Tuesday, November 30, 2004

on "Claiming Childhood"

Henri Nouwen from The Return of the Prodigal Son:

"Becoming a child is living toward a second innocence: not the innocence of the newborn infant, but the innocence that is reached through conscious choices."

"The Beattitudes offer me the simplest route for the journey home, back to the house of my father... the joys of the second childhood: comfort, mercy, and an ever clearer vision of God."

in waking life:

Participation for me was a greater sense of free than just the same old song and dance, it was a imaginative lance with which I cut my own way and made head way back to the womb of child’s play.

Sunday, November 28, 2004

A gamut of 20-somethings gather outside that familiar gathering place.
They small talk and group naturally, not exclusively.
The band within practices an accustomed acoustic worship set.
Doors open. People fill a room.
From a microphone in the front,
“Use the paper and pencils to make a story in a group.”
Those around me form and we discuss.
The conversation quickly heads to what we’ve been up to.
Few find interest in the story.
Now a duo’d conversation, he tells of emergents elsewhere.
Others leave to the worship room.
If the sun is out, Sally will play.
When the bee who’s come to stay…
The story gets erased, but not the pictures.
A couple of coupling others flower the walls, or else it’s just me.
I sit in an empty room.
When Sally comes to play
The bee likes to fly…
The sun brightens from the center of the page.
The bee flutters around with dashes of past trajectory.
The hill provides space.
The colors childish. The story simple. Mine.
Music warms the background noise.
Just me and a picture.
Peace.

Seems comfortable enough. The people are nice, inviting.
What’s going on here? I’ve done this before, it’s just different people in a different place.
This guy understands, he’s got his stuff going on.
Let’s make a story.
What kind of story is this? How did I come up with this?
This isn’t that good.
Wait, where’d it go?
I like telling this story.
No one else wants to stay to tell a story?
The sun smiles at me.
Am I the bee?
Am I Sally?
Am I both?
Does it really matter?
Should I be over there with all the other people, singing?
Here in the floor is a good place to be.

Thursday, November 18, 2004

an elf and some kids

Will Ferrell deserves an Oscar, an MTV Movie Award, or at least some kind of nomination. His work as Buddy the Elf truly brings the spirit of Christmas alive. The exuberance in his face just talking about the North Pole; his elation and enjoyment of snowflakes, Christmas trees and candy; and not to mention his genuine desire for all to know the joys of true Christmas spirit. These make Buddy the Elf an example to us all, and Elf an instant holiday classic.

But there was something more in Buddy’s face. Despite his exclusion from the North Pole and his dad’s cold shoulder, he never ceased to, as his younger brother says, “care about everyone.” I’ve been contemplating the simple question that my brother posed to me a couple of nights ago. One I’ve thought on before, but never really considered how it affected my life directly…

What does it mean to have faith like a child?

Jesus speaks of children in direct association with inheriting God’s kingdom. I would like to be a part of that, so how do I seek to understand my inner child?

For now, my working attempt to define child-like faith is “a wholly uncorrupted desire for God the Father.” And it is through this lifestyle that individuals become less that God may be made greater among them. Here’s a simple breakdown:

Wholly: When a child plays, he engages all of himself – beginning in the imagination, the eyes and feet and hands enjoy every aspect of play. When he’s upset, he throws his entire body of the floor, sobbing and screaming. There is a totality, or “wholeness,” to his actions.

Uncorrupted: The thoughts of a child flow in a wholesome manner. Though in many ways the sin nature creeps in very early, the mind of a child thinks about what is best for him. The inherent purity of a child is lost very early in each of our lives. Getting as much back as possible is a worthy endeavor.

Desire: Children seem to know what they want, even if they don’t exactly know how to go about gettingit. From food to a toy to attention, their desire overwhelms them at times. They focus on the object of their affection so intensely that it overshadows everything else that may be in the way.

Abba: Daddy. Jesus calls to Abba. In a world crying for release from pain, the strong, loving, warm arms of a father make even hearts of stone melt into hearts of flesh. Daddy is our comfort and shelter. Daddy is the lover of our souls.

Child-like attributes that stand out to me (please add your own)…
- simplistic
- forever learning
- joyful/ enjoy the moment
- submissive (humble)
- honest
- imaginative

One of the greatest challenges children give us is a perspective shift. Children breathe air deeper and take life slower, and many times we can’t even seem to slow down enough to take a deep breath. May we see the world with new eyes, eyes of children that allow us to walk in the Way that builds the Kingdom of God.

Mr. Ferrell, thanks for the reminder to point others to something bigger and greater than ourselves.

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

water water everywhere

the aquatread tires. the smooth, keen grooves of water-treading magnificence. the aquaductesque channels swiftly gracing water away to stabilize the automobile's performance. sweet rubberized smell of aqueos-repelling aroma.

at least, that's what the advertisements make me believe.

Thursday, November 11, 2004

a little more

The soil goes deeper…

To my brother – thank you for listening and thinking well, challenging me and yourself. To Mel – thank you for your commitment to run, even though the journey is hard. To the emergents who gathered at Santa Fe – thank you for showing me love through the warm embrace of true community. To Dave Rhodes – thank you for encouraging to fight on. To Diane and friends – thank you for calling out the atrocities of Evangelicalism.

The sun shines brighter…

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

the watering

A seed falls on good soil…

This is a shout out to Greg Willis – thank you for encouraging the organic seed within me to emerge beyond the shadows of “church.” Walter Brueggemann – thank you for bringing to life the prophets of old in such a way that challenges me. Brian McLaren – thank you for putting into words the amorphous thoughts on life and theology that help me know I’m not alone in my thinking.

It feels to move into a period of energizing after so much criticizing, frustration, and inquiry. Thanks to all those conversations thus far that have watered my emergence.

Coming into the light...