sojourn stories...

free your mind...

"Imagine how your life would be different if you really recognized that Reality is a boundless, open, integral, holistic, unified field (unifield) wherein everything is inter-related, inter-connected, in dynamic co-creativity, or co-arising."

watched the movie "what the bleep do we know?"   it was mind bending and familiar at the same time, challenging and inviting, disruptive and confirming...

Louis Carroll said it best, "curiouser and curiouser!" 

more later...need some time to soak it in and let it simmer;)

first world...third world..fifth world...one world!

"The term Third World was coined at the United Nations back in the 1950's.  I remember thinking, Well, that's about as low as you can go.  Third World countries are those with low potential and low development.  But there are Fourth World Countries with some potential and no development and there are Fifth World countries with no potential and no development, like Nepal.  I was in Nepal, in fact, giving a retreat to the Jesuits.  They said, Welcome to a Fifth World country.  And I said, What?  There is such a thing?  It's hard for u even to comprehend that two people living on the same planet could live in such utterly different worlds.  The gospel isn't asking us to be do-gooders or altruistic, the big white fathers and big white mothers.  I think it's calling for something that's really much harder than altruism and generosity (although that is certainly is asked for in cases).  The gospel is calling us into solidarity.  The First World Churches will never be converted until they receive the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth parts of Christ's Body"  Richard Rohr, Letting Go:  A Spirituality of Subtraction

These words stirred so much in me that i have written and deleted three paragraphs...i have kept these few thoughts:

i think it is more than receiving the second, third, fourth and fifth world churches,  while i agree that solidarity is our calling, i believe that we must engage with a heartset of being those who will learn and receive from our sisters and brothers in these other worlds...that we will meet jesus in those who bear g-d's image in their very created nature and if we go with that posture, solidarity may come...but far more important, relationships will form and grow, there will be giving and receiving, and quite possibly more than solidarity...together we will create peace...

 

"Great is Thy Faithfulness, Oh God my Father"

Great is Thy Faithfulness, Oh God My Father…There is no shadow of turning with Thee, Thou changest not, Thy compassion it fails not…as Thou hast been, thou forever will be…

Great is Thy Faithfulness, Great is Thy Faithfulness, Morning by Morning, new mercies I see…All I have needed, Thy Hand hath provided, Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me…

One day, when I was 14, I got very angry with my mother, and rather than mouth off, which would only get me into more trouble, (I knew this from experience) I headed out the door for my very first run.  I remember the feeling of pounding my anger out on the pavement, the struggling for breath and then eventual peace that came, as my breathing became rhythmic and my strides began steady.  And as I ran, I worked through the verbiage that would never reach her ears; since that day, I have been a runner, a jogger really, but runner sound so much better.

I am inconsistent at times, faithful and dedicated at others.  Even after the longest stretches of literal winters and metaphoric winter seasons when my running shoes sit unlaced and unused by the back door, eventually I tie them up once again and hit the asphalt to work out the feelings and words that cannot be articulated.

I have written books while I run…wish I had a tape recorded, organized presentations, oh where was the whiteboard, composed letters, rehearsed difficult conversations, and envisioned ideas, but they remain forever lost on the pavement…remnants of moments in time that return only in glimpses and snippets when I sit in front of my laptop trying to recapture them.  More than anything else, when I run, I think and I pray… the rhythmic nature of my breathing centers me, calming my soul and stilling my mind that I might commune with g-d…and haggle and hash out and dream and envision and reason together…

On that day of my very first run, so many years ago, my dad told me an interesting story… “you are not supposed to be able to run…”  were his first words when I told him about the exhilarating way I had found to keep from mouthing off to my mom!  My puzzled look must have prompted him to expand on the following story…

intergenerational mosaics: connections & conversations...

Recently, Will posted on the upcoming intergenerational forum at the Emergent Convention in Nashville. I have been aware of the conversations regarding the growing connections between people globally, but concerned about the isolation that exists between the generations.  There are growing questions about how to address this isolation and to begin to build bridges that opens the door to conversations and create connections between the various age groups, so that we might encounter g-d and learn from each other as well.

Here is an overview of what I have discerned, thus far, from conversations, with various people concerned with the issue of creating intergenerational mosaics. I am aware that the questions I am posing do not focus on issues of race socio- economic issues, or gender issues, so feel free to articulate those in the context of intergenerational specifics, if you are passionate about them as well.  Needless to say, that in the above sentence I have hinted at how large of a subject we are broaching and thus I appreciate your willingness to be in conversation as we explore how to address this important issue. 

I am curious about your thoughts on any of the following.  Please feel free to email me or post your comments/thought below.

Regarding intergenerational mosaics:  conversations and connections…

What do you think the major arenas of concern are, and in what order of priority?  How/Where have you encountered things being done well/poorly and what are the belief systems that inform the way intergenerational connections are made/not made?

Regarding the current age range of most folk involved in emergent (college age/young adult and young families, to an increasing extent) I wonder how we can deal with the inherent power structures that are both developed and perpetuated, if we do not address the issue of including the elderly as well as children, and as we do address it, how to bring the voices together in a manner that honors and includes?

How do we develop a construct for practical interaction between groups that have historically been separated, at least programmatically?

Personally, I see the central questions of this topic centering around the issues of theology and of practice.  Exploring these two constructs is integral to moving forward in any direction. As our practices stem from our theology, we must evaluate our theological constructs that have shaped the practice.  Why would we change/not change anything?  This is a theological question, one that informs our practice, and our practices require us to evaluate and revisit our theology, and on the circle goes.

I fear we will lose the wisdom of years and/or the vigor and innocent wide eyed wonder of youth if we do not examine this question and take steps to engage in addressing this issue. 

Please send me the questions/thoughts that you see as vital to addressing this concern from a broader vision of change and growth, even those that make take years to come to fruition.  The upcoming forum in Nashville, is only a beginning. It is a chance to be curious about the current cultural phenomenon of the fastest growing segment of the population, as people are living longer, juxtaposed with the documented surge in births following the 9/11 terrorists attacks.  How do we bridge not only the generation gap, but the current cultural gap as well?  How do we contextualize these questions and concerns, in order to challenge and shape both our theology and our practice? 

If you will be at the Emergent Convention in Nashville, please plan to attend the intergenerational mosaics: connections & conversations forum on Friday at lunch.  See you there! I look forward to hearing your thoughts and input.  email susie

unfolding beauty...

~and the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.    anais nin

I have been sitting on this quote, waiting till my friend sent me this incredible photo that he took...how fun to find that Susan, at visual voice, one of my new favorite blogs, just posted this same quote with one of her beautiful photos!

emboldened...

In his book, Radical Grace, "The Other Side of Sadness: Naming Despair," Richard Rohr writes:

Spiritual growth is the willing surrender of images in favor of the True Images. It is a conversion that never stops, a surrender that never ceases. It is a surrender of self-serving and self-created images of self, of others, of God. Those who worship the images instead of living the reality simply stop growing spiritually. In this light, the First Commandment takes on a whole new power and poignancy: "You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven or on earth or beneath the earth. You shall not bow down before them." (Exodus 20:4-5)"

As i read these words, i was emboldened in my desire to move beyond the favored and accepted images of g-d, in search of more inclusive ones that address, acknowledge and name the feminine face of g-d.  There are many who will cling to their masculine only images, citing a literal reading of the scriptures, but to them i respond with wondering how and when an extreme literal reading is bent and dismissed as contextual" when it does not suit their purposes.  We cling to images that make us comfortable, to understanding that make sense to us...and i wonder if these moments we are not guilty of the graven images condemned in Exodus.  G-d The Creator is beyond understanding and comprehension by the created mind.  If we are to truly encounter G-d, we must set aside our golden calf and look at the revelations that mystify and confuse us and engage in a journey of faith that acknowledges far more than the eye will ever see, or the mind will comprehend, as the Indwelling Holy Spirit reveals Truth to us. 

This is not an attempt to dismiss or challenge the authority of scripture, it is simply a broadening of the voices we bring to the text and wondering at the validity we give their interpretations and readings, especially when they differ with ours, or the time worn ones in the commentaries that line the our seminary shelves.

el shaddai...

i read a very provocative post yesterday, from a link via adam at pomomusings, about the femininity face of g-d, which is a passion of mine.  Jimmy, at culture driven life, wrote about the fact that El Shaddai, a common name for G-d in the Hebrew Scriptures can be translated as "the breasted one"  and how that name has been buried under the more commonly known and neutered or distinctly male names- the almighty or thus sustainer of life .  The comments on this post are interesting; ben makes a great point about the questions surrounding mary magdalene, and it is a great segue into conversation about our hesitancy to view g-d as having a feminine face. 

Literally, g-d has neither breasts or a penis, although the historical figure, Jesus, G-d made flesh, did come as a male, so he did possess male genitalia.  thus it is accurate, to call Jesus our brother, to acknowledge the masculine manifestation of g-d bodily form, but it is ridiculous to limit g-d to this one revelation. 

El =God, and Shaddai= breasts or "of the breasts," as jimmy articulates, but this does not meant that we should stop with the literal reading of these words any more than we think of g-d as having wings, because of the pleading in the psalms for us to find shelter in the shadow of his wings...

El was the common name for all the gods in the time of the Israelites. El was the name that the surrounding nations used in their polytheistic worship, but when is used for the G-d of Israel, it is most often coupled with an attribute to reveal an aspect of YHWH the One True G-d...

sarah laughed...

chagall's  sarah and the angels

i have often wondered at the condemning words so often spoken about the laughter of sarah, when she found our that she would conceive and bear a son (Exoous 21). Why is it assumed that Sarah's laughter was one of mockery?  Why, if her laughter was such an offense to The Creator, was Abraham told to name their son, Laughter?  What if Issac, which means Laughter, was chosen because Sarah's laughter came from utter delight and the kind of disbelief that says..."can you believe it?"  What if Laughter is his name to mark and remember the moment that Sarah found out she would actually bear a son, and her delight was uncontainable?  This possibility changes how we have historicially understood this story and our view of Sarah.

I imagine that the men who wrote the commentaries in years past, never waited for a pregnancy test to read positive, or wept as the blood flow each month marked one more lost chance of a child.  In my brief experience with infertility, i got a glimpse of sarah's pain.  I road that horrible rollercoaster of anticipaiton and pain, of faith and grief...my heart breaking as the hope each month that maybe this time, was dashed when  my empty womb released the signs of death.  Women live with life and death each month as their bodies repeatedly cycle through the preparation for caring and nurturing a new life...and then bleed, as the unnecessary nutrients and prepared walls of their womb slough off and die. Women who long to conceive are acutely aware of this, and i have wept with them, prayed with them and laguhed with them in the miraculous moments of discovering they were finally going to bear a child...

Was this cycle of hope and expectation, crushed and rekindled each passing month in the mids of the commentators as they condemned sarah for her laughter?  I remember the tears that came with the first signs of my unfertilized womb, the anguish and anxiety that i might not conceive, the fear that something was wrong with me...the longing and ache of my empty arms...and then... the thrill at finding out that i was going to give birth...that a life was growing within me!  I can only imagine Sarah's delight and surprise as she found out that she would no longer be barren...that she would bring forth life, and it would be a sign and symbol of the Hand of G-d on her life. That the shame and sorrow associated with being barren would plague her no longer.  Her conceiving was a miracle... and she laughed, in utter delight with a sense of 'can you believe it?!! finally... you're kidding...really???  not in mockery but in a child like way that expresses awe at the gracious giving and is exuberant when receiving a gift.   

I think this is the spirit of Sarah's laughter... and i think G-d was so charmed by her child like wonder, that Issac's name, Laughter, marks the impossible promies of G-d, and acts as a reminder for the miracles that take us by surprise and the wonder of belief...

Just a different lens...a possibility of looking at the story through the eyes of a woman...

a response to the criticism about Emergent

Just read a gracious and wise post, an open letter to Don Carson about the current swirl of controversy and criticism surrounding Emergent.  It is a must read if you are at all interested in this issue. 

the emerging church & the Emergent Conversation

Spring is here!  Life is emerging from the earth as flowers push their way through from underground.  Emerging…growing from the dark dank soil and the work of winter.  Everywhere I look, bulbs planted years ago are reproducing- multiplying until the landscape is bursting with blossoms,  and an emerging cacophony of sight and smells, colors and textures…  This is not unlike the emerging church that we are just beginning to name out loud.  It have been growing, underground so to speak, quietly and slowly in the winter’s quiet—a winter of struggling with the paradigmatic shift from a modern mindset and worldview to a postmodern one… and now as it is spring—as the convergence of post feminism, post colonialism and post-evangelical require attention and action from a much larger audience, the questions and issues of the changing milieu of spirituality are straining to be heard…

These words, questions, and issues stream forth with meaning… like a dandelion whose flower has faded and its new life waits to be scattered when the deadened seeds are blown by wind, or a child’s breath--the expanding of possibilities with each seed blown into a new direction or location.  I muse that it is so often only the children who have eyes to see dandelions and not pass them over as weeds, and I am profoundly aware that it is in this posture that we must come to the conversations about the emerging church, and the shaping of things to come.   

We need to learn to see like children see. They look at a field of grass and dandelions and they see the possibilities of flowers to pick…many dandelion bouquets have graced my window sill, and walks with my children were often interrupted by dead dandelions that ‘needed to be blown’ both for fun and to scatter the seeds, that they might reproduce.  As adults, far too often, we see weeds-- obnoxious and bothersome, pushing through the carpet of grass that we have worked so hard to cultivate…our carpet of sameness-uniform in texture and length, edged and pruned and fertilized that it is soft on our feet and easy on the eyes…

While this comfortable and well cultivated carpet may be great for grass, it is death for a community-- sameness breeds contempt, and we become spoiled, oversensitive and ingrown as our spiritual feet never hit the thorns that cause us to pause in potential wounding, of ourselves or another, or encounter the soul stretching textures that come from encountering difference in viewpoints and in reading of the Text.

A child reads the grassy field so differently than we do as adults; far too often we cannot see the beauty and wonder that is so obvious to them, until we listen to their reading and try to see through their lenses.  It is similar with the spiritual journey-- encountering the Living Word and the Risen Lord.  Do we pause and linger and listen and wonder, or do we mow over or weed out that which is different and difficult?

The emerging church is an “is.”  The culture is shifting and the lens of the current generation is one that differs dramatically from that of the previous one.  We, of the older generation, must stop and listen and learn and consider or we will miss the beauty of the coming spring, and we will trample the blooms of new hybrids of flowering thoughts and visions and ways of engaging with Scripture and community.  To pause and be open to new life, new ways…especially and intentionally to/with ‘the other’ is what it means to be emerging…to engage in opening Ways, just as the spring flowers create pathways to toward the light.  I believe that this is what is happening in the emerging church, not limited specifically to being part of the Emergent Friendship/Conversation, although it is a great platform for engaging in thoughtful and provocative discussion… it is A way, not The way.  The emerging church is far broader, and been growing and forming far longer than the currently news worthy Emergent Conversation.  Those proponents and critics who limit themselves to this venue, miss the breadth and depth of voices and experience...even the leaders of Emergent, caution against such a limited viewpoint. (Andrew Jones has a great criticism history)

Emerging means to be willing to leave the comfort of our own worldview and enter into the unfolding theological dialogue teeming with questions and ideas that are relevant to today’s culture experience and spiritual quest. The emerging church is happening all around us whether or not we acknowledge its birthing…

Emergence is happening as an older generation awakens to the possibilities in a postmodern mindset and listens to the spiritual experience of those who grew up in a different milieu than the rational, logical modern one…and it multiplies as the postmodern youth, acknowledge and engage in receiving the wisdom that years of life on earth inevitable bring, regardless of world view or mindset… there is an intersection and intercourse of ideas that is emerging.

Emergence happens when the Indian woman walks from the ESL class into the small chapel set aside for quiet contemplation…removes her shoes and lights the candles, and sits on the floor pillows next to an anglo woman of position and privilege, and without words they share a moment of holy communion. 

Emergence happens as women begin to question issues of power and position, and have men asking questions about how to understand the oppression they have contributed to….

Emergence happens as a daughter hands the cup of wine to her father speaks the words, the blood of Christ, shed for you…regardless if the ‘sanctuary’ is a warehouse building room, illumined by candlelight in an old  lit by candles or a formal cathedral…

The church is emerging, whether we become part of the growth or not.  It has been changing and growing in its nature since Jesus walked the dusty roads and said the kingdom of god is at hand…change is the only constant, and our desire to cling to old ways, absolute dogmas and doctrines contradicts the way of Jesus as he challenged all the religious and social mores of his time…introducing instead the only law or absolute… the greatest commandment to love…

New life springs from love…love between people becomes incarnate and brings forth a child, a vision, an action, a word… Incarnational Love is the force behind Birth… and emergence is a birth that is in process… labor pains are just that-- pains!  They are intense and overwhelming at times, stall at other, false and misleading at times…but part of the process of bringing forth.  Having both given birth and labored alongside another as she brought forth new life, I see this as an excellent metaphor for what is happening as the church emerges.  We need those who will face the pains and sacrifice of pregnancy, labor and delivery, as well as those who will walk along side and support and coax and care for those amidst the intense process.  We need to understand the journey is a sacred and holy process that is emerging as the 21^st century begins and the first generation of those, raised in the postmodern mindset reach adulthood and question everything…  There is such possibility and potential in attending to the process and beauty of spring, of new life …of the changes in a life of faith that is emerging in our midst.

What does it look like for you and for me to be part of this birth in ways far broader than the current controversy and attack surrounding Emergent?  Those who are attacking Emergent often ignore the reality of the emerging church as a phenomenon and focuses on this small and increasingly popular part of the movement.  How do we engage our communities in the process of growth and embrace, in conversations that address both the theological and practical issues related to the emerging church rather than let the balance focus on theology without practice, or practice that is not born from theological thought and dialogue?  What theological questions are unavoidable and must be addressed in assessing how we practice and live our spirituality and life of faith?  What do our current practices reveal both overtly and covertly about our theological principles that we are aware of/not aware of?  These are the questions that keep me up at night and haunt me as I go about my daily life…of Be-ing,  in my ministry, in my community, in my deep desire to live an incarnational and missional life after the way of Jesus.  What are your questions and hauntings?  And how do you think we can begin to address in community driven manner, one that marries theology and practice in the daily-ness of life?