Render Unto Caesar

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The Tribute Money - (Le denier de Cesar) - James Tissot

Brooklyn Museum – The Tribute Money – (Le denier de Cesar) – James Tissot, Public Domain via Picryl

On Sunday April 28, I gave the message at our church on the theme of “Discernment in Politics.” It’s been a crazy day and because of that, I do not have a book post prepared so I thought I would share a transcript of the talk. This is not a message about what person or party to support or even how to make those choices. It’s more about living with wisdom and peace in this fraught political season. I hope you find it helpful.

Discernment in Politics: Matthew 22: 15-22

15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax[a] to Caesar or not?”

18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away. (Matthew 22:15-22, NIV)

Introduction

Have you ever noticed how when you are anxious in anything that it helps to take some deep breaths, to step back, and understand what is going on. Recently, I had a physical exam, and my blood test results show a particular measure out of whack. These days, you often get this info before hearing from your doc. Of course I go on the internet and discover all the dire things this could mean. So I wrote to my doc. It turns out he ran a follow up test that was finer grained, identifying a condition, probably genetic, that was benign, and sent me an educational article. My doc’s discernment and the educational info he sent greatly reduced my anxiety and gave me a few things I could do and watch out for.

Much of our political discourse, particularly in advertising and on social media, is designed to arouse our anxiety. Part of this is to keep us clicking. It appeals to more primitive parts of our brains involved in protecting ourselves, bypassing the parts of our brain that think. There are times when we need that part of our brain. I’d like to suggest politics is not one of them and the example of Jesus in Matthew offers us a lesson in political discernment.

Some Background

A little background might help us in understanding the passage. First of all, it is part of a section from Matthew 21:23 through 22:46 where Jesus is engaging various opponents in the temple during the week before the crucifixion. After responding to a question on what authority he does things like cleanse the temple, he tells three parables about the two sons, about the wicked tenants in the vineyard, and about the wedding banquet where his opponents recognize that he is speaking about them.

So we come to this passage where the Pharisees and Herodians get together to trap him. What’s curious about all this is that they are usually political enemies. The Pharisees are the people’s party while the Herodians support the Roman establishment. The trap they come up with is ingenious. Rome levied a special poll tax on subject peoples that Roman citizens did not need to pay. It was a reminder that they were under the thumb of Rome.

The question they come up with is a “gotcha” question, at least if you just stuck to “yes” or “no.” Answer yes, and Jesus would alienate many Jews who resented the tax, including some of the Pharisees. Answer no, and Jesus could be charged with treason.

When Jesus asks for a coin, they probably gave him a denarius that had an image of Tiberius Caesar on one side. The image alone would be offensive to Jews who were told to “make no graven images” and the inscriptions were equally offensive: “Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus” on one side and “pontifex maximus” or high priest on the other. Which begs the question of why they have these coins!

So what may we learn from how Jesus handles this?

Jesus discerns their intent. He recognizes they are trying to trap him. Now the intent of our politicians is not always evil, but it is good to listen to the intent behind the words. Another word for this may be interests. Around most political issues there are various interests including our own. The question is whether the interest or intent is merely personal advantage for one group or the common good of all. If a political position advantages some at the expense of others, there is evil or unjust intent.

Jesus discerns ways they are trying to manipulate him. They say some very nice things about his integrity, his teaching, and that he will not be swayed by attention-getting. This can happen through flattery, fear or false promises. There may have even been a temptation for Jesus to be an “influencer.” The invitation to be on the inside, to have influence can be intoxicating. Jesus resists it.

Jesus discerns the false and reductive binary they offer him. So much of our political polarization has to do with turning nearly everything into one of these binaries. Do you know that there was a time in the 1960’s and 1970’s when environmental measures were supported by both parties and a Republican president established the EPA? Then the environment was politicized, and you had to choose between being pro-business and pro-environment, which is like saying, you must choose between walking and chewing gum. And so we are either pro 2nd amendment or for government confiscating all our guns. We are pro-life or pro-choice. We must choose between open borders or building the wall.

The reality is that choosing one side of these binaries excludes the interests and concerns of a lot of people. They also oversimplify the world. Real solutions are often both more complex and creative.

Jesus discerns a kingdom alternative that is far richer. Jesus recognizes the reality that there will always be government. His reply is kind of matter of fact. Give Caesar what is his. Caesar made the coin. The Roman empire is just an earthly power, no less no more.

But he also speaks to what ought to be on the heart of every Jewish listener. What belongs to God? Actually, what doesn’t belong to God? He is Creator. He gives life and land, the cattle on a thousand hills are his, his eye is on the sparrow, he knows the number of hairs on our heads. Sure, let Caesar have his pocket change. And let God have all of your life! Embrace all that is God’s! No wonder people left amazed.

Rather than taking sides, might the role of Christians be to work with both sides, whether locally or nationally to find richer alternatives? One local example I think of is the service of Pastor Rich Nathan on the Columbus Civilian Police Review Board, both supporting the work of police and providing civilian accountability for how they police to restore trust between police and the community.

Jesus discerns ultimate allegiances and our only hope. Any government, nation, or political party are ”just” politics, “just” government. They don’t hold a candle to God’s everlasting global kingdom. They only have a limited function under God. They are not unimportant and we should seek the best people we can find to serve in positions of public trust. But if you are a professing Christian, you have sworn absolute allegiance to the king of kings and lord of lords and there is no part of our lives exempt from that allegiance: our money, our time, our possessions, our sexuality, our ambitions, our work, our retirement, and our politics.

He is also the one we trust absolutely for not only our salvation but for our life and health in the world. I wonder if this is so for us. I wonder if some Christians have embraced the politics of right or left with such a religious fervor because they don’t believe that God can save. They don’t believe the gospel’s power.

I suspect all of us here love our country and all of us may have concerns and anxieties about it. The question is, do we trust God implicitly with that or have we placed an inordinate trust in our politics? If I’m anxious about politics, that is a signal that it is time for some kingdom discernment. Will I trust that God really is in charge, that God will always work for the good of those who love him? Nations rise and fall, and this could even be the trajectory of the United States. I don’t like that idea, and I would work against it happening in my generation, but if it comes, I recognize that my real hope is in the everlasting kingdom of the everlasting God.

Conclusion.

  1. Discerning intent
  2. Discerning interest
  3. Discerning false and simplistic binaries
  4. Discerning the richer kingdom alternative
  5. Discerning our ultimate allegiances

These are the things that enable us to live as people of wisdom and peace in our anxious political season. But if you can’t remember all of that, remember the last and pray to always discern your ultimate allegiance. What does God want? What would Jesus do? What has God said in his Word? What does absolute allegiance to Jesus require of me today? For what am I’m anxious that I will trust him, including my anxieties in this political season?

I would suggest two practical tests to help us assess where we are tending toward:

  1. What are we taking in more? Scripture, good Christian reading or excellent writing in general, sermons and podcasts or Fox or CNN, talk radio, and political memes and posts and arguments on social media.
  2. What are we talking about more? God and God’s goodness, and the ways we can live our lives loving God and neighbor, or the latest political news, what we don’t like about a candidate or party?

What we are taking in and what we are talking about most reveals where our heart is. I wrestle with this personally. As I turned the calendar to 2024, I recognized what a fraught year is ahead. I challenged myself with regard to these questions with the simple resolution, more Jesus, less politics! Finally, my wife reminded me that one other way we express our absolute trust and know freedom from anxiety is to live joyful and grateful lives for all the good, true, and beautiful things we see and experience each day. That’s another way of saying, “Our God reigns!”

The Month in Reviews: April 2024

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Cover image of James McBride's "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store."

I set a new record for books reviewed in a month in April–twenty-one. So I’ll just highlight a few that stood out. I like anything that Richard Mouw writes and his Divine Generosity breaks the Reformed stereotype that only a few will be elect in exploring within the doctrines of the Reformed the idea that God will save widely. As is always the case, N.T. Wright brought new insights to one of my favorite passages, Romans 8, along with new questions. Edith Humphrey’s Down the Valley is a delightful children’s story introducing us to the lives of the saints and a wonderful family, that I suspect mirrors her own. David Brooks strikes me as the consummate learner and in How to Know a Person, he takes us along his own learning journey of what it means to know and be known deeply. Finally, I cannot say enough good about Moms at the Well, a new Bible study addressing with great sympathy and constructive hope, the struggles of every mom I know. The guide offers creative exercises for personal reflection and for rich group experiences and is an exquisite piece of work typographically as well.

I’ve made a change in the publication data I include. Following the move of The Chicago Manual of Style that has made place of publication optional, I am no longer including this. Instead, I am including ISBN numbers, which seem more useful in searches for a book. Of course, I continue to link in the title to the publisher’s website. I do this to avoid preferring a particular bookseller as well as offering you the resources the publisher offers for the book (sometimes excerpts or book trailers, or even supplemental free material). Let me know if you have an opinion about these changes.

Raising Mentally Strong Kids, Daniel G. Amen, MD and Charles Fay, PhD. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale Refresh, 2024. Two clinicians, one a neuroscientist and the other a mental heath practitioner, explore how the findings in their two fields may combine to raise mentally healthy, loving, responsible, and resilient children. Review

An Excellent Mystery, (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #11), Ellis Peters. New York: Mysterious Press/Open Road Media, 2014 (first published in 1985). A dying monk, a refugee from Maud’s wars, arrives at Shrewsbury Abbey with a mute brother as helper and a former aide of the monk discovers that the monk’s former betrothed is missing. Review

Blessed Are the Rest of Us, Micha Boyett. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2023. A mother with a Down’s Syndrome child discovers in the Beatitudes a relationship with God based on God’s love rather than our accomplishments. Review

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, Katherine May. New York: Riverhead Books, 2020. A memoir exploring the importance of winters in our lives and the importance of the inward turn and care for ourselves in such seasons. Review

Divine Generosity, Richard J. Mouw. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802883902), 2024. A discussion from a Calvinist perspective of how widely God’s saving mercy extends. Review

Passenger to Frankfurt, Agatha Christie. William Morrow Paperbacks (ISBN: 9780062094452), 2012 (Originally published in 1970). Sir Stafford Nye helps a woman in the Frankfurt airport by giving her his cloak, passport, and boarding ticket to England and finds himself caught up in a global plot. Review

Creator: A Theological Interpretation of Genesis 1, Peter J. Leithart. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514002162), 2023. Considering philosophical discussions of the being of God, turns to Genesis 1 which reveals the Triune Creator who speaks and sees, who loves and is good. Review

The Case of the Late Pig (Albert Campion #8), Margery Allingham. Open Road Media (ISBN: 9781504087308), 2023 (Originally published in 1937). When Campion is invited to the second funeral in six months for an old school acquaintance, he finds him drawn into a murder investigation where the murders keep coming. Review

The Spirituality of Dreaming, Kelly Bulkeley. Broadleaf Books (ISBN: 9781506483146), 2023. A dream researcher explores both the science and spirituality of dreaming. Review

Into the Heart of Romans, N.T. Wright. Zondervan Academic (ISBN: 9780310157748), 2023. A close reading of Romans 8, focusing on the purpose, presence, and profound love in Christ for all who believe meant to assure them of not only their ultimate destiny but of God’s favor even as they share in the sufferings of Christ amid a groaning creation. Review

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, James McBride. Riverhead Books (ISBN: 9780593422946), 2023. A story centered around a grocery store in the midst of Pottstown’s Chicken Hill district, inhabited by immigrant Jews and the local Black community. Review

Beyond Ethnic Loneliness, Prasanta Verma. InterVarsity Press (ISBN: 9781514007419), 2024. An Indian American immigrant describes the distinctive experience of ethnic loneliness and steps those experiencing that loneliness and those who care for them can take toward healing. Review

Down the Valley, Edith M. Humphrey. Cascade Books (ISBN: 9781666772067), 2024. Further adventures beyond the gate of the white fence where the children at “Gramgon’s” house and an older friend meet the saints after whom they are named. Review

Fundamentalists in the Public Square (Studies in Historical and Systematic Theology), Madison Trammel. Lexham Academic. (ISBN: 9781683597186) 2023. A counter-argument to the contention that fundamentalists retreated from activism in the public square after the Scopes trial, based on a study of newspaper reports. Review

Hope Ain’t a Hustle, Irwyn Ince (Foreword by Christina Edmonson). InterVarsity Press (ISBN: 9781514005743), 2024. A series of messages from the book of Hebrews making the case for the confidence we may have in Christ, our great high priest who endured the storm, who sustains our hope, and calls us to enduring faithfulness. Review

Ethics@Work, Kris Østergaard, ed. Re:humanize Publishing (ISBN: 9788797284100), 2022. An anthology of essays on workplace ethics in the context of near future challenges, focusing on the systemic context, the inner life of an organization, and the humans at the core of every enterprise. Review

How to Know a Person, David Brooks. Random House (ISBN: 9780593230060), 2023. An exploration of how we might see people deeply and help them know that they are seen. Review

God’s Revolution: Justice, Community, and the Coming Kingdom, Eberhard Arnold. Plough Publishing (ISBN: 9781636080000), 2021. A collection of the writings of Eberhard Arnold, describing the life of discipleship embodied in the Bruderhof, as a radical alternative to the institutional church. Review

Character in the Garden, Doris Erika Brocke. Brocke House Enterprises (ISBN: 9780991835515), 2021. A compilation of photographs from the author’s surroundings combined with quotations focusing on the qualities of character. Review

The Raven in the Foregate (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #12), Ellis Peters. Mysterious Press/Open Road Integrated Media (ISBN: 9781497671386), 2014 (Originally published in 1986. A graceless priest comes to Holy Cross church in Foregate and alienates his parish and is found dead, while a young man who came with him, assigned to Cadfael, is not what he seems. Review

Moms at the Well, Tara Edelschick and Kathy Tuan-Maclean. IVP Bible Studies (ISBN: 781514006788), 2024. A seven week Bible study experience addressing the struggles moms face in parenting, looking at women in scripture and how God encountered them. Review

Book of the Month. James McBride’s The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store is an exquisitely told story of how two minority communities, connected by the generosity of the Jewish proprietor of the title grocery store, come together to right an injustice (or two). This book won all kind of awards, which doesn’t surprise me a bit.

Quote of the Month. I had the chance to read Prasanta Verma’s Beyond Ethnic Loneliness, which talks about the distinct forms of loneliness Blacks and other persons of color experience as they struggle with the question “What Am I?” Verma wrote poems at the end of each chapter on this theme and here’s one:

So, What Are You?

You are beloved
You are not invisible
You are whole
You are wanted
You are seen
You are loved
Just the way you are
You belong to yourself
You belong to others
You belong to God
So, what are you?
You are a gift of joy
You eat at the table
Of belonging
You are a Home
Of belonging
To others
And yourself

And if the topic is of interest to you, I also had the chance to interview the author and here is the interview:

What I’m Reading. I’m wading through Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age which may take a couple more months. His learning is so vast and he brings all of it to bear to trace the intellectual and cultural shift from a cosmos filled with the grandeur of God to a universe with either a distant deity or none, and without relevance to daily life. I’m most of the way through Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, an early work set in an underworld beneath modern London into which a young man from the upperworld falls and becomes part of an epic conflict. I always enjoy a good Poirot, and Taken at the Flood is one I haven’t read. I most of the way through J. Gresham Machen’s What is Faith? and just beginning My Life is a Prayer, a memoir by Elizabeth Cunningham and C. Ryan Fields’ Local and Universal, a book on the doctrine of the church.

The Month in Reviews is my monthly review summary going back to 2014! It’s a great way to browse what I’ve reviewed. The search box on this blog also works well if you are looking for a review of a particular book.

Review: Moms at the Well

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Cover image of "Moms at the Well" by Tara Edelschick and Kathy Tuan-Maclean

Moms at the Well, Tara Edelschick and Kathy Tuan-Maclean. IVP Bible Studies (ISBN: 781514006788), 2024.

Summary: A seven week Bible study experience addressing the struggles moms face in parenting, looking at women in scripture and how God encountered them.

Being a mom isn’t easy. Sometimes it is working hard and feeling unappreciated. It’s worry over every sniffle and fever, over every time the kids are out of sight. It’s all the ways moms evade or numb the pain of inadequacy and failure. It’s comparisons with other moms. It’s the anger that wells up and explodes over the children. It’s the struggle with control and the gnawing sense that at the end of the day, whatever control one has is illusory and the attempts to make it work are counterproductive. It’s heartbreak.

Before developing these studies, Tara Edelschick and Kathy Tuan-Maclean surveyed over 700 moms from those in their 20’s to those in their 60’s. And the struggles named above were the ones that surfaced over and over in their survey results. Then they looked at women in scripture who faced these issues.

  • Hagar with feeling unseen.
  • Jairus (and his daughter Talitha) and the woman with the flow of blood, and worry.
  • The Samaritan woman and running from pain.
  • Leah and Rachel, and comparison
  • Herodias and anger (I don’t ever think I’ve taken a close look at Herodias before!).
  • Mary, the mother of Jesus, and control.
  • Hagar (again) and hearbreak.

The guide they wrote is designed to be a seven week of shared study and discussion, five personal studies, and a family sabbath exercise. The flow of each study includes:

  • A group check-in.
  • A short introductory reading
  • A video accessed through a QR code in the study, in which Kathy and Tara discuss their passage and their own experiences with the particular struggle (about ten minutes).
  • A study of the relevant passage with room in the guide for notes.
  • A “Holy Spirit Check-in” with a prompt for quiet reflection.
  • A “breath prayer” connected to the theme that can be used through the week.
  • A leader benediction.

Each of the daily personal studies return to the passage going deeper with one particular aspect.

Tara and Kathy don’t come off as the “together moms” but are real about the ways these struggles were their struggles, sharing real stories from their lives, like the poem Kathy’s daughter wrote about Kathy’s anger shared with the whole third grade class or Tara being described by her children as having “dictator syndrome.” They keep it real, naming the ways struggles manifest, ask insightful questions, and pointing to hope in scripture and prayer.

The book is printed on quality paper with great typography and artistic photographs at the beginning of each chapter. There is plenty of room to jot down notes and reflections, making this each mom’s meeting place with God at the well (by the way, did you know that God’s first encounter with Hagar at the well was God’s first encounter in scripture with anyone at a well?).

I’ve already given this guide to a young mom I know. I was delighted to do so because I knew it would encourage and not add a heap of guilt in the life of a mom who is actually a great mom. I believe there are many moms under the weight of the same struggles Tara and Kathy found in their survey, who will be relieved to discover they are not alone and that God is with them and loves them as moms.

And a word for dads. Don’t let the title put you off. Many of us wrestle with similar issues (perhaps a companion might be written?). But sharing this with your wife may well help you understand life a bit more from her perspective, and what she struggles with as well as prompt you to explore how some of these struggles manifest in your own life.

This study may truly be a gift shared by two to a roomful of women going through it together. It’s great for whatever stage of being a mother one is in. Above all, this stands apart as not one more book of parenting advice but as an invitation to spiritual transformation occurring in five steps:

  1. God meets us where we are.
  2. God welcomes us into honest conversation.
  3. God calls us to trust and obey.
  4. God transforms us and sets us free.
  5. God invites us to be agents of shalom.

Its the kind of refreshment one finds at a deep well with clean, cold water.

Listen to Tara and Kathy talk about Moms at the Well:

____________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Raven in the Foregate

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Cover image of "The Raven in the Foregate" # 12 in the Chronicles of Brother Cadfael by Ellis Peters

The Raven in the Foregate (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #12), Ellis Peters. Mysterious Press/Open Road Integrated Media (ISBN: 9781497671386), 2014 (Originally published in 1986).

Summary: A graceless priest comes to Holy Cross church in Foregate and alienates his parish and is found dead, while a young man who came with him, assigned to Cadfael, is not what he seems.

December of 1141 finds both Abbot Radulfus and Hugh Beringar on the road. The Abbot is called to Winchester for a council to reaffirm church loyalties to King Stephen, now free after an exchange in which Robert of Gloucester returned to the side of Empress Maud. He returns with a priest, formerly clerk to Bishop Henry, along with his housekeeper, Diota Hammet and her nephew Benet, an apparently simple, unskilled young man. He is assigned to help Cadfael. Shortly after, Hugh, who assumed but has never been confirmed in the office of Sheriff, goes to a council with Stephen, his future uncertain.

Father Ailnoth is appointed to the parish of Holy Cross in Foregate. The former priest, Father Adam has recently died and was loved by the parish for his pastoral care, particularly the mercy he showed and the light penances he gave when the people came to confess their sins. Father Ailnoth is cut of different cloth and in just the brief time before Christmas has alienated most of his parish. Passionate but believing Eluned could not resist the enticements of men but came in genuine penitence. Ailnoth refuses her absolution, penance, and communion. Cast out from the church, she throws herself in a pond. A young worker comes pleading for Ailnoth to baptize his dying infant. Ailnoth will not come until he finishes praying his office. The infant dies and then Ailnoth refuses the babe burial in consecrated ground. He strikes boys with his staff when their play near the parish house annoys him. He accuses the baker, an upright man and known for his bread, of giving short measure, He gets into a property dispute.

Meanwhile, Cadfael has taken joy getting to know the lad Benet who works hard at all the tasks he has given with cheer. He quickly realizes there is more to Benet than was apparent. He’s a quick study with the herbs, and can be trusted to look after things in Cadfael’s absence. But he wonders, who is this young man, really? He notices when Diota visits not only his affection for his aunt but the message he slips her. He also sees the visit of Sanan Berniere from the house of local noble Ralph Giffard, formerly associated with Maud, and the instant bond that forms between her and Benet, who is plainly not cut out for a monastic life.

Christmas Eve is a cold blustery night signaling the coming of winter. Cadfael is out walking when he sees Father Ailnoth rapidly walking out of town, and Giffard unhappily walking back. He also notes clues that Benet and likely Sanan had been in his workshop during the latter part of Matins. Early Christmas morning, Diota comes to the monastery. Father Ailnoth never returned home. A search is formed and his body is found, out past the mill, with a wound on the back of his head.

There are a host of suspects who had motives to kill the priest. Hugh arrives home as newly confirmed Sheriff to confront this situation. He also has a task from Stephen, to hunt down Ninian Bachilar, a supporter of Maud suspected to be in Shrewsbury. Giffard, eager to put his connections with Maud in the past, announces that Benet is Ninian, from the secret message Diota had carried, and accuses him of murdering Father Ailnoth, who had learned of the young man’s true identity from Giffard. Father Ailnoth’s hasty mission out of town was to confront Ninian, who had been supposed to meet Giffard.

Benet/Ninian, with the help of Sanan has gone into hiding, but not before telling Cadfael the truth. In fact, Cadfael at points warns the young man not to tell him certain things. Neither Cadfael nor Hugh are convinced that Ninian is Father Ailnoth’s killer and play a coy game of turning a blind eye to what each knows about the fugitive young man and the woman who loves him. The discovery of two missing articles, not found with Ailnoth’s body, hold the clues to how Ailnoth met his end, if the pieces can be put together.

Peters makes an interesting contrast in the story between the graceless Ailnoth and the ways Hugh and Cadfael approach his death, seeking truth to be sure but without jumping to graceless conclusions, seeing all those who could be suspects in their full humanity. There is a commentary here about how law is administered, both in church and society. In Cadfael, we see devotion to God and in Hugh, devotion to the king, and yet both pursue very different paths than the hapless Father Ailnoth, who never had the chance to learn mercy.

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Dick Thompson, WHOT Good Guy

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Reproduction of 1963 newspaper ads for WHOT 1330 AM
WHOT Good Guys in 1963, when WHOT moved to 1330-AM and became a 24 hour station. Dick Thompson is the second from the left.

In the 1960’s, the disk jockeys at WHOT were known as “the Good Guys.” To this day, we all remember Boots Bell’s “Yes indeedie-doodie-daddy. Have yourself a happy…” or Johnny Kay’s morning broadcasts of the school lunch menus or shouting “Run, Bambi, run!” at the beginning of deer hunting season. Some of us remember Jerry Starr, Smoochie Causey, George Barry, and A.C. McCullough. He may not have been as memorable, but perhaps the mainstay of WHOT was Dick Thompson.

Dick Thompson was born in nearby Oil City, Pennsylvania in 1928. He got his start in radio when he hosted a program as a high school senior in Oil City. He had two stints in the army with
Armed Services Radio in Korea (Boots Bell was also a Korean war vet with a Purple Heart). Thompson briefly attended Grove City College between his two tours of duty.

He got back into radio when he came home. Later he moved to California, where he met his wife Sherry and worked for a time with Regis Philbin a newscaster at KSON-AM, where Thompson was working as program director. He also worked at radio stations in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Columbus, Ohio.

He was one of the early disk jockeys at WHOT, coming to Youngstown in 1958 when the station was a daytime only station at 1570 AM. He was soon joined by Johnny Kay and with the explosion of rock ‘n’ roll, they headed up one of the top 40 stations in the country. Boots Bell came in 1959.

As others joined the station, he took on more of a management role as program director. He still filled program slots in the day and on weekends. He also became “Big Al Knight” when WHOT started broadcasting 24 hours. Thompson recorded these programs, which ran from 12 to 6 am, saving the station from hiring another DJ. For many of us who stayed up, or were out late with the radio on, this is when we listened to Dick Thompson (and not all of us knew it). Thomas John, a later program director at the station said of him, “He did everything. It was fascinating to go by his office because you never know who would be in there.”

He worked at WHOT for 35 years. After a couple of years in retirement, he and his friend Johnny Kay teamed up once more in 1995 to do work together at WNIO and later WSOM, retiring once more in 2007. Johnny Kay passed away in December 2014. Thompson outlived his friend by a few years, dying at age 89 in November 2017.

While these voices no longer fill the Youngstown airwaves, you can listen to Dick Thompson as Big Al Knight on this clip from January 1, 1973:

He truly was one of the “Good Guys.”

Review: Character in the Garden

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Cover image of "Character in the Garden" by Doris Erika Brocke

Character in the Garden, Doris Erika Brocke. Brocke House Enterprises (ISBN: 9780991835515), 2021.

Summary: A compilation of photographs from the author’s surroundings combined with quotations focusing on the qualities of character.

Doris Erika Brocke and her husband Dale live in northeast British Columbia. Both are photographers and gardeners. Dale is also a stained glass artist and Doris a writer. Doris has entertained a dream for fifty years of writing a book on character. In Grade 5 she was given a Gideon’s Bible with a list of character qualities and associated Bible verses. Twenty-eight virtues in all. Over the years, she used this list to examine her own character and how she might improve as a person. And she dreamed about writing a book about these qualities, a dream realized in this book.

She created a book that combines so many facets of her life: the place where they live with its gorgeous gardens and woodland surroundings, stunning photography by her and her husband, a plethora of quotations organized by character qualities, and shaped by the faith and love shared by the two of them.

The book begins with an introduction and five sections on thoughts, purpose, actions, habits, and character. This is followed by twenty-eight sections ordered alphabetically of those Gideon Bible character traits beginning with Cheerfulness and ending with Truthfulness. The book concludes with five more sections on nature, trees, God, destiny, and death. Each page has one to four photographs paired with quotes. Sometimes a quote will be set aside on its own. Quotations are drawn from the Bible and writers from Augustine to Voltaire. An index at the end lists authors alphabetically.

The photographs feature various animals from squirrels to deer and moose. There are a number of exquisite shots of hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees on flowers of every imaginable species. I love one of a bumblebee covered in hollyhock pollen under the section on “Honor.” In his diligence, this bee truly has covered himself in a kind of honor. That brings me to an observation. Each section on character uses a number of photographs of the same type of flower, bird, animal, etc. The section on “honor features hollyhocks, The one on “Patience” focuses on apples–I guess patience is involved in awaiting their ripening. And of course, “Love” features deep red roses. The bleeding heart photographs in the section on “Discretion” were exquisite.

A collage of a few of the photos in the book. From the Rhubarb to Roses Glass & Books Facebook page.

If I were try to capture for you all the quotes I loved from this book, it would be a very long review. I will share one I particularly appreciated by Iris Murdoch:

“Love is the very difficult understanding that something other than yourself is real.”

I’ll be thinking of that for a while.

This book is a feast for the eyes and nourishment to the heart. There is so much wrong in the world, so much devastation, and so much deceit, that we may quickly lose sight of goodness, truth, and beauty. Yet many people of character quoted in this book distinguished themselves as they upheld goodness, truth, and beauty amid the world’s troubles. Often, the virtues they displayed were cultivated in the “hidden years” or even failure experiences. We so need works like these that focus on the goodness we would cultivate in our lives and relationships, the truths we will live by, and the beauty around us that inspires us and which, in turn, we must tend and protect.

I’ll leave the final words on this book to the author and others who have read the book.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author for review. It was deeply appreciated!

Review: God’s Revolution

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Cover image of "God's Revolution" by Eberhard Arnold

God’s Revolution: Justice, Community, and the Coming Kingdom, Eberhard Arnold. Plough Publishing (ISBN: 9781636080000), 2021.

Summary: A collection of the writings of Eberhard Arnold, describing the life of discipleship embodied in the Bruderhof, as a radical alternative to the institutional church.

I was in an online conversation today, provoked by posting an image of a new book titled Claiming the Courageous Middle. The person who responded thought I was talking about the idea of being a political moderate and wondered how many biographies have been written about great moderates. I remarked that none of those labels fit what I’m talking about and I rather agree with the implied characterization of moderate as being something like insipid. As a Christ follower, I have a different allegiance, to God’s kingdom and a way that is far more radical than anything politically on offer, the way of Jesus. If I were with the person, I would just offer him a copy of the book I’m reviewing by Eberhard Arnold and say, “Read this, if you want to understand what I’m talking about.”

Eberhard Arnold is the co-founder of the Bruderhof, “an international movement of Christian communities whose members are called to follow Jesus together in the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount and of the first church in Jerusalem, sharing all our talents, income, and possessions (Acts 2 and 4).” Writing in the 1920’s and early 1930’s as National Socialism was rising in Germany, he articulates the defining features of this alternative Christian community, differentiating it from the institutional Christianity of his day, increasingly identified with and supportive of the state. Eventually the German community fled to neutral Switzerland, while other Bruderhof communities flourished in England, Canada, the U.S. and eventually South America. This work was drawn from his notes as he taught the German community and is organized thematically with the date the message was given.

This work is organized into four parts. The first reflects his own sense of the crumbling civilization of his time and contrasts this with the inbreaking of the kingdom of God. He describes the Church as “an embassy of God’s future reign.” that looks for the day when that kingdom will extend to the whole world, uniting all under Christ in peace. The Sermon on the Mount reflects the way those who embrace the hope of the kingdom live, and the early chapters of Acts, on which the Bruderhof is modeled, reflect the living out of the sermon.

The second part talks about the fleshing out of this new order heralded by Jesus. The church was established and continues to be established by an outpouring of the Spirit, forming her as a community and empowering her for mission. He writes about the community, that it must be built by God in contrast other communal efforts built on human effort. He recognizes the evil power of money as the reason for the sharing of possessions and no private ownership or savings. Entry into community comes through repentance, a “recognition of the gravity of what we have done.” Baptism represents our break with the status quo, reflecting our spiritual rebirth. The Lord’s supper is a feast of bread and wine, remembering not only Christ’s perfect sacrifice but our communion with each other, one cup, one loaf. Arnold takes seriously the scripture saying we ought not worship if we have a quarrel with someone in community; we should settle it first. Finally, the expectation of the coming kingdom of Jesus calls every one of us in some way into the church’s shared mission.

Part three focuses on the individual in relation to the community. Our bond is not our intention or vision but the Spirit who unites very different people, and fits them, with their gifts, together. Arnold doesn’t speak of leaders but elders who are servants of the word (and housemothers responsible for the women and their work–it appears there was for Arnold a real gender division in the communities). Arnold emphasizes how important is the heeding the leading of the Spirit in one’s speaking in the community. This is a community that practices discipline–“straight talking with love.” At the same time, life in community is always voluntary. If one wishes to leave, they may. All are expected to work, health permitting, according to their gift. Arnold considers marriage a sacrament to be enjoyed in unity and purity between man and woman. Life is to be revered, children welcomed. He denounces abortion. Singleness is also honored. He discusses the high value the Bruderhof place on education although his emphasis is one the formation of character through consistent discipline. The aim of education is to help children see Christ everywhere, in every field of study.

The final section concerns the commitment to peacemaking and non-violence. What is striking is that this commitment rules out work in government, which only makes sense for these self-sustaining communities. While not anti-government, the call is one of “hands off,” of no political involvement. I do wonder how, beyond personal service to humanity and in the order of Bruderhof communities, justice is pursued. What is clear from the final chapter is a deep call to identify with Christ’s sufferings in the suffering of humanity.

I certainly have not captured all the nuances of Arnold’s thought here. He offers bracing challenges to the comfortable traditional church, foremost of which is, do not the scriptures call us to this kind of life together? Nor do I know the extent to which this describes present day Bruderhof communities, although the description on their website sounds consonant with the teachings of Arnold. What is striking to me though is that Arnold thought and taught deeply about how the kingdom life should be lived out among God’s people, particularly around the issues of money and property, as well as the renunciation of violence in any form (including corporal punishment). He challenges all the excuses we make for why we don’t pursue this life. He reminds us of how radical it really can be to say, “I have decided to follow Jesus.”

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: How to Know A Person

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Cover image of "How to Know a Person" by David Brooks

How to Know a Person, David Brooks. Random House (ISBN: 9780593230060), 2023.

Summary: An exploration of how we might see people deeply and help them know that they are seen.

Most of us would want to be known as people who help people feel seen and to be deeply seen ourselves. But in our most honest moments, we have to admit we are not very good at this. We don’t listen well. We are far more capable of trying to impress others with our stories, our wit, our accomplishments. One of the most winsome aspects of this book is David Brooks candid admission that this characterizes his relationships far too often, even during his journey to explore this subject.

With his trademark clarity mixing research and personal narrative, Brooks describes the nature of good relationships, where people are seen by each other. He organizes this inquiry into three parts. The first of these is “I See You.” He speaks of how important and how lacking this is. He writes about the ways we often size up and diminish others. By contrast, he describes the qualities of an Illuminator, a model he will hold up and develop throughout the book: tender, receptive, actively curious, affectionate, generous, and holistic, seeing the whole person. Such people also are skilled in the practice of accompaniment, a relaxed awareness of the other as we share life with them. He discusses the marks of good conversations, where we loop back, actively listening, and avoid being the “topper.” He distinguishes between unhelpful questions where we stay superficial and the questions that take us deeper, that invite people to share something more of themselves.

The second part of the book goes deeper in seeing others in their struggles. One of the most powerful chapters in this section concerns how you serve someone in despair, and Brooks narrates his efforts to do this with a friend who eventually ended his life. He writes about what it means to empathize, describing it as mirroring, mentalizing, and caring. He speaks of how Illuminators are both aware of how they’ve been shaped by suffering and allow others who are suffering to process this question.

The final part of the book explores what it means to see people in their strengths. He summarizes personality with “the Big Five” ((he’s not much of a Myers-Briggs fan): extroversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, agreeableness, and openness. He has a chapter on life tasks, reminding us that people are in a lifelong process of growth and that knowing someone involves discerning where in that process they are. He explores how we listen to and understand life stories and watch for how ancestors show up. He concludes with asking about the nature of wisdom and how it is acquired over a life, and how that changes our relationships.

In a time where we are so divided, where depression and anxiety are skyrocketing and our Surgeon General has named loneliness as a public health crisis, David Brooks has written a book that represents both a way to address many of these concerns and that appeals to “the better angels of our nature.” He writes as a fellow-learner on the journey, not as an authority. He speaks to one of the basics of life that often is overshadowed by the glitzy and the glamourous. He reminds us of the qualities of a good friend. He encourages me to want to be one.

Review: Ethics@Work

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Cover image of "Ethics @ Work" edited by Kris Østergaard.

Ethics@Work, Kris Østergaard, ed. Re:humanize Publishing (ISBN: 9788797284100), 2022.

Summary: An anthology of essays on workplace ethics in the context of near future challenges, focusing on the systemic context, the inner life of an organization, and the humans at the core of every enterprise.

We are operating in a rapidly changing world with environmental challenges, the digital integration of all of our lives, and the digital extension of human capabilities. What this means for companies as they operate in this changing environment, how this affects the internal life of a company, and how technological advance will shape our understanding of what it means to be human, and even how this impinges on human agency and selfhood are vital questions. They are ethical questions. As Google once framed it, “don’t be evil.” But what does that look like?

This anthology by business and technology leaders connected with Denmark’s Re:humanize Institute believe ethical business behavior will not simply be advantageous but essential. The authors explore a range of topics from the environment to peacemaking to data transparency. They consider the uses of AI, and human-machine convergence, including neural rights. I can’t touch on every essay but I will highlight some I found thought-provoking.

The anthology is organized into three parts. The first is systemic, where workplace ethics are set in the context of the global marketplace. Adam Pantanowitz opens with an essay dividing our lives into natural, conceptual, and digital layers. He outlines the challenges as our neural/conceptual context may merge with digital technologies in way that directly impinge on other minds as well as the natural world. David Bray addresses the explosion of data and our capabilities to use it and advances an OARS framework (Obligations, Acknowledged biases, Responses to Obligations, and Safeguards related to potential biases) to address ethical use of our databases. Nell Watson argues that organizations must stop deferring environmental costs to future generations. Brian David Johnson argues that the need is not to develop ethical AI but to make AI compliant with the ethical culture of an organization (I think it may be argued that AIs, for better or worse will, through the implicit biases built into algorithms, reflect the actual ethics of an organization).

Part Two goes inside the organization, into the machine room as it were. Tiffany Vora draws three principles from biomedical ethics and considers their bearing on business: Justice, Doing Good, and Respect. Again, the management of data-driven solutions arises and governance, accountability, transparency, and explainability are discussed with a valuable list of questions to consider. Guendalina Donde’ outlines a similar set of human values to drive technology application and Ray Eitel-Porter offers a list of seven principles with AI: soundness, fairness, accountability, transparency, explainability, privacy, and sustainability. A fascinating essay explores the tension between “backdoor” access to encryption and the inevitable weakening of privacy with any such move., and the looming danger of quantum computing to all encryption. Arash Aazami describes his effort to build a company that profited by selling less energy. A couple essays featured activist companies like Patagonia and Ben and Jerry’s.

Finally, part three looks at the humans at the center of the emerging business environment. Divvya Chander’s opening essay on neural sovereignty and human rights raised questions I never thought about because, until now the capability didn’t exist. Emerging technologies allow us to read one’s brain activity and to write to the brain. What happens when the ability to read my mind, or to change my mind exists? If brainprints are used as IDs, could this be used, perhaps along with genetic data, to create a truly scary deepfake of any of us? What happens when my thinking can be surveilled? Roger Courage Matthisen offers practical principles for embodying anti-racist leadership. I thought the top suggestion was “showcase your mistakes,” creating a learning environment that allowed space for mistakes. Nathaniel Calhoun acknowledges that “business ethics” is often an oxymoron and describes the practices he coached Silicon Valley startups to use to make ethics endemic to those companies, where individuals were celebrated for raising ethical concerns.

This is a fascinating collection, exploring questions most of us are just starting to think about. At the same time, it seems to assume that we know what is ethical and why one ought live ethically rather than expediently. The authors seem to assume that we bring an ethical conscience to work that needs to be honed by consideration of particular ethical challenges. This betrays the humanist assumptions at the core of this work. Yet the scary reality, touched on in the essays on encryption and on neural imaging is that there are bad actors–those whose ethics are impaired. How does the ethical workplace create robust safeguards that reflect their existence? How do we distinguish good and evil?

It also seems worth exploring the question with all the data scraped about us and the capacities to even surveil thought, what should remain private? Do we have a conception of the self irreducible to bits and bytes? How do we recognize the blind spots in the algorithms that shape the lives of millions?

You see what this book has done? It’s made me question and think. And that seems something needed in our brave new world.

Review: Hope Ain’t a Hustle

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Cover image of "Hope Ain't a Hustle" by Irwyn Ince

Hope Ain’t a Hustle, Irwyn Ince (Foreword by Christina Edmonson). InterVarsity Press (ISBN: 9781514005743), 2024.

Summary: A series of messages from the book of Hebrews making the case for the confidence we may have in Christ, our great high priest who endured the storm, who sustains our hope, and calls us to enduring faithfulness.

There are a lot of hustles out there–on the streets, in business, and even in our email. Sometimes even Christianity has appeared to be a hustle, promising a good life, as long as one enriches the congregation’s coffer. Irwyn Ince contends that this is not true of God when he writes:

“But God is not a hustler. And the hope he calls us to cannot be built on naive expectations that people will start seeing the things the way we do. Our longing cannot be built on the arrogant assumption that we are completely right in the positions we take. It cannot even be built on an expectation of steady improvement. If the arc of the moral universe does indeed bend toward justice, that arc will never be smooth and straight from a human perspective. It will have twists and turns, ups and downs, starts and stops. Our hope, if it is to be enduring, must be rooted in the glory of Jesus Christ.” (p. 9).

In this book, Pastor Ince works from the book of Hebrews to show that hope grounded in the person and work of Jesus will never disappointment and will sustain us through the greatest of life’s challenges.

The book is organized in three parts. The first, “The Storm Before the Calm” addresses the storm the readers of Hebrews may be facing and the supreme authority of Jesus as Son amid the storms. Not only that, Jesus was made like us and entered the danger zone where we live. He came to liberate, to intercede, and to help as high priest and son over God’s house, superior to Moses. Through our hope in Jesus. we may rest in the danger zone, like John Lewis and Diane Nash as leaders of the Nashville sit-ins. As we rest in Jesus who went before us, we may rest while we suffer, knowing we will share in the rest of his glory.

Part Two, “Keep Hope Alive” begins with those words from Jesse Jackson at the 1988 Democratic Convention. Ince explores the unreasonable hope of Abraham and the arc between Melchizedek and the greater high priest Jesus, reflecting on unreasonable hope in the face of prison and plundering that the Hebrews faced, and the assurance they have in a great high priest who offered himself. He was the high priest who became perfect for us through his obedience, who is able to perfect us. His ministry, covenant, and promise are better than all who came before him. There is no better place to go, no better person in whom to find hope, than Jesus. To him we need to return, and he will keep our hope alive.

Part Three, “In Need of Endurance” speaks of the dogged persistence our hope in Jesus sustains. Endurance is built on upward confidence, inward confession of hope, and outward commitment. Ince points to the teaching of Hebrews to endure by faith, in need, and in joy. He uses the example of Superman’s X-ray vision to describe the kind of faith that sees Jesus through the challenges we face. Those who endure by faith live for the heavenly city, the better country, like Freedom Rider Jim Zwerg who suffered a terrible beating while praying to remain nonviolent and to forgive his attackers. Those who endure run through exhaustion by staying with the crowd, by dropping the weight of sin, by keeping our heads up, and fixing our eyes on the future with gratitude, lighting up the darkness.

Pastor Ince writes a book on hope that doesn’t see the world with rose-colored glasses. He writes how the hope that doesn’t hustle that we have in Jesus helps us face dark times without retreating into either fantasy or despair. For those dismayed by the slow progress toward justice in so many aspects of life, he bids us to keep hope alive through Jesus who went there before us and is both the son who reigns and the great high priest who intercedes. He challenges us that hope endures. It never gives up, so certain is it in the promise of God. Through the text of Hebrews, tales of courage from the Civil Rights movement, and personal life, Pastor Ince offers the gritty instruction we need to live into our hope in a “wearying world.”

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.