intersections

Christianity as a way of life

I've come to the end of a couple of books recently and I'm facing that beautiful dilemma of what to read next. I have some "required" reading to prepare for an upcoming series on the Christian creeds, but I'm in the mood to put that off for one or two more books in the first part of August.

So, I've picked up Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices, by Brian McLaren. This is the first in a series by Thomas Nelson called The Ancient Practices Series. The second title is now available as well, which I am very excited about. It's called, In Constant Prayer and is focused on the power and value of "fixed hours of prayer" which is something I have been attempting to practice for about 5 years now.

This statement from the chapter 1, called "Searching for an Everyday Sacredness" grabbed my attention in light of the preparation we're doing for upcoming worship series called "CREDO."

Without a coherent and compelling way of life, formed in community and expressed in mission, some of us begin losing interest in the system of belief, or we begin holding it grimly, even meanly, driving more and more people away from our faith rather than attracting them toward it (3-4).

I know this is true in my personal experience as well as the experience of so many people I meet in my daily work who have given up on religion and church. I find that part of what brings people back to an interest in spiritual community (rather than being a spiritual loner) is the sense that a community is expressing their faith as a way of life.

What we need, says Mirosalv Volf, is a theology for a way of life--a theology that inform, support and compel us to live in the way of Jesus. Without that vital link, the source of energy and joy is cut off.

After the earthquake

UPDATE: Here's the definitive emergency preparedness document from the LA Fire Dept. You should download and read it carefully. Then get prepared. You never know.

At 11:42 AM today, an earthquake hit the Los Angeles region. I'm sure anyone reading this knows that by now. My staff and I were all at the church and we were actually gathering a small group to walk to the Metro Red Line to head to City Hall for a committee meeting regarding affordable housing. The small quake (officially 5.4) rattled a few books and other things off my shelves, which aren't anchored down.

I was sitting at my desk when the rumbling started and I thought to myself, "Hmmm, an earthquake." But I kept working for about 2 seconds until there was a big punch. I can't imagine how quick I jumped out of my chair and ran for the door. Our staff was tripping over each other on the way out.

For a few seconds we wondered whether we should ride the Metro ("maybe there will be aftershocks") but I remembered hearing that the Metro tunnels are some of the safest places in Los Angeles during an earthquake.

For a while now we've been hearing that Los Angeles is due for a "big one." Today wasn't it. Many say we dodged a bullet. As a kid growing up in Southern California I've endured many an earthquake. I was on the third floor of Granger Hall at Pacific Union College for the 1989 earthquake that rocked San Francisco and safely in the Sacramento area for the Northridge earthquake of 1994. This is the first one since I moved back three years ago. It has made me realize that I'm really being stupid by not being more prepared. So I'm pledging to take this summer and make sure my family and I are prepared. This is a wake up call.

URGENT - Tobacco Vote Tomorrow

James Standish, director of the North American Division's religious liberty office writes:

Tomorrow we have a vote on our tobacco bill in the House. It is critical we win the vote, and not just win, but get a veto proof majority for obvious reasons. Also, if we get that, it puts a lot of pressure on the Senate to schedule a vote before this Congress ends.

If we fail to win, it may be years before we get back to this point (I’ve been working this about 5 years, and this is our first vote). Of course, Republicans have always held it up, but there is some pressure from southern Democrats not to have a vote as well due to the impact it may have on marginal seats and picking up new seats. It has taken real guts to schedule a vote on this.

At NARLA we’re half way through calling every single undecided office – almost 100.

You can send emails in support of the FDA regulation of tobacco in about 2 minutes.

TAKE ACTION HERE

So far we have a measly 700 or so letters sent in yesterday. I hope we can get to 5,000 or so before the vote tomorrow.

This is our chance on this huge issue. The World Health Organization estimates that a BILLION people will die premature painful deaths this century from tobacco related illnesses. We can do something positive to stop that in the heart of the problem – sadly – right here in the U.S.

 

Amazingly beautiful photo blog

Blogs exists, mostly, in the domain of words. Even when we watch "vlogs" we are inevitably watching someone, well...talk. I find that my life is overwhelmed with words. I crave silence. But I also crave beauty. So, in the spirit of blogging beauty, allow me to refer to a blog that is just crammed with beautiful photography. It's The Boston Globe's, The Big Picture. The most recent post contains 16 amazing photographs of Jupiter.

(click to enlarge)

And, in honor of the Tour de France ending today in Paris, check out the amazing photos of the greatest sporting event in the world. (Congrats to Carlos Sastre, who won this year. I was really pulling for Cadel Evans - sorry to my Aussie mates. And to represent the US of A, I really like Christian Vande Velde, on a lot of levels, but I digress...).

(click to enlarge)

So, add The Big Picture to your feed reader and enjoy a little visual beauty in the midst of all these words.

(Thanks to Scott Arany for pointing me to this blog)

Two days at a Benedictine Abbey

I spent two days this week at the Benedictine monastery, St. Andrews Abbey, in Valyermo, California. I was so hungry for solitude and silence. So, I went out into the desert to be alone, to be silent and to listen. For nearly 1,500 years, monks have lived by the Rule of St. Benedict. For over 50 years monks have been adhering to this way of life on the edge of the Mojave Desert.

Five times a day the monastery bell (right) called us to prayer. Vigils at 6 AM. Lauds at 7:30. Mass at noon. Vespers at 6 PM and Compline at 8:30 PM. Between these times of prayer are three freshly cooked meals eaten in community. This Abbey practices a Great Silence from 8:30 PM until 8:30 AM. No one speaks, except in prayer and as absolutely necessary, for those 12 hours.

When I wasn't praying with the monks and eating, I was reading, thinking, writing in my journal, walking around the beautiful high desert surroundings and taking pictures.

You can see  a number of the pictures I took here.

If you've never spent any time at a monastery, I highly recommend it. In particular, I recommend St. Andrews Abbey. The Benedictines are by far the most welcoming I have encountered. St. Benedict, in his rule, explicit instructs that "All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ" (RB 53:1).

So much is running through my head right now. How I will again commit myself to set times of prayer, how my family needs a 'rule' to live by. In what sense my congregation can be a people ordered by a rule of life and in particular how what we traditionally think of as "elders" could be so helped by taking vows not unlike St. Benedict's Rule.

In closing, if you're interesting in Benedictine spirituality, I highly recommend the rule itself, of course. But I also highly recommend Joan Chittister, OSB, Wisdom Distilled from the Daily. This is the book I spent most of my time reading while in my retreat.

Talking about Human Trafficking

I've been invited by a couple of the faculty at the School of Religion at Loma Linda University to participate in a conversation being taped today for Loma Linda Broadcasting Network on the topic of Human Trafficking. Dr. Julius Nam is the co-host of this regular program called "Intersections" (what a nice name for the program) and Dr. Siroj Sorajjakool is an expert on this topic especially as it relates to his native Thailand.

Our congregation has been getting our feet wet by cultivating awareness about Human Trafficking in our community of Hollywood and around Los Angeles, as well as planning a study tour to Thailand in the near future. But I'm certainly no expert. I really have no idea what to expect today, but we'll just see what happens I guess. I'll let you all know when it will be aired and/or available online so you can see for yourselves.

The Cross and the Flag

As a pastor, the 4th of July is my least favorite American holiday. It isn't that I'm anti-American. I love being American. But it's so easy to uncritically blend faith and nationalism. The the photo above, taken by my friend, Scott Arany while on vacation in Virginia, says it all. This kind of display of the cross and the flag isn't that unusual in America. But every time I see this kind of, what I would call, syncretism - it gives me the chills.

I don't think it's too much to call it idolatry. At best this kind of image is just confusing and misleading. Thankfully, for the past three years I have been able to totally avoid the mention of the 4th of July in worship. In our church, the story of God takes presidence over the story of America.

Thanks, Scott, for sending this to me and for taking such a beautiful - even haunting - photograph.

My two favorite things about the 4th of July weekend...

...are British and French. I'm sure that will get me in trouble with some people. But it's true. The best things about the 4th of July weekend are the Wimbledon Finals and the start of the Tour de France.

Wimbledon features two classic finals match ups. The women's finals have the two Williams sisters facing off (with the obligatory drama that always surrounds that). On the men's side Rafael Nadal will face Roger Federer in what has become an annual event. I watched little of the Williamses semi-final matches yeterday and most of the Nadal/Rainer Schuettler semi-final this morning. Nadal v Schuettler was almost too painful to watch. Can it really be this easy? I am very eager to watch both finals matches.

The Tour de France starts tomorrow and I have never seen such little coverage of this event in a decade. That's how long it's been since Lance Armstrong began his 7-in-a-row win streak at the Tour. Due to a ridiculous amount of doping scandals, this year's Tour seems a little ho-hum. Most of the big names I've followed for 10 years are either retired our out for doping violations. I'm still smarting from the Floyd Landis debacle in 2006. Just this week Floyd lost his last appeal and is officially stripped of his 2006 victory. But I'll be watching anyway. Someone will emerge as the new king of the greatest sporting event in the world!

Have a safe and happy holiday, everyone!

Help bring an end to torture

Click images to enlarge

The issue of government-sponsored torture of suspected terrorists and so-called enemy combatants is one of the great stains on American democracy in the past 5 years. The irony of attempting to spread democracy around the world while undermining it at home has not been lost on journalists and the American people in general.

Several weeks ago my congregation's board voted to endorse the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and to participate in their Banners Across America Campaign in which churches across the country are posting banners like ours on the exterior of their buildings.

I remarked this week to my congregation, as we held up the banner in worship for everyone to see, that it seems ridiculous that we would even need to make a statement as self-evident as "Torture is a Moral Issue," but apparently we do.

If you click here you will see that the Adventist Peace Fellowship is a member organization of the NRCAT and Monte Sahlin is our representative there.

I hope you will consider visiting their site and taking some action on this issue today. You could start here by endorsing a "declaration of principles for an executive order banning torture."