Sacred Threshold ::

A Sister Church :.

Here is a link to QUEST, a fairly new Covenant Church in Seattle, which is thinking outside the box of conventional church forms.

Being Willing :.

Being willing takes on lots of forms and shapes in our lives. Standing up for what we believe in, speaking the truth, our truth, even when it may offend someone we love, surrendering our heart to God in a secret place no one sees, going to places faraway, leaving behind what is known to venture into the unknown, all take willingness. Our willingness comes not in a soft gooey package, but is solid, secure and forthright. When encountering someone who does not like what we are doing or is hooked by their own inability to not do what you are doing--such as go a grand adventure to a place they have always dreamt about--there must be a continued solidness in decision and discernment coupled with a willingness to objectify and help the other embrace willingness in the place they are hearing (or not hearing) God's voice for them.

The bottom line of willingness is to stay willing--willing to listen, willing to stand, willing to change, willing to follow. Willingness does not stop in a willing decision but is a way of life in God for all those who are willing.

Spiritual Homelessness :.

Today I was introduced to a new concept--spiritual homelessness. To be spiritual homeless is to recognize one does not have a spiritual home. At one time or season of life there could have been a belonging to a spiritual home, a church, a way of understanding God, a deep knowing of one's self in the world, but now, because of a variety of reasons, maybe external or internal, a person discovers themselves not fitting in to the same faith communities or adhering to the same belief structures that once held dear. They have grown. They have changed. As they have let go of the old to embrace the new, their God constructs have changed and now they are found as strangers wandering in strange lands.

I am spiritually homeless. Letting go of the what was known and entering into a season of exiled wilderness wandering, I am no longer a person of place. With spiritual moorings  lifted, the urge to follow into the unknown knowingly, I now struggle with the feelings of being alone with out a language and a people. The familiar has vanished. It is an odd place, this desert of my own choosing--or should I say of God's choosing.

But the really odd thing is I am not alone. As I roam this wilderness land, there are others there also. When we meet, our language is the same. It as if somehow God has prepared the way for us to find each other. We understand and are known. There is an essential connection between us that comes easily and naturally. They are ready. We are ready to "come home" to where God is inviting us.

As I think about new forms of church, I am again confronted by the ways the church is not supporting those who are in places of deep change in their spiritual life. When one finds themselves not fitting in, not speaking the same language any more, where does one go?

Len Sperry writes:

Believing that spirituality is vital for growth and essential for dealing with life’s problems, many individuals are pursuing a journey of spiritual growth. Pursuing this journey typically involves a commitment to engaging in spiritual practices such as prayer and meditation. As a result of this pursuit, some are finding their lives are more centered and fulfilling, whereas others are finding themselves trapped in old feelings, attitudes, and habits that appear to undo their progress. Even those who have made progress on the journey often encounter spiritual and psychological roadblocks to growth. But fewer are approaching the institutional church for help with these concerns. Why is this? Presumably because of “spiritual homelessness,” that is, the experience of no longer feeling ‘at home’ in one’s religious traditions or with ministry personnel (Steere, D. Spiritual Presence in Psychotherapy: A Guide for Caregivers," 1997).  Similarly, Jean Stairs ("Listening for the Soul: Pastoral Care and Spiritual Direction," 2000, p. 3) describes this phenomenon as “(t)he world is crying out for the church to be more the like the church, to represent the space and place where holiness, meaning, and God can be found, experienced, understood, and reimagined.”

--Len Sperry, "Integrating Spiritual Direction Functions in Psychotherapy," Journal of Psychology and Theology, 2003.

I sense a strange mixture of sadness and internal challenge as I read this. As a person who is in a place of spiritual homelessness, there is a call to enter into this time with all of my being--the sadness, the longing, the desire, the pain--and then open handedly listen to others, inviting them into a possible new way of finding, creating home together. Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, who happened upon her dear friends and companions, I, we, must be open to the new people God would bring to us as we discover a new way of being church. We must be willing to help co-create "home" for each other, recognizing we will always, at some level, be homeless in this strange and foreign land.

 

My Days :.

My days are filled with e-mails and appointments. With the type of the keys I connect to others, set up meeting times, dream into bigger realities, touch hearts and confess fears. About once a day, sometimes twice, I leave my basement abode and venture to a coffee shop or a nearby restaurant, to actually see someone's face, listen to their heart, and talk about new ways of doing church. I like talking to others. The questions and responses are personal and deep. Every time I learn something new. A new piece of the puzzle is put in place, a new way of thinking is introduced. It is exciting learning this way. I am glad for all those who are with me whether through computer connection or face to face.

But now I am off to another coffee meeting...signing off. JB

With Ears Wide Open :.

As steps are taken towards the creation of a new church community, I am continually amazed by people's willingness and openness to truly hear from God. Each person--man, woman, husband, wife--have held in open handedness their response if this is a place where they are to be or not. Some answers reflect the tension of a spouse who is "not yet" ready to make a commitment to this new thing. Others desire more information but are waiting with joyful expectation of what God will bring to bear. Others have counted the cost and sense a continued commitment to their current community of faith. The miracle is everyone is LISTENING, gently, prayerfully, to a God who speaks.

I am grateful to those who have walked on this journey thus far. Although paths diverge for some, and sadness fills the heart in the parting, there is a joyous sense of God's work in each person as they listen with ears wide open and are willing to obey His call on their lives. For those who have said "yes" in these early days of church formation, there is much more holy listening ahead of us.

As the next month or so passes, more information will come forth to include an ever enlarging circle of people. If you are interested in knowing what's happening, send me an e-mail. I would love to tell you more but in the meantime...keep listening.

May we all continue to hear and obey.

Mary's Yes :.

And, day by day, he keeps on asking us.

Faith :.

“The opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty.”

                                                                                    --Alan Jones

Feast of the Annunciation :.

Who Would Build an Abbey Here? :.

The journey ends, at last the pilgrims have arrived
This barren rock, the holy isle of Tides
Ten thousand saints have travelled here before
This frozen land awaits ten thousand more
The wailing of the lonely pipes drifts o'er the sea
O, who would build an abbey here?

--Eden's Bridge

The Poetry of Prayer :.

"Day after day the round of the canonical hours brought them together and the love that was in them became songs as austere as granite and as sweet as wine. And they stood and they bowed in their long, solemn psalmody. Their prayer flexed its strong sinews and relaxed again into silence, and suddenly flared up again in a hymn, the color of flame, and died into silence: and you could barely hear the weak, ancient voice singing the final prayer. The whisper of the amens ran around the stones like sighs, and the monks broke up their ranks and half emptied the choir, some remaining to pray."

--from the Catholic Encyclopaedia on Cistercians quoted in The Life You Save May be Your Own by Paul Elie describing Thomas Merton's vocational call to the monastery.