a memorable conversation

Wow! My wife and I just had one of those rare conversations about life and faith with our daughter. God has blessed us with a remarkably sensitive and spiritually insightful daughter. Faith is developing. She is drawing very close to making the decision to commit her life to Christ. We are prayerful.

Gratitude

been thinking about how richly blessed I am…great wife, great kids, great friends, like our house, neighborhood, love our work/ministry…with all that is wrong in the world…I am truly grateful for how blessed I am…It is good sometime to dwell on what is right, don’t you think? (Does this sound just too sappy? I don’t care. There is enough cynicism. I like gratitude!)

Contemplative Retreat – Day 6

It is Sunday afternoon at abut 4pm.  We have been observing silence since last evening at 7:30pm.  It has been surprisingly nice.  I have not listened to music (even for meditation).  I have had 2 phone calls with the fam.  Candace and the kids were traveling to Okla. to help my mom pack.  Hannah spent Fri/Sat at Winterfest so I had to get the low-down on what all happened.  I walked to a near-by pizzaria and had lunch.  I spoke briefly to the girl at the counter and watched CNN while I ate.  I asked one of the other Shalem associates where the laundry is.  Otherwise, I have been observing silence since last evening.  We will have a prayer service tonight.  I supect we will have some talking during it.  We will break our silence tomorrow morning at about 9am.  Our world could use some more silence.

Contemplation Retreat – Day 5 – cont.

It is about 9:30pm and two hours ago we entered into our 36 hr Silent Sabbath in hopes of giving God the interior space to speak to us deeply without crowding it out with incessant talking.  I just took a walk to the closest grocery store, a round-trip hike of about 2 miles through the charming main street of Emmitsburg, MD.  The main street is a Normal Rockwell painting come to life with houses built right up on the street, street lights, porches and beautifully adorned with just a whisper of snow.  To make it better there were just a few delicate snowflakes falling, visible only in the streetlights.  It was cold but well worth it.

I got a bottle of water, 2 packages of M&M peanuts & the weekend edition of USA Today.  Now, before you wonder if reading the newspaper goes against the spirit of a Silent Sabbath let me say that before, during and after reading the paper I will be in prayer (I have a prayer partner named Kate from Xenia, OH), in meditation on spirituality and sexuality and doing laundry.  Remember, Brother Lawrance said that you could be in the Presence of God doing the dishes or pulling weeds.  Why not reading the paper?  You may be wondering why such an unusual meditation for the weekend.  Quite simply because that is one of the assignments for our time of quite.  The main seminar on Monday will be addressing that topic and this is our way of preparing for it.

I had the distinct pleasure of spending about 15-20 private minutes with Tilden Edwards.  After the afternoon session most everyone went to dinner but since he was not staying for dinner he offered to stay and visit with anyone with a particular questions.  Four of us stayed.  Not that I had a question, I didn’t, but I just wanted to hear his replies to the other questions.  Once everyone’s question was answered they left.  I was about to leave but he engaged me and we had a very encouraging conversation.  Of course he connected me with Randy Harris and Jackie Halstead at ACU who have (or are) completing the same program.  After that though, we talked about how there seems to be a broad shift in American Christianity that is leading many groups toward a more contemplative orientation.  He struck me as a wise and gentle man.  It was a unique blessing.

Contemplative Retreat – Day 5

I will write more later but I just had a revelation.  We are staying in a convent that has had one wing converted into a retreat center.  We are eating in their caffeteria.  I think I understand one of the many ways the nuns are expected to suffer.  They must go without seasoning on their food.  In fact, in some cases they have to go without taste too.  That being said, we have had plenty to eat with soup, salad and one or two entrees at each meal.  The problem comes when it all tastes the same.  As I sat down at the computer I smelled the hot dogs we had for dinner.  And then I smelled them again.  The third time I smelled them I sniffed my hands to see if they smelled of hot dogs.  They didn’t.  The I picked up the cup of decaf I brought to my room and ‘lo and behold’ there is the source of the hot dog smell.  My cup of decaf.  Kind of makes you wonder, if my coffee smells like hot dogs, what does the milk smell like.

Contemplative Retreat – Day 4

There seems to be a philosophical orientation here at Shalem that assumes that infants in their purity are naturally closer to God than adults after all of the acculturation, language acquition and moral categories that develop as one grows older. This has come out in a couple of ways.  First, Bill D.’s explanation of Contemplative suggested that we need to gaze upon God like an infant gazes at an adult when first born; simply, without words, without judgement, just there.  Second, Ginny N. this evening presented a seminar on Journaling through Art.  She had examples of children’s elementary school artwork.  Her explanation was that we need to get in touch with our concept of God  before we developed language and then color or draw whatever that brings up from our earliest awareness of God.

The idea that cultural categories and language inherently corrupt a pure relationship with God seems at odds with the way God appears to reveal himself in Scripture.  Rather than opting for some nebulous, non-specific manifestation of himself, God elected to reveal himself  through human language and in human categories.  Furthermore, he chose to incarnate himself, take on flesh, take on human limitations, categories, descriptions (very specific ones).  It seems that God is all the more glorified because he bridged the gap into the human realm of the knowing rather than remaining transcendant and unknowable.

That being said, it seems obvious to me that sometimes we can become arrogant with our language and use it to attempt to dominate God.  That is, define him and describe him in limiting detail.  As if once we conclude that God is, for example, omnicient we have figured him out and are ready to move on.  How ludicrous!  Because of such a temptation to exhaust volumns describing God, Contemplation is a wonderful practice of letting ourselves reside in him, at peace, in oneness without the need to analyze.  Yet, reverting to our infant-selves is not necessary.

Spiritual Direction Residency

Today is the 3rd day of our retreat. This morning Rose Mary Doughtery guided us through thoughts concerning the intersection between Scripture and Prayer. What a remarkably gentle and thoughtful person, not to mention her subtle sense of humor. It was a quiet morning of listening; first to Rose Mary and then to Matthew 5:8.

After presenting a number of ideas Rose Mary sent us out to practice Lectio Divina with a passage of our choosing. I have been living with Mt 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God” for about a month, since my backpacking trip in Dec. At first it was hard to quite my spirit and my mind. I was receiving the spiritual practice as another task to occupy me. After a few minutes of my mind and heart wandering around this Beatitude came to me as a chant. I began silently chanting this in my heart, over and over. I found that it settled my frazzled-ness and helped me focus, like a centering prayer. Like watching the wind gently move a flower over and over, I felt like this chant was gently taking me back to the same place over and over and yet it was not boring or didn’t feel repetitive. After some time it occured to me that Jesus’ words sounded like they were for someone else and I needed to hear him speaking them to me. As soon as that thought occured to me, I realized how that would come out and I hesitated. I was not sure I wanted to allow myself to utter such words, “Blessed am I, pure of heart for I will see God.” But, I didn’t know what else to do so I slowly allowed my heart to form those words. Soon they became a chant. The more I chanted them, the more right they sounded.

Is that how Jesus feels about me? Does he see me as pure in heart? Am I the one who cannot see it? My fear is that these questions would reveal an arrogance in my, yet I don’t feel as if they are spoken in arrogance.

Lord Jesus, give me peace about how you see me. By your sacrifice may I, in fact, BE pure in heart.

Gustav & the Kingdom of God

September 1, 2008

As I write this I am thinking about what I was doing three years ago today.  Like memories forged in life’s crucibles, I remember with detailed clarity scurrying around Birmingham, AL gathering supplies from dear Christian friends who like me had been mesmerized by images of a flooded and devastated New Orleans.   I remember the challenge of packing my pick up with all the food, water, fuel, chain saws, medical supplies, etc. that I could fit.  I remember the disorientation of not knowing where friends had gone or if our homes survived.  As I write this I am listening to CNN reports that are eerily similar to reports I remember from 2005.  And we are praying.  We are praying for our dear friends whose lives and homes are again threatened by a horrendous storm.  We are praying for a city and region that again is emptying out in a frantic attempt to outrun destruction.

When Jesus urged his disciples to pray, he said, “Pray like this, ‘Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed is your name.  Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’”  What does the coming of the Kingdom look like in the face of vast ruin?  If the coming of the Kingdom is “where God’s will is done like it is in heaven,” how is God’s will done when thousands of square miles have been laid waste and thousands of lives have been threatened?

As I reflect on the events before, during and after Katrina in light of the Kingdom of God, I can say without qualification that the tragedy that was Katrina could only be matched and was matched by the glorious outpouring of Christians from every village, burg, town and city of the US and many, many other countries.  Through them, I was privileged to witness the “mystery of Christ” (Eph 3), the “sharing together” of so many believers from so many different persuasions, locations, cultures and races in “the promises of Christ.”  Never had I seen the Kingdom of God surge like in the aftermath of Katrina.

The Kingdom of God is not about death.  It is not about destruction.  These are foreign to the citizens of heaven.  There is no terror or loss in heaven, where God’s will is done.  Katrina, Gustav, wildfires, tornados, floods and blizzards are not of the Kingdom.  They, like so many of our human experiences, are products of a broken and ruined world destined for destruction.  They have no place in the Kingdom, no place in heaven and they demand a clear and compassionate response by all those who embody the Kingdom.

The planting of new churches is of far greater magnitude than developing a more trendy worship service.  It is far more critical than questions of church governance.  The planting of new churches is of such great consequence because the church is, in the words of Georges Florovsky (1957), “an outpost of heaven.”  Every church, big or small, is a village of the heavenly Kingdom.  And every community where these outposts find themselves is destine for destruction, either from a hurricane,  tornado, wildfire, flood, crime, injustice, addiction, economic oppression or countless other forces spoiling God’s creation.  The planting of new churches is of such great importance because every community in every country needs God’s will to be done in her homes and in her streets and in the lives of her citizens like it is done in heaven.  And until the final consummation of the ages that task belongs to the church!

 

OW

Facebook Birthday

My birthday was three days ago.  43.  It wasn’t a remarkable day, but it was nice to be with my family.  Even my mom was visiting.  I grilled out & we watched the Olympics.  The only thing noteable about my birthday was the number of birthday wishes I got through Facebook.  I must have gotten 20 messages from friends remembering my birhtday (I am sure that it’s thanks to Facebook’s reminder function).  It was such a simple blessing to briefly connect with such a cross section of friends.

I know at 43 I am getting to that age where technology is suppose to really amaze me.  But, the way Facebook connects me with dear friends, some from many years ago, is truly amazing. 

I have been blessed.  Thanks.

OW

“…by any other name…”

In the tender tale of doomed lovers, Shakespeare tells the story of Romeo Montegue & Juliet Caplet, children of two warring families in Renaissance Verona.  At the opening of act II, scene ii, Juliet declares that names are artificial tools to identify people and that it is not the name or the family “Montegue” that she loves but the person of Romeo.  It is in this context that she speaks the familiar words,

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

In her adolescent way, Juliet surfaces the complext and deeply personal issue of identity.  Her statement seems to ask, “Is the totality of Romeo summed up in the name Montegue or are there more substantial and meaningful qualities that identify him?”

Romeo’s response is equally impassioned and profound when he declares that he would “deny his father and refuse his name” and “be newly baptized” as Juliet’s lover.  We may argue the adolescent immaturity of his rejection of his family, yet we cannot deny that Romeo has chosen what is better, to embrace love over name, future over past and children over parents.

 So, what IS in a name?  Is Juliet naive?  Is she simple?  Is it juvenile to believe that love (or any of many other values) is more important than a name?  Shakespeare understood the dilemma.  By virture of writing the story he is recognizing the injustice of disowning ones’ child because of a name.  Yet, the two lovers die in the end.  Is Shakespeare morbid?  Is he a cynic?  Perhaps he is redeeming what could have been little more than a sappy Hallmark Channel love story by letting the lovers suffer the realities of embracing love over name.

Not only could a name seperate child from parents in Renaissance Verona, names can seperate one disciple of Christ from another.  Was Juliet less of a daughter to her Capulet parents if she married Romeo and became a Montegue?  Is a Christian less of a brother or sister in Christ if the body with which that Christian worships does not identify itself by the title, “Church of Christ”?  What IS in a name?

Is the substance of what binds us together nothing more than a name?  If the answer is, in fact, “Yes”, then we can justify the abuse the lovers took from their families. 

Yet, a name seems far too transient to warrent the death of Christ.  In the apostle Pauls discourse in Ephesians 2:11-22 this idea of exlusion based on a name takes on a very real dimension,

“Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.”

 Rather than Montegue or Capulet, Church of Christ or {something else}, the tension in ancient Ephesus was between the names, “circumcised” and “uncircumcised.”  Paul identifies the tendency to embrace relationships with one’s in-group (as defined by a deeply-held religious practice and a corresponding name) and to reject relationships with one’s out-groups.  Yet, in Christ “the dividing wall of hostility” has been eliminated.  In Ephesians 2:14-22, Paul describes in multiple ways how those categories no longer work.  Rejecting someone based on a name (uncircumcised, Montegue or something other than “Church of Christ”) demonstrates a thorough lack of understanding of what Christ did “through the cross” (2:16).  No longer was it fitting for “the circumcised” to reject “the uncircumcised”.  No longer was it fitting for the “Jew”ish Christian to reject the “Gentile” Christian.

So, again, what IS in a name?  Looking down from the cross, Christ would say, “Nothing!  The substance of what I died for cannot be encapsulated in a name, however good that name is!  And, a name must never be used to un-do what I did on the cross!”

OW