On the Radio (whoa)

On Monday afternoon, Jeff Schwarz, the producer from Issues, Etc., sent me an e-mail to ask if I'd be interested in appearing on the show. This is not the first time he's asked, and I've been on the show before. But last time I was part of a roundtable discussion on the Fifth Commandment (right click to save and listen). This time I'd be on my own, and I'd be discussing a topic about which I'd written an article for Higher Things Magazine but am no expert: Christian stewardship concerning the environment. Neither factor was particularly encouraging, but Jeff is quite persistent. So I agreed.

Though I was quite nervous--I started shaking a half-hour before and didn't stop until about an hour after--I enjoyed myself. Pastor Todd Wilken, the host, is experienced in leading his guests fairly gently, and Jeff edits segments after the fact so that guests like me son't sound too much like an idiot. I had a bunch of resources in front of me--printed passages from the Bible and Catechism, a copy of my article, and a few other useful notes and facts--so I could fall back on notes if my mind blanked. All in all, it's one of the few things I've done outside of my comfort zone that I've really enjoyed.

If you'd like to listen, right-click this link to save the audio to your computer: http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/issuesetc.org/podcast/931012312H1S1.mp3

Animals and the Fifth Commandment--Fixing an Incompletion

Since I'm talking about Issues, Etc., let me first crow a little bit about being selected by Jeff once again for "Blog of the Week", this time for my March 11 post "News Flash".  (Right click on this link right here to save the show to your computer, and then listen to Todd praise brevity.)  Cool beans!  It is always an honor to be selected, and it says a lot about the quantity and quality of the dissemination of Lutheran teaching over the Internet that such a beneficial show would have a "Blog of the Week" segment.

About a year ago, I was invited to appear on the Issues Etc. radio program on a round-table discussion of the Fifth Commandment.  (Right-click on this link right here to save the show, and then listen to me sound like a buffoon who is just learning to speak the English language.)  While I was on the show, Todd asked me a question regarding animals and whether the Fifth Commandment applies to our treatment of animals.  I babbled on, something about how the anger that a man demonstrates in "throwing his parrot against the wall" is the same anger which leads a man to murder another man.  I focused mostly on the treatment of domestic animals, barely touching on the food aspect of our treatment of animals.  I can only plead extreme nervousness due to this being my first live radio appearance. 

We've been studying the book of Genesis in Bible class on Sunday mornings--and you're invited to join us, by the way.  I'm preparing chapter 9 for next week or the week after, depending on how quickly we finish chapter 8.  In reading Genesis 9, it occurred to me that I had missed the point of the question Todd had asked.  Here's the background: In Genesis 1 God created man.  Moses writes:

²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  ²⁹ And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. ³⁰ Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so.

Here we see the Lord setting apart "every green herb" as edible and good for food, both for man and the animals. 

After the flood, the Lord changes the relationship between man and animals.  Moses writes:

² And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. ³ Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.

Whether or not man has eaten animals before this point, man now has the divine sanction to eat the meat of animals.  God doesn't necessarily answer in Genesis 9 the question of hunting animals only for sport, though Genesis 9 does speak only of the use of animals for food.  Then again, though they surely exist, I have yet to meat a hunter that kills an animal and doesn't use the meat for food, whether or not he mounts the animal head on his wall.  (Don't mean to sound sexist here, by the way, as I know a number of women who hunt, as well, and proudly display their trophies and eat the meat of the animals they have hunted.)  I will save for another day the discussion about the humane treatment of animals by those who raise animals to sell in mass quantities.

Listening again to what I said in the round-table, I didn't necessarily say anything that was wrong.  Rather, what I said was incomplete.  

Still, please don't throw your parrot against the wall.

Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, all in one blog post

When I started blogging in December of 2002 on another site, it was a means of finding for myself a sense of community at a time when I mistakenly felt I had none. Eventually I found myself in trouble at least partially concerning that blog. After a break from blogging, I decided that it wasn't blogging itself that was the problem, but rather that I was not really using a blog as purposefully as I could. That's when I started this blog. The purpose was two-fold. First, I wanted to spend my time in exile productively, writing theologically--keeping my hand in, so to speak. Second, I wanted to keep writing. Period. I enjoy writing, and writing begets writing. Though my first blog was instrumental in my vocational troubles, it helped me to strengthen the flow of my creative juices, which before that point had slowed unacceptably. I did not want that flow to abate. My new hobby of writing hymns--good or not, I'll let others decide--is a direct product of my work on this blog.

I did not start writing on this blog for community or for recognition. Nonetheless, two things have come to pass in the past few weeks that have shown me both. First, on August 6 I was chosen by Todd Wilken of Issues Etc. as "Blog of the Week". (Right click that second link and save the file to listen to the segment.) This is the second time I've been selected, the first being two years ago. Of course, the pick this time was sort of a fluke. Nonetheless, the two times I've been selected as Blog of the Week, the selection has brought with it the other unintended product: community. More people read my blog after each selection than had read it before. Suddenly my blog has today passed the 10,000 viewer mark. That's not much compared to Pastor Weedon's blog, and I wouldn't expect it to be. Pastor Weedon is well-known, beloved, and a frequent guest on Issues Etc. I am only one of the three. Nonetheless, I am honored that so many people have come to see what's going on in my corner of Christ's world. (By the way, Pastor Weedon's blog is well worth the read. Click that link and follow the joy.)

If you're responsible for any of the 10,000 ticks on the site counter of this blog, thank you for stopping by. I hope you'll introduce yourself and comment on what you find here. Though I wasn't seeking community in this blog, I'm glad I've found it. May God bless you richly, no matter what you've come here to find.

I have ISSUES!

I'm sure some of you are thinking, "Yeah, sure, Kornacki. We already know that." After you recover from the thunderous retort of a raspberry blown in your general direction, you'll surely recognize that I'm speaking of my appearance yesterday on Issues, Etc!

I have to admit that, when Jeff asked me to appear as one of the participants on a pastor's roundtable to discuss the Fifth Commandment, I nearly said no. And having said yes, I was very nervous. The old joke is that someone has a face for radio. Well, I have a face for radio and a voice for newspaper. In addition, I don't always think well on my feet. My strength is in writing, and I like to have a script in front of me when I speak.

But Todd and Jeff made it very easy for me. Jeff likened the experience to sitting around with a bunch of pastors in a diner and talking theology, and then noticing that the people in booths around you are listening in on your conversation. I do that all the time, in the past with the guys down in New Orleans, and now with Pastor Buetow from DuQuoin. Todd has a very calming demeanor in the studio, and he's got the experience to ease his guests through a bumpy spot here or there. It also helped that I didn't appear alone. Pastor Steve Sommerer of Messiah Lutheran in Carlyle, Illinois, was in the studio with me, while Pastor Ernie Lassman of Messiah Lutheran in Seattle, Washington joined us over the phone. Both of these men had been guests before, and their experience made me more comfortable.

If they ask me back--and both Todd and Jeff said they would--I would be honored to be a guest again. And if they ask you and you're worried about it, don't be. It's a lot less painful than being a parrot who is thrown against a wall! (Let the listener understand!)

To navigate to the Issues Etc. page and listen to my first appearance, click here! And if you're not a regular listener to the show, it's time to become one!