December 10th couldn’t be a better day for us to have an author presentation from Fr. Richard Rohr, who is here recording his May 2010 audio “The Art of Letting Go: Living the Wisdom of St. Francis.” Richard told us that Thomas Merton is one of the great influences on his life and that today is considered Merton’s feast day.

“I believe Thomas Merton will be considered one of the most influential American Catholics of the twenty-first century,” Rohr told us.

Here is a quote from the Louie Louie blog which tells the story of Thomas Merton’s life and teachings (with great photos and quotations):

“If there is a feast day for Father Louie [aka Thomas Merton], December 10th is it. This is the day, in 1941, that he arrived at the Abby of Our Lady of Gethsemane to begin his life as a Trappist monk. Twenty seven years later, on this day, he died in Bangkok Thailand while participating in a monastic conference.” 

For more wisdom from Thomas Merton, read Choosing to Love the World: On Contemplation (Sounds True, 2008).

I will send this book to the first 5 people who respond — send email to publicity@soundstrue.com.

Contemplation is life itself, fully awake, fully active, fully aware that it is alive. It is spiritual wonder. It is spontaneous awe at the sacredness of life, of being. It is gratitude for life, for awareness, and for being. It is a vivid realization of the fact that life and being in us proceed from an invisible, transcendent, and infinitely abundant Source. Contemplation is, above all, awareness of the reality of that Source. It knows the Source, obscurely, inexplicably, but with a certitude that goes beyond reason and beyond simple faith . . . It is a more profound depth of faith, a knowledge too deep to be grasped in images, in
words, or even in clear concepts.

Learn More About Contemplative Wisdom
in January 2010 with Live Online Course:

Centering Prayer
A Training Course for Opening to the Presence of God
with Father Thomas Keating, Father Carl Arico and Gail Fitzpatrick-Hopler

Course begins January 20, 2010 (Mentoring option also available)
Learn more at http://bit.ly/7Uo4V5

Centering Prayer is a silent prayer practice that can move you toward profound relationship with the Spirit of God within. It is a way of praying that opens the door to the Divine Indwelling—the ground of our being. With Centering Prayer, Father Thomas Keating and his colleagues Gail Fitzpatrick-Hopler and Father Carl Arico present the first online course in this method for deepening your intimacy with God and ultimately consenting to the presence and action of the Divine in all aspects of your life.

Answering a life calling, Father Thomas Keating sought to renew a prayer practice that goes beyond asking for aid or offering praise—one that invites you to enter into a deeper relationship with God. Based on the wisdom sayings of Jesus and inspired by teachings from the classic 14th-century text The Cloud of Unknowing, Saint John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Thomas Merton, and others, Centering Prayer is a method that has sparked the modern renewal of contemplative Christianity. “Centering Prayer does not replace other types of prayer,” teaches Keating. “Rather, the practice gives a new depth of meaning to all forms of prayer.” An interactive eight-week intensive learning and practice program highlighted by four live teaching sessions, the course also includes private journaling, along with online discussions and more than nine hours of audio and video instruction, plus a rich selection of written exercises and information.

#4 How To Brew by John Palmer

Started home brewing this year in February, and this book has been a life saver! I remember when I first got the book, the whole second half of the book made no sense to me, it was just over my head. Now I’m turning to the back pages to get specific answers. I decide to skip extract brewing and go right to all grain, which is by far more complicated. To me extract brewing is just making tea, The real art of brewing is in all grain.

The best part of all is you can read the whole book online for free. Though having the book is priceless.

#3 The God Virus by Darrell Ray

I really enjoyed this one. Darrel Ray has some great thoughts about what religion does to society. He’s not exactly anti-religion, he seems to give the impression that church is fine, and religion is fine IF you understand what’s going on. If your aware how religion can manipulate your thinking. A strong advocate for free thinking.

#2 The Naked Now by Richard Rohr

Just finished this. It’s one the few books in the last two years that has actually inspired me in a positive way. I have spent a lot of time laying in bed this month with different chucks of this book eating away at me. I connect with the way Richard Rohr thinks, I don’t think everyone will. I can easily see where most christians would criticize him for being to loose with his theology. I think thats a shame because this book really presents a great opportunity  to open the way you think.

#1 Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

1100 plus pages and seven months worth of reading. This one requires some discipline to finish, but in the end one of the best books I’ve ever read. John Galt’s ideas of work and life are contagious and inspiring. Is there a better way to live? I would suggest there is.

Today is the feast day of Juan Diego: the visionary of Mexico who received the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe in1531.

In Mysticism: The Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness, Evelyn Underhill has a chapter called “Voices and Visions.” Julian of Norwich was a visionary. So was Birgitta of Sweden, Hildegard of Bingen, Catherine of Siena, and Francis of Assisi. Receiving visions seems to be very much part of the stock in trade of the mystical life.

The prophet Joel, whom Peter quoted in his Pentecost sermon, said “It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.” Dreams and visions: are they merely the neon lights of the inner life? A yawning trap into which the gullible and naive and over-imaginative will inevitably fall? Or is there some real and important connection between being conscious of Divine presence and Union with God, and a heightened or altered experience of vision? While plenty of the “A list” mystics like those I mentioned above were truly supernatural visionaries, does this mean that all of us are called to receive such visions? Or can one be a true mystic in a much more humble and down to earth way?

I’m pretty much an agnostic about all this. I rather agree with John of the Cross, who in the Ascent of Mount Carmel suggests that supernatural “apprehensions” or knowledge, while potentially a genuine blessing, is also fraught with both psychological and spiritual dangers, chief among them being the capacity for self-delusion, ego-inflation, and pride: the idea that “God has chosen me so therefore I must be really special.” John sensibly counsels his readers that “all heavenly visions, revelations, and feelings — or whatever else one may desire to think on — are not worth as much as the least act of humility… Consequently souls should not look for their happiness in these supernatual apprehensions, but should strive to forget them for the sake of being free.” Ah, yes. Do old men dream dreams and do young men (and women) have visions? You bet. But these things are less important than humility, charity, and true freedom in the Spirit.

I’ve always loved the idea that the Holy Spirit can break through our psychic defenses and bring to us knowledge or insight that can  have a truly transformational impact on who we are and how we function in the world. And I believe such “interruptions” are possible, even in our hyper-cynical age. But I also believe that such things should be neither defended against, nor actively sought. After all, there are no guarantees: a true vision might be far more terrifying than comforting. In the meantime, so much wisdom and insight is available to us all, through the riches of Sacred Scripture and the writings of the saints and mystics, and through the ordinary work of trying to grow in humility, charity, and the virtues. We don’t need the “neon lights” of supernatural visions, most of us. And to me, this is cause for great thanksgiving.

Now, I titled this post “Vision” rather than “Visions.” And that is because, while I think for most aspiring contemplatives the question of supernatural visions is more of a potential distraction than anything else, there is still a pretty important relationship between mysticism and vision — as in “learning to see more clearly.” Perhaps what the contemplative life calls most of us to is not the dramatic experiences of a Hildegard or a Julian, but rather to a more gentle path of learning to see all things with the eyes of love. The more we learn to use our eyes (and our mind’s eye) to see with love and humility and compassion, the more we will grow in true mystical vision — even if what we “see” never has any whiff of the extraordinary or supernatural about it at all. For the contemplative life — what Richard Rohr calls in his newest book, “learning to see as the mystics see” — is both entirely down to earth and utterly transformational. It will help us to have a new vision: the vision of the mystics, which is nothing more nor less than learning to see ordinary things the way God sees them.

And that kind of seeing would be the most amazing vision of all. May God grant it to us all. Amen.

In the last post, we celebrated a scientific anniversary. Today the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the Immaculate Conception. In this day of celebration Roman Catholics celebrate the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus of Nazareth, was conceived without sin. This point is contested among Western Christians and even within some circles of the Latin Church. However, it is appropriate to bring about what it pertains to the mysticism of our ecological thought.

Mary, as regarded by Christian theology is the daughter of God (the Father/Mother). The creating force of the Cosmos creates Mary hence God the Parent. Mary comes to life through the breath of life given by the Creator. God is the force that makes Mary alive. It is God, in Its constant pouring out of love that brings Mary (and creation) into existence. This pouring out of love happens constantly. It was not a moment that passed. It is a continuous flow. It is like a dance where God is constantly creating. [This dance is referred in the Hindu tradition as the Dance of Shiva or Nataraja].

Mary, is mostly known as the mother of God (the Son). If God is the creator of all, the all Creation, the Cosmos is the son, daughter. The mother of God goes beyond a woman giving birth to a child. It is about that being who gives flesh and bones to what God conceives. A mother nourishes and helps form a new being inside her. Then the mother gives birth to a new life that has been existing and developing in the womb. The mother of creation is the Universe in expansion. Thus, the Queen of the Universe. The mother of creation is the consciousness unfolding. Many things in the world are ready to be born. Some of them spiritual some of them physical. The virgin Mary is awaiting to give birth if only one is ready to give her the opportunity. St John of the Cross (San Juan de la Cruz) puts it this way:

Del Verbo Divino

La Virgen Preñada

viene en camino

si le dais posada

With God’s Word
the pregnant Virgin
comes your way
if you give her lodging.

(Click here for commentaries on the text in English)

Mary, conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, becoming wife of God (the Holy Spirit/the Spirit of God). What this means technically is also disputed within Christianity. Whether Mary was virgin sexually or not is not something that this article is about. Rather, I want to focus on a kind of virginity of a higher level. A virginity of Sin. Mary being a virgin of sin is another point where not all Christians agree upon. But all Christians agree that it is something we can only achieved if one is in close intimate relation with the Holy Spirit. What is important is to recognize that Mary was given a gift. We should celebrate this gift. This gift is a gift of naturally wanting what God wants. This is something that puts one in unison with the Spirit of God. When one wants what God wants, it is hard to move away from God. One lets God give fully and one becomes the perfect receiver. The intimate partner of the Spirit of God would act in whatever is most beneficial for all their children.

This gift is often referred as a gift of no-sin. How can some be born with sin and some others without? Isn’t sin part of the genetic human code? If not, is it in the human culture? Is it a gene that didn’t propagate? Is it a mutation? In the next days I will publish a little study on Original Sin and evolution.

Well, here we are at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  We traveled early this morning, instead of trying to fight Thanksgiving Eve traffic last night.  And just what does a three hour trip from the Chicago ‘burbs to north-central Indiana look like?  Here’s my view from the driver’s seat…

“Who wants to see my proboscis?”  (Oldest Daughter, just out of the driveway)

“I’m sure glad we’re travelling this morning instead of last night.”  (Me to Ordinary Spouse, as we made two effortless left turns  where I’d normally encounter great volumes of traffic during my morning commute)

Six minutes into the trip, we get on the “fast road” (the general nickname for limited access road, which in this case is I-55).  This is the signal for the girls to request a DVD.  In goes Fraggle Rock.

About fifteen minutes later, we’re onto I-355 and crossing the “blue light bridge” over the Des Plaines River.  McMansions overlook the valley on the south side.  I spout opinions… “If I had half a million dollars to buy a house, I’d get something with more character than these boxes.”

Shortly thereafter, I remember my blog… “If I could live blog this trip, I would.” Instead, I ask ordinary spouse if she has paper and pencil.  She anticipates my next request and writes, “My ordinary assistant will hand write the whole thing.”  I comment that “ordinary assistant” will probably get replaced by “smart-alecky assistant” when the notes make it into print.

“Could you give me blana?”  (Youngest Daughter woke up five minutes before we left and didn’t have breakfast.  Now she wants a banana.)

All along, I’m sipping coffee.  I’ve got a great thermos.  Too great.  The coffee is scalding hot nearly all the way.

Ordinary Spouse is cleaning out her purse.  She finds a diaper.

From I-355 to I-80.  The opening bars of U2’s “Zoo Station” (from the album, “Achtung Baby”) are playing as we’re exiting from one to the other.  Makes for a nice transition.

We see a white flag with a red border and a blue star.  Ordinary Spouse speculates that it’s a Czech flag.  Turns out that it’s a flag displayed by the family of a member of the armed services serving in a dangerous location.  We learned something new.

Shortly after getting on I-80, an alert Ordinary Spouse kept me from rear-ending another car.  The road was nearly empty and there was no one in my lane, so I reached for my coffee.  At the same moment, a car in the left lane braked and pulled into my lane.  Then they proceeded to the right lane and accelerated again.  Not sure what that was about.

We cruise through the IPASS lane when I-294 merges with I-80.  It occurs to us that we have no idea how much toll we’re actually paying.

The billboards along the interstate near the Illinois-Indiana border are really classy.  (“Gamble 30 minutes and get a free buffet” or “All of the liquor; none of the clothes”.)  Ordinary Spouse comments on the first one. “Sounds like  a gamble to me.”

We’ve removed Fraggle Rock, which didn’t seem to be a big hit.  It’s been replaced by the Laurie Birkner Band. “This is like a rock star for kids,” says Middle Daughter.

Rain, rain, rain.

Onto the Indiana Turnpike (I-80/I-90).  We immediately stop at a rest area.  Coffee’s coming through.

We debate the spelling of “niece”.  I comment on the weird spelling of “weird”.

We see a flock sheep walking in formation.  Then we see a sheep dog calmly standing and calling to them.  No running involved.  Impressive.

We reached the end of “Achtung Baby”.  I spout more opinions: what makes an album more than the sum of the parts, and why “Achtung Baby” is one of those albums.

We pass the pond with the big musical instruments.  Time to exit the Turnpike.  On to the bypass around South Bend.  Ordinary Spouse phones her parents and tries to make them believe we still have two hours to go.  Actually, we only have about 45 minutes – we’ll be just in time for Thanksgiving dinner.

Michael Card’s “Starkindler”  is now playing.

Ordinary Spouse and I discuss Richard Rohr and right brain/left brain duality.

Off of the bypass and on to US-33 toward Goshen.

In Goshen, we spot a couple running from their house to their car, carrying a turkey.  They didn’t cover the bird.  It’s raining.

And then, 150 miles and two and a half hours later, we’ve made it.

Thanks to God for every blessing in our lives.  May the thanks we give today continue throughout the year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The word “prayer” has often been trivialized by making it into a way of getting what you want. But… I use “prayer” as the umbrella word for any interior journeys or practices that allow you to experience faith, hope and love within yourself. It is not a technique for getting things, a pious exercise that somehow makes God happy, or a requirement for entry into heaven. It is much more like practicing heaven now.

— Richard Rohr, The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See

Those who know me, or have followed the Marking Time blog , are most likely aware I’ve been posting very few entries here since the summer of ‘09 (and even longer in the case of  a simple desire , the other blog I help out with occasionally). That’s not an altogether bad thing, but I thought a note here to explain myself would be in order right about now.

I’ve still been writing, but much of the material has been of a deeply personal nature. I’ve continued to generate some interesting poems, or at least first drafts of some good stuff. But another poet friend recently told me that poems published on the web have even less chance of getting into print or being “sold” than poetry usually has. (In other words, one in ten thousand, as opposed to the usual one in a thousand…)

I’ve also been doing plenty of journaling, but that also is of a type that needs to stay private. It’s material that may lead to public material, but it’s pretty raw and needy right about now. Wrote a couple of sermons in my capacity on the lay preaching team at church, and also collaborated on a unique performance art piece for the St. Francis/Men and Nature event sponsored by Illinois MALEs and the CAC in October (see blogroll links on the right at Marking Time).

My dream journal in particular will probably yield a few short stories, and has been pretty wild so far. It’s the first time I’ve ever tried this faithfully, and I recommend it, to artists and non-artists alike. When we give our souls and our subconscious permission to speak, what they have to say can be pretty radical. And the transformation of dreams into something more fully understood, and rational, and useful, takes time. So putting them in print increases our opportunity to chew on that material for a few days, a few months, or longer. If  that translation or interpretation even needs to happen, which in some cases it does not. Dreams do their work on us and change us in ways we may not ever fully comprehend.

So this goes out to you to say I’m still here. Still okay. Glad to get an email, comment or phone call by any means necessary. I still read a few other blogs each week. And I’ll keep dropping little items into Marking Time as I’m able. Look for a new poem tomorrow, in fact… despite what I said above. A guy’s gotta blow off a little steam now and then, after all, and my blogged poems have gotten more positive responses over the years than any of my essays or columns. But my higher priority these days is to get a decent day job. And I gotta get my head together (What? Again? Yes… again.) before I give a whole lot of time to blogging, volunteering, or the other ways I’ve spent so much time the past few years. I get a lot out of those activities, of course. But I need to find new ways to give back to the world, ways that don’t keep me emotionally drained and financially strapped. And I need to get over loving the sound of my own voice far too much…

So for now, just keep me in your prayers. I’m doing the same for you.

There used to be a time when I never thought I could have learned anything from a Catholic.

Perhaps due to the fact that the sample of “Christianity” I had witnessed in my hometown Catholic church drove me into atheism by the age of 10.

But then (quite a few years after having discovered the real Jesus), I came across the writings of the Franciscan Richard Rohr, and found out that God seems to have made exceptions to every rule, and that you can even learn something from a Catholic.

Likewise, I was not expecting any mind-blowing experiences to come out of the atheist camp since my latest experiences with countless comments of the defenders of disbelief on our Youtube channels, or having read what some of their supposedly brightest lights like Richard Dawkins or the Zeitgeist people have to say.

But then again, you never know when God knocks on your door with a surprise, ready to push over all your carefully construed clichés and mental drawers we keep our fellow humans in.

I have found an atheist who is probably a better Christian than I.

And very much unlike most of his fellow unbelievers, he comes forward as a defender of those from the other side or camp of the opposition and writes a book called, “An Atheist Defends Religion: Why Humanity is Better Off with Religion Than Without It.”

If I ever would have had and lost anything like it, I would have said “Bruce Sheiman has restored my faith in humanity.” But since I have long ago decided to place my trust in Someone more trustworthy than my own kind, at least I can say, Bruce, thanks for making my day! – And for reminding me of how a real Christian is supposed to act, seeing the good in the folks on the “other side” and coming forward to put in a good word for them, which is probably a closer version of “loving your enemies” than what the majority of Christendom is coming up with nowadays.

In his book, Bruce Sheiman reminds his readers that while Christianity may not have a snow-white record (as we’re constantly being reminded by those who would love to blast Christianity to hell for its crusades and other crimes of history both past and present), there are nonetheless a lot of decent Christian (or otherwise religious) folks who are doing a lot of good to make this world a better place (and if you ever tried your hand at it, you may know just how tough that attempt can be, especially in the light of the fact that most folks will never give you the credit for it, no matter what you do – just because you’re a believer).

Regardless of those culprits and fakes who have abused religion as a cloak for their less than noble purposes (including in very recent history, such as the previous US administration – without saying the present is any better), as a sum, the impact of (true) religion on the world was a good one, even if many folks may not realize it.

“Historians cannot identify any other cultural force as robust as religion that could have carried civilization along.”

Mostly, though, he points out something that strikes me as purely divine genius, namely that in our drive to discover what he terms “lowercase truth”–facts and knowledge–we have sacrificed “uppercase truth”–meaning and purpose.

In other words, figuring out all the scientific little details about how the universe works may be all fine and good, but not really replace our need for a higher purpose in life than your usual “survival of the fittest” scheme that’s slowly turning our carefully analyzed and dissected planet into living hell for more and more people each day.

He observes that our minds are called to something more than a relative truth…and if moral imperatives do not depend on God then they are not absolute and remain relative. – In other words, we’re not really good at kidding ourselves into accepting any counterfeit, fake “goodness” or standard we’re supposed to live by or strive for. The human souls is desperate to find, and unready to settle for anything less than the Real Thing in the long run.

Pointing out some of the moral advantages of those Christians and believers who actually did get the point of what their religion’s founder had intended, including their quality to respect humans as created in the image of God instead of just another hoard of highly mutated two-legged mammals who must constantly prove to each other who is the strongest, he contends that the world is actually not any worse off because of religion.

One might argue in favor of atheists as civilized and courteous as Mr. Sheiman, that in the light of Jesus’ recommendation to judge a tree by its fruits, the criteria by which He would truly consider a person to be following in His footsteps and worthy of His commendation, regardless of which camp they may profess to belong to (since we live in a world of pretenders, after all), and one way to find out who truly is a “Christian” or a “good person,” we would simply have to look at the way they treat their fellowmen.

And in this aspect, Bruce Sheiman has proven himself worthy of a higher commendation than I would be able to presently grant the majority of my fellow believers, and awakens in me the desire that there were more folks like him around, regardless of whether they share my belief or not.

Atheists who don’t persecute me for my faith make for a truly refreshing change, including from those fellow-believers who persecute me for the differences between my belief system and theirs.

Folks capable of seeing the good in people, even in those from the opposing camp, and even capable of defending them before the world, in my opinion are a greater sample of the kind of love Christ intended for us to live and practice than the attempt to press every- or anyone into our same molds.

I’ve said before that maybe Gandhi, being a Hindu, proved himself a better Christian by His actions than probably most Christians during his life-time. Perhaps Mr. Sheiman, being an atheist (though allegedly considering himself an “aspiring theist”), by his gesture, is putting forth a better Christian example than many of those who claim that label for themselves.

We’ve all heard the line “With friends like that, who needs enemies?” Well, with “enemies” like him, we would all soon have a lot more friends.

I have certainly learned something from him, and have been reminded of the fact that the One I look up to as my personal Guide and Master also stood out by bridging the gap between enemy camps (such as Jews and Romans), and it makes me long for that quality that His early followers stood out for, which ultimately enabled them to conquer the Roman empire with meekness and love.

I’m only afraid that Bruce might encounter the same type of rejection from the hardliners of his own camp that Jesus had to face from the religious hardliners of His day for showing sympathy to the Romans and preaching “Love your enemies.”

Perhaps the statement “Blessed are they who are being persecuted for righteousness’ sake” can also apply to atheists. The truth is the truth, no matter who preaches it. And in this case, the truth award of the day goes to Bruce…

Related articles:

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2009/09/an_atheist_defends_the_value_of_religion.html

http://www.zenit.org/article-27550?l=english

Graham Peacock at the blog, Digging a Lot in a November 14th post, offers us this quotation — with some emphasis added — from the  book The Naked Now by Richard Rohr:

If I counted right on Wikipedia, this is Rohr's 24th book

“Within the Christian churches, how else can we explain the obvious avoidance of so many of Jesus’ major teachings? Jesus’ direct and clear teachings on issues such as nonviolence, a simple lifestyle, love of the poor, forgiveness, love of enemies, inclusivity, mercy, and not seeking status, power, perks, and possessions: throughout history, all have been overwhelmingly ignored by mainline Christian churches, even those who call themselves orthodox or biblical. This avoidance defies explanation until we understand how dualistic thinking protects and pads the ego and its fear of change. Notice that the things we ignored above require actual change of our lifestyle, our security systems, or our dualistic thought patterns. The things we emphasized instead were usually intellectual beliefs or moral superiority stances that asked little of us: the divinity of Christ, the virgin birth, the atonement theory, and beliefs about reproduction and sex. After a while, you start to recognize the underlying bias. The ego diverts your attention from anything that would ask you to change, to righteous causes that invariably ask others to change.” (p. 94)

I used to have a recurring dream that I was underwater.  At first I’d panic–”I cant’ breathe!”  But then,  I could, somehow.

Real life can sweep us off our feet in a strong current of despair; flood us over, and over.

Well, today I discovered — again– that by reminding myself of what’s true,  what’s  good, what’s noble, and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8) I can, in fact,  breathe underwater!

And Fernando Ortega helped, too.

(If you can’t hear the music as you scroll down my post, just double click on Fernando to open him in a new window. Oh, don’t forget to pause the screenon my page first or you’ll be hearing two Fernando’s playing over each other.   ) 

“  ‘Be still and know that I am God’…Be still and know that I am…Be still and know…Be still…”  ~ R. Rohr, from Psalm 46.

Did you catch that?  Richard Rohr distilled that awesome verse from Psalm 46 to an essential point — Be still…  God is in the stillness, in the quiet, behind the closed door.  That’s where we learn to see Him and know Him, and in His presence the darkness fades away, like in Fernando’s song.  “Till the sorrow and the darkness fade away…fade away.”

Joy awaits us there,  and peace… Hudson Taylor, missionary to China, said this about joy:

“It is the consciousness of the threefold joy of the Lord, [1.] His joy in ransoming us, [2.] His joy in dwelling within us as our Saviour and Power for fruitbearing and [3.]  His joy in possessing us, as His Bride and His delight; it is the consciousness of this joy which is our real strength. Our joy in Him may be a fluctuating thing: His joy in us knows no change.”  

Joy…“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for JOY and I will give thanks to him in song.”  Psalm 28:7

“ Do not be grieved, for the JOY of the LORD is your strength.”  Nehemiah 8:10b NASB

Real joy comes despite the pain, under the water.  John Calvin said, “…it seems David would glory in God in spite of seeming abondonment, and although there should be little outward appearance of help, David would rest contented with the simple security of God’s Word.” ~from “Suffering; Understanding the Love of God”

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:38-39

Been underwater too long?  Getting wrinkly skin? Click on the fish face above for a lifeline.  It’s a site full of hope for those who are suffering.

For about a year now, I’ve been hearing stories about this thing called “the emerging church”.  I think I first came across the term in an article when I was flipping through an issue of the Mennonite Weekly Review.  I remember reading the article, but I don’t think I really paid much attention to it – at least not until a friend, who was on her way to an emerging church conference, sent the article my way for a second time.  So I read it again.

To be honest, I didn’t understand what the big deal was.

My impression was that there was some group of Mennonites somewhere who were trying to live an authentically Christian life, trying to keep Christianity relevant to the 21st century, and forming ties with other Christians from outside the Mennonite tradition in order that they could learn from one another.  And I thought, “Good for them.  Whenever people are finding relevant  and vibrant ways to be Christ-like, I’m all for that.”

But I didn’t really understand why they thought that they (either these mennos or the others with whom they were forming ties) needed some new catchy label like “emerging” (and believe me – “emerging” is not the only catchy word being thrown around).

So my friend lent me a DVD of Richard Rohr, a Catholic priest and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, speaking about the emerging church.  I must say that I was very favorably impressed, and it was my intent to blog about it.  Alas – it has now been too many months, and I can’t remember enough to say anything substantial.  However, it was my overall impression that Fr. Rohr did a good job of emphasizing how the Church tends to bicker over relatively minor things, while tending to neglect the important commonalities that we share.  He indicated that the emerging church isn’t trying to create new structures, but rather to reform the existing ones.  In addition, he developed some creative ways to go about doing Church that would redirect the emphasis toward our shared values.

This kind of speech is edifying, and I always appreciate those who can articulate a clear vision for grace-filled Christian community and mission.  And yet there was still a disconnect for me – what was special about what he was saying that it deserved to be a movement?

On a whim, I decided to purchase A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren* from the Laurelville gift shop one weekend when my family was there.  Brian begins the book by describing the many reasons why you shouldn’t read it.  This seemed to confirm my less charitable perceptions – that these “emergents” just liked to hear themselves talk.  Then Ordinary Spouse pointed out that I write the same way…

* I hope to provide a more in-depth look at this book sometime in the future.  However, given the speed at which I move, I was concerned that it might take me a year or two to get around to it.  So I decided to mention it in this post first.

So I slogged through that introductory chapter and made my way through the rest of the book.  Brian lays out a vision for what this emerging church might look like, and I began to understand the significance of the emerging movement…

(We interrupt this discourse to bring you a disclaimer.  The author of this post has read one book by Brian McLaren and started to read a second.  He has managed to read snippets of other authors who are considered to be “emerging”.  In addition, he has no first-hand experience with communities that identify themselves as “emerging”.  Furthermore, any halfway motivated person can see from a quick Google search that the range of ideas about what constitutes “emerging” is fairly broad.  Therefore, to claim to speak with any authority on the “significance of the emerging movement” is completely uncalled for.  It’s unwise.  It’s misguided.  It’s just plain stupid.  Here goes anyway.)

It seems to me that the emerging church is motivated by a desire to get back to the person of Christ, to understand who he is and how his message is relevant today, and then to live into that message.  And that’s important – to really apply the way of Christ to one’s approach to life now.  In some ways, this is a very Anabaptist thing to do.  Anabaptists have always been about the centrality of Christ.  And so, this explains some my initial ambivalence about the whole movement.  Parts of this thinking is not new to me.  In fact, it comes naturally, as I believe it would to people who value historical Anabaptism and who are wondering about its relevance for the future.  And as I’ve been reading, I’ve learned that this kind of thinking has brought about many connections between Anabaptists and the broader Church – the kind of connections that were mentioned in that Mennonite Weekly Review article.  Furthermore, this focus on living out the way of Christ is (as I understand it) a shift of sorts for some other Christian groups.

But if I’ve come to understand my initial, blasé reaction to the emerging church, I’ve also begun to understand how it informs (or reforms) my own Christian journey.  I talked above about a way of “thinking”.  In his book, Everything Must Change, Brian McLaren talks about “framing stories”.  These are the narratives that shape how we see the world, how we interact with it, and how we make decisions.  And one area where my framing story was incomplete and providing a mixed message was in my approach to scripture.  I was (and still am) influenced by a number of traditions: Anabaptist, of course, but probably also traditional protestant (whatever that is), evangelical, charismatic/pentecostal, and maybe even fundamentalist.  And it had become clear to me that these traditions weren’t always in agreement, weren’t always right, and were leaving me with an inconsistent approach to understanding the Bible.  It didn’t help that this wasn’t a topic that I thought much about during my time at Goshen (which is where I might have received some good guidance on the matter – but that’s another story).

Recently, I had come to a more comfortable place in my biblical understanding – one that averted a faith crisis of sorts – but it was still an uneven understanding.  However, when I read A Generous Orthodoxy, I encountered a subtle shift in interpretation, but one that (I think) will be life-giving and more holistic than my previous approaches.

Since I want to blog about that separately, I’m going to leave you wondering what I’m talking about.  Let me only say that a slight change in framing story or a small shift in the way that I read the Bible seems to have enormous possibilities for living out my life.  In some ways, I feel like I’ve been working on a puzzle.  I have all of the needed pieces in front of me, but all of a sudden I think I might have some sense of how to fit the pieces together to solve it.  Cool!

Another personal benefit is a new sense of the unity of the Church.  I’ve already mentioned that others were  building these bridges, but my reaction was rather “ho-hum”.  Now, however, I’m also getting excited by these ties.  Similarly, I gaining a greater appreciation for the strengths of various traditions.  (This was a major emphasis of A Generous Orthodoxy.)

One final benefit that I’ll mention is the encouragement that I receive when I witness how the emerging church lives out the way of Christ.  It is a generous way, filled with grace, humility, and hospitality.  There is so much for me to learn from it.

As an example, I’d like to point you to a story of someone who was denied communion when she went to visit her parents’ congregation.  The details aren’t given.  But look how her own congregation (a Lutheran group) responds when she returns home.  Now – my understanding of Lutheran eucharistic theology is that they consider the elements to contain the Real Presence of Christ.  This isn’t my understanding, but frankly, my understanding isn’t the point.  The point is that this person’s community saw a need and responded with grace.  And that is beautiful no matter what your theology is.  That’s the kind of Church that I want to be a part of.

A subject that hits close to home with me and my lineage is mental illness, specifically psychosis, mood disorders, and depression. I think about the generation I have grown up in and things are certainly a lot  different in psychiatric circles than they were back in the 1950s. Drug Therapy was new then and it led to a lot of breakthroughs in the clinical field of psychiatry. My father-in-law had worked at a Veteran’s Hospital in a psychiatric unit when he was 18. That was a long time ago. He talked first hand about things I have seen in movies and in books, like electro-shock therapy and even frontal lobe lobotomies. For the sake of those who I see suffer, I am thankful for the advances in therapies and the move away from state institutions for the primary care of those afflicted with mental illnesses.

Psychiatrists of the present are filling a role that priests of the past did in terms of dealing with dangerous, volatile, evil pathology. Possession by a demonic spirit, or a wayward spirit for that matter, to many is a medieval concept now. Much  more is known about mental health, behavior and emotional problems, and psychosis. Gerald May wrote a book that compared diagnoses from the DSM-IV, listing psychopathology and states of spiritual turmoil. The book I am referring to is Care of Mind, Care of Spirit. May is also the well-known author of the book The Dark Night of the Soul. Having worked in the mental health field as a crisis counselor, I have seen first hand what emotional disturbance looks like in a stress filled or fight or flight moment.

When I was dating my wife she took a class in Psychopathology. During that time she shared with me an article she had read about Catholic priests who refused pastoral care and exorcism to mentally ill patients. So, as I mentioned, the role of psychiatrists has evolved in according to May, psychiatrists are the modern day priesthood. So much has been learned about psychosis, the brain, psychology, behavior, abnormal psychology, and “the mind”, that have led to many advancements in the treatment of chronic and organic mental disorders. When I worked as a crisis counselor, what some would call emotional disturbance or escalation of afflictive emotions, appeared like evil entities who had entered the bodies of the patients I served.

A concept that has revolutionized my thinking about psychological suffering versus the issue of possession by a spirit, is a phrase coined by spiritual thinker, Eckhart Tolle. Tolle is an enlightened teacher not affiliated with any particular religion. What he called the pain-body, has inspired Catholic priest Richard Rohr in his talks about violent behavior and spirituality. Rohr specifically talks about the biblical notion of “driving out demons” and relates it to Tolle’s ideas about the pain-body.

The key to understanding pain, is to (if mentally able) check how aware you may or may not be in the present moment. Tolle’s best selling book The Power of Now, deals directly what I have mentioned about pain and its cumulative effect on the well-being of an individual. He says that emotional pain leaves behind a residue that gets lodged in your body and mind. When you include pain you experienced as a child, from intimate relationships, family dysfunction, patterns of rejection or abandonment (my emphasis), then there is an accumulated source of pain that exists as a negative energy field. As mentioned this occupies your body and mind. When looked at as an invisible “agent” or “energy field”, it can rightfully be called the pain-body.

The pain-body can be both dormant and active. For those in whom, it lies dormant, it can be triggered by any number of things. Whether active or dormant in a person, it particularly can be triggered by anything that resonates with a pain pattern of the past. When awakened from its dormant stage, even a thought or an innocent remark made by someone close to you can activate it.

Tolle says that some pain-bodies are “obnoxious”, but “relatively harmless”, while others are “vicious and destructive monsters”, “true demons“. Some are even physically violent any many more are emotionally violent. He goes on to say that some will attack people you surround yourself with and others may attack you, as its host. Then what happens is your thoughts and feelings which you have about your life then become “deeply negative”, and “self-destructive.” This is something to take serious, because illnesses and unplanned accidents can happen as a result of this. Even worse, certain pain-bodies can corrupt a person into committing suicide.

So, how do you recognize the pain body trying to take control of your being? Tolle advocates watching for unhappiness in one’s self. That sounds generic, but whatever form unhappiness takes, there are warning signs. Irritation. Impatience. A somber mood. A desire to hurt. Anger, rage, depression, or a need to have drama in one of your relationships. He says to recognize it the moment it awakens from its dormant state.

The pain-body’s desire is to “survive” and the only way it can do that is to get you to unconsciously identify with it. Once that happens, it can “rise up”, “take you over”, “become you”, and “live through you”. It needs to get its “food” through you and will try to feed on any experience that “resonates with its own kind of energy, anything that creates further pain in whatever form: anger, destructiveness, hatred, grief, emotional drama, violence, and even illness.”

When the pain-body has taken you over, what happens? Well, you want more pain. You become one of two things, a victim or a perpetrator. So, what drives the pain-body at this point? You/it wants to “inflict pain”, or you/it wants to “suffer pain”, or both. To continue to further describe its nature, the pain-body is the “dark shadow cast by the ego” and is afraid of the “light of your consciousness”. The pain-body has a fear. A fear of being found out. The reason it feels this way is because its entire survival depends on “your unconscious identification with it” and on your unconscious fear meeting the pain that lives in you face to face. Tolle stresses the importance of facing your pain, for if you don’t bring the light of your consciousness into the pain, “you will be forced to relive it again and again.”

The pain-body once understood in an objective way, may seem like a dangerous monster, something you can’t find the strength to look at because it is too hideous. Tolle, who understands this phenomena with great authority and tact, assures us in The Power of Now, that the pain-body is an insubstantial phantom, that cannot prevail against the power of “your presence”. A phantom? This sounds like a spirit? So, were those Catholic priests in the wrong or were they just not educated in the way Tolle is about such a reality.

Having come full circle with the description of the pain-body, a question was posed to Tolle, in the chapter titled “Consciousness: The Way Out of Pain” (from which I have been quoting. Someone wanted to know what happens to the pain-body when a person becomes conscious enough to break their identification with it. His response was such that, “unconsciousness creates it; consciousness transmutes it into itself.”  He went on to quote St. Paul, who he believed expressed “the universal principle beautifully”. St. Paul said, “Everything is shown up by being exposed to the light, and whatever is exposed to the light itself becomes light.”

In tribute to Eckhart Tolle’s phenomenal teaching that explains the nature of “being possessed”, I will publicly agree with him. He says,”Just as you cannot fight the darkness, you cannot fight the pain-body. Trying to do so would create inner conflict and thus further pain.”

In conclusion, the substance of the pain-body is trapped life-energy that “has split off from one’s total energy field and has “temporarily become autonomous through the unnatural process of ‘mind identification’. ” What happens is it turns in against itself and becomes “anti-life”.  Tolle used the analogy of an animal chasing its tail to describe this. He goes on to talk about the calamities that occur when the ego identifies with the pain-body. I think we’ve all met those self-loathing, or super critical, explosive people.

Doing some homework this week as part of  a sort of inner inventory. Specifically I’m looking at some of the classic myths, stories and symbols that I have taken up or been given as my own personal “sacred stories” (to use Soulcraft author Bill Plotkin’s term).

The main type of myth I realize I’ve been engaged with is the “wilderness journey” tale, with a strong dose of  rejection or “exile” thrown in as well. As opposed to a battle, a love affair, or some other self-defining archetypal model/structure, the metaphor of a journey has always had the most resonance for me. Furthermore, the isolation or estrangement (i.e. “exile”) that often accompanies such a journey has been the primary metaphor that I have defined myself against, or worked to avoid. In other words, my journey and focus is not away from “home” as a selfish explorer or conqueror, but towards it — as a friend, a family member, and a fulfiller of promises.

It is also an essential journey toward integration, since like many people I am estranged even from certain parts of myself (usually the best and worst). So I’ve spent a lifetime digging deeper, processing my experiences, trying to understand myself and my role in creation. Maybe then I’d better understood others as well, and be understood by them… or so the plan is supposed to go. Thus, this repeated “journeying” pattern has impacted my choices and relationships, my career and home life, my joys and struggles, year after year. It’s the reason to blog, and on many days, for me, the journey is the reason to live. Simply stated, I don’t easily “stay put” from a social, intellectual or spiritual perspective, even though physically I’ve always lived within a thirty mile radius of Chicago.

Below are some mythical or historical examples of  personally influential journeys and exiles (pulled off the top of my head today, …tomorrow I may cite others): 

• the original expulsion of Adam and Eve from The Garden;
• traveling and exile (in wilderness, or in another culture) in the tales of  Abraham, Jacob and his son Joseph, the y0ung King David, and Moses;
• the 40-day desert journey of Jesus and his encounter with Satan (or darkness, sin, shadow, pick your own variation…);
• my favored gospel writer St. John’s imprisonment, his travels in Asia Minor, and his purported  island exile on Patmos at the end of his life;
• St. Francis’ many wanderings through the wilds of Italy, and his concurrent journey from wealth and war to poverty and peace;
• political exile/public rejection/imprisonment of many of my modern heroes of faith and social justice, plus similar revolutionary writers, musicians, or visual artists –people like Thoreau, Van Gogh, Magritte (and fellow Surrealist Salvador Dali, who painted the above image), James Joyce, Paul Robeson, Gandhi, Bonhoeffer, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Mandela, etc… though some of their rejection was temporary, I will admit ;

• MOST ESPECIALLY the fictional journey of Odysseus/Ulysses, and various later work that mirrors his complex inner/outer journey of transformation and struggle, especially to overcome basic fear, in characters like Hamlet (plus King Lear and The Tempest’s Prospero), Huck Finn, the Apocalypse Now gang, Frodo,  …heck, even little Harold with his Purple Crayon and Max from Where the Wild Things Are (BTW, the current film version is excellent, but dark). 

I’m gonna have to follow up this “journey” idea, mine it for the gold I know is still there. But that’s enough to chew on for today.

However, I’ve also discovered a secondary myth/archetype which I have also been defined by, though unfortunately I only discovered this connection quite recently. That would be the myth of Narcissus, of course. And –trust me on this one– it takes a true narcissist to go forty three years before realizing what a narcissist he is, as I did during my initiation experiences last year (ripples of which continue to this day). The Narcissus myth captures the essence of what I’ve come to call my deepest “sacred wound” (to use Richard Rohr’s term), and it probably dates all the way back to my toddler years.

Again, I won’t get too in-depth about my own personal growth and challeges. Enough for now to recommend the book Deliver Us from Me-Ville by David Zimmerman, which put me back onto the basic Narcissus principle and its connection to my own psychic journey, to U.S. culture overall, and to issues of faith. I read the book along with most of our church last year, and its wise but simple ideas about human nature and God continue to shed much light upon my own personal tendencies.

And speaking of personal tendencies… I’ve been at this particular post far too long. Time to go brave the wilds of suburban Chicago on a few errands.

Psalms 119:77

Show me your compassion that I may live.

The Daily Path: Eight simple words that reveal so much.

Reflections: I’d like to share a snippet from Fr. Richard Rohr’s commentary on what he calls The Emerging Church.

“Another exciting piece of Emerging Christianity is that, really for the first time, we’ve stopped idealizing or being preoccupied with the top. We have turned to a search for actual gifts, real service, and proven holiness. What we need now is simple competence in doing the job of revealing, healing, and reconciling this pained humanity and this suffering world.

The first question is not, “Is she trained in theology?” or “Is he ordained?” The first question is “Can she do the job? Is he changing lives? Is it working?”

For centuries we have argued about bishops, ministers, priests, and protocol, with few results and more divisions. Now we realize that it is simple competence and holiness that finally matters. Are lives being changed? Are people meeting God, themselves, and one another in good and healing ways? All the rest is window dressing. Jesus had legitimization from no formal institution, but he sure did the job.”

In my own experience, it’s always been the living examples of Christ’s compassion and forgiveness that draws me closer. Meanwhile, management has often had the opposite affect.

Jesus changed lives.

Readers of this blog know that I’ve been excited about hearing Richard Rohr speak in Atlanta this coming Saturday at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Philip. Indeed, if you are in Atlanta and are free on Saturday, I would encourage you to go — although it’s my understanding that the response has been so great that they’ve had to move the event from the fellowship hall into the Cathedral nave.

But, as it turns out, I won’t be there.

A couple of months ago my wife and I learned that the city of Decatur (just up the road from us) hosts semi-annual Electronics Recycling Days. These events provide environmentally and socially responsible recycling opportunities for families and businesses to dispose of computers, printers, televisions, stereo components, cell phones and other telephones, batteries, and various other items.

Because we hate to throw stuff out, we have literally been hoarding broken down computer and other electronics equipment for the past decade. Our garage is full of the stuff. When we learned of the Recycling Days, we resolved that we would lug all our stuff to it the next time it happened.

And, of course, it’s tomorrow, October 24 — right when Rohr is speaking.

Sure, we could wait until the next Recycling Day, probably next April, but we want to keep our promise to ourselves (and if you saw the condition of our garage, you’d understand why). I know other opportunities to hear Father Richard will present themselves (and actually, he’s speaking at a Catholic Church on Sunday evening, but he’s talking about the Emergent Church which we figure will just be a summary of the conference we attended last March).

So if you’re going to hear Richard speak, sorry we’ll miss you. I’m sure he’ll give a wonderful presentation. But since he’s a Franciscan friar, I imagine he would heartily approve of recycling as the reason why someone couldn’t make it out to hear him.

Integral musician, actor and all-around hilarious guy Stuart Davis has just filmed a short commercial hawking the latest in potable ancient-future altered states of (higher) consciousness – Godka, or psilocybin-infused vodka.

!!!

Absinthe what?

I wonder if he’s met our pals John Crowder and Benjamin Dunn – or John Scotland and Emerge Wales and Red Letters crew, for that matter?

Have you missed John since my interview with him last year? He’s YouTubing up a storm…here’s one of the latest, on ’spiritual exercises’…

In a perfect world, John Crowder and Stuart Davis would get along like gangbusters. Stuart does for sex – on his bleeding-edge Sex, God, and Rock & Roll – what John does for drug culture.

If you missed it last year, here’s my six-parter looking at the Pentecostal/charismatic avant-garde, kicking off with Charismatic Chaos or (Holy) Spirited Deconstruction?

…and leading into a five-parter dialogue with Mr. John Crowder himself:

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Good times.

What do you think of spirituality and altered states of consciousness? What I’m thinking these days is inspired by and summed up nicely in a piece entitled Mystical Experience or Unitive Seeing? by integral Christian contemplative Cynthia Bourgeault, in Richard Rohr’s Radical Grace magazine. Money quote (though I could easily take the highlighter of my life and highest aspirations to the entire article):

The word “mystical” is almost always immediately coupled with the word “experience,” and a mystical experience becomes something that you have—or want to have, anyway. It becomes a sign of God’s special favor—a kind of spiritual “peak experience”—and circumstances promising to deliver that experience are eagerly sought after: from sacred chanting and Eucharistic devotion to Sufi whirling, solitude in the desert, or peyote. In the usual way of looking at things, it is an altered state of consciousness, ecstatic, something that takes you far beyond your usual self, a straight shot into divine consciousness.

What’s so bad about that?

Well, nothing, really. [Mike's note: And I'd want to emphasize that I agree 100% - there's nothing wrong with ecstasy and spiritual peak experiences! In fact, I could really use one right now...John, if you're reading this, could you email me a toke of the Holy Ghost? I'd like Jesus on the mainline, please!] But from the point of view of real spiritual growth, it’s an immature state— a “state” rather than a “stage,” in the helpful language of Ken Wilber. A state is a place you go to; a stage is a place you come from: integrated and mature spiritual experience. It’s true that a mystical experience can indeed be a sneak preview of how the universe looks from the point of view of non-dual consciousness. And it’s true that this consciousness does indeed operate at a higher level of vibrational intensity, which at first can overwhelm our normal cognitve systems. But the point is not to squander this infusion of energy on bliss trips, but to learn to contain it within a quiet and spacious consciousness and allow it to permanently bring about a shift in our operating system, so that unitive (or non-dual) perception becomes our ordinary, and completely normal mode of perception.

Amen and amen. I’ll drink to that.

A college professor got my attention more than 30 years ago in an Introduction to Political Science course. He used the word, “contemplative.”

I had, of course, heard the word before, but he spoke in a way that arrested my attention. Rather than putting the accent on the “-pla-” syllable, he put it on “-tem-”. Now that seems a rather minor distinction, one supported by my dictionary, but that simple change woke me from my classroom slumber and made me listen.

The professor said the contemplative life was the best life, according to the ancient Greeks. I forgot most of what I heard in college, but I never forgot that and it has proved true in my own life. Life is best when contemplation is central part of it.

Now, it seems, there is a lot of talk about contemplation. That may seem to be the case because I’ve been reading Richard Rohr a good bit. Then comes this e-note from Richard’s Center for Action and Contemplation this morning:

“The contemplative mind is really just the mind that emerges when you pray instead of think first. Praying opens the field and moves beyond fear and judgment and agenda and analysis, and just lets the moment be what it is—as it is.”

I think I’m not alone when I confess that praying before thinking is very counterintuitive. Thinking is what I tend to do most. My wife has even accused me of over-thinking; and I grudgingly concur. So how can I pray first. I don’t know.

Richard says this:

“We really have to be taught that mind. We now are pretty sure that it was systematically taught—mostly in the monasteries—as late as the 13th and even into the 14th century. But once we got into the oppositional mind of the Reformation and the rational mind of the Enlightenment, the contemplative mind pretty much fell by the wayside. The wonderful thing is that it is now being rediscovered across denominations, and there is no select group that holds it or that teaches it. Catholics still use the word ‘contemplation,’ but usually have not been taught the practice, even monks and nuns and priests.”

Adapted from the CAC webcast, Nov. 8, 2008:
“What is The Emerging Church?”

So, there’s some food for thought, for contemplation.

Over on facebook I responded to a challenge by The Nervous Breakdown the other day. TNB is a fun little collective for folks who express themselves well, often hilariously, but have not been published much …yet. The challenge (or was it a poll?) was to describe your life in exactly three words.

Here was mine: “never grew tame”.

Maybe I said it because I’ve been spending a lot of time in the forest preserves lately. Maybe I was just being cute. Maybe I just never grew up, period… but needed to find a way to justify my fringe-y status in the American middle class. Maybe I’m just so pysched about Dave Eggers’ Where the Wild Things Are movie and novel that my heart hurts.

I dunno why I said it, actually. But I’ve always been just a touch wild. Not completely out of control or dangerous. Just one furniture-climbing incident or inappropriate comment away from getting a time-out —  from Mom, my wife, my friends, God. (Going out in a pristine prairie to walk or howl or read is liking jumping on God’s bed.)

Anyway, I’m off in a few minutes to perform with a ragtag group of men today, in a sort of performance art thing we wrote about St. Francis, the male psyche, and nature. It’s part of a conference Richard Rohr is doing in Chicago this weekend as part of his Men As Learners and Elders spiritual growth organization. I’m in the Illinois/Upper Midwest chapter.

The performance piece is a little rough around the edges, as art goes, especially given that we’ll be in front of 200+ guys, and none of us professional actors, and we’ve yet to actually rehearse the thing in a decent way!  We’ll just have to trust God to let it be what it needs to be, for us and the gathered men.

We’ll be in a big tent, though, with prairie and forest just outside on our doorstep –the real deal for later in the day, instead of our cheap imitation. So it doesn’t need to be perfect. As some wise friends have told me recently:

“Better is the enemy of good…”

Hit me back here in the coming week and I’ll likely have some notes and thoughts on the conference, and the outcome of the performance, and whether the other wild men threw fruits and vegetables at us when we acted like Fools For Christ (in other words, like Francis).

TIME CHANGE

Only an hour—an hour more—given

And I accepted—to distill the deadly

Sameness—unheard of wealth—forty

Minutes longer to slumber—a new

Morning—the sun an hour higher—

The traffic an hour less—the vibrant

Curses a word fewer—what a difference

A day made—an hour—the forty minutes—

A change—a day started later—a day ended,

Too, an hour later—the sun in the land of

Shirley MacLaine and the Franciscans an

Hour lower—(nights, recall, in summer, at

Malibu, wending up the hill to the Hermitage

To dispense milk and pay on the honor system

For chocolate bars—to buy the books of Emory

Tang and Richard Rohr)—the boulevard  trees,

Now, exhale in autumn release—my children

Are so gentle—their mother’s influence—and

Yogurt is only for the young.

Fall 2009

Dan Davis, © 2009

John 1:47-51

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

The Daily Path: I’ve been watching the new Ken Burns series on America’s National Parks (The National Parks: America’s Best Idea). While nothing can fully compare to experiencing these places in person, much of their majesty is conveyed by the images captured in this film. Many of the individuals Burns interviews in the series speak of the transcendent moments that commonly occur when visitors first “experience” Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, or some of the other parks. I know this to be true as I have experienced the phenomenon myself… again and again.

John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, and countless others have commented on being transformed after seeing these places as “temples of the Creator”. They are correct. The National Parks, and many other places in the world, are truly wonders of God. It’s easy to see the hand of the Creator in them.

I have sat at the foot of the great granite monoliths of Yosemite and been humbled by my own insignificance. I have watched the sun rise and set while huddled atop peaks in the Range of Light (Muir’s name for the Sierra Nevada mountains). Recently, I attended Richard Rohr’s talk on Eco-Spirtuality (finding God in nature). Throughout my life, I have been blessed with the opportunity to experience God first hand in some of the most spectacular natural showcases on this earth. Each time I make this eco-spiritual connection, I have been filled with an overwhelming sense of peace. Words cannot begin to describe these experiences.

Jesus promises that we as believers will see great things and the opening of Heaven. If you look for His hand in nature, you can see great things all around. Perhaps even a small understanding of what the magnificence of Heaven will be.

“All the truly great persons I have ever met are characterised by what I call radical humility…They are deeply convinced that they are drawing from another source; they are an instrument. Their genius is not their own; it is borrowed. So they end up doing great things and expansive things precisely because they do not take first or final responsibility for their gift. … Their life is not their own, yet at some level they know that it has been given to them as a sacred trust. Someone has taken them seriously.”

-Fr Richard Rohr