Conversation with Pastor Ryan - December 29th 2010

    One of the reasons that I do this blog is because of the friendships and connections that I create in my exploration and journey through the different ways of honoring a greater power or higher ideal. Today was no exception. This afternoon I had the pleasure of talking to Pastor Ryan from Our Savior Lutheran Church.

   The conversation began with us sharing our backgrounds of how we ended up where we are in our faiths. Pastor Ryan grew  up a Nazarene which was historically more puritanical in it's beliefs of not dancing and similar practices being seen as taboo. It rose out of the holiness movement of John Wesley. John Wesley is known through sanctification of every Christian and bearing witness to the Holy Spirit in people's lives. The Church of the Nazarene is a Methodist denomination which rose out of opposition to the clergy of the Church of England. The "Don't ask, don't tell" aspect and tabooness to dancing and things like it in the modern Nazerene church turned him away from the Nazarene faith and to Lutheranism.

   We talked about the conflicts that come up in miscommunication between people and how tied it is to culture as well as religion and the difficulty of getting past surface level in regards to solving conflict but keeping peace.

   We also talked about understanding and how our families are all over the political spectrum and how we differ from some of members of our family in religion and politics but that it has no affect on how much we love them. 

   We talked about confession in regards to faith when I brought up that I think breaking past the levels of small talk or similarities is taking responsibility for one's faith and one's faiths mistakes as well as one's own mistakes. We talked about Luther's bitterness and anti-antisemitism and the wrongness with that and how all religions and people have played the role of persecuted and persecutor. It was wonderful to talk about it and I hope more leaders will do so, healing can only happen by recognizing past and current mistakes, only then can healing happen with the forgiveness afterwords.I think confession is one of the most beautiful parts of faith but is needed in a larger context. In the Interfaith conversations that need to be had, or conversations between people who have conflict with one another...accountability is needed so that people can heal and become better individuals and cease to "Other"ing one another.

   I believe in the virtue that is that the core of every religion and that every religion calls their members to be accountable and to live with love and charity towards one another. I hope I can bring that out in my quest for bringing peace between faiths and people who are in conflict.

    Pastor Ryan talked about his faith and Christ being ever present in people's lives. It was from this presentness that the stories in the Bible have meaning beyond their mythic and in some cases historical basis. For me this is the virtue that is in all of us that we are capable of. Whether it's through belief and relationship with whatever form God is to a person, or simply noticing ones actions in every day life and choosing to live right action...this is what I believe in. I believe in living virtuously and that God can help develop that virtue. I also believe it is possible to develop virtue in oneself without belief in a God.

    I was grateful to have been able to talk to Pastor Ryan and develop the friendship and look forward to more talks and hanging out in the future.

Christmas Reflection

     Christmas. I must out of all the holidays my family celebrates it's the holiday filled with the most memories. Whether it was Christmas in New York City, growing up in Utah, Two Michigan Christmases and the Christmases here in Washington.

   What does Christmas mean to me? I think the thing it has consistently meant to me is love. Whether it's the story and mythos behind an omnipetant deity becoming a human baby, the sharing of love with family, friends and girlfriend.

    I wish the spirit of love and giving that comes and Christmas was more then just once a year though. Service is something that I need to be better and improve myself in. There are so many problems in the world...both family, friends and strangers.

   I think the message of Christmas is that service and sacrifice is something greater then a single event or holy day (holiday). It is something that matters in what we do every day and how we treat others and ourselves. So far all who celebrate Christmas. A very merry belated Christmas to you.

19th Day of Advent - Our Savior Lutheran Church - Issaquah, WA - December 19th 2010

       What is Lutheranism? Lutheranism was the first Protestant faith to rise out of the reformation. It was founded by the Priest Martin Luther when he was unable to bring about reform in the Catholic Church. The core differences between Lutheranism and Catholicism is the non-belief in the Pope, the belief in justification through faith alone and the Bible is the only reliable and final source on issues of morality and God's Law since every word is believed to have been inspired by God. Lutheran's also have female pastors which I really like about the faith.

     The day I attended Our Savior Lutheran Church was the 19th day of Advent. When I first came I talked briefly with the pastor and educational director...I'd attended this Church once before with Youth Exploring Spirituality (YES) but that had been years ago. I had no clear memories. The day I arrived the youth were putting on the nativity but it was done differently this year where each of the grades was asked a question in regards to what Christmas meant. One of the inspirations for this was what Jesus said in Matthew 18:2-4,

    "I tell you the truth. You must change be like children. If you don't do this. You will never enter the kingdom of heaven. The greatest person in the Kingdom of Heaven is the one who makes himself humble like this child."

     Family and friends were the greatest theme outside of the birth of Jesus for what Christmas means. This theme fit with the first quote of the service. John 4:8 "Anyone who does not love, does not know God, because God is love." The community the kids expressed was of love and was what Christmas means. Christmas is about sharing love with family, friends and partner. In Christianity this is shown in God becoming Man because he loved humanity so much, and this informs the theology of love in Christianity...which I believe is the essence of all faiths.

    The readings and structure of service reminded me a little of Catholic Mass, as well as the vestments of the Pastors. There was Communion at the end of the service, there were prayers for the Church (all those who were suffering) and the World. It was a really beautiful all inclusive prayer with peace and healing as it's aim. There was also the Lord's Prayer and a similar prayer of the people lifting their hearts up to the Lord before offering it to one another.

     After the service I would talk to the Pastor for a while about service in the community, and how Our Savior Lutheran Church actually made it pretty easy (as far as the causes you could give to immediately) and I told him about my goal of creating understanding and peace between religions. We exchanged information and I'm excited to talk with him again, hopefully later this break.