.::Why Can’t It Be Easy?

How great would it be if the spiritual life was something that was EASY to do?

Yesterday in my Spiritual Disciplines class, I had my students practicing the discipline of Solitude.  This entails giving them the bulk of the class hour to actually BE in Solitude with God out in nature.  Up to this point in the class we have covered all sorts of ways to BE in solitude such as lectio divina, meditation, and silence so they aren’t just thrown in to it, they are asked to marshal their resources and do it themselves.  I really enjoy GIVING my students this GIFT.  I realize for many of them the idea of spending extended time with God in silence and meditation and reflection is foreign to them.  However, my hope is that they find something Holy, something Sacred as they enter into Solitude with God.

The main point I am trying to get them to practice with this hour is the idea of being “Fully Present” with God.  I want them to make their entire being available to God:

• Their Mind—by blocking out any distractions like the traffic, people walking through campus, the buzz of a text message in their pocket, etc.
• Their Heart—by dialing in to the amazing created order that is surrounding them such as the turning leaves, the gentle sunlight and the singing birds.
• Their Strength–by giving an hour doing something that seems like “wasting time,” being silent in a noisy world, and listening when we like to talk.
• Their Soul—by really, truly being transparent and completely open and bearing their sould to God.

I am a realist.  I know some of my students probably wasted their time by studying Calculus or Psychology.  Others texted away with their friends about the most recent episode of “The Office.”  One probably slept their way through the hour.  While this saddens me, I also know that one cannot be FORCED to practice the disciplines.  One must go willingly.

Granted, there have been a few times when I have been dragged to practicing the disciplines and ended up in a place where I NEEDED to be.  So hopefully, many of my students ended up at a place they needed to be at the end of it all.  It is a delicate balance with these required courses of introducing students to spiritual practices that they are REQUIRED to practice and INVITING them to enter in to it willingly.

On the one hand, I wish the Disciplines were EASY so that I could introduce them to my students in a way that is easy to digest and palatable.  However, I am glad they aren’t as that makes them so much more precious and beautiful.

.::Dress Socks

I have never cared for dress socks. I am a regular, athletic, white sock kind of guy. I like to wear thick heavy socks that you KNOW that you are wearing on your feet. The problem with dress socks for me is that they don’t even feel like REAL socks. They don’t feel NORMAL to me. So instead of buying dress socks, I buy dark colored athletic socks and fake it . . . so to speak.

I don’t know what kind of spiritual year you are having. Maybe things don’t feel “normal” for you, like when I am wearing dress socks. Maybe something feels off for you this season. What might be causing that in your faith?

Maybe you are having a great spiritual year/season right now. You are wearing your regular socks and thing feel RIGHT for you. What are the things that God has been doing in your life that have helped you get to this place? How can you maintain this spirit in your walk?

Socks…maybe they can be spiritual.

.::How True is this?

.::The Author is There

“The Author of the Bible is always present with his Book. This is not true of any other book in the world. Most authors are dead; and we sometimes regret that we cannot speak to them. But this Author for ever lives, and is for ever present; and, therefore, while we read his written word it is as natural as life sometimes to speak to him on certain subjects as they occur. “Truly, then, our communion is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

–Alexander Campbell, Millennial Harbinger Vol. III no. 1, 1839

This is from Alexander Campbell, one of the founders of the Stone-Campbell Movement as he writes on Reading Scripture.  I think he taps into something that we overlook far too often when we read scripture–that God is ALWAYS there when we read scripture.  In my Spiritual Disciplines class (and many times in church as well), it seems that at time when we open the text, there is the pall that overcomes the class and a sense of apathy that overcomes us.  Many times when we read scripture we approach it as a chore, boring, or irrelevant.  I also believe that our access to scripture through multiple Bibles, translations, formats, gives us a familiarity with the Bible that lessens our view of it and, as a result, we take it for granted.

We make it work FOR us–instead of letting it work IN us.

I love how Campbell reminds us about WHY scripture is special in that the Author (God) is ALWAYS present in its reading.  Every time we open the Word, God IS there.

• What if we possessed a perspective that WHEN we read scripture that God IS present?
• How might that change our perspective on Scripture?
• What kind of REVERENCE might we bring to the text?
• How might God’s Holy Presence CHANGE us?
• What kind of challenges might our souls be confronted with?
• How REFRESHING might our scripture reading become?
• How much BIGGER might God become with a perspective like this?
  

.::Beatles v. U2

I have argued for many years that U2 is the Greatest Rock Band ever.  However, with this week’s release of The Beatles Stereo Box Set this week I have been pouring over their catalog and have been forced to rethink my position.  I have not drawn any conclusions yet.  But here have been some of my arguments:

• U2 have been consistently producing number 1 music over three decades from “Sunday Bloody Sunday” to “Get on Your Boots.”
• To stay together as a band for thirty years is a difficult and remarkable feat (thanks Yoko).  The Beatles only recorded over eight years.  U2’s longevity has allowed them to experiment (ex. U2 pop) and consistently innovate their musical style (ex. Vertigo vs. No Line).  Yes the Beatles also experimented (Yellow Submarine) but again longevity gives the edge to U2 for me.
• There is no argument that The Beatles have had the biggest IMPACT on music through their complete reinvention of the medium of music.  Their music is timeless and the definition of “Hall of Fame”   And while U2’s influence is no doubt seen in bands like Coldplay (aka U2 wannabes) The edge here undoubtedly goes to The Beatles.
• The Beatles also have a long list of singles that have found their way into the lexicon of pop culture’s lexicon of musical hits like “Strawberry Fields, Let it Be, Lucy in the Sky, Help!, Good day Sunshine, Revolution, Hey Jude, Lady Madonna, Twist and Shout, etc.)  Songs that after the first measure you just begin to sing along.  Now “pop” hits don’t necessarily measure quality, for example, look at the top 10 songs on iTunes today and you will be hard pressed to see ANY quality music there.  Quantity does not measure quality.  However, I might just have to give the edge to The Beatles here.
• Bono and John Lenon have both used the microphone that Rock and Rock gave them to lobby the world for peace and humanitarian efforts.  Both in their own unique ways.  Still I give the edge to Bono who actively pursued world leaders and called them into accountability for their policies and the poor.  Granted, this doesn’t have anything to do with music, but this is my list and my criteria, if you don’t like it, make your own list.
• When it comes to Album Rock, albums that you can listen to from beginning to end, I personally give the edge to U2.  albums like Joshua Tree, Unforgettable Fire, How to Dismantle, All That You Can’t Leave Behind, are all albums I love to listen to from track 1 to the end without skipping a track.  The Beatles have a significant number of tracks that I find needing to skip since they simply bore me.  Winner here: U2
• We haven’t seen The Edge, Bono, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullin putting out solo albums that were junk like we did with Ringo and George Harrison (“I’ve got my mind set on you?    . . . . Really ?!?!?!).  Just have to mention Wings in this point . . . ’nuff said.  Winner without a doubt: U2.
• It probably could be argued that without The Beatles innovation of music there would have never been a U2, so I have to give a point to The Beatles.

But again, as I look over the breadth of the undoubtedly amazing catalog or The Beatles that was created in a relatively short amount of time, there is no doubt they are in serious contention, but my heart has to still give the award to U2.  I do have to thank the Beatles for their influence, artistry and pioneerism in music, but I love me my U2.

.::Silence

Recently on a friend’s Facebook wall I posted this,

“it is in silence that we are confronted with our weakness, frailty and fallenness…we can either face those weaknesses or ignore them by drowning them out with more noise.”

Now I am sure that these are not my words, but subtly plagiarized/paraphrased from a combination of Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, Jesus, Earl Lavender or Gary Holloway.  Nevertheless, there is so much NOISE in our lives from iPods, Computers, Cell Phones, Text Messages, Billboards, TVs, etc. that we don’t get to confront silence easily anymore.

In silence, we truly are confronted with our scars, our failures, our weaknesses, our frailty, our humanity in such a way that we are forced to either confront it and let God work in our souls, or we simply turn up the volume on the noise in our life and ignore the significant spadework of the heart we must endure to heal from that pain.

I have the privilege of taking classes of student through the journey of discovering the spiritual disciplines most semesters.  I find the disciplines like study, worship, prayer and quiet time easier for them to practice because they usually require them DOING something.  However, I always sense their hesitation with the disciplines of solitude and meditation where the participant is required to BE and to LISTEN and not do so much.

BE-ing and LISTENING are far more difficult for Western Christians as it doesn’t require us DOING. . . we must be passive and we have distilled our faith down to action.  By doing this, we have stripped our faith of the work that God desires to do in our life.

For it is in the silence that God perhaps does the best work.

It is in the silence the pruning happens.

It is in silence that we are confronted with a “Holy, Holy, Holy God” and we realize we are a man/woman of “unclean lips.”

It is in the silence that we realize that we are NOT God and the we ARE dependent upon God for everything.  It is much easier to think that we ARE God.

It is in silence that we hear the “still small voice of God” that may call us to dangerous places, make significant and painful sacrifices, or actually do the things the Bible calls us to that we have drowned out with the voice of our surrounding culture.

May you be SILENT some this weekend. . .

.::One National Chill Pill Please . . .

I usually wouldn’t use this space for political rants, but what I see happening this week in education really bothers me.  President Obama is going to address the nation’s students directly in a speech that is going to be broadcast where he is going to encourage them to take personal responsibility, work hard and stay in school. However, this is has been proving to be a touch point for partisan politics where parents have been calling and threatening administrators to not show this speech and take up “valuable” class time.
My wife teaches at a public school in the history department as was told that she is not to show it without having a lesson plan detailing how she will use the speech in class.  (After all, the fact that a presidential address being of historical value isn’t enough to warrant showing, that one has to design a lesson plan around it?)
So here are my two cents:

• I don’t care who you voted for, doesn’t it make sense to support our president?  Don’t we want to ENCOURAGE good citizenship from our students?
• Can’t we leave partisan politics to “grown ups?”
• Even if you didn’t vote for Obama, or agree with his policy, doesn’t a good education teach you how to discern and articulate WHY you don’t agree with a differing viewpoint?
• Are such ideas such as “personal responsibility, hard work and staying in school” so DIVISIVE that we wouldn’t want impressionable young minds to heed such advice?
• Is there no room for free speech in schools, especially when it is the President of the United States?
• Will we ever have a time when the nation can unite behind a leader that doesn’t involve a national tragedy such as Pearl Harbor or 9/11?
• Yeah, I’d rather have my kids in a pep rally, rather than being indoctrinated for an hour to work hard, stay in school and take responsibility because they get so much of that already.
• Q:  What really do we have to fear from our kids being encouraged to step up and be great?  [A:  That they may actually step up, study, work hard and take our jobs?]

If anything merits our need to take a chill pill, perhaps this does . . .

.::Classroom Joy

There are these moments that a teacher gets to share with their students that are magical. The electricity that fills the room when there is this connection between the student, teacher and subject. It is a comradarie of knowledge that intersects forming something beautiful and exciting.  It is this tremendous symphony when all three parties (teacher, student, subject) are in perfect harmony united together.  The teacher isn’t dominating with his or her downloading of the subject.  The students aren’t draining the process with their apathy or distractions.  The subject isn’t confounding the discussion with its insistence to confuse the other parties.

There is this hunger and thirst for Truth that emerges and is not satisfied until all the rocks of knowledge are overturned and discussion and argument, interrogation and wonder are exhausted.

It is those moments when ENGAGEMENT between these three are fully intertwined: student, subject, teacher.  Time is not an element.  Students (and teacher for that matter) do not check the clock on the wall to see how much longer is left in class.

These moments are GIFTS of God.  It are those times that feed the soul of teacher and student that affirm the process of education.

These moments are Transcendent–They usher us into a subatomic-sized part of God’s mind when we stand face-to-face with Truth and all the wonder and beauty that are inherent in such a discovery.  They are holy . . . set apart.

These are the moments students and teacher live between–energized from the endorphin rush that such discovery of Truth provides and journeying towards the hope of more discovery and moments like these.

This place is joy.

.::SAD?

I came across this quote today:

“The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlyn . . . “is to learn something.  That is the only thing that never fails . . . Learn why the world gas and what wags it.  That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.  Learning is the best thing for you.”

–White, The Once and Future King, p 183.

There is nothing like going through your day and Truth, deep Truth, finding you.  This passage illuminates one of the fundamentals of life–when you are learning, you are taken to something LARGER than yourself, something transcendent and suddenly, your own problems are put into perspective and one’s sadness is at least averted for the time being.

When one learns, they are taken to places lagers, more complex, more interesting, so different, so interesting, so thought provoking, so beautiful than one’s normal life.

One of the mantras that I have bought into comes from Rick Warren whenre he says, “Leaders are Learners.”  He says that when one ceases to learn, they lose their ability to lead others.  The task of learning is a life-long pursuit of knowledge, wisdom and understanding.  It is a journey whose nirvana is never realized, but its rewards are always noticed.

This is one of the biggest problems that I have witnesses is many churches.  They have lost their desire to LEARN.  Yes they have worship, yes they have sermons, yes they even have Bible Classes with inventive names; however, what they lack is the honest attempt to venture into the unknown and ask, “What if?”  To seek out beyond the barriers of our faith that we are so comfortable staying behind.  Much of what we pass off as learning in our places of worship is merely affirming that which we already believe and are comfortable with.

Look at what Jesus does with his followers:

“You have heard it said, BUT I tell you.”  He is pushing people beyond the familiar, beyond the Sunday School answers nad leads them into uncharted waters of faith.  I guarantee that those who put into practice those “But I tell you . . .” truths were taken on a wonderful and amazing journey in the Kingdom.

So pick up a book from a different section of Border’s then you normally shop at; turn to the History, Travel, or Discovery Channel and watch something you don’t know anything about; take a class at your local university (like Lipscomb); try a cuisine or restaurant that you haven’t ever tried; or go on at trip to an exotic locale, or maybe pick up the Bible and listen to it for the first time or read something you haven’t in it before.

.::BIG LIFE

Okay, I have to start with something that sounds really, really terrible, but I feel I have to blog about it. Now with that disclaimer out of the way, I remember dating a girl in college who after about a week or two into the relationship I realized she had a really “small” life. What I mean is that she had little ambition, no desire to travel, no real career goals, didn’t care for school, wanted to stay in College Station, and the list continued.
Granted, I didn’t have in mind what I really wanted to do with my life, but I did have Goals that I wanted to accomplish, I had Dreams that I wanted to see come to fruition and if I continued with this relationship, I felt that I would have been held back by this girl.
Now I do need to say, she was a really nice girl, it just wasn’t a good match for how I was wired.
But here is the deal, as I start another semester training and equipping men and women for the vocation of youth ministry, one of my prayers is that THEY would have Dreams and Goals for their own lives that are BIG. Dreams that take them to places with God that are new, exciting, little traveled, and even unpopular.  Now I don’t mean literal places like New Jersey; but places like sacrifice, solitude, simplicity and celebration.  Places the dig DEEP into their souls as they in turn try to help others dig deep into their souls and quarry a depth of faith and character that is lasting and significant.

However, I also hope that they would have BIG dreams and Goals for the ministry that God calls them to.  I hope they don’t settle for the small lives that many of those who come to church or even lead our churches are satisfied with.

• I hope they have BIG dreams that take their students to the inner city and develop an everlasting compassion for the poor and disenfranchised of their world.
• May they NOT be ear ticklers in their classes and their lessons, but that they might be prophetic in their words calling the church to a higher level of commitment and passion.
• May their passion for teaching, reaching, serving, caring, loving be always increasing as they are serving on the front lines of God’s kingdom.
• May they not be satisfied with the small dreams and tiny program that are mediocre and instead, join long with God and be part of something GINORMOUS and TREMENDOUS.
• I hope they have big dreams that inculcate a love for the lost in their young people that God would put into their lives that SHOW the love of Christ before they even begin to talk about the gospel of Jesus.
• May they NOT be dragged down by the small or even nonexistent vision that exists in many churches, but keep their eyes fixed on Jesus.

I have been saying on Facebook the past few weeks that “Lipscomb is where it is at.”  I believe it.  God is doing something incredible here with the faculty and our student body.  I am so impressed with the dedication and devotion of our ministry majors here.  I feel such a kindred spirit with them as they in turn desire to serve God through ministry.  Here is to a new year of hopefully doing something BIG.