When Leslie emailed my daughter-in law about having a baby shower for them at Family Camp, Shannon wrote back in gratitude, but added that presents weren't necessary, "The baby is the gift, you know."
The line struck me with tear-pushing sweetness when I read it, and became an anchor of prayer as the birth drew near. The baby is the gift, you know.
Often, after sending this monthly newsletter into cyberspace, I get grand ideas of what could have/should have been written instead. I usually forget these promising insights by the time the next deadline rolls around. However, last month a rant rose up with sufficient force that I actually wrote it down--and then spent untold hours learning how to post it on the home page of our website.
We are tromping into 2007 with twenty-three $100 sponsors, and a couple more promises to anty-up after the first of the year. Thanks be to God for this affirmation and support, for each sponsor, all the staff and for every one of you that brings light and love (not to even mention cash) into this little corner of the kingdom.
The educational model of the universe claims that we are here to learn. Life is a series of lessons. The point is to Grow Up. (God is a teacher.)
The business model of the universe claims that we are here to be successful. Life is a series of challenges. The point is to Grow Bigger. (Many churches have bought this model--with their congregation's paychecks.)
The psychological model of the universe claims that we are here to improve. Lessons and challenges build character. The point is to Grow Better. (Nice, serene, unfazed.)
Throughout my life, I have had many loving and intimate relationships with people involved in homosexual activity. With my positive experiences, my scriptural understanding and long conversations with people on all sides, I have come to the conclusion that homosexual activity is a sin--it misses the mark. It is not a huge grandiose sin; just a common everyday garden variety sin like adultery, pornography, divorce, lust, sleeping around or any other of the many sexual sins that so easily beset us. This is not a popular opinion in most circles I travel in, but there it is.
Four days and three novels into our Puerto Rico vacation I begin to relax. None of the novels were astounding. It didn't matter much; I just went on to the next one and entertained myself thinking about the differences. One had great material, lousy writing, and a minimal theme. The next had great writing, sleazy material and a fascinating theme. The last had decent writing, great material and an overly cluttered theme. We'll be talking about the "building structure" of a novel, tonight at the First Tuesday's Writers Group, 7:15.
A year ago I was trying to figure out an "audio logo" for whatever it is I do. I came up with, "I am a companion for creative people on a spiritual journey." I tried out this sound-bite on that year's Lower Room Prayer bunch and Stephanie said, "Don't you need companioning too?" She used a tone of voice that sent me back to the drawing board: How about walking with spiritual people on a creative journey? How about journeying people on a creative spiritual....Oh, never mind.
Summer reading. Some are not. It is difficult on this fogbound morning to imagine lying in the sun with a good book. Nonetheless I believe that the Son is somewhere behind the grey. I await a breakthrough. As an act of faith a Summer Reading display, fat with novels and staff picks is emerging from the piles growing behind the desk.
"Nurse your dreams and protect them through bad times and tough times to the sunshine and light which always come." - Woodrow Wilson
In the early 70's several of us who were running counter-culture non-profit organizations decided to take over the local anti-poverty board. We beat the bushes and easily got the requisite signatures for seats that nobody much cared about. Eventually the shocked old-guard outmaneuvered us by declaring the election invalid; a stir that made the front page of the local newspaper.
My idea of how to spend the summer is to read long, leisurely novels under a shade tree. Of course, my idea of how to spend the winter is to read long, leisurely novels in front of a crackling fire. This month, however, has been so fraught with people and events that the time between was mostly spent staring off into space with a glazed expression. I avoided entering into novel worlds with more characters, complexities and crisis. I avoided the frustration of constant interruptions to an epic novel. Instead I relied on small pleasures: poetry and children's books.
No matter how you teach it, school children often interpret the Gospel message as "Be good, follow the rules, stay out of trouble." This has something to do with stages of development, augmented and exacerbated by teaching material that leans so hard on this-is-how-you-should-behave.
Unfortunately people who leave the church in their teens often think that the sum of Christianity is what they absorbed at age ten. This is augmented and exacerbated by the number of sermons (should they happen into a church) that lean heavily on thematic variations of this-is-how-you-should-behave.
You may have noticed that 11:59 on the last day of the month has come and gone without a newsletter appearing in your mail box. The last week of September I was on retreat in Seattle and then helping with a retreat in Alaska. I could have spent my silent retreat working on a newsletter. I didn't.