No, it’s not for a degree. Although I hope to continue my education beginning in January.
Instead, I am going to the Envision ‘08 conference on Christian Engagement in the Public Square.
One of the important parts of being a minister is taking regular time for your own spiritual enrichment and encouragement. When you are the one doing the preaching and teaching it is not often that you are the one being taught.
This conference has a stellar lineup of speakers including Claiborne, Volf, Wallis, McLaren and Hendricks. I plan on attending the learning track on Religious Pluralism and Christian Faith led by Miroslav Volf. Needless to say, I am pretty excited.
Not only do I get some hands-on insight into ministry in the emerging culture I get to visit with some good friends. JTB, Citizen Mom and even a trip to CCfB. Good times.
I also have a 2 hour layover in Minneapolis. Too bad I don’t have time to see the city. I’ve never been there.
My beloved turns 32 today. I’m not really sure that she is all that excited about her birthday any more but here it is. It doesn’t help that we are suffering birthday fatigue at this point with all three of our girls having their birthdays within three weeks of each other. Her birthday is the 4th one in a span of 34 days.
Tracy is the bedrock of our family. Her love for the girls and for me is constant and comforting. And her longsuffering as my wife can never be diminished.
Yes, I am still blogging. So much has been going on lately that it’s hard to give a succinct account of everything.
It is that time of year that, for us, is chock full of birthdays, end of school events, concerts, doctor’s appointments and the like.
Our dear Cassie has had two recent trips to the doctor lately. 2 weeks ago, she had tubes put in her ears. The difference that has made in her hearing has been remarkable. I no longer have to repeat her name over and over reducing our mutual frustration.
On Monday, I took her to Dallas for her regular arthritis checkup. We left at 7 in the morning for a 1:00 appointment and were back home by 8:30. It was a long day but we came back with some great news.
Cassie has regained full range of motion in her knee and there is currently no inflammation whatsoever. There is still some swelling on one toe but that can remain long after the inflammation is gone.
That news is as good as we could have hoped.
They consider remission to take place when she is able to be completely drug free. We did get the go ahead to wean her off of her pain medication (Naproxyn) over the next couple of weeks. We will still continue to give her the weekly injection of Methotrexate until we return at the end of August. The only reason we didn’t scale down on that was because she was off of it for two weeks leading up to her tubes surgery and she complained some about her hip.
So, they don’t consider her to be in complete remission but it’s pretty danged close.
I realized earlier today that it was a year ago this week that I posted what would turn out to be my most controversial post ever on this blog. It was a post that was trying to deal with my own depression and frustrations. I internalize a lot and was using this space as my ventilation system. The post resonated with several fellow minister types as it was vulnerable and transparent. Ministry can be frustrating, lonely and difficult at times.
I didn’t know it at the time but it would kick-start the process that would bring my tenure in Waco to an end. I would announce my resignation within two months of that post primarily because of this excerpt:
I want to scream at all that I feel is wrong in this world and I want to comfort those who have been wronged.
I want to yell at injustice while I often remain silent.
I want to run from ministry and do something else and I want to invest myself further in ministry.
I want friends and I want to wall myself off to the world.
I want to feel that this church has some life in it while feeling it’s so dead.
I want to cuss and I want to praise.
I wrestle with doubt and I am overcome by belief.
I want to change everything about the way we do church and I want to remain comfortable.
I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders and insurpassable joy.
I want to smile and laugh and I want to weep.
I want to tear everything down so I can build something new.
I want to blow tradition apart while clinging to my own heritage and rituals.
I want to be more like Christ while remaining so amazingly human.
I’ve learned a lot since that post and experienced some ministerial lows that I didn’t anticipate. During that time our daughter would be diagnosed with a potentially crippling illness. It seemed that grace was absent.
I was encouraged to take a sabbatical from ministry altogether. I did not do that, but there are times when I still feel the rawness of those wounds that I think it might have been a good idea. I am still very gun-shy, overly sensitive and given to short bouts of depression. And all in all, I still feel a lot of those things.
But, much has changed as well. I am in an environment where transparency, brokenness and honesty is treasured and valued. I feel supported in spite of my deficiencies and truly a part of a family.
Looking back on that time a year ago there was a lot of hurt and pain. But, it brought me here. And for that I am thankful. God bless this new church family. My home.
Monday afternoon I loaded up the Hyundai and set out for Kansas City. Missouri, not Kansas. Apparently, that is an important distinction.
I wrestled with whether or not it was truly worth it to drive 275 miles to go to a concert by myself. (I would love to have a friend nearby who shared my music/film tastes). If you have ever traveled I-35 through Kansas then you know how dreadfully boring it is.
I arrived early, found the Uptown Theater and then killed some time before the show.
Seats were general admission so I arrived an hour before start of show to find the line backed up for three blocks. However, since I was the loser who was by himself it wasn’t hard to score a decent seat.
The Uptown is a great venue for concerts. Great acoustics and good seats throughout. The place, seating about 2500, was sold out. We were treated by another Irish act, Damien Dempsey, for a 38 minute opening set. He did a solid set and I was delighted to find that his work is available on eMusic. It’s quality Irish Folk and worthy of a listen:
The Swell Season finally hit the stage just after 9. Glen Hansard walked out alone, picked up his guitar and did a completely unplugged version of “Say It To Me Now.” Tremendous stage presence captivated the audience as he sung without benefit of even a microphone. Here is a brief clip that someone added on YouTube from the show that I was at:
After that he welcomed the band including the always stunning Marketa Irglova. She came out and sang “All The Way Down” which was surprising to me since Glen sang it in the movie and on the album but her version was so vulnerable that it was captivating.
From there they proceeded to perform for just over 2+ hours bringing all the heart and chemistry from the movie and their debut album. It was obvious that the two of them are romantically involved as the passion and emotion of the music was palpable in each song that they sang.
They did “Falling Slowly” about 45 minutes in:
Marketa Irglova unveiled a new tune that was absolutely stunning giving an indication that this could be a timeless musical union.
Here is the setlist from a show that was worth every bit of the expense and travel to get there. If you have the opportunity to see them, and they just announced more tour dates through the Fall, by all means get tickets now.
Setlist: Say It To Me Now; All the Way Down; Lies; This Low; Drown Out; When Your Mind’s Made Up; (new song, Marketa Irglová); Falling Slowly; Leave; What Happens When the Heart Just Stops; Bad Bone; Cactus; Your Face; Once; If You Want Me; Blue Shoes (fiddle instrumental); Fitzcarraldo; Star Star; Red Chord/Here Comes the Night.
Shayla,
Three years ago today, you came into our lives completing our family. And that is what you do in so many ways: bring completeness.
The addition you have been to our family has filled our hearts to the point of overflowing. We are so happy and blessed that you have come along to make us whole.
And yet, you make us nervous. Every once in a while we see a glimpse of the maniacal in your grin. We cringe when we see you step off without a net and bristle when people say that you will be our handful. It’s obvious that you have a spirit that will be impossible to contain.
And so we climb in, buckle up and hold on for the ride that you are taking us on.
No matter where you take us in this life, know this one thing: you are loved beyond compare. I have no greater honor to be your daddy and so, on this day I say “thank God for my beautiful and incomparable Shayla.”
Happy Birthday, birthday girl.
I love you,
Daddy
Jesus said “you are the salt of the earth.” (Matthew 5:13)
In the ancient world salt was a valuable commodity. Fortunes were made on this precious substance. It was integral in bartering for the finer things in life.
If you had access to salt then you were somebody.
So much of Matthew has to do with the concepts of honor and shame.
The listing of the beatitudes can be rightly read as “honor is given to the poor, the meek, the peacemakers, etc.” These are precisely the people who were shamed and marginalized in the first century Roman world. Jesus had a habit of inverting the social order of the day.
When Jesus follows the beatitudes up with “you are the salt of the earth” I must imagine that the same concept of honor and shame applies. The forgotten did not have ready access to an abundance of salt. Salt was often used as an equivalence for money.
And so the idea that His followers were the salt of the earth had implications beyond just seasoning, preservation and tasting good. It also embodied bringing good to those the empire had forgotten. It was being the active and ever-present Shalom in and among the marginalized. And the emphatic “the earth” implies that, somehow, that could be enough. If the followers of Jesus truly were in the providing business, if they brought the economic well-being and security to the least of these then the world could be changed.
What would the equivalent be for us today?
You are the gas of the earth?
You are the rice of the earth?
The same concept applies. Hording, worrying only about our economic well-being in times of (potential) crisis misses the call of the Christ: to bring honor to the shamed, hope to the hopeless and light in a darkened world.
