123 Book Tag

I saw this on Will Deuel's blog.

Here are the rules:

1 - Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. (Just grab one, no cheating!)
2 - Find Page 123.
3 - Find the first 5 sentences.
4 - Post the next 3 sentences.
5 - Tag 5 people, who will post theirs in the comment section.

Here is mine:

“One might suggest that the Star Wars movies are designed for children, and that portraying the notion that war is hell would be too gruesome and emotionally distrubing for a young age group. But this defense fails for the simple reason that, unless it is shown to be morally questionable (and that, presumably, is something most children could relate to on some level), violence is rendered part of the everyday, ‘natural’ fabric of existence - at the very least, not a bad thing, and, at most, the (only) path to redemption.”

(I’m only including two sentences because there are so many dependent clauses involved! So complicated!)

And so I am TAGGING:
1 - Brad
2 - Adam
3 - Justin (welcome to the blogosphere, JZ)
4 - Erika
5 - Anyone else who wants to!

Ignatian Examen - It is Called a Discipline for a Reason

"Recall that you are in the presence of God."

This is the first line of the Examen prayer that I am using this Lent as a spritual discipline. (In fact, I'm inviting the whole congregation to participate.) The Examen is a structured time of prayer and reflection with five or six specific steps to go through at the end of each day. It takes maybe 10 - 20 minutes, depending on how deep I go.

But having done it every night for the past couple of weeks, I have realized a pretty cool thing. During the day, in the "heat of the moment" as it were, I just have to say that first line, "Recall that you are in the presence of God," and suddenly there is clarity and breathing space in a way that there wasn't before.

When something happens that is upsetting, "Recall that you are in the presence of God" calms me down so that I can respond more appropriately.

When my to-do list threatens to overwhelm, "Recall that you are in the presence of God" helps me prioritize my day, moment by moment.

When my latent perfectionism freezes me into unmotivated hebetude, "Recall that you are in the presence of God" liberates me to fail gloriously without fear.

And so forth.

I think that's one of the reasons that a spiritual practice needs to be a "discipline" - so that it becomes ingrained, habitual, so much a part of me that just thinking the first line allows me to sense a bit of what I sense when I do the full thing each evening. To borrow from our Buddhist friends, I am able to get into a state of mindfulness very quickly. Just uttering the first line calms me down, heightens my awareness of the present presence of God, and gives me room to breathe.

It's the same thing with music, too. The first couple licks of "You Got to Funkafize" by Tower of Power are all I need to hear for me to get taken to another place. When I hear the opening of U2's "Sunday, Bloody Sunday," I'm awakened immediately. The thunderous opening of the Dies Irae movement in Verdi's "Requiem" catapult me to a different dimension instantly. It's because I am so intimately familiar with these pieces that just hearing one small part of them elicits my response to the whole.

So it is with a spiritual discipline. With the repetition comes familiarity, and a more immediate access to the fullness of the practice. All of which, of course, is intended to draw us ever closer to God, and to becoming the people God desires that we become.

Methodist Technology - Not an Oxymoron Any More!

Check this out.

Hat tip to Erika.

Do Not Oppress the Alien

There has been a very long and in-depth conversation going on at Locusts & Honey about immigration policy. Click here to read through the comments.

John prompted the conversation by asking "to whom the OT refers to as 'foreigners'" in the several passages that instruct God's people in how to treat them. John wonders, are the foreigners/aliens people in Israel "legally" or are they "undocumented" or perhaps the Bible is referring to all foreigners, regardless of legal status.

Good question, and obviously (judging from the comment thread) an evocative one.

What if, though, the reference to "foreigners" is not so nuanced as we might try to make it? What if the Bible is just talking about non-Jews in general? The Jewish people were chosen by God to be a nation or a people. That "chosen people" status permeates the entire Hebrew Bible. To try to make the term refer to our contemporary idea of immigrants may be a stretch, historically speaking. The national identity of the Jews is tied to the land, to be sure, but physical national boundaries were shifty things back then, and even more so the Jewish national identity is about their relationship with God.

So what if those Hebrew Bible references to the foreigner or the alien are describing how people who have a relationship with God should treat people who do not have a relationship with God? Or perhaps how people of one particular religious tradition treat those of another, especially how those of the predominant tradition treat those in the minority?

Or what if it is all of the above? What if it is a broader, more sweeping instruction than we can imagine? What if a Scriptural listing of alien, foreigner, widow, and orphan calls us to notice any and all who are marginalized by the predominant system, whatever it may be, and then to act justly on their behalf? Then the question becomes not "What country are you from?" but rather "How are you being hurt by the predominant system?"

And then, applying that to the contemporary discussion of immigration reform, it calls people to notice how others are being hurt by the U.S. system of immigration. How families may be separated. How bureaucracy drags the process into inordinantly long times. How unbelievably expensive it is. How predators abuse people by inflating the cost of their services which promise help navigating the unwieldy system. How depending upon which official is considering your case on any given day, you might be approved or denied, seemingly at random. How following one office's instructions to the letter doesn't necessarily meet another office's expectations, which can mean either flat-out denial of your request or shuffling it into someone's inbox somewhere until they are able to dig it out and consider it, at which point they may just refer you to another office somewhere to start over again. And so forth.

For me, the immigration issue is not about language or culture or national laws being broken. For me, immigration reform is all about changing the way a predominant system oppresses, marginalizes, and dehumanizes people.

I am hopeful to hear your thoughts, as we continue an important conversation.

Julius In the News - More On Kenya

This link (click here) has a video story featuring Julius and Sarah.

Julius is on his way to Kenya to bury his brother and care for his family. Please pray for his safety and for Sarah's peace of mind. And while you're at it, throw in a couple for an end to this craziness.

This picture, which was in the Kansas City Star this week, is of Julius holding a picture of himself and his brother.

Soulfari Kenya's blog is a place you might go to hear about ways you can help.

The United Methodist Church is there, too. Click here to read about our denomination's response and here is another little blurb. I am interested in the sentence that indicates some church compounds have become safe havens in the voilence. I wish I knew more about that.

Prayers for Kenya - Terrible News

Edna just sent me an email, and when I read the subject line, "Really bad news from Kenya," I braced myself, and opened the email.

Earlier, I had read this news report - click here - describing an assasination in Kenya, really just one more act of violence among many, I thought then.

Edna's email relayed the terrible news that Julius's brother Melitus had been shot and killed in Kenya. (Last week, I posted an email from Julius regarding his brother Emmanuel - click here.) Melitus was the founder of an orphanage where she had been this summer, and as her email mentioned, had recently been elected to parliament.

Suddenly, the news story I had read earlier took on new significance. Amazing how things change when a generic news story suddenly gets personal, isn't it?

Julius and his wife Sarah were here in North KC in worship on Sunday morning. Now, two days later, his brother is killed, the rest of his family are in fear for their lives, and they are confronted with enormous decisions that will have to be made under extreme pressure. He wants to be there with his family; they are terrified of what could happen if (when?) he goes; the rest of his family is in danger and he wants to protect them; there is a great risk to his own well-being if he goes; Kenya is his home and great violence is being done to it - I cannot even begin to imagine what they must be going through.

I told both Edna and Sarah today via email that my prayers this morning when I read the news were not very pleasant. How much richer would our Christian liturgy be if we could cuss? This morning, I did my best to find out. Please pause and say a prayer for Kenya as you read this.

For Julius, Sarah, Emmanuel, Juliana, and for all the rest ...


How long, O Lord?
How long?
I cry for help ... nothing.
I see violence, blood, death ... and still nothing.
How long, O Lord?
How long?

(borrowed from Habakkuk 1)

Just Another Morning at Home

This morning, Wes says to me, "Dad, why isn't ten pronounced like 'onety'?"

This is a typical question from Wes.

In response, Cori said, "Because then twenty would be pronounced like 'twoty'?" (Say it out loud for full effect.)

This is a typical answer from Cori.

Then they both burst out laughing, and periodically repeated the word "twoty" throughout the morning, which of course sent them into another round of near hysterical laughter.

This is a typical conversation around our house.

Church / State / Politics - Here's a question for you ...

I have a few honest questions, and I promise there is no agenda attached.

I read this announcment yesterday, with some bracketed things in order to keep it objective:

The [Specific Political Party] Women's Club of [Unnamed] County will meet at 7
p.m. Monday at [Anonymous] United Methodist Church, [Address].
Membership is open to all [Unnamed] County women who are interested in the [Specific Political Party] and upcoming election issues.
The meeting is open to the public and will feature longtime [Specific Political Party] activist [John Doe]. He will provide information about the [Specific Political Party] primary elections and caucus procedures. [Statewide elected official also of the Specific Political Party] will also attend.
For more information, please call [phone number].

Okay, got the picture? I hope all the [brackets] aren't distracting.

My honest questions, then are: Is this okay? Can Anonymous UMC host this meeting without transgressing an ethical or legal boundary? Is Anon. UMC endorsing the Specific Party by hosting this event? What do you think?

Reverend Photog...

...is back in action. Click this.

MLK Day - How Big is the Dream?

Click here and here for news about Kenya. There are informative stories and also video posted at both sites.

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, right? So I'm asking myself today, "What would he say about our world if he were here?" Would he call us to contentment and satisfaction at how far we have come, or would he continue to challenge and push us until the dream of peace and justice and reconciliation that he so powerfully announced was realized around the globe?

How is this picture, taken recently in Kenya, different from the pictures of police just a few decades ago, responding to marches and protests led by Rev. King? Different uniform. Different straw that broke the camel's back. But the underlying causes are pretty much the same, aren't they? Injustice - oppression - intolerance - hatred. The powerful wielding their power without any thought or concern for the powerless.

"I have a dream..." is too fluffy for me today. Instead, let's go with this:

So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime -- the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth, and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation, and the world are in dire need of creative extremists. (King, Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963)

May we be extremists for love on behalf of Christ in this bruised and broken world.

Thoughts on the Ordination Process

Why is the candidacy process toward ordination in the United Methodist Church so long and involved?
Because ordained ministry is hard work, and you need a good set of tools in your belt in order to do it.

Why is seminary so hard?
Because ordained ministry requires a depth of theological understanding that ninety hours of master’s degree work can give you.

This is my personal testimony. All I can do is share from my own perspective, and say what my experience has been. I hope that, if your testimony about any of this is different, you will respectfully offer it in the comment section, or post something on your own blog. (For example, read what Brad has to say about his experience.)

I wouldn’t be who I am, nor could I do what I do without having been formed in the crucible of seminary and journeyed the candidacy process together with a group of other Residents in Ministry whom I still count as beloved sisters and brothers. I’m not good enough, smart enough, strong enough to serve Christ as I am called in the church without having had the formation, growth, and learning I was given in the candidacy process and in seminary.

I had a fantastic mentor; I had a covenant group with whom I could share my innermost self; I had relationships with professors, superintendents, and bishops that were collegial and supportive; I had peers who pushed me to excel and who encouraged me when I was sucking rocks; I had Sandy Ward at the Conference Office letting us know exactly what forms we needed to turn in and by when; I had family members and friends keeping me grounded and keeping my priorities straight.

I went into the process as a response to my calling, not in order to figure it out. The candidacy process is not the place to discern your calling; it is where you go in response to it. If you are not called to ministry and certain of that call, wait. Like my Dad said, “If there is anything else that you could do, do it.” And if you are called into a ministry that can be done without candidacy/seminary/ordination, for heaven’s sake don’t put yourself through it!

I dug more deeply into my seminary studies than I had at any other level – high school, undergrad, or master’s – I worked my ass off in seminary. It is a Master’s Degree and it is supposed to be hard; the Church of Jesus Christ/the United Methodist denomination/the souls of God’s children are at stake here, you better believe that I wanted to work hard – for their sake. If I had discerned that I could realize my calling without seminary, there is NO WAY I would have put myself and my family through it! (Although I found that walking the baby in the middle of the night is a great time to study your Greek verb paradigms.)

Instead of worrying about what “the system” required of me, I just did what I thought I needed to do in order to be equipped for my calling. Turned out, it was pretty much the same thing. For example, I found a mentor and was in a covenant group before I learned that those things are required. So I called my DS and told her, and she said “Great! If you found something that works for you, run with it.” My calling is to ordained ministry, and the things I figured I would need to accomplish my calling were there to be found in the candidacy process and in seminary. What a deal!

I am so very proud of the eight years of my life between 1999 when I realized my call into ordained ministry and 2007 when I was ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. And I’ve gotta say, it was fracking hard! Of course it was. It was work, it was struggle, it was formation. I’ve heard people complain about that length of time, but I don’t. I’m grateful to have had that time to prepare.

I’m not saying Deacons and Elders are better than anyone else. This is not an either/or deal here. I’m not saying “licensed/commissioned/ordained” implies “smarter” “stronger” “bigger” or “better” or anything like that. It is just a particular role in the ministry of Christ accomplished through his body, the church. It is a role to which God called me, and I am fulfilled in it, and (I have to confess) proud of the journey I took in order to get here.

And I’m also not saying that after my eight years of candidacy/seminary work, I have finally “arrived” and there’s no more work to be done. Far from it; one of the most astonishing things about going through the process is realizing just how much I don’t know and still need to learn.

And another thing I’m not saying is “Don’t change the process.” I think the process toward ordination can and should be transformed - always reforming, if you will. I am saying don’t make it easier and don’t make it shorter just for the sake of convenience. I don’t want my doctor to have gone through a process that was quick and easy, just so that she could become a doctor sooner and at a younger age; nor would I want my pastor to.

If the process needs to be transformed, let’s get real about doing it. But if all we’re going to do is complain about how long and difficult it is, count me out.



Cross posted here.

Please Keep Kenya in Prayer

My dear friend Edna forwarded me this email from a Kenyan friend:

Hi Friends,
Hope this correspondance find you all safe, well and healthy as we are.
I have been in touch with my famliy in Kenya and so far all but one have been spared the harsh reality there... my brother Emmanuel.

He has been robbed by policemen who beat him with those big sticks they carry for no apparent reason at all. He has been robbed at gun point but all in all he will live to see another day. Right now am unable to keep intouch with him over the phone because that to was stolen... That is the scary news yet we still pray for peace and common sense to return to Kenya. He will be okay. Pray earnestly for peace and calm to return to Kenya. I am trying to pretend that I am okay and do what i have to do.
I also pray that one day our leaders to be held accountable for their actions and utterances of insighting others to voilence. I wish that Justice to be cherished in Kenya. Right now the one thing many Kenyans long for the most is Justice. A system that gurantees every Kenya there legal rights. anyway...

Anyway....

Anyway i found this educative article on BBC website that i request you all read to comprehend the reason behind the chaos and voilence in Kenya. I am encouraged by such article because it does not protray Kenyan as other articles have. This one tries to shed light on the root cause of the problem and some solution to the current problems. And the danger of Democracy in a communal society.
Go to the link below:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7168551.stm

Julius

Julius is a person in turmoil. "Anyway ... anyway ... anyway..." To know that his brother, on the other side of the world, has been beaten and robbed; to wonder if others in his family will be safe; to visualize his home being torn to shreds by senseless violence - we cannot begin to fathom what it must feel like.

Edna wrote:

Dear Andy,
I am so sad and discouraged. I knew Emmanuel had been robbed but I didn't know he had been beaten. Emmanuel is brothein-law of Sarah who was at church with me Sunday and father of Francie that I recently wrote about in my blog. Maybe it will all be settled in some distant future time but my friend had been beaten and I can't help but be very, very sad.
I keep praying.
Edna

Please pray with Edna and Julius a prayer for peace. Please pray for Emmanuel and for Sarah and for Francie. Please pray for justice and peace and calm to prevail in Kenya. I feel like Julius sometimes, like I have to "pretend that I am okay" and just go on with life, you know?

And honestly I feel like sometimes I wish that I just didn't know Edna, so that then I wouldn't know people she knows, so this issue would remain an abstract, other-side-of-the-world news article that I hear vaguely mentioned every now and then. It would be so much easier then, so much neater, so much less intrusive. I could just categorize "Kenya" in a list of "global concerns" that we ought to stay aware of and wring our hands about.

But damn it, I do know Edna, and she does know people who are scared and hurting and almost frantic with worry about what might happen next. Because they hurt, Edna hurts, and because Edna hurts, I hurt. I saw her last night at church. I asked her how she was and she said, "Pretending."

I guess one good thing is that we can all hurt together while we pretend everything's okay, huh?

picture above is from the website of Soulfari Kenya

Addendum (1/18): To clarify, I love Edna dearly and do not regret knowing her in the slightest! When I reread this post this morning, I realized there may be room for misinterpretation there. It may have been clearer to have written: "Sometimes I wish that I could pretend I just didn't know Edna..." I am so happy to know Edna, and I am a better person because I do. (Love you, Edna!)

Ministers' School

After Tim Keel presented on Tuesday, Ministers' School for me kind of went into auto-pilot. I was there, but more focused on managing the logistics, keeping things together, and doing my thing as chair of the board rather than actively participating in the school itself. However I did manage to snag a few bits and pieces from the other presenters.

We had Robert Martin from Saint Paul School of Theology lead morning Bible study Wednesday and Thursday. He took us through Paul's visit to Athens in Acts chapter 17. He noted how Paul had visited the city, getting to know his context, and observing the people's lives. Paul then went to them - into the marketplace - and "met them where they were" to talk with them about Jesus. In this way, Robert said, Paul was able to make Jesus incarnate for the people of Athens - which is what the church needs to do in our own particular contexts today.

Another of our presenters was Craig Miller, from the General Board of Discipleship. If you want to hear a rather standard, "party line" presentataion on church growth ideas, Craig Miller is your guy. After all, he is pretty much the denominational church growth person in his role on the GBOD. And his presentation was jarringly different from Tim Keel. While Tim said to emerge from within particular context, Craig generalized about churches and generations. While Tim cautioned against reductionism, Craig presented lists of things. While Tim said fruitfulness is what happens naturally, Craig said here is what fruitfulness should look like. I will say this, however: we got to play Guitar Hero on the big screen, which was pretty cool.

Our last presenter was Susan Cox-Johnson, who shared some of her thoughts about how the Emergent movement of today is kind of rooted in the Wesleyan movement of way back when. I confess that I was pretty busy during her talk, and so I didn't get too many details (sorry, Susan) - but I do remember how she compared Wesley's field preaching with the Emergent movement by making the claim that John Wesley was adapting his ministry to the context, and trying to figure out the best way to preach the Gospel in a new way so that it would be heard. Here's some more about her presentation.

Bishop Schnase led a little session that was supposed to be "Conversation with the Bishop" but kind of turned into a presentation by the Bishop instead. No big deal, it is always good to hear what Bish Schnay-Z is reading these days. His sermon during closing worship used the metaphors of sculling and white water rafting to illustrate what it's like to try to do church one way when the context really calls us to do things another way. As in, it would really hard to row a scull down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. He used time, but I would use context. Whereas his message was about how at one time sculling was a good enough model, now we have to white water raft. I might say that sculling works some places and other places necessitate rafting. And in fact, at our congregation's planning retreat Saturday afternoon, I did! (That's right, I stole it. And I'd do it again!)

With the end of this school, my two-year term as Chair of the Board ended, and now I am Dean of the School. (My Grandfather told me yesterday he was Dean of Missouri Ministers' School in the mid-1950s, which is kind of cool.) Instead of logistics and details, I'll be responsible for content and faculty. I've got to say, I'm pumped!

Next year:
"Gutenberg 2.0: Proclaiming the Gospel in the Information Age"
Faculty (so far):
Tony Jones, Debra Mason, Billy Reeder
Main ideas:
Just like the printing press did 500 years ago, digital technology has given people access to more information and means of communication than ever before. We know about text messages, online social network sites, streaming video feeds, and such - but what effect do these media have on the message? What does it mean to tell someone that God loves them via a text message? What does it mean to share Christian fellowship via a Facebook group? What does the doctrine of incarnation look like through a computer screen? Can my laptop be an icon through which I encounter the divine?

These kinds of questions (and more!) will frame Ministers' School in 2009, and I for one can't wait!

What song is this?

This is cool, in a very music-nerd kind of way.

Is Ministry the New Idolatry?

I'm at Missouri Ministers' School this week.

Tim Keel said this afternoon that we worship our ministries, and the way he said it was basically saying we are guilty of idolatry. His point was that we attach so much importance to the programs that they become the most important thing, far more important that the faith they are supposed to nurture, not to mention the God they are supposed to serve.

Congregations spend (waste) a lot of time trying to put programs into place rather than allowing things to come up from within the people. It seems like we see the "success" of a congregation and immediately try to emulate it in our own context. Not emulate - duplicate. So we say that what we need here is such-and-such a program and then we bring in someone to do it and try to make it fit our context.

Does your congregation worship it's ministries? Have the things you do become more important than what you are?

That's not to say that we cannot learn from other congregations. We need to hear the stories of other congregations, if not to simply do what they do, then to understand how they do what they do and grow from that. We are connectional; collaborative. Tim Keel's word is "postures." We adopt postures toward life, and it is these postures which we can learn from others.

If we adopt a "posture of availability," we set the stage for the work of the Holy Spirit in a way that is impossible if we try to artficially impose a program or a ministry from another place onto our context. The trick is to stay open, stay "available," stay on the lookout for where God might me moving next, and remember that it might very well be in our midst.

There was more to Tim's presentation, but that idea really caught my attention. Tomorrow we hear from Robert Martin from Saint Paul School of Theology and Craig Miller from the General Board of Discipleship. I'll write more later about what they have to say.

Prayers for Kenya

The violence in Kenya has a face for us here in North Kansas City. Last summer, a member of our congregation travelled there on a mission trip to serve at the Missionaries of Charity home for disabled and abandoned children and women and in the autism unit at an elementary school. She kept a blog and you can read about her experience there.

Edna has been in contact with some of her friends in Kenya, and they are alive, but it is very dangerous to leave the house still. 300 people are reported killed and 70,000 have been displaced, according to the BBC. We are asking for prayers for all of those innocent ones caught up in between the combatants, and for a just, peaceful resolution to the fighting.

There is such power in relationship, isn't there? Without Edna, the violence in Kenya would be just another abstract news story about a political/ethnic conflict on the other side of the world. And we would still pray for peace and for the safety of all the people, to be sure. But since Edna was there, knows people, has been in contact with them, and has shared and continues to share her experiences with us in the congregation, their story is our story, and their suffering is ours.

Life in Christ is a mystery. How is it that my connection with Edna means that I am also connected with her friends in Kenya? It kind of shrinks the world a little bit, no?

Fullness of Advent

The last time I posted anything here, it was December 5th. Today is December 20th. Needless to say, the last fifteen days have been a bit … let’s just say “full.” But it was a good “full” – a “fulfilling” kind of “fullness” that seems to happen every year at just about this time.

I confess a misty sentimentality in the weeks, then the days just before Christmas. I am prone to sit in a living room lit only by the lights on the tree, looking on the ornaments hanging there, the kids’ preschool craft projects like “Scared Angel” and “Christmas Cutie,” the shell from Catalina Island that Erin and I got fourteen years ago on our honeymoon, the ballerina that once hung from the mobile above my crib, the souvenir ornaments from just about every family vacation we’ve taken together, the gifts Erin has received from students over her years of teaching.

Everything else goes away in those moments. Sermon writing, lesson planning, Ministers’ School preparations, worship planning, budgeting for 2008, the everyday stresses of doing ministry – it all just kind of fades out. I am aware of a warmth, or maybe a connectedness, or sometimes it feels like a sigh too deep for words. If I ever meditated I bet it would be a lot like this. Borrowing a page from Buddhism, I am practicing awareness.

The space and time that I spend in my Christmas Tree-induced trancelike state (which might be meditation) in no way diminishes all of the other activity that takes place the rest of the time. I mean, our family did four programs this week, three on the same day for goodness sake! There are extra worship services for which to prepare, readers and musicians to coordinate, and special sermons to write. Parties, lunches, open houses, decorations, gift giving, writing “The Christmas Letter” – it’s all there. But if I have my Christmas Tree Moments, I find I can handle the other stuff without freaking out. Or again as my Buddhist friends might say, I find that I am more fully present in those experiences because of the depth of my awareness.

Yes, the season is full. (So full that it crowded out my blogging time.) But it is a good full, not a frantic, barely able to hold it together, grind your teeth until your jaw pops kind of full. The fullness I sense in the season of Advent is a fullness of presence, an awareness of what is good, a sense that there really is something wonderful that is beyond us, around us, within us.

Isaiah wrote about it first and Matthew jumped all over it later on – Emmanuel means “God is with us.” If ever I lose track of that, you know where I’ll be headed. I’ll be sitting in the living room, in the dark, gazing at the Christmas Tree.

Audio Advent Post

The Missouri Annual Conference posted a podcast I did with this whole "Advent Light" thing.
Click here to listen.

Advent Light: It's All the Rage

“O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!” (Isaiah 2:5)

How does this work for Advent?

"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Did you know that darkness cannot be measured, only light? So it is technically correct to say that there is no such thing as darkness, only the absence of light. If the world suffers, if there is pain, if there is hardship, it is not due to the presence of darkness – it is simply because there is not enough light.

It’s not that it’s dark, it’s just that there’s not enough light.

We can rage against the darkness all we want, but it will do no good - it's not there. Rather, rage against the dying of the light. That's what the prophets did. And do.

Rage is a great word. Though there is an element of violence associated with it, there need not be. Two of my favorite definitions are "furious intensity" and "burning desire." I also like it because it can be a verb or a noun - you can feel a "sense of rage," you can be "in a rage," and you can just plain "rage." Dylan Thomas's text exhorts us to a furious intensity to prevent the light from dying. It's about death, but it might very well work for Advent, too.

Think about how Advent, this season of light, comes as the hours of sunshine per day grow fewer and fewer for us in the Northern Hemisphere. Darkness arrives as we are sitting down to dinner these days. And it is almost as if we try to ward off this impending darkness by draping a few more strands of little bright sparks of color over the bushes outside, put some extra candles on the altar, twist a few cords around the trees. “You can try, darkness, but you’ll not have your say here!” we shout in defiance.

(Or as they might say in the land of Terabithia, “Nothing will crush us!”)

And as the season goes along, as the days get so short it seems like they are just getting started when all of a sudden they’re gone, as we get closer and closer to that solstice moment, more darkness than any other day of the year, just when we feel like we’re never going to see the sun again – the light of the world appears.

Announced with a shining star, Christ Jesus is born again to bring light into the world, to push back against the darkness and illuminate God’s joy, love, and peace where it flickers amidst a dark world of bitterness, hatred, and injustice.

One more strand on the bushes. Nothing will crush us. "Rage against the dying of the light."

Bring the light this season. Let your words, thoughts, and actions be another strand looped onto the branches of the bushes outside. Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

M-I-Z ... Z-O-U

Here's a picture taken at last Saturday's Missouri / Kansas game.