Sturtz Stuff

There are a lot of things that can totally creep us out. Certain foods. A dark hallway. Halloween night with a full moon. Watching a fast food worker cough into their hands and then use their hands to wrap up your burger. Clowns. People who have way too many cats. Lots of stuff creep us out.  For many the number 666 is creepy. The number is often connected to the Devil, evil happenings or viewed as a bad omen. A few years ago I was doing some visiting rounds as a hospital chaplain. I visited a man who was in room 6XX. The hospital knew that people were creeped out by the number 666 so they changed the room number to 6XX. As I visited with the man in the room he informed me that he was a good Baptist, had been going to church for years, and was mad. I mean he was really mad.  He expressed his great displeasure at being in “the Devil’s room.” He got loud, so loud that I am sure the people at the other end of the hallway could hear him. He had quickly figured out that 6XX was rea...

You may have watched the movie This is the End or End of Days with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Perchance you have seen The Rapture from 1991 or one of the many movies with the title Left Behind. All of these movies offer a take on an idea often called The Rapture. None of these movies were any good and the rapture theology behind them, worse.  The word rapture does not appear anywhere in the Bible and was not used by early Christians. In fact, the first time, in the history of ever, that the word rapture appears is in the 1830s in Scotland. There is a more detailed story yet the key figure to know is a woman named Margaret MacDonald (1815-1840). Margaret achieved a place of influence among a tiny community of Christians who believed that the manifestation of charismatic gifts (such as speaking in tongues) was the only way to address the ills of the world. One aspect of what she became known for was to place herself into a trance-like state. After being in that state she would offer up p...

  For many Americans death has become medicalized. Death is often viewed as some failure of medical treatment and less as a stage of life. We logically understand that we will die someday yet it is not something that as a culture we talk about much. Understandably so. It is scary and uncomfortable. We all have personal experiences, theologies and family beliefs that inform what we mean when we talk about death.  This often leaves many individuals and families surprised, shocked and confused when a significant other, close friend or family member dies. We are often left with our grief to “just figure it out” or “just give it time.” We find ourselves unable to sleep, out of emotional balance, angry, tearful and unable to hold a thought in our heads.  Grieving is a healthy response to loss. In fact, grieving is not unnatural, it is a normal part of what it means to be alive. Many have grieved the loss of a friendship, family pet or the end of a dream. Grieving is not a rarit...