Why am I talking with a Seminary Dean?

Not long ago I was able to sit down with Dr. Joretta Marshall the Dean at Brite Divinity School. In the conversation she touches on themes such as:

• Why we should not forgive and forget
• Do we need to forgive God?
• How to forgive without being held hostage to the past
• Why forgiveness is not something we do to achieve a prescribed outcome, regardless of the nobility of the outcome (such as reconciliation)

This is my first attempt at recording and interviewing so you can imagine that the first three minutes are a little slow, but I promise it picks up! 

Thank you to Dr. Marshall and I look forward to hearing more from her in the Three Day Academy for Spiritual Formation in February 2017 (register to join with me here)!

A mob + the innocent + festival = Bad News

Church of the Transfiguration - Cape Cod

Over the past several weeks I have been re-studying the Gospel of John. Of the many things that recapture my heart with this my second favorite Gospel, I am reminded why Jesus keeps being so elusive. Specifically the times in the Gospel when Jesus says some variation of 'it is not my time yet." 

So when is Jesus' time?

• Wedding at Cana (Chapter 2), Nope.
• How about when Jesus fed 5000 (Chapter 6), nope.
• The festival of Booths (Chapter 7), nope.

I could go on and on, because the gospel of John if full of these instances, however the point is made. The formula in the gospel of John that ensures that it is Jesus' time is three fold. Only when these three elements are present do you know that it is Jesus' time. Take a moment and see if you can figure it out yourself - what elements are needed in order for Jesus to no longer be elusive?

1. Jesus' presence
2. A festival
3. A unified mob

There are times when Jesus is present and there is a festival but no unified crowd (Ch. 2, wedding, Jesus, no unified crowd).

There are times when Jesus is present and there is a unified mob but no festival (Ch. 8, Jesus, unified crowd against woman caught in adultery, no festival).

There are times where there is a festival and a unified mob but no Jesus (Ch. 9, Sabbath, unified mob, no Jesus).

Why do you think that these three elements are needed in order for it to then be the right "time?" I would submit that it is at the intersection of these three elements that Jesus is trying to teach us something about the nature of his death. The death of Jesus is not a transaction between humans and God (God is mad, Jesus is sacrificed, God's wrath is held back). The death of Jesus points us to the demonic nature of what happens when a unified mob acts in sacred violence we tend to kill the innocent. 

If we believe that our cause is so righteous and correct, if we whip others into a frenzy and demand uniformity masquerading as unity, if we have innocent people we will end up crucifying the Christ once more. 

Be cautious of anytime we find ourselves with a "righteous cause" (religious leaders of Jesus' day had a "righteous cause"). Be cautious of anytime we find ourselves placing a higher degree of holiness and purity over mercy and love (remember Jesus said, I desire mercy not sacrifice). Be cautious anytime we are willing call others unorthodox or identify ourselves with being "the majority" (Jesus was counted unorthodox and it was the perceived majority crowd that killed Jesus). 

If we are taking about an election or a denomination, we may need to take another look at the intersection of the mob, the innocent and celebrations. Jesus sought out that intersection to teach us something, may we have ears to hear that lesson. 

Venting your anger may be making you angrier

In the fun book You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself, the author shares some of the work of psychologist Brad Bushman from Iowa State University. Bushman explored how venting your anger and revenge help us deal with our anger. He discovered that the idea of "venting" is not helping anyone do anything except become angrier. Here is the study from the book.

One group read a fake article about how helpful "venting" is, one group read a fake article about how pointless "venting" was and the third group read a neutral article. 

It is no doubt that Samantha Bee is comic genius, however in light of Bushman's work it makes me consider the role of cathartic comedy in culture. 

After reading, participants were asked to write an essay for/against abortion. Participants were told their essays were then assessed by other students when in fact they were not. Participants got their essays back and 1/2 of the participants were told their essay was great and the other 1/2 were told their paper was "on of the worst essays I have ever read." 

Those who got a negative response to their essay were then broken into two groups. Half of the group was asked to punch a bag, the other half were told to sit and wait for two minutes. Then they each played a game to see who could press a button first. The loser of the game would get a sound in their ears and the winner would be able to set the volume of the sound (between 0 and 10; 10 being 105 decibels, about the volume of a motorcycle). Participants were told they were playing this game against the person who graded their paper so negatively. 

On average those who punched the bag before the game set the volume at 8.5, while the sit still for two minute group set it at 2.47! The author points out, "The people who got angry did not release their anger on the punching bag - their anger was sustained by it. The group that cooled off lost their desire for vengeance."

If you believe that punching the system in the nose will teach the system a lesson or throwing punches is cathartic, chances are you will just be angrier. There is a place for anger to be sure, but it perhaps is best to feel the full force of that anger by sitting with it for a moment - so that the anger passes with the silence.