The Overview Effect

by Rev. Eric Folkerth

Because I am the son of a literal rocket scientist, I grew up with a deep love and appreciation for the space program. One of the stories told by Astronaut Rusty Schweikart has been a favorite of mine for years. I first read it in Matthew Fox’s powerful book, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ.

I’ll let Matthew Fox tell the story:

“During the Apollo mission in 1969, astronaut Rusty Schweikert was let out of the capsule on an umbilical cord… Just as he emerged from the capsule, something went wrong within the capsule… and this left Rusty all alone floating around Mother Earth in complete cosmic silence. During this time he had two profound conversion experiences [or awakenings].

He looked back on Mother Earth, 'a shining gem against a totally black backdrop,’ and realized everything he cherished was on that gem – his family and land, music, and human history with its folly and its grandeur; he was so overcome that he wanted to “hug and kiss that gem like a mother does her firstborn child.” Trained as a jet fighter pilot, he was a typical “macho man,” but a breakthrough of his own powers of maternity came washing over him at that moment in space…

Schweikert’s second awakening in space was a political one. He was a red, white, and blue American who believed what he had always been taught – that the world is divided between the ‘communist world and the free world.’ Yet, while floating around Mother Earth he saw that the rivers flowed indiscriminately between Russia and Europe; that ocean currents served communist, socialist, and capitalist nations alike; that clouds did not stop at borders to test for political ideology; and that there are no nations. Nations exist in the mind of the human race alone… Interdependence is what really exists.”

There are many lessons to be gleaned from this story. One is a reminder of compassion; not just for individuals, but also for our entire planet and all of us tiny creatures who live here. Another is “interdependence;” the interconnectedness of all things.

But I think a third powerful understanding in this story is about LOVE. About having a love for the entire beautiful whole of our broken and fractured world.

This Sunday’s scripture includes one of the most quoted verses in all of the scriptures:

“For God so loved the world that God gave God’s only Son…”

God gave Jesus, not out of hate, or anger, of vengeance, or even to fulfill some kind of mechanistic “plan.”

God gave Jesus to the world out of LOVE…for the world. Not for the world’s destruction. Not for the world’s conversion to specific religious doctrine. Not even to be killed through some predetermined plan.But God gave Jesus for the world’s own sake. And out of love.

Observers have come to describe the kinds of experiences that Rusty Schweikert had as “The Overview Effect.” In short, the effect is an experience of awe, transcendence, love, compassion and unity that comes from stepping back out of our own individual experiences and seeing  the “whole.”

Dozens of astronauts have now reported this very similar experience. For many of them it has changed their lives, and they come back from their space flights committed to serve the world through various humanitarian causes.

It seems to me that this famous Gospel verse is God’s own version of “The Overview Effect.”

God takes a look at the whole world…
…all of our artificial borders and divisions…
…all of our tribal natures and petty grievances…
…all of our wars and selfish greed and destruction of the world itself…

And instead of condemning us to harsh judgement…God LOVES the world, and sought to send Jesus as a way for us to overcome all of these things.

Jesus calls us to the same kind of “Overview Effect.” Jesus pushes us to step back from our provincialism and see the world as God sees it. To be awed by the worl and overcome with a desire to make it a better place…to improve the lives of all God’s children.

That, in my view, is the true depth of what it means to say “God so loved the world…”

See you Sunday,

Eric

Christos

by Rev. Eric Folkerth

When I was a kid, I used to regularly oil my baseball glove. For those unfamiliar, baseball gloves are generally leather and it’s a longstanding player-ritual to oil them regularly. This softens the leather, makes the glove more flexible; helping everything from fielding to ground balls, to a good game of “catch.”

I mention this today because of Peter’s acclamation to Jesus that “You are the Christ/Messiah.”

What Peter is saying to Jesus is: “You are the anointed one.”(Christos).

All throughout Hebrew Scriptures, an anointed one is generally a king, a priest, or a designated leader of some kind. They weren’t always leaders who rose up because of family lineage or cultural training. Sometimes a Messiah was simply some leader who came out of nowhere…a wild card, if you will.

This declaration —right at the midpoint of the Gospel of Mark— feels like a transitional moment. A very similar moment happens in Luke 9 as well. In both cases, it becomes clear to everyone that Jesus is both “anointed Messiah,”and also is headed directly with a conflict with the “Powers That Be.”

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus “sets his face to go to Jerusalem.” Here in Mark, the conversation is about how he will suffer and be crucified. In both cases, here at the Gospel-story midpoint, his Disciples generally either freak out, or start to fall away. Or both.

In my mind, these both indicate the beginning of Jesus’ intuition that he is headed for conflict with the aforementioned, “Powers That Be,” and not that he is claiming God has preordained his death. My sense is, this is a dawning intuition in his own earthly journey.

But a new insight about what it means to be “anointed” came to me as I dug into other ancient uses of the word “Cristos.”

As we’ve already said, the Biblical Hebrew meaning of “anointed one” is often connected to a person.

But! Generally secular Greeks and Romans often did not apply the word to a human being…but to an object…like a baseball glove.

Ancient Greeks might have easily “Christos-ed” their baseball gloves. (If they’d had any…)

Pushing even further, what leapt of the page at me was that a very common Roman/Greek usage of “Christos” was to anoint….a WEAPON.

A sword, shield, or armor was “anointed” (“Christos-ed”) before a battle.

I love the distinction then between the two meanings. The cultural one from Greece and Rome…and the Biblical one from our Bible.

The Powers that Be —the power of Empire in every age— will always seek to “anoint” the instruments of power, war, and control. They will seek to bless them and pretend they are somehow “holy.”

Jesus’ “instrument” —because he was an incarnational Messiah— is his own body. His body offered in sacrificial service to everyone. This is real meaning then of what Jesus says to end this scripture:

“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

My sense of this scripture has always been that we don’t have to create our cross. If we are living out the teachings of Jesus, our cross will find us soon enough.

Because the Powers That Be —worldly empires of commerce and government, those who anoint weapons, not sacrificial service— will always see God-centered, selfless service, as a threat.

This is because…
You can’t SELL true service to God.
You can’t commercialize it.
You can only “embody it.”
And that, even in our day, is what makes it a threat to power.

Jesus came to earth to push all of humanity away from clinging to power for power’s sake. The irony, of course, is that the very Church founded in Jesus’ name, would soon make deal after deal with earthly power.

From the Roman Empires to White Christian Nationalism today, the deeply tarnished and compromised Church that bears Jesus’ name keeps trying to “anoint” (Christos) earthly power…despite the cautionary tale of Jesus’ own temptation to NOT embrace earthly power and his own incarnational, sacrificial, life of service.

Again, this is not to say that earthly, bodily incarnated things are bad. But it IS to say that the very human desire to “anoint” our weapons, our power, our control, our possessions…as if they are blessed, and in the place of the Holy God…this is dangerous.

Jesus tried hard to model for all of humanity that we are called to reject anointing guns or any earthly power, but instead to love and serve all.

And if that sounds like a tall order - well, it is.

But take heart in Jesus’ comforting words for all of us who in our own life-journey, choose a path of service, rather than a life of anointed earthly power:

“For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?”

All That You Have Is Your Soul

by Rev. Eric Folkerth

It’s now more than a week past Tracy Chapman’s incredible performance at this year’s Grammy Awards Show. I can’t stop thinking about it. And it’s reminded me of my favorite Tracy Chapman song.

Most people’s favorite is likely the big hit she performed at the Grammy’s. But mine has always been “All That You Have Is Your Soul.”

This song is, unquestionably, one of my top ten favorite songs of all-time. A “desert island” song. I’d like to tell you why because I think it helps us set the table for our Lenten Journey and week one of the Lenten season, which starts this Sunday…

I was in my last year of seminary when this song was released. That was, in fact, the year I first met Dennise. I was so inspired by Tracy Chapman and her story. But THIS song…it spoke deeply to my heart and spirit.

The chorus is what you see in the picture here:

Soon after graduating seminary, I would be appointed by our Bishop to the staff of the largest United Methodist Church in the country (at the time). This chorus came back to me. It struck me that this was both an opportunity and a danger, and that it might be very easy to be seduced by power and control.

So I typed out the chorus and taped it to my desktop at church. I looked at it every morning, day after day, as a reminder to be careful with power and privilege. Tracy’s words convicted me over and over in those years, and they still do.

Frankly, our world —the Church and Politics, specifically— would be immeasurably better if we all kept these words in mind.

On Sunday, we’ll read the story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. (The assigned lectionary text for the day…)

Jesus is tempted three times to turn his back on his path, turn away from his calling, and embrace worldly power. He’s promised “all the kingdoms” of the earth by Satan. Readers of the text should, of course, remember whatever you think about “personified evil” in the form of a “Satan,” the character of Satan is portrayed as a liar.

(Note: I do not believe in personified evil. But I do believe this story is extremely helpful to us in understanding how evil comes to us…)

My strong hunch is: “Satan” is offering something he cannot “deliver,” when he promises all earthly kingdoms.

But Jesus stays true to his path, and true to his calling. He won’t divert from his mission to open God’s table to all people, regardless of their race, economic circumstance, or orientation. I would guess he also knows Satan is a liar.

I am very confident that I have made moral compromises in my life, and been tempted to veer from my path. But ever since it was first released, this chorus plays like a moral ear worm in my head. Time and again, it calls me back to my path when I think about straying.

I know this:

Whomever we are, and whatever our calling, God needs us to be servants, not those who seek power for power’s sake. None of us are ever perfect. Nor does God expect the trap of perfectionism from us. But God does push us, like this song does, to stay on a path of seeing justice and truth.

For twenty years I’ve had an upfront seat to see under the hoods of the separate worlds of Church and Politics. Sometimes, in both worlds, I am disappointed by what I see.

As we survey the general scene of both worlds today, we all see far too much seeking of power for power’s sake. Far too much belief that life is a “zero sum game” and that our calling is to control as much as we can. Pastors and politicians, privately and publicly, make far too many compromises with their core values, and get tempted by power.

But God would call us back to servanthood, to remember that power is an illusion, and control is a danger.

Tracy Chapman’s song actually mirrors Jesus’ story in powerful ways. The first verses speak of a woman who compromises her values in order to please a man and have children. She comes to understand that this is false control, in that they can’t really control either.

But I like to imagine the last two verses are Chapman speaking to all of us, too, as to perhaps exactly where she was at that moment in her life, having achieved fame beyond her wildest dreams:

“I thought, thought that I could find a way
To beat the system
To make a deal and have no debts to pay
I'd take it all, I'd take it all, I'd run away
Me for myself first class and first rate
But all that you have is your soul.”

Chapman has achieved success. In the moment she records this song, she’s one of the most lauded of our singer-songwriters. But she knows the dangers too.  Like Jesus, she feels tempted to make the deal…to take the power… to “take it all,” and “run away.”

But also like Jesus, she understands this is an illusion and a trap. Because, ultimately, all we have is our soul.

The final verse perhaps speaks to all of us in terms of a vision we could all use in our world today:

“Here I am, I'm waiting for a better day
A second chance
A little luck to come my way
A hope to dream, a hope that I can sleep again
And wake in the world with a clear conscience and clean hands
'Cause all that you have is your soul.”

Let’s try to live such that we can awake with a “clean conscience and clean hands.”

I won’t sugarcoat it…this is always challenging.

It’s difficult, always, because the temptation for power is real, and so many moments will tempt us to power for power’s sake.

So, dear Kessler Park friends, during Lent, I invite you back to the Lenten Journey. The first step is to remember, as Jesus did, that temptations will always come, that the journey is long, and that in the end all that we have is our soul.

Come see us Sunday as we start this journey.

See you then,

Eric Folkerth