Jesus the Great Witchdoctor

A Sermon Preached on the Gospel of Mark, Epiphany 4B



As a young and very idealistic 23 year-old, I spent three years living on the borders of Rwanda and Burundi after the refugee crisis there.


I had previous experience in East Africa as I had spent a semester living in Kenya during my junior year in college.

I expected to have long conversations around ethnic strife, around the roles and status of women, around agrarian societies and economies, around my fair skin and light hair, and around all the machines I had at my disposal to make my life easier--dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, and washing machines --to name a few.

But, I never anticipated the depth of conversations I would end up having with many of my faithful Christian friends--about mchawis.



Yes, you heard me correctly--mchawi.

An mchawi is a local witch doctor.

Of course, I knew that many folks practiced indigenous religions, but what I was naive about was that Christian friends believed very much in the power of these witchdoctors to do evil.

I'll never forget the first time a very dear friend, who I had known for some time, warned me against having tea at another person's home.

He confided that she was an mchawi and had succeeded in poisoning another person in the community.

While my Western, logical mind told me that he must be confused.

After all, couldn't the old man who had been poisoned just have gotten a random illness that caused him to look like a stroke victim.

There were many, many rational reasons for the man's poor health that could have come on coincidentally with the incident.

However, even I couldn't be brave enough to go to this woman's house for tea.

Somehow this label of witchdoctor scared me, too.



After the long haul of living in Tanzania in and amongst Christians and non-Christians alike, I learned to understand that those who believed in evil powers, demons, and supernatural forces were just as faithful as I--or more so.

One Tanzanian priest said to me, circa 1997 when we were talking about technology, "You tell me that there is no such thing as witches, but you believe in a faxi?"

In other words, you dismiss the forces around us that we see as evil or inexplicable, but you can't tell me how that machine produces a letter in your handwriting in another part of the world...Now that is pure witchcraft.

I had to laugh.

And I laugh even harder wondering what he would say to me about a text message.



Yes, whether you live in the first world or the third world, it is safe to say that we know that there are evil forces, that there are demons, and that, more importantly Jesus knows this, too.

Look at the setting for this first miracle in Mark's gospel.

We go straight from Jesus' calling of the first disciples to an exorcism in the synagogue.

Think about this sequence.

If we go back a few steps more, we remember Jesus' baptism, then he calls others to minister with him, and the first work he takes on is to teach--only to be interrupted by a demon.

I think the placement and the sequencing of this event is very telling.



You see, first Jesus is in the temple--in the most sacred place.

It is there that Mark describes him as entering the synagogue and teaching in the temple.

While there, the people are starting to be taken in by what Jesus has to say and then-boom--the demon appears.

"What do you want with us Jesus of Nazareth? Interesting, of course, that the first mention of Jesus being the Holy One of God comes from a demon.

No one really says the equivalent thing about Jesus in this gospel until we get to the very end of the story when the Roman centurion comments, "Truly this man was the Son of God."

But, this short vignette continues like a sandwich.

For once the demon is cast out by Jesus, the camera pans back to Jesus teaching and the crowds say, "What is this? A new teaching--with authority?"

So, clearly Jesus is teaching in the most important place a Jew can teach.

He says things that start to make lots of sense.

A demon appears to distract him and his followers.

That demon recognizes Jesus' power.

Jesus uses his power to get rid of the demon.

And, the crowds reiterate that this man teaches with a new authority.



Clearly, Mark's message in the opening scenes of this gospel is that Jesus is both a teacher and a worker of miracles.

Both are important. Both are critical to each other. Both are linked.

But what about the portrayal of a man possessed by demons, in the temple, in the middle of some erudite teaching?



It seems that most of us can relate to this more than we would like.

While certainly science can explain a lot more to us than it used to it still cannot account for all human behavior.

How is that when we know so much about nutrition and serving sizes and the importance of getting our hearts moving that we still fight the old fashioned problem of sloth?

Or in the day and age when we think we might have some more control over addictions--for we know how they happen biologically--we still struggle with alcohol addictions, drug addictions, gambling addictions and all other kinds of demons.

Or imagine, Joe Paterno, who for sure was struggling with all kinds of demons that kept him from following-through on a report of child sexual abuse by one of his closest colleagues. Demons that most likely haunted him until he died last week.

Demons, perhaps, who pushed him closer to the brink of death.

And just to be clear, we all know demons are not something that everyone else contends with. We all do.

In some way.

These days popular culture likes to call demons other words: self-awareness, boundary setting, getting in touch with our feelings, self-actualization, but we know some old-fashioned words for demons as well.

Yours might be the demon of pride, mine envy.

Yours self-pity, mine lack of empathy.

Yours gossip, mine lust.

But, demons are all around us, even we modern folks who think we have everything all figured out.



I'll be the first to admit that discussions about spiritual warfare make me uncomfortable.

But, I do know that there is evil in this world.

I do know that Jesus Christ is the One who triumphs over all evil.

Now certainly there are distinctions between sin and evil.

To me, evil is a force, forces, or person who works against the power of good--which is ultimately God.

Sin, however, is our complicit or explicit co-operation with evil.

So, when I choose to not speak out against an unjust tax system I see that as a sin, but not necessarily as evil.

Despite these nuances, I feel Jesus' message was this:

I've come to teach you something new about what God is doing to change this world forever. Even the demons know this and see it.

Even demons will want to stop it.

But, I will do that.

For I am not just the message, but I am the messenger.

As that demon exclaimed, almost with disgust, "You are the Holy One of God."

Yes, the Jesus of Mark's gospel establishes this early and often with his message and his miracles.

He is indeed the Holy One of God.



Upon leaving Tanzania, I had the great privilege of finally being able to understand Jesus as the Great Wichdoctor.

For I learned that Witchdoctors are different than witches.

They draw close to us and they heal us.

As simple as this message is--this is the message of the opening of Mark's gospel.

God has done something new in Jesus, the Great Witchdoctor, the great High Priest.

Come close to hear him.

Come close to watch him.

And come close to be healed of demons.

Race: From the Eyes of My Children

Our Family

Making Paper Airplanes and Jumping Up and Down

When I Couldn't Take Colorful Blanky to School (That's Daddy screaming "no.")

The Magician's Nephew and Abraham Lincoln

In light of Martin Luther King's birthday, I found myself having some tough conversations with Elias about race.  At his school, they celebrated the event and explained that MLK had worked to eradicate unfair rules in our country.  Unfortunately, I ended up having to explain what those unfair rules were.  Elias was very fixated on the idea that people had separate movie theaters and sat in the back of buses.  It truly was the first time that we ever had to equate skin color with something negative.  I felt ambivalent about that because up until this age the question had not ever really come up.  However, I understand that this is only the beginning of many conversations we will have about race as Elias begins to understand the legacy of slavery.  After all, we have started to read Tom Sawyer and you can't avoid the "race" question in that novel.  Interestingly enough, though, I found a comment by Addie telling about race from her mind.  She was describing a friend at church and I couldn't figure out about whom she was referring.  Finally, she said, "You know, Emma, Miss Claudine's grandchild."  Now Emma is as blond and blue-eyed as they come and Miss Claudine is an African-American octogenarian.  However, Emma's family and Miss Claudine are next door neighbors and very, very close.  So, it makes perfect sense to Adelaide that Emma is Miss Claudine's granddaughter.  And, of course, her cousins are of Central American descent and African descent.  I gather that race for her is still something that is merely observational with very few cultural or sociological implications.  Oh, to see the world with the eyes of a four year old.

Egghead

It was bound to happen, but our poor third child was on the playground and tried to climb a round ladder and all I honestly know is that he ended up looking like this:  The good news is that his head didn't split open.  But the bad news was that because it did not, the blood coagulated right up there and every parent on the playground gasped as I picked him up off the ground.  That bump showed up immediately.  By the time we got to the doctor's office, he was trying to procure another bump by pulling a chair over to the examining table and climbing on it up to the table.  Doctor's orders were to keep him up as late as possible and then have him sleep propped up with us so that the blood wouldn't create black eyes in the morning.  It didn't and he looks so much better.  Josaih added the word "Ouch." to his vocabulary.

All Things Come of Thee O Lord

In the Episcopal Church, at the Rite I service, which is the old English service, when all the collection is taken, the priest says, "All things Come of Thee O Lord" and the people respond, "Of Thine Own Have We Given Thee."  Our son took this quite literally this week.  You see, in his class, in honor of the The Rev. Martin Luther King, they are trying to create 100 acts of kindness before Valentine's Day.  He come home from school on Friday and said he had "plotted" (his word) with his friends to make swords for the poor children in Africa who have to sleep outside.  So, he worked diligently last night going through our recycle bin and made 15 cardboard swords sealed together with duct tape.  He also made  a paper doll "in case there are girls."  He proceeded to make a pouch to put them in, sealed in duct tape and proudly carried them to church this morning to go in the plates. He knows that the plates at church are collected and some of that money goes to the poor.  So, logically so will his swords and the paper doll.  I need to be creative with getting those out.  Any ideas?

Don't Carpe Diem

          Our first snowday this year, but Jed did NOT like cold hands nor did her like wearing mittens.

Elias asked me last week if we could move back to Wisconsin since it snows there.  Here they are at 8am ready to play in the "snow."  Thank goodness we didn't have to start packing boxes.

Today I led on adult forum on Family Prayer Practices and Rituals.  In many ways, I hope this blog serves, in part, as clearinghouse and resource for families as we try to slog through the early years.  However, the reason I keep my blog is best exemplified by the article I read this week called Don't Carpe Diem.  ( I just taught myself how to put up a link, so be patient with me.)  In any case, I absolutely agree that I write this blog so that when my kids are asleep I can capture the kairos moments--the moments when Elias builds swords for poor children and puts them in the collection plate at church, when Addie burrows her little body in between us in bed and prrs, and when Josiah screams "Daddy" when I enter the room.  There are kairos moments and I do want to cherish them.  These are the glimpses we get of the new creation, here and now.  I write them down so that they guide my way when I am overwhelmed with googling insurance referrals for occupational therapists, demanding co-operation instead of obstinance, and trying to find creative ways to "discipline" this toddler who most certainly knows NOT to throw food, but proceeds to anyway.

Getting Stronger: Oreos and Scooters

In this sequence, Elias is on a rolling scooter board.  He has to use his torso muscles to keep his legs in the air and supported.  He then has to go from one spot to get one side of an "oreo" and put the cookies together with the filling.  He started getting really tired as he went on the third or fourth lap.  If you notice his hands, he defaults to clumping them rather than using them as they are flattened even though that would give him more strength and support.  Elias got one of these scooters for Christmas and we are planning to take it over to the church so he can do the same activity there on the carpeted floor.

A Total Approach

 In this picture, Elias is getting sensory input from the cloth of the swing, building up strength in his torso, and putting together a puzzle.

 Putting the puzzle together involves dealing with some fine motor struggles and scanning issues which come with visual troubles.

 Here Elias is setting up his own obstacle course which will build up muscle strength in various areas that are weak and work on building up the reflexes that are most undeveloped.
 Elias' therapist getting Elias to work on idiation.  Basicially, using descriptive language to plan out his obstacle course rather than just pointing to things and putting them together.

This is the end of the obstacle course that he and his therapist concocted together.

Elias started twenty hours of intensive occupational therapy at a place called A Total Approach.  It is there that he got to play with his therapist for two hour stretches doing things as basic as playing board games to as unconventional as putting a puzzle together in a swing.  All of his sessions began with a massage--which he hated the most.  I'm now trying to incorporate that into his bedtime routine to get him calmed down.

A More Defined Diagnosis

Just a note:  I debated whether to share this information with the broader world, but remembered that this blog is a source of strength and comfort for me as I navigate parenthood.  If I could not mention Elias' diagnosis here, then I would not have the freedom to continue documenting his progress.  Also, I truly hope that others who share similar situations may feel that they are not alone.  And, I do hope those who read this blog who have encountered similar challenges will share their resources and stories with me.  Together we can build one another up.

Elias was evaluated right before Thanksgiving for his sensory issues in a much more thorough way. We knew he had "sensory issues' but not specifically what they are, and more importantly, how they would affect him--especially in the classroom. They have diagnosed Elias with a "severe Sensory Modulation Disorder." While that sounds pretty drastic to me, I don't know how drastic it is. We did learn, however, that Elias at a very basic level "experiences chaos and unrest in his own body. It is driving him to over-react quickly and appear impulsive at times." More specifically, Elias has many reflexes that are not integrated in his body. So, he seeks out input to use and feel in a way that is different than others. He is also displaying trouble with ocular moving skills which could impact how he learns to read and write, as well as ball skills. We also learned that parts of his body, like his trunk, are not well-developed which explains why he eats like a Roman--reclining at the table and is never able to sit-up properly. (He always uses both arms to lean against the table and leans over and into his food.) This wouldn't be much of a problem, if it was only that he eats in a rude way, but this affects his ability to sit properly at a desk and do school work. We also learned that Elias has balance issues, which are all related to the brain stem, and that he does not take in input well from his inner ear. Finally, the last piece of information, beyond these physical issues that he has, is that how Elias functions in the world is directly related to his brain stem issues.



As I understand it, things like inhibition, emotional control, and working memory are all impacted by these issues. In fact, today Elias was trying to remember something like where he put a book and he said I just can't remember those kind of things. How ironic, since yesterday we learned that working memory is the kind of things like brushing our teeth and making phone calls. He can certainly remember important family events in the past and short-term events, but does display a tough time remembering to put on his socks and brush his teeth.  Emotional control is a constant issue for him.  He is both sensitive and on sensory overload.  So, when he gets to the end of a Legos sequence in which things have been going so well and he can't manage to finish.  He cries tears of rage and frustration, refuses help, and clenches his hands and fists with rage while his neck vein pulses.  This is true meltdown mode for him.  And, sometimes it is meltdown mode for us as well.

The very good news is that this is all treatable. It just takes time and resources. The sad news, for me, is that Elias really struggles in his daily life. He can't tell if the sound of a car is right in the kitchen or if it is outside. The evaluator explained that if he were driving a car that by the time he went to turn on the blinker, he probably would have forgotten to keep his foot on the gas. Each physical motion is a singular one for him, not something that can happen simultaneously. No wonder soccer can be so very hard, at times. Last night, I just wept for the little boy who has no idea that he works so hard to do basic things because his body is not co-operating. One observation of kids with this trouble is that they spend a lot of time in their heads to compensate. I can see that in Elias' personality. And, yet, this little boy delights us and gives us so much to be grateful for. Certainly, his body was not made perfectly. But, whose is? I have learned how tenacious he is without even knowing that he faces the basic challenges of whether his muscles or reflexes are going to tell him what he needs to know. I'm also grateful that we are getting help while he is still in kindergarten. Hopefully, he will be able to work on major issues before his school work gets more demanding.  Tonight, his little body allowed him to fall asleep by 8:15.  Usually, he is souped up until 9:30 and cries out that his brain won't turn off or he can't find the remote control to turn his brain off.  My greatest prayer is that some of the therapy will help him turn off his brain so he can get the rest and sleep that he needs and that he can give us the same.

My Techie Son

It's been a while since I've made some observations about Josiah.  He is twenty months old now and still has a remarkably easy personality.  Having said that, he is exhausting to be around.  He's active in the normal way that toddler boys are active.  This morning, he followed me up and down the stairs as I put laundry away.  He then pulled laundry out of the basket and unfolded it for me.  Later, he pulled a child-sized chair up to the kitchen counter, which he often does, and pulled the Ipod off of the radio.  He figured out how to plug in a pair of headphones and was busy bee-bopping to the music.  I swear this child is truly of the technology age.  The other day he took one of those board books and swiped it the way you would swipe an Iphone.  Scary and funny at the same time.

A Toothless Grin

Teeth and Tutus

Our feisty daughter eventually lost the battle of the braces.  The tooth that was supposed to be repaired by putting braces on a two year-old is now rotting.  So, tomorrow she has to have her tooth removed.  This is her first time having such a procedure, but she is looking forward to the Tooth Fairy's visit and the promise of milkshakes.  I do hope it all goes well.

On a happier note, Adelaide got to try her first ballet class at the Y yesterday.  She was so excited to put on her tutu and she even showed it off for the funeral goers that were coming into the church yesterday.  If that wasn't enough excitement, her friend loaned her some tap shoes for the tap portion of the class.  (It's only half and hour and very basic which I think is the perfect combination.)

Mother's Helper

On Fridays, Adelaide and Josiah and I have a stay home day.  This past Friday morning, Addie helped me take the ornaments off the tree.  She also got in some final play time with the children's creche before we put it away for the year.  Our house was covered with pine needles as we took the tree outside and moved furniture and rugs to avail ourselves of the tree.  I knew Adam would be beyond happy if he came home to a house without a tree.  But, I got a bit overwhelmed putting the decorations away with the help of my team and I pretty much forgot to make the kids lunch.  I came in to the kitchen and found Josiah naked and climbing on the little table and Addie had prepared lunch for them both--complete with plates and drinks of water.  I was so proud and pleased.  What was on the menu?  Frozen bread with a swipe of Nutella.  Every nutritionist's dream.