Silence

Silence

Many of you may know that I spent time in the Benedictine Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado. I follow Benedict's Way today. Today, I share some Benedictine insights  especially appropriate for Advent. My guess is that, today, you need to build in some silence for your soul.

Jim+

Remember the great value of silence.  Each day there must be time for silence, even in our prayers and meditation. There must be time within which we neither speak nor listen, but simply are. Consider the silence of a living tree; it neither speaks nor hears. Out of the uncounted aeons, inexorable, ever-changing forces have erected it, to a purpose beyond our understanding. It needs no words, yet its presence is no less actual than ours. Consider the value of silence in community.  Our ability to listen is our gift to those around us. Too much talk is sign of self-centeredness and insecurity. If you hear yourself talking excessively, take care.

--John McQuiston II
Always We Begin Again:
The Benedictine Way of Living
Find it from Church Publishing HERE
(available January 2011)

Guests

Many of you may know that I spent time in the Benedictine Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado. I follow Benedict's Way today. Today, I share some Benedictine insights especially appropriate for Advent. Treat each person with whom you interact today as guest.   Jim+

Guests, like all of us, are representatives of the great mystery at work in creation. They should be conferred honor and welcomed accordingly. Whether a guest is leaving or arriving the greatest humility should be shown. Special attention should be given to the needy guest. Material wants should be attended to in a way that preserves dignity. The presence of guests should not, however, be allowed to disrupt the routine that has been established. The work of the day must go on while guests are provided with their due. We are all guests in the world, and all equally present in time.


--John McQuiston II
Always We Begin Again:
The Benedictine Way of Living
Find it from Church Publishing HERE
(available January 2011)

End of Your Rope

Have you ever reached the end of your rope? There now? The end of our rope is that time when we believe we have exhausted all of our resources and the tank is empty (I am metaphor rich today.)

 

"My God, My God why have you forsaken me?"

 

Jesus' words but they could be yours and mine. This is the time to let go (Jesus did) and turn things over to God.

 

Now before we get excited, we need to turn things over to God the WAY JESUS TURNED THINGS OVER TO GOD. Jesus trusted God with his life, even if the next step was unknown. Jesus invested in God every day of his life by acting on his relationship with God. He never expected magic from God. That is, he never expected God to do all the heavy lifting. But he always expected God.

 

Jesus knew his invested trust in God would make up the difference when his rope's end was in sight. He did not give up (the sign of one who has little trust or investment in God.) Jesus let go and allowed God to steer his life through the roughest of waters. It takes great preparation (Advent work) and it is done with anticipation (Advent fruit) that God will break into our lives (now this is Christmas/Incarnation talk) and lead us through, as the Psalmist calls it, the valley of the shadow of death.

 

Willing to hand the end of your rope over to God? Know where to find God? If not, make it you life's work. May the Christ child steer you today. We will never exhaust God's resources.

Going Through the Motions

For most, this is a fairly negative, if not slackardly phrase. I suspect that it is often uttered with a resigned distain. May I make a case for it, however?

 

I spoke with a friend recently; one who had dropped off the face of the earth (and church) for a while. I listened to a fairly graphic apology, if not confession. Things had been tough (I'll say. Glad I did not have to go through it!) My friend ended with the fact that my friend had been "going through the motions" spiritually in the in-between time of disappearing and resurfacing. That is, this friend kept a habit of Scripture reading and prayer (mainly on-the-go flash prayers) going even though it seemed rote and, at time, desperate.

 

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
   Why are you so far from saving me,
   so far from my cries of anguish?

My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
   by night, but I find no rest.                      Psalm 22:1-2 (NIV)

 

I find that habits are especially helpful during dry times and times of stress. "Going through the motions" could also be phrased "staying connected." My feelings are not a particularly adequate foundation upon which to build a spiritual life. Helpful, but not "stand alone" material. The Psalmist seemed particularly good at recording the most honest if not exasperated prayers. In other words, she engaged God despite evidence to the contrary that God was present or even cared. I would bet the prayers were said on days when the first thought was, "do I have to?" That is to say, the will guided the feelings through rough waters.

 

Do not dismiss the dry days when to cling to God in the most habitual ways. That may be your life-line. I hope your dry days are few and your habits are strong.

Free Turn

Each Sunday, I get to church before 5:30 am. As a result, the road is pretty empty. I play a game with myself counting the cars (I have gotten as low as 1) that I pass and priding myself of making one less turn because I go straight out to Pearland Parkway. Since I do not have to fight oncoming traffic, I can take a more direct route. One less turn! Or so I thought.

Today, I counted them up. Same number of turns! What is it about humans that make us think things are definitely one way when, in fact, they are another way? We are so certain.

God tells us that his ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8.) If I am to know the life of abundance, it will not come by seeking my own crafty shortcuts. It will come by seeking God.

How will you seek God today?

 ⁶ Seek the LORD while he may be found;
   call on him while he is near.
⁷ Let the wicked forsake their ways
   and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
   and to our God, for he will freely pardon.  Isaiah 5:6-7 (NIV)

Elizabeth

Elizabeth Edwards died today. I liked her. I knew her only as a celebrity, a public person, which is to say, I knew her superficially. Yet, I liked her. She had a resolve and practicality and, may I say a trust in doing the right thing because it was right. I noticed in Christian blogs after her death, her faith or what people claimed lack of faith were subjects of judgment on her salvation or afterlife. Sad. Sometimes, Christians embarrass me. Maybe, I embarrass them as well. Read a decent link here. 

 

Mrs. Edwards had a child die, a persistent cancer and a husband who cheated on her in the most public way. I doubt I will have such trials. People were upset that she did not believe in a God who intervened in life and she stated that trying to earn an afterlife ticket by doing good things was to have our priorities mixed up. She spent time trying to make sense of her world without simply walking away from it. She was not a saint but she invested in living life as the most fragile of human. Just like me.   

 

I believe in a God who intervenes but, I must say, I am not sure how, why or when. I believe that I am building a life that is meant to last beyond this life. I believe Gods grace is bigger than my judgment. I believe our pain pains God. I believe my theology is not now nor will it ever be air-tight. When I see God face-to-face, it will no longer matter.

 

Jesus tells me to look at the fruit of a life and not the Oz-like projections we all put out. People of faith killed him. He forgave them. I believe God cares more about losing us than God cares about whether or not he is getting enough polished apples from us or recognition from us. I believe God is more mysterious than I wish but I will live with that and ask God to make up what is amiss in my theology and faith.

 

I believe God likes Elizabeth Edwards along with any faults she might have had in her theology and any gaps that opened in her faith. I believe tonight God calls her "daughter" and tells her "It was rough. It's over now." "The fruit of your life often was luscious at times it could have been bitter." "Welcome home."

 

Thank you, Elizabeth.

Thin Slicing

Malcolm Gladwell, is his book Blink (he also wrote The Tipping Point,) writes about Thin Slicing where "human beings we are capable of making sense of situations based on the thinnest slice of experience." This is difference from intuition or a reptilian gut reaction. Thin slicing calls upon the "thinnest" of experience in sorting through things. Gladwell claims that it works better than we might imagine but not always. Maybe more is NOT better, at least in the case of information.

 

How often have we sized up people and situations based rumor, prejudice, one bad experience, or cultural norms? How is your Thin Slicing skill? Where does the Gospel of Jesus Christ need to temper it? Have you thin sliced a person or situation unfairly? Do you reflect on your thin slicing? I have a tendency to size things up pretty fast. Have I missed a God Moment?

Life Lessons #3

Scott McClellan posted a blog entitled What We Learned from Publishing a Magazine.   He relayed some things he learned about life and work from his experiences.

 

These are my edited excerpts of Scott's blog. There are 10. I will do a few each day and comment. Here is the next three. My comments are in PURPLE. (I am feeling regal, today.)

Learn by doing.
If you aspire to try your hand at something new, you've got to add experience to whatever head knowledge you can glean from books and teachers. God says, "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." Yet the "new" does not come without the "Repent." That is, trying it out.

 

Keep getting better.
Artists who are currently doing great work probably spent years doing poor or mediocre work. We say we practice our faith as well as have faith. It is "both/and" and not "either/or." The myth of modern culture is that we can be expert right out of the box and, if not; we claim we are too timid to start. "I'm not good at that," we say. Jesus spent 30 years developing before he started ministry.

 

Celebrate. Catch your breath. Figure out what's next.

Congratulate your teammates and have some fun. Get back into project mode before you get comfortable in celebration mode. Jesus partied and prayed. Each complements the other.

Rise above your routine.
Whatever routine you find yourself in, you must be intentional about rising above it. Block off time to re-imagine, to pull things apart and mix up the pieces. Carry over that which is best, not that which is convenient. This is true Sabbath time. God has so much to visit us with if we will only stop (or routine.)

Life Lessons #2

Scott McClellan posted a blog entitled What We Learned from Publishing a Magazine.  He relayed some things he learned about life and work from his experiences.

 

These are my edited excerpts of Scott's blog. There are 10. I will do a few each day and comment. Here is the next three. My comments are in PURPLE. (I am feeling regal, today.)

You have to dig to find the good stuff.
As a society, we're creating, recording, publishing, posting, and releasing an unparalleled amount of media. The reality is that most of it is underdeveloped, niche, forgettable, or temporal. Dig, filter, network, and share. We have so much information that it overwhelms us. This sense of being overwhelmed creeps into our relationships. It is much easier (but deadly) to one-dimensionalize a person (Liberal, Muslim, pretty, athletic, nerd, Southerner, smart, weird) when we feel swamped. I have to remind myself that this particular person is one for whom Christ died. I must take each person seriously. I have to dig.

Ask the right questions.
Asking the right questions requires thoughtful analysis and a determination to get to the truth that's beneath the surface. We love quick, tidy answers to all of life's dilemmas. Because we are pressed for time, we often base most of life's big decisions on how we feel. That is, we stick to surface issues, sound bites, and visceral impulses. The Truth sets us free. Ask questions.

There's a gap between idea and outcome: execution.
If you find yourself with a great idea, remember that your work isn't done; the real work is just beginning. Bear down and execute. We wish a lot. "If only…" You fill in the blank. I do have my own list of things I will do when I win (I have to play first, I guess) the Lottery. Intentions often become a form of fantasy. Do it. My favorite proverb comes from the Danes, "Pray and keep on rowing."

 

Life Lessons 1

Scott McClellan posted a blog entitled What We Learned from Publishing a Magazine.  He relayed some things he learned about life and work from his experiences.

 

These are my edited excerpts of Scott's blog. There are 10. I will do a few each day and comment. Here are three to start. My comments are in PURPLE. (I am feeling regal, today.)

Culture moves quickly.
Our culture values that which is new and that which is hot, and an unfortunate byproduct is that we tend to overlook that which is lasting. The church has lasting down pat. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. The question is this. Do we present this Eternal Savior in an archaic way that baffles, bores, or puts off those we hope to reach? Going further, is our personal faith alive or are we weighed down by once-meaningful encrustations that need to be jettisoned for newer forms? See page 9 of the Book of Common Prayer (1979) for the Episcopal Church's take on this. What no longer serves your faith journey?

 

Art is personal, and you will be misunderstood.
People will misunderstand your meaning and your motives; and because your art is personal this will sting at first. Jesus was hated and misunderstood by those who found a savior in their own personal gods. Even his friends and family were not too sure about him. Sometimes, we need to allow God to sort out our efforts to translate Him into everyday life. Free yourself up to be faithful in your own way. What about you is uniquely and wonderfully faithful that others don't get?

Meaningful critique is difficult but necessary.
Meaningful critique has its place in this world, even in evangelical circles, and so we shouldn't let the requisite thoughtfulness and guts dissuade us. Christ followers (despite what" cultural Christians" might say,) need guides and a community. If we have no one who can tell us we are off base, we will wander into self-worship sooner or later. Pick your critics wisely but have some. Who will you listen to?