Our Day On

How did you all spend your Martin Luther King day? For the second year, Cathy and I were fortunate enough to be able to participate in our church's MLK Day activities. The church organizes service opportunities at various social service agencies around Bloomington. Last year we organized donated clothing at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. This year we volunteered at the Hoosier Hills Food Bank.

I didn't know much about Hoosier Hills before Monday. They started in 1982 and serve as a distribution center for donated food. They collect food donations from the community, food from the USDA and excess, damaged or unmarketable food
from grocery stores, distributors and restaurants. The also participate in the America's Second Harvest program. They then distribute the food to soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters and over 80 other partner agencies. In 1996, they distributed 1.65 million pounds of food in six counties in south central Indiana. We spent the day folding and labeling food donation bags, with about 65 other volunteers, for the upcoming food drive associated with the Live From Bloomington band showcase.

Martin Luther King Day was created by an act of Congress in 1994 and designating as a national day of volunteer service. American are encouraged not to just take the day off, but to celebrate the legacy of Dr. King by "turning community concerns into citizen action."

The truth behind the Silent Night

The real "Silent Night",
Originally uploaded by jcroach.

Parker got two very cool nativity scene play sets for Christmas. This was great because Cathy and I were feeling a little bad that Parker knows all about Santa Claus but not much about Jesus. Then again, he's only 2 and hasn't started Sunday School yet!

One set was from his Aunt Mindy and was "Little People." The other set was from his Uncle George and was "Veggie Tales." Parker loves Little People, but has not seen much of the Veggie Tales. They do have a fairly new Saturday morning show on NBC that we've watched maybe once. Great theme song: "Cauliflower! Sweet and sour! Half an hour!"

The Veggie Tales one interested me the most because of one specific feature. No, not the gold tooth that one of the Magi has, but the fact that the baby Jesus (in this case a carrot, we think) includes a pacifier. That's not really the traditional image of baby Jesus ("The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes"). Why should we believe that a new born baby didn't cry? There's no mention of this in the Bible. The birth of Jesus is only told in two of the four Gospels (Matthew and Luke) and then after that, the only mention of the young Jesus is the story of him staying in the Temple during Passover after his parents went home (Luke 2:40-52). The other Gospels pick up when Jesus is an adult and is starting his ministry. And there's no mention of Jesus as a non-crying baby.

So, did baby Jesus cry? I's like to think that he did. The Urban Dictionary has lots of suggestions for what might "make baby Jesus cry," but I think it's much more simple than that. Jesus cried when he was cold, hot, wet, bored, poopy, hungry, itchy from the straw in the manger, when he smelled the animal manure and when Mary and Joseph dressed him in ugly cloths. He was a human and more importantly started life as a baby. That's why I think that Jesus with a pacifier is great. It's something young kids can relate to; a crying newborn who needs comfort.

Click on the picture for a larger version.

Merry Christmas

A Prayer for a Child

From here on earth,
From my small place
I ask of You
Way out in space;
Please tell all men
In every land
What You and I
Both understand...

Please tell all men
That Peace is Good.
That's all
That need be understood
In every world
In Your great sky,
(We understand,
Both You and I.)

By Dr. Seuss

Habitat house dedication

Habitat build,
Originally uploaded by jcroach.

Here's a picture of the house we built. 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. That's the Common Ground Band from our chruch playing the the front porch.

Habitat house dedication

Habitat build,
Originally uploaded by jcroach.

Our church, along with other United Methodist churches in the county sponsored a Habitat house this fall. The dedication was this past Saturday. It was raining and muddy, but still a great celebration. Here's a picture of the new homeowner Alejandra Hurtado, her daughter Tonya, and Habitat Director Kerry Thompson.

Mexico Caravan '07

Video from George's recent trip to Mexico.

George's trip to Tijuana

My brother George led a group from his church to Tijuana, Mexico, last week. They spent 4 days building houses in the city. Check out his blog post, or his roommate's web site for more pictures.

Houses hemmed into homes, part 2

0 found dead,
Originally uploaded by jcroach.

I've posted a bunch of pictures from my trip to New Orleans on our Kodak Gallery. Most all of these were not taken by me.

Houses hemmed into homes

Back home again in Indiana. Today's my first day back at work after my trip to New Orleans. We had a great trip. There were 16 of us, mostly from First United Methodist Church, with other volunteers from Habitat for Humanity. We stayed at a small church just outside of New Orleans in Metairie, LA. Throughout the week, people from our team worked on three different homes, but we mostly worked on two homes hanging insulation and drywall. The homes we worked on had about three feet of flooding. Enough to ruin all of the furniture, appliances and memories from a lifetime in a home.

The home I worked at was in the Read Blvd. East neighborhood of the Eastern New Orleans section of the 9th Ward. It was owned by a wonderful lady named Brenda. She's the mother of 6 and has been a foster parent to 50 kids. She's lived in her home 30 years. Meeting Brenda helped put a face on the tragedy for me. Without meeting her and the very gracious New Orleans residents we met all over the City, it would have been very bleak. Going on 19 months since the hurricane, the National Guard is still patrolling the streets. Essential services like schools, drug stores, hospitals and groceries aren't in operation. Street signs and stop signs are still down. There were armed guards patrolling the Lowes and Home Depot. The dark houses, empty shells of apartment building and the spray painted "x"s on doors were a constant reminder that there is still much more work to do.

I'd encourage anyone who has the opportunity to go help in the rebuilding to please go. Stay tuned for pictures from the trip.

Click here for a map of the flooding.
Click here for a map of the neighborhoods in Orleans Parish.
Click here for a flash time line of the hurricane and levee breaks.
Click here for the City Plan to rebuild the Read Blvd. East neighborhood.

Religious freedom isn't just for Christians

In my opinion, all Americans who value religious freedom should be outraged by the comments of conservative web columnist Dennis Prager in his article "America, Not Keith Ellison, decides what book a congressman takes his oath on"

In the column, Mr. Prager criticizes Congressman elect Keith Ellison, D-MN., for announcing that he would take his oath of office on the Qur'an instead of the Christian Bible. Congressman Ellison is the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress. Mr. Prager states that this action "undermines American civilization."

He claims that Congressman Ellison is not showing any regard to what "America holds as its holiest book" and instead wants to substitute his "favorite book." He expounds that there is no difference in Congressman Ellison swearing on the holiest book of Islam and someone making the same oath on Hitler's "Mein Kampf." He claims that "America is interested in only one book, the Bible" and states that "If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress."

That last opinion couldn't be further from the truth of the law. Eugene Volokh, a National Review contributor, writes in his article "Oh Say, Can You Swear on a Koran?" that the US Constitution specifically permits federally elected officials to not swear an oath at all. Article VI states "The Senators and Representatives ... [and other state and federal officials] shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." He notes that US Presidents Franklin Pierce and Herbert Hoover didn't swear on the Bible, the Qur'an or any other book at all, but rather opted to affirm their support of the Constitution.

American is populated with people of all races, creeds, religions, and denominations. Congressman Ellison is not required to swear or affirm his support of Jesus, the Judaeo-Christian God, Christianity, Protestantism, the Vatican, the Bible, the Qur'an or even Allah. He must affirm his support of the laws of the United States and the Constitution. To require him to swear on a book that holds no meaning to him is utter nonsense and a violation of the religious freedoms of this country. That sort of test is what would undermine American Civilization .

The Roach Approach

Anyone ever heard of these? It's a series of Christian children's DVDs called T"he Roach Approach". Much in the vein of "Veggie Tales." I discovered them while doing an eBay search, of all things. Parker is probably way too young for these, but they look cute. They originally struck my eye because one of my fraternity brother sused to call me "The Roach Approach."

The stories follow a family of roaches; 3,000 year old Grandpa Lou, Grandma Nana and their grandson, Squiggz. The grandparents entertain their grandson with inspirational stories from the Bible. What's even funnier is that my Mom wants Parker to call her Nana Roach.

Washed in the water

Cathy, Parker and I joined the Bloomington First United Methodist Church on Sunday. Cathy and Parker were baptized during the service. Parker's baptism was hard for me to accept at first. I grew up in the Baptist tradition of believer's baptism, where someone is old enough to believe and then is baptized. The United Methodist Church practices infant baptism and then confirmation later in life, much more like the Catholic tradition. They believe that baptism is sacrament of the church, along with communion, and a sign of belonging to the family of God. We are not saved by baptism. It is a symbol of salvation.

All in all it was a great day! We got to spend time with our parents afterwards. Parker did really well during the service even though he hadn't taken a morning nap. Although at one point I thought he was going to pull off the minister's microphone.

Auto-B-Good

Parker and I (Ok, just me) have been watching "Auto-B-Good" on PBS on weekend mornings. Has anyone else seen this show? It's really cute with talking cars living in a town of cars....... wait a minute, this sounds a lot like a certain Cars movie out in the theaters right now. Hum?!?

"Auto-B-Good" is produced by "Wet Cement Productions" whose motto is "Children are like wet cement, there's so little time to leave a lasting impression." How great is that? The shows teach important life lessons with each mini episode revolving around a theme. Some past themes have included punctuality, responsibility, self-control, politeness, honesty, generosity, patience, cooperation, tolerance, uniqueness, initiative, self-reliance, and confidence. Some web research I did stated that this show teaches "Christian" values, but the episodes I watched didn't have any kind of religious underpinning. And if it did, it wasn't anything like "Veggie Tales" that makes a clear connection between the story and a Biblical message. And since when do Christians have a monopoly on values like honesty, generosity and tolerance? According to their web site, "Auto-B-Good has Premium Grade Values and Full-Throttle Fun!"

Thou shalt not kill (Except for political assassinations)

Pat Robertson apparently forgot about the 6th Commandment on Monday when he suggested on his television show, the 700 Club, that the US assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Roberts stated, "We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability." He continued with "We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with." Roberts also stated "You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

So much for the religious right's "culture of life."

Life, death, religion and politics in America

The media and congressional circus surrounding the Michael and Terri Schiavo situation in Florida has weighed heavily on me the last two weeks. Maybe it's because we just celebrated Easter or because of the book I've been reading, God's Politics by Sojourners founder Jim Wallis. Both Mr. Wallis and Jesuit Priest Robert Drinan, author of Can God and Caesar Coexist? were on Meet the Press on Easter Sunday. Read the transcript, it was a fascination discussion.

The Schiavo's public tragedy has taught me two things.

1. Republicans are hypocrites.
   
   • They say marriage is sacred: except where Congress disagrees with the decisions that you and your spouse make about your own life.
     
   • They say all life is sacred: except when doctors in Texas disagree with your wishes, except when it involves your own family, except if you're a Native American victim of gun violence, except if you're Arab, except if you're on death row.
   
   
2. Everyone needs a will and a living will. Cathy and I have just started thinking about ours. If you don't make a living will, at least make sure all of your family is aware of your wishes concerning your life and death.
   

People Get Ready

At church yesterday we sang the classic Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions song "People Get Ready." I came to know the song from U2 concert bootlegs. It was written in 1965 and inspired by the March on Washington and King's "I have a dream" speech. The lyrics seem especially poignant this Easter week.

People get ready, there's a train comin'
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'
You don't need no ticket you just thank the lord

People get ready, there's a train to Jordan
Picking up passengers coast to coast
Faith is the key, open the doors and board them
There's hope for all among those loved the most

There ain't no room for the hopeless sinner whom would hurt all mankind
Just to save his own
Have pity on those whose chances grow thinner
For there is no hiding place against the kingdoms throne

People get ready there's a train comin'
You don't need no baggage, just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'
You don't need no ticket, just thank the lord

The Open Door

Cathy and I attended a new church this weekend. It's called The Open Door and it's run by the local First United Methodist Church. It was held in the historic Buskirk-Chumley Theater here is downtown Bloomington. We hope to go back next week.

They closed the service by singing Pete Townsend's "Let my love open the door." I thought that was a little odd, but strangely appropriate. I've always thought that The Who's "Bargain" would make a good song for a service however.

Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” (NIV)