Real World Spiritual Disciplines #1

This afternoon, the person in front of me in the 10-items-or-less express lane at the grocery store had 14 items. I know that because I counted. And I had a brief flash of righteous indignation that for me rivals the ecstasy of sex or even chocolate.

However, that will be the last time I'll count the items of the people in the express lane. I decided on the drive home that, beginning today, I am going to start practicing the spiritual discipline of not counting express lane items. I am adding it to my rule.

I hope its practice will nudge me to the place where I can experience the transforming power of God in my life. You see, I have a judgmental heart. I think, in many cases, it keeps me from forming deep relationships with others. Does the number of items the person in front of me  has change the way God calls me to relate to him? Not in the least. That anger, that self righteousness that I feel is sin, plain and simple and I need God to rid me of it.

Pray for me in my practice!

Now if I could just stop thumbing through the tabloids.

Lengthen the Cords and Strengthen the Stakes

"Enlarge the site of your tent,
and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
and strengthen your stakes." Isaiah 54:2

I'm blowing the dust off my cyber-desk. I came upon this passage a couple of weeks ago. I was blessed by the memory of it. Here is how God speaks to me through it:

God calls us to strengthen the stakes, to deepen our relationship with the Divine. As that occurs, I believe we then have the opportunity to start to lengthen the cords to expand the tent. As I grow in my relationship with God, I grow in my ability to make space for other understandings of God.

It seems this is the opposite of what often happens. Many shrink the tent, excluding those whose view of God does not match their own. And quite often, though not always, the stakes of those tent shrinkers are found to be quite weak.

Oh, to be the community of faith that throws open the curtains, welcomes all, and facilitates the strengthening of the stakes!

Great Prayer

From the Book of Common Prayer, adapted by Phyllis Tickle in The Divine Hours

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which are cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Big Tent Christianity

I am finally getting around to posting some notes and thoughts from the conference I went to last month, Big Tent Christianity. It was a gathering of thinkers and practitioners in the Emergent Church movement. This gathering was the capstone of a project on which Philip Clayton, theology professor at Claremont University, has been working. There were about 200 people in attendance to hear 35 or so speakers. The crowd was made up of people from several mainline denominations, many progressive Baptists (it was held in North Carolina), and some non- and post- denominational folks. It was hosted by Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones, two who have been involved in the Emergent movement from the very beginning.

There was a lot to like about the conference and the speakers. I, like many, have found in the Emergent movement, helpful words to describe the direction in which we have been moving. My only complaint is a certain amount of cloying self-consciousness, a hipster "look at the coolness that is us" sensibility that is mildly annoying (yes, that is a pipe that 20-something is smoking). Beyond that, however, there was some good conversation and much food for thought.

For each of the next few days I will highlight one of the panel discussions. Some were more rich than others, some were more notable than others (in that there was stuff to take notes on), and some piqued my interest more than others, which accounts for the length and brevity of some of the sections.

The first session was Big Tent Christianity and included Phyllis Tickle, Brian Mclaren, and Philip Clayton.

Philip Clayton talked about the Big Tent metaphor, inviting us to imagine the old revivals held in tents. This is where many, including Clayton himself, have had a profound experience of the Divine. The other meaning he suggested is the bigness of the tent, a tent where as many as possible can fit.

He challenged those gathered to consider:
Revival: repentance, not just a personal revival, but something more complex
Renewal: not rejection, we don't have to reject everything. We can move away and come back to discover the tradition anew.
Revisioning: discovering new ways of being the church
Reflection: taking the responsibility for finding the words to describe our relationship with Christ
Respond: Clayton left us with a three-fold exhortation: 1. Called us to the discipline of living deeply, 2. Called us to practice Big Tent Christianity at home, 3. Be pioneering prophets.

Brian McLaren, who moved from traditional evangelicalism to  a more progressive or Emergent position shared what he had experienced on that journey:

1. Loss of members
2. Loss of friends
3. Loss of belonging
4. Loss of simplicity, certainty
5. Loss of rights
6. Gaining wounds and fatigue

and, conversely:

1. Members may have only been consumers anyway
2. New friends when you reach out to the "other"
3. Making space for others to belong
4. Something beyond dualism- a new simplicity
5. Opportunity to love our enemies
6. In being wounded, we lose capacity to inflict wounds

Phyllis Tickle, shared, basically, from her book The Great Emergence

She sees a great upheaval in religion and culture every 500 years, the latest, "The Great Emergence," happening now.

the Great Emergence in one word: de-institutionalized

"Emergence Christianity" is the overarching theme- but there are different emPHAsis on the sylABles: emergent, emerging, neo-monastic, missional

God Is Still Speaking, #1

Yesterday after church a group of folks gathered to discuss how we would organize our Sunday School after our Christian Education director retires at the end of October. It was mostly about mechanics and logistics, the comfortable discussions we fall into at these types of meetings: who is available to cover when, what is the procedure, etc.

But right in the middle there was a God Is Still Speaking Moment. Carol, our Christian Ed director, put in a DVD that is part of the curriculum. She told me later that it was not even the video clip that she intended to show first. It was geared for middle school students and it was a clip of a group of kids discussing Jesus' family tree. They were commenting on the variety of characters in Jesus' ancestry, how some were famous Biblical characters known for following God and how some were people that would not be considered at all "religious," or as one of the kids put it, not like he pictured "church people."

God used a Sunday school video clip to speak to me yesterday. I hope, if God was speaking to others beside me, they were listening as well. Jesus of Nazareth, the one sent to redeem and restore the world, came from a pedigree of bastards, murderers, prostitutes, and cheats.

God can use any of us to birth the Divine into the world. There is nothing we can do to disqualify ourselves. One is used by God because God chooses to use one, despite one's education level, title, station in life, social class, or criminal record. Of course, our life experience may make us more or less fit for particular ministries, but none of us are disqualified and, therefore, none of us exempt.

Wait a Minute, I Don't Buy That...

Last Sunday, a mother came up to me and told me that she and her daughter had been discussing the morning's sermon. I had preached on "We Belong to Jesus" and had mentioned that when we surrender to Christ, when we see ourselves as belonging to Christ, then we don't have to worry about things like others' opinions of ourselves or whether we have enough money at the end of the month.

Well, this sharp young woman's bullshit detector went off and she said to herself, "Wait a minute, that is not true. It doesn't match what I have experienced." And of course, it doesn't. She knows all sorts of good, church-going Christians that still have to worry about their mortgage.

And I found myself once again at the precipice of the huge chasm that divides religious talk and sermons and church stuff from an authentic relationship with Christ. A life surrendered to Christ, a life given to something more than just making it, does indeed lead us into an entirely different realm where the concerns of this life don't go away but become no more burdensome than gnats that we have to shew away from our face. However, I'm afraid that, at least as far as typical American church life goes, we can't get there from here. The systems we have not only don't lead people into this authentic relationship with God, in many ways they actively oppose it.

As I enter ordained ministry, I want my ministry to be about facilitating the wonderful transformation and freedom that can take place in individual lives and in society as one makes the decision to simply follow Jesus.

The Spirituality of Questions

Last Sunday afternoon was my Ecclesiastical Council for my ordination. In the United Church of Christ, it is not just the local church that ordains a woman or man for ministry, it is also a function of the wider church, since one is ordained as a minister of the entire United Church of Christ.

What this looked like for me is that 40 or so people, mostly from my church, but including people from other churches in the area, gathered to discern whether I had been called into vocational ministry. I shared briefly my spiritual journey, and my theological and ecclesiological understandings as they stand at this point in my life. And then the magic happened.

After my opening address, anyone gathered was welcome to ask me questions. And ask they did. "What is heaven and hell?" "What does it mean to be saved?" "Why does God allow evil?" "Will we ever evolve beyond our need for God?" And I didn't get the feeling at all that people were trying to trick me or even test me. It felt like those gathered were revealing the deep questions of their hearts.

In the coming days I may share my responses to some of these questions. For now, I want to honor the questions themselves. I left that afternoon convinced that we as the church need to be creating space for people to be safe in asking questions. For so long, the church has been the dispenser of the "truth" and we would all come on Sundays and get our cup filled. And because we weren't allowed or were too polite or were afraid about what would happen if we started messing with the cards in the house of cards. Our choices were to agree and fall in line or  disagree, keep our mouths shut, and leave or stay and pretend.

We need to question. We need to knead and squeeze our understanding of our truth so we can get it into a form that makes it efficacious for our lives.

A Hermeneutic of Love

On Sunday at church, I preached about one of our core values, "We are people of God's extravagant welcome" and then invited response from the conversation.

One of the questions that was asked was regarding how we assimilate the idea of extravagant welcome with passages in the Bible that appear to exclude certain people or behaviors, in this instance specifically homosexuality.

I responded with the notion that every time we approach scripture we make a choice of how we will interpret it and that we, or I, choose to interpret it in a certain way. On reflection, I realized that, while true, it was about 30% of an answer. And I want to get it up to a good 80-85% here.

Yes, every time we engage scripture we do so through a particular lens or a system of interpretation called a hermeneutic. I know, big word. But it's a very useful word. The Bible is so vast and deep and varied and, dare I say, messy at times that one may find it useful to have a guiding principle when approaching it. That guiding principle is a "hermeneutic."

"Well," one may respond, "I believe the Bible says what it means and means what it says. I just take it at face value." And that is a good way to start reading these sacred scriptures. However, it has been my experience that as I spend more and more time in scripture, which I love to do, I find parts that seem to contradict other parts. I encounter a God that commanded that an entire nation be killed, not because they did anything wrong, but because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time (Joshua 6). Elsewhere, I encounter a God that loved humanity so much, that this God took the form of a human just to be with us and reveal his love and grace to us in a way we could understand. As a result, I must choose how to read a passage of scripture; I must make a hermeneutical choice.

I could choose to read the Bible as one long story from beginning to end, written, without error, by the hands of men controlled exactly and precisely by God. That choice would require me to come up with some pretty creative explanations of parts of the Bible that seem to be in contradiction to one another.
That was a choice that I grew uncomfortable with.

The story I tell about God, based on my understanding from scripture, my observation of how God has worked in history, and my experience of God in my own life, is that God is a God of unfathomable, super-human, love, grace, and acceptance. That understanding of God in scripture eclipses other understandings, in my most humble opinion. So, I choose to read scripture with the hermeneutic of love. Every passage I read, I read through the glasses of a God of radical, extravagant welcome and acceptance. And guess what...that choice requires that I come up with some pretty creative explanations of parts of the Bible that seem to be in contradiction to my understanding of God, but no more or less creative than other hermeneutics.

So, briefly, with every intention of filling these out in greater detail at another time: When I read the story of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19), I don't see God angry at a people because of homosexuality, but because of, among other things, being inhospitable.  When I read laws supposedly given by God against homosexuality (Leviticus 20:13), I see a necessary rule for a particular time and place to ensure the fruitfulness of a particular tribe, not an all-time and forever rule. When I read Paul's inclusion of homosexuality in a list of sins seen as symptoms of a people who do hot acknowledge God (Romans 1), I assume that Paul is speaking of the only homosexuality he knew at the time, prostitution and slavery, not same-sex couples that choose to form loving, sexual relationships.

Do these require some creative interpretations? Yes, as a matter of fact, they do. Are there other ways that these, and all scriptures, can be read? Most certainly. However, my life and ministry is based on a particular hermeneutical choice, a hermeneutic of love.

My Spiritual Choice

I read an article this morning that really nudged me over the edge. There are a myriad of spiritualities one could live. Even within Christianity, there are several doctrinal stories in which one could engage. Most of them, when followed authentically, are benign and there are more than one that could lead to a rich, transformative, productive life with God. Most of us "good Christians," in my opinion, would do better to pick one and live it than to argue about them.

Here is the one I am choosing: love God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:27). As Paul Allen, the author of the article states, "there is no mention of balance, just pure devotion." What if Jesus' statement that if we seek first the Kingdom of God, everything else will be added, is a true statement about spiritual life? It seems so simple. What if I focused on loving God and loving those around me: my family, my patients, my parishioners, my co-workers, my friends.

This is what I am choosing. I am not saying it is he only doctrinal story one could live or even the best. However, I feel it is the best for me.

God, I am giving it over to you. I want my heart to be transformed. In loving you, I want to be transformed into a lover of my neighbors. I can't wait to see how you will shape me.

What we Hear

Today I was listening to Fresh Air on National Public Radio. Terry Gross was interviewing a poet named Natasha Tretheway. She won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for poetry for her book Native Guard. Good stuff. Her latest book is Beyond Katrina: A Mediation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a book of poetry and prose.

The part of the interview that I heard included the poet speaking about her grandmother's faith and her funeral.

GROSS: You describe yourself as not a religious person. But do you ever wish that you could have religion like your grandmother did and therefore, find some kind of holy meaning in the most horrible things that have happened?

Prof. TRETHEWEY: I think, you know, she had such a faith and I understood it as a great comfort to her. And there are times that I think that I wish I had such a comfort.I remember when she was being remembered at her service, the preacher looking directly at me and saying, grieve not as others grieve. He was sermonizing about how the faithful don't have the same kind of grief, because they know that there is something else. And so I felt indicted as he looked at me and said "grieve not as others grieve," as if he was pointing to me and saying, I know that you are not the faithful and because of that you have a different kind of grief, the wrong kind.

GROSS: And were you changed by that at all? 

Prof. TRETHEWEY: Oh, I was angry.

GROSS: Angry at him for making you feel that way when you were grieving.

Prof. TRETHEWEY: Yes. I...

GROSS: As if there were a wrong kind of grief.

Prof. TRETHEWEY: I think I wanted remembrance of her and I wanted comfort. I mean, I think funeral services are for the living in some ways. They are to remember the dead, but in the face of the living, beloved. And so I didn't feel comforted. 

I was so sad listening to this. I wasn't there, but it seems to me from her telling that it is possible this minister was offering to her comfort and hope when he said "grieve not as others grieve." However, she certainly didn't take it as such. She took it as judgment, an indictment.

It seems that for some any word from a religious leader is a word of judgment. And it is true that up to and including now, most of the words of religion have been judgmental.

These are the questions I am pondering:

Why are religious voices always heard as judgmental (and I am specifically using "religious" and not "spiritual" here) even when they may not be? Is it only because of our horrible history? Or, is there something going on inside a person that makes them feel indicted by God?

How can we change our religious language so that those around us understand and experience that "God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world..." (John 3:17 NLT)?


I would love to hear your thoughts!

Convicting Quote

I'm reading a book (among several right now) titled The God Evaders: How Churches and Their Members Frustrate Genuine Religious Experience by Clyde Reid, a staff member of the national setting of the United Church of Christ. I was pointed to the book by a quote from it in Dallas Willard's book, The Divine Conspiracy. God Evaders is old (1966), but it good have been written this morning. Reid quotes a pastor of the time, John Heuss, and it has been ringing in my ears for the past few days:

The ordinary day-by-day life of the average successful [there were still a few successful ones back then] local parish makes a mockery out of it's world-influencing revolutionary claims.

It is customary for all of us to lay the blame for the public indifference to religion at the door of the secularism and materialism of our age. It is my personal opinion that neither of these does as much harm as does the constant parade of trivialities which the typical church program offers to the public. This program is only rarely related to the real issues which are clawing the soul of modern man to shreds. This program speaks with no commanding voice to the multitudes perishing for lack of certainty. This program gives the distinct impression that it is concerned exclusively with its own preservation.

What most parishes are habitually doing is so prosaic and so little related to anything except their own hand-to-mouth existence that the public cannot imagine in what way they can possibly influence the great affairs of the world. What the local church has become makes it impossible for the average American to take its life-shaking Gospel seriously. Its day-to-day triviality is its own worst enemy.

Great Sunday

In a quiet, but miraculous way, we noticed God moving at church this Sunday. God, in God's incredible grace, gave us, I believe, and I know gave me a glimpse of what could happen in our church. Our worship Sunday was good. Then some of us gathered to talk about worship, what worship is, how worship is meaningful to us. It was a wonderful conversation that really gave us something to work with as we move forward in our worship planning. And then Sunday night, we rocked. In an almost surreal scene, a rock band, and a pretty good one at that, Southbound Fearing, from Toledo, Ohio, treated the 20 or 30 of us gathered to an ear-splitting, bass-feeling concert.

The days activities nudged us just enough outside the norm to be able to imagine something different. And it was good.

Agressive and Palliative Spiritual Care

Someone gave me a quote today-- quote by one of my favorite spiritual writers, Henri Nouwen:

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. the friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is the friend who cares.

It's a great description of what I do with my hospice patients in my role as an interfaith chaplain. I meet them where they are, discerning what is spiritually important to them, providing comfort and assurance.

Medically, hospice is about palliative care. It is about keeping a patient comfortable. No agressive or curative treatment is pursued.

Spiritually, palliative care is often called for: comfort, assurance. End-of-life is such a time, I believe, unless of course, a patient demonstrates a need for something else: reconciliation with God, reconciliation with others. But what about in my role as pastor? When is it appropriate to engage in curative spiritual care? When do I need to risk a little bit of pain, possibly on the part of one who I am caring for, and definitely on my part, to help someone over a hump, or to mirror what I see as a detrimental issue in their life?

I imagine it would have to be if they themselves request me to take such a position. Or, as a prophetic voice, which, generally, is not comfortable for me, there may be times when I should take the initiative.

Finley Peter Dunne is credited with originating the saying "Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." He was referring to the role of the newspaper. It has since been applied to the role of spiritual leaders and the church. It requires great discernment. I can think of times when both have been used where the other may have been appropriate.

The Freedom of Servanthood

A few weeks ago, on July 4th actually, I preached on the idea of servanthood. It wasn't one of my best sermons. It's hard to preach on something that sounds so crazy. It's like standing up and saying that green is orange or that left is right. However, since that week the sermon, at least, has been working on me. The idea is haunting me, that it is in service, in servanthood that we can find freedom.

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.                               Galatians 5:13 (NRSV)

If I am serving another, then I am free of the concern about what that one thinks of me. If I am serving another in love, then I am free of what the consequences are, how that service, how that love is reacted to. I don't have to impress anyone. I don't have to be anything I am not. I just have to serve.

This is what we are called to as disciples of Jesus. This is what we are called to as the church. But it seems that it is the antithesis of who we are as the church. We don't serve, we judge. We protect our belief systems and our institutions. It is very apparent in the Roman Catholic church maybe because they have been around for so long and have so much power or perceived power at least. The Vatican's recent comments reveal an institution more interested in protecting its tradition and doctrine than dealing forthrightly with a serious problem, the victimization of children by the ones children should be able to trust the most, their religious leaders. However, us younger denominations and groups are just as guilty.

I want to serve. I want to lead a movement of servants.

The Root of All Sin...

"The root of all sin is the suspicion that God is not good."
- Oswald Chambers

I just heard this quote today. I like it so far, although I'm not sure I have fully absorbed it. Yesterday, I spoke about providence, the idea that God protects us on our journey. I believe that. (See below)

But wow, the root of all sin begins with the suspicion that God is not good, that makes me put my money and my life where my mouth is. Do I really believe that God is good all the time and all the time God is good? Do i trust  there is a God and that said God wants the very best for me? I spend every day of my live encouraging that belief in others. But this quote has given me pause; made me stop and think.

It's like Chambers is asking me "Jason, do you believe that God is good? If you do, wouldn't your life look different, be different?" It's not a matter of holding to a particular dogma. Baby, it's way beyond that. It is a question that cuts to the core of how I live my life, who I am. I can preach it. Can I live it?

Prophetic Words

"From today's crisis, a church will emerge tomorrow that has lost a great deal...She will be small and, to a large extent, will have to start from the beginning. She will no longer be able to fill many of the buildings created in her period of great splendor. Because of the smaller number of her followers, she will lose many of her privileges in society. Contrary to what has happened until now, she will present herself much more as a community of volunteers...As a small community, she will demand much more from the initiative of each of her members and she will certainly also acknowledge new forms of ministry and will raise up to the priesthood proven Christians who have other jobs...It will make her poor and a church of the little people..All this will require time. The process will be slow and painful."
- Joseph Ratzinger, 1969


Ratzinger is now Pope Benedict XVI. This is a quote from an article about him in Time magazine (June 7, 2010). It was uttered forty years ago and yet is amazingly prophetic. I am getting impatient. I am weary of the conversations about how we can "save the church," meaning the institution we love and protect. I am ready for that institution to die so that it will stop impeding the movement of the Spirit in our world. I am ready for what is coming. I am ready for women and men with hearts set afire to respond to who God is calling them to be and what God is calling them to do.

Graduation!

After squeezing a three-tear degree into eight, I am proud to say that on Sunday, May 23rd, 2010, I received my Master of Divinity degree from Florida Center for Theological Studies. I wasn't expecting it to be, but it was actually a very moving experience, mostly because I was joined by a couple of dozen of my friends and co-ministers from my church who came down to Miami on a bus.

One of the speakers was Dr. Miguel H. Diaz, the current U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican. That was pretty cool.

The other speaker was Daniel O. Aleshire who is the executive director of the Association of Theological Schools. He shared a simple, folksy message based on the life of his father-in-law, Dr. Herbert Gabhart who had recently passed away. Dr. Gabhart had been the president and, later, chancellor of a small Christian university, Belmont University. I found the three lessons he shared valuable:

1. Be grateful. Always thank those who have helped you along. Dr. Gabhart showed as much gratitude for the small gifts as the large.

2. Be generous. Dr. Gabhart was frugal but not miserly. He did a lot with a little. He took as much joy in not spending money as others take in spending it. However, before he died, he was able to donate back to the school every penny they had paid him in salary over his several decade career there. That is awesome!

3. Be persistent. One New Year's Day, the main building of Belmont College was destroyed in the fire. At the end of what must have been a heart-breaking day for the college president. He emerged from his charred office with a sketch of a new building and enough money pledged to begin its construction. Every collegue and friend who called to offer their condolences was asked to contribute to its rebuilding.

There are many theories and lifts of what is required of great leadership. But for me, now, these three seem like a great place to start.

The Challenge of Being a Truth-teller

This Sunday, we talked about how "Every Life...Needs a Truth-teller," experiencing together the story of David and Nathan, who came alongside David and took the risk of speaking truth into his life.

In my sermon I mentioned M. Scott Peck's description of pseudocommunity that occurs when we are involved in "communities" and relationships, but fail to take the opportunity to speak truth to one another, to hold one another accountable.

However, there is a shadow side to speaking truth. When we speak  truth to those about whom we care, we risk being rejected and/or misunderstood. It has been said by a friend of a friend who I never had the opportunity to meet before he passed away, "The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off." Another risk we take is exposing what we understand to be the truth to the examination of others who may not agree with us, whose truth might be different than ours.  Peck says that the antidote for pseudocommunity is to risk the chaos, yes chaos, that is possible (probable?) when we speak truth.  Risking and pressing through the chaos can lead to the blessing of true community.

What better place than a community of faith, centered around the unconditional love and acceptance of God, is there to practice being truth-tellers? How can we create a place, an environment, that offers as much safety as possible for us to encourage one another and hold one another accountable on our spiritual paths?

Worship, You Write the Blog

I had lunch with a colleague yesterday and the conversation turned to worship styles. All of us church folks have an opinion on worship styles. Those of us "in the biz" talk (and argue) about theological and aesthetic considerations and what style of worship attracts the most people to church.

However, worship is about more than just the style of music that is sung or the sermon that is preached. It is about who we are with, where we are, what frame of mind and heart we are in.

I invite you to share below an experience you have had where you can say you worshiped. Maybe it was at a glorious Easter Sunday service or a quiet Christmas Eve service. Maybe it was at a childhood camp around the fire. Or maybe it was at a symphony or  Grateful Dead concert. When was a time where you came in contact with something "other" or "more" when you were with a group of people (whether 10 or 10,000) Click the comment link below and share your story!

The Light of God in the Prism of People

Last night, I attended the interfaith prayer circle for the National Day of Prayer in Lake Worth. It was a meaningful time for me. It is a powerful experience to gather with those of different beliefs who are willing to come together and make space for, and even engage in one another's practices.

Yes, sometimes another's ritual or practice is so different from one's own that it is a bit awkward, somewhat uncomfortable. But I see that as an opportunity for growth, expanding my understanding of God beyond what I am comfortable with.

Here is the prayer I shared, as best as I can remember it:

Our source of life, of love
We thank you for your presence with us
We thank for you for your constant, abiding presence with us always
And we thank you for this opportunity to see your light through the prism of your children gathered here
Allowing us to experience you in all of your colors and words and images and genders and sounds and silences.
Grant us your Spirit of imagination, allowing us each to see what would be possible if each of us gathered here lived fully our understanding of you, the shift that could happen in our culture, in our world
We pray especially today on this National Day of Prayer for our leaders
We start right here where we are by lifting up Renee, Cara, Suzanne, and Scott to you,
Encourage and enliven them, lift them up
Give them the courage to lead and to speak
Give them the humility to listen and make space for one another and for the voices of those they govern
Amen

Jason's Job Transition FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

On May 14th I will begin a new job as a chaplain with VITAS Innovative Hospice Care, a hospice care provider in Palm Beach County. I will be transitioning from a full time paid position with our church to a part time paid position with our church. This will be new experience for our church and it brings up some different emotions and questions in people's hearts and minds. Some of the questions I will attempt to answer here. Other questions and emotions we will seek to experience and work through as we continue our journey together.

How did you learn about the chaplain position with VITAS Innovative Hospice Care?

I have recently completed a six month internship with VITAS as a requirement for school. Clinical Pastoral Education, an educational experience composed of supervised ministry and theological reflection is a requirement of both ordination in the Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ and my graduation from Florida Center for Theological Studies. Just as I was finishing my internship, a chaplain position became available on the team that services the Lake Worth/Boynton Beach area. I was invited to apply for this position and was subsequently hired.

Why did you decide to take this position now?

There are several elements that make up the answer to this question.

First, I found the work with hospice patients to be very rich and meaningful. I have the opportunity to have spiritual conversations with people who may have never had them before. As an interfaith chaplain, my role is to be a companion to them, listening for, and facilitating interpretation of, what is spiritually meaningful for them. I recognized in myself and those I worked with recognized in me some undiscovered gifts in this area which I am looking forward to developing as I continue to grow into the minister God has called me to be.

Second, our church's current financial reality (currently operating at a $70,000 a year deficit) is not suitable for supporting a full time pastor. By me becoming "bi-vocational" (a pastor with two jobs, not at all unusual for small and medium-sized churches), there is financial pressure taken off of our church and there is a little more long-term financial security for me and my family.

Third, after much prayer and consideration, I believe this is a good next-step in our ministry together. Financially, this allows us to continue our ministry together indefinitely. It takes the issue of survival off the table and creates the space for us to listen to and follow the still-speaking God into a vital and thriving ministry in our community. Eccclesiologically (Are you impressed? It's a big word that just means regarding how a church operates and functions.), it moves us another step closer to the ministry of the church being dispersed and decentralized from a few "paid professionals" to all of us together.

So now you'll just be a part-time minister?

Nope. I will still be a full-time minister, just like you are. And now, just like for you, part of that ministry will take place in another work place between Sundays. And even though my hours and salary will be reduced, I will still be the full-time pastor of our church, providing leadership and facilitating our ministry together.

What if there is an emergency that happens during the day? Will you still be able to "do my funeral?"

Yes. My hours with VITAS provide some flexibility so that if there is an emergency I can break away and attend to it, especially since my work with them will be in this general vicinity. And yes, with some negotiation, I will still be able to officiate at weekday funerals and memorial services. 

How are you going to be able to do all of this?

Well, honestly, I am going to have to get a little bit better at asking for help. There are many of you who have already graciously offered to help with whatever you can and I am busy organizing some of my responsibilities to hand-off.

What can I do to help the church?

OK, this is sort of a trick question. We often think of the church as an institution, building, or entity that needs our protection, support or help to continue to exist.You are the church.  So the question really becomes:

How can I be the church?

Ahhh, there ya go. Fix a meal for a neighbor in need, babysit the kids of the young couple you know who desperately need a night off, call the friend that you heard is going through a hard time, introduce yourself and sit with the stranger who wanders into church on Sunday morning, offer to work in the nursery once a month so that our younger adults can be in worship, tell a friend the difference Jesus has made in your life, share a song or testimony in a worship service, at lunch sit with the kid that no one else sits with. I could go on, but I think we get the idea.

How are you going to grow the church working part-time?

Just as well or as poorly as I did full-time. I can't grow the church anymore than I can grow a tomato plant. God grows a church. We, together, facilitate that growth by loving God, loving others, and serving the world. This transition gives us more time to practice!

Won't this make it look like we can't support a full time pastor? What will people think?

People that are interested in being the church, not just going to or being served by the church, will not be concerned with whether the pastor is a full-time or part-time position. In fact, there is a trend in missional churches (churches that are intent in carrying out the great commission and great commandment) to minimize the percentage of their budget spent on staff and buildings so that more money is available for loving God, loving others, and serving the world.

I look forward to continuing the conversation with you in the comments below or by email.
  

Imagine

Our conference minister, Kent Siladi, in his address to the annual meeting, invited us gathered to imagine:

+ All God's children welcomed, valued, and loved
+ Looking at our congregations and asking who is not here and ask why
+ Churches addressing  injustices in our community: education, farm labor, etc.
+ Churches attracting people, reaching out to others
+ Building bridges to one another, connections to one another
+ Seeing our churches as centers of experimentation.
+ Reaching out to other faith communities
+ Listening deeply to one another

Good stuff!

The Frontier, The Wilderness, and the Boundary

I am at the Annual Meeting of the Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ. I know- long name, right? Our two keynote presenters are really good--DaVita McCallister and Elena Larssen. They have offered us three images: the frontier, the wilderness, and the border.

(5/5/10 I am thankful to Rev. Bill Koch, our regional conference minister, for the summary below to which I have added my own thoughts and perspectives)

The Frontier:  

If one were to take the total number of inhabitants of the state of Ohio and divide by the square miles of that state, you’d come up with about 222 people per square mile.  In North Dakota, that number would be 6 people per square mile.  So many folks have moved away from less populous and economically depleted areas that some counties no longer have enough people to warrant having the designation of “county"!  The state has declared those areas to be “Frontier.”   There are just not enough people, and so earlier frontier images and operational modes have come back into use. Support for services, such as schools and trash collection, have been lost, but an incredible sense of adventure has been gained. Interesting… for some of our churches, the same thing has occurred: where there used to be three, four, or five hundred people in the congregation, now there are 70, 60 or less;  there is often a resulting sense of distress, failure, uncertainty, and fear.  But like North Dakota, this is a “place” those churches have been before.  In fact, there was a time when these churches had even less people, had no building, and ever fewer programs to offer.  But, there was a different feel, hope and vision.   Perhaps it is time for such churches to recognize they are once again on a Frontier of existence.  They will never again go back to being exactly what they were in former years; that simply isn’t going to happen.  It is time to look to the future.. to start anew.  And this is true for both local churches and our whole denomination, really!  While in many places our churches might have been on the inner circle of community life, now we are on the fringe, out on the Frontier. Consider the Frontier… It can be a romantic place where stories are forged which immortalize courage, self-giving, and hard-won success. It is a place of struggle, hardship and pain, and also a place of excitement and creativity; it’s where people must rely on relationships, and where they can pull together to do amazing things… on the Frontier.  

The Wilderness:   

When we realize our church is on the Frontier, we will also then notice that we are surrounded by Wilderness.   The image of the Wilderness is visited often in our scriptures… Moses and the Israelites knew that place well; for forty years! Their experience in the Wilderness is central to our faith.  Jesus went there too; he had to go through his trials in the Wilderness before he could begin his ministry.  He too found it to be a place of confusion, distraction, and temptation.  It is easy to get lost out there.   It is a dangerous, unforgiving place… poor decisions may well mean you will not be around to tell any story.  Actually though, the Wilderness is not a bad place; as with the ancient Israelites and Jesus, it can serve as a place of preparation. Wilderness can also be a place where we have said "no" or "not yet" to God. When the right time and circumstances do finally appear, they can then be seen, recognized, and taken advantage of.  The Wilderness… a place where we can perish OR get ready, gain focus, eliminate distractions and hone our vision.

The Border:    

 And when we are ready to move on, we then realize that we are facing Borders.  There are separations between us and the places we might want to go and people we would want to reach.  A Border is a real boundary that distorts or totally blocks communication, and prevents disparities and blessings from being shared.  In this country today, less that 20% of folks go to church.  Of the other 80%, many have little or no concept of who we are, what we do, or what we are about; and seem to have little interest in changing any of that.  It almost seems we speak another language.  In many places, our church has been relegated to the fringe of our communities.  Looking back into our history, when our nation’s 17^th and 18^th century settlers moved across frontiers of this land they faced many borders, physical and humanly-created; they were well aware that lands beyond were already occupied by native peoples they did not know.  Though later accounts and understandings of that history would mythologize that these new lands were being “discovered,” the truth was that our immigrant forebears had to carefully deal with the people who already called these lands “home.”  (And how much different our history and this land would be today had those dealings been different and not constantly marred by oppressiveness, cruelty, and greed.)  Today, we in the church look across borders at the people who do not know us and whom we do not know either.  We must realize that to leave the fringe and get back toward the “mainstream” we are going to have to deal with those who already live there, who already have habits and patterns of activity that do not include church involvement, and who in some cases have already been injured, embarrassed, or excluded by the church.  Though they do yearn for spiritual understandings, insight, and inspiration and do want to make significant, positive contributions to this world, they have little or no concept that our church can help them discern or grow in this vital and integral part of life.   Interesting… one visual image of a border presented by Elena and DaVita was that of a huge river, the banks of either side being separated by such a wide expanse.  And spanning that awesome river was an equally impressive bridge.  That border had been traversed with a structure of beauty and integrity.  That border had been overcome to the betterment of both sides.

The frontier spoke to me. Elena talked about the discomfort, the inconvenience of the frontier, but also about the excitement and sense of adventure that comes along with engaging the frontier.

I know that I am, and I feel that our church is, in the frontier stage. We have to be ready, we have to be entrepreneurial.



Location : 5291 Sand Dollar Ln, Naples, FL 34103,

Hanley Clergy-in-Residence

I had the opportunity to spend a day at Hanley Center in West Palm Beach yesterday. They are a nationally known addiction recovery center. Yesterday, they held their first "Clergy-in-Residence" program for area clergy. They introduced the basics of recovery as they see it at Hanley Center. You can see all my scribbled notes here.

I am fascinated by the work being done in 12 Step based recovery programs. I find it to be a rich spiritual path. Here are some things that jumped out at me, probably familiar to those more acquainted with recovery language and ideas than I.

From John Dyben, the clinical director (and a chaplain):

Four principles/values of recovery:
1. Compassion
There needs to be a lack of judgement in an interaction with an addict. Hanley's philosophy is that addiction  is a disease and should be treated as such even though the behavior of the addict often illicits judgement from others. We don't judge; we can't fix; we "jump in and tread water with them."
2. Acceptance
Born out of humility on our part.
3. Dignity
From the Latin "worthy to be alive." No one is "throw away." As a result we engage/work with:
4. Excellence

From Jonathan Benz, chaplain, on "12 Step Spirituality":

We are all spiritual. There is healthy spirituality, characterized by connection, mindfulness, awareness, integration, quality relationship with self, others, God, and unhealthy spirituality, characterized by disconnection, unawareness, disintegration.

Guilt - Feeling bad about what one has done
Shame- Feeling bad about who one is

"A spiritual life defeats a life of spirits" Carl Jung (to Bill W., founder of AA)

Between Sundays

My son Emerson is 5 years old and he is just now becoming aware of the sequence of days. Where Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. were just words, now he is connecting them to his life. Friday, he knows, is show-and-tell day at school. That is followed by Saturday which, for the most part, is our family's Sabbath. We spend the day together goofing off. He's figured out that after Friday and Saturday comes Sunday, when we "go to church." He still checks with us though. When he wakes up he asks Trish or me, "Is this church day?" When we answer affirmatively, he is sometimes excited. He enjoys being with his friends and singing the songs and learning the verses. Other times he is disappointed. Church edges out school in his young mind and heart, but neither is as good as staying home and playing with Play Doh with Mom and Dad.

Isn't that amazing? Even at the tender age of five, he's already made the connection. He has bought into the idea that most of us accepted long ago. Sunday is for church, and, unfortunately, church is for Sunday. On Sunday, we go to church. Sometimes we do it willingly, because we enjoy the music, the fellowship, the message. Other times we would rather hang out at home and play with Play Doh, but we go anyway.

Between Sundays, where most of our life occurs, is a different story, however. It's "real" life, away from the music and the comforting smell of the sanctuary. Here is the crazy thing though--we are still the church between Sundays. Between Sundays, we still love God, love others, and serve the world.

In fact, if we are not the church between Sundays, there is little reason to gather as the church on Sundays. Hmmmm, maybe that is why fewer and fewer are choosing to do so.

What are some ways we can encourage and support one another in being the church between Sundays?

Servants of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God

Yesterday, I read 1 Corinthians 4:1 in my daily readings. I must have read this passage before, but for the life of me I don't remember. "Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries."So simple. That is what I want to be about.

I want to serve Christ. For me, Christ is the best way to understand and approach the Divine. I want to serve him with everything I am and everything I have.

And while, for me, the fullness of God dwells in Christ (Colossians 1:19), I do not believe that Christ is the only manifestation of God. God is not limited by Christ, much less my understanding of Christ. So while it is important for me to be a servant of Christ, I am also called to be a steward of the mysteries of God-not an explainer of the mysteries of God, but a steward. Encountering them and cherishing them as I discover them in the world and in others.

Post-modern Fairy Tale "How to Train Your Dragon"

 

Our family went to see How to Train Your Dragon last week. It was the first of the new 3D movies that I have seen. We weren't sure how Emerson would react to the 3D, but we decided to give it a go. He loved it. He was giggling through much of the movie, reaching out and trying to touch what appeared to be right in front of him.

 I loved it too. It was awesome to watch, really beautiful. And I loved the story. Spoiler alert: I'm going to discuss the plot, so if you are planning on seeing it and don't want to know stop reading now!

It is the story of a little Viking village that has an ongoing battle with some pesky dragons who they have fought for generations. A young man in the village, Hiccup who we learn is the son of the village chief, is a small, thin lad who has never shown much interest in battling dragons. However, he encounters a dragon, a Night Fury, that he had wounded during a night raid on the village. Through his interaction with the dragon, who he names "Toothless," he learns that the dragons aren't really as ferocious as their reputation and, in fact, learns to train the dragon, allowing him to excel at his training in battling dragons. In addition, he is shown by Toothless where the dragons live and Hiccup discovers that is a great nest of dragons, ruled by a monstrous "queen" dragon to whom they give all of the food they steal or else she kills them.

Because of his new found skills, Hiccup is held in high esteem by the village until, at the end of his training, he is expected to slay a dragon. He cannot do it. This enrages the village and embarrasses his father. The location of the dragon nest is found out and the villagers go to destroy it. However, they are severely outmatched by the enormous, horrible, powerful queen dragon. In the end, the dragons join the fight and together the defeat the queen dragon. The dragons and the Vikings live, as they say, happily ever after--together.

It got me thinking about the assumptions we make about others of different cultures, world views, sexual orientations, and religious persuasions. We can become convinced that the other, whatever the other is, is our enemy and we have to be, at best defensive, and at worst offensive. We have to "destroy the evil doers," or "convert the godless pagans," "confront the homosexual agenda," or, alternately, "fight homophobia."

The Vikings had never considered encountering and learning from the dragons. It was ludicrous. Neither do we consider engaging and learning from those we consider our "enemies." What if we were to live with one another, learn from one another and together fight the darkness and fear that too often compels us to fight one another. As the writer of the letter to the Ephesians recognized, "For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12 NLT)

There is a lot us hapless Hiccups have to offer. I believe it is time to stop fighting the dawning of a new era, to take the risk of engaging one another, and to band together to fight the darkness.







Location : 132 Riley Ave, Palm Springs, FL 33461,

Coach Jose

Let me take a moment to explain my awe with Coach Jose. Coach Jose is my son's T-Ball coach. T-Ball, remember that? 5 year-olds and 6 year-olds (with a couple of 4's thrown in just to keep it interesting) on a ball field spinning around, kicking dirt in the infield, pulling up grass in the outfield, poking each other, and watching baseballs rolling by them.

If it's a boy or girl's first year, they know nothing about the game, especially if they have a non-baseball dad like me. They have few skills and a six-minute...tops...attention span.

Coach Jose has a background coaching baseball, real baseball, I think, high school kids. He is very knowledgeable. He told us he had never coached little kids before. Over the past several weeks, I have watched Coach Jose do drills, run bases, and explain the game to these kids. He is ever so patient. He goes over and over the fundamentals. Most of them don't remember. They will drill for an hour: catch the  ball..step...point...throw it to first base. The next practice, they have to start all over again except for maybe one or two that have a vague memory of doing something like that last week. Coach Jose doesn't get upset, he simply starts over again...catch...step...point...throw. I honestly don't know how he does it. It seems like somewhere deep inside he is 100% confident that each of those kids is going to get it, going to be a star, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

I get so agitated when people don't get it...when I don't get it. I have been on this spiritual path for so long and yet I feel like i never even get the basics down. I screw up, I don't pay attention. Then I look around at those I lead and, I hate to say, I get even more frustrated. "C'mon! We have gone over this time and again and it still hasn't sunk in even a bit!"

For myself and my fellow sojourners, I am going to follow my new idol, Coach Jose. "Alright Yankees, let's do it again: catch...step...point..throw"

Our Opportunity

I am currently reading Eugene Peterson's A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. (You can peak at my reading notes here.) Peterson's seems to be saying that we all want our religious or spiritual fix, but there is very little interest in "the long obedience," the work required, quoting Friederich Nietzche, to make life worth living.

Peterson quotes a psychiatrist: "Thomas Szasz, in his therapy and writing, has attempted to revive respect for what he calls the 'simplest and most ancient of human truths: namely, that life is an arduous and tragic struggle; that what we call "sanity," what we mean by "not being schizophrenic," has a great deal to do with competence, earned by struggling for excellence; with compassion, hard won by confronting conflict; and with modesty and patience, acquired through silence and suffering."

Good stuff. It offers us an awesome opportunity to shift our perception. The struggles, the confrontation, the conflict, the silence, the suffering, aren't elements of life to be avoided. They are tools to be used to grow. Of course, remembering to live in that stream is important.

Somewhere in the Middle

This morning on the way to the office I heard a song on the radio (been using Pandora lately, it's awesome) that floored me. I had never heard it before, but it so aptly and so fully describes where I am. It is by the group Casting Crowns:



Somewhere between the hot and the cold
Somewhere between the new and the old
Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Somewhere between the wrong and the right
Somewhere between the darkness and the light
Somewhere between who I was and who You're making me
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Fearless warriors in a picket fence, reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep water faith in the shallow end and we are caught in the middle
With eyes wide open to the differences, the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His or are we caught in the middle
Are we caught in the middle

Somewhere between my heart and my hands
Somewhere between my faith and my plans
Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves

Somewhere between a whisper and a roar
Somewhere between the altar and the door
Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more
Somewhere in the middle You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Lord, I feel You in this place and I know You're by my side
Loving me even on these nights when I'm caught in the middle

Chambers on the Power of the Gospel

"If in preaching the gospel you substitute your knowledge of the way of salvation for confidence in the power of the gospel, you hinder people from getting to reality."                     -Oswald Chambers



And yet, this is what happens over and over again. We make the gospel our pet, our servant. The history of the church is a history of taming the gospel. We fear it's power. 

I want people to get on board with my cause, sign up for my class, propagate my philosophy, but come in contact with the raw power of the gospel? Without me controlling it and mediating it? Are you kidding?

Forgive me God. May your fire of love purify my ministry, burning off anything that stands between me and the power of the gospel for those that I lead.

Standing With...

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help.  Ecclesiastes 4:10
I have been reminded a couple of times this week of the importance of standing with someone. So  many people go through a lot of very difficult times alone. As disciples of Jesus, who never leaves us and as members of a faith community who claims to be Jesus' body, I believe we have the opportunity, dare I say the responsibility to stand with those who have no one to stand with them.

It is often not easy. At times it is messy.

Standing with someone does not mean we have to have all of the answers for them. It just means being with them.

Standing with someone does not mean we have to fix them or change them. Transformation is God's work.

Standing with someone does not mean we condone their behavior. Just because we accept someone, does not mean we have to approve of what they are doing.

Standing with someone does not mean we enable them by rescuing them from the natural consequences of their actions. It might, however, mean we journey with them through those consequences.

Who have you stood with? Who stands with you?

Waste

This is the trash created from Emerson and me eating at McDonald's tonight. I don't really consifer myself a green freak, but as I was gathering our trash from the table and the mountain kept getting bigger on the tray, I was thinking there was no way this could be good. I want to start being a bit more conscious.



I was at : 132 Riley Ave, Palm Springs, FL 33461,

OUR Father, who art in heaven...

I have started utilizing Phyllis Tickle's Divine Hours as a resource for my spiritual journey. Of course, a consistent element of most daily prayers is the prayer Jesus taught.

As I was praying it this morning, I was reminded yet again that the prayer is prayed in first person plural. I know that. (You know that. We all know that and have heard at least a half-dozen sermons on the topic.) This morning, however, it dropped a bit from my head to my heart. When I pray that prayer, I am asking that God gives  all of us our daily bread, that God leads each one of us away from temptation, that God forgives my debts and your debts. If the prayer doesn't change the way I live than it is just a collection of meaningless, superstitious words.

I want to live the prayer.

Carl F. Henry on Cultural Engagement

Richard J. Mouw has written an insightful article on an interaction he had with Carl F. Henry, the first editor of Christianity Today, in that magazines January, 2010 issue (unfortunately, it does not appear to be online).

As I work with our local church to find a voice on social justice issues, I find Henry's "five principles of engagement" which Mauw quotes from Henry's biography Confessions of a Theologian helpful:

1. The Bible is critically relevant to the whole of modern life and culture-the social-political arena included.
2. The institutional church has no mandate, jurisdiction, or competence to endorse political legislation or military tactics or economic specifics in the name of Christ.
3. The institutional church is divinely obliged to proclaim God's entire revelation, including the standards or commandments by which men and nations are to be finally judged, and by which they ought now to live and maintain social stability.
4. The political achievement of a better society is the task of all citizens, and individual Christians ought to be politically engaged to the limit of their competence and opportunity.
5. The Bible limits the proper activity of both government and church for divinely stipulated objectives--the former, for the preservation of justice and order, and the latter, for the moral-spiritual task of evangelizing the earth. 

The article goes into much greater detail. I would highly recommend it as a starting place for dialogue.

Two Views of God

I was brought to tears twice this week, unusual for me. The tears, in both instances, were precipitated by a view of God.

Wednesday, as I was driving back from my weekly team meeting with the hospice team with which I am currently interning. At the meeting, we spent time being with and feeling helpless with the five Haitian members of the staff who hadn't yet heard from their families in Haiti. As I was driving, I heard Pat Robertson's comments about Haiti on the radio:

The Haitians "were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III and whatever, and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you will get us free from the French.' True story. And so, the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other."

I had to pull over. The experience of just being with those who were suffering and then listening to Robertson smugly "explaining" the tragedy for us lay folks was too much. His is a view of God that we have all encountered at some point or another. God blesses those who are good and curses those who are bad. It is beneficial, at least in the short run. It keeps God in a box. It keeps us in control, keeps us confident that we are right. If we are the ones in the earthquake, however, it is useless.

Another experience of God I had was Friday morning. I went to an interfaith vigil service for the people of Haiti. We prayed and sang in Spanish, Creole, Hebrew, and English. We cried, some wailed. We praised God, we yelled at God. We didn't feel the need to explain. We didn't feel the need to be right. We just sat, with one another and with God. It was a glimpse of authentic community.