a taste of sabbath

The Sabbath comes like a caress, wiping away fear, sorrow and somber memories.

Gallantly, ceaselessly, quietly, man must fight for inner liberty . . . Inner liberty depends upon being exempt from domination of things as well as from domination of people. There are many who have acquired a high degree of political and social liberty, but only very few are not enslaved to things. This is our constant problem — how to live with people and remain free, how to live with things and remain independent.

What we are depends on what the Sabbath is to us.

Unless one learns how to relish the taste of Sabbath . . . one will be unable to enjoy the taste of eternity in the world to come.

Toph reminded me of some books on Jewish spirituality I had been meaning to read, so I picked up Abraham Heschel's The Sabbath. So far it has been an excellent preparation for the SHCC Men's Retreat this weekend. This is the first Men's Retreat I have been able to go on, and I have wanted to make the most of it. I even took Thursday off to "get ready" so I would actually be able to retreat.

Heschel's words have been refreshing as he poetically expresses theological concepts in the midst of living them out in a modern context. Since he speaks from a Jewish perspective his words seem old and haunting. They put in perspective how far man has journeyed since Sinai and the giving of Torah (most will remember this as the giving of the Ten Commandments).

The final quote above serves as a haunting reminder for those who confess faith in God. We believe in an eternity in the presence of a holy God, and we have to ask ourselves, "If we don't like spending time with God now, why would we enjoy it for eternity?"

Daily prayers, weekly services, reading of Scripture, and the people of God serve as reminders of God's call to be with him (one of the Messiah's names is Emmanuel, meaning "God with us"). As Heschel expresses, Sabbath is the culmination of all these at the end of our week. We set aside all else, for apart from God we can do nothing. However, Sabbath is really an expression of the rest of our week. God's presence is with us throughout the week, do we choose to live in the light of it?

Heading into the Men's Retreat, I have found myself scattered and avoiding "alone time" with God. I take Heschel's words to be a challenge and caution for my expectations for the weekend. There is a chance to renew and refresh in the midst of the qualities of the Sabbath.

God & Terror

I have been reading some N.T. Wright lately. I came across his lecture, "Where is God in 'The War on Terror,'" about the role of politics in terror and how to actually begin to pursue healing. Glad to see some thoughtful insights from a Christian perspective . . .

laughter and tears

It isn't so much that Jesus laughed at the world, or wept at the world. He was celebrating with the new world that was beginning to be born, the world in which all that was good and lovely would triumph over evil and misery. He was sorrowing with the world the way it was, the world of violence and injustice and tragedy which he and the people he met knew so well. - N.T. Wright, Simply Christian
I have begun the journey through a new book. Simply Christian is a journey into the heart of Christianity for every day living. It is tauted as an instant classic in the likes of Mere Christianity.

This quote was quick to stand out among many. The tension of life is the combination of celebration and sorrow. With one seemingly fleeting and the other seemingly unending. In the midst of so many swings and changes, can we find a constant answer (hope) to our longings for justice, beauty, and good life.

Could it be that our longing for wholeness and rightness is more than a dream, but is actually an echo of what once was. An echo of what could be again. Here is where religion steps into the plain. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam say there is a God who wants to put it back. Their perspectives on how it happens is different, but at the core the message is the same. What we long for can be reality.

This is where Jesus' life strikes me as so amazing. He enters into the mess and crap of life. He is grieved and moved with compassion. He shares in the sorrow and suffering. And, he says good is at hand. In his laughter and celebration he proclaims, "the Kingdom is near." Hope is coming. God is here.

I have been broken, powerless, grieved, and alone. I have watched lives falling apart and relationships dashed. God grieves with us. God offers to bring us along in our brokenness and put us back together. As we are put back together, so our relationships and communities get restored, and creation itself moves towards being paradise again. It seems too good to be true . . . and it certainly has not gone as I suspected . . . but I have witnessed it in my life and the lives of those around me.

N.T. Wright begins his journey with the longing of humans for more. He says that journey will take us "into the Sun" where we find God at work. And ultimately leads us embracing life as a reflection of God's love and work in the world. More to come . . .

jesus camp

After awhile of waiting I finally got a chance to see Jesus Camp. It is a documentary about Pentecostal Christians and how they raise their kids. With no narration (other than sound bytes from current events, radio preachers, etc) it is quite an interesting look at the lives of three kids and their Children's Pastor.

While most of what makes Jesus Camp scary to many is the charismatic expressions of faith (tongues, prophecy, & spiritual warfare), the underlying question is how militant and indoctrinated are these kids and their leaders/parents?

The directors certainly care for their characters, and seem to lead the viewer to believe that they are to be pitied because of their upbringing.

I'm not sure what I think about these people. They clearly are devoted to their beliefs, and reflect the urgency of people who believe the truth will clear others from a very intense hell.

I see the dangers of indoctrination.

I know the compelling message of the Scriptures.

I acknowledge that the spiritual realm is real, and foreign to most Americans.

I believe their use of the "miraculous" spiritual gifts reflects a lack of order that would turn away unbelievers (which Paul is against in 1 Corinthians).

I was haunted by the scenes with Ted Haggard since the film was released prior to his scandal.

I found myself strangely relating to these kids and their leaders. Though I do not share their rhetoric, or commitment to a Christian State . . . we fundamentally (ha ha) agree on the truth and the importance of partnering with God to reveal it to others.

A movie I will continue to wrestle with and reflect upon as it relates to raising my kids and understanding my religious upbringing.

behind the plate

For those who may not know, I spent a couple Springs behind the plate as a Little League Umpire. With the need for something to help em unwind, I decided to get back into it this year. I had my first two games on Wednesday and Thursday this week.

It was one of the best experiences of my life. There is something "good" about the competition of baseball. Perhaps now over shadowed by the intensity of football and the flash of basketball, it remains a sport that anyone as a child can play.

The joys of being behind the plate is simply to protect that goodness. As an umpire you set the tone. There is the pre-game meet with the coaches (usually driven fathers that have forgotten the kids on the field are just that, kids). There is the chance to talk with the teams in the dugouts and go over the strike zone, and easily forgotten rules. These serve an opportunity to remind everyone why we play the game. There are no big league contracts at stake. This is a time of learning and fun.

It's good to be back.

the lost tomb of jesus

James Cameron has discovered the lost tomb of Jesus . . . that's how I first heard about the documentary on Discovery Channel last night. And I have really enjoyed the publicity surrounding all this.

I have watched the documentary, the critical look hosted by Ted Koppel afterwards, and watched numerous TV interviews. What strikes me as most fascinating about Simka Jacobovici (the director) is that he continually voices the fact that he is not an expert, and is just reporting the facts. The commentator tone which he takes in interviews is one that is not apparent in the documentary where he speaks as the all knowing force behind these amazing links which compel him to his conclusions.

Ultimately he places himself so that in interviews he cannot possibly be wrong. He says he is simply hypothesizing and trying to encourage attention and study using the facts (as he chooses to report them) from other experts. While the documentary invited viewers to reach their own interpretations at the beginning and end, he seems unable to allow the experts and commentators around him in interviews to reach their own interpretations. This poses the critical thinker to wonder why Simka would want the general public to draw a conclusion versus having experts draw conclusions? Ratings = Money.

This kind of docu-drama and archaeo-porn, as it has been called, seems very loose in its ability to report on the science of archaeology. It has always been fascinating to me how the History channel, among others, puts on shows that reenact history as it happened, but are only based on very limit ted documentation from compromised sources and centuries separated from the events (research how we establish the history of the Caesars and the Roman Empire). The danger of this is that it communicates to the audience a surety about the history being reported, without expressing the tension behind the facts. This is why there can be so many TV shows which show the many renderings of historical events and our ever changing textbooks.

the dna of belief

Many people can not understand the human propensity for faith. They struggle to explain it in biological, philosophical, and cultural terms. I stumbled across this interesting article from the NY Times, Darwin's God. The fundamental question being asked in the article is: "In short, are we hard-wired to believe in God? And if we are, how and why did that happen?"

I appreciate the tone of the article, specifically because it shows what they call "neo-atheists" for what they are. And instead of trying to convert people to the faith of atheistic science it opens up the question whether or not we are hard-wired to believe because of God or some kind of neurological or evolutionary accident.

bruce feiler: abraham

One of my "new" favorite authors is Bruce Feiler. A little over a year ago I picked up his book Walking the Bible and was really taken by his insights and personal spiritual journey. I am not concerned that he does not express "faith" as it classically might be understood, and I am not threatened by the musings about the discussion about how our understanding of God may have developed as a cultural phenomenon over time (I actually think that God has revealed himself over time and in the midst of relationships and culture). Having never journeyed the lands of the Middle East myself I particularly enjoyed Bruce's adventure. In fact, I ended up buying the PBS documentary Walking the Bible as well, along with the picture book.

I continue to enjoy Bruce's work, and picked up Abraham : A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths this week. I was immediately glad I picked the book up because Bruce quickly makes an observation that I had never heard or read before about Abraham. You see, I believe God is in the business of life. He made life, sustains life, redeems life, and will eventually restore life into the fullness of what it was meant to be.

What Bruce notices about the story of Abraham is that we first meet him as someone unable to continue life. It was ten generations from Adam to Noah, and ten generations from Noah to Abraham. The Bible has meticulously recounted the generations as multiple genealogies. The classic "so an so begat so and so." When we meet Abraham (Abram at the time), he is in his 70's and unable to bear a child. Life will end with him for this generational tree. Here, in the midst of no life enters God. This is what he does. He brings life to the lifeless. And he will bring life to Abraham. Before there will be a child for Abraham there is a journey of faith and trust, there is the challenge of mistakes, and there is the gauntlet of spiritual testing. But I am beginning to see these things as God bringing Abraham himself back to life before he restores the chain of life through Isaac. (I choose to not see Ishmael as a part of God's promise, since he embodies Abraham's struggle to trust God. Though God is still in the business of giving life, and so protects and blesses Ishmael.)

I am grateful to Bruce for this observation. It solidified, again, that the good news of the Scriptures, the gospel, is that God is about bringing dead things to life. As he has done for Abraham, so he will do for us.

tired vs. weary

Ever have that tired at the end of the day where it is so good that you have completely spent yourself. That's the end of today.

You see, at the end of many days I find myself tired of just being. Spent on things that make me "feel like too little butter spread over too much bread," as Bilbo would say. Who knows what has been accomplished, if anything. It is that kind of tired that is really best described as weary. I am fatigued by life and my efforts.

However, there is another tired that is good and satisfying. It is the tired of a day spent doing not only your best, but being dependent on the grace of God to do what is impossible in your own effort. Now when I say that I have done my best, I do not mean that I have done it all right. In fact, quite the opposite. It means for me that I have readily admitted that I am not able to do what I am facing in my own effort. Whether that's facing the challenge of dealing with hurting teenagers in my job, or coming home to a daughter who was supposed to be asleep an hour and a half ago after a late night of work. In both situations I do not know the answer. I do not have the wisdom or power able to change the circumstance, so I am dependent on God's grace to be sufficient and sustain me. In these moments there is the temptation to try what worked last time. While there may be some wisdom there, life does not work with cookie-cutter answers.

Today I find myself spent after a day of interruptions, changes, challenges, and just plain a lot of work. As I survey the day I find that it was a day spent dependent on God for the next moment. At in that, I worked hard, am tired, and am satisfied.

a long way gone

I picked up the book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier at Starbucks yesterday (I gave you the link to buy it at Amazon, while Starbucks does donate $2 of the $22 to UNICEF, buy the book at Amazon for $13 and send $9 to UNICEF or World Vision). Took it to bed with me last night and I got through 5 chapters.

This book is not for the faint of heart. It was a painful read. Considering that the images of war are described from a child's perspective, years later, and limited to the focus of the author, it is hard to stomach. It was a sobering reminder of what war really is, and how destructive man can become. I have only had a couple pages of Ishmael being a boy soldier, and the amount of brainwashing and numbness to violence he recalls is more than disturbing.

I can recommend this book for those who have not grasped the cost of war. Be warned that once you read this book, you can't help but want to do something, and that is why you should buy the book from Amazon and give more to those who are helping save these hurting kids.