Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Weddings and Worship

Posted: November 27, 2012 in Uncategorized
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This immediate past Sunday our congregation had a treat. At the close of one of our worship services two of our own stepped forward and were married. It was a delight in all ways. The wedding was over in five minutes, it had to be. But that did not diminish its importance in the slightest.

Those few minutes clarified a great deal for me, not only about worship, but about weddings. Since we have multiple worship services every week and I’ve been at this for more than three decades I have led no less than 3,000 worship services. And I have presided at hundreds of weddings.

To begin with, the wedding in worship we witnessed this weekend would not, could not work for just anyone. The bride and groom are an intimate part of the community, the church being their spiritual home. Exchanging vows in that context was natural and beautiful because of that. And for the worshiping  community, that five minutes at the close of worship did not detract from worship, but rather amplified the strong connection between our collective life together and our personal lives. It was testimony without being preachy.

In the Christian life we always say that weddings should be a form of worship. Some are more than others. Many lapse into cultural spectacles or shows. They can be more or less God-centered, depending. But it’s a hard thing to transform what has become a cultural stereotype into something more. When you attempt it, the result often comes off as mechanical or stilted – unless – you change the context of the wedding altogether. That means avoiding all the accoutrements and hype that normally accompany it.

When you attempt to transform a wedding into a worship there are built-in challenges. One is that over half of the crowd will not be there to worship. They are there because of friendship or kinship ties. A preponderance of attendees don’t worship regularly in any Christian community, if they are Christian at all. They have no experience or Christian formation that might help them understand a thing that’s going on. And when it comes to having communion at a wedding, we skate on thinner ice still. How do you invite people to participate in something that is little more than a mid-service snack?

Some weddings can become more worshipful – if you really work at it. And what I discovered this weekend is that it is possible to bring weddings – some weddings – to worship. They should somehow be informing one another, worship and weddings. And the souls at Broadway Christian Church just discovered that truth on a typical Sunday morning through a quintessential sign of loving God and one another.

Why Black Friday is not Good Friday

Posted: November 24, 2012 in Uncategorized
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Finally, the collective ritual of gluttony is over. No, I’m not referring to Thanksgiving. I mean the day after.

We have institutionalized acquisitiveness to the point of declaring a national holiday for buying things. Black Friday has become a red letter day on the cultural holiday. If you are a patriotic citizen it is your bounden duty to get out there and spend what you don’t have in order to save money. Don’t you care about the economy? I mean, really, my patriot friend, get out there and run up your charge card!

We all know that the retail business depends on recurring seasons of spending. Each “holiday” is a revenue opportunity. Adding and institutionalizing new ones keeps the cash register humming. None of this, however, addresses the question of sustainability – either individually or collectively. The way to happiness is not through avarice or gluttony. The incessant advertising barrages would have us believe otherwise.

One of the answers is to observe a protest, an Un Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving is precisely the day to not gorge ourselves with things. It is the perfect day to be quiet, read, take walks, chat with friends and otherwise receive the gift of the day.

To focus us for the revolution, here are words taken from Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals:

Lord, help me now to unclutter my life, to organize myself in the direction of simplicity.

Teach me to listen to my heart.
Teach me to welcome change, instead of fearing it.
I give you these stirrings inside me:
my discontent, restlessness, doubt, and despair.

I give you all the longings I hold inside.
Help me to listen to these signs of change, of growth.
Help me to listen seriously and follow where they lead through the breathtaking empty space of an open door.

Here’s to uncluttered space, to the breathtaking empty space on Un Black Friday.

Lord, You Have Always Given … Today I Believe

Posted: November 21, 2012 in Uncategorized
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Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals (Zondervan, 2012):

Lord, you have always given bread for the coming day;

     and though I am poor, today I believe.

Lord, you have always given strength for the coming day;

     and though I am weak, today I believe.

Lord, you have always given peace for the coming day;

     and though of anxious heart, today I believe.

Lord, you have always kept me safe in trials;

     and now, tried as I am, today I believe.

Lord, you have always marked the road for the coming day;

     and though it may be hidden, today I believe.

Lord, you have always lightened this darkness of mine;

     and though the night is here, today I believe.

Lord, you have always spoken when time was ripe;

     and though you be silent, today I believe.

Ten Strange Reasons to be Thankful

Posted: November 20, 2012 in Uncategorized
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1. We didn’t get everything we asked for in the form we imagined

2. Just the right struggle and loss brought forth the hidden strength

3. Having less made us regard we do have as more precious

4. The ending we feared was accompanied by a delightful new beginning

5. Our body betrayed a truth we had overlooked

6. The arriving day of Thanksgiving helped us number our days

7. Seeing the photograph brought a painful memory … and healing

8. Letting go of trying to be the traffic cop of the universe set us free

9. Honoring the submerged voice of truth in ourselves helped us attend to that in others

10. Discovering that this world of ours is much simpler, more complex, unexplainable, elegant, horrific and beautiful than we thought it was

(Add to the list …)

Novel Ideas

Posted: November 19, 2012 in Uncategorized
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The outgoing president of Drury University, Todd Parnell, wrote a little fiction-laden-with-values article in his most recent column of Drury Magazine (Fall, 2012). The piece arose as a response to the most recent election season, with its staggering financials and knee-deep mud. If he ran for office, it would be a different story, he opined. From the description you can only imagine a very local election. But he gets the points across. His campaign principles are twelve:

  • Accept no campaign contributions
  • Place no campaign ads
  • Commit no more than $1,000 of personal funds
  • Prepare a one-page summary of values and issue positions and distribute to anyone interested
  • No pictures of pets, kids and grandkids
  • Set up campaign headquarters at the kitchen table: Open from 8am-12noon, no appointments.
  • No neckties
  • Walk door to door listening and sharing ideas each afternoon
  • Facebook and tweet to all who will listen
  • Debate opponents on any topic in any forum under any format
  • Always be honest and civil in agreement or disagreement
  • If elected, serve from home

It is highly questionable whether he would be electable under these terms. But then again, he might be elected precisely because of them.

Thanks, Todd.

Emergence of the Tribe

Posted: November 15, 2012 in Uncategorized
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I’ve followed Phyllis Tickle for some time, the preeminent chronicler of all things emergent. As a scholar and guru of the religious publishing world her eye has been keenly trained on trends and developments in the Christian world. In particular she has researched and lectured in the phenomenon known as emergence Christianity. In short, emergence is the idea that seismic shifts in western Christianity take place every 500 years or so. We are in one of the big rummage sales right now, and have been for several decades. Everything is up for grabs and the form of Christianity, as we know it, is changing before our eyes.  We are in what is called “the fifth turning” in that cycle of cycles.

Her latest book, Emergence Christianity (Baker Books) is part history of this movement and part projections based on that history. In the same way that Brian McLaren might be called the Martin Luther of the Emergent movement, Tickle is its historian, the grand old lady of this movement’s analysis and encyclopedic in her grasp of particulars.

What does that mean? It means that there is a struggle with old structures and new form, a search for trustworthy authority sources, church outside church in unusual places, house churches, ancient roots and current modes, Jesus unshakeled from institution, reclaiming the spirit, finding God in the world, presuming diversity, finding new ways to belong, serving as a way of life …

What amazes me is not that such a movement is unfolding before our eyes, but that most mainline Christians are oblivious to it. We are oblivious because we are so accustomed to what we know. But even that is changing. Every time I am in a church conversation now and the topic changes to how we might keep our own people happy by keeping things the same I know the ship has sprung a leak. Conversations like that assure the eventual demise of the church. Fortunately, those are not the only things that are thought, felt or shared. Relevant vision for the future is just as strong, at least in my own context.

I believe that we disregard the signs of the great emergence, this religious yard sale, at our own peril. God is not in jeopardy, nor is Jesus. But the shape of his beloved flock is. And that both concerns me and fills me with excitement.

Post-Election Miracles

Posted: November 9, 2012 in Uncategorized
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One can only describe it as miraculous: Hard-liners are suddenly evolving in their understanding of immigration issues. No more line in the sand, get your bad ass back over the border. Huh.

People have been working on a reasonable and compassionate approach to immigration for years. It has been systematically blocked. I wonder why the new, great opening? Could it be the way Hispanics voted in the recent election? Maybe.

Or it’s just a miracle.

Evaluation of the Crystal Ball

Posted: November 6, 2012 in Uncategorized
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Huh. Not bad, for a crystal ball, that is.

Back in the box it goes. Night night, sleep well until 2016.

Look Deeply into my Crystal Ball

Posted: November 5, 2012 in Uncategorized
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The air is swirling with incense, a mystical air about, and I, sitting on my magic carpet, turban in place, eyes cast to some unseen place, shall predict the outcome of the forthcoming election. The outcomes are not necessarily my preference, but rather … what will be will be will be will be. Now – uncover the crystal ball!

President Obama will prevail over Governor Romney by a nose, no more. Great acrimony will take place in countings and re-countings.
The Senate will retain a Democratic majority.
The House will retain a Republican majority.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon will be reelected.
Claire McCaskill will retain her U.S. Senate seat over challenger Todd Akin
Prop B will pass
Prop E will fail

If the forecast of the great Swami is proven true (if not, dash that glass ball once for all!), he envisions:

Perfect gridlock. The President’s legislation will be blocked by the House, who will again make obstruction their primary goal. The House’s legislation will in turn be blocked by the Senate, who will not give the House Cart Blanche.

There is no broad consensus mandate. Big money will continue to attempt to buy elections. Polarization will continue to be the order of the day. And every single move by either party will be blocked by the other.

Isn’t it time for a Center party? You know, doing what moderates in both parties used to do in order to make things happen, build compromise, find solutions, be pragmatic? To do this, the centrists will have to say “bye bye” to the extremists in their own party. Likely? Probably not. But it’s what we need.

Oh, Swami. Put away your crystal ball now and we shall see just how far-sighted you are!

Put it away! Put it away!

Robo This

Posted: November 5, 2012 in Uncategorized
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So the robo calls come the few days before the election: Get out to vote and while you’re at it don’t forget to vote righteously. And by the way, to vote righteously you have to vote for these particular candidates because they support issue A, B and C. And as you know A, B and C are the only issues upon which a righteous decision can be based.

Uh huh. Right.

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