It's in there. (Ruminations on Real Presence)

Click to enlarge: Prego used to use the tag line, "it's in there," which meant it was made with authentic ingredients.

Jesus is not in a Baptist church in quite the same way he is in a Catholic church.

That is because the doctrine of Real Presence means Jesus is literally, physically there, and not just in the omnipresent "God is everywhere" sense, but in the very same way he was here 2,000 years ago, literally and physically.

 

Click to enlarge: This is the inside of a typical Baptist church. This happens to be Berean Baptist Church in Belleville, Michigan. I have not been there and cannot say if the beliefs are as typical as the architecture.

If you believe that, then communion becomes not just a symbolic gesture, but a channel of grace. Ie, when you participate with a penitent heart, you receive something as real to the spirit as vitamins are to the body.

(I'm not talking about a cognitive difference, but a responsive one. People behave differently when they think someone they are talking to is literally nearby. Compare Baptist and Catholic communion services just after, when the pastor dismisses the congregation. What happens?)

 

Click to enlarge: This is the inside of a Catholic church. I don't know if it's typical because I've only seen the inside of two, and that is hardly a basis for deciding what is typical. (This happens to be St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Detroit area, picture obtained here > ) However I do know that if you attend a Catholic church, you hear the same doctrine as any other Catholic church. I come from the GARB Baptist tradition (General Association of Regular Baptists), and within that tradition, you can be sure that one church to the next also professes similar if not identical doctrines. I suspect Catholics have the same expectations, which are sometimes (if rarely) not met.

I do not believe taking communion saves you by itself any more than the body can survive on vitamin supplements.

Nor do I believe that what you believe regarding this doctrine makes you a better or worse person.

But I do believe one view is more right than the other.

And I believe Jesus meant what he said in John 6:53-56.[1] Four times, Jesus speaks of eating his flesh. He doesn't say "Oh by the way, I'm speaking metaphorically," and he uses visceral words that mean to chew or gnaw. This was so troubling to some listeners, who understood him literally, they stopped following him.

 

 

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Click to enlarge: A 1975 Chick comic titled "Chaos" from when I was a boy. This one happens to feature the Rapture, an element of evangelical theology in which the redeemed are taken up into heaven at the Second Coming of Jesus.

What recommends a blog post that more or less updates my developing theology? A biographical note, perhaps: When we were kids, we regaled each other with stories of a certain occult stripe that invariably involved exorcisms, ghosts, and other unworldly things. Fellow 7th grader Peanut Smith[2] at Bethel Christian School said that he knew for an absolute fact that a priest "serving communion" spilled the wine and when it hit the floor it was real blood.

Most of what we knew of Catholicism unfortunately came from stories like that, nominal Catholic friends, and Chick comics. An exception was Fred Faulk and his family. Fred was a devout Catholic and worked at Loblaws in Erie with Dad. He gave my family a very nice nativity scene one Christmas that is now with me.

It's probably unfair to brand most Catholics I knew as nominal; that's an evangelical description. Baptists expect a more overt expression of faith if it's genuine; that's why, for example, Baptist Mid Missions, the missionary arm of the GARBC (General Association of Baptist Churches) will not bring medical assistance if they cannot also bring religious education along with it, at least, that was a condition of their missionary work when I was a boy, and I felt then, as I do now, that that was somehow unfair. The reasoning was that there are only so many dollars to go around and Baptists should use every penny to spread the Word.

The distinction is an unfortunate byproduct of the Calvinist doctrine of total depravity, in which works are eyed suspiciously when they are an expression of piety.

[2103-05-13]

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[1]
John 6:53-56

Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.

The only evangelical objection to a literal interpretation that has any merit (that I can see) is that Jesus made no indication he meant to be understood literally, but there are a couple problems with this:

1. Assuming something from what someone didn't say is dangerous. Evangelicals should especially be wary of this since they use it to counter Catholic arguments for Marian veneration, among other things.

2. Jesus not only repeats himself, he goes out of his way to make it clear he's talking about "true" food and drink, that he's not being metaphorical.

You can reject John 6:53-56, but I don't think you can say it's metaphorical.

[2]
I don't remember his real name, but we all called him Peanut.
 

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He went thataway.

If you know me or spend much time here, you know I often ask myself how I'd like to be remembered, what I'd like on my grave stone, things like that.

Today I realized that it doesn't much matter, because after everyone's gone who knows me, so will be gone any recollection of the subtleties that made me, me - lilts and tilts and gaits and other wonderful things that characterize humans.

That's part of the reason I why I write here and elsewhere, every day, but no amount of words (or pictures or video) can fully capture the presence of a human being.

[2013-02-16]

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Click to enlarge: My Grandpa Grandy, LaVerne E Grandy, at the Grand Canyon, circa 1950.

I can still see my Grandpa Grandy's reserved smile, how he cleared his throat and adjusted his head before speaking, and how his hands shook later in life with essential tremors (that were unrelated to drinking or Parkinson's). Those things, even though I record them here, will leave this earth with the last person that enjoyed them as expressions of what it meant to be "grandpa" to me, which was something different than what it meant to be "dad" to my mom, "husband" to my grandma, or son or brother or grandson himself.

[2013-02-16]

 

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Click to enlarge: This gravestone reads "Here lies an atheist, all dressed up and no place to go." I have no idea if it's real. Kurt Vonnegut wrote that even though he was an agnostic, he didn't have the guts to fully deny God this side of the grave. I'm not sure it takes a lot of courage to be an atheist on your deathbed, since, if you're right, it doesn't really matter, does it? IMHO anyone, like Vonnegut, that doesn't go so far as to curse God and die, harbors some belief, else why not?  Vonnegut is among my favorite literary writers (which include Capote and Salinger).

Anyone ever average up the length of the characters on a tombstone?

I did. A very brief survey.

50-100 characters

Imagine that.

Less than a tweet.

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Of course, it varies. Rich folks have bigger tombstones and more space. Even grave yards are segregated. And there are many buried with no tombstone, because they couldn't afford one, or no one cared, or no one was left to care, and that is sad.

I'm fond of grave yards, even old, poorly maintained ones. I like the beauty, the peace and quiet, the communion I know is represented by the stones, and the love that put them there.

Gravestones are less memorials than mileposts. They say, "He went thataway."


[2013-02-16]

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Eating Gunpowder

Click to enlarge: A barrel of gunpowder.

Overheard on May 8, 2013:

"If the [Catholic Church] is wrong... then... what was the fate of millions upon millions for over 1600 years until Baptists appeared?"
-- Nicea325
(More >)

That's a very good question.

Similar good questions:
• What happens if you hear but don't understand?
• What happens if you've been so conditioned by others (angry parents, ministers, nuns) that you simply can't see the love of Jesus in anything?[1]
• What happened to Jews that lived and died before Jesus?
• What happens to anyone that lives and dies without any knowledge of Jesus? (Forget the typical response that almost no one alive today hasn't heard about Jesus. That may or may not be true, but it certainly wasn't true 50 years ago let alone 2,000 years ago.)
• Are aliens accountable for accepting Jesus? Or did Jesus visit them and express his love in a way they could understand and respond to?

These are good questions, especially the last one, which is a valuable thought experiment.

Asking is worth the effort aside form the answer you get back.

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Click to enlarge: Rodney Dangerfield was a popular stand-up comedian when I was a boy. He was known for complaining, "I don't get no respect." Watch a little of what was funny in my day > "At my house, we pray after we eat."

Disrespect v. Disagreement

I just heard a progressive radio show host laugh at the statement of a prominent pro-life politician.

We offer more respect for the beliefs of those that killed thousands on 9/11 than one person defending the unborn.

If you choose to mock those that disagree with you, don't be surprised if they don't respect you.

[2013-03-11]

 

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[1]
I heard as child that some guard dog owners feed their dogs gunpowder. It makes them vicious. It also eventually kills them. We do that to people, too. We inject so much of our own pain into them, they can no longer feel anything good. Catharsis quickly turns to abuse when the listener is impressionable, and that can be any age.

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The Troubled Middle (repost)

(I don't know why I felt the need to repost this. I am at odds with some very dear people on some things, these among them.)

I'm going to state my opinion on three topics that almost everyone reading this will partially disagree with:

1. Abortion is wrong. It's not a reproductive rights issue, it's a human rights issue.
2. Gay marriage is not wrong. It's like any other marriage. It's not a moral issue, it's a civil rights issue.
3. Recreational drugs use should be legalized.

a. I don't know anyone who has had an abortion.
b. I have no friends or family that are gay (that I know of). [This was true when I wrote it.] I have some former acquaintances that I have heard are gay, but I have no first-hand knowledge. I simply don't travel in circles where this is openly expressed.[1]
c. Despite my appearance and opinion on this subject, I have never taken non-prescription drugs. Never.

If you disagree with me, I respectfully differ and believe you are wrong. If I didn't think so, I would think otherwise. I trust you would as well. We can still be friends.

I am not a woman, I am not gay, and I know no one with a drug problem. I still have an obligation to form an opinion on these topics. All are emotionally deep and deserve sensitive, considered discussion, not sarcastic "if you don't agree with me you're stupid," which is too often the tone of what passes for public discourse, especially on the cable news outlets.

Lots of folks align themselves with larger groups that promote policies and practices they disagree with because the one big idea they do agree on outweighs the others they don't. That's unfortunate.

Someone out there agrees with me on two or three of these issues. I'll bet a lot do, and they've thought a lot about it and they know why they think the way they do. Many of you are Christians and have prayed about it as well.
Don't take a side that compromises your own stand on important issues.
Make your own side.

Become part of the troubled middle.[2]

Live and let live. Share peace and love and all good things.

I probably won't change any minds with this post.

I'm posting it anyway.

Which makes me unwelcome among those I wish to be welcome, because I seek tolerance of all sides, all views. Not necessarily acceptance, though that may come.

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I like some things Michael Moore does more than others. This is one I like:
Michael Moore vs Westboro Baptist Church

 

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[1]
If you're the least bit undecided on the appropriate Christian response to homosexuality, read retired physicist and minister John Berguson's comments here >; a summary of opinions on all sides is here >. They made a difference in my approach to this issue many years ago. "Christians of good will can and will differ."

[2]
I think the term originated with Strachen Donnelley >.

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Started: 2012-04-28
I waited a long time to post this. I've thought a great deal about it, and read a great deal, over many years; I struggle not with what I believe - I am at home with my own thoughts – but with how others will respond to me.

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Some recent pictures...

		Mommy, Dee Dee, Mimi and Charlie VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

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Sometimes we establish habits that are contrary to our beliefs. Easy to do, and easy to confuse others.

When I was a boy, Sunday school teaches would ask, "Does anyone outside church know you're a Christian? If they don't, there's a problem." That's a good question for grownups, too.

[2013-03-07]

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Sometimes it looks like we are far away from a core set of values when we are just walking parallel to them. Some of us see connections in disparate ideas that others don't. The next big idea is always related to the last one, and it often jumps the rails into neighboring disciplines.

[2013-03-07]

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