Here’s a news item I missed a couple of weeks ago in USA Today.  “A leading Church of England bishop has slammed a number of the world’s favorite Christmas carols.”  Among other carols, he was complaining about “Away in a Manger”.  The first thing that popped into my head was that Martin Luther wrote that one.  Whether Lutheran or not I still enjoy singing it.  It seems silly for a moment, because it’s a children’s song.  I can’t think of a negative memory from childhood related to singing carols.  Do we ever give a thought to the “truth” of the words?

Say what!  The bishop  called the Three Wise Men “pagans”.  Is it a commonly held Christian view that Zoroastrians are pagan?  I can see the possible pagan link between “kings” and the astrologers who directed them to seek Christ. Misinterpreted mystical principles and pagan practices often are confused with one another.

The next thing that came to mind was an interview in Part II of the Monty Python Documentary series.  Two leading Church of England clerics were confronting John Cleese and Michael Palin over the “Life of Brian” movie, which was banned in London.  The clerics were as funny and absurd as the comedians, but they were serious.

The current bishop appeals that we be rational in our understanding.  I don’t see a conflict between faith and reason. When there is a conflict, the rational mind often is conflicted by unreasonable bias and blatant prejudice, or faith has been supplanted by superstition.  Superstition can be funny too.

Ricky Gervais, the lead character in the British version of the Office, has been getting press for upfront promotion of atheism.  Quite a few atheist blogs were posting  on Christian subjects this Christmas Day, the usual displeasure with crosses and mangers displayed on public property. One atheist commenter who impressed me wondered why anyone would choose to display negativity during this season of joy.  As a Baha’i, I don’t have much in common with atheists. Christmas is a Christian holiday, not a Baha’i holiday.  Baha’is have nine holy days to celebrate throughout the year.  Our Baha’i family chooses to encourage our Christian family at this season, and we don’t miss an opportunity to celebrate Christ.

Here is a link to the complete USA Today article

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-12-03-christmas-carols_N.htm?obref=obinsite

A serious discussion and decision making process currently occupies the agenda for several Lutheran Churches in Lake and Cook Counties, MN. The main decision for congregations and individuals is whether to leave the ELCA Synod, and become members of an association called Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC). To become members of LCMC requires approval by two-thirds of the voting members of the congregation. From the literature and the website, it also appears to be possible for individuals to be associate members.

Why am I concerned? Each of these local congregations includes close friends, and many others who are a positive influence on the wider community. The congregations are too small to survive a contentious estrangement of the membership. I can see it in the faces of my friends that decision is a cause of depression, deep emotional and spiritual pain.

As Baha’is, my wife and I pray for unity in the community daily.
Is unity of spirit, thought, and action possible in these congregations? That’s the high level goal I try to encourage in one-on-one conversations.

The specific issue causing the potential split is the decision by the ELCA this past August not only to allow gays in committed sexual relationships to be Lutheran Pastors, but also to allow congregations to make their own decisions about the issue, including the possibility of leaving the synod.

As I understand the Statement of Faith, and the brochures published by the LCMC in advance of the discussions and vote, I think there is opportunity for further splits into smaller and smaller groups. In the Baha’i Scriptures, we have the warning that failure to remain firm in the Covenant would result in a schism of a thousand sects.

Many of the foundational documents mentioned in the statement are common to any Lutheran synod or congregation. Baha’is reading the LCMC Statement of Faith can immediately identify significant differences from the fundamental verities of our Faith.

Here is the link to the LCMC website, and the pdf Statement of Faith.

http://www.lcmc.net/index.html

http://www.lcmc.net/pdf/StatementofFaith.pdf

I have taken a strong interest in two organizations this week. I joined the Institute of Noetic Sciences almost twenty years ago, and now it is prominently featured in Dan Brown’s book The Lost Symbol. My membership lapsed years ago, but now I will join again. Already I have subscribed to “iShift”, a monthly IONS e-Newsletter.

Following some of the discussions on the IONS website, I found Ervin Laszlo’s WorldShift 2012. I recommend a thorough reading of the Declaration. If you agree with it, sign it electronically. The supporting documents listed at the end of the Declaration are important too.

There is a Baha’i flavor to the declaration. I met Dr. Laszlo at the 1986 Baha’i International Peace Conference in San Francisco. He spoke to an audience of about 7,000, and also led a workshop. I bought his book The Multicultural Planet.

I want to invite discussions and more blog posts about the urgency of the current situation. As I see it, the most urgent requirement is to encourage positive community action, and redirect the depressing influence on the masses by those who are paralyzed by fear.

This is the lead paragraph of the Declaration:
“There is no doubt that we are now in a state of global emergency. This unprecedented worldwide crisis is a symptom of a much deeper problem – the current state of our consciousness: how we think about ourselves and our world. We have the urgent need, and now the opportunity, for a complete rethink: to reconsider our values and priorities, to understand our interconnectedness and to begin a new direction – living in harmony with nature and each other.”

Here are the links:
WorldShift Declaration
http://worldshift2012.org/content/the-worldshift-2012-declaration

Institute of Noetic Sciences
http://www.noetic.org/about.cfm