An Old Emergence

In May of 2009 I was able to visit South Africa for a second time. While there, my group had the opportunity to visit the Cathedral Church of St. George the Martyr. This was the cathedral at which Desmond Tutu performed his duties as Archbishop of South Africa. Up until that point, I had only ever studied labyrinths and had never actually walked one. There in the courtyard of the cathedral was a beautiful stone labyrinth. I am an experiential worshipper, which is why I think it was such a powerful encounter for me. Here I was in one of my favorite cities (Cape Town), at the church of a modern saint. And so I made the only choice one has to make upon discovering a labyrinth: whether to enter or not.

This year for Lent, I am not really focusing on giving anything up. Instead, I am focusing on ways to improve the way I live my life. While there is a definite spiritual component (which I’ll get to), the bulk of my focus is on my physicality. I am being intentional about the way I eat. While there are many different scripture passages that deal with food, I am always drawn to the passage at the end of the sixth chapter of 1 Corinthians: “You must know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is within you – the Spirit you have received from God…So glorify God in your body.” (The Inclusive Bible) This speaks to more than just food, but to fitness, about the body as a whole. It doesn’t point out gluttony or drunkenness. So often those passages are used to call alcohol evil or are twisted to change the meaning of gluttony to focus on material things. So instead of looking at those kinds of scripture, I like that the writer of 1 Corinthians reminds us that our bodi...

I wrote a blog this morning responding to the tragedy in Japan and the entire Pacific Rim. It was poorly written and emotional. I am not saying that is bad. Tragedy occurring during Lent has become a bit of a hot-button issue for me. So while I affirm my frustrations and the difficulty of understanding why tragedies seem to go hand-in-hand with this particular liturgical season in my life, I don’t really feel like ranting against God or bemoaning my state of existence does anyone any good. And so I deleted it. Instead, today let us take moments to lift prayer to whomever we pray for the loss felt around our world today and for the recovery of those who have lost everything.

holy god who suffers with us, suffers for us, suffers because of us place your arms around us and hold us tight

God of peace and light, we come into your presence today as a community dedicated to hearing from you. Our hearts are heavy with care for the hurt in our world. We think of our sisters and brothers in our global community. In Haiti and Chile there are members of our body struggling to see the Holy amidst destruction and pain. We pray for our extended family in Cuba as they worship with us this morning in spirit. Our hearts cannot help but dwell on the hurt in our own community that we’ve experienced over the last two weeks. Show us comfort Lord. Give us healing. We pray desperately for your divine peace. Yet we cannot help but thank you for the moments of celebration. Today we celebrate the decision this week to advance equality in our nation’s capital, even as we work toward the same goals in our own community. We also ask your blessing on the tithes and offerings of money that are to be brought. May what we give be used to bring your peace and light into each of the lives our communi...

I believe... Those two words are incredibly profound. With them, lines have been drawn for conflict, unions have been formed in peace, and entire faith traditions have been established. When I wrote those two words a few seconds ago, I had fully intended to jump into a long discourse about the many beliefs I hold. For some reason, that now seems inappropriate. Yes, this blog is my bully pulpit to speak about my many beliefs, but that's not really what I want to do tonight. Last night I came home from my "Christianity in the Entertainment Industry" class in a absolute frenzy of frustration, anger, and sadness. This class is forcing me to apply everything I have learned over the last two and a half years of being a student of religion. I am having to cautiously weigh the opinions around me in order to form coherent statements that support my own minority opinion (as far as this class is concerned) about the world, especially as it relates to Christianity. I won't go int...

This morning my mom texted me to tell me that she was carrying the South African flag this morning at church in honor of me and my travels in Africa for a missions emphasis at my parents' church. When I read that message I just started crying. In fact, I'm still crying and will probably do so all day now. And I had to ask myself why this simple statement affected me so much. I have a South African flag in my room along with paintings I purchased while there. Looking at this may make me miss it, but it does not make me cry. I am crying because I love the church. And that statement is such a divergence from where I have been for the last several years. There have been moments over the last few years when I have said that I never wanted to be a member of a church again. I have said horrible things about the body of Christ. And it hurts my soul knowing that I have said such things, because even though we metaphorically refer to the church as the "body of Christ", there is...

"As we continue our worship in the daily patterns of life, may we immerse ourselves in the mystery of the Holy, and may we always seek to dwell where Love is the language most spoken and Peace is the path most taken." For several weeks, this has been the unison congregational response to our worship at Glendale, almost like a communal benediction. This response connected with my spirit for some reason so much so that I committed it to memory and pray it each day. But why? Why this particular response? I think this concept of continuing worship is what first drew me to these words. I cannot begin to count how many times I have both heard and said the phrase, "Worship is a lifestyle, not an event." We do not really have to say that at my church. We belong to a bundle of life, and we live this life through one another. And then there is this concept of "daily patterns of life." As someone who finds himself stuck in the monotony of daily schedules, reframing m...

today i sat in church and cried. i cried hard. my friend allyson, who was sitting next to me, obviously noticed but said and did nothing. for this i am incredibly grateful because, at the time, i was really struggling with why the service was affecting me so much. but now i really know why. today during church, the interim pastor presented an opportunity for people to make themselves vulnerable. he asked any family dealing with job loss to come forward to the altar so that the church could gather around them a pray over them. and i saw people come forward, letting themselves be honest to their church that they were struggling and were in need of prayer, i started to cry. it moved my soul. i sat on the third row of a church with which i have fairly profound disagreement doctrinally and felt the holy spirit move. i saw the church as it should be. i saw members of a christian community hurting, and i saw their sisters and brothers surround them. from that point on i just couldn't keep...