World Gone Mad?
“…let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you” (Psalm 5:11).
Archive for March, 2010
Marilyn Chandler McEntyre
“Like prayer, good conversation fashions words into vessels
that carry living water”
God of Mystery!
If God is not a mystery
And we think we can master him.
Please Lord please come quickly,
My God is just to tame.
Open up your heavens,
Declare your glory as found.
Unravel my theology,
Don’t let me make a sound.
God of mystery, God of Love
God of the heavens, God in my head.
God come quickly, come quickly, come quickly indeed.
For I am in need of a savior,
And I do not fit the bill.
The Mosaic we call life!
I have an admission to make. I am a voyeur. No, not a pervert voyeur, but I am a voyeur none the less. I listen to the people around me in coffee shops as they talk. I sometimes choose a place to sit on a bus simply based on the quality of conversation and perceived openness of the people. Some may find this to be rude, but to a contemplative like me listening to others and watching the actions of others provides an endless source of inspiration and spiritual energy.
Something I like to do once in awhile is just troll through blogs in search of nothing. Any time I do I come out with an armload of everything. It is wonderful and painful and all things that end in “ful”. Blogger has a function at the top of many of its blogs that look a bit like this:
The “Next Blog” function yields an endlessly fascinating mosaic of people. It will give you a random blog from anywhere in the blogersphere. It is a reminder that in this global village we may be geographically separated by thousands of miles, but we are only one click of the mouse from seeing each others thoughts.
On one occasion I stumbled across a blog with one post on it only. It was a man’s suicide note in Iceland. That is tragic and disturbing on many levels. However, I have come away with recipes for banana bread, recommendations for good home schooling curriculum, pictures of random people doing random things in the orderly fashion that makes up the life they live; as well as many other things. These experiences do much to override the negative ones. They override the voices that the news pundits, the doomsday prophets and sometimes even the church want to tell us. The family is in crisis, people are not spending enough time with one another, the fabric of society is being torn by Ipods, cell phones and endless television. I have heard it all, and I say they are mistaking. Yes, to much of a good thing is a bad thing. However, life in all its messiness is being lived to the best that it can be lived by people all over the world.
As a spiritual Gyrovague I live in the experiences of life that point to the bigger picture. That bigger picture is the God who knows us so intimately, who call us Imago Dei and who gives us a life to live to its fullest and best. All over the world people are living in and working through life to the best they can with what resources their creator has endowed them with. And that is life in all its complexities and curiosities.
“…and God said it was good”
~Selah~
The Church Unified
17:20 “I am not praying57 only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe58 in me through their testimony,59
17:21 that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray60 that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. 17:22 The glory61 you gave to me I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one – 17:23 I in them and you in me – that they may be completely one,62 so that the world will know that you sent me, and you have loved them just as you have loved me.
John 17:20-23
What does Unity look like? What does disunity as a body of believers mean? Are we being true to the hopes and aspirations of Jesus by being a church that is not unified? These are all questions that regularly float through my mind; often times while driving. On Friday, God gave me an incredible answer. It was short and poignant, and I will not forget it.
As I drive to work I listen to Christian radio most of the time. On this day Agnus Dei by the Newsboys (I know, not the original, but the BEST version hands down) came on. I cannot help but sing to that song. It is powerful, it is simple, and it is profound. My spirit moves while listening to that song.
As I was driving and singing like a fool I looked at the woman in the car next to me. She was singing like a fool and worshiping her God with wreck less (bad use of words considering she was in a car) abandon. We both were singing to the same song on the radio and both being moved to dance in the rhythm of God and feeling a little piece of the peace of heaven come down upon us. I do not know the woman and probably never will. But on Friday we were both worshipers of the most high God and focused on glorifying God.
I am an Emergent Christian; she probably is an Evangelical or a Catholic. It did not matter either way because we were unified in bringing glory to our creator God who loves us and called us into our cars at the same time to sing to the creator of the heavens and the earth.
This was unity, and it was a holy moment.
“God, may my actions and my words be words of unity and peace, not pain and division. Lord bless the woman in the car; bless her family and her pursuit of you. Lord be glorified, Lord be merciful, Lord bring your peace to this day.”
~Selah~
30 precepts of the sages (part 3)
Eeek.. this is post # 666 on this blog… lets hope this one has some luck!
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11) Proverbs 23:12
Apply yourself, heart mind and soul, to instruction. Discipline yourself so that you may learn the ways of those before you and be a positive contribution to your world.
12) Proverbs 23:13-14
Afraid to discipline your children? They will hurt you in the end. Discipline, and yes even physical discipline when they are young, can change the course of their life. You will be saving them from the life of the foolish and an early death.
13) Proverbs 23:15-16
My dear child wisdom is such a blessing. It comes from God. It will do this fathers heart so much good to see you act and live in the truth that God has bestowed upon you. I will dance to the rhythm of the words that pour forth from your soul. I will play in the rivers of freedom and truth your lips will proclaim.
14) Proverbs 23: 17-18
Do not give a second though to the ways of the careless and those who make their living off of sin. Instead, soak yourself in the words of the Lord and learn to fear and respect him. In God and his words is where your future is. When you take the time to follow what God teaches you in your innermost being you will not be left with nothing. In fact, you will be richly blessed.
15) Proverbs 23:19-21
Listen dearest child. Take the time to invest in wisdom. It will pay dividends time and time again. It pays out better than any bank or business investment you can ever conceive of. Do not get derailed by eating and drinking yourself into the grave. Food and wine are provided for enjoyment and relaxation, but the profit the soul little in the long run. Banquets that last days are for kings, you must work to invest in wisdom and those things that profit your soul.
On the Joy of Words
Or why the muse needs her tongue
I love reading good writing. I love writing good words and articulate thinking. I love speaking in such a manner that I can convey clear, concise and beautiful thoughts without fear and trembling. I guess you would call me a word snob. I genuflect to those who can use eloquent speech and persuasive verbs and nouns to create a picture with words that keeps us coming back to the thoughts and pictures they create again and again. Good words invite a reader into a place and time. Great words make us want to stay there and never come out. Incredible words leave indelible pictures in our heart and mind that we can never fully escape.
I bought a book on amazon.com on a whim called Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies. It was one of the suggested books that Amazon shows you based on your buying habits. I figure a good part of my brain is on deposit with Amazon because they do a pretty darn good job suggesting books I like as of late. This is no exception. Marilyn McEntyre is a linguist and word artist extraordinaire. The entire book is a post modern critique of language and a lament for the loss of so much of the richness of language and our cultural heritage disappearing because of apathy toward the usage of language. She then goes about making the important case for Christians and why we need to step up to the challenge of preserving language and doing so by utilizing it to the full richness and variety we possibly can.
I am still working my way through the book and enjoying every sacramental statement she makes. She has profound insight into the culture of and around words and why it is not alright to just study words; we must also use them well. The book is laid out over 12 talks she gave at Princeton Theological Seminary recently and I truly hope the people who were lucky enough to be there took good notes and then inculcated them into their daily calling. Many of the best and brightest for the future of the church are coming from there.
I love the church. I love it so much in fact that I can honestly say that I believe the church, as the bride of Christ, has a bright future ahead. We may see darkness and gloom in some arenas, but God is on the move and he is not sitting idle. The church is going through some radical change and restructuring in the post modern world. In a post modern environment where so much is competing for our attention and our time we the church must be able to articulate with clarity and passion that which the church is about. If we can’t enter into the mystery that is Christ and his love and life and speak with the necessary tools to be God’s message bearing instrument we are at a disadvantage before we even begin.
30 precepts of the sages (part 2)
6) Proverbs 23:1-3
When you have the opportunity to spend time with those who are in positions of influence and power be sure to mind your manners. The impression you make is an important one so do not stuff yourself or speak with your mouth full. You will make an ass of yourself if you do.
7) Proverbs 23:4-5
Do not neglect the things of eternal value such as family, friends and your spiritual life all in order to get rich. The money you make will disappear and leave you with nothing to show for it except poor health and even poorer relationships.
8 ) Proverbs 23:6-8
Do not break bread with anyone who is miserly and spendthrift in all they do. Saving money is one thing, but being a Scrooge all the time and in all things leads to divisiveness and pain. Even though he may look and seem generous, he is a torn up and emotionally constipated man on the inside. Eating with him will only fuel his feelings. His relationship with you is only monetary and will lead to futility.
9) Proverbs 23:9
Choose wisely whom you spend your time speaking and sharing in wisdom and knowledge with. The foolish man will mock you. Better to spend your time speaking with those who appreciate your feedback and insight then those who will not give a second thought to it.
10) Proverbs 23:10-11
Deal justly, oh so VERY justly with your neighbors and with the orphans and widows. DO NOT cheat them out of what is theirs because you think they do not have an earthly advocate. They have an advocate, and He is stronger than you think. You put your life in danger if you cheat them.
Marilyn Chandler McEntyre
“…the act of reading itself is not only intellectually and emotionally engaging, but morally consequential. How we choose to read, how we submit to or question or resist the terms set by the writer, are choices that shape the habits of our minds and the habits of our hearts. Those habits determine the degree to which we are open to truth in it’s various guises, and capable of discerning the difference between the ring of truth and the metallic clang of lies.”
