soul-friending

memorial

2009-02-11T08:21:00.000-08:00

My church hosted a memorial service yesterday for a friend of mine who died too young. 300 people showed up, and many stayed for a meal afterward.

My friend and his family had never visited my church, so nobody else on our staff knew them personally. But my colleagues spent themselves on the event just the same.

It was one of those times when a church is being and doing exactly what it was created for. It was a moment when you get to touch a real-life manifestation of the vision that often seems distant, hazy, not quite attainable...

Yesterday, I was proud of my church.

shape

2008-09-03T06:33:00.000-07:00

"Believe in the holy contour of life"

Jack Kerouac

note to self

2008-08-22T07:55:00.001-07:00

Exhaustion is not a gift of the Spirit.

Viva la Difference

2008-08-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

According to Wikipedia, homogeneity means being the same throughout. Think of homogenized milk: the same color and consistency from the first swig to the last. Homogeneity tends to be an essential characteristic of large social entities such as megachurches.

Heterogeneity, on the other hand, can be described as the quality of being made of many different elements, forms, kinds, or individuals. It is a core characteristic of the metachurch ideal we’re cultivating at Washington Cathedral.

We value otherness; we invite diversity into the heart of who we are as a church. We know how difficult it is to put such words into action. In fact, it is impossible. But we’ve come to believe that it is part and parcel of following Jesus. It’s not an elective. So we’re counting on the Holy Spirit to help us figure it out.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Strangely Brilliant

2008-07-18T07:49:00.000-07:00

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely brilliant,
In the light of His glory and grace.

I apologize to the hymnist for turning her poetry inside out. What Helen Lemmel penned was,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim…
Her intent was to accentuate the unequaled beauty of Christ by casting all else in dull, muted tones. Fair enough.

But closeness to Jesus has mostly heightened my awareness of life’s beauty.

…Setting sunlight turning trees and trail to gold
…The glide of a canoe across a mountain lake at dawn
…An ancient marriage proposal sung in Gaelic
…Rhodies blooming
…The crack of a bat on a 98 mph fastball
…A full night of sleep
…The summertime incense of charcoal
…Saltwater and coconut oil
…Friendships rekindled

In my experience, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a baptism of all things into their intended glory.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

too serious

2008-07-01T07:43:00.000-07:00

"All misery of this world comes from the fact that people take themselves too seriously."

Thomas Theodor Heine

Babs Watson

2008-06-04T08:05:00.000-07:00

We give ourselves to the haste of life, bustling off this way and that. We say goodbye in a flurry without pausing to see one another’s eyes. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

We weren’t braced for the velocity of Babsie’s exit. She went speedily. Still, she paused to see us. Her blue eyes were clear; her voice was quiet but cogent. Her generous soul was available to us, even as she waited on the platform for the last train home.

context

2008-05-07T09:12:00.000-07:00

“Christ is in a community when it is able to develop its own theology using language, symbols, and longings with local flavor and resonance.”

Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch
The Shaping of Things to Come

embody

2008-05-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

“If leadership fails to embody the message, no one is going to follow.”

Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch
The Shaping of Things to Come

enjoy

2008-04-30T06:13:00.000-07:00

“Clearly the Scriptures teach us that God not only made the orgasm and the tastebuds and the spices and garlic but that we should enjoy what he has given us within the framework of his moral will revealed in the same Scripture.”

Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch
The Shaping of Things to Come

freedom of choice

2008-04-29T07:04:00.000-07:00

“Freedom always involves a certain danger because in every important choice one’s whole personality is at stake.”

Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch
The Shaping of Things to Come

resident gifting

2008-04-23T08:34:00.000-07:00

"We arrive in this world with birthright gifts -- then we spend the first half of our lives abandoning them or letting others disabuse us of them. As young people, we are surrounded by expectations that may have little to do with who we really are, expectations held by people who are not trying to discern our selfhood but to fit us into slots. In families, schools, workplaces, and religious communities, we are trained away from true self toward images of acceptability; under social pressures like racism and sexism our original shape is deformed beyond recognition; and we ourselves, driven by fear, too often betray true self to gain the approval of others.

We are disabused of original giftedness in the first half of our lives. Then -- if we are awake, aware, and able to admit our loss -- we spend the second half trying to recover and reclaim the gift we once possessed."

Parker J. Palmer
"Let Your Life Speak"

sadness and joy

2008-04-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

"Our life is a short time in expectation, a time in which sadness and joy kiss each other at every moment… Joy and sadness are born at the same time; both arising from such deep places in your heart that you cannot find the words to capture your complex emotions."

Henri Nouwen

brevity | enormity

2008-04-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

life is brief
and enormous
sweet, sad paradox

Pastor Miller

2008-03-28T07:40:00.000-07:00

I remember Pastor Miller preaching at Barclay Heights Community Church. We met in the lodge of an old YMCA camp on Esopus Creek near Glenerie Falls. When the lodge became our permanent home, we changed the name of the church to Glenerie Chapel.

I remember Pastor Miller praying; his opening prayers were nearly the equal of his sermons. These were not pithy, punchy, sound-bited perfunctories; his prayers were ten minutes of engagement with God on matters of the day, from local to global.

I remember Pastor Miller’s velvet singing voice. It reminded me of a baritone Andy Williams with a bit of Mel Torme. From where I sat, singing seemed to be pure pleasure for him.

I remember Pastor Miller telling us about Christ’s Passion during a springtime Sunday night service thirty-some years ago. One of the other teens ran out of the lodge, weeping – overtaken by the description of what Jesus had endured for him. I ran after him and listened to his story.

I remember Pastor Miller’s Christianity including humanness. He didn’t try to portray himself as saintly; he wasn’t aloof from his congregation. He wasn’t afraid to laugh.

I don’t remember when Pastor Miller invited me to call him “Bob”. The truth is I never really got used to it. He was simply “Pastor” to me.

I remember Pastor Miller saying he thought I’d become a pastor someday. I didn’t like that, and I fought it for a long time. But over the years, his was among a small number of voices through which God conferred that calling to me. I don’t wear it as comfortably as he did but I try to be true to my legacy.

Today, I’m remembering to remember because it’s the day of Pastor’s memorial service. I wish I could be present. He and his family are very much on my mind. I’m praying they feel the support of their communities as they find their way forward. I’m praying they know they’re not carrying his memory alone. And I’m praying they find grace today to celebrate him with all their might.

this day's bread

2008-03-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

Give us this day our bread of this day
and which this day alone can give us,
at the same time that this very day is given to us.

Jean-Luc Marion

Starting on Easter Sunday, 5pm each week

2008-03-10T11:28:00.001-07:00

new things

2008-03-06T22:29:00.000-08:00

“See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you.” Isaiah 42:9, NIV

The way of faith is not static. Belief moves. God’s call, God’s song unfolds dynamically over time. It’s not a puzzle we solve. It is unfrozen.

Humans were not made for stasis; even our brains function best when we’re in motion. Scientist and author, John Medina, explains this phenomenon in his new book, Brain Rules.

Exercise increases oxygen flow into the brain, which reduces brain-bound free radicals. One of the most interesting findings of the past few decades is that an increase in oxygen is always accompanied by an uptick in mental sharpness.

Exercise acts directly on the molecular machinery of the brain itself. It increases neurons’ creation, survival, and resistance to damage and stress. http://www.brainrules.net/

Clearly, the interplay between physical and mental vitality is profound. I suggest spiritual vigor is integral to the same equation. Our place in creation isn’t merely decorative! We’re made to be played, saxophone-like, resonating with the Creator’s breath.

God reaches toward us from our not-yet and invites us to lean into his all-things-work-together-for-good. This is what it means to follow Jesus. This is why we aren’t interested in religion as usual. This is how we find ourselves flourishing at the edge of brand new things.

“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:28 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Thrift Store Ecclesiology

2008-03-02T15:25:00.000-08:00

Shane Claiborne prefers attending existing churches to planting new ones. The idea is that there are already plenty of churches. Why spend resources on making more?

It’s consistent with the Value Village ethos of new monasticism. Shopping at thrift stores goes beyond saving money: it’s an incremental resistance against wasteful consumerism – a tangible gesture to use what’s been made before making more.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

the age thing (new conspirators event)

2008-02-28T22:33:00.000-08:00

It is commonly assumed that new modes of church are for and by the young. I resist this assumption. Granted, my resistance owes something to my middle-agedness. But I’ve longed for generationally equitable renditions of church since I was young.

On the other hand, the commixture of ego and idealism feasible prior to age 40 can be a powerful propellant. Ego has not fully ceded the throne to self, and the storms of life have not yet pounded idealism into realism (or cynicism). A better way is still believable. The young might be uniquely capable of catalyzing meaningful newness.

Another consideration is the curse of the usurper: living by ideological swords and dying by the same. Baby Boomers (inside and outside the church) cut their teeth overthrowing the establishment. More accurately, there were fewer overthrows than hostile takeovers, brash ultimatums for early inheritances, smiley-faced elbowings aside… Viscerally, Boomers have known it would all come home to roost one day, and have been on the lookout for youthful scions eying their holdings.

It’s hard for Baby Boomers to share. But not everyone born within that fateful bracket of years manifests the same mindset; no more than any other cohort. My preference is to key on mindset over chronology. But my preference counts exactly zero if nobody younger than 40 shares it.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

treasure

2008-02-27T10:04:00.000-08:00

Recent status update (Facebook): Scott now thinks it is not hyperbole to refer to Maya Angelou as a national treasure.

Kathi King’s response: “She is a national treasure, right up there with Yellowstone-except I have learned more about life from her!!!!!”

Well said, Ms. King, well said.

Tim

2008-01-30T13:51:00.000-08:00

My friend, Tim White (he's also my boss and my pastor), says some of the most radical things I've ever heard from a professional churchman.

Recently, while discussing the soul of the church, Tim described the great man theory and posited its death. He believes it’s decreasingly feasible to form a healthy institution around a solitary figure.

This notion could cost him his job. Aside from potential mutiny due to distaste for his ideas, the nature of the message itself could make his position obsolete. In other words, those most convinced by his argument might express their assent by ushering him out of power!

The seminal gestures of an institution are toward self-preservation; ironically, such acts tend to obscure its original muse. According to John Caputo, deconstruction counters an institution’s inherent concretizing agenda, recalibrates it to its epiphanal inception, and impels it toward a vigorous future.

My trust level rises with a leader’s willingness to deconstruct the framework of her/his authority. Tim has a (sometimes annoying) knack for destabilizing the system. He risks reinvention because, over and above its politics, dogma, and subculture, he is devoted to the church’s soul.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

well woman (John chapter 4)

2008-01-27T21:25:00.000-08:00

Jesus seemed willing to engage anyone in conversation, on any topic, at any time. He was extraordinarily skilled at speaking the hardest of truths with kindness and acceptance.

Roby, a few days before his song came true

2008-01-19T11:59:00.000-08:00

scarcity vs plenty (John 12:1-11)

2008-01-09T17:13:00.000-08:00

What Mary did was scandalously extravagant, not to mention conspicuous. A fortune of fragrance emptied over a holy man’s feet…

Judas objected more from greed than charity, according to the narrator. Jesus told him there would never be a shortage of people needing help. And he affirmed Mary’s act as perfectly appropriate.

Mary’s gesture flowed from fearlessness. She didn’t budget her devotion against a bottom line of zero.

God’s economy is not based on scarcity. Mary’s gift wasn’t going to cheat the needy. Jesus was confident that his followers wouldn’t run out of resources necessary to their calling. God’s economy is predicated on plenty.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

John 12:1-11 (premeditation)

2008-01-05T00:15:00.000-08:00

In the first part of John 12, the religious power brokers are so afraid of Jesus and Lazarus that they begin to plot their murders in earnest. Why? It makes sense that they’d be irate at Jesus for exposing the emptiness of their illusion. And I can see why they’d want to destroy the evidence, so to speak, by erasing the resurrected Lazarus from the scene.

But I don’t see how they could unequivocally dismiss the possibility that Jesus was telling (and living) the truth. How could they be so sold out to their own propaganda that they couldn’t see the sense-making beauty in what Jesus was saying and doing?

One of the reasons I’m so bothered by this riddle is my uneasy feeling that I could do the same thing. What am I guarding? What am I dismissing? What are the fears in me that skew my perceptions? Whose ideas am I ready to erase in order to protect my own?

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Pine

2007-12-20T23:12:00.000-08:00

Pine indoors
Spirit of evergreen
Fragrance of nostalgia
Pining for simpler Christmases

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

neighborliness

2007-12-07T06:43:00.000-08:00

My friend Doug knows what it means to be a good neighbor. He came over at 9:00 a couple nights ago to help me install a new dishwasher. We got a late start because we’d each had very long workdays.

The installation didn’t follow the script. (Do they ever, I wonder?). It was impossible to discern which breaker the electrical was wired to so we turned them all off. Of course, that meant doing much of the job by flashlight.

The not-so-helpful instructions estimated the job should take between one and three hours. Doug left our house at 1:00 in the morning. He was still smiling. Perhaps even more striking was the utter absence of profanity! That’s a good neighbor. In fact, for those four hours at least, I’d say Doug’s neighborliness bordered on the saintly.

Grace arrives in many forms. I’ve found, though, that it usually involves a palpably personal and relational element. Grace usually entails somebody choosing to be available as its conduit.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Thanksgiving Blessing

2007-11-21T08:57:00.000-08:00

Even as we express our gratitude for God’s good gifts,
We receive the gift of gratitude itself;
Pressed down and overflowing.

Let us seek the way of pure kindness…
In the name of the Father.

Let us shut the door on anxiety…
In the name of Jesus.

Let us remember beauty…
In the name of the Holy Spirit.

Even as we express our gratitude for God’s good gifts,
We receive the gift of gratitude itself;
Pressed down and overflowing…
Pressed down and overflowing.

Amen

weird survey

2007-11-17T14:03:00.000-08:00

We're in the process of doing a big-deal survey at our church. This was my wife's response to it...

"I can't connect with the paradigm behind that survey. It seems to assume so much power on our part to direct our own spiritual lives. That seems weird to me. I feel like we have a power to create frameworks for life that set the stage for us to live with intention. But the idea of a kind of "black/white" spirituality is baffling to me.

I was somewhat surprised at how "sideways" I felt to the questions asked – they were so not in my mental sphere. I was left wondering how the survey’s creators would define Christianity."

conversational theology

2007-11-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

What if God is a conversation?
Church might be a conversation…
Maybe salvation is a conversation…
Revelation, interpretation, and application might occur in conversation.
What is worship if not a conversation?

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

consumerism

2007-11-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

"Consumerism is an all-consuming attitude"
Rodney Clapp

controversy

2007-10-29T17:17:00.000-07:00

Jesus used controversy to engage the religious elite. It’s odd that some of us who aspire to follow Jesus sometimes (often?) fall into the same sort of closed-system thought that afflicted the Pharisees. Perhaps paradoxically, following Jesus involves an ongoing openness to changing ones own current opinions about what it means to follow Jesus!

overcoming unfaith

2007-10-06T15:29:00.000-07:00

In the 9th chapter of Mark’s Gospel, a helpless father desperately implores Jesus to rescue his son. He stands uneasily yet candidly at the crossroads of belief and unbelief. Jesus meets him there.

This kind of faith is not an unquestioning allegiance to ideology. It isn’t reflected in bumper-sticker quips like, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.”

The simple, soulful confession of this kind of faith is, “Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief.” This kind of faith exhibits the virtue of skepticism.

In the field of philosophy there are (at least…) two types of skepticism: Academic and Pyrrhonian. Academic skepticism asserts the impossibility of truly knowing anything. Its fatal flaw is its own logic: i.e., How can we truly know that it is impossible to truly know anything?

But Pyrrhonian skepticism accommodates an open-minded pursuit of truth. It acknowledges the severe difficulty of apprehending ultimate knowledge while allowing the possibility of knowing truly.

“Christian faith in God is not a naïve basic truth. It is unfaith that has been overcome” Jurgen Moltmann

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

thriving church

2007-09-17T18:16:00.000-07:00

“The thriving church grows because growth is never its primary purpose. Mission is its primary purpose. Increasing participation and membership is a side effect – but it is an inevitable side effect. In the universal yearning for self-worth, inner meaning, and a noble destiny, people always discover that it is far more meaningful actively to give life away to the world, than passively to preserve life within the institution.”

Thomas G. Bandy from Kicking Habits

word and voice

2007-09-12T23:01:00.001-07:00

I've been spending some time in John's Gospel lately. I love that book. In the first chapter, Jesus is The Word and John the Baptizer is The Voice. Clearly, it is a book about communication.

leadership

2007-09-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

"If the Spirit of God is amongst the people of God then the role of leadership is not command and control, nor is the role of leadership to come up with the right plan. The role of leadership is to create the table… to cultivate the environments… to call into being the spaces where the people of God can begin to dream and imagine and experiment. And that’s not a […] program; it’s a way of life."

Dr. Alan Roxburgh

convert versus converse

2007-09-08T23:50:00.000-07:00

There’s such a small difference in letters between convert and converse – between conversion and conversation. But their meanings diverge substantially. I have nothing against conversion, per se, except when someone tries to do it to me. It morphs into something more like coercion. I don’t like that at all. But engage me in a real conversation and there’s a chance that you might convert me to your way of thinking. I like conversation.

astonished

2007-09-07T09:09:00.000-07:00

"Let us not be too sure we know the Bible just because we have learned not to be astonished by it" Thomas Merton (from Opening the Bible)

my soulscape thrums

2007-07-02T23:09:00.000-07:00

There are moments
when my soulscape
thrums with jazz and banter
…pulses with brushstrokes and light

And then cuts abruptly
to a vacant soundstage
mute as ash
held like a breath
…pending and panicked

At such times my beliefs
like unemployed actors
must again audition
for their roles
in the script I hold

They are fragile and insecure
It is a wearisome business

But you are singing under a streetlamp
tambourine in hand
refusing to learn your lines
confronting me with hilarity
…reanimating the mundane

Copyright Scott Burnett 2007

harmony

2007-05-28T16:52:00.000-07:00

"The outward harmony that we desire between our economy and the world depends finally upon an inward harmony between our own hearts and the originating spirit that is the life of all creatures, a spirit as near us as our flesh and yet forever beyond the measure of this obsessively measuring age. We can grow good wheat and grow good bread only if we understand that we do not live by bread alone."
Wendell Berry

practice

2007-05-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

"A change of heart or of values without a practice is only another pointless luxury of a passively consumptive way of life."
Wendell Berry

inimitable

2007-05-11T15:40:00.000-07:00

"Almost any other apologetic for the Christian faith can be memorized, rehearsed, and delivered without effect except the apologetic of love. Love, which of its essence seeks only the good of others and is willing to pay the high price of self-forgetfulness is a product that is hard to imitate or counterfeit."

John Powell, S.J.

church perspective (Mayhew)

2007-05-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

"The church is not an institution 'out there', which I support. It is the community that enfolds and identifies who I am as an individual."

Ray Mayhew

lead with kindness

2007-04-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

I keep trying to set down my impulses to co-opt God’s voice into my power plays. I would much prefer to lead with kindness. (I mean "lead" in the sense of putting that foot forward...) Through kindness, we help humanize one another. When we leverage behavior, affection, support, and so on… out of one another with tools like triangling, we have to ignore or deny human dignity. That’s not good.

present

2007-04-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

"...hope frees us from the need to predict the future and allows us to live in the present..."

Henri Nouwen

new prayer

2007-04-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

Maker-Redeemer,
In ways I've not yet imagined,
Bring the Gospel to life
In my sphere this day.

Palm Sunday

2007-04-01T06:42:00.000-07:00

Today is Palm Sunday. Every year on this day I think of how amazing it is that Jesus was willing to receive the praises of people he knew didn’t get it. They were excited about an illusion: specifically, that Jesus was going to hit the scene like a holy tornado and kick Rome’s ass. When that illusion evaporated they sold out their new Messiah in a heartbeat.

Neither their illusion nor their disillusionment was a surprise to Jesus. But he inhabited the hosannas nonetheless. This is a big relief to me because my praises are shabby and misdirected too. I bring all sorts of illusions and disillusionments into worship, and Jesus just draws a bigger circle around it. He says, “We can work with that.”

Haiku for Lent

2007-03-13T10:26:00.000-07:00

Son of the Maker
Brother in blood, bone, and skin
Generously spent

humble

2007-03-11T21:05:00.000-07:00

“I am humble not because I want to be agreeable. I don’t accept being humble for tactical reasons. I am humble because I am incomplete. Just because of that. This is not because I need people to love me, though I need that people love me, but I don’t have to make any kind of trap for the love. Do you see?”
Paulo Freire

the little green box

2007-02-11T20:33:00.001-08:00

The little sage-colored box you see down and to the left on this blog is a porthole to a podcast I’m helping to launch. The conversations are essentially theological, but tend to splay out in all directions. It’s a fun experiment…

about the soul

2007-01-16T18:42:00.004-08:00

My long-time friend, Dan Miller, left this as a comment on one of my other blogs, burnettstories.

"It's all about the soul. Jesus understood this. James Brown understood this. In fact, every writer, poet, musician, evangelist, educator, philanthropist and motivator who finds success understands that the soul is the foundation from which vibrant life begins."

I thought it was so nicely put that it warranted the light of day -- or at least the light of a cathode ray screen.

justice

2007-01-15T10:31:00.000-08:00

"When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

perichoresis

2007-01-14T16:30:00.000-08:00

The model of relationships portrayed by the trinitarian dogma is neither hierarchical nor authoritarian. The relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is not subordinationist, but – to use the technical term – perichoretic: God is essentially a dynamic communion of equally and mutually shared love. And this fact implies social impetus. Being made in the image of God calls for ethical and social consequences, it nurtures the spirit of solidarity. Of course, these consequences cannot be simply, mechanically transferred to the areas of human relationships. But they lead, or should lead, the confessor’s heart in an unambiguous direction – toward guarding the faith in the communion of creative love.

Jan Milic Lochman

verti-zontal prayer

2007-01-13T14:17:00.000-08:00

"Hands folded in prayer are the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world."
Karl Barth

inexcusable

2007-01-08T11:43:00.000-08:00

C.S. Lewis has made the excellent point that there is a huge difference between forgiving and excusing; in fact, he says they might be opposites. His view was that once the excusable elements have been subracted from the equation, i.e. after the offense has been reduced down to the inexcusable, that’s the part that needs forgiveness.

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” C.S. Lewis
(Essay On Forgiveness – Macmillan Publishing Company, Inc., N.Y. 1960)

God Sings

2007-01-04T07:35:00.000-08:00

“The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17, NIV

This little segment of ancient poetry is dense with mystical imagery. The first sentence states God’s nearness, potency, and liberation. The second sentence is a three-dimensional portrait of a shockingly good God.

Delight: There is an unshakable assurance of all-is-well in the notion that my Creator is happy with me. It forms a supremely livable world.

Quiet: I am a noisy-souled man and I live in a world of noise. Love brings peace and sorts the cacophony into intelligibility.

Music: Divine delight manifests in spontaneous melodic improvisation. Aesthetic order emerges in the sounds of everyday life. A key puzzle piece of my theology is that God sings.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

music & worship

2006-11-29T23:12:00.000-08:00

In the Seventies I led the singing for a youth Bible study. A few years later, it became acceptable to play those types of songs in church services. In the Eighties I joined a church where there was a rock band instead of an organ.

Over the years we shorthanded the phrase, “A sequence of songs about our relationship with God that helps facilitate an atmosphere conducive to a collective experience something we identify as worship” into “Worship”. At first it was just a convenience of language; we knew the music was not actually worship – or at least it was not the sum total of worship.

But over the years our linguistic laziness contributed to a serious error; one that seems to be common to most of the “contemporary worship” movement. We began to equate our 20-ish minutes of singing with worship itself. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a handful of dopey little songs!

The first few sentences of the twelfth chapter of Romans contain some of the most important insights available to us on the subject of Christian worship. This passage forms a “hinge” that connects the two essential elements of Paul’s theology: 1) the Gospel achieved by God; 2) the Gospel applied by us.

“With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give Him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to Him and acceptable by Him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-make you so that your whole attitude of mind is changed. Thus you will prove in practice that the will of God is good, acceptable to him and perfect.”
Paul’s Letter to the Romans 12:1-2 (Phillips – Revised Edition)

One of our principle works of faith is to abide in the moment of transformation, remaining open to change and continually yielding to realignment with the Spirit of Christ. We must return again and again to God’s mercies, with our eyes wide in wonder at the endless interventions of grace into our lives.

Music is uniquely effective in both softening and empowering us to worship. Music isn’t worship, but it is a pivot-point where the whole human soul (physical, emotional, cognitive, spiritual) can turn toward God.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Deeds

2006-11-14T23:12:00.000-08:00

"So long as the word remains in any way theoretical and is not incarnated by actions and translated into deeds, then it is not faith. It might be theology, not very good theology at that, but it is not faith. Faith is a combination of conviction and deeds, and it cannot be one without the other. Faith divorced from deeds is as lifeless as a corpse."
Murphy Davis, in "Turning Dreams into Deeds," Sojourners, June 1985

My friend Brian sent this to me recently because he thought I'd resonate with it. He was right.

Muscle

2006-11-13T07:38:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I started posting about Fourfold Fitness [see intro], which is a tool that helps me focus my intentions.

It might seem like an obvious statement to say that physical strength [see table] is integral to a healthy life. I’ve noticed a couple of disturbing abilities in myself, however; one is taking for granted the strength I have, and the other is adapting to my incremental loss of strength. In other words, I don’t tend to think very much about developing or even maintaining physical strength. And as various muscles atrophy, I just work around my reduced capacity.

I’m committed to altering that trajectory; its eventual destination is not where I choose to go. My skeletal frame needs support and connectivity. I need muscle in order to do what I’d like to do without damaging myself. So I’m slowly building resistance training into my routine.

There are many other things I’d rather do, so it’s important for me to remember the big picture of my life. I have to consciously consider what my “ten-years-from-now self” would say to me; that a decade of small choices directed toward good habits (practices) will profoundly effect my future quality of life.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Wisdom (Cognitive Balance)

2006-10-29T20:31:00.000-08:00

Wisdom is not a one-dimensional quality. It is something like an intersection of knowledge and understanding with commonsense… A cultivated awareness of the big picture along with attentiveness to detail… Consistent, tenacious, and ready for change... Open-hearted with clear, strong boundaries…

Wisdom seems to presume and produce thoroughgoing balance. While its varied streams and currents seem to flow in and out through the mind, it certainly involves much more than cognition; it’s a whole-soul endeavor. Furthermore, it makes no sense in isolation: wisdom is relational.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Generosity

2006-10-24T08:56:00.000-07:00

I think generosity is the heart of emotional flexibility. Physical flexibility improves the fluidity of my movement, allows me to flow more symbiotically with life’s currents, and helps fend off injuries related to brittleness. Generosity brings analogous qualities to my feelings, reactions, and moods.

A readiness to share what I have, whether material, relational, or spiritual, keeps my soul pliable and supple. It seems to increase my capacity to “roll with the punches”, and ease my tendency to jump to conclusions.

Kindness is among generosity’s most beautiful faces; softness to another soul. Sometimes it’s harder to share than cash! But its power to radiate blessing is remarkable – even small acts of kindness can emit wellbeing in all directions.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Cognitive Endurance

2006-10-23T10:53:00.000-07:00

Honesty ^ Curiosity ^ Follow-through

Clear, productive thinking can’t be sustained without honesty. Without it, cognition gets tangled, threadbare, compromised, structurally unsound…

Curiosity – an appetite for discovery – is a sustainable fuel. It steadily propels the soul's rambles, pilgrimages, and ascents.

I wonder if follow-through can become a habit. It is certainly a discipline – a practice I seek to cultivate and deepen. I aspire to the art of finishing; I suffer the empty ache of failing to finish.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Joy (emotional strength)

2006-10-20T11:20:00.001-07:00

“This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." Nehemiah 8:9b

I pulled these words out of their context, which is not a recommended practice. However, I believe the heart of what Nehemiah stated here is a universally transferable truth. The joy of the Lord is your strength…

In my experience, there is a sense – maybe more than a sense… maybe it’s closer to an assurance – of “all-rightness” that seems to be related to the presence* of God. It is not always rational or even explainable; sometimes it is flatly counterintuitive. But it’s as though the Creator smiles, touches, communicates, “It’s going to be alright.”

Sometimes joy violates my sense of justice. I might attenuate my celebration of someone’s good fortune because it strikes me as dissonant to their choices. This embarrasses me; I’m committed to learning a better, more generous-hearted way.

Sometimes I abstain from joy because I don’t think it’s congruent with my circumstances. I recognize my ridiculousness in this, but can still be very stubborn about it. Joy isn’t a wage – it’s a gift. Once received, it enlivens and empowers the rest of life.

*God's Presence is a huge topic unto itself -- one I'm not up to tackling today...

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Peace (& Humor)

2006-10-02T22:36:00.000-07:00

Peace is elemental to Emotional Balance; in fact, it fundamentally impacts the health of the whole person.

“A heart at peace gives life to the body,
but envy rots the bones.” Proverbs 14:30 (NIV)

The ancient Hebrew idea of shalom connoted wholeness and well-being: physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual. It’s this sort of peace that Jesus promised his followers in John 14:27.

For me, one way of cultivating peace is to practice nonviolence: interior (toward my own soul), interpersonal (toward other souls), and environmental (toward creation’s soul).

And I’ve found that the power of Humor mustn’t be underestimated in these pursuits. Laughter is not a luxury; it’s impossible to engage the fullness of life without it.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Transformation

2006-09-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

To deepen Spiritual Flexibility in myself, I’m committed to a lifestyle of Transformation.

Transformation presupposes Humility; it is to embrace to the truth that I’ve not yet become what I’m becoming.

Both the means and the end of my transformation is Christ. Christ, the perfect human iteration of Creator Spirit, continues to create me into a new creation – one that becomes increasingly more reflective of Christ.

To remain in the lifelong moment of transformation is, arguably, the essence of true worship.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is true worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2 (Today’s New International Version)

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Teachable

2006-09-22T19:55:00.000-07:00

Cognitive Flexibility means taking a “bend, don’t break” approach to beliefs. It is to be teachable.

In 2nd Timothy 2:24-25 Paul writes, “…the servant of the Lord must not engender strife, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those in opposition.”
(21st Century King James Version)

Complimenting the explicit phrase “apt to teach” is the implicit characteristic of “apt to learn”.

Perhaps it’s slightly counterintuitive, but maintaining a teachable mindset calls for fearlessness. The fear of being wrong and – even worse! – going public with it by changing my attitudes, opinions, and ideologies is frequently enough to keep me from becoming genuinely open to new ideas.

I suspect that cognitive flexibility is at least as difficult to cultivate as physical flexibility. Stretching is a uniquely irksome form of pain. Sometimes I have to remind myself of why this intention is important in my quest to more fully engage my life. But, as with my body, I want my intellect to enjoy the entire range of motion for which it was designed.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Coin

2006-09-11T17:27:00.000-07:00

A few posts ago, Craig-Bob (of Out Of Fellowship fame), asked about the rogue row beneath my Fourfold Fitness table: Finances. He wondered why it was set apart from the main grid.

My answer was that the financial dimension began as a subset of Physical, but since it isn't physiological, per se, it seemed to warrant a separate row.

T-Wolf argued that “Finance is not a component unto itself but rather an intention zone of the cognitive + the attribute strength.”

Craig-Bob followed with the idea that "Financial might fall on a z-axis because it has attributions in each of the 2-dimensional cells […] defined.”

Michael C. brought in the notion of metrics, suggesting that money measures momentum in each of the sixteen zones. He referenced Jacob Needleman's book, Money and the Meaning of Life.

For now, it remains a fifth row in my provisional paradigm. At some point, however, I intend to incorporate an additional four-directional plane to the map. It describes the way I think of resources: Time, Energy, Money, and Affection.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Vision

2006-09-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

Vision is cultivated in a context of Hope, and connects directly to Emotional Endurance [see table].

“Without a Vision is a people made naked”
Proverbs 29:18a (Young’s Literal Translation)

I had no idea that this was the literal translation! In the ancient context, nakedness meant poverty and shame; there was nothing erotically provocative about it.

In this proverb, vision obviously refers to something more than physical sight: it’s the ability to look into the future and see the prospect of joy, abundance, accomplishment, meaning…

This sort of vision has to do with attending to invisible things. I believe that every human is given something that only she/he can see; an internal treasure that needs to be externalized – the intangible made tangible. It relates to incarnation. Each of us is to champion what’s been entrusted on a spiritual level – sowing, cultivating, harvesting, distributing… to the enriching of our relational circles.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Hope

2006-09-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance and my God.”
Psalm 42:11 (21st Century King James Version)

Hope is integral to Emotional Endurance [see table]. What feeds my heart’s fire if not hope? And what distinguishes hoping from wishing? For me, hope is the belief that God is planting goodness in the future so that it’s already taking root and blooming as we step into each unfolding day.

Here's an ancient prophetic poem that was composed by a person who understood the valley of deep trouble. His words have the heartbeat of authenticity.

“There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Trouble a door of hope.
There she will sing as in the days of her youth,
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.”
Hosea 2:15 (New International Version)

First, God promises to restore vineyards, which represent abundance and gladness. Then follows an image that I find profoundly moving: God will transform the valley of trouble into a door of hope. The lowest, most disturbing circumstance becomes the threshold to a good future.

The second sentence begins with the response of the people, which is carefree singing: a picture of rejuvenation and festivity. The closing line references release from slavery, and the long-awaited freedom to engage life.

That’s what this Fourfold Fitness thing is about, really [see intro]. I don’t need to be a slave to disconnection and disintegration; by God’s grace, I’m free to cultivate practices that increase my capacity for living.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Rooted

2006-09-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

For me, there are three essential dimensions of Spiritual Balance [see table].
1) Beauty must be celebrated, and Wonder relished.
2) Upright is an old-fashioned word, but I like its imagery: spiritual balance means I stand up in my full stature, walking tall. Dignity.
3) It also connotes Grounding – having my feet solidly beneath me. Rooted.

“Plant your roots in Christ and let him be the foundation for your life. Be strong in your faith, just as you were taught. And be grateful.”
Colossians 2:7, Contemporary English Version

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Motion

2006-09-03T20:36:00.000-07:00

Physical Flexibility [see table], or range of motion, is a fantastic thing: acquiring it… not so much. Flexibility doesn’t happen without stretching, and stretching is viscerally unappealing to me. It makes me cranky.

But I believe in it – I believe it’s important enough to warrant assimilating yoga practice into my lifestyle.

I think flexibility is a proactive prevention of future injuries. I like the idea of doing my part to avoid preventable suffering (my own and that of others).

I also like being able to move fluidly – having a body that can flow with the riffles and rills of existence. To my way of thinking, it’s an important dimension of enjoying and honoring creation. If I want to fully engage my life, I’ll cultivate flexibility.

Fourfold Fitness Table

2006-09-02T20:29:00.000-07:00

	Strength	Flexibility	Endurance	Balance
Spiritual	Integrity	Humility Transformation	Courage Loyalty Perseverance	Grounding Beauty Upright
Cognitive	Creativity	Teachable Broadminded	Curiosity Honesty Follow-Through	Wisdom Awareness
Emotional	Joy Gratitude	Generosity Kindness Adaptable	Hope Vision	Peace Humor
Physical	Muscle	Motion	Stamina	Agility Rest

*(Financial)*	*Income*	*Giving / Spending*	*Savings*	*Budget*

Creativity

2006-09-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

Cognitive strength is valuable to me; I intend for it to be among my primary character traits. One of the ways I choose to cultivate greater capacity in this intention zone is by practicing creativity.

When I’m at my best, creativity is radiating into every territory of my life. It isn’t contained or compartmentalized. So it wouldn’t be out of place in any of my sixteen zones.

But for the sake of focus, I center Creativity at the intersection of Cognitive & Strength [see table]. In my experience, my mind nearly always comes into play when I’m being creative. Thoughts are sorted and shuffled, and arranged in new constellations – new categories are framed and tested – new pathways, sequences, connections are mentally sketched out…

It’s a very satisfying form of exertion: it feels like pushing a stalled car that I didn’t think would budge, or hiking a little farther than my imagined capacity, or splitting a cord of firewood. Creativity makes me feel strong.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Fourfold Fitness

2006-08-29T22:58:00.000-07:00

The soul’s topography won’t fit within the languages of tongue or pen. It’s like trying to capture the vastness and detail of a natural landscape in the frame of a photograph.

But knowing the terrain of our own depths is necessary for fully engaged living. Some people have an innate knack for soul navigation; others need a map and compass.

I use a four by four grid, where the intersections create “intention zones” integral to my joie de vivre. The four components of my humanness are: Physical, Emotional, Cognitive, and Spiritual. The four key attributes of fitness (IMHO) are: Strength, Flexibility, Endurance, and Balance.

The next few soul-friending posts will describe some of my intention zones. I hope there will be ideas and inspirations for you. However, I hasten to underscore that it’s just a map I’ve sketched to help make sense of my personal topography; it’s not intended to be comprehensive, absolute, or directly transferable. But maybe it’ll provoke you to undertake your own “depth cartography”.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

trust

2006-08-09T23:29:00.000-07:00

It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them.
Confucius

This is as deep a truth as there is. To be deceived is among the worst of human experiences; but distrust withers friendship, and we need friendship in order to become fully human.

Friendship brings longevity and joy to our loves: marriage blooms in it. In friendship, family connectedness can thrive without throttling.

Friendship freely says, "I'd rather risk being a fool than hoard my heart behind fortress walls."

circus ride

2006-08-02T23:04:00.000-07:00

The best circus rides are the ones that feel terrifyingly out of control, but are not -- the ones that have been engineered to be completely safe while simulating the sensation of impending disaster. We’ll pay good money for the thrill of careening toward annihilation, as long as the ride comes with a guarantee that all will turn out okay in the end.

Life doesn’t come with that sort of guarantee, of course. But according to Jesus, there is an Author who weaves our crazy fragments into a meaningful narrative. I need for this to be true. Daily, I re-surrender to the trueness of it.

Sometimes my world accelerates into the red zone, when my beliefs, my dreams, and my loves quake on the verge of disintegration. At those moments, I remind myself that all things fall into the hands of God -- nothing slips between those fingers, or spills over the edges. All things constellate meaningfully within the Creator’s cupped hands. And it will turn out okay in the end.

soul-sized life

2006-07-15T14:08:00.000-07:00

What are the dimensions of your soul? How far can she throw her light? How many close relationships do you have the capacity to honor?

How much art will you render? How many stories will be yours to tell? How many friends will you help to discover their own souls?

As I ask questions like these of myself, the tendency is to swing between overestimating and underestimating the size of my soul. Maybe the oscillation between big and small is what keeps me bending back toward a sane assessment.

For more on this topic, see the post inhabiting littleness, and the comments that followed.

arrogance versus ignorance

2006-07-11T13:44:00.000-07:00

Never attribute to arrogance what can adequately be explained by ignorance.

TRANS|plant|action|formation

2006-07-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

Transplant Transaction Transformation

Look at God’s declared intent in this lovely couplet: the equation contains three additions and one subtraction.

"I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh."
Ezekiel 11:19, NIV

{PLUS} Integration (undivided heart)
Meaningfully constellating our fragmented souls

{PLUS} Inspiration (new spirit)
Breathing into us a second wind

{MINUS} Petrification (heart of stone)
Stone became set in its ways a long time ago
It would rather break than bend
It’s incompatible with breath and blood

{PLUS} Corporeal Reanimation (heart of flesh)
Flesh is pliable, vulnerable
And capable of growth
It’s a suitable habitat for life

clay resoftened

2006-07-05T09:34:00.000-07:00

Modeling clay becomes cold and hard after a few days of no touch. It has to be patiently warmed and softened in order to return to responsiveness. My hands learned the process a long time ago; the rhythm, heat, and fragrance of transformation are still present to me. Squeezing, pressing, folding... renewing the tactile bond between the clay and my skin... settling into creative interaction.

I used to waste time feeling guilty in moments of awareness that I’d again become hard clay. Now I try to respond with gratitude to that awareness as though it is the Spirit’s touch, initiating a new session of softening. It’s an invitation to change and creativity.

headwaters (river, part three)

2006-06-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

Have you visited the headwaters of your defining dream? Have you made an inner pilgrimage to the birthplace of the vision that shapes your intentions?

It’s not an easy hike. Sometimes you come across dams you’ve built to block to flow of your own calling. Sometimes you encounter a culvert of pollutants you’ve allowed to empty into your passion.

But eventually you make it back to the simple source. A wellspring of clear water bubbling up from your soul-dirt... The Spirit flowing from your deep places...

Your family, your friends, your community need the living water that is meant to flow from you. You’re an integral part of a relational ecosystem.

equity

2006-06-16T00:04:00.000-07:00

“Teach me to number my days.”

I’ve been making a concerted effort to consistently reassess my time equity. What do I have to work with? How am I spending it, investing it, wasting it, enjoying it...?

In 2016, how will I feel about the way I spent 2006?

river (part two)

2006-06-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

Riverbanks make a river possible. Limitations facilitate flow.

Riverbanks aren’t absolutely rigid; they aren’t permanently fixed. Flow affects limitations.

The reciprocity of a river and its banks teaches me things about the paradoxes of faith-life: focused and flowing -- settled and questing...

The current is power, direction, intention, movement... submitting to boundaries.

The banks are shape, form, structure, support... organic and malleable, responding to the stream of change.

river (part one)

2006-06-01T08:19:00.000-07:00

Has a more inspiring description of worship ever been conceived than Ezekiel 47:1-12?

Water flows from under the altar, out of the temple, increasing exponentially until it is a great river. It flows eastward into the Dead Sea, transforming the brine into freshwater. (Interestingly, the marshes are left salty; presumably as a source of preservative and seasoning.)

The formerly “dead” sea becomes as full of fish as the Mediterranean. The riverbanks are lined with trees bearing nutritional and medicinal fruit. The picture is of lavish abundance – of fullness and healing.

This transformative power floods from the temple - the iconic center of worship in Ezekiel’s culture. He’s portraying a world profoundly changed by, and a way of life instigated and sustained by worship.

awful coffee and a Lorna Doone

2006-05-30T00:47:00.000-07:00

Bleary-eyed and hours from home, struggling to stay awake... Awful coffee and a Lorna Doone cookie at the rest stop... Okay, I think I can make it for another chunk of miles.

Thank God for the Rotary and Kiwanis people who cheerfully host those simple oases.

Maybe that’s what weekly church services are for: offering simple, spiritual hospitality and helping souls stay awake to their faith journeys.

economics

2006-05-27T23:18:00.000-07:00

"I think we're miserable partly because we have only one god, and that's economics. Economics is a slave-driver. No one has free time; no one has any leisure. The whole culture is under terrible pressure and fraught with worry. It's hard to get out of that box."
James Hillman

legalism and grace

2006-05-22T23:35:00.000-07:00

Legalism is easier than grace. Or at least it has a heavier gravitational pull. Most religions and ideologies seem to bend that way.

Law is legislatable and grace is not. That’s why attempting to politically impose Christian morals on a society is a dalliance with the devil: it necessitates a shift away from the heart of the Gospel.

We prefer to create systems of thought and behavior to which we can adhere, or against which we can rebel. These are the polar extremes portrayed in the parable of the Prodigal Son: the older brother versus the prodigal. Whether in compliance or defiance, law sells itself as simpler to manage than grace.

The way of grace traverses a different grid altogether than the compliance-defiance continuum.

prophetic contradiction

2006-05-18T23:42:00.000-07:00

“The most powerful thing you can hear, and the only thing that ever persuades any of us in our own lives, is if you meet somebody whose story contradicts the thing you think you know. At that point it’s possible to question what you know, because the authenticity of their experience is real enough to do it.” Ira Glass

The gift of prophecy is not always expressed in words about future things. Sometimes it means living out the story God is writing into you and me... Being present to Presence in a manner that clarifies aspects of the Spirit’s narrative... Becoming human renditions of new ways of being...

dis-illusion

2006-05-17T09:16:00.000-07:00

“They say to the seers, ‘See no more visions!’
and to the prophets,
‘Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.
Leave this way, get off this path,
and stop confronting us
with the Holy One of Israel!’” Isaiah 30:10, NIV

Oh boy... this is a tough one. My illusions have been very dear to me, and I’ve mourned each one’s passing. Certainly, there are many remaining -- including the illusion that I’m relatively free of illusions!

A world cobbled together with denial is a rickety affair. It won’t hold up against the blasts of reality. It lacks depth of foundation and openness to light. How can relationships find health in a place like that?

Disillusionment is a strange friend, never welcome but often bearing excellent gifts.

Tell me the truth
Show me what is right
Confront me with holiness

silent

2006-05-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

I recently posted a quote on my other blog that celebrates the gift of shutting up. More quotes extolling silence appeared in the comments section. The conversation (yes, it is slightly ironic to have a conversation about not talking) brought to mind one of my favorite Hebrew proverbs.

Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent,
and discerning if he holds his tongue. Proverbs 17:28

I love the confluence of commonsense and comedy in those words!

holy curiosity

2006-05-06T23:31:00.000-07:00

“The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates
the mysteries of eternity, of life,
of the marvelous structure of reality.
It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend
a little of this mystery every day.
Never lose a holy curiosity.”

Albert Einstein

Trinity

2006-05-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

The Trinity illuminates perfect relationality, showing the simultaneous, interpenetrating, and ongoing processes of communion and differentiation. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit submerge within the One Triune God, and emerge as distinct, unique facets of the Trinity they create.

deciding

2006-04-30T19:58:00.000-07:00

~~
“Again and again, the impossible problem is solved when we see that the problem is only a tough decision waiting to be made.”

Robert Schuller

Havel's Hope

2006-04-28T22:22:00.000-07:00

~~
“Hope is a state of mind, not of the world.
Hope, in this deep and powerful sense,
is not the same as joy that things are going well,
or willingness to invest in enterprises
that are obviously heading for success,
but rather an ability to work for something because it is good.”

Vaclav Havel

hate

2006-04-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

Hate is a prolonged form of suicide.
Douglas V. Steere

"You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do."
Anne Lamott

conflict & disillusionment

2006-04-24T23:46:00.000-07:00

Conflict confirms individuation as persons face the inevitable challenge of dismissing neither their own nor the other’s place, perspective, and prerogative within the group.

Disillusionment affirms the process of authenticating genuine relationality as individuals are freed from their illusions about one another and their community.

absorption & transcendence

2006-04-24T23:35:00.000-07:00

Self-absorption is a symptom of relational entropy.
It exacerbates fragmentation.

Self-transcendence, on the other hand, integrates the self within a greater meaning .
It paradoxically deepens identity and propels individuation.

"It takes all sorts to make a world; or a church. This may be even truer of a church. If grace perfects nature it must expand all our natures into the full richness of the diversity which God intended when He made them, and Heaven will display far more variety than Hell."

C.S. Lewis

innocence

2006-04-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

The innocence we enjoy by way of ignorance is a gift given in secret. By its nature, it is invisible to its recipient.

Wisdom’s innocence, on the other hand, is heroically chosen in defiance of evidence that demands cynicism.

To know what life inevitably throws at us and yet choose to remain softhearted is the epitome of maturity. It is close to holiness.

filtered

2006-04-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

“We all have ideas, images of God that are untrue, which the Holy Spirit would remove if we would let Him. These are cultural and doctrinal traditions which have become ingrained in our minds. The power of Christ’s life is filtered and proportionally diminished by the number of these wrong images existing within us.”

Francis Frangipane