Random Thoughts on Sunday's Sermon

Let the People of God speak!

Rev. Jes Kast-Keat — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:47:26 +0000

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 peter 2:9

This Sunday I am excited to welcome the voices from the congregation to lead us in worship. For the past couple of months, members of WECC have been preparing for Laity Sunday in which the preaching, praying, and liturgical movements will all be done by people who normally sit in the pews. Laity is a word not found in the Bible, but it means all the people who are not the ordained professional ministers. As an ordained clergy I am obviously committed to the office of Minister of Word and Sacrament and believe in the importance of professional ministry. I also believe that every single person who sits in the pews and wants to be a follower of Christ is a representative of God. 1 Peter 2:9 reminds us that we are all priests who are called to proclaim God and His ways in this world. I wonder how it feels for you to consider yourself a priest of God, someone who is to bear witness to God in your everyday life. This Sunday the people of God will speak and bear witness to God in our public worship. I am eager to hear the Word of God preached and prayed from the WECC family!

The Beryl Prophecy

Rev Michael Bos — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:01:26 +0000

Not many people have heard of Beryl Clutterbuck Markham. She was born in England at the turn of the 20^th century and moved with her family to Kenya. Beryl let it be known from an early age that she would live life on her own terms. Her adventurous spirit resulted in her becoming the first female in Kenya to be licensed as a racehorse trainer. She was the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic from Europe to North America. And in the twilight of her life, she was a celebrated author. Not a bad curriculum vitae!

In her youth, someone told Beryl that her life would be full of success but not happiness. I can’t comment on whether this “prophecy” came true. I do know that her parents separated, she was married multiple times, and critics questioned whether she really wrote her celebrated book West with the Night. Thus amidst her success, she faced struggles.

We can easily find ourselves fulfilling the Beryl prophecy. We ramp up our lives for success, only to find that happiness eludes us. Because this is a propensity of human behavior, Jesus emphasized again and again that accolades and acclaim do not equal fulfillment and inner peace. In providing guidance, he didn’t offer a quick fix or a little “add on” feature to turn one’s life around. He pointed to a fundamental change in the way we see and live life. This week, consider Jesus’ words to his disciples, who were an ambitious lot like us, “What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving” (Matthew 6:31-32, The Message).

The Opposite of Love

Rev Michael Bos — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:29:17 +0000

If I were to ask you what the opposite of love is, what would be your response? I think most of us would answer “hate.” But in this week’s text, 1 John 4:7-21, it points to a different answer. The opposite of love is not hate, anger or disgust. It is fear, for “there is no fear in love” (v. 18).

Love and fear are polar opposites because love explodes outward, but fear implodes. When we have love, it causes us to do and say things toward that which we love. Love yearns to find expression, whether through the simple words “I love you” or through acts of kindness. Even if we try to suppress it, love always leaks out. Yet fear causes us to implode. The voice of fear tells us not to risk saying or doing anything, lest we be rejected. Fear crowds out love.

Letting go of fear is not a matter of sheer willpower. At its deepest and most profound level, fear is reduced as we open ourselves to God. Fear causes us to feel isolated and helpless. But when God enters our lives, suddenly we see know that we are not alone. May our experience echo the Psalmist who said, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears” (34:4).

The Other “John 3:16”

Rev Michael Bos — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:41:26 +0000

We’re accustomed to seeing signs that read “John 3:16” at sporting events. And athletes such as Tim Tebow, now a New York Jet, discretely display this verse on their eye black during football games. (For those who don’t follow sports, “eye black” is the grease put under one’s eyes to reduce the glare of the sun or stadium lights.) All of this has made John 3:16 the best known Bible verse in America. If you’re reading this, you can probably recite it. Go ahead, give it a try. Let me get you started: “For God so loved the world that….”

There is another John 3:16 that few people know and few people recite, but it is one we should all read and remember. It is from 1 John, and it says, “We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.” This tells us what love looks like, and 1 John gives it some legs by immediately asking, “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?” (3:17). Great question—one we should all be asking!

We probably haven’t memorized a Bible verse since fifth grade Sunday school. I would encourage us all to memorize 1 John 3:16-17, because it is pointless to talk about love unless we know what it looks like in our lives.

Come In - We're Open

Rev. Jes Kast-Keat — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:32:42 +0000

Intellectual and spiritual curiosity was a gift given to me by my parents. My parents have always been deeply committed to their Christian faith but how they have understood their faith has dynamically changed as their understanding of God and the Bible has evolved. They are now in their mid-70’s and I love listening to their stories of how the same Scripture passages have meant different things to them over the years. Their minds have been opened through different life circumstances and the Holy Spirit’s guidance, thus they tune into their faithful Scripture reading with new eyes each day. There is something beautiful about the way my parents come to the Sacred Story with a sense of wonder and humility.

In Luke 24:45 the writer says that Jesus opened the first disciples’ minds to understand the Scriptures. I think the notion of having an open mind may frighten some people, as it insinuates we are open to the possibility of change, which will hopefully transform our ways in this world. As much as it can be frightening, I also believe there is a freedom in having an open mind. There is a freedom to approach the Scripture, God, and humanity with a sense of wonder instead of with pre-conceived judgments. When our minds are opened up this makes room for so many more wonderful and freeing experiences which I believe is part of compassionate living.

Is “open-minded Christian” an oxymoron?

Rev Michael Bos — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:01:39 +0000

Many believe that the Church has been producing closed-minded followers for millennia. The perception is that the Church’s mission is to receive people with questions, give them the answers, and then teach them to stop asking questions. Though some churches approach knowledge in this way, history shows another side to Christianity. For many, it was faith that propelled them into the world to learn all that they could. Faith taught them that one should explore areas such as astronomy, physics, biology, and the arts. There was an expectation that to learn something new, no matter its source, was to learn more about the God who created the world we inhabit.

This is not a thing of the past. There are many who still believe that asking questions and seeking knowledge are part of the journey of faith. John Polkinghorne, the scientist turned theologian, describes the rationale well when he said, “I'm a very passionate believer in the unity of knowledge. There is one world of reality - one world of our experience that we're seeking to describe.” Knowledge cannot be bifurcated into the “things of God” and the “things of the world.” There is only one world, and when we fully engage it, it becomes God’s classroom in which we learn, grow, and challenge old patterns of thinking. This may be why Jesus, when explaining the Scriptures to his disciples, “opened their minds to understand” (Luke 24:45). It takes an open-mind to grasp the things of God, so being an open-minded Christian is definitely not an oxymoron. It describes who we strive to be.

Resurrection in 2012

Rev. Jes Kast-Keat — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:04:02 +0000

What does the resurrection of Jesus mean to you in 2012?

I’ve been asking myself this question as I have been delving into our Gospel reading for this week (John 20:19-31). I pose this same question to the readers of this blog. I wonder how you might respond.

You see, if these sacred narratives of our Scripture remain just flat stories on a page, as an object, then we are missing out on the voluminous nature of what Scripture can inspire in our lives. There are times for us to be scientists and put Scripture under a microscope to examine all the details of the story. Then there are times that we are to read Scripture like we were watching an incredible Broadway performance. Performance Art invites us to explore our lives through the characters on the stage. I would argue that reading Scripture can be like a Broadway performance that invites us to explore the art of the Holy Story and what it might mean in our flesh.

When we see the resurrection Jesus, metaphorically speaking, in our day-to-day events, what reaction does that inspire in us? Are we like the first disciples who need words of peace spoken to us multiple times? Maybe we are waiting for resurrection in our relationships or in our careers and we, like Thomas, need to touch this new life in order to believe it is actually true.

So let your imaginations run wild as you contemplate John 20:19-31 in preparation for this Sunday. What does the resurrection of Jesus mean to you in 2012?

Hand-me-down faith

Rev Michael Bos — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:13:23 +0000

I have a little box of mementos that have been handed down to me from my grandfather. I never had the opportunity to meet him because he passed away before I was born. However, I have come to treasure the memory of him through these keepsakes. We all have things of great sentimental value that have been handed down to us, but this week’s passage tells us that faith is not one of them.

In the famous account of “Doubting Thomas” (John 20:24-29), Thomas is not willing to have his faith handed down to him. He yearns for his own experience of God through the risen Christ. Others have reported to him what they have experienced, calling for him to accept their experience as his own. But when it comes to faith, Thomas knows that hand-me-downs will never do. He insists that he must experience this for himself. Unfortunately, over the centuries we have maligned Thomas for his doubts, yet it is through his doubt that he came to a first-hand experience of God through Christ. As James Philip Bailey wrote, “Who never doubted never half believed; Where doubt, there truth is—'tis her shadow.”

Easter Season

Rev. Jes Kast-Keat — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:20:31 +0000

Holy Week has come and gone, but did you know that the spirit of Easter is celebrated on more than one Sunday in the church calendar? Until the end of May we are in the season of Easter which will be followed by the Ascension of Jesus, celebrated on Mat 17th, and Pentecost, May 27th. This Sunday, the Second Sunday in Easter, we will hear the words of John 20:19-31. In this story Jesus appears to His disciples after His resurrection. His disciples are cowering away in the house where they had met when Jesus appears and offers them peace three different times. This is also the famous story in which the disciple, Thomas, gets that famous nickname “Doubting Thomas”. I sometimes wonder why we saddled Thomas with this name, because Thomas comes to belief. Yes, Thomas wanted proof that this was really Jesus and yes, Thomas needed to touch Jesus in order to believe, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. I think we all are a bit like Thomas – we want to follow Jesus in faith, but in fear of looking like fools we need some sort of proof. I think Jesus meets us right where we are at, just as he did with Thomas.

Holy Week

Rev. Jes Kast-Keat — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:13:34 +0000

Holy Week is one of, if not, the biggest week in the Christian liturgical calendar. It is a week full of drama. We began this week with praises and shouts of jubilee on Palm Sunday; all of us offering different expectations of Jesus, just like the first believers. As we move through the week, before we arrive at the celebration of Easter, we experience betrayal – death – silence. It is incredibly tempting to move right from Palm Sunday to Easter, from glory to glory, from celebration to celebration. I am not exempt from this temptation. I like celebrating and I love helping the church recover the spiritual act of celebration. Yet if we just went from “Hosanna!” to resurrection we are missing a big part of the story.

I invite you to experience the entire Holy Week. Before we get to Sunday check out Matthew 26 and Matthew 27 – take a deep breath – and read the story of breaking bread together, betrayal, death, and silence. Imagine what it would be like to be one of the first disciples. What would your reaction be? How do you picture yourself in this story? What might it mean for you today? You are invited to join us Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. and Friday at 12:00 noon as we remember the story together in worship. Perhaps this week is best spent communally as we wait for the joy of Easter Sunday.

Atheism 2.0 & Easter

Rev Michael Bos — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:57:31 +0000

Books on atheism are a hot topic these days, and the trend has been to combine one’s lack of belief in God with an extreme disdain for religion. It is not enough to express one’s disbelief; one must also be clear how deluded any follower of religion is. The good news is that atheism 2.0 has arrived, and it has a kinder, gentler front man in Alain de Botton. Unlike the caustic criticism of recent atheists, de Botton leaves open the possibility that people may be able to learn something from religion, even if one lacks a belief in God. To be clear, he is not saying he wants to pick and choose the doctrines he likes from the world’s religions. They hold little value to him. But he does see merit in the way religion organizes itself. To me, this openness bears more intellectual integrity and a desire to learn. Otherwise we are in an endless cycle of only wanting to know what we already know!

This started me thinking about Easter and the Resurrection. I know the connection is not clear, so allow me to explain. There are many who are dismissive of the Resurrection because it does not square with a scientific worldview. Sure, the teachings and example of Jesus are inspiring, but “let’s not push the “Big R” on people,” some say. I wonder what we miss as people of faith if we categorically reject the Resurrection? Even for us skeptical, scientific moderns, could there not be something there that can guide and inspire us? After all, generations across two millennia have found hope in the Resurrection. And though there has certainly been disagreement about how it is to be understood, it has always found a way to form and fashion Christian identity. It seems if we summarily dismiss it, we fall into the cycle of only wanting to know what we already know. My hope is that the startling message of Easter reminds us to be open to what we do not know—and to be ready for some surprises! Otherwise, God is confined to the limits of our preexisting thoughts.

Palm Sunday

Rev. Jes Kast-Keat — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 20:14:07 +0000

Palm Sunday commences the last week of Lent, Holy Week. On Palm Sunday we remember Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem (Mark 11:1-11). The first believers in Jesus laid out their cloaks and branches from the trees to welcome Jesus. Laying out cloaks and branches on a path before someone arrived to a particular place was a way to do honor to that person in Ancient Near Eastern traditions. The Palm Sunday event is quite an interesting happening, because during so much of Jesus’ ministry he cautions people to keep his works and miracles private. Yet on Palm Sunday Jesus is recorded as making a public and dramatic entry, which is quite different from most of his ministry. It is possible that the fame and knowledge of Jesus was growing so widespread that a quiet entry would have been impossible. In the Gospel of Luke Jesus tells the Pharisees that even the rocks would cry out if the people were quiet. Jesus and his ministry were moving people to believe a new way was possible.

We, too, at West End have a tradition of handing out palm branches and walking around our neighborhood to celebrate our joyful belief in the Messiah, just like those in first-century Jerusalem. We invite you to participate in the Palm Walk at 10:30 A.M.

Mother Nature

Rev. Jes Kast-Keat — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:10:09 +0000

Mother Nature is a powerful force. She has the power to destruct and she has the power to give new life. What fascinates me are the situations in nature when death and life are of the same event. Here I am thinking of the forest fires in Yellowstone National Park. Most of us would consider that forest fires are harmful and produce nothing but death, but in fact that is not entirely true. When fire consumes the above-ground plant-life, the roots remain unharmed and actually increase the productivity of new life after a fire has done its damage. In fact there are specific pine cones in Yellowstone that are sealed by resin and the only way for the cone to release its seal is by the heat of the fire. Thus the seeds are released into the ground allowing for new life to sprout. For years people resisted the fire and tried to master Mother Nature’s ways but it wasn’t until the 1940s when ecologists realized that fire was actually a primary agent of new life. Mother Nature teaches us that at times some things must die in order for new life to blossom.

A Season of Dying

Rev. Jes Kast-Keat — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:15:55 +0000

The beautiful opening in chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is a season for everything; a time to be born and a time to die. During Lent we are invited to think about the season of dying. I know death can be an uncomfortable subject. In our American culture we value the ideal of perpetual youth. We’re not always quite sure how to deal with death very well. I commonly see people who avoid talking about death as though they were avoiding the plague. Sometimes I meet people obsessing about death to the point where they have stopped living. I believe that neither of these extremes are helpful. Yet, I do think when we come to the awareness that things die -- that we die, we begin to live differently. We begin to savor moments, even moments that seem mundane. We relish the present for we realize it is but a blip in the grand scheme of life. In some sense when we become honest about death we begin to experience the freedom to live well, here and now. I think the life and death of Jesus can teach us about living in the present and surrendering to the gift of now. The people I know who recognize the different seasons of life are some of the most free people I know. The way of Jesus welcomes us into this type of freedom.

Soaring on the Wings of Grace

Rev. Jes Kast-Keat — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:34:18 +0000

I have returned to this poem numerous times during Lent. It is not a typical Lenten poem that is shrouded in lamentation. Instead the author invites us to posture our hearts toward “the graced wings of desire” so that we may experience God more fully. As we approach the final weeks of Lent I am still ruminating on this poem in conjunction with the Psalm this Sunday. The Psalmist writes in chapter 51 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me.” Both the poem and the Psalm express the posture of humility that propels the writers, not to self-flagellation, but instead into desire. That is my prayer for all of us that in our confessions we know we approach a God who never stops welcoming us in love. We are welcomed to die to persistent feelings of unworthiness and instead soar on the graced wings of desire for our God.

Lent 2001 by Joyce Rupp

The cosmos dreams in me
while I wait in stillness,
ready to lean a little further
into the heart of the Holy.

I, a little blip of life,
a wisp of unassuming love,
a quickly passing breeze,
come once more into Lent.

No need to sign me
with the black bleeding ash
of palms, fried and baked.
I know my humus place.

This Lent I will sail
on the graced wings of desire,
yearning to go deeper
to the place where
I am one in the One.

Oh, may I go there soon,
in the same breath
that takes me to the stars
when the cosmos dreams in me.

Explaining Your Past

Rev Michael Bos — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:41:20 +0000

Researchers have found that how we explain our past indicates how well we handle diversity. This is known as an “optimistic explanatory style.” If we interpret bad experiences in a positive light, we are more likely to prevail when faced with diversity. However, if we interpret our past negatively, we are more apt to give up.

With this as a backdrop, I’ve been thinking about the opening salvo in Ephesians 2: “It wasn’t long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin” (The Message). This is not a very positive beginning. But the thrust of the passage doesn’t remain there. It concludes by reminding us, “We are what God has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (2:10). Somehow we move from mired in sin to being created to do good things. Scripture encourages us to have an optimistic explanatory style.

Often we, as Christians, are criticized for seeking to put this into practice. When faced with dire circumstances, we trust God and believe that things will work out. We are a people who always have hope and do not give up easily! Some will say that this is Pollyannaish, and we are not grounded in reality. To that we should simply say, our faith reminds us that we have the chance to create new realities, so why not be optimistic!

Divine Demands

Rev Michael Bos — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:12:30 +0000

Lent can feel like another season in which God makes more demands. In this case, the demand is to be penitential. It seems God always wants something from us! Yesterday I came across a quote in the Huffington Post by Annie Dillard, the Pulitzer Prize winning author, that prompted me to see Lent—and God—differently. She wrote “God asks nothing, and demands nothing, like the stars. It is a life with God which demands these things. You do not have to do these things unless you want to know God. They work on you not on him ... you do not have to sit outside in the dark. If, however, you want to look at the stars, you will find darkness is necessary. But the stars neither require nor demand it.”

Prayer, fasting, generosity, forgiveness—these are not things that God demands. These are things we do when we want to know God. They emanate from our yearning for something more; not from God demanding we do more. Lent is not another spiritual duty. It is an invitation to know God.

Tikkun Olam

Michael Hajek — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:28:27 +0000

Tikkun olam is a phrase in Hebrew that means “repairing or mending the world.” I love the way this phrase is used as a religious concept in Judaism because it provides a basis for our desire to follow the law of God. At its most basic level, it teaches us that we do not strive to follow the ethical guidance of our religious tradition simply because it is considered law. We seek to follow it because it is something that mends the world. Too often we use religious law as God’s dowsing rod to determine who is in or out of the community of faith. But tikkun olam steers us away from this narrow, legalistic mindset and moves us towards the beauty of religious devotion and the vision of what faith can be.

As we change our spiritual rhythms during the season of Lent, it is an opportunity to consider why we live the way we do. Is our pattern of living one that repairs, mends, and renews us, or is it one that fractures, harms, and depletes us? It is only when we answer this question honestly that we open ourselves to the movement of God’s Spirit to guide us towards tikkun olam.

Attention Seeking Behavior

Michael Hajek — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:25:13 +0000

There are healthy and unhealthy ways to be in a relationship with one another. A clearly unhealthy approach is to engage in chronic attention seeking behavior. This is when we create unnecessary drama to call attention to ourselves. We exaggerate our emotions, tell tall tales, and develop self destructive habits, all in the hope that people will give us some of their time.

Unfortunately, too often we present God as one who engages in attention seeking behavior. We point to God as the drama creating force in our lives. And rather than view this as a negative tactic, we view it as the divine modus operandi for drawing us into relationship. While scripture does point to attention getting moments between us and God, the dominant image of God is of one who is always present and patiently waiting for us. It is not of a God who creates drama as a cry for attention. It is of a God who yearns to be in a relationship with us, but does not rush or force us into one.

This is something we must understand to appreciate the ministry of Jesus. While people are quick to point to the miraculous elements of Jesus' life, they often overlook the quiet patience he had with people, waiting for the opportunity to be in a relationship with them. If we miss this, we may never learn that drama is not a prerequisite to be in a relationship with God and with one another.

It Didn’t Begin with Romance

Rev Michael Bos — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:22:16 +0000

Today is Valentine’s Day, and woe to the person who forgets to express his or her love! If you are one of those who have forgotten, consider this your pastoral reminder to pick up flowers, buy candy, or plan a romantic dinner for that special someone in your life. It is not too late to save the day!

Valentine’s Day was not always like this. It began as a day to commemorate the martyrdom of those saints named Valentine. In doing so, it gave people the opportunity to contemplate faith and the limits of love. By remembering those who gave their lives for their love of God, one is drawn into the mysterious, beautiful, and confusing ways that love directs our lives.

It reminds me of the words of Jesus when he said that “to lay down one’s life” is the ultimate expression of one’s love for another (John 15:13). I think this is true. I would easily lay down my life for my wife, son, or daughter. But for others, probably not. Raising this question is a quick litmus test for those whom we have a special love. The writings of Chaucer picked up this aspect of Valentine’s Day, and overtime romantic love became the day’s focus. Though the nature of the day has changed, it continues to provide the opportunity to consider whom we love and how we love. Do not let the day slip by without considering how love fills and directs our lives.

The Upside of Compromise

Rev Michael Bos — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:26:48 +0000

I think Ludwig Erhard captured our attitude toward compromise very well when he said, “A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest piece.” In other words, we do not like to make compromises. We want to believe that we live life on our terms--not someone else’s!

Go Ahead. Be Unrealistic!

Rev Michael Bos — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:24:18 +0000

As children we have rich fantasy worlds. We have imaginary friends and special powers. We are princesses and über-athletes. As we mature, we let go of these unrealistic notions, and we prepare ourselves to face the real world.

What do I see in you?

Rev Michael Bos — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:17:04 +0000

I don’t know if you have thought about it, but how we see people determines how we treat people. People we deem of great value, we treat well. People we deem unpleasant, we avoid. And people we deem insignificant, we often oppress. It all hinges on how we see others.

The God of All People

Rev Michael Bos — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:04:35 +0000

There is a human tendency to categorize people, which is particularly evident among us religious types. Just consider the variety of labels we have for fellow Christians: liberal and conservative, holy roller and God’s frozen chosen, pomo (postmodern) and traditionalist, zealous evangelist and nominal Christian, Protestant and Catholic—the categories are endless. I’m fine with this with one exception: when we create a category of people for whom God will never be known.

Appearing This Week Is…

Rev Michael Bos — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:49:38 +0000

For most of us, the Christmas season ended December 26. But for those who follow the church calendar, we are now in the “Twelve Days of Christmas.” This is the period between Christmas and Epiphany, which is celebrated on January 6.

What to Give?

Rev Michael Bos — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:11:33 +0000

As much as giving Christmas gifts can be a hassle, I love surprising someone with an unexpected gift. This year Tena and I said we weren’t getting anything for each other, but I found a gift that I knew I had to get for her. Therefore I breached our agreement, bought the gift, and have carefully hidden it under the tree. She deserves it because over the years she has done this many times for me. By blogging about it now, it only adds to the dramatic tension and tests whether all of you can keep a secret.

What’s New with You?

Kevin Reid — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0000

One of the prominent biblical texts during Christmas is the annunciation of Jesus’ birth to Mary (Luke 1:26-38). Many of us have heard this so often that we forget it was received as startling, borderline ludicrous news. Mary was not pregnant. She was not married. She was just a poor and lowly teenager trying to make it through another day. This little event in Luke represents an utter blindside by God!

I imagine that the first person to ask her “What’s new with you?” received an earful.

Not What I Expected

westend_admin — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 20:06:07 +0000

We create stereotypes about what we expect in people. Doctors should be intelligent, accountants accurate, teachers caring, and so the list goes on. I guess we do this as a way to make us feel we “know” people before we meet them. I wonder how many of us have stereotypes of Jesus but yet know little about him. All during Jesus’ ministry people tried to fit him and his teachings into existing stereotypes, but none seem to fit. This led to frustration for some because he just wasn’t what they expected.

Pride Check

westend_admin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 18:59:04 +0000

I was raised to be proud of who I am and to take pride in what I do. I’m sure I’m not alone in this. This represents a healthy pride that breeds security and confidence. However, I’m also sure I’m not alone in seeing pride become excessive and turn into hubris and arrogance. And yes, I mean even within ourselves! There is a very interesting exchange between Jesus and his disciples about this. In Matthew 23:1-12, Jesus warns the disciples not to be like those who seek attention and places of privilege. It’s more than a matter of improper etiquette or looking bad in the eyes of others. He presents it as a condition that has spiritual consequences. The fifth century saint, Augustine, expressed the consequences this way: “Pride is a perverted imitation of God. For pride hates a fellowship of equality under God, and seeks to impose its own dominion on fellowmen, in the place of God’s rule.” I’ve never thought of pride as that which “hates a fellowship of equality under God,” but this represents the essence of Jesus’ teaching. He told the disciples, “you are not to be called rabbi…, nor are you to be called instructors” (Matthew 23:8,10). In other words, don’t take titles that may lead one to excess pride. Instead, they should see themselves as fellow “students” standing equally before God. This is advice we all need to heed because it creates a condition of equality that allows relationships to thrive. It should also remind us that if we find ourselves pontificating more than listening and learning, it may be time for a pride check!

Pet Week at West End!

westend_admin — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:43:19 +0000

I had one of those “ah-ha” moments when reading Genesis recently. In the opening verses about creation, it tells of God’s creation of man. And then it says, “the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make a helper as his partner.’ So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air” (Genesis 2:18 & 19). I don’t know why it never dawned on me before, but in the scheme of creation, animals were created to be our companions . To be fair, in the end people are deemed better companions and helpers, but make no mistake about it, our sacred text views our fuzzy little friends as God's companions for us.

In some ways, this articulates what we already know through our experiences. Since we took two cats into our home (Tabitha and Miss Kitty), we never come home to an empty house. There are always two cats waiting at the door. When I sit down on the sofa I am never alone. There is always at least one cat next to me or on me. When we take pets into our homes we know that we will never be alone. There will always be a companion waiting at the door.

This Sunday we will celebrate God’s marvelous creation as experienced through our beloved pets, so bring your pet to church on Sunday! All pets are welcome and all pets will be offered a blessing.

The Weight of the Past

westend_admin — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:54:09 +0000

Our past affects our present and future, especially when it comes to creating positive momentum. If we cling to the difficulties of the past, it can feel as if we are carrying the weight of the world with us. If we hold onto the successes of the past, they encourage and propel us forward. The Israelites experienced this phenomenon when they became weighed down by their past. They had two memories from which to draw: being in slavery and being free.

That Funny Thing Called “Momentum”

westend_admin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:26:40 +0000

When we speak of momentum, it is that invisible, intangible force that charts the trajectory of our lives. We seem to know little about what creates it, but we certainly feel its effects. Sometimes it feels like it is pulling us towards the good life. At other times, it is as if we’re on a river heading for a waterfall and don’t know how to get off! One important aspect of momentum is our attitude. When we are negative, momentum takes a turn for the worse. If we are positive, momentum pulls us forward. As Bryant McGill said, “Enthusiasm is the energy and force that builds literal momentum of the human soul and mind.” And in a much older source it says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). Everyday we need to find ways to rejoice, celebrate, and be enthused about something or someone. It is more than enjoying the moment. It creates momentum for our future.

Don’t Tell Me What to Do!

westend_admin — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:31:53 +0000

No one likes to be told what to do. And because we think of ourselves as highly evolved, rational and intelligent beings, we do not like the idea of religion telling us what is right or wrong. Even as a pastor I find myself recoiling from the moral strictures that many religious types seek to impose on others. However, there is another way to think about religious law. Instead of a list of dos and don’ts, I think it is far better to think of it as a guide to reach the potential for which God created us. And if ignored, you may never know what is possible, we may settle for less than what God offers in this life. The intersection of religion and morality represents the pathway to reaching the potential within us and between us. Every time we turn to our Scriptures and tradition, we are seeking the wisdom of God as it has been experienced over thousands of years. And with prayer and discernment in our communities of faith, God’s wisdom continues to guide us.

Why So Negative?

westend_admin — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:22:36 +0000

One of people’s major complaints about the Ten Commandments is that they are overly negative. They are ten ways of saying, “don’t do this” or “don’t do that.” While it is true they are expressed using a negative form, this does not mean they have a negative meaning. The commandments are not about restricting behavior but are about guiding people so that they may experience what it means to be free. The prelude to the commandments highlights this emphasis. It begins by saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exodus 20:2). It reminds the Israelites that once they were slaves, but now they are free. And the Ten Commandments represent a way to continue in that freedom so that they do not move from one form of slavery to another. They could easily become enslaved by greed, corruption, or enmity with others. And the only way to avoid this is to live in a way that keeps one free. The Ten Commandments prompt us to consider whether our actions are liberating us or enslaving us. Something worth considering!

The Ten Commandments

westend_admin — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 19:51:27 +0000

This week’s theme focuses on the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). Unfortunately, they have fallen on hard times. First, few people know what they are. Second, many see them as too negative in orientation—don’t do this and don’t do that! And third, an increasing number of people think we no longer need moral postulates to guide our behavior.

Over the next few days I will be examining these three issues. For today, let’s begin by making sure we all know the Ten Commandments. To test your knowledge, click here. You’ll quickly discover how many commandments you know. And there is a series of bonus questions based on the commandments to find out if you are a saint or sinner—remember, it is all in good fun. Good luck!

The “Quest” in Questioning

westend_admin — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 15:13:02 +0000

Traditionally it has been thought taboo to question God. I guess it was seen as a sign of weak faith. But could it not be the beginning of faith? James Nathan Miller said, “There is no such thing as a worthless conversation, provided you know what to listen for. And questions are the breath of life for a conversation.” Our questions are an indispensable element in the way we come to know one another. Our questions are what open us to God. They are part of our spiritual quest, and no one can be on a quest without questioning. It is the way we learn and grow. And it is also a way we reveal ourselves to others. Every question contains a hint of vulnerability because it displays something about which we do not know or are uncertain. When it comes to faith, with every question we are communicating something significant to God. This is essential because faith cannot touch those parts of ourselves that we hide from God.

Compromising Character

westend_admin — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:02:52 +0000

This week’s text (Philippians 1:21-30) poses the question, what do we do when we are opposed by others and in an apparent place of weakness? Although the Apostle Paul does not use the term “character,” Paul’s answer is this: make sure to resist the impulse to compromise our character because of what we are facing. The Philippians were in a tough situation. Their leader, Paul, was in prison. And others saw this as an opening to raise their profile as bearers of the gospel (even then some evangelists had questionable motives!). This meant that a competitive spirit, along with a little envy, caused people to resort to less than noble means to advance their position. Paul’s concern was that the Philippians may do the same when faced with such opposition.

When hard pressed, we all face the temptation to lower our standards to see our way through. When we are facing difficult times, it is good to pause and remind ourselves of who we want to be and who God created us to be. Otherwise it is all too easy to compromise our character for the expediency of the moment rather than build a character that will endure for the future.

Good or Bad?

westend_admin — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:08:32 +0000

Too often we categorize people by their situation in life. If good fortune follows them, then they must be good. If bad things surround them, then they must be bad. This basic idea has crept into our faith. Some preach that if you have a strong faith in God, you will experience health and wealth. Though I agree that faith helps us through troubled times--and even avoid some of them--I have a problem with this line of thinking and here is why. If we believe this yet still experience trying times, we are left with the conclusion that either our faith is not good enough, or that we simply are not good.

Faith does not eliminate our problems, but it does remind us that even in difficult times, our worth is not diminished. No matter what our station or circumstances in life, we will always be a wonderful creation of God (Psalm 139:14). We need to remind each other of this, because it can be very hard to believe this about ourselves when we are in the middle of a mess. Remember to affirm others when they are experiencing hard times. It may just be the encouragement they need to make it through the day.

Don’t Believe the Press

westend_admin — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:41:08 +0000

Being an avid tennis fan, I am still mourning Federer’s loss to Djokovic at the US Open this weekend. He was up 5-3 in the fifth set, had two match points, and yet he still lost! For those who are not tennis fans, this means there was no way he should have lost that match. Immediately after, the pundits were less than charitable towards him--some evening predicting his demise. Because he is the one and only Roger Federer, these things are not supposed to happen to him.

Interestingly, the Apostle Paul found himself in a similar situation. He was a super apostle. Pearls of wisdom and incredible feats seemed to abound when he was present. Yet somehow he found himself in prison, which is something that tends to diminish the aura of someone in his business! His motto and advice to all who suffered opposition: don’t respond in fear or hatred. Simply “live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27).

Whether we are Federer, the Apostle Paul, or just plain old us, the comments of others, especially when in a difficult situation, can easily impact the possibilities we see for ourselves. Paul knew this, and so he used his own situation of hardship to remind us to stay true to our values and allow our faith to elevate us above the fray. As he said later in Philippians, “I have strength for anything through Christ who gives me power” (4:13). May our faith strengthen us for the journey ahead.

Friday – Just Be Yourself

westend_admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 13:46:14 +0000

We probably all received the same advice when beginning a new school or new job: “Just be yourself and you’ll be fine.” It sounds so easy, and on the surface it should be the easiest thing for us to do. How hard can it be to be ourselves? E.E. Cummings wrote, “To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.” It is not easy to be ourselves. Some people no longer know the truth of who they are because they have spent so much time being who other’s want them to be. And even if we know who are, we may lack the courage to reveal our true selves for fear we will be rejected by others.

The great irony is that the journey to know ourselves is one we cannot travel alone. We need God’s help to sort through the competing voices of who we should be. And we need the grace of a community that supports us in expressing who we are. Faith is not just about discovering God. It is about discovering ourselves.

Thursday – Three Steps to Freedom

westend_admin — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 20:22:27 +0000

I am still pondering the verse from Tuesday’s blog: “the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free” (Romans 8:2). The key question is this: how can we experience freedom in our lives? In many ways, I think the Twelve Step Program has helped give shape to this experience. To flesh out what this means for all of us spiritually, I have reworded the first three steps in a more general manner. As you read them, consider if they represent the freedom that faith offers. And if they do, is there a step you need to take on your journey to freedom? Step one: I admit I am powerless to become fully who God created me to be and my life has become unmanageable. Step two: I believe God can empower me to live into who I am created to be. Step three: therefore, I turn my will and my life over to the care of God.

Wednesday – God in the Rearview Mirror

westend_admin — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:35:00 +0000

This week’s Old Testament lesson (Genesis 25:19-34) is about a very dysfunctional biblical family. First there is Isaac. He had seven brothers but unfortunately his father had disinherited them. Isaac married Rebekah, and after a long period of infertility, she gave birth to twins. From the beginning it was clear the twins, Jacob and Esau, would be in conflict with each other. To make matters worse, the parents played favorites. Isaac favored Esau while Rebekah favored Jacob. This favoritism resulted in Rebekah scheming with Jacob to trick his father into giving him the blessing that Isaac intended to give to Esau. I could go on, but I think you get the point. They are not a model family!

What I find truly remarkable is that this story has become part of our sacred Scripture. And it poignantly demonstrates how God was working through family dysfunction and deceit, even if it did not seem evident at the time. We all need this story. When we are in the midst of a messy situation, it can be hard to see God’s presence. Sometimes it is only in hindsight that it becomes clear God was mysteriously at work.

Tuesday – Tough Questions

westend_admin — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 19:24:57 +0000

One of the toughest questions I have faced in an interview situation was a mere three words: “Who are you?” I tried to answer by describing what I am like and what I like to do, but that did not answer the question. The person wanted to know what lies in my soul and in my spirit. In the end, I stumbled and stammered my way through the answer without much grace. I think what made this question so difficult is that I knew I would need to ask myself another tough question: “Who should I become?”

I believe these questions summarize our life’s quest, even if we never put words to them. We are in a constant state of striving “to be” and “to become,” and what makes it so difficult is that we feel there are things holding us back. Family baggage, bad breaks, or a fragile state become weights that never allow us to be who we know we should be. Breaking loose is not easy, nor can it be done on our own. This is where the power of faith helps us. Somehow our faith in God restores our faith in ourselves so that we are able to break free and become the person we yearn to be. As it says in Romans, “the Spirit of life in Christ has set you free” (8:2). Faith helps us see ourselves differently so we are free “to be and become” in ways we never thought possible.

Friday – A Blessing for Travel

westend_admin — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:48:37 +0000

Summer travel officially begins today, and many of us will be testing our patience as we fight crowds on the highways and at airports. As we make our way to our holiday destinations, I offer the blessing found in Colossians 1:11: “May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience.” Have a wonderful holiday and Happy 4th of July.

Thursday – Divine Discovery

westend_admin — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 14:02:32 +0000

The demands of adulthood dictate that we find relational and vocational focus—the pressure of which we all experienced while growing up. How many times were we asked if we were in a relationship or what job we aspired to? The pressure stems from good intentions that simply want us to experience the joy of sharing life with another person and a career in which we experience fulfillment. And these have become social norms that call upon us to narrow our options so that we are focused on the right person and right career. We carry over this same propensity in our journey of faith. Once we find a spiritual routine with which we are comfortable, we tend to write off other options as being unable to mediate God’s presence in our lives. The upside is that we are grounded in our faith through this routine. The downside is that we may lose our sense of divine discovery. We should never limit the ways God’s Spirit may move us, for when we do, spiritual stagnation is soon to follow. This brings me back to this week’s verse, when Jesus said, “God has hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.” Those who perceive themselves as “wise and intelligent” may be so overly focused on a few things that they are not willing to try anything new. However, children are little masses of exploration on a quest to discover anything and everything new. Which one have we become in our spiritual journey?

Wednesday – Hide & Seek

westend_admin — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:40:21 +0000

I’ve been mulling over Jesus’ words, “God has hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.” What troubles me is the idea that God hides things from us. This seems down right capricious. Why would God hide the very things that we need? Then it dawned on me that there are two kinds of hidden. We can intentionally hide things from people, hoping that they never discover it. This is a capricious act, especially when it is something vital to others. But there are things that remain hidden to us because either we are not looking or looking in the wrong places. I experienced this when renting a car recently. I was told the keys were in the car. When I sat in the car I could find no keys—not even a spot to use a key! All I found was a key fob lying on the console. I hate to admit how long I spent looking for the key. Finally I gave up and went back to the desk, only to be told that the key fob is the key. And further, you do not insert it anywhere. You can keep it your pocket or place it on the console. As long as the key fob is near the car, all you have to do is push the start button. Everything I needed was in front of me but I just didn’t know what to look for. When it comes to faith, it is a good reminder that the journey of faith is not just about seeking. It is also knowing what we seek. Otherwise it may be in front of us all along, yet seem hidden.

Tuesday – A Spirituality of Imperfection

westend_admin — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:01:00 +0000

When I was growing up, going to church meant putting on our “Sunday best.” My best included everything from leisure suits to clip-on ties! Sometimes I feel like we put on our Sunday best with our lives as well. We try to look like we have it all together and do our best to hide any brokenness we may be experiencing. An article by Daniel Clendenin has me thinking about this. In talking about failure-tolerant Christians, he tells of his fascination with the desert monastics. These are the people who over fifteen hundred years ago fled the corruption of the city and church to live in monasteries in which they could devote their lives to God. What he finds interesting is the degree to which they admitted their struggles. They were “not ashamed or embarrassed to acknowledge and embrace one's brokenness, wounds, darkness, and inner demons. For them, intense struggle is a necessary component of Christian maturity.” As I think about it, the question is not whether we are able to avoid pain and brokenness—we’re all imperfect. The question is whether we will learn and grow from it. We can only learn from that which we are willing to face.

Monday – An Infantile Spirituality

westend_admin — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 14:26:35 +0000

Toddlers can be inspiring and exasperating. They’re inspiring because they are interested in everything, and they are exasperating because they get into everything! Personally, I love a toddler’s sense of wonder, curiosity, and desire to explore. I think it is these qualities that lead Jesus to say, “you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants” (Matthew 11:25). Those that deem themselves wise and intelligent may stop seeking more knowledge, but those that see themselves as mere infants know they have much to learn. In our spirituality, it is good to be infantile. Then we are ever curious about what we don’t know rather than proud of what we already know.

Friday – Bach’s Glory

westend_admin — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:04:50 +0000

I would be remiss if I focused on sacred music and did not mention Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach said that “The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.” I want to focus on Bach’s use of glory. In contemporary understanding, we would probably interpret this as our need to “give glory to God.” This implies that our words must attribute something positive to the nature of God. Yet the meaning of glory is broader than this. Glory can also mean “consideration,” and in Scripture it is used to describe the very presence of God. Building on these uses, when Bach says that “music should be none other than the glory of God,” it can also mean that it should provoke consideration of God and draw us into God’s presence. I don’t know about you, but to me music is more a way of engaging God than singing about God.

Thursday – Faith & Music: A Jewish Perspective

westend_admin — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:37:45 +0000

You may already know of Abraham Joshua Heschel because a prominent school in our neighborhood bears his name. What you may not know is that he was a preeminent Jewish rabbi and philosopher, and his work has had influence well beyond the confines of Judaism. His spiritual insights continue to move and challenge new generations of seekers. As we reflect upon the place of music in our lives, I find Heschel’s thoughts quite provocative, especially as we consider the intimate connection between music and faith. He said, “We are not alone in our acts of praise. Wherever there is life, there is silent worship. The world is always on the verge of becoming one in adoration. It is man who is the Cantor of the universe, and in whose life the secret of cosmic prayer is disclosed. To sing means to sense and to affirm that the spirit is real and that its glory is present. In singing we perceive what is otherwise beyond perceiving. Song, and particularly liturgical song, is not only an act of expression but also a way of bringing down the spirit from heaven to earth” (from The Vocation of the Cantor).

Wednesday – Our Song

westend_admin — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 14:07:45 +0000

One week from today is our twenty-sixth wedding anniversary. Our plans are to catch a show and then have dinner and wax nostalgic about all we have shared over those years. Like many others, part of those memories is “our song” (in case you’re curious, it is “To Me” and was sung at our wedding). There is something very intimate about sharing a song. I think it is because there are so many things we don’t know how to say but yearn to have some way of expressing. Of course we can say “I love you” or “I care about you,” but these words alone don’t always capture the feelings behind them. I think Victor Hugo had it right when he said, “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent.” This is one of the reasons that music in our worship is so powerful. It allows us to express things to God in ways that spoken words will never do. It is a shared moment with God.

Tuesday – What’s on Your Playlist?

westend_admin — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 13:47:59 +0000

When Oprah or Barbara Walters interviews someone, it’s not uncommon for the question to be asked, “What’s on your playlist?” It’s a great question because experts say that our playlists reflect our personality. For example, those of us who are extroverted tend to listen to music with more singing. Those who are introverted tend to prefer instrumental music. We also form our playlists based on the occasion. My workout playlist is rock ‘n’ roll all the way. I need the driving beat to keep me going!

Monday – You Are What You Sing

westend_admin — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:12:59 +0000

Parents, doctors and fitness instructors all use the phrase “you are what you eat.” It is a commonsensical statement to remind us that what we put in our mouths directly affects our physical health. Along the same lines, the Psalmist reminds us that “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High” (92:1). Why is this good to do? Because music is more than entertainment. It has the ability to shape our thoughts and emotions. Hollywood knows that a movie’s musical score can make or break a film. Advertisers know that music can shape our purchasing intentions. And the Psalmist knows that what we sing shapes our journey with God. There is no doubt that we are influenced by what we sing. So what have you been singing lately?

Friday – The Next Spiritual Step

westend_admin — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:48:33 +0000

Following on the theme of Thursday’s blog, I’ve been thinking about the place of spiritual practices. Why do we pray, meditate, worship, and journal? Most often people say it is to give us inner peace and a connection with God. I would agree. However, the goal of spiritual practices doesn’t stop with its impact on us as individuals. The real test is how it transforms our relationships with those closest to us. The inner peace we experience is only a first step. The next step is to experience peace between us. These two are intimately linked because it is hard to have peace between us when there isn’t peace within us. Inner peace is not the end goal but the first step in following the way of Christ.

Thursday – Signs of the Spirit

westend_admin — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 18:11:52 +0000

I find it interesting how different brands of Christianity view the signs of the Spirit. For some it is speaking in tongues (where one speaks in a heavenly language). For others it is being slain in the Spirit (where one faints). For still others it is breaking into uncontrollable laughter (no explanation needed!). In the description of Pentecost in Acts 2, there is the phenomenon of people being able to understand one another despite using different languages. But the thrust of the passage is that the sign of the Spirit’s presence is when love and unity are present among the community of faith. It doesn’t carry the panache of other signs, yet it is the one we should seek and affirm. This also means that to be “SPIRITual” people is to be the kind of people who love and are open to all whom we meet. It gives us something to think about as we consider where we are in our spiritual journeys.

Wednesday – The Elusive Spirit

westend_admin — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 15:21:13 +0000

Talking about the Spirit is slippery stuff. No one has ever seen the Spirit. No one can describe the Spirit. No one knows how the Spirit works. Bottom line: the Spirit is an elusive topic. This is because the Spirit is not intended to represent a category of thought about God. The Spirit is how we describe the very presence of God. As Robin Mann said, no one knows where the Spirit goes, but we see the trail the Spirit leaves behind.

Tuesday – Eating Our Way into Community

westend_admin — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 19:45:50 +0000

Being Christian is all about being part of a community of faith. It is through the encouragement and support of others that we experience the encouragement and support of God. Here is the tricky part. It can be difficult to find friends and form a genuine sense of community. And the primary obstacle today is finding time to be with others. We are overly busy and overscheduled, so we do not have much time for forming friendships. And even if we have the time, often we are uncertain where to begin.

From the inception of Christianity there has been a treasured means through which friendships and community have been formed. Directly after Pentecost, the birth of the Church, it says that “Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts” (Acts 2:46). Did you catch that? They spent time together at church (aka, the temple) AND they broke bread together at home. The secret of forming friendships is getting together in our homes and sharing a meal. There is something about the intimacy of a home and the shared love of food that has a way of sowing the seeds of friendship. It’s not that by doing this we will automatically connect with people. Even with all my “pastoral instincts,” there are people with whom it is very difficult for me to relate! However, there are many people with whom we would find a special connection if only we had the opportunity to get to know them better. Maybe it is time to invite someone over for a casual meal. Who knows, it may begin the relationship that God will use to encourage and support us.

Monday – Birthday of the Church

westend_admin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:43:46 +0000

If you had to pick a moment in time to mark the beginning of the Church, what date would you choose? When Jesus gathered together the first disciples? When the disciples celebrated the Resurrection? When the good news spread beyond Jerusalem? The traditional answer might surprise you. It is on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the community (Acts 2). If you’re like me, this seems a little late in the chronology of Christianity. It is long after Jesus gathered the first disciples. It is after his crucifixion. It is after he was resurrected and ascended into heaven. I would probably argue for an earlier date, but I must admit there is something that happened on Pentecost that clearly signaled the Church’s birth. As the Spirit moved among the people on Pentecost, they were transformed from a collection of individuals into a community of faith. People began to understand one another, embrace one another, and share with one another. From that moment forward, they realized that faith was not an individual pursuit. It is bound to a community in which the Spirit draws us together. As we celebrate the birth of the Church, we are celebrating our need for one another.

Thursday - A Question of Focus

westend_admin — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:15:23 +0000

There is an interesting exchange between Jesus and his disciples in Acts 1. This is an encounter after the resurrection, and because of the uncertainty of what will happen next, the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” (1:6). This is a way of asking, “Is this the end?” In one sense, this is quite normal. We have a tendency to focus on endings. We look forward to graduation—the end of school, retirement—the end of work, and spring—the end of winter. However, sometimes we so focus on the end that we stop living for today. This had happened to the disciples. After the death and resurrection of Jesus, they were anxious and bewildered about what comes next. Their sense of purpose and calling had waned, and when this happens, it is easy to begin focusing on the end rather than what one can do today. Jesus’ parting words reoriented the disciples to their calling and purpose in life. He said “you will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). It was then that they rediscovered their calling to continue the ministry Jesus had given them. The moral of the story: if we find ourselves overly focused on the end, perhaps it’s time to rediscover our calling for today.

Tuesday - It Doesn't Hurt to Ask!

westend_admin — Tue, 31 May 2011 19:44:57 +0000

Nearly seventeen years ago I started a church in Texas. It was a nerve-racking experience. How one was to go from no people to a viable congregation had me stressed out! One of the best pieces of advice I received was from a person who had spent years working with leaders in new church development. Here is what he said: “If you want to succeed, ask a lot of questions. If you want to fail, pretend you already know how it’s done.” This seems like pretty good advice for life. The problem is that we all like to appear competent and composed, and when facing uncertainty, we just muddle along pretending we know what we’re doing.

Here’s a novel idea. When we face challenges that seem beyond our capabilities, ask for God’s help. God’s guiding presence is always available. This is something that Jesus emphasized with his disciples. He reminded them that even when he left this earth, help was still available through the continuing presence of God’s Spirit (Acts 1:6-8). It’s not that our problem will be solved immediately. But when we open our lives to God’s Spirit, it prompts us to focus on the larger purposes in life. Once we have a sense of this, the answers to our questions become clearer. Sometimes we forgot that the problem is not that help isn’t available. It is that we never ask for help from the One is always present.

Thursday - Filling Life

westend_admin — Thu, 26 May 2011 20:02:11 +0000

I love podcasts. They’re a great to way to stay connected to what’s happening while doing other things. Last night I was listening to Real Time with Bill Maher, and one of the guests was Cornell West, a Princeton professor and preeminent public theologian. The topic of addiction was raised, and West said that he believes the rise of addiction is an indication of the superficial lives we lead. As I thought about this statement, I realized that this speaks to the task before us each new day. Are we going to fill our day with things that leave us fulfilled? Or will we choose temporary fillers that leave us feeling empty? Sixteen hundred years ago, the theologian Augustine addressed these choices, and he pointed to a religious impulse behind them when he said, “You [God] have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” I think this explains why religious impulses are irrepressible, regardless of how secular our society becomes. In the 1960s, scholars predicted the decline of religion because of scientific sensibilities. Instead, the world has become more religious. There is something within us that yearns to be connected to something more, something bigger. We label that something God.

I think Paul is affirming this basic need in Acts 17:22-31. In addressing a non-Christian audience, he quotes one of their philosophers who said, “For we too are his [God’s] offspring” (Acts 17:28). Like every child who wants to know and be in a relationship with his or her parents, we too have a yearning to be with the One who brought us into this world. We yearn to connect with God. We must never forget this. It is all too easy to translate Christianity into a list of things we should do. The funny thing about this is even if we do them, we may still feel empty inside. At its core, faith is about our connection and relationship to God through Christ. Faith is about coming home.

Wednesday – Opening Up

westend_admin — Wed, 25 May 2011 18:26:19 +0000

Paul does something remarkable in this week’s text (Acts 17:22-31). In presenting Christianity, he does not begin by presenting his faith as something that stands over or negates all others. Instead, he affirms the religious inclinations of others as something that points us in the same direction. This is not to say Paul believed we will come to the same religious conclusions. But he was able to cross cultural and intellectual barriers ready to affirm the things we share. Paul stepped “out of his sectarian past to shake hands with others throughout the Roman Empire” (Marla Selvidge). In doing so, Paul introduced Christianity into the intellectual and philosophical discussions of the day. Personally, I love that faith propelled Christians into the heart of public dialogue about the most important topics of the day.

Today we have retreated from such engagement. In fact, those outside the Christian faith think that Christianity “insulates people from thinking” and “doubt that Christianity boosts intellect.” As one person said, “So many Christians are caught in the Christian ‘bubble’” (from unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity). I believe there is a correlation between our isolation and a lack of spiritual vitality. If faith is not up to the challenge of addressing the pressing questions of the day, then the space it occupies in our lives shrinks. Soon it is hard to know if it is even present. Faith becomes robust and vibrant when it lives in all areas of our lives—intellectual, emotional, spiritual, physical, etc. Perhaps that is why Jesus said that we are to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength (Mark 12:30). Faith can only impact those areas of our lives where that we permit it to enter.

Tuesday – Taking Culture Seriously

westend_admin — Tue, 24 May 2011 19:26:36 +0000

One of the common litmus tests for the credibility of someone’s faith is to gauge how seriously he or she takes the Bible. For those who administer the test, a wish-washy approach to the Bible equals a wish-washy faith. I would like to propose a new question, a new litmus test if you will. How seriously do we take our culture? I believe that a wish-washy approach to culture leads to a wish-washy faith.

Think about this with me for a minute. Every statement about the gospel and Christ is enmeshed in culture. There is no cultureless Christianity. Christianity was birthed born in Greco-Roman culture, and hence the gospel is represented through the lens of that culture. The Reformers lived in the shadow of the Renaissance, and hence their representation of Christianity reflected this cultural milieu. We live in a postmodern culture, and hence our expressions of faith reflect this. Sometimes we forgot that Christianity is inextricably bound to culture, and the two can never be separated. When we forgot this, we often represent a past cultural expression of faith as that which is pure and untainted by the world. No such version of faith exists. This is not to say that some expressions are not better than others, but all expressions come through the language of a culture.

In this week’s text, the relation of culture and faith is understood by Paul. He is asked to stand before a group of Athenians and share his faith. He knows that if Christianity is to make sense, he must represent it through their culture, not his. Therefore he commends them for being religious because he saw an altar with the inscription “to an unknown god,” and he quotes one of their philosophers to show they share a spiritual journey (Acts 17:23). He took their culture seriously because he knew that faith lives in our cultures. It is only when we take our culture seriously that faith can find a home.

Monday – The End Didn’t Come, and I’m Left Wondering…

westend_admin — Mon, 23 May 2011 16:45:35 +0000

May 21^st has passed and the world continues on. But it has left me wondering about a few things. I wonder how many people followed the end time prophecy because of careful biblical study, or did the plotline prey upon their fears and insecurities? I’m not attributing ill-will to those that taught the end was near. I am questioning whether they should have asked a few more questions about why people are following. I wonder how Jesus’ message of hope for new beginnings can be so easily twisted into a message of escape from the present. Jesus taught a new way of being in this world, and eternal life focused on possibilities that begin today--not the possibility of bypassing life. I wonder why the story generated so much interest, even among those who deemed the prediction outlandish. It reminds me that though many people may not be religiously affiliated, when it comes to the God question, people still wonder “what if….” In the end, I think if we consider how we responded to the prediction, it may tell us a little bit about ourselves. And as crazy as the prediction was to many, there may be a few lessons learned from the experience.

Friday - Don't leave me.

westend_admin — Fri, 20 May 2011 21:53:13 +0000

I can sense the anxiety of the disciples rising as Jesus tells his disciples that he is going ahead to prepare a place for them. This anxiety is evident when Thomas declares to his rabbi that they do not know where he is going. I can almost see their faces perk up with surprise as they wonder, “What do you mean you are preparing a place for us? You’re leaving?!” After all the memories they shared with Jesus can you imagine how close of friends they all were? Jesus assures them that the intimacy they have cultivated will not be lost. In verse 18 Jesus says, “I will not leave you orphaned”.

Like the disciples, we too have felt that anxiety before. Think about the friends, lovers, or family members with whom you have shared such intimacy. Sometimes we wonder if things change in our relationships that the intimacy may be lost. We want to keep things the way they are. Like the first disciples we want to know that as we open our hearts we will not be abandoned. While we cannot guarantee that friends, lovers, and family members will never leave us, we can guarantee that Jesus, by the presence of the Holy Spirit, will never orphan us. When anxiety arises and we feel alone, may the opening words of John 14 comfort us: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God.”

Peace to you.

Thursday - Show Me the Way

westend_admin — Thu, 19 May 2011 18:09:18 +0000

Marrying the two worlds of music and theology is one of my favorite things to do. Sometimes music has a way of helping us understand difficult theological concepts. So as we prepare for worship this Sunday let us take a blast from the past and reflect on lyrics from the musical group Styx. Their song Show Me the Way might help us engage John 14:1-14 in a different way. Thomas wonders out loud, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” I wonder how many times this becomes our own prayer? Styx sings "Show me the way, Show me the way. Bring me tonight to the mountain and take my confusion away. And show me the way." I imagine these song lyrics might resonate with Thomas if he were with us today. I know they certainly resonate with me. I like that imagery of asking God to take us to the mountain. Like Moses who met God on the mountain in Exodus 24:12 sometimes we need to go up to the mountain and meet with God to discern the way forward. Sometimes like Styx and Thomas we need to pray, “Lord, show me the way because we aren’t too sure what that is right now.” We can trust that God will meet us. Maybe not in the way we expect and maybe not in the timing we expect, but God will meet us and show us the way.

Wednesday – The Big Question

westend_admin — Wed, 18 May 2011 17:21:57 +0000

One of the central scriptural texts in the Christian tradition is when Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). There is a beauty to this statement that belies the way it has been used to divide the world into those who are “in” and those who are “out.” To capture this, we must revisit the context. Jesus utters these words in response to a question from his disciple, Thomas. The disciples have been following Jesus and are beginning to understand that they are invited to be a part of something larger in purpose than they had ever dreamed. They can be a part of God’s salvific work in bringing healing and wholeness to a hurting and fragmented world. But Thomas raises a question that must have been lingering on their minds. How do we know the way to achieve something so great? It is to this question that Jesus responds with the famous words, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” It’s important to know that in the Hellenistic society of that time, people were already speculating about “the way” to God. This is nothing new. Throughout history other religions have spoken of the way or path to God. Therefore, when Jesus says “I am the way,” he’s addressing the perennial question before us all: what is the way to God?

This is the big question of faith. And to avoid the question is to avoid the journey of faith. With Jesus’ simple answer, “I am the way,” those who are committed to following him have paid great attention to the teachings of and about him. They guide us in finding our way to God. We learn from Jesus that to be on the way to God is to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31). To be on the way to God is to help those whom everyone else overlooks (Matthew 25:40). To be on the way to God is to promote the dignity and equality of all people (Galatians 3:28). To be on the way to God is not to store up for ourselves treasures on earth, but to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-20). When Jesus used the language of the way, it points us in the direction of healing and wholeness. It points us to God.

Tuesday– An Atheist and the Way

westend_admin — Tue, 17 May 2011 20:37:14 +0000

When it comes to values and moral standards, cultural sensitivity and political correctness require us to refrain from judging the viewpoints of others. Therefore I found it quite surprising to listen to a lecture by Sam Harris, a leading voice of atheism, and hear him articulate a non-religious basis for establishing universal values and norms for morality. (For those interested, it can be found at (www.ted.com). When it comes to answering the question, what contributes to human flourishing, Harris says there are right ways and wrongs ways to go about this. For example, the subjugation of women or racial prejudice have no moral basis upon which one can justify these things as true or right. He believes we must name these as unjust, knowing they in no way contribute to human flourishing. No political correctness here! For me this prompts several thoughts. First, I think the question Harris raises is one of the most important for us to ask: what contributes to human flourishing? If we use the language of faith, we would ask it this way: how do we have life and have it abundantly? (John 10:10) This question was at the core of Jesus’ teaching. Second, I again agree with Harris that some ways are better than others at promoting human flourishing. To be blunt, not all ways are equal.

Where our approaches part is on the question of the reliable sources we can draw upon in forming our values and morality. Harris sees religion as an unreliable source. As a Christian, I do not—no surprise there! I’m one of the first to admit that there are problematic texts and there have been abuses executed in the name of God. But it is equally true that faith has been a vessel that has carried the wisdom and values of the past to the present. Our faith tradition asks us to look beyond our self-constructed worlds and consider the perspective of the Creator and creation. Without this, we can easily have a skewed moral view that only asks what is right for us. By relating ourselves to the Creator and creation, we are stretched to ask what is right for all. The quest of faith is to follow the way that helps us have life and have it abundantly!

Monday – Which Way?

westend_admin — Mon, 16 May 2011 14:01:13 +0000

Do you ever feel like discerning the way forward is an impossible task? Sometimes the amount of possibilities seems overwhelming; sometimes fear of the unknown ahead stops us from moving forward. So instead of choosing a path and seeing what happens we become stuck in our fear, paralyzed instead of moving forward. Like the picture above, we stand still, waiting for things to change but they never do because we are too scared to take a risk. Sometimes the new job offer, going back to school, or relocating to a different city is what we need to do but the worry of making an incorrect choice freezes us. The thing about life is that we are constantly discerning which way is best for us. As anxiety wants to rear its ugly head in this process I encourage us to meditate on the words of Philippians 4:6, 7 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Friday – The Travails of Parenting

westend_admin — Fri, 13 May 2011 14:56:48 +0000

This weekend we are in Dallas to attend our daughter’s graduation from SMU. It’s going to be a fantastic celebration with friends and family! It has also caused me to become nostalgic about the journey with my children to get to this point. I think I could sum it up in this way: nothing in my life has been harder, but nothing has been more rewarding or brought more joy. Faith has been a large part of my parental journey, especially when I have been push to the max as a dad! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve repeated the words from Proverbs: “Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray” (22:6). I’ve trusted these words, and now it’s wonderful to pause and celebrate the ways they’ve taken root in the lives of our children. I’m not naïve and know the journey is not over, but I move ahead knowing God is present and will continue to guide us. (Today this comes from one proud dad in Texas!)

Thursday – Mastered by the Divine

westend_admin — Thu, 12 May 2011 13:30:28 +0000

First, congratulations to Jes, our pastoral intern, on graduating from seminary on Monday. She received her Master of Divinity degree. Soon she can add “Reverend” to the beginning of her name! In thinking about this, the idea of a Master of Divinity degree is interesting. The thought that one can master the divine seems like a misplaced goal! Perhaps it would be better if our goal was to be mastered by the divine. In our liturgy and hymns, we repeatedly refer to Jesus as “the Lord Jesus Christ.” By adding “lord” to the name of Jesus, it reminds us who is doing the mastering. And it points to the goal of our faith: to open ourselves to the presence of God through Christ. Through God’s presence, we are shaped and molded into who God has created us to be. While only a few of us may pursue a Master of Divinity degree, may we all strive to be mastered by the divine.

Wednesday - Liturgy

westend_admin — Thu, 12 May 2011 02:37:21 +0000

The way in which we worship every Sunday is called liturgy. The liturgy is an outline for how we choose to do worship. Every church has a liturgy. Some liturgies are long and detailed. Some are as simple as a few songs and a sermon.

Liturgy is the work of the people. Ministers help lead worship but liturgy is really the work that the whole congregation does together. I think about this as we approach Lay Sunday because it is a great example of all people working together in worship. Worship has the potential to be quite a rich experience when we are all doing our part in the work of the liturgy!

Tuesday - A Prayer in Light of Psalm 23

westend_admin — Tue, 10 May 2011 21:29:32 +0000

Psalm 23 is a favorite Psalm for many people. A prayer by Thomas Merton floats in my mind when I read Psalm 23. Maybe this prayer will be as helpful to you as it has been for me since I discovered it. Peace to you today in whatever situation you find yourself in.

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
-Thomas Merton

Monday – Lay Sunday

westend_admin — Mon, 09 May 2011 20:02:34 +0000

This weekend is Lay Sunday, which means that the service is led by those who are not clergy. Interestingly, there is no term for “laity” in the Bible, and I suspect it arose from those wondering what to call the non-cleric leaders in the Church. Unfortunately, overtime the term has been debased and has taken on the meaning of “non-professional” or “second-tier.” You may have encountered this mindset: if there isn’t a professional clergy person to do it, then send in the laity! As long as this mentality prevails, the scope of what we can do as congregations will be limited. Though clergy have a prominent and visible role, it is the ministry of the laity that makes our congregations vibrant communities of faith. This is vividly demonstrated in the Arabian Gulf. When we were there, the Gulf was littered with dynamic Catholic congregations that worshipped in the tens of thousands. And they were able to do this with a priest to congregant ratio of 1 to 35,000. Amazing! The laity has led the church forward, showing what we can do when we join together in faith towards a common cause.

Friday – Not Just About Greeting Cards

westend_admin — Fri, 06 May 2011 13:47:16 +0000

I think that Mother’s and Father’s Day is an excellent idea. I would even propose that we should also have a Brother’s Day, Sister’s Day, and Friend’s Day. These days are important because it gives us the opportunity to say what is important about our relationships. If we didn’t have a reminder to express our love, how many months and years would pass before we would say “I love you,” “I’m proud of you,” or “You’re special to me because….” The cynics among us may believe these “special” days were created by greeting card companies to generate revenue. Yet we cannot deny that they provide an opportunity to say the important things we neglect to say the rest of the year. When Jesus said “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12), it implied we will do this through our actions and with our words. Sometimes we need a verbal confirmation of what we already know. It’s what keeps relationships strong.

Thursday – One Human Family

westend_admin — Thu, 05 May 2011 18:01:57 +0000

Recently, Tena and I visited our son in Key West, which is an incredibly relaxed environment. Everyone wears flip flops, and any shirt with a collar is considered formal attire. While there we learned that the city’s official philosophy is as follows: “Being separate is an illusion. Although people may tell you it’s ‘us versus them,’ there is no ‘them’. The conclusion is simple, obvious and undeniable. We are all created equal members of ONE HUMAN FAMILY.” I love this statement, and it is something that we, as Christians, could embrace as a faithful representation of our faith and scripture. Actually, we could say that it represents how we are to live. Jesus put flesh on this philosophy every time he reached out to those who were overlooked or marginalized. He used every opportunity to show that there is no “us versus them,” and that every person is an equal and valued part of God’s creation. As noble as this seems, Jesus encountered great resistance. I think the reason is this: when we say we believe this, it is viewed as noble, but when we put it into practice it is a counter-cultural act. Societies have a way of forming “in groups” and “out groups” based on ethnicity, income, or family names. We can say we are a culture without a class system, but we create distinctions between us. To live as if we are one human family is to break down the barriers that we have built, which never fall easily.

Wednesday - Ubuntu

westend_admin — Wed, 04 May 2011 13:40:31 +0000

I am who I am because of who we all are.

When I meditate on the Scripture passages for this week I think of the Xhosa word, Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a South African philosophy that can be summed up as meaning “I am who I am because of who we all are.” This way of thinking suggests that we are all deeply connected, like family. It reminds me of how the writer in Ephesians attempts to convey the oneness of humanity when he writes, “There is one body.” Ubuntu suggests that to be human is to recognize one cannot live in isolation because we are intrinsically connected to the human family. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said this about Ubuntu “We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.” As we contemplate our connections to each other, I wonder how Ubuntu might inform how we think about the communities we identify with.

Tuesday - Hospitality on the Street

westend_admin — Tue, 03 May 2011 21:00:35 +0000

As Michael mentioned in yesterday’s blog the Gospel lesson (Matthew 12.46-50) invites us to imagine strangers as potential friends and family members. We are taught to deeply value each other, even those we don’t know. I confess, it is so tempting for me to see the conglomeration of people at the Time’s Square subway stop as an obstacle course to navigate from one train to the next. When my family was visiting during the Winter Holidays my mom nicknamed me “The Plow” because I forcefully (but gracefully!) beelined my way through the tourist-decorated streets.

I wonder what it would look like if we began to view the masses of strangers as potential family members? 1 Peter 4:8 calls us to be hospitable to one another. Hospitality is more than tea and cookies on a Saturday afternoon with friends. Hospitality is the act of acknowledging those around us as worthy of respect and dignity, not just objects to navigate. I think the Benedictine Rule of faith sums up these two Scripture readings well. The rule states, “All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ.” What would it look like to receive each person we interact with at work, on the subways or walking down the street as if we were welcoming Christ? I wonder if that mentality might change our interactions and I wonder how that might influence those we interact with.

Monday – Changing Families

westend_admin — Mon, 02 May 2011 18:09:12 +0000

We have become a mobile population and with this our family structures have changed. When I was growing up, Sunday afternoon meant dinner at my grandparent’s house with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. Today many of us live in places where the closest relative is a plane ride away. As we live in increasing isolation from our kin, we have discovered that wherever we are, we need family. As Jane Howard said, “Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” The fact that we need a support system was as true two thousand years ago as it is today. During Jesus’ ministry he redefined family for those who were alone and far from home. He said, “‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ And pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers!’” (Matthew 12:48-49) In that moment the disciples knew that though their mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers may be far away, they were still among family. No blood relation was necessary. All they needed was one another. It’s good to know that strangers can become friends, and friends can become our families.

Friday - Room for God

westend_admin — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:30:46 +0000

As we delve into the topic of doubt and belief, the words of Martin Copenhaver are ever present in my mind: “Realities about which we hold no doubt may not be large enough to reveal God to us.” I love this quote because it gives meaning to the place of doubt in our journey of faith. Rather than doubt indicating a lack of faith, it may be the very thing that provides the spiritual space we need to discover and experience something new in our journey with God. Doubt is not the opposite of belief. It creates room for new and deeper beliefs to emerge.

Thursday - What's love got to do with it?

westend_admin — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 21:49:45 +0000

I love surveys—most of the time. I find them fascinating because they give some indication of what people think, believe, and feel. However, the findings can also be painful. In a recent study people were asked, “Are Christian churches loving environments in which people are accept regardless of how they look and what they do?” The answer is shocking. Only 20% of non-Christian respondents perceived churches to be this way. This is not good news! Our faith is centered on two foundational principles: love God and love our neighbors (Matthew 22:37-39). And one of the most popular Christian songs is “They will know we are Christians by our love.” Either the general populace misunderstands what love is, or we are not doing very well at loving our neighbors. Sadly, it is probably the latter. Maybe we should think differently about what it means to be a church. We often gauge our effectiveness by the quality of music, children’s programs, sermons, and the list goes on. These things are important, but let me add another benchmark to the list. We should be the church in such a way that if our surrounding community was polled, they would overwhelmingly report that we are concerned for the well-being of all those in our neighborhood. I admit it’s a tall task, but it’s definitely something for which we should strive!

Wednesday - Righteous Touch

westend_admin — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:20:10 +0000

What is it about touch that assures us? Here I am thinking back to my college days when a bunch of us were swimming in a pond that was deep enough to have a high platform to jump from. I was the last one of my friends to climb my way to the top. As I stood on the platform looking down at the water below my fear of heights attacked every muscle in my body. I refused to jump out of terror and I refused to climb back down out of stubbornness. Even though all my friends told me how fun it was my nerves were telling me a different story. Finally after many minutes (that seemed like an hour) one of my friends climbed the ladder. She grabbed my hand and invited me to jump with her. As soon as she touched my hand pounds of anxiety immediately shed from me. By her holding my hand I began to believe it was possible to jump and that I would be OK. I think Jesus understands how touch can assure us. Jesus invites Thomas to touch his nail wounds. A few verses earlier Thomas says he will not believe unless he can see and touch the wounds himself. Jesus, knowing his desire, allows him to do that. Just like I came to believe that I could jump when my friend grabbed my hand Thomas came to belief at the invitation to touch Jesus. I keep meditating on the above icon in relation to this Gospel passage thinking how incredible appropriate touch is. Righteous touch has the power to heal, to hold and to assure. I’m thankful that Jesus reminds us of the power of touch in this Gospel passage.

Tuesday - Intersections Sunday

westend_admin — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:10:50 +0000

This Sunday is Intersections Sunday. We have the privilege of welcoming Reverend Bob Chase, Mr. Fred Johnson and Mr. Eduardo Vargas with us in worship from Intersections International. Intersections International is a multi-cultural, multi-faith, global initiative of the Collegiate Church. They are dedicated to building respectful relationships among diverse individuals and communities to forge common ground and develop strategies that promote justice, reconciliation, and peace. Reverend Chase has titled his sermon The Intersection of Doubts and Beliefs. We see this intersection taking place in the Gospel lesson (John 20:24-29). This is the passage where Thomas acquires the nickname Doubting Thomas for refusing to believe the testimony from his fellow disciples that they saw Jesus. Thomas is recorded as saying, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and hand in his side, I will not believe.” A week passes by and Jesus appears to Thomas. Jesus’ appearance evokes Thomas to exclaim “My Lord and my God!” I think many of us can identify with Thomas in this story. We want to believe and yet we also doubt. What I love about this Gospel passage is that Jesus meets Thomas in his doubts. This is encouraging news, God meets us in our doubts!

Friday – Good Friday?

westend_admin — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 18:19:59 +0000

Good Friday is the day we commemorate the death of Christ on a cross, which leaves many people wondering what’s good about Good Friday? This aversion to things depressing has caused many churches to pass over the day with little fanfare because it is such a downer. Personal opinion here, but in doing so, I think there is a missed opportunity to discover the depth and source of hope we have.

The crucifixion represents the moment when all hope should be lost and all plans for the future disbanded. Yet in the midst of the darkness and sorrow of the cross, people found that God’s presence and power met them in their moment of greatest weakness. Many of us believe that our weaknesses and personal problems limit the hope we can have for the future. Good Friday reminds us that in times of utter despair, hope cannot be extinguished. Sometimes God is experienced most strongly in our moments of weakness. As 2 Corinthians says about God, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (12:9). As long as we believe it all depends upon us, we will never open ourselves to the presence and power of the One who created us. Sometimes it takes a moment of weakness to discover this.

Thursday – Countering Suspicion

westend_admin — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:55:53 +0000

Easter is probably the most important and celebratory event in the life of the church. And while we’re celebrating the ground of our faith, there are suspicious onlookers who are extremely cautious about all the hype over Jesus. Part of this stems from an assumption that when we celebrate our faith, we view ourselves as the “in” group and all outsiders are doomed. Unfortunately, this misrepresents the essence of Easter. In one of the earliest proclamations of the Easter message in our Scriptures, Peter begins in an unexpected way. He says, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34, 35). I recommend that we all memorize this. Then when we’re asked by suspicious onlookers what Christianity is all about, we can begin with an affirmation of the breadth of God’s presence in the world. The message of Christ affirms that there is no place untouched by the Spirit of God.

Wednesday - Waiting in a mine in Chile

westend_admin — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:29:30 +0000

Do you remember where you were August 5th, 2010? No, me either, but I will guarantee you that 33 miners from Chile can tell you exactly what they were doing when the mine they were working in collapsed in on them. For 69 days the men endured constant darkness, food rationing and waning hope. Personally, I was glued to the nightly news as the world came together to find and rescue the Chilean miners. Now you and I probably have never been in a literal mine that has collapsed but odds are we can relate to the feelings of constant darkness, food rationing and waning hope. We all have situations in our life when it feels like we are being swallowed up by the world around us. Like the Chilean miners we sometimes wonder, will we ever see daylight again? Waiting for Resurrection Sunday is like being swallowed by the earth for 68 days and on day 69 having the world celebrate your emergence from the dark pit into fresh air and sunlight. While we wait in darkness may the words of one of the miners, Jimmy Sanchez, offer us hope of new life. Sanchez said, “There are actually 34 of us because God has never left us down here”. No matter what you are going through in life, no matter how dark it seems, the reality is God will never leave you alone. Resurrection is coming, never lose hope!

Tuesday - Change is in the Air

westend_admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 19:35:00 +0000

Can you feel it coming? Change is in the air. Easter Sunday is right around the corner and while it is tempting to rush to the joy of resurrection, we just aren’t there yet. If we scuttle right to Easter Sunday from Palm Sunday we are missing a large part of the story. In between these two wonderful Sundays mark emotions of betrayal, sorrow, death and waiting. If we are lured into the celebration of Easter without experiencing the sorrow of Good Friday then we really don’t understand the full story.

We are enticed, daily, to deny our sad feelings. Here I am thinking about the times in my life when someone greets me and asks how I’m doing. Most often, whether it is true or not, my response to their inquiry is “I’m good”. There are times when I have said “I’m good” when the reality is that in the inside I’m hurting and feeling lonely. Maybe you can relate to this encounter. Holy Week gives us permission to experience the “downer” feelings. We are allowed to say “You know what, I am not doing good right now”. The death of Christ invites us to experience the darkness in our life. When we honestly engage the betrayal and sadness in our life, Resurrection Sunday means so much more!

Monday – Life’s Choices

westend_admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:53:42 +0000

I had a job in which each day seemed to suck the life force out of me. The monotony of the position and being tied to a desk completely drained me. And no matter how hard I tried, the weeknights and weekends just weren’t sufficient to reenergize me. I know I’m not alone. It may have been a job, place, or relationship, but we’ve all had times when we felt that more life was sucked out of us than breathed into us.

Some things deplete our life force, and others infuse us with energy and passion for life. Easter’s message of resurrection gives us the hope that life can arise from lifeless circumstances. And it begins with choosing life. The grand sweep of Scripture and the way of Christ point to those things that breathe life into us. When someone stops by the hospital to visit a sick friend, she’s chosen life. When a mom leaves work early to watch a daughter’s soccer game, she’s chosen life. When a person volunteers to serve food to those in need, he’s chosen life. When someone carves out time for reflection and prayer, she’s chosen life. Don’t worry. My point isn’t that we should do more and give more. It’s simply to point out that there are countless decisions we make each week, some of which deplete us and some of which fill us with the joy of life. It’s not easy to navigate the competing demands and fulfill all the responsibilities placed on us. Yet we always have room to make choices, which can be easy to forget. In the decisions that are before us, let us choose those that give us life.

Friday – Palms on Broadway

westend_admin — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:42:51 +0000

To commemorate Palm Sunday, we have a tradition of a Palm walk. Before the Sunday service, our children, youth, and adults walk down Broadway waving palms. Confession time. When I first heard that this took place, my initial reaction is that they would be met with cold glares and heckling—after all, it’s New York! I didn’t think the secular city would welcome public displays of religiosity. However, I’ve learned that something quite different occurs. I’m not sure if it’s because our children are so darn cute, or if it’s the spirit of the neighborhood, but shopkeepers and pedestrians ask for palm branches as the group passes by. It represents an opportunity to show mutual respect and share a spiritual moment in the life of a neighborhood church. It’s easy to think we’re factions within a community in competition with one another. But this represents what community can and should be if we are to appreciate and learn from the diversity in our midst.

Thursday – Go Ahead & Celebrate!

westend_admin — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 19:14:36 +0000

Palm Sunday is an odd day because it is filled with mixed emotions. When Jesus enters Jerusalem to a throng of cheering people, it represents a powerful moment of triumph. But because we know how the story ends, we can already sense the sorrow and pain that is soon to come. Some downplay any celebratory spirit so as not to seem irreverent towards the journey to the cross. I think this is a big mistake. Depriving ourselves of the positive does nothing to prepare us for the negative. It is these hope-filled moments of celebration that keep us going when we enter challenging times. Palm Sunday frees us to celebrate whenever we can, cheer whenever possible, and use these experiences as a basis of hope for the future—whatever may come our way.

Wednesday - Kenosis

westend_admin — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:50:29 +0000

Philippians 2:1-13 is a favorite passage among many people for there are a handful of pithy sayings such as “make my joy complete” or “do nothing from selfish ambition” that make it easy for the reader to grab onto. If I were to extract a sentence to contemplate it would be verse 7 that says Jesus “emptied himself”. The Greek word for this idea of “emptying” is kenosis. Scholars have debated for years about what exactly kenosis means. The Christian mystic, St. John of the Cross, leaned on this idea of “self-emptying” as a process the disciple goes through in order to be receptive to the promptings of God in ones life. Others have taken the idea of kenosis to mean a complete denial of human desire in order to achieve the godly life. Language that does not affirm human desire as God given I generally do not resonate with so it is for that reason I lean on St. John of the Cross. There are times in our life when our thinking is cloudy and we get caught up in the rat race of daily living. Kenosis challenges us to empty our calendars in order to gain awareness of God in our life again. I think we are tempted to not engage this process because it is vulnerable and we are not sure what we might find. When I am faced with this fear I look a couple verses ahead to verse 13 that reminds us God is at work in us. Even when emptying ourselves feels scary because it seems like we are losing control we can lean into the truth that God is at work in us. I hope that brings as much comfort to you as it does to me!

Tuesday - Labyrinth Prayer Walk

westend_admin — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 18:08:09 +0000

It seems fitting that this Palm Sunday during Adult Education we will be experiencing a labyrinth together. In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in the labyrinth but they have actually been around for thousands of years. Their appearance is similar to a maze but their function is quite different. A maze has dead ends which can deceive the mind into thinking you are on the right path. I remember running through corn mazes as a child convinced I found the trail that would lead me to the end only to be confronted with a wall of corn that made me turn around and try again. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth does not try to deceive. It has but one path; it is unicursal. They serve as a form of prayer reminding us that God is not trying to trick us with the wrong path. Labyrinths remind us that God is guiding our journey even when it seems like there is a wall of corn in front of us. We are invited to take the sacred walk of the labyrinth and prayerfully put one foot in front of the other. Through joyous and difficult times this spiritual tool aids in our transformation, grief, decision making and healing. You’re invited to come and take the journey of the labyrinth this Sunday!

Monday – Palm Sunday & Political Protest

westend_admin — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 16:54:11 +0000

We’re now approaching Palm Sunday. In churches around the world there will be musical fanfare and palms waving recreating the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. It represents a moment of great hope in our tradition. But I wonder how many people know that all of this palm waving represents political protest. We tend to focus solely on the humble nature of Jesus and the affirmation of the crowd. But this glosses over the details of the account. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is more Tahrir Square than Mardi Gras. Imagine the scene. A city of 40,000 has swelled to nearly 200,000 as pilgrims arrived for Passover. It is a chaotic, crowded place. There are murmurings that someone is protesting Roman rule, and a crowd is gathering in support. The mob swells trying to catch a glimpse of his arrival. Will he arrive on a war horse? In a chariot? How will he represent a new kingdom’s military might and political power? Then in the distance they see the new king, but it looks like he’s on a small donkey. Some of the mere “peasants” in the crowd begin to cheer and treat his arrival as if it is a coronation ceremony. In that moment, Jesus expressed solidarity, not with the political elite, but with the downtrodden and neglected. He embodied a new vision for what a kingdom could be and how we see one another in it. It was a bold act of protest challenging the assumptions of the current political authority. Here’s my thought: it is not enough to wave palms on Sunday: We need to consider why we're waving them and who should be among us as we wave them.

Friday – A Lackluster Life

westend_admin — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 17:57:31 +0000

Let’s talk about our goals for a minute. In dreaming about what life could be, we don't say to ourselves, “My goal is to live in a way that lacks vitality and energy. My hope is to live a lackluster life.” This sounds absurd! Everyone hopes that their lives are vibrant and vital, filled with energy and excitement. Yet even as firmly established as this goal is, many still find that their lives lack a certain je ne sais quoi. That’s why the perennial question is, how do we live a life marked by verve and vivacity? Romans 8:6-11 speaks directly to this by presenting two mindsets: one that focuses on personal needs (a.k.a. “the flesh”), and one that focuses on something beyond ourselves (a.k.a “the Spirit). The author of Romans is making the case that a “fleshly” mindset does not lead to a vibrant life. Instead, there is a basic human yearning to connect with and be a part of something larger. To “set the mind on the Spirit” (verse 6) is to see ourselves in relation to God, others, and the bigger picture. Therefore if we overly focus on ourselves, as indulgent as we can be, we may still end up feeling we lived a lackluster life. And if we connect with the Spirit, who moves us beyond our self concern, we find the vibrancy and peace we seek. This doesn’t negate the basic need to take care of ourselves. But if that is all we live for, we may miss what we most want out of life.

Thursday – Be Silent

westend_admin — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 17:23:01 +0000

When we have “drama” unfolding in our lives, and our anxiety and fears grow, our first impulse is to take control of the situation. We believe there is always something we can do to make things better. The corollary to this is that it is hard for us to admit we need help, let alone allow others to help us. This sentiment spills over into our spirituality. We believe that faith helps us do more of the right things so that we can successfully meet any challenge that comes our way. There is truth to this. But it is also true that faith opens us to the movement of God’s Spirit, an unexplainable source of assistance and direction when we cannot move forward on our own. This means that it isn’t always productive to fill our thoughts with what to do next. Sometimes we need to stop and sense the Spirit among us. What and how this happens I can’t explain. But in moments of stillness and silence, we can draw upon a power greater than ourselves. We can draw upon the presence of God. In the words of Tersteegen, “God is present, let all in us be silent.” May we seek the silence that allows us to take notice of God’s presence. And in the stillness of the moment may we find the help we need.

Wednesday - Restoring Sanity

westend_admin — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 17:58:32 +0000

To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ~ Romans 8.6

In yesterday's blog I attempted to convey that this passage is not about becoming disembodied people who only care about the spirit but instead it is about the integration of body, mind and spirit. The Hebrew word for this integration is called nephesh. Yet we all know people, including ourselves, whose bodily appetites become ravenously hungry for things that bring us death. Here I am thinking about the chaplaincy work I did with recovering alcoholics. These good male and female bodies were dying because of the choices they made to consume an intolerable amount of alcohol. Step 2 of the 12-step process mirrors this verse today for in step 2 a recovering alcoholic “came to believe that a Power greater than themselves could restore sanity.” Coming to this belief is like setting the mind on the Spirit. The writer of Romans says by setting our mind on the Spirit we are given life and peace. Sometimes the path to life and peace begins with recovering our sanity. When sanity is recovered hope has a way of making itself known so that the options of life and peace are possible again.

Grace and Peace, Jes Kast-Keat

Tuesday - Life in our Bodies

westend_admin — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:48:57 +0000

At first glance this passage (Romans 8:6-11) can be quite troubling for me because I believe the Christian faith is one that inherently affirms the goodness of the body. In the Genesis creation story God created the entire world, including the flesh and bones of humankind, and God saw that is was very good. Fast forward to the New Testament and we see the incarnation of the Divine, God puts on human flesh. So it is concerning to me that there are voices that might read this Romans passage as condemning the body and exalting only the “spiritual life” of a person. Yet, I don’t think that is what the writer of Romans is really getting at. Especially in conjunction with our Ezekiel 37:1-14 passage this week we can infer that bodies that are empowered by the Spirit are offered an orientation to a vitality of life; life that is really worth living. As the writer of Romans says, “he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies”. In this passage we are invited to orient not just our mind and spirit towards Christ but also our bodies. This invites us to wonder how we are taking care of our bodies. Does what we eat, how we love, how we exercise, and how we touch reflect the vitality of life in our mortal bodies? Something to ponder today!

Grace and Peace, Jes Kast-Keat

Monday - Dem Bones

westend_admin — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 20:38:15 +0000

One of this week’s texts is Ezekiel 37:1-14, which gives a haunting picture of a valley of dry bones. Ezekiel is told that God can cause breath to enter the bones and create flesh to cover them, and they will live again. This same text inspired the old spiritual song “Dem Bones.” You probably remember the words: “Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones. Now hear the word of the Lord.” Both in prose and in song, it creates a picture of the renewing presence of God, and it invites us to consider whether we are full of life. Sometimes “dem bones” of ours are lacking a life-force that imbues value and purpose to our existence. It is one thing to be biologically alive, but quite another to be full of life. In the New Testament two terms are used to distinguish between these meanings. Bios describes the mundane affairs of being alive, and zoe describes the life-force that makes life worth living. The hope of our faith is that when “dem bones” of ours are feeling lifeless, the Spirit of God can breathe new life and purpose into the core of our being. When our lives seem more bios than zoe, it’s time to open ourselves to the winds of God’s Spirit and being moved in new and unexpected directions.

Friday – Modestly Bright

westend_admin — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 07:00:00 +0000

In Ephesians it says that “in the Lord you are light” (5:8). This has prompted me to think about when light, a metaphor for God, radiates in us and through us, and when the light is fragmented, broken, and diffused. I came across a piece Arthur Schlesinger Jr. wrote about Reinhold Niebuhr, an influential theologian who was based in New York City. It speaks to when religion radiates light and when it brings darkness. He wrote that religion, Niebuhr warned, “could be a source of error as well as wisdom and light. Its role should be to inculcate, not a sense of infallibility, but a sense of humility. Like all God-fearing people, Americans are never safe against the temptation of claiming God too simply as the sanctifier of whatever we most fervently desire. This is vanity. To be effective in the world, we need a sense of modesty about the virtue, wisdom and power available to us and a sense of contrition about the common human frailties and foibles which lie at the foundation of both the enemy's demonry and our vanities.” I find this dense statement full of meaning to ponder. As I think about it, I would summarize it quite simply: the light shines brightest where humility is present and generosity abounds.

Thursday – Spotting Talent

westend_admin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:22:57 +0000

Every so often someone spots talent in a person and nurtures this to greatness. Here I’m thinking of Dikembe Mutombo, who in the 1980s came from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to attend Georgetown University. His goal was to become a doctor. The basketball coach, John Thompson, recognized the potential in this young man and recruited him to play basketball. Dikembe went on to become one of the best defensive players in the NBA. It’s a great story, and I don’t want to minimize the credit Coach Thompson deserves, but Dikembe was 7’2” and 260 lbs. Honestly, I think I could have identified his potential! From a faith perspective, our calling is to see the potential and talent in people that others overlook. That’s the moral of the story in 1 Samuel 16. Samuel is tasked with identifying the next king of Israel. And in the process a group of strapping, handsome men are paraded past him as possible candidates. Samuel is very tempted to choose one of them, but God says that what is important can’t be seen on the outside. Finally a small forgotten shepherd boy is brought to Samuel, and to everyone’s surprise, he’s identified as the next king. It demonstrated that if we look past outward appearances, we may discover unexpected things about others. We’re taught that first impressions are what matter, but our faith calls us to look past first impressions and outward appearances to the heart, soul, and spirit of a person. In doing so, we’re able to identify his or her value and gifts. I’m not saying it is always easy to find (insert name of person who you find difficult to deal with!), but we’ll never see it in ourselves or others if we’re not searching for it.

Wednesday - Wake Up!

westend_admin — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:59:05 +0000

At the conclusion of Ephesians 5:8-14 the writer quotes this phrase, “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you”. The interesting thing about this reference is that theologians are not entirely sure where it comes from. Most have suggested that this was part of an early Christian hymn that the writer of Ephesians took for granted that everyone would know. Some have suggested that this is a reference to Isaiah 26:19.

The two Greek words that interest me the most in this citation are egeiro katheudo. They can be interpreted as meaning “to arouse those who are, euphemistically, dead”. I remember talking with someone who, for all practical purposes was alive, but it felt like the inside of this person was dead. There was no life or vitality behind the words that were uttered. This person needed to wake up.

The music group, Mumford and Sons, has a wonderful song (Awake My Soul) about this process of waking up our souls. Whether we feel completely dead inside or need a reminder to embrace life today may this song serve as a wake up call that God’s light shines on you.

Grace and Peace, Jes Kast-Keat

Tuesday - Image is Everything

westend_admin — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:55:48 +0000

In 1990 Cannon Rebel decided to feature a young, shaggy-haired Andre Agassi in their commercial. Cannon attempts to convey the rebel nature of the camera by showcasing the tough Agassi who concludes the commercial by saying, “Image is everything,” a slogan that the press did not let him live down.

Later in the 1990’s, Sprite decided to play around with these words. A variety of professional athletes are highlighted and then the commercial ends as the words “Image is nothing. Thirst is everything. Obey your thirst.” flashed across the viewers' TV screen.

So which is it? Is image everything or is image nothing? The writer of I Samuel 15:7 helps us understand how to respond to this question when he says, “the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart”. I’m not condemning the attention we give to our exterior appearance (heaven knows I follow many fashion blogs!). Yet I do not believe that our exterior image is everything. The image that is everything is the heart that truly understands that we are created in God’s image. When we begin to accurately discover who we are as image bearers of God we begin to see who we truly are: an image that is everything!

Grace and Peace, Jes Kast-Keat

Monday – A Lenten “Cheat Day”

westend_admin — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 21:20:07 +0000

This Sunday is known as Laetare Sunday, which means a Sunday to rejoice. As we know, Lent is a time for introspection, and often people give up something as a reminder that it's a time to reconsider the trajectory of our lives. People abstain from such things as sweets, alcohol, or Blackberries for the forty days of Lent. Because this long period of austerity takes its toll, the Church set aside one Sunday at the halfway point of Lent in which people could “rejoice.” What this means is that people are permitted to resume their normal patterns of living and indulge themselves! It’s really a Lenten “cheat day” so that one is prepared to reenter a period of sober reflection in preparation for Easter. So friends, it’s time to rejoice! It’s time to celebrate the small things of life that we may have given up. And when we do, let’s give thanks to God for the things we often take for granted.

Friday - Encountering God in the Shower

westend_admin — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:38:54 +0000

The past couple of weeks in adult education we have been exploring the topic of rituals. The conversations have been quite lively as we wrestle with what rituals mean to us. Some have expressed that daily spiritual habits are an intentional part of their day while others expressed that this is not their normative practice. When I think of the conversations we have been delving into during adult education and think of the Gospel passage this week (John 4:4-42) I wonder, can daily spiritual habits infiltrate our daily patterns that we already do everyday? In yesterdays blog I mentioned that the Samaritan womans daily ritual of obtaining water from a well became a sacred encounter. I wonder, can our daily rituals also become sacred encounters? I think it is possible to have a sacred encounter while brushing your teeth, showering, getting on the subway, or making dinner. One of my friends told me that every time he jumped in the shower it was a chance to be reminded of his baptism and that God was close. Yes, God is close! May you encounter God today in the most surprising places.

Grace and Peace, Jes Kast-Keat

Thursday - From Exclusion to Inclusion

westend_admin — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:20:13 +0000

Sometimes religious people get a bad reputation. Sometimes religious people are perceived for caring more about their own kind and less about those who are not like them. Sometimes this is a true accusation and sometimes this is a false accusation.

When I look at the movements of Jesus I notice time and time again that those whom the religious community desired to exclude, Jesus made every effort to include. Put another way, what once was excluded is now included. We see this movement of exclusion to inclusion taking place in John 4:1-42. It was not the cultural norm for Samaritans and Jews to associate together. Let alone a Samaritan woman and a Jewish man. Yet never once do we see Jesus attempt to flee from this woman. Nor do we see the woman desire to leave. The woman’s daily ritual of obtaining water from a well became a sacred encounter. Jesus’ inclusive posture in this story is so contagious that the woman goes back to the city to tell others and invite them to him (vs. 29)!

This passage invites us to reflect on the type of religious communities we are apart of. Do we find ourselves in an excluding or an including community? Since life is rarely cut and dry, quite possibly we find ourselves in a mixture of exclusion and inclusion.

Grace and Peace, Jes Kast-Keat

Wednesday - The Problem with Inheriting Faith

westend_admin — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:13:59 +0000

When I first entered seminary I was amazed to hear a handful of stories of people who grew up in the same church that their grandparents grew up in. Some of my colleagues talked with such pride of how they inherited the same faith as their relatives from such a long line of believers. While there is something quite beautiful about a strong religious tradition I couldn't help but wonder if they ever felt the permission to ask questions of the faith they inherited. I was curious how someone could experience God voluminously if all they knew was the exact faith that was passed onto them.

While there is no doubt that one can encounter God from the faith one inherits there comes a point in our lives that we must make faith our own. The rituals we inherit are important but in order to love God with our whole heart, soul and mind (Mark 12:30) we must give ourselves permission to explore. While this can be a scary process it also can liberate us to recognize that God is even bigger than we first thought.

We are invited to explore the balance of inheriting faith and making faith ones own this week.

Grace and Peace, Jes Kas-Keat

Tuesday - In Spirit and Truth

westend_admin — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:27:15 +0000

There was a time in my life when I was connected to a religious community that was so concerned about knowing Truth that it seemed void of the freedom of the Spirit to explore. We were so concerned about the right way of thinking about faith that it was like a vacuum sucking out any vitality of the mystery of God. I’m not arguing that we should not be on a quest for truth; certainly this is profitable in experiencing God. John 4:24 reminds us that, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” We need to be sifting through the sands to discover what is true. Yet, let us not forget the words of 2 Corinthians 3:17 in our faith explorations: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” We have freedom to experience God both in truth and vitality. It is important to remember that experiencing God in truth and vitality will look different for each of us. There is a freedom in knowing God can be encountered in a variety of ways.

With that in mind I invite us to wonder, “How is God encountering my life today?”

Grace and Peace, Jes Kast-Keat

Monday - Experiencing God through Rituals

westend_admin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 15:59:23 +0000

It is no secret; Lent is my favorite season in the church calendar! Beginning with Ash Wednesday and ending right before Easter Sunday; these six weeks are rich with rituals. Some of the rituals include the imposition of ashes on ones forehead, fasting from food or luxuries, penitential prayers and lighting candles are all common practices during this season. The idea behind these practices is not to go through motions void of meaning but instead to provide different avenues to experience God.

Yet, there was a time in my life when these rituals felt like I was going through the motions without really making faith my own. This period in my life propelled me to ask questions, lots of them. I wrestled with these rituals and what I found out that in the wrestling with these rituals they began to illuminate my faith in a whole different way. Through the wrestling and questioning I began to experience God, not just from the faith I inherited, but also very personally.

The season of Lent invites us to ask the self-reflective question, “Am I experiencing God?” This is a beautiful question for us to contemplate this week as we look at different sacred encounters in the Bible.

Grace and Peace, Jes Kast-Keat

Friday – Harmony with God

westend_admin — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:44:59 +0000

We all know that the human spirit is a fragile thing. There are times when our spirit languishes and is broken. Difficult situations can take their toll. We stop seeing the world with optimism or possibility, and we lose inspiration for what could be. But the remnant of God within our spirit is never extinguished. It may seem so faint as not to be there, yet it remains waiting to be discovered. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, says it this way: “we are, by the very nature of our humanity, naturally attuned to the reality of God…. But we have jarred the harmonies in various ways. We are out of tune.” And so “our task in growing in the life of the spirit is to try to recover that attunement.” This is the spiritual quest we all share.

Thursday – What Matters Most

westend_admin — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:46:49 +0000

The nature of life demands that we devote ourselves to the physicality of our existence. We have to clothe, shelter, and feed ourselves, so it’s easy to see how these become the baseline markers to determine how well we’re doing. What we wear, where we live, and where we dine tell something about us. Because these things can bring pleasure, it is easy to confuse those things we need to live with those things worth living for. To know love, to witness beauty, to experience creativity, to be in awe—these are things worth living for. They do not speak to the physicality of our existence but to the illimitable Spirit within us that seeks expression in our lives. This is not to pit one aspect of ourselves against the other. It is only to say that there is more than one dimension to life. This is the point Jesus is making when he said that to enter the kingdom of God we must be born of the Spirit (John 3:5). The kingdom is not some future reality or reward. It is here and now. And being born of the Spirit is to see beyond the material dimension of life and seek the things worth living for. It is where the human spirit and divine Spirit meet and move us towards what matters most.

Wednesday – God Is Not Far

westend_admin — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:19:39 +0000

We primarily think of God as something or someone external to ourselves. This means the spiritual quest is to bridge the gap between God, who is out there somewhere, and us. As we encounter the idea of the Spirit, it raises new possibilities in where we search for God. The Spirit is the breath of life that fills us and animates who we are, and the beauty and gifts that emanate from our being are reflections of divine spirit within us. This puts a twist on our spiritual quest. Searching for God can also be searching within ourselves. This is brought out in an encounter Jesus had with those wanting to know when the kingdom of God was coming. Jesus said that people are apt to look here and there for signs, but remember “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). When we slow down long enough to spend time with ourselves, the Spirit of God is discovered in the moments we meditate and search our spirit.

Tuesday – The Aftermath of God

westend_admin — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 23:30:08 +0000

The number one news headline today remains the destruction and loss of life brought by the tsunami in Japan. It is heart rendering to see the suffering and grief that people must now face. It also saddens me deeply to see that some in the religious community are already interpreting this as a sign of God’s judgment upon the people. They see the devastation as the aftermath of God. This is an appalling twist of our theology that distorts our image of God. Having said that, I do believe we are just beginning to see the aftermath of God in this situation. People are beginning to donate funds to help those whose lives and belongings lie in shambles. People are beginning to donate their time to sort through the rubble to rebuild homes and hope. People are beginning to reach out and support those who are mourning the loss of family and friends. These acts of compassion are the aftermath of God. As it says in Galatians, where you find “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control,” you have evidence that the Spirit of God has been present. May the Spirit continue to move us in our care and concern for the people in Japan.

Monday – More Than Physical

westend_admin — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 19:57:26 +0000

We don’t use religious language much today. My grandparents used to say things like, “God bless you,” “God’s speed,” and “God willing,” but today we say “good luck,” safe travels,” and “if I’m lucky.” Overt references to God are almost non-existent, but I believe we still use a language that points to something beyond ourselves. We talk about “catching the spirit,” or we “feel the spirit” of someone who has passed away. We say that something was “spiritual,” or that we have a “spiritual connection” with someone. It is all a way of saying that there is something more to our existence than our physical being. The language about the Spirit in the Bible has a similar function. Though the mention of Spirit points to God, it does so in a more general, amorphous way. We use many metaphors to describe God, many of which give God human attributes, but this is never done in reference to the Spirit. The dominant image of the Spirit is that of wind, which is one of the meanings of “spirit” in the Bible. The Spirit, like the wind, “blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes” (John 3:8). I think that’s why people are more comfortable talking about the Spirit and prefer to consider themselves spiritual rather than being religious and talking about God. It begins with less preconceived ideas about who or what is at work, and focuses more on the signs of the Spirit’s presence. It is wonderfully inclusive language that invites us to explore life beyond our physical being without feeling pressure that our experiences must fit a mold.

Friday – Created to be Purposeful

westend_admin — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 15:08:06 +0000

I was involved in a public event in the Middle East in which I and a Muslim counterpart represented Christian and Muslim views on our understandings of “vocation” in our respective theologies. This forced me to do some serious research, and it was then I discovered how I had misread the story of the Garden of Eden and humankind’s role in it. Somehow I had the impression that the Garden of Eden represented a paradise in which humankind had no work. I envisioned it as a place of great beauty where we could enjoy ourselves at our leisure. A place where every material need would be provided. However, in rereading the text I discovered that in the story the very first thing God did was take “the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). How did I miss this! At first glance it sounds like terrible news—I hate gardening! But it represents a fundamental human need. The pristine state of the world is represented as one in which humankind must have a purpose. And without one, we experience an undercurrent of angst in our being that stems from not knowing what we are to do with our lives. As we do our soul searching this Lent, let it be a time when God moves us to know how to live purposefully.

Thursday – The Meaning of Lent

westend_admin — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:33:07 +0000

Lent revolves the idea of repentance, which is laden with meaning. It represents our turning from those things that hold us back and moving towards the fullness of life found in God. This is serious business. It is when all of who we have been meets all of who we hope to be. This can be a painful, inspiring, difficult, hopeful, agonizing, and exciting time. At its core, Lent reminds us that we are never trapped where we are. I think Sister Joan Chittister said it well, “Lent is a call to weep for what we could have been and are not. Lent is the grace to grieve for what we should have done and did not. Lent is the opportunity to change what we ought to change but have not. Lent is not about penance. Lent is about becoming, doing and changing whatever it is that is blocking the fullness of life in us right now. Lent is a summons to live anew.” May the grace of Christ meet you in the moments when your past meets your future.

Wednesday – The Other Side of Temptation

westend_admin — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 14:12:05 +0000

This week’s passage in Matthew tells of Jesus’ temptation, and surprisingly it says that Jesus was “led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (4:1). With Jesus’ period of temptation being introduced in this way, it creates the expectation that something positive will result. And that’s exactly what happens. For forty days Jesus resisted every temptation that came his way, and this signals that he is now ready to begin his ministry. The symbolism of this makes sense to me. There is a way in which we draw strength from those times we resist temptations. I know this is a trivial example, but when I resist junk food at dinner party, I leave feeling a little more empowered to stay the course on my eating plan. If we think about the times we've resisted the things that pull us in the wrong direction physically, psychologically, or spiritually, we come out the other side with a firmer conviction we can stay the course. The next time you resist something that tempts you, take a moment to draw strength from it for the journey ahead.

Tuesday – God vs. god

westend_admin — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 22:02:55 +0000

I’ve always wondered about the story of Adam and Eve, particularly when they eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God explicitly forbade them to do! This one simple act led to dire consequences, and their lives were forever changed because they surrendered to a seemingly innocent temptation. Two pressing questions arise: why was it wrong to eat of this particular tree? And why did Adam and Eve find this so hard to resist? Honestly, it seems like a very easy command to keep. I love fruit, but I’d like to think that I could avoid eating from one tree. However, this is not a tale of simple disobedience. There is a deeper meaning found in the symbolism of the tree and of the act of eating from it. The tree represents God’s will and purpose for our lives. This means that we are created in such a way that there are things we can do that bring health and wholeness, and there are things we can do that are destructive to our wellbeing. In the act of eating from the tree, it symbolized Adam and Eve’s desire to be their own god and establish their own purposes. And this represents a tendency that continues with all humanity. Personally, my first reaction is to bristle when thinking this because I associate it with a few overly moralistic people from my past who tried to tell me God’s purpose for my life. What bothered me was their attention to the minutiae of what I should do—or not do! However, I also know that God has woven into the fabric of creation a shared moral sense. That’s why it’s easy for us to agree on such things as preserving one another’s dignity and showing compassion to those in need. When we “eat from the tree,” it represents those times we’ve disregarded this. I think we’ve all succumbed to this temptation, and on a personal level it can manifest itself in our relationships with family, friends, and coworkers. It is not that we always do something seriously wrong. It is that we fail to give attention to what is most important. It’s easy to lose sight of our greater purposes and priorities, particularly when it occurs ever so subtly. It is not one quick bite of the fruit. It is a slow nibble and before we know it the fruit is gone. Every so often we need to slow down, create space for God, and reconnect with the purposes that God has imbued within us.

Monday – Temptation & Our Resolve

westend_admin — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 19:00:37 +0000

We all face temptation. What makes it so difficult is that those things that tempt us seem good at first glance, but in the end they are destructive to our lives. Maybe that is why there is a long scriptural tradition of talking about temptation. It begins in Genesis with the temptation of Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and it continues with Jesus’ temptation by Satan in the wilderness. There is something about our response to temptation that gives a glimpse into our inner world, which is intimately connected with our spirituality. On the exterior, things can appear to be going quite well. But when temptation comes, it becomes much clearer how we’re really doing. Sometimes we find ourselves succumbing to temptation in situations we thought we could handle. And this can lead to very difficult places in our personal lives and in our relationships. Perhaps that’s why every Sunday we say as part of the Lord’s Prayer, “lead us not into temptation.” This phrase is a double entendre. It can mean that in our prayers we are asking to give us the inner resolve to stay true to what’s important to us. And it can mean to keep us away from those situations that we would find tempting. Either way, it is a petition to help us on the path that leads to health and wholeness.

Friday – The Hope of Metamorpheo

westend_admin — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:46:43 +0000

Several commentators on the transfiguration have noted that what is happening to Jesus is what is happening to us. It is not that we glow radiantly or are surrounded in white. It raises the hope that we too can experience our own transformation. The connection can be found in 2 Corinthians where the same Greek word used for transfiguration, metamorpheo, is used in relation to changes in us. It says, “And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed [metamorpheo] into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit” (3:18). The vision of Jesus transfigured points to the transformation or metamorphosis that is possible within us and in the world around us. This means that God is an agent of change, and embracing faith is to embrace a dynamic journey of change. This is our source of hope. A faith that only condones the status quo holds no hope for us. I would even say that a status quo faith can get us into considerable trouble. We’ve used faith to condone the status quo in inequities between races. And we’ve used faith to condone the status quo in inequities based on gender. Because change introduces a degree of uncertainty, and even chaos, we’re still using faith to condone the status quo in ways that discriminate or marginalize children of God. Our hope is grounded in a God that transfigures and transforms us so that we move closer to the peace and wholeness that emanates from God.

Thursday – Let It Linger

westend_admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 18:21:36 +0000

If the transfiguration of Jesus didn’t already have enough surprising elements, the last line only adds to it. As Jesus and the disciples are walking down the mountain, he instructs them to “tell no one about the vision until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead” (Matthew 17:9). There is much speculation about why this shouldn’t be talked about. Most likely, it is because the full impact of the experience will not make sense until a later time. There is a lesson there for us. How many past experiences have we had that might make more sense now than when we were in the midst of it? There may be insight and direction just waiting to be unmined. We tend to move through life quickly with little time to reflect on the past. I wonder what gems remained lost in our experiences by shelving them rather than letting them linger. Sometimes we need to come back to them to see the ways they may still illuminate our journey. Reggie McNeal says that the church has missed the significance of this in the way we do ministry. We spend our energy “briefing and deploying” people, and we spend very little time debriefing what we’re learning along the way. While we move ahead boldly to acquire new experiences, we must not overlook the treasure chest of experiences we already have. God uses the stuff of our lives to guide us along the way.

Wednesday – Back Down the Mountain

westend_admin — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 18:43:40 +0000

Yesterday we examined the disruptive moment God introduced into Peter, James, and John’s lives. They literally had a mountaintop experience. It was so overwhelming that they dropped to the ground in fear and awe. I’m particularly fascinated with the way it ends. Jesus approached the disciples, who are now lying prostrate in front of him, and he told them to “get up and do not be afraid. And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone” (Matthew 17:8). In a blink of an eye the dramatic moment had passed. To me this is an important reminder of what faith is. While there are those times that we have mountaintop experiences that transcend all that is around us, we still have to walk back down the mountain and resume the responsibilities of life. No one stays on the mountain forever. When the disciples left the mountain, it no doubt inspired their faith. But it did not relieve them of choices and challenges. Peter is a perfect example. Even though he had this profound experience, later he would deny he knew Jesus when things we’re getting rough (Matthew 26:69-75). This may sound strange, but I find comfort in this because the disciples become real people who had to live in the real world. When considering my faith, it’s nice to know everyone has to walk through some valleys. What keeps me going is knowing that we walk through them together, and from the valleys we can see more mountaintops ahead.

Tuesday – A Disruptive God

westend_admin — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 21:28:39 +0000

One of this week’s texts is Matthew 17:1-9, which describes the transfiguration of Jesus. The plot is quite straightforward: Jesus leads Peter, James, and John to a mountaintop, and there Jesus is “transfigured before them.” The moment is described as one in which Jesus’ “face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.” At first the disciples embraced the transcendence of the moment, even trying to prolong it. Then a cloud overshadows them and a voice said, “This is my son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” To put this in the vernacular, this freaked them out and they fell on the ground in fear. In that moment, everything they thought they knew about God was thrown into question. Many of us have experienced this, though not accompanied by bright lights or voices. It may be prompted by a difficult situation, or it may stem from an intellectual challenge raised by something we’ve read. This text is saying something that is hard to comprehend. Sometimes these disruptive and disconcerting moments may very well be a part of the movement of God in our lives. It is only through the questioning of old assumptions that new understandings can arise. It may help to remember that while the disciples fell to the ground in fear and confusion, when they raised their heads again they had a renewed and transformed faith. The moral of the story is not that we should attribute all disruptive moments to God. But we also should not miss the possibility of God being in those moments. Sometimes it takes a disruptive God to move us to new possibilities in faith and life.

Monday – A Transfiguring God

westend_admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:04:12 +0000

When we use the word “religion,” we strongly associate it with beliefs and practices. In the study of religion, if these two things are known, it is assumed that one knows about a religion. However, as Christians we would want to add two additional elements that are necessary to get at the heart of Christianity. These both speak to the dynamic nature of faith. First, there is the element of transformation, which speaks to the internal changes we experience. Pursuing the Christian faith is more than believing certain things and doing certain things. It is having our character and inner-being shaped through our experience of God. To put it simply, through faith we change. Second, there is the element of transfiguration, which speaks to the external changes we experience in the way we see God. Through faith God changes. Not in the sense that God changes in character or essence, but God changes (aka, “transfigures”) in the way God is made known to us. These are those “Aha” moments in which our paradigm of God is shattered so that God can be seen in a new light. This is good news for those times we are trapped with images of God that no longer challenge or inspire us. A transfiguring God is able to come to us in new ways that move us to new places in our faith journeys. As we explore transfiguration this week, we are exploring the dynamic nature of God.

Friday – A Soul Lift

westend_admin — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:12:07 +0000

Our penchant to look young grows, as evidenced in the rapid increase in cosmetic surgery. I certainly understand the drive. I love it when someone underestimates my age—and who doesn’t?! But as I get older, I just don’t want to look young. I want to feel young. In the Bible there is a connection between God and feeling young. It is contained in a wonderful verse in the Psalms that speaks to what the movement of God yields in us: “From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you” (110:3). It certainly counters the idea that to be spiritual is to be dour and somber. Instead, being moved by God involves playfulness, curiosity, humor, and grand dreams. Actually, I would say that the signs of God’s presence are more evident in letting loose and laughing than in a rigid piety. It’s not that spirituality should be defined by youthful banter. Sometimes profound experiences of God arise out of solitude and lead to tears. But with God our youth comes to us, which means our spiritual journeys also open us to youthful exuberance. Therefore, if we’re feeling a little old, instead of contemplating face lifts, we may want to consider getting a soul lift.

Thursday – Innovation in the Church

westend_admin — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 17:34:42 +0000

The past twenty-five years have been a period of intense change and creativity in the church. It’s not that traditional forms of worship and programs have been abandoned, but there has been a definite “retraditioning” of past practices that has breathed new life in the church. Interestingly, the source for much of this has come from youth groups. It makes sense really. We give our youth groups permission to break from the norm and do wild and crazy things in the name of ministry. One of my favorites is the “U2charist.” It is a Eucharist (Communion) service set to the music of U2. Our threshold for experimentation is much higher with our youth than in any other area. Over the years, some of these “crazy” elements have woven there way into the fabric of mainstream church life. Therefore, if our youth group introduces some twists this Sunday, just remember that these very things may become our cherished traditions of the future.

Wednesday – Let the Children Come

westend_admin — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 19:04:21 +0000

This weekend is “Youth Sunday,” which means our youth take over the service! Those who have attended in the past know that afterwards we always realize that our youth are more gifted, more mature, and have more to offer than we often give them credit for. Sadly, it’s easy to forget this until next year’s service. It causes me to consider their place in the community of faith. There can be subtle ways we practice generational segregation, and in doing so we limit the gifts we have to offer one another. As Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs” (Matthew 19:14). Our children fully belong in our community. Not for who they may be in the future but for who they are today. I love the way children express faith with a disarming naiveté. And I love the challenge of teenagers in their refreshing candor about what they believe (or don’t believe). Sometimes we learn from what they say, and sometimes we learn from who they are. I hope this week is a reminder that we need to look continually for ways to “let the children come” to us as part of our community of faith.

Friday - Prayer is Powerful! But How?

westend_admin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:53:33 +0000

I recently received a text from someone asking for prayer. The last line of the text particularly caught my eye. It said, “Prayer is a powerful thing!” I couldn’t agree with her more but it left me wondering, just how is prayer a powerful thing. Does prayer change God or does prayer change me?

There are streams of Christianity that are convinced that in prayer we have the potential to influence how God intervenes in this world. Biblical stories like the conversation between Abraham and God in Genesis 18:16-33 suggest that God changes Gods’ mind in our petitions. Prayer is valued as a dynamic conversation between God and humans in this perspective.

There are also streams of Christianity that the thought that we might have the potential to change Gods’ mind in prayer is outlandish. Biblical passages like Malachi 3:6 convey the unchanging nature of God. In this thought, prayer is more about a yielding to the belief that God sees a bigger picture than my humble prayers. As C.S. Lewis said “prayer doesn’t change God – it changes me”.

So what is it? Does prayer change Gods’ mind or does prayer change my mind? Yes, both.

While we might not understand exactly who is the one being changed in prayer, one thing in Scripture is clear - all are welcomed to pray. From the most devout to the greatest doubter, God is attentively listening. Maybe that is why prayer is so powerful; no matter who you are, you are invited to pray to God and trust that God is listening to your prayers.

Thursday - Body Prayer

westend_admin — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:49:52 +0000

The Benedictine Monastic Order, Thomas Merton and Yoga have taught me a lot about prayer. I have learned from them that prayer is not just in words uttered but prayer can also happen in the embodiment of my daily life. For instance take this motto of the Benedictine Monks:

To labor is to pray

I love how this suggests that the very work we do might possibly be a prayer to God. Thomas Merton also conveys the same sentiment in this piece of writing:

My God, I pray better to You by breathing. I pray better to You by walking than by talking.

Yoga has been part of my weekly ritual of exercise for the past few years. Just recently I decided to partake in the Yoga class that is offered at the church on Wednesday nights. Our leader began the evening in a verbal prayer and for the next hour and a half of the class we continue that prayer in the postures and movements of our body. In the back of the dimly lit sanctuary the small group of us held the silence together as we twisted and bent our bodies in our positions of prayer. The Benedictines, Merton and Yoga remind me of the countless times in Scripture when people don’t just pray with their words but they also pray with their bodies.

Point to Ponder: Is it possible to think of the work you do as prayer? What might it mean, in your life, to pray not just with your words but also to pray with your body?

Wednesday - Can you hear me now?

westend_admin — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:50:44 +0000

Does it feel like sometimes your prayers are just bouncing off the walls? Do you sometimes feel like the man in the cell phone commercial asking God, “Can you hear me now”? Do you feel like you pray, and pray, and pray and it sometimes seems like your prayers are never answered? Take comfort, Jesus himself can identify with these feelings of abandonment as seen in Matthew 27:46 when he cries out To God, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

It might be tempting to throw in the towel but take these words of Scripture to heart in your moments of desiring to give up on prayer. The writer of the Gospel of Matthew records Jesus saying, “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” What is fascinating about this verse is that in the Greek the verbs are in the present active tense. So a more literal translation of this verse might read, “Keep on asking….keep on searching…keep on knocking”. It’s like the writer of Matthew knows how difficult praying can be for us when we are tempted to give up and say “it isn’t working”.

When I feel abandoned or the desire to give up in prayer I think of the Jon Bon Jovi song Living on a Prayer (no joke, I really do!). Sometimes I will blast the chorus of the song in my iPod as a reminder to keep on praying. Bon Jovi sings:

woooah
We're half way there
Livin' on a prayer
Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear
Livin' on a prayer

I imagine God reaching out and taking my hand to give me the strength to keep praying. Sometimes it feels like that, that we are just livin’ on a prayer and I don’t think we are alone in that feeling.

Tuesday -Why Do I Pray?

westend_admin — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:38:44 +0000

If someone were to ask you “Why do you pray?” what would your response be?

Scanning through Scripture there are a plethora of reasons why one might choose to pray:

Philippians 4:6-7 invites us to pray because prayer gives us a place to put our worries and anxieties. Through prayer we can trust that God sees a bigger picture than we do.
Prayer provides moments of silence and preparation for the day as seen in the example of Christ (Mark 1:35).
We pray because we seek to be forgiven and to forgive. We pray because we are in need. We pray to discern the way we should go about our day (Matthew 6:8-15).
One might pray in order to meet God as Moses did on the mountain in Exodus 34. In meeting God there is a sense of intimacy that we can develop with God in prayer (Matthew 6:9 & Romans 8:14,15).
We pray to remember we aren’t alone in our trials (Hebrews 4:15-16).
We pray to present our petitions to God (Psalms 39:12).
Throughout the Book of Psalms we are given many examples of prayer in order to express a variety of praises & concerns we have to God.

Quite honestly, this list could go on and on with reasons from Scripture why one might pray! At our Tuesday evening post-sermon discussion group on February 22 from 7:00 to 8:30, we will explore some of your answers to the question “Why do you pray?”

Monday - Pray without gaps

westend_admin — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:32:37 +0000

When I was a kid there was a nursery rhyme that my parents and I would do together. It went like this:

Here is the church; here is the steeple

Open the doors and see all the people

Close the doors and hear them pray

Open the doors and they all walk away.

By reciting this rhyme (complete with hand motions) I was indirectly learning that church people prayed. There has been an evolutionary process of how I understand prayer and why we pray. I used to think that the only place you could pray was in a church building but that certainly isn’t true! 1 Thessalonians 5:17 invites us to pray without ceasing. In the Greek it reads, adialeptos poroseuchomai, which literally means “pray without gaps”. If the only place you could pray was in a church building then how could we pray without ceasing? This verse suggests that there is something more to prayer then just bowing your head, closing your eyes, and sitting in silence in a designated building. If one is to pray without gaps then maybe our entire life has the potential to be prayer. Maybe the world is thick with God’s presence and the mere act of breathing can be a prayer to commune with God.

Prayer is mentioned hundreds of times in the Bible. We’ve got a lot to explore before the Sermon this Sunday!

I want to invite you to leave comments this week about your understanding of prayer, stories you have with prayer or even questions about prayer that have been stirring in your mind.

-Jes Kast-Keat

Friday – Depraved Gods

westend_admin — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:45:43 +0000

I’ve been reading about the rise of Christianity, and it’s remarkable how at its inception the social milieu could not have been more favorable for Christianity’s success. One such circumstance was that the Greek poets and philosophers were already questioning the many atrocities and cruelties associated with the gods. Plato and the sophists after him ridiculed the gods, and slowly the attraction and power of the polytheistic world waned. As Michael Green put it, in the Greco-Roman world “it was not that men became so depraved that they abandoned their gods, but rather that the gods become so depraved that they were abandoned by men” (Evangelism in the Early Church). This created an openness to consider new ways of thinking of God. This has me wondering about people’s encounter with Christianity today. When people rebuff our beliefs, the Church has been quick to blame those who reject it as not having the eyes of faith to see the truth. But what if it is the images we use that repel people? What if the problem is not God but the words we use to depict God? Often we make our words and God coequal, but they are not. Whatever words we use must be chosen with great care and offered as a glimpse not as the whole.

Thursday – Yes to Religion, No to Proselytizing

westend_admin — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:26:44 +0000

Since this week is about the connection between mission and our faith, I was reflecting on my experience in Oman. They have an interesting approach to how faith can manifest itself in the public square. Though it’s an Islamic country, there is a large expatriate population that brings with it the world’s religions. And religion has a way of weaving its way into everyday conversation. People feel free to share their religious perspectives on anything and everything. However, there is a basic ground rule for this. You cannot seek to proselytize other people. You can share opinions about faith, but attempts to convert someone are discouraged. This applies in all directions--Muslims proselytizing Christians, Christians proselytizing Muslims, Protestants proselytizing Catholics, etc. It arises from the belief that religion is an important dimension of people’s lives that can and should be shared, but when there is evangelistic activity between groups, it weakens the social fabric of society. People are free to believe whatever they want—yes to religion. But they should not try to convince others to leave their religions—no to proselytizing. I know some of you are thinking, what about the free market of ideas? Shouldn’t people be free to try and persuade whomever they want? Perhaps, but I appreciated these ground rules. It reminds us that religious engagement should begin and end with respect for one another. It doesn’t mean we have to agree, but even in disagreement we can be respectful in the way we express our faith.

Wednesday – How Big Is Your Family?

westend_admin — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 14:41:48 +0000

Yesterday I realized I’ve glossed over a phrase in a well know verse. It’s in Matthew 25 and the context is Jesus talking to those who cared for the sick, poor, and hungry. He said, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (v. 40). I find it very interesting that Jesus’ sense of family knew no bounds. It was not confined to blood, ethnicity, or religious affiliation. In this case, anyone in need is part of the family. Contrast this with popular notions of the church. In a well-known hymn we sing, “I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God…. You’ll notice we say ‘brother and ‘sister’ ‘round here; it’s because we’re a family and these folks are so near.” It’s common for us to speak of the church as our family, and it’s true we have a special bond and commitment to one another. However, it is easy to focus on our family and ignore others. Perhaps that is why Jesus taught such an inclusive concept of family. We can ignore outsiders, but when family members are in need, we find a way to respond.

Tuesday – Mission: Beyond the Holy Huddle

westend_admin — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 15:01:17 +0000

This week’s focus is the connection between mission and our faith. Mission is a very broad concept that in essence represents our connection to the world around us. If we take away mission, then we become a “holy huddle” that has little relationship to those outside the church. This is not to diminish the importance of the worship and education we share. This fuels our spiritual journeys and shapes our lives in many positive ways. But the community of faith that we call the “church” is one of those rare organizations that was not created for the benefit of members only. We are called to care for everyone in our midst. In principle this sounds great, but it means that mission calls us to open ourselves to all people, including the folks that are not like us. It calls us to go against our natural instinct to congregate around our similarities. This can be awkward and uncomfortable. But here is the remarkable thing about mission. If we reach out beyond the holy huddle, we experience God reaching out to us through the people we meet.

Monday – The Man on the Corner

westend_admin — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 15:03:48 +0000

One of the most sensitive subjects about faith is the topic of evangelism. I think it’s because this is where the conversation turns from what people believe about God to what they believe about others. Case in point: last week as I was walking to the subway, I heard a street corner preacher tell the crowd that we were depraved sinners destined for hell. I watched those around me avert their eyes or shoot him an angry glance. It’s not that people care what this man believes about God. But if there is something that gets under people’s skin, it is when they are viewed with a judgmental presumption about who they are. It certainly gets under my skin! I think it’s because it takes the hope-filled messaged of faith, one that is intimately intertwined with the particularities of who we are, and makes it a generic and gloomy pronouncement that doesn’t recognize us as individuals. If faith is a personal journey, then the message needs to get out that we should be more personable in the way we represent our faith!

Friday – Exercising the Body

westend_admin — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 14:50:00 +0000

Another dominant image of the Church is “the body of Christ.” It’s a great metaphor because it helps answer that thorny question, how does the presence of Christ continue in the world? In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father” (14:12). To believe in Christ is to follow the way of Christ, and this gives us our mission as a church. What Christ began, we are called to carry on. There still needs to be people standing up for the rights of the marginalized. There still needs to be people challenging religious positions that enslave rather than liberate us. There still needs to be people who feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and visit the sick. And when we, as a church, follow this path, the body hypertrophies. And when we don’t, the body atrophies. It’s all quite simple. We need to keep exercising the body!

Thursday – Koinonia

westend_admin — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:11:14 +0000

A term used frequently in describing the church is koinonia. It is a Greek term found in the New Testament that means “communion,” “community,” and “sharing.” If you Google it, you’ll find many churches and Christian organizations that bear this name. While it is often used to describe a spiritual community bound together through faith, the term has a broader significance than this. Koinonia points to communion with God, one another, and all creation. And here’s the important point: being a church means being a visible symbol of the koinonia that God intends for all of humanity. It is not just a way of describing who we are; it also communicates who we strive to be with one another and the broader community in which we live. This has me wondering. When guests walk through the doors of our church, do they experience koinonia? And when we walk out the doors of the church, do the strangers we meet experience us as those who desire koinonia with all people? If faith teaches us anything, it is that this is something towards which we all should strive.

Wednesday – Ever Considered the Priesthood?

westend_admin — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 18:00:26 +0000

There is a well-known verse in the Bible that says, “You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). Out of this text comes the idea that we are all priests. So if you are a Christian, let me be the first to say, welcome to the priesthood! I know this doesn’t sound appealing (no offense to my profession), so I’d better explain. We don’t need to attend seminary or don clerical collars. We don’t need to add “Reverend” to our names or deliver sermons. It simply means that we are called to “show others the goodness of God.” Whoever we are, whatever our qualifications, we are to be people of encouragement, compassion, hope, and love in one another’s lives. Our responsibility to be “priests” cannot be delegated or outsourced. It comes with the job description of being Christian. And it is in the life we share together in the church that we learn how to live this out.

Tuesday – Ubi Caritas, Ibi Ecclesia

westend_admin — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 19:14:35 +0000

Today we use a little Latin--it makes things sound ancient and authoritative!--and consider the theology of Søren Kierkegaard. Ubi caritas, ibi ecclesia means “where there is love, there is the church.” Though it has a pleasing ring to it, it has been used as a revolt against the Church. Enter Kierkegaard, who was no fan of the institutional Church. John Caputo, in What Would Jesus Deconstruct, describes his position in this way. Kierkegaard believed that “the gospel is not a set of doctrines, but a way of life.” For him, this was the only way that the gospel made sense. “If the New Testament is a ‘theory’, then it is absurd, and the way not to be scandalized and repelled by the absurdity is what Kierkegaard called ‘faith’, which takes the leap and translates the gospel into existence.” This means that the Church only makes sense if it translates the gospel into “works of love.” No amount of theology, liturgy, smells or bells can bridge the gap between the absurd and God. For me, this reminds me that our patterns of being the Church can easily settle into those things that work for us rather than works of love. The simple phrase ubi caratias, ibi ecclesia, as gentile as it sounds, challenges how we think about faith and the Church.

Monday – Disposable Church?

westend_admin — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:53:16 +0000

The satirist Lenny Bruce once said that “every day people are straying away from the church and going back to God. ”Sociologists of religion would concur. They have observed that a growing number of people have become frustrated with the institutional church and feel it is more of a hindrance to God than a help. This lies behind the oft heard statement, “I’m spiritual but not religious.” It is a way of saying that someone is pursuing faith as a private journey rather than associating oneself with a religious institution. Even though I make my living working in the church, I have sympathies with those who feel this way. The church can be a place that feels like it judges more than it loves and excludes more than it embraces. It can be a messy, political environment that seems to have little to do with God. However, and this stands at the heart of the Christian tradition, faith is a communal pursuit. This has been a cornerstone of Christianity since its inception. It is in community that we are loved by God through others. It is in community that we are shaped by God through others. It is in community that we experience God. This does not exclude personal experience, but to forego community is to miss one of the primary means we connect with God. Where we go wrong as a church is when we focus more on preserving the church as an institution rather than that which makes us a community of faith.

Friday – The Way Forward

westend_admin — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:06:42 +0000

While Christ is an endearing religious figure, he is also a controversial one. One can attend an international conference in which thousands feel a special bond because of their shared commitment to Christ. And one can attend a scholarly debate where there is strong disagreement about what to believe about Christ. There is no way to eliminate this debate, nor is it necessarily desirable to do so. It keeps us thinking about what is important in our faith, and it forces to embrace our faith with integrity. However, some of the debate may result from our focus—what to believe about Christ. The nascent Christian community that emerged after Christ’s death didn’t spend much time debating about him. They focused on following the way of Christ. They were inspired by him, transformed by him, and were guided by him. That was the reality that they embraced and sought to live into. I wouldn’t say that they were unconcerned with what to believe about him, but a great diversity of opinion existed. What was most important and celebrated was that the way of Christ changes the direction of one’s life. As we consider the disagreements between us (and within us!), it is always good to stop and ask whether we’re focusing on the right priorities.

Thursday – Jesus Celebrated Snow Days

westend_admin — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:00:00 +0000

When I awoke to discover we were buried in snow, I quickly checked the news to see if anything was canceled. To my delight, almost everything was! Early this morning an initial barrage of emails arrived announcing that my events and meetings were canceled. And then all became quiet. Days like this are a true gift, and there is something rejuvenating about them. It reminds me of a practice of Jesus. As his fame grew, and with it the crowds who sought him, every so often he would pull away from his busy schedule to be alone in prayer. If we’re honest, this may seem like a foolish waste of an opportunity. After all, the message is getting out, momentum is being gained, and a movement is being started. That is not the time to walk away from the crowd for a little personal time! Yet periodically Jesus leaves it all to regroup and recalibrate his life for the journey ahead. Rather than waiting for a blizzard to create space for renewal, perhaps we need to schedule a few snow days so we're prepared for the journey ahead.

Wednesday – The Catch 22

westend_admin — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:20:29 +0000

In last week’s sermon I mentioned the shift that has taken place in how we approach religious understanding. Previously, reason could inform our thinking to the degree it was consistent with what the Church believed and taught. This explains why Galileo created so much controversy. His new insights about a heliocentric universe contravened the teaching of the Church, which they did not receive well! But now many people approach Christianity expecting that what the Church believes should be consistent with what one could consider reasonable—even if it means disagreeing with longstanding theological positions. As we consider the significance of Christ within our faith, this creates a catch 22. If what we are willing to explore and accept is confined to what we already know, then we have closed ourselves to the possibility of discovering new things about the way of Christ. This is not to imply that we must accept everything that we encounter, but unless we are willing to be surprised by something new, we will always be bound by what is. John Caputo frames the unfolding of Christianity by its openness to rediscover and rethink what came before. In his book What Would Jesus Deconstruct?, he says that “in Christianity the Hebrew Scriptures arrived in a place they did not see coming…. The authors of the New Testament were not “fundamentalists” but were very creative readers.” For those of us who approach the New Testament and person of Christ full of questions and uncertainty, we can be comforted by this. As we travel the journey of faith, it may take us places we never expected, just as it has in the past. And it may be that our uncertainty about where we are going is the very thing that keeps us open to a newness of faith.

Tuesday – God is Like Jesus

westend_admin — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:02:14 +0000

Sometimes I come across a quote that provokes thought for weeks. It’s not that I always agree with it, but it causes me to reconsider how I think about things. Here is one such quote from Brian McLaren in his book, A New Kind of Christianity. He begins by quoting something that Elton Trueblood, a Quaker scholar, would say to his students: “The historic Christian doctrine of the divinity of Christ does not simply mean that Jesus is like God. It is far more radical than that. It means that God is like Jesus.” McLaren goes on to say, “In other words, the doctrines of the incarnation and deity of Christ are meant to tell us that we cannot start with a predetermined, set-in-stone idea of God derived form the rest of the Bible and then extend it to Jesus. Jesus is not merely to fit into those predetermined categories; he is intended instead to explode them, transform them, alter them forever, and bring us to a new evolutionary understanding of God. An old definition of God does not define Jesus—the experience of God in Jesus requires a brand-new definition or understanding of God.” Something to think about!

Monday – Bring Your Questions to the Conversation

westend_admin — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:36:16 +0000

Christianity is a faith that is centered on God through the person of Jesus. As a religion, it is a remarkable story of how a Middle Eastern carpenter sparked a religious revolution that would sweep the world. Two thousand years ago, Jesus had a handful of followers. Today, one third of the world’s population consider themselves his followers. In the midst of this explosive growth, there has been debate about who he was and the place he holds in our faith. The result is that within Christianity there are 34,000 identifiable Christian groups that have their own perspectives on what’s most important in following Jesus. But make no mistake about it, in agreement and disagreement, unity and schism, Jesus has always been at the center of Christianity. Even though we don’t always have doctrinal agreement with one another, we still consider each other Christians. What holds global Christianity together is the swirl of conversation around the one called the Christ (Messiah). Therefore if you are someone who has questions about the role and place of Jesus in your faith, welcome to the conversation that has been taking place for two thousand years.

Friday – No Pictures of God Please!

westend_admin — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:09:43 +0000

In Islam, the gravest sin is to associate things with God. Only God can be God, so no image, idol, or representation can be associated with God. (Hence, their chief criticism of Christianity is the association of Jesus with God.) For some Muslims, there has been a desire to make sure this association never occurs, so they believe that art should not contain human figures for fear that one might be tempted to associate this image with God. From an artistic standpoint, I’m saddened that some have excised the beauty of people in art—though I have to admit I love the beautiful calligraphy and geometric designs that were emphasized instead. From a theological standpoint, there is something we can learn: God is always more. We have a tendency to want to master whatever we undertake, including God. And while ideas and images are ways to grasp God, we can become complacent and assume mastery of God. We must never lose our expectancy that there is always more to learn and there is still room to grow. God is always more.

Thursday – Finding God

westend_admin — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:50:03 +0000

People often speak about “finding God.” This is a way of conveying how one has found new meaning and purpose through his or her spiritual quest, which I want to celebrate. But I also wonder how this resonates with people who don’t feel they’ve found God—and wonder if they ever will. “Finding God” seems to say that God is the destination, and the journey to God is done without God. This is a very foreign idea to our Scriptures. Throughout the Bible we learn that the presence of God is a constant in human existence. Struggle is not a sign of God’s absence, pain is not a punishment, and being chronically skeptically is not a sign of weak faith. In the midst of all we experience, there is God. Really, we’re not trying to find our way to God. We’re drawing upon God’s presence to help us find our way.

Wednesday – Naming God

westend_admin — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:45:25 +0000

In the Hebrew Scriptures there is the idea that everything needs a name. When God created the world, one of the first tasks was to name everything in creation as a way to confirm its existence. Names were more than mere labels. A name revealed the essence of someone. If something changed in a person’s character, often his or her name was changed to reflect this new reality. Therefore, to know someone’s name was to know something about the other person. With this in mind, there is an interesting exchange between Moses and God in Exodus 3. God is sending Moses with a message to the Israelites, and Moses asks, “Who should I tell them sent me?” Moses is asking for God’s name. In a very coy response, God said, tell them “I am who I am” has sent you. Moses wouldn’t walk away with God’s name, but he does receive a lesson about God. The Bible is filled with names for God, but this particular exchange reminds us that no one name, image, or concept can contain God. God cannot be domesticated by our thoughts. And though we can know something about God, there will always be more. Faith is about holding the tension between confidence that we know God and humility that we don’t know it all.

Tuesday – I Doubt It

westend_admin — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 20:32:40 +0000

This Sunday we’re beginning a series on “The Things I Don’t Believe….” This may seem a strange place to begin when writing about faith. But I am convinced that in any discussion of Christianity today, this is where many people find themselves. People have become skeptical of many traditional Christian doctrines, and for some it may be easier to generate a list of the things we don’t believe rather than what we do believe. Yet rarely are we able to discuss this in the church. We just aren’t comfortable with disagreement about our doctrines, and skeptics and doubters are quickly labeled as those have turned from God and are no longer “true believers.” Thankfully, things are changing. Not only is doubt accepted, some would even say that it is the seedbed of belief. Here we are entering the world of epistemology, and as foolish as this may be, I’m going to try and explain this in one hundred words or less. Doubt is not a sign that someone is without belief, as we have done for centuries. To doubt certain beliefs is only possible because we believe something else may be true. If we didn’t, there would be no basis from which to question anything. The problem is that we’re not always able to articulate what it is that causes our doubt. In a sense, doubt is the process that opens us to consider what we really do believe. (Only seventy-eight words!) If we, as a church, cannot be open to the doubts people have, then we are not allowing people to explore what they believe. Questions, doubt, uncertainty, and skepticism can be the very things that lead us to belief, not away from it.

Friday – Feelings First?

westend_admin — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:11:45 +0000

There is an underlying challenge in this week’s focus. It is this: sometimes we don’t feel like loving or doing positive things for certain people. There are those for whom we don’t have an ounce of compassion or sympathy. There are those whom the mere mention of their names arouses our anger. For these people, we just don’t believe they deserve any love or kind acts. What are we to do then? Sociologists have made an interesting observation. They say we are as likely to stand up for what we believe as we are to believe in what we stand up for. Translated into relational terms: sometimes our feelings about others follow our actions—not the other way around. Without realizing it, our feelings about issues and people have been impacted by our past actions (or inaction). Therefore we can live into new feelings and beliefs if we begin new actions. This is not the panacea to solve all things, but it helps us tap into the power of acts of kindness. Action by action, we can cultivate new feelings and beliefs about others. Remember, when we are at a standstill, it may take a kind act to change things. Because if we wait for the feeling, it may never come.

Thursday – Doing Good

westend_admin — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 17:11:48 +0000

Fortunately, Jesus’ call to love our enemies comes with a bit of instruction. The full text says “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27). Doing good to those who have ill-will towards us is hard. Especially if we think they are wrong about something. Then the idea of doing good to them may seem like a sign of weakness or acknowledging they are right. But when a relationship comes to an impasse, something needs to happen. We know that yelling and maligning someone doesn’t help. We can always ignore each other, but that only eliminates direct conflict without repairing the relationship. Sometimes, it takes someone who is willing to do good to the other. It is remarkable how one good act, either in kind words or an act of kindness, can change the relational dynamics. People who were unwilling to talk suddenly open themselves to approach the relationship again. There is no guarantee that it will repair a broken relationship. In the end, we do good to others because it is the right thing to do.

Wednesday – I Hate You!

westend_admin — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:28:45 +0000

One of the difficult passages in the Bible says that we are to “love our enemies” (Luke 6:27). I’ll go on record as saying that I have a problem with this if it means that I need to feel love towards my “enemies.” There are people in this world for whom I may never feel any love. (Don’t worry; I can’t think of anyone in the congregation for whom this applies!) However, love is not about our feelings. Love is to desire what is best for a person. There is a big difference between feeling warm towards someone and wanting what is best for them. When my children were moving into adolescence, they started to become more vociferous in their expressions of displeasure with us. We didn’t want this to degenerate into an unpleasant exchange in which they shout “I hate you” and storm off. So we told them that when they are upset at us, an appropriate thing to say would be, “I don’t like you right now, but I still love you.” It was a way of saying that they don’t have warm fuzzies for mom and dad at this moment, but we’re still in a relationship and want what is best for each other. There are many people to whom we could say, “I don’t like you right now.” But nothing will change unless we can add, “but I still love you.” Only when we seek what is best for one other is change possible in our relationships.

Tuesday - The Parity Thing

westend_admin — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 15:40:56 +0000

We all seek equilibrium in our relationships, and we do it by making sure that there is parity in what we give and take. When people do nice things for us, we do nice things for them. If we want something from others, we give something to them. We live by the philosophy “if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” It’s just commonsense that this is the way it needs to be. However, there is a teaching of Jesus that turns this on its head. He said, “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is it to you?” (Luke 6:33) This is a provocative thought. Anyone can be friendly to those who are friendly to us. Anyone can help someone who has helped us. But Jesus is asking if we are willing to help those who aren’t in a position to reciprocate. If we aren’t, then we’re in trouble. Because often when we find ourselves in that moment when we need help the most, it is when we have the least to give in return. There are times our relationships are not 50/50. They are 100/0. Parity has its place, but it cannot be the only relational principle by which we live.

Monday - Faith Meets the Public Square

westend_admin — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 19:19:59 +0000

Next week we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It provides an opportunity to reflect on how faith inspires societal change. This may seem a taboo topic to some because faith is viewed as something personal and private, not something we take into the public square. However, part of our faith is pursuing justice for all people. In the book of Micah it tells us “to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God” (6:8). Anywhere the value of another is diminished, our faith calls us to stand with those who are suffering. I know that this may sound like we are projecting our religious values onto others, but it depends upon how we approach this. In many ways, Martin Luther King, Jr. guided us in how faith, justice, and the public square meet. While his own faith deeply inspired him, he also found inspiration from the Hindu leader, Mahatma Gandhi. While he rallied Christians to oppose racial discrimination, he also joined with others, religious and non-religious, in the fight to end segregation. In the end, his faith shaped how he gave voice to a shared concern that transcended people’s religious affiliation. This is something to which we should all aspire.

Friday – Our Lives as Points of Light

westend_admin — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 21:23:10 +0000

Epiphany carries with it the belief that the light of God is shining on the world for all to see. But Jesus expanded this by making our lives a point of light for others. He said, “You are the light of the world…. Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14, 16). It’s a simple idea really. The same light of God that illuminates our lives can also be reflected through our lives to others. This doesn’t come by boasting about the good we do. It arises out of humility, generosity, openness, love, and forgiveness.

Thursday – Where the Light Shines

westend_admin — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 14:52:21 +0000

As Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, he gathered his first disciples. It was a very interesting collection of people. There were Peter and Andrew, who were fishermen, which was a distinct class known to be crude and course in manner. There were the brothers James and John, who were nicknamed the “sons of thunder,” pointing to their volatile disposition. Then there were Matthew the tax collector, a less than honorable profession, and Thomas, who at times had his doubts. To round out the group, there were Phillip, Bartholomew, James, Thaddeus, Simon, and finally Judas, who would betray Jesus. With this ragtag group of people, Jesus began his ministry. It shows that the light of God doesn’t shine only on those with a stellar C.V. It reaches all who open themselves to God.

Wednesday – Epiphany & the Wise men

westend_admin — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:59:48 +0000

The story of the three wise men (aka “Magi”) is central to Epiphany. One could say they represent a great reversal in what was expected. Previously, they were associated with magicians, diviners, and sorcerers from other religions who could not grasp the mysteries of God. Now, in the story of Jesus’ birth, they were among the first to recognize the movement of God in our midst. It says in the Gospel of John, “Jesus is the light of the world.” This light is not confined to geography or ethnicity. As the wise men show, it is a light that permeates the earth.

Tuesday – What’s the deal with Epiphany?

westend_admin — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 16:59:56 +0000

On January 6 it will be Epiphany, a little known Christian celebration. Epiphany means “to appear” or “to show oneself.” It is the word we use to describe the manifestation of God through Jesus Christ. In early Christian tradition, Epiphany was one of the major celebrations in the Church, even predating the celebration of Christmas. On this day we recount how the manifestation of God was recognized by many, beginning with the wise men who traveled a great distance to see the child named Jesus. The wise men were not Jewish, nor were they schooled in the religion or culture of Israel. Yet the Scriptures narrate that they saw a great light in the sky that guided them to the place where Jesus was born. This reminds us that God is not the property of any group, tribe or nation, but is the One present through all of creation.

Friday – Making a list; checking it twice

westend_admin — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 15:54:29 +0000

This cute Christmas phrase is part of the song Santa Claus is Coming to Town. I want to pose the possibility that this phrase might be best used after Christmas and before the New Year. For it is at this time we remember the previous year: the good, the bad and the downright horrible. We make a list of all those things we are thankful for and try to erase the memories of the unpleasant situations that have happened. The reality is we can’t erase the memories. No matter how hard we try and dismiss unlikable thoughts they are still with us. Psychology teaches us that we have tendencies to repress, suppress, displace, and sometimes project our thoughts onto others. As we reflect on 2010 and begin to look towards 2011 let us engage the spiritual necessity of lament and praise. Through lament we honestly engage our shattered hopes and bring them to God. Through praise we regain hope and remember that God is still working. The scripture passages for this week (Isaiah 63, Psalm 148, Hebrews 2:10-18 and Matthew 2:13-23) hold the tension of dashed expectations and call forth praise for all that God has done.

It might seem odd that the blogs this holiday week have focused so much on lament. Yet all one has to do is just listen to the stories that people share of how hard this time of year is for them. As we join in the praise chorus of creation celebrating the birth of Jesus, let us also not be afraid to make a list of disappointments and give them to God. Remember, the foundation of lament is trust that God has worked and will continue working. Let us, “recount the gracious deeds of the Lord” and usher in the New Year with hope that God will not abandon us.

Thursday – Now Let me Fly

westend_admin — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:30:11 +0000

Songs of the Underground Railroad were used for two purposes. They were sung as survival tactics for the endurance of the human spirit and they served as coded communication as to how to escape to freedom. Intrinsic in each of these purposes is liberation; liberation from the bondage of slavery and liberation for the human soul to be vibrant and alive. Songs like Now Let me Fly served as spiritual reminder to not lose hope; salvation is coming.

When I read Isaiah 63 I think of these African American spirituals. The prophetic writer is writing this in a time of despair and dwindling hope. Laments are poured out throughout chapter 63 and 64 at the realization that things are not as they wanted them to be. Yet verses 7-9 in chapter 63 remind the reader to not give up hope that salvation is coming. God is listening to the pleas of the people; salvation is near. The Christ child reminds us this.

Wednesday – The chorus of creation

westend_admin — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:34:38 +0000

There are enough
Left-overs to do, warmed-up, for the rest of the week –
Not that we have much appetite, having drunk such
a lot,
Stayed up so late, attempted – quite unsuccessfully –
To love all of our relatives, and in general
Grossly overestimated our powers.
-W.H. Auden, Collected Longer Poems (New York: Random House, 1969), 195.

In Psalm 148 we are reminded that we are not the ones in control of Christmas. W.H. Auden helps us consider that despite our best efforts to purchase the perfect gift and host the most delicious holiday meal, Christmas is about the God who loves us enough to never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Christmas is about the entire chorus of creation, as seen in Psalm 148, coming together to praise the God of their salvation. Later in Jesus’ ministry he reminds us that even the rocks will cry out in praise to their God (Luke 19:40). Creation (which includes us humans) cannot keep silent at this momentous event of the Christ child being born!

As you finish your to-do list at the marketplace, before the holiday, consider the wisdom from Psalm 148: Let them praise the name of God – it’s the only Name worth praising. His radiance exceeds anything in earth and sky; he’s built a monument – his very own people!

Tuesday – How long to sing this song?

westend_admin — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 19:33:22 +0000

        The band U2 has this incredible song called “40”. Besides being great musicians what makes this piece beautiful for me is that the lyrics are based on the Psalms. The lead singer, Bono, begins by expressing his trust and patience in the Lord. Then there is an emotive turn in the song when he cries out, “How long to sing this song?” While expressing his trust in God he is simultaneously crying out in lament.
        Sometimes I need permission to lament. I forget that lament is a rich and vital part of our spiritual life. In the 150 Psalms that we have in the Bible sixty-seven of them have lament themes. That’s just under half of the Psalms! In lament prayers we are welcomed to express our regrets, our sorrows, and our grief to God in complete honesty. We do not need to live in fear of chastisement from God when we do lament. Like the Psalmist we can pray to God and say “How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day?” (Psalm 13:2). The center of this type of prayer is complete trust in God; knowing that God has worked in our life before and God will not abandon us. Just listen to the Psalmist a few verses later, “I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation” (Psalm 13:5).
        As we sing praises and rejoice this holiday season and celebrate the God who is always with us, it is also appropriate to bring our laments to God. We can trust that God can hold both our joys and sorrows from the year and actually listens to us.

Monday – Remembering 2010

westend_admin — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:15:10 +0000

Like many of you our family decided to send out a holiday card to the people in our lives. We made the switch from paper “snail mail” to the electronic card. This allowed us to reflect on our year by putting multiple pictures of events that we have experienced in 2010 in an action card. As I sit in my office watching the animation of the card with it’s sentimental music I can’t help but think how this card only captures one reality of the year. All the pictures we put in our e-card are memories of happy times; but surely if I am honest that was not my entire year’s experience. There were moments of sadness, loss, and tears shed because of difficult situations. This leads me to wonder: am I “recounting the gracious deeds of the Lord” (Isaiah 63:7) only through the lens of experiences that felt good to me? Surely God was present in the difficult experiences as much as God was present in the happy experiences. Isaiah 63 welcomes the reader to recall the gracious deeds of the Lord fully through lament. It seems to me when we do remember fully and honestly through the process of lament, we are able to join in the praise chorus of creation as seen in Psalm 148. When we are honest our praises can be honest as well and that might fuel our faith enough to keep searching for God in the new year.

Friday – Never Alone

westend_admin — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:48:09 +0000

We know that one of the contributing factors to depression is isolation. And when we are alone, especially during the holidays or special occasions, it brings us down a few notches on the happiness scale. And it is exceptionally hard when we face great hardship, the kind in which we feel helpless to overcome it, to look around and find no one who cares. This is where helplessness turns to hopelessness. We can feel this individually and collectively, and the message of Christmas speaks to all who are alone and overwhelmed. The message is quite simple: God is with us. It began as a message to Israel when they were hopeless, and it continued through Christ when he reached out to the poor and the outcasts. It was received as a powerful message of hope because it let people know someone was with them, someone who cares and will never abandon them. For some of you this may sound like little help. After all, we can’t touch, see, or hear God the way we do one another. So how does this help us to know that we’re not alone? I’m not sure that I have a good answer other than to say that for millennia it has been enough for people to find a glimmer of hope that changed them and their futures.

Thursday – Putting God to the Test

westend_admin — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:16:04 +0000

As a child, I remember lying in bed many a night wondering if there really was a God. Using the logic of a pre-pubescent boy, I thought of a way to find out. For several nights I had a very specific plea in my evening prayers, which went something like this: “God, if you are really there, let there be a brand new Schwinn Sting-Ray in our garage (I really, really wanted one!) If you do this, I promise I will never doubt you again.” I’m sad to report, and you know the answer, a bicycle never appeared. It’s not how things work with God. In Isaiah, there is similar scene, but this time the prophet Isaiah is encouraging a man named Ahaz to test God. Isaiah says to ask for any sign Ahaz wants, to which Ahaz responds, “I will not put the Lord to the test” (7:12). In one sense this sounds a very pious answer. But in this context it was not. Ahaz was King of Judah, and his rule and domain were under great threat. His unwillingness to test God represented a lack of faith in something larger than himself. While it’s true that asking for a Schwinn is not the way to prove God is near, it doesn’t mean that we can’t lean on God when in need. When we are at the end of our rope, as Ahaz was, calling upon God to give us hope and a new direction may be the very test we need to put before God.

Wednesday – The Mess of Christmas

westend_admin — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:13:55 +0000

Sometimes we find ourselves in situations in which we can’t believe that “this” is happening to us. We show up for work only to discover we’ve been terminated. We come home for the evening and are told our spouse wants a divorce. We get a phone call in the middle of the night informing us we’ve lost a loved one. In a split second our world is shattered, and we wonder if we will ever recover and be whole and happy again. As we sing “Joy to the World” at Christmas, we forget that this is how the Christmas story begins. Joseph, a carpenter, is happily engaged to Mary. I imagine that they must have been excitedly planning their life together. Then Mary drops the bomb on Joseph: she is pregnant. The problem for Joseph is twofold. First, it is definitely a societal “don’t” to be pregnant and unmarried. Second, and most importantly, he is not the father! After hearing this devastating news, he plans to dismiss her quietly so he can go his own way—and who could blame him. It is in the middle of this mess that the message of joy, peace, hope, and love is revealed. I find great comfort in this. If these things can only be found when we have our stuff together, then there isn’t much hope. But the message of the birth of Christ is that unexpected, positive, and miraculous things can arise out of the painful places in our lives.

Tuesday – Hyper-Present God

westend_admin — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 19:51:20 +0000

Based on yesterday’s blog, if God is hyper-present, why do so many people have trouble experiencing God? Jesus has an interesting teaching about this. He said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8). To capture the force of the Greek, it may be better to read it as “keep on asking, keep on searching, keep on knocking” and you will find what you’re looking for. It is through the searching itself that we experience God’s transformative presence. When we stop searching, we are no longer attuned to the God who is with us. We’re accustomed to thinking that the search is only important because it is the means to find what we’re looking for. And once we find it, we can stop looking. Here we are invited to continue our seeking and searching because it is through this that we open ourselves to the unexpected and surprising ways we can experience God. As it says in the Psalms, “those who seek the Lord lack no good thing” (34:10)

Monday – Naming God’s Presence

westend_admin — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:55:48 +0000

Two years ago I found myself in a very difficult interview situation. The question the interviewer focused on with laser precision was, “What do I need to know to understand who you are?” After he asked it the first time, I gave what I thought was a good answer. And then he asked, “If this is all I know about you, would I know who you are?” I answered “no” and said he would have to learn more about me. So he asked again, “what else would I need to know to understand who you are?” I added one more thing, but that wasn’t enough either. We went round and round on this question, and I became more and more uncomfortable with my answers. What I discovered is that as soon as I say who I am, it is already too limiting to fully represent me. Could it be the same way with describing God’s presence in our lives (no equivalent intended between me and God!)? We often say that describing God is difficult because God is transcendent. But could it also be true that we have trouble describing God because God’s presence overwhelms us? What if God is hyper-present? In How (Not) to Speak of God, by Peter Rollins, he says that part of our difficulty in naming God is not because God is far away, but because we are “awash with the Spirit.” In other words, as soon as we try to name God, we already sense it falls short of who God is or how God is present. As we move into the biblical texts that speak of the birth of Christ, this is something to consider. In Isaiah 7:14, foretelling what the Messiah would represent, and in Matthew 1:23, narrating the birth of the Messiah, the message is the same: he shall be called Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” Maybe our difficulty in grasping God is because we are “awash with the Spirit,” not because God is absent in our midst.

Friday – No Parity

westend_admin — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 16:25:05 +0000

We’ve been talking a lot about expectations, and this has centered on the expectations we carry into our relationship with God. Advent is a time to envision again how God’s presence brings healing and wholeness in us, between us, and through all creation. It is not yet realized but is already evidencing itself, which creates in us the expectation that more is to come. However, I’ve been wondering if there is parity in expectations between God and us. You know, the idea that we have expectations of God just as God has expectations of us. I think I’m on solid theological ground when I say that I don’t think there is any parity. From what I glean of Jesus’ teachings, God’s love is not based on an expectation of what we should be or do. It is a love for who we are—even when we’re moving through those dark places. This is the same love we are to embody with one another.

Karen Casey gives shape to this when she says that “Truly loving another means letting go of all expectations. It means full acceptance, even celebration of another’s personhood.”
I know this represents an idealization of what love can be, but there is something within us that wants to be loved regardless of…, not loved because of...

Thursday – It’s OK to Ask

westend_admin — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 21:19:43 +0000

Christmas is the one time of year that it is OK to ask for things. Not only is it expected, it is considered helpful so people know what presents to buy us. It is also a time when it is permissible, even expected, to ask questions about faith. We can ask clarifying questions, such as who were the Wise Men? How does the birth of a child signify the reign of God? Or we can go a step further and ask whether all of this hoopla over Christmas really has any meaning—and I don’t mean to sound irreverent here. I’m thinking of John the Baptist, who was related to Mary the mother of Jesus. John baptized Jesus and proclaimed him the Messiah. But then John finds himself in prison and starts having doubts. So he sends a message to Jesus and asks, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” (Matthew 11:3) After all he’s seen and said, he finds himself wondering whether he should be following Jesus. This is not to imply that we should approach Christmas with doubt. It means that we can approach Christmas honestly and with all of who we are as we consider the meaning of our faith.

Wednesday – Fit For a Fool

westend_admin — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 19:46:27 +0000

Because I don’t always sleep through the night, I’m able to sample America’s finest infomercials. The one theme that runs through every commercial is how easy it is to use a product. You can tone your body, lose weight, restore hair growth, cure arthritis, and make millions— all in two or three easy steps. Advertisers go out of their way to show that no matter how incompetent or unmotivated you may be, the program is foolproof. This is all to counter the idea that many of us have: though this product may work for others, it will never work for me. Now I’m not equating faith with an infomercial, but there is a line in Isaiah that sounds much like this. In describing the “Holy Way” that we will travel, it says that it is so easy to follow that “not even fools shall go astray” (Isaiah 35:8). This is a powerful statement because it was addressed to a group of people who stopped following their moral compass, lost their way, and now doubted whether they could ever return to God. For all who wonder if you’ll ever be good enough, knowledgeable enough, or committed enough to seek God and follow the way of Christ, this is great news. The Holy Way is fit for fools because it is based on an ever-present God guiding us, and not on our ability to always know the way.

Tuesday – Spiritual Profiling

westend_admin — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 14:17:15 +0000

We know it's wrong for the police to detain or arrest someone based on their race or ethnicity. And there is a public outcry when an incident of racial profiling occurs. There is also such a thing as spiritual profiling in which we make judgments about who is and is not spiritual based on appearance alone. There is an interesting exchange between Jesus and a crowd on this very matter, and it involves John the Baptist. John was an eccentric fellow who dressed shabbily and lived austerely, yet Jesus said he was greater than a prophet. He was someone who really got what Jesus’ ministry was all about, but he was ignored because he didn’t look the part. Jesus said to the crowd, what did you expect? Some dressed in soft robes like those in royal palaces? (Matthew 11:8) It was a simple plea to look past the wardrobe and social status and embrace the spiritual insight that John had to offer. Though this encounter isn’t directly related to the birth of Christ, it does express the heart of Advent. Be on the lookout because God’s presence is infused in unexpected people and places.

Monday – Blinded by Expectations

westend_admin — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 19:10:06 +0000

We are a bundle of expectations. We have expectations about what we should achieve in our work, what our friends should be like, how our government should run, what religion’s role should be in our lives, and the list goes on. Our expectations are critical in giving us goals and standards for which we strive. Yet we can also be blinded by our expectations. I remember a TV show that featured a young autistic man who was thought to be completely lost in his own inner world. Then late one evening, his parents heard him playing the piano beautifully while singing. He had never had lessons, and his parents had no inclination he had musical ability. As it turns out, he was a savant. All along this musical ability was latent within him, but no one would have thought to look for it and nurture it. This was all because of misplaced expectations. In Isaiah 35 there is a wonderful vision of what happens when God’s presence pervades a place. It says the “waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert” (verse 6). Like the autistic savant’s musical ability, this is something that shouldn’t be possible. It is a reminder to not let our expectations blind us to the unexpected in people, places, and things. Faith is not just about building our expectations. It is about opening us to the unexpected.

Friday – Too Simple To Be True

westend_admin — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 15:00:04 +0000

For relationships in general, everyone is looking for some foundational element, some sage advice, or some little known secret that will help us flourish in our relationships. Romans 15:7 sums it up this way: “Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you.” Another way of translating this is “accept one another.” Pretty straightforward! Jesus did more than tolerate people. He accepted others in all their wonderful uniqueness and sometimes annoying idiosyncrasies. It was a way to show that everyone has value and something to contribute. This doesn’t answer the question about what to do when we clash with others, but it gives the starting point for every successful relationship—accept one another. It need not be complicated to be sage advice!

Thursday – Relationship Advice

westend_admin — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 20:15:28 +0000

I did a quick Google search on advice for relationships, and I found everything from “Getting a Better Husband Tool Kit” to using innovation techniques from Apple to invigorate relationships. It was interesting reading. The Bible is also filled with relational advice, and it takes the form of “one anothers.” It says we should “love one another,” “honor one another,” “live in harmony with one another,” “don’t judge one another,” “serve one another,” “forgive one another,” “encourage one another”—there’s more but I’m sure you get my point. (It also says to “greet one another with a holy kiss.” This is not directly relevant, but it keeps relational encounters interesting!) All of this keeps the focus on the main thing: relationships are what we do with and for one another. This is needed in an age when common advice are things like “get over it,” “it’s just mid-life crisis,” or “make yourself more attractive.” The “one anothers” of Scripture give us something to do and something to which we can aspire.

Wednesday – The Peaceable Kingdom

westend_admin — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:28:14 +0000

The image that emerges from Isaiah 11:1-10 is known as “the peaceable kingdom.” When the peace of God takes hold, the “wolf shall live with the lamb,” and a little child shall lead “the calf and the lion and the fatling together.” A symbol of the peaceable kingdom is when those who would not normally be together live side by side in peace. As I envision what this would look like, the first images that come to mind are the changes in places where conflict is ever present. In the peaceable kingdom, I see Hutus next to Tutsis and Israelis next to Palestinians. But then I wondered what this would look like in our personal lives. Who are the people with whom we don’t “click”? Who are the people we avoid or ignore? The peaceable kingdom holds out the hope that the divisions between us will no longer exist, and everyone is valued and belongs. In all honesty, I don’t think this means we’ll want to spend our holidays with everyone around us. But it does mean that no one is ignored or overlooked. Personalizing this helps give me a little perspective. If I look at the amount of global strife we experience, I don’t know when, how, or if the peaceable kingdom can become a reality—it’s truly in God’s hands. However, if I look at the people around me, I realize I can begin to live into the peaceable kingdom by the way I handle my relationships with others.

Tuesday - Relationships Matter

westend_admin — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 19:00:12 +0000

Life is about navigating relationships, and how well we do this determines how smoothly life goes. There are professional and personal consequences to our relationships. On the professional side, if we are brilliant but relationally inept, it hinders our ability to succeed. On the personal side, if we achieve great success in our careers yet our personal relationships are strained, there is not much joy in our achievements. Any way we add it up, relationships matter. There is a text in Isaiah that tells how a leader who is to come will transform how relationships are approached. He will not judge by appearances or hearsay but will seek to do what is right (11:3). In essence it says that the right way to go about relationships is to seek to do what is right. I know this sounds like the obvious is being stated, but we can add two little words at the end to shift the meaning. We can seek to do what is right “for me,” or we can seek to do what is right “for us.” It is only when we seek what is right for all of us that we enter into true relationships. Otherwise we are merely using another to get what we want.

Monday - Phone Calls & Priorities

westend_admin — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 18:27:32 +0000

I was working on a major project, and for several months everything revolved around getting it launched. It represented a tremendous opportunity in my career so I made it the singular focus of my life. This also meant I was spending little time with my family. I felt bad neglecting them, but I justified it as a temporary thing that would eventually benefit us all. Then one night the phone rang and I learned my daughter was in an accident. In a split-second my priorities were rearranged. The project no longer mattered, and I dropped everything to go to the hospital (fortunately she was okay). It was a moment of clarity about what was important to me. As I think about it, what scares me most is how quickly I fell into a pattern of living that did not reflect the most important things in my life—something I’m sure many of us can relate to. That’s why we need Advent. It is intended as a time that interrupts the ordinary routine of our lives so we can evaluate where the trajectory of our schedules, priorities, and commitments are taking us. All too quickly we accept what is as all there can ever be. But Advent brings hope that there is something more. As we move towards Christmas and what the birth of Christ means, we are moving towards a new way of seeing what life could be. The first step is opening ourselves to something new, something unexpected.

Thursday & Friday - Off

westend_admin — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 14:45:24 +0000

Wednesday - Whatever Happened to Thanksgiving?

westend_admin — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 14:43:50 +0000

As a boy I remember Thanksgiving as a pretty big deal. But now it is simply a few days off between Halloween and Christmas. Thanksgiving has become but a blip on the holiday radar. It would be to our detriment if we also let the importance of being thankful slip away as well. I read an article in Psychology Today that says gratitude is the “forgotten factor” in research on happiness. Studies are now showing that people who express and receive gratitude have better physical, mental, and emotional health. Gratitude is more than polite thank you’s. It is considering those things for which we are truly grateful. There is something about human nature that makes it all too easy to focus on what we don’t have. Meanwhile we overlook the things and people who have positively impacted our lives in countless ways, large and small. Maybe this is why in 1 Thessalonians it says “in everything give thanks” (5:18) and the Psalms echo this by saying “It is good to give thanks to God” (92:1). If we incorporate gratitude into the practice of our faith and the pattern of our lives, we are filling a reservoir of joy and happiness that always is with us. What are you thankful for today?

Tuesday - God's Way

westend_admin — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 14:44:10 +0000

There is a verse we read during Advent that is also written for all to see outside of the United Nations: “they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4). It is a wonderful vision of instruments of war being turned into instruments of life. This possibility for a hopeful future is presented as something that will be done voluntarily. God will not coerce or command us to achieve peace, yet God is a necessary part of it. Peace comes when we learn God’s ways and walk in God’s path (verse 3). This leaves much room for interpretation as to exactly what this means. But as people who yearn for peace between us, it is the grand journey of faith to discover what this means and what it looks like, whether it be parent to child, friend to friend, or nation to nation.

Monday – So What’s New?

westend_admin — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 19:25:13 +0000

Here is how many of my conversations go: “What’s new with you?” And the reply is always the same, “Not much. How about you?” To which I always reply, “Not much.” It’s amazing how we do this little greeting ritual over and over knowing it will never lead to any serious exchange of information. I guess it’s just a conversational warm-up. Yet it does have me thinking about what really is new with us. This Sunday begins Advent (I know it’s hard to believe), the time when we consider how the message of faith, hope, and love can move anew in us. To open ourselves to the possibility of God breathing new things into our lives, for Advent let’s change our greeting ritual with one another. Instead of asking “What’s new with you?”, we should ask “What do you want to be new with you?” This prompts us to consider what could be rather than getting stuck in the rut of what is.

Friday – Life Is Like a Musical

westend_admin — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 16:56:35 +0000

I love shows on Broadway. For a few hours an intriguing plot and moving music transport me to another place. As much as I enjoy the performances, they seem removed from the reality of life. Who breaks into song during conversations?! I thought the same thing when reading today’s text. The Israelites have just been saved from their enemy after an intense period of being hunted down. To celebrate, they break into chorus singing, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously” (Exodus 15:1). It seems more Broadway than real life. Yet there is a sense in which it represents exactly what we do every day. We find a way to incorporate music into the routines of our lives. Just look around while walking the streets. You’ll notice the omnipresent ear buds of people listening to their favorite songs. I think we need a little music to help us along our way. Maybe that is why the Psalmist said, "I solve life’s riddle with the help of a harp” (49:4).

Thursday – Refrigerator God

westend_admin — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:51:16 +0000

I remember as a child coming home from Sunday school with pictures I had drawn—everything from the Garden of Eden to David and Goliath. These became the refrigerator art that was hung with pride in our kitchen. For me, those images represented the story of God. The really exciting thing was that week by week the story would unfold in new directions. It is not that I always enjoyed Sunday School (what child does), but it sparked a curiosity about God. There are days I miss the naiveté of my youth. I wish I awoke with more wonder, less rigidity, and an openness to see what new things I could learn today. Maybe we all need to go back to the refrigerator God at times. I know this sounds crazy, but if we all stopped, got out the crayons, permitted just a little naiveté, and created some kitchen art, it may just kindle our connection to God. Perhaps this is why Jesus said, “Unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3).

Wednesday – Elimination

westend_admin — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:09:57 +0000

As I think about the connection between the arts and our faith, something struck me today. If we didn’t embrace the arts, we would eliminate many of the sources of our faith. Imagine if we decided we should eliminate all poetry, parables, stories, and hymns from the Bible, lest we tempt our imaginations to intervene when learning about God. There wouldn’t be much left to the Bible! What if we decided that we must eliminate music in our worship because it clutters the service with needless transitions? What if we decided that our sanctuaries shouldn’t distract us from what is taught in the pulpit, so we eliminated all stained glass and any artistic elements? I think the best word to describe a place like this is “lifeless.” It shows that to remove the arts from our faith is to remove the life of God that inhabits our faith.

Tuesday – Music: More than Entertainment

westend_admin — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 14:46:46 +0000

When we think of prophets in the Bible, we think of austere, bearded, robed men who are Shakespearean in their speech. This makes a particular scene in the Bible a bit surreal. A new king of Israel is being anointed, and part of the confirmation process is meeting with a group of prophets who are accompanied by a band. The band is jamming with the harp, flute, tambourine, and lyre, and the prophets will dance and sing themselves into a frenzy. The new king is to join the prophets in this musical experience and he “will be turned into a different person.” Now we don’t know exactly what they are doing in this frenzy, but through it all, people were changed. Too often we think of music solely as something that entertains us. But there is also something about music that subtly shapes who we are. This is why music is so central in our worship. It is more than changing up the service to keep it interesting. It is a means through which we open ourselves to God to be changed.

Monday – More Drama in the Church

westend_admin — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:43:33 +0000

In the last three decades many churches have introduced drama into the church, and “slice of life” skits have become commonplace in churches reaching out to younger audiences. A former professor of mine, Dr. Thomas Boogaart, has asked: “Are people introducing drama into worship because it works—that is, because it increases attendance and brings young people back to the church? Or are they celebrating drama itself as one of the many art forms that God has given to enrich the human community?” How we answer this question dictates how we relate to the arts and people whose lives are dedicated to them. If we are purely utilitarian, we will take elements from the arts that we deem acceptable within a Christian milieu to grow our churches. If we embrace the arts as a gift of God, we will naturally enter into the larger arts community to listen, learn, and yes, experience God’s enriching presence wherever it is found. A utilitarian view can give a sense of separation between the sacred and the secular—God is here but not there, while embracing the arts as a gift of God erases this division. It sees the arts as expressions of the creativity that God has given us to say things where mere words fail. This does not mean that all of the arts represent a Christian perspective, but there are no boundaries to when and where God may be speaking through them.

Friday – What kind of person do I want to be?

westend_admin — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 15:11:36 +0000

From the time we can barely talk, we were asked a simple question: what do you want to be when you grow up? I answered that question in many ways over the course of my youth. I wanted to be a policeman, lawyer, doctor, rock star, and obnoxiously wealthy (any job would do). It’s interesting to think back to what we said then compared to what we’re doing now—the vocational option of pastor didn’t make my list growing up! The question we are rarely, if ever, asked is what kind of person do I want to be? I wonder how different we would be if we talked less about being dentists, accountants, and managers, and talked more about being caring, generous, and grateful. This may not change what we do, but it may certainly change the way we do it. As we consider this what kind of person we want to be, there is a simple prayer in Psalm 51 that asks God to clear space within us so there is room “to be” in new ways. May these words become our prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me” (verse 10).

Thursday - OFF

westend_admin — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 15:08:59 +0000

Thursday, November 11, the building and programs were closed in observance of Veteran's Day - therefore no blog was posted.

Wednesday – A By-product

westend_admin — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:25:02 +0000

The one thing we all want is happiness. We want it for ourselves, for our family, and for our friends. In some way, everything we do relates to this pursuit. Aristotle said it is “the whole aim and end of human existence.” With so much attention given to getting it, and so many people trying to achieve it, why are there so many unhappy people? It is indeed a very elusive state of being to achieve and maintain. One of the reasons it eludes so many may be that lasting happiness is a by-product of the way we live, not life’s primary pursuit. I know this sounds like I’m saying we shouldn’t be happy. That’s not my point at all. I definitely want to be happy! Yet when everything we do is an attempt to feel happy, life can seem rather empty. That is why 1 Timothy 6:18 speaks so powerfully to me. When our lives are marked by doing good, being generous, and sharing with others, happiness is not far behind. Though it was not the goal, it has a way of showing up when we give of ourselves.

Tuesday – What Life Do I Want?

westend_admin — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 19:51:19 +0000

Every so often I come across a turn of phrase that captures my attention, and today a line in 1 Timothy 6 caused me to stop and think. It says “take hold of the life that really is life” (verse 19). I’m thinking back to all the times I was trying to take hold of life, but it was not the life I was looking for. Sometimes it was an entrepreneurial pursuit that was going to change my destiny. Other times it was taking control of my fitness. Still other times it was reducing the pace of life to allow time just “to be” instead of always doing. We all try to take hold of life, and though we have peak moments, many of us find that we never really take hold of the life that really is life. The counsel in 1 Timothy is not the typical emphasis found in self-help books. It says to find the life that really is life, we need “to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share” (6:18). This is when I realized that many attempts to take hold of life revolve around us, and perhaps the life “that really is life” is found when we focus beyond ourselves. There are times we need to be self-centered, but as a way of life, it does not take us where we want to go.

Monday – Taking Hold of Life

westend_admin — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 15:32:42 +0000

We live in a fast pace society, and one of the marks of success is always being busy. Though we complain about it, we are inexplicably drawn to it as a way to show our worth. But when living on the edge it is easy to slip off into the canyon of chaos and lose control of our schedules and priorities. Though we’d like to think it is an attribute of modern society, it is more a trait of humanity than it is of our times. Listen to words of a person’s plea to God uttered three thousand years ago: “God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life” (Psalm 51:10). The perennial question for us all is this: how do we take hold of life? Fundamental to this, to state the absolutely obvious, is that something must change. This is a good week to examine the change needed to have a “Genesis week” that brings order out of the chaos of our lives, whether it is a stressful work situation, strained relationships, or we’re just plain overwhelmed. As we consider this, we should remember an old proverb that says, “To change and to change for the better are two different things.”

Friday – A Strange Reminder of God

westend_admin — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:20:18 +0000

This may seem a strange thought, but science reminds me of our connection to God. I’m not saying that all scientists would or should see it this way, but there is an element of mystery and connectedness that arises through the pursuit of scientific knowledge. Case in point: Einstein proposed the theory of relativity—note it was just a “theory”--and through his insights and scientific imagination he came up with a formula we all know (but not all understand): E=MC². The fact that he, as a theoretical physicist, could propose something that would eventually correspond with reality is mindboggling to me. How is it that one can propose paradigm shifting views of reality simply from thinking on such things? I could better understand it if it came through empirical observation. But this largely came through the act of thinking. For me it shows that somehow who we are and what we think is connected to something larger than ourselves. There is a connection between the created and the Creator. Maybe that is why non-religious people may still speak of “the Universe” or “Mother Earth” as a way to refer to something beyond us. Science doesn’t give any specificity to that connection, but it holds open the possibility of something more.

Thursday – Science vs. Religion

westend_admin — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 15:37:16 +0000

The Reverend Doctor John Polkinghorne

I had a conversation with someone about Christianity, and he said, “I’m really more a person of science.” This is something heard from many people as they consider in which category they belong—religion or science. If I am trying to make a unifying point in these blogs (and I am), it is that the scientific world and world of faith need not be at odds with each other. In reality, there is only one world, and each plays a different role within it. John Polkinghorne, an Anglican priest and former professor of mathematical physics at University of Cambridge, wrote a book called One World: The Interaction of Science and Theology. While acknowledging there are points of conflict between the two, he sees a mutuality they share in the search for what is real and true. This is why there are people who have discovered faith through their scientific work, just as there have been those who have pursued science because of their faith. This runs counter to the assumption that an increase in scientific knowledge must necessarily correlate with a decrease in religious belief. As Francis Bacon observed, “A little science estranges a man from God. A lot of science brings him back.”

Wednesday – Scientific Imagination & the Bible

westend_admin — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 14:53:35 +0000

When it comes to religion and science, “imagination” is not a word we use frequently. But a quote from Emerson has me thinking. He said, “Science does not know its debt to imagination.” And as I pointed out in a previous blog, part of what spurred the scientific imagination was faith. Now I don’t want to be perceived as someone who is trying to spin faith as the basis for science, but the rise of science had connections to an imagination born of faith. One could say that to some degree, faith motivated people to want to know more. I think this still exists, but we’ve limited the sources of where “more” can be found. A principle of the Reformation was sola scriptura (Scripture alone), and this grounded our source of authority to the Bible. While engaging Scripture is critical and transformational, we are reminded by the very biblical texts we study that we are to look to all of creation to learn. In Psalm 19 it says that day by day creation pours forth speech (verse 2). This means that the Good Book to which we look tells us to look for the good beyond the Book.

Tuesday – Explorers

westend_admin — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 13:59:17 +0000

In thinking about Monday’s blog, it reminds me that many of the theologians of the past were also daring explorers of the intellectual kind. There was a belief that was fueled by faith that there is something to be discovered in this place we inhabit. And every advance in science, math, medicine, astronomy, etc., would open new avenues in understanding ourselves and God. It was more than just new knowledge. It was also a chance to consider who God has created us to become. This faith-inspired curiosity led to many of the advances we have today. There is one text that we should memorize to inspire us to continue exploring: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). May we continue to be explorers.

Monday – Open Source Faith

westend_admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 07:00:00 +0000

It is interesting to see how the software industry has changed with the introduction of open source software. By making a software’s source code available, it allows a collaborative approach that leverages the help of many to debug software and make it freely available. In some ways this is how Christian theologians used to see the world. Using contemporary language, it was like God’s “source code” was contained in the world around us and available to all. This is what inspired people to inquire and learn more in the world. In doing so we learned more about God. Somewhere along the way, we began to view the world as a more hostile place rather than as revealing something of God. Areas such as science and the arts have become viewed as purely secular. And with this, we have lost some of the wonder about what we can learn about our Creator and our faith from the beauty, complexity, and mystery of the world in which we live. We need to recover our sense of wonder and remember the words found in Psalm 19: “God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.” God has given us an open source faith.

Friday – Religion Won’t Go Away

westend_admin — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:37:10 +0000

Today I want to make pragmatic appeal rather than a theological one. To be religious is an enduring quality of humanity. While it’s true in contemporary society that some of us are religious and some of us are not, religious ideas have been a part of the world’s cultures as long as people have existed. These ideas have shaped civilizations, and they continue to inform how we view one another. This is what motivated Hans Küng, the noted theologian, to say, “There will be no peace among the nations until there is peace among the religions. There will be no peace among the religions until there is dialogue among the religions.” There are secularizing impulses in the West that tell us to ignore religious influences in our personal, national, and foreign relations. But ignoring religion does not make it go away. As long as religion is an enduring presence in our cultures, interfaith efforts are critical if we are to have any hope of peace.

Thursday – The Not So Good Samaritan

westend_admin — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:07:56 +0000

Because of one parable of Jesus (Luke 10:25-37), we view Samaritans as good. But we need to understand the context to understand the dynamic of this parable. The parable is basically this: there was a person in distress who needed help. Several Jewish religious leaders passed him by, but it was the Samaritan who took the time to tend to his needs. Therefore Samaritans must be good, right? Wrong! At least according to Jewish perception at that time. From their perspective, the Samaritans represented distorted Jewish beliefs of people who came from a questionable ethnic heritage. The religious disdain was so great that they were to avoid contact with Samaritans. Yet in a conversation about what one must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus tells a parable about a good Samaritan. And he has the audacity to tell the Jewish listeners to go and do like the Samaritan did. This had to sound blasphemous! But it makes a very profound point. Wherever we see love, kindness, and generosity, it is of God. There are no boundaries to this. Becoming a Christian does not limit where we find these things. If anything, our faith should open our eyes to be on the lookout for God in all people and places. If Jesus can see the good in the “bad” Samaritan, may we go and do likewise.

Wednesday – Diversity: Accidental or Intended?

westend_admin — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 17:05:09 +0000

How we approach the diversity of people and cultures is dictated to a degree by whether we believe it is accidental or intended by God. If it is an accident, then we may seek to eradicate it if it causes us concern. However, if it is intended by God, then there is something we can affirm and something we can learn from it. Now to the big question: what is a Christian perspective on diversity? In Genesis 11 it explains why there is such variety of people in the world. It came from the will of God to “scatter people abroad over the face of all the earth,” giving them different languages. For us, the diversity we encounter was an intentional act of God as part of the unfolding of creation. If we forget this, we may rely on human nature, which often sees differences as a threat. But through the eyes of faith, we can see beauty and the opportunity to learn from the diversity in our midst.

Tuesday – Who do you know?

westend_admin — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 18:11:30 +0000

Several years ago there was a Gallup Poll that asked Americans the question, would you want to have a Muslim as a neighbor? Nearly one quarter of the respondents said “no.” Interestingly, attitudes towards Muslims improved appreciably if one was personally acquainted with a Muslim. It is remarkable how having friends from other religions tempers our attitudes. This reminds us of a fundamental reality: there is never a meeting of religions, only of people! Interfaith encounters are not about abstract beliefs engaging each other. It is about relationships. We need to remind ourselves of this. Otherwise we risk feeling that when we meet people of other faiths we are the repository of all things Christian. It’s good to know we don’t bear that burden. We should receive others as friends, neighbors, and co-workers. And our religious beliefs, practices, and identities can then arise naturally in the context of a relationship rather than feeling like a formal encounter.

Monday – Always Reforming

westend_admin — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 13:55:40 +0000

This Sunday is going to be a great day. We have a special guest speaker, The Reverend Robert Chase, who is the Founding Director of Intersections International, a ministry of the Collegiate Church that is dedicated to promoting justice, reconciliation and peace across lines of faith, culture, ideology, race, class, and national borders. And Ahmed Al Mukhaini will also be with us. He is an interfaith activist in the Middle East and the former Assistant General Secretary to the Parliament in the Sultanate of Oman. Call it serendipitous, but this Sunday is Reformation Day. It is when we commemorate the beginning of the movement known as the Protestant Reformation. There is a popular slogan that captures the spirit of the Reformation: ecclesia semper reformans, semper reformanda, which means “the church is always reformed and always reforming.” (For some reason, quoting Latin when speaking about the Reformation is the “in” thing to do!) This raises a question that we should always be asking: What is it in our thinking and practice that needs reform today? For me, somewhere on that list needs to be the way we relate to people of other faiths. Our work and play intertwines our lives with people representing the diversity of the world’s religions. And if our faith is to have any relevance to us, it will need to inform how we live in a religiously plural world. This week we’ll explore what may need reform in this area.

Friday – Who is the god of your world?

westend_admin — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 14:56:03 +0000

If a god is something upon which we depend to find ultimate meaning and value in life, then who or what is the god of your world? If we think at a personal level, many things may seem to fit the “god” category. Some of us love our jobs and derive great personal value from the work we do. Some of us are quite accomplished in our careers, and our self-confidence is derived from our past successes. I don’t see any problem with this, and I wouldn’t count them as gods. It’s great to love our jobs and experience success. However, they can quickly move from great jobs to our gods when they become the sole measure of meaning and the basis upon which we value those around us. When this happens, a subtle change occurs. It is not just that we depend on them, but we begin to believe that everything depends on us! Unwittingly, we become the god of our own little world. If you find yourself overwhelmed with the responsibility of being the god of your world, then a little dose of humility may help. The basis of humility is simply this: we acknowledge that we are not God. I know it sounds like a simple thing, but it releases the pressure of thinking everything depends on us, and it opens the possibility that we can depend on God.

Thursday – How Does Humility Show Itself?

westend_admin — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 13:31:20 +0000

I’ve been ruminating on the line from Tuesday’s blog, “Thank God I’m not like other people.” (Luke 18:11) It shows us that when we become so proud of ourselves that we put others down, we might have a problem with humility. Here’s what I’m wondering: if this is a case of the absence of humility, what would it look like if he were humble? There is a great line from Helen Nielsen, “Humility is like underwear, essential, but indecent if it shows.” I think there is much truth to this, but humility is more than the absence of things, such as boasting and bragging. There is a way in which humility publically displays itself, and it has to do with respect. As I think about the text from Luke, the Pharisee’s problem is his complete lack of regard for certain “classes” of people. If he had any sense of humility, he would have used words of respect rather than those of derogation. Humility isn’t merely the absence of acts of pride. It shows itself when we offer our respect to others.

Wednesday – Humility & Spirituality

westend_admin — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:27:14 +0000

There is a beautiful quote on the humility-spirituality connection by Monica Baldwin. She says, “What makes humility so desirable is the marvelous thing it does to us; it creates in us a capacity for the closest possible intimacy with God.” This point was driven home for me while on a drive through the countryside to take in the fall color. As the sun struck the trees and displayed hews of yellow, red, and green, I had what I call a “Psalm 8 moment.” Here it says, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” (3,4) For a moment, I became very small and God became very big. The awe of the experience was humbling, and I felt I reconnected with God in new ways. Sometimes we need to be humbled, not by failing or having our weaknesses exposed. Just by realizing the vastness of God—the God with whom we are in relationship.

Tuesday – Good Prayers & Bad Prayers

westend_admin — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 14:01:04 +0000

It may seem wrong to say that there is such a thing as a bad prayer, so let me give an example to clarify when our prayers can be off the mark. Jesus tells a parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee, a religious leader, regards himself as righteous and looks upon others with contempt. And the tax collector represents the sinner who doesn’t meet the religious standard of the day. The Pharisee sees the tax collector at the temple and offers a prayer. You can determine whether it was good or bad. He prays, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people… even like this tax collector” (Luke 18:11). It seems obvious that this is not a great prayer to offer, but what makes it seem wrong? It is because he used prayer as a means to elevate himself above others rather than open himself to God. Prayer is an act of humility in which we look upward to someone greater than ourselves, not downward towards others. When we do this, it opens us to see others not as we often see them, but as God sees them. The kind of prayers we offer may be the difference between closing off relationships and opening ourselves to new ones.

Monday – Signs of Discontentment

westend_admin — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 20:15:49 +0000

This week’s theme is humility, and a short phrase in Psalm 65 has me thinking about this. It says “we shall be satisfied….” I’ve never thought about it before, but I think humility is connected to contentment. This may seem a strange association, so let me explain. In a society that values continuous progress, humility is not held as a virtue. One must consistently achieve new things and then tout one’s contributions to get ahead. There is little room for modesty or self-effacing behavior, lest the competition get the upper hand. Humility, on the other hand, arises from a comfort with who we are and where we are in life. We do not feel compelled to promote or compare ourselves with others. We’re okay with who we are, so there is no need to convince others about who they should think we are. In this sense I’m not sure humility is something that can be taught. Otherwise it is a veneer of false modesty in which we avoid raising the topic of our merits—instead we wait for others to do so. I’ve had those moments when it would seem like I’m bragging to mention a personal accomplishment, but I am very thankful when someone else does it for me! This doesn’t come from my strength. It comes from my weakness. True humility evidences itself as a sign of our well-being when the inner need to boast and promote ourselves diminishes.

Friday – Life Lessons from Miss Kitty

westend_admin — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 13:27:35 +0000

Yesterday’s blog featured my fat cat, Tabitha. Today it is our other rescue cat, Miss Kitty—ok, I admit we’re not the most creative people in naming our pets. She was abused as a kitten, and when we brought her home, she would not allow us to hold or touch her. At first it seemed she would never change. But slowly, year by year, she became friendlier and more trusting. To our surprise, she is now a loving lap cat. It took nearly five years to get there, but she regained her trust in people. It takes time to trust. There is no shortcut, no magic words. Just the time to trust that things have changed. I wonder if we give people the time to trust, especially when it comes to faith. Some of us have hard very bad experiences with organized religion or have been condemned in the name of God. Yet we still find ourselves searching for a faith we can hold onto, a community of faith we can trust. My little calico cat reminds me that the church should be a safe place for people to search, and we should all be given the time to learn to trust again.

Thursday – Life Lessons from Tabitha

westend_admin — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 13:38:04 +0000

Today and tomorrow I want to focus on the life lessons I’ve learned from our pets. Before you think this is an act of nostalgia rather than one of spirituality, consider the words found in the book of Job: “Ask the animals, they will teach you; the birds of the air, they will tell you” (12:7). All of God’s creation has the potential to speak something about life, something about God. This brings us to my cat, Tabitha. She’s a rescue cat that we adopted when she was six months old. She developed a necessary habit when she was on the streets: eat as much as you can when food is present because you don’t know when you’ll eat again! Even after ten years, she still scarfs down food like it’s her last meal. The reality of her situation has changed, but her behavior has not changed with it. I know many of you don’t like cats and will chalk this up to her being a stupid animal. But I think we, as intelligent as we may consider ourselves, do this more often than we care to recognize. How many of us carry fears from past relationships into new ones or transfer feelings of past bosses to our current boss? It is always easiest to live as if nothing changes, but by doing so we miss the opportunities of letting new people and experiences shape us in unexpected and positive ways. This is where we are different than my cat. She’ll never get it, but we can!

Wednesday – Created with Us

westend_admin — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:29:28 +0000

When we look at the beauty of creation around us and all that lives in it, do we believe it was created for us or with us? How we answer this question speaks of how we view the world we inhabit. Let me explain. If we believe that the world was created for us, then its value is the degree to which it serves our needs. If we believe the world was created with us (that is, we are one part of God’s creation), then all living things have value apart from serving our needs. Before you answer, listen to the words of Genesis 9:9, “God is establishing a covenant with you… and with all living creatures.” This means God has established a relationship not only with people but with all living things. Every created thing has value in God’s eyes. I know I’ve drawn a false dichotomy. Humanity most certainly has a special relationship with God. And yes, we depend on creation to live. In this sense, creation serves a very basic human need—the need to eat! Yet the value that creation has is not merely based on meeting our needs. It has intrinsic value that we must safeguard, honor, and respect as part of honoring the One who created us all.

Tuesday – Bring Your Pet to Church

westend_admin — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 13:43:48 +0000

This Sunday there will be a special “Blessing of the Animals” service. This means we are encouraging everyone to bring their pets to church. The tradition traces back nearly nine hundred years to St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. In October many churches around the world incorporate some type of blessing of the animals as part of the feast day commemorating St. Francis. It may seem odd to allow pets in the sanctuary and give them such prominence in a service. But it is a way to honor all of God’s creation--and no part of creation weaves its way into our lives like that of our pets! It reminds us of our connection to all of creation and to celebrate the goodness of what God has created.

Friday – Space for Faithlessness

westend_admin — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 14:11:32 +0000

There is a growing belief that we, as Christians, should acknowledge a spark of faith in everyone. It is a way of honoring God’s presence in others and affirming that we share a common Creator. It is kind of like saying that though we may use different language about faith/spirituality/religion—or even disagree about whether there is a God—we share enough together to be in positive relationship. There is much to commend about this approach because it recognizes that the movement of God in our lives is not constrained by any boundaries we create. However, we must take care in how we represent this. It is one thing to say, “My faith teaches me to see all people as children of God,” and it is another thing to say, “No matter what you say, it really points to your belief in God.” The former shares how our faith informs our relationships, and the latter attempts to colonize another’s beliefs to eliminate any space for faithlessness. When expressing what we believe, we must always leave room for others to express what they believe.

Thursday – Eccentricity & God

westend_admin — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:34:03 +0000

I fancy myself to be an open-minded, progressive thinking, hard-to-shock kind of a guy. But the array of colorful characters in New York City occasionally catches me off guard. I’ve watched a woman dressed like a stripper singing and dancing down the street. I’ve seen an eighty-year-old woman with bright pink hair and the stalwart “Naked Cowboy” in Times Square (by the way, I like the old Naked Cowboy better!) I really do love it. But let me put on my “pastor’s hat,” and ask the question, “Where is God in the midst of this?” I can’t say exactly where, but I can say that God is in the middle of everything, even the bizarre and eccentric. Jeremiah 29:4-7 speaks to this. The Israelites are in exile in a foreign land and living in the midst of a strange culture and religion. God’s counsel through Jeremiah is stunning: build homes there, marry the people there, and “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile…, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” Even though the place they find themselves may seem bizarre and strange, it is there they will find hope and their future. Eccentric people and places are not a sign of God’s absence.

Wednesday – Unchaining God

westend_admin — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:06:52 +0000

I’ve been thinking about what we do when times are tough. What happens when we hit rock bottom and feel hope for change slipping away, and our faith fading along with it? What happens when we know we need to make changes in our lives, but no matter how hard we try, we end up following the same bad pattern of choices every day? In 2 Timothy 2:9 we read a simple reminder that we often forget: though we may be imprisoned by a situation or our choices, “the word of God is not chained.” In other words, we cannot equate our limitations with what is possible with God. The experience and success of AA is a powerful reminder of this. Those struggling with addictions first need to recognize they are powerless over it. Once this is acknowledged, they then can turn to a Power greater than themselves who can restore them to sanity. It is not always our inner-reserve or strong will that helps us change. Sometimes we must recognize our powerlessness so that we open ourselves to a Power greater than ourselves. When we feel imprisoned by our circumstances, it is good to know that God is unchained.

Tuesday – Denying the Faith

westend_admin — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:36:00 +0000

Today’s text is about denying the faith, which as you can imagine isn’t viewed very positively in the Bible. In 2 Timothy 2:12 this point is made quite clear: if we deny Christ, the one in whom God is revealed, Christ will deny us. This is a strong warning, but not in the way we may think. 1 Timothy 5:8 speaks of what it means to deny the faith: “whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith.” If we think of “denying” not so much in what we say but in what we do, this turns the warning inward to those already part of the faith. The warning is this: no amount of Christian jargon will make up for those who deny the faith with the way they live. Likewise, just because people cannot articulate faith in Christian terms, the way they live may still speak of faith.

Monday – Faithless

westend_admin — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:52:19 +0000

Churches throughout the world have geared their ministries to help people grow in faith. Any cursory review of a church’s activities shows that it offers an array of programs to foster this growth. But what about people who feel faithless? Where do they fit into the conversation about faith? It is no longer about learning additional information or taking the next step. It is about wrestling with whether faith is even possible. We in the church have not always been great at entertaining such thoughts, questioning, and doubt. I’m not sure why. Maybe we see it as a threat to what we believe, or perhaps we don’t like such uncomfortable conversation. As we think about what conversations about faith should look like, it may help us to remember that one of the controversial things about Jesus was that those who felt faithless were always part of the conversation about faith.

Friday - The World Communion

westend_admin — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 13:40:25 +0000

Doubt isn't the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith. - Paul Tillich

The author of 2 Timothy concludes this first chapter by saying, “So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ…cultivate this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.” As we look towards World Communion Sunday I wonder about the ways that God is calling us at West End Collegiate Church to cultivate our faith? We are reminded this Sunday that we do not practice faith alone but find ourselves within a global village. Within this global village we recognize that there are similarities and differences in how we practice faith. I wonder, what is the precious way of faith that the Holy Spirit has gifted West End Collegiate Church? - Jes Kast-Keat

Thursday - Faith of the Matriarchs

westend_admin — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 13:57:31 +0000

2 Timothy 1:1-14 is packed full of many thoughts about faith and life. I am particularly captivated by verse 5. Critics of the Bible have sometimes accused it of being sexist and patriarchal. While this is a critique that we must not be too quick to dismiss, I pause at verse 5 to happily notice that the models of faith being used in this example happen to be Lois and Eunice (Timothy’s grandmother and mother). Timothy’s own faith was taught to him by his family. The author of this letter also affirms that not only is faith learned within our biological families, but it is passed on to us through the community. In verse 6 the laying on of hands is a physical symbol of the way the community passes on faith. The opening of this letter reminds me that God gives us multiple ways of learning faith. The author reminds us that faith is always practiced within community. - Jes Kast-Keat

Wednesday - "Just do it”

westend_admin — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:50:39 +0000

After Jesus teaches on forgiveness those listening to him ask for an increase in faith. Yesterdays ruminations offered empathy towards the disciples for asking for more faith. As we continue reading the Gospel text for this week (Luke 17: 5-10) we notice that Jesus does not coddle the disciples by agreeing with them in their request for more faith. Instead Jesus says to them that faith is faith. One need not ask for more or less because faith, the size of a mustard seed, will compel you to act in faithful ways. Then Jesus has this anecdote about a worker who does what is expected. The worker need not expect special thanks, but instead the satisfaction of knowing they did the work they were supposed to do. So it is with faith. You need not ask for an increase of faith but instead act on the faith you do have. In other words, even a small amount of faith will compel you to act in a way that is right and good in the community. In the words of the Nike slogan, “Just do it.” (Check out this version of Luke 17: 5-10 for another perspective). -Jes Kast-Keat

Tuesday - Forgiveness and Faith

westend_admin — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 18:07:58 +0000

In our adult education class on Sunday mornings we have been delving into the topic of forgiveness. In Luke 17:5-10 the followers of Jesus ask him to increase their faith. What is interesting about their request for an increase in faith is that it comes directly after Jesus teaches on forgiveness (Luke 17:1-4). His teaching beckons us to continual forgiveness if the offender acknowledges his/her wrongdoing. In a first century, Middle Eastern context (which is when and where the Bible was written) where “an eye for an eye” was an accepted practice – continual forgiveness was not the custom. If we understand the context of these verses we might understand the impulse of the first followers of Jesus in their cry for increased faith. One might define faith as offering belief in the trustworthiness of a person. If there is broken trust, and the offender asks for forgiveness, it makes sense that someone might ask for an increase in faith. Increasing faith gives us the capability to repair trust in each other. What was broken can now be restored in faith. Jesus consoles his followers by saying it isn’t so much how much faith you have, it is more about the kind of faith. As we reflect on this passage, I invite us to wonder about what kind of faith our community has. - Jes Kast-Keat

Monday - How did you learn about faith?

westend_admin — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 18:20:24 +0000

No human is an island entire of itself; every person is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. – John Donne

How did you learn faith? Was faith passed down to you through generations of family members? Did you encounter faith through your own compelling energy of curiosity? Was it a transformative traveling experience that caught you in the currents of faith? There are many entry points for us to learn faith. As we look to World Communion day this Sunday we have the opportunity to reflect on the global and local ways in which we learn and share faith together. The writer of II Timothy 2:1-14 gives us a glimpse of the ways faith is shared within a family. Luke 17:5-10 welcomes us to wonder how faith is increased. Your life and your faith is never alone, but an interconnected journey with those around you, behind you, and before you. - Jes Kast-Keat

Friday – Wired for God

westend_admin — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 15:40:15 +0000

I’m intrigued by the close of Luke 16. The rich man in Hades (Thursday’s blog) is concerned about his family. Therefore he tries to persuade Abraham to raise a person from the dead and send him to his brothers so he can “tell them the score and warn them so they don’t end up here.” (verse 28, The Message) Abraham’s response is fascinating: “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone raises from the dead.” (verse 31) They don’t need a grand show of power to know what’s important. No big healing. No raising from the dead. Just the words of God from those who came before them. It is as if we’re wired for God and don’t need bright lights and a big show to get the point. As it says in Romans, “what the law requires is written on their hearts.” (2:15) Getting in touch with God is getting in touch with what God has already placed within us.

Thursday – A Different Vantage Point

westend_admin — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 07:00:00 +0000

In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus creates an interesting scenario. There is a rich man who routinely ignores a poor man loitering outside his property. All the poor man hoped for was scraps of food. The rich man and the poor man die. The rich man ends up in Hades, and from there he can see the poor man above in paradise. From this vantage point, the rich man sees his life for what it had been. He had so focused on satiating his daily desires that he forgot what his larger priorities should have been. The moral of the story: the rich man would not have sacrificed fulfillment by living differently. Instead he would have experienced a fulfillment that endures. Sometimes we need a different vantage point to see more clearly what brings fullness to life and what diminishes it.

Wednesday – Out of Control Giving

westend_admin — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 13:36:05 +0000

Here’s a quick recap of this week's text in Jeremiah. Jeremiah saved the day by purchasing his cousin’s worthless plot of land so he wouldn’t lose it. We have no idea what kind of person his cousin was, so I have a question based purely on a hypothetical situation. First the hypothetic: What if the cousin was a louse and ungrateful? What if the cousin had squandered his wealth before and was likely to do it again? What if Jeremiah was “throwing good money after bad”? Here’s the question: If this were the case, should Jeremiah still have helped him? I suspect that Jeremiah would still have helped. Partly based on the custom of the law of redemption (see Tuesday’s blog). And partly because sometimes we can’t control the outcome of how a gift is used, nor should we. The difficulty is knowing when good stewardship means giving toward a directed outcome, and when our giving should be out of control.

Tuesday – Another Bailout Plan

westend_admin — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 17:48:29 +0000

Jeremiah 32:1-15 represents the execution of a bailout plan. Jerusalem has been decimated by the Babylonians and the city lay in ruins. This created great economic hardship, and people were in jeopardy of losing their homes and land—if they still had them! Therefore Jeremiah’s cousin Hanamel, who is about to lose his plot, calls upon the law of redemption. Basically this means that if someone in a family is in jeopardy of losing something of value, it is the duty of an elder in the family to redeem the item on the family’s behalf. Jeremiah buys the land, as worthless as it was. Whether this was a good investment or not depends on our perspective. Through the lens of finances, this was an unwise investment. Through the lens of faith, it may have been one of the best investments he made. It reminds me that it is not just what we spend our money on that matters. It is also why we make the choices we do in our spending.

Monday – What’s Your Rate of Return?

westend_admin — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 12:55:20 +0000

Anyone who has money invested is concerned about their annual rate of return. If the investment is underperforming in the market, it is changed. Pretty straightforward. I’m wondering how often we think about the way we invest our lives. What is the return we hope to gain from the way we live? Unless we answer this question, it is hard to set priorities and make decisions that are consistent with our goals. But answering the question is not enough. If our lives are not reaping the returns we want, then we need to change the way we have invested them. This week’s texts, Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 and Luke 16:19-31, both use finances as a way for us to consider the return we seek from the way we live. As important as it is to invest our finances wisely, it is more important to invest our lives well.

Friday – You’re (Not) Special

westend_admin — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 21:11:10 +0000

When my daughter was young, I complimented another young girl on how pretty she looked. My daughter looked up at me with sad eyes and said, “Dad, aren’t I pretty?” In the mind of a little girl, there is only so much of dad’s affection to go around, and she wanted to be sure she was the special one. The early church struggled in its relationship to God in the same way. They wanted to know that they were the object of God’s grace and love. To be special, they thought they had to be the sole object of God’s affection. 1 Timothy 2:4 is a reminder that God’s love is larger than this. It says God “wants not only us but everyone saved” (The Message). Every once in a while we need a reminder that for God’s love to be special, it does not have to be restricted. And for us to be special, others do not need to be excluded.

Thursday – For Everyone?

westend_admin — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:04:41 +0000

The idea of giving thanks for everyone stretches me (1 Timothy 2:1). I can easily give thanks for humanity as a general concept. But if I think of names and faces, I run into trouble. When I think of those who have committed unthinkable atrocities, thanksgiving does not flow from my lips. No matter how hard I try to put a spiritual spin on it, I cannot do it. I will continue to give thanks for that nameless “everyone” because in doing so it keeps me open to people as image bearers of God created with infinite value. Just because we can’t always see it doesn’t mean that we should stop looking.

Wednesday – Praying Our Way Forward

westend_admin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 14:06:41 +0000

Last night we had a meeting about the proposed Muslim community center near Ground Zero. Though there were differences of opinion, I was very pleased that the conversation was marked by respect and reasoned thought. We didn’t solve anything, but we left with a better understanding of one another. As we think about a way forward, we may wonder what to pray for in the midst of such polarized opinion in our city and nation. There is some simple advice in Scripture. It says that as we pray for the decision makers and opinion setters in our societies, the result we seek is that we may lead “a quiet and peaceable life in godliness and dignity.” (1 Timothy 2:2) As we pray our way forward, may we all be granted this.

Tuesday – Sorting Things out in Prayer

westend_admin — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 14:18:25 +0000

I’ve noticed a pattern in the way I deal with conflict: blame others and then eventually concede that I’ve contributed to the problem. Not exactly the healthiest way to approach relationships. It is almost as if I need to vent before I find the calm to see my own issues. I suspect I’m not alone. The prayer in Psalm 79 follows the same pattern. After a litany of complaints against others, the Psalm takes a sudden turn and utters the words “forgive our sins” (79:9), acknowledging their complicity in the problem. Prayer is a place where we can vent to God and discern our role in the issues we face. This is probably why we are counseled to pray about things first. Then we are able to approach decisions and people with a level head and greater self-awareness.

Monday – Complaining to God

westend_admin — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 14:26:37 +0000

When was the last time you complained to God? For most of us, probably never. We are instructed to pray in terms of thanksgiving, praise, and petitions, but rarely are we told it is ok to complain to God. Interestingly, Scripture contains many instances of people complaining to God, especially when life doesn’t seem fair. Our tradition is filled with people whose prayers cried out “Why?” “This is unjust!” Or in the words of today’s Psalm, “How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever?” (79:5) If prayer is honest conversation with God, then no thoughts or questions are off limits. The level of honesty in our prayers may be the difference between saying prayers and praying.

Friday – Worship Wars

westend_admin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:00:51 +0000

In the 80s and 90s, there was a phenomenon in the church known as the worship wars. It pitted those who love the organ and hymns against those who use guitars and drums to “rock the flock.” For the traditionalists, contemporary approaches were not faithful to the genre of sacred music. For the contemporary folks, the traditionalists represented a dying breed. Each side believed they had the right way to worship. Thankfully the worship wars have subsided and we are coming to a new understanding of music in the church.

The reality is that because of the ability of music to move us, it can also be something that divides us. And it is easy to use a narrow selection of music to reach your “target audience.” Yet to open ourselves to the diversity in our communities means to open ourselves to diverse expressions of worship. Being part of a Christian community means our appreciation for music is not solely based on whether we like it personally. It is also based on the way it speaks to those around us. A variety of musical expression is a sign of being an inclusive community that creates space for all.

Thursday – Love and a Song

westend_admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:32:57 +0000

The Bible contains an interesting “to do” list. In Colossians it says to have humility, kindness, and compassion; we are to bear with one another and forgive one another; we should be people of love, and teach and admonish one another. Then comes the anomaly: we are to “sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God” (3:12-17). I understand how love, forgiveness, and humility go together, but singing seems out of place. It is cause to rethink the place of music in the Christian life. The list is of things we need in our lives, not things God needs. I say this because too often we treat music as the thing we do because it is pleasing to God, which it very well may be. But the emphasis on singing is because it is something we need. A song has the power to lift our spirits, shape our attitudes, and even teach us theology. It has a shelve-life in our thoughts that lectures and sermons will never have. So remember, we should be people of love, forgiveness, humility, patience, and a song.

Wednesday – American Idol in the Church

westend_admin — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:23:09 +0000

American Idol is a very successful television program based on its search for the next big name in entertainment. Its success is predicated on two things: 1) we love to see new talent discovered, and 2) we love to judge performances. Even if we have no musical ability or background, we still have an opinion whether someone has “it.” This same propensity to critique carries over into church life. After every service we talk about whether or not we liked the music. I am curious about what basis we use for this. On American Idol the criterion is clear: will they sell albums? But what is the criterion we should use to evaluate church music? Is it whether it speaks to us? Is it the excellence with which it is done? Does it need to come from a particular genre? Or is it just a general feel of whether we like it or not? This is a fairly important topic since people join and leave churches because of its music, among other things.

Psalm 100 has a well-known phrase that says, “make a joyful noise to the Lord.” It boils down our criterion to one thing: are the noises we make joyful? They do not have to be classical noises or contemporary noises, organ noises or guitar noises. They just need to be joyful. The next time someone asks what genre of music we have at our church, I am going to say “joyful.” It gives space for a variety of musical expression while emphasizing what is most important.

Tuesday - The Guitar in the Corner

westend_admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:08:33 +0000

I bought a guitar when I moved to New York, and it has been sitting in the corner since then. My bucket list includes learning to play classical guitar, not only because of the beauty of the music, but also for what I might learn about myself along the way. Someday I may actually play it. Until then, it remains a symbol of the power music has in our lives. (Notice how I’ve spun this so my wife doesn’t see this as a needless purchase!) As parents we are particularly attuned to this, which is why we are excited when our children learn an instrument or join a choir. Music resonates within our souls giving voice to a part of us that would otherwise remain silent. It also speaks something into our hearts and minds that cannot be heard in other ways. A music-less life would be missing something.

In Psalm 100 it says to come into God’s presence singing. It does not say why or what to sing, but it does mean that even our spiritual journey should include music. I have tended to think of music purely in terms of entertainment, but now I’m wondering how what I sing may be subtly shaping me.

Monday – Retreating from Life

westend_admin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:11:44 +0000

I just returned from the annual church retreat, which was a great experience. I was thinking about why we call it a retreat, a word usually thought of as very negative. We are taught to always press on and never retreat. After a few days of retreating from the normal pace of life, I am now ok with people retreating. In fact, I think we all need to retreat from time to time. It is about creating space in our lives to relax, take a stroll, think about anything we want (or nothing at all), or lay under a tree. These have become luxuries that many of us think we can’t afford. What I appreciated most about this weekend was the space to be with people without an agenda. There were large swaths of time in which we could sit and chat. I had forgotten how a little time retreating from our routines can renew our spirits and recalibrate our lives. It’s Monday, so charge ahead, press on. But remember, sometimes we need to retreat.

Friday – Retreat Time

westend_admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 13:36:35 +0000

This afternoon a group of forty of us will be driving to the Warwick Center for our annual church retreat. I have never been there, nor do I know how to get there. This could be a problem since I am driving one of the vans! I’m not worried about finding our way. With fifteen of us traveling together, there will be plenty of people to consult. And even if we get lost, we’ll have fun along the way. It is what retreats are all about. I don’t think it is too much of a stretch to say it is what being a Christian is all about. We are called to “be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love” (Ephesians 5:1, 2). As we drive to the retreat, whether we are heading the right way or the wrong way, we will be together and experience the gift of community. It is our chance to be imitators of God by living in love—with lots of laughter added!

Random thought of the day: being imitators of God is not only what we do individually; it is what we do together.

Thursday – Time, Trust, and My Red Hatchback

westend_admin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:44:16 +0000

I remember the experience of buying our first car. A new, sexy, red Honda Civic hatchback. I think “lust” would not be too strong of a word to describe our desire to buy this car. You have to understand that in our current vehicle, we could see the road through the bottom of the door panel! Everything was going well with the negotiation until the salesperson said that we should put a deposit on it immediately because it was a hot selling car. We didn’t. I wanted to be a savvy shopper and was not about to be duped. When we came back an hour later, the car was gone. It turns out the salesperson was just being honest. We had to wait several weeks until another red Honda arrived.

If I am considering anything of importance, I need time and trust—something that I think we lack in our conversations about faith. Faith cannot be distilled into tract size sound bytes that are for the purpose of closing the deal. That is why I love the approach Jesus took. Whether he was meeting people of no faith or other faiths, he spent time with his new friends eating, walking, and talking. We tend to isolate the religious conversations of Jesus forgetting that they arose over the course of time and within the context of mutual trust. Any tête-à-tête about those things that are of utmost importance to us need time and trust.

Wednesday – A New Nickname

westend_admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:00:06 +0000

I have given everyone in my family a nickname. So if you hang around our house long enough, you’ll hear me refer to “Bud,” “Pook,” and “T.” Somehow having nicknames marks the special relationship we have. We do the same within Christianity. We have the general term “Christian” that is used by those inside and outside of Christianity. But for those within the Christian community, we have another vocabulary to talk about ourselves. One of the key nicknames for us insiders is “believer,” which was used frequently in the New Testament. In church circles, it is used in a variety of ways. People talk about who is a believer and who is not, or they may refer to worship as the gathering of believers. Personally, I don’t like to use this term because its meaning has shifted over time. In contemporary use, it means whether one assents to the dogma of Christianity. Therefore it is more descriptive of one’s intellectual position than it is a way of life. In early Christianity, it also included the notion that to believe is to give one’s heart to someone or something, and this implies a trust in who or what one follows. Whatever we call each other, this quality needs to be captured.

As I think about internal nicknames for the Christian community, I like another biblical reference: followers. I know it is not very catchy, like “J-man” or “G-dawg,” but it represents something important. To be followers of Christ moves us beyond intellectual positions and speaks of the orientation and direction of our lives. It speaks of a shared journey, learning, growth, detours, trust, and relationships. It describes the dynamic quality of being people of the Way, the way of Christ.

Tuesday – The Spiritual Life

westend_admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:48:52 +0000

Many people use the term “spiritual” to describe their approach to faith. This is a very general way of pointing to all those things that calms one’s spirit and gives one a sense of serenity. In a generic way, it is about how we ground ourselves. In his book The Spirit of the Disciplines, Dallas Willard says that “a ‘spiritual life’ consists in that range of activities in which people cooperatively interact with God.” I do not like to think of our spiritual lives as separate from our business and relational lives, but he raises an important point. Spirituality is about interacting with God. Willard goes on to say that this is distinct from making a commitment to God or trying to change one’s lifestyle. It is intentionally undertaking activities that open us to God’s Spirit and allow us to be shaped by the presence and purposes of God. Through these activities our resolve, energy, and the quality of our existence are renewed and expanded.

This is something we do not talk about much, but it can be overlooked for only so long. We have so focused on what we are to believe about God that we gloss over those things that connect us to God. This is especially true of how we approach the central figure of our faith: Jesus. Somewhere along the way we became so fixated on “Jesus is the Way” that we forgot about the way of Jesus. The Gospels are filled with more than the teachings of Jesus. They also contain the pattern of his life that points us to those activities in which we interact with God. The next time you are reading one of the Gospels, take note not only of what Jesus taught but also how he lived. His profound moments of teaching are punctuated by moments of prayer and solitude. And if we too punctuate our lives with activities such as these, we open ourselves to new ways of being.

Monday – Finding Our Way

westend_admin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:52:21 +0000

As newborn babies grow into precocious toddlers, one of their primary discoveries is that they have their own will. Once that happens, the challenge of parenting begins! I am not sure how, but these angelic looking little children intuitively know how to use extortion to get us to meet their demands. They watch for our most vulnerable moments—waiting in a long line or sitting in a church service. Then they begin to create a fuss, clearly letting us know that they will escalate this to any level necessary if we do not give in! As much as toddlers are a handful, I admire that they know exactly what they want.

Something funny happens on the way to adulthood. It gets harder and harder to know what we want out of life. And if you think about it, the sum of how we live is an answer to this question. It is great when we get it right, but two things often happen in the pursuit of our wants. Either we don’t have a clue, so life seems more like we are wandering than living purposefully. Or when we finally arrive to the position we aspired, we find we are still missing something. Knowing what we want can be very elusive, and it can be hard to find a way forward.

The nascent Christian community was known as “people of the Way.” I like this. It reminds me that we are all trying to find our way in the world, and it is our faith that guides us to what is most important. Faith cannot dictate what we want, but it helps us wade through our mosh pit of desire to know what will lead us to an abundant life, and what leads to emptiness at best or harm at worst.

Friday – The Preacher

westend_admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:39:49 +0000

I enjoy listening to the podcasts of other pastors. No, it is not to check out the competition. It is to create space for reflection and renewal. One of my favorites is Rob Bell. He is a pastor at Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, MI—my home area. He is associated with the emergent church movement, which is not without controversy. Rob, and the emergent church, are all about reframing the Christian faith in a postmodern context. The messages are not short, so make sure you have forty-five minutes available. He is extremely popular—nearly 70,000 people follow him on Facebook—so by listening to him you’ll hear the voice of one who is speaking the language of faith for a new generation. I don’t always agree with him, but his sermons are very thought provoking. You can find his messages at http://marshill.org/teaching/podcast-info/. He’s also produces some provocative videos called Nooma at www.nooma.com.

Thursday – What’s Hot

westend_admin — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 11:20:08 +0000

Another site that follows religion and public life is Religion Dispatches at http://www.religiondispatches.org/. You’ll find articles ranging from “Be Afraid of Liberal Mainline Protestants” to LGBT ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. It features hot topics about religion in general, and often on the controversial issues within Christianity in particular. To get another perspective, you can go to Christianity Today (CT) at http://www.christianitytoday.com/. CT is a leading publication of Evangelical Christianity that includes a wide swath of perspectives. This site is a portal into its various magazines, blogs, and features. It gives perspectives on the hot topics within Christianity, and you can also read more about Books & Culture, Christian History, and a variety of other topics. It takes time to navigate your way through the world of CT, but it is worth the effort.

Wednesday – Finding Faith in Everything

westend_admin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:57:55 +0000

I have become attached to a particular podcast that features a weekly interview by Krista Tippett. She hosts incredibly fascinating people, and from the breadth of topics she covers, it is possible for anything to have religious connections and implications. The show is Speaking of Faith at http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/. Download an episode and enjoy it on your next subway ride.

Tuesday – In-depth Religious News

westend_admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:24:19 +0000

If one wants to know what is going on in the world of religion, an excellent podcast is Interfaith Voices at http://www.interfaithradio.org/. It takes a look at the developments, controversies, and issues of the week. The interviews are informative, and by listening regularly you have a pulse on newsworthy items and how people of faith are addressing them.

Monday – Cutting Edge Topics

westend_admin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:47:33 +0000

Now we turn to one of my favorite sites. It is not religious but on occasion features religious figures. It is TED: Ideas Worth Spreading at http://www.ted.com/. Here is the premise of TED. They hold conferences in which they invite the best and the brightest from around the world representing the latest developments in technology, science, psychology, religion, and the list goes on. The genius of their approach is that they give each presenter a maximum of twenty minutes to give the speech of his or her life. You can watch the lectures on the website or you can download them as podcasts. Well worth exploring!

Friday – For the Academically Inclined

westend_admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:55:01 +0000

We may think of blogging as something only the youth do. But blogging has become a prominent part of the academic scene. Craig Saper said that “Academics, especially in the arts and humanities, have taken to blogs like ducks to water.” For those who are interested in a more in-depth discussion of religious issues, check out The Immanent Frame: Secularism, religion and the public sphere at http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/. It features leading scholars who take on some of the most pressing theological and societal issues before us.

Thursday – For the Activists among Us

westend_admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:09:31 +0000

What should we as Christians do about the oil spill in the Gulf? How should we approach the new immigration policy in Arizona? How can we effect change to end poverty in the U.S.? If you are seeking ways the Christian community can join with others for the common good, check out Sojourners: faith, politics, culture at http://www.sojo.net/. The editor-in-chief is Jim Wallis, who you may recall from his spirited debate with Glenn Beck about Christianity’s emphasis on social justice.

Wednesday – Pop Religious News

westend_admin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:29:40 +0000

You know that religion is becoming a hot topic when The Huffington Post adds a section devoted to it. You can find it at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/religion/. It is worth reading. I find it interesting to see how the general populace is approaching faith and life.

For the most part they feature well-known writers on the religious topics of the day in a sound-byte format. And the latest celebrity gossip is just one click away—though I know this doesn’t interest you!

Tuesday – Exploring the Faith

westend_admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 13:02:04 +0000

The religious blogosphere is a great way to wade into the key topics and discussions taking place around religion. Two websites host very broad conversations about faith and life. The first is On Faith at http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/. Here you can read about anything from immigration policy to God and the Boston Celtics. It hosts a broad-based conversation featuring prominent voices that seek to provoke thought about how religion intersects with today’s issues. The second is Beliefnet at http://www.beliefnet.com/. It focuses more on the inspiration and direction that faith offers.

Friday – Motorcycles and the Spirit

westend_admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 20:39:32 +0000

Every summer my son, dad, uncle, and I take a motorcycle trip. It is great male bonding time to get on our hogs and hit the open road. We start in lower Michigan and usually travel to the Upper Peninsula. I grew up in Michigan and thought I knew it fairly well. But I have discovered some unbelievably beautiful places that I never knew existed, even though I had been driving by them for years.

This experience of discovery was the first thing I thought of when I read this week’s text from the Gospel of John. In verse 16:13 it says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” The word “guide” in Greek renders the idea of someone introducing a traveler to an unknown place. Just like all the places I had missed in Michigan, I began to wonder what things we miss in life because we do not know where to look.

The Spirit that is bonding us to God through Christ is our guide. And like a good guide, the Spirit guides us in which direction to head, when to stop and take in the view, and when to rest for the journey ahead. When people say they are spiritual, I think it is a way to describe their pursuit of the Spirit to guide them. When you think about it, if you want to get the most out of any trip, especially that of life, it is best to have a guide.

Thursday – Relational Energy

westend_admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 13:39:41 +0000

I do not want to sound “New Ageish,” but wrapped up in the idea of the Trinity is that God is a relational energy that charges all that is. God is not an abstract being that stands aloof to us. God is Father*, Son, and Spirit in an internal relationship that spills over into all of humanity. The created world is Trinitarian at its core in its necessity and yearning for relationships. This is how it bears the mark of its Creator and how our very being bears the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Therefore the mere mention of God is to speak of relationship and to say the name of any person is to speak of relationship. This relational quality was indicated by Jesus when he said that the two most important commands are to love God and love one’s neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40). This boils down God’s purposes to relationships.

You may be thinking that we should scrap the Trinity and stick to the teachings of Jesus to make this point. This would make things easier to understand and eliminate any potential debate about three gods. But if we did this, relationships may be perceived as preferred rather than essential. The Trinity presses us further. God is a relational being that has woven the essence of relationships into the fabric of creation. Relationships are the stuff of life.

*God is not confined by gender, and there are biblical images of God that are feminine. I use it here because it is continues in the language of our liturgy, but I am not implying that God is male.

Wednesday – Partnership in the Trinity

westend_admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 14:57:00 +0000

Having lived in a Muslim country, there was no way to avoid conversations about the Trinity. Muslims rest their faith on the oneness of God, and to them the Trinity stands in contradistinction to this. Sooner or later my friends would ask me, “Why do you believe in three gods?” It was not asked in an accusatory way. They simply wanted to know how I reconciled the fact that I profess to be monotheistic yet believe in the Trinity.

Here is the general tenor of how I responded. If we think of the Trinity as a description of who God is, it is difficult not to conclude that somehow we are pointing to three gods. Through history we have tried to use highly specialized language to avoid this, but it is still confusing to grasp—read the Athanasian Creed as an example. It may be better to think of the Trinity as describing how God relates to us. Hendrikus Berkhof (always good to quote famous theologians!) said that “The Father is the divine partner, and the Son the human representative, the Spirit the bond between them,” and this same Spirit is the one that bonds us to the Son and draws us to the Father. This is why in classical theology it could be said that salvation is entering into “partnership in the Trinity.” That’s a phrase to mull over! We cannot unpack it here but only indicate that the Trinity represents the dynamic of God as God moves and draws us into relationship.

At this point I am not sure if this sparked your interest or I have made your eyes glaze over in less than 150 words. And if you are wondering, my Muslim friends were still unsure or unclear. But it did move us away from the idea of three Gods to fascinating conversation about how God is with us. Because God is not a static being, neither is our faith. This gives us hope that we can grow, learn, discover, and explore where our partnership in the Trinity is taking us.

Tuesday – Our Doctrinal Conundrum

westend_admin — Tue, 25 May 2010 14:00:55 +0000

This Sunday’s theme is the Trinity. It is a confusing doctrine that, if nothing else, has given us endless hours of conversation trying to figure out what we mean when we say the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are related to the nature of God. It would be natural to wonder why we should waste the time. When was the last time you mentioned the Trinity? When was the last time you prayed to the Trinity? The truth is we probably avoid its mention because it confuses more than it clarifies anything about God.

For those who want to scrap the doctrine, I have some bad news. This will never happen. The New Testament mentions the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit separately and at times together (Matthew 28:19). Even though a doctrine of the Trinity is not taught in the Bible, we are left wrestling with how these three are bound to the idea of God. These biblical references will fuel continued debate and speculation as part of Christianity. It is part of our language about God (see yesterday’s blog).

This may strike you as odd, but I think we need the problem of the Trinity. It is our doctrinal conundrum that keeps us rethinking and reimaging who God is and what relevance this has to us. Our mistake has been to use the doctrine of the Trinity to curtail conversation. Instead, let’s consider it an open invitation to explore God’s presence and movement in history, which is continued in our lives.

Monday – Describing God

westend_admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 17:58:40 +0000

People can use big words when describing God. Words like ineffable, omnipresent, and omniscient. They are used in an attempt to describe God as beyond what we know or understand. There are also those terms we use to describe God as the presence that is always with us, comforting and guiding us. When discussing the place of Jesus as God with us, we add another level of terminology that refers to Jesus as our friend. Then there are those that say that it is best to speak of God in terms of what God is not rather than who or what God is.

We may be quick to say, “What does this matter?” God will be who God is regardless of the words we use. This is true. How we speak of God does not change God. But, and this is a major point, the language we choose about God guides us in the ways we see and experience God. There is something at stake in describing God. Therefore, it is important to do two things in our God-talk: 1) do a personal audit of the language we use about God; and 2) expand our vocabulary about God. How we speak of God tells us something about how we relate to God. And the variety of ways that people approach this should not be viewed as a problem to be eliminated. By engaging and learning from each other’s vocabularies, we are expanding the possibility of God in our lives.

Friday – Spiritual Silos

westend_admin — Fri, 21 May 2010 13:45:58 +0000

I am fascinated by an aspect of this week’s text from John. Here is why. Whenever we talk about the Spirit of God and the power of God’s presence, we can easily turn it into a “God is with you and all you need is God” speech. But Jesus slips something important into his conversation about God’s presence. He says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (14:15). And Jesus summarized the commandments this way: love God and love your neighbor. I understand how loving God can relate to the Spirit. But the question is, what does loving one’s neighbor have to do with this?

I think this shapes expectations about what it means to be moved by God’s Spirit. Being led by the Spirit does not mean we will be led into a spiritual silo that is just “me and God.” Somehow being led by the Spirit leads us into relationships and into our communities. We are led into the stuff of life with all its chaos and mess. To seek the Spirit of God is not to retreat from what is going on around us. It shapes how we live fully in the moment of where we are.

Random thought of the day: Seeking the Spirit is seeking life to its fullest.

Thursday – Spiritual Company

westend_admin — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:52:48 +0000

A sign that you are a part of the technological generation is your ability to walk and text at the same time—while listening to your iPod, of course. I’m not one of them, and frankly, I am baffled at how people can so effortlessly move through a crowd while churning out messages on their phone. Maybe it is because they start so young. A few days ago I saw a little girl walking towards me absorbed in her video game. She looked like a teenager in training. Then she glanced around her and realized her mother was no where in sight. It took but a moment for this to sink in. The next thing I heard was her little voice screaming through tears, “Mom! Mom! Where are you?” Luckily, her mom was only a few feet ahead. I am sure in a few more years her competency will grow in tracking her mom while playing her game.

Jesus’ disciples had a similar experience. When Jesus told them that he would soon be leaving them, panic quickly set in. They bombarded Jesus with questions: “What are we going to do? Where can we go to find you?” Jesus reassured them that though he would be gone, they were not being abandoned. God’s Spirit would be with them (John 14:16). This exchange shows that no matter how old we are, no one wants to look up and realize that we are alone. And when this happens, it is important to know that God is just a shout away.

Random thought of the day: Though we may feel far from God, God is never far from us.

Wednesday – Meandering with God

westend_admin — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:08:01 +0000

On Sunday afternoon I took a three hour walk. I didn’t power walk or jog. I just meandered. It was one of those rare opportunities to walk without a purpose or destination. On this particular afternoon it was people-watching at its best. I passed the late brunch/early cocktail crowd sunning themselves at street side cafes. I watched a sea of softball games being played in Central Park. I had to navigate through the well-coiffed, bag-laden shoppers leaving Bloomingdales. But what I enjoyed most was being alone with my thoughts. I thought about everything and nothing in those three hours. And when I arrived home, I felt a renewed sense of clarity about everything and nothing. I wish I could find better words to describe it, but it was spiritually uplifting in a nondescript way.

As I think about what being “led” by the Spirit looks like, it reminds me of the words of Thomas Merton. He said, “The first step toward finding God, Who is Truth, is to discover the truth about myself.” Part of being led by the Spirit is looking around us for the presence and promptings of God. But we would be missing something if we are not also looking within ourselves. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is pressed to answer when the kingdom of God would come, i.e., the grand movement of God among us. He replied that you will not find it by looking here or there “because the kingdom of God is within you” (17:20-21). It makes me realize that I need to meander a little more in life.

Random thought of the day: To be with God may require us to be fully with ourselves.

Tuesday – The Boundaries of God’s Presence

westend_admin — Tue, 18 May 2010 14:02:40 +0000

Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus is a catchy Latin phrase that means “outside the church there is no salvation.” It was first penned by St. Cyprian in the third century, and it has been used ever since to express the essentiality of the Church for salvation. This simple phrase has created endless debate. Does this mean only those who are part of the visible Church are saved? Or does this refer to the invisible Church of which people are a part even though they may not belong to a local congregation? The debate is about more than the role of the Church. It is about the boundaries of God’s presence.

Enter this week’s text, Romans 8:14-17. The opening line says “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” We can be quick to confine those “who are led by the Spirit” to those in the Church. Yet this would place limits on the Spirit that by very definition cannot be placed. Yesterday we said that the term “spirit” means “wind.” And in the Gospel of John it says that like the wind, the Spirit blows where it wills (3:8). It is because God’s Spirit knows no boundaries that there is any hope of healing and reconciliation. How often does the pain of our personal histories and the anger of past hurts limit what we think is possible? To be led by the Spirit is to open ourselves to something, someone, beyond ourselves so that we can move past these limits.

By saying this we are not diminishing the value of the Church or the uniqueness of the Christian faith. But by staking claim to our faith we are not restricting the presence of God. We are sharing how it has been our source for the life-giving, life-animating presence of the Spirit. It is too good not to share, and yet we do so without presumption about what the Spirit is doing and where the Spirit is doing it.

Random thought of the day: To claim the Spirit is not to confine the Spirit. We will find signs of God’s presence everywhere—if we are still looking!

Monday – Got Spirit?

westend_admin — Mon, 17 May 2010 13:27:46 +0000

Within our slice of Protestantism there is a growing emphasis on spirituality. I am all for it. However, what I find puzzling is the lack of emphasis on the Spirit. To me it seems important that in some way the Spirit is related to spirituality.

The term “spirit” in Hebrew and Greek, like the Latin, refers to the movement of air, such as in “breath” or “wind.” When God breathes into humanity the “breath of life,” it is what enlivens us. (Genesis 2:7). It is the gift of God’s breath, his Spirit, that makes us more than biological life. Perhaps that is why inherent in every person is a desire to be more than alive. We desire to connect with an energy and enthusiasm that makes life worth living. In Christianity, this connection is called the Spirit.

Random thought of the day: The spiritual journey is about connecting with the vitality and verve with which God created us.

Friday – Fitting Religion into Everyday Conversation

westend_admin — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:34:00 +0000

Douglas Johnston, the author of Religion, The Missing Dimension of Statecraft, says that the divide between Islam and the West can be attributed to the different languages we speak. The West speaks the language of separation between religion and politics, while Islam speaks the language of integration. I certainly found this to be true while living in an Islamic country. For my Muslim friends, faith is not a private matter. It informs all of life. Therefore religion surfaced regularly and naturally in our conversations. By contrast, westerners mention religion sparingly and judiciously for fear that we offend someone. I found it liberating to have free-flowing conversations about how faith intersects with life, impacts decisions, shapes one’s political views, and guides one’s family. It prompted me to reconnect with my faith in ways I previously never considered.

But now that I have returned to the world of separation, I’ve been reassessing how religion fits into everyday conversation. I think a passage from 1 Peter provides some needed guidance. It says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (3:15). This means that a conversation that incorporates faith should:

Come as a natural response to what is being discussed, not as a forced topic
Express something that comes from within, not something we think we’re supposed to say
Convey a gentleness and humility, not an air of superiority.

Random thought of the day: Forced conversations about faith turn people into projects rather than friends. Yet to withhold our faith from conversations is to withhold a part of us from friends.

Thursday – Cats, Christianity, and the Middle East

westend_admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 13:46:01 +0000

My helpful colleagues at the church helped care for my two companions, Tabitha and Miss Kitty, while I was in Oman. When I returned, they told me that one of the cats was friendly, the other quite shy. I immediately assumed Tabitha was the friendly one (the ‘big-boned’ grey cat above). But to my surprise, it was Miss Kitty. Tabitha hid whenever they came to feed them. Then I remembered that a few weeks ago I accidently stepped on Tabitha’s foot while pouring her food. (Yes, I felt terrible. No, she was not injured.) Since then, she heads for cover at feeding time. Tabitha is usually so friendly she could be mistaken for a dog, but her food-related trauma has resulted in a more cautious disposition. Unfortunately, no one was able to experience her winsome personality while I was away.

Our experiences affect us in the same way. I quickly learned this as a Christian leader working in the Middle East. With the globalization of information, there are now Muslim scholars who have read the historical literature on Christian mission to the Middle East. What they discovered was a strong evangelistic motive of which they were not fully aware. And while there have been many Christians who have served the mission of their churches with integrity, there have been a few who have set up charitable fronts for covert proselytizing. For many, this has left an air of duplicity about Christians. These experiences shaped the hue and reception that some would extend to me. I sympathize with their position. If I were them, I probably would be more skeptical and less trusting of Christian leaders who come from the West to the Middle East. What I learned is that if trusting relationships were going to be possible, there was no side-stepping this issue. Time and honest conversation were needed. I also discovered that I had some baggage that needed to be checked-in if I was going to be open to more than superficial relationships.

We bring our personal histories into our relationships. How we approach love and friendship, work and recreation, are influenced by our past experiences. We do not encounter each other as blank slates. If we want meaningful relationships, we must work through the past that we bring to the table.

Random thought of the day: There is a Persian proverb that says, “He who has been bitten by a snake fears a piece of string.” To form meaningful relationships, we need to know what is a string and what is a snake!

Wednesday – Knowing Why We Want to Know

westend_admin — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:23:42 +0000

The countdown has begun: only one month until the family joins me in New York! On this last trip, Tena and I found ourselves nostalgic about the great times we have had in Oman. In particular, I thought about my work in building bridges between people of different faiths and cultures. A central part of this was hosting international guests who came to learn more about Islam. There were wonderful moments when people connected in profound ways, but there were also tense moments when people could not find common ground. Whenever the dialogue derailed, I noticed a common thread among the Western perspectives represented. (I’ll let my Muslim colleagues speak for themselves.) It had to do with why people wanted to know more about Islam.

The “why” of wanting to learn is like the rudder of a ship: it directs us towards what information we see—and don’t see. With regard to Islam, I noticed how easily Christians motivated by evangelism could only see that which could be used as an apologetic tool. For government officials motivated by the spread of democracy, it was easy to see only that which showed the inferiority of Islamic monarchies. For Western artists motivated by artistic freedom, it was easy to see only that which showed the inadequacy of art that restricts the use of human images. As I look back, the tense moments came when the rudder of learning was not seeking knowledge. It was to glean supporting facts to show the superiority of one’s view.

It is fine to have strongly held views and agendas. This is what makes for great conversation and friendship. The problem is that many of us think that our personal beliefs and objectives do not interfere with what we are able to learn--which is always easier to recognize when done by others than by ourselves! I am not advocating that we abandon what we believe to be able to learn from others. What we need is self-awareness of how our beliefs may shape what we are able to see. From a faith perspective, we must remain open to new insights and knowledge wherever it may be found. There is a text in Philippians that says, “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (4:8)

Random thought of the day: When learning about others, we need to move from seeing what we know to knowing what we see.

Tuesday – My Top Three for Oman

westend_admin — Tue, 11 May 2010 10:57:56 +0000

Monday – What did you do for Mother’s Day?

westend_admin — Mon, 10 May 2010 13:50:34 +0000

Yesterday was Mother’s Day in the U.S.--Happy Mother’s Day to any moms reading this. In the Arab world, Mother’s Day falls on a different day, but being Americans, we kept our tradition of taking Tena out for dinner. We went to the Shangri La, a beautiful resort on the Arabian Sea. The evening began with drinks at the Piano Lounge, which is perched on the upper level of the hotel. Above is picture of Tena and Austin watching the sunset, and the other picture shows the spectacular view we had from there. Sorry, but I couldn’t help rubbing it in a bit! We then proceeded to the Tapas restaurant where we were serenaded by Mexican music while we enjoyed a wonderful evening together.

Even though I like to think of ourselves as savvy world travelers and citizens of the world, it has been interesting to see the longstanding religious and family traditions we have kept while living abroad. There is something comforting about them that reminds us of home. Our Christmas and Easter traditions have kept us connected to the roots of our faith, and Mother and Father’s Day traditions kept us connected to our families. Like all families, we have those quirky traditions that others could easily dismiss as insignificant. But in many ways, they are what kept us grounded as we navigated new places and introduced new friends into our lives.

Random thought of the day: Jaroslav Pelikan, a noted historian and theologian, said that “tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.” It is important to hold onto those ancient traditions that breathe new life into our being, and let go of those traditions that restrict our ability to grow.

Friday – King Solomon in Oman

westend_admin — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:30:30 +0000

The terrain and environment in Oman can be very inhospitable, as the above picture of a mountain village reveals. If the arid climate and difficult topography were not enough, the lack of rain adds to the challenge. There can only be life where there is water, and with less than four inches of rain annually, this leaves much of Oman uninhabitable. If you look at the picture closely, you will see green vegetation on tiers etched in the side of the mountain. This is made possible by irrigation channels known as aflaj (s. falaj). With bricks, stones, and carving into the mountainside, Omanis developed an elaborate irrigation system that captures the rains and taps into far away springs. This has made life possible in the most remote of locations for the past 3,000 years.

While walking through a small village at the base of the mountains, an Omani friend pointed to a falaj and told me it is known as a Da’udi falaj (David falaj). Omani legend has it that the Prophet Suleiman bin Da’ud (Solomon son of David)) stayed in Oman in the 10th century BCE. When he arrived he found the land so dry that he ordered the jinn (supernatural beings) to dig 1,000 aflaj each day for the ten days he stayed in Oman. This type of falaj was henceforth known as the “David falaj.” This is not the only connection to key figures in the Bible. Oman is also known for Queen Sheba’s palace, Job’s tomb, and home of the frankincense that was given by the Magi to the infant Jesus.

Random thought of the day: Given time to get to know one another, we share more history and tradition than we think.

Thursday – East Meets West through Music

westend_admin — Thu, 06 May 2010 15:06:56 +0000

Oman is steeped in traditional culture and has gone to great lengths to preserve its heritage as it undergoes massive modernization. From architectural styles to daily dress, this preservationist emphasis can be seen. Not far from our home, a striking new building is taking shape. As more of its character is revealed, one can see that it too will be traditional in style, yet grand in scale. It is the Royal Oman Opera House, and it will host something new to Omani culture: the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra (ROSO).

ROSO holds the distinction of being the first Arabic symphony orchestra, and it is comprised entirely of Omani citizens. With no tradition of western classical music, it was started from scratch twenty-five years ago with the selection of one hundred Omani children who began their training as musicians. Today, ROSO represents Oman to the world and the world to Oman. They embody the possible synergy and exchange between cultures. Without every uttering a word, they have forged bonds among diverse peoples through a shared appreciation of music.

Random thought of the day: Rumi, a Muslim mystic, said, “When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” Sharing the things that bring us joy has a way of spreading joy to others.

Wednesday - You’re Fat!

westend_admin — Wed, 05 May 2010 13:36:04 +0000

I had an interesting exchange today. I ran into someone I hadn’t seen since I left Oman in November. We greeted each other, and the next thing out of his mouth was, "You’re fat!" I have been exercising and watching my diet, so the comment caught me off guard. As the conversation continued, I realized he was trying to communicate, "It looks like you’ve been working out." Good thing I held off on the comment about his mother! As I think about it, I had countless misunderstandings with people while living in Oman. The cultural and linguistic differences made precise communication difficult. Yet despite this limitation, I left with many close friends. I think we all learned to compensate by using body language and emotion to exude a willingness to be in relationship with one another.

Today’s picture depicts this phenomenon. It is one of the students we hosted posing with her new Bedouin friend. Though they did not share much of a common vocabulary, they quickly connected with each other. I always found it fascinating to see how friendships emerged from conversations so marred by seemingly insensitive and inappropriate comments. Somehow this did not get in the way, and people were able to convey clearly that they wanted to be friends.

Random thought of the day: Relationships are not only about the vocabulary we share; it is also about the non-verbal energy we give. In psychology, some say we must be fully present in each moment to become self-actualized. Maybe we need to be fully present in each relationship to become relationally-actualized.

Tuesday – What’s going on inside that mosque?

westend_admin — Tue, 04 May 2010 14:31:05 +0000

Above is a picture of the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. I was able to get this aerial view because a friend let me climb a minaret. It always pays to have connections. The mosque is stunning, and it is sizeable. It will hold over six thousand inside, and the entire space will accommodate over twenty thousand. Just as there are “mega-churches,” so too there are “mega-mosques.”

The mosque is open to the public and thousands of tourists pass through the mosque each week. What most people do not know is that there is a lecture hall attached to the mosque. In it they hold lectures on a variety of religious, social, and political topics. They host Muslim and non-Muslim scholars, leaders, and politicians from all over the world. The topics have included democracy in the Middle East, gender equality and Islam, and a Christian theology of religious diversity. My favorite part is always the Q&A after the lecture. I recall a Dutch philosopher saying the only way to be open to greater truth is to doubt what you believe (a/k/a, epistemological modesty). This made for interesting dialogue with the Muslim community!

One of the reasons I admire this initiative is that the goal is not to present the country’s party line. It is to stimulate conversation about the currents of dialogue and hot topics in the world today. Oman does this very quietly without seeking praise or publicity. Most people have no idea what goes on inside this mosque.

Random thought for the day: We can get in our comfort zones and only seek those opinions and ideas with which we are already comfortable. But if we want to grow, it requires us to listen and engage the views of those with whom we may disagree.

p.s. The Grand Mosque holds a special place for our family. Austin had his senior pictures taken there.

Monday – Oman and the Forces of History

westend_admin — Mon, 03 May 2010 14:53:55 +0000

Oman has a spectacular coastline that stretches one thousand miles along the Arabian Sea. There are pristine beaches, rugged cliffs, and mountains soaring in the background. The picture above is one I took in Sur, one of it historical ports. Oman capitalized on its access to the sea and has been a seafaring nation for millennia. Through history their ships have sailed to China, India, and Africa following the trade winds. These travels have been immortalized through the legend of Sinbad the Sailor, who Omani folklore claims as a son of Oman.

Their encounter with foreign cultures and religions continues to this day. One of the surprising statistics about Oman is that of the nearly three million residents, one million are foreigners. The opportunities for jobs have brought people from around the world, and with it have come the religions of the world.

Now for the question on everyone’s mind: what is it like to live there? When people learn that Oman’s neighbors are Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, it sounds like a hostile environment for any foreigners present. This may be hard for you to believe, but after living in Oman for eight years, I found it one of the more hospitable environments in which we have lived. Because Oman has had trade relations with foreign countries for so long, religious diversity is not a new concept or new social reality. Going back centuries, they have had Omanis living in China and Indians living in Oman to facilitate trade and commerce. The presence of people of different faiths has been, and continues to be, a part of the culture. When a new Hindu temple is needed or the churches need to expand, the Sultan provides land so that they have places of worship. More recently, when a cyclone damaged non-Muslim places of worship, within days the government provided aid to make sure the congregations could recover.

I do not want to sound too Pollyannaish. There are still issues that need to be addressed, and not everyone has their religious needs accommodated as they desire. But the people of Oman are working to make a place for all.

Here’s the random thought of the day: Oman shows how history shapes present-day views and relationships. This can be positive and negative, and often it is a force that we follow with little reflection on where it leads us. I think we all need to take stock of our personal and national histories and see how they influence the decisions we make today.

Friday – Those are Fighting Words

westend_admin — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 13:31:00 +0000

Last Sunday in our adult education class we talked about Priscillian, Bishop of Avila. He holds the distinction of being the first Christian put to death for heresy. This occurred in 385 CE and marks a tragic turn in how faith is approached. I love theology and think there is something at stake in what we believe. But I am also puzzled how people who say they want to spread the love of Christ can be so unchristlike in how they treat each other. Through history we have fought over things like the hypostasis of Christ’s divinity and humanity, and whether the filioque clause belongs in our creeds (Google these items for fun). And though these are debatable topics, they do not sound like fighting words to me.

John 13:35 says that if we love one another, then people will know we are followers of Christ. Here’s a question: if the only thing people knew about God was based on how we lived, what would they think? Stating it this way may seem to place undue pressure to live life perfectly. But the text does not point to a perfect life. It points to a loving life. We may lead untidy lives and have heretical thoughts, but the singular criterion is how we love one another. A simple but revolutionary idea!

Thursday – Thanks for the Obvious

westend_admin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:23:34 +0000

It is easy to question the profundity of Jesus’ words in John 13:34. He says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.” There does not seem to be much new about the need to love. It easily ranks with other obvious advice, such as “eat your vegetables,” “drive carefully,” and “study hard.” We say these things all the time knowing that it makes us feel better saying them than it does informing anyone of something they didn’t know. Though this may sound like sacrilege, to tell someone to love one another is no great revelation.

But what if these words contain something new? What if these words contain the counsel we need to radically reorient the way we live and love? If we continuing reading verse 34, it says, “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” The point is not to remind us of what we already know. It is to prompt us to examine what our idea of love is. When we ask ourselves, what does love look like? The breakthrough idea is to love as Jesus loved. We know that a life without love is an unfilled one. It is equally true that a life that misunderstands love is also unfulfilled. The hope offered in this new command is that Jesus’ example guides us towards a fulfilling, life’s worth living, kind of love.

Wednesday – The Luxury of Old Things

westend_admin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:13:26 +0000

As I have wrestled with the text from Revelation 21, I find that the probable history surrounding it shapes how I understand it. The book was written by a Jewish Christian, and circumstances may have forced him to leave his home without hope of return. From 66-70 CE there was a Jewish war with Rome. In the end, Rome sacked the city, and the sacred temple and the city of Jerusalem lay in ruins. This led to a diaspora that left people refugees in foreign lands. If he is drawing from this experience, then when he writes of a “new Jerusalem” coming down from heaven, he is touching upon one of the most basic human yearnings: a place to call home.

We can easily grow tired of living in the same old house, going to the same old job, and having the same old routine week after week. When I read this text, it reminds me that there are people who do not have the luxury of the same old thing. Their homes are gone, their jobs are lost, and every day brings more uncertainty. They yearn for the day that they can complain about the same old thing. As I reflect on the vision of a “new Jerusalem,” I realize I owe God a prayer of gratitude for the same old things in my life. And I need to pray for those who go to bed each night with a hope that something new will appear.

Tuesday – Religulous

westend_admin — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:26:44 +0000

While writing this I am watching the movie Religulous by the comedian Bill Maher. It is a documentary that aims to show the folly of religion. Hence the play on words: religion is “religulous.” I am sure that you are wondering why a pastor is watching a movie that is anti-Christian. In my defense, Maher is very funny. But I am also intrigued by how he depicts religion because he raises questions that are on many people’s minds.

It may not surprise you that he has a problem with the book of Revelation, which focuses on the final age where the renewing and reconciling work of God comes to fruition. Mayer’s position is that belief in a glorious future is fabricated to appease those who cannot face the reality of this life. Interestingly, the Christians he interviews are almost exclusively literalists who do not acknowledge symbolism and metaphor in the Bible. This makes for better repartee, but it does not make for a balanced debate. This brings us to this week’s text, Revelation 21:1-6. It depicts God “making all things new,” and in the end “mourning and crying and pain will be no more.” It is the glorious end that Maher rejects, but he does so by rejecting the details of how the end is envisioned. Revelation is not a playbook that reveals specifics of the when and how of the movement of God. Through its symbol-laden text, it instills hope that even when present-day challenges seem insurmountable, progress is possible, good overcomes evil, and our lives can contribute towards an end that brings peace. Faith in God calls us forward rather than accept a laissez-faire approach to what is. I don’t think this is “religulous.’ I think it is what keeps us going when everything around us tells us it would be easier to give up.

Monday – Holding on

westend_admin — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:16:16 +0000

I watched a televangelist this past weekend, not part of my normal routine. The theme of his message was Jesus, salvation, and the need to send money. After watching for a few minutes, I thought to myself, “It’s the same old thing.” I wonder how many people feel this way about Christianity in general. Familiarity with the faith, even a vague one, can give it a static quality. This can be as true for those looking from the outside as those who count themselves among the Christian tribe.

Perhaps it is the difference between focusing on ideas about God and focusing on God. If we focus primarily on ideas about God, then we may feel we have mastered the basics. But if we focus on God--this dynamic, change-agent on the loose in the world--then each day brings new possibilities. This changes the nature of our spiritual quest. Faith is not as much about holding onto our beliefs as it is holding onto the One in whom we believe. If faith feels static, then it may be time to examine what it is we’re holding onto.

Friday: Begin with the End in Mind

westend_admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:26:58 +0000

In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey says that we should “begin with the end in mind.” What he means by this is obvious. Make sure the choices we make and the actions we take move us towards the end result we want. Otherwise we risk being highly active without accomplishing anything. Makes sense to me.

However, we all know that when it comes to setting goals, some of us can be myopic in what we think is achievable. The text from Revelation pushes these boundaries by looking at THE end, not just our end. It focuses on the culmination of God’s work in the world. This raises an interesting perspective: perhaps the end result for which we yearn should reach beyond our lifetime. And if this is so, then the results for which we strive can never be just about ourselves. If the only results that matter are those achievable in our lifetime, then some of the most pressing issues facing us as families, communities, and nations will never be addressed. We forget that though we may not see the final result in pursuing the larger and longer vision of what can be, we are able to help take a step in that direction. It is not an either/or situation. We must set goals that are achievable by us and for us. But if this is all we do, we will miss being a part of something much larger than ourselves. I agree with Covey, begin with THE end in mind.

Thursday: Optimistic about the End

westend_admin — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:26:29 +0000

One of this week’s texts comes from the book of Revelation (7:9-17). The literary genre is apocalyptic. It is a future-oriented, power-packed, symbolic account of good versus evil. It can be difficult to understand, and there are varying interpretations of how it is understood. But there is one unquestionable theme: it is optimistic about what happens in the end. It says there will be a “great multitude” gathered before the throne of God. The people are so numerous “that no one could count.” They will come “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (7:9). Imagine this countless multitude standing in the presence of God dressed head to toe in white, which symbolizes their worthiness, holding palm branches, symbolizing triumph. Today, we may not be able to see past the tensions and wars, but in the end we see peace with God and with each other.

This beatific view of the end should not cause us to overlook the needs of those who are suffering right now. But by looking beyond today, it gives us hope that we are moving towards an end that is beyond what current circumstances may allow us to dream. Just affirming this possibility causes us to look at people and situations through a different lens. Rather than thinking the situation insurmountable or viewing people or places hopeless, we should look to the Spirit of God that is on the move around us. Sometimes it is true that what you see is what you get.

Wednesday: Resurrection as Affirmation of Life

westend_admin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 13:19:23 +0000

Tuesday we took a detour around the main thrust of the story of Tabitha in Acts 9. Though she was a person devoted to doing good works and acts of charity, her biblical fame comes from being raised from the dead. I know this is going to sound strange, but I wonder why this is good news. If after death there is no more pain. If after death we find eternal peace. If after death we enter paradise with God. Why does the Bible celebrate Tabitha’s return to an earthly existence? Whatever answer we give, it must include the affirmation that life is worth living. Otherwise it would be a cruel act of God to delay heaven to spend a few more years in this world.

Our spiritual journeys are about centering on those things that make life worth living. If we look at Jesus’ instructions for prayer, it emphasizes the potential of life today. He said we are to pray “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Life is not part of a heavenly installment plan to collect after death. There is a heavenly dimension to our earthly existence, and following the way of Christ leads us into this dimension.

Tuesday: On the Go for God

westend_admin — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:28:43 +0000

Acts 9:36-43 is an interesting text—a resurrection of a dead person always catches one’s attention! But there is another dimension to the story that sparks my interest. Peter, who travels extensively to do ministry, visits a disciple named Tabitha, who devoted her life to “good works and acts of charity” (9:36). Both were people of action and heroes of the faith. Yet in the scheme of faith, we often minimize the importance of our actions. Here is the root of the misunderstanding. We believe that we are received by God because of God’s grace, not because of our works. We are loved by God because of who God is, not because of what we do. While affirming this powerful understanding, in no way should it diminish the good we are called to do. To say that we can do no good to earn God’s love is not the same as saying that we can do no good to help our neighbor. We should not lean on God’s grace as a cause for complacency. God’s grace should move us to action and compassion.

Monday - The Way We Get There

westend_admin — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:25:33 +0000

Something has bothered me about how some of us Christians approach outreach. There can be a mentality that we should do whatever it takes to make people Christian, and thus the ends always justifies the means. This leads to heavy-handed tactics, bait and switch events, and the people around us becoming prospects. I could easily continue to rant about this, but I raise it to illustrate two things about Christianity and “ends” and “means.” First, we can never use unchristian means to get to a Christian end. It is not just about what we achieve in life. It is about how we get there. Second, what we believe about Christian “ends” matters because it guides the choices we make along the way. Theologians talk about mission Dei, the mission of God. Central to this is the work of God to bring about salvation, which is more than what happens after we die. It is the all-encompassing movement of God to effect peace and reconciliation with each other, with God, and with all of creation. With this end in mind, we should ask ourselves, do the choices we make and the actions we take contribute to this? I’d like to think that the way we live each day can lead to a little more peace and reconciliation in the world.

Divine Disclosure: Friday – Going Fishing with God

westend_admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:39:30 +0000

I’m still thinking about the opening scene in John 21. It doesn’t really fit our notion of spiritual encounters. Typically, we look for spiritual moments in times and places that have an obvious sacred quality to them--cathedrals, mountain tops, and sunsets. Yet the disciples’ big encounter was while fishing, and it wasn’t a recreational outing with their favorite beverages at their side! They were working. Think of it as more Deadliest Catch than A River Runs Through It. While it’s true that there are times and places where a sense of God is more evident, this is not the same as saying God is confined to them. As it says in the Psalms, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there” (139:7&8). Encountering God isn’t a question of where we are but whether we’re looking.

Thursday - Getting Caught Naked

westend_admin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:34:07 +0000

What is it about God catching people naked? In Genesis 3, God appears in the Garden of Eden, and Adam and Eve quickly hide because they are naked and ashamed. In John 21, after the resurrection Jesus appears to a few of his disciples while they're fishing and catches Peter naked. (I'm not going to pursue why Peter was fishing naked!) Peter's impulse was not to hide. Instead, he threw on his clothes and raced towards Jesus. These are two distinct responses to encountering God. Encountering God could mean we should hide because God's perfection places a spotlight on our less than admirable past acts. Or encountering God brings us out from our hiding because we know we will be embraced by God's grace. The example of Peter shows we should expect the latter. Peter had every reason to hide from Jesus. Not long ago, Peter had deserted Jesus. When Jesus was arrested by the authorities, Peter quickly denied knowing him. Not a great example of a friend and follower of Jesus! This is what gives power to Peter's race to Jesus. Peter had every reason to hide. But he knew from Jesus' message and presence, he would be met by grace.

Wednesday - Looking Beyond Our Language

westend_admin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 01:25:15 +0000

If I were God, I would make sure every person gets one big God experience, complete with directions for what to do next. Life would be so much easier. I’ve been wondering if there is a sense in which this is already true. We’ve all had those stretches in life where we may have sacrificed our family for our career, let alcohol numb our feelings at the end of every day, or feel the daily pain of a broken relationship. Then something happens. We’re not exactly sure why, but we find a new perspective, a new inner resolve that allows us to change. It’s almost as if we had help come from an unknown source. Most of the time, we can’t find the words to describe it. We only know that we’ve changed. These are deeply spiritual experiences even though we may not use religious language to describe them. Sometimes I think those “God moments” would be clearer if we focused less on cloaking the experiences in religious language and more on what it is we’re experiencing. It’s not the language we use that produces God’s presence. It is cultivating the habit of attentiveness to what God’s doing.

Tuesday - A Spiritual 180

westend_admin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:02:56 +0000

One of Sunday’s texts is Acts 9:1-6. It’s Paul’s (formerly known as Saul) conversion experience. These few verses represent a spiritual 180 that has become the quintessence of intense spiritual encounters. This one is marked by a blinding light and mystical encounter with Jesus. It speaks to those “God moments” that feel like God has a megaphone. However it manifests itself, it is an experience so distinctive that it shapes one’s life. These moments are to be celebrated. However, when these experiences become paradigmatic, it can leave those people who lack this dramatic quality in their spiritual journey feeling like second-tier Christians. I also wonder how many smaller “God moments” we miss in our lives. Each of these smaller moments may not be life-changing or even particularly memorable, but their collective force moves and shapes us. That’s the thing about spiritual 180’s, whether you turn fast or slow, you still made a turn.

Monday - No Idea About God

westend_admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 19:38:42 +0000

Does God communicate with us? How we answer this question determines the course of our spiritual journey. If God does not connect or communicate with us, then our journey is focused on expanding our ideas about God. If God does relate to us in some way, then the journey is about establishing and maintaining that connection. Based on this, here’s my theory. I recall reading that church attendance is on the decline partly because people don’t find church spiritual enough. Ironic isn’t it? I think it is because we spend too much talking about God and not enough time seeking to connect with God. If I think back to the rough patches in my life, spiritual comfort didn’t come from an idea about God. It was from a strong sense that God was with me and nudging me new directions through the experience. (How God “nudges” people is another topic!)