Bundle of observations to begin 2013

:: Red Herring of Christmas?

Maybe it took over during the dark days of the Industrial Revolution to bring a little cheer to the masses, but whatever the motive and opportunity, somehow the main trajectory of Christianity to dwell on the Holy Week, death and resurrection has been overshadowed by the bright and shiny Christmas story. Of course the advent of God among his people (and attention to Epiphany, therefore) is important and necessary step that makes

possible the main story of public ministry and outcome. But surely the modern day conflation of the birth with ritual gift exchange is disproportionate to larger themes of Christian life and learning. How might the year look with a subdued or otherwise demoted celebration of Christmas? Isn’t it time to get back to the teaching/instruction of Jesus & the model he demonstrated in deeds? All the rest is distraction, dissipation or prone to temptation.

:: Time Presses DownCould it be an artifact of middle age to begin to see people, places and events as part of an expanded timeline, rather than as something contained and defined in the present moment alone? This wider consciousness includes some awareness of the contingent, temporary and uncertain nature of proceedings, too. So, for example, it occurred to me that the Sunday morning worship consists of a few paid participants leading the word and song. But that the attendance from one week to the next ebbs and flows according to willing people who otherwise are not obligated to be elsewhere. In other words, the communal experience of worship is dependent on the willing participation and appearance of all those who occupy the pews from one week tothe next; some weeks are full but others are somewhat sparse. And while it seems unlikely, still there is a possibility on a given week that schedules conflict for almost everyone, with the result that the benches sit practically empty, as one imagines of the huge houses of worship in Europe.

:: Dour Christians?What does a follower of The Christ look like in the course of daily life; in the arc of a lifetime? Popular portrayals including things like: selflessness, plain speaking and presentation-of-self, earnest and optimistic, but also more on the side of seriousness than on the side of levity? Is clear vision and dedicated action compatible with a light heart? Or must a True Believer embrace the lack of beauty and respect and go forward with a heart that is heavy; or at least is not light. One thinks of the images of a jolly friar, the vat quantities of abbey-brewed beer and wine, and the joy of balanced amounts of manual labor among parishioners and monks.

:: Revelation includes “shock and awe” rhythm and textureBut perhaps it is best to wrestle with these passages in the same way as any other pages in the Bible: to ask of the text what the message (upshot) is; ask how it helps us to understand the core of Christian thinking and action about drawing nearer to God in love, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself. From that standpoint, Revelations means that God remains committed to his people (expanded to include more than Jews alone) andthat people should continue to love each other, even in trying times.

:: Balancing “Citizen” and “Pilgrim”Most of one’s waking week and lifetime is lived outside of the Word of God. The weekly worship service normally includes a few passages given as Liturgy. And some people do Bible study alone and with otherson a weekly basis, too. But still the majority of conscious time is spend outside The Word. How would it be the other way around, though? Imagine spending most of one’s  moment to moment awareness steeped in the stories, people and places of The Bible and only enter into concerns of The World once per week for an hour on Sunday mornings (or Friday night at parties, for instance)? Surely times would look very different under these reversed conditions.

:: Trend in communal worship services

The order of worship that each denomination follows probably stems from a time before the Protestant Reformation to the time before the East and West split occurred in the Catholic Church, and before that to the Order of Service at synagogue, since house churches of Primitive Christianity often began with Jews seeking the ways of Rabbi Jesus. So the language shifted from local languages of the house church to the official language of the Roman government after Constantine I. Thereafter Latin prevailed until unofficial and later official edition of the Bible were produced and in use at church services and homes. Finally in the 1960s, after Vatican II, services went from Latin into local languages. The result was to make the distant, mysterious, exotic language of worship become something closer to lived experience.

Similarly of dress styles (a little more casual) and sermon style (increasingly conversational), there seems to be a trend to reduce the gap between experience in The World and experience in Worship. The question then is how far can the shift away from bounded, sacred space and toward informal, stream of (consumer) consciousness: will one style come to colonize the other so that The World includes the heart of Jesus interpersonally, or the reverse in which The World takes over the environment of church activity, intention and experience?

:: Hunger for meaning (own perspective on the world) & significance (received meaningfulness)

One of the defining characteristics of humans is to make meaning of one’s present circumstances and the motivation to intend meanings in one’s prospective circumstances. In this arena, it could be that one can satisfy this urge best by having a wide assortment of concepts, experiences and visual exposure (sort of a personal gray matter database), as well as practice in talking with others about such things. Many people both expand their world of experience and gain practice with the terms by going to college. Traveling has long been seen as a form of life-learning, as well. So there may be some real differences between a person lacking the stimulation of college or travel (or voracious reading and/or discussions; purposeful and structured Internet browsing, watching, reading and engaging others, too) and a person who has all those things at a typical level, or at an extensive level; namely, that the person with the benefit of these experiences/education may be expected to have more ways and more models for finding or making meaning from the circumstances that he or she faces on the path of life.

Looking for one subset of learning, what difference might there be for a person who actively seeks answers of the Bible and the people, places and things of Christian (Jewish, Muslim) history and culture, on the one hand, and a person who does not seek answers to these things. If the same generalization is true from above, then the difference results in the Big Learner having more tools for making meaning than the Small Learner. The former has a wider vision, a deeper understanding, and has more pieces to build a picture of the subject than the other person. In short, it is easier to detect connections, see patterns and understand relationships when you have a big pool of experience to draw from than when your pool of learning is restricted. Thinking like a mathematician, what is the trend as you increase the volume of learning to the Nth degree, approaching infinity (that is infinite knowledge and connections of languages, ideas, events): will the ability to make meaning also grow until everything is connected and all is one? Or is there some moment before that point corresponding to some sort of Enlightenment?

spiritual growth: consumer, producer, bricoleur?

The opening lines to the welcome meeting in grad school included something like, "as undergraduates you were consumers of scholarly writings, but now you will learn to produce this work for others to read." This distinction between consumer/reader/listener/student and producer/author/maker applies equally well to Sunday morning worship experiences: most sit back and expect to receive some truths, or some beauty and mystery. But a few set forward, on the edge of the seat or are poised ready to jot ideas and margin notes to the words sung or spoken. Those interactive worshipers constitute a third category: neither consumer entirely, nor fully ready to take the podium and hold forth on a subject. Maybe the best word for those who go beyond just listening is 'bricoleur'. This term was readapted by Claude Levi-Straus to mean the way that people creatively take the things found in their environment and use them for whatever purpose is at hand. In today's Internet language this is the idea of 'repurposing' a tool or material in a way different to what it originally was intended for. So while a brick was meant for building with mortar, it can also be piled up to form a temporary base for grilling over hot coals.And while a paper milk carton holds milk. Later the bright design may be used for craft or decorative purpose. Just so with the words and images of a worship service: when an active listener takes them from the confines of the worship hall out into the world of one's lived experience, sometimes a creative bricolage results: the old idea takes on new meaning or insight in the new situation.

Normally a person wends his or her way to the weekly worship and cycles through a similar routine of stand up, sit down, sing, sing, sing. A certain satisfaction comes from finding things week to week much the same; expectations are fulfilled, appetites are satisfied instead of merely being whetted to make one's hunger grow stronger. Taking the role of consumer who comes to the place of worship in order to pick something up, all attention is directed outward and forward, looking out for the desired elements. And yet, what if things are quite the reverse; as Leo Tolstoy's title declares, The Kingdom of God is within You.

The Lord's Prayer's pray says ...[and may it be that] Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. So if this kingdom of God is within you, then the Sunday worshipers are misdirecting their gaze. Instead of looking in front of them to the person in the pulpit or the singer near the altar space, the congregants would do better to look inside themselves! Assembling for weekly shared praise and thanksgiving should not be about taking one's seat and sitting back to consume what has been prepared. Instead it should be more like a potluck feast, in which all attending will have prepared something to share; and for the communal benefit. If we cannot all be producers, at least we all can be bricoleurs who take the elements of our lives and readapt them for use in the work of building spiritual growth in ourselves and others.

In other words, practically everybody is accustomed to attending church with the expectation that "it" [the thing they may be actively searching for, or the thing that motivated them long ago to begin seeking and now is only the echo of that original seeking cry] can be found in the time and place of a particular sanctuary during the worship service. In other words, the "it" that they seek is assumed to be external and requires looking to the front of the sanctuary. But suppose all these externals of the Order of Service and the design of the interior spaces merely are a kind of scaffolding that arranges the flow of experience and participation such that a person has an entryway into an interior place of reflection and risking and resolving to hold a certain attitude and enact certain plans or a readiness to seize certain opportunities when they should arise. What if the whole institutional worshiping exercise is something of a mirror to one's own heart? That is, what if the kingdom of God is within you? In that case, all the externals are in support of that greater and ultimate site of spiritual construction: one's heart (and mind)? Church, then, is not a place to go for answers, but merely the arrangement of equipment and tools and mentors that can help each person to do their own workout. Church is not for spectators but for players; not for consumers but for producers and bricoleurs; it is for participating. It is as George Fox wrote in his 1660 autobiography: each person has the authority and wherewithal to engage with God and his or her Neighbor; to grow in these relationships by a heart of love.

Three things to grow

Recent men's Bible Study conversation brought up the idea that a person needs three sorts of things to propel him or herself forward with spiritual development and exercise:

1. Word of God (read Bible with eyes or lips, wrestle with the meanings)
2. Worship regularly with others (not a private, but social experience of praise & thanks)
3. Fellowship (not to go it alone, but to live out the meanings with others interdependently)

So as one moves through the 3 physical dimensions of space and across the passage of time, the meanings recorded in ink and written in parts on a person's heart as well; the interaction and service to others & from others, and the repeating celebration in communal worship all play a part. Lacking one of the legs of this tripod will delay the stream of challenges and resolutions that comprise a life well lived.

Holy spirit in action? Board Meeting.

The regular meeting of the leadership group, the Board of Ministries (BoM), held an eventful session recently in order to balance the 2013 budget in the face of rising utilities and health insurance costs, despite fixed income sources and expanded programming initiatives. As well there had been financial mismanagement that had been discovered earlier and was now to be given final settlement.

So the session began with a prayer, including a reading of James 3 in which 'wisdom' is defined and the dangers of a spiteful tongue or careless remark are spotlighted.

Here were a dozen or so well educated and active, responsible members of the business and professional community coming together in a voluntary association to conduct the church's business. Things proceeded amicably, but with deliberateness and little levity. QUESTION: with or without any empirical presence of the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, the session unfolded. So is the mere supposition of this guiding spirit enough to produce the same outcome, regardless of the actual presence of same?

Expanding on this suppositional view, is the assumption of Good and Righteousness functionally the same as actually having those active forces in our hearts/minds? Can a community of believers by dint of their strong will to bring Thy Kingdom Come into the world enough to actually cause it to become so? And do the daily ranks of Tibetan Monks praying for world peace, therefore, perforce, tip things in that direction through sheer force of will/intention?

sermon Dec 2 - all the fuss about decorating Christmas

[A] On the one hand the visual effect of all the greenery and lighting cheers up the gloom of approaching winter solstice.

But on the other hand this sensory stimulation and cue of past memories of family and giving/receiving presents is a distraction (temptation?) from the everyday message, and the Christ birth message, that should be uppermost in prominence.

There remain the old questions: 

1. WWJD (what would Jesus do?) --how would he make sense of the full-blown industrial production of "the Christmas season"

2. If you met Jesus, what would you talk about; what would you want to know? Surely the proliferation of The Christianity Establishment, franchises, commodities, denominations, and hierarchies or specialists would be something to filter through his original experiences and the world of primitive Christian churches. After all, he was a (fulfilled) Jew, not a Christian as such.

3. If you met a curious foreigner or extraterrestrial would was filled with sincere curiosity and respectfully asked you to describe the main ideas and parts of Christianity, how would you begin. On the one hand it is a simple message: God loves you in full grace and you have only to accept that love, and to extend it to those around you. But on the other hand there are lots of legacies, details, and splitting of hairs for doctrine, practices and feelings.                                                      

[B] Communion was served to day. For an onlooker unfamiliar with the ritual, it must seem strange to take such pains with bits of bread slowly chewed and a sip of the juice of the grape in synchrony.

But the functions of rituals are many. One of these is to slow down the normal, taken-for-granted habits of throwing back food. Some participants will dwell on the historic act that is commemorated, others feel the shared experience of brothers and sisters around the room and those around the world, still others will focus on the essence of creation embodied in these two sources -the grain and the grape. It is possible that some take away the message of belonging to purity and those elected to moral superiority. But others may feel the humility that the symbols represent: the master taking the position of the servant, producing the feeling of gratitude on both sides -the giver and the receiver, bound together in this action.

[C] Sermon snippet: that some people come each week to regain some inspiration and gladness. The worship experience reproduces the right frame of mind and gives some forward motion to one's week.
Others engage with the thinking and discussion of the liturgy and sermon: weaving their fingers of mortal logic around the events and meditation. And yet, ultimately God's ways by definition will exceed or defy our small logic. So perhaps some participants also accept the glimpses of divine craziness that fly as sparks from the pulpit when flint meets metal.

topics 27 Nov 2012 - Tuesday Men's Bible Study

Started the book of TITUS: probably written in the A.D. 60s or later to Titus on Crete from Paul, but in a style suitable for out loud reading to groups of Christ followers on the big, rugged island.
 
-"encourage and rebuke with authority" (not speaking from your own authority, but that of God's holy spirit; based on relationship and intended with love/integrity/sincerity, not moral superiority or its ironic inverse)
 
-Jesus as 'fulfilled Jew' --nothing new, but reasserting the *spirit* of God's convenant with his people (and all people, not only his chosen people): grace given by God for each person to hold; relational
 
-linkage of head knowledge (doctrine/logic/detail; 'saber' in Spanish), heart knowledge (feeling and attitude; experiential rather than verbally articulated; 'conocer' in Spanish) and action: each of these is tied together, like the seed and what fruits, like the innermost heart and the words and deeds that emerge, so too one's mental picture and one's orienting attitude/assumptions and one's train of actions.
 
-The letter lists the behaviors to prohibit; one's that lead away from holiness. But to give a list of prohibitions without revealing the active principle behind them is not very effective.

not Eat, Pray, Love but instead Help! Thanks! Wow!

http://www.npr.org/2012/11/19/164814269/anne-lamott-distills-prayer-into-help-thanks-wow [I see so many titles at amazon.com by this same Anne Lamott; pun on "le mot" (the Word)?]

This author interview provokes thought and fits nicely with yesterday's finale in the 5 part sermon series about prayer at our church, fccsj.com

In order to make some of the sermon ideas real and to personalize them in practical habits, a set of small groups met on different days and times so that as many who wanted to participate could do so conveniently. From this repeated experience of guided prayer, conversation, reflection, readings and singing, I could understand the simple message about prayer "anytime, anywhere, and for any reason." So instead of waiting to be prompted at a formal dinner setting by the host, or invited to Be in a Spirit of Prayer during the service of worship, now I find myself at unexpected times thinking to myself, "this merits prayer," right here, right now; without any ado. Slowly the feeling of an appetite or hunger for prayer has emerged so that I "need" a moment to give thanks, offer up praise, or just think 'wow'. This sort of grateful and mindful heart adds a lot to the day.

Imagine a daily experience that is topsy-turvey, such that most of your moment to moment thinking is an extended prayer or prayer-like care for events around you and the people you interact with. By contrast, only a couple moment would be the altered state of consciousness lacking this prayerful mindset; using the consumer worldview for a moment before going back to the "normal" perspective of prayer-in-motion. One's life *as a lived prayer*. How different the day would look and the priorities appear when taken in this way.

Truth/beauty as well as Holiness have come up again and again in the course of the sermon series, either directly or indirectly. This hearkens back to the observation I made as a stranger in a strange land this past summer teaching a short-course in westernmost China. Seeing the daily rush and rumble of life in the capital of Urumqi and the many people of the 13 ethnic groups there, I wondered what it is beyond the survival needs and social obligations being fulfilled that ultimately motivates a person, no matter the age, gender, economic condition or social status. The two things that floated to the top of my mind were a hunger for respect [peer-source] and a love of beauty, whether if comes from pleasing sounds, sights, tastes, smells or 'atmosphere' one inhabits. Perhaps these two hungers we want to satisfy day by day really amount to the divine; a love of the Creator, who is composed of pure respect + beauty/truth/justice/mercy/power.

Tuesday men's bible study Oct 9 - prayer

Praying for open interchange. Operative word: open.

 

Let me be open to the opportunities all around me: Give me eyes that see clearly, ears that are open, and a heart ready to respond and feel and care. But also let me be open as a channel for others to see in my person and my example something of value that heartens them. This free flow helps each one to communicate better to one's neighbors and to God. It is instrumental in cultivating the central relationship of the living all across God's creation.

heart-ology (core of being as basis for God relationship)

Heart-ology: that subject of all Jesus' teaching

 

In discovering and building one's relationship to God the central location for hard work and "bottom line" is one's heart. But this choice of word brings up images of the body's pumping mechanism, of Valentines cut outs and stories of romance or feats of loyalty. So rather than say 'heart' perhaps a better word is "one's core or deepest center."

 

[emotional or moral center, as contrasted with intellectual response; one's personality or disposition]

 

Consider the many forms and expressions that include the word 'heart'.

 

Hearty, heart-felt, heart-rending, heartless, good-hearted, cold-hearted, warm-hearted (cold hands warm heart), take heart, disheartening, heart of the matter, heart-and-soul, big hearted, chicken hearted, tender (soft) hearted, hard hearted, in my heart of hearts (innermost heart), evil hearted, black hearted, heart weary, heavy hearted, heart sick, heart breaking, heart to heart, lose heart, play with heart, learn by heart, take to heart

 

In summary, the task before each person who seeks to know God's character and thus develop the relationship with God has to dwell on what lies in her or his own heart: are actions motivated for self-glory or God's glory, does one go forth to compare efforts to peers or to please God, when reflecting on the results of one's work is it to seek approval (trophies for one's moral scoreboard) or for another reason. As the story of the Widow's Mite tells us (and Paul touches in 2^nd Corinthians), the intention and habit of the heart to give to others and to God's glory is the goal. It is what is intended and internal that matters most to God, not the particulars of size or price tag.

 

So the biggest work while we walk the earth is to discover and then nurture one's affinity to the creator, mainly by attending to what is in one's heart: humble (meek), sincere, ardent and abiding in times that are good and times that are bad. As such the enterprise is about one's core being, one's identity, one's lifestyle (exterior) and approach to the lifecourse (interior)… these three remain: Faith, Hope and Charity [love]. But of these the greatest is Charity.

 

Each of these key words tie into one's core, one's essence, that which lies in one's heart. FAITH for that which cannot be directly seen or known calls for a calm and resolute heart. HOPE for that which is not yet present or arrived. And CHARITY or LOVE for those around you similarly so engaged in the work of the living of the world, to reach out and encourage (hearten) one another.

 

We need to be in the business of knowing our own heart, and those of our neighbors; maybe even that of God? In short, we need to know normal developmental stages and maladies that depart from that normal maturation. We need to know what nourishes and that what impoverishes a person's heart. We need to grasp how heart relates to mind; mind to spirit; spirit to soul; soul to body; body to heart.

M.O. (modus op..) (Motive + Opportunity)

From watching detective shows and "Mystery!" on PBS TV, I know that figuring out the context and events of a crime require both a motive and opportunity to bring the chain of events into action. Transferring this same way of thinking to action in God's world, it seem there are countless daily opportunities to be a witness or example, to apply your skills, time, care and money to small and long-term miseries. Maybe we need help to recognize or realize an opportunity when we see it (hiding in plain view; unintended consequences of comment or action we ourselves have set in motion), but probably the bigger ingredient that we lack is the motive. That is, with so many distractions and myriad details of complicated, wired and wireless, financially interwoven lives, there is a certain fatigue in one's waking mind. We fail to care or even perceive pain around us. As a result our eyes and minds skim past other people's problems and maybe our own in order to get to the next attention grabbing thing in our paths. So the way to bring motive and opportunity together to commit a Christ-like act is to explore our hearts until we discover something that causes (e)motion and moves us to react to the opportunities in our reach.

WWPD ---What Would Paul Do?

The catch-phrase WWJD (what would Jesus do... in this instance of my life) is a portable and painless way to challenge yourself to consider options before you; of how to respond, or how to take initiative in some matter. The effect is to make you more mindful and deliberate; purposeful in your daily and longer scale living, speaking, thinking and aspiring. After all, the key message of Love your God; Love your neighbor as yourself and the example of Turn the Other Cheek are good ways to reflect back on ourselves.

But reading and discussing 1 and 2 Corinthians the past few weeks, it occurred to me today that all the firm but caring advice that Paul writes to the fledgling congregation(s) at the city of Corinth could also be a useful check on one's own personal and congregational life. His key message comes up in various ways again and again: it stems from his experience of being a high level religious functionary who was thrown off his donkey and blinded on the road to Damascus. He dwells on righteousness and reconciling oneself to conform with the Lord's will; realigning oneself to be true and in tune with The One. Paul also has detailed observations and correctives on matters of interpersonal relationships, order of service, manner of praying and so on. So taken as a summary, WWPD is a quick way to reflect on the workings of one's own congregations and of one's personal path.

FCC Men’s Bible Study –September 18, 2012

1 Q. What to focus one’s direction and intention upon. Master message is “Love God and seek after Him with all your heart; love your neighbor as yourself,” but there are so many other things highlighted in NT as important messages and guidelines, too.

A. The foundation for all other thinking and feeling and action is Fear God in the sense of awe and glory and belonging. Based on that heartfelt grasp then the rest falls into place.

2 Q. Perhaps the weekly gathering and wrestling (literal meaning of ‘Israel’ is L god + Isra wrestling) with the Bible lines *is* the destination we strive for; in other words, we have already “arrived” at the place where we are aiming for.

A. The relationship to the collective Body of Christ, his hands and feet in the world is a living and ongoing one, rather than something to enter into and check off as “git ‘er done.” So you never actually arrive at a complete and full understanding of God’s Will. Instead you keep your ears and eyes open, actively seeking and reflecting and acting. On one hand you seek answers and guidance. On the other hand you make some conclusions and decisions (a working, “draft” comprehension of the whole matter of relating and growing the connection to God and his children). This cycle of looking for answers, but then having some (temporary) answers is exactly what the Tuesday bible study circle allows: asking and answering, then coming back the next week to do the wrestling again. As such, this perpetual state of seeking and (temporary) knowing *is* the living and pulsing condition that is optimal; it *is* what a person who actively cultivates a relationship does.

3 Q. Facing God with a “fearful” heart (awe, joy, glory) is the core that all else follows from: Love, relationship, drawing near, mercy, and so on. So how can we understand God’s enduring love for his children, but also his OT vengeful impassioned fear that He causes in us?

A. This open-ended, ambivalent condition *is* the basis for a living God that cannot be defined or stuffed into a simple box of our own minds. At the same time we unconditionally love him but we hesitate from anxiety about his power. We know him but we can never encompass him. He is here now personally in and of us, but also he is every place and every time. None of this fits into mortal logic and words, but it is God and is alive and in motion, never to be pinned down or confined with tidy labeling. This God is not tamed, but instead is wild.

4 Q. How are intention, words and deeds connected in someone who is tuned into God’s will?

A. We fulfill the intention/awareness by trusting in the authority granted by God to do his work. Faith without works is an incomplete expression of one’s live relationship with God. We consummate the interaction by deeds. However “clanging like a gong” for going through the motions of a good deed, but without one’s heart in it fails, too. Serving others by giving one’s time, talent, money and so on must also include presence of heart and mind, too. Empty words and empty deeds are just that; absent of value.

5 Q. What is the difference between a beginner and a person long practiced in wrestling with the Word of God? After all, both hear the same text and neither can expect to comprehend the meaning in total.

A. Much like the person deeply invested in a hobby or a person who has traveled the path the most often, so too the person who returns again and again to the Word of God. She or he has a wider base of experience and examples to incorporate. The big picture is ever more complete in a finer and finer gradation, and the boundaries are ever wider. The result is the wise person now has such a broad canvas and so many subtle color shadings that the picture is increasingly detailed and vivid. What once were shadowy outlines now are well defined. What once seemed frozen in time now can be seen processually as something that began modestly and grew and grew, but which will once day be discarded and of little absolute or eternal value. In summary, the mind of experience can see the many parts and how they work across time to form the whole. Neither the beginner nor the old-timer can take their worldly accumulations or their intellectual gains with them when they die. But to strive to know God better and better still is worth the effort, because the person of experience produces a better vision to guide personal and group decisions and ongoing governance.

6 Q. We live in a pagan [possibly god-fearing, possibly god-denying, possibly god-agnostic] world and share the minority status of persecution from public acknowledgement and respect in a small way that the early Christians did; not to the point of being fodder for the lions and amusement for the worldly power-holders, but yes in the sense of losing the best seat at the table and being dismissed to the periphery of the feast of life. How to respond to this challenge of our time?

A. This is an open question but includes responses such as the Emerging Church movement of the past 20-30 years: getting back to basics, simplifying the clutter and prerequisites in order to satisfy the more important message and functions of worshiping together. Clues might come from other persecuted groups in this society: African-Americans/civil rights, Suffragettes (women’s rights), Religious communities (Mormons, Shakers/Quakers), Gay rights people, ADA-disabled people and so on. Now it is Christians who need to “come out of the closest” and publicly declare with pride and self-worth who they are.

why revisit the Bible; why seek truths in sermon?

Weekly men's bible study prompted this question:

The message is so simple (Love God; Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself). But no matter how many times we 'study' the Bible, it seems that we never figure it out, as we might expect of other books, whether novels or non-fiction. So perhaps "study" is the wrong way to consider the repeated Bible Study experiences. And perhaps the form of binding into book form and chapter organization misleads us to consider what is found there to resemble other books that we have known. Instead the revisiting of the stories, teachings, examples, parables and so forth is more akin to a living relationship: what you bring to it across the life course will alter the relationship and what you are capable of seeings/knowing and what is hidden from plain sight. In sum, getting to know the Bible and the path is lays to God is like that old image of The Vine: as long as you are attached in this relationship you will live/thrive. But when cut off then you whither and die.

Caution when opening a Bible:


For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow, and able to judge the reflections and thoughts of the heart. (Heb 4:12 LEB).

[taken from preface, http://lexhamenglishbible.com/preface/ ]

...the reader should remember that any Bible translation, to be useful to the person using it, must actually be read. We encourage every user of the LEB, whether reading it alongside the original languages text or not, to remember that once we understand the meaning of a biblical text we are responsible to apply it first in our own lives, and then to share it with those around us.

habits of heart, Bible study 8/28/2012

The struggle to keep focused on God and doing God's work is won in small spaces and fleeting moments as much as in the Great Works and big plans.
Guys around the table gave several related illustrations of this moment of meaning when one person can touch another person for the good of God:
 
C. said: When talking with person he listens with his heart -not what the person is telling or asking, but just how they are being; what their overall place in life seems to be; if they are hurting in some way.
 
J. said: Some people do not lie down for bed or get up in the morning without praying as a reminder of what is uppermost amid the details of one's life.
 
A. said: He likes to hold the door and urge a person inside with the phrase "beauty before age" and that surprising gift of praise sets a person off balance sometimes, causing a smile that is authentically felt and given back.
 
These examples reminded me of the power of a small phrase learned in a parenting class: when a child makes a demand or objection, "that may be so" is a small but redirective phrase that works like judo by taking the energy of the person and steering it out of the way. Similarly a small decision or incident or unexpected turn of events can have far-reaching unintended consequences that set a project or relationship off course: the phone call that comes in just as you prepared to leave the house caused a momentary delay in departure and therefore a road accident or avoidance of one further in the sequence of events that followed, for instance. The well worn historian's illustration of the loose hoofnail leading to the king's horse throwing a shoe and altering its performance on the field of battle is another example of a small action, word or look that can redirect things.
 
By being aware of such small ways all around us, we can materially shape ourselves and those around us. This much, at least, is in each person's hands; while the Big Works may be out of one's reach.
Somehow one has to break the compartmental week so that God is everywhere and everyday.

men's bible study 31 july 2012

All about "love is..." as Paul tells the people of Corinth (I Corinthians 13).

1. The original Greek was written or dictated to the faithful/seekers/curious of sin-city Cornith who knew Greek.

2. The original term was ('karitas'?/charity=grace; as in King James: these 3 remain - failth, hope, charity) AGAPE (not philos, eros, or the 4th one)

3. Since "God IS love" then God is AGAPE (love for strangers in all shapes and sizes, all faiths and experiences of worldly fame or ill repute; love of family on a par with love of enemies and strangers now dead and those yet to be born). And therefore, if the object of Bible study is to wrestle with the Word, including the Word Made Flesh, then we English speakers need some exercises and aids that will help to untangle AGAPE-God's-love from all the other uses, especially that love we crave in the eyes of family and friends (respect, dignity, significance that one's words and life example matters in some small way). In sum, to grasp "Thy Kingdom... on earth as it is in heaven" we need to understand this AGAPE Love.

4. One of God's 99 (or more) names is "I Am" and so if the core of God's character and stuff is this Ground of Being (IS 'ness) consists of AGAPE Love, then by definition all that EXISTS is thrumming with IS'ness and that hum IS Agape love. God is. God is love. And so the simple command that each child of God is to Love Your God (to return that one-way Agape Love) and to love your neighbor as yourself [extend the Agape Love equally to oneself and to others: bathe one and all in a full-body BEING and goodness] now comes down to (1) awareness of the surrounding climate of love that we all swim in equally, and (2) that as the hands and feet and face of God during our brief three-score and ten years on the planet, that we should echo and express that same surrounding climate of love, extended to all.

5. In order to establish habits of heart that make the highest priority this Agape Love (awareness of it and also expression/enacting of it), we need to help one another to stay on track (not to 'sin' off course). Many varieties of Intentional Communities, including the long and wide line of Anabaptists, Shakers, and the monastic withdrawl from The World (as well as those "in The World but not of it") have tried to make a scaffolding to help build Thy Kingdom... on earth as it is in heaven. And yet things somehow don't work: is Agape Love best in small flashes of glory and spontaneous expressions? Does it wither in an intentionally cultivated community?

Bible Study on May 29 - Paul/corinthians

Men's Tuesday morning Bible study, May 29, 2012

<> The marvel of transmission of books, letters, gospels, etc. from the time of 1^st century A.D. until NT (and OT?) canon formed at Council of Nicaea. Some was on paper/papyrus/velum, but other via oral tradition among house-churches. Somehow the Word spread, was wrestled with, was recited, was interpreted for meanings that applied to people of the particular place and time, and comprised part of the personalized relationship to one's brothers/sisters in Christ and to one's maker.

<> Doing right by peers (audience/point of reference: what will people say or think of me; at least I'm a little better relative to so-and-so; wanting to meet so-and-so's expectations of me/make merit in their eyes) versus doing right by The Creator. Your integrity should strengthen your relationship (mutual respect and aid; concern and effort made on the other's behalf; getting to know the other) to God. And so when there appears to be a conflict, think first of doing right by God and in so doing things will eventually be right with peers: ask, "Who is my audience; who am I trying to impress and find favor with."

<> "The Way" of Jesus as 'a promotable brand' in the marketing language of today: one can often be most effective as God's hands and feet in the world by standing up for integrity and righteousness (but not self-righteousness or lording one's feeling of moral superiority over someone else). In other words it may be that the greatest influence is one on one, rather than publication or public speaking opportunities. By being true to one's relationship to God, actions and words will follow. It is a personal struggle (one's Jihad in the basic sense) to stick to the relationship to one's maker. It is not a political plank of one's promised platform. It can be declared or come out as the answer to questions being thrown in one's path. But one does not lead with this badge of identity. One is first of all a child of God (looking there for direction and comfort) and then also a brother/sister in Christ. To be spokesman for God is a rare thing, indeed, not an everyday position.

<>Paul's letters perform a spiritual audit among the several churches that he knew and nurtured. He diagnoses or addresses specific wrongs in each congregation. Today, too, there are hierarchies among some denominations that have a similar functionary to point out the shortcomings and to help to restore the right way. Surely this pastoral role of the flock continued from Paul's time to our own time. But the writings we study are limited to the decades around the time of Jesus the mortal Christ. This spiritual audit is something needed then as it is now, but when we study the Bible, it is as if those Biblical Days were different to now and only in those decades would such assessment and guidance be possible.

schizophrenia of worship vs. work week

Men’s Tuesday morning Bible study, May 22, 2012

<>Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: These are the answers, but what were the questions he was responding to? Since his words appear in the Bible we give special weight to them, but unlike the prophets and other Wisdom Books, The Laws, The Histories and so forth in the OT; and unlike the words attributed to Jesus, these writings of Paul are less directly part of God the creator. Instead his words are closer to our own: we strive and proclaim, we praise and give thanks, we fellowship and guide one another. In this sense these epistles and other elements of the Bible are more like a workbook than a holy object of veneration and instruction. In other words, rather than to take the attitude that the Bible is composed of sacred pages of uniform truth value and origins, instead we should adopt a position in which we are free to wrestle with the meanings and actively interrogate the messages. The uses of the Bible are living and suited to each generation, as well as fitting to each person’s chapter of life. While the word does not change, what each person and each historical moment brings to the text will affect the meanings understood. So we should not put the Bible on a pedestal. Rather, we should wear it out by repeated use. It is not meant to be honored only. Instead it is meant to be consulted and questioned; it is meant to live in our daily relationships with believers and with strangers. We are Paul in the sense that we, too, have the interests of our fellow Christians in mind. We, too, should declare and pronounce the message. It is not enough that we quote or refer to it. Moreover we must own it and author our own meanings from its unchanging message.

<>Segregating spiritual and worldly lives. Perhaps there never was a seamless oneness of secular and sacred habits and awareness. Before science and technology gave mass consumers a feeling of mastery and omniscience, the line between worldly and supernatural divinity was blurred and not confined to moments of life crisis or the cycle of holy days. But in our time the lines seem rigid and impermeable. And within one’s own biographical lifecourse, not everyone has opportunity or motivation to walk a spiritual path. Among those who do, will the majority or the few break down this wall that separates the dominion of God from the dominion of Caesar? Surely there seems to be a set of parallel splits: (1) one’s heart vs. one’s external responsibilities and ambitions, (2) one’s private concerns vs. one’s public persona, (3) Sabbath/Sunday vs. the other days.

machine for living... machine for praising?

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright was quoted as calling his house design "a machine for living;" that is, the physical facts of location and line of sight, conveniences or barriers to flow, gathering, communication and so on will cumulatively allow its residents to live well or to live at a disadvantage. So there is bound to be a consequence between physical conditions, environment; social ecosystem and one's interior, mental and spiritual life. In the same way, perhaps one can speak of the physical and programmatic structures and rhythms in a church of believers are helping or hindering the strong development and expression of one's spiritual heart; of one's opportunities for mutual dependence (fellowship), praise and giving thanks. Where does your community of belief fit along this spectrum: more of a supporting framework, or a series of active distractions? Indeed, is your worship life a "machine for praising"?

men's bible study 15 May 2012

<>God's power… wisdom… discernment. How do these things differ? Discernment is an ability to receive and perceive the core of a matter and to know its significance, including consequences that follow. That is probably a prerequisite to Wisdom since the distillation of knowledge and circumstances depends on perceptiveness and then the courage and decisiveness to take action, ideally proactively rather than after the thing occurs. Knowledge is to anatomy as wisdom is to physiology and  ontogeny. In other words, building up a picture of a subject in one's mind is knowledge. But then understanding the developmental phases and crucial timing (and rhythm and harmony) of matters is an active, living, personal and context-filled matter; not something abstract and frozen in time.

<>Epistles: general message vs. personal response (or the first in a series of correspondence for which we have only this part of that chain). Philemon is a personal letter all about the matters concerning the writer and reader. But the circulating, general epistles like those to the church/eklesia at Corinth, Thessalonica, Ephesus and so forth were written as an open letter with messages in general, not limited to specifically named persons and gatherings. So it is fair today to seek deeper or wider meanings that just the layers between immediate writer and reader(s).

<>Writing to the Greeks at Corinth, Thessalonica, Ephesus and so on. Paul was fluent and learned in Greek so he could use their own medicine (worldliness, guru model of philosophy, search for esoteric  knowledge as key to higher consciousness or eternity) against them. But what about letters to non-Greeks: Persians, Zoroastrians, Jews, Egyptians, Carthaginians, Phoenicians, etc? Would those (general, circulating/open) letters also speak in the terms that preoccupied those readers/hearers? Example?

<>Gutenberg's crutch: we depend on printed Word of God instead of memory/learning by-heart. Does this externalize the Word from our hearts? In time of crisis, do we have a few verses to call on by heart, or must we reach for a (printed) Bible? By deliberating passages and looking of word usage/roots, are we brought closer or deeper to God's heart, or on the contrary do we insert more and more minutia that introduces distance from God's will and His creation.

early May 2012: wisdom, social justice, God got out of the box

<>Caution – this God is alive and untamed and won't stay in the box where we keep him

What if the entrance to the worship space contained the following sort of consumer warning: This God is alive and wild. You may be subject to awe or terrible glory. Flights of rapture have been reported. The music is not just music of beauty or pleasure. It could reveal unexpected insight, joy or disorientation of routine habits of thinking and living. Enter at your own risk. Your relationship to God is serious and could change your life forever.

   Such an odd framework to a weekly routine and taken-for-granted habit could put the people on guard and change the expectations looked for and hoped for. In this way the minds and hearts are (pre)disposed to hearing the message and seeing the worship: not as an act of honor that one feels obliged to continue indefinitely in exchange for the fellowship and respect of one’s peers and the possibility that the whole promise corresponds to some reality. Instead one shifts from passive honor the virtuous status of Religion to an emphasis on”paying worth” (worth+ship =worship). So the motion changes from spectator to participant. The perception changes from invoking God to come to our place of worship to the reverse: inviting ourselves to focus and still ourselves and be on the lookout for God among us, as ever He abides, but which we are insensible of.

<>Intersection of The World and Thy Kingdom Come on Earth & Heaven: vote for God

We read “render to Caesar what is Caesar’s” and “following God’s way is foolishness in the eyes of The World.” So is one meant to retire from The Game of Life where all the rats are racing? Or is one meant to be in the World but be not of the World (God’s witness here and now). The message of Social Justice, “helping the least of these” and “speak Truth to Power,” has a long history. The record of intentional communities (Shakers but also the Anabaptists: followers of Menno, Hutter, Amos and so on) testifies to various ways of applying God’s Word to the small and big cares of daily social relations and livelihoods.

     The OT gives a formal structure by which God and his people are obligated to each other. The NT is not a formal, external scaffolding, but instead begins in each person’s heart. The object is to give oneself to God (his Word, his actions, his nature of being) and by not straying from that dedicated focus all sorts of things become possible and within one’s reach as authorized by God. So there is probably no specific way that the relationship each person develops year by year can be transposed into a formal, organizational set of guidance or rules. There could be an OT “app” (smartphone software application) to help one to judge a situation and its best responses. But the NT convenant is a living, individual thing that expresses itself from the inside out: by the things in one’s heart come the words, thoughts, attitudes and actions that are external and touch The World. But the influences go in both directions: the external habits and environment affects what is inside, too (birds of a feather flock together).

     In sum, things like “Christian Democrats” or “Catholic Socialists” appear to apply the Word to governance, rule-making and judgments, but owning to the “inside à out” basis of NT, it is unlikely that any organized group could adequately give form to the Spirit of the Law. Politics and Religion occupy the same public spaces and enter discussions (explicitly or implicitly), but they are not extensions of each other: God’s love does not have a political party, despite the concept of “socially conservative voters” acting as a voting block (moral majority or minority). However, it surely makes sense for voters to search their hearts individually and cast a ballot according to conscience. And if a pattern emerges whereby a sizeable group of people from diverse walks of life all choose one candidate, then so be it. But any sort of party platform built of planks from the Top Down is by definition a betrayal of the personal and individual relationship to one’s God. To be cued by party and not by one’s own searching heart is wrong.

<>IQ, EQ, CQ but also Spiritual Quotient?

In recent years the idea of ranking a person’s intelligence has become more specialized to show a person’s quotient is not only Intelligence, but Emotional and Cultural. So perhaps we can also speak of the cycle of maturation spiritually; a “Spirituality Quotient” or S.Q. Observers of human development have pointed out the idea that “Ignorance is Bliss” (one’s reach and grasp is very small, so it takes very little to gain the feeling of mastery and confidence), and the idea of “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing” and “Knowledge is power” (but also that “Power Corrupts” so perhaps then knowledge, by extension of power, also is corrupting or at least a source of vain pridefulness). Finally there is the observation that “the more one knows, the more one knows how much more is out there to know” and thus comes the realization that the further one travels the path of learning the wider grows the awareness of one’s relative ignorance.

     According to these observations one begins as a baby with very little information, knowledge and wisdom. The first few steps give a false sense of Know-it-all because the scale of the field of knowledge is small. But sustained growth expands the size of the field of knowledge, revealing how very little one actually does know. Even as the pool of information, knowledge and wisdom deepens and widens the trajectory only results in a much bigger universe of possibilities. Taken to the logical extreme, the wisest person will be the most certain of their humility and ignorance. To put this into Bible study terms: one begins with the heart of a child (trusting, ignorant, with little judgment or prejudice), then sets out to cross the ocean of learning and understanding and comes to realize how vast things are (infinity is pretty big), and finally nearing the opposite shore the person may hope to regain the heart of the child –ignorant and trusting once more, but this time through voluntary hard work instead of involuntarily by reason of inexperience and youth.

     In conclusion: there is value in Bible study, analysis, interpretation and splitting of hairs –not for its own sake or to set one apart from peers, but for sustaining a relationship with the Word (cling to the vine and then bear fruit). And by learning enough, one can achieve a realization of one’s true ignorance and humble standing (still authorized to do God’s righteous work, but without a shred of self-righteousness). Probably a direct, unspoken, incoherent and unarticulate grip on God is the most pure form of relationship of God. But most people tend to rely on words to think, express, respond and  communicate to others. So the only way to overcome the false sense of containment/comprehension of God is to learn enough through verbal means to that one’s ignorance rises into mind.

too much knowledge; the Joneses; leading early house churches

Tuesday Bible Study May 1, 2012

<>How much knowledge of Bible [Torah, Qu'ran, sutra or other holy book] is enough? Perhaps the value is not so much the command of detail and the heights that one climbs to gain an overview of deeper patterns and relationships. Instead the value comes in time and repetition: by going to the Book with a question or curiosity, the simple fact of active engagement (imagery of clinging to the vine to sustain growth) is what matters, not whether one gets to the bottom of the matter in any final sense. And yet the question remains: by deferring actions because one needs first to know more Bible, then nothing is accomplished outside of the garden of one's mind. The opposite extreme is to put all effort into deeds, without periodically going back to the Word. Best of all, perhaps, is to discover a productive cycle between incomplete knowledge and imperfect actions in the World. In other words, one should intend and hunger for better comprehension of the Word, and one should intend and hunger for tangible results in the World. But one should also accept the unending and imperfect condition under which the cycle rolls along during one's lifecourse, and then across one generation to the next, and over the course of one historical era to the next.

<>Status preoccupations. The urge to "keep up with the Jones" and to benchmark oneself to those taken to be peers, either measuring oneself as a little worse or better than those reference points. Although each follower is on a different road and has different burdens and vehicles to travel the road, in God's eyes we all are equivalent; none can claim absolute moral superiority. Sin big or small (by Worldly measures) is no different in separating a person from God and from the habit of seeking to be holy; whole; healing. By sheer repetition we tend to judge how well we are doing not in reference to God's will, but in reference to family or friends.

<>Early (primitive) church [eklesia: those called out from the others; saints in the World]. How would traditions be reproduced from site to site and from one generation to the next? Would there be squabbles over who is an authority; who is authorized to dictate a course of action, or who could perform wedding, funeral, baptism, communion, laying on of hands, exorcism, etc? With no written text (unless copied by hand of the OT set of Wisdom Books, Laws, Histories, Pentateuch/Septuagint), all scripture would be oral tradition. Certain itinerant experts of one or more books would reside for a time to tell all about these; sometimes also writing it all down. But with little institutional momentum to carry the small grouping forward, and some degree of external persecution connected to the rumor mill/grapevine of the day, it seems like the likelihood of small house churches rising and falling would be common. And yet those first 300 years it all did persist somehow.

<>Distractions and dissipation of modern times. Where once information was scarce and imagination filled in the vast spaces where information was unavailable or in a form unusable, now there is "more information than there is shit to know about." [quoted from movie, Apocalypse Now]. Where once hunger to learn more prevailed, now there is resistance to spend one's attention on the myriad versions of Bible and proliferation of titles and authors. The essential message and the teachings it comes from remains unchanged, but perhaps it is harder than ever to keep a firm grip on it. There are as many paths to that message as there are different kinds of people; a sort of modern day Tower of Babel. And yet paradoxically, this superabundance may drown rather raise us. What to do? The analogy of the Internet rate of information doubling may suggest an answer: algorithms that track the information that actually is accessed and used is one kind of filter. Word of mouth (social tagging and 'buzz' about certain content) is another filter.

several reflections, April 17 men's Bible study

also from Sunday's sermon and the youth group meeting before the worship service of April 15.

-We wrestle with the teachings of OT and NT in an effort to form a clearer picture in our minds of the descriptions and meanings of the teachings so that we may be a little holier (not to claim moral superiority, but just for the satisfaction of feeling, thinking, seeing and acting closer to our creator). And yet these feats of logic and memory are unlikely to lead to Truth Breaking Forth in any but partial and fleeting flashes. So then, is the exercise futile? No, much as the image of the fruit and the vine, the effort to engage and wrestle with the Word fills our waking minds, and to that extent excludes the fluff and noise of everyday concerns. In and of itself, daily visits to the Word have meaning, therefore. In addition, as we travel life's road, it is helpful to bring questions and anxieties to the Word since it is unchanging. For if we rely on internal reasoning and the acrobatic powers of rationalization, then anything we do can be self-confirming, self-authorizing, self-validating, self-righteous. Only be going to an external point of reference like the life of Jesus and his followers, as well as the foundation of OT that he lived in can we expect a better compass.

-All right, so we are forgiven by the atonement paid in Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth. But the power of this forgiveness of sins big and small for all time comes by accepting that gift. It is given to us, but until we accept it, acknowledge it, and return thanks for it, then the full value is unrealized. This is the Love (caritas) of God and the spirit from the Holy Ghost (numous; numinous breath of life; animating force). But then to do wrong; to go against life and what is good in the knowledge that one can seek forgiveness by remorse and repenting –this is an abuse of the relationship. To love one's enemy, to wish peace upon one and all, to turn the other cheek when insulted –these things say, in effect, in God's creation "it is all good," warts and all. In other words, this Love of God is a power that makes all of life and the world a one-way, one-size fits all, all is blessed phenomenon (love 'em all: the washed and the unwashed, the pure and the polluted, the friend and the enemy –and hardest of all, perhaps, the uncaring). Even Lucifer and his minions are in this creation and have a place in it; otherwise God would disallow it.

-Where "the rubber meets the road" in our relationships to God and to each other, Christian (fulfilled 'Jews' covenanted at first by the OT) or otherwise, is in one's heart: right(eous) thinking and feeling/intention leads to right(eous) actions and goals and course of events. And so the effort of Bible study and reflection, haggling over meanings and cross-connections, patterns and relationships recorded is valuable in a few different ways: it occupies one's mind, it ties what may appear random events into functioning connections, and it gives guidance or counterpoint to the bedlam of one's mind. And yet there is no moral superiority to claim in any prideful polishing of one's knowledge. It is significant only to the extent that it strengthens or develops one's heart: that place where love of one's God and one's neighbor begin.

-Living in the model and going forth authorized by Jesus to be God's hands and feet, ears and eyes means that we are living for God and for one's neighbor, not for oneself or one's (self) justification. By definition, then, we become connected to matters beyond our own personal concerns; thereby enriched by playing a part in bigger things.

-Suppose that the unit of discipleship, development in spiritual maturity and path of holy intent is not the worshipping congregation but instead is the individual person. Then our time together is important but temporary, while our relationship and learning of and through and for God is enduring. From this standpoint, then, the decision and organizational difficulties, clash in feeling or respect or personalities are trivial, much as they irritate or give pleasure. The pangs are urgent and hard to dismiss, but these are not what endures between the person and her or his maker.

-Gospel of John: he is selective in the episodes he gives so that we may glimpse something of the lessons to learn. But as a result, we have no fixed doxa or dogma to proclaim. We have questions and possibilities and to the extent that we wrestle with these meanings, we also construct the learning in our own historical moment and lifestage. In other words, the knowledge is built, not transmitted ready-made.

-About breaking break & cup of communion: while Jews of the time and also today have the custom of wine at Sabbath and pesach/Passover, and also the bread will be blessed, Rabbi Jesus does something novel by putting these elements into the hands of his followers to be his proxy: the bread his body, the wine his life. And while we are living and thus form one piece of earthly creation, this act of communion is a way of accepting (the all important step of acknowledging and returning thanks for grace; love; forgiveness) Jesus and by extension the things he stands for in his lived example and spoken teachings. Thus to take the communion is to subscribe to his story; the story of forgiving all of everybody. We are inside of God's creation, but in communion that creation (Jesus, Son of Man, heir to fallen world and holy striving) is now inside of us.

What gospels? Paul on the move

The OT was much in evidence in multiple copies around the time of Jesus, with peripatetic rabbis who created copies where they went. But the events of the NT including the gospels must have started in oral form, eventually taking form in Greek, the common language around the Mediterranean basin at the time. Looking at online estimated dates for the various NT books, it is likely that the path Paul took in the letters he wrote would have been one without any hardcopy; just word of mouth retelling the story of Jesus' life and teachings. Neither would there be chapter and verse references or the concept of a bundle of related books to comprise a NT. When did someone coin this term, in distinction to, but of equal weight to the OT?

Question: how different would things be in an all-oral worship tradition? No publishers and editions and translations. The focus would be on the thread of the teachings and stories, with variations that crept in along the retellings across generations. There would be no liturgist as such, although there could be someone reciting the stories. And if the OT were still written, but NT simply oral, then like the synogogue, a reader would still bring the printed word to life for congregants.

small group, week 4 of 7

Six of us on Thursday: we talked about the theme for this week's "least you need to believe," which was That God Uses You and Me to Do His Work in the World.

The Jesuits vow to differ from other monastic orders by getting out from the cloister in order to "be in the World but NOT to be of the World." We, too, are agents of God; we are on-call to do his business in the world and are authorized to act as his presence on the ground; on site and "live."

During our small group discussion these three things came up or were triggered in my own mind.

(1) Prayer experiences by several in our circle were shared in which some result was noticable, although not always as one hoped or expected. Reflection: perhaps the act of praying clears one's mind and places one is a correct posture in order to perceive and receive what is already present, but because of one's anxiety or preoccupations has been invisible. In other words, God's solutions are all around us; the past and the future merge into one place (the seed and the flower coexisting).

(2) Loving God and loving one's neighbor (as oneself) is a two-way process involving a giver and a receiver. Sometimes it feels harder to accept another person's offer of help, kind words or other expression of love. And yet by allowing that person to express their love, in fact both parties gain.

(3) Striving for more of the World (status, power, wealth, respect) versus living in the moment, sufficient with what is in one's hands right now: reckoning the value of one's earthly life, merit or worth in God's eyes is not based on mortal logic, so perhaps a kind word or helpful deed is just as valuable as creating a social service or community joy. Perhaps the one-on-one accomplishment is as valuable or more valuable than the headline goodworks like Carnegie Libraries donated to towns across the country. After all, the story of the Widow's Mite (2 pennies in the money plate) teaches that significance is scaled to the person. Therefore no matter how small the kindness, when scaled to the individual spirit and heart, these opportunities to do a kindness should be seized upon.

Later in the week, I began to reflect on the premise of the book's title, What's the least you need to believe to be a Christian. On the one hand the state of being a Christian is a persisting condition that you are immersed in. So, yes, you have arrived at a "destination." But perhaps more importantly you never arrive there since it, like Faith itself, is a dynamic condition that is always in process; emergent; soon to be, however not yet. Accordingly, a better title might be ...to believe to BECOME a Christian.

Taking a different angle to rewriting the title, the "need to" gives one the feeling that this bar is set low, and that to jump over this bar will yield the full reward. Alternatives include:

"What's the least I should/would/could/must believe to be a Christian"?

Each of these variations shifts the emphasis or focus:

--should means that it is strongly advised, although not necessarily required.

--would means that I myself can define the boundaries according to my will and commitment.

--could means that I take an experimental approach [could as 'hypothetically']; a related meaning is could as 'capable of doing' within my own limitations.

--must means that it is imperative; as essential as food and water are required to live.

"spiritual but not religious"

today on the radio, also to replay online or download as mp3 file, 

http://onpoint.wbur.org/2012/03/01/leaving-religion-behind 

"Spiritual but not religious," is the box that an awful lot of Americans are checking these days.  Into God, as they define God.  Into soul.  Into spirituality.  But not, very often, in a house of worship.  In church.

Big church historian Diana Butler Bass as been watching the trend, along with a whole lot of worried church-goers, for many years.  Now she's ready to call it, in her faith and beyond.  The end of the old.  The birth of something powerful and new.

This hour, On Point:  God after religion.  The end of church, she says, and the birth of a new spiritual awakening.

author of the new book Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening.

Feb 28, 2012

Pray for right relationship, then the rest will follow

"His will be done." That comes from striving for the right heart (+spirit +mind +strength/body): so long as you reach toward Holiness and the giving heart of God's 'karitas' (love), then whatever actions follow, and the responses to whatever circumstances are presented to you will result is "His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

Maybe the analogy of golf works here: with proper posture, grip, habits of swing and correct frame of mind (un-preoccupied; fully present), then as a natural result the ball will travel where it should. So, too, the habits of one's heart and the discipline (re+ligare) of being fully present when engaging with others, fully open to God's will, and fully vigilant against Ego interfering will produce the best fruits of one's efforts.

There is an apparent conflict of driving in the direction of Holiness on the one hand, and going to places that appear unholy and Worldly. How best to reconcile these different destinations?

Jan 24, 2012

religion as discipline; simple but complicated; wrong questions to ask

reflections on last week and this week at the round table of morning men's Bible study:
 
<1> Seeking answers from The Creator, sometimes we may well be asking the wrong question and thus be looking in the wrong direction for the answer to come. Or perhaps the general question is all right, but the nature of language (determinate, mortal, specific rather than open-ended and similar to the infinite) forever holds to poorly formed questions - right direction, but weak execution of the matter.
 
<2> Simple but complicated. On the road to relating to The Infinite, there are many useful details to seek after and fit into one's expanding understanding. As a result there is much clutter, useful or not, though it may be. So it is worth regularly retuning the key message and purpose: Stay Engaged, wrestle with The Word. Seek the will of God and once you grasp hold of something definite, continue with a strand of (self) doubt to question if the source is one's will or that of the Almighty.
 
<3> They say that religion is a sort of training, habit of the heart and body, or discipline (re+ligare; ligaments over and over again). But that does not mean demonstrating one's conformity to the 613 rules that preoccupied the Old Testament times, nor enforcing the literal interpretation of the scripture to prove one's ferventness. Instead the discipline lies in forever wrestling with God's Word (literally Is Ra El, where 'el' or 'al' signifies The Omnipotent).

Dec 18, 2011

Praise & Thanks --vs-- Peace and Justice

How does the experience of participating in the varieties of Protestantism differ to that of Anabaptists like the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Amish or followers of Menno Simons (Mennonites), to name some of the more widely known groups? Take Congregationalism: worship each week normally gives attention to both Old and New Testament readings and interpretation. Private or small group Bible study may take place during the week. There is belief in the Trinity aspect of God, combining both the human manifestation in Jesus of Nazareth and the Holy Spirit, along with God the Creator of all. Watchwords are "praise and giving thanks" when engaging in worship of God each Sunday morning, or when praying alone or with others.

By comparison, the watchword for Mennonites and Quakers seems to be "peace [on earth] and social justice." So the attention and efforts are focused on doing the example shown by Jesus. The Praise/Thanksgiving element is not absent or anathema, but the emphasis is on right thinking and right actions; being mindful in the choices to act or intentionally not to (re)act. So the Kingdom of God is in one's own heart, but also in one's actions. The Old Testament God is not very evident, nor is the Jewishness of Jesus and those related teachings. Experiences of God by Quakers, according to one online video by the Watford (England) Friends, describes how each person understands the Creator in individual terms, images and meanings which change over the course of one's lifetime of growth and direction. As a worshiping group, it is not important to define God for all to follow. Instead the power of shared worship is mutual support, aid, respect and hearkening to the Inner Light as something of the Holy Spirit to lead one's life.

In conclusion, are these two ways of understanding God's story, presence and direction contradictory or mutually exclusive of the other? Surely they connect to one another, but the point of emphasis and the number of things to juggle when trying to understand the whole matter and then resolve to respond is different. With the Quakers and Mennonites, the emphasis is on action and individual understanding of the Word of God; it is forward directed. With the mainline Protestants (northern Europe's roots for Lutheran, Presbyterian, Congregational, Methodist, perhaps Baptist –if not allied instead with the Anabaptist roots) the emphasis is divided between understanding God of the OT and God-on-Earth of the NT. Order of Worship, familiar music making, and the Church Year go round and round giving comfort and repeating structure to worshipers across their lifetimes as their interest and capacity for faith waxes and wanes. The church body rather than the individual seems to be the main subject among the Protestants, compared to the Anabaptists. As a result the group members come and go, but the organization sails along with a feeling of unchanging equilibrium.

Nov 29, 2011

Christmas season 2011, Gospel John's angle

Men's Bible study circle this morning at 7 totaled 10. That's a lot for a 4 person round table! After last week's run-up to Jesus in Luke, and the week before in Matthew, we took John's perspective. The big words and subtle meanings seem to speak to a specialized and knowledgeable audience, probably ones able to read and write.

On the subject of literacy, among the disciples probably only Matthew (tax agent) and Thomas would be most educated and literate. Of course, too, Jesus was considered a rabbi, whether formally credentialed in the Old Testament, or not.

Whereas the synoptic gospels of M, M, L are descriptive of the events, John goes beyond this to weigh the significance of those events and interpret what they may mean to those who come later. So much of the annual cycle of church events dwells on the advent of the christ (Christmas season) and then the closing chapter (Easter season; passover/pesach), that the smooth flow of events before His time and after His time is out of focus. Yet this is when John is writing: very likely the religious and governmental authorities will have considered the hubbub disposed of with the execution of The Nazarene, but events continued to develop with followers of this rabbi growing in the hinterlands and in Jerusalem itself the Zealots were becoming bolder against the Roman authorities. Finally, the insurrection culminating with the massacre at Masada and the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70 resulted in the end of Temple Judaism and rise of synagogue worship instead. So those Pharisees and Sagicees from the days of Jesus will have lost their prominence in the civil society of the time. In this setting John composed his gospel for learned readers and listeners.

Nov 25, 2011

worshipping outside one's routine church

Tuesday before Thanksgiving a neighboring church was this year's host to the annual Community Thanksgiving Worship Service.
Even though it is mainstream Protestant like the place I normally attend, the differences in music style, the order of service, and the community-pitched style (ecumenical) caused me to pause and briefly examine each novel element to the service.
 
It occurs to me now that the old question of Form versus Content is present here: while the experience of expressing praise and thanks to God should be the same anywhere, anytime, in fact our mortal minds dwell on the small things on of the surface details. Things like the meter and mode of music, the lighting of the worship space, how the mix of strangers and acquaintances are dressed and exhibit worhiping behaviors, the manner in which the clergy speak to the Word and to the congregants --all these things crowd the senses and distract from the purpose and the message. And so there is an good argument to be made for routine and familiarity that lets the mind concentrate instead on the message and work of expressing praise and thanks as unselfconsciously as possible. There is another interpretation of my estrangement experience in the flow of this ecumenical service in a space I've attended just a few times before. Instead of concluding that familiarity is a good thing; that Form should be subordinate to Content, the other lesson could be that it is precisely this comfortable routinization that we look for each Sunday. When things are routine, then we feel content and can refresh ourselves to face the next 6 days of the week. So which is it: we desire routine or we require routine in order to reach greater heights of spiritual wondering, growth and commitment? Perhaps both at the same time: comfort and challenge?

Oct 25, 2011

Bible study 25 Oct 2011

<> About the attitude when approaching the Word of God: is the object (ink and paper, gilt edges, red lettering for Jesus speech) something of awe? Should one hold one's heart in keen expectation and reverence, or just listen hard to the details translated to modern English, 80 generations from the New Testament events?

----The critical result should be living interpretation and engagement in the words found there, not in its packaging or other outward details. Yes, the form and content are tied closely together, so one should be warned of the surplus and deficit meaning that arises in the process of translation. But to coddle, or gild or encrust with precious stones does not accomplish the inner work of the heart the same way that wrestling with the stories and examples does. Likewise the hall of worship or Meeting Space: this is not holy of itself; rather, it is the act of worshippers gathering and praising that accomplishes this fact.

<> About the layers of practices, customary events and manner of conducting a service of worship, much of what we signal or express comes from the trappings and expectations of our civilization and its methods, including the dominance of the consumer model in place of the steward model. So by comparison to the Primitive Christian Church, whether Jews, God-fearers or Pagans who constitute it, those of us today are distracted by the details of our habits in the annual cycle of readings and activities. Very little of what we recognize for Christianity would be part of those early house churches living in the shadow of persecution. It would be worth excavating those roots to know what, if any, of our routines echo those original ways.

<> Revelatory exercise #1 to try: pull out not just the 'red letter' passages attributed to the Christ, but divide into narrower categories, too, in order to distill patterns:
- list of parables (and context of each)
- list of miracles (and context of each)
- list of actions (for us to emulate in our modern setting?)
- list of declarations or doxa about what is Godliness; holiness
- list of those he engages (sociological categories: women, men, children, lame, power holders, rich…)

<> Revelatory exercise #2 to try: column 1 for Jefferson Bible (just JC words), column 2 from The Message (conversational rendering of the Bible for those same passages).

<> dvd (2007, South Korea) Secret Sunshine includes a scene where young widow discovers Christianity and decides to confront the murder/kidnapper of her young son. But when she gets there he says that he is sorry and has repented to God, thus has been forgiven. She wants to forgive him, as well, but feels trumped by his reply. Emotions and ancient human responses can't fathom the ways of God.

Sep 6, 2011

Men's Bible Study, 6 Sept 2011

Imagine if Jesus (yeshua) were here in 2011 USA and specifically our town:
 
1. What personal habits, organizational life, and calendar of practices would he advocate in order to fulfill his (Jewish) relatioship to God the creator: to love God & one another?
 
2. Where is the balance of spend now, vs. build an endowment for ongoing perpetuation?
 
3. What do "poor in spirit" look like?
 
4. How best to strike a balance between worldly demands and opportunities on the one hand and spiritual exploration, expression and development on the other?

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