celebrating birth, marriage and the holidays.

The past two weeks included a lot of miles loged, gifts given and received, laughter shared and memories made. Bekah and I are grateful for both of our wonderfully supportive families and  and equally grateful for a community in Minneapolis that we were excited to return to after journeying home.

On the Wednesday before Christmas Bekah, David, Izzy and I got in a car.  Thirteen hours later after a quick stop in Akron to drop David off we were hugging my Mom and Dad in Ohio. Three hours after that we were hugging Bekah’s Mom and Dad in Pennsylvania. Five minuttes after that we were hugging a mattress and pile of pillows. The rest of our time in Ohio was spent driving the well worn path between Grove City PA, Stow OH, and Canton. It was great to see so many friends and family members as we celebrated Christmas, rejoiced over a new baby girl born to my sister, attended a friends wedding and celebrated Bekah’s Dad’s birthday. Our highlights were to numerous to count but certainly included multiple meals shared with family, holding our new niece just hours after her birth (the baby waited for me to be in the same state to be born) and reuniting with my college community at one of my old roommates wedding. Highlights for Izzy included running free outside at my parents house, tearing up wrapping paper and making a few new friends.

Final advent reflections and a new blog for the new year.

After spending the last several weeks reflecting on the season of advent with an incredible group of friends I found myself standing in a candle lit sanctuary on Christmas eve. The lights dimmed and as flame was passed between pew neighbors the light danced around the room as it grew brighter and brighter. The waiting is done. The incarnate Christ celebrated.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

The celebration of advent amongst the wonderful community that gathered each week over the past five weeks has been an incredible experience. I would recommend it to anyone.

With the coming of the new year I have decided to restructure the blog. Bekah and I have realized the need to post personal updates that are separate from my personal banters. Thus… This blog will be dedicated to family updates, plans and pictures while I will be shifting my personal blog to a new URL. All of my regiment blogging as well as personal reflections will now be hosted at <a href="http://this website

I look forward to this new structure for a new year. Happy holidays.

The Peace Candle: Walking in the Light of Jehovah.

Last night a group of friends and I gathered around a room, passed around the scripture and drank deep in discussion about the peace candle. Hoping for a revelation of the kingdom in the world we are surrounded by and searching ways to actualize the meaning of the peace candle in our lives.

Bread was broken, words exchanged, pain shared and wounds bared.

We all brought our junk, our unique perspectives and contextual paradigms. Theology was developed together, the incarnational Christ adored and awaited. Advent was celebrated.

Isaiah 2:1-5

The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. And he will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of Jehovah.

O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of Jehovah. Like the people who were being written to in the book of Isaiah, we long for the light of Jehovah. We hope for the coming of Christ. We desire the kingdom of Jehovah. I am reminded through reading the book of Isaiah, this book of longing and hope, of the righteous yearning and longing for the kingdom that ought to occupy my heart. Sometimes I dont know what it means to desire the kingdom. Sometimes my desires are entirely too weak.

What does it mean to walk in the light of Jehovah? How can we do this in our daily lives?

My personal Regiment this week involves a fast. A personal fast symbolically representing that longing that I desire to have for the coming of the kingdom.

Hope

Bekah, David, our pug Izzy and I returned home to Minneapolis from Ohio today. Time with family was much needed and it was nice to be at home for a time. The highlight of our trip was by far Izzy – she literally stole the show. I enjoyed watching her little pug paws dance around in a sizable yard instead of our cement neighborhood.

Sometimes when she runs she gets caught ip in the ecstasy of it all and attempts to itch the skin folds that she cannot under normal circumstances attend to due to her thick harness. She of course falls in this ridiculous attempt to run with three legs while violently itching with the fourth. It is at that point that I think she is reminded that despite her ability to experience this euphoric freedom of running free, she is still bound by her physical limitations. To be honest I hope she keeps trying, I hope she hangs on to the hope that the impossible can be achieved during times triumph and ecstasy.

Today we celebrate the first day of advent. As we light the ceremonial candle we reflect on the words of Isaiah.

These words are a proclamation of hope. I will not walk through a full exegesis of the book of Isaiah, nor am I competent to accomplish that task with any sense of authority. I will however, note that Isaiah is a book that is written to a group of suffering people. This was a group of tired and defeated folks who needed hope and these words brought that.

And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah.

And his delight shall be in the fear of Jehovah; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his ears; but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins. And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples, unto him shall the nations seek; and his resting-place shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, that shall remain, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

Isaiah 11:1-11

I will note again that I am not competent enough to shed any sense of light on the brilliant and dynamic cultural significance of these words. This lengthy passage is rich with analogy and and significance that would have been obvious to the audience to which Isaiah is written. This gospel of justice for the poor, peace in a violent society and faithfulness reminds us of the hope that we have in Christ.

This week I cling to that hope. These words paint a brilliant picture of God’s peaceful and just kingdom – the kingdom that we are called to actualize in our own lives. I am constantly reminded however, that we are still living in a broken world. The kingdom is realized and found among us as the body of Christ, however, we are still bound to this broken earth.

I think that like Izzy, we should run with passion and ecstasy. We will however, inevitably fall miserably to the broken ground occasionally.

In catching up with my regiment again, my goal this week is to be a spiritual goal. This week, I will strive to understand more about this kingdom I am called to live within by reading the book of Isaiah.

 

Repetition :: Advent

Winter has snuck up on Bekah and I like a thief in the night.

I walked onto a plane heading to Nashville last week with toting with me no jacket. The temperature was well within the range of not dawning my fleece and recognizing that in Nashville it was sixty degrees. Walking off the plane on Tuesday I cursed that decision. I’ll be honest…In the heat of moment (or rather lack of heat) I cursed my very existence. My breath hung sharp and prickly, like velcro on a felt board in the fifteen degree air. Goose bumps arose on my bare arms – arising from my very depths as if my soul was longingly trying to escape from my body  in the wake of this sudden temperature change. I was cold.

Despite the flagrant display of protest that I embodied in response to this temperature and despite the choice words that came out of my mouth as I ran from the baggage claim doors to David’s car – I do appreciate this change. I’ve always enjoyed living in a place where we get four solid seasons. I am desperately in love the rhythm of it all … the romance. I like the changes, the shifts in mood and balance; but most of all I like the rhythm. The repetition.

As December sneaks up on our back door I can feel a catalyst rising up in my spirit. I love this advent season. I made the decision years ago to not let capitalism and corporation get in the way of celebrating this season. The machine has ruined this time for so many and I refuse to be a part of that number.

This season draws us in, it calls us to remember the rhythm and the dance. This season of Advent calls us into the repetition. We invite the kingdom into our lives and we long for it to be actualized. It is a period of longing and aching but also of celebration deliverance.

I want to be about entering into the dance and rhythm this advent season rather then being caught up in the materialism and corporate mess of it all. This season is about remembering God’s faithfulness and longing for his kingdom to be found present in my life.

My unannounced absence.

I realize that I have been absent from the blogging world for the past several weeks. This is due to a busy travel schedule that I have been immersed the past couple of weeks. Life is starting to slow down again and shift back into a groove. I will officially make my return to the blogging world within the next several days.

The sharing of story and the Holy Spirit

In my last post I presented a lament – a cry out against the nature of this goal, this journey of liturgy and routine. I cannot with good conscience say that the entirety of this lament has been lifted from my shoulders. I’m still working through this idea of business and margin in my life.

Last week my goal was to include others in the conversation of what I am doing with this regiment. In essence, I challenged myself to invite others into my story and in that join other stories as well. I alluded to this in a previous blog. The challenge is to step away from this individualistic life style and choose relationship over power and control. To realize that as a Christ follower I need to be accountable to a Christian community.

A friend of mine recently bestowed upon me the greatest piece of wisdom that I have heard in a long time. My friend Mitch is dealing with some heavy decisions in his life and was talking some of those decisions through with me. I listened intently, nodding and giving verbal cues that I heard and cared about what he was saying; offered limited input and asked some questions. I was basically listening. At the end of conversation Mitch thanked me saying:

“I have found that the Holy Spirit works most within me through others. When I’m talking to a brother or sister in Christ I feel the spirit nudging and hear the spirit calling loudest, through their voice and posture.”

My prayer is that the spirit will continue to work in my life through shared stories; that I will be moved by the input of others and that the Lord will allow me to speak into other stories.

—-

This week. I sweep the floor. Just like a monk in a temple, I will sweep the floors of our home – plain and simple.

 

The Lament

This blog is intended to be read within a series of blogs that I have been working on labled, “The regiemnt”. This series is written out of a desire to discover a liturgy within my haphazard life. For more clarity on the project please refer to my post, “The Regiment.”

I’m losing focus. Frustrated, frustrated, frustrated… I haven’t “felt” the regiment this week. I’m dragging. Rushing through lectio devino, putting off relationships, missing Izzy time… it’s been a tough week. Balancing out my work schedule, school schedule, personal schedule and time to complete the habits that have become so valuable in my life has left me lacking sleep and feeling perplexed. This is my lament.

On top of it all – I travel this week. Appointments, meetings, drive time and hotel rooms dictate my schedule for the next seven days. What small amount of routine and liturgy I have been able to entangle into my life will be thrown into the blender of inconsistent meals, long hours in the car and solitude. This is my lament.

It’s a silly lament really, the classic western “I’m just so busy…” lament. I hate this lament; I hate using it almost as much as I hate hearing people use it. Our culture values business. If you are not busy something must be wrong, you’re under achieving, not being productive. The busy are rewarded, the rested criticized for lack of time management and productivity. This is my lament.

This week I’m taking a different spin on things. I’m not jumping off the boat, nor am I slowing the speed down. I am simply taking a different spin. This week I am due for a relational goal. I will move forward with said goal. However, as for the other goals I am going to concentrate on meditation and lectio devina and let the others go about, as they will. Next week will be a new story. I am doing this for two reasons.

1. I’m traveling. I wont be able to spend time with Izzy, bike or eat locally. The cards change this week.
2. As I noted earlier, I’m losing focus. This will give me a chance to gain some clarity and focus. Although I realize that the goal in this regiment was never to feel rejuvenated and refreshed. Indeed, I realize that things are going to be hard and frustrating again. However, a degree of clarity and focus is needed and this will be my attempt to regain some control.

This week I will be focusing on accountability. I am realizing that I need folks to hold me accountable to this regiment, this liturgy. It is no longer healthy for me to attempt to go at this thing alone. This week I will concentrate on bringing people into the conversation about this project and asking for accountability in the authenticity of the liturgy and the consistency. I’m not sure how this will look but I’m leaving it intentionally a bit open ended.

And so I continue.  Week 7. I shift, I change, I breathe and fluctuate. The liturgy I think follows, regardless of whether I’m totally onboard or not. That’s the beauty of liturgy and worship; it flows and dances with or without us. We choose whether or not to be a part of the beauty and repetition in this life.

 

 

 

 

Approaching a Daily Liturgy of Truth and Beauty.

I’ve read that the ancient mystic christians prayed. And when I say that they prayed I mean that they pretty much just prayed. Anthony of Egypt, a man described as the father of monasticism, literally went into the dessert (as many did after him) went into a tomb, and just prayed. All day, every day, one long prayer to God.

What would it be like to live each day as if it were one long stream of prayer to God. A celebration of him, his creation, community and grace. A daily liturgy of truth and beauty. I think it’s possible without going into a tomb (No offense Anthony). I really do. I think it’s within reach to say that we as Christ followers should be doing this – living out every moment of life as a prayer to God. Choosing to see God in all truth and beauty whether there are candles glowing and a bible open with quiet music in the background or not.

I often get caught up in thinking that living my whole life as if it were a prayer means me running around with a miniature cape on acting as if I am the Robin to God’s Batman and maybe there is some truth to that (besides the fact that I generally wear a cape). However, I think that living life as a prayer to God involves more then calling everything that we do, ministry. I think it involves some wonder and some awe. I think this kind of prayer requires us to gaze into the hue of the sky and taste rich bread with creamy butter. It requires us to laugh with friends and listen to music and indulge in poetry and art. It is in recognizing the God given truth and beauty in these subjects that we truly worship the creator of the universe.

This past week’s regiment involved a lot of reading the bible, lighting candles and centering. I loved it. However, although the time was certainly beneficial and very peaceful, I don’t think this is an end all. I can’t approach spirituality as if it is a pill I take in the morning and evening. God’s truth and beauty is everywhere and deserves to be observed and celebrated.

This leads me to my next week in the regiment. Week 6.

This week’s goal in accordance with my original plan, is to be a physical goal. As I thought through this one I knew I wanted to do something with food. It is my opinion that one of the greatest gifts that God has given us is our taste buds and the ability to enjoy good food. However, just like all things beautiful, this privilege to enjoy food has been distorted and twisted in many cases. It takes a quick google of Jamie Oliver to know that our country is a in a food crises.

Thus, this weeks goal. This week I will celebrate the food that grows in the ground we walk on by eating one meal a day that was produced in its entirety by natural products grown within 100 miles of where I sit. Food the way it was meant to be eaten before high fructose corn syrup, pesticides and preservatives were king.

Fridays with Izzy and the next 4 weeks.

This blog is intended to be read within a series of blogs that I have been working on labled, “The regiemnt”. This series is written out of a desire to discover a liturgy within my haphazard life. For more clarity on the project please refer to my post, “The Regiment.”

There’s not a lot that can be said about the absolute joy I found in intentionally spending more time with Izzy this week. I had a friday off of work and got the opportunity to spend most of the day hiking with her. Here are three reasons why everyone should own a dog and go hiking with said dog.

Izzy, enjoying the grass without a leash.

Izzy, fighting a branch.

Izzy and I.

This week ends my first set of four weeks. It’s hard to believe it has already been nearly a month. My original intent was to access all of pieces of liturgy/ habits that I have picked up over the past four weeks and determine which ones will carry over into the next set of four week. I will remain true to this intent.

1. 10 mins in the morning of prayer and meditation: This time has been incredible. This space to center at the beginning of each day set the tone for me to start this regiment and I cannot imagine going on without it. The rhythm that this practice has created truly mirrors my intent to create a daily liturgy and I cannot fathom an excuse to go without it for a day. This practice will continue.

2. Trading the 4 wheeled gas powered commute for a 2 wheeled pedal powered commute: Although not as powerful and tone setting as week 1, this weeks goal was incredibly enjoyable and beneficial. I was even able to loan the civic out to a friend who needed it for a few weeks trusting that I would continue with this goal. Although there were a few exceptions, one due to a bike repair and another weather related, I exceeded my own expectations on this one. I would love to continue with this habit however, I need to add some qualifiers. I start up seminary classes again tomorrow and due to my commute from work to school at night I will have to sacrifice biking in on mondays and thursdays. All other days are in. I also will be doing some traveling for work over the next two months which will also limit my ability to peddle in during October and November.

3. Intentional relationship building with one person a day: This was the most difficult one for me. Although this past week was better it still proved to be stretching and challenging. I do however, think that this goal is a vital part of my regiment and will continue with it.

4. Spending at least one hour with Izzy each day: I’ll be honest, this is something I should just be doing. Like brushing my teeth and showering. It’s sad that I needed to insert it into this regiment to figure that out. Plus, check out those pictures, who could ask for a better autumn hiking partner?! It will continue.

There it is. I will continue with every one of my habits for the next four weeks.

For this next month I want to concentrate a bit more on the liturgical aspect of my habits. The original intent was to find rhythm and liturgy within my daily actions and although this set of goals did just that in some senses, in others they were simply good things to do each day. It will be my attempt this month to find the deeper meaning behind daily each regiment goal.

For this first week of my second set of weeks, I will be approaching a spiritual regiment. As I reflected on how powerful and tone setting my first spiritual goal was I decided to approach a similar goal, but for my evenings. My first instinct is to add an additional time of prayer and meditation into my day. I do however, think that this evening time needs to be a bit more concentrated and intentional. Thus, I will engage in a spiritual practice that has intrigued me for years and has been impacting in the past; Lectio Divina. I will work my way through the sermon on the mount, a text that I love and speaks to me, using the ancient practice of Lectio Divina. Those unfamiliar with this practice should reference this website .

Thanks again to all the kind and encouraging from everyone. I feel very supported and loved in this process and appreciate all the feedback.