Not relegated only to Monday, this whole Memorial Day weekend is our season in America to particularly remember those who have served and given their lives on behalf of our country in military service, often in war.

It is through the personal sacrifice of our soldiers (and their families!) for 231 years that we can still enjoy the relative safety and freedom and opportunity for which our country is well known in the world.

But before we go there, for Christians there is a deeper context for sacrifice in war: the sacrificial death of the innocent Jesus, in the war of God's human creation against sin (digression from what God designed) and its consequence of human death. What a fight.

This is the only war every single person is familiar with. It's the war Americans share in common with members of Al Qaeda. It's the war Sunnis share with Shiites. Jews and Muslims can see eye to eye on this one. We're all on the same side. We all fall short of God's design for us. Temporal beings, we are somehow inclined to make temporal choices.

When Jesus died, there was no tradition of lowering the flags to half mast, and as a (falsely accused) executed criminal he wouldn't have received this honor even if there was. So God "did the flag thing" for him... in the middle of the day the sky turned dark as the night. This gets your attention, even if you wonder why the flag is flying half mast as you drive by at 60mph. Or stand there in the dark.

Something even more miraculous and much more eternal then happened: the curtain in the temple (which until then had shielded God's earthly presence from common men and women, channelling mediation with God through the designated priest) -- the curtain was torn in two.

Rip. Better freedom than any earthly democracy could offer.

God's accessibility was forever democratized. Not according to any American notion of what democracy might be, but in the higher sense of God saying to each person, "You now have access to me through what Jesus has done on your behalf. Knock and the door will be opened. Seek and you'll find. I dare you to ASK."

Jesus was the ultimate military sacrifice, resulting in the ultimate safety and freedom.

Every soldier who has since given their life for the service and protection of a nation or even an individual -- our best heroes -- each has lived and died according to the metaphor of Christ's sacrifice. Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for another."

We're actually all called to this, if we've "enlisted" as followers of Jesus. It's sobering. (It's the draft, and the only way out is to not follow Jesus, there could be downsides either way.)

So on Memorial Day Weekend, we who follow Jesus should remember Jesus, and then also remember those who have done (on a national level in our particular country, idiosyncracies and all) what Jesus modeled for all of humanity on a much higher level.

How do pacifists observe Memorial Day? Do they? How do people who have always opposed the Iraq War (where the U.S. has lost over 3,400 soldiers to date) observe this day? I hope they observe it with appreciation, not contempt.

I'm one of these (not a pacifist but an opposer of this war since before day 0) so I can at least answer for myself.

I deeply appreciate and honor and support our troops, those who now serve and have survived, and those who lost their lives. I am so thankful for the sacrifices of our military who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. I don't have an American flag but if I flew one, it would be at half mast on Memorial Day.

I support our troops, but not our oops. We should not have gone to war in Iraq when we did. I won't belabor this point here, except to say that "supporting our troops" has little to do with pre-emptive, premature, unjust, virtually unilateral engagement of a war that was not chosen in wisdom, and against the better wisdom of countless advisors and the advice of most other nations. It was a tragic mistake by a few people who trusted their own judgement too much. It was followed by a series of other mistakes. That's history, but it still hurts. It has cost many lives, not just "ours."

In a way, it's choices like this one that perpetuate Memorial Day.

I am glad that God forgives, redeems mistakes, and I am sobered by God's judgement of the behavior of powerful nations. (Read the whole book, it's only 3 chapters.)

This Memorial Day, I salute those who have followed orders regardless of the wisdom behind those orders. I thank the fallen soldiers and their families for their sacrifice.

This Memorial Day, I thank Jesus for his sacrifice; and God for remaking himself in the image he made of himself, for the purpose of sacrifice, for the sake of me and you. What a mystery to remember.

I had mixed feelings about the news when Jerry Falwell passed away last week.

I felt sad for his family, closest friends and colleagues who are personally grieving his death, and miss his presence. Because his death was sudden, many close to him were probably unprepared.

I realized almost right away that personally, I felt a sense of relief more than grief. There have been very few times in my life when I felt more relief than grief at the news of someone's death.

So I've been thinking about why that is. Essentially, I think it is because some of the highly public statements Jerry Falwell has made have (in my opinion) defamed the name and very essense of Jesus, of the church, and my own faith in Christ. For some he later apologized, and for others he did not, as far as I know.

I'm not trying to be provocative or controversial here, nor mean spirited, nor inappropriate. I am trying to be honest and carefully put into words some thoughts that I believe are shared by many others, many of whom are followers of Jesus and others who currently are not.

Just so these comments don't seem completely out of line, here are a few reminders of some things Mr. Falwell has said... "Even if it takes ten years, blow them all away in the name of the Lord..." (referring to terrorists), "...I'd rather be killing them over there than fighting them over here...", "...I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen'..." (referring to the 911 attack as God's punishment).

Other dubious statements of his could be included here, but my point  is not a critique or rebuttal of one individual. My point is more about how thousands and millions of people can sometimes be negatively influenced by even one misdirected individual. The influence is greater when the person is in a position of leadership.

It's curious how God allows this to happen, on a grand scale; or on a small scale, how a few people can be positively or negatively influenced in their faith journey by every one of us. It's sobering.

I can't begin to count the number of times I have heard directly from friends and acquaintances, and also indirectly in public discourse, how offended and repelled people have been by the words, actions, and attitudes of a few very public professing Christians (including Mr. Falwell) when they contradict some of the most central things that Jesus said and did.

For example, God is love; Jesus defines and demonstrates the love of God in the most comprehensive, ultimate way we could possibly imagine. He reminded us that the greatest commandment is to love God and love our neighbor, to the point of death. Sacrificial love and servanthood is more important than self preservation.

If someone (who professes to not only follow Jesus but is a leader and teacher of others who follow Jesus) makes public statements that contradict Jesus' teaching and costly example of just how far we should go to love, it is normal and entirely appropriate to object.

And if this contradiction continues over a period of years and decades, it understandably can build a response of uneasy distrust (if not antagonism) toward the person (in this case Mr. Falwell) or specific institutions (be they universities like the one he founded or groups like the so-called "Moral Majority").

Unfortunately, it's also understandable that such contradictory messages would turn some away from the church, the Christian faith, or even Jesus himself. I've never felt any need to apologize for my faith, but I've often wished I could effectively apologize for the misrepresentation that takes place.

Just as I am sure there are some people today who do follow Jesus because of some role that Mr. Falwell played in their faith journey, I'm equally sure that there are many today who do not follow Jesus because of a role that he played in offending their sensibilities, in a way that is not appropriate nor true to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I personally know some of these repelled sheep, and I can't say I blame them. Can you? If the recklessness of "blow them all away" was palatable to the gospel, I'd probably reject it too.

Some things are offensive and well they should be. Hatred toward anyone made in God's image is offensive to God and should be to us. The promotion of violence toward people made in God's image is offensive to God and should be to us. Blaming tragedy on people we don't like is offensive to God and should be to us. Judging others (I have to be careful here, given what I'm writing now) is offensive to God and should be to us. Greed (for power or stuff or anything in place of God and at the expense of others) is offensive to God and should be to us.

What human leader is authorized to delineate which shortlist of sins are most offensive to God, and which are simply weaknesses and struggles? I think God is offended when we do this.

We all sin, contradict, and fall short of the ideals for which God created us. It's why we need God's grace and mercy and forgiveness.

We need to learn how to more readily accept those 3 things from God, and how to more freely and generously pass them along to others, in Jesus' name.

I don't know what literally happens when a person dies, but I hope that by now Jesus and Jerry have had a good chat or two and set a few things straight.

I hope that those of us who are still living the human life and following Jesus the best we can will learn and humbly love in Jesus' name the people God puts in our path here and now.

I pray that we might learn now all the lessons God has for us, instead of saving them for when we have our own little chat with God as we pass into the next life.

I regret that others have said or done some hurtful things that need to be undone, as we invite people to consider the claims of Jesus, and the invitation to follow.

I also regret the hurtful things that I have said or done which have had this affect on others, even if they were unintentional.

I am glad that only God is bigger than all of this, is not surprised by our mis-steps, and can redeem and restore the final outcomes of our often feeble efforts. And I'm glad that only God is in charge of who is in the Kingdom and who is not.

May we not only "rest in peace" when our time comes, but may we live in peace now, rather than in fear. May God's spirit lead us to speak and live in love.

"The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
John 14:26-27

Seek and you will find.

It's interesting to look at the timeline of people searching for various terms on the web. Google Labs has something called Google Trends where you can see these patterns.

For example, searches for Jesus hit a couple peaks in December 05 and April 06, but for the past year have tapered off.

Searches for Christ hit a major peak in Feb 2004 with the movie, The Passion of the Christ, and are relatively flat since then.

Searches for church have likewise tapered off, except for a recent jump 1-2 months ago.

Searches for gospel peaked in April 06 with the buzz about the Gospel of Judas.

(Note that there are many potential causes for these patterns, including news events and media releaes (eg. movies, books) that people search for, containing one of these words.)

Most of the top cities and geographic regions that initiated these search terms listed above are in Latin America or Africa, which is very interesting, given the shift of the church southward and eastward.

There's an overall rise in searches for forgiveness of all kinds, including loans, and the Amish community's posture of forgiveness toward a murderer.

Poke around a while in Google Trends with similar pursuits... I'd be interested to find what conclusions you come to and what questions arise from what you find. Please post your comments here.

Wikis are all over the place these days.

There's the biggie: www.wikipedia.org, the fairly extensive, fairly accurate encyclopedia of the masses of information, created for and maintained by the masses of people.

It's possibly at least as accurate as the controlled, small-committee-vetted closed-room printed encyclopedias of yesterday that used about a half a tree and required serious shelf space and were out of date by the time they were printed, delivered, and neatly stacked in the family room or library.

But unlike yesterday's analog encyclopedia, wikipedia can be corrected, improved, refined, by the masses.

A few random other wiki sites include:
www.wikinews.org
www.wikispaces.org and www.pbwiki.com
www.shopwiki.com
www.lyricwiki.org
www.wikihow.com
And a lot more.

Indulge a brief tangent from wikis...

Christians believe that Jesus was crucified as an innocent sacrificial lamb who was also God's son, and was sacrificed once for all on behalf of all of humanity to pay for the consequences of human sin. When he died and gave up his spirit, the curtain in the temple's "holy of holies" was torn in two.

This was a place where previously only the priest could go, as a mediator between God and human creatures. This barrier to God, having to go through a designated priestly mediator, was forever removed (except for most Catholics, who maintain the priest-as-mediator mode of the Old Covenant).

Through Jesus' life and death, every person was given accessibility to God through the Son, as Jesus explained to his disciples and they probably at the time did not understand. This shift in God's accessibility is often referred to as the New Covenant, and as the Priesthood of All Believers. It is the full and direct access of everyone who believes in the identity and completed work of Jesus to have a direct relationship with God, without a dependence on the repetitive ritual of sacrifice.

Finally here's the question. With the theological principle of the "priestood of all believers," just how far are we willing to go with "democratic" approaches to Christian theology?

People can always get things wrong. Christians are definitely not immune to this vulnerability. We're highly prone to it.

In fact, 100% of Christians have some faulty theology. Think about the ramifications of that. Since "theology" amounts to human explanations of God, it would seem foolish to think that any individual or any one group of humans would get it all right.

God is God and we are not. If our cognitive awareness was reduced to only 2 or 3 facts, this should be one of them. We do get glimpses of God, and clues, and inspiration, and insight, and revelation, but never the full complete picture because of the huge gap between who God is and who we are.

But we like to seek, want to understand, we are pulled in to know more of who God is. That's a beautiful thing.

So if we were to use modern web technology to create a wiki about Christian Theology, what vulnerabilities would exist? How would we mitigate them? How would we seek ongoing improvement, refinement, clarification, and ever approach a closer understanding of who God is? Would we forget as much as we've learned?

I believe that every person and every culture has some unique contribution to understanding God, who created each one of us. With over a billion contributors toward a more well rounded theology, learning what everyone has to contribute is an impossible task.

The concept of wiki - is it a good thing for the church? Maybe, though it's not essential -- if all our electricity went off for a year and we were limited to connecting only with the people in our community, would God still be accessible? I think we can count on a yes.

But the wiki possibilities, the otherwise out-of-reach things we perhaps could learn from others via unprecedented collaborations enabled by the internet, these are quite intriguing, no?

What do you think?