Closure

The upcoming closure of Birmingham-Southern College awakens memories from my years as pastor in Jackson, Tennessee (2005-2010). While there and into 2011, I was a trustee of Lambuth University. When the university’s president told an emotional student assembly that the school would close, he asked me to offer a prayer. That was tough.

A year or so earlier, at one of many fund-raising meetings with friends of Lambuth, I was introduced by a student as an alumnus. I thanked him for the honor, but said, “I’m not a Lambuth alumnus, but I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been here.” Lambuth had operated on a shoestring for decades and the Great Recession put the school over the edge.

While in Jackson, I remembered with envy the relative strength of Birmingham-Southern. Upon my return to metro Birmingham in 2010, I discovered that BSC was not as strong as in the Neal Berte era (1976-2006). Institutions do not die suddenly and, usually, death is due to multiple causes. Today, it’s difficult to be a small liberal arts college.

Lambuth became the University of Memphis– Lambuth Campus, Jackson’s first four-year public university. Closure is painful for students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends. Church-related colleges are rooted in a tradition that embraces death and resurrection. This doesn’t remove the pain, but it provides a basis for hope to face the unknown with grace.

From “Nearly 170-year-old private college in Alabama says it will close at the end of May,” by the Associated Press, via NBC News, March 27, 2024

Public Service Announcement

After a career in the grocery business, one of my grandfathers was a public accountant. People would bring their tax information to his house and he would complete their tax returns. He always wore a long sleeve white shirt and a tie tucked into his shirt a few inches below the neck. He insisted that my uncle Ray (1922-2013) wear a tie as a boy when he delivered the news on his paper route.

I thought about my grandad when we sent a check to the U.S. Treasury with our 2023 Form 1040-V. As I read the instructions attached to the top of the form, this paragraph caught my attention:

No checks of $100 million or more accepted. The IRS can’t accept a single check (including a cashier’s check) for amounts of $100,000,000 ($100 million) or more. If you are sending $100 million or more by check, you will need to spread the payments over two or more checks, with each check made out for an amount less than $100 million.

One check was all we needed, but some of you might be impacted by this rule, so I’m passing the IRS instructions along for your convenience.

I would enjoy talking with Irl F. Hicks (1891-1973), Jellico, Tennessee, circa 1950, about the paradox of the IRS notice to those paying over $100,000,000 in taxes while many Americans struggle to save for retirement. I would ask his opinion the Annual Letter of Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, who’s working to rebuild our trust, our infrastructure and our hopes for retirement.

A progressive conservative

Recent posts focused on the political landscape past and present. My goal is to know more clearly my attitudes toward our political institutions, crucial in this era of widespread disinformation. Two questions for reflection: What is my political style? What is my political philosophy?

My political style is progressive, which embodies discontent with the status quo and optimism about the future. Convinced we can do better, my discontent/hope is rooted in my faith and in our unfinished democracy as outlined in our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. This style fits our nation’s mission–to form a more perfect union based on some self-evident truths.

My political philosophy is conservative, which embodies deep respect for democratic institutions. Some who claim to be conservative work hard to dismantle the democracy envisioned by our Founders and preserved by the hard work and sacrifice of those who’ve gone before us. True conservatives such as Edmund Burke (1729-1797) support the enduring institutions of liberal democracy.

After writing the above paragraphs, an Internet search for “progressive conservative” introduced me to various articles by Frank Buckley, a George Mason University professor. He’s a former Trump supporter who now sees him as “toxic.” I had never heard of Buckley until Saturday, but I’d like to ask him over a cup of coffee, “What made you think Trump is conservative?”

I mention Buckley because he advocates being a progressive conservative. I’ll read his book, Progressive Conservatism to see if we have some common ground. He sees a future for the Republican Party after Trump. Our country would benefit from a healthy conservative party. We don’t have one right now.

My concept of a progressive conservative is kin to the style and philosophy of The Bulwark, a successor to the Weekly Standard magazine, which was taken over (and buried) by The Washington Times. I also find kinship in The Lincoln Project.

Hope from the Bottom

A recurring biblical theme is always relevant: Hope comes from the bottom, not the top. Authoritarian movements ultimately fail because top-down, authoritarian hope is an illusion. The Germans who produced Hitler and the Russians who sustain Putin made bad bets by giving their leaders a religious aura. Whether German, Russian or American, religious nationalism is idolatrous.

Some see the religious dogma of Alabama’s Chief Justice as top-down hope. However, I see hope in the widespread opposition to his words from the bottom. Some folks see top-down hope in Donald Trump, but I see hope in the party’s bottom 40%. Nikki Haley’s Saturday speech showed that a Republican candidate can use coherent sentences and paragraphs to respectfully oppose Joe Biden.

Hitler’s power was fleeting. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s power was eternal. Alexei Navalny may be this era’s Bonhoeffer. Navalny’s mom and widow oppose Putin from the bottom. I see no hope up top in the Russian Orthodox Church, whose Patriarch is a Putin enabler. But, I see great hope in Navalny’s supporters, including a group of Orthodox priests speaking truth to power from the bottom.

From “Alexei Navalny: Dissent is dangerous in Russia, but activists refuse to give up,” by Sarah Rainsford, BBC, February 24, 2024

PI-ME/CFS

The blog page devoted to Post-Viral Disorders was updated today with an addendum about a just-released report from a 2016 National Institute of Health initiative. This has been an excruciatingly long wait for persons suffering with myalgic encephalomyletis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

The 29-page September 21 report, “Deep phenotyping of post-infectious myalgic encephalomyletis/chronic fatigue syndrome,” is available at Nature.com.

The report begins: Post-infectious myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (PI-ME/CFS) is a disabling disorder, yet the clinical phenotype is poorly defined, the pathophysiology is unknown, and no disease-modifying treatments are available.

“Post-Infectious” was added to the name of the disorder, PI-ME/CFS. The COVID-19 pandemic may have delayed the publication of this first report. But, the pandemic makes it easier to understand “post-infectious” phenomena. There are similarities between Long COVID and PI-ME/CFS and great potential for collaboration among long-standing ME/CFS researchers and those now studying Long COVID. Our son Rob says we may come to understand Long COVID as a form of PI-ME/CFS.

From “Study offers clues about the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome post-infection,” by Nina Massey, Independent, February 21, 2024

A speech I’ll remember

On Wednesday evening, I listened to a 34-minute Chris Christie speech in Windham, New Hampshire, in which he suspended his campaign to be the Republican Party’s nominee for President. He said ambition is important, but it can’t be what governs your decision-making. A few excerpts:

I made a political decision 8 years ago when … I looked at the polls and decided that Donald Trump was going to be the nominee, and that since I had known him for 15 years, I could make him a better candidate and if he won maybe a better president.

I knew his flaws but I also knew he was going to win the nomination, so I decided that I would get behind him and support him. I let ambition … control the decision-making. And … I promised myself and I promised my wife that I would never, ever do that again….

… The phrase “Make America Great Again” has always offended me because it implied that America wasn’t great. America is great. It was great long before those red hats showed up and it will be great long after they are consigned to history.…

You cannot love America if you don’t love … Americans who look different than you … who speak different than you … who think different than you … who believe and have faith that is different than yours ….

Donald Trump and other candidates in this race say they don’t want people coming to this country if they’re not of our religion. We don’t have a religion in America. Our Constitution is founded on there being no national religion….

From a video recording of a 34-minute speech by Christ Christie on C-Span, January 10, 2024

The Sound of Hope

Sarah Speed is a Presbyterian pastor with a deep connection to the mountains of North Carolina. She is about Writing the Good. A contributor to the Advent devotional, How does a weary world rejoice?, her poem “The Sound of Hope,” (p. 27), graced Sunday’s bulletin cover at First Church Birmingham:

From “How do we begin again?“, a poetry prayer by Rev. Sarah Speed, via the YouTube page of Brecksville United Methodist Church

Be strong and loving and fearless

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) wrote, “O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you!” Beauty (epitomized in the Christmas story) has survived war, famine, infidelity and complacency.

Christmas 2023 occurs amid war in Europe and the Middle East. The world carries on. Are we oblivious to suffering? Or, do we carry on in spite of our suffering, refusing to let darkness rule?

Yesterday, Stephanie Arnold read Jesus’ matrilineal heritage, accompanied by a drumbeat when Jesus’ female ancestors were named. Matthew 1:1-17 referenced some of the women not by name but as “the wife of….” The drum’s silence during those indirect references reminded us that some important participants are unnamed. This silent reminder gave new power to the ancient message.

Our closing hymn was Marty Haugen’s “Awake! Awake, and Greet the New Morn.” The hymn’s “be strong and loving and fearless” is often used at First Church Birmingham as a choral response during affirmations and benedictions. This Christmas–like all that have gone before and all that will come after–let us be strong and loving and fearless!

From “Ever Ancient, Ever New,” a Daily Meditation by Richard Rohr, Center for Action and Contemplation, December 31, 2018. The painting is from Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery (detail), Nicolas Poussin, 1653, Louvre Museum, Paris, France. Rohr’s comment about the painting (and the story in John 8:1-11) was: The way Jesus tried to change people was by loving and healing them, accusing only their accusers. Why did we not notice that? His harshest words of judgment were reserved for those who perpetuated systems of inequality and oppression and who, through religion itself, thought they were sinless and untouchable. Jesus did not so much love people once they changed, but he loved people so that they could change.

Peaceful diversity

Admittedly, it’s a goal, not a fait accompli. It’s the essence of faith, “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Advent is at the same time about something ancient and yet to be.

Its “yet to be” nature was brought home last night during a 90-minute edition of Sixty Minutes. I invite you click the three links in this paragraph and buckle-up for a virtual tour of earth’s diversity, beginning with religious artifacts stolen from Cambodia; followed by the torturous journey of an Israeli woman, Yarden Roman-Gat, who survived 54-days as a hostage of Hamas in Gaza; and finally, an upbeat exploration of Morocco’s rockin’ transmission of powerful music, Gnawa, with roots in African slavery and fresh expressions in various American musical traditions.

The energetic, unifying music of Gnawa includes elements of both protest and hope, twin biblical themes so appropriate following stories of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge, the looting of Cambodian temples, and the inhumanity of war in the Middle East. Sixty Minutes reminded me that Advent is a deeply musical anticipation of a peaceful diversity we desperately need but have yet to fully realize on planet Earth.

From a 2:31 minute YouTube video interview with Farid Ghannam, a musician at the 2023 Gnaoua World Music Festival in Morocco

Darkness and Light

My parents said my first spoken word was “lights,” pronounced without the “L,” prompted by my fascination with Christmas lights. I remember candle-shaped Christmas tree lights with rising bubbly liquid. Reinhold Niebuhr reminded us in 1944 that light is preferable to darkness.

A Jewish survivor of the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel, helped me understand Advent’s dance between darkness and light. To an audience in a completely dark auditorium, Wiesel began by turning on a lamp with a pull-chain, saying, “Until you experience darkness, you cannot appreciate light.”

Alone long ago on Christmas Eve, I read Wiesel’s book Night. Advent fully embraces life’s darkness. We sing Advent music in spite of the dark. Niebuhr and Wiesel call us to Light–to be children of Light amid every darkness we face, such as war in Ukraine and refugee camps in Gaza.

From The Children of Light and The Children of Darkness, by Reinhold Niebuhr, 1944