Goat, Red Beans & Rice, Blues, Rising Moon

One of the wonderful things about my apartment is that it's just one block from the Mississippi River levee, which has a paved bike path atop it. The levee path is also used by walkers, joggers, skaters, and horseback riders.

All I have to do is take my bike out my front door, to the end of the block, across River Road, over the railroad tracks, up the levee--and I'm ready to ride! On the levee, I quickly feel that I'm out in the country, though I'm not really. On one side, the Mississippi River flows along and the occasional boat or barge floats by; on the other side, the narrow River Road twists its way from here to there. I'm in a different world on the levee.

Earlier this summer on a Monday evening, I took the levee bike path to the River Shack Tavern for the Monday special of red beans & rice and a blues singer. So I was expecting the red beans & rice and the blues. Unexpectedly, I also ran into a goat and the rising moon.

GOAT. The most unusual thing about this evening was that I soon encountered a goat. And the goat wasn't on a leash, either. As I rode my bike atop the levee, I noticed a young woman trying to get a goat to obey her. The goat was not obeying. "Come on, Baby--this way now, Baby," the young woman encouraged. Baby had a mind of his (or her?) own, though, and stalled right in the middle of the bike path, forcing me to stop and get off my bike. Baby trotted right on over to check me out. "Hello, Goat," I said tentatively to Baby. "I hope your goat doesn't bite," I said more forcefully to the young woman. "Oh, no, the goat is friendly," she replied. After eyeing me for a few moments, the goat finally trotted off with the woman and I resumed my ride.

RED BEANS & RICE. Red beans & rice is a great Monday special at River Shack Tavern. It comes with sausage or chicken and a salad. I ordered it with sausage and a large iced tea. The sausage was incredibly long. I ate just a fourth of it. River Shack Tavern is quite shack-like. It looks like a dilapidated shack, right there on River Road in the town of Jefferson, just past New Orleans. Inside it's pretty much like a tavern--dim lights, long bar, array of tables, pool table, live music corner. The barstools sit on mannequin-like legs (no two alike--cowboy legs, go-go dancer legs, plaid pants legs), and the tables hold interesting ashtrays, for River Shack is the Home of the Tacky Ashtray.

BLUES. Also on Mondays, Amanda Walker sings the blues, accompanied by herself on an electronic keyboard. Very nice mellow voice. So relaxing. I ate my red beans & rice and listened to Amanda for about an hour.

RISING MOON. Then, as twilight fell, I got back on my bike and rode home atop the Mississippi River levee, just as the moon was rising over the river.

I call this a perfect evening. And it's accessible from my own backyard. The bike path, right at the end of my block, takes me to the river world of the levee top and the funky world of the River Shack Tavern--just a magical bike-ride away.

Frank Schaeffer: Thoughts on Military Service

Frank Schaeffer has written five books on the United States Marine Corps--books which have impressed me greatly. Here I will give some background on Frank's Marine Corps books and explain what I've learned from them.

Frank's interest in the Marine Corps began when his youngest child, John, enlisted with the Marines right after high school in 1999. John had attended an academically rigorous high school from which the graduates were expected to go on to prestigious universities and prepare for lucrative careers. No one from the Schaeffers' social, economic, and educational background enlisted in the military. Frank was shocked by his son's decision.

Frank believes that he became a better person because of John's military service. As John went through boot camp and two deployments to Afghanistan, Frank learned about service, sacrifice, and the deep connections of the military family who support each other through hardships and heartbreaks. Frank also came to see the injustice inherent in a volunteer military where the burden of defense is disproportionately borne by the middle and lower classes while the upper classes rarely serve.

These are Frank's five books about the U. S. Marine Corps:

• Keeping Faith: A Father-Son Story About Love and the United States Marine Corps, co-authored with his son John. This book is about John's time in boot camp as experienced by John and by Frank.
• Faith of Our Sons: A Father's Wartime Diary. This book is about John's two deployments to Afghanistan as experienced by Frank.
• Voices from the Front: Letters Home from America's Military Family. This is a collection of letters from military personnel and their families, drawn from Frank's extensive email correspondence.
• AWOL: The Unexcused Absence of America's Upper Classes from Military Service--And How It Hurts Our Country, co-authored with Kathy Roth-Douquet. This book is about the unjust but growing gap between those who serve and those who do not serve.
• Baby Jack. This is a novel about a son's military service and the way it affects his family.

I have learned at least six lessons from Frank Schaeffer's books about the U. S. Marine Corps.

SERVICE. Service is necessary. Frank explains that a life of service is not easy, but it builds character, competence, and confidence in the ones who serve. The rest of us can sleep peacefully in our beds at night because military personnel and police officers are keeping watch and defending us. Many of us can do our work effectively because assistants handle the nitty-gritty details and maintenance workers keep our workplaces clean and in good repair. Children can enjoy their childhoods because parents and care-takers create a safe and attractive environment for them. All of us need the experience of serving our country in some way, and our country needs our service.

TEAM SPIRIT. Marines know that the team comes first. They are ready to do whatever it takes for their buddies. They know they can count on each other in the extreme stress of combat. However, this is not the typical mindset in U. S. American culture, where we over-emphasize the individual. We believe, for example, that the individual has the right to make as much money as the individual can, creating a huge disparity between the very rich and the very poor. We don't see our fellow citizens as part of the same team. Marines, though, know that what is the best for the team is not always the best for every individual on the team, and they are dedicated to supporting their team.

TOUGH LOVE. Marine Corps Drill Instructors create chaos to prepare their recruits for life as a Marine, which often involves combat. This doesn't feel good to the recruits. The Drill Instructors get in their recruits' faces, they shout orders one after another at a fast clip and expect instant obedience, they punish imperfection with fatiguing exercises performed rapidly in a sweaty and itchy sand pit. The Drill Instructors love their recruits so much and want their success so deeply that they are willing to exhaust themselves with and for their recruits, to hang tough, to keep their recruits sharp and ready. Love doesn't always feel good, but love desires and works for the best for those loved.

UP-FRONT LEADERSHIP. Marine Corps Drill Instructors lead from the front. They work far harder than their recruits at the same tasks. When the recruits are ordered to do punishment exercises, the Drill Instructors will get in the sand pit and do the same exercises right along with the recruits at double time. This shows the recruits that the Drill Instructors are with them and that this level of physical conditioning can be achieved. The Drill Instructors lead by example. They are the first to wake in the morning and the last to go to sleep at night, often getting considerably less sleep than their recruits. They are far different from those leaders of our country who ask others to volunteer for military service without ever having served themselves.

MILITARY FAMILY BONDS. Military famlies form close bonds with other military families. When John joined the Marine Corps, Frank found himself embraced by former Marines and by wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, daughters, and sons of Marines. Marine families know the anguish of having a loved one in harm's way, not knowing whether or not their Marine is safe today. Many Marine families know the heartbreak of receiving the news that their Marine has lost arms or legs, has suffered an irreversible brain injury, or has been killed. Marine families understand, support, and love each other deeply. There is a profound fellowship among those who serve.

UNJUST CLASS DIVISION. With our now volunteer military, it is no surprise that those who serve are those with fewer opportunities in life, largely those of the working class. Members of the upper class rarely serve in the military. As Frank points out, we have a situation where those who benefit the most from the opportunities available in the United States are those who contribute the least to our country's defense. There is an attitude among the upper class of "Let someone else do it." This exempts the upper class from the experience of serving a goal beyond themselves, of contributing to the common defense (once thought to be every male citizen's duty), and of sharing life with a team of buddies from different social classes and backgrounds. Frank shows that this is deeply unfair, and that it keeps the upper and lower social and economic classes of the United States separate from each other.

Frank Schaeffer's Memoir: Insight--The Soul Family

I've gleaned yet another insight from Frank Schaeffer's memoir, Crazy For God. This insight came to me while thinking about how Os Guinness sees Frank as Frank's younger arrogant self rather than as the kinder man Frank has now become by opening himself to grace.

This led me to consider how Frank has reached certain points of growth that his father, Francis Schaeffer, did not attain, although his father was striving in those directions and pointed the way. For example, I see this in the area of living one's passion. Francis Schaeffer did not allow his passion for art and for popular culture full expression in his life, but Frank could see how his father lit up when discussing these subjects. Frank himself has reached a place where he does give his own passion for writing an important place in his life, and he has also returned to his love of painting. In other words, Frank Schaeffer is following his passions more fully than his father did. Frank has been able to do this in ways that eluded his father, though I believe that his father pointed the way. We mlight even say that Francis Schaeffer carried this piece of soul work to a certain level and that his son, Frank, has carried it further.

I also see that Francis Schaeffer was at times uncomfortable with some of his religious beliefs. For example, Francis Schaeffer's stated beliefs told him that he had to prevent his son-in-law John Sandri from teaching at L'Abri because John's approach to the Bible didn't follow the L'Abri "party line." Yet Francis Schaeffer's heart told him that John Sandri was a true example of deeply lived Christian faith. Francis Schaeffer felt that he had to obey his stated beliefs rather than his heart. Frank Schaeffer, on the other hand, has found an expression of Christian faith in the Greek Orthodox Church that supports what his heart tells him. The Greek Orthodox Church recognizes the place of doubt in a life of faith, feels comfortable with the Mystery of God, and uses a beautiful ancient liturgy that involves the five senses in worship. In this area, too, of finding an expression of Christianity that one's head and one's heart can support, Frank Schaeffer has gone further than his father was able to.

Considering these examples from the lives of Francis Schaeffer and Frank Schaeffer led me to an insight about the family soul. Perhaps we are part of a family soul. Our parents and earlier ancestors did soul work that they carried to a certain level. We can carry that soul work further.

I think, for example, of my mother, a woman of high creative energy who allowed her passion for life to be circumscribed by my controlling and limit-setting father. Perhaps I can carry my mother's soul work further by allowing my own passions freer expression.

I think it may also be possible to heal a family soul wound. My family has suffered from excessive anger and a compulsion to busyness. Perhaps I can begin to heal that soul wound by taking time for contemplative prayer, by slowing down and enjoying life, by savoring simple pleasures, and by living calmly from my center.

I see the possible healing of a soul wound over three generations in the Schaeffer family. Francis Schaeffer suffered througout his life with bouts of anger often directed at his wife, which he never seemed able to overcome. Frank Schaeffer describes episodes of his own anger and yelling, yet he seems to have grown into a kinder man over the years. Frank's son, also called Francis Schaeffer, seems to have healed this soul wound, being a person of great patience.

The idea of the family soul connects me with my parents and other family members who have died. Whatever soul work I do brings them joy in the spirit world and benefits not just me but my whole family and indeed all souls everywhere.

Frank Schaeffer's Memoir: Os Guinness

Os Guinness objects to Frank Schaeffer's memoir, Crazy For God. Os served as a L'Abri worker and knew Frank's parents, Francis and Edith Schaeffer, very well. He has tremendous respect for Francis and Edith Schaeffer. Os was also close friends with Frank Schaeffer when Frank was a late adolescent and Os a young adult. Here, I will examine some of Os Guinness's objections to Frank Schaeffer's Crazy For God.

OS BELIEVES THAT FRANK SHOULD NOT QUESTION HIS FATHER'S MOTIVES.

Os objects to Frank's questions about his father's motives. Specifically, Os objects to what Frank says about his father's decision in 1951, a year of doubt and questioning for Francis Schaeffer. Francis Schaeffer spent this year re-examining the whole structure of Biblical thought and subjecting his doubts and questions to the Biblical view. In the end, Francis Schaeffer concluded that the Bible rings true and that he could continue to teach the Biblical system as he had been doing, with full intellectual integrity.

In Crazy For God, Frank wonders whether his father's decision in favor of Biblical truth might also have been influenced by the fact that teaching the Bible as truth was his father's means of livelihood. In Francis Schaeffer's case, to conclude that there were holes in the Biblical system would have meant not just a change of religious faith but the need to search for a new way of earning a living and supporting his family. Frank suggests that these practical considerations may also have influenced his father's decision.

Os Guinness believes that, in suggesting that Francis Schaeffer was motivated by anything other than a deep intellectual conviction of the Bible's truth, Frank has harmed his father's teaching legacy. Os himself is fully convinced of Francis Schaeffer's intellectual integrity, and he believes that Frank is completely out of line in suggesting a lesser motive for his father's decision to stand on the Biblical system.

Here is what I would say. Crazy For God is a memoir. What Frank has done is exactly what one does in a memoir. One examines an aspect of one's life and explores its meaning from various angles, seeking greater understanding. Parents are huge influences on our lives and therefore figure prominently in many memoirs. If you're writing a memoir and you remember that your father made an important decision and gave certain reasons for his decision at the time, but you now see other factors that could have influenced him, you would of course discuss this in your memoir.

Os Guinness seems to be saying that Frank doesn't have the right to delve into his father's motives in his memoir because Frank has a famous father who left an important teaching legacy. I, on the other hand, could write a memoir that questions my father's motives all I want because no one has heard of my father. I would say that Frank (or anyone) has the right to write a memoir that does the things memoirs do whether or not he has a famous father.

OS BELIEVES THAT FRANK HAS BEEN CRUEL IN HIS MEMOIR.

Os Guinness seems to be stuck with an image of Frank Schaeffer based on his relationship with Frank years ago when Frank was a late adolescent and then a young adult. Frank himself admits to the rough edges of his personality. Frank himself tells us that he could be arrogant, harsh, and even cruel. This is the Frank whom Os Guinness knew. I believe that Os sees this younger and harsher version of Frank as the author of Crazy For God. I also believe that this view actually causes Os to misread the text.

For example, Os describes Frank's portrayal of the woman who tutored him with elementary school work as cruel. When I read this passage, I see nothing cruel about Frank's description of his tutor. I do see that Frank describes his own cruel behavior toward her. He describes deliberately embarrassing his tutor, and he describes her reaction. But nothing in this passage invites me to laugh at Frank's tutor or to be amused by this incident. On the contrary, in the context of the memoir as a whole, I would say that Frank now regrets this behavior and the discomfort he caused his tutor. I'm amazed that Os reads this as a cruel description of the tutor. Instead, it's a description of Frank's own cruelty, which he now regrets.

The Frank Schaeffer who wrote Crazy For God is not the young, arrogant, harsh, and sometimes cruel young man that Os Guinness knew years ago. Frank may still have some rough edges (as do we all), but he has opened himself to grace, which has operated deeply in his life and transformed him into a kind person, one who desires to serve. Frank is also a truth teller, one who directly tells the truth as he sees it. And he turns as sharp a lens upon himself as he does upon anyone else in his memoir.

Frank Schaeffer's Memoir: Five Insights

In his memoir, Frank Schaeffer describes what it was like to grow up within the L'Abri ministry and explores his later spiritual journey. The memoir's title—Crazy For God—hints at how Frank now feels about his parents' version of Christianity. Because I was so taken with Frank's parents, Francis and Edith Schaeffer, and their ministry, books, and films during the 1970s, I find myself fascinated with Frank's perspective on L'Abri. Here, I will look at insights I've gained from Crazy For God.

MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES. Frank's memoir reminds me of the many angles from which it is possible to view a given situation. In the case of L'Abri, we have these views:

• The philosophical underpinnings of L'Abri, the ideas on which the ministry stands, the careful working out of the intellectual consistency of the Biblical view—in Francis Schaeffer's books, especially The God Who Is There, Escape From Reason, and He is There and He Is Not Silent.
• The personal side of L'Abri, the people who passed through the Schaeffers' doors, the lives that were changed—in Edith Schaeffer's books, especially L'Abri and The Tapestry.
• The shadow side of L'Abri, the sometimes upsetting underbelly of the ministry, Francis Schaeffer's mood swings between anger and depression, Edith Schaeffer's workaholism—in Frank Schaeffer's memoir, Crazy For God.

Which is the true L'Abri? All of them. We can always turn the lens, examine a given situation from another angle, and see a different picture.

I think of a story I once heard about Merlin and his Tower of 70 Doors and 70 Windows, each showing a different perspective on the world. I like to think of God as the Tower of 70,000 Doors and 70,000 Windows, the God of Infinite Perspectives. I can ensconce myself within the Divine Tower at any time:

• To see a situation from new angles—What might be some other explanations for an illness besides "God wants to punish me"?
• To understand how someone else views a situation—Let me put myself into the mindset of someone who has hurt me to better understand what happened and how I might best respond.
• To see a fuller picture of what is—Mardi Gras has different meanings for the social elite, for middle-class New Orleans families, for tourists, for police officers, for African-American Mardi Gras Indians and Skeletons and Baby Dolls, for members of marching bands, for maskers at the MOM's Ball (Mystics, Orphans, and Misfits)—and all contribute to the fullness of what Mardi Gras is.

FOLLOW YOUR PASSION. Frank Schaeffer examines how and why his parents felt unable to follow their passions. Francis and Edith Schaeffer believed that God's call on their lives precluded doing what they truly loved to do. Francis Schaeffer was passionate about art and popular culture, yet he felt obliged to keep these interests secondary and to center his life around presenting the Bible to the young people of the 1960s and the 1970s in ways they could grasp. I would love to see what Francis Schaeffer might have done as an art historian and popular culture scholar. Edith Schaeffer loved to dance but believed that dancing was not God's will for her. I find this tremendously sad.

I think, too, of Jane Stuart Smith, who, upon accepting Jesus Christ as her personal Savior, gave up a fantastic career as an opera singer to become a L'Abri worker. I know a married couple who are opera singers and committed Christians, and I remember once mentioning to a Methodist minister how this husband and wife had made very different choices from Jane Stuart Smith's as regards God's call on their lives. The Methodist minister said that the opera singer couple perhaps had a wider view of Christian ministry. I would say that the opera singer couple connect us with God through the beauty of their music, and they even more directly touch the lives of their many voice students, too.

Frank Schaeffer was eventually able to leave the Evangelical Christian career path and step onto a path directly connected with his life passions of writing and painting. Crazy For God shows how debilitating it had become for Frank to continue on with religious work that had lost its meaning for him and how refreshing and energizing it was to follow his passions.

I would say that God calls us through our passions. How do we know what we are meant to do with our lives? By listening to what we deeply love to do. Following our passions releases tremendous energy. We need this kind of energy in our world. It increases love, joy, and beauty on our earth.

NUANCE. Frank Schaeffer shows the need for nuanced views of moral issues rather than absolute views. Frank gives the example of abortion. Many people prefer an absolute view of abortion because it’s so simple. Abortion is absolutely wrong in all cases—no exceptions. Or abortion is the absolute right of any pregnant woman—if she wants an abortion for any reason at any time before birth, this is her absolute right—no exceptions. And no thinking is needed.

Frank says that a nuanced view would require struggling with the issues in each case. Frank believes that we can deplore abortion while recognizing that, sadly, there are times when it is the most compassionate course of action, such as in the case of rape. Nuance involves wrestling with the questions of right and wrong, searching for the most just and compassionate answer, not following a set formula.

I can see that absolutism avoids this active engagement. It makes laws more important than people. It even crushes people in order to uphold the law—Sorry, you’re thirteen years old, you were raped, you’re pregnant, you must bear the child, it’s the law.

MATCHING OUTER LIFE WITH INNER CONVICTION. For Frank, it is very important to match outer actions with inner truth, to speak and act in ways that conform to deeply held convictions, to be the same person with everyone—no pretending.

LIFE AS JOURNEY. Frank grew up with a view of Christianity in which the most important event of a person’s life was the moment when that person accepted Jesus Christ as his or her personal Savior and thus attained eternal salvation. Frank is now much more interested in the salvation journey, the process of growing in one’s relationship to God, the ups and downs of this process (which is hardly linear), the place of doubt in a life of faith. Frank is now a member of the Greek Orthodox Church. He feels more at home with the way Orthodoxy uses liturgy, opens to the Mystery of God, and emphasizes salvation as journey.

I find it far healthier to see life as a journey, and a spiral one at that. When I’m in a “down” place on my journey, I can rest assured that this is part of the process—it is not a failure. The “failures” are necessary to get to the “successes.” It’s like the writing process: often one has to go through a lot of “bad” writing to produce an effective piece. Without a lot of messy drafts, it’s often impossible to get to the final polished essay or poem or story.

Frank Schaeffer's Memoir: Background

Frank Schaeffer's memoir has had a strong effect on me. The memoir has a long title: Crazy For God: How I grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back.

Frank is the son of Francis and Edith Schaeffer, Evangelical Christian missionaries who founded the L'Abri (French for The Shelter) ministry in Switzerland in the 1950s. Francis and Edith Schaeffer began by simply offering hospitality to young seekers. Francis Schaeffer engaged the young people in discussion and provided Biblical answers to their questions about life, but not before deeply listening to them and starting from where he and they could establish common ground. Besides his extensive Bible knowledge, Francis Schaeffer had a deep appreciation for art and for popular culture. Edith Schaeffer kept the home running smoothly, welcomed the young people warmly, and served lovely meals and a spectacular high tea on Sunday afternoons.

Francis and Edith Schaeffer espoused a view of Christianity that sees the Bible as literally true and salvation as coming through the acceptance of Jesus Christ as one's personal Savior. L'Abri was at its peak in the 1960s and 1970s but is still active and has branches in Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas.

I myself spent about two weeks at L'Abri in 1975, during the lengthy spring break of the year I was serving as an English language teaching assistant at the Lycee Victor Hugo in Marseille, France. As a very short-term L'Abri visitor, I didn't stay at L'Abri proper but at a farmhouse in the village. However, I was able to attend L'Abri lectures, listen to L'Abri study tapes, and occasionally have dinner with one of the L'Abri families.

Frank Schaeffer's memoir describes his growing up years within the L'Abri community and his subsequent spiritual pilgrimage. Frank is the youngest of Francis and Edith Schaeffer's four children. He has three elder sisters: Priscilla Schaeffer Sandri, Susan Schaeffer McCauley, and Debby Schaeffer Middelmann. Frank was born in 1952. He is married and has three grown children. He and his wife have lived in Massachusetts since 1980.

This post has given some background about Frank Schaeffer and his memoir. My next post will describe insights from Frank Schaeffer's memoir.

Family Dinner

Last night I had family dinner at the home of my sister Janet and brother-in-law Richard. Chef Richard prepared a marvelous meal. Three delicious appetizers: hummus, salsa, a big ole stuffed artichoke. A Caesar salad. Pasta alfredo with chicken in tomato sauce.

After dinner, Richard played the piano, with John and me beating time on African drums. Janet and Lola chatted in the kitchen. Lauren wrote out thirty-six biology definitions for homework. And Patrick baked chocolate chip cookies.

A warm and loving evening!