conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

animal and buddy rich

Animal is my favorite muppet. Buddy Rich may be the best drummer to have ever walked the planet. And as much as we are all in awe of his talent, he did not eat the drums. Animal has him there. 'Nuff said.

bernadette peters?!

The Muppet Show!

No. Really.

It was inspired by Megan, but it is posted to celebrate Cliff's finding a new place to live.

I just wish Kermit said "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!" a little longer.

chicken/egg/chicken

David Weinberger is at it again. He is posting about markets as conversations. Cluetrain Manifesto is a book he co-authored that speaks to that notion. I read it a few years ago and enjoyed it very much.

Q: It's not clear to me if you mean "conversation" as a way of regulating markets or as a characterization of markets. And your notion of protecting the market from politics marks you as of a particular generation of social thinkers. I think we need to protect politics from the market.
A: I don't mean conversations as the talk around the market that regulates it. And politics and markets are interconnected.

Do go to his blog and follow his links. If you are interested in how churches could understand marketing, this is the conversation for you! Weinberger posts a link to a pdf that may be worth reading.

What I find encouraging about this line of thinking are the theological connections I can make. I am provided with a language that is helpful to me as I pastor churches navigating what it means to market a church. Marketing can be many things. One thing that it sometimes defaults to is deceptive coersion. "Eat this to be skinny." "Drive this to be sexy." Now, don't go thinking this does not work. Marketing companies and anyone selling anything knows that such absurd techniques actually work very well. But are these the kinds of things that a church should say? Of course not. One should not employ what is essentially decpetion to evangelize.

So, how do we understand marketing then in the paradigm of the congregation. "In the beginning was the Word." We have a conversation. We can invite people into conversations about us, about God, and perhaps most importantly in the end...about them. This is an inexact course of action/marketing, but it is an honest one and, I think, in the end, may be the most reliable if growth is supposed to be deep as well as broad. Discipleship is a conversation with the Living Word within the community who is the Body of that same Word.

Other words we may want to evaluate? Dictation is one. But this in my mind is not Christianity. The Gospels were not dictated from on high. They are stories, narratives that are communicated to us in an inexact form to convey a truth that is in many ways too large for words. What other words/ideas will be problematic in this?

Is it even possible to market something like a Living Word? Is this a contradiction in the theory? Well, no, not unless we think of markets and marketing as conversations. Conversations can be comparatively boundariless as opposed to soundbites or slogans. Models of hierarchy will matter here. Is it possible that a tradition like the Orthodox (Cliff?) will not be able to embrace these marketing theories as easily as some free-church congregationalist hierarchy?

What do you all think?

I will be in and out this morning. I'll be able to "okay" the comments if there are any after lunch.

technorati linkage: cluetrain, victor perez-diaz, marketing, evangelism

Dr D Vinci and Friend

AKMA is getting quite the reputation as the Da Vinci Code interlocutor. It seems some people at SWTS made this mock-up of a movie poster.

AKMA will bring his star power to North Shore Baptist Church next Wednesday evening to discuss the book, the historical and theological issues that have captivated so many, and why his image is now posted all over the internet.

Grace and Peace to you, AKMA. May you bear such fame with grace!

I can see a lot from this window.

Right now I am watching the neighbors' young daughter draw on their newly painted walls. They have recently fixed the front room of their house, leveling out windows and the like. The older houses in the neighborhood have some interesting quirks. They also tore down the wall between the front sunroom and the living room to create one large space. It is lovely. Nice new paint...new windows and siding...and now a new black line drawn from one end of the room to another.

She is an adorable little girl. I hope her parents remember this when they discover the recent "artistic expression."

I can see a lot from this window.

to do
get a haircut
pack
meet with Sean to practice for tomorrow's gig
pack
eat at least twice
pack

Trish and I got a lot of packing done yesterday, but there is much more to do. Oy. Vey.

I begin my tenure at Wilmette on Thursday.
The jitters are setting in.
Excitement and nerves...just what the Holy Spirit ordered.

feast of the ascension of our lord, observed

Follow the extended link to my sermon for this evening at Reconciler.

Sermon: Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord
Church of Jesus Christ, Reconciler
May 28, 2006

Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 47
Ephesians 1:15-23
Luke 24:44-53

Monday is Memorial Day and, per our usual for the past few years, Trish and I have been house-sitting this weekend for some friends of ours. They have a dog and go out of town over the holiday weekend. The dog, Texas, needs walking and company. So, Trish and I hang out at our friends’ place, walk the dog, eat their food, enjoy the comfort of their home and most importantly, watch cable television. We watch lots of television. Trish and I never bothered to get cable. Thus it is a treat for me. Spending time surfing through 70+ channels always gives me pleasure.

One of the things that always surprises me, however, when we stay over Memorial Day weekend is the number of films on cable TV about war. I skipped over everything from The Red Badge of Courage to Bridge over the River Kwai. Some channels commit their weekend programming to films about the wars our country has experienced. Some are critical. Some are romantic. Some are patriotic. Some are a combination of all three and more. In any case, the networks strive to remember our war dead. This is a weekend for memory.

One film in particular caught my attention Ike: Countdown to D-Day. It was about General Eisenhower and the days leading up to the invasion of Normandy…D-Day. It stars Tom Selleck and depicts the personal struggles that Ike experienced in those days. It is based off of letters he wrote and other wartime journals. It is not a very good film and I am no fan of war, but I could not help myself but to be moved.

I know some of you have seen this pith helmet before. This is my great-uncle’s pith helmet. He trained men for the Pacific theater in WWII. He was the oldest of three brothers. My grandfather was the middle son. He, too, fought in WWII with the Third Infantry Division. The youngest of the three actually participated in the invasion at Normandy.

The constant barrage of films on the television reminds me of these three men. The three have since passed on. But I remember them. Every year we are told that such memory is a virtue. Each year we extol the great deeds and the larger-than-life personalities of Generals and heroes. Each year we make a ritual of memory. We acknowledge the contributions of those who have gone before us. Well, this is at least the purpose of the holiday…even if many of us take trips to the beach. In any case, we honor a memory. We memorialize.

Many suggest that there is no greater honor than to remember someone. Immortality, it is said, can be achieved through the memory of others. This was the desire of many in the ancient world. If your deeds are great, you will be remembered. Thus, you will not die. Mortality (Immortality?) and memory are linked for many of us.

So today we are presented with Luke’s Gospel. In both the Gospel proper and in Acts, Luke shares with us his recollections of Christ. He speaks of proofs and interpretation. He speaks of prophetic words brought to fruition. He shares one memory in particular. He reminds us of the Ascension of Christ.

Acts 1:9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

Luke 24:51 While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.

This is our observation of the Feast Day of the Ascension of Our Lord. This is the day in the church year where we remember the fulfillment of scripture, the call to mission and Christ’s ascension into heaven to be with God. This is no small feast. This is no small celebration. But it is often a forgotten one. Most of the churches I have been affiliated with simply gloss over it. There are reasons for this. Technically, the feast is…

“…the fortieth day after Easter Sunday…In the Eastern Church this feast was known as analepsis, the taking up, and also as the episozomene, the salvation, denoting that by ascending into His glory Christ completed the work of our redemption. The terms used in the West, ascensio and, occasionally, ascensa, signify that Christ was raised up by His own powers. Tradition designates Mount Olivet near Bethany as the place where Christ left the earth. The feast falls on Thursday. It is one of the Ecumenical feasts ranking with the feasts of the Passion, of Easter and of Pentecost among the most solemn in the calendar…St. Augustine says that it is of Apostolic origin, and he speaks of it in a way that shows it was the universal observance of the Church long before his time. Frequent mention of it is made in the writings of [Church Fathers]… Certain customs were connected with the liturgy of this feast, such as the blessing of beans and grapes after the Commemoration of the Dead in the Canon of the Mass, the blessing of first fruits, [and others]…In the liturgies generally the day is meant to celebrate the completion of the work of our salvation, the pledge of our glorification with Christ, and His entry into heaven with our human nature glorified .”+

Since it is on a Thursday, many believers cannot honor the feast. We are at work. It’s really very simple. And though it is a step away from honoring the specific Western church calendar, we here at Reconciler thought we would move it to Sunday. The completion of our salvation, as the good people at New Advent state, is something worth remembering.

I know that I may be beating a drum a bit here, but this is one more Feast Day that I wish us Baptists paid attention to. I know that not everyone here is a Baptist, but I hope the rest of you will be patient with me.
It is not that we don’t talk about the Ascension of Christ. It is not that we don’t know it is there, but somehow the salvific nature of Christ’s ascending to be with God has been lost for me. Maybe I am the only one and I need to go back to Bible school. Perhaps. But I am somehow always caught by surprise by these verses. When I think of Jesus and the post-resurrection stories, I forget that Jesus ascends to heaven…not that he has ascended, but that he ascends. I know he is there. I just forget that he had to get there. It is only an event from the past for me…and not a memorable one at that.

I have read Calvin and all of the Reformation arguments about how Jesus cannot be in the bread and wine of communion because he is too busy sitting at the right hand of God. After all, how can Jesus be in two places at once? The theological arguments aside, I always forget how Jesus gets to God’s side in the first place. I only know that he is there.

Now I wonder if that memory lapse is important.
Now I wonder if I have forgotten something that I should not have.
What difference does it make that he ascends?

Maybe none. Maybe he could have taken a cab and it would have been just as effective. However he gets to God’s side is fine as long as he gets to God’s side. Right?

But no. Luke reminds us…proofs. It is about fulfillment of prophesy and scripture. It is all of a piece. This brief passage from Luke is of a single piece. By ascending, once again Jesus fulfills prophesy.

Luke’s Gospel begins and ends with the Temple. Prophesy, prayer and praise go hand in hand in hand. We begin the Gospel with Zachariah in the Temple proclaiming the birth of a Messiah. We end with the followers of Christ “continually in the Temple blessing God. ” Between these two events there is interpretation and healing. The needs of the poorest are met. People are fed. Scripture is fulfilled. Jesus reminds his disciples of this just before he ascends (there is that memory thing again). Let’s look at Luke again.

“Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day… ”

These things are from memory. These events are from of old. This is not new. This is not news. This is the very thing that has been proclaimed. It has always been thus…

But Jesus does not stop there.

“…and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ”

These things are a whole. The fulfillment of scripture in Jesus and the proclamation of the Gospel to all nations, throughout the world are of a single, inseparable piece. But why? What makes for the connection?

Memory.

“You are witnesses to these things.”

We are witnesses to what has always been remembered.
Jesus asks the disciples to remember.
He asks us to remember.

We are witnesses to what has come to pass in our midst. What Luke wants us to know is that this is more than mere memory.

The reason why I am troubled by my forgetfulness, my inability to recall how Jesus got to heaven in the first place, is that I am missing the very thing that is happening before my very eyes. This event is ongoing, eternal. The Ascension is now. The Ascension is always. The fulfillment of scripture is happening before me every moment of every day.

Memory is not always simple recollection for the Christian. We do not get a photo album of Jesus and his good works. We get prophesy fulfilled. We have before us open doors into heaven itself. The true prophesy is a window into the will of God. A prophesy fulfilled is the very presence of God with us.

And it is this that I fear I forget when I forget that Jesus ascends.

I forget the blessing that is the Ascension. I forget the blessing that is the fulfillment of prophesy. I forget the blessing of Jesus himself as he extends his hands to his beloved. I forget God extending God’s own hands to me.

Maybe I lump too much together. But then there are Paul’s words to the church in Ephesus.

“God put his power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places…”

And it is this power that is revealed in the church in Ephesus. Why? Because for some reason, whether it is publicity or earned reputation, the Ephesians apparently get it. They know that they are the Body of Christ who sits…

“…far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but in the age to come.”

It is not that the Church can ignore the law of the land, but that the Church understands that its very nature extends beyond all boundaries. Salvation exists for all. This is the promise and proclamation of God. This is Jesus’ charge to us…the last thing he says to us in Luke’s Gospel.

You are witnesses to these things.
We are witnesses to the things that extend beyond what we simply recollect.
We are witnesses to the things that are beyond mere memory.
What we remember is the God Who Is…the salvation that is present and active…generously holding out his hands to us granting us his blessing.

This is what we witness every day…this memory being fulfilled before our very eyes.

go see it.

Follow the extended link to the X-men III trailer.

mutant dorks?

Some of us are off to see the new X-men movie this evening. Justin was inspired.

I know you want to read the e-mail thread. Go ahead.

and then he sang...

Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? You shall have a song, a song, and gladness of heart! Randall Thompson's Peacable Kingdom

I am singing on Sunday. This is nothing new, as many of you know. The difference is that it will be my final Sunday as a member of North Shore Baptist Church. I have been singing there for a good long while now. They saw me through all kinds of messes. They saw me through seminary. They watch Trish and I date and then marry. They ordained me. Now they will send me on. I imagine that there will be simply a nod during the service. There may be cake or something afterward. It is Memorial Day weekend, so many people will be out of town. I almost prefer the idea of a quiet good-bye. The Music Director is actually out of town this weekend. So, we said our good-bye last night with a hearty "We'll bring the kids up to play in your yard this summer!" So, this is not good-bye. No, instead it is an opportunity to discover what the relationship will look like next. Maybe in a year Wilmette and North Shore will play together somehow. Can we set up a congregational playdate?

Anyway, I started my time there as the bass soloist. I will end my time there as the bass soloist. Sunday morning I will sing the Introit.

Come thou fount of every blessing,
Tune my hear to sing thy praise.
Dreams of mercy never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.

I will arise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in his arms.
In the arms of my dear Saviour
Oh, there are ten thousand charms.

Here I raise my songs and praises,
Hither by thy help I've come,
And I hope in thy good measure
Safely to arrive at home.

I will arise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in his arms.
In the arms of my dear Saviour
Oh, there are ten thousand charms.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wand'ring from the fields of God.
He did rescue me from danger,
Interposed his precious blood.

I will arise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in his arms.
In the arms of my dear Saviour
Oh, there are ten thousand charms.
Oh, there are ten thousand charms.
Oh, there are ten thousand charms.

It is a shapenote/traditional quodlibet of sorts. I am looking forward to trying to make my way through this a cappella beauty.

I praise God for North Shore.
I praise God for time well spent.
I praise God for what fruit he will harvest in the future.

Peace and all good things to you all today.

covet

blown to bits

Previously I posted a video about a possible crisis in regards to our internet access. The prevailing question is whether or not an internet provider (RCN, Ma Bell etc) can control to whom/what you have access. Will RCN keep you from accessing Amazon.com? Will Ma Bell rather you use Yahoo to do your searching, so make access to Google slow? This is what people are worried about.

Some of the critique is predictable. "Oh no! Monopoly alert! Free the web!" And on the other hand: "Competition will work this out. We need not fear such a trend. It won't happen." Not that I am an economist, but I think that both of these perspectives are blinded somehow. They are too far to either economic extreme.

First, let me say that I think we all should have equal access to the web. I should get to surf wherever I find my way. Setting up some artificial geography based on who pays whom for access bothers me. It happens enough already on the web. Let it be.

Second, corporations trying to fence in e-space are being competitive. That is what corporations do. Blown to Bits is an interesting book written by some big wigs at the Boston Consulting Group a few years ago. In short it is a book about how business strategy was/is changing. The suggested that it is possible that the day of the corporation limiting choices within a market ay actually be over. Well, not surprisingly, the corporations are fighting back in the ways that they know how. They are buying up the internet. They are limiting access like they do on grocery shelves, and broadcasting areas. This is an old strategy.

Though not surprising, it is disappointing. One of the things that the authors of Blown to Bits suggest is that the internet and the way the technology was originally employed indicates that the public at large is tired of having limited access and corporate control over what they can purchase. Having access to all providers takes us back to some halcyon day of yore where the department store (Sears Catalogue) was about getting access to everything. But somewhere along the way, branding and corporate interest began to have greated power in what we as comsumers have access to. The internet destroyed that reality for those with access to the internet.

The current attempts of corporations is simply the attempt to get control within the new technology. That's all. Sad? Yes. Surprising? No.

There will not be a monopoly. It won't happen. The net is too fluid. It is too easily subversive. Competition is healthy, however, and we need to allow for it. But it is sad to see this kind of competing for e-space and e-resources. Perhaps a healthier e-economy would be one with limitless access...allow the consumer decide the geography. Don't put in the sidewalks until you see where the pedestrians are headed.

bede is venerable

The Venerable Bede
-------------------------------------------------------------
Feastday can be 25 May also.
Born in Northumbria, England, 673;
died at Jarrow, England, on May 25, 735.

In the days when Northumbria was a great scholastic centre with famous
schools at Jarrow and York, Bede was the most distinguished of its
scholars. Beginning at age seven (or three?), he was educated at the
newly-founded monastery at Wearmouth-Jarrow under Abbots Benedict Biscop
(f.d. January 12) and Ceolfrid (f.d. September 25). In 703, he was
received as a monk by Saint Benedict Biscop and ordained a priest at age
30 by Saint John of Beverley (f.d. May 7). Except for a few brief
visits elsewhere, Bede spent the rest of his life in Jarrow; never going
further afield than Lindisfarne and York.

"I have spent my whole life," he says, "in the same monastery, and while
attentive to the rule of my order and the service of the Church, my
constant pleasure lay in learning or teaching or writing." He numbered
600 monks among his pupils and became the Father of English learning. "I
have devoted my energies to the study of Scriptures, observing monastic
discipline, and singing the daily services in church."

Bede was a prodigious worker, the author of 45 volumes, including
commentaries, text-books, and translations. His range was
encyclopaedic, embracing the whole field of contemporary knowledge. He
wrote grammatical and chronological works, hymns and other verse,
letters, and homilies, and compiled the first martyrology with
historical notes. These are in Latin, but Bede was also the first known
writer of English prose (since lost). Bede's Biblical writings were
extensive and important in their time, but it is as an historian that he
is famous. The Latin of the hymns 'The hymn for conquering martyrs
raise' and 'Sing we triumphant hymns of praise' was written by Bede.

His supreme achievement, completed in 731, was his "History of the
English Church and People," in the laborious preparation of which he
searched the archives of Rome (? most sources say he never left
England), collecting and collating documents, and set forth in detail
the first authoritative history of Christian origins in Britain. To
this he added Lives of five early abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow. Nor
until his last illness had he any assistance: "I am my own secretary; I
dictate, I compose, I copy all myself."

Many stories have gathered round his name. This one is probably mythic:
On a visit to Rome with other scholars, he found them puzzled by an
inscription of cryptic letters upon an iron gate. A passing Roman
citizen, seeing their confusion, sneered at Bede and rudely called him
an English ox, when, to his surprise, Bede at once read out the meaning.
>From that time, because of the range of his wisdom and the keenness of
his intellect, he was given the title of venerable.

But the best-known story is related by his contemporary Saint Cuthbert
(f.d. March 20) of how when illness and weakness came upon him at the
end of his life, his translation of Saint John's Gospel into the English
tongue was still unfinished. Despite sleepless nights and days of
weariness, he continued his task, and though he made what speed he
could, he took every care in comparing the text and preserving its
accuracy. "I don't want my boys," he said, "to read a lie or to work to
no purpose after I am gone." His friends begged him to rest, but he
insisted on working. "We never read without weeping," remarked one of
them.

When it came to the last day, he called his scribe to him and told him
to write with all possible speed. "There is still a chapter wanting,"
said the boy, as the day wore on; "had you not better rest for a while?"
But Bede persisted with his task. "Be quick with your writing," he
answered, "for I shall not hold out much longer."

When night fell, the boy said: "There is yet one sentence not written."
"Write quickly," Bede replied; and when it was done, he said: "All is
finished now," then after sending for his fellow monks and distributing
to them his few belongings, in a broken voice he sang the Gloria and
passed to his reward on Ascension Eve.

Of all the writers in Western Europe from the time of Saint Gregory the
Great (f.d. September 3) until Anselm, Saint Bede was perhaps the best
known and most influential, especially in England. He was a careful
scholar and distinguished stylist. His works "De Temporibus" and "De
Temporum Ratione" established the idea of dating events "anno domini"
(A.D.).

Already in 853 a church council in Aachen referred to him as 'the
venerable,' i.e., worthy of honour. Saint Boniface (f.d. June 5) called
Bede 'a light of the church, lit by the Holy Spirit.' To Alcuin,
himself the 'schoolmaster of his age,' he was 'blessed Bede, our
master.' (Alcuin claimed Bede's relics worked miraculous cures.) Bede
is the only Englishman whom Dante names in the "Paradiso." The centre
of Bede's cultus is Durham, where his shrine is located, and York
(Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Duckett, Gill, Hamilton Thompson,
White).

Saint Bede is depicted in art as an old monk writing with a quill and
rule. He might also be shown (1) studying a book, (2) holding up a
pitcher with light from heaven falling on him, or (3) supported by monks
as he is dying (Roeder). He is the patron saint of scholars and
historians (White).

Service to Our Venerable Father Bede of Jarrow

Bede's World: Museum of Early Medieval Northumbria at Jarrow


Saint Bede the Venerable Home Page

Medieval Sourcebook:
Bede: The Lives of The Holy Abbots
of Wearmouth and Jarrow, Benedict, Ceolfrid, Easterwine,
Sigfrid, and Huetberht

Medieval Sourcebook:
Bede: The Life and Miracles of St. Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindesfarne (721)

Writings are also located on this web site:
http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/reading/St.Pachomius/globalindex.html
http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/reading/St.Pachomius/Xbede-vener.html

net neutrality

This is worth watching...

If half of what these people say is true, then we have a problem on our hands. The "monopolists" will try to control the internet. Just as you can buy the open air above a building in Chicago, you can buy access to the web. This is not a stretch to imagine. But should our access be controlled in such a way as these people fear it will be?

What do you think?

institutional or corporate worship?

I have been packing up books in preparation for the move to Wilmette. One of the books I uncovered, and one I have been looking for lately, is Torture and Eucharist by William T. Cavanaugh. I purchased it for a class in seminary. I think it has influenced me more than any other I read in school. It is a book that explores the role of the Catholic Church in supporting and then opposing the Pinochet regime in Chile. It explores this history through the lense of eucharistic theology...a sacramental viewpoint and rearticulation of what it means to be the physical Body of Christ in the world.

Anyway, as you may have noticed, I have been thinking a lot about the nature and purpose of church again. With Reconciler this kind of thinking is pretty standard fare. But I am retooling how I think in regards to Wilmette. There are distinct differences that bear my mindfulness. One is a new start. The other is an existing community and culture. One is intentionaly ecumenical, attempting affiliation with multiple denominations. The other is ecumenical as well, but in a more "haphazard" way. There are socio-economic differences. The median age is different. There are also certainly commonalities. But I am aware of the diffeences and how I am already compelled to think somewhay differently about them. So I am re-engaging familiar questions.

Here is a passage from the book.

The church is the continuation of the presense of Christ in the world, but the church is most properly the church when it exists as a gift and sustenance for others...Many contemporary Christians have shied away from the image of the church as the Body of Christ, for naming the church as Christ's very body rings of the triumphalism of past eras. If the argument of this book is correct, however, the unfaithfulness of the church in the present age is based on some extent precisely on its failure to take itself serously as the continuation of Christ's body in the world and to conform itself, body and soul, not to the world but to Christ (Rom. 12:2).

One way to engage this struggle is through worship. How we understand the purpose of our gathering may actually be central to the life of the congregation. This is not to say that the worship life of a congregation is the only valid way for a church to be church. No. The point of the book is that we cannot fall into some complacent spiritualizing of the mission of the church in the world. This was what happened in Chile accoring to Cavanaugh. The church understood its role as spiritual. The government was to be the worldly power. This bifurcation was mistaken.

The centrality of worship in the life of the congregation is shared with the centrality of godly work and action in the world. The two aspects of being Church are actually forms of a singular "being Christian." One is inseparable from the other. It is not that one inspires the other. It is not that one informs the other though this does happen. It is that as Christ's body, we worship, feed the poor, heal the afflicted, and proclaim truth to power. They are all expressions of being Christ in the world.

So, when we discuss what we change or keep in our worship services, this truth must be in the forefront of our thinking. What is relevant becomes important only when it is in the context of being Christ. This is a tightrope of sorts. Throughout the centuries worship forms have morphed and changed with the cultures that employ them. And, as one would expect, the issue of what is expressed and discovered in worhip has been a hot topic for 2,000 years. We are engaging nothing new in this conversation. We are re-encountering the same issue...but in a new time. What does the physical body look like now when it gathers for worship? What does it do as it manifests itself in the life of the world?

Here are two blogs exploring what it means to worship. They discuss form and function. Give 'em a read.

Ink Smudges
Shield the Joyous

Feel free to post your comments here. I will be in and out today, so there will be a little lag in approving the comments to appear on the blog. For that I am sorry. Some day I will upgrade MT and see if that helps.

spiritual but not religious

I am trying to articulate a connection between a couple of different posts/articles I stumbled upon this morning. There is a thread of connection that I cannot quite grasp, but it has something to do with prevailing religious attitudes in our culture(s). Now, I am probably speaking in sweeping generalizations and from a place of ignorance, but this is the freedom of blogging. This is my forum to test ideas and to make an idiot of myself. So, be ye warned.

Dave Weinberger points to a post by Rageboy about racism and New Age spirituality. Rageboy can be a bit salty, so you may want to wait to read the whole post until you are away from your work computer. But this is the point from the post that interested me most.

In part, the spiritual-but-not-religious dogma-less dogma of the New Age has sought to end-run complicity in the modern horror show -- little realizing that disorganized religion is no guarantee of absolution. And then come the disclaimers. "Why, some of my best friends are African Americans. Some of my best friends are Jews!" Uh-huh.

But racism isn't about Jews or blacks or browns or pinko Reds. It's about the Other. The dark and dangerous unknown. Terra incognita.

There is, according to RB, an underlying cultural assumption that we can will ouselves away from the sins (my word) of our history. If RB (and Geoff) is talking about how we engage "otherness," any one of us can list any number of sins and cultural blind spots. If we believe that we are not racist, if we believe that we can remove ourselves from an institution and create something clean and, dare we say, utopian, then we will heal ourselves, our souls and our nation. This is a wonderful desire, the desire to heal. This is a tightrope, however, and is also where all that Calvin rears its ugly head in my thinking. This is exactly why Calvin tries his mightiest to rid Christian theology of free-will...because it leads to these extremes. We cannot will ourselves out of our own sins. We cannot will our mistakes away. Only God can redeem such matter as our foibles and sinfulness.

Of course, there are mediating theologies, and Calvin's doctrine is not so lopsided to suggest that all we can do is wallow in our nastiness and wonder if God will redeem it. No. We can "act as if." We can imagine the Kingdom, if you will, and find ourselves in it. The desert mystics would say "If you will, you can be as very flame." There is a way we participate in our salvation...individually and communally. But Rageboy and Calvin may be on to something about us that needs careful attention. We have to make sure that our cultural/historical compass is working before we go willing a whole heck of a lot. We need to be more honest about who and what we are.

And this is where the thread connects somehow. Help me out here, gang. Flesh out the connection. We all have our own assumptions. Da Vinci demonstrates our existing ideas about faith and institutional religion. Brown is not introducing a new idea, but is instead playing with existsing ideas and attitudes. Get Religion wonders who Dan Brown thinks Jesus is. I am not trying to make Dan Brown my whipping boy. I have nothing against him and I actually enjoyed the book. It is a fun yarn. But he has become a kind of cultural barometer for us...well, for some of us. Sorry, rambling...I wonder more and more if we have not forgotten who we are as a culture. I wonder more and more if we really understand our own history. I wonder if we know our own cultural genesis. Perhaps it is impossible to know this kind of thing about ourselves. It is simply too close. It is simply easier to rush around in the midst of our desires, our acting as if, and make our decisions there. But doing so is risky business.

If we wish to not recreate the mistakes of the past, if we wish to not recreate the institutions that hurt us, we may actually have no choice but to realize that we are inexorably entangled in that history. History is more than a list of facts...dates and statistics. It is the recollection of relationships and decisions made by real people who were as entangled as we find ourselves. We are in relationship with one another in the present, past and the future...with people we will never meet. To try to remove ourselves from those relationships is impossible. To get back into Calvin, it is not possible to remove ourselves from the sins of others much less oursleves...no matter how much we may want to.

Though Rageboy may not follow me down this road, I would say that only God will be able to do this work. The best we can do is to try to live Godly lives...discerning the Spirit as best as we are able knowing that the Kingdom is not fully present...not fully revealed in this world. The sin has not gone away.

I am not trying to enter into some Christian Cynicism here. I am simply trying to wrestle with what it means to be wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove without tipping too many windmills.

That's all.

*BTW - Thomas is talking about something similar and calls it tradition. He's a poet and begins his thinking with some ideas around poetry. It is worth the read.

technorati linkage: Dan Brown, New Age, Rageboy, Dave Weinberger, John Calvin

sunday evening prayer (compline?)

I lie down this night with God
And God will lie down with me.
I lie down this night with Christ
And Christ will lie down with me.
I lie down this night with the Spirit
And the Spirit will lie down with me.
The Three of my love...
...will be lying down with me.
I shall not lie down with sin
Nor shall sin's shadow...
...lie down with me.
I lie down this night with God
And God will lie down with me.

J. Philip Newell
Celtic Prayers from Iona

the good, the bad, and the polytonal

Well, the good news is that we found the bike. It was buried under some things in the basement. So, that is very good news. The bad news is that our (de)construction gang upstairs have rattled loose some plumbing. I have been up most of the night emptying buckets. It is quite impressive. A steady stream of water dripping through plaster ceilings adds a certain drama to the evening.

The polytonal would be the concerts this weekend. There are several options for you. This is Chicago after all. But I would point you to two possibilities. First, North Shore Baptist Church is hosting Ken Medema Saturday evening and Sunday morning. The concert is the finale to the congregations 100-year anniversary celebration. On Sunday he will join us for worship and "play along." He is quite popular. And, though not quite my speed, he is a musical genious. Come to worship at North Shore on Sunday. It should be memorable.

Second, Chicago Choral Artists has a lovely offering of French polytonal glee.

It should be a good concert. If you can carpool and your funds are limited, I would suggest that you come Sunday evening (Some are going to Ken's concert on Saturday and then to CCA on Sunday...Medema and Bouzignac!). The Saturday concert is more convenient for the cityfolk, of course, but the ticket prices are fixed...the acoustic is sublime, but the ticket price is a little high for many. E-mail me if you have any questions. Give the number on the playbulletin a call as well.

Y'all have a great weekend. I may not be able to blog if the deluge continues.

Pax canticum!!

**************************************************

Oh! These people are having a baby! Trish and I will visit them in the Twin Cities this summer. And they will venture down our way as well. Ah, marvelous.

ah, moving and such

Well, we are finally preparing to move. All the little and large details are falling into place. We have chosen a moving company per the recommendation of our friends. They also move pianos. Why does this matter? Well, let me tell you. You see, Trish knows someone who knows a guy who is trying to get rid of their piany. It is a parlor grand, about 4'9". We are getting is for an impossibly small price because they want it out of their home. The movers move pianos as well, so they will also get it on the moving day. The charge is minimal. We will pay it separate from the regular moving price so the church is not responsible for this extra bit of confusion. A piano...who knew?

I am packing boxes today. There are many, many books. Most of mine will go to the church. The movers will not have to schlep them. That is good.

The apartment is thus a place of chaos. Not only are we moving, but the upstairs apartment is being redone. Yep, right now I can hear the crashing of plaster walls being torn down. It is a bit distracting and unnerving. The cats are taking it well...for cats. The only real downside is that the construction workers left the back door open and someone came in to the porch and stole my upright cycle. I was, well, angry. I have since cooled off and will call our very nice landlord. I really don't want to anger this guy. He's been good to us, but he's responsible for what the construction workers do or don't do. A call is necessary.

So, right now moving feels like wrestling. And I am in a headlock. Not so comfortable. I am excited about the move. The parsonage is lovely and the people from CCW have been tremendously helpful. The associate at CCW has been generous. The interim at CCW has been generous. I am well cared for and I recognize this fact.

God is good.

news links

Here are some links of note for you.

We are building a fence. I am trying not to think of this as the same thing that happened in England, China, Germany and now Israel. I'll try not to. Really.

Bush may not get to the marriage amendment.

There is a pyramid in Bosnia!

Oprah is Jesus? And I thought that Dan Brown was pushing people around. Interesting.

statistics and good information

So, in yesterday's conversation about church growth and evangelism, Megan asked: "So, got any facts? About whether the people who join churches are coming from existing Christian backgrounds, or not?"

I poked around and found a mishmosh of links and survey results. Since I am not a statistition (I can barely spell the word.), I make no promises about the information here. But enjoy the links if you can. Also, if you have a good link or two, please post a comment.

1. Barna on church attendance
2. Barna on the unchurched
3. Barna on evangelism
4. Outreach North America shares these statistics about church growth.
5. Christianity Today has this article about the unchurched.
6. USAToday has this article on "charting the unchurched."
7. Martin Marty wrote this article about the growth of Christianity.
8. ReligiousTolerance.org has this compilation of facts and figures.
9. Finally, here is the pdf for the American Religious Belief Identification Survey. It is 47 pages, so be ye warned. Some of the previous links refer to it, so I thought I should include it.

What did I learn? I learned that there is not one opinion, not one way to trace the statistical information...Christianity is on the rise. It is not on the rise. The unchurched are lost. The unchurched are the "next Christianity." The US is increasingly secular. The US is a spiritualist country. Urgh.

There are some things I guessed and knew that were confirmed by what popped up after 10 minutes of googling. American churches need to learn how to minister to the unchurched. We have to decide how necessary that they be part of our congregations/denominations. The US was once, to one degree or another, a Christian culture. Some would say it still is. So people know something about Christianity. This is not a blank slate mission field. Sure, there are some that have never been to church...not once. But they know who the Pope is, who Jerry Falwell is. So they have opinions. They have a base knowledge. This is still the information age to one degree or another. To assume a blank slate is foolish.

It is a lot to think about...

Also, if you get a chance, read Steve McNeely's comment on the previous post about evangelism. It stems from a great wisdom.

st. brendan the voyager

Today is his feast day. I've always enjoys the stories about St Brendan...how he set himself adrift as God's missionary. Remarkable.

You can follow the extended link for a series of writings about him. What is worth discussing today is how his evangelical zeal and his faithfulness are connected. Yes, he was a saint and remarkable for many reasons...some laudable some not. But the connection between faith and evangelism is what I am interested in. I realize more and more just how difficult eangelism truly today. It is not that people in the US have no idea who Christ is. They have their own ideas actually and their minds are pretty well made up.

And still there is the Great Commision. Still I am asked to go forth into the world and proclaim a Kingdom that is bringing light into this world. As St Francis says, "Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary, use words." I am to live my salvation, my life is an evangelical witess. But God in Christ sent us out. That is pretty clear in scripture.

But this is a tender world...one hurt by the same people Christ sent to save it. Evangelism is thus difficult at the very least. It may feel like setting oneself adrift even if we never leave our neighborhoods.

Born c. 484-489; died at Annaghdown, Ireland, c. 577-583.

"I fear that I shall journey alone, that the way will be
dark; I fear the unknown land, the presence of my King
and the sentence of my judge." --The dying words of
Saint Brendan to his sister Abbess Brig.

St. Brendan of Ardfert and Clonfert, known also as Brendan the Voyager,
was born in Ciarraighe Luachra, near the present city of Tralee, County
Kerry, Ireland, in 484; he died at Enachduin, now Annaghdown, in 577. He
was baptized at Tubrid, near Ardfert, by Bishop Erc.

Like the wanderings of Ulysses, the story of Saint Brendan voyaging over
perilous waters was a popular story in the Middle Ages. We see him as
only a shadow in the old Celtic world, and who he was or where he came
from is uncertain, though it is supposed that he was born the son of
Findlugh near Tralee on Fenit Peninsula in Kerry, Ireland, of an ancient
and noble line. It is said that, as a child, he was committed to the
care of Saint Ita the "Brigid of Munster" (f.d. January 15) at Killeedy
for five years, who introduced him to theology. She taught him three
things that God really loves: "the true faith of a pure heart; the
simple religious life; and bountifulness inspired by Christian charity."
She would have added the three things God hates are "a scowling face;
obstinate wrong-doing; and too much confidence in money."

When he was six he was sent to Saint Jarlath's (f.d. June 6) monastery
school at Tuam for his education. He was also under the tutelage of
Bishop Saint Erc of Slane (f.d. October 31, who had baptized him and, in
512, ordained Brendan to the priesthood. Brendan was a contemporary and
disciple of Saint Finian (f.d. December 12) and later Saint Gildas (f.d.
January 29) at Llancarfan in Wales, and that later he founded a
monastery at Saint Malo.

Like his master Saint Jarlath, he is reputed to have founded churches in
Britain and Wales, as well as schools and monasteries in Ireland. After
founding several settlements in Kerry, he sailed up the Shannon to found
the famous monastery at Clonfert. Montague reminds us that even if
Brendan had never left the islands, he would have merited recognition as
one of the great saints of Ireland.

It is hard to pin down the chronology of his life; however, it seems
that shortly after his ordination, Brendan became a monk and gathered a
community of disciples around himself. Between the years 512 and 530
St. Brendan built monastic cells at Ardfert, and at Shanakeel or
Baalynevinoorach, at the foot of Brandon Hill. Brendan's connection to
the foundation of Clonfert in Galway about 559 appears certain. His
biographer's speak of his governing a community of 3,000 monks with a
rule dictated to him by an angel. This foundation became the
fountainhead for missionary activities for centuries. Saint Senan (f.d.
March 8) stood on his promontory on Scattery Island and in one day
counted seven ships carrying students from overseas up the Shannon to
Clonfert. Somehow Brendan is presumed to have left his brethren behind
to begin his travels (or did he found the monastery thereafter?).

Though Brendan was a real person, fabulous stories are told how his
wanderings in search of an unknown land, perhaps the Faroes, the
Canaries, or the Azores. For seven years he voyaged to find the
Promised Land of the Saints.

On the Kerry coast, with 14 chosen monks, he built a coracle of wattle,
covered it with hides tanned in oak bark softened with butter, and set
up a mast and a sail, and after a prayer upon the shore, he embarked in
the name of the Trinity to extend the Kingdom of God on earth. With his
sixty companions he set sail with a month's provisions to seek the
Island of the Blessed--a remnant of ancient Celtic folklore. On board
the ship, all the rules of monastic life were strictly observed. After
strange wanderings that included celebrating the Divine Offering on the
back of a whale, he returned to Ireland to found Clonfert.

The old Irish Calendars assigned a special feast for the "Egressio
familiae S. Brendani", on 22 March; and St Aengus the Culdee, in his
Litany, at the close of the eighth century, invokes "the sixty who
accompanied St. Brendan in his quest of the Land of Promise". Naturally,
the story of the seven years' voyage was carried about, and, soon,
crowds of pilgrims and students flocked to Ardfert. Thus, in a few
years, many religious houses were formed at Gallerus, Kilmalchedor,
Brandon Hill, and the Blasquet Islands, in order to meet the wants of
those who came for spiritual guidance to St. Brendan.

Having established the See of Ardfert, St. Brendan proceeded to Thomond,
and founded a monastery at Inis-da-druim (now Coney Island, County
Clare), in the present parish of Killadysert, about the year 550. He
then journeyed to Wales, and thence to Iona, and left traces of his
apostolic zeal at Kilbrandon (near Oban) and Kilbrennan Sound. After a
three years' mission in Britain he returned to Ireland, and did much
good work in various parts of Leinster, especially at Dysart (Co.
Kilkenny), Killiney (Tubberboe), and Brandon Hill. He founded the Sees
of Ardfert, and of Annaghdown, and established churches at Inchiquin,
County Galway, and at Inishglora, County Mayo. His most celebrated
foundation was Clonfert, in 557, over which he appointed St. Moinenn as
Prior and Head Master.

It is said that Columbus, to whom Brendan's story would have been
familiar, may have been inspired by the saint's epic saga "Navigatio
Sancti Brendani Abbatis," which had been translated into the major
languages of Europe and was included in university curricula.
Historians, such as G. A. Little, have stated that Columbus even visited
Clonfert before setting out on his voyage to India and that his crew
included many Irishmen. Long before Columbus, the Irish monks were
renowned as travellers and explorers. Tradition says that they reached
Iceland and explored even farther afield in the Atlantic--perhaps as far
as America.

While the oldest extant version of the "Navigatio" was written in the
10th century, scholars agree that it is a 9th-century Irish composition.
Under the guise of an adventure tale, the anonymous author paints a
detailed picture of the ideal monastic life. It was so well written
that even Dante drew upon its images in his "Commedia." The story was
so well accepted that cartographers, especially on the Iberian
Peninsula, continued to include Brendan's island at various places west
of Ireland. Only in the mid-18th century was belief in the existence of
the island abandoned.

Scholars long doubted the voyage to the Promised Land described by
Brendan could have been to North America, but some modern scholars now
believe that he may have done just that. In 1976-77, Tim Severin, an
expert on exploration, following the instructions in the "Navigatio"
built a hide-covered "curragh" and then sailed it from Ireland to
Newfoundland via Iceland and Greenland, demonstrating the accuracy of
its directions and descriptions of the places Brendan mentioned in his
epic. William Verity of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, sailed round trip
between Florida and Ireland in 1969 to "put the Brendan legend in
working order."

Even today inscriptions in the ogham script of Irish Gaelic found in
Newfoundland and in the northeast of the United States are being studied
on the assumption that they support the travels of Saint Brendan.

Brendan himself stands out in a dark age as the captain of a Christian
crew. Like the Greeks and the Vikings, he had a craving for the sea,
but he built his boat, and launched it in the name of the Lord and
sailed it under the ensign of the Cross. It is a thrilling saga, for
all its strangeness, and set many a sailor later to search in vain for
Saint Brendan's Island; but none ever found it, though it was said at
times to be seen, like an Isle of Paradise, riding above the surface of
the sea.

Brendan probably died while visiting his sister Briga, abbess of a
convent at Enach Duin (Annaghdown). His story as it comes to us
includes his dying conversation with his sister. When he asked her to
assist his death with her prayers, she asked why he was afraid of dying.
He responded, "I am afraid of loneliness on this dark journey to the
unknown land. I fear the presence of the King and the sentence of the
Judge." Foreseeing that there might be rivalry for his body, Brendan
requested that his death be kept a secret while his relics were returned
by cart to Clonfert in the disguise of luggage being sent ahead for his
own return.

Today all that is left of the once thriving Clonfert Monastery is a
single Hiberno-Romanesque door amidst the solitude (Attwater, Attwater2,
Benedictines, Bentley, Coulson, Delaney, Gill, Husenbeth, Little,
Montague, Severin, Walsh, Webb).

==============================
Voyage of St. Brendan
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02758c.htm

St. Brendan belongs to that glorious period in the history of Ireland
when the island in the first glow of its conversion to Christianity sent
forth its earliest messengers of the Faith to the continent and to the
regions of the sea. It is, therefore, perhaps possible that the legends,
current in the ninth and committed to writing in the eleventh century,
have for foundation an actual sea-voyage the destination of which cannot
however be determined. These adventures were called the "Navigatio
Brendani", the Voyage or Wandering of St. Brendan, but there is no
historical proof of this journey. Brendan is said to have sailed in
search of a fabled Paradise with a company of monks, the number of which
is variously stated as from 18 to 150. After a long voyage of seven
years they reached the "Terra Repromissionis", or Paradise, a most
beautiful land with luxuriant vegetation. The narrative offers a wide
range for the interpretation of the geographical position of this land
and with it of the scene of the legend of St. Brendan. On the Catalonian
chart (1375) it is placed not very far west of the southern part of
Ireland. On other charts, however, it is identified with the "Fortunate
Isles" of the ancients and is placed towards the south. Thus it is put
among the Canary Islands on the Herford chart of the world (beginning of
the fourteenth century); it is substituted for the island of Madeira on
the chart of the Pizzigani (1367), on the Weimar chart (1424), and on
the chart of Beccario (1435).

As the increase in knowledge of this region proved the former belief to
be false the island was pushed
further out into the ocean. It is found 60 degrees west of the first
meridian and very near the equator on Martin Behaim's globe. The
inhabitants of Ferro, Gomera, Madeira, and the Azores positively
declared to Columbus that they had often seen the island and continued
to make the assertion up to a far later period. At the end of the
sixteenth century the failure to find the island led the cartographers
Apianus and Ortelius to place it once more in the ocean west of Ireland;
finally, in the early part of the nineteenth century belief in the
existence of the island was completely abandoned.

But soon a new theory arose, maintained by those scholars who claim for
the Irish the glory of discovering America, namely, MacCarthy, Rafn,
Beamish, O'Hanlon, Beauvois, Gafarel, etc. They rest this claim on the
account of the Northmen who found a region south of Vinland and the
Chesapeake Bay called "Hvitramamaland" (Land of the White Men) or
"Irland ed mikla" (Greater Ireland), and on the tradition of the Shawano
(Shawnee) Indians that in earlier times Florida was inhabited by a white
tribe which had iron implements. In regard to Brendan himself the point
is made that he could only have gained a knowledge of foreign animals
and plants, such as are described in the legend, by visiting the western
continent. On the other hand, doubt was very early expressed as to the
value of the narrative for the history of discovery. Honorius of
Augsburg declared that the island had vanished; Vincent of Beauvais
denied the authenticity of the entire pilgrimage, and the Bolandists do
not recognise it. Among the geographers, Alexander von Humboldt,
Peschel, Ruge, and Kretschmer, place the story among geographical
legends, which are of interest for the history of civilisation but which
can lay no claim to serious consideration from the point of view of
geography. The oldest account of the legend is in Latin, "Navigatio
Sancti Brendani",
and belongs to the tenth or eleventh century; the first French
translation dates from 1125; since the thirteenth century the legend has
appeared in the literatures of the Netherlands, Germany, and England.

Visit The Voyage of Brendan the Navigator
http://www.castletown.com/brendan.htm
and La Isla Fantasma: San Borondon
http://www.geocities.com/~jrancel/canleyend-esp.html#Borondon
(in Spanish but some good pictures). The first site discusses the
possibility that Brendan reached the New World. The second speaks of the
legend of Brendan's visit to the Canary Islands.

=================================

Below I've recounted some of the many legends surrounding Saint Brendan:

There is a graphic description of one of their expeditions: "Three
Scots came to King Alfred, in a boat without oars, from Ireland, whence
they had stolen away, because for the love of God they desired to be on
pilgrimage, they recked not whither. The boat in which they came was
made of two hides and a half; and they took with them provisions for
seven days; and about the seventh day they came on shore in Cornwall,
and soon after went to King Alfred" (Gill).

Saint Brendan was chanting the office for the Feast of Saint Paul the
Apostle, when his brethren asked him to do so quietly for fear of
disturbing the sea monsters. He laughed, "What has driven out your
faith? Fear naught but the Lord our God, and love Him in fear. Many
perils have tried you, but the Lord brought you safely out of them all.
There is no danger here. What are you afraid of?" And he said Mass
more solemnly than before.

"Thereupon the monsters of the deep began to rise on all sides, and
making merry for joy of the Feast, followed after the ship. Yet when
the office of the day was ended, they straightway turned back and went
their way" (Plummer).

They sailed to another small, lovely island, in which there was a
whirlpool. "They went across the island, and found a church built of
stone, and in it a venerable old man at his prayers. . . . And the old
man said to them, 'O holy men of God, make haste to flee from this
island. For there is a sea-cat here, of old time, inveterate in wiles,
that hath grown huge through eating excessively of fish.' Thereupon
they turned back in haste to their ship, and abandoned the island.

"But lo, behind them they saw that beast swimming through the sea, and
it had great eyes like vessels of glass. Thereupon they all fell to
prayer, and Brendan said, 'Lord Jesus Christ, hinder Thy beast.' And
straightway arose another beast from the depths of the sea, and
approaching fell to battle with the first; and both went down to the
depth of the sea, nor were they further seen. Then they gave thanks to
God, and turned back to the old man, to question him as to his way of
living and whence he had come.

"And he said to them, 'We were twelve men from the island of Ireland
that came to this place, seeking the place of our
resurrection. Eleven be dead; and I alone remain, awaiting, O Saint of
God, the Host from thy hands. We brought with us in the ship a cat, a
most amiable cat and greatly loved by us; but he grew to great bulk
through eating of fish, as I said; yet our Lord Jesus Christ did not
suffer him to harm us.'

"And then he showed them the way to the land which they sought; and
receiving the Host at the hands of Brendan, he fell joyfully asleep in
the Lord; and he was buried beside his companions" (Plummer).

Then they came to an island filled with flowers and fruit trees and
found harbour. "The Brendan said to his brethren, 'Behold, our Lord
Jesus Christ, the good, the merciful, hath given us this place wherein
to abide His holy resurrection. My brothers, if we had naught else to
restore our bodies, this spring alone would suffice us for meat and
drink.'

"Now there was above the spring a tree of strange height, covered with
birds of dazzling white, so crowded on the tree that scarcely could it
be seen by human eyes. And looking upon it the man of God began to
ponder within himself what cause had brought so great a multitude of
birds together on one tree."

And He prayed with tears that God might reveal the mystery of the birds
to him.

"And the bird spoke to him. 'We are,' it said, 'of that great ruin of
the ancient foe, who did not consent to him wholly. Yet because we
consented in part to his sin, our ruin also befell. For God is just,
and keeps truth and mercy. And so by His judgement He sent us to this
place, where we know no other pain than that we cannot see the presence
of God, and so hath He estranged us from the fellowship of those who
stood firm. On the solemn feasts and on the Sabbaths we take such
bodies as you see, and abide here, praising our Maker. And as other
spirits who are sent through the divers regions of the air and the
earth, so may we speed also.

"'Now hast thou with thy brethren been one year upon thy journey; and
six years yet remain. Where this day thou dost keep the Easter Feast,
there shalt thou keep it throughout every year of thy pilgrimage, and
thereafter shalt thou find the thing that thou hast set in thy heart,
the land that was promised to the saints.' And when the bird had spoken
thus, it raised itself up from the prow, and took its flight to the
rest.

"And when the hour of evening drew on, then began all the birds that
were on the tree to sing as with one voice, beating their wings and
saying, 'Praise waiteth for Thee, O Lord, in Sion: and unto Thee shall
the vow be performed.' And they continued repeating that verse, for the
space of one hour.

"It seemed to the brethren that the melody and the sound of the wings
was like a lament that is sweetly sung. Then said Saint Brendan to the
brethren, 'Do ye refresh your bodies, for this day have your souls been
filled with the heavenly bread.' And when the Feast was ended, the
brethren began to sing the office; and thereafter they rested in quiet
until the third watch of the night.

"Then the man of God awaking, began to rouse the brethren for the Vigils
of the Holy Night. And when he had begun the verse, 'Lord, open Thou my
lips, and my heart shall show forth Thy praise,' all the birds rang out
with voice and wing, singing, 'Praise the Lord, all ye His angels;
praise ye Him, all His hosts.' And even as at Vespers, they sang for
the space of one hour.

"Then, when dawn brought the ending of the night, they all began to
sing, 'And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,' with equal
melody and length of chanting, as had been at Matins.

"At Tierce they sang this verse: 'Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing ye praises with understanding.' And at Sext they
sang, 'Lord, lift up the light of Thy countenance upon us, and have
mercy upon us.' At Nones they said, 'Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.' And so day and night
the birds sang praises to God. And throughout the octaves of the Feast
they continued in the praises of God. . . .

"Here then the brethren remained until the Whitsun Feast; for the sweet
singing of the birds was their delight and their reviving. . . . But
when the octave of the feast was ended, the Saint bade his brethren to
make ready the ship, and fill their vessels with water from the spring.
And when all was made ready, came the aforesaid bird in swift flight,
and rested on the prow of the ship, and said, as if to comfort them
against the perils of the sea: 'Know that where ye held the Lord's
Supper, in the year that is past, there in like fashion shall ye be on
that same night this year. . . . After eight months ye shall find an
island . . . whereon ye shall celebrate the Lord's Nativity.' And when
the bird had foretold these things, it returned to its own place.

"Then the brethren began to spread their sails and go out to sea. And
the birds were singing as with one voice, saying, 'Hear us, O God of our
salvation, Who art the hope of all the ends of the earth, and of them
that are afar off upon the sea.' And so for three months they were
borne on the breadth of ocean, and saw nothing beyond the sea and sky"
(Plummer; these stories are also told in Curtayne).

******************************************************
Through the prayers of St Brendan and of all the Saints of Ireland,
Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us!
******************************************************

Now the great mountain that juts out into the Atlantic in County Kerry
is called Mount Brandon, because he had a little chapel atop it, and the
bay at the foot of the mountain is Brandon Bay. Each year his "pattern
day" the Irish (June 29) celebrate his memory with a pilgrimage to this
spot. Prayers are said along the climb at cairns marking the ancient
route. At the summit crowds hear Mass said in the ruined, primitive
oratory, where Brendan is said to have planned his voyages (Coulson). In
addition to Mount Brandon in Kerry, there are at least three holy wells
(two in Mayo; one in Kerry) in his name. A creek in the Faroe Islands
is called "Brandarsvik" (Brendan's Creek) (Montague).

In art, Saint Brendan is shown saying Mass on ship as the fish crowd
round to listen to him. He may also be shown holding a candle. Brendan
is the patron of seafarers and travellers, and is venerated in Ireland
(Roeder).

For a French Life of Saint Brendan with nice illustrations
(thanks to Jean-Michel in Belgium)
http://mypage.bluewin.ch/brandan/pages/page02.html

Troparion of St Brendan tone 4
The Divine Likeness has been perfected in thee, O holy Father Brendan,/
for taking up the Cross thou hast followed Christ,/ and by thy deeds
thou hast taught us to disdain the flesh for it passes away,/ but to
cultivate the soul for it is immortal:/ wherefore, O holy father, thy
spirit rejoices with the Angels.

A HYMN TO SAINT BRENDAN.
By Guido of Ivrea (11th Century). Latin text in Analecta Hymnica #48.88.
Guido is associated with the Irish-founded monasteries of Northern
Italy, and wrote songs to Patrick, Brigid, and other Celtic saints.
English translation by Karen Rae Keck, 1994.

Let the brothers and sisters now sing
Of the holy life of Brendan;
In an old melody
Let it be kept in song.

Loving the jewel of chastity,
He was the father of monastics.
He shunned the choir of the world;
Now he sings among the angels.

Let him pray that we may be saved
As we sail upon this sea.
Let him quickly aid the fallen
Oppressed with burdensome sin.

God the Father; Most High King
Breast-fed by a virgin mother;
Holy Spirit: when They will it,
Let Them feed us divine honey.

* * *

FRAGMENTS OF A MASS.
Date uncertain; found at the end of the life of Saint Brendan, Paris MS
2333 A. Colbert (14th Century). English translation by Karen Rae Keck,
1994.

COLLECT: O God, Who hast offered us today this most holy day, the feast
of thy confessor and abbot the blessed Brendan, uphold Thy Church by his
holy prayers, that he whose merits are secured may glory in Thy mercies.

SAID BY THE PRIEST SILENTLY: On the holy altars, O Lord, where
sacrifices are place, let holy Abbot Brendan beseech our Lord that He
may come to us in good will.

POST-COMMUNION PRAYER: Let the Blessed Abbot Brendan shield us, O Lord,
with the understanding of Thy mysteries, interceding for us that we may
know the sign of his holy life, and may know the mercies of his
intercession.

See
http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/reading/St.Pachomius/Western/brendan.htm
l (You may have to cut and paste the end of the URL)

* * *

Icons of Saint Brendan the Navigator:

evangelism and worship fads...

Ah, the Great Commission...

I have been on the phone with several people who, like me, are embarking on their first full-time, paid, senior pastoral position. Several of my classmates are in the same process as I, with the same aprehensions, fears, and excitement. One thread of our conversation that has been consistant is the issue of growth and evangelism. All of us are going to congregations that desire to grow. I realize that all congregations want to grow, but in each of these there is an institutional memory of being a larger congregation. Many, many congregations are dealing with this issue. So, my friends and I have been bouncing ideas around. One idea centers around liturgical/evangelical reform in the life of the congregation.

This morning I found these two posts, one referring to the other, about evangelism and the current creativity in liturgical expression and evangelical reform. Jeff at Philosophy Over Coffee points us toward the Internet Monk who has a great deal to say on the subject. In short though, he has a few basic points.

1. If you can’t picture Jesus doing it, you probably shouldn’t do it.
2. If it obscures the centrality of Jesus Christ and the Gospel, don’t do it.
3. If you aren’t producing followers of Jesus Christ, what are you doing?
4. If you brought idolatry into the picture, you did a bad thing.
5. The Glory of God means God is seen clearly, truthfully and Biblically. Keep that in mind when you say you’re doing whatever "for the glory of God."

Jeff boils it down to this snippet...

If you are producing consumers or fans or people who think you are really cool, you may be successful and popular, but I’m wondering if you are doing what matters. Our command is clear: make disciples, teaching them everything Jesus commanded. We can’t change the definition of disciple into "guy who really likes the body surfing at the 9 p.m. youth service" and have any integrity.

The Jesus-movement produces Jesus-followers. Wow. What a concept. If you spent $70,000 to entertain people, did you produce Jesus followers, or fans of your show? Answer the question. It’s important.

These ideas are the subject of myriad books and journal articles. And the debate is ancient. You can read the history of the Methodist movement and hear some of the same issues come to the fore. I have been reading a book by the German theologian Schillebeeckx (ca. 1945) this week. He complains about the infusion of jazz and spirituals into the worship life of the German church. It is too flashy and invites people into something other than Christ's church. Well, that is what he suggests.

I an not expressing my position on the subject yet, but I wanted you all to know how old this conversation is. Once upon a time the Roman Catholic Church met to enforce a singularity of liturgical expression. That was almost 1,000 years ago. Again, though not about fads and marketing ploys, the issues were the same. How do we encourage people to come to church? What methods of evangelism are appropriate? What methods are effective? How will our liturgy be used to express this evangelical urge? Humanists such as John Calvin leaned more toward "whatever it takes" methods. The Orthodox are famous for simply opening the door and having people make up their own minds. And I remember Chick Tracks from my seventh grade math class. Our teacher had a box of them on a shelf. We were "allowed" to read them if we finished our work early. This was in a public school.

We wrestle and wrange about what makes for good evangelism. We try to bend our liturgy to reflect our desire to include others and to grow as congregations. Is your congregation having this conversation? What decisions have been reached? What peculiarities exist in your congregation that make this a complicated issue? Eccumenical? Non-denominational? A large immigrant population?

Share your wisdom...and your questions. Let's puzzle this out a little bit.

daily strength for daily needs

That is the title of a book of devotions that I have. It was published in 1919. They were selected by Mary W. Tileson, the editor of The Joy and Strength for the Pilgrim's Day. The intitial copyright was 1894. I love these books.

My presence will go with thee, and I will give thee rest. Ex. 33:14

Thou wilt show me the path of life: in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Ps. 14:11

Thy presence fills my mind with peace,
Brightens the thoughts so dark erewhile,
Bids cares and sad forebodings cease,
Makes all things smile.
-Charlotte Elliott

"Plenteous redemption" is a phrase that comes to mind after reading these snippets of verse. The reflection in book speaks of what gave the saints and martyrs such strength/rest...and that it is the same rest that is available to us.

Many years ago I read a book entitled Spiritual Atheletes. It has nothing to do with sports. It is a collection of very brief biographies. Sojourner Truth, Jane Addams and others are included. The tendancy to revere such people is two-sided. On one, it is good to have such examples. On the other, it is sad to assume that such rest is not available to anyone else.

But, like many I assume, I am always a bit confused with such wide sweeping statements like "Just follow their example!" I assume that there are methods and disciplines, ways of "achieving" such athleticism. And that is likely why it is still a puzzle for me.

It is not an achievement.

It is a gift. Such rest is a gift being poured out upon the world. It is grace. If there is a work for me, it is letting go and following where I am led. And then the question resurfaces...how the heck do I do that? Study more scripture? Fast? Pray...even when that prayer feels dry and staid?

I am sure the answer to those questions is "yes." And I am sure that I am a blind man groping in the dark.

My presence will go with thee, and I will give thee rest. Ex. 33:14

"and this is why you have the job you have..."

Okay, so the party was great. Sarah always throws a good bash. Always has. Interesting people. Good food...and the occasional game. Last night's game was "celebrity". It is like Pyramid but all the things you have to guess are people. So, everyone submits ten celebrity (fictional characters are allowed) names. We play in teams of two or three. One person is given the piece of paper with the name of the clebrity, and from the clues they provide, the other team member(s) guesses the celebrity name.

Because I seem to be unable to talk about anything other than my new call, people had the Bible on the brain. Many clues were inspired by scripture if you will..."He was one of the seven disciples!" "Okay, first name...he wrote one of those books in the Bible!" "He was a Beatle and an apostle!" When the clue went way far afield (the Apostle Sleepy, for example...), Angie would cackle and say something like, "And this is why Tripp has a job."

Good to know.

Angie, if you are reading this, how were the pancakes?

live blogging at the fiendish one's house

So, you know those parties where everyone tells stories about college or high school or some other embarassing period of life and then wonders how they managed to get into the career they are in now? Do you know those? Yeah. I'm at one now. So, I thought I would liveblog it. If I have to embarass myself...I may as well blog.

So, proposed games for the parsonage: kick the can, flashlight tag, foursquare...these are ideal games for the 30-something. Really.

Be ye warned therefore. There is a foursquare tournament coming your way.

take six minutes...

...and be amazed.

chicago choral artists

Follow the extended link for the concert information.

It should be a good romp through some interesting and oft difficult French choral music. I hope that you will be able to come. The Sunday evening concert is sponsored by the host congregation, so the ticket price is a requested free-will offering.

Presbyterian church...free-will offering? Interesting.

If Monet’s paintings were to turn into notes on paper instead of color on canvas, how would they sound? What would we hear if that rich and luxurious blending of colors and hues could be turned into music? Chicago Choral Artists think they have the answer, and invite you to decide for yourself as they present a concert of French Beauties: Choral Masterpieces from the Renaissance to Post-Impressionism. Marvel at the pristine clarity of Renaissance composers Bouzignac and LeJeune; then melt into the lush 20th century post-impressionistic sounds of Durufle, Langlais, Ravel and Poulenc.

Under the direction of Brian Bloye, Andrew Fredel and J. David Štech Chicago Choral Artists, acclaimed by critic Lawrence Johnson for its "refined, scrupulously blended singing," will present two performances:

Saturday evening, May 20, 7:30 pm at St Alphonsus Church in Chicago;

Sunday evening, May 21, 7:00 pm at the First Presbyterian Church in Lake Forest.

Call 708.848.1762 or go to chicagochoralartists.org for details.

thinking some more about sunday's sermon

One of the interesting side effects of the weekend is that I really don't recall what I said in the pulpit. By that point in the weekend, I was pretty fried. It was a good kind of fried, but there ya go. But I have been musing a little more about love and the invitation to love and receive love.

There is something about love that demands in invitation. If one wants to go on a date, you have to ask someone out...issue an invitation or receive an invitation. There is a moment in most romantic relationships where we take the risk of confessing our love, knowing that possible rejection is looming on the horizon. The statement "I love you" is an invitation to love love in return. "Do you love me?"

There are marriage proposals...and invitation to enter into love, to enter into a relationship that will transform all involved. This clearest example of love as invitation sheds a little light on why the church is often spoken of as the Bride of Christ. God's love for us is an invitation into a transforming relationship.

The overarching "pastoral concerns" should not be missed or ignored. There perhaps more songs about broken hearts and unrequited love than there are songs about living happily ever after. Marriages can and do end. Neglect and abuse do not vanish simply because I/we say something pithy about love and the necessary invitation. No. And God knows this. God knows the risk we take when we make ourselves vulnerable to Love.

I simply wonder if love is somehow incomplete if there is no invitation into that same love. Perhaps God's love for the world is unrequited. What do you think?

So much of Christian scripture speaks of the love the disciples had for Christ. There is so little in scripture that speaks to the personal risk Jesus took in asking them to love him. "Follow me." is as close as we come to seeing it. The rich young man who will not follow is one example of an unrequited love of Christ. Christ is chased from the synagogue in his hometown. Unrequited love.

The cross itself is the supreme example of an unrequited love. Can there be a greater rejection of an invitation to love?

But it is Easter. The rejection of the cross has been turned on its ear and has become the salvation of the world. Christ has suffered rejection. And yet the invitation is strong, relentless...generous. The invitation never ceases. The promise never fails. God never tires of issuing the invitation. God never tires of risking rejection. Should the Church do no less? We will suffer rejection. That is a given. But we are the Body of Christ, an invitation issuing Body. Somehow we have to find a way to issue the ivitation that God has issued to us, extend the same favor, to fulfill an obligation of sorts, to uphold a promise.

And now I'm just circling the airport.

What do you all think? Do you connect invitation and love?

tuckered out

Well, I am slowly recovering from the weekend. It was an intense time, you know. Thanks again to all who prayed and laughed and gave good advice. Jane suggested now is the time for me to invest in more tweed. Hmm...not a bad idea. Another friend and Lutheran pastor sent me this e-mail:

Hurrah! ...Well I am so glad to hear that.... no more unemployment for years to come and now you got a place to call your own. No more looking through the window and wonder what the future will bring since now the future is the life within. I pray to God that he empowers you and sustain you with his Spirit... the road ahead is marvelous, enchanted and must be walked -in many parts of it- on your knees!!!

Pray ... always pray... love... always love... the rest.. well just leave it to God.

I am blessed with good friends.

I will begin my formal tenure on June 1st. So, you all should plan on attending worship at CCW the first Sunday of June. I know. Some of you are pastors and already have obligations. Don't let that stop you. Bring the whole congregation. Let's make a big party out of it and see if we cannot get a revival going on in the Chicago area. What do you say?

In other news, my temp placement of many months finally lived up to its true nature and came to an end last week. I worked Monday and Tuesday with the crew from Urinetown. They needed some help striking the set. It was a beast but we managed to get it down in two days. I have another assignment with the agency for the next four working days. This is good news as well.

I am, however, hoping to have a few days where I can pack and the like. There is much to be done to get the apartment ready for movers.

ordinary time

Ordinary Time:
Year B Devotions for June to November

On Sale now for $18.99

The people at the RevGalBlogPals have done it again. This is their new book of devotions. I wrote a couple for this edition and am proud to be included. The webring uses Lulu, an independent publishing co-op. The Advent book of devotionals turned out nicely.

I'll transfer this to my sidebar. Give it a day or two before you order. The final proof has yet to be checked. Though, right now the price is just under $14.oo for the printed volume and less than $2.oo for the download. Once the proof is done, you should feel free to buy as many as you like. They will be $19.oo...but still an inexpensive download. You should also be able to purchase them through Amazon.

links: getting back up to speed with the connectivity

AKMA is preparing to dispell da Vinci myths and is debating Weinberger.
The Librarian is getting ordained...and is celebrating the election of a bishop.
Rev Ref+ preached about invitation on Sunday.
Camassia connects Duke with the Mafia and Gnosticism. Really.
Meeegan is celebrating the success of a festival.
Joel preached a sermon about how one cannot buy salvation. Who knew?
Theopraxis has a ten-part series on suburbia and the Gospel. I am thinking I need to pay attention and see what makes sense.
Noz is picking again.
Dawg went to Rio. Yes, Rio. Wow.
The Theobilly is planting...and planting...and planting...
Mike Kear is working through paradigms and polemics in America's religious institutions.
Bryan posted the text of the Memphis Declaration.

And that should keep you busy when you should be doing your work.

ahem...

Well, the results are in. I am now the Senior Pastor of the Community Church of Wilmette. Yep, no longer known here as "That Church" but by its true name.

Huzzah!!

Trish and I are thrilled. The weekend began Friday at lunch and continued through a celebration lunch today. As tired as I am, I can honestly say that I had a great time this weekend. They are a lovely congregation and I fell for each one of them.

One of our projects before us is building the church website. There is, I am told, a url drifting about the ether, but the whole site is being revamped. Once that is up and running, I will be certain to provide the url.

Stunned. I am stunned and thrilled and happy and delerious...

Thank you, Jesus!

I will provide some details later. Right now I need to take a nap.

I know of several congregations and individuals who were holding us all in prayer as we got to know one another this weekend. Thank you all.

Tremendous.

dance

This is a picture from our wedding. Today is my wife's birthday. Happy Birthday, Trish.

I praise God for you.

SONNET 115
Those lines that I before have writ do lie,
Even those that said I could not love you dearer:
Yet then my judgment knew no reason why
My most full flame should afterwards burn clearer.
But reckoning time, whose million'd accidents
Creep in 'twixt vows and change decrees of kings,
Tan sacred beauty, blunt the sharp'st intents,
Divert strong minds to the course of altering things;
Alas, why, fearing of time's tyranny,
Might I not then say 'Now I love you best,'
When I was certain o'er incertainty,
Crowning the present, doubting of the rest?
Love is a babe; then might I not say so,
To give full growth to that which still doth grow?

that church

Well, some of you have been paying attention and have emailed me about That Church...wondering what has transpired and if I am still in the process.

Yes, I am still in the call process with That Church. In fact, I will spend the next three days meeting and fellowshipping with the congregation. If things go according to schedule, the congregation will vote on Sunday. I will know then if I am to be their pastor.

I am more excited and nervous than I can express.

Now, before you all go posting comments on this entry, know that members of That Church have known about this blog for a little over a week now. My site visit average is quite high! So, make me look good, okay? Ha! And that is all I should say about that.

Peace and all good things to you. Keep us all in your prayers. I will check in on Sunday and let you know what the final result is.

comment counter: 9,415...With fewer than 10,000 comments left to sift through, it is getting a bit tedious.

st columbanus

- Be helpful when you are at the bottom of the ladder and be the lowest when you are in authority.

- Be simple in faith but well trained in manners.

- Be demanding in your own affairs but unconcerned in those of others.

- Be guileless in friendship, astute in the face of deceit.

These are three of the suggestions mentioned in St. Colambanus' Letter to a Young Disciple. The first is pretty clear. The second is, it would seem, some advice given so that you don't make the same mistake Augustine did when he visited Kent. It would seem he shot himself in the proverbial foot when he was rude to the Celtic Christians...well...that's how the Celts want us to remember it anyway. But the advice is simple. If you want to win people to the Gospel, a little politeness can go a long way.

The third is about how we need to first concern ourselves with that plank in our own eye...and when we are well and good and done with it, we may help another with the speck in their own...if they request it.

The fourth is today's reading from Celtic Daily Prayer. I am making a connection betweeen this idea with the news that Moussaoui has been given a life sentence and not sentenced to execution (link). Somehow, even in punishing something like 9/11, as unpopular as it may be to say this, we need to practice compassion and forgiveness. The jury, it seems, is attempting to do just that.

He must not be set free. He is guilty. He must face up to what he has done. And perhaps he will never understand his sentence as punishment. But this is something none of us can control. I doubt a death sentence would have been seen as punishment either. I see nothing wrong with the jury taking a "high ground" of sorts.

working at home

The temp agency called. My usual placement does not have enough work for me today. And, though we could use the income (Isn't that always the case?), I am glad to have the time to sit down and reflect on the scriptures. Bultmann has an interesting commentary on 1 John. I've already worked through that. I'll see what some of my other commentaries have to say and then get on with the writing.

Reconciler's most recent Bible study begins tonight. We are going to read our way through Ephesians together. Along side of the epistle we will read Ion Bria's work, The Liturgy After the Liturgy. It is an excellent work published by the World Council of Churches about Orthodox understandings of mission and evangelism. It is both an apology of Orthodox understandings and a challenge to them. I am looking forward to working through this together.

But before I can get deep into all of this, I need to clear off the diningroom table/my desk...and make some more coffee. It seems that my new roomie likes the java...caffeinated Christianity indeed!

comment counter: 11,323

the listening bar

Today is a good day for Otis Redding...

These arms of mine
They are lonely, lonely and feeling blue
These arms of mine
They are yearning, yearning from wanting you

And if you would let them hold you
Oh, how grateful I will be
These arms of mine
They are burning, burning from wanting you
These arms of mine
They are wanting, wanting to hold you

And if you would let them hold you
Oh, how grateful I will be
Come on, come on baby
Just be my little woman, just be my lover, oh
I need me somebody, somebody to treat me right, oh
I need your woman's loving arms to hold me tight
And I...I...I need...I need your...I need your tender lips

Yeah, there we go. Ya gotta love Otis.

comment counter: 11,395

lectionary

I am preaching this weekend...Good Shepherd Sunday. Here are the readings.

Acts 4:5-12
Psalm 23
1 John 3:16-24
John 10:11-18

It's one of those impossibly rich Sundays where the options are limitless. I'll try to keep it down to one sermon topic. ;-)

Ministry is collaborative. The 1 John passage is especially interesting when placed in the context of Psalm 23.

400,000 strong

You can go here for a NY Times slideshow. Or you can go here for a Chicago Tribune artic