LORD POLONIUS Shakesphere’s Hamlet And these few precepts in thy memory See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue, Nor any unproportioned thought his act. Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel; But do not dull thy palm with entertainment Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in, Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee. Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice; Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy; For the apparel oft proclaims the man, And they in France of the best rank and station Are of a most select and generous chief in that. Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. This above all: to thine ownself be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!

Identify Two Important Aspects of Ubuntu Theology: Reflection on Bishop Tutu The most basic meaning of Ubuntu theology is humanity. Ubuntu means humanity and is related both to Umuntu, which is the category of intelligent human force that includes spirits, the human dead, and the living and to Ntu, which is God's being as metadynamic, active rather than metaphysical. (p.39) African philosophers employ an African concept of personality called Seriti (plural, Diriti), which identifies a life force that makes no distinction between body and soul. (p.50) God's creation is seen both through the lens of Ubuntu, as an African influence, and of ‎Kenosis (p.60), in which God's love redeems creation through the outpouring of the divine ‎life made known in Christ. ‎ The first important aspect of Ubuntu theology is that all humans are born with potential, a God given potential to see God in oneself and to see the same God in all other people leading to unconditional love and interdependence between all peoples. Tutu's model of Ubuntu claims that human identities are interdependent in such a way that any one person's survival is dependent on the survival of all others. (p.159) Ubuntu proposes an alternative to reprisal and retaliation and retribution because it provides an invaluable ‎perspective in which white and black and all other racial configurations people may see themselves as other than racial rivals.‎ When you look at someone with eyes of love, Tutu believes, you see a reality differently ‎from that of someone who looks at the same person without love, with hatred or even just ‎indifference.‎ This concept is understood in a community-based framework of people networking one with another. Viewing others with the eyes of love immerses one in the reality different from that of someone who looks at any other person with hatred or indifference, which is a byproduct of apartheid. It is only through an understanding of universal human networking and cooperation that people can understand how God's image encourages diversity in a hostile world. Implicit in this theology is the understanding that humans do not develop their potential in emptiness but only in interdependent community transactions, giving and sharing, and are uniquely made to be more supportive than cutthroat summoning all persons to realize their need for one another. For Tutu, then, racial distinctions matter only insofar as they demonstrate God's phenomenal ‎creation, in which interdependency is the outcome.‎ The second aspect of Ubuntu. The second aspect of Ubuntu, the consequent accomplishment of Ubuntu, lies in the establishment of the church in the world. Tutu's austere preparation leads him to take action through the church to support corrupted forms of human societies to see the truer image of God (p.161). This newness is clearly expressed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ when God broke the frantic cycle of death and effected salvation (p.164) by proclaiming that the greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. In this light, Tutu's distinctive Ubuntu theology, formed out of his African culture and the Anglican theology of the church, emphasizes the discipline of Christian personality within the church community. (p.124). The very nature of God related in three persons becomes the Christian paradigm of Ubuntu. Aggressive schemes of power cannot be tolerated, and no longer can deterministic ideologies fix human identity, because the Christian God is always creating anew. (p.164). Imago Dei. The pinnacle of Ubuntu theology and the systematic theology which is proposed in Battle’s book is an emphasis on the integrity of creation and ‎the habitual recalling of our image of God (Imago Dei) in the midst of human conflict. (P.4‎). Here, racial ideology as demonstrated and defined in apartheid is inconsistent with any forms of Christian faith, hope, and charity to one’s neighbor irrespective of a person’s national origin, sexual identification, color, theological position, creed, and any other factor designed to elevate one group higher than another group causing inequality, hatred, and social divisiveness. The absolute focal point is dependence on God and neighbor created in God's image, our common Imago Dei, viewed through ubuntu as Imago Dei, ‎‎ the absolute locus of one's identity. (P. 46‎) Race, then, cannot be a person's most important basis of personality because personality comes from the Imago ‎Dei, a spiritual truth possessed by every human being.‎ Tutu aims to stir his culture toward a model of understanding in which racial and cultural differences are no longer to be found in a hierarchy of power. ‎" By implication, accepting the premise of the Imago Dei demands a high view of the human capacity ‎to know God, and it testifies to the essential goodness of creation”. (p. 127) Consequently, ubuntu would reject the definition of a black or white church since it gains its definition historically by being in opposition to either white or black identity and, ‎therefore, lacks the ability to model the Imago Dei. (P.168)‎ Several 20th century theologians also discover the Imago Dei as a focal point of theological investigation and research. In his treatise on Baptism, Rahner states the following. We believe that holiness is always the work of Christ. Because we are by nature divided, torn between two opposing tendencies in us, the decision making the selfless triumph over the selfish tendency within us is God’s merciful doing in us. Wherever a man finds in himself the freedom to renounce his self-centeredness and give way to a selfless concern for another, what happens to him may be described as a dying unto himself and a raising to a new life, liberated from the connatural ambiguity of his own striving. Since a victory is the work of grace, we may justly describe what happens to such a person as a share in the death and resurrection of Jesus, in other words as a kind of baptism. In some way, however tentative and faint, the image of Jesus has been imprinted on that person. Edward Schillebeeckx reflects the same conclusion. I find it difficult to imagine that a sincere militant communist atheist possesses not one shred of authentic theist faith. Anonymous religion can take many hidden forms. Wherever there is some sense of justice, truth, and above all genuine brotherhood, there is God too. God does not leave himself without witness. His grace seeks out all men. (Acts 14: 16-17 17:22-30) Reconciliation: Many people are leaving the Episcopal Church who are in disagreement with the certain positions ‎regarding statements and holdings of the Episcopal Synod of America concerning the ordination of ‎persons of differing personal backgrounds. Here there is a scriptural lack of trust in the decisions of ‎Bishops who, with complete good conscience and moral integrity, approve those persons that they ‎judge to have a vocation from God to be fitting and committed priests and deacons in the Episcopal ‎Church.‎ ‎ This is a reflection of an historical phenomenon that has been evidenced in the Church since the ‎earliest days. Problems causing conflict between groups within the Church have been chronicled since the first Christian communities were formed. The early communities of Christianity demonstrated a great ambivalence about the relationship of ‎‎law and faith.‎ Custom lived out in everyday routine governed Christian communities, not a body of written law.‎ It was custom conversant with oral traditions and sacred scripture.‎ Christians did not put their lives together according to a Christian law but according ‎to ‎the spiritual goals of the community and of individual Christians.‎ St Paul wrote to Roman Christians who knew and lived under the law created ‎by ‎the Roman state and reminded them that reliance in Christ replaces worldly law ‎with a pursuit for ‎salvation (Romans 7:1-12 and 10:1-11).‎ Christianity and our own Church will become more highly developed by appreciating the practices that are ingredient to faith, practices of learning, forgiveness, shared aims with the underprivileged, benevolence, diplomacy, total comprehensiveness, and entrenched trust in God. These practices may be the required foundations for understanding the tradition of faith and the actual world we live in. Law cannot make a man worthy to ‎God; only ‎faith can bring life to the just man.‎ The inherent tension between the faith and conscience of the individual ‎and the ‎rigor of law has never been and never will be completely resolved ‎in religious law.‎ We have repeatedly observed and felt that Tutu aims to stir ‎his ethnicity toward a representation of understanding in which racial and cultural differences are no ‎longer to be found in a hierarchy of power.‎ One defined group cannot seek control and power over another group distinct from themselves, especially within the same church, by condemning them and then theologizing their own position as Mahan did with apartheid ‘s pseudo theology that was inherently immoral. Karl Rahner. Encyclopedia of Theology: The Concise Sacramentum Mundi. (New York: Seabury Press, 1975). V.1., 146. Edward Schillebeeckx, World and Church: (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1971). 32-33

‎Good morning: Buenos dias. This Christmas weekend-morning, we have witnessed Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ enter humanity. His entrance is the first page of the beginning of a calling, a vocation for all of us. This morning, let us pray and think about vocation, God’s special and beautiful calling to us all. Every one of us has a vocation to become Disciples and Followers of Christ. Each of you receive the invitation to follow Christ with Jesus’ own words, “…come follow me…” If someone were to come up to you and say: “….come follow me!” what would your reaction be? Am I under arrest? No, you got the wrong person. My mommy said never to talk to strangers. Sorry, bubba, I do not want any. How much is it going to cost me? Didn’t I see you on TV? If you are trying to sell me kingdom keys, you will get us both into trouble. Are you an undercover cop or something? ‎ Let’s pray for a moment over the words “…come follow me…” in the New Testament. As Jesus was walking beside the Sea ‎of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother ‎Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. He invited them to come and follow him. (Matthew 4:18). Later, he would call them to change their jobs and become Sheppards of his flock. We must notice something here. The vocation of obedience, love and service is the same, but the job at hand is different. ‎ Dietrick Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor and theologian, executed by the Germans in World War II, wrote that Jesus calls upon men to follow him, not as an educator or a model of the good existence, but as ‎the Christ, the Son of God.‎‎ We are not expected to contemplate the disciple, but only him who calls, and his absolute authority.‎ ‎ According to our text, there is no road to faith or discipleship, no other road only ‎obedience to the call of Jesus.‎ And what does the text inform us about the content of discipleship? Follow me, run ‎along behind me! That is all.‎ The disciple is dragged out of his relative security into a life of absolute insecurity. Again it is no universal law.‎ Rather is it the exact opposite of all legality.‎‎ No other significance. ‎ There is a striking parallel between the way that Peter and Andrew receive their call to discipleship and Matthew’s call. Notice that our Lord does not engage in lengthy interviews, background checks, psychiatrist’s reports, and so on. His call is simple. He wants his disciples to immediately follow him and effectively learn as they go, imitating His example. After accepting their call, they are instructed and empowered with different skill sets appropriate to their ministry. Notice how learning and empowerment come after they accept and obey Jesus’ call to ministry and not before. This tells us that we must ask what He wants us to do as we turn our wills and our lives over to the care of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then. Become Sheppards? Become fishermen? Maybe both. But our vocation of love and service is the same. From the moment we are baptized by water and the spirit, we Jesus calls us to follow Him, each moment of our lives being a progressive deepening of our commitment. Our Church, our bible, and our life’s experiences continually beckon us to renew this call with discipleship. ‎ As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man ‎named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told ‎him, and Matthew got up and followed him (Matthew 9:9). ‎Then Jesus went around teaching from ‎village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two ‎and gave them authority over evil spirits (Mark 6:7). ‎ ‎Bonhoffer also notes the following: When we are called to follow Christ, we are summoned to an exclusive attachment to ‎his person.‎ ‎ The grace of his call bursts all the bonds of legalism.‎‎ It is a gracious call, a gracious commandment.‎‎ It transcends the difference between the law and the gospel.‎ Discipleship without Jesus Christ is a way of our own choosing. ‎ It may even lead to martyrdom, but it is devoid of all promise.‎ The initial calls that Jesus makes in the New Testament sometimes surprise and astonish us. ‎After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by ‎the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him (Luke 5:27). The gospel of Luke tells us that Levi was called while sitting at his tax booth, the site probably heavily disliked by the people. When Jesus calls Levi, a tax collector, the other disciples must have wondered why Christ would want someone who was probably very disliked by the public at large since they had to pay taxes to the Roman and local government. Tax collectors then and even now in the form of IRS agents cause consternation, stress, and anxiety. Bonhoeffer looks at the responses of all the disciples and apostles and poses a very interesting question. What comes first, a confession of faith in Jesus or obedience to his call? What do you think? Bonhoeffer answers that obedience precedes an expression of faith. The response of the disciples is an act of obedience, not a confession of faith in ‎Jesus.‎ ‎ It displays not the slightest interest in the psychological reasons for a person’s religious ‎decisions.‎ ‎And why? For the simple reason that the cause behind the immediate following of call by ‎response is Jesus Christ himself.‎ It is Jesus who calls, and because it is Jesus, Levi follows at once.‎ Another element of discipleship is a total redefinition of one’s life. A true disciple does not engage in nefarious activities, egocentric pursuits of money, self-centered political activity, or the blatant discrimination of any member of God’s church. St. Paul even reminds us in Two Thessalonians that we should pray for the guidance to allow God to fulfill every good ‎purpose and every act prompted by faith (2 Thessalonians 1:11). ‎If we would follow Jesus we must take certain definite steps.‎‎ The first step, which follows the call, cuts the disciple off from his previous existence.‎‎ ‎The first step places the disciple in the situation where faith is possible.‎ ‎ Lastly, we should always be conscious and appreciative that God imbues discipleship on all of humankind, whether they are within organized religion or not. The triune God invites all of humanity to receive God into their lives and to follow him. In a book entitled Alcoholic Anonymous, the authors propose a plan of recovery - a plan of recovery within a community of other addicts and alcoholics in which the troubled and possessed addict not only tries to sober up from drugs and alcohol, but endeavors to seek after a spiritual life that allows them to turn their will and their lives over to the care of God as they understand God. A.A. proposes a twelve-step program whose spirituality is unquestionable. As one enters into the third step, those fighting addiction find a prayer for all to pray and meditate upon which reflects all the elements of a divine call to obedience and leaving one’s self behind. In the shadow of Bonhoeffer, the addict, in communion with others in AA, recognize God by being obedient to His will and engaging in a willingness to do God’s will always. ‎God, I offer myself to you--to build with me and to do with me as you will. Relieve ‎‎me of the bondage of self, that I may better do your will. Take away my ‎difficulties, ‎that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of your ‎Power, your ‎Love, and your way of life. ‎May I do your will always!"‎ Today as leave this worship service within our Church, let is open our minds and our hearts to recognize that all of us as Christ’s disciples both within and without the Church, rich and poor, sick and healthy, are called. Let us work together, supporting each other in our common quest to follow the God and the Christ of our understanding as disciples. All of us are called. BIBLIOGRAPHY Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism. New York City: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, 2001. Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. The Cost of Discipleship. New York: Macmillan, 1959. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Augmented Third Edition, New Revised Standard Version. s.l: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Spent all of Christmas eve in the 30 bed Intensive Care ward at UMC here in El Paso as the new head hospital chaplain for the first time in my three years here. The Holy Spirit works overtime through me in these moments to bring a message of care, concern, and love to the near dying, the broken bodies of car accidents, gunshot wound victims, the neglected of society, young women whose exterior beauty is no more but whose interior beauty is radiant, patients waiting for life giving surgery on Christmas day, elderly awaiting their moment with God at the portal, and to all the dedicated IMC staff like Elsa, Carmen, Jesse, Kathy, Daniela, Christy, Espe, Pat, Blanca, all the UMC guards, Jennifer, and so many more. May all of you have faith in how much God loves you all. It is 300am and I can hardly wait to celebrate Mass at the hospital at 400pm , today, the day of Christ's birth