Random Thoughts on the Church and Crazy People

Ugg! I have tried to write for a long time now, but I am having blogger’s bloc. To try and combat that I figured I would just sit at the computer and babble (or whatever the equivalent of babbling is when typing) and see what comes out.

There are two things that have been on my mind lately. The first thing is the church (not that this is anything new, “church” is always on my mind), or more specifically, the emerging church. Two observations on this: First, I am not an expert on the emerging church. Though I am trying to become more educated, reading various e-zines and blogs both for and against (I would read the books but then I would have to pay for them) and chatting with whoever will chat about such things. Still, owing in part I think to the “emerging” and therefore changing and morphing nature of the emerging church, I am no expert. The other thing I have discovered in my studies so far (this is observation number two) is that nobody else seems to be either. Ok, let me back off that a bit. There are people who seem to know their stuff, but I have rarely found anyone who is able or willing to do an even-handed treatment of the movement. I see a lot of finger pointing from the more traditional camps, almost all of which is inaccurate in substance. On the other hand, a lot from the emerging movement is doing the same thing, blaming any spokesman of the traditional church they can find for the various ills therein.

This is not unique to the emerging/not emerging groups. When I was in college we spent a lot of time making fun of the “ridiculous” theological positions of the Calvinists and arming ourselves against the liberals. When I got to seminary I found a group of Calvinists predetermined to defeat my Arminian viewpoints. The mental image I have of all this is a bunch of wannabe theologians standing with their backs to each other, pointing at the various differences, or more often the caricatures of the differences, when what they should be doing is facing each other and pointing at the similarities that bind us. It’s not as if this a new thought to anyone, it’s just been bugging me (again) lately.

Here is the other thing on my mind these days: Mary (I made that name up, it’s not her real name). “Mary” is a client that we discharged last week. She had been previously court committed to mental health treatment, but the commitment was dropped and she chose to leave our facility and return to the drug infested, nasty little home she was in before, living with her mom who is not much higher functioning than Mary is herself. I have spent the better part of my time for the last few weeks trying to secure the girl services, make sure she is taking her medications, make sure she isn’t using drugs or prostituting herself, and a myriad of other things that fully functioning individuals don’t really think about, the just do it as a matter of course. I am frustrated that it is so hard for Mary to get services, I am frustrated that the people that are supposed to help her are saying they don’t have the time or resources to do the job (like I do?!). I am frustrated that we live in a society that buys $4.00 lattes but lets its mentally ill waste away, pleasantly out of sight.

I am frustrated that the church is wasting its energy calling each other names instead of stepping up to the plate and taking care of the vulnerable, the disenfranchised, and the outcast. I am frustrated that it feels like all I can do is be frustrated.