alongside teachers today, setting aside all the politicizing, demonizing and grandstanding that has dominated the debate for far too long.

Let's start this new legislative session by honoring our teachers. It's a great place to begin.

Thanks for your work in God's garden today. I'll see you in church.

Why does Donal Trump (and Rhodes Woolly) lie?

My friend, Wade, remembers vividly the day his young daughter lied for the first time. He laughed when he called to tell me about it .. then felt suddenly sad, knowing that she would be wrestling with the demon of "bearing false witness" the rest of her life.

Why do we keep lying with such regularity? Don't we ever learn?

Part of that answer is rooted in risk and reward. So many people inherently love taking risks, and lying is a risk with potential reward. The problem is that once we "win" the risk, we become hooked. The more we lie (stretch the truth, exaggerate, deceive, whatever), the more likely we are to do it again.

As you know, Trump's White House is the latest to be caught red-handed (so it seems) stretching the truth. Remember Watergate? Monica? LBJ's Gulf of Tonkin humdinger? All were presidential lies that eroded our trust in folks who need our trust to survive.

So, why do they (we) do it? Why not be honest with us? It's an age-old question, of course, and most of us have yet to come up with a good response. Except, well, this one: We lie because we are afraid -- afraid of losing something -- and the only way we know to get what we really want is to lie. Oh, and cross our fingers behind our backs.

Is lying an epidemic in American politics? Probably no more so than it has been in the past, but it's still so very tiring. After a while you wonder, "What can I trust? Is this just another, um, lie?"

1 John offers an antidote that presidential advisors should keep in their back pockets, ready to apply at a moment's notice: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:8-9).

Honest confession. It's a start, at least ... for Wade's daughter, the president, and, well, you and me.

Blessings to you and yours.