Bread for the Journey

The first book I purchased for my new Kindle is a book I've read over and over... and over and over. And every time I discover something new. Or discover something old which I truly needed to hear anew.

I first read Henri Nouwen's Bread for the Journey not alone but "in communion" with a "breakfast club" of old and new friends in Pella, Iowa. This was at least 2-3 years before seminary. I highly recommend the approach. We each would read the short daily readings -- or, sometimes, read all seven daily readings the night before our weekly Tuesday-morning-gathering at a local restaurant. We'd highlight or underline or put question marks in the margins; and then we'd talk about what had "hit home" or what we didn't quite understand. Of course sometimes we'd just talk about the frustrations and hurts and challenges in our lives without regard to the book. But more often than not Henri Nouwen's wise and compassionate words would find a home in the various and varying situations and circumstances of our lives. Together we grew more and more open to "the voice calling us God's beloved sons and daughters." I miss that group.



Anyway, I could probably cut and paste this selection from somewhere on the web... but it's worth retyping... and so that's what I've done... to let the words become a part of me in yet another way...

And I hope the words become part of you as well...

January 10
Growing Beyond Self-Rejection

One of the greatest dangers in the spiritual life is self-rejection. When we say, "If people really knew me, they wouldn't love me," we choose the road toward darkness. Often we are made to believe that self-deprecation is a virtue, called humility. But humility is in reality the opposite of self-deprecation. It is the grateful recognition that we are precious in God's eyes and that all we are is pure gift. To grow beyond self-rejection we must have the courage to listen to the voice calling us God's beloved sons and daughters, and the determination to live our lives according to this truth.

Henri J.M. Nouwen
Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith

Preparing for Christmas after a loss

Such a loss! Such a keen and tearing pain. Even when I am in a crowded room, there is a loneliness I never knew existed. Comforting God, I have turned to you so many times for solace, and I come again. While the world is bright and sparkling, my heart feels leaden and has an emptiness that cannot be filled.

Lord, how can I enter into this season of joy? In my head I celebrate your birth into this world, but in my everyday life, I am filled with a grief that runs so very deep. You blessed me with a loving relationship and now it is gone from my life. How can I be faithful to that love and the memory of that love and my sorrow in this season of "Rejoice!"??

Tears are so close to the surface all the time and helpful friends who want to "keep me busy" don't seem to really understand that I need to embrace my grief. I am afraid of letting go of the sadness and losing the deep love connection I had.

Instead of entering into the Rejoice of Christmas, I long for the sorrow of Lent. I beg you Lord, show me how the two are connected. I ponder the name Emmanuel and know that it means "God with us." With us. With me in this world, in this sorrow. If I look beyond my pain, I know that you, too, suffered so much in this world. I never understood so clearly before that Emmanuel is what your nativity is really about. You are in my world, in my pain.

Thank you, Lord, for the loved one you blessed my life with. Grant me now in my grief, a peace. Give me a comfort that might not make the tears go away, but that lets me feel your presence as you take up a place deep in my heart, with me.







Source: Creighton University Online Ministries

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Advent....

Christmas Lights: Christ & Coca-Cola

I was checking out some of the Holiday Lights... oops, I mean, "Christmas Lights" on youtube, just for fun. And I ran across this one. 64,000 (or, maybe 65,000?) LED lights to the Coca-Cola song. Sounds fun.

So the title page says, "Putting Christ back into Christmas." Huh? Come again? With the Coca-Cola song?

Now I'm a big fan of Classic Coke myself, but.... I just find this "Too Funny"... And I guess I've never been a fan of the phrase, "Putting Christ back into Christmas." It seems rather presumptuous. And hypersensitive.

But anyway, have fun watching the show... and then scroll down for a few more comments about "Putting Christ back into Christmas."



Here's what I think, for what it's worth: God's grace goes far beyond what we can imagine. We can see God's grace in the Mpls Holidazzle Parade, in a humble but delicious assortment of baked goodies shared by a neighbor, in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, in a meal with my kids, in a cheerful greeting at the check-out counter at Barnes & Noble, in the face of a Muslim child putting a quarter in the Salvation Army kettle, and in a homey Budweiser television commercial featuring the Clydesdale horses pulling a sleigh with a Christmas tree. And yes, grace is found in 64,999 LED lights dancing to the Coca-Cola song! At least it's better than Pepsi.

But here's my main thesis: Grace is most certainly deeper and broader and higher than any "Christmas" which "needs to be saved" by zealots who are offended by an innocently-uttered "happy holidays to you" and yet are not offended by oppression or injustice. If you really want to put Christ back into Christmas, join the prayer of the Christmas angels:

Glory to God in the heavenly heights;
and on earth...
on earth where there exists
so much conflict
and violence
and hatred...
on earth...
Let there be peace on earth,
and let it begin with me.

Does this make sense at all?
Whack me with an old fruit cake if I'm way out in left field on this one. :))
But I think I'm right.
The only question is whether I've expressed it clearly enough. ;)

Grace and peace...

Halfway through Advent - have I missed it?

Dear Jesus,

It's halfway through Advent and I'm not sure what happened. I really wanted to make this a reflective and calm season, preparing for your birth and pondering how you came into this world in such a stunningly humble way. But it's so busy and I'm distracted and sometimes even short-tempered with those I love the most. Where are you in THAT?

I am discouraged and wish I could start over. But as I sit here in the rare moment of silence, I contemplate your birth. In a bed of straw, with the smell of manure everywhere. It's a mess in that stable ... and come to think of it, my life is a little messy, too. I suddenly see that it is not just into the mess of the stable but into my mess that you enter the world. You came into a humble place and that humility is often where I live my life - feeling guilty or distracted and wishing I were a better person. But if I stop thinking of myself and focus on you, I realize that there you are, waiting to love me, even though I have so many unfulfilled good intentions about prayer, so many desires of how to change this fleeting Advent season.

I can begin Advent today and make this season deeper by making room in my heart for you. I can take just a moment before I get out of bed in the morning and feel the empty place in my life I so often fill with my busy-ness. It is there I need you the most. Come, Lord Jesus. Come into that dark and lonely spot in my heart. You know what my needs are more than I do. Let me feel your love. If I only carry that thought with me each day, it will prepare me for Christmas.

Thank you, Jesus. It's not too late. You are waiting to enter my life today, where ever I let you in. Help me to open my heart in these remaining days.

Source: Creighton University

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Advent/advent-prayers.html#Exhaustion

A Prayer for Hope in our Everyday, Ordinary Lives

Surprise us, O God, for we often expect so little.
Yes, you have surprised us even today.
And we stop, and bow our heads with tears of gratitude, and say thank you.
Come to us in ways we cannot predict.
O! How you amazed us again and again!
And we stop, and look up to the sky with renewed hearts, and say alleluia.
Come to us in familiar people, experiences, and words.
And we will stop and see the signs of your grace all around us.

Keep us from living as if life is repetitious--but instead:
Fire us with expectation,
Knowing that you move toward us;
With life far in excess,
far more abundant than we dare to hope or dream.
Alleluia! Amen!


(By Doris Donnelly with additions in italics by Randy Lubbers)

Prayers for Peace

Prayer for World Peace
by Sister Joan D. Chittister, O.S.B.

Great God, who has told us
"Vengeance is mine,"
save us from ourselves,
save us from vengeance in our hearts
and the acid in our souls.
Save us from our desire to hurt as we have been hurt,
to punish as we have been punished,
to terrorize as we have been terrorized.
Give us the strength it takes
to listen rather than to judge,
to trust rather than to fear,
to try again and again
to make peace even when peace eludes us.
We ask, O God, for the grace
to be our best selves.
We ask for the vision
to be builders of the human community
rather than its destroyers.
We ask for the humility as a people
to understand the fears and hopes of other peoples.
We ask for the love it takes
to bequeath to the children of the world to come
more than the failures of our own making.
We ask for the love it takes
to care for all the peoples
of Afghanistan and Iraq, or Palestine and Israel
as well as for ourselves.

Give us depth of soul, O God,
to constrain our might,
to resist the temptation of power,
to refuse to attack the attackable,
to undertsand
that vengeance begets violence,
and to bring peace - not war - wherever we go.

For You, O God, have been merciful to us.
For You, O God, have been patient with us.
For You, O God, have been gracious to us.

And so may we be merciful
and patient
and gracious
and trusting
with these others whom you also love.

This we ask through Jesus,
the one without vengeance in his heart.
This we ask forever and ever. Amen.

A Prayer attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi
St. Francis went to speak with the Sultan, rather than fight in the crusades

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

Eight Habits for Building "Faith Apathy" in your Kids

1)THE HABIT OF DOING-YOUR-OWN-THING. Encourage your children to attend worship only if they want to because, after all, you wouldn't want them to do anything “just because you told them they ought to.”

This habit, by the way, is particularly effective in producing faith-apathy if you apply it inconsistently. In other words, do not allow your child to do her own thing regarding curfew, attending sports practices, doing homework, or going to the dentist. Only allow your child to “do his own thing” regarding church activities.

2)THE HABIT OF EARNING-YOUR-OWN-WAY INTO HEAVEN. Teach your children that all “good people” go to heaven and that only “really, really bad people” will fall short of God's expectations. Teach them that God only frowns on “serious” sins. Teach them that “sin” is only about the “bad things you do” and that it has nothing to do with the attitude of your heart.

Closely related to this, it is very important to downplay God's “extravagance” and “radical hospitality” so your children never take their salvation for granted. And, at the same time, you should also downplay the radical nature of Christ's call to discipleship. Encourage your children to be good; but, at the same time, to keep religion in its proper place.

3)THE HABIT OF MIXED MESSAGES. This is really quite simple. Drive your children to Sunday school and pick them up after it's over. Teach them that “good kids” go to Sunday school, but that good parents skip worship more often than not.

This habit is reinforced when you make every effort to attend almost all of your child's school and sports events.

4) THE HABIT OF SPORTS ADDICTION. Tell your kids – through your actions if not your words – that nothing should ever get in the way of your favorite sports activity. Regardless of your personal passion – baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball, or wrestling; deer hunting or walleye fishing; NASCAR racing, Vikings football, or whatever! The specific sport doesn't matter. Just make sure your kids understand that God doesn't always come first.

Practical ways to reinforce this habit:
(a) Drive 400 miles so your child can play hockey but refuse to take them to a church event because it doesn't fit your schedule.
(b) Make sure you convince your child to believe the coach who tells you that he/she won't play on varsity if he/she doesn’t play in the off-season. Shrug off any idea of spending more than a few hours a week on church activities or family devotions, but invest whole weekends and hundreds of dollars on sports.

5)THE HABIT OF IMBALANCE. Encourage your child to push everything else aside for academic gain. After all, even if they turn 21 and have no interest in their relationship with Christ, you will still be thrilled that they got an A in Trig, right? Instead of teaching them balance, teach them that all else comes second to academics.

6)THE HABIT OF AFFLUENCE. Teach your kid that the dollar is almighty. As a parent, tell yourself your teenager's job (or jobs) are teaching responsibility, even if, in reality, most of the earnings are just going to buy the “extras” your kid wants. Never, never encourage your child to put faith activities above the responsibility of holding a job. Never force young children to tithe their allowance or earnings. See Habit #1.

Reinforce this habit by sending a loud and clear message of what you really want to see them involved in and what you value most. You can do this by spending very little on faith-related activities and/or complaining about the church budget, while at the same time spending “whatever it takes” for designer jeans, dance costumes, sports equipment, lessons, fees, and other “necessary” stuff that “everybody else” has.

7)THE HABIT OF GOING-IT-ALONE. Even though faith is meant to be lived out in community, and even though the primary motivating force in kids’ lives is their relationships, devalue the importance of spending time on a regular basis with others in your church. Attend events or activities that are “required,” but never strive to be proactive in building common bonds with others in your church. Teach your kids that most other relationships come before church friendships. By doing all you can to keep your kids from experiencing the bonds of love in a Christian community, you help ensure that they can easily walk away without feeling like they are missing anything.

8)THE HABIT OF BEING AN EXAMPLE. If you want to encourage faith-apathy in your kids' lives, simply model it in your own life. Your teenager is no dummy. Kids are looking for things that are worth their time. Authentic, genuine, relevant relationships where people are growing in relationship with Jesus is appealing. So if you want to promote apathy about the Faith in your kids, don't let them see you excited about church. Rather, always approach church as “meaningless duty” and “insignificant ritual.” Because those things hold no attraction for kids.

Note: The “Eight Habits” were inspired by “Keys to Making Your Kids Apathetic About Faith” in an article by Scott Liscott, a “pastor in Maine since 1985.” His blog is called Drinking from the Same Dipper. I have reprinted part of his conclusion....

There are no guarantees that your children will follow Christ even if you have a vibrant, purposeful relationship with Him. But, on the other hand, if we, as parents do not do all we can to help our children develop meaningful relationships in Jesus, we miss a major opportunity to lead them and show them the path worth walking.
I want my kids to see that their dad follows Jesus with everything. “Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met” (Matthew 6:33, The Message).