Saturday, January 10, 2015
Thoughts on Soulful Parenting: Things I would Do Differently if I Had Been More Conscious
"How to Raise a Conscious Child" was the title of a book or some kind of seminar that came to my inbox from one of the many spiritual publications I subscribe to. If I read and/or purchased every offering that makes its way to my email inbox I would be standing on a stack of books as tall as the Tower of Babel. As it is, the books currently on my night stand resemble a leggo sized one. There was something about the title of this book that stayed with me, however. I thought to myself: I wish I had run across such a book when my boys were young.
It's hard being a parent. It's especially hard being a parent in a society that emphasizes the things ours does, and when so many of us unconsciously buy into all the messages we are bombarded with. The competition and comparison making begins practically from the moment they are born. Sit around with any group of young mothers and their babies and it's all about comparing. The elementary school years are about cramming and excelling. Kids must not only excel at school they must excel at a whole host of other things as well. Weekdays are jam packed with carpools, numerous after school activities such as scouts, sports practices, music lessons, etc. Meals and homework are often relegated to being done in the car, on the fly in between all of this chaotic activity. Enter the high school years where the pressure to be at the top of the heap really intensifies. It's not enough just to get into college. A child's status and a parent's bragging rights are all tied to class position and exactly what kind of university your kid got in to. Everyone knows the code for who the winners and the losers are. All of this endless competition, restless activity, and the cultural emphasis on getting ahead before a child even has formed a sense of himself/herself often leads burnout, not to mention pervasive, chronic, low grade anxiety and depression. It's no wonder moms, dads and kids are all so exhausted. And this says nothing of the backdrop against which all of modern life is unfolding: the high tech, always on, ever connected, instantaneous world of technology. Babies now use iPads for entertainment and grade schoolers have facebook accounts. I'm not one of these "what's this world coming to/let's go back to the old days" kind of folks, but this much I do know: the American way of life is taking a toll on our souls- each and every one of us whether young or old.
As a spiritual director I work with adults with a focus on helping them connect with consciousness which is just another way of saying God. God is both Being (Form) and Formlessness (Energy). God is certainly Person, and yet infinitely more- He/She is the matrix, the substrate, the divine alchemy which undergirds and gives life to all living things. Without the Triune God all that is would simply cease to exist. There is a reason why there is presently a resurgence of interest in ancient contemplative practices and the art of spiritual direction: our warp speed hyper connected world has the effect of connecting us with everything except the one thing that really matters: the Ground of our Being. Many people are now waking up to this reality, and for those wishing to create some distance from frenetic modern life, new communities, new ways of being and knowing are emerging. There is a wind gathering strength and speed, and that wind is The Holy Spirit. Her work is the revitalization of the soul, and this sacred work is underway in small pockets and corners all around us today.
I wish I had known about consciousness, and contemplative practices, and spiritual formation when I was raising my sons. I would have been a much different sort of mom. But as the old saying goes, you can't give away what you yourself don't have. What I had a decade ago was church and religion, and by no means do I wish to denigrate the importance of these. Church is good as far as it goes. The problem is, it just doesn't go far enough. It doesn't go far enough with either children or adults in helping them to connect with the God who permeates every aspect of our daily lives. Church tends to be about religion, and religion tends to be about doctrine and conformity to it. This is a very different thing than coming to intimately know the God "in whom we move, and breathe, and have our being." That is more experiential than doctrinal. Mostly what church has taught both me and my children is the Bible and doctrine. These are just the finger pointing to the moon, and should not be confused with the moon itself. Sometimes I feel like the church really forgets about the moon.
So- if I had a do-over what would I do differently? How would I raise conscious children? First of all, I would place less emphasis on school. Yes- I just wrote that. I would let my sons take the classes they wanted and I would not push college as the only option after high school. I would encourage more creative activity and down time. I would make sure that they had more time and space to read, to write poetry and music, to hike outdoors and to wander and explore. I would travel more with them and expose them to as many natural wonders as I could. I would make sure they experienced many different religions and cultures. I would have mandatory silence daily with no technology and no sounds of any kind in the house- just 30 minutes a day- that's do-able, right? I would teach them to do chores with mindfulness like Brother Lawrence, the Parisian monk who found intimacy with God while chopping vegetables in a monastery kitchen. I would teach them to be present in the sacred now and not to worry about or be anxious for the future. I might still take them to church, but I would also take them the homeless shelter and let them serve and eat dinner with the people there. I would teach them that time spent in solitude in nature is every bit as holy as worshipping in a cathedral. I would tell them that a compassionate stance in the world, not career choice, status, and money, is what matters. Above all, I would teach them to follow their own hearts and souls into the world, and in so doing, they honor the God who gave them life.
The good news for me is that despite my bungled efforts, both of my sons have turned out to be rather "road less traveled" sorts anyway. They are both free spirited lovers of art, literature, foreign cultures, and nature. They love travel and the outdoors. They are both compassionate idealists following unconventional paths, and though neither one is religious, I wouldn't describe either of them as without a certain type of spirituality. So I suppose what I am saying is that God is gracious and can overcome a lot of our flaws as parents. Still and all- maybe I'll get the opportunity to put all my new found wisdom into practice if or when God grants me grandchildren. They are going to blessed, upon blessed, upon blessed........
So- Thank you for stopping by and reading my rambling thoughts. If you are a parent, I hope I have given you something to ponder. If you are not a parent, it's never too late to love a child- if not one of your own, then someone else's. Namaste!
Sunday, May 27, 2012
The Here and Now. The There and Then
I think a lot of people have a big problem understanding the concept of eternity. It's a bit confusing frankly. Most people tend to think of eternity as someplace we go after we die. You hear phrases which seem to echo this belief all the time. "Where we will spend all eternity". "He/she is in eternity now." "Do this or do that ( fill in the blank) or you will not see eternity". The problem with this kind of thinking is this: eternity is both a future promise and a present reality.
Eternity means ALL of time. From the beginning to the end. This also encompasses the part which we currently live in. We are living in eternity now. Part of it anyway. There was time before us. There will be time after us. It is all part of eternity. Then there is eternal life which comes after our pulses stop. The here and now where we currently reside. The there and then where we will someday be. Are you confused yet?
I used to struggle to understand this but not so much anymore. Jesus said His kingdom was both a present reality and a coming promise. He spent a whole lot of time talking about the kingdom of heaven. He went to great lengths to help people understand what it is like and what it will be like when we are all there. We live in that kingdom now in a sense. Those in Christ are kingdom people living in a fallen world. I think of it this way. The beauty we experience here is a down payment on that which is to come. We see glimpses, we live bits and pieces of the kingdom of heaven while we are in the flesh and on the earth. We can't live there all the time because this is not our home. God doesn't want us to get too comfortable here. Our True Home comes after we die. It is then that we go Home to stay forever, once and for all. Where "there will be no more sorrow, and no more weeping. Where He will wipe away every tear from our eyes.". Such a beautiful promise.....
What I have experienced here, however, are moments, hours, short periods of time, where this kingdom on earth and that one in heaven have merged and overlapped. It is as if a veil is pulled away and we can walk into that other world. This is the most wonderful experience imaginable. I have had it while holding a friend's hands in prayer. While seeing the sunrise reflected in a double rainbow after an early morning storm. During a worship service singing something gloriously beautiful. During early morning walks along the river while engaged in deep conversation with God. Reading the works of AW Tozer. These things have pulled back the veil and allowed me to dwell elsewhere for awhile. I know that I am here. Yet I am elsewhere at the same time. The two kingdoms merge. They are separate and distinct places, yet one and the same. Both are true somehow. That is the nature of the things of God. They are profoundly mysterious.
So what does any of this matter? I don't know. Probably little to anyone who might pause to read my ponderings. Being Irish and a bit of a poet, I love to let my mind wander down distant trails and examine profound concepts. Its a personality quirk, I guess! But keeping eternity in its proper perspective also helps me to view the world around me in a way that is meaningful and hope filled. In the here and now, it helps me to function as I need to in order to fulfill the work of this kingdom while I wait in joyful expectation of the next one in the there and then......
Shalom!
Eternity means ALL of time. From the beginning to the end. This also encompasses the part which we currently live in. We are living in eternity now. Part of it anyway. There was time before us. There will be time after us. It is all part of eternity. Then there is eternal life which comes after our pulses stop. The here and now where we currently reside. The there and then where we will someday be. Are you confused yet?
I used to struggle to understand this but not so much anymore. Jesus said His kingdom was both a present reality and a coming promise. He spent a whole lot of time talking about the kingdom of heaven. He went to great lengths to help people understand what it is like and what it will be like when we are all there. We live in that kingdom now in a sense. Those in Christ are kingdom people living in a fallen world. I think of it this way. The beauty we experience here is a down payment on that which is to come. We see glimpses, we live bits and pieces of the kingdom of heaven while we are in the flesh and on the earth. We can't live there all the time because this is not our home. God doesn't want us to get too comfortable here. Our True Home comes after we die. It is then that we go Home to stay forever, once and for all. Where "there will be no more sorrow, and no more weeping. Where He will wipe away every tear from our eyes.". Such a beautiful promise.....
What I have experienced here, however, are moments, hours, short periods of time, where this kingdom on earth and that one in heaven have merged and overlapped. It is as if a veil is pulled away and we can walk into that other world. This is the most wonderful experience imaginable. I have had it while holding a friend's hands in prayer. While seeing the sunrise reflected in a double rainbow after an early morning storm. During a worship service singing something gloriously beautiful. During early morning walks along the river while engaged in deep conversation with God. Reading the works of AW Tozer. These things have pulled back the veil and allowed me to dwell elsewhere for awhile. I know that I am here. Yet I am elsewhere at the same time. The two kingdoms merge. They are separate and distinct places, yet one and the same. Both are true somehow. That is the nature of the things of God. They are profoundly mysterious.
So what does any of this matter? I don't know. Probably little to anyone who might pause to read my ponderings. Being Irish and a bit of a poet, I love to let my mind wander down distant trails and examine profound concepts. Its a personality quirk, I guess! But keeping eternity in its proper perspective also helps me to view the world around me in a way that is meaningful and hope filled. In the here and now, it helps me to function as I need to in order to fulfill the work of this kingdom while I wait in joyful expectation of the next one in the there and then......
Shalom!
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Living in the Refiner's Fire
I have a confession to make. I have sung Handel's Messiah a couple of times in the past. I love "The Messiah". It's generally awesome in every way. But there is one piece of music in it that always gives me the giggles a bit. And that piece is called " He is like a Refiner's Fire". It's just a bit pretentious, frankly. Big male solo, usually sing by a bass. Something about the vocal runs in it make me want to laugh out loud. The real life reality of life in the Refiner's Fire is no laughing matter, however.
What is the Refiner's fire? It's the divine process by which God refines out all of our impurities in order to leave nothing behind but pure gold. If you read up on refining gold you will learn that this is the final stage of removing the impurities after the smelting process. It involves reheating the gold in an extremely hot furnace and mixing in borax and soda ash which helps to separate out the the pure gold from other less precious metals. Intense heat from a really hot furnace. Are we having fun yet?
Life with God is so like this. We often make the mistake of believing that if we follow Christ and are "good Christian people" everything should be a-okay. We shouldnt have problems, right? We've been lead astray by lots of false prophets on this one, kids. People hawking the Prosperity Gospel (Pat Robertson)and feel good theology (Joel Osteen)have us all confused. Scripture is resplendent with example after example of ways in which God uses fire to remake, remold, and purify. But that fire is always a refining fire- never a consuming one. There is a difference. How is a fire controlled so that purification occurs and consumption is avoided? It's all in the Hands of the Refiner.
How does the process work? Usually something like this: there is something in our lives that we need to trust God with and we are struggling to maintain control of it ourselves. We won't submit or give it up. Or - there is some trait, or character flaw, or damaged emotion in us that needs to be rooted out. But we can't seem to see it. There are areas of stubbornness in all of us that we cling to. We resist. We cannot submit even though we may very clearly have the sense that we need to change, yield. We refuse. That's when God steps in to give us a hand. He loves us too much to leave us in this broken, sinful state. So he does the merciful thing. He turns up the heat. Huh? Did I just write that? Yes, I did. If that doesn't make any sense to you it's because you have been fed a pack of lies about the way God works. And now do we react? We begin to try to jump out of the fire. Fire is hot and it hurts like hell. We do not want to stay in it. Who would?
I think this is where a little understanding about what is happening goes a long way. There is pointless pain and then there is pain with a purpose. And God only practices the latter, never the former. My teacher always says you must understand the difference between being hurt and being harmed. God allows us to be hurt in this life. But he never allows harm to come to us. He has reassured us that nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us from his love. Not ever. He also promises to be with us to the end of the age. How can we possibly experience harm given these promises? We can't. But we get plenty of hurt in this life. And the reason for that is so that we can be refined into pure gold.
I'm in a season of being refined by fire. I don't much like it and I don't know how long it's gonna last. Probably as long as I remain stubborn and unyielding, and given what I know about me, you might as well break out the marshmellows. The blaze will be burning for awhile. Pull up a log. Get comfortable. Start singing a couple rounds of Kum by yah. It's gonna be a long night....
I don't much like being refined. That's just the truth. But I am willing to stick it out. Because in the end I'd rather not be stuck with the impurities in my heart and soul. I realize that I can step out of this fire anytime I choose. But I'd rather trust in this:
1 Peter 1:6-7
"Now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold, which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Shalom!
What is the Refiner's fire? It's the divine process by which God refines out all of our impurities in order to leave nothing behind but pure gold. If you read up on refining gold you will learn that this is the final stage of removing the impurities after the smelting process. It involves reheating the gold in an extremely hot furnace and mixing in borax and soda ash which helps to separate out the the pure gold from other less precious metals. Intense heat from a really hot furnace. Are we having fun yet?
Life with God is so like this. We often make the mistake of believing that if we follow Christ and are "good Christian people" everything should be a-okay. We shouldnt have problems, right? We've been lead astray by lots of false prophets on this one, kids. People hawking the Prosperity Gospel (Pat Robertson)and feel good theology (Joel Osteen)have us all confused. Scripture is resplendent with example after example of ways in which God uses fire to remake, remold, and purify. But that fire is always a refining fire- never a consuming one. There is a difference. How is a fire controlled so that purification occurs and consumption is avoided? It's all in the Hands of the Refiner.
How does the process work? Usually something like this: there is something in our lives that we need to trust God with and we are struggling to maintain control of it ourselves. We won't submit or give it up. Or - there is some trait, or character flaw, or damaged emotion in us that needs to be rooted out. But we can't seem to see it. There are areas of stubbornness in all of us that we cling to. We resist. We cannot submit even though we may very clearly have the sense that we need to change, yield. We refuse. That's when God steps in to give us a hand. He loves us too much to leave us in this broken, sinful state. So he does the merciful thing. He turns up the heat. Huh? Did I just write that? Yes, I did. If that doesn't make any sense to you it's because you have been fed a pack of lies about the way God works. And now do we react? We begin to try to jump out of the fire. Fire is hot and it hurts like hell. We do not want to stay in it. Who would?
I think this is where a little understanding about what is happening goes a long way. There is pointless pain and then there is pain with a purpose. And God only practices the latter, never the former. My teacher always says you must understand the difference between being hurt and being harmed. God allows us to be hurt in this life. But he never allows harm to come to us. He has reassured us that nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us from his love. Not ever. He also promises to be with us to the end of the age. How can we possibly experience harm given these promises? We can't. But we get plenty of hurt in this life. And the reason for that is so that we can be refined into pure gold.
I'm in a season of being refined by fire. I don't much like it and I don't know how long it's gonna last. Probably as long as I remain stubborn and unyielding, and given what I know about me, you might as well break out the marshmellows. The blaze will be burning for awhile. Pull up a log. Get comfortable. Start singing a couple rounds of Kum by yah. It's gonna be a long night....
I don't much like being refined. That's just the truth. But I am willing to stick it out. Because in the end I'd rather not be stuck with the impurities in my heart and soul. I realize that I can step out of this fire anytime I choose. But I'd rather trust in this:
1 Peter 1:6-7
"Now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold, which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Shalom!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Root Bound
Yesterday my husband and I engaged in a much over due work project. We transplanted 2 very large climbing vines and a climbing rose bush which each occupy a corner of our pergola. We planted these years ago when we completed our patio renovation project. Because they are potted they do what potted plants eventually do~ they outgrow their pots. They become root bound and unhealthy and then they begin to die. Our plants had grown to the point that they were now winding thru the top of the pergola as planned, but they were clearly struggling. I noticed this last year and I knew that we needed to repot them into bigger containers~ I just balked at the thought of it. It was going to be a lot of work and expense. And so I dragged my feet and ignored the difficult task at hand for a whole other season. It cost me one of the vines. By this spring, one of the jasmines was dead.
So finally yesterday we did what we should have done a long time ago. We tore into the too small pots and began to extract the vines amd the rose bush. It was an ugly process. They were severely root bound. Once we managed to extract them ( breaking a few of the pots in the process), I began to take a shovel and beat the root ball in order to loosen and decompact the roots. I had the thought as I was doing this that it might be painful for the plants. But it needed to be done before we repotted them, so that the roots would have room to spread out and breathe. The final step involved planting the new climbing rose bush I had purchased to replace the dead vine. We now have 2 jasmine vines and 2 Lady Banks climbing roses at the 4 corners of our pergola. And for now- they are in pots which better suit their current size and can accommodate for more growth.
Our lives are like my vines. Often times we become root bound without even realizing it. Though we may be cramped and uncomfortable, we cling to our familiar pot. We realize how hard it will be, and how much effort it will take to be transplanted into a different sort of pot and so we resist being moved. The problem is ~ if we resist too much, or too long, we begin to die and we may not even be aware of it.
God is a better Gardner than I am. It makes sense. He is the original garden designer, is He not? He created a garden for his first children to live in. Not a castle, not a fortress, not a Taj Mahal ~ but a garden. And because He is a wonderful Gardner He never waits too long before He transplants us into new pots so that we will continue to grow and not die. The Christian journey is not about being comfortable. It is not about resting or remaining in a happy, comfortable pot. It is about continual growth and transformation. Thus, God breaks our old familiar pots, tears into our root bound souls, and transplants us into bigger containers where we can continue to grow. And if He is successful with us, the process repeats itself over and over. Much to the chagrin of the plant at times....
I, like my vines, am being repotted right now. And I don't like it one darn bit! I like the pot I'm in, damn it! I don't want to move. And yet there is a sense in which if I do not yield to the Gardner and His will for my life I will die just like my unfortunate vine. As I said ~ God is a much better Gardner than I am. Though I despise this process of tearing apart my roots because it is painful and messy, God has looked at my life and determined that I need a bigger pot to grow in. And so He has gone to work transplanting me. I didn't have to give up my lovely, comfortable pot. The decision to allow God to move me was always mine. I could cling to the familiar and resist the changes God is seeking to bring into my life. Or I can trust Him that it is time to disturb my roots, tear them apart, and repot me into a container of His choosing. It's not an easy choice. But ultimately, for me~ there is only one.
Shalom!
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Sheep and Goats
I have been fairly busy lately. I've been doing lots of thinking, very little writing. I've been working on lots of projects and not doing as much reading as I would like. I've been living in the midst of a good bit of chaos with not nearly enough down time for reflection. And what I am finding is that in the midst of all these things, a few scriptures keep circling around and around in my head. I can't seem to get away from them and they are all related. In no particular order they are Isaiah 58: 1-12. Matthew 25: 31-46. James 1:27. Luke 16: 19-31. Ok- so if you are like me you don't know what those are off the top of your head (don't you just hate those people who do?). So to save you from having to look them up: Isaiah 58 deals with true fasting which is acceptable to the Lord
(hint, hint- it isn't about your caloric intake!). Matthew 25 is the parable of the sheep and the goats. James 1 is the definition of religion that is pure and undefiled. Luke 16 deals with the story of Lazarus the beggar who dies at the gate of the rich man and goes to heaven. What do all these scriptures have in common? They all deal with how we treat the poor. The oppressed. The less fortunate. The disenfranchised.
I guess the reason this is on my mind is because of a growing sense of outrage over the way the church deals with these issues. I have always been uncomfortable with the contradictions I find in the church. I have a really close friend who is an nonbeliever. She is appalled by the vast majority of all Christians. Her point is that we in no way live by what we say we believe and she can run down a list of all our failures. I can't say I blame her. Nor do I have much of a defense to offer for all of us. She is mostly right about the things she says.
The process going on in me right now is a rebellion against the cultural Christianity that I have mostly been exposed to the majority of my church going years and the replacement of that false doctrine with something much harder, deeper, and more difficult, but nevertheless true. And that is this. What Christ says about the poor of the world He means. How we respond to them will be the basis of our own judgement someday. All four of the above passages declare this loud and clear. There is no ambiguity. Don't believe me? Read the above four passages for yourself. There ain't no wiggle room!
I think that for me, numerous mission trips have been the impetus behind the slowly increasing discomfort I have felt over the years about the poverty most of the world endures. But visiting Africa last summer brought me to my knees. Since then it has been inescapable. It has been all consuming. It has become something that I absolutely can no longer turn away from or turn a blind eye to. Participating in things like The Justice Conference, The Willow Creek Summit, Live 58.org, being a Compassion sponsor have all fanned the flames as well.
Yesterday I went and spoke for the first time publicly on behalf of the widows and orphans at Zion ~ the church in Kenya I am working with through our missions outreach program. This has been my personal project designed to "do something" in response to the things I saw while I was in Africa. On this side of the Atlantic at least, I am currently a mission team of two. Me and The Holy Spirit. I am, at the moment, doing all of the leg work for this project, but I know that when the time is right, God will bring others alongside to help me. In the meantime, I know He is with me because I feel such a drive to do this. I never get tired of working on this project, talking about it, sharing it with other people. It feels like what I have always been meant to do. I feel God's hand upon me when I am tending to this project, or speaking about it. The passion I feel for this cause, for these women and children, for doing something, anything to help alleviate just a fraction of the suffering in the world is such that I know that this is not from me but through me. This is how God works in the world. Through us. Through the willing and the available. He has no other hands and feet on earth but ours. We don't have to be smart. We don't have to be skilled. We don't even have to know what we are doing (I don't most of the time!). We just have to be willing and available. The rest is in His hands.
As I have been reflecting on the scriptures I started out with at the beginning of this post, I realize that I have come to embrace them not as suggestions, but rather as the commandments they truly are. I absolutely believe that this is exactly what God calls us to do, how He calls us to live. I believe He means what He says. And though by Grace and Grace alone are we thus saved, it is impossible to accept that Grace and not live our lives radically differently in response to it. We can think we're ok. We can think it's all good. We can think we are doing enough. Most people, in fact, feel this way. And yet we may sadly find ourselves someday in the goat line. Because the opposite of love isn't hatred- it's apathy ~ that's the real enemy. That's how you find out you're really a goat and not a sheep. Check your apathy barometer. "Baaaaaaa" is the sound you're looking for! Shalom!
(hint, hint- it isn't about your caloric intake!). Matthew 25 is the parable of the sheep and the goats. James 1 is the definition of religion that is pure and undefiled. Luke 16 deals with the story of Lazarus the beggar who dies at the gate of the rich man and goes to heaven. What do all these scriptures have in common? They all deal with how we treat the poor. The oppressed. The less fortunate. The disenfranchised.
I guess the reason this is on my mind is because of a growing sense of outrage over the way the church deals with these issues. I have always been uncomfortable with the contradictions I find in the church. I have a really close friend who is an nonbeliever. She is appalled by the vast majority of all Christians. Her point is that we in no way live by what we say we believe and she can run down a list of all our failures. I can't say I blame her. Nor do I have much of a defense to offer for all of us. She is mostly right about the things she says.
The process going on in me right now is a rebellion against the cultural Christianity that I have mostly been exposed to the majority of my church going years and the replacement of that false doctrine with something much harder, deeper, and more difficult, but nevertheless true. And that is this. What Christ says about the poor of the world He means. How we respond to them will be the basis of our own judgement someday. All four of the above passages declare this loud and clear. There is no ambiguity. Don't believe me? Read the above four passages for yourself. There ain't no wiggle room!
I think that for me, numerous mission trips have been the impetus behind the slowly increasing discomfort I have felt over the years about the poverty most of the world endures. But visiting Africa last summer brought me to my knees. Since then it has been inescapable. It has been all consuming. It has become something that I absolutely can no longer turn away from or turn a blind eye to. Participating in things like The Justice Conference, The Willow Creek Summit, Live 58.org, being a Compassion sponsor have all fanned the flames as well.
Yesterday I went and spoke for the first time publicly on behalf of the widows and orphans at Zion ~ the church in Kenya I am working with through our missions outreach program. This has been my personal project designed to "do something" in response to the things I saw while I was in Africa. On this side of the Atlantic at least, I am currently a mission team of two. Me and The Holy Spirit. I am, at the moment, doing all of the leg work for this project, but I know that when the time is right, God will bring others alongside to help me. In the meantime, I know He is with me because I feel such a drive to do this. I never get tired of working on this project, talking about it, sharing it with other people. It feels like what I have always been meant to do. I feel God's hand upon me when I am tending to this project, or speaking about it. The passion I feel for this cause, for these women and children, for doing something, anything to help alleviate just a fraction of the suffering in the world is such that I know that this is not from me but through me. This is how God works in the world. Through us. Through the willing and the available. He has no other hands and feet on earth but ours. We don't have to be smart. We don't have to be skilled. We don't even have to know what we are doing (I don't most of the time!). We just have to be willing and available. The rest is in His hands.
As I have been reflecting on the scriptures I started out with at the beginning of this post, I realize that I have come to embrace them not as suggestions, but rather as the commandments they truly are. I absolutely believe that this is exactly what God calls us to do, how He calls us to live. I believe He means what He says. And though by Grace and Grace alone are we thus saved, it is impossible to accept that Grace and not live our lives radically differently in response to it. We can think we're ok. We can think it's all good. We can think we are doing enough. Most people, in fact, feel this way. And yet we may sadly find ourselves someday in the goat line. Because the opposite of love isn't hatred- it's apathy ~ that's the real enemy. That's how you find out you're really a goat and not a sheep. Check your apathy barometer. "Baaaaaaa" is the sound you're looking for! Shalom!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Lessons in Justice and Honor
I am sitting on board a long cross country flight back to the east coast from Seattle. I have just taken a week away from my every day life. Every once in awhile everyone just needs to do this. This was a business as well as a pleasure trip. I spent 2 days in Portland Oregon at The Justice Conference, followed by 4 days in Seattle with one of my best friends who just moved there. It has been a wonderful and much needed mental health break.
Who knew that sitting around a convention center for 2 days discussing the biggest, the worst, the heaviest problems in the wold would feel like a welcome relief from my day to day life? But that is exactly what I found it to be. By stepping away from the ins and outs, ups and downs, the problems and issues of my own of life and looking at the world thru the long telescope lens of God's view I gained such a different, broader, deeper, perspective on everything. The things that we are so engrossed in daily? Most of them don't matter at all. In the eternal scheme of things, what we do, how we live, where we spend our time, money, effort takes on an entirely different meaning when we try to see all of life thru the eyes of the Father. This is really the entire point of The Justice Conference. Just 2 years old, this conference seeks to bring together Christian activists who wish to live more kingdom oriented lives. It is open to people of all faiths and none at all. But it is unabashedly and unapologetically Christian. All of the speakers speak from a Christ centered perspective. A reporter from the Portland newspaper there to interview one of the speakers implied that all the emphasis on faith and God might be a little disturbing and weren't they (the conference leadership) worried about putting people off? My response- who cares? If you are put off by the idea of people coming together to serve the world because their faith in who God is compels them to do so, then just stay home. Or start your own secular conference. But don't try to change who we are or why we came. I believe the speaker answered a bit more diplomatically. He said something to the effect that we make no apologies for who we are or what we believe, but we welcome all people interested in justice to join with us. Ok, so that works too.....
All of the speakers were phenomenal. The keynote address address came from Francis Chan,
probably my favorite living Christian pastor, author, speaker. He brought the house down. But I was moved equally by a couple other speakers. Walter Brueggemann. Richard Twiss, and Miroslav Volf. Volf, a survivor of genocide in his native country of Croatia, spoke of the necessity of honoring everyone. Every single person. Even the Saddam Husseins of the world. The Osama Bin Ladens. The Jeffery Dahmers, and Columbine killers. Crazy people who fly airplanes into towers full of workers on a beautiful Tuesday morning. Equally crazy people who call themselves leaders and order the death and destruction of millions of innocents in retaliation for such an act. People we think of as evil. People we want to see receive punishment and judgement for their terrible acts and actions. Honor them as well. Seperate them from their acts. I sat there thinking of a few people in my own life who I refuse to honor because of their actions and how they leave a large swath of destruction and pain in their paths everywhere they go. Honor them too. Wow. Very convicting stuff. I sat squirming in my seat, unable to deny the truth in his words. Honor everyone. It is so hard to do. Impossible in fact. On our own, this is impossible. But this does not keep God from calling us to do the impossible. In fact, this entire conference was about that very thing. Doing the impossible. The good news is that He never calls us to do it on our own. He gives us his Spirit in order to make such impossiblities realities.
One organization at this conference has set an ambitious goal of eradicating all extreme poverty in the world by the year 2035. That's only 23 years from now. I could still be alive by then. Wouldn't it be something to live long enough to see such a thing become a reality? Wouldn't it be better yet to give my life over to helping to make that happen? The Isaiah 58 project is the name of this multidisciplinary group. There were 180 other such groups in the exhibit hall all showcasing their faith based organizations working to end the evils of hunger, disease, sex trafficking, illiteracy, war rape, genocide, slave wage exploitation of third world peoples by large US corporations- just to name a few minor problems!! So many great organizations to support. The hard part is picking a few to focus on. Trying to figure out where to give my time and resources. I am already overwhelmed with ministry obligations at my own home church. How can I possibly think about taking on more? I don't know the answer to that. Only that I can and somehow I will. Because there is so much to do. The harvest is heavy and the workers are few. There is so much need in the world. I can no longer sit on the sidelines pretending that life in suburban America is the be all, the end all of existence. It's not even close. God has a much bigger dream for our lives than this. It takes courage to turn ourselves over to His plans for us. My prayer is that I will find this courage. That I will be able to step out in faith to whatever it is He is calling me to do. That I will trust Him to be my guide and that I will have the willingness to follow where He is leading. If you are reading these words right now, stop and say a prayer for me. I thank you so much in advance. Shalom.
Who knew that sitting around a convention center for 2 days discussing the biggest, the worst, the heaviest problems in the wold would feel like a welcome relief from my day to day life? But that is exactly what I found it to be. By stepping away from the ins and outs, ups and downs, the problems and issues of my own of life and looking at the world thru the long telescope lens of God's view I gained such a different, broader, deeper, perspective on everything. The things that we are so engrossed in daily? Most of them don't matter at all. In the eternal scheme of things, what we do, how we live, where we spend our time, money, effort takes on an entirely different meaning when we try to see all of life thru the eyes of the Father. This is really the entire point of The Justice Conference. Just 2 years old, this conference seeks to bring together Christian activists who wish to live more kingdom oriented lives. It is open to people of all faiths and none at all. But it is unabashedly and unapologetically Christian. All of the speakers speak from a Christ centered perspective. A reporter from the Portland newspaper there to interview one of the speakers implied that all the emphasis on faith and God might be a little disturbing and weren't they (the conference leadership) worried about putting people off? My response- who cares? If you are put off by the idea of people coming together to serve the world because their faith in who God is compels them to do so, then just stay home. Or start your own secular conference. But don't try to change who we are or why we came. I believe the speaker answered a bit more diplomatically. He said something to the effect that we make no apologies for who we are or what we believe, but we welcome all people interested in justice to join with us. Ok, so that works too.....
All of the speakers were phenomenal. The keynote address address came from Francis Chan,
probably my favorite living Christian pastor, author, speaker. He brought the house down. But I was moved equally by a couple other speakers. Walter Brueggemann. Richard Twiss, and Miroslav Volf. Volf, a survivor of genocide in his native country of Croatia, spoke of the necessity of honoring everyone. Every single person. Even the Saddam Husseins of the world. The Osama Bin Ladens. The Jeffery Dahmers, and Columbine killers. Crazy people who fly airplanes into towers full of workers on a beautiful Tuesday morning. Equally crazy people who call themselves leaders and order the death and destruction of millions of innocents in retaliation for such an act. People we think of as evil. People we want to see receive punishment and judgement for their terrible acts and actions. Honor them as well. Seperate them from their acts. I sat there thinking of a few people in my own life who I refuse to honor because of their actions and how they leave a large swath of destruction and pain in their paths everywhere they go. Honor them too. Wow. Very convicting stuff. I sat squirming in my seat, unable to deny the truth in his words. Honor everyone. It is so hard to do. Impossible in fact. On our own, this is impossible. But this does not keep God from calling us to do the impossible. In fact, this entire conference was about that very thing. Doing the impossible. The good news is that He never calls us to do it on our own. He gives us his Spirit in order to make such impossiblities realities.
One organization at this conference has set an ambitious goal of eradicating all extreme poverty in the world by the year 2035. That's only 23 years from now. I could still be alive by then. Wouldn't it be something to live long enough to see such a thing become a reality? Wouldn't it be better yet to give my life over to helping to make that happen? The Isaiah 58 project is the name of this multidisciplinary group. There were 180 other such groups in the exhibit hall all showcasing their faith based organizations working to end the evils of hunger, disease, sex trafficking, illiteracy, war rape, genocide, slave wage exploitation of third world peoples by large US corporations- just to name a few minor problems!! So many great organizations to support. The hard part is picking a few to focus on. Trying to figure out where to give my time and resources. I am already overwhelmed with ministry obligations at my own home church. How can I possibly think about taking on more? I don't know the answer to that. Only that I can and somehow I will. Because there is so much to do. The harvest is heavy and the workers are few. There is so much need in the world. I can no longer sit on the sidelines pretending that life in suburban America is the be all, the end all of existence. It's not even close. God has a much bigger dream for our lives than this. It takes courage to turn ourselves over to His plans for us. My prayer is that I will find this courage. That I will be able to step out in faith to whatever it is He is calling me to do. That I will trust Him to be my guide and that I will have the willingness to follow where He is leading. If you are reading these words right now, stop and say a prayer for me. I thank you so much in advance. Shalom.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
A Heart for Kenya
I've been away from writing for a long time now. At least on the blog. I have been journaling quite a bit, but I wouldn't share that with a soul, thank you very much! Everyone should have some place to pour out just absolutely anything they want to say without worrying about the consequences. This is perhaps why I have been more tied up there, less engaged here. But as the season of Lent approaches, I am ready to crawl out of hibernation and begin to turn my focus outward instead of inward where it has been the past two months. As it says in Ecclesiastes "there is a time for every purpose under heaven".
I have been busy with a project since my return from Africa. Having struck up a friendship with the church in Kenya (whom we worked with while in Uganda), I have been moved by the plight of the widows and orphans (numbering around 160) this church supports out of their meager resources. I wrote about this on the blog earlier in an entry entitled "A God Appointed Conversation" July 2010. This has resulted in my taking some action to raise some funds for them initially as an emergency contingency (the drought was making things extremely difficult from the standpoint of inflation) and then later with an idea that came to me about ways in which we could help lift the women and children out of poverty. I had read some on the topic of micro loans and decided that this might be a way to help. After conferring with Pastor Walter- my new Kenyan brother in Christ- I decided to approach the missions committee at my church to begin a new mission project- supplying seed money to begin a revolving micro loans program to Zion People of God Chruch, Kenya. After hearing my passionate pitch for Zion, the missions committee approved the idea. It helps that the missions chair is my good friend, I suppose. Love you, David! :-)
So while such things move slowly, we now have applicants lined up and money approved and I expect the money to be released very soon and sent to Zion to be lent to women such as Millicent Ngesa, mother of 8, who seeks a loan to be able to sell paraffin oil at a nearby market. Or Helida Oyucho, mother of 5, who wishes to borrow money in order to purchase and sell second hand clothes in the local market. The list of applicants in my email inbox is growing....
The thing is, I am just a person with no real knowledge of how to do anything along these lines. I haven't got a clue how to promote this, or fund raise for it, or anything else. Which in God's eyes, makes me the perfect candidate in many ways. This is all I really know. I believe with all my heart, that God has heard the cries of his people in need in Kenya at this little church. He brought me half way around the world to sit in a field around a campfire until 1:30 am, so exhausted I could hardly keep my eyes open, and made me listen to this story about Zion. His purpose in all of this was to call me to do something about it. That much I knew immediately. God never ignores the cries of His people. And He calls other people as His servants to act. Think of Exodus. God heard the cries of the Israelites and called Moses into service. Now I am certainly no Moses. Except that we share this qualification: the fact that neither of us was/is in any way qualified or up to the task at hand! The great thing about being so utterly clueless is that anything that happens as a result of my efforts will be clearly attributable to me in no way whatsoever, but rather to the Glory of God. 'Cause there ain't nothing gonna happen if this thing rests solely on me, I can assure you!
But this I have, and this I offer. I have a heart for these people - for Pastor Walter, for Zion and the widows and orphans they support. I have a voice that I am willing to use on their behalf. I have family and friends who love me and are willing to be supportive of my quirky ideas and passions. And I have faith that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob- my God as well- will work something powerful from what I can offer and am willing to supply. I see signs of it already.
Monday night at a meeting I was approached by a wonderful friend who said to me "Your friends in Kenya have been on my heart. I want to help". As I began to speak excitedly about the micro loans and all the applicants I have and how I don't have enough funds for all of them she said "I can help with that". As I was talking with her, another friend approached me and said "You need money for people in Kenya? Why haven't you asked?". Good question. I haven't asked because I can't overcome my fear of asking. But what God said to me after this meeting was this "If you are going to be of any use to Me you have to overcome your fear of asking people to help you". That's a hard one. I hate asking people for anything. I'd rather just do it myself. But I can't do this one on my own. Maybe for me part of this journey is to teach me how to reach out to others for help. I am certainly comfortable with helping others- much less so about letting them help me.
So- anyone out there who reads this- think about helping my people. For this is how I think of them. In truth they are God's people, but I think of them as my family. My family in Christ half a world away. For a small amount of money you can change a life. There are several ways you can help me. One, of course, is money. For between $150- 200 USD you can lift a woman out of poverty and give her a chance. Get together with your circle of friends and pool your resources. Make a contribution. Second- pray for these women and children. Nothing ever happens without prayer! Third- invite me to speak at your book club, your circle meeting, your bunco group, your Sunday School Class- I don't care what it is- I will come and talk if I am given a platform to speak about these wonderful people. Help me to help them. I can't do it on my own. I need all of you. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Shalom.
Contributions for Zion can be made in the following way:
Check made out to NRUMC-Missions. Memo line: Micro loans for Kenya
Mail to:
NRUMC
8501 Honeycutt Road
Raleigh, NC 27615
I have been busy with a project since my return from Africa. Having struck up a friendship with the church in Kenya (whom we worked with while in Uganda), I have been moved by the plight of the widows and orphans (numbering around 160) this church supports out of their meager resources. I wrote about this on the blog earlier in an entry entitled "A God Appointed Conversation" July 2010. This has resulted in my taking some action to raise some funds for them initially as an emergency contingency (the drought was making things extremely difficult from the standpoint of inflation) and then later with an idea that came to me about ways in which we could help lift the women and children out of poverty. I had read some on the topic of micro loans and decided that this might be a way to help. After conferring with Pastor Walter- my new Kenyan brother in Christ- I decided to approach the missions committee at my church to begin a new mission project- supplying seed money to begin a revolving micro loans program to Zion People of God Chruch, Kenya. After hearing my passionate pitch for Zion, the missions committee approved the idea. It helps that the missions chair is my good friend, I suppose. Love you, David! :-)
So while such things move slowly, we now have applicants lined up and money approved and I expect the money to be released very soon and sent to Zion to be lent to women such as Millicent Ngesa, mother of 8, who seeks a loan to be able to sell paraffin oil at a nearby market. Or Helida Oyucho, mother of 5, who wishes to borrow money in order to purchase and sell second hand clothes in the local market. The list of applicants in my email inbox is growing....
The thing is, I am just a person with no real knowledge of how to do anything along these lines. I haven't got a clue how to promote this, or fund raise for it, or anything else. Which in God's eyes, makes me the perfect candidate in many ways. This is all I really know. I believe with all my heart, that God has heard the cries of his people in need in Kenya at this little church. He brought me half way around the world to sit in a field around a campfire until 1:30 am, so exhausted I could hardly keep my eyes open, and made me listen to this story about Zion. His purpose in all of this was to call me to do something about it. That much I knew immediately. God never ignores the cries of His people. And He calls other people as His servants to act. Think of Exodus. God heard the cries of the Israelites and called Moses into service. Now I am certainly no Moses. Except that we share this qualification: the fact that neither of us was/is in any way qualified or up to the task at hand! The great thing about being so utterly clueless is that anything that happens as a result of my efforts will be clearly attributable to me in no way whatsoever, but rather to the Glory of God. 'Cause there ain't nothing gonna happen if this thing rests solely on me, I can assure you!
But this I have, and this I offer. I have a heart for these people - for Pastor Walter, for Zion and the widows and orphans they support. I have a voice that I am willing to use on their behalf. I have family and friends who love me and are willing to be supportive of my quirky ideas and passions. And I have faith that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob- my God as well- will work something powerful from what I can offer and am willing to supply. I see signs of it already.
Monday night at a meeting I was approached by a wonderful friend who said to me "Your friends in Kenya have been on my heart. I want to help". As I began to speak excitedly about the micro loans and all the applicants I have and how I don't have enough funds for all of them she said "I can help with that". As I was talking with her, another friend approached me and said "You need money for people in Kenya? Why haven't you asked?". Good question. I haven't asked because I can't overcome my fear of asking. But what God said to me after this meeting was this "If you are going to be of any use to Me you have to overcome your fear of asking people to help you". That's a hard one. I hate asking people for anything. I'd rather just do it myself. But I can't do this one on my own. Maybe for me part of this journey is to teach me how to reach out to others for help. I am certainly comfortable with helping others- much less so about letting them help me.
So- anyone out there who reads this- think about helping my people. For this is how I think of them. In truth they are God's people, but I think of them as my family. My family in Christ half a world away. For a small amount of money you can change a life. There are several ways you can help me. One, of course, is money. For between $150- 200 USD you can lift a woman out of poverty and give her a chance. Get together with your circle of friends and pool your resources. Make a contribution. Second- pray for these women and children. Nothing ever happens without prayer! Third- invite me to speak at your book club, your circle meeting, your bunco group, your Sunday School Class- I don't care what it is- I will come and talk if I am given a platform to speak about these wonderful people. Help me to help them. I can't do it on my own. I need all of you. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Shalom.
Contributions for Zion can be made in the following way:
Check made out to NRUMC-Missions. Memo line: Micro loans for Kenya
Mail to:
NRUMC
8501 Honeycutt Road
Raleigh, NC 27615
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