This and That

As I read the news from General Conference and some delegate blogs, I am impressed by the legislative process and the evidence of detailed planning for this important event. This should not be a surprise as we are Methodists. The worship experiences must be awesome! I encourage others to follow the happenings at GC and to be in prayer for the delegates.


I was part of a training team for a Safe Sanctuary workshop in Florence this past Saturday. We had some challenges, but we were pleased with the response of the participants. We not longer have to spend a lot of time convincing people that such policies need to exist. Churches just want to know what they should include and how to implement them. Much of what we discussed may be found on the SC Conference website. One frightening statistic that we quote certainly reminds me why I am spending several days doing this training. It is that by the time of conviction, pedophiles average over 200 victims.

Yesterday, we sang Whispering Hope during our worship. It is one of those hymns that you love or really dislike. If it evokes good memories of persons and events of the past, one probably feels a tug at the heart when singing it. If it has not been part of ones faith tradition, it probably is not appreciated as it does not reflect current tastes in music. All of this reminded me of how important it is to carefully select music when planning worship. Personal favorites may not be the congregation's choice for inspiring worship.

Earth Day 2008

“The universe is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects” – Thomas Berry

This quote introduced me to the writings of Thomas Berry and helped me focus my thinking as we planned for celebrating Earth Day Sunday at First UMC. In a society that champions individualism, the concept of interdependent living is a challenge for many to accept. Understanding Earth as sacred community is the reality we need to embrace. Our Environmental Stewardship Committee led this effort to reflect on God’s creation and our place in it. From music and liturgy to scripture and sermons, we were reminded that we live in a divine world, one that we are called to maintain. We also enjoyed lunch on the lawn, a great opportunity for fellowship and a reminder of the importance of living in community.

For several months, Evening Thoughts by Thomas Berry has been part of my bedtime reading. Almost ritualistically, I have read a few pages of it for personal reflection. Fascinated by Berry’s thought process and use of language, I have found my own thinking to be challenged and expanded. This eco-theologian calls us to be a part of this time of confronting the integral well-being of the Earth. All creatures of Earth are looking to us for their destiny. He reminds us that “our children and grandchildren depend on our decisions for the sustenance and flourishing of the life systems of the planet.”

At the conclusion of the book, the editor included “An Intellectual Biography of Thomas Berry” which in itself is interesting reading. This leads me to wonder what my intellectual biography might say? I hope it is still being written.

Interesting Reading

Larry Hollen has another blog posting which has caused me to think about how we live our lives even in the church. Toxic Niceness seems to allow bullying and lying to define too many relationships. He says, "There is a place for niceness in the workplace and the family but it must be authentic and not a mask for false equilibrium. It shouldn’t cover up dysfunction. It must be accompanied by truthfulness, responsibility and accountability"

I think it is interesting that the topic of toxic niceness leads me to thoughts of the upcoming General Conference. South Carolina delegates - Tim McClendon, Kathy James and Stephen Taylor - have been busy reading, reading and reading proposed legislation in preparation for it. Tim is also seeking election as bishop this year. Their blogs have been insightful to what is happening and each welcome our thoughts.

A Few More Thoughts

I am still processing some of the information and thoughts presented at Caring for Creation. Although the urgency to be more environmentally responsible was at the forefront of most presentations, there was also a strong message of hope. This hope can be realized by doing simple things to reduce energy consumption which in turn means burning less fossil fuels, the major contributor to the climate crisis that is looming over us.

Some of the simple things that I am trying to incorporate into my life include:

• Change a light as one regular light bulb with a compact fluorescent light saves 150 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
  
  
• Lower the thermostat 2 degrees in the winter and raise it by 2 degrees in summer saves 2,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide.
  
  
• Recycle more as I can save 2400 pounds of carbon dioxide per year by recycling half of household waste.
  
  
• Plant a tree as it will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.
  
  
• Turn off electronic devices when not using them as this becomes a major saving of carbon dioxide.
  
  
• Think globally, eat locally. I can save about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide by supplying 25% of our food from local sources. (I guess that means lots of sweet potatoes.)
  
  
• Encourage others to adopt similar practices.

Coach Jean

I have been blessed to have a wide variety of opportunities in and through my ministry. Coaching is one of the more recent ones. Last fall I began training to be a coach for those trying to discover what it is that God wants in their lives and to help them succeed at doing it. (Oct.4, 2007) This week I concluded phase one of this undertaking with more training. It has been six months of wondering about the value of coaching and whether it is what I need to be doing. However, as we gathered and shared our experiences it became clearer to me that perhaps this will help me fulfill the call I have to prepare the way for those who follow in the ministry of the deacon. I sensed God’s grace as I realized the ineffectiveness of my efforts with my guinea pigs – Kyle and Melissa. I will ask for their forgiveness and move forward with phase two. I think I better understand what it is that I need to do to be a better coach and look forward to my next assignment. My friend, Kathy, also has some interesting comments about this experience.

However, I still wonder why we need to create this artificial relationship between peers. Why can’t we just ask supporting and encouraging questions of one another as we walk along the way? Somehow we have created a culture that plays life like a game and the winners have good coaches. Tom, I can’t wait for your response.

A Great Book!

As I continue to reflect on what I heard at Caring for Creation and try to understand what this means to me, I keep thinking about this quote from St. Augustine that was used:

"Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Note it. Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead He set before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that?”

While traveling from the mighty ocean to the pale green mountains last weekend and seeing wisteria, dogwood, redbud, azaleas, and daffodils blooming, the beauty of God’s creation unfolds before us and words of praise are on our lips. “O Lord, how manifold are your works!” (Psalm 104.24) Gentle rain and bright rainbows, songbirds and butterflies, mountains and streams – all are evidence of God’s creating presence and steadfast love. The vastness of the sky reveals life eternal and a voice calling us to faithful, sustainable living is heard.

Next year's Caring for Creation at Lake Junaluska will be March 5-8, 2009. I invite you to join us there.

Look at the World

After listening to the speakers and participants at Caring for Creation, I realize how much more I need to understand about the scope of the topics presented and to make a greater commitment to environmental well-being through personal lifestyle choices. Ron and I had much to discuss as we traveled back to Myrtle Beach and I am sure that certain aspects of that conversation will become part of this blog in days ahead.

Quite appropriately, worship concluded the conference. A choral ensemble from First UMC in Waynesville introduced me to a John Rutter anthem, “Look at the World,” which was wonderfully uplifting. Bishop Kenneth Carder’s sermon text was Matthew 6:25-33 – “Consider the birds of the air and the lilies of the field.” He reminded us that creation is God’s house and we are the servants called to care for all creation. Our response was the new Social Creed being proposed at General Conference. The benediction to go forth and serve the Lord by caring for creation was received with commitment and renewal of spirit.

Caring for Creation

This weekend Ron and I are attending Caring for Creation, a conference at Lake Junaluska that promotes care and justice for Earth and its people. For the past two years, Ron has found this event to be very important to his understanding of how the faith community needs to be involved in these issues. This year he encouraged me to participate and after observing his efforts to make environmental issues matters of faith, I could not refuse. It is unique for me to be the tag-along at a church-type conference. That is usually Ron’s role.

However, I have encountered folks I know and especially have been pleased to visit with Thomas Henderson who after a nearly tragic accident has been able to return to his passion for creating a sustainable culture as it relates to agriculture. He is a walking, talking miracle. He would love to offer South Carolina a program on some of the work he has done in several different settings. I will welcome any thoughts about this.

We ate breakfast this morning with some folks from Broad St. UMC in Kingsport, TN. (By the way, they are very excited to have Clark Jenkins as their senior minister). They were sharing some of the ways their congregation is becoming more eco-friendly, but said that they are having to proceed slowly because older people don’t like change. Then, almost immediately we all decided that this might not be the age group which is hindering progress for most of the attendees of this conference are 55 and older. Also, many older adults have known rural life, minimal consumerism and a simpler lifestyle. They have an appreciation for the impact of nature on their lives that comes from life experiences. Just think of all the changes older adults have seen in their lives. It is probably the younger generations who have a more difficult time changing. Just a thought.

God and Mammon

As economic and environmental matters dominate the headlines, we are being made aware of our passion to possess and the false standard of a good life based on accumulation. The Gospel of Matthew says that “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” (6:24) How can we embrace an authentic response to the gospel? Maybe this prayer by Joyce M. Shutt gives some direction.

Consumers’ Prayer*

throwaway bottles
throwaway cans
throwaway friendships
throwaway fans

disposable diapers
disposable plates
disposable people
disposable wastes

instant puddings
instant rice
instant intimacy
instant ice

plastic dishes
plastic laces
plastic flowers
plastic faces

Lord of the living
transcending our lies
infuse us with meaning
recycle our lives

*Living More with Less by Doris Janzen Longacre (Scottdadale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1980), 14.

One More Easter Thought

The joy and hope known through the celebration of Easter linger in my thoughts. I have especially wondered about the Easter only people who came searching for something special this past week. Do they realize that they can know that Christianity celebrates the resurrection of Jesus each Sunday? Do they know Jesus in their everyday? Are they still looking for Jesus the Christ?

The faithful women went to the tomb to prepare Jesus’ body and to bury him properly, but found strangers appearing out of nowhere to tell them that Jesus was not there any longer. “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” Here is the real question. These men in white remind the women of Jesus’ own words to them, that he would rise on the third day. They were looking where he said he would not be. This seems to be the experience of many even today. We look where Jesus is not. We look for the living among the dead. We look to our own intellect and strength. We look to the comforts of this world for inspiration and comfort. Yet all we need is to remember, like the women at the tomb, what Jesus has told us.

We find Jesus where he told us to look: in the community of believers. Jesus has been raised and it is in this gathered community of the church where we will find him. In all living things the promise of renewal is found, and that is where we are called to service. We are called to look for Jesus among the living, among those who need to be served and in those who are serving them. We look for the Living One among all those to whom he has promised life. Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!

The TED Prize

The TED prize is awarded annually to three exceptional individuals who each receive $100,000 and the granting of “One Wish to Change the World.” One of this year’s winners is Karen Armstrong, the writer of more than 20 books around the ideas of what Islam, Judaism and Christianity have in common. In recent years I have found her book, The History of God, to be a valuable resource for my own teaching. It traces the history of how humanity has perceived and experienced God from the time of Abraham to the present through these three strands of monotheism. So, it was with great interest when I heard her accept her award and present her wish: The Charter for Compassion. I invite you to watch and listen to this most fascinating challenge. (approx. 20 minutes)

P.S. I have also found her latest book, The Bible: A Biography, to be a very important addition to my library.

A Good Read

For months, The Year of Magical Thinking, has been on my bedside table waiting to be read. I find it most interesting that I finally chose to read it during Holy Week for it is a story of living after a loved one’s death. Well-known writer, Joan Didion, explores her experiences and thoughts during the year following the death of her husband. This is not an overwrought widow’s sentimental account that will evoke great emotion on the part of the reader, Neither is this written with the voice of one on a spiritual journey, but rather as a wife’s honest struggle to make sense out of her time of grief by reconciling what was in her marriage to her new state of being.

Didion’s matter-of-fact writing style with engaging use of language immediately captured my attention. She reflects on the difficulty of change and letting-go as she copes with her grief as the result of her husband’s death. During this same time period her daughter, their only child, was critically ill. Sometimes she seems to so detach herself from these events through this exploration of her mental state that I was left wondering how she is healing her heart. She did indicate that she sought answers through literature and uses brief quotes from some of the authors. Didion also references her Episcopalian background. However, we really are given little insight to her inward journey during this time.

In her year of mourning, Didion does seem to arrive at some state of acceptance of what she understandably has been resisting. Throughout the book, her italicized refrain is
Life changes fast.
Life changes in the instant.
You sit down to dinner and life as
you know it ends.

In her suffering she realizes that she has never been very amenable to change and finally surrenders her illusion of control. Her husband's words keep repeating to her:
Why do you always have to be right.
Why do you always have to have the last word.
For once in your life just let it go.

I found this psychological adjustment based on pragmatic reflection to be exemplary of much of the contemporary experience of grief and I can maybe too easily say that I have what I think to be a well-grounded faith that offers comfort and hope. For as Didion says, “Grief turns out to be a place none of us know until we reach it.” Therefore, I recommend this to be well worth reading and would like to know what other readers think about it.

Easter 2008

Shannon and Dan with sons, William and Ethan

and two happy grandparents

O God, we give you thanks for filling our hearts with joy, our minds with hope, and for leading us along as an Easter people. Amen.

The Shack

As a result of conversation with several persons, I have just read The Shack by William P. Young. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to take the time to read it as it didn’t seem as though it was the type of book that usually interests me. Several times during the first sixty or so pages I was ready to quit. Yet, the twists and turns in the story line began to capture my interest and theological insights were emerging in most interesting ways. The author uses this fictional account of a father in the midst of “Great Sadness” following the murder of his young daughter to explain a lot of things about God as revealed in the Trinity. The wrestling with some of the timeless theological questions that most of us face at some time or another leads the reader into important reflection and that is the value of this book.

Each one of us finds God in different places and ways. Sometimes it is in fictional writing. However, because of the limitations of this genre it is difficult to really know what the author means by what he says. The author cannot always adequately offer explanations or provide footnotes to scripture. Also, the emotional impact of reading fiction can become manipulative and thwart our ability to discern what is true and what is not. So, proceed with caution and discernment if you choose to read this book.

Soul Music

Yesterday, Tim, First Church’s choir director, sang one of my favorite hymns at our Seagull and Snowbird gathering. As usual, It is Well with My Soul took me beyond knowledge to insight. It released the part of me that needed to be in tune with God.

Lately, I have been struggling with some the challenges of ministry. Because I am the one who is often thought to have the answers, I forget to ask the questions that help maintain a healthy perspective on what is happening in my life and I cannot truthfully say that it has been “well with my soul.” I often feel an urgency to answer God’s call in my life and become impatient, overbearing and abrupt when events aren’t unfolding as I think they should. I forget that God’s time, kairos, is different than that linear process that directs so much of my thinking. “When sorrows like sea billows roll” I need to refocus and know that “my sin…is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more.”

Music is the one thing which I cannot hide from my soul. It touches my pain, my hope and my faith. It gives me something that I need for the journey, God’s justifying grace. Then, “it is well with my soul.”

General Conference 2008

In my world, the buzz concerns the upcoming General Conference and legislative actions that might impact not only the UMC in general, but also our local churches. Since this happens only every four years, good refresher information may be found at this website. Delegates from the South Carolina Conference are busy preparing for this event. Let's be in prayer for and with them as they take on this most important work.

The Legacy of Friendship

In a recent NY Times op-ed column, David Brooks wrote that “William F. Buckley Jr.’s greatest talent was friendship. He showered affection on his friends, and he had an endless stream of them, old and young. ” This led me once more to consider the matters of friendships. Although there has been much discussion about people in the United States having fewer close friends than in years past, we also are told the value of friendship and its importance to our well-being. As a result of so many strained families, friends have become surrogate family and the primary source of support and affection. “Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter: whoever finds one has found a treasure” ( Sirach 6:14) To be a friend and to have a friend supports the understanding that we are social and relational, not solitary and autonomous. There is a special kind of grace expressed in friendship for a friend is someone who makes us feel more like our true selves, one who recognizes the person we were meant to be. Buckley seemed to understand that this is the way we are called into fullness of life. I am coming to realize that I haven’t spent enough time and energy in recent years nurturing such relationships.

Jury Duty

Just when I thought that I couldn’t do one more thing, I was summoned for jury duty this week. Trying to maintain the proper attitude about this rite of citizenship, I ventured forth each morning muttering something about my civic duty and I was sure it certainly would be the last day of this adventure. Finally, by noon on Thursday, I was headed to my office and ready to resume my usual routine without having to pass judgment on anyone; i.e., in any official sort of way. However, I have made these observations:

During the seemingly endless time of waiting, Horry County residents upheld the Southern tradition of making personal connections by asking – Where do you live? Who do you know? What church do you attend? Even two guys from New York played the game and discovered they knew someone in common in their home state.

The court officials were very courteous, reminded us frequently how important our service was and explained the events of the day with clarity. The new courthouse means that the needs of all are accommodated comfortably. This was definitely my best jury duty experience from this standpoint.

This part of South Carolina is becoming quite diverse as evidenced by those of us in the jury pool room, but folks here still haven’t learned to do it right like they do it back home in New York or New Jersey. (So, why did you move here?)

Even with the distraction of doing some serious people watching, I got to read much of an interesting book, The Shack by William Young. Comments about this will probably appear in another post.

The consensus of my new friends is that the latest Grand Strand traffic nightmare will be the area around the Hard Rock Park and that Stuart Axelroad puts on quite a show in the courtroom.

And, trial lawyers don’t seem to be interested in having clergy serve on juries. Thank you, Lord!

Pew Research Study

Headlines of the past week about the changing religious landscape in America are generating conversation in a variety of ways. This is the result of the most recent Pew Research Study. Of course, many claim this information as affirmation of what they perceive to be wrong with their denomination or organized faith affiliation and I am sure that this will be freely quoted at our upcoming General Conference. So, it is interesting to read Larry Hollen’s thoughts about how we might interpret this new information in a constructive way. He says, "These figures lay out a landscape for significant ministry if we listen with sensitivity and reach out compassionately.

Everyday Blessings

Material and mundane matters seem to have been filling my thoughts lately and borrowing from Shakespeare and Steinbeck, I have been experiencing a winter of discontent. I have failed to see the interesting and profound in my days and as a result the blog postings have been sparse. In retrospect, this makes me very sad as I feel that everything in life is a potential blessing. It only depends on how we view it and what we do with it. There are elements of the sacred that underlie all facets of life. So once more I need to listen with my heart as I journey through Lent. The daffodils and tulips that we planted last fall offer a good place to begin as I seek a "thin place." (An early Celtic Christian metaphor for those times or places when the boundary between the sacred and the everyday feels “thin,” when God’s presence is more strongly felt.)

Each time I see their blooms they become moments of joy and these beautiful, simple words come to mind:

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Thanks to Ron, another blessing in my life, and Pixel Pics for the photo.