Thread

It feels so good to sit still and breathe deep after a week packed-full. Due to scheduling, these past few days (since the evening of January 25) have been non-stop with a mission conference, interviews for Summer 2013 intern candidates, and continued work on the Wesleyan Theology training course for leaders. And wherever I could I would squeeze in time for studying my class on the Torah.

Throughout these events I detected a thread that wove through them all. Throughout the Santa Barbara Mission Conference we were blessed by multiple speakers, and the one who rocked my world the most was Brenda Salter-McNeil. I had heard her speak before at Urbana 06 and Urbana 09, but getting to know her a bit and hear from her up close and personal at this conference was incredible.

I cannot begin to encapsulate all that she said, but she spoke prophetically from Isaiah 6 and 11 about "stump ministry." After all these years, I think I have tasted of what it means to get whittled down to a measly stump. I was reminded in new ways that God sides with the broken-hearted. We must cling to Him as we wait for a future we cannot see.

That would have been enough to feast on, but slowly I saw the thread emerge. I went to hear Brenda speak at Westmont Chapel on Monday, January 28, and she taught powerfully on the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. She called us out as we heard the oft-told story in new ways. She helped me to see how I have been the priest and the Levite, who crossed to the other side of the road to avoid the mess of the man beaten by bandits, more than the Samaritan. In the same way that we walk past trash on the ground, we walk past the "mess" around us, thinking someone else will deal with it. As God has sided with me in my broken-heartedness, I am called to sit with others in theirs. Ouch.

In my reading for the Torah class, we have actually spent these first four weeks on Genesis 1-11. Given that we need to study the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, you would think we would get going! But this has been time well spent. This week I read through the tragedy of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, and saw things I had never seen before. Naturally I have been troubled by the strangeness of this story -- why does God prefer Abel's offering to Cain's? In the past I have thought about it, then shrugged my shoulders and given up. But as one of our texts tells us, God has a "penchant for what is not highly regarded." She goes on to break down the Hebrew meaning of the name Abel and Cain. "Abel" apparently points to "what is lacking in worth" and "Cain" is "connected with productivity, with creation and acquisition." In other words, Abel denotes "worthless," but then we are told "the entire Bible shows a God who is on the side of the 'Abels'." Later she says that God has a "preference for what is weak and not able to protect itself." 

WOW. In the past, when students and I have discussed scripture and the repeated instances of God working through the unlikely (David, Samuel, Mary, Paul, to name a few) I have always repeated what I have been taught: that God prefers to use the unlikely because then the evidence is clear that he is at work, and the results are not due to the natural abilities of the person in the story.

I won't say that I have been wrong, but this really is only half the tale. God is powerful and sovereign, but I know that he is not an egotistical tyrant who wants to make sure we know who is in charge. He is a God of mercy, grace and unending love. And as we receive such gifts, we are transformed by such tender and amazing love.

Then, we are called. As the textbook continues, "God's penchant for what is weak and 'worthless' must be imitated by the ones who walk in God's ways." Will I walk past the suffering around me, or will I allow it to make my own life messy?

I can't say that I reached the end of the thread this morning, but in my reading I came upon Psalm 27, and things felt clear:


1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
    so why should I be afraid?
The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger,
    so why should I tremble? 

2 When evil people come to devour me,    
when my enemies and foes attack me,    
they will stumble and fall.

3 Though a mighty army surrounds me,    
my heart will not be afraid.
Even if I am attacked,
    I will remain confident.

4 The one thing I ask of the Lord—    
the thing I seek most—
is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,    
delighting in the Lord’s perfections
and meditating in his Temple.

May we all live much more by faith than by fear. May we take risks and love others in the same ways we have been loved by the insanely foolish and persistent love of God.

Fall Updates 2012: Day Six

I will start this post by saying, "It's Still Easy Being Green." Huh?

As I share in these last few posts about what I am up to, I want to confirm that I am still as green as ever when it comes to transportation. Two years ago, almost to the day, I posted here about selling my car and opting to rely instead on my scooter, my bike, my feet, public transportation, the kindness of friends and an occasional car rental!

Whenever this comes up in conversation, people are nearly always either curious or baffled. And then their first question is usually some variation on "And how's that working for you?" I am happy to say that I am doing just fine. More than fine, really.

Not only has it been two years since I sold my faithful 1997 Subaru Legacy Wagon, but it's also been five and a half years since I bought my Buddy scooter, which is just about to hit 14,000 miles on the odometer. It's also been over nine years (May 2003) since I started this "green journey" intentionally. Along the way, I've definitely discovered a few things...

It's not that difficult. Granted, I'm single and don't have to transport others on a regular basis. But regardless of who I talk to about this, it is easy for them to admit that they could easily do one trip a day without their car. Here's more info and motivation on bicycle commuting. Really - think about it... consolidate some errands into one trip; bring a lunch to work instead of driving somewhere; ride your bike to Farmer's Market... there are plentiful options!

It helps me stay in shape. By walking and/or cycling every day, I would venture to say I'm the healthiest I've ever been. And I've finally been able to figure out how to lose a little weight along the way. Quite possibly a miracle for me, a person with the metabolism of a fire hydrant.

It makes me more aware of the poor in our midst. It's so #firstworldproblems to talk about being green, in some ways. After all, the hipsters love to ride chic bikes or scooters, right? And let's not forget that it is quite the luxury to get to choose whether or not to drive a car. But I will say that not having a car has caused me to be much more aware of the elements. For example, I diligently check the weather forecast almost every day in order to figure out what I will face as I go places. And whenever it rains more than sprinkles, I take the bus. One time on the bus I overheard two people sitting next to me spend the entire bus ride (half an hour) talking through their options for the day due to the weather. It only took a few minutes to figure out that they both lived on the streets by what they talked about: which bus stops had shelters, where to buy fresh socks for the cheapest price, where to find warm meals, etc. Ever since then, I think about our friends on the streets whenever the weather veers from our 70 degrees in Santa Barbara.

I am a more thoughtful consumer. This could be an entire blog topic by itself, but suffice it to say that when I have to first consider whether or not I can carry whatever I purchase in the front basket of my scooter, or in the grocery bag carrier on my bike, that I am greatly slowed down when it comes to shopping.

My main motivation is spiritual. I can't deny that I'm saving a bunch of money by doing this. Filling up my scooter still costs less than $6, no car maintenance saves a bundle, and even on those days I need to rent a car or take the train, it all adds up to be much less expensive in comparison to the weekly costs of owning a car. But make no mistake, Reason #1, first and foremost, for me "being green" is creation care. I firmly believe that we are called as Christians to be good stewards of God's creation. As I mentioned directly above, not having a car forces me to be more careful in my spending. But I want to be quick to say that this is because I am pursuing the spiritual discipline of simplicity, not because I need to pinch pennies. (Though I cheer on anyone who needs to do it for this reason!) I am blessed to say that I am in a comfortable place financially, earning more than in my previous position at a church.

Just a few things to think about....

To The Full

Thomas Merton wrote,

“The monk does not come to the monastery to ‘get’ something which the ordinary Christian cannot have. On the contrary, he comes there in order to realize and to appreciate all that any good Christian already has. He comes to live his Christian life, and thus to appreciate to the full his heritage as a son of God. He comes in order that he might see and understand that he already possesses everything.”

This reminds me of what I read and wrote about two weeks ago, at the start of Advent. But I am thick-headed, and know that I need to hear the same things again and again... and again. I am no different from the Pharisees in John 10:6-10,

Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

We have everything we need. EVERYTHING. Make use of that abundance, and quit waiting for something else. Step into the life you have.

By Faith

Our religion is not a system of ideas about Christ. It is Christ.

... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893)

I received this quote yesterday in my email. The profound simplicity gave me pause.

Is my faith really that straightforward? Do I really just "fix my eyes on Jesus" alone, or do I cling to a set of beliefs, relationships, habits and history?

Philippians 1:20 in the JB Phillips paraphrase calls me out in much the same way:

For living to me means simply "Christ", and if I die I should merely gain more of him.

To agree with Brooks' quote from the beginning, we know, serve and worship a person, the eternal person of God. This is radical, and unlike any other world religion.

On certain days, this reality is clean and clear for me; God feels present, close, and available. On other days (more than I care to admit), I get lost in what if's and how come's and but what about them's. On those days it is so hard to trust in the unknowns, when fears seem so much more real than anything else.

It would be so nice to know the future in order to get through the present. But in my more lucid moments I recognize the same thing that Jack Nicholson barked to Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men:

You can't handle the truth!

In my old age I have to come to know that it is nearly always better to not know the future, because I couldn't have handled knowing it ahead of time anyway! God reveals things to us as we are able to take them in.

That was the jumble of thoughts that poured out of my mind as I read Hebrews 11 last night before I went to bed. These were the verses that stood out the most:

All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (verses 13-16)

Sure, I've read these words before. But in that amazing way that only scripture, the living Word, can do, it was as if I had never seen them. To believe in something does not make it happen. Faith is comprised in believing in the Giver, not what He gives. As it says so succinctly in verse 1, "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."

In affluent, can-do America, this is a difficult pill to swallow. We want rock-solid guarantees before we commit. But Jesus asks us to put skin in the game solely on his words, his promise, his power and life. We must live by faith, not by sight. Otherwise, let's be honest: it's not faith. As Oswald Chambers says, “Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading.”

To quote the desperate father in Mark 9, "I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief." Amen.

Simple

(I was asked to testify in church today about my own experience with the spiritual discipline of simplicity. Here is what I said...)

When I was asked to share this morning on simplicity, I hesitated. If you know me at all, you know that I didn't hesitate because I am shy! I hesitated because I think of simplicity the same way I think of humility...

You know what I mean. In those rare times when God works in and through you to such a point where you actually do some kind and godly thing and it feels so great, you might say to yourself, WOW, I was just really humble right then! and the whole darn thing gets nullified right then and there... THAT is how I think it works with simplicity. It's something you live out, not point out, in yourself.

However, as Richard Foster says in his classic book The Celebration of Discipline, The majority of Christians have never seriously wrestled with the problem of simplicity, conveniently ignoring Jesus' many words on the subject. So I will run the risk of nullifying my pursuit of simplicity today for the sake of greater discussion.

What do I mean by "simplicity" as a spiritual discipline? Foster says it is an inward reality that results in an outward lifestyle. In other words, as we seek first His kingdom (Matthew 6:33) rather than seeking first after career or status or wealth or power, that singular focus on Christ should then flow out in and through our daily lives.

How did I come to practice this discipline? I backed into it. In February 2009 I resigned from a 15-year position as a youth pastor here in town, from a church in which I'd been a member for 23 years altogether. This decision was the right one, but it was so difficult, nonetheless. I needed time to wait on God for what was to be next, and to recover from the jarring transition that it was, so I had saved some money to do so.

However, in my immaculate timing I made this decision one month before the historic financial collapse hit bottom! Amidst daily news of gloom and doom I tried not to panic, but also decided I needed to dramatically pare down my budget, not sure when I would be employed full-time again. Thus I declared 2009 to be The Year of Living Simply. I decided to buy nothing new (other than food). I refrained from spending money on entertainment - movies, books, music, eating out and travel. I let magazine subscriptions expire. I stopped buying gifts and just sent cards (sorry friends). This took a third out of my budget!

As I stuck to this approach, I learned three things rather quickly:

1. It just wasn't that hard. That sounds crazy, but once I got over the hump of this seemingly hard decision, I discovered that I wasn't suffering. Richard Foster quotes the famous Arctic explorer Richard Byrd, who lived through months of deprivation in his travels to the North Pole: I am learning... that a man can live profoundly without masses of things. Indeed, I discovered the same. Once you wean yourself off the constant acquisition of stuff, you realize it's all rather fleeting in its satisfaction.
2. I was much more grateful for what I received. Once you orient yourself around God's provision rather than thinking of it all as the fruit of your own labors, you see everything as a generous gift! The novelty of something new regained its meaning. When someone had me over for a meal, or took me out for coffee, or gave me a gift, I delighted in every part of it, since these things came less often.
3. My default became "Why?" instead of "Why not?" When I faced the decision as to whether to buy something or not, now I operated from the assumption that I would not be getting it, and was forced (by my own decision) to think through what I "needed." Rather than get something just because I had the money or because everyone else already had one, I jumped off the treadmill and thought through my spending far more carefully.

Let's be clear -- I am not advocating some dreadful legalism that disdains enjoyment. God wants us to enjoy his provision and his creation. But I was now recognizing how much of my joy came from stuff rather than from God himself and from the people and things he provided already.

Needless to say, I had more free time since I wasn't busying myself as I had previously. I spent some of that new time reading up on monasticism and benedictine spirituality. Monks take vows of poverty and/or simplicity -- they hold belongings in common, because they believe that the more possessions you have, the more those things possess you! They meditate regularly on this passage from Matthew 6:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I am happy to say that after my Year of Living Simply that I am now quite gainfully employed. But that year instilled some good habits in me. So I am trying to pursue this spiritual discipline of simplicity in ongoing ways:

• When I buy something new, I give something away. For example, when I buy a new pair of shoes, I give away a pair.
• As I have mentioned here previously, I sold my car about a year ago. I now use my scooter, my bike, and public transportation (with occasional rides from friends). This slows me down and often forces me to think through how many things I try to do in a given day.
• I eat seasonally. I love, love, LOVE red bell peppers and could eat them every day. And in 2011, I can eat them every day, thanks to hot houses in South America and semi-truck trailers hauling food all over tarnation. But I choose to eat red bell peppers when they are in season where I live. By eating seasonally I am reminded to enjoy God's provision in God's timing. Sometimes he gives us things to enjoy, and sometimes he asks us to wait. And it is often in the waiting, and anticipation, that I learn how to deeply enjoy the things he gives me.

I shared this earlier this year, but here is the way that I remember this spiritual discipline of simplicity. It's an adaptation of the 3 R's of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...

I say Repent (of my materialism), Reduce, Reuse, Refuse (to try to keep up with everyone else, and just buy the things I truly need), Recycle.

Tell me what you think... thanks for listening!

Stillness & Motion

I feel like I heard from God this morning in a couple of nice ways...

First from Henri Nouwen quote of the day:

A Still Place in the Market

"Be still and acknowledge that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). These are words to take with us in our busy lives. We may think about stillness in contrast to our noisy world. But perhaps we can go further and keep an inner stillness even while we carry on business, teach, work in construction, make music, or organise meetings.

It is important to keep a still place in the "marketplace." This still place is where God can dwell and speak to us. It also is the place from where we can speak in a healing way to all the people we meet in our busy days. Without that still space we start spinning. We become driven people, running all over the place without much direction. But with that stillness God can be our gentle guide in everything we think, say, or do.

Then I read this in a devotional:

Spirituality is clearly rooted in living ordinary life with extraordinary awareness and commitment... it is so easy to go through life looking feverishly for special ways to find God when God is most of all to be found in doing common things with uncommon conscientiousness.

Today is my weekly Sabbath day. I got in the habit of taking Saturdays for this (rather than Sundays) years ago when I started working for a church. Today I woke up slowly, read and prayed a bit, then went into the garden and picked some green onion and swiss chard. I sauteed them in some olive oil, fried up some eggs with them and had a very nice breakfast (with a requisite cup of coffee, of course). My day will be simple -- some exercise, a little reading, some doodling around the house that helps bring some order to my personal life. I will heed the words from Nouwen and from Benedict, to revel in the ordinary with acute awareness. I thought about dear old Jack the cat and got a little wistful -- I missed his tail talk in the morning as I made my breakfast. But I enjoyed the birds as I hung laundry and noticed a large black lizard in the woodpile next to the patio. The warmth of the sun felt good on my face.

As I gather myself this Sabbath day and get my wits about me after a full week, I then want to take that stillness that can only come from the Spirit of God into another week of motion. Let's help each other do this.

Simple Authenticity

I am reading through a particular devotional for the third time right now that is digging deep into my heart and mind once again. It is demanding that various things in my life be examined, dusted off, thrown away, replaced, kept. The book is titled Benedict’s Way: An Ancient Monk’s Insights for a Balanced Life. There is no easy way to summarize it, so I won’t. I just recommend that you buy it. I found mine in a Catholic bookstore, but other friends to whom I’ve recommended it have found it inexpensively on half.com.

The title of today’s reading had me at “hello”: Simple Authenticity. A few nuggets:

Your way of acting should be different from the world’s way. RB 4:20 (“RB” = Rule of St. Benedict, a guide written by 5th century Italian monk which has guided believers who are living in intentional, monastic communities. The practices are surprisingly applicable still in the 21st century.)

Seldom or never do we hear anything about simplicity as an essential discipline of the spiritual life. Most of us have only a vague idea of the meaning of the word. Simplicity means “absence of artificial ornamentation or pretentious styles… lack of cunning or duplicity.” Where there is simplicity words can be taken at their face value… where there is simplicity there is no artificiality. Albert Day
Simplicity is trendy. People have shelves of books and attend conferences lasting a day or longer to learn how to downsize the clutter and complexity of their lives. This is one time when the cliché “Just do it” seems appropriate. Lonni Collins Pratt

It isn’t just our dressers and closets [and garages] that are jammed. That’s the easy part to simplify. You just square your shoulders and cut back. The harder part? Ceasing all of our complicated artificiality… the bigger problem, and maybe the root of why we accumulate, has to do with the clutter in our minds and hearts. Our relationships are cluttered, and our energy is fragmented in all directions… Keeping to the basics – this the strength of the Benedictine life. And it starts with the courage to step out of the disguise and into the reality of who we are. Pratt

~ Chew on all of that for a few moments ~

After I read these thoughts, I picked up my Bible. I am currently in the Book of Jeremiah. Today I was in chapter 17:5-18 and these words hit me most:

7 “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
and they never stop producing fruit.

9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,
and desperately wicked.
Who really knows how bad it is?
10 But I, the Lord, search all hearts
and examine secret motives.
I give all people their due rewards,
according to what their actions deserve.”

Then I really appreciated the questions from the IV Press Study:

• Why will the person who relies on human strength be disappointed (vv. 5-6)?
• How does God provide for the person who relies on him instead of on human strength (vv. 7-8)?
• What is the state of the human heart before God (vv. 9-10)?
• What did Jeremiah continue to hope for (vv. 14-18)?
• What "drought conditions" are you facing now?
• In what ways do you find it easier to trust someone or something else besides God to see you through those circumstances?
• How does God's promise in verses 7-8 give you confidence?

I sense God’s guidance most clearly when he coordinates the dance between various “songs” I’m hearing… The reading from Benedict and this scripture passage from Jeremiah connected in my soul, but not in a beat-me-over-the-head sort of way.

As I read these two passages I tried to listen closely. I “heard” the rhythmic connections between Benedict’s call to authenticity and Jeremiah’s prophetic push to dig my roots down deep for real water. The Benedictine reading reminds me to clear out the clutter that distracts me from Jesus, and the reading from Jeremiah tells me that God sees through my facades, regardless. Lord, I thank you for the safety and truth that you are; that gives me the space to be real and vulnerable. Then your Spirit does His work, shaping my soul for eternity.

Camping

I just got back from a camping vacation in a national park. This has been an annual tradition for ten years and hoo boy, do I love it. It's very "other," and that makes me nearly cling to it. But I have to admit that it also sort of surreal. I mean, what if all your neighbors decided to live on their front lawns for a week? That's what camping feels like to me. The lives of everyone around you are turned inside out. It's worth the price of admission just to sit and watch THAT business...

Granted, no one is totally on their game... everyone arrives tired, a little frayed from the drive, and possibly a wee bit carsick from the winding roads on the way in... but at least it's a level playing field. We ALL feel that way!

I just sit back and baldly stare in fascination. My research cannot be considered conclusive, but observations from these past few days suggest that during camping, moms tend to be very tense, dads just enter their own little zones, and kids become feral pyromaniacs.

As to the dads, my theory is that they tap into their hunter-gatherer roots. They will often sit at tables for hours and try to fix infrequently used pieces of camping equipment. They can endlessly fiddle with strings and stakes to adjust tents (a task that is never truly finished). They will figure out innovative ways to chop wood (let's be honest, it's not a big need in the suburbs). Meanwhile, the kids go berserk. Apparently there is some unwritten rule in campgrounds that parents do not have to supervise their own children. Despite a wealth of ways to get fantastically injured, children are simply running madly everywhere: riding bikes the wrong direction on the roads, making games out of gathering sticks and pine needles, burning anything and everything in the fire, and tromping obliviously through everyone's sites (namely, MINE).

And then there's mom. Poor mom. What can you say? She is just trying to keep everything relatively clean and in the right place. I'm not sure that moms truly have "fun" when they go camping. Their goal is simply to survive, and try to keep everyone fed.

Despite all these commonalities during the daytime, nighttime is when the differences between these front-yard neighbors become glariously obvious. For me, it is a given that camping at night means sitting peacefully around the fire roasting marshmallows, reading by headlamp or playing solitaire next to the lantern. However, my fellow citizens may believe just as firmly that nighttime at the campground equals loud storytelling, repetition of the same jokes over and over, and a healthy enjoyment of alcohol. How do I argue with them -- this is America, Land of the Free, Home of "If It Feels Good, Do It."

For example, we had some neighbors for three nights this week whom my friend dubbed "Children of the Corn." They seemed to be in their first or second year of college, and had mouths like crusty sailors. I believe in those 3 days I was able to fill my lifetime quota for hearing the F-word. Their conversation was unendingly inane; they were continuously unkind to one another -- their "humor" bordered on abusive. They narrated their every move for anyone within 100 yards to hear. I knew when they were making quesadillas, I knew when they were making a fire, I knew what fantasy fiction books they were reading and what each character was like. I did not like these neighbors.

My frustration for them, however, was only exceeded by the large family on our other side, who had their group split into 2 campsites -- grown ups in one and unsupervised teenagers in the other. The young people were allowed to yell and play whiffle ball with complete abandon into the late hours. When my friend said to one of them as they walked by our site, "Could you ask your friends to stop yelling?" near 10pm, we heard them relay the message to the crew. One responded with, "Did she say it nicely?" I mean, honestly. Kids these days.

However, before I sound like the Grumpy Old Men on the Muppets, I will emphatically argue that the good outweighed the bad. The smell of bacon in the morning, as the coffee is brewing, cannot be beat. I never tire of s'mores each night. Peaceful afternoons reading after a long hike were deeply relaxing. Despite one near disastrous night with a deflated air mattress, I slept well, awaking each morning to the creek outside. I smile to myself in the bathroom each morning as I see the parade of sleepyheads walk in to brush their teeth, all with major bedhead. No one cares what they look like when they go camping. All for $20 a night. God Bless America.

I come home with only a few mosquito bites and legs slightly stiff from a tough hike yesterday. It was wonderful to go off the grid and live with no sense of what time it was. My biggest concern was over what to make for dinner. I read for hours each day and stared into the fire with no need to accomplish anything. It was a perfect camping trip.

What time is it, anyway?

Treasure Hunt

In December 07 I delivered a sermon on the wonder I felt at reading the Bible for the first time at age 15. I had just gotten a 70's-looking New Testament and quickly landed on Matthew 6. The wisdom and depth of the words stunned me. I had had no idea that the Bible could actually speak to me about the daily details of my life. I have never been the same since.

I came to that same section this morning, not thinking about that time in 1976. Nevertheless, the section still blew me away - and best of all, in a very different sense. Back then, my problems were very real to me - parents, friends, boys, peer pressure, fitting in. Today in 2009, my thoughts seem more adult (and boring?), fixed on mortgage, pension plans, health insurance, career...

I picked up Eugene Peterson's The Message, coffee in hand. Soon I rejoiced in these poignant words. Please get comfortable. Take a deep breath. Invite the Holy Spirit to use a phrase or a section to take you where you need to go. Ignore my questions if they distract. The bolding is what spoke to me. I kept that formatting in there just to give you a sense of where I am these days: grateful, settled, praying with open hands - but still rehearsing the basics. Shoot.

A Life of God-Worship

^19-21"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

^22-23"Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!

²⁴"You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship God and Money both.

^25-26"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.

^27-29"Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

^30-33"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? 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. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

³⁴"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

Like me, you may need to read this more than once.

If I admit what I think about the most, then I know where my treasure is. Where is yours?

Are you fussing about what food is on your table, or what clothes are in your closet? If not clothes or food, are you fussing about other material possessions? What would it mean for you to take a season off from acquiring anything?

In America, our first question when we meet someone is "What is your name?"

Invariably, our second question usually is, "What do you do?" We tend to define identity by name and occupation. When it comes down to it, who are you? How can you "unfetter" yourself from your job description?

My favorite line from today's section is Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now... What is he doing in your life? Share it with someone today.

Creative Autobiography - Question #3

Thanks for your comments and emails on the post from April 4. I did #2 on my own, and don't feel like passing on my response to the worldwide web...

If you want to skip the intro to April 4's post, I quoted a book I'm reading on developing "creative habits." The author includes a questionnaire for readers to better understand their "creative DNA." In other words, the questions help you think about what makes you tick creatively... what story you're trying to tell, why you do the things you do, where you are strong and where you are weak.

TODAY'S CREATIVITY QUESTION:
"What's the best idea you've ever had?"

I am in a bit of a quandary. Decisions are not ideas, right? And the question is about ideas. But I think certain decisions are, at their hearts, “ideas.” Decisions lead to ideas, and ideas lead to decisions… They are separate, but often interwoven in the realities of life.

But I digress. So what is my “best” idea? I will pick my most creative one in recent years: choosing to ride my bike as an exercise in stewardship.

In May 03 our church did a Bible study on stewardship – of body, mind, earth, money, time. I was very moved by this study, and decided that if became a committed bicycle commuter, that I would cover 3 of these areas of spiritual discipline in better ways – I would get more regular exercise (body), I would pollute the environment far less (earth), and I would spend less on gas (money). Certainly, it was a decision (there I go again!), but it was an idea as well, because it was hazy and vague at first.

As I played out this idea though, more and more things – decisions, at times – emerged from this initial idea, one leading to another. Here’s a loose recollection of how things progressed:

• I started with the goal of using my bike instead of my car once a day.
• I sought to use my car only once a day.
• I made it my goal to go without using my car a day at a time.
• I started building my schedule around trying to consolidate (or eliminate) certain errands, take the bus, or buy less so I could carry my purchases on my bike.
• I got far more intentional about recycling. Trash decreased.
  
• My housemate bought a composter. Trash decreased even more.
  
• I read about how much water is used to raise beef, and decided that was poor stewardship of resources and very oppressive to the poor (who lost land and water resources to livestock agriculture). So I stopped eating beef.
• I started giving saved funds (from not buying gas for my car) to Lifewater, Christian ministry that brings clean drinking water to the poor.
• I discovered the #1 health problem in the world is clean drinking water.
• I started walking more for my errands – the grocery store, bus stops, etc. I needed to drive less and less.
• I discovered CSA goodness last year. Enough said earlier in this blog about that.
• I started hanging up my laundry on a clothesline, and washing my clothes in cold water.
• A friend of mine told me she prays when she hangs up laundry, so I've been trying that ….

Clearly, this path of stewardship has created many new habits for me – in May it will be six years since that idea first came up.

This single choice to ride my bike has led me to so much reading, praying, listening, learning – about the poor, my faith, the way I see the rest of the world, the way I spend my money, the environment, social justice… All of it has been very creative and stretching for me. And I still have so far to go!

I am just now realizing as I think about all this that I ended up pursing the other two areas of spiritual discipline from that May 03 stewardship study as well. Riding my bike dramatically adjusted my use of time, and it affected my mind too. Fancy that. I've slowed down enough on my bike to see birds, talk to pedestrians on the corner, see the clouds, notice the wildflowers. That is a little harder to do on the freeway, right?

I feel like I have said enough, so I’ll spare you for now on how my thought life has been affected by this “best idea." But now that I have shared my experience, I’m curious to hear from you. Pause and ponder: What is the best idea you’ve ever had? What has it created?