Monthly Musings

At the beginning of each new month, I plan to post some of the blog posts, news articles, and videos that have had me thinking recently. Some may have had me cracking up. Others may have left me in tears. Others I might see as being an insightful commentary on the state of the church, a life of discipleship, life in the south, or Oreo Cookies.  What sort of insightful commentary might there be about Oreo Cookies, you ask? That's an excellent question.  I'll let you know when I find it.

So without further ado, this month's Monthly Musings:

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"Rosa Park's OTHER Arrest" - A Blog Post by David LaMotte

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"Why did no one mention when I was learning about Rosa Parks that she had been the Secretary of the Montgomery NAACP for twelve years by the time she was arrested in 1955? She did day-in, day-out, undramatic, incremental work for years, both before and after the day we all remember her for. Why did no one mention that only a few months before she was arrested she had traveled to the Highlander Center in Tennessee, a hub of Civil Rights training, to train in voter registration and nonviolence?

When we add those facts in, suddenly her famous arrest takes on context, and we begin to see the effectiveness of movements, the cumulative effort of many people over time. 

Yes, people do dramatic things sometimes, and those can be tremendously inspiring, as Rosa Parks’ first arrest was — but that’s where the significance lies: in the inspiration. Those dramatic acts almost never directly address the problem. They inspire others to get involved. And only then do things change, when many people do a little bit each.

So heroes can matter, but only if they inspire the rest of us to show up and get to work."  [click to read entire post]

Three Approaches to Poverty: Asset-Based Development and "Teaching a Man To Fish"

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"We have all heard the phrase, “Give a man a fish, feed him for the day, teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.”  This phrase assumes there are two approaches to alleviating poverty:

1. Relief: giving fish in order to meet physical needs.
2. Individual Betterment: teaching people to fish by helping them gain vocational skills.

95% of the approaches to poverty that I see Christian groups engaging in fall into those two categories.

But what if the pond is toxic?  What if there are no fish in your pond?  ...  if half the fish in the pond wash up on the shore, the more appropriate question to ask is “What is wrong with this pond?””  [click to read entire post]

The Perennial Question of the "Church Attendance Problem"

"Why don't people come to church anymore?"  It's a question plenty of folks are grappling with, not at all limited by one congregation or one denomination or one geographic region.  If anyone is looking for an 'easy answer' or an 'easy fix,' there isn't one to be found. But the bottom line is this: there is a seismic shift underway that will (or should) change the way the church must do ministry in the future.  This blog post, while limited to just 10 reasons for the cultural shift, offers several thoughts that can get the conversation started.  And while Sunday morning sports are on the list, it can't hold all the blame itself.

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"This trend isn’t going away…in fact, it’s accelerating.  It impacts almost every church regardless of size, denomination or even location. It probably marks a seismic shift in how the church will do ministry in the future.

Of course, church attendance is never the goal. But attendance a sign of something deeper that every church leader is going to have to wrestle with over the next few years.

The first key to addressing what’s happening is to understand what’s happening."

Stephen Colbert Interviewed by Father James Martin about Faith, Scripture, and Hymns

Stephen Colbert's Comedy Central show has been off for several months as he prepares for taking the helm of Late Show upon David Letterman's retirement. This must have given him plenty of time to think about his faith (and, apparently, to grow a beard). Actually, Colbert has long been vocal about his Catholic faith. Father James Martin, who had the distinction of being the "official priest" of the Colbert Report, interviews Colbert in this humorous video.