Snapshots de Peru

6/2

1.     The usual chaos – checklist gone through– (check),.. house sitter in place – (check)… what did we forget? – (check) … the realization that if we forgot something we would survive without it – (check)… the early morning trip to the airport - thanks to friends, Kris and Jonathan Sandoe”…we are on our way to Peru for 3 weeks!

2.     My motto for this trip – “Savor each moment even the ones that ‘suck’”…It is true you know… savoring beauty and moments of joy are easy … but 3 AM waiting in the Lima airport for our connecting flight – no sleep – cold – hungry… people snoring close around us… that is a little harder to savor… but I think I get it… even those times have a quality to remember and in a way something to relish. (Although it’s easier to relish those moments after the fact).

3.     Sunrise in Cusco – 24 hours without sleep – but doing amazingly well…we got a ride to our destination - a Hacienda in the highlands above Cusco. First we ate a Peruvian breakfast of yogurt- honey- and fruit. Good coffee… and then to bed for a 2 hour nap.  Then a 2-hour walk through the pueblito.  It felt good to be here!

4.     The small village lies in a wide valley between two mountain ranges. Farmers do not live near their land, but cluster together in the town. Houses are made of adobe blocks, red tile roofs, some thatched roofs, streets are generally clean of trash and graffiti…Rooftops have the season’s corn drying for use in making winter tortillas.  Healthy looking dogs everywhere – also cows, pigs, and cats. We are objects of curiosity in the town and are greeted by many people. One woman invited us to sit on her bench and eat tiny finger bananas with her– she was gracious and very kind! We chat with several people along our way and are reminded to use coca leaves to help adjust to the very high altitude.  We see several shops in the town advertising folk healers “ Curanderos”. Returning to the Hacienda we boldly took a different route - going up a footpath and climbing to a path going in the general direction of our Hacienda… more friendly people and drying corn.  We returned without getting lost.

5.     I recently read that if you live a productive busy life the only way to add quality to your life is to remove something.  I understand.  As I write this I am sitting with a magnificent view of towering mountains– we are enjoying birds and horses – no Internet – no telephone – very little English spoken – surrounded by “muy agradable gente” (very agreeable people).  I think of the saying  “ Don't just do something – stand there!”

6/3

1.   As I write, a small brown Andean pony is grazing in front of our casita. We just rode on him and his friends to visit one of the great Incan ruin …This location is high in the mountains – 3 days walk on the Inca trail from Machu Picchu).  And by horseback gave great views of the valley and the many small fields farmed by the people. 

Now 6 hours later – we returned to an incredible meal, and are now relaxed and sitting at our ease, sharing this place with our horsey friends.

2.   There is a mystique – a timelessness to this place. Each day the sun passes overhead.  This is a land where sunlight, coming through mottled clouds forming patches of intense bright sunlight on the mountainsides.  Each day, springs of water flow from the mountainside to give water to the people and their crops; today many farmers are collecting corn from their milpas (small corn fields planted in any patch of the mountain that will hold them…). Each night the stars return to their rightful places in the sky.  And here we sit.  In this moment it is silent except for the munching of grass, birds in the trees (a flock of parrots flew noisily up the canyon a few minutes ago), and kids making the universal sounds of kids. The only intrusion of 20-21^st century technology that I hear is the distant soft playing of the local radio station playing Quechua language music. Here for us, “less is more”. It is a place to be mindful. A place to ‘be’.

3.   “Tipon”, the site we visited today, was the center of agricultural research in the year 1400 (at a time when Europe was barely out of the Dark Ages). It is a vast area of carefully constructed stone wall reinforced terraces with an amazing hydrological system for delivering water from high mountain springs through stone channels to all the different experimental areas. The ancient ones understood the importance of microclimates and finding plant varieties that did best in each set of conditions. They studied 100s of known varieties of potatoes, quinoa, medicinal herbs, grain, corn, and many other crops.. The effects of sunlight requirements, water needs, ability to withstand cold, and winds, all could be studied here. The results of their research led to dispersal of seeds and rootstocks throughout the vast Incan world.  The stonework was so meticulously done that it exists today intact; also the water system is working still as it was intended. Also of interest is the fact that even today the farmers use their knowledge of varieties and microclimates when planting their crops.  The goal of the ancient ones was to live in harmony with the earth, with the rainfall that was available, the seasons, and the stars. And this is the world that the Spanish plundered and destroyed.   It has been said that their success depended on three things that they brought with them – knowledge of making steel and gunpowder.  That and the diseases that they brought with them…all that loss in the name of greed and imperialism.

"Just a theory"

Web link of the week:  http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence

Two things that bother me:

1) People who say - "Oh thats just a theory!" - like that somehow discredits the idea.  Theories are all we have in explaining conceptual models to explain how our known world 'works'. A bad theory os based on bad evidence... and needs to be discredited!

2.  People who say - " Oh I saw that 'scientists' found evidence to support that___ is true."  First who are the 'scientists'?, what are their "qualifications"? And most important - good science is never based on the results of one experiment - but on the sum total of all  reasonable scientists working on that problem.  If there is a landmark discovery it must be replicatable by other scientists in the field.  Remember the guys who claimed to have created 'cold fusion' - creating H power release at room temps.  Others tried to repeat their experiment and it worked for no one...  Bad science.

Sorry - still caught up in busi-ness... no photos this week

This great old planet of ours continues silently on its way around the sun.  We all know about gravity pulling us inward but what keeps us from being pulled into the sun?  It isn't centripetal force as old textbooks used to say – (such a force does exist).  Instead its Newton’s first law of motion in action.  (Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.) So here we go -  pulled in toward the sun by gravity, but also tending to continue in outward travel away from our orbit – and equilibrium has been maintained between the two processes over the millennia.

Our great old planet, with its axis tilted at 21° is now moving us in the Northern Hemisphere into the season where the sun appears higher in our sky, which causes more hours of sunlight each day until June 21. (We were once in Riga Latvia for mid summer’s day  - people of the Northern Lands have a special appreciation for the return of warmth and light).  The people there still enact an ancient custom on that night.  The have grand outdoor picnics with a bonfire and then jump over the flames of the bonfire to burn all their bad luck from the previous year.  After a glass (or two) of the local vodka I jumped too...  Sure its a superstition - but people still take satisfaction doing  it...

For me living in Northern California, this time of year,  It puts things into perspective to walk through the hills and valleys of Garin Park ( one of our local regional “wild” parks) … The plant life there is settling in to its summer time of hibernation – oak trees send roots deep into the soil to seek out enough water for survival; herbaceous plants survive by forming seeds to live until the rain next winter.  It is not a time of deprivation – just a normal part of their annual cycle of existence in any Mediterranean ecosystem.  Not everything hibernates – Ground birds and mice are in a season of riches as they harvest dry grass seeds.  Gopher snakes seek out the mice; lizards are on the look out for insects… 

So the great food web passes the energy of the sun from plant to mouse to snake to hawk…. with a lot of alternate pathways in the mix as well.  Energy transfer is not very efficient – when an animal is eaten only about 1/10 of the energy in that animal is incorporated in the body tissue of the next trophic level of life… so it takes 1000 units of stored plant energy to provide 100 units of energy in the mouse’s body – and only 10 of those energy units are passed to the snakes body.  When the hawk eats the snake it receives only 1 unit of the original energy. The lost energy dissipates as radiant energy and returns to the blackness of space.  Sunlight energy – plants – animals – back to space.  From space back to space. 

One miracle enacted before us is that of plants that adapt their body forms to the season of the year.   The chromosomes in an original chard or kale seed are replicated into every cell of that plant’s “body”. Chromosomes contain many segments called genes.  Genes carry the genetic code in the form of molecules of DNA.  Now the amazing thing is that almost all the genes are inactivated until their products are needed. Individual genes are activated by environmental conditions – such as day length, the changing hue of sunlight, drought, contact with a surface, etc. This time of year conditions are right to activate the sudden growth of a large central stem and the production of flowers and seeds... this is called “bolting”.  The intermediates in this story are special proteins – plant hormones – coded for by part of the DNA itself – but they in turn respond to environmental changes and stimulate the various growth structures and processes... Imagine this the next time you are enjoying some sautéed kale with garlic and chicken!

Almost everything I describe here today falls into the category of Scientific Conceptual Models - These ideas are based on the best current research evidence available today.  Are these ideas likely to be replaced? Very unlikely that will be drastically changed - undoubtedly as new evidence becomes available our understanding will be further refined - But our theory of planetary motion is here to stay - Also the theory of energy flow within a food web, and the functioning of DNA to control the development of plant structures.  

Side Note: Two things that bother me:

1) People who say - "Oh thats just a theory!" - like that somehow discredits the idea.  Theories are all we have in explaining conceptual models to explain how our known world 'works'. A bad theory os based on bad evidence... and needs to be discredited!

2.  People who say - " Oh I saw that 'scientists' found evidence to support that___ is true."  First who are the 'scientists'?, what are their "qualifications"? And most important - good science is never based on the results of one experiment - but on the sum total of all  reasonable scientists working on that problem.  If there is a landmark discovery it must be replicatable by other scientists in the field.  Remember the guys who claimed to have created 'cold fusion' - creating H power release at room temps.  Others tried to repeat their experiment and it worked for no one...  Bad science.

Who We Are

I am in the midst of end of semester evaluation reports - so instead of my usual blog - this week I am going to post the text of a talk I gave in my church recently.  Many people today don't appreciate the wide spectrum of belief found under the label "Christian"... so my goal in posting this here is to clarify the label "Progressive Christian". 

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Writing a 'sermon' gives me a new appreciation for what our ministers go through every week – I have discovered that sermons don't pop out of a bag all ready to go … and it's a learning experience to write one. I suspect that my life as a teacher will influence what I will say this morning. Research shows that most people are actually not very good at remembering information presented by listening to a speaker. If this was my classroom I would give you a handout with key points, have a power point presentation, and have you break into small discussion groups. So, since I don't have those today, it’s OK if you all just take notes. 

Not so long ago most teachers thought that once we had the attention of our students, our job was to fill them with knowledge. Students were viewed as uniform empty vessels. Now we appreciate that each student is different and comes with his or her own unique readiness to learn – some are preoccupied with the details of their lives, some are open to listen and learn, some know it already. Students come with various life experiences and pre knowledge – some of it correct and some that needs to be unlearned. 

I think about this when I sit in church and listen to a sermon – how each person comes and has a unique learning experience based on where they are in their life journey. I sometimes look out at the congregation and realize that we each take what we hear and interpret it and connect to it in our own unique way. Can you imagine the challenge for a pastor to craft sermons that connect with such a diverse group? So with all this in mind I would like to share some thoughts this morning on who we are as a church. 

Please pray with me. Spirit of God – we know you are present with us here and everywhere. If anything is spoken this morning that does not proclaim your message, strike it quickly from our minds but if words carry your truth, move them swiftly into our hearts and actions. Amen 

I am thankful to be connected with a church where you and I are free to develop our understanding of what we believe without being compelled to follow a crystallized official dogma. An important feature in both the traditions of the UCC and the DOC is our strong commitment to relate the message of Jesus into our lives and into the life of our community I like the idea that from the start of our faith it was realized that it is not possible to be a Christian all by yourself alone. To be a Christian is a communal activity – together we are the body of Christ. Our task is to support each other on our journeys. 

One way we attempt to live our faith together is through our outreach to others. We also strive to be open to different ways of being human, and to welcome all into full participation in our community. Faith is a verb; faith is something that we practice in action. This church is where we encounter opportunities to take action. 

Here we can learn about our Christian responsibility to care for the earth. Here we have opportunities to deal with hunger and poverty by supporting the Heifer project. Here we can support migrants in need through the Puente program, we learn about human trafficking in our own Bay Area. Here we see and act upon a variety of church and faith based ministries that reach out to our community and beyond, responding to a variety of human needs. The learning becomes a spiritual activity when it leads to our responding. Christian service can connect us with the spirit of God like nothing else. Many in this church also practice their beliefs far beyond the church – serving as active voices and hands in the work of the community. 

We also come here to feed our spiritual lives … and in a diverse gathering like this, that is a challenge. Every person is seeking to grow in the way that he or she perceives they need to, in ways that they feel led by the spirit of God. Growing spiritually often involves moving out of the safe and familiar and accepting challenges to explore new ideas that stretch our ways of understanding. 

Many of us identify with the Progressive church movement – focusing in the message of the pre-Easter Jesus, taking the bible seriously but not literally. The movement is young and cuts across several traditional denominations. In this way of thinking we are all pioneers seeking the direction of the church for the future. This is why it’s so important to collectively be a supportive, safe place for all people in all stages of our spiritual journals. This is what we strive to be. 

It would probably be easier to belong to a church with an official ‘party line’ – where your goal is to believe what is required, but not to challenge. That is not the case here. It’s OK to ask the hard questions about our beliefs and faith history – that is how you grow. 

We seek to be a progressive church that invites members and friends to believe that God is still speaking in our world. We believe that God can speak to us through modern prophets, writers, and policy makers, but there are some voices that we hear that make us unsure. We face the same problem as early Christians - torn by uncertainty about the true message of God and the ease of slipping into heresy. We hear so many voices in our society – we live in a time of information overload - the books we read, film, TV, all the beliefs, opinions, and traditions that we encounter each week – some helpful, some questionable. We need a central point of focus to guide us – and for me this church with its ministry and traditions helps me discern what is true from the false. As Jesus taught us, you judge a tree by its fruit. “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” It's a good formula. 

In the Christian tradition of ‘witness,’ let me, this morning, tell you about why I am so thankful to be part of this church. In my life I have experienced a struggle to make peace with my early Christian training, growing up in a small mid western fundamentalist church. In many ways it was a warm and nurturing church community – a small united group of farm families, many of them related, with definite beliefs to follow. It was a church with an emphasis on taking the Bible literally, recognizing the power of sin in this world, and seeking redemption through the grace of God. I grew up thinking of God as a loving but demanding parent, Jesus as a friend, but also judgmental. 

As my view of the world broadened through encountering other cultures of people, in my study of history, anthropology, and Biology, my beliefs were seriously challenged. I have heard people like me called ‘lily pad Christians’ – in my life long faith journey I have felt a need to explore other traditions. So, like a frog hopping from one lily pad to another, I have hopped to seek answers. Sometimes in this journey my rebellious streak has caused me to push back against leaders with authoritative answers that didn't satisfy my longings, but always I have felt the hounds of heaven prodding me to continue my search. 

Now Judy and I feel that Niles Church is our spiritual home. Here in this place I have learned new ways to understand the life and work of the pre-Easter Jesus, to recognize the spirit of God as a loving presence in my life, to make sense of the nature of the world and our responsibilities to others in ways where I don't have to hide my scientific thinking. I have learned that the God of creation in the Bible and the God of creation through evolution and genetic mutation support each other. I have grown to feel contented with the understanding that some things can be known and others are unknowable. Scientists have learned to live with the “not yet understood” – just as progressive Christians attempt to struggle with the concept. I’m OK with that. Accepting the mystery in the unknown has become an important part of my theology. In this church I feel safe to explore, challenge, and discard beliefs that no longer fit. 

When I reflect on my life journey, my first response is one of gratitude – thankfulness for my childhood home, for growing up close to nature, for my wife and sons, for my educational opportunities, for my health, for my life as a teacher. I am grateful that I did not have to fight in a war, that I did not grow up in an inner-city, gang-dominated neighborhood. I have had great privilege growing up as a white, middle-class American in the 20th and 21st century. Did I do anything to earn these things? No, not a thing. Why do some people have their possibilities and others don't? It is a mystery. 

Would I have become a Somali pirate if I had been exposed to that culture and those social conditions? Would I be living with my family in a garbage dump community outside Mexico City if I had been born into that world? I suppose so. It’s unsettling to see extreme social unrest and poverty in this world and not be moved. All I can do is feel compassion for those not as fortunate, and seek ways to respond. Sending a few dollars never seems enough – and I am troubled by my capacity for turning a blind eye. 

I have often seen that people want to help and don't know how to do anything by themselves alone. When someone comes along with a good hands on an idea, then many people step forward and say “I want to be part of that.” That is a role I wish for this church. 

I love the phrase in the old hymn “through many pitfalls toils and snares I have already come.” I did the usual dumb kid things growing up, especially in my late teens and 20s. My life had the usual opportunities for serious pitfalls, toils, and snares. What kept me from getting trapped by them? Blind luck? I think being taught good values, as a child was one reason – but that isn’t always enough. I know good people who made bad choices and ended up with big time problems. I like to feel that the spirit of God, or the grace of God is at work in my life - and this falls most certainly into the category of mysteries that I can’t begin to understand. This is part of what I just have to accept as unknowable. 

I am certainly not consistent with my practice, but due to experiences in this church I am attempting to return to the practice of regular prayers. I am not praying to the God that I visualized as a child, not to a God that controls every details of this world, but to a God of spirit. It’s not like he needs to be reminded of all my requests to know me; I don't think that God needs that from me. For me prayer is more about remembering my relationship with him. I can commune with this Spirit God and in some mysterious way feel his presence responding. Before I go to sleep at night, I reflect on the events of my day – I find that I have so much to give thanks for – much of my prayer is thanks giving; and I also take a look at those times in the day when I was selfish or filled with my own ego. I have also discovered the power of silence, of being in silent conversation with God. I can learn so much from the wisdom of the Buddhists but in Buddhism I sorely miss this personal relationship with God. 

A young Afghan women I had as a student told me about living the life of a free American teenager while at school – and then going home and taking on the role of a submissive young female in her traditional Afghan home. Did she feel conflict? “Not really,” she said – she seemed comfortable living life as it was. So I’m like them – living my rational scientific life but still drawn to my relationship with a loving God spirit. Call it what you will but I am content to live my two lives without conflict. 

That's my story and that is why I feel fed when I come to join with you as part of this church community. 

And now, here we are at a major threshold as we move to a new location – it’s exiting and scary at once. Will this change who we are? This church has many traditions and memories for us. We will carry those memories with us to the new location. The sense of who we are and what work we have to do will continue and over time adjust to new situations. The new church building will have a location and features that will make it even better for meeting the diverse needs of the wider Niles community. 

I am absolutely convinced that you and I know people who need what we have. We all know neighbors and friends, people living good lives – fulfilling lives – but with an unfilled need. In our place and this year, many people have a feeling that they would like to find something beyond the everyday “hum drum.” They seek ‘more meaning,’ ‘ more feeling,’ ‘more connection.’ The challenge before us is to find effective ways to tell our story and be the people that can bring comfort and support to spiritually hungry people in our own communities. We need to invent a new kind of Progressive evangelism. 

Some of us say, “Well I’m really not completely sure myself what I believe as a Progressive Christian. How can I tell someone else about my beliefs and why they should come to my church?“ You can tell people that this is a safe place to explore and grow your spiritual beliefs in the company of likeminded supportive people. You can tell them that searching alone is not as effective as learning and acting together. There are many people in our wider community with false ideas of what it means to be a practicing Christian – and don't even know about Progressive Christianity. For our church to live and thrive we have to find ways to tell our story. During this time of transition we need to continually reach out to our own members - particularly those who do not attend worship – connect with them, and tell them that we miss them. 5 

It’s exciting to think of how the increased space and location of our new church building may open us to the wider Niles and Tri-Cities community. How do you feel about sharing our church for Saturday evening Taizé? for thoughtful Saturday afternoon films? for concerts and speakers? But what I really get enthused about is finding ways to be the Progressive church in our time – reaching out to all, remaining a supportive community, growing spiritually and in outreach to others. For the Christian church to survive and thrive in out time we have to explore new ways of being the church, and we are on the front line of this question. 

Amen 

Lies, Lies, Lies!!

“Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth.” Pablo Picasso

Picasso painting showing the horror of the Spanish Civil War to pre WW II Europe

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LIES

The best reason not to lie, for me, is that it makes things so much easier not to have to remember what I told to whom. First let’s get some things straight – there are all types of ‘untruths’  - April 1- " There is a big black hairy spider in your hair! ,  Dec… “ Yes Santa has a big toy factory at the North Pole and he will bring toys to all the good boys and girls.  “ Darren stole my pencil – “ No, I didn't”. 

We all know who this is - another fib - uh oh!

“I was at home watching TV by myself at that time I couldn't have been anywhere near the crime scene”.  “The trout I caught was ‘this big’ – but at the last minute it got away”.  “ I will bring a chicken to every pot if I am elected as your mayor”.  “I can’t go out with you Friday night because I have to visit my sick grandmother…”

 I have known people in my life that could not control their lies – and they told stories with consistency and a good memory of whom they told what.  I had an uncle who told about being the only person (as a young child) aboard their ship carrying emigrants from Europe to spot an iceberg and alert the ship crew.  Some ‘stories’ become family mythology – “ a pack of wolves followed the horse drawn sleigh as it went through the woods – but there was straw in the bottom of the sleigh to protect  feet from the cold." – my ancestor pulled out wads of straw and lit them on fire and threw them back at the wolves." 

Some people lie are about accomplishments – books they have ‘written, degrees they have ‘earned’, adventures they have ‘had', conquests they have 'made'.  I knew a man who was in the Pacific during World War II and it is unknowable how many of his stories were truly about himself, borrowed from others, or the products of invention.  They were amazing and entertaining.  And then there are stories that are mostly true - but maybe embellished just a little.

So why do people lie? I suppose that some people perceive that the truth just isn’t good enough.  They may be disappointed that they didn’t have grand experiences in their lives – and a little creative story telling gives them satisfaction – maybe even a thrill of having gotten away with it.  For some its about getting status or recognition.

Of course some lie for personal advantage, political or financial gains, or to avoid discovery for a real wrongdoing.  Once we get to this level of lies, they take on the aura of a crime and are often punishable either by law or by social or personal rejection. I have known people for whom  telling a good story as the truth is an art form to be recognized as a special gift.

I knew a man who made the most amazing claims about himself but finally tripped up and told a story about himself for which I was aware of the real facts.  Soon after, more  of his stories unravelled for me and my estimation of the man tumbled to disgust from that time forward… He still told his stories and he still found believers – but it made me sad…

The worst kind of liars are those who use their lies to cause others pain or "burst their bubble"… gossips who pass on half truths fall into this category – Such cruelty happens when a busybody finds pleasure in being the first to tell a hot story.    …The lying comes in when  they fabricate a bit to make the story juicer still.  

And you and I know that gossip eventually will come to the person talked about - causing that  special kind of pain because there is nothing much you can do about it.  Probably the lowest of the low are those that make up tales to besmirch the memory of loved one who have died.  When the  truth is unknowable and stories are still told – there is no recourse  - I supposes this gives a  feeling of “special power” to the liar. Maybe for some its a final getting even with the one who has died.

There is a superstition that its OK to tell a lie if you cross your fingers behind your back 

Are there justifiable lies?  If telling someone the truth would be very painful – is that a time to soften reality?  If you are hiding Jews and the Gestapo comes looking for them – is it justifiable to say “ Oh I haven’t seen any of them for days!”  Are politicians or news sources justified to feed us platitudes and untruths to meet their own agenda, to keep the moral of the public  high, or to maintain popularity?  

And then there are the lies we tell ourselves - " I'll only have one glass of wine and then I'll stop", " I look pretty good at ___ pounds.", "I'm really a 'cool guy'!"

"Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth - so help you God?"