felix hominum

the dysfunctional family

Eventually I will get around to posting a few things about the Anglican Church - my dysfunctional branch of the Christian family.  Where to begin?  While the temptation is to jump on the "current issues" facing the Anglican Church of Canada (translation out of Anglispeak = blessing of same sex unions),  I must begin with what has to be the best comment.  Reported to me by a colleague, from rural Alberta comes the headline from a small town newsrag:  "Same sex marriage?  I'd settle for Some  Sex  Marriage".

While you were sleeping...

I am amazed at how much stuff I do for and with my kids while they are sleeping.  Completely unconscious.  Zonked out.  In the middle of the night, often several times a night, there is comfort to be given, "things" to be changed, blankets and assorted stuffed objects to be rearranged.  They are mostly blissfully unaware of what is happening to them and for them while they sleep.

The middle of the night is often a good time for small revelations.  How often does my Father do the same for me?  How much does God work while I am "sleeping" - literally or metaphorically?  And I go on blissfully unaware of all that God is really doing for and with me.  Sleeping my way through much of His grace.  How much the Father really does for me I will only know someday in the future.

There is time to play and talk and explore during the day.  For that they are fully awake and full of energy for the tasks at hand.  But there is still much to do when they are no longer aware of my presence in the same room - even when I am holding them.  For now I am content to let them sleep - they don't always need to be awake for everything I do.  In fact, there are some things done more conveniently when they offer the least resistance. 

just a question

Amidst the many discussions we have had on ethics recently (courtesy of Paul Flaman), the ultimate post modern relativistic ethical question was posed:  If homosexuality were proven to be genetic, and a gene marker were found, would those folks who are "pro-choice" be in favour of allowing abortion based on prenatal testing for homosexuality?

Advent is upon us

Now that I have sat down to do some work on this Sunday's tasks, I ask myself the question:  what is the difference between the season of Advent and "the time leading up to Christmas"?  I am sure we have lost all  sense of God doing things in His own time.  Like the birth of the Messiah Jesus. 

While Mary probably had some notion of when the birth would occur, I think we would get more out of Advent if we had a lottery each year to determine what day Christmas would be.  Instead of Christmas being on the 25th each year in predicatable fashion, we could simply have someone announce a day during December.  With the management of time and tasks and lists of things to do as Christmas approaches, I think we have generally lost sight of how God suddenly breaks into our world.  How do you plan and prepare for God to show up?

By the way, the readings this week speak of the end times, not the beginning times.  Why should we start off Advent  - a time of preparing for the birth of Jesus -  thinking about the ends of things?  I suppose in some way I am reminded of the fact that ultimately our beginning, like our end, is in the hands of Someone else.  Birth and death alike remove the illusion of control that we so dearly love.

Alpha planning

In a few hours we are going to have a meeting of several people on campus to pray and plan for some Alpha courses next term.  If you aren't familiar with what that is, go to their web site and check out what it is all about.  We are hoping, in addition to the ones already being run (by myself and Donna from AFJ) to have a few more run by some law students.  So we will pray and plan, and welcome anyone who wants to help out.

week of prayer

So many things over the last few days.  For starters, a group of students from 'wheeziana', with deep south accents that just can't be matched, have joined up with students at the U of A for a week.  BSM (Baptist Student Ministries) has been hosting and sponsoring a 24 hour prayer vigil on campus. 

On Friday Greg Idell led a seminar on "Christian relationships", with much food for thought and action.  I'll dissect as I digest.  And tomorrow we will meet in Athabasca Hall for a prayer meeting, semi organized by Matthew.  Of particular note will be some Inuit brothers and sisters in Christ who will share some stories of the Arctic, and how God is working in people's lives in the North.

The weekend ended off earlier this evening as I was sitting in St George's practicing a few songs.  I looked up and a woman in maybe her late fifties was just standing by the door of the church, listening.   She asked if it was alright if she came in, and could she sing along.  So we did.  Margaret lives a few doors down the street from the church, saw the lights on inside, and just decided to come in.  She had been listening for a few minutes before I noticed her.  She joined myself and a few students for an hour of musical worship, some reading from the Beatitudes, and prayer.  Turns out that one student from out of town had met Margaret some time before in another part of the province.  There's more to say, but for the time being, let me just report that Providence is alive and well, and working in His world...

obstacles & opportunities

Have been away helping conduct a weekend retreat.  30 guys away for 4 days.   As I take some time to debrief from the retreat, I'll look at a few of the topics that came up over the course of the weekend.

One area that needs some thinking is how God's grace works with us in our lives.  What are the obstacles to grace in our lives, and how do we recognize and cooperate with the opportunities for grace?  And what is the difference?  It seems to me that we sometimes get the two mixed up.  Difficult times or situations might be obstacles, or they might be opportunities.  Deep huh?

Seriously, one of the key areas of growth as a Christian is learning to be honest enough to recognize and deal with those things in my life which are obstacles to grace.  While God can and does often work in spite of our weaknesses, is there any point in trying to seriously address things like, say, "sin"?  How do I do that without simply becoming legalistic?  How do I do it without falling into the opposite - "God will look after everything, so I don't need to do anything"?

How do we resist temptation?  How do we deal with falling and failing?  What is the place of repentance and confession in our daily prayer?  After a few meetings today, I hope to look a little further at those questions.  Not that I am an expert on either one, but there is a call to be "holy", and as a Christian I need to figure out what that means.

open house

Just a reminder (or an invitation if you haven't heard) that this Friday, Nov 12, there will be a kind of open house/networking sort of thing happening at Cafe Debar.  Starts around 7:30pm.

The purpose is to connect with people who have an inkling of participation in the "unchurch" community of the sol cafe.  We want to make this venue/idea/community a part of the life of Old Strathcona, and there is hope that church reps and individuals who are caught by this vision of a new way of doing church might stop by, connect with Rob and the rest of the gang, have an expresso, and discern what God is calling the ministry of the Cafe to be.

It is fairly messy in some ways, but discovering the lay of the land as you go is always a bit of a messy experience.  At the same time, there is a sense of an adventure in faith in being formed into a group of believers who hope to do mission in a new way.  There is also going to be some further talk about connecting the sol cafe a bit with students and ministries at the University of Alberta.  Pray and watch, and get invovled...

thesolcafe

Yesterday at the sol cafe we looked at a fairly basic kind of question.  Why do we read the Bible?  Since we have folks who come from a variety of streams within the Christian faith, there were a few different answers given in the discussions. 

I tend to think of reading the Scriptures as an opportunity to be "shaped".   What exactly that means I am not certain, but let me say that the action of reading/ studying/ engaging the Scriptures is one of the ways that we are shaped by God.  We talked a bit about the Psalms - how reading the Psalms should shape our own prayers, just as reading the Gospels should shape our character as Christians.

We are constantly shaped by our environment, by the influences around us, consciously or unconsciously.  The same should be true of our reading of Scripture - simply engaging in the activity has an influence on our souls.  Of course, how we cooperate with or block that shaping depends on other factors - our own desire or lack thereof to draw closer, our prayer and spiritual posture berfore God. 

How do I block that shaping which comes from God?  That is one of the chief pieces of self knowledge that we should try to discern (often with the help of a spiritual director).   And to be aware of how I am being shaped gives me a glimpse and an insight into who God wants me to be.  What kind of vessel is the hand of God forming as it applies pressure here and then there...  In the general shaping of our lives as Christians, Scripture is but one finger of the potter's hand.  Perhpaps next week at thesolcafe  we should ask the question  - what are the other ways I am being shaped?

phrases to ban

Just a quick note to let you know that the phrase "God doesn't give you anything you can't handle"  should be banned for all time from every conversation.  It is a favorite response when you run across someone who is facing an unexpected (or anticipated) difficulty or crisis of some sort. 

I first came across this phrase in great quantity a few years ago.  During the time we were expecting Sarah Joy, and during the time immediately after her birth, well-meaning folks who discovered she had a serious heart defect and also has Down Syndrome used this phrase over and over again to try to be "pastoral". 

The intentions I am sure were good, but the phrase is less than helpful.  It basically states that God "gives" us  so called "bad things" in our lives so that we can handle them, or rather because we can handle them.   In seminaries  there should be a course for pastors which is entitled "IT"S OK TO TELL THE TRUTH".  Really, believe me.  There are certain times when it is ok to come alongside a fellow Christian and simply say "wow, life sucks sometimes".  Not that Sarah Joy is a problem that I need to "handle";   it's ok to say:  I don't think that is God's final vision for who that person is meant to be, and in our fallen world, things happen that don't seem all that cheery and bright.  It's too bad, let's look for God to handle things.

Apart from that, the other thing that phrase implies, when used in certain situations, is that God actively wants and wills this or that to happen.  As if everything that happens in the world, is what God most desires to happen.  Nope.  Not true.  Not by a long shot.  People used to think about the difference between what God wills in the world actively, and what God allows in the world.  The point is worth considering.  It would be better to say "God doesn't allow anything..."  rather than "God doesn't give..."

Lastly, this business of handling.   "God doesn't give you anything you can't handle."   What a load!!  I can't handle any of the things God has given me, let alone the things God allows in my life.    I thought the whole point of it all was that God does not allow anything to happen in my life that HE can't handle.    Things that have been left up to me alone to handle, have usually ended up a mess.

Ban that phrase

wordlessness

Somewhere behind the fine arts dept you can find the sculpture graveyard. Among the masses of sheet metal were a few pieces by Rob. How does the sculptor communicate? If that is even what he is doing. If you missed Rob's show it was your loss. Huge chunks of rusted metal (ploughshares & pruninghooks), a dozen or so pieces set up on the lawn of Corbett Hall, catering by Antonio of Cafe Leva, time to wander and listen.

My second daughter, Sarah Joy, does not speak very much. How does one communicate without words? In the busyness of prayer I try to fill the spiritual space with words, but then I contrast again the prayer of the Pharisee and the tax collector. One difference which had escaped me before was the length of the prayers. That of the Pharisee long - full of words; that of the tax collector short, fewer words, more space, more expression of body ("beating his breast...")

Soon again I will be "leading" an evening of Christian worship with L'arche, along with a number of young adults. First it is a bit of a joke to say "lead" - (if you have not heard of it, L'arche is a community of adults with mental/physical disabilities); secondly, how do we help and encourage prayer with and for those who use no words?

And what can we learn from them? What is the wordless prayer of the "broken-minded", let alone the broken hearted?

view from St Joe's

During the course of an afternoon session @ St Joe's College, the discussion turned to the varying answers to the contemporary attittude of "God made me this way" as a reason, a justification, or a positive statement of blessing for who we are and how we choose to live. Lots of sides to take in these kinds of discussions.

Underlying the "God made me this way" statement (at least as it was raised at the time) is what I have come to call the Suzuki worldview - somehow nature has come to be seen as perfect, and anything that appears in nature must then have "God's seal of approval". Sometime tomorrow we shall apply wrenches and ratchets to this worldview and see how it works inside.

if only for a minute

Last night on my way home I took a few minutes to pop in to St George's - about 10 pm. I had one of my guitars in the back of the Jeep and thought I would just go in and play in the empty church for a while. The place has amazing acoustics and just playing for half an hour in a place that has been soaked in prayer and worship is a refreshing experience.

Gives thought to how little solitude there is in our world, how hard it is to really hear the still, small voice.

Of course, (barring the departure of God), there is really no such thing as an empty church.

not in the Glossy Brochure

It's now 2:25 a.m. and they are all finally asleep. Just to let you younger folks know ahead of time, there may be nights when all of your proposed sleep will be spent in the following activities: changing diapers, changing yourself after an attempt to change a diaper in the dark goes horribly astray; cups of water; bottles of milk; singing "Frosty the Snowman" at 2 in the morning because it's someone's favourite and they just can't get back to sleep without hearing it one more time. Finding a particular blanket; and practicing the art of being a human statue, because if you move one inch, the small person looking at you will howl like a wounded coyote.

Someone should put together a small pamphlet entitled "The truth about parenthood", and force it into the hands of love-struck people everywhere...

oikos

Kathy B has told me that St George's Church owns a house in the neighbourhood. The church is thinking of selling it - since the parish priest doesn't live there. Now I have proposed that we take this place and make it a Christian Students' Residence, although things with "snappy names" tend to catch on more, so maybe we could call it something else.

My hope and prayer is that we can use this house to become a home and center for student activities and life. It is just half a block from Lister Hall. The things you find out by accident...I didn't even know the church had a house there. I hope to find out soon if this might be acceptable to the Powers That Be.

grace

What is "Grace"?

I received an invitation to visit the Holy Land this spring - out of the blue. We are leaving sometime in early April. Woo-hoo! It struck me that visiting an unusual place is made a better experience if one takes the time to learn some of the local language, and become familiar with important day to day words. Like learning local expressions for "hello" and "good bye", and "thank you", perhaps even words like "beer"; and then after beer the next most important phrase to learn is "men's room".

The Christian faith has its own daily vocabulary, and it is helpful when trying to journey through it to learn some of the basic words. "Grace".

Jesus told a simple story about a shepherd who had 100 sheep. 99 of them were safe and one got lost. The shepherd set out to look for the lost sheep. Simple story, simple point. The shepherd started looking for the sheep long before the sheep started looking for the shepherd, perhaps even long before the sheep realized it was lost.

God starts looking for us long before we start looking for God - that is the beginning of what we mean by grace.

disclaimers...

This blog is part of an ongoing conversation.  As such it reflects much "thought in mid stream"; not the official views of any particular organization, structure, institution or individual (including the blog owner).  It is often written as one part of a dialogue.  It is speculative exploration through the interplay of many (possibly contradictory) voices and opinions, in the spirit of Boethius.