Myth and Fact

           Keith Olberman had a man on his program the other night who he described as a comedian, whom he also said was an atheist.  The guest justified all of this by describing the bible as a collection of stories without any factual foundation -- a collection of mythology.  I certainly couldn't argue with that.  It was a bit discouraging to me to have him base his atheism on such a fragile foundation.  Certainly the bible is full of myths.  It is the only reasonable way to describe God.  When scientists dismiss God or religion out of a concern that mythology is at the root of it, I wonder at their intelligence.  Myth is a wonderful way to describe God.  When I think of Moses encounter with God in the burning bush, I am not at all sure that the story happened in exactly the way that it is told in the bible.  I do know that what effect this encounter had on Moses was profound and was rooted in his faulty belief system that was overcome by the burning bush conversation that he had with God.  That moment with God, however it happened, is what brought Moses to the leadership of the Hebrew people in their escape from Egypt and their hegira in the desert for forty years, which is another mythological event.

           Even in the New Testament, myth has a firm place.  Who knows what Jesus' life was all about.  How was be born, and where; in Bethlehem, or Nazareth?  Was Mary a virgin, or is this an attempt to connect the birth of Jesus to Isaiah's prophecy?  How was Lazarus raised from the dead, and did it all happen just as John's gospel describes it?  All of these are attempts to tell a story, to describe Jesus as the incarnate God walking the earth, which is to me one of the most exciting ideas that I have ever known.  But how do you describe this without myth?  Jesus the human born in a stable in Bethlehem and raised to be a rabbi who somehow has the power to heal and to raise the dead to life, as well as provide enough to eat for five thousand people at one time, is a wonder in himself, but to describe him as God takes more than facts.

           The word "myth" has been equated with falsehood in this culture.  It isn't false at all.  Myth is a way of speaking truth that can't be comprehended by fact.  Myth is larger than simply a collection of facts.  It speaks to underlying meaning that facts alone can't provide. How, for example could you describe the creation of humanity better than the story of the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve?  To then turn around and require these events to be essentially factual is to make a joke of them.  When someone scales Mt. Ararat to look for the lost Ark of Noah, I wonder both at their faith and at their intelligence.  Certainly the flood is myth, and myth to tell truth.  The leading of humanity out of corruption by God's grace is the story of the bible.  To require it to be basically scientific and factual is to destroy it.


        
    

Baptism of Samson Rodgers Popivchak

Tomorrow will be a wonderful day. At Mellon Park in Shadyside, I will baptize my great grandson, Samson Rodgers Popivchak. Sammy has been wonderful to watch in this first year of his life. His parents, Alison and Pete have done wonders with him. Leslie Reimer will join me as we begin his life as a Christian.

Infant baptism has been something that the Christian Church has done for eons. It is a statement that God cares for each of us, forgives each of us, even as we grow into our bodies and our lives. Sammy is a year old today and is well on his way to becoming a wonderful person. He laughs and smiles well, can't take his eyes off me and behaves always with a twinkle in his eye that says that he enjoys the wonder of being a baby in a household that values him. We value him too. There will be lots for him to go through -- teenage years ought to be fascinating, but what he is after this baptism. Thank God for the possibility of hope that we vest in Sammy. Thank God for all that he will do and be, and thank God for our involvement in his life.

Religion

The news is full of reports of Pope Benedict XVI and his travels in England and Scotland with and emphasis on the disruption of community by those who want to protest the Catholic church's response to the sexual problems that have embarrassed the church for many years. The Pope has tried to respond to these, but is himself implicated in some of it from his time as an Archbishop in Germany. I also have seen a number of articles about the Vatican Treasures that are travelling the world and will be in Pittsburgh at the Heinz History Museum shortly. Religion is in the news again, and certainly not favorably. The focus of the news media seems to be on the transgressions and the wealth of the church, not on its mission.

Jesus created controversy also. His love of the poor, the sick and the outcast outraged the religious of his day. They were so upset with him that they eventually nailed him to a cross. We don't seem to create the same kind of outrage in our own time. We are more focused on the "Vatican Treasures", or pedophiliac clergy than we are on what Jesus taught us about the poor, the sick and the outcast. That is really an outrage.

Returning to the Pulpit

The past two Sundays, I have had preaching assignments. On the 15th Sunday after Pentecost, I preached at Heather's parishes, St. Mark's and St. Luke's in Cleveland. It was a fabulous time. I loved the whole process of reading the scriptures for the day and reflecting on them. I know that I love to preach. The Gospels speak to me particularly about the poor and the outcast. Certainly St. Luke's is a prime example of what Jesus was talking about when he told us to care for the poor.
They have a dinner for the homeless and the poor in the neighborhood every Wednesday night and they distribute clothes and other things to them almost weekly. They create awe in me with what they do. Preaching to them is to lift up their work and celebrate it. There is obviously a lot more to do. When the neighborhood comes to St. Luke's to worship, some of them are thugs who do their thing during the worship service. If this isn't inviting everyone to the altar, I don't know what is. Who knows who will be changed by this community experience. That is one of the things that is in the category of the unknown, but also one of the things that can be reformed by community. Also in that congregation were a number of older people who are available to be mentors to the kids who show up. That needs to be organized and focused, but not ever required.

Last Sunday, I preached at St. Brendan's in Franklin Park, the mission that Pat Carnahan and I started when I was the rector of Christ Church. This is a suburban mission, short of money, but not of spirit. I saw a number of the people who I knew at Christ Church and had a wonderful time sharing life with them. The scripture was about forgiveness and it was great to preach to them about that. They have been through hell with the way that the Diocese of Pittsburgh dissolved over the past couple of years. They feel like survivors, and they are. Forgiveness is something that they are not ready to offer to those who left the diocese, but I didn't advocate that. I simply talked to them about forgiving themselves and each other. That is also not too easy, but it can be done.