Prologue
It all began with Bill, and his rather delightful polemic, The People Formerly Known as the Congregation. Bill was thinking out of the box a little and using a rubric that had been used in another format in order to get our collective attention. He accomplished that. Several others jumped aboard the train (Grace, Jamie A-R, John, Lyn, Greg, Dan, Heidi, Copernicus, Sola Gratia, Brother Maynard, and Paul) and wrote other pointed pieces that continued in that vein and I think we are now up to parts 9, or perhaps 10. I don’t know, my reading turned to skimming somewhere around part 5. I just got sad. I began to see backlash on institutional church blogs; people who are linking to these in anger and bitter humor. (UPDATE: several hours after posting this I read the second of Brother Maynard’s three part series in this meme. Dear Reader, you really need to as well.  My post is but a shadow on the wall.)
More than that, an ever-widening rift is developing between the old and the new. The piece of the Church that was to be “just a conversation†is hardening it’s lines or perhaps the lines are being drawn for it and the piece that is the old, the institutional Church, is calling names and making faces. Oh, it’s being slightly more dignified than that, but it’s the adult version of, “I’m packing up the marbles and keeping them for myself. Nyah.â€
So, what follows has been on my mind for quite some time now. I began writing it over a year ago. The imagery comes and goes, but I have not been able to get it out of my head (which probably is some indication of my level of insanity). I began reading the latest round of postings which began with Bill‘s TPFKATC with hope that has degenerated into sadness. We are all continuing to circle the drain with our anger. It’s not that anger or expressing it is bad, but we must begin to harness it into something constructive, redemptive, conciliatory or we will ultimately lose the true battle which we ought to be fighting.
As you read what follows, please understand that I am in NO manner attempting to speak the mind of Jesus. I am taking the metaphor of the Bride and Bridegroom and playing it out in imaginative fashion; so, dear reader, you may make of it whatever you will.
The People Known As The Bride of Christ
Jesus is coming. Jesus the Bridegroom. He is coming for His Bride. He dressed in his tuxedo. He’s been preparing the universe for this time since He called time into being. He’s longing for this Bride dressed in dazzling white. Pure. Clean. If He is to be Lord of Lords, then His Bride will be the Queen in the Kingdom of God.
What sort of Bride do we present Him with? At the moment, she is dressed in the tatters of a whore, no dazzling white here. She is behaving as though she is possessed of multiple personality disorder. In serious distress, this disorder is causing her multiple personalities to be at war with one another as she stands at the back of the church ready to walk down the aisle.
Now Jesus sees past the clothing and the MPD; He sees only His beautiful Bride. Not so the guests at the wedding. They are frightened by the spectacle of the tattered rags, ratty hair, dirty skin and raging arguments from within one person. They are leaving the church in small groups, and ones and twos. Slowly, but they are leaving. The banquet feast that Jesus has set for them is not enough to keep them there.
It soon becomes apparent that the wedding which was a central event in society, written up in all the best papers is now so insignificant that it’s barely worth mentioning by word of mouth. It was to have happened in the big church in the middle of town, but now it’s being held in the tiny little church down the road a ways. There just aren’t enough guests anymore. The Bride has frightened them all away with her squabbling, fractious nature and all of the rules she set for coming to the wedding.
Jesus opened the doors wide. The Bride started to close them. No drinking she said. No smoking. No dancing. Only come on Sunday. Wear beautiful clothes. I must have beautiful clothes. And your hair must be just so. Make sure your children behave. Raise your hands in worship. No, don’t. Yes, do. No.
These things and more are the issues She is now fighting about within Herself.More and more guests just keep slipping away. And The Bride? Well, She appears to be unaware, indifferent; far more concerned with her inner demons than with her guests. She knows she ought to be thinking of them and their needs, but she cannot seem to pull her eyes off of herself.
Epilogue
I have not written this because I feel that we ought all just get along and sweep our differences under the rug. I’ve written it because I feel that we ought to be picking our battles more wisely. There are really only a few battles that need to be fought. “In things essential, unity; in doubtful, liberty; in all things, charity.†Thomas aKempis. Is the church possessed by demons? I don’t know. But we’ve become a fringe element of society and it might be good to think about embracing that rather than continuing to act as if we’re the biggest show in town. Arguing about how to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic is a waste of time and energy. But perhaps we could learn some new patterns and begin to work together in and through our differences. Reminding ourselves of what we have in common more regularly might be a good place to start.
Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen
If you live in Virginia, you are connected to the tragedy. It is inevitable. You have connections to VATech. A dear friend’s daughter is a senior who is a teaching assistant in the engineering department. I’ve met the daughter, had lunch with her. She just lost her favorite professor and 10 students that she has assisted this year. Another friend is a teacher at the high school from which the shooter came, and from which two victims graduated. Still others graduated from VATech or went there for different parts of their education. Others have friends.
This arrived in my in-box this morning from CoachWonderWoman, who is also a HokieParent (her son goes to VaTech) … as she wrote, “It captures the support the students and extended community has received this week.”:
This hasn’t simply dominated the news here, in Virginia, it has penetrated our very bones.
Psalm 34
6 This poor people called, and the LORD heard us; he saved them out of all their troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed are those who take refuge in him.
18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
So I was, at first taken with the idea of OneDayBlogSilence, which sprang up so quickly in the wake of the tragedy (and please note, dear reader, that I refer to it as a tragedy, not a massacre … there is a deep magic in the meaning of words and we must choose them carefully for the good or ill of the future.) Until I began to see the headlines of other tragedies from around the world that same day. 30 were killed in a bomb blast in Baghdad. How many were killed in Darfur? In Afghanistan? How many women were raped? How many other random senseless acts of violence stopped the bright shining lives of young people around the world on April 16, 2007. Young people with grieving mothers, brothers, sisters, fathers, aunts, uncles, friends, cousins, teachers, professors, pastors, mentors. Old people who had dynamically effected and affected the world around them in ripples that flow out uncounted. So …. on April 30, this blog will also stand with others, silent and dark in memory of victims of violence everywhere.
Yes, weep and grieve until the Spirit is poured down on us from above And the badlands desert grows crops and the fertile fields become forests. Justice will move into the badlands desert. Right will build a home in the fertile field. And where there’s Right, there’ll be Peace and the progeny of Right: quiet lives and endless trust. My people will live in a peaceful neighborhood— in safe houses, in quiet gardens. The forest of your pride will be clear-cut, the city showing off your power leveled. But you will enjoy a blessed life, planting well-watered fields and gardens, with your farm animals grazing freely. (Isaiah 32:15-20 (The Message))
There are no words to express the horror upon hearing of the deaths at Virginia Tech yesterday. It was and is terrible. LightGirl can talk of nothing else. She is horrified. She wants to know how something like this could happen. No one knows.
What I am at a loss to explain is Australian prime minister John Howard’s lack of empathy as he used this moment of our grief to his own political gain:
You can never guarantee these things won’t happen again in our country,” Howard told reporters. “We had a terrible incident at Port Arthur, but it is the case that 11 years ago we took action to limit the availability of guns and we showed a national resolve that the gun culture that is such a negative in the United States would never become a negative in our country,” he said.
It was not a gun culture, or gun laws, or even a gun which killed 33 people yesterday. It was one sad, broken, deranged human being who killed those students and professors.
The much larger and more difficult question we need to be asking and answering is how and what as a culture and community are we doing to contribute to that brokenness? These shootings are happening with ever greater frequency. Simply taking away the guns will just change the method that people use to discharge their anger and sadness. Taking away the guns may reduce the number of victims, but it will do nothing for the underlying cause.
We need to get at the underlying cause if we are truly concerned about healing the problem. The problem is not that people are dying. The problem is that sad, broken, deranged people are killing them. How do we go about making sure that the brokenness doesn’t happen in the first place? That’s the question to ask and answer.
Saturday morning’s losing hockey games were topped off with a award for mom! What’s that you say? Was I awarded most geeky hockey player mom? Best hair? Stinkiest hockey bags? Certainly I was in the running for any of those … especially stinkiest equipment bag. Peee yew!!
No, I arrived home to an e-mail from Phil Wyman at Square No More (aka, Phil The Why-Man), informing me that I have been awarded a Thinking Blogger Award!! Well. Check. That’s one evil plot I’ve fulfilled. Hehehehe … j/k. On a serious note, I am honored and more than a little stunned. It would seem that I am becoming more and more like my father (as the LightChildren say, “That’s what Grampy does, he thinks.”). So, thank you, Phil. I do appreciate the compliment and encouragement more than you know.
Now it is my turn to pass it forward as they say and award 5 more bloggers who make me think. So here are my Five Amazing Muses:
Your mission (if you are one of the tagged), should you choose to accept it, is to pay it forward as well … the rules are simple and they are three:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think 2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme 3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote (here is the gold version and the silver). Oh … and enjoy the new blogs you get to read 😀
Some time ago I discovered a blogger friend. His name is John. John is sort of an outgoing guy and pretty soon we were friend-friends. He told me about some very hurtful things that had happened to him in the recent past. I told him about some things that were happening to me in the present. We held each other up in prayer. We supported each other and told each other some very bad puns to make the other laugh.
Some of the hurtful things that have happened to John include him being separated very suddenly and without warning from his job as pastor of a newly planted church in California. This separation also included a separation from his source of income.
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Philippians 2:1-2
Now, Rick Meigs (Blind Beggar), is a bigger and better thinker than just about all of us. He got the great idea to start a Paypal account for John.
Here’s the great thing about John. He did not let any of this stuff get him down. He is starting a great little missional church with, like, NO budget. This is a euphemism for no money.
So please visit Rick’s site and John’s site (SmuloSpace and Missional Apologetics) to find out more about how you can support him and his family during this time of need. He has a heart and vision as big as all California. I’m privileged to call him friend and be united in Christ with him.
The Church is two things. It is at one and the same time a human institution founded by humans, run by humans and failed by humans. It is also an institution ordained by God to be His Body incarnate here on earth, His Bride in waiting, the Kingdom peeking out in the here giving us glimpses of the not yet.
A couple of weeks ago Bill Kinnon wrote an excellent post entitled PFK as the Congregation (if you haven’t yet read it, go do so now. I’ll wait). At almost the same time and with much, much less thought I wrote Leaving Oz, which, we agreed, was on the same wave length. Last week Emerging Grace wrote The Underlying Issues as a follow-up to PFKC where she outlined Bill’s main points. She hit the ball out of the park, once again.
Grace began her post with a bit of a sally against those who seem to think that we who criticize the church are bitter and angry. Some might be. Some might be working through those issues and still retain valid criticisms of the Church.
I’m going to mix up politics and faith here for a little bit. I hope you won’t mind, but I find it necessary to make my point.
When our Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence and wrote the Constitution, one of the most prominent freedoms for them was freedom of thought or speech. It was very important to them that they be allowed to think and say what they wanted to. As well as being allowed to worship in the manner in which they chose. Hence we have clauses in the Declaration of Independence that read like:
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
and the First Amendment to the Constitution which states:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
But how many of us really take those to heart? Really. How often do we speak up and say what’s on our minds, or think outside the box, or differently from the rest of the crowd? It’s extremely rare. We are a culture in which it is the norm to want to do like everyone else. Those who march to their own beat are ostracized and excluded, by the whole pack. It’s not just the leaders who are responsible, but all of us.
I’ve been seeing this my whole life. LightHusband and I have a very good friend from our youth. I’ll call him BestMan (since he was our best man when we got married). When LightHusband and I were dating, we hung out with BestMan a lot and carried on conversations about life, culture and anything else that crossed our minds. Literally … anything! One of the things that used to amaze us was how like cows people are. Since we all grew up in Vermont, this analogy was apt. People get in a herd and follow along without thinking, they just do what the butt in front of them is doing. I realize that sounds awfully harsh … but remember we were youthful and harsh at the time. We are not taught or encouraged to think about what might exist outside the herd. Get in your car, sit in traffic, sit in your cubicle, get ahead, sit in your car, sit in your cube house, go to sleep … do it all again.
Now let’s go back to the Church. How is the Church going to be any different in this atmosphere? I think that Bill and Grace have extremely valid criticisms and concerns about how the Church has been lead in the last several decades or so. But I don’t think that all of the responsibility can be heaped on the leadership. I think that we the PFKC have to take some of the blame too. After all … for the longest time, we’ve liked it this way. We’ve enjoyed our emerald spectacles, and our comfortable happy lives that our wizards, oops, I mean pastors have given us.
Remember, when the wizard left Oz, the people didn’t fling off their spectacles and cry out, “We are free! We are free!†No, they mourned his loss and wondered how on earth they were going to get along without him.
“Good-bye!” shouted everyone, and all eyes were turned upward to where the Wizard was riding in the basket, rising every moment farther and farther into the sky. And that was the last any of them ever saw of Oz, the Wonderful Wizard, though he may have reached Omaha safely, and be there now, for all we know. But the people remembered him lovingly, and said to one another: “Oz was always our friend. When he was here he built for us this beautiful Emerald City, and now he is gone he has left the Wise Scarecrow to rule over us.” Still, for many days they grieved over the loss of the Wonderful Wizard, and would not be comforted.
“Good-bye!” shouted everyone, and all eyes were turned upward to where the Wizard was riding in the basket, rising every moment farther and farther into the sky.
And that was the last any of them ever saw of Oz, the Wonderful Wizard, though he may have reached Omaha safely, and be there now, for all we know. But the people remembered him lovingly, and said to one another:
“Oz was always our friend. When he was here he built for us this beautiful Emerald City, and now he is gone he has left the Wise Scarecrow to rule over us.”
Still, for many days they grieved over the loss of the Wonderful Wizard, and would not be comforted.
My theory is that the Church for many people (even in fundamental/evangelical/charismatic churches) is a social contract with social functions. By social contract, I am referring to the contract first discussed by John Locke in Two Treatises of Government. I don’t mean to belittle or demean in any way the faith or relationship that most people have with God or Jesus. I have to assume that they must have a vibrant faith. It’s just different and their view of church is different than mine. They are in small churches, medium churches, and mega-churches. But regardless of size they are in a place where they like wearing colored spectacles, and being told where to go and what to do by a leader who has built a beautiful city for them to live in; a leader who sets himself apart and is above the people. A leader who was dropped in from above and will one day leave just as mysteriously, but will never quite be one of them. The people will adore him, listen to his every word, follow him … but they will never quite know him. Now here’s the thing … both the leader AND the people like it this way. Both entities are getting something out of this.
There is however, a growing group of people who are not satisfied with this status quo. Who have begun looking around and thought that there might be a third way. For lack of a better term, or maybe because I like it a lot, we can call ourselves PFKC now. Or as Jamie Arpin-Ricci is calling us, The Community Coming To Be Known As Missional, this third way, this way of being Jesus; of not just sitting in a pew on Sunday and counting it sanctified all week long. It looks like many things. It’s walking a tightrope amidst a broad road. It’s living with open hands in a tight fisted culture. It’s seeing a mother’s dreams on the face of an old homeless man. It’s seeing people not clerks in the grocery store. Having authentic friendships without any ulterior motives. It’s learning how to be yourself again, the beautiful one who God created to be and love and laugh in the world; to be in relationship with Him and with others.
So how do these two sets of people get along with one another? One set is comfortable within the social contract, loving the leader, wearing the colored spectacles, following the crowd and the rules (whatever they may be). They love the beautiful walled city in which they live, apart from everyone else. The other set has grown discomfitted with the social contract, thrown down their colored spectacles, gone adventuring outside the walls of the city, decided that the rules are not necessary for their existence and that the crowd might be going in a direction they don’t want to go.
One set is, by nature, conservative, holding on tightly to the things they know and love. The other set is, by nature, radical, letting go and finding new ways; new wine in old wineskins. It’s my hope and dream that the two groups can get along, can love each other as children of God, as mutual brothers and sisters in Christ. We do things differently, we see the world differently, but we share one God, one Saviour, one Holy Spirit. If we can manage to walk through this new way lovingly we will not further splinter the Church, but perhaps bring it back together again. That is my dream today.
Who am I?
I am the unsung disciple. One of the 10 who’s names are not mentioned in the days after the crucifixion and miracle. You have heard the story of John and Peter and that bastard son, Judas.
We are so afraid. It has settled into our midst like bad meat brings a stone in the stomach. If we could vomit, would it be better? We talk and ask endless questions to which there are no answers. What have we done? We have given our lives to a lie. How do we make this right? How do we face our fathers? our mothers? How do we get this time back? Andrew’s mother died a year ago and he did not mourn her or bury her. How does he tell his father of his sorrow?
Then we are angry. We have given our lives to a lie. This Jesus was to be the once and future king. Instead he did nothing to defend himself, he walked to his death like a criminal. What have we done? What shall we do? How do we make this right?
The women are in the next room crying and hugging. They can go back. They will find men to care for them. We have given everything away and now it is all gone. All of it. Where is our king? Dead.
But who is coming into the room now. Well, this looks like him and sounds like him.
But it cannot be! He was dead not three days ago.
The excited talking and laughing and greeting. It makes the past couple of days disappear. But … maybe not. Thomas is asking the questions that are on all of our minds, but we dare not ask. He is still angry and betrayed. Truth be told, so am I. But I want this new/old reality so badly I can taste it. I am willing to go along with everyone else and be happy. But I still have these questions. I still feel betrayed by the leaving. I’m still angry. I still do not know how to live. When will we know those things?
Thomas seems to understand that. He is braver than I am and willing to face Jesus; ask him the hard questions we all have been asking these long days and nights. Peter and John … well, they came in with Jesus. They always do. I don’t know whether to admire those two for their holiness, or despise them for their sanctimony. But they are glued to Jesus’ side, like they cannot draw breath unless they copy him. They have no questions, they never do.
Me … well … He is alive again! But I still don’t know how to live.
BlazingEwe’s brother died last night.
He lay down and … just … died.
Thirty-seven year old brothers are not supposed to die.
If they do, we should be able to know how or why. There should be a car accident. Or hunting incident. They don’t lie down on the living room floor and die.
My best friend and I are waiting for that phone call to tell us that this is all a joke. A sick joke, but a joke, nonetheless. This isn’t real. Younger brothers don’t die first. They still have all that uncle-ing to do. And they still have to be a brother as your parents get old. And now who will she make jokes with about dad getting crotchety and mom getting silly? Who will help her remember the pecan tree in the front yard? And picking up sticks in the back yard?
Someone please call and tell her that they made a mistake.
UPDATE: The phone call came. There is no mistake. But now there is a reason. He died of a massive heart attack. How does a 37 year old man die of a massive heart attack? There is barely any solace here.
Growing up in a small town in Vermont meant that I hardly ever saw the movie. I almost always read the book. In fact, I didn’t see The Wizard of Oz until I was 22 years old and a somewhat belligerent (now) ex-boyfriend insisted that my life was incomplete without seeing that movie. So now I have the movie images to replace my own imagination images. Eh … The only movie I’ve yet to see that came close to successfully duplicating the book was the Lord of the Rings, but even that was a sad replacement. I loved the movies. I loved the books more.
So here’s another piece in my patchwork quilt of church leadership thoughts. How do churches operate? How do human organizations in general operate? Should a church be substantially different from other human organizations? Should the leadership structure of a church be substantially different from the leadership structure of other human organizations? Ought we (in the church, the Body of Christ … the Bride of Christ) to be taking so much of our guidance from other human forms and structures? I don’t really have any answers to those questions. They are simply the questions I’ve been asking as I’ve been reading, thinking, and looking at the Church.
One of my best loved books when I was young was The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I lost count of how many times I read that book. It never occurred to me that the movie would be worth the price of admission since the book had so captured my imagination. I’ve always been disappointed that my children have not read the book since they saw the movie so young. The book is well worth reading and has far more symbolism apparent in it than one would think for a children’s fantasy novel. I remember being somewhat disappointed as a young adult when I discovered that L. Frank Baum wrote this novel as a political essay advocating remaining on the Gold Standard (the Yellow Brick Road). But there are many spiritual themes evident in the book as well.
I still remember the shock and dismay I felt when I got to the scene where the wizard was revealed. I was completely unprepared for that. I was so wrapped up in the magic and fantasy and completely undone by the reality. I was fully empathetic with Dorothy’s despair, anger and betrayal.
The Lion thought it might be as well to frighten the Wizard, so he gave a large, loud roar, which was so fierce and dreadful that Toto jumped away from him in alarm and tipped over the screen that stood in a corner. As it fell with a crash they looked that way, and the next moment all of them were filled with wonder. For they saw, standing in just the spot the screen had hidden, a little old man, with a bald head and a wrinkled face, who seemed to be as much surprised as they were. The Tin Woodman, raising his axe, rushed toward the little man and cried out, “Who are you?” “I am Oz, the Great and Terrible,” said the little man, in a trembling voice. “But don’t strike me–please don’t–and I’ll do anything you want me to.” Our friends looked at him in surprise and dismay. “I thought Oz was a great Head,” said Dorothy. “And I thought Oz was a lovely Lady,” said the Scarecrow. “And I thought Oz was a terrible Beast,” said the Tin Woodman. “And I thought Oz was a Ball of Fire,” exclaimed the Lion. “No, you are all wrong,” said the little man meekly. “I have been making believe.” “Making believe!” cried Dorothy. “Are you not a Great Wizard?” “Hush, my dear,” he said. “Don’t speak so loud, or you will be overheard–and I should be ruined. I’m supposed to be a Great Wizard.” “And aren’t you?” she asked. “Not a bit of it, my dear; I’m just a common man.” “You’re more than that,” said the Scarecrow, in a grieved tone; “you’re a humbug.” “Exactly so!” declared the little man, rubbing his hands together as if it pleased him. “I am a humbug.” “But this is terrible,” said the Tin Woodman. “How shall I ever get my heart?” “Or I my courage?” asked the Lion. “Or I my brains?” wailed the Scarecrow, wiping the tears from his eyes with his coat sleeve. “My dear friends,” said Oz, “I pray you not to speak of these little things. Think of me, and the terrible trouble I’m in at being found out.” “Doesn’t anyone else know you’re a humbug?” asked Dorothy. “No one knows it but you four–and myself,” replied Oz. “I have fooled everyone so long that I thought I should never be found out. It was a great mistake my ever letting you into the Throne Room. Usually I will not see even my subjects, and so they believe I am something terrible.” “But, I don’t understand,” said Dorothy, in bewilderment. “How was it that you appeared to me as a great Head?” “That was one of my tricks,” answered Oz. “Step this way, please, and I will tell you all about it.” from “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum
The Lion thought it might be as well to frighten the Wizard, so he gave a large, loud roar, which was so fierce and dreadful that Toto jumped away from him in alarm and tipped over the screen that stood in a corner. As it fell with a crash they looked that way, and the next moment all of them were filled with wonder. For they saw, standing in just the spot the screen had hidden, a little old man, with a bald head and a wrinkled face, who seemed to be as much surprised as they were. The Tin Woodman, raising his axe, rushed toward the little man and cried out, “Who are you?”
“I am Oz, the Great and Terrible,” said the little man, in a trembling voice. “But don’t strike me–please don’t–and I’ll do anything you want me to.”
Our friends looked at him in surprise and dismay.
“I thought Oz was a great Head,” said Dorothy.
“And I thought Oz was a lovely Lady,” said the Scarecrow.
“And I thought Oz was a terrible Beast,” said the Tin Woodman.
“And I thought Oz was a Ball of Fire,” exclaimed the Lion.
“No, you are all wrong,” said the little man meekly. “I have been making believe.”
“Making believe!” cried Dorothy. “Are you not a Great Wizard?”
“Hush, my dear,” he said. “Don’t speak so loud, or you will be overheard–and I should be ruined. I’m supposed to be a Great Wizard.”
“And aren’t you?” she asked.
“Not a bit of it, my dear; I’m just a common man.”
“You’re more than that,” said the Scarecrow, in a grieved tone; “you’re a humbug.”
“Exactly so!” declared the little man, rubbing his hands together as if it pleased him. “I am a humbug.”
“But this is terrible,” said the Tin Woodman. “How shall I ever get my heart?”
“Or I my courage?” asked the Lion.
“Or I my brains?” wailed the Scarecrow, wiping the tears from his eyes with his coat sleeve.
“My dear friends,” said Oz, “I pray you not to speak of these little things. Think of me, and the terrible trouble I’m in at being found out.”
“Doesn’t anyone else know you’re a humbug?” asked Dorothy.
“No one knows it but you four–and myself,” replied Oz. “I have fooled everyone so long that I thought I should never be found out. It was a great mistake my ever letting you into the Throne Room. Usually I will not see even my subjects, and so they believe I am something terrible.”
“But, I don’t understand,” said Dorothy, in bewilderment. “How was it that you appeared to me as a great Head?”
“That was one of my tricks,” answered Oz. “Step this way, please, and I will tell you all about it.”
from “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum
As a child, I was heartbroken to read this passage. It seemed that all of their dreams were never going to come true and all of their hard work and trials were for nothing. It was a terrible moment and all hope was dashed. But when I read it as an adult, I see other more interesting things going on here in the Great Throneroom of the Emerald City.
First of all, there is the wizard’s response to being revealed. He is at once relieved and frightened. Finally, there is someone with whom he can share his burden. But he is uncertain as to whether or not these are trustworthy allies. There is tension in the room and bargaining begins to take place between the entities. Each wants to know what they might get from the other in response to giving a little.
The Wizard continued to tell his story:
“Well, one day I went up in a balloon and the ropes got twisted, so that I couldn’t come down again. It went way up above the clouds, so far that a current of air struck it and carried it many, many miles away. For a day and a night I traveled through the air, and on the morning of the second day I awoke and found the balloon floating over a strange and beautiful country. “It came down gradually, and I was not hurt a bit. But I found myself in the midst of a strange people, who, seeing me come from the clouds, thought I was a great Wizard. Of course I let them think so, because they were afraid of me, and promised to do anything I wished them to. “Just to amuse myself, and keep the good people busy, I ordered them to build this City, and my Palace; and they did it all willingly and well. Then I thought, as the country was so green and beautiful, I would call it the Emerald City; and to make the name fit better I put green spectacles on all the people, so that everything they saw was green.” “But isn’t everything here green?” asked Dorothy. “No more than in any other city,” replied Oz; “but when you wear green spectacles, why of course everything you see looks green to you. The Emerald City was built a great many years ago, for I was a young man when the balloon brought me here, and I am a very old man now. But my people have worn green glasses on their eyes so long that most of them think it really is an Emerald City, and it certainly is a beautiful place, abounding in jewels and precious metals, and every good thing that is needed to make one happy. I have been good to the people, and they like me; but ever since this Palace was built, I have shut myself up and would not see any of them.
“Well, one day I went up in a balloon and the ropes got twisted, so that I couldn’t come down again. It went way up above the clouds, so far that a current of air struck it and carried it many, many miles away. For a day and a night I traveled through the air, and on the morning of the second day I awoke and found the balloon floating over a strange and beautiful country.
“It came down gradually, and I was not hurt a bit. But I found myself in the midst of a strange people, who, seeing me come from the clouds, thought I was a great Wizard. Of course I let them think so, because they were afraid of me, and promised to do anything I wished them to.
“Just to amuse myself, and keep the good people busy, I ordered them to build this City, and my Palace; and they did it all willingly and well. Then I thought, as the country was so green and beautiful, I would call it the Emerald City; and to make the name fit better I put green spectacles on all the people, so that everything they saw was green.”
“But isn’t everything here green?” asked Dorothy.
“No more than in any other city,” replied Oz; “but when you wear green spectacles, why of course everything you see looks green to you. The Emerald City was built a great many years ago, for I was a young man when the balloon brought me here, and I am a very old man now. But my people have worn green glasses on their eyes so long that most of them think it really is an Emerald City, and it certainly is a beautiful place, abounding in jewels and precious metals, and every good thing that is needed to make one happy. I have been good to the people, and they like me; but ever since this Palace was built, I have shut myself up and would not see any of them.
He went on to say that he would be able to make good on his promises to the Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman. He wasn’t so sure about getting Dorothy home. That would take some thinking for “… two or three days.” In the meantime the journeyers would be his guests in the palace as long as they kept his secret … “In the meantime you shall all be treated as my guests, and while you live in the Palace my people will wait upon you and obey your slightest wish. There is only one thing I ask in return for my help–such as it is. You must keep my secret and tell no one I am a humbug.”
I’ve been thinking about this scene quite a bit lately. L. Frank was onto something when he wrote this bit. He drew a picture of how we humans love to put leaders on a pedestal. We imbue them with a form of magic and believe they can do no wrong. We are willing to wear (metaphorical) spectacles that change the color of our world in order that we see things in the manner that they tell us it looks. We all do this. We do this in order to work in large institutions. We do this in order to pursue degrees of higher learning. We do this in order to vote. But do we do it in order to be in community in our churches? I believe that we do.
I believe that we wear spectacles of the strongest hue when we walk through the doors of the church. We love to think that our pastors are wizards, capable of making our dreams come true, putting us in touch with God and with our community. They will keep the peace and the money flowing. But here’s the problem, the pastors also think they are wizards. I don’t mean they think it consciously, that would be ridiculous. But they buy into their half of the bargain. They hand out the spectacles and work very hard at making the people feel good about living in a beautiful city. They are very “good to [their] people” and the people like them in return.
Now this is fine if we’re talking about a university or a corporation. I think it’s natural, human nature to think of human beings behaving in this manner. However, I just think that the church might want to be different. If we claim to be redeemed by a Saviour, maybe, just maybe we could try living without our spectacles on in one place in our lives. It’s scary and shaky ground. But all of the colors are beautiful. Really … they are vibrant and wonderful.
UPDATE: After I wrote this, I went surfing. No, not in the ocean, it’s too far away and I don’t know how. Out on the good ole www. I ran across The People Formerly Known As the Congregation which delves more deeply into the subject by Bill Kinnon. It’s an excellent read. My only quibble with Bill is that I believe we are in the midst of breaking a long held social contract in a dearly held social institution. This contract is one in which both entities stand to gain and lose much when the ties that bind them in this contract are broken. At least that is what is apparent to us in this world. By Kingdom standards who knows what we will gain and lose, the powers that be will be restrained in this world, and the Truth will indeed set us free.
Over the weekend Brother Maynard (that dastardly monk) got a bee in his cowl and started a new meme. At least this time we know the source … hehehe. In any case, here’s the dealio …
Here’s what we’re going to do. Think of between 3 and 5 blogs which you think are under-rated, under-appreciated, or under-valued. More people should be reading them, in other words. They need to be blogging largely on EMC themes and topics, and they should not be on the list of leading blogs on these areas, say 150ish+ links on Technorati. Got your list? I’ll wait. If you come up with 7, that’s fine… you can borrow 2 from someone else. ;^) You’ll find below a list of blogs that I feel deserve more attention. Yes, some are compadres, but others are people I’ve never met, I just read their blogs. To participate, copy this list into a new post on your own blog, and add the names you have to the bottom of the list, and encourage others to do the same. Your list will be about twice the length of mine, and people who follow you will have lists three times this length. It could get fairly long, but that’s part of the point — each link will help boost the undervalued blog’s profile… and you might even get some link love from it too! Include these instructions (this and the preceding paragraph). When you’ve done that, leave a trackback or comment below, or link to this post so we can keep track of who ends up participating. Sound like fun for the weekend? Okay, here we go, in no particular order:
Here’s what we’re going to do. Think of between 3 and 5 blogs which you think are under-rated, under-appreciated, or under-valued. More people should be reading them, in other words. They need to be blogging largely on EMC themes and topics, and they should not be on the list of leading blogs on these areas, say 150ish+ links on Technorati. Got your list? I’ll wait. If you come up with 7, that’s fine… you can borrow 2 from someone else. ;^)
You’ll find below a list of blogs that I feel deserve more attention. Yes, some are compadres, but others are people I’ve never met, I just read their blogs. To participate, copy this list into a new post on your own blog, and add the names you have to the bottom of the list, and encourage others to do the same. Your list will be about twice the length of mine, and people who follow you will have lists three times this length. It could get fairly long, but that’s part of the point — each link will help boost the undervalued blog’s profile… and you might even get some link love from it too! Include these instructions (this and the preceding paragraph). When you’ve done that, leave a trackback or comment below, or link to this post so we can keep track of who ends up participating. Sound like fun for the weekend? Okay, here we go, in no particular order:
As of Monday … taking the list from Matt Weibe (and adding my picks to it):
So … leave a comment here if you decide to play. Or a trackback. Or just enjoy these links. Have fun …
