DeLyn at Shenandoah University

This year, i'll make all new mistakes.

2011-12-31T18:40:00.001-08:00

This has been my New Year's Resolution for the past several years. Some say that it is too pessimistic. Up until about 2003, i would have agreed.

Until 2003, i thought of "mistakes" as "learning opportunities" -- in conversation with others. In my own self-talk, however, i harshly criticized myself for choices regarding my own learning opportunities. My fear of failure kept me frozen, unable to choose something new that had any chance to "turn out bad."

I remember being at a New Year's Eve house party years ago with several dozen others i hardly knew. In a polite conversation, someone asked me, "What is your New Year's Resolution?" I had never made a New Year's Resolution, nor did i feel any obligation to construct one that year.

To my great surprise, i spoke a sarcastic answer that became truth. "This year, i'll make all new mistakes."

This negative-sounding thought was so liberating that it changed the direction of my life. No longer did i oppressively think of each choice as a black-and-white, succeed-or-fail, do-or-die type of decision. I could suddenly consider many options, knowing that each one would not necessarily invite the most optimal results. But i was willing to give an idea a chance to get me further toward what i thought was right.

Trial-and-error was suddenly transformed into a constructive method of learning, as opposed to a terrifying binary system of life-or-death choices. The freedom to make a choice that was not the absolute fastest way to success led me to learn to do the things to which i am called by God (or the things i am inspired to do, or "meant to do").

At the time of that New Year's Eve party, i remember looking around for a friend i could trust with my revelation: I have been making the same old choices (mistakes) year after year. It has led me to the same old disappointment and self-doubt. Why would i continue to make the same mistakes, over and over, year after year, expecting a different outcome?

But those at this particular party exemplified my choices. I would not trust any one of them with feelings or thoughts about anything deeper than the weather.

New mistakes, new possibilities, new choices, new perspectives, new ways of responding to bad stuff have led to new educational options, new jobs, new paths, new relationships, new friends (much better than those at that party!), new hope beyond hope. This year, i will make choices that have the potential to be mistakes. I'm not afraid of mistakes.

Here's a new fear: I'm afraid of making the stupid choice to freeze in fear of failure, rather than learning something new while running the risk of being a part of something great.

In this new year, i hope you feel invited to make a new mistake. Make it a happy one.

In Competition with my Ego

2011-08-24T09:31:00.001-07:00

Have you ever felt like you were wrestling a force far bigger than yourself? And that force was winning? And maybe you ended up sabotaging otherwise really great work?

This Sunday is about Romans 12: 9-21. Justin Allen, our new Dean of Spiritual Life at SU, will share a message entitled "In Competition with my Ego." From this graphic, it looks more like "David and Goliath."

go ahead; text in church!

2011-03-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

Our Wednesday evening chapel service, WNL, just ended a little bit ago. This is a liturgical rundown of the nontraditional means of celebrating ancient and traditional rituals.

For a prelude, we had a flurry of conversations via text message between our worship leaders and two students who were accompanying their friends to the hospital for illnesses that were urgent enough to need emergency care. Those at the hospital kept us apprised of the conditions of the ailing students throughout the service, too.

Our opening prayer was spoken via speakerphone by a student who was sitting with his father at a far-away hospital awaiting test results from cardiac issues.

Our sermonic element was delivered by a student whose family had planned to drive the 2 hours to hear him speak. His brother had come down with a nasty flu and the family decided to stay home. His father posted on my Facebook status update regarding my excitement over the service, saying he wished he could be there. We set up a computer and he and the family worshiped with us via Skype.

Tinker Toys were used to symbolize our places in the Body of Christ during the testimony. We gathered around the Tinker Toy Masterpiece, photographing it with our cell phones.

Our benediction included a song, sung while we were gathered photographing the lovely symbology. I posted one of the photos, which i borrowed from a student's Facebook page.

At SU's worshipping community, we define "koinonia" as "an ancient word for 'authentic community.'" Technology is not a substitute for real, live ministry with one another. Technology-aided communication does, however, offer opportunities for community in real-time ways that haven't been available until recently.

Perhaps we might consider prayerfully blogging about that ;).

In the mean time, you are invited to read this "Good Word", or "Benediction", that we used tonight, paraphrased from Aaron's ancient blessing as we photographed (on our smart- and not-so-smart-phones) some Tinker Toys.
God bless you and keep you.
God's face shine on you.
God's peace surround you and lead you. Amen.

Un-Corporate Worshiping

2011-03-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

On a moody spring day that cannot decide between clouds and sun,
when the air feels as though i can wear it like a brand-new, cozy fleece hoodie,
and the ground is so ripe for gardening i can almost taste the sting of the garlic that might sprout there,
i am blessed and lucky to walk with a friend
in deep understanding
of what community is and should be.

How i wish this day could be every day.
But, if it were, would i remember well how to love it?

Spiritual Direction

2011-03-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

Think about the difference between "direction" (singular) and "directions" (plural). "I need direction in my life," means something completely different from "I need directions to the site."

Wouldn't it be great if GPS marketed an app for "Spiritual Directions?" I can hear it now: that infuriating voice that is always telling us to make the first safe and legal u-turn "recalculating" our route to include a turn that threatens to lead us astray.

If only it were that simple.

I talked with a friend who said she felt as though she was losing her faith. We wondered together if that was an entirely bad thing. I knew her to have grown up in a church and family in which no one was to question the teachings of the pastor, yet the pastor abused his access to vulnerable people. Questions were not permissible because they gave voice to the doubting of faith in the leaders of the church, who claimed to be called by God to their leadership positions. Yet many of those same parishioners were being abused by that faith. She had not explored church, spirituality, or religion further; she simply stopped attending. She didn't build a new faith on a firmer foundation, but rather, she let her faith construct shrivel up unattended.

The difficulty with "direction," rather than "directions," is that it doesn't offer a clear, black-and-white path or destination. Instead, it gives us the tools we need to use the wisdom God gave us, in consultation and community with others who sojourn with us.

So, instead of the GPS voice giving step-by-step, inch-by-inch instructions, we have to be still and know that God is God. I continually try to remind myself of this: "Have patience with yourself; you'll get there in time." It might be a different "there" than i expected, and at a different time.

Next step: Invent a Universal Positioning System ;)...

2011-03-10T08:48:00.000-08:00

I share an office with a seminary intern, Josh Howard. His arrival to SU, along with the other seminary intern, Amy Howard (who happens to be his wife) changed the scape of our office in a wonderful way. One day, Josh and i were loudly working out a drum part for a service for which we were planning. Rhonda walked began laughing just as loudly in the hallway.

She was so tickled because she passed our boisterous office and walked into our next-door office neighbors, including Amy, who were quietly pouring over charts and graphs and narratives and other instruments of assessment. Rhonda was delighted by the diversity of tasks -- all necessary -- that keep Spiritual Life going around here. It reminded me of the Body of Christ.

When we experience differences of opinion in our churches regarding Worship Arts, or any other theological aspect, we have an opportunity to act as the Body of Christ, too. I've shared with many that we are the Body of Christ because we are all needed to fulfill the diverse needs of our world. We can't all be eyes or hands or asses or hearts: each of us is a cherished child of God, precious in the sight of God. I am not commissioned to go into all nations and make everyone agree with me. I am commissioned to go to all the world and make disciples... teaching others to observe the peace-building, hope-bringing, love-spreading lessons that Jesus modeled for us.

We need the drummers and the list-makers as we teach, and learn from, our sisters and brothers. Perhaps we can ask ourselves, "What are my gifts? And am i using them to be my best example of my part of the Body?"

Burying Alleluia, part II

2011-03-09T07:46:00.001-08:00

This Ash Wednesday, friends and colleagues are commenting on a Youtube i posted at the beginning of Lent 2010. I've been grateful to find that these lyrics, written by my friend and colleague, Rhonda VanDyke Colby, have been meaningful to some who hear it. It came from a conversation during a planning session last year.

Rhonda recalled fond memories of burying alleluia as a child in order to dig it up at Easter. She suggested that we take on this practice for the season of Lent 2010. True to form as a Questioner of All Rituals, Rites, and Regularities, i asked if we must do that this year. It had been a tremendously difficult winter with record-breaking blizzards in our area. Among loved ones, illness, natural disaster, and unemployment wreaked havoc. In some cases, students could not return to school and families lost their homes. Looking back on my personal life at that point, my own attitude at that time, frankly, sucked.

It felt as though "Alleluia" had long since been buried.

But we were reminded that praise, gratitude, and honor belong to God at all times, in all circumstances. Contextually, it did not seem appropriate to bury the alleluia. Rather, in these troubled times, it felt as though we should be the ones reminding others to sing it, scream it, live it.

In response to my description of this Youtube as "reverent" and "blasphemous," someone posted "I don't see the blasphemous part." I'm speaking to the present-day Pharisees who might view my refusal to bury alleluia as incorrect or even wrong. In any case, i am grateful that Rhonda called me with her lyric to Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," asking if i thought the words were too "dorky " :). Those who know Rhonda's work know that it is consistently eloquent, lovely, artful, thoughtful, astute, and creative. She gifts us with the products of these qualities daily.

So, if you are too liturgically correct to sing or say it, live it anyway. In Cohen's compelling story that has been covered by hundreds of artists, it says:
"...There's a blaze of light in every word. It doesn't matter which you heard: the holy or the broken 'hallelujah.'... and even though it all went wrong, i'll stand before the Lord of Song with nothing on my tongue but hallelujah."

Timely and Logical

2010-08-05T14:57:00.001-07:00

We have decided to focus on Luke for the fall semester in one of our worshiping communities on campus. Luke is the gospel lectionary for this year between May and December. However, we switched things around a tad, according to the ebbs and flows of campus life. For example, the Good Samaritan text is long passed. However, as we are are arriving to campus over the next few weeks, it seems like an appropriate time to ask "Who is my neighbor, anyway?" So, our opening worship service will feature the story of the Good Samaritan.

As i was explaining this to a colleague, i heard myself say, "We are using this season's gospel lectionary, but not in chronological order." I thought about "chronological" order, from the root "chronos." Chronos is Greek, and refers to the seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years, etc. that mark the passage of time. In light of this, i defined our lectionary clock as "kairos-logical."

Kairos time, often described as "God's time," does not mark uniform passage! It constricts and expands relative to the perceiver of the time. For example, a teen at summer camp may awake long before she wants to at 7:30 or 8am, participate in many consecutive enjoyable activities and say at 1 or 2am, "I can't believe that today is over! It flew by!" Many think of truly touching and priceless moments, such as the two or three minutes during which they pledged their love and commitment to their spouse, and experience the same visceral feeling during which their vows were spoken as though no time had passed. It is measured in moods, seasons, relationships,ebbs and flows, overwhelming senses of timelessness, and overjoyed glimpses of hope. I am often struck by my simultaneous connection and annoyance with my least favorite song from the musical "Rent." "525,600 minutes; how do you measure a year?"

In musical terms, we "borrow" time while performing a selection. This is called "rubato," or "agogic" time. The musician interpreting the piece in performance uses his skill, talent, and practice in order to determine when the tempo should be slowed, paused, or accelerated.

In theater, and many worship settings, people with different jobs use many types of rehearsal to practice the things that are particularly significant to them. A "cue-to-cue" is a rehearsal only for techies who need to learn the cues that signal them to do their important, behind-the-scenes work. A "dry tech" is a special kind of cue-to-cue, during which the stage hands move the sets around, on cue and in order, without any actors onstage. The things that happen onstage in the mean time are important to the performance, but the light and sound and stage techs need to focus on the things that happen while no one is paying attention.

In our worshiping this fall, and i hope always, we will celebrate the kairos-logical process of planning, participating in, and evaluating corporate worship. We work to hone a holy discipline of moving through a service considering things to which many will not pay attention. We certainly hope to survive the minutes that are taken in this process, but the goal is more than that. We notice, in context, the time that passes while we are together and apart, and hope to tie them together. We hope to live gratefully into the time with which we are gifted.

Deviation from an Earlier Plan

2010-06-22T13:22:00.000-07:00

I felt called to make an odd commitment in October of 2005, when a Methodist Pastor lost her credentials because of her open relationship with her same-sex partner. I was in seminary at the time. I was angry.

I went to chapel that week, at which I was on staff, and prepared to accompany communion. My thoughts were racing. We celebrate an open table, meaning all are welcome to eat and drink from it. However, those who are qualified to serve at that table must be straight. On a lighthearted note, is it not a crime to prevent Gay men from throwing liturgical dinner parties? On a much more serious one; what are we doing when we prevent God’s children from following God’s call?

So, with all of this analysis in tow, I refused the bread and juice offered to me. “No, thank you,” I said to the chapel steward who was assisting in the serving of the holy meal. I tell my students that this is not at all what John Wesley would do! Wesley thought that we should participate in this means of grace as often as possible! But, in that moment, and in the hundreds of Eucharistic services in which I have participated since, I abstain from partaking.

Except for one. Occasionally, I accompany a service at a Methodist church that serves the Spanish-speaking community in our area. It is a lively service, in which there are more children than adults in attendance on any given Sunday. There is no English spoken, and my Spanish is not good. But I enjoy this worshiping community, hosted by a pastor friend of mine, very much.

The Eucharist is served, as in many mainline denominations, on the first Sunday of each month. I had not played a service during which Holy Communion is celebrated in this church before. I was surprised that I felt compelled to accept the bread and dip it into the juice, like the other worshipers were doing. The act of sheer hospitality overcame me; I consumed the elements together, as we are instructed to do during this intinction-style communion.

This familiar ritual was one in which we communicated in common language. We did not need to be proficient in Spanish, or English, or any other spoken language. We understood one another as the Body of Christ. There was nothing else to do but gratefully accept the lavish hospitality of these generous and loving people.

I have resumed my Communion Fast, but its meaning is new for me. I have a renewed vigor about the Spirit-led music with which these moments are highlighted. Where I used to be an accompanist, now I am more like a DJ. These moments need a soundtrack – not to fill awkward quiet, but to stamp a specialness on it. I do not reject with indignation, but rather, wait in anticipation of a change. The call is still there, i'm just listening closer.

Inclusive and Expansive

2010-03-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

Corporate Worshiping
We can define "worship" in many ways; we are invited to think of it, for our purposes, as a verb. In Christianity, we have normatized "worship" into a time and a place, such as "After worship (10am on Sunday at 101 E. Main Street), we'll go next door for lunch." I'm asking you to think of "worshiping" a little differently for the next few minutes.
Dictionary.com defines "corporate," in part, as "pertaining to a united group, as of persons: the corporate good; united or combined into one." In North America, at least, "corporate" refers to big-business and leaves a bad taste in the mouths of many during these troubled economic times. I'm asking you to think of the word in terms of its etymology so that we can identify the "corpus" in "corporate", that is the "body."
The Worshiping Body
We read all over the epistles about the Body of Christ, and are reminded in 1 Corinthians 12 that our Spiritual Gifts, when combined with the Spiritual Gifts of other members of the Body, act as one Corpus. Gifts such as wisdom and healing and discernment are compared with human body parts such as feet and hands and eyes. We are reminded that we need each body part in order to be complete; all parts work together to comprise the whole and we are to value every one.
We worship corporately for many reasons including offering honor and praise to God, being in community with others, inspiring worshipers to action, and providing theological and cultural education. A weekly Worship Celebration may be the only time the whole body is gathered in one place. In just one to a few hours, depending upon the style in which we worship, we have a long list of things to do.
Each word proclaimed in every element of the corporate worship service is important to the overall message, should be intentionally chosen for its part of the whole, and should celebrate each person who comprises the sum of its parts. Consider this: everything that takes place in a corporate worship service makes a theological statement. What does the setup of the space say about the Body that worships there? What does the shape and orientation of the chancel or stage or pulpit, or baptismal font or baptistery, or alter or communion table, or technology or lack thereof say about the doctrine and priorities of this Body? What does the language used to worship our God mean as we strive to welcome every one of God’s children?
Expansive Language
Expanding our language does not mean “throwing out the baby with the bath!” In contrast, expansive language relies on the rich tradition from which we come. The language appropriate for our worshiping context is determined anew as time passes; we do not hold one committee meeting to “cross out” words we will no longer use or “vote in” their replacements. Rather, we expand our language in community, in dialogue, prayerfully and respectfully listening to one another. For example, if your congregation has one or more visually impaired or blind people, you may consider inviting your congregation to occasionally sing “was bound but now I’m free” in place of “was blind but now I see” in Amazing Grace. Are we trying to rewrite the song? Of course not! Does that change welcome, in the moment, those who cannot see?

Burying Alleluia?

2010-02-20T10:35:00.001-08:00

Rhonda VanDyke Colby and i were planning for our Lenten series. Although her extensive training and experience have prepared her well to follow prescribed liturgical rituals, she is always open to suggestions. When discussing burying the "Alleluia" for the season of Lent until Easter, she shared with me fond memories of ceremonious burials done with children in order to resurrect it on Easter with jubilant praise.

I shared with her my preference, which is to refrain from burying Alleluia this year. It has been a tremendously difficult year: most of us are affected by unemployment of self or a loved one, we find ourselves amid crippling winter storms, many among us have lost loved ones to the earthquake in Haiti, and even more have spouses, parents, and siblings serving our armed forces in this time of seemingly endless war. It seems cruel to deprive those with whom we minister of the hope of Alleluia. Besides, aren't we taught in the gospel of Luke that the rocks are crying out in praise when we keep silence? Lifting our Alleluias from the darkness of our downheartedness seems to be a mandate during times like this.

Like i said: Rhonda's flexible. Also insightful, bold, and artistic. She called me back with lyrics set to Leonard Cohen's "Alleluia" that i recorded. My partner, Sarah, made it into a video using her photos from SU's Ash Wednesday service at our 10pm student-led service, Wednesday Night Live. I described it on my Facebook page as "reverent & blasphemous."

In the words of Don VanDyke Colby, our preacher for this service, "Happy Ash Wednesday... HUH?!?!???"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=O67Np5SCpHk
SCpHk">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O67Np5SCpHk
(Please cut-and-paste the URL if you have trouble clicking the hyperlink. Thanks!)

2010-01-06T06:54:00.000-08:00

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you… my rock and my redeemer.”Psalm 19:14 NRSV

January 19-25 is on my liturgical calendar as the "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity." I get scared of the word "unity," since it is often used by members of the oppressive and/or dominant group to say to members of the oppressed and/or marginalized group, "You need to get on board with us in order for us to hear you." The destructive "us and them" mentality takes over, supporting the idea that "We're not trying to keep them out; they just don't want to play with us" or "If they wanted to be a part of us, they would act more like us." Oppressed people often get battered by the word "unity," as the dominant group uses it as a bipolar choice: "It's my way or the highway."

What does unity look like when it is just, or justice-filled? I'm not sure, and am open to ideas. Some might say "Agree to disagree," but i'm not convinced that's enough. I mean, i understand it: the United Methodist Church can't even do that when it comes to issues surrounding homosexuality! I would go a step further to include agreeing to love, support, and work with each other while disagreeing. It's a unification of the most important purpose -- to love & serve God & neighbor -- rather than logistical points about topics that do not hold a candle to the importance of that purpose.

A great gospel song made famous by Hezekiah Walker, written by David Frazier, paints a picture of the type of unity for which i pray. It says "I need you. You need me. We're all a part of God's body. Stand with me. Agree with me: we're all a part of God's body. It is God's will that every need be supplied. You are important to me. I need you to survive." I don't know what Mr. Frazier intended when he wrote these beautiful lyrics, but i like to think that when we are asking each other to agree, we are saying "Agree with me that we are, indeed, all a part of God's body." Many of our sisters and brothers are convinced that we need to agree IN ORDER to comprise God's body together; obviously, that is not my understanding! I will, however, agree to love, support, and work with them while we disagree.

Another important part of that eloquent song says “I’ll pray for you. You pray for me. I love you. I need you to survive. I won’t harm you with words from my mouth. I love you. I need you to survive”*. What a difficult and necessary commitment in discussions of unity! Many of us use words as weapons. This is not characteristic of liberal or conservative, young or old, or groups of any particular race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, level of ability or disability or any other factor. Rather, a human urge for dominance leads us to hurt each other with words from our mouths. I wish that the human urge was to help others with words from our mouths. Since it is not, we must pray for the strength and will to help and heal.

So, as I prepare for the upcoming Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, these are some of the thoughts I would like to keep entertaining. Perhaps the best prayer for Christian Unity is “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you… my rock and my redeemer.” If all of us pray that prayer together, we may startle ourselves with our group accomplishments, even while we disagree.

*As printed in Zion Still Sings for every Generation, © 2007 Abington Press.

Skipping Christmas

2009-12-14T10:21:00.000-08:00

"The Holidays" contain various meanings for various people. In many children, we see excitement and anticipation of gifts and treats and surprises. In some adults, we see grateful opportunities to reconnect with loved ones, meet the newest members of the families, and recount the high and low points of the time since last they gathered. In some people of all ages, we see anxiety levels skyrocket as they attempt to make finite resources such as money and time fill the expectations of those around them, and make difficult choices about which people to disappoint as those resources run out. In any case, where is the responsibility of one to make The Holidays enjoyable for another?

I watched "Christmas with the Kranks" on cable the other day. It's an entertaining film about a couple who decides not to celebrate Christmas one year and receives great criticism from neighbors, friends, and colleagues. I don't want to ruin it for you, but suffice to say that the moral of the story by the end of the film is that they learn their lesson and vow not to skip Christmas ever again.

My meandering career path has led me through many jobs, all of which are highly stressful during the holiday season. Musicians have many gigs during The Holidays: my experience with this began way back in high school. Of course, the jobs at which i actually made money when musical gigs were slow are more along the lines of food and beverage service, for which i always picked up extra shifts over the holidays to make more money. As my "church gigs" grew into what is now known as "my ministry," my Christmas Eves and month of December became a nightmare of running, sleep-deprived, from one church, service, or faith-based celebration to another, praying to stay healthy until December 25. I have to be honest with you: i applauded the Kranks for saying "no" to the Cost of Christmas, monetary and otherwise. I was disappointed with their vow at the end.

I have always seen my work and my ministry as one of hosting and hospitality. By simple virtue of the fact that i am an artist, i get to have deep, heart-felt, spiritual experiences all the time! Therefore, i feel as though my role is to "host" those prescribed and proscribed times for others. For example, my spiritual nourishment may come from a few moments during which i felt inspired to write some lyrics or a poem or song. So my job is to facilitate the time and space during which another person may feel inspired while i share that song or poem at a worship celebration or concert. It's kind-of like when you hold the door open for someone who may be perfectly capable of opening it himself, but he may not have thought to enter that room if not invited by your holding of its door.

I am not a parent, but i observe parents all the time who put aside their own desires, or even needs, in order to provide something for their children. That undoubtedly happens many times per day per parent! I certainly do not see myself in a parental role among the people with whom i minister! However, it is not lost on me that, in order to properly care for someone to whom we are accountable, we simply take the time and energy to do things we would not wish to do otherwise. In my younger years, I had the privilege of abstaining from Christmas celebration, and collecting the resulting paychecks, for many years. Then, when December 25 finally came, no one expected anything of me, knowing that i'd been working my fingers to the bone for weeks. I could indulge my preference to stay home and make phone calls, stay in my jammies, eat frozen pizza, drink beer, and watch movies. There was nothing wrong with that! But my role is different now.

Somewhere between bah-humbug and Will Farrell as "Buddy" in the movie "Elf," there is a place for each of us on the holiday continuum. A sung prayer that is a favorite of mine by wonderful hymnwriter, Shirley Erena Murray, prays that this year "Christmas comes for everyone: everyone alive."* Having studied her work, i am confident that she is not encouraging us to convert persons who belong to faith-traditions that do not celebrate Christmas into Christmas-celebrating Christians. However, when i sing the song, i am praying that the ideal of Christmas as the birth of light and hope in the lives of people in need of them becomes truth. Whether you find The Holidays joyous or depressing, wonder-filled or annoying, a time for fellowship or a couple of days to sleep in, abundant or sparse: may each of us host ourselves and one another graciously, holding each person in the light and love of our Creator and of each other.

* "Star-Child," 1994 Hope Publishing Company

MAS*H

2009-10-10T12:41:00.000-07:00

Mobile Artful Spiritual Haven.

My friend and colleague, Rhonda, asked me an interesting question recently. "What do we need to have a mobile chapel experience?" A couple of the SU campuses serve a much different demographic than the mostly 18-23 year-old residential undergraduate population at the main campus. How do we minister to a campus that is located in a professional office complex at which most of the students have wildly diverse schedules and family situations, who are studying to enter their second careers?

The trial-and-error process of figuring that out looks different than anything i've ever seen, and has been well-received. We have tried this at lunch time. I prepare a one-page program with a scripture reading, prayers and questions on which people may meditate; the September program can be viewed below. I have brought a small electric waterfall and some cloth to cover a table and placed a few candles on it. I set up my keyboard and improvise music as i am asked by participants or as i feel led.

Some people come in to pray for only a few minutes. Some show up when i get there and leave as i pack up. Some sit and stare out the lovely picture window that allows us to view the thick trees behind the building. Some read the program and journal as they go. Some take several more pages as they leave. Some sing quietly along with the familiar songs as i play them and somtimes i sing a bit too.

One woman told me that she was studying for a test next door and heard the music. She said, "You started playing 'It is Well With my Soul' and i thought, 'Thanks, God, that's for me!'" Many have commented that they feel calmer when they leave than when they arrived.

So, the recipe is not set, but so far includes: some inspirational words on sea green paper, a water fountain, a window to gaze out of, an electronic keyboard, a few candles, the tables at which the students sit and a few Spirit-led moments together. It's peace-promoting and powerful, community-building and individual, all at the same time. When it comes to my love for my job, beautiful duties like these are what put the "Spirit" in "Spiritual Life."

Here is the text from the September program. Enjoy!

Welcome to Oasis! This printed program is intended to offer direction, not give directions. You are invited to read, meditate, listen, pray, sing, sit, or move around as you wish to do so. Stay as long or short as you would like. Your host is DeLyn Celec, Worship Arts Coordinator in the Spiritual Life office, who is here to play a song that you suggest, pray with you, or help you however she can.
Gather
Prayer: As I enter into this time and this place, I breathe deeply of your Spirit, God.
I take a deep breath, grateful that you are present with us.
I take another deep breath, lifting to you the burdensome thoughts that are in my mind.
I take another deep breath, quieting my spirit, focusing my mind, and listening for your voice. Amen.
Proclaim
Psalm 139: 1-18, NRSV

1O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
2You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
3You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
5You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it.

7Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
8If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
11If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night’,
12even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
all the days that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed.
17How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
I come to the end*—I am still with you.

Respond
You are invited to journal, writing or drawing your thoughts and prayers in response to these questions, or something else of which you are thinking:
How does God show me that I am “searched and known” by God?
I think of a time during which I ran or “hid” from God; what brought me back?
What do the complex intricacies of human bodies and souls, “fearfully and wonderfully made,” teach me about who God is?
If I read this text through the eyes of a loved one or neighbor or stranger or perhaps someone I do not like very much, what changes?

Send
Prayer: Gracious God, I praise and thank you that we are, indeed, fearfully and wonderfully made. Help me to reflect that knowledge in my daily choices, actions, and words. Show me times during which I have not acted like one who knows your greatness full well. Teach me to consistently choose better. Thank you that you are always with us. Thank you for your love. Help me to freely return that love to you and share it with others. Amen.
Oasis
reflect ~~~~~~~~~~~~ refresh ~~~~~~~~~~~~ refuel

Humbled and Amazed

2009-09-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

As a musician, i am accustomed to accompanying people as they experience deep, overwhelming, sometimes debilitating emotion. I have sung and played at many weddings, funerals, ceremonies celebrating retirement or graduation or other milestone achievements, installations of bishops, life-changing convocations and conferences, and baptisms of infants, children, and adults. I take this responsibility seriously, making an effort to be careful with the emotional and spiritual outpourings that happen in my presence.

Recently, one of my students lost his father unexpectedly. He's been involved in our program since he arrived as a freshman. I find it interesting that he did not look us up, as many do, because his social and spiritual experience had traditionally been defined in terms of a church youth group. He had not really done much "church" before he came to college.

He hangs out with us a lot, for which i am grateful. He attends worship celebrations and service opportunities and retreats. I love that he did not seek us out of a deep, desparate need to "find God" due to lonliness or a terrible tragedy; he just sort-of wandered in while he was investigating his new campus and somebody offered him a cup of soup. As he participated in more and more of our programs and activities, he did not have a dramatic epiphany. He just liked thinking about God in new and different ways among people who readily admitted that their questions were as confused and arbitrary, sacred and mundane, inarticulate and indescribable as any others'.

We do not claim to have a lot of answers here in the Spiritual Life office. We value questions more than answers, and process more than product.

So, when his father had a sudden heart attack, and then passed on a few days later, he was overwhelmed that people visited him and brought meals to him and his family. Our team was present at his father's funeral, at which he spoke eloquently of his deep respect and love for his father. Seeing this ceremony through the eyes of someone who does not, and never has, been a regular church-goer showed me a different perspective: the words and songs are not a cliche to him, but a powerful means of comfort. "Amazing Grace," which i have played and sung thousands of times, embodied hope that i have not encountered before -- at least, not as far as i can remember.

I am humbled and amazed at the opportunities i am afforded by the simple fact that i work in ministry. A hot cup of soup accepted in a shoulder-shrugging, "why not," sort of way opened the door to many subsequent nonchalant and earth-shatteringly powerful experiences. We just never know when our "everyday" will meet someone else's "for the rest of my life." I am just grateful that they meet.

www.theworkofthepeople.com

2009-08-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

The epistle reading in the lectionary for this week is James 1:17-27, which you can read here http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=James+1:17-27&vnum=yes&version=nrsv. I love the imagery of the God of "Lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." I thought of the way in which the sun casts shadows that are slowly and constantly changing as the Earth rotates around it. The light of God is beyond vision, so that even the rising and setting of the sun cannot change its brightness in our lives. We know that the world changes from one moment to the next; perhaps the only thing that changes about God is our understanding of God, or the periodic "en-light-ening" made possible by our perspective.

To shine a little more Light on the Subject, the author of James goes on to talk about being "quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger, for your anger does not produce God's righteousness." I'll admit, i get angry when i see things that i consider to be out of line with God's righteousness, but it didn't really occur to me that my anger was unproductive. Sometimes the actions inspired by my anger at injustice are actions that God uses to promote righteousness. It is because of my anger at injustice that i volunteer to help people in need, write letters to politicians, and speak out against oppressors on behalf of people who do not have a voice.

Do you think that God might want me to skip over the anger part, and right to the working to overcome injustice part?

www.theworkofthepeople.com is a resource that we use at SU in the Spiritual Life office. We have found many multi-media elements that are thought-provoking and powerful. For example, the current featured film, loop, and stills series called "Slow to Anger" contains accusatory-looking pointed index fingers, bullhorn-toting yellers, and people carrying signs that say "God hates fags." We have all seen the protesters of anything that may even hint that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/intersexed, or queer (LGBTQ) persons might be loved by God or acceptable as human beings.

I am confident that the carriers of those signs believe that God is using their actions to overcome injustice, just like me. How can we be serving the same God?

So, to this subjective thinker, sometimes lost in the shadows and sometimes blinded by the sun, the questions of anger, action, listening, and speaking grow ever more complex. But in light of all this, i keep on moving, quickly by the light of the sun, more cautiously by the light of the moon, but always in the Light of our Abba, Creator, Enlightener and Friend.

Eboo Patel at UMSF

2009-07-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

I was honored to be a music resource person at the United Methodist Student Forum several weeks ago. The theme was all about Breaking Barriers; Building Bridges. Dr. Eboo Patel of Interfaith Youth Core was the speaker at one of the services. If you haven’t heard of him you should check him out http://www.ifyc.org/about_core/staff.

Many of his statements really hit home for me, but one more than any other. He told us that many of his colleagues in the work of promoting peace through interfaith service and dialogue pray for his soul, which they believe is going to hell. They work with him side-by-side to serve their community and world, but cannot see his Islamic faith as a means of doing God’s will. He said that it was perfectly OK with him, as long as their common goal is to promote peace and serve the world.

Eboo (he reprimanded us when we called him Dr. Patel during his Q & A) said “Muslims aren’t terrorists; extremists are terrorists.” I have thought about this a lot since I heard him speak. Who are Christian extremists? Are the people who work with Eboo and then go home to pray for his hell-bound soul extremists?

Certainly the theology of my childhood follows in line with this thinking, minus the “serve anyway” portion of the program. The church of my youth was utterly unconcerned about the state of our earth and its peoples; our minds should be fixed on heavenly and Godly things and our actions should follow suit. If we are not proselytizing to Eboo in order to save his soul, we ought to steer clear for fear of poisoning our minds with his heathen ways. To me, that is Christian extremist thinking.

We “other” each other into nonexistence when we refuse to reach across religious lines to work with our neighbors. Unfortunately, when we fail to recognize another’s existence, we ignore Jesus’ command to love our neighbors and our enemies and everyone else.

Barriers were, indeed, broken at that event. Eboo pointed out that it is difficult to worship God in interfaith ceremonies, but it is surprisingly simple to worship God in interfaith action. At their cores, our religions share many values and ethics. Help those who are in need. Care for the person who is unable to care for himself or herself.

So obey God, however you may name Him or Her. Break a barrier and build a bridge in the name of God, Allah, Christ, YHWH, Laksmi, Almighty Mother, Nurturing Abba – whatever! The point is: don’t sit around disagreeing about what or whom God may be; disagree while doing the work God calls you to do, together.

We need more peace in this world. How about creating some of that?

Marisol's Journey

2009-04-10T12:17:00.001-07:00

Following is a story that has been written to accompany a series we did based on Brian McLaren's book, "Finding our Way Again." He discusses 7 ancient spiritual practices, and so did we. The practices are prayer, sabbath, observing seasons, the feast, giving, journeying, and fasting, respectively.

Marisol’s Journey: The Beginning
Once upon a time, there was a little bird who loved to go to Sunday School. Her Sunday School teacher always brought birdseed cookies that the little birds could have when they guessed the right answers to her questions. This Sunday, they were studying Matthew 5:48, which says "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." The teacher asked the class, cookie tin in hand, what perfect means. "Practice makes perfect!" said the little bird. Her teacher gave her a cookie.
That same day at lunchtime, she asked her parents how to be perfect. Her parents both chuckled. "Nobody's perfect, honey," said her mom. "Only God is perfect," said her dad. "Now finish up your worm stew so we can put you down for your afternoon nap."
She settled into her nest, unable to sleep while her parents were out catching their dinner. "If Jesus wants to be perfect like God is perfect, but nobody's perfect, how can we obey what Jesus told us to do?" She knew she'd have to do some investigating on her own.
She's a little bird on a mission, a journey to Perfect. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, but she prayed that God would help her figure this whole thing out. Then she fell asleep.

Marisol Meets Squirrel
The next day, Marisol went out looking for Perfect, but she had no idea where to go. She was hopping near the base of her nest tree, looking this way and that. Squirrel was darting around, chattering as always. She gathered up all of the courage inside her little-bird-body.
“Squirrel,” said Marisol, frightened and hopeful, “how are you?” Squirrel did not answer her. He chattered away: chatter, chatter, chatter. She cleared her throat. “Squirrel,” she said louder, “where are you going?” Nothing but chatter answered her earnest question.
Marisol was getting very discouraged. She gave up on the small talk. “Squirrel, will you please direct me to perfect?” she asked very loudly.
Squirrel stopped chattering and looked at her. “I do not have time to talk with you right now. I am chattering my prayer. The Bible tells us in I Thessalonians 5:17 to pray without ceasing. So I am chattering my prayer in obedience to God’s word.” He went back to his chattering and darted off to the oak stand closeby.
Marisol stared after him, confused and frustrated, she looked at the ground and prayed. “God, please help me get to Perfect. Please help me to be more like you. Amen.” Marisol climbed back into her nest, hoping that tomorrow would be more successful.

Marisol meets Kitty
Marisol continued on her search for Perfect. She was full of confusion, but hopeful that she would find some clues. She stopped to ask Kitty where perfect is. Kitty was curled up in a ball, sunning himself purring loudly. Marisol didn't want to disrupt Kitty, but she needed to ask about the road to Perfect.
Marisol cleared her throat and asked Kitty if he could point her to Perfect. He stopped purring, lifted his head, licked his paw, and looked at her, annoyed. "I can't show you the way anywhere today; it's the Sabbath." Kitty laid his head back down and grudgingly began purring again.
Marisol couldn't remember what day it was, but did not think it was Sunday. "Maybe Kitty is Jewish, and it's Saturday!" Marisol thought to herself. Since she was not sure, however, and she certainly did not want to cause another creature to disobey God's command to keep the Sabbath holy. She turned, embarrassed, and walked away.
"Perfect must be a long way off," thought Marisol, "because so far nobody seems to even know what it is!"

Marisol meets Brown Bear
Marisol's frustration was making it hard to concentrate on her task as she hopped on. She'd talked to her parents, to Squirrel, and to Kitty and none of them had helped her at all to find her way to perfect! She was thinking so hard, and hopping so fast, that she almost hopped smack into Brown Bear.
First she froze, scared. Her parents had warned her to always approach a bear with a greeting or a song or a whistle, rather than startle the bear. Normally, when startled, the bear is immediately defensive. But Marisol wondered if something was wrong with Brown Bear; Brown Bear did not move.
Marisol worried that Brown Bear was sick -- or worse! She hopped around to feel his pulse just above his paw. Her eyes grew big when she didn't feel a pulse. Marisol almost pulled away to get help, but stopped when she felt one strong, single beat. Confused, she waited to see if there was another. She was used to her own very rapid little-bird pulse and this felt very strange to Marisol.
Brown Bear's wrist pulsed again: another strong, single beat. There must have been nearly ten seconds in between! Marisol hopped toward Brown Bear's face. His breaths came slowly and far between, but steadily. Clearly, Brown Bear was very tired!
"Maybe Brown Bear is onto something," Marisol thought. "After running around like this for so long, I am very tired, too." Marisol curled up in the crook of Brown Bear's arm and took a nap, exhausted. "After a nap, I'll wake up even more ready to search!" thought Marisol.

Marisol meets Billy Goat
Marisol awoke from her nap a little disoriented, but refreshed. She looked into Brown Bear's face, told him she'd catch up with him in the spring, and noted that she would have to thank him for being the most helpful creature yet. She hopped out of Brown Bear's elbow, resuming her search for Perfect.
Marisol's search led her next to ask directions from Billy Goat, who was intently chewing something that did not exactly look like food to Marisol. But she was excited to get a fresh start on her search after a brief season of rest. "Excuse me, Mr. Goat," Marisol said with renewed confidence, "will you please point me in the direction of Perfect?" Billy Goat did not look up from his meal.
"I don't know what that is," Billy Goat said between chews. "Why don't you join me and my friends for a little nosh?" Startled, Marisol looked around. Indeed, there were many goats standing around eating leaves off bushes, eating weeds from the ground, and eating clothes off the clothesline of some human's house. Marisol hadn't realized how hungry she was, and was grateful for the company that Billy Goat offered.
Marisol began to look for some seeds on the ground, found many, and ate until she was full. Meanwhile, she chatted with the goats. They discussed football and the weather and the meaning of life and the long road to Perfect. By the time she left the goats, thanking them for their hospitality, she told God that she felt better than she had since the journey began. "Now I'm getting somewhere," she thought to herself, as she hopped happily in a direction that may, or may not, be the right one.

Marisol Meets C. B. Crab
Marisol’s fearful uncertainty had melted into a feeling of excited anticipation, and she looked at each new creature saying, “I wonder what that one has to teach me.” She stopped for a drink of water and ran into a sickly-looking Chesapeake Blue Crab at the same waterhole. “Hello,” Marisol said cheerfully and loudly as she bent down to drink. “I’m Marisol.”
“Hello,” answered the crab quietly as he looked around between gulps of water.
Marisol stopped drinking and looked at C. B. Crab. “Do you know the way to perfect?” she whispered.
He swallowed the water in his mouth and said in a low voice, “not yet, but I think I’ll get there someday.” How exciting to make a new friend on the same journey! But she was a tad confused.
“Why are we whispering?” Marisol asked C.B. Crab. The crab looked from side to side, leaned closer to Marisol, and said, “I’ve just molted my hard shell, and the new one will be soft for a couple of days. I’m extra vulnerable right now, so I don’t want to call the attention of my predators to myself.”
Marisol nodded in understanding, looked around carefully, and asked “Why didn’t you keep the old one?”
“It gets too small; I have to shed the old shell to grow.”
“Oh. Maybe that’s like when I was hatched; I couldn’t fit inside the egg anymore, so I had to give it up and move out.”
“Yes!” said C.B. Crab with an excited whisper. “I gave my hard shell to be used by the beach to be made into sand for the future, just like you gave your egg shell to compost with other material to fertilize the earth! After my shell hardens, I’ll go back to the brackish waters to find my mate.”
“Do you think the brackish waters is where Perfect is?” asked Marisol with excitement.
“I think it’s as close as I’ll get!” answered C. B Crab.
“Do you think I could go with you?” asked Marisol.
“Do you think you could give up a couple of days and wait here with me while I drink the water I need for my shell? Maybe you could scare my predators away.”
“Good thinking, Mr. Crab.”
“Call me Crusty,” said C. B. Crab.
And they became friends, on their search for Perfect.

Marisol Meets Turtle
Marisol and Crusty had travelled almost the whole way to the brackish waters chatting about giving and growing. Marisol enjoyed the company, but she knew she would have to part ways with Crusty. As Crusty stepped into the water, he said “Strength for the journey, my friend!”
Marisol felt a little sad, but she was excited to be near the water. It was much different from her home: instead of many dense groves of tall trees, low shrubs were all around her. She looked at the muddy bank, praying that God would help her to decide which way to go next.
She saw a young turtle to her left, and walked toward her. “Hello,” she said boldly to the turtle, “will you please point me in the direction of Perfect?” Turtle walked slowly and deliberately toward Marisol.
“Well, I’ve just finished what I need to do here, and must be going, but you’re welcome to walk me to the water and we can talk,” Turtle said. Marisol looked confused, since they were only several feet from the water. Marisol didn’t want to hurt Turtle’s feelings, though, so she agreed to do so.
Turtle asked Marisol about her journey. It soon occurred to Marisol that this conversation could be quite long, since she made only a couple of tiny hops per minute keeping in pace with Turtle. Marisol told Turtle about her Sunday school teacher who taught her that we are to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. She talked about how her parents do not understand at all, since they told her that there was no such thing as perfect, and that her search began after speaking with them.
Marisol talked about Squirrel who was too busy chattering his prayers to talk with her, Kitty observing Sabbath, the time she spent resting with Brown Bear, her pleasant meal with Billy Goat, and her learning about giving from C. B. Crab, also known as “Crusty.” Turtle thought for a minute then said, “Sounds to me like you’ve had an adventuresome journey! Have you enjoyed it?”
Marisol was surprised by the question, and more surprised by her answer. “Yes, I have!”
“Good!” Turtle said. “Don’t get too frustrated. Just keep on hopping, open to the experience. You’ll know when you get there.” Turtle dove into the water and snorted her goodbye through her nostrils, which were the only part of Turtle that Marisol could see.
Marisol watched after Turtle for awhile, knowing deep in her heart that Turtle was right.

Marisol meets Camel
Marisol was so excited: her Sunday school was taking a field trip to the Holy Land to visit Jordan. She knew she must be getting closer to Perfect, since the Holy Land was where Jesus lived when he was on the earth.
Upon her arrival, she was ecstatic to find so many animals to help her find her way. She ran up to the first one she saw, who was a one-humped Arabian camel.
“Excuse me, Camel?” Marisol asked, hoping that this camel who lived so far from her home in Virginia would understand her bird-language.
“Hello,” Camel said. “Do you need a ride to your hotel?”
“Um,” Marisol hadn’t thought ahead that far, “I’m trying to get to Perfect. How much would that cost?” she asked him.
“15 Dinar,” answered Camel. Marisol wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but she figured she’d stop at the ATM when she stopps for some bird seed on the way.
She hopped onto Camel’s back, a little nervous because she’d never ridden a camel before. But it was easy.
“Will you please stop for some food?” Marisol asked. Camel nodded yes. After they got some birdseed and Jordanian Dinar at the drive-through, she asked him to stop at the water hole. She drank and drank, and ate her bird seed. “Aren’t you thirsty?” Marisol asked Camel as he lay near by, waiting patiently.
“No, I drank yesterday,” said Camel. “I’ve had enough for the week.”
“You only drink water once per week?” Marisol asked, baffled.
“Yes, God created my body to absorb water very slowly, so that one big drink can last several days. I could drink more now, but I don’t need it. I’ll save it for animals that need more water, like you.”
Marisol was touched. She realized that she’d had enough. She decided to save the seed for other birds, and the water for other animals.
Camel and Marisol continued on their way, until Camel stopped behind some taxis and other camels and announced that they had arrived. Marisol was not convinced that Perfect was located inside this three-star hotel, but this was where her classmates were, so she would see what was inside. She knew she wasn’t there yet, but she felt a little closer to Perfect.

Marisol Meets Burro
Marisol was a little shaken up by the different culture she found in Jordan, but had a wonderful time for two weeks touring the places she had read about with her Sunday school class like the Dead Sea, Mount Nebo, and the Jordan River where Jesus had been baptized. She was so fascinated by the stories others would tell her about ancient and recent history of the Holy Land. She still had not found perfect, but was getting used to enjoying her search. Near the end of her time in Jordan, she met Burro.
“Excuse me, do you know the way to perfect?” Marisol asked Burro.
“Well,” Burro replied, “I’d have to think back to the stories I’ve heard from my relatives about carrying Jesus. Jesus was perfect, you know, so I reckon the closest I’ve ever been to Perfect is when I’ve listened to the stories about him.”
“What do you mean? You are related to someone who carried him? Like on their back?”
“Why, yes. In fact, a great great great great… aunt of mine made it into the Bible. That story that some call ‘the Triumphal Entry’ we like to call ‘the Dudes who Borrowed the Burro.’”
Marisol was fascinated! “What did she say about it?”
Burro got very serious-looking and thought hard. “She said she was sorry that everyone was raising such a ruckus, because they were so busy carrying on that they missed out on Jesus’ humility. If it’d happened today, it would have looked like a red-carpet welcome for a celebrity you might see on the cover of one of those magazines from the grocery store line. But Jesus himself didn’t need any of that. He would rather have just had everyone walk alongside him, getting to know one another. He knew his life on earth was nearly over, and all he wanted was some time to feel at home with his loved ones.”
Suddenly, Marisol was so homesick, she couldn’t get back to her little nest fast enough. “Thank you, Burro. I think you’re on to something there.” And Marisol headed off, trying to remember where she could feel at home, and praying she’d remember how to get there.

Marisol Finds Perfect Home
After a long, exhausting journey, Marisol hopped toward her tree, where she expected her parents to be waiting for her. She couldn’t remember how long she’d been gone but things had certainly changed since she left. All of the trees were budding. She looked up toward her family’s nest, but couldn’t see it. She began to fear that something bad had happened to her parents, or that they decided to move south without her.
She hopped around the base of the tree chirping her greeting to her parents. When they did not hear her, she got really worried and forgot that she hadn’t yet learned to fly. She jumped up and lifted off the ground as though she’d been flying for years. As she got closer to her nest, with a bird’s-eye view, she saw that there were two perfect eggs in there. She was going to be a big sister! She landed in the nest and looked at the two eggs as her mother flew up to join her.
Marisol was overjoyed to see her mother, who had been wondering how Marisol’s journey was going. “Did you find perfect?” her mother asked with a smile. Marisol looked at her mother, and her father flying in for a landing, and her two unhatched siblings, and began telling them her story.
She told them about Squirrel chattering his prayer so unceasingly that he couldn’t even stop to help her. She told them about Kitty who kept the Sabbath so holy that he couldn’t help her either. She told them about Brown Bear and her season of hibernation, and how she hoped to get back to see Brown Bear in the season when she’s awake. She told them about Billy Goat and his friends who had welcomed her to share their feast, making their visit together extra-special. She told them about Crusty the Chesapeake Blue Crab who gave up his shell in faith that the next creature to inhabit it would use it well while he grew another for himself. She told them about Turtle on his slow-moving journey, who told her she would know when she “got there.”
Marisol stopped for a moment, as a very grown-up thought began forming in her little head. While she continued her story, she felt like the sun was rising.
She told them about Camel and how he didn’t drink or eat more than he needed. “Out in the desert like that, it’s probably important to save the resources for the other animals since they all need each other to survive in the dry hot weather!” Marisol’s mother said.
Marisol told them about her talk with Burro, who was focused on Jesus’ example of humility. “It’s strange to think about our God that way, isn’t it?” asked Marisol’s father. Yes, it is strange. It is strange to think that Jesus’ journey may have been a bit like our own journeys. It is strange to think that he practiced humility and took time to know the people he met along the way.
“Mom, do you think we can take Perfect with us?”
“I’ll bet Perfect might be the place we are trying to get to while we do our best to follow Jesus. No matter what is coming up next,” she glanced at the two eggs in their nest, “we know that we can invite Jesus to be our traveling companion, or even our staying-at-home companion.”
Marisol knew her mother was right, and she was grateful.

Jordan Trip

2009-03-24T15:47:00.000-07:00

We had a really cool time of interfaith reflection while i was in Jordan with a group of students, staff, faculty, one vice president and one trustee from Shenandoah University! Thought i'd share:

1.) This time that we share on this trip in the land that many of our traditions call “Holy Land” is, by definition, holy time. Something is “holy” when it is “set apart” or “separate.” We are currently separated from our usual companions and daily routines to be here together.

2.) Each of us is a person of some faith. We heard a lecture this morning in which Dr Malkawi said, “Everyone believes in something.”

Every one of us believes in God. Most of us identify with one of the 3 Abrahamic faiths. As we are learning, these three faiths share core values about loving God and serving one another. In addition, many practices are also shared.

In this holy time, we set ourselves apart from our usual focus on the differences that separate us, and focus instead on the unity of these holy moments together.

3.) In each of our traditions, God created us to be a reflection of God in the world.

We think of the greatness of our Creator and, in a spirit of gratitude, silently offer praise in the words of our traditions or the words of our hearts.

4.) In each of our traditions, God forgives us. God is most gracious and most merciful.

We think of time or times during which we have caused division, interpersonally or among groups of people. Silently, we use the words of our traditions or of our hearts to ask God’s forgiveness.

5.) In each of our traditions, God hears us.

We think of a person, group, or circumstance and silently lift it or them to God, grateful that God hears us.

6.) Each of our traditions hope for, and work to bring about, peace.

We think of places in the world and in our own relationships in which peace is absent.

7.) In the Jewish tradition, a gathering may be ended with a son, “Shalom Chaverim,” or “peace be with you until we meet again.”

8.) In many Christian services, time is given to “Greet each other with signs of peace and reconciliation,” often using the words “peace be with you,” responding with “and also with you.”

9.) In the Islamic tradition, the phrase “As salaamu alekam” or “peace be unto you” is a standard greeting. The response is “Walakam salaam.”

10.) We combine these three traditions. At the end of this reflection (even though we will not leave each other yet), we will use the Arabic words to pass signs of peace and reconciliation to one another. Let’s each greet each other person.

Tower Notes

2009-01-18T08:38:00.000-08:00

Like many churches, Front Royal United Methodist Church (FRUMC) posts a newletter monthly. FRUMC, at which i am on the music staff, offers a standard worship service that never varies at all, and one that is full of creative changes all the time. It aims to provide two distinctive services with excellence. With old and new on my mind, i wrote for their newsletter; feel free to check it out! http://www.frumc.org/Announcements/TowerNotes/01-09tn.pdf
My article is on page 6. Thanks!

Post-Christmas Flu

2008-12-29T07:01:00.001-08:00

For many who work in ministry, Christmas day is spent with a fever and other miserable symptoms of flus and colds. Although i was not sick this Christmas 2008, many other Christmases have been spent all wrapped in blankets, drugged up on Theraflu. We ride an adrenaline rush between Thanksgiving and Christmas, creating the joy of the season for others. Then we collapse with exhaustion when it's time to celebrate the Birth of Hope.
I remember the fervor in the church of my youth. "Christmas eve might be the only time these folks are in here all year, so we better save 'em while we got 'em." They think that cramming the entire Passion and Easter story into Christmas is their responsibility; the kid's not even weaned before we're brutally beating him and nailing him to a cross. Instead of using the season to celebrate the light of Christ, born as a human baby, we use the day to proselytize to our captive audience.
I don't think that this "trap 'em & convert 'em" method of evangelism is in keeping with the way in which Jesus lived his life. Of course, Jesus had the "big picture" in mind, but he also savored moments breaking bread with his friends, welcoming children to set examples for grownups, heal sick hearts and minds and bodies, and redeem the world into which he had been born, one life at a time. Celebrating his birth is emotional enough; think about the mixed emotions that come with a baby's birth! I'm not a mom, so i can only imagine the joy and terror, enthusiasm and exhaustion. The baby Jesus invites us to pause in awe and wonder; our invitation to follow his example is down the road a piece.
I've decided to make a list of the things that i want to do differently next year during Advent and Christmas. I'm going to put the list on my calendar for next year on November 1 (the day after Halloween, AKA "All Saints' Day”), with a reminder from both Outlook AND my Gmail calendar. It will be called "A season of Health and Wholeness." I will live in the moment with the "big picture" in mind.
In the present, as we nurse our tired spirits and cluttered minds, we are invited to join the celebration at a less-than-fever-pitch. Let's breathe for a moment; listen to our bodies and obey them. We let the joy of Christ's birth in our world sink deeply into our bones and give thanks.
Peace!

Triple Threat

2008-12-10T18:18:00.000-08:00

Both of my professional worlds are in a frenzy this time of year. Students are taking exams and performing juries and completing registration for next year at SU. The musicians and worship leaders are practicing diligently for the high point of the Christian year: Christmas. Naturally, my thoughts are on the anxiety of those performing Chrismas Cantatas and Concerts (myself included), those who are trying to get their best work on paper for a professor's critique and evaluation, those who need that perfect class to complete their resumes for grad school or their professional lives... you name it. Amid all of the high anxiety, i have heard over and again, "I don't care anymore; i just want this to be OVER!"

Yet we must care. When we are finishing up our work to turn in, we must keep in perspective that our ideas will not only be graded, but also have the power to shape our future thinking. When we rehearse our music or movement or lines or whatever we may be preparing to perform, we must think of the end result: those who will listen and watch and be touched by the performances they will observe.

In musical theater, we call a performer a "triple threat" when she or he is a great singer, dancer AND actor. You know, for most of us, we have our ONE strong area, maybe two if we're lucky, and audition anyway, in hopes our strength(s) will carry (or drown out) the others. Each music director prays for those couple of voices, while the choreographer prays for those few movers and dancers, while the director prays for that handfull of actors, who will truly bring the show to life. Audition anxiety of both auditioner and auditionee is often tremendously high.

I think that there are Triple Threat criteria for church choirs. Churches always think they need choirs, whether or not they have a bunch of singers who can carry a tune in a bucket. So church choirs obviously must celebrate a variety of gifts, including but not limited to great singing.

I think the Triple Threat choir sings its repertoire with artful beauty -- we don't all have to be the Morman Tabernacle Choir, but some musicality is nice. It also delivers its music with genuine joy. It's not a requirement to "smile big" every moment, since many songs our choirs sing convey messages that aren't jubilantly happy. Finally, it sings music that authentically (or as authentically as it can) teaches us something about the vastness of God. Of course, many conductors have "favorite" composers, and with good reason. But when other composers are featured, they are presenting styles of many, many cultures. As The Choir, it is our responsibility to tell of God's goodness in the many diverse ways in which we know God from our neighbors near and far.

It's not easy to do all of these things while worrying about the many logistical factors that should be secondary. But it's worth a try. And the effect on those performing and those listening has the power to change lives. As an audience member or congregant, do you ever leave a performance more stressed than you were when you arrived because these elements are vehemently lacking? I have!

I will look for, and strive to lead, the Triple Threat groups to ease my anxiety during this stressful season.
1. Artful Beauty
2. Genuine Joy
3. Authentic Reflection of God
It is my prayer that this season's hope and joy bring deep peace to our spirits as we go about the business of meaning-making.

Living in Limin

2008-11-25T07:25:00.000-08:00

The word "limin" is marked as a misspelled word in my spell check. It comes from anthropologist Victor Turner's theory of "liminality," which refers to that in-between place between "no longer" and "not yet." "Liminality and Communitas" (1969) is a paper that discusses this -- i'm not going to get all academic on you, but a familiar example to Euro-American Christian culture occurs in a traditional wedding ceremony, and comes from ancient traditions, long before women were considered "people."

The bride is walked down the aisle by her father, whose house she is exiting as he gives her away. She joins her husband at the altar, not yet his, but no longer her father's. This liminal time is filled with words of promise and blessing. After the symbolic deeds are done, the woman becomes her husband's and moves into his house. But in that liminal period, she was held in a moment that is considered to be sacred, and is celebrated as such. That vulnerable, powerful, transitional time is the liminal "in between."

All time is liminal time, and each moment is transitional. We may settle into routines that help us remember what to do and where to go, but every moment is in-between the last and the upcoming. The sacredness and vulnerability and power in that one moment can be celebrated anytime, anywhere.

As we enter this "in-between" time of Advent, waiting for the Christ to arrive, waiting for Christmas to come, waiting for the ends of our semesters so we can get on with the things we can't squeeze in now, waiting for the season to be over because money is tight, waiting for our holiday reunions with loved ones, waiting, waiting, waiting... we have some choices. We may not have a choice about employment or improving our financial situations. We may not have choices about the inevitable losses of life. We may not have choices about our difficult housing or workload or family situations, but we do have choices about how we respond to them. This time is liminal; celebrate it as holy.

Much more likely, we feel as though we are liminally and perpetually trapped as a rope in a tug-of-war. We are tugged between our pastors insisting on "Advent" and the world selling us "Christmas." We are tugged between our Christmas lists of loved ones and our bosses telling us there will be no raises or bonuses this year. We are tugged between the shameful history of racism in our country and our first president-elect who is a person of color. We are tugged between the giving spirit of the winter holidays and our tremendous grief over the death of a retail employee because of our rampant consumerism. Both ends tug and yank and stretch and hurt, and we manage to continue the business of meaning-making.

The good news is this: we are not ropes. We are agents of change, bringers of hope, and lovers of peace. We do live in the vulnerable, powerful, blessed time of promise as we transition from moment to moment. Like it or not, we live in limin. Make it worth your while.

You should know about her...

2008-11-23T07:09:00.000-08:00

I was really inspired by a great lecture on campus the other day by a guest speaker, Marga Fripp. She helps women, which helps everybody! I wrote about her in SU's paper, The Sun; feel free to check it out.
http://www.su.edu/pr/publications/sun/Nov19.pdf
My article is on page 2, called "Regrouping can be necessary, fruitful."

For Everyone Born

2008-11-12T12:49:00.001-08:00

I've been hearing from event participants with whom i minister that some are being told that my favorite music resource, For Everyone Born, is out of stock. I called Cokesbury to find out what's up. They said they're well-stocked and the nice person with whom i spoke suggested that i provide y'all with the ISBN # for crystal clarity! It's well worth your investment!
ISBN# 9781933663265

Dead Man's Party

2008-11-05T09:10:00.000-08:00

Or rather, the partying of all of those, living or dead, who wish to do so. I was just borrowing a title of an 80's tune by a band fronted by the guy who does all those really cool movie soundtracks, Danny Elfman.

Halloween and All Saints' Day 2008 are being viewed only in retrospect now. Having relocated and made major life-changes recently, the "great cloud of witnesses" that cheer me on include people alive and well whose faces i am unable to see everyday. Facebook, cell phone texting and voice, and IM chat keep me connected with kindred friends in former "homes" and those in lands i have yet to visit.

I was welcomed "home" to a place to which i've never actually been until yesterday. It was the last of a marathon of worship services over and above the ones for which i am usually responsible. Although i'd never before set foot in Wesley Theological School's Oxnam chapel, i felt the sisterhood with the seminary i attended at Drew Theological School. I played at the Craig chapel at Drew about 1000 times, worshiping with fellow students as well as staff and faculty and guests. The same feeling embraced me viscerally as those in attendance joined in singing, praying, and listening. I could feel the presence of my colleagues from Drew, and from Candler and Iliff and Claremont and the other Methodist seminaries, colleagues from Union in New York city and Pacific School of Religion in Northern California, colleagues from churches with which i have ministered and worshiped before, colleagues of other faiths with whom i've worked in helping professions... it felt like a big ol' transcendent party!

This is what corporate worship might feel like every time if i chose to be mindful of it. As one who believes in the sacredness of all things and all places, maybe my whole life could be like this if i chose to be mindful and spirit-full.

Reconciling Ministries Network Retreat

2008-10-27T13:23:00.001-07:00

I was thrilled to be with the RMN Called to Witness campaign a few weekends ago. What an amazing group, doing amazing things. I wrote an article for SU's newspaper, The Sun, which you are welcome to read here http://www.su.edu/pr/publications/sun/Oct22.pdf. It's on page 2.

I am so grateful for those who were willing to give of themselves to participate in the worship celebrations at the event. The resource list for that is available here http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dczbd556_0qdfx8g4x.

Worshiping in a fully inclusive setting is the way that we ought to do it! If you are a person who attends a Christian Church, you are invited to ask yourself and your congregation, "Who is missing from here?" and then the really difficult question, "Why?"

Inclusive Language Statement for Liturgical Music

2008-10-23T15:39:00.001-07:00

For legal reasons, all words in every song appear just as they appear in the sources from which they come. Historically, our rich Judeo-Christian tradition has named God in exclusively male terms. Many argue that this male-only perspective, at least, separates God from the female experience, and at most, enforces and reinforces oppression of women. Therefore, many choose to speak of God in neutral, non-gendered terms in order to reclaim the idea that woman and man are created in the beautiful image of our just God. Many choose to imagine God in both female and male forms. Please, feel free to sing the words in this music that most deeply facilitate your worship, regardless of whether you are singing the words that match those of your neighbor or those on the screen or in the book.
(Permission for use is granted, provided the following is clearly visible "DeLyn Celec 2008, http://www.delynsu.blogspot.com/")

Silent Opening Prayer for RMN retreat

2008-10-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

Open us. Open our gathering in this space and time to
simply be; I may sing or just listen,
sit in dark stillness or wander this room lighting candles,
hold the hand of another or to curl deeply into myself,
create childish crayon-scapes or
tear down walls wisely built in defense.
My thoughts shall catch up with my body, seeking your whirring, quiet Spirit.
I am ready to tend this painful, joyful gathering of sweet fellowship and bitter recounting.
We reflect on what has led to our arrival, and we respond in the safety of this loving community.
In all things, we give thanks. Teach us to live in your Creative way.
(Permission for use is granted, provided the following is clearly visible "DeLyn Celec 2008, http://www.delynsu.blogspot.com/")

Voices, lost and finding.

2008-10-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

I'm planning several worship services and events at the same time right now. It makes for interesting cross-referencing.
At SUP, our Sunday evening service at SU, we are still working with Exodus. For those who do not have the lectionary in their back pockets, that means we're talking about the Ten Commandments this week, after spending 2 weeks on the whining of the Israelites. Just moments after escaping slavery, they start grumbling, and then God gives them these rules to follow. I'm still stuck on the grumbling.
The Israelites have a voice for the first time in history. Some of the first words that we hear them say are words of complaint. They have been abused, and silenced from expressing their thoughts in a meaningful way, for so long. Now, their circumstances are dire, but they have agency with which they may speak. They complain.
I am also planning for an event of the Reconciling Ministries Network right now. The RMN demands rights for all people in the United Methodist Church, regardless of (among other factors) sexual orientation and gender identity. Among persons in the RMN, many are using audible voices for the first time. Many are gay, lesbian, transgender, intersexed, bisexual, Queer or questioning persons who have never been truly heard. Many are pastors, stripped of their credentials because they used their voices to share. Those who are not in such circumstances speak for persons who are.
The first communication out of our mouths, as humans, is crying. I cannot remember being born, however, i'm sure that the transition is rather rough. We complain about being cold and helpless when we arrive, granted a voice to which one will listen for the first time. We are tired and undoubtedly in pain.
So the Israelites, a tired, hungry, thirsty, pained, wandering people are granted an audible voice for the first time in history. They must voice their discontent, and we must listen. The same way that we must listen to all persons freshly empowered to speak. How can we learn about the ways in which the power of some hurts others if we fail to listen to that communication?
God sets a good example here. The people say they are hungry; God supplies them manna and quail. They say they are thirsty; God provides them water from the rock. If i am to be God's person, i must be (no matter what else i am) attentive to the communication of those inside and freshly liberated from slavery and oppression of every kind.
What is my responsibility about my own complaints?

going, going, gone.

2008-09-26T05:07:00.000-07:00

out in the desert,
the wilderness, many call it,
but i'm not so sure.
spent many years
thirsting, but not thirsty.
"thirsting" is an action, a verb;
"thirsty" describes a state of being.
"i thirst" said a tortured, dying man,
murdered because of our sin as we misunderstood.

everyone who wanders is not necessarily lost.
everyone who is lost is not necessarily a wanderer.
no other place can house such harsh beauty, such severe living,
as cracks drip into ridges that pour into canyons that gush to the seeming center of the earth,
telling their vast and slow-moving tale to capture the imagination, inviting it to connect
here with there, then with now:
the desert wildness in the imagination of its mighty creator.
these rocks cry out along with me, not in my silence.
spoken into being and carved into beauty,
we praise.

Garlands of Peace

2008-09-16T05:53:00.000-07:00

For September 11, I got to work with Dr Diedra Kriewald on a Prayer Vigil. What a powerhouse liturgist she is! We remained focused on the whole picture: We have a long way to go, we can be peacemakers right here & now, and we move forward with hope.
Participants took bookmarks with the names of US soldiers who have died in Iraq. I still have mine hanging on my wall. That was the first thing i saw when i walked in this morning. I've memorized that soldier's name, and i breathe it silently in a moment of prayer for his loved ones, and the loved ones of soldiers everywhere. I breathe silently the name of my friend and seminary classmate who is now serving as an army chaplain. I breathe silently a prayer for those who are fighting our world's wars right now, friends or foes. I ask how i can make peace today, terrified that God will show me.
These bookmarks are all over campus now, reminding us of the terrible grief caused by war.
We lit luminaries decorated with names of Iraqis who have died, names of loved ones who are currently fighting, names of those we lost on September 11, 2001, names of persons for whom we wished to shed light. Prayerful moments will continue as people are reminded of the many, many people and places affected by war.
Take your worshiping and your prayer out into your office, cubby, work-field, lunch hour, cigarette break, or daycare. Simply breathing a silent prayer for your colleague as he tells you about trouble in his marriage, or your boss as she is reprimanding an employee, or your colleague as he speaks in anger against another can change the trajectory of your whole day.
According to ancient Hebrew and Greek thought, Spirit and Wind and Breath are of the same material/movement. So breathe deeply the stuff of which our Holy Spirit is made, and worship right where you are. We have a long way to go, but we are not powerless. And we have hope.
September 21 is international day of peace. Celebrate it.
http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org/

I don't like this God.

2008-09-02T10:47:00.000-07:00

Exodus 12:1-14 is what i'm studying right now, for planning purposes. A few weeks ago when my colleague, Rhonda, suggested that we follow the Moses stories in Exodus i thought it was a great idea. 3 weeks in, i wonder what i could possibly have been thinking!

So, God is saying "Feast on a lamb and put its blood on the door or i will kill your children," right? I don't like that God.

Maybe humans are writing down what God is inspiring them to say. I don't like those people.

Is it a sin to dislike these things i'm reading? Why does God want to kill anyone's children?

As we worked through our planning process of Bible study and dialogue, things were not looking up. This legalistic police-officer god of the rules and regulations is not a god whom i care to worship. Are we really looking at a case for redemptive suffering here, like "If i suffer enough, God will love me?" Ultimately, we end up back at The Big Theodicy Question: Where is God in suffering?

Certainly, there are times that our work as children of God results in suffering. Micah 6:8 tells us to seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. Sometimes seeking justice requires that we speak for someone who has no voice, and we are at least inconvenienced and at most tortured. Sometimes loving kindness means that we must give of our privilege or resources, leaving us with less. Sometimes walking humbly with God leaves us vulnerable to those who gain power by dominating others. To varying degrees, at different times, we suffer when we honor our covenant with God.

And that's what this Exodus passage is: it's a part of the covenant between God and God's people. The people did what God said, and God blessed them. The people did not do what God said, and God did not bless them. Simple. Or simplistic.

And that's at the core of my discomfort with this passage. This simplistic world-view, based on simplistic, black-and-white thinking, is not a part of my adult experience. I don't try to do what God says because i am afraid of being cursed, or un-blessed, or punished, or whatever. I try to do what God says because i think God is Love, and loving is simply the right thing to do.

Which brings me to the Jesus problem, and the pesky Christian's Second Testament (or New Testament). As people who call ourselves Christians, we interpret this whole First Testament, the Hebrew Bible, through the lense of The Christ Event. Jesus tells us that we are beloved children of God, and all the sacrifices in the universe can't make us better or more or less or worse. We are simply the recipients of God's grace. That's it. It's simple without being simplistic. Therefore, when i follow Jesus' example of how to live as a child of God, i'm not obeying what Jesus told me to do because i want to gain God's love or avoid God's punishment. I'm following Jesus' example because i think Jesus embodied what God wants humans to do, and i should do it because it's the right thing to do.

So when i look at the Hebrew Bible, i try not to discount the things that are difficult by saying, "I'm excused from that part because of Jesus's hall-pass of grace." I'm looking for the message inside the Message, asking "What does God have to tell me this time?" It might be different from the last time i studied that part.

Maybe the Message this time is that i don't have to like the God of Isreal that i read about in this passage. Maybe it's that i must look hard to find the grace in this God, as the Israelites understood their God. Maybe it's that my brain simply isn't big enough to understand the complex God of Israel. Maybe the message is one like i often heard in grade school, "Mind your own business! That's their covenant; you work on keeping your own!"

What's your Message? Whose person are you, and who is your God?

Welcome Litany

2008-08-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

Welcome Litany

1: I am a United Methodist.
2. I am a Presbyterian.
3. I am a Lutheran.
4: I am a Southern Baptist. Is there a space for me here?
1-3: Is there a space for me here?

1: I am an Episcopalian
2. I am a Roman Catholic.
3. I used to be Catholic, and now I’m Episcopalian!
4. I used to be Episcopalian, and now I can’t stand the Church.
1. I can’t stand Christians.
2. I don’t think Jesus really came back to life.
3. I’m not sure that God is real. Is there a space for me here?
1,2, & 4: Is there a space for me here?

4: I sin all the time.
1: I’m sinning right now!
2: If my mom found out I came here she’d kill me!
3. My friends would disown me if they knew I came to church.
4. I am Pentecostal; it’s so quiet in here!
1: I meditated once; I thought it was cool.
2: I am Quaker; it’s way too loud in here!
3: My parents go to a Unitarian Universalist church, but I think it’s boring so I sleep in on Sundays.
4: My parents don’t know that I sneak off to a Metropolitan Community Church, where I’m loved for who I am.
1-4: Is there a space for me here?

3: I don’t know what to believe.
4: Who tells the truth?
1: If she’s right, does that make me wrong?
2: Even if we are
3-4: Different?
1: Is there a space for us here?
2: Is there?
1-4: Is there a space for us here?
(c) 2008 delynial returns

burning bushes and other ordinary stuff

2008-08-28T14:17:00.000-07:00

At SU, we have a worship celebration that meets weekly on Sunday evenings called SUP. The participants eat a soup supper, then worship together at an emergent service of word and table, then eat dessert together. The casual atmosphere and progressive theology is inviting to those with questions who want to talk about things. I'd imagine that those who want definitive answers to linear questions might find it frustrating.

We decided to work several weeks with the Hebrew Bible lectionary passages about Moses' life, call, and work in Exodus. Currently, we are looking at the burning bush incident. As a child, a Jewish friend of mine got in trouble in Hebrew school for asking over and over, "But how did Moses know that the bush wasn't burning up? Maybe it was just taking a long time!"

In our planning session, the question was raised, "What if all the bushes are burning, but we don't look aside to see them?" God is speaking to us in so many ways and places. How do we keep track of all of them? How can we be constantly "called" to do super-extraordinary stuff every minute of every day? By definition, wouldn't that make the call "ordinary?"

I stopped to listen this afternoon, sitting quietly at my desk, trying to think of a call to worship to use this week. Here's what God said:

God speaks, re-inhabiting the very breath that brought creation into being,
The very Spirit that re-creates us each day.
God speaks in the thundering waves of ocean and emotion,
The waves of silent, sinking heart,
Of whispering desperation and breathless joy;
God speaks.

God speaks.
Within the synergy of our wholeness,
Far greater than the sum of our parts,
Without the anxiety of good-enough or have-to,
We listen in anticipation and watch with hope
As we are called.
(c) 2008 delynial returns

Drawing out, Drawing in

2008-08-26T04:00:00.000-07:00

Exodus tells us the story of Moses: all of those who mother him into life and safety, him being drawn out of the waters of the river, and his naming by his adoptive mother, the Pharaoh's daughter. When i read these ancient stories, i wonder about the real-life characters upon whom the characters are based. Most of all, in this one, i wonder about the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah.

Exodus tells us that these two women feared God, which is why they refused to kill the Israelites' baby boys. To be honest, that language makes me nervous. To fear God, i was told as a child, is to "respect" God. Why wouldn't the language just read "respect," then? Did the midwives let the babies live because of their respect for the God of Life, which was greater than their respect for the Pharaoh? Maybe they were resentful of the Pharaoh, thinking "Why should i take these babies out of the world, after i just worked so hard helping them get into it?" Maybe, out of sheer defiance, they said something like, "We are in the birthing department. If you want killing done, that is not our job!"

We don't know why the midwives did what they did. I'd like to think that they saw through wise eyes trained by years of assisting new life into the world the injustice of the Pharaoh's decree. But their role in this story is an important one. They call this baby out from his mother's womb, form him by simply allowing him to live, and send him out into the world as a captive child of an oppressed woman.

Who am i in this story? Who are you? Draw yourself into the story, choosing a character and imagining how you would have felt or what you would have thought. If you follow the Moses story with the lectionary in the next several weeks, i invite you to keep in mind his tenuous beginning. What if his midwives had obeyed the Pharaoh and killed him? What if his mother had been caught hiding him as a baby? What if the Pharaoh's daughter had not found him and safely rescued him? What if his sister Miriam had not been watching, willing to deliver the child safely back to his birth mother?

I am called by Puah and Shiphrah to look for ways to facilitate life among suffocating injustice. What about you?