I spent the last day and a half at a mandatory retreat (which tells you how truly retreatish it was) for probationary members of my church's annual conference. As much as I really wasn't wanting to go, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the topic for this year was spiritual formation.
Which means that my favorite topic came up--journaling...
The following is from my journaling exercize at the event --
I cringe every time the spiritual discipline of journaling comes up. I can and will short-term journal (i.e. mission trips, retreats, etc.), but as far as getting a book journal and sitting down and writing goes--well, I just can't/don't/won't do it. I've tried. I've tried again. I've tried trying again, again. But, truthfully, it's just not my thing.
However comma, I do blog. And I blog somewhat regularly (as you readers know) on my God-thoughts and church-thoughts and even on random-thought thoughts.
So maybe I journal without knowing it. Maybe calling it something besideds "journaling" is what allows me to journal.
I may end up being late in getting back, but I want to write down the meditation on Sacrament from this a.m. (in fact, as I was leaving the chapel I thought, "I should write a blog about this.")
Just a description; not an analysis:
The Sacrament in the tabernacle sits on the back wall of the chapel. Behind it is a mosaic of a tree and a fountain all springing from the tabernacle that holds the Blessed Sacrament. The tree and the fountain are one. The Tree of Life ad the Fountain of Living Water/River of Life.
I wonder--did the tabernacle get put there because of the mosaic? Or did the mosaic/does the mosaic represent what the tabernacle attempts to contain but cannot hold in?
Protestants should meditate on the Sacrament more frequently.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
...the old man is snoring
It's pouring down rain right now (and in the back of my mind I'm aware of the fact that my car window may still be stuck in the down position...but I can't get too worried about it because I can't control it)--it's pouring down rain right now and I'm reminded of all the times I walked that long walk from the University Annex to Founder's Hall at Humboldt State University (it's a long, long walk) in the pouring down rain.
People would always run up the hill--it's a long, long run--and still arrive at Founder's Hall soaked to the bone with the added bonus of being very out of breath. I'd normally just walk because there's no sense in being soaked AND out of breath--besides there aren't degrees of soaked, you either are or you aren't.
Anyway, the downpour and the running/walking in the rain sets a great tone for the beginning of my personal walk through Lent. I've tried to come up with what I'm going to do (i.e. give up, take up, etc) for the season--and to be honest I still don't know. I think I'm going to take it one day at a time. Seeking God in the ordinary, everday moments of this year's Lent.
If I take it one day at a time--I'll be more in the moment and more able to accept the hospitality of others; more in the moment and more able to give of myself to those who might be in need; more in the moment, which is exactly where God wants me to be.
Either way, at the end of these forty days, God's grace will still be abundant, I'll still be able to celebrate and live Resurrection, and I'll still be in need of forgiveness, so why plan ahead? Why run through all those disciplines, finishing the course and being all out of breath, and miss the fact that God is right in front of me right now, wanting to take a slow walk in the rain of grace (Reign of Grace)?
Maybe it's best to just be in the now.
People would always run up the hill--it's a long, long run--and still arrive at Founder's Hall soaked to the bone with the added bonus of being very out of breath. I'd normally just walk because there's no sense in being soaked AND out of breath--besides there aren't degrees of soaked, you either are or you aren't.
Anyway, the downpour and the running/walking in the rain sets a great tone for the beginning of my personal walk through Lent. I've tried to come up with what I'm going to do (i.e. give up, take up, etc) for the season--and to be honest I still don't know. I think I'm going to take it one day at a time. Seeking God in the ordinary, everday moments of this year's Lent.
If I take it one day at a time--I'll be more in the moment and more able to accept the hospitality of others; more in the moment and more able to give of myself to those who might be in need; more in the moment, which is exactly where God wants me to be.
Either way, at the end of these forty days, God's grace will still be abundant, I'll still be able to celebrate and live Resurrection, and I'll still be in need of forgiveness, so why plan ahead? Why run through all those disciplines, finishing the course and being all out of breath, and miss the fact that God is right in front of me right now, wanting to take a slow walk in the rain of grace (Reign of Grace)?
Maybe it's best to just be in the now.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Caring is Col!
A friend of mine recently posted a link to this site, and mentioned the idea of "doing" for Lent this year rather than simply "abstaining."
It must be a movement of the Spirit, because I mentioned that to the youth at church a week ago. The site above (coolpeoplecare.com) send out five minute "action oriented devotionals" every day that try to help us live into the Kingdom today.
Seems like a cool way to participate in Lent this year.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
and the dimmest bulb award goes to...
When you see a headline like this:
Driver drops bid to sue family of boy he killed
you have to wonder how this one got past quality control.From CNN.com --
HARO, Spain (CNN) -- A Spanish businessman withdrew a controversial lawsuit Wednesday against the family of a teenage boy he struck and killed while driving a luxury car.
Tomas Delgado had filed a suit asking the dead boy's parents to pay him €20,000 ($29,400) on the grounds that the collision that killed their teenage son also damaged his Audi A-8.
News of the case sparked outrage in Spain and generated deep sympathy for the parents of 17-year-old Enaitz Iriondo Trinidad. He was riding his bicycle home to a campground when Delgado's car hit and killed him in August 2004.
Hundreds of people descended on a courthouse in northern Spain in a show of support for the boy's parents Wednesday. They broke into applause when word came that Delgado had dropped the suit.
The businessman had insisted in a recent television interview that he was a victim, too. He was not present for a court hearing Wednesday. His lawyer told the court that Delgado felt that the extensive publicity amounted to a public lynching.
Follow the link for the rest of the article.http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/01/30/spain.luxury.car/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
work of the people
I have been a "member" (both highly active and not so active) of a religous order dedicated to sacramental and liturgical scholarship, education and practice.
I came back to the Christian faith through the Eastern Orthodox Church where the liturgy in worship is the work of the people--the entire Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is sung by the people gathered for worship, not just the opening hymn, a gradual or sequence hymn and then a closing hymn with the responsive psalter stuck in for good measure--the entire liturgy is sung by the people.
I write this to challenge my brothers and sisters of the Order to move beyond the protection of Word and Table as "liturgical scholarship" and get back to the roots of worship--a life transforming encounter with the living God that moves us into the world to live what we beleive. If sacramental and liturgical scholarship, education and practice means "accept word and table or leave" then I will leave.
Our own tradition speaks to worship as follows:
"It is not necessary that rites and ceremonies should in all places be the same, or exactly alike; for they have been always different, and may be changed according to the diversity of countries, times, and men's (sic) manners...Every particular church may ordain, change, or abolish rites and ceremonies, so that all things may be done to edification."
and
"We believe the order of public worship need not be the same in all places but may be modified by the church according to to circumstanes and the needs of men (sic). It should be in a language and form understood by the people, consistent with the Holy Scriptures to the edification of all, and in accorance with the order and Discipline of the Church."
Let me point out the word that sticks in my spirit--edification.
edification -- n. Intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement; enlightenment.
So if worship is--by our tradition's historical statements--for the intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement or enlightenment of all people, if worship CAN BE CHANGED(and some might read should) for the edification of the locally gathered community of faith (not to mention the local community searching for faith) we cannot allow ourselves to protect a specific order of worship for the sake of unity of uniformity.
We can't do it because it is killing the church.
We can't do it because it no longer speaks to all people in a meaningful way that leads to an encounter with the living Christ. I'm not saying we must abolish Word and Table altogether, but we cannot protect it from alteration, we cannot protect it from contemporization, we cannot place it on the altar and worship it as if the liturgy itself were God.
My liturgical scholarship--which is anything but extensive--leads me to believe that the liturgy must be by and for the people, so that the people meet God and carry that encounter into the world. If the liturgy isn't the work of the people then it's not liturgy by the very definition of the word.
But more than just clinging to definitions, I cling to the desire to see people of faith living their act of worship every day of their lives. That is the most meaningful liturgy ever.
I'll send my stuff back if you're ready to excommunicate me. But the heart of my liturgy are the words "make this be for us the body and blood that we may be for the world by the body of Christ redeemed by his blood." Those words are etched into my very soul--but I don't need to say it word for word to let God do the work that God will do. Nor do I have to follow the suggested order of worship printed inside of my hymnal.
All I have to do, all I want to do, is let the people entrusted to my care meet with God who is love, love God who is love, be transformed by God who is love, and leave the worship gathering wanting to share that living encounter with the God who is love.
I think I've gotten the bulk of it out--but I don't think this "manifesto" will ever be complete. I still beleive that liturgy is important, but it has to be meaningful and relevant. I still believe that sacraments are God's gifts to us for the sake of inner transformation, and they should be part of every worship gathering. But I refuse to believe that what reached and was relevant to "normal people" 50 or 60 years ago will reach and be relevant to "normal people" today.
I came back to the Christian faith through the Eastern Orthodox Church where the liturgy in worship is the work of the people--the entire Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is sung by the people gathered for worship, not just the opening hymn, a gradual or sequence hymn and then a closing hymn with the responsive psalter stuck in for good measure--the entire liturgy is sung by the people.
I write this to challenge my brothers and sisters of the Order to move beyond the protection of Word and Table as "liturgical scholarship" and get back to the roots of worship--a life transforming encounter with the living God that moves us into the world to live what we beleive. If sacramental and liturgical scholarship, education and practice means "accept word and table or leave" then I will leave.
Our own tradition speaks to worship as follows:
"It is not necessary that rites and ceremonies should in all places be the same, or exactly alike; for they have been always different, and may be changed according to the diversity of countries, times, and men's (sic) manners...Every particular church may ordain, change, or abolish rites and ceremonies, so that all things may be done to edification."
and
"We believe the order of public worship need not be the same in all places but may be modified by the church according to to circumstanes and the needs of men (sic). It should be in a language and form understood by the people, consistent with the Holy Scriptures to the edification of all, and in accorance with the order and Discipline of the Church."
Let me point out the word that sticks in my spirit--edification.
edification -- n. Intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement; enlightenment.
So if worship is--by our tradition's historical statements--for the intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement or enlightenment of all people, if worship CAN BE CHANGED(and some might read should) for the edification of the locally gathered community of faith (not to mention the local community searching for faith) we cannot allow ourselves to protect a specific order of worship for the sake of unity of uniformity.
We can't do it because it is killing the church.
We can't do it because it no longer speaks to all people in a meaningful way that leads to an encounter with the living Christ. I'm not saying we must abolish Word and Table altogether, but we cannot protect it from alteration, we cannot protect it from contemporization, we cannot place it on the altar and worship it as if the liturgy itself were God.
My liturgical scholarship--which is anything but extensive--leads me to believe that the liturgy must be by and for the people, so that the people meet God and carry that encounter into the world. If the liturgy isn't the work of the people then it's not liturgy by the very definition of the word.
But more than just clinging to definitions, I cling to the desire to see people of faith living their act of worship every day of their lives. That is the most meaningful liturgy ever.
I'll send my stuff back if you're ready to excommunicate me. But the heart of my liturgy are the words "make this be for us the body and blood that we may be for the world by the body of Christ redeemed by his blood." Those words are etched into my very soul--but I don't need to say it word for word to let God do the work that God will do. Nor do I have to follow the suggested order of worship printed inside of my hymnal.
All I have to do, all I want to do, is let the people entrusted to my care meet with God who is love, love God who is love, be transformed by God who is love, and leave the worship gathering wanting to share that living encounter with the God who is love.
I think I've gotten the bulk of it out--but I don't think this "manifesto" will ever be complete. I still beleive that liturgy is important, but it has to be meaningful and relevant. I still believe that sacraments are God's gifts to us for the sake of inner transformation, and they should be part of every worship gathering. But I refuse to believe that what reached and was relevant to "normal people" 50 or 60 years ago will reach and be relevant to "normal people" today.
Monday, January 21, 2008
i belong when?
| You Belong in 1971 |
 Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all! |
i belong where?
| You Belong in Amsterdam |
 A little old fashioned, a little modern - you're the best of both worlds. And so is Amsterdam. Whether you want to be a squatter graffiti artist or a great novelist, Amsterdam has all that you want in Europe (in one small city). |
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