stay thirsty?

over the past year or so i have really struggled with the most interesting man in the world ad campaign by a certain beer company. i haven't really been able to put my finger on exactly what i have been struggling with until this past week. to celebrate halloween, this ad campaign produced a radio spot touting the most interesting man's accomplishments re: halloween, including his alleged ban from cemeteries b/c he brought someone back from the dead. whoa. i've got to throw a flag on that one and share what really bothers me about this campaign.

one, this beer company has supposedly found "the most interesting man in the world" without accepting nominations or suggestions from others. i would elect a certain someone else to hold this office and i am not speaking of chuck norris. that person would be Jesus Christ, who btw HAS actually raised someone from the dead and been raised from the dead as well.

two, the tagline for this campaign is stay thirsty. the tagline for the other nominee i would like to offer up is come to me, those who thirst, and I will offer living water and those who drink it will thirst no more. the idea being that those who drive marketing to popular culture desire us to thirst, desire in fact that we STAY thirsty so that they can continue to sell more product, to prosper off our desire to remain in line with what they are selling. Christ offers us rest from this, offers us more than a product or brand name. Christ offers himself as living water to quench our thirst and transcend the desires of the world.

three, i found out that the guy that plays this supposed most interesting man in the world is an actor and fakes his spanish/latino accent to sound more exotic and remain in line with the product identity. also, the product in question is about as spanish/latino as the actor, being that it is brewed in white plains, new york. and lastly, the product in question does not even quench thirst but in fact keeps one thirsty. he and the product he promotes are not even genuine.

four, in thinking about story and storytelling, the existence of this ad campaign is doubly disheartening in that it tells the story of a fictional character in a quasi-factual manner. it tells the story that the most interesting man in our world is some larger than life character that we know doesn't even exist in reality. the story it tells is that our world is not interesting enough, not great enough to hold a person that could do some of the things he is reported having done. it is completely contrary to the story that Christianity has to tell: a true story of a man that is completely human and completely divine who really does these amazing things (we call them miracles) that he is reported having done. it pushes a counterfeit story when a real, authentic (and i tend to believe a better) story exists largely ignored.

and i think that's what my whole problem is with this campaign: it offers a life-draining fantasy alternative when a perfectly good life-giving reality exists.

"There will soon be no more priests. Their work is done. They may wait awhile...perhaps a generation or two...dropping off by degrees. A superior breed shall take their place.... A new order shall arise, and they shall be the priests of man, and every man shall be his own priest. The churches built under their umbrage shall be the churches of men and women. Through the divinity of themselves shall the kosmos and the new breed of poets be interpreters of men and women and of all events and things. They shall find their inspiration in real objects today, symptoms of the past and future.... They shall not deign to defend immortality or God, or the perfection of things, or liberty, or the exquisite beauty and reality of the soul."-Walt Whitman, preface to Leaves of Grass

a blast from the past...

recently i posted responses on twitter and facebook to an article that shared observations about the business practices and working philosophies of microsoft and google and how the church could learn from these observations.

last night (10/26/09) as i was watching a documentary on the decline of the newspaper on PBS it hit me that we have a more low-tech example. a newspaper exec was being interviewed about the failure of the newspaper to make the leap to becoming an online presence, which subsequently has led to its decline as a information medium and news source. the exec remarked that often the project to make that leap was given to newspaper execs who simply took the printed newspaper they were producing, scanned it, and posted it online; vainly failing to seek outside input from others on how to innovate and make it more accessible to an online community. he said that the responsibility for the failure lies in the hands of newspaper execs and identified their fatal flaw: they continued to operate under the assumption that there was no way to innovate on the form and function of the newspaper, that people liked the newspaper the way it was. they operated under the assumption that the newspaper in and of itself was impenetrable; much like the mindset of the USAmerican automobile industry towards the product they were producing. they had every opportunity to keep themselves from becoming obsolete but pridefully and vainly dug in their heels, believing that the newspaper, like the USAmerican automobile, would never die.

this is much more in line with what we are dealing with in mainline Protesant Christianity. there are those who are pushing against leaving it in its current form and function are desperately trying to update it and keep it relevant, keep it from becoming obsolete. there are others who seem to vainly sit back and operate like those in the newspaper and automobile industry, with an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy (while their definition of "broke" accomodates for more and more slippage down the slope to obscurity and antiquity each day). the main problem being; as it is in the story of the newspaper and auto industries, that those who take the latter view tend to be those holding the most power.

will the church become completely obsolete? no, we are told that the even the gates of hell will not prevail against it. i do, however, believe that the most sinister force moving through any organization, including the church, is apathy. when we allow ourselves to vainly believe that the world cannot function without us, we offer the world very little outside of a challenge to show us that it can.

re: Who Keeps Our Story When We Are Gone?

interesting article posted on CNet re: Facebook and memorialized profiles that touches on the earlier post re: who keeps our digital story (10/20/09), which seemed to garner some feedback. Thanks to Jason Valendy for bringing this to my attention first.

redeemable metaphors...

i have been giving a whole lot of people a whole lot of grief for their continued use of applying business model metaphors and terms to the function and identity of the church and its agents. though i believe that no institution or power is beyond redemption (thank you walter wink) i also believe that at this moment the business model may be temporarily bankrupt of integrity when it comes to models we should follow (e.g. enron, worldcom, aig, citicorp, bank of america, the list goes on...which is a major part of the problem). one of those folks challenged me to supply them with a model or models that might be less problematic. so i threw out three and i would like to see what you think...

pioneers: (ala Walt Whitman & western US expansion) moving out into an unfamiliar area with little professional expertise but a boat load of common sense, the church could reclaim its pioneering spirit of not only reaching out into new areas to establish community but also rediscover the value of relying upon natural or readily available resources in a respectful and renewable manner to thrive. could also breed creativity and innovation as we are asked to rely on the gifts and expertise we bring rather than going out and hiring one/some.

tribes: (ala Indigenous/Native Americans and, more recently, Seth Godin) playing off of the innate human need to group itself into communities or tribes, the church could rediscover what it means to live in a self-sustaining community where each member has a unique role and brings unique gifts to the table. tribes need leaders; sometimes that's one person, sometimes it's many people.

movement: (ala history) working out of a metaphor that in and of itself is a verb, the church envisions itself as a community on the move/in action. a movement often involves a greater number of people and employs decentralized leadership as a survival mechanism: having one leader centralizes power and possibly redefines its ideals as one person's philosophy and also risks that the movement will live or die with that leader. decentralized leadership doesn't mean the community is "leaderless", it means that leadership is spread throughout the community making its survival and growth reliant upon the many rather than the few. also, movements have traditionally been perceived as counter-cultural and if we cannot claim Christianity as counter or at least transformational to popular culture we may be in more trouble than we realize.

this year, give presence

its not too early to be thinking about Advent and its not too late, Christmas can [still] change the world...

who keeps our story when we are gone?

great comments on "re:Post..." on 10/8/09. thanks to all who contribute and offer thought-provoking comments and questions. wanted to add to that discussion and our current stream of storytelling with a thought-provoking post by my friend Gavin Richardson re: a session at barcampnashville that got him thinking. find it here, the post is called "we're all gonna die : so who is your digital executor?" thanks to Gavin for sharing his barcampnashville experience.

it got me to thinking that in this digital age, when all that we share/post/contribute online outlives us, who do we trust with our story after we are gone?

i have a friend that died years ago but still has a facebook page, which myself and other friends still post on from time to time. even though it was unintentional (no one thought to take it down) it has been really therapeutic for us as we remember her light and energy.

i also think about the fact that i desired greatly to record the stories of both sets of my grandparents before they passed away but never took the time to sit down and collect their stories in one place in a way that i could get their perspective on before they passed. missed opportunity.

who do trust with your story (online or otherwise) after you are gone? how are you contributing to that story with your online presence? do you have a plan on how that persists beyond your life here in this plane of existence?

prayers for a friend...

Don't normally post prayer requests on this site but wanted to include one that has come to my attention over the last 24 hours. Project 44 is a local non-profit organization seeking to do the work of the kingdom by gifting cars to those in need and developing and maintaining community gardens. They have hit a snag in their car ministry as the laws surrounding the gifting of automobiles has changed and they would now be forced to pay an additional cost (tacked on to the cost of repairs, maintenance, and a years worth of insurance) upwards of $500 per car before they give it away. They are not in any financial position to do this and are obviously quite flustered about these recent developments putting a stranglehold on such a vital part of their ministry. Please be in prayer for Project 44...that they may find some assistance in continuing this facet of their ministry. Please be in prayer for those who need transportation...as this is an ongoing need. Please be in prayer for the church...that it find ways to assist non-profits working towards building the kingdom of God here on earth as it is in heaven. Prayer is powerful and when it is focused can accomplish amazing things. Remember, nothing is impossible for God.

openspace student ministry

decided to get together with like-minded friends in student ministry and launch openspace student ministry, which will over time become a collaborative site offering connection, innovation, and the unrestricted sharing of ideas re: ministry with students and families. launch date is November 30, 2009.

My Favorite Whitman...as interpreted by Levis

So I am watching SNL this week while surfing the net and updating social networking sites and my ears perk up when I hear a voice reciting one of my favorite Walt Whitman poems, "O Pioneers!"  I am somewhat flabbergasted when I realize that this poem is being used to hock Levi jeans in their "Go Forth" commercial campaign.  Though the commercials are visually brilliant, shot by director Michael Gondry, I am supremely conflicted, believing in my heart of hearts that Whitman most assuredly would not be down with such shennanigans of selling jeans with his poetry.  As I milled it over, however, I began to think that Whitman might actually enjoy being associated with something so ingrained in Americana as the blue jean.  I will let you be the judge...check out the link and let me know if you think it is simply exploitation of fine poetry to sell jeans or an homage to a great American poet who captured the spiritual, emotional, psychological, and physical landscape of this country in its pre and post civil war era.



Here's the other one from this series that uses Whitman's "America" as it's soundtrack...which is good but not one of my most favorite of his poems.

what story is the bottle telling?

check this blog archive from Mental Floss about stories told by one of the oldest mediums of storytelling: the message in a bottle.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/36541

rePost: I will not let this go...

No, this rePost does not have anything to do with the theological validity of potlucks but one I posted last Friday that I believe is worth looking at again, as no one posted comments on it....

As I have been delving into creating an open source CMS and continually engaging in social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and others I have begun to ask myself (and be asked by others) about the connective tissue between these and my previous stream of posts on story/storytelling (which I greatly appreciate Jason and Steve's comments upon).  My intial observations are these

• we often tell our stories without even being aware of it, in ways we are no longer even conscious of  through what we listen to, what we read, what we consume and how we publicize and encourage others to consume.  recently, I found that my re-tweeting excerpts from morning and evening prayers from TheUrbanAbbey was inadvertently encouraging others to follow these prayers as well, adding a whole new dimension to their prayer, giving them some indication of my own attitude toward prayer, and creating a new "community" of folks in this geographic area that follow TheUrbanAbbey.
• what some see as passing fads in the areas of social communication, news sharing, and the exchange of ideas are actually deeply held and future/ancient mediums that natives now use for sharing story/storytelling
• that there is an ever-deepening quality in culture to what Marshall McLuhan and Shane Hipps state/maintain: "The medium IS the message."

Thoughts?  You have been on some of this journey with me and I'll really like to hear what you have to say....

Sent from my iPhone...one of the many mediums through which I share my story and connect to the stories of those around me. 

A Valuable Gift...

"One of the most valuable things we can do to heal one another is
listen to each other's stories." ~ Rebecca Falls

for all you moderns out there...

Reading an article from BBC news my friend Charles Harrison posted on
his fb profile about the Billy, the most popular mass-produced
bookcase in the world sold by Ikea, I was intrigued and inspired. The
author not only chronicled the design and development of the Billy but
also raised some great questions about the importance of displaying
books and what a collection of books says about the collector. So,
similar to my recent post on the iPod, I ask the question, "What story
do your books (and how you display them) tell?"
As I reflect on this question, two particular items are brought to
mind: church libraries and the bookcase of a mechanic friend of mine.

What do church libraries, how they are set up, where they are set, and
how they are accessed tell you about a church? I believe these
collections, their location in reference to the main flow of the
church, and their contents tell a particular story about that
congregation. It has, however, always been a mystery to me to walk
into relatively new church buildings that have church libraries. Is
their existence a commiment to a previous obligation...like a
memorial? Or coukd their presence serve as an indicator about the
information acquisition of the membership and possibly it's age and
mindset? Could it be a "tell" to visitors about the age/era the church
finds itself most comfortable in? What does the existence of a
resource center/library consisting largely of printed material in a
conference office tell you about the organization and how they see the
world?

On another note, I will never forget the bookshelf of a friend of mine
who happens to be a mechanic. Amongst all the auto repair manuals and
countless volumes regarding the inner workings of particular cars
there is tucked away a book on collecting antique glass paperweights.
Upon further prodding, I found a softer, gentler side to my mechanic
and friend (who often comes across as gruff) and was introduced to a
whole new world of collecting I was previously unaware of. It taught
me that books and how they are displayed can speak volumes to the
story of a person.

What about you?

"story" = dirty word?

Does identifying the Bible as "story" diminish it's importance?

Sent from my iPhone

what story is your iPod telling?

From Andre Corescu:
http://www.npr.org/templates/text/s.php?sId=113034536&m=1

As I read this article, wondered what story my iPod tells? What
memories would the music on my iPod ellicit? Do you use your iPod as a
legitimate storytelling device?

Sent from my iPhone...not my iPod or my MacBook.

Avast Me Hardies!

Admittedly, when I hear the word "pirate" my mind conjours up images of eye patches, hooks, knives btwn teeth, and Jerry's puffy shirt. However, as I came across these two seemingly different (but in retrospect quite closely connected) articles on "pirates" (see links below), I began to think about archetypes (in the Freudian sense) and how our perceptions of archetypes influence the language of our stories.  Pirates have played a role in many pillars of literature as villans, revolutionaries, and heroes.  It left me with a couple of questions: -What are some of the archetypes/character types that make recurring appearances in your story?

-Are there archetypes/character types beyond redemption? If so, why or why not?  

Peter Rollins on pirates: http://bit.ly/zmIJy

Political Pirates in Sweden: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112767746&sc=17&f=1001

Story/Prayer

Once had a mentor tell me that they coyld tell so much about the
theology and theodicy of others by listening to them pray. How is our
story and the story of God (and the way these two unite/connect/
diverge) told through public and private prayer?

Infusing Stories

At what points do your story and the story of others intersect and
diverge?
At what points does your story and the story of God intersect and
diverge?

Sent from my iPhone...intimated?

How Do You Tell Your Story?

What medium are you most comfortable with to tell your story? Realize that I might have limited some of you by utilizing the printed medium to ask your story.

What's Your Story?

Been intrigued lately with the power of narrative therapy and the
impact of storytelling on a culture that supposedly no longer operates
from a unified metanarrative. What is your story? (share as little or
as much as you feel comfy with). How do you find your story linking to
the stories of others? How do you find your story linking to a
metanarrative (larger stories that tend to shape worldviews)? Thank
you in advance for sharing!

Sent from my iPhone

Post It Note Storytelling

Chek it out:
www.postitnotestories.com

Sent from my iPhone

After this short break...

Back again blogosphere after a long sabbatical, new job, and a new
home I return to my blog to unleash my inner thoughts on an
unsuspecting world...enjoy!

Sent from my iPhone

Yes, that IS the dude who sings "Don't Worry, Be Happy."

Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of the pentatonic scale, using audience participation, at the event "Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus", from the 2009 World Science Festival, June 12, 2009.

World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.

A Spiritual Journey

"And the world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles,
no matter how long,
but only by a spiritual journey,
a journey of one inch,
very arduous and humbling and joyful,
by which we arrive at the ground at our feet,
and learn to be at home.

-Wendell Berry from The Collected Poems of Wendell Berry, 1957-1982

We Have Enough

"Being mindful is hard for us because we are always anxious about time.... Learning that we have enough---money, time, love---may be our most important lesson. Even when we eliminate the apparent obstacles of working and consuming too much, we still have trouble relaxing and enjoying the present moment. So the problem is not just the scarcity of time, it's our attitude toward time. That little voice always creeps in: You'd better hurry, you've got a lot to do, you're not getting enough done, time is running out. What does this mean in terms of feeling alive? Surely, if things keep on this way, when we come to die, we will discover that we have not lived."

-Cecile Andrews from The Circle of Simplicity: Return to the Good Life

What is preventing you from living in the moment?

Ancient Musical Intstruments Found in Cave!

In an article recently posted by NPR, I read that scientists recently unearthed musical instruments, flutes to be exact, dating almost 35,000 to 40,000 years ago in caves in southwestern Germany. The flutes are made of hollowed-out mammoth tusk and vulture wing bone. You can hear a simple song played on one of the flutes by clicking here.

I find this idea fantastic, that in the earliest days of our species we sought to create music. As I was reading the article, I began thinking about the cave paintings in Altamira, Spain that date back roughly 14,000 years ago. This would mean that the flutes pre-date the paintings as one of the earliest forms of creative work that our species produced (tools and weapons notwithstanding). I began to reflect on my own experience of the arts and music and how both move me (with great emotional force at times). I can imagine that the sound created by the simple flutes were accompanied, as one of the archeologists proposes, by hand claps and chest thumps as well as possibly some form of audible singing. As I wondered what this earliest music sounded like, I began to think that art, though remarkably engaging, cannot produce the kind of solace that sound can. As I stated earlier, I am deeply moved by works of art in all its many mediums but sound offers me considerable more solace. Sound communicates emotion: a fast tempo with high-pitched notes communicates excitement, possibly happiness or joy while a slow tempo with low notes communicates sadness and elicits reflection. All that being said, what moves you? Are you moved by the visual stimulation that the visual arts, in all of its mediums allow? Are you moved by the sounds and intonations of song and instrumentation?

P.S.-Please forgive if my terminology is off, I am neither a trained visual artist or a musician.

Contentment

"Whoever joins God's liberation movement must be content to spend time in the wilderness, to live in tents and not know what the morrow brings."

-Elizabeth O'Connor

I heart John Hodgman!

Settling for Reality

"We must reconcile ourselves across racial and cultural barriers. I hear people talking about the black church and the white church. I do it too---it's reality. But it's not in Scripture. We should not settle for the reality our culture presents us with. You see, the whole idea of the love of God was to draw people together in one body---reconciled to God. That's supposed to be the glory of the church!

When reconciliation is taking place across cultural lines---between blacks and whites, between rich and poor, between indigenous and those who are new in the community---the quiet revolution is ready to spread."

-John Perkins, from A Quiet Revolution


What realities are you faced with? How are you dealing with reality? Where are your searching for possibilities when you are up against situations that seem to present the impossible?

The Church's Primary Task

"The very existence of the church is her primary task. It is in itself a proclamation of the Lordship of Christ to the powers from whose dominion the church has begun to be liberated. The church does not attack the powers; this Christ has done. The church concentrates upon not being seduced by them."

-John Howard Yoder from The Politics of Jesus

Joining the Liberation Movement

"We do not have to sit around immobilized, waiting for help to come. We can learn to care for our society, which in large part means learning to care for our cities. If our streets are to be redeemed we will have to commit our own human and financial resources to that goal. We will have to recover our gifts of faith and hope and endurance, evoke the gifts of other persons, and thus develop leaders and facilitators for the building of a global network of small, disciplined, self-critical groups whose reflection will issue in purposeful action. This is a way to join in the liberation movement that is going on in all the poor countries of the world. We are not the initiators of this movement. Even the suffering ones of the earth are not the initiators, though they are the genuine leaders. The movement is God's."

-Elizabeth O'Connor from Servant Leaders, Servant Structures

Seth Godin on TRIBES

trying to get a handle on this simplicity thing...

Alright, so it has been a while since i shared anything original here and i wanted to explain why. i move through cycles of information/inspiration gathering followed by a cycle of expository on my reflections after said gathering. i am still in gathering mode. i have finished Affluenza and Cecile Andrews' masterpiece The Circle of Simplicity and moving into her main source text, Duane Elgin's Voluntary Simplicity...also reading through Richard Foster's Freedom of Simplicity again, it has been a while...also moving through Marie Sherlock's Living Simply with Children, as i want to incorporate simplicity in all aspects of my life. wish me luck. i really resonate with all that these authors/thinkers/theologians are sharing, it will take some courage, strength, and hard work to implement it into all areas of my life.

Seeing the Sacred...

"No one longs for what he or she already has, and yet the accumulated insight of those wise about the spiritual life suggest that the reason so many of us cannot see the red X that marks the spot is because we are standing on it. The treasure we seek requires no lengthy expedition, no expensive equipment, no superior aptitude or special company. All we lack is the willingness to imagine that we already have everything we need."
-Barbara Brown Taylor

Possessed by Possessions

"The affluent are literally possessed by their possessions. Money and the things it can buy stalks the rich countries like a demon. Mammon offers comforts and pleasures to delight the flesh but demands the soul in return. The attachment of Americans to their standard of living has become an addiction. We can't stop shopping, eating, consuming....

A successful life leads not to love, wisdom and maturity; progress and success in our society is instead based on adding more to one's pile of possessions. Our natural course is toward a better job, bigger house and richer lifestyle....

Material goods have become substitutes for faith. It's not that people literally place their cars on the altar; rather, it is the function of these goods in a consumer society. They function as idols, even though most affluent U.S. Christians, like rich Christians throughout history, would deny it."

-Jim Wallis from The Call to Conversion

The World Says...Jesus Says

"If the world is sane, then Jesus is mad as a hatter and the Last Supper is the Mad Tea Party. The world says, Mind your own business, and Jesus says, There is no such thing as your own business. The world says, Follow the wisest course and be a success, and Jesus says, Follow me and be crucified. The world says, Drive carefully---the life you save may be your own---and Jesus says, Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

The world says, Law and order, and Jesus says, Love. The world says, Get, and Jesus says, Give. In terms of the world's sanity, Jesus is crazy as a coot, and anybody who thinks we can follow him without being a little crazy too is laboring less under a cross than under a delusion."

-Frederick Buechner from Listening to Your Life

McLaren on Recovery...

Brian McLaren shares some really interesting views on recovery at inward/outward...check out the complete article by clicking here.

Every Day is Earth Day

I have received a number of advertisements and postings from organizations or companies that encourage some form of consumption to commemorate Earth Day. I am refraining from posting these or advocating for consumption today. I believe that as we celebrate Earth Day today, we should instead be asking ourselves, "How we can make EVERY day Earth Day? What are some of the small and big ways we can simplify our lives, refrain from indiscriminate (or discriminate for that matter) consumption, and help conserve and allow the earth to renew the resources we share with our global community?" Not just b/c it would be the politically correct thing to do but b/c Christ calls us to care for the least of these, calls us to live life and live it abundantly.

Just a thought...

WJDND - What Jesus Does Not Do...

"Jesus does not declare money worries unimportant. He does not call us to live only on the spiritual plane. He does not criticize the materialism of the person who has nothing. He does not say that we are wrong to be worried, because we ought to live in a carefree manner. He does not suggest evasion, and he does not judge us. He frees us, which is another thing altogether."

-Jacques Ellul, from Money and Power

we really enjoyed our day, though Cordner and Joy could not participate due to health code conditions in the workplace and school, i let my feet free for the entire day. Cordner and i took a barefoot walk around our community and walked on different things to feel how they felt on our feet. then we traced our feet and made "happy feet" to commemorate our day. all in all, we and our bare feet had fun. and for a good cause, no less. thanks to TOMS and to all others who participated in ONE DAY w/o SHOES. don't wait around for another official event to let your feet free. take your shoes off today and let your tootsies roam. when someone asks why you have no shoes, tell them that there are children in some developing countries that walk miles w/o shoes to get clean water, food, and other essential items...

ONE DAY for TOMS

TOMS shoes; a small, grassroots start-up that manufactures simple shoes with the notion of one-to-one: for each pair of shoes you buy, a pair goes to a third world citizen who needs shoes, is asking that people go shoe-less for ONE DAY to raise awareness about this ongoing situation and the mission and goal of TOMS. that ONE DAY is tomorrow, April 16th, 2009. i am participating and encouraging all of you to participate as well. i fully realize that some work and commerce in settings where this is not acceptable so i would ask that you go shoe-less at your desk or during lunch and possibly re-consider commerce period but at least commerce at establishments where shoe-less-ness would not be acceptable. let's show our feet to show our support for the shoe-less. for more info, visit www.tomsshoes.com.

Duane Elgin on Simplicity

Duane Elgin, the author of Voluntary Simplicity contributed to inward/outward an examination of the different varieties of simplicity, which he calls the "garden" (i love that image). although the article is entitled "Planting a Lenten Garden of Simplicity", i believe the article holds a great deal of wisdom re: simplicity. i have found it extremely helpful as i am seeking simplicity in my own life. you can find his article here. enjoy.

Simple/Complex

now i am reading The Circle of Simplicity by Cecile Andrews, in an attempt to voluntarily simplify my own life and the life of my family. came across this early on in a section entitled "Getting Started" and thought it was worth sharing:

"You begin to do this with everything. Do I really need this? Do I really want to spend time with this person? Do I really want to work for a promotion? You may be wondering if this really simplifies life. Be aware, we're not talking about efficiency or convenience. Sometimes living simply takes longer. We are talking about our quality of life-whether it brings joy and serenity rather than frustration and aggravation. Whether it brings a sense of congruence or fragmentation. But while simplicity may be more complex, it shouldn't be more complicated. Something that is complicated is confusing; something that is complex is challenging. A life of simplicity is complex and challenging."

recommend this book highly, also just finished Affluenza, another great book that touches on the cause, effects, and remedies for the world's largest life-draining epidemic whose side effects include rampant consumerism, mindless destruction, and excelling greed. also reading Simple Church by Rainer and Geiger, which I DO NOT recommend, as a part of a staff book study. Geiger and Rainer attempt to tackle the simple v. complicated issue as it pertains to life of the church. someone really needs to come along and do a better job on this subject...could be highly instructive to the church at this time. what Rainer and Geiger offer instead is a numbers-driven "formula" that promises church growth and the elusive (and extremely hard to measure) "vitality" ensconced in conservative theology.

The Crucified God...

"Reconciliation is not something accomplished by Christ for God, nor inflicted on Christ by God, but forged by God through Christ. This wreaks havoc on the medieval (but still widespread) doctrine that Christ's death functions to placate an angry or offended deity. Rather, the "crucified God" represents a fundamentally restorative initiative by the Divine victim towards the human offender."

-Ched Myers, from the Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries, E-News Aug.-Sept. 2008

reflections on Palm/Passion Sunday

The Triumphal Entry...
"For more than two years, Jesus had been engaged in a public ministry.... He had learned much. So sensitive had grown his spirit and the living quality of his being that he seemed more and more to stand inside of life, looking out upon it as a man who gazes from a window in a room out into the yard and beyond to the distant hills. He could feel the sparrowness of the sparrow, the leprosy of the leper, the blindness of the blind, the crippleness of the cripple, and the frenzy of the mad. He had become joy, sorrow, hope, anguish, to the joyful, the sorrowful, the hopeful, the anguished. Could he feel his way into the mind and the mood of those who cast the palms and the flowers in his path? I wonder what was at work in the mind of Jesus of Nazareth as he jogged along on the back of the faithful donkey."
-Howard Thurman, from The Inward Journey

this past Sunday night, offered a prayer station to my students i called "the road to Jerusalem". i got the idea from Kimball and Lewin's Sacred Space, recently published by YS. printed thoughts and meditations like this one lined the "road" made with brown butcher paper. i also used the leftover palms from Sunday morning to line the road as well as smooth stones, which students were invited to take with them as a reminder of Jesus' words re: the quieting of the crowds and the fact that the stones themselves would cry out in the absence of the crowd's "Hosanna." Students were also invited to share their own praises, thoughts, concerns, questions, and fears on pre-printed "palms" and leave them along the road with the other palms for Jesus Christ. i set up the road to end at the foot of the cross that was already set up in our worship center. we got some really thought-provoking observations from the palms and i felt that it was a great opportunity for students to quiet themselves and reflect on the event as well as prepare their hearts and minds for Holy Week.

Kneeling Before the Mystery of Death...

Read Wendy Wright's entire article at inward/outward by clicking here. Her experience at a veneration service in a Spanish Catholic community is both deeply moving and humbling as we approach Good Friday and Easter. Scroll down to read the comments as well. I especially like "Jesus is the seamless garment that unites us all."

Thought on solitude...

"Solitude does not necessarily mean living apart from others; rather, it means never living apart from one's self."

-Parker Palmer, from A Hidden Wholeness

More on the Buffet...

i received some interesting comments in response to my posting re: a church's attempt to set a world record for the world's largest potluck buffet. i also received an email from one of the organizers of this event, which sheds some light as to the focus and direction of the potluck. the potluck serves as a mission/outreach event for the church and local community organizations like the Salvation Army, Boys and Girls Club, local missions and night shelters, and other local churches and civic organizations were invited to attend. the church decided not to pay extra fees to ensure its "World Record" status and a representative from the Guinness Book of World Records will not be on hand (which apparently is an additional cost) to verify. the burden of proof will be upon the church to prove its claim to "World's Largest Potluck Buffet" with pictures and other verifiable data. the email also stated that the record was not the focus but a benefit of organizing the event; its main purpose is that of outreach to the community as a "one mile mission" endeavor to reach out to those who live in the roughly one-mile radius around the church building itself and offer fellowship and community over a common meal.

i appreciate the comments regarding this event and earnestly pray that it is a success in reaching its intended goal to combat hunger and reach out with the love of God through Christ to the surrounding community. i also applaud this effort as a means of outreach to the community by a mobilized laity within the local congregation.

i am still left wondering if there was some other way to reach out that did not rely upon traditional stereotypes regarding southern, USAmerican Protestant Christianity as well as the excess, gluttony, and affluenza of USAmerican culture? those outside of the church are looking on (especially in a time when the news and media inform us that the US is in "crisis") to see what the church holds as important and necessary issues to address. hunger is certainly an issue worth addressing but i am still left feeling that the means through which hunger is addressed in this instance reflects an absence of a "flat" worldview, one that is keenly aware that what we say and do no longer exists in a vacuum of geographic and/or social location but is being watched and critiqued by a world that is connected like never before. with the world watching, then, what is it that we are offering?

Doing my Part for Women's History Month

in honor of Women's History Month, i am reading through some of my favorite women theologians work. already posted about Phyllis Tickle's The Great Emergence, now onto Robert Ellsberg's compilation of the diaries of Dorothy Day, The Duty of Delight, and then stopping back by Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki's God, Christ, Church: A Pratcical Guide to Process Theology. i know that this is only scratching the surface so i am putting it to you, the reader, to suggest your favorite women theologians to me for further reading. also, if you know of a good treatment of the church and female imagery, would love to have titles on this as well. as a sidenote, i have already received a ton of rec's for Diana Butler Bass so if you are recommending her, please be specific about which of her books you would suggest go first on my reading list.

thanks, in advance, for your reader participation.

Confessing Christ...

"Confessing Christ is not a matter of parroting biblical truths. It is possible to say all the right things, to be impeccably orthodox in one's theology, and still to be fatally disloyal. Loyalty to Jesus Christ occurs only when our confession of him is concrete.... The confessing church is a radical alternative. It rejects the individualism of the conversionists, the secularism of the activists, and a matter peculiar to them both: the equating of faithfulness with effectiveness (or with working for effectiveness).... It is committed first of all to restructuring neither society nor the heart but the church according to the will of God. The church restructured will be a church of reconciliation, a church of nonconformity, and a church of the cross."

-George Hunsinger from Disruptive Grace

Buffet for Jesus...

a local church will seek to make the impossible possible this Sunday by attempting to set a world record for the world's largest potluck buffet. which makes me wonder...is it events like this one that contribute to the feeling that the church has nothing of great import to offer them? i am certainly not pinpointing this one event as exhibit A but it is a compelling example: a community of faith attempting to build a monument to excess and gluttony. it is my hope that the proceeds of the potluck will benefit some greater good or that the potluck is open to those truly in need of a warm, filling meal. i am reminded of Ronald J. Sider's seminal work entitled Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity, which exposed thousands within the church to look outside of themselves to see the realities of world poverty and world hunger, that as they enjoy the benefits of affluence each day, roughly 30,000 children worldwide die of starvation.

my wife says that my posting on this is offensive to those producing or putting on the event and it is not my intent to be offensive or rude, but to simply point out what i perceive from the outside observer looking in. i will take full responsibility for being the debbie downer/wet blanket on this one but i can think of at least a thousand other elements of church tradition we could be celebrating (esp. at this time in the Christian year) that would have an equal or greater unifying and uplifting effect upon the surrounding community. i am simply attempting to utilize this space to share my thoughts and observations in a way that is not only cathartic but also thought-provoking and conversation-starting. i will admit and take responsibility as well for the immediacy of this post, this is all coming from the gut and the back of my brain. as the conversation continues and i have had time to allow this to make its way to the frontal, processing parts of my brain, maybe i will think differently. if so, watch for re-tractions or re-flections on this subject here. i would love to hear comments and thoughts on this, maybe i am being too quick to judge.

all that being said, pass the potato salad mildred.

But WE Are the Church...

But WE are the church. The "institutional church" is the last thing Jesus had in mind. Nor is there a scintilla of evidence that he thought his presence in history would prevent us from worshiping with his Jewish brothers and sisters. And so when we say we are the church, we ought to include all ... all who trace their origins to the way God revealed God's self to Abraham. (And we cannot be exclusive about that, either.)

So, okay. How many times have you heard it? We are the church. So what does that mean for those who continue to struggle in institutional churches, synagogues, mosques where the vast majority do not get the Justice message of Yahweh, Jesus of Nazareth, and the Prophet? What does it all mean for those of us who have expended an unconscionable amount of energy trying to work for reform and Justice from within the institutional church?

Some, I am sure, are called to continue to work from within. But for those to whom the "unconscionable" adjective applies ... well, let's grow up. Let's figure out more effective ways to get back to what Yahweh, Jesus, and the Prophet intended. Basically, it's a no-brainer: Truth, Justice, and (only then) Peace.

And we need to find ways to do that TOGETHER.

So, more meetings? No very large meetings; small groups will do it: discern what is likely to be an unconscionable waste of energy on the one hand, and what, on the other, has some prospect of becoming a witness that might, just might, be ... well, a witness.

Henri Nouwen wrote: "If we decide to wait till we have time to touch all our bases, nothing exciting is going to happen."

So who wants to do something exciting? In my view, if we "get it"---the gospel message---it is we. WE are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

We have learned from experience to start small. But let each small group decide on its call and DO that call. God knows where such a thing might lead!"

-Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst, writer and speaker

Jessica Chane' Waldron, You Are Missed...

On Sunday morning, a car drove by a Dallas club and opened fire on the crowd gathered outside. Jessica Chane' Waldron and friends were waiting outside for the valet to pull their car around. Chane' was shot during the incident and died later of her wounds.

I had the incredible opportunity to work with Chane' at SMU while in Residence Life and Student Housing. Chane' brought her energy, excitement, and bright, shining personality to everything she encountered. She was an excellent RA, an authentic life-assistant to the young men and women of McElvaney who were attempting to navigate their first years at SMU. Chane' will be greatly missed by so many people. Please join me in prayer for friends, family, and all those touched by the life of Jessica Chane' Waldron. Please join me in prayer for all those affected by senseless violence. Please join me in prayer for those who take an active role in senseless violence, that their hearts and lives may be transformed and that they may experience the grace, love, and peace of God.

Here is a link to the Dallas Morning News Story, which covers the incident but does not do justice to her amazing witness and life.

What Seperates Us from God...

"The chief thing that separates us from God is the thought that we are separated from God."

-Thomas Keating from Open Mind, Open Heart

To Be the Church...

"I confess I'm still not sure what it means to "be" church. Been in it since infancy, and still don't know what it means---to be it, to do it. Yesterday's poem reminds me how tricky it can be even to find the entry points when folks have such different ways of trying to open the door ... some that turn out to be threatening, deadly even. I haven't lived through bodily bloody "Christian" violence, but I've had enough of those "Are you saved?" moments, times when "the preacher would trounce my tender sins"... and "true believers come knocking to tell me that flaming hell is real" to run from overly eager saviors of my soul, bearing their ideas of 'truth,' 'right answers' and 'one way or no way.' Sometimes I don't step away fast enough and my eyebrows get singed, my heart contracts, and I find myself scanning the room for exits. So I'm thinking if love is the mark of the church, then I'm still not living there full-time...."
-Kayla McClurg, posted on Inward/Outward

If you care to know...

If you care to know what is going on in North American Christianity, please read Phyllis Tickle's The Great Emergence. In it, Tickle outlines the rummage sales the church has engaged in every 500 years or so and outlines what is at the heart of the rummage sale the church currently finds itself engaged in as well as the ripples that spread out from it into surrounding society and culture. A must-read for those seeking to hear a constructive message of hope regarding the "death" of the church and what might possibly might move the church forward.

creative and concious use of social networking....

interesting observations regarding social networking usage by author Charlene Li, speaking at SXSW on her book Groundswell. think the church could really utilize her advice regarding how companies and corporations use social networking media.



this was passed along to me from fellow blogger and friend Gavin Richardson, check out his observations on this topic by clicking here.

"The Church Should Die"

Check out the post, links, and comments on "The Church Should Die" on http://philshepherd.com/, think it provides some thought-provoking material, especially for those of us working within the church today.

truth...

check out Brad Cecil's article regarding "truth" by clicking here. posting this mainly in response to some recent discussions i have had with others on this topic, think it frames what i and others are attempting to communicate about this concept.

whole-life democrat

The following is Cameron Strang's, one of the editors of RELEVANT magazine, First Word column from the November/December 2008 issue of RELEVANT. It has been in my "drafts" section way too long so I wanted to share it with you.

"In August, I was invited to pray at the Democratic National Convention. The invitation came as a surprise, considering I'm not famous, not a minister, not a Democrat and have differences with the party on several issues. But the Democrats have been proactively addressing some moral issues that should be of concern to all Christians. I thought, what if more Christians would be willing to cross party battle lines and work through disagreements to champion issues of common good—ones that should be bipartisan anyway? Maybe together we could rise above the political fray and see lasting change happen.

And, after all, I'm a nobody who would probably get the 2 p.m. workshop prayer slot. I'd be no big deal. So, I accepted. Then, a week later, they told me I'd be giving the benediction on the opening night of the convention, as part of the national broadcast. That changed the stakes a bit. What I would have intended as a bridge-building gesture would have been seen by millions as an unequivocal endorsement, which I wasn't comfortable with, considering my differences with the party on issues like abortion legislation.

Nevertheless, I was interested in continuing a positive dialogue behind the scenes and challenging the campaign to address issues of concern to Christians like us. For instance, if we can't agree on abortion legislation, can we at least work together to proactively reduce the number of abortions? You have to be present to have a voice. So, I withdrew from giving the prayer and instead participated in a forum discussing these issues. It was a positive dialogue, and frankly, I wish the Republican convention had done something similar.

You would not believe the firestorm of calls, email and media attention that followed me during that journey. Thousands on the fringe right wing sent me emails ranging from all the reasons I'm going to hell for even talking to Democrats, to actual pictures of aborted children. On the other extreme, after pulling out of the prayer, I was accused by the extreme left for being a coward and representing all that's wrong with Christianity. It was an interesting few weeks, to say the least, and yet another reason I'm glad the hate-filled political season is over four days after this issue hits newsstands.

Some critics used the invitation (and my willingness to initially accept it) to "prove" that RELEVANT has gotten too liberal, that we've chosen a works-driven social gospel over promoting a relationship with God. And while I acknowledge the magazine has begun covering harder-hitting issues over the last year—as well as spotlighting people who are living counterculturally, giving their lives to make a tangible, eternal difference in the world—I strongly disagree that this is a liberal shift. The spiritual foundation of our magazine is unchanged. We believe the Bible is the only complete and infallible written Word of God.

We believe God is moving and still speaks to us today. And we believe Jesus came to provide eternal salvation to a lost and dying world. It is actually a better understanding of our faith in Christ that compels us to care about the social issues we've been covering. If Jesus said it, we believe it. If Jesus modeled it, we want to live it. If Jesus commanded it, we want to obey it. We believe everything Jesus practiced and preached is as relevant for us today as it was at the time of Christ's earthly life.

Jesus stood up for those who could not stand up for themselves. Ultimately, he gave His life to save those who could not save themselves. And we should model the same mindset today. My primary disagreement with the Democratic party, and the source of so much of the controversy I experienced, is my belief that life begins at conception, and it is our moral duty to protect innocent lives. To me, that is not just a matter of faith; it is a matter of objective fact. "Protection of innocent human life is not an imposition of personal religious conviction, but a demand of justice," Cardinal Justin Rigali reminded pro-choice Catholic candidate Joe Biden in September.

However, and this is where many on the right miss it, the example Jesus set for us to stand up for the defense of the innocent does not end at birth. Just as they do for abortion, Christians should be on the forefront of standing against things that take millions of innocent lives around the world every day—systemic poverty, preventable disease, unnecessary wars, slavery, genocide. The list goes on.

In April 1859, Abraham Lincoln wrote these words in a letter to Henry Pierce: "This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave, must consent to have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, cannot long retain it." It's simple, folks: Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you. Christians shouldn't just be known for being "pro-life," a term which will never be disassociated from 1990's abortion clinic bombers. Instead, we need to embrace a more holistic definition of Christ's love and example. We need to be "whole-life."

Whole-life means standing up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. It means seeing a need, like Scott Harrison did (pg. 60) and giving your life to serve it. It also means more everyday things, like being conscious consumers and not supporting companies that subject people to illegal, exploitative working conditions, or promote slavery, like our cover story uncovers. Being whole-life means living out Jesus' example in our world today—fighting injustice, promoting life, being good stewards of our natural and financial resources, and showing God's love in a tangible way. A Christian's compulsion to stand for what's right should be far deeper than someone who does not have faith in Jesus.

To dismiss these as liberal issues is to miss the very heart of God. It's only our Western, partisan mentality that has blinded us from this practical application of scriptural living."

i like to call them my friends...

click here check out what's going on with my friends at Tolstoy House, a neo-monastic community house here in Cowtown that has been together for about a year. some really neat stuff coming up this Saturday, March 21st.

You Alone

"Give me the strength that waits upon You in silence and peace. Give me humility in which alone is rest, and deliver me from pride which is the heaviest of burdens. And possess my whole heart and soul with the simplicity of love. Occupy my whole life with the one thought and the one desire of love, that I may love not for the sake of merit, not for the sake of perfection, not for the sake of virtue, not for the sake of sanctity, but for You alone."

-Thomas Merton

Source: New Seeds of Contemplation

sorry it's been a while...

after braving what i think was a combo of sinus infection and the black plague and entertaining my in-laws this past week, i return unscathed to post yet again!

recently a friend posted this observation on his status update on Facebook, attributed to Marcus Borg, "Church 50yrs from now: Fewer professional clergy. But intentional groups of Christians will be around. Tents in the wilderness."

wow.

not a big believer in predicting the future, much less the future of the body of Christ (b/c i am asked often to do so), but feel that Borg is on to something really revelatory with this observation. if current trends continue and the spending habits of institutions (including the organized religious denominational institutions) continues to be put under a public microscope, the trending towards less professional, specialized clergy staff does not seem like an unlikely possibility. more and more, in discussions and dialogues i am a part of, hearing a downtrend among those seeking to serve the body of Christ away from professional clergy and towards a more bi-vocational ministry approach, a tent-making approach, if you will, where those leading communities work in the public marketplace to provide their salary and benefits while serving the body of Christ in ministry. this is a very liberating approach for some, who believe that b/c they would not rely upon the community for financial means, the pressure to provide leadership would rest less upon them and more upon the entire community, enabling the leader to be more of a partner in vision-casting and creation than the vision-doer. this might allow the body of Christ to become a people-centered community rather than a leader-centered community. though Moses leads the people through the wilderness, he enlists a great deal of people from within the community to do the work of administration. often too, it is the reluctance of the people and not Moses to take a greater role in leadership and administration and it is Moses that has to shake them loose from their preference for doing things the "Egyptian" way, the way things were done when they were under oppression.

which brings us to the Exodus imagery. i also like this "tents in the wilderness" image, casting the people of God not as firmly planted in the promised land but seeking out God's promises while following God by day and night in the wilderness of our current culture. i like the image of the church building, the place of meeting as a tabernacle, a temporary structure that can be unstaked, moved around, and placed in various settings. God moved with the people in the wilderness and it was when they got complacent and comfortable in the promised land that they built (against God's wishes, i might add) a permanent residence for God.

not sure where you fall on this, but would like to hear from those who follow my seldom-updated blog.

40 day giveaway

Check out www.40daygiveaway.com to see a project my friend Flip Cadero is working through for his 40 days of Lent. Check out especially Day 2. Flip and I met through my wife's involvement with the Wesley Foundation at SMU in Dallas. Flip is Catholic and I am catholic so I always look forward to our conversations. Also, just being seen with Flip raises my cool factor proportionally so that's always a plus. Flip and I share a man-crush for Richard Rohr and Shane Claiborne so we have so much, from saints to the social gospel, to discuss when we hang out (which is not enough). He urgently facebooked me last week with a request to get together for coffee ASAP. At coffee we spent some time admiring one another's facial hair and he presented me with his fantastic ostrich belt which had the Virgin de Guadalupe buckle attached. Needless to say, I am a much stouter man than Flip so I am proudly donning the buckle but will need a few months to slim down in order to don the belt. Thanks to Flip for the outstanding gift. My prayers are with him and with all seeking to grow in this season of Lent.

Peace.

questions for lent

As Lent approacheth, still working through some of my spiritual dryness, thanks to all who left encouraging and helpful comments. I believe that I will be giving up my selfishness and self-centeredness as well as my self-created complacency regarding my actual, physical involvement in real ministry with those on the margins. It is on this note, ministry with the least of these, that I feel compelled to ruminate upon today. Still working through this so please poke holes and challenge my assumptions.

I recently read Compassion, Justice, and the Christian Life: Rethinking Ministry to the Poor by Dr. Robert Lupton, which was compelling for a number of different reasons: one being that it was succinct and compact handling without being over-simplified and another being that it dealt frankly with the church's approach to ministry with the poor, which one can do with years of real-life experience working in ministry with the poor like Dr. Lupton. This book got me to thinking about what I am seeking to accomplish when I work in ministry with the poor. In my experience working with those in need (which really is all of us isn't it?) I am often the recipient of a request: "I need...fill in the blank" So often, I get caught up on meeting that most immediate need of the person I am working with: food, clothing, bill payment, gas, etc. and lose sight of involving that person in acquiring whatever it is that they may need. So often I hand over money or buy the gas or a bag of food or pay the bill and forget that Christ calls us to much more than this.

Yesterday, I took part in a Faith Community Leadership Summit on mental health organized by Texas Health Resources and involving leaders of faith communities all over Tarrant county. Dr. Len Sweet and Dr. Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner, among others, spoke about the issue of health and spirituality. Dr. Len Sweet is also engaging as a speaker and teacher and yesterday was no exception. He spoke of our need to implant Christ rather than our desire to imitate Christ. Imitation, he maintains, leaves little to no room for innovation or creativity while implantation allows Christ to work through us and become implanted in the lives of those we work in ministry with, including the poor. He also went on to say that as faith community leaders, what we seek to imitate about Christ is incomplete. We try to be great preachers and teachers, while failing to imitate Christ as healer. I do not believe Dr. Sweet was advocating we all become faith-healers but that we acknowledge that what Christ did more often than preach and teach was heal and in acknowledging this truth seek to be healers more than teachers or preachers; that in our relationships with those we minister to and with, we must seek to provide authentic, transformative, healing moments in which Jesus Christ is revealed rather than expounded upon. Dr. Stevenson-Moessner chose the framework of the parable of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10 for her presentation. She reminded us that as we read the parable and focus on the Samaritan's solitary, self-less act of compassion we not forget that the Samaritan enlists the assistance of the Innkeeper and the donkey to care for the traveler and that the Samaritan views his assistance to the traveler as a long-term project, which would need follow-up and re-visiting rather than simply getting the traveler what he needed, filling his most immediate need. Dr. Stevenson-Moessner also reminded us that the directive is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, which means we must love ourselves, know our limitations, and know when to resource. She pointed out that though Jesus feeds the hungry, heals the sick, and raises the dead that there were still hungry and sick people and that people still died during his ministry here on earth, Christ did not heal and save everyone and Christ did not work alone in feeding and healing those he was able to while he was here.

What if, instead of the "least of these" or the good Samaritan we took seriously our directive to be healers (not just triage workers but real HEALERS) and used "Go and make disciples..." from Matthew 28 as the model for how we minister with the poor, the hungry, the homeless/houseless. What if instead of just simply meeting the immediate need (which certainly needs to be met) we established a relationship with those we serve, challenging them to take the blessings that they receive and share them with those around them who may need them just as much or even more?

I cannot recall who originally wrote this story but it was shared in a sermon I heard recently. A pastor was delivering Thanksgiving baskets in an apartment complex with church members. They found that they had a whole basket of items left over, with no particular individual in mind. The pastor approached an older woman whose door was opened and said, in an attempt to cover and appear non-creepy, "Excuse me, we seem to have some leftover, do you know someone that could use this basket?" He fully expected the woman to say yes and accept the basket. Instead, the woman grabbed her coat and led the pastor to another apartment where a single mother and 4-5 children lived. This story tells me that amazing things can happen and our gifts may get into the hands of those in real need when we engage and involve those we are seeking to help as co-conspirators in the ministry of care in the name of Jesus Christ. This is what Dr. Lupton seems to be advocating for in his book, the real involvement of the poor in our ministry and not just targets for our ministry.

I am also reminded of the story in the book of Acts of Peter and John heading to the temple to pray and stumbling upon a man unable to walk who asks for an alm. Peter and John's response is, "Silver and gold, I have none...but what I have, I give you..." and heals the man then and there. This story reminds me that the alm would have been enough to meet the man's immediate need but what Peter shares with him is life-changing. If we are handing out money, filling gas tanks, and filling bellies we do great work but if we share Christ in an authentic, incarnational moment that seeks to form a relationship then we offer something so much more transformative.

What if instead of simply handing someone money, a sack of food, or a sack of clothes we asked them to join us in our work, asked them to be a blessing as we are seeking to be a blessing to those around us? What if with every plate of food you asked the person you were serving it to to pray for someone they knew who was in need? What if the next time someone asked you for gas money that you prayed with them as you put your hand in your pocket to get the money out or asked them to share themselves with someone around them as you are sharing yourself with them? I don't know, maybe I am asking too much but it seems to me that Jesus himself saw the hungry, hurting, and sick, heard the cry of those in need, and acknowledged that we would always have the poor with us. In light of all that he himself experienced, Jesus leaves his church not with the directive to feed, clothe, and alleviate suffering and injustice (which he was certainly interested in and wanted his church to be interested in) but instead left his church with the directive that began "Go, and make disciples..." I am not asking us to stop assisting and ministering to those in need, I am asking us to look at how we can offer much something much more lasting, something much more transformative alongside our assistance: the relational love and grace of God through the life of witness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ by implanting Christ rather than simply imitating Christ, by sharing our work with those we are seeking to serve.

hit a little snag...

kind of in a spiritual dry place of sorts, any suggestions on how to get out...?

really?!?

so i am watching CNN this morning and on the crawl i read this, and i quote, "cell phone rings amuse, annoy some."

really?!? these are the up-to-the-minute news details that the world needs to know?

this is like posting "socks with sandals deemed by most 'not a good look'" or "many choose not to wear flip flops in the rain because it may cause foot wetness" or "study of junior high aged males shows many find fart sounds comical" or "nation-wide poll reveals some enjoy coffee, others choose tea" or "another baseball player found using steroids" or "many believe our last president is a big dumb-ass" or "study reveals the endless war in Iraq actually claiming the lives of young people on both sides who displayed a great deal of potential and could change the world."

is this what has become news? are we so ill-informed that we don't actually know these things? or have we become so apathetic that we just don't care about what scrolls along the bottom of the programs produced by those who have devoted themselves to reporting the most current news-worthy items to the world?

a month or so ago, a report came out of austin that someone had hacked into one of those signs that dot the major highways around texas and made it read, “The end is near! Caution! Zombies ahead! Run for cold climate!” i wonder how many cars drove by it completely unaware of what it said and how many people actually read it and kept driving? is this a further sign of the apathy with which we handle information or is it a further sign of the impending idiocracy?

told my friend i would post these wherever i found space.

okay, i'll stop bothering you with how funny this is if you would just watch it.

the speech, full text

OBAMA: My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. Those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers ... our found fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it)."

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

some thoughts...nothing too profound

wanted to share some of my thoughts/observations from a remarkably historic couple of days. great conversations with friends and family as well as watching the world news as these events take place have prompted an overflow of mental activity.

listening to interviews of those gathered in Washington, D.C. for today's festivities, i heard many Anglos stating that they had been waiting eight years for this to occur while there were many African-Americans stating that they had been waiting a lifetime, which for many was 50+ years. it reminded me of the way different races and peoples view history. how long have you been waiting for President Obama? personally, i remember the day two+ years ago that i chose to back Obama as my choice for our next President though i remember the first time i became familiar with Obama after his speech at the previous democratic national convention. i chose Obama for a number of different reasons, most of which were based upon the content of Faith of My Fathers and Audacity of Hope. i remember thinking how amazing it would be to see an African-American President. i believed then that Obama was the right candidate for the position and believe now that Obama is who we need as our President. i suffered through primary defeats, did my best in encouraging and informing others who were undecided. i weathered debates with a knot in my stomach, often yelling at the TV more than i do during Cowboys games. but i recognized then as i do now that as 35-year-old white democrat, i have not been waiting nearly as long as others to see a President like Barack Obama take office.

as my family and I participated in the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in light of the impending Inauguration of President Barack Obama, saw and heard a lot about "the Dream" of Dr. King now being realized by the first African-American President of USAmerica. is Dr. King's "Dream" truly fully realized or is it only now beginning to be realized? will it be fully realized when ALL people come together in peace and realize each other as equals? is Dr. King's dream really realized in the in-breaking of the commowealth/kingdom of God and not only the Inauguration of a President? please don't mis-interpret this question with complacency or even worse disappointment in the events of January 20th. i am a huge supporter of President Obama and am in awe of the magnitude of what the world is watching today. just wondering if we still have farther to go in realizing the dream of prophets, priests, and visionaries like Dr. King? also, what happens when a dream is realized? what new dream replaces it? what dream or vision spurs a people on towards even higher goals and ideals?

give peace a chance

new year...

happy 2009 to you and yours.

O Lord G-d, creator of time itself,
Enter with us into this new year.

Allow us to devote our hearts, heads, hands, and souls to
bringing your commonwealth on earth as it is in heaven.

Help us to be about bringing about your peace, which surpasses all understanding
and not count the cost, estimate the outcome, or rationalize the cost-benefit ratio of our involvement.

Put us to what Thou wilt;
guide our feet along the path of peace that you yourself have laid out for us in the example of your Son and his pronouncement of your coming reign.

Amen.

holidaytime in a state shaped like a mitten

spending holiday season in Michigan, the state shaped like a mitten. it has been cold, snowy, rainy, foggy, and warmish since i arrived on Christmas day to join my wife and kiddo. my wife is a Michigan native (Michigander) and we make a yearly retreat to the frozen tundra (or closest thing to it for me) for Christmas and New Years. it has been fun spending time with my wife in her natural element and seeing friends and family. happy holidays to all three of you who follow the blog. here is the most recent documentation of growth (three weeks and counting).

this new year, in addition to my previous claim at making 2009 a year of growth for me, i am adopting one more resolution or habit: to pray daily for peace. i am not attempting to make any type of political claim or move here, just to genuinely act on my desire to see peace break out all over the world. a close friend and confidant of mine continually echoes the contemplatives with his advice, "If you want to truly affect a movement or make a change, PRAY." so i am taking him up on his advice. i would ask you to join me but i don't want to be presumptive that the most important thing you have to pray for is peace, so instead i would ask you to join me in this: to pray daily for one thing throughout the new year that you would like to see happen or change. it could be to end world hunger or to stop the devastating AIDS epidemic, or any other significant change you wish to see. i am not asking for you to pray for something i agree with or believe in but for something you agree with or believe in. i would ask that in your prayer, you ask for God to show you how you will actively take part in the change you wish to see. i anticipate a fruitful and prayerful new year.

as this will most likely be my last post before 2009: PEACE ON EARTH, GOODWILL TO ALL!

"the pause that refreshes": musings on Refresh 2008

recently attended College Union's Refresh 2008 at the Woodlands UMC in The Woodlands, Texas. This is an annual convergence of UM campus/college ministers organized by College Union, a conglomeration of UMs currently in ministry on college campuses or with college students/young adults. my wife has attended this conference in the past and raved about its impact on her ministry so i decided to attend along with her this year. i went in with relatively no expectations, still coming down from my NYWC high. i was not disappointed. this conference was truly refreshing in a number of ways.

first and foremost, it was compact. held in The Loft facility at Woodlands UMC, general sessions, small group sessions, and worship was all located in one building which made it remarkably easy to remain focused and connected btwn events. The Loft also provided free wi-fi (which was not a feature at NYWC) which assisted all those in attendance connection with the larger communities they are a part of outside of the event. Chris Seay, Sean Gladding, Dr. Elaine Heath, and Joe Myer each brought unique and refreshing perspectives to the large group/worship sessions. the music was also exemplary with Robbie Seay Band and Mercy Street's house band leading throughout the event. JD Walt also did an outstanding job leading us through worship and making some traditional prayers of the church new and fresh again. sadly, my wife and i were not able to stick around for the closing worship led by Rudy Rasmus but i am sure it was amazing as well. we have both heard Rudy before and he never disappoints in bringing the gospel with a new voice and fresh eyes.

my biggest takeaway from the entire conference would have to be Joe Myer's sessions on organic community and Sean Gladding's sessions on the presentation of the story of Scripture. both offered fresh perspectives on ideas that i have heard quite a bit about prior to attending the conference. Sean's use of the storytelling device to present the story of Scripture, a story that some believe to be out-dated, stale, and boring; was remarkably eye-opening for me to hear and remarkably helpful for me in culminating some previous ideas i already had about bringing the story of Scripture to communities who have had little contact with it in a way that it is both easy to digest and memorable for future use. Joe Myer's research and observations regarding the shifting from agrarian to nomadic community-building and functionality along with his observations regarding developing and maintaining truly organic community was helpful as well in that it i often use this term with those outside of the circle of thinkers/theologians that value this type of community and have found it hard to define or nail down what organic community really looks like or how it operates. Joe's sessions gave me some helpful parameters and terms to utilize in future conversations regarding developing organic communities.

for all those interested, i would strongly endorse this conference if you have any contact with young adults or college students. it is affordable and relatively easy travel and accommodation-wise. if you are an avid conference-attender and would like a break from your regular routine to participate in a conference that not only offers you information in order to innovate your ministry but a chance to reflect and relax, i strongly encourage you to check out Refresh 09. the website is www.collegeunion.org, information for 09 is not posted at this time, but keep your eyes peeled around October/November 09 for more details.

to Bishop Scott Jones, thank you kindly for dinner and your company, you continue to be an exemplar for how UM Bishops should function amongst and encourage young clergy. for all those friends and fellows that participated this past year, i sincerely value your friendship and am honored that you continue to consider me your brother in Christ. i continue to pray for each of you and your ministries. to those who organized Refresh 08, i sincerely thank you for your hard work.

impactful gift idea for birthdays, holidays, or any day...

sic semper podiatrus...

re: Anne Lamott's "Mess" and John Wesley's "Perfection"

here is 6 days growth. my son said this morning, "your beard is pinching me!"


i have received some comments regarding my last post which included an excerpt from Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird. The comments centered around Lamott's observations re: perfectionism being the voice of the oppressor, the Wesleyan theological term "Christian Perfection", and the United Methodist understanding that we are moving on to "perfection." i don't think that by sharing Lamott's observations i have called Wesley's theology into question or compromised my own understanding of "Christian Perfection." as i understand Wesley, his move towards "perfection", or the acquisition of "sanctification" (though Wesley seems to believe that this could be a fleeting acquisition at best) is a process or journey made by one through grace alone and that one who achieves "perfection" is not in the state permanently and therefore is still in danger of sin and in need of prayer. i believe that Wesley and Lamott would agree more than they disagree on the matter of "perfection" b/c both seem to have a problem with the reader of their work supposing that one can reach a state of physical or spiritual perfection where one is no longer in need of anything, where one can do no wrong. they both also share that the process and journey of life is a messy one, only managable for us through the grace of God and not by our own achievements. that is just my take on Lamott and Wesley. you can disagree if you wish. i certainly wasn't attempting to dissuade any of you out there away from seeking "Christian Perfection". in fact, i will be asked sometime in my life if i am doing all that i can to attain this state. my answer will be then as it is each and every day, "i am, with God's help."

three days growth and making a mess...

here is me after three days growth. its a work in progress. read below for Anne Lamott's view of making a mess of one's life only to discover one's true meaning. enjoy.

Make a Mess, Discover Your Life
By Anne Lamott

"Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won’t have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren’t even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they’re doing it.

Besides, perfectionism will block inventiveness and playfulness and life force (these are words we are allowed to use in California). Perfectionism means that you try desperately not to leave so much mess to clean up. But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived. Clutter is wonderfully fertile ground—you can still discover new treasures under all those piles, clean things up, fix things, get a grip. Tidiness suggests that something is as good as it’s going to get. Tidiness makes me think of held breath, of suspended animation.

When I was 21, I had my tonsils removed. I was one of those people who got strep throat every few minutes, and my doctor finally decided that I needed to have my tonsils taken out. For the entire week afterward, swallowing hurt so much that I could barely open my mouth for a straw. I had a prescription for painkillers, though, and when they ran out but the pain hadn’t, I called the nurse and said she would need to send another prescription over, and maybe a little mixed grill of drugs because I was also feeling somewhat anxious. But she wouldn’t.

I asked to speak to her supervisor. She told me her supervisor was at lunch and that I needed to buy some gum, of all things, and to chew it vigorously—the thought of which made me clutch at my throat. She explained that when we have a wound in our body, the nearby muscles cramp around it to protect it from any more violation and from infection, and that I would need to use these muscles if I wanted them to relax again. So finally my best friend Pammy went out and bought me some gum, and I began to chew it, with great hostility and skepticism. The first bites caused a ripping sensation in the back of my throat, but within minutes all the pain was gone, permanently.

I think that something similar happens with our psychic muscles. They cramp around our wounds—the pain from our childhood, the losses and disappointments of adulthood, the humiliations suffered in both—to keep us from getting hurt in the same place again, to keep foreign substances out. So those wounds never have a chance to heal. Perfectionism is one way our muscles cramp. In some cases we don’t even know that the wounds and the cramping are there, but both limit us. They keep us moving in tight, worried ways. They keep us standing back or backing away from life, keep us from experiencing life in a naked and immediate way.

So go ahead and make big scrawls and mistakes. Perfectionism is a mean, frozen form of idealism, while messes are the artist’s true friend. What people somehow (inadvertently, I’m sure) forgot to mention when we were children was that we need to make messes in order to find out who we are and why we are here."

Anne Lamott is a writer of books and essays. This piece is an excerpt from her book, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.

the thing that we fear the most...

to preface this post, i want to say that i pray for those directly affected by the recent woes of the auto industry: the middle class workers and management that will most certainly feel the sting of the impending decisions made by our government regarding bailout. i am not an unfeeling robot, political party loyalist, or ideological absurdist. i am a caring, compassionate Christian who is genuinely seeking to live in a manner that facilitates bringing about the kingdom/commonwealth of God on earth as it is in heaven.

that being said, i feel that i would be hypocritical if i criticized one institution while sparing another which seems to be in a similar position. i have given the institutional church and organized religion enough of my attention, often criticizing its leadership and members for allowing this institution to become irrelevant, inefficient, and devoid of any real fix on what is going on in the world around it. i have criticized this institution for being 20-30 years behind the times, thereby relinquishing its ability not only to truly be innovative, cutting edge, and creative but transformational as well. as i listen and watch the CEOs of the "big 3" american automakers plead to congress for billions of dollars in bailout money for their multi-national corporations, these same critiques regarding the institution of organized religion/"the church" come to mind. for years, american automakers have sold consumers automobiles that burn a great deal of fossil, emit large amounts of harmful elements into our environment, and cost thousands to repair. there has been little innovation from these corporations in the area of producing a more efficient and more effective product. they have, over time, lost relevance with their market audience, building bigger instead of better, producing more and more without regard for a market that has the possibility of change in a short amount of time. they have not listened to consumers who, especially recently, have called for more fuel-efficient modes of transportation, more environmentally friendly means for mass production. they have plowed ahead with business as usual, business which has gotten them through the last 20-30 or more years with very little reproach or decline, they have depended upon out-date business models of free enterprise and did not take into account the changing tastes of more educated consumers. and for ignoring all this and so much more, they are now paying for it. or, more precisely, they are asking that we pay for it.

i believe that powers and principalities including multi-national corporations like the big 3 can be redeemed but a great deal of redemption may come from repentance and possibly even a massive shut-down and re-build of the industry. it may take the "death" of the big 3 to bring to life an auto industry that comes back built upon innovation, creativity, environmental friendliness, and small operation rather than one built upon a false reliance upon "what has always worked", long-term consumer trends, and mass-production. though massive amounts of people would be jobless and it could spiral USAmerica into another depression, it may be exactly what is needed long-term to reform an industry that is seemingly inefficient, irrelevant, and out of touch with the world around it. but the refusal of a bailout leads to something more grim, something more deeply troubling to the media outlets that are covering this: massive unemployment and possibly depression.

why are we so fearful of the death of three companies that have demonstrated such little regard for the common good? is it the fear of sparking another great depression? maybe we in USAmerica have forgotten the lessons of the great depression because, in the distance of 70-80 years, we have falsely believed that we, in america, were somehow "safe" from anything bad happening like this ever happening to us again. not to say that i am nostalgic for the great depression, i wasn't alive during the first one and i honestly do not know the hardships of hunger, joblessness, and homelessness first hand. i am simply wondering if maybe we are afraid of the prospect of massive amounts of people being jobless, hungry, and homeless in america (maybe even ourselves or our own family) because we, especially those of us who claim the mantle of "Christian", would be confronted with the reality of actually helping our neighbor, actually feeding the hungry, actually taking people and families in to live together in community with one another. maybe we are less afraid of those faceless "unemployed" and more afraid of losing value in the treasures we have stored up for ourselves here on earth where dust and rust and moth can invade. maybe the fear over the impending loss of the big 3 points to something far more deeper and sinister than depression or unemployment but selfishness and greed. maybe we are allowing these forces to seduce us into believing that buoying failing institutions like car companies with billions of dollars will protect what is truly closest to our hearts, especially during this season of consumerism and greed, where commercialism fools us into believing that the greatest gift is the most expensive one (i find the cars with the giant red bows especially ironic). maybe we are being seduced yet again into putting our faith into an institution that has shown that it lacks the ability to be transformational and therefore averting, for now, any impending inconvenience.

a time to grow...

after prayerful consideration and a great deal of discernment, i have decided to enter into a season of growth. this decision has, in part, been spurred on by my recent completion of my Masters of Divinity degree. due to my passion for life-long learning and my unending yearning to deepen my own understanding of the seen and unseen world around me, i want to spur myself on to reading, engaging in active discussion, and embarking upon projects that facilitate growth. one of these projects will be to assist in the planting of community and individual gardens over the next year that i pray will garner bountiful yields and feed not only hungry stomachs but hearts, minds, and souls hungry for community. i have also challenged myself to continue to read texts that challenge me theologically, philosophically, politically, and ideologically. i have also challenged myself to practice spiritual practices in a much more disciplined and creative manner over the next year, including but not limited to, study of Scripture, contemplative prayer, prayer for others, prayers for peace, meditation, observance of sabbath, devotions, silence, service, humility, giving of my gifts freely, and discernment. and finally i have decided to mark my season of intellectual and spiritual growth with some tangible measure, namely the growth of a beard. i have shaved fully as of last night and will mark my growth with pictures and daily postings. i covet any prayers you could send my way, though i know that there are much more important things worth praying for these days.

check out wesley precinct...

from Australia...why can't we American UMs do something cool like this?

click here

advent conspiracy...restoring the scandal of Christmas

i know that i seem to make a lot of this...

shaved again, and not just my face this time. had an idea to shave off my beard again as i caught a glimpse of myself in the window walking down the street of nashville but really was not prepared for what was in store for me when i attempted to cut my hair. to save money and just as a matter of principle, i cut my own hair (there are certain services that one should pay for and there are others that are complete luxury, especially when one prefers a short haircut like the one i have sported around for the last couple of years). there are inherit dangers to this, however. as i fired up the clippers and proceeded to trim up my hair, i went into it with wild abandon. as i turned to look in the mirror i realized that i had put on the 1 guard instead of the 2 guard. though my wife strongly encouraged me to turn my mistake into a mohawk, i instead just continued on. a little chilly but not so bad. ironic, however, since i just left a conference which i claimed was the largest conglomeration of bald-headed white dudes with facial hair. for now i am just a statistic.

more NYWC

first of all, some more thank yous...
-Gavin Richardson and FUMC, Hendersonville Student Ministry for letting me creep around their Sunday night program and "The Corner." it is awesome to see an awesome youthworker in ministry action with their students. Gavin, thanks for allowing me to lift you up as one of my student ministry heroes.
-Jeff McCormick for not providing me with things to do around Nashvegas, would have only stressed me out.
-Archie Honrado for leading an amazing prayer walk around downtown Nashvegas and all those who served as spiritual directors for the conference
-Dr. Matthew, Nancy, and Emma Sleeth for making the drive to hang out with 10-12 peeps and talk about loving the Creator by taking care of creation
-to the people of Nashvegas, especially those in the service industry; thanks for putting up with bad tipping coupled with a healthy dose of over-zealous friendliness
-Mark Yaconelli for reminding me to let go and just dance

after having driven ten hours and given myself the opportunity to process the event, still wondering if all the $$ and fanfare and travel is worth it. no offense to YS and NYWC, just reflecting on the multitudes of multi-national corporations i supported (or was forced to support) in taking part of this event. also wondering when YS will wake up to movement of youthworkers and student ministries seeking to live as open communities of conscious consumers and creative DIYers. seems that we are still getting together to speak about and seminar on what's going on NOW, risking wasting energy and time on possibly older, outdated paradigms for ministry with students and families. heard a lot of talk about transformative power of love and grace of God through Jesus Christ but still saw seminars on how to put together flashy presentations of the slick gospel of Christian consumerism. i know that i am looking at this too harshly but i am not giving up on the event, just praying that, as the years go by, God moves the leadership of this event through prayer and discernment to not get wrapped up on providing ways to do the next cool thing and find ways to lead youthworkers with sustainable options for reaching a diverse population of students and youth to show them how God is already at work in their lives. greatly appreciated the re-focus on getting back to Scripture and not just reading or memorizing it but allowing it to work through our lives so that our lives are our message (as Gandhi once said) and story; that others see our story through how we live our lives not what we say or how we can spout off proof texts.

as i continue to process, will continue to write. overall, a thumbs middle to up on the event as a whole. did not like the stadium atmosphere for general sessions and the cattle drive btwn the convention centers to get from smaller events to general sessions w/o getting rained on or frozen out. but really appreciated the focus on the contemplative, meditative side of ministry with students and families presented in the sanctuary, prayer chapel, labyrinth, and the presence of spiritual directors. as hard as i have been on this event, it is always a formative time for me, a time to plant ideas and allow ideas to be cultivated in an atmosphere i can only liken to a generative soilbed ready for growth. hang on CoH students, families and volunteers, i got a great opportunity to do some prayer and discernment on some plans that i think will work well with who we are and what we are about.

NYWC update...sorry so late

so, wifi is apparently a commodity here in Nashvegas, it is not as plentiful as the live music and bbq (which is vastly inferior to that of Texas bbq, that's even coming from a vegetarian). but i digress. NYWC (National Youth Workers Convention), notoriously the largest gathering of bald-headed mean with facial hair, has been the high-energy, spiritually re-activating event that it always has been for me. from the prayerwalk we took around downtown on Saturday morning to the sessions with Shane Claiborne, Tony Campolo, and Andrew Marin to the spiritual direction i got from a good friend, Brent Parker to spending time with the amazing CTCUMC youth workers who are here to spending time with my beautiful wife to getting to know youthworkers from all across the country this event is outstanding.

speaking of the Tony Campolo, Shane Claiborne, and Andrew Marin super-session, it was heart-breakingly awesome to finally hear someone speak openly and honestly about reaching out in love and grace to the homosexual community w/o trying to save or change people and ironic to hear Tony and Shane talk about the seductive nature of capitalist consumerism which drives our society (especially invading the lives of students) while sitting amidst a sea of advertisements to purchase the newest curriculum/dvd/mission trip package/ski trip package for to make your student ministry "successful."

another highlight would be the Taize Worship and all the events in the "sanctuary" this year. what a novel idea it is to try and reach out, comfort, heal, and replenish the soul of youth/student workers. the absence of this component has troubled many throughout the history of these events, nice to see leadership actually listening to feedback and adjusting what they offer (maybe my denomination could take a few notes).

one constant point of contention for me has always been the massive amount of waste events like this produce and the lack of focus on creation care. this year, it was a blessing to sit with Emma and Dr. Matthew Sleeth; authors of its easy being green and serve G-d, save the planet. They are amazing authors, witnesses to loving the Creator through creation care, and a fun family to hang out with.

so there is my update thus far. i am sure as we drive back Monday, i will process and have more observations so stay tuned. but to those who have made it a worthwhile event thus far:
-Central Texas for the $$ to send me here
-Community of Hope students and parents who allowed me to take time away to attend
-CTCUMC Youth Workers Abby Flookes, Jake Allen, the Brower Bros., and all the others who make this a fun place to hang
-Brent Parker for continued spiritual direction, encouragement, and challenge
-Joy Roberson for being an amazing youth worker, mother, and wife
-Charles Harrison and Terry Carty from YouthWorker Movement and Cokesbury for providing free lunch and fun people to talk to in the exhibit hall
-to all the amazing youthworkers who attend this event from across the country and the churches and ministries they represent
-to the folks at YS who put this amazing thing on year after year
-to Rachel and Steve Heyduck who continue to convict my heart to care for creation while i am here

THANK YOU.

Wanted to leave this post with something amazing i saw yesterday during a general session. who says youthworkers are out of touch and can't shake it every once and a while to the music kids are listening to these days? enjoy!

as simple as this...

"my life is my message."

mahatma gandhi

National Youth Workers Convention 2008

Gearing up for this usually outstanding, energizing, contemplative, rejuvenating event. Attending Nashville, Tennessee version. Really looking forward to worship and some general sessions and seminars, but mainly the "sanctuary" option they are offering this year to explore lectio divina, prayer with icons, creative prayer with art, and a prayer walk around the city. I will update the blog so you can see how things are going day by day. I covet your prayers as this event has proven in the past to be remarkably cathartic and revealing b/c of the fact I actually get to retreat from the day-to-day grind and open my ears, heart, mind, and body to God. To any friends in Nashville, look me up and we can hang.

what was he thinking?

recently as i was enjoying a plateful of sopes at my new favorite mexican food restaurant (Esperanza's on Park Place and 8th in Fort Worth), i glanced over to see a young man wearing a t-shirt that read "BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS" on the back. i thought, wow i really like that and began to wonder what the front of the shirt said, as his back was to me the entire meal. as he got up to leave, he turned to reveal a Police Department logo on the front of his shirt. the shirt seemed to be created to honor fallen officers as the logo included a black stripe. i wondered, was this what Jesus was thinking when he shared this with the crowds? was he referring to this type of "keeping the peace?" i am certainly not implying that we should refrain from remembering those who have fallen in the line of duty as soldiers or that police officers or that officers should not be thanked for the countless hours they spend serving and protecting our communities. i am simply asking for your opinion regarding the use of this particular teaching of Christ's in relation to this line of work? is this mixing empire and christianity?

the possible...

"The possible's slow fuse is lit by the imagination." - Emily Dickinson

"What if Starbucks marketed like the Church?" from beyondrelevance.com

celebrity endorsement

not a food critic by any means but here are a couple of "celebrity endorsements" of two great Funkytown eateries:

recently re-visited my favorite sweet spot in Fort Worth: The Cupcake Cottage. Judge me how you will but there are deeper reasons to why i love this sweet shack other than the creamy, homemade frosting. If you hit their website: http://www.thecupcakecottage.com/ you'll see that they set out a menu in advance, take reservations, and close when they are sold out of inventory. by turning their backs on mass-production and extended hours, they avoid over-production and waste. if you follow their guidelines, you can get what you want when you want it. though i find it more fun to take a chance and see what's available when you get there, that choice does come with the possibility that you may miss out altogether if you get there too late. regardless, check out these responsible purveyors of the sweet stuff in Fort Worth.

on the same note, if you haven't stopped by Spiral Diner at either their Fort Worth or Oak Cliff locations, you are really missing out on the most compelling reason to go vegan: their menu. the ate-layer burrito, bbq samwich, and the big ol burrito are a few of my favorites. also, start out with the hummus and finish up with anything from the desert tray. visit their website at http://www.spiraldiner.com/.

i wonder...

on february 1st, will we still be embroiled in whether or not Obama is a Muslim, waiting for his college roommates or financial supporters to come out of the woodwork and take over the u.s. or will we be holding prayer meetings for John McCain's health? will anyone have made a connection between ayers, acorn and Obama? will anyone have any better of an idea about who ayers and acorn really are? will we be dealing with a continually declining economy by protecting our own interests and stuff or will we pull out of this downward spiral together by joining together and sharing our resources with those in need? will big corporations and those most responsible for our economic downturn be receiving another bailout or will they be held responsible by those in power to repent for their sin? will anybody be able to afford healthcare? will we finally give up trying to build up financial portfolios and 401(k)s? will christianity still be interested in building empire? will conservative christians still brandish fear and anxiety-fueled classism and racism under the auspices of faith? will liberal christians still be calling for government to assist faith-based community service programs? will roe v. wade still be in place? will anyone be concerned with the items that seem to be taking up most of our time right now? who knows? for me, this is a perfect example of three undeniable truths:

1. the rest of the world hates us and rightly so.
2. we are not in the matrix, banal junk like elections and economic downturn doesn't happen in the matrix.
3. germans love david hasselhoff.

lets get politico...

okay, i don't like to use this forum to air my political propensities and leanings but i feel compelled to offer some observations as we round the turn towards november 4th. of foremost importance, i will be thrilled to see leadership change hands from the current misguided and misdirected administration to someone with some spark and energy. that being said, after watching debates, speeches, and ads the difference between the two candidates is not as striking as they would have you believe. both parties WILL RAISE YOUR TAXES. do not deceive yourself into thinking that one party or the other will reduce or cut taxes to a point that will make life more than bearable for all americans, they will both raise your taxes. next, the amount of real change that either party will be able to bring to washington will be minimal at best. not much changes in washington and, for the most part, the american people like it that way. massive shifts in ideology or political philosophy would cause upheaval and change and people, as a whole, do not like change. the best the new administration can accomplish will be, as the guards on the green mile can, to keep people as calm as possible as they move along in life. i am certainly not advocating that you not vote, PLEASE VOTE. but vote in an informed manner. that means finding out what both candidates really stand for (if that is even possible) and allowing yourself to vote according to what is really of vital importance to you.

one thing that may seem partisan but i feel compelled to share is the seeming apprehension towards anything "intellectual." what does it say about our culture when those who appear educated and informed are looked at with skepticism and fear? why is someone who seemingly lacks the ability to communicate effectively always a victim of "the liberal media?" what attracts a voter to someone who proclaims to know joe and sally six-pack while appearances would certainly indicate that they are completely out of touch with a large portion of that demographic. i want leaders who will be who they are, not attempt to be folksy or down-to-earth in order to win my vote. as a recent bumper sticker i read stated, "i want a smart president this time." that is not to say that our current president or his administration is un-educated or stupid, it is to say look at where down-home, folksy, fireside wisdom has gotten us over the last eight years. we have become more isolated in our ability to connect with those nations who were previously allies and in our ability to remain trusted amongst world powers.

vote with your heart, head, and hands. do not be duped to believe hype that is certainly designed to misguide you.

watch this and make your ears bleed!

These guys rock!
Check them out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-NOZU2iPA8

Thanks to Reverend Meredith Bell for bringing this to my attention.

new tattoo and blog to check out

rockin my new ink after wife and i got a wild hair (w/o the young one around) to get inked together, her first my second. also wanted to pass on a blog to you from friends living together in the hemphill area of fort worth in a community called tolstoy house. one member off in oregon learning to garden and live sustainably off the grid. the link to the site is here http://www.tolstoyhouse.com/ check it out when you get a chance. they are looking for assistance in the form of a relational tithe from those who are seeking to build the kingdom by serving others. peace to you my friends.

13 days later...

So since my last post, I attended an event sponsored by the Central Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church called "Missing: Young Adults" that focused on one of the missing demographic groups within area United Methodist congregations and offer local congregations ideas/strategies/information to reach a generation of adults who have grown up with a negative image of Christianity. The keynote speaker was David Kinnaman, President of the Barna Research Group and one of the authors of the recent book, unChristian. Getting to spend time with presenters, friends, and with Kinnaman himself offered some great insights into how, as a young adult with a negative image of Christianity, I can work with and within the church to reach other "outsiders" who share this idea.

During one of the presentations, a speaker noted that United Methodism finds it roots in the minds of two young adults (brothers, in fact) who also saw the church they were a part of missing opportunities to reach the "outsiders" of their day. For me, this was a real "a-ha" moment that raised so many different ideas that I plan to post about over the next couple of weeks. I encourage you to visit www.yasummit.com to see a list of the speakers involved and some resources available to include young adults in the ministry of your congregation.

vitame vas na!

wanted to use this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all the people of West, Texas for another fine WestFest. this year was filled with the same polka, pivo, pastries, and people that make this one of the premiere summer festivals (and my favorite summer activity next to hanging on beautiful lake Whitney) of central/hill country Texas. Brave Combo and Polka Freak Out rocked again under the tent and the people were colorful and friendly as usual. for anyone looking for some good clean labor day fun in 2009, i highly recommend this end of summer, family-friendly festival that takes place over labor day weekend each year. special thanks to Sarah and Jeff McCormick for making it our third annual WestFest together. check for pics on facebook soon! until next labor day, "Jak Se Mas!"

new simpsons character unveiled

Dorothy Day and The Catholic Worker

realize i've already posted on Dorothy Day and possibly The Catholic Worker, but am continuing to read more and more about Day, her counterpart Peter Maurin, those that were influenced by their work, and those who influenced their work.  strongly recommend that you pick up something (even if it is just the wikipedia post about Day, Maurin, or Catholic Worker movement) and read it.  remiss that i had not picked up something about this sooner. 

Day, Maurin, and the Catholic Worker paper/movement have influenced many in the neo-monastic movement and should inspire all of us, regardless of religion, denomination, or belief system to live a more genuine, authentic, holistic, agrarian lifestyle.  

if Day not your cup of tea, read Wendell Berry, whom i've also written about before.  

moving back into youth ministry

sorry haven't posted in a while, been busy working on multiple items and small projects.  recently said yes to exciting new opportunity with local UMC to foray back into youth ministry.  looking to provide something new and different with this endeavor, not just the run-of-the-mill programs, singing kum-by-yah and day trips to six flags (though six flags will most likely be in the mix there somewhere).  would really like to work at strengthening our faith together as we ask the good, tough questions of faith and challenge each other to live holistically (as individuals and as a community) as we experience the love and grace of God through Jesus Christ.  please pray for congregation, youth, and me as we enter into this new endeavor together.  

Just Say Whoa!

Recently, concerned citizens and residents of prominent and not-so-prominent Fort Worth neighborhoods have joined together to ask the city to take a step back and look at the long-term effects of urban drilling for natural gas. I personally think that it is worth the wait as well, looking at environmental effects (especially to human health and groundwater) and long-term economical effects rather than just cashing in and looking at the short-term. Full story here: 

http://cbs11tv.com/local/Fort.Worth.Drilling.2.790366.html

From Richard Rohr's "Job and the Mystery of Suffering"

"God loves us so perfectly, God lets us be the heroes. God lets us wrestle with the angel of Yahweh, lets us struggle with God and win. When we try to let go and give our life to God, God gives it back to us. Should we be surprised? That's what love does. That's the only thing you can get excited about when you're in love--giving your life to the other and seeing enjoyment in the other. That's the union toward which God is calling us. The lover delighting in the beloved and the beloved delighting in the lover."

"The Church Obeyed and Challenged"

"The church is a whore, but she is my mother." 

- attributed to St. Augustine

Just finished reading Robert Coles' autobiography of Dorothy Day before I embark upon reading Day's own account of her life, The Long Loneliness.  Coles transcribes tape recorded conversations he had with her before her death in 1980 along with historical information from other texts (including Loneliness and other works by and about Day) as well as his own observations about her life from a psychological perspective to provide the content for the book.  The result is an engaging introspection of Day as she reflects on her life and the impact that it made on the spiritual and political landscape of twentieth-century America.  

In the chapter entitled "The Church Obeyed and Challenged", Coles engages Day regarding her choice to become Catholic and the struggle between her own spirituality, sense of social justice, and the often dogmatic and hierarchical nature of the Roman Catholic Church that seemed, at times, to neglect the plight of the working class in America and in other countries.  Day shares candidly the cost of her decision to become a Catholic among the intellectual crowd that populated her early life and her struggle with the seeming disconnect between her strong sense of social justice and the actual interests and actions of the Catholic Church.  In this chapter and throughout the book, her stories and struggles remind me that the church (Catholic, Protestant, or otherwise) often falls short to hear the words of Christ and share God's love and grace with the those on the margins.  Throughout it all, Day reflects, she holds fast to the fact that the church of Jesus Christ is not infallible and perfect, that it is an institution in constant need of a healthy dose of encouragement and challenge, in need of sinners as well as saints to complete its work in service to the world.  In reading this chapter, I am reminded of the above quote attributed to St. Augustine but also of St. Augustine's life, especially his youth and younger years spent in search of an experience, relationship, ideology, philosophy, or theology to assist him in making meaning of the world around him.  Day spends most of her youth searching for some of the same meaning, with a smaller dose of the licentiousness of St. Augustine and a larger dose of Socialism, Marxism, and 1920s and 30s American East Coast intellectual humanism.    

Looking over this past year and my reading of Sara Miles Take This Bread, along with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove's New Monasticism and School(s) of Conversion, along with my monastery experience and other formative experiences working within and alongside the church, it is fitting to be reading Day (an author whose life and actions certainly influence those writers, thinkers, theologians, and friends I have come in contact with over the last year) at this time.  I strongly recommend Coles' biography (whose official title is Dorothy Day: A Radical Devotion) as well as The Long Loneliness  to any interested in reading about an inspirational and influential figure on the American twenty-first-century spiritual landscape.        

Window Decal Reveals Something More

Driving behind a truck today that had a window decal that read "Jesus is Whatever You Need."  At first I thought, "Well that is one way to look at it."  But then, as my morning went on, it continued to play over and over again in my head.  This decal that I wanted to quickly dismiss would not get out of my head.  I wanted to dismiss it because I supposed it was saying that Jesus is whatever you want Jesus to be, a kind of turn on the gospel of prosperity or the gospel of me.  But I began to think that there might be some validity to what it says.  It doesn't say Jesus is whatever you want, it says need.  There is a chasm of difference between want and need.  I would venture a guess from watching TV and reading the newspaper that it seems the world wants a Jesus who pats us on the back and tells us everything is alright we have more than most, that the world really centers solely upon us and our needs while supplying us with anything our heart desires.  Jesus is instead whatever we need: food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, a message of hope for the hopeless, a challenge for the comfortable and lazy.  Sometimes this is support and guidance and sometimes its just a good square kick in the ass, getting us out of our seats and putting us to action, to living out our faith in God through Christ by feeding of the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and in prison, and so on.  Jesus, as the window decal says, may very well be whatever we truly need.

Peace

Sorry haven't posted in a while, been busying finishing up paper on monastery experience and playing single dad for a week.  Thought this quote on peace would be apropos for the week.  Will post again soon.  

"Perhaps peace is not, after all, something you work for, or ‘fight for.’ It is indeed ‘fighting for peace’ that starts all the wars. Peace is something you have or do not have. If you are yourself at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world. Then share your peace with everyone, and everyone will be at peace."

Thomas Merton, from Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander

Strange Tale of Donald Crowhurst

I recently caught Deep Water, the Donald Crowhurst biopic on PBS. It tells the story of Crowhurst, a British businessman and amateur sailor who died while competing in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, a single-handed, round-the-world yacht race. Crowhurst had entered the race in hopes of winning a cash prize from the Sunday Times. Instead, it is believed that he encountered difficulty early in the voyage, and secretly abandoned the race while reporting false positions, in an attempt to appear to complete a circumnavigation without actually circling the world. His boat, Teignmouth Electron, was found without him on board as well as sailing logs (believed to have been doctored) and personal journals of his experience.  The readings from the journals, that frame testimony from friends and family as well as news and personal film footage of Crowhurst and family, are especially haunting. 

I have previously blogged about my fondness for the book and recent movie Into the Wild, which tells the story of Chris McCandless, a young man who abandoned his life and travelled to Alaska on foot to find himself, only to lose his life in the process.  As I was watching Deep Water, I could not help but see some similarities between Crowhurst and McCandless.  Unlike McCandless, however, Crowhurst's story is much darker, involving deception, mental breakdown, and possible suicide.  McCandless sought to escape from the world by taking on the wilds of Alaska and ended up dying in the process, most likely from malnutrition, the mis-identification of an edible plant or a combination of both. Crowhurst sought notoriety and the spotlight in the race of a lifetime and died in the process. But similarities are present including the underestimation of both men regarding the effects of a solitary lifestyle on the human psyche, as well as the inherent danger in tackling creation or something wild on one's own terms.  Both men greatly underestimated the risks of facing the wild on their own.  Both were warned of the harsh realities of what they were about to undertake and both were given grim odds at the undertaking by observers and experts.  The stories of both men are, in the end, heart-breaking.  Especially heartbreaking was the testimony of family and friends who explained the residual impact of Crowhurst's attempt at deception and subsequent death on their own lives.     

ontological or functional?

on·to·log·i·cal (ŏn'tə-lŏj'ĭ-kəl)  adj.  

1.    Of or relating to ontology.

2.    Of or relating to essence or the nature of being.

3. Of or relating to the argument for the existence of God holding that the existence of the concept of God entails the existence of God.

func·tion·al (fŭngk'shə-nəl)  adj.  

1.    a. Of or relating to a function.

            b. Of, relating to, or indicating a mathematical function or functions.

2.    Designed for or adapted to a particular function or use: functional architecture.

3.    Capable of performing; operative: a functional set of brakes.

4.    Pathology Involving functions rather than a physiological or structural cause.

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 25 Jun. 2008

As I have continued on the quest to discern my own calling into ordained ministry, I have had the opportunity to dialogue with others within the United Methodist tradition and other Christian traditions about their understanding and call to ministry with the church of Jesus Christ.  Recently, during a course I was taking on monastic spirituality, a fellow student (and fellow United Methodist) asked one of the monks when they had felt "the call" into monastic life.  His response was "when the sperm hit the egg, I guess."  This garnered  further discussion that led to some narrowing down the term "calling" into two categories: functional, as in receiving a "call from God to serve" (or towards some action) in ministry and ontological, as in God made me a minister/pastor/priest. I found this to be intriguing in that I have often felt, in the midst of a tradition that places great emphasis in one's "call story" during the process for an ordained ministry whose orders are defined by what they do, that I am ontologically called to minister with the church of Jesus Christ.  In other words, this is who God made me to be.  That may seem odd coming from someone with such an open theism as myself but I do believe I was made to minister, that my life has led to this path rather than been altered or diverted through some cosmic, spiritual experience in which I heard the voice of God calling me in a different direction. Though I don't believe the two to be mutually exclusive, I do feel, as I read literature re: the order of Deacon within the United Methodist tradition, I have been equipped to serve (there's that word again) in this role all along.  Still working through some of this and would love to hear your thoughts or how you might have struggled with this.     

Litany for Non-Violence

Check out a prayer that I picked up at St. Gregory's, been using each morning this week and find extremely helpful in centering and focusing my prayer for peace.  Posted link so you can explore the entire Sisters of Providence website as well.  May it add blessing to your life.  

http://www.sistersofprovidence.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?3208&dwContent_contentID=254

Yeti no more

Shaved my beard and cut my hair yesterday.  Had been growing for nine months, so the whole experience was as close as I come in my life to gestation and birthing something.  Feel lighter and a whole lot cooler.  Feel, however, that something missing (like my chin) so let June 23rd, 2008 be set as the new first day back to full growth.  It should be an interesting nine months.  If you see me in the meantime, please do not point and laugh.  

Don't really know why I as growing it out.  Many people assumed I was protesting something or making a point with my beard.  Honestly, I just got tired of shaving on a daily basis.  In the end, I think that I grew out my hair and beard to make the statement that I no longer care what anyone else thinks of me.  In my recent trip to St. Gregory's Abbey, looked over some of the sayings of the Desert Fathers.  One of them stated that a holy man who had been in silence for years was alerted that an important person wanted to hear from him.  The holy man's response was that if the person could not hear their silence, they would not be able to hear his words.  I guess my philosophy was, then, if you couldn't accept me hairy, you won't be able to accept me clean-shaven.  My wife, however, is remarkably happy with my clean cheeks, my clean upper lip, and the ability to see the back of my neck.   

Life in a Benedictine Monastery

"Lord our God, through Your loving kindness, 

hear and answer our prayers

as they rise to You in this offering.

Through Your saints, Benedict and Scholastica,

You have called many to the school of Your service.

We ask that many other men and women, throughout the world, 

would hear and answer Your call in our monastic way of life, 

especially here at St. Gregory's Abbey.

Grant each of us the gift of holy perseverance-that we may prefer nothing to Your love.

This we ask through Christ our Lord.  Amen."

-Prayer for Vocations, recited at the conclusion of Vespers-

After spending the past week at St. Gregory's Abbey in Shawnee, Oklahoma in fervent prayer and academic focus upon monastic spirituality, it has been a tough couple of days acclimating back to life as usual here in the real world.  It is hard to explain how deeply this experience has impacted me but I will make an attempt.  

First, I came to this experience with the presupposition that one would pursue monastic community b/c of one's inability to function in everyday society and culture without being succumb to temptation and sin.  In reality, those that seek monastic community are not fleeing the world but seeking to live amongst the world, praying for its salvation and working to establish connection with those outside of the monastery.  Second, I believed that a disciplined, order life vowed to obedience would be limiting and confining, not allowing one to make one's own decisions and choose one's direction.  How many of us are really in charge of our own life anyway?  In monastic community, I found that authority and obedience are channels for creativity, allowing one to determine how one will live out their vow to engage the world with work and prayer (ora et labora) in ways that are authentic to who God has created them to be.  The monks did not see their direction to the monastic way of life as a "call", like so many of us who are Protestant.  They expressed their observation that God had created them for this life, fulfilling an ontological rather than a functional call to a particular way of life.  Third, I understood that a monastic community was engaged in prayer for the world primarily and work secondarily.  However, after engaging with the monks of this community, I realized that the community views its work and its prayer as engaging the world in a real and deeply impacting manner.  Their praying of the Psalms and the Daily Offices and their work is not just to give them something else to do and strictly for the benefit of each other.  They understood that when they got together to pray, all around the world others were gathering to pray the exact same word, asking for the salvation of all creation and not just their little community.  

Likewise, these observations leaked heavily into my own life.  In my own practice of spiritual disciplines or practices, I was not simply engaging in some work that pleases God or sounds good to my own ears.  I am not fasting, praying, and engaging in Lectio Divina so that God is happy or I can gloat about my own piety amongst others.  I am engaging in acts of denial, denying the use of my time solely to my own purposes and goals and to the purposes and goals of God.  I am engaging in practices that others around the world are engaging in for the purpose of praying for the salvation of all of creation.  Also, b/c of my deep interest in the Neo-Monastic movement, discovering what lies at the heart of true monasticism to see how authentic and honest this movement and those engaged in it are to the tradition it seeks to re-present to current culture.  Finally, engaging the monks on an individual level helped me to see beyond the stereotypical view of monks as cloistered, sinless, holy men huddled in the desert contemplating God silently.   I met men who had asked themselves, and God for that matter, the deeper questions of life and faith.  Men who are in a consistent spirit of growth and movement towards each other and to God.  Men who are trying as valiantly as I am to live life in the model of God-with-us, Jesus Christ and sometimes doing a horrible job at it.  It was deeply affirming and when I received a blessing from one of the Fathers who spent the entire week from us, I felt closer to understanding my own ontological "calling" from God to pursue the establishment of authentic, honest communities like this one amidst the world.   

I encourage all those reading this now to another spiritual discipline: pilgrimage.  Take a journey to St. Gregory's in Shawnee, Oklahoma (outside of Oklahoma City) on the grounds of St. Gregory's University. To engage in a deep experience of this nature one must flee the world for a little while and re-train their hearts, bodies, and minds to the rhythm of monastic life.

Thanks to Dr. Frederick Schmidt, David Whidden, Father Charles Buckley O.S.B, Brother Kevin, Brother Isidore, Brother George, and the entire monastic community at St. Gregory's.  Also, thanks to my fellow classmates, those women and men that took this journey into the wilderness and back with me this past week.    

For a much more detailed account of the week, visit http://leannelindgren.wordpress.com, the blog of fellow classmate Leanne Lindgren at a certain other blog site. 

Evil, Suffering, Death, and Afterlife in the NT

“Something is over. In the deepest levels of my existence something is finished, done.  

My life is divided into before and after.” 

Nicholas Wolterstorff, Lament for a Son

"Vere tu es Deus absconditus: Truly you are a hidden God."

-Blaise Pascal

Taking three weeks to look at how Scripture handles the ONE thing that I most fear; death, was an interesting prospect to begin with.  It was an emotional and theological roller coaster but one that I definitely came out of the other end enjoying. The class was deeply rewarding and helpful in almost forcing me to look into the mirror and come to terms with my own mortality.  In the end, I know that "I see through a glass darkly" on this subject but see much clearer than I did when the course began.  After looking through literature, Scripture, film,  art, and music I have found that, though I possess no more concrete answers than I did at the beginning of the course, in the end I have come to these observations:

• God is not responsible for evil.  This does not diminish God's sovereignty or power, it claims that evil and subsequent suffering caused by evil is not God's will.  God  is love.  Or, more accurately as Nicholas Wolterstorff writes, "God  is suffering love."  God persists with humanity through evil and suffering in loving relationship and overcomes the final enemy; death, by providing humanity with a bodily resurrection and all of creation with eternal life (the new heaven and new earth in Revelation). This is what God-with-us, Jesus Christ, demonstrates to all those who believe and follow his example, suffering comes with the territory of human life but in relationship with God, we make it through and share in eternal life.   
•  God's love and grace seeks after us throughout eternity.  Humanity would like to put a timeline upon and obstacles to access the immutable love and unyielding grace of God, stating that only in life may one claim belief and receive salvation through a particular adoption of propositions and a clearly set of moral constructs.  I side with Paul as he writes in Romans 8 that nothing, not angels, rulers, things present or things to come, not even anything "in all creation will be able to separate the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."  The point of a life of faith in God is not to procure eternal fire insurance.  The point of life is to live as God calls us to live, in the example of God-with-us, Jesus Christ in order that we share the love of God with those around us and offer them a glimpse into the commonwealth of God, on earth as it is in heaven. 
• The best gift we can offer those of us who are suffering is compassion and a truly listening ear, mind, and heart. "Compassion", David Ford writes in his book The Shape of Living, "is the overwhelming that meets suffering with full realism and enables an expansive movement of love and generosity."  Often, it is not answers that those who are grieving or living through a suffering experience are looking for.  I believe that people are instead looking for an authentic person who they can ask questions with; someone to help them remember that God suffers with them and is a God who is secure enough for their questions. We will all deal with death, evil, and suffering in our own way and the best we can hope for are individuals and communities that adopt this stance of compassion.  
• I am in no way saying that evil does not exist, it does and manifests itself in some very real and sobering ways.  I am saying that to believe that somehow God wills certain of us to suffer and experience evil is not authentic to my experience of life, Scripture, and tradition and to my God-given ability to reason.  I do not believe in a God of love b/c it makes me feel better, I do not believe in a God who is affected by the evil and suffering in the world b/c I think that it makes the most sense.  I believe in these b/c this is who God seems to be in my life and manifest in my reading, study, and understanding of the Scripture.  

Thanks to Dr. Jaime Clark-Soles (whose own views and beliefs are NOT expressed in this posting) and the entire ESDA Summer 2008 class who travelled this journey with me.  For those still interested in this subject, I would recommend the following books and resources. 

• Nicholas Wolterstorff's amazing book, Lament for a Son
• Walter Wink's exploration of corporate evil in his book, The Powers that Be and his trilogy of books regarding the Powers that predate this publication
• Atom Egoyan's film The Sweet Hereafter, released in 1997 and based on the Russell Banks novel of the same name
• For those assisting others near the end of life, Jennifer Sutton Holder and Jann Aldredge-Clanton's, Parting: a handbook for spiritual care near the end of life is a must-read
  
• Dr. Jaime Clark-Soles academic approach to the topic, written with this class offering in mind, Death and the Afterlife in the New Testament

My Proposal for a Wesleyan Neo-Monastic Emerging Community

As readers have been asking me about what it is exactly that I would like to do within the context of this emerging, postmodern conversation, I have tried to explain briefly.  I have chosen to publish a copy of a proposal I recently sent to friends, local United Methodist churches and District Superintendents.  This serves as a living document, as the conversation develops with particular people the ideas expressed will be challenged and grow out of the conversation.  Please feel free to offer comments/questions/corrections/etc.

“The gospel we preach shapes the kind of churches we create. 

The kind of church we have shapes the gospel we preach.”1 

Introduction 

In an effort to address an entire population of people who “like Jesus but not the church”2, I am submitting a proposal for the establishment of a Wesleyan Neo-Monastic Emerging Community. This community, which will serve as a prototype and model for future faith community development within the United Methodist Church nationwide, will establish itself as a community of missional theologians set upon participating holistically in the missio Dei by adhering to a living discipline or order. I believe that this community, operating under an open and organic structure will become a place for the lost and broken to join together in an effort to seek and find reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ so that we may return to the mission field around us supported by each other and the Holy Spirit to serve others and, in doing so, help bring about the commonwealth of God. 

Terminology 

In order to be clear about exactly what is being proposed, it is necessary to define how the terms Wesleyan, Neo-Monastic, Emerging, Missional, Holistic, and Discipline are utilized in the context of this proposal beginning with the identifier Wesleyan. In plain terms, this identifier refers to the fact that the community will root its theology in a Wesleyan approach to faith that identifies all people as broken and in need of the reconciling love and grace of the community of God (creator/father, redeemer/word/son, and sustainer/holy spirit). It will also acknowledge our journey together as a broken people on a process of transformation towards sanctification involving a holistic approach to seeking out scriptural and social holiness through works of justice, worship, compassion, and devotion. The community will also utilize Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience to process theologically, dialogue constructively, and direct itself creatively. 

The use of the term Holistic refers to the fact that the community will identify that living a life of faith includes all aspects of life; a free and hearty yielding of all things to the pleasure and disposal of God.3 The community will seek to refrain from compartmentalization of one’s life or the life of the community into secular/sacred, private/public or inward/outward. Instead, the community will seek to transform or synthesize the secular into the sacred. 

In terms of Neo-Monastic and Discipline, the community will operate under a living discipline or order that recognizes the twelve marks of neo-monasticism4 (or new monasticism) that emphasize relocation to the abandoned places of Empire, the sharing of all available resources amongst the community, hospitality to the stranger, the active pursuit of justice and reconciliation, creation care, a commitment to peacemaking, geographic proximity amongst community members, and the commitment to a disciplined contemplative life (which includes prayer, worship, service, and observance of sacraments). In this way, the community will be disciplined, supporting one another in practice and holding each other accountable for adhering to the agreed upon rule of life. As a guideline, we will utilize Scripture and resources like United Methodist guidelines for covenant discipleship to establish the community’s rule of life. 

One particular term that has not been used as of yet but is worth mentioning here is Organic. Though the community will be committed to a disciplined contemplative life that follows an agreed upon rule or order, the organic element of the community will allow that the rule may expand or change according to the ebbs and flows that may occur within the life of the community. For example, the rule may not involve the sharing of financial resources as the community begins but could later include this element if the members of the community determine that this would benefit the life of the community as we live out our understanding of Scripture. 

Emerging is a term that receives a lot of use in current culture and society, especially as it refers to the Christian church. In using the term Emerging, I am seeking to communicate that this community will seek to “(1) identify with the life of Jesus, (2) transform the secular realm, (3) live highly communal lives. Because of these three activities, they (4) welcome the stranger, (5) serve with generosity, (6) participate as producers, (7) create as created beings, (8) lead as a body, and (9) take part in spiritual activities"5. 

The use of the identifier Missional acknowledges that the community will operate as a group of theologians who take seriously “the essential nature and vocation of the church as God’s called and sent people”6 seeking to be the church as they understand it in terms of the context in which we find ourselves. As missional theologians, the community will operate out of the understanding, as Darrell Guder writes, that “the interaction between the gospel and all human culture is a dynamic one, and it always lies at the heart of what it means to be the church.”7 In acts of justice, compassion, worship, and devotion the community will live out its missional ecclesiology by shaping and being shaped by the culture of the society around it.8 Instead of blanket marketing approaches to evangelism, the community will grow through one-on-one relationship building, personal invitation, and witness. Evangelism within this context seeks less to target people with an agenda that inspires belief change and more to live out the commonwealth of God in the midst of the world as a community.9 

Another term that has not been used but would be beneficial to define at this point is the term Leadership. According to the definition of Emerging previously shared, an emerging, organic community “leads as a body.”10 In other words, leadership is shared amongst the community in an effort to share accountability for the existence of the community. As the originator of the proposal, I cast the vision for the community and work at helping to make the initial vision for the community a reality. The life of the community, however, will depend on the participation, direction, guidance, and vision-casting of the entire community in order that it remains authentic to itself and to the context which it finds itself in. Though the term “pastor” may initially be attached to one or more members of the community its direction will come from the entire community. A group of Elders that the community identifies will serve in a planning capacity, gathering together with the pastor(s) to dialogue, brainstorm, and ensure that leadership is shared rather than hoarded. The community, however, will have the ultimate say on decisions and direction of the community. As the community grows in numbers and develops, there will be special attention paid to opportunities to birth new communities with new leadership out of the existing community and group of Elders. However, as stated earlier, decisions like this one will ultimately be made by the entire community. 

Proposal 

I am proposing that you join with me to create this Wesleyan Neo-Monastic Emerging Community. I am proposing that you and I, with the assistance of identified partners in ministry cast a vision and provide direction for the creation of this type of community and that we continue to work together to sort out details regarding location, funding source, and oversight of the community. As I stated earlier, we would be we engaged in an endeavor to create a community that will serve as a laboratory and prototype for the creation of future faith communities not just within United Methodism but within the denominational landscape of North America. To be clear, I am not proposing planting a new church or congregation. I am not proposing we follow the traditional step-by-step business model for creating another branch of the United Methodist Church in its current form. Instead, I am proposing we join together by building upon our United Methodist heritage to pioneer an altogether new type of community equipped not just for the present of the church but for its future. I am proposing we join our minds, hearts, and heads together in casting a new vision for making disciples of Jesus Christ who will be about the business of transforming the world. 

I am also proposing that we work together to find creative ways to locate the funding necessary to create and maintain this community through co-operative partnerships with your congregation, the district, the larger conference, the United Methodist Church, outside funding, or creative interior fundraising endeavors. Looking at successful models of emerging communities around the United States and Canada, I believe that we can work together to locate sources of funding that could include one-time or on-going donations, grants, or the production and market of retail goods such as coffee or clothing to allow the community to exist as a self-sustaining endeavor. Initial start up and operating costs do not include the repayment of initial giving to the local congregation or larger United Methodist Church. As a missional endeavor, the initial funding provided must be understood as an offering donated by a community of Christians who are seeking to reach out and minister within the context of a post-Christian culture. As the community grows, it will engage in the spiritual practice of devoting finances to support minimal operating costs of the community and support agreed-upon missional endeavors, which would include endeavors by the local congregations that support the community itself or endeavors of the larger United Methodist Church. 

I believe that this community can exist physically in many different forms. In its initial stages, I am proposing that it gather in homes of leaders and members in order to cut down on operating costs for physical meeting space. As the community grows in numbers, I am proposing that you and I work to creatively locate a meeting space (or spaces) for the community based on its needs.  The community will need the support of local congregations not only in initial funding but also support in terms of prayer and guidance and support for its leaders as they seek to maintain the life of the community. I am proposing that we seek out partnerships together that can provide the aforementioned elements as well as oversight and supervision. I am also asking for your support and guidance to determine exactly what path leaders should follow in the ordination process that would be appropriate for the needs of a community like the one I am proposing. As I am putting the finishing touches on my Masters of Divinity degree, I am prayerfully considering how to follow the path to ordination that would allow me to assist the community in the observance of the sacraments within the context of worship and allow the community to remain connected to the United Methodist Church and its officers while not obligating me to itinerate. Though I have already laid out a good portion of the proposal, I believe that a certain amount of details remain to be filled out. I believe you and I can work together to fill in those details through further dialogue and discussion with other interested parties. 

Conclusion 

As I have fulfilled the call on my life to serve God through ministry in the church of Jesus Christ that I received at a young age, I have sought to do so within the various contexts that I have found myself in throughout the journey that has been my life thus far. In the past ten years, I have found myself connecting with those thinkers, writers, theologians, and common people who have a profound interest in emulating the person and model of Christ but find very little evidence of him present within organized denominations of the institutional Christian church. I have read countless books, attended numerous conferences, formed multiple generative friendships with authors and theologians, and dialogued with them about the multifaceted dimensions of what the church at large faces as it enters into the postmodern, postcolonial era and how we can continue to share the good news of Christ in a relevant way. Christ continues to call me into ministry in new and creative ways as I have cast a vision, articulated, and endeavored to create a community such as this. 

I am truly passionate about few things more than the two fundamental beliefs that are spurring me on to create a community of this nature. First, I believe that Christ calls us to live a holistic life in service to others in order to share His good news with the world. In Mark 12, Jesus is questioned by a scribe about the first commandment, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy and replies that one must love the Lord with all one’s heart, soul, mind and strength (all of one’s being) and then goes on to remind the scribe that that the second commandment calls one to love one’s neighbor as one would love themselves. In Luke 4: 18, Jesus reads the words from the scroll of Isaiah to declare his objective that runs throughout the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles: “…to bring good news to the poor…the recovery of sight to the blind…to let the oppressed go free.” In Matthew 28: 18-20, Jesus delivers what has been called the Great Commission which not only directs the disciples to “Go” in order to make disciples of all nations but also includes the mandate to teach and baptize them. In John 13: 34 & 35 Jesus repeatedly commands the disciples to love one another and assures them that by this love, the world will know that they are his.11 Throughout the Gospels and the book of Acts, we see that Christ calls us to focus on the love of God and the love of neighbor (especially those neighbors on the “outside”) within the context of a life of service. 

Second, I believe that the church must reclaim a missional ecclesiology to address the undeniable shift from modern to postmodern or fail to remain relevant to the world at large. Current research shows that “Christianity has an image problem” based largely upon the view that those inside the church are hypo- and hyper-critical, exclusive, and disinterested with the larger world around them.12 In order to reclaim its relevance to the world, the church must look upon the world with fresh eyes to discover opportunities to live out of its identity as a missional endeavor: identifying, raising up and sending out missionaries to reach, teach, and unleash indigenous peoples to share the good news of Jesus Christ, serve one another, and transform the world. Though I would agree with many who feel that Niebuhr’s classic Christ and Culture is dated, I do agree with Niebuhr that Christ will always transform culture through the work of communities that practice their faith holistically and live their life as missionaries, seeking not to overcome, overtake, or ignore the secular but to seek and find ways to find the sacred within culture.13 

I want to be clear about the fact that, as a lifelong United Methodist, I am proposing this to those within the United Methodist church first. In simple terms: I will be moving forward to fulfill the call of God to serve the church of Jesus Christ through the creation of a community like this one with or without the support of an organized denominational body. I do however believe wholeheartedly that the United Methodist Church is the most well-equipped theologically and missionally to create communities such as this one. United Methodism is also equipped with a rich history of being recognized by the world as a denomination possessing a pioneering spirit continually stepping out in faith to create something altogether new in response to changing cultural and societal factors, a denomination devoted to constantly seeking opportunities to reach people according to their needs in order to make disciples of Jesus Christ and transform the world. I pray that you will accept my proposal and join me in this endeavor to continue to reach people with the love and grace of God through Christ Jesus. 

Suggested Resources 

Websites: General Interest 

The New Monasticism: http://www.newmonasticism.org 

Emergent Village: http://www.emergentvillage.com 

The Ooze: http://www.theooze.com 

The Simple Way: http://www.thesimpleway.org 

Other Communities 

The Eucatastrophe: http://www.theeuc.com 

Journey: http://wwww.journeydallas.org 

Ecclesia: http://www.ecclesiahouston.org 

Potter Street Community: http://www.thesimpleway.org/PSC/index.html 

Jacob’s Well: http://jacobswellchurch.org/ 

The Freeway Coffeehouse and Community: http://www.frwy.ca/ 

Books: 

• Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger, Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures, (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005) 
  
• Darrell L. Guder, ed, Missional Church: A Vision for Sending the Church in North America (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998) 
  
• Tony Jones and Doug Pagitt , ed. An Emergent Manifesto of Hope (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007) 
  
• Tony Jones, The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier (San Francisco: Josey-Bass, 2008) 
  
• Tim Keel Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor, and Chaos (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007) 
  
• Brian McLaren, A New Kind of Christian (San Francisco: Josey-Bass, 2001) 
  
• Doug Pagitt, A Christianity Worth Believing (San Francisco: Josey-Bass, 2008) 
  
• Hugh Halter and Matt Smay The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community (San Francisco: Josey-Bass, 2008) 
  
• Robert Webber, ed. Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007) 
  

1 Scot McKnight, A Community Called Atonement (Nashville: Abingdon, 2007) 5.

2 Dan Kimball, They Like Jesus But Not The Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007)

3 The United Methodist Hymnal Book of United Methodist Worship (Nashville: United Methodist Publishing House, 1989) 607.

4 The School of Conversion, “The 12 Marks of the New Monasticism,” 28 Apr 2008 . 

5 Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger, Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures, (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005) 44-45.

 6 Darrell L. Guder, ed, Missional Church: A Vision for Sending the Church in North America (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998) 11. 

7 Ibid, 14. 

8 Ibid, 14. 

9 Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger, Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures, (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005) 134. 

10Ibid, 45. 

11 All references to Biblical text refer to The Harper Collins Study Bible, New Revised Standard Version (New York: HarperCollins, 1989). 

12 David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, UnChristian: What a New Generation Thinks About Christianity…and Why It Matters (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007) 11. 

13 H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture (New York: HarperCollins, 1951), 116. 

urban hiking & exploration

In my attempt to curb my consumption of fossil fuels and my releasing of greenhouse gasses into the air unnecessarily, I chose to utilize public transportation and my own two feet today to get around.  It was a beautiful day to walk around Dallas (or at least the part I walked around).  A passerby in a car snapped this picture of my on my walk.  I couldn't help but notice that no one was joining me in my choice to walk around town.   What happened to the notion of using a bicycle or our feet to transport us from one place to another? Have we gotten so lazy or impatient as a society that some of us have forgotten the art of huffing it?  I thoroughly enjoyed myself walking up, down, and across Greenville Ave., around Highland Park, and through the beautiful SMU campus.  Therefore, I am reclaiming the art of urban hiking in an effort to start some new, hip trend that will encourage everyone to reclaim their feet and make buying and burning fossil fuels "so last year."  I can see the urban exploration line from North Face already.     

On top of encouraging you to walk and ride your bike more often, I want to encourage you to try out public transportation, especially those of you in the DFW metroplex.  The TRE/DART rail was a nice, relaxing way to get between Dallas and Fort Worth, save some dough (only costs $1.50), and cut down on carbon emissions.  I highly recommend it. 

Still having summer fun.   

Thank You

thanks to all the members of University UMC for assisting me on completi