Tall Monastic Guy

4 reasons why I love Merton & Nouwen

The writings of Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen continue to bring me such solace and direction. Recently, James Martin in his book, Becoming Who You Are helped me understand why... 

Here's my paraphrase...

1)   The two of them are nearly always honest about their daily lives. Their most compelling writing resulted from their being so candid about both the joys and the struggles of their daily lives. 

2)   Both Nouwen and Merton are lumpy & flawed men who are not afraid to admit it. Both of them can be, according to their writings, incredibly difficult to get along with. They are both desperate for attention.

Book Review: Geography of Grace ~ Doing Theology from Below

These days when a Christian book hits the shelves with new ideas and distinctions, our radar of reality goes up with the significant inquiry, “Are the authors really practitioners or are they simply peddling their product?”

In the case of my friends, Kris and Joel, I happen to know they are practitioners in every sense of the word. The work within Geography of Grace comes from years of stumbling, failing, and interpreting theology among the barred and broken of our cities. I can’t pretend to write an objective review of this book because for the last several years it’s been Kris and Joel along with the entire Street Psalm Community who have helped shape my theology as it has been lowered to the level of the streets.

My favorite quote in the book? 

“God has no fear of the slimy intimacy of touching his own creation.”

more on stage 3 thinking...

The West---and America, in particular---are facinated with forms. We like impermanent things, maybe because they can't nail us down to anything solid or lasting, and we float in an ephemeral and transient world of argumentative ideas. It's not bearing a lot of fruit. It seems to me that it is creating people who are very unsure of themselves and who seem to be grasping in every direction for a momentary sense of identity, for a momentary sense of importance. 

    ~ Richard Rohr, A Lever and A Place to Stand: The Contemplative Stance, p.7

John Wesley on 'Love of the Other'

The following is from John Wesley, the most eloquent, prolific, and influential evangelist of 18th century England. The title of this sermon is "The Way to the Kingdom,"

Thou shalt love--- thou shalt embrace with the most tender goodwill, the most earnest and cordial affection, the most inflamed desires of preventing or removing all evil, and of procuring for him every possible good - thy neighbor - that is, not only thy friend, thy kinsman, or thy acquaintance; not only the virtuous, the friendly, him that loves thee, that prevents or returns thy kindness; but every child of man, every human creature, every soul which God hath made, not excepting him whom thou hast never seen in the flesh, whom thou knowest not, either by face or name; not excepting him whom thou knowest to be evil and unthankful, him that still despitefully uses and persecutes thee: Him thou shalt love as thyself, with the same invariable thirst after his happiness in every kind; the same unwearied care to screen him from whatever might grieve or hurt either his soul or body.

(Source: The Sword of the Lord by Andrew Himes)

our symbolic hedge: low or high?

A couple quotes here... first:

Earth is crammed with heaven,
and every common bush afire with God;
but only he who sees takes off his shoes.
The rest sit around and 
Pluck blackberries.

~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I love this and believe it to be true. The following comes from Ronald Rolheiser in his book, The Shattered Lattern, and perhaps part of the reason for our lack of everyday burning bushes is what he would call a "low symbolic hedge."

Steps to move forward...

The following image has had significant meaning for myself and others the past couple weeks as I've used it to help me consider what I'm heading toward in 2012.

Where do you find yourself in the image?

Perhaps you are standing at the bottom of the steps indecisive having yet to enter into the challenges ahead...

Or maybe you see yourself within the walls safely running around child-like in the forrest on the hill...

Still... Many of us will see ourselves between the two arches... Within the tension of liminal space having left one dimension of life although not yet ready to enter the next. 

An interesting image and question to say the least...

What determines where we see ourselves and the ensuing movements that take place in our next season is inevitably impacted by our addictions.

Gratitude... while we wait

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was “thank you,” that would be sufficient. ~ Meister Eckhart

During each summer's pilgrimage to visit family in Indiana we travel across I-64, which is a rolling stretch of southern Indiana interstate that moves along an obscure piece of woolly wooded hills called the Hoosier National Forrest.

On this particular day as we headed east on 64 with Angie and the kids asleep in the back of the van I was caught off guard by the extreme green of the thick woods. After an unusually wet spring the immense patches of trees and grass were as deep of a green and as I’d ever experienced. I found myself ridiculously captivated at the scene emotionally overwhelmed feeling like that mystical moment of beauty was given as a gift specifically for my eyes. And the only response I could utter to God as I drove along was a simple “thank you” silently repeated probably 100 times over.

My response reminded me of an encounter I had with a homeless man a few weeks ago. I had agreed to give my street friend, Steve, a haircut and shortly after I finished his cut the news leaked and I’ve dished out several haircuts to the Denver street community since.

Denver daily prayer...

I gotta share an encouraging development going on in my life and work in these past couple weeks. For years I’ve tried my hand at several ways of getting into a habitual rhythm of daily prayer. I’ve got a stack of books about daily devotionals. I’ve got prayer beads and a variety of great prayers I can pray with them. I’ve got candles on my desk, apps on my phone, etc. etc. The need to train my muscles for game time ministry is apparent but sticking to any sustainable discipline is hard.  

What I’ve learned is that it’s difficult to sustain a regular rhythm of prayer if the plan isn’t 1) communal: Am I praying in the company of my community? 2) missional- Am I praying in a way that integrates with my life and work in the city?

After weeks of having it recommended, I finally grabbed Common Prayer: A liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, which spins the traditional Book of Common Prayer into a daily reading of scripture and liturgy that specifically emphasizes issues of justice and poverty. This has been an excellent resource and I'm grateful for all the hard work and contributions that went into compiling this!

The idol of familiarity

There are many idols out there seducing us like sirens luring us into the rocks of complacency or distraction. The ones we most quickly name are in the moral realm of sexuality, material greed, and the stuff of the overt deadly sins. But it seems the idols that deserve our focused prayer energy are those that are typically hidden to us. One of the more subtle and accepted of all idols is that of familiarity. Our addiction to familiarity impacts everything- politics, the church, and the relationships that we value the most.

We’re all creatures of distinct habits and routines. And shouldn’t a level of familiarity be perceived as a gift? As babies familiarity is vital for a healthy life. When Josiah was an infant establishing familiar routines of feeding, sleeping, and affection was the gift Angie and I were responsible to provide. Creating familiarity for others and desiring it for yourself is appropriate during certain seasons.

The Apostle Paul makes it known that there is a time for that in our spirituality as well, “I gave you milk, not solid food, because you were not yet ready for it yet.”

The risk of creativity

“Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny. We are free beings and sons of God. This means to say that we should not passively exists, but actively participate in His creative freedom, in our own lives, and in the lives of others, by choosing the truth. To put it better, we are called to share with God the work of creating the truth of our identity. We can evade this responsibility by playing with masks, and this pleases us because it appears at times to be a free and creative way of living. It is quite easy, it seems it pleases everyone. But in the long run the cost and the sorrow come very high. To work out our own identity in God, which the Bible calls “working out our salvation,” is a labor that requires sacrifice and anguish, risk and many tears. It demands close attention to reality at every moment, and great fidelity to God as He reveals Himself, obscurely, in the mystery of each new situation.” 

-Thomas Merton, The Seeds of Contemplation, P. 32