Recommendation Letters

“If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” ~Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Roman Catholic nun, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, founded the Missionaries of Charity (1910-1997)

It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving and at the Parish Center things were humming. Two rows of turkeys, stuffed, seasoned, slathered with herb butter, bagged, and lying in pans, lined the length of the marble-green counter waiting their turn in the oven. 

Marcus and Kristine systematically removed turkeys from the oven and loaded in fresh ones.  The cooked turkeys rested on a separate counter for an appropriate interval before their carcasses were stripped of their succulent meat, which was transferred to metal pans for storage.

Thomas was shuttling donations of turkeys from the parking lot to the kitchen door in a gray pushcart.  Marcus divided his time between cooking and helping Thomas carry the uncooked birds from the cart to a temporary storage location. 

Every time Marcus thought he had emptied the cart it would reappear, replenished with turkeys.  “Aren’t we ever going to run out?” Marcus asked Thomas.  “It’s a cornucopia” smiled Thomas.  “Or the miracle of the multiplication of the turkeys,” chuckled Marcus.  Sunday afternoon came and went.  Even as the winter California sun dipped below the horizon, the turkeys kept coming.

In Mark’s version of the “Feeding of the 5,000” (Mark 6:35-44), it is evening and the crowd, which has spent the day listening to Jesus preach, is famished.  The disciples come to Jesus and ask him to send the people away so they can get something to eat. 

Jesus’ answer is short and to the point: “You give them something to eat,” he says.  But the disciples respond, “We don’t have enough.”  Jesus reply is again succinct, “How many loaves do you have?” The disciples’ search produces five loaves and two fish.  Jesus receives the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and distributes it.  As it turns out, there was more than enough.

Like the disciples, we often ask God to send our problems away.  We find ourselves asking God to change our circumstances rather than thanking Him for the abundance we already enjoy. How often do we hope someone else will handle the problems of the world, the community, or even our family? 

“Someone ought to do something about that!” we say. “But not me,” we mutter quietly to ourselves.  We subliminally respond, “We don’t have enough?” 

“If [however] our entry into heaven required a letter of reference from the poor, would we be able to get one?”  There are 1.02 billion hungry people in the world today.  Every day

over 16,000 children will die from hunger, 1 every 5 seconds. 

How can there not be enough?  The combined net worth of the three richest people in the world is greater than the combined net worth of the 48 poorest nations, representing one quarter of the world’s population. 

The real miracle of the “feeding of the 5,000” is God working through us when we think “we don’t have enough”.  Marcus’ and Thomas’ turkeys didn’t appear by magic, but the Holy Spirit was definitely on duty that day.  It is Jesus speaking to us in our heart of hearts and saying, “What do you have?” and our realizing that what we have is more than enough, and then acting upon that realization. 

Come share in the miracle; not just now, but all year round.  The poor are waiting out there with our recommendation letters.

Dear God: Remind me daily that I have more than enough.

“If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday.”  Isaiah 58:10

 

© 2009 and 2011 James E. Carper.  All rights reserved.

 
“90 Second Stewardship” is a reflection on being a Christian Steward in a secular and sometimes harsh world. This reflection is written by James E. Carper, Director of Development at Southeast Ventura County YMCA's.  All rights are reserved.  You are welcome and encouraged to forward this e-mail to family and friends provided the”© 2011 James E. Carper.  All rights reserved.” is included along with this message.  Organizations, whether for or non profit, are required to receive written approval before reproducing these reflections.  If written approval is given the ”© 2011 James E. Carper.  All rights reserved.” must be included along with this message.

Civilly Convicted

“What is objectionable, what is dangerous, about extremists is not that they   are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about   their cause, but what they say about their opponents.”  ~ Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Attorney General and advisor (1925-1968)  My finger hovered over the enter key. With a single stroke I could send the offending “friend” away into “unfriended” oblivion. I paused.  The whole thing had started innocently enough with an obtuse religious slur camouflaged by a joke of sorts. I sent, what I thought was, a “diplomatic” clarifying response. “Just because I’m a Christian doesn’t mean I’m a member of any particular group,” I had commented.   The electronic “pile-on” started almost immediately. Like an electronic nightmare the terse one-liners came. The more I responded the more the comments flew back at me, the hostility and negative energy escalating.  Comments were coming from people I didn’t even know and who didn’t know me and yet I was being convicted for my convictions.  (My brand new piece of technology had promised me the ultimate in an electronic experience, an unbridled capacity to communicate. Unfortunately this was not the experience for which I had been looking.)  So there I sat, about to electronically remove someone from my life. Someone I had known for over thirty years. Would the instant gratification quickly give way to a mountain of regret? The blue box with white letters “REMOVE FROM FRIENDS?” glowed at me. “ARE YOU SURE…?” it asked. No, I wasn’t.  I quickly closed the site promising myself I wouldn’t return to it for awhile.  It seems we need to assure ourselves we have villains so that we might be heroes. But life isn’t so simple. I am not the demographic average of a particular group who shares one or more of my beliefs.  Dr Richard Mouw, in his book, Uncommon Decency, quotes Martin Marty: "One of the real problems in life is that the people who are good at being civil often lack strong convictions and people who have strong convictions often lack civility." Dr. Mouw suggests we need both a civil outlook and a "passionate intensity" about our convictions. What we need is a "convicted civility."  This is easy to proclaim and very difficult to do. To love and care about someone while they are ranting against a belief or beliefs we hold sacred is challenging. And yet, it is not our ability to convince another that what we believe is right. Rather it is our ability to affirm our convictions while remaining civil, kind and loving even to those who passionately (and even aggressively) disagree with us. This action will speak louder than our words.  The measure of who we are will not be taken by our ability to verbally wrestle another to the ground, or to “out-clever” them, or to “out-post” them. Rather, in the face of all things, we are called to love them. After all, isn’t that what Jesus did?  Dear God: Teach me convicted civility. “It takes a disciplined person to listen to convictions which are different from their own.” ~Dorothy Fuldheim, American journalist and anchor(1893-1989)   © 2011 James E. Carper.  All rights reserved.  “90 Second Stewardship” is a reflection on being a Christian Steward in a secular and sometimes harsh world. This reflection is written by James E. Carper, Stewardship Coordinator for Saint Monica Catholic Community in Santa Monica, California.  All rights are reserved.  You are welcome and encouraged to forward this e-mail to family and friends provided the”© 2011 James E. Carper.  All rights reserved.” is included along with this message.  Organizations, whether for or non profit, are required to receive written approval before reproducing these reflections.  If written approval is given the ”© 2011 James E. Carper.  All rights reserved.” must be included along with this message.

One on One

“There is no greater calling than to serve your fellow man. There is no greater contribution than to help the weak. There is no greater satisfaction than to have done it well.” ~Walter Reuther, American Labor Organizer (1907-1970)

It was Wednesday afternoon and the indoor basketball court at the local Y was bustling with activity. Two half-court pickup games were in full gear, just a bunch of guys burning off nervous energy and testosterone. It was the shirts versus the skins. They banged and bumped, shouted and shot, razzing their opponents and rooting for their team mates. Basketball shoes chirped against the wooden floor.  

The two half courts were separated by only a narrow expanse of floor: little more than a wooden-floored alley-way with invisible walls. There, in the midst of this cacophony of physical activity, was a solitary woman. 

Her hair was mousy brown and she had a slight overbite. She was dressed in light pink belled stretch pants and an ill-fitting white polo shirt. On her feet she wore white, high-top, lace-up tennis shoes. Her movements were jerky and looked particularly awkward compared to the grace and physical acumen of the players who surrounded her.  

The woman was attempting to slap-dribble a regulation NBA basketball. Rather than “pumping” the ball, keeping it as low to the ground as possible, she would slap it on top to make it bounce and then try to slap it down again on each rebound. At the same time, she took halting steps forward as if she were attempting to dribble down court. Her movements were graceless, none seeming to coordinate with the others. 

Suddenly the ball bounced particularly high. She reached up to slap it down, but instead, her slap launched the ball into the middle of one of the pickup games. Everything came to a sudden and abrupt halt. Her ball came to rest at the feet of a particularly burley participant. Two crosses were tattooed on his chest and a day’s growth of beard shadowed his face.  

He looked down at the ball and then across the court at the woman who stood there staring at him, a worried look on her face.  Bending over, he plucked the ball from the floor. Then, cradling it in his left arm, he strode purposefully toward the woman.  She continued to stare at him expectantly until he reached her. Then her gaze went to the floor.

By now the other game had come to a halt as well as they all looked on. The burly basketball player reached out with his right hand and placed it gently on the woman’s back. “You OK?” he asked softly. The woman looked up from the floor and nodded with a toothy grin. 

With his left hand he carefully presented the ball to her. She curled her arms upward embracing the ball as she did so. “You be careful now,” he said kindly. “We don’t want you to get hurt.” Again, she looked at him nodding with the same toothy grin. 

He smiled, patted her on the shoulder, and then returned to his game. The gym came alive again: two hotly-contested pickup games and a solitary woman, slap-dribbling a basketball down the middle between them. 

Amidst the bustle and confusion of life, it is often easy to miss or ignore the individuals who most need our loving attention. In a world of mega-charities (over 3 million in the United States alone), we often abrogate our responsibility for our fellow travelers on this earth, assuming our donations will take care of it all. We give generously of our wealth. But do we give generously of ourselves? 

Perhaps the greatest gift we can share is our humanity – our humanness. Human necessities, such as food and clothing, can be provided, but how much more important it is for us to nurture the human person. 

It might surprise some to know this story relates only one of many such occurrences; this same scenario repeats itself often on this particular basketball court. The woman’s ball is retrieved for her regularly. Once she was hit by an errant pass. The players surrounded her to make sure she was OK; to reassure her and to comfort her. 

As stewards we are reminded that the care of others can never be fully delegated to an organization and that donations of our treasure are only a partial fulfillment of our responsibility to the rest of humankind. Rather, we are called to love and nurture one another, one-on-one. 

Dear God: Who needs my time, attention and comfort today? 

“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.” ~George Washington Carver, American, started life as a slave and ended it as a horticulturalist, chemist and educator (1864-1943)

© 2011 James E. Carper.  All rights reserved.
“90 Second Stewardship” is a reflection on being a Christian Steward in a secular and sometimes harsh world. This reflection is written by James E. Carper, Stewardship Coordinator for Saint Monica Catholic Community in Santa Monica, California.  All rights are reserved.  You are welcome and encouraged to forward this e-mail to family and friends provided the”© 2011 James E. Carper.  All rights reserved.” is included along with this message.  Organizations, whether for or non profit, are required to receive written approval before reproducing these reflections.  If written approval is given the ”© 2011 James E. Carper.  All rights reserved.” must be included along with this message. 

Quotation Confrontation

“The first duty of love is to listen” ~Paul Tillich, German born American theologian and philosopher (1886-1965)

We had shared an office for less than two months. I knew her faith tradition and she knew mine. Both devout Christians, it seemed we had silently agreed to disagree, but what we actually believed had never been discussed.

All I knew for sure was she had been raised in a strict Southern Baptist home. Her father was, in fact, a Baptist minister. This essentially meant no singing, dancing, games or even music in the house.

Like most arguments, it was a stupid argument. Anything beyond a discussion is always unnecessary escalation, but so it went. It had started innocently enough; Just a simple question really. “Have you been saved?” she had asked. “Of course,” I responded, without really paying attention.

Then came my mistake. “I was saved when Christ died on the cross,” I added cleverly, almost as an afterthought. “That’s not all there is to it you know!” she retorted. “I know,” I replied dismissively. “It’s how you live out that commitment as well.” At this point I had moved on, but she hadn’t.

“It’s not about what you do, it’s about making Christ your personal Savior.”  The expression was all too familiar. It was time to walk away, but I couldn’t. I was sitting at my own desk in the office we shared.  “For me, it’s a little more than a simple declaration; I think it’s about how you live your life.”

Now I had passed the point of no return. I should have recognized the age-old argument of faith versus works. Instead I had run head long into one of the oldest debates in Christendom. Compromise had never been achieved between Protestants and Catholics on this subject, nor would it be on this day.

The curt discussion quickly degenerated into volleys of Bible text, mostly Romans on her side (Martin Luther’s favorite) and the Book of James on mine. I probably should have avoided quoting the line about faith without works being “thoroughly lifeless.”

Suddenly she was up and out of her chair and on her way out the door.  “I have things to do,” she said curtly over her shoulder, then disappeared around the corner in the direction of the copy room.

We are fast becoming a world of “who can out-quip who.” The confrontation between my office partner and me related to religion, but it could have been about politics, social issues or even sports. Rather than engaging in frank honest discussion, it became a contest as to who could cite the more authoritative reference.

 If you happen to be a fan of social networking you know that there are entire strings of authoritative “comments.” Some post seem to be the equivalent of verbal landmines just waiting for someone to “step on them.”

Not too surprisingly, there is a word for this. It’s called “proof-texting.” It occurs when you adopt a particular stance on an issue, then search for documentation (usually quotes) to justify taking that position.

My argument with my friend arose out of a smug self confidence in my own beliefs and the ill-advised belief that a discussion of this kind could be easily handled with a few choice comments. In other words, I tried to take a short cut where there was none to be taken.

True confidence in our beliefs cannot be demonstrated by reliance on a few pithy quotes or a download from YouTube. Confidence in our beliefs is truly demonstrated by our willingness to respectfully engage others in an effort to fully explore why they believe what they believe.

In my situation, how much better it would have been if I had responded with a genuine question like: “I’m not sure I understand that expression. What does it mean exactly?” Or, “How has that belief served you in your life?”

Rather than employing a bumper sticker mentality, we must try to respect and understand the beliefs of others, not out-quote them.  

Dear God: Help me to listen first, ask question second and allow my brain to engage before my mouth is opened.

“(People) are respectable only as they respect.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet, lecturer and essayist (1803-1882)

© 2011 James E. Carper.  All rights reserved.

“90 Second Stewardship”  All rights are reserved.  You are welcome and encouraged to forward this e-mail to family and friends provided the”© 2011 James E. Carper.  All rights reserved.” is included along with this message.  Organizations, whether for or non profit, are required to receive written approval before reproducing these reflections.  If written approval is given the ”© 2011 James E. Carper.  All rights reserved.” must be included along with this message.