sojourn stories...

emergent/ys nashvill32005

headed to the airport.  a long, full week, looking forward to sharing the multiple expereinces as i process them my brain for understanding and heart for thinking...

a beautiful moment, that i have savored and want to share was the old taught by phylliss tickle at the last evening...

~lord be in my mind and in my understanding, in my eyes and in my seeing, in my mouth and in my speaking, in my heart and in my thinking, in my life and in my leaving...amen

nashville EC/ys 2005...thank god for uber bloggers

...so far i haven't made it through many of my blog lines, but i did check out adam's at pomomusings (i finally met the legend in the flesh, what a treat;)  and he has done a great job with convention info and notes on the seminars... here is the link to the first one, and then you can navigate from there... (i will link other bloggers as i find them)

emergent/ys nashville 2005...

have a few more *wows*  and some other thougths as well...

phyllis tickle...she is my hero!  a wise 'old woman...'(her words), a captivating storyteller, and watching her together with her husband is a glimpse of possibility as the two reflect the One...

hearing stories...loads of, buckets full, deep reservoirs, how did i get to be with so many rich and complex people in one space full of stories...expanding the tapestry that g-d is weaving and the simultaneous complexity and commonality of us all...it is like trying to drink from a fire hydrant! 

new friends, new thoughts challenging mine, but even more beautiful people emboding Jesus because of their thinking...lives changing as people learn from those they are 'being with' rather than 'doing ministry for.

old friends...sweet moments...

IKON, a community in Belfast offered two amazing, brilliant worship services.  different form anything i have seen... an ancient-current multi sensory exeperience that is both thought, heart and soul provking and strangey restful in its delivery at the same time... think paradox of jesus....

spending the afternoon  talking with and learning from pete rollins... (dr. pete rollins;), will and dj...a veritable feast!  skipped everything for this unexpected treat! 4 hours of a lively theological/philosophical conversation  in the lilting, lyrical irish accent!!

meeting new artists...(more on these later) 

i am fading fast... so more tomorrw...

wish you were here....

at the emergent/ys convention...nashville 2005

a quick post:  because how can i be pay $140 a night for a hotel room and still have to pay $10 more for ethernet...how can the nashville convention center in the 21st century have pitiful, non-existent wi-fi... by the time i make it back up to my room on the all too slow and over packed elevators to use the service i paid extra for.... blah, blah, blah... and i am having so much fun downstairs, why would i go up to my room... so though my laptop is with me and there is no connection to post down stairs and the digital lounge sucks and it closed during the NPC general sessions, what is that about??  but here is a quick download....

things i am *wowed* by:  (in no particular order)

• conversations
• questions asked and welcomed
• authenticity
• accessibility of the 'big-wigs'  (are there supposed to be big-wigs in emergent;)
• genuine interest in alternative lenses
• meeting will sampson and spending time learning from him (there, i just revealed one of my big wigs;)
• the embracing church CCC
• the unique variety of t-shirts
• the bloggers forum and the helpful gracious nature of folks
• the prayer stations...(profound lilly, really love the map)
• phyliss tickle's storytelling
• meeting cyber-friend face to face
• merging thought of large the number of mainliners attending with evangelicals-true body of Christ stuff.
• IKON's "lost saturday" worship service

more later or i will be late... and i am soaking in the learning community time.

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...

 

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