The Original Valentine

February 9, 2016Leave a comment

It’s getting close to that time of year again. If you have a significant other, you are probably planning chocolates, flowers, and/or a special date to show them how much they mean to you. If not, you might be plotting a day out with other partner less friends, or just plain ignoring the holiday. But where did Valentine’s Day come from? Believe it or not, this day celebrating romantic love started as a sacred holiday remembering a Christian martyr.

I’ll start with what we know historically about St. Valentine. His name was Valentine, he was a priest, he was martyred, and he is traditionally celebrated on February 14^th. That’s it. This is not unusual for some early Christian saints whose names far outlived the record of their deeds. Some even argue that there were actually multiple Valentines who were martyred and eventually had their memories blurred together. Inevitably, people wanted to know more about the person they were honoring and multiple different legendary accounts of his life began to circulate. The most popular and well known claims Valentine was a priest during the reign of the third century Roman Emperor Claudius II, who was in the middle of a war and needed soldiers. As married men wanted to stay home to care for their families, Claudius declared marriage illegal.

In something you might notice is a bit of a trend with Dunker Punks, Valentine obeyed a higher power and continued to marry couples in secret, allowing the new husbands to say home from war. Eventually he was caught, imprisoned, and set to be executed; however, even there he continued to proclaim the message of the risen Christ. While in prison he taught the jailor’s blind daughter about Jesus, and miraculously healed her sight. On the day of his execution he left her a note signed “Your Valentine.” Other legends tell of the saint healing the sight of the blind daughter of a Roman judge to prove the truth of Christianity (a story probably sharing a common origin with the earlier mentioned one), and having being executed after trying to convince the emperor to become a Christian. It wasn’t until the fifteenth century that the day celebrating his life and witness came to be associated with romantic love, arguably first by Chaucer, author of the Canterbury Tales

Ultimately, regardless of if the accounts of Valentine’s life actually happened or not, they are true. They witness to the great faith of a man who was willing to lay it all down for his master and has inspired countless generations after him, even if the exact factual details of his life can never be truly known. As Jesus taught, “There is no greater love that this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Most Gracious Heavenly Father, You gave Saint Valentine the courage to witness to the gospel of Christ, even to the point of giving his life for it. Help us to endure all suffering for love of you, and to seek you with all our hearts; for you alone are the source of life and love. Grant that we may have the courage and love to be strong witnesses of your truth to our friends and family and to the whole world. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

P.S. If you enjoy these posts, one of my inspirations for writing them, Lent Madness aka the Saintly Smack down begins this Thursday, the day after Ash Wednesday. A lighthearted devotional based on March Madness, each day in Lent sees two great Dunker Punks from across the denominational spectrum pitted against each other in a race to see who will win this year’s golden halo. More information including this year’s bracket can be found at www.lentmadness.org. I hope to see you there!

Nolan McBride is a History and Religion major at Manchester University. He loves music, theater, and learning about Christian traditions around the world. He enjoys swimming and singing and is still sore about his family’s namesake, St. Brigid of Kildare, losing to St. Francis of Assisi in the last Lent Madness competition. You can follow him on twitter at @nmcbride35, and find him on Facebook.

Want to contribute? Fill out a Dunker Punks profile, and/or send an email to dunkerpunks2014@gmail.com.

The Real Santa Claus

December 5, 2015December 5, 2015Leave a comment

Merry Christmas! I hope you all are enjoying Advent and looking forward to a wonderful holiday season. I am writing this exactly three weeks before Christmas, but there is another, lesser-known Christian holiday coming up on December 6th. Happy St. Nicholas Day! Far from being simply another name for Santa Claus, St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children, sailors, Greece, Russia, and punching heretics in the face during ecumenical councils. Ok, maybe not that last one, but he is still one of the most popular Christian saints of all time. Though what we know of his life is most likely a mixture of legends and fact, he stands a beacon pointing towards the One whose birth we are preparing to celebrate

Born into a wealthy Greek Christian family in what is now Turkey, St. Nicholas was raised by his uncle, the bishop of Patara, after his parents died at a young age. Very religious from a young age, he was tonsured as a reader and eventually ordained a priest by his uncle. He was well known for his charity and love of children. According to one legend, a rich man with three daughters fell upon hard times and lost his wealth. Without dowry for his daughters, they would be unable to find a husband and would have to be sold into slavery or worse. Hearing of the family’s predicament, St. Nicholas visited their home during the night and threw a bag of money he had inherited from his parents through the window, landing in a stocking left before the fire to dry (Hence why stockings are “hung by the chimney with care” on Christmas Eve). He continued to do this for the other two daughters, saving them from a terrible fate.

Eventually, Nicholas was named bishop of the city of Myra, supposedly after God sent visions to the bishops in charge of electing the next one. He initially refused, not seeing himself as worthy of such a role. Arrested and tortured under the Diocletian Persecution, he was later freed when Constantine made Christianity legal in the Roman Empire and was among the bishops who attended the First Ecumenical Council. Supposedly, he was so enraged by Arius’s heresy (Arius denied that Christ was co-eternal and/or equal with God the Father) that he got up and slapped him in the face. Probably not the best way to show Christ’s love. Emperor Constantine and the other bishops were shocked that Nicholas would do such a thing and threw him into jail, stripped of his bishop robes. That night Jesus and the Virgin Mary appeared to him, asking him why he was in prison. He replied, “Because of my love for you.” Christ gave him a Gospel book and Mary gave him a liturgical stole known as an Omophorion, both symbols of a bishop’s position and authority. When this was discovered, the emperor ordered him set free and reinstated him into the council. In the end, he was one of the bishops approved the Nicene Creed, which to this day is recited every Sunday in many churches around the world.

Finally, from the earliest known biography of St. Nicholas’s life “some people came from the city to that most holy man, saying: “Lord, if you had been in the city, three innocents would not have been handed over to death as they were, because Judge Datianus, taking those three men into custody, has ordered them beheaded. The whole city is in a turmoil because Your Sanctity was not to be found there.”

On hearing this, the most holy bishop became downcast… Coming to a plaza named Leonti, he asked those who were coming away from those who had received sentence whether they were still alive. They told him that the men still lived and were directly ahead at a place known as Dioscorus, which they would find at the martyrium of the brother confessors Crescentius and Dioscorus. As they were talking, Nicholas said that the victims ought by now to be coming out. When they got to the gate, some told him that they were in a place called Byrra: that was to be place of the beheading.

Saint Nicholas, now running, found a great crowd of people before the executioner, who was holding his sword up, anticipating the coming of the holy man. When Nicholas came up to the place of the confessors of Christ, he found the three men with their faces covered with linen cloths. They had been placed in position, with their hands tied behind them. They were bending their knees and bowing their heads, expecting death.

At that moment Saint Nicholas, just as it is written, “The righteous are bold as a lion” (Proverbs xxviii, 1), fearlessly grabbed the sword from the executioner and cast it to the ground. Loosening the men from their chains, he took them with him to the city.

Walking down to the Pretorium, he thrust open the door and entered the presence of Eustathius the Praeses. The Praeses, hearing from a guard what had been done, now walked up to honor the holy man. But the servant of God, Nicholas, turned away from him saying: “Sacrilegious blood shedder! How dare you confront me, apprehended in so many and such evil acts! I will not spare or forgive you, but will let the mighty emperor Constantine know about you—how many and how serious are the sins which you have been discovered in, and in what fashion you administer your princely prefecture.”

Then Eustathius the Praeses fell to his knees and begged him: “Be not wrathful with thy servant, lord, but speak the truth, that I am not the guilty one, but the heads of state, Eudoxius and Simonides.”

Nonetheless the holy man answered: “It is not Eudoxius and Simonides who did this, but silver and gold.” For the holy man had learned that the Praeses was to receive more than two hundred pounds of silver to execute the citizens for crime. Yet the most holy man, after the officers of the army had earnestly spoken in behalf of the Praeses, granted him pardon, once the charges which the Praeses had leveled against the three men were cleared.”

Source.

Saint Nicholas is not just another name for Santa, but a true Dunker Punk whose devotion to God a service to others left such an impression that he is still remembered today, even if in a highly warped fashion. His relics are in Bari, Italy, which they arrived at after being “transferred” (read stolen) from his original tomb in Myra, but his legacy can be found around the world. So next time someone asks you if you believe in Santa, take some time to tell the story of Saint Nicholas of Myra, the real Santa.

Almighty God, who in your love gave to your servant Nicholas of Myra a perpetual name for deeds of kindness on land and sea: Grant, we pray, that your Church may never cease to work for the happiness of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever.

P.S. If you enjoy these articles Forward Movement, a ministry of the Episcopal Church, has recently published two free curriculums online about the saints of the church, one for children and one for adults. Obviously it is written from an Episcopalian perspective, but could be easily adapted from others.

http://www.forwardmovement.org/Products/2396/meet-the-saintsbr-downloadable-facilitators-guide–family-storybook.aspx

http://www.forwardmovement.org/Products/2389/celebrating-the-saintsbrdownloadable-course-youthadult.aspx

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Walking into War Zones

November 29, 2015Leave a comment

This week, Pope Francis is on his first Papal visit to Africa, including stops in Kenya, Uganda, and the Central African Republic. Commentators have made much about the Pope’s plans to visit the Central African Republic, a nation bloodied by a Civil War since 2013. The nation is torn between Christian and Muslim militias, and the Pope will visit leaders and worshippers from both religious groups during his visit in Bangui, CAR’s capital and largest city.

Commentators have labeled Bangui a war zone. Just because it is a large city does not mean it has been spared from violence. And many, including some within the Vatican, have questioned the safety of the Pope’s planned visit. But Pope Francis has insisted on visiting the places that need Christ’s peace the most. He reportedly joked to his pilot, ““I want to go to CAR. If you can’t manage it, give me a parachute.”

With the Pope insisting on visiting CAR, I have pondered about my own faith. Have I let it challenge me? Have I risked being unpopular and unliked to follow Jesus? Have I put myself – my finances, my status, even my physical safety – in harm’s way to follow Jesus when necessary? Resoundingly, the answer is all too often “no.” So I must challenge myself to do better

And I pose the same question to you: Are you allowing Jesus to challenge you to do what feels uncomfortable and risky? Does your faith guide you where you need to go, or do you guide your faith where you want to go? And I pose the same challenge to you: do better to follow Jesus, even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard.

It’s inconvenient to admit it, but Jesus doesn’t call us to a life of security and safety. He doesn’t call us to a faith of comfort and conformity. Jesus said in Matthew 10 and Mark 13 and Luke 21 that the world will hate us for following him. He said in John 15 that the world will hate us just like it hated him. Ours is a faith that requires courage and conviction. Ours is a faith that requires us to follow Jesus down some uncomfortable roads.

Unfortunately, some Christians have used those passages to justify a persecution complex. They point to all the ways that secular culture has deviated from what they have deemed a proper Christian life as evidence of discrimination and persecution against Christians. When same-sex couples are allowed to get married, they cry that Christian values are under attack. When Christian business owners aren’t allowed to discriminate against customers, they cry about religious liberty. When Starbucks doesn’t put a nativity scene on its red Holiday cups, they cry that Christianity is being bleached from society. I

Meanwhile, there is real injustice in the world that Christians should care about. Often, the coffee in that cup is harvested by exploited workers being paid starvation wages. The paper used to make that cup might have been harvested from rainforests that sustain millions of people. Those cups go to landfills, where they remain undigested for thousands of years. The whole process of the red Starbucks cups is sustained by fossil fuels that pollute the earth and contribute to climate change. Outside that Starbucks store, there might be a homeless person who faces death from starvation and exposure while thousands of people, many of them Christians, walk by him without even making eye contact.

Let me be clear: it is these instances of injustice that really do persecute Christian values. And it is in these instances that we follow Jesus by standing up and demanding change.

In John 8: 1-11, we read about Jesus saving a woman from injustice:

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.”And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”

I don’t think the way this passage is written quite does this frightening scene justice. Here was have a ritual killing, an impromptu one at that. It’s an instance of frenzied mob violence, as much about venting anger and frustration and passion as about following any religious dictate. A stoning is a brutal community affair, a public execution in which the whole town is the executioner. And Jesus stands in front of this crowd and, albeit indirectly, tells the crowd not to stone the woman.

Jesus is no stranger to this kind of mob violence. Let’s not forget that his mother, Mary, could have been stoned just like this woman for being pregnant out of wedlock. In Luke 4, we read how Jesus himself was nearly thrown off of a cliff by a mob of religious folk from his hometown. And of course, Jesus is eventually ritually and publicly executed at the beckoning of a bloodthirsty crowd.

So Jesus knows that he is risking his life to stand up for this woman.

How often do we have the courage to risk comfort and reputation, or even safety, to stand up to injustice? If we’re honest with ourselves, not often. Yet, it is in the face of injustice that the world needs us most to be the Church. It is into the heart of injustice that Christ asks us to carry his light.

There is injustice in your communities, in your schools, even in your homes and in your churches. And it is there that Jesus wants you to follow him. And there is injustice in our nation and internationally. It is to solve those problems, too, that we must follow Jesus.

God calls us to be encouraged and emboldened by our faith, not just comforted and saved by it. How can you be more courageous in following Jesus? How can you be a nonconformist for Christ? How can you risk comfort and reputation, perhaps even financial and physical security, to follow Jesus?

Pope Francis says that he will parachute into a war zone if he must to bring Christ’s message of hope and peace where it’s most needed. There are war zones around us, too, into which we must be willing to parachute.

We are pleased to announce the new Dunker Punks podcast! Each month, the Dunker Punks podcast will feature stories of people following and encountering Christ as we seek to transform ourselves to look more like Christ so we can begin to shape the world around us to look more like the Kingdom of God.

Click here to like the Dunker Punks Podcast on Facebook!
Click here to listen to the first episode!

Emmett Eldred is a sophomore Creative Writing; Professional Writing; and Ethics, History, and Public Policy Major at Carnegie Mellon University. His passions include reading about, writing about, and snuggling with pugs. Emmett is the founder of DunkerPunks.com, and he wants lots more people to contribute! Fill out a Dunker Punks profile, and join the conversation! Follow Emmett on twitter @emmetteldred and follow Dunker Punks on Twitter@DunkerPunks and on Facebook.

Want to contribute? Fill out a Dunker Punks profile, and/or email Emmett at dunkerpunks2014@gmail.com.

Syrian Refugees: Let Them In

November 22, 2015November 22, 2015Leave a comment

I’ll be honest: It’s not often that I think the Bible gives crystal clear, uncontradictory, wholly consistent guidance. On just about any topic. As such, it is perfectly possible for people on both sides of most debates to defend their viewpoints using scripture and to make the case that they are acting out of genuine faith principles.

The current debate about Syrian Refugees, and whether the United States and other Western, Christian-majority nations should let them in, is not one of those debates. As I’m about to lay out, from start to finish, the Bible gives clear guidance, time and again, that we are to welcome and love refugees.

I must caution you that what follows is an often sarcastic, satirical look at the way Christians have ignored scripture’s clear guidance on refugees. That said, here’s a list of scriptural references that I’ve borrowed from a United Church of Christ resource page about refugees:

Genesis 12:10 – “Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to reside there as an alien, for the famine was severe in the land.” Abraham, considered the father of the Judeo-Christian tradition, was once a refugee.

Genesis 19 – Lot takes his family and flees Sodom.

Genesis 23 – Abraham is a stranger and an alien in the land of Canaan.

Genesis 46:1-7 – Jacob moves his family to Egypt to escape the famine and reunite with Joseph.

Genesis 47: 1-6 – Joseph brings his brothers to Pharaoh and they are welcomed and given jobs

Just in the book of Genesis, we have ample examples of how our spiritual ancestors welcomed refugees, and how many of spiritual ancestors were refugees themselves. At the end of Genesis, several of our refugee ancestors have been welcomed into Egypt.

However, it’s not long before xenophobia sets in:

Exodus 1:8-14 – Joseph’s generation is gone, and the Egyptians oppress the Israelites. “Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor.”

It seems like we’re confused on this point. We have a lot more in common with the xenophobic Egypt seen in Exodus than the welcoming one seen in Genesis.

Exodus 12:37-39 – Here again, the Israelites become refugees, running away from persecution in Egypt. It seems that the forerunners of our own faith are Middle Eastern refugees. That’s… inconvenient for those of us who wish to denigrate Middle Eastern refugees today.

Exodus 12:49 and Leviticus 24:22 – “There shall be one law for the native and for the alien who resides among you.”

Wait, what? We’re not supposed to treat refugees like second-class humans? We’re supposed to treat refugees like they could be… members of our own family? Members of our own communities? How am I supposed to treat all refugees like one massive terrorist cell if I have to acknowledge that they’re image-bearers of God just like me?

Exodus 22:21 – “You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien; for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.”

I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that turning away tens of thousands of refugees and forcing them back into a brutal dictatorship, civil war, and terrorist insurgency would qualify as “wronging and oppressing” them.

Leviticus 19:9-10 and 23:22 – “You shall not strip your vineyards bare…leave them for the poor and the alien.”

For those of us that think we shouldn’t let in refugees because they’ll take our jobs, and government benefits, and houses from homeless veterans: sorry, this whole notion of “us” and “them” doesn’t really fly in the Kingdom of Heaven. In this, the wealthiest country in human history, we have more than enough to care for our homeless veterans AND show compassion to Syrian refugees.

Leviticus 19:33-34 and 24:22 – When the alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

Man, God just loves to remind us about how we were refugees once, too. It’s almost like we should show gratitude for our relative peace and security not by jealously hoarding the blessings of freedom and prosperity for ourselves, but by widening that circle to more people who desperately need a little peace and security.

Leviticus 24:23 – “With me you are but aliens and tenants.”

It’s a good thing that God isn’t a xenophobe. We’re all refugees in his kingdom, and if he treated refugees like we treat refugees, we’d be in big trouble.

Numbers 9:14 and 15:15-16 – “…you shall have one statute for both the resident alien and the native.”

Again with the treating refugees like equal human beings!? What do you think we are, God? Christians? Cut us some slack.

Deuteronomy 6: 12 – “Take care that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

When we forget refugees, we forget the Lord.

Deuteronomy 10:18-19 – “For the Lord your God…loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

But… but… but God, I don’t want to love the stranger! I’m scared of the stranger. Why did you give food and clothing to the scary strangers, God? How can we justify denying the stranger when you’re always going about loving everyone?

Deuteronomy 14:28-29 and 26:12-13 – These verses describe how tithing exists, in part, to care for refugees. Something tells me a refugee tax wouldn’t go over well here in America. It’s probably just because God doesn’t understand economics, though. Yeah, let’s just go with that.

Deuteronomy 24:17-18 – “You shall not deprive a resident alien…of justice.”

Does sending tens of thousands of refugees back into imminent danger count as justice? I hope so, or we’re going to have to reevaluate our priorities.

Deuteronomy 24:19-22 – Leave sheaf, olives, grapes for the alien.

But there are 50,000 homeless veterans that need the sheaf, olives, and grapes! Nevermind that we didn’t really care too much about sticking up for homeless veterans until it was a convenient excuse to hate Syrian Refugees. Or that we’re not actually going to use the funding we would have used to resettle refugees to care for the homeless.

We’re just going off of the Bible: Rhetorics 14: 23 – “Thou shalt use homeless veterans as a political prop to cast a red herring that distracts you from your own xenophobia and callous hearts.” What can we do but follow the Bible? Our hands are tied.

Deuteronomy 27:19 – “Cursed be anyone who deprives the alien…of justice.”

Ouch. Cursed? No need to be so judgemental, God. We’re just trying to keep our homeland safe.

Psalm 137:1-6 – “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept…How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?”

Yeah, but we were singing songs for Lord. Clearly, God only wants us to care about Christian refugees. Right?

Psalm 146:9 – “The Lord watches over the strangers…”

To make sure they’re not plotting anything fishy, amiright? We’re with you on this one, God. Increase surveillance on Muslims. That’s what this verse means, right? I can’t think of any other way that God might be watching over refugees. Surely not with eyes of concern and compassion.

Ecclesiastes 4:1 – “Look, the tears of the oppressed—with no one to comfort them.”

But who’s going to comfort us? That’s the real question! We’re really scared. We’re the victims, here. I didn’t read the bible to be challenged to comfort others, I only read the Bible to see how it can comfort me.

Isaiah 16:4 – “Be a refuge to the outcasts of Moab.”

Ok, but too be fair, Moab was in present day Jordan, which is like, hundreds of miles from Syria. Plus, it’s not like the Moabites and the Israelites often warred with one another, so welcoming the Moabites wouldn’t be a national security risk. Oh, wait, it was exactly like that?

Jeremiah 22:3-5 – “Do no wrong or violence to the alien.”

Right, but we’re not directly doing any violence to the Syrian refugees. We’re just casting them back to Syria, where many of them will undoubtedly be subjected to violence. Loophole! We’re off the hook. That’s how you’re supposed to read the Bible, right? Ever vigilant of loopholes that absolve you of responsibility?

Ezekiel 47:21-22 – “The aliens shall be to you as citizens, and shall also be allotted an inheritance.”

Sigh. Ok, but can’t they at least be like second-class citizens? They are scary, after all.

Malachi 3:5 – “The messenger will bear witness against those who thrust aside the alien.”

Something to look forward to in the December issue of the Messanger, apparently.

Ok, ok, ok. I get it. God cares about refugees and show should we. Blah, blah, blah. But all that crap was from the Old Testament. Conveniently for us, we don’t have to worry about the Old Testament at all, right? Everyone knows that God portrayed in the Old Testament is just a big old softy. Thankfully, God gets a whole lot less forgiving and merciful and grace-giving in the new testament, right?

Matthew 2:13-15 – Jesus and parents flee to Egypt as Herod tries to murder their child.

Oh, right. I forgot about that whole Jesus fella. You’re telling me that Jesus was a refugee? That when we put little porcelain nativity scenes on our altars, we welcoming a Middle Eastern refugee family into our home? How well vetted are these nativity scenes?

Matthew 5:10-11 –“Blessed are those who are persecuted.”

Something tells me Jesus isn’t talking about Christians being persecuted by red Starbucks cups.

Matthew 25:35-40 – “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'”

I chose to quote this whole passage because I think these words from Christ, the refugee that we worship, are so vital to understanding what we Christians should be doing in regards to Syrian Refugees. Jesus isn’t just speaking figuratively. He really was a stranger. He really was a hungry baby lying in a manger. He and his family really were in need of love, and compassion, and mercy, and grace, and generosity. There really were people who showed that measure of care to him and his family. When we encounter “the least of these” in our lives: in our communities, in our churches, in our schools, in our political discussions, we would do well to remember that the same nativist, know-nothing rhetoric coming from some people in the United States today would have delivered the baby Jesus straight to the genocidal tyrant seeking his death.

Romans 12:13 – “Mark of the true Christian: “…Extend hospitality to strangers…”

Silly Paul, always using that no-true-Scotsman fallacy. You’re saying that if Christians don’t welcome refugees, they’re not really acting like Christians at all?

II Corinthians 8:13-15 – “It is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need…”

Ok, but to be fair, who really has the abundance, and who really has the need? We’re the richest country in human history, true. But doesn’t anyone consider our needs? Like how we need to be coddled about our irrational fears?

Ephesians 2:11-22 – “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.”

Hmm. Until we are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, we too are refugees. It’s such as shame that 31 of the Governors in God’s Kingdom decided that they don’t want to bring in refugees anymore.

Hebrews 13:1-2 – “…show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels…”

You mean, not every Syrian refugee is a terrorist? Some of them might be good people? Some of them might go on to do great things? No! Surely not.

James 2:14-17 – “What good is it…if you say you have faith but do not have works?”

If we say we’re Christians, but we don’t act like Christ, what good is that?

I John 4:7-21 – “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God…” We love because God first loved us.”

And this is really the point. Our spiritual ancestry is full of refugees. Abraham was a refugee. The Israelites were refugees coming out of Egypt. Jesus was a refugee. Yet, through God’s mercy and blessing, we have found peace and security, prosperity and joy. That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love Syrian Refugees because they haven’t been blessed like we have. To the contrary, God is desperately seeking to use us to bless the Syrian refugees that need our help. Just as God has shown us mercy, so must we be merciful.

And remember, we’re all refugees of a broken world seeking asylum in God’s Kingdom. What if there were nativists and racists and xenophobes there, who didn’t want to let us in? What if there were people there who were concerned about national security and the vetting process who didn’t want to let us in? What if there were people there jealous of their own prosperity and fearful that we might dilute the wealth and security that they had grown to love?

Luckily for us, it doesn’t seem like the Kingdom of Heaven would act that way. Why, then, should Christians here in the United States act any different? Let them in. It’s what we were made to do.

Want to contribute? Fill out a Dunker Punks profile, and/or email Emmett at dunkerpunks2014@gmail.com.

Happy Halloween!

October 30, 2015Leave a comment

By Nolan McBride

Wow! It’s been over a month since my last article here. Between papers and exams I haven’t had much time to myself. Sorry for taking so long. I have several more Dunker Punks I want to tell you about, but given next Saturday’s celebration, I decided I should talk a little about its origins. If you grew up in a hometown similar to mine, you probably had at least one or two friends growing up whose parents wouldn’t let them go trick-or-treating because Halloween is ”pagan,” or “demonic,” or whatever. Ironically, while the modern day Halloween is basically a purely secular holiday, it actually stems from a Christian celebration.

Halloween’s name is corrupted from All Hallows’ Eve, the night before All Hallows’ Day, or as it is more commonly known today, All Saints’ Day. In a similar fashion to Christmas Eve, All Hallows’ Eve developed a series of traditions associated with it in preparation for the holiday the day after. Vigil services were, and in many traditions still are held for All Saints’ Day. Trick-or-Treating derives from Souling, a practice where children dressed in black poor would go door to door asking for Soul Cakes, a round sweet cake in exchange for prayers for the givers and their families.

All Saints’ Day itself is meant to be a celebration of all the Saints in heaven. While there are many officially canonized Saints, all those in Heaven are considered Saints, canonized or not. Official canonization typically only happens to those who lived their faith in a particularly renowned way: martyrs, missionaries, clergy, monastics, exc.; however, Heaven is not limited to those people. A life of simple and quite witness is no less holy and no less a path to heaven than martyr’s death. As such, there are many Saints whose lives and deeds are known only to God. All Saints’ Day was started as a way to celebrate the lives and examples of all the Saints, known and unknown.

In my home congregation we developed our own way of celebrating All Saints’ Day on the first Sunday of November. Every year, during that day’s service we name and remember all those saints in our own congregation who have died over the past year, as well as remembering those who helped us along in our Christian journey who have now passed on to their final reward. At the same time, we recognize and celebrate new members of our congregation in the past year, both those who have been baptized and those who have transferred their membership. So, this weekend in-between dressing up in crazy costumes and having a good scare, take a moment to remember the saints in your life who helped you to get where you are now, and perhaps say a short prayer or two thanking God for them.

Anglican Collect for All Saints

Almighty God,
who hast knit together thine elect
in one communion and fellowship
in the mystical body of Your Son, Christ our Lord:
Give us grace so to follow Your blessed saints
in all virtuous and godly living,
that we may come
to those ineffable joys
that thou hast prepared for those
who unfeignedly love thee;
through the same Jesus Christ our Lord,
who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth,
one God, in glory everlasting. Amen

– Book of Common Prayer, 1979

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Domesticated Ritual

October 9, 2015Leave a comment

Collationes

Any one who talks theology with me, or just skims this blog, probably already knows this: I like ritual and liturgy. Whether it is the rich practice of the Brethren Love Feast or a simple celebration of the Eucharist, I like me some ritual.

Yet, despite the beauty and significance of Love Feast for the Brethren, it seems we are about as anti-ritual as we are anti-intellectual. That is, we don’t like too much formability or structure. Never mind the fact that a collection of bulletins from any congregation will show just how much we are set in our ways.

Such antipathy to ritual comes in many forms— It is too formal, not enough room for the Spirit; Ritual reinforces a hierarchy foreign to our priesthood of all theology; Too much pomp for our commitment to simplicity; Too much like what Catholics do, and we don’t do sacramentalism.

Brethren come…

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A Namesake to be Proud Of

September 4, 2015October 9, 20151 Comment

By Nolan McBride

I was asked to shed a little more light on my comment about still being sore about the last Lent Madness competition, and so decided to make this article in Dunker Punks in History about my family’s namesake, St. Brigid of Kildare. (Also known as St. Brigit or St. Bride. Got to l st. brgid ove alternate spellings.) I first discovered her in middle school while trying to research what my last name meant. I had read that in Irish names Mc means son of, but I was confused as to why I would have an ancestor named Bride. In actuality, the name is a shortened form of the Irish Mac Giolla Brídhe, which means “Son of a servant of St. Brigid.” In short, one of my ancestors must have had a particularly strong devotion to St. Brigid, so that his family came to be known for it. After having learned about her life, I can see why.

Some people believe that St. Brigid never actually existed. She shares a name with a particularly popular Irish goddess who shared a couple of similar patronages and customs associated with the saint. Because of this some scholars have suggested that she is actually a Christianization of said goddess. While I’m not going to pretend that I am not biased, I disagree. While I would not be surprised to find that some of the legends and traditions associated with St. Brigid were original about the goddess, as a matter of fact I find that quite likely, I find it hard to believe that Irish Christians would have just taken a pagan goddesses and made her a saint. I believe that at least the core of the legends of St. Brigid are true.

While St. Brigid has many patronages, including everything from infants to scholars to breweries, she is probably best known as one of the three patron saints of Ireland, together with St. Columba and most famously, St. Patrick. Her feast day is February First.

I’m going to go on a tangent here as I believe I am writing for a mostly Brethren audience, and I’m not sure how much everybody knows about concepts of fest days and patron saints. I know that I didn’t know anything about them until I started studying other branches of Christianity a couple of years ago. A Saint’s feast day is a special day set aside by the church to remember that person’s witness and legacy in the church, similar to how in the secular world we have national holidays to celebrate national heroes. A few of these days have become secular holidays themselves, such as St. Patrick’s Day and St. Valentine’s Day. (Yes, Valentine’s Day was originally a religious holiday. And you though the commercialization of Christmas was bad.)

A patron saint is a saint who is believed to have a special affinity for a particular job, location, or type of people. People ask them to pray to God on their behalf, similar to you might ask a close friend or relative to pray for you. After all “the prayer of a righteous man [or woman] availeth much” (James 5:16), and how much more righteous can you get than someone who is already in heaven?

During the first couple rounds of Lent Madness (a spiritual version of March Madness run by a couple of Episcopal priests, but open to and featuring contestants from all branches of the Christian faith) The Rev. Megan Castellan posted these articles on the life of St. Brigid, which tell her story much better than I would be able to. I’ll include links to these and other posts about St. Brigid from the competition at the end of the article.

“Brigid was born into slavery in 453 CE in what is now known as Ireland. She was born out of wedlock to a Druid high priest named Dubhtacht and an enslaved woman named Brocca. Dubhtacht promptly sold Brigid off, since he was hoping for a boy.

This plan didn’t work; Brigid arrived back at her father’s house when she came of age — and had freshly converted to Christianity as well. (Saint Patrick was already active in Ireland by this point, so her conversion was not surprising, but it really annoyed her father).

What further irked her father was Brigid’s practice of giving away every single thing in his house to any impoverished person who asked. Food, clothing, silver — Brigid gave it away without a second thought in order to aid the poor who flocked to her generous spirit. When Brigid gave away his jewel-encrusted sword, her father reached the end of his rope and was determined to sell her to the king.

The king didn’t share Dubhtacht’s frustration — and as he was convinced that she was a holy person, the king promptly gave Brigid her freedom.

Brigid had one goal in mind. She marched across Ireland, from Leinster to Connaught, to find and buy her mother’s freedom. After this, Brigid became a nun, and established a monastery at Kildare, where she lived for the rest of her life.

The Kildare monastery was a double monastery —meaning men and women monastics lived together — and Brigid was the abbess over both houses. It was the first such establishment, but others soon followed throughout the Celtic countryside. As abbess, Brigid was sought out for her advice and counsel, and Kildare became a great cathedral city in Ireland and a center for the arts, learning, and spirituality.

Ever the consummate hostess, many of the miracles associated with Brigid had to do with food — especially dairy foods. Her cows were rumored to give milk three times a day. In one of the most mystical stories of Brigid’s life, we find her miraculously whisked through time and space to be the midwife to Mary and wet nurse to baby Jesus. It’s easy to see why Brigid is celebrated as the patron to both dairy farmers and lactating women.

Brigid was known for being wise and generous and good at explaining the gospel in the people’s language and culture. Legend has it that she went to visit a dying man who was out of his mind with fever. She sat beside him to console him, and as she sat, she started weaving together rushes from the floor into a cross shape. The man saw what she was doing and asked what the cross meant. She explained it, and the man was moved to ask for baptism. To this day, Saint Brigid’s cross is omnipresent in Ireland.

Brigid died at Kildare in 525 CE, but her life and her presence echo still across Ireland and throughout the world today.

Collect for Brigid of Kildare:

Everliving God, we rejoice today in the fellowship of your blessed servant Brigid, and we give you thanks for her life of devoted service. Inspire us with life and light, and give us perseverance to serve you all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Brigid is the most beloved Irish saint, alongside Patrick, in the hearts of the Irish people.

Known as Mary of the Gael, she is said to have miraculous powers over beer: both changing a bathtub full of water to beer to feed a starving family, and causing a single barrel of her monastery’s brew to last from Christmas straight through to Pentecost.

However, she didn’t limit her exploits to mass beer production — Brigid was a shrewd leader as well. Her double monastery was the first of its kind. When she went to the king, to request land to build her abbey, she explained that she had just the right spot picked out: it had trees, access to water, good for building, a lovely view, etc. The king flatly refused. Undeterred, Brigid suggested the king give to her just enough land as her cloak covered. The king, eyeing the small garment wrapped around her shoulders, shrugged and agreed. Brigid spread out her cloak, handing each corner to a different nun, and they started walked in opposite directions. Suddenly, the cloak grew larger and larger, until the king, annoyed, threw up his hands, and gave her the original parcel she had wanted. The idea of Brigid’s cloak became very important, and to this day, a popular Irish blessing asks for St. Brigid to shelter you under her cloak.

On a slightly more practical note, when St. Mel of Armaugh performed her installation as abbess of Kildare, he reported seeing a column of fire descend from the heavens and alight upon Brigid’s head. This vision convinced him, on the spur of the moment to just go ahead and ordain her a bishop. (Columns of fire from heaven are not to be trifled with). Vision or no, Brigid is considered by many to be the first functioning female bishop and is depicted holding a bishop’s crozier in many icons.

Her ministry, in Kildare and beyond, was based on translating the incoming Christian faith into the language of the people’s traditional customs and practices, until it became something they could relate to.

The monastery at Kildare was founded on a site that had been traditionally used for Druid worship of a pagan goddess. Worship of this goddess involved the kindling and tending of an eternal flame. Once Brigid decided to set up her monastery there, she elected to continue to let the flame burn — only she explained it as the light of Christ, shining in the world and coming to Ireland to bring wisdom, peace, and justice. Each day, a different nun would tend the light, and on the 20th day, Brigid herself took a turn. So the flame burned continuously, as it had in pre-Christian days until Henry VIII destroyed the monasteries.

However, in 1993, the order Brigid founded relit the flame in Kildare, and it is again shining continuously as a beacon of Christ’s love in Ireland.”

St. Brigid reminds us of God’s love for all people, especially the poor, and witnesses to the important roles women have played in the church, even from its earliest beginnings. May her example lead us as we live out the calling of a Dunker Punk.

http://www.lentmadness.org/2015/03/brigid-of-kildare-vs-elizabeth/
http://www.lentmadness.org/2015/03/brigid-of-kildare-vs-dionysius-the-great/http://www.lentmadness.org/2015/03/brigid-of-kildare-vs-kamehameha/
http://www.lentmadness.org/2015/03/brigid-of-kildare-vs-egeria/
http://www.lentmadness.org/2015/04/for-the-golden-halo-francis-of-assisi-vs-brigid-of-kildare/

(P.S. Please leave a comment saying who you are and where you are from. I want to know how many people are reading this.)

(P.P.S. Feel free to help me in my campaign to get John Kline and Ted Studebaker on next year’s bracket.)

Want to contribute? Fill out a Dunker Punks profile, and/or send an email to dunkerpunks2014@gmail.com.

1000+ Letters for Nigeria Day 365!

September 3, 2015Leave a comment

Learn more about the 1000+ Letters for Nigeria Project!

Today is day 365! The last day of the letters for Nigeria project! At least this stage of it. Now comes follow-ups with all the organizations I’ve written to about the Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria.

Today’s letters go to:

Practical Compassion
Project Mercy
Reformed Church World Service

Click the pictures to read the letters!