I had the opportunity to talk to the music ministry volunteers at Eastview this Friday. Below is the manuscript and slides from my talk about the multi-layered worship experience of music.
CS Lewis in an Essay called “Meditation in a Toolshed” talks about two different ways to look at things. He tells the story of walking into his toolshed, and the place is pitch-black except for this beam of light that cuts through the darkness of the shed. Continue reading
I had the opportunity to speak on the Feeding of the Five Thousand this Wednesday at the Focus service. I’d certainly do some delivery things different, but I enjoyed the process. Below is my manuscript.
Introduction
Mankind is a hungry being. We come into the world hungry. I wake up almost every morning hungry. In the middle of the afternoon, if I haven’t eaten anything, I’m hungry. Satiating our hunger is one of the most basic, and I would say holy, experiences in God’s creation. Depending on how hungry we are, we can sometimes go to interesting lengths to curb it. I’m reminded of some of the things I’ve seen on the show Man vs. Wild – things like eating live bugs – not for a dare or for money, but to simply stay alive on the journey. When my hunger gets bad, really bad, I do my own version of Man vs. Wild and walk into the cafeteria. Sometimes I wish I had a survival host to point out the good from the bad in there. In all seriousness though, our cafeteria, in an odd way, has the potential to be a holy place where holy meals are shared. If satiating our hunger is one of the most holy experiences in creation, then starving to death has to be one of the most glaring disfigurements of God’s created order. The early church father Basil describes this marring of God’s intent when he talks about the effects of a famine happening in his area. He says:
“The pain of starvation, from which the hungry die, is a horrible suffering. Of all human calamities, famine is the principle one, and the most miserable of deaths is no doubt that by starvation. In other kinds of death, Continue reading
Yes, I grew a beard in conjunction with Lent. I’ve avoided answering the questions 1) why are you growing a beard 2) when are you going to shave and 3) have you given up shaving for Lent. In part, because it’s hard (for me) to explain without getting mired down in a discussion about the development of Lent in the early years of the church, independent Christian church people celebrating the major seasons in the church year, and some small, insignificant chatter about the Industrial Revolution. I love having these kinds of conversations, but usually my inquirers have not signed up for this impromptu seminar class; and they tend to find the conversational excursion longer than expected.
Here’s why I did it and how it helped me focus on the story of Christ’s journey to death and resurrection.
I also spent my entire commute each day (about 75 minutes total) in silence. It was great. I’m still trying to unpack that one. More later.
For now, a few de-bearding pics. My favorite is the Fu-man-chu.
This morning I read a section of a really old sermon (it’s part of the daily office reading for the day) that reminded me of my favorite icon (both the quote and the icon are below). I love the theological reflection through creative narrative in this piece, and I love how the icon focuses that reflection into a kinetic center around Christ.
From an ancient homily for Holy Saturday
The Lord’s descent into the underworld
Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear. Continue reading
I’m always amused at how “rigid” structures like the liturgical year flex to fit the times. Below is a prayer from Henri Nouwen that was included in a collection of reflections on Lent for this past Sunday. A solid request no matter what side of the aisle you’re on.
“Let me retain innocence and simplicity in the midst of this complex world. I realize that I have to be informed, that I have to study the many problems facing the world, and that I have to try to understand as well as possible the dynamics of our contemporary society. But what really counts is that all this information, knowledge, and insight allow me to speak more clearly and unambiguously Your truthful word. Do not allow evil powers to seduce me with the complexities of the world’s problems, but give the strength to think clearly, speak freely, and act boldly in Your service.”
-Henri Nouwen in A Cry for Mercy: Prayers From the Genesee quoted in Lent and Easter Wisdom from Henri Nouwen
Each year I take a group of six students up to the Monastery of the Holy Cross in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood to spend time in fixed hour prayer, silence, retreat, and service. The monastic community at Holy Cross is always extremely gracious to us and I enjoy the opportunity to expose students to spiritual formation traditions that they probably have only read about and not experienced first hand.
Fixed hour prayer (often called The Divine Office or The Liturgy of the Hours) is one of those traditions that the monastic community does extremely well – especially this unique community at Holy Cross. Prayer begins at 4:45 AM each morning and is scattered throughout the day at various, yet strategically placed, times. When I say “prayer,” most folks might run straight to a petition-oriented format that puts us in the place of asking for health, provision, care, etc. But fixed hour prayer has a specific focus on praying the Scriptures – mainly the Psalms and the various “songs” we find in the text of the Bible. This is an incredibly formative way to pray; we take the Scriptures into us and let them both 1) speak to us and 2) provide the vocabulary, setting, and vehicle to speak back to God. It’s a different way to think about and practice prayer for those who have experienced prayer as a “let’s pray real quick” moment before sermons, communion, offering, trips, and meals. The encounter with God lies in praying the text – this kind of prayer is not a request for encounter in the thing that follows (although that is certainly an appropriate kind of prayer), but an encounter in the prayer itself. Even more, this cycle of intentional renewal is the skeleton for our day – the day is anchored on these regular encounters with God.
This summer, I’ll be spending three weeks in seminar research at Calvin College looking at the development of fixed hour prayer in the early celtic church at Bangor (northern Ireland). I’m pretty excited to see how these folks ordered their day and their spiritual formation around this kind of activity.
Most people who share my background have a hard time finding resources to help them explore fixed hour prayer. I’m listing two below:
This is a great resource for those initially exploring fixed hour prayer from a protestant perspective. Phyllis Tickle does a great job of organizing prayer into four sections of the day (morning, midday, evening, and night). The website takes you directly to the prayers for the current part of the day – no searching required. There’s also an iPhone app and print editions that do the same thing. Tickle also provides a great introduction to the concept and practice of fixed hour prayer throughout Scripture and the life of the church. It’s all free (except for the print editions) and it’s a great way to jump into fixed hour prayer and not get lost in all the complexity of it.
Universalis is the O.E.D. (the big daddy) of fixed hour prayer. It’s based on the catholic tradition from the west, but don’t let that scare you. It gives you the full-meal-deal for all seven times of prayer throughout the day (based on Psalm 119:164 – “seven times a day I praise you…”). Like explorefaith.org, it automatically takes you to the right place for the day. They have a great iPhone app plus Mac and Windows apps. It’s a little overwhelming for a first-timer, but it’s a great place to grow into.
Quotes from:
Webber, Robert. The Divine Embrace : Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 2006.
You can find Brian McLaren’s sermon notes I quoted here:
All pictures are either used under the Creative Commons license or under fair use. For those used under the Creative Commons Attribution License, you can find attributions here:
This has been an unusually difficult season. Death has been more present over the past year than it ever has been for me – death of a grandfather, death of family members of friends and colleagues, death of marriages, death of jobs, death of comforts. The latest was the death of a friend and colleague’s little girl who struggled with an illness for a long time. In the middle of that struggle, she was such an encouragement and blessing to a great number of people. She will be deeply missed and I am deeply thankful to God for the grace and peace that extended from her through her family to so many of us.
Words for prayer are so hard to find in times like these, and so I rest on the Church to help frame prayer. The following comes from Stanley Hauerwas’ Prayers Plainly Spoken -
“Lord of Life, death scares us. We know we must die, but we have become skilled at living in a manner that ignores that stubborn fact. After all, most of us are not really old enough yet to have to face our deaths. Death happens to the old, not us, who are thus condemned to live as if we are perpetually young. Yet death slinks even into our young lives. We do not like it. We try to hide its presence by not being present to those who are dying and avoiding those who must be present to the dying. We therefore pray for your unfailing and sustaining presence for the Mills family. Give them the same courage that sustained them and Regan through her illness. May that same courage find a home in our lives, that we may come to fear you more than our own deaths and thus be enabled to be present to one another. Amen.”
A nice description of what Campus Chapel in Ann Arbor, MI is doing with Advent appears here. So often, we do Christmas in reverse – we don’t acknowledge our need for the world to be renewed by a divine interruption (both then and now).
From Campus Chapel’s site:
Why Lament in Advent?
In order for us to anticipate with longing the coming of Christ, we must recognize why it is we need him to come. That is what laments are– opportunities for us to speak honestly of our need for a Savior. As long as we pretend everything is just fine we will never appreciate why, for instance, hosts of angels burst into song at his birth.
I love the entire-service-framework approach to their Advent Celebration. Stop on over and read for yourselves.