It was 1962; the venue was called the Schubert Theater,
just a short distance from here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was my 8th<\/sup>\u00a0grade\u00a0\u00a0graduation trip\u00a0 This 60+ year reminiscence was sparked by today\u2019s gospel\u00a0 Dear Evan<\/em>\u00a0Hansen<\/em>\u00a0was a breakthrough production A pivotal song early in the show is \u201cWaving through a Window\u201d I’ve learned to slam on the brake Give them no reason to stare Step out, step out of the sun While they are by no means lead characters Andrew is more promising at the beginning: But then, he catches the Philip virus of apostolic pessimism,\u00a0 Jesus has no inclination to mimic Evan Hansen\u2019s insecurities. This Sunday, we take an extended detour from the gospel of Mark. In our abundance we seem to be able to find A youngster was falling asleep A few weeks ago, I had dinner According to a\u00a0recent survey<\/a>\u00a0by the Gallup organization, Apparently the rest of us are not creating a global or societal environment I first became aware of the field of futurology in the early 1970\u2019s It is a growing field, though some question whether it is an actual science, A common futurological procedure is to employ scenarios This is precisely the kind of thinking Last year, I was presenting at a conference in Green Bay This approach developed in response to the rapid changes Strategic foresight is not about predicting the future, I don\u2019t know about you, but I am not living in the future I planned on. Sovereign nations are invading each other; Each morning I listen to about a dozen global news podcasts; We regularly refer to the gospel as \u201cgood news\u201d So, maybe this first of the five week installments of John\u2019s gospel One\u00a0smart blogger<\/a>\u00a0drew my attention to today\u2019s five gospel handoffs: So maybe Jesus\u2019 divine strategic foresight
from St. Mary\u2019s of the Lake in Gary, Indiana.
With our own battalion of wimpled chaperones at the helm,
we saw, what else, but\u00a0The Sound of Music<\/em>
starring the effervescent Florence Henderson of pending Brady Bunch fame:\u00a0
May 9th<\/sup>,\u00a01962 is when I got hooked on Broadway musicals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
featuring Philip and Andrew.
While they did not mirror any characters in the\u00a0The Sound of Music<\/em>,
they did trigger a connection with a particular song\u00a0
from a haunting musical I find quite moving:\u00a0
the award-winning\u00a0Dear Evan Hansen.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
that dealt with messy issues of mental health, bullying and grief;
of broken and flawed people who would go to desperate lengths
to feel wanted and loved–\u00a0
sort of a psychological version of\u00a0Titanic<\/em>\u00a0heading for disaster.\u00a0
Makes you want to rush out and buy tickets, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
in which the bullied 17-year-old lead character sings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before I even turn the key
Before I make the mistake
Before I lead with the worst of me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
No slipping up if you slip away
So I got nothing to share
No, I got nothing to say<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you keep getting burned
Step out, step out of the sun
Because you’ve learned, because you’ve learned<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
in the Palestinian production of\u00a0Dear Evan Hansen<\/em>,
it is notable that these understudies in the traveling Jesus show
slam on the brakes pretty quickly, especially Philip,
who launches the \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be kidding\u201d response\u00a0
to crazy Jesus who, of course, wants to feed everybody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
he likes the grass \u2026 comfortable for picnicking, and
stumbles upon a boy with a few barley loaves and fish,
so momentarily is feeling optimistic.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
so slams on the gospel brakes, wondering aloud
what so little could do for so many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, he reminds me more of Gimli in episode 3 of Lord of the Rings
when the pipe-smoking dwarf proclaimed:
\u201cCertainty of death.\u00a0\u00a0Small chance of Success.\u00a0\u00a0What are we waiting for?\u201d Sounds like the Rabbi from Nazareth
who alternately inspires and frightens me.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the next 5 weeks we are diverted into the 6th<\/sup>\u00a0chapter of John
notable for, among other things, its 18 references to bread.
But, it starts with a typical Jesus miracle
in the face of an unending dilemma:
there never seems to be enough bread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
enough guns, bombs, missiles and tanks \u2013 both literal and metaphorical;
but not always the bread. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
at the back of his 3rd<\/sup> grade classroom.
When his teacher woke him and asked
\u201cdid you eat breakfast this morning?\u201d
He rubbed his sad eyes and quietly said,
\u201ctoday wasn\u2019t my turn to eat.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
with a great friend and theologian.
We compared notes on our emotional wellness
and I reported going into one of those
\u201clet\u2019s not turn on the news\u201d phases
because it all seems so depressing.
He commented: if you aren\u2019t just a little depressed
by the state of the church and the world
then your medication is too high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
almost 30% of us have been diagnosed one time or another
as clinically depressed;
nearly 10% higher than just 9 years ago.
It was surprising to me that the highest rates for depression
occur among young adults 18 to 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
in which they can imagine a hopeful future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
after reading Alvin Toffler\u2019s bestseller Future Shock<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and there is no single methodology appropriate for future studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 alternate possible visions of what lies ahead \u2013
as a way not simply to predict the future
but actually to create it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That enabled us to put a human on the moon in 1968:
one of the most successful futurological experiments of all time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
on the future of ministry and spirituality.
Another major speaker was a professional futurist
whose fascinating presentation
introduced me to the concept of strategic foresight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
facing companies and organizations across the globe.
A recent assessment published through\u00a0the World Economic Forum<\/a>
entitled \u201cThe future isn\u2019t what it used to be\u201d –\u00a0
suggested that 75% of organizations are not prepared
for the pace of change in and around their industry.
Furthermore, 40% of industrial CEOs recognize that, in 10 years,
their company will not be economically viable
without significant transformation.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
but employs deep analysis to help organizations prepare
to weather any future, whether that future is
simply possible,
highly plausible,
or especially preferred. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That author was right: the future is certainly not what it used to be
or what I hoped it was supposed to be: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Polar icecaps are melting the rate of\u00a0150 billion tons a year<\/a>;
Innocent families in Gaza are dying in brutal urban warfare;
AR 15\u2019s legally find their way in the hands of\u00a0
20-year-old would-be assassins;
and polarization is expanding at a destructive rate
in democracies from the US to India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few months ago, CNN changed their Saturday version\u00a0
from \u201c5 Things\u201d you need to know to \u201c5 Good Things,\u201d\u00a0
a quintet of positive and uplifting stories\u00a0
displacing all other news \u2013 most of which is bad anyway:
whoever came up with that idea should get a medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
which is actually the literal translation of the Old English word G\u014ddspel<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
is the liturgical equivalent of 5 good things:
week after week of nourishment,
an extended narrative of the strategic foresight of the Son of God,
and the mission bequeathed to us in a future\u00a0
we can not only expect but create.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boy hands off the bread and fish to Andrew,
Andrew laterals to Jesus,
Jesus passes to the disciples,
Disciples toss a \u201cHail Mary\u201d to the crowd,
Crowd slam dunks into the 12 baskets.\u00a0
Sorry for the mixed metaphor; I was never very good at sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
was not so much about the bread but about the hands needed for
creating, distributing, feeding,
and collecting fragments of nourishment for our starving world so that the next time we find a 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0grader\u00a0
fallen asleep at the back of the classroom on an empty stomach,
we can assure him that every day it is his and\u00a0
everyone else\u2019s turn for breakfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n