National Day of Prayer

Is it really that big of deal that the White House canceled the ecumenical ceremony usually held at the White House? It seems that most people think the entire day has been canceled, but it hasn't. Only the ecumenical ceremony has. Why does this bother people?

Jennifer Knapp

It's hard for me to tell who knows about Jennifer Knapp or not. If her "coming out" is flying more or less under the radar, it is only a matter of time. However, given her interview with Christianity Today, I am certain that word is out. I wonder how people will react to her? How did you react to this? Did it shock you? Or are you not surprised that more and more Christians are coming out about their sexuality (Ted Haggard and Ray Boltz)?

Sleep Talking Man

Have you ever heard of the blog called Sleep Talking Man? No? Well, here's what it is ... it's a blog about a man who ... get this .. .talks in his sleep! No kidding. It's pretty funny, go check it out. I will say, though, that he can be rather "colorful," as they say. So, if that offends you don't say I didn't warn you.

Here's how you can find this site. (1) Click the link about called "Sleep Talking Man". (2) Go to my sidebar and click the link "Sleep Talking Man." (3) Open up a new web page and type in the words sleeptalkingman.blogspot.com.

Acedia & Me

A couple of weeks ago I started reading Kathleen Norris’s new book Acedia and Me. My introduction to Norris was in college where I had to read The Cloister Walk for class. I have to admit that I wasn’t that in to reading her stuff back then. Although I am certain that my disinterest had less to do with her than with me. CW is a spiritual autobiography of sorts tracking, as she calls it, her “immersion into the liturgical world.” She makes her way through the early church fathers such as Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil the Great, and Gregory the Great. She talks about the “mystics” such as Hildegard of Bingen. She also spends time working through the Rule of Saint Benedict. CW is a wonderful account of a Protestant becoming familiar with her own ancient tradition.

In Acedia and Me she tackles a particular subject found all through the Christian tradition. Acedia is a difficult thing to define. The short version definition is lack of care. She says, “the person afflicted with acedia refuses to care or is incapable of doing so.” She likens it to a kind of “spiritual morphine” that not only stifles our desire for God and one another but our desire to take care of our selves (3). Suddenly nothing seems worth it. Making the bed every day is pointless since you will just climb back in at night and ruin what you have done. Worse is the loss of desire to sleep at night and wake up the morning. Modern psychology has often confused laziness and sloth and even depression with Acedia. Part of this has to do with the fact that Acedia as a word/concept went under the radar for so long. Perhaps what doctors and therapists have tried to treat with medication required a more “spiritual” form of direction. Norris always seems to go back to fixed-hour prayer and the Psalms.

Norris is not trying to establish an either/or between Acedia and whatever we have discovered through medicine and psychology. Rather, she wants to recover the idea that part of our depression, laziness, sloth, boredom, etc is not so easily resolved with medication, or even a swift kick in the pants. There is a formational aspect to health and wholeness that Acedia names quite well. Of course, naming is not the name of the game. Naming our conditions helps, but there is also overcoming them, which requires an end to which we must go, a self that is possible. At this point Norris talks about being the image of God.

Acedia, however, is not to be confused with the dark night of the soul, as many call it. What troubled Saint John of the cross, and even Mother Teresa, cannot be labeled acedia. Lacking the felt presence of God is not Acedia, for often time we still long/desire for God and we maintain a sense of what we must do in this life in terms of caring for our others as well as ourselves.

So, that’s the jist of what she is talking about. It’s a good and timely read, I think. Shifting gears a little, I do want to leave with a quote that seems apt to our present digital/virtual age. On the one hand, I couldn’t help but wonder how many us just simply don’t care; I mean really don’t care. On the other hand, in light of the recent political divide in the United States, could it be that many are fighting of the despair of acedia because they hope for something better? Although this quotes ends on a somber note, it’s very revealing. Anyways ...

“When acedia has so thoroughly possessed us, making life seem so dull that only artificial stimulation can get our attention, it may be crazy to suggest that the ordinary rhythms of time, the passing of day and night, have something to teach us, or that there is a world to be revealed when the mall is closed, the electric power has failed, and it is too dark to see anything but shadows and stars. Cast back on our lonely, raw, and wounded selves, we may find the nobody is home.”

The Rising

Can't see nothin' in front of me
Can't see nothin' coming up behind
I make my way through this darkness
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
On my back's a sixty pound stone
On my shoulder a half mile line

Come on up for the rising
Com on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Left the house this morning
Bells ringing filled the air
Wearin' the cross of my calling
On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here

Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Spirits above and behind me
Faces gone, black eyes burnin' bright
May their precious blood forever bind me
Lord as I stand before your fiery light

I see you Mary in the garden
In the garden of a thousand sighs
There's holy pictures of our children
Dancin' in a sky filled with light
May I feel your arms around me
May I feel your blood mix with mine
A dream of life comes to me
Like a catfish dancin' on the end of the line

Sky of blackness and sorrow (a dream of life)
Sky of love, sky of tears (a dream of life)
Sky of glory and sadness (a dream of life)
Sky of mercy, sky of fear (a dream of life)
Sky of memory and shadow (a dream of life)
Your burnin' wind fills my arms tonight
Sky of longing and emptiness (a dream of life)
Sky of fullness, sky of blessed life (a dream of life)

Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

-Bruce Springsteen

Easter

And then there was something...

Holy Saturday

... nothing.

Good Friday

And then there was nothing.

Fruit

A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. And he said to the vineyard-keeper, "Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?" And he answered and said to him, "Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not cut it down."

Richard Hays

I recently came across an interview of Richard Hays where he was asked this question: "What are some of the best places in your view to study the New Testament today?"

His response was perfect. "First of all, the NT is best studied in a community of prayer, worship, and service, where it is taken not merely as a museum piece but as a living word that calls us to account."

Of course, he understood what the question implied and went on to list several top notch university and doctoral programs. Nevertheless, he understands that "the academy" exits to serve the church. For a good conversation on this, read James K. A. Smith's Desiring the Kingdom.

B.J. Thomas

He get's it right ...

"Let there be peace on earth
and let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth
The peace that was meant to be."

Music

Here are three songs that have been stuck in my head for awhile now ...







Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead

on vision ...

"Vision, then, originates not in seeing but in hearing a voice, the living voice of the good news sounding forth within, and from, the assembly. Theologically, vision talk can be ventured only in the context of the church at prayer. Vision is a product of collective listening for the viva vox evangelii. That is why worship in word and sacrament isn't just one ministry among others (the work of the "worship team"); rather it's the ministry of ministries. It fuels learning, witness (evangelism), servant life, and support (stewardship). Vision isn't something we have; it's a reality that has us. It's cross-shaped. Pragmatically, it has us by our constantly asking questions, by our establishing a climate of dialogue, an environment of call and response." (John Berntsen, Cross-Shaped Leadership: On the Rough and Tumble of Parish Practice, 69).

A good critique for churches burdened with the quest for an original vision. In the end, what are vision, mission, and purpose statements?

here and there ...

• Scott Daniels quotes C.S. Lewis throwing down on Christmas.

• Stanley Hauerwas writes about Barak Obama's Nobel Peace Prize speech over at the Ekklesia Project blog.

• Brian McLaren also writes about Obama's speech.

• Time writes about the Advent Conspiracy.

Obama's Nobel Lecture

I wanted to point out something from Obama’s Nobel Lecture. Obama rightfully acknowledges that the president of the United States cannot follow the examples of Martin Luther King Jr. or Mahatma Gandhi. I want to quote him at length on this one.

“We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth that we will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations - acting individually or in concert - will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.

I make this statement mindful of what Martin Luther King said in this same ceremony years ago - "Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones." As someone who stands here as a direct consequence of Dr. King's life's work, I am living testimony to the moral force of non-violence. I know there is nothing weak -nothing passive - nothing naïve - in the creed and lives of Gandhi and King.

But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their examples alone. I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism - it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.”

Isn't it interesting that the President of the United States recognizes the distinction between working for peace and justice according to King and Gandhi as opposed to working for peace and justice according to the office of the President of the United States. I'm actually very thankful that this was acknowledged, and interested that it happened in the context of the Nobel Peace prize. This helps us see that there is no such thing as "peace" that means the same thing in every context. The people of God have a particular take on peace and how it comes about and Obama's speech helps make the distinction between what he is (and has to be about) as the President. It does still make me sad that Obama believes he cannot follow the lead of King and Gandhi on the worlds stage even though I agree with him that he never could while in office.

Souls in Transition

Christian Smith’s new book Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults looks really interesting.

The goal of this book is to offer insight into a new developmental stage of life called “emerging adulthood.” He argues that four things contributed to the rise of emerging adulthood.

1. Dramatic growth in higher education.

2. Delay in marriage

3. “Changes in American and global economy that undermine stable, lifelong careers and replace them instead with careers with lower security, more frequent job changes, and an ongoing need for new training and education” (5).

Sorry, I couldn’t really condense that into a neat and tidy phrase.

4. Increased economic support from parents.

Isn’t it interesting to think about how all of these influence one another. Why do parents offer support? Because of the demand for education mean their kids aren't working. Why is there an educational demand? Because long term, stable careers beginning at age eighteen hardly exist anymore. So, why postpone marriage? Because family is unaffordable.

But it also cycles in other ways. Smith says,

“The features marking this stage of an intense identity exploration, instability, a focus on self, feeling in limbo or in transition or in between, and a sense of possibilities, opportunity, and unparalleled hope. These are, of course, accompanied … by large doses of transience, confusion, anxiety, self-obsession, melodrama, conflict, disappointment, and sometimes emotional devastation” (6).

This isn’t just a vicious cycle tyrannizing 18-23 year olds. They are seeking out this new life stage. At this point Smith reminds us of something important.

“Life stages are not naturally given as immutable phases of existence … they are cultural constructions that interact with biology and material production, and are profoundly shaped by the social and institutional conditions that generate and sustain them” (6).

For example, “tweens” as a life stage didn’t really exist when I was a kid. At least not the way it does today. I don’t remember having any heroes to whom I could look up to between childhood and being a teenager. No one market clothes or music specifically to me between the ages of 7 to 13. I do remember watching Boy Meets World as a highschooler, wondering why I was strangely fascinated. Perhaps I was feeling the early rumblings of emerging adulthood in the form of me trying to make sense of my childhood.

I also remember watching Dawson’s Creek and wondering why I didn’t speak with such eloquence. I just know I wanted to. Now, I think it’s interesting that I loved watching Scrubs, a show in which the whole story is about a young doctor coming to terms with growing up, taking responsibility, getting over his abandonment issues, learning how to do things on his own, but still being cool and edgy and well versed in old TV sitcoms (because quoting shows/movies is characteristic of emerging adults).

In any case, I am beginning to think that perhaps Arrested Development’s death was a bit premature. But then that's the question, is emerging adulthood an arrested development?

Bring back the Bluths!

Do Churches die well?

Dennis Bickers says, "Throughout the book we will see various reasons why smaller churches resist change, but we might as well admit now that transformation will not occur in some churches that are near the end of their ministries. Perhaps the kindest thing that could be done for these churches is to honor their former ministries and allow them to die their natural deaths."

Has anyone actually experienced or heard of a church that saw the writing on the wall and died their natural death?

I've heard quips through the years about how none of the Church gatherings talked about in the New Testament exist today. And of course, we know that every Church gathering is not guaranteed lasting existence.

The only stories I have ever heard of are ones about new Churches gatherings and how they are going to change the world.

I want to hear about the opposite end of the spectrum.

For some reason I think it matters.

Perhaps needless to say, Bickers words seem crass.

Lycanthropy

This mornings word-of-the-day that I get through my email is lycanthropy. It means, "a delusion that one has become a wolf." Do many people suffer from this?

What does this even mean?

I received an email today with some helpful suggestions on how churches can take precaution in light of the H1N1 flu, which is apparently now an official pandemic. Many of the suggestions were kind of helpful, but I am not sure about the last suggestion. Here it is...

"Limit church services and other gatherings only if advised by public health officials, but then cooperate as fully as possible as responsible citizens."

What does this even mean?

Flu pandemics do indeed raise interesting questions for churches to ask. Should we have purell stations for people to pass through as they go to table? Should we empty and refill the baptismal for every person?

I'm kinda of poking fun at this. But also not. I wonder how churches lived life together in the 1980s when HIV/AIDS hid the scene?

Mostly I lament that these are things we have to even think about.

"If I had been righteous myself, perhaps there would have been no criminal standing before me."

I read this a couple days ago and was really moved.

“Remember particularly that you cannot be a judge of any one. For no one can judge a criminal until he recognizes that he is just such a criminal as the man standing before him, and that he perhaps is more than all men to blame for that crime. When he understands that, he will be able to be a judge. Though that sounds absurd, it is true. If I had been righteous myself, perhaps there would have been no criminal standing before me. If you can take upon yourself the crime of the criminal your heart is judging, take it at once, suffer for him yourself, and let him go without reproach. And even if the law itself makes you his judge, act in the same spirit so far as possible, for he will go away and condemn himself more bitterly than you have done. If, after your kiss, he goes away untouched, mocking at you, do not let that be a stumbling-block to you. It shows his time has not yet come, but it will come in due course. And if it come not, no matter; if not he, then another in his place will understand an suffer, and judge and condemn himself, and the truth will be fulfilled. Believe that, believe it without doubt; for in that lies all the hope and faith of the saints.” (Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamasov, 295ff).