Sanctuary
Inspired by an hour plus at Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary
A place peaceful and beautiful
scenes so idyllic and right
you feel it in your stomach
it starts to satisfy, soothe and excite your soul
A place where quiet and slow come naturally, fit with ease
it's difficult to hurry even if you want to
A look at your watch is a pleasant surprise at how little time has passed
but finally, it's hard to go
Banishment from Eden must have been an awful thing
God beyond all names, be sanctuary for my soul
so my departure will not mean
I am banished from Eden again
-Monica, 5/8/08
Link to Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Bicycle Church
Gethsemane's Green Group is planning to get a bike rack.
I assume this photo from http://www.mandie.net/images/maastricht/im000588.jpg is not what they're planning. The site on which its posted says its an old church in downtown Maastricht serving as a bicycle parking garage.
I'm sure Gethsemane's future won't come to this. But wouldn't it be great if we had so many people biking in our city that a place like this was needed?
I wonder what it feels like to park & pick up your bike from this kind of space? I wonder what responses it sparks.
.
I assume this photo from http://www.mandie.net/images/maastricht/im000588.jpg is not what they're planning. The site on which its posted says its an old church in downtown Maastricht serving as a bicycle parking garage.
I'm sure Gethsemane's future won't come to this. But wouldn't it be great if we had so many people biking in our city that a place like this was needed?
I wonder what it feels like to park & pick up your bike from this kind of space? I wonder what responses it sparks.
.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Green Churches - Green Theology
Did you see the article in Saturday's Star Tribune about the role of churches & other faith groups in environmental issues? It had a variety of interesting points. (Sorry I don't have the link handy.)
Several were along the lines of churches bringing a somewhat unique sense of moral responsiblity to the issue. There was also the idea that the belief that God created the Earth serves as motivation for us to care for the earth...respect the Creator by respecting the creation...
Its not that I outrightly disagree with these points. But they don't resonate very much with me.
Moral responsibility for the environment can come from many sources, religious faith oriented or otherwise.
My own faith oriented perspective on environmental issues includes an important moral aspect. But framing it as primarily a moral issue seems to miss the crux of how I understand it and what I find compelling. It see it as primarily a spiritual issue out of which naturally grows a moral issue.
Moral issues are too often perceived as externally imposed obligations. Prodding with a religious should is a poor way to motivate true transformation.
Caring for the environment is a matter of living in sync with God, with the earth, the rest of humanity and our own selves. Christianity supports that best not primarily by focusing on moral responsiblity, but by going deeper to focus on nurturing and developing our ability to be in tune and in sync with these relationships in both our awareness and actions.
As far as caring for the creation out of respect for the creator, it makes me think about how I care for a quilt my grandmother made or objects I've inherited from my mother-in-law. I care for them out of respect for these people and the place they have in my life. My care for creation has a lot to do with my relationship with God. But I dont' have the same sense about caring for the earth as I do about caring for my grandmother's quilt. On second thought maybe I do. But its not the part of the sense that this individual made this therefore I take care of it. It's the sense that these things are a tangible representation of who these people are, who I am, how we fit together and how we all fit into the larger pictures of life and its meanings.
Maybe that's what the Christian idea of caring for the creation as an act of respect for the creator is all about. But I tend to hear the typical Christian representations of the issue with a lot more of an external and overly personified orientation than works well for me. My perception of God has become less personified over time and I see the creation story as more metaphoric than literal. I still hear a lot of the stories and statements of Christianity in the highly personified & highly literal ways I first learned them. Sometimes that gets in the way for me. I don't think I'm alone.
In the context of environmental issues & Christianity, how can we avoid letting the limitations of particular stories & metaphors, or the ways we've heard them in the past, become the limits of our definitions of our spiritual relationships? How can we engage our traditions in ways that maximize their abilitiy to work as intended, as tools to engage spiritual relationships?
Several were along the lines of churches bringing a somewhat unique sense of moral responsiblity to the issue. There was also the idea that the belief that God created the Earth serves as motivation for us to care for the earth...respect the Creator by respecting the creation...
Its not that I outrightly disagree with these points. But they don't resonate very much with me.
Moral responsibility for the environment can come from many sources, religious faith oriented or otherwise.
My own faith oriented perspective on environmental issues includes an important moral aspect. But framing it as primarily a moral issue seems to miss the crux of how I understand it and what I find compelling. It see it as primarily a spiritual issue out of which naturally grows a moral issue.
Moral issues are too often perceived as externally imposed obligations. Prodding with a religious should is a poor way to motivate true transformation.
Caring for the environment is a matter of living in sync with God, with the earth, the rest of humanity and our own selves. Christianity supports that best not primarily by focusing on moral responsiblity, but by going deeper to focus on nurturing and developing our ability to be in tune and in sync with these relationships in both our awareness and actions.
As far as caring for the creation out of respect for the creator, it makes me think about how I care for a quilt my grandmother made or objects I've inherited from my mother-in-law. I care for them out of respect for these people and the place they have in my life. My care for creation has a lot to do with my relationship with God. But I dont' have the same sense about caring for the earth as I do about caring for my grandmother's quilt. On second thought maybe I do. But its not the part of the sense that this individual made this therefore I take care of it. It's the sense that these things are a tangible representation of who these people are, who I am, how we fit together and how we all fit into the larger pictures of life and its meanings.
Maybe that's what the Christian idea of caring for the creation as an act of respect for the creator is all about. But I tend to hear the typical Christian representations of the issue with a lot more of an external and overly personified orientation than works well for me. My perception of God has become less personified over time and I see the creation story as more metaphoric than literal. I still hear a lot of the stories and statements of Christianity in the highly personified & highly literal ways I first learned them. Sometimes that gets in the way for me. I don't think I'm alone.
In the context of environmental issues & Christianity, how can we avoid letting the limitations of particular stories & metaphors, or the ways we've heard them in the past, become the limits of our definitions of our spiritual relationships? How can we engage our traditions in ways that maximize their abilitiy to work as intended, as tools to engage spiritual relationships?
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Great God Language
I really like the language for God (if you will, which I think most of my readers will) that Aron used in the blessing Sunday. I grabbed a pencil to jot it down. If I got it right it was:
Holy Eternal Majesty
Holy Incarnate Word
Holy Abiding Spirit
I think it uses traditional language, patterns and concepts, in a way that I suspect makes it accessible and comfortable for many people.
At the same time it opens and expands the possibilities for the way we understand these words (and the way we experience and express our relationship with God) beyond the limits of some of the traditional concepts and language.
If you're inclined to an anthropomorphous and/or male concept of God. I think that can easily fit into this. I don't think this will be too jarring or objectionable. But if you're not, the same applies.
This is a wonderful breath of fresh air.
This is a good step in a direction I want to keep walking.
This is a good step in clearing a path I hope will be available for my children to walk with fewer roadblocks to negotiate than I have found.
This is a good step in clearing a path I hope becomes available for people on the boarder of being disinterested in and disenfranchised from church because for them it is defined by limits that neither fit their lives, nor in my opinion really fit Christianity.
I have no objection to humanized gender specific language for God, or other tangible metaphors for God. I think we should use some of them more. But the humanized male metaphors have so dominated our church and culture that we've often not realized they're metaphors. We've let one or two particular images define and limit our concept of God and with it our spiritual lives and relationship with God.
Thank you again Aron, for helping to open a window.
Holy Eternal Majesty
Holy Incarnate Word
Holy Abiding Spirit
I think it uses traditional language, patterns and concepts, in a way that I suspect makes it accessible and comfortable for many people.
At the same time it opens and expands the possibilities for the way we understand these words (and the way we experience and express our relationship with God) beyond the limits of some of the traditional concepts and language.
If you're inclined to an anthropomorphous and/or male concept of God. I think that can easily fit into this. I don't think this will be too jarring or objectionable. But if you're not, the same applies.
This is a wonderful breath of fresh air.
This is a good step in a direction I want to keep walking.
This is a good step in clearing a path I hope will be available for my children to walk with fewer roadblocks to negotiate than I have found.
This is a good step in clearing a path I hope becomes available for people on the boarder of being disinterested in and disenfranchised from church because for them it is defined by limits that neither fit their lives, nor in my opinion really fit Christianity.
I have no objection to humanized gender specific language for God, or other tangible metaphors for God. I think we should use some of them more. But the humanized male metaphors have so dominated our church and culture that we've often not realized they're metaphors. We've let one or two particular images define and limit our concept of God and with it our spiritual lives and relationship with God.
Thank you again Aron, for helping to open a window.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Church All Over the Place
There was a lot of church going on after church today.
Lots of people seemed to be connecting with lots of other people...building relationships, exchanging information & ideas, helping one another out, making discoveries, making plans...wonderful, exciting.
Wouldn't it be fun to hang out together and talk and connect like this more? Wouldn't it be great if we started to see this as church just as much as we see our formal service time as church? Not seeing church as either/or, but seeing church as both kinds of interaction (and many more) in ways that would inform and enrich all the ways we interact.
Makes me think of my visit to Solomon's Porch last week....the atmosphere the couches there create...their awareness that their community exits wherever the people of Solomon's Porch find themselves...
I'm also thinking about how much rich spirituality I experience outside other defined limits of church and how I want to be able to acknowledge and experience more of that too. I have a lot more thoughts about that. Too many to tackle effectively in this post.
Lots of people seemed to be connecting with lots of other people...building relationships, exchanging information & ideas, helping one another out, making discoveries, making plans...wonderful, exciting.
Wouldn't it be fun to hang out together and talk and connect like this more? Wouldn't it be great if we started to see this as church just as much as we see our formal service time as church? Not seeing church as either/or, but seeing church as both kinds of interaction (and many more) in ways that would inform and enrich all the ways we interact.
Makes me think of my visit to Solomon's Porch last week....the atmosphere the couches there create...their awareness that their community exits wherever the people of Solomon's Porch find themselves...
I'm also thinking about how much rich spirituality I experience outside other defined limits of church and how I want to be able to acknowledge and experience more of that too. I have a lot more thoughts about that. Too many to tackle effectively in this post.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Prayer at Work
When I went back to work after a death in my family I received a sympathy card signed by many of my co-workers.
People who, to the best of my knowledge before this, may or may not pray at all said things like "you and your family are in our prayers." Even when people I know to be religiously active mentioned that I was in their prayers it was striking. That sort of thing isn't usually part of my relationship with co-workers.
Of course maybe they aren't all really praying. Maybe its like the greeting, "How are you?" Sometimes you can take the question literally, sometimes not. It seems sadly cynical and disrespectful to think that, yet possibly naive not to. But either way, the statments in the card are holistic and human expressions of relationship of a kind that aren't often made among co-workers.
Thank you to all for your thoughts, prayers and sympathies.
People who, to the best of my knowledge before this, may or may not pray at all said things like "you and your family are in our prayers." Even when people I know to be religiously active mentioned that I was in their prayers it was striking. That sort of thing isn't usually part of my relationship with co-workers.
Of course maybe they aren't all really praying. Maybe its like the greeting, "How are you?" Sometimes you can take the question literally, sometimes not. It seems sadly cynical and disrespectful to think that, yet possibly naive not to. But either way, the statments in the card are holistic and human expressions of relationship of a kind that aren't often made among co-workers.
Thank you to all for your thoughts, prayers and sympathies.
Friday, March 14, 2008
An Exciting Conversation
One of my kids goes to a weekly class. During the class I often find myself sitting in a waiting room with other parents. One of these parents, I knew from previous conversation, is Muslim. As much as I love to talk with people about religion and their experiences of it, of course I don't normally grab near strangers and begining inquiry. So that was about about as far as it went.
This week before the class it happened I had listened to a Speaking of Faith broadcast, "A New Voice for Islam" about Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America. So I dared to ask this parent if she knew the organization.
She asked about what the topic of the program had been. She soon told me that people are hesitant to talk about religion (and politics), but she thinks, why not, and said she's not easily offended. Those are usually my lines!! Noting that people in America are often not well informed about Islam or about things outside of America (which I have no doubt is true and applies to me more than I like to admit), she said she likes it when people ask about her religion. You can be sure I took that as an invitation I wasn't going to pass up!
She and I were joined by a Mormon parent and carried on a fascinating conversation for the remainder of the time of the class! Usually I'm trying to prod my child and the friend that rides with us to get ready to go. This time they were ready before we managed to conclude the conversation!
I'm sure it's a conversation that will continue. I'm excited and grateful.
This week before the class it happened I had listened to a Speaking of Faith broadcast, "A New Voice for Islam" about Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America. So I dared to ask this parent if she knew the organization.
She asked about what the topic of the program had been. She soon told me that people are hesitant to talk about religion (and politics), but she thinks, why not, and said she's not easily offended. Those are usually my lines!! Noting that people in America are often not well informed about Islam or about things outside of America (which I have no doubt is true and applies to me more than I like to admit), she said she likes it when people ask about her religion. You can be sure I took that as an invitation I wasn't going to pass up!
She and I were joined by a Mormon parent and carried on a fascinating conversation for the remainder of the time of the class! Usually I'm trying to prod my child and the friend that rides with us to get ready to go. This time they were ready before we managed to conclude the conversation!
I'm sure it's a conversation that will continue. I'm excited and grateful.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Striving for Community
We're always striving for something. That's good. But sometimes we strive so much for that elusive thing that we don't realize the ways we already have it. We let it slip through our lives under appreciated, under engaged.
I got to thinking about this related to community. Why do I fail to appreciate the community I have? A-ha! Maybe because my relationships are so compartmentalized that they don't integrate to the point that they feel like community. Its as if work, church, my kids' school, various friends, relatives, etc. all exist in worlds of their own. The relationships I have in those contexts have boundaries of expectation and commitment that are largely limited to those contexts. Those boundaries can be a hurdle to cross even when it may be appropriate and desirable to do so.
But some of the boundaries are in my mind. I see co-workers, people from church, parents of my kids' friends, etc. when I could expand my thinking to see more holistically. I could be more mindful and appreciative of the relationships I have with these people. I could recognized that these are people with whom there may be potential to expand relationships and community if I (and they) are willing to open windows, doors, maybe eventually even take down walls of the boxes of our lives.
I'm not looking to invade any one's life. That's obnoxious. Nor am I looking for all my compartmentalized relationships to overlap. I think that would be too homogeneous, too stifling. But I would like a lot more integration than I have now.
I got to thinking about this related to community. Why do I fail to appreciate the community I have? A-ha! Maybe because my relationships are so compartmentalized that they don't integrate to the point that they feel like community. Its as if work, church, my kids' school, various friends, relatives, etc. all exist in worlds of their own. The relationships I have in those contexts have boundaries of expectation and commitment that are largely limited to those contexts. Those boundaries can be a hurdle to cross even when it may be appropriate and desirable to do so.
But some of the boundaries are in my mind. I see co-workers, people from church, parents of my kids' friends, etc. when I could expand my thinking to see more holistically. I could be more mindful and appreciative of the relationships I have with these people. I could recognized that these are people with whom there may be potential to expand relationships and community if I (and they) are willing to open windows, doors, maybe eventually even take down walls of the boxes of our lives.
I'm not looking to invade any one's life. That's obnoxious. Nor am I looking for all my compartmentalized relationships to overlap. I think that would be too homogeneous, too stifling. But I would like a lot more integration than I have now.
Maybe a way forward is to continue to say this:
I have community. How did I experience it today?
Friday, February 15, 2008
Odd Man (sic?) Out Again
As it goes on the web, one thing led to another until I was taking a survey comparing myself to other Americans on religious measures. (If you want to join the fun go to the bottom of the page at The Association or Religion Data Archives).
The result that most caught my attention came from the question asking if I think God is a he. Of course I said (any guesses....?) that I strongly disagree. Hope I didn't shock too many of you too badly.
What surprised me was how many women matching my age group, education level and who identified as Protestant differ in perspective from me.
The result that most caught my attention came from the question asking if I think God is a he. Of course I said (any guesses....?) that I strongly disagree. Hope I didn't shock too many of you too badly.
What surprised me was how many women matching my age group, education level and who identified as Protestant differ in perspective from me.
- Those who disagree (7%) or strongly disagree (15%) that God is a he total 22%.
- Those undecided are 26%.
- Those who agree or strongly agree that God is a he total 52%
That got me to wondering about those of the same demographic but of no religion. On this measure I'd fit in better there.
- Those who don't think God is a he are 67%.
- Undecided 21%.
- Those who think God is a he are 12%
I'm tempted to make so much more comment on this.....but I'm afraid to do it here in such a one way form of potentially public communication...too much potential for button pushing and misunderstanding.
Want to talk further? Let me know. This and so many other topics of even greater importance deserve open honest conversation that they too rarely get.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
A Banner Day
Today, through various means, initially including what appears to be a chance circumstance, I found two poems that made a significant impression on me way back in high school, that I haven't known where to find, and lyrics to a song that I find quite intriguing.
If you're interested or care to indulge me, they are:
William Carlos Williams, "The Red Wheelbarrow"
Countee Cullen, "Any Human to Another"
Dar Williams, "The Christians and the Pagans"
If you're interested or care to indulge me, they are:
William Carlos Williams, "The Red Wheelbarrow"
Countee Cullen, "Any Human to Another"
Dar Williams, "The Christians and the Pagans"
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Isolation
Yesterday I was recognized for a mile mark in years of service with my current employer. Wow - I've known some of the people I work with for a long time! Even some of the co-workers who I've only known for a short part of my tenure are people with whom I've spent many many hours. And I think I spend more time in the room in which I work at my paid job than I spend in any other space than my bed.
In contrast, I spend little bits of time with parents, children and others at church. (Not to mention my limited time with my own family, but thats a separate topic, sort of.) I experience increasingly good connections in those times. But they seem so limited and undeveloped. I want so much more.
I want to quit my job and study theology, work out a whole bunch of ideas I have for children's and family ministry at church, and connect with other parents and ministers and people of my faith and of other faiths and of no faith at all. I want to engage in all sorts of this kind of endeavor. I want to be able to dedicate time to this - without stealing it from so many other parts of my life and I want to be able to dedicate enough time to this to make more than the little bit of slow progress I seem to be able to make.
But even if I quit my job to do that (which I don't really consider a viable option, just a dream), would it really work? Where are the people to connect with? I'm an introvert, so I can sit here at my computer or go over to church and have a good time doing all kinds of projects all by myself. But in the end, much of my goal is to have something together as a community. And how can I have or develop that community based on the little snatches of time that myself or any of the rest of us can muster to spend time connecting in one form or the other?
Some good things are happening and I guess I just have to keep at it....keep building on those...and I plan to....but right now I'm impatient, frustrated, discouraged, questioning.
Anybody have any perspective? The same or different?
In contrast, I spend little bits of time with parents, children and others at church. (Not to mention my limited time with my own family, but thats a separate topic, sort of.) I experience increasingly good connections in those times. But they seem so limited and undeveloped. I want so much more.
I want to quit my job and study theology, work out a whole bunch of ideas I have for children's and family ministry at church, and connect with other parents and ministers and people of my faith and of other faiths and of no faith at all. I want to engage in all sorts of this kind of endeavor. I want to be able to dedicate time to this - without stealing it from so many other parts of my life and I want to be able to dedicate enough time to this to make more than the little bit of slow progress I seem to be able to make.
But even if I quit my job to do that (which I don't really consider a viable option, just a dream), would it really work? Where are the people to connect with? I'm an introvert, so I can sit here at my computer or go over to church and have a good time doing all kinds of projects all by myself. But in the end, much of my goal is to have something together as a community. And how can I have or develop that community based on the little snatches of time that myself or any of the rest of us can muster to spend time connecting in one form or the other?
Some good things are happening and I guess I just have to keep at it....keep building on those...and I plan to....but right now I'm impatient, frustrated, discouraged, questioning.
Anybody have any perspective? The same or different?
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Ashes
What if instead of a priest giving us all ashes, we gave them to each other?
What if we shared them as paritioners one to another?
What if we were given our ashes by the people closest to us? By the oldest or youngest in our family?
What if we were to impose ashes on those closest to us?
What if we shared the ashes as neighbors or friends?
What if ashes were shared among strangers on the bus?
We are all dust and to dust we shall return.
What if we shared them as paritioners one to another?
What if we were given our ashes by the people closest to us? By the oldest or youngest in our family?
What if we were to impose ashes on those closest to us?
What if we shared the ashes as neighbors or friends?
What if ashes were shared among strangers on the bus?
We are all dust and to dust we shall return.
Do You Hate Lent?
Are you familiar with the perspective of church as a judgemental, condemning place where one is coerced into submission to perscribed beliefs and obligations (or guilt for not submitting)?
In contrast, this year as Lent starts I'm thinking about faith and church as providing a safe place to admit struggles, sins and shortcomings. The degree to which that ideal is realized of course varies. But I think the degree to which I'm able to make those admissions is largely based in my faith. And I think I need to let my faith help me make more of those admissions.
It's not about condemnation or self abasement. It's not about taking on undue guilt of one form or the other. It's not about an emphasis on the negative.
It's about being able to stop being defensive. It's about being able to be honest. It's about being able to let go. It's about the liberation and life that can enter oneself and one's relationships when we're able to admit our role in problems and conflicts instead of building up walls of defense from which we throw grenades of blame.
It becomes about living the liturgy in daily life.
In contrast, this year as Lent starts I'm thinking about faith and church as providing a safe place to admit struggles, sins and shortcomings. The degree to which that ideal is realized of course varies. But I think the degree to which I'm able to make those admissions is largely based in my faith. And I think I need to let my faith help me make more of those admissions.
It's not about condemnation or self abasement. It's not about taking on undue guilt of one form or the other. It's not about an emphasis on the negative.
It's about being able to stop being defensive. It's about being able to be honest. It's about being able to let go. It's about the liberation and life that can enter oneself and one's relationships when we're able to admit our role in problems and conflicts instead of building up walls of defense from which we throw grenades of blame.
It becomes about living the liturgy in daily life.
- What if I asked my spouse to remind me through Lent that we are dust and to dust we will return?
- What if in the midst of an arguement I set aside blaming the other (even if they are to blame for something) and admitted my role in the problem?
- What if we regularly exhanged peace at home?
- What if we understood our dinner table as a place to seek and identify with Jesus, the meanings of his life, death, resurrection and the Spirit in and surrounding us?
- Would we go in peace to love and serve? By the time Easter comes, would we find ourselves rejoicing in the power of the Spirit?
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
A Share in a Priestly Office
I'm not going to bother to get this post all refined, because if I do it will probably never get posted. So, take it for what it is....a few thoughts that I think are meaningful & relevant, but that are not well edited for the level of precision and balance that my perfectionism (or some equally difficult quality) tends to compel me toward.
I'm reading "The Gnostic Gospels" by Elaine Pagels. In the chapter "God the Father/God the Mother" she writes (pg 60):
Wow - I wonder what the experiences of these women were like! Its exciting to have the threads of equality and liberation for women go back this far, while discouraging to find such appalling views related to women as the mainstream of our heritage. (And it still shows of course.) It's remarkable in the face of the fact that the issue seems to have been at hand back in the early days of Christianity, that ordination of women has been very much an issue within my lifetime. (I'm well aware as I say this, that there are those who have a very different perspective on this and who would see me as very misled from God's will for my life and role in saying this. I'm tempted to go on about my experiences in such settings...but that would be a digression.)
But yet another quote brings me to an even more widely reaching issue. The quote from Tertullian, referring to the 'precepts of ecclesiastical discipline concerning women' says:
This makes me wonder, who are we now excluding from a share in priestly office?
Obviously the controversy in so many churches regarding ordination (to various offices) of people who are gay or lesbian comes to mind.
But think further.
I'm reading "The Gnostic Gospels" by Elaine Pagels. In the chapter "God the Father/God the Mother" she writes (pg 60):
"Worst of all, from Irenaeus' viewpoint, Marcus invited women to act as priests in celebrating the eucharist with him: he 'hands the cups to women' to offer up the eucharistic prayer, and to pronounce the words of consecration."
And she quotes Tertullian as saying:
"These heretical women - how audacious they are! They have no modesty, they are bold enough to teach , to engage in argument, to enact exorcisms, to undertake cures, and, it may be, even to baptize!"
Wow - I wonder what the experiences of these women were like! Its exciting to have the threads of equality and liberation for women go back this far, while discouraging to find such appalling views related to women as the mainstream of our heritage. (And it still shows of course.) It's remarkable in the face of the fact that the issue seems to have been at hand back in the early days of Christianity, that ordination of women has been very much an issue within my lifetime. (I'm well aware as I say this, that there are those who have a very different perspective on this and who would see me as very misled from God's will for my life and role in saying this. I'm tempted to go on about my experiences in such settings...but that would be a digression.)
But yet another quote brings me to an even more widely reaching issue. The quote from Tertullian, referring to the 'precepts of ecclesiastical discipline concerning women' says:
"It is not permitted for a woman to speak in the church, nor is it permitted for her to teach, nor to baptize, nor to offer [the eucharist], nor to claim for herself a share in any masculine function - not to mention any priestly office."
This makes me wonder, who are we now excluding from a share in priestly office?
Obviously the controversy in so many churches regarding ordination (to various offices) of people who are gay or lesbian comes to mind.
But think further.
- What if the person offering the eucharist next Sunday was a homeless person?
- What if it was a lay person?
- What if it was a child?
- What if it was the person next to you in the pew?
- What if it was you?
- What if it was a Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Baptist...?
Who bears the image of Christ in our midst that we are failing to see, failing to let serve us, or failing to honor and bless?
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
The City - Being Killers or Keepers
Okay, I can't seem to get these published in the right order. So if you would, please go DOWN to the post "The City - Able, Cain & Enoch - The Text" and read up from there. (The City - Being Killers or Keepers last).
So is the city a place of creativity, opportunity and positive things or a place of evil and ills?
My family of origin has some interesting stories related to members of the family who have gone to a town or city for employment, recreation, or other opportunities. One of the family's elders had concerns. The city was seen by this elder as a place where exposure to others with different beliefs and values might influence family members to immorality and other err.
Has it been? Of course I can't claim that all responses to situations in the city have been sinless. Furthermore, I don't think all family members would agree about which responses to count as a demonstration of downfall and which to count as demonstration of growth. But I see a lot of spiritual growth and good that has come through first hand exposure, and in some cases the good fortune of friendship, with the "other" that the streets of the city have connected me with.
The city's concrete moves me away from nature, but it connects me with people of diverse experience, belief and perspective. This too is a spiritual issue that connects us with deep and basic things. Too often such differences lead members of the human family to be their brother's competitor or even killer as Cain was. The city affords us many opportunities to make choices that perpetuate our separation from those who differ from us, or that help us be each other's keepers.
In the middle of this city, in our Garden of Gethsemane, how do we do that? How else can we do that?
So is the city a place of creativity, opportunity and positive things or a place of evil and ills?
My family of origin has some interesting stories related to members of the family who have gone to a town or city for employment, recreation, or other opportunities. One of the family's elders had concerns. The city was seen by this elder as a place where exposure to others with different beliefs and values might influence family members to immorality and other err.
Has it been? Of course I can't claim that all responses to situations in the city have been sinless. Furthermore, I don't think all family members would agree about which responses to count as a demonstration of downfall and which to count as demonstration of growth. But I see a lot of spiritual growth and good that has come through first hand exposure, and in some cases the good fortune of friendship, with the "other" that the streets of the city have connected me with.
The city's concrete moves me away from nature, but it connects me with people of diverse experience, belief and perspective. This too is a spiritual issue that connects us with deep and basic things. Too often such differences lead members of the human family to be their brother's competitor or even killer as Cain was. The city affords us many opportunities to make choices that perpetuate our separation from those who differ from us, or that help us be each other's keepers.
In the middle of this city, in our Garden of Gethsemane, how do we do that? How else can we do that?
The City - From Eden to a New Place
I'm starting to wonder if this might be another story of departure from Eden. Maybe the land Cain was cut off from was the land of Eden. He went to live in a place wandering east of Eden. He was cut off from the land of the garden, where nature and humanity had lived in sync for a time, where God and people had walked together and where people were to be their brother's keeper. Cain had not been his brother's keeper. He was his brother's competitor and killer. As a result Able's blood cries out to God from the ground, Cain is under a curse and driven from the ground. It seems an interesting parallel to Adam and Eve being driven from the garden.
But Cain's anticipation of hopeless vulnerable wandering doesn't appear to happen. Most obviously God gives him a mark of protection. But note also, Cain doesn't seem to keep wandering. He establishes a family and builds a city. From that comes all kinds of things that we might regard as a mixture of good and bad, potential realized, failure and grace.
But Cain's anticipation of hopeless vulnerable wandering doesn't appear to happen. Most obviously God gives him a mark of protection. But note also, Cain doesn't seem to keep wandering. He establishes a family and builds a city. From that comes all kinds of things that we might regard as a mixture of good and bad, potential realized, failure and grace.
Monday, January 14, 2008
The City - Cut Off From the Land
Cain laments that he will be cut off from the land and cut off from God.
I have to wonder again about what the text means. What is "the land"? A certain part of land? An area of land in which to root oneself? The land of the earth itself?
To my ears, being cut off from the land, and eventually ending up in a city, as Cain did, makes me think of the differences in my relationship with the land and nature associated with my rural farm upbringing and my current city life.
In the city I'm not sure where to go to see the sunset on the horizon. City light obscures the stars. I dare to go out in blizzards and drive around with tornadoes a few miles away. Rain determines whether or not a put on a jacket, not when I go to work in a field or whether or not there is a crop.
In the city my perception of location and how to get from point A to point B is not shaped by trees, rocks and animal paths as it might have been in older times or more remote places than I have lived. Neither is it framed by the gravel mile roads of the rural area that is still partly home to me. Rather it closes in, proscribed block by block by concrete that moves my feet & heart that much farther from the earth.
In spite of the strengths of the city that I value, I'm always torn. Maybe someday I'll return to the country. Why knows. I don't like being this removed from the land. It's not just an aesthetic or recreational issue. It's a spiritual issue. Earth, air and water are old and basic to our being, both physically and otherwise. Consider their role in our creation story. Our natural selves (in a good sense of the word) resonate with them. Connecting with them connects us to something old, deep, vast and basic. The freeways and sidewalks, 35W, 4th Ave S, new streets in the outer suburbs, are new and short lived. Their origins, in this part of the world, connect us back a few years to a century or so. That's more meaningful and worthwhile than we often realize. But it isn't the same. Could this be why Cain complained of being cut off from the land and being cut off from God almost in the same breath?
But there is the other side....evidence of hope in the text and experience of spiritual connections brought through the city. More on that in another post.
I have to wonder again about what the text means. What is "the land"? A certain part of land? An area of land in which to root oneself? The land of the earth itself?
To my ears, being cut off from the land, and eventually ending up in a city, as Cain did, makes me think of the differences in my relationship with the land and nature associated with my rural farm upbringing and my current city life.
In the city I'm not sure where to go to see the sunset on the horizon. City light obscures the stars. I dare to go out in blizzards and drive around with tornadoes a few miles away. Rain determines whether or not a put on a jacket, not when I go to work in a field or whether or not there is a crop.
In the city my perception of location and how to get from point A to point B is not shaped by trees, rocks and animal paths as it might have been in older times or more remote places than I have lived. Neither is it framed by the gravel mile roads of the rural area that is still partly home to me. Rather it closes in, proscribed block by block by concrete that moves my feet & heart that much farther from the earth.
In spite of the strengths of the city that I value, I'm always torn. Maybe someday I'll return to the country. Why knows. I don't like being this removed from the land. It's not just an aesthetic or recreational issue. It's a spiritual issue. Earth, air and water are old and basic to our being, both physically and otherwise. Consider their role in our creation story. Our natural selves (in a good sense of the word) resonate with them. Connecting with them connects us to something old, deep, vast and basic. The freeways and sidewalks, 35W, 4th Ave S, new streets in the outer suburbs, are new and short lived. Their origins, in this part of the world, connect us back a few years to a century or so. That's more meaningful and worthwhile than we often realize. But it isn't the same. Could this be why Cain complained of being cut off from the land and being cut off from God almost in the same breath?
But there is the other side....evidence of hope in the text and experience of spiritual connections brought through the city. More on that in another post.
The City - Able, Cain & Enoch - The Text
This post & the 3 below (no, make that above...) go together are related to a post on The Vicar's Page about the City, especially as referenced in Gen 4.
The Cain & Able story doesn't make clear why God accepted Able's offering but not Cain's. As far as I can tell Cain made a good faith offering & God rejected it. That bothers me, and if I were Cain, I would be even more upset about it. But would I go kill my brother over it? I don't think so.
The more I think about it the more it seems that at some point thousands of years ago the tellers & hearers of this story must have had a context that gave them more, or at least different things, to go on to understand the story. Reading a few things I could quickly find raises some interesting ideas (the story might related back to a Sumerian mythology, it might be a priestly statement about what kinds of offerings are prefered, it might represent a conflict between hersmen & agrarian oriented people, there's midrash about Cain & Able's conflict having been over women, there are implications about the names & occupations of Cain's children, .....etc.) Interesting and worthwhile, but it hasn't left me with clarity about how to grasp on to this text.
The reference to a city in the text had not stuck in my memory before. What does it mean? Why was it included in the text? I'm not sure. But with that disclaimer, I'll forge boldly ahead to my next post about what I pick up on with my own 2008 perspective.
The Cain & Able story doesn't make clear why God accepted Able's offering but not Cain's. As far as I can tell Cain made a good faith offering & God rejected it. That bothers me, and if I were Cain, I would be even more upset about it. But would I go kill my brother over it? I don't think so.
The more I think about it the more it seems that at some point thousands of years ago the tellers & hearers of this story must have had a context that gave them more, or at least different things, to go on to understand the story. Reading a few things I could quickly find raises some interesting ideas (the story might related back to a Sumerian mythology, it might be a priestly statement about what kinds of offerings are prefered, it might represent a conflict between hersmen & agrarian oriented people, there's midrash about Cain & Able's conflict having been over women, there are implications about the names & occupations of Cain's children, .....etc.) Interesting and worthwhile, but it hasn't left me with clarity about how to grasp on to this text.
The reference to a city in the text had not stuck in my memory before. What does it mean? Why was it included in the text? I'm not sure. But with that disclaimer, I'll forge boldly ahead to my next post about what I pick up on with my own 2008 perspective.
Friday, January 11, 2008
The City as a the place we work out our corporate life - intro to my reflections
I said in a comment on Aron's blog, The Vicar's Page that I would take a stab at writing about some of the contexts in which I've reflected about the meanings and implications of city. This was spurred by an idea that he says has been sticking with him & that he intends to write about and that I find interesting: that the city is the context in which we work out our corporate life.
I realized when I came here to do that writing that writing about all those contexts at once would end up being a long unengaging blah, blah, blah that no one would want to read.
So, I'll see if I can do any better by writing about one of those contexts at a time. Next post will be the first of them.
I'd though I'd go on to that next post now, but I'm losing energy for it at the moment. Aron only did an intro to the topic, so I'll consider it fair to leave my comments at that level too for now. (Aron, you can consider this as support to keep up your resolution....and as you do your weekly post, I'll comment and/or add a city oriented post here.)
I realized when I came here to do that writing that writing about all those contexts at once would end up being a long unengaging blah, blah, blah that no one would want to read.
So, I'll see if I can do any better by writing about one of those contexts at a time. Next post will be the first of them.
I'd though I'd go on to that next post now, but I'm losing energy for it at the moment. Aron only did an intro to the topic, so I'll consider it fair to leave my comments at that level too for now. (Aron, you can consider this as support to keep up your resolution....and as you do your weekly post, I'll comment and/or add a city oriented post here.)
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Spiritually Transformative Stories
Hearing each other's stories is important.
When you just hear some one's position on something, you might agree, you might disagree, it might happen to strike you, or you might be unengaged.
But when you hear their story.....when you start to understand their experience and how it has shaped them & their perspectives.....that's where there's great potential for spiritual transformation.
Hearing each other's stories offers potential for learning new things about who we are, who those around us are, what our culture is, who or what God is, how those things interact and the ways we fit into that web (or that constellation, that metaphorical city, that collection of slime mold...)
When you just hear some one's position on something, you might agree, you might disagree, it might happen to strike you, or you might be unengaged.
But when you hear their story.....when you start to understand their experience and how it has shaped them & their perspectives.....that's where there's great potential for spiritual transformation.
Hearing each other's stories offers potential for learning new things about who we are, who those around us are, what our culture is, who or what God is, how those things interact and the ways we fit into that web (or that constellation, that metaphorical city, that collection of slime mold...)
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