the cowboy way

On Thanksgiving Day last year - which also happened to be my father's birthday - my family gave Dad tickets to accompany us to see Riders in the Sky perform with the Nashville Symphony. Tonight the big night at Nashville's Schermerhorn Symphony Center finally arrived. My family has been fans of Riders in the Sky - Ranger Doug, Woody Paul, Too Slim, and Joey the Cowpolka King - for years and have seen them perform in various venues in the Nashville area, including the Opryland Hotel, the National Guard Armory, and Vanderbilt University. Their music reminds me of the two-week road trips my family used to take each summer, because my Dad had amassed quite a collection of cassette tapes featuring the best in western music. Consequently, I developed a fondness for classics like "Tumbling Tumbleweeds," "Cool Water," "Rawhide," "Don't Fence Me In," "Happy Trails to You," and - my personal favorite - "Ghost Riders in the Sky."

Tonight I happily reminisced about those good old days from my childhood as Riders in the Sky sang several of these classics, and I also fondly recalled a Riders in the Sky-related memory from Chaney's childhood. Nearly every day when Chaney was in kindergarten, as we pulled out of the driveway we would pop a cassette of the Riders' 1991 album "Harmony Ranch" into the player and sing the song of the same name together as we made the drive to Norman Binkley Elementary School. The song is only two minutes and twenty-five seconds long, and the drive only took about two minutes and fifteen seconds, so as we pulled up in front the school, Chaney would belt out the last line or two before hopping out of the car and heading inside to Mrs. Huggins's class. What a sweet memory! Now I'm compelled to go dig out his official Riders in the Sky lasso. Happy trails!

advocacy on Capitol Hill

One of the most surprising things I learned last week on my Advocacy in Action trip was that constituents really can exert powerful influence over their elected officials in Congress - if they take the time to be advocates. Bread for the World - "a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad" - encourages citizens to write personal letters and emails to Congress. A study conducted in 2005 by the Congressional Management Foundation found that 96% of the Capitol Hill staffers surveyed reported that if their member of Congress had not reached a firm decision about an issue, individualized letters from constituents influenced the member's position. The study also confirmed that handwritten, mailed letters are the most effective way to communicate with members of Congress.

A Bread for the World staffer related a story that demonstrates how individualized letters yield results. A call came into Bread's offices from a Capitol Hill staffer who wanted to talk about Bread's position on a particular issue. This staffer commented that his office has been "flooded" with letters about the issue and recognized that Bread had been promoting this cause. After explaining Bread's position, the Bread representative asked, "By the way, just what is a flood of letters? How many did you receive?" The answer: 13. Thirteen individualized letters from constituents had been enough to get the attention of a member of Congress. Thirteen letters had spurred a Congressional staffer to make a call to find out more about an issue. Only thirteen letters.

Every year Bread for the World invites churches and groups across the country to take up a nationwide Offering of Letters to Congress on an issue that is important to hungry people. This year Bread is advocating the reform of U.S. foreign assistance programs so that they are more focused on ending hunger and poverty. You can learn more about the Offering of Letters at www.offeringofletters.org.

"And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday." (Isaiah 58:10)

stewardship of citizenship

I have spent the past two days in Washington, D.C., on an Advocacy in Action trip that was co-sponsored by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Together for Hope, and Bread for the World. I have fond memories of our nation’s capital because of the three years that Paul and I spent in the area when we were first married, but I had forgotten how attached I am to D.C. As I walked around the city – and I walked many, many miles during my stay – I was filled with the same giddy sense of exuberance that I recall feeling when I was 21 years old and new to town.

I learned a great deal on this trip about the work of Together for Hope, the Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty, and Bread for the World. (I will be sharing more information about the important work of each of these groups in future posts.) Yesterday afternoon, as the staff of Bread for the World prepared to send us to Capitol Hill to talk our respective representatives and senators, they reminded us of the importance of being good stewards of our citizenship. I found that phrase to be striking. In the past I have thought a lot about what it means to be a good steward of my financial resources, my possessions, my time, and my energy, but it had never occurred to me to consider the stewardship of my citizenship.

My experiences on Capitol Hill yesterday convinced me of the necessity of being an advocate for “the least of these.” As I spoke with legislative assistants in the offices of Representative Jim Cooper and Senator Bob Corker, I learned that members of Congress really do want to hear from their constituents, and I realized that voices from home actually have an impact on the legislative decision-making process. I can make a difference, and so can you.

Last night I took a walk to the World War II Memorial, where I sat for several moments gazing at the Lincoln Memorial, and I thought about the men and women who have made sacrifices to create, preserve, protect, and improve this nation. I have always cherished my right to vote and have exercised it at every opportunity, but there is more I can – and must – do if I desire to work with others to create a “more perfect union” and a better world. I regret that I have not been more active in making my voice heard in the past. From this point forward, I am making a commitment to be a conscientious steward of my citizenship. Representative Cooper, Senator Corker, and Senator Alexander can expect to hear from me soon.

remembering Lincoln

This morning after arriving at Union Station in Washington, D.C., via a MARC train from Baltimore, I made my way to the lovely Morrison Clark Hotel, my home away from home for the next two days. Since I still had a couple of hours to kill before my Advocacy in Action meetings began, I struck out on foot for the White House. When I arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, I watched with interest as workers disassembled the reviewing stands where the Obamas and other dignitaries watched the Inaugural Parade. Next, I visited my favorite shop in D.C., Political Americana, where I browsed through an interesting array of political memorabilia, including a pillowcase emblazoned with our new president's face. I resisted the urge to purchase an Obama bobblehead or an Obama Energy Stick, instead settling for a few new buttons for my collection.

As I walked back to my hotel, I stopped beside New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. I had noticed the church on my way to the White House because of the four banners hanging from the side of the building that read respectively: 

Do justice

Love mercy 

Walk humbly

With your God.

Those words are from Micah 6:8, one of my favorite passages of Scripture. 

As I made a return pass by the church, I spotted a sign marking a stop on the Civil War to Civil Rights Heritage Trail, which I paused to read. During the Civil War, most churches in Washington were occupied by the federal government and used as offices or hospitals. However, President Abraham Lincoln insisted that New York Avenue Presbyterian Church remain open, and he regularly worshipped there. He also occasionally attended a mid-week Bible study at the church, although he chose to sit in an adjacent room with the door ajar so as not to be a distraction. 

As our nation prepares to mark the 200th anniversary of our 16th President's birthday this Thursday, I'm thinking about one of my favorite Lincoln quotes. After a Northern minister remarked how glad he was that God was on the Union's side, the President responded: "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side." Wise words, indeed.

details

Did you know that curtain-making instructions are included in the Bible? I am reading through the Bible this year, and this week I have been plowing through the highly detailed instructions that God gave to Moses about how the Israelites were supposed to construct the tabernacle and related worship paraphernalia. The elaborate description found in Exodus 26:1-37 (and repeated in Exodus 36:8-38) of the ten curtains for the tabernacle - the portable tent of meeting where the Israelites would worship God during their sojourn in the wilderness - is but one fascinating part of God's DIY instruction manual for the Israelites. "How to" guides were also included for: the ark of the covenant, the table, the lampstand, the oil for the lampstand, the altar of incense, the incense, the altar of burnt offering, the basin for washing, the courtyard,  and the priestly garments.

These highly detailed instructions are extremely appealing to me. This is exactly what I want to hear from God: Do this, and do it this way. I can follow instructions well. I like to know exactly what is expected of me so that I can hit the mark, and hit it dead on.

But this is not how God usually speaks to me. My experiences have been a lot more like Abram's: "Go to the land I will show you" (Gen. 12:1). When I was working on my M.Div. at Beeson Divinity School and people asked me, "What are you going to do after you finish your degree?" my typical reponse was, "God is dealing with me on a need-to-know basis, and apparently I don't need to know." God is still dealing with me on a need-to-know basis, and apparently I still don't need a divine, detailed "To Do List."

Millard Fuller

Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity, passed away yesterday. I read Fuller's book No More Shacks two decades ago and have been an admirer ever since. In the 42 years since Fuller and his wife, Linda, founded Habitat, this nonprofit organization has built more than 300,000 houses around the world. Buoyed by the efforts of high profile volunteers like Former President Jimmy Carter, Habitat has been able to provide affordable housing for more than 1.5 million people. I have had the privilege of working on Habitat homes in Musicians' Village in New Orleans and in the Providence Park neighborhood in Nashville. 

In a speech to the National Press Club in 1996, Fuller explained his motivation for starting Habitat for Humanity: "After spending most of my adult life in the pursuit of success in law and business, I wanted to make my life count for something of more lasting value. So I made a radical change. Linda and I divested ourselves of our wealth and sought a very different kind of life - a life of Christian service." May Fuller's tribe increase.

"If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." (James 2:16-17)

ONE

While attending the regional gathering of A New Baptist Covenant last Saturday in Birmingham, I took part in a session on "The Challenge of Eliminating Global Poverty." In this conference, I learned more about The ONE Campaign. If you don't already know about ONE, you should. Bono was one of the cofounders of this grassroots campaign and advocacy organization. ONE boasts more than 2 million supporters from around the globe, people who have chosen to join the fight against global poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Visit www.one.org and sign the declaration:

"WE BELIEVE that in the best American tradition of helping others help themselves, now is the time to join with other countries in a historic pact for compassion and justice to help the poorest people of the world overcome AIDS and extreme poverty.

WE RECOGNIZE that a pact including such measures as fair trade, debt relief, fighting corruption and directing additional resources for basic needs - education, health, clean water, food, and care for orphans - would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the poorest countries, at a cost equal to just one percent more of the US budget.

WE COMMIT ourselves - one person, one voice, one vote at a time - to make a better, safer world for all."

Jesus' inaugural address

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18-19).

These verses have held special significance for me ever since the spring of 2002, when I was a student in Dr. Wilton Bunch's Social Justice Ethics course at Beeson Divinity School. God used those words, spoken by Jesus in the synagogue in Nazareth, to prepare me to become one of the "wild, praying women" who launched The Next Door, a transitional housing ministry for women coming out of incarceration. This passage is once again at the forefront of my mind in the wake of my experiences at the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant regional gathering in Birmingham. 

As Emmanuel McCall prepared to read these verses from Luke's Gospel at the gathering at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church on Saturday, he noted that this passage has been called Jesus' inaugural address, since Jesus spoke these words as He prepared to launch His ministry in Galilee. Throughout the day, the assembled Baptists were challenged by various outstanding speakers - including Former President Jimmy Carter and Marian Wright Edelman - to consider how we can follow Christ's example and preach good news to the poor through our words and actions. So once again, I am prayerfully pondering exactly what those words mean to me. What is God calling me to do?

In a few minutes, my house is going to be filled with the high school seniors who gather here each week for a Monday Bible study. We've been focusing on a different spiritual discipline each week, and today we're going to talk about how to do in-depth Bible study. For their homework, I've decided to ask them to study Luke 4:18-19. I look forward to discovering what God teaches them about this passage, because I suspect He will teach me something in the process.