We hope you enjoy the new location.
Peace
I celebrate the reunion. I mourn this feeling of withdrawal from an intense, intentional community experience. And while at the end of three weeks I definitely said certain things with-drawl (thanks to the Southern contingent), I'm glad that my speech has returned to its somewhat normal state.
I long for opportunities in the future when Courtney, Ceara, Caleb, and I could engage in intentional living with others. I am challenged to see how I can do that in our current context.
Not sure where the thoughts are heading now... until next time, peace.
Great I AM,
You give us a name of seeming ambiguity,
Yet you give us a name of Promise, Hope, and Possibility.
We read and hear about aspects of who you were and what you have done.
Sometimes, in moments of faithfulness we proclaim who You are,
and, unfortunately, in moments of arrogance we expound upon who we think You are or how we think that You should be.
Thank You for times when in moments of doubt and/or faithfulness we can still proclaim that You are.
Other times we feel like You are not,
or that You are - but for other places and other people and not with us here and now.
Forgive us, Help us, Heal us, Be to us,
for Your glory, honor, and praise,
because You were, You are, and You will be for us forever.
Amen.
*Another "prayer plainly spoken" for the US-2s and Mission Interns based upon reflections around Exodus 3:14 in which God's response to Moses' question of, "Who shall I say sent me?" is, "Tell them, 'I AM that I AM has sent me to you.'" This is the English rendering, yet the Hebrew has a fuller sense of continuation in that it also could be translated, "I was that I was, and I will be what I will be."
REDEEMING AND RECYCLING GOD
Redeeming and Recycling God, sometimes we can feel like the empty Coke can cast aside. Used and discarded, we long for someone to search for us, to find us, to redeem us, and to recycle our lives into purpose again.
Other times - by our actions and our inactions - we treat others like Coke cans.
Awaken us to when we cast aside others unaware.
Help us, for even in awareness we might try to "recycle" others, yet discard them nonetheless.
Forgive us, we pray.
Empower us to do justice and live with those cast aside;
to love mercy and speak prophetic words for those casting aside;
to walk humbly and become aware of when we perpetrate and remain aware that You are (and we are not) the redeemer.
Thank you for redeeming us for value with the deposit made on the cross.
Recycle us and transform us to see how You want to reincorporate us into Your story.
Resurrect us and grow our imaginations for ways to reincorporate those cast aside into Your story of love, compassion, truth, and grace.
In the name of the resurrected Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, Amen.
"Aslan is on the move."
This line from "The Chronicles of Narnia" started coming to mind a couple of weeks ago, and since then it has continued to pop in and out of my thoughts on a daily basis.
"Aslan is on the move."
"Aslan is on the move."
"Aslan is on the move!"
Click here for a story about one of the young adults named Wil.
I am writing this blog from Grove City College in Pennsylvania where I am attending the Western PA "Cooperative School of Christian Mission" sponsored by the United Methodist Women of WPA.
It started raining as I walked across the campus, which reminded me a cross between Seattle Pacific and Duke with the architecture, the stone work, and the foliage. I ducked into the Student Union Building and explored that a bit, and I came across a room on the second floor that overlooked most of the campus. I watched as the rain washed over a boulder in the middle of campus. This stone had some significance because it was marked with a plaque and benches and landscaping surrounded it. I thought, "Now I wonder how many people would know the story of that stone if it had no plaque and no benches. If no one or nothing helped people to remember why it held significance than - for most - it would be just another large stone." I started thinking about "Ebenezer" - Hebrew for stone of remembrance - a stone used as a symbol to mark something significant.
Remembering done well is not merely idealizing the past for it helps to reconstitute the significant event or moments in a way that moves them from a past experience and grows them into a living part of the past. This re-membering done well serves as a basis for tradition. When it is not done well it can verge on the edge of sentimentality and mundane routine. Re-membering well helps people to find their significance in something other than their current circumstances. Re-membering well reminds people that their lives are located within a narrative greater than their own, and their story only makes sense when located within the larger story of humanity, the world and all of creation.
The 4th of July serves as an Ebenezer of sorts for me, yet not in more ways than just the traditional sense. For many Americans, The 4th symbolizes freedom and it is remembered with hot dogs, watermelon, and fireworks. For me, though, The 4th serves as a marker of significant moments in my life and my faith journey. For example, last year we arrived in Maine on The 4th to begin this current stage of our journey. In the past 12 years The 4th has found me serving in various ministry contexts: Latvia, France, Italy, Israel, Kosovo, Branson, MO, Santa Cruz, CA, and Albania. Each of these places marks significant moments in how the faith journey and serving in ministry mesh together in the reality of life in this world.
I let The 4th pass by this year with a faint nod of acknowledgement, and maybe that is why I am writing this blog. I need to re-member the border crossing in a war zone, the dropping of watermelons from a climbing tower, the lighting of store bought fireworks in a field, and the conversations with friends across the world. I need to re-member, because it reminds me that my story only makes sense within the stories of friends, and within the larger story of God's work in this world.
Re-membering my story, and ultimately, God's faithful work and steadfast love in the midst my story, helps me to live with hope even though I don't understand the frustrations and disappointments of the past few months. Re-membering well can bring perspective and open me up to receive the deep peace that God offers. Re-membering well allows opportunities for the restoration of joy.
A few weeks ago I had a collision of thoughts during three simultaneous events as I drove Ceara and Caleb to childcare that inspired new perspectives on faith, theology, and resurrection.
Event 1: We listened to Andrew Peterson’s new album “The Far Country.” He has a song called “Lay Me Down” in which he has a line that says, “When you lay me down to die you lay me down to live.”
Event 2: At a stop light I read an email from a friend, John Varden, stating that a parishioner I knew from Center UMC died in his sleep that night.
Event 3: As we drove through the light we reached the point on the drive where I ask Ceara if she wants to “Shema” and I proceeded to sing the Shema. This is a prayer from Deuteronomy 6:4ff that I learned while I lived in Israel, and it is something practicing Jews pray at least once, if not multiple times, a day. It starts, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord is One, and you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your strength…”
Collision: I had the parishioner on my mind as I sang the part of the prayer that says, “remember these words I am commanding you today… teach them to your children when you lie down and when you rise up…,” and at that point “when you lay me down to die you lay me down to live…” rang out over the radio.
It hit me (I guess this is where the collision happens ;) ) … Yes, I knew that Israel, as many Ancient Near Eastern cultures, observed (and still do) a lunar calendar. And I know that their day begins at sundown rather than sunrise. Their days did not begin by getting up and end with lying down. Rather, their days began (and still begin) with lying down and end with getting up and living. The symbol of resurrection practically shouted at me. Then I read Genesis chapter 1 again: “…and it was evening and morning the first day… and it was evening and morning the second day… etc…”
The Christian story has undercurrents of resurrection from the very beginning, hinted at in the greatest commandment, culminated in Easter, and now is the hope in which we can all live in the present and carry into the future.
I’m not quite sure if I expressed these thoughts clearly. I wrote them quickly in my journal and copied them just about as quickly here. I find if I wait until I re-read, edit, re-think, re-write, then the blogs never get posted, and I wanted to get these thoughts on the blog.
I welcome any comments or thoughts or reactions… thanks.
PEACE
Dan
