What monks could teach Washington's politicians -- USA TODAY, July 25, 2011

When scholarship disappeared from the continent of Europe during the dark ages, the monks and scribes of Ireland preserved classic Greek, Roman, Jewish and Christian texts — an accomplishment Thomas Cahill documented in his 1995 best-seller How the Irish Saved Civilization. Now, with the federal government facing a potentially disastrous default if the debt ceiling is not raised, we need the wisdom of the medieval monks again.

Sixth-century Irish monastics — Christian men and women who structured their lives around prayer, work and obedience in religious communities — have important lessons to teach 21st century American politicians.

With debt talks grinding toward an Aug. 2 deadline, our Republican and Democratic leaders are pandering to their bases instead of talking with each other in honest and constructive ways. Democrats see the preservation of governmental programs as an article of faith, while the GOP is largely in lockstep in opposing any tax increases to deal with the dangerous federal debt.

From coast to coast, Americans are being subjected to what might as well be a caustic reality show entitled Politicians Behaving Badly.

The political cycle just reinforces this dysfunction, of course. Relentless fundraising keeps the focus of politicians on donors, instead of on each other. More attention is given to the next election than to the hard work of discussing issues and hammering out compromises. In fact, compromises are perceived as signs of weakness.

It's hard to believe that it was just a generation ago that icons such as Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill were able to take principled stands but also hammer out compromises.

'New monastics'

The Irish monastics who provided strong leadership to their communities 1,500 years ago could teach our elected representatives a few lessons today. These men and women were as disciplined and focused as today's most partisan politicians, but they balanced their strong positions with a commitment to hospitality and community life. And their practices continue to shape religious communities such as The Simple Way, a group of "new monastics" in Philadelphia who are trying to break down the conservative-liberal divide in Christianity by being good neighbors in an inner-city community.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., who has been out front for the GOP, could learn from St. Kevin, who was so disciplined that he held out his arms for hours in prayer. One day, a blackbird laid an egg in Kevin's hand, and he remained in that position until the baby bird hatched. While there is clearly some historical hyperbole in this story, it illustrates Kevin's strong commitment to a position, which a politician such as Cantor would have to admire. But Kevin was equally committed to the welfare of his community and served as the abbot of a monastery and the bishop of a region outside Dublin, caring for the needs of young and old, rich and poor. He balanced extreme personal discipline with service to the larger community.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who is steering the Democrats in the House negotiations, should sit at the feet of St. Brigid, who founded two monastic institutions, one for men and one for women. St. Brigid was a strong leader, equally committed to contemplation and hospitality, and knew that some lessons are best learned from sitting down at a table with strangers, talking with them and being influenced by them. Pelosi should share a meal with some Tea Party Republicans, and see whether a dinner conversation can accomplish what political debate cannot.

And politicians of every stripe should look to the example of St. Columba. Driven out of Ireland by controversy, he established a monastic community on the Isle of Iona in Scotland, where he earned a reputation as a holy man, so unconcerned with personal comfort that he used a rock for a pillow. From Iona, he spread Christianity through Scotland and acted as a diplomat among the tribes of the region. But his commitment to reconciliation was not a sign of weakness. Columba is remembered as a warrior saint, and legend says he saved a swimmer from the Loch Ness monster by commanding the beast, "You will go no further!"

Find a balance

A leader can be a diplomat and a warrior, but the two roles must be held in creative tension, whether you are a representative, a senator or the president of the United States.

Our 21st century politicians are not monastics. Far from it. But they would be more effective leaders if they learned to strike a balance between personal discipline and community life, and between strong positions and hospitality. These habits create healthy spiritual and political lives, and our nation suffers — as it does today — when they are not being practiced.

Henry G. Brinton, pastor of Fairfax Presbyterian Church in Virginia, is author of Balancing Acts: Obligation, Liberation, and Contemporary Christian Conflicts.

Hidden Treasures -- FPC sermons excerpt

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. A merchant in search of fine pearls. A net thrown into the sea, with the goal of catching fish beneath the waves (Matthew 13:44-50).

The kingdom of heaven is a treasure. Often a hidden treasure.

How many of your have ever purchased anything on eBay? I once bought a couple of knives to complete a set, but many people are looking for more precious items. Sometimes, people are surprised and shocked by the value of their finds:

A man named Morace Park, a British antiques dealer, paid $5 for an old film container. When he opened it, he found a never-released Charlie Chaplain moved called “Zepped,” worth $60,000.

An insect specialist named Richard Harrington paid $30 for an insect encased in amber. But this was no ordinary bug. It turned out to be a previously unknown and now extinct species of aphid, one that lived 40 to 50 million years ago.

Then there is Philip Gura, an American literature professor. He paid $481 for a photograph of poet Emily Dickinson. No big deal, you might say. Well, in fact it is a big deal. His photograph of Dickinson is only the second photo known to exist. If authentic, it will be priceless.

Kent Devey, a British insurance worker, paid $25 for a used BlackBerry on eBay. When he turned it on, he found that it contained the phone numbers and email addresses of 50 major celebrities, from Natalie Portman to Kevin Spacey.

And finally, the magazine mental_floss (November-December 2010) reports that Maria Ariz, a community nurse from New Jersey, paid $16 for a pair of jeans. You might think that this is the end of the story, but no. When she wrote the seller to ask about other sizes, the two fell in love. They have now been married for seven years.

Treasures. Hidden treasures. Buy an old film container, and find a Charlie Chaplain film. Buy a pair of jeans, and find a husband.

Jesus is always saying that the kingdom of heaven is small, and seemingly insignificant, like a mustard seed. But once planted, it grows into the greatest of shrubs and provides a hospitable home for the birds of the air (vv. 31-32).

Or it is almost invisible, like yeast. But when added to flour it has a powerful effect, and causes a loaf of bread to rise (v. 33).

He describes the kingdom of heaven in the parables of the hidden treasure, the pearl, and the net. And he concludes this section by saying that some of these treasures are new and some are old. If we are going to be trained for the kingdom of heaven, Jesus says, then we need to be like “the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old” (vv. 44-53).

So what are your treasures? Are they small but powerful? Unattractive, but valuable? Old or new? Are they hidden in a field … or on eBay? Our treasures say a lot about ourselves and what we value, and Jesus says elsewhere that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

Exactly what is your treasure? And where is your heart?

Jesus invites us to be on the lookout for the kingdom of heaven, because it will probably be small, unattractive, hidden from view, old and dusty. But when we find it, we will be like the people in the parables who will pay anything to have it, because it is priceless.

This leaves us with the question: Where is the kingdom hidden today? Is it within our sight? And do we grasp its value?

Christ in the Hallows -- FPC sermon excerpt

Lord Voldemort possesses the secret to immortality: Dark, magical objects called Horcruxes.

And Harry Potter is out to destroy them.

The final movie of the Harry Potter series contains a spectacular battle, one that takes place between the evil and good forces of the wizarding world. Called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2, the movie opens this Friday, July 15. In this conclusion to the series, the stakes are high, the action is intense, and none of the heroes is safe. Harry himself may be called on to make the ultimate sacrifice as he enters a deadly showdown with Lord Voldemort.

Good versus evil. Righteousness versus sin. Life versus death.

It seems to me that this adventure has a truly biblical feel to it.

Nancy and I just returned on Monday from the Celtic Pilgrimage to Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England, a trip which took us very close to the imaginary land of Harry Potter. In fact, last Sunday we saw the railroad tracks that movie-makers have used to film the train to the wizarding school known as Hogwarts.

It is pretty clear that Harry Potter is supposed to make us think about Jesus, in both his personality and his actions. Think about it:

- Harry is linked to both wizards and Muggles. Jesus is connected to both God and humanity.

- Harry’s enemy is the evil Voldemort. Jesus’ enemy is Satan.

- Harry endures the pain of the “Cruciatus” curse. Jesus endures the pain of the cross.

- Harry spends three days in a coma after battling Voldemort. Jesus spends three days in a tomb before being resurrected.

“Harry is [a] hero of faith,” says John Killinger, author of God, the Devil, and Harry Potter. He is “a wounded hero, a very modest one, who is ready to sacrifice himself completely in behalf of others.” He opposes Lord Voldemort, the personification of evil, with all his strength.

Jesus Christ is clearly present, in the Hallows.

In this final movie, Harry makes discoveries about three magical objects called the Deathly Hallows. I think the children of our congregation can describe them much better than I can. As I understand it, the three objects include the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and the Cloak of Invisibility. As the first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ended, Lord Voldemort obtained the incredibly powerful Elder Wand.

Now the contest for the Deathly Hallows is a matter of life and death.

A similar struggle erupts in Paul’s letter to the Romans, a book that many people find to be as complex and confusing as the Horcruxes and Hallows of Harry Potter. “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do,” writes Paul: “by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (8:3-4).

The law. Weakened by the flesh. God’s own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh. The just requirement of the law. Walking according to the Spirit.

Such terminology is every bit as confusing as the language of the Deathly Hallows.

Paul’s letter begins to make sense, however, when we see it as a battle between Sin and God, a fight with as much shock and awe as the final chapter of the Harry Potter series. Biblical scholar Beverly Roberts Gaventa argues that Sin should be written with a capital “S” in Romans, because it is an “upper-case Power that enslaves humankind and stands over against God. Here, Sin is among those anti-God powers whose final defeat the resurrection of Jesus Christ inaugurates and guarantees.”

Sin can be pictured as Lord Voldemort, enslaving humankind and standing against all that is good. His final defeat is going to require a death and a resurrection.