Have you thought lately about what in your life you'd like to be different? Now before you say, "No," think about some conversations you've had recently. Have you told someone you're thinking about buying a new car? Did you hear yourself say you wish you had a new job; a new Easter outfit; better health insurance; a cleaner house; a smaller tax bill? Then we're not disagreeing about the idea, only the details.
The devil's in the details, or so goes an old saying. But what if that's all wrong? What if the details aren't the devil at all? What if the details are the whisperings of God calling you into new places; into new beginnings; new adventures? Could the details be God's beckoning you into a new future?
Uh, Uhh, too soon to argue the point. Tomorrow's a new future. Anyone reading this who doesn't want to see tomorrow? I didn't think so. What if the details are the Spirit of God – the energy of God leading you away from the sources of energy and power your personal planet orbits today, and into a new orbit of energy - the energy of the Risen Christ. Not the Christ who conquered death over 2000 years ago, but the energy of Christ alive and present in our midst.
The theological word for what I'm talking about is transformation. While you may not use that word to describe the experience, you know the experience. And though it can sometimes feel invasive, unwanted and unpredictable, you even relish it! Or at least you once did.
Remember how you relished: growing into teenage or adult years; welcoming someone back from war; giving birth; surviving an illness or serious accident; realizing you'd fallen in love; or felt mysteriously, again, the touch of a loved one you'd buried long ago? That was transformation. And, no doubt, God was involved in those details.
That's why the disciplines of Lent are so important. While we often talk about prayer, fasting and almsgiving - the details – we sometimes under emphasize the purposes behind these activities. Lenten disciplines afford us is solitude, solace, and solidarity. A space without distractions. An encounter with the God who loves and cares especially for us as individual persons. A sense of kinship and belonging with all those who live by God's grace.
We can't make that happen on our own. Maybe that's why we resist it so. This kind of different, this kind of change, this kind of transformation is beyond our control. Unlike deciding about buying a new car; joining a new church; or, taking a different kind of action to promote justice; we simply can't choose, or get to, this kind of meeting with God on our own terms. We can't get to God. Only God can get to us.
That's why God works so hard to make it so! It's not only that we often work so hard to keep this God at arms length. We also persist in defining this God in the same way we describe all those other energy fields we orbit. Oh, sure, we'd like to believe that we've long ago given up the notion that ours is a Scoutmaster God who hands out merit badges. We're sure we no longer understand God as the Santa who knows when we've been bad or good. Details, details.
Not claiming and celebrating the transformations God still gives to us keeps us from being a transforming people. We have three weeks left for a precious period of solitude, solace and solidarity. Can you hear Risen Jesus calling? The one who broke open and poured out in solitude and solidarity on the cross for you? Take solace. That detail's gonna change you!
Showing posts with label lenten disciplines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lenten disciplines. Show all posts
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Friday, March 02, 2007
Grow 12 Inches in Two Minutes!
It's easy to get caught up in the belief that everything is knowable Many folks are sure that it's only a matter of time before philosophers and scientists open every intellectual and emotional door in the universe.
Still, despite what we know, and in spite of our fixation that we can, eventually, know everything we think we need to know, the longest distance on earth remains the 12 inches from the human brain to the human heart. That's where Lent comes in.
Lent isn't just a season in the church calendar. Lent is the time and energy Christians focus on the same questions that bedeviled Jesus in his desert experience: who am I; what am I to do; how can I get that done.
Those questions, and the intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual concerns they raise are issues of the heart. Issues for our hearts because when we take the time to think with our heads: about who we are; who we've let ourselves become; and who we're surely to be if we continue the path we're walking, we still don't know the whole truth about ourselves.
If you want to know something for sure, spend two minutes by yourself, looking in a mirror. The person looking back at you is gonna die someday. And when you can admit that you’re gonna die, you're gonna want to ask yourself, "So, how shall I live?"
Lent's heart time can help you answer that question anew. You could spend some time in prayer - becoming familiar with the person you are who God still loves. You could fast, not to lose weight, or to prove that you can live without chocolate, or alcohol, or nicotine, but to get reacquainted with the experience of hungering, pining, thirsting, yearning for more than what fills your usual bill. You could give alms -not to engage in checkbook mission and ministry, but to ally yourself with those who have no choice about their deprivation, their degradation, or their degeneration into an existence that few of our sated and comfortable ideas of God can console.
If you spend a few minutes staring into your own future - the dustiness that's to become of us – you might be able to not only look passed the fear that imprisons our hearts, but God might lead you to walk into, through, and past those fears cause us to think we can fool ourselves, by foolin' everyone else into believin' that we do pray, we do fast, and we do give alms - so aren't' we special!
If you spend a few minutes staring into your own future, the dustiness that's to become of us – it means you're alive. And when you can admit that you do have a life, you're gonna want to ask yourself, "So, how shall I live?"
You see, if you give yourself a few minutes to notice the naked truth that we're gonna die and we're gonna live - it means that God is bringing you across that 12 inch wasteland between our head and our heart that we spend so much time trying to cover up.
What is the fear that makes the 12 inches between your head and heart an un-crossable chasm? Is it: fear of poverty - of not having enough - that makes you horde all you got; fear of relationships - of having to make room in your heart for another - that makes you wall off your love into so many empty chambers; fear of emptiness – of giving away too much -that makes you gorge yourself with all kinds of stuff, well beyond what anyone needs for wholesome nourishment; fear of aloneness - of not having place, or standing, or status, or legitimacy that makes you crawl over, put down, or shame folks different from you?
Those are big chasms to cross all by yourself. In the cross of Jesus all of our faults are exposed. There can be no more illusion that we're of one mind and one heart. Our schemes to cover the naked truth are exposed. The garments of guile we wear to make people think we have it together are exposed for the rag-tags they are.
Take two minutes today, so you're geared up to grow 12 inches in 40 days. When we do Lent, alone and together, we can remember that there's no chasm we have to cross alone -cuz Jesus already crossed it for us. And now: still able to fool ourselves, we're free; still failing, we're forgiven; still frightened, we're fearless; and, we get to walk along and cross on home.
Still, despite what we know, and in spite of our fixation that we can, eventually, know everything we think we need to know, the longest distance on earth remains the 12 inches from the human brain to the human heart. That's where Lent comes in.
Lent isn't just a season in the church calendar. Lent is the time and energy Christians focus on the same questions that bedeviled Jesus in his desert experience: who am I; what am I to do; how can I get that done.
Those questions, and the intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual concerns they raise are issues of the heart. Issues for our hearts because when we take the time to think with our heads: about who we are; who we've let ourselves become; and who we're surely to be if we continue the path we're walking, we still don't know the whole truth about ourselves.
If you want to know something for sure, spend two minutes by yourself, looking in a mirror. The person looking back at you is gonna die someday. And when you can admit that you’re gonna die, you're gonna want to ask yourself, "So, how shall I live?"
Lent's heart time can help you answer that question anew. You could spend some time in prayer - becoming familiar with the person you are who God still loves. You could fast, not to lose weight, or to prove that you can live without chocolate, or alcohol, or nicotine, but to get reacquainted with the experience of hungering, pining, thirsting, yearning for more than what fills your usual bill. You could give alms -not to engage in checkbook mission and ministry, but to ally yourself with those who have no choice about their deprivation, their degradation, or their degeneration into an existence that few of our sated and comfortable ideas of God can console.
If you spend a few minutes staring into your own future - the dustiness that's to become of us – you might be able to not only look passed the fear that imprisons our hearts, but God might lead you to walk into, through, and past those fears cause us to think we can fool ourselves, by foolin' everyone else into believin' that we do pray, we do fast, and we do give alms - so aren't' we special!
If you spend a few minutes staring into your own future, the dustiness that's to become of us – it means you're alive. And when you can admit that you do have a life, you're gonna want to ask yourself, "So, how shall I live?"
You see, if you give yourself a few minutes to notice the naked truth that we're gonna die and we're gonna live - it means that God is bringing you across that 12 inch wasteland between our head and our heart that we spend so much time trying to cover up.
What is the fear that makes the 12 inches between your head and heart an un-crossable chasm? Is it: fear of poverty - of not having enough - that makes you horde all you got; fear of relationships - of having to make room in your heart for another - that makes you wall off your love into so many empty chambers; fear of emptiness – of giving away too much -that makes you gorge yourself with all kinds of stuff, well beyond what anyone needs for wholesome nourishment; fear of aloneness - of not having place, or standing, or status, or legitimacy that makes you crawl over, put down, or shame folks different from you?
Those are big chasms to cross all by yourself. In the cross of Jesus all of our faults are exposed. There can be no more illusion that we're of one mind and one heart. Our schemes to cover the naked truth are exposed. The garments of guile we wear to make people think we have it together are exposed for the rag-tags they are.
Take two minutes today, so you're geared up to grow 12 inches in 40 days. When we do Lent, alone and together, we can remember that there's no chasm we have to cross alone -cuz Jesus already crossed it for us. And now: still able to fool ourselves, we're free; still failing, we're forgiven; still frightened, we're fearless; and, we get to walk along and cross on home.
Monday, February 26, 2007
The State of Our Union Is...
The President shall report to the Congress on the state of the union, from time to time... , so says the constitution of the United States. And while there's no requirement that people of faith render the same sort of public accounting on the state of their souls, the season of Lent does offer us - alone and together - an opportunity to consider how life and faith are coming together for us.
What difference does it make, for ourselves and for the world that we claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ?
Have there been changes - maturity or "back-sliding" - in our follower-ship?
Maybe you remember those self-assessment tests published in magazines like Reader's Digest which ask us to score our emotional health. These usually involve charting major events in one's life; have we: moved; changed jobs; lost a spouse, or loved one; experienced a major illness; retired; won an award, etc. The "tests" suggest that each of these is the source of either a major stress or a significant delight - and so, affect our sense of well-being either positively or negatively.
While I'm not a big fan of so-called pop psychology, there is value in reflecting on who we are now; how we got here; what this space feels like, physically, emotionally and spiritually; and, whether or not this is really the space God calls us to inhabit. Heaven forbid our personal assessment of, "that's the way it is," were to echo the President's words – let’s ramp up our efforts to do more of the same even, though that hasn’t worked so far!
I'm not much of a fan of pop-religion either. That's why I recommend we take on some disciplines that have served people of faith since very early in the church's post-Easter, post-Pentecost experiences. These are: prayer, fasting, and alms-giving.
Despite the claims made by various civic and cultural leaders that all manner of beliefs, values, practices, and even laws, are rooted in the teachings, of Jesus, really living day-to-day, through Christ in the Holy Spirit, has never been popular or easy.
Jesus seems to have used his 40 desert days to sort through who God was calling him to be (Messiah); how he'd exercise that call (Sharin' Plenty Good News!); and, the means he'd use to make that proclamation come alive in his hearers' hearts (Suffering Servant / breaking open and pouring out).
What made the desert experience "work" for Jesus was something very much still available to us - time spent in dialogue (speaking and listening) to a loving God. Lent invites us to enter into that same union, from time to time.
These suggestions for practicing the traditional Lenten disciplines: prayer; fasting and almsgiving, are offered to help us, alone and together, make room in the middle of all our stuff to let Lent go through us. By such practices, Christians throughout the centuries have arrived at the three sacred days, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday better prepared to be seized by the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. May God lead and find you there.
Prayer - We pray. Meaning we get into real communication with God the Spirit, who gathers us here; God the Father, who speaks a word that frees us from all anxiety here; and, God the Son, who has gone on ahead of us, leaving us such a clear example of what it means to live here and now as though the day Lord has indeed come near.
Don’t hold back:
• talk to this God
• write letters to this God
• make notes to this God in a journal
• draw pictures, or doodles to this God
• sing to this God, play music if you can
• cry your eyes out with this God
• scream at this God.
Be quiet with this God. Hear this God's word spoken just to you. Listen to this God's voice as it breaks out for you in special:
• memories
• feelings
• insights, and/or
• images.
More often than not, these aren't distractions; they're God's reward to you.
Fasting - We fast. Meaning we let go of all those dependencies that keep us from living a full life. That means not only giving up something, but moving toward something. God doesn't need a universe in which you don't eat cookies. But God might rejoice in a world where your voting habits change because you have a keener sense of what it means to really be hungry. That would lead to a fast of your heart, not of your belly. Your cutting an attachment from one thing in order to attach to something else, says a lot about where your treasure is. Don't hold back.
The purpose of fasting is to have empathy with (feel the feelings of) a suffering other, not to have sympathy (feel sorry) for another. Compassion wombs another; it creates a related exchange between another and ourselves. That's why we say our God is a compassionate God. Fasting helps us to walk in the other's shoes.
Almsgiving - We give alms. Meaning we adjust the way we spend all our resources: time; energy; attention; and, money, so that we're reminded that in Christ our life is dedicated to living in common with believers and unbelievers alike. Don't hold back.
• Call someone long distance and don't time how long you talk. Just tell them God reminded you how much you love them.
• Send someone a greeting card each day for a week. Just tell them God reminded you what an important part of your everyday life they are.
• Eat lunch with someone you've taken for granted. Just tell them God reminded you that every meal with them is a foretaste of the feast to come.
• Give an extra big offering to a church or to a charity whose mission and ministries you respect. Just tell them God reminded you that mission and ministry happen more smoothly when money isn't a constant worry.
• Attend Sunday school. Just remind yourself that God wants you both to learn more about each other.
What difference does it make, for ourselves and for the world that we claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ?
Have there been changes - maturity or "back-sliding" - in our follower-ship?
Maybe you remember those self-assessment tests published in magazines like Reader's Digest which ask us to score our emotional health. These usually involve charting major events in one's life; have we: moved; changed jobs; lost a spouse, or loved one; experienced a major illness; retired; won an award, etc. The "tests" suggest that each of these is the source of either a major stress or a significant delight - and so, affect our sense of well-being either positively or negatively.
While I'm not a big fan of so-called pop psychology, there is value in reflecting on who we are now; how we got here; what this space feels like, physically, emotionally and spiritually; and, whether or not this is really the space God calls us to inhabit. Heaven forbid our personal assessment of, "that's the way it is," were to echo the President's words – let’s ramp up our efforts to do more of the same even, though that hasn’t worked so far!
I'm not much of a fan of pop-religion either. That's why I recommend we take on some disciplines that have served people of faith since very early in the church's post-Easter, post-Pentecost experiences. These are: prayer, fasting, and alms-giving.
Despite the claims made by various civic and cultural leaders that all manner of beliefs, values, practices, and even laws, are rooted in the teachings, of Jesus, really living day-to-day, through Christ in the Holy Spirit, has never been popular or easy.
Jesus seems to have used his 40 desert days to sort through who God was calling him to be (Messiah); how he'd exercise that call (Sharin' Plenty Good News!); and, the means he'd use to make that proclamation come alive in his hearers' hearts (Suffering Servant / breaking open and pouring out).
What made the desert experience "work" for Jesus was something very much still available to us - time spent in dialogue (speaking and listening) to a loving God. Lent invites us to enter into that same union, from time to time.
These suggestions for practicing the traditional Lenten disciplines: prayer; fasting and almsgiving, are offered to help us, alone and together, make room in the middle of all our stuff to let Lent go through us. By such practices, Christians throughout the centuries have arrived at the three sacred days, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday better prepared to be seized by the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. May God lead and find you there.
Prayer - We pray. Meaning we get into real communication with God the Spirit, who gathers us here; God the Father, who speaks a word that frees us from all anxiety here; and, God the Son, who has gone on ahead of us, leaving us such a clear example of what it means to live here and now as though the day Lord has indeed come near.
Don’t hold back:
• talk to this God
• write letters to this God
• make notes to this God in a journal
• draw pictures, or doodles to this God
• sing to this God, play music if you can
• cry your eyes out with this God
• scream at this God.
Be quiet with this God. Hear this God's word spoken just to you. Listen to this God's voice as it breaks out for you in special:
• memories
• feelings
• insights, and/or
• images.
More often than not, these aren't distractions; they're God's reward to you.
Fasting - We fast. Meaning we let go of all those dependencies that keep us from living a full life. That means not only giving up something, but moving toward something. God doesn't need a universe in which you don't eat cookies. But God might rejoice in a world where your voting habits change because you have a keener sense of what it means to really be hungry. That would lead to a fast of your heart, not of your belly. Your cutting an attachment from one thing in order to attach to something else, says a lot about where your treasure is. Don't hold back.
The purpose of fasting is to have empathy with (feel the feelings of) a suffering other, not to have sympathy (feel sorry) for another. Compassion wombs another; it creates a related exchange between another and ourselves. That's why we say our God is a compassionate God. Fasting helps us to walk in the other's shoes.
Almsgiving - We give alms. Meaning we adjust the way we spend all our resources: time; energy; attention; and, money, so that we're reminded that in Christ our life is dedicated to living in common with believers and unbelievers alike. Don't hold back.
• Call someone long distance and don't time how long you talk. Just tell them God reminded you how much you love them.
• Send someone a greeting card each day for a week. Just tell them God reminded you what an important part of your everyday life they are.
• Eat lunch with someone you've taken for granted. Just tell them God reminded you that every meal with them is a foretaste of the feast to come.
• Give an extra big offering to a church or to a charity whose mission and ministries you respect. Just tell them God reminded you that mission and ministry happen more smoothly when money isn't a constant worry.
• Attend Sunday school. Just remind yourself that God wants you both to learn more about each other.
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