Walking a Labyrinth

A few months ago I called Rev. Battle Beasley rector at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church to ask if our community could meet there one night.  Over the last month our group has been reading and exploring the practices of the book The Sacred Way.  One of the chapters is the spiritual practice of walking a labyrinth.  St. Mark’s has an outdoor labyrinth and I thought instead of just talking about walking a labyrinth we should go walk a labyrinth.  Wednesday night 7 of us did just that.  Before we walked Battle took some time to explain the history & meaning of labyrinths.   The design of the labyrinth at St. Mark’s is called Chartres. 

Chartres Cathedral labyrinth

 

 

 

The name comes from the famous Chartres Cathedral labyrinth in France…can anyone sayroad trip? 

 

 

Moving on…Battle gave us paper and pencils to jote down some questions or thoughts we had before entering the labyrinth and after walking it we should return to those thoughts to see if there was some clarity.  I have walked a labyrinth before while I was in seminary but this for whatever reason had a different vibe to it.    This time I walked knowing that this was not a waste of time but rather a chance to deepen my relationship with God.  A chance to hear God and for me to listen.  As I began walking I noticed one phrase repeating in my mind, inward reflection outward focus.  Over and over again this repeated in my head.  As I reached the center I stood inside one of the petals looking outside the labyrinth.  I noticed the blue sky, the trees, the green grass not really focusing on anything just looking.  After a couple of days to ponder these two things I believe there is a connection.  I know that reflection leads to action but I always seem to get sidetracked.  I notice a lot of things and maybe that is the problem for me when it comes to action.  What action should I focus on?  There is a lot of things that have my attention but what truly has my focus?  I believe God is stirring me to action.  Not to multiple things but something singular/something I will focus on exclusively.  God only knows what that is…for now.  

Peace,

Nate     

Redemption Art

These pictures are from our meeting last night.  The ideas were inspired by the work of Caitlin Beidler (www.caitlinbeidler.com/)  We took her idea and applied it to our exploration of The Sacred Way.   

Peace,

Nate

What is spirituality and how do you practice it?

I am so glad you asked!  We spent Wednesday night exploring those two questions.  We began by watching a section of the Rob Bell video Everything is Spiritual.  If you get a chance watch the whole talk but for time constraints we watched a small clip.  In it Rob speaks of how human beings are the only thing in creation that is 100% physical and 100% spiritual and that the Jewish people had no concept of the modern idea of a spiritual life because to label one thing in life as spiritual is to label another thing in life not-spiritual.  For the Hebrew people just being human makes you spiritual.  Rob points out that the question is not if you are a spiritual person but if your eyes are open to it. 

Colossians 3:17  “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

“I’m not religious, but I’m a very spiritual person. This, of course, is a somewhat misleading statement, for religion is simply human beings’ attempts to sort out the ways in which we seek after God.” The Sacred Way Pg 26

There are several definitions of spirituality (all of these come from the book The Sacred Way)

“Christian spirituality concerns the quest for a fulfilled and authentic Christian existence, involving the bringing together of the fundamental ideas of Christianity and the whole experience of living on the basis of and within the scope of the Christian faith.” Alister Mcgrath

“The spiritual life is simply increasing vitality and sway of God’s Spirit in us.” Marjorie Thompson

“The practice of the presence of God.”  Brother Lawrence

“The goal of Christian spirituality is to be enlivened by God’s Spirit.” Tony Jones

The meaning behind the Hebrew (ruach), Greek (pneuma), & Latin (Spiritus) include “spirit/breath/wind”  Jesus says in John 3, ““The wind (pneuma) blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.”

 

The point is that God at the beginning breathed the Divine spirit in all of us.  It is not for us to manipulate or decide where it goes but the Divine spark in all of us is a gift.  All people have a longing for the Divine because God created us with his Spirit.  Those who in their longing give their life to Jesus receive the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is only possible to dwell in our hearts when we acknowledge Jesus as Lord but God is never far from those who have yet decided to acknowledge Jesus as Lord. 

 Why practice the presence of God?  As a group we looked up a number of scriptures to try to answer this question.

 

Deuteronomy 6:4-6

    1 Chronicles 22:18-19

Psalm 95:6

Matthew 6:5-15

Matthew 14:23

Mark 1:35

Luke 5:15-16

John 3:30

Acts 2:42-47

Romans 12:2

Hebrews 10:19-25

1 Peter 4:8-11

Take some time and explore each of these to see some reasons for why we desire to practice the presence of God.

 

“You can listen to innumerable sermons and read countless books, but the true transformation happens only when you practice the disciplines that lie at the heart of faith.  As the disciplines are practiced, your life becomes more attuned to God’s life, and you become more “at one” with the rhythms of creation.” The Sacred Way Pg 31 

 

There is just something unique and powerful when we allow God to speak directly to us.

 

“In the spiritual life, the word “discipline” means “the effort to create some space in which God can act.”  Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up.  Discipline means that somewhere you’re not occupied, and certainly not preoccupied.  In the spiritual life, discipline means to create that space in which something can happen that you hadn’t planned or counted on.”  Henri Nouwen

 Matthew 7:7-11

 

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; those who seek find; and to those who knock, the door will be opened.   “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

 

As we begin next week practicing these disciplines there are these three questions to ponder.

 What are you seeking? 

 What things do you hope to receive? 

 What doors do you hope are opened? 

 

As we seek, ask, & knock along our journey on this sacred way my prayer is we will find our Creator, we will receive the power of His presence, and the hope of doors opened by the love of the Father.

Peace,

Nate

Messy Spirituality

A few years ago the church I was the youth minister at asked me to be the speaker at our churches family camp.  The theme for that weekend was Messy Spirituality.  I wrote 4 sermons based off  the book Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli.  I copied and pasted those sermons together at www.wordle.net  and this was the image I got back.  Just thought I would share…

Peace,

Nate

“The Quest for God”

Last night we started our look at The Sacred Way by Tony Jones.  The first chapter is titled “The Quest for God.”  Tony begins the chapter by telling a story about sitting in a coffee shop and a thunderstorm began.  He was looking around the parking lot and noticed a nice BMW parked far away from all the other cars to keep it in mint condition.  He then looked around and saw a shopping cart being pushed by the wind towards the BMW.  He sat and watched as it inched closer and closer to making its mark on that brand new BMW.  Tony says our God is a lot like that shopping cart.  “No matter how far away we park, and no matter how much we try to avoid bumping into the Divine Creator of the Universe, God finds us and leaves a mark.” 

This is the whole reason we embark on this quest for God.  God crafted us in His image so we all have an awareness of this mark even though we might try to ignore it.  When we wake up to this mark we look for ways to connect to our Creator.  As we begin this quest we may ask what God am I on a quest for?  There are soooooooo many religions which one leads me to God.  Dan Kimball’s book “They like Jesus but Not the Church,” has a great chapter titled “Do Christians arrogantly think all other religions are wrong?”  In it Dan explains that emerging generations are not becoming less spiritual but actually are embracing all spirituality.  In the book he has a conversation with a man named Duggan.  Duggan grew up in loving home outside of a religious blanket.  He said when he was teenager he began having questions about God.  He talked to his Dad and his Dad gave Duggan a King James Bible, a Koran, some Buddhist and Confucian writings and Duggan read and formed his faith from all these traditions.  So when Duggan talks to Christians about religion he can’t understand why they are so hostile towards him.  Like I mentioned before he didn’t grow up with Jesus being the only way, the only truth, the only path to God.  Duggan mentions that it is not what Christians believe that bothers him but rather the way they go about telling others and never listening to others who don’t believe what they do.  He said most of his encounters with Christians come from them quoting scripture to him but never being able to explain why they believe what they do.  Dan thankfully didn’t treat Duggan like another notch on his salvation belt and they formed a friendship.  Eventually after listening to Duggan stories Dan got to share with him.

Tony asks this question in his book, Why the Christian quest?  Madonna once said “All paths lead to God.”  I will tell you when I am exploring theology I don’t look to Madonna for answers but she has a point.  There are similarties in every religion such as the Golden Rule.  Above you can see a poster that you can purchase here http://www.scarboromissions.ca/Golden_rule/poster_order.php  On the poster you will find many religions who all have a golden rule in their sacred teachings.  Dan acknowledges this in his book and in his conversation with Duggan.  Dan goes on to explain though there are similarities in many religions that when you really dive deep into them you will start to see that they don’t all lead to the same God. 

In fact they lead to totally different Gods.  Hinduism leads to many gods, Islam leads to One god but Jesus is only a prophet, Christianity leads to One triune God and the only way to that God is through Jesus.  Similarities, check but they don’t lead to the same place.  The reason why we embark on this quest to find God through Christianity is Jesus.  As Tony puts it, “For only in Christianity is there the belief that the one, true God came to earth as a human being, and that, to this day, we can know him in as personal a way as the disciples who shared lunch with him 2,000 years ago.  That is, Christians engage in these spiritual practices not out of duty or obligation but because there is a promise attached:  God will personally meet us in the midst of these disciplines.” 

Our quest for an intimate relationship with God begins with Jesus and I hope who will join us to find him.

Peace,

Nate 

 

Essential reading

Eugene Cho is fast becoming my favorite blogger.  He and his readers spent some time tossing back and forth what they thought was the 10 most essential books for Christians.  You can read his list here http://eugenecho.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/my-10-absolutely-essential-books-for-christians/#more-4005

 

 I was looking down the list and can say that I haven’t read very many of those books.  I have read bits and pieces probably but not all the way through.  The one that I find the most essential on that list (keep in mind I am saying the most essential to those I have read on Eugene’s list) is Surprised By Hope by N.T. Wright 

 

 http://www.amazon.com/Surprised-Hope-Rethinking-Resurrection-Mission/dp/0061551821/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238178153&sr=8-1 

The sub-title is “Re-thinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church.”  Don’t let re-thinking fool you.  N.T. Wright isn’t necessarily re-thinking but rather re-explaining what heaven, resurrection, and the mission of the church meant  in the context of the early church.  He peels back all the layers of tradition that has piled on top to get to the core of what Jesus and his followers believed about heaven, resurrection, and the mission of the church.  It is a beautiful book that would make a great read leading up to celebrating Easter.   Speaking of that I think I am going to re-read it starting today.  Another book Eugene mentions on his list   Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne.

 

 

 

 Irresistible Revolutionis a great book.  The stories that Shane shares are extraordinary.  I mean the man called Mother Teresa on the phone!  It cannot be overstated for people who desire to put their faith into action I can’t think of another book that articulates what that looks like better than this book.

http://www.amazon.com/Irresistible-Revolution-Living-Ordinary-Radical/dp/0310266300/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238179386&sr=1-1

 After reading his list and the list’s of people commenting on his list I started to think of what one book do I chalk up as essential to my journey with God.  What is the one book that I

 

continue to look at, study, ponder, and wrestle with.  The one book that I think every Christian should read.  I know many of you are waiting for me to say the Bible.  I know that many of us read way too much about the Bible instead of reading the Bible but that is not what I am going to say.  This book is the one I go to first after I read my Bible.  Most times that I read my Bible this book is close by so I can see if the author has any insight (and she usual does!) about what I have just read.  To me this is the most essential book I have on my shelf. 

 

 

 It is called Stations of the Banquet: Faith Foundations for Food Justice by Cathy C. Campbell. 

http://www.amazon.com/Stations-Banquet-Faith-Foundations-Justice/dp/0814629385/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238180255&sr=1-1

“Stations of the Banquet, a Scripture-based exploration of the Christian story of salvation as a food story, provides nourishment for those engaged in living out the food and justice challenges of the Gospel.  It highlights the power of our biblical and theological traditions to name the root issues of our day, shape our hope, and define horizons for action.  It is a resource for study and prayer.”  

I was in a class in seminary and this book was one of the required readings.  At first I had no desire to read this book.  It just sat on my shelf for weeks.  To be honest it wasn’t really until after the class I read it.  Before every class we would pray one of the prayers found at the end of each chapter of the book.  If you get the book just for that it is worth the price.  The prayers are some of the most beautiful and vibrant prayers I have ever read.  The rest of the book is just as vibrant and beautiful.  For some it might be a bit wordy and I guess that is why I haven’t bought 10 copies and passed them out to friends and family.  This book really needs to be read and digested in community.  If you do decide to check it out I urge you to ask a few people to read it with you.  This book is dense to say the least.  I won’t give you a long drawn out overview of the book because my words couldn’t do Stations justice but here are a few quotes.

“Time spent in prayer is time spent at the heart of the universe.” Pg 54

“In the simple act of feeding the hungry, we do not just do a good thing or follow a moral imperative to care for our neighbor; we are actually invited to encounter the living Christ, the mystery of the universe from before time to after the end of time.” Pg 70

“Generosity is the impulse at the root of a gift economy.  It is our contemporary spiritual challenge.  It is at the core of the path of abundent life for all.” Pg 158

What about you?  Do you have any essentials? 

Peace,

Nate

Speak of the devil

On Sunday mornings our community spent a couple of weeks talking about evil and satan.  I guess ABC caught wind of what we were doing and they decided to talk about it too.  ABC Nightline has a segment called Face-Off.  Tonight will air the Face-Off called “Does Satan exist?”  An interesting panel has been assembled, here is the lineup.

“…philosopher Deepak Chopra and Bishop Carlton Pearson will face-off against Pastor Mark Driscoll of the Mars Hill Church and Annie Lobert, founder of the Christian ministry “Hookers for Jesus” about the existence of the Devil.”

You can watch it online here http://abcnews.go.com/nightline/faceoff

I don’t know if ABC will show anything different than what is online but If you have ABC I would encourage you to watch.  I love conversation but sometimes I wish the conversation was with people who actually study the devil.  I understand this is ABC and they are looking for good TV more than anything.  I can’t sit here and say I have “studied” the devil.  I tend to focus on Jesus and following him but after watching this and talking with my group on Sunday mornings I need to spend some more time reading about satan. 

I found a couple of books to look at…

http://www.amazon.com/Birth-Satan-Tracing-Devils-Biblical/dp/1403969337/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238103120&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Evil-Justice-God-N-Wright/dp/0830833986/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_7

What other articles/books could help?

Peace,

Nate

 

Where we are headed

Wednesday night we will be starting a new study.  I should say experience.  We will be exploring/discussing/experiencing The Sacred Way by Tony Jones.  

You can look at the schedule here http://tyac.wordpress.com/the-sacred-way/

Along with discussing the book on Wednesday nights we will experience and practice things in Tony’s book.  We will experience some more modern spiritual practices as well.  

Next week we will be heading to Otter Creek Church for their Vesper service.  

Details here http://tyac.wordpress.com/news/

Peace,

Nate

“avoiding the appearance of evil”

 

There is a great article on Scot McKnight’s blog Jesus Creed by Chrissy Wright.  

Read it here

http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/2009/03/friday-is-for-friends-chrissy.html#more

We seem to paint our definition of sin with a narrow brush.  It seems that sin has been reduced to what we can see.  Sin shows up there but as Chrissy points out sin also shows up in things unseen.  As Chrissy says following Jesus “ It is not an easy path. It is not a selfish path. It is not a comfortable path. It is not an orderly, all laid out, avoid these five things, do these three things, neat path.”  Chrissy finishes with, “It is a daily, creative, intentional adventure of learning how to love, learning how to sacrifice, and learning what it is to see His Kingdom come and His will be done.” Amen to that!

Peace,

Nate

Sex God

This Wednesday night we will re-start our discussion on the book Sex God:  Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality and Spirituality.  We will also talk about what we might look at after we are done with Sex God.  If you have any thoughts or suggestions about what we should do next bring them Wednesday Night or leave a comment on here.

 

Here are some pictures from the 30 Hour Famine this weekend.  In total we raised a little over $5,000 dollars for World Vision.  Hope to see you Wednesday night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peace,

Nate