Across 1-80

"Everything is Southern Illinois south of 1-80"

This is something that I have heard from my good city family and friends ever since I decided to come to LCC. This statement, while is not exactly correct, because LCC is in Central Illinois, the pastoral difference seems to be huge.

I come from a church called Community Christian Church, which is located, well all over the Chicago land area. The pastors that I have gotten to know through my childhood, adolescence, and now young adulthood play guitar hero, drink beer, watch movies that are rated R, drink lattes, have decent hair cuts, and don't end every conversation with God bless.

These pastors were the run of the mill pastors. They didn't seem to be holier than anyone else, but were more like doctors. They found a passion in trying to keep humans healthy, but in a spiritual sense, rather than a medical sense.

And then I moved. I moved south of I-80 and suddenly felt like I was living in the 1950's. The pastors are still a large part of the community development. They are still part of the reason people are moral and why people still go to church. They are still the capstone of the church down here. Now, I have met many pastors in and around Central Illinois, and I would never want to give them a bad name. However, there is only one or two that I have felt completely comfortable around.

I think the reason that I don't feel comfortable with some pastors down here is because they still play the part of the holy Shepard. They do end every conversation with God Bless, and seek to find the holiness in everything. While it at times makes me uncomfortable, it also is fascinating. People invite their pastor to major life events, and the pastor actually comes, when the pastor does your grandpa's funeral, he actually remarks about the summer that was without rain and how your grandpa remained faithful. The pastor within small communities knows the family church history.

I think that the pastors in Naperville are try too hard to be human, and I think the pastors in Central Illinois try too hard to be holy. Maybe if we throw a mixed party and invite all of them they could rub off on each other.

Moral Theology is Dead.

I heard this song on the radio tonight when I was driving home. It struck me in sort of a funny way. The first two lines specifically, "I'm sittin' at a bar on the inside, waitin' for a ride on the outside'. I actually wrote down the lines on a receipt so I would remember what I wanted to write about. The reason these lines are interesting is that it is the perfect image of what the false self has the ability to do. I have come to the conclusion that moral theology is a waste of my time. Jesus Christ didn't die so that I can be moral! He didn't rise on the third day so that he could find a bunch of disciples swearing that they would be moral citizens. I understand that morality is part of walking in God's ways through Christ, but it certainly is not the main component.

I am so weary of moral theology.

But, these two lines struck me, not because of my problem with moral theology, but because it shows the very fine line with human nature and with a sinful nature. Human nature cannot be originally sinful, because if it was Jesus would have been born sinful. The Catholics think they can weasel their way out of this one, but it has a lot of holes. So, if Jesus was human, and Jesus was sinless than human nature must be made in something else. If this is true there must be a distinction between human nature and sinful nature.

These two lines reminded me of the line that we walk as humans. It can be a completely volatile line and it can be a completely beautiful line. The conservative evangelicals would say run as far away from the line as you can, so to not enter into anything compromising, and I certainly see the wisdom in that, but what if you find yourself in a situation where you must choose the lesser of two evils.

Like Bonhoeffer for example. Or Jesus.

Jesus walked the line, because the line is not sinful. Being human is not a sin. That is the line that we find ourselves walking. The walk of humanity. It would be easy to run away from the line. To not ever look back. To put ourselves in very safe places, places we consider divine, but the line is still there, because we are still human. We have been created. We are not the creator.
We walk a line of humanity that has the potential to cause us great harm. This line has the potential to cause others great harm as well, but it also has the ability to bring out the most beauty.

Are you willing to walk the line. Are you willing to set aside your moral limitations and actually admit that you are human? If I was forced into believing that moral theology is the key to understanding Christ I would be completely willing to surrender my faith and my belief system so I could be comfortable being human.

God created me human, shouldn't I embrace it?

The Superfulous Spit.

One day.


That's all it took to discover the shocking understanding of the great hocker. In other words I was standing on top of the lowest hand rail and leaning over the bridge. I noticed a shiny bald spot. I collect some spit, I aimed, and I shot.


And in that one day I changed that man's life. Spit is an understatement to the way life is supposed

One day.