A special invitation

This post makes me nervous.

I'm nervous because I want to address the post to my LGBTQA friends and readers, especially those in the State College area. And, however much I may strive to be an ally and supporter, I am straight and cisgender (and privileged in other ways too) and I'm worried about ending up using the word "you" too often.  Whereas when I write with my specifically Christian, or environmentalist, friends and readers in mind, it's easy for me to say "We".

The Sneaky Steward

Last Sunday's lectionary gave us the parable of the "dishonest manager" in Luke 16:1-13  It's a notoriously confusing passage to interpret - is Jesus really recommending dishonesty? what kind of financial arrangements are going on here? - but it should also come home with some force to believers who, like me, think of the language of "stewardship" as appropriate for delegated, human authority over the earth's resources - "What is this that I hear? You have been squandering my possessions! Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can be steward no longer!"

John de Graaf and David Batker wrote a book called What is the Economy For, Anyway?  The idea of the title is, of course, that if  you think the answer is obvious, you might just need to stop and think!  In the same way, Jesus' steward has his attention called to the question "what is wealth for"?  The resources he has been entrusted with will not be his for long; will it be possible for him, while the opportunity lasts, to negotiate an exchange for something of more enduring value - in fact, for some relationships that will support him even when this former wealth has faded to ashes.  The steward is shrewd because he appreciates the fading nature of wealth and acts promptly to secure something of more lasting value.  Just as de Graff and Batker advise that "it's time to stop chasing growth and start pursuing happiness" - or as any number of articles these days will tell you, buy experiences not things - the experiences will last longer.

But Jesus will have his disciples take this a step further.  What are the most lasting things they can "buy" with their wealth?  According to the parable, there are experiences, friendships, connections that can be secured which lead to being welcomed into "eternal dwellings" (aoinios - that is, dwellings that belong to the Age to Come, to the kingdom).  Who are the proprietors of these residences, which if the smart steward had only been a little smarter he would have recognized to be the most desirable of all?  We have to look elsewhere in Jesus' teaching for the answer.  In verses 19-31 of the current chapter, as well as in chapter 12  (especially verse 33), we see that building connection with the poor, the needy, is the way to provide yourself with "moneybags that don't waer out, and treasure that does not fail."   In the end, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also".

In my understanding, then, the "dishonest manager" is commended for his smarts in getting out of the financial "sinking ship" and investing in relationships instead - but the "children of light" should be smarter than he because they should recognize the unlikely kind of relationships that are really worth investing in; the ones where there is in fact no "earthly" prospect of return.  How does this circle back to the environmental stewardship question?  By asking me once again whether my concern for stewardship is truly a concern for the flourishing of creation - especially, for the flourishing of future generations who "desire to be fed" (verse 21).  Am I just offering leftovers?

A Few Devotional Apps

My (non-electronic) prayer book, with dedication from my Uncle Wyatt

I first got a tablet device (iPad) in the winter of 2014, just after my then-startling cancer diagnosis.  I felt - correctly as it turned out - that I might be doing a lot of traveling time and hospital time and that the iPad would provide a good way to read books and keep up with the news.  (Playing games - beyond Words with Friends - was not, and mostly still is not, on my horizon.)

Of course, one soon discovers unexpected applications.  Liane and I found that time spent in the waiting room (and we were in waiting rooms every weekday for six weeks that summer) presented an ideal opportunity to do the New York Times crossword (there's an app for that!).  Two years later, the crossword is a much-anticipated pleasure every day. (Except for last Thursday's...that is another story!)

Another surprise to me though was how the iPad helped with my devotional life.  I'm a teenage convert, which means that I have been praying and reading Scripture for more than forty years - daily when I have had the time and energy.  I've used many different "patterns" over the years, including books like the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, daily notes like those from Scripture Union, and study guides like Alan Stibbs' Search the Scriptures.  Change is good; this is not something that you "get right" once and for all, because you and your relationships are changing.  When I got the iPad, I found there were many prayer, meditation and Bible study apps available.  Some were terrible, but some have - for now - become a regular part of my life.   Here are a few that I use, with brief reviews.

• iPray BCP - This gives the text of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer with a calendar that (in theory) gives you the correct collect (special prayer) for each day - it seems to get a bit confused sometimes, especially towards the end of the church year,  but it is mostly accurate, and there are some collects (like that for the 6th Sunday after Trinity) which I love so much, I look forward to them for weeks! 
• YouVersion - This is the best Bible text application, in my opinion, with many translations in different languages available, as well as the original Greek and Hebrew for those who want to wrestle with them. Also has many Bible reading plans available if you want them - too many "Christian Celebrity X Reading Plan" for my taste, but I go regularly round and round the one-psalm-a-day plan, and the app gently nags me if I miss one.
• WordLive - This is Scripture Union's reading plan in app form (you can also obtain it as a podcast).  Each day there is a passage of Scripture to read, notes and relections on the text, and suggestions for prayer arising out of it.
• PrayerMate - Keeping a prayer list is not an easy thing - I cannot say enough good things bout this app which helps me list topics, organizations and people for whom I want to pray; suggests a selection of topics each day; offers scope to make notes or send encouraging messages if you want to; and can be linked to the RSS feed (from a church say) if you want prayer news that automatically updates.  To me, really helpful (YMMV of course).
• commonprayer.net -This is a web site (though they have just come up with an app as well) based on A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoro.  The daily prayers connect me with many saints from across space and time who I would otherwise never have heard of.  Challenging and beautiful.
• Presence  - Multimedia app weaving together music, film, poetry and photography to deepen people's connection to God.

These have all been helpful to me in different ways.  Perhaps one or more of them may be a blessing to you also!

Some Reflections on Bicalutamide

Bicalutamide

I returned from an unexpected inpatient stay in hospital the other day (see my CaringBridge blog more more about this) with a prescription for a new chemotherapy regimen that includes a daily pill of bicalutamide, a drug that is usually given to combat prostate cancer but that genetic profiling suggests may be effective against my head and neck cancer also.

The "Unsustainable" Church of Acts 4?

St Barnabas, who "laid money at the apostles' feet"

At the end of the fourth chapter of the book of Acts, after Peter and John have made their first defense before the Sanhedrin (and probably anticipated that that same fate will befall them that overtook their master) comes a famous description of the living arrangements of the early church.

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no-one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

Socialism! Or, at least, a lot of ink has been spilt trying to prove that it wasn't.  Perhaps this was only a temporary arrangement, while the church was getting itself started, some sort of sign; or (for some writers) perhaps it was actually a sign of financial irresponsibility, a prematurely realized eschatology which ultimately led to the need for St Paul to organize the "collection for the saints at Jerusalem" which so preoccupies him in the later part of Acts and several of his letters (e.g. 2 Corinthians).  But this kind of critique has to be read back into the text; there is nothing in Acts 4 (or in the subsequent story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5) that suggests that Luke is taking some kind of critical distance from the behavior he describes.  This is just the way it was, he seems to say, and maybe the way the true church should be.