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.
The most fun I had all month was doing a storytelling workshop for a Women's Day in Salinas. A dozen women muddling around the intersection of God's stories, our stories, and how to share them with each other. If God loves stories as much as we do, why does contemplative prayer literature so often cast stories in a negative light?
"Life is fits and starts, mostly fits." --Walker Percey
In Puerto Rico I dumped my usual 4 part morning Bible reading for a few Psalms and a chapter of Into the Silent Land; a guide to the Christian practice of contemplation by Martin Laird. Good to sit quietly and listen to the Holy Spirit breathing the name of Jesus. I just wish books on contemplative prayer didn't act as if this particular spiritual practice was the 'be all and end all' of life and holiness. Gets downright silly when you put it in the context of a marital relationship, "Hey Hon, let's sit by the fire for 20 minutes every night and not talk." Right. Very different from the unitive silences that are part of a full spousal relationship. Contemplative prayer without the whole spectrum of Christian graces, is like wandering around in a monk's habit in order get spiritual.
"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." -Leonard Cohen
The sound of two hands clapping: La Prell sent me Loren Cunningham's The Book that Transforms Nations. Founder of YWAM, Loren Cunnigham has been in every country in the world, ministered in 400 of them and leads an organization with 20,000 full time staff that serve in over a thousand locations. With a very readable style (thank you--ghost writer Janice Rogers) Loren takes you on a time-travel adventure showing how Biblical literacy makes a difference in socio, political, and economic realities. The God of the Bible--who is diverse AND unified, infinite AND personal--changes the way people structure their familial, organizational and governmental systems. $14.99
"An old world disappears, another one is being formed, and within this I am trying to conceal some good seed or other that will have its springtime, even if it is somewhat delayed." Pope John XXIII
The renewal conference where I was converted years ago was titled "Word and Power." Because that which was born within me was so clearly hungry for scripture, I'm always amazed to discover countless Christians who don't regularly feed on the Bible. How can this be? Meanwhile the scripture is so precious, so scarce is many countries. Until I read The Book that Transforms Nations it didn't occur to me to pack books to give away while traveling. Duh! If you're going somewhere interesting, come by The Word Shop and I'll give you a satchel of seed.
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." --Dr. Seuss
Trend watcher George Barna's recent book Revolution points to a grass-roots movement of "mini-ministries" that are happening beyond the local church. He projects that church congregations will continue to diminish as increasing numbers of people find their spiritual center--fellowship, feeding and service--in these mini-ministries. Wouldn't surprise me in the least, although I see ways the local churches could choose to link up with these ministries.
"Volunteering is for suckers. Did you know that so called volunteers don't even get paid?!" --Homer Simpson
For a number of years we've had a weekly hour of "lower room" prayer at The Word Shop between Easter and Pentecost. I use the term "we" advisedly. For several years it was just me and the Lord. One year it was three of us with Richard Foster's Book Streams of Living Water. Last year there were four of us. Five counting the Lord. Or 7 if you count the Lord as three. This year I'm thinking 3:00 on Wednesdays starting right after Easter. Would be nice if you could come.
"God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer." - Mother Teresa
Holy Week. Holy weak. Lord have mercy.
Blessings,
Alliee +