Can the Church Really Show Christ’s Love If…

If you’ve read the past few entries in this blog, you may know that I am in a bit of a transition church-wise.  My home church is a wonderful, caring, giving, living group.  However, I find a lack of peers of which I can truly relate to.

The new church I’ve attended has more of my peers age-wise, but a couple of things caught my eye today which made me pause and wonder if I’m on the right track.  I’ll just mention one here, since it relates to video shown below.  On a table showcasing a bunch of theological books was a card advertising a book company called  Exodus Books, which had many titles regarding homosexuality, as in Healing Homosexuality and Reparative Therapy for Male Homosexuality.  I immediately cringed.  Despite its openness and welcoming attitude, despite its “hip and relevant” decor and demeanor, this church was, however subtlety, negating the worth and value of someone made in the image of God.  I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that someone “chooses” homosexuality.  I believe they are born that way, and it is no genetic defect or inherent sin manifestation, or whatever fear-based titles you wish to put on it- who am I to say how God creates one of my fellow human beings?  And therefore, to see this card, to see how someone could be “repaired,” was quite, frankly, offensive.

Therefore, stumbling across this video allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief.  Forgive the interviewer, you interjects too many “yeahs” and “uh-huhs” for my taste.  The message still gets through loud and clear…shouldn’t it be about the love Christ taught us?

Not Alone.

Today I learned that I do not control the universe.

Having all my lesson plans ready and organized for the coming days, I went to pick up my wife from work.  On the way, I thought I’d give a quick call to my parents, to let them know I was alive and assuage the guilt of not calling them for over a month.

Long story short: my father has been sick.  Quite sick.  My sister and brother-in-law too.

For the past three weeks, he has battled high temperatures, joint pain, chronic fatigue, and faced a barrage of tests which have poked and prodded him, including an extraction of bone marrow.  His blood platelet count is down, and he has tested positive for Lyme disease.

Needless to say, a bit concerned here.

For the past few weeks, I have been restless, wanting to put my faith into action, dissatisfied with the lack of discussion and questioning of my home church, Emmanuel, and seeking new places to connect with my Christian peers.  I’ve wanted to take the reins with my walk with God and determine the new and next paths to go down.  This has been a good thing, partially.  But I’ve also allowed myself to become a bit self-absorbed, withdrawn, and irritable.  Not exactly a place of openness and communication.  Which, of course, would lead to grace, if my impatience would give it just a moment to seep into my shielded soul.

So for all my renewed theological arguments, I’m reduced to a speechless state of worry, and only able to offer my father the words “I’ll pray” and “I really want you to get well.”

Left simply to recognize my worry and concern, and offer it up to He who says “I am with you.”

Even though I’ve wanted to be by myself.

I now know I am not.

I don’t know if I really believe that sometimes, but in either case…

Grace and peace.

Hope.

Not from my heart, but from the hearts of others:

Beautiful post from Anne Jackson on FlowerDust.net.

 

Inspiring Daily Show clip Brian McLaren posted on his site.  

 

Thoughts on Tradition…

I’m currently in conversation with people on Julie Clawson’s blog (onehandclapping) which involves a discussion of tradition.

Interesting, thought provoking stuff.

The Violence of Commitment

The violence we should use in religion is the violence of commitment:  Using every means you have as a creative being to bring yourself closer to God…I believe that everybody on earth was created in God’s image.  We are all related in being created.  So I, as a created [being] have to respect other created things.  That’s what I mean when I say putting God at the center.  He created us this way.  We have to learn to live together.

Such were the words of an Orthodox Christian nun of the St. Mary Magdalene monastery located at the Mount of Olives who  Bruce Feiler spoke to as part of the stirring conclusion of his book Where God Was Born.  This nun exemplified the passionate position that the God of Christianity is a God of Love, not hate.  Therefore, when I need to send my friend Liz a link to Rob Bell’s Bullhorn Nooma video, to provide her with some relief and hope after she stumbled across this, I am convinced more and more of the need for the gospel to truly be the Gospel- the Good News of a loving, compassionate God.  If we as Christians remain quiet while our misguided fellow brothers and sisters in Christ preach a message of hate and exclusion, instead of the redeeming message of love and inclusion spoken from the lips of Jesus, then where exactly do we stand?  Book Burning?  Is this what we want to be reduced to?  Or shall we be lights in the darkness, bringing peace and love to those we meet, regardless of race, sexuality, creed, etc.?

Feiler writes that “religion can only be saved by religion,” that the “only force strong enough to take on religious extremism is religious moderation.”  I believe he speaks the truth in this regard.  Do we want to be content to shout from the mountaintops our “rightness” or feed the poor and hungry at the foothills?  No matter what translation of the Bible you read, care for the poor, the widow, and orphan is pretty self explanatory.

For too long we have allowed the message of Christ to be used as a weapon, not as a unifying force for good.

Sometimes Art Comes From What We Walk Upon

This clip has been circulating all over the net, including two on my Google Reader, PeterRollins.net and Solar Crash.  I don’t think I have anything particularly insightful to add in addition to the “wows” and “OMGs!” I’ve seen elsewhere regarding this fascinating artist from Ukraine.  I will say that I took the opportunity to show all my students this clip, a moment of sharing where I stepped out of my normal curriculum just to, as I stated to them, “not analyze, but witness something beautiful.”  It felt freeing to go with this moment, the impulse not to simply teach, but share.  I hope and pray I have more of these moments this year.

Coffee and Theopoetics

Today a day for my mind to ramble and explore.  Currently reading Speaking in Parables by Sallie McFague and The Orthodox Heretic by Peter Rollins, both of which explore the metaphoric implications of parables.  Upon researching Sallie McFague’s bacckground online, came across Theopoetics(dot)net, a fascinating site exploring the relationship between postmodernism, narrative, poetry and theology.

All of this culminating in what I hope will be a better understanding of my role as a teacher of literature and my ongoing journey of faith.  The two had seemed almost disparate, but the more I explore and read, the more perspectives I have encountered in the past three years, have served to show me a connection between the two hitherto ignored or unseen.

Walking.

It feels good to walk again.  No, I haven’t been injured in any way that’s had me bed-bound or unable to move.  I have been moving.  Perhaps a bit too fast, a bit too much.  And often in my car.  Going to work, errands, trips, and treks to the gas station to get more fuel to go to work, errands, trips…well, you get the picture.

Or if I am walking, it’s usually at  brisk pace to get to my classroom ahead of the students, jumping into one store, then another- always go go go.

Well, tonight I said no.

I took a nice leisurely stroll around my neighborhood as the sun went down.  Bats fluttered overhead, and insects, as if on cue, seemed to increase their chirping in volume and intensity.  It felt nice to casually put one foot in front of the other, to hear the squelch of mud underfoot, or the rhythmic tap of the cement on the sidewalk.  I noticed I was taking deeper breaths, my heart rate slowing.  My mind stopped churning, at least for a little bit.

This used to be a routine for me, and maybe it should become so again.  I used to take time in the evening to meditate and reflect on the present moment.

A wonderful Nooma video expounds on this, and God’s place all around us. It’s called Rhythm.  Enjoy:

“The Monks are back. School must have started…”

…this is what I wrote recently in my journal, totaling the entries to two (2), because it’s a beautiful leather bound journal I received as a gift for Christmas years ago and I don’t want to mess it up with my scribbling.

So what I wrote must have, in hindsight, been pretty important.  And now, upon reflection, seems to me an indicator of a new season in my life.

The “monks” in question are actually two books about monks: An Infinity of Little Hours by Nancy Maguire and Voices of Silence: Lives of the Trappists Today by Frank Bianco. Infinity profiles five young men who chose to become novitiates of the strict Carthusian order started by St. Bruno in the 11th Century.  Voices explores the structure of life among the Trappists, from the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky to Notre Dame de Melleray in France.

The books are quite gripping, and help sustain an interest in monasticism I’ve had for years, but the real question remains: “Why did I choose to pick up those particular books?”

I’ve quipped a few times to my friends that the practices of monasticism are really a form of Ritalin for those of us suffering from spiritual ADHD.  For those, like me, who suffer from the actual physical disorder, you may know what I’m talking about here.  Our attention span is a like hummingbird drinking espresso- it’s all over the place.  Spiritually, I think this makes it harder for us to focus on God, especially in silence and reflection.  If there are a million things going through our mind every second, what do we do to help us put all of that aside and focus on God and His guidance and assurance?

Along with increasingly over-perscribed medication, psychiatrists emphasize the establishment of routine and pattern of those with ADD.  This emphasis on organization helps reduce the stress and anxiety that usually occurs when “too many things seem to be happening at once.” Similary, monks have established spiritual practices (prayer, work, contemplation, lectio divina) which allows them to further focus on God.  This is not to reduce these practices as some sort of “prescription for finding God,” but I think the analogy works to a point.  Monks remind themselves daily- hourly- of the pattern, rhythm and presence of God in their lives and in the world.

Which brings up the question of liturgy.

It’s a question already posed, and answered substantially, over at Julie Clawson’s onehandclapping blog.  Liturgy is the rhythm and pattern many Christians follow and embrace every Sunday as part of their worship service.  This is the “smells and bells” approach to worship, with repeated prayers, times for standing, sitting, kneeling, singing, contemplation, and the partaking of the Eucharist.  For many of us, it is a reminder of God’s role in the world and the steps it took to bring about the miracle and mystery of Christ.  For me, it’s a reminder to breathe, not simply just to relax, but to breathe in the realization, as Rob Bell stated in a recent sermon, that “A whole new world is bursting forth, right in the midst of this one, and everybody everywhere can be a part of it” and that “A Christian is constantly learning how to see this creation with their very own eyes.”

There are many other thoughts on this, and I encourage those who would like further perspectives to the conversation put forth in Clawson’s blog.

This sense of structure and organization is imperative to me as a high school teacher.  yep.. That’s what I do.  And let me tell you, if you are disorganized as a teacher, life quickly becomes a living hell.  Because it’s not just me…the organization of my 150 students is a necessity as well.  It’s organizing lesson plans, homework, essays, vocabulary work, grades, progress reports, permission slips, notes, etc.

But it’s all meant to create a space so we can open up.  We can explore.  We can immerse ourselves.

The monks are back.  To remind me of what higher purpose that structure is for…

4000 Miles for a Pint with the Inklings…

While I was in England, I had a much anticipated pint at the Eagle and Child, otherwise known as the Bird and Baby, in Oxford.  This was a pub where my two favorite authors, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis used to meet and share ideas, a place which had a role in the creation of Middle Earth and Narnia!

Here are some pictures from my time in Oxford, including the Eagle and Child, Addison’s Walk, and Magdalen College:

A Hobbit finds his way into the Eagle and Child guestbook

reading the Eagle and Child guestbook

C.S. Lewis plague at Eagle and Child

Magdalen College

Addison's Walk, Magdalen College, Oxford

Addison's Walk, Magdalen College, Oxford