This is from Regina Spektor's new album Far. The lyrics to this song are powerful and have should give many of us in the Church pause for reflection. Enjoy!
Friday, August 7, 2009
God at work...
In the midst of crazy conservatives and absent minded liberals there are some great things going on. If your burnt out, the following links are organizations and people participating with God in Her/His work in this beautiful world. When we use our gifts wisely we can truly achieve the common good. Enjoy!
http://www.brianmclaren.net/
http://www.faithinpubliclife.org/
http://www.thecommonroot.org/
http://www.amahoro-africa.org/
http://www.brianmclaren.net/
http://www.faithinpubliclife.org/
http://www.thecommonroot.org/
http://www.amahoro-africa.org/
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Rich Mullin's Advice on How to be Happy.
1.Forget about finding happiness. Happiness is not worthy of your search.
2.Bake a cake - a really rich cake, preferably from scratch (and especially if you are an inexperienced baker or a tested, tried and notoriously awful cook). The value is in the baking more than in the cake.
3.Call up some enemy of yours and invite that enemy to eat the cake with you. If the cake is good you may lose an enemy and gain a friend. If the cake is bad, at least vengence is sweet.
4.If you can't think of a single enemy, then call up a friend. Invite your friend over to eat the cake with you. If the cake is good the favor may be returned. If the cake is awful your friend may go buy one from a bakery for you. If you are without enemies or friends, take your cake to an old folks' home. Eat it with them! If the cake is good you will no longer be without friends. If the cake is terrible you will no longer be without enemies.Finding a friend, making an enemy - now those are things worth pursuing. Happiness may come tagged on - but even if it doesn't, at least you will have done something and esablished some relationships.
5.Memorize Isaiah 40 or the first Psalm or Psalm 91. Read the closing chapters of the Book of job. Meditate on the Beatitudes (Mathew 5). Write out one of the Prison Epistles (Galations, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians) and send them to some other unhappy person.All of this may not make you happy but it will tell you how to be holy. Once you tie that knot you may find yourself in a position to be made happy.
6.Work hard. Clean something. Find new and more space-efficient ways of holding your clothes. Rake someone else's yard for them. If you are unhappy maybe you can help someone else be less so.
7.Go back to the 3rd chapter of Lamentations and then repeat after me:
"It is good to wait quietly,
for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man to bear
the yoke while he is young.
Let him sit alone in silence
for the Lord has laid it on him."
8.Reread the 23rd Psalm and remember that if the Lord is your shepherd, then you are in a lush pasture. You are by a still stream. If it seems otherwise to you, it may be because you would rather be happy than be God's. If this is so, then you have more reason to be happy than anyone. God has chosen you - ungrateful, decadent you - and being His is a joy and a happiness that goes beyond anything else you may seek, and in your folly settle for. God will (in His mercy)
make you discontent with anything less than Him.So we only have one step left...
9.
Rejoice.
2.Bake a cake - a really rich cake, preferably from scratch (and especially if you are an inexperienced baker or a tested, tried and notoriously awful cook). The value is in the baking more than in the cake.
3.Call up some enemy of yours and invite that enemy to eat the cake with you. If the cake is good you may lose an enemy and gain a friend. If the cake is bad, at least vengence is sweet.
4.If you can't think of a single enemy, then call up a friend. Invite your friend over to eat the cake with you. If the cake is good the favor may be returned. If the cake is awful your friend may go buy one from a bakery for you. If you are without enemies or friends, take your cake to an old folks' home. Eat it with them! If the cake is good you will no longer be without friends. If the cake is terrible you will no longer be without enemies.Finding a friend, making an enemy - now those are things worth pursuing. Happiness may come tagged on - but even if it doesn't, at least you will have done something and esablished some relationships.
5.Memorize Isaiah 40 or the first Psalm or Psalm 91. Read the closing chapters of the Book of job. Meditate on the Beatitudes (Mathew 5). Write out one of the Prison Epistles (Galations, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians) and send them to some other unhappy person.All of this may not make you happy but it will tell you how to be holy. Once you tie that knot you may find yourself in a position to be made happy.
6.Work hard. Clean something. Find new and more space-efficient ways of holding your clothes. Rake someone else's yard for them. If you are unhappy maybe you can help someone else be less so.
7.Go back to the 3rd chapter of Lamentations and then repeat after me:
"It is good to wait quietly,
for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man to bear
the yoke while he is young.
Let him sit alone in silence
for the Lord has laid it on him."
8.Reread the 23rd Psalm and remember that if the Lord is your shepherd, then you are in a lush pasture. You are by a still stream. If it seems otherwise to you, it may be because you would rather be happy than be God's. If this is so, then you have more reason to be happy than anyone. God has chosen you - ungrateful, decadent you - and being His is a joy and a happiness that goes beyond anything else you may seek, and in your folly settle for. God will (in His mercy)
make you discontent with anything less than Him.So we only have one step left...
9.
Rejoice.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
In Response to John 14:6...
"There is a lot that could be said about this verse. The first thing I think of is a quote from St. Catherine of Siena: "All the way to heaven is heaven, because he said I am the way."’ Catherine talks about Christ as the bridge between heaven and earth, divinity and humanity. The bridge between heaven and earth is already heaven, because it is Christ.
I love this quote because it breaks down the dichotomy between means and ends. The Christian life is not a means to heaven. War is not a means to peace, freedom is not a prerequisite for following Christ. The Christian life is about practicing heaven now, on earth, even if it gets you killed. It’s not about making our way to Christ in some far-off eschaton; Christ is the way."
I love this quote because it breaks down the dichotomy between means and ends. The Christian life is not a means to heaven. War is not a means to peace, freedom is not a prerequisite for following Christ. The Christian life is about practicing heaven now, on earth, even if it gets you killed. It’s not about making our way to Christ in some far-off eschaton; Christ is the way."
Doing Justice.
Henri de Lubac says, "The Eucharist makes the church," and the church is more than just a Moose Lodge for Christians. The church is a social space in its own right, an enactment of the politics of Jesus. This does not mean that the church should become a political party or interject party politics into the liturgy. It means the church should help create -- in collaboration with non-Christians too -- spaces of peace, charity and just economic exchange.
-William Cavanaugh
William Cavanaugh is a great voice speaking about the Churches role in the world. Too often, we as Christians have been an extension of the state instead of a prophetic voice speaking against its promotion of violence. The politics of Jesus were not and are not of any kingdom here on earth. We are to be a community that disciplines and is disciplined. The faithful must find ways to be a city on a hill instead of allowing the nation to be it for us.
Read the whole interview here:
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Naomi Shihab Nye
Naomi Shihab Nye is from Palestine and currently lives in San Antonio Texas. If you have never heard of or read this poet please give her a chance. Her poems are full of beauty and truth.
San Antonio
by Naomi Shihab Nye
Tonight I lingered over your name,
the delicate assembly of vowels
a voice inside my head.
You were sleeping when I arrived.
I stood by your bed
and watched the sheets rise gently.
I knew what slant of light
would make you turn over.
It was then I felt
the highways slide out of my hands.
I remembered the old men
in the west side cafe,
dealing dominoes like magical charms.
It was then I knew,
like a woman looking backward,
I could not leave you,
or find anyone I loved more.
San Antonio
by Naomi Shihab Nye
Tonight I lingered over your name,
the delicate assembly of vowels
a voice inside my head.
You were sleeping when I arrived.
I stood by your bed
and watched the sheets rise gently.
I knew what slant of light
would make you turn over.
It was then I felt
the highways slide out of my hands.
I remembered the old men
in the west side cafe,
dealing dominoes like magical charms.
It was then I knew,
like a woman looking backward,
I could not leave you,
or find anyone I loved more.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Holy Week
This is the daily meditation from Richard Rohr:
Question of the day: How have you experienced true freedom?
"The greatest among you must behave as if you were the youngest, the leader as if he were the one who serves" (Luke 22:26). That statement is probably the simplest and most powerful one about the Christian definition of authority to be found in all four gospels.
"For who is the greater, the one at table or the one who serves?" The world would say immediately, "The one at table." He says, "Surely, yet, here I am among you as one who serves" (Luke 22:27). Jesus says, in effect, "I'm telling you that the world's way will not work. The essence of true freedom is the freedom to serve other people—to wait upon them."
Question of the day: How have you experienced true freedom?
"The greatest among you must behave as if you were the youngest, the leader as if he were the one who serves" (Luke 22:26). That statement is probably the simplest and most powerful one about the Christian definition of authority to be found in all four gospels.
"For who is the greater, the one at table or the one who serves?" The world would say immediately, "The one at table." He says, "Surely, yet, here I am among you as one who serves" (Luke 22:27). Jesus says, in effect, "I'm telling you that the world's way will not work. The essence of true freedom is the freedom to serve other people—to wait upon them."
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