conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

back home

And we're back. Green Lake, Wisconsin was lovely. My golfing seemed to improve...if there is such a thing. Heh.

Ah, blessed simplicity.

bread for the journey - post: the third

Life is short and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us. So be swift to love. Make haste to be kind. And may the blessing of God be with you.

This is the last of three posts on the whole "growth leadership" thing. The comments on the first two posts were good. People are thinking some of this stuff through. And it is interesting to see the distinctions between laity and ordained in those comments. Most ordained seem to get what Tully is after...perhaps qualified. Laity have some reservations. Who wants to puzzle that out? Anyway, yesterday we met for our final session. These notions are a little more specific. I'll list 'em and try to explain as I go. Keep in mind, Tully is all about Friedman's understanding of family systems theory. So, if you have read Friedman, keep him running in the back of your mind as well.

1. Banish the parish system. Congregations are not geographically specific as much as they used to be...especially in urban areas. People will drive miles to come to church.

2. Be outrageous in your proclamation of your vision. People will self-correct on their own. That about says it.

3. work hard...not more, but better, and hard. Establish systems of accountability if you are a solo pastor.

4. Stay home and stay focused. He suggests that you participate in maybe one thing in your regional body. Don't get sucked away from your church. Remember, if what you are doing does not lead to growth...stop.

5. Define growth as a goal and a strategy.

6. Seek out the people who are motivated to change and grow. Create infrastructures to take care of the needy. This is the most difficult one to follow. His focus is so complete. His rule for being outrageous also exists in his teaching...so he's not advocating abandoning the needy in the church, but he does not want the pastor's time to get consumed by the congregation's anxiety.

7. When growth begins, they won't like it. Who are all these people in my church? Why don't they agree with me? The only person who likes change is a baby with a wet diaper...and even that is debatable.

8. Find a way to outlast the nay-saying. He suggests humor and playfulness are the best tools for this. Most nay-saying is anxiety. Pay attention. You may learn something, but so much nay-saying is simply anxiety finding voice. Address the anxiety.

9. You will find anti-growth attitudes in yourself. Don't give in!"

10. Decide what you won't share. Make it a short, good list.. He holds on to finances and worship. He has canon law to guide him as an ECUSA priest.

11. Pastoral Care: I was waiting for him to speak directly to this. Here we go: Be the pastor to the whole system and not simply to a series of individuals. When you get up in the pulpit you are paying a personal call on everyone. This is how many hear the sermon...as an address to themselves. The congregation newsletter is a personal encounter. It is a visit to people's living room (If people come to your church and they give you their address, put them on the newsletter mailing list.).

10. Hesitate to share your pulpit. For those of us who are solo pastors, this is kind of a non-issue. Heh. I struggle to find people to help me get the weekend off. I have to plan this months in advance.

11. Focus on your preaching. Improve. Improve. Improve. If worship is the face of the church, the sermon is the voice. It's gotta be solid. Hire a voice coach. Work with an actor. Block your sermons if you are in a large space. Make sure the sound system in your church is good.

12. "Read the Bible. Trust God. Call your mother." This is advice that Friedman gave his students. The final one is a reference to the family systems model. Call that person in your family who supports and loves you without exception. This may be a friend, too. But do this all the time. You need them.

So, there you go. One thing to make certain that you all understand is that Tully's prayer life seems to be really solid. He's going to God all the time for guidance and wisdom. He's willing to let ideas go if necessary. He's just so very focused on growth. And this has worked at his congregation. They were in dire straits and are now thriving again.

Food for thought...

an alternative view (or two)

Carol referred to this article in a comment on the second Bread for the Journey post. Here is an interesting quotation from the article:

Most organizational leaders assume that centralization (captured in the metaphor of the spider) is the model for success, when in fact decentralized entities (defined by the starfish) are often more successful. "If you cut off a spider's leg, it's crippled; if you cut off its head, it dies. But if you cut off a starfish's leg, it grows a new one, and the old leg can grow into an entirely new starfish." This is not only a secret of biology, Brafman and Beckstrom claim; it is also the hidden power behind many of the most innovative and successful businesses. This is what has determined the success of Wikipedia, craigslist and Skype. It is why eBay and General Electric have a lot in common with the abolitionist and women's rights movements of the 19th century. It is why General Motors has faltered and Toyota succeeded. All of these successful businesses have featured a starfish model, relying not on a top-down hierarchy but on the power of peer relationships.

So, here are my questions: Who sets the tone for the conversations that must occur in this decentralized model? What does the pastor do? Is the office of pastor even appropriate to this model? Are the specializations (worship leadership, exegesis, pastoral care) worth the creation of a single position to maintain?

In thinking about Friedman's ideas around leadership, and how Tully employs them, self-differentiation in the office of the pastor/priest/rector may be a non-issue in the starfish model. Or self-differentiation places the pastor entirely on the outside of the entire starfish dynamic. Huh. Maybe so.

Larry offered this reflection as well.

What if all the time we spend attempting to ensure our success denies that we are all called to live by faith and not by sight. What if there are no actual technologies to being church, and growing. What if the organic metaphors of Tree and Body tell us more than we worshipers of technique want to believe?

Then I begin to wonder if we don't actually believe in church as something begun and sustained by the Spirit.

I think that Tully would agree with Larry. But I also think that he understands that this process of following the leadings of the Spirit needs someone at the helm...the blind leading the blind? No...A Christ-like shepherd who has been given a vision to lead the people.

Thoughts?

And I need to go back to bed. I woke up with my head spinning with this stuff...anxieties about this Sunday's service, etc. Now I exhausted and sleepless. Yay.

ye olde farte

Today is my father's birthday. He is older than many, younger than some, and likely to tell you exactly how it is at any moment.

That's Daddy on the right.

It is also the feast day of St. Vincent de Paul. Huh. I know that there is no connection, but Dad's middle name (and mine) is Vincent. Cool.

Happy Birthday, Daddy. See you soon!

bread for the journey - post: the second

God of peace, you do not ask us to be troubled by remorse, but for humble repentance of heart that is a surge of trusting in you. And, through your forgiveness, you place on our finger the ring of the prodigal son.
- Taizé

It appears that I have to buy yet another book. Ed Friedman's A Failure of Nerve has been recommended again and again. Go here for the Amazon link. Tully is advocating for an interesting balance of empathy and self-differentiation. I have to keep reminding myself that he has a staff member, a vicar, responsible for all the pastoral needs of his congregation. I'm convinced that Tully has a pastor's heart, but the model of leadership and the methods he employs to meet his own criterion for leadership and growth demands that the leader pushes for growth and change...all the time, unfailingly, relentlessly. He's had incredible success at this. But I think that much of that success is founded on the work of his vicar and the others who provide some direct pastoral care in his church.

In his system, the congregation is always focused on the people who are not yet arrived. Every program, every movement, every dollar spent must somehow relate to this group of people...the not yet here. It's interesting. He said again and again that people will ask "But what about those of us who are here? What do we get?" And you have to honor that, but not to the exception of those who are not yet here. In fact, pastoral care, and minding the store should be focused as to be a resource and witness to those who are not yet here.

He listed a few issues that may arise.
1. Reactivity (change hurts)
2. Herding (cliquishness)
3. Blame displacement (no one wants responsibility for past failures)
4. a quick-fix mentality (people want everything to improve immediately with as little investment as possible)
5. lack of well differentiated leadership (the pastor has to set themselves apart somehow and not share in the anxiety of the community in order to lead...this is very hard as we often minister via empathy.)

Again, these are the likely troubles that arise. We'll move in and out of them at various times to various degrees.

It's been an interesting workshop. This morning is our last session and then I'm back in the office to get some last minute items wrapped up for the retreat this weekend. CCW is off to Green Lake, WI. Huzzah!

bread for the journey - post: the first

Leadership can be thought of as a capacity to define oneself to others in a way that clarifies and expands a vision of the future.
- Edwin H. Friedman

My friend and seminary pal, Dave, is hanging out at Chateau Ouilmette. He is in town for the Bread for the Journey conference/workshop at Seabury. It is going to be a good series of lectures and discussions about leadership and how a community grows a church. Our keynote lecturer is Bill Tully from St. Bart's in New York city. St. Bart's is an enormous church. Huge. So at first I was skeptical that he would be able to help us wrap our minds around what he's done to take 250 people and bring them to a couple thousand. The scale of the place is a resource. I'm looking at 45-50 on a a Sunday. It's a different animal.

Fortunately he's able to talk about guiding principles and not just concrete examples. His examples are entertaining and sometimes awe inspiring. But the principles can be tweaked to fit the size of almost any congregation. Good stuff.

The piece I am trying to translate at this moment is around the issue of intimacy and relationship. Tully is able to be very directive in his congregation. His staff is huge. Everything there is huge. And that size can actually put a very helpful distance between himself and his parishoners. He can make decisions and let them ride. He can proclaim new policy and such. The very machinery of the church will help him manage the relationships.

In a smaller church, there's a bit more relationship building that has to go one. Consensus seems to be the rule of the day. Leading from above is impossible because there is no "above." This is neither a complaint or criticism. It's just the lay of the land.

So, this morning Tully will speak again. I'll try to listen with this issue in mind and see what I can translate. He said a couple of things that totally rang true for me.

"You will grow, and you won't like it."
"If the church is not growing, then it is dying." (My addition, there is no stasis.)
"Invest ahead of the growth you seek."
"52 Equal Sundays"

That last one still gives me goosebumps. Don' slow down. Pace yourself for year-long programming. Give people 52 Sundays to get to know you. Don't give the choir a break. People can take care of their own vacation needs. But there are enough people in your community to fill your pews every Sunday. Why do you effectively tell them that you are not interested in them from June through August?

Wow. Yeah. Good question.

"52 Equal Sundays" I'll ponder that one. And I'll ponder what it looks like to share these ideas in a smaller congregation.

Hmm...

the girls in concert

Lordy, we need to play again. Someone get the Girls a gig, would ya?

three

It has been three years. Yep. Trish and I were married three years ago today. She's still the most tremendous woman I know. I love you, Yo.

She did it first.

an experiment

Monday, Baby!

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simplicity: don't forget to share

Here's the sermon for tomorrow. Lemme know what you think!

This is for those who are preaching the lectionary this Sunday.

Sermon – Simplicity: Don’t Forget to Share
September 23, 2007
Community Church of Wilmette
Readings: Acts 2:42-47; Luke 12:13-21

Simplicity: Don’t Forget to Share

“Simplicity” says Richard Foster “is an inward and outward discipline.”

Last week we focused on the inward nature of the discipline of Simplicity. We attempted a contemplative exercise and I spoke about the importance of prayer, contemplation, and an uncluttered heart. Our hearts should be focused upon God…have room for God. This is how we have simple hearts.

This week I want to look at the outward nature of the discipline. More than most Christian disciplines, simplicity manifests itself in the world.

My imagination always turns to the Amish or the Shakers when I think about simplicity. I like the furniture. The Amish don’t use zippers…not to mention electricity and the public school system. Simplicity becomes almost exotic when I think about the Amish and the Shakers.

There is a temptation for me here. These communities are the bearers of the Simplicity standard. The temptation is to leave the discipline to them. I don’t have to be simple because they are doing it enough for everyone.

Plus, aren’t they just a little strange? There’s a social stigma to simplicity when we encounter such an extreme example of it. And it’s not just the Amish. I think of people who have money but drive run down cars as eccentric. You have the money. Get a car that works! People who don’t spend money or intentionally live lives that manifest a chosen poverty are just strange. They just don’t fit in. We are supposed to save, invest, collect, and purchase.

Solidarity, we believe, is expressed by what we purchase. I remember in the 1980’s an ad campaign for clothing about racial reconciliation: The united colors of Benetton. “Buy our clothes and end racism.” Well, that’s what they seemed to say. They were more savvy than to just come out with it like that. But I got the message.

After the attacks of 9-11 we were advised to give our slumping market economy a boost by going out and buying something. Buy a car. Be a patriot. Purchasing power is a virtue in our culture. The poor know this. The rich know this. What we have defines us. What we have in our possession sets us free. Our ability to possess things is a sign of our freedom, our liberty, and our political power. And the more we possess, the freer we become.

Such thinking muddles my mind. I just get so confused.

It’s as if the entire philosophy of ownership in this country was written by the punk band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. And as I ponder what simplicity might look like I become stymied by these notions.

I so badly want to be the right kind of person and own a Mac. I just do. Mac owners are just, I don’t know, they possess a certain unidentifiable quality. So Trish and I have a Mac computer and the i-Pod Nano that comes with it. And don’t we just radiate that something special, now? I know we do! I feel it in my bones.

Save.
Invest.
Collect.
Purchase.

In our Gospel reading this morning we encounter a curious parable. This passage appears in Luke’s Gospel as a prelude to the sermon about “worrying for our life.” This farmer is saving. He is apparently wise. He’s hoping to put something away for a rainy day. How many times did my grandmother tell me to do just that as a child? Countless!

And yet, here is Jesus warning against such wisdom.

But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things which you have prepared, whose will they be?”

We gain. We reap. We harvest. We collect. We purchase. We save. It’s as if all we do is build barns and horde things in them. Jesus is trying to tell us something about God here in this parable. And don’t think that this is just about the rich. Try not to go down that road. You see this is everyone’s issue. The wealthy don’t carry this burden alone. Affluence is everyone’s problem.

The Rev’d. Ben Campbell, an Episcopal priest and the Spiritual Director at Richmond Hill, reminds us that the problem of affluence is not in the having of things…it is in the fear of losing the things we have. And we all, rich, poor, or middle class suffer from this fear. We all suffer from this trouble with affluence. We are afraid to lose what we have gained…our stuff, our status and clout, our opportunities. And we hold on to them tightly. We hold on to them at times to the detriment of our health and sanity…and neglect our neighbor in the process. The love of neighbor falls to the wayside when we embrace such fear.

We tear down barns only to build bigger ones. We call it progress or wealth management…or any number of things.

And maybe God speaks to us, too. This is what Jesus seems to be saying. “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions…” God has something to say against it. “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

These things belong to God. They belong to those in need. They do not belong to us. We cannot horde them away thinking that they belong to us…no matter what it is. Yes, God wants us to be happy and enjoy creation. God said that it was good and God meant it. This too is true. But our enjoyment of the created order including our own gifts and skills cannot be to the detriment of our neighbors.

Competition is not the rule. Competition is a sign of greed. It is one kind of greed. And we must be wary of it. This is how the early church interpreted such passages as this one from Luke.

So they gathered together in common life. They liquidated their assets, selling all they had, and gave to one another as needs arose. They had wealth in this sharing. They tried to live in this way so that none would suffer. They “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Their economic life, their spiritual life, their worship life were all interconnected. It was a seamless garment. At least that is how they understood their call.

“All who believed were together and had all things in common.”

Richard Foster offers several suggestions of how this might begin to look for us. He’s hesitant to slip into legalism like the Amish or Shakers can do. But he recognizes that the need for simplicity is central to who we are and how we learn to love one another. It’s even worth the risk of legalism.

Here are his ten suggestions. They are in no particular order. And he goes in to greater detail in his book. We have a copy in our church library. Check it out sometime.

1. Buy things for their usefulness rather than their status. Consider your clothes.
2. Reject anything that is producing an addiction in you. Internet anyone? I am powerless. I admit it.
3. Develop a habit of giving things away. De-accumulate.
4. Refuse to be propagandized by custodians of modern gadgetry. Lord God help me.
5. Learn to enjoy things without owning them. I just got my first public library card last week. Change comes incrementally, sisters and brothers.
6. Develop a deeper appreciation for creation. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” (Ps. 24:1)
7. Look with healthy skepticism at all “buy now, pay later” schemes. Jesus says to “lend, expecting nothing in return.” (Luke 6:35) Is this the logical flipside?
8. Obey Jesus’ instructions about plain and honest speech. This is not an excuse for cruelty, but an invitation to loving candor.
9. Reject anything that will breed the oppression of others. Love your neighbor as yourself.
10. Shun whatever would distract you from your main goal. Love the Lord.

In a country where Social Security may well have run its course as a federal program, it is imperative that the Church reacquaints itself with the discipline of simplicity and the awareness of one another that the discipline encourages. Social Security did not exist a century ago. And it may not exist when I retire. Likely something will take its place, but as someone staring down that particular political quandary, I am assuming I will work until I am physically unable to do so.

A friend of mine said recently that her parents don’t understand why she works as an artist when she could have a “good job with benefits.” Work is not about joy. It is about security. Her response to them was not “I don’t want to be corrupted by the system” as her parents may have expected. Her response was “Well, I’m going to have to work for my entire life anyway. I may as well do something I enjoy.”

I’ll admit that this is perhaps a little extreme. But I certainly relate to it. My grandfather served a pulpit until he was eighty years old. Yes, he loved the ministry. But he also could not have retired. The nature of the vocation for his generation would not allow for it. It is still an uncommon thing today. This is why the “Retired Ministers and Missionary’s Offering” still exists in American Baptist life. And I am getting a somewhat later start than many. I too am glad that I enjoy what I do because I may be doing it well into my so-called retirement years.

These examples I raise are not guidelines or even suggestions for how to deal with the crisis of Social Security. But they do underscore that people are beginning to make decisions independent of systems that are ephemeral to begin with. And maybe these decisions can be the beginning of putting our trust in God and not in things that do not last.

It’s a tangled and complicated set of issues. And we need to be taking action.

We need to be exploring ways of life that exhibit simplicity. The need is real. Such exploration may be exactly how the Church should be dealing with issues like Social Security, health care, the growing gap between the wealthy and the rest of America, between America and the rest of the world.

We need to be simple. We need to share.

We must always remember that God is with us in this, upholding us in our work together, and blessing it. God’s expectations are real. And they are high.

Be simple…Don’t forget to share.

Amen.

kim

Kim is one of the golf pros where I golf, Links d'Ouilmette. I have a lesson scheduled with him next week. It should be fun. He's been watching me from time to time this summer on the driving range and making comments.

"Did you mean to do that?"
"I can help you fix that."
"Have you ever taken lessons? They would help, you know."

He's real subtle, Kim is.

Well, yesterday I went to the range and purchased 6 coins for the golf ball machine. That's three buckets worth. Really, you just get two buckets worth and they give you a third free. Well, I asked for my two buckets worth expecting my third bucket free and Kim puts about 9 coins in my hands. I look at him sideways and before I can say anything he shoos me away.

Do you think he's trying to tell me something?

Huh.

really?

Cliff played this little game.

friday grumblings and pleas for forgiveness

The great obstacle is this: the conviction that we cannot change because we are dependent upon what is wrong. But that is the addict's excuse, and we know that it will not do.
- Wendell Berry

Today many of my friends are thinking about atonement...and forgiveness perhaps. How/when/why we ask for forgiveness and how we grant it is the core to the Christian faith. Confession, repentance, forgiveness...they are all part and parcel of the same dynamic of conversion, of seeking shalom, of being God's people.

Sometimes it takes a prophet or an innocent to help us see sin. Our eyes have become blind to sin in some way and we can no longer see it or we deem a sin as a "necessary evil." Thus it takes an honored place in our world view. We spend resources (emotional, physical, financial) upon maintaining this thing. Berry is right. This is just like addiction.

I have been made aware more and more of my own sins of late. Such knowledge is a good thing. If I cannot see my own sin, I hope that a sister will show me. I hope that God will move someone to lead me away from such things. I am not able to help myself sometimes.

Jorge has posted on a "call to repentance." This call as I understand it is a call from God. To follow the 12-step metaphor a little, we have to admit we are powerless. This is the first step in following the call. This simply means that we have to admit to ourselves that we are not God. We are not in complete control. We have perhaps fallen prey to the thinking that we are in control, but we are stepping away from that habit now.

Later in the 12 steps we will be asked to turn everything over to God (a Higher Power). This is wisdom to me. It is not a call to inaction. No, such a discipline of turning things over to God takes constant diligence. It is work. It is more than intellectual ascent. It is repentance.

I have been thinking about the sermon I have to preach on Sunday, about the discipline of simplicity and the clear physical expressions of that discipline. But what is also clear to me today is that such a discipline does not simply ask us to change our ways...though it certainly does that. It asks us to repent. It is incredible to me that has only occurred to me recently. Ah well.

May God give me the courage to be simple...and the grace to repent.

an evening quotation

This is good, too.

The law of Christ, which it is our duty to fulfill, is the
bearing of the cross. Thus the call to follow Christ always
means a call to share the work of forgiving [people] their sins.
Forgiveness is the Christlike suffering which it is the
Christian's duty to bear.
... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)

a quotation for your morning thinking

This is a good way to start the day.

Instead of always being one of the chief bastions of the
social status quo, the Church is to develop a Christian
counter-culture with its own distinctive goals, values,
standards, and lifestyle--a realistic alternative to the
contemporary technocracy which is marked by bondage,
materialism, self-centeredness, and greed. Christ's call to
obedience is a call to be different, not conformist. Such a
Church--joyful, obedient, loving, and free--will do more than
please God: it will attract the world. It is when the Church
evidently is the Church, and is living a supernatural life of
love by the power of the Holy Spirit, that the world will
believe.
... John R. W. Stott (b.1921), "Obeying Christ in a
Changing World"

a good day

The University of Chicago was fun as usual. I like hanging there with those folk. And I got a personal tour of the Oriental Institute museum. Wow! That place is too cool for words.

And that summarizes my day. There's a ton to do tomorrow. I am going to try and attend a continuing ed opportunity at SWTS next week...and there is a retreat to prepare for. Tons to do!

simplicity: god cares

This is the sermon I preached Sunday. This is more of an outline than anything else...So, it might not carry in written form. I led a guided meditation using a Wendell Berry poem. That was fun!

Simplicity: God Cares
September 16, 2007
Community Church of Wilmette
Church of Jesus Christ, Reconciler
Readings: Ecclesiastes 2:24-3:15 and Matthew 25:31-46

"Simplicity" says Richard Foster "is an inward an outward discipline." This truth is pretty self-evident to me. Our hearts and our lives are connected and when we practice the discipline of simplicity this connection could not be more clear.
What we give up
What we take on
What of our possessions actually possess us and keep us from loving God? What of our possessions keep us from loving one another? Loving ourselves?

"Love the Lord your God...and love your neighbors as yourself." What keeps us from opening our lives to this proclamation from Christ? We have to look inward and outward to sort this out...to become simple.

Today I would like us to look inwardly as we ponder simplicity. To accomplish this, I would like you all to try a guided meditation with me.

The Wild Geese

Horseback on Sunday morning,
harvest over, we taste persimmon
and wild grape, sharp sweet
of summer's end. In time's maze
over the fall fields, we name names
that went west from here, names
that rest on graves. We open
a persimmon seed to find the tree
that stands in promise,
pale, in the seed's marrow.
Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear,
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye
clear. What we need is here.

~ Wendell Berry ~

(Collected Poems 1957-1982)

One of the things I treasure most about Christianity is monasticism and the contemplative prayer life that various forms of that monasticism nurtures and teaches. The exercise we just shared is only one of the various tools of contemplative life.

The imagination is almost always involved.
- the breath
- a wandering mind
- a stillness
- perhaps even an attentiveness to where God is in our lives
- perhaps such experiences can help us become more attentive to the world around us, causing us to think differently about how we inhabit the world.

Over the centuries, Christian monasticism has taken various forms. Some scholars suggest that the roots of Christian monasticism stem from the Essene tradition with in Judaism. Perhaps, perhaps not...

But we do know that Christians from the very onset of the tradition gathered in communities. Widows lived together. Orphans lived together. Celibate men and women gathered in community...sometimes together though this would prove complicated.

In the fourth century, solitary Christians would live in the desert. Monasteries would form there as well, vast communities numbering in the thousands.

Convents
Monasteries
After the Reformation in the West
Mennonites,
Shakers,
Quakers,
Amish,
The Taize Community in France
The Iona Community in Scotland
Richmond Hill
St Gregory's Benedictine Abbey in Three Rivers, MI
The Community of the Holy Trinity in Rogers Park

The list can go on and on...

What most of these movements have in common is a vow of poverty or simplicity. And the uphold some form of contemplative prayer...upholding an inward focus upon the divine. And such discipline can help us right ourselves toward God...and give us the strength to be simple, to fulfill our vows.

Because, inwardly our focus is upon God...we can become simple. We can become more attuned to grace. We can become more ready recipients of grace and love as our hearts become less cluttered.

Simplicity is an inward discipline.

Our scripture writers understand this. And they understand entirely that this inward simplicity is about the encounter with God...whether we are aware of this in the moment of encounter or not.

"Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?"

We cannot know...not always. Scripture says so. Jesus said so.

Sometimes we can witness such encounter only in retrospect...years later. We can discern seasons...
in the flight of geese
in the taste of grapes
in planting
in being born
in dying
We can, if we find ways to unclutter our hearts, to simplify our hearts, begin to discern what Larry Peacock calls "the fingerprints of grace."

God is in all things working toward our salvation - our loving and being loved. This is the mystery of divine encounter. Such practices like contemplation can help us uncover the greater discipline of inward simplicity...of uncluttered hearts...of hearts that are not distracted and have found peace in the love of God.

just a quick one...

I am thinking about this conference/symposium/workshop thing at the University of Chicago on Wednesday.

Advocacy in the Pulpit and in the Classroom will be held at Swift Hall on Wednesday September 19th from 9:30-3:00 pm and will include a keynote address by Franklin I. Gamwell, the Shailer Mathews Distinguished Service Professor of Religious Ethics, the Philosophy of Religion, and Theology in the Divinity School, responses by a panel of professors and pastors, and a case study reflection/discussion.

It should be good. These things usually are.

endings...or the beginning of one

It is not from ourselves that we learn to be better than we are.
- Wendell Berry

Last night at a special congregational meeting of the Church of Jesus Christ, Reconciler I announced my resignation effective the Sunday before Thanksgiving. There were 22 people at the meeting. There were 27 people at worship. That's perhaps the largest number of folk that have every come to worship except for one or two services at the very beginning. An auspicious number for me, 27.

I am still sad. I imagine I will be for a while. We have a lot of work to do to make the leaving as intentional and beneficial as possible. There is a lot to think about during a time like this in the life of a congregation. And there's no point in waiting to think and pray and to come together and discern what God has in store for this group.

I am still in a bit of shock even though I'm the one who made the announcement.

We have a council meeting on Thursday night. I'll turn in my official letter then. I am sure that there will be more questions and thinking. I hope there will be.

It has been such an honor to witness the beginning of this ministry. It has been my honor to watch these people turn our gathering into a congregation when we simply began an experiment.

We have several weeks to work out the details and by then we'll be ready (more than ready?) for me to leave. For now, would you all be so kind as to keep me and the congregation in your prayers? The church is in good hands. The pastoral team is ready. The lay leadership is ready. God is with us. But I need your prayers.

Thanks.

limited bloggishness

Trish is going out of town to visit family in Virginia. I am staying here. Trish is taking the laptop with her. It is not staying here.

It's a sad morning.

Anyway, I will be online only through the office computer and I won't be there very much.

Y'all be good!
Golf on Saturday!
Sa-WING, batter!

saving communities

We clasp the hands of those that go before us,
And the hands of those who come after us.
We enter the little circle of each other's arms
And the larger circle of lovers,
Whose hands are joined in a dance,
And the larger circle of all creatures,
Passing in and out of life,
Who move also in a dance,
To a music so subtle and vast that no ear hears it
Except in fragments
- Wendell Berry

In the comments of a Sabbath post from last week, I said something about communities being salvific and spirituality being communal...Here's the quote:

I believe that genuine spirituality is both communal and individual. Purely private spirituality raises a lot of questions for me simply because I think of all spirituality as relational. Thus, it is not private IMO.

I have been chewing on this line of thought for a few days. If I have my timeline right, Megan e-mailed me asking if I could expand on the notion on the blog. Then, in the comments of one of her posts, my thinking leaked into the conversation. I guess it makes sense now to bring it into the light so to speak. So, here goes.

I want to begin with this bit of poetry from Wendell Berry. I love his stuff. And this is a lovely piece. It also gets to the core of how I understand the nature of community and how I understand the nature of salvation.

I preached a sermon last April about salvation as "bearing the beams of love." How we offer salvation and how we receive it is entirely connected to how we offer and receive love. That love will reveal itself as friendship, romance, justice, mercy, compassion, parenting and any number of other things. We are not always good at it. Sometimes we are downright horrible at it. And, perhaps worse, we can be tricked into thinking hatred is love.

We can be deceived in any number of ways, of course, but it happens. We dole out hatred and call it love. We receive hatred and abuse thinking that it is what love looks like. That second thing I call sin. Sin and salvation are two sides to the same coin...It's a mess to be certain. And separating them out is sometimes impossible.

Christian spirituality, as I understand it, is intimately acquainted with this relationship between sin and salvation. It is the intentional encounter with the "flashpoint" in ourselves and within the universe between salvation and sin. We pray or worship in some fashion that brings us closer to ourselves and God. And by so doing we encounter love...and how we have given and received love. We encounter God's love and experience how our own loving has matched up to that divine love. This is what I understand judgment to be...that encounter, that measuring.

Love by its very nature is relational. It can even be self love and still be relational. I love myself. What the predicate says, she does. It is also communal. How many psychological studies have been done that confirm that we learn to love in community (And would someone with actual psychological training blow me out of the water or back me up here? I'm willing to learn.)? We learn the benefits and pitfalls of it, some say, even in the womb. We experience it in physical affection. We learn how to name and then manifest the emotion in relationship to our families and others as children. And we know through these and related studies that children can be emotionally stunted in myriad ways that directly relate to the ability to love and be loved. Such struggle can even become disease. All of this plays out in adulthood. Thus, the responsibility we have to love one another is enormous. The responsibility to embody, exemplify, offer, and receive healthy (Dare I say divine?) love is paramount.

This is also why I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the notion that spirituality is potentially escapist. If my understanding is at all valid, an escapist spirituality is a deeply broken spirituality. And it will need correction and some kind of healing to right it. Moving on...

If love is communal, and spirituality is the encounter with love (human and divine), then spirituality is communal. There are disciplines that are solitary in practice, but they exist to assist us and our relationships within community. And our more communal practices can be a wondrous context for the more solitary. They are to all lead us to union with God, who loves each of us, who made us for one another.

Also, suffice it to say that I share Berry's understanding that the community includes the living, the dead, and the not-yet born. Plant a tree or recycle or do justice and love mercy and you love your great-great-grandchildren. Uphold the truths handed down to you from generations preceding your own and love your great-great grandparents. You can do the same for them by helping right their wrongs. And I hope that my great-great grandchildren will right my wrongs...though, I pray that they are few and not lasting.

Okay, I think that's enough for now. Let me know what you think. In the meantime, I am slowly working through my second sermon in the series on simplicity. Richard Foster says that the discipline of simplicity is both internal and external. One could probably make the case for most any spiritual discipline. It has to bear fruit somewhere along the line. Still, it's an interesting exercise to preach this week on the interior life of Christian simplicity and then look at the external next week. I'm having a real hard time disentangling the two aspects. That's probably a good sign.

a brief wednesday linkage

Hey there, everyone. Here is a brief Wednesday Linkage for you. Enjoy!

The Young Fogey has this set about the war in Iraq.

The real Vietnam parallel continues: more promises of Iraqisation (haven’t you lot declared Iraq independent a couple of times? ...down the memory hole like ‘bin Laden dead or alive’ and ‘mission accomplished’), Iran = Cambodia and more cynical chicanery as more Americans, Britons and most of all Iraqis are hurt or killed for no good reason.

Jane Ellen posted her sermon. Here's a taste:

So, continue to read your Bibles, my brothers and sisters. Listen to the proclamation of scripture on Sunday morning, and attend studies as you are able, and read on your own. But never be afraid to question, to dig deeper, and to refuse to take the words at face value.

Rev. Ref posted his sermon. Take a gander at this:

We don't' want tag-along followers who get excited at the numbers on the bandwagon and run to join. We don't want people running after us like those following Forrest Gump for no apparent reason. We don't want people switching team allegiances because of our winning record.

Mompriest remembers 9/11...

We gathered. We prayed. We celebrated the Eucharist. We wept. We gleamed a bit of hope from being together. My homily that night reflected on the randomness of evil (ie it was not God's punishment) and the hopefulness of God's faithfulness - God always comes into the midst of chaos and seeks to restore life, order, new life, hope....

Scott posted his sermon. It's a good'n!

And that’s the problem: we spend our time trying to get saved from the things we hate, when we really need to get saved from the things we love. The things we idolize. The things we cherish. Dare I say it, the things we worship.

Y'all have a great day!

sabbath: afternoon

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love.
- Washington Irving

This entry in Wayne Muller's Sabbath is a continuation of what the reader's practice of the discipline might look like. When thinking of an afternoon break, Wayne reminds us of such pastimes as siesta (afternoon nap), or an afternoon walk or even a little music. Drums and flutes are about the breath and rhythm, the core of human music and human life. It's a scattershot chapter, but lovely anyway.

One of the other disciplines he reminds us of is monastic hours. Praying in the afternoon is part of the rhythm. Differing traditions play with the schedule a bit, but there it is. Monasticism. Prayer. Music. Take time to breathe. Take time to sing.

I woke up this morning thinking about the bombings, the crashing planes and crumbling buildings. People have been talking about moments of silence. Some people take today off from work or they leave work early. We find a way to mark the time. We try to remember the truth of what happened that day. Flags fly at half-staff.

The attacks happened the September I entered seminary. Some of us during that orientation period wondered if the attacks would have some kind of influence on how we came through the whole seminary process. And I am sure that they did. Maybe. What has had more of an impact on me has been the keeping of a rhythm of prayer at seminary. We prayed three times a day (some exceptions), morning prayer, noon eucharist, afternoon prayer. The jokes about a Baptist taking communion more times in three years than most Baptists take in a lifetime aside, this rhythm of prayer had a tremendous influence. It became the context of our work, our study and our fellowship. The same dynamic existed at Richmond Hill when I lived there. A rhythm of prayer can become the context in which we live, changing the way we engage the world.

What is compelling to me in Wayne's book, as I understand it, is that Sabbath can become the context in which we experience the world. The rhythms we create allow us to encounter the world differently. We sing. We walk. We call loved ones. We pray. We craft a context to interpret the world. This way we are proactive in how we encounter the world and not reactive, responding to all the various stimuli that come our way.

Sabbath practices can help us see differently. A refreshing afternoon nap can help us encounter the afternoon and our remaining work anew. The nap and the healthy space it creates becomes the context for our remaining work. The same is true of all the suggested disciplines in the chapter.

My prayer is that we can create spaces to encounter all our life, even the horrific destruction of 9-11-01. People try. We mark the time. We go to church or someplace to encounter the holy. As essential as the single moment is, however, it is not the same or perhaps as beneficial (hard to measure, I'll grant you) as a discipline of Sabbath. The tragedy becomes the context and our prayers the reaction without a discipline. This is not to say that we should not mark such occurrences, stopping everything to be silent for a moment. We should. What would it mean though, if by doing so we were not simply reacting to horrors but bringing them into the context of peace and holiness?

This is the question on my mind of late. What would it mean to bring the Towers, the Pentagon and the field in Pennsylvania, Afghanistan, Iraq and the hills of Pakistan into our Sabbath time, and lift them up in song, rest or prayer?

I wonder.

Megan's post is here.

a new putter

I went out today to buy a new golf club to reward myself for not burning the church down this weekend. I have high expectations don't you know.

simplicity: a gift from god

Today is the feast day for St. Finian of Magh Bile (Moville), County Down. He brought the Vulgate to Ireland. I don't know why I am intrigued by this, but I really am. Deeply.

You can follow the extended link for the sermon. But I wanted to take a quick moment to say huzzah! HUZZAH!
There was laughter and play in worship. We had a guest to help at the table for communion. Rev. Marilyn Pagan-Banks from The Good News Community Kitchen had come to lead our adult ed class (It is named after Roger Williams, a famous Baptist malcontent.). She stuck around to speak during worship for a moment. So, I invited her to serve at the table with me. She's a remarkable woman...powerful and spirited. She speaks back when you preach. "Amen." "Yes, Lord." I so love it when that happens. Incredible.

Anyway, the choir sang beautifully. I had missed them all summer. We have a new keyboardist for the fall, an interim as we search for our new organist. He was awesome. I am glad that Matt's with us.

Two moments immediately come to mind that still make me giggle. first, during the announcement time one member was speaking of our upcoming church retreat. He was speaking off the cuff about the scheduled events for the weekend "golf and hanging out in the afternoon, dinner together in the evening and a roll your own worship service on Sunday morning." Yes, "roll your own" worship. Well, that explains a ton! Woot! Ha!

The second moment was at the end of the service (not "roll your own") when I paused before the benediction to allow our guest, the aforementioned Rev Pagan-Banks, to offer it for us. One of our choir members either felt that the service had gone too long, or that I had gotten stuck in something else I was doing began our benediction. "Go in peace..." Everyone started to laugh, so I continued "...to love an serve the Lord! Thank you, Timmy!" Thanks be to God! Woot!

Finally, we said good-bye to one of our members. Janice has been a member of the church for sixty or seventy years. She is moving to be closer to her son who lives in another part of the country. There was cake and stories were told. Good stuff.

God is present at all times. But perhaps I am just more tuned in when we are all engaged in worship together, and are transparent in our shared investment in one another's lives. Transparency, laughter, passion in reading scripture, the beauty of music, and a fairly decent sermon (Actually, I thought it was a good sermon.) all give witness to God. They don't point us in new directions...they help the scales fall from our eyes so that we can see what is with us always. Thanks be to God!

readings: Deuteronomy 8:7-18, Matthew 6:25-34

Simplicity: A Gift from God

Welcome to the Community Church of Wilmette. For those of you who have not heard, today is Rally Day. Our church program year begins anew today. People are filtering back into the life of the congregation. We gather together to clean up the place. We invite our friends. We come early to enjoy one another's company and to catch up after a summer spent traveling or visiting family.

I am glad you are all here. Welcome.

As we do with each Rally Day, we are also announcing a theme for the program year. This year our theme is "Simplicity."

Simplicity.
Such a lovely word.
Simplicity.

Whenever I hear this word, whenever I say it I relax. I'm transported in my imagination to a pastoral scene. There's a porch and a wooden chair...maybe a rocking chair. The sun is shining and the fragrance of the tall grass rises with the heat to meet me.

Simplicity.
I'm not hungry.
I'm not thirsty.
There's no stress, no pressure from some deadline or project. There's no competition and everyone I know is happy...

Simplicity.
Simplicity is wonderful.
Well, that's what I thought. In spending time preparing for this sermon series I have come to the conclusion that I don't know the first thing about simplicity.

So, I had to start over.

I had to look again at scriptures, at devotional books, tomes on Christian discipline, magazines, news articles, whatever i could find. There's so much about simplicity out there to encounter. As a people, we are almost obsessed with it.

We want simple stuff, simple recipes from the food network, simple decorating tips from Real Simple magazine. We read about "great escape" vacations meant to help us simplify our lives...for three days and two nights in the Grand Bahamas.

Simple solutions for business.

I love it! Simple! Simple! Simple! It's all so easy. We make simplicity so...well..simple.

But its not. Everything I am learning about simplicity suggests to me that this is an incredibly difficult discipline. Simplicity is demanding.

How demanding is it? Well, lets look at a couple of definitions.

Francois Fenelon - 17th cent. French theologian and poet...

When we are truly in this interior simplicity our whole appearance is franker, more natural. This true simplicity...makes us conscious of a certain openness, gentleness, innocence, gaiety, and serenity, which is charming when we see it near to and continually, with pure eyes.
O how amiable simplicity is!
Who will give it to me?
I leave all for this.
Is is the pearl of the Gospel.

Simplicity is the pearl of the Gospel. Lovely poetry but I am still struggling with a definition.

Richard Foster - a noted speaker and Christian writer says this in his book Celebration of Discipline.

Simplicity is freedom. Duplicity is bondage. Simplicity brings joy and balance. Duplicity brings anxiety and fear. The preacher of Ecclesiastes observed that "God made people simple; people's complex problems are of their own devising." (Eccles 7:39).

Elaine Prevallet - a spiritual writer and director of Knobs Haven retreat center...

It is interesting to set the word "simplicity" alongside other words that have the same root. The root plex means "fold." Related words - multiplicity, duplicity, complicity - might suggest images of material spread out with many folds, two folds, folded together. Simplicity means spread out without folds...To be simple is to be free-flowing, unimpeded, not caught in folds or pockets, not sidetracked (p. 8 Weavings 1990)

Free-flowing...

unimpeded...not caught in folds or pockets, not sidetracked...

This is a good beginning definition for us, I think. But can you all understand now the complexity of simplicity? This is what causght me short. These are the things that make me stop and ask the questions...

Am I simple?
Do I live simply?
Am I even capable of it?
And, really, does it have anything to do with God?

Elaine Prevalette's writing is helpful here. She says that the word "simple" does not appear very often in the New Testament. But when it does, she says, it refers to "a manner of giving: a ready generosity, a liberality of spirit, a free-flowing altruism that is not folded in on itself."

a manner of giving...
Simplicity is a manner of giving.
a liberality of giving
Simplicity, says Foster, is freedom.
Giving.
Freedom.

Simplicity is the gift of freedom.

...then do not forget yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the Land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery...(deut. 8:14)

These are the words of Deuteronomy, the lessons that the ancient Hebrews learned from God, about God and had to rediscover time and time again.

"Do not forget yourself, forgetting the Lord your God..."

The Hebrews' identity and God's identity are wrapped up in one another. The Hebrews' identity is founded on the notion that who they are is a gift from God. Their very freedom is a gift. And the idea could not be more straightforward...more simple.

For the author of Deuteronomy, freedom is found in God. All that they are, all that they were and still will be is wrapped up in God...in the very real freedom that they received by God's own hands...and the spiritual freedoms that came along with it.

This is a difficult teaching. They struggled with it.

Do not say to yourself "My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth (Deut. 8:17)."

But remember the Lord.
The Lord is freedom.
Simplicity is freedom. Be simple.
To be simple is to always remember the Lord, to remember who God is and who we are in relationship with God. The neglect of this memory leads to all kinds of trouble.

Economic trouble.
Pride.
Greed.

And interestingly a return to slavery. We become a slave to the complications we create, the injustice, the lack of mercy. There is no simplicity to be had. There is no freedom.

God's call is always...always to take us out of the house of slavery and into the house of freedom...into Simplicity.

You will hear these words again and again from Richard Foster...and from me. "Simplicity is an inward and outward discipline."

If we insist on keeping it inwardly focused alone it becomes empty, false promises and false freedom. If we insist on keeping it only on the outside not allowing the disciplines to change our hearts, then we are left with legalism...another kind of slavery.

Simplicity is an inward and outward discipline. It is freedom. It is a gift.

In our gospel passage this morning the worry that Christ speaks of in Matthew's Gospel is an inward worry...that inward dynamic of anxiety that most of us live with. It is an inward awareness Christ is asking of us. But he asks us to look outward to find solace in the midst of our anxiety. He's asking for a little perspective, a little trust. He wants us to remember who we are just like the writer of Deuteronomy does.

Do not worry saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What will we wear?" For it is the Gentiles that strive for all these things.

And here we are again back in the Exodus.

Jesus says The Gentiles are the people who do not know their relationship with God. They do not know the fulfillment of the promise of freedom. Matthew's is a Jewish Gospel. He's a Jew, writing for Jewish Christians struggling within Jewish Communities.

Richard Foster hinges his understanding of simplicity upon this passage. For him it is the core of the discipline. Freedom is found here. Freedom is found in simplicity.

Everything in Matthew's Gospel also hinges on this sermon. What's interesting is that this passage is part of a much longer sermon...The Sermon on the Mount. Matthew begins this sermon with the Beatitudes and ends it with a story about a house built on sand and what happens when the rain comes.

The core of the Gospel of Jesus is in this sermon. And Christ will speak of inward and outward discipline, about peacemaking, about the merciful and the poor in spirit...and where we put our trust. All of this, all, is the discipline of simplicity.

Jesus can say all this because he knows the promises of God. He wants those who follow him to know these promises as well. He wants us to know freedom. He wants us to be simple.

He wants us to receive this freedom as a gift - a gift from God.

God brings us out of the house of slavery. God brings us into the house of freedom.

Jesus knows the slavery is real. It's spiritual and physical. It is inward and outward. He knows that we are all tied up in our anxiety, our stuff or lack thereof. We are tied up in our wealth and our poverty. God wants us to be free. Christ wants us to follow this call. Christ wants us to follow him.

Simplicity.
It's so lovely.
It looks great on our banner out front.
But do we know what we've received and what it will ask of us?

At the beginning of this sermon I said that I don't know what simplicity is. I still feel that way. Such freedom as simplicity is foreign to me.

But I want to issue an invitation to you.

Will you come with me as I learn how to live simply? Will you journey with us as we step outside these walls and share what we learn? Can we do this together?

Because I am not sure I can do this by myself.

And I am not sure where it will lead us. But I do know that Christ has paved a way and that God has brought us out of slavery. Let us receive this gift. And then let us offer it to all who would hear.

Remember the Lord.
Be simple.
Be free.

requiem...

Madeline L'Engle...She has passed away. Here is one of my favorite books.

sabbath morning redux

Thirty years ago, before the Vatican Council, Catholics didn't know what liturgy was.
- Andrew Greeley

A couple of days ago I posted one of the Sabbath reflections. The end of Wayne's book draws near and now he's becoming more explicit about ritual practice. It's interesting. Well, this week was about the morning ritual and Wayne's reflection went to the religious service. In the chapter he gave examples of people speaking about a relaxing family time, of gathering together and the inherent sweetness in such gathering. The intimacy brought forth by gathering in worship, by participating as family, seems to undergird much of the reflection of this chapter.

I spoke about how Sunday morning is when I work. As a pastor, I know that I am responsible for facilitating such an opportunity for people. Larry commented and had some interesting stuff to add.

While I would assert that leading in worship at Reconciler is work it is restful work. I have always found leading in worship to be such restful work. I had not realized you had this unfortunate pastoral malady (at least I see it as such). It almost sounds to me like being present is almost a passive thing for you. I mean in a sense worship/liturgy is to be work for all present leaders or not, pastors or not.

I need to elaborate on my own thinking here. O, ever elusive clarity! How I pine for thee!

You see, I too understand that liturgy (read: worship) is "the work of the people." It is active. It is not passive. It is not entertainment or a show. I struggle when we applaud in worship, for example. I won't stifle the urge when I lead worship, but I do struggle...Anyway, suffice it to say that liturgy is a work. It is a task...an action. Even a Quaker meeting falls within this. Contemplation is an activity. Sitting in silence is an activity. It is not passive...not as purposed by the context of the liturgy. So, no, I am not hoping for some inactive association with liturgy...or something for my "viewing pleasure."

What I am struggling with is the orchestration of liturgy. As a worship leader, especially in the less formal/less liturgical (An aside: There is a TON of liturgy in a Baptist service and at Willow Creek...That's a post for another day.) traditions of the Church Universal, there is, I find, this great tendency to become a stage manager. It can detract from being the preacher or presider. This, I agree, may be a spiritual malady of some kind. It also may be the price one pays for the call. It may be the "sacrifice" one makes. Thus, as I said in the past entry, many pastors will go and worship in the pews somewhere else. Again, this is not to be passive, but to finally worship and not manage or orchestrate.

He also posted on his blog. Give it a read. He speaks of the eschatological quality of worship...eighth day practices etc. This is a line I find interesting to take as well. I am looking forward to his further reflections.

Note: Larry and I serve with another pastor in a church in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. We lead worship together. This is, honestly, what makes this whole conversation most interesting in my mind.

sources of irritation

1. getting up very early for someone else's alarm...when they just roll over and go back to sleep. I can't go back to sleep!

2. Opera. But I am deeply saddened to hear of Pavarotti's death. To honor him I offer this...

Y'all have a good day.

sermon series

Preaching is effective as long as the preacher expects something to happen-not because of the sermon, not even because of the preacher, but because of God.
- John E. Hines

Usually I preach from the lectionary. The theology of the "Body of Christ" guides me in this. I like the notion that as many congregations as possible engage the same scriptures every week, reflecting in their uniqueness upon the same words. The the likely plethora of interpretation is inspiring to me. But I find myself stepping away from the lectionary this month.

This Sunday is Rally Day at Community Church. This is the Sunday when the program year gets under way. Sunday School begins again. The choir comes back together. And, finally, we pick a theme for the new year. This year our theme is Simplicity. Each sermon in the remainder of the month will be about this spiritual discipline.

Now, it's not that there ain't a whole lot to say about simplicity. There is a ton. Four sermons barely touch the surface. But it is an interesting challenge to choose the passages most appropriate to the four Sundays.

This morning I will choose those scriptures...at least the scriptures for this Sunday. The aspect I am exploring is that simplicity is a gift from God. It is found in the giving, God's giving, that we begin to understand simplicity. The challenge of choosing scriptures is a good one for me. I almost never do it. I'm glad to have to go about this preaching thing a little differently.

Keep me in your thoughts. And feel free to suggest passages of scripture!

Heh. Anyway...So far I have:

September 9
Sermon Title: "Simplicity: A Gift From God"
Scripture: Deuteronomy 8:7-18, Matthew 6:25-34

September 16
Sermon Title: "Simplicity: God's Caring"
Scripture: Matthew 25:31-46

September 23
Sermon Title: "Simplicity: Don't Forget to Share"
Scripture: Luke 12:13-21

September 30
Sermon Title: "Simplicity: Seek the Kingdom"
Scripture: Luke 12: 22-34

sabbath: morning

Walking in the morning
Time smiles in my hand.
This dawn
Lasts all day.
- Deena Metzger

This particular entry in Wayne Muller's book is a struggle for me. It's not that I find myself in disagreement with Wayne. It's just that I cannot seem to find a way to participate in the Sabbath morning practice if I think of it as part of Sunday morning. Sunday is a work day for me. Yes, it is holy work, but it is still work and I think of it as such. I facilitate the worship life of all those who come to church for a break from their lives, to center, to find God, to seek Sabbath. I help create a space for that to happen. The sad casualty in that creation is that I need a rest some other time in the week. Sabbath has moved for me.

I learned this while living at Richmond Hill. Managing a retreat center takes lots of work. People cook, clean, pray, prepare, teach, and generally offer hospitality. Though these are all holy exercises, the community quickly learned that through creating sabbath for others, we could easily neglect our own sabbath. We all found different ways to manage this. Sometimes our Sabbath Day would be spread throughout the week. Some of us would leave the premises on Saturday night not to return until Monday afternoon. I did this more than once. I would show up to my friends' home desperately tired and crash on their couch.

Being a pastor for me means that I have to find a different Sabbath Day. Monday begins to approach this. But it is also the day I run errands. A true day of rest is a rare beast...very rare. I can catch moments...glimpses. But it is rare.

So, I have, over the years, tried to make a little Sabbath moment every morning. I light a candle or sit and sip the morning coffee slowly. These moments renew my soul.

I have been thinking of other avenues to create Sabbath moments. I have been contemplating re-entering a monastic rhythm by either taking up the Benedictine daily office or joining in the worship life of the Community of the Holy Trinity somehow. Again, that too would have to be at a distance as driving into that neighborhood every morning would be impossible. I have thought about doing what a lot of my minister colleagues do and find an Episcopal or Catholic church to attend with my family during the week for mass. There are several families I know who live this way. But it's a potentially troublesome discipline if the congregation that they serve is not understanding of the need or the difference in worship experience for ministers and their families on Sunday mornings.

It's a good chapter. I like morning Sabbath. I just wish I had one.

Megan's post is here.

parthenon

My friend, Randy, is not the only one traveling abroad right now. Laura is posting pictures from her six month voyage around the world. Yes...around...the...world. I am in awe. And I want to go.

Wow.

a feast day...

St. Gregory the Great, Pope of Rome, also known as Gregory the Dialogist
-------------------------------------------------
Born in Rome, Italy, c. 540; died there March 12, 604. His major feast day is March 12. The Feast today commemorates the day he was chosen as Bishop of Rome.

"The Holy Bible is like a mirror before our mind's eye. In it we see our inner face. From the Scriptures we can learn our spiritual deformities and beauties. And there too we discover the progress we are making and how far we are from perfection."
--Saint Gregory.

Where does one begin to recite the glories of a man who excelled at many
things in so many ways? His greatness is emphasised by contrast with the
time in which he lived, when everything was in decline. He was prefect
of Rome when he wrote:

"Everything is at the mercy of the barbarians, the cities are
undermined, the citadels are destroyed, the provinces are depopulated,
there are no more farmers in the country. And every day the idolaters
exert their power and gratify their rage by assassinating the faithful.
We see what has become of her who once appeared as mistress of the
world. She is broken by all she has suffered from immense and manifold
misfortunes. . . . We, the few who are left, are menaced every day by
the
sword and innumerable trials. . . ."

Saint Bede described Gregory as the man England "may and ought to call
our Apostle, because he made our nation, till then given up to idols,
the Church of Christ," and Gregory's tomb in Rome bears the inscription:

"He taught the Christian truth to English Saxons."

He was a distinguished Roman, born of a senatorial Christian family, and
owed much to his mother, Saint Sylvia and two of her sisters who are
regarded as saints. His father, Gordianus, who was descended from an
earlier pope, was a lay administrator of one of the seven archdeaconries
of Rome. Trained in Rome as a lawyer, by 571 (age 30) he had become its
prefect. He seems to have acquitted himself well in that post, despite
his tendency toward austerity. Historians refer to the splendour of his
robes in contrast with the habit he wore in later years.

On the death of his father, he gave most of his inheritance to the poor
and the Church, which included the founding of six monasteries in
Sicily. About 574, he converted his family mansion on the Caelian Hill
into the monastery of Saint Andrew, placed it under the direction of
Valentius, and resigned his office to become a monk. Gregory mitigated
the characteristic Eastern ascetic practices, which made the rule more
acceptable to Western conditions.

At this time, there was an impermeable boundary between monks and
priests; a priest who became a monk was expected to cease his priestly
ministry because priests were viewed as worldly; monks, other-worldly.
Gregory's later determination to free monks from episcopal control was
definitely contrary to tradition. The Council of Chalcedon (451) had
ordered monks to remain under obedience to their bishops. Gregory,
however, in the Lateran Council of 601, caused a decree to be issued to
all bishops exempting monks from their authority. Part of the reason for
this was to keep monks in their monasteries and prevent them from
wandering from place to place.

Pope Gregory wrote to Bishop Castorius of Ariminum:

"On the death also of an abbot, let not the bishop on any pretext
intermeddle in the scheduling or taking charge of the property of the
monastery, acquired, or given, or to be acquired. We also entirely
forbid public Masses to be celebrated by him in a convent, lest in the
retreats of the servants of God and their places of refuge any
opportunity for a popular concourse of women should ensue, which would
be by no means of advantage to their souls. Nor let him dare to place
his episcopal chair there, or have any power whatever of command, or of
holding any ordination, even the most ordinary, unless he should be
requested to do so by the abbot of the place."

Gregory remained in his monastery about three years and then was
ordained by Pope Pelagius II as one of the seven deacons of Rome in 578.
He was too active by temperament for a contemplative life and, five
years after retiring from public affairs, he was appointed as legate
(579-585) to Constantinople, a post for which he was well-equipped and
which he filled with great distinction; but he still maintained the
simple habits of a monk and he turned part of his embassy into a
monastery. This was a time when the Roman Empire had been reconstituted
with its headquarters in Constantinople. The pope had sent him to enlist
the aid of the emperor against the Lombards; in this he was
unsuccessful.

In 586, Gregory was recalled to Rome and became abbot of his monastery,
while acting as papal secretary. There is a story that Gregory
entertained the idea of himself preaching the Gospel in England, and
even set out for that country, but was recalled to Rome by the pope at
the insistence of the people when plague struck Rome in 589-590.

Pope Pelagius contracted the disease and died. Gregory was consecrated
pope on September 3, 590--the first monk to hold that office. It is said
that Gregory tried every means possible to avoid taking the papal
office, including writing to Emperor Maurice in Constantinople to ask
that he not be given imperial confirmation. The letter was intercepted
by the prefect of Rome and another substituted from the Senate, clergy,
and people that asked for Gregory's appointment. At the arrival of the
emperor's response, the saint fled Rome. When he found that he could not
refuse the office in good conscience.

It was a time of famine, flood, and plague, and Gregory called for
litanies, processions, and unceasing prayer for God's help. These
expressions of faith were rewarded by the rapid diminution of the
infestation. During one procession, Gregory saw an angel above Hadrian's
Arch sheathing his sword--an incident from which the Castel Sant'Angelo
derives its name.

As pope, he became the strongest figure in Italy, the exarch of Ravenna
dimmed in comparison to Gregory. Beside him the Western emperor was but
a pale and feeble shadow, and soon the power of his strong personality
and benevolent influence was felt throughout Europe. The attacks of the
barbarians had further increased the importance of the Church because
they had destroyed many of the pagan temples and driven the patrician
families, who preserved the old state religion, out of Rome.

As a preacher he had great ability. In the field of liturgy he
introduced the Gregorian chant (in response to the congregational and
antiphonal singing that Saint Ambrose introduced in Milan and which he
viewed as flippant and irreverent), and established a choir school in
conjunction with an orphanage. He also excelled as a statesman. Indeed,
in every branch and aspect of Church life he showed both genius and
authority, and more than any other he gave shape and direction to the
Medieval Church. In his days, we are told, the see of St. Peter stood
out in Western Europe like a lighthouse in a storm.

Gregory was instrumental in settling difficulties with the Lombards who
besieged Rome several times during his pontificate, and with whom he
personally negotiated treaties. They continued to be troublesome. In
593, he persuaded the invading Lombards under Agilulf to spare Rome, and
he negotiated a peace with the Lombard king--an unprecedented move that
effectively set aside the authority of the Byzantine emperor's
representative, the exarch of Ravenna. Gregory was responsible for all
the relief work in the distressed areas, including redeeming captives
who had been enslaved. For this purpose, Gregory urged bishops to go so
far as to sell their sacred vessels. He did conclude a temporary truce
with the Lombards in 603.

He appointed governors of the Italian cities, provided them with war
materials, and denounced the heavy taxes levied on
Italians by Byzantine officials. This was the beginning of the papal
exercise of temporal authority.

He had many troubles with which he had to deal, and he had few qualms
about using secular force to win adherents to the Church. The Donatist
controversy re-emerged in Africa and Gregory appealed to the emperor to
enforce the pre-existing law against their worship. He encouraged the
Frankish kings to coerce their subjects into the true faith, and on his
own possessions in Italy, he ordered the Manichaeans to be compelled to
accept orthodox catholicism. On the other hand, he was especially
tolerant to the Jews and urged that they should not be harshly treated.
He went so far as to say that, in the case of the Jews, conversions
wrought by force are never sincere.

One of the great successes of the period was the conversion of the Arian
king of Spain, Reccared, who renounced his heresy and converted to the
true faith under the influence of Gregory's greatest friend, Saint
Leandro. Gregory responded to Leandro's letter by sending him part of
his commentary on the Book of Job, which the two had begun together when
they were stationed at Constantinople.

Gregory used the granting of the pallium as a means of extending his
authority. Originally, this was a scarf given by emperors to their
friends and officers that they especially wanted to honour. It came to
be used by the popes as a means of signifying a metropolitan (i.e.,
archbishop or patriarch), although in some instances it was conferred on
a diocesan bishop where there was no metropolitan.

Although Gregory took away the authority of the bishops over monks, he
protected and augmented their rights in other areas. He separated the
clergy from secular courts and forbade them to appeal to lay tribunals.
He also refused the annual presents that suffragan bishops traditionally
brought to Rome or any fee for the granting of the pallium, and
abolished clerical fees for burials and ordinations. He restored
ecclesiastical discipline, removed unworthy clerics from office, and was
prodigious in his charity.

But most conspicuous and far-reaching was his missionary vision. He had
a lifelong interest in the conversion of England, where the Roman rule
had come to an end under the battering of the barbarians, and the
Romano-British Church had been driven into the provinces of Cornwall,
Wales, and Cumbria, while the new Saxon and heathen kingdoms rose and
rivalled one another until King Saint Ethelbert of Kent managed to
exercise authority over much of the country.

Even before Gregory was pope, when walking in the market-place of Rome,
he had noticed the fair-haired Saxon boys offered for sale as slaves and
had made his famous pun: "Not Angles, but angels!" adding, still
humorously, that "Alleluia shall be sung in Aella's land." Until he was
able to carry out his plan for evangelization, he would buy young
English boys in the
slave market and give them a good education with the view of sending
them home as missionaries.

A better opportunity arose when King Ethelbert of Kent married the
Christian princess, Bertha of Gaul. She had been allowed to bring her
chaplain with her to England for her own chapel. Gregory recognised the
opportunity this presented. Thus, he decided to dispatch Saint Augustine
and a small band of monks to bring the Gospel to those shores. Several
times the daunted monks wanted to give up the project, but Gregory
continually encouraged them to press on. The missionaries finally landed
on the Isle of Thanet in May 597. Ethelbert received them courteously
and eventually was baptized. The mission was so prosperous that
Augustine went to Gaul to be consecrated bishop at the hands of the
bishop of Arles.

When questions arose in England, Augustine would write to Gregory. One
letter concerned the division of offerings because Augustine was a monk
living in community and shared all things in common. The normal custom
was to divide any offering equally between the bishop, the clergy, the
poor, and the parish for maintenance. Then there was a question of
liturgical custom: should they follow that of Rome or of Gaul? The
answer was that Augustine should adapt to what is practical for the
particular time and circumstances. There were other questions about
marriages, ordinations, and the position of bishops. In all matters,
Gregory shows himself to be a practical man tempering law with charity.
For example, when Augustine asked about
episcopal ordinations, which require at least three consecrating
bishops, Gregory responded that since Augustine was the only bishop in
the region he must consecrate alone, unless he could get bishops to come
from Gaul.

Gregory had conceived England as it was under Roman rule. He had planned
to have a metropolitan established at York and another at London, and
each should have 12 suffragans. York was to be dependent on London only
during Augustine's lifetime and upon Augustine's death was to be
independent. Gregory does not seem to have realised the pre-existing
bishops had little interest in converting their Anglo-Saxon conquerors.

Gregory also wrote to Saint Mellitus to remind Augustine not to destroy
the pagan temples, but rather to appropriate and consecrate them for
Christian usage.

Gregory relates his view of the English mission in his letter to Bishop
Eulogius of Alexandria:

"While the nation of the Angli, placed in a corner of the world,
remained up to this time misbelieving in the worship of stocks and
stones, I determined, through the aid of your prayers for me, to send
it, God granting, a monk of my monastery for the purpose of preaching.
And he, having with my leave been made bishop by the bishops of Germany,
proceeded, with their aid also, to the end of the world to the this
nation; and already letters have reached us telling us of his safety and
his work; to the effect that he and those that have been sent with him
are resplendent with such great miracles in the said nation that they
seem to imitate the powers of the apostles in the signs which they
display. Moreover, at the solemnity of the Lord's Nativity which
occurred in the first indication, more than 10,000 Angli are reported to
have been baptized by the same our brother and fellow- bishop."

During all his activities, Gregory never stopped writing--his homilies,
his celebrated Dialogues, and many other writings, including over 800
letters and epistles that have survived. The Dialogues, full of
marvellous tales about the visions, prophecies, miracles and lives of
monks and saints of Italy, provided his age with its pious reading and
impressed upon it the underlying, essential truths of religion.

Gregory wrote Pastoral Care (Liber regulae pastoralis) in order to
explain his position. It is an exposition of episcopal duties. (The fact
that it was one of the first books to be translated into English attests
to its importance.) In Gaul (France), it was handed to all bishops at
their consecration. Emperor Maurice had it translated into Greek so that
it could be used in the East as well. Most of the book deals with how a
preacher should adapt his teaching to each of several classes of people.

Gregory was not a great or creative thinker, but was more like the
practical Romans of his time. The custom of saying 30 successive Masses
for those who have died is named after Saint Gregory. It derives from
his Dialogues (Book 4, c. 40) which relates that a monk named Justus had
received three pieces of gold which he kept for himself--an offence
against poverty. The gold was discovered and Justus excommunicated. Soon
after he died and was buried in unconsecrated ground with the three gold
pieces. Time repaired the scandal and the abbot, moved by compassion for
the soul of Justus, arranged for the Sacrifice each morning for 30 days.
As Mass ended on the 30th day, Justus appeared to a brother named
Copiosus, saying, "Bless God, my dear brother, today I am delivered and
admitted into the society of saints."

This pope is also considered the originator of the Mass of the
Presanctified, which continues to be celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox
Churches during their time of the 40 days of fasting which precede
Easter. He himself tells us that he changed the place of the Lord's
Prayer and added it to the Prayer of Consecration. He also added some
petitions to the prayer Hanc igitur, thus giving its final touch to the
Roman canon.

His labours were immense. No task was too great, no service too humble,
for this gifted and versatile follower of Christ, who delighted to call
himself "the servant of the servants of God." One of many stories told
of him is that a beggar presented himself repeatedly at the monastery
gate asking for alms, and each time Gregory gave to him, until, one day,
having no money left to give, he gave him his silver porringer, a gift
from his mother.

As bishop of Rome, Gregory continued to live the monastic life as far as
he was able. He retained the habit and lived with his clergy under a
strict discipline. After he became pope, it was his custom to entertain
every evening at his own table twelve poor men, one for each of our
Lord's disciples. One night he counted thirteen present and, calling his
steward, enquired the reason. "Holy Father," replied the steward, after
counting them over, "you are mistaken; there are but twelve." But
Gregory still counted thirteen, and after the meal called to his
unbidden guest: "Who are you?" The guest replied, "I am the poor man
whom you formerly relieved, and through Me you shall obtain whatever you
shall ask of God." Then Gregory knew that he had entertained our Lord.

Gregory continued his apostolic labours for another seven years after
sending Augustine to England. His delicacy increased and he had to work
in the midst of intense pain from chronic gout. He gradually became
weaker. During the latter part of his life, he was in close
correspondence with Queen Theodolinda of the Lombards to try to win her
and her people into the
Christian fold. Her son had been born and baptized in the Church, just
before Gregory's death. During his last illness, he wrote to
congratulate her on the birth of her son (Benedictines, Bentley,
Delaney, Encyclopaedia (March), Gill, Schouppe, Wand).

In art, Saint Gregory is often portrayed with the four Latin Fathers of
the Church: Ambrose, Augustine, and Jerome.
The image may show Gregory (1) with a book, a dove at his ear; (2) with
a book and ceremonial umbrella or canopy, sometimes held over his head;
(3) with the bull of Saint Luke supporting his book; (4) with the soul
of a king rising at his side;

As a Father of the Church, Gregory is generally portrayed at his writing
desk with the papal insignia near him and a dove at his ear to inspire
him as in the image contained in John of Berry's Petit Heures. He may
also be shown (1) as a bearded early Christian priest by a writing desk,
with the dove at his ear; (2) as the early priest with a pen and book,
candle and tiara with a peacock above him; or (3) occasionally with a
bull of Saint Luke (Roeder).

Gregory is the patron of fringe makers, masons, musicians, scholars,
singers, students, and teachers. He is invoked against gout, plague, and
sterility (Roeder).

Icons of St. Gregory
http://www.allmercifulsavior.com/icons/Icons-Gregory.htm##1
http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/images/a-376.jpg

Troparion of St Gregory tone 3
Thou didst excellently dispense the Word of God,/ endowed with
discretion of speech, O Hierarch Gregory:/ for by thy life thou didst
set the virtues before us,/ and dost radiate the brightness of holiness
./ O righteous Father, pray to Christ our God to grant us His great
mercy.

one hundred and eleven

You would think that in a game where the lower the score is the better you are doing I would be saddened by this score. I am not. It was a great day on the links. I found a consistent swing. This is huge. I'll take a lesson or two at the end of the season and find some time to practice. My swing needs work. But my tee shot has improved immensely. I hit my 3-wood 250 yards a few times. That's huge for me. It's an entirely respectable distance with that club.

So, here's the hope. I hope that I can get some help with my swing. I hope to buy a decent driver (That's a bigger club than the 3-wood.) and get the swing of that. Maybe a 300 yard drive is in my future.

Could I be good at golf? As many mistakes as I made today, I think I could be. How strange.

Heh.

gettin ready

I am getting ready for golf. Tomorrow morning I am going golfing with some of the guys from CCW. It should be a good time. Trish has been kind enough to let me go.

Today was a full day. I arose early this morning to finish the sermon. The preaching went well...You know, I don't know what the difference was this time, but I really enjoyed preaching this one. It was fun. This afternoon Trish and I hung about for a while. Reconciler was a joy. The evening we commissioned a couple of members to go to South Korea to teach English. This same couple were married just two weeks ago. So, we had a little party for them tonight. It was nice to sit and talk with people from Reconciler. It's been a while. So much of my time with them has been limited to services in the evening and that's all.

It's been a good weekend for sitting and chatting. Trish and I spent Saturday together. It's the first day we have had together in a couple of months. We just get so busy.

Anyway, I guess I should go to bed. We have a 6:39 tee time. Early. The picture I posted to the right is my friend Teresa. This is a great picture of her. She is a composer in New York. I was playing around in my Flickr account and rediscovered the picture. Lovely.

You Are a Yellow Crayon

Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors. You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius. Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way. While you seem spontaneous and free wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme. Your color wheel opposite is purple. You both are charismatic leaders, but purple people act like you have no depth.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Kudos to Wes.

sermon: the ladies who lunch

Sermon: Proper 17 (22) Year C 2007
Community Church of Wilmette
September 2, 2007
the readings

The Ladies Who Lunch

How many of you find yourselves being lumped into a stereotype from time to time?

Are you a jock? A punk? A suburbanite? A femi-nazi? Are you too rich? Are you too poor? Old? Young? Is there a certain ethnic stereotype that you find yourself living down?

Is there a certain stereotype that you find yourself trying to live into? Are you a peacenik? A neatnik? Are you that successful North Shore fast company guru? Are you America’s next great post-industrial entrepreneur?

Likely all of us enjoy the burden and benefits of being lumped into a stereotype…and likely more than one at that. We all jockey for position somehow. We all seek to associate with the right people…whoever those people may be.

When I was a boy, probably younger than ten, I remember going shopping with older members of my family, great aunts and uncles, people of my grandfather’s generation. With them, going shopping was an event. This was in the early 1970’s in Richmond, Virginia before the shopping malls had taken over. Before the shopping mall was…the department store! Brothers and sisters, the department store was downtown! And that was something else!

You see, for those of you who don’t know this, once upon a time, going shopping was an event. Going downtown to the local department store was something you prepared for. We would dress up to go shopping. I remember the three-piece suit I wore as a boy. And if my memory serves me rightly, my Aunt Alice would wear gloves…white gloves with little buttons on them. Her husband, Gilbert, has a great hat that he would wear…and just a little off to the side. My grandfather (We called him Pappy.) wore a similar hat. I have it in my closet at home. A gentleman always wore a good hat. Ladies wore gloves.

At least, that’s what I remember.

When we would go downtown to shop, there was one place that we would go to for lunch, The Russian Tea Room. I cannot tell you if the food was any good. I don’t recall. But I remember looking around the fine dining room and seeing other people dressed up and looking just right, everything just so. Almost all of them were my from my grandfather’s generation. Aunt Alice and Uncle Gilbert fit right in. It was glorious.

I had encountered The Ladies Who Lunch. You know, the well-to-do who gather with the right people to discuss…well, being the right people. They talk about the right people and who is one of the right people…and who most decidedly is not. Ah, the stereotyp