When EF Talks

Holy Hail, Batman!

comment@ericfolkerth.com — 2008-05-15T23:20:00-05:00

We got some pretty serious rain through here last night, but nothing like what my sister and her husband, Chris, got down in Austin. On her picture blog, she sez this:

Quite a storm blew through Austin at 1 am on May 15, 2008. Everything facing west got the brunt of the wind and hail as it moved W to E across town. That includes the kitchen window, the wooden siding, the garage A/C unit, a roof vent, and the car. The garden and vegetation were shredded. Anyone for bruised peaches or tomatoes? Hail was 2-3 in., or racquetball size, with 55 mph wind gusts. But all are fine, and we are still waiting for Theo...

This was some serious hail. Here's a few of those pics. Check out the size of the hail stones next to a quarter, and the pockmarks in the AC unit: She doesn't mention it here, but their car, newly back from the shop after a pretty serious accident, got pelted by the hail and will, most likely, be headed back to the shop again. Incredible. Here's the whole photo album. And as I write things, I am remembering that the six-year-old me took hail stones to Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, to give to Dianne on the day she was born. Didn't understand for years why they wouldn't let me give them to her. I mention this because "Theo"is the new nephew...due any time the next couple of weeks. Everybody's pretty dang excited.

Art and Soul Update

comment@ericfolkerth.com — 2008-05-15T08:19:40-05:00

Speaking of my favorite podcasts, I haven't mentioned "Art and Soul" lately. This is really a shame, since many of the guests the past year have been close friends. If you haven't heard of "Art and Soul of North Texas," it's a podcast created by my friend, Shelly Niedbuhr --quite an accomplished artist herself-- that explores the intersections of creativity and spirituality. And, as I mentioned, many of the recent guests are among my best friends. Bill Nash was Shelly's February guest, and he talks at length about his music, his illness and his songwriting process. Despite all I know of Bill, I still learned something new....about his formal music training during college.. It's a great interview, found here.

Charles Geilich was Shelly's January guest (right about the time the blog crashed!). Charles, as you may remember, is a good friend and a fine writer. (He actually interviewed me once on his now defunct radio show...and we continue to threaten starting our own podcast together...) He's finished two books, and he and Shelly have a great conversation about writing and inspiration. Listen here.

I've known Kelly Brown and her family since we were all back in high school and her Dad was my 10th Grace Sunday School teacher. (Yep. That's a looong time ago...) Kelly's quite a ball of energy and an incredible artist/musician who is highly supportive of other artists in the area. She was Shelly's guest back in December, and you won't want to miss their conversation.

Last July, Vicki Caroline Cheatwood was Shelly's guest. Besides being an acclaimed playwright, Vicki and her family are also members of our church. She and Shelly had a great conversation about writing and life.

My dear friend, Annie Benjamin, is, literally, of my longest-running (see how I avoid saying "oldest'?) musician friends. She and Shelly have a great conversation about music and life here.

Cornell Kinderknecht is an acclaimed woodwinds player, and also a member of our band, Connections, and he was one of Shelly's very first guests.

Finally, old friend, Marsha Webb, was Shelly's very first guest. And Marsha's deep insights into spirituality and music are things I lap up any chance I get.

It's a great podcast, and I highly recommend it to everyone. You can subscribe to the podcast and get them on y hour iPod. Or, you can just listen online at the links in this post. You might even want to check out this episode, with a preacher/musician you know. ;)

Strangers Bring Us Closer to God

comment@ericfolkerth.com — 2008-05-14T07:18:01-05:00

"This I Believe" was a marvelous radio feature created decades ago by legendary radio man, Edward R. Murrow. In the modern era, it's been revived by NPR and independent producer, Jay Allison. I listen to it faithfully, via podcast, and I highly recommend the series to you. Basically, "ordinary people from all walks of life" submit short essays on their "beliefs" and the best of those are chosen for broadcast. The one below is a recent submission that moved me because it speaks to my own sense of Christian faith, calling, and social understanding. Her own website says this about author Sara Miles: "Raised as an atheist, Sara Miles lived an enthusiastically secular life as a restaurant cook and writer. Then early one morning, for no earthly reason, she wandered into a church. “I was certainly not interested in becoming a Christian,” she writes. “Or, as I thought of it rather less politely, a religious nut.” But she ate a piece of bread, took a sip of wine, and found herself radically transformed...." Below is the text of Sara's essay, titled "Strangers Bring Us Closer to God." As I said, a lot of my own theology is embedded in this beautiful essay. I have added emphasis here and there, just because. Listen to it on iTunes here. Read it below.

Strangers Bring Us Closer to God by Sara Miles All Things Considered, May 5, 2008 · Until recently, I thought being a Christian was all about belief. I didn't know any Christians, but I considered them people who believed in the virgin birth, for example, the way I believed in photosynthesis or germs. But then, in an experience I still can't logically explain, I walked into a church and a stranger handed me a chunk of bread. Suddenly, I knew that it was made out of real flour and water and yeast — yet I also knew that God, named Jesus, was alive and in my mouth. That first communion knocked me upside-down. Faith turned out not to be abstract at all, but material and physical. I'd thought Christianity meant angels and trinities and being good. Instead, I discovered a religion rooted in the most ordinary yet subversive practice: a dinner table where everyone is welcome, where the despised and outcasts are honored. I came to believe that God is revealed not only in bread and wine during church services, but whenever we share food with others — particularly strangers. I came to believe that the fruits of creation are for everyone, without exception — not something to be doled out to insiders or the "deserving." So, over the objections of some of my fellow parishioners, I started a food pantry right in the church sanctuary, giving away literally tons of oranges and potatoes and Cheerios around the very same altar where I'd eaten the body of Christ. We gave food to anyone who showed up. I met thieves, child abusers, millionaires, day laborers, politicians, schizophrenics, gangsters, bishops — all blown into my life through the restless power of a call to feed people. At the pantry, serving over 500 strangers a week, I confronted the same issues that had kept me from religion in the first place. Like church, the food pantry asked me to leave certainty behind, tangled me up with people I didn't particularly want to know and scared me with its demand for more faith than I was ready to give. Because my new vocation didn't turn out to be as simple as going to church on Sundays and declaring myself "saved." I had to trudge in the rain through housing projects, sit on the curb wiping the runny nose of a psychotic man, take the firing pin out of a battered woman's Magnum and then stick the gun in a cookie tin in the trunk of my car. I had to struggle with my atheist family, my doubting friends, and the prejudices and traditions of my newfound church. But I learned that hunger can lead to more life — that by sharing real food, I'd find communion with the most unlikely people; that by eating a piece of bread, I'd experience myself as part of one body. This I believe: that by opening ourselves to strangers, we will taste God. Independently produced for All Things Considered by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman with John Gregory and Viki Merrick.

Maria at the 2008 State Gymnastics Meet

comment@ericfolkerth.com — 2008-05-10T23:07:45-05:00

All's Well

comment@ericfolkerth.com — 2008-05-07T18:51:53-05:00

Thanks for the many notes and emails about Dennise's surgery. It's now Wednesday night, and Maria and I have just returned from the hospital and a late afternoon visit. The surgery went perfectly...no complications. There is a pathology being run, but the doc says, from the looks of things, no bad news is expected. Dennise insisted that Maria and I come home tonight, so that we aren't all three sleeping in a strange place this evening. D's Mom will stay with her at Presby. tonight. We were well cared for at the hospital by Northaven friends and staff, and have a great home cooked meal tonight from them to come home to. She'll probably be there until Friday, and then will have as much as two weeks recovery at home. We appreciate your prayers. We are deeply grateful. More info as it becomes available.

Your Prayers and Happy Thoughts, Please.

comment@ericfolkerth.com — 2008-05-05T20:36:45-05:00

The Judge will be going into a Presbyterian Hospital on Wednesday, for surgery to remove an ovarian cyst. She's expected to be there there until at least through Friday, possibly Saturday. Please pray for Dennise, the surgeons and staff, and Maria and me. More later, after we're home...and probably no other entries for some days...EF

Non-Violent "action" at General Conference

comment@ericfolkerth.com — 2008-05-03T20:39:52-05:00

As I alluded to briefly, earlier this week the General Conference of the United Methodist Church has been meeting in Fort Worth for the past two weeks. I've been there almost every day of those two weeks, primarily supporting a cause near and dear to the heart of many in our church: full inclusion of GLBT persons in our denomination. I have never written much about these issues on this blog, and there is no specific reason for this, other than that I've written about it extensively in sermons and on our church blog. Sufficed to say, it was a difficult week. Two votes that were seen as crucial to advancing the cause for GLBT persons went down to defeat. In other years, votes like this have ended in defeat as well. But for some reason, this year feels different. In part, because the Reconciling Ministries Network had worked very hard among the American UMC to build bridges with delegates, and tell the story of GLBT persons in the church. There were extremely positive signs that allowed us to hope that the church had heard this positive word of inclusion, and that perhaps this time would be different. New, and beautifully crafted language, was voted out of committee by a truly diverse group of conservatives, moderates, and progressives. As one member of that committee told me this week, "the old language we have used for 30-years simply does not work...it's time to say something new." Read it here. This language was a golden opportunity to strike a new, almost "third way" path beyond the old divisions. But in a move that shocked many --not just Reconciling UMs-- this language was defeated in favor of language slightly worse than the status quo. There is a truth in this loss that I will unpack fully in the coming weeks: that if only the votes of the American delegates were counted, it is very likely that the two crucial votes I refer to would have gone in a positive direction by a wide margin. The new truth is this: the American United Methodist Church is ready to create the kind of "big tent" that would allow for full inclusion of gay and lesbians in the life of the church. That is a huge shift. Unfortunately, what we also had confirmed this week is something we had feared for years: that ultra-conservatives have cornered international delegates --now 25 percent of the voting population-- in an alliance that virtually assures the defeat of progressive ideals. This is a shocking, eye-opening, development. I blogged about it earlier this week, in an entry that, I am sure, probably confused many who don't know the inside story. Some who read this blog entry might wonder, "why the big fuss over the gift of some cell phones?" The truth is, that's not a big deal on its own. But, giving 150 international delegates cell phones, and a list of candidates to vote for, IS a big deal. It confirms our worst fears about this new alliance. And it should deeply concern not just progressives, but moderates and conservatives alike. There will be much more to say about this truth later. For now, I want to share the video below. The day after the two negative votes, the supporters of GLBT issues engaged in a non-violent protest on the floor of the General Conference. It was a negotiated interruption of conference business, at the invitation of the Bishops. Almost 400 persons took place. I was honored to be one of the many from our church who took part. When it's no longer possible to work through the normal legislative process, the teachings of MLK, Ghandi, and others, remind us that such non-violent resistance is called for. And, in fact, we've heard from many delegates that they deeply appreciated the tone of this "action." The whole video is below. You'll see glimpses of 20-25 of us from Northaven Church, here and there. You'll see the other 400 persons who engaged in the "witness." And, I hope you will note the many actual delegates who stood with us, who came forward from their seats to place black cloth on the communion table. What you cannot see in the camera angle is that 2-300 more people were standing with us in the balcony, all around the arena. Here the whole action:
Witness on the Plenary Floor from Reconciling Ministries Network on Vimeo. It was wonderful, powerful, witness. But it is not enough. There is much more to say later.