A Treat for You

And now, a little musical interlude from one of the great guitarists of our time, Eric Johnson, playing his most well known song Cliffs of Dover. Enjoy!

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is realizing that what you thought had happened, didn't.-- Byron Katie

Neo-Pagan?

My seminary alma mater, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, publishes a quarterly magazine called For the Life of the World. In its January 2007 issue, the magazine contains articles that address how the search for meaning in North America has resulted in an infiltration of Eastern religious forms and practices into Christian churches, Zen Buddhism in particular. Also noted is the increasing interest in the occult and New Age, even among Christians. Any of these religious practices, or anything that contains any semblance of seeking "the God within" seemed to be grouped under the label of "Neo-Pagan" or "post-modern". Of course, things are easier to handle and criticize when labeled. As very typical of this theological institution, and I say this affectionately, the answer to these challenges (or any challenge, for that matter) is doctrine and more doctrine.

What the articles fail to examine are fundamental questions: Why is there so much meaninglessness in our society? Why is there such a thing as "post-modernism"? What have been the cultural tides that have brought us to where we are today? All they seem to say is, "Houston, we have a problem, and here's how to fix it." Usually the "fix" that is offered is a retreat to moderism and Enlightenment paradigms: Us vs. Them, Good vs. Evil, Orthodoxy vs. Heterodoxy, Conservative vs. Liberal, etc.

The articles correctly point out that the Gospel of Christ Jesus comes to us externally, or from without, and touches and grasps the heart. God finds us, and never vice versa, and resides by His Spirit in the deep recesses of our hearts. But the problem is that many people have lost their hearts, hence the loss of meaning. What seems to us as the search for God (which is what it's usually called) is really the search for one's own heart. That's why so many people complain of intellectual assent to church dogma accompanied by trouble making the connection with the heart. Christ is already there through the Means of Grace, but there is no map to "there".

Can the church find ways to facilitate people's search for their hearts and allow them to explore very innate aspects of their being? I sure hope so, because if we do that then people will begin to bear fruit unto Christ not because they have to, or even because they get to, but because they want to!

That is why I encourage people to stop trying to be religious (taboo to the modernist), and even stop trying to be spiritual (taboo to the post-modernist), but be honest instead (something that could be done by the modernist and the post-modernist).

Heaven Help Me

As I was reading the next chapter for book discussion this morning, a chapter about living forever, I started to revisit the whole idea of death and afterlife. Our current understanding is that when a person physically expires and breathes his or her last, the body is placed in the grave, and the immaterial soul goes (whatever that word means) to heaven to be with Jesus. The body then awaits the last day when it will be reunited with the soul and raised to life to live forever without decay. This teaching was stated very clearly in the book we're discussing.

I completely agree that there is a dimension of our makeup that is immaterial and cannot be dissected and examined. I also have no problem calling this "soul" or "spirit". One of the passages cited by the author of the book was Ecclesiastes 12:7-- The dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Is the author of Ecclesiastes giving us an instruction of what literally happens to our dichotomous human makeup when we expire (almost like a science lesson), or is he speaking in images with which his audience was to ascertain a very deep spiritual reality? Ecclesiates 12 is chock full of images and metaphors of aging, but also I sense that we need to go back to Genesis 2:7 to get somewhat of an answer.

How do you understand Ecclesiates 12:7?

Which Way is Up?

Have you ever stopped to think that the direction we call 'up' is a relative term? If you point 'up' at the same time someone in, say, China points 'up', the two of you are pointing in opposite directions. 'Up' in New Lenox is not the same as it is in Beijing.

Perhaps we need to redefine 'up' so that we're all talking about the same thing and pointing in basically the same direction.

Here's what I propose: that we define 'up' as a direction inward rather than outward, and that we seek to ascend in our hearts. Not only would we be pointing in the same direction (inward), but it would be a common experience that would help us realize that we are not much different from each other than we first thought.

Now, here's something to think about: what would this new paradigm mean for the practice of prayer? Instead of thinking of prayer as sending radio frequency signals to outer space, it could be a way to go deeper within ourselves and touch the core of something that is very profound. Praying this way could change us instead of trying to change God. I think there are people already doing this, so please don't consider this an innovation on my part.

Multi-Site Ministry

Recently, I've been toying with the idea of Trinity serving God in two locations by creating a second site ten miles south of New Lenox in a rapidly growing city called Manhattan. There is no Lutheran presence there, and it would be foolish to do nothing in the middle of this explosive growth. Whatever we end up doing there would be considered a satellite of Trinity. I won't elaborate and bore you with details here. Many churches have adopted this model, and I think it's quite an innovative way of reaching out with the Good News! What I like about it is the opportunities it presents to be creative in programming and worship at the new site, while maintaining what's familiar at the present site. So far, a couple of people have responded positively to the idea.

What would I do at the second site? I would hold services for spiritual seekers and the spiritually well-established. I envision using some of the latest communication technology, but I don't envision using a "praise band". There are too many upstarts using praise bands, and I'm getting a sense that people are starting to get tired of them. Too much of the music sounds like cheesy 80's ballads. I'd like to have worship in the spirit of Taize, using strings and woodwinds, and offering a variety of liturgical expression, including art and dance.

I would also offer opportunities to foster a deep and rich inner life through meditation, prayer, and other transformative practices. I can see doing things like Inquiry Circles for The Work of Byron Katie, Centering Prayer, Big Mind Meditation-- things like that! Also recovery groups for certain maladies of our day, such as divorce.

Oh well-- right now it's a vision for a place for people to discover their deepest selves and to rest in the love of God.

I Shouldn't Procrastinate

I should always be busy. I shouldn't procrastinate.
What's so bad about procrastinating?
I don't get anything done.
So, what's the worst that can happen when you don't get anything done?
People will think less of me.
Is it true that people shouldn't think less of you?
Yes. I don't like it when people catch me being lazy.
Can you be absolutely sure that people shouldn't think less of you?
No. I can't be absolutely sure.
How do you react when you think people shouldn't think less of you?
I get scared. I get suspicious of anyone who happens to see me, like they're checking up on me or spying on me. I start to worry about getting a royal ass chewing and feel guilty for not doing my work.
Who would you be if you weren't able to believe that people shouldn't think less of you?
I would be more relaxed. I would certainly treat people better and not be so suspicious. I would not feel guilty.
Now do your turnarounds. Can they be just as true or truer than your original thought?

I shouldn't think less of me.
Yeah, that's pretty true. I do get down on myself.

People should think less of me.
Sometimes they do. But I don't really know about it unless they actually say something.

I shouldn't think less of other people.
Ah, yes!! Very true. I do think less of other people. That's why I believe that other people think less of me.

The 21st Century and the Crisis of Meaning

I love vacations because I get to catch up on reading, and I just finished reading one of the most fascinating books I've ever read. It's called Between Two Ages: The 21st Century and the Crisis of Meaning by William Van Dusen Wishard. Here's the premise in a nutshell:

We Americans have lost touch with our transcendent self because we have experienced "psychic overload". There has been such rapid change in all dimensions of human experience, especially in the areas of information and technology, that the psyche, both collectively and individually, has not been given sufficient time to assimilate the changes. This is has led to profound ego-inflation and the building up of the conscious self in an attempt to find meaning and to compensate for the loss of depth.

Religion used to be the vehicle on which our transcendent selves were projected. Religion gave expression to what was deepest about us in our inner being and provided meaning to our lives. But what happens when that vehicle is shattered? Transcendence is then reflected back to us, and then we re-project it onto other external causes, like politics for example, to the point where these things become ends in themselves. We take up causes in the quest for meaning, but we end up with nothing but standoffs and ego-trips. We involve ourselves with external causes without thinking through the implications.

Wishard draws heavily on Jungian psychology. C.G. Jung was arguably the greatest psychologist of the 20th century. Many mental health practitioners still rely on Freudian theories, which say the individual unconscious is a repository of repressed thoughts-- a psychic garbage can, if you will. Freud can be given credit for discovering the individual unconscious. Jung went a step further in discovering the collective unconscious, which he said is where meaningful images are found. These images he called "archetypes". Wishard draws the conclusion that the collective unconscious contains a God template that is individually accessible. In other words, we must make the unconscious conscious by developing a rich and deep inner life. We must do this in a way that doesn't destroy the ego (a very important aspect of our being), but in a way that recognizes the ego's relationship to the self (another important aspect of our being). I would like to suggest a way to do this, but it's going to require another book report, so hang in there with me. If you've read this far, don't stop now!

I believe that The Work of Byron Katie fits in very well here. Katie's "method" (for lack of a better term) allows you to give your ego the day it has been waiting for-- to give it a voice and let it scream out. The ego is very judgmental and loves to criticize. Katie says let it! The ego is filled with very sad and painful stories about how life isn't fair and how everything just sucks. Let the ego tell these stories, one at a time. Katie has worksheets on her website to facilitate that. Instead of projecting onto causes, write it all down. Go to thework.com to download and print these sheets.

After you've filled out the worksheet take each statement, one at a time, and run them through a gauntlet of four questions. Katie's claim is that these questions are already a part of us that we haven't known how to tap into. Do you see what Katie has done? She has made the unconscious conscious!! She has discovered a way to bring the Self into the field of play to bring balance to the ego, thereby bringing depth into consciousness!

Life has become crazy and burdensome for many people, but it doesn't have to be. Do yourself a favor if any of what I've written has resonated with you at all. Go to Katie's website http://www.thework.com or read her blog http://www.byronkatie.com You will find a plethora of resources, including audio and video, to developing a very rich and meaningful inner life.