Lent’s Invitation to Flip the Lid

February 21, 2023February 28, 2023Leave a comment

Engaging in a workshop on crafting a Rule or rhythm of life and living with Steve Macchia, I found myself sharing the impression that I wanted and needed to “repent of” (i.e., get a new mind about) an old metaphor I have employed across the years. At the very least, it’s a metaphor in need of a makeover.

First the metaphor. Then, the basis of my newfound desire to “repent” of it.

The Metaphor…

Through the years, I have been witness to (and even employed) an object lesson about priorities that goes something like this…

With a jar and walnuts (or rocks or ping pong balls) and a handful of popcorn (or sand or rice),

I have noted the difference:

How, when you put all the popcorn in first and then add the walnuts, you can’t put a lid on things.

But, when you put the big things in first and then add the same amount of popcorn, it all fits… to the end that you can put a lid on it!

And, then we move to a naming of pieces in the metaphor:

The jar represents your life.
The walnuts are the important things – God, your partner and family, your health– the things most important to you and your life… and your living.
The popcorn is all other things that press for attention – maybe, say, mindless television viewing or shopping or playing games on your iphone or various social commitments… or any number of not-so-essential things.

And, then we might move to the closer, the big punchline—something along these lines:

“Spend all your time and energy on the small stuff and you will never have room for the things that are most important to life and living. But, pay attention to the things that are big and critical to your meaning and fulfillment… and the little things will fall into place!”

The Repentance…

I don’t know about you, but the metaphor as described above overwhelms me – inspiring a certain claustrophobia. It’s wrapped up in that notion of squeezing as much as you can into the jar… and then putting a lid on it.

Truth is – for me, now in my life – I don’t want the jar of my life to be that full and crammed – as if the goal of each day is to cover as much ground and get as much done as possible.

My soul aches for margin – for some breathing space and room.

Maybe, in fact, I don’t need a good bit of the kernels. And, maybe, just maybe, some of the things that I have held as big nuts aren’t really that big or important!

And putting a lid on things?
No way!

God, you see, may not be one of the big nuts in the jar! Maybe God is in all of the things [the jar, the kernals, and the nuts]… and God is in the air that infiltrates and surrounds it all!

(Here, I cannot help but recall the notion of prayer as “spiritual breathing.”)

Yes, give me room – margin – to breathe… and to let every part of my existence breathe! Can you begin to see the grounds for my “repenting” of that old metaphor… or choosing to recast it? Lent can be a great time of being about this kind of work of assessment and review…

- Considering the nuts vs the popcorn
- Maybe downsizing and redefining what is what and what needs to stay
- Asking what kind of margin and breathing room we have in life
- Considering, perhaps, what to do with that “lid”

. . . . .

In that same workshop, Steve shared some research findings that, on average, people tap, swipe, and click their phones a whopping 2,617 times each day!
(cf., https://dscout.com/people-nerds/mobile-touches)

Come to think about it, I might have found the need for another jar… and its lid!

“Of Mice and Men”…and Addictions and Community

February 16, 2023February 16, 2023Leave a comment

A recurring theme in my life and ministry through the years is the ways that community can be and is a “means of Grace” – a channel of the Divine’s saving me.

Coming along to confirm – if not amend and expand – this notion was a TED Talk which Rev. Jennifer Webber introduced me to a few weeks ago. (Jennifer is Lead Pastor of the Bryan Community Church, a United Methodist new church start, here in Bryan, Texas.)

In “Everything You Think You Know About Addiction is Wrong,” British author and journalist, Johann Hari, shares some rather startling research and realities related to the transformative power of genuine community.

To engage the full [15-minute] video, click on the image, above.
–or–
To engage/download a fuller detailing of Hari’s presentation, click here.

In a nutshell, Hari’s “argument” is this: experiments – with both rats and humans – demonstrate that meaningful connection in community trumps the bio-chemical “hooks” to which we usually assign so much power in discussions of dependency and addiction.

- In one set of laboratory experiments, rats where observed and tracked in two settings: solitary confinement versus communal confinement. (Both settings provided equal access to clean water and drug-laced water.) Overdose rates dropped from almost 100 percent [in solitary conditions] to zero percent in the “happy and connected” environments.

- In a social experiment that has played out in Portugal over the last 15 years (where all drugs have been decriminalized and freed up resources have been diverted to rehab, counseling, employment initiatives, and efforts to reintegrate the addicted into community), the results are striking:

injecting drug use is down by 50 percent,

overdoses are massively down,

HIV is massively down among addicts, and

addiction in every study is significantly down.

“One of the ways you know it’s worked so well,” Hari notes, “is that almost nobody in Portugal wants to go back to the old system.”

To be sure, I have my reservations. A few studies do not make for a radical dismantling of the system. Moreover, there are deep seated impressions I hold about addiction. Having read on the topic and having visited with addicts across the years, I still believe in a hereditary basis – physiological predispositions — to addictive behaviors. At this point, the last thing I want to suggest is anything that approaches (or might even have an air of suggesting) that “it’s okay to eat, drink, and be merry” – so long as we do it in community or with a sense of purpose!

Still, Hari’s presentation is most provocative and compelling: that authentic community – connecting in genuine and meaningful ways (and here, he will point out that social media and texting does not count!) – is a clear channel of healing and salvation. Community is a means of Grace!

It certainly screams for a fuller hearing, further investigation, and deeper consideration.

In some ways, in fact, it argues against some of the things that I’ve taught and preached through the years. In the past, you see, I have clarified that “my being in community is not a condition for our salvation as much as it is an expression of that salvation.” (Here, I admit, my Protestant stripes shine though: “Salvation is by faith alone… in Christ alone!”)
But, here, now, on this side of engaging Hari’s talk, I have to wonder. Maybe community is more than just a place where I express my salvation. Maybe there’s a way that community connects me — connects us — with the Christ of salvation. For who would deny that there — in the place where I discover and embrace real love and acceptance in life… That, there, in that place, I am encountering and accepting Christ into my life.

And here, I will give Johann the last word:

I think the core of that message — you’re not alone, we love you — has to be at every level of how we respond to addicts, socially, politically and individually. For 100 years now, we’ve been singing war songs about addicts when, all along, we should have been singing love songs to them. [Why?] Because the opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection.

Being Patient Amidst Our Perfecting

February 5, 2023February 8, 2023Leave a comment

In a session of the Spiritual Directors International series, “Making Our Way as Spiritual Directors,” Lucy Abbott Tucker shared how as a young girl she had “heard a very stirring homily about perfection”:

And [so], I decided it was my task, not my goal, my task in life to be perfect. And I can assure you that I worked extremely hard at being perfect. I am sure that I worked harder than any of you did. Positive about that.

And then, when I was in my early thirties, I heard a very extremely talented scholar named Don Senior talk about the scripture passage, “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” And he said–and I will never forget it, standing in front of the class–shaking his head, “Such a bad translation. It should say, be patient as a loving parent is patient.” My insides relaxed for the first time in years.

Being a One on the Enneagram [who can go to less resource perfectionism at the drop of a hat] as well as being the son of a German engineer, I do believe I could give Lucy a run for her money!

No surprise, then, that hearing these words would stir deep within. So much so that they sent me on a search – googling to find those words and to confirm that truth. I even found myself calling Lucy for some kind of attribution or credit for the quote. But, all she could do was commend me to Don Senior… and his broad corpus of writings. All to no avail.

In fact, searching had a way of complicating things. There are, in fact, two verses in which “be _____ as you father in heaven is ___________” is invoked:

There’s Luke 6:36, “Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
And then, there’s Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Was this the basis of Don’s exegesis – seeing or claiming perhaps that the Lukan passage might have had some kind of precedence over and meaning for interpreting the Matthean? Perhaps. Who knows?

Problem was (and is) that I am not going to roll two distinct but similar Biblical texts into one – embracing the “safer” option for my heart and soul. For some reason(s), Tradition preserved two forms of the saying. Integrity seemed to call for me to do the same. We must be both “perfect” and “merciful” as God in Heaven is.

Still, Don’s (and Lucy’s) translation would not let me go.

Or, maybe, I could not let it go.

Helpful amidst my searchings and readings was the reminder that “perfect” in the Greek is “telios.” I remembered that it is was one of the last words Jesus spoke from the cross when he said, “It is finished [telios].” Yes, it can be translated “perfect.” But, it can equally be translated “finished” or “mature” or “complete.”

When Jesus said “it is telios” from the cross, he was not saying that “it was perfect” as much as he was saying that “it” [i.e., his life and its mission] was fulfilled and complete.

Could this, then, be the basis of our associating “perfection” with “patience”? “Be ye complete and full [in your purpose and your being] as your God in Heaven is [complete and full].” Given the fact that it is a journey with no instant arrival — that it takes time but is nonetheless our destination: does this not demand and invoke the need for patience? Patience from and in each of us – and, indeed, patience from the Divine.

It may not be the best resolution to the quest and question Lucy sent me on. (I’d still like to find its source in Don Senior.)

In the meantime, though, it breathes some peace and joy.

And, somewhere in the ongoing chewing, I find myself recalling the words of St Francis de Sales–believing it might have some value in this discussion: “Be who you are and be that well. So that you may bring honor to the Master Craftsman whose handiwork you are.”

Maybe we could meld the Scriptures and de Sales —
without too much violation of either of them…

“Be ye patient in your becoming
completely and fully who you are–
even as your Master Craftsmen
is patient and forbearing in the work
of bringing you to completion and fullness.”

Fishers of Phishers

January 31, 2023January 31, 2023Leave a comment

Some time ago, I came across this TED Talk by writer and comedian James Veitch — narrating a hilarious, weeks-long exchange with a spammer who offered to cut him in on a hot deal.

Inspired by or, perhaps, baited by memories of that video, I found myself wanting to play with a phisher the other day.

Admittedly, this brings us to one major gulf in my relationship with Kathy. She’s over there thinking (even, now, with or about this post), “Jim, why would you go there?!?!?”

Meanwhile, I am over here – chuckling and thinking, “isn’t that fun and funny?!

It all began, as they say, simply enough. A text message from friend and now District Superintendent, Rev. Steve Woody (with accurate address given)...

Yes, a bit formal. And, yes, it wasn’t his phone number. But, then, I thought maybe he had his Administrative Assistance write on his behalf. (That we had had breakfast the day prior had me thinking that perhaps something was in the air from the previous day’s visit.) And so, I replied…

Things took an immediate turn south with his reply. The gig was up…

Somewhere in here, Veitch’s TED Talk came to mind – even if in a very subconscious way – so that I found myself replying, within a minute or so…

I wondered about Steve’s humanness as his next words were a bit out of touch with this reply – raising suspicions of a bot (an automated computer program that operates as an agent for a user or other program or to simulate a human activity)…

Nonetheless, I continued the dialogue for awhile…

A certain tension asserted itself somewhere in here. No, it wasn’t any kind of embarrassment or guilt about wasting time with “Steve.” No, qualms that my pleasure was at someone else’s expense. In fact, there was a sense of pride – that I was distracting “Steve” from phishing others. And so, spurred on somewhat by memories of the TED Talk, I continued – with a certain joy and excitement in the pursuit. Still, I wanted and needed to get on with other things. (I guess coming up with Ted Talk material takes a lot more patience than I have.)

Yes, it was time to move on… but, not without one last attempt to invite “Steve” into the Light…

And, then, in the hopes that he was still there – and alive (or in a place to really [humanly] absorb and perhaps share my closing lines with others)…

Not wanting to totally give up the hunting, I waited awhile and sent one last message….

No response.

Of course, the question might arise: “And so what, Jim? Why take the time to share this?”

Perhaps for the invitation to laugh – at least, at James Veitch’s Ted Talk. (To be sure, Kathy and I did raise the question of whether Jesus would have laughed at the TED Talk — having fun at someone else’s expense. Though she did playfully add, “But, then, he never had to deal with folks spamming and scamming on his emails and texts.” [Maybe there’s hope for her yet?!?])
There’s certainly the public service announcement embedded in this message: of our need to be careful as we are engaging with others through our social media and electronics… Everything is not as it seems.
Certainly, there’s the theological message (related to the above): namely, as David Wilcox puts it in his song Show the Way, “there is evil cast among us” – or, at least, there’s something diabolical woven into our existence that seeks to “kill and steal and destroy” (John 10:10)
Yes, there’s the invitation to pray for the “Steves” of the world… My real friend, Steve Woody, yes. But, more, for those who steal identities and seek self-gain. (And here, I can see the potential for another post, down the line – about the ways that I, myself, have been about “identity” scams… in the interest of my own self-interest and gain.)
Finally, it’s certainly not lost to me:
the ways this kind of post may point to real ways
that I am in need of prayer:
for recovery from a quirky sense of what’s fun and funny
and, probably, for not paying more attention
to the ways that God and Spirit speak through Kathy…

Spiritual Formation Implies “Waking Up”

January 25, 2023January 25, 2023Leave a comment

At this juncture between Martin Luther King’s birthday (January 16) and International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27) — and the open-mindedness and sensitivity and justice they mutually engender, I find myself drawn to the notion of “waking up” and affirming its place in vital Christianity and spirituality.

To be sure, it is a concept that is not as popular or accepted or welcome as one might think or hope. The “Right” has weaponized the word “Woke,” a headline in the Guardian declares. Originally, the article points out, woke meant “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).” That’s the definition you will find in the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

The article continues…

Today we are more likely to see it being used as a stick with which to beat people who aspire to such values, often wielded by those who don’t recognise how un-woke they are, or are proud of the fact… Criticising ‘woke culture’ has become a way of claiming victim status for yourself rather than acknowledging that more deserving others hold that status.”¹

At the expense, then, of provoking some angst and probably concern among some of my more conservative friends and family, I nonetheless feel the need to affirm the place of waking up in our spiritual formation. In tandem with the kindred concept which is “deconstruction,” becoming “woke” appears to be a most logical and indispensable part of our being converted from the narrow and short-sighted perspectives of this lesser world we currently inhabit to the higher purposes, perspective, and presence of God.

Here, the words of Jesuit priest, Anthony de Mello (from his book, Awareness), come to mind – defining, in many ways, the my position in life and my posture in ministry:

Spirituality means waking up. Most people, even though they don’t know it, are asleep. They’re born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep, they die in their sleep without ever waking up…

Waking up is unpleasant, you know. You are nice and comfortable in bed. It is irritating to be woken up. That’s the reason the wise guru will not attempt to wake people up. I hope I’m going to be wise here and make no attempt whatsoever to wake you up if you are asleep. It is really none of my business, even though I say to you at times, “Wake up!” My business is to do my thing, to dance my dance.²

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