wfn.org | Seeing life, and Teletubbies, through our 'God lens'

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

March 24, 1999	News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.    10-21-71B{159}

NOTE: A head-and-shoulders photograph of  Bishop Christopher is available.  

A UMNS Commentary
by Bishop Sharon Brown Christopher

Except for news programs, I do not watch much television.  I first learned
of the Teletubbies from my friends who are grandparents, as they discussed
gifts they were giving their grandchildren.  When in a bookstore recently, I
glanced at the Teletubbies books on display.  Teletubbies are attractive,
soft, cuddly creatures.  I can see how children delight in them.

I did notice in my brief review that one of the Teletubbies is purple with a
triangle on its head.  I chuckled to myself.  "Well, finally.  One of the
Teletubbies is a bishop!"

The episcopal color is purple. Bishops wear amethyst rings.  Our liturgical
shirts are purple.  The purple Teletubby is taller than the rest.  "Ah!
Appropriate stature for a spiritual leader," I thought. And the purple
Teletubby had a triangle on its head.  "The Trinity!"  My assumption was
cinched when I learned that the purple Teletubby carries a bag.  "A woman
bishop!" my inner voice exclaimed with a sense of elation.

You can imagine my surprise when Jerry Falwell announced to a CNN news
audience that the purple Teletubby is gay.  He said its purple color and its
triangle are symbols of the gay liberation movement.  He went a step further
than I did by implying the manufacturers intentionally created a gay
character as an effort to influence children's attitudes toward gay and
lesbian persons.

This is not a statement about sexual orientation.  It is a statement about
assumptions and how they influence our vision.  The Rev. Falwell and I,
looking at the same reality, came to two very different conclusions based on
the assumptions we carry in our heads.

I am not suggesting that one of us was right and the other wrong.  What I am
suggesting is that all of us see reality from a lens ground with all the
experiences, ideas, and feelings we have ever had - all the words ever
spoken to us, all the environments in which we have lived, and all the
values we hold dear.  The way we view each moment is shaped by the history
that brings us to the moment.

Part of the reason we Christians pray, read scripture, come to the Lord's
table, Christian conference, fast, worship, and participate in acts of mercy
is to allow our lens of assumptions to be ground into a God lens.  St. Paul
calls it seeking the mind of Christ.

In those moments when such a shift occurs, our God view transcends our
assumptions and leads us to an overarching context of compassion and justice
for the common good.

Intentional and disciplined growth in faith leads us Christians to
decision-making from God's view.  I pray we are serious about our growth.
Our human family depends on it.

# # #

*Christopher is bishop of the Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference which
covers the central and southern portions of the state. Her office is in
Springfield.    

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