Merry Christmas!

On this anniversary of our Savior's birth, may you find peace, love and joy. Blessings, David

More thanks and patience

As Thanksgiving passes and we get into the Season of Advent, I am thankful for the spiritual disciple of patience that Advent brings us. We need the reminder that we do not control time and that good things come to those who wait.

Giving Thanks

This year I give thanks for all my wonderful colleagues and friends at BHPC!! Give God the Glory!

The Importance of Interfaith

Tomorrow at Bradley Hills our main 1030 Sunday worship service will be transformed into an interfaith worship experience with our partners in sacred space from Bethesda Jewish Congregation and Idara e Jarferia mosque. One of the most important lessons we can teach to our young people is how to understand and get along with people from other traditions. The peace of our world depends on it. When we learn about how others experience God we strengthen our understanding of the world, become more understanding of the needs of others, and strengthen our own faith because we are often are giving the opportunity to explain to others what it is that we believe. Interfaith work and worship matters.

Keys to a Long Life

On a pastoral visit yesterday with an amazing 94 year old woman who had a successful hip replacement this week, she shared with me her five secrets for living a long life. Eat well, moderate exercise, regular check ups, positive attitude and faith.

The Joys and Sorrows of Moving

I've been so under water as our family moved to Bethesda in mid October. Still living out of boxes and looking forward to being settled.

God and Halloween

Being a Christian is a lot like being a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. He opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff -- including the seeds of doubt, hate and greed. Then He carves you a new smiling faceand puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see.

What a Week

Tuesday evening 400+ came to Bradley Hills to hear Eboo Patel's inspirational speech and, in the case of the youth, to meet for dinner. His interfaith witness is a great one and gives us good encouragement.

Today we closed on our new home in Bethesda. We are grateful.

U2

Last night's concert was great! They are really inspiring. Their ability to weave faith, policy, lyrics and tunes, their lasting power and their melodies are all entertaining, fun and provocative, and the books being written about religion and U2 make the point.

Fall is Officially Upon Us Today, I Love This Time of Year

Op Ed With Eboo

As we prepare for Eboo Patel's speech at Bradley Hills on October 6, I wanted to share an essay that Eboo and I (along with Paul Rauschenbush and Sid Schwarz) wrote for the WashingtonPost/Newsweek in February 2007.

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2007/02/congress_needs_an_interfaith_c.html

Congress Needs an Interfaith Caucus

The National Prayer Breakfast, an annual gathering of inspiring speeches and solemn moments of silence, recently drew President Bush and hundreds of lawmakers when it was held in Washington. This year, the event was unusual in that it was attended by much of what is the most religiously diverse Congress in American history.

The 110th Congress includes one Muslim and two Buddhists. The U.S. Senate is now led by a Mormon. All of these are firsts. The new Congress also includes more Jews than Lutherans, Congregationalists or Episcopalians.

The writer G.K. Chesterton famously remarked that America is "a nation with the soul of a church." One look at Congress, indeed one look around the country, shows that Chesterton is only partially correct. Throughout the centuries, America has remained a devout
country, with uniquely high rates of belief in God and attendance at religious services, when compared to Europe. But we have also become the most religiously diverse country in the world. To be true to our 21st century demographics, we have to amend Chesterton's line by adding "mosque, synagogue, temple and gurudwara" after “church.”

In this era of global religious conflict, when religious tensions travel in nanoseconds over the Internet, America's religious diversity can be a great opportunity or a great danger.
It is not impossible that violence engulfing Shiites and Sunnis in Baghdad, Hindus and Muslims in Bombay, or Catholics and Protestants in Belfast could have ripple effects in Boston. Already, there are too many examples of religious communities who refuse to talk to one another on
college campuses in America because they come down on different sides of the political debate on issues ranging from domestic spying, to immigration, to aid to Israel.

America was founded partly on the idea of religious diversity. We are a nation of ideas formed by people who wanted freedom to worship God as they felt called. In a world where conflict between faiths threatens to set off a centuries-long clash of civilizations, Americans would do well to remember this heritage of reverence combined with tolerance. Indeed, this tradition has played an important role throughout American history. Take, for example, the famous picture of Martin Luther King Jr. marching through Selma with Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, both called by their different faiths to extend the American promise to all people. Heschel later
acknowledged the religious differences between him and King, but still claimed that the march was worship: "I felt like my legs were praying."

The U.S. Constitution has protected the free exercise of religion at the same time as it has prevented any one religion from defining the public square. As such, America is in a position to draw strength from its ethnic/religious diversity instead of having it threaten its social fabric. This is a compelling model for a world enmeshed in religious conflict.

Congress can play an important leadership role in this effort by starting a bipartisan Interfaith Caucus. If a few members from each party and from different faiths formed such a Caucus, it could be a focus for discussion, a platform for outreach and a symbol of religious
cooperation for the world.

An Interfaith Caucus could meet regularly to discuss the positive role that religion plays in people's lives and in communities across the country and the world. It could also explore how religion is misused by demagogues of all faiths to fuel conflict around the world. The Interfaith
Caucus could interview leaders from a range of faith backgrounds, widening their understanding of the various faiths that call America home. In case of another attack like the bombing at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, perpetrated by someone loosely affiliated with the Christian Identity movement, or a second 9/11, the Interfaith Caucus could be a platform for a cooperative,
balanced response.

Even if the Interfaith Caucus met only rarely, its formation would still be of enormous symbolic value. It would show the world that America is proud to recognize its religious diversity at the highest levels of its government. In an era where too many religious minorities suffer discrimination, and many outsiders wonder how American Muslims are treated in the aftermath of 9/11, an Interfaith Caucus would say to the world that America is committed to dialogue, not division.

America's religious diversity has the potential to be either a source of strength or a challenge for the United States in the coming years. People of faith can cooperate and help save our world, or continue killing one another and hasten the destruction of all. As representatives of the three Abrahamic faith traditions, we have seen in our own work the value of interfaith dialogue. We hope Congress will use its own diversity to lead in this area. An Interfaith Caucus would be a good first step.

The authors of this essay are:
The Rev. David Gray, director of the Workforce and Family Program at the New
America Foundation

Dr. Eboo Patel, executive director of the Interfaith Youth Core
and author of the forthcoming book, Acts of Faith

The Rev. Paul Raushenbush, associate dean of Religious Life and the Chapel
at Princeton University

Rabbi Sid Schwarz, president of PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values, and author of Judaism and Justice: The Jewish Passion to Repair the World

They are Back!

Its soooo great having the Bradley Hills choir back. They are wonderful!

September 11

On Wednesday the world noticed the numerically interesting 09-09-09 and today our hearts join with those who remember what happened in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania eight years ago. May the world find a more peaceful future.

:)

A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they were on the way to church service, ''And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?'' One bright little girl replied, ''Because people are sleeping.''

Labor Day

Today is a significant day for me. On Sept. 7 my heart remembers all things home for me in Ohio. On Labor Day I recall my time at the Department of Labor and I celebrate all who worked to make our nation great, all those who continue to work hard and in these uneasy economic times, all those who are looking for work.

Football

On Saturday college football started. I am very psyched!

Baby Baptism

"After the baptism of his baby brother, Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, 'That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys.'"

Children and Forgiveness

One particular four-year-old prayed, "Forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."

Psalm 126

A friend shared Psalm 126 with me this morning and the comfort it brings her. She reminded me of Eugene Peterson's writings on this Psalm, "Laughter does not exclude weeping." Sometimes we do weep and sometimes we do laugh. But as the Psalmist knew, that was all part of life.

Happy Birthday to the Internet

As I rise to blog today I am reminded that Sept 2 is the 40th anniversary of the technology that would become the internet. Its also the birthday of the automated teller machine. What a transforming technology the internet is.

Cool September?

Mother Nature is cooperating with the turning of the calendar as the dawn of September brings delightfully cool weather.

The Importance of Sowing Seeds

As the school year starts, I think about the role of teachers, parents and all those who help our young people learn. I am reminded of a poem by Ann North:

"Some of the seeds of hope planted tentatively in the fall have not come up. They life stillborn and unrealized somewhere in the spring soil decaying. The strongest and best ones pushed up through leaves and layers of cold, hard resistance, right into clear blue air and stand there nakedly green. Breathing. Its always that way with growing things. Never knowing at the start which will make it and which will fail. But the thing to hold fast to, never to lose faith in is simply - keep sowing."

Senator Kennedy

Watching the memorial services for the Senator this weekend was very moving. I remember traveling to Ohio for the signing of the No Child Left Behind legislation and being impressed by the Senator, as well as from during my time working at the Senate. Bradley Hills had a connection with him as the church donated the tree to him that would be planted at the U.S. Capitol as the Massachusetts state tree there.

Turning 40

At church today, someone told me I dont look a day over 40. I told them, "But I am. I am literally a day over 40." This turning point has me thinking about priorities and making time for what is most important.

End of Life

Its amazing to see all the end of life discussions coming out of the health care debate. The discussions of the "death panels" or no panels all highlight the importance of advanced planning by families, before or whether or not the government gets involved. Its a good reminder to all of us to consider these important family conversations and actions.

Feeding our better selves

My friend and colleague, Scott Winnette, reminds me of a well loved story that Sharon Watkins shared at the Presidential Prayer Service last January 21. I was in the audience that morning and I hope the President and others who heard it take it to heart.

There is a story attributed to Cherokee wisdom:One evening a grandfather was teaching his young grandson about the internal battle that each person faces.“There are two wolves struggling inside each of us,” the old man said.“One wolf is vengefulness, anger, resentment, self-pity, fear . . .“The other wolf is compassion, faithfulness, hope, truth, love . . .”The grandson sat, thinking, then asked: “Which wolf wins, Grandfather?”His grandfather replied, “The one you feed.”

Predestination

When I was in college I spent a lot of time debating. One running joke was that the one debate topic you do not "run" was to propose that you “bring back prohibition.” In the final round of the national tournament one year, two of my good friends proposed the idea of “bringing back prohibition.” The homiletical equivalent is to argue about predestination. That is one area that we also do not want to argue about.

I preached last week on predestination. That is not something Christians or Presbyterians like to talk about. We would rather avoid it. But its also the subject that many people most closely associated with Presbyterians. So we have to think about what this topic means to us, what our tradition teaches about it and what we believe about it.

A Much Needed Focus on Job Training

On July 15, President Obama announced a major new federal investment in job training and community colleges. He appropriately made the announcement in Michigan, a state with 14% unemployment. Obama's plan consists of a $12 billion investment in community colleges. Part of the funds will help build and renovate buildings, part will expand on line courses and part will provide challenge grants for programs to expand "student success" and maximize the numbers of students who will graduate.

Many federal job training programs are not effective but community colleges tend to be worth the investment. Glad to see the attention.

CFR

This week I attended the Council on Foreign Relations conference on Religion and Foreign Policy. Very interesting speakers as always, especially the Pakistani ambassador.

Welcome to Spiritual Calcium

Welcome to Spiritual Calcium! David Gray's blog at Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church. Looking forward to communicating with you.