Hit the Back Button to Move Fwd by Gavin Richardson

youthworkermovement.com

one of the new things from connection here is the new youthworkermovement. it is being designed to connect, support, & share resources. it's being put together for united methodist youth workers, but i suppose if you think you might work in the umc then go ahead and sign up, right now it's free, but eventually it will cost. i really don't know how it's going to completely form, but i joined solely because terry carty (it's new director & someone i respect greatly) told me too. what's funny, it's not formally named yet..

:: www.youthworkermovement.com ::

my worship is not the worship

okay, so i had an intense day at connection getting geared up the prayerroom for connection. true to form, everything took longer than planned. as the day was winding down, i had some thoughts i shared with sally, who was helping me with writing some of the meditations.

i don't participate in the prayerrooms and prayer stations that i create. why? it dawned on me that my meditations, investigations, and subsequent inspirations creating these spaces for others hits deeper in my soul than the worship events they are designed for. this is good for me, cause i have sometimes felt weird just sitting around or leaving altogether when people are engaged in worship around me.

i found out that there is wireless at the church right now, so after i have everything set up i will most likely be spending time sharing about the event.

connection fun

once i get done with my duties for the state, which are stacked ontop of each other today and tomorrow i will be working @ connection. It's a national convention of united methodist youth workers. i am excited about the whole deal. i think i am in charge of the prayer rooms for the event. we shall see what happens. i should be bloggin and taking pictures for those interested. i look forward to a great week.

:: connection 2005 ::

life without resurrection

i asked my sunday school class to do a little free association on a question. "what would your life be like if there were no resurrection?" most of my kids (atleast the ones who talk) mentioned that they would be Jewish. some understood that there wouldn't be a new testament as a Jewish faith (news to others). Jesus would just be a teacher tucked away somewhere in history. my thoughts wandered to how widespread the Jewish culture would span the world and if certain groups of people would be Jewish, like the celts. a question i couldn't answer for myself (but that wasn't the aim of this excercise) was if the Jewish faith has a sense of mission to spread their faith, like that of the Christian faith. in all if you really wrapped your imagination around it, and i don't think my kids could completely imagine all aspects of their life changing. they were basically stuck on the Jewish faith and that they'd be reading Leviticus. i got some good stares when i told the youth that if we didn't have an Easter morning then there wouldn't be a Christmas... whoa!! but it is true, everyone was born at some time, but only Christ beat death.

amazing to think how different life would be if Christ had not risen on this Easter day. such a foundation to our faith that i think gets watered down in our teachings. our faith in this resurrection is certainly core to our Christianity.

Πιστεύω εις Θεον Πατερα, παντοκράτορα, ποιητην ουρανου και γης.

Και (εις) `Ιησουν Χριστον, υίον αυτου τον  μονογενη, τον κύριον ήμων, τον συλληφθέντα εκ     πνεύματοσ άγίου, γεννηθέντα εκ Μαρίας της παρθένου, παθόντα επι Ποντίου Πιλάτου, σταυρωθέντα, θανόντα, και ταφέντα,  κατελθόντα εις τα κατώτατα, τη τρίτη `ημέρα `αναστάντα `απο των νεκρων, `ανελθόντα εις τους ουρανούς, καθεζόμενον εν δεξια θεου πατρος παντο δυνάμου, εκειθεν ερχόμενον κρϊναι ζωντας και νεκρούς.     

Πιστεύω εις το Πνυμα το `Αγιον, αγίαν καθολικην εκκλησίαν, αγίων κοινωνίαν, άφεσιν αμαρτιων, σαρκος ανάστασιν, ξωήν αιώνιον. Αμήν.

not sure if you can read this greek written apostle's creed, i know i can't, but on this Easter day i am enjoying just looking over it and reciting the creed in my native language.

this is Jesus, King of the Jews

After they had finished nailing him to the cross and were waiting for him to die, they whiled away the time by throwing dice for his clothes. Above his head they had posted the criminal charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Along with him, they also crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: "You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days--so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you're really God's Son, come down from that cross!"

The high priests, along with the religion scholars and leaders, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: "He saved others--he can't save himself! King of Israel, is he? Then let him get down from that cross. We'll all become believers then! He was so sure of God--well, let him rescue his "Son' now--if he wants him! He did claim to be God's Son, didn't he?" Even the two criminals crucified next to him joined in the mockery.

From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around mid-afternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"

Some bystanders who heard him said, "He's calling for Elijah." One of them ran and got a sponge soaked in sour wine and lifted it on a stick so he could drink. The others joked, "Don't be in such a hurry. Let's see if Elijah comes and saves him."

But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.

At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. What's more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. (After Jesus' resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.)

The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, "This has to be the Son of God!"

so i'm behind, i'm still unbuilding

a well respected carpenter is invited by the king of the land to come to his home to have a feast with the king. upon receiving the invitation this carpenter sets off on his pilgrimage to the house of the king. along the path, he is tired and needs rest, but he has no place to rest. the carpenter, being very skilled, breaks out his tools and builds himself a shelter. the carpenter begins to live in this shelter, soon after, forgetting of the invitation to feast with the king. one day, a man shows up at the carpenters house, he tells him he is the unbuilder and that he still has an invitation to the feast with the king, but he must continue his pilgrimage... as the story goes the carpenter continues the pilgrimage and sets up house a time or two. the unbuilder remains with the carpenter, not pressure, but to remind him of his pilgrimage. from the book "the carpenter and the unbuilder"

my last post just highlighting the "youth ministry and spirituality project" has gotten me much razzing by my contemporaries that i feel the need to give a full posting attention to it. i have actually been aware of the ymsp, in that i have read a number of mark yac's articles expressing contemplative practices within the church context. i never actually read them to be a part of youth ministry, but i liked them non-the-less. with them in church context, and we know how easily a youth minister changes the vision of the church, i never went further into what mark was doing than reading his articles.

still, these articles were not what started me down this path of contemplative ministry. it was more seeking something deeper in my spiritual life i found the contemplative life housed in the monastic traditions to nurture my soul. up until this point i was caught up in a model of ministry that i was modeled for so long that was theologically incorrect and harmful to the soul. i beat myself up in so many ways in the name of ministry. luckily, with time apart, i found the monastic spirituality and wisdom to bring me back.

in this new finding came "insearchof" mine and jonathon's contemplative worship ministry (but no one knows it by this name, just by 'its jonathon and gavin'). we talked, retreated, led retreats, organized worship services, read and read.. all to take in this longing for a spiritual life that i had beat up for so long. after awhile we (jonathon and myself) found alt. worship and small fire and were like, holy crap! these folks have been doing what we've been doing. and now, i find again the ymsp saying.. how cool! these folks are doing the same thing i am doing.

so what if i am a couple of years behind yall (and you know who you are).. i knew about ymsp, i just had to do some serious unbuilding before i could continue the pilgrimage.

youth ministry & spirituality project

i am not sure where i have been but i am excited to find this new group. the youth ministry & spirituality project seeks to integrate Christian spirituality and youth ministry.. gavin like!!.. what more i like.. a "contemplative approach to youth ministry" now we're talking.

i'm a lumberjack and that's okay

if you are interested in testing your monty python knowledge then here's the "examalot." i am actually upset with myself, i thought i'd do better. guess i need to brush up on my skills. luckily the questions had little to do with the flying circus.

youth ministry killing the family??

warning: expanded rambling session here. it may be disjointed and brilliant at the same time, or you could just feel dumber after reading.. regardless, you've been warned.

the other week i was listening to daniel wolpert and his views on how the family needs to embrace nurturing spiritual lives of the youth instead of "youth group." at first i was all nods, it sounds great, families do need to take back their place as spiritual formation. however, as i thought about it, do we nurture this as part of youth ministry, or is this the next turn for youth ministry that we have to take.

the way i see it, youth ministry started out with families sending their teens to youth group, umyf, eyc, etc. with the impression that they would get their understanding of God rounded out, or atleast play some crazy games to keep occupied. over the past few years i have heard many a youth leader change the focus of youth group being the only outlet for youth in the church, to church seeing their youth ministry as a mission of the church. this changes the focus of not having the youth tucked into a far off room in the building where they pose least amount of threat to the older members of the congregation. this is where they come to find their way within the embrace of the church. your youth minister is no longer the "pied piper" (as referenced in practicing passion), where the charismatic youth leader toots his/her horn and the youth flock.. and i think the story ends where they go right out of town and out of the church, but i could be wrong. thankfully, many youth ministries and churches are making this shift.

will the next shift move back to the family? having a conversation with one of my volunteers last night we talked frankly about some of the mindset of other parents, where they say "they already get it from school/youth group/choir/sunday school/church." they don't feel a need to become active participants into their own children's spiritual lives. why? perhaps is that they do not feel confident in their own understandings to teach their children, the "i don't know" is hard to come by for some parents, they need to have answers. i can't imagine that if you asked them that they would say it is better to not speak than to be wrong, but i bet it's there. perhaps it is that the parent it too preoccupied with the day to day fires of being in a family to sit down and communicate how they can be a spiritual family. perhaps engaging in a spiritual discussion put the parent in an unusual position of having to relive their childhood experiences, positive & negative. regardless of reasons, we as youth ministers and church leaders do need to embrace (not just giving lip service to) the family as a foundation for spiritual formation in our children, youth, and church family.

i think back to my family life. just talking to my mom she said she was amazed at some of the things i have written in my blog, not because they are silly, she expects that.. but for some of the more "thoughtful" ideas i am sharing. "where did this come from" she asks. i told her, i could look back at how they raised me. my mother is a woman of the world and great courage, she always pushed me and my siblings to embrace the world in order to round out our character. i have what worldly knowledge & sensitivities from her and through our family (which happens to be welsh). she is courageous in that she was born in a farm house off the coast of wales, went to school and traveled across the ocean (which was no small task back in the day) to move to america and join families as a nanny. when we kids were in the picture it was being integrated into church, music and art, travel across the country staying with friends and family.. these are all important pieces of my life that shape my spiritual life. my father, i remember laying in bed with my dad sitting between my brother and i (shawn and i shared rooms through our whole life) and he would lead us in goodnight prayers.. i wonder if this is why i embrace and take so much comfort from saying compline as part of the daily office. i remember watching my dad read in the basement. funny, he used to cover up one of his eyes and say that he was exercising the other one.. now that's strange and i don't entertain that actually being medically proven, but i have picked up reading which helps to expand my spiritual life. my dad was always willing to talk ministry with me, even more so when i started in youth work some twelve years ago. he was the leader of the methodist men, of which, he would make my brother and i go to the meetings. probably one of the greatest pieces to my foundation of my spiritual life is that my parents never let us feel like we were horrible kids. sure we got the yells and spankings due any kid who did the crap i did, but i never felt that i was inherantly evil. my family always, and still does show me a grace that i am not worthy of.

so i think... how do we as youth ministers not only become youth ministers, but family ministers as well? can we empower, encourage, model, and equip our families to be a foundation of spiritual life for the youth of the church. do our young youth ministers have to get over the pressures they feel from parents, getting past that "me vs them" language (which i might have done in this post). i am sure that people have books out on this subject, and i know mark devries and his family based youth ministry (he's a good friend). i think though, our churches and youth ministers need to keep shifting from the "pied piper" to the family as a foundation for spiritual formation in our youth.

nuts and bolts:

• families need to pray together, at meals, times of needed guidance, and in the evening - call it grace or compline if you kids think it's not cool to say "now i lay me down to rest... "
• bring back family dinner - even if it is just three times a week
• share ideas in the car driving, talk about current events in the same car - this might mean not buying portable dvd players, spend that money on books / art materials / muscial instruments
• create family rituals - around the Christian calendar
• parents need to nurture the spirituality of their marriage, modeling not how put kids and work first but a life with God
• families need to tell stories. as jonathon likes quote hauerwas, the bible is a book of family stories, we need to tell ours and how they intertwine in the workings of God

if you have thoughts, suggestions, more ideas, or a need for clarification, please share &:~D.

prayer vigil notes

darkness has fallen,
and the world has seen a great light,
darkness has fallen,
and the world will see a great light,
darkness has fallen,
and i will be a great light
darkenss has fallen,
and we will be a great light.

i think this is some liturgy or scripture somewhere, but as is sat in a room filled with lit candles tonight with my youth, surrounded by pages of names of members of the cloud of witnesses, who passed the world with some involvement to the Iraq war and in Afghanistan. these are the words that came to me.

tonight at youth worship we held a prayer vigil marking the beginning of the third year of war in Iraq. as with any other vigil setting we had many many candles, somewhere in the 140 range, scripture, liturgy, a response, and silence. i started this prayer vigil seeing it as just praying for the soldiers and families who have suffered. however, as i looked over what "vigil" meant (in my handy dictionary for spiritual formation) it talked about a vigil as keeping watch while others had forgotten. this brought it much closer to our entrance into holy week as Christians. Jesus asked us to keep watch, and so, our prayer vigil we embraced the intercessory prayer for the soldiers, contractors, families, and Iraqi people. however, we had a moment of response in dreaming a new Christ like world. it was in this response time as the youth were writing and drawing on a 10 piece of packing paper that i felt those aformentioned words come forth. we all sat in silence (as silent as it can be with youth, which they were pretty good this night) and i closed out this moment of group vigil with those words. i hope that our youth group can embrace being a light amist the darkness, i hope i can do this as well.

:: Iraq Coalition Casualty Count ::
i haven't seen a site counting the casualties of the Iraqi people. although i did hear there is a shoe monument in washington dedicated to the soldiers and citizens of Iraq. i'll be looking for that later.

note: my brothers viewpoint from Iraq on this 2 year anniversary.

navigating the language barrier

diana has started a post that i am interested in seeing really develop as a conversation. it's part of her proposed dissertation about gen xer's being the bridge between boomers and postmoderns. the catchy title "A critical analysis of cross-generational communication with reference to contemporary Christian Evangelism." how it breaks down "My theory is that Gen Xer's sit in a unique position between modernism and post-modernism and can communicate in the languages of both." she's looking for help in develping it. i think this could be something that many of us can benefit from engaging in, this conversation to harmonize the differing communities as we go through this paradigm shift. i've given my start to this conversation in "communication breakdown" and contributed to the post as well. get into it, i think it's important.

:: ma dissertation ::

i am weird too

ian, @ youthblog, the other day was asking the question if he is weird. he apparently had a day thinking about canadian country singer songwriters, i call that weird. however, ian, i might get you beat as i am so excited about this new book that came in the mail yesterday at church. the upperroom's dictionary of spiritual formation. maybe i'm normal, but i don't think most people get excited to have a dictionary, let alone a dictionary on spiritual formation. for those of you in ministry this is a great resource to have. to my fellow "multiple book disorder" friends, this isn't a cover to cover book so you don't have to add it to the ever expanding book list. you can just carry it around and look cool like me... i am so weird.

ps: the best part about this book is that it was free. thanx robin, you made my week!!

my sci-fi character

surfing the blog world way later than i needed to be i came across the sci-fi character assessment. i happen to be galadriel. i think i look good with long blonde hair, it's the boobs i might have to take issue with.

my assessment:
Possessing a rare combination of wisdom and humility, while serenely dominating your environment you selflessly use your powers to care for others.

Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.
Galadriel is a character in the Middle-Earth universe.

note: i am worried that this is the 2nd straight post relating to fictional characters.

:: take the test yourself ::

do you know this masked man?

since i have downgraded my digital cable to basic i am forced to surf channels to find something to watch. one night i was privileged to watch an episode of bibleman. now, i could make a number of comments like; "why?" or "what tha'?" however, i was struck with interest. i wanted to know who is this masked man? it is a longstanding habit of my brother and myself to name all the prior movies, tv shows, or commercials an actor has been in. so who is this masked man?

low and behold, in scenes similar to that from batman, the man whose alter-ego is bibleman was in his lair telling the particular lesson for the episode. ah! seeing who the masked man was i was blown away to see it was "buddy" from charles in charge. yes, that lovable and dimwitted friend of charles is now teaching our children how to live a Christian life. funny, it sounds like many youth leaders i know.

in related news :: bibleman in koranman scandal ::

worship service vs prayer

brother roger of taize will invite you to come to prayers. the "hip" service at the big church, advertised on a flyer in-front of the urinal at one of my favorite bar/restaurants, invites me to a worship service. hmmmm... i had a conversation some months ago with my clowns asking the question, "is a worship service really just prayer?" i always liked the thought of inviting people to prayers, and i certainly am not a fan of many of the corporate worship services i get invited to (the latest is a new church called "the edge"). this conversation reconnected with my thinking researching music for an upcoming service our youth praise band will be leading. maybe you know this one..

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer! That calls me from a world of care, And bids me at my Father’s throne Make all my wants and wishes known. In seasons of distress and grief, My soul has often found relief And oft escaped the tempter’s snare By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

this hymn written in, i think, the 1860's calls us into prayer.. is this an prayer service? i like what this hour of prayer calls me into a presence of God where i sort out the happenings & longing of my life.

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer! The joys I feel, the bliss I share, Of those whose anxious spirits burn With strong desires for thy return! With such I hasten to the place Where God my Savior shows His face, And gladly take my station there, And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

how wonderful & scary to think that i come face to face with my Lord and Savior.

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer! Thy wings shall my petition bear To Him whose truth and faithfulness Engage the waiting soul to bless. And since He bids me seek His face, Believe His Word and trust His grace, I’ll cast on Him my every care, And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

i find comfort in the presence of my God in this prayer. in my weekly worship i tend to be bored, or look at the cool powerpoint and say "that's cool."

i don't think that a worship service really is prayer. but a worship service could really be a prayer, much like our lives are lived as a continuous prayer. will our churches be able to make shift to leave behind the worship service and pray. i really wonder what would happen if our churches embraced an invitation to prayer instead of a worship service. would we be saying things like; come to prayers and "encounter God," or come to our worship service, "it's pretty cool."

have a coke stan

many of you may know this by now, but stan grenz passed away early this weekend on march 12th. i was shocked to read of this on lynette's blog and called jonathon to let him know. he had mentioned that he knew stan went into the hospital with a brain hemorage. all this came as such a surprise to me.

as with many who were impacted by his work i will miss stan. he has certainly left a wealth of knowledge and incite for the rest of us to move through over the coming years. i think of all the things i will remember of him is going to lunch last spring with him here in nashville. jonathon and i took him to roteir's here in nashville for some atmosphere (the setting may be a bit like a dive bar) and some good burgers (the greasy comfort food served here more than makes up for it). i remember conversations about moon-pies and royal crown cola, but what was so funny was his confusion over the fact that they serve their cokes in bottles. apparently his intelligence was too busy interpreting the southern drawl of the waitress to piece together he was getting a coke in a bottle. i doubt anyone thought of this as humorous as i did, but who cares. here's to you stan, have a coke on me. miss ya man.

update :: mclaren remembers stan grenz ::

beanie babies to baghdad

i know many of you are aware that my brother shawn was deployed to iraq two months ago. you may or may not have been keeping up with him on his blog.

anyhow, i am not sure if this is an original idea of my mom's, but she (along with some friends) are collecting beanie babies to mail to shawn to help distribute to the children of iraq. if you didn't know, our fire and police department use teddy bears and other stuff animals to help comfort children in times of crisis, the army is doing this as well. so, if you have any beanie babies that you don't want anymore, or similar sized stuff animals (remember that they have to fit into armored vehicles), then send them to my mother and she will ship them. if you know where she lives you can drop them off at the house. for those in my locale, you can give them to me and i'll mail them to my mom, or if i get a decent number i can mail them to iraq as well.

Janet Richardson

609 Bergen Drive

Cinnaminson, NJ 08077

in a related article from the united methodist church you can see this is not an isolated effort. thanks guys

listening as spiritual hospitality

To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements, or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, to welcome, to accept.

Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond. Listening is paying full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings. The beauty of listening is that, those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking their words more seriously and discovering their own true selves. Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you.

jonathon laughed at me as i talked about getting my daily meditation from the nouwen society. he laughed, not because he thought i was geeky, but that he was geeky enough to know and appreciate what i was talking about. i love this listening as spiritual hospitality, it comes very close (in my mind) to spiritual direction. it allows people to empty themselves to where they can come to understand themselves, then becoming comfortable with themselves. imagine if we were to be people who listen to others without a need to jump in and fix or explain, or trivialize anothers experience by relating it to one of our seperate experiences. if only we could all embrace the listening as spiritual hospitality.

note: for those unfamiliar with henri nouwen, he's is one of my favorite writers on spiritual life. the way he phrases and frames thoughts, concepts, & ideas make amazing sense with me. my favorite read is "in the name of Jesus" if you are in ministry leadership it might be yours too. jonathon then asked me how he could get his daily meditation.

:: daily mediation here ::

hotel rwanda vs the passion

i stopped by our conference office today and, as i always do, i grab the latest edition of our reporter (the united methodist newspaper). i was surprised to see this face on one of the articles. didn't know that brain mclaren was writing for us.. he's actually not, but we still put him in print, so that's news to me in the same. the reporter reprinted an article he wrote for Christianity today's leadership journal titled "The Passion of Hotel Rwanda."

i haven't read any of brian's books (i have some on the shelf) only articles here and there and have heard him speak. i really like his take on most things, and this is certainly one view i can get behind. with statements like:

I think about Tutsi and Hutu locked in a cycle of fear and aggression, insult and revenge, attack and counterattack. And I also think of the Twa (the literal "little people" of our world) whose story is so little known, who suffer in the crossfire between the larger, more powerful tribes. And I think about how our community of Christian believers is divided by tribes also caught in long-standing cycles that seem to defy reconciliation: Protestant, Catholic; liberal, conservative red-state, blue-state; contemporary, traditional; postmodern, modern; seeker-driven, seeker-sensitive; purpose-driven, tradition-driven, and so on....

Then I realize that's why Hotel Rwanda seemed to me an even more Christian film than The Passion of the Christ. Forgive me if this sounds crazy to you, but try to understand; it evoked in me a wave of compassion for my neighbors around the world, whatever their color or tribe, whatever their religion or politics. And I hear our Lord saying, "As you have done it to the least of these … you have done it to me."

at the end of the article it he states church leaders need to be watching this film and then ask a set of questions. which are certainly questions that we all need to be asking ourselves when it comes to our neighbors.

:: full article ::

why blog?

i received an email from a reprsentative at the united methodist reporter. i had to wonder, at first, if it were spam as they said "we respect and trust" my content.. no way, i just posted about bathroom etiquette. upon further review, all looks legit & i pose these same questions to you. wanna email me or leave answers in the comments.

1. Why do you blog?

2. Who reads your blog?

3. What blogs do you read?

4. How do you measure the impact or effectiveness of your blog?

5. What do you consider to be essential elements of effective (attractive, interesting, intelligent, popular, etc.) blogs?

"potter's field" in my own backyard

matthew 27: 7, so after consultation they bought with the pieces of silver the potter's field in which to bury strangers. in a scene from what, you would think, is a third world country these are pictures of infant's coffins. this however isn't a third world country it's memphis, tennessee. the local paper highlights this tragedy in an article aptly titled "Memphis ranks worst in the nation for woeful rate of infant deaths." excerpts look like:

The babies are buried with a backhoe, as many as eight at a time, in homemade pine boxes...

Here at the Shelby County Public Cemetery, just outside the view of Memphis's gleaming symbol of prosperity, Wolfchase Galleria, this 30-acre burial ground for the poor holds 14,000 bodies -- most of them infants in graves marked only by numbers...

An infant dies in Shelby County every 43 hours...

Several Memphis ZIP codes have infant death rates higher than scores of Third World countries. North Memphis' 38108, which includes the tattered communities of Douglass and Hollywood, is deadlier for babies than Vietnam, El Salvador and Iran...

Hundreds of Shelby County women get no prenatal checkups, showing up in labor at The Med's emergency room... They arrive with seemingly insurmountable problems, some no bigger than a can of Coke.

memphis is a place of "haves" and have-nots." in a conversation with a resident over their new nba (national basketball assoc) team, he said "in order to build an arena that was demographically correct, there would be one side with all skyboxes and the other side would be grassy general admission." you read this article and wonder how a place which has an icon in st. jude's children hospital does not have adequate education for its community. the "have not's" are poverty, and infant mortality is a symptom of poverty within an area; caused by lack of access to healthcare, prenatal care, proper nutrition, & education.

i wonder what it takes to address a preventable tragedy like this? are these just the forgotten people and the forgettable children? globally speaking, this just one place with problems of infant mortality, but you would think in a place with as much power, technological advances, philanthropic efforts, and so many government programs that you get dizzy, we'd have something to save children & educate all parents. did you know, placing children on their backs to sleep is the best prevention for sids (sudden infant death syndrome)? the statistic escapes me at the moment, but there is signifant research to indicate it only takes placing a child on their back when they go to sleep. plus, the at risk community is the african american community for sids, yet, all they need to know is this one piece of knowledge.

should the church be seeking to take care of the children? is it the governments responsibility? is it our responsibility? poverty is an issue that many talk about, but what gets done? who are the people to talk too? i am sure i don't know them, but they are out there. it doesn't seem that the public servants of memphis look out for the "have-nots" if you read the article. i suppose from this post my intent is to raise some awareness to something i think should be newsworthy. however the "strangers," the forgotten and forgettable, get not pub, they just get buried in the "potters field" in my backyard.

:: full article :: related article :: related editorial ::

bathroom etiquette

i have always had fun messing around with what i considered to be the rules of the bathroom. finally i found the international center for bathroom etiquette which confirms some of my prior conclusions. one of my favorite tests is to find a bathroom that has three urinals and a junior urinal next to those three. i utilize the middle one to see if guys would stoop so low as to take the junior urinal and give the proper buffer zone. however, i will reconsider such case studies as according to the icbe:

If you should come across three empty urinals, then the natural male tendency to attempt to accumulate power and property might lead you to try the middle urinal. Unfortunately, in some countries, to do so is punishable in manners unspeakable. For to choose the middle urinal is to deny any subsequent patron of the urinals the opportunity to pee in isolation while you are still at your business. To choose the middle of three urinals is to commit an act of pure, unadulterated selfishness, and for it one should be ashamed.

i have so much to learn

sundrop sunrise

as the story goes, abba anthony would face the setting sun with arms outstretched in prayer an pray continuously with arms outstretched till the sun rose again. for some reason, on my way to beersheba on friday i was thinking of this story. i got the crazy idea to wake up early and hike to the stone door to welcome the sun. while contemplating this i also remembered words from basil pennington who said to get up really early, while the rest of the world is deep in rest, every once in awhile and just be with God in the quiet.

i woke at 4:15 grabbed my backpack and walked about the grounds of beersheba, it was so quiet, very peaceful. i jumped into my car, drove to the front gate of the park (the park is closed till 7am) i walked into the park with darkness. listened to the roosters crow, which was news to me, i thought they just welcomed the sun. as i walked into the darkness fear started to come over me. this is a primitive park, very little has been done to it to alter it's natural environment. i haven't seen any predator type animals there before, but it didn't stop my thoughts from going that route. it didn't help that i saw some interview with a lady who was attacked by a mountain lion just a day or two before this. to find comfort in the dark i pulled out my prayer rope and began reciting the Jesus Prayer for the next mile.

i made it to the overlook. the stone door is a 150 foot cliff that looks over the savage gulf, a series of canyons cut into the cumberland plateau. the door though is where a section of this cliff broke away from the plateau, making a 12 foot gap where settlers and native americans would move in and out of the gulf. once i arrived, i sat in the dark and just looked over the scape. i've seen it many times before, but not like this. i stood at the cliff and looked over the opposing side of the plateau. as it became brighter i would throw my arms in the air in prayer. when it became a bit brighter i pulled out my sundrop (a local citrus soda, that has been a staple of my retreat diet for years) and toasted the sunrise. i then pulled out my prayer book and entered into my morning office. not knowing what time it was i departed before the sun fully arose, but it was welcoming enough for me.

:: more pictures ::

retreat?

today i am heading up to beersheba for our annual church retreat. i question if this it going to be a retreat or not. i have little to no responsibilities for a staff person on this trip, but i just know that something will come up. it always does.

beersheba, for those who don't know, it one of the umc's conference camps. it's an area that had a series of hot springs discovered in the mid 1800's. a hotel and tavern were built and the area was used for vacationers. the picture of this hotel may have been taken in the 40's when the methodist church bought the property. for me beersheba is a special place. the area is a chuck full of my sacred spaces. one of my natural escapes in the stone door. i sit with my potter friends "the mayhews" on their porch talking spirituality and greeting visitors on their front porch. i like to watch storms come in up the plateau at the beersheba overlook. sitting in the courtyard and watching the youth or children play. i stop by "big" don's, who is now "medium" don since he lost weight and have him tell me a story about the happenings of grundy county. it's my kinda place.

i look forward to this retreat. i just wonder what part will be my retreat.

kiwi on films: "the lord of all things"

so i wrote my rant about the whole "lord of all things." i ran across steve taylor's (emergent kiwi) take on using film. i can agree with what he's said, but i might reserve the right for some argument over semantics or to frame things a bit differently. it's broken down pretty well and i encourage you to check out the dialogue.

:: dialogue on "where is the gospel in film? ::

natural blogger

blakemore united methodist church is changing it's methods of operating their church and they are calling themselves the "practicing church." one of the best parts of this new endeavor is that the church is blogging. better yet, the pastor is blogging. michael williams is a renowned storyteller, from world methodist conferences to liars contest winner at the mule day festival in columbia, tn. he's blogging and he's a natural. check it out.

For us as modern-day Christians hospitality is a practice that has come to us from our Jewish heritage, the ministry of Jesus, the practices of the early churches, and the rules that guided life in the monasteries. St. Benedict’s Rule instructed members of its communities to welcome the stranger as if that person were Christ himself. The Christian practice of hospitality is not to be extended only to those we know and like, but most especially to the stranger and the outsider.

win one for the homosexual

with some down time at the office, i did my usual cruise through the news websites. i ran across this article on cnn.com "Topeka retains anti-bias law." for those of you who don't know. topeka kansas is home to, what i call, the most hate filled church in the country, westboro baptist church. just visit their site and check out their domain name (i'll link it, but can't actually print it cause it burns me up so much) and you will know what their agenda is. i heard of these folks back in the 90's when they came to alabama and protested the funeral of a gay man in sylacauga, who was killed in a hate crime. they came not to protest the hate crime, but to let everyone know that he was in hell. anyhow, in conversation with a classmate (who happened to be lesbian) she mentioned this website. it grossed me out the memorial to matthew shepard (which is still there). i really struggle with people who hate and use the name of the same God i have come to understand to justify it.

anyhow, the article in cnn talks about how they were shown the door when it came to their appeal to have anti-bias laws taken off the books of law in topeka. yeah!! i'd like to say we didn't need to laws, but people are discriminated against and people deserve the fairness that these laws generally promote.

as for church & social justice issues that these topics swirl around. i had mentioned in an earlier post (idols of justice & idols of justice take 2) how we can easily get sucked into turning our social justice causes into idols. i think many of us can agree that any passion that takes our focus away from God is passion that becomes an idol, no matter how noble we may see it. anyhow, if you want to check out their site and get angry, go for it. apparently they have a new angst against sweden & they are pretty happy for the tsunami.

note: as i look over this, my heart breaks for these people. i, see them as filled with hate, and a misconception of what it means to live a life of Christ. however, i know that they call this "love" and they are bringing a message that saves people.

"My God, I frankly do not understand Your ways with me(us)." Thomas Merton

i wanna be a california monk

okay, so i was intrigued through my last post to read more about the "monk training program" at the universal life church. this crap is hilarious. st. benedict would turn over his cell if he knew people were going along with this order. the following is my dialogue with these guys from their website.

Some requirements, such as disclosure of medications students may be taking, are required for their safety because special techniques utilized can startle some individuals and sometimes scare them. We advise, in advance, what is to happen. No illegal activities will be conducted; sexuality is encouraged in the particular orientation of the individual as an integral part of the training. The only drug utilized in the training is caffeine as found in ordinary or green tea, which is very healthful. NO illegal drugs are encouraged or allowed.

so i am going to deal with some weird drugs like caffine, i can deal with that. how long will i have to be a part of the monastery? do i have to go through that whole cenobite thing?

Students are entering the experience of their lives and it is not easy, it takes many months. Some may complete their course study in 9 months, however most will require 12 months.

do i really have to listen to the Abbot?

Students acknowledge their Absolute Loyalty to Three, which is the minimum number of times each student is required to read each lesson, chapter, book or experiment. If a student reads almost all of one book, for example, and then thinks he or she can get by with 2 readings, the MIND records this and it only escalates.

what is this punishment of mind stuff?

Students agree to punish their MINDS by beginning the process of three times for the ENTIRE book even if only one chapter was left to read only one time more. This “self-punishment” punishes the MIND and asserts the individuals WILL POWER. The entire program is designed to reprogram individuals to allow their WILLS to determine their actions.

oh, i get it now.. ? it is starting to sound like freud.

The MIND is satisfied controlling the body if it is just warm, fed and sexed. The WILL is educated, trained, understands science, math and all intellectual skills and it should be in control of the body, but it is not. To change one’s self from being MIND CONTROLLED to WILL CONTROL is a long process -- to wipe out old programming, indoctrination by religions, society and custom. The WILL operates rationally, thinks in a linear manner, and makes intelligent decisions and would never even consider pressing the “snooze” button on a clock because it realizes it is time to awake for the day.

definitely talking freud stuff now. so what's in it for me?

Our Monastic Order is a service order; doing for others, but first we learn to do for our own betterment, advantage and monetary gain. You cannot share or give what you do not have an abundance of. We do not believe in any such things as Vows of Poverty. Instead, we much would rather take Vows of Riches. There is nothing noble in being poor and it is not a blessed state as some belief systems teach.

awesome!!! i hate that whole those who are last shall be first stuff. i also never got that concept of being poor allows me to be away from things of the world. it didn't work for me. i like this better..

i totally wish i could make up stuff like this. &:~D

death to seminary

before i start this, i totally ripped off tony's "death to..." blog title theme. it just seemed like fun & since i am entering this with my own bit of humor, it seemed ok.

i read an article in "yahoo" magazine back in '98 (i think) about getting ordained online. being a part of a methodist summer camp, i thought it would be a great idea to get ordained, flash the certificate in front of my executive director that i was now ordained and could officiate communion. so i followed the link to the universal life church (it is now the universal life church monastery: they added a monk program) where they have ordained 20 million people since '59. to end that story, i got all the other camp directors of my status ordained to do the same, needless to say, our executive director (if you know her, it's even funnier) of camps was not pleased.

this came back to mind because in looking for some news articles i came across www.spiritualhumanism.org. their claim, "We can solve the problems of society using a religion based on reason." ..?? okay.. but this just cracked me up, under their "practices" section of their site.

Spiritual Humanism does not require its members to perform any particular practices. Each person's spirituality has to be developed individually and everyone is free to draw upon whatever religious tradition and behaviors are most appropriate for their own unique situation and background.

i suppose this could bring up all kinds of issues over the legitmacy of ministers. is a minister ordained online credible to the extent of one who has been through seminar &/or a doctorate program, or if they have credit at all? there are many congregations who identify with their minister, who might have been a computer programmer 6 years earlier and reading "yahoo" magazine, they are out there. is there legitimacy with an ordination process that includes schooling, training, mentors, & challenging thought? i think there is, i'd hope you would agree. but, now john wesley would call all of us ministers. we are all called to ministry and we are all given gifts for ministry. so i guess, getting ordained online is okay with me & john wesley.. maybe not!

all in good fun. gav