Dr. Seuss and Theology?!?

I have always liked Dr. Seuss, perhaps because Theodor Seuss Geisel ('25) was a fellow Dartmouth graduate. Perhaps, I liked him because I like rhyme, doodling and creative story telling. What I didn't imagine was that Dr. Seuss was actually a theologian telling parables of the Christian faith. What!?! My wife Joan introduced me to a book from an Arkansas pastor who makes just that case.

In his book "The Parables of Dr. Seuss", Robert Short argues convincingly that the children's books we have grown to love actually have embedded Christian messages. For example,Short argues that the Cat in the Hat is actually Jesus; Thing One and Thing Two are the two sides of the law- love God and love your neighbor; and the fish that always seems to complain is organized religion. And of course if The Cat is Jesus then could "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back" be about the second coming or the resurrection? Short is bold enough to suggest that "Green Eggs and Ham" is actually a parable about the Lord's Supper and "Sam-I-Am" is short hand for God. Samuel means "the name of God" and "I-am" is of course the name that God gives to Moses, "I am who I am". Is it starting to make sense? How about "The Lorax", a delightful message about environmental awareness. But if your look at the story through Christological eyes, you might notice that the name "Lorax" just might be a contraction of "Lord and Christ", Lor-a-X. It is more compelling when you realize that the according to Seuss, Lorax came "out of a stump of the tree I'd chopped down. It was sort of a man..." It sure sounds like Isaiah language, "A shoot shall come out of the stump of Jesse..." And when Lorax departs, Seuss describes it with these words "he heisted himself and took leave of this place, through a hole in the smog, without leaving a trace." The ascension???

So next time I sit down with my grandkids to read "The Butter Battle Book" or "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" I won't just be reading a cute chidren's book. It will be a chance to see if indeed, there is an embedded Christian message. After all, Theodor Giesel once said "I get away with preaching by disguising the message." And did you know that Theodor Geisel once approached the Oxford University Press into re-releasing "Paradise Lost" with him as the illustrator.? We can only imagine!

Remembering My Mom on her Birthday

The words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy in Second Timothy include: "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I'm sure lives in you."(II Timothy 1:5) These words could have been said to me as well at my ordination 25 years ago since the faith I live and preach was first taught to me by my mother, Carolyn Joyce (Olson) Erickson. Today is my mom's birthday. She died six years ago after a lengthy battle with a series of mini-strokes but as I remember back on my life growing up together, her impact on my life and faith is unmistakeable.

She was born on July 17, 1930 in South Dakota. As a child she moved with her family to Hartington, Nebraska and grew up in that small Nebraska Community. Her family was active in the Lutheran Church in town. My mom was athletic and articulate. There weren't a lot of sport options available to girls back then but she was a pretty good tennis player and golfer and would often play with my dad and his friends. She has passed a love of those sports on to me and my brothers, Mark and John.

Her competitive juices were expressed in her debating. She was on the debate teams in Hartington High School and Wayne State Teachers College. She never lost the love of debating and we all knew first hand what a fierce debater she was. That endeared her to some and alienated her from others. She was also curious and an avid reader. She passed that curiosity on to her children and I hope we have passed it on to her grandchildren. She didn't take things for granted- religion, politics or education- so she was constantly asking questions. It was her way of learning.

She advocated for those in need and was fairly liberal in her political and religious outlook, which was a nice balance to my dad who was fairly conservative in religion and politics. Our dinner table was a place to learn and ask questions and sometimes duck, when the rhetoric became more heated. But it was a good place to grow in understanding and appreciating the world. And it was a good place to learn that people who love each other, believe strongly in God and who respect each other's faith and intellect can disagree.

I must admit that I had my share of battles with my mom, but in the end I knew she was a fiece advocate for me and my brothers. On this day of her birth, I remember one from whom I learned faith, compassion, the art of debate, the wideness of God's mercy and the depth of God's love.

On the Road Again/ Or Lefsa in Hastings

It was the last day of the Pastors School at Hastings College. I was sitting at breakfast and I commented that right when we didn't think they had any more culinary tricks up their sleeve they offer Belgium waffles. What's next Swedish pancakes? And I was surprised to find out that two of my table mates were from Minnesota and not only knew what Swedish pancakes were but also were very familiar with Lefsa (a potatoe based flat bread cooked in Norwegian households). We ate Lefsa each Christmas at my grandmother's. It's neat to have a little bit of personal history come alive even as we are learning about our Presbyterian history at the Pastor's School.
In our Presbyterians and American Culture class we were talking about how we, 21st Century Presbyterians, can hold our denomination together when we disagree on some of the polity issues of our day. We learned in our Presbyterian History how the denomination split over the issues of slavery, missions and clergy credentials. One of the suggestions was to make more strict boundaries, perhaps subscription to a single common confession rather than a whole book of confessions. I would argue that the key to holding our church together is not to build more stringent boundaries but to better understand and communicate the center of our faith. The ananolgy would be the difference between a bird cage (boundaries) that holds the birds of one type in or a bird feeder (center) that attracts a variety of birds.
The Reformed and Presbyterian tradition has a rich and wonderful heritage and a vibrant life giving center. I have just started reading John Calvin, Reformer for the 21st Century by William Stacy Johnson. In today's reading I was reading about the catchwords of the reformation "Grace Alone, Christ Alone, Faith Alone". Grace alone reminds us that we are not justified by our own works but by the Triune God who is for us, with us in Christ and among us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ alone reminds us that this grace of God is "made real in Jesus Christ and brought to bear concretely in human experience by the power of the Holy Spirit."(Johnson, p. 26) We receive this grace by faith through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the center of our faith and it is a faith that is made stronger not big bigger and better fences to divide us from the outside world but by more clarity about the wonderful bread of life we receive from Christ at the center of the faith community.
I will be sad to leave my many new friends (this is a picture from 2006 but several of the participants including me, top left, are the same). But I am looking forward to seeing my brother John and his family, stopping by Jacobs Well Christian Community (where Timothy Keel, author of Intuitive Leadership is pastor) and seeing my new grand baby Evan and his brothers, Ashton and Ethan and of course my wife Joan. Let our center define us and our faith in Christ unite us.

It's not always easy being in the middle

I have reached the midpoint of the Pastor's Conference and just about the midpoint of my sabbatical. It has been nice to have a group of colleagues and several professors at the Omaha School for Pastors to bounce ideas off about Trinitarian Leadership after spending the first month reading and reflecting alone. The picture above is of Hazelrigg Student Center where we have most of our meals, classes and fellowship time (and do a lot of idea bouncing).

In the last couple days we have learned in our "Presbyterians and Culture Seminar" that Presbyterians often find ourselves in the middle. Dr. Brad Longfield from Dubuque (where Dawn Flippin went to seminary) taught us that Presbyterians were not only in the middle of the Revolutionary War but also in the middle of the Civil War. In fact the Presbyterian Church split into North and Southern Presbyterians during the war and it took another hundred years after the war ended to heal the split. Sometimes being in the middle is painful. One of the questions that was asked in the lecture was: "If the Presbyterian Church had been able to hold together, is it possible that the nation would have held together?" The response by Dr. Longfield (that drew a laugh) was that "All things are possible in God." And yet it got me thinking about some reading from my morning devotional "Leading a Life with God: The Practice of Spiritual Leadership" by Daniel Wolpert. In the 11th devotion Dan Wolpert wrote: "When leaders and a faith community begin to live in the world of the impossible, a world inhabited by a God for whom nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37), they truly begin to see the miraculous happen. They allow themselves to step into the life of grace offered within a kingdom defined by boundless generosity and infinite blessing." (p. 147) Wolpert challenges us as spiritual leaders to be willing to listen to God and try the impossible- even is it's just beyond what we might think we are able to do. It's like the colleague at the Pastor's Talent Show on Friday who did a Taikwondo demonstration breaking boards. He said the trick is a lot of practice but also to hit through the board. Don't just aim for the board but for a point just beyond the board. And my colleage and friend is battling Parkinsons even as he was breaking the boards in the talent show. Maybe if we aim for the impossible (just beyond our ability and regardless of the barriers) we will accomplish what God wants us to do and be who God wants us to be.

Celebrating John Calvin's 500th Birthday

We celebrated John Calvin's 500th Birthday with a Pastor's Talent show at the Pastor's Conference at Hastings College in Nebraska. Jim Anderson from Newton First Presbyterian even wrote a song in tribute to Calvin that was performed by about 20 of the pastors. It was a lot of fun. Of course Calvin himself would have been more excited to know that we celebrated his birthday by studying church history, pastoral care, and scripture. We learned about the unique contribution of John Witherspoon as a Presbyterian who was the President of Princeton University and a leader in the American Revolution. As a leader of the Revolution Witherspoon called Presbyterians to start by fasting and confessing their own sins and to remain loyal to the King while they continued to move forward with their conviction of justice, liberty and human rights. It is interesting that even on the edge of Revolution, Witherspoon who was strongly influenced by John Calvin, called for self examination as they taking such a momentous step of war.
As I am writing this blog in my dorm room in Weyer Hall, I am listening to John Calvin's Institutes. In his chapter on Repentance, Calvin himself says "Repentance is the resurrection from death to life." Later Calvin writes "Repentance and forgiveness are interelated... Repent that your sins my be forgiven... Repentance indicates what direction man must face to receive grace." Sometimes people who trace their roots back to Calvin are called long faced Christians. And yet Calvin's purpose in focusing on sin and repentance is not condemnation but to open us up to God's grace and new life in Christ. In his sermon, yesterday Dr. Bill Carl challenged us to rejoice in our faith and even in those times when we struggling, to thank God that we are alive and in relationship with Christ. Calvin's influence is everywhere in the conference.
While we have learned alot we have also had opportunites to exercise as well. This afternoon, I played tennis with Bill Carl and discovered that he is as competitive on the tennis court as he is dynamic and thorough in the classroom and pulpit. Luckily, I was on his team. I also played a little two-on-two volleyball to keep my skills sharp for when I come back to Friday night vollyball at Covenant. Blessings and peace to all who read this and Happy Birthday to John Calvin.

Experiencing New Life and the Pastor's Conference through a Trinitarian Lens

I feel thrice blessed today. I am blessed to be on sabbatical and to be able to spend most of the summer with Joan studying "Trinitarian Leadership".
I feel blessed to have been able to be in Little Rock to share the birth of my third grandson, Evan Daniel Rubio, and to be able to share the first two months of his life. And to share the summer with not one or two but three grandsons.
And I feel blessed to be in Hastings College this week to hear the preaching of Dr. Bill Carl and share the teaching of three Seminary Professors: Dr. Anna Case-Winters on "Science and Religion"; Dr. Brad Longfield on "Presbyterians and American Culture"; and Dr. Nancy Ramsay on "What Difference Does Difference Make in Pastoral Care". We heard each of the speakers today and they were each inspirational and thought provoking in their own way. I must admit that this year I am listening through Trinitarian ears, but that's good and I even received some encouragement in my study and writing on trinitarian leadership. It promises to be a good time to test some of my ideas and reflections and to learn in three very important areas of ministry.

I started the day today reading about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in Daniel Wolpert's "Leading a Life with God". Wolpert makes the point through the Lazarus story that our spiritual discipline includes not only our mind and soul but also our body. Then at worship Bill Carl preached on the topic "Becoming New Persons Altogether" using the II Corinthians 5:16-20 text: "If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation." Certainly, both of these devotional themes spoke to me as I continue to feel renewed, refreshed and restored in my sabbatical time. Thank you to all who continue to make this a time of new life and rebirth. I feel blessed to have a partner in life and ministry in Joan. I feel blessed to have three wonderful sons, a wonderful daughter-in-law and now three wonderful grandsons. And I feel blessed to have a congregation to share and grow with in these adventures in faith. I am bragging about all of you to my colleagues in ministry here.

It's a Boy! And his name is Evan.

Today I am celebrating the birth of my third grandson, Evan Daniel. We had the privilege to be at the hospital moments after he was born and to see him welcomed by his brothers and family. Mom and baby are doing great. He is 8 lbs 5 oz and 20 inches long.

It is a little ironic that as I am on sabbatical to read and learn about Trinitarian Leadership that my third grandson would be born. Not only is he the third son in his family but his father is the oldest of three sons as I, his grandfather, am the oldest of three sons. We seem to like to be in groups of three in our family. Megan, his mother is also, the oldest of three siblings!

Stuart has already given him his first bath and he is a beautiful, robust baby. It was a real joy to see mom and dad sitting, reading and playing with their three sons all together just hours after Evan was born.