Category Archives: Uncategorized

December 31: Reflections and Resolutions

January 8th, 2019 | Dr. Charlie Self

Reflections and resolutions are part of the in between moment as we prepare for 2019. Rather than offer self-help palliatives and platitudes, I suggest that we consider history and hope for our community, nation and world. Here are some reflections and resolutions for our local and global communities.

Mr. President, confrontation and personal attacks are not always the best way for promoting policies for all people. Please consider greater conciliation and principled compromise and stop the personal attacks.

Republican and Democratic Congressional Leaders, you can get your revenge or actually legislate. You can investigate for two years or build a legacy of goodness. You can start your Presidential campaigns or actually help your constituents.

Members of the media, your partisan “gotcha!” journalism has only exacerbated tensions. How about serious investigations of facts and explorations concerning solutions instead on one more hit piece?

Friends of conscience and goodwill, we can begin making the world a better place by discussing serious issues with civility and leaving ad hominem attacks at the door. We can renew our neighborhoods and our nations with new partnerships for the common good.

Lust for power is more potent than money and sex. Will we use our positions and privileges to serve or simple aggrandize more authority? Will we remember why we began a pathway of leadership or will we default into self-protective modes?

2019 can be a great year of courage and wisdom, or a terrible year of anger and competition. May we choose well.

Thank You, Eugene Peterson

December 12th, 2018 | Dr. Charlie Self

I miss the pen and voice of Pastor Eugene Peterson. Author and minister, creator of The Message Bible and mentor to many, he has served as the conscience of those called as shepherds to beautiful and contentious, gifted and distracted flocks called local churches. He generously gave me two hours of his time during a difficult period of transition early in my pastoral ministry. He helped me value the distinction and integration of pen and pulpit. His writings shaped my attitudes and actions and embodied the special call of the pastor-scholar. Pastor Peterson exemplified humility and humor, reverence for God and respect for people and instilled a deep love of beauty. Pastor, we miss you, but your generosity and wisdom in Christ has found lodging in the hearts of many.

How do we honor his legacy? Three things come to mind:

Cultivating a rich inner life of devotion to the Trinity, reflection on Scripture and prayer for others. Who we are when no one is looking will prepare us for wisdom when all eyes peer at us.
Integrating intellectual rigor and relational generosity. “Christianity is a religion for adult minds.” (Dorothy Sayers) Celebrating ignorance in the name of spirituality is as foolish as thinking our brains are sufficient for all mysteries.
Balancing our work, play and rest in our daily lives. Such rhythms must be learned and renewed as our laziness of workaholism wants to take over.

Thank you, Pastor Peterson!

Lights in the Darkness and Prospects for Peace: Special commentary on the Middle East: Part I

December 12th, 2017 | Dr. Charlie Self

President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of not only the modern State of Israel but the ancient homeland of all Jews is a welcome moment of reality and truth. For decades, Islamic radicals, anti-Semitic political leaders and the US State Department have questioned the legitimacy of this tiny democracy. Recently, the United Nations even questioned the historical claims of Jews concerning their continuous life in this land for 3,500 years.

Without defending every decision of the Israeli government over the past 70 years, there are some historical facts that matter if we are going to understand the current tensions and possibilities:

Fact: Jewish presence and settlements in Judea and Jerusalem go back as far back as the 14^th century B.C. and Jerusalem as her capital dates from 1000 B.C. Archeological discoveries only support this ancient connection.
“Palestine” in the Roman name for the territory and it arises as they exiled Jews after bloody warfare in 70 A.D. and 135 A.D. “Palestinian” national identity only begins in the late 1960s and 1970s A.D.!
Jerusalem does not appear as a Muslim holy site in the Koran and it is only after its conquest in the 7^th century by Arab armies that it becomes important.
Jews live in Jerusalem and its surrounding areas under occupying Islamic empires (and briefly under Christian crusaders in the 11^th and 12^th centuries) from the 630s until the 20^th century.
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, the League of Nations acknowledge British oversight of this region and the Balfour Declaration of 1917 promised some kind of Jewish homeland.
From the 1920s to 1940s, multiple peace agreements were forged, only to be undermined by Islamist radicals, led by the Mufti of Jerusalem, friend of Adolf Hitler and dedicated to Jewish extermination. In 1922, Jewish leaders agreed to live as a semi-autonomous entity under a Jordanian King!
Out of the ashes of the Holocaust, in a 1947 Partition Plan, the United Nations created two states: a tiny Jewish state with poor boundaries (but majority Jewish populations living on lands purchased legally under the Ottoman Empire) and a much larger state of (Trans) Jordan that had control of East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Syria controlled the Golan heights and Egypt was sovereign over Gaza and the Sinai.
After Israel declares her independence in May 1948, she is invaded by multiple armies and subject to ferocious acts of terror…and yet survives and a truce is declared in 1949. More than 500,000 Arabs from Palestine are exiled. Some believed the promises of a short war and left expecting a quick return. Others were exiled by war. Many Arabs stayed, remained neutral and enjoy Israeli citizenship today.
Arab nations refuse to resettle Palestinian war refugees, preferring the radicalizing squalor of camps and sometimes expelling them altogether (Jordan in 1970; Lebanon in 1982).
In 1967, six Arab armies invade and Israel emerges victorious in the Six Days War…and gains control of Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Golan and the Sinai. In 1973 during Yom Kippur, Arab armies again invade and are just barely defeated.
In 1978 at Camp David, Israel and Egypt make peace and the Gaza and Sinai are now Egyptian territory (though Gaza remains a hotbed of terrorism)
From the 1970s to the present, multiple terrorist organizations have declared their goal of extermination and refuse any negotiations.
Multiple peace agreements (with Nobel Prizes) have been forged in the past 40 years, only to have Islamic radicals undermine them at every turn. Palestinian Authority leaders Arafat and Abbas refused to recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, playing a deceptive game offering peace in English and gradual extermination in Arabic. Israel has offered 90-95% of the territories gained in 1967 in exchange for unequivocal recognition of her nationhood.
Israel is not perfect and she made egregious mistakes in her war in Lebanon in 1982, allowing Christian militia to commit atrocities against their Muslim rivals.
In Israel, there are NO policies of apartheid or genocide! It is the only democracy in the region – and the only place atheists, pagans, LGBTQI+, Jew and Arab all live side-by-side in a contentions and prosperous land of freedom.

In light of these facts, how can peace come? Stay tuned for Part 2.

Thankful in All Circumstances

November 23rd, 2017 | Dr. Charlie Self

A few weeks ago, we said farewell to my father at the age of 89. His life was marked by love of family, deep integrity, intellectual curiosity and hopefulness. His passing was a bit sudden, but the entire family was able to celebrate a life well-lived. We shared laughter and tears and saw some family members we have not seen for many years.

Just a few days ago, tragedy struck our family as our newborn granddaughter, Nora Jo, only lived a few hours after her birth. Complications during delivery led to this unexpected and heartbreaking moment. We are grateful for the prayers of thousands and the strong faith of Michael and Aubren as they walk through this valley.

Thanksgiving takes on a new depth this year as we absorb this moment and remain faithful in faith, hope and love. The resurrection hope of the Christian faith is a sustaining grace.

As in Habakkuk 3:17-19, we remain hopeful even as we are healing in our hearts. These moments pull back the veil just a bit and we receive foretastes of eternity, whether in privation or prosperity. The prophet lives during a time of great political and spiritual turmoil and the Lord revealed his sovereignty over all events and nations. The job of the righteous in such times is remaining faithful under trials, watchful in prayer and worshipful in all circumstances. Here are the prophet’s closing words, apropos for our world:

Though the fig tree should not blossom, not fruit be on the vines,
The produce of the olive [crop] fail and fields yield no food,
The flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer’s
He makes be tread on my high places.
To the choirmaster: on my stringed instruments.

As we remember the Pilgrims, feast with family and reach out to the hurting, may we renew our devotion to the Lord, the One with us in all circumstances.

Critical Minds, Tender Hearts and a Prayer

October 3rd, 2017 | Dr. Charlie Self

A critical mind is not a judgmental heart.
May we (re)learn the art of evaluating arguments and evidence, without castigation or hypocrisy. Disagreeing with another’s perspective – even on moral and political issues – does not mean hatred or intolerance.
Living peaceably with our deepest differences while we find common principles of ordered liberty requires humility and courage.

A Joyful Lament:
Lord, hear my praises and receive my tears:
Rejoicing in the goodness, love and power of Christ.
Lamenting the immature and polarizing words of people in power, from the President to celebrities.
Rejoicing in all the good work done by millions no one hears about.
Lamenting the sufferings of so many and praying for comfort in Puerto Rico, Texas, Florida, Mexico City and scores of other locales.
Rejoicing in the progress of many dialogues, community outreaches and on-the-ground renewing of communities.
Lamenting the inability of so many to live with diverse views and honor one another.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Holy Spirit, come anew with purifying and transforming grace.
Amen.