Saturday, September 29, 2007
Wes was asked to speak at Scott's memorial service today. Here's what he had to say:
I first got to know Scott through health problems: my dad, his regular racquetball partner, had hurt his ankle, and I took his place. Scott was a better player than I was, and was typically able to beat me. He has better control of the ball, and could serve much better than I could. But, I had a trick up my sleeve as well. He had a pacemaker, and as long as we both kept running on the court, he would eventually have to slow down to keep his heart rate in check. Those key moments of incapacitation were where I scored most of my points.
My wife, Lauren, told me last week that she doesn't think that she would have fallen in love with me if it weren't for Scott, and I think that she is right. Scott was one of my best friends, and I enjoyed our times together getting breakfast at the Blue Star Cafe, playing racquetball, and talking after church more than almost any other time during the week. He was one of the first people who knew that I was interested in dating, and then marrying, Lauren, and the person who "got" more of my Simpsons' quotes than anyone else. He got me interested in reading John Howard Yoder, and in watching Quentin Tarentino movies.
But, Scott was also the closest person who I have ever had to a mentor, and has shaped me in more profound ways than I will ever fully realize. And I think that that is what Lauren was referring to last week. We would talk over bowls of oatmeal with raisins about church history, about theology, about why being a Christian means that I can't ever be completely comfortable with myself living as a priviliged American. He introduced me to the concept of Christian Social Ethics, helping me to see that living as a follower of Jesus means working constantly and tirelessly for social justice, means more and requires more than living with personal piety. He helped me to understand that loving other people means that I should care that they don't have money for food or for medicine, and that I and other Christians should oppose systems that keep them from getting it. He is in many ways the reason that I am in medical school right now, and the reason why I want to be a doctor who serves and advocates for the poor.
So, thank you Scott for being my friend, and asking me questions that I will continue to wrestle with for the rest of my life. Thank you for helping to make me into the person I am today, and for showing me who my neighbor really is.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Check out this site that my friend at seminary, Karl Kroger just told me about. Apparently, you can be involved in micro-lending by donating money to an individual who will use it for a small business venture or to buy a cow, goat, etc. that will yield some profit for them. The best part is, you get your money back as the individual's project brings money in. You can help people collectively or as an individual. What a great idea!
In other exciting tidbits, I learned some interesting stuff while reading for my Exile and Restoration class the other day. Ezekiel is a fascinating (while nevertheless quite disturbing) book. Most of you have probably heard of the Ezekiel 4:9 bread that is in all the organic stores and is actually quite tasty. Its ingredients come from Ezekiel 4:9 (surprise!) where God tells Ezekiel to "take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them into one vessel, and make bread for yourself." Sounds pretty good right? That's what I thought until I read the rest of the chapter. "You shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it in their sight on human dung" (4:12). Mmmm, good. Ezekiel quite naturally objects to God on this point on the basis that eating bread on poop would defile himself (I would have gone for the "No way! That's disgusting! But Ezekiel, being much holier than me is concerned for ritual uncleanliness alone). So God has second thoughts about that and says "alright, fine"..."I will let you have cow's dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread" (4:15). Phew! For a minute there that mental picture was really grossing me out. Thanks goodness God came around! I think I should make a recommendation to the Ezekiel 4:9 company that they alter their serving recommendations--the current package says nothing about that!
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Scott's death seems more unfair than most. A man with so much promise ripped from the world...for what? Why now? Why him? There seems no good answer. There is only consolation in knowing that there is no cancer in heaven and in realizing that God is enjoying some pretty good company these days. But for us who are left, there is sadness and despair in a world in which death does not discriminate.
Of course, the Christian tradition has much to say about suffering and evil; we are in the company of many saints before us! The Israelites were no strangers to the horrors of this world. Under siege, starving, attacked and exiled to Babylon or left in poverty, Judeans in Jeremiah's day had much about which to lament. And God laments with them--sorry that their sin has left the world in such a sorry state, frustrated that their promise to keep the covenant went so far wrong:
Why hasn't the health of the people been restored?!? Dude! (or dudette, but that's another post) You're God! Why don't you restore it? Why wasn't Scott's health restored? You want to ask me that? "No God," I want to say, "clearly, you don't understand the way this whole humanity thing works. See, we're incapable of things like healing and restoration. That's your department. And this time, you failed to show up."
But the answer to God's question remains a disappointing 'no.' There is no balm in Gilead this time. There are no physicians capable of performing the restoration Israel required to become whole again. There were no doctors with answers for Scott. This world has no magic balm. It is too far gone. Israel was too far gone, too. Exile, famine, loss of the temple--these were the prices they paid for mucking up their relationship with God. Death and disease are evidences of a relationship gone awry.
Thankfully, our story doesn't end in exile. It ends where it began, in the promised land with a new temple a new king and a new covenant. The promise of restoration for a world gone all wrong. Scott's exile is over, his restoration is complete. The day is coming when death and disease will be over for all of us. And for that, and for Scott's life, I am thankful.
Goodbye Scott. We will miss you here!
Saturday, September 15, 2007
This blog has been a long time in coming. The catalyst that finally got me going was my feeling that I had not put in the work of adequately reflecting on my time in El Salvador and Nicaragua this summer. Journaling and talking to people are some of the only ways I can do that successfully, and I felt I didn't get enough of either. Besides, journaling with pen and paper just takes so long!
I hope this will be a place where the thoughts in my head can mull about in the real world, where otherwise fleeting ideas become somewhat more crystalized, and that in so doing, I come to know myself more fully. In seminary (or in life!) there are so many threads left hanging, so many new ideas thrown at me that I want to reflect on but can't find the space to do so honestly and intentionally. Welcome to my new space!
