Of Newtown and Magical Thinking

The Newtown tragedy brings to mind my experiences many years ago as an assistant district attorney when, among other things, I was assigned to cover the mental health hearings in the probate court of Bexar County, Texas. Every other Wednesday I met the probate judge and his clerk at his office in the courthouse and we drove together down South Presa street to the county mental health hospital. There we held involuntary and voluntary commitment hearings in a small conference room. At that time it was much easier to extend commitments than it is today.

Most of the inmates suffered from mental illnesses combined with related addictive behaviors. The hospital was pretty shabby but the inmates were at least housed, fed, medicated and protected from injuring themselves or others. The unintended consequences of the later movement to protect individuals from abuse of the mental health commitment processes of that day has been to drastically reduce mental health treatment and increase danger of injury to these patients and to the public. 

I read about twice as many calls for gun control legislation as I do for increases in funding for mental health. And I have not yet read or heard of anyone advocating changing the laws relating to involuntary commitments for those with potentially dangerous untreated mental illnesses. Yet the news today tells us that the shooter in Newtown may have become enraged because he knew that his mother was trying to get him committed to a mental health facility for treatment. That process is very cumbersome and takes too much time when a patient is in a potentially dangerous mental state.

As a society we tend to engage in magical thinking in times of tragedy like this. We think that the solution to tragedies like this lies in the legislative process. Pass some new laws to restrict gun possession and increase funding for mental health treatment and, VOILA, problem solved! 

I'm not saying new legislation in these areas is not needed, but neither will it be a cure. If not carefully thought through, new laws may bring negative unintended consequences, just as the well-intentioned changes in involuntary commitment processes resulted in growth of a troubled, untreated homeless population across the country.

I don't have the answers and I wish that I did. I do know there are too many  struggling with the problem of getting good, consistent treatment for mentally ill family members and that they also need counseling and training themselves in helping their loved ones manage these difficult, chronic conditions. 

It's going to take a lot more than magical thinking and political posturing to prevent future tragedies like Newtown. God help us.

Number 703 on the alphabetical chart

In answer to the question, "where are the Christian women bloggers?", the author of the blog Slacktivist at the patheos.com website put together a list of 1,001 blogs by Christian women you should know. 

The list is strictly alphabetical and so Quotidian Grace comes in at number 703 here.

Thanks for the mention! Now maybe I'll be inspired to blog more regularly in the New Year?

#mulling2013resolutions

BSD Blogging: Lesson 11 Standing Firm

Reading Paul's letters in an ekklesia.

Here is a link to my lecture today on Lesson 11 which is the second lesson in the BSD study of Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians: Standing Firm.

I focused on giving more background and history on the culture and city of Corinth and the new Christian community there in order to deepen our understanding of Paul's message in this letter. 

BSD Blogging: A Brief Intro to Corinth

This week our BSD groups begin studying Paul's second letter to the church in Corinth--which we learned in the lesson is the fourth known letter to these early Christians, with the first and third having been lost to us. We can better understand Paul's message if we put on those "three-dimensional" glasses to see what the city of Corinth and the church were like in Paul's day.

First of all, Corinth was really a new Roman city built on the ruins of the Greek city of Corinth which was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC and resettled  by decree of Julius Caesar in 446 BC. Situated on a narrow isthmus of land, Corinth had two seaports: one leading to Italy and one to Asia. The city was a major commercial center and, like most successful port cities, attracted a very diverse population.  

That population included many Jewish refugees from Rome, who had been expelled by order of the emperor in 49 AD. Among these Roman Jews were Priscilla and Aquila, leaders in the early church in Corinth. 

Paul's letter to the Christians in Corinth were read and shared by a number of house churches, not just one congregation. At this time the church was organized by households which in Roman culture (remember this is a Roman city and the Jews in Corinth were Roman Jews) which included more than the nuclear family. Slaves, freedmen, hired workers, tenants and skilled craftsmen were considered part of the household and were expected to follow the faith of the head of the household. They gathered for worship and a shared meal in private homes, not in synagogues or separate buildings. Some of these house churches were led by women who were independently wealthy either by inheritance or through their own business dealings.

Imagine Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians being read aloud in one of the early house churches and then being copied and passed along to the next Christian household! Many of those hearing his words were illiterate and could not have read it for themselves. We are going to spend the rest of our BSD study learning this letter that gives us a window into the early church in Corinth and Paul's sometimes strained but always loving relationship with it.

BSD Blogging: Nehemiah's Tweets

What if Nehemiah had a Twitter account to tweet the events we are studying this week in chapters 11, 12 and 13? Might it look something like this....

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
Shout out to everyone moving into Jerusalem today! Bessings on you! #Benjamin #Judah 

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
Busy organizing wall dedication for tomorrow. Need more singers and harpists. @musiciansunion

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov.
Where are the supplies for sacrifices?Need offerings before nightfall brought to the temple.#priests

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
What a wonderful day at the dedication! Thanks to the Levites, priests, temple servants for a job well done. #praisetoYWHW

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
My work is done here. The King has recalled me to the capital. People, keep your covenant!
#priests #levites

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
On the road again back to Persia. Looking forward to reunion with friends and some great food! #nooasisinsight #arewethereyet

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
What's up, Jerusalem? Back in Persia and miss you all.  #emailme #friendme

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
Haven't heard from you Jews for several years. Keeping the covenant? #letmeknow

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
God calls me back to Jerusalem and the King agrees. See y'all soon! #hatedeserttravel #saddlesores

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
OH NO!!! #fail #EPICFAIL #covenantbreakers

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
@Eliashib: What the blazes are you doing? #covenantbreaker #YWHWisnotmocked

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
@Tobiah: Get Lost! #andyourstufftoo #anddon'tcomeback

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
Jerusalem's gates  now closed on the Sabbath from sundown to sunrise effective immediately--no more trading on the Sabbath. #covenantbreakers #cutitout #YWHWsaidso

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
Not apologizing for losing my temper with those of you who married foreign women.#covenant breakers #getawig

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
Grateful for Shelemiah, Zadok, Pedaiah and Hanan's honest oversight of future distributions to the Levites. #YWHWwillblessyou #standfirm

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
Duty calls me back to the King. Remember me with favor, O my God, for my faithful work in Jerusalem. #earnestprayers 

BSD Blogging: Link to Lecture on Lesson 8

I'm tardy posting the link to my lecture last Thursday on Lesson 8 which covers chapters 9 and 10 of Nehemiah. Sorry about that!

Click here for A Firm Foundation: The Word, Worship and Confession. 

Chapter 9 is Ezra's penitential prayer on behalf of the people and chapter 10 is the renewal of the covenant between the people and God.

This week our lesson wraps up this study of Nehemiah, and the following week we begin the study of Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. If you've been wanting to join us, this would be the perfect time to do it! 

BSD Blogging: Some Sabbath Books

I'm doing the lecture this week on chapters 9 and 10 of Nehemiah and while preparing the lecture I got to thinking about Sabbath and Sabbath-keeping--or the lack of it--today.

Since that train of thought really didn't belong in the lecture, given the constraints of time, I'm going to share a couple of books on the subject that I have found worthwhile.

The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time by Judith Shulevitz is written by a Jewish author, but she has an understanding of the place of the Sabbath in the New Testament as well. This book is interesting because Shulevitz is attentive both to the spiritual and the psychological aspects of Sabbath-keeping. I wrote a full review of the book here if you would like more information. I notice it is no longer available on amazon.com, but can be found from other sellers.

The Gifts of the Jews by Thomas Cahill includes some interesting passages about the concept of Sabbath as well as a fascinating discussion of the importance of the religious concepts of the Jews for western civilization.

Sabbath in the Suburbs: A Family's Experiment with Holy Time by MaryAnn McKibben Dana will be of particular interest to parents of young children who are wondering how to incorporate the principles of Sabbath into modern suburban life. The author is a Presbyterian minister whose family committed to practice the Sabbath for a year and documented the experience. She also provides suggestions for families who are looking for ways to incorporate some aspects of Sabbath into their lives.

Happy reading!