March 28, 2007
If washing feet is wrong then I don't wanna be right!
Here's the article about a group of students that were suspended from college because they chose to wash the feet of their new members.
Our words
In my time of meditation and devotion this morning, I had something stand out. One line, from Psalm 51:15 "Open my lips, O Lord..."
I am a person who is all about the words we use. The language we choose to use is important to me and I often find that I lack patience with people who just spurt off without really thinking about what they are saying. I usually contemplate my words before speaking and I find that I am able to really convey what my mind and heart is wanting to speak. This came especially helpful when I was serving as a pastor and people needed me to speak words of comfort and faith to their circumstances (which I didn't always do so well).
What about those times when words are hard to find? Be it words of love, sympathy, encouragement or exaltation. Believe me, when I say that all of us have had moments just like that. I often find that I cannot find the energy or motivation to search for those words. So this one line of scripture spoke to my lack of evoking God's help to communicate certain experiences. I know that silence (and presence) is usually the best response but maybe we can be more willing to seek God's help in our daily communication... Open our lips... and maybe what we choose to say will become the breath and presence of God.
I am a person who is all about the words we use. The language we choose to use is important to me and I often find that I lack patience with people who just spurt off without really thinking about what they are saying. I usually contemplate my words before speaking and I find that I am able to really convey what my mind and heart is wanting to speak. This came especially helpful when I was serving as a pastor and people needed me to speak words of comfort and faith to their circumstances (which I didn't always do so well).
What about those times when words are hard to find? Be it words of love, sympathy, encouragement or exaltation. Believe me, when I say that all of us have had moments just like that. I often find that I cannot find the energy or motivation to search for those words. So this one line of scripture spoke to my lack of evoking God's help to communicate certain experiences. I know that silence (and presence) is usually the best response but maybe we can be more willing to seek God's help in our daily communication... Open our lips... and maybe what we choose to say will become the breath and presence of God.
March 21, 2007
APA update
A Place Apart has updated their website. It now has multiple links that you can access everything from APA's purpose to who's who at APA to a resource center in which you can get training manuals, videos, breviaries and the upcoming CD that is due out this Spring. Whew! This could get dangerous boys and girls... check it out, you just might find yourself saying YES to A Place Apart.
March 20, 2007
Concrete Lives, Asphalt Journeys
We were at the Co-op for a night of Celtic music last Saturday and our conversation turned to our lack of encountering the natural world. My wife said the following:
I spend the majority if not all of my work days on concrete or asphalt. From the time I get up, when I walk on the sidewalk to my car, to being at work all day and coming home to our apartment. I hardly ever get the chance to actually walk on grass!That made quite an impression on me. For how many of us does that statement become true. Reflect back on your typical day. How much of it are you encountering the natural world? It could be as simple as taking your shoes off and walking on the grass. Make a promise to yourself that this Spring you will make and effort to walk on the grass barefoot a little more if nothing else.