Immigration...

Last week, I visited a church in Dayton that is really not all that far from the church that I serve. The pastor at the church also happens to be the first person that I worked for at the seminary. She has since moved on from UTS to become the pastor at St. Paul UMC. I've been to St. Paul before to serve breakfast on Saturday mornings. The congregation at St. Paul is small, but the mission work there is just incredible! They have something like 35 in worship on Sunday morning, but the missions: breakfast on Saturday mornings, lunch on Tuesday afternoons, after school program, food pantry, food co-op, English as a Second Language classes; preschool; clothing "shop"; and many more that I just can't recall right now.

As we talked on the tour of the church, the neighborhood that they are in is highly Hispanic populated. They have a program called "Amigas" for the Spanish speaking girls/women, although I'm not entirely sure what they do in the program. The people that they serve through programs like Amigas and the after school program, etc...are not all legal immigrants. It was then that Beth said that the church was very interested in what was going to happen through the immigration laws being passed. I must admit that I followed the immigration issue enough to know the headlines, but not much beyond that.

Well, I watched some of the news this morning and while I still know that I am not an expert, I do have a better (smaller) understanding of what is being talked about. One thing that Beth said was that the law would prohibit any assistance to illegal immigrants, so if St. Paul were discovered to be assisting in any way (food, classes, etc...like they are!) they would be prosecuted and have charges against them. Because according to this law that is being considered, it would be illegal to help an illegal immigrant.

At least one news person was trying to make this argument seem like it was a fight against terrorism, and that we are just trying to protect America from another 9/11. I think that ultimately, this is almost trying to legislate racism. Primarly, the group that will be the most affected by this will be the Hispanic/Mexican population.

On another news program they talked about the jobs that the immigrants are doing. These are the jobs that most Americans think that they are "too good for" (my words, not the news!). Picking tomatoes, going through barns to find dead chickens, etc...Not the most galmourous jobs, but yet they still need to be done. There was an African American man on the show who was talking about these jobs that African Americans used to do and he said that they just won't do them anymore. Now I must admit that I wouldn't do them either, but if this law passes, who will do that work?

Another man was talking about his feelings in general about immigrants and he said that they should "put 'em on a bus or shoot 'em to get 'em out of here." What!?!?! I was shocked that was said about another HUMAN BEING! These PEOPLE are not animals or plants or boxes that you can jjust pick up and move at will! These are living, breathing human beings!
Another proposal is to build some kind of a wall on the border...Yeah that works well in history, right? Look at West/East Germany or North/South Korea...What will this wall really do? Will it really discourage people from trying to cross over? Or will it just make that part of the journey a little bit harder?
Now, I know that there are some difficulties with illegal immigrants and I won't deny that. The mere name means that they are illegal. However, the answer is not to shoot them, put them on a bus, build a wall, make it illegal to assist them, but rather help them. Maybe that means we should stop pouring so much money in wars and put some of that in foregin adi to help other countries survive. Less than 2% of the US budget goes to foreign aid and the majority of that goes to give weapons to other countries. We aren't helping countries to better themselves, we're helping them to kill themselves. Is that the American dream?

Blurring the lines

I'm turning toward a new way of thinking...At least a new way of thinking about what I'm going ot be doing. I'm looking toward the future and thinking about my life as a full-time clergy person. I know the location where I'm going to be and I'm excited about the possibilities. I have a million dreams and visions and ideas that are floating around in my head. Now, I know that once I actually meet the congregation and get to spend some time with them, those dreams and visions and ideas will become reality and some of them will change and shift and I'm ready for that. Right now though, I'm living in the dreams...

But the one thing that I'm trying to bring some reality to is what it means to be a full-time clergy person. I am trying to define what my boundaries will be when I'm in the church. There's the part of me that just wants to be Missy all the time, but I know that will change and I'm anticipating that change. I'm excited to be near some "old" friends and reconnect and get to let my hair down with them, but at the same time I know that I will not do that every night or even every weekend. But there will be some things that I do need to do for myself and define clear and solid boundaries. It's also best to have these defined from the beginning so that there is no surprise...

It is impossible, unrealistic, irresponsible, and unhealthy to have a pastor 24/7 and while I know that emergencies will arise and I am anticipating those, I also know that if I am not allowed to be a human being, I will be worthless to the congregation and I will be worthless in ministry longterm. It is not an unreasonable request to have some "personal" and Sabbath time. That is something that has been drilled into me since the moment I entered into seminary! It is also something that just about every conference everywhere is promoting and near mandating...

So, what am I trying to decide? Well, I am a firm believer in continuing education and I will be entrenched between 2 great seminaries and my undergraduate university. I would love to be able to audit classes at any of them to further my education for my personal and professional development. I'm excited about those possibilities! I'm also very, very excited about a possibility from back here...My advisor is taking a group to Israel and I'm seriously thinking about doing that. However, I do know that I need to make the decision between the two of them...I can't do both. The reasons are both for myself and the good of the congregation.

Unfortunately, what I've also discovered in this discernment process is that I need to talk to others who will understand what I mean. This means that I need to talk to other pastors and seminary people. They're facing the same issues and will have come with experience and ideas of their own that are actually helpful and productive to the decision...

Red & Blue

In the past 4 days, I have seen no less than 20 police cars in my area...And these have not been any of the "speed trap" kind of police cars, nor have then been the "off duty" kind of police cars, but rather they've been the "lights flashing" kind of police cars...

I have an understanding of what kind of an area I live and a vauge understanding of Dayton itself...But, I am still surprised by what I'm seeing.

I used to live in the West side of Dayton where in my neighborhood I heard gunshots peppering the air virtually all night long and the sirens sprinkled in the midst. I am living in an area now where I hear no gunshots and the sirens are almost non-existent. That in and of itself can lull you into a false sense of security, but seeing these police cars on the streets can wake you up to that. Now, I'm also not talking about a onesie twosie police cars, but rather clusters of cars...It is frightening at times...

I was driving home after having dinner with Eric in the Oregon district and the route that I took home, I know the reputation of...I passed by a cluster of 4 cars around a buisness, for a reason that I have no idea...And then I passed by about 3 more cars just hanging out on the street...I suppose in some ways it's good that these cars are proactive in protection, but it also means that they have to be proactive...

It's also further reminding me of the area that I'm going to be in just a few months. I'll be going from this kind of an area to a town of 500 with a cornfield in my backyard. This is a completely different area with a completely different feel to everything. I'll have to get used to another way of living! I had my friend Kevin tell me that he thought serial murderers do their killing in cornfields, so maybe I'll still hear the gunshots...Thanks Kevin, thanks a lot...

War is over?

Three years ago today began the war in Iraq which I believe was known as "Operation Freedom" or maybe that was the bombing in Afghanistan, I can't remember which war we're on now...

It seems interesting to me that we are still fighting this war when it was declared over two years ago...It also seems interesting that more people have been killed in the years since this war has been declared over...

It makes me wonder what are we really even fighting for? What is the purpose of this war. There are so many opinions (and I have my own really), but there doesn't seem to be one opinion as to why we are fighting this war. I, personally, can't see it as a war that is fighting for freedom because it is not bringing freedom to anyone. Anytime that you bring "freedom" it's just another form of "oppression" that is given. It's just another person's view of oppression.
I can't put myself in the category of pro-life and it bothers me when people do label themselves pro-life, but yet believe in and support things like the death penalty and war. If you are pro-life, you must then believe in all life being sacred. That means that you cannot support the death penalty, because all life is sacred. That means that you cannot support the war because all life is sacred. That means that you cannot support abortion because all life is sacred. I cannot make that statement. I am against the death penalty, but there are times when I think that it might be okay and trying to put myself in the place of a victim's family, I can't say that I would not want the death penalty as a punishment for a crime. I am against abortion as a form of birth control, but when either the mother or baby's life is in danger I can't say that abortion is not an option. And in the case of rape or incest, I can't say that I would force the woman to have the baby, but at the same time it's not the baby's fault that it will born. I am against war, but there have been some "positive" things that have come from war...I mean look at the Revolutionary War and what that brought to America or the Civil War and what that brought to America and the end of slavery...But, I wonder if there is a possibility for more peaceful solutions to bring about those changes. And while what came out of the war may be seen as "positive," are the reasons why we got into the war really "positive" or the right reasons? I'm working on constructing a theology on war...

So, I am not pro-life and I am proud to make that statement. Our world is not black and white, but we live in the grey and our theologies should reflect that grey-ness...

What is meant when people say, "I don't care"? There are a lot of different things that this could mean, so of course context is important...

There's the apathetic "I don't care" which literally means that there is no feeling one way or the other...

There's the giving up "I don't care" which means that "I really do care, but nobody is listening/doing anything about it"

There's the realization "I don't care" which means that I do care and I'll share my opinion, but I know it's not my decision.

I'm hearing this phrase quite often especially as the last day of classes and graduation looms closer.

Context is always important to statements...It's also so important to take people's personalities and emotions into what is being said. That helps to understand conversations so much...I think that it's sometimes called "non-anxious presence..."

you've probably been missing my Idol recaps, so I thought I would fill you in on my Idol-ness thoughts!

First, I have to say that I am almost always in total agreement with Simon this year-- sometimes after I watch a performance and I can't figure out just why I don't like it, Simon says something and I realize why...But anyway, the contestants!

Ayla Brown-- Not a big fan, she's an okay singer...But she's very technical and doesn't seem like she really feels what she's doing...I think that she'll make the top 6 girls though

Ace Young-- I am in love with Ace! He is beautiful and can sing...His performance tonight was rough, but he still looked great. I think there's no problem with him sailing through possibly to the top 4...

Brenna Gethers-- I cannot stand her! She is nasty and I think she is less than talented...She can go home tomorrow, please. (I hope she's not the Mikalah from last year!!)

Heather Cox-- Nothing about her stands out...She's decently talented, but nothing stands out...She might slip under the radar, but unless she pulls a Vonzell, she's going to be lucky to be in the top 10...

Bucky Covington-- I kind of like him...He's fun sounding and really good at the southern rock stuff. He's going to make the top 12, but I'm not sure how far he'll go...Maybe top 6? His performance tonight of The Thunder Rolls was an excellent song choice!!!!

Chris Daughtry-- I have loved Chris since he first started (Richie does too, wonder why!) I think that he is great and knows what songs to sing, do doubt. He's no doubt in the top 12, but I flucuate where he's going to end up...Top 2 or 3 maybe?

Katharine McPhee-- Okay, she's talented no question...But there's something about her that bugs me and I can't figure out what it is...She seems kind of fake, so maybe that's it.

Kellie Pickler--Not the best singer, but has the most memorable personality...If she weren't allowed to talk, she wouldn't make it very far, but she's captured the hearts of people with her story. Top 12 no doubt, And maybe top 5?

David Radford--He's from the same area as me, so I gotta pull for him a bit...But, I don't think he's going to stay much longer...My guess is he'll be out this week. He looked so sad...I wanted to cry for him because I think he wanted to...

Elliott Yamin-- Okay, I must confess that I have a hard time looking at him and seeing the American Idol. It's all superficial and really in his mouth & teeth...But, he has an amazing voice! I'm torn on this one as to where he'll end...Sound alone he could end up top 2, but looks are going to factor in somewhere...

Kinnik Sky-- Pretty talented and fun, but like Heather, she's pretty forgetable...I think she's going to make the top 12, but again unless she pulls a Vonzell, she's out pretty quick

Lisa Tucker-- Amazing voice, especially for her age! But, she makes these faces when she sings! Anyway, top 12 no question...Top 6?

Gedeon McKinney--He's really good and fun and I love his smile...But, I don't see him as the American Idol...Top 12, but pretty early out...

Jose Penala--I'm not a big fan. He's pretty talented, but he changes up so often that I'm just not sure people like him yet...I'm not sure he'll be in the top 12

Mandisa-- She is excellent! I think that she may be the top girl...I'm not sure if she'll win, but she's got an amazing attitude that takes her that much farther...Top 12 no question-- Top 3?

Melissa McGhee--I think she's the Jessica Sierra this year...Talented, but not going very far...If she makes the top 12, she'll be out pretty early on too

Kevin Covais-- Okay, he's not the best singer, but he is pretty cute! Like the little boy cute... When he called himself a sex symbol tonight, I decided that if I were voting he might get mine...Pretty assured to be in the top 12, but it depends on who is voting-- older women or younger women...Ace is definitely the bigger sex symbol!

Pari Bennett-- She is excellent too! I think she's second top girl...She just needs to pick a style and stick closer to it! Top 12...Top 4 maybe?

Taylor Hicks-- Sometimes I have a hard time watching him twitch all over the place, but I am very impressed with him! He's excellent! And it depends on if the fan base he has sticks with him all the way through, but I'll step on a limb tonight and say that he may take it all!

Will Makar--The only really forgetable guy...I liked the Josh Groban tone to his voice tonight, but I don't think it's enough...

So, out tomorrow: David Radford, Will Makar, Heather Cox, Brenna Gethers...