conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

bring the kids

turrets on the fortress walls surrounding the old city of rhodes

Once again my friend, Randy, has posted a group of stunning pictures from his vacation. This one is incredible. I hope to be able to travel like he is some day.

Well, it's Friday. The memorial service scheduled for last Thursday was moved to last night. I had a meeting this morning. I have another in an hour and a half. Somewhere in there I need to fit in my sermon preparation. I have a title, but now I am not sure that I can make it work. Titles are such strange beasts. I know that some people find them to be helpful memory aids. I get that. But as the guy coming up with the sermon, the title does not always come in time for the printing of the bulletin. This is one of those weeks. I succumbed to the pressure and just came up with a title for this week's Gospel reading about where we sit at a banquet. It's about humility, you know. So, "The Ladies Who Lunch" might prove to be somewhat humorous. I don't know. I am not sure.

Part of the trouble is that I have a bug up my butt about a class action lawsuit being filed by people inconvenienced by the storm last week. They want to punish the power company. This just makes no sense to me at all. And since the Jeremiah reading is about God suing the Israelites for abandoning the covenant, I have this whole different understanding about legal suits. What about our relationship with God and the humility one might (hopefully) learn within it? Do we think that we have some special place at the banquet table? Is there an entitlement thing at work? Are we simply frustrated and looking for someone to blame?

Stuff happens. Why does it always seem to boil down to blame for some people? I just don't understand this sometimes. I know it's there. People get hurt somehow. They lash out. Real wrongs occur. Yes. But is this one of them? I am not convinced. Hopefully the courts will throw it all out. Urf.

Well, I should get going on this thing. God forgive me for my ire.

two years

It has been two years. Rev David Knight, a friend from seminary, and a pastor in Long Beach, Mississippi, writes this reflection.

God bless you, David. And thank you...

food for thought: check the dates

This is interesting. I am glad to know that we have once again discovered in our own debate and study our uniqueness as a generation. Heh.

As for what the Church thinks and says, what influence
does that have on the handling of American politics, the
conduct of American education, the regulation of marriage and
divorce, on sex and drink, on how industrial disputes are
settled, on how we carry on business? As a plain matter of
fact, religion in this country is generally regarded as a
tolerated pastime for such people as happen to like to indulge
in occasional godly exercises--as a strictly private matter in
an increasingly close-knit and socially acting society--in
other words, as something that does not count. I should like
to see the Church recognize that it has been pushed into the
realm of the non-essentials, and to persuade it to fight like
fury for the right and the duty to bring every act of America
and Americans before the bar of God's judgment. [Christian
leaders] are making valiant claim to such a right and duty;
but the great mass of Church members are content to regard the
Church as a conglomerate of private culture clubs, nice for
christenings, weddings and funerals. Most Church members
readily agree with the unchurched majority that it is not the
proper business of the Church to criticize America or
Americans.
... Bernard Iddings Bell (1886-1958), God is Not Dead
[1945]

sabbath: evening

Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little. The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark.
- Agnes de Mille

Everything revolved around the storm last week. My sermon, in the end, had the storm for a catalyst. I will post the outline sometime today if I can. I have meetings this afternoon...So, the outline might not be up until tomorrow.

Anyway, the storm had this predictable but no less wonderful effect of wiping away some of the veneer of safety and autonomy I live with. I don't need my neighbors. I can do this all on my own, thank you very much. I don't need...yada, yada, yada. Once again I was reminded the importance of paying attention...and just how easy it is to slip into complacency. I do actually need my neighbors. Who knew? Life's rhythms can have this effect. Life's demands can stupefy us. We walk about in a haze of some kind. I am not even sure if I know how to describe it.

In these last few chapters of his book, Sabbath, Wayne Muller is sketching out possible ways of honoring the Sabbath. He offers us an evening rite first. This parallels the Jewish custom of Sabbath and some Christian customs of preparing for The Lord's Day. How we move into darkness is essential. How we move from knowing into unknowing is an essential part of any spiritual journey. In the beginning the world was shapeless and void...

In AA, the first step is to admit one is powerless. Yes, powerless. A twelve-step program does not build you up like some pep rally shouting "You can do it!" No. It is too wise for that. The program knows that the power to change is beyond any one of us. A higher power must step in. That will happen in later steps. But to make room for that higher power, we have to first admit our own powerless. There is simply not enough room for both the alcoholic and God in the same ego. Heh. We have to stop flailing around as if all our actions were purposeful and helpful. For the addict, such action is actually the problem.

There is an important bit of spiritual wisdom in this. Yes, the twelve steps are intense. They have to be. But their earnestness does not subtract from their truthfulness. The earnestness and the desperation of those who cling to the promises within admitting powerlessness witness to the truth that we always begin in darkness. God creates from the void, from chaos, from the abyss. To save our life we must first lose it. To find light, we must begin in darkness.

I like the idea of beginning the Sabbath in the evening. It is a quiet time. We are gearing down and not gearing up. It helps give an appropriate context to Sabbath. But it serves as an appropriate reminder that, in the end, I am powerless. I find my being not in my own willfulness, but in entering nothingness, darkness, and God's own presence.

Megan's post is here. It's quite insightful.

For my money, this is the best idea in the chapter. It bears repeating.

"Gently alters the quality of our attention."

Over the millennia of human development, lots of different people who have become recognized as spiritual leaders from diverse cultures have articulated this same idea. How you focus on or attend to what's going on around you determines the quality of your spiritual experience.

oy...

So, the power is back up. This is a good thing. But the cable company is still trying to get their stuff together. I do not have internet at the house. It's no great loss. I kind of like the breathing room. But it means I came into the office with a ton of e-mail. Ah well...

happy sunday

I'm not sure I can call it a sermon...not really. Heh. So, I'll spruce it up a bit. Preach it and see what happens. In the mean, here is a quotation for you...

Teilhard de Chardin says, "By means of all created things, without exception, the divine assails us, penetrates us and moulds us. We imagined it as distant and inaccessible, whereas in fact we live steeped in its burning layers. In eo vivimus. As Jacob said, awakening from his dream, the world, this palpable world, which we were wont to treat with the boredom and disrespect with which we habitually regard places with no sacred association for us, is in truth a holy place, and we did not know it. "

We still don't have power. And I still need to sleep.

satreday

The rain is falling gently now. Our home is still without power, but at least it is dry. Thank God.

So, yesterday I needed to visit someone in the hospital. So, after working at the church, I headed home to shower and get some lunch. The shower was great. But then I remembered that lunch would be an issue. No power...and we're trying to keep cool things cool. I resigned myself to paying for yet another meal.

Well, I turned a corner on my way to the hospital and lo and behold there was lunch. A local meat market where I occasionally shop had set up their grill on the sidewalk. You see, they have no power either. They were giving away their brats. Yep. Free. No point in throwing them away, and knowing that others around we struggling, the just grilled 'em up. I popped a buck down for the soda and enjoyed my brat. I met a few new people and generally had a great time.

It's a small example of the kinds of choices we can make when times get difficult.

alive and kickin'

When the President was asked about global warming at a public appearance yesterday, he responded by talking about America's addiction to oil. You make the connection.
- Gwen Ifill

For the record. We are fine. Chateau Ouilmette took a little damage when the tree in front of the house fell apart. Hey. At least now we have an excuse to replace the gutter. Right? Right. But much of the village was not as fortunate. I have been contacting my flock and hearing stories about flooded basements and damaged homes. Nearly everyone has a tree down on their property. These shearing winds and microbursts are horrible. The tornado sirens went off a couple of times yesterday...and many inches of rain have fallen over the week. And I have heard that we should expect 1"-3" more today. Well...ain't that just what the meteorologist ordered!

The church is dry. It has power. Chateau Ouilmette is dry but it has no power. It's been an amazing 24 hours. Check out the news if you get a chance. Much of the upper midwest and such have been hit really hard in the last couple of weeks. Chicago is no different. I personally blame Flock of Seagulls for their excessive use of aerosol hair products. Or was it the Mandrel sisters?

and we're done...

The service has been postponed. Village authorities are calling homes...telling everyone to stay in tonight. Too much water and freely roaming electricity.

So, those of us who came anyway prayed, sang and remembered. It was lovely. I am going home to my dark house. Adieu!

wah?!

Well, there goes silence...heavy winds and rain. No power at the parsonage. Leaky roof at the church. The tree in the front yard of the parsonage fell apart...tore up the gutters goo, but otherwise things seem okay.

Oy.

Veh.

Pray for me. Urggle. Pray for all the people without electricity, whose homes are now homes for trees.

a memorial service

How do you prepare for a memorial service? I find myself engaging silence a lot. I sit quietly. I pray. I feel. It's a preparing of sorts for what I have to do. I am the person who stands up and helps us all remember the deceased and the divine...and that somehow they have grown closer together and not farther apart.

The scripture that the family has given me to speak from is 1 Corinthians 13...the whole chapter. Here it is.

1 Cor 13

The Gift of Love

13If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast,* but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror, dimly,* but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Can you imagine the kind of person who is remembered in this way by her brother and her son? They could think of no other way to describe her. They could think of no other way to honor her than to praise God for her. So, we will open our service singing Rejoice, the Lord is King. God has overcome death. This is what we proclaim. And love is the evidence of such a divine act.

This should be an incredible evening.

His kingdom cannot fail, He rules o’er earth and Heav’n,
The keys of death and hell are to our Jesus giv’n;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

sabbath 30: breaking the trance

We are most deeply asleep at the switch
when we fancy we control
any switches at all. We sleep
to time's hurdy-gurdy;
we wake, if we ever wake,
to the silence of God.
- Annie Dillard

In this chapter, as Megan says, Wayne very eloquently restates the message of the previous chapters. Too much stuff, too much work, too little time, too little sleep, not enough time with family, not enough quality this, that, or the other thing...Sometimes we have to step away from our "purpose-filled" lives. We have to seek balance. Yes, there are demands. Yes, many of them are worthy or necessary. And yet there is a need of balance.

I find myself wanting to reiterate more of the previous chapters from here. Wayne just wraps it up. Perhaps he is wiser for it. My wheels start spinning...There is just so much more, so many connections to enjoy. And that's just the point.

Sometimes we have to let it go, seek the center, and find the balance.

Community Church is looking forward to Rally Day. Rally Day is the celebration of the new church program year. Typically we choose a theme for the year. This year the theme is "Simplicity." I will be taking some cues from Sabbath where it fits. This chapter fits. Center. Balance. Seek first the Kingdom of God.

take a trip

My wife is little.

ancient bridge

My friend, Randy, is on a trip to Rome and then a cruise around the Med Sea. He's posting pictures on his Flickr account. Wow.

Jealous.

doorway and steps

I don't know why, but this photo has been on my mind of late. It's such a powerful image...and such a sad one. And then I heard a setting of Psalm 22 on my i-tunes. So, like any good affluent sort, I figured I would post these things on my blog. Now, what can I do about all this?

Psalm 22

To the leader: according to The Deer of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
1My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
2O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.


3Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5To you they cried, and were saved;
in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.


6But I am a worm, and not human;
scorned by others, and despised by the people.
7All who see me mock at me;
they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;
8‘Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
let him rescue the one in whom he delights!’


9Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
10On you I was cast from my birth,
and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
11Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.


12Many bulls encircle me,
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.


14I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
15my mouth* is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.


16For dogs are all around me;
a company of evildoers encircles me.
My hands and feet have shrivelled;*
17I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
18they divide my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.


19But you, O Lord, do not be far away!
O my help, come quickly to my aid!
20Deliver my soul from the sword,
my life* from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!


From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued* me.
22I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;*
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24For he did not despise or abhor
the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,*
but heard when I* cried to him.


25From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
26The poor* shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
May your hearts live for ever!


27All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before him.*
28For dominion belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.


29To him,* indeed, shall all who sleep in* the earth bow down;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
and I shall live for him.*
30Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord,
31and* proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that he has done it.

a bunch of us

This is another photo from Mae's birthday party. We had a great time. There were a couple of other folk chatting in the kitchen...I wish we had been able to squeeze them in the picture as well.

Well, all the golf courses are closed. We have had so much rain this week that they are flooded. It's sad to me. I was hoping to go out with my friend, Doug. He's a great person to play with. Good for a laugh and big hearted. Ah well.

I guess I will spend a day relaxing. I'll likely go out to lunch with my friend, Amy.

leadership?

Here is an interesting quotation for you from some article I read recently that Jane Ellen also read...All the information on the article is at the office. I''ll try to get the info for you if you are interested. The article is about church leadership.

"Passive systems are systems of sameness. Yet sameness is eventually terminal. Ask any
biologist and he or she will tell you that diversity and the adaptability necessary to
sustain it are exactly what is required for living systems to thrive. Eliminate even a
few species from an ecosystem and the system begins to fail.
So it is in human systems. We need difference, not because it looks good to the outside
world, not because it is mandated at some denominational level, but because it's healthy."

happy birthday, mae

We celebrated Mae's birthday last night. It was a great time. Friends gathered. Guacamole was had by most. Ice cream was had by all (Well, Mae didn't like what I brought. I tried so hard!!!). Randy brought his new camera with him. It takes great pictures...all purdy and fancy-like.

A storm rolled through at about 4:00 this morning. I have been up since 4:30. It was loud and I could not get back to sleep. So, the coffee is brewing. Yeah, that's good news.

Follow the link to the rest of the photos. There are some great ones.

sermon: burning down the house

Follow the extended link for the sermon...unless you are going to be in church at Community or Reconciler this Sunday. Then you might wanna wait.

Sermon: Proper 15 (20) Year C 2007
Community Church of Wilmette
Church of Jesus Christ, Reconciler
August 19, 2007

Readings

Burning Down the House

How often do we pass the peace of Christ? At least once a month on Communion Sunday in this congregation. Our Lutheran brothers and sisters across the way reminded us last weekend that they pass the peace every time they gather. Wonderful!

The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.
Greet one another with a sign of peace.

We love to speak about how Jesus brings peace. We have images of lilies in the fields. We are not to worry for our lives. Our lives are held in the loving embrace of God. In the nativity story, Matthew's telling of Jesus' birth, angels will appear and proclaim Christ to be the Prince of Peace. Our images of Christ's peacefulness and gentleness are well-founded. We aren't making them up. So what the heck is going on in our Gospel reading this morning from Luke? What is the prophet Jeremiah trying to tell us about the nature of God's judgment?

The Hebrews have always understood the deeply rooted existence of injustice and “wickedness.” In our psalm this morning even the gods are held in contempt because they too have fallen prey to the temptation of oppression and subjugation. Through the psalmist's words the Most High God judges a holy court of other gods.

"How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?

Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.

Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."

Jeremiah will say that God's word on such matters is like a fire. It will break open rock with its heat.

This morning we encounter Jesus upsetting the boat. His words are from an age old tradition in Judaism. His words are echoes of the psalmist. They are prophetic like those of Jeremiah. Jesus knows that when we are in the presence of God, the order of things, the world as we know gets turned around. The Prince of Peace is proclaiming something utterly removed from what we imagine as peacefulness. Instead of singing the Eagles' Peaceful Easy Feelin', we have a Jesus singing the Talking Heads' Burning Down the House!

Watch out
You might get what you're after
Cool babies
Strange but not a stranger
I'm an ordinary guy
Burning down the house

Hold tight wait till the party's over
Hold tight were in for nasty weather
There has got to be a way
Burning down the house

Here we are, encountering the disquieting Christ. Here we are encountering the Truth of the Gospel and how, if we are honest with ourselves, it really plays out. You see, the Good News is always good, but it will not necessarily be received peacefully. The world will push against it.

The world will deny it.
The heavens will deny it.
The world will attempt to stifle those who proclaim it.

The world will flee from it.
And when this does not work, the world will co-opt it and find a way to gain more power with the same message.

Telling the truth about God, that God loves the world, that God created it good, actually upsets the world in which we live. Sometimes telling this truth, like telling other truths, causes a lot of trouble. It will burn down the house!

Jesus knows this. Jesus knows that though his message is one of Love, that it will be felt as fire by all. You. Me. The apostles. The Pharisees. Pilate. All of us will encounter a flame. And our houses will fall.

“From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." (Luke 12:52-53)

Here Jesus seems to attack the most important social structure of the first century. Some say the family is still the most important structure, the lowest common social denominator, or the principal economic unit. And Jesus comes right at it and says that even this, even this will be found wanting in the light of the Love of God. Even this does not measure up. It is not prepared for the Love of Christ.

We cannot rest on our laurels and be satisfied with the status quo. The status quo will fly apart when we speak the truth.

The status quo is comfortable with oppression. It is comfortable with inequity. It is comfortable with violence. It has resigned itself to a world where unfairness is part of the game. It knows that power is real and that some people have none. The status quo revels in this. And we who live in the status quo know how to play the game. We know how to get ahead. We know how to get the leg up. We know how to take advantage of the systems whether they be the tax code, the legal system, or the remnants of our welfare state. We all learn, rich and poor, through cynicism and despair, how to live in the status quo.

Jesus wants to undo this. Jesus' entire ministry is about uncovering this truth about ourselves, about the world, and proclaiming an alternative.

Here's your ticket pack your bag: time for jumpin' overboard
The transportation is here
Close enough but not too far, maybe you know where you are
Fightin' fire with fire

All wet
Hey you might need a raincoat
Shakedown
Dreams walking in broad daylight
Three hun-dred six-ty five de-grees
Burning down the house

Jesus delivers this message of fire and justice on his way to Jerusalem. He knows what will befall him. He is on the way to the cross. He knows that he has to die. He knows that the powers and principalities (the church and the state) will try and put out the fire he started. He has called them out. He has shown his followers what they are really about. He is holding everyone – you, me, us, the apostles, the Pharisees, the government, the religious institutions – accountable for the world in which we find ourselves. And he knows that we cannot handle the critique.

He is a dream walking in broad daylight. We are asleep. And we do not want to awaken...even though our dreams are not sweet. So, Jesus burns down the house.

The powers think that they have put out the fire.
They crucify Jesus.

The followers of Christ will also think that the story is over. They will believe that the fire has been extinguished as well. But no. Two women will run to the tomb and there they will encounter the resurrection. The fire of the Gospel, the Love of God, cannot be extinguished, not even by death. The judgment has come to fruition and even death has no hold on the truth of God's love.

Women come, the downtrodden, the mistaken, the unloved, and they encounter the Risen Christ. And Jesus will appear to others. He will dine with them. He will ask them to continue his work. This fire will be passed on from generation to generation in the church.

Passing the peace of Christ is greeting one another in love. It is upholding one another in gentleness. But the peace of the Lord is a fire. When we pass the peace of Christ with one another, we pass a torch. We pass a flame.

God wants us to share this Love with the world. It is a love that will continue to challenge everything about our lives...the way we engage politics, the way we do business, and the way that we love our mothers, fathers, spouses, and children.

And though the world will push back...we know that there is a Resurrection. We know that though the world always seems to have a step on us, in the end is the Resurrection, God's love fulfilled, the world judged, and though it is found wanting, it is met with grace and forgiveness no less. And we will all be redeemed.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.
Greet one another with the sign of peace.

Amen.

the sermon

Dylan posted this lectionary help. Remarkable stuff. Take a gander at it. My sermon is 98% done. I am going to read through it a few more times from the pulpit this morning. I think I am on to something similar to Dylan. But she's a rock star this week.

Give it a read. I managed to incorporate the Talking Heads' Burning Down the House. That might pull me a little closer to the "cool as Dylan" column.

blending is nice

A science which does not bring us nearer to God is worthless.

-Simone Weil (1909-1943)

Over the last several days I have been enjoying a bag of Sumatra coffee beans. They are almost sweet, and have this robust finish too them. They are not bitter, but nutty. I really like them. So, a couple of days ago I went to my current favorite coffee monger and spoke to him about the bean and what might make a good blend. He said that he loves to blend the Sumatra coffee bean with your basic Columbian. "Tastes like chocolate cake!" he said. We spoke a little longer about African beans as well. I love the African beans. So, yesterday I thought that I would swing by and get a bag of the Ethiopian Harrar. It's a great "Get yer butt movin' in the mornin'" bean. When I awoke this morning it occurred to me to blend the Sumatra with the Ethiopian. What the heck!

Well, my friends in coffeeland, this is a rich, rich blend. Both beans are nutty, so there is this almost woodsy back end. The sweetness of the Sumatra is there as a hint, but when combined with the Ethiopian it tastes like a dark, dark chocolate. I added just a little cream to my mug this morning. I am a happy camper. Sometimes blending is nice.

Yesterday, I had a meeting downtown at the Archdiocese. I am the ABC-Metro rep to the "Ecumenical Millennium Committee." This committee is the newly named Christian unity group here. You know, the National Council of Churches etc. Yeah. That stuff. The National Workshop for Christian Unity will be held here in the Chicagoland area in April of '08. I serve on the subcommittee that is planning four local workshops. The national level folk plan several workshops. Added to those each year are four local workshops. It's been fun getting to know these people.

One of the people on the committee is a nun who works at the Archdiocese. We spoke about a million and one things yesterday including avowed religious life. She informed me that there is also an ecumenical effort here in Chicago to bring the various groups together as well. Yes, there are myriad Protestant religious communities, some avowed, some more like communes, in the Chicago area. She is trying to get these groups to come together to support one another. She remarked how interesting it is that the there is a growth in Protestant organizations while at the same time the Catholic orders are struggling so greatly. She said that coming together would likely yield fruit for all. Sometimes blending is nice.

I spoke to her about living in community in Richmond and the Community of the Holy Trinity (an inactive blog, but the info is good.) that Larry serves as abbot. She asked me if I considered myself a religious. I said I would like to...but it's been difficult (see: prayer post yesterday). She smiled and said that I should come to the meetings anyway. I asked if I could bring friends. "Absolutely!" Larry already knows. Jorge? What do you think? Sometimes blending is nice.

up before coffee

Prayer is not an old woman’s idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.

— Mohandas Gandhi

Prayer, suggests Thomas Merton, is as necessary as breathing. But, he says, it is a learned activity. It is not a function of the autonomic nervous system. "Prayer and love are learned in the hour when prayer becomes impossible and your heart has turned to stone." We can engage in liturgical prayer. And it is vital. It is true prayer. It trains us for the moment when we have lost ourselves, when the darkness of the world is finally revealed and the truly radical word of Christ is shown it's context: a world that killed the messenger.

I have found myself struggling with prayer of late. I have been forgetting to pray. By no means does this make me unusual. I realize this. But I have finally noticed that I have not been praying. Heh. Welcome to humanity, Tripp. I have been doing everything else except praying. So, this morning I returned to my icons...these are my friends in prayer.

The candles are lit. I have two. The mantle that holds the icons is in two parts, so it just makes sense to me. The Pantokrator is lit. So too is the Guardian Angel. Don't forget Mary. How can one have an iconostasis and omit Mary? Heh. Even a Baptist iconostasis needs Mary. I guess I am reaching out to God now, as Merton suggests, because it's all I know how to do...and because I cannot seem to do it.

In blogging this, I see some kind of desperation in my tone. That's not what I'm feeling. But I have sat down with my calendar. That's always a stunning revelation. "I agreed to what? When? With whom?! Wow." Ever have one of those days? I keep finding myself reshuffling. And then my work as a pastor always challenges me. There is seldom a day when I am not pushed somehow by the Holy Spirit...either on the Spirit's own accord or through the hands, comments, or affections of someone to whom I minister. And in all this it is easy, painfully easy to forget to pray. One would think that the opposite would be true.

But it is not. Years and years, generations really, of pastoral wisdom and experience suggests that the prayer life is first to go. I am nothing exceptional in this regard. And so I do what others do. I start again. I come back to God in prayer.

The mornings are best for me. The candles, the first perks of the coffee maker, all join me in praise of God. The sun will rise in the east. God arises this morning. And I reach out in faith.

"Thank you."

wow...

Cheney spoke about invading Iraq in 1994. He didn't think it was a great idea. Huh...Take a gander at this video. Does anyone know the context?

finally got around to it

Last night I finally finished Brian D. McLaren's A Generous Orthodoxy. For those of you who don't know, it is a book heralded to be the first thing you read if you want to know about the Emergent church movement. For those of you who thought I was part of the Emergent movement, now you can be assured that I have actually read McLaren. Aren't we all happy? I've been orbiting around the Emergent folk for so long. It's good to have finally read this book. My overall impression? It's worth your time to read it. I did not find it challenging per se, as much as I found it hopeful...difficult and hopeful.

When I was in college (I graduated in 1992.), I met Christians who were talking about some of the stuff that McLaren, Doug Pagitt and others (see: Ekklesia Project) have become famous for of late. The best thing I read in the book was that these guys were part of those early conversations. Nice. So, in a sense, there was nothing new in this book for me...and for many of you who read this blog, you might have the same experience. But McLaren says the things that I have been trying to say for so long. I am thrilled he has. I am glad people are listening. I hope that the Emergent church stops where it is before it becomes another evangelical protestant denomination known for walking away from those who gave them Jesus in the first place. I'm just sayin'.

So, get thee to thine favourite bookmonger. Buy it, check it out of the library. The next book I am gonna tackle is An Emergent Manifesto of Hope. It's a series of essays from several in the movement. We'll see what they have to say. And, as soon as the words untangle in my brain, I'll tell you a little more about McLaren's theology and why I like it.

big breath...whew!

What a day! Wow. It was just full of full of full of conversation and thinking and, well, challenging stuff. We spoke about leadership and what that looks like. We spoke about the direction of Community Church. I answered scores of e-mails. I thought more about banners than I ever wanted to think about. Oh...and the website. It was just one of those days. Urf.

So, at 5:30 I went to the driving range and hit some stuff. Sometimes I actually hit golf balls. I like it when that happens. Sometimes those same golf balls went straight! Who knew that so much could happen?

Yeah. I'm tired...tired and punchy.

Oh, I read this essay.

To repeat: religion is not the source of violence but the solution to it—the overcoming of mimetic desire and the transcending of the resentments and jealousies into which human communities are tempted by their competitive dynamic.

Give it a shot. It's an interesting, if brief, read.

Oh, and the Young Fogey posted a link to this article about the Southern Baptist Convention and war...All I can say is "wow."

In a 1937 resolution on war and peace, it was first stated:

* That we believe that the great world powers having outlawed war by treaty and having committed themselves to the policy of the peaceful settlement of all international disagreements can and ought to find solution of all their problems without the arbitrament of arms.
* As citizens of the United States we will do everything possible to keep our nation out of war, and we reaffirm our opposition to all aggressive war at home or aboard.

And then it was resolved, regarding international relationships:

* We recognize that a warless world is the Christian ideal and that we Christians should throw all our weight and power into the balance for peace.
* That we petition the President of the United States to consider the advisability of calling a conference of world powers to consider the possibility of disarmament, believing that this would do much to relieve strained international relationships which are endangering world peace at the present time.

five

Yes, five times now that our account has been broken into...This is the first where the bank caught it and called us to warn us. That's an improvement. But beyond that the customer service lacked a certain, I dunno, compassion. So, we're finally going to cash out, put everything in a mattress, and get a big dog. Yeah. That's gonna improve everything.

monday musings: the great to do list

I am taking a little step back today from the internet. There are one or two pieces of business that I need to attend to on-line, but otherwise, you shant see me here...I think. Ah, who knows. All I know is that it's Monday and I have a "To Do" list a little longer than I would like on my day off.

For your reading pleasure...

Megan posted on Chapter 29 of Sabbath. It's a good post, challenging in its way. Can you give up TV? Really?

And I tweaked my sermon a little before I preached it. It's not so very different, but if you have a moment, follow the extended link an give it a go. By the way, the service with our Lutheran sisters and brothers was fantastic. We'll certainly do it again.

Sermon: Proper 14 (19)
Worship at the Beach – Gillson Park
Community Church of Wilmette and Wilmette Lutheran Church
August 12, 2007

“...That There is Need of Patience”

Faith is an ever-widening circle of what is known and what is unknown.

Work with me for a minute here. If you can, imagine your glass on the table. The base of your glass is what you know. The edges of that glass point you to all the things that you might know. This is your “growing edge.” For the Christian, this is the place of spiritual growth, expansion, experience, study, and prayer. Now, imagine that the base of your glass is larger. Now you know more. You have more information at your disposal. This is the fruit of prayer, experience, study and compassionate action. But the edges are greater, too. Now you are even more aware of how much more you do not know. You are now aware that there is more to know than you had ever imagined. Thus, the old adage, “The more I learn, the less I know.”

This is the kind of thinking that Paul is engaging in his letter to the Hebrews. They know and yet they do not see. They have faith in God but they want the end result of faith at the same time. They want the city of God right now…and for good reason. They are being persecuted and are stumbling. They want the beginning and the end of the process in one swift moment. And Paul pities them in this. He has compassion for them. But, in the end, his response is this – “have patience.”

Paul understands the very nature of following Christ. Christians are looking to a future place; a way of being that is not yet here. It is promised to us but it is not yet present with us...not in its fullness. Paul knows that this is difficult. But he does not back down from this truth…even in the face of the Hebrews’ struggle with disillusionment.

Jesus also understands that there is something else at work…something beyond what we can see and what we do. And he wants people to be ready.

***

“You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."

***

You know...When Robin and I first started talking about this shared worship service, I was enjoying some of the stereotypes that our two traditions like to toss around. And when it came around that I would preach, I thought that, perhaps just for fun, I would preach a forty-five minute sermon on the dangers of Hell. That would be fun! What a glorious stereotype! A little ecumenical humor can go a long way. And then I read the lectionary. “Oh,” I said. “Hey, God, I was just kidding!”

So often we see this passage from Luke as a threat. So often it has been interpreted as a threat. I have visions of Robin Williams in my head. “This time God is coming back and he's not gonna look like Ted Nugent!” It breeds so much fear. But brothers and sisters this is not a threat. It is, instead, a promise.

It is a promise like the one given to Abraham.
It is a promise like that given to all those who follow Abraham.
I will be with you, says Jesus, until the end of the age.
It is the promised presence of the Love of God.
And in this we must have faith.

Paul goes on to list those who exemplify this kind of faithfulness.

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Joseph, the youngest son and interpreter of dreams of Technicolor Dreamcoat fame, Moses, The people of Israel as they walked out of Egypt into the wilderness, Rahab the prostitute, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephtha, David, Samuel, all the prophets...martyrs of the past and martyrs of Paul's own time embody the kind of faithfulness Paul and Jesus speak of. None of them received what was promised. But they received the promise itself, and they lived into the promise.

They took that first step on the journey and did not leave it even when all seemed to come to an end.

We must ask ourselves if we are expecting a different result than what the heroes of faith encountered as we follow in the footsteps of Abraham...and if this is wise. Are we expecting the promise to have a different impact on our lives...a different claim than it did on the Hebrews listening to Paul’s letter or on those to whom Jesus was speaking?

Perhaps we hope that things have changed…that we have evolved, that somehow things have improved. I am not sure they have. Why? Because we have our own heroes.

Martin Luther King
Jack Fox
The South Korean missionaries held hostage in Afghanistan
Any of us who wish for more of God's reign in the world and are making sacrifices to that end...

Our world's needs have not changed. The dangers of proclaiming the Gospel have not gone away. People still suffer oppression, violence, extreme poverty, and are burdened with relationships that do not sustain love. There is need of the Gospel of Christ…That God so loved the world. This is still the promise. It has not changed.

The needs of God’s Created have not changed. Thus, the Promise of God remains.

Abraham made a life out of his journey. He left what he knew, the people who loved him, all to follow some God to some promised land in an act of faithfulness to God and was promised that he would be the father to nations...And he never saw it fulfilled. The same is true for Moses and all those who wandered in the desert for forty years.

We are all such wanderers.

Abraham did not live to see the fruition of the promise. But Abraham had faith.

Abraham lived into the promise. He lived into that growing edge, into what he did not know, what he could not experience, what he could only proclaim from faith, from hope. This is true for each of these heroes of the faith. This is true for each Christian that has passed before us. They have received glimpses of promises fulfilled. They see the first steps of a journey. And we each have taken up their mantle through our Baptism.

But as the journey does not belong to simply one of us, the individual, but to all of us, we only see our part of the shared journey and not the entirety of it. That, scripture says, comes later at an unexpected hour.

We are a wilderness people, a pilgrim people. We cannot deny this truth about our faith. Christianity is a strange religion because it is not about certainty of what is felt, touched, or even as we Baptists love to proclaim, what is experienced. Faith is about what is promised and what will be fulfilled beyond our knowing. It is about what is uncertain. To seek certainty may be to seek something that is not possible for the Christian.

There is no secret knowledge.
There is no hidden truth.
There is only the promise of God.

It is the nature of Christian faith to live in this paradox. We know that we do not know. And yet we have faith.

This morning I am aware that we have much to teach one another. Baptist and Lutheran understandings of the Gospel differ. This should come as no surprise. The bases of our glasses, however, are similar; our circles of knowledge overlap a great deal. This is true. And they expand out in different directions revealing uncommon experience and knowledge. We can share this with one another through shared prayer and worship, by sharing the table with one another, and by this sharing come to encounter more of the Unknowable God.

I hope that this may not be a cause of frustration for us.
It must be a cause of celebration.
For the more we understand, the more we encounter God in what is unknown.
Our differences, brothers and sisters, are opportunities for growth.

Our God is a God of history...not simply of what has passed and what is known, but a God of the unknown, of the promised but not yet fulfilled. God cannot be contained, boxed in, or reigned in. Why? Because the God who stands with us, who upholds the poor, and who cries out for justice in our present time, who asks us to sell all that we have and give it to the poor, is also the God who stands in the unknown, the future...

...beyond our capacity for knowledge, but not our capacity for faith...

...not our capacity for hope.

If we want to stand with those who are preparing for the thief in the night as Luke proclaims...If we want to stand with those who prepare the way of the Lord, if we care to be prophetic, to seek justice, to proclaim mercy, to be peace-givers, light-bearers, if we care to be a part of a Kingdom that will turn the world on it's ears, then we have to stand in the unknown. We have to hold to promises that we may not see fulfilled. We have to stand on the promises.

This is our growing edge....Faith is an ever-widening circle of what is known and what is unknown. Thus we can proclaim in faith, “God is here! Prepare ye the way of the Lord!”

Amen.

sermon: proper 14 (19) year c 2007

Sermon: Proper 14 (19)
Worship at the Beach – Gillson Park
Community Church of Wilmette and Wilmette Lutheran Church
August 12, 2007

“...That There is Need of Patience”

Faith is an ever-widening circle of what is known and what is unknown.

Work with me for a minute here. If you can, imagine your glass on the table. The base of your glass is what you know. The edges of that glass point you to all the things that you might know. This is your “growing edge.” For the Christian, this is the place of spiritual growth, expansion, experience, study, and prayer. Now, imagine that the base of your glass is larger. Now you know more. You have more information at your disposal. This is the fruit of prayer, experience, study and compassionate action. But the edges are greater, too. Now you are even more aware of what you do not know. You are now aware that there is more to know than you had ever imagined. Thus, the old adage, “The more I learn, the less I know.”

This is the kind of thinking that Paul is engaging in his letter to the Hebrews. They know and yet they do not see. They have faith but they want the end result of faith at the same time. They are being persecuted and are stumbling. They want the beginning and the end of the process in one swift moment. Paul pities them. He has compassion for them. But, in the end, his response is this – “have patience.”

We are looking to a future place, a way of being that is not yet here. It is promised to us but it is not yet present with us...not in its fullness. Jesus also understands that there is something else at work. He wants people to be ready.

***

“You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."

***

You know...When Robin and I first started talking about this shared worship service, I was enjoying some of the stereotypes that our two traditions like to toss around. And when it came around that I would preach, I thought that, perhaps just for fun, I would preach a forty-five minute sermon on the dangers of Hell. That would be fun! What a glorious stereotype! A little ecumenical humor can go a long way. And then I read the lectionary. “Oh,” I said. “Hey, God, I was just kidding!”

So often we see this passage from Luke as a threat. So often it has been interpreted as a threat. I have visions of Robin Williams in my head. “This time God is coming back and he's not gonna look like Ted Nugent!” It breeds so much fear. But brothers and sisters this is not a threat. It is, instead, a promise.
It is a promise like the one given to Abraham.
It is a promise like that given to all those who follow Abraham.
I will be with you, says Jesus, until the end of the age.
It is the promised presence of the Love of God.
And in this we must have faith.

Paul goes on to list other who exemplify this kind of faithfulness.

Abraham Isaac Jacob Esau Joseph, the youngest son and interpreter of dreams of Technicolor Dreamcoat fame Moses The people of Israel as they walked out of Egypt into the wilderness Rahab the prostitute Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephtha, David, Samuel, all the prophets...martyrs of the past and martyrs of Paul's own time. None of them received what was promised. But they received the promise, and they lived into the promise.

They took that first step on the journey and did not leave it even when all seemed to come to an end.

We must ask ourselves if we are expecting a different result...and if this is wise. Are we expecting the promise to have a different impact on our lives...a different claim than it did on the Hebrews or on those to whom Jesus was speaking?

Perhaps we hope that things have changed. But I am not sure they have.
Martin Luther King
Jack Fox
The South Korean missionaries held hostage in Afghanistan
Any of us who wish for more of God's reign in the world and are making sacrifices to that end...

Our world's needs have not changed. The dangers have not gone away. People still suffer oppression, violence, extreme poverty, and are burdened with relationships that do not sustain love.

The needs have not changed. Thus, the promises remain.

Abraham made a life out of his journey. He left what he knew, the people who loved him, all to follow some God to some promised land in order to be the father to nations...And he never saw it fulfilled. The same is true for Moses and all those who wandered in the desert for forty years.

We are all such wanderers.

Abraham did not live to see the fruition of the promise. But Abraham had faith. Abraham lived into the promise. He lived into that growing edge, into what he did not know, what he could not experience, what he could only proclaim from faith, from hope. This is true for each of these heroes of the faith. This is true for each Christian that has passed before us. They have received glimpses of promises fulfilled. They see the first steps of a journey.
But as the journey does not belong to simply one of us, the individual, but to all of us, we only see our part of the shared journey and not the entirety of it. That, scripture says, comes later.

We are a wilderness people, a pilgrim people. We cannot deny this truth about our faith. Christianity is a strange religion because it is not about certainty of what is felt, touched, or even as we Baptists love to proclaim, what is experienced. Faith is about what is promised and what will be fulfilled beyond our knowing. It is about what is uncertain. To seek certainty may be to seek something that is not possible for the Christian.

There is no secret knowledge.
There is no hidden truth.
There is only the promise of God.

It is the nature of Christian faith to live in this paradox. We know that we do not know. And yet we have faith.

This morning I am aware that we have much to teach one another. Baptist and Lutheran understandings of the Gospel differ. This should come as no surprise. The bases of our glasses, however, are similar, our circles of knowledge overlap a great deal. This is true. And they expand out in different directions revealing uncommon experience and knowledge. We can share this with one another through shared prayer and worship, by sharing the table with one another, and by this sharing come to encounter more of the Unknowable God.

I hope that this may not be a cause of frustration for us.
It must be a cause of celebration.
For the more we understand, the more we encounter God in what is unknown.
Our differences, brothers and sisters, are opportunities for growth.

Our God is a God of history...not simply of what has passed and what is known, but a God of the unknown, of the promised but not yet fulfilled. God cannot be contained, boxed in, or reigned in. Why? Because the God who stands with us, who upholds the poor, and who cries out for justice in our present time, who asks us to sell all that we have and give it to the poor, is also the God who stands in the unknown, the future...

...beyond our capacity for knowledge, but not our capacity for faith...

...not our capacity for hope.

If we want to stand with those who are preparing for the thief in the night as Luke proclaims...If we want to stand with those who prepare the way of the Lord, if we care to be prophetic, to seek justice, to proclaim mercy, to be peace-givers, light-bearers, if we care to be a part of a Kingdom that will turn the world on it's ears, then we have to stand in the unknown. We have to hold to promises that we may not see fulfilled. We have to stand on the promises.

This is our growing edge....Faith is an ever-widening circle of what is known and what is unknown. Thus we can proclaim in faith, “God is here! Prepare ye the way of the Lord!”

Amen.

porch

There is something about coffee on the porch in the morning that just makes me happy. So I thought I would share this photo with you this morning. This is this morning's coffee tray. We are using the "Saturday Dishes" as is our want on Saturday.

The porch has become central in my thinking this summer. Kyle Childress, a pastor in Texas, has a ministry of porch sitting. He meets people on their porches. That's where ministry occurs. It is so much of how he works that his church built a new porch on his house. I love a porch. So, Kyle's ministry is something I feel pretty comfortable adopting. I have lived on my porch this summer.

This week the porch was given a fresh coat of paint. The porch has these nifty windows to make it livable three seasons out of the year. But that also means that over time moisture can build up. Mildew and mold grow. It's not pleasant. The painters did a great job cleaning, priming and painting the porch. I am hopeful that we'll avoid spores for a while. We'll see.

Come out to the porch for a cuppa jo. Come by for dinner. You'll likely meet a new friend or two. There's badminton in the back yard, too. Think of it as your daily workout.

I'm going to enjoy my coffee now. Y'all enjoy your day.

From this Sunday's lectionary:

Agnusday.org

wednesday linkage: specializing in religious debate

In religion, what damned error, but some sober brow will bless it and approve it with a text, hiding the grossness with fair ornament?
- Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, III:2

Please pardon the tardiness of this posting, my friends. I have had a very busy day and blogging simply had to wait. I am sure you have all been awaiting my update with bated breath. Oh yeah. That's it.

So, this week's Wednesday Linkage is special because there are only three links I wish to share with you. Somehow they are connected in my brain. I am still trying to figure out why exactly, but this is often my challenge.

First, The Living Church Foundation posted an article by the dean of my seminary alma mater, Seabury Western Theological Seminary. The Very Reverend Gary Hall is responding to some criticisms about the commencement service this past June. The newly elected Presiding Bishop was the preacher. And, it would seem, the communion bread was gluten free, thus it fell apart a little easily. Give it a read.

The second link is from BlogHer. They have featured the RevGalBlogPal webring as one worth reading. They see the freedom of religious dialogue without rancor as laudable...and surprising! That's probably what caught my attention most of all. I concur with the laudable aspect, which is why I belong to that webring. BlogHer just had a conference, I believe. And unless I am mistaken, it was here in Chicago. But I may be confused. It happens.

Thirdly, is this post at Dracula Man. I think that the authors at Dracula Man are not Christian. They may be athiest/agnostic. I dunno. I have not gotten to know them well enough to know that yet. At least one of them is a good musician. Perhaps more are. We'll see is my guesses are correct. Anyway, they are rightly offended by Westboro Baptist Church's interpretation of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

The three of these posts all came to me during the morning and I have been sitting on them all day wondering what it is about religious debate that is so very troublesome...at least it's troublesome to me. These conversations are for the most part appropriate. The one at Dracula Man is not really a conversation as much as it is a rant. Maybe someone from Westboro will chime in. I don't know. That would spice things up a bit. Also, interestingly, Dr. Jerome Pestlebottom does not think that the Marlboro folk are particularly Christian. So, at least I am not being saddled with the task of crafting an apologetic for the position. Heh. But at Living Church and BlogHer (RevGalBlogPal by extension), the conversations are fine, easy really. So, what the heck is so irksome to me?

Is it that crumbly communion bread troubles people? Does this irk me? I mean, as a Baptist I have no room at all to talk about communion bread! Generally, we have very low regard for that element. White bread (sometimes stale) goes well with grape juice. So, yeah, maybe I have nothing to say about that particular. I do find the bit about how Gary Hall's understanding of Anglicanism differs from others intriguing (It reminds me about our conversations in the American Baptist Churches...polity or scripture? Which is the overarching context?). Also, that the seminary's chapel is set apart to push boundaries is curious as well. I like it, I think. It's a liturgy lab. This is true!

I love RevGalBlogPals. I have met friends there...some new, some old acquaintances I have not seen in years. We discuss theology sometimes. We disagree sometimes. But we uphold one another all the time. It's an easy community in that way perhaps because it is online. Disagreement in the pews is always more intense. Online one can step out a little...or step back.

The use of the word "surprising" at BlogHer saddens me a great deal. It's so nice to know that we Christians are still expected to flog one another in the public square. It gives us a great deal of latitude.

Okay, I see that this is going nowhere. I'll mull over this some more and maybe post again later. For the time being, take a gander at the links. Let me know what you think of them. How do you handle religious debate? We have plenty here, you know. I like it. It's a good thing.

But something else is up today...Hmmm...

+robinson speaks again

Here is the link.

After triggering a debate that threatens to divide the worldwide Anglican Communion, the Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire has stirred another controversy. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, has endorsed Barack Obama to be the next U.S. president.

"As my work shows me every day, leadership means bringing people together and inspiring them to live out their values," Robinson said in a statement released by the Obama campaign. "Barack Obama sees beyond the partisanship and hopelessness that have dominated in recent years, and the movement he's building is bringing vital new energy and optimism into our democratic process."

...

But his ringing endorsement also did not ring well in the ears of at least one interfaith organization. The Interfaith Alliance wagged its finger at all Democratic and Republican presidential candidates for seeking endorsements from clergy.

this is cool.

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.
6”I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.
11And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.
John 17:1-14

This is an interesting article/reflection on the Letter to Diognetus. It speaks of what it means to be "in the world and not of it." Reflecting on pre-Constantinian understandings and practices makes sense to many ctwenty-first Christians. Many of us do not think that the current mode of political involvement is appropriate...left or right, progressive or conservative. But we cannot fall into the trap of sectarianism. So, what are the options for us? Maybe this can begin an interesting conversation on what the church can do to express this understanding of itself...in the world, but not of the world.

Letter to Diognetus Reviewed by Nathan Bierma, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship

This anonymous second-century letter is the earliest, and arguably the most lyrical, reflection on what it means for Christians to be "in but not of" the world:

They live in their own countries, but only as aliens. They have a share in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign land is their fatherland, and yet for them every fatherland is a foreign land. ... It is true that they are "in the flesh," but they do not live "according to the flesh." They busy themselves on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven. They obey the established laws, but in their own lives they go far beyond what the laws require. They love all [people], and by all [people] are persecuted. They are unknown, and still they are condemned; they are put to death, and yet they are brought to life. They are poor, and yet they make many rich; they are completely destitute, and yet they enjoy complete abundance. They are dishonored, and in their very dishonor are glorified; they are defamed, and are vindicated. They are reviled, and yet they bless; when they are affronted, they still pay due respect. ... Christians dwell in the world, but are not of the world.

"In the world but not of the world" is an echo of Jesus' prayer in John 17 (verses 11 and 14): "They are in the world ... the world has hated them because they are not of the world." (The contrast between "in" and "of" is even better in Greek: "en" but not "ek"). This mysterious letter (translator Cyril Richardson calls its origins "puzzling" but presumes it to be Quadratus' Apology to Hadrian, c.129 A.D.) explores this tension beautifully in a series of contrasts: Christians are citizens but foreigners, on earth but citizens of heaven, killed but brought to life, poor but rich, defamed but vindicated. In short: in but not of the world.

This call to discipleship is urgently relevant to Christians today — especially those of us who are living comfortably in Western culture. We often fail to have a sense of "other-ness" about our Christian identity. We tend to pursue power and prosperity as earnestly as non-Christians do. Especially in Western countries that are not overtly hostile to Christianity, we may not see the urgent need to reject any allegiance that conflicts with our allegiance to Christ. But the Letter to Diognetus is a call to be "in the world but not of it," to stick out as strangers, to be poor but rich, to find our life by losing it.

sabbath 29: ownership

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
- Matthew 6:21

"Whatever we place at the center of our lives will get the bulk of our care and attention. This is not esoteric teaching but simple physics." Thus begins Wayne's chapter on "stuff." In a fit of serendipity, the Rev Ref+ preached on greed. There's a good bit of crossover between Ref's sermon and Wayne's chapter on ownership and what I would call distraction.

A paraphrase of the chapter is this: "Keep it simple." Simplicity and limiting our possessions go hand in hand. As Wayne says, it ain't that possessions are intrinsically bad. Sometimes it is simply a matter of reality; the more stuff we have, the more time it takes to care for that stuff.

A larger house takes more effort to maintain than a smaller house. More rooms, more dusting. As Trish and I have discovered in our four bedroom parsonage, more rooms can mean more space to litter. Heh.

A boat, though a potentially wondrous way to relax in good weather, is a great example of another opportunity to maintain something. Boats are notoriously high maintenance. My godfather, Ray, has been struggling with his 28' Boston Whaler for years. It's a simple boat with very few bells and whistles. But you have to winter it, tune it up, maintain it, tinker with it and all sorts of things just to keep this relaxation machine humming.

So, find ways to make do with less. Be realistic. Do you have time and energy to care for all the things that you think that you need? Do you really want to spend 70 hours a week at work to make enough money to maintain a home in which you sleep...only sleep? These are good questions to ask.

For the suggested exercises, Muller suggests having a potlatch. Have a party and give away nice things...not knock-offs and hand-me-downs. Be overly generous. Or, practice having things that one shares. Food is to be shared. What do you have that is worth sharing or giving away? Giving away things is not synonymous with throwing away things or getting rid of stuff you don't like. I think I will try to practice some of this...especially in the sharing department.

Nit Picking: Wayne talks about Jubilee in this chapter. Jubilee is the Israelite biblical practice of extending the Sabbath to the community or national level. Forgive debts. Give stuff away. Release prisoners. Do it all. It's a great notion, and Wayne states that Israel used to do this. Sadly, scholarship is unsure that they ever did this. It may have simply been an ideal expressed, a religious desire hoped for. But as far as anyone can tell, it was never practiced. I'm just sayin'.

I'll link to Cristopher and Megan when they have their posts up.

monday morning without chickory

I have posted several pictures on my Flickr site. Take a moment to go there and see what you can see. For those unfamiliar with Flickr, there is a slideshow option in the set labeled "New Orleans."

I found a coffee shop toward the end of our stay. Community Coffee is pretty good. I wish that Cafe du Monde had been closer to Providence House. We stayed in a Southern Baptist seminary guest house/hotel thing. For our purposes, it was quite posh. There was a mini-fridge in each room. That was good. But there was only one microwave in the entire building. That made for some challenging cooking! Heh. It was great. The kids were amazing. And the time there was quite moving.

Okay...that's an understatement. Every morning on our way to the worksites, we drove through neighborhoods that are still in ruins. Trailers are everywhere. The painted markings from the search parties are still on many homes. Strip malls are empty. You have likely heard much of this on the news like I have. But there is something about actually seeing it all that shifted some stuff for me. That Mississippi is worse blows my mind. Speaking with one of the AmeriCorps volunteers, I learned that the government assumes that the recovery effort in Mississippi will take about twenty years. Twenty years to get the places there back to where they were before Katrina. Unreal. I don't know what the time frame is for New Orleans. I assume it will be a good long stretch.

There are trials ongoing to decide what insurance companies should be responsible for...and it does not seem like they are responsible for much. A storm surge is not a subset of flooding. Well, that's what the courts are saying. Incredible. I know that the industry could not have been prepared in any way for the massive damage and all the claims from the Gulf Coast. I get that. But what are these people supposed to do? Wealthy, poor, middle class...all of them are sunk entirely.

If you get a few days, volunteer down there. Send flowers to the people who live there. Send money. We volunteered with the St Bernard Project. There are other organizations down there if this group does not float your boat.

r.i.p.

This is sad...

Tommy Makem has passed away.

Of all the money e'er I had, I spent it in good company;
And all the harm I've ever done, alas was done to none but me;
And all I've done for want of wit, to memory now I can't recall,
So fill me to the parting glass, goodnight and joy be with you all.

If I had money enough to spend and leisure time to sit awhile,
There is a fair maid in this town who sorely has my heart beguiled.
Her rosy cheeks and ruby lips, I own she has my heart in thrall,
So fill me to the parting glass, goodnight and joy be with you all.

Of all the comrades e'er I had, they're sorry for my going away,
And all the sweethearts e'er I had , they wish me one more day to stay,
But since it falls unto my lot that I should go and you should not,
I'll gently rise and softly call, goodnight and joy be with you all.

Hat tip to the Young Fogey. I "discovered" Makem and Clancey in college. Some good friends introduced me to them. And the rest, as they say, is history. A mandolin and a celtic bouzouki later and I find myself singing the same songs in pubs in Chicago. Whether it is art or faith, the power of it lies in the ability/opportunity/gift of passing it on.

Thank you, Tommy. May God bless you as you have blessed us.

And we're back! I'll post pictures and brief vids from our trip tomorrow.

tired...

Hey.

I'm tired. We all are. I have put in flooring and baseboard and stuff for three days now. The house should be ready to live in in a couple of weeks. Three and a half days of work. And it seems like a drop in the bucket...a glorious drop to be certain, but a drop nonetheless.

Tonight we are going out for dinner. I think we'll go to the river walk. I dunno. Tomorrow I am hoping that we'll get to go back into the city. I want to see the French Quarter and take pictures, lots of pictures.

Mmmm...and eat fried dough. Oh! And drink good coffee. Then there's the gumbo.

I love food.

Sigh.