Martin Luther King Services in Norwalk

From the time I arrived in Norwalk, people have been telling me about the fantastic programs that the Interdenominational Ministers' Fellowship hosts in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This past weekend, I got to experience them firsthand.


Church service kicks off holiday celebration

Pissed at Pat

I can't believe it!! Pat is at it again. On second thought, of course I can believe it. We're talking about Pat Robertson, so this is just the latest in a long string of... of... well, I can't come up with a suitably strong PG word to use here and I'm going to refrain from using the R and X rated words that I REALLY want to use.

What has Pat done this time? He's calling the earthquake in Haiti a "blessing in disguise" and explaining that God caused the earthquake in Haiti because the Haitian people made a pact with the devil back in 1804. Really. Here he is saying it:



A pact with the devil??? Can you believe it??? How would Pat know this? Are we to believe that he has some secret Haitian documents that detail this pact, or that God has personally told him this??? This is the same man who blamed the 9/11 attacks on the ACLU, feminists and gays, who said that Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for America's immorality, who praised Liberia's Charles Taylor (indicted on charges of war crimes for the atrocities in Liberia and Sierra Leone) as "a fellow Baptist," explained that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was God's judgment for pursuing peace talks with the Palestinians, and who called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Pat Robertson is deluded, sick, dangerous, and evil. With the possible exception of fanatics who murder doctors at OBGYN clinics, Robertson's insane "theology" represents the very worst face of "Christianity" -- and I can't even write that without using the quotation marks.

Robertson's religious perversion is precisely what God was addressing in the Third Commandment. The King James Version of the Bible, which I grew up with, rendered Exodus 20:7 as "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." When I was growing up, the kids in my church were always told that this commandment meant that we should never say "God damn" in a fit of pique, or say "Jesus Christ" when we were exasperated. Sadly, this simplified lesson for children missed the real point of the commandment, which is better expressed in the New International Version, which reads, "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who misuses his name."

Again and again and again, Robertson has misused the name of God. He hasn't done it by using rude and socially inappropriate phrases that might make church ladies blush, but he has done it by committing the very real sin of misrepresenting God, of creating a monster-god who lashes out with hurricanes, earthquakes and hijacked airplanes to bring "judgment" upon people that Robertson hates. Robertson has misused the name of God by seeking his own notoriety, by appealing for people to financially support his "ministry," by allying himself with brutal "Christian" warlords for his own financial gain, by blaming the victims of natural disasters and terrorist actions, and by profiting upon the misery of others. The only things that separate Robertson from the Taliban are the name of the religion that he misuses and the fact that our political system has prevented him from gaining the political power that his 1988 presidential bid shows that he craves.

I'm going to stop for now, but when Robertson says something else like this next time -- and we all know that is a question of "when" and not "if" -- I'm going to stop holding back and say what I REALLY feel.

BONUS MATERIAL:
Here's what the folks at theyoungturks.com have to say about Pat and his latest pronouncement.

Prayers for Peace

As we celebrate the season of Christmas, and the birth of the Prince of Peace, I am reminded of humanity's warlike tendencies. While serving at my last church, I buried a soldier killed in our nation's current war in Iraq as well as a 100 year old German veteran of the First World War. At the WWI veteran's funeral, I reflected on how much the world had changed since the dark days of The Great War and how he had found a home in the country that was once his enemy.

In 1954, the BBC interviewed Frank Richards, who had served in the Royal Welsh Fusilliers and was present at what became known as the Christmas Truce of 1914, when German and British troops joined in sining Christmas hymns from their trenches, then met together in no-man's-land, where they found peace together, at least for a while.
BBC Interview with Frank Richards, a veteran oftThe Christmas Truce

Seventy years after the Christmas Truce, John McCutcheon, one of my favorite singer-songwriters, wrote "Christmas in the Trenches," a song that I have performed many times and which I will be offering as the peace prayer in church on January 3.



Today, I have a high-school classmate of mine serving in Iraq. In addition, I've got a "kid" from one of my former churches and two of my current church's staff members have children who are scheduled to deploy. I wish them -- and all of their comrades -- peace and a safe return home.

Visiting Sen. Lieberman (or at least trying to)

Last Sunday, I went to see Senator Joseph Lieberman to discuss healthcare. Of course, I wasn't alone. Five Hundred or so other people of faith, representing an unbelievably broad range of religious traditions, gathered at the high school across the street from Sen. Lieberman's condo and then marched over for a prayer vigil on the sidewalk. The event managed to grab a good bit of press and I found that my picture was on the front page of the The Hour, as well as The Advocate. (That's me holding the left end of the banner.)

Since the rally on November 15, bloggers from the far-right have characterized the rally as an intimidation tactic and have questioned the motives of those of us who prayed together, calling us all sorts of colorful things. Really, you've got to see some of this crap that thoroughly misrepresents the event. (Even scarier is to read the comments posted by the readers of these fearmongering blogs!!)

Then, watch this video of the event.



Weren't we scary, horrible and intimidating?

Below is the column that I wrote in my church's newsletter, explaining the need for a religious voice in the healthcare reform conversation and, even further down this is a copy of the letter written by my friend, Rabbi Ron Fish, of which I am honored to be a signer.

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When I went to Stamford on Sunday evening, I didn’t expect my picture to end up on the front page of the next day’s newspaper. Instead, I went to pray – along with nearly five hundred other interfaith brothers and sisters – for our country, for the unmet healthcare needs in our nation, and for Senator Joseph Lieberman. I went to stand side-by-side with Catholics, Baptists, Episcopalians, Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Unitarians, Hindus and Buddhists as we spoke a message of responsibility for the most vulnerable in society that is common in all of our religious traditions.

I wasn’t at all surprised, when I arrived at Stamford High School, to find several FCC members already there, though we hadn’t made any advance plan to meet. After all, our congregation has a long history of working for social justice, of speaking out on behalf of the poor, of advocating for the needy. I was a little surprised, however, when some folks cheered and clapped when I walked into the church council meeting on Monday evening. It seems as though our legacy of standing up for justice has been a tad dormant over the last few years, as the efforts of our congregation have focused largely on our own needs during the interim period. People are glad that we’re “back in the game,” as one parishioner put it to me.

At the same time, I realize that not every member of our church is in agreement about our nation’s healthcare reform – or about anything else, for that matter. Some are worried about the church getting into “politics.” While I certainly understand those sentiments and the underlying concern that the church not become just another political action agency, it is also important to realize that our living faith calls us to be active in transforming our society to be more just.

As we prepare to enter the season of Advent, the major them of the scripture readings is summed up by the prophet Isaiah, who wrote, “prepare the way of the Lord” and by John the Baptist, who echoed those same words in the Gospels. All too often, we think about that preparation as just getting ready for Christmas, hanging greenery and lighting candles. From a biblical perspective, however, that preparation means that we are to be engaged in doing God’s work, in building God’s realm, in modeling God’s justice for all people.

Jesus was clear about what the “way of the Lord” entails. He preached about it in his first sermon, when he told the congregation, ” ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, ¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Later Jesus would tell the parable of the Good Samaritan, where he would explain that a neighbor was one who cared for the health of those who were in need of medical care. He echoed that same message when he told the story of the rich man and Lazarus, where the beggar who was covered in boils went to heaven, while the rich man who ignored his need went to hell. Christ summed up the law and the prophets by teaching that we need to love God and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

Of course, Jesus wasn’t making this up on his own. The Hebrew Scriptures are full of similar images. In Leviticus, the commandment is given, “you shall not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor,” and the prophets consistently enjoin the nation to care for the old, the sick and the vulnerable. Our UCC ancestors understood this and started numerous healthcare institutions throughout the country. Our General Synod, just this past July, passed a resolution in support of a reformed healthcare system that is 1) Universal – it covers all persons; 2) Affordable for all; 3) Provides comprehensive benefits; 4) Offers a choice of physicians and other health providers; 5) Eliminates racial, ethnic and all other disparities for health care; and 6) Waives pre-existing health conditions and does not further impose financial barriers to health care.

Certainly, bringing about change in our healthcare system is political, just as the change in our nation’s civil rights laws was political. Political, but not partisan. While it is not appropriate for the church to ever endorse candidates or parties, it is the church’s proper role to address issues of public policy, ethics, morality and justice. Indeed, if religious leaders and people of faith kept silent, many of our societal advances would never have happened. We’re at our best when we work through both the church and the government to meet the needs of a hurting world, when we prepare the way of the Lord with all of the tools that are available to us as people of faith.

Advent Blessings,

Paul

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Concerned Clergy of Connecticut

Rabbi Ron Fish, Contact

November 12, 2009

Honorable Joseph Lieberman

706 Hart Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Lieberman,

We are not politicians. We are not doctors. We are not financial analysts.

We are rabbis, priests, ministers, imams and pastors.

This does not mean that our political, medical or fiscal views should be taken any more seriously than anyone else’s. We acknowledge that everyone must evaluate the complex and myriad questions that appear in the healthcare reform debate based upon their own judgments. Certainly our elected political leaders must weigh the problems of cost, availability and sustainability when redesigning such a large portion of our economy.

But our areas of expertise do come into play in this debate. The moral question of what kind of society we seek to build should underlie any deliberation on the question of healthcare reform. We surely disagree over many subjects of theology and politics, over questions of faith and dogma. But whether from the words of Torah or the Gospels of Jesus, whether from the Talmud or the Koran- our traditions all are explicit and clear on one thing: We are commanded to seek the welfare and healing of all those in our midst, especially the weak, especially the vulnerable. Our understanding of the insights of Jewish, Christian and Muslim thought on how we should navigate through the complex challenges of modern life compel us to speak out together in favor of major change that will extend the benefits of modern medicine to all our fellow citizens.

For us this is not an intellectual exercise. We work in our communities, among the sick and scared, who face not only illness but financial ruin when disease strikes. We see hard working people denied care because of pre-existing conditions. We see families with health insurance that they simply cannot afford. We see doctors and nurses whose vocation is to mend the broken, frustrated that their efforts are directed toward profits and paperwork rather than people and healing.

It is for this reason that we insist that the moral imperative of our time is clear. Anyone whose guide in public policy is conscience, anyone who argues that faith and religious tradition should direct our actions, such a person must stand for universal healthcare in America.

It happens that we are all also citizens of the State of Connecticut. This fact leads us to ask you, Senator Joe Lieberman- what is it that you stand for? We ask you to sit down with us, a diverse group of clergy, and your constituents, and answer the most important moral questions. How can you justify your threat to block this much needed reform against the will of the majority? How is it that you can stand in the way of our fellow citizens being granted access to life saving technology? When you speak of values and conscience, what exactly do you understand to be the morality of our current system?

When concerned about questions of finance, we turn to the independent analysis of the CBO, which suggests that a “public option” will reduce long term costs and lighten the fiscal burden of the government. When interested in the effect on medicine, we trust doctors, like the AMA, who approve of this approach. When considering the effect on seniors, we turn to the AARP, which also endorses reform.

But when speaking of morality and conscience, when pursing a calling to goodness and justice- on these matters we have something to offer. Our voices reflect our traditions and our understanding of what God asks of us.

Senator Lieberman, what is it that your conscience tells you?

Concerned Clergy of Connecticut*

Rev. Richard C. Alton Saint Andrew's Church Stamford, CT		Rev. Marjo Anderson Tabor Lutheran Church New Haven, CT		Rev. Edwin Ayala Associate Director Christian Activities Council Hartford, CT
Rev. Gordon Bates First Church of Christ, Congregational Glastonbury, CT		Rev. Joseph Bradley Retired Clinical Chaplain Hartford, CT		Rev. Joan Breckenridge Pastor Zion Lutheran Church Stamford, CT
Rev. Paul Bryant-Smith Senior Pastor First Congregational Church Norwalk, CT		Rev. Johnny C. Bush Greater Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church Stamford, CT		Rabbi Debra Cantor Congregation B'nai Sholom Newington, CT
Rev. Annette Cineas-Exantus Tabernacle of Grace Church Stamford, CT		Maryteresa (Missy) Fenlon Conrad Peace & Service Committee The Religious Society of Friends/"Quakers" Wilton, CT		Rev. Peter Degree Minister United Church of Christ Deep River, CT
Rev. Samuel Dexter Senior Minister First Congregational Church Watertown, CT		Rabbi Joseph Ron Fish Congregation Beth El Norwalk, CT		Rev. Christopher Files Pastor Trinity Lutheran Church Milford, CT
Rev. J. Richard Fowler Harwinton, CT		Liz Frohrip Associate in Ministry Salem Lutheran Church Bridgeport, CT		Rabbi Stephen Fuchs Congregation Beth Israel/Co-Chair Interfaith Fellowship for Universal Health Care West Hartford, CT
Rev. Lisabeth Gustafson Interim Pastor Bristol Baptist Church Bristol, CT		Rev. Debra W. Haffner Executive Director Religious Institute Westport, CT		Rev. Richard Hanna Huleatt Senior Minister First Church of Windsor Windsor, CT
Rev. Dr. James Harrison Minister First Congregation Church Woodstock, CT		Rev. Kate Heichler Pastor Church of Christ the Healer Stamford, CT		Dr. Tommie Jackson Pastor Faith Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church Stamford, CT
Rev. Margaret Jay Minister First Congregational Church Wallingford, CT		Rev. Keith Jones Interim Minister Higganum Congregational Church Norwalk, CT		Rev. Lois Keen Grace Episcopal Church Norwalk, CT
Rabbi Stanley Kessler Retired Temple Beth El West Hartford, CT		David Daniel Klipper Chaplain, Rabbinic Pastor and ACPE Supervisory Candidate Stamford Hospital Stamford, CT		Rabbi Emily F. Korzenik Rabbi Emerita Fellowship for Jewish Learning Stamford, CT
Rev. Linda J. Kraft Pastor Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Trumbull, CT		Rabbi Stephen Landau Bloomfield, CT		Rev. Bryan A. Leone Pastor Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Monroe, CT
Rabbi Mark Lipson Temple Shalom Norwalk, CT		Rabbi Alan Lovins New Haven, CT		Rev. James Mahan Turn of River Presbyterian Church Stamford, CT
Imam Adul Azzeim Mahmoud Vice President IT Services Bethel, CT		Avery C. Manchester Clergy Stamford, CT		Rev. Brendan McCormick Vicar All Saints Episcopal Church Ivoryton, CT
Rev. Michael G. Merkel Pastor Grace Lutheran Church Stratford, CT		Rev. Bruce V. Morris Macedonia Church Norwalk, CT		Rev. John A. Nelson Pastor Niantic Community Church Niantic, CT
Rev. Dr. Patricia Nicholas First Congregational Church of New Fairfield New Fairfield, CT		Rabbi Robert J. Orkand Temple Israel Westport, CT		Rev. Josh Pawelek Unitarian Universalist Society East Manchester, CT
Rabbi Richard Plavin Beth Sholom B'nai Israael Manchester, CT		Joshua Ratner Rabbinic Intern Fairfield, CT		Rabbi Liz Rolle Congregation Beth El Norwalk, CT
Rabbi Daniel J. Satlow Congregation Beth El Fairfield, CT		Rabbi Philip E. Schechter Stamford, CT		Rabbi Jeffrey Silberman Westport, CT
Rabbi Eric A. Silver Temple Beth David Cheshire, CT		Pr. Paul D. Sinnott New England Synod Torrington, CT		Rabbi David Small Emanuel Synagogue West Hartford, CT
Rev. Donald R. Steinle Executive Director Christian Activities Council Hartford, CT		Rev. Diane Stevenson Minister North Stamford Congregational Church Stamford, CT		Rabbi Yvonne Strassmann Temple Beth Sholom Stratford, CT
Mary Marple Thies Co-Pastor First Presbyterian Church Stamford, CT		Rev. Keith Welch Church of Nazarene Norwalk, CT		Rev. Dr. Bernard R. Wilson Senior Minister Norfield Congregational Church Weston, CT

* Positions are listed for identification purposes only.

When Fall Comes to New England

Last week, as I drove through the northwest corner of Connecticut, I noticed that the foliage up there was just beginning to turn colors. Yesterday, I looked out of my office window and saw a tree next door, covered with golden leaves. Walking out to my car after work, I noticed that the church's lawn was speckled with orange and brown leaves.

In the spring of 2000, my family left Connecticut and moved to Pennsylvania. Since then, each autumn has brought wistful thoughts of my adopted home state, many of them echoed in Cheryl Wheeler's song When Fall Comes to New England. After nine years away, it feels great to be home.

Summer's Conclusion

Lately, I've been busy trying to make the most of the waning days of summer. I spent September 11-13 as part of the "Saints and Sinners Barbecue Team" competing in the Bar-B-Q Pit Competition at the Norwalk Oyster Festival (an event that had remarkably few oysters in evidence). This was the first time out for the team, which consisted of several members of the First Congregational Church of Norwalk, several people associated with the Norwalk Children's Foundation, and several other friends. Overall, we did very well, coming in 6th or 7th place in most events, out of a field of nearly 30 competitors, many of whom are either restauranteurs and caterers or "professional" barbecue contest competitors. Our team took third prize for booth decoration and tied for third place in the "Iron Chef" competition.

My three big accomplishments in the competition were the Iron Chef competition, where we prepared tequila-lime marinated skirt steak with a vidalia-chili finishing glaze, grilled asparagus with olive oil and sea salt, and fire-roasted garlic mashed potatoes. My mesclun-stuffed swordfish with ginger-lime-soy marinade turned out quite well and took sixth place in the seafood competition, and the hot wings came in sixth in the "People's Choice" competition. All in all, the team did very well and we're planning on a second appearance at next year's oyster festival and are even thinking about entering some other competitions, too!

Last week, I traveled to Sharon, CT, to attend the General Association of the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ. (Say that five times real fast...) General Association is the longest running clergy gathering in the United States and dates to the bad-old-days when Connecticut was a theocracy run by the Congregationalist churches. Originally, the General Association would pass all sorts of resolutions and make decisions regarding the government of Connecticut, including electing the governor. These days, it is is a continuing education and fellowship event for UCC clergy. This year, we celebrated the 300th anniversary of the General Association and had the Rev. John Thomas, who is concluding his second term as General Minister and President of the UCC, as our guest speaker. Over the two days we had together, John shared many remembrances from his ten years as GMP and discussed the evolving role of pastors in our society.

This past Saturday, Ian and I, along with our friend Eric Anderson, spent the day at the Pipes in the Valley festival in Hartford. It was a gorgeous day and we got to hear several fantastic musical groups. The day started with a massed pipe band that marched across the Founders' Bridge and then there were continuous performances on two stages for the rest of the day. We were all quite impressed with The Wicked Tinkers, whose high-energy music incorporated didgeridoo, an electronic repeater box and a bronze age horn along with the traditional pipes and drums. The evening finished up with a two-hour concert by Gaelic Storm.

Two amusing tidbits from Saturday: We saw what has to be the world's smallest tugboat, which only appeared to be about 12' long, zipping about on the Connecticut River, just behind the stage. Second, I've been wanting to have a kilt for some time and, because Norwalk hosts the Round Hill Highland Games each year, I'd been thinking that I now have an actual excuse to own one. I tried one on at one of the vendor's tents and Ian decided that he wants one, too, so now we're sort of seriously in the market for kilts. That may well become its own post, later.

Fun With Salmon, Part II

In these waning days of summer, I've been grilling a lot. Part of it is because I'm going to be competing next weekend in the Norwalk Oyster Festival's Bar-B-Q Pit competition and partially because, well, it is pushing the end of summer and I figure that there's a lot of food out there that deserves to get grilled before the snow starts to fly.

In peparation for the the Barbecue competition, I've been practicing up on wings and seafood. Of course, since I'm using those recipes in competition next week, I can't divulge them here at this time because, who knows, there might be spies from the other teams scanning the internet to find out what their competition is up to. Of course, it is really flattering to believe that the professional contestants in the competition would be so worried about me that they'd be reading my blog, so I'll just take idea and go with it.

On Friday night, however, I was grilling something just for the family, so I feel I can safely share that information with you, but don't go telling the competition or I shall have to become very cross. On Friday, I made a (Shhhh.) cedar-planked salmon.

Earlier in the summer, when I was a Costco to pick up some ribs, I happened to see a package of cedar planks and I remembered reading in a cookbook about the Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest who flame-cooked salmon on cedar planks and how the wood added a smoky-spicy taste to the fish. Since I was only spending plastic money instead of real money, I tossed a package of the planks into my cart, figuring that I'd get around to trying them out eventually.

"Eventually" arrived on Friday when Kimberly came home from the grocery with a nice looking side of salmon (Wild caught, Atlantic salmon, of course...) I started looking for a recipe and found several fairly nasty looking ones that involved a whole lot of mayonaise. I found some that were very similar to the maple-soy salmon I made a while back, but I wanted something that was simpler than that and that would let the flavor of the cedar be a major part of the final product. Eventually, I gave up and decided to punt, coming up with my own recipe based on very little other than a desire for simplicity.

I started by soaking one of the cedar planks in water for a couple hours. You'll see in this picture that this is a high-end, gourmet cedar plank because it has a picture of a fish branded on the wood. Of course, a plain (untreated!!) cedar shingle or a cedar board from the lumber yard would have worked just as well. It just wouldn't have had that "I paid plenty of good money for this board" feel.

After soaking the board and getting the grill going with the coals banked to one side, it was time to prepare the salmon. A quick rinse and pat-dry, a half-hearted check for pin bones (who ever actually finds pin bones in their salmon and who really cares if there's one in the piece of fish, anyway?) and I was ready to season the fish. A bit of kosher salt, a generous grinding of black pepper and a (as it turned out slightly too big) smear of brown sugar, and the fish was ready to walk the plank. As you'll see in the picture on the right, I'm getting a substantial kickback from Morton's Salt and Domino Sugar for my creativity...

I had found plenty of different sorts of instructions for using the planks, so I went with the idea that seemed to make the most use of the cedar for flavor. First, I placed the plank good-side-down on the grill for a couple minutes until it started to smoke, thus releasing its smokey-cedary goodness. After flipping it over, I brushed on a bit of olive oil and scooted the salmon onto the board, which I placed on the cool side of the grill. With the grill cover back on, it was twelve minutes (Or maybe 13. You know how exact a science grilling can be...) of cook time before I checked the salmon and turned the plank around so that the other side was closer to the fire. Things were progressing nicely and the brown sugar was beginning to caramelize, running over the board, a process that I had counted on to give the fish an even coating of the brown sugar). After another 12 minutes (or 13) I declared the fish to be done and brought it in and served it with the broiled, sliced potatoes from the "Emma's Favorite Cod and Potatoes" recipe in Mark Bittmann's The Minimalist Cooks at Home, and steamed brussels sprouts. Yum!